The Auburn Plainsman 2.23.17

The Auburn Plainsman A SPIRIT THAT IS NOT AFRAID

Thursday, February 23, 2017 Vol. 124, Issue 22, 12 Pages

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CAMPUS

Uprooted again Toomer’s Oaks removed and replaced Dylan McGlamry CAMPUS WRITER

Both of the Toomer’s Oaks have been replanted after the Magnolia Oak was set on fire in September.

The replanting was carried out on Saturday, Feb. 18.

The College Oak had dead branches and officials made the decision to replace the tree after the Magnolia Oak was damaged last year. Jochen Wiest set fire to the toilet paper hanging from the branches after Auburn defeated LSU. “The fire in September severely damaged the Magnolia Avenue tree,” said Gary Keever, Auburn University horticulture professor. “The appearance of the tree is unacceptable, and we don’t believe it will recover within a reasonable time period.”

Keever said he’s not sure when the rolling tradition can resume.

“The newly transplanted oaks should not be rolled until it’s deemed they can tolerate it,” Keever said. “We enjoy tradition, but we have to balance tradition with the health of the trees.”

Following the poisoning by Harvey Updyke in 2010, the original trees were removed in 2013. New trees were planted two years later. One of the two replacement trees died and was replaced again within a few months.

» See TOOMER’S, 2

DAKOTA SUMPTER / MANAGING EDITOR

CAMPUS

COMMUNITY

Tuberville eyes governor’s race Chip Brownlee COMMUNITY EDITOR

FROM FILE

Supporters donated $17,760 for better equipment for the wheelchair basketball team on Tiger Giving Day, 148 percent of its $12,000 goal.

More than 20 projects exceed Tiger Giving goals Chris Heaney CAMPUS WRITER

Claire Tully CAMPUS EDITOR

More than 20 projects exceeded their Tiger Giving Day goals on Tuesday, Feb. 21. Established last year, Tiger Giving Day is a 24-hour fundraising period for multiple projects related to the University and community.

Twenty-nine organizations, groups and individuals participated this year

to present their ideas for projects ranging from art project preservation, water quality monitoring, study abroad programs and even providing a home for a locally found dinosaur egg.

Though it raised 26 percent of its goal, the "Help Students Attend Auburn through AU Club Scholarship" project had the most donors of any project, followed by "Engineering Sustainable Water Solutions" and the "Student Athlete Internship Costs" projects.

Tracy Awino started the "Save the Bunnies" project to keep “The Bathers” at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art. “I believe the intention of art and whatever form it takes is to ignite something within people,” Awino said. “The University hopes that by keeping the bunnies here at Auburn we can have an art piece that is exclusive to the Auburn

» See TIGER GIVING, 2

Former Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville is reportedly eyeing a job outside of football after his most recent stint as Cincinnati head coach.

According to CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd, sources close to Tuberville said he is considering a run for Alabama governor in the 2018 election.

Tuberville confirmed to the Associated Press Tuesday afternoon that he's discussing his options with potential supporters.

He is currently awaiting the results of a poll being conducted to gauge public opinion.

Tuberville coached at Auburn from 1999-2008. Under his leadership, the Tigers had an 85-40 record — one of the most successful in Auburn history.

In 2004, the team went undefeated but didn't make it into the BCS National Championship game. They took a 2005 Sugar Bowl victory instead.

After leaving Auburn in 2008, Tuberville coached at

Texas Tech and then moved on to Cincinnati.

Alabama GOP Chairwoman Terry Lathan said she had not heard from Tuberville and had not reached out to him yet, but said he could make a great candidate in the Republican race for governor.

Lathan said Tuberville's lack of political experience wouldn't hold him back. Instead, it could be an asset.

"Donald Trump moved over 16 very qualified politicians, so right now, I don't think the atmosphere has moved too far from that," Lathan said.

Lathan said they would welcome Tuberville, who just recently moved back to his home on Lake Martin, with open arms.

"Anybody who is willing to be our teammate on our mission, we welcome whoever would like to run," Lathan said. "At the end of the day, though, the voters make the decision in the primary."

While at Auburn, Tuberville was known for winning six straight games over Ala-

» See TUBERVILLE, 2

News 2

Thursday, February 23, 2017

The Auburn Plainsman

TOOMER’S » From 1

Several members of the Auburn Family turned out to pay their respects to the beloved Oaks.

Scott Hill, 1989 Auburn graduate, said his favorite memory of Toomer’s as a student is when Bo Jackson won the Heisman.

“When we were in school, I remember running down here when Bo won the Heisman in ’85 and rolling the corner then,” Hill said. “I lived in a dorm that’s no longer here. We ran down; everybody in the hall got down and ran.

It’s just a great community event. A lot of school spirit.”

When the tree was burned, Hill said he found it “disappointing.”

“That’s not who we are,” Hill said.

TUBERVILLE » From 1

bama. Tuberville’s likely foray into

TIGER GIVING » From 1

Family and something that still brings people together outside of football.”

The “Send a Student-Built Satellite into Space” project was started by Associate Professor of Physics Michael Fogle. The project raised $15,730 from 120 Donors, surpassing its original goal by 4 percent.

“We are grateful to the Auburn Family that continues to help support the students working on this project,” Fogle said. “Projects such as this help students bridge their classroom-learned knowledge to hands-on applications that are complex and require an overlap of technical disciplines.”

Another project was the “Engineering Sustainable Water Solutions.” The Samuel Ginn College of Engineering is attempting to bring water to countries like Bolivia and Rwanda.

Colin Stelly, one of the project owners, said he couldn’t be more thankful for the opportunities the fundraiser affords his project.

“We are humbled by the support of our community and are dedicated to ensuring the success of these projects for the Bolivian and Rwandan people whose lives they will change,” Stelly said.

Below is a list of projects in order of most funds raised: National Prestigious Scholarship Development: $77,147 (308 percent of goal) from 88 donors

“It’s a great place to come and just share in the Auburn community and that’s not one of destruction or malicious intent.”

Jennifer Holmes, 2014 Auburn graduate, said she loves the sight of the trees when they’ve been rolled after a win.

“My freshman year was the national championship and the SEC championship, so I remember my friends and I came here and the street was lined,” Holmes said. “It looked like it snowed from all the toilet paper. It was the best time.”

When Holmes heard about the tree being burned, she said it was upsetting.

“I was a junior or senior when we found out it was poisoned, and this one was just devastating,” Holmes said. “I couldn’t stand that somebody would

do that. I thought people were mature enough, and we’re not the only ones who love this tradition.”

Teresa Dupree, a life-long Auburn fan, said the Toomer’s tradition represents being a part of the Auburn Family.

“I’ve just always felt that Auburn’s just one big family,” Dupree said. “I was here whenever they celebrated the final rolling, and I was here for the planting of the other trees, and I wanted to be here again to see these trees being planted.”

Dupree said she was upset when she heard someone had set fire to the Magnolia Avenue tree in the fall.

“I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, maybe it can be saved,’” Dupree said. “It was even more traumatic to know that both of them were coming down.”

politics would be in a state with a football divide as deep as its political divisions.

Tuberville is expected to make a de-

cision in the coming weeks. Lathan said qualifying for the Republican primary has not yet opened but will be sometime in the fall.

Student Athlete Internship Costs: $57,565 (575 percent of goal) from 208 donors Engineering Sustainable Water Solutions: $56,255 (187 percent of goal) from 303 donors Help Students Attend Auburn through AU Club Scholarships: $30,347 (26 percent of goal) from 486 donors Internship Support for Tomorrow’s Business Leaders: $27,170 (108 percent of goal) from 211 donors Better Equipment for Wheelchair Basketball Athletes: $17,760 (148 percent of goal) from 121 donors 3D Printers for Future Educators: $16,195 (107 percent of goal) from 116 donors Help Raise a Hero: $15,957 (159 percent of goal) from 155 donors Send a Student-Built Satellite into Space: $15,730 (104 percent of goal) from 120 donors OSHA Safety Courses for Service Learners” $13,450 (134 percent of goal) from 58 donors Bring Healthcare to Underserved Communities: $13,280 (132 percent of goal) from 150 donors Portable Sawmill Provides New Opportunities: $12,500 (104 percent of goal) from 60 donors Better Equipment for Urban Design in Birmingham: $12,020 (160 percent of goal) from 42 donors Camp for Future Veterinarians: $10,950 (109 percent of goal) from 95 donors Protect Alabama Waterways: $10,325 (103 percent of goal) from 164

donors A Home for Auburn’s Dinosaur Egg: $10,602 (70 percent of the goal) from 195 donors New Experiences for BraveHearts: $9,800 (140 percent of goal) from 170 donors Introduce HBCU Students to Auburn: $9,663 (107 percent of goal) from 158 donors Save the Bunnies: $8,330 (104 percent of goal) from 112 donors Veterans Success Scholarships: $7,190 (143 percent of goal) from 101 donors New Markers for Library Whiteboards: $6,870 (57 percent of goal) from 93 donors Students Feeding the Hungry: $6,380 (127 percent of goal) from 114 donors Pre-Med Study Abroad Program: $5,965 (59 percent of goal) from 50 donors Passport Fees for Study Abroad: $5,685 (94 percent of goal) from 77 donors New Technology for Apparel Students: $5,410 (36 percent of goal) from 48 donors Pharmacy Summer Camp: $5,165 (103 percent of goal) from 75 donors Student Spaces in Lowder Hall: $4,515 (136 percent of goal) from 68 donors Call Dibs on Study Space in new Mell Classroom: $2895 (28 percent of goal) from 60 donors Plainsman Prep Scholarships: $1,805 (112 percent of goal) from 26 donors

CAMPUS CRIME LOG Date Reported

Type of Incident

General Location

02/20/2017 02/20/2017 02/20/2017 02/19/2017 02/19/2017 02/19/2017 02/19/2017 02/19/2017 02/19/2017 02/19/2017 02/18/2017 02/18/2017 02/18/2017 02/18/2017 02/18/2017 02/18/2017 02/17/2017 02/17/2017 02/17/2017 02/17/2017 02/17/2017 02/17/2017 02/17/2017 02/17/2017 02/16/2017 02/16/2017 02/16/2017 02/15/2017 02/15/2017 02/15/2017 02/15/2017 02/14/2017 02/14/2017 02/14/2017

Duty Upon Striking an Unoccupied Vehicle Leaving Scene of Accident Duty Upon Striking Unattended Vehicle Possession of Marijuana Second Degree Possession of Drug Paraphernalia Possession of a Forged Instrument Possession of Marijuana Second Degree Possession of Drug Paraphernalia Possession of a Forged Instrument Driving Under the Influence-Alcohol Criminal Trespass Third Degree Criminal Trespass Third Degree Criminal Trespass Third Degree Duty Upon Striking an Unoccupied Vehicle Criminal Mischief Third Degree Public Intoxication Minor in Possession of Alcohol Minor in Possession of Alcohol Possession of a Forged Instrument Third Degree Criminal Littering Public Intoxication Public Intoxication Possession of Marijuana Second Degree Possession of Drug Paraphernalia Minor in Possession of Alcohol Drug Complaint Public Intoxication Criminal Mischief-Damage to Private Property Second Degree Criminal Mischief-Other City Code Violation Conditional Release Violation Domestic Violence Third Degree Receiving Stolen Property First Degree Duty Upon Striking an Unoccupied Vehicle

700 Block of W Magnolia 200 Block of Wire Rd 100 Block of S College St 600 Block of Duncan Dr 600 Block of Duncan Dr 600 Block of Duncan Dr 600 Block of Duncan Dr 600 Block of Duncan Dr 600 Block of Duncan Dr 1600 Block of S College St 200 Block of W Thach Conc 200 Block of W Thach Conc 200 Block of W Thach Conc 600 Block of Biggio Dr 500 Block of W Magnolia Av 200 Block of Wire Rd 200 Block of Wire Rd 200 Block of Wire Rd Wright St @ W Magnolia Av Wright St @ W Magnolia Av 100 Block of N College St W Magnolia Av @ Wright St 100 Block of Hemlock Dr 100 Block of Hemlock Dr 200 Block of Wire Rd 200 Block of Wire Rd 300 Block of W Samford Av 100 Block of Hemlock Dr 100 Block of Hemlock Dr 200 Block of S College St Wright St @ W Magnolia Av 1000 Block of W Samford Av 200 Block of S College St 200 Block of Beard Eaves Ct

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This week in review Your weekly roundup for state, national and international news State • (AL.com) The Alabama Senate Judiciary Committee will begin preparing for a possible impeachment trial of Gov. Robert Bentley in the Senate, Chairman Cam Ward said today. Ward said he planned to appoint two Democrats and two Republicans to a subcommittee on Wednesday to write a draft set of rules for how the Senate would conduct an impeachment trial.

• (AP) An Alabama senator wants the federal government to cover most of the cost of caring for jail inmates with mental illnesses. Sen. Cam Ward, an Alabaster Republican, said Tuesday that counties currently pay for detainees’ psychiatric health care. He has introduced a bill that would shift 70 percent of those costs to the federal government under Medicaid.

National • (CNN) President Donald Trump said Tuesday the recent spate of threats targeting the Jewish community in the US are “horrible” and “painful” as he faced a growing chorus of calls from Democrats and Jewish leaders urging him to speak out. Trump made the remarks following a tour of the National Museum of African American Museum and Culture.

“This tour was a meaningful reminder of why we have to fight bigotry, intolerance and hatred in all of its very ugly forms. The anti-Semitic threats targeting our Jewish community and community centers are horrible and are painful and a very sad reminder of the work that still must be done to root out hate and prejudice and evil,” Trump said.

• (NYT) President Trump appointed Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster as his new national security adviser on Monday, picking a widely respected military strategist known for challenging conventional thinking and helping to turn around the Iraq war in its darkest days. Trump made the announcement at his Mar-a-Lago resort, where he interviewed candidates over the holiday weekend to replace Michael T. Flynn, who was forced out after withholding information from Vice President Mike Pence about a call with Russia’s ambassador.

• (USA Today)The first major immigration raid under President Trump shows a clear shift in the federal government’s deportation strategy, focusing more on undocumented immigrants without criminal records than under President Obama.

Of 678 people rounded up in 12 states during raids last week, 74 percent had been convicted of a crime. That is down from 90 percent of detained people with criminal records in 2016 under Obama, according to a USA TODAY analysis of more than a dozen federal raids.

International • (CNN) Astronomers have found at least seven Earth-sized planets orbiting the same star 40 light-years away, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

The findings were also announced at a news conference at NASA Headquarters in Washington.This discovery outside of our solar system is rare because the planets have the winning combination of being similar in size to Earth and being all temperate, meaning they could have water on their surfaces and potentially support life.

• (WaPo) The death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s half brother remains a mystery, with Malaysian officials saying Tuesday that initial autopsy results show no evidence of a heart attack or puncture wounds. In addition, no member of Kim Jong Nam’s family has come forward to verify his identity through DNA testing or claim his body.

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INDEX Campus

3

Opinion

5

Community 6

New Mell Street classrooms at RBD

Local business woman strives to help couples with infertility

Baseball opens with series at home

Exploring Atlanta

Sports

8

Lifestyle

11

Campus

Thursday, February 23, 2017

3 ThePlainsman.com

Campus

ELECTIONS

CONTRIBUTED

LEFT: Porter Kennedy, sophomore in finance.

RIGHT: Crandall Hinton, sophomore in international business.

Kennedy and Hinton face off after tie in race to be business senator Claire Tully CAMPUS EDITOR

In the race for Harbert College of Business senator, Porter Kennedy and Crandall Hinton found themselves in a rare situation: a deadeven tie.

Both Kennedy and Hinton received exactly 715 votes each at SGA Callouts on Tuesday, Feb. 7. The tiebreaker will be an interview process held by the newly elected SGA executives.

Porter Kennedy, sophomore in finance, said he already has projects planned he’d like to see completed as a senator.

“I want to represent the business school in SGA to maximize the benefits and subsidies for the business students,” Kennedy said. “To oversee a massive new building project for the COB that will include a great dining facility.”

Crandall Hinton, sophomore in international business, said she’s focused on advocating for students and overseeing projects.

“My platform is to advocate for student interests as the new business building is being built,” Hinton said. “[I want to] promote more involvement within the Harbert College of Business by creating a freshman leadership organization for first year students, to unify stu-

dents by offering events and activities available to all business students and to establish a designated feedback system to better represent student interests and concerns.”

When the campaign began, Kennedy said he figured he had no chance of winning.

“Frankly, I thought I had no chance at all,” Kennedy said. “I thought to myself ‘I might as well run and get my name out there to set myself up for a presidential run in 2018.’”

Kennedy said he assumed his chance would have to come next year as he compared his campaign techniques to that of his opponents.

“As election day got closer, I believed my chances were getting worse,” Kennedy said.

“My opponents were campaigning every day in Lowder and giving out truckloads of Krispy Kreme doughnuts, and I thought ‘well, this was fun. Try again next year.’”

In her ticket’s meetings leading up to campaign week, Hinton said she’d grown very familiar with the goals within her platform.

“I actually had the opportunity of talking with some administrators that week and sharing some of our ideas together,” Hinton said.

“I would be really excited to continue engaging with them throughout my term.”

When the SGA head of elections announced

the tie between Hinton and Kennedy, Kennedy said he assumed it wasn’t an exact tie.

“At the callouts for the SGA winners I went in with a mindset that if I lose, that’s what I expected and if I win, this would be the greatest comeback since the Super Bowl,” Kennedy said. “When they said that we had tied, my first thought was ‘whoa, this is crazy we must have been within like 20 votes and they called it a tie,’ and I later learned that we had tied at exactly 715 votes each. What are the odds?”

When the tie was announced, Kennedy said matters were made more interesting because his opponent was someone he’d known prior to the election.

“Crandall Hinton was in my Freshmen Leadership Program called ELITE last year, and she stood out as an extremely kind person, which probably helped her pull so many votes,” Kennedy said.

Hinton said even though the tie suprised her, it put things into perspective for a moment amongst the craziness of campaign week.

“To be honest, I was pretty surprised,” Hinton said. “My ticket had campaigned really hard that week, and I was very confident heading into voting day and call outs. It was a really humbling thing though, and I think it was just

FINE ARTS

Phillip B. Williams celebrates his experiences at museum Romy Iannuzzi CAMPUS REPORTER

Poet Phillip B. Williams is the type of artist shaped far more by the people he’s known than the places he’s been or the events he’s been a part of.

“I’m from Chicago,” Williams said. “That’s hometown, that’s grade school, that’s high school. I spent most of my childhood there and I started writing very, very young. So, it was in first grade that I decided that this was something I wanted to do, at least for fun.

I didn’t start taking writing seriously until I went to undergrad.”

Williams said he has changed course over his history as a writer, switching from prose to poetry.

“Even then I didn’t know if I wanted to do poetry,” Williams said. “I thought I wanted to do fiction. It was more so not really events, but people who came into my life and said ‘hey, this is what you should be doing.’”

Williams said he doesn’t cherish awards and accolades as a poet, but rather the opportunity to share them with the people he loves.

“It’s not the prize, like ‘oh yeah, I won this prize,’” Williams said. “It’s like, ‘hey mom, I won this prize.’ Being able to email her, or call her, or text her, and say ‘hey, this is going on.’”

Williams said sharing his success with his mother has become a huge part of his life.

“I recently was able to take

her to the image awards ceremony for the NAACP because my book was nominated for that,” Williams said. “Being able to share all this stuff that’s happened with her has been very important to me.”

Williams elaborated on his fixation on individuals rather than places or events, speculating how performance and image shapes our everyday interactions.

“I study craft, but I get a lot of enjoyment from communicating with other people, other poets, especially younger poets and just seeing how our relationships in and of themselves can be a kind of art, almost like performance art,” Williams said. “That’s creepy, right?”

Williams said he is often treated differently in the writing community for his race.

“What’s starting to happen is, because of all the conversations around race, people are commodifying it in an interesting way,” Williams said.

“Now it’s like, ‘can you give us a poem about race?’ How do you go from people judging you, saying that ‘this isn’t real poetry’ because it’s overtly about ‘just race’ to people saying, ‘our journal would really benefit if you would send us one of your ‘black poems.’”

Williams commented on some of the racial tensions spurred by recent political controversies and how those tensions have affected his work.

“I’m always going to write about what I want, but some-

God’s way of telling me to take a step back and realize I’m not promised anything.”

Hinton said her campaign was not made any easier when she’d made the decision to support other friends in their campaigns that week as well.

“The biggest challenge I had while campaigning was time management,” Hinton said.

“I had the privilege of working on two other campaigns for major candidates and friends of mine, Jacqueline Keck and Sarah Patrick. It was a demanding week, but it was an honor to serve alongside my friends.”

Hinton said her passion to serve the students within her college would make her a successful SGA senator.

“I think I would be a great senator because of my desire to serve and actively engage with business students,” Hinton said. “I think that past and current campus involvement as well as having worked in a professional setting this past summer will help me in conveying my ideas confidently in the interview.”

Kennedy said he’s looking forward to his interview.

“Thank you to everyone who voted Kennedy,” Kennedy said. “Win or not, I’m just grateful to even have this opportunity.”

SENATE

MADISON OGLETREE / PHOTO EDITOR

Justin Smith, Frank McEwen and Jacqueline Keck are the new SGA officers.

New SGA officers assign exec positions Romy Iannuzzi CAMPUS REPORTER

MADISON OGLETREE / PHOTO EDITOR

TOP: Phillip B.Williams reads at the Jule Collins Smith Museum.

BOTTOM: Museum-goers listen to Williams’ poetry.

thing weird about what’s happening right now is that it’s not much different from what’s already happened,” Williams said. “Because this isn’t much different from what’s been going on, I’m going to keep writing about what’s been going on.”

As for the future, Williams said he foresees new horizons for his career.

“I think I’m going to get back into fiction ... I had com-

pletely abandoned it,” Williams said. “I want to get back to it, though. I feel like prose can do things that poetry doesn’t have a space for. I want to be a little more expansive.”

Williams said he doesn’t have a concrete release schedule even though he’s working on new material.

“I don’t know about the future of anything until it’s done, and nothing is done right now,” Williams said.

The SGA met for its first official meeting under its new administration, led by President Jacqueline Keck, Vice President Justin Smith and Treasurer Frank McEwen.

The meeting was held on Monday, Feb. 20 in the Student Center.

Much of the meeting was spent training new and inexperienced senators by showing new members how to prepare their workspace for a meeting and breaking off into group teamwork exercises.

Smith also took time to introduce SGA’s newly appointed executive team: Chief of Staff Jacob Tofani EVP of Communications and Marketing Jennings Bowden EVP of Initiatives David Facteau EVP of Programs Faith Webb EVP of Outreach Bri Thomas While the EVP of outreach position had previously been defunct, Keck, Smith and McEwen said they decided to bring the position back with new responsibilities.

“Frank and Justin and I decided as a group to bring the outreach position back,” Keck said. “We restructured it a little bit to be more data-based and so not only will Bri and her outreach team be reaching out to other organizations on campus, but also to build relationships with them so that we have touch points across campus.”

Keck said the position will be a great resource to strengthen arguments.

“If we’re working on an initiative like printing, parking, dining and we need data to give to the administrators for our resolutions or other things we’re bringing, we can send out a quick poll and get data back to really strengthen our arguments and really push forth the needs of students,” Keck said.

Thomas said she believes outreach is headed in a “new direction.”

“I’m still working on getting them kind of tied down and written out and things like that, but I’m excited for the year to come,” Thomas said. “I’ll have some solidified goals and plans here pretty soon.”

Campus 4

Thursday, February 23, 2017

The Auburn Plainsman

FACILITIES

CHRIS HEANEY / CAMPUS WRITER

TOP LEFT: Ben Chapman,Timothy Boosinger, Marcia Boosinger, Jim Carroll and Diane Boyd stand in a new classroom.

BOTTOM LEFT: View from the second level of the new Mell Classroom attached to RBD Library.

MIDDLE: The new building has a zig-zag staircase leading up and down the various floors.

TOP RIGHT: A construction worker leads the media around the front of the contruction site into the classroom.

MIDDLE RIGHT: The original Ralph Draughon Library entrance was preserved throughout the construction process.

BOTTOM RIGHT: New lecture halls are being installed in the building.

University allows guests to tour new Mell Classroom at RBD Chris Heaney CAMPUS WRITER

Members of the media and guests were invited to tour the Mell Classroom addition to the Ralph Brown Draughon Library.

The Mell Classroom building, which began development in December 2015, is now more than 60 percent complete and is expected to be finished before the 2017 fall semester.

This 69,000-square-foot addition to RBD will house several study rooms, lecture halls and state-of-the-art “active learning classrooms.”

The tour, led by Assistant Director of Construction and Facilities Management Ben Chapman, started in front of the Westward facing entrance to the new facility.

Upon entry, the first thing one will notice is the fully preserved facade of RBD, letterhead and all.

At the top of the 65-foot-tall ceilings are large windows which allow natural light through, giving the facility a feeling of being

“

This is one of the steps to provide students with state-ofthe-art, leading-edge classrooms and learning environments.

We like to set standards for others. We hope other universities will see this facility and want to improve their own.”

—Timothy Boosinger

provost and vice president of academic affairs

outside.

This is something Timothy Boosinger, provost and vice president of academic affairs, said will make the building “a big hub on campus” and “the place to be.”

The tour was then guided into one of the two lecture halls located on either side of the second floor.

These rooms can seat approximately 160 students and will provide them with a traditional lecture classroom experience.

On the second floor and the ones above it are multiple group study rooms, similar to those in RBD. The new active learning classrooms will feature 10 wall-mounted monitors sitting behind glass, allowing students to write on top of what is on the screen with dry-erase markers.

These classrooms will also feature completely mobile furniture, allowing professors to organize the seating however they see fit.

Class sizes in these rooms will vary, as they

can be split by a divider allowing for one class of 72 or two classes of 36.

Diane Boyd, director of Biggio Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning, said she believes these classrooms will be the greatest addition to the Mell Street building.

“If a professor decides that a lecture is the best plan for the day, the desks can be easily moved for that,” Boyd said.

Boyd said she hopes the new set-up will encourage students to collaborate.

“What we hope happens, though, is that students will be able to arrange themselves in small groups to solve problems collaboratively.”

Boosinger said student success is the University’s first priority.

“This is one of the steps to provide students with state-of-the-art, leading-edge classrooms and learning environments,” Boosinger said.

“We like to set the standards for others. We hope other universities will see this facility and want to improve their own.”

We know finding and applying for scholarships can be hard work. With the Auburn University Scholarship Opportunity Manager (AUSOM), it has never been easier.

Through AUSOM, students view available scholarships for which they may be eligible, complete the application for consideration, accept scholarships awarded, and more.

Students must complete the scholarship application through AUSOM at auaccess.auburn.edu by 4:45 p.m. CST on the following dates: › March 1 for current Auburn students to receive General and Departmental Scholarship consideration › June 1 for Nursing or Veterinary Medicine students accepted into the professional program and Pharmacy students enrolled in the professional program by June 1 to receive Departmental Scholarship consideration Students should complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)*, available October 1 online at fafsa.ed.gov for financial aid. The FAFSA must be received by March 1 for consideration of financial aid, including need-based scholarships.

For more information on AUSOM and available scholarships, visit auburn.edu/scholarship. * The FAFSA is the only form a student is required to complete to be considered for student assistance from any of the Title IV HEA programs, except for information needed to ensure the student’s eligibility for such assistance (e.g., information needed to complete verification or to demonstrate compliance with the student eligibility provisions of the HEA and the regulations). Additional information, if requested, will be listed on the student’s AU Access My Finances page after we receive the results of the FAFSA. For additional information, visit auburn.edu/finaid.

THIS IS AUBURN. ausom@auburn.edu /AUScholarships /AUScholarships

Opinion

5

Thursday, February 23, 2017

ThePlainsman.com

Opinion

OUR VIEW

Framing the media as an enemy undermines society SPRING 2017 EDITORIAL BOARD

Last Friday, the president of the United States took to Twitter to run through his routine of bashing his enemies publicly.

This can include whichever businesses have recently caught his ire, Republicans who haven’t quite fallen in line or, most typically, “the media.”

This time, however, the president went as far to say “the media” is the enemy of the American people.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Apart from the ridiculousness that is labeling something as diverse and internally combative as all of American news media as a monolithic force whose sole purpose is to undermine America, we believe framing “the media” as a malevolent force does a horrendous disservice to those journalists who devote their lives to serving people.

Moreover, framing the media as an enemy of the American people serves only to obfuscate its true value to society, which can result in a citizenry that does not safeguard it as much as it ought to.

Many who devote their lives to careers in media do so in conjunction with a devotion toward finding and showing truth.

It’s the sort of devotion that leads journalists to risk themselves by exposing presidential scandals, injustices in the justice system and atrocities that are sometimes lost in the murky waters of war.

Even so, they are human, and so they carry biases.

Some do well to quell their biases and maintain objectivity. Some falter.

MADISON OGLETREE / PHOTO EDITOR

Those who falter should be criticized accordingly, but that shouldn’t mean slandering or attempting to discredit the media apparatus as a whole.

It’s possible to recognize the vital role a free press plays in a good society while holding that press accountable.

It doesn’t involve writing off media wholly or absorbing news from sources that only confirm your beliefs while labeling news that challenges your worldview as “fake.”

HER VIEW

Stay busy, it’s good for your health Anne Dawson ONLINE EDITOR

Freshman year is a fun time for a lot of people.

You’re out on your own with no rules, no curfews and very few responsibilities. With all of the opportunities to play and very few to actually work, it’s easy to find yourself with too much free time on your hands.

My first semester of freshman year was great for me — academically that is. I came out with a higher GPA than I had ever dreamed about in high school. It even got my dad’s hopes for my academic future high (maybe too high).

The reason my grades were so high was because I stayed in my room or in the library studying just about all day. I had ample free time and dedicated all of it to my classes.

Don’t get me wrong, this was an amazing feeling. I felt accomplished and able and very intelligent actually. But something was missing. I had too much time to do nothing.

My grades slowly dropped from all As to a B or two the second semester of my freshman year on account of me making friends. I had a solid friend group that kept me busy when I wasn’t in class.

I even started working with The Plainsman and had my hands full with that too.

I saw my grades slip just a smidgen, but in my eyes it was totally worth it for my mental health. I was incredibly happy making memories with my new friends.

If you fast forward to my life now, I have worked my way up to becoming an editor, I work more than 20 hours a week at a leasing office, I’m very involved and hold two chair positions in my sorority and even find the time to hit the gym once a day.

If I have learned anything in this drastic change from having too much free time to too little free time, it’s that I definitely prefer the busier route.

Staying busy has taught me so much — I have learned to prioritize, I’ve learned what matters most to me and how to distinguish what doesn’t and I’ve even learned that my body can physically not operate on less than 6 hours of sleep (which is good to know, but not fun to discover).

I think it’s important for everyone to find things to keep them busy.

Free time is amazing and allows you to recover from stress and other events that might take a toll on your physical and mental health, but too much of it can be just as destructive.

Find something you are passionate about and pour yourself into it.

Even if it takes up most of your time, give it your all because staying busy with the right things can benefit you more than you know.

Anne Dawson is the online editor at The Plainsman.

Our free press pushes people to open their minds to new ideas and, most importantly, to try to see things through the eyes of people whose lives differ from their own.

Its importance has been recognized since America’s founding, with Thomas Jefferson once writing, “Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”

HER VIEW

VIA USDA

Hunger and you: take action Brytni Emison COLUMNIST

You stand in front of your fridge. Stomach growling, pain creeping at your sides, your head is throbbing and you’re beyond hangry. The only thing remaining is the musty smell that emanates from every empty refrigerator. You check the pantry. It too is bare. Your wallet, besides some spare change, is bare. Your bank account is almost overdrawn, and your next paycheck won’t come in for a few more days.

This is just a taste of food insecurity.

Most Americans never have to worry about where their next meal will come from. If they don’t have food in the fridge, they can run to Walmart or stop at McDonald’s. Yet there are millions of Americans facing food insecurity every day. In Alabama, the rate of food insecurity is above the national average, with 18.8 percent of Alabamians unsure of where their next

Claire Tully CAMPUS

Madison Ogletree PHOTO

Dakota Sumpter MANAGING EDITOR

Chip Brownlee COMMUNITY

Anne Dawson SOCIAL MEDIA

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meal may come from. In Lee County alone, there are over 27,000 food insecure people.

Many Auburn University students and even some staff and faculty face food insecurity. In 2012 Auburn University opened a food pantry to service those on campus who need some extra aid in finding their next meal.

Food insecurity is a reality for many, and there are many students on campus who are oblivious to their struggling classmates.

There are many programs on campus that aim to combat food insecurity in and around Auburn’s campus.

One of these efforts is known as Living the Creed, an organization dedicated to raising the wage of every Auburn employee to a fair wage — one they can live off of without having to face food insecurity.

The University also offers a minor in Hunger Studies. The introductory class — Hunger: Causes, Consequences, and Responses — introduces students to the issue of hunger, both domestically and internationally.

For the full column, visit ThePlainsman.com.

The Auburn Plainsman

The Editorial Board Corey Williams EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

The free press can, and often times does, help actualize progress.

Sometimes this takes place in the form of publicizing discomforting truths.

During the 1960s, staff at The Auburn Plainsman risked themselves when they criticized the University in an editorial for delaying desegregation efforts.

In response, a cross was burned in front of the author’s dorm, and the staff received calls expressing discontent because paper hadn’t reflected the beliefs of the students.

People can be notoriously stubborn and develop a taste for opinions that only align with their beliefs.

The free press serves as a gadfly that challenges our preconceived notions; it makes us question ourselves.

In doing so, it provides a vehicle with which we can make progress through self-examination.

The Plainsman, along with countless other local news outlets, works tirelessly to report community happenings — whether it be finding out how our tax dollars are being spent at city council, shedding light on issues like food insecurity or exposing the corruption that sometimes takes root in our politicians.

Journalists venture to the highest and lowest points of humanity and return, not always unharmed or alive, to tell the rest of us what they’ve found.

In doing so, they lift the voiceless and tear down those who would use their power for ill.

“The media” is one of the pillars of a free society, and it ought to be regarded as such.

Forgetting that, or neglecting to hold the media accountable, will undermine society.

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The opinions of The Auburn Plainsman staff are restricted to these pages.

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Letters must include the author’s name, address and phone number for verification, though the name of the author may be withheld upon request. Submission may be edited for grammar and/or length. Please submit no more than 400 words.

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Grant Peterson Montana Cole

Community Thursday, February 23, 2017

6 ThePlainsman.com

Community

FAMILY

CONTRIBUTED BY MEGAN SMALLEY

Conceiving the Inconceivable

Megan Smalley, owner of Scarlet & Gold in Auburn, will have twin boys in August after several years of struggling with infertility.

An Auburn business owner strives to help couples with infertility Kris Martins

ENTERPRISE EDITOR

Megan Smalley sat on her living room couch, fighting a wave of nausea. She wasn’t feeling well that day. In fact, her body had been, as she describes, to hell and back over the past several years. It seemed like her emotions were buckled into a rollercoaster tugged through highs and lows. So the nausea wasn’t an issue, per se. In this case, it was evidence of a heart’s desire fulfilled.

About six months from now, Smalley’s world will reorient itself, and she will find herself staring into two pairs of eyes that will make the past three years worth it.

She will be a mother — something that, at moments, seemed threatened by infertility. Now — through an extension of her lifestyle and gift business, Scarlet & Gold — Smalley hopes to reciprocate the love she received during her struggle by helping other couples with infertility.

Smalley, an Auburn grad and former Auburn cheerleader, was raised a pastor’s child in Houston and attended a Christian school in which she was with the same 75 people from kindergarten through high school. Sometimes she felt like she lived in a bubble, so when it came time to pick a college, she decided she needed a change and applied to two universities: Ole Miss and Auburn. Switching her decision from Ole Miss to Auburn halfway through her last year of high school, Smalley said her goodbyes to Texas and “never looked back.”

It was at Auburn where she met her husband, Blake, during her senior year after the two attended a basketball trip together — she as a cheerleader and he as manager of the women’s

basketball team. The two married and moved out of Auburn for a year before returning about four years ago.

Smalley and her husband began trying to have a child in 2013, about one year into their marriage. She assumed it would be easy for them — it was easy for her mother. Each month she hoped to see the pregnancy test confirm her desires, but after about six months of hopes followed by heartbreak, she knew something was wrong.

The couple went through several tests before being referred to a fertility specialist in Georgia who told them in vitro fertilization was their only option for a chance at parenthood.

IVF is a manual combination of an egg and sperm in a laboratory dish before transferring a fertilized embryo into the uterus.

“That is as intense and invasive as it gets and expensive as it gets,” Smalley said. IVF is usually a couple’s last resort. “It was really devastating. Earth-shattering.”

The couple is still unsure the cause of infertility, though her husband has Type I diabetes, which can sometimes be linked to infertility.

The Smalleys shelled out about $15,000 out of pocket for IVF but were left without success.

Instead, because of the clinic’s seemingly cookie-cutter treatment for all women going through IVF, Smalley was given too many hormones, her ovaries almost ruptured, and she was put on bed rest about halfway through the process.

Every time she was at the clinic, she felt like people treated her like a ticking time bomb.

“I would have fall-down-on-the-floor-crying episodes because I didn’t know what to wear, and I am not very emotional,” she said.

“My husband was like, ‘What happened to my wife?’”

In the same phone call that her doctor told her she wasn’t pregnant — that it was all lost — he also suggested she try donor eggs.

It was a shot to the gut for Smalley, and it didn’t make sense. Her family had no history of female infertility. She didn’t believe him. Furthermore, she refused to sacrifice her chance for a biological child by trying donor eggs.

She took a break. Only after about six months did her body start to feel normal again, and it took double that to recover emotionally. Some days it was hard to get out of bed. On top of that, during that recovery, several of her friends got pregnant.

She struggled to balance her loss with the joyous news, but also felt that some were insensitive to her situation and set unrealistic expectations for her when they gave her the news she wished she could give.

“I feel like with pregnancy more so than really anything else, people expect the moon when they tell you that they’re pregnant,” Smalley said. “When you’ve just walked through intense loss, getting to that point of emotions … it’s really impossible when you’re in this really dark place.”

The gift of grace Over the next two years, some friendships tapered out because of those expectations, but others stayed with her in the midst of suffering.

Koral Dean, creative director of Scarlet & Gold, witnessed Smalley’s journey through the years, from the beginning of the business to her loss and recovery from the first IVF attempt.

During that recovery time, Dean discovered

one reason preventing Smalley from trying IVF again was finances, even when she was beginning to feel emotionally and physically ready to try again.

“I did not want money to be an issue to hold them back from something as special as a family,” Dean said.

After testing the idea on the Scarlet & Gold team and after Smalley decided she would share her story, Dean started the Give Grace Campaign in 2015. It gathered funds by selling select merchandise from Scarlet & Gold to fully pay for Smalley’s second IVF treatment in Denver. It covered all travel costs, testing and more, which totaled over $40,000.

But toward the beginning of her second IVF attempt, Smalley still had one concern.

What if, after all the fundraising, it didn’t work?

“And I, speaking for everyone that I know on the team, would say … ‘We’ll raise it again. If it doesn’t work, we’ll raise it again,’” Dean said.

In 2018, they hope the campaign can begin helping other couples afford IVF or adoption.

Details about the application process for receiving funds is still in the works as well as the new Give Grace product line for 2018. Right now they’re in the process of transforming it from a fundraiser for the Smalleys to a foundation.

As the Give Grace Campaign raised money for Smalley, she tried to be a voice for those walking through infertility. When the campaign started, people weren’t talking about it.

“For whatever reason, it’s a struggle that is so silenced and that people are afraid to speak out about because I guess they feel shame,” she

» See FAMILY, 7

CONSTRUCTION

City begins demolishing old Moore’s Mill Bridge to make way for second bridge Chip Brownlee COMMUNITY EDITOR

The old Moore’s Mill Road bridge is being demolished to make room for the second phase of the Moore’s Mill bridge replacement.

Demolition began last week and will last through midMarch, according to the city.

The old bridge spans a portion of Interstate 85. Demolition over the interstate will occur at night to minimize traffic effects. The city will place roadblocks as necessary on I85, which could cause delays.

The newly constructed Moore’s Mill Road bridge opened to traffic in late January, completing the first phase of the two-phase project to improve traffic flow to some of Auburn’s largest southern neighborhoods.

One lane of traffic in either direction was shifted to the new bridge. Once the project is completed, there will be two bridges. The old bridge being demolished now will be replaced with a three-lane bridge that will allow for five lanes in total to cross Interstate 85.

Ward 5 City Councilwoman Lynda Tremaine, whose district includes the Moore’s

Mill bridge and areas north, said the project will be good for the city in the long-run, despite delays and traffic experienced during the construction phase.

“It will be wonderful when it all opens,” Tremaine said.

“It made me change my grocery shopping schedule, but it will be a good project. All the development over the south side of Interstate 85 has made traffic back up a mile or two over the bridge. The main thing is that it will help the traffic congestion.”

Traffic over the bridge and along East University Drive has been delayed as crews built the new bridge and began preparing the old bridge for replacement.

Construction on the bridge began in late April when crews began work on the new foundations and preparing the ground to build abutments to hold the new bridge.

Moore’s Mill Road crosses Interstate 85 in South Auburn and connects the city’s core to its southern neighborhoods including Ogletree and Grove Hill.

Thousands lived across the aging bridge, which could carry only two lanes of traffic.

Only two lanes will remain open until the second new bridge is completed over the next year. The new bridge will also incldue a multi-use path to connect the city to Moore’s Mill Park.

The bridge replacement is intended to alleviate bumperto-bumper traffic for all of the

residents who live in those neighborhoods.

The Alabama Department of Transportation will continue to limit left-turn access near the construction site along both East University Drive and Moore’s Mill Road, Director of Public Works Jeff Ramsey said last year.

The city still advises commuters to use alternative routes through the area when they’re available.

The total project will cost about $12 million. Eighty percent of the cost of the project will be covered by the state through a grant, and the remaining 20 percent, or about

$2.5 million, will be covered by the city’s budget.

The remainder of the project, which includes tearing down the old bridge and building a replacement to allow for four full lanes of traffic and a turn lane across two new bridges, still has about a year until completion.

Thursday, February 23, 2017

Community 7

The Auburn Plainsman

CITY

Council makes $4 million land purchase for city parks and recreation S am Willoughby COMMUNITY REPORTER

The City of Auburn now has 160 more acres of land for park and recreational use.

At their regular meeting Tuesday night, the Auburn City Council unanimously approved the purchase of the plot located between Richland Road and Highway 14 from the Auburn City Board of Education.

The board purchased the land in July 2016 as part of a bigger 272-acre deal.

After developing a master plan for the land that includes a new elementary school and a new high school, the board determined the remaining acreage could be sold to the city for $4 million.

The land includes a lake that Parks and Recreation Director Rebecca Richardson said could be used as a focal point for walking trails or even for fishing.

An early mockup of the plan for the land done by the city also features several baseball diamonds and multipurpose fields similar to the intramural fields on Auburn University’s campus.

Richardson said the land will be incorporated as part of her department’s master plan currently being developed.

The Parks and Recreation Department hopes to have the plan completed by late April or early May, Richardson said at the Feb. 7 council meeting.

The purchase agreement was originally introduced at the council’s meeting two weeks ago when it was tabled until council members could learn more information about the land and tour it for themselves.

At that Feb. 7 meeting, Ward 2 Councilman Ron Anders described buying the large plot as an opportunity to “build out our parks and rec needs for our citizens, our children [and] their parents for years and years and years to come.”

Anders, along with Ward 3 Councilwoman Beth Witten,

SAM WILLOUGHBY / COMMUNITY REPORTER

Mayor Bill Ham,Assistant City Manager James Buston, Councilwoman Beth Witten, and Parks and Recreation Director Rebecca Richardson examine the property.

Ward 5 Councilwoman Lynda Tremaine and Mayor Bill Ham, toured the undeveloped land last week.

At the Feb. 21 council meeting, Witten said touring the land and seeing a concept plan were helpful in making the decision to vote in favor of the purchase.

“I think it would be a great asset for our community for years to come,” she said.

As part of a separate ordinance Tuesday night, the council also approved the rezoning of a 4-acre plot that borders the newly acquired land to the north.

The rezoning of the plot will allow its owners to build more homes, up to one per acre, onsite. The only council member to vote against the ordinance was Witten, who cited concerns over increased congestion in the area.

CRIME

Man arrested and charged with kidnapping, assaulting co-worker Staff Report

Police arrested an Auburn man Tuesday on charges including kidnapping and assaulting a coworker.

David R. Brewer II, 35, is charged with second-degree kidnapping, third-degree assault and reckless endangerment after a days-long police investigation found he kidnapped an incapacitated coworker after close.

On Saturday afternoon, Auburn

police responded to assist paramedics with an unresponsive woman in a car in a parking lot on the 1600 block of Opelika Road, according to an Auburn Police Division press release.

After being treated on the scene, the 27-year-old female was brought to East Alabama Medical Center emergency room where she was treated for dehydration, minor bruises and abrasions and later released.

Further investigation found that

FAMILY » From 6

said. “So many women feel like this is what our bodies are born to do, and when you can’t, you feel like a failure.”

She decided to start a conversation based on her experience, knowing there were people who were enduring the same pain. She didn’t want to suffer in vain.

“I wanted it to be a platform to share my story from a really raw and open place when I was in the middle of it so that people would feel less alone,” she said.

When she restarted the IVF process in October in Denver, she wanted to share her story play-by-play while in the process, regardless of the outcome.

“I wanted people to see me praising the Lord and being grateful for the struggle and using this for God’s glory in the middle of it,” she said. “Not once we got our happy ending.”

So she began an email list for people who wanted updates, and now, 2,500 people from across the country follow her story and prayed for her during the process.

Ever since the campaign, Smalley said she’s heard more people speak out about their experiences and share their stories. She described it as a domino effect: After she shared her story, people felt empowered to share theirs.

Full circle Shoppers crowded the stores two days before Christmas. People would shut their doors for the next two days to spend time with their children and their relatives. It was that day that Smalley would find out if she, too, would spend next Christmas with a child of her own.

At 7 a.m. on Dec. 23 she took a blood test at the hospital and awaited the results that would confirm or deny her pregnancy.

She stared at the phone all day. The weight of the world seemed to rest in the sound of a phone call. She needed the results that day as much as someone needed that last-minute Christmas present.

“The first time around, I knew I wasn’t pregnant. … Every time I pictured getting the phone call, it was always bad news,” she said. “And this time, it was the total opposite.

I couldn’t picture it being bad news.”

She almost knew for certain she was pregnant, which made the waiting easier. She had become accustomed to waiting.

She finally forced herself out of the house for lunch. She and some family members had settled in at a local restaurant in downtown Auburn when her phone rang.

Her nurse from the Denver clinic, who wasn’t on duty that day, had the nurses in Denver tell her the faxed results so she could call Smalley personally.

“Are you sitting down?” the nurse said.

Smalley said she was.

Brewer and the victim both worked at a restaurant in the 1600 block of Opelika Road.

Video surveillance footage showed that Brewer took the incapacitated woman from the business after it is was closed early Saturday morning, placed her into his car and left with her.

The victim was discovered hours later inside of her locked car in a nearby parking lot, still incapacitated and suffering from dehydration,

“Girl, you are super pregnant,” she responded.

Two weeks later, she found out she was pregnant with fraternal twin boys. She said she had girl names picked out, naturally, but decided that the boys’ names will be family or biblical names.

It’s turned her life upside down. She joked that sometimes she’s worried she’s carrying more than two children.

“Every time I go in for an ultrasound, I make them double check again that there’s only two,” she said with a laugh. “Like, ‘Can you just make sure there’s not one hiding in there somewhere?’”

She’s due in early to mid-August and hopes to start planning for the children after her first trimester.

Sitting on her couch, 11 weeks into her pregnancy, Smalley thought on the heartbeat of the Give Grace Campaign.

“I felt like grace is something that is so needed on both sides of any struggle,” she said. She learned to give herself grace in her struggle but also saw the importance of giving people grace in their limited ability to understand and respond appropriately to the struggle.

During her difficulties, Smalley learned that others often don’t know what to say when people go through tough moments in life.

Often times they don’t say anything, even though saying something and simply being supportive goes a long way.

“Whatever the dark season, I just wish that as a society we loved people better through hard things,” she said.

Before infertility, she said, she hadn’t faced any major struggles in life.

“Before that I would say the hardest thing I went through was not making cheerleading the first year, which so pales in comparison to a struggle like this,” Smalley said.

She didn’t understand the sorrow people walked through. Now she sees others’ sufferings with a new perspective — one person’s burden is different from another’s. With the newfound understanding, her sympathy has grown.

“I’ve learned to love people well and to put other people first and to care about somebody else’s heart before my own,” she said.

Everyone is promised suffering in life, she said. No one can escape it. And she hopes that through her story she can help people who may not fully comprehend loss or extreme sorrow at least understand it to some extent and encourage them to be more sympathetic.

Even with loss and pain, she’s thankful for her experience because it’s made her who she is. It taught her how to love people in their dark moments.

“For me,” she said, “it’ll always be a part of who I am.”

minor bruises and abrasions, the release states.

Police found Brewer at his Auburn home and took him into custody with warrants charging him with seconddegree kidnapping, third-degree assault and reckless endangerment.

The case remains under investigation and additional charges are possible, police said.

Brewer was transported to the Lee County Jail where he is being held at a $27,000 bond.

BREWER

Sports

8

Thursday, February 23, 2017

ThePlainsman.com

Sports

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Auburn secures winning season Jack Winchester SPORTS EDITOR

After giving up at least 60 points in three of its last four second halves, the Auburn men’s basketball team allowed just 33 second half points on Tuesday night on the way to a dominant 9875 win in Baton Rouge over LSU. “It was crucial,” said Auburn coach Bruce Pearl. “We had to have this one.”

For the first time in a few weeks, the Auburn Tigersplayed better in the second half than the first half, which was good enough to snap a three game losing skid for Auburn.

The Tigers had five players in double figures and were led by Ronnie Johnson, who has been brilliant for Pearl recently.

Johnson finished with 17 points, followed by Danjel Purifoy and Bryce Brown who both contributed 15 points.

Mustapha Heron added 10 points, TJ Dunans scored 11 points, and Austin Wiley and Anfernee McLemore had 9 points.

Auburn led by as many as 26 points in the second half, thanks to hot shooting from behind the arc.

Auburn hit 14 of 31 threepointers, eight of those which came in the second half of play.

“We are so young, and you just don’t know what you’re going to get,” Pearl said. “But I think it is going to put a little wind in our

sails. We’ve got three games left. We’ve probably got to 2-1 in these last three games to have a chance to not play on the first night of the SEC (Tournament).”

LSU, who lost its 14th straight game, was led by guard Antonio Blakeney, who finished with 29 points.

The home Tigers were in striking distance at the beginning of the second half, but hot shooting from Auburn and a lack of prodution by players not named Blakeney would not allow LSU the chance to earn a victory.

Defense was key for Auburn in the second half, as the Tigers held LSU to 34 percent shooting in the half.

LSU’s 33 points are the fewest number of points Auburn has given up in the second half of an SEC game this season.

“We played better defense in the second half. We didn’t get killed on the boards,” Pearl said. “We won the battle of the boards by 9 (3930). Better defense. Better rebounding. And if we can improve in that area, we can be a pretty competitive team.”

The victory secured Auburn a winning season, which marks the first winning season for the program since the 2008-2009 season.

Auburn returns home and will take on the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday in Auburn Arena.

Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.

CST, and the action can be seen on the SEC Network.

CATHERINE WOFFORD Mustapha Heron (5) prepares to shoot the ball during a game vs. LSU

MATTHEW BISHOP / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Keegan Thompson (7) goes after a runner during Auburn vs George Washington baseball on Friday, Feb. 17,

Back and better than ever Keegan Thompson ready to lead after year absence

Will Sahlie ASSISANT SPORTS EDITOR

Keegan Thompson experienced a brand new perspective of pitching last season, one that he would not like to repeat.

Following two stellar seasons to begin his Auburn career, the Tigers ace missed his entire junior season because of Tommy John surgery.

While sidelined, Thompson became a de facto assistant coach.

“I kind of helped out in the bullpen, kind of coached a little bit,” Thompson said. “It was a little different perspective.”

The Cullman, Alabama, native said it was one of the hardest seasons of his career.

“Last year was tough, it was the first time I haven’t played since I was probably 6 years old playing t-ball,” Thompson said. “Our pitching staff kind of struggled last year, so it made it even tougher not being able to help out and contribute.”

Auburn’s pitching staff struggled without its ace, finishing 12th in the SEC in ERA. The Tigers also finished 13th in the league in strikeouts. Those are two categories that Thompson should help mightily in 2017.

In his two seasons on the Plains, Thompson is 12-6 with a 2.49 ERA in 26 games for the Tigers.

He has struck out 135 batters compared to just 39 walks allowed. He has allowed just five homeruns in 159.1 in-

nings. Opposing hitters have hit just .211 against him.

Auburn head coach Butch Thompson admitted it was hard without his ace in his first season at Auburn.

“It’s hard for all 14 teams in this league, the best league in the country, to go without an ace,” Auburn’s second-year head coach said.

Last summer, Keegan was selected in the 33rd round of the 2016 MLB Draft by the Detroit Tigers.

Instead of turning his dream of playing professional baseball into a reality, he decided to return to Auburn for at least one more season.

“I’ve always wanted to play professional baseball, but I figured I had something else to prove here,” Keegan said.

After a year of rehab on his entire right arm, Keegan Thompson will once again toe the rubber inside Plainsman Park.

“We’re all excited,” Keegan said. “I had a good fall. Everybody worked hard in the fall, so we’re all just excited to get back out there and playing.”

After two years of watching Keegan as an opponent, Butch is excited to have the star right-hander on his side.

“I go back just a few years ago as an opponent (at Mississippi State), watching Keegan pitch, he has great mound presence, he’s a great competitor and he just has a great feel for the game,” Butch said.

“I felt like when Keegan was on the mound that Auburn felt like they had a chance to win. I want that same feeling restored to

SWIMMING AND DIVING

Tigers shine at SEC Championships Jack Winchester SPORTS EDITOR

After seeking her first victory in a distance event earlier this year, senior swimmer Ashley Neidigh is now at the top of the conference.

On Saturday, she topped the entire SEC, winning the 1650 freestyle.

Neidigh became the program’s eighth SEC mile champion, cruising to 15:56.95 to win the race by 10 seconds over second place.

The win makes her Auburn’s first female individual SEC swimming champion since Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace won the 50 free in 2012.

“It’s amazing to see (Ashley’s) transformation over four years,” head coach Brett Hawke said. “She stuck with the

process and has grown so much.”

On the men’s side, a trio of Tigers were grabbing top-four finishes.

Scott Lazeroff placed second on the platform, Joe Patching took third in the 200 backstroke and Michael Duderstadt was fourth in the 200 breaststroke.

Lazeroff grabbed his second straight top-three finish on the platform, finishing a career-best 461.00, which was good enough for second.

That came just after his prelims performance in which he scored a 447.85, which at the time was a career-best.

“We all know that platform is Scott’s love and he came this morning with focus and with the mission to make up for his springboard performance,” diving coach Jeff Shaffer said. “Two lists, both were

personal-bests, and I’m real proud of his performance tonight.”

Patching brought home a bronze medal with a third-place showing in the 200 back in his final SEC race.

Auburn’s men finished third in the team standings with 925.5 points, making it 25 consecutive top-three finishes in a row, the longest active streak in the SEC. “We are a proud, rich tradition at Auburn and we certainly never want that to end, but we are disappointed we are not on the top of the podium holding that trophy,” Hawke said.

The Auburn women took fifth with 849 points.

The Florida Gators won the men’s event while Texas A&M earned the women’s title.

our dugout and to our fans.”

“I think Keegan does that for us. We have a chance to win today because Keegan is going. That is one of the best compliments you can give a starting pitcher.”

Auburn will look to rebound from a 2333 2016 season as Butch Thompson looks to rebuild the Auburn program.

With Keegan healthy this season, Butch believes that he has two aces to slot into his weekend rotation.

“Casey Mize, I think, is an ace too,” Butch said. “I want to be so optimistic this time of the year before you ever play a game. I feel like we have two aces going into the season.”

Auburn’s pitching and defense should be much better, especially with the return of Keegan.

Auburn’s offense will have to replace four MLB Draft selections, Anfernee Grier, Joshua Palacios, Nike Buentello and Jordan Ebert. However, Keegan and his teammates have big dreams for the 2017 campaign.

“We want to go to a NCAA regional, but everybody wants to go to Omaha,” Keegan said. “If you don’t want to go to Omaha, you shouldn’t be playing.”

Keegan took the ball on Opening Day for Auburn and pitched six scoreless innings in his return. He scattered four hits and earned the win in his second Opening Day start. The Tigers took three of four from The George Washington University to begin the season.

Thursday, February 23, 2017

MEN’S GOLF

Golf cards Top 5 finish Jake Wright SPORTS WRITER

No. 15 ranked Auburn Men’s Golf finished fifth at the All American Intercollegiate with a score of 1 over par 289 on Sunday and 2 under overall with a score of 862 for the tournament.

The tournament took place at the par 72, 7,067 yard AAI Course at the Golf Club of Houston.

No. 8 Baylor won the tournament with a score of 836, which is 28 under par, while No. 1 Vanderbilt came in second with a score of 841 and 23 under par.

For Auburn, All-SEC senior Matt Gilchrest paced the Tigers at 3 under to tie for 13th place.

He birdied holes 12-13-14 on the last day of

Sports 9

The Auburn Plainsman

the tournament to card a 2 under 70. Sophomore Trace Crowe and freshman Jovan Rebula shot even par 216’s to tie for 25th. Sophomore Jacob Soloman tied for 37th with a 219 3 over par, while senior Will Long shot 6 over 222 to tie for 56th senior Ryan Benton played as an individual in the tournament and tied for 37th with Soloman.

Cooper Dossey of Baylor won Low Medalists honors for the tournament. He carded a 6866-72 to finish with a score of 206 and 10 under par.

Auburn will host the Tiger Invitational at Grand National in Opelika on March 5-7. The tournament is sponsored by Jason Dufner.

EQUESTRIAN

FILE PHOTO The Auburn equestrian team poses with their 2016 Championship trophy.

Auburn Equestrian earns victory in final home competition Jack Winchester SPORTS EDITOR

Matt Gilchrest watches his ball after a drive.

FILE PHOTO

The No. 4 Auburn equestrian team closed out its home schedule Saturday, hosting UT Martin at the Auburn University Horse Center. The Tigers defeated the visiting Skyhawks, 17-2, and improved to 5-3 on the season.

“We know we have a lot to prove, and I think this team did that today,” head coach Greg Williams said. “Today was a great confidence builder and we know we still have work to do.”

Before the final home meet, the Tigers honored their six seniors. Caroline Becker, Ashley Foster, Lena Hernig, Tory Hoft, Jacqueline Shilen and Hannah Stephens were recognized for their contributions to the program.

“Senior Day is always so special,” Williams said. “The work that this group has put in shows that they want to leave Auburn a better place than when they started.”

The Tigers opened the first half of the day with an 8-2 lead

at the conclusion of Equitation Over Fences and Horsemanship as each event went 4-1 overall.

Foster was awarded MOP honors for her ride in Fences and picked up 84 points the win.

Rhis was the senior’s second MOP in the event this year, and the win pushed her to 8-1 on the season. Sophomores Ashton Alexander, Alex Ladove and Caitlin Boyle added points to the Tigers score as they all earned wins in the discipline.

Megan Rauh had an extremely strong performance in Horsemanship, securing 75 points in her win over Madeline Williams. Freshman Kara Kaufmann’s 71.5-71 victory helped her remain undefeated in the event (7-0-1).

Sophomore Lauren Diaz added a point in the win column as she edged Liana Nowak, 72.5-72, and Stephens picked up her fifth win of the year with 70.5 points.

Auburn did not slow down after the intermission and went

undefeated in both Equitation on the Flat and Reining to secure the big win.

The Flat crew swept the Skyhawks as Boyle kicked things off with a tight 75-74 win over Claire Ottinger.

The remaining four Tiger riders score 80+ points in their matches.

The Tiger Reiners were all solid on the day, and sophomore Blair McFarlin led the charge.

McFarlin took MOP honors with a 71-69 win, and junior Alexa Rivard picked up her team-leading sixth victory, 69-64. Hernig, who was competing for a team point for the first time, earned big cheers from the team as she won her match, 65.5-64. Diaz also won as she edged Bobbie Piddock, 66.5-66.

Auburn concludes the regular season with a tough road slate beginning this weekend at South Carolina. The Tigers close things out in Texas, facing No. 1 Baylor (March 3) and No. 2 Texas A&M (March 4).

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Tigers downed by Crimson Tide in an overtime thriller S T UD E NT A F F A I R S Nathan King

SPORTS REPORTER

Heading into Monday night’s contest against Alabama, the Auburn Tigers found themselves amid an unsatisfactory tailspin.

After defeating the Crimson Tide in late January and climbing into the top half of the conference standings, the Tigers had lost five-straight.

However, Auburn had beaten their bitter in-state rival in five-straight games. Something had to give in Auburn Arena.

The Tigers and Tide took their time reaching a conclusion, but eventually Alabama escaped with a narrow victory, 63-61 in overtime on Monday night.

“It was a hard-fought game,” Auburn head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said.

“Our kids played extremely hard and it was a tough loss.”

Junior guard Hannah Cook hit the game-winning layup with six seconds to play for Alabama. Cook, an 82 percent free throw shooter on the year, redeemed herself, after missing a pair at the line with under a second left in regulation.

“Hannah Cook is a very good free throw shooter,” Williams-Flournoy said. “We still had a chance to win. For her to miss those two, the opportunity to win just went up even higher.”

With 0.2 remaining in the fourth quarter, Coach Flo drew up a lob to the rim for Brandy Montgomery. Montgomery bobbled the pass and couldn’t get the shot up in time.

In the overtime period, the teams traded back to back 5-0 runs to knot the score at 60.

Auburn sophomore guard Ja-

niah McKay went one for two at the line to push Auburn’s lead to one with a minute to go. Alabama guard Jordan Lewis followed suite, splitting a pair of free throws with 43 seconds left.

Auburn had a chance to take the lead with the next possession, but Brandy Montgomery’s jumper was just off the mark.

Alabama initially went with Jordan Lewis for their game-winner, but Cook found herself in the right place at the right time for the offensive rebound and put-back.

McKay couldn’t hit a layup of her own on the other end, which would have forced a second overtime period.

“I saw the clock, I just tried to push as hard as I could,” McKay said. “I wish I could have finished. But we could have prevented that from happening. We got outrebounded, bad. To lose by two, we could have had a couple more crucial rebounds and the game wouldn’t be decided by a last-second shot. We don’t want to continue to put ourselves in that position because these losses hurt.”

Alabama won the battle on the glass by 20, 56-36. The Crimson Tide feasted on second-chance buckets, besting the Tigers 21-10 in that category.

Auburn worked their defensive prowess, forcing 24 turnovers to Alabama’s 12, but the Tigers scored only 21 points off those turnovers.

“We still want to get more points than that,” WilliamsFlournoy said. “We want to get at least 30 points off of that. We did a very good job turning them over, we knew we could. We just need to

convert a little bit more and get some points.”

Auburn shot only 22 percent in the first quarter and scored only eight points. The Tigers seized their first lead of the night with 5:10 to play in the first half behind McKay’s eight points. McKay then exploded for 12 in the third quarter, eventually finishing with 29 for the night, tying a career-high.

Auburn senior forward Katie Frerking went down with an ankle injury in the third quarter, bringing the 2,607 in attendance at Auburn Arena to an alarmed hush.

Frerking was tended to on the sideline for approximately five minutes of game time, then returned to the lineup.

Frerking turned in yet another resourceful offensive performance, tallying 16 points, 6 boards and 4 assists.

Minus Frerking and McKay, the remaining Tigers that saw the floor scored a combined 16 points on 8 of 33 shooting.

The home loss stretches Auburn’s losing streak to six games with only two games remaining in the 2017 regular season. The victory for the Tide snaps their five-game skid at the hands of their rival.

“Six straight losses, that’s tough,” Williams-Flournoy said. “And they’ve been tough games, winnable games.”

Alabama and Auburn both move to 5-9 in the conference, with Auburn falling to 15-13 overall and the Tide ascending to 17-10.

The Tigers will look to halt their now six-game skid at home against LSU on Thursday night. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. CST on the SEC Network Plus.

S P OT L I G H T

Campus Recreation

REGISTRATION IS OPEN FOR INTRAMURAL SPORTS! The Intramural Sports program is free and open to all Auburn students, faculty, and staff members.

This year the teams will have several special events including swimming and diving, inner tube water polo, and tennis doubles.

For more information or to register, visit campusrec.auburn.edu/intramural-sports

auburn.edu/StudentAffairs

@AuburnStudents

facebook.com/AuburnStudents

@AuburnStudents

Auburn Students

Sports 10

Thursday, February 23, 2017

The Auburn Plainsman

This week in Auburn sports

WADE RACKLEY / AUBURN ATHLETICS

ABOVE: Casey Mize (32) pitches during game three of the series against George Washington on on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017.Auburn won 9-5.

LEFT: Daniel Robert (20) makes a run. Auburn vs George Washington on Friday, Feb. 17.Auburn won 9-0.

DAKOTA SUMPTER / AUBURN ATHLETICS

Haley Fagan (2) makes a catch at second to get the runner out during Auburn’s game against Creighton on Friday, Feb. 17, 2017, in Auburn,Ala.Auburn won 8-0 (5-inn.).

ADAM SPARKS / PHOTOGRAPHER DAKOTA SUMPTER / AUBURN ATHLETICS

Kaylee Carlson (16) pitches during Auburn’s game against Creighton on Friday, Feb. 17.Auburn won 8-0 (5-inn.).

Gymnastics In the first week of Regional Qualifying Score rankings, the Auburn gymnastics team stands 14th with a team average of 196.015.

“It’s good to see that we’ve moved up after our big meet last Friday,” head coach Jeff Graba said. “RQS is now in play and we need to keep improving. It seems that every meet gets more important this time of year. We have No. 2 LSU coming to town Friday, and I think it’s obvious we need to bring our A-game.”

For the remainder of the season, Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) will determine rankings. RQS is determined by the team’s total average with its home meets and three highest away meets, as well as drop-

LEFT: Kasey Cooper (13) celebrates after reaching second base during Auburn’s game on Saturday, Feb. 18.

RIGHT: Victoria Draper (27) listens to instruction from coach Clint Myers.

ping the team’s highest score. The same ranking goes for individuals with their high score dropped and at least three away scores counted.

The Tigers rank in the Top 20 in all four events heading into this this Friday. Auburn is No. 11 on bars (49.130) and tied for 14th on floor (49.055). The Tigers are sitting at 18th on vault (48.980) and tied for 18th beam (49.010).

Auburn returns to the Plains for another SEC meet in Auburn Arena, and will welcome No. 2 LSU. Auburn and the Bayou Bengals are set to square off this Friday at 7:30 p.m. CST on SEC Network.

in this week’s USA Today/NFCA coaches’ poll. Conference foe Florida fell from No. 1 to No. 3 after falling to Maryland, and unbeaten Florida State jumped from No. 3 to No. 1. The top ranked Seminoles are 100, and have not faced a ranked opponent this season.

The one loss Tigers went 6-0 over the past week behind the dominance of pitchers Makayla Martin and Kaylee Carlson to improve to 9-1 on the season.

Florida State had 18 first place votes and 776 points. Auburn had 10 first-place votes and 762 points. Oklahoma and Oregon rounded out the top five.

Softball

Men’s Basketball

The No.2 Auburn softball team stayed put

Auburn forward Horace Spencer under-

DAKOTA SUMPTER / AUBURN ATHLETICS

Carlee Wallace (00) watches her hit during Auburn’s game against Mercer on Sunday, Feb. 19.Auburn won 10-1 (5-inn.).

went surgery on Tuesday to repair an injured left shoulder. Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said the operation was “successful.”

The surgery, which was done by Dr. James Andrews revealed a “pretty significant tear in the labrum” of Spencer’s left shoulder.

“He had the surgery yesterday, it went well and I got a chance to see him yesterday when he got back,” Pearl said. “There wasn’t a lot of damage that went along with it. The doctor felt like it was very successful.”

The surgery will not allow Spencer to return this season, but the sophomore is expected to be healthy at the start of the 2018 season. The rehab process is expected to last four to five months.

Spencer finished this season averaging 4.8

points, 3.4 rebounds and a team-high 28 blocks in just 19 games played.

Men’s Tennis The Auburn men’s tennis team (6-4) swept a home doubleheader with Samford (2-6) Saturday at the Yarbrough Tennis Center by scores of 4-0 and 4-0.

“I think we came out a little slow in the morning for the doubles. I stressed with the guys that doubles is all about energy and coming out quick out of the gate,” Auburn coach Bobby Reynolds said. “The guys came back in singles and got on top of them early. “ Auburn returns to action on Friday and Saturday at the Blue-Gray National Tennis Classic at Lagoon Park in Montgomery.

Lifestyle Thursday, February 23, 2017

11 ThePlainsman.com

Lifestyle

TRAVEL

Leaving The Plains for a day

Students can find art and cuisine while adventuring in Atlanta Delaney McDevitt LIFESTYLE WRITER

As much as we love Auburn and its bubble where everything is great and jolly, sometimes we just have to get away. It’s hard to find a fun place to go for a weekend trip when you’re surrounded by small towns and the same run-of-themill shopping areas.

Just 90 minutes down I-85 you’ll find yourself in Atlanta, Georgia. As an out-of-towner, I found myself in a love/hate relationship with Atlanta because the traffic is terrible, one wrong turn and you’re in the “bad side of town” and the roads just don’t make any sense. Aside from the challenges you’ll face getting to your destination on the confusing and overwhelming roadways, the destination is always worth it.

When you cross the threshold into the city, you’re entering a whole new world where an abundance of cultures come together to create a melting pot. One of my latest destinations in At-

lanta was The Sweet Auburn Curb Market.

This market has no connection to our beloved Auburn, Alabama (I spoke to a few of the people who work in the food stalls of the market and many of them have never even heard of Auburn University). The market opened its doors in 1924 to become one of the first desegregated market places and is now home to 24 individual businesses.

Lauren Duxbury, a business owner, combined her South African roots with southern soul food to create Panbury’s Double Crust Pies, Lauren says her pies are made “from scratch with all fresh herbs, fresh vegetables and really good quality meats.” Lauren and her husband started the bakery themselves and have moved around from New Orleans and Charleston, only to end up here in Atlanta. They’ve brought together influences from the places they’ve been to create their products, which have been a hit since they opened in 2014.

While Panbury’s Double Crust Pies is considered one of the “newer vendors,” as Lauren mentioned, there are others who are looking to become an addition to the local market. I spoke with a pop-up vendor called “Mama’s Always Rice,” which features homemade Korean cuisine.

Erica and her mom and aunt are originally from Korea and feel that they’d make a great addition to the food-to-table style fare that the Curb Market offers. Erica says her aunt “is a nutritionist from Korea and had the idea to start a Koreanstyle restaurant,” which they hope to get started here in The Curb Market.

There is no doubt that the food in Atlanta is great no matter which market you go to. The Sweet Auburn Curb Market, The Ponce City Market and The Krog Street Market are just a few of choices. There’s more to do than just eat your way through Atlanta, though.

After you stuff yourself with a pie from Panbury’s, or enjoy some bulgogi from Mama’s Al-

ways Rice, take a walk down the street and you’ll notice that many of the buildings are covered with street art. I’m not talking about the sloppy graffiti you’ll see on bridges, I’m talking about wall art—art that will make you pause and think.

Local artists have taken time to mark Atlanta’s neighborhoods with beauty in the strangest of places. The contrast of a rundown neighborhood with beautiful portraits that could be found in an art studio have found home to side streets and alleyways. Most of these works are featured on a Pinterest, Facebook and other social media databases.

This goes to show that a little help from Google and Pinterest can go a long way the next time you’re looking to plan an out of town adventure from Auburn. Atlanta is absolutely worth the trip, and I would even recommend an overnight stay if you get the chance—the longer you’re there, the more hidden gems you’re bound to find.

DELANEY MCDEVITT / LIFESTYLE WRITER

Street art and local cuisine make for a cultural outing in Atlanta.

Lifestyle 12

Thursday, February 23, 2017

The Auburn Plainsman

COLUMN

‘Santa Clarita Diet’ is a no KARL HACKMILLER LIFESTYLE WRITER

A Netflix Original production, “Santa Clarita Diet” is your trophy sitcom with an imaginative twist. The show follows the story of Sheila and Joel Hammond, played by Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant, two upper middle class realtors trying to raise their spunky teen and live the American Dream in sunny Santa Clarita, California.

Our crucial twist: Sheila Hammond is slowly turning into a real-life, eat-your-brains zombie. Living between a nosy county sheriff and a no-nonsense police officer, Sheila and Joel must adapt to this tricky situation without turning too many heads.

The episodes seem to cycle through a series of repeating writers and directors, which bleeds into the dialogue and cinematography. That being said, all the directors and writers at least share the unifying vision that this television show should look and feel as close to the hit show “Weeds” as possible. They both represent Southern California in the same way—full of rich nosy neighbors, punk teens and SoCal McMansions.

Both shows also play on the irony of the quiet, suburban setting and illegal behavior of the characters, eating brains and selling drugs respective-

ly. Unfortunately for Santa Clarita Diet and the viewers, this mimicry, while flattering, comes out in the form of zany, in-your-face characters who seem to do everything imaginable to make their dialogue and action as edgy as possible, from smoking weed randomly throughout the show to generous and awkward swearing.

The main characters in the show are, of course, Sheila and Joel. They’re introduced in that uninspired trope of a sex-hungry husband and his sexhating wife in an opening shot that is somehow impressive in how disappointing it is.

If you can stomach the first few episodes — the first episode does have quite a bit of CGI vomit in it — then the show hits its stride, though the dialogue remains forced and just a little too edgy, and stock characters abound. The first few episodes are particularly hard to watch because of just how much work the exposition is doing.

Netflix originals seem to be hit or miss. The company produces ground-breaking dramas, such as “House of Cards” or “Peaky Blinders,” and yet time and time again releases sitcom duds like “The Ranch,” a TV show that, as far as I can tell, is about Ashton Kutcher being really, really, ridiculously good looking, or “Fuller House,” the show no one watched because seriously, how could anyone watch that? No, seriously. I genuinely want to know.

Anyway, if you are looking for a new show to drag you out of your mid-semester slump, look literally anywhere else besides “Santa Clarita Diet.”

PLAINSMAN PICKS PLAYLIST:

this week, the plainsman editors chose their favorite mardi gras songs. listen to their picks and follow the auburn plainsman at spotify.com/the_auburnplainsman.

"The City of New Orleans” by Arlo Guthrie Corey Williams, editor-in-chief “This song has nothing to do with Mardi Gras. ”

"Something Like That” by Tim McGraw Jack Winchester, sports editor “Down in NEEEW Orleans. ”

"Down in New Orleans” by Dr. John Chip Browlee, community editor “It reminds me of beignets. ”

"After Mardi Gras” by Steve Earle Dakota Sumpter, managing editor “It’s not always about the fun. ”

"Mardi Gras Mambo” by The Hawketts Claire Tully, campus editor “Not to be confused with Mambo No. 5. ”

Adoptable pet of the week

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

MADISON OGLETREE / PHOTO EDITOR

DAKOTA SUMPTER / MANAGING EDITOR

The sun sets over campus as pedestrians travel along Thach concourse. Monday, Feb. 20, 2017, in Auburn,Ala.

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Print Deadline Noon three business days prior to publication

RELEASE DATE– Monday, August 15, 2016

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

ACROSS 1 Scale readings: Abbr.

4 Pau or Marc of the NBA 9 Roofing material 14 Snicker syllable 15 Essential acid, familiarly 16 Online cash-back deal 17 WSW’s opposite 18 Giveaway bags 19 Lone Star State 20 Painful reality that one doesn’t want to face 23 Bite-sized fish dish 24 Bond creator Fleming 25 “I thought so!”

28 Close enough to share intimate secrets 33 Didn’t toss out 34 Vigilant 35 2015 award for Steph Curry 39 Have a craving (for) 42 Crucifix letters 43 Skin irritations 45 Slips that promise payment 47 Features of many mountain roads 53 Walk-__: small roles 54 British ref. work 55 March b-ball tourneys, casually 57 1984 #1 hit for Cyndi Lauper 62 Nest sound 64 Start to type?

65 Chaney of horror films 66 Tapered boat 67 Five minutes past a quarter of 68 “Patience __ virtue” 69 Use up money 70 Cook, as mussels 71 Body art, briefly ... and, initially, a hint to this puzzle’s four longest answers

DOWN 1 Stimulates, as an appetite 2 Basic training command 3 “Good grief!”

4 London airport 5 “I __ the opinion ... ” 6 In __: unmoved 7 New law student 8 Went berserk 9 Porky Pig’s girlfriend 10 “Yeah, right!”

11 Financial shelter 12 Windy City “L” operator: Abbr.

13 Stag party attendees 21 23-Across tuna 22 Cheering word 26 Münster mister 27 Italian wine region 29 __ lime pie 30 Big primate 31 Laundry day target 32 Quarterback Manning 35 This, in Spain 36 Scattered, as seed 37 Uncorrupted 38 “Of course!”

40 Angler’s pole 41 Cashew or almond 44 Trod heavily 46 Solarium 48 Set eyes on 49 Responds well to change 50 Sales slip: Abbr.

51 Stick the landing, say 52 Stuffed Indian pastry

56 Parisian political body 58 Get the creases out of 59 Stew (over) 60 “When you hear the __, please leave your message” 61 Jazzy James 62 Emails a dupe to 63 WWII General __ Arnold

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

xwordeditor@aol.com

By Mark McClain and Andrea Carla Michaels ©2016 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

08/15/16

08/15/16