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“Not all the posters were obviously white supremacist stuff,” said a UK student. In today’s political climate, is it OK to tear down a questionable poster? | Page 6
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Tuesday, September 17, 2019
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Tuesday, September 17, 2019
LOOKING BACK, MOVING FORWARD
UNIVERSITY SET TO RENOVATE HISTORIC HOUSE
The $4 million restoration of the over 150-year-old Cooper House is expected to begin in early 2020, if the Board of Trustees approves the renovations, UK officials said at a press conference on Friday, Sept. 13. The Cooper House, which sits near the intersection of Nicholasville Road and Cooper Drive, is slated to become “the new front door” of the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, a university press release stated. The completely renovated house will feature reception areas for prospective students and visitors to the college and will include offices for the Agriculture college’s philanthropy and alumni staff. The house was originally built around 1865 and in 1918, Thomas Poe Cooper, the then-agricultural dean, moved into the house and lived there for his 33-year run as a dean of the college, the press release stated. The Cooper House is currently vacant.
JIM BEAM-BACKED SPIRIT DISTALLTION PROGRAM COMING TO FRUITION
Construction of the approximately $4 million James B. Beam Institute for Kentucky Spirits—a classroom and laboratory building that will house the university’s coming spirit distillation programs—will soon begin as well, university officials said at a press conference Friday.
The facility will feature a classroom, conference room, laboratory and a “research-teaching still.” The building and program are partially funded by a donation from Beam Suntory, the parent company of James B. Beam Distilling. “So much of the spirits industry is taught from generation to generation, as I learned from my dad and grandfather. We are excited to partner with the University of Kentucky to document those generational learnings and take them to the next level,” said eighth generation Beam distiller Freddie Noe in a UK press release. “At the University of Kentucky, we are asking ourselves what’s possible—for our institution and for those we serve,” said
Local first responders and community members climb the bleachers of Kroger Field for the 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb on Wednesday, September 11, 2019 in Lexington, Kentucky. NATALIE PARKS I STAFF
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CONTACT UK President Eli Capilouto. “And, increasingly, we find that achieving what’s possible is done in partnership with those who share our vision, values and commitment to Kentucky’s future. We look forward to our continued partnership with Jim Beam, as we envision, together, ways to prepare our workforce and support economic development in the Commonwealth.”
MORE INFORMATION ON ALLEGED SORORITY MISCONDUCT AT COMPLETION OF INVESTIGATION The University of Kentucky is currently investigating one if its sororities, Alpha Chi Omega, for “allegations involving the institution’s student code of conduct,” UK spokesperson Jay Blanton said in a statement last week.
Though the organization is under investigation, they are still considered a student organization and will remain that way for the duration of the investigation, Blanton said. Alpha Chi Omega’s national organization has made contact with UK officials and are hoping to partner with UK as the university investigates, said Amanda Spice, the director of marketing and communications for the sorority’s national organization. “We have spoken to university officials and are working to understand the allegations made against members of our chapter,” Spice said. “Our hope is that we can partner with the university as they conduct their announced investigation; we remain committed to holding our members and chapters accountable if policy violations occur.” The organization was established on UK’s campus in 2015. Just last year, AXO received a new sorority house located off Columbia Avenue. Prior to receiving the house, they were borrowing venues and other sorority and fraternity houses to host their sorority-wide events. The allegations follow UK’s bid day, where girls rushing sororities are able to choose which one they will be a part of after a week of searching. Though it follows rush week, further details regarding the allegations are not known at this time. “The organization will be provided due process prior to any findings or sanctions,” Blanton said. “When the process is complete, we can speak to its resolution and any sanctions that may be involved.”
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‘40 years of celebrating arts excellence’ Previewing this year’s heavy schedule of arts on campus
By Hailey Peters news@kykernel.com
Throughout this school year, the University of Kentucky’s College of Fine Arts will be celebrating “40 years of celebrating arts excellence,” according to a UK press release The 40 years describes the tenure of the two major players within the College of Fine Arts, the Singletary Center for the Arts and the UK Art Museum. Although the major events that the college is putting on are within these departments, the entire celebration will also include art from the Department of Theater and Dance, School of Art and Visual Studies (SA/VS) and the School of Music. The following arts events are currently scheduled for the College’s arts series: SINGLETARY CENTER FOR THE ARTS The Singletary Center for the Arts is a performance hall that hosts “artistic, cultural and educational events for the campus community, Lexington and the Commonwealth,” according to the press release. It has seen recent performances from jazz bands to dramatic plays to celebrity Bill Nye. This year, the Center’s Signature Series will highlight the best that Kentucky has to offer in music of all genres. • Gil Shaham, accompanied by the UK Symphony Orchestra, Sept. 28 Shaham is a violinist from Illinois. He has won a Grammy award and was named Musical Ameri-
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ca’s “Instrumentalist of the Year.” He will be alongside the UK Symphony Orchestra to perform several of his concertos and tracks from solo CD’s with more instrumentation in the back to create a new musical experience for listeners. • Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer and Zakir Hussain, Oct. 4 This musical trio has done groundbreaking blending of genres like orchestral, bluegrass and world music. They are all experts at their own instruments: banjo, double bass and tabla. They will be performing their unique songs that are unlike what most people expect from music. • Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox, Oct. 19 Postmodern Jukebox, or PMJ, is a musical collective known for twisting current popular music into vintage genres like swing and jazz. They have frequented the top of Billboard Jazz and Heatseekers. • Alias Brass Company, Nov. 15 A group of five musicians, the Alias Brass Company has broken many expectations for what brass music should sound like. They consistently reproduce old classics while also pumping out original compositions to play. In addition to playing music, they are huge advocates for music education. • The Blind Boys of Alabama, Dec. 11 Meeting as children at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind and now pioneering new music in
The Singletary Center Concert Hall before a concert. The University of Kentucky held “UK School of Music on Parade” in the Singletary Center Concert Hall to showcase the college’s musicians on Friday, September 7, 2018 in Lexington, Kentucky. MICHAEL CLUBB I STAFF
the modern era, The Blind Boys of Alabama have been and continue to be unlikely legends of the gospel genre. Their journey to stardom has been difficult for the group, but that has not stopped them from breaking several records and working with Grammy award winning producers throughout their career. • Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Bluegrass Band, Jan. 17, 2020 Of all cover bands of legendary British band, The Beatles, only Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Bluegrass Band has been able to succeed by twisting the original music into a new genre. They reimagine The Beatles’ classics into songs that combine bluegrass, jazz and classical genres. • American Spiritual Ensemble and the Kentucky Jazz Repertory Orchestra,
Feb. 15 American Spiritual Ensemble was founded by the current Director of UK Opera Theatre Everett McCorvey. It is a group of some of the most renowned singers of the classical genre that perform everything from spirituals to Broadway hits. • Raul Midón and Lionel Loueke, Feb. 22, 2020 Midón and Loueke are both world-famous jazz artists. In their joint show at the Singletary Center, the duo plan to bring their genre-bending twists on guitar and vocal compositions for a unique collaboration. UK ART MUSEUM The purpose of the UK Art Museum in the community is to “promote the understanding and appreciation of art to enhance the
quality of life for people of Kentucky... collecting, exhibiting, preserving and interpreting outstanding works of visual art from all cultures,” according to the UK press release about the new shows. To celebrate its 40 years of working to achieve that mission, the UK Art Museum is releasing the following exhibits this year: • “Interwoven: Joan Snyder, Judy Ledgerwood, Crystal Gregory” opening September 14 This piece is a collaboration of three different artists to show the world their concepts of feminism through various colors and textures that tell their own personal stories. • “Bethany Collins: Benediction” opening September 14 “Benediction” is going to be an exploration of how
the power of words can either push or betray people everyday in the contexts of racial struggles, historical violence and power. • “Encounters,” on display now and running through Dec. 8 This is going to be a series of paintings that feature portraits of people either sitting or standing and looking directly at the artist painting them. Some of the people are anonymous, but many are not and their identities are noted. Every pose is precise and is intended to give the viewers clues about how the subjects are feeling or what they are experiencing. • “Mistaken Identity,” on display now and running through Dec. 8 The case of the “Mistaken Identity” reflects an interesting event in the museum’s history. In 2007, a man named Mark Landis donated what he claimed to be an authentic Paul Signac piece, even forging the authenticity papers. The exhibit at hand will display this and other instances or forgery in order to explore the uncertainty of what art really is. • “Illumination,” on display now and running through Dec. 8 Light and the process of being “illuminated,” both in the literal and metaphoric senses, is the subject of this exhibit. It includes landscape photographs, a designer lamp and a painting to encapsulate light through the different ways in which it occurs. • “TLC, Part II: Conser-
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vation and the Collection,” on display now and running through Feb. 9, 2020 The mission of the museum is most reflected by this exhibit, as it shows how some of the most precious pieces of art have been preserved through the years and are in the current permanent collection. • “The Good Earth,” on display now and running through Feb. 9, 2020 Julian Dupré’s In the Pasture is the highlight of this exhibit which attempts to showcase the power of the earth as a source of nourishment and a marker for history. The way this exhibit tries to interpret the painting is entirely different than many other exhibits have tried to do in France. • “Laura Letinsky: Recent Work,” running Sept. 14-Dec. 8 Laura Letinsky is the first artist in this year’s Robert C. May Photography Lecture Series. Her photographs reflect the intimacies of everyday life and stills that recall Old Master paintings. UK DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE AND DANCE Throughout the year, the UK Department of Theatre and Dance will put on several award-winning shows ranging from classics to modern scores. The shows and dates are as followed: • “Black & 25 in America,” written and performed by 2010 theatre graduate Jeremy Gillett, Sept 13-14; • Tony and Academy Award-winning musical “Cabaret,” Oct. 31-Nov. 3; • Sophie Treadwell’s “Machinal,” Dec. 5-8; • “Bike America,” by Michael Lew, Feb. 13-16; • “Amplified Dance Concert,” March 6-8; and • William Shakespeare’s romcom masterpiece, “A Midsummer
Night’s Dream,” April 23-26. UK SCHOOL OF MUSIC In addition to the celebratory performances by the now 50year old UK Jazz Ensemble (and 30 years under the direction of Professor Miles Osland) the UK School of Music will hold over 200 concerts and recitals throughout the academic year. The opening show will be a concert at the School of Music on Parade on Sept. 13 at the Singletary Center. This concert will feature UK’s Wind Symphony, Choirs, Symphony Orchestra, Percussion Ensemble, JazzCats, Opera Theatre, Paws and Listen, acoUstiKats, UK Marching Band and distinguished faculty members such as the UK Faculty Brass Quintet. Another school milestone show is the UK Jazz Ensemble 30/50 anniversary concert, which will be showcased on Oct. 18 at the Singletary Center. UK Opera Theatre is set to perform three large-scale productions: • Giacomo Puccini’s “Gianni Schicchi” and “Suor Angelica,” Oct. 11-13; • “The Crucible,” by Robert Ward (based on the play by Arthur Miller), Apr. 3-5; and • “It’s A Grand Night For Singing!” June 12-21. After celebrating its 100th year of music last year, the UK Symphony Orchestra, or UKSO is presenting several concerts of its own this year: • Mahler’s Fourth Symphony, with guest artist and UK alumna Rachel Sterrenberg, 7:30 p.m., Nov. 8; • Rimsky Korsakov’s “Scheherazade,” Dec. 5; • UKSO Valentine’s Day Concert, featuring Lexington Singers and the UK Choristers, Feb. 14; and • UKSO and Concerto Competition winners’ concert, March 27.
Family of struck, killed 4-year old sues former UK fraternity By Jacob Eads news@kykernel.com
UK’s former Alpha Tau Omega chapter and its members are being named in a lawsuit filed on behalf of the parents of Marco Shemwell. Shemwell, 4, was struck by a car on Cooper Drive near Kroger Field after a UK football game in September 2018. He later died of his injuries. Jacob Heil, a former UK freshman and ATO pledge, was identified by police as the driver of the silver car that struck Shemwell. Heil was accused of driving under the influence during the incident.
The lawsuit, which also names officers of UK’s ATO chapter and the organization’s national headquarters, alleges that the fraternity held a “beer breakfast” where they served alcohol to Heil and other underage pledges the morning of the crash. The lawsuit also alleges that ATO members pooled between $3,000 and $4,000 into a Venmo account managed by the chapter’s social chair that they spent on party supplies like alcohol. Heil was initially only charged with DUI in September and pleaded not guilty, a reckless homicide charge was later added in February 2019. Court documents show that
on the day of the crash, Heil told police that he drank two beers at 9:30 a.m. at a tailgate before the game the day of the crash. At the time, police said Heil was arrested at the scene with red, blood-shot, watery eyes and was charged with DUI. Heil was released eight hours after his arrest. Weeks after the incident, UK suspended Heil from the university. A day later, the Alpha Tau Omega national headquarters disbanded its Mu Iota chapter at UK, which had recently received the organization’s “True Merit” award designating it as one of the top chapters in the country. Heil is scheduled to stand trial in April 2020.
Alpha Tau Omega fraternity house in Lexington, Kentucky. JORDAN PRATHER I STAFF
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FREE HAT
CONTR CO
By Natalie Parks news@kykernel.com
Senior neuroscience major Ivanka Rainer poses for a portrait at the William T. Young Library on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019. Rainer found American Identity Movement posters in the library and took them down. JORDAN PARTHER I STAFF
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While studying on the fifth floor of the William T. Young library on the first day of classes in late August, senior neuroscience major Ivanka Rainer saw a poster that she thought was a little of out the ordinary. “Not all the posters were obviously white supremacist stuff,” Rainer said. Rainer saw posters bearing the logo of American Identity Movement, a group often listed as a national white supremacist organization. The first two posters she found were hanging on message boards by a bathroom and water fountain. “There was nothing in particular to say, ‘oh, it was a bad sign,’” Rainer said. “But then right as I turned around after getting bad vibes from that poster I saw another sign from the same organization that said ‘diversity destroys nations’ and it was like a ‘oh no’ moment, like it was definitely the thing that made me decide, ‘oh I need to take these posters down.’” Rainer took down the three flyers she saw. “I’m not sure if the university itself can take measures but it’s definitely something where at the very
least students should take take down the posters and n thing slide,” Rainer said. Rainer then sent a pictu flyers to a group chat that Saadia Akhtar, assistant di health and wellness for UK’ Government Association. Akhtar showed the pictur President Michael Hamilton warded the information on to versity administration. “They’re pretty nationa nature so I sent them on t istrators just to make sure t aware of them, but as far a it’s an isolated incident,” said. “I don’t think we’ve anywhere else on campus, b little unsettling.” According to the Souther Law Center, a nonprofit lega cy group which focuses on r social injustice, the America ty Movement’s flyers are in and simplistic on purpose, build brand name recogni draw in younger audiences cally college students “who encouraged to engage in re activism on college campuse Patrick Casey, the nation dent of the American Identi ment, said the flyers were p local activists. Casey said A
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
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“I don’t think we’ve seen any anywhere else on campus, but still, a little unsettling.” -Michael Hamilton not have official ties to college camonline messages from Evropa mempuses but does have chapters across bers were released. One user’s comthe country. ment in the chat, first released Casey launched AIM in by left-wing media nonprofit March 2019 after shutting Unicorn Riot, reads, “Anydown Identity Evropa, one who listens to us for which he led for a year. five minutes knows we’re The Southern Poverty White Nationalists.” Law Center attributes Another user says: this change to rebrand“it’s important that we ing, since Identity Evropa aren’t just rebranded white faced bad press after co-ornationalists.” MICHAEL ganizing the 2017 “Unite Identity Evropa does HAMILTON the Right” rally around the face a lawsuit for their role University of Virginia’s in the rally in Charlotescampus in Charlottesville, ville, the SPLC website Virginia. The rally left one person says. SPLC lists the American Identidead and over three dozen injured. ty Movement as a hate group. Further controversy followed after “Neither the SPLC nor the ADL
Three flyers posted by American Identity Movement in William T. Young Library on Monday, August 26, 2019. AIM is identified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. PHOTO PROVIDED BY IVANKA RAINER
are unbiased sources,” said Casey over email. “They have a left-wing political agenda that runs contrary to ours; as such, they aren’t interested in accurately describing or portraying us. In fact, these organizations exist for the sole purpose of defaming law-
ful, peaceful dissidents.” AIM’s website says the organization “rejects political violence, extremism, and supremacism in all of its forms,” and lists the group’s principles as “nationalism, identitarianism, protectionism, non-interventionism, and populism.” According to SPLC’s flyer tracking map, AIM is the second most active flyering group, with nation-wide displays tallying 827 in the last two years. AIM’s Twitter account shows that similar flyers were also put up in the Central Public Library of Lexington. “Public universities must respect free speech, so they’re unable to discriminate against us solely on the grounds of our politics,” Casey said. “However, many universities get around this by requiring posters to be approved before they’re placed. This grants our wonderful left-wing college commissars editorial control over the political materials displayed around campus.” Casey does not believe public universities have the right to remove their flyers. “It was a concerning thing to see at UK cause it definitely makes you scared there might be more people here with that mindset than you realize,” Rainer said.
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Tuesday, September 17, 2019
editorial
Blow the whistle on hate groups
The decision of whether to publish the article on the American Identity Movement posters was not a straight-forward one. AIM, and other groups that share white-supremacist sentiments, often see any publicity as good publicity. The Kentucky Kernel would like to stress that we condemn supremacism in all its forms. We do not support the ideologies espoused by this group just as we are not fans of any organization on which we report. Rather, the Kernel endeavors to serve as watchdog of our institution and report impartially on the events which affect it. We made the decision to report on the posters and the group behind them because we believe in the public’s right to information. We also believe in the power of constructive dialogue; the more we know about threats to diversity on our campus, the more we can collectively work against them. AIM posters state that “diversity destroys nations.” We know that the op-
posite is true. Diversity is what built our nation and moves our campus forward. Diversity inspires growth in knowledge, growth in understanding and growth in more equitable ways of seeing the world. While we know this intuitively to be true, studies back this up. A literature review of five studies published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology concluded that diversity in neighborhoods increases prosocial behavior, identification with all of humanity, and likelihood to help strangers. On the financial side of things, a report from the Boston Consulting Group found that diversity in upper management of businesses results in higher net profits. We know this, but why do so many others not? According to Southern Poverty Law Center, the number of hate groups in the U.S. is at a 20-year high. Unfortunately, the media has occasionally contributed unwittingly to this rise. AIM members have in the past emailed news outlets to report their own
posters in attempts to garner publicity. They were then pleased when these news agencies reported on them. At one point, AIM’s leader, Patrick Casey, landed a segment on the “Today Show,” which he credits as the reason behind a subsequent uptick in enrollment. Thus, the Kernel has been forced to look at our own potential for furthering these harmful ideologies. By publishing the article, it seemed as though we were playing into this group’s modus operandi. On the other hand, not publishing the article felt as though we were withholding information at our reader’s cost. We published, but not without qualms. It’s for these reasons that we see it as our responsibility to state outright our disproval of any message which discriminates on the basis of ethnicity, religion, gender, age, national origin, sexual orientation or ability. When confronted with hateful messages, we encourage the student body to do the same.
Iffy Wi-Fi is not a terminal illness
By Gavin Colton opinions@kykernel.com
Like many of you who live on campus, my Wi-Fi has blipped on and off these past couple of weeks. It seems that even large R1 universities aren’t equipped against ill-tempered technologies. The frustration is real among us, and any concern over the lack of Popeyes chicken sandwiches has been replaced by concern about internet scarcity. Already by week three, I’ve binged three Netflix seasons — I managed to squeeze in “13 Reasons Why” before the outage, but never finished the third season of “The Good Place.” With Wi-Fi out again, I decided that life without it isn’t a terminal illness and set about making the most of it by seeing what everyone else was up to.
After cooking dinner — salmon, broccoli, bagged carrots, and a skillet-full of spicy mushrooms — I took a walk. I read somewhere that you should walk for twenty minutes after eating to aid digestion, and I’d finished my work for the day (a rare event, I’ve learned in graduate school). I took off out of the University Flats, where I’m sure my neighbors were aggrieved about the stench of fish in the hallway, and headed toward Young library. I expected to see some Steve Jobs-lookalikes rigging up connections from fiber optics cables dug out of the ground, but instead I found a long-haired, greasy dude playing guitar. I didn’t stop to listen; I’m not that guy. But I nodded along in that kind of Wayne’s World way and stuck two fingers up to form devil horns. “Rock on, brother,” he said. I felt good about the two women who’d plucked
their phones from the waistbands of their shorts to Snapchat the dude. Maybe this was his big break! I turned the corner by Taco Bell, where hordes of students poured in and out, their stress acne washed away by the neon lighting and comfort-colored sorority shirts. I didn’t stop to see if they were serving grillers again. It bolstered my newfound school spirit to see all those students rocking their different shades of Kentucky blue as they rambled across campus, migrating like herds of cattle to graze, sleep, and whatever else it is freshmen do on Tuesday nights these days. All chill and no Netflix. Nothing says Wildcat spirit like a dude in an over-washed 2012 National Champions shirt cut to reveal an American flag tattoo on his shoulder and a bible verse on his ribcage, demolishing
a “Doritos Locos” taco. I looped around Chevy Chase, decided against a pint at Best Friend Bar (it was only Tuesday, to be fair) and made for campus again up Woodland Avenue. I took pause at the two fire trucks parked across from the dorms and the masses of students shuffling on the grass. I sauntered over in front of an old-looking trailer that the crowd was staring at with intensity as though it were a Blockbuster movie. Fire departments host demonstrations like this — what can happen if you’re stupid about flames in your dorm room. I’d seen one like it seven years ago when I was a freshman at a school an hour and a half north of here. It’s always spectacular: A rogue cigarette in a trashcan turns into a bowl of flames, climbs those blackout curtains your mom got you so you could sleep in on Sun-
days after game days and spills over the Big Blue Nation bedspread, made more flammable by the fact it hasn’t been washed since you got here. The whole trailer was up in a gaudy flash, like something you’d see at a Jonas Brothers’ concert to assert their rockstar guise. I bet some eyebrows were lost in the first row or two. The firefighters extinguished the blaze quickly enough, in a hiss of dim smoke. Once the cautionary tale had finished, leaving behind a Jackson Pollock-style dorm room, the mob of unplugged students trickled back into the plaza in front of that bomb sushi spot, gazing at the receding evening light and the bald dude giving out free T-shirts. Tripping back down my hallway, I noticed the fishy pong even
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Tuesday, September 17, 2019
Kentucky’s loss to Florida perfectly demonstrated the highs and lows of college football
By Erika Bonner
sports@kykernel.com
It ain’t over until it’s over. That’s college football. It’s so beautiful, yet it can be so devastating. Then it’s beautiful again. ….And then comes more devastation. But isn’t that what we love about it? The hype, the thrill, the heartbreak? The week three Kentucky-Florida matchup embodied everything that’s beautiful about the game— while showcasing everything you hate to see. The expectations for Kentucky’s first SEC showdown were set sky high. A 2-0, injury-ridden, unranked team heading into week three, matched up against a squad they beat in 2018 for the first time in 31 years. From the other perspective, you have a No. 9 ranked team who hasn’t lost a game in Lexington since 1986. Both teams with something to prove, both with a chip on their shoulder.
We saw some exciting football within just the first few minutes of the matchup. On the first drive of the game, sophomore safety Tyrell Aijan intercepted a Florida QB Feleipe Franks pass on Kentucky’s own 3-yard line and ran it 22 yards to give the Cats the ball early. Within just three plays, though, the possession was back in the Gators’ favor when UK quarterback Sawyer Smith fumbled and Florida recovered on the 31-yard line. The following drive would send the Gators into the end zone, putting them on the board first all within eight minutes of the game. Kentucky wouldn’t respond until the second quarter, but when they did, boy was it fun to watch. The 6-foot-5, 237-pound, flag-drawing king Ahmad Wagner caught a 26-yard pass from Sawyer Smith in the end zone. But he didn’t just simply catch it. As he was being defended by two Gator defensive backs, the
long ball bounced off Wagner’s hands, bounced off his helmet, and he somehow caught it as he was almost to the ground. After a review, the call was confirmed a touchdown. Beautiful football. Another UK score in the same quarter leaves the Cats with a 14-7 lead at the half. They looked like the better team, but again, it ain’t over until it’s over. The third quarter brought the worst part of college football. For the second week in a row, a starting quarterback went down with a bad injury in third quarter at Kroger Field. This time, it was Franks. The Gators decided to go for it on a big fourth and one at the UK 38 yard-line, and the Cats in no way let them have it. Franks attempted to sneak past the Kentucky defensive line and hit a complete brick wall, dislocating his ankle in the process. Fans in the stadium gave him an ovation as he was being carted off the
field, and again, showed me how college football can be heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time. I’m getting carried away with this, so let’s fast forward to the last few minutes of the game. There’s a little over six minutes on the clock. Kentucky’s up 21-16 when Smith throws an interception, giving the Gators the ball back with great field position and little time left. Then Kentucky’s T.J. Carter gets ejected for targeting (the Cats’ second targeting penalty of the game) and Florida scores on the drive. After leading almost the whole game, UK is trailing by one point with 4:11 to go. Smith moves the offense down the field, eventually setting the Cats up for a third and two on the Florida 18-yard line situation. UK running back Kavosiey Smoke gets stuffed at the 17, forcing UK to bring out its field goal unit. Cue the heartbreak. UK kicker Chance Poore
Kentucky running back AJ Rose runs the ball during the game against Florida on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2019, at Kroger Field in Lexington, Kentucky. Kentucky lost 29-21. JORDAN PRATHER I STAFF
misses the field goal, and you could almost feel the energy in the stadium sink below the ground. By that time, there was under a minute left, and the Cats couldn’t stop the Gators from scoring again. Final score: 29-21 in favor of Florida. After the game, UK running back AJ Rose was asked what he tells the younger players after a loss like they had just experienced. “I just tell them it’s foot-
ball,” Rose said. “You win some, you lose some. You can’t win every game and even though it was a tough loss and we should’ve won the game, things happen, and things don’t always go your way.” He’s right—and that’s what makes it great. So thank you college football, for the highs, lows, and everything in between. Here’s to nine more weeks of excitement.
phases, some of the youth and inexperience and new faces, we’ve really focused on approaching each game with a singleness in purpose and looking to go 1-0 each week,” Moorhead said in a Mississippi Clarion Ledger article. “You can’t let the same game beat you twice.” And it’s Kentucky’s goal to beat State a second time. The Cats hung with No. 9 Florida and almost claimed the victory, but defensive penalties and miscommunications on offense kept the Cats from walking away
with the win. They’ll look to dust off the loss and use it as a motivation as they head into their second SEC opponent. “We can’t count that for a moral win,” UK center Drake Jackson said after the loss to Florida. “We’re out here to win games, with any team in the SEC, any team in the country. So first thing’s first is we’ve got to understand that.” The Cats and Bulldogs will kick off at 4 p.m. Saturday on SEC Network or SEC Alternate.
Cats will look for first SEC win on the road
By Erika Bonner
sports@kykernel.com
Kentucky and Mississippi State, both 2-1, will face off this weekend in Starkville, Miss., in what will be the Bulldogs’ first SEC matchup of 2019. In 2018, the Cats and Bulldogs met in week four and gave us one of the most exciting games of the UK football season. In a highly anticipated matchup, the Cats came out on top 28-7. The Bulldogs look to seek revenge against a brand-
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new Kentucky team. The Cats, of course, saw their first conference opponent in week three against Florida, in what was an emotional rollercoaster of a football game. Kentucky couldn’t pull out the win, but neither could the Bulldogs in their thirdweek matchup. The Kansas State Wildcats traveled to Starkville and won by a touchdown, eliminating Mississippi State’s 11game, non-conference win streak. Mississippi State led
Kansas State in nearly every major offensive statistical category last week, but its vice was on defense, which lost several players from last year. The Bulldogs gave up 14 points in the fourth quarter and couldn’t stop the Wildcat offense. It’s quite a different narrative than in 2018 when the Bulldogs had one of the best defenses in the country. Similar to several other SEC schools, Mississippi State is going through quarterback uncertainties. Bull-
dog Head Coach Joe Moorhead, in his second year leading the team, decided to go with two different quarterbacks against K-State. Starter Tommy Stevens couldn’t get things going and had an injury resurface that he suffered in week two, so after halftime, the Bulldogs opted for freshman Garrett Shrader. Stevens’s status for the Kentucky game is unknown as of print time. “I think with the number of losses we had on this football team in all three
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more now. I lit a couple of contraband candles to snuff the briny smell of dinner. I lumped in load of laundry, spun a Steppenwolf record on my Victrola and tucked into some unassigned reading while I brewed some
Irish tea my mother had sent via care package. I felt transported in my own home, above myself in all I’d accomplished for the day. Proud even. I opened the windows to let in the fresh air, lay longways down the sofa, studied the flickering of candles on the walls and ceiling, tracked the measured tempo of my
jeans tumbling in the dryer, and tasted the coppery tang of tea swirling up from the mug. I stared into the empty television screen long enough for a thin border, the color of ink, to frame the murky pool of blackness. I stared for over ten minutes and decided again that iffy Wi-Fi is not a terminal illness.
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Tuesday, September 17, 2019
September 24 is National Voter Registration Day Join your friends and thousands of fellow students registering to vote at vote.org/ky2019
REGISTER TO VOTE • You can register using your campus address or your home address. • You can have election notifications texted to you so you don’t forget to vote on November 5, 2019.
Young voters between the ages of 18-29 changed the outcome of the 2018 election. Register to vote so you can decide your next Governor and other representatives and change the future of your state.
vote.org/ky2019 Vote.org is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit and does not support or oppose any political candidate or party.
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