Letter from the Editor
Dear Patriots,
Any of you just have those days where coffee just doesn’t do the trick? I’ve had about three of those in a row, now. But I’m still here, alive, and ready to introduce you to the fifth spring issue of “The Patriot.”
On Tuesday, I celebrated a minor holiday from where I’m from, called “219 Day” (my area code being “219” and Tuesday’s date was February 19). Although I am about seven hours away from home and surrounded by people who do not share my area code, I proceeded to celebrate by reminiscing on the beauty and culture of my home, “The Region.” Of course, I’m not the only one here that has massive hometown pride, which I think is special in the people here at this school. We are all from many different backgrounds, most of us are proud of our upbringings, and many of us are proud of be Patriots.
The social media mantra in UC culture, “One Big Team,” pertains to more than just our athletics, and I think I saw a great example of that Tuesday night. The men’s lacrosse team was playing a game against conference rivals and two-time national champions Reinhart University at the same time that the popular singing show “Spotlight.” Rather than making the student body choose between the two, “Spotlight” was moved back, and the student body showed great support for both events. It made me realize how lucky I am to not only come from a great community, but still be a part of one many miles away.
So, this issue is dedicated to some of the things that make UC iconic to us, like our dorms, our social media pages, and our athletics. My reporters take a dive into the new dorm switch on campus, the epic lacrosse game between the Patriots and the Eagles, and I was able to interview the ever-popular Twitter page “Is UC Cold Today.” Put that phone down, find somewhere dry and warm, and take a peek at what my staff prepared for your reading pleasure this week.
Fire it up,
Mike Krzyston, Editor-in-Chief
Editor-In-Chief
Mike Krzyston
Faculty Adviser
Jeremiah Massengale
Staff
Emilee Agee
Haley Bullock
Taylor Duke
Abigail Fletcher
Leanne Gregory
Rebecca Lewter
Jessica McFerron
Alex Nunn
River Phillippe
Jenna Rose
Tara Todd
Dan Williams
Maranda Young
Front cover by Mike Krzyston
Back cover by Taylor Duke
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The Patriot is the student publication of the University of the Cumberlands. Our goal is to provide timely and original content by highlighting campus news and views.
Award-winning member of the Associated Collegiate Press and Kentucky Press Association.
The ol’ switcharoo
UC announces the swapping of men’s and women’s dorms
BY EMILEE AGEE
Staff Writer
On February 13, UC Housing sent an email to students announcing that next semester’s room selection process would be delayed until after spring break due to new changes. Hutton Hall will be a women’s dorm and Asher Hall will be a men’s dorm. There will be renovations over the summer in both dorms. Rob Cook and Mahan will remain men’s dorms, with Rob Cook being a freshman dorm and Mahan being an upperclassmen dorm.
When asked the reason behind these changes, Dr. Emily Coleman, vice president for Student Services said, “This is to better fit accommodations on campus for more male and female students for the upcoming semester.”
With the tuition cut of 57 percent that took place last semester, UC would like to try to increase enrollment by moving students around to make more room for incoming freshman.
Freshman Cassie Poynter, while she did not have strong feelings about these changes, said, “There was a possibility I might have had to move
with my roommate to Asher because she’s an RA and that would have been far from my classes, so I’m personally happy that I might have an easier time now getting to where I need to be.”
For men who have an interest in living in Asher Hall next semester, it includes suites that fits six, a kitchen, a large computer lab, six washers and dryers and a large storage room. For women who are planning to live in Hutton Hall, you can look forward to a suite that fits eight, separate study room and computer lab, vending room, theater room, three showers and two sinks in the suite bathrooms.
These new changes taking place over the next few months are part of the preparation UC is making for the future and demonstrates the desire to continue progressing to help UC thrive. It will be something new for current students to get used to, but it has the ability to help students feel more comfortable in their living situations.
Photo by Taylor Duke
What’s cooler than cool?
A look at the impact of the popular Twitter user “Is UC Cold Today”
BY MIKE KRZYSTON Editor In Chief
Throughout the past couple of years, the university has taken large strides to excel their social media presence. Most staff members, clubs, sports teams, and even the dining hall have social media pages now, helping unify the school and keeping students updated on all things campus related. Yet, there is one Twitter account that has been taking the campus by storm, infatuating and informing students on weather-related content. “Is UC Cold Today,” a page ran by an anonymous student, creates daily tweets informing the weather situation on campus that day.
“I was inspired to make this account a couple of years ago because I noticed a lot of bigger schools have some fun accounts that just create a sense of inclusion and humor that we didn’t have here,” says the mysterious manager of the account, when contacted via direct message.
With the rise of the Barstool Sports takeover of unaffiliated social media pages for larger universities (such as Barstool Irish, the Barstool page for the University of Notre Dame), it is no surprise that many other schools are trying to follow suit in creating engaging and funny content for their students. The University of Kentucky has their own daily update Twitter service, titled “Did Kentucky Win.”
“This account has been really helpful because everyone knows, living in Kentucky could mean a winter coat one day and Chacos the next. ‘Is UC Cold Today’ always has our back and lets us know what to wear before we leave our dorms,” says senior Skyler Downs. With the unpredictability of the weather lately, where one day could be almost 70 degrees, and snow the next, the popular account has a sort of duty to the students of UC.
“Personally I would like to know, but if I were to find out then I wouldn’t share that information, I’d want to keep the mystery alive,” says sophomore Aaron Johnson.
Whoever the mystery person is, they are consistent in their forecast updates, as well as slightly passive-aggressive toward the school administration.
Yet, the allure of “Is UC Cold Today” comes from the anonymity of the pages creator. Active since January of 2017, students are still unsure of the mysterious man or woman who informs the student body of the daily weather. If anyone does actually know, they have kept it a great secret.
A tweet from January 30, when the temperature was almost below zero, calls out UC, with the page saying they were “shocked” that classes were still in session, and that the school owes them for “emotional distress” because of the temperature.
A downfall of the page may be the bias, however. UC is a diverse campus comprised of students from different regions, and climates, of the world. There are days where the account may tweet that the weather is cold and students may believe that it is pleasant. “I’m from Kentucky, so when I think of anything below 60, I think it’s pretty cold,” says freshman Lexi Nickal, “But my friend from Colorado has a different opinion. She wears shorts when it’s 40 degrees!”
Of course, due to the mysterious background of the creator, the students may never know where he/she is from, leaving their weather bias a mystery as well.
Perhaps the mystery of the creator will never be solved, but the question is what will happen to the account once they graduate? Surely, and hopefully, the account will be passed down to another reliable source to keep the students of UC informed and ready to face the weather.
“I’m nothing special other than a weather forecaster,” says the anonymous user, but there are many beloved fans that would argue otherwise.
Home field advantage
The Patriots beat the Eagles in their home opener
BY JESSICA MCFERRON AND HALEY BULLOCK Staff Writers
The UC men’s lacrosse team had their first home game of the season on Tuesday, February 19th, 2019 and the third-ranked Patriots defeated the top-ranked Reinhardt University Eagles with a score of 13-12. Despite the pouring rain and a harsh climate, the crowd was still roaring with excitement. Fans were bundled up in raincoats, ponchos, and umbrellas to support the Patriots as they faced off against the team’s biggest rival. Caleb Elerick, Whitten McCune, and Dylan Crouch all scored three points each, giving The Patriots most of their points for the evening. Henry Quaye also played a major role in UC’s performance last night by scoring two goals, adding in to UC’s overall total of 13 points.
Pete Campbell, head men’s lacrosse coach at UC, said, “We had a few pre-season scrimmages, and we’ve been practicing as hard as we can to get the best results we can.”
The effort was obvious among The Patriots as they raced across the field to score their goals. The enthusiasm when they would score a goal was obvious by their cheers and the cheers from the crowd. UC’s men’s lacrosse team has a long history with Reinhardt’s Eagles.
Bryan Morgan, a UC senior and lacrosse captain, said, “Last year, we played them in the conference championship and lost, which was a total heartbreaker. I can’t express how sweet it is to finally get the win over them.”
Toward the beginning of the third quarter, The Patriots were down 5-10. Hope seemed slim and history seemed like it might to repeat itself. However, the team rallied with a crucial performance that changed the game that night. With their effort, The Patriots boosted up until the score was 10-10
with a goal from Caleb Elerick. Hope was returning, the crowds were roaring, and the anticipation was tangible in the air. The game concluded with Whitten McCune scoring UC’s final winning point of 13, certifying our victory against the Eagles.
The next game for the UC men’s lacrosse is home game with Indiana Tech on March 3. This will be the team’s third game of the season, and the players are hoping to continue their winning streak.
Morgan said, “It’s just the beginning and we’ve got a long road ahead of us; but at the end of the day, I know I can count on my teammates. We have the talent and the passion to achieve whatever we set our minds to.”
Walker Lacey, a UC senior and lacrosse captain, added, “I think that our preparations for the season are as they always are: have a good practice atmosphere, give 110 percent, and don’t get complacent.”
The future looks bright for our UC Patriots as they continue to play through the season. Winning against Reinhardt University was just the beginning.
Photos by Maranda Young
Not so secret
Your private information may not be as “private” as you think
BY TAYLOR DUKE Staff Writer
There is an unofficial “UC Crushes” Twitter account and it’s not as anonymous as you might think. Accounts with unknown administrators rely on the fact that contributors have no clue who the face behind the screen happens to be. To think about it frankly, there is someone on campus who knows way too much. UC Crushes is somewhat similar to systems commonly used by big companies to gather data from their users called, Big Data.
When talking about data collection, UC junior, Devin McMillin says, “I would say that I am definitely a fan of data collection, but only when it is done ethically and right.”
McMillin goes on to credit many technological advancements in medicine, disaster prevention, and architecture to data collection.
Big Data is collecting, storing, and using data, and users have already agreed to it through the quick windows that are the terms and conditions. Although it doesn’t seem like a big deal, social media companies such as Facebook, Google and Instagram are collecting so much data from you that they can’t even remember the avenues they’re going down to retrieve it.
Small permissions, such as asking for a user’s current location on various Google searches, can open a can of worms. By agreeing to these permissions, users may opt into having their location being consistently tracked. Big Data is comprised of three V’s: variety, velocity, and volume. All of these aspects can create a database and some data companies have the capability to fill in the gaps in information now.
UC senior Brenden Rodgers stated, “The growth of the presence of technology in people’s everyday life, especially in the forms of smart home devices, enables government agencies and other people with malicious intent to gain access to the livelihood and data of these users.”
Another example of this would be cookies. Some websites require that you accept their use of cookies on their website before being allowed to access it. The data from cookies can be used to generate ads that are relevant to searches that users have made in their browsers.
Big technological companies such as Facebook, Google and Apple have come under fire in the last year for breaches of data sharing. Facebook’s latest scandal came about when they allegedly gave Microsoft and Netflix special access to its users data without informing anyone.
Many experts in the data collection field want more transparency. McMillin and Rodgers agree with the experts.
McMillin goes on to state, “In short, I do not think there is enough transparency between users and companies on data collection. Many phone apps are collecting your data, and not many of them publish what exactly they are doing with that data, or that they are even collecting it in the first place.”
Some companies know that most users do not read the terms of service and will use that to their advantage. One company that made the most of that knowledge and turned it into something great was PC Pitstop. In 2005, the company put a clause in their End-User License Agreement that would reward a reader of the agreement $.1000. It took five months before a customer contacted them about the clause.
Rodgers continued by saying, “I think the scrutiny is warranted. Users should have a basic understanding before accessing social media that they are putting their personal info out there.”
In order to put less personal information out there, check what exactly applications and companies are asking for before hitting that “accept” button and hold companies accountable for what they are doing with their data on us.
McMillin concludes by saying, “I think most of us would agree that we wouldn’t want our things used or borrowed without our knowledge and permission. So when companies collect data in this same way, that’s when I have a problem with data collection.”
Illustration by Taylor Duke
Songs to celebrate your victories large and small, whether that win is on the court or in the classroom, scan the QR code and turn up these classic celebratory tunes.
Glass: Shatters the Box Office
BY ABIGAIL FLETCHER Staff Writer
4/5 HHHHA
M. Night Shyamalan brings us the finale of his “Unbreakable” trilogy of films, following “Unbreakable” and “Split” with the new movie “Glass.” “Unbreakable” debuted in 2000 and introduced us to Mr. Glass, played by Samuel L. Jackson, and David Dunn, played by Bruce Willis, to this remarkable world of real-life superheroes. Personally, I was unaware of the spin-off that hit the box office in 2016 when James McAvoy brought us the split mind of Kevin Wendell Crumb. As I sat in the movie theatre, I was skeptical of how they were gonna tie in “Unbreakable” to the raving “Split.” I just thought “Split” was a way to shed light on DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder). After watching the trailer of “Glass” I realized the movie was another way to introduce superheroes in the real world. As Samuel L. Jackson’s character in the trailer of “Glass” said, “It looks like the bad guys are teaming up” I was on the edge of my seat waiting for the big showdown. David Dunn, now dubbed The Overseer, is what I would call the hero and The Beast the villain. I enjoyed getting to dive into the past of the Overseer and how he gets a feeling when he makes contact with someone. It is truly something that could be taken out of a comic book. As the movie went on, the rest of Kevin’s personalities finally got introduced during the new film. My absolute favorite is Hedwig. Dr. Ellie Staple, played by Sarah Paulson, used a bright flash of a light to make the personality change. I like how they tied this to how Kevin’s personas get ahold of a light to take control. The flash of the light was done rapidly through the movie to show all the alters. McAvoy does such an outstanding job showcasing the different personalities. I could say that McAvoy truly is a beast at acting.
Throughout the film, each character had their own ongoing instrumental theme. It provided a strong undertone for their heroic facade. From the guttural chords for The Beast to the somber melancholy tune for The Overseer. The film score provides an edge of the seat musical background. I enjoyed all the different themes that added to the suspense. The music would always play before the character was shown letting you know who was coming up. My overall favorite music theme was the Beast’s. It fit his character so perfectly in the film.
Staple gives us a guide into the minds of each character because she specializes in the psychology of individuals who believe they are superhuman. The movie is based on the entrapment of the three characters in a psychiatric ward, Raven Hill Memorial. I loved the creepy atmosphere the ward brought to the film. Each characters room was tailored made to keep them trapped. The Overseer was trapped in a room with tons of hoses to spray him down with water at any time. This is to due to the fact in “Unbreakable” he showed weakness due to water. This works well because all superheroes have a weakness. They kept the Beast trapped by flashing a light if they got violent. My favorite strategy was when it came to Mr.Glass. The nurses kept him on a strong sedative to keep his mind dull. For if he was not in a vegetative state he could outsmart everyone.
The overall film itself was suspenseful and methodically made, but I felt like there was still some flaws in the writing. There was so much time spent in the ward. I felt like the build up was prolonged and the fight scene, near the film’s end, was over in a flash. The exposition was too long. Although it may have taken director M. Night Shyamalan over 18 years to finish a trilogy, but the execution was exquisite. Don’t let yourself be split over seeing the movie because it will shatter your expectations.
Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures
