April 4, 2013
W W W. V S U S P E C TAT O R . C O M
Inside This Issue
VOLUME 84 ISSUE 24
Soccer’s leading scorer transfers
- OPINIONS: “everyone deserves right to marriage” - FEATURES: “MtV star found dead in vehicle”
See pg. 5 for the details. - SPORTS: “VSU looks to sweep UWf friday”
Today at VSU Performing Arts showcAse - whitehead Auditorium, 8 p.m. a collaborative event featuring groups of talented students and faculty from various performing arts across VSU. this event is free and open to the public. hosted by Dr. John gaston, Dean of the college of the Arts.
cleArly your crystAls student union organization lounge, 2:30 - 8:30 p.m. attendees will get a 3d image of their faces etched into a crystal cube with laser imaging equipment. this event is free of charge. hosted by cAB.
wiccAn reBirth event odum library room 3609, 6:30-8 p.m. attendees will learn about the Wiccan wheel of the year and the passionate journey of the lord and lady. a brief documentary will be shown and a ceremony about moving forward from the past with perfect love and trust will take place. this event is open to all. hosted by the wiccan and Pagan society.
BoArD gAme night odum library room 1480, 8 p.m. this event is free. Snacks will be provided. hosted by natural high. summer/fAll eArly registrAtion continuesfreshmen are eligible to register starting at 7 a.m. today.
summer registration ends at midnight on April 19. fall registration ends at midnight on April 26.
Weather Today
Friday
Rain/ Thunder 71 H 55 L PM Showers 67 H 46 L
Saturday Partly Cloudy 78 H 50 L
Today in History April 4, 1968: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated dr. King was shot in Memphis, tenn. at the lorraine Motel. Source: history.com
On the Web Check out Neil Frawley’s article on the making of Blazefest! w w w. v s u s p e c ta t o r. c o m
VSU celebrates inauguration Faculty
Senate: No more fall break
Amber Smith editor-in-Chief amsmith@valdosta.edu
Celebration will continue on campus as the University gears up for the investiture of VSU’s ninth president, dr. William McKinney. events have been planned to fill the week leading up to dr. McKinney’s investiture on friday, as well as the following Saturday. events, including symposia, have focused on engaged innovation in higher education. the biggest events of the week will take place on friday. dr. McKinney’s investiture ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. and an inaugural ball to benefit student scholarships will be held at 6 p.m. today’s events will include a symposium in the Student Union theatre at noon, during which dr. George Mehaffy will focus on “the role of innovation in higher education,” according to the event description on the official schedule. light refreshments will be provided during this event, which is free and open to students, faculty and staff. at 6 p.m., dr. McKinney and his wife, dr. dacia Charlesworth, will host “Mixing it Up with the President and first lady,” during which the two will teach attendees how to mix special cocktails developed for the inauguration. Pre-registration is required for this event. later this evening, the VSU Performing arts Showcase will take place in Whitehead auditorium. this event, beginning at 8 p.m., is open to the public. the performance will feature student and faculty artists from various genres. a reception will follow shortly after. Saturday’s events will be “Zumba® with the first lady” on the front lawn at 9:30 a.m. and “employee
Joe Adgie SoCial Media editor jmadgie@valdosta.edu
Brian hickey / The SpecTATor Students and alumni partake in the “Student & Alumni Barbeque” Wednesday. The Barbeque was moved to the P.E. Complex due to inclement weather.
BBQ” at noon. attendance is restricted to employees only for the barbeque, but Zumba® is open to the public. earlier events this week included a symposium, “highlighting innovation in our Community,” Battle of the Bands, day of Service, a blood drive and the “Student and alumni Barbeque” on Wednesday. the Undergraduate research Symposium took place on Monday and tuesday. other events on tuesday included an symposium, “highlighting innovation in our Classrooms,” and a preshow discussion of Pippin before the performance, presented by the VSU theatre department. on Monday, dr. david Williams presented research about the Civil War during the symposium, “highlighting innovation in our Scholarship,” and student artists explained their works in the Student art Competition.
Will Lewis / The SpecTATor The Southeastern Community Blood Center co-hosted a blood drive with other VSU organizations as part of Wednesday’s inauguration events.
Check out the Web Spectator for coverage of inauguration events!
Odum much more than just library Quasha Ross S ta f f W r i t e r qlross@valdosta.edu
odum library now offers more than just books. Most recently, odum library participated in international tabletop day on March 30. this was a day for people to come together and play tabletop board games as part of the library’s attempt to bring the community together, according to Jeff Gallant, reference librarian. on March 18, the Knotwork designs exhibit opened for students and faculty to enjoy. the exhibit allowed 62year-old elantu Baiat Veovode to display her Knotwork designs which are on display in the hub Gallery on the second floor of odum library. Many of the librarians are excited to turn odum from a place of research and studying to a must see attraction. dr. alan Bernstein ex-
plained that although the library suggests an academic atmosphere, there is still a need for a more modern academic library. “We’ve always tried to encourage the library to be more than just that place you go to study, but [to be] a meeting place, a hangout and a place of comfort,” dr. Bernstein said. “We accept the idea of active learning as a part of the more modern academic library.” in december 2012, odum library hosted the Club odum Pajama Party for finals week at VSU. the event included s’mores, board games and many other fun activities that allowed students to unwind after a long week of exams. the library aims to work with other departments and staff such as ra’s and residence halls to implement a more enjoyable learning space. in mid-april, reference librarian Michael holt will host “read fest,” an annual
Amber Smith / The SpecTATor (From left) Nodella Valenti, 7; Avery Mooney, 4; Trinity Mooney, 6; and Morganna Donathan, 5 play “Trouble” as Meghan Donathan, Library Assistant for Interlibrary Loan, supervises during International Tabletop Day at Odum Library on March 30.
event that marks national library Week which is sponsored by the american library association and celebrates the contributions of the nation’s libraries and librarians. odum also attempts to reach out to the youth to make education enjoyable. each year, the library invites pre-K students from area
schools to come enjoy reading in a fun and educational way. dr. Bernstein believes that although new ideas and activities are being implemented, it will not be at the expense of the library. “odum is still, very much, always a learning place,” he said.
fall Break is no more, thanksgiving Break is now one week long and Winter Break is now one week longer. those were the recommendations given out by the faculty Senate on thursday afternoon, after arguments were heard from both sides of the issue of the date changes. these recommendations will be sent to President William McKinney, who will either approve or deny the changes. “last semester, we had fall Break on Monday and tuesday, right?” asked José Vélez-Marulanda, assistant professor of mathematics. “So many of my class didn't come on Wednesday.” Vélez-Marulanda went on to explain that while the idea of a fall break was good in theory, it was not good in practice, as students would wind up missing valuable class time. another professor had problems with how late the schedule was being adjusted. “What is the process of making this decision?” Catherine Schaeffer, associate professor of dance, said. “[... t]he people in theatre and dance and art and symphony have a deadline for securing rights for plays and making an extensive schedule for who gets to do what and when. “that's already been done based on thinking that this decision had been made. Who's making the final calendar? We need to know, and we need to purchase rights for plays, and once you've set your schedule, you can't change it, because there are thousands of people involved.” Jimmy Bickerstaff, assistant professor of theatre, echoed those sentiments. “With so many activities scheduled and so many different facilities involving thousands of people, to have us still talking about the schedule at this point is way late for us,” Bickerstaff said. “it needs to be done at least a year in advance.” Maren Clegg-hyer, associate professor of english, explained that the scheduling normally was done in advance, and another organization – one that was not named – had planned things out a long time in advance, and these sort of changes should not continue. “once we set the dates, we need to think about more of these things so we don't have this problem again in the future,” she said. the vote for replacing fall Break with a week-long thanksgiving Break was 35 in favor, seven against, and two abstaining. the vote for pushing spring semester back a week was unanimous.