October 6, 2016

OCT.

6

2016

CAPEL-BLE OF GREATNESS PAGES 8-9

INSIDE

CHALKING ON CAMPUS MIAMI BOOZE SALES VETERANS SPEAK AT APP

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The Appalachian

September 22, 2016

THE TEAM Carl Blankenship @carl_r_blank EDITOR-IN-CHIEF EDITORIAL MULTIMEDIA BUSINESS

Aleah Warner @aleahwarner MANAGING EDITOR Victoria Haynes @victoriahayness CHIEF COPY EDITOR Sammy Hanf @sammyhanf NEWS EDITOR

Jacob Oller @ollerifyouhearme BUSINESS MANAGER Jordan Boles @jorddb MARKETING DIRECTOR

Katie Murawski @murawskikm A&E EDITOR Jason Huber @_jasonhuber SPORTS EDITOR

Olivia Wilkes @theappalachian ADVISER

CRIME LOG CAMPUS OCT. 3

SEPT. 29

7:00 p.m. | Larceny Plemmons Student Union Further investigation

10:20 p.m. | Underage Consumption of Alcohol Coltrane Hall Student referral

2:00 a.m. | Possession of Hashish Doughton Hall Cleared by arrest

SEPT. 29 2:14 p.m. | Internet Fraud Campus Further investigation

OCT. 1

SEPT. 29

8:30 p.m. | Vandalism Gardner Hall Further investigation

11:25 p.m. | Larceny Belk Hall Student referral

SEPT. 30

SEPT. 28

7:00 p.m. | Vandalism South Lot and Top of Bodenheimer Drive Leads exhausted

9:09 p.m. | Possession with Intent to Sell and Distribute - Marijuana East Hall Cleared by arrest

SEPT. 29 1:59 p.m. | Underage Consumption of Alcohol Rivers Street Parking Deck Student referral

Maleek Loyd @maleekstuff VIDEO EDITOR Sydney Spann @spannooo GRAPHICS EDITOR Braxton Coats @brxcoats22 WEB MANAGER

Lee Sanderlin @lee_sanderlin ENTERPRISE EDITOR

OCT. 1

Dallas Linger @dallingerphoto PHOTO EDITOR

SEPT. 28 1:50 p.m. | Vandalism South Parking Lot Leads exhausted

SUBMIT ANNOUNCEMENTS

App News is a service of the Division of Student Development. Email wilkeso@appstate.edu for submissions with subject line: APP NEWS PAGE. Submissions should not exceed 100 words and must include the event title, date/time, location and cost, and a contact email, phone and/or URL. Announcements will be edited as needed and will run as space allows.

Preference is given for events that are free or have a nominal cost.

WHAT TO DO GET PUBLISHED Calling all artists, writers, desginers, musicians! The Peel Literature and Arts Review is accepting submissions for review and possible publication. Final deadline is Nov. 1. Visit thepeelreview.com for info!

VISITING WRITERS SERIES The Fall 2016 Hughlene Bostian Frank Visiting Writers Series will take place with craft talks and readings. Book sales and signings will follow each event.

• Oct. 6: Poet and Essayist Bruce Weigl, 2-3:15 p.m. Craft Talk in Table Rock Room, PSU. 6-7:15 p.m. Pre-Reading Reception in Price Lake Room, PSU. 7:30 p.m. Reading in Table Rock Room, PSU. • Nov. 3: Graphic Novelist Carol Tyler, 12:30-1:45 p.m. Craft Talk in Three Top Mountain Room, PSU. 7:30 p.m. Reading in Turchin Center Lecture Hall, TCVA-1102.

• Nov. 10: Novelist Robert Olen Butler, 2-3:15 p.m. Craft Talk in Table Rock Room, PSU. 7:30 p.m. Reading in Table Rock Room, PSU.

LEADERSHIP COFFEE HOUR The Leadership Development foundation of Student Engagement and Leadership is sponsoring a Leadership Coffee Hour every Monday from 9 am - 10 am in the McCaskey Center PSU 244. All are invited to the conversation.

Coffee and tea will be provided. Please invite others to join us. Every week we select a new topic to discuss about leadership!

SNCURCS The Office of Student Research would like to personally invite you and your students to submit abstracts of research and creative en-

deavors (performance, plays, readings, exhibits, displays, etc.) for presentation at the 2016 State of North Carolina Undergraduate Research and Creativity Symposium (SNCURCS) to be held at North Carolina Central University on Saturday, Nov. 5.

To submit an abstract or for more information please visit www.sncurcs.org.

FREE LEGAL ADVICE The Student Legal Clinic, in suite 324 in Plemmons Student Union, offers confidential advice, information, and referrals provided by a licensed attorney.

The attorney can meet with any currently enrolled Appalachian State student and can advise students on any issue that is not directly adverse to the university.

Make an appointment by calling (828) 2628284. More information at legalclinic.appstate. edu.

WEEKLY LYRIC OPEN MICS A free and open event for all, Lyric hosts weekly open mics oriented around poetry and other word based art such as music, story-telling, etc. Join every Wednesday from 8:30-10:30 p.m. at 3rd Place.

VOTE.APPSTATE.EDU This site is a non-partisan resource for students at Appalachian State and the voters of Watauga County. Through this website, students will have access to the necessary resources to register to vote and learn about issues at stake in upcoming elections.

In addition to registration and voting information, all of the voter registration and engagement events being held across campus are

housed here. Our vision is to implement voter education activities and increase student participation in local, state, and national voting and election initiatives this year and in future elections.

ASU CAMPUS FARMER’S MARKET Come out and support your local farmers, artisans, and community during the ASU Sustainable Development Student Alliance hosted Appalachian State Campus Farmer’s Market!

We are sponsoring three markets this semester!

The dates are Oct. 26 and Nov. 16.

BOONE CREEK CLEAN-UP Join the ASU Sustainability Council in demonstrating our commitment to sustainability in the community! The Council has adopted the section of Boone Creek that flows past Appalachian Mountain Brewery and Boone Mall.

To fulfill this commitment, we hold creek cleanups twice a year.

We invite ASU faculty, staff and students to participate. Volunteers will receive a 10 percent discount on purchases at Appalachian Mountain Brewery for the rest of the night. Thanks to AMB for being such a supportive community partner! The clean-up will take place Thursday, Oct. 27 3:30-5 p.m.

UNDERSTANDING THE ROOTS OF MIGRATION Why do so many folks migrate from Mexico and Central America to the United States?

How does this impact your work as a public school teacher in North Carolina? Travel with us to Oaxaca, MX to learn more about the complex social, economic, and political reasons that drive people to leave their homelands. On this exciting program, you will have an opportuni-

ty to visit schools and learn from teachers and students, stay with a host family, and work with immigrant advocacy groups in Oaxaca.

This program to Oaxaca, MX for spring 2017 is a spring course for one credit hour, but travel happens right at the end of the semester in May. We will be having an interest meeting Sept. 29 at 6:30 p.m. in room 227 in the RCOE.

SPJ FUNDRAISING EVENT The Society of Professtional Journalists will be having a fundraising event at Panera Bread on Oct. 18 from 4-8 p.m. The funds will go towards covering club expenses and relieving some of the costs for their Washington D.C. trip in January.

NATIONAL COMING OUT DAY Join us on Tuesday, October 11th on Sanford Mall from 11am - 2pm for National Coming Out Day! National Coming Out Day is all about enjoying and embracing our own personal identities and showing acceptance of others. This year, we are want to focus our love and support on those that unable to come out and remind them that their identity is valid not matter how they present. This is by no means a day to “force you out of the closet”. Coming out is a daily and lifelong process, and the LGBT Center is here to support you every step of the way. Representatives from SAGA, Transaction, and Appstate Aces will be there along with other fun goodies and a “coming out of the closet” photo booth!

We invite everyone to come out to this event and celebrate each and every unique identity in our Appalachian family!

THURSDAY, OCT. 6

FRIDAY, OCT. 7

SATURDAY, OCT. 8

SUNDAY, OCT. 9

Poet and Essayist Bruce Weigl

Mid-Autumn Festival

“Finding Dory” screening

Yonder Mountain String Band

2-3:25 p.m.

Craft Talk, Table Rock Room, PSU 6-7:15 p.m.

Reception, Price Lake Room, PSU 7:30 p.m.

Reading, Table Rock Room, PSU

6 p.m.

Blue Ridge Ballroom, PSU

7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

I.G. Greer Auditorium $1 advance, $2 door

7 p.m.

Legends $20 advance, $25 door/non-students

THURSDAY, OCT. 13

“Remember” screening 7 p.m.

Schaefer Center $5 student, $10 non-student

“Finding Dory” screening

“Beetlejuice” screening 7 p.m.

Greenbriar Theatre $1 door

“Finding Dory” screening 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

I.G. Greer Auditorium $1 advance, $2 door

7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

I.G. Greer Auditorium $1 advance, $2 door

Holigays Amateur Drag Show

MONDAY, OCT. 10

TUESDAY, OCT. 11

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 12

Leadership Coffee Hour

National Coming Out Day

Lyric Open Mic

9 a.m.

McCaskey Center, PSU

11 a.m.-2 p.m.

Sanford Mall

8: 30 p.m.

3rd Place

7 p.m.

Parkway Ballroom, PSU

Oct. 6, 2016

IWF ATLANTA’S STUDENT FURNITURE DESIGN COMPETITION HALIE HAMILTON NEWS REPORTER

A

ppalachian State

students submitted their design work to Design Emphasis, a national furniture design competition hosted in Atlanta this year by the International Woodworking Fair.

Richard Prisco, an industrial design professor, said students from 32 schools across the country entered, with 150 entries in all being narrowed down to 31 finalists competing in five categories.

Prisco has judged this competition three times in the past and said that at least 10 students entered from the industrial design program last spring.

“The competition is a part of the IWF Atlanta show, it has a large section in one of the showrooms to display students work from all across the country,” Peter Clare, junior industrial design major, said. “Aside from the actual competition you got to experience one of the largest woodworking conventions in the world and see all of the new cutting edge technology first hand.”

Clare entered his design for a 3-by-3 coffee table made of purpleheart, lacewood and walnut into the competition.

His design didn’t receive any awards but he was a finalist.

Clare received an email near the end of the 2016 spring semester reminding him of the competition.

“I figured I might as well enter it, cause you’ll never succeed without taking any chances and I later was informed that I got accepted as a finalist which was unexpectedly pleasant,” Clare said. “Becoming a finalist reassured me that the work I’m doing is credible and respected by not just my teachers and fellow classmates, which ultimately is a good feeling.”

Industrial design major Kasia Sweeny also entered a design into this competition and won first in Design Creativity with a coat rack called Click.

This was Sweeny’s first furniture competition and her first time in Atlanta.

(Top) Click the coat rack, open, Kasia Sweeny’s design she submitted to the IWF Atlanta’s Student Design Competition. Sweeny won the Design Creativity category. (Right) Click the coat rack, closed. Sweeny won the Design Creativity category.

Finalists are invited to stay in a hotel for free and attend the awards dinner.

“I loved stopping in now and then by the coat rack and seeing how people reacted to it especially if they didn’t know I made it, it made it more candid,” Sweeny said. “It’s an interactive piece so it’s always fun to see the delight or surprise when they go to use it.”

Sweeny said that her professor, Richard Prisco, encouraged his students to enter their work to the Design Emphasis competition.

“I generally encourage students to enter high profile competitions, and this one is a good one with good prizes awarded,” Prisco said.

A former Appalachian State student, Kelly Romig, won first and third in the Accent Furniture category. She was awarded a total of $1,250 for her designs.

“I am very thankful that our school gets the opportunities for these competitions, they’re a great way to get your name out there which is especially important being a student,” Sweeny said. “I’ll be looking forward to entering more.”

WATUAGA REPUBLICAN COMMITTEE FINED OVER $14,000 BENJAMIN SESSOMS NEWS REPORTER

T

he N.C. State Board of

Elections fined the Watauga Republican Committee $14,159.20 for violations of N.C. general statutes on the committee’s budget according to a notice sent on Sept. 22.

The audit found a wide range of violations between 2009 and 2016.

The general statute, G.S. 163278.34(b), which resulted in the fine 4

states: “If an individual, person, political committee, referendum committee, candidate, or other entity intentionally makes or accepts a contribution or makes an unlawful expenditure in violation of this Article, then that entity shall pay to the State Board of Elections, in an amount to be determined by that Board, a civil penalty and the costs of investigation, assessment and collection.”

G.S. 163-278.14(b), which states that

“no entity shall make, and no candidate, committee or treasurer shall accept, any monetary contribution in excess of $50” unless that contribution is made in verifiable form and not cash, was also violated.

Several contributions over $50 labeled as cash, in violation of state law, were made between 2009 and 2014.

A different statute, which states that media expenses be paid in verifiable

form, was violated in the 2012-13 fiscal year when a payment of $921 labeled as cash was given to the High Country Radio.

Laws were also violated by several transactions that failed to identify the address or the occupation of the contributor or the address of payments made to vendors.

The committee must pay the fine in full or contest it within 30 days.

Photo Courtesy: Kasia Sweeny

Oct. 6, 2016

Donald Trump Pepe found in front of Peacock Hall.

“CHALKING” OPINIONS LEADS TO CONFLICT ON CAMPUS O ANGELA MCLINTON NEWS REPORTER

ver the past few

weeks Appalachian students have taken to the sidewalks to express their political opinions through chalk, starting a debate about free speech on campus.

“The actual political chalking such as ‘Trump 2016’ are not causing problems.

It’s the rhetoric and chalkings that say things like ‘Privilege is an excuse for minorities failures’ that are inexcusable and cause problems,” student body president Jalyn Howard said. “I do believe the administration should get involved when safety becomes a concern and students feel threatened or unsafe on campus.”

Captain William Corley of ASU Campus Police said that officers responding to a chalking disturbance last week were only attempting to keep the peace.

“The problem was you had a civil disturbance, which then becomes a police matter,” Corley said. “Since they weren’t getting along, he basically addressed both groups and requested that they disperse — just based on the civil disturbance, because we couldn’t go off and leave them in that state because [it] probably would’ve turned into physical confrontation.”

Howard said the chalkings, since they take place at night, fail to facilitate dialogue.

“I believe the best way to engage in these types of conversion is through Photo Credit: Sammy Hanf

sustained dialogue that respects all participants and allows for everyone’s opinion to be discussed and heard. If it is a emotional or passionate topic there should probably be a moderator there to ensure the conversation remains respectful and productive,” Howard said.

Earlier this week Chancellor Everts notified the campus of an amendment to the university’s chalking policy saying only organizations officially recognized by the university promoting a specific event can chalk and must identify their organization within the chalk message.

Previously students and faculty were free to write whatever they pleased, provided their messages were written in water soluble chalk and in a spot where the rain could easily wash it away.

Paul Gates, Faculty Senate chair, said the senate acted quickly to make a resolution addressing the racially charged chalk messages.

“It was the events of that night [that prompted] the resolution. It was racial stuff. We thought that this is the kind of

thing that the Senate ought to condemn,” Gates said.

Gates said while the resolution nominally addresses racial bias, it is intended to support any underrepresented groups on campus.

The chalkers, who declined to be named for this story, said they feel that they are underrepresented as conservatives on campus.

“Underrepresented is just a numerical thing; that’s how you get to be underrepresented.

College campuses, college faculty tend to have a reputation as being very liberal,” Gates said. “And so, that leads to conservative faculty and conservative students feel that their voices aren’t heard. So hence the chalking.

And that’s the way they chose to do it, unfortunately.”

Gates said the fact that the chalking happens during the middle of the night is of particular concern to the university.

“It’s only the cowardly, hateful people who operate under the cover of darkness,” Gates said. “I think that maybe explains the difference between that and

“I believe the best way to engage in these types of conversion is through sustained dialogue that respects all participants and allows for everyone’s opinion to be discussed and heard.”

literature. No one’s going to be preaching on the mall at 3 a.m. No one’s going to be handing out anything at 3 a.m. You do it in the dark of night so when the sun comes up, people start walking around, there it is.”

Ayako Nakano, SGA chief of staff, said the resolution suppresses expression and that protecting underrepresented students could be better done in other ways like reducing wait times for seeing a psychologist on campus and hiring psychologists of color.

“I personally see this as a violation of our freedom to express ourselves. I do not think this resolution properly address the recent chalking events, but I also do not believe it is the job of an institution to intervene with students’ political expression,” SGA chief of staff Ayako Nakano said.

Nakano said that the SGA has discussed the matter and hope to work with faculty in amending the policy to protect freedom of expression.

Howard said the presidential election has been energizing dialogue on campus.

“The campus is definitely geared up for this election. Many people have registered to vote and over 300 people attended the debate watch party,” Howard said. “The biggest impact of this election is the conversations it is forcing our school and community to have with each other.”

5

Oct. 6, 2016

WATAUGA HABITAT FOR HUMANITY SEEKING PROSPECTIVE HOMEOWNERS ANGELA MCLINTON NEWS REPORTER

abitat for Humani-

H

ty’s Watauga chapter is looking for prospective tenants. Last Tuesday the organization held a meeting in which prospective homeowners came and were briefed on what it takes to partner with Watauga County Habitat.

“We’re our own affiliate under Habitat For Humanity International, so we just look at our own community and figure out what we need,” executive director Alex Hooker said. “It’s all built with the partnership model where we work with the homeowners; we’re not doing it for the homeowners, but with the future homeowners. In terms of the qualifications to work with Habitat or to be a partner family, you got to have three things: need, ability to pay and the willingness to partner.”

Ramey said that any applicants will have their backgrounds and credit checked, as that is required by law.

Besides those checks, the organization conducts home visits and credit checks. In Watauga’s Habitat, a potential homeowner must make in between 30-60 percent of the median income in Watauga county ($35,491in 2014, according to the U.S. Census Bureau) and show the ability to make monthly payments. It is also required of the applicants to submit the two most recent year’s worth of tax returns.

“We don’t look at credit scores but we do look at credit and we look at history of bills that you’ve paid. ‘If it doesn’t work out this time, try again,’” Hooker said.

“There are times where we’ll look at stuff and say, ‘alright, we’re having an issue with this credit card, it racked up a lot of debt on that,’ so we kind of work with

people to get that debt down. And then we encourage [them] to re-apply.”

Along with those three points, applicants must be willing to do some volunteering in the form of physical contributions.

“Each adult over the age of 18 has to do 250 ‘sweat equity’ hours a piece.

You can have [up to 40] hours donated, as well. Usually most people can get that done,” Hooker said. “The work is not all on site. We’ve had people do babysitting, watching volunteers’ kids while they work, that kind of stuff: doing construction on other homes, your own home, working in the ReStore, sometimes people make lunches for the crews that are out working.”

The education workshops offer homeowner education classes, which include financial literacy and budgeting in order

to understand how to manage money and eventually maintain a home.

Typically one family is approved at a time. After completing the projects at hand, Watauga’s next in line are the Bradshaws. “[Renting] feels like we’re throwing money away,” Jesse Bradshaw, a prospective homeowner, said. “I can’t stand throwing money away.”

Bradshaw’s wife, Jessica, shared the same sentiment.

“We’re ready to be homeowners.

We’re tired of renting,” Samantha Bradshaw said. “It’s hard; we’re young.

Hopefully our application goes through.”

There is an App State Habitat for Humanity club for interested students which consist of fundraising activities and assistance in building homes for local families.

PEAS IN A PODCAST CARRIE HALL NEWS REPORTER

uried in the basement of

B

Anne Belk Hall an unexpected den of color and creativity resides.

If you walk through the main doors of Anne Belk, down the front stairs and to the right, you’ll find a bright orange door behind which Appalachian Media Productions lives.

The space has offices for the Appalachian Media Productions team, a green room for podcast guests, the Greg Cuddy podcast studio and a control room for the studio.

It is fully furnished and decorated to suit the production team’s taste. Paintings and photos speckle the walls and coffee mugs litter the kitchenette counter.

“When you walk in Anne Belk it’s very stale, very stoic,” Sharay Smalls, wellness coordinator for student programs and the host of a podcast called Smalls Talk, said. “But coming down to the podcast studio, it feels like home.”

The idea for a podcast program arose three years ago when Troy Tuttle, the university’s creative director, was covering alumni awards and met up with Stephen Dubner, the author of Freakonomics and an App State alum.

Dubner showed him and other members of the Appalachian Media Productions team around WNYC, which is a public radio station in New York where many popular podcasts like Serial, Radiolab and All Things Considered are produced.

“It really inspired us,” Tuttle said.

The team told Dubner they were interested starting a podcasting studio program at Appalachian, Tuttle said. He helped out by giving advice and knowledge essential to the formation of the program.

Photo Credit: Sammy Hanf

Appalachian Media Productions was given the space for their headquarters and studio in the summer of 2013.

But the space was far from inhabitable.

“Nobody wanted this area,” Tuttle said. “The interior designer for the university said that this was the second worst place on campus. And the worst was the bunkers underneath the Varsity Gym, which had black mold.”

Although it took the whole summer, Tuttle and Garrett Ford, the university’s motion media specialist, revamped the space and made it a suitable home for offices and the podcast studio.

“When you see the pictures it’s incredible that it’s the same place,” Dave Blanks, the university’s production assistant and audio engineer, said.

Tuttle said the renovation was done on the cheap. They did all the painting,

picked the furniture and layout, built the baseboards, ripped the existing tiles up, sealed the floor and more.

“It was done anyway we could get it done, because we didn’t have an incredible budget,” Blanks said.

Tuttle said that the environment is essential to the podcast program. A good environment gets better interview out of guests.

“We get some people that have been on every tv and radio show in the US,” he said. “If they walk in and take us seriously right off the bat, we’re gonna get a much better interview.”

The team produces many podcasts.

Their focuses vary greatly, and their tones range from serious to humorous.

SoundAffect is a podcast that features “conversations with smart people about stuff that affects our world, and how we

affect it,” presenting big topics and discussing them in relation to Appalachian State.

Megan Hayes, Appalachian State director of communications, prepares questions about relevant topics and has conversations with guests on each episode.

The series features lecturers App brings to campus. Tuttle said that the podcast sheds light on the material in the lectures by asking follow-up questions.

This podcast has hosted many wellknown people such as Julian Bond, Soledad O’Brien, RFK Jr., Nina Jablonski, Ray Suarez and Michael Eric Dyson.

“It’s great for us to have access to all these incredible minds that come to Appalachian,” Blanks said. “They share their time with us and we get some amazing conversations that hopefully spread their message.”

Blanks and Tuttle said an episode of SoundAffect earned them a MarCom Platinum award.

They’re especially proud of the award because App’s program was competing to win against heavy contenders, including Fortune 500 companies.

Another podcast called Dave by the Bell asks smaller questions like “What food are you most excited to eat over fall break?” Smalls Talk explores Appalachian students searching for personal wellness and AppX tells the stories of real students on campus.

Appalachian Media Productions produces these podcasts and many more for current or incoming students, people interested in attending App in the future, community members and anyone else interested in the topics.

Dave Blanks running audio for a podcast recording in the Greg Cuddy Podcast Studio.

7

Oct. 6, 2016

THE PATIENCE OF CAPEL

(Top) Senior wide receiver Jaquil Capel runs through the tunnel before the game against Old Dominion on Sept. 10. App won 31-7.

(Bottom) Senior wide receiver Jaquil Capel defending against Tennessee.

IAN TAYLOR SPORTS REPORTER

J

aquil Capel had to

exercise a lot of patience to get to where he is today.

Capel, a senior wide receiver for the Mountaineers, hasn’t had the career he expected to when he left high school to play at a higher level.

A four-year starting quarterback for the West Montgomery Warriors in Mount Gilead, North Carolina, Capel went to UNC Charlotte where he awaited the kickoff of the school’s new football program. However, he

8

soon became jaded with the endless grind of practice with no pay-off.

“Football-wise it was weird because we would just practice all year.

On Saturdays we would have a scrimmage, a mock-game kind of,” Capel said. “It wasn’t the college football atmosphere that I was looking for.

I wanted to face teams like Miami, traveling to Tennessee and Georgia.

Just things like that.”

Capel, hoping to play at a higher level program, decided to transfer to Appalachian State to find the football atmosphere he had been searching for.

Due to NCAA transfer rules, he was forced to sit out for a year which once again tested his patience.

Despite the year long break from football, Capel is better off for it as a player according to Mountaineers receiving coach Justin Watts.

“He’s been able to see. When you sit out and you watch practice, a lot of times you hear coaches yelling, ‘Guys work hard, do this, do that’” Watts said. “When you’re able to sit out and see it with your own eyes, he can kind of tell whose working and who’s not, and he can see with a coach’s eye.”

Capel ended up tearing his groin during training camp in 2015. Coming back from injury, Capel was relegated to a role on special teams, something he has embraced in an effort to help the team any way he can.

“I wanted to be on special teams so bad early on in my career and I want to be on it now. There’s no need for me to say, ‘I don’t want to be on special teams,’” Capel said. “My thing is, I’ll do whatever I have to do for the team. So if it’s special teams, it’s special teams. If it’s catching passes, it’s catching passes. So as far as being Photo Credit: Dallas Linger

Oct. 6, 2016

(Top) Senior wide receiver Jaquil Capel hypes up the crowd during the Miami game. (Bottom) Junior wide receiver Zy Letman and senior wide receiver Jaquil Capel between plays against Tennessee.

a team guy, it is something I feel like I should do.”

When the 2015 season started, Capel found success on special teams and eventually worked his way into the passing game as well. His patience was once again tested during the game against Old Dominion when he broke his leg, ending his 2015 season.

Watts says that Capel’s injury wasn’t a total loss, as it added perspective for his teammates in regards to the way they value their career.

“I think it gives some of the other Photo Credit: Dallas Linger

guy's perspective and it lets those other guys look at him and say, ‘Hey, I can’t take my career for granted, I’ve only got two or three years left,’” wide receivers coach Justin Watts said. “Well, he’s already missed two years purely off of injury, so I think it put some perspective for the other guys.”

Capel, back on the field for the 2016 season, has found success with the Mountaineers. He’s currently third on the team in receiving yards with 119 through the first five games.

Along with his contributions on the

field, Capel has become a leader in the locker room, mentoring younger players on and off the field.

Sophomore wide receiver Brad Absher has known Capel since they were kids and played in high school together, has seen Capel’s patience first hand.

“Something he’s taught me the most, especially being here at App, is trust the process,” Absher said. “He’s been through more adversity than anybody here by transferring schools, sitting out a year, injuries and things like that. He tells me, control what

you can control, trust the process, when you get your opportunity make the most of it. I think that’s something he’s done really well this year.”

While Capel might not have had the career he expected to, his time as a Mountaineer has allowed him to contribute in ways that he never thought he would. Too often the focus is on a player’s stats and everything else they bring gets lost in the conversation. When Capel leaves App State, his contributions on the field may be forgotten, but the impact he has had on his teammates will continue on.

9

Oct. 6, 2016

FERNANDEZ’S TEAM-FIRST APPROACH MOLDS ATTITUDE

Senior defensive line Tyson Fernandez runs through the tunnel pregame against Georgia State on Oct. 1.

ADAM HOTHERSALL SPORTS REPORTER

S

enior Appalachian

State football player Tyson Fernandez has had a backand-forth senior season, not for his play on the field, but for his rotation between playing on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.

Coming to Appalachian as a freshman, Fernandez redshirted his first year then moved from offensive to defensive line late in his redshirt freshman season after injuries upfront.

Five days before the Nov. 2 game in 2013 against Chattanooga is when Fernandez moved over to the defensive line and got the start recording four solo tackles in his debut.

In his sophomore and junior seasons, Fernandez started 20 total games at nose tackle and was slated to begin his senior at the same spot, but lack of depth on the offensive line sparked change.

“This is a business and this is a job so I took it as that,” Fernandez said.

This wasn’t the first time Fernandez has played both offensively and defensively in his football career. He did so in high school at Fuquay-Varina, in Raleigh, under coach Ryan Habich, who is now the head coach at Watauga High School.

“His senior year he started at guard on offense and nose guard in our 3-4 defense," Habich said. "He played every down going both ways which is extremely tough in the hot months of August and September in Raleigh.”

App State defensive line coach Mark Ivey also recognizes the importance and the challenge of Fernandez to play both ways and doing what is best for the team.

“Tyson is very important and we had a need at the offensive line position, without him going in there we would have been thin,” Ivey said. “Obviously he has spent the last two and half years as either the starter or major contributor on the defensive line.”

Ivey says the challenge of playing both ways in college is trying to compre10

hend the playbook of both the offense and defense and being sound on technique, and understands how difficult it is.

“It definitely presents a challenge during the time he was going back and forth because at the same time the offensive line was meeting, the defensive line was meeting,” Ivey said.

Returning from an injury early this season, Fernandez practiced reps on both sides of the ball but made the full move back to his natural position on defense as nose tackle in the Mountaineers' game against Akron.

Back to nose tackle, Fernandez is comftorable again with his position but said he just wants to contribute to what is best for the team, by being on the field.

“I don’t want to stop, I want to constantly be out there,” Fernandez said. “I hate being on the sidelines so when they told me I had the opportunity to play both ways I jumped on it because that means less time on the sideline.”

Fernandez’s passion for football start-

ed late he didn’t start playing football until his sophomore year of high school.

“Tyson was just a baseball player his freshman year. I convinced him to finally play football his sophomore year,” Habich said. “His JV baseball coach was one of my assistants and I joked that he would be fired from football if Tyson did not play football. I also joked with Tyson and told him he could not play baseball unless he played football.”

It was Fernandez's baseball coach who ended up making him play football.

“I didn’t have a choice, he made my baseball coach make me play football,” Fernandez jokingly said. “Coach said I was too big to be playing just baseball, so he was like ‘put him in football, and if he doesn’t play football he’s not allowed to play baseball.’”

Being such a good character and such a strong leader, the switch worked out just fine for Fernandez.

“Tyson was always a high character team player who came from a strong

Christian family. Even though he just started playing football his sophomore year, he became a leader in our program.” Habich said. “I am very proud of Tyson of what he has done in college as well.”

A unique start to a sport that eventually would get Fernandez on a Division I football program makes the journey that much more different than other football players who may have played their whole lives.

“Whenever I’m in there I’m going to try and get the job done, I’m going to give everything I got,” Fernandez said.

The senior plans on making an impact on the defensive line again like prior years but he is willing to do whatever it takes to contribute to his team.

“It was challenging, but luckily I was able to play three years of defense and I knew all of the defensive calls by heart and I could do them in my sleep,” Fernandez said. “I definitely want to be out there to help the team win.”

Senior defensive line Tyson Fernandez in the line of scrimmage facing Georgia State on Oct. 1.

Photo Credit:Dallas Linger

Oct. 6, 2016

Junior forward Rian Phillips in a non-conference game against Davidson at the Alumni Soccer Stadium on Sept. 24 in Davidson, North Carolina.

PHILLIPS AND CO. HEADING IN RIGHT DIRECTION ADAM HOTHERSALL SPORTS REPORTER

here are two things

T

that Anchorage, Alaska and Boone, North Carolina have in common: the cold and Rian Phillips.

Appalachian State men’s soccer gained a valuable asset from Alaska in junior forward Rian Phillips this off season. After a rough start, only winning one of their first six matches, Phillips has helped the team improve to now (3-5-1) with two game winners in the last two matches.

The question of how Rian Phillips got to Boone, of all places, has been following him around since he arrived. It is pretty simple: it is a small word.

Phillips was named to the all-state team as a freshman and sophomore while at East Anchorage High School. While still in Alaska, he played for App State Alum Barat Killian at Cook Inlet Soccer Club.

As his talents developed, so did his experience traveling across the country.

From 2012 to 2014, Phillips played for Darlington School in Rome, Georgia under coach Chad Little. Afterwards, Phillips traveled back to the North West corner of the country and played for Oregon State from 2014 to 2016.

Looking to improve as a player and see more action on the field, Phillips was in the market and looking to transfer.

App State head coach Jason O’Keefe was fresh off the market just landing the head coaching position at App State and heard Phillips was looking for a change “As soon as I got the job, Chad [Little], who I know very well, called me and said ‘Hey, Rian’s looking to move, would you be interested?’”O’Keefe said.

“We started talking and we connected on what my vision was going to be for the program and for him.”

Just like that, Phillips now wears Black and Gold for the Mountaineers as this season begins.

Heading on the road for five weeks straight, the vision started off a little rocky, losing all but one game which was postponed due to weather in Cincinnati.

However, after a win at home against USC Upstate, the Mountaineers now see the vision O'Keefe had been talking about.

“There’s a lot of work to be done but nobody’s shying away from that,” O’Keefe said.

Phillips especially has yet to shy away from a challenge. Against Davidson, after a tie against Winthrop at home, the Mountaineers were deadlocked with the Wildcats until the 76th minute.

The two teams battled over the center third of the field for possession all night.

Off of a corner kick from teammate sophomore Daniel Avila, Phillips managed to head in the game-winner and his first ever goal at Appalachian State.

“The most important thing is a team win, but I’d definitely like to get a few more in the coming weeks,” Phillips said.

Three days later, he did it again. This time against UNC Asheville.

Phillips and sophomore Ian Bennett got out on a breakaway play. After Bennett’s shot was blocked but not controlled by the goalkeeper, Phillips came in and finished off the play. It marked Phillips’ second career goal and game-winner in his career in just two straight matches.

Photo Credit: Appalachian State Athletics/Tim Cowie

Rian Phillips is now tied for first in the Sun Belt Conference for game-winners.

“That’s all credit to the players we have in the midfield and obviously the coaching staff here,” Phillips said.

Since becoming a Mountaineer, Phillips said he already feels like a part of the family. He attributes that feeling of chemistry between his teammates and himself to the coaching staff and each guy pushing each other to work harder every day.

“I think we’re really becoming a decent soccer playing team in the fact that we don’t have to rely on physical attributes to win a game,” Phillips said.

“I think in every game we will outwork

the other team. Coach has put us in a position to be fit enough to do that. We will beat you with the ball on the ground and moving it past you.”

That is exactly what O’Keefe’s goal for the team is.

“We’re trying to be great at everything we do whether it’s on the field, in the classroom or in the community,” O'Keefe said. "Come in, work extremely hard, have a great attitude and be a great teammate."

Phillips is right on track with how his coach wants him to play the game and he won’t let up anytime soon.

“I need to work harder the next day than I did before,” Phillips said.

Junior forward Rian Phillips in a non-conference game against Davidson at the Alumni Soccer Stadium on Sept. 24 in Davidson, North Carolina.

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Oct. 6, 2016

Freshman outside hitter Emma Longley prepares to serve the ball in a game against Ohio on Sept. 3. App lost 3-0.

Longley is third in the nation for total kills amongst freshman and in the top thirty total.

LONGLEY QUICK TO MAKE HER MARK BROOKS MAYNARD SPORTS REPORTER

A

fter the loss of

high-impact seniors Emily Corrigan and Jess Keller from last season, it was easy to tab outside hitter as a problem position for the Mountaineers volleyball this season.

While head coach Matt Ginipro had many options for starters at outside hitter, they were extremely limited in playing experience.

Freshman Emma Longley caught Ginipro’s eye and quickly became a regular starter on the court for the Mountaineers. Not too long after, she became one of the most efficient scorers App State has seen in their history.

“I honestly didn’t see it coming.

I watched Emily [Corrigan] and Jess [Keller] play and I took notes on that before I came here,” Longley said. “I saw how they worked and how they moved and I really feed off the energy of the team now to boost my confidence and realize that I can do my job like they did regardless of my age.”

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Making a name for herself after being named both the Sun Belt Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week and Freshman of the Week after putting up 30 kills in her first ever collegiate match against Virginia Tech, the second most for App State in a match since 2011.

Longley also recorded a double-double on the match, adding 13 kills, and put up solid numbers against Norfolk State and Siena during the same weekend.

After already astonishing her teammates, coaches and Mountaineer fans with her play, she poured it on even more by breaking the program record for kills in a single match with 37 against Ball State in early September.

“She’s an amazing outside hitter that I think was under-recruited. She just made the best decision for her,” Ginipro said. “She’s really serious about what she wants to do and how to get better and you don’t see that a lot out of freshman.”

Breaking the record of 36 set by

Brittany Zahn in 2007, she put up a career-high 20 digs in the match, earning her sixth double-double on the year.

If that wasn’t enough, the performance earned her All-Tournament honors and her second Sun Belt Freshman of the Week nod.

“She’s just a special kid. She works her butt off. I mean she’s a really nice athlete and volleyball player but I think it’s just the way she is mentally,” Ginipro said. “She’s up in the offices watching film all the time and talking about what she needs to do as a leader. She has a level of maturity that most freshman don’t’ have.”

While being recruited in high school, Longley said that team chemistry and the coaching staff were the biggest factors in her decision.

“I came on my visit and immediately fell in love with it,” Longley said.

“The coaches were the kind of coaches I wanted to have. I knew I could trust them and when I met the team I could tell our chemistry was really good and I

wanted to be a part of it.”

Not only has she been playing well, but she has been emerging as one of the team’s primary leaders.

“She’s not a typical 18-year-old brain.

She has that level of maturity,” Ginipro said. “She came up to my office with three and a half pages of notes of stuff she wanted to do as a leader. That’s how focused she is and how driven she is.”

For Longley, everything is still just a learning experience.

“I look up to every single person on this team,” Longley said. “I think they all have a role that I look up to.”

Ginipro has even tabbed Longley with praise saved for only the favored few saying she has the potential to be the best Mountaineer volleyball player ever.

“She’s having a great freshman year but I’m really excited to see what she’s going to be like as a junior and a senior,” Ginipro said. “If she keeps doing what she’s doing, she’ll be one of the best that’s ever played here.”

Photo Credit: Halle Keighton

Oct. 6, 2016

The Banned Books Week display at the Watauga County Public Library.

BANNED BOOKS WEEK IN BOONE ASHLEY GOODMAN A&E REPORTER

ibraries and bookstores

L

around Boone celebrated Banned Books Week last week, a commemoration of banned and challenged books that began in 1982, according to the coalition’s website. The occasion casts the spotlight on books that have been restricted or challenged throughout history.

These books may be censored for any number of reasons, including religious viewpoint, sexuality, racial issues and the broader “unsuitable for age group.”

Some books receive criticism for even more niche issues. Dr. Seuss’ “Hop on Pop” was, for example, criticized for promoting “violence against fathers,” according to a book display at Belk Library.

The American Library Association said on their website, “The books featured during Banned Books Week have all been targeted with removal or restrictions in libraries and schools.

While books have been and continue to be banned, part of the Banned Books Week celebration is the fact that, in a majority of cases, the books have remained available.”

According to the ALA, over 11,300 books have been banned since the Banned Books Week Coalition was formed in 1982. Banned Books Week seeks to incite education and advocacy Photo Credit: Ashley Goodman

about the issue of censorship in literature and society and to ensure that literature remain accessible to students and readers despite public criticism.

Since the coalition’s formation, libraries, booksellers and book lovers alike have used the last week of September to support freedom of expression and draw attention to the harm of censorship in media and literature, according to the ALA. Belk Library put together a display for the event featuring recent and famous challenged books and the reasons behind their controversy, a board encouraging students to write down their favorite banned novels and baskets of free Banned Books Week buttons to spread the word.

“It makes people aware of a library, and how important and vital it is for a community,” Kelly McCallister, a distance education librarian at Belk Library, said. She also said that libraries are more than just books but an abundance of resources, and that they are “the heart of the community.”

Banned Books Week is like a library holiday, McCallister said. “It’s our Christmas, because it gets people excited, it gets people in here, it gets people thinking about it.”

One feature of the exhibition was a large bright board asking for titles of

passerbys’ favorite books. The board was littered with the handwriting of 20-30 students, writing entries including anything from Dr. Seuss’ children books to “A Brave New World,” by Aldous Huxley.

Watauga County Public Library also had a display to bring awareness to the week. Their display focused on the abundance of young adult and children’s literature that was banned or challenged in 2015. The display was decorated with assorted colors of construction paper hands to represent diversity, the theme of the year’s display, librarian Amy Jones said.

Jones, who works with the youth desk responsible for the display, said that many authors today write about their values and struggles in youth.

“They didn’t have those stories when they were younger to read and find some kind of comfort in, and so now they’re writing things so that they can give that voice to those people who went through those things,” Jones said.

The display focused on some of the most challenged youth books of 2015, which included many titles about race, gender and sexuality. Jones said the library chose to represent these books and the theme of diversity in their display to express the importance of freedom from censorship in literature, especially as it

pertains to the works of marginalized writers.

“Especially for me, someone who will read just about anything, controversial or not, I want to be able to appreciate those forms of art even though they may not be something that people regard as art,” Jones said.

Also celebrating the literary holiday was Foggy Pine Books, a bookstore on West King Street. The bookstore was officially opened in May of this year, and is owned by a former Appalachian student and English major, Mary Prewitt. Rather than creating a display of relevant books, Prewitt decided to honor the occasion by hosting an event called “Banned Book Read Aloud” on Sept. 30 at her shop.

That night, Foggy Pine Books became the venue for a reading of five banned and challenged books, all read by people with literary background, including writers and former booksellers. Prewitt said that she felt there was something important about having this literature read aloud, as it makes the controversial passages harder to avoid discussing.

“It is my job [as a bookseller] to spread awareness about Banned Books Week,” Prewitt said.

Banned Books Week ran from Sept.

25 through Oct. 1. More about Banned Books Week can be found on its website.

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Oct. 6, 2016

During a free writing exercise about his traumatic memories, Vietnam war veteran Bruce Weigl gives Jake Mazza, a member of the Air Force, constructive criticism.

“WRITING TRAUMA: A WORKSHOP FOR VETERANS AND THEIR FAMILIES” MARY ELIZABETH MYRICK A&E REPORTER

n Sep. 28, from 4 p.m.

O

to 7 p.m., poet Bruce Weigl led a workshop titled “Writing Trauma: A Workshop for Veterans and their Families.” The event was held by the Appalachian Veterans Arts and Humanities Collective, run by Joseph Bathanti, North Carolina Poet Laureate and recipient of the North Carolina Award.

The workshop, held in the Parkway Ballroom of the Plemmons Student Union, was a free event open to veterans and their family members. Weigl described the workshop as a powerful tool that can be restorative and even life saving.

“We’ll all participate in an exercise designed to put you in the position to take charge of your traumatic memories so that they no longer have control over you. We’ll also focus on making the writing of these traumas a literary and artistic problem rather than an emotional problem.”

Bruce Weigl, named the 2016-17 Rachel Rivers-Coffey Distinguished Professor of Creative Writing at ASU, served as a combat veteran in Vietnam at the start of December 1976. During his time serving, Weigl was awarded the Bronze Star.

Years later, Weigl continues his work as a poet, having received multiple awards, among them the Peace Medal from the Vietnamese Writers Association, the Poet’s Prize from the Academy of American Poets and nominations for the Pulitzer Prize in poetry.

Amongst his personal experiences of Vietnam, Weigl attributes this trauma to “giving him a voice.”

For 25 years, Weigl has been working with veterans through writing workshops. In the past, Weigl has held workshops alongside other Vietnam veterans and writers, such as poet W.D. Ehrhart and Tim O’Brien, author of “The Things

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They Carried.”

Throughout the workshop, Weigl guided veterans and their family members through exercises that allowed them to examine painful events and then recreate them analyze them in a different format.

After returning from war, many veterans suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Some of the most common symptoms of PTSD involve flashbacks, nightmares, and hyperarousal. Approximately seven or eight out of every 100 people experience PTSD during their lifetime, according to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. In relation to recent wars, approximately 30 percent of Vietnam veterans, 12 percent of Gulf War veterans and 11 to 20 percent of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom experience PTSD within a given year.

PTSD stems from specific moments of trauma called stressors or triggers.

Weigl described them as a moment when one’s life “changed in a way that you didn’t understand,” and from which one since has “never been the same.”

Triggers can result from a variety of stimulations that transports one back to a moment of trauma. Different sights, sounds or smells can become triggers, in addition to witnessing other traumatic situations, such as car accidents, news reports or sudden sensory overloads.

In the future, Weigl hopes that more and more resources will become accessible for returned veterans. In particular, he noted that as different conflicts begin to end, more and more vets will be returning home and needing support.

Weigl additionally noted that President Barack Obama’s speech on Sept.

28 was geared to address veteran affairs.

Within his speech, Obama expressed gratitude to veterans and the importance of providing continual support for the

troops.

In regards to supporting veterans within the community that most veterans are not looking for much, Weigl said. One of the best ways to reach out to veterans is through friendship, love and kindness. Weigl said even though it might seem cliché, veterans prize these gestures all the more because of what they’ve seen.

He said it is respectful to thank veterans for their service.

“You don’t have to believe in war to say that,” Weigl said.

In 2016, Appalachian State was named a military-friendly school, which means that the university, along with other military-friendly schools, aims to provide specific services and support for veterans and their family members. This title has been awarded to Appalachian annually since 2010, according to the ‘military services’ link on their website.

Among the services that ASU offers for veterans, students have the opportunity for priority registration, assistance

with transferring credits and specific assistance with financial aid and scholarships, along with several others. ASU also offers programs in military science and Reserve Officers’ Training Corps.

Bathanti said this workshop was the second held by the Veterans Collective and that the Collective will be holding another workshop on Nov. 2 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in Linville Falls in the student union, lead by graphic novelist Carol Tyler. Tyler will guide veterans through the process of forming a visual narrative and presenting the veteran’s personal story.

Additionally,Weigl will lead a craft talk and poetry reading as part of the the Hughlene Bostian Frank Visiting Writers Series on Oct. 6. from 2 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. Weigl will hold the craft talk titled, “Finding Poetry at the Juncture of Memory and Imagination” in Table Rock of the student union. There will be a reception from 6 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. in Price Lake, followed by Weigl’s poetry reading in Table Rock at 7:30 p.m.

Graphic Credit: Nicolas Anderson Photo Credit: Dallas Linger

Oct. 6, 2016

LONG LIVE THE KING A

rnold Palmer,

affectionately known as The King, died on Sept.

25 at the age of 87, and it’s just now sinking in. I’m far too young to be able to truly appreciate what The King meant to his generation of fans, but I am able to appreciate his role in making the game of golf, and the world of sports, what it is today.

Palmer, born in 1929 to a working class family in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, burst onto the golfing scene in the 1950s right as the sport was beginning to be broadcast on television. There was Palmer, the charismatic, swashbuckling star with his go-for-broke style, making his charge to the top of the leaderboard for everyone with a television set to see.

Palmer enjoyed tremendous success during his playing career, winning 62

A

fans. Maybe it’s a product of the large sums of money they play for but rarely do you hear of a player spending hours after their round to sign autographs or to respond to a fan’s letters. Palmer, a man who always had a smile for whoever he was talking to, seems to be more of a bygone ideal to today’s athletes than someone they should emulate.

How often do you see Tiger Woods smile at his fans? Or in general? What about any of the current players? Do you ever see them engage an audience the way The King did?

As we move forward without Arnold, I hope that today’s golfers, and athletes in any sport for that matter, remember their fans. As much as we idolize the greats, it’s because of the fans that their accomplishments matter. The best way to remember Mr. Palmer and to carry on his legacy is for today’s players to emulate him and to appreciate what they have in an effort to connect with their fans like The King did.

‘TOP OF THE ROCK’ MARKS CHANGE FOR UNIVERSITY

pp State an-

nounced on its homecoming page that they will be stripping away the title of Homecoming King and Queen and will be replacing it with “Top of the Rock.” Nine students who show the best of App State will be selected to be a part of “Homecoming Royalty” and out of those nine, one will be chosen as “Top of the Rock,” in an effort to promote inclusiveness.

The way we identify human experience and the classification of gender roles and norms is constantly changing. People are starting to notice that gender is something that is seen on a spectrum; the idea of females being pink and males being blue is beginning to become muddled. We are starting to realize that everything can’t be separated into strict boxes. “Gender neutral” is a term that is integrating itself into household vernacular as the visibility of those who are non-conforming is

Photo Credit:

the game and managed to give back some of what he received. Palmer was instrumental in starting Lee Sanderlin is a junior the Senior PGA Tour Jouranlism major from [known now as the PGA High Point, North Carolina Tour Champions] in 1980, a circuit in which he won 10 events, including five senior major championships. Palmer was also PGA Tour titles, including seven major a co-founder of the Golf championships. He was the everyman’s Channel, tv’s first 24-hour specialty golfer, his humble background coupled sports channel. with his homemade swing with the heliAll of this contributes to the legacy copter finish appealing to the masses. of The King, a man whose larger than His fans, known as Arnie’s Army, life persona will continue to transcend followed him around the globe to cheer himself after his death. As we celebrate on their man. Palmer, never one to the life of one of the greatest sportsview himself as above anything, always men of all time, it is important that we made time for his fans, signing autoattempt to do our part to continue his graphs and taking a moment to chat in legacy and embody his best qualities. hopes of repaying some of the adoration Today’s tour players, save for maybe that was shown to him.

Phil Mickelson, seem to take their Once his playing career took a back fame and success for granted and have seat, he was able to stay involved in become a little out of touch with their

becoming more apparent.

There could be a person sitting right beside you as you read this that doesn’t abide by the binary. They could be genderqueer, genderfluid, they/them, Ze/Zir, or whatever they want to be, and whatever they want to be may not conform to your idea of gender. There are still some groups that are out there that do not understand this concept, that actively speak out and rally against it, and it is harmful to those who identify as something outside the norm.

The norm is changing and we as a society need to understand that it is necessary to flow with it. That person may not want to be king or queen, but if they did, which would they choose? Why must they choose a title when they don’t identify with either?

App State’s number one policy, the one that every student has heard of a thousand times over, is sustainability. Sustainability of our campus, its environment, its people and its

morals. Taking this step will create a more sustainable environment for each individual on campus, allowing them to feel safe, heard and validated.

Old Row, a fraternity-centered twitter page, called us vaginas, which just gives more evidence for why the policy needed to be instituted in the first place. This policy is not weak, it is strong and brave.

I’m proud of each and every tiny step this university is taking to create equality.

Stop being scared of change. Stop

Sydney Spann is a sophomore Advertising major from Greensboro, North Carolina

Victoria Haynes is a junior English major from Lexington, North Carolina

refusing to accept the fact that not everything runs on a binary. Stop assigning gender where gender does not need to be assigned. Instead, start noticing that people are not just male or female, king or queen, this or that.

We are complex forms that need to be seen and validated, so start noticing.

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Join.

Email managing@TheAppalachianOnline.com