Avion Issue 5 Spring 2018

| Issue 5 | Volume 149 | Tuesday, February 20, 2018 | theavion.com |

Collin Anderson/The Avion Newspaper

Eyes to Bluer and Brighter Skies A Plane Side Interview with Thunderbirds 4 and 8 After a Turbulent Year

Collin Anderson Managing Editor

What’s Inside

On the afternoon of Friday, Feb. 16, 2018, at approximately 1:50, Thunderbirds 1-6 made their debut in Daytona Beach to conduct the flyover of the 60th running of the Daytona 500. The six F-16C’s and two F-16D’s switched it up from years past and parked at Sheltair instead of the usual location by Yelvington. For the Thunderbirds, the arrival into Daytona marks the official beginning of their 2018 airshow schedule.

Upon walking into Sheltair, The Avion was greeted by the Thunderbirds’ Public Affairs Officer, Maj. Ray Geoffroy, also known as Thunderbird 12. We were led outside to watch Thunderbirds 1-6 make their presence known. Upon landing, we were rushed to a van to watch them taxi and park. Once they exited their aircraft and huddled up, the pilots then did oneon-one interviews with media personnel.

Thunderbirds 1 and 2 were assigned to Fox, Thunderbird 3 was assigned to Motor Racing Network, and The Avion Newspaper was able to interview Thunderbird 4.

Maj. Stephen Del Bagno is one class away from his Master’s of Business Administration in Aviation Management from Embry-Riddle Worldwide. He earned his Bachelor’s of Science in Aviation from Utah Valley State. Ever since he was a kid, he had looked to the sky and dreamed of flying. He wanted to be a part of something bigger than

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himself, and decided to join the Air Force by going to Officer Candidate School after receiving his bachelor's. He flew the F-16 for five years before switching to the F-35 for two years at Eglin Air Force Base. He was based in South Korea and Japan before joining the Ambassadors in Blue. This is his first year with the Thunderbirds. He noted that the change from the F-35 helmet back to the F-16 helmet was not so much a downgrade as it was a different system altogether. When asked how fast it would take to make the Thunderbirds combat-ready, Maj. Bagno said that the F-16 could be “combat-coded,” or repainted, armed, and ready for combat, within 72 hours. Thunderbird 4 makes up the rear point of the diamond.

Last year, on June 23, Maj. Erik Gonsalves, or more commonly known as Thunderbird 8, was involved in an accident at Dayton International Airport in Ohio. Gonsalves was hospitalized and then resumed traveling with the team for the remainder of the season. Gonsalves is still on the team this year, and The Avion had the opportunity to interview him. “I’ve been flying so long. I’m used to it, so it felt good being back after six months,” said Maj. Gonsalves when asked about being back behind the stick. Maj. Gonsalves is still traveling with the team, but will be going back to his original aircraft, the A-10, to go help in South Korea. His favorite part about being with the Thunderbirds is the team’s resiliency.

Late Nov. of last year, the Thunderbirds

leadership was shaken up with the firing of the former Thunderbird 1, Lt. Col. Jason Heard, by Brig. Gen. Jeannie Leavitt, the 57th Wing commander, for “loss of confidence.” The current commander of the Thunderbirds is former Thunderbird 7 Lt. Col. Kevin Walsh. Both Maj. Bagno and Maj. Gonsalves welcomed the change in

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leadership after a challenging season. Maj. Gonsalves says that the team came together and overcame adversity. They do this for everyday challenges, so both he and the team embraced the new leadership. Both officers and enlisted are looking to rise up from the ashes of the mistakes of last year, not like a Thunderbird, but like a phoenix.

Collin Anderson/The Avion Newspaper The Thunderbird officers greet each other after arriving at Daytona Beach International Airport.

Speedweeks at Daytona Recap

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Executive Board Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor News Editor Business Manager Photography Editor Advertising Manager

Henry Neiberlien Collin Anderson Rajan Khanna Samantha Stirmel Vipul Telang Payton Muglia

Page Editors Front Editor Campus Editors Student Life Editor Feature Editor Opinions Editor I&T Editor Sports Editors Motorsports Editors Entertainment Editor Comics Editor Copy Editors

Collin Anderson Andrew Bronshteyn Keenan Thungtrakul Andrew Bronshteyn Samantha Stirmel Brian Perez Jaclyn Wiley Sarah Fairchild Jorja Gwaltney Vipul Telang Rajan Khanna Brandon Collins Samantha Stirmel Brandon Collins Sarah Fairchild Jordyn Taylor

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NASA Engineer Dives with a Purpose

Shashwat Acharya Correspondent

Just like the astronauts, Erik Denson conducts his research in unexplored territories. The Chief Electrical Engineer at NASA KSC is also a certified Professional Association of Dive Instructors (PADI) divemaster. He finds unlikely treasures which help preserve a distinctive aspect of African-American history.

Denson is the lead instructor for "Diving with a Purpose" (DWP), which is "a nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation

and protection of submerged heritage resources with emphasis on the African Diaspora." The program began in 2004 as a partnership between the National Park Service and National Association of Black Scuba Divers (NABS) Southern region to document shipwrecks at the Biscayne National Park off the coast of Homestead, FL. Training involves underwater mapping and trilateration, which is a method archaeologists use to map and measure the various sections of a shipwreck.

At Embry-Riddle, Denson talk-

Staff Contributors Reporters Jorja Gwaltney Korbin Martin Michael Weinhoffer

Photographers Korbin Martin Vipul Telang Rajan Khanna

Correspondents Saktiswaran Jeyaganesh, Olivia Brett, Shashwat Acharya

Staff Advisor Jessica Murphy, Avion Advisor

Contact Information Main Phone: (386) 226-6049 Ad Manager: (386) 226-7697 Fax Number: (386) 226-6016 Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor News Editor Business Manager Photography Editor Advertising Manager

editor@theavion.com managing@theavion.com news@theavion.com business@theavion.com photo@theavion.com advertising@theavion.com

Website: theavion.com

Photo Courtesy: Erik Denson Erik Denson investigates the machine gun from a crashed WWII P-39 fighter aircraft.

Snapchat’s Losing its Streaks Jorja Gwaltney Staff Reporter

The Avion is produced weekly during the fall and spring term, and bi-weekly during summer terms. The Avion is produced by a volunteer student staff. Student editors make all content, business and editorial decisions. The editorial opinions expressed in The Avion are solely the opinion of the undersigned writer(s), and not those of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the Student Government Association, The Avion, or the student body. Letters appearing in The Avion are those of the writer, identified at the end of the letter. Opinions expressed in the “Student Government” and “Student Life” sections are those of the identified writer. Letters may be submitted to The Avion for publication, provided they are not lewd, obscene or libelous. Letter writers must confine themselves to less than 800 words. Letters may be edited for brevity and formatted to newspaper guidelines. All letters must be signed. Names may be withheld at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief.

The Avion is an open forum for student expression. The Avion is a division of the Student Government Association. The Avion is a member of the Associated Collegiate Press. The costs of this publication are paid by the Student Government Association and through advertising fees.

The Avion distributes one free copy per person. Additional copies are $0.75. Theft of newspapers is a crime, and is subject to prosecution and Embry-Riddle judicial action. This newspaper and its contents are protected by United States copyright law. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, in print or electronically, without the expressed written consent of The Avion. Correspondence may be addressed to: The Avion Newspaper, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, 600 S. Clyde Morris Blvd., Daytona Beach, Florida 32114. Physical office: John Paul Riddle Student Center, Room 110. Phone: (386) 226-6049. Fax: (386) 226-6727.

ed passionately about two projects which are close to his heart: the Tuskegee Airmen and the slave ship, Guerrero.

The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African-American military aviators in the United States Armed Forces and served in World War II. Discrimination against black Americans was prevalent, within and outside the military. Denson is committed to preserving the history of these pilots, some of the best in the US Army Air Forces (now the US Air Force). On one such expedition, he found the 2nd Lieutenant Frank H. Moody's Bell P-39 Airacobra in 2015. Seeing the military star on the broken wing of the plane was moving for Denson. He strives to preserve the history of heroes who gave their lives during a time when our country didn't even believe in them.

The Guerrero was a Spanish slave ship carrying 561 Africans which sunk in 1827 after colliding with coral reefs near the Florida Keys. 41 Africans drowned, about 400 were taken as slaves to Cuba to work on sugar plantations, and the remaining 120 arrived in Key West. Eventually, they would return to Africa.

Denson and his team discovered some artifacts from what is believed to be the Guerrero while searching for the remains of the slave ship off the coast of Biscayne National Park in Florida. His team, along with the help of the state government, hopes to build a monument at the sites of Lt. Moody's crash and the shipwreck.

He hopes the story of the Tuskegee Airmen will inspire students to achieve their dreams.

Have you remembered to send your streaks today? That is if you are still using the app. If you are not yet aware of what is going on, the answer is this: Snapchat has updated, and many of its users are livid. If you are up to speed, do you hate the changes? If so, you are certainly not alone.

There is a change.org petition floating around the internet and to prove it is not just you, it has over a million signatures from annoyed and frustrated users. There are people out there that are so dissatisfied with the update that they are finding ways to reverse it. One way they are trying to fix it is by using Virtual Private Network (VPN) apps. VPN's are used to help better secure your accounts and devices, but people are now using them as a way to access the older version of Snapchat.

Rohan Midha, managing director of PMYB, a digital influencer marketing agency, told BBC that

it is no shock that so many people signed the petition. After that, he added, "But I do not think this large Silicon Valley company is going to take notice of a petition."

So that leads to the next question: will Snapchat listen to their reviews or the significant drop in their App Store ratings?

A spokesperson at Snapchat told CNBC, "updates as big as this one can take a little getting used to, but we hope the community will enjoy it once they settle in." The Snapchat CEO, Evan Spiegel, stated, "As expected, it will take time for our community to get used to the changes, but overall, we are pleased with the initial results."

He said the reasoning behind the update was to separate private communications (your snaps) from public communications (snaps from celebrities).

Spiegel said the update was meant to make the app more simple and easy to use, specifically for older users. The creator of the petition said that the 2018 update came equipped with unnecessary features that contributed to its difficult usability.

There is a meme going around about people mailing their "streaks" snaps to their friends instead of using the app. If that does not say something, then what does? It kind of sounds like Snapchat needs better human factors specialists. Or perhaps they should just take the time to see what their users are saying.

Image Courtesy: Taktical Digital

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Greetings from Mars: Interview with Dr. Ryan Kobrick

Abigail Johnson Senior Reporter

Assistant Professor of Spaceflight Operations, Dr. Ryan L. Kobrick, just returned from an exciting expedition in Utah where he simulated a realistic future mission on Mars at the Mars Desert Research Station.

Dr. Korbrick has a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, a Master’s of Space Studies degree, a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering, and his Doctorate of Philosophy degree in Aerospace Engineering Sciences with a focus in bioastronautics. He has hours of work and research in the field and has won multiple awards for his efforts. At Embry-Riddle, Dr. Kobrick teaches classes for Spaceflight Operations and Space Studies while also overseeing the Spacesuit Utilization of Innovative Technology Laboratory (S.U.I.T Lab) as the Principal Investigator.

After his return, The Avion had the opportunity to ask him some questions about his trip to one of the most isolated places in the United States.

Q: Was this your first time living in the MDRS? Ryan Kobrick: It was my 5th rotation at MDRS and my 6th Mars simulation. Each experience is unique, but my 100-day simulation in the Canadian Arctic (FMARS on Devon Island in 2007) will most likely be the closest I get to the red planet concerning isolation, remoteness, and comparative planetology projects ranging from human factors to field geology and biology.

Q: Did you know any of the crew members that were there with you?

RK: I knew half the team before we even began planning. All members were selected competitively from a pool of International Space University alumni. A few of us worked on preparing this mission for over a year.

Q: How did you prepare for this mission?

RK: We had weekly planning meet-

ings to determine who would provide updates on our research projects and to help with general logistics. With more time we would have been able to organize a proper sponsorship campaign.

Q: How does one become qualified?

RK: The best way to qualify for analog research experiences is to make your way through the hierarchy of spaceflight experiences with any hands-on training. That may start by working in a lab, assisting a researcher in the field, or reviewing journal articles. Then you can easily apply to be an independent crewmember on an MDRS mission. The next step would be to organize an entire crew rotation fully. Plenty of schools apply for their rotation bringing their individual research.

Q: What were the living conditions like in the MDRS? RK: The living conditions at MDRS are, essentially, a glorified campsite but with all the usual home equipment like a stove, microwave, and fridge. It’s not for everyone.

We showered roughly once a week, Navystyle, meaning just enough water to get dowsed, then lather up with the water off, then rinse. We used approximately 30 gallons of water per day for six people with the highest use being for washing dishes. The Habitat also has additional buildings with a solar telescope observatory, a GreenHab for plant research, and a Science Dome for biology, geology and extended workspace. The food needs to be shelf-stable for roughly two years to help with the simulation, and rehydrating meat chunks from a can gets old fast.

In theory, a real Mars mission would have their GreenHab fully functioning to provide nutrition to a balanced diet.

Q: How realistic is the MDRS to an actual futuristic active Mars Base?

RK: Like most analog locations, it has highlights and drawbacks. For an Earthbased site, you are not going to mimic the 1/3 gravity of Mars or 1% atmosphere unless you go for a parabolic flight in a

Photo Courtesy: NASA The NASA MDRS is located in the remote Utah desert, which features terrain that closely resembles Martian terrain.

spacesuit at altitude! The MDRS campus had the potential to have operating systems that would be similar to those on a Mars base. The location in Utah is what gives the site its strength. It is isolated, and the terrain is very Mars-like with similar field investigations. Occasionally you might see a bird, and there are some desert bushes at some locations, but mostly it is red rocks and silence.

Q: What was your favorite moments of your time in the MDRS? RK: I enjoyed the time I was able to spend communicating with my excellent crew either one-on-one or as a group. I think this mission is just the beginning of future opportunities. Naturally, my favorite activity was going on spacewalks, or EVAs. I enjoy the raw discovery and exploration of new terrain. The last time I was at MDRS was over ten years ago, so almost everything felt new again. I had a few moments of déjà vu, but it was different because I am always changing as a human, and being with different people changes everything.

Q: What research did you gather during your stay and what did you learn?

RK: I was running five projects while at MDRS. Some were unique to the environment while others were operational and would run at any analog location. Working with students in the ERAU Spacesuit Utilization of Innovative Technology Laboratory (S.U.I.T. Lab) we investigated astronaut

performance with a range of motion video capture (wearing a suit versus unsuited) and EVA metrics including biometrics and operational physical data (time, distance, objectives). Working with NASA Glenn Research Center, we investigated the dust load with a specialized filtration unit to see how much regolith gets into the Habitat. Partnered with Final Frontier Design, I tested actual Thermal Micrometeoroid Garment gloves (astronauts wear these over their pressurized spacesuits to protect under-layers) to see how they abraded in the dusty working environment. Finally, in our last day “in-sim” we ran a live hangout with AMADEE-18 at Kepler Station in Oman, who was also in a Mars simulation, showing how base camps across Mars could communicate and offer each other support and advice.

Q: Knowing what living on Mars would be like from this experience, would you still undoubtedly want to be a Martian astronaut?

RK: I would like to go to Mars at some point in my career. I don’t think that it is realistic until my son is older (maybe 18+). Living on Mars would have a communication lag of 10 minutes each way on average, meaning it takes 20 minutes to have a reply to a message. I would love to spend a year on the Moon at a research facility, similar to research-explorers that visit Antarctica. On the Moon, we would only have to deal with a three-second delay, which is what we experience with many international video conferences.

Photo Courtesy: NASA NASA scientists perform a simulated EVA mission at the NASA Mars Desert Research Station, a facility designed to simulate manned Martian missions while the technology to physically travel to the Red Planet is being developed.

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Opinion: The Doo-Doolittle Flood

Korbin Martin Staff Reporter

Imagine being a student and living in Doolittle Residence Hall. You live on the second floor in one of the wings. You have been working a race shift all day, and you cannot wait to kick back and relax. How would you feel if you arrived at your dorm to find your hall flooded with water?

This situation is what happened to the residents of the second floor at roughly 10:15 p.m. on Feb. 17, 2017. When I arrived at the wing, there was a layer of water that extended from about halfway down the wing, all the way to the entrance.

To walk in to get to your dorm you would have to walk through about 20 feet of toilet water and possibly track it into your room. It was an inconvenient situation for everyone who lives in the wing.

I was agitated because I did not want to track the dirty water into my room after walking through it.

Others had it worse though. I interviewed Marc Laferriere, a resident of the wing who had water flood into the room. He had a lot to say about the situation. I asked him what his reaction was when he first saw the water and he

told me "I was sitting in my bed relaxing and then I overheard someone saying something about a room flooding. I shot up because I saw water and immediately started gathering the items up off the floor."

When asked about how this affects his day to day life he said: "I would be going to bed a little earlier if this had not happened at 10:15 p.m. Now I am going to have very little sleep, and I have a lot of work to do tomorrow." It is pretty fair to say that this was a huge inconvenience for him as well as other residents of his wing. When asked for comment about what he thought the university could do to prevent similar situations in the future his response was to say that the campus should put out a PSA on proper bathroom usage. If something might clog a toilet, you probably should not flush it.

On a lighter note, Marc wanted to express his gratitude to the Staff and Resident Advisors that contributed to cleaning up his room, his bathroom, and the hallway. As a resident of that particular wing, I would like to thank them as well.

They showed up very quickly and were very professional. They let us know not to flush the toilets, and they cleaned up

Korbin Martin/The Avion Newspaper Doolittle dorm’s second floor finds themselves in a smelly situation late Saturday night.

a mess that no one anticipated. When I asked Marc about his thoughts on Doolittle Hall, he said "I like Doolittle besides

this incident. I just wish that the building was a little newer so that events like these would not occur."

Google Getting Closer to Home Samantha Stirmel Business Manager Google unveiled two years ago that they were going to open some of their centers in America. On Feb. 16, 2018, the company broke ground on a new data center that the Alphabet Company will be opening in Clarksville, Tennessee. The com-

pany plans to spend about $2.5 billion in total over the next several years by opening or adding to nine other states: California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington. Data centers will also be opened or expanded in Alabama, Oregon, Virginia, and Oklahoma.

Google is making leaps and bounds in

Photo Courtesy: Hemlock Superconductor Company The Hemlock Semiconductor facility which the Alphabet Company intends to convert into their new data center.

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the American economy and is one of the first companies flocking to see what the free nation can do for their company development. Along with breaking ground on converting the 1,300-acre former Hemlock Semiconductor facility, Google has also purchased 100 percent of its electricity use for this building in renewable energy. The Clarksville location is intended to focus on being a model of efficiency for the company going into the future.

Not only that, but Google has also invested $300,000 in grant money to Goodwill of Middle Tennessee specifically for them to teach digital training skills to its workforce-development program.

Earlier this year, Apple announced along similar lines that they would increase their investment into the United States economy by opening a new campus and creating 20,000 jobs. On a similar note to Google, they are planning to invest a total of $350 billion into the United States economy over the next five years with a concentration on parts or materials for Apple manufacturing in the United States. They are also increasing their investment from $1 billion to $5 billion into the Advanced Manufacturing Fund, which encourages innovation

New Line Cinema's horror thriller "IT," directed by Andy Muschietti ("Mama"), is based on the hugely popular Stephen King novel of the same name, which has been terrifying readers for decades.

When children begin to disappear in the town of Derry, Maine, a group of young kids are faced with their biggest fears when they square off against an evil clown named Pennywise, whose history of murder and violence dates back for centuries.

among American manufacturers. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has also invested much into the American economy by bolstering the job count for factory workers and opening several new manufacturing and shipping plants. Not only that but they are hunting in the United States for their second headquarters; meaning other things will naturally follow along.

The enterprise that the Alphabet Company is embarking on is one that will open jobs in all parts of the nation and will influence the economy in those areas respectively.

The steps that companies like this are taking resonate with citizens and the push to turn everything digital. Technology is moving faster than most things in the United States, and Google is at the forefront of following it. They are investing in not just the industry itself but also the steps of learning the digital platform to set a base for it.

Soon, this new data center will stand as a symbol for Google’s reach across the United States and a spur of technologically fueled minds all working together. These digital enterprises will not only be hiring the people that will create the future, but they will be the symbols in history books one day of the future.

Thursday, Feb. 22 •IT will be shown by Touch-N-Go Productions.

•It will be shown at the Willie Miller Instructional Center Auditorium.

•There is no food or drink allowed in the theater.

•The movie will begin at 8:30 p.m.

•Arrive early to get good seating!

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Doolittle: Too Little Parking Korbin Martin Staff Reporter Parking has been a known problem on the Embry-Riddle Daytona Beach campus for a while. The problem is painfully apparent for the residents of Doolittle Hall. Every dorm on campus has a parking lot in front of, or close to, the dorm that the residents can park in.

That is except for Doolittle. The lot located directly in front of Doolittle Hall is a yellow-only lot. The only people who can park there are the commuters. This issue means that the residents of Doolittle Hall have to share a lot with the residents of the New Residence Hall, which is a significant inconvenience for both parties.

Some people may bring up the point that residents have the option of parking in front of Doolittle after 5:00 p.m. on weekdays and all day on weekends. However, very few people take advantage of that, and that is for a reason. If the resident forgets their vehicle overnight in the parking lot, chances are that the resident is going to receive a parking ticket the following Monday morning. Being

able to park in the lot after 5:00 p.m. benefits almost nobody. When 5:00 p.m. rolls around and all the commuters leave campus, the lot in front of Doolittle is a wasteland. If you go out for dinner, you

can park there when you come back, but you have to go out and move your vehicle before you go to sleep.

The result of this inconvenience is that most of the residents at Doolittle

Photo Courtesy: ERAU The campus parking map given to Embry-Riddle students, detailing which parking lots each colored parking pass pertains to.

and New Residence Hall have to park in Voyager lot most nights due to the entire population of Doolittle parking in the lot designated for New Residence Hall.

Some residents are even forced to park all the way out by the ROTC building when Voyager is full. These circumstances force students to cross an excessively dangerous intersection to get back to their dorm. One student was already hit crossing that intersection last semester.

Doolittle residents already have to deal with the fact that it is the oldest, but for the residents to not be able to park in front of their dorm is just adding insult to injury. It makes no sense that Voyager is full and the lot in front of Doolittle is empty once the commuters are gone.

There are a number of solutions to this problem. One of these is to change the parking lot in front of Doolittle to a rainbow lot. The lot was a rainbow lot last year during the 2017 Spring semester and worked for everyone who used it.

The change to a yellow lot has not benefited anyone, and leaves it empty for over half the day.

Shooting Devastates Florida High School Olivia Brett Correspondent While people across the United States celebrated a day dedicated to kindness and love, tragedy struck Southern Florida on Feb. 14. On Wednesday, at 2:40 p.m. a nineteen-year-old man entered his high school, armed with an AR-15 style semi-automatic assault rifle, and opened fire on students and teachers. The perpetrator, a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, was taken into custody that night after being released from the hospital. There have been 17 confirmed deaths, and more than 14 people injured in the attack. He now faces 17 counts of premeditated murder.

According to the New York Times, the gunman entered the school equipped with a gas mask, smoke grenades, and countless magazines, in addition to his assault rifle. The New York Times wrote that the AR-15 used in the attack was bought legally at the Sunrise Tactical Supply in Florida. Laws in Florida state that you must be 18 to purchase an assault rifle, and you are required to be 21 to buy a handgun. The shooter was a gun enthusiast and was part of the US Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps. He wanted to be in the mili-

Joe Raedle/Getty Images Students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas file out of the high school to the safety of armed men and police.

tary, but also expressed via YouTube and Instagram that he wanted to be a “professional school shooter.”

The former student set off the fire alarms so that students would exit their classrooms into the hallway. Many students believed that it was a fire drill, as there had been one earlier that day. The attacker was arrested in Coral Springs, only a couple miles away from the scene of the crime, after eating at a McDonald’s restaurant.

Details released on Wednesday night suggested that those who knew the shooter were not completely surprised by the incident. The attacker was a former student at the school that he terrorized and was kicked out for disciplinary reasons after recent events at school. Two other schools had previously expelled him for similar reasons. A math teach-

er at Stoneman Douglas recalled that the student was quiet and reserved.

“As far as my class goes, I remember an email or two from admin [expressing concern], but I can’t remember exactly what [the email] said,” he told Time.com. He followed this statement by saying that later, the school notified faculty that this particular student was not allowed on campus with a bag or backpack.

Students interviewed by Time Magazine recall that the perpetrator would openly display and show off his guns and that carrying weapons on campus had gotten him in trouble in the past.

One student told the Miami Herald that they were not shocked, as “from past experiences, he seemed like the kind of kid who would do something like this.” Those who knew him and worked with him in school all recall that they thought something was wrong with him, as he would threaten students during class, and that his social media presence was worrisome.

He allegedly plastered his Facebook pages with photos of weapons, knives, and his gun collection. He would

often post pictures of himself and his weapons but would cover his face.

According to NBC News, students would often joke about the perpetrator, saying that he would be the one to shoot up the school because of his notorious behavior. A YouTube user reported the student via the video-sharing website because of trouble comments that he left on his videos.

The Florida massacre was the second deadliest shooting in an American public school and has stirred the long-simmering U.S. debate on the right to bear arms, which are protected by the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Florida’s governor, Rick Scott has an “A+” rating from the National Rifle Association’s Political Victory Fund, a ccording to NBC News.

Stoneman Douglas High School is scheduled to shut down through Feb. 19, and Governor Scott has directed the state to display flags at halfmast until then. It is unknown at this time if the shooter will pursue a mental health defense. If the former student is found guilty, he may face the death penalty.

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Is the FBI Doing Enough?

Alexander Lee Distribution Manager

Since the Nov. shooting at the Texas church, there has been much research into how the ex-US airman acquired his guns. Authorities found that the ex-airman faced prior dishonorable discharge from the Air Force on accounts of assault and domestic abuse against his wife. These types of charges would result in the Federal Bureau of Investigation being informed to update records and thus disqualify him from legally purchasing a gun. It was found rather quickly after the shooting that this was where the problem occurred. The Air Force failed to inform the FBI to update their records, and thus the ex-airman was still capable of purchasing firearms. Following the finding of this information, all of the military branches scrambled to look through and update their records to avoid a future catastrophe.

When the shooting occurred, many thought it was just a small clerical error, and there would be few, if any, similar cases. It has recently come to light that this was not the case. The US Department of Defense has taken measures to ensure all the military branches accurately report dishonorable discharges in the recent

months. While not directly stated by any of the Armed Forces or the Department of Defense (DoD), there has been a significant increase in the total number of dishonorable discharges in the FBI gun ban list.

Before the shooting in Nov., the total dishonorable discharges were approximately 11,000 people and had been constant since 2015. Since the incident in Texas and the Department of Defense crackdown, there has been an increase of roughly 4,500 people reported to the FBI. While not directly state that this was all due to failed reporting by the military branches, the sharp 40% increase in the past three months for dishonorable discharge seems unlikely to be very recent discharges.

This increase sheds light on another issue that may need addressing soon.

The failure to report information to the FBI has potentially allowed for a lot of people to obtain guns when they should not have been able. What will the government do about those that purchased weapons during the time interval of their background checks that inevitably should not have received weapons?

There are a plethora of things that they could do about this, such as tracking down and retrieving the guns or even doing nothing, but either option will anger one

group or another on the sharp divide of gun rights. If the government does nothing, what danger to citizens is posed by those that could have readily accessed a gun before being adequately reported. If the weapons are tracked down, this may be an indication of the govern-

ment tracking of all firearms, which is currently illegal of the government to do so. There are other ways of handling this situation away from these two extremes; thus, the issue will bear watching as to how our government acts to control this potentially dangerous failure.

Valentine’s day, a day to celebrate the relationships you cherish, seventeen families received shattering news that their daughter, son, brother, sister, friend is gone. In that moment of conversation, lives full of promise and change have slipped away and we are left in the same pit of despair. Upon hearing this devastating news my heart broke, as someone who is drawn to going to school every day, it is terrible to think about events such as massacre to tear apart the safe atmosphere that a school offers in the courses that you take and the people that you meet to form lasting relationships with. Not only are the families trying to pick up the pieces to this horrendous event, so is the rest of the world.

Why would the Federal Bureau of Investigation hold on to a tip received several weeks ago concerning the erratic behavior and gruesome plans of the perpetrator

Nikolas Cruz and ignore this information without a second thought.

This same lack of communication is the reason for last year’s church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas, because the Air Force failed to forward information about the gunman, Devin P. Kelley, to the national databases used for gun purchase background checks which would have made it illegal for him to purchase a gun.

If only this information had been properly communicated, Wednesday’s shooting massacre could have been avoided or altered, and 17 people would not have had to lose their lives.

As a community we are so paranoid about the government monitoring our actions from phone calls to web searches. But if they would have used the tip, followed protocol, and monitored Cruz’s actions we would all feel that surveil-

lance is positive at times. We would all be function as a team, that gives strong input and return powerful results.

In this moment we are broken, we are giving our input but there are no results being shown, we are a team with too many leaders. As this event continues to spark debate for gun regulation and mental health awareness, we still need something to change in our society to strengthen our communities and give us back hope in humanity. We are exhausted from turning on the news and seeing one massacre after another.

It is painful to watch grieving families ask for change, we agree with them, complain to one another that nothing is being done, but we move past the devastations to another topic only a few days later.

Last semester I wrote about being fearful in a place of peace following the First Baptist Church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas. Again, I want you to reflect on this message “A church, a temple, a synagogue, a mosque, all are places for religious worship.

Being within these sacred buildings are supposed to fuel feelings of happiness, security, curiosity, love, and hope. However, the outcome of recent events has caused the only emotion to be felt is fear. Fear of dying young from the trigger of one gun.

Your future toward prosperity is stunted, and your life story is told in an obituary.

Fear of being persecuted for believing in something greater than yourself.

Fearing those around you, not knowing if your religious brothers and sisters are a true enemy. Because of this looming fear we are left with a feeling of emptiness and numbness.

From lessons told out of the religious texts such as the Bible, Torah, Qur’an, and Vedas, when in the presence of fear we need to rely on our religious belief the most.

With this strong reliance we are not overwhelmed with anxiety about the unknown, we can trust those around us, and we can have hope in the good of humanity”.

Photo Courtesy: Elvert Barnes/Protest Photography A rally in front of the White House in support of gun control legislation.

Broken Cannot be the New Normal

Victoria Jordan Staff Reporter Since the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, Charleston’s Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in 2015, and Las Vegas in 2017, there has been a downward spiral of what places are sacred to humanity. Schools and worshiping facilities (Church, Temple, Synagogue, Mosque) were regarded as safe havens from the madness of the outside world.

However, they have become places of fear, cause its attendees to constantly ponder over the possibility that their life will be in someone else’s hands. This fear continues to strengthen after the school shooting that occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on Wednesday, Feb. 14.

Photo Courtesy: Greg Lovett/ The Palm Beach Post People attend a candlelit memorial service on Thursday night for the victims of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School which killed 17 people.

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Airshow Center Planes, Trains & Automobiles Plant City, FL Feb. 24, 2018

• An Aerobatic air show including a concert and outdoor movies, aircraft displays, vintage aircraft fly-bys, helicopter rides, train rides for kids, an exotic car show and skydivers. _________ Melbourne Air & Space Show Melbourne, FL March 24-25, 2018

• The 5th anniversary edition of the Melbourne Air & Space Show. This year will feature the U.S. Air Force Thunder Birds. _________

Sun’N Fun Fly-in Lakeland, FL April 10-15, 2018

• This event showcases products like jet teams,

aerospace related exhibits, educational forums, aircraft static displays, professional gatherings of aviation and economic development groups, and many more, in the Business Services, Railway, Shipping & Aviation industries. _________

FORD Lauderdale Airshow Fort Lauderdale, FL May 5-6, 2018

• The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds will headline the 2018 Ford Lauderdale Air Show that will feature military jet demonstrations, parachute teams, civilian aerobatic acts and formation flight teams.

This Week in Aviation History Feb. 20, 1962

Mercury-Atlas 6 mission, launching John Glenn into orbit around the Earth, becoming the first U.S. astronaut to do so.

Feb. 20, 1992

Seventy-six passengers fall ill and one passenger dies after eating contaminated shrimp on board Aerolineas Argentinas flight 386, prompting improved decontamination procedures for inflight meals.

Feb. 21, 1979

Former astronaut Neil Armstrong breaks several worlds records in a Gear Learjet Longhorn 28 business jet by climbing to 51,131 feet 12 minutes and 27 seconds after takeoff, ascending at a rate of 4,000 feet per minute.

Feb. 22, 1987

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Space Station, Inc.?

Sergio Talesnik Correspondent The White House released last week its 2019 budget proposal for NASA, calling for commercial partners to take control of the orbital outpost in 2025 while the government focuses on outer space activities.

The proposal must now be accepted by the Congress, which could ask for modifications as a condition for its approval.

The budget puts focus on what was discussed last Oct. at the meeting of the National Space Council, chaired by the Vice President Mike Pence. NASA will emphasize the return to the Moon by keeping the Space Launch System funded and providing additional money to develop capabilities that will support this venture. It also vows for the cancellation of other projects such as the WFIRST Space Telescope and NASA's Office of Education.

But perhaps the most relevant proposal is for NASA to stop funding the International Space Station (ISS) by 2025, and allow for private companies to run the space lab. Officially, the ISS program is slated to end by 2024, but it was expected to be extended at least until 2028. This new approach would face several challenges, from finding the way for private enterprises to justify spending the current $4 billion spending on the station per year, to renegotiating the partnerships with the other participating nations.

During a speech last week, acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot supported the budget by stating, "[it] also proposes we develop new opportunities

Photo Courtesy: NASA The Trump White House’s proposed budget for 2019 will end funding for the International Space Station by 2025.

on and around the Moon. We will begin to build the in-space infrastructure for long-term exploration development of our nearest neighbor by launching the power and propulsion element to orbit the Moon as the foundation of a Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway."

He added that this strategy "will give us a strategic presence in the lunar vicinity that will drive our activity with commercial and international partners and help us further explore the Moon and its resources and translate that experience toward human missions to Mars."

Private companies are already doing business with the ISS. SpaceX and Orbital ATK have been delivering cargo ever since 2012, Sierra Nevada should follow within a few years, and astronauts should be fly-

ing through SpaceX's and Boeing's capsules also in a couple of years.

Some people, like Democratic congressman Bill Nelson from Florida, already expressed their concern on the White House's plan. The politician declared that "turning off the lights and walking away from our sole outpost in space" makes no sense.

The House had already passed a potential NASA budget even before the Trump Administration budget was released, so the President's plan is still far from becoming.

Nevertheless, this proposal confirms the goals this Federal Administration will be fighting for at NASA; what ends up happening will be the result of the negotiations held in Washington, D.C.

Future of Hypersonic Flight Vanessa Burkett Correspondent Traveling by plane can be a hassle, especially for students who live far away from home. An average flight from Daytona Beach to Los Angeles takes seven hours from one spot to the next.

What if it was possible to reduce that time to less than an hour?

According to Science Daily, researchers at NASA and Binghamton University and the State University of New York have conducted research on a material that is showing promise in many fields, including aviation. Researchers were looking for a way to increase aviation travel time.

One of the major contributors to this project is Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Changhong Ke. Ke's objective is researching the development of a "super plane," but he ran into his first obstacle: to find a material that could withstand hypersonic speeds up to 10 times faster than the speed of sound.

Their research leads them to the implementation of Boron Nitride Nanotubes (BNNTs). BNNTs were initially discovered in 1994 by Marvin Choen who theorized its existence and its similarities to carbon nanotubes (CNTs) we currently use on aircraft today. What makes BNNTs different from CNTs is its level of strength, heat resistance, and versatility. It is an

First flight of the Airbus A320

Feb. 23, 1934

First flight of the Lockheed Model 10 Electra, the same plane piloted by Amelia Earhart during her ill-fated voyage around the world.

Feb. 25 1990

Smoke-free flights become mandatory across North America for all U.S. airlines.

Feb. 25 2009

Turkish Airlines flight 1951 crashes short of the runway on approach to Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, resulting in nine fatalities, including the two pilots.

Feb. 26 2004

Macedonia Government Beechcraft 200 Super King Air, Z3-BAB, c/n BB-652, crashes into mountains while attempting to land weather at Mostar International Airport, Bosnia-Herzegovina . All nine aboard killed including Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski.

February

Photo Courtesy: NASA Hypersonic vehicles, like the conceptual craft above, are becoming more feasible due to technology like BNNTs.

ultralight material that can withstand up to 900 degrees Celsius, compared to CNTs record of 400 degrees Celsius, the perfect material for traveling at hypersonic speeds. On their website, BNNT.com, scientists and engineers have theorized for its potential use of radiation shielding from boron and ultraviolet rays, fire retardant cabling, ceramic components for jet engines, and even dentistry.

The good news is getting this kind of material would not be difficult. "NASA owns one of the few facilities in the world able to produce quality BNNTs" Ke stated. The bad news, however, is when this material will be affordable enough to use.

The current price for one gram of BNNT is $1000, equivalent to one credit hour here at Embry-Riddle. The cost for CNTs is about $10-$20 per gram, so Ke estimates we will not be seeing its implementation for another five to ten years. Ke does see BNNTs becoming more affordable, for CNT cost as much as BNNT does today, 20 years ago.

Conventions first saw this material in 2014, the most recent one being the 2018 International Nanotechnology Exhibition and Conference held in Japan from Feb. 14 to Feb. 16. By going on Twitter and searching @BNNTProduct, the most recent information and news on the material is available.

Materials like BNNTs make it possible for humanity to go above and beyond our limited capabilities. Within our generation, it will be possible to visit family that was once a day away, in a matter of minutes.

With technology and scientific discoveries, the world as we know it will be accessible in a way we have never imagined before.

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Technology

Falcon 9 to Carry Paz, SpaceX Internet Satellites Michael Weinhoffer Senior Reporter On Wednesday, Feb. 21, a Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to blast off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Southern California with a host of payloads, including two small satellites that will serve as prototypes for SpaceX's grand satellite constellation that will provide reliable internet access to millions across the globe. The primary and most significant payload of the mission is Paz, a Spanish Earth-observation satellite that will take high-resolution photographs of the Earth and track ships for the government or commercial use. However, the most significant secondary payload are the two SpaceX satellites.

Although no physical work on the system has been visible to the public since then, there has been a lot of action on the licensing side. And since the satellites are proprietary, the designs are held very firmly

by SpaceX, which is why there has not been much news about the system. Nevertheless, in March 2017, SpaceX filed an attachment with the FCC and proposed a second constellation of 7,518 satellites on top of the 4,425-satellite constellation initially proposed in Nov. 2016. In total, SpaceX plans to launch 11,943 satellites of their design and manufacture between 2019 and 2024!

The second cluster of satellites labeled the "Very Low Earth Orbit Constellation," will operate at an altitude of approximately 340 km, which is about 60 km below the altitude of the ISS and around the operating altitude of the retired Space Shuttles.

Very few satellites successfully operate below the ISS because of orbital decay, but the significantly closer altitude to Earth allows for lower transmission delays over those that accompany satellites operating much farther away from Earth. The second constellation will provide supporting coverage for the first constellation, so there can be continuous internet broadcasting to customers around the world.

Most importantly, the FCC, which licenses communications for every satellite that will provide services for the U.S., has been quite supportive of SpaceX's plans.

Chairman Pai recently urged his fellow employees at the FCC to fully license the system, which will be the second constellation of this type authorized after the OneWeb constellation.

Now, approximately three years after the

opening of the SpaceX's satellite manufacturing facility in Redmond, Washington, the first two prototype satellites are ready for launch. These small satellites, lovingly named MicroSat-2a and MicroSat-2b, will maneuver to an altitude of 1,125 km after deployment from the Falcon 9 at 511 km, which is the operating altitude of the Paz satellite. The satellites will communicate with six ground stations all at SpaceX facilities or nearby.

Besides the central facility in Redmond, other locations of note include Tesla and SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, the launch facility under construction in Brownsville, Texas, and three mobile vans. Since the satellites are experimental, they will not provide internet services, but the outcome of their mission will determine the future of the full constellation. Since both constellations referred to by the public as "Starlink" but by SpaceX, as simply the "SpaceX System," are relied on

by Elon Musk for revenue to fund missions to Mars, there is a lot on the line. Instead of being a tangential source of income for SpaceX, the constellations will be a centerpiece of the road to Mars.

The system does present some challenges to the satellite industry, mainly radio frequency management and space traffic management. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), which regulates radio frequency usage of every telecommunication device on Earth, has many regulations for satellites and satellite constellations. The primary goal is to minimize radio frequency interference between all satellites. Both SpaceX and OneWeb have designed their satellites to eliminate the chance of harmful interference, and both systems will be able to operate separately successfully. It is imperative that future constellations follow these examples of responsibility.

The more significant concern is space traffic management, which is also crucial to the interoperability of all satellites in orbit.

With SpaceX's plan to inject close to 12,000 satellites over the next five years, there will be significant strain put on space traffic management and orbital debris mitigation guidelines. For reference, there are approximately 1,700 satellites currently operating in orbit! The system's deployment will be the first opportunity to thoroughly test space traffic management and orbital debris mitigation models to see if they can support the constellation. Tracking

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Launch Control Center Paz - Falcon 9

Feb. 21 @ 9:14 a.m. EST Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA SLC-4E

IGS Optical 6 - H-2A

Feb. 24-25 @ 11:00 p.m.-1:00 a.m. EST Tanegashima Space Center, Japan

Hispasat 30W-6 - Falcon 9

Feb. 25 @ 12:35 a.m. EST Cape Canaveral Air Force Station SLC-40

ISS Sightings Feb. 23

5:56 a.m. - Visible for one minute, the ISS will rise from 11° above SSW, reaching its highest point at 14°, and will disappear at 14° above SE.

Feb. 25

5:47 a.m. - Visible for five minutes, the ISS will rise from 10° above SSW, reaching its highest point at 46°, and will disappear at 24° above ENE

Feb. 26

4:57 a.m. - Visible for one minute, the ISS will rise from 19° above SE, reach its highest point at 19°, and will disappear 17° above E.

Feb. 26

6:31 a.m. - Visible for two minutes, the ISS will rise from 11° above W, reach its highest point at 19°, and will disappear 17° above E.

This Week in Space History Photo Courtesy: SpaceX The prototype satellites will launch aboard a Falcon 9 from Vandenburg, California, like the one above.

the satellites is a significant component of space traffic management, and the tracking capabilities on the ground must adapt to the influx of satellites coming online in the next few years. Space traffic management issues will be at the forefront of the satellite industry academia in the coming years, and the SpaceX system will reveal whether or not we are ahead of the curve.

If the MicroSat satellites do not live up to SpaceX standards, we can anticipate substantial design changes for the full constellation and a significant delay in the constellation's initial deployment, which is scheduled to begin next year. SpaceX is going to go from being a bystander of the satellite industry to one of the most impressive regarding constellation size and will compete with Iridium, Intelsat, and many more. SpaceX is going big with this project, and the future of their Mars plans are on the line. This mission is just another step towards the Red Planet!

Feb. 21, 1961 The Mercury Seven astronauts were selected, becoming the first official United States astronauts. Alan Shepard and John Glenn were among this class.

Feb. 21, 1969 The first N-1 launch vehicle was launched, and immediately failed. The N-1 was designed to take the Soviet Union to the Moon.

Feb. 22, 1978 Launch of NavStar-1, the first demonstration satellite for the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS).

Feb. 24, 2011 Launch of STS-133, the final flight of the space shuttle Discovery.

Feb. 26, 1996 First test flight of the Saturn IB rocket, which successfully tested both the systems of the rocket and the command/service module for future Apollo missions.

Saktiswaran Jeyaganesh/The Avion Newspaper

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Upcoming Games: Tuesday Women’s Golf at the Lady Moc Classic Lakeland, FL at TBD

Wednesday Softball vs Adelphi University Daytona Beach, FL at 4:00 p.m.

Women’s Basketball vs Florida Tech Melbourne, FL at 5:30 p.m.

Softball vs Adelphi University Daytona Beach, FL at 6:00 p.m.

Men’s Basketball vs Florida Tech Melbourne, FL at 7:30 p.m.

Thursday Women’s Tennis vs Tampa Tampa, FL at 3:00 p.m.

Men’s Tennis vs Bethune Cookman Daytona Beach, FL at 3:30 p.m.

Friday Softball vs Nova Southeastern Daytona Beach, FL at 6:00 p.m.

Baseball vs Nova Southeastern Daytona Beach, FL at 6:00 p.m.

Saturday Men’s Tennis vs West Florida TBD at 11:00 a.m.

Women’s Tennis vs West Florida Daytona Beach, FL at 11:00 a.m.

Softball vs Nova Southeastern Daytona Beach, FL at 12:00 p.m.

Baseball vs Nova Southeastern (DH) Daytona Beach, FL at 1:00 p.m.

Softball vs Nova Southeastern Daytona Beach, FL at 2:00 p.m.

Women’s Basketball vs FL Southern Daytona Beach, FL at 4:00 p.m.

Baseball vs Nova Southeastern (DH) Daytona Beach, FL at 4:00 p.m.

Men’s Basketball vs Florida Southern Daytona Beach, FL at 6:00 p.m.

Sunday Men’s Tennis vs Florida Tech Melbourne, FL at 12:00 p.m.

Women’s Tennis vs Florida Tech Melbourne, FL at 12:00 p.m.

Men’s Lacrosse vs Coker Hartsville, SC at 1:00 p.m.

Men’s Track & Field vs JDL Last Chance Winston-Salem, NC at TBD Women’s Track & Field vs JDL Last Chance Winston-Salem, NC at TBD

Monday No Games

20 Sports Softball Smackdown!

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2018

Luke Halgerson ERAU Athletics

The Embry-Riddle softball team played their first Sunshine State Conference game of the season on Friday evening, going up against the Eckerd College Tritons. The Eagles defeated the Tritons 5-3 in eight innings of play.

ERAU improves to 4-2 overall and 1-0 in SSC play while Eckerd dropped to 3-6 and lost their first conference game.

The Tritons scored early in the ballgame, picking up one run in the bottom of the first on an RBI infield single. Fortunately, the Eagles took the lead in the top of the third picking up three runs in the frame.

Kailah Rain got things started for the Blue and Gold, hitting an RBI single to center, scoring Maggie Scott.

Pege Lopez reached on an error by the Eckerd shortstop, scoring Rain on the

vs ERAU: 5

Eckerd: 3

play. Lopez scored on a Mariana Pereira RBI single for the third run of the inning. ERAU would lead 3-1 going into the bottom of the third.

Eckerd would not go down without a fight, scoring one run in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single to the right. The Tritons tied the game in the sixth with a suicide bunt, forcing extra innings.

The top of the eighth is all the Eagles would need, scoring two runs to win the game. Pereira knocked in Rain on

an RBI single to center. Pereira came around to score on the ReAnne Drayton RBI single to right center to give the Blue and Gold a 5-3 lead win.

Ilona Andringa picked up her third win of the season, pitching a gem for ERAU. Andringa pitched a complete game, had one earned run, gave up eight hits and struck out 12. Pereira had her first RBI's of the season, going 3-4 with three singles, two RBI's and one run. Rain was solid at the plate as well, going 2-4 with one RBI and two runs.

A Lacrosse Loss Michael Pierce ERAU Athletics The Embry-Riddle men's lacrosse team lost a 14-5 decision to the Alabama-Huntsville Chargers on Friday night in Pensacola. UAH improves to 2-1 with the win, while the Eagles fall to 0-2. Additional details were not available following tonight's game.

The Blue and Gold are back in action in Pensacola on Sunday afternoon when they take on Montevallo at 1:30 p.m. CST. The Embry-Riddle women's lacrosse team improved to 2-0 in its inaugural season after defeating the Coker Cobras (0-1) 20-10 in the first-ever road game in program history. The Eagles scored four straight goals to gain a comfortable advantage in the first half and pulled away late thanks to a six-goal spurt in the second half.

Mya Watson got the Eagles on the board first with her sixth goal of the

vs Alabama-Huntsville: 14

ERAU: 5

season less than five minutes into the game. Coker tied it just seven seconds later, and each team scored again in the next 48 seconds to make it 2-2. After the Cobras took a brief 3-2 lead, ERAU rattled off four goals in a row from four different scorers, taking a 6-3 lead.

McKenzie Jackson and Watson each tallied their second goals of the half to push the lead to 8-4, and a late goal from Jackson made it 11-5 Eagles as the teams headed to the locker room for halftime.

Jackson scored twice in the first six minutes of the second half, helping grow the lead to 14-7. Watson netted her fourth goal

of the game with 20:57 on the clock, sparking a 6-0 run for the Blue and Gold that put the game out of reach at 20-8.

While the Eagles didn't add any more goals over the final 13:26 of the contest, the defense held Coker to just two goals over that closing stretch, accounting for the 20-10 final score.

Watson and Jackson each tallied six goals, while Watson added three assists and Jackson picked up a gamehigh 16 draw controls. Gillian Greenberg chipped in four goals, and Kendall Leonard scored three goals and added a pair of ground balls.

Beaten in Basketball

Ryan Mosher ERAU Athletics

Despite five players in double-figures and the 20th double-double of the season from Nashad Mackey, the Embry-Riddle men's basketball team was held off by the Eckerd Tritons on Wednesday night, 90-84. The Eagles (1015, 4-13 SSC) were officially eliminated from Sunshine State Conference Tournament contention, while the Tritons (18-6, 11-6 SSC) complete the season sweep of the Blue and Gold.

Eckerd led for all by 26 seconds in the game, shooting 52 percent from the floor, including 44 percent from three and an 83 percent clip from the free throw line. The Tritons had a pair of 20-point scorers in Drushaun McLaurn and Trevon Young, each scoring 21 on the night.

Eckerd jumped out to a 9-0 lead before the Eagles could get on the board with a Luka Majstorovic layup off the first of a career-high eight assists from Elijah Jenkins, and the home team followed with five straight points from Mackey, trimming the lead to 9-7 on a Mackey trey.

The Tritons pushed their lead to 22-12 on a Marco Behori fastbreak layup at the 12:12 mark, but Embry-Riddle went on a 9-4 run over the next five minutes, capped by a Joshua Hawkins tip-in to make it 26-21 in favor of the visitors.

Majstorovic's layup at the 5:43 mark made it a one-possession game, 28-25, but Eckerd answered with back-to-back made threes to push the lead back to nine.

Brian Johnson missed a three with 21 seconds left that would have made it a three-point game at half as Eckerd took a 42-36 lead into the break. Mackey had 19 points in the nmfirst to pace the Eagles.

Out of the halftime break, the Eagles got an immediate three from Rudy Bibb-Boyd, and a few moments later, two free throws from Hawkins cut the deficit to just one, 44-43. The two teams went back-and-forth until the 14-minute mark when the Tritons started a 10-2 run to make it 64-52 on a Blake Morrow trey.

The advantage grew to as many as 15 at the 6:37 mark, but the resilient Eagles

battled back, starting with a Cole Hunter layup. Jenkins' three with three minutes to play cut the lead to under 10, and then Johnson followed with another from long range to make it 86-80.

Eckerd missed a three with 1:53 to go, but Young grabbed an offensive board and was fouled, making both free throws before Mackey got the two points back on the other end. After the Blue and Gold got a stop with just over a minute left, Hawkins made a layup to cut the lead to 88-84, but Morrow buried the game’s biggest shot, a jumper from the elbow to push the lead back to six and the Eagles would not score the rest of the game.

Both teams shot over 50 percent from the field, with Mackey finishing with 25 points and 14 rebounds. Hw was joined by Majstorovic (15), Hawkins (14), Johnson (12) and Hunter (10) in double-digits as Bibb-Boyd saw his streak of reaching double-figures snapped at 22 consecutive games.

Jenkins’ eight assists led the way for the Eagles as Bibb-Boyd added six helpers and Johnson contributed four.

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Baseball Steals Another Win

Ryan Mosher ERAU Athletics

The Embry-Riddle baseball team capped a perfect weekend on Sunday afternoon with its second straight walkoff homer to beat Felician, completing the four-game sweep thanks to a Zach Howard long ball in the bottom of the ninth, giving ERAU a 9-7 victory. The Eagles (6-2) trailed for most of the game but took a one-run lead into the ninth before the Golden Falcons (0-4) pushed two runs across to go up 7-6. Kyle Marsh, just as he did on Saturday night, led off the ninth with a no-doubter down the left field line to tie things up and serve as the prequel to Howard’s heroics two batters later.

The Eagles hit 11 home runs over the weekend, the most-ever hit by any team in a single series at Sliwa Stadium since it opened in 2001. The back-to-back walk-off wins were the first for Embry-Riddle since the Eagles beat Tampa, 8-7 and 11-10 (10) back in March of 2016. This event marked the first back-to-back walk-off homers for

the Eagles in program history.

It was the visitors that started the offensive fireworks when Jason Polgano hit a three-run homer down the right-field line in the first inning off Eagle starter J.C. Carrell. However, the home team answered quickly in the bottom of the first, pushing across two runs, the first on an Alex Dodd triple to right center, scoring Jake Malone, and the second when Marsh plated Dodd with a sacrifice fly to left center.

Carrell and Felician starter Michael Gutierrez settled in over the next few innings, neither allowing a run until the visitor fourth when a Carrell wild pitch with the bases loaded allowed the fourth run to score for the Falcons and a sac fly on the next pitch made it 5-2.

ERAU couldn’t get anything going against Gutierrez in the fourth or fifth, but Justin Franklin teed a Gutierrez pitch up for a two-run shot in the sixth, sending the ball deep to the right, trimming the lead to 5-4.

Nick Dearing, who came in to pitch

the sixth, worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh by striking out Jason Aponte to keep ERAU down just a run. The offense capitalized as Luis Olivier hit a sac fly to shallow right-center with the bases loaded, scoring Malone to tie the game at 5-5. Howard, in the following at-bat, took a 2-2 pitch into left field to bring in Dodd from second and give ERAU its first lead of the day.

Joey Gerber worked around a leadoff single in the Felician eighth, and the Eagles threatened to tack on some insurance runs in the bottom of the inning when Franklin led off with a double to the right, but two strikeouts and a flyout ended the Blue and Gold rally.

In the ninth, L.T. Struble drew a five-pitch walk, moving to second on Danny Healey’s base hit. Dominic Jeancola came in and got the double play ground ball he wanted, but the Eagles could only get one as the throw from second to first was thrown wide, allowing Struble to score the tying run and pushing Matt Diesel to second with one out. Jeancola struck out Jason Polgano for

out number two, but Aponte dropped in a single in front of Howard in left, scoring the go-ahead run from second.

Marsh saw just one pitch from Struble before launching a towering drive to left to start the bottom of the ninth, his fourth homer in two days, tying the game at 7-7. Olivier reached on a throwing error by the Felician third baseman, and Howard worked a 2-2 count before ending the series with a 400-plus foot bomb to center.

Howard went 3-for-5 with three RBIs, while Dodd finished a homer short of the cycle, going 3-for-5 with two runs scored. The win went to Jeancola (1-0) in an inning of work.

It was the first four-game sweep for the Eagles since April 16-17 against Edward Waters. ERAU takes nearly two weeks off before hosting Nova Southeastern to kick off the Sunshine State Conference schedule on Friday, Feb. 23 at 6 p.m. The two teams will then play a doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 1 p.m.

Women’s Basketball Down by Five

Ryan Mosher ERAU Athletics

The Embry-Riddle women’s basketball made it a close game late after trailing by as many as 20 points, but the Eagles were unable to get by Eckerd, falling to the Tritons, 72-67, Wednesday at the ICI Center.

The Eagles rallied from a 17-point deficit to defeat the Tritons earlier in the season, but they were unable to find that same magic in Wednesday’s game.

Both teams have identical 18-6 overall and 12-5 conference ledgers and now are tied for second place in the Sunshine State Conference standings.

The game was close to start as both teams made six field goals in the first quarter, but a three-pointer and a free throw were the difference in an early 15-13 Eckerd lead.

The second frame saw the Tritons beat the Eagles 10-5 on the

boards and that resulted in seven-second chance points that widened the gap to five (21-16) at the half.

At the 7:37 mark of the third period, Tara Fields knocked down a jumper in the paint, but the Tritons answered with a 13-2 run, and with 3:30 left in the frame, the lead was up to 20 (53-33). The Eagles made a run of their own late in the quarter but heading into the fourth, the home team still trailed by double-digits (55-44).

The first basket of the final 10 minutes of play came in the form of an Ashley McWilliams three-pointer. Following a Kacie Juday layup, Sabrina Whiting scored three points of her own on a layup and a free throw, and after both sides traded baskets, Lauren Ellenberger drained a three to make it a six-point (61-55) game.

The Tritons managed to go back up by 11 (66-55), but back-to-back treys by Ellenberger and McWilliams cut the Eckerd lead to 66-6 with 2:03 left to play.

On Eckerd’s next trip down the court, Ada Yalcin came up empty on a three-point attempt. Nikki Tucker grabbed the rebound and found Ashley McWilliams who ended up fouled on her way to the basket.

The senior converted on both free throw attempts, and with the clock showing 1:27 the Tritons’ lead was a single point (66-65).

The final 59 seconds of play saw the Eagles struggle to finish layup attempts and despite pulling down four offensive

rebounds, they managed just one field goal and the Tritons went 6-of-8 from the charity stripe to come away with the win.

Fields and Ellenberger finished with 15 points and three rebounds apiece, while McWilliams added 13 points and three boards of her own.

Chelsea Johnson had a game-high 18 points for Eckerd with Juday tallying 15 points and a game-high nine boards.

The Eagles will be on the road for their next two games, beginning with a 2 p.m. tip at Tampa on Saturday.

Men’s Tennis Takes a Tumble Ryan Mosher ERAU Athletics The Embry-Riddle and Flagler men’s tennis teams battled for a little over four hours at the Crotty Tennis Complex on Thursday and, in the end, it was the 11th-ranked Saints that pulled out a 5-4 win over the 10th-ranked Eagles.

The Saints won one doubles, and four singles matches to improve to 4-2 on the year, while the Eagles move to 2-2 with the loss.Lucas Lesoeur and Deepak Vishavkarma earned the Eagles’ first point of the day with an 8-4 win over Lucas Bolla and Rasmus Jonsson at the third doubles position.

At No. 2 doubles, Juan Ortiz Couder and Lucas Bos took a 4-1 lead over Felipe

Carvalho and Daniel Arrien.

The Flagler pair recorded a hold and a break to cut the lead to one game, but the Eagles answered with a hold and a break of their own on the way to an 8-6 win to put the Blue and Gold up 2-0.

The top doubles spot saw Lucas Storck and Konstantin Dustmann upend Rodolfo Arreygue and Andres Donayre 8-6 to make the score 2-1 heading into singles.

The first singles point went to Jonsson who bested Lesoeur 6-1, 6-0 on court six to tie the team score at 2-2.

Bos broke the deadlock with a 6-1, 6-0 defeat of Herman Gertmann at the fifth position, and Donayre made it 4-2 in favor of the Eagles with his 7-6 (9-7), 6-2 win over Dustmann at No. 3 singles.

Saktiswaran Jeyaganesh/The Avion Newspaper Lauren Ellenberger celebrates finishing with 15 points and three rebounds, despite the overall loss.

The final three matches all need three sets to determine the outcome. The Eagles won the first sets on courts one and four, but Alex Chepile bested Arreygue 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 at No. 4 and Bolla held off Ortiz Couder 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 at No. 1 to knot the match at 4-4.

The final match off the court saw Storck edge Vishavkarma 7-6 (3) in

the first set at No. 2 singles, but the ERAU senior battle back to take the second 6-2. The decisive third set went to Stork who topped Vishavkarma 6-2 to clinch the win for Flagler.

The Eagles will scrimmage Bethune Cookman on Feb. 22 before taking on top-ranked West Florida at 11 a.m. on Feb. 24.

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Upcoming Races: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Active Pest Control 200 Atlanta Motor Speedway Feb. 24 at 4:30 p.m.

NASCAR XFINITY Series Rinnai 250 Atlanta Motor Speedway Feb. 24 at 2:00 p.m.

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 Atlanta Motor Speedway Feb. 25 at 2:00 p.m.

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Mobile 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Sebring International Raceway March 17 at 10:40 p.m.

FIA Formula E Championship 2018 Mexico City E-Prix Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez March 3 TBA

FIA Formula 1 World Championship Formula 1 Rolex Austrailian Grand Prix

Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit March 25 TBA

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Sauter Holds Off Field

Henry Neiberlien Editor-in-Chief

The NASCAR Camping World Truck series is off to an incredible start for its 2018 season. The NextEra Energy 250 at Daytona International Speedway started out with good clean truck racing but then turned into a chaotic melee between cautions as the race drew to a close. Stage One of the race went over smoothly with only one caution between laps four and six for fluid on the track leaking from No. 50 truck. Stage two is when things really start heating up. The first big wreck of the night happened when the pack came out of turn four. The No. 98 truck driven by Grant Enfinger lost control and caused a wreck involving six other drivers including the No. 2, No. 25, No. 10, No. 20, No. 75, and No. 18 trucks. The main spectacle of the accident was the No. 10 truck of Jennifer Jo Cobb who attempted to avoid the wreck in front of her by turning into the inside of the track. However, she lost control, and the truck slammed hard into the inside wall, causing her truck to catch fire and skid to its final resting place on the grass in front of the grandstands. Jo Cobb was okay and walked away from the crash, but her truck could no longer run in the race along with several others. The green flag flew again for another three laps before yet another wreck occurred on turn four taking the No. 18, No. 54, and No. 75 trucks out of the race. Two

more wrecks would happen in the middle of turns three and four. One even caused a red flag due to the cleanup required. One of these wrecks involved John Hunter Nemechek as his truck exploded, spreading debris all over the track.

Some of the more comedic highlights of the race included the No. 88 truck driven by Matt Crafton. He would pit almost every lap at some points during the race due to the damaged vehicle policy mandated by NASCAR. Unfortunately for him, he was involved in a massive wreck on lap 83 which cause the entire panel above his back right tire to shear off. He pitted immediately after and his crew went to work taping up the rear of his truck and desperately tried to rebuild the missing panel using tape.

After several laps, he sped out onto the track to attempt to finish the race. He was back in his pit stall one lap later as he violated the repair time limit and a NASCAR official kept him in the pits for two laps.

The No. 88 truck eventually ended up finishing the race in 19th place, three laps down. Another exciting moment included a tire shred detaching itself from a truck and gently rolling itself off of the track.

It did not bring out the caution, but the truck was forced to pit for repairs.

The race was not going to end without a fantastic last lap. As the remaining trucks sprinted towards the finish, the No. 3 car got loose and it along with the No. 51 truck spun out and hit the wall and grass through

the finish. Overall, it was one tense race as the drivers desperately tried to make their moves in the limited amount of green flags in between the seven cautions of the night.

In fact, the average amount of laps for a green flag during the race was only eight laps, and in a one hundred lap race, every second counts. Truck races tend to be more of a cage match then the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races and this one did not disappoint. The next Camping World Truck Series race is the Active Pest Control 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Feb. 24.

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Closest Finish in History Rajan Khanna News Editor The start of the NASCAR Xfinity Season gave fans a thrilling ending. Tyler Reddick of the No. 9 Chevrolet took the checkered flag over teammate Elliott Sadler of the No. 1 Chevrolet in the closest finish in NASCAR national series history. Daytona International Speedway has been a home to photo finishes. The 2016 Daytona 500 had Denny Hamlin beating Martin Truex Jr. to the line by only five inches. The PowerShares QQQ 300 had Reddick winning by about one inch. The race did set not only that impressive record but also the record amount of NASCAR Overtime periods at five. NASCAR removed the limit on “green-white-checkered” attempts in 2016 to allow races to end under green flag conditions. They made revisions to this rule in 2017 with the removal of the overtime line, and upon the showing of the white flag, the following flag would end the race. The scheduled distance for the race was 300 miles, but there were roughly 57.5 extra miles in the overtime attempts. The 60th running of the PowerShares QQQ 300 started calm, with only one accident in the first 60 laps.

Verizon INDYCAR Series Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Streets of St. Petersburg March 11 at 12:30 p.m.

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That one accident was Austin Cindric’s No. 60 Ford tangling majorly with the No. 20 of Christopher Bell and on lap 10.

Other cars were involved, but only with minor damage. Cindric is no stranger to Daytona International Speedway as he recently ran the Rolex 24.

Although the first 60 laps were relatively calm, with the lead traded by Monster Energy Series drivers Kyle Larson, and Chase Elliott, it proved to mislead everyone about how the remainder of the race would unfold. The factor which brings many fans to Daytona International Speedway is the looming threat of the “Big One,” a massive crash involving many cars due to the high speeds and close quarters in which they race. The race looked like a Monster Energy Series driver would take victory once again, but on lap 118, the “Big One” unleashed its wrath. Among the affected were Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, and, then leader, Kyle Larson. After they left the track, the race was in the hands of Xfinity Series regulars.

The motto of the series: “Names are made here” very much held true. It was a battle of survival through a series of restarts eliminating drivers from contention. A notable accident included the

No. 4 of Ross Chastain and the No. 23 of Spencer Gallagher. Gallagher ended up sandwiched between both Chastain and the No. 11 of Ryan Truex and the gap shrunk smaller than the size of a car. Gallagher was spun and caused damage to Chastain’s hood. Chastain still rebounded for a ninth-place finish in the Daytona opener race. After all the chaos of crashes subsided, the fans were in for a treat. Tyler Reddick battled Elliott Sadler halfway down the backstretch on the final lap. They traded the top spot multiple times trying to pass each other until Reddick slammed into Sadler’s car to push him forward.

They were neck and neck up to the line and were scored in a tie until officials deemed Reddick, the winner.

The gap was 0.000 seconds at the line, the closest in NASCAR National Touring Series history. “I do not even know how close it was at the line, but it was close,” Reddick said post-race, “This feels amazing, this is a hell of a way to start the year off with JR Motorsports.”

Teammate Elliott Sadler was dejected with another runner-up finish but was happy with finishing at all, “He’s my teammate, so it is great on the one hand to have a JR Motorsports car in Victory Lane, but it is tough to finish second. I think that is three seconds in a row for me on superspeedway races, so we have got to figure out how to be leading one of these things.” Overall, the thrilling race gave fans a preview of what will happen in the Daytona 500.

The new package in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series still leaves unanswered questions, but if it is anything like the Xfinity Series package, it will be a great race. The Xfinity Series races again on Feb. 24 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the Rinnai 250.

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The No. 3 Returns to Glory

Austin Dillon Takes the Checkered Flag in the 60th Annual Daytona 500

Vipul Telang Photo Editor

Speedweeks has come to a close with a fantastic finale. The 60th Annual Daytona 500 brought a historic end to the most exciting week of motorsports. Austin Dillon brought the No. 3 Chevy back to Victory Lane twenty years after Dale Earnhardt Sr. did in 1998. He did so in the way “The Intimidator” would, with hard racing for the win no matter the stakes.

Rascal Flatts kicked off the festivities with their great performance. They opened with the famous song “Life is a Highway”. The driver introductions then followed. The United States Air Force Thunderbirds performed the traditional flyover during the performance of The Star-Spangled Banner. Dale Earnhardt Jr. gave the command to start engines to open the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

The race opened with an immediate challenge to the lead. Alex Bowman, the new driver of the No. 88 Chevy saw opposition into turn one as the No. 11 of Denny Hamlin forced his way around and into the top spot. Hamlin held onto the lead until lap ten where the first caution came out. The No. 72 of Corey LaJoie lost his engine. LaJoie has had to retire from both his Daytona 500 attempts. In last year’s Daytona 500, LaJoie was forced to retire early when he was involved in a single car incident and crashed into the outside wall of the trioval. After a round of pit stops, the race went back to green.

That green flag run saw eight different leaders. It made for one of the most exciting green flag runs in recent Daytona 500 history. The action was brought to a pause after an accident involving Kyle Busch, Jamie McMurray, and DJ Kennington in turn three. The No. 18 car of Kyle Busch lost a tire and collected two other cars in the wreck. Busch has had a history with Goodyear, the tire manufacturer, at Daytona International Speedway.

Last year, he lost a tire while leading his JGR teammates and caused a massive accident which took out two-time Daytona 500 champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. Busch was a favorite to win, but bad luck struck him once again. There was another short green flag one until the “Big One” struck. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. almost spun

but saved the car in an amazing fashion, however, the car behind him did not. Erik Jones, making his first start in the No. 20 Toyota, spun and collected eight other cars in the crash. It brought an early end to many good cars. All drivers involved were uninjured following the accident. Jimmie Johnson, one of the drivers involved, commented on the accident, “I think there was some great racing throughout,” Johnson stated. “But unfortunately, many thought that was the black and white checkered flag, not the green and white checkered flag. So, lap 59 to be throwing blocks and stuff like that, that’s how you get a lot of wrecked

going into turn three and hit the wall hard which brought out the fifth caution of the race. Danica Patrick’s historic career at the “World Center of Racing” came to a close on lap 103 as she had nowhere to go and ran into the spinning car of Elliott.

Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski were also involved. All the drivers were alright, but their races were ruined.

With only eight laps left in stage two, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. found his No. 17 Ford slowing down with steam coming out of the hood, indicating a water pressure issue. Stenhouse would later be caught up in a later wreck, taking him out of the race for good. Ryan

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race cars.” The caution helped JGR driver, Denny Hamlin, who was given the free pass and eventually finished third in the race. The yellow flag waved once again on lap 94 after Hendrick Motorsports newcomer William Byron blew a tire in the banking and grazed the wall, showering the backstretch with rubber. Most of the drivers came in to pit, but 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup champion Martin Truex Jr. stayed out and promoted his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota Camry to the lead. But the field only stayed green for a few more laps before Chase Elliott, driving the No. 9 Chevrolet, was turned

Rajan Khanna/The Avion Newspaper

Blaney, the winner of the first Can-Am duel on Thursday, also took the stage two victory of the Daytona 500.

Much of the race was run single-file, instead of the double-wide or even threewide seen in previous years. This was due to the new aero package that were introduced this season, and other than the Can-Am duels, most of the drivers will race the cars for the first time ever and many drivers are still getting used to the different handling characteristics of the cars. William Byron learned the hard way that the Cup Series cars can be unforgiving. During the Can-Am

duels on Thursday night, Byron got loose and hit the wall after the car behind him pulled out of the draft. Even though there was no contact between the drivers, the different aerodynamic package introduced this year makes the cars loose when in the pack. After wrecking in the 500, Brad Keselowski commented that “the cars aren’t stable enough to make that many moves.” Ryan Blaney, who finished seventh, said, “the car handled well but at the start it was very loose. It’s interesting how the car handles when the cars are three-wide and it makes for some exciting racing.”

With just ten laps to go, William Byron spun by himself off of turn four.

He managed to keep the car off the wall but the caution brought the field together.

More importantly, there was no lapped traffic for leader Ryan Blaney to deal with.

With just two laps to go, Blaney, running in the fourth position, turned Kurt Busch going into turn two. The incident included Matt DiBenedetto, Stenhouse Jr., and Brendan Gaughan who all had to retire due to terminal damage.

On the last lap of the race after NASCAR’s overtime period, Aric Almirola was leading the pack in his No. 10 Ford Fusion down the backstretch when Austin Dillon in the No. 3 Chevrolet tried to pass on the outside.

Almirola was sent spinning helplessly through turn four and his Daytona 500 victory hopes were dashed.

Dillon’s win was a monumental one for Richard Childress Racing, as it saw the return of the No. 3 car to Daytona’s victory lane for the only time since Dale Earnhardt’s 1998 Daytona 500 title.

Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. finished second after his push helped Dillon to the lead after the last lap. Wallace Jr. became the highest-finishing African-American in “The Great American Race.” Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton followed Wallace Jr. on Twitter and offered words of encouragement before the race.

Fans finally got to see the new aero package in action, and the conclusion of Speedweeks will just be a preview for the remainder of the season. The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will make its next stop in Atlanta, Ga. next week at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

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60th Annual Daytona 500

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Surviving Daytona With a Driver

An Interview with Ross Chastain of the No. 4 Flex Seal Chevy Vipul Telang Photo Editor The Avion Newspaper interviewed Ross Chastain, who currently drives the No. 4 Flex Seal Chevrolet full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity series for JD Motorsports, which presently fields four cars in the Xfinity Series. Chastain, who is only 25, has also raced part-time in both the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

Chastain has raced at Daytona six times in the Xfinity series and has collected three top-ten finishes at the World Center of Racing. Most recently, Chastain finished in sixth in Jul. 2017 at Daytona.

Ross came to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University on Tuesday to answer questions his experience in America's most prestigious racing series. On Saturday, The Avion Newspaper was invited to the No. 4 Flex Seal pit stall during the Xfinity PowerShares QQQ 300 and was able to ask a few questions post-race as well.

The Avion Newspaper: How did you get your start in racing?

RC: I started racing when I was twelve years old. I did a lot of short-track racing in the FasTruck series both in Punta Gorda, Florida and over in New Smyrna Speedway. In 2011, I won the World Series of Asphalt at New Smyrna Speedway, and from there, things just snowballed to where I am now. I'm an eighth-generation farmer, so we're not a racing family—you have the Elliott and Blaney families for example— but I just got in at the perfect time. I was never supposed to race in NASCAR, but things just worked out for me.

Q: What is your favorite track to race?

RC: Daytona, of course! No, I like both Bristol and Dover. I'm not sure what it is about the concrete tracks, but you can manipulate the racecar on those tracks that you can't do with asphalt tracks.

Asphalt is smooth and dull compared to concrete. When I first went out to Bristol, I crashed three separate times with two different trucks but I still enjoyed it out there, and later on, I did a lot better.

Q: What's it like running at Daytona when you're just inches

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apart from other drivers?

RC: It's one of the easiest tracks to drive when you're all out there alone. But when you're on track with 39 of your closest frenemies get out there, and everyone's trying to win, that's how you get parts and pieces of the cars that come back instead of the whole car. When you're out there at 200 mph, ideally, we would give each other room, and we'll all make it, but you just can't win that way. Daytona and Talladega are 2 of the hardest tracks.

It's hard enough to race 300 miles, and I

ing with school, especially coming from a farming family?

RC: Not very well. I played soccer and a few other sports growing up, but it was challenging. The farm isn't what you see in movies. We don't live on the farm, but instead, we live closer to the town. It's a very modernized watermelon farm. It's true that we do work a lot. We work sunup to sundown, but once the sun goes down, then we go home. Ninth grade high school was terrible. I had to make up all classes to keep my GPA up

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don't how [the Cup drivers] can survive 500 miles. At the end of the race, I have the worst headache. With the way the cars are, there are a lot of engine fumes going through the cabin to maximize airflow from the engine through the cabin and out the rear of the car. The worst part is the carbon monoxide levels. After the race, my carbon monoxide levels are so high. During the preseason drug test this year, I was tested, and my levels were still elevated from the last season.

Q: How did you balance rac-

and get my Bright Futures. I started Florida Gulf Coast University, but I left after a semester to race in the truck series.

Now I currently live in Charlotte which is where the team is based.

Q: Since Florida also has tracks such as Sebring, the Homestead Road Course, and the Daytona Road Course, are you looking to race in any other series?

RC: Not really. We run 33 races in Xfinity, and since people hire me to drive [in the Truck Series or Cup] or ask me to do sponsorship deals, I'm not home about 42

weekends per year. You have to put in a considerable level of dedication for IMSA or any other series of that caliber. You need to be there and involved and make a connection with a team owner, and I don't have that time. I'm pretty grassroots, and I do things by my gut. I don't want to take away from NASCAR because in the big picture my end goal is to be successful in NASCAR. I would love to run some road courses though.

Q: How about the Rolex 24 at Daytona?

RC: I would love to! The only road course racing that I have done is in NASCAR which is pretty much rock-‘em, sock-‘em, push-‘em, crash-‘em every lap.

The Rolex 24 is more of a gentleman's race, but it would still be pretty neat to learn.

After an exciting race that saw five NASCAR overtime periods, Ross Chastain managed to hang on to a ninthplace finish despite damage sustained during one of the restarts. He ran as high as fifth during the last stage of the race. After the race, The Avion Newspaper caught up to Chastain and asked him for his opinion of the race.

Q: How did it feel to be out there?

RC: I didn't think I'd finish.

Q: What was going through your mind after avoiding The Big One at Daytona?

RC: I just kept my foot in the gas and didn't think about it as much.

Q: Can you take me through the restart after the Big One that caused the damage to your car?

RC: Yeah, I mean I didn't get the best restart. And then I turned him [Spencer Gallagher] on the backstretch afterward. It's just racing.

"I've got a great feeling about this season. Every year that I've been racing with JD Motorsports, we have grown and gotten better. I fully believe that this will be our year. My No. 4 team put in a lot of hard work over the winter, and we've got our loyal partner Flex Seal back on board with us. This race will be the start of our best season of racing yet."

The Avion Newspaper wishes the best for both Ross Chastain, his teammates and JD Motorsports as a whole as they begin the 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.

20 Entertainment Black Panther: A Marvel-ous Movie Page

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Nick Hernandez Webmaster

The newest installment in the Marvel Universe, Black Panther is definitely a milestone for Marvel Studios. The story takes place in Wakanda, Africa, a supposed third world country according to the United Nations.

But in reality, Wakanda is a technologically advanced city hidden within a holographic border. The story takes place shortly after “Captain America: Civil War.” Since the Former King T’chaka’s death in “Civil War,” Prince T’Chala takes the throne, this starts an internal conflict throughout Wakanda.

The conflict is between tradition and modernism, whether to keep the old ways and stay hidden or show the world the true power of Wakanda and help those in need.

It is this conflict that the main villain, Eric Killmonger, takes as his platform against the T’Chala. This story gets progressively more in depth as more and more characters get involved. As it is a Marvel film, the animation and CGI just added more to the story than

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dialogue, as did the cinematography.

The cast is primarily African American with a plethora of familiar faces. This is nothing that caught us off guard considering the comics were also filled with African American characters. The story line was something very relatable with the current generation, a global conflict between tradition and modernism.

The one thing that caught my eye throughout the movie was the pure ingenuity of the cinematography, it never felt like there was a dull moment. It’s almost as if the cinematographer was foreshadowing every event and adding realism in a movie that could have been pure CGI. It was all these things being put together and directed by Ryan Coogler that made this movie come together as a whole.

The cast is filled with familiars, not only from previous marvel films, but also big names in Hollywood. A few to name are, Michael B. Jordan (“Creed”), Chadwick Boseman (“Captain America: Civil War”), Forest Whitaker (“Rogue One”),

Martin Freeman (“The Hobbit”) and the ever-infamous Stan Lee. This collaboration of actors allowed the story of the Black Panther to transition from comic to the silver screen as an absolute blowout.

The way the plot developed was enough to allow it to be a stand-alone film had it not been involved with “Captain America: Civil War.” The only mention that could be traced back to the other Marvel movies was the death of king T’Chaka in “Civil War.” Everything else was solely based off the Black Panther comic books, allowing for more room to play with the plot.

While as a whole, Black Panther was amazing, the were a few things that could upset dedicated Marvel fans. In my opinion, the only thing that didn’t get enough screen time, was the physical conflict between the protagonist, and the main villain. The movie did revolve around ethics and tradition, but there was an actually villain in the movie who I think deserved a little more time on the screen fighting in the main story. But other than that, this is a win for Marvel.

a console/streaming service for gaming. Dubbed “Yeti,” the console/service was set to release late last year, but was delayed for undisclosed reasons.

Earlier this year, Google hired a former Xbox and Playstation executive, Phil Harrison, to lead the development team. On Twitter, Harrison stated that he is “excited to be able to share that [he has] started a new role as Vice President and GM of

Google... and relocation (back) to California.” Harrison has a long of service in the video game realm, having worked at several major gaming companies such as Sony, Atari, and Microsoft for over a combined total of over 20 years. He is perhaps best known for his 15-year long tenure as an executive in the PlayStation division of Sony Interactive Entertainment, being a central member of the original team who made the first PlayStation.

Recent rumors suggest that upon release, Google will launch “Yeti” with the intent of it having a game streaming service, much like a “Netflix for Gamers.”

The plan for it is that the device will play host for a remote serve that will allow for users to stream games via a piece of hardware, most likely a new Google Chromecast or their Android TV. “Yeti” would potentially allow for its users to play any of the games included in Google’s library and would require zero downloads on the users side. Sadly though, neither of the systems used anything powerful enough to play graphics-heavy AAA titles that are in most modern-day games.

In the past, Google had made attempts to enter the video game market, however, each time was a flop. Google has released both the Nexus Q (2012) and the Nexus Player (2014), which boasted the abilities to be able to play

Black Panther

Google Yeti: A Netflix for Gamers?

Brandon Collins Copy Editor In the past few weeks, web-search giant Google has been hinting at plans of something big. In recent day, it has come to light that Google is currently planning to potentially compete alongside companies in the gaming market, such as Sony and Microsoft, with a future release of

Photo Courtesy: PCWorld A PC World designed controller based-off a mix of the Google logo and Microsoft’s Xbox One controller.

games and even had gamepads for the users that desired them.

Currently there are only two major competitors in this market. Sony’s PS Now, which allows for PlayStation 4 players to stream games to their consoles and PCs over the internet, and Nvidia’s GeForce Now services that is essentially the same thing as PS Now, except it runs on Nvidia devices. Currently, Microsoft has no streaming services such as these, but it is likely that we will see something in the next few years from them to compete with these services.

In a news article from Reuters, it was stated that “The plan that Google has been working on involves use of its cloud servers to broadcast the games to users over the Internet, citing people with knowledge of the project. Google has discussed “Yeti” with game developers, but it is unclear whether any of them will develop a game specifically for “Yeti” or only make existing streamed games available.”

It is currently unknown what exactly Google has planned for the “Yeti,” and all of the intricate details about it are also not known at this time. Only time will tell what will happen with the “Yeti,” and whether or not it will provide a viable option to game streaming for today’s modern gamers.

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The Sin and The Sentence

Richard Alquist WIKD Correspondent

Trivium has found their sound.

After many attempts and many good records like Ember to Inferno, Ascendency, Shogun, parts of In Waves, and some of Vengeance Falls they have found the sound that really defines who they are as a band. Instead of writing Shogun 2.0, they have crafted something that takes the best from each of their albums and created a damn good album out of it. The heaviness of Ascendency, the intricacies and riffs from Shogun, the clean vocals from Silence in the Snow, all come together to make The Sin and the Sentence something that demands a listen from any metal head.

Right off the bat, the open song ‘The Sin and the Sentence’ showcases the different direction the band is taking with their music on this album. The variety of this album also stands out from their previous works. Silence in the Snow and Vengeance Falls had a tendency to fall into predictable patterns, main riff then chorus,

repeat until the end of the song.

While you can say every song ever follows that patter, their last two albums did more often than their previous ones. With the addition of their new drummer, Alex Brent (Brain Drill, Arkaik) brings a more diverse sound who bridges the gap and combines the best of Travis Smith and Nick Augusto, Trivium’s previous drummers.

Alex’s experience in playing in death metal bands really shines on this album. The way he fills in the sound, makes it grander and most forceful should not be understated. His blast beats are also a new addition to Trivium, making it the first time they have been featured on a Trivium album.

The other members of the band are also returning with a newfound strength. The vocal styles that Matt Heafy employ on this album are the culmination of Trivium’s records. The cleans and the harsh vocals he use add feeling and emotion to the song, while Corey Beaulieu’s guitar work and Paolo Gregoletto’s bass playing round out the album and make it complete.

The core of Trivium is back and ready for another round.

Every song on The Sin and the Sentence has its own unique identity. This album is by far their most varied. There’s mosh heavy ones, progressive power houses, crowd cheering pleasers. The chanting part in “Sever the Hand” is going to be a really crowd pleaser, and the intro to “Beyond oblivion is guaranteed to start a wall of death.

The main riff to “The Wretchedness Inside” is going to be an ear-worm that does not leave for a while. The last two songs on the album, “The Revanchist” and “Thrown Into the Fire” are by far the most unique songs that Trivium have ever done, with “The Revanchist” not even sounding like a typical Trivium song. That does not detract from the album, it instead adds more to it and showcases just how far Trivium have come in their decade spanning career.

In my opinion, this has been the album that many Trivium fans have been waiting for. It’s the culmination of what made some of their best albums great and incor-

lowed by one of the heavier songs on the album, ‘Through Your Eyes,’ which also goes back and forth in screaming and vocals. The song is emotionally charged and has catchy lyrics and reminds me of the band The Ghost Inside.

The fifth song on the album, ‘Outatime,’ has continuously screaming throughout the album. "Frisco," one of the lightest songs on their album promptly follows ‘Outatime,’ and is, in my opinion, is the catchiest song on the album. It has the least amount of screaming, which to be fair is the opposite of most of the album, but it is my favorite song on the album. Following the drop of the album, the band did a music video for ‘Frisco’ on YouTube, garnering several thousand views rather quickly. The album ends on ‘Ctrl-Z’ which brings back the heaviness of the album before "Frisco."

In an interview, NoSelf stated that "[we] are incredibly excited to be working with Noah "Shark" Robertson from Motograter and Zombie Shark Records.

We are very passionate about Nu Metal, and we could not be more thrilled to be a part of the Nu Metal revival. Having already played several shows alongside label mates Keychain, it could not be more evident that we are on the right path, with the right label."

Noah Robertson, the owner of Zombie Shark Records, stated that “NoSelf

are poised to be the next Human-Cyborg Relations Pt. 1 big band helping to lead the Nu Metal Revival! This band is going to take the Zombie Shark Records label and the Nu Metal genre to a whole new level. Simply put. is currently available for purchase on The gloves are off."

Google Play, iTunes, Amazon Music, The WIKD 102.5 FM, the campus and other major music retailers. They radio station, has recently added two are now set to play live on Saturday, of their songs, ‘Frisco’ and ‘NuDisease,’ Feb. 24, at the Central Florida Metal to their automation computer to play Fest 2018 at the Haven at Forsyth, throughout the week, and the album Winter Park, Florida.

The Sin and The Sentence

porated the best parts of their albums that fell short. With this incorporation of their best ideas, Trivium have added another album to the list of greats that they have released.

Human-Cyborg Relations Part 1

Brandon Collins Copy Editor An alternative, nu-metal band from New Smyrna Beach, Florida, NoSelf released their mini-album Human-Cyborg Relations Episode 1 last year. Having signed a worldwide distribution deal with the record company Zombie Shark Records, the band is expected to make waves in the nu-metal genre. The group has stated that the bands Deftones, Nothingface, and KoRn influenced them as musicians, and other people have compared them to the likes of Cane Hill, DED, and Issues.

"Human-Cyborg Relations Episode 1" was released mid-last year and keeps a heavy rock vibe going throughout most of the album, and is quite clearly an explicit album. The album opens with the song ‘Casting Stones,’ which is a heavy song focusing on heavy guitar riffs, a slight bit of electronic music, and a whole lot of bass guitar. The following song, ‘Save Me,’ is a slightly slower song, essentially a more rock-like ballad, that emphasizes the guitar riffs that could be classified as speed metal.

‘NuDisease’ is the following song, and it blends vocals and screaming throughout the song, having catchy lyrics and phenomenal drums and guitars. It is one of two songs that aren't considered explicit on the album. This song is fol-

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The Avion

Adventures in South Park: The Fractured But Whole

Brandon Collins Copy Editor Ubisoft's "South Park: The Fractured but Whole" (FBW) was released late last year on Oct. 17, 2018. It was an immediate sequel to the series previous installment, South Park: The Stick of Truth (SOT), picking up the story the day immediately after the player's last day in South Park on Stick of Truth.

Much like its predecessor, the game is like playing an episode of South Park. In the SOT, players play the new kid in the town who is known as New Kid throughout the game. The game follows South Park's Black Friday Trilogy, where the kids in town are participating in a role-playing, fantasy war comprising of two factions: humans and elves. The two sides are fighting over the all-powerful Stick of Truth, a tree twig that gives its holder omnipotent power over the fantasy world. Throughout the game, New Kid fights not only against humans and elves, but also aliens, Nazi zombies, and even underwear stealing gnomes, all of which threaten the destruction of South Park.

The Fractured But Whole, on the other hand, follows the kids of South Park through the Coon and Friends trilogy, where the children of South Park role-play as superheroes and super-villains. Unfortunately, unlike in the TV show, H. P. Lovecraft's cosmic entity, Cthulhu, does not make an appearance in the video game. The Fractured But Whole does, however, contain a mimic of the Cult of Cthulhu featured in the TV show, and even has a Freeman's Tacos, which is a restaurant owned and ran by Morgan Freeman.

The new South Park game has twice as many allies/companions than its predecessor did. Bringing back Kenny (Mysterion), Kyle (the Human Kite), Stan (Toolshed), Cartman (the Coon), Butters (Professor Chaos), and Jimmy (Fastpass) as companions. It also adds Token (Tupperware), Wendy (Call Girl), Tweek (Wonder Tweek), Craig (Super Craig), Scott (Captain Diabetes), and Clyde

(Mosquito) from the TV show into the player's roster. Each character has their own origin story that the game explains as it progresses, as well as character sheets that will give players more information about the team members. They all also have their own form of banter with each other during combat, usually whenever one of them get hurt or land a hit.

In SOT, the player is allowed to pick one of four archetypes, Fighter, Thief, Mage, and Jew, each offering their own unique abilities. The New Kid and their supporting party of South Park characters use a variety of combat types such as melee, ranged, and magical fart attacks to combat enemies in the game. In Fractured But Whole, the player is allowed to pick one of three classes at the beginning, which are speedster, brutalist, and blaster. Throughout the game, the player is allowed to acquire more classes including elementalist, cyborg, psychic, assassin, gadgeteer, plantmancer, and martial artist. Cartman (aka the Coon), expands on the player's origins (he/she walks in on their parents at night) as they progress in the story, each time adding a new class to the character. By the end of the Coon and Friends campaign, Cartman will have made the character a quad-class hero (a hero comprised of four different hero classes). Timmy (Doctor Timothy) will grant the hero access to all of the classes by the end of the game so you can adapt yourself to your squad of heroes and fight against the main villain of the game with all available abilities.

The menu/phone screen in the game of a variety of apps. For one, it contains a map of South Park so that players can see where they need to go. The Fractured But Whole takes place in 2.5D world, where the player is in a third-person perspective. Compared to SOT, the Fractured But Whole has a more extensive map with more locations. Although you can no longer go to Canada (the Canadians built a wall to keep out Americans), the map is still pretty big with several more locations added to the game. Another option on their phone is a "crafting app" where play-

South Park: The Fractured but Whole

ers can make healing items, utfits, gadgets, and summoning devices on the go when they are out of combat. It seems a little random at first, but it does come in handy later in the game. The phone also has the infamous "Coonstagram" (Cartman's rip off of Instagram), which is where players can see the number of followers they have as well as get helpful hints/tips from their companions if they get stuck on a mission. Players can also use their in-game phones to swap out the allies they have in combat, the powers they use, as well as, change their outfits and gadgets.

The Fractured but Whole also saw a redesign of the combat simulator. Whereas the Stick of Truth's combat system had a player's team do all of their combat at one time followed by the other team's combat phase, the Fractured but Whole's combat system includes a mixed combat setup.

The combat setup for the game had each combatant in the fight mixed around. This type of combat simulation means that two fighters from your team could go, followed by one or more of the other side, followed by the last two of yours.

Just like in Stick of Truth, the New Kid has unique farting powers. As ridiculous as it sounds, the New Kid has powers in the area of flatulence. He has several flatulent-related powers, most of which players use during combat. He has a "TimeFart Glitch" which will skip the enemies next turn when the player is in combat. There is a "TimeFart Pause" which pauses combat and allows for the player to walk up to enemies and deal them damage for a short period. The last "TimeFart" you get in the main story is the "TimeFart Shift" which forwards time between dusk and dawn outside of combat. The only "TimeFart" that you can miss is the "TimeFart Summon" which summons a past self of the player to fight

alongside you for three turns of combat.

After using any of those powers, the player will have to wait for three turns before using any of them again.

The game has a variety of side quests in the game much like its prequel. Some of the side quests include helping the goth kids summon a demon, finding all of Big Gay Al's cats, and even learning from the PC Principal how to be politically correct. There is a plethora of side quest in the video game to keep players engaged in the game.

Although that game is pretty outstanding, it does have some pitfalls. For one, the game does not quite have the same novelty as its predecessor. Although it does play just like an episode of South Park much like Stick of Truth, it does lose that "wow" factor that it had. It has some of that "wow-ness," but you also have the "I have seen this before" feeling throughout the game.

Another thing about the game is that its "puzzles" get repetitive pretty quick. The first couple of times, its pretty cool to watch the short scene, but after a while it is more of an annoyance than a fun little scene. Although they are interactive, it gets to the point of mind-numbingly boring to do after you do it multiple times in the game.

If you are a fan of South Park, it is very likely that you will be a fan of the game. As stated earlier, the game is just an interactive episode of South Park. I would recommend it to any fan of the TV show, and if you are on the fence about the TV show, I would ask that you give it a shot before you decide on whether or not you like the game. However, if you are not a fan of South Park, I would recommend to you not playing the game.

If you do not like the type of humor South Park is known for, it is likely will not enjoy the game all that much.

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