GEORGIA REGENTS UNIVERSITY
www.grubellringer.com
VOLUME 56, ISSUE 10
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2014
PAX ATTACKS
University to decide on make-up days
By Leigh Beeson and Mindy Wadley editor-in-chief, copy editor Winter storm Pax ripped into Augusta last week, uprooting trees, downing power lines and cutting off electricity to countless homes in Columbia, Richmond and Burke counties, among others. Physical damage aside, the ice storm also forced the university administration to close all 3 Augusta campuses Wednesday, with the Health Sciences campus not reopen-
ing until Friday while Summerville and Forest Hills remained closed. As a result, Georgia Regents officials had to postpone or cancel homecoming events scheduled for the week of the storm. Pax was the second winter storm to hit the East Coast in the course of a few weeks. The first hit Jan. 28, with snowfall occuring late that evening and into the following morning, prompting Georgia Regents to close both Jan. 28 and 29. This storm, named Leon, was supposed to be a “once-in-a-generation” occurrence,
according to NBC News. Although Leon coated the city in a light dusting of snow, the damage caused by Pax far outdid its predecessor, pelting the CSRA with freezing rain that quickly coated trees, power lines and buildings. After the ice melted and the tree limbs mostly stopped falling, the sound of chainsaws and sirens filled the air as locals attempted to clear the debris and police attempted to keep the roadways safe despite the lack of operational traffic lights. The clean-up effort, however, is bound
to take weeks, as both President Barack Obama and Gov. Nathan Deal declared a state of emergency and the Federal Emergency Man agement Agency was brought in to assess the damage, as reported by the Augusta Chronicle. As of Monday, Georgia Regents officials hadn’t decided whether students would have to make up the five weather-related closure days, said Kelly Jasper, a media relations coordinator for the university. kbeeson1@gru.edu mindyawadley@gmail.com
Photos by (from top) Jordan Williams, Leigh Beeson, Leigh Beeson, Josh Cole and Megan Stewart
Dental school gets new dean By Ashley Trawick news editor
The College of Dental Medicine for Georgia Regents University has a new dean who means business. Carol Lefebvre was the former interim dean for the college and started her new position Feb. 1. She said she started as an assistant professor and worked her way up the ranks. “When former Dean (Connie) Drisko started working on the new dental school, that’s when she made me an associate dean,” Lefebvre said. “I worked with her and our facilities manager closely on that
project. Then last year, I was made vice dean, and then when Dr. Drisko stepped down, (I became) interim dean.” Lefebvre’s short-term goals for the College of Dental Medicine include identifying key recruits, working on the strategic plan for the college and significant curriculum reform, which hasn’t been changed for about 10 years. “We’ve had some curriculum change since then but not anything major,” she said. “What’s happened is we have some redundancies (where) some areas teach the same thing. We also have some sequencing issues. We’d like to rearrange the order of the courses. We want to do
all of that at the same time.” Arthur Rahn, a semi-retired professor in the Department of Oral Rehabilitation, hired Lefebvre when she came to visit for recruiting business. “She was with another friend of mine in the graduate program and was chairman at the University of Michigan,” Rahn said. “He recommended her very highly, and he wasn’t wrong.” Carole Hanes, the associate dean for the Office of Students, Admissions and Alumni, is a longtime colleague of Lefebvre’s. Hanes said over the years, Lefebvre has earned the respect of faculty, staff and students, and during her time as dean,
Georgia Regents University shows soldiers its appreciation. Performers go Into the Woods like us follow us on facebook @BellRinger_News
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she’ll continue to gain the respect of new dental students and the Augusta community. Lefebvre has been involved in a variety of campuswide committees for several years and was even involved in the building design of the dental school. “I think she knows the institution very well,” Hanes said. “I think she has served as a representative of the dental school very well at the campus level. I’m very, very pleased that she has been named the dean. I think she’s going to do a terrific job for us, and she knows the needs of the College of Dental Medicine and will serve us very well.” atrawick@gru.edu
Men’s basketball team inches closer to PBC Tournament Page 7
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NEWS
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2014
THE BELL RINGER
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opinion
www.grubellringer.com
Program restores homes The voice of
Georgia Regents University EDITORIAL STAFF adviser MATTHEW BOSISIO mbosisio@gru.edu editor-in-chief LEIGH BEESON kbeeson1@gru.edu copy editor MINDY WADLEY mindyawadley@gmail.com
By Richard Adams and Collette Richards staff writers With the arrival of new owners and the additional labor of hundreds of local volunteers, the block of six homes at 1600 Broad St. has had the life breathed back into it. The contributions of several groups, including Army and Air Force servicemen and women, their friends and family, the Augusta chapter of Rotary Club and several faith-based organizations, helped move the Turn Back the Block project one step closer to completion Feb. 8.
When the program was first in the idea stage, Turn Back the Block President Anne Catherine Murray said Harrisburg stood out as a neighborhood that would benefit from the special kind of community-based redevelopment the nonprofit group had in mind. “At the time that we brought this group together, the statistics showed that 77 percent of the homes in Harrisburg are renteroccupied,” Murray said. “When you have the majority of it being (renter occupied as opposed to having higher rates of home ownership) and a lot of absentee landlords, you
arts & life editor MEGAN STEWART mstewar7@gru.edu
By Anthony Garcia staff writer
sports editor JORDAN WILLIAMS jwill143@gru.edu chief reporter REBECCA PERBETSKY rperbets@gru.edu
production assistant JORDAN BARRY jbarry3@gru.edu photographers REBECCA SIMANSKI rebeccasimanski@gmail. com staff writers RICHARD ADAMS MEREDITH DAY ANTHONY GARCIA COLLETTE RICHARDS JESSICA SAGER AMY THORNE HALEY HARRIS contributor SAMMY ELMOR circulation manager RICHARD ADAMS radams99@gru.edu advertising manager RAVEN NORRIS rnorris2@gru.edu webmaster JAMIE LOWE jlowe12@gru.edu Direct advertising inquiries to: Marie Pierce, National Sales Manager Media Mate mpierce@mymediamate.com Address all correspondence to: The Bell Ringer 2500 Walton Way Augusta, Ga 30904 706-737-1600 www.asubellringer.com
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Letters to the editor must be accompanied by the author’s name, phone number and email address. All columns and letters to the editor are the opinion of the author. The views expressed in the Editorial section do not necessarily express those of The Bell Ringer, a designated public forum.
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have an income, a steady income; it can be a low to moderate income. We evaluate each person on a case-by-case situation. This is a chance for people who think they’re going to be homeowners forever to pay a $400- to $600-a-month payment interest free, which, over 20 years, can save you tens of thousands of dollars.” The homes currently being preserved and rehabilitated were all donated, said Garon Muller, a law clerk for the Augusta judicial circuit and participant with Leadership Augusta. radams99@gru.edu cricha32@gru.edu
School honors service members
news editor ASHLEY TRAWICK atrawick@gru.edu
production manager NIKKI SKINNER nskinner@gru.edu
can end up with disinvestment. So we wanted to increase the rate of homeownership in Harrisburg, and we wanted to take advantage of the good existing housing stock that’s already there.” While highly affordable and not overly stringent, Murray said the organization’s Family Selection and Shepherding Committee is looking for outstanding qualities in the potential homeowners, which make the need for a large base of applicants essential. “This is an opportunity for anybody,” Murray said. “This is for people who
GRAPHIC BY NIKKI SKINNER
Series focuses on importance of health By Meredith Day staff writer Snow may have canceled the event for Jan. 28, but the information from the Lunch N’ Learn series still warrants attention. During the series, students are offered a free lunch and given a lecture on different health issues. The series is generally offered once a month, said Leslie Wilcher, the outreach coordinator at Student Health Services. “We choose the topic usually based on if it’s in conjunction with a certain themed month,” Wilcher said. “(January was) Cervical Cancer Month, it’s the national month, so we usually try to stay on topic with that. We choose a topic that has something relevant for the youth population.” The topic for January was supposed to be human papillomavirus and cervical cancer, but the event was canceled due to bad weather. HPV is a virus with no cure that affects the skin predominantly in the genital area and is spread through skinto-skin contact. The virus can cause cervical cancer among other complications, said Lynn
Allmond, a nurse practitioner at the GRU Cancer Center. “The key is, sometimes people get it and it doesn’t cause any problems, and some people get it and it causes abnormal pap smears, genital warts,” Allmond said. “It can cause cancers down the road.” Because the virus can sometimes be undetected by the carrier, it is easy for it to spread from person to person through sexual intercourse, Allmond said. Possibly the most dangerous aspect of HPV is that it often develops into several types of cancer because it is so difficult to detect. “Cervical cancer, penile cancer, vaginal cancer, vulvar cancer, oropharyngeal cancer, anal cancer, all those cancers come from HPV,” said Daron Ferris, the director of the HPV Epidemiology and Prevention Program. Because HPV can be so difficult to self-detect, it is important for both men and women to visit their doctors regularly for checkups in order to increase the chances of the virus being caught, Allmond said.
Soldiers filled the entrance to Christenberry Fieldhouse Feb. 8, as Georgia Regents University hosted its fifth annual Military Appreciation Day. More than 300 soldiers of the 15th Regimental Signal Brigade were welcomed with a “Ring of Honor” by fans, including the Jaguar Athletics staff, the GRU Augusta Cheerleaders and the Jaguar Pep Band. Pfc. Karson Zeltwanger was one of the soldiers from his group who was selected to attend the game. “It’s something that you don’t really see every day,” Zeltwanger said. “You’re just out there, doing your job, doing your training, and then they have these kinds of events. There’s actually people out there that are supporting you, and it’s just a good feeling to get.” During halftime at the women’s game, the Greenbrier High School step team and both the Greenbrier and Evans High School drill teams performed. During halftime of the men’s game against Young Harris College, more than 50 recruits were officially inducted into the Army that day. Brig. Gen. John Morrison presented the induction ceremony, followed by Command Sgt. Maj. Ronald Pflieger. “You are now part of America’s team, the real America’s team,” Pflieger said, before
leading the brigade in reciting the Soldier’s Creed. Among those who attended was Maj. Gen. LaWarren Patterson, a two-star commanding officer at Fort Gordon. “The young soldiers, they just make me feel so good because not many of them get an opportunity to take a photo with a commander of the base or a general,” Patterson said. “I make myself available to them to take photos, and it makes my day just to be able to do it.” Platoon Sgt. Kyle Davis said he was impressed with the overall turnout. “We got a lot of the new soldiers with us,” Davis said. “They don’t really understand what it is that we do, but when they see support like this, I think it starts to break through to them a little bit.” Davis said this event also gives his soldiers a unique opportunity to get out of the barracks. Carlo Caputo, a veteran, arrived early to get a good seat for the basketball match. Caputo served as a captain in Vietnam from 1972 to 1973 has been to more than six events in honor of Military Appreciation Day. “When we came home from the war, we were treated like war criminals,” Caputo said. “It fills my heart to see the respect that they have for the military. When they come home, they’re heroes, not war criminals.” agarci11@gru.edu
mday4@gru.edu
Happenings around campus When Tuesday 10 a.m.-3 p.m. 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
Where
What Order the new GRU ring
The JagStores in Washington Hall & Health Sciences Student Center
2014 Educator Expo Career Fair More than 20 school systems to attend
Christenberry Fieldhouse
Friday 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
2014 Employer Expo Career Fair More than 50 employers to attend
Christenberry Fieldhouse
Friday 7 p.m.
Look Up at Night, Augusta (LUNA) Series
Thursday 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
Saturday 6-8 p.m.
Science Hall
Family Fun Series: Night at Monkey Joe’s
Sunday 1-5 p.m.
Symphony of Augusta Concerto Competition
Tuesday, Feb. 25 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
Midterms Information Table
anthony garcia | staff
Troops begin to arrive at Christenberry Fieldhouse Feb. 8 for Military Day.
Monkey Joe’s Maxwell Alumni House Maxwell Performing Arts Theatre
Wednesday, Feb. 26 9:30-10:15 a.m.
The Patchwork Players: “Aesop’s Ant and the Grasshopper”
Thursday, Feb. 27 1-2 p.m.
ACCEPT ANXIETY: BEING MINDFUL DURING MIDTERMS
JSAC Breezeway
GRU Literacy Center JSAC Butler Meeting Room
HR/job opportunities availible! For more information visit TrinityofAugusta.com or call (706) 481-7454
Corrections:
Michael Fortino was on the right, not the left as identified, in the image accompanying the story “Local discovers passion onstage” on page 10 of the Jan. 28 issue. The Bell Ringer regrets the error.
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editorial
Representing the university The Bell Ringer staff prides itself on bringing you the most pertinent news both on campus and off. And according to the Georgia College Press Association, we do a pretty great job at it. Every year, The Bell Ringer staff ventures to Athens, Ga., for the annual Better Newspaper Contest, hosted by GCPA. Numerous universities face off in individual categories, such as best investigative news story or best column, hoping to bring home first-place plaques bearing their college’s name. Last year, we brought home a record number of awards – 14 total, with 5 first-place finishes. At the time, we were classified into the contest’s Division B, which is limited to four-year universities with student populations of fewer than 8,000 individuals. This meant we competed against, and beat, college newspapers including Georgia College and State University’s The Colonnade, Berry College’s Campus Carrier and Piedmont College’s The Navigator. Stiff competition, for sure, but we successfully outclassed them in general categories Best
Campus Community Service – Features, Best Campus Community Service – Editorial and Most Improved. It was our last year competing as Augusta State University, and we did our institution proud. This year, as Georgia Regents University, we entered a new division and faced steeper competition than ever before. Because of our university’s undergraduate and graduate enrollment figures, we moved up to the Four-year Division A classification in the contest. This placed our work against the goliaths of Georgia’s public universities, including Georgia Southern University, Emory University, Georgia State University, Mercer University, Valdosta State University and the Georgia Institute of Technology. Suffice it to say, we kept our expectations low for first-place finishes, knowing we were up against much larger colleges with larger staffs and better resources. Despite the difference in funding between The Bell Ringer and our competitors, we came home with seven awards
On wrong side of the boycott By Sammy Elmor contributor In early January, the Georgia Board of Regents announced its rejection of the growing boycott on Israeli academic institutions on the basis that it “directly violates academic freedom,” the GReport revealed. The announcement isolates the Board of Regents from various advocates of the Israeli academic boycott, which recently includes the American Studies Association. To recount the Georgia Board of Regent’s resolution, “The call for this boycott directly violates academic freedom, which is the fundamental principle of American higher education essential to the research, teaching and public services activities of our institutions.” This is a contradictory statement. Unaddressed is that academic freedoms for Palestinian scholars and students have been suppressed by a nearly 46-year-old occupation by the Israeli government and its complicit institutions. Under their Frequently Asked Questions page, ASA explains that endorsement of the boycott is justified as Palestinian schools and universities have been bombed, closed and, in numerous cases, their students have been murdered, like law student Mutasem Awad at the age of 22 as reported by Haaretz. The association honorably stated, “Academic freedom cannot exist under occupation and apartheid.” Despite taking no position on the boycott, Dec. 16,the Jewish Voice for Peace responded to ASA’s endorsement of the boycott, saying its decision serves as a reminder that “peoples’ movements can have a decisive role to play in working towards justice and peace.” The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel released guidelines on how to fairly plan the boycott under their
website’s Key Documents page, along with a brief history of the movement. In light of Israel’s massacre at the Palestinian refugee camp in Jenin in April 2002, what followed was the call by 120 European academics to initiate the boycott. The conversion from boycott initiatives to the currently globalizing Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, is a direct result of Israel’s over half-a-century occupation and colonialism of Palestinians. Documented well in Israeli historian Ilan Pappe’s book, “The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine,” Palestinians have endured a long history of ethnic cleansing campaigns and now brutal military occupation since 1967, illegal under Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, internationally recognized law. Accompanying the occupation was the establishment of the apartheid system. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end apartheid in South Africa, stated, “I have witnessed the racially segregated roads and housing that reminded me so much of the conditions we experienced in South Africa under the racist system of Apartheid.” His words come from a letter of approval written to student leaders at the University of California-Berkeley, which voted to divest from companies linked to Israeli occupation. For the Board of Regents to hypocritically say that its concern of academic freedom was the motivation to denounce the boycott, while disregarding the suppression of Palestinian academia, highlights its complicity with U.S .policy in supporting Israel. As it may be, one can hope Georgia’s students and professors would regard their Board of Regents to be in violation of their academic freedom, which decides on their behalf where they stand on this tragedy.
– finishing in the top spots for the general awards in the categories for Photography Excellence and Best Campus Community Service – Editorial Excellence. We also finished in second, behind Georgia State, in the category of General Excellence. For comparison purposes, Georgia Southern’s The George-Anne, one of our toughest competitors this year, has a staff of 50 or more writers. The Bell Ringer makes do with 11 stipend positions, one of which is not involved in editorial content but in selling advertisements, and a fluctuating number of staff writers who receive class credit for writing for the newspaper. This semester, for instance, we have eight writers, one of whom pulls double duty as our circulation manager, one of the 11 stipend positions on staff. After talking with several of the editors-in-chief of our competitor papers, we realized most of them are also working with significantly larger budgets than we are – frequently with at least twice our budget, if we’re including the amount spent on stipends, and more if we’re not.
Considering that we were able to beat our much bigger, financially betteroff rivals in a couple of categories and place alongside them in others with the very limited budget we are currently allotted, imagine what The Bell Ringer could do with more financial support from the institution. We could pay more writers and have more paid positions, which would enable us to provide more breaking news in a more efficient and timely manner. We could print more copies more regularly. We could distribute to the wider community. The Bell Ringer staff is more than willing to make this a reality, and as a research institution that is attempting to compete with the other big boys in the state, it only makes sense that our student media, including but not limited to our newspaper, be allotted a similar amount of resources as those we are expected to compete against, if we are expected to stand a fighting chance. The ball’s in your court now, Georgia Regents administration.
screenshot by Megan Stewart
The university posted this comment on its Facebook status Feb. 11 before the decision to close campus was made.
Driving in ice versus failing
By Megan Stewart arts & life editor “If you don’t feel safe driving, then you should not drive.” This is a quote, directly from the Georgia Regents University Facebook page, posted Feb. 11 after concerned students left comments about the status of the university closing from the “state of emergency” Georgia was placed under by both President Barack Obama and Gov. Nathan Deal. What this quote fails to recognize is the absence that would be accumulated when students didn’t come to class, because they felt unsafe to travel. This same suggestion was given when students expressed concerns on this page during the severe weather warning Jan. 27 and the university gave another delayed decision on the closing. But my question to you, Georgia Regents: Are you going to stop my professor from deducting points from my grade or even causing me to be withdrawn from my course when I don’t attend class, due to the
Megan Stewart arts & life editor lack of security I felt when driving on ice? Not only could this nonchalant advice be damaging to one’s grade, are you telling students that it is acceptable to just not attend when they feel threatened by travel? Augusta in the rain can be a scary place too. People are all over the place, wrecking into power lines and other vehicles. I’m not saying that it was irresponsible to tell an entire student body not to attend class when it’s still in session; I’m saying it’s irresponsible to tell us not to attend class while not realizing the university should be closed if that’s what students have to be told. Maybe next time the decision should be made prior to is-
suing statements with our lovely brand all over it because I know the Office of Communications and Marketing is fully aware of every word written and “liked” on its beloved university’s social media, so the idea of it not being an official message is out. Let’s just look at it this way: If every educational institution surrounding you is closing why is there even a question about whether the university should close? Why can’t you say, “Yes, we care about our student body enough that we don’t want to see them crash their vehicles, which aren’t equipped to travel in ice, on their journey to earn an education and not fail their courses so they have to repay the ridiculous tuition all over again?” (Because let’s not even get started on how ridiculous the attendance policy and tuition rates are.) Although I understand the public relations for this university are lacking in thinking before speaking, maybe you’ll learn from your mistakes? But probably not. mstewar7@gru.edu
Short clips for short attention spans By Haley Harris staff writer You have six seconds of their attention. Impress them, make them laugh and, above all, entertain them. What I am referring to are short videos called Vines, and I believe they are the result of the modern youth’s increasing impatience. The typical young adult, or even child, gets most of his entertainment from video games, televisions, computers, phones, iPads, and the list goes on and on. The Internet is where people find most of this entertainment. It offers the instant gratification people want, or at least we expect it to be instant. One popular
thing to do while on the Internet ly that, if it doesn’t, they don’t is watch videos. There are nu- care to wait for it. The time merous amounts of videos for people spend waiting is the time where life happens. people to watch. Instead of rushing everyVines are videos that last thing into a six second Vine and six seconds and are usually keeping our heads stuck in our of something completely ranphones to watch someone else’s dom. You have people getting moments, we should relax and smacked in the face expectantly, just live out our lives in the bildoing crazy stunts and getting lions of seconds we do have. hurt purely for the video. It worries me that eventuhharris011@yahoo.com ally people are going to be so uptight and so rushed that Letters to the editor must be accompanied by the author’s email life will pass right address. All columns and letters to the editor are the opinion of the by without anyone author. The views expressed in the opinion section do not necessarily express those of The Bell Ringer, a designated public forum. noticing or carAnything submitted to The Bell Ringer is open to be edited or ing. People get so rejected. However, The Bell Ringer staff gives all opinions a fair chance to be heard. All letters will be edited for grammar and style. caught up in want- If you would like to contribute a column or a letter to the editor, send ing things brought an email to: bellringerproduction@gmail.com to them immediate-
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FEBRUARY 18, 2014
ARTS & LIFE
By Jordan Barry production assistant
A DAY TO REMEMBER
Local venue to shut doors
Music will reverberate at Sector 7G one last time before the doors are closed. Since the ‘90s, over the course of a fickle local music scene and multiple ownerships, Sector 7G, located at 631 Ellis St. in downtown Augusta, has been a home for young people and the music they love. Nick Mitcham, a local promoter and owner of Jams Booking, said Sector’s final show, scheduled for Saturday, will be a collective effort by a host of local and regional bands to give the music hall, a place musician Donnie Watson said “had a way of making you feel like it was home,” one last massive concert to remember. The doors will open at 1 p.m. Saturday to accommodate the packed schedule. “There are so many legendary things that are happening at that show on the 22nd,” said Watson, the vocalist for Mudbrute. “I almost feel like people that have been going for the last nine years, only they truly get how great this is. All these bands and all these people who are vital elements to the venue will be there.” With more than 10 bands performing, many of whom played their first shows at Sector, it will be more like a reunion than anything, several involved said. Veara, which recorded one of its earliest demos there, will be headlining, while many acts like Mudbrute, H803, 88MPH, Darkened by Reason and Meet My Crew are reforming to give the venue the sendoff they feel it deserves. “It’s not just flickering away,” Watson said. “All these people are coming back to it (for one last show). It’s weird. It’s one venue, but all of these different genres and all these different elements all survived
within it.” From the beginning, Sector was an organic part of the downtown music scene, the former owner Nick Laws said. Originally a practice space for local bands, Laws said since its first show Feb. 25, 2005, the venue grew from the need for young musicians from the area to have a place to play their music and play it for those who appreciated and wanted to hear it. “I mean, the building that we were in was very cheap and kind of no frills,” he said. “When we opened, we didn’t have any air conditioning and, you know, it’d be like 100 degrees in there and be packed full of people – and that all kind of lent to the atmosphere. But it was great because the music community and the all-ages crowd really supported us.” Mitcham, who began booking shows for Sector while still a high school student as a way to see the bands he loved, will also be celebrating the 10th anniversary of Jams Booking. He said the venue developed a reputation among touring bands because of its unique combination of audience enthusiasm and sound quality. Bands enjoy the sound because it highlights a “nice chunky kick-drum sound” and clear vocals, said Laws, who developed the venue’s acoustics. “A lot of bands just really love this venue because the people are so supporting, accepting and they’d bring their friends, brought their parents,” Mitcham said. “It was pretty cool.” Though a small-capacity venue and therefore easy to overlook, Mitcham said it became a favorite for bands like A Day to Remember, Veara and Boys Like Girls while they were still finding their audience. radams99@gru.edu
contributed by michael johnson
Comedian Etta May comes out to greet guests such as Mike Deas, the president of Augusta Amusements, after her performance at the Jabez S. Hardwin Performing Arts Center.
Comedy show delivers laughs By Meredith Day staff writer Etta May came to tell it like it is in her comedy show, which had the audience rolling with laughter. May, a comedian from Bald Knob, Ark., doesn’t hold back with her humor. According to her website, she tells “the truth nobody else has the guts to tell you.” When she performed in Evans, Ga., Feb. 7, her routine was targeted mostly toward the women in the audience. “She’s sort of like Bill Cosby but funnier,” Joanie McCraw, an audience
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Augusta turns it up
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By Richard Adams staff writer
THE BELL RINGER
member, said. “Women really relate to what she says.” The show was held at the Jabez S. Hardwin Performing Arts Center. The theater seats 289 people, making the performance more intimate. Michael Johnson, an attendee at the show, said May was even able to participate with the crowd due to the theater’s size. “It was great,” Johnson said. “It was terrific. She picked people out of the audience. For example, there were a few people who wore bandanas, like she wears, and she kind of picked them see COMEDIAN on PAGE 5
What are Georgia Regents University students listening to?
After an ice storm, an earthquake and days without power, local bands heated up a venue in downtown Augusta. John “Stoney” Cannon started the Lokal Loudness Choice Awards in 1995, and he made it more official with trophies in 2002. “Nobody else was recognizing the music at the time,” he said. “Then, over the years as they’ve picked it up, the other awards like in magazines and stuff have just been not really open to the total public.” This year, six solo acts and bands graced Sky City’s stage Saturday night and entertained guests between awards. Skilyr Hicks, a 15-year-old singer-songwriter who appeared on America’s Got Talent, opened the show with her solo performance. The show also featured performances from Chris Hardy, False Flag, Chad “CJ” James, Joel Cruz and the Method, and Chainsaw Masscara. Sky City has been the typical choice for hosting the Lokal Loudness Choice Awards, Cannon said. “We’ve done it probably four or five years now,” said Coco Rubio, the owner of Sky City. “Stoney says we have the best venue in town to host it, so I host it for him.” Rubio said he has been glad to let Cannon have the Lokal Loudness Choice Awards there. “It’s usually pretty good because it’s a lot of different groups, so every-
Top 5 Lokal Loudness Choice Awards •
David Bradberry Award for Favorite Rock Artist - She N She
•
Dixie Dreg Award for Favorite Artist - False Flag
•
Reed Scott Award for Favorite Miscellaneous Instrument Taylor Swan from She N She
•
DieAgnostic Award for Favorite Hard Rock/Metal Artist - Pitboss
•
James Brown Award for Favorite Hip Hop/Jazz/Soul Artist - Joel Cruz Information provided by Lokalloudness.com
Comedian CONTINUED from PAGE 4
Alyson Knapp, a freshman pharmacy major
Minna Hassan, a freshman chemistry major
Cynthia Panzella, a junior history and music major
Blake Collins, a junior communications major
If you want to let us know what you’re listening to, send it to bellringerproduction@gmail.com
Augusta party gets canvas wet with paint By Anthony Garcia staff writer Artists from across the area came together for the annual Wet Paint Party and Sale, where more than 50 pieces of art were presented for members of the Augusta Arts Council. An evening of fine dining, colorful fashion, elegant music and unique art pieces was held for all members at the Julian Smith Casino Feb. 8. Gary Dennis is one of the members behind the committee for the Wet Paint Party, and this event marked the second time being held in the casino. “They set the bar pretty high last year,” Dennis said. “We tried to rise to the occasion, so we really had to do as much or more.” The annual Wet Paint Party, hosted this year by Sallie West, was created by the Greater Augusta Arts Council as a way
“
I don’t think art should be viewed in this kind of environment. I think it’s a big distraction. It gets people to look at art, but they just glance at it.
”
-- Randy Jones, a painter for the show anthony garcia | staff
Participants at the Wet Paint Party paint live for guests Feb. 8.
to not only promote local artists across Augusta, but to give those artists an opportunity to sell their art to buyers. In 2012, more than $8,000 was raised for artists who auctioned in the event, with the remainder of the biddings going to benefit the Arts Council. Among the guests for the evening was a surprise visit from Rep. John Barrow, who said he was enthusiastic about the turnout. “I’ve wanted to join up with the Greater Augusta Arts
Council,” Barrow said. “It (was) a great turnout, a real diverse group.” The art presented for the evening had a diverse selection from watercolor and oil, to photography and print, to pottery and sculptures. Event guest Ronnie Aiken said he sees a purpose in attending. “This is my first time coming,” Aiken said. “If we don’t support music events or art events, it’s going to disappear,
and so I came out tonight. It’s good entertainment, and it’s for a good cause.” Throughout the evening, a select number of painters worked on two separate pieces and painted live for guests on the show floor to observe. Their two completed paintings were raffled off to two winners after the fashion show. Miles Anderson, along with his partners Jessica Hardy and Erica Pastecki, painted a portrait, a combination of acrylic and charcoal, on a
canvas 24 feet wide and 48 feet high. After the auctions were closed, the Vintage Fashion and Hair Show went underway. Presented by Vintage Ooollee and Modish Salon & Spa. Randy Jones, one of the painters for the show, joined the annual event last year. This year, he said he auctioned an oil painting, “Fall in North Georgia,” which took him more than a month to complete. This will, however, be the last year he will attend, he said. Jones was critical of the event and said that art should be a more private interaction. “I don’t think art should be viewed in this kind of environment,” Jones said. “I think it’s a big distraction. It gets people to look at art, but they just glance at it. You have got to be in a room all by yourself, with the one painting.” agarci11@gru.edu
out.” This was not May’s first trip to the CSRA. In 2008, she performed at the Imperial Theatre on a Southern Fried Chicks tour. While the performance was good enough to bring her back a second time, McCraw said she did offend some people during the first show due to her use of foul language. Before her second performance, she said May agreed to perform a more G-rated show. “She was in Augusta once before with a Southern Chicks tour, and, from
Around Town
Jordan Barry production assistant
jordan barry | staff
Local singer-songwriters Skilyr Hicks (left) and Chris Hardy (right) perform original songs for guests at the Lokal Loudness Choice Awards Saturday night at Sky City in Augusta.
It’s a nice pat on the back for everybody “that’s been working their butt off all year. ” -- Sabrina Littleton, the singer for F.O.C.U.S.
body seems to bring people out,” he said. “The bands that are all playing, they all bring their friends out, so it’s usually pretty good. Usually we have about 200 people come out.” However, due to the ice storm, some band members were unable to come out and accept their awards. Sabrina Littleton, the singer for F.O.C.U.S. and a Georgia Regents University honors program student, said she knew some of the members from LaRoxes still did not have power, so they couldn’t come out. Littleton said F.O.C.U.S. was nominated for several awards. She said win or lose, she was just happy to be nominated. “I think it’s pretty cool because it’s just some time to just sit back and be like, ‘Yeah, you freaking rock, you deserve some Plexiglas,’” she said, referring to the material the trophies are made of. “It’s a nice pat on the back for everybody that’s been working their butt off all year. I like it. I think it helps cohesion I guess.” The Augusta local music scene is pretty close, Littleton said. “It’s pretty cool,” she said. “It’s very tight-knit and everybody’s supportive. It just kind of sucks because
a lot of the crowds you can’t get as many new people in; it’s a lot of musicians watching musicians. So, it’s like this never-ending circle.” Cannon said all in all, the Lokal Loudness Choice Awards is not just about winning trophies. “The coolest thing about the awards show is that it really isn’t so much about the awards itself,” he said. “I mean, for whoever wins the awards it’s really cool. But, the main reason for the awards is just to recognize the Augusta music scene and the fact that we’ve got a unique music scene in that the different artists from different genres know and support each other, which is different from other large cities.” The public selects the Lokal Loudness Choice Awards, Cannon said. In October, he posts 17 awards on lokalloudness.com with an open ballot for people to write in their favorites. In December the top five nominees are posted to vote on, and that is how the winners are chosen. “It’s another one of the events during the year where Augusta can see that we have a true music community,” Cannon said.
what I heard, that tour offended a lot of people because they use the f-word a lot,” McCraw said. “She didn’t use it one time (during this show), and she was hilarious. People were rolling.” After the show, May came out to socialize and take pictures with members of the audience. “She was hilarious, real nice, friendly to all the people,” McCraw said. “She’s a really good entertainer to have.” The show was promoted by Mike Deas, the president and CEO of Augusta Amusements. Deas said he brought May in because he wanted to see how a comedian would do in the Augusta area. “I had not done comedy, (and) I
listened to Etta May at a convention that I went to,” he said. “I thought it really would appeal to the audience here, and I knew that she had been here one time before so I thought, ‘Maybe it’s time to bring in a comedian to see if it’s something that’s well received.’” Deas said he’s still trying to figure out exactly what type of entertainment goes over well in the Augusta area. He said thus far, jazz and blues shows are what sell best, but he hopes to bring in a wider variety of entertainment to the area. “I want to give the community various choices of entertainment,” he said.
jbarry3@gru.edu
App flaps its way off the market A new game is sweeping across the nation, and it goes by the name of Angry Humans. Oops, I mean Flappy Bird. The simple game is designed with nostalgically pixelated graphics, and it probably only took App Developer Dong Nguyen 20 minutes to make. However, it keeps people captivated for hours as long as they make it past the initial hair-splitting, phone-smashing rage. Once you make it past the first Marioesque green pipes, a feeling of immense joy and accomplishment washes over you, but you still find yourself unsatisfied. Flappy Bird is like a drug. Every ding signifies victory and one more step closer to crushing your friends’ high score. But every splat? Oh, the terrible agony. It’s a death sentence. As you come down from your high, you realize the game is over, and you must play again. Unfortunately, if you have not already hopped on the Flappy Bird train, you are out of luck (but perhaps lucky). Nguyen removed the tiny winged, fat bird from the app store. He claims people were not using his app right, even though he was making $50,000 in advertisements a day, according to International Business Times. Nguyen said Flappy Bird was too addictive. After being in the iTunes app store since Feb. 24, the bird suddenly flapped up the charts. Prior to deleting the game, Nguyen was catching a lot of flak, according to CNN. People were speculating he had bots on various servers downloading his game repeatedly to push it to the top. However, to me, it seems like a pretty normal timeline to gain app popularity. When first released, the app would not be as visible to the public, so it would take a while for word-of-mouth to spread. Also, even if he did use bots to boost his downloads, do you really think other app developers haven’t done that? If your app is on Page 20 in the games section of the app store, almost no one will see it. They are going to do what they have to do to get their app noticed. Surely that includes everything from advertising to employing the use of bots. The bottom line is, Flappy Bird is a fun, sometimes infuriating and addicting game. Nguyen should bring it back. P.S. My high score is 103. jbarry3@gru.edu
mday4@gru.edu
Performance goes Into the Woods By Meredith Day staff writer After the prince saves his princess, Jack slays the giant and everyone rides off into the sunset, do they all really live happily ever after? Such is the subject of “Into the Woods,” a musical performed by students at Georgia Regents University.
“Into the Woods” mixes the stories of several fairy tales including Cinderella, Rapunzel, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Little Red Riding Hood. The play examines the idea that, even after the characters’ dreams come true, they still have to face a life that will always be complicated. “At the end of the first act,
everything ends with a happily ever after, and the second act questions whether that can happen in real life,” Director Patti Meyers said. “Life doesn’t always turn out happily ever after, and we have to accept what happens.” The idea to perform “Into the Woods” came naturally to Meyers last semester several of her students performed songs from the show last semester. The students fit the characters so well, she said she decided to direct the whole show. “I just chose a scene from ‘Into the Woods,’ and it ended up being so wonderfully cast, especially the guys, that we just recast a little bit and expanded,” Meyers said.
meredith day | staff
The Georgia Regents Opera and Musical Theater Ensemble present three pieces of Sondheim’s Into the Woods, a fairy tale based musical, Feb. 7-9.
“Last fall we did the opening from it, and it was just sort of an outburst of a perfect storm of people.” While Meyers may have
found her perfect cast, the road to performing “Into the Woods” wasn’t always easy, she said. The students who performed in the play are dedicated actors and
many were acting in multiple shows at the same time. Evan Baker, whose character was the Baker, said a lot of people in the show perform at Le Chat Noir and the conflicting schedules made rehearsals for “Into the Woods” difficult. “There’s been some challenges, but remarkably, everyone’s been great about learning their stuff,” Meyers said. While the chaos and scramble to put on a play may be stressful, it’s all part of what makes seeing a show in the theater a unique experience, she said. “It’s just the magic of not knowing what’s going to happen next,” Meyers said. mday4@gru.edu
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comics
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2013
THE BELL RINGER
PAGE 7
sports www.grubellringer.com
Table for Two
Jags hunt for top spot By Jordan Williams sports editor
Across
Down
1. Having a pleasing appearance that causes romantic or sexual feelings in someone
2. Based on, showing or resulting from feelings or emotions rather than reason or thought
4. Not limited in anyway; the best kind of love
3. A food that is made from cacao beans and that is eaten as candy or used as a flavoring ingredient in other sweet foods
7. Those three words 8. Attractively arranged bunch of flowers, especially one presented as a gift or carried at a ceremony
5. A usually round cloth or paper that has a decorative pattern made of many small holes
10. A person you love very much
6. Large, bright flowers that are shaped like a cup and that grow in the spring
11. The Roman god of erotic love; commonly depicted as a cherubic, naked boy often holding a bow and arrow
8. Possessing qualities that give great pleasure or satisfaction to see, hear, think about, etc
13. A widely recognized third-century Roman saint commemorated on Feb. 14 and associated since the High Middle Ages with a tradition of courtly love
9. A common imploration used on Valentine’s Day in an attempt to make a love connection
15. A small circular band, typically of precious metal and often set with one or more gemstones, worn on a finger as an ornament or a token of marriage, engagement, or authority 16. Flowers with a sweet smell that are usually white, yellow, red or pink and that grow on a bush
Jordan Williams sports editor
GRU Augusta women’s basketball season is sliding off the rails haley harris | Staff
Head basketball coach Dip Metress yells at the officials in a win over Georgia Southwestern.
read 40-20 in favor of the Jaguars. In the second period the Jaguars maintained their 20-point cushion until a little more than three minutes remained. A steal by Hurricanes forward Johathan Brooks led to a two-handed jam by forward Daryl Davis to cut the lead down to 66-58. However, the Sherrill brothers would derail the Hurricanes’ comeback attempt. A layup by KJ Sherrill followed by two Keshun Sherrill free throws extended the scoring edge to 12 and put the game out of reach at the 1:16 mark. Lenny Carlson, the Jaguars assistant coach, said it was instinctive for the team to slip up toward the end. “That’s just human reaction,” he said. “You know you’re going to win the ball game and you don’t try as
hard.” However, the Cougars matchup proved to be more dramatic with the Jaguars charging from behind in the final seconds. After being down by as many as 15 points, KJ Sherrill sank a layup with 12 seconds remaining to close out the game at 74-72. Three different players finished in double figures. Weems led the way with 18 points, Keshun chipped in 15 and KJ scored 13 respectively. Sherrill said the limited practices due to the severe weather actually helped the team perform in both games. “We got a lot of rest,” he said. “We took care of our bodies even though coach (Metress) gave us a couple days off.” jwill143@gru.edu
Coleman entertains Flatline
12. Any of a group of colors bluish red to red in hue, of medium to high lightness and of low to moderate saturation 13. A love song that is sung or played outdoors at night for a woman
By Anthony Garcia staff writer When it comes to wrestling, size doesn’t always matter. That’s the case for David Coleman, who said he has been pro-wrestling for more than seven years. At 5-foot-11, his size is not very intimidating, compared to his typical opponents. That doesn’t stop him
Good Luck! Across: 1. handsome 4. unconditional 7. I love you 8. bouquet 10. sweetheart 11. Cupid 13. St. Valentine 14. romance 15. ring 16. roses Down: 2. sentimental 3. chocolate 5. doily 6. tulips 8. beautiful 9. be mine 12. pink 13. serenade
14. An emotional attraction or aura belonging to an especially heroic era, adventure or activity
The GRU Augusta men’s basketball team sustains a tight race with the USC Aiken Pacers to represent the Peach Belt East Division as the No. 1 seed in the conference tourney. Due to a winter storm, The Jaguars (19-4, 12-2) were forced to take on two PBC opponents in back-to-back days at Christenberry Fieldhouse Feb. 15 and 16. A matchup against the Columbus State Cougars, intended for Feb. 13, was pushed back to Feb. 16, which was a day after homecoming versus the Georgia Southwestern Hurricanes. The team trumped both opponents and linger one game behind the Pacers. Against the Hurricanes, the Jaguars got off to a quick start on their way to a 78-65 win. Thanks to a suffocating man-toman defense and dominant rebounding, the team was able to lead by as many as 22 points in the first half. Jaguars forward Harold Doby said the team came into the game prepared to roll up its sleeves. “We knew they was going to come in and try to play bully basketball, (but) we just kept our mentality, fought back and didn’t fold,” he said. The Hurricanes guard Jamon Hawkins struck first with a two-pointer. Then on the following possession, Jaguars guard Ryan Weems retaliated with a trey bomb. Both teams would exchange blows until the Jaguars went off on a 13-0 run, spurred by a jump shot from forward KJ Sherrill. Sherrill would finish the game with 14 points and five boards. Sherrill’s younger brother Keshun would also contribute 14 points and Weems paced the team with 20 points. At intermission the scoreboard
Valentine Word Bank ARROW
FLIRT
CARD
HUG
CRUSH
PINK
DATE
SWEET
HEART
CANDY
LOVE
CHERUB
SPECIAL
DARLING
BALLOONS
FLOWERS
CARNATIONS
KISS
CUTE
RED
Happy Hunting
from getting into the ring every time. “You’ve got people that are 300 pounds, 7 feet tall,” Coleman said. “You just have to be innovative.” The energy from the audience when he’s in the ring is his motivation, Coleman said. During a performance at Patriots Park in Grovetown, Ga., Feb. 1, fans on one side of the ring cheered his name, while fans on another side
held a sign reading “Coleman Sucks.” Despite the division of fans, it’s all in the sport, Coleman said. Billy Johnson met Coleman through wrestling and said he has coached him from the start of his career. “I was a practice partner with him when we first broke in, back in 2007,” Johnson said. “We travelled together and wrestled some matches
together.” In the next year or two, Coleman said, he hopes to continue to entertain his audiences. “I’m very passionate about this,” he said. “This is my childhood dream growing up. You got people that want to be firefighters and police officers, but I want to be a professional wrestler, and I got the chance to do it.” agarci11@gru.edu
Softball begins with a sluggish start By Collette Richards staff writer The GRU Augusta softball team is still developing early in the season with a 3-7 start. The Diamond Jaguars softball team began the season Feb. 1 on the road at Wingate. Head coach Melissa Brocato said the team did not start off the way she anticipated, losing both games in the doubleheader, but she has her sights set toward the future. “There have been highlights and lowlights,” Brocato said. “We are not where we would ideally like to be. We would like to be on the other side of those close games.” Brocato sees potential in her team and a lot of positive things in practice, including diligence from her players, she said. One of Brocato’s goals for the season is to have 25 wins, an earned run average
The sideline report
jordan williams i staff
The GRU Augusta softball open the 2014 season with a 3-7 record.
of 2.0 and a 2.9 batting average for the team, she said. The Jags faced nonconference Newberry Feb. 5 and split the doubleheader with a Jaguar win in the first game 8-1 but fell 5-0 to Newberry in the second. The team traveled to Huntsville, Ala., to make its mark in the Charger Chillout Tournament Feb. 7. The Jags faced teams from all over the country and finished 2-4 over the week-
end.
After a busy weekend away, junior nursing major Brooke Stephens is confident the team will continue to grow and get better, she said. “Right now, as of this weekend, we are finally getting it together,” Stephens said. “That has been the biggest upset for us. ” Junior kinesiology major Molly Walton said one of the major challenges for
the team this season is the amount of players on the roster. Having only 13 active players and one with a medical redshirt has posed a challenge. “We have all the talent in the world and have every position we need,” Walton said. “You can see the potential there.” One of the most important things for the young team is being able to connect as a whole and to keep the spirits high, Stephens said “The more we motivate each other, the more we’re going to be motivated to win for each other,” she said. “Then we will se results that way.” Stephens and Walton said they are excited in anticipation for their first home game Tuesday against Erskine. “We are ready to be at home,” Stephens said. “It will be exciting for the freshmen too.” cricha32@gru.edu
As time slips on the GRU Augusta women’s basketball season, so does its chances of qualifying for the Peach Belt Conference tourney. Following a banner year under head coach Nate Teymer, during which the team registered its winningest regular season in program history at 21-6 last year, GRU is currently in the bottom tier of the PBC standing at 11th place. With a record below .500 (9-13, 5-10), the team is sixth in the PBC East division and would have to leap over USC Aiken and Lander in order to stay on the court in March. During the first half of the season, GRU went 6-3, but since then has been exposed by 13 consecutive Peach Belt matchups. In the last nine games, the team is 2-7 and is a slow-sinking ship. Against top PBC foe North Georgia, GRU would shoot at 50 percent and achieve one of its best wins of the season, 67-54, then go on the road against Georgia College, score a measly 34.5 percent from the field and give up 22 points off turnovers in a 78-59 defeat. And after pounding a weak UNC Pembroke team Feb. 25, 63-40, GRU has been on a six-game skid. The losing streak has been a result of multiple weaknesses: inability to rebound, lack of offensive production and sloppy ball handling. Versus Armstrong Atlantic State, GRU was out-rebounded a ridiculous 45-22, and on the road against Clayton State, the Lakers dominated the boards 46-37. In order to compensate for the small lineups, it is important that GRU knocks down shots, but the team has struggled to do so. The team’s best shooting performance during the losing streak was at home against Young Harris Feb. 8, scoring 39.6 percent from the field. However, the most pressing issue for GRU is turnovers. In the 68-45 beat-down applied by Young Harris, GRU gave up the ball 24 times and allowed 26 points off those hiccups. If Teymer could cook up additional schemes that involve guard Jemimah Ashby providing more firepower, then it would create open looks for other players. Ashby is the team’s elite scorer. She averages 14 points a night and shoots 41.2 percent from the field. The emergence of forward Kelsey Fynaardt will also help GRU in the paint through the final games of the regular season. Fynaardt is averaging 5.9 rebounds a game, highlighted by 11 snags against USC Aiken in a tough loss. Along with Fynaardt, forward Whitney Rohrbach has averaged more than 6 rebounds the entire season. The team needs them both to generate second-chance opportunities on offense, and contain opponents to just one possession defensively. jwill143@gru.edu
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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2014
sports www.grubellringer.com
Jaguar’s slump continues Women’s team drops back-to-back games By Haley Harris staff writer After losing its past four games, the GRU Augusta women’s basketball team (9-13, 5-10) continued its losing streak after homecoming against the Georgia Southwestern Hurricanes Saturday and a matchup with the Columbus State Cougars the following day. Against the Hurricanes, the game started off strong with the Jaguars only falling behind by a few points, and though the Hurricanes remained in the lead for the majority of the first half, the Jaguars managed to keep up and keep the score at even rate without losing control. With the help of freshman guard Tavia Sykes, the team was able to steal the lead, 32-30, before halftime. Freshman guard Marissa Mandeldove widened the gap by scoring both free throws at the end of the first period, which left the score 38-33. Forward Kelsey Fynaardt kept the team in the lead at the
beginning of the second half by scoring a two-pointer immediately, but the team soon lost it to the Hurricanes, who remained in the lead until the end. The defense was not able to keep the Hurricanes away from the basket, and once the points started adding up, the Jaguars just couldn’t keep the pace. The final score of the game ended at 69-77. “I feel like we gave up too many shots inside the paint,” said GRU women’s head basketball coach Nate Teymer. “They had 32 shots inside the paint, and they didn’t really have any post presence so all their shots were coming from dribble penetration.” Newhouse, who led the team in scoring with 20 points, commented that the energy of the team definitely changed from the first to the second half of the game. “We just got down on ourselves,” Newhouse said. “We didn’t come out with the same energy that we had in the first
jordan williams i staff
GRU forward Lonna Turner is harrassed by Columbus State defenders in a 75-62 loss at Christenberry Fieldhouse.
half. We just weren’t getting shots and a lot of things just got us a little frustrated, and we couldn’t get out of it.” Sykes, who scored 11 points, agreed that the depletion of energy played a big part in the loss. “We’ll start with a lot of energy, and then it’ll die away really quick,” said Sykes. “We lost energy and then certain things happened, turnovers especially, and it’s during those times that
we start to lose points.” In the matchup against the Cougars, the Jaguars suffered a tough overtime loss, 75-62. Both teams were evenly matched until the Cougars pulled away in the extended period of play. Guard Jemimah Ashby pitched in 22 points off the bench, and Sykes added 17 in the losing effort. Sykes and Newhouse said although they are on a losing streak as of now, there is still
time for improvement before the Peach Belt Conference Tournament. “I think once we get back on a winning streak we’ll be fine,” Newhouse said. “We just have to get that one game, and once we get that one game we’ll be able to pump them out. We just need confidence. We need to make the small plays and not do stupid turnovers.” hharris011@yahoo.com
Track team sprints toward new season By Amy Thorne staff writer Only a month and a half into the new semester, GRU Augusta men’s and women’s track and field teams have already been training hard for another successful season. Ashley Love, a freshman biology major on the team, said though the Jaguars track team experienced success in its inaugural year, most students do not know how much hard work goes into training for a season. The track team practices year round. “People think some sports have an off season, but we truly don’t have an off season,” she said. “We have an indoor-winter season,
then there’s a spring season and then, if you want to, you can run in the summer.” Sabiyah Broderick, a freshman biology major, said practicing keeps the team ahead of its rivals. “You have to run year round to stay in shape because while you’re sitting at home, you have your competition running and getting in shape,” she said. Love said shaving a second off a runner’s time can’t be achieved in a month. Even a tenth of a second is hard to take off. Time lost from a runner’s speed holds more value in track than any other sport, Broderick said. Getting a runner back to a previous time or level can take up to three months. “Track is the only sport that I had to
train extra to get into shape for,” she said. “If you skip two days of practice, you’re back at square one.” Another challenge Love said she enjoys is finishing the open 400 because it is the hardest and longest part of the competition. “About this time all the lactic acid has built up in your legs and you feel like you can’t run and you’ve got a 10-ton weight on your back,” she said. “That’s how you know you’re a quarter horse or not because of that last 150. If you can push through it and bust out of it, then you’re a quarter horse.” Her goal, Love said, is to get her time to less than a minute and hopefully to go to conference and nationals. Love said she thinks the Jaguars will
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win conference this year. “A lot of the freshmen, when we first got here, looked up all the meets and all the times and compared the times to the times that they ran, and I think that we have a really good chance,” she said. Regardless of whether the team wins or loses, Macey Zellner, a freshman biology major, said he enjoys being around his teammates. Zellner said he thinks the team’s hard work will pay off this season. “I think everyone is going to do great,” he said. “Everyone is putting in and everyone sees that we have a chance to prove something since we’re a freshman team.” athorne@gru.edu
Tommy John feels the wrath of Khan By Jessica Sager staff writer Ryan Khan is a fifth-year senior and catcher for the GRU Augusta baseball team. Khan said he started playing baseball when he was around 5 years old. He said he wanted to become a professional baseball player as well as to go to college, so he decided to become a college baseball player. Teammate Hunter Boose said Khan is a team leader. “He’s always got a positive attitude,” Boose said. “He never complains about much. He works hard.” Teammate Jeffery Rice added that Khan’s intellectual knowledge of the game has been an asset to the team as well. “His mental game is one of his strengths,” Rice said. “He’s a smart kid in the classroom, and he carries that over to the baseball field.” One of the challenges in baseball, Khan said, is injuries. He said in 2012 he had Tommy John surgery, which is an elbow surgery. “I did a little bit of shoulder rehab,” he said. “I wasn’t allowed to do any strenuous exercise or do
anything like that. Then it was just some light stretching and some shoulder exercises. I was able to pick back up with some running and light working out after about three months, and finally after four months I was able to hit.” In six months, Khan said, he was able to start throwing. “We had to go through like a very detailed throwing program,” he said. “And that takes you a couple months. I think I had a couple setbacks. I really didn’t even start trying to play till about 10 months or 11 months.” Rice said Khan’s rehabilitation was a speedy process considering the severity of the elbow injury. “It was a setback, but for him, being so strong-minded and having so much passion about (baseball), he actually made it back a lot quicker than most just cause his work ethic is so strong,” he said. Khan said he is now going full-tilt. He said his parents have always been his biggest supporters. “Going through surgery and not knowing if you’re going to be able to play again is a true test of your character,” he said. “(My parents) stood by me the whole time.” jschucke@gru.edu