March 4, 2014 - Vol. 56, Issue 11

GEORGIA REGENTS UNIVERSITY

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VOLUME 56, ISSUE 11

TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2014

Class hours change in fall

Giving a MAP to med school

By Anthony Garcia staff writer

By Haley Harris staff writer

Students enrolling for the fall semester could see big changes in their upcoming coursework.

The Council of General Education at the Board of Regents approved at least three changes for student track sheets Feb. 21 in the coming fall semester.

Among the upcoming changes at Georgia Regents University are the inclusions of INQR 1000: Fundamentals of Academic Inquiry, MATH 1001: Quantitative Skills and Reasoning, and an adjustment for COMS 1020.

Adam Wyatt, the director of Academic Programs, said a meeting was held for the approval of these changes by the council, which was a collective of all of the state universities, with the interest that because the university system has a common core that all students follow, no university is disparate from this core including Georgia Regents.

“We put forth six changes this year,” Wyatt said.

“The most significant are the humanities programs, World Humanities I and II, which is in Area C. It went from four units to three units, and part of the reason we did that was because of a barrier to completion for students who transferred in.

Because it was eight units in total, and Area C only required six units, two of those units spilled over into Area B, which are institutional options.”

In order to fill this gap, Wyatt said COMS 1020, which is Fundamentals of Human Communication, was changed to COMS 1100, which will be a three-unit course. While this change fills one more unit, it meant another unit adjustment.

This brought up the inclusion of INQR 1000. Wyatt said the class, intended for freshmen, was included because of concerns for students ill-prepared for collegiate-level work.

“We’ve formed the course with the guidance of a group of faculty who are involved in teaching core (courses),” he said.

“It’s a one-unit course that most students will take their second semester of freshman year, after they’ve had COMS 1100. The course is designed to engage around a thematic area that’s selected every year to help students learn how to read materials critically, answer and ask questions, (and) gather materials to answer those questions.”

MATH 1001: Quantitative Skills and Reasoning was also included in the change. Christopher Terry, the chair of the mathematics department, said the goal for this course, intend-

Premedical students who may need a little direction and support can now seek help from a new group on campus.

The Minority Association for Premedical Students is reaching out to those students who may need guidance as they pursue their degrees in the medical field. It offers mentorships, connections to Medical College of Georgia students and graduates, studying advice and friendship, members of the group said.

MAPS is a sister organization to Student National Medical Association on the MCG campus, according to a flyer advertising the group. It is open to all pre-health care students and is equipped with the means of helping members connect with the MCG campus and further their degrees. The first meeting was scheduled for Feb. 14, but it was rescheduled due to the ice storm. The next meeting will be March 14 in the Jaguar Student Activities Center Coffeehouse.

“It just got started this semester,” said Stephanie Myers, a professor of chemistry and also an advisor for MAPS. “It’s really just a club where premedical students can help each other out. They’ll have guest speakers, meetings and support one another on campus.”

Ollya Fromal, a freshman pianist performance major and the president of MAPS, said the club will meet the second Friday of every month. Members will answer questions and help students prep for medical school entrance exams by offering free lectures.

“Usually, these prep courses are extremely expensive,” Fromal said. “We’re talking thousands of dollars, and we will be doing it for free.”

The club will also be offering a mentorship program where each MAPS member will have his own mentor, who is either a current student in medical school or a graduate, who will help to answer questions. There will also be a shadowing program where members can find someone in their specific field to shadow.

see COURSES on PAGE 2

RICHARD ADAMS I STAFF

Shondale Atwell, a heavy equipment officer for the Facilities Management department, picks up bricks to use to rebuild the wall that a cedar tree damaged during the ice storm near the front entrance of the Summerville campus.

Clean up continues

Wrath of Pax

By Richard Adams staff writer

The Landscaping and Grounds Department completed a second full week of cleanup last Thursday as it continued to remove limbs, stumps and trunks of trees damaged in the recent ice storm.

Scott Davis, the manager of landscaping and grounds at Georgia Regents University, said the storm damage was of such a large scale that Bartlett’s Expert Tree Service was commissioned to help with the recovery process at the president’s residence, the Health Sciences Campus and the Summerville Campus.

“We work with a bunch of different tree companies,” Davis said. “It just depends on the situation and what’s going on.”

Davis said the department’s initial approach was, first, to assess the school and hospital’s inner transportation routes and make certain those parts of campus were as safe as possible for

the staff, the faculty, the students and any visitors who might be on campus during that time.

“In our first stage (Feb. 13), I found out at 2 (p.m.) that (the) Health Sciences Campus was going to be open on Friday,” he said.

“At that point, we actually pulled everybody from Summerville down to Health Sciences to help clean up and get ready for business the next day.”

During the merger, Davis said, the Landscaping and Grounds Department and its employees were designated “essential” to the infrastructure and daily operation of the university.

This entails their presence on campus when other departments are not required to be at work.

One of those essential employees is Tracey Griffin, a veteran of the Landscaping and Grounds Department. With 19 years of service at the Summerville campus, Griffin said it hadn’t been as bad as it was after the storm for as long as he’s been here.

The assistant dean of students, Gina Thurman, said some of the traffic and parking problems during the first few weeks of the school’s recommencement were due to students parking outside of campus where city crews were blocked in their efforts to restore order to the rest of the Summerville community.

Thurman said this had not been a problem on campus.

As the Georgia Regents and Bartlett crews continued their work last week, they were forced to begin some of the larger projects sooner than expected as they waited for the snow to thaw and the soil to dry in “the orchard,” Summerville’s central green space.

“Phase two of this plan would be, if the budget allows and money holds out, that we can come back and some of those big limbs that did just rip off, it would be nice to properly have those pruned to a clean cut so that the trees can heal easier and better,” Davis said. radams99@gru.edu

UV shooting leads to arrest

By Rebecca Perbetsky and Leigh Beeson chief reporter, editor-in-chief A student is being charged with aggravated assault of a police officer after a shooting at University Village Feb. 22, when officers said the Georgia Regents University student attempted to run over a public safety officer.

Chief of Police William McBride said the incident curtailed from a loud noise complaint at University Village. When officers arrived on the scene, they said a group of about 60 people scattered. McBride said Specialist Dante Stewart, 19, got in his car in an attempt to flee, almost hitting one of the Public Safety officers in the process.

At that point, the officer

fired shots, McBride said, striking the suspect. The confrontation ended when Stewart’s car hit a tree right outside the University Village housing complex and the suspect fled. Officers quickly apprehended him.

Vice President of Student Affairs Mark Poisel said safety at the university apartments is of the utmost concern to the university administration and that live-in staff members at UV have protocol to follow when potentially dangerous situations arise.

The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office is currently investigating the shooting due to the involvement of a Public Safety officer, McBride said, as Public Safety officers at the university are state-certified law enforcement officers.

“Protocol with all weapon discharges is to conduct an investigation,” Poisel said in a press release. “The university is cooperating with the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, and (the) officer has been placed on paid administrative leave.” rperbets@gru.edu, kbeeson1@gru.edu

see MAPS on PAGE 2

Getting up close and

personal with the

senior vice

president of

the Office of

Communications and Marketing

Page 7

reNew & Brew Patrons revitalize second-hand goods into artwork for charity

Program provides judge-free “Safe Zone”

Page 7 like us follow us on facebook @BellRinger_News

Page 3

New men’s golf coach hosts first tournament

Page 11

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TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2014

NEWS www.grubellringer.com

Searching for counselors 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 news editor ASHLEY TRAWICK atrawick@gru.edu arts & life editor MEGAN STEWART mstewar7@gru.edu sports editor JORDAN WILLIAMS jwill143@gru.edu chief reporter REBECCA PERBETSKY rperbets@gru.edu production manager NIKKI SKINNER nskinner@gru.edu production assistant JORDAN BARRY jbarry3@gru.edu photographers REBECCA SIMANSKI rebeccasimanski@gmail. com staff writers RICHARD ADAMS MEREDITH DAY ANTHONY GARCIA HALEY HARRIS JESSICA SAGER AMY THORNE 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

By Richard Adams staff writer The Salvation Army Kroc Center in Harrisburg is currently looking to fill more than 30 positions vital to the operation of its summer day camp program.

Kelly Adriano, the children and youth manager at the Kroc Center, said planning is currently underway for all of the services and activities it plans to offer this summer.

As part of this preparation, Adriano said her office is currently coordinating with several departments to hire a number of camp counselor, leadership and lifeguard positions.

“We are looking for lively individuals who love being around kids, who are creative, who are exciting, and just looking to have a good time (and) the chance to be a kid again,” she said. “Ideally, (it will be) somebody with experience with camp or has an interest in children.”

The age range for campers, Adriano said, is from 5 to 12 years old. For members of the Kroc Center, participation in the summer camp program is $100 a week and $125 per week for nonmembers, which includes a hot lunch every day. Adriano said financial assistance is available.

“We have some campers who come for the whole summer, and we have others who

Courses CONTINUED from PAGE 1

ed for non-science majors, is to make mathematics more practically.

“We basically just wanted to provide an alternative, and as it turns out, there was a task force at the system level about improving success in college algebra, and one of their recommendations was to offer an alternative to college algebra,” Terry said.

The course, Terry said, will cover topics like set theory, probability and statistics and will serve as a prerequisite for Elementary Statistics.

The change for COMS 1100, however, is not as obvious for student track sheets.

Professor and chair of the Department of Communications Richard Kenney said the change to COMS 1020 will instead have an impact on a student’s degree program.

This technical change will make it easier for the Depart-

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PRINTER Aiken Standard 326 Rutland Dr. NW P.O. Box 456 Aiken, SC. 29802

RICHARD ADAMS I STAFF

The Salvation Army Kroc Center in Harrisburg is looking for applicants to be camp counselors and lifeguards for its upcoming camp held in the summer.

may just come for one week,” she said.

“And we have others who come when they aren’t on vacation, or they just do what best fits their schedule. But we have a lot that return year after year, which is exciting for us to watch them grow and know that they’re having a good time.”

After graduating from Georgia Regents University with a bachelor’s degree in Sociology last spring, Jasmine Sherrod was looking for full-time employment.

She said one of the many jobs she applied for was at the Kroc Center to work the front ment of Communications to report on it, he said.

“This spring, we will work with faculty to make sure that the course itself is strictly unified and that it’s going to be taught essentially the same way,” Kenney said.

“We’re going to try to make sure everyone is using the same textbook, require two or three of the same speeches, and then work from there.”

Kenney also said those who have already completed COMS 1010 or 1020 will not be affected by the change, nor will it affect their track sheets.

The changes in curriculum were brought about to better streamline the core courses for students, especially with freshmen entering the fall semester and to help increase Retention Progression Graduation.

Wyatt said campuswide announcements are being prepared, and students with outstanding requirements on their track sheets should have academic advisors aiding and supporting them. agarci11@gru.edu

Happenings around campus When Wednesday 9 a.m., noon, 3 p.m.

Wednesday 2 p.m.

What Ash Wednesday Services

Where Cancer Center, Veteran’s Hospital, Medical Center, Children’s Hospital Chapels

WHAT HAPPENED TO PRINCE(SS) CHARMING?

Contact Shannon Nix for more info

Friday 1 p.m.

Brown Bag Student Presentations

Saturday 8 a.m.

CSRA Heart Walk

North Augusta Greenway

Saturday from 11 a.m.

World Film Day: Cinema Series at GRU

Maxwell Performing Arts Theatre

Monday 5-6:15 p.m.

Graduate Programs Open House

Monday All day

SMILE Video Competition Deadline

Monday & Tuesday, Mar. 11 noon-6 p.m., 10a.m. -3 p.m.

Thursday, Mar. 13 11:30 a.m.

Order the new GRU ring Escape Artist Procrastination Seminar

JSAC Ballroom

desk.

Her background, though, having worked with children through the Boys and Girls Club, the Rape Crisis Center and churches in her native Swainsboro, stood out enough for Adriano to call her personally and offer her the position.

“It’s the best job I’ve ever had,” Sherrod said.

“It reassured me that (child education and development) is what I had a passion for.”

One of the things the program prides itself on, Adriano said, is strict adherence to the child safety guidelines of Safe From Harm, which maintains

proper ratios of adults to children.

The summer day camp program is also certified by the American Camp Association, which entails standards of operation and a three-year recertification process.

As of last year, Adriano said the Kroc Center’s camp was the only ACA-certified summer camp in Augusta.

Along with this high level of standards, Sherrod said the Kroc Center provides intensive training for summer camp counselors.

But for the lifeguard positions, Aquatics Manager Shawn McNair said prospective lifeguards require a different set of training criteria.

“They need to be already lifeguard certified with CPR, AED and first aid, as well,” McNair said.

Sports and Recreation Manager Anthony Taylor has a career full of positions held at large scale summer camps, yet he said the Kroc Center continues to surprise him with the quality of the services they provide.

Sherrod said the experience of being a counselor for the summer camp, unexpected as it was, turned out to be a unique opportunity to develop personally as she transitioned from college to the occupational field.

“It taught me a lot about myself,” she said. radams99@gru.edu

HALEY HARRIS | STAFF

Members of the Minority Association of Premedical Students light candles at their induction ceremony Feb. 28 at the Health Sciences Student Center.

Maps

CONTINUED from PAGE 1

“We know that it can be really hard, especially for underrepresented students, to find someone who is willing to allow them to shadow,” Fromal said.

“We just want to make it easier.

We are here for the members, not just to check boxes.”

Natasha Hashmi, a sophomore psychology major and the public relations chairwoman for MAPS, said the club is meant to help those who may feel confused or unsure about how to go about getting into the medical field.

“They may not know anyone in the medical field,” Hashmi said.

“Or (they) might not knowing anything about the medical field or they could even be the first kid in their family going to college, but by being a part of the organization they can learn about what it takes to get into medical school.”

Both Hashmi and Fromal said the club is set up in a way that will offer help when needed

and build a stronger connection to MCG. “We have three main goals,” Fromal said.

“We want to equip students of our university to be strong candidates for medical school and other health associations.

Because we are a small university, we will not close our doors to anybody.”

The club will be open to students with interests in any medical field, Fromal said.

“Our second goal is that we want to recruit students from underrepresented backgrounds,” she said.

“We define minority in our name in broad terms. And our last goal is, since we have the unique opportunity of working with a medical school, MCG, we can build a bridge between the two merging schools.”

The main purpose of MAPS is to help students. Hashmi is involved in the club because she remembers that, in her first year at Georgia Regents, there was not a group like MAPS, and now she just wants to help others with the same things she needs help with, she said. hharris011@yahoo.com

UH 170 Online

Allgood Hall lobby JSAC Butler Meeting Room

HR/job opportunities available!

For more information visit TrinityofAugusta.com or call (706) 481-7454

THE BELL RINGER

PAGE 3

Healing one steep at a time

By Richard Adams staff writer

Stephen Hsu drinks at least a pot of freshly brewed green tea a day, consuming in the process a naturally occurring mixture of compounds whose medicinal qualities he was introduced to as a child.

Now he is finding endless possibilities in these compounds in order to produce the next generation of medical treatments for a variety of illnesses, he said.

“That’s the new generation of medication, from natural compounds without side effects,” Hsu said. “That’s something that a research university is supposed to do, right?

Especially in (my field). We have to come up with something best, come up with the best or

the better choice for treating different diseases.”

Hsu, a professor of oral biology with the College of Dental Medicine at Georgia Regents University, said he has performed many different roles in his life: student, researcher, even a stint as a sports announcer for ESPN for several years.

In the past few years, though, Georgia Regents has guided him along the path to becoming an entrepreneur.

“Dr. Hsu has been a very prolific researcher,” said Christopher McKinney, the associate vice president of the Office of Innovation Commercialization.

“He has had a long-term love affair with green tea as a therapeutic agent. He has taken it as a mission to really use the science with green tea, not just the

RICHARD ADAMS | STAFF

Stephen Hsu, a professor of oral biology for the College of Dental Medicine on the Health Sciences campus, is continuing to find ways for people to fight autoimmune illnesses through his research of green tea’s antiviral properties.

hype.”

McKinney oversees the business incubator that helped Hsu’s company develop early on. He said the university provided a leased lab and office space for Hsu and his team until they were no longer dependent on these resources. Hsu’s company, Camellix, LLC, was one of the first businesses McKinney’s office helped foster into fruition.

“We are working on the an-

tiviral role of the new compound that comes from the green tea, but (it’s) not exactly straight from green tea,” Hsu said.

“It’s from the green tea, but we made a new compound. So that new compound has very, very potent antiviral properties.

So we’re testing the new compound, how to use the new compound to fight against several different viruses. (An) example (would be) the herpes simplex virus.”

He recently spoke at the TEDx Telfair Street event, coordinated by Grace Belangia.

In the end, Belangia said they chose Hsu from close to one hundred other applicants not because of his medical achievements but because of the story from which all these accomplishments derived.

“I don’t believe something is impossible,” Hsu said. “I think everything is possible.” radams99@gru.edu

Program helps LGBTQ community

By Meredith Day staff writer

The Safe Zone Training Program aims to provide areas where people of all gender and sexual identities can feel safe and welcome.

The program was brought to the school by Melissa Powell-Williams and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at Georgia Regents University and is still in the process of getting off the ground.

The program has been initiated in schools throughout the nation and is targeted at educating faculty, staff and students on how to better communicate and help those who are struggling with lesbian,

gay, transgender and questioning issues.

It is also open to those who just want to learn more about LGBTQ issues.

“It was kind of funny that both the Health Sciences and the former ASU were just about to do Safe Zone Trainings at the same time when we were doing the consolidation so the one that we have done so far we did together,” said Kent Guion, the vice president for Diversity and Inclusion.

The first training program was held in the spring of 2012 and consisted of a four-hour information session, PowellWilliams said.

“None of it was skills based,” she said. “Let’s say if someone comes out,

someone has issues at home, someone gets thrown out, someone’s suicidal, not to say that we become counselors because we don’t, but there was very little information on what do you do as this person who is offering a Safe Zone.”

Now, the program has been revised and consists of two shorter training sessions taken on separate occasions: the awareness training and the ally training, Powell-Williams said. The awareness training is essentially an educational training on different issues in the LGBTQ community. She said students who are interested are encouraged to attend this half of the training program.

One of the main components of this

program is the sticker participants receive after completing the ally training program. The sticker is placed on doors of offices and other areas to identify them as Safe Zones.

When the first four-hour session was held, Rhonda Armstrong was one of 45 participants who took part in the training.

She said it was important for her students to know her office is where they can communicate freely without being judged.

“This is an issue where I know some students have not felt their faculty would be a safe person to talk to,” Armstrong said. “And so I have it on my door so all my students can know it’s a safe place.” mday4@gru.edu

Survey to assess quality of student engagement

By Jessica Sager staff writer Filling out a survey sent to a student’s email could change his college experience.

That is what can happen when a student responds to the National Survey of Student Engagement, said Heather Lewis, an institutional research analyst for the Office of Institutional Research at Georgia Regents University.

NSSE comes from Indiana University and has existed since the late ‘90s. It has participants across the nation, Lewis said.

The survey is given to freshmen and seniors.

“It measures student engagement, so it measures behaviors like studying habits, how involved are they with groups on campus, how much did they study, just a lot of the engagement kind of behaviors,” she said. “So it’s really assessing the whole quality of their academic year.”

The survey is not similar to evaluations students complete for courses at the end of each semester, Lewis said.

She said the survey results can be used in different ways.

“There are some student affairs-related questions on here,” she said.

“There’s some items related to financial aid and counseling and advising and career services, if (the students) like those resources, if they’re satisfied with them.”

Mark Poisel, the vice president of Student Affairs, said

freshmen could benefit from taking this survey while seniors can help improve the experiences of others who may want to attend Georgia Regents in the future.

“I can look at it all together and say, ‘Listen, we need to do more volunteer programs or we need to increase service learning or we need to do x, y and z because a large portion of our students are talking about it, or a large portion of our students said they didn’t get to do it,’” Poisel said.

“If I’m trying to build student engagement for our institution, it’s important to know what’s important to the students, what they’ve experienced, what they’ve liked, (and) what they want to see different.”

Lewis said the goal is on improving the freshman experience so students will graduate on time and not transfer.

FreDerek Miles, a freshman majoring in English, said he would fill out the NSSE survey if he received it.

“I’m voicing my opinion, so I’m assuming that you’d probably try to work the school around in a way that’s probably beneficial to me as well as other freshmen,” Miles said.

Lewis said not many students are responding to the surveys.

“We have a pretty low response rate right now,” she said. “(The) total is about 2.5 percent. We sent out a tweet and a status on Facebook, and there are going to be three reminders sent out to those who haven’t re-

sponded via email. I would say if (the students) really want to provide meaningful feedback to the institution in regard to their student experience, this is definitely the opportunity to do it.”

Poisel said the more direction he has to make the institution a better place for students, the better.

“We have the opportunity to rebuild and build GRU, and so this is an opportunity for students to help us understand what do they want to see, what will engage them, what do they want to be a part of their college experience,” Poisel said. “So, if people tell me, then I can create those kinds of things.” jschucke@gru.edu

Sample Survey Questions •

On a scale of 1-7, during the current school year, to what extent have your courses challenged you to do your best work?

•

Of the time you spend preparing for class in a typical 7-day week, about how many hours are on assigned reading?

•

How would you evaluate your entire educational experience at the institution?

•

If you could start over again, would you go to the same institution you are now attending?

INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE NATIONAL SURVEY OF STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

HALEY HARRIS | STAFF

The Cabela’s store, which sells hunting and outdoor products, stands still under construction in preparation for its March grand opening in Augusta.

Cabela’s store to open in Augusta

By Haley Harris staff writer Augusta will be welcoming a new sporting goods store in the near future.

The city’s Cabela’s Incorporated, the World’s Foremost Outfitter of Hunting, Fishing and Outdoor Gear, will be the first and only location in Georgia.

According to a Cabela’s press release, the store will be located on Cabela Drive. Its grand opening is March 20.

Erin Downs, a junior psychology major at Georgia Regents University, plans to apply for a position at Cabela’s.

“I’m glad that there’s something so large and popular coming to Augusta,” Downs said.

“It’s offering a lot of positions of employment, and it’s always nice to have more job opportunities in town.”

Blaine Harrison, a friend of Downs, said she also thinks the store opening will be a good thing for Augusta’s economy and employment rate.

“I think it’s being built in an area that will receive a lot of positive attention and popularity,” Harrison said.

Will Graves, a junior communications major at Georgia Regents and also a regular customer of Academy Sports and Outdoors, does not think Cabela’s will affect the competition.

“I think (Cabela’s) will draw from (Academy’s) hunting and fishing department,” Graves said.

“But as far as apparel, footwear and team sports sections?

Not so much.”

The managers of Dick’s Sporting Goods and Academy Sports and Outdoors declined to comment on the opening of Cabela’s.

“I’ve always been a customer of Cabela’s,” Adam Morrison, of Martinez, said.

“I know we have a Dick’s and Academy in town, but Cabela’s has a much better selection and variety for the things that I like. I hunt religiously and the prices are always worth it.” hharris011@yahoo.com

PAGE 4

TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2014

opinion www.grubellringer.com

editorial

Judge not the UV shooting We’d be remiss if we didn’t comment on the Feb. 22 shooting at University Village.

Chief William McBride told The Bell Ringer reporter Rebecca Perbetsky that the university’s Public Safety officers were called to the Georgia Regents University apartments to deal with a noise complaint early that Saturday morning.

Upon the officers’ arrival, National Guard Specialist Dante Stewart attempted to drive away from the scene, McBride said, and drove toward the officers in what numerous media outlets are reporting as an attempt to hit one of the officers.

Officer Wesley Martin then fired multiple shots at the suspect, hitting the suspect in the hand and mouth, according to The Augusta Chronicle.

It seems pretty clear cut, right? Officers respond to complaint. Suspect attempts to flee the scene via a path in which an officer is standing.

Officer shoots suspect under the impression that not doing so would endanger his life.

The issue arises with the identification of the Public Safety officer in question. As reported by WRDW, Martin is currently being sued by an individual

whom he tased approximately one year ago. As The Chronicle reports, this tasing was one of approximately 24 incidents in Martin’s two-plus years as a Georgia Regents officer.

That makes it a little more complicated and makes us wonder if there might be more to the story.

However, we are firm believers that one is innocent until proven guilty, and as such, we are refraining from passing judgment on the UV shooting. Richmond County is investigating the incident, and as far as we’re concerned, the Sherriff’s Office has the final, and only legitimate,

say on the matter.

While we somewhat understand the relevance of Martin’s history as a Public Safety officer, we also question whether its inclusion in coverage of the completely unrelated UV shooting is somehow prejudicial.

If the officer in question truly did fear for the safety of his colleagues and himself and felt he had no other course of action than to shoot the fleeing suspect, as it was reported, and Richmond County investigators find it was a justified shooting, does his history of tasing people really matter?

Based on a true story Pros and cons Richard Adams staff writer If you looked at the many reasons why people choose one film over another when going to the movies, you might make the inference that people love true stories; you would be right only insofar as audiences like the idea of a “true story.”

The reality and the perception of this term are quite different things.

On a purely idealistic basis of reasoning, honesty would seem to be of considerable benefit to the effectiveness of a narrative.

I disagree.

In reality, “based on a true story” rarely denotes a film cited for its realism.

More often than not, the truth leaves us with certain facts left over, that spill out over the boundaries neatly set by narrative, confuse simplistic moral judgments and eventually cause us to retreat back into our cozy affinity for finality.

This year, the standard of

the “true story” was perfected by “Philomena,” a film ostensibly about the quest of an elderly woman for the child take from her 50 years before and the jaded journalist who accompanies her to America in her search.

Billed as being “based on a true story,” it is so much more than that. My awareness to its potential uniqueness was its garnering of the Queer Lion at the Venice Film Festival.

From what I had seen of the film from previews, there had been no mention of any such themes.

In contrast, there were several films this year with storylines that more prominently featured gay characters and themes.

In those cases, to deny those central characters in those films their sexuality would be to deny the films of the essential mechanisms of their plot.

I was intrigued. Why this small, humble little film that did not readily announce itself as the tackler of such big issues? It seemed not so much an omission on the part of the marketing but instead in some ways suggested for me that there was a hidden heart to this film: a complexity indicative of life itself.

Without telling the film’s entire story (though it is one I feel is imminently worth telling), it will suffice to say the film relies upon the vast profundity that is

life to supply it with twists and turns often so readily available via more untrustworthy and manipulative means.

Reality supplies us with enough surprises for a lifetime of unlikely thrillers. The revelation in “Philomena” is special because it allows us to see how the main characters react.

The “twist” in the story is a documented fact of the investigation Philomena Lee undertook with journalist Martin Sixsmith, but what makes it real in terms of the artifice of film is the consistency with which the characters react to it.

We, the audience, have had the entire film to judge the veracity of their human characteristics. By the end, we are asked not if this revelation is in keeping with our political understanding but whether it corresponds with our understanding of who these characters are as human beings.

It is for this integrity of vision, this well-earned approval of the audience, which the jury at the Venice Film Festival recognized the artists who comprised “Philomena.” It is a simplicity of ends that does not always speak loudly but is a voice lent of truth’s substantial constitution. It weakens not under the investigation of criticism. It flourishes in a climate where others fail. radams99@gru.edu

UV is not a bad place to live I have lived in University Village for all my years of attending Georgia Regents University, and I had heard nothing about it being called “the hood” until recent events.

University Village, known as UV or The Village, is not the hood because of the shooting that recently occurred there. August 2009 was the most exciting time of my life. I was starting school as a freshman and moving into an apartment away from my family and to a city where I didn’t know anyone (which was a good thing). Gate access was easy to deal with because it was monitored properly, and there were never any big problems regarding safety from what I can remember.

Anyway, between that time until now, I have had no major issues with other residents’ guests or the Public Safety officers guarding the access gate for the complex. I have felt a safe and secure for a majority of the time I’ve lived there.

Now it’s clear that some residents don’t make the best decisions when it comes to certain guests visiting during the day or at night, especially on weekends. It’s not a bad place to live. There are a few amenities for residents to enjoy like a pool, game room, computer lab, the laundry room and outdoor grills to barbecue on. There is also the shuttle system, which helps students, even those who own cars like myself, get to campus on time for work and class. For the most part, the complex is really quiet and relaxing like the Summerville campus.

Whoever invited that one person who was in-

Ashley Trawick news editor volved in the student should be blamed, not the rest of us. Don’t let other stories, especially ones that may not even be true, deter you from coming to visit a student living there. Friends of residents shouldn’t have to meet at the library or in a public place because you’re scared something bad is going to happen as soon as you drive through the entry gate.

I’m not saying it’s perfect because there are no perfect apartment complexes. The bottom line is only one of the residents had something to do with the person who was involved with the shooting, not the rest of us. Everyone is treating it as though living in campus housing is a major mistake when it’s not. When I was a freshman and even years after, no events like students in possession of marijuana or the shooting were even happening. Just because a couple of times residents have messed up, it doesn’t mean the complex is filled with people who do the same. atrawick@gru.edu

of waitressing

Haley Harris staff writer Going out to eat is an experience in itself that allows for people to get together, have fun, enjoy food cooked by someone else and (what is often overlooked) interact with their own personal servants, otherwise known as servers.

The job of being a waitress does indeed have its ups and downs. You always leave with cash in hand, you get to meet new people all the time and there’s always an unexpected chance of scoring a big tip. The “down” part, on the other hand, pretty much outweighs the “ups,” though.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am completely aware that the reason I am a waitress is because I chose to be. Being a college student means no food, no gas, no rent, no fun without having some kind of horrible minimumwage job. But great googley moogley can some customers make me wish I would’ve chosen folding shirts at an overpriced clothing store at the mall.

Working in a restaurant/bar for a little over a year now has given me ample time to evaluate my life choices and realize that graduating college and getting a degree is a must. Spending my life in this business could, quite possibly, drive me insane.

When I started my job at the restaurant/bar I am currently still at, I did mostly hosting gigs.

Now hosting is a little different from waitressing for the fact that you spend less time with the customers, though hosting can be just as annoying.

Pet peeve No. 1 falls under the category of refusing to sit where I seat you. The reason for a hostess is to evenly distribute customers among servers. No, it is not OK to sit with your one

friend in a booth made to fit eight just because you like the shape the table makes.

Pet peeve No. 2 falls under the category of not wanting to wait on a waitlist. If I tell you there is a wait, please do not stare at me like you’ve never heard such rubbish or get angry that I have to seat the people ahead of you before you.

Like I said, hosting is annoying but you spend more time with customers when you serve them. So let’s move onto waitressing.

Pet peeves add up pretty quickly once someone crawls under your skin just right. The main one, of course, would be the non-tippers. Spending an hour catering to someone’s every need as that person eats is not exactly thrilling.

Messy tables lead me to my recollection of multiple scenarios. Of course people leave messes after they are done eating. That is expected. But to leave hundreds of tiny pieces of your straw paper and napkins scattered on the table and floor, ketchup smears spelling out your name on the table or piles of weird concoctions made from your leftovers impressively splattered evenly onto the walls is just ridiculous.

Though messes suck, sometimes I can’t wait to have the remnants rather than the people themselves. One time I came to a table, greeted them, and was immediately told that they didn’t like the beer selection and could I have them brought something from the place next door. Another incident was when a customer asked me to cut steak for him and to try it to make sure it wasn’t too hot. Not to mention the awkward cases of serving an ex, someone whose every word comes off as perverted or that one old friend who now hates your guts.

Waitressing is a field of business that requires only the thick-skinned and overly extraverted individuals. Without the constant reminder that I need money to survive, I might have lost my mind months ago. hharris011@yahoo.com

editorial policy Letters to the editor must be accompanied by the author’s email address. All columns and letters to the editor are the opinion of the author. The views expressed in the opinion section do not necessarily express those of The Bell Ringer, a designated public forum.

Anything submitted to The Bell Ringer is open to be edited or rejected. However, The Bell Ringer staff gives all opinions a fair chance to be heard. All letters will be edited for grammar and style.

If you would like to contribute a column or a letter to the editor, send an email to: bellringerproduction@gmail.com

THE BELL RINGER

PAGE 5

My life in photographs I felt Anthony Garcia staff writer If there’s one thing I’m enjoying out of my time with The Bell Ringer (yeah, I know, suckup), it has to be that it forces you to leave your comfort zone and take photos for events you’re writing about.

If you don’t leave your comfort zone, basically, you get a zero. I’ve taken photos of events I would otherwise never go to. A wrestling match at Patriots Park? An art party downtown? What I didn’t conclude until later is that I come from a line of photojournalists. My grandfather was a photojournalist for the Ames Tribune in Iowa, and my father was a contract photographer for New Future Photos.

Now, compared to their lives of yesteryear, I can’t imagine myself making an honest living as a photojournalist like they did. My father has told me

ANTHONY GARCIA I STAFF

Although I was unaware of my family’s history in photojournalism, I recently discovered my own love of photography after joining The Bell Ringer staff.

stories about what an adventure photojournalism is, but I know my future lies somewhere between video-editing and automotive design.

There is, however, something I can do to keep that photogenic energy alive.

The past couple of snow days were mesmerizing. During our school days out, when I wasn’t watching “Breaking Bad” with my dad, or sitting on my ass playing Playstation, I’d be taking photos of the white stuff. My dinky little point-and-

shoot camera takes very great outdoors shots, so imagine the quality I got out of the reflective ice and everyday furniture covered in white. Some of these photos became instant-favorites for me. Instead of dumping them into my yearly photo archive, I put them in a special photo album. Overnight, I went through more of my photos over the years.

Since starting this project, I have amassed more than 40 photos, colored them into blackand-white and tucked them into

a folder on my laptop.

I encourage everyone reading this to start a project like this, if you have not already.

Comb through some of your favorite photos over the years (photos you have taken), pick them out and dump them into a computer folder. Ask yourself why this photo is significant to you, in whatever way, then color-correct them in black and white.

What’s amazing about this project, and is the main reason I’m encouraging you all, is this collection will grow.

My collection includes shots from my years in Augusta, family trips to Minnesota and a wedding from California, just three locations over the span of eight years taking photos. Imagine the shots you’ll take in the next year or two? I’m not used to traveling, but when my time comes, I’ll be making so many trips across the world, visiting all the places I’ve only dreamt of seeing, and firing away my camera. After I have my fun, I’ll then be looking at folders reading, “Dublin, Ireland,” and “Paris, France.” Just as our lives are a journey, our photos are tokens of this journey.

Just what will your photo journey be? agarci11@gru.edu

You’ve got a match

A digital dating guide for guys

Amy Thorne staff writer Let’s admit it, if you have been single at some point during the 21st century, chances are you have tried Internet dating.

Though I have been happily single for 21 years, I get curious what dating options exist beyond my circle of friends.

Dating to get to know someone is a nightmare. Online dating is a great way to get those awkward dinner questions out of the way. You don’t have to waste time chatting over crappy Italian food just to find out your date has more problems than your algebra midterm.

Whether you make a profile to expand your dating options or for your own entertainment, online dating can be a hit-or-miss situation for guys.

The following is a list of tips from a female perspective.

Though I can’t tell you how to make the perfect profile, I can tell you what to avoid.

First, I’d like to focus on profile pictures. They are your first impression on those viewing your profile, and everyone wants to make a great first impression.

Websites and applications such as OkCupid, Tinder, PlentyOfFish and Match offer simple yes-or-no voting systems by simply showing a potential match’s profile picture.

Here are some tips on how you can get more yes’s from other users: -BE THE ONLY GUY IN YOUR PHOTO. Group photos are a wonderful way to say you have a social life but can make for a confusing profile picture.

We can’t single you out. Please don’t flatter yourself by thinking someone will stop and make that much of an effort to go through your profile and find what you really look like.

-BE CAREFUL DISPLAYING KIDS: Girls like cute things, but it does not have to be a baby. I know you might be proud of your newborn child, but most people aren’t looking to take on that kind of respon-

sibility.

-LEAVE GIRLS or EX’S OUT OF THE PHOTO: If I cannot tell the other girl in your photo is related to you, I’m going to assume it’s your current or past girlfriend.

-PARTY PICTURES ARE DEAD: There are other ways to show you know how to have a good time that don’t include you doing a keg stand. Being the guy with the red plastic cup in his hand can be a bit of a turnoff.

-KEEP THINGS CLASSY: This means no more wearing dingy tank tops or flipping-thebird. Maybe your sign of “f**k you” is just stating your intentions, but it will accomplish the opposite.

-PUT SOME THOUGHT INTO IT: If you can’t take out the earbuds long enough to take a decent selfie, how are we supposed to expect you will put any work into a relationship? These pictures say more than what you look like.

-PUT UP A PICTURE OF YOU: I’m looking to date a person, not an ’03 Toyota Tacoma with a lift kit. Images with illustrations and cartoons are a wonderful option too, if the girl is looking to have sex with a draw-

ing or a joke.

Let’s say you finally have a match. Now it’s time to send that first message.

Here are some things not to say in your first message: - Keep your message simple, yet open ended. Don’t give your entire life story in the very first message you send.

Also, you may want to send a one-word message of “hi,” but that will lead to a conversation of one-word responses. Ain’t nobody got time for that.

- Remember, you’re writing, not actually speaking.

People tend to write how they talk, but all of this is being read.

If your name is johndoe91, there is no need to message her saying “Hi, I’m John.” Really? You look more like a Joseph.

- Don’t her message her twenty times because your anxious self can’t wait for her first response. If she’s not interested, it’s not the end of the world.

Whether real or virtual dating, patience is the key to finding a successful relationship.

Learning to enjoy the single life until that special person comes along may seem hard, but it will pay off in the end. athorne@gru.edu

the earth move

By Jessica Sager staff writer

I am usually open to the fantastic.

Nonetheless, I was skeptical, even though everyone at school (not to mention the professionals on the news) sounded pretty sure. It was only when I saw the sparkly blanket of ice outside that I believed. Yes, there would be another snow day.

On the first day, I slept in because it is inappropriate to do otherwise when you get an unexpected day off.

Then, I took my 12-year-old dog out for what would usually be a walk. That morning, it was a skate. With Miss Bennett shivering by my feet, I logged onto Facebook, where people started to post about not having power.

Actually, though, it was awesome to read my friends’ reactions to the ice storm. Instead of grouching about it, everyone saw the beauty and novelty of the ice and snow.

The next day was miserable. Well, at least dull. The real disaster was that THE INTERNET WAS GONE. Just the day before, I’d patted myself on the back for charging the laptop in preparation for the power outage.

I also learned most books, even really good ones, will lose significant entertainment value if the reader is in a situation where there is nothing else to do. Then, as daylight grew scarce, my stash of novels became the most wonderful thing in the whole world.

On Valentine’s Day, I stood in the frigid air, texting with friends and wishing I’d been able to stay at home. Then, I realized something.

For once, all of that Valentine’s Day stuff - the stuffed toys, the candy and flowers didn’t matter! We were all stuck at home! Little did I know there was more to come.

I was watching TV when it happened. In fact, I was looking at the inside of a spaceship when the very real world began to shake and the TV became a lot less interesting.

After the initial feeling of horror, it was actually pretty cool. Like I said, it was pretty cool. After all, how often does Valentine’s Day end with an entire city feeling the earth move? jschucke@gru.edu

Spoiler alert: Actor Kevin Spacey is dealing his cards “It’s meant to harden your knuckles so you don’t break them if you get into a fight,” said Francis “Frank” Underwood in “House of Cards” to Raymond Tusk.

“It also has the added benefit of knocking on wood. My father believed that success is a mixture of preparation and luck. Tapping the table kills both birds with one stone.”

Underwood explained this to Tusk, who is a billionaire industrialist and owns several nuclear power plants, in Chapter 12 of season one, but little did the audience know this would foreshadow the drama to soon follow in season two.

While the first season is full of excitement, you also gain insight into Underwood’s stop-at-nothing demeanor.

Starting as a determined and ambitious Democratic House Majority Whip, he also engages in relations with journalist Zoe Barnes and swindles (and murders) former gubernatorial candidate for Pennsylvania Peter Russo to only fur-

Megan Stewart arts & life editor ther his political agenda. The close of the season, however, Underwood achieves his goals and ultimately lands himself into the vice presidency.

Claire Underwood, his wife and former CEO of the Clean Water Initiative, is no angel either, though. The pair are a true match full of deviance and manipulation to anyone who stands in their way and the two are fully aware of the activities between one another.

But season one is no match for what season two brought to the table.

With the first episode ending more

suspensefully than the entire previous season, Underwood shows nobody will stop him from ripping the presidency from Garrett Walker when he puts a stop to all the reporters’ attempts to put his evil into light by killing Barnes and using the FBI to manipulate reporter Lucas Goodwin into participating in an act of cyber-terrorism.

That’s just the start, though.

From manipulating Tusk and the Chinese into a trade war to fighting off scandals of affairs between his wife and a photographer to essentially committing treason to have Walker impeached for money laundering and ultimately forcing him to resign his presidency, sooner than one would like to admit – Underwood places his hand on the Bible to be sworn in as the 46th president of the United States.

After the slight despair of realizing you have to wait another year to witness what the Underwoods have in store for the United States, it only leaves viewers

speculating about the third season.

What other scandals will come to light now that Gavin Orsay has shown his ability to hack and track Underwood’s chief of staff, Doug Stamper? Or now that Rachel Posner has managed to relieve herself from the firm grip Stamper had over her to keep the administration’s secrets quiet? And is Seth Grayson, the communications director, really on the Underwoods’ side or is he hoarding their dark skeletons to only later destroy them?

With the amount of bridges the Underwoods are burning along the way, who will have their back by the end of season three?

While Frank can hold his own, Claire is slowly but surely breaking down internally and that fall out will probably be the most detrimental to Frank’s success than any.

Because, remember, “friends make the worst enemies,” as stated by Frank in Chapter five of season one. mstewar7@gru.edu

TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2014

PAGE 6

ARTS & LIFE www.grubellringer.com

Players act out Monty Python

By Meredith Day staff writer

MEGAN STEWART | STAFF

The Italian-American Club of Augusta hosts the annual Pasta Festival to sell authentic meals to the community in order to donate to local charities.

Pasta piques patrons’ palletes

By Jordan Barry production assistant

That’s amore!

The Italian-American Club of the CSRA hosted its 30th annual Pasta Festival Friday.

The daylong festivities included homemade spaghetti, Italian desserts, wine, music and a silent auction. For $8, patrons got spaghetti, salad, bread and a drink.

Marissa Ponzi, the vice president of IAC, said about five men from the club get together every year to make 65 gallons of spaghetti sauce in preparation.

“We prepare and make our sauce at Saint Mary’s on the Hill Church,” she said. “We order supplies and maybe cans of tomato, or cans of paste, or oil, or whatever we need from U.S. Foods or Cisco, but our gentlemen actually prepare the sauce and make the pasta ahead of time.”

Muriel Daniels, a teacher of English as a second language, said she tries to come to the festival every year.

“I just like Italy better than any other foreign country I’ve visited,” Daniels

JORDAN BARRY | STAFF

Muriel Daniels, a longtime guest of the Pasta Festival, visits during lunchtime for a hot plate.

said. “I teach (ESL), so I have some Italian students, and I love them.”

Daniels said the food is the main attraction for her.

“I mean, it’s real spaghetti instead of some of these things that you get,” she said. “They call them pasta, but they’re far from it. So I like this. It’s tradition.”

The secret to the traditional pasta is just that, a secret, Peter Weitz, president of IAC, said.

“We have a recipe that’s been handed down for them 30 years,” he said. “It’s very strictly followed. Can’t give it to ya,

or else I’d have to kill ya. I can’t give ya the recipe.”

However, Weitz said the festival is about more than just pasta.

“At heart, we’re a charity organization now,” he said. “We give a big portion of the profits that we make from this festival and the Columbus Day festival, which we do in Evans, to different charities.”

Weitz said after the festival, a committee will get together to decide which charity to donate money to, but they generally stick to the Augusta community.

The annual Pasta Festival typically draws a pretty large crowd, and Weitz tries to prepare for it, Ponzi said.

“I think Peter ordered 1,200 actual tickets,” she said. “So, that’s always our goal to sell 1,200 meals of food.”

Ponzi said people like to come for the good food and relaxing atmosphere, and the club members do their best to make that possible.

“We get a large turnout from the community,” she said. “Our members help volunteer to put on the festival. We work it and make sure it runs smoothly.” jbarry3@gru.edu

“Look, it’s not just about a missing mug. It’s a metaphor. We must all look within us. That’s where we’ll find the grail.”

These lines are spoken by King Arthur, played by Greg Goodwin, in the show “Spamalot,” a musical that takes material from the movie “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” and turns it into a live show, complete with killer rabbits, dancing knights and flying cows.

“That’s really the underlying theme of the show,” Goodwin said, referring to his line. “You go through life, but you need to find what makes you happy.”

The show originated on Broadway in 2005 and won three Tony awards, including one for best musical, and the Augusta Players performed it at the Imperial Theater Feb. 21 through 23.

“It’s really a hilarious tongue-incheek, not a typical, musical,” said Amy Patton, who played the Lady of The Lake. “Because it is based on Monty Python, it’s just its own brand of humor, and it’s very upbeat and fast paced the whole time.”

One of the more difficult aspects in this show is many of the actors are required to play several roles. One such actor, Paul Jones, played Sir Galahad, the Black Knight and the King of the Swamp Castle, also known as Herbert’s Father.

“These poor guys are running back and forth doing all these costume changes,” Goodwin said. “It takes a special see SPAMALOT on PAGE 8

What are Georgia Regents University students watching?

Asma Daoudi, sophomore biology major

Daniel Law, junior history major

WRITERS:

Jacob Ekechukwu, senior chemistry major

Literary festival offers an outlet for community to present written works

By Jordan Williams sports editor The annual Augusta Literary Festival provides an avenue for authors to sell their books without breaking the bank.

Corey Washington, a local author and founder of the Augusta Literary Festival, said he created this event with the independent author in mind.

Washington said he once took a trip to Houston to attend a book festival called the National Black Book Festival. At the event, he attempted to sell his published nonfiction works, but he struggled to break even.

“When I got home,” he said, “I was like ‘Augusta is the second largest city in Georgia. Why don’t we have a book festival here that authors can go to?’”

Therefore, in an attempt to bring his vision to life, Washington said he connected with

Mathieu Roberts, senior physics major

JORDAN WILLIAMS | STAFF

C. Micheal Forsyth dicusses his published works of romance, mystery and horror with the interested readers at the Augusta Literary Festival Saturday.

community outreach librarian Sherryl James.

The festival took place at the Augusta-Richmond County Public Library Saturday, and the primary goal was to promote literacy and cater to its authors, Washington said.

“I think that we take care of our authors more than any other

festival out there,” Washington said. “They don’t have to pay for anything when they come.”

Some of the luxuries authors receive during their time in Augusta included a reception that Friday catered by Fat Man’s Café with live jazz for entertainment, workshops, and breakfast and lunch the day of the festival.

One of the headlining authors in attendance was Augusta native Karin Gillespie. Gillespie is an instructor in the department of English and Foreign Languages at Georgia Regents University and a national bestselling writer.

Gillespie said she has written five novels under the publication of Simon & Schuster Inc., and her favorite topic is women’s fiction.

Another featured writer was the self-published Brandi Cummings.

Cummings said she published her book “Straight to the Heart: Life & Love” in 2010, and it was a book of poetry served to encourage and give young women guidance.

“It takes one on a journey through a woman’s life dealing of relationships and self-esteem and just issues like that, but it’s through (the speaker’s) voice, so

it’s poetry written from her perspective,” Cummings said.

At 12 years old, Cummings said she developed an interest in poetry. It became important to her because it allowed her to express feelings in a short form.

“The beautiful thing about poetry is that it can be interpreted in so many different ways by different people depending on their background (and) their experiences,” she said.

Gillespie said what she enjoyed most about the Augusta Literary Festival was hosting the workshop on advanced novel writing.

“I really love helping other novelists (and) helping them bring their work up to par,” she said. “I’ve had five novels published, but I’ve written 10 so I have a lot of experience doing it. And I like to share that with others.” jwill143@gru.edu

PAGE 7

THE BELL RINGER

Broads take on Big Apple

By Megan Stewart arts & life editor From the streets of New York, Comedy Central presents the struggle of two broke postcollege girls’ eccentric endeavors in its new series “Broad City.”

What started as a digital series starring Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson soon found its way to a 30-minute spot on the television network’s queue.

“The show is definitely focused on post-college life, which feels a lot like college,” Glazer said. “I think where Ilana (the character) lives is pretty much a post-dorm, dorm (and) Abbi’s character is trying to separate herself from her college self because her college self was wilder, and her character is more focused on becoming an adult.”

While both are portraying fictionalized characters of themselves, there’s still a hint of truth in the roles, Jacobson said.

“We try to base the scenes of every episode on something that’s either happened to us, or friends of ours or the writers that write the show with us or their friends,” she said. “Somewhere within the episode or scenes, in general, is the inkling of something that’s happened

in real life. Like, for example, on (the episode ‘Fattest Asses’) we were at this crazy rooftop party that Abbi and Ilana felt really uncomfortable at, and that’s based on a party that Ilana and I went to where we felt that way.”

The two, who met after college while working together in improv groups, built off their friendship to initiate the web series.

“We have this dynamic that’s really similar to the dynamic on the show,” Jacobson said. “We were like, ‘Why don’t we make something with this dynamic and run with it?’ And for the first couple of episodes, it was just one foot in front of the other, and then we just started getting more serious about it and started writing more interesting story lines for ourselves.”

When the series first started online, the two were in their early 20s, which came at a time that helped to define them and anchor the pair as not just comedians but people in general, Glazer said.

Even though the comedy community played a major role in the pair’s abilities for the show, they also both credit social media for much of their success.

“The social media is what made the show for us,” Jacobson

See Brond run •

Brond started running cross-country in high school.

•

During the year he turned 50, Brond was running at least one road race a week.

•

His favorite trail is the Augusta Canal.

•

His time during the Georgia Regents University Half Marathon was 1:51.

CONTRIBUTED BY WALTER THOMPSON

Abbi Jacobson (left) and Ilana Glazer (right) act together in the new half-hour Comedy Central series “Broad City.”

said. “We both came from social media jobs, (and) we really tried to use social media to promote the show. Without Facebook and Twitter and YouTube … it would have not be seen. It was really a group effort to share and get bloggers and people to talk about it.”

Whereas many would find going from managing oneself to being under the direction of a station to be difficult, she said Comedy Central has been extremely lenient in letting the two run the show, down to the ability of hiring some close friends to help them write scripts.

“Our writers understood the dynamic, they know who we are, they know our voices, and so in that sense it was so awesome to be sitting in a room full

of people who get it,” Jacobson said. “Not that they just get it, but they actually add so much to it.”

While sometimes considered raunchy humor, the two engage in what they call a heightened realistic dialogue, she said.

“I think we heighten it to a silly level, to exaggerated realism,” Jacobson said. “So, we do a good job portraying our point of view of New York, but at times we exaggerate things that might happen to us here.”

The transition from 2- to 4minute bits to a half-hour sitcom has been one the team embraces and enjoys, she said.

“We devised this idea of like each episode being a day in the life,” Jacobson said. “So there’s like one adventure they

go on everyday, and it was a really fun problem to have: to try to figure out this challenge of making it longer and more dynamic and building up a world.

It was a big learning experience for us to expand the world.”

Despite being only six episodes into season one, the series has officially been booked for a second season, which Amy Poehler, one of the executive producers, announced earlier this year on Saturday Night Live.

“These girls just have it,” said Chris Kelly, a writer for SNL, on his blog. “And I think they have created a show that is weird and true and strange and experimental and funny and (kind of) ludicrous.” mstewar7@gru.edu

Brond shapes the new brand

By Richard Adams staff writer

David Brond’s title may sound relatively simple, but he is responsible for the tough decisions about the words, images and philosophy driving Georgia Regents University forward.

Hired less than two years ago as the senior vice president of the Office of Communications and Marketing, Brond’s impact on the affairs of the university is ubiquitous: From helping dictate the content of President Ricardo Azziz’s speeches to the color of the T-shirts sold in the

university bookstores, Brond said his office can be credited with many things.

Christen Carter, the director of media relations, said OCM coordinates five different departments.

“I cover media relations,” Carter said. “Then we have communications and creative services, so that would include website, photography, videography, graphic design, those sorts of things.

And then he has a director of community relations and museums. We have a director for university relations.”

Prior to taking the job at Georgia Regents, Brond foresaw the sorts of chal-

lenges that laid ahead for him if he took the position, and it actually helped him make the decision to leave his position at the University of Delaware, he said.

A phone call helped change his mind, he said. Ricardo Azziz, then the president of Georgia Health Sciences University, wanted to speak to him personally. Whereas the position Brond had originally been offered was for the single university, Azziz told him of the merger of the two universities and the need to create a unifying brand to unite them. see BROND on PAGE 8

Community revitalizes second-hand goods

By Amy Thorne staff writer Used items from Goodwill found new life as pieces of art in the 2014 inaugural reNew & Brew event Friday evening.

The Bow Ties and Blue Jeans theme of the event hosted by Goodwill Industries of Middle Georgia and the CSRA focused on the mission of reinventing and repurposing lives, said Nancy Browning, the manager of volunteer services.

During the event, guests had the opportunity to sample craft beer donated by three different breweries paired with hors d’oeuvres and desserts made by culinary students from Helms College.

“We wanted to focus on something that focused on the purpose of Goodwill, which is helping renew people’s lives,” Browning said. “We came up with this event that we would focus on certain lives of individuals that we have helped in the past renew their lives.”

Continuing the theme of renovation, the Rotary Club of Augusta partnered with the event and gave scholarships to local outstanding youth and honored Goodwill workers, corporations and individuals who have reinvented themselves made a difference in their community in the past year, Browning said.

“It’s all about lives that have been renewed,” she said. “Then

to bring that all together. We’re doing and redoing things that people have given to at Goodwill, to show the community that can be done with different things in people’s lives. That’s our purpose at Goodwill.”

Proceeds from the event’s ticket sales and auction went to fund Goodwill’s academic and career development programs, she said.

The event gave 25 artists, including a local high school student, the chance to turn repurposed Goodwill items such as furniture, clothes and toys into works of art.

Courtney Stevens, a junior art major, featured pieces in the show. She donated some of her works to art auctions before reNew & Brew but never for a completely nonprofit event, she said.

Her pieces included a renovated dollhouse and a toy car she decked out in gemstones.

“They were all beaten up when I found them, so I guess we made them nice again,” Stevens said. “It just sounded like fun and I like to remake things, or at least restore them, from Goodwill.”

Stevens said she normally paints, makes designs, sculptures, dolls and clothes.

Stevens also said she enjoys making old items into something new.

“It’s just an easy base to start off new artwork with,” she said. “You always have to start

from scratch, but this is already a starting point and you can just jump off from there.”

Georgia Regents art professor Brian Rust also auctioned off his art for the cause.

The event was not his first time he contributed his art to Goodwill, Rust said. He was the first artist to donate his work to Goodwill when the center first opened.

“I just like the idea, and I do shop at Goodwill a bit,” he said.

“I’m always looking for strange bric-a-brac items. So, it was an interesting challenge to go down to Goodwill, buy some stuff and figure out something I could do with it.”

“

I’m always looking for strange brica-brac items. So, it was an interesting challenge to go down to Goodwill, buy some stuff and figure out something I could do with it.

”

--Brian Rust, a professor of art For the reNew & Brew event, he said he donated a piece he called “Steampunk Whirligig” out of an old lamp he purchased at Goodwill, as well as an and old roof ventilator and other quasi-industrial pieces of material and parts, which could be used somewhere outside for decoration.

He said he supported the

cause to the extent that should reNew & Brew return in 2015, he may have his multimedia students submit their own pieces for assignment credit.

“I’m doing my part in something that I think is a noble cause with getting people retrained,” he said. “I think Goodwill’s doing a good job at that.” athorne@gru.edu

TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2014

PAGE 8

Saving the city’s cottoncovered past

By Haley Harris staff writer

MEREDITH DAY | STAFF

The Augusta Museum of History, which was founded in 1937, is open Monday through Friday for the guests to visit.

Museum houses Augusta’s legacy

By Meredith Day staff writer

The Augusta Museum of History offers a wide variety of exhibits, which tell the story of the city’s history and local legends.

The museum was founded in 1937 and was originally located in the old Richmond Academy building by individuals who thought the city needed to have a museum, Nancy Glaser, the executive director, said.

“The new library was built in the ’60s, and it moved downtown, and then the museum took

up both floors,” Glaser said. “It was that way until, I guess, 1996 when this building was built. It was built specifically to be the new museum, and this opened in 1996.”

Originally, the museum was open to all types of collections and included everything from Japanese artifacts to butterfly collections. However, in 1999, it was decided the museum would be collecting only the heritage of the CSRA, Glaser said.

“There needs to be a CSRA connection,” Glaser said. “That is our mission. We can’t collect all of Georgia or all of South Carolina, so our mission is the CSRA.” Right now, one of the main goals for Glaser is to get as much of the museum collection available to the public as possible. She is doing this by getting many exhibits out on the floor and is also utilizing the museum’s website to share the collection.

People come from all over the country to see exhibits like

Spamalot CONTINUED from PAGE 6

kind of actor to be able to do that.”

Another challenge for the actors is learning to sing some of the more difficult songs in the show. This was particularly a challenge for Patton, who said she is still learning to feel comfortable in a lead role.

“It’s a very, very vocally challenging role,” Patton said. “Some of the women in rehearsal have called it the Vocal Olympics. It’s really low, (and) it’s really high. It’s got super high notes.

She has to go from kind of sexy ingenue, flirty into a big brassy belt.”

There were also several technical aspects that had to be worked out in order to make this show a success. For example, in an iconic scene, The Black Knight refuses to admit defeat in battle against King Arthur, even after all of his limbs have been severed, Jones explained. Because of the recent ice storm, the costume, which is required to pull off this effect onstage, did not arrive in the mail until three days before the show opened and was difficult to learn to use.

But, always looking on the bright side of life, Jones said he just laughed about his chaotic time learning to use his costume.

“We were trying to figure out how the rigging goes with my arms and legs being cut off,” Jones said. “It did not want to work (the) last night.”

Besides The Lady of the Lake, all of the characters in “Spamalot” are also in the movie the show is based on.

Therefore, the actors in the show feel a lot of pressure to perform as closely to the original characters as possible, Jones said.

“

this at the Augusta Museum of History. Daryll Bonowen, for example, was visiting from Michigan Feb. 2. She said she traveled to the museum to see the exhibit to help her research for a book she’s writing.

“I’m writing a biography of the confederate Civil War General James Longstreet, so I was going several places in Georgia to do research on him,” Bonowen said. “And I’d been in Savannah all week, and I decided I was going to come and visit the history museum today to see the Civil War 1864 exhibit that’s on right now.”

Overall, the Augusta Museum of History offers a variety of educational glimpses into our history’s past and helps to bring Augustans closer to their heritage.

“I love going to the museum; I love seeing the history of our area,” said Rochelle Daniel, a visitor to the museum. “With me being from this area, it helps me to connect to the past.” mday4@gru.edu

The people of Augusta commonly take leisurely strolls downtown along the Riverwalk, overlooking the Savannah River but also easily forgetting not so long ago that it was the prime area for the cotton business.

Though this business has long since died out, the Historic Cotton Exchange building is still standing to attest to the city’s past.

Once the second largest inland cotton markets in the world, Augusta has managed to sustain its rich history by holding onto its buildings, according to the national park service’s website.

The Historic Cotton Exchange, located at the corner of Eighth and Reynolds streets, has undergone much restoration but remains in its original location with its original appearance.

The building is currently a branch of Georgia Bank and Trust of Augusta but still houses artifacts, such as a telephone booth and a bale of cotton.

The museum gets attention from customers who come in for the bank because the artifacts are in the same room as the lobby, some of the bank tellers said.

The artifact that is the oldest and most popular is the 45-foot chalkboard, according to the museum’s website. The board is located in the main lobby and still has markings on it dating back to the early 1900s.

“The chalkboard makes me feel like I’m standing where those people once stood,” said Sydney Baker, a 10th-grade student at Westside High School.

“It’s pretty cool to see their handwriting.”

Her brother was there enjoying the historic artifacts as well.

“I like the huge bale of cotton,” said Evan Baker, a 10thgrade student at A.R. Johnson High School, as he looked at

some of the artifacts decorating the exhibit. “I’ve never seen cotton like that, but now I can see that that’s what it must’ve been like.”

Their mother, Dawn Baker, agreed the chalkboard and other artifacts are very interesting to examine and she said she likes that they are open to the public.

The building was constructed in the mid-1860s, according to the National Park Service’s website. It is three stories high and once housed offices for brokers and a floor for trading cotton and other products. Women were not allowed in the building, and this easily made the building a hot spot for men to relax and gather with or without business intentions.

The building reached its peak in the mid-1880s and continued to flourish throughout the first half of the 1900s.

At this time, Augusta depended mostly on the production of cotton, according to the website. This quickly began to fade with the infestation of the boll weevil. The boll weevil, an insect that feeds on cotton buds and is responsible for the decline in cotton production, caused Augusta to lose much of its cotton profit.

Today, even though cotton is no longer a business Augusta engages in, the historic importance of cotton is still present in the downtown area in hidden places to help remind the people of its later importance.

The boll weevil has become a mascot for the quaint cafe, The Boll Weevil, located only a few minutes away from the Cotton Exchange building, and The Cotton Patch, another restaurant located nearby, also utilize the reference in its title.

The Historic Cotton Exchange stands as a reminder of Augusta’s past as one of the major cotton industries in the world. hharris011@yahoo.com

You go through life, but you need to find what makes you happy.

”

--Greg Goodwin, the actor who played King Arthur “It’s really tough because they are iconic characters, and those people who come and know them expect to see exactly what they saw in the film,” Jones said. “I’ve gone back and put in my DVD and watched that over, and over, and over again to make sure the voices were right and the mannerisms were the same.”

However, while playing these iconic characters comes with a lot of pressure, it’s also a lot of what makes acting in this play so much fun. When Goodwin was cast as King Arthur, he said he rehearsed by watching the Broadway version of King Arthur, played by Tim Curry.

“He has such a distinctive English accent, and that way he delivers his lines, there’s a certain elegance about it and a certain naivety that he brings forth throughout that character,” Goodwin said. “King Arthur, as he goes throughout the show, just doesn’t get it. He’s kind of daft in a few ways, and I thought, ‘I can do that! I can so do that!’ So it’s exciting to be in an iconic show.”

Although Spamalot has ended its run in town, the Augusta Players are always working toward new performances such as “The Wizard of Oz,” which will be performed in May, and “The Adams Family: The Musical,” which will follow in the fall. mday4@gru.edu

MEGAN STEWART | STAFF

David Brond, the senior vice president of the Office of Communications and Marketing, leads the team responsible for designing, promoting and policing Georgia Regents University’s new brand.

Brond

CONTINUED from PAGE 7

“It’s pretty rare that someone in my field gets a chance to consolidate two universities and to create a brand,” Brond said. “Whatever you may think of the name, 30 years from now people will look back, I am convinced, and say, ‘Georgia Regents University, that’s a great university in Augusta, Ga.,’ and it’s going to have that same logo.”

Michael Gilbert, now the vice president of Student Affairs at the University of Connecticut, was part of the search committee that recruited Brond to head communications and marketing at the University of Delaware. Gilbert said motivating people under a common goal is something Brond is particularly good at.

“David had many successes at the University of Delaware,” Gilbert said.

“When he came to the university, he immediately became a lead executive and provided strategy and day-to-day advice

on communicating within and external to the university. He became our chief spokesperson, delivering both good and very challenging news about and throughout the university.”

University of Delaware President Patrick Harker said in a press release that the brand Brond created there was a contribution of no small significance, helping to instill a new legacy that would live on for years to come.

As for the brand being built here at Georgia Regents University, Provost Gretchen Caughman singled out the recent promotional campaign entitled Discover What’s Next, a phrase she said is indicative of the unique marketing strategy Brond continues to develop for the university.

“I really like the idea of Discover What’s Next because I do think there’s a lot of great things next,” she said. “Being able to put that out there, to position people’s minds that this is where you can really come and figure that out and see it unfolding (is important).” radams99@gru.edu

THE BELL RINGER

PAGE 9

comics

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

If we didn’t have birthdays, you wouldn’t be you. If you’d never been born, well then what would you be?

Across

Down

3. Fox in _____

1. ____ one and two are identical, mischievous creatures with blue hair and red suits

6. The blue elephant who heard a Who 7. Sam-I-Am pairs this with ham 9. The name of the lake where Thadwick, the Big Hearted Moose, lives 12. Speaks for the trees against the greedy Once-ler 13. King of the pond, stands on his subjects in an attempt to reach higher than the moon — until the bottom turtle burps and he falls into the mud, ending his rule

2. A small, mythical creature that lives in your pocket 4. A gooey green substance that fell from the sky and wreaked havoc in the kingdom 5. A city on the beautiful banks of the river Wah-Hoo, and known to never have troubles (at least very few) 8. The Cat shows up at this girl’s house while her mother is away.

14. Two types of large, yellow bird like creatures, separated by having or not having stars on their bellies

10. A hairy, green creature who stole Christmas; spoils or dampens the pleasure of others

15. A little tiny creature who lives on a small speck of dust called Whoville

11. “One fish, two fish, red fish, _____ fish!”

Across 3. socks 6. horton 7. green eggs (no space) 9. Wanna-Bango (no hyphen) 12. lorax 13. yertle 14. sneetches 15. who Down 1. thing 2. wocket 4. oobleck 5. Solla Sollew (no space) 8. Sally 10. Grinch 11. blue

is truer than true. There is no one alive “ Today you are You, that who is Youer than You. ” --Dr. Seuss, Happy Birthday to You!

Grinch coloring activity

You might be a fish! Or a toad in a tree! You might be a doorknob! Or three baked potatoes! You might be a bag full of hard green tomatoes.

Or worse than that ...

Why, you might be a WASN’T! A Wasn’t has no fun at all. No, he doesn’t. A wasn’t just isn’t. He just isn’t present. But you ... You ARE YOU! And, now isn’t that pleasant!

Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is youer than you! Shout loud, “I am lucky to be what I am! Thank goodness I’m not just a clam or a ham or a dusty old jar of sour gooseberry jam! I am what I am! That’s a great thing to be! If I say so myself, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!” - DR. SEUSS Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for a chance to win a pot of golden doughnuts for Saint Patrick’s Day. like us on facebook

follow us @BellRinger_News

PAGE 10

TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2014

sports www.grubellringer.com

Team’s season closes

By Richard Adams staff writer

As the last games of the women’s basketball season slipped by with continued losses, so did any chance of the team continuing its season beyond regular play.

Up until the last two games of the season, Jac’ Weathers said senior members like herself were still comparing and contrasting the various teams’ records, computing the hopes they still had of going to the playoffs.

“I live with mostly all seniors,” said Weathers, a senior small forward. “We were still looking at the brackets and everything, trying to figure it out because we don’t want to end our senior year like this.”

Senior wing player Jemimah Ashby said a moment of resurrected hopes came Feb. 25 when the team received word that the clinching of the last two home games might be enough to secure a place in the conference tournament playoffs. But the team’s 6055 loss at home to USC Ai-

JORDAN WILLIAMS | STAFF

The women’s basketball team ended the season with a 9-17 record.

ken Feb. 26 deprived it of a victory necessary for advancement.

“A lot of our games we won, I mean, literally won it,” said Ashby. “And then somehow ended up giving it to them at the end, just not closing the game.”

Ashby saw her words

prove to be prophetic as the Jaguars entered their second half closely behind the Pacers at 24-22. A 3-pointer by freshman guard Marissa Mandeldove with 9:16 remaining led to the largest gap the Jaguars were able to hold over the Pacers at 35-43.

But the Pacers quickly

closed that gap, aided by six free throws and a 3-point jump shot by Pacer sophomore forward Mariah Durian, bringing the Pacers to a score of 46-45, a scoring advantage they would maintain for the rest of the game.

The team ended the season with a 9-17 overall record.

“It’s been rocky,” said Tanchelle Hollingsworth, who has watched from the bench all season. “They are just getting to click with each other. I mean, it’s been an upand-down season overall.”

This would have been Hollingsworth’s senior season as a guard for the team, but she said she retained her junior playing status by sitting out this season under a redshirt distinction.

Ashby said she still believed the team had talent.

“This season’s been real interesting,” Ashby said.

“It’s weird because I feel like we have a lot of girls who really work hard and we all kind of want to win. But it seems like we just kept coming short in a lot of games.” radams99@gru.edu

Jags serve the competition

By Meredith Day staff writer

The men and women’s tennis teams at GRU have started their spring seasons off with some success as the women’s team has a record of 3-3 and the men’s team is 5-3.

In its opening match against Gardner-Webb Feb. 1, the men’s team won 6-3.

The Jaguars had a bit of trouble with their singles matches, winning three and losing three, but they dominated in the doubles by winning all of the matches.

“I feel like this year we have a really solid team, really good players, new freshmen, some transfers,” senior Victor Cabellos said. “I think we can do big this semester.”

The women’s season

also opened strong in the team’s match against Johnson C. Smith. It won all six of its singles matches and all three of its doubles.

Roberta Oliveira, a junior player on the women’s team, said in order to maintain success, the team needs to remember each individual match is not just for the player but for the entire team.

“I played by myself before, so if I lost, it was only me,” Oliveira said. “Here, it’s a team. It doesn’t depend only on me, and it’s very important to win for the team even if I’m by myself on the court.”

In the first conference match against Columbus State Feb. 22, the men and women’s teams both lost, 5-3 for the men and 6-3 for the women. This match was par-

ticularly important because it counted toward the Peach Belt Championship Tournament, in which the teams hope to compete.

“It’s the eight best universities in the conference,” Cabellos said. “They get together and play a tournament. Right now, we’re in a league where it’s all the universities against each other. ” Although the teams lost their first conference matches, the players said they are confident that they will continue getting better this season and will make it to the tournament.

“Last year we made it to the conference and to regionals, so we are expected to have the same results again,” sophomore Maria Pimentel said. “If we win the matches we need to win and try our

hardest at the ones that are toughest, we should.”

While the team only takes one day a week off from practice and often plays several matches a week, Pimentel said there’s another factor she attributes to their success.

“We practice a lot and that’s good,” Pimentel said.

“We’re doing very well with conditioning and that also helps. But mostly I think it’s the teams’ support. We’re all there for each other, and you hear them cheering for you and you get excited.”

The next home match for both teams will be against Lander Wednesday at 2:30 p.m.

This will be their third conference match and the first home conference match. mday4@gru.edu

Softball partakes in tournament play

By Jessica Sager staff writer The GRU Augusta softball team traveled to two tournaments in back-toback weekends.

GRU went to Salisbury, N.C., to compete with other college softball teams Feb. 21 and 22 and won three out of four games.

Before the weekend, second base player Hannah Vaughn said what she thought the biggest challenges for the team would be.

“I think finishing a game,” she said.

“Like, staying together throughout all seven innings and finishing the game.

And rebounding off of errors or anything else, just sticking together and really working hard to finish the game together.”

Pitcher Haley Birkle said the team only got two days of practice the previous week, during which Augusta was hit by an ice storm.

“It’s never good to have three days off,” Birkle said. “But I think that we came back and recuperated well and made up for some lost time with our weekend practices.”

After the tournament, head coach Melissa Brocato said the team did really well.

“Our pitchers threw really, really well,” she said.

Brocato said that there were no bad surprises for the team.

The one game the team lost was to Catawba, and it was a close game. Brocato said the team lost 1-0 in extra innings.

“We faced a really good pitcher against Catawba,” Brocato said. “And she did well to keep us a little off balance.”

She said the team had a talk after losing to Catawba.

“There just wasn’t as much fight in the team that I thought that there should be,” Brocato said. “That was kind of a challenge that we put to them, that it’s not so much about the outcomes always, but that it’s about the process.”

Brocato said the team played very well Saturday.

“The girls just played great,” she said. “They were working really hard.

We had a little pep talk about working hard for each other, working hard for their teammates, and they’re such a close team anyway that they really, really just kind of jumped on that. And I think it helped them see the game in a different perspective.”

Brocato said the team had a good time at the Catawba Tournament.

Softball highlight performances • Second base player Kristen Bagley scored two runs and earned two hits in four at bats against Davis & Elkins.

• Left-handed pitcher Haley Birkle tossed 8 strike outs in her start versus Davis & Elkins.

• Infielder Ashley Benton scored two out of the three total team runs made 3-0 win against Erskine.

• The softball team scored a season high 13 runs in a 13-4 win against Milesin the charger chil out in Huntsville, Ala.

“I think that they’ll be able to refer back to this weekend as a positive turning point,” she said.

As this issue went to print, the softball team had lost two games and won one in the Mid South Classic in Spartanburg S.C. Feb. 28 through March 1, bringing the teams overall record to 8-13. jschucke@gru.edu

The sideline report Jordan Williams sports editor

Best PBC teams are ready to battle for the conference title The stage for the men’s basketball Peach Belt Conference Tournament is set.

In the East Division USC Aiken is the top dog, claiming the PBC regular season title outright. Behind them is GRU Augusta, Lander and Francis Marion.

Montevallo clinched its third straight West Division title Feb. 23 with an 8572 home win over Young Harris. And the remaining spots consist of Georgia Soutwestern, Young Harris and North Georgia.

Out of the eight teams entering the tourney there are three that stand out and appear superior to their competitors.

The USC Aiken Pacers (26-3, 18-1) claimed the tournament crown last year and are poised for a repeat. The National Association of Basketball Coaches Division II polls have the Pacers ranked at No. 8, and they have played at the national level for a majority of the regular season.

In the Pacers’ backcourt they may have two of the best guards in the PBC, Ronald Zimmerman and DeVontae Wright.

Zimmerman is the team’s top scorer, averaging 17.3 points a night, and Wright is the leader in assists with 5.2 a game.

The only PBC opponent to defeat the Pacers in conference play was the GRU Augusta Jaguars. The Jaguars claimed a landmark victory Feb. 1 by going into the Pacers’ backyard and coming out with a 97-84 victory.

As the No. 2 seed in the East, the Jaguars (22-6, 15-4) are a serious contender. The team not only proved capable of defeating the Pacers but every other team in the conference tournament.

The Jaguars’ specialty is offense.

The team averages 79.3 points a night, 48.4 percent from the floor and 37.9 percent from downtown.

Although the Jaguars are loaded with weapons, their biggest threats maybe forward KJ Sherrill and guard Ryan Weems. Both players lead the team in points averaged a game. Weems led the way with 15.2 a night and Sherrill at 14.7.

The Montevallo Falcons (22-4, 154) are another offensive juggernaut, averaging 79.7 points a night. The Falcons’ go-to guy would be forward Larry Slaughter.

The 6-foot-8 junior is extremely efficient with his shot selection. From the field, Slaughter sinks 57.3 percent of his baskets.

Similar to the Pacers, the Falcons have also spent a lot of time in the top 25 and currently stand at No. 21 in the country.

The contest, officially named the Marvin Vanover Peach Belt Conference Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament presented by Jani-King, will take place Mach 6 through 9 in Columbus.

The quarterfinal matchups will include USC Aiken vs. Columbus State, Ga. Southwestern vs. Lander, GRU Augusta vs. North Georgia and Francis Marion vs. Montevallo. jwill143@gru.edu

THE BELL RINGER

PAGE 11

A race through Garden City Reporter tackles her first 10K at GRU race

By Haley Harris staff writer Runners gathered in support of one another as they readied themselves to participate in the GRU 10K and half marathon.

Starting at the Julian Smith Casino in downtown Augusta Feb. 23, the GRU half marathon and 10K presented by American Family Insurance was an event that took place for locals to exercise and accomplish goals.

Arriving at the start line, I was immersed into a pool of energy and smiles. Runners who were participating in the 10K were positioned at the front of the group, while half marathon runners gathered toward the back. An announcer welcomed participants, the Star Spangled Banner was sung beautifully and Director of Athletics Clint Bryant gave words of encouragement.

At 8 a.m., the 10K runners were sent off from the starting line, and the 13.1-mile half marathon runners followed five minutes after.

The course, according to the GRU Augusta Half Marathon and 10K website, takes you through historic downtown Augusta, the Summerville areas and the newly revitalized Harrisburg neighborhood.

The half marathon course started at Lake Olmstead at the Julian Smith Park, turned left onto Broad Street, through to Greene Street, up the Walton Way hill past the Partridge Inn, through the Summerville neighborhood, down Washington Road past the Augusta National Golf Club and ended by rounding Lake Olmstead once more.

The 10K runners followed the same path but separated at Walton Way onto Milledge road.

The amount of perseverance and ambition was inspiring. Every participant, young or old, was full of energy and words of encouragement. I ran with my dad, James Harris, who kept me in the mindset to keep pushing forward.

I ran alongside multiple groups of families that were out enjoying themselves and friends

HALEY HARRIS | STAFF

Bell Ringer staff writer Haley Harris gives a first-person perspective on her 10K adventure during the Feb. 23 race.

who all kept motivating one another. Sidewalks throughout the course were scattered with people shouting words of encouragement and handing out cups of water. The most challenging part of the course, in my opinion, was when I hit the hill on Walton Way that rounds past the Partridge Inn. The hill is steep and seems ongoing and is where you pass the mile 2 marker.

The race ended back at Lake Olmstead and as I rounded the lake to the Julian Smith

Park. I could see the finish line and hear the people cheering on the runners. An announcer welcomed back all the runners and congratulated everyone as they passed under the finish line. People were lined up on the sidelines to cheer on those who were finishing. I received a water bottle and golden keychain with GRU 10K imprinted on it.

Half marathon runners received a medal around their necks.

Yoga cool-down classes were being offered on the grass

at the finish line and people were standing around talking and enjoying the beautiful day as they relaxed and recuperated from the event.

I was overwhelmed with pride of completing an event I was not sure I could even do at all. The supportive strangers I met and smiles from all those involved made the event something worth remembering and also something to look forward to next year. hharris011@yahoo.com

The men in the stripes: Referees’ stories

By Meredith Day staff writer

JORDAN WILLIAMS | STAFF

A referee’s job is to tame the game, but each one is very different.

They are blamed when a team loses and ignored if it wins. Some even say they’re as blind as a bat, but it would be hard to find someone watching the game more closely.

They’re referees, and longtime ref Dennis McClendon said they keep sporting events running smoothly.

Similarly to how coaches want to coach the game and players want to play, referees all have the common goal in maintaining the rules of the game, McClendon said.

However, also like coaches and players, not all referees go about maintaining order in the same way.

McClendon said he has been a basketball referee for more than 40 years and has a passion for the sport. He worked both college and high school games, and it’s always a thrill to put the uniform, he said.

“It is not about money because we don’t make enough money to make it about money,” McClendon said.

When it comes to his philosophy about the job, McClendon said he has a few rules he likes to follow, and one of his main rules is that a referee should not work for

the same school for too long.

“When you referee a particular team too often, you then begin to know exactly what they do when they’re on the floor, and it’s almost a disadvantage to that team because you know more about them than you potentially know about the opponent,” McClendon said.

Soccer referee and coach Mike Zarmati agreed referees are often more difficult on teams they know well. Zarmati runs a soccer academy in Montreal and said, as a coach and as a referee, being strict on enforcing rules is important if he wants his players to perform at a higher level.

“I like for kids to understand what the rules of soccer are,” Zamatri said. “And I’ve been criticized for being too impartial when I referee home games because I seem harsher on my own players.”

McClendon said another one of his philosophies is no matter how much a referee studies the sport, it can never be learned as well as when a referee is at a game.

“That experience is super important because the experience that you get refereeing a basketball game with 300 people sitting in the stands is very valuable to you in the manner in which you conduct

yourself,” he said. “I can sit here at home, and I can learn the rules. You have to get out there in that environment and put those rules to their proper use” Columbia County Recreation Department basketball referee Steve Schultz said being a referee isn’t always fun. He said there are always coaches who take things too far when they think a referee has made a bad call.

“What I’ve started doing before my basketball games, me and the other official,” he said, “we get the other coaches together and say, ‘Look, we’re going to give you a good game. We need you to coach it. Don’t help us call the game, and we’re not going help you coach.’”

Despite this, McClendon, Zarmati and Schultz all agreed that being a referee is a thrill because they get to be a part of the game and help teach athletes to play to the best of their ability.

“People ask you why you officiate, why you put up with the fans, why you put up with the coach, why you put up, put up, put up,” McClendon said. “But once you put that uniform on, you get on the floor, and it is a natural high like none other.” mday4@gru.edu

Golf team gets first at Forest Hills

By Anthony Garcia staff writer The GRU Augusta men’s golf team hosted its first tournament of the year, the Forest Hills Collegiate, at the Forest Hills Golf Club March 1.

The team completed its first tournament of the spring season at the Hayt Collegiate Invitational at the Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., under the leadership of new head coach Jack O’Keefe.

O’Keefe was named head men’s golf coach at GRU in December. This is the first time in his career performing as a head golf coach, and he said opening for the season was a unique and rare experience.

“It was a great opportunity to be in such a fine program here where we’ve had some, obviously, recent success with winning a national championship twice,” O’Keefe said. “It was very appealing to come here and try to keep the ball rolling with the program heading in the right direction.”

GRU Augusta finished sixth overall at the Hayt Collegiate Invitational.

ANTHONY GARCIA I STAFF

The men’s golf team took first place in the Forest Hills Collegiate in the seven-team tournament.

“It was a good first tournament of this semester,” O’Keefe said. “We did things well, and we also struggled in a few areas. We could always do better, but this was the first time we saw our guys in tournament-action for me since I started here.”

The men’s team hosted at home at the Forest Hills Golf Club and competed against six teams, including Gardner-Webb, North Carolina Central, Youngstown State, Northern Illinois,

USC Upstate and Stetson during the oneday event.

Before the tournament, though, the head coach said he spent long days preparing and practicing with the team.

He admited he feels pressure taking on teams from across the nation.

“We expect to play well and need to play well, too,” O’Keefe said. “This is kind of a nice warm up for us. We host a bigger tournament the weekend before the Masters called the 3M Augusta Invi-

tational, so this is kind of our prelude to that event.”

Among the key players on the team O’Keefe highlighted were Jake Marriott and Viktor Edin.

Freshman Marriott has gained much support through O’Keefe up to this point in the season.

“I love having him around,” Marriott said. “He’s a great guy, and he’s helped me a lot, personally. I think he helps the team a lot, as well.”

Freshman Edin is highly motivated to win the tournament and remake notable mention for his team after its past winnings with the 2010 and 2011 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships.

“There’s always pressure,” said Edin.

“We had the national championship team two years in a row. We want to live up to that. We feel pressure, but it keeps us motivated and keeps up working harder.”

It would seem O’Keefe has the program headed in the right direction, because the team took first place in the Forest Hills Collegiate.

Sophomore Meechai Padung led the way by placing first amongst individuals. agarci11@gru.edu

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TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2014

sports www.grubellringer.com

Jaguars wrap regular season Men’s basketball team cracks the PBC tourney

By Jordan Williams sports editor The GRU Augusta men’s basketball team stumbles into the Peach Belt Conference tourney.

In the last four games, the Jaguars were 2-2 and finished out the regular season at 22-7 overall and 15-4 in conference play.

Against Lander Feb. 19, the Jaguars cruised to an 80-63 road victory in Horne Arena. In the matchup, five players finished with double-figure points.

Guard Ryan Weems led the charge with 19, guard Devonte Thomas tallied 14 points, guard Keshun Sherrill scored 12 points, and forwards Harold Doby (11 points) and KJ Sherrill (10 points) pounded the ball inside the paint.

“We moved the ball very well,” head coach Dip Metress said. “In the second half, we were fluid offensively as we’ve been in a while.”

During the second period, the Jaguars shot 60 percent from the floor and ended the game with 21 total assists.

Metress said the team’s ability to spread the ball around played a big role in helping the team attack Lander’s zone defense. “(Lander) zoned us the whole game pretty much,” he said. “We knew that going in.

We simplified some things to make it easier for guys, and we had just great (ball) movement.”

“

We felt good at the half, but (USC) Aiken is a great team so great teams are never down.

”

-- Keshun Sherrill, a Jaguars guard The Jaguars hit the road again to face off against Francis Marion Feb. 22, when they suffered an upset loss 94-86.

Almost every conference defeat the Jaguars had this year came from inferior teams, and guard Ryan Weems said this issue stems from poor preparation.

“It’s just mainly the practices before (the game), and pretty much we’re not focused enough,” Weems said. “When we play good teams, we’re more focused, but when we played bad teams, we aren’t prepared like we should be as a team mentally.”

Despite winning the rebounding battle 33 to 31 and committing fewer turnovers, 12 to 9, the Jaguars defense still allowed Francis Marion to shoot 52.1 percent from the floor.

In an attempt to bounce back from the road loss, the Jaguars returned to Christenberry Fieldhouse for a big game against rival USC Aiken Feb. 26.

Coming into the matchup, the Jaguars still had a chance of claiming the PBC East Division title but blew a 20-point lead in the second half.

JORDAN WILLIAMS I STAFF

Upsetting the USC Aiken Pacers 97 - 84 on the road Feb. 1, the Jaguars fell short in the rematch Feb. 26, 82 - 73.

USC Aiken rallied from behind in the second half to finish off the Jaguars 82-73 and receive vengeance from the teams’ first meeting Feb. 1.

“We felt good at the half, but (USC) Aiken is a great team so great teams are never down,” Jaguars Keshun Sherrill said about giving up the 41-25 halftime lead. “Whether they down 20 or down two, and when they came out the half, they put their foot on the gas pedal.”

The rivalry game was truly the tale of two halves as USC Aiken ignited a 25-5 run beginning at the 17:26 mark in order to climb back into the game.

Deep into the mathcup the Jaguars atempted a full court press down 71-68. Wing player Roman Hill grabbed his defender for a foul on the play, recieved a technical after an altercation and was ejected from the game with 1:32 remianing.

Pacers guard DeVontae Wright was sent to the line, and after sinking all his free throws the lead was pushed to 75-68, virtually putting the game out of reach.

The Sherrill Bros. both pitched in 15 points to pace the team, Weems dropped 11 and forward Devon Wright-Nelson scored 10 points in the losing

effort.

However, the Jaguars closed out the final game of the regular season with an 88-77 win versus Flagler on senior night March 1.

Seniors Doby, KJ Sherrill and Weems highlighted the evening with an outstanding offensive showcase for their last performance in the Christenberry Fieldhouse. KJ Sherrill led all scorers with 21 points, and Doby and Weems both notch 17 points.

The Jaguars will take on North Georgia next in the quaterfinals of the PBC tournament Friday in Columbus. jwill143@gru.edu

Capturing camaraderie in competition

By Jordan Barry production assistant This coed flag football season is staying classy and balling so hard.

Keith Edmondson, the president and owner of the Augusta Sports League, said the two teams to look out for this season are called Stay Classy and Ball So Hard.

“For several of the teams, this is their second season playing, and you see that there’s some pretty stiff rivalries,” he said. “Some of the players that played on Ball So Hard in the fall actually formed this new team (Stay Classy), so it’s fun watching their rivalry quite a bit.”

Phuong Nguyen, the team captain of Ball So Hard, said after being overwhelmed by a team of 19 players last season,

he had to make a choice.

“It was too many people I didn’t feel like managing, and so I had to cut them,” he said. “I cut almost half of them, so the other half is that team, the white team, Stay Classy. So, it’s a big rivalry right now, and they hate me for it.”

Other teams include Your Wife and Mike Ditka, Big TDs and Back That Pass Up, but Ball So Hard is leading the season thus far.

“It’s going great,” he said.

“I don’t want to jinx us, but right now we are 6-0. We’re going to try to continue to have that upper edge and hopefully be undefeated all around. Last season we were, I believe, 8-0, and then we choked it in the playoffs.”

Tessa Daniel, a rusher for Stay Classy, said her team is feeling the pain this season.

Stay Classy is currently

fourth in the running, but she said it is not about winning. “(This season is) not that great, but it’s fun so that’s all that matters really,” she said.

“It’s just the team dynamic; it’s a new team. I guess just getting the chemistry down, that’s the main thing.”

Daniel said she joined ASL’s coed flag football for the social aspects.

“I’ve played before, and a lot of my friends play on this team,” Daniel said. “So, it’s just a fun way to connect with friends and things like that, and I like to play sports.”

However, competition is not absent on the field at Riverview Park because there are playoff prizes at stake.

“First of all, all of the teams go to the playoffs,” Edmondson said. “I guess that’s one thing that’s different with our league.”

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The coed flag football is a five-team league for players 21 years and older.

The team that places first in the playoffs receives a $100 gift card to Mellow Mushroom, and the second place team receives a $50 gift card, Edmondson said.

However, he said the winner of the playoffs is not based on previous performance.

“So, you may have had a horrible season,” Edmondson said.

“Maybe you’re in last place, but you’re still going to the playoffs. We’ve actually had that happen where a fourth-place team actually beat out a firstplace team, and it was a huge surprise to everybody. That’s what I love about the playoffs.

It’s an opportunity for teams to come from behind.”

Edmondson said he does not want anyone to take the sport too seriously. He does not even encourage teams to practice three times a week because he does not want flag football to become their life.

“I think a lot of times you

see organizations that are just about playing the sport,” he said.

“They show up, play a game, maybe get a trophy at the end of the season or something like that. Where Augusta Sports League strives to be different from another sporting organization is that we really want to provide for a community opportunity.”

The ASL provides vouchers for teammates to use after games to go eat and actually hang out together, Edmondson said.

He also strives to get members to participate in other community activities, such as the Goodwill Dragon Boat Race.

Edmondson said not to worry though. For those who just want to come out and play flag football, they can do that.

However, they have the opportunity to join in something bigger, and that’s a fundamental part of the ASL. jbarry3@gru.edu