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Thursday, April 28, 2011
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Marine battles Lou Gehrig’s disease Elizabeth Fite Staff Writer
As a lifelong Auburn fan, 29-year-old Sgt. Ian Hogg has lived the words, “I believe in a spirit that is not afraid.” Hogg became known for fighting as a Marine in the Iraq War, but today he is fighting against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. ALS is a disease of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement. “When they first told me it was ALS, I didn’t know a lot about it, but I knew it was bad,” Hogg said. “In my mind, the minute they told me the first thing I thought was, ‘I can beat it’—that’s just the way I am. The sad thing is there is no beating it, and I fight it every day.” Hogg was diagnosed with ALS in September 2009 after showing symptoms for several years. “Even though I consider myself pretty tough, it just slowly but surly has taken everything that I am able to do,” he said. “For somebody like me, it’s really hard to deal with being up in a chair— I’ve always been able to do everything on my own.” He has not been able to walk or use his arms for a year. Hogg, who lives with his wife Misty and daughters Bailey and Addyson, said Auburn has always played a role in his life. “I had my nose broken right across the road from the stadium playing football—it’s always been a big part of my family and my life,” Hogg said. Hogg, a Birmingham native who lettered in football, baseball and wrestling in high school, said he always had a desire to be great. This desire is what inspired him to join the Marines. “Going to Iraq and fighting for my country has to be one of the single greatest things any man could do,” Hogg said. “I believe that I proved to myself and my family that I was capable of greatness—better than being an NFL football player or Major League Baseball player—I did something that wasn’t a God-given talent, but it was just me looking within myself and knowing
Contributed by MISTY Hogg
Ian Hogg (far left), a sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps, oversees members of his unit lifting an injured man into Hogg’s humvee, on which he displayed an Auburn flag. Hogg served in Iraq from January to June of 2003. He is now fighting Lou Gehrig’s disease. that I could do it.” Hogg was among the first Marine infantrymen to arrive overseas in Kuwait Jan. 24, 2003. His term took him across Iraq, where he remained until June. While he was overseas, Hogg was responsible for leading 18 Marines into combat and bringing them back alive. During his time in Iraq, Hogg became known for flying an Auburn flag from the antenna of his humvee. “I put the flag up at first as a way for my section of guns to locate me on the battlefield,” Hogg said. Hogg’s commander told him he had to take his flag down, but it remained on the back rack of his humvee until the night they invaded Baghdad. “I said, ‘the hell with it,’ and ran the flag back up the antenna de-
Ian and misty hogg
spite being told by a Lt. Col. not to do it—that’s the way I was—I was a sergeant, and nobody was going to tell us what to do,” Hogg said. “If the battalion commander wanted the flag down he was going to have to come up there around all those people that were trying to kill us, and I knew that wasn’t going to happen, so I flew the flag.” A picture of Hogg and his Auburn flag made its way back home to Alabama.
“The word got back to my battalion commander that the flag he told me not to fly had made me famous and got me a scholarship to go to Auburn,” Hogg said. Today, Hogg’s health has forced him and his family to move closer to relatives. “If I was able to be where we wanted to be, we would be in Auburn—we love it—our hearts are in Auburn still,” Hogg said. Hogg’s house in Auburn is currently for sale. “Right now, what we want is for the house in Auburn to sell so they can have a house built that’s more suited for his needs,” said Charles Ann Muro, Hogg’s mother. Muro said her son is proud of his service and still holds his head high. “Despite this disease he’s still a very proud person and a very strong person—even more so
now,” Muro said. “He’s a loving husband and a wonderful father, and his wife and his children are the most important things to him.” More information on ALS, how to help Ian and his family and information on Hogg’s house in Auburn can be found on IanHoggBenefit.org. “I believe that one day they will find a cure, but unfortunately you have to have money to do it. No matter how bad I want it or my kids deserve it, the only way to do it is research and we’ve got to have money,” he said. “My hope is that I’m able to fight the disease long enough so that they find a cure, and the more money they have the better chance I have of seeing my girls grow up and maybe even walking on my own one day—I will never ever quit believing that.”
Ala. Constitution rewrite plan passes legislature Liz Conn Associate Campus Editor
Rebekah Weaver / Assistant Photo Editor
Abigail Cutchen, junior in marketing and recruiting, and Daniel Cordell, senior in history, end a dance with a dip at the Auburn University Swing Dance Association.
Some days, you gotta dance Jan Dempsey Community Arts Center offers weeknight dance lessons Molly Montgomery Writer
Whether you have two left feet or the grace of a ballerina, the Jan Dempsey Community Arts Center has a dance class for everyone. The arts center offers dance classes each week for Auburn
students and community members. Classes range from salsa to swing to line dancing and cover a multitude of age groups and interests. “We’ve been offering dance classes ever since we opened our doors,” said Sara Hand, director of the arts center. “That was 11 years ago.” Some of the classes are free to the public and some are not, depending on the instructor’s preference. The arts center provides the building for the classes and receives a commission from each instructor if the class has a cost.
“I think this community really takes advantage of free classes at the art center,” Hand said. “I know our college students do.” Five classes are offered this semester including “Practice Dance!,” “Intermediate Line Dancing,” “Salsa!,” “AUSDA Swing Friday” and “Lindy Wednesday.” Both the Swing Friday and Lindy Wednesday classes are taught through the Auburn University Swing Dance Association by president Chip Self, senior in electrical engineering. The class meets from 7 to 9 p.m. both nights and includes one hour of instruction fol» See Dance, B4
Gov. Robert Bentley said April 21 he would sign a resolution establishing the Constitutional Revision Commission. The resolution, sponsored by Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh, R-Anniston, will allow the 16-person commission to propose revisions to parts of the 1901 state constitution. The revisionary plan will take place over three years, and all proposed changes will have to be passed by the legislature, governor and state voters. The resolution states the commission will include Bentley and three people he appoints; Marsh and three people he appoints; House Speaker Mike Hubbard and three people he appoints; and the chairs of the Judiciary Committee and Constitution and Election Committee. With more than 800 amendments, the Alabama Constitution is 12 times longer than the average state constitution and 40 times longer than the U.S. Constitution, Marsh said. “It’s just time to get the thing cleaned up and condensed,”
Marsh said. “It’s been talked about for years, but it’s never been undertaken.” The commission will not be allowed to revise Article 11 on taxes. Marsh said the article has been the “stumbling block” for past rewrite attempts. “By taking that off the table, it allows us to do all the other work that needs to be done on the constitution,” Marsh said. Joe Sumners, director of Auburn’s Economic and Community Development Institute, said one of the main problems in the constitution is the concentration of power in Montgomery instead of local communities. “There’s a lot of antiquated language in the constitution, a lot of provisions that have been superseded by federal law,” Sumners said. Sumners is the former chair of the East Alabama chapter of Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform. “It’s not like the U.S. Constitution, which is an enabling document which sort of gives the basic framework for government and lets the elected officials fill in the details,” Sumners said. “What the Alabama Constitu» See Constitution, B4