The Auburn Plainsman 02.27.2020

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020

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Ramsay Hall brings concern, caution

By EDUARDO MEDINA Editor-in-chief editor@theplainsman.com

To find a fire alarm in Ramsay Hall, you have to go to the building’s basement — but some students are concerned that’s not enough.

“Anytime you’re in a place with classrooms, you’d expect for there to be some type of alarm,” said Chase Gunter, senior in civil engineering who has classes in Ramsay Hall.

“We definitely want to know about it.”

The University said the fire alarm system will likely be upgraded in the summer, but currently, Ramsay Hall’s emergency plan outlines what to do in case of fire: “Manual fire alarms system is located only in [the] basement,” the plan states in red, all-caps type. “Each elevator

lobby has a smoke detection system that will activate the fire alarm system in the basement. Occupants of the building should verbally and loudly announce any activation of the fire alarm system as they exit the building.”

Some faculty and staff who work in the building first became concerned when they received the following email from Emmanuel Winful, the project safety manager for the College of Engineering: “As you may know, Ramsay Building is about 95% without a fire alarm system and heat/smoke detectors. The only fire alarm system is in the basement of the building, and smoke detectors are in the elevators. This system is not loud enough to alert occupants in the rest of the building.” » See RAMSAY, 2

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jAUnt users experience problems with service PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: NATALIE BECKERINK / LIFESTYLE EDITOR AND 1964 EDITION OF THE PLAINSMAN

By TIM NAIL

Harold Franklin was the first African American to enroll at Auburn University.

First black student defends thesis

By JACK WEST Managing Editor managing@theplainsman.com

Harold A. Franklin, the first African American student to enroll at Auburn University, successfully defended his master’s thesis — which he wrote in 1969 — last week and will walk at graduation this spring.

In a relatively small ceremony on Feb. 19, faculty from the history department listened to Franklin defend his thesis 51 years after he wrote it.

“They tell me it’s important because it marks 50 years since desegregation,” Franklin said. “But at least I could desegregate this school and get that out of the way.”

Despite being denied the opportunity to graduate from Auburn, Franklin is now a retired professor whose nearly 30-year academic career led him to leadership positions in some of the South’s most well-known universities.

Last week’s ceremony in Thach Hall was mostly an honorary procedure meant to show that the history department, which originally rejected Franklin’s multiple attempts to defend his thesis, acknowledged their own wrongdoing.

At the same time, this was a formal master’s thesis defense complete with a committee.

It was also a chance for current faculty members to listen to Franklin’s story in person and learn from his experiences.

Keith Hebert, associate professor, organized much of the event and was a part of the defense committee.

“Harold Franklin’s story is a triumphant one,” Hebert said. “He’s the one who integrated Auburn University, and that’s a wonderful story to tell. But we

really need to tell the full story of that, which is that after he came here, Auburn University did a number of things to try to obstruct his education and to try to push him out of campus life.”

Even before he was accepted, Auburn University and its then-president Ralph Brown Draughn tried to obstruct Franklin’s education.

Franklin first applied to Auburn after graduating from Alabama State College, now Alabama State University, in 1962 with a degree in psychology and government.

His initial application was rejected in January of the following year on the basis that the University did not have a government graduate program.

A month later, Franklin’s application was rejected again, citing ASC’s lack of accreditation.

This was a common tactic used by Southern states and universities to continue a system of educational segregation even after the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision in 1954.

However, in the summer of 1963, Franklin and his attorney Fred Gray — a prominent civil rights attorney who had, among other things, defended Martin Luther King Jr. in court and defended the Selma to Montgomery marchers at the Supreme Court — filed a class-action lawsuit against the school.

In November 1963, the court ruled that Auburn had no right to deny entry to Franklin since the state of Alabama had allowed the accreditation of predominantly black schools like ASC to lapse while maintaining the accreditation of white-only public schools.

So, Draughon officially accepted Franklin’s application, and he was set to register for classes for the upcoming

spring semester of 1964.

Franklin arrived on campus on Jan. 4, 1964, a Saturday, to register for classes in the library which now bears the name of the president who initially rejected his application.

Draughon took extreme precautions before this day to ensure the safety of students, specifically Franklin.

Students returning to Auburn after winter break had to sign waivers agreeing to not bring firearms to campus and to not congregate in large groups.

A special area was set up on campus for authorized media so as to create a good relationship with the expected journalists who would cover the historic event.

Franklin was even given a personal detail of federal and University guards to escort him on campus.

However, on the morning that Franklin was to register for classes, 100 state troopers arrived on campus on the orders of Gov. George Wallace. They were told to arrest any federal agent or unauthorized person attempting to enter campus.

Franklin and Gray first went to the Auburn Methodist Church where FBI agents searched the incoming graduate student’s bag. They did this so the agents would be able to testify on Franklin’s behalf in case someone attempted to plant a gun on him, as had been done to James Meredith, the first African-American student admitted to the University of Mississippi.

Franklin was then escorted onto campus by Auburn’s director of development, Joseph Sarver. Early in the afternoon, Franklin and Sarver arrived at Magnolia Hall, where an entire wing

SPORTS Auburn tennis’ Tim Dollman talks journey from South Africa Dollman is working to improve his game on the Plains and become one of the Tigers’ top players. Page 8

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Rose Maxcy waited and waited for her ride to arrive.

It was 7:40 a.m. on Oct. 18, 2019, and by 8 a.m., her class was beginning, but she wasn’t there. She was still waiting.

Many students walk, bike or take scooters around campus. But none of those is an option for Maxcy, junior in engineering, whose physical disability made her request the assistance of jAUnt, a shuttle service operated by the University’s Transportation Services.

“I have scoliosis in two major locations: in my neck and the base of my spine, and that can make walking distances kind of a lot,” Maxcy said. “It was equal distance for me to just walk from my apartment to that class.” jAUnt is described as a “door-to-door golf cart service for students, faculty and staff with a disability or medical condition that makes it difficult to travel within the central campus,” as stated on the Office of Accessibility’s webpage. Up until summer 2019, the Office of Accessibility spearheaded the program, but the University decided Transportation Services was better equipped to run the service.

“I think what we have that [the Office of Accessibility] didn’t is the logistical transportation part,” said Chris Harris, transit operations manager. “They have a lot of knowledge on the medical part, [but] transportation is not their job.”

Regardless of the change in hands, Maxcy said her experience with jAUnt during the fall 2019 semester was unsatisfactory to say the least.

The service asks passengers to designate a time and location to be picked up and where to be dropped off.

Maxcy had classes all across campus because she was taking engineering classes for her major and art classes for her minor.

“Going from Biggin Hall to the library was a 50-50 shot on whether they picked me up,” she said. “Taking me to Broun-Kopel on Tuesday and Thursday never happened once, and I never got a call or text on whether they were going to pick me up.”

Camille Preston, sophomore in neuroscience, found herself in need of jAUnt rides after suddenly tearing her ACL in March 2019. She reported similar delays and absences of carts at her provided times.

“I had an 8 a.m. [class], and they told me I had to be waiting outside by 7:15 or 7:30,” Preston said. “I would get out there at 6:45 just to make sure [I was there on time]. They would never come until 7:50.”

Preston was a resident at the Hill at the time and said her class was on the other side of campus, meaning she would be tardy because other passengers needed to be picked up.

“I was either late to everything by 20 minutes, or I was early to everything by an hour,” she said. » See JAUNT, 4

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FRANKLIN » From 1

had been cleared out for Franklin — something he said he didn’t mind since he preferred to read when it was quiet.

Next, Franklin and Sarver tried to go to the library, but state troopers, under the guise of treating Franklin like any other student, barred Sarver from continuing with him.

Other than a barrage of journalists, the rest of the day reportedly went smoothly. An hour after he went into the library, Franklin was officially a registered Auburn student.

An iconic picture was taken of Franklin behind Samford after he left the library that day. In it, he’s wearing a full suit and has a few books in his hand. He looks confident; he looks professional.

In 2015, this day was eternalized with a historic marker placed along Franklin’s path to the library.

“A century of institutional segregation was effectively ended that day,” it reads.

But was it?

When the historical marker was being cast, it seems that no one thought to mention that while institutional segregation wasn’t able to prevent Franklin from attending Auburn, institutionalized and weaponized prejudice was able to keep him from graduating.

Most of the biographies about Franklin describe his reasons for not graduating as “obstacles of the era.” It was racism. That was the obstacle.

Before he had even written a thesis, the professors in the history department tried to force Franklin to fit within their ideas of what an African American historian — the first African American historian from Auburn University — should look like.

Initially, Franklin wanted to study and write about the history of what would become the Civil Rights Movement.

Instead, his advisors practically forced him to write about ASC, his historically black alma mater.

“I didn’t want to write that,” Franklin said. “I wanted to write something on the civil rights struggle, and the professors told me it was too controversial. I really didn’t want to, but I had no choice.”

After spending over four years researching and writing a thesis about ASC, Franklin began submitting his work to his advisors.

“Each time I would bring it back for review, they would find something wrong with it,” he said.

This happened multiple times.

His advisors continually rejected his work on increasingly flimsy grounds.

“They justified [it by saying] mine had to be perfect,” Franklin said. “The other theses, they weren’t perfect, so why does mine have to be perfect?”

Eventually, Franklin realized that no amount of revision, correction or resubmission would overcome the blatant prejudice he was being forced to confront.

“It kept going on so long, I said, ‘Hell, what you’re telling me is that I won’t get a degree from Auburn,’” he said. “Anyway, I won a scholarship to the University of Denver and got my master’s.”

After he graduated from the University of Denver, Franklin was a professor and administrator for nearly 30 years. He retired from ed-

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ucation in 1992 and was awarded an honorary doctorate from Auburn in 2001.

“The thesis or dissertation is research; you’ve got to do research,” Franklin said. “An honorary doctorate is just something people agree on.”

Another assistant professor on Franklin’s defense committee, Austin McCoy, said that while someone can argue Franklin earned his honorary doctorate by integrating the University, it would be impossible to argue he didn’t earn a master’s degree.

“Dr. Franklin actually did the research and the work and went through the process to produce a fine master’s thesis,” McCoy said.

“The department owed it to him to allow him to defend a thesis that he worked on.”

A continual theme from professors was that this event, while good and necessary, was not intended to erase or “fix” the past.

“It’s up to us today to kind of look back into the past and try to admit the mistakes that our University has made over the years and to try to find some small ways — really small and incomplete ways — to sort [of] make amends for those things,” Hebert said.

In short, it’s a recognition of mistakes.

“Fifty-one years ago, Harold Franklin earned a degree from Auburn University that was basically denied [to] him by racial prejudice and bigotry of the faculty here in the history department at that time,” Hebert said. “So, today, we are hoping to apologize to Harold for that and encourage him to see that our department has hopefully changed for the better.”

McCoy said one way for the department to continue changing for the better is to critically analyze other interactions it had with students of color.

“I think we probably need to do more work in terms of studying the department’s relationship to black students in the 1960s and 1970s and trying to figure out what other sorts of experience black students might have had in the department,” he said.

Similarly, McCoy said that the department could turn a more attentive eye to its current lack of racial diversity.

He is currently the only African American faculty member of Auburn University’s history department.

“That doesn’t seem to be a coincidence in terms of the history,” McCoy said. “This disparity has persisted. So, the question becomes why? What has happened with other black faculty who have worked in this department?”

Franklin’s defense and the acceptance of his thesis also comes at a time when the overall enrollment of African American students at Auburn is at a 15-year low.

In the fall of 2019, there were fewer than 200 incoming black or African American students enrolled at Auburn.

Franklin, who grew up in an underfunded and segregated school system, said that this trend of lessening diversity worries him.

“To me, whether you’re a black, white or green student, you need to keep the enrollment up with everybody you can, with enough variations,” he said. “Because what you’re simply saying is that we are going back to the old days of white.”

FILE PHOTO

Harold Franklin recently defended his master’s thesis at Auburn University.

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LOGAN ELLISON / PHOTOGRAPHER

MARDI GRAS: Drag queens were in attendance at the 2020 Krewe de Tigris Mardi Gras Parade held in downtown Auburn.

RAMSAY » From 1

In the email, Winful goes on to state that a training session would soon take place so that occupants could get familiarized with the building plans and know “what can be done in an event of an emergency.”

Numerous students, faculty and staff in the building expressed shock, concern or confusion about the building’s lack of fire alarms and sprinklers.

While experts in building safety and architecture said the building is compliant and thus safe already for all occupants. They also said a fire alarm system will likely be put into the building this summer.

Winful said the College of Engineering sent a project initiation form — which requested a fire-alarm system be studied — to Facilities Management in November.

Mark Aderholt, the University engineer, said “the chances of the project not going forward are pretty slim” and that he expects a fire-alarm system to be put into the building this summer. “[Fire alarms are] certainly not required to be put in there,” Aderholt said. “But it certainly adds peace of mind. It’s a ‘Wouldn’t it be safer if?’ scenario.”

Ramsay Hall is compliant with the 2015 international fire code.

The University’s buildings are instead overseen by the Alabama Department of Finance and Real Property Management; specifically, under the department’s division of construction management.

Since the building was built in the fall of 1925, the code requirements are different from those for newer buildings, which must comply with updated codes. Ramsay Hall’s almost-century-old status warrants the building’s less-stringent compliances.

The code states that a “business occupancy” building, such as Ramsay Hall, does not require sprinklers and that existing business occupancy buildings are not required to install fire alarms.

Fire alarms were added to the basement of Ramsay Hall when the building was renovated in the summer of 2004. The renovation meant the University was required to input one fire alarm, bringing that specific part of the building up to code; because the rest of the building wasn’t

renovated, no fire alarms were required to be added — and they still haven’t been.

The only way the University would be forced — by code requirements — to install fire alarms and sprinklers would be if a renovation that costs 50% of the building’s worth is completed, according to the international fire code.

Simon Yendle, the university architect for Auburn, said a full-scale renovation of Ramsay Hall is due, but that it’s difficult to know when exactly that will happen.

Yendle said that Ramsay Hall is “absolutely not” an unsafe building, but he emphasized that improvements could always be made.

“If we thought it was a safety risk, then we would’ve initiated something sooner,” Yendle said. “It’s not necessarily unsafe.”

The walls of the interior of the building are clay blocks, which improve fire safety, according to Yendle. And Winful said the walls are one-hour fire-rated, which prevents the spread of fires for one hour.

Ramsay Hall is compliant with codes, and according to experts, safe as is. But for some people who spend vast amounts of their school and workday in the building, not going above and beyond the code is worrisome — especially given the building’s age.

Trista Head, senior in civil engineering, said she’s constantly in Ramsay Hall for her classes. Knowing there are no fire alarms makes her doubt her safety in the building, she said.

“I feel like in an emergency, if there’s no fire alarm … it’s more of a panic to get out,” Head said.

She said it would be safer to have more fire alarms.

“I feel like most students probably don’t know that,” Head said. “But ... we should.”

Sheryl Seals, an associate professor in computer science and software engineering who’s taught classes in Ramsay Hall before, said she hopes “resources will be allocated to have adequate protection” for students frequenting the building.

Nelson Leary is a graduate student in civil engineering and has an office in Ramsay Hall. He said that while he’s not as concerned about a potential fire as some other occupants in the building, he still thinks it wouldn’t hurt for the University to renovate.

“Undergrad and [graduate] stu-

dents come here to teach, and there’s a whole bunch of offices,” Leary said. “[Ramsay Hall] needs to be a safe environment for both learning and conducting research and typing papers.”

Hannah Harry said the building currently poses a potential safety risk if there are only a couple of people in the building: for example, if a student has swipe access and is in Ramsay Hall after 5 p.m.

“That’s really unsafe if there are only one or two people in there because there’s no way to communicate,” Harry said.

Many workers in Ramsay Hall said they couldn’t provide their thoughts on the lack of fire alarms because they were asked to refer questions to Facilities Management and Winful.

Winful sent an email in November 2019 that asked about holding a training session and detailed what the procedure would be in the case of a fire: Call 911, and on the way out, loudly let everyone know there is a fire.

He also discussed a group notification system through Microsoft Teams that allows occupants to notify each other in cases of emergencies. That email was him being proactive, he said. No one was sending him questions about fire safety before then. He said it was important to train people and get them up to speed with emergency plans.

“Some [occupants] have been in the building for 30-plus years, and they did not know [about the lack of fire alarms] until that training,” Winful said. “In a building that does not have those kind of alarm systems, those suppression systems, what is the best practice? And the best practice is to train people so that they can actually know how to react in the event of a fire.”

The training involved going over the floor plans, exit locations and how one must leave Ramsay Hall, according to Winful.

Winful said it’s important when discussing safety that compliance and the occupants’ comfort is taken into account.

Aderholt said Facilities Management takes “safety concerns very seriously” and that they look forward to bringing peace of mind through the installation of fire alarms soon.

“We routinely go above and beyond the code with a lot of different things, not even just fire and life safety,” Aderholt said. “The code really is the minimum.”

opinion

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2019

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OPINION

EDITORIAL

Auburn should raise the City Council’s salary

By EDITORIAL BOARD Spring 2020

The role of mayor naturally comes with hours of commitment, responsibility and additional stress. It takes a particular type of person willing to step up to such a civic duty.

That’s why it makes sense for them to be fairly compensated.

Earlier this month, Ward 8 City Council member Tommy Dawson raised this same point. He proposed the idea of raising the mayor’s yearly salary from $16,000 to $45,000. If passed, this would be the first mayoral raise since 1998, according to the City Manager Jim Buston.

Frankly, this is a change that would be beneficial to not only the person elected mayor but to the governance of the city as a whole.

By raising the salary, there would be an increase in citizens willing to take on the position. Right now, it’s difficult to ask someone to take a step back from their fulltime job to take on a role with little financial return.

The position of mayor currently isn’t someone’s only career and comes with a demanding schedule that is on par with a rigorous part-time job. Auburn doesn’t provide anyone in City Council with health insurance, but they’re taxed on their salary.

Low-income residents who would like to change the city are being indirectly prevented from doing so. The position of mayor shouldn’t exclusively go to the person who is in a situation that allows them to not worry about money.

The increase to $45,000 would be a welcomed supplemental income that would allow those on an hourly-wage to get involved as well.

LOUIS MARTIN \ CARTOONIST

According to Buston, Auburn ranks below average in mayor salary compared to other cities with a similar government set up. This results in more candidates who are in a much better economic position than most of the people that they’re governing.

Auburn shouldn’t exclude those who can’t afford to leave or take a back seat in their day job.

By expanding the applicant pool, the City Council will have more diverse perspectives, implementing policies that help those from every background.

City Council could also vote on doubling the compensation of its members from $7,200 to $14,400.

Even though it’s less than that of the mayor’s, it still could potentially produce an increase in diversity in the applicant pool.

These proposed salary increases have the power to alleviate elected officials’ stress of balancing a full-time job and focusing on city government.

This would allow them to provide even more focus on what the community needs, not having to worry if they’re working enough elsewhere.

We should make it easier for them to serve us better.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

AU needs to address xenophobic remarks

By STANLEY GOLDEN

I am writing as a concerned and disappointed alum regarding the classless display of hatred from a currently enrolled Auburn University student directed at the University of Tennessee’s basketball player, Santiago Vescovithat, that was broadcasted onto the televisions of a national audience in Saturday’s game.

I am also troubled that 48 hours after this controversial sequence of events, no one in the media has written about the significance of these comments and the bigger story of xenophobia after only reporting the facts of the quote, ejection from the event and permanent suspension from the venue.

Auburn University serves as a beacon for east Alabama, the state of Alabama, the Southeast, the

United States and the world.

I had to painfully attempt to explain to my six-year-old why someone would say something so mean and ignorant, as the audio from the broadcast picked up every word for the world to hear.

There is no place for this in any institution of higher education and certainly not Auburn.

Auburn enjoys its reputation as “the loveliest village on the plains,” and that’s not by accident or without strong institutional respect for others.

President Gogue listed his values and principles on his biography page, and included in this list are: “Each individual is unique and special. Our respect for our differences allows us to grow, learn, understand and form new perspectives. It is our differences that can serve to unite us in our effort to

better serve.

“We deeply care about all people and the value we can add to their life and our society by their involvement with us. There is no place for arrogance in higher education as we strive to offer diverse educational opportunities to all people.”

I am asking you to hold President Gogue to these values and insist that he take the strongest stance regarding the university’s discipline of the aforementioned student.

Also, he should start a bigger conversation on xenophobia that should be dominating the headlines that so far only seem to care about Auburn’s important 17-point comeback win Saturday.

Stanley Golden graduated from Auburn in 1997.

THE EDITORIAL BOARD

OPINION PAGE POLICIES LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

COLUMNS & EDITORIALS

The Auburn Plainsman welcomes letters from students, as well as faculty, administrators, alumni and those not affiliated with the University.

The opinions of The Auburn Plainsman staff are restricted to these pages.

Letters must include the author’s name, address and phone number for verification.

Submission may be edited for grammar, style and length. Please submit no more than 600 words.

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Managing Editor, Standards

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This editorial is the majority opinion of the Editorial Board and is the official opinion of the newspaper.

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The opinions expressed in columns and letters represent the views and opinions of their individual authors.

These opinions do not necessarily reflect the Auburn University student body, faculty, administration or Board of Trustees.

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CONTACT

Letters must be submitted to editor@theplainsman.com before 4:30 p.m. on Friday for publication.

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Santiago Vescovithat (25) guards J’von McCormick (5) in Auburn Arena.

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PHILANTHROPY

Tiger Giving Day project coordinators express thanks

By SARAH GIBSON Campus Writer

For clubs and organizations trying to get more funding, Tiger Giving Day is a chance to make their case to donors.

Auburn University hosted Tiger Giving Day on Feb. 19, and clubs and organizations had the chance to raise money through donors who picked which organizations to fund.

“Tiger Giving Day is an opportunity to show donors that a relatively small gift can make a big difference,” said Jane DiFolco Parker, Auburn’s vice president for development and president of the Auburn University Foundation. “It also is an opportunity for our students and faculty to show the world the breadth and diversity of our education, research and outreach.”

Laura Hamilton, senior in civil environment engineering, was the student project coordina-

tor for Sending Auburn Kayakers into Whitewater. The project intends to send members of the Whitewater Kayaking Club to competitions throughout the Southeast region of the United States.

“I was super excited when I saw that Tim Cook donated to our club,” Hamilton said. “It was awesome to see all of the donations — not just from people we knew but even people that were random donors.”

Julianne Lyn, SGA executive vice president of initiatives, and Baker Smith, senior in biomedical sciences, were the project coordinators for Aid the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Program.

The SANE program, which was implemented in early January, certified the full-time nurses at the Auburn University Medical Clinic to perform forensic exams to gather evidence of sexual assault and provide treatment and medication to prevent the spread of sexually trans-

mitted diseases.

“It is important to have this program to be made more accessible to students,” Smith said.

“In the moments following a crisis, it is really important for a student to feel like they are cared for and the resources are provided for them in a comfortable environment.”

Smith said the plans for the SANE program have been in the works since March 2019. He said they have been fundraising since last semester, and Tiger Giving Day was a great opportunity to give students a chance to participarte in donating to the program.

Smith said they ran the day like a campaign to reach a wide variety of students across campus. He said their shared goal of certifying an on-campus nurse helped motivate them.

Daniel Leaphart, junior in geology, was the student project coordinator for the Keep the Martial Arts Club Kickin’! project. The club was raising money to afford more mats so all

participants could take part in the activities the club hosts.

“It was a successful day; we got most of the funds we were looking to get for this project,” Leaphart said. “I am really glad this worked out because now we have the money to be able to extend the area in which we get to practice with the mats.”

Reilly Cuccinelli, junior in industrial engineering, was a student coordinator for Help Auburn’s Clay Shooters Stay on Target. The goal of this project was to raise money to send students to compete in the National Clay Shooting competition in San Antonio, Texas.

The donations helped fund 10 students to go to the competition.

“It is a great system for student organizations or club sports to raise money,” Cuccinelli said. “Our sport is very expensive, and without funding from the school, it is hard to be able to afford these competitions.”

FUNDRAISING

Why AU Dance Marathon numbers went down this year

By VIRGINIA SPEIRS Campus Writer

Auburn University Dance Marathon recently raised a little over $350,000, which was $200,000 less than last year.

“We knew that, coming into this year, we were losing some large donors from previous years,” said Mitchell Irsik, senior in nursing and AUDM’s vice president for community outreach. “We knew this would impact our totals for this year. We [also] know that the impact we make is not defined by a number but by the way we change the Miracle Kids’ lives for the better.”

All the money raised throughout the year goes directly to the hospital for the kids.

Every year, many children from the hospital come to Auburn to socialize, dance and have fun with Auburn students.

Groups of students formed

ALLISSA STANLEY / PHOTOGRAPHER

Last year’s AUDM main event raised $568,417. This year, they raised $354,682.

teams by color and dressed in outfits to make the kids laugh and welcome them. The students who register and get to see the children face-to-face get to have a direct impact on the kids during the event.

“AUDM really focused on campus outreach this year,” Irsik said.

“We knew the positive impact we could have in future years by reaching out to as many people on campus as possible.”

Irsik said reaching out to students across campus could cause students who didn’t register or attend the marathon this year to potentially register and fundraise

next year.

“Our staff and participants worked year-round to raise as much possible for the hospital and for the kids,” Irsik said.

Irsik said she’s “not sure what will change about the event next year” in order to ensure they raise more money.

JAUNT » From 1

she said she was embarrassed to walk in late most days.

Harris admitted that these problems persist, but it’s not because of unsympathetic or sluggish drivers.

The program is not directly funded by the University, according to Harris.

This means jAUnt doesn’t have a budget large enough to pay more drivers, but Harris said the number is steadily increasing.

“I think we’re right at about 25 drivers,” he said. “We try to put out five carts a day, all day long, which is more than we did in the fall. We have a lot of drivers who carried over from last semester, but it’s ongoing. I think we hired another driver last week.”

Harris said that newer vehicles will likely address previous maintenance problems described by passengers. “[The carts] wouldn’t ever work half the time,” Preston said. “They would be running out of battery or inching up a hill. The number of times the driver would have to call the supervisor to bring another golf cart was the most aggravating thing.”

Harris reiterated these issues when discussing the old carts and said the new ones have more durable tires and have yet to break down while carrying students.

Five vehicles were added, doubling the size of the fleet. Three were replaced, and Transportation Services is awaiting the arrival of a new wheelchair-accessible cart.

However, Preston said it wasn’t solely cart failure that sullied her opinion of jAUnt; her drivers’ lack of care when shuttling her to class was also a serious flaw.

“The drivers were just super bad; they didn’t care,” she said. “It was more so they were trying to entertain themselves. They would fly across campus, jump curbs or go over bumps really fast.”

She said this carelessness also posed a danger to her ACL injury as her leg wasn’t supposed to bend or bounce while in a brace. She felt her drivers were apathetic toward this,

IRELAND DODD / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Auburn University jAUnt golf cart waits to pick up a student at the Haley Center on Feb. 26, 2020, in Auburn, Ala.

despite it being their job to look out for their fellow students.

“It was this whole escapade getting on the golf cart,” Preston said. “There wasn’t really a good way to get on it, especially with my leg not working, and they would not offer to help.”

Now that jAUnt is overseen by Transportation Services, Harris said drivers undergo training that makes them more aware of being courteous and thoughtful with passengers.

“We have training that they go through so that they understand what some of the Americans with Disabilities Act is about and how to properly assist passengers,” he said. “Without assisting too much, there is a line that even the ADA draws that says you don’t have to go past this line, but do your best to assist.”

He also stated that because of the office’s reach over the University’s transit systems, jAUnt drivers are frequently monitored on their behavior

by Transportation Services staff involved in other driving positions.

“The amount of eyes that watch our folks have changed,” Harris said.

“Unlike the guys at the Office of Accessibility who were probably in their office, I have eyes all over the place.

Anybody doing anything they’re not supposed to be doing, we get a report and we counsel them, and say, ‘This is why this is a bad idea.’”

Similarly, Preston remarked that

the drivers she encountered in spring 2019 were rarely cordial and recalls them telling her they were dissatisfied with their work. Harris said he believes current drivers exhibit integrity and that this must have shifted since last year.

“I give my drivers a whole bunch of credit,” he said. “It’s been raining a lot, and nobody’s called out of work saying, ‘I don’t want to drive in the rain.’

Part of the interview process [asks], ‘Why do you want to do this?’ A lot of them say people out there need help and they want to help.”

But at its core, jAUnt is considered a “courtesy service,” a term that Maxcy said she believes is condescending.

“They specifically say this is a ‘courtesy service,’ like we don’t have to do this for you,” she said.

But the wording is not intended to be demeaning, Harris said; it’s associated with ADA compliance. Saying it’s a “courtesy service” delineates whether a service on campus is required by federal law.

“The reason we call ourselves a ‘courtesy service’ is because we are unfunded — there is no budget for this,” Harris said. “It comes out of the Transportation Services budget. There’s a fine line when you’re talking about ADA and disability services. You can be a ‘courtesy service’ or you can be an ‘accommodation.’”

In the case of being an accommo-

dation, universities are asked to report more statistics on a provided service. Special phone lines and tracking equipment are required, and better mapping and scheduling software is needed, according to Harris.

The new fleets will have these features, but the old ones don’t, Harris said.

Transportation Services’ recent move from the TransLoc Rider app to DoubleMap was made primarily to enhance the Tiger Transit system, but Harris said it also allows jAUnt passengers to locate where active carts are if they enable tracking for them in the list of routes.

“We tried to make it more uniform on where we pick people up,” he said. “Each building has four sides, so if we’re not all on the same page, you could be at one of the other three.

So, we’re letting them know, ‘This is where we’re going to meet you,’ and that’s helped a lot.” jAUnt is also looking to overhaul its scheduling system by using a more efficient website it hopes to have ready next semester.

“All the scheduling would be done via the website, so the students won’t have to send us something and we hope we got it right,” Harris said.

“We’re getting the server set up, and it’ll probably go through AU Access.

We’re hoping it’ll come with a phone app eventually.”

“I am excited to see what the executive board for AUDM 2021 has in store for this amazing organization,” she said. “We have a very passionate group of students that work tirelessly all year to make as many miracles happen for our hospital as possible, and I know that they will do the same next year.”

This, he hopes, would eliminate students’ worries about being missed, which is the case with the current indirect scheduling method used. In the meantime, staff want to prioritize emails to instructors of students who don’t make it to class in time because of errors on jAUnt’s behalf.

“If there’s a delay, and it’s our fault, we’ll communicate with the professor, and we’ll say, ‘Yes, this is what happened, and we’ll do better,’” Harris said.

Preston faced communication troubles in registering for the service because her injury was immediate, but former rules told students they must submit medical documentation ahead of when they needed a ride. “[My mom] called the Office of Accessibility, and a guy said, ‘Sorry, she needs to fill out the form a week in advance,’” Preston said. “My mom was absolutely not [having it]. Basically, they got me a ride.”

A procedure for emergency rides in case of next-day jAUnt use is now in place under Transportation Services’ leadership. If necessary, the service allows students to request a ride to the Auburn University Medical Clinic to receive a diagnosis.

“If somebody hurts themselves the night before, they can call us and say, ‘Hey, I haven’t had a chance to get to the doctor; here’s where I’m at,’ we’ll give you a free ride,” Harris said.

These updates come all too late for Maxcy, though, whose experience with jAUnt has permanently affected her education at Auburn.

“I ended up dropping my art minor because I couldn’t afford the extra semester it’d cause me to have,” Maxcy said. “[Now,] I just kind of deal with having to walk that much.”

Harris hopes future students won’t have to take the same measures to ease their pain of getting around campus as jAUnt’s new policies are implemented.

“We want to run this as best we can to help the students,” he said.

“They’re here to get an education and some of them need extra help — we’re the extra help. Last semester was our first semester; there were some growing pains, but this semester I think is going much better.”

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020

The Auburn Plainsman

PAGE 5

INCLUSION

LOGAN ELLISON / PHOTOGRAPHER

After Auburn Basketball’s win against Tennessee on Feb. 22, 2020, fans celebrated by rolling Toomer’s Corner with toilet paper — with all the colors of the rainbow.

Spectrum, AJC host Roll Toomer’s Rainbow

By DESTINI AMBUS Campus Writer

After Auburn’s win on Saturday against Tennessee, the members of Spectrum and the Auburn Justice Coalition gathered on Toomer’s Corner with one goal in mind: rolling the trees. Any Auburn fan on a game day wakes up hopeful for a win so that they can roll Toomer’s in celebration. These members, however, had a slightly different idea in mind.

Instead of the streaks of white that usually paint the trees, they envisioned a little more color.

Roll Toomer’s Rainbow was born from the many “challenges and discomforts minorities face on campus,” said Lucas Copeland, programs director for Spectrum and LGBT+ Equity project manager for the Auburn Justice Coalition.

“I was thinking of a way that we could do something provocative, do something interesting and start a conversation about the experience of the marginalized on campus,” Copeland said.

With the support of the community and the Auburn Justice Coalition, the event took a little over a month to plan and execute.

The goal, Copeland said, was to provide a visual representation for the marginalized identities and their place on campus and in the community.

The hardest part was trying to find rainbow-colored toilet paper, according to Hannah Krawczyk, junior in public administration and AJC executive director.

“That’s actually a really interesting story,” Krawczyk said. “Lucas said it traveled through Spain, and I’m pretty sure it came from somewhere in the U.K. That was literally the only option we could find on the

internet. They sell it; we just had to look far and wide.”

The clubs set up tables and blankets to tailgate during the game on Saturday. The members sat with crossed fingers on Toomer’s as the seconds ticked down until an Auburn win.

While they sat, they played competitive cornhole and had an opportunity for people to express themselves by painting on a board that featured AJC’s purpose statement.

“Representing [and] empowering the diverse voices of our community. Rejecting the erasure of our identities,” it read, with various pride flags, rainbows and other symbols surrounding it.

“Does anyone know how to do this?” said one group member, as the seconds ticked down to Auburn’s win. When Google updated with the final score, the members excitedly grabbed reds, blues, pinks, browns

and more and ran to the trees.

As fans came to Toomer’s Corner from the game, they were faced with a slightly unfamiliar sight of colored toilet paper draped on the trees.

Fans came armed with white toilet paper, but didn’t seem to have any issue with the new colors that were already on the trees.

Many people stopped to take pictures exclusively with the colored paper.

“I’m so happy that other people joined in on the celebration,” Krawczyk said, “I can’t really put into words how I feel, other than that it’s just a great, amazing feeling. It feels like that recognition is there.”

Roll Toomer’s Rainbow is an event that members hope will happen again.

“I’m graduating soon, and this is kind of a test pilot,” Copeland said. “I really hope they’ll carry it on in the fall and next year in the spring.”

MIKE GETS IT DONE

ON HEALTH CARE PROVEN LEADERSHIP FOR AMERICA As Mayor of New York City, Mike Bloomberg helped expand health care coverage to 700,000 New Yorkers.

As President, Mike will get it done for Alabama families.

How Mike Will Get It Done: Create a Medicare-like public insurance option

MIKE WILL GET IT DONE. Election Day in Alabama is Tuesday, March 3rd

Cap health care prices and ban surprise medical bills Lower drug costs Protect access to care in rural areas Expand access to addiction treatment, especially to fight the opioid epidemic Paid for by Mike Bloomberg 2020

mikebloomberg.com

community THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020

6 THEPLAINSMAN.COM

COMMUNITY

FEATURE

Each day a new opportunity for Sen. Whatley

By TARAH YEAGER Community Writer

Sen. Tom Whatley begins each day bright and early at 4:30 a.m. For the next three hours, he focuses on personal business. At 7:30 a.m., he begins meeting with constituents from District 27, which includes Russell, Lee and Tallapoosa Counties.

Serving as a state senator means that no day is exactly like the next, Whatley said.

Sometimes, he’ll end the day in an entirely different location from where he started it.

“I can be at a meeting in Lee County dealing with healthcare at East Alabama Medical Center,” Whatley said. “I could be in Tallapoosa County dealing with an issue on education, or I could be in Russell County talking to somebody about the impact of the increase of soldiers at Fort Benning.”

When the Alabama state legislature is in session, his day begins just as early and can be just as unpredictable.

Whatley arrives at his office at 6:30 a.m., where he will have about an hour and a half to plan the day and examine what needs to get done regarding bills or the budget.

“Around 7:45 to 8 a.m., people start pouring in from all around the district and the state to meet concerning different bills that are before the legislature or different funding opportunities that are before the Budget Committee,” Whatley said.

Whatley currently holds a member position on the Committees for Finance and Taxation Education, Confirmations, Judiciary, Banking and Insurance, and Healthcare. He serves as the chairperson for the Committee for Agriculture Conservation and Forestry.

Whatley was born in Opelika and graduated from Auburn University with a bachelor of arts degree. He then graduated with his law degree from the Thomas Jones School of Law at Faulkner University.

He got a first glimpse of the political field when he participated in SGA at Auburn University, where he served as a senator and ran for SGA president.

He believes his experiences at the University allowed him to meet many different people that he now works with across the state and nation.

“Serving as a senator [was] really able to help me be able to be a better senator — not only for the state of Alabama, but primarily for Auburn and Auburn University and the research and development community,” Whatley said.

His professional political experiences range from serving as chief of staff for Chief Justice Tom Parker of the Alabama Supreme

CAMERON BRASHER / VIDEO EDITOR

Sen. Tom Whatley said he plans to run for reelection in 2022.

Court to working for the Alabama Public Service Commission.

He is also a veteran, earning the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Alabama National Guard.

Whatley made the decision to run for a seat in the Alabama State Senate in 2010 to represent his hometown.

His campaign was focused largely on one issue — one that had a connection to his home county.

“I chose to run because I thought we needed a fundamental change in the way we were funding education, and higher education was not receiving what I thought was its fair share of the money in 2010,” Whatley said. “I ran for the Senate to exert that leadership.”

He most recently ran for reelection and won in 2018, defeating Democrat Nancy Carlton Bedinger.

Senators of the Alabama State Senate serve four-year terms with no term limits.

“I do plan on running for reelection, as of right now,” Whatley said.

The next election will be in 2022.

Whatley finds that his career as an attorney has aided his political career as senator.

“Whether you [are] a farmer or a doctor or a civil engineer, you’re going to bring different parts of your career and your life to

bear upon the legislative process,” Whatley said. “Now I happen to be an attorney, and so when I am dealing with some legislation that is central to the practice of law, I can give my colleagues some advice on how I see that playing out.”

Whatley continues to identify education as the most significant issue facing the communities in District 27.

“Education and education funding and how it’s distributed is absolutely the number one issue facing our community,” Whatley said. “It deals with the economy of this area.”

District 27 contains multiple school districts, and Auburn University is the number one employer in Auburn. This makes education that much more of an important issue for Whatley.

“It’s what’s going to make sure people are employed, spending money and ... all the businesses that bring about that are able to flourish,” Whatley said.

Whatley hopes to focus the agenda on addressing education and continuing the work he started in 2010, especially for those who are underprivileged.

Whatley said that the unemployment rate and funding for education through taxes are strongly related.

Consequently, Whatley identifies the ed-

ucation budget and unemployment rate as important tools to shape the decisions of his work.

“The education budget now has grown because of the jobs that we’ve created for people, whether it be the six-figure job or the job in the $50,000–$75,000 range,” Whatley said. “By creating those jobs and creating opportunities for those jobs, we’ve been able to add $1 billion to the education trust fund.”

Whatley said his most memorable moment as a legislator is from the 2017 legislative session, during which he co-sponsored House Bill 284 with Rep. Jim Patterson. This bill required insurance to be made available for purchase to the families whose children have autism. These particular insurance plans would be required to cover medically necessary treatment for autism, including applied behavior analysis.

House Bill 284 was signed into law by Gov. Kay Ivey on May 19, 2017. Alabama is the 46th state to enact this type of law.

Whatley was named the 2017 Legislator of the Year at the annual Autism Law Summit, hosted by Autism Speaks and the Autism Legal Resource Center.

As a legislator, Whatley said the correspondence he has with his constituents makes the job exciting. Each day poses a different challenge, he said.

Whatley said one day, he’ll figure out how to fund a $7.5 billion budget for education, and the next day is spent listening to a constituent whose grandson is unhappy over school lunches.

“They’re calling us because they need something, and whatever issue it may be, whether it be $7.5 billion or whether it be a sloppy joe, we need to work to make sure that that constituent feels like we did what we could to help them with their issue,” Whatley said.

In addition to accountability with constituents, Whatley believes the most important aspect of his position is honesty.

It’s most important in this type of job, Whatley said, “to be honest with the people that are asking you questions about the concerns that they have.”

“Try to educate them about their own issues and how they can help in the legislative process,” he said.

But what’s most important, he said, is to “be honest with those that you work with every day.”

Whatley concluded with a small piece of advice.

“Always be truthful,” he began. “Work hard. Keep goals in front of you. Adhere to the Auburn Creed.”

POLICY

Governor reestablishes study group for lottery

By TARAH YEAGER Community Writer

Gov. Kay Ivey reopened the Governor’s Study Group on Gambling Policy by signing Executive Order 719 on Friday, Feb. 14.

“I am committed to, once and for all, getting the facts so that the people of Alabama can make an informed decision on what has been a hotly debated topic for many years,” Ivey said in a press release. “Without a doubt, there will be ramifications if we eventually expand gaming options in our state just as there are costs associated with doing nothing.

The purpose of the study group is to produce a report examining the current status of gambling operations in Alabama. The group will also look at the potential political, economic and social costs and benefits associated with different forms of gambling, according to the executive order.

The group will survey forms of gambling and the regulatory structures and practices that exist in each of Alabama’s four neighboring states.

Consideration will also be given to the forms of gambling that could be allowed in Alabama.

In the final report, members of the study group may give recommendations for legislation.

The group consists of 12 members which Ivey appointed. In agreeing to serve on the study group, each of the members must sign an ethics pledge attached to the order and serve without compensation or reimbursement.

Former Montgomery May-

or Todd Strange chairs the group.

Members were selected from across the state, including the Auburn area.

Phillip Rawls, a professor at Auburn University’s School of Communication and Journalism, was selected to serve on this study group

by Ivey and Nathan Lindsay, director of appointments for the governor’s office.

His career as a reporter spanned over 35 years with The Associated Press, where he covered state government and politics.

Rawls said he believes he was selected to be a member because he became familiar with gambling history and issues in Alabama through his career as a journalist.

“Every time I covered it in the legislature, there was more debate about where the money would go than whether a lottery was appropriate or not,” Rawls said. “I would expect the same to hold true for the future.”

General consensus is difficult to reach regarding where the funds produced from a system should be allocated, Rawls said.

Rawls noted the many different ways states have chosen to distribute the money raised.

“Some do college scholarships, some have it going to state agencies, some have it going to K-12 schools,” Rawls said.

Because there are so many different approaches, reaching an agreement has proven difficult in Alabama, which is one of only six states to not have a lottery system.

“Every so often, this issue resurfaces through a new form of legislation,” Ivey said in a press release.

NATALIE BECKERINK / LIFESTYLE EDITOR

The last time Alabama residents voted on a state lottery was in 1999.

“By my estimation, we’ve had more than 180 bills regarding a lottery or expanded gaming since the late 1990s.”

The last bill to be introduced became defunct in the 2019 legislative session because opposition arose regarding the legalization of gambling and concerns over where the funds would be allocated.

The last time voters were able to hit the polls on this issue was to vote on Gov. Don Siegelman’s proposal in 1999.

Task forces for gambling have existed and dissolved within the Alabama government ever since.

Despite failed legislation, people within the Auburn community have occasionally chosen to trav-

el to other states to play the lottery.

“I have definitely traveled to another state to play the lottery,” said Ken Ward of Opelika.

Caleb Flowers, originally from Abbeville, said he has driven to other states before, especially when the jackpot was high enough.

The study group must present the report no later than Dec. 31, 2020.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020

The Auburn Plainsman

LEGISLATION

PAGE 7

EDUCATION

Hudson family inspires literacy

By FIELDER HAGAN Community Writer

FILE PHOTO

“Aniah’s Law” aims to deny pre-trail release on bail to those accused of certain violent crimes.

Legislature progresses with bail-denying ‘Aniah’s Law’

By TARAH YEAGER Community Writer

A bill that aims to deny bail in cases of certain crimes has made progress through the Alabama House of Representatives.

The Alabama House Judiciary Committee has approved House Bill 81, which was sponsored by a group of 21 representatives.

The bill is commonly referred to as “Aniah’s Law,” named for Aniah Blanchard, a student at Southern Union State Community College who was kidnapped and killed in 2019.

The bill proposes an amendment to Section 16 of Alabama’s existing state constitution, which currently states that all persons are allowed bail before conviction, unless charged with a capital offense or the presumption or proof of guilt is ev-

ident.

Ibraheem Yazeed, who is charged with the kidnapping and killing of Blanchard, was already out on bond for charges including kidnapping, robbery and attempted murder in another case when the crimes against Blanchard were committed.

This legislation seeks to ensure that a suspect can be held without bond “if no conditions of release can reasonably protect the community from risk of physical harm to the accused, the public or both, or ensure the presence of the accused at trial.”

The bill would also restrict release for Class A felonies described in Chapter 6 of Title 13A of the Code of Alabama including homicide, assaults, kidnapping, sexual offenses and human trafficking.

Should the Senate vote in approval, the bill will move to Gov. Kay Ivey’s desk to be signed into law.

Tim Hudson, former Auburn All-American and MLB All-Star pitcher, and his wife, Kim, are continuing to serve their community with the addition of book boxes and reading programs to the foundation bearing their namesake.

The Hudson Family Foundation, a nonprofit organization, has been aiding the communities of Auburn and Opelika for over 10 years now, with 100% of donations received going directly to families and children in need.

The Hudson Family Foundation book boxes are designed and built by local home builders in the community and strategically installed in neighborhoods and businesses around the area.

The boxes are meant for children of all ages to be able to pick a book or two to take home and read or share with others in their communities.

Jenny Hall, director of operations for the Hudson Family Foundation, said the goal behind this initiative is to promote literacy and encourage the love of reading beyond the classroom.

“We want our book boxes to be a gathering place in a neighborhood or business, where books bring joy and foster conversation and interaction,” Hall said.

The book boxes are an extension of the program’s pre-existing Rookie Reader Program.

“The Rookie Reader Program pro-

motes literacy and encourages a love of reading from a young age,” Hall said. “We believe our book boxes encourage and promote reading and expand children’s literary horizons.”

Hall also said she believes these boxes promote general neighborliness and allow children and parents to meet those living near them while cultivating a spirit of generosity in the community.

Kim Hudson and Nancy Davis saw similar boxes in other communities and were inspired to include the idea into the program, Hall said.

“It just made sense; it was a perfect way to enhance what we were already doing,” Hall said.

The Hudson Family Foundation provides books to children throughout Alabama and Georgia, working closely with local schools, children’s shelters, community centers and after-school programs to provide educational and entertaining reading materials to as many children as possible.

The boxes have been placed throughout Auburn, Opelika and Waverly. Both the Waverly Town Hall and Community Center have boxes. The Opelika Sportsplex and The Curtis House have their own boxes.

Two boxes are located on North Dean at the East Alabama Lighthouse Dentistry and Pediatric Dentistry. Two more are located at residences located on Magnolia and Green streets. One more box is located at the Village Circle Apartments.

CONTRIBUTED BY THE HUDSON FAMILY FOUNDATION

The book boxes are designed and built by local home builders.

sports

8

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020

THEPLAINSMAN.COM

SPORTS

TENNIS

Dollman’s road to AU reflects in his game

By DYLAN FOX Sports Writer

COURTESY AUBURN ATHLETICS

Dollman was 31-1 during his high-school career in South Africa.

Oftentimes, an athlete’s playing style can tell a story about his or her past.

Whether it was coaching, injuries or a childhood idol, an athlete’s craft had to be slowly developed into a final product. In the case of Auburn’s Tim Dollman, his journey from South Africa to the Plains carried with it one of college tennis’ most unique skill sets.

Dollman had a career full of accolades back home, winning South Africa’s U16 Masters and reaching a 31-1 record in his high school career.

After his coach helped him get a spot on UAB’s tennis team, he vaulted himself to the top of his conference. He earned a 2017 Conference USA Freshman of the Year award and followed with a 17-2 campaign, a Men’s Singles record in his sophomore year.

Dollman’s journey to college tennis from Cape Town, South Africa is not new.

Wimbledon finalist Kevin Anderson made the same journey to the University of Illinois, where he was a three-time All-American.

“Of course [I watched him],” said Dollman when asked about Anderson. “He’s the best South African player.”

While Dollman is nearly a foot shorter than Anderson, they do share some on-court similarities, notably their backhands.

“The backhand is definitely my signature shot,” Dollman said.

It’s easy to see why.

His two-handed backhand explodes flat off of his racket, creating a sound that fans and coaches of the sport long to hear. He uses it to put away his opponents, driving it deep into the court.

His forehand, however, lacks the pop of its counterpart. His grip is aggressive, meaning that his swing will generate more spin at the cost of power. This type of forehand is often used by clay-court players, as the extra spin is needed to control the point. However, in the NCAA, all courts are traditional asphalt.

“My forehand is a bit unorthodox,” he said. “It’s a bit strange, because there’s no clay courts in South Africa, to come out with that kind of forehand.”

Dollman’s forehand developed as a complement to his backhand. As his backhand developed into the powerful weapon it is today, his forehand slowed down and increased in spin.

FOOTBALL

The sudden difference in shot speed, spin and placement is often enough to throw opponents off.

While Americans are credited with emphasizing Doubles’ strategy and skills more than the rest of the world, the NCAA gives only one point, compared to six for Singles’ matches in team play.

When watching Dollman at a college tennis match, its apparent that he doesn’t play in the Men’s Doubles’ matches.

“I haven’t really played Doubles much at all this semester,” he said. “I actually played with [Michael Durham] at regionals, and we did well because we each played a singles match at the baseline.”

In his Singles’ matches, Dollman prefers to sit at the baseline, waiting patiently for the chance to finish the point with his rocket-powered backhand. In the few instances he does come to the net, it’s because his opponent is on the ropes, with no hope of hitting a winning shot past him. Even in those instances, it’s clear that he lacks the touch of a traditional net player. The inspiration for his style became clear when he was asked who his favorite player was growing up.

“David Ferrer,” Dollman replied. “His game is one I hoped to model myself after.”

Ferrer was a Spanish-born player who recently retired after two decades on tour.

While he never did win a grand-slam title, he reached a rank of No. 3 in the world and won over crowds with his speed and defensive play.

“He definitely wasn’t the most talented player,” Dollman said of his idol. “But he worked hard for every ball, and that’s something I wish to replicate.”

Since Dollman arrived in Auburn in the fall of 2018, his game has continued to change.

While admitting that numerous injuries to his ankles and elbow have affected his play, he credits his coaches and teammates for helping him improve.

“Everything about my game has improved because the team and training level is so much higher,” Dollman said.

Dollman looks to be playing at the No. 1 Men’s Singles position for his senior season, a position often reserved for the team’s elite. With rankings as high as No. 93, he is primed to make noise in the Southeastern Conference this season.

Regardless of his record, Auburn fans will be eager to watch him play, change and improve this season — much like he has done his entire career, dating back to his Cape Town roots.

BASKETBALL

Sonny Smith to be inducted into Tenn. sports HOF

By CALEB JONES Sports Writer

CONTRIBUTED BY JIMMY REECE

Reece played end for Auburn back when offenses ran the Wing-T formation in the 1950s.

Auburn’s 1957 title team ‘special’ for Jimmy Reece

By LOGAN GLOVER Sports Writer

Walking past Jordan-Hare Stadium and looking upon the banners that hang, fans can see the two national championships Auburn claims, shining proud.

The one most people remember best is from the 2010 season, when Auburn beat Oregon 2219 in the BCS National Championship. That season is is full of familiar names such as Hesiman Trophy winner Cam Newton, Nick Fairley and the famous come-from-behind win over Alabama nicknamed the “The Camback.”

The other year listed on the banner is one that isn’t as well known, maybe simply because it’s not well-remembered.

It’s the championship that cemented Auburn as a yearly con-

tender in the sport of football.

The Plainsman sat down with Jimmy Reece, a member of that 1957 team that went undefeated and won the program’s first national title.

Football was a different game in 1957. Running the ball was a staple, while throwing the football for 10-plus yards was a big deal. Most of Auburn’s offense went through the Wing-T formation, allowing for the maximum amount of run blockers.

“I was an end, which is the same as a modern day tight end,” Reece said. “But you would have a left end, a right end and sometimes three at a time. The ends were the ones who would catch the ball because back then, there weren’t receivers. We mostly blocked though.”

This 1957 team wasn’t built on offense, though. It was built similar to what Auburn fans of

this past season were used to — a tough, defensive team that prided itself on being a brick wall.

It allowed only five total touchdowns all year, and one was a pick-six at the end of a game.

“All but one touchdown was allowed by our first-team defense,” Reece said. “The rest were allowed by the second team, except for the intercepted pass which was Mississippi State. But we had basically already won that game anyway.”

The teams that dominated football at that time were also quite different in 1957. Today, fans know the powerhouses of Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Oklahoma. While those programs were still prominent, the landscape was ruled by teams such as Georgia Tech, Duke, Iowa and Oregon State.

Auburn started 1957 ranked » See 1957 TEAM, 9

Former Auburn basketball coach and current men’s basketball color commentator Sonny Smith will be inducted and immortalized in the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame.

The legendary coach was recognized at the Auburn versus Ole Miss game Tuesday night for his accomplishment. He received a standing ovation from the Auburn faithful.

Smith began his career at East Tennessee State, where in two seasons led the team to an overall 3023 record.

Auburn hired Smith in the summer of 1978 and the team finished ninth in the SEC for three consecutive seasons. Future Hall of Famer Charles Barkley was coached under Smith from 1981-84.

In the 1983-84 season, Smith led

Auburn to its first NCAA Tournament appearance.

The following season, Auburn went 8-10 in conference play, and Smith had announced his intentions to retire following the SEC Tournament.

The Tigers then won four straight games in the tournament to win their first ever SEC Tournament and clinch a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year.

That year, Auburn made it to the Sweet 16 as an 11-seed before losing to 2-seed North Carolina.

Following the season, Smith decided to return to Auburn and would lead the team to its first Elite Eight appearance in 1986.

The five straight appearances in the NCAA Tournament under Smith from 1984-88 make up the longest streak in program history.

JOSHUA FISHER / PHOTOGRAPHER

Sonny Smith walks to a bus to head to the Final Four on Wednesday, April 3, 2019, in Auburn, Ala.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020

The Auburn Plainsman

PAGE 9

BASKETBALL

SOFTBALL

AU aims to rebound after 1-4 stretch

By HARRISON TARR Sports Writer

KATHERINE MILLER / PHOTOGRAPHER

Samir Doughty (10) drives to the basket against Ole Miss’ Breein Tyree (4) during Auburn basketball vs. Ole Miss on Feb. 25, 2020, in Auburn, Ala.

Tigers sweep season series vs. Rebs

By SUMNER MARTIN Assistant Sports Editor

In the first matchup between these two, it took overtime to settle the contest. This time around, 40 minutes was enough.

Auburn (24-4, 11-4 Southeastern Conference), with its true freshman Isaac Okoro returning to the starting lineup, remained unbeaten at home on the season, defeating Ole Miss 67-58 Tuesday night behind a smothering defensive effort.

The Rebels (13-15, 4-11) made only five 3s, shot just 34% from the field and finished 11 points below its season average against the Tigers’ defense. Breein Tyree, who entered the contest as the SEC’s leading scorer at over 20 points per game, was held to 16 points on 3-of-19 shooting.

“I thought it was a terrific defensive effort tonight,” Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said. “Kermit [Davis] has got six or seven really good players. They just don’t have a lot of depth, but they’ve got two of the best guards in the league in [Devontae] Shuler and Tyree. Tyree shot 3 for 19 tonight. That’s a couple times we’ve done a pretty good job against him. Give Samir Doughty credit. He was excited about guarding him.”

Seniors Austin Wiley and Doughty led

the way offensively for No. 15 Auburn.

Wiley recorded his 12th double-double of the season, finishing with 15 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, while Doughty poured in 14 points and added four assists giving him 11 straight games in double figures. Wiley scored nine of his team-high 15 points in the final 8:25 to seal the victory.

“I was just trying to secure the win to be honest,” Wiley said. “I was trying to guard them and play my hardest. I knew Ole Miss was going to keep pushing and try to make a comeback and a late game push, so I tried to play my best out there.”

“Austin was physically dominant in there, and that meant a lot,” said Pearl.

Okoro, who had been sidelined the past three games with a hamstring injury, managed just 10 points but was a factor on the defensive end.

“I felt pretty good just getting up and down the court,” he said. “Back playing with our guys, it was pretty fun.”

The freshman played 27 minutes Tuesday night, although Pearl said he only intended on playing him 16.

“It gives us a fighting chance against the best teams on our schedule,” Pearl said of Okoro’s timely return. “… The game was close in the second half, and he felt good, so we played him a little more and he helped us.”

Auburn led by as many as 14 points in

the first half, but Ole Miss continued to respond and stayed within striking distance down the stretch, switching up between zone and man defenses that frustrated the Tigers’ offense. Auburn finished with 14 turnovers.

Ole Miss pulled within two, at 41-39, midway through the second half, but the Tigers built their lead back up to 12 after Devan Cambridge’s fast-break slam and corner 3 extended the lead to 58-46 with six minutes remaining.

“We tried a layup to get to two (down) and missed it,” Ole Miss head coach Kermit Davis said. “That’s the reason we’re 4-11. That’s the reason Auburn is 11-4.

Samir Doughty and those guys have just made plays all SEC season long.”

Auburn sunk five of six free throws over the final minute to hold on and avoid collapse at home.

For the Tigers, it was their 16th win inside the Auburn Arena this season, marking the most in one season in the building’s 10-year history. They have now won 19 straight at home going back to last season.

With the win, Auburn kept pace in the conference standings and remains two games back of No. 8 Kentucky with a SEC showdown between the top two sides coming in Rupp Arena on Saturday.

Tipoff is set for 2:45 p.m. CST and will be televised on CBS.

Mickey Dean and the rest of the Auburn softball program returned to the Plains this week following a disappointing 1-4 showing in Palm Springs, California, that included two run-rule losses.

However, its skipper claims his squad was able to improve as the weekend went on.

“We know what we need to work on,” Dean said. “They aren’t things that we can’t correct.”

In addition to having the opportunity to improve their skill sets, Dean mentioned the confidence boost that was provided by the Tigers 6-4 upset of the No. 25 Northwestern Wildcats.

“I thought the Northwestern game was (a confidence boost),” Dean said. “We had to keep coming back. But our pitchers kept it close.”

His staff was in agreement.

Junior pitcher Lexi Handley echoed her coach’s stance on the big-time upset over the Cats.

“We did good things last weekend,” Handley said. “I think that win against Northwestern showed us that we can compete.”

After this weekend, Auburn now has the Tiger Invitational to turn its attention towards. The field is highlighted by the No. 18 Minnesota Golden Gophers, whom Dean said will provide his team with the opportunity to acquire experience against quality opponents.

“It’s a great opportunity,” Dean said. “We always want to be challenged, you know?

That’s the way you get better ...

We’ve got Minnesota coming in, who’s a Top-25 team ... It’s another good weekend for us.”

Handley agreed with her coach regarding the challenge that comes along with playing a talented Gopher’s squad.

“Minnesota went to the College World Series last year,” Handley said. “So I think them coming to town is really going to show us who we need to be and who we need to compete against.”

MARIE LIPSKI / PHOTO EDITOR

Justus Perry (18) during Auburn softball vs. Alabama State on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020, in Auburn, Ala.

Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award

NOMINATIONS

OPEN

LOGAN GLOVER / SPORTS WRITER

Each year, Auburn University recognizes the efforts of three individuals who represent our institution through their humanitarian leadership and contributions to the community.

Jimmy Reece on Feb. 15, 2020, in his home in Ozark, Ala.

1957 TEAM » From 8

“You know, we used to play Clemson a lot, basically every year,” Reece said of the Tigers from South Carolina, who have appeared in the College Football Playoff title game four times. “Now they are a powerhouse, but back then they were like a little sister school. A breather in our season. We never lost to Clemson. It just didn’t happen.”

Ralph “Shug” Jordan was Auburn’s leader, and Reece described him as a “gentleman’s” coach.

Standing tall above the practice field like a conductor, able to see everybody on the field at one time, if Jordan saw something he didn’t like,

he would yell the name of the position coach to tell them what was wrong and why.

According to Reece, Jordan was a caring coach that made sure his players got their education.

Reece didn’t go to college to play football; he played football to go to college.

“We didn’t score a lot of points, but our opponents didn’t score a lot on us, either,” Reece said. “We were well-coached and we worked hard. Shug made sure we were on the right track. We didn’t do anything special, but we were a good team.”

Reece now watches current head coach Gus Malzahn and the 2020 Auburn football team as a fan. But the Tigers will always hold a special place in Reece’s heart, he said

as he touched his 1957 national championship ring on his left hand.

“It meant a home away from home, a family away from your family,” Reece said of what Auburn meant to him. “I felt at home the whole time I was at Auburn and every time I have returned ... the coaches took care of the guys. If something came up you could go to a coach and they would be there for you.”

Even though he may no longer suit up on Saturday’s, Reece continues to make memories after all this time.

“It’s all the memories after I graduated — Bo over the top, Kick Six, Prayer at Jordan-Hare,” Reece said. “It’s wearing Auburn and getting a ‘War Eagle’ no matter where you are. That is Auburn.”

Recipients of the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award include one male and one female student from the 2020 graduating class as well as one non-student member of the campus community.

Faculty, students, staff, alumni and friends of the University are encouraged to nominate individuals they believe are deserving of this prestigious honor.

Visit for more information.

@AuburnStudents

studentaffairs.auburn.edu

THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2019

The Auburn Plainsman

PAGE 10

the jay and susie gogue performing arts center at auburn university

DON’T MISS THESE UPCOMING INAUGURAL SEASON PERFORMANCES Pablo Sáinz Villegas: Americano Trio Sunday, March 1 • 7:30 p.m.

Alfredo Rodríguez and Pedrito Martinez Duo Tuesday, April 7 • 7:30 p.m.

Matt Haimovitz and Simone Dinnerstein Tuesday, March 3 • 7:30 p.m.

Camille A. Brown and Dancers Saturday, April 18 • 7:30 p.m.

Sierra Hull Friday, March 20 • 7:30 p.m.

Zakir Hussain and Friends Tuesday, April 21 • 7:30 p.m.

Dover Quartet and Bridget Kibbey Tuesday, March 24 • 7:30 p.m.

Air Play by Acrobuffos Friday, May 8 • 7:30 p.m.

Tickets available now!

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lifestyle THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020

11 THEPLAINSMAN.COM

LIFESTYLE

BUSINESS

SOCIAL MEDIA

Students create following through ‘Hype House’

By EMERY LAY Lifestyle Writer

VIA SAMFORD FARMS’ FACEBOOK PAGE

Bobby and Joy Samford say their pimento cheese is the star of the show at Samford Farms, their small business.

Locals cook with hometown pride

By FIELDER HAGAN Community Writer

Bobby and Joy Samford say the pimento cheese is the star of their local business, Samford Farms.

“It’s one of those Southern cultural things that everyone has their own version of, like barbecue and sweet tea,” Bobby said.

Despite being known for their recipe, Bobby actually grew up thinking that he’d never like something like pimento cheese.

Bobby said coming up with the final recipe was fairly easy because if he and Joy made something and it was not good, their boys would not shy away from giving them that feedback.

“It was a team effort to try this and that in our recipe and with three kids all above 20 years old as a test kitchen,” Bobby said. “Then it got to their friends, and we got nothing but good reviews, so we decided to do something with this.”

Samford Farms provides a spicy version served with fresh jalapeno, but the regular version is their best seller.

Some clients ask to buy their pimento cheese balls frozen so they can fry

them.

Joy began making blueberry jalapeño preserves to pair with the pimento cheese to get a sweet and savory dynamic.

During the holidays, the Samfords also sold their bacon jam to complement their pimento cheese.

Bobby said that he and Joy have a huge heart for college students in Auburn.

To them, it’s all about connecting to the students in the area, and the pimento cheese is just a small way for them to reach them. Bobby tries to give those students a bit of home away from home.

“It’s kind of a prescriptive recipe,” he said. “If people try it and they say, ‘Ugh, it’s too hot,’ or ‘It’s not hot enough,’ we make a note of it with your name, and next time you get it, it will be as you asked for it.”

Now, the Samfords constantly have people in and out of their house, whether the guests be from church or work. These guests always tell the Samfords about how their pimento cheese builds a bond between them because it’s comfort food to them.

The Bean on Dean Avenue recently began selling both flavors of Samford

Farms pimento cheese, and Bobby said he has plans to market their pimento cheese to other shops and restaurants in the area.

“Joy and some of her friends were enjoying a coffee at The Bean when they began to wonder what food they could enjoy with their coffee,” Bobby said.

“Someone suggested pimento cheese, and everyone turned and looked at Joy.” Bobby’s great-great-grandfather, William James Samford, was Alabama’s governor from 1900 to 1901 and is most known for Samford Hall, which is named after him. Bobby’s father also served in the general council in Auburn for nearly 30 years.

The logo is a sketch of an old cabin that was on the Samford family property that used to date back to Civil War times.

“The story behind the cabin is that William J. Samford’s dad, who was a rabid secessionist, used to write urging the South to secede from the Union,” Bobby said. “Every time the Union troops would come through the South, they would come looking for him to take him back up North and put him on trial, but he hid in that cabin the whole time. He called it Stoney Lonesome.”

The love of millions of people worldwide, TikTok has been the talk of the town from news outlets to word of mouth in the past few years. Seemingly overnight, the social media platform skyrocketed in its number of members. Business Insider stated that it had over 1.5 billion downloads by the end of 2019.

Recently, this trend has been picked up by Auburn University students. Beginning this year, a group of male students decided to take to TikTok themselves.

Tagged as “The Auburn Hype House,” the group now sits at approximately 65,000 followers on the social media platform.

Mikey McCarty, freshman in exploratory, said that the idea started when a close friend reached out and pitched it to him.

“Austin messaged me and asked if I knew a bunch of guys that did TikTok,” McCarty said. “I was like ‘Alright, I’ll make a group chat,’ and that’s when I just added everybody that I knew — and people were adding people that they knew.”

Once the group chat was made, their friend Brodie created the account, and the rest was history.

Many of the members already had an exceptional amount of followers on their individual accounts, but A.J. Fitzpatrick, sophomore in electrical engineering, calls himself the “normal person of the group.”

Fitzpatrick credits his inclusion in the group to his prior friendship with McCarty.

The two were simply hang-

ing out when the idea for a video arose, and Fitzpatrick was included, he said.

“Everybody else around me is famous, but I feel like I just happened to be in the right place at the right time,” Fitzpatrick said.

While sometimes the success of an account is unexplainable, the guys in the group said they credit their large following to two things — the diversity of their friend group and the time the account was created.

“A lot of people commented about our diversity; we just have a lot of different faces in there,” McCarty explains.

Caden Prather, freshman in marketing, noted that they began the account at the perfect time, right before TikTok really took off as a social media platform.

“We just got on a trend and got on it right at the beginning before it started going up,” Prather said.

Unlike the original “Hype House,” an account on TikTok that has a following of 9.8 million, the group of friends do not all live in a giant house together. However, they do stay connected through their group chat and find time to meet up and make more videos.

The friends said their favorite TikTok has yet to be posted, but will be coming soon. The concept will give a nod to a well-known, beloved 90s show.

Ricky Vaughn, freshman in electrical engineering, added that they are looking into producing merchandise for the group to wear, and may eventually open it up for the public to purchase.

HEALTH

How the coronavirus is impacting Asian students at AU

By JIAJIA LIU Lifestyle Writer

The coronavirus is creating fear for many across the world. In Auburn, it’s no different.

There are more than 77,000 reported cases of the virus around the world as of publication, according to the World Health Organization.

In the United States, there have been 30 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, according to the Center for Disease Control. In Alabama, there have been no cases of the coronavirus reported.

Yet in Auburn, some Asian students told The Plainsman that they are experiencing microaggressions and racist interactions.

While many Asian students told The Plainsman that they haven’t experienced any such incidents, the ones who did experience it said the incidents were uncharacteristically unwelcoming for Auburn.

On Feb. 19, Luan Yen, a freshman from Vietnam majoring in supply chain management, was in her foreign language class when she said she saw a troubling interaction.

“My class only has me and one girl who is Chinese American,” Yen said. “At the beginning of our class, her partner always sits beside her. But yesterday, that girl

was sick. Suddenly, her partner changed … seats.”

Yen said the Chinese American student had a common cough.

Her throat was sore, so she didn’t speak, Yen said.

Everyone who once sat near to the Chinese American student suddenly moved away from her.

Only Yen continued to sit next to her.

Yen said the attitude of people around her changed immediately.

“No one talks about this, but when you are in the situation, you can feel this is racist,” Yen said. “I feel like this situation is terrible because when we divide people, the virus wins. I feel so sad about the racism. People shouldn’t divide Chinese people. They think all the Chinese have the virus.”

Yen said the Chinese American student is shy and that she didn’t say anything about the incident during class.

In January, Li Yang, junior in environmental design, said he experienced an uncomfortable situation when he went to a kickboxing gym in Auburn.

Yang said that he arrived at the gym late and went to go change in the bathroom.

The training session had 20 minutes remaining, but when Yang walked out everyone had left the gym.

There was only Yang, his coach

VIA UNSPLASH

A colorized microscopic scanning of coronavirus produced by the National Institute of Infectious Diseases.

and one of his friends who is Chinese in the gym. All of the other people in the gym, which Yang said was around 8, left.

“I think it might relate to coronavirus,” Yang said.

Yang said he feels like some Americans are OK with leaving when an Asian walks into a space.

Some Asian students told The Plainsman that they haven’t experienced any racist incidents and have seen no difference in the way they’re being treated since the coronavirus outbreak.

Hannah Hong is a freshman in pre-business from Vietnam. She said she hasn’t experienced any racist incidents and has been treated fairly.

“My American friends are cautious while we’re talking about this,” Hong said. “I think it is because I have nice American friends, and they know that it might hurt my feelings.”

Juliane Vo, freshman in pre-graphic design, is Vietnamese American.

She said she’s noticing how the coronavirus is creating a boundary among some Asian students and American students in her art history class.

“I feel like people … started [it] as a joke: ‘all Chinese students have coronavirus,’” Vo said. “It escalates from there [to] actual fear.”

Vo said that when the coronavirus began spreading, some inter-

national students felt uncomfortable in Auburn.

“I just feel like we are better as an Auburn family when we support each other,” Vo said.

Lily Wang, freshman in economics, is from Wuhan, China — the origin of the outbreak.

She recalls overhearing a conversation among several Chinese students about the coronavirus.

They were saying it started in her city because people there eat bats.

“They are using fake news to attack people from Wuhan,” Wang said. “I was feeling aggrieved, sad, in despair, depressed. Now, I am feeling more panic. I’m afraid to say to people that I am from Wuhan.”

The Auburn Plainsman

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