the spectator online edition, february 6, 2014
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The online edition of the Feburary 6, 2014 edition of the Spectator.TRANSCRIPT
February 6, 2014 W W W . V S U S P E C T A T o R . C o M VoLUME 86 iSSUE 3
Inside This Issue- oPinionS: “students want Fall Break back”
- FEATURES: “ads take viewers back in time”
- SPoRTS: “Blazers look to tame Paine lions”
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This Day in
History
A Queen is
Crowned
February 6, 1952
after King George Vi
passed away, following a
long struggle with illness,
Princess elizabeth was
pronounced Queen at the
age of 27.
Queen elizabeth has
reigned popularly since
and in 2003 celebrated 50
years on the throne. she is
only the fifth monarch to
do so.
also on this day: in 1911,
america’s 40 president,
ronald reagan, was born.
the first actor to be
elected to office, he soon
became known as the
“Great communicator.”
he is perhaps most
famously known for his
grit in foreign policy,
climaxing in his negotioti-
ation of the release of
american hostages in iran.
Source: History.com
harlem renaissance- dr.
thomas aiello will be giving a
presentation in Jennett hall
2211at 6:30 pm about the arts
during the harlem
renaissance.
gang risk- drs. James mar-
tinez and Jeremy tost will de-
liver a seminar titled “Gang
risk Factors, Gang member-
ship and academic readiness”
in Powell hall from 4-5 pm.
Today at VSU
Will Lewis / The SPecTaTor
Valdosta City and VSU emergency services respond to the scene of an accident, where Lizzy Lohmar was struck by a
car turning ontoPatterson Rd. The accident occured at approx. 12:30 while Lohmar attempted to cross the road.
award-winning actor and
bestselling author hill harp-
er will be visiting VsU on
Feb. 25 to deliver the
keynote address during the
final event of the “50 Years
of integration” celebration.
harper is best known for
his role as dr. sheldon
hawkes on the tV drama
“csi: new York.” harper,
who holds degrees from
prestigious schools such as
Brown University, harvard
University and harvard law
school, will speak on the
value of education and the
importance of building a
strong foundation for life, ac-
cording to a press release by
VsU’s office of social equi-
ty (ose).
tickets for the semi-formal
event that begins at 7 p.m.
are $15 for VsU students,
$25 for non-students, and
available for purchase until
Feb. 11 either at the ose or
from the website www.val-
dosta.edu/integration.
harper, a classmate of
President obama’s at har-
vard law school, is an ac-
complished motivational
speaker who frequently visits
schools across the country,
providing youth and young
adults with guidance and
support pertaining to educa-
tion, career goals and life in
general. he has been award-
ed numerous naacP image
awards for his acting work
and has published several
popular self-help books.
the event featuring harp-
er, which is officially titled
“celebrating 50 Years,”
marks the end of the year-
long proceedings commemo-
rating a half-century of racial
integration at VsU.
the event will also recog-
nize notable sponsors of the
newly-established
thomas/Pierce scholarship
Fund, which is named after
the first pioneers of integra-
tion at VsU and is intended
for first-generation college
students.
malynda dorsey, director
of the ose and chair of the
“50 Years of integration”
committee, hopes that the
events celebrating integration
will have a positive effect on
the students at VsU.
“Just as the changes that
occurred on the campus 50
years ago impacted the facul-
ty, staff and students, it is the
hope of the committee that
the schedule of events will
engage and impact the sub-
groups of today’s campus
community,” dorsey said.
VsU archivist deborah
davis said that while VsU
was reluctant to integrate its
campus 50 years ago, we are
now a shining example of
what true integration looks
like.
Hill Harper
brings
fame to
VSUJohn Stephen
c o P Y e d i t o r
See HARPER , Page 2
a VsU student was struck by a truck
while attempting to cross north Patter-
son street on Wednesday afternoon and
suffered substantial but non-life-threat-
ening injuries.
“our thoughts and prayers go out to
lizzie lohmar, her family and her Phi
mu sisters!” @Kd_VsU (Kappa delta
at VsU) tweeted at 5:07 p.m. on
Wednesday.
the 21-year-old female was transport-
ed to sGmc, and according to a mem-
ber of her sorority, she suffered from
multiple broken bones, a collapsed lung,
internal bleeding and head trauma.
Valdosta daily times reported that
michael laslie, a 21-year-old VsU stu-
dent, has been charged with failure to
yield to a pedestrian at a crosswalk.
laslie allegedly hit lohmar with his
truck while turning left at the intersec-
tion of east college street and north
Patterson street.
the intersection has been a cause for
concern to many students in the past.
“there have been many times where i
have had to catch myself before i got hit
by an oncoming car at that crosswalk,”
sarah Johnson, junior biology major,
said.
sierra schultz, senior legal assistance
major, said, “that intersection is so
scary; my prayers go out to her and her
family.”
Allison Ericsons ta F F W r i t e r
VSU student struck by car
while crossing Patterson
President William mcKin-
ney is reviewing a document
that will cement the indepen-
dent relationship between all
student media and VsU.
mcKinney has been con-
ferencing with his cabinet
and counsel, and they are ex-
pected to reach a decision
soon.
the student
Press law
center issued
the model
Guidelines for
college stu-
dent media in
2009. mcKin-
ney was hand-
ed the docu-
ment at a
communications Board
meeting on nov. 21, where
he said a decision could be
expected by Jan. 13.
mcKinney seemed excited
at the opportunity to formally
acknowledge the editorial
control of student media.
“You will really have to
search far and wide for a
more staunch defender of
first amendment rights than
me,” mcKinney said at the
nov. 21 meeting.
the media Guidelines will
provide a definite line sepa-
rating student media from ad-
ministrators’ power.
“students who work on of-
ficial, college-sponsored stu-
dent media determine the
content of their respective
media organizations and are
responsible for that content,”
the document read.
the guidelines would pro-
tect student media from any
administrative
repercussions for
content, barring
obscenity, libel,
material that vio-
lates an individ-
ual’s privacy or
causes major dis-
ruption on cam-
pus. most of the
activities mentioned in the
exemptions are already con-
sidered illegal under state
law.
the document calls for col-
leges to respect the freedom
of speech for student media,
even in regards to controver-
sial topics.
“college officials have a
responsibility to protect ad-
vocates of unpopular views,”
the guidelines read.
Will Lewise d i t o r - i n - c h i e F
McKinney considers
signing guidelines
for student media
See McKinney , Page 2
You will really have
to search far and
wide for a more
staunch defender of
first amendment
rights than me.- William mckinney
“
”
SGA weighs new
tobacco guidelines
an early look at the results
of the sGa’s tobacco survey
has shown that a majority are
against a proposed University
system ban of all tobacco
products.
the vote, as of monday,
reported that 42 percent of
486 students who responded
were not in favor of the poli-
cy, while 27 percent were in
favor of designated areas
around campus rather than a
ban.
27 percent favored the pol-
icy.
included in the proposed
ban are electronic cigarettes,
something that does not sit
well with many respondents
of the survey.
“electronic cigarettes are
safe, have no secondhand ef-
fects, and have saved my life
as well as thousands of oth-
ers,” wrote one respondent.
“to ban electronic cigarettes
would be like banning a nico-
tine patch. to do so is offen-
sive and frankly irresponsi-
ble. You would never ban life
rafts from cruise ships.”
another respondent cited
the safety of the area around
VsU.
“there is nowhere off cam-
pus that is safe or close
enough to access if the Uni-
versity bans outdoor smok-
ing,” that respondent wrote.
“this is my university too. if
you want people to stop
smoking, outlawing it on
campus isn’t the solution.”
“seriously, when every-
one’s worried about being
stabbed at night on campus, i
think you have more impor-
tant issues to address than to-
bacco,” wrote another.
the proposed ban, accord-
ing to the proposal, is meant
to “promote the health, well-
being and safety of our stu-
dents, faculty, staff, and visi-
tors,” and cited studies that
“have shown that tobacco use
has adverse effects among to-
bacco users and non-users
alike including respiratory
disorders, heart disease and
various forms of cancer with
a higher mortality and mor-
bidity rate.”
some respondents wrote
that, rather than a complete
tobacco ban, VsU could sup-
port smoking cessation pro-
grams instead, where smok-
ers would learn to completely
quit smoking.
the survey runs until Feb-
ruary 11th, and if passed, the
ban would go into effect in
July.
Joe Adgies o c i a l m e d i a e d i t o r
With financial limitationshalting many students’dreams, a group at VSU mayhelp those dreams come true.
the VSU 50 Years of in-tegration Planning Committeelaunched the thomas/PierceScholarship in honor of thelegacy of drewnell thomasand robert Pierce, the firsttwo black students to attendVSU (then Valdosta StateCollege).
the scholarship, accordingto dr. Maggie J. Viverette, di-rector of the office of SocialEquity, will be available tofirst-generation college stu-dents enrolled at VSU whoare in good standing and havea minimum gPa of 3.0.
“the number of award re-cipients will be determined bythe amount of funds raised,”Viverette said. “ideally theplanning committee wouldlike to establish an endowedscholarship that would pro-vide ongoing funds for the fu-ture awardees.
“the university is in theprocess of identifying donors
now. the Boddie McKnightLaw Firm of atlanta has com-mitted to a corporate sponsor-ship.”
in addition to the multipleevents held in honor of the50-year anniversary, “the con-cept for the scholarship wasinitially discussed by the 50Years of integration PlanningCommittee in January of lastyear,” Viverette said in anemail. “the goal of the com-mittee was to have a lastingimpact as an outcome of (the)university’s celebration of the50-year milestone.”
the significance of thescholarship is its ability tohelp students who would bethe first in their families to goto college but don’t have thefinancial means to do so.
according to the 50 Yearsof integration page on theVSU website, drewnellthomas, the first blackwoman to attend VSU, wasthe first in her family to at-tend college; however, at thetime, thomas didn’t knowhow she would pay for it. af-ter being offered a full schol-arship from the negro VoterLeague, she decided to attendVSC.
thomas graduated in 1967with a degree in sociologyand went on to earn a mas-ter’s degree in social workfrom atlanta University. Sheran for georgia’s district 39Senate post in 1988, 1990and 1992 and was heavilyendorsed by the atlanta Jour-nal-Constitution and other or-ganizations.
Without a scholarship,thomas, who graduated fromhigh school with honors, maynot have been able to furtherher education.
“We are the only schooloutside of the metro atlantaarea that has the same pro-portion of black and white
students as is reflected in therest of the state,” davis saidin a video clip on the “50Years of integration” website.“We have been, in a lot ofways, the most successful in-tegrators in the state.”
to find out more about the“Celebrating 50 Years” event,call the oSE at 229-333-5463.
HARPER
Continued from Page 1
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FEBRUARY 6, 2014
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Roommate Needed:$375 Rent Includes allutilities. Available:1 bdrmin a 3 bdrm house. LeaseJan through July.Email Ashley: [email protected]
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Feb. 4
a caller reported thesmell of marijuana com-ing from a georgia Hallroom. ryan J. Marianac-ci, 19, of Johns Creek,ga., was arrested andcharged with misde-meanor possession ofmarijuana.
a caller reported thathis Jeep Wrangler hadbeen broken into on thesecond floor of SustellaParking deck.
a caller reported thathis Mazda Miata hadbeen broken into on thethird floor of SustellaParking deck. an un-known amount of changewas missing.
a subject reported atheft from a motor vehi-cle.
another subject report-ed a theft from a motorvehicle.
a subject reported thetheft of an orange andblack gMC denali bicy-cle with curved racinghandles at West Hall.
a subject reported atheft from a Kia Spectra.
a subject reported thattwo black males, lastseen running towarddrexel Park, took his orher cell phone. trackingshowed the cell phone’slocation.
a student reported herJeep Wrangler had beenbroken into while on thefifth floor of SustellaParking deck.
a student reported thather MacBook Pro hadbeen stolen from herdorm room over theweekend while she wasout of town.
Feb. 2
a student reporteditems stolen from her carlast week while parked inthe oak Street ParkingLot.
Jan. 31
a subject reported hercell phone was stolen.
an ra reported thatshe smelled marijuana onthe second floor of geor-gia Hall. Eric t. nolfa ,18, of alpharetta, ga.,was arrested and chargedwith misdemeanor pos-session of marijuana.
Jan. 30
Jenna L. deblasio, 18,of Flowery Branch, ga.,was arrested and chargedwith misdemeanor pos-session of marijuana atthe Honors House.
a caller reported thathe believed a black malewith a beard wearing agray georgia Bulldogshoodie took his cellphone. the suspect wasdetained, and the proper-ty was returned.
Jan. 29
a student reported her1Card was stolen.
Feb. 8
the Valdosta Symphonyorchestra will perform Con-cert iii: Voyage of the imagi-nation at 8 p.m. tickets are$27 for adults and $10 forstudents. Senior and militarydiscounts are available.
Feb. 12
do you want to know moreabout the student organiza-tions and departments atVSU? Meet them on thePedestrian Mall between 11
a.m. and 2 .p.m. it's free.
Feb. 14
VSU's Campus Wellnesswill “go red” and encour-ages faculty, staff and stu-dents to wear and/or decoratetheir offices red. Submit per-sonal stories, heart-healthyrecipes and pictures to [email protected] with thesubject line “go red” tocommemorate the occasion,and you will receive a gored pin.
Upcoming Events
Beyond students, facultyadvisers are also protected.the document says that anadviser can’t be “fired, trans-ferred or removed from theirposition” because he/she re-fused to exercise control overcontent.
VSU administration wouldalso benefit from the deal. “as recognized by several
courts, the college assumesno liability for the content ofany student media overwhich it exercises no editori-al control,” the guidelinesread.
the SPLC is an organiza-tion with the goal of provid-ing legal assistance to studentjournalists across the country.according to their website,they have approximately 150lawyers working to defendstudents’ first amendmentrights.
MCKINNEY
Continued from Page 1
Police Briefs
Olivia McLeanM a n a g i n g E d i t o r
Integration Committeee introduces
honorary Thomas/Pierce Scholarship
Read the rest o f Ol iv iaMcLean’s s tory on the
web atwww.vsuspectator.com!
february 6, 2014 vsuspecTaTor.com | paGe 3OpiniOns
Opinions expressed in the spectator other than editorials are the opinions of the writers of signed columns and not necessarily those
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those of the Valdosta state University administration, faculty and staff.
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Spectator Staff
americans have recently
been enveloped in fierce de-
bate over a matter of life and
death−forced life, that is.
when, if ever, is pulling
the plug on life support the
right thing to do?
in November,
Marlise Muñoz, a
texan resident ex-
pecting a baby, was
deemed brain dead
after her husband er-
ick found her uncon-
scious due to a blood
clot. she was put on a venti-
lator that kept her heart and
lungs working.
By texas law, the texas
advance Directives act, “a
person may not withdraw or
withhold life-sustaining treat-
ment under this subchapter
from a pregnant patient.”
However, Marlise Muñoz
previously requested to not
remain on any “life-sustain-
ing treatment.” Both the
Muñozes were paramedics
and knew the strain that life
support could place on fami-
lies.
the family recently won a
case against texas to have the
plug pulled on Marlise’s life
support, which subsequently
led to her death. Her family
has since been working to
move on from this tragic or-
deal.
Marlise’s baby was deliv-
ered by C-section while
Marlise was brain dead and
on life support. Her son is
currently 15 months old.
in another case, 13-year-
old Jahi McMath of Oakland,
Calif., underwent a surgery in
December that removed her
tonsils, adenoids and extra si-
nus tissue, which was said to
cause sleep apnea. Complica-
tions occurred that would
lead doctors to declare Mc-
Math brain dead.
the Children’s Hospital of
Oakland issued a statement
saying they do not “believe
that performing surgical pro-
cedures on the body of a de-
ceased person is an appropri-
ate medical practice.”
On the other hand, Mc-
Cath’s mother, Naliah wink-
field, was not convinced that
her daughter was dead.
“i would probably need for
my child’s heart to stop to
show me that she was dead,”
winkfield said.
the family took the case to
court to prove McMath
showed signs of life, a fight
that the family eventually
won. Jahi was recently
moved to an undisclosed lo-
cation for further treatment.
the issue of life support is
a high-energy, ethical discus-
sion that has its highs and
lows. i feel that life support
is something that should be
temporary but needs to be
looked at on a case-by-case
basis.
if the family can bear the
emotional and financial
strain, the decision should be
up to them and not the med-
ical facility or the law. How-
ever, i wouldn’t put any fam-
ily through such an ordeal for
an extended time
unless the rela-
tives desired to
continue the life
support.
the cases
of Marlise and
Jahi exhibit the
different paths families take
when a relative is put on life
support. Muñoz knew from
her profession that life sup-
port was something she did
not want to participate in.
McCath’s family felt that
their daughter should remain
on life support and receive
treatment.
each decision was different
from the other yet both were
equally sincere.
the infamous tale of
George Zimmerman, the vigi-
lante who was acquitted of
the killing of trayvon Martin,
may be taking an even more
bizarre twist, one that might
involve boxing gloves.
the trayvon Martin and
George Zimmerman case
caused a huge uproar across
the nation and seemed to be
relevant in the media for a
great portion of 2013.
shortly after being found
not guilty, Zimmerman was
right back in the social media
spotlight for being arrested
on accounts of pointing a gun
at his girlfriend. He was re-
leased shortly after, and for a
minute it seemed as though
Zimmerman had finally de-
cided to lay low and stay out
of the public eye.
i guess we all should have
known better because Zim-
merman has yet again set so-
cial media ablaze. there have
been many rumors going
around alleging a celebrity
boxing match between Zim-
merman and various artists.
the Game and DMX are pos-
sible opponents that were
brought up to supposedly get
in the ring with Zimmerman.
Zimmerman says he will
donate all proceeds to charity,
while the Game simply
would like to “knock him
out” and teach him that you
can solve your disputes with-
out a weapon. with the
Game standing at about 6
foot 5 inches and weighing in
at 240 pounds, Zimmerman
may have his hands full.
regardless of who wins,
one may wonder what result
will come of this event?
what exactly is this fight
solving?
Zimmerman will still live
in infamy for the rest of his
life. the Game and DMX
will still have ill feelings to-
ward Zimmerman, and the
Martin family will still miss
their deceased loved one.
the Game has publicized
his strong feelings on the
Martin case time and time
again, even getting trayvon’s
face tattooed on his body. we
all know that the Game was
outraged at Zimmerman’s
verdict.
if the Game thinks that
boxing another man to teach
him not to be violent will
work, he should think again.
it is kind of ironic that both
the Game and DMX have
written many rap songs about
violence, guns, and fighting
but now all of a sudden think
three rounds in a ring with
Zimmerman will be a good
thing.
i find this fight quite disre-
spectful to the family of Mar-
tin. Not only do they have to
spend the rest of their lives
missing their loved one, but
now they also have to hear
about, read about, and even
see on tV the man who had a
hand in trayvon’s demise.
if any celebrity really
wants to help the Martin fam-
ily, they should use his or her
celebrity status to get the
“stand Your Ground” law
amended.
it seems as though fall
Break will not be return-
ing to the schedule, to
many students dismay.
the suggested revisions to
the schedule made by the
academic schedule Com-
mittee include a four-day fi-
nals week with dead day
still present. it still has to be
approved by President McK-
inney and the faculty sen-
ate.
in November of last year,
the student Government as-
sociation held a survey and
collected over 3,000 votes
and found that the majority
of students were in favor of
bringing back the four-day
weekend break.
the break, which allowed
time off in October and gave
students time to kick back
and relax, was removed and
replaced with a full week off
for thanksgiving. this
change sounds great but
means there is no break
from september until the
end of November.
By going forward with the
plans to still omit fall
Break, a few questions arise.
is the administration listen-
ing to the students? are stu-
dents going to continue to
voice their opinions if they
feel it’s no use? are students
getting all the information
needed to have an educated
opinion?
Having both the full week
for thanksgiving and the
four-day weekend that is
fall Break means that class-
es would either start earlier
or go on later into our win-
ter break, an alteration that
seems only fair, especially
since our winter break is
longer than some other uni-
versities.
administration officials
should listen to the students.
if fall Break is something
that the students want, then
the administration should
take a serious look at the
ways to make that holiday
happen.
when students organize
and get a voice behind an is-
sue that’s important to them,
it should be met with a for-
mal acknowledgement and
active developments. How-
ever, students are not to be
discouraged when the ad-
ministration does not re-
spond properly. students
should still continue to vote
and express their opinions
on the issues and decisions
that ultimately affect them.
the faculty senate is ex-
pected to vote on the deci-
sion of fall Break during
their next meeting, which is
scheduled for feb. 20. the
faculty senate is thought to
be deeply divided, meaning
this vote might be close. the
students have as much rid-
ing on this vote as anyone
and will be eagerly waiting
to see if our voices have
made a wave.
This editorial was written by a member of the editorial staff and it expresses the general opinion of the editorial staff.
Our point of view...
Students want fall break back
Check out the Video People Poll online at: youtube.com/ValdostaSpectator
Zimmerman goes toe to toe People Poll
Do you think youvoice is being heard
on campus?
Finding support for life support
in the words of Kristen
wiig in the movie Brides-
maids, “Help me. i’m poor!”
according to the U.s. De-
partment of Labor website,
the last minimum wage in-
crease occurred in 2009 after
Congress passed the fair
Minimum wage act of 2007.
this act occurred in three
steps. Minimum wage in-
creased to $5.85 per hour on
July 24, 2007; to $6.55 per
hour on July 24, 2008; and to
$7.25 per hour on July 24,
2009.
Now, five years later, Pres-
ident Obama proposes anoth-
er minimum-wage increase.
as a part-time employee and
full-time student, i am ecstat-
ic about this proposal.
will this change be as posi-
tive as i dream it to be or will
such a law further wreck our
economy?
after a downward spiral in
the economy, Obama believes
americans and the economy
are on the mend. while his
proposal for a minimum-
wage increase has stalled in
Congress, Obama plans to is-
sue an executive order that
will increase minimum wage
for workers under new feder-
al contracts.
Obama wants to work with
Congress to raise the federal
minimum wage for all work-
ers from $7.25 to $10.10 over
three years.
a few states have already
raised their minimum wage
and President Obama urges
others to follow their exam-
ple. while other states have a
choice to jump on the band-
wagon early, President Oba-
ma will make it happen re-
gardless of what states do
right now.
Our economy is constantly
changing, which means we
must change as well, but let’s
take a realistic look at this
proposal.
the main concern is that
the proposal will discourage
employers from hiring more
workers. with small business
owners having to pay their
employees more per hour,
they may downsize their
staff. this increase in mini-
mum wage may put thou-
sands of young adults out of
work.
additionally, a wage in-
crease would force business-
es to raise their product
prices to match the increased
wages, eventually costing
customers more money. and
if people working low-end
jobs get a raise, won’t people
that have a degree in their
field want a raise as well?
as great as a $3 raise
sounds, it’s faulty. thousands
of citizens will lose jobs due
to a lack of money−money
President Obama thinks busi-
nesses can pull out of their
back pocket.
i would love an increase in
my hourly wage. However, i
have to explore all aspects of
this plan, not just the parts
that help me. is what’s good
for the goose really good for
the gander?
Minimum wage:Extra money comes with a price
Isaiah Smarts ta f f w r i t e r
Tyra Millss ta f f w r i t e r
[email protected] The Game
thinks that boxing
another man to
teach him not to
be violent will
work, he should
think again.
Jordan Hill s ta f f w r i t e r
Jalane Farrington/ The SPECTATOR
PAgE 4 | vSUSPEctAtoR.com FEBRUARY 6, 2014f e a t u r e s
THE SPECTATORRecruiting For Spring 2014
Positions Available:ADVERTISING SALESPHOTOGRAPHERS
WRITERSWEB DESIGNERS
GRAPHIC DESIGNERSMOBILE APP DESIGNERS
Email:Aimee Napier, Advertising Sales Manager, [email protected]
Scan Here For Details onPositions & How to Apply
or Use:http://qr2.it/Go/2351938
Ads take viewers back in time
the Super Bowl is known
not only for its football but
also for its commercials.
every year millions of people
tune in to the Super Bowl for
its funny, touching and heart-
felt commercials.
Unfortunately, the 2014
Super Bowl was a let-down.
Both the game and the com-
mercials were a little lacklus-
ter. few commercials made it
to the Best List.
the best Super Bowl 2014
commercial was by far the
Budweiser commercial,
“Puppy Love.” it featured a
golden retriever puppy that
has to leave his best friend,
which happens to be a horse.
Some of the other good Su-
per Bowl commercials were
from radioShack, Doritos
and M&M’s.
radioShack’s commercial
featured ‘80s celebs Hulk
Hogan, Chucky, alf and the
California raisins reclaiming
their old items and preparing
a store for the future. the
Doritos commercials never
disappoint, especially this
year with “the time Ma-
chine.”
another favorite was the
very popular M&M’s com-
mercial. Split into two parts,
viewers were left wondering
what would happen to the
lovable yellow M&M.
One commercial evoked a
sense of nostalgia when it re-
united characters from the
popular ‘90s sitcom, “full
House.” the Dannon Oikos
commercial, “the Spill,”
seemed very risqué at first,
showing John Stamos and a
beautiful woman seductively
eating (or rather, spilling) yo-
gurt. However, when Stamos
was interrupted by Bob Saget
and Dave Coulier, the trio
created a laugh from the
good old days.
a few commercials seemed
to go straight to the heart.
“america is Beautiful” by
Coca-Cola was touching, and
it created a sense of america.
Microsoft’s “empowering”
commercial was very moving
with its look at some innova-
tions that continue to change
people’s lives. “a Hero’s
Welcome” is another tender
commercial that hits home
with many families around
america that have loved ones
in the military.
the Worst List seems to be
heavy this year, with the Go-
daddy.com commercial lead-
ing the pack. the commercial
featured NaSCar driver
Danica Patrick and several
buff men running around in
the street; it didn’t make
much sense.
another commercial on the
Worst List was the axe body
spray commercial. it was
very misleading. at first, it
seemed to be about romance,
and it was a surprise to find
out it was actually about
body spray.
Lastly, the Chevrolet com-
mercial was nothing special.
it was about a man, a truck
and a job to complete.
Abbie BaggerlyS ta f f W r i t e r
Courtesy of RadioShackSeveral eighties pop-culture icons are featured in Radio Shack’s
Super Bowl commercial.
Nostalgia sparkedby Visitation Day
a light breeze brushed
across my graphic t-shirt, the
sunrays tugging at my bas-
ketball shorts and the Span-
ish architecture welcoming
me to the university i’d call
home for the next four years.
Welcome to Valdosta State
University.
My first time visiting the
VSU campus was during ori-
entation. i did not visit the
school prior to coming be-
cause, like many of us, i did-
n’t intend to be a VSU stu-
dent.
i was supposed to be a stu-
dent at the art institute of at-
lanta or Johnson & Wales
University (North Miami
campus), but due to sacrifices
made for my family, i chose
VSU.
Orientation could be the
most deceptive day i’ve wit-
nessed in Valdosta, at least
heat-wise; it was a mild day
with rain in the forecast, al-
though only a few scattered
clouds materialized.
as we toured the campus, i
took notice of all the small-
scale wonders of VSU−the
palm trees, the new Student
Union and Georgia Hall.
What really spoke to me
was the glamour of the Span-
ish mission architecture.
Having always been interest-
ed in design and architecture,
i loved the overall look of a
campus that was sprinkled
with palm trees.
this Saturday, prospective
students and guests will ar-
rive at this same campus, but
they will experience a much
more beautiful campus than i
originally witnessed.
ashley Hall is newly reno-
vated, including an attractive
front courtyard. We also have
a fairly new psychology
building, art installations
scattered around campus, and
of course, who can forget the
bread-winner of them all−the
front lawn.
this weekend’s guests will
be shown the wonders of the
Student recreation Center
and all parts of the main
campus, including the resi-
dence halls that we hope they
will be living in by fall
2014.
My first visit to campus
was quite nice; i managed to
avoid the forecasted rain and
the blazing heat.
We all know how unpre-
dictable the weather here can
be (especially lately), but
hopefully Valdosta will be on
its best behavior. i hope those
who arrive on campus Satur-
day morning will share a
VSU experience that is simi-
lar to−or even better
than−mine.
Go Blazers!
Isaiah SmartS ta f f W r i t e r
What really spoke
to me was the glam-
our of the Spanish
mission architec-
ture.- IsaIah smart
“
”
Watch out, cancer!
tuesday night in the Uni-
versity Center rose room,
there was standing room only
at the VSU relay for Life in-
terest meeting.
Hosted by VSU relay for
Life committee members, the
meeting was designed to get
students and potential partici-
pants pumped up for this
year’s event.
You could feel the energy
in the room as participants
yelled this year’s relay slo-
gan, “Game over, cancer!”
Committee members re-
warded the crowd’s enthusi-
asm by throwing relay for
Life bracelets. additionally,
the team captains of the first
18 teams registered were re-
warded with purple water bot-
tles.
attendees varied from ex-
perienced relay-for-Lifers to
newcomers, and many teams
had registered before the
meeting took place.
teams that achieve a cer-
tain participation level will
have the opportunity to fea-
ture their logo on event t-
shirts. teams receive partici-
pation points for various ac-
tivities.
During the meeting, com-
mittee members brainstormed
fundraising events for teams
to participate in throughout
the semester, leading up to the
relay on april 11.
the committee also dis-
cussed holding an event
called “Painting the town
Purple” a week before the re-
lay. “Painting the town pur-
ple” means making the cam-
pus relay-friendly by hang-
ing purple ribbons or chalking
the sidewalks.
relay for Life is affiliated
with the american Cancer So-
ciety. its purpose is to raise
funds for cancer research, to
promote cancer awareness
and to honor those who have
battled cancer. Participants
work in teams to raise funds
for the american Cancer So-
ciety
to donate or register a
team, visit
www.relayforlife.org/vsuga.
Jessica IngramS ta f f W r i t e r
Students and faculty gathered to listen to American poet, Andrew Hudgins,
read excerpts from his memoir, “The Joker,” on Wednesday in the Student
Union Theatre. It was part of the Department of English Contemporary
Writer’s Series. Hudgins is a distinguished professor at Ohio State.
Summer Yates/THE SPECTATOR
Poet speaks at VSU
Students say ‘game over’ to cancer
Happy
‘Tator Day!
MCT Campus
OddEven
PAgE 5 | vsUsPEctAtoR.comSportS
FEBRUARY 6, 2014
Wheels up to Alabama
After dousing the Flames
in their last outing, Valdosta
state (12-5) is on the road
looking to tame the west Al-
abama tigers (10-8) thurs-
day night.
the Blazers came back
from 17-point deficit to
cruise past Lee Feb.1. Jalen
Crawford scored 16 of his 24
points in the second half and
Blake Justice, who was dor-
mant most of the night, erupt-
ed for 19 second-half points
and made five of seven three-
pointers in the game-chang-
ing run.
VsU looks to continue its
winning ways against the
tigers, who have dropped
their last three games.
in the teams’ last meeting
Jan. 4, the tigers hung
around most of the contest
before the Blazers were able
to pull away for a 93-83 vic-
tory.
UwA leading scorer
Desmond raymond played
exceptionally well against the
Blazers. raymond scored 28
points and a season-high six
three-pointers in the last
meeting.
Blazers head coach Mike
Helfer praised raymond’s
scoring ability.
“He’s a very efficient scor-
er,” Helfer said. “it looks like
it comes easy to him. we
need to contest his shots but
not be so far out that he can
go by us easily. He’s one of
the top guards in the GsC.”
though raymond is now
UwA’s leading scorer, swing-
man sandy Underwood led
the team in scoring leading
up to the first matchup. with
Underwood being held to
just four points of two-of-10
shooting, forward Lleon till-
man stepped up with a sea-
son-high 19 points and
grabbed 10 rebounds against
the Blazers.
when asked about his plan
to contain those players,
Helfer believes doing so is all
the team can accomplish
heading into thursday’s
game.
“[Underwood and tillman]
are very good players and
containing them is a good
term,” Helfer said. “You can’t
stop them both, but hopefully
you can make them work
hard for their points and wear
them down a little.”
the Blazers won their last
two games to finish their
three-game home stand and
have done so by altering their
offensive approach.
with their early struggles
from beyond the arc, Helfer
has decided to employ a drib-
ble-drive offensive attack, a
style UwA also excels at.
“the dribble drive puts us
in a mentality of attacking the
basket,” Helfer explained. “it
puts a lot of pressure on the
defenders to play without
fouling. For those exact rea-
sons, west Alabama is very
difficult to guard.”
Blazers guard Jalen Craw-
ford expects a well-prepared
UwA team thursday night.
“we expect them to come
out aggressive,” Crawford
said. “they’re going to
try to beat us early. we’ve
got to withstand their first
couple of runs, and if we do,
we can win on the road.”
tip-off is scheduled for
8:30 p.m. from pruitt Hall in
Livingston, Ala.
Follow shane on twitter:
itsA_thomasthing
Shane Thomass p o r t s w r i t e r
Jalen Crawford drives the lane during last Saturday’s game
against Lee. Crawford finished with 24 points.
Sierra King/ The Spectator
VSU tennis pumpedfor tough competition
the men’s tennis team started
off their season with a loss to
UsC Aiken (the team they
also fell to in last season’s fi-
nal match), with the women’s
team on the side cheering
their fellow Blazers on.
Although it was a loss, the
team discovered how to work
and bond together and real-
ized who the leading players
will be for the rest of the sea-
son.
After losing to Barry last
season, the men travel to Mi-
ami shores, Fla., where they
will take on arguably their
toughest competitors for the
season.
the biggest challenge for
the men’s team to overcome
this season is the two players,
Niklas Herbring and Joachim
schemm, injured and work-
ing hard to get better in order
to participate in matches.
“in tennis you only have so
many guys, so when you take
two of the top six out, you
get hurt,” head coach John
Hanson said.
the men’s team competes
against the defending national
champions Barry University,
along with matches against
GCsU and Young Harris Col-
lege.
the players are enthusias-
tic about these upcoming
matches, working to climb
their way to the top spots in
the division.
After losing to Barry last
season, the men’s team is
challenged and encouraged to
make the results for this
match an improvement for all
the coaching staff and other
teammates.
the women’s team is excit-
ed for their opener this week-
end, with hopes of a change
from past seasons.
Hanson feels very encour-
aged about having four fresh-
men joining the women’s
team and is expecting to see a
major difference in perfor-
mance during the 2014 sea-
son.
“we have a good foundation
to build on, and i think
they’re going to be great,”
Hanson said.
with the amazing bond that
the players and coaches have,
the 2014 tennis season should
turn out to be a success for
both teams, with the players
and coaches accomplishing
all the goals that were set for
the year.
this
weekend’s matches do not
discourage the players, nor
make the guys nervous to
play defending national
champions; it motivates them
and excites them, making the
journey to nationals a fun ex-
perience.
“it’s going to be a tough
match, but if we get on point,
we’ll have a chance to win,”
junior Niklas Herbring said.
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SudokuANSWERS
Lia Armisteads p o r t s w r i t e r
Want to be a sports
photographer?
email: epjackson
@valdosta.edu
Follow @BlazerSports
on Twitter
Page 6 | vsusPectator.com February 6, 2014S p o r t S
Freshman Chelsea Canaraearns Player of the Week
Valdosta State (2-0) is
looking to continue their blis-
tering hot start to the season
as Paine College (0-3) comes
to visit the friendly confines
of Billy Grant Field for a
three-game series starting
with a doubleheader Saturday
at 1 p.m. and a final game
Sunday at 1 p.m.
VSU enters the weekend
with the bats blazing, putting
up 28 runs on 27 hits through
the team’s first two games.
And the gloves have been
just as hot as the bats early in
the year, with only one error
in 74 total chances, good
enough for a team fielding
percentage of .986.
Three Blazers are currently
batting .500 or better: junior
Bryant Hayman, senior Jim-
my Dowdell and RS fresh-
man Matt Fitzsimmons.
The season is still young,
but the first weekend couldn’t
have started much different
for these two programs.
For the Paine Lions, they
look to really get their season
going after a rough outing
this past weekend after being
swept at Flagler by a com-
bined score of 42-1. This in-
cludes an 18-0 blowout loss
that saw four of Flagler’s
pitchers combine for a no-hit-
ter.
Going only 7-78 in their
opening series, Paine enters
the weekend with a team av-
erage of only .089, and with a
team earned-run average of
14, things can only go up
from here for the Lions.
Regardless of what the
stats say, VSU head coach
Greg Guilliams knows his
team can’t take Paine for
granted.
“Anybody can beat any-
body,” Guilliams said.
“Hopefully it still being early
in the season, our guys still
understand that we are trying
to get better. And it shouldn’t
matter who the opponent is.”
Coach Guilliams knows
what it takes to win as last
year he led the Blazers to its
second Gulf South Confer-
ence championship in the
past four years.
So what he’s been preach-
ing in practice early this sea-
son should come of no sur-
prise.
“It’s always a lot of fun to hit
and score runs, but the thing
we have really been trying to
focus on this season is doing
a better job with our pitching;
If you can pitch and play
good defense, you’re always
in the game.”
Manning the mound for the
Blazers will be senior lefty
Josh Mann, junior righty
Dom DeMasi with the third
starter being decided later in
the week.
Quality starts is what coach
Guilliams is looking for. If
his starters can give him that,
he feels confident with the
series at hand.
“We respect every oppo-
nent,” Guilliams said. “But at
the end of the day, if we just
do the things we do well,
then we’ll be fine.”
Follow Chris on Twitter:
@CTRSWebb
Age is nothing but a number.
This expression is also the
mantra of newcomer Chelsea
Canara.
The freshman phenom
went hitless in her first colle-
giate doubleheader this past
weekend in Pensacola, yet
assisted her team by driving
in four runs as the Blazers
split against Midwestern
State.
In the following double-
header against Southern
Arkansas, Canara's first hit
was a RBI double in the sec-
ond inning of game one.
Her next at-bat was a base-
clearing grand slam that
pushed the Blazers ahead to
seal the win.
The Milton,Ga. native bat-
ted .750 and nine RBIs last
weekend–earning her Gulf
South Conference Player of
the Week honors–in just her
first four collegiate games.
“She's very calm out
there,” head coach Thomas
Macera said. “That's the
thing−she's very mature for
her age. Second is a very
tough position to play and
she just does a very good job
at it.”
Canara's poise is credited
to growing up with her two
older siblings, who are for-
mer softball players.
“I take after them,” Canara
said. “I just try to relax and
forget the nerves. I’ve just al-
ways been like that.”
The veterans on the team
have been helpful since Ca-
nara took the position during
the unofficial fall season, and
as a result, she is quickly
mastering the learning curve.
Canara went 3-7 with two
RBIs in her first home ap-
pearance, sweeping Flagler in
a doubleheader Feb. 4.
The GSC preseason top
newcomer recipient is excit-
ed to compete against some
of the nation's best this week-
end in Clearwater, Fla.
So far, so good for VSU's
new second basemen.
“She's done a remarkable
job,” Macera said. “She's not
only hitting the ball very
well, she's playing really
good at second base. Last
year Kiley [Rusen] came in
and did well. The year be-
fore, [Courtney] Albritton
came in and did really well.
That's all you can hope for
when you bring in some of
these freshmen…and it's
tough because it’s very com-
petitive.”
Follow Eric on Twitter:
@epjackson
Eric Jackson
S P O R T S E D I T O R
Chris Webb
S P O R T S W R I T E R
Valdosta State football 2014 signing classJosh Adams (6-4 - 320 - OT - Kennesaw, Ga. - Harrison HS) David May (6-4 - 295 - C - Orange Park, Fla. - Fleming Island HS)
Chris Bahr (6-4 - 250 - DE - Kingsland, Ga. - Camden HS) Malcolm McClenton (6-1 - 195 - LB - Thomasville, Ga. - Thomas County Central)
Marty Barrick (6-3 - 285 - C - San Diego, Calif. - San Diego Mesa JC) Darrell Myers (6-6 - 200 - WR - Savannah, Ga. - Johnson HS)
Jerome Daniels (5-10 - 200 - RB - Valdosta, Ga. - Lowndes HS) Bryant Pickney (6-2 - 180 - CB - Duluth, Ga. - Duluth HS)
Stephen Denmark (6-4 - 205 - WR - Tallahassee, Fla. - Rickards HS) Tye Richardson (6-0 - 185 - WR - Marietta, Ga. - Dean College)
Daniel Durden (6-1 - 270 - DT - Stone Mountain, Ga. - Stephenson HS) Roland Rivers (6-3 - 225 - QB - Ellenwood, Ga. - Martin Luther King, Jr. HS)
Mike Eaddy (5-9 - 175 - CB - Blackshear, Ga. - Pierce County) Donte Robinson (6-1 - 200 - LB - Valdosta, Ga. - Lowndes HS):
Andrew Harrell (6-5 - 300 - OG - Tallahassee, Fla. - Florida HS) Jevan Sampler (6-2 - 200 - LB - Marietta, Ga. - Wheeler HS):
Shane Henderson (6-1 - 185 - WR - Columbus, Ind. - Hancock JC) Tim Sanders (5-11 - 190 - ATHLETE - Moultrie, Ga. - Colquitt County HS):
D'Angelo Holt (5-11 - 185 - WR - Ellenwood, Ga. - Martin Luther King, Jr. HS) Romello Shumake (5-11 - 175 - WR - Lithonia, Ga. - Martin Luther King, Jr. HS)
Markel Horne (6-0 - 180 - ATHLETE - Wrightsville, Ga. - Johnson County HS) Greg Williams (5-10 - 185 - ATHLETE - Fort Valley, Ga. - Peach County HS)
Anthony Ingram (5-10 - 175 - WR - Jasper, Fla. - South Alabama) Ricky Small (6-3 - 295 - OT - Valdosta, Ga. - Valdosta HS):
Jonathan Jackson (6-2 - 190 - CB - Warner Robins, Ga. - Lackawanna JC) Antefernee Smith (6-2 - 195 - ATHLETE - Jasper, Ga. - Hamilton County):
Charkie Johnson (6-5 - 225 - DE - Metter, Ga. - Metter HS) Geomarey Smith (6-1 - 255 - DE - Midway, Fla. - East Gadsden HS):
Drevon Jones (6-4 - 190 - WR - Kennesaw, Ga. - Harrison HS) Conner West (5-10 - 200 - LB - Metter, Ga. - Metter HS):
Mitchell Kamm (5-10 - 190 - ATHLETE - Bethlehem, Ga. - Bethlehem Christian Academy)
Adam Kelsie (6-1 - 290 - DT - Dover, Del. - Orange Coast College)
Blazers look to tame
Paine College Lions
VSU Athletics