september 15th, 2011

CAMPUS NEWS 2-4

OPINION 5

SCIENCE & TECH 6

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 7-8

CULTURE 9

SPORTS 10-11

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INDEX

NEWS

WHY WAIT TILL THURSDAY? READ MYTJNOW.COM.

THURSDAY September 15, 2011 WINTHROP UNIVERSITY Issue 4

Freshman overwhelmed by Wel-come Week, required tasks.See Opinion, page 5

Which countries are represented on campus this semester? See Culture, page 9

NEWS

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

See COFFEE page 3

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

WOAC and Winthrop Veterans team up for good cause.See Sports, page 10

Starbucks’ baristas experience life behind the counter

Drunken Science

As the weekend approaches, you may take a note from Rihanna and say “cheers to the freakin’ weekend.” But before you pick up an al-coholic beverage of any kind, take a moment to consider the science behind it all—particularly all the positive and negative effects of alcohol consumption.

Like anything you put in your body, alcohol has physiological effects on your internal sys-tem. So what is the exact biology behind being “drunk”?

According to the Center for Disease Control, alcohol is a central nervous system depressant that is rapidly absorbed from the stomach and small intestine into the bloodstream. The alco-hol is then metabolized by enzymes in the liver.

However, because the liver can only process

so much alcohol at a time, the excess amounts continue to circulate through the bloodstream.

That is the mechanics of it, but what is the effect of this alcohol intake?

Heather Evans-Anderson, assistant professor of biology, teaches human physiology and often discusses the effects of alcohol in her classes. Alcohol helps nervous system “chill out” so you feel more relaxed, according to Evans-Ander-son.

“The actual firing of the neurons will slow down. With that, your reflexes slow down and your motor control slows down too,” Evans-Anderson said.

According to Evans-Anderson, alcohol targets two primary systems: the nervous system and the kidneys. While alcohol causes the nervous system to “chill out,” it can have a negative im-pact on the regular function of the kidneys.

CATHERINE ZENDE

[email protected]

Notorious for headaches and hangovers, alcohol is common on college campuses. Many students don’t realize the science behind drinking, or which rumors are myth versus fact. Photo illustration by John Rhodes • [email protected]

Professor explains the science behind alcohol

See ALCOHOL page 6

Student’s summer filled with humility

As he helped his camper get food and turned them over at night, junior exercise science major Tyler Polomski realized how fortunate he is to be able to walk and move on his own.

Polomski volunteered at a Muscular Dystrophy Camp this past summer and worked with a 15-year-old camper who has no function of his legs and limited function of his arms. The Mus-cular Dystrophy Association (MDA) of Charlotte sponsored the camp, which is for seven to 17 year-old children with varying forms and severity of of Muscular Dystrophy.

These disorders involve loss of muscle and muscle weak-

ness, according to the PubMed Health website.

Polomski said as these chil-dren grow older, they develop progressively worse symptoms of MD. At the age of seven, it is clear something is not work-ing quite right and by 17, the children are wheelchair bound and have no function in their lower body.

Polomski said there is one counselor for every camper and the counselors help the campers with everyday func-tions. He helped his camper do everything from going to the bathroom to turning him over in his sleep.

He said the campers have a great attitude.

“These kids know people with

AMANDA PHIPPS

[email protected]

See CAMP page 3

Jazzy musical hits WU stage in October, students rehearse almost daily

Three hours a day, six days a week, for over three weeks and counting...

Students and faculty in the theater department have been working on the upcoming musi-cal “Chicago,” set to debut from Oct. 5-8.

This is the fourth musical production for associate theatre and dance professor Stephen

Gundersheim, who said the department wanted to do some-

MONICA KREBER

[email protected]

See CHICAGO page 8

Correction:In our Sept. 8 edition, “Phelps Hall gains new sinks, lobby elevator” stated the residence hall re-opens next spring. The hall actually reopens fall of 2012. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.

Dezirea Jones puts on some good music and a smile every Tuesday and Thursday at 11 a.m.

It’s the ritual that puts her in a good mood while she braces for a tidal wave of caffeine-craving un-dergraduates, graduates and faculty who are about to sweep in and flood the obviously popular café.

But what about the other days: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sat-urday and Sunday?

“Starbucks is Star-bucks,” she said. “It’s a lot more than just making coffee.”

For a year, Starbucks

has provided Winthrop students, faculty and staff with fancy-named blended coffees alongside smoothies, cinnamon coffee cake, vanilla scones and salted caramel drinks.

At the beginning of this semester, the café was swamped—in a good way.

“We ran out of every-thing,” Jones said.

More than that, the café racked in $16,000 in sales during the first week--$5,000 more than anticipated, she said.

Fridays make for easier days. When students pack their bags and head home for the weekend, Jones and her fellow employees take advantage of the low-student traffic and clean the café, making it

spic and span for another week of business.

On Monday, it all goes downhill again, Jones said.

But, it’s not that she’s complaining.

“My friends are a little jealous.”

Each day, Jones said she gets to make coffee and interact with people, and she’s no novice at performing either task.

As a biology student at Erskine College, she worked at Java City.

Once she graduated, she took six months off to take a Medical Col-lege Admission Test (or MCAT) preparation course at the Medical Uni-versity of South Carolina. She then submitted her application for entrance into medical school.

She didn’t get in.

JONATHAN MCFADDEN

[email protected]

We’re trying to keep that cold, sleazy feel to it

Philip CalabroJunior

“”

Starbucks first opened in Seattle, Wash. in 1971. The coffee hub made it’s Win-throp appearance with the DiGiorgio Student Center in 2010, and has gained popularity as a common meeting area, quick pit stop and relaxing hangout. Though some students pop in and out of the café, few realize the work needed to maintain cleanliness and proper customer service. Photo by Aimee Harman • [email protected]

THURSDAYSeptember 15, 2011

JONATHAN MCFADDENNews Editor

[email protected] AMANDA PHIPPS

Assistant News [email protected]

2

Growing class sizes and diminishing space may be the culprits behind encouraging two academic departments to consider moving their operations off campus.

Winthrop’s Design De-partment is considering a move out of Rutledge and off campus to the Rock Hill Coca Cola Bottling Plant on Cherry Road. Joining them could be the department of music, which seeks to give stu-dents more working space in a larger rehearsal hall.

So far, discussions and meetings between archi-tects, campus planning officials and department representatives have yielded little to no finite answers, but chairs for both departments say expanding class sizes with limited space has been a problem for a number of years.

For design students, gaining access to class-rooms with specialized equipment can be a has-sle, said Chad Dresbach, chair for the design department.

One such room is Rutledge 220, which on Tuesdays and Thursdays is filled with classes from 8 a.m. until about 9:15 p.m., with the exception of c0mmon meeting time.

“A lot of times students need to get in outside of class time…” to access the resources, Dresbach said. “If it’s full top to bottom,

that really limits students’ ability to finish their work for their classes.”

Case in point, Rutledge 212—another specialized classroom—has 18 desks available. If students have projects to work on in the classrooms, they are unable to access much-needed materials.

The Coke plant is cur-rently occupied by Win-

throp’s facilities manage-ment.

Once they move out of the building later this fall, it will become vacant and available for use, pos-sibly adding more class-room spaces and helping design department faculty and staff review the way they schedule courses, Dresbach said. It will also give the Department

of Fine Arts--also housed in McLaurin and Rutledge--room to expand.

Still, the move is only in the “talks” stage, Dresbach said.

“I’m going to know that it’s happened on the day I wake up and I’m sitting in the Coke building and classes are running,” he said. “Until then, I’m going to stay loose.”

Officials still have a preliminary time-table to work with. If the move is okayed, then about 13,000 sq. feet of space and equipment belonging to the design depart-ment will move out of Rutledge and McLau-rin and into the Coke building, Dresbach said.

Dresbach estimated that 24,000 sq. feet comprise the build-ing. Space has to be taken into account for restrooms, causeways

and hallways, Dresbach said, amounting to maybe 18 ft. of “raw square footage” that can’t be included for the design department.Then there’s the shared

space with music, which may require 5,000 sq. feet, Dresbach said.

The design department currently operates in 20,000 sq. feet, he said, meaning that the move is already operating on a deficit.

“The whole depart-ment is not going to be

able to move out there,” Dresbach said.

There have been discus-sions about what and who may move to the new building, but nothing’s concrete yet, Dresbach said.

Right now, the depart-ment exists as a “complex entity,” Dresbach said, consisting of classrooms, labs, conference rooms, copy rooms and a prac-ticing design studio that allows students to work with outside clients.

Those involved with the migration are also consid-ering the impact the move could have on students who live on campus and will have to walk down Cherry Road to class.

“I think it’s really going to call for a change in how they [the university] think about where classes are and how classes are held,” Dresbach said. “It’s a bit of a walk…like any other change, it’s going to take some getting used to.”

Yet, Dresbach said he thinks current students in the department are “rugged” and “nimble” enough to make the trek and adjust quickly.

Moving to the musicAs for the music depart-

ment, the predicament is much the same.

Students used the stage in Byrnes Auditorium to compensate for a claustro-phobic rehearsal hall, said Donald Rogers, depart-ment chair of music. Still, even a space like Byrnes had its downside.

“It’s not very conducive for rehearsal because it’s hard for students to hear each other,” Rogers said.

Winthrop administra-tors purchased overhead shelf space, Rogers said, which prevented sound from shooting straight overhead. Still, the department needed a re-hearsal room with proper acoustics.

The two-floor Coca Cola complex would suit the music department’s purposes while provid-ing adequate space for the design department as well, Rogers said. The facility will also give mu-sic students a “first rate” rehearsal hall they can be proud of, he said.

“We’re having it de-signed so it would be appropriate to house our instrumental program,” he said.

The facility will also house the music library.

Faculty will keep their offices in Barnes, Rogers said.

Though the building is old and “a little out of date,” Rogers said archi-tects feel they can bring the building up to code.

Moving space out of Byrnes will also clear the auditorium for other groups to use the area, another problem students ran into when organiza-tions requested the room during their class times.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Rogers said. “We’re pleased our needs are getting met.”

By Jonathan [email protected]

Music, design mull off campus move

By Amanda [email protected]

As the busy first weeks of school come to an end, it is the bookstore’s stan-dard practice to block off the textbook area and not allow students to get their textbooks themselves, said Alex Talley, course material manager for the Win-throp University Bookstore.

“This allows us to give better service to customers and assist them on a personal individual basis,” he said.

This year, the area was blocked off ear-lier than usual due to a potential theft, Talley said.

Though unproven, the bookstore be-lieves some merchandise may have been stolen and so decided to close the area off to protect inventory, he said.

“This semester, the area was blocked off a little sooner than normal because we noticed a customer in the aisles be-having suspiciously,” Talley said.

The bookstore found that the customer wasn’t a Winthrop student, but decided it was best to close the area off, he said.

This behavior and the recent news of the theft at Clinton Jr. College, in which 49 textbooks were stolen, according to an article in The Herald of Rock Hill, led the bookstore to try to prevent future loss, Talley said.

He said he has developed ways to no-tice certain behaviors that may indicate theft attempt, such as students sneak-ing into the textbook department with a book bag.

Talley said the store has ways to monitor their inventory and have taken precautions to prevent theft. The store provides cubbies for students to place their book bags in before doing their shopping.

Talley said the bookstore did not close the textbook area off until after their busiest weeks so that it wouldn’t be “too terribly inconvenient.”

“We will probably not block the area off as quickly next semester unless we notice similar suspicious behavior,” he said.

Rental ProgramStudents can rent textbooks for about

half the price of buying them, Talley said.

The rental book program at the Book-store is expanding to include more titles,

he said.As of the first semester last fall, 40

percent of titles qualified for the rental program, Talley said. Now more than 50 percent qualify.

“[There has been] a fairly significant increase in the number of titles that quality (for the program),” he said.

Although more books are available for rent, some titles will never qualify, such as workbooks, certain bundles and books with access codes, Talley said.

Talley said the program has been suc-cessful so far.

“It is definitely helping the bookstore and the campus as a whole,” he said.

One challenge the program faces is reaching out to some foreign students, cashier Stephanie Cabaniss said.

She said it is hard to explain the pro-gram to students who do not understand what renting means.

“It’s really hard to explain what ‘to rent’ means to them,” Cabaniss said. “I don’t think [to rent] is in their vocabu-lary.”

She said she tries different ways of ex-plaining the program to these students, such as comparing it to a temporary loan of a book or renting an apartment.

Cabaniss said that some still don’t un-derstand what she means and they just tell her they want to buy the books.

Even though the program has chal-lenges, the bookstore makes sure stu-dents know about it by prominently plac-ing signs around the store and campus, Talley said.

The store takes steps to ensure that students wishing to participate in the rental program can do so effectively and efficiently, he said.

“Students can rent [books] online also,” Talley said.

There is also an express register set up for students to sign up for a rental account in the store, he said. During the first few weeks of school, deemed the ‘rush’ period, employees take extra measures to ensure students are helped quickly.

A dedicated rental associate is hired to explicitly assist students renting text-books, Talley said.

He said the bookstore is encourag-ing more students to participate in this program.

“Hopefully we can cater to all students at some point,” he said.

The DIGS got a little bit cooler Monday night when Slabby, the Marble Slab mascot, ventured around the student center. Samantha Smigel, junior el-ementary education major, and Jenny Nelson, sophomore english education major, handed out coupons to the creamery and escorted Slabby down-stairs. Photo by Devang Joshi • [email protected]

Chillin’ with Slabby

Bookstore guards against theft, expands rental program

The textbook area is now closed off in the bookstore. Photo by Devang Joshi • [email protected]

Students needing to use Rutledge 220 have found it difficult to access the room, which contains specialized equipment, to finish their projects due to the number of classes held in it on a given day. Photo by Aimee Har-man • [email protected]

CAMP • from front

M.D. don’t live past 25,” he said. “We give (them) a normal week.”

Though they know the reality of the situation, Polimski said the camp-ers have career goals and dreams like anybody else.

Polomski said the camp provides the kids with a place to belong.

“Everything is designed to fi t them (at camp) and everyone is in a wheel-chair,” he said. “No one was the outcast.”

Polomski wants to go into physical therapy and learned about the camp from his advisor. He said the camp needed male counselors and that he thought it would be a good opportunity. He said the camp provided him with lifting and transfer-ring experience, some-

thing that is a key element of physical therapy.

Polomski also assisted his camper with his daily stretches, something he will have to do in his fu-ture career as well.

One aspect of the camp was facilitating activity with the campers. Polom-ski said the pool was a big thing for them because gravity is not as hard and they are able to move more freely.

Polomski said his camper was very grateful

for his help. “I was like his

big brother in a way,” he said. “It was very hum-bling.”

Besides helping the kids, the camp provides a break for the parents, who are some-times apprehen-sive about leaving their children, but who constantly deal with children who grow increas-ingly weaker due to the disorder.

“(The kids feel) that their body is deteriorating on them and they turn into children again who can’t do any-thing (for themselves),” Polomski said.

He said the campers love coming.

“Many campers are

counting down to the next year they can go,” he said.

Though 17 is the last year campers can go to camp, many stay in con-tact.

Polomski said the kids are very strong.

“The kids know they are not destined to live to 80 years old, but they face it with such bravery and

try to make everyday as productive as possible,” he said. “They have goals just like normal kids, they just have a time clock.”

Undeterred, she applied for the lead supervisor position that opened up in May at Starbucks on campus.

She got it.Now, every week during Common

Time, the fi rst question to enter her mind when she witnesses a growing line of students become longer is, “How many people do we have up here?”

When she’s not supervising, Jones fl oats. If there are two people work-ing the front, then she jumps in and lends a hand. If there are three, she provides support—stocking and re-stocking and re-stocking again.

She’s not one to buckle under pressure either. Working with what she calls a “competent staff,” Jones doesn’t have a “whew” moment until after the lines disappear and her shift is over.

As it is with any fast-food industry, the customer is always right, Jones said, even when they’re impatient or occasionally rude.

“If it’s wrong, we’ll make it again and again and again until we get it correct,” Jones said.

Almost as if she were prophesying, a customer walked into the café while Jones spoke with her visitor and said

something was wrong with the milk in her coffee.

So, Jones did what she always does. She made it again.

“You asked why Starbucks, but I say, why not Starbucks?” Jones told her visi-tor.

The paycheck is also a nice bonus, she added.

For Jones, the reach of medical school isn’t long forgotten.

Just this week, Jones will receive news whether she will be admitted to medical school after taking the MCAT’s again.

It’s a smooth and sophisticated opera-tion Jon Wilson deals with every Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The junior graphic design major has been working at Starbucks for almost fi ve weeks now, after an extended tenure at Barnes & Noble.

The difference is uncanny and the on-campus café much more desirable, he said.

“I like this a lot better; I’m mostly serving students here—people my age,” he said. “I met a lot of people on campus

working here.”Still, Starbucks doesn’t play any

games.Each month, employees are tested.

During on-the-job training, they are taught how to manage multiple tasks at once and watch a video displaying the correct way to mix certain beverages.

“There’s a hot drink side and a cold drink side and you have to go back and forth between the two,” Wilson said. “You have to make the drink a certain way, and they weigh it and everything,”

On the weekends, there may only be two employees manning the fort. Last Friday, Wilson was the sole barista.

But even on days like these, the café can get unexpected rushes.

“It hits within seconds and it gets so busy…and we’re running all over the place and making a mess back there,” Wilson said.

When the rush comes, Wilson goes into the zone.

“I can’t talk to anybody,” Wilson said, referring to instances where customers try to carry on side-conversations with

him while he’s mixing drinks.Sometimes, Wilson fi nds himself mak-

ing four different drinks at a time and he said it’s easy to mess up.

When encountering disgruntled cus-tomers, Wilson remembers that the stu-dents are most likely in between classes.

“…We would kind of make them late a little bit” if the wait is long, Wilson said. “I can understand why that’s frustrating to them.”

THURSDAY September 15, 2011 3

Long lines are a staple at Starbucks fi ve days a week. When employees aren’t skidding across the fl oor to fi x coffee, they clean up the messes made while taking care of students and faculty during the morning and afternoon rushes. Photo by Aimee Harman • [email protected]

ASSAULT AND BATTERY (9/7/11)

At 1:30 p.m., the victim reported to the Win-throp P.D. that she had seen a male student with multiple tattoos at least twice a day since the fall semester classes began, according to the police report. The victim told the Winthrop P.D. that she normally had contact with the male student at the smoking area behind Margaret Nance Hall. On 9/7/11, the victim said the subject followed her around after her classes and that she and the subject do not share any classes. After leaving her class, the victim said the subject followed

her to the smoking area and asked the victim if he could come back to her room and watch a movie. The victim told him no, but the subject pushed the matter and moved closer to where the victim was sitting. The subject than began rubbing the victim’s thigh. Though the victim told the subject to stop, he refused and ran his hand underneath the victim’s dress and grabbed her butt. The victim then asked the subject to stop again because he was making her uncomfortable. She then left the scene and called victim services, which escorted the victim to Winthrop P.D. The victim told the P.D.

that she did not want to pursue the matter criminally, but may want to pursue it through the University Judiciary committee. The case will remain active while the reporting offi cer attempts to identify the suspect, who the victim described as a 30-some-thing-year-old white male student who is heavily tattooed with a tattoo of a colorful tree, sunset and bird on one of his ankles, according to the police report.

–––––––––––––––––––––––– POLICE BLOTTER –––––––––––––––––––––––––

COFFEE • from front

Dezirea Jones serves crowds at her job at Starbucks. Photo by Aimee Harmon • [email protected]

The Musculary Dystrophy Camp provides children with MD a week of fun and a chance to be around others going through the same thing. Photo courtesy of Tyler Polomski.

Student devotes week to helping children with muscular dystrophy

My friends are a little jealous. Dezirea JonesLead supervisor, Starbucks

“”

Starbucks: ‘More than making coffee’

They have goals just like normal kids, they just have a time clock. Tyler Polomski

“”

Compiled by Amanda Phipps


Man posed as mass communication major, army recruiter; walked away with $120Salesman swindles student on Scholar’s Walk

And now I’m starting to panic because I just gave some weirdo $120 Student

“”By Jonathan [email protected]

A female student was left without $120 two weeks ago after a stranger she said posed as a mass communication major and army recruiter asked her to donate money for magazine subscriptions meant to aid military personnel.

Walking back from her art history class on Schol-ar’s Walk, the student, who asked not to be iden-tified, was approached by a man who said he was working on a project for his mass communication class that required him to walk up to strangers and talk to them for two to five minutes.

“So I was like, ‘ok,’ and I sat down and started talk-ing to him,” the student said.

The stranger told the female student, a fresh-man, that part of his project also included rais-ing funds for a scholar-ship-funded trip to Great Britain to work on BBC with ‘the guy from Monty Python,’ she said.

According to the stranger’s story, he had to sell magazine subscrip-tions to earn scholarship points for the trip. He said all donations would be tax deductible and would go to a good cause, the student said.

That cause included supporting active military personnel through money collected from the maga-zine subscriptions, the student said.

“He was talking really, really fast so I had a hard time hearing and keeping

up with everything he was saying,” she said.

Still, she signed the paperwork and agreed to help the ‘mass commu-nication major’ with his project.

That’s when he told her the total would be $120.

“By that point, I sort of felt like maybe some-thing was weird but I felt like I was being paranoid because I only had been away from home for like two weeks,” she said.

The stranger asked to walk with her to the ATM and get out cash. She agreed.

They walked to the nearest ATM, the student withdrew $120 and gave it to the stranger.

Suddenly, the stranger said he had to run, the student said, and get to class. He gave her his phone number as the stu-dent explained her mother may want to call him and ask him questions regard-ing the money.

The stranger said it was fine and explained that if her mother did call, he would most likely answer the phone as “Sergeant Williams,” since he was also an army recruiter.

As soon as the stranger walked off, the student called her mother because she got an uneasy feeling. Her mother told her to talk with someone to see if they heard about the project. The student went to her resident assistant (RA) to see if anyone else knew about the mass communication project. They looked on the web-site and no news of any such project or scholar-ship competition was

anywhere to be found.“And now I’m starting

to panic because I just gave some weirdo $120,” the student said. “And I didn’t want to think the worst and think that he was scamming me, but at this point, that’s pretty much the only thing it could have been.”

Calling her mother fre-quently, the student said her mother sensed the panic in her daughter’s voice and decided to call Campus Police.

A few moments later, the student said her mother revealed that the police were already in the process of interviewing someone else about the same situation.

Minutes later, Campus Police showed up at the student’s door to inter-view her as well. The po-lice said they just finished interviewing another fe-male student and wanted to obtain some kind of identification so they could find the stranger.

The police officers led the student into her resi-dence hall’s main lobby where their sergeant was waiting with another guy,

apparently the stranger’s accomplice, who sat in the backseat of the police’s car.

As she tried to tell her story, the student broke down in tears—bottled up stress and confusion spill-ing through the surface.

The accomplice, who had just finished scam-ming someone else, felt so bad for the student that he gave her $120 in cash. The accomplice said he didn’t realize selling the maga-zines was a scam and that it was his first time selling on a college campus.

“They couldn’t find the other guy,” the student said. “I guess when I told him my mom may call him about it, he got weirded out and took off and left his friend. It worked out. I got my money back.”

One of the officers the student spoke with had her own take on the situ-ation.

“These bastards aren’t usually out this early,” the student said quoting the officer.

The student said she hasn’t heard anything else about the stranger, but was told by Campus Police to notify them if she spots him on campus again.

The stranger had short buzzed hair and claimed to be a military veteran returning to school using money obtained from the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill, the student said.

“He was showing me all these injuries he had, like a metal-plate skull and a fake knee and I was like, ‘wow’ I sort of felt bad for this guy...” the

student said. “I’ve always wanted to be the kind of person to help people out, so I don’t jump to that conclusion.”

Magazine salesmen on campus aren’t anything new, said Chief of Police Frank Zebedis.

In fact, the biggest dif-ference in this situation was that “these two guys were a little more pushy than normal,” Zebedis said.

“However, they didn’t violate any laws because they were legitimate,” Zebedis added. “I think a message that should be shared with our students is to be very careful before buying magazines.”

Zebedis also advised that students ask the person selling the maga-zines to produce a busi-ness license from the City of Rock Hill that allows

them to sell periodicals within city limits.

“If they can’t produce that document, there is a good chance the salesmen may not be reputable,” Zebedis said.

If the cost of the maga-zine seems extremely low or high, it should raise suspicion, Zebedis said.

Two Thursdays ago, the men selling the magazines did not have permission to do so, Zebedis said.

An official police report was not created, Zebedis said, because “we couldn’t determine that criminal offense occurred.”

The police did complete an internal report but it never made mention of the salesman posing as an army recruiter, Zebedis said.

Professors experiment with iPad tech to enhance teaching methods Graphic by Courtney Niskala • [email protected]

By Amanda [email protected]

More advanced technology may soon become part of the learning experience in Winthrop classrooms.

The university is experimenting with using mobile technology, such as iPads, to enhance students and fac-ulty’s ability to learn and teach, said Debra Boyd, vice president of academic affairs.

“We don’t buy [technology] just to buy it,” she said.The university is in the investigative stage of using

these devices in the classrooms, Boyd said. She said the university does not want to intrude on other students’

learning space.“We don’t want technology to be a distraction; we

want to be an enhancement to learning,” she said.Before leaving her previous position of dean of arts

and sciences, Boyd got iPads for all the department chairs to help them work more efficiently and save on paper costs, she said.

Boyd said department chairs will experiment with using the iPads in meetings by sharing documents on programs such as Dropbox rather than printing out individual copies. This coincides with the university’s effort to be greener and cut back on paper use.

“I think investigating the use of iPads fits well with the Winthrop Readiness Initiative,” she said.“We are always looking for ways to accomplish our goals more effectively and efficiently, so investigat-ing the use of iPads to save time, paper, and other resources seemed a natural thing to do.”

After holding workshops to learn to use the technol-ogy efficiently, Boyd said the deans and other faculty will try them out.

“Mobile devices are very efficient in helping people keep up with their work,” she said.

Boyd said she is curious to know how students use mobile devices, such as smart phones. She plans on speaking with the Council of Student Lead-ers and gaining student opinion on the use of this

technology in classrooms.“It is one of those things we need to think about,” she

said.Boyd said the university is addressing the question of

what kind of technology is appropriate for the class-room.

“It’s not really about the technology,” she said. “It’s really about the learning and choosing the most effec-tive tools to enhance learning.”

Boyd said she is looking at how other universities have efficiently incorporated mobile technology into their classrooms.

With more students using technology and taking on-line classes, Boyd said the important thing is to figure out how best to engage students in conversation.

Boyd said she needs to evaluate what the university is getting from the technology and be responsible.

“We are obligated as a university to use technology with integrity and to be good digital citizens,” she said.

Boyd said she is asking if faculty and students are in-terested in experimenting with using this technology in their classes. She said the university does not yet have a plan in place for incorporating these devices into its teaching methods, but is looking at all sorts of technol-ogy that may be useful.

“We are exploring ways to use old and new technolo-gies,” she said.

Boyd said some professors are already using these de-vices in their classrooms. She said the university will do its best to get them for any faculty member who wants to try them out.

She is also conducting background research on how these devices can enhance learning. She will put her re-search together, review and share it to see what people think and decide where to go next.

“There isn’t one plan for every faculty member or every student,” she said. “We need to use different ap-proaches. We support teachers and students in ways that best help them learn and work.”

Haney Howell, professor of mass communication, uses his iPad in his office. Photo by Claire VanOstenbridge • [email protected]


CONNOR DE BRULEROpinion Editor

[email protected]

About The Johnsonian

The Johnsonian is the weekly student newspaper of Winthrop University. It is published during fall and spring semesters with the exception of university holidays and exam periods.

EditorCLAIRE BYUN

News EditorJONATHAN MCFADDEN

Assistant News EditorAMANDA PHIPPS

Opinion EditorCONNOR DE BRULER

Culture EditorALISON ANGEL

Arts & Entertainment EditorMONICA KREBER

Assistant Arts & Entertainment EditorJOSHUA JOHNSON

Science & Technology EditorCATHERINE ZENDE

Sports EditorJEFF BRODEUR

Sports EditorDAVID THACKHAM

Copy EditorSTEPHANIE ROJENCHES

Copy EditorEDWARD SZEMAN

Multimedia EditorKAYLEE NICHOLS

Assistant Multimedia EditorJEREMY ALLEN

WebmasterDEVANG JOSHI

PhotographersAMIEE HARMANCLAIRE VANOSTENBRIDGEJOHN RHODES

Ad Manager / Ad DesignerRILEY SCHOTT

Ad Sales RepresentativeKATHRINE BROWN

Graphic DesignerCOURTNEY NISKALA

Faculty AdviserGUY REEL

CONTACT INFORMATION

Our offices are located in suite 104 in the DiGiorgio Campus Center.Phone: (803) 323-3419E-mail: [email protected]: mytjnow.com

LETTER POLICY

Letters and feedback can be sent to [email protected] or by mail at The Johnsonian, 104

Campus Center, Rock Hill, S.C., 29733.

Comments submitted online at www.mytjnow.com may be printed as letters and may be shortened for space and edited for clarity.

Please include your name, major and year if you are a student; your name and title if you are a professor; or your name and profession if you are a member of

the community.Letters, cartoons and columns reflect the opinions of the authors and are not necessarily the opin-ions of The Johnsonian staff.

CORRECTIONS

Contact us if you find an error in an issue of the newspaper. We will correct it in the next issue.

Connor de BrulerOpinion editor

Our Say

Every college seeks to pres-ent itself as a welcoming and comfortable environment to their incoming students; yet, did Winthrop really achieve this with their own welcome week? While the staff was friendly, the orientation lead-ers full of energy and informa-tion and the resident assistants a continual boon to the stu-dents, somewhere along the line, it felt like Winthrop just missed the mark. The atmosphere of campus illus-trating academic tradition, respect for the past and keeping the visions of the founders and our motto: veritas cum libertate, truth with liberty, alive. As I walked the breath-taking halls of the institution, a sort of pressure built up around the shoulders: the weight of responsibility. Students are expected to make a certain grade or scholarships will be stripped from them; however, they are also expected to be social and to make new friends, join clubs and become a part of the Winthrop community. The pillars of support known as mom and dad are gone; responsibility is placed firmly on their shoulders, and so begins a balancing act. Everyone knows that academia comes before recreation and fun; however, where does the real balance come in? Winthrop offered a dizzying array of clubs, organizations and events that

would satisfy the tastes of anyone; however, the university requires floor meetings, convocation and other mandatory events that pressed students for time in their schedules. Classes had already started and students found sitting through a two hour lecture on Winthrop’s heritage, tradition and past: items that were already spo-ken upon by orientation leaders,

though not as in-depth. Stress skyrock-eted and the balancing act suddenly began to topple as time was worn thin by these events. While all of them were entertain-ing; students seeking to study later in the evening could find themselves stuck between the performance with no end time, or leaving early and being denied a cultural credit for the show. In short, Winthrop has an amazing campus and, it definitely deserves ap-plause for bringing in class acts like Tom DaLuca and Asia Project; but students could easily become overloaded during welcome week. The constant mandatory meetings, the numerous events, clubs and other activities available make it hard to bal-ance between recreation and academics. Welcome week just seems like it would be better suited as part of orientation rather than the start of the school year. Convocation in particular would be something that parents would likely want to attend.

Freshman sees flaws in WU,welcome week too much

There aren’t enough protests on the Winthrop campus. We don’t even need a specific cause to protest against. Rallying together is a fantastic way to exercise unity as a student body. I remember the religious fanatics that nearly incited a riot last year during Octo-ber. So many students were united in hating the same three people. It was beautiful. Un-fortunately, a lot of students were tacking on their random social and political agendas to the hysteria (remember the SSU banner?). I want the student body to rally together and stop classes and cause a bunch of arrests and detainments for no good reason. We should rally against the Baby Boomer generation. We should rally against there not being enough re-cycling bins on the campus. We rally against the idea that we don’t rally enough. What I’m envisioning is best illustrated in the Slipknot music video for their song “Dual-ity.” I’m hoping for a controlled, finite state of emergency and chaos: people punching through glass windows, arguing with cops and jumping through ceilings. We should rally for the installment of seventy to eighty trampolines placed around campus. Let’s make the campus more lively and exciting. It is our constitutional right to engage in free assembly and free speech, so let’s exercise it. Rights are like muscles and its time to get ripped and fit as a student body. We should protest milk, man! What’s the deal with milk? I personally feel that Thomson cafeteria should invest in several seltzer dispensers. Come on Winthrop! College is about pushing the limits of thought and life itself. Streaking used to be all the rage in the 70s. Why not do some of

that? We could organize a naked march down scholars walk. We should have a naked midnight pool party. The possibilities are endless. In my extensive conversation with president DiGiorgio, we discussed the statement Kierkeg-aard made about generations. He said that the new generation stands on the shoulders of the lat-ter. I fervently submit to you that we cannot stand on the shoulders of the last generation without bruising their shoulders and kicking their faces a

little. We should be giving the staff and adminis-tration a hard time all the time. I’ve decided that I’m going to protest milk and cereal pretty soon in front of Byrnes Hall. I think cereal should be illegal for the simple reason that it’s the grossest crap ever annexed into the canon of American cuisine. I dare you Winthrop. I dare you to form some good riots this year.

Winthrop in dire need of more riots

Illustration by Courtney Niskala•[email protected]

For many students, the legendary parties are some of the most exciting aspects of college life.

Booze, beats and good friends can make memories that will last until you’re in a retirement home.

But of course, similar to many other fun things, alcohol can be dangerous in excess. As pointed out by Heather Evans-Anderson, assistant professor of biology, excessive drinking can lead to ill health and possibly and early death.

But we’re not advocating against drinking. We’re not condoning underage drinking, either. We’re asking students to be smart when it comes to booze.

At some point in your college career, if not already, you’ll have the opportunity to get completely wasted. The memory-loss, puking on your shirt and acciden-tally breaking a lamp type of drunk.

And you, as an adult, get to make that decision. The Johnsonian just asks you to be careful; not only for your safety but for the safety of others.

If you’re going to party at Suite in Charlotte or you’re hitting a local bar here in town, make sure someone sober can get you where you need to go.

If you’re feeling sick later that night, ask someone to hold your hair back or keep you from choking on your own vomit (it happens).

If you’re having trouble controlling motor skills, try not to break your arm or break someone else’s leg.

Just act responsibly and drink respon-

sibly. Again, we’re not asking students to

refrain from drinking because that’s unrealistic and unfair.

At least half of The Johnsonian staff is of age, and we all know the stories of alcohol induced mistakes. Some of us re-frain from drinking because of religious beliefs, and some just prefer Dr. Pepper.

But some of us go to McHales after press night for a beer to blow off steam, similar to many other students.

We are, after all, journalists.All The Johnsonian asks is for you to

stay smart and safe while drinking. The police blotter fills up quickly, anyway.

For more information about Win-throp’s alcoholic beverage policy, visit the Student Affairs page at www.win-throp.edu/studentaffairs.

Jacob WingardGuest colomnist

TJ asks WU students to drink responsibly

...ask someone to hold your hair back or keep you from choking on your own vomit.

“”


CATHERINE ZENDEScience & Technology Editor

[email protected]

The science behind drinking, hangovers “The alcohol actually inhibits a step

in the kidneys’ regulatory system that causes the kidneys to excrete more wa-ter than they normally would,” Evans-Anderson said. Because the alcohol hinders the kidneys’ regular functions, alcohol has a dehydrating effect, according to Evans-Anderson. “The next day you feel like crap because you’re hung over, you’re dehydrated,” Evans-Anderson said. So what can you do to prevent this harmful dehydration? Gatorade is the best option because the electrolytes help prevent the dehydration that leads to that hangover, Evans-Anderson said. “If you drank the Gatorade before you went to bed you’d feel a lot better in the morning,” Evans-Anderson said. In addition to the dangers of dehy-dration, Evans-Anderson warns about taking aspirin or ibuprofen to prevent any hangover effects. “Those drugs have to be metabo-lized just like the alcohol does,” Evans-Anderson said. And because the liver is already detoxifying the alcohol, adding the pain medication can be a bad com-bination. Evans-Anderson also warns about the dangers of excessive drinking to the point of passing out. “Kids die from alcohol,” Evans-Anderson said. She emphasizes the need to look out for people who have been drinking a lot by monitoring their breathing and watch for choking hazards caused by vomiting. “The problem comes when everybody who is there is not in the right state to help someone,” Evans-Anderson said. So how much is too much? Accord-ing to Evans-Anderson, the potency

of the drink and the timing are impor-tant factors. “In a normal party period (3-4 hours), if you had three drinks in that time period your body has time to process that alcohol,” Evans-Anderson said. “Your liver is detoxifying that alco-hol as it goes through and it is able to keep up.” However, if more drinks are consumed during this time, “the body can’t keep up and is more likely to shut down,” Evans-Anderson said. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, mod-erate alcohol consumption is defined as no more than one drink a day for women and no more than two a day for men. Drinking in moderation can have positive health effects, according to Evans-Anderson. “Red wine can have lots of benefits with antioxidants and polyphenols,” Evans-Anderson said. Even beer can have positive health effects if limited. “It’s all about modera-tion,” Evans-Anderson said. While Evans-Anderson recognizes the potentially dangerous physiological effects of alcohol on the human body, she understands that people will drink in social situations. Her advice to Winthrop students is to have self-control. “There’s the drinking that happens for fun and the drinking that goes too far.”

“”

“”

“”

I always limit myself and know when to stop, which is kind of hard for a lot of people.

Binge drinking is defined as drinking that brings a person’s blood alcohol concentration to 0.08 percent or above. For women this means four or more drinks in two hours; for men it is five or more drinks in two hours. Photo illustration by John Rhodes • [email protected]

Cell phones are such an integral part of our day to day lives. How-ever when we pay for this luxury, sometimes, it’s a little more cash than we would like to part with. So which cellular provider is the best? That is the million dollar question we are going to answer for you. Over the next few weeks, look for in-depth reviews of the “big three” cellular providers (AT&T, Verizon & Sprint) and additional coverage on “pay-as-you-go” options. Is there really a difference between 3G & 4G? What do those pesky

coverage maps really mean? How much are “smart-phones” really worth? These are the questions we are going to answer for you, and hope-fully aid you in your next cellular purchase. Which companies will come out on top? Make sure to check out The Johnsonian each week in print and online for more information. What is your favorite celluar provider and why? Let us know! Email Devang @ [email protected], and you can end up in a future issue of The Johnsonian.

Cellular providers face off, webmaster explains coverage

It’s [drinking] against my religion and I also don’t see the point.

Devang [email protected]

Taylor Godfrey, Junior

Abbey Frost, Junior

Grace Grindstaff, Junior

I have less than two months to be legal so I might as well wait. I haven’t had a drink before so I might as well make it like a celebration.

ALCOHOL • from front

Myths of Alcohol:Fact or Fiction?

“Beer before liquor, never been sicker”

Not necessarily! This myth relates more to the sheer amount of alchol consumed, according to Dr. Evans-Anderson, “Beer goes down a whole lot easier than liquor does. So if you’ve had a few beers then you tack on liquor on to that, you’re going to get a lot more alcohol in your system than if you were drinking one or the other,” Evans-Anderson said.

“Coffee will sober you up”

Coffee has the stimulant caffeine, which leads some people to believe the hot drink will combat the depressant found in alcohol. According to Web-MD, caffeine won’t “cure” your drunkness, but it will make you a more wide awake drunk. The next morning, the dehydrating effects of alcohol and caf-feine will leave you feeling even worse.

“Alcohol kills brain cells”

If you google this question, you’ll find a multitude of conflicting sources. However, according to Dr. Evans-Anderson, large portions of alcohol can damage brain cells. “That alcohol is not being detoxifying by the liver and is going on to the brain where it’s going to kill mostly the supporting cells of the brain, the glial cells,” Evans-Anderson said.

“Drinking keeps you warm”

This myth may seem true, but it’s just an illusion. “[Alcohol] relaxes your circulatory system allowing more blood flow to your skin and that is what gives you that warmer sensation,” Evans-Anderson said.

“A passed out person just needs sleep”

“This may be the most dangerous myth because a passed out person may have alcohol poisoning or may face a choking hazard after passing out. That’s the worst thing. Wake them up, make sure they’re okay,” Evans-Anderson said.

Sources: CDC, WebMD, and Dr. Evans-Anderson

THURSDAYSeptember, 15 2011

MONICA KREBERArts & Entertainment Editor

[email protected] JOHNSON

Asst. Arts & Entertainment [email protected]

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August 2010 brought on line to Winthrop’s continuously developing building projects, the opening of the DiGiorgio Campus Center (DIGS).

The center, named for the university’s current president, replaced Dinkins Student Union, located on Oakland Avenue, as what is supposed to be the new hub for students to gather, work and be enter-tained.

Even with a game area includ-ing pool, foosball and ping pong tables, Xboxes, and televisions; a 224 seat theater that plays current movies weekly; “The Edge” which has a nightclub-type feel integrated into the food court area; some students question DIGS ability to meet entertainment needs.

DIGS has been described as the, “heart of campus,” but based upon the observations

of some students, the campus loses its beat on the weekends, and a pulse is sometimes hardly attainable during the week.

Kierra Landrum, former resident assistant and senior psychology major, said that working in the predominately freshmen Richardson Hall last year she did not see a great us-age of DIGS by the students.

“I don’t know of any of my residents that chose to go there on the weekends unless they happened to be here and they played a movie they liked,” Lan-drum said. “It’s very nice, but it’s not over the top exciting.”

Landrum noted that it seemed most residents went to Char-lotte, other schools or home on the weekends.

While tournaments may be a possibility, needing something new may entail using The Edge or other parts of the facility to host more popular acts. There may be some area of difficulty, as it was reported in the March

9 issue of The Johnsonian that the entertainment budget for DiGiorgio Student Union (DSU), formerly Dinkins Stu-dent Union, has not increased in over 15 years.

Boyd Jones, University Pro-grams Director, zoomed out and looked at the factors that make students more prone to find other places to be entertained as opposed to that which is avail-able to them on campus.

He made the point that Char-lotte is a city that booms with entertainment and activities.

“People will go to Charlotte to see an act before they would come to Rock Hill,” he said. He pointed out that it’s not neces-sarily anything that the school is doing wrong in the way of pro-gramming, but that at the base of all things, location counts.

Jones said there has not been a particular increase in DSU events since most things have become centralized at the cam-pus center, but “all of the space

we have to use is wonderful.” At that time, there was actually a pottery making event going on in the lobby area beside the concourse.

According to an analysis of the center’s usage, released by DIGS director Alicia Marstall, the center received 1122 space requests in the course of the 2010-2011 academic year, which included requests for space on the campus green, concourse and Scholars Walk, as well as rooms within the actual facility. The greatest amounts of re-quests was made for large meet-ing rooms which totaled 735; small meeting rooms came in second with 405 requests. The smallest amount of requests was made for The Edge, totaling 55. Dina’s Place, the theater, received 144 requests, while outside spaces received 143 requests. Other areas, including the ballroom, lobbies and room 114 (the fishbowl), round out requests.

However, the analysis also added, “The recreational and gaming equipment available to check out and use at the Infor-mation Services Desk evolved as the year went on.”

“Initially, we offered Pool, Ping Pong and Foosball avail-able to be checked out,” Marstall said. “Based on cus-tomer feedback and requests, we added video game equip-ment (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii) and an assortment of games. As the demand for video gaming in-creased in the Spring semester, students signed up for a Game-Fly Membership Account to give users of the Campus Center the flexibility to have all the latest games currently out for a small monthly fee.”

As Winthrop continues to develop, perhaps the vision for DIGS as the “heartbeat of cam-pus” will become more evident to pessimistic students.

Joshua [email protected]

How ‘entertaining’ is Winthrop’s campus?Previous reports indicate entertainment budget for DSU has not increased in over 15 years

Winthrop professors produce documentary

In 1926, Duncan Park Stadium was built in Spartanburg, S.C. This baseball stadium was the home of the Spartanburg Phillies, affiliates of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Duncan Park stadium holds many memories for the people of Spartanburg, memories that Winthrop University faculty mem-bers Albert Bolognese and Mark Nortz planned to capture in their docu-mentary “Duncan Park Stadium: 85 Years of Baseball Memories.”

A love of baseball and interest in the Spartan-burg Phillies led Bolog-nese, assistant professor for PE Sport and Human Performance (and a native of Philadelphia), to look up the history of Duncan Park Stadium, which is how he and mass commu-nication professor Nortz began the documentary. This is Nortz’s second documentary.

On July 8, 1926 Duncan Park held its first game played by the Spartanburg Spartans and the Macon Peaches. Game 5 of the 1936 “World Series” of American Legion baseball was also held there, the professors said. The Stadi-um was once the highlight of Spartanburg, with people going there every weekend to catch up with friends or to just enjoy a game of baseball. In 1937, the New York Yankees played an exhibition game at Duncan Park as they were on their way back to New York from spring training. Major league standouts that have played in Duncan Park in-clude Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, Larry Bowa, Ryne Sandburg, Dale Murphy and Tom Glavine.

From 1963 through 1994, the Spartanburg

Phillies were a farm team associated with the Phila-delphia Phillies. In 1971, 582 green wooden seats were sent to Duncan Park Stadium from Connie Mack Stadium (formerly known as Shibe Park) in Philadelphia when the Philadelphia Phillies began playing in Veterans Stadium. These wooden chairs are known as the “green seats” among the people of Spartanburg, ac-cording to the documen-tary, Bolognese said.

Bolognese has men-tioned that if those green seats were taken back to Philadelphia, they would be sold for a lot of money, which can give an idea of how valuable they are.

The construction of I-85 gave the people of Spar-tanburg a way to get to places that would usually take all day within a mat-ter of hours. This gave the option of going to another town on weekends instead of Duncan Park.

Bolognese said he be-lieves that this may have led to the demise of Dun-can Park Stadium, which was given to Spartanburg School District 7 by the state.

Today the Stadium is used by the Spartanburg

Stingers Baseball Club and the Spartanburg Crickets. Even though Duncan Park is still in use, there are still repairs needed and improve-ments that need to be made.

The “Friends of Dun-can Park” are a group of people who want to raise awareness about the condition of Duncan Park Stadium in an effort to get the needed funds to restore it.

The people of Spar-tanburg are fond of the Duncan Park Stadium, and by interviewing them, Bolognese and Nortz were able to picture the sta-dium as it once was.

“Any facility always holds memories,” Bolog-nese said, “but when you knock it down they’re gone.”

Through this documen-tary Nortz and Bolognese hope to preserve some of these memories and share them with others who will see “Duncan Park Stadi-um: 85 Years of Baseball Memories.”

Nortz said they hope to tell a good story through the documentary.

“Tell a good story,” he said. “Everyone loves a good story.”

Chequira HarrisSpecial to The Johnsonian

Winthrop faculty members Albert Bolognese, left, and Mark Nortz have made a documentary on Duncan Park. Photos by Aimee Harman • [email protected]

The documentary shows the history of Duncan Park Stadium at the Winthrop Athletic Field. Above is a shot of the stadium during the American Legion World Series game in 1936. Below is Duncan Park today, from the perspective of sec-ond base. Photos provided by Bolognese and Nortz.


thing “with name recognition” and good music.

“We started re-hearsals right after classes started,” Gundersheim said.

Gundersheim said auditioning for the musical required cast members who posed a “triple threat”; every-one has to be able to sing, dance and act.

“I think people are going to enjoy the mu-sic, and it’s not an old school musical,” he said. “It’s not ‘Okla-homa’ or ‘Anything Goes.’ It’s darker.”

The musical, set in 1920s Chicago, focuses on murder-ess Roxie Hart, who attempts to gain fame during her murder trial.

Junior theatre major Philip Calabro will be playing Roxie Hart’s “slick” lawyer Billy Flynn, who he describes as “a slea-zeball” who has never lost a case.

“We’re trying to keep that cold, sleazy feel to it (the play),” Calabro said. “I’ve never had to do a character that is such a sleazeball, and that’s the biggest thing for me; it’s a challenge to

do this because it puts me out of my own character.”

The poster for the musical will be labeled with “adult content” because of the dark story – and the theatre depart-ment is not censoring any of the songs or dialogue.

“I would say the show is what it is,” Calabro said. “We’re not trying to take anything out of it. We’re not censoring anything at all.”

Senior theatre major Kayla Piscatelli plays Velma Kelly, Roxie Hart’s rival, in the play. Pisca-telli said she likes her character because of “how smart” she is.

“(Velma) is hard and tough,” Piscatelli said. “She is also self-sufficient and inde-pendent.”

Piscatelli said the play has been some-what modernized from the original production.

“We’re a different version of what we were in the ‘20s,” she said.

Gundersheim said the musical is timely now with Casey Anthony trial

that wrapped up in July; he said the trials of Roxie Hart and Anthony have simi-larities.

“There are things about the play that reverberate that (the Anthony trial),” he said. “I think people might have conversa-tions in the car on their way home.”

Senior theatre performance major Cecily Bigham, who will be playing Ma-tron “Mama” Morton, said she loves the rehearsal process and the time she gets to experiment with her “powerhouse” char-acter.

“My biggest chal-lenge for this play is really getting my physicality to match the time period of Chicago,” she said. “Like every role I’ve been cast in, I have to change the way I stand and the way I walk, talk and dance. It’s all very exciting and challenging.”

Roxie Hart will be played by senior theatre performance major Jesse Powers.

“I love the fact that she is a very real, tangible character,” Powers said. “She and

I are different in a lot of ways, and it’s hard for me not to judge her for her actions or emotions. Char-acter development is definitely the hardest thing about this show at the moment.”

Powers also said time management is an obstacle.

“With the small amount of time to learn all of the songs, blocking, lines and choreography, I’m struggling to get a good grip on who she (Roxie) is,” she said. “Having such a fan-tastic group of dedi-cated and talented directors, musicians, technicians, actors and stage managers really helps the pro-cess run smoothly and successfully.”

Sophomore theatre performance major JT Rider will play Amos Hart, Roxie Hart’s husband. Rider said he likes his charac-ter because he is the “only pure, good char-acter” in the show.

“I am excited about the smaller cast that this show calls for, giving all of us more of a family bond,” he said. “The friend-ships born during

the rehearsal process are so strong, and in my experience, have never fallen apart.”

Rider said students should come see the show because it will both entertain and share a powerful mes-sage about the facts of life.

“And, of course, cultural credits,” he said.

To keep the dark style of the musi-cal intact, the cast is dressed in black linge-rie. Associate theatre and dance professor Janet Gray, who is in charge of costumes, said the department has two classes work-ing on the wardrobe of the musical.

“Each student works four hours a week,” Gray said. “Teacher assistants that help with the class also work outside of class. It’s 28 hours of student work.”

Gray said the costume design for “Chicago” was “new and different.”

“I’ve done shows with people in under-wear before,” she said, “but it’s different – not this kind of dark, sexy kind of show.”

Most of the set design is black as well. Associate theatre and dance professor Anna Sartin, who is in charge of set design, said the stage “may have texture,” but for the most part it is a dark setting.

“The challenges tend to be time and space,” Sartin said, “but I feel like we are in pretty good shape.”

Sartin said the crew is excited about open-ing night.

“Part of the fun about a show is com-ing in to see how the set has progressed every day,” she said. “You never know what you got until the lights go on.”

‘Chicago’: and all that jazz...

Winthrop theater department prepares to debut Broadway hit musical “Chicago,” Oct. 5-8

The cast has been rehearsing since Fall semester classes started, and all cast members are required to be able to sing, dance and act. Last Thursday night they rehearsed the song “We Both Reached for the Gun.” Photo by Claire Von Ostenbridge • [email protected]

Have you ever had to make a deci-sion and wanted some advice but didn’t know who to ask? Have you ever wanted advice but felt too self-conscious to ask for it? Have you ever questioned whether or not you should trust your own instincts?

When there’s a tough decision that needs to be made, it is human nature to be uncertain. In the face of this un-certainty, we try to justify every action and consider all the consequences. Often times confusing ourselves by over-analyzing, we’ll look to some-one else to give us some advice and guidance. However, not all topics and situations are comfortably discussed with just anyone.

Most people have what is known as a “go to” person when they want a second opinion. The “go to” person is often a best friend, a sibling, a cousin,

or maybe even a parent. But what hap-pens when the decision that needs to be made is in regards to that person, such as:

“Should I break up with my boy-friend?”

“Should I tell my parents I don’t want to take over the family business when I graduate?”

“I have no idea what I want to do with my life. Should I just drop out of college until I figure it out?”

“My best friend is my roommate, but I HATE living with her. Should I move out to save our friendship or just suck it up?”

Sometimes all one needs is an out-sider’s opinion, a completely unbiased, objective third party to lend an ear and some advice. It tends to be a lot easier to open up to someone you have no previous attachment to. You can be uncensored and bold, without any fear of being judged.

Decisions and choices are an inevi-

table part of life. They are sticky and messy and can seem overwhelming when we try to figure them out alone. A lot of the time, we already know what we really want. Sometimes we just need a little nudge in that direc-tion or someone to point us in a new, better direction. That’s where I come in.

“Ask Amelia” is here for you and your questions. The concept is simple. You can e-mail [email protected] or submit anonymously at http://www.mytjnow.com/askamelia.

Every week I’ll go through my email and answer two questions in that week’s column. So if you have a ques-tion, don’t hesitate. If it’s embarrass-ing, ask it. If it’s personal, ask it. If it’s scary, ask it.

Be uninhibited and daring. You’d be amazed how easily a perfect stranger can give you a brand new perspective.

Have a question? Want some ad-vice? Ask Amelia.

Introducing: Ask Amelia

CHICAGO • from front

Amelia offers advice and a new perspective for students who need anonymous consultation on any mat-ter, whether personal or public.

Amelia [email protected]

The friendships born during the rehearsal process are so strong...

JT RiderSophomore

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ALISON ANGELCulture Editor

[email protected]

When someone thinks of the word “cultural” now-a-days, there is a simple yet very misleading perception of what the word really means.

The word culture is the word that holds on to certain roots in history, whether it is cuisine, religion, art and what have you. Even Hip Hop is a type of culture, yet people relate to it as a simple dance or genre.

Winthrop University is possibly as multicultural as any other University in the Southeast. Being located in Rock Hill, Winthrop has a cultural aspect that not only pertains to other countries, but anywhere else outside the boarders of Rock Hill.

I move around a lot, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that every place has its own unique culture.N.Y

I was born in Manhattan, N.Y.; however, I was raised in the Dominican Republic. I lived three more years in upstate N.Y., and now I live in Fort Mill, South Carolina.

As a child in N.Y. I do not remember much of what was going on in the city as a whole, but I can say for sure that it was a heart racing moment when the sounds of po-lice cars driving down the street drifting at almost every corner attempting to capture someone filled the air.

This was a daily, if not weekly, ritual in N.Y.; and that was its particular culture. It has always been known for having a high rate of delinquency, but I remember that although you may not be a part of the crime, you were still a part of the culture of New York.

The endless nights in the city that never sleeps are infamous, but they are real, and they are a big part of the culture of the people within it.Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is another outstanding culture, and although it may not be recognized the same way the city is, the Dominican Republic has many similarities: specifically, that it ties countries and cultures together.

In the Dominican Republic, I remember people lived a much more relaxed and enjoyable lifestyle in my perspective. It was so different from the hasty lifestyle in N.Y.

In the Dominican Republic, it was not uncommon to walk down the street and see people cleaning their cars or their front yard while cranking up the Bachata music to dance, a big part of their culture. Even baseball is a part of the culture; literally everyone becomes a part of it. Unlike in N.Y. and South Carolina where baseball is a sport that is only played by the talented.

Foods and schools are always different no matter where you go, but these in particular are some aspects that differentiate the Dominican Republic from other places.

Just like my experience in N.Y, however, delinquency also occurs in every part of the world. It’s not a perfect country [the Dominican Republic], but it is a vastly cultural one that can offer the experience of a lifetime.Fort Mill

Finally, Fort Mill, South Carolina: moving here has had a substantially big im-pact on my perspective of what culture means. When I moved back to N.Y. from the Dominican Republic, I realized that my lifestyle in the Dominican Republic wasn’t much different, and I was astonished! Not only was the nature of Goshen, N.Y. slightly similar to that of Dominican Republic, but I also couldn’t believe that these places were so far away but lived similar lifestyles.

Fort Mill, South Carolina on the other hand, was nowhere near the Dominican Republic nor Goshen in any way, shape or form.

Although I am still attempting to get used to the new ways in South Carolina, it just goes to show how even in the same country, let alone the same states, there can be so many different cultures within the.

So next time you’re walking down Scholars Walk or heading to Diggs, just remember how even though you may speak the same language as all of the other people right next to you, there can be so much more to that person that you can-not even begin to relate to.

Whether it is the food they eat, the music they listen to, or the way they think, you never know. Cultures surround us no matter where we find ourselves, but it is our job to become acquainted with them.

Who knows: we might even learn a thing or two about incorporating that cus-tom into our own culture. And that is the definition of multicultural.

Cultural divide: For one student, worlds apart can sometimes offer similarities

Steven BenitezSpecial to the Johnsonian

WU: The International BreakdownEver wonder how diverse our student body is? We’ve put together the numbers that bring the rest of the world to our little corner and break things down:

Illustration by Courtney Niskala

Steven Benitez poses with family and friends in the Dominican Republic. Benitez lived in the Dominican Republic for years and said that the culture is very relaxed and enjoyable. Photo provided by Steven Benitez

Life in the Dominican Republic Photo provided by Steven Benitez


JEFF BRODEURSports Editor

[email protected] DAVID THACKHAM

Sports [email protected]

10

UPCOMING EVENTS Home games in bold

Men’s soccer 9/18 @ Marshall - 1 p.m.

Women’s soccer 9/17 vs. East Tennessee State - 7 p.m. 9/21 vs. South Carolina State - 7 p.m.

Volleyball 9/17 @ Elon - 7 p.m.

By Jeff [email protected]

What’s a better way to start off a Saturday morning than with a 3.1 mile run around the Winthrop Athletic Complex?

Raising money and awareness for a great cause in the process.

That was the mindset of a group of runners over the weekend at the WOAC 5k Race for Veterans.

“The race was a group effort of the Winthrop Outdoor Adventure Club and the Winthrop Student Veterans Organizations,” said Allie Briggs, an officer of WOAC.

“We’re splitting the funds raised today between each group.”

The Winthrop Outdoor Adventure Club was founded in 2006 and is dedicated to bringing individuals in-terested in outdoor recreation togeth-er. They plan events such a kayaking, white water rafting, rock climbing, mountain biking and skiing, just to name a few.

More information can be found on their blog at outdoorexplosion.blogspot.com.

The other campus club that made this 5k run possible was the Student Veterans of Winthrop University. This program strives to help make the transition from combat to the class-room easier for veterans at Winthrop University.

SVWU is constantly setting up vari-ous programs and events that not only make college life more enjoyable and accessible for veterans, but also help-ing them out after they graduate.

Saturday’s WOAC 5k Race for Vet-

erans was an example of one of these events.

“We’re raising funds for the student veterans and that money is going to be used to better the life and education of the veteran population of Winthrop,” said Mike Widrich, head of SVWU.

“We are looking to go to a national conference this December and we’re hoping to use some of the money we raise at this event to help send some of our veterans to a job fair so they have better opportunities once they graduate.”

It was a successful morning for both organizations as more than 30 runners showed up bright and early at Winthrop Lake to participate.

As for the race itself, it was open to anyone who wanted to compete, whether they wanted to test their endurance or just have a good time while helping out these organizations.

Prizes were given to the top finish-ers, ranging from gift certificates for local restaurants to Army T-shirts. Everyone also walked away with a complimentary National Guard water bottle just for signing up.

The grand prize was an Army back-pack filled with various items such as free Subway and Army/National Guard apparel.

In the end, junior AJ Fitzsimmons, who is also a member of the men’s cross-country team, was first to cross the finish line with a time of 18.52.

The event was both successful and timely according to Briggs.

“It was a great day for the race, and later it dawned on me that the an-niversary of Sept. 11 was right around the corner, which was pretty cool.”

WOAC raises money and awareness for Winthrop Veterans

More than 30 racers signed up to run in the 5k race Saturday morning, athletes and non athletes alike. The track consisted of two laps around the Winthrop Athletic Complex totaling 3.1 miles. All photos by Jeff Brodeur • [email protected]

Personal times were given to each runner as they crossed the finish line. Prizes were given to the top performers following the race. AJ Fitzsimmons (left) had the best overall time of 18.52.

THURSDAY September 15, 2011 11SPORTS

Sports Briefs

Soccer player featured in Lowe’s Senior Class Award column

Winthrop’s Matt Horn was recently men-tioned in an article regarding the Lowe’s Senior Class Award for men’s soocer

Every year, the award is given to a senior from each NCAA sport who demostrates out-standing service to their community.

Within the column, Horn, a two year team captain for the men’s soccer team, talked about his involvement with the Student-Athlete Advi-sory Committee.

He recalls his mission trip to Peru with Samaritan’s Feet founder Manny Ohonme and traveling to different schools and reading to children.

For the full story, go to seniorclassaward.com, as well as the Winthrop Athletics website.

Matthews named Athlete of the Week

Winthrop men’s soccer player Akeem Mat-thews was named the Athlete of the Week by the Winthrop Athletics website.

Matthews scored the fi rst three goals of the game to help Winthrop earn a 5-4 double-overtime victory over Georgia Southern in the Eagles fi rst game of the Big South/Southern Shootout. It’s the fi rst hat trick by a freshman since Matthew Skonicki netted three goals in his fi rst game in 2006 against North Florida.

The 5-9 forward is tied for the team lead with three goals and currently leads the team with 12 shots (six on goal).

His performance was mentioned on College-SoccerNews.com as one of the notable perfor-mances on the week.

Men’s soccer shutout by Furman

The Winthrop men’s soccer team dropped their second straight match over the weekend as they were blanked by Furman, 2-0 in the fi nal game of the Diadora/Sphinx Furman Invitational.

Both of Furman’s scores came in the second half as they improve to 4-1-1 on the season, while the Eagles drop to 3-2. The match was the fi rst time this season the Eagles were un-able to score.

Winthrop’s Alex Isern and Josh Chioce were named to the All-Tournament team.

Head coach Rich Posipanko did not travel with the team due to illness.

The team will be back in action on Sept. 14 at 7 p.m. when they travel to Davidson. Although Winthrop came away victorious in their last matchup with the Wildcats, Winthrop is 5-9-1 against Davidson in the series history.

WU baseball to hold walk-on tryouts

The Winthrop baseball team will hold walk-on tryouts on Monday, Sept. 19 at The Win-throp Ballpark.

The tryout will begin at 4 p.m., and all walk-on participants are asked to meet at the fi rst base dugout.

All individuals will have to provide two items when reporting for the tryout. Players will have to complete a physical and fi ll out the walk-on form, and then turn them in prior to the tryout beginning.

The tryout form is available on the Winthrop baseball page of www.winthropeagles.com.

“Meet the Eagles Night” set for Sept. 20

The Winthrop Eagle Club and CN2 presents “Meet the Eagles Night” on Tuesday, Sept. 20, as members of the 2011 fall sports teams will be introduced to fans following dinner at the Winthrop Coliseum.

The event will begin at 6 p.m. with dinner followed by the coaches’ introductions of the team members of men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball, men’s and women’s cross country and men’s and women’s golf. Reservations are required by Sept.17.

The event is free for Eagle Club members who have joined or renewed their 2011-12 membership. Tickets for non-members are $10 per person and $5 for children (age 13 and under).

For reservations and/or Eagle Club member-ships contact Sharen G. DuBard at 803/323-2129 ext. 6218 or [email protected].

For more information, visit the Winthrop athletics Web page.

By David [email protected]

Head coach Spencer Smith looked uncharacteristically stoic as he stood off to the side as his Win-throp women’s soccer team went through their typical pre-match practice last Thursday. Normally, the even-keeled manager doesn’t show much sign of frustration, but a man’s temperament can be tested by a three-game winless streak.

“Don’t look at your gloves,” he muttered under his breath, after backup goalkeeper Amelia Hender-son reacted to a missed save. “You missed the shot, not your gloves.”

Minutes later, freshman Ash-ley Herndon skewed a shot high over the goal in a shooting drill, prompting the young midfi elder to apologize loudly.

“No ‘sorry’s,’” Smith sternly reminded his player. “No more ‘sorry’s.’”

That’s the hard-nosed attitude Smith and his coaching staff must instill into the Lady Eagle camp as the season gets well and truly underway. After an undefeated preseason run and an early victory against Georgia Southern, Win-throp (2-3)could only score twice in nearly 300 minutes of play.

“We need a confi dence booster,” Smith said prior to his team’s meeting with USC Upstate last Friday. “We’re still looking for the right combination of players and trying to fi nd the chemistry to make it all smooth on the fi eld.”

A team long perceived as aver-age since their inception in 2003, Winthrop had their fi rst seven-win season last year since 2008. Their success gained them a fi ve-way tie of the 2010 Big South regular season title and a #1 seed going into the playoffs in Radford, VA. Mired in 6th in the Big South Conference as of September 7, Smith knows liv-

ing in the past doesn’t win champi-onships.

The road to recovery lies with goals. Winthrop lost offensive threats Tiana Tallant and Tricia Vensel to graduation in 2010, opening a starting spot alongside Eagle stalwart Courtney Durbin.

“When I saw [Krystyna Freda] in her club days,” Smith said, “she was popping in goals from 25, 30 yards away, no problem. Now she’s getting a little more pressure, though.”

The freshman from New Jer-sey was given the starting job earlier this August ever since some dazzling form in her club team, Matchfi t. However, Freda couldn’t seem to fi nd her way to goal against the Citadel, College of Charleston or Francis Marion, prompting Smith to make tough choices.

“We needed an early goal [against USC Upstate] to infl ate us and defl ate them,” he said. “We made a tactical adjustment that was dangerous, but it worked.”

Smith decided to slot Durbin in at central defender against the Spartans (a spot she hadn’t played since early in her junior year) and leave Freda on the subs bench. The move was an instant success. Winthrop’s defense gained some well-needed experience during the fi rst half, shutting down any threat from the visitors. The defi ning mo-ment, however, would come in the 27th minute. Freda, who had just entered the match as a substitute seven minutes earlier, connected on a long pass by Rachel Webster, ducked an onrushing defender before sliding the ball past the Up-state goalkeeper for her fi rst colle-

giate goal. “It’s been building up for so

long,” Freda said afterwards. “It felt so nice to get that goal, I’m hoping this is a sign of things to come.”

It’s impossible to say whether the personnel changes truly made the difference or whether a switch to a 3-5-2 formation (away from Smith’s traditional 4-4-2) had opened the game up for the Eagles, but this much is clear: At the end of Winthrop’s 6-0 rout of the Spartans, the Lady Eagles had 12 second half shots, six more corners than their visitors and the best start to a season since 2008.

Smith thinks the best is yet to come.

“Tonight was a bit better,” he admitted, “but we really could have been so much better. We’re still looking for what works the best for us and nothing’s set in stone right now. Anything could change.”

Changes galore as women’s soccer hopes to escape slump

By Brandon McGinnisSpecial to The Johnsonian

After getting off to the best start since 2006, the Winthrop volley-ball team tested itself against the state’s best at the Carolina Chal-lenge in Charleston, SC last week-end. The Eagles were able to escape the tournament with a fi ve-set win over host, College of Charleston, but fell to Clemson and a one-loss South Carolina squad.

This week, the Eagles will be on the road as they travel to Charlotte to take on the 49ers on Wednesday and then head to Elon for the Elon Phoenix Classic this weekend. At the tournament, Winthrop is slated for a match against North Carolina Central on Friday and then takes on the host, Elon on Saturday night.

The Eagles come into this week with a 5-4 record led by Big South Conference Preseason of the Year senior Becca Toor. Toor currently has 132 kills and an attacking per-centage of .333 on the season. The middle hitter has won back-to-back Big South Conference Player of the Week Awards to start the season, an award she won just once in 2010. Defensively, Toor has tallied

35 blocks, 13 of those being solo.Winthrop’s future looks bright as

there are seven freshmen on this year’s squad. A pair of freshmen lead the Eagles defense as libero Catherine Brusie paces the team in digs with 137, and outside hitter Lauren Landsman has 112.

Sophomore setter Stephanie Palmer has shown how versatile she can be on the fl oor this year as she has posted double-digit kills, digs and assists in at least one match this season. Stephanie leads Winthrop is assists with 346 on the year.

In their fi rst match of the week, the Eagles travel up I-77 to take on the Charlotte 49ers. Charlotte comes into the match with a 5-5 record as the 49ers captured two wins at the Hilton University 49er Invitational, a tournament in which they hosted. The 49ers are led of-fensively by Bianca Rouse with 121 kills on the season. Defensively, Charlotte looks to Christina Drake, who is the only player with triple-digit digs on the year with 110. The 49ers are coached by Chris Red-ding who is in his fi fth season.

After squaring off against Char-lotte, the Eagles will travel to Elon on Friday to take on North Caro-

lina Central on the opening day of the Elon Phoenix Classic. NCCU is still searching for its fi rst win of the season and will be taking on Win-throp at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. North Carolina Central is led by Dayanna Arrufat on the offensive side of the net. Defensively, NCCU is paced by Jaima-Malaki Kalao with 54 digs. The Eagles are led by six year vet-eran Georgette Crawford-Crooks.

On Saturday, Winthrop will be facing the host, Elon to wrap up the tournament. The Phoenix sit at 8-3 with a match with High Point pending this week. Winthrop will look to contain Elon’s tough of-fense as the Phoenix have two play-ers with over 100 kills. Caroline Lemke and Chanelle have tallied 115 and 109 kills respectively and as a team, Elon has combined for 549 kills. Defensively, the Phoenix are paced by Ali Deatsch with 195 digs.

Volleyball hopes to refocus for demanding non-conference slate

Photo by David Thackham • [email protected]

12THURSDAY September 15, 2011 THE JOHNSONIAN

WWW.MYTJNOW.COM

september 15th, 2011

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