the spectator 09-25-2014
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The online edition of The Spectator, Valdosta State University's Independent Student Newspaper.TRANSCRIPT
SEPTEMBER 25, 2014 Volume 87 Issue 5
Inside This Issue - OPINIONS:Tobacco ban takes away student rights- FEATURES:Valdosta becomes more ‘Mellow’
- SPORTS: VSU struggles in GSC rivalry game, looks to No. 5 UNA
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Check out Marquez Slaughter’s story, “VSU parking proves problematic, ” on the web!
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Sigma Nu suspended for signs
The ability to enjoy tobacco products at free will is going up in smoke on Oct. 1. After a decision from the USG Board of Regents was passed this spring to make all campuses in the system tobacco free, the time has fi nally come for the ban to go into effect. The policy is a by-product of the Georgia Smoke Free Air Act of 2005, Title 31, Chapter 12A, which is in place to preserve and improve the health, comfort and environment of students, employees and any persons on a USG campus. According to Section 9.1.7 of the Board of Regents poli-cy manual, tobacco products include “cigarettes, cigars, pipes, all forms of smokeless tobacco, clove cigarettes and any other smoking devices that use tobacco such as hookahs or simulate the use of tobacco such as electronic cigarette.” Using these prod-ucts in any capacity on prop-erty owned, leased, rented or in possession of VSU is prohibited, even if you are in your car on campus. When SGA sent out a survey last spring to gauge stu-dents’ opinions, only 1,023 students responded. Out of
those 1,023 students, 44 per-cent of respondents strongly opposed the ban. “I mean, I’m a rebel, so at fi rst I might go against it, but I’ll eventually get with the program,” Reggie Kalee, ju-nior, said. “I’m trying to stop smoking anyway, so I think it will help.” Additionally, 60 percent of the respondents weren’t tobacco users, which shows that the feedback wasn’t one-sided. Some students simply feel that the right for people to smoke as they please shouldn’t be infringed upon. Enforcement, as stated in the policy, varies among each campus, as it is left to the discretion of the university president. According to the human resources and em-ployee development website, the enforcement rests with all members of the university community. With that, all staff, faculty and students are expected to politely remind an offender of the policy and request the product be discarded. Uni-versity police will not ticket offenders unless they become belligerent and/or aggressive. Albany State is issuing a $50 surcharge for offend-ers. Institutions like Georgia State, Georgia Southern and West Georgia are currently
enforcing similar policies to that of VSU. “Savannah State has been doing a $25 ticket, and it has been working so far,” Tamelia Hall, SGA comptroller, said. Nick Buford, SGA vice president, and Hall attended a Tobacco Free Campus Sum-mit at UGA this past week-end. The Student Government Association is planning dif-ferent events and initiatives to inform students of the policy and educate students on the health risks of tobacco products. Included in that plan will be an event with new safety
awareness mascot, SAM. The event Up In Smoke, featuring SAM the safety awareness mascot, will be Oct. 9 at 6:30 p.m. in Jennett Lecture Hall 1111. SGA and the offi ce of communications will sponsor the event. “We would love for stu-
dents, faculty and staff to come out and share their opin-ions concerning the policy,” Tyler Barker, SGA president, said. On Oct. 1, the Kick Butts Day initiative will take place between 11 a.m.-3 p.m. There, student organizations, faculty
and staff will distribute
pamphlets, tobacco-free promo-
tional items and candy promoting a tobacco-free campus.
Photo courtesy of Dr. Andrea Ramirez
Cigarettes go out for good:Tobacco ban goes into effect Oct. 1
Isaiah Smart STAFF WRITER
Students holding inap-propriate signs at Saturday’s VSU football game caused an uproar that led to the arrest of a student and the suspen-sion of a VSU fraternity by its national headquarters. The incident began dur-ing the fi rst half of the game between VSU and Delta State at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium. Members of the Sigma Nu fraternity were seen holding signs that game attendees deemed inappropriate. The signs stated “Tits out for Blazers” and “Fudge her in the Puddin,” which ap-peared to offend some fans at the game. The second sign alludes to an offensive, viral phrase. Florida State Uni-versity quarterback Jameis Winston was suspended from FSU’s football game after reportedly standing up on a table in Florida State’s Stu-dent Union, and yelling the phrase. Andrea Ramirez, a wom-en’s and gender studies pro-fessor who attended the game, was one of the many fans that saw the signs. According to Ramirez, one of the students was also shouting obscenities at women in the stands. Ramirez said she fi rst attempted to confront the stu-
dents with the signs, but then later decided to alert VSU police. “The problem for me, be-ing one who teaches women and gender studies and being a woman, was that this was being done without a second thought,” Ramirez said. After the VSU police were contacted, the students would put down their signs once of-fi cers approached, according to Ramirez. Eventually, the police escorted the members of the fraternity out of the stadium.
One of the fraternity broth-ers was arrested for alleg-edly not cooperating with the police. Luke Alves, 23, was charged with disorderly conduct for using fi ghting words, obscene language and harassing, according to the police report. No other fraternity mem-bers were arrested. The posters were gone before halftime. Several members of the Sigma Nu fraternity were contacted by The Spectator and said that they could not
comment on the situation. President of Simga Nu, Sam Guess said that the fraternity was not prepared to comment at this time, in an email. According to Scott Doner, director of VSUPD, offi cers are instructed on how to deal with misbehaving fans at athletic events. “It depends on the level of their actions. It may start off with a verbal warning or it may be an immediate arrest,” Doner said. Discipline in the incident could come from both VSU
and the national headquarters of Sigma Nu. “We will look at violation of the student code of conduct and that will be handled as both an individual and an organization, if they are found to be in violation”, Russell Mast, dean of students, told WCTV. Ramirez says she hopes for a positive outcome from this situation. “I’m hoping that this is more of a learning tool for all of us at Valdosta State and in the community and in the na-tion for that matter,” Ramirez said. “Making fun of women and sexual activity against their consent is not okay.”
Jordan BarelaSOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR
A student holds a sign that some fans deemed innapropriate at VSU’s Sept. 20 football game against Delta State. Some studemts found the signs offensive.
Partly Cloudy
Partly Cloudy
P.M.T-Storms
Sierre King/ THE SPECTATOR
“The problem for me, being one who teaches women and gen-der studies and being a woman, was that this was being done without a second thought.”
Dr. Andrea Ramirez,Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies
SGA welcomed the direc-tors of student life and human resources at its weekly Mon-day meeting, and discussion topics ranged from the new smoking ban to football to a Nickelodeon celebrity.
The first guest of the night was the director of student life, John Wright. Accord-ing to Wright, student life is trying to get a new ATM on campus, one that is located inside the Student Union.
Wright was also informa-tive about an “underutilized” student service called the “Blazer Pantry,” a service for full-time students without a meal plan who are in need of food. They accept donations and remain confidential for
any and all students who use the service.
Wright said student life also wants to get more students and organizations involved with tailgating. In a discus-sion session, senators said that there are flaws with parents weekend and that transfer stu-dents sometimes get left out of events since they weren’t always blazers.
Another student pointed out a lack of tradition at VSU, something Wright revealed himself to be passionate about.
“Every year I complain about tradition,” Wright said. “If we try to come up with tradition, it never works. Ev-erything I ever tried to come up with, it gets blown out of the water.
“It’s you guys that need to make the tradition, not us.
All we can do is provide the venue; you guys have to take control,” Wright said.
“Just say ‘Hey, if you want to smoke that’s fine. That’s your right, but could you just go off the property?’”
DeniseBogartDirector,
Human Resources
Wright also discussed the new app called “Blazerguide,” which allows students to do a number of things (to-do lists,
scheduling, viewing maps and receiving announcements) to help them while at college.
Student life is also working to get more students to attend football games. One idea they have is to switch the VSU seating with the band’s. There will be more room so students won’t have to worry about limited seating.
The second guest was Denise Bogart, director of hu-man resources, who discussed Kick Butts Day, happening Oct. 1. VSU’s goal for this event is to educate students in regard to the tobacco-free policy that will go into effect Oct. 1.
So far there will be no strict enforcement of the policy, such as a ticket or forcible removal off campus. It may come later, but for right now Kick Butts Day is about edu-
cating students and promoting health.
“We know that (smoking) is an addiction,” Bogart said. “It’s really hard to quit. It’ll take a little adjustment, it’ll be a little rough for a while, but eventually it will become the norm.”
When explaining how to address smokers on campus after the policy goes into effect, Bogart said, “Just say ‘Hey, if you want to smoke that’s fine. That’s your right, but could you just go off the property?’”
According to Bogart, hu-man resources believes a bigger problem that will arise from the policy is that Drexel Park may be full of cigarettes. They have warned the city of Valdosta of this possibility.
SGA also discussed Kel Mitchell from Nickelodeon’s
“All That” and “Kenan and Kel,” who will be visiting VSU for a meet and greet. He will be compensated for his time to the tune of $4,000.
Additionally, SGA voted whether they wanted to contribute $1,000 out of their budget to Kel Mitchell. The motion passed, with 34 sena-tors voting yes to paying the amount and only 5 disagree-ing.
At the beginning of the meeting, SGA’s new secre-tary, Taylor Malone, junior political science major, was sworn in by President McKin-ney. Shortly thereafter the new freshmen senators were also sworn in.
“It’s fulfilling to finally have a full executive board,” SGA President Tyler Barker said. “It will boost SGA to run more smoothly.”
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Sept. 26, Oct. 2,38:30-10:30 a.m., 12-1:30 p.m.Student Health Center
Flu vaccines will be available to students for $10 (payable by FLEX, cash or check). Your VSU ID is required, but scheduling an appoint-ment is not necessary unless you want to do so. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call (229) 219-3200
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Sept. 278 p.m.Whitehead Auditorium(Fine Arts building)
The Valdosta Symphony Orchestra will begin its 25th season by performing Men-delssohn’s Violin Concerto and Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition.” The gala concert will feature violin-ist Rachel Barton Pine, who has performed with numer-ous symphonies around the world.
Tickets are $10 for students and $27 for adults. Tickets will be available at the Box Office before the event, but to reserve tickets or to find out more information, visit www.valdostasymphony.org.
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Police BriefsSept. 24
Someone broke into a silver Honda Civic parked in the Sustella Parking Deck.
Two subjects were reported to be playing with a Taser near Odum Library.
Two bikes were reported stolen, one from Sustella Avenue and the other from the Patterson Hall area.
Sept. 23
A person reported that his bicycle was stolen from the PE Complex area.
A student reported that he lost his keys in the Psychol-ogy building; his keychain included his credit card and car key.
Sept. 18
A bike was reported stolen from a bike rack outside Langdale Hall.
A student reported that her debit card was stolen.
Sept. 17
A purse was reported miss-ing/stolen.
Last October, Dr. William McKinney revealed that VSU’s faculty senate made the decision to move the ATM from the University Center to the Student Union due to its secluded and unsafe location.
It is now almost an entire year later, and the ATM has yet to be moved.
The new chief of staff, Dr. Kimberly Luse, said plans to move the ATM are still in the works.
“The Bank of America is moving the machine for VSU at no cost to the university,” Luse said. “We are awaiting their ability to move it given their schedule.”
Students have questioned if the campus will now have two ATMs or if the one at the UC will be removed.
“The one at the UC is scary to use at night, but at least I have the liberty to use it at any time I want,” Kiebbler Carter, junior biology major, said. “If they keep both, it’s good for students to use in the Union during the daytime, but
it defeats the purpose of mak-ing it safer.
“If they build another one, it shouldn’t be inside a build-ing; it should be easily acces-sible like the one at the UC is, but just on main campus.”
“The Bank of America is mov-ing the machine for VSU at no cost to the uni-versity. We are awaiting their ability to move it given their schedule.”
Dr. Kimberly LuseChief of Staff
Carter and many other students who appreciated the freedom of the outside ATM will be pleased to know that the new machine will be located in the heart of campus and will still be outside, there-fore more accessible.
“There will be no machine
at the UC once the move is made,” Luse said. “The Union ATM will be located outside the Union, where the drive-way enters, but closer to the building at the end of the row of bike racks.
“The ultimate goal for the move is to enhance student
safety. Lighting specification will be in line with campus standards.”
Although there is no set date for when the new ATM will be put outside of the Union, students can expect to see it sometime within the current school year.
Tatyana PhelpsCopy Editor
Students still waiting on new ATM
The sudoku grid consists of eighty-one squares in a nine by nine grid. To solve the sudoku, each square in the grid must contain a number between one and nine, with the following conditions: · Each row of nine cells must contain each of the numbers from 1 to 9 once and only once. · Each column of nine cells must contain each of the numbers from 1 to 9 once and only once. · Each of the nine 3 by 3 boxes of nine cells must contain each of the numbers from 1 to 9 ANSWER ON PAGE 5
LaShawn OglesbyStaff WritEr
SGA talks student life, new smoking ban
VSU’s ATM is currently in a more secluded part of campus, but plans still exist to bring it to the Student Union, considered to be a more central and therefore safer location.
Ritsuki Miyazaki/THE SPECTATOR
CorrectionIn the 9-18 issue of The
Spectator, the photo credit for the front-page photos was mistakenly left out. The photos were taken by Mike LaGon and Alex Tostado.
Happy‘TatorDay!
SEPTEMBER 25, 2014 VSUSPECTATOR.COM | PAGE 3
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Opinions expressed in The Spectator other than editorials are the opinions of the writers of signed columns and not neccessarily those of The Spectator and its staff. All rights reserved. Reprints by permission of the editors. Views in this newspaper are not neccessarily those of the Valdosta State University administration, faculty and staff.
Our point of view...
Tobacco ban takes away student rights
This editorial was written by a member of the editorial staff and expresses the general opinion of The Spectator.
Courtesy of MCT Campus
Kiss cam needs equality at sporting events
People Poll: How do you think the tobacco ban should be enforced?
Joshua ThompkinsSpeech communications
Junior
“I think the tobacco ban should be enforced by set-ting another location for
tobacco users to smoke their cigarettes.”
Kaylee TaylorPsychology
Senior
“I guess maybe ticketing would make sense or some-
thing like that, but I don’t have a clear-cut way that I think it
should be enforced.”
Laportia FrazierBiologySenior
“I don’t think a ticket would really work. I don’t
think somebody would pay if you gave them a ticket.”
The Board of Regents To-bacco and Smoke Free Cam-pus Policy becomes effective at VSU on Oct. 1.
An SGA poll shows that 53 percent of students opposed or strongly opposed the ban, 43 percent supported or strongly supported the ban, while the other four percent had no opinion on the topic.
If the majority of students on campus are against this, why is the policy still being imposed?
This ban does not only affect students who smoke between classes, but the staff, visitors and contractors are affected as well.
This rule will turn people off to VSU. If people are repeatedly told to put their to-bacco products out, they will feel harassed and unwanted.
Is this a serious enough issue for VSU to make it a permanent rule?
It is a person’s right if they want to use tobacco or not. Any type of tobacco prod-uct is damaging and unsafe. However, if a person is of age, how can VSU take away that right?
There is no reason why smokers should have to change for a rule that is not strongly agreed with by the students at VSU.
This rule will cause more issues than it will solve. Many people choose to smoke and completely banning tobacco use could potentially have a negative effect on the number of people on campus.
The solution to the problem of tobacco use would be to strongly enforce designated smoking areas on campus, not a complete banning. This so-lution is fair for all students, faculty and staff.
It’s not news to any of us that smoking is bad for your health, the health of people around you and the environ-ment. These have been the leading reasons for VSU to impose the smoking ban ef-fective Oct. 1.
We have all been taught the health hazards of smok-ing since elementary school, and when people make the personal decision to subject
themselves to those hazards, that’s perfectly fine. However, the people around them who make the personal decision not to smoke should not be subjected to those same health hazards.
This smoking ban on VSU’s campus will promote an all-around healthier lifestyle for all of its students. Promoting a health-conscious lifestyle is one of the best things VSU can do for its students.
During college, people tend to pick up negative and un-healthy habits that stick with
them long past college, and smoking is one of them. With this ban on smoking, VSU can help prevent its students from picking up unhealthy habits during this pivotal time in their lives.
The smoking ban will also help keep VSU’s campus cleaner. If everyone is follow-ing the ban come Oct. 1, there won’t be any more cigarette butts on the ground. This will make the campus more pleasant for smokers and non-smokers alike.
From the palm trees to the
Spanish moss and beautiful architecture, VSU is known for having one of the most beautiful campuses in Geor-gia. With fewer cigarettes junking up the ground and less smoke polluting the air, the campus will look even better than we ever thought possible.
The implementation of this new policy is great all the way around and will help VSU and its students lead bet-ter, healthier lives in a cleaner environment.
Taylor WardUndeclaredSophomore
“I think that they should fine people if they’re smoking on campus.”
Kenzie KesselringAssistAnt OpiniOns EditOr
Kristin WhitmanAssistAnt spOrts EditOr
Tobaccon ban faces mixed reactions from students
Kenzie KesselringAssistAnt OpiniOns EditOr
“Piled Higher and Deeper” by Jorge Chamwww.phdcomics.com
The “it’s for your own good” argument has been used to enforce
doctrines on subordinate populations for genera-tions. VSU plans to adopt this justification with a new campus-wide tobacco ban. The problem is that the “sub-ordinate population” here at VSU is overwhelmingly made up of adults who are more than capable of mak-ing the personal decision to smoke cigarettes.
The university maintains that, like many other institu-tions in the state, this move is for the benefit of students and all who visit the cam-pus. The negative effects of first and second hand smoke were a major motivation for university policy makers. If taken at face value, this pol-icy seems well-intentioned, but when has any policy ever been enforced with negative intentions?
Some measures, no matter how beneficial, can still be too invasive. The university has already done a lot to accommodate smokers and non-smokers. As of now, smoking within 25 feet of building entrances is not allowed and cigarette butt receptacles are located in all of the designated smoking areas.
The issue is that unlike previous measures that only limited the areas where people can smoke, tobacco would be a prohibited substance on campus and of-fenders could be penalized.
It is no secret that ciga-rettes contain highly addic-tive substances, and those that smoke tobacco are
essentially addicts. The university is offering
support groups and infor-mation to assist any student who wants to quit, but that doesn’t completely solve the ethical issue of college gov-ernmental overreaching.
If this kind of policy is enforced, what is stopping the university from banning other addictive substances? Caffeine is another highly addictive substance and can have detrimental side effects, but a coffee-free campus is not a likely outcome.
We at The Spectator were split when it came time to decide where we stood on this subject. Some staff members agree that the new policy is beneficial, while others maintained impartial-ity.
However, one thing that we could come to a con-sensus on was the fact that the complete tobacco ban is reaching a little too far.
Obviously, smoking is not the healthiest of habits, but the decision of whether an individual can smoke should be left up to that individual.
If this policy is really being implemented for students’ benefit, then the student body should have some say in the matter. Regardless of which way students decided to vote on the subject, there should be an opportunity for them to voice their opin-ions. An administration that wants to portray the role of a benevolent protector should show that they value the opinion of the protected by offering them a venue.
Tweet us your opinion
@vsuspectator#sigmanusigns
#VSUtobaccoban
Courtesy of MCT Campus
If you’ve ever been to a sporting event, then you know about the kiss cam—that portion of half time that is spent scanning the crowd for people appearing to be in a relationship and then holding the camera on them until they kiss on screen in front of the whole stadium.
Attention has been called to the demographics highlighted on the kiss cameras recently when the Atlanta Hawks co-owner, Bruce Levenson, sent an email in which he men-tioned that the demographics of the kiss cam at the team’s most recent game were “too black.”
This didn’t sit well with people who caught wind of the inappropriate and unnec-essary comment.
Levenson’s comment is proof enough that kiss cam is racist. Who cares if the kiss cam at that particular game highlighted multiple African American couples kissing? Why should it matter?
Levenson’s racist comment prompted CNN opinions writer, John Sutter, to ask Wade Davis his thoughts on the kiss cam. Davis, a former homosexual NFL player, said the kiss cam is “hegemonic masculinity and sexism at its finest.”
Davis’ statement about the kiss cam was very much spot on. When the kiss cam shows couples, it usually ends in the man forcibly kissing the woman to please the crowd, even if it looks like the woman does not want to.
It is no secret that the kiss cam rarely shows a homo-sexual couple kissing in a non-mocking way. There is no reason for homosexual
couples to be overlooked on the kiss cam because they are no different from any other couple in the stadium.
Our society has come so far to overcome racism and sexism, and the LBGT community has been making huge strides to overcome the discrimination they face. So why does the kiss camera at American sporting event not reflect that?
The kiss cam holds an iconic place in the history of American sporting events.
If it wants to stay around, it needs to adapt to the times and reflect the demographics of all people who watch it.
Operators of the kiss cam need to start showing couples of all races and all sexualities. They should start showing couples that they know are going to share a mutually enjoyed kiss and get some di-versity into the kiss cameras.
PAGE 4 | VSUSPECTATOR.COM SEPTEMBER 25, 2014
Hello Spectator readers; my name is Hailey Nelson. I am a VSU junior and I am the new writer for The Health Corner. This column is all about ways to live a happy healthy college lifestyle. I am very passionate about nutrition and the benefits of feeding your body well. As a new certified yoga instructor for beginners, I believe that physical activity and nourish-ing your body can greatly impact your overall health. My first column this week is about ways to eat organic foods on a budget. As a college student, the money we save up, earn and spend is important to us. This includes the way we spend our money in the grocery store. I believe how we take care of our body in college affects the way we perform academically. Despite the price increase of organic produce, there are ways to fuel your body well on a college budget. By putting money aside to buy organic fruits and veggies, it can benefit the energy and overall health of our bodies in the long run. Knowing how to live on a budget comes in handy but knowing how to be a smart shopper is essential. It all comes down to know-ing what organic is. What are you putting your money towards and why is it so ex-pensive? Basically, “organic” means that a specific food has not been processed in a fac-tory or exposed to any harsh chemicals or additives. When you buy organic, you are buying food that has not been stripped of its natural nutrients and vitamins, which are essential for your body. So if you’re interested in eating organic, here are a few tips to help you become a smart
shopper. Organic foods aren’t just reserved for health nuts, nutritionists, or workout enthusiasts. College students can know which foods to buy organic and which to get at the regular grocery store. Rather than purchasing your organic produce at a store, try going to a local farmers market, like Farm Days here in Valdosta. At these local markets, farmers sell their homegrown produce for a lot less than at a typical grocery store. Even though some of the farmers are not certified organic, it’ll give you peace
of mind knowing where your food was grown and that it was not exposed to any harsh
chemicals. Also, try buying organic foods that don’t have a peel such as strawberries, toma-toes, apples and bell peppers. These kinds of foods usually have high traces of pesticides, so it is better to play it safe than sorry. If you don’t have time to go the farmers market, growing your own fruits and veggies in the backyard or windowsill is the perfect alternative. For those of you that live in the dorms, find a place on campus that gets plenty of sunshine to start a campus garden. Gather your friends to-gether and write a letter to the administration suggesting the idea of a campus garden. It’s a lot less money and more fun when everyone can join in and help grow fruits and veg-gies. Keep in mind that it also goes back to taste. When you taste the difference between a store-bought strawberry and a homegrown strawberry, you will never want to go back. Try to make a gradual transi-tion to familiarize yourself with the prices and tastes of homegrown produce.
Bicycle Crime Prevention 1. Do not leave your bicycle unattended for any amount of time more than necessary.
2. Always lock your bicycle to one of the bicycle racks located throughout the campus.
3. Use a steel “U” bolt as opposed to a cable lock.
4. Make a record of your bicycle’s model and serial number.
Register your bicycle for free through the VSU Police Bicycle Anti-Theft Program.
Graphic by Brittney Penland
Mass media students take photo at Cahir Castle in Ireland during department’s first study abroad trip
Hailey NelsonColunmist
Studying abroad is one of those things that every stu-dent dreams about during col-lege. However, only a small amount of students actually do the research and take the necessary steps to make this dream come true. VSU offers many ways for students to broaden their horizons and step out of their comfort zones to study abroad in countries some only wish of seeing. Whether it’s for a summer, a semester or a year, the international office has a large amount of programs to choose from. Traveling is expensive, let alone living in another coun-try for a long period of time. One of the main worries for students in this day and age is figuring out the financial aspect of studying abroad. “We encourage everyone to come to our office and talk about it before just decid-ing that it’s not possible for them,” Beverly Valentine, European council coordinator, said. There are many ways to overcome this barrier. The international office will work with students to find the funds for study abroad and even offer two fundraisers to subsi-dize the cost. Students who sign up for
these fundraisers early in the year tend to be able to reach their goal, according to Valentine. There are also 65 scholarships and grants for students to take advantage of, as listed on the study abroad website. “As our world becomes more and more intercon-nected, it’s important for students to become global citizens,” Valentine said. “In a study abroad setting, academ-ics become more enriched as everything comes to life with
a different cultural perspec-tive.” There are 20 summer study abroad programs that last 5 weeks, and 21 semester or two semester programs, including United Kingdom, Spain, Mexico and more. “Students truly do fall in love with wherever they chose to go,” Valentine said. “We offer something for every interest.” Almost all students have had great experiences study-ing abroad and would advise
for others to give it a try. “Just do it,” Valentine said. “In the seven years that I’ve been working in study abroad, I’ve not once encountered a student who regretted the decision or the sacrifices they made to achieve this dream.” The study abroad office is on campus to help students’ desires of traveling the world come true. It is located next to the health center on Georgia Ave. The Honor’s house will be hosting a study abroad fair on Oct. 14.
Valdosta becomes more mellow
After nearly four months of construction, Valdosta’s new Mellow Mushroom will be officially open for business on Monday, exciting members of the Valdosta community. This Mellow Mushroom franchise has been planned for over a year, according to general manager Wes Ken-
nedy, and the theme of this Mellow Mushroom? Comic Books. “Most Mellow Mushrooms are unique. They all have a different flare,” Kennedy said. “Some have rock-and-roll, some are hippie…Ours is comic books.” The comic book theme explains the giant metal Hulk and Superman statues outside the building. Kennedy mentioned that the owner of this new franchise also owns the GTC Valdosta
Stadium 16 movie theater. In Pooler, Georgia, there is a “movie-themed” Mellow Mushroom decorated with movie posters from the 1950s to present-day. In addition to pizza, the menu will feature hoagies, appetizers, wings and salads, as well as gluten-free crust, vegetarian and vegan options. They will also have over 40 different beers on tap. According to Chandler Makuta, VSU senior and now server at Mellow Mushroom,
the new restaurant currently employs anywhere from 125 to 150 people, which includes hosts/hostesses, servers, bar-tenders, cooks and dishwash-ers. Management received over 700 applications, and they are no longer hiring. “A good majority of the employees are [VSU students] as far as servers go,” Makuta said. “There was an interview process going on in early to mid-August that they posted about on the Facebook page. You could just bring in an ap-plication and they interviewed you right then.” With over 2,000 Facebook likes before the restaurant has even opened, it is clear that people in the Valdosta com-munity are excited. “There is a Mellow Mush-room back home in Augusta, so it’s really exciting that I’m getting a ‘slice’ of home here in Valdosta,” Jennifer Dan-dron, senior mass media and political science major, said. “I can’t wait to see what the inside looks like.” Located approximately 1.2 miles from campus, the new Mellow Mushroom sits on Baytree Road, between First State Bank and Office Max. It will open at 11 a.m. everyday; however, the daily closing time has not yet been final-ized. Kennedy is excited about showing the Valdosta com-munity how unique this new restaurant will be. “Everyday is a celebration,” Kennedy said. “It’s Mellow Mushroom.”
Adrienne FryAssistAnt Copy Editor
Julia ArmisteadstAff WritEr
Ratemyprofessors.com is one of the most useful resources when it comes to students choosing their classes. The website allows students to type in almost any teacher’s name to see how other students rated that professor. Each teacher’s overall rat-ing (known as overall quality on the website) consists of helpfulness, clarity and easi-ness. There’s even a rating for
teachers’ “hotness” and you can also see the average grade that students typically get in the professor’s class. `Each student who posts a review rates his or her professors’ helpfulness, clar-ity and easiness on a scale of 1-5. This determines how the teacher is rated—good, average or poor. Students can even anonymously leave comments about professors. “I like that it has an opinion section where students are able to write their personal re-view about a professor,” said Taylor Grant, junior finance
major. “The ratings are useful, but the comment section tells me exactly why they choose the rating they did. From that, I am able to make a more in-formed decision about taking a class from that professor.” Kristi Williams, an English professor, received an overall quality of 3.8 on the website and her students’ average grade was an “A.” “[When I was in school] I had to go by word of mouth, so I think it’s really helpful for students if the students are being more open on a website,” said Williams.
“And since it’s anonymous, I think it’s easier for students to pick based on their personal-ity or style of learning.” Some of the comments posted about her include, “Ms. Williams was wonder-ful! She made English class relatable to real life. She grades quickly and you have one on one conferences for the papers, which you pick the topics on. Loved her!” and “Amazing. Got an A.” The website also offers the option to rate schools in general.
Tatyana phelpsCopy Editor
Study abroad offers new destinations
Students use site to critique professors
Health benefits may trump costs
Photo by: Camille Pollitt
Photo by: Jordan Barela/THE SPECTATOR
VSUSPECTATOR.COM | PAGE 5SEPTEMBER 25, 2014
Sudoku Answer
Mills wins Player of the Week for fourth time
Gulf South Conference an-nounces Olivia Mills, VSU’s women’s soccer goalkeeper, defensive player of the week on Tuesday, for the fourth time in her career.
Mills led the team to two GSC victories this past week-end with a 2-1 finish against Christian Brothers followed by a 2-0 shutout against Delta State.
Mills faced nine shots in the two games. The only goal past Mills was a penalty kick from CBU’s Camilla Rodrigues in the 57th minute after a foul was drawn in the penalty box.
Mill’s relieved the pressure from the rest of the team at the DSU contest after making a diving save on goal from DSU’s Erin Tucker.
The Blazers hold a strong 2-0 lead in their conference play and represent the number one team the in GSC.
In 2011, Mills played as a freshman and started 17 of the 19 games with 59 saves, including three the week she won her first GSC defensive player award in October. Mills’s record for her fresh-man season was 11-5-2 with eight shutout games.
In 2012, Mills served as goalkeeper in all 20 matches, starting 18. Mills won her second player award with
12 saves while giving up two goals in two games. She finished with a 12-5-2 record, nine shutouts and 66 saves on the season.
In 2013, Mills started in VSU’s 17 games. Mills recorded three saves and al-lowed one goal when she won her third player award of her career. Mills denied 65 of the goals attempted and led the team to a record of 8-5-3. She finished with six shutouts.
Mills and the entire team look to keep its GSC record up this Friday, Sept. 26 at Shorter University and Sun-day, Sept. 28 at home against Lee University.
Folllow Kristin on twitter: @kwhit831
Kristin Whitmanassistant sports editor
VSU cross country to host race this weekendFirst home race for the Blazers in over a decade
For the first time in over a decade, VSU will be hold-ing a cross country meet this Saturday at 8 a.m., and the runners look to improve off a 5th out of 13 Men’s finish and a 3rd out of 13 Women’s finish from their first meet last Saturday.
Although both are good finishes, sophomore runner, Joshua Hall, feels they can do even better this weekend.
“We can win this next meet hands down,” said Hall. “We definitely could’ve placed higher in that first meet, but with a lot of freshmen, we
didn’t really have any experi-ence running 8K’s. Now that we know kind of what to expect in races and how to race, every race from here on out should be better than that one.”
One of the freshmen run-ners, Tony Rowden, agrees that he’ll perform better this time around. “I’ll definitely do better in this meet,” said Rowden. “It was kind of like a practice run the first time. I didn’t really know what to expect, but now that I know what to expect I can pace my-self better and where I need to pick it up at.”
With eight freshmen, including Rowden, on the men’s team and seven on the
women’s team, improvement from the young runners will be the key to success in this Saturday’s meet.
Hall also gave a lot of praise to head coach Clinton Bell for what he has done with the team.
“He’s reinventing the pro-gram,” said Hall. “He’s doing a bunch of things that haven’t happened in a while for VSU. Everything he’s doing is pretty much unprecedented. We’re excited to see how everything goes from here.”
With Coach Bell improving the team and the freshmen runners learning from their first time, this Saturday’s meet should be quite a successful one for the team.
Austin Wells sports Writer
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Bradford out for season, stays optimistic
Bump. Set. Out for the season.
Valdosta State senior, Krista Bradford, had what she worked so hard for, torn from her on Sept. 5 in a match against Lynn University.
The senior leader of the volleyball team suffered a torn ACL, partial meniscus pathology and an MCL strain, according to Tracy Llewellyn, VSU’s assistant athletic trainer.
The injury occurred as Bradford ran and dove after a ball that would have fallen out of bounds.
“I jumped up, and when I landed I immediately heard it snap and just knew something was wrong,” Bradford said. “The pain was the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life, but I wanted them to pull through and win, so I stayed in and watched them play.”
Senior outside hitter, Jenna Kirkwood, recognizes how much of a loss Bradford is to this team.
“It’s been really hard, because she’s the heart of the
team,” Kirkwood said. “She cheers us out every play. She addresses the team before and after practice. She’s always been the leader of the team and for her to go down… I think everybody got worried.”
Bradford will be redshirted since the injury occurred early in the season.
“I think people recognize her as a team leader, and to
have that coming back again next year when we’re going to be very young, after gradu-ating (five) people is really encouraging,” said Swan. “It’s
always hard to lose a player to a season ending injury. She worked so hard to be in her best shape ever, and was contributing as an all around player, not just a DS (defen-sive specialist). So it’s dis-heartening, but she has a great mindset and a great competi-tive spirit that makes her want to come back next year.”
Despite the injury, Bradford still shows her commitment and dedication to the squad. She attends practices, sits on the sidelines during matches giving her teammates tips from the bench, and has gone on every road trip.
“She’s still playing that role (as team leader) — she’s just not on the court,” said Kirk-wood. “We still wait for her to cheer us out.
“We didn’t think she was coming to West Florida (Uni-versity). We were all about to text her like ‘we’re going to miss you.’ And then she showed up and we were like ‘Yeah, Krista!’”
The team, Bradford includ-ed, made the 12 hour round trip drive to UWF on Tuesday.
“When I went down, my initial thought… wasn’t about the pain, it was like ‘I’ve been playing with these girls
for years now, and we had the team to win it and we were working hard, and now everything’s kind of gone,’” Bradford said. “That’s why
I’m traveling with them, to let them know I still have their backs.”
Bradford’s passion for vol-leyball began after watching her own parents play church rec league when she was growing up.
“I was six years old, but I was mad because they wouldn’t let me play because (they said) I was too small, and too young,” said Brad-ford. “But I would scream and cry on the side lines, and say ‘But I’m better than them, let me get on the court.’ And so that’s how I fell in love with the game, was watching my parents play some church vol-leyball.”
The Columbus, Georgia na-tive began playing with a club volleyball team with girls who were all older than she was when she was in eighth grade. From that point it became her dream to play volleyball col-legiately.
While being at a height disadvantage, Bradford suc-ceed at making her dream come true, turning down other offers to play at VSU after visiting the campus.
“I had heard of Valdosta,” Bradford said. “My dad lived here when he was young, and so it wasn’t something that I didn’t know of, I just had never been on the campus. So I had other schools offering, but I decided to come visit here, and fell in love with it. The gym, the campus, everything that they (were) doing… just made me want to play here.”
When Bradford arrived on VSU’s campus was when she began forming the bonds with several of the current senior members, including Ashley Lala, Brittany Smith and Destiny Berry.
“It was actually a challenge, because every new coach, they’re responsibility is to rebuild a team,” Bradford
said. “So of course there are a lot of changes… (There was) fighting for that spot on the team, and then there was fighting for playing time knowing that (Swan) has other good girls coming in. It was probably one of the most challenging things, as far as volleyball, I’ve ever had to deal with.
“It’s really been hard emo-tionally to be away from the girls that I’ve become so close with, and the sport that I’ve grown up loving. It’s probably been the hardest thing I’ve ever gone through in my life. But it’s only going to make me stronger, I know in the end. Even if I do struggle at times, it’s going to be a big battle, and a big war and that I have to overcome all the pain and everything.”
Bradford has already been working with the training staff to strengthen all that she can before having surgery on her knee so that she is ready to go as soon as the season begins.
“Next year it will be my time to step up and be that senior leader (and) I’m going to be able to say I worked my butt off to finish my college dream,” said Bradford.
Neil Frawleysports Writer
“
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I jumped up, and when I landed I im-mediately heard it snap and just knew something was wrong.-Krista Bradford VSU volleyball player
Photo courtesy of VSU Athletics
Rugby Club takes second in GSU tournament
The VSU Rugby Club started off their season this weekend and travelled to Statesboro, Georgia, to com-pete in a two-day tournament over the weekend against eight other teams around the state.
VSU was pretty successful at the tournament, coming in second, with Georgia South-ern in first place and Augusta in third place. The team only lost two out of eight games to Southern and Augusta.
The toughest opponent for VSU was Augusta; however they pulled it out in the end, winning and making it to the finals against Southern.
According to Jon Reed Walker, the top players consisted of Austin Green, Jonathon Hernandez, Max Meundel and Brian Roberts.
The teams worked hard together to make it to the top three at the end of the tourna-ment, showing their skills and passion for the game.
With the season just start-ing, the team has shown that they are dedicated to the sport and willing to work extreme-
ly hard to make it to the top positions at each tournament they attend.
“Obviously there are things we need to work on as a first time with a new team without a lot of past leaders,” Walker said, “but for our first show-ing as a team, we did pretty well.”
With practice twice a week on the front lawn of North Campus, the Blazers are working really hard to keep their status up and prove they are one of the top rugby teams in the state, as they showed this weekend.
Lia Armistead sports Writer
ESPN’s Bill Simmons sus-pended for Goodell rant
ESPN analyst Bill Sim-mons has been suspended for three weeks after he made profane comments about NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell during a podcast.
In addition, Simmons is not allowed to use Twitter while suspended, an ESPN spokes-man confirmed to the Los Angeles Times.
Shortly after the suspension was announced, #FreeSim-mons began trending world-wide on Twitter.
On The B.S. Report pod-cast hosted on ESPN.com, Simmons used the F word multiple times while passion-ately exclaiming that Goodell was lying about his involve-ment and knowledge of the mishandling of the Ray Rice domestic abuse scandal.
“Goodell, if he didn’t know what was on that tape, he’s a liar. I’m just saying it. He is lying. If you put him up on a lie detector test, that guy would fail. For all these people to pretend they didn’t know is such ... . It really is, it’s such ... . For him to go into that press conference and pretend otherwise I was so insulted.”
Simmons, also the editor-in-chief of Grantland.com,
then dared ESPN to repri-mand him for what he said during the same podcast.
“I really hope somebody calls me or emails me and says I’m in trouble for anything I say about Roger Goodell,” Simmons said. “Because if one person says that to me, I’m going public. You leave me alone. The commis-sioner’s a liar and I get to talk about that on my podcast. ... Please, call me and say I’m in trouble. I dare you.”
ESPN did just that.“Every employee must be
accountable to ESPN and those engaged in our editorial operations must also operate within ESPN’s journalistic standards,” it said in a state-ment. “We have worked hard to ensure that our recent NFL coverage has met that criteria. Bill Simmons did not meet those obligations in a recent podcast, and as a result we have suspended him for three weeks.”
This is not the first time Simmons has been in hot water for comments he has
made.In March 2013, Simmons
was suspended from Twitter by ESPN after he tweeted comments about a segment on the popular show “First Take” during which co-host
Skip Bayless and flamboyant Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman went shot-for-shot while discussing Sher-man’s comments about his great-ness, Deadspin reported.
This is the sec-ond time ESPN has suspended on-air talent for
comments made concern-ing the Rice domestic abuse scandal.
In July, analyst Stephen A. Smith was suspended for one week over comments he made during “First Take” that seemed to insinuate women sometimes provoke domestic violence in the wake of Rice’s initial two-game suspension.
Smith apologized for the comments.
Rice has since been cut from the Baltimore Ravens and suspended from the league indefinitely.
Ryan ParkerLos angeLes timesMCT Campus
Photo courtesy of MCT Campus
SEPTEMBER 25, 2014 PAGE 6 | VSUSPECTATOR.COM
VSU struggles in GSC rivalry game, look to No. 5 UNAChris Webb
SportS [email protected]
The Blazers will have one thing on their mind this Saturday when they line up to play the University of North Alabama: revenge.
No. 21 Valdosta State (2-1, 0-1) will pack their bags and head to Florence, Alabama and take on No. 5 North Alabama (2-0, 1-0) in a third straight top-25 matchup this season for VSU.
This will be both teams’ 38th overall matchup against each other with UNA holding a 21-15-1 advantage including last year’s 57-7 stomping in Valdosta.
The Lions scored five touchdowns to go with over 230 yards on the ground as the Blazers seemed to have no answers to the depth in their backfield; UNA saw four different rushers score on the day.
That, however, was a year ago and the run defense has looked much improved early in this season for VSU.
The Black Swarm has looked just like their name implies against the run this season. They are only giving up 2.8 yards a carry against powerful offenses like Winston-Salem State and Delta State.
They will need to continue this success against a run dominant Lions’ attack that rushed the ball a whopping 46 times in last year’s matchup.
Expect UNA to look for the same success this Saturday. They enter the week averag-ing a remarkable 51 carries and 328 yards per contest.
The high number of rushing attempts is possible every week due to their deep stable of running backs that sees up to five different guys split carries.
If VSU can get up early and keep the lead, it should stop UNA from attempting as many rushes. They will be forced to battle the clock along with the scoreboard and try to move the ball through the air to preserve time.
This puts pressure on the Lions’ two quarterbacks, Luke Wingo and Jacob Tucker, both of whom look more comfort-able running with the ball than throwing it, averaging only 99 and 60 yards passing, respectively.
The Blazers also need their potent rushing attack to show up again after only having 75 yards in last week’s loss to Delta State.
If the Blazers aren’t able to score early or control the clock with their rush-ing attack, look for UNA to run the ball continuously in an attempt to wear the VSU defense down like it did in last season.
The game begins at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcasted on GSC-TV and streamed from ESPN3.
Above photos courtesy of Phoenix Gonzales/THE SPECTATORLeft photo courtesy of Alex Tostado/THE SPECTATOR
The No. 21 VSU Blazers lost to Delta State on Saturday by a final of 49-32. The Blazers will take on No. 5 North Albama on Satur-day. It will be the third straight Top-25 matchup for VSU.