Articles written by Julian Kersh

Intramural sports fun for all students

wpolley — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 01:40:10 -0400

Whether you were the high school jock who doesn’t want to dedicate your college experience to playing at the collegiate level, or you are just interested in trying out various sports on a casual stage, you can find recreation in intramural sports.

Sponsored and run by Campus Recreation, intramural sports provide all current Auburn students the opportunity to meet new people through participating in an array of sports without the pressure or major time commitment that comes along with playing on a club or University team.

“We try to create a safe atmosphere where competitive sports may be played in a sportsmanlike manner,” said Ted Trupp, the director of intramural sports. “Participants develop leadership skills, and friendships are often made that last a lifetime.”

The fall semester is divided into two seasons of intramurals. The first season includes men and women’s flag football, track and badminton. The second season offers men and women’s soccer, volleyball and table tennis, as well as co-rec flag football and volleyball.

Researcher gets grant to study Monsoon Asia

coreyshep — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 21:17:35 -0400

Dr. Hanqin Tian, researcher in the Auburn University School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, was awarded a $1 million grant from NASA to perform extensive research on the interaction between monsoon climates, land cover and ecosystems in Monsoon Asia.

“We have developed a world-renowned research program in integrated regional study for global sustainability, with a focus on climate change, land use and ecosystem dynamics in Asia, tropics and North America,” Tian said.

Grammar suffers with text, instant messages

coreyshep — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 21:56:48 -0400

The accessibility of text messaging, e-mail and Internet chatting allows for the exchange of information at a nearly immediate rate, but who ever thought such convenient forms of communication could actually have a potentially detrimental effect on other types of writing?

NASA working on new spacecraft

coreyshep — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 21:12:14 -0400

Launches: will no longer look like this, with the new generation of spacecrafts. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Neil Armstrong uttered the famous words, “That’s one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind,” as he stepped onto the lunar surface, 1969.

Now, NASA is making another “giant leap for mankind” as it develops a program for a new generation of spacecrafts.

The program, Project Constellation, will replace the space shuttle with new launch vehicles and seek to both establish a lasting presence in low Earth orbit and eventually send a manned craft to Mars.

“The general idea is to renew our presence in space out beyond Earth’s orbit, and the first thing would be to go back to the moon,” said John Cochran, department head and professor of aerospace engineering at Auburn University.

Different from the space shuttle which launched the crew and cargo together, Project Constellation has two separate launch vehicles, Ares V and Ares I.

Ares V launches first, propelling cargo and supplies necessary to sustain human life beyond Earth into space. It also sends the lunar lander and Earth Departure Stage into orbit, along with any other supplies the astronauts will need for the duration of their mission.

Students worry over Facebook deactivation

coreyshep — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:16:14 -0400

Zach Lamb: a junior in mechanical engineering, checks his Facebook in a computer lab. Students are raising their concern after realizing their Facebook profiles cannot be deleted, but rather deactivated. This deactivation keeps all a student’s information in Faceboo

The various capabilities of social networking Web sites, such as Facebook, continue to allure users, but you may want to acknowledge the long-term investment that comes with logging onto the fad.

Many members of Facebook.com are showing concern about their personal information when discovering that completely removing themselves from the Web site altogether is a difficult task.

The site only allows its users to “deactivate” their accounts and explains in its lengthy terms of use “the company may retain archived copies of your user content.”

So while it’s evident to users they are provided the accessible option of deactivating their accounts, the site vaguely stores their personal information and settings, messages, posts, etc.

Rachael Warren, a junior in marketing, expressed some concern like many of the Web site’s members.

“That’s really kind of disturbing,” Warren said. “I don’t see why they would need to keep your information if you’ve removed yourself from their site.”

The social network itself does not warn its deviating members the information they have submitted will be preserved, which could cause users to inadvertently leave behind contact numbers, e-mail addresses or other forms of personal contact.

Summer program helps ‘bridge gap’

jclark — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:17:57 -0400

The College of Sciences and Mathematics is currently hosting its 12th annual Summer Bridge program.

The 4-week, well-structured, residential program is designed to help incoming minority freshmen “bridge the gap” between high school and college.

Velma Richardson, Associate Dean for Diversity and Multicultural Affairs for COSAM, believes it only makes sense to have a system that eases minority students into the new environment of the college experience.

Toomer’s trees need TLC

jclark — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:02:03 -0400

Toomer’s Corner: Toomer’s Corner live oaks are being treated for damages caused by both the urban environment and the “tree-rolling” tradition. Repeated pressure washing and burning to clean off the toilet paper have taken a heavy toll on the legendary trees.

A couple of the most beloved icons of Auburn’s great tradition are receiving some much-needed attention and preservation.

Local fight club turns grads to champs

coreyshep — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 20:52:50 -0400

Trainer Will Moates: center, stands with 205-pound MMA champ Phillip Bohannon, left, and 170-pound champ Pat Freed, right. CONTRIBUTED

Most college graduates don’t enter the world of full-contact fighting after receiving that hard-earned diploma.

But Phillip Bohannon and several others at Nutrition First Fight Club have dedicated themselves to the sport of Mixed Martial Arts, or MMA.

Bohannon, 25 years old, graduated from Auburn University in 2005 with degrees in public administration and political science, but soon decided to devote most of his time and efforts to becoming an MMA fighter.

“I started off wrestling in high school. I wrestled at the University and then got into boxing and the Mixed Martial Arts, so that was a kind of easy transition,” Bohannon said. “I’ve been doing that for about two and a half years now.”

This weekend, he took his 6-2 MMA record to compete for the Southern Fighting Alliance Light Heavy Weight belt. Bohannon, standing at 6 feet even and registering as a middle weight at 185 pounds, challenged the 6-foot-4, 205-pound title holder.

Men's tennis end season at Championships

coreyshep — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:29:00 -0400

Junior Alexey Tsyrenov represented Tigers at NCAA Singles Tournament

The 2008 men’s tennis team brought its season to a close May 22.

The season concluded with an appearance by a lone Tiger in the NCAA Tennis Singles Tournament in Tulsa, Okla.

Junior Alexey Tsyrenov, ranked 27th nationally, represented the Tigers.

The Russia native advanced from the first round of the Championships May 21 with a two sets to one victory against Tennessee Tech’s Borja Zarco, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3.

Head coach Eric Shore said he was pleased with Tsyrenov’s performance in the opening round of competition.

“Alexey played really well. He had a tough first game loss in the first round against a kind of opponent he doesn’t like to see, but he bounced back and took the match,” Shore said.

In the second round of 32, Tsyrenov’s tournament run came to an end when he met Lars Poerschke of Baylor.

Tsyrenov came out with a strong performance, but Poerschke battled back, winning the first set 7-5 and sealed the victory in the second set 6-4.

“Alexey did a great job this year, playing the No. 1 singles and doubles all season long, posting positive records, and giving us so many points,” said freshman teammate Tim Puetz.

The loss signaled the end of the season for Tsyrenov and the Tigers.