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(01/01/15 2:36am)
Aubie took first place in the 2014 Capital One Mascot Challenge.
Auburn's mascot program will be awarded $20,000.
The winner was announced during the Capital One Orange Bowl in Miami.
This year's contest represented eight conferences and 14 states.
Mascots from across the country competed in weekly challenges throughout the 2014 college football season.
This is Aubie's first Capital One Mascot Challenge win.
Aubie has won eight Universal Cheerleaders Association national titles, the most of any mascot.
Fans voted on the Capital One website, posted entries to Twitter and Facebook using #CapitolOneAubie and made videos highlighting Aubie's season.
(12/19/14 2:30pm)
There have been trick shot viral videos made for years, but the Legendary Shots bring the trick shots to Auburn.
The group is made up of Auburn students Ryan Johnson, sophomore in business; and Carson Stalnaker, senior in marketing; and University of Alabama students John Massey, Chase Martin, Christian Lill and Bryan Anderson.
Founded in 2006, the team travels across the country to make viral videos.
"Basically, it's just homemade videos, more specifically, trick shots," Stalnaker said. "We started playing HORSE in the driveway in middle school, and then we decided to get the camera out and start filming. Then got better cameras, decent sized arms and we just got better at everything to be where we are now."
The group met at church in the Birmingham area and has been gaining thousands of followers and views since their beginning.
"We get our biggest push from Instagram, those are our biggest fans," Johnson said. "We tell them there is a video coming out and they wait for it."
Johnson joined the team in 2010 after Stalnaker asked for his help producing a video.
"I make the videos pretty for online," Johnson said. "I'm what drives the production value really, and I really started honing in on that and from there it really became an investment for [Legendary Shots]."
The team has made videos in various locations, from California to Destin and here at Auburn with Auburn basketball head coach Bruce Pearl.
The group worked with Pearl in the Auburn Arena to make a trick shot video, and they said they loved the experience of working alongside Auburn's head basketball coach.
"You might think (his personality) is a camera persona, but it's totally real," Stalnaker said. "He was that genuine and excited the whole time we were shooting."
The group recently created one of Stalnaker's favorite videos, Golf Trick Shots with the Bryan Bros. at Farmlinks Golf Club in Sylacauga.
"You have to hit a basketball with a golf club, and luckily we had some professional golfers in the video," Stalnaker said. "If you don't hit the ball dead on the club head, it will break."
Johnson said the club provided many amenities for them.
"We met up with them and had this beautiful closed golf course to ourselves, luxury cabins and free dinners and lunches all for ourselves," Johnson said.
The group enjoys the time they get to spend together and the video-making process.
"I love, afterwards, making the video perfect," Stalnaker said. "Most of the time we don't think we have that great of footage, and when we put it together it's a lot better than it seemed while we were filming."
Ty Randolph, sophomore in undeclared math and science, helps the group with production, picking up missed shots and filming. Randolph said he appreciates the opportunities that the group has presented him.
'The best part [of working with the group] is definitely the opportunities it gives," Randolph said. "Visiting amazing venues with an all-access pass as well as meeting popular public figures who work with us in the videos is awesome."
Johnson said working in Legendary Shots has helped him grow and learn exactly what he wants to do with his career.
"It's taught me a lot about patience and perfectionism and making sure that every little thing is exactly how you want it, so you can push out content that you are really proud of," Johnson said.
Stalnaker said he encourages other Auburn students to go after what they love, even if they start small.
"It doesn't matter where you came from," Stalnaker said. "We live in Alabama and we are well known across the world for our videos. You don't have to be from LA, if we keep making videos from where we are from, the world is going to notice."
(12/10/14 9:45pm)
The Auburn Chamber of Commerce will hold its annual Christmas parade at 5 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 11.
Certain roads will be closed because of the parade.
Mell Street from Roosevelt Drive to Thach will be closed to traffic from 3 p.m to 7 p.m.
"Tiger Transit service to and from Mell Street station will be diverted to the Heisman Drive hub starting at 3 p.m.," said Don Andrae, manager of University parking services. "Students should allow extra time to reach their campus destinations."
Access to the library parking deck and Comer lot will still be available from Roosevelt Drive after 5 p.m., and students leaving campus after 3 p.m. may experience delays leaving campus.
The parade will begin at the corner of Thach Avenue and College Street, then turn left on College Street, right onto Tichenor Avenue, right on Gay Street and right again on Thach to end.
(12/03/14 8:30pm)
Tori Jones, senior in biomedical sciences, said she has had an eye for fashion since she was five years old.
Jones transformed her love of clothes into her own fashion line, Yen Gang.
Yen Gang came from Jones' love of customizing clothes and shoes.
Jones said she got started by transforming her own clothes into unusual statement pieces.
"If I saw something I liked that I couldn't afford, I would try to make it myself," Jones said. "One time I decided I wanted to make a pair of my shoes pink, so I did."
Friends and classmates took notice of Jones's style so she started selling her clothing online.
Jones sells one-of-a-kind clothing, shoes and accessories on her site.
"The style is so unique and fun that's it's easy to say everything she makes is my favorite," said Lauren Whatley, sophomore in hotel restaurant management. "But my favorite piece is the down to business dress, which is a chartreuse skater style dress."
Jones said her favorite items to design are shoes.
"The thing that makes Tori unique is her custom shoes she creates," said Chelsea Phillips, model for Yen Gang and senior public relations. "It definitely sets her apart from other small business owners."
Native to New Orleans, Jones describes her style as eclectic and edgy, reflecting the culture of her hometown.
"New Orleans culture is super fun and unapologetically unique," Jones said. "I would say my style is the same way. I'm not afraid to do things different."
Jones said she gets inspiration for her eccentric fashion line from Tumblr and Instagram, as well as from famous clothing designers.
"I love Marc Jacobs," Jones said. "I'm also a big fan of Betsey Johnson. She's out of the box, and that's where I want to go with my stuff."
Jones said she also gets spontaneous inspiration while in class or studying for a test, and admits that her notes are usually filled will sketches of designs.
"I'll be studying and an idea will pop in my head, so I immediately write it down or draw a picture of it," Jones said.
Jones said the name of her clothing line comes from her love of the Japanese yen symbol.
"You can have dollars but once you have international money, you've made it," Jones said.
She also chose the word gang because she wants her clothes to bring people together in a positive way.
Jones said she plans to move to Los Angeles after she graduates to pursue her love of fashion.
She said her dream is to go attend fashion school, but her main priority is going putting all of her efforts into expanding her brand.
"I'm giving it 80 percent of my energy right now and I want to see where it can go if I gave it all 100," Jones said.
Jones's designs can be found here.
(12/03/14 2:52am)
The Alabama High School Athletic Association will hold its Super 7 state football championships at Jordan-Hare Stadium Wednesday-Friday this week, altering all Tiger Transit routes.
"No Tiger Transits will pick up or drop off at the Heisman Road hub," said Rex Huffman, manager of transit services. "All buses will drop off and pick up at the Mell Street hub at Roosevelt Concourse, next to Duncan Hall."
To enable traffic flow, Mell Street, between Mary Martin Hall and the Mell Street stop, will be one-way southbound.
This will prohibit all vehicles from traveling north on Mell Street between Ralph Brown Draughon library and Spidle Hall.
"The routes normally operating from Mell Street are not affected," Huffman said. "All other routes will experience some delay due to the additional distance required to arrive on Mell Street."
Buses will be dropping Super 7 fans off at the east gate of Jordan-Hare Stadium located near the student entrance.
Traffic on Heisman Drive will flow clockwise, reverse of the usual traffic flow.
"All Super 7 public parking and tailgating will be directed to the Hay Field Lot located at the intersection of South Donahue Drive and Lem Morrison Drive," Huffman said.
Tickets for the Super 7 game cost $12 in advance and $15 at the gate. Each team will hold their own "Tiger Walk" before kickoff.
(11/26/14 5:00pm)
Bill Hardgrave, dean of the Raymond J. Harbert College of Business, is making his college Styrofoam-free one ceramic mug at a time.
Tiger Dining, the Office of Sustainability and the Waste Reduction and Recycling department eliminated all Styrofoam products from on-campus dining areas in August.
The College of Business followed suit when Hardgrave replaced all Styrofoam cups in the Lowder break room with individual mugs for staff and faculty.
According to Jeff Long, chief operation officer at the College of Business,the change from Styrofoam cups to mugs will save the college and estimated $3,000 per year.
"We did an analysis that showed that we were spending a couple of thousands of dollars a year buying Styrofoam cups," Long said. "We have 150 staff and faculty here in the building, and at any given day we could easily go through 250-300 cups."
The mugs cost $5, so the switch cost the college $700.
The process of making Styrofoam releases toxic chemicals into the air, according to Courtney Washburn, recycling coordinator at the waste reduction and recycling department.
"Making Styrofoam cups in itself is a pretty dirty process that uses chemicals that have been known to cause health issues," Washburn said.
Cheryl Woodard, Outreach program specialist for the College of Business, said this change is a great way to save money while impacting the environment positively.
"I love the fact that dean Hardgrave saw the amount of money the college had been spending on paper coffee cups," Woodard said. "I believe in an effort to save money and the environment, he chooses to give everyone in the college a coffee mug, which I think is great. It's great to know that our dean cares about the environment."
Marketing instructor Jasmine Le said she enjoys the mugs for several reasons.
"I prefer having my own cup so I can always be sure it's clean," Le said. "Also, if you have a guest and you want to offer them a cup of coffee or hot tea they can drink out of a nice, fancy cup instead of a Styrofoam cup."
Long said he hopes the switch to Styrofoam cups will inspire other colleges on campus to make the same changes.
"There has been a push on campus [to remove Styrofoam], and we were feeding off that idea of doing the right thing for the environment," Long said. "I think, hopefully, that when other colleges read about this, they'll start looking at their own costs of what they are spending on Styrofoam cups."
(11/20/14 1:00pm)
Yik Yak is a social media platform designed for college students, by college students. The app is designed like Twitter and allows users to post anonymously and read what has been said within a 1.5-mile radius.
Posts can be up- or down-voted and commented on.
An estimated 37 percent of Auburn University undergraduate students are active Yik Yak users, according to Cam Mullen, lead community developer for Yik Yak.
According to Mullen, Auburn students are yakking nearly every 60 seconds, which makes it one of the most active Yik Yak feeds.
"We look at monthly active users, which are how many people have opened up the app in the past month," Mullen said. "We take that number and divide it by the number of undergraduates on campus. You have about 7,000 active users which is huge."
Compared to other SEC west schools, Auburn has the second highest percentage of undergraduates on Yik Yak behind the University of Alabama.
Students look to the app to vent about things they could not normally say out loud or on their other social media.
Ashley Magee, freshman in political science, said she is an active yakker, posting several times per day.
"I check it at least 20 times a day," Magee said. "I use Yik Yak for inappropriate tweets. I think it's funny so it's just a source of entertainment."
Some students use the app, but think the anonymity gives it the possibility to be harmful.
"I think the only problem is the fact that since its anonymous people don't feel any remorse for saying anything," said Ricardo Rios, freshman in biomedical sciences.
Duncan Blackwell, freshman in biomedical science, said he believes if you disagree with how the app works, that you simply shouldn't download it.
"I don't see that there is a problem with it," Blackwell said. "If you don't like it than you can delete it and you don't have to have it."
The No. 1 rule for the app, according to the Yik Yak information page, condemns bullying.
Users can downvote posts and once a post reaches negative five down votes, it is removed from the feed.
"What excites us is the more mature a community is and the more diverse a student body is in that community, the better they are at policing themselves," Mullen said.
"The community has each others backs so if there is something [negative] posted, it often gets taken off within minutes."
Allen Furr, professor and chair of the department of sociology, said he believes cyber bullying does not happen as often as it is thought.
"Research seems to show that 70-90 percent of people have never experienced any of those things," Furr said. "Just because it happens doesn't mean it happens a lot."
Furr said he feels the anonymity of the app is not necessarily harmful, but rather a way to express yourself.
"It s an enticement to act out ways you already feel and it allows you to express whatever it is you are in ways you maybe wouldn't have done before," Furr said. "It's the same as writing something on a wall with spray paint and running away."
(11/18/14 9:00pm)
The Alabama Power Foundation made the largest research gift ever donated to the University, according to an announcement at the Nov. 7 meeting of the Board of Trustees.
The gift will be used to honor board member Charles McCrary and create the Charles D. McCrary Institute.
McCrary is a 1973 Auburn graduate in mechanical engineering and retired from Alabama Power last April as the president and chief executive officer of the company.
The Institute will emphasize the advancement of research in the areas of energy security and conservation of recourses.
The research on energy security will focus on the protection of the electrical power grid that supports all electricity in the United States.
According to Larry Fillmer, director of program development the U.S. government has identified the electrical power grid as essential to support our quality of life.
Students in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering will be engaged in hands-on research projects in the spring.
"[The grid] is a very essential element in our society and our economy that needs to be protected from cyber attacks," Fillmer said. "The research that will be done by the institute will be done to increase protection for that grid, and to increase technology that would support that kind of protection."
The Institute will also open doors for the University to hire experts in the field of energy security.
"It's going to help us to attract some of the world's leading experts in these areas, so we are going to have some great professors," said Christopher Roberts, dean of the College Engineering.
Conservation research will take place in the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences and will focus on the balance of conserving natural recourses while utilizing those recourses in the most economically beneficial way.
"Our state is blessed with an abundance of natural recourses," Fillmer said. "So part of the focus in this area will be how to balance the needs of development with the use of natural recourses in the state."
The Institute will provide an opportunity for graduate students to work alongside professionals in the field of wildlife and forestry.
"We are going to be able to do a lot more applied research related to certain commercial species of wildlife like deer," said Graeme Lockaby, dean of the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences. "It will update the expertise in the school as well as enable quite a few students to get their graduate education."
The Institute is in its early stages, so the next step will be to expand research to other areas.
"The intent is that it's a long-term institute that will expand beyond just those two focus areas," Fillmer said. "In furthering the research the institute will also focus on the economic development of the state, workforce development and sustaining an maintaining the quality of life for our citizens."
(11/12/14 4:35am)
The Top 5 candidates for Miss Auburn 2015 were announced Tuesday, Nov. 11 on Cater Lawn.
The 2015 candidates are Catherine Taylor, Lauren Jones, Dae Jackson, Caroline Beauchaine and Mi'a Calllens.
Students and friends cheered as the candidates were announced.
"It really is an honor to be chosen with just so many amazing women that were nominated," said Dae Jackson, Miss Auburn 2015 candidate and junior in journalism. "It's an honor to have my name seen next to theirs."
Earlier today, the top 20 candidates were interviewed by a panel of judges to determine the Top 5.
Candidates were asked a series of questions and scored based on a point system.
"We covered everything from why we accepted out nomination, different ways we viewed Auburn, how we have seen Auburn grow and change during our time here and then of course we talk a little bit about our platform too," said Caroline Beauchaine, Miss Auburn 2015 candidate and junior in public relations.
During her term, Miss Auburn works with the Freshman Leadership Program, which helps her put her platform into action.
"Miss Auburn is run on a platform, so a cause she wants Auburn students to get involved in as well," said Sloane Bell, director of elections. "She gets her own [program] and they get to help her implement her platform on Auburn's campus."
During her term, Miss Auburn will take on several other roles including serving alongside the SGA and being an honorary member or the War Eagle Girls and the Plainsmen.
The candidates will now prepare for their campaigns in February.
"They basically become oriented on how the elections process works and spend their time preparing their materials, staffs and plans for the week of," Bell said.
Candidate and Spanish major Catherine Taylor said she is excited, but looking forward to a good nights sleep.
"I am going to sleep tonight and then take it one day at a time," Taylor said. "I'm excited to see where it takes me."
Campaign week will begin Feb. 4, 2015, ending with voting day on Feb. 10, 2015.
(11/04/14 2:27am)
Two members of the Woroniecki family, a non-denominational missionary group, visited Auburn's campus to promote their unique beliefs in Jesus.
The brother and sister held up signs reading, "You need Jesus" and "The 'Churches' are a joke" in front of Parker Hall.
The group travels with their 7 siblings and father to spread the their message that believing in Jesus means more than just going to church.
"If you constantly settle for this physical building in this community listening to men, you will never find the voice of God," said Ruth Woroniecki. "Where as the men and women living for God are helping the poor and out there on the streets."
The family tours college campuses to encourage students to focus on religion.
"This is college but these kids are going to go out into the world and we want to see if they would maybe come to Jesus and maybe think about other people then themselves," Joshua Woroniecki said.
Students had mixed reactions to the group and their signs.
Andrew Newby, senior in creative writing, said he does not agree with the Woroniecki family.
"Nobody has ever changed their mind because of a picket sign," Newby said. "They talk about how you have to be a true follower of Christ and then they don't take any regard to what followers of Christ are supposed to do."
Sarah Hill, freshman in industrial engineering, said she does not necessarily agree with them, but she wants the best for the group.
"A group of us got to pray for them and pray for the student body of Auburn," Hill said. "It could have been a blessing."
(10/31/14 1:30pm)
When the sun rises above Jordan-Hare Stadium on home game Saturdays, most Auburn fans are still asleep.
But not the marching band.
By 6 a.m. the Auburn University Marching Band is already hard at work preparing for the full day ahead.
A day in the life of a band member begins with a two-hour practice Saturday morning, depending on the kickoff time.
"If we have an 11 a.m. game, then our students are out there as soon as the sun is up," said marching band director Corey Spurlin.
During these rehearsals, the band polishes up its pregame and halftime shows and pump themselves up for the game.
"The hype for me really starts the moment we end rehearsal with a giant Alma Mater and 'War Eagle,'" said trumpet section leader Ben Elgan.
According to Elgan, the band is just as excited as the football team.
"(The excitement) builds all throughout game day when we perform for Gus and the team during Tiger Walk and carries through the rest of the event," Elgan said.
While the band is practicing, the band service fraternity Kappa Kappa Psi prepares the stadium for the game.
"Work crews at the stadium will ice all the drinks down into big trash cans, organize the granola bars, put the drum major podium out and make sure our seats are roped off appropriately," Spurlin said.
According to Spurlin, the work crews at the stadium make sure the band does not have to worry about anything.
"They take care of anything we have in place when the band marches through the gate," Sparlin said.
After practice, members have a chance to eat and check their uniforms before the game.
The service sorority Tau Beta Sigma oversees all the uniforms and makes any last minute fixes members may need.
Once the band is in the stadium, it makes its way to the tunnel and prepares to jog onto the field and begin the game.
"You get a huge rush of adrenaline jogging out under the lights in front of a sold-out stadium of Tiger fans," Elgan said. "It's seriously intense and definitely my favorite pre-game moment."
Throughout the game, the band is constantly preforming, even off the field.
According to Spurlin, band members are not allowed to visit the concession stands to make sure there are no holes in their section and to look as clean and orderly as possible.
"Everything we do is a performance," Spurlin said. "People are coming to see that spectacle, and they expect a certain level of decorum, behavior and ambassadorship."
After the game, members have Sunday off to focus on school work before the week of practicing begins.
To prepare for games, the band meets Tuesdays through Fridays in the afternoon to rehearse.
Drum major Annie Scibetta said balancing school with band helps members learn the importance of time management.
Scibetta also said she will be able to use the skills she has learned in marching band throughout her life.
"I have learned much more than just time management through marching band," Scibetta said. "The level of commitment and high standards of the program have taught me practical skills that I can take with me wherever I go in the future."
According to Spurlin, band members major in an array of subjects from every school on Auburn's campus.
Spurlin said that is something they pride themselves on.
"We are trying to teach them to be good professionals," Spurlin said. "We are teaching them a process that over a long term, you are going to improve every day."
(10/14/14 12:00pm)
The U.S Department of Education awarded a total of $4.45 million to Auburn University's Office of the Vice President for University Outreach as a part of two federal grants awarded to Alabama.
The grants are a part of the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Program and will be administered to University Outreach's K-12 and college access department.
GEAR UP is designed to increase college attendance and to raise the expectations of scholarship in low-income families. The program is a partnership between Auburn University, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, The University of Alabama and the Black Belt Community Foundation.
"The federal government gave two GEAR UP grants in the state of Alabama and Auburn is lead partners on both of those grants," said Stacey Nickson, director of K-12 outreach.
The first grant was awarded to the state of Alabama and will be used to benefit students in the Black Belt by helping schools better prepare students for college.
The University will use the money to provide a summer college preparation program for 11th and 12th grade students.
"We are going to make sure that 10,000 students out in that part of the state will come to the campuses of Auburn University and the other institutions to participate in programming that will help prepare them for college," said Royrickers Cook, assistant vice president of University Outreach.
This program is designed to give students a better understanding of what is required of them in college and to give them a head start on beginning to think about their educational future.
The second grant was awarded to Birmingham City Schools and their partners. The University works with sixth and seventh grade students from the Birmingham area to provide tutoring thorough their first year of college.
These grants hold the possibility to change the future of Alabama education.
"Bring responsible for University Outreach is making sure that Auburn University is working with communities and external groups to make sure we improve the quality of life in Alabamians," Cook said.
The University, its students and the city of Auburn will all benefit from this grant.
"We don't just help local kids, we help all over the State of Alabama," Nickson said. "But by securing federal dollars to help those parts of Alabama, it frees up more money within our department to keep helping our local kids."
Through the grants, Auburn University students have the opportunity to gain work experience and improve the future of the state.
"Many of the Auburn University students will be hired to participate as rolls of counselors or mentors and working with the students when they arrive on the campus," Cook said.
Auburn students will be working students not much younger than them in hopes to impact their own generation.
"Our students are going to be working with kids that are maybe 5 years younger than themselves," Nickson said. "But this is an opportunity to extend the hand to help shake the educational reality for thousands of kids."
(10/11/14 4:00pm)
On any given Saturday in the South, you will find SEC schools coming together to cheer on their teams. Georgia in red, Vanderbilt in black and, most importantly, Auburn donning orange and blue. The Plains become filled with Tiger fans young and old sporting their team's colors from head to toe.
Although I am biased, I believe Auburn has some of the most loyal, supportive fans in the SEC. From waking up at 4 a.m. to save a tailgate spot to standing for the entire game, Auburn does it the best.
Something Auburn does better than anyone in the country is celebrating our team with orange and blue game day attire. In the stands, you will find pledges in a full coat and tie, parents rocking their favorite Auburn tee and, of course, game day dresses worn by ladies.
When I came to Camp War Eagle, I was told a dress was the appropriate attire for game days. Started in the Civil War, students would dress in their finest coats and dresses to go cheer on our veterans, and since then, this tradition has stayed the same.
Being from out of state, I was shocked to see what Auburn fans wore on game days. So the summer before my freshman year, I bought all the orange and blue dresses I could find. I was under the impression that if you didn't wear a dress, you would be judged.
After years of spending hours in the morning to get ready, I started thinking, "I don't have to wear a dress, do I?" As I entered my junior year I began to realize game day shouldn't be about the your clothes, but about supporting your team.
Many things come with becoming an upperclassman. More days are spent working rather than lounging and watching Netflix, and more nights are spent doing homework than at frat parties. Our real lives are starting, so we leave behind our freshman tendencies. In leaving these ways, we seem to put less effort into our game day attire.
I'm not saying that once you become a junior in college, you turn into a slob, but we just seem to care less about this status quo.
More crop tops, high-waisted shorts and jerseys are being worn. In fact, I would say the jersey is slowly becoming the new game day dress.
The SEC may have the best looking fans in the country, but we don't have to wear fancy dresses to prove our loyalty to our school.
Nicole Fulkerson is a campus writer for The Plainsman. She can be reached via email at campus@theplainsman.com.
(10/10/14 1:30pm)
Auburn graduate Juli Goldstein has landed a role on the big screen playing herself in the Warner Bros. film "Dolphin Tale 2" after helping save the life of a young dolphin.
The first film, "Dolphin Tale," was inspired by the true story of a bottlenose dolphin named Winter.
In the film, Winter loses her tail and is fitted with an artificial tail at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Florida.
The sequel, starring Ashley Judd, Harry Connick Jr. and Morgan Freeman, highlights the veterinary work of Goldstein and other marine mammal experts to save a dolphin named Hope.
Goldstein graduated from the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine in 2003 and played a crucial role in the real-life rescues of dolphins Winter and Hope.
"I was on board with the research committee that helped develop Winter's prosthetic tail, which was amazing because it was something that had never been done before," Goldstein said.
Right after completion of "Dolphin Tale," Goldstein learned about Hope.
On the night of the wrap party for the first film, the two-month-old animal was found near death in the Indian River Lagoon and was kept alive by being transferred to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium because of the efforts of Goldstein and her colleagues.
"We found her still trying to nurse on her dead mother, which is common with marine mammals," Goldstein said. "But we transferred her to Clearwater and she made it."
Not only did Goldstein play herself in the film, she also helped with the technical side of the film as well.
"Much of the film used animatronics, and I helped to make sure the dolphins movements were authentic," Goldstein said. "There was a scene with a dead dolphin at the bottom of the pool, and it was scary how real it looked."
Goldstein said she is humbled by her experience with the film and was amazed by the process that goes into making a movie.
"I love movies, and I never realized how much work goes into behind the scenes with lighting and music," Goldstein said. "It was an honor to be in the presence of these actors."
Goldstein said she thanks her education at Auburn for where she is today.
According to Goldstein, she continues to use the core values that were instilled into her during her time at the University.
"Auburn is with everything that I do," Goldstein said. "My professors truly taught me that anything is possible with hard work."
Joseph Newton, associate professor of pathology, taught Goldstein in her second year of veterinary school and said he is proud of her accomplishments.
"She's done well since she left," Newton said. "She has been a very good ambassador for Auburn and the veterinary school here, so we are just happy she has succeeded as well as she has."
Current Auburn veterinary students look up to Goldstein and her career path.
"As a pre-vet student, it encourages me to work as hard as I can do accomplish my goals," said Paige Vaughn, sophomore in biomedical science. "We can all learn from her."
(09/26/14 1:30pm)
Tiger Dining, the Office of Sustainability and the waste reduction and recycling department have been working to remove all Styrofoam from Auburn's campus. The last to go were Chick-fil-A's Styrofoam cups.
"It's one of those processes that we kept chipping away at, and we eliminated it everywhere we could," said Glenn Loughridge, director of campus dining. "We just had that last domino fall."
These groups meet monthly to discuss projects to make Auburn as sustainable as possible.
The cost of removing the Styrofoam cups will cost Chartwells an additional $5,000 per year, but Courtney Washburn, recycling coordinator at the waste reduction and recycling department, said she believes the benefits outweigh the cost.
"I think it makes a statement, and it's a step in the right direction," Washburn said. "The fact that the University is making a stand to not purchase this product is almost priceless."
According to Washburn, the process of making Styrofoam causes air pollution and possibly cancer.
Washburn also said the disposal of Styrofoam takes more effort than paper.
"Styrofoam tends to be kind of bulky in waste bins, it doesn't squish down like paper cups do," Strickland said. "More workers have to check them, and more trips to the landfill have to be taken."
However, the new paper cups cannot be recycled because of the wax coating used to contain the liquid.
Though the cups cannot be thrown in the recycle bin, they leave a smaller environmental footprint than Styrofoam, according to Amy Strickland, program manager at the Office of Sustainability.
"Even though we can't recycle the paper cups, they've been replaced with something that will more readily break down," Strickland said.
The waste reduction and recycling department said they have been working to begin a composting program by participating in a compost pilot program with Village Dining.
In one month, Village Dining collected 4,621 pounds of compostable food.
"Compost is definitely in the works, but we aren't there yet," Washburn said.
Loughridge said his goal is for campus to be as sustainable as possible.
"Our goal is to continue toward zero waste, and that's not going to be something that appears overnight," Loughridge said. "It's a process and it's something we have to work for. We can start here, and maybe we can reach out into the greater community."
(09/23/14 3:00am)
The SGA Senate is prepared for Homecoming at their meeting on Monday, Sept. 22, 2014.
The SGA Senate received a visit from the Miss Homecoming 2014 top five candidates.
The candidates, Callie Henley, Francie Harris, Daly Foster, Kellie Jones and Alexis Jackson, presented their platforms to the senate and encouraged everyone to vote in the election on Firday, Sept. 26, 2014.
SGA will also be putting on the Homecoming parade on Friday including 11 floats. The parade will begin at 6 p.m. and will begin at the library and end in front of Samford Hall.
Immediately following the parade, SGA will be putting on "Friday Night Lights," a free concert in the Gay Street lot featuring Trotline and the Jon Wilkris Trio.
"We worked really hard trying to revamp Homecoming," said assistant director of homecoming Kaitlin McPheeters. "Homecoming candidates will get to speak as well, right before voting ends."
The senate appointed their Graduate School Council President, Leonard Thomas.
"He's been active in his position since the turnover in May, this is just to follow a code of laws that come with that position," said Senator David Burel
The Senate also appointed their Graduate School Council Vice President, India Napier.
The Senate brought up future orders of business and discussed a possible increase in the Center for Student Organization budget from $50,000 to $60,000 to provide more opportunities to on-campus organizations.
"We have the opportunity to approve the O-Board funding, and nothing has changed since last year, it's just going to be first come first serve for organizations," said Senator Katie Nell.
The senate also approved changes made to the budgets of Center for Leadership and Ethics, Center for Community Service, Student Organizations and Welcome Week, Intercultural Programs, SGA, Student Media and University Program Council.
(09/22/14 12:00pm)
Auburn University strives to provide equal opportunities for all of its students, including those students bound to wheelchairs. However, only one of the Auburn University Department of Public Safety's security shuttles is wheelchair accessible.
The department added a wheelchair-accessible van to its fleet in the spring of 2011, and as of now, they do not plan to add more.
When not in use, the van stays parked at the department's office building on Magnolia Avenue.
The van can hold two wheelchairs, up to six other passengers and operates like the other security shuttles.
Students call the same number as the other vans, but must let the operator know the wheelchair-accessible van is needed.
Handicapped students feel more than one wheelchair-accessible shuttle should be available on Auburn's campus.
"A possible solution would be for them to add more buses that are wheelchair friendly," said Auburn wheelchair basketball team member Taylor Wright.
According to Philip Crain, graduate student and member of the wheelchair basketball team, the wheelchair-accessible van is not well known on campus, even to those in wheelchairs.
"There's enough of us on campus in chairs that could use it," Crain said. "We need to make it more well known and maybe they would consider adding more."
Lt. Keith Walton of the Auburn Public Safety Department said it doesn't feel the need to add more vans because of low use.
"We've had this vehicle for three years and we probably don't have but about 1,200 or 1,300 miles on it," Walton said.
However, Crain said he disagrees with the department's decision and said he feels an accessible van should always be available.
"It doesn't matter if it's going to be used or not because there's always the potential for it to be," Crain said. "Ideally, I would like them all to be accessible."
Jared Rhem, Office of Accessibility employee, said the University should try to make everything accessible from the beginning.
The public safety department occasionally allows organizations on campus to rent the van.
"We've had a couple of departments that had students that needed wheelchair access and we have let the department use that van," Walton said.
Because the wheelchair-accessible van is sometimes rented out, there is concern a student in a wheelchair could be put in a situation where avan would not be available.
"There needs to be more than one," Crain said. "My problem is, what do you do if that bus, for whatever reason, isn't operational or available?"
No wheelchair-bound student has been put in this situation, but Wright said he feels the system could be more dependable.
"If there is only one, it would make sense that the bus system is unreliable for a wheelchair user," Wright said.
(09/09/14 4:04am)
The Sept. 8 meeting of Student Government Association Senate ran longer than usual this week due to the balancing of their budget for the 2014-2015 fiscal year.
Representatives from Student Activities Programs shared their budgets for the year. Each representative shared the goals of the program for the year along with the cuts and increases to the budget.
After a long hour and fifteen minutes of voting, the budget was balanced by cutting from line items of various programs, the largest being an $18,000 cut from
the University Program Council.
Sga treasurer, Richmond Gunter would like to increase the Miss Auburn budget from $1,000 to $2,000 in order for Miss Auburn to successfully execute her platform.
"Caroline Stephens, Miss Aubunn this year has been very gracious in terms of providing a very detailed budget breakdown of the way she's strategically spending that money to serve this campus," Gunter said.
The senate also proposed a bill to allocate $4,587 from their reserve fund to publicly campaign to aid Aubie in the Capitol One Mascot Challenge. This bill will be voted on on Sept. 15, 2014.
This money would go to stickers, buttons, wristbands and shirts to promote Aubie's campaign.
Senator Meredith Smith wants to bring awareness of the competition not only on Auburn's Campus but in the Auburn community as well.
"We want to especially reach out during game days," Smith said. "We would like to have all these supplies ready by next game day."
The Senate proposed a second bill to appoint Jack Wagster as the 2014-2015 Sga vice president of facilities.
"If you know Jack you know how committed he is to Sga," said senator John. LeMaster.
The meeting ended with announcement from the vice president to remind the senate of the blood drive that will happen next week.
(09/06/14 7:01pm)
Inc. Magazine released their list of the top 5,000 fastest-growing private companies last week. Ranked 1,189 is The Tailgate Guys, founded by Auburn alumni.
The Green Space is covered in a sea of white tents on any Auburn game day, thanks to the hard work of The Tailgate Guys.
The Tailgate Guys set up and disassemble tailgating tents, leaving almost no work for Auburn fans after the football game.
"We have just loved how easy they have made it for us," said Anita Carter, Auburn tailgater.
Carter is a long time Auburn fan, but first time customer of The Tailgate Guys.
"We split the tent between 10 different families," Carter said. "We all have freshmen here at Auburn, and we knew this would be the best way for them to experience their first Auburn game as students."
There is an option to have your tailgate catered as well.
The Tailgate Guys have partnered with Tiger Dining and Chick-Fil-A to provide a wide selection of food for tailgaters.
After the game, The Tailgate Guys remove the tents and have the green space looking exactly how it was before.
"We don't have to do anything in terms of clean-up in The Tailgate Guys territory," said Bob Ritenbaugh, Auburn's associate vice president of auxiliary services, who has been on board with the company since the beginning. "That's one big area we don't have to worry about."
President and CEO Parker Duffey and his partner Michael Otwell said they are proud of their humble beginnings with the company.
"We started out our first year with Michael and I and six guys," Duffey said.
The Tailgate Guys started with an enclosed trailer, a borrowed landscape trailer and two pick-up trucks.
The team began in 2009 with only eight employees who set up 55 tents.
The company soon built their way up to an average of 250 tents per game with a full staff.
"If they had 50 more tents, they would sell them," Ritenbaugh said. "They can meet any request and they just keep growing and growing."
The company has recently begun to provide their services to the University of Florida and Texas A&M University.
Beginning this year, the company will also provide their services to Georgia Tech.
"We are trying things a little different with Georgia Tech," Duffey said. "We would like to solely manage them out of Auburn, since it's only an hour and a half away."
In the winter of 2013, the business continued to expand. The parent company, The Tailgate Guys, created The Event Group to provide year-round party and event rental needs.
The Event Group caters to weddings, on-campus events or anywhere a tent is needed.
"I am so grateful for everyone that I work with," Duffey said.
According to Duffey, everyone involved with The Tailgate Guys is important to the business.
"We wouldn't be where we were today if it wasn't for the hard work put in by everyone," Duffey said.
(09/03/14 9:44pm)
The career center welcomed all majors to their 10th annual cookout on the Greenspace from 11-1 today.
Students were given the chance to meet with local Alabama employers in hopes of learning more about what jobs and internships are available for them. Even Aubie came out to enjoy the free food and fun atmosphere.
"This is a great opportunity for students who are looking for any type of job or internship," said director of the Career Center, Nancy Bernard. "These companies are looking to hire Auburn students, and if they get out there an make an effort to meet the employers there could be a great job out there for them."
Ten companies sponsored the event by donating money in exchange for a table and a chance to meet with interested students.
Junior in business administration Hunter McLain came to the cookout to speak with Sherwin-Williams Company, one of the employers to sponsor the event.
"I'm really hoping to talk with them about an internship," McLain said. "Oh, to enjoy the free food of course."
Working the Sherwin-Williams table was Auburn alumni Davdrex Reid who has been working for the company since he graduated in 2010.
"I actually got my job through the career cookout," Reid said. "I went and checked it out and spoke with someone and I got a job offer two days later."
International Paper has made Auburn one of their target schools in searching for employees.
"We have two paper mills that are about 45 minutes away from Auburn, so it's easy for Auburn students to complete an internship with us while going to school," said Kim Wirth, an employee at International Paper.
The career cookout was not only for students interested in jobs and internships, but students looking to get involved with volunteering as well.
Auburn University's Outreach organization joined the cook off to encourage Auburn students to get involved with one of their many organizations.
"Students can join a mailing list on auburnserve.com and anytime there is a volunteer opportunity in our community, they are notified," said Joyce Thomas-Vinson, coordinator of service learning and student engagement.
The event featured a raffle for a chance to win Auburn-themed prizes.
"We have about 10 prizes over in the office," said Melvin K. Smith, coordinator of special events. "We've got some really great Auburn-themed stuff to give away."
The career center has been preparing a year in advance for this event with the hopes that students will be active in reaching out to employers.
"I've been with this event since the beginning and it has only grown over time," Bernard said.
Other companies who sponsored the event were Atel Inc., Alabama Department of Public Safety, Enterprise Holding, Exxon Mobil Corporation, Georgia-Pacific, International Paper Company, Neptune Technology Group Inc., Sherwin-Williams Company, Southern Company and Auburn University Outreach.