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Virginia Tech, N.C. State, Clemson, Georgia, Florida, Alabama A&M, Mississippi State, Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana Tech, LSU, Stephen F. Austin, Arkansas Monticello and your very own Auburn; what do all of these universities have in common?
Valentine's Day is a celebration of love and thankfulness for each other, but the fact that chocolate comes in little heart shaped boxes on Valentine's says something about another thing we can look forward to. Because it is loaded with antioxidants, "feel good" chemicals and some other important nutrients, chocolate is a "sweet" that you don't have to turn away the other 364 days of the year. This year, instead of picking up those delightful little heart shaped boxes, be glad to know that chocolate, specifically dark chocolate, is something you don't have to feel guilty eating, at least in moderation.
The 2013 Winter Career Panel, Expo and Luncheon on Tuesday, Feb. 5, at The Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center, discussed non-profit and philanthropic work.
I can't be sure exactly who said it, but it's caught my attention.
As Richard Patton, Rob Slocumb and Chandler Jones sit around the table at an Opelika coffee shop, they talk of their plans and vision for the budding downtown area.
One thousand applicants, 90 finalists and two Auburn students selected among finalists to interview for the prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship to study at the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Paul Bergen, May 2012 graduate and Fulbright Scholar at the Technical University of Munich, and James "Jimmy" Kaczmarek, senior in chemical engineering, have been selected to interview to become Gates Cambridge Scholars. "It was winter break and I was sitting there watching TV and an email popped up and it said congratulations on being short listed for the Gates Cambridge finalist." Kaczmarek said. "And I was just like, YES." The Gates Cambridge Scholarship is highly competitive and is a full-cost scholarship awarded to outstanding students outside of the United Kingdom to pursue a post-graduate degree in any subject available at the University of Cambridge. "I definitely feel honored that I was selected as a finalist," Bergen said. At Auburn, both Bergen and Kaczmarek have been heavily involved while maintaining 3.97 GPAs. Bergan, of Cooper City,Fla, was president of the Microbiology Club, part of the Mock Trial Team and was a re-chartering member of the German Honor Society. Kaczmarek, of Tampa ,Fla, is the trumpet section leader in the Auburn University Marching Band , a part of the national music fraternity, Phi Mu Alpha and a founding member of AU Cappella. While at Auburn, Bergen was an undergraduate researcher under Dr. Mark Liles. Begren's work in Liles' lab focused on metagenomics, which according to Liles "you are cloning and analyzing DNA from a community of bacteria and our focus here is on antibiotic discovery." "The last year he was here, Paul and I were colleagues," said Liles. "He was definitely functioning at a higher level than most students do." Liles said Bergen will be a co-author on a manuscript on the science he did and that is one of the best forms recognition; that your science is being published. Bergen received his undergraduate degree in both German and microbiology. Kaczmarek works as an undergraduate researcher under Dr. Mark Byrne. "His work ethic is second to none," Byrne said." I have yet to meet another student who has a work ethic like Jimmy." Byrne described Jimmy as an excellent student, passionate, has high scholarship and isn't afraid to ask questions. "In the classes that I have had him, he has been near the top, if not the top student in the class in terms of grades that he has received," Byrne said. Bergen wants to work under Professors Vassilis Koronakis and Gillian Fraser, because their work is essentially what he wants to do with his career. "The short explanation, I’m looking for microbial enzymes useful to a wide range of industries to make our lives cleaner, healthier, and more efficient," Bergen said. Kaczmarek wants to focus on the control release of drugs through contact lenses. "Instead of having to do eye drops four, six or eight times a day and having to wake up in the middle of the night to take them," Kaczmarek said "you can just pop a contact lens in and then you just keep it like that for a couple of days." Kaczmarek said this will help with patient compliance and people can get the treatment for the eye they need." According to gatescambridge.com, the selection criteria are; outstanding intellectual ability, leadership potential, commitment to improving the lives of others and a good fit between the applicant's qualifications and aspirations of the postgraduate program at Cambridge University for which they are applying. "I want to live my life to really make a difference for other people," Kaczmarek said. There have been two previous Auburn graduates awarded the scholarship: David Harris (2011) and Cynthia Carver ( 2002). Bergen's interview is set for Feb. 1 and Kaczmarek's interview is Feb 2; both conducted in Washington D.C. "It's the interview that is going to set you apart. And I think that what makes it more extreme and more intense," Bergen said. "You have to be on top of your game and give the greatest interview you've given at that point."
Long hours sitting in a sniper hole in the Middle East, starting a mini golf business in Opelika, smuggling Bibles into hostile countries, learning to knit mittens as a new hobby and currently working as an RN in the ICU are just some of things that describe Mark Drye.
The year 2012 proved to be full of tumult, change, sadness, victory and loss for the University and its students. To sum it all up, here is a list of the top ten happenings around campus during the past year.1. New Smoking PolicyThe year began with an announcement from Auburn President Jay Gouge that the campus would be smoke-and cigarette-free by fall 2013. Gradual adjustments were made in fall 2012, begin- ning with the restriction of on-campus smoking stating that smokers must be at least 25 feet away from buildings to smoke. Those not in compliance with this rule would be verbally reprimanded, although not punished.Support for students and faculty who want to quit smoking altogether has been offered by campus pharmacists, who will analyze the patient’s situation and provide necessary support and medication through a three to six month program. The university will issue a full-fledged smoking ban beginning in fall 2013, in hopes that the offered cessation program with pharmacists will help alleviate such a large change.2. Harvey Updyke TrialsThe notorious tree-poisoning Harvey Updyke continued to frequent the news with various activities surrounding his highly publicized trial. Updyke confessed to Plainsman reporter Andrew Yawn, outside of trial and under no obligation to speak, that he was guilty of poisoning Toomer’s Oaks. A day later, his primary defense attorney denied that Updyke made the statement.One of Updyke’s defense attorneys, Lois J. Willie II, requested to leave the case due to other professional and personal obligations. Willie was Updyke’s fifth attorney to leave the case.He claimed he has lost 62 pounds since the beginning of his arrest, is taking 18 different medications for various health issues and pleaded not guilty due to mental illness.Updyke made headlines once again when he was arrested on September 18 in Hammond, La. on terrorizing charges at a home improvement store.3. Summer Shootings at University HeightsAn impossibly tragic event of the summer was the triple- homicide shooting at University Heights apartments on West Longleaf Drive. Montgomery resident Desmonte Leonard was arrested and charged with shooting and killing former Auburn football players Ed Christian and Ladarious Phillips and Auburn resident Demario Pitts on June 9. Leonard was additionally charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.4. Auburn in the OlympicsAs a bright spot on a bleak summer, 24 former and current Tigers and four coaches traveled to London to compete or coach the 2012 Olympics, representing thirteen different countries. These included Trinidad and Tobago, Brazil, Zimbabwe, Bahamas, Jamaica, Australia, Great Britain, Canada, South Africa, United States, American Samoa, Mexico and Ireland.The athletes participated in swimming or track and field events, and won two gold medals, one silver and three bronze. Additionally, Auburn student Marisa Grimes was chosen to carry an Olympic Torch in London.5. New Parking RulesIn hopes of easing the ever-present parking problems at Auburn, Parking Services implemented a number of changes to policies and lots around campus.A new parking zone, called Proximity-C, was created in hopes of guaranteeing spots for students who had a pass for PC. These new zones are located at the Coliseum, Auburn Arena, the lot across from Momma Goldberg’s on Magnolia and a small space behind the public safety office.Parking Services said plans for the new parking policies had been in the works for a year before implementation.6. SGA RestructuringThe Student Government Association went under a huge restructuring that was imple- mented in fall 2012. Because they felt they were taking on too many tasks and didn’t feel they had enough manpower or funding for these tasks, many programs were delegated to other organizations that could better tackle them. SGA wanted to deal primarily with governance tasks and become more initiative-based.7. Food Truck ExpansionIn part influenced by the food truck craze spreading around the nation and in part to diversify Auburn dining experience, many new food trucks cropped up around campus during the past year to build on the popularity of the Tex’s Tacos and Momma Goldberg’s trucks.Additions to the fleet included Honeysuckle Gelato, Kona Ice, Mighty Meatballs and Mac the Cheese.8. Presidential ElectionsFor many Auburn students, the 2012 elections presented the first opportunity to vote in a presidential race. Topics such as abortion, tax increase, health care and immigration influenced students to rock the vote as citizens who will be part of the work force in the next number of years.The campus was alight with participation with much activity from political groups handing out stickers and campaigning on the concourse.At the announcement of President Obama’s re-election on November 6, many students flocked to Toomer’s Oaks to roll the trees in celebration.9. Losing Football SeasonWith the new semester came a new football season and a new wave of football fan woes. The Tigers went 3-9 overall and were completely winless in the SEC for the first time ever. The less than satisfying season was termed by many as a “rebuilding year” for the football program, coming down from the high of the 2010 National Championship title. However, fans and players alike were not expecting the homecoming loss to Ole Miss and no bowl game appearance.10. Gus Malzahn HiredThe Auburn Athletic Department dismissed head football coach Gene Chizik in hopes of a more favorable football season in 2013. His contract was terminated early and he will receive his $7.2 million buyout over the next four years.Chizik was replaced by former Auburn offensive coach, Gus Malzahn, who will be returning to the Plains from Arkansas State. Malzahn has already hired a number of new staff and coordinators for a fresh start in 2013.
Founded in 1935, the FBI National Academy is considered the top law enforcement professional school in the country. People wanting to attend the prestigious school have to be invited. Prospective FBI National Academy students go through a nomination process and rigorous background check before receiving an invitation. One of Auburn's own police officers made it through the selection process and received an invite to the school. Assistant Chief Paul Register was invited to attend the school last year and graduated the 10-week program Dec. 18, 2012. "It's an executive training for upper management in law enforcement," Register said. Register said after hearing about the course he told Chief Tommy Dawson that it was something he was interested in attending, and Dawson nominated him. "I heard about the course several years ago, and we have had some other people go through it as well," Register said. "So through talking with them and reading about it and hearing about it, I thought it would be something I would enjoy." Living in dormitories on Marine Corps Base Quantico, Register took a total of six courses, had daily PT activities and met a diverse group of people while at the school. "Monday through Friday, we were in class from 8 a.m. to 5:30, four classes everyday," Register said. "Usually there was PT everyday so there was a lot of running and a lot of cardiovascular exercise. I took two graduate level classes when I was there that I'm going to use towards my masters that I've been working on." Register is working on a masters in homeland security emergency management at Auburn University Montgomery. Able to take both undergraduate and graduate courses at the school, the 250 students who attend the sessions are made up of law enforcement officers from around the United States and 150 countries around the world. "The friendships and the relationships that you make with the other people at the academy should be something you can use throughout the rest of your career," Register said. "That was one of the biggest things I took from it was the networking and getting to know people from all over the country and even other nations. That was the best thing I got from it." Although Register said he learned a lot from the course, he said the 10 weeks away from his family in Auburn was difficult for him. "The classes were great, the training was great, but it was a challenge," Register said. "I came home about four times. I flew home a couple of times and drove home a couple of times, but it was tough. My wife gets more credit then I do for that because she was able to take care of everything at home and the kids. She deserves the credit for that." Register and his family live in Auburn, but his wife and four kids were able to travel to Quantico, Va. to see his graduation from the FBI National Academy. "We stayed in Washington D.C. for a few days after that to see the things around D.C.," Register said. Register has been working at the Auburn Police Department for 25 years in a variety of jobs in patrol, investigation, administration and was Captain of Patrol. "I've enjoyed every job I've done here," Register said. "Every few years I have done a new job within the division and so it's kept it very interesting to me. I've always enjoyed it. I work with great people and they make it fun."
David Crumbley, assistant clinical nursing professor, has already made a huge impact in his first semester. Crumbley is the recent recipient of the Meritorious Service Medal, awarded to him by the U.S. Navy. "He's just an exceptional human being," Jennifer Schuessler, associate dean and associate professor of the nursing school, said. "I have been at Auburn for 23 years and I have never had a faculty member who has hit the ground running like he has." Kevin Downey, of the university's NROTC program, said the award recognizes outstanding meritorious achievement. The Meritorious Service Medal is the counterpart to the Bronze Star Medal for the recognition of meritorious non-combat service, Downey said. Schuessler was not surprised at all when she heard that Crumbley was going to receive this award. "When we interviewed him we knew he was really outstanding and would bring a lot of depth and expertise, particularly in two areas," Schuessler said. The two areas are Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and being a certified wound care nurse. Crumbley instructs a critical clinical course which is an important senior level clinical course. "He has really gained the respect of those students," Schuessler said. Crumbley's works and understanding of the Navy and the Armed Services has been utilized, Schuessler said. There are "things that would never happen without his leadership," Schuessler said. Crumbley enlisted in the army in 1979 where he served three years as a medic. He then went to nursing school and joined the Navy in 1993 where he got his commission as an officer. Crumbley stayed in the Navy for 20 years. "In 1995 I started studying advanced wound care and then continued to do that throughout my career," Crumbley said. Crumbley held various positions of leadership including charge nurse, department head, coordinator for the Complex Wound and Limb Salvage Center at National Naval Medical Center and worked at Bethesda and Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., according to Crumbley. Even after Crumbley retired, his passion for the Navy stayed evident. Crumbly currently works with the Navy and Army to develop wound care education programs for those who will be deployed. As a liaison to the Virginia Federal Recovery Coordination Program, Crumbley worked with families of the wounded to coordinate the care of their loved ones. "This position was especially rewarding because I had taken care of many of the wounded when they returned from Iraq/Afghanistan, and now I was able to assist them 3-4 year later as they were continuing with their lives," Crumbley said. This October, when Crumbley first heard that he received this award, he was "honored and humbled because it's just a great opportunity and a great honor to be able to work with the wounded," Crumbley said. By the request of first lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, Crumbley will be providing a unique clinical rotation at one of the large military hospitals in the U.S. for the seniors. Downey said Crumbley was chosen to receive the Meritorious Service Medal because of his performance as an officer in the Navy during his last assignment. "You cannot help but be passionate about what you do when you have been given the opportunity to serve those who have sacrificed so much, but ask for so little in return," Crumbley said.
There are two sides to every story. For the story of Auburn University's parking services and the school's students, faculty and staff, the story is a lose-lose situation. And for this story, it's about shrinking the divide rather than finding a solution.Don Andrae, parking manager at Auburn University, said it's a no-win struggle trying to provide parking for all the students, faculty and staff."Any college is going to have it that way," Andrae said. "I have counterparts at those schools, plus the ones I've been to in the past six years, and it's the same. You do not have enough parking."For all the research that goes into designing a parking system, it comes down to simple math when faced with the integral issue: 26,000 is much greater than 3,000."Fact is, you've got 26,000 students, and for commuter students you only have about 3,000 parking spaces," Andrae said. "And you have 19,000 commuter students, so that doesn't work out very well. The thing we had to do was, since the demand was so high, you had to either increase the supply or decrease the demand. The supply is not going to increase any time soon, and even if it did, it would take five to six years to get that to the point it needs to be. I think, yes, for what we have, it's probably the best system that we could do."But do the students care?Parking problems are a common topic among students, because of the need to get to class. The issue for most of them isn't the number of parking spots; it's the convenience, or lack thereof."They have enough parking spots for everybody, because there's parking spots way out in the boondocks," said Omari Dear, junior in mass communications. "But the problem is just the convenience. You have to walk far. That's the issue. Yeah, for sure (it's a convenience problem)."What I do also is sometimes I park where the park-and-ride picks up for the C-Zone by the intramural fields. And that's a good way to do it. I don't have to walk, I can just get on the bus and it takes me up there. But it takes longer."Parking services is constantly looking at new ways to improve parking arrangements."(We're) constantly tweaking," Andrae said. "Starting the Proximate C parking has worked very well for the ones who won. What we're finding out is a lot of people are doing carpooling, which is very good. We'll probably tweak it some more as far as how we were doing it."Some students, however, feel differently about the new PC Zone."I think that what they did this year with adding the PC Zone, they basically just took away the most convenient spots," Dear said. "And now they don't have people complaining because they don't really have a choice to park conveniently."But when we had the choice to actually park a little bit closer to campus and there was sometimes not as many spots there, that caused more of an uproar and people were complaining all the time. And now they're saying, 'Oh, we're getting less complaints,' but it's only because people aren't parking close, they just find a different way of doing it."Not all students view parking services as an evil entity, however. Some acknowledge that they're doing the best they can with the resources they have."I feel like parking services is actually doing a good job," said Scott Seidband, graduate student in civil engineering with a specialty in transportation engineering. "Their job is to regulate what the parking is and what it's been established to be.Still, students always have ideas they'd like to see implemented."They either need to make it where there's enough parking for everyone or make it where the whole system goes to a transit system and only the top head people get parking on campus," Seidband said. "The way they have it set up now, basically the people that work there or the faculty gets all the parking spots, and it's the students that suffer. And it shouldn't be like that because the students are the ones that are paying to go here. So they need to, I think first, look at the students' needs before faculty and staff."Dear expanded upon his own personal ideas for parking reform."If I could change something, I would make parking free for all," Dear said. "Every parking spot free for everybody, except handicap parking, of course. But I think that we're students, we pay to come to this school, we should get to park close and get there... I mean, people are going to find where the parking spots are, and that's where they're going to go. And I think eventually it'll balance out and people will be like, 'OK, well I'm going to go to this lot today because this is where I usually find my spot,' depending on what time you go to class."Andrae, who is no stranger to complaints, said he reads every email he receives."I get enough, so to speak, responses back when I send out those emails," Andrae said. "And I get some lengthy responses, and I read every one of them, respond to every one of them. Some of them have good ideas of what we can do."Parking decks are a common suggestion, but that's not a feasible idea, particularly in terms of cost."The going rate for a parking deck in our area is $15,000 a space," Andrae said. "So if you take $15,000 a space and you take that times a 500-car deck, you're talking about $7.5 million If you go to the Board of Trustees and say, 'I need $7.5 million for a parking deck,' and Professor Jones comes in and says, 'I need $20 million for a classroom facility,' he's going to get his $20 million before I get my $7.5 million. (We're) low on the totem pole."We're trying to get this working. It's not something that can be done overnight."A slideshow presentation is available here. To view the accompanying multimedia presentation, click here.
Human trafficking and sexual slavery are terms not often used by the average college student, or anyone for that matter. For the individuals on Auburn’s campus trying to fight these things, however, the terms are used and not lightly.Hannah Flayhart, Andrew Dillard and Brianne Arps are some of the individuals who choose to take a stand against oppression and injustice. Although passionate now, they admitted to not always knowing that human trafficking and slavery exists in the world today.Flayhart, a senior, said she didn’t know about those issues until her freshman year when she heard about an organization built around the idea of global justice.“A friend and I were sitting in church and the pastor mentioned an organization called International Justice Mission and what they do to stop slavery,” Flayhart said. “There wasn’t a campus chapter here, so we talked to the pastor and he put us directly in contact with International Justice Mission and they sent us a 30-page campus toolkit.”Flayhart got together with several close friends to learn more about the organization and how they would build the campus chapter.“International Justice Mission is a national organization with headquarters in Washington D.C.,” Flayhart said. “They work in 15 different countries and with the governments of those countries to try and rescue women from oppression, violence and sexual abuse.”Flayhart also said that International Justice Mission has rehabilitation programs to help the rescued victims get back on their feet and find jobs.“On campus, we seek to raise awareness about the issues of human trafficking because a lot of people don’t know that it actually exists, even in the United States,” Flayhart said. “We also work to raise money for International Justice Mission nationally because they are a non-profit organization and funded solely on donations.”Dillard, a senior, got involved with International Justice Mission when he heard about Auburn’s chapter during a Bible study. He said hearing about it made him more aware of the world that exists outside Auburn University.“The main thing is no matter what you believe as far as religion or background and just step back and take a look at the world around you,” Dillard said. “It doesn’t have to just be about slavery, but things like poverty as well. We need to change our focus now so that when we are out of college, we can do things to help the world around us.”Arps, a junior, was somewhat familiar with the term human trafficking, but became more educated while watching an episode of “Dateline.”“I had heard the word trafficking before, but it didn’t mean anything to me,” Arps said. “As the show went on I became more enthralled and couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. It weighed so heavily on my heart that things like that were going on and more than that the fact that not many people were doing anything about it.”Arps said she was broken up and confused about the things she saw on the show and they stayed with her for months.“A random Google search took me to the IJM website, then I found the Auburn University IJM chapter so I just showed up to the first meeting and knew right away that I wanted to get involved,” Arps said.Arps, who has now become the campus chapter’s event coordinator, helped put on an event in early November that would help get others on campus involved as well. The event was a Stand For Freedom and many of the chapter’s members participated.“National IJM launched the 27-hour Stand For Freedom,” Flayhart said. “They chose 10 of the more successful chapters across the country to be charter chapters for this movement and they wanted us to get at least 270 participants to stand for 27 hours and raise at least $2,700.”Arps said the significance of the number 27 was the estimated 27 million people who are enslaved around the world today.The chapter had another goal to attain during the Stand For Freedom.“We wanted to get 1,000 signatures for the Trafficking Victims Protection Act,” Arps said. “It basically is trying to get the government involved in stopping human trafficking both abroad and within our own borders.”Flayhart said all the goals were met and that they surpassed the $1,000 goal by raising about $4,000.The participants of the Stand For Freedom also took advantage of their time by talking to students about International Justice Mission and the things its members stand for.“I talked to people who had heard about human trafficking, but didn’t know how to get involved at Auburn University and people who had never heard of it before at all,” Arps said. “So I think the stand will help grow our chapter.”Flayhart is pleased with how the chapter did during the Stand For Freedom. She is also pleased with the direction of the chapter is taking as a whole.“It has grown incredibly since we started it and I want it to continue to do so,” Flayhart said. “It started out with four or five good friends and has now grown to about 400 people.”Flayhart also said she is excited to see the passion in the chapter’s new leadership. Arps is a part of that new leadership and has ideas for the future.Arps said they want next semester to be a semester of action so that people can actually feel like they are doing something.“For example, Atlanta is a hub for trafficking and it’s only an hour and a half away,” Arps said. “They have some great organizations over there that are willing to let people get involved and help out so we want to try and take a trip over there.”No matter what the chapter does, Arps, Flayhart and Dillard all agree that letting people know that trafficking and slavery are issues is the key to success.“Our job is to make people aware and help them make the next step to get involved,” Dillard said.Flayhart said she wants to see slavery ended in her generation’s lifetime, but it won’t happen while people still don’t know it exists.Arps also said she would like to see slavery eradicated by this generation and is confident that it can happen.“Forty years from now when we are telling our grandchildren how human trafficking got abolished, we have the opportunity to say that we were the ones who wouldn’t stand for things like that anymore, Arps said. “We have the opportunity to leave our mark on the pages of history and that is something for us to get excited about.”A slideshow presentation is available here. To view the accompanying multimedia presentation, click here.
Darby O'Brien, freshman in interior design, died Friday, Nov. 16, of a brain aneurysm.
Meet Millard Dawson, former physical therapist tech for the Atlanta Falcons, minor league baseball player and the current general manager of personal training for Auburn Max Fitness and Auburn Fitness for Women.
Auburn citizens celebrated Veterans Day Nov. 12 during the city's commemorative ceremony at the Auburn Veterans Memorial. This event included a wreath laying ceremony, performances by the Auburn University Choir, Drake Middle School Choir and music from bagpiper Dan Drummond.
Ireland may receive a new student as of September 2013.
Seniors center Rob Chubb and guard Frankie Sullivan lead a second half charge to rally from a halftime deficit as the Auburn men's basketball team defeated the IPFW Mastodons 61-50 in the Tigers' 2012-2013 season opener Friday, Nov. 9.
The Women's Basketball Team has been busy both on and off the court as a new season begins next week in North Carolina against Maine.
Partisan politics has been the topic of conversation in Washington D.C. and the U.S. for the past four years. Some Democrats claim Obama's administration has had some trouble passing legislation because of the Republicans' inhibition of the passing of bills based solely on partisan politics.
Tight end C.J. Uzomah's 27-yard touchdown catch from Jonathan Wallace in the third quarter gave Auburn's coaches enough incentive to keep the freshman in the game. (Emily Morris / ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR)
