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Well Tiger Fans, we arrived at the end of another term at Auburn. Now one of the biggest questions during and at the end of finals week is "what do I marathon on Netflix now?" Well here is a list of five MUST SEE shows this summer.
College is the time where a lot of students travel abroad to have new experiences and to make new friends, but they usually also want to keep in touch and share their experiences with their friends and family at home. There is an app that can help you and your friends or family communicate while abroad. Viber allows you to have free calls, texts and picture sharing with anyone that you want, anywhere you are. You can also send video and voice messages to other Viber users. If both you and your friend or family member traveling abroad download Viber, you can do all of these things for free. I downloaded Viber on my iPhone, and use it every week to talk to friends that are abroad. My messages have always sent quickly, and my calls have never dropped. The messaging is set up similarly to Facebook messaging, where you can see when your message was sent, then when it was delivered, and finally when your message has been read by the recipient. The only difference between Viber calls and regular calls is that sometimes if the conversation exceeds about 15 minutes, there starts to be a slight delay. This does not happen every time, but only occasionally. You can choose different background images for your conversations, which makes it a little bit more interesting than just regular calling or texting. You can also connect Viber to Facebook, to use your information and profile pictures. When you download Viber, it detects which contacts in your phone already have Viber, so that you only have to choose a name to start a message instead of inviting all of your friends to follow you. Viber alerts you when a new contact of yours joins Viber. If someone in your contacts has Viber and contacts you, you can block their number on Viber if you don't want to talk to them. You can share your location with friends so that they can see what part of the world you are messaging them from. Viber uses 3G or Wi-Fi, and allows you to have group messaging with up to 100 contacts. It comes with stickers that are animations of different words and pictures. While there are other devices like Skype or Facetime that allow you to communicate with friends and family across the globe, Viber has an appearance similar to regular iPhone messaging and calls so that you don't have to adapt to a completely new way of messaging and calling. Viber doesn't have any obnoxious advertisements. You can use Viber on your desktop, Windows 8, iPhones, Android, Windows phone, BlackBerry, Bada and Nokia. You can still use Viber to communicate with friends if they don't have Viber by using ViberOut, but low rates will apply. All Viber-to-Viber communication however, is free. Instead of relying on Facebook messaging and email to communicate abroad, you can use Viber and you may not even be able to tell the difference between it and regular messages and calls.
A pile of letters sprawled across his desk, containing ransom notes and photographs with blurred faces is not unusual for Matthew Kearley, professor at Auburn University. The notes are not threatening but a result of a unique teaching tactic that Kearley uses with his students. Kearley teaches Introduction to Biology, Survey of Life, Vertebrate Biodiversity, and Mentored Instruction. In his classes, Kearley uses a stuffed animal to keep the students engaged. He will give the stuffed animal to one student at the beginning of class and ask them a question. If they get the answer right, then they can throw it to whoever they want and that person has to ask the next question. "It kind of keeps the class engaged and kind of keeps everybody on their toes because even if they're not being asked the question, everybody is listening . . . to the question and trying to figure out whether or not they know the answer," Kearley said. "People kidnap the stuffed animal all of the time and they'll go and they'll take pictures with it and they'll blur out their faces." Some students sent Kearley ransom notes as a joke detailing the location of the stuffed animal that has been to places like Destin, FL, Nashville, TN, and the University of Georgia. Kearley jokes that as soon as they find a name for the stuffed animal, someone takes it and they have to get a new one. Kearley is also known for his exceptional ability to know all of his student's names by the end of the semester, even in his large lecture classes, said Emma Brooks, sophomore in pre communication disorders. Brooks has had Kearley as a professor, and is also a GTA under Kearley. "He has a really calm temperament and a funny sense of humor, so lots of times he would try to bring little anecdotes into class and that would kind of lighten the mood," Brooks said. "He likes to make class really interactive." Every year, Brooks said either Kearley or one of his students dress up in a gorilla costume for Halloween. Last year, Brooks said Kearley asked her to do the honors and dress up as a gorilla for one of his classes. "It was really a cool and unique experience," Brooks said. Chris Murray, graduate assistant, has known Kearley since fall of 2011. Murray said that what makes Kearley's teaching quality unique is the passion that he has for making sure his students are getting the most out of their education. "I would say that he's probably the most . . . down to earth . . . loyal to his job, sort of motivated, dedicated person I've met at Auburn," Murray said. "He's very good at accomplishing tasks that he sets for himself, and if he, you know, sets his mind to something, he'll not only get it done, but get it done well and with passion." Brooks said that Kearley is very approachable in allowing students to come to him for help. She said she went to his office hours frequently when she had him as a teacher, and that his class was structured in a way that if the student did the work, paid attention in class, and interacted, then they would do well. Kearley has been an Auburn fan since he was a little boy when he used to come with his parents wearing a Bo Jackson jersey. Kearley completed his graduate and undergraduate schooling at Auburn, and began teaching while he was doing research. When Kearley isn't teaching, he enjoys traveling, being outdoors, and being on the water. "I'll stay here until I don't get fired up walking into the classroom anymore, and that hasn't happened yet." Kearley said. Kearley said he doesn't foresee that happening anytime soon.
I am not a morning person, no matter what time my morning starts. Whether I have to wake up at 7 a.m. or 11 a.m., it always takes a considerable amount of effort for me to get out of bed. The worst mornings are when I'm in the middle of an interesting dream, or when I'm dead asleep in the deepest part of my sleep. Sleep Cycle is an app that helps you wake up at the time that is best and most comfortable for you. The app monitors signals from your body during a 30-minute wake-up phase that ends at your preferred alarm time. Sleep Cycle monitors signals from your body so you can wake up when you are in the lightest state of sleep. The app uses the iPhone's accelerometer function to sense any sort of movement while you sleep. Where you place your iPhone is key. The app recommends you place it on the edge of your mattress, close to your pillow, but not underneath your pillow or a thick mattress, in case it gets warm while it's charging. If you have to wake up no later than 9 a.m. for example, the app will use your body signals to wake you up during your lightest sleep stage between 8:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. The app indicates that the state you are in when your alarm clock goes off determines how tired you feel that morning. Sleep Cycle claims since people move differently in their bed during their different sleep states, it can use the accelerometer in the iPhone to monitor movement and figure out which state of sleep you are in. The app can also calibrate your sleep quality. It measures how well you slept by asking you to rate how you feel when you wake up each morning, along with how long you slept for. If your lightest sleep happens to be at the very beginning of your 30-minute period, you can use the snooze button until the end of your wake up phase, if you're not quite ready to commit to getting out of bed yet. The snooze will go off at different intervals to gently and slowly wake you up before your alarm goes off. You can pick different sounds to wake up to, including warm breeze, morning mist, sunrise, nightingale and dreaming near the sea, among others. Or if you prefer, you can select a song from your iTunes. Although 30 minutes is recommended for the wake up phase, you can also change it to anything from 90 minutes to 10 minutes. If you have trouble falling asleep, you can enable the sleep aid function that plays a variety of soothing tones that automatically fade out when you fall asleep. There is a section for sleep notes, where you can track what different activities or events, such as drinking coffee or working out, affect sleep quality. Each morning, the device takes your heart rate by having you place the tip of your finger over the camera lens. The app keeps track of your sleep patterns and tells you your best and worst nights of sleep, the amount of time you slept in bed and your average sleep time.
Tanned skin may be a fashion statement, but for some, it's not worth the risk. Charles Ludwig, managing director at Aetos Technologies, Inc., has endured a 30-year battle with sun-damaged skin. Over the last 20 years, Ludwig has had about 30 skin spot surgeries. Ludwig, now 66 years old, was a lifeguard and a tennis pro in his younger days. He would spend all day in the sun, without the luxury of sunscreen. "What we would end up doing is mixing up a potion of baby oil, Johnson and Johnson baby oil, and you can put it on to keep your skin from frying out," Ludwig said. "Baby oil is a form of mineral oil and essentially accentuates the UV radiation and makes it worse." When Ludwig was in his late 40's, he started to get patches on his skin, so he went to the dermatologist. They told him he had the early stages of actinic keratosis. Ludwig has had to go to the dermatologist approximately every three to six months for treatments. After the first five to seven years, the damage became much deeper and Ludwig's treatments became more severe. "They cut a section out and they take it into the lab and look to see if they've got all the cancer, and then they go again and again until they . . . get it all," Ludwig said. "I had a section under my eye that they went all the way to the bone, it had gone that deep." This particular section that was cut out under his eye had about eighty stitches, Ludwig said. Ludwig said he also had to get a quarter of an inch cut out on his eyebrow, along with four different instances where they cut down all the way to the cartilage of his nose to repair the damage. Ludwig is still far from being done with surgery, and he said that he will probably have to go every six months for the rest of his life. Today, he said he uses about a sunscreen constantly to make sure the problem doesn't get any worse. Gary Monheit, dermatologist at Total Skin & Beauty Dermatology Center in Birmingham, is Ludwig's current dermatologist. Monheit said the full education he looks to give his patients is prevention, early recognition, and what the available methods of treatment are. For prevention, Monheit recommends a sunscreen that has both protective factors for UVA and UVB rays, and says broad spectrum on it. Michelle Ludwig, assistant professor of radiation oncology, and adjunct assistant professor in the division of epidemiology, human genetics, and environmental sciences at Baylor College of Medicine, said recently she has been seeing a lot of young women with skin cancer. "People worry about their face, but my women that are getting skin cancer are getting it on their legs and their back because nobody thinks about putting sunscreen on their legs," Ludwig said. "I'm starting to see a lot of melanoma and melanoma is deadly. Melanoma goes to the brain." Going to a tanning bed can be even worse, and Monheit said that tanning beds have a higher energy source. "At least with a normal suntan you're only getting it a couple months of the year," Monheit said. "When you start using tanning beds, you're getting it year round and that assault on your skin cells is cumulative over the years." The DNA in a person's cells have a memory that accumulates damage that once they reach a certain point over the years, can no longer repair themselves, Monheit said. At this point they can't make the cells normal anymore, causing mutations to occur. "The beginning of a mutation is the beginning of a skin cancer," Monheit said. According to Monheit, People that use tanning beds have a higher incidence of melanoma at a younger age. Charles Ludwig's advice to young people, who are eager to get the glowing tan that is so popular today, is to wear sunscreen. "You have to understand that having a sunscreen allows you to be out in the sun longer, it prevents you from burning and it prevents your skin from being deteriorated," Ludwig said. "The kind of things that you do today will really improve your life five, ten, (or) fifty years down the road."
Readers beware. Spoilers are coming. HBO's Game of Thrones continues to deliver in Season 4 with a healthy balance of drama and action. In this week's episode, "The Lion and the Rose," karma seems to be the overall theme. First, when watching this episode, we must remember Cersei's famous warning in Season 1, "when you play the game of thrones, you win or you die", but to be frank she missed the mark a little bit. What the warning should have been was "when you attend a wedding in Westeros, you wine or you die". While everyone may be singing "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" none have seemed to put much thought into the career hazards of the position. At this point in the series, no king yet has kept a firm grip on the crown or their head, especially when they attend a wedding. Jeoffrey is the latest casualty in the matter of royal murder. We can just add him to the list of Robert Baratheon, killed during a "boar hunt;" Rob Stark, killed during the Red Wedding by musicians with impeccable aim; and Renly, who was killed by his own brother, to name a few. In this show, growing attached to any one character is almost as dangerous as the impending battle with the Wildlings, due to George RR Martin's rather sick fascination with killing off everyone. It is nice to finally see the show's most villainous character get offed. With Jeoffrey's psychopathic ways and sick need to torture for almost four seasons now, it was high time he literally choke to death on wine at his own wedding. Fortunately for Margaery Tyrell she didn't have to consummate the marriage with the psychopath, a stroke of good luck if any. However, as it often is in life, all good things come with a price. In this particular instance, it is Tyrion who is taking the fall for the murder, thanks to big sister Cersei. As he stands there holding the goblet from which Jeoffrey was poisoned, it doesn't look good for our friend, and neither do the circumstances leading up to the event. With Jeoffrey's public humiliation of him and his demanding that Tyrion bring him his wine, it doesn't exactly seem far-fetched that he might have pulled the trigger, figuratively speaking of course. While beyond the walls of the Purple Wedding, the name of the latest wedding with a murder, the stage is set for our other houses as well. We get a brief look at Theon Greyjoy, who quite frankly has had the worst transformation of any character this series has seen by far. Lord Bolton's bastard son Ramsey Snow has now taken the role of "evil bastard", making Jeoffrey look like a singing Disney character, however the confrontation between the two in which Lord Bolton reveals Ramsey has screwed the pooch by flaying Theon like a catfish, in ways that will be revealed later. Lastly we get a look at Bran who is still making his way north. Not much to report on that, but we do get some good foreshadowing with his visions. The cinematography, visual effects, acting, and all other facets of the show have taken on a life of its own and season 4 continues to become a must see. Game of Thrones airs all new on Sunday at 8 central time.
While pet ownership isn't welcomed in many of the apartments and student housing in Auburn, it is not uncommon for students to have a dog or a cat. There are plenty of parks in the area to take a dog for a walk, or to let a pet cat have some outdoor time. But it's not often you see someone at Auburn with a pet other than a cat or a dog. This doesn't mean there aren't some students with other pets. Some Auburn students have taken pet ownership to another level by owning less common pets, such as snakes, horses and hamsters. Amy Yarns, senior in creative writing, has a striped kingsnake named Monet. Striped kingsnakes are constrictors, so Monet is not poisonous, Yarns said. "I actually didn't like snakes at all for the longest time, they kind of freaked me out," Yarns said. "But I started volunteering at the Montgomery Zoo when I was 13, and they had a lot of snakes there, and that was the first time that I handled one." One of the snakes Yarns handled was a kingsnake, and she said she had always wanted her own ever since. Yarns lives in Avalon Park with one other roommate who doesn't mind the snake, but she said most people don't like seeing it that much, so she doesn't usually take him out when she has guests over. Having a snake does require some maintenance. "I just have to clean out his tank every once in awhile and then just give him fresh water every day," Yarns said. "I just have to turn on the light and keep a heating pad for him, and then he only eats like once a week so I only have to do that every once in awhile." Yarns feeds Monet frozen mice. Yarns said Monet is about two feet long. Kaitlyn Riley, junior in health administration, bought a dwarf hamster for $15 three weeks ago. Riley and her roommates keep the hamster in a cage on their couch. "We sit on the couch and play with it," Riley said. "You can hold it, let it crawl on you, and it rolls in a little ball." Riley said they chose to get a hamster because it's easy to take care of. She said she just has to fill up the water and feed it for maintenance, and that she spends time with it every day. Andie Paszkiewicz, junior in interdisciplinary studies, brought her horse Sebastian to college with her. Paszkiewicz has been riding horses since she was seven, and got Sebastian when she was in eighth grade. Paszkiewica keeps Sebastian at Jennamere Farm in Auburn, but she sees him frequently. "I go out to the barn at least five times a week and stay for about two hours," Paszkiewicz said. "He has to get his stall cleaned every day and obviously fed every day, and I visit him and brush him almost every day."
When you hear someone mention the year 1856, most people think of the United States pre-Civil War. But Auburn students know that's the year their beloved University was established. One hundred and fifty-eight years of tradition and prestige later, Auburn is a school to be proud of. The University offers more than 60 innovative programs, but it didn't start out that way. Jack Simms, former journalist for the Associated Press and retired head of Auburn's journalism department, remembers the school before a former journalism program even existed. A 1949 graduate, Simms looks fondly at the progress the University has made, and the opportunities his Auburn degree has given him. You went to Auburn back when it was known as the Alabama Polytechnic Institute. What was it like back then in comparison with what it was like today? I graduated with an English-journalism degree in 1949. Back then, journalism was part of the English department. They didn't have enough faculty or courses to have a full journalism major. There were a total of maybe 20 in my major, and only three or four people graduated with me. We only had one full-time journalism teacher. The program's come a long way. Did you always know you wanted to be a journalist? What made you want to go into that field? Well, I was in pre-veterinary medicine, and my sister had been the editor of The Plainsman, and she had already graduated and gone on. The current editor [when I was there] knew my sister real well and knew who I was. He kept hounding me to come down and work for The Plainsman, so I finally did. I kept on getting more involved, and then finally, I ran for editor myself. I was elected editor by the student body in 1948, and stayed on until 1949. Did you enjoy your time of the Plainsman? Well, in the spring of 1949, I got fired. I'm the only editor in Plainsman history to get fired. I was 'let go' because of the April Fools' edition we did in those days. The board said I was supposed to make the first four pages of the April Fools' edition regular [real] news, and the last four pages fake. Well, I didn't hear those orders, and made the first four pages fake instead, and I was fired. Back then we were feisty. That whole year, we printed a lot of editorials that were anti-administration, and we were very opinionated. They [the board] claimed they fired me because of the April Fools' edition, but I wonder if they just used as an excuse to get rid of me. So I was fired, and that was it. You worked for the Associated Press for 23 years. What was that like? Was it a journalist's dream come true? Oh, absolutely. The Associated Press supplies the media with the bulk of their news. They cover every major city. It's a worldwide agency, and I worked for them for 23 years in six different bureaus from Atlanta to Louisville to Boston and more. I was the deputy general sports editor in New York City for the Associated Press. That's a worldwide sports operation, and I was second in command. We had sports writers in every major city and there I was, responsible for giving the news to newspapers themselves. I loved being the deputy general sports editor - it was the world's longest title and the world's smallest salary. So out of all the cities and places you've lived and worked, which has been your favorite? Auburn, Alabama, hands down. That makes sense - you left the Associated Press move back to Auburn in 1974, right? Tell me about that. My family moved here to Auburn when I was 11 years old. I went to middle and high school here, and I went to the University. I met my wife at Auburn, and we got married after she graduated. We both have a strong Auburn background. You wouldn't know this, but twenty years from now you'll know it: Auburn is such a great place compared to everywhere else. Whenever I talk to people from that time in my life, they say, 'You lucky scoundrel! You're back in Auburn, you sly dog!' This job [to work at Auburn] just fell in my lap, and I'd done my bit with the AP. I was ready to go home. How has the journalism program improved since the 70s? We took what we had already and just filled it out. We got more faculty and sections of feature writing, and, soon, we had more students than we could teach. We didn't have any equipment at all, and now they have computers for design and editing, studios for photography, television and multimedia - they've got everything. Now, the journalism program accommodates everything beyond just writing a story for the newspaper. Auburn has made a great effort to meet those modern requirements, and current students have what they need to get hired. What has been your favorite thing about the career path you chose? It was the camaraderie of the prize and the performance of writing, and I was good at what I did. I took a lot of pride in what I did. I had a lot of satisfaction, and I still do. I've enjoyed every job I ever had. You forget the bad things, or they become less important, but I can't remember thinking 'Gosh, I don't want to go into work today.' I was always ready to go to work because I loved it. It was a great thing. Did you enjoy teaching for Auburn as much as reporting? Oh, yeah! If you're any good at what you do, you're either a teacher or learner the whole time. One day, somebody was teaching me, and the next I'm teaching them. Nothing's better than advice from someone with more experience. That's how it goes your whole life. Speaking of advice, what advice would you give aspiring journalists at Auburn? When you graduate, don't worry about what it pays. Journalism doesn't pay very much, and most of you aren't going to get very much to start with. Get that first job, stick with it a year, and if you aren't liking it then go somewhere else or get out of the business. There's nothing worse than going through life being miserable. Don't just go through the motions. If you really want to get ahead, have a good attitude and a willingness to work. If I had flunked out of school and went to work as a ditch digger and gave it 110 percent, it wouldn't be too long before I was moved to supervisor or something else because I'm too valuable to be left digging ditches. If you have the right attitude you'll move up to just about anything if you work hard enough. The way you approach your job has a great deal to do with how successful you're going to be. You just published the third edition of your book "Auburn: A Pictorial History of the Loveliest Village." What motivated you to put that together? The book has been out for about two weeks now. It's a history of Auburn starting from the early 1830s through 2013. It's 450 pages with more than 800 pictures in it. It's nine chapters of narrative and captions to tell you something interesting about each place in Auburn that's pictured. Most of the pictures came from the archives in the University library. Our goal was for every picture and caption to tell a story by itself - a series of stories to tell the story of Auburn University. The archivist at the library, Allen Jones said, 'Anyone that loves Auburn ought to have a copy of this book.' Do you agree that anyone who loves Auburn ought to get a copy of your book? Yes ma'am, I do. I don't think anybody could go through this book and not come away with a warm, fuzzy feeling about Auburn. There are so many wonderful, humorous and heartfelt things happening around this place. I can't wait for people to read it. Any final word to the students? Auburn's a great place. Take advantage of all the wonderful things we have in this wonderful city. We've always been a family that's 'All In.' War Eagle, and best wishes.
When most students are searching for an internship, they come to find there are many opportunities available. While some like to stay within the area, there are those who look to travel and intern for big-name companies. Allie Mullen, junior in marketing, applied for an internship in the interactive marketing department with Paramount Pictures in Los Angeles. While still in the interview process, Mullen said she is learning that the position will consist of promoting movies through different websites. "It's a little different than what I've done before," Mullen said. "I know I want to be in a big city when I graduate, and I love LA. This would be a new experience for me, so I'm excited to see if it's something I want to do." Many students find the process to be tedious and difficult when applying for competitive internships in big cities. Jared Nash, junior in turf grass science and management, found his paid internship through the Sports Turf Management Association's website. Nash said anyone in his field can become a member of the website. They can easily scroll through internship listings of major league teams and decide which ones they want to send their resumes to. "I applied for the Atlanta Braves, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Sandiego Padres and the Washington Nationals," Nash said. "I heard back from all of them and decided to take Washington." Nash said the best way for people to get results when applying for these internships is to get good experience, apply to as many places as possible and don't let something pass you by even if it seems out of reach. "I'm looking forward to being in a different city, like a fast-paced setting where I can be able to work almost everyday," Nash said. "This is what I would like to do with my job, so I'll be looking forward to doing this for the rest of my life." Interning for big-name companies have helped graduates land their jobs after college. Auburn graduate Cynthia Crandell, who now has a job at Fox Station Sales in Atlanta, said her internship with the Rachael Ray Show allowed her to make connections and get good references when she was applying for her job. "I was a production intern for the Rachael Ray Show in New York City, and I worked in a bunch of different departments," Crandell said. "If someone gets an internship like mine at a competitive place, I would say that one of the most important things is to get to know everyone's names in the company. If you don't know who they are, then they aren't going to know who you are. Just be dedicated and focused the whole time." Crandell said she learned a lot and enjoyed her experience, especially in the talent department because she got to greet and escort celebrities when they were guests on the show. Her favorite person to meet was Julie Andrews Crandell also said her past experiences in college and involvement in Eagle Eye TV and UPC made it possible for her to get chosen to be an intern for the show. She said she would encourage others who are interested in internships such as hers to do the same and build their resume.
Clark Whittington, artist from Winston Salem, S.C., recently installed an Art-o-mat in the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art. Art-o-mats are vintage cigarette machines that have been transformed into venders of handmade art. For $5, one can purchase a token at the museum's gift shop to place in the Art-o-mat and choose a small piece of art. Marilyn Laufer, director of Jule Collins Smith Museum, got in touch with Whittington about purchasing an Art-o-mat. "For me, I love, even more than a cool machine that is all decked out, that he makes a very bold and very strong statement that art can be affordable," Laufer said. "Each one of those are handmade by an artist and for five dollars you will be able to have a real piece of art, and making it not only accessible because of the price range, but making it easily attainable as a vending machine." Whittington invites all artists interested in submitting art to be sold in the Art-o-mats to contact him through his webpage. All works of art are no bigger than a cigarette package and are wrapped in cellophane. The art ranges from little objects to drawings to jewelry and more. Laufer anticipates the Art-o-mat will have a longer situation than just the next exhibition in the museum. "I don't know if it's a draw in and of itself," Laufner said. "Maybe in the first couple of months and weeks it'll be a curiosity kind of thing. I think eventually it'll be something that when you come to the museum you're going to say, 'What is that? Oh that's totally cool. I want one,' and participate." Christine Meir, shop manager at Jule Collins Smith Museum, will be accessible to purchase tokens from for the machine. "I think it's fantastic," Meir said. "I think it will be a lot of fun, and it will bring a lot of different art to a lot of people who might not ordinarily be able to purchase it." According to Laufner, Whittington's Art-o-mats address a very wide and diverse. "I think he is trying to make people aware that art is accessible and that you can easily own a real work of art," Laufner said. "I think that making them accessible through this kind of interaction eliminates a lot of the intimidation." The machine will be up and running after Whittington gives a lecture at the museum, at 5 p.m. Thursday, April 10. Cynthia Kristan-Graham, professor in art history, said she heard about the Art-o-mat and is curious to learn more about it. "It seems like a unique opportunity to talk about commercialism and contemporary art and we are the first one in Alabama that's going to have it," Kristan-Graham said.
All right, Tiger Fans, get your hands up for "Game of Thrones!" This past Sunday HBO's 10-time Emmy-Award-winning-show "Game of Thrones," based off of George RR Martin's book series, "A Song of Fire and Ice," premiered for its fourth season, and it made the yearlong wait well worth it. Taking place after the events of the Red Wedding, Season 4 opens with lots of action, lots of adventure and lots of dragons. Daenerys has now assembled herself a slave army, and her dragons have gone from the size of a coffee table to the size of semi-trucks. In King's Landing, it is good to be anyone with blonde hair. Although it is a time of celebration for the Lannister clan, there are many problems to be confronted. Jamie has now returned and Cersei has turned cold toward him for his time away from her and his disfigurement (spoiler alert for those who haven't watched the show yet). Joffrey is as terrible as ever, and Tyrion is caught between a rock and a hard place with his new wife, Sansa, who is grieving for the loss of her slain Stark family, and her housemaid, Tyrion's real lover, who fears Tyrion and Sansa may start to develop real feelings for each other. Meanwhile, Arya, the not-as-dead-as-they-think Stark child, and the Hound are still on the run, and Arya is out for blood. At Castle Black, John Snow has some explaining to do about his time with the Wildlings. With the fourth season still trying to tie up some loose ends from book three and segue itself into book four, Game of Thrones has done an exceptional job of taking elements from books three, four, and five in order to deliver a show well worth watching. Due to the incomplete presentation of the third book in the past season, we are not introduced to a wide array of new characters as we have in the past. However, we do have two characters who are out for Lannister blood, Oberyn Martell and his traveling companion Ellaria, delivering a message to the Lannisters they have more to worry about than their internal strife. The visual effects have somehow managed to become increasingly more impressive, from the creation of a million-man army to larger-than-life dragons. Some thoughts on the premiere: first and foremost, we have two new locations to admire in the impressive opening credits, the rugged Westeros castle Dredfort and Meereen. However, it is unclear as to whether or not these are places we will be visiting this season or just simply placeholders on a map. The introduction to Oberyn, played by actor Michiel Huisman, was fun to watch and very "Legend of Zoro" in his portrayal. This mysterious new character gives us much to look forward to this season. Also, Sansa finally gets a moment in the sun when she shows kindness toward the Knight-turned-fool Dontos, who she saved a few seasons ago. Lastly, no Bran this episode. Thoughts on this: Hodor. Stay tuned for next week for another review!
Social media is a huge part of many people’s lives today, and it may seem hard to picture life without it, but social media isn’t for everybody. Will Campbell, senior in mechanical engineering, explains why he doesn’t use any form of social media and what he gains by not using it. Do you use any form of social media? I have Gmail. I use GroupMe and I use Spotify, but I don’t really count that. I just listen to music. But I don’t have the big ones – Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat. Have you ever tried using any of them? I’ve actually had two different Facebooks. I had a Facebook in high school, then toward the end of high school, didn’t want it. Couldn’t really deal with it anymore. Deleted that. As I was coming to college, trying to get plugged in and stuff, it was kind of important because so many people were using Facebook to communicate, so I was like alright, I’ve got to get a new one. My first one I had like 1,600 friends or something ridiculous. So I started a new one when I came back to college that had way less friends, it had maybe like 150 or something. But I just used it to communicate and stay plugged in and then I had that for about a year. And then once I felt like I didn’t need it, I just kind of ditched it. If you had to use one form of social media, which one would you choose? I don’t know. I mean, I think they’re all pretty different, and I’m not really a big fan of any of them. I think that there’s a lot of pros and cons for each one. Facebook, for example, can be really good with keeping people updated with your life and things like that. [With] Twitter, you get to hear from everyone pretty frequently. There’s also a lot of cons to each one that does keep me away from all of them. What cons do you think they have? I kind of debate with myself a lot about what social interaction actually is and what makes it important and valuable and why we like social interaction. I think that the whole idea of social media is to capture some of those things that we think are very important, but it’s a limited medium. If you go and interact with just your friend, you know, hang out and eat lunch with them, you’re getting this really complex interaction on a couple different levels. But if you’re reading someone’s tweet, you’re not, or if you’re looking at somebody’s pictures from spring break, you’re not getting that. That pro of being able to hear from someone all of the time and feel like you’re staying in touch is good, but then you just really lose a lot of what social interaction is. Do you ever feel like you’re at a disadvantage by not using it in regards to communication or networking? In some senses, yeah. A lot of parties and stuff like that get planned on Facebook, or invites and events and then all the events are posted on Facebook. So, in that sense, I feel like, oh yeah, this is a disadvantage. But at the same time . . . I feel like I have a more sophisticated understanding for people in relationships from not constantly being on the news feed. At times I feel out of the loop, but [I also] feel like I’m really gaining a lot. Would you ever consider using LinkedIn for networking in the job field? Yeah, it’s a little less personal. I guess that’s kind of what I don’t like about Facebook—is that people that I don’t even know can discover all this information about my personal life just by being a Facebook friend. I could see LinkedIn being something where it’s just not about that. So, I could definitely see myself doing that. What other thoughts do you have about social media? I can’t speak as much about Twitter because I haven’t actually used it. I really dislike the way that it just consumes people. I don’t think it would be uncommon at all for someone to end up a total time spending an hour reading their Twitter feed. That’s just something I think we should be very cognizant of. I also think I’ve spent a lot of time trying to think about how I spend my time; if I’m spending an hour at social media, I could be volunteering an hour to people who don’t get to eat lunch. I’ve always got conflict with that, too. There’s kind of a moral issue there.
For most, the color blue in April means springtime and Easter, but for 275 children in Lee and Macon Counties, it's the color of hope. April is Child Abuse Awareness Month, and in participating organizations like the Child Advocacy Center of East Alabama, a solid blue ribbon promotes the cause it fights every day. "The mission of the CAC is to advocate for children when there are allegations of physical and sexual abuse against them," said Abe White, the advocacy center's program coordinator. "Our main job is to provide forensic interviews, counseling services and court preparation, if necessary. That's the nuts and bolts of what we do." While the rest of the county awaits A-Day and Easter baskets, White stays busy trying to protect the children that walk through the center's doors. "We handle kids all over Lee and Macon Counties," White said. "We see kids from Smiths Station, Phenix City and Auburn, too. The students at Auburn University would never guess what's going on in their backyard." Auburn students may be in their own protected campus bubble, but fortunately, Auburn Mayor Bill Ham recognizes what the advocacy center does for his city. "I think very few people in the community and maybe even the state realize the issues we have going on right here in Lee County," Ham said. "We have local children's advocates for a reason. The center does a great job of supporting and protecting our children. They do wonderful work, and they deserved to be recognized for it." Each year in April, the CAC holds a ceremony to recognize the organizations and people in Lee and Macon Counties that make a difference in children's lives. "This was my 16th year attending the advocacy's center's event," Ham said. "The ceremony reminds me of the wonderful people we have in our community. Gene Chizik's wife, Jonna Chizik, is heavily involved in a tremendous number of children's organizations. When you look around and see the number of people who come out to support or make a difference, it makes me feel good about Lee County. Thanks to the CAC, we actually make an effort to help." The center held its annual event Thursday, April 10, with a special addition to its services. This year, the CAC had the ribbon cutting of its brand new "SANE room" or "Sexual Assault Nurse Examination room," where victims of sexual or physical abuse can be examined in a safe and comforting environment. "We want to make things easier for the child," White said. "If a child is a victim of abuse and needs a medical examination, this room allows them to get everything done in one place. This way, they won't have to travel all the way to Birmingham or wherever to get a rape kit done. They can talk about it here, and then get examined here. It makes things ultimately less traumatic." White did the honors and cut the ribbon on Thursday. "With the addition of the SANE room, we're showing how the CAC is here, and that we're going to continue to provide services to kids that are going through a horrible ordeal," White continued. "We're going to improve and expand our services until the day that child abuse doesn't exist. Until then, we're here." Unfortunately, the cases seen at the Child Advocacy Center of East Alabama are only getting worse. "I had a kid under the age of 10 sit in front of me and tell me about her favorite Junie B. Jones book, and then talk about how afterward she'd 'suck Dad's cock' in the same breath," said Tina Evans, CAC forensic interviewer. "I've done work with abused and neglected children for quite some time, and you think you've seen everything, but then something worse comes along and you ask yourself 'Are you kidding me?'" Evans said the majority of people have no idea what she works with. "It's not always a 48-year-old man with a 3-year-old," Evans said. "You'll see sibling on sibling, cousins, things that happen on sleepovers with friends - you name it. Stuff happens at school, daycare and everywhere. No place is safe anymore." What frustrates Evans most, however, are the false assumptions people make about child abuse in general. "There is a misconception that abuse happens to only 'lower class people' or people who are poor, but we have kids in here whose parents are wealthy," Evans said. "You can't just look for the kid with the dirty rags on. We have a good number of kids from Auburn and Opelika. Abuse is everywhere - even where you don't expect it." April is the month for child abuse awareness, and to raise it, Evans stressed the importance of reporting a case as soon as you have suspicions. "Don't turn a blind eye, and don't look the other way," Evans advised. "When you see something, report it. You don't need solid evidence, and you don't need to give your name. Maybe it's nothing... but what if it isn't?" Sometimes, children are old enough to understand when abuse occurs, but often abuse is all they know. "When you have a little kid under the age of 5 tell you 'my Daddy's pee-pee was crying because I made it so happy,' you realize how many of them don't understand what's happened to them," Evans said. "They need you to pay attention, and they need you to listen. Be a voice for the voiceless - not just during the month of April, but all year round." To report a case of child abuse or neglect, contact the Lee County Department of Human Resources and ask for Family and Child Services, or call (334) 737-1100.
Parallel universes, dream worlds and creation are some of the themes explored in this year's Bachelor of Fine Arts Candidates Senior Art Exhibition, "Parallel Parallel," opening April 14. "We were trying to draw parallels between all of our works," said Alex Lazzari, senior in BFA fine art. "There's influence of landscape, there's influence of nature and the human nature. I would venture to say there's a good bit of spirituality and philosophy mixed in too." Lazzari has been working with pen and ink stippling to develop his seven-piece series representing creation. "'I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God,'" Lazzari said, quoting Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Nature." He explained how the quote has influenced his artistic growth since he read it last year. The process of stippling, creating a pattern using small dots or brushstrokes, is a meditative one, according to Lazzari. "By dabbling the surface of the paper with dots, each dot of ink placed is brought to life by every dot surrounding it," Lazzari said. "In each work there are areas of intensity and disparity, depth and flatness, tension and disruption, calm and chaos. Represented in the works are space and time, atmospheric and celestial bodies and earthly landscapes that contain life." Aspiring conceptual artist, Cyndi Flint, senior in BFA fine art, will be presenting her surreal landscape paintings at "Parallel Parallel." Flint said she began dreaming of other worlds in fifth grade after reading The Hobbit. Her works are also influenced by the Grimms' fairy tales and Marvel Comics illustration. "We have our reality and then it's a parallel reality," Flint said. "It's a place where I can go to and just think about and immerse myself in, but at the same time it has connections to our world." Flint compared her pieces to a storyboard representing travel through her ethereal world. "Because I aspire to be a concept artist--a visual developer--basically I'm trying to bring a world that I've constantly been to in my dreams, or in my mind, trying to form one so I can show it as a portfolio," Flint said. "To bring it into a visual context, I'm kind of to give it a narrative, but at the same time I'm not because there are no figures, so it's not obvious." Flint is not the only artist whose works at "Parallel Parallel" began as a dream. "In my dream I saw the project at its finished point," said Rachel Little, senior in BFA fine art. "It was the idea of me designing humans as a creator type." Little said she expanded her original idea to focus on the studio space a creator of humans might inhabit. "In the middle of the gallery, I'm going to have a room built and on the inside of the walls will be something similar to this tracing paper medley here, just more filled up," Little said. "Like, from floor to ceiling." Using ephemera, found objects like leaves, ticket stubs and tissue paper, Little has begun to decorate walls of the free-standing structure that represents the studio. She said she wants the ephemera to remind viewers of parts of the human body. Little has worked chicken wire, branches and torn bits of paper into structures hinting at skeletal systems and muscular structures. "Parallel Parallel" will be free and open to the public April 14-25 at Biggin Gallery. A reception is scheduled 4-6 p.m. on April 14.
We've all experienced that awkward moment when you're out in public and unexpectedly see an ex, enemy, "frenemy" or anyone else you'd want to avoid. There are few worse feelings than running into an ex when you're unprepared or seeing one of your nemeses out at the bar when you don't have friends to back you up. There is an app that can help you avoid these unwanted encounters, called Cloak. Cloak uses the slogan, "Incognito mode for real life," and their goal is to prevent you from seeing anyone you don't feel like seeing. They describe it as an antisocial network. Cloak uses your Instagram and Foursquare accounts to provide location data for the people you know. After you log in, you can go to the people section, where it will show you the top people from Foursquare and Instagram who have posted photos or checked in recently. The next category lists people under "far enough" that may not be as much of a threat because they are farther away. Next to the person's name, it tells you how many miles or even feet they are away from you. When you click on their name, you can either view their location on a map, or flag them. Once you flag someone, you can set it up to send you notifications whenever they are nearby. You can change the alert distance to within a block, half of a mile, one mile, or two miles, but you can still look at people on the map who are farther away. You can look at the map in a world view to see where your "frenemies" and exes are spread out, or zoom in if you want to avoid a more specific area. This app could also be useful if you're taking a fake sick day from work or school and want to avoid nosey coworkers or teachers who could blow your cover. Cloak will be adding more social networks and features to the app in the future. They are working to find a way to use Facebook while still having the freshest and most relevant data possible. Cloak doesn't use Twitter because the location data is harder to work with. One problem could be that if you really don't like someone, you are probably not going to want to follow them on Instagram, and have their pictures showing up in your feed every day. On their App Store description, Cloak creators posted about the "hate follow." "Learn to love the Hate Follow," the description says. "Use Foursquare or make a dummy Instagram account to follow people you don't want in your actual feed." So, if you want to know where someone is but not quite enough to follow them on social media, the fake account could be a solution, albeit a semi-creepy one. Avoid surprise encounters with Cloak, but also know that if you are using Cloak to find your enemies, it is possible that they may be doing the same to you.
When McCall Dempsey came forward as writer of the eating disorder recovery blog "Loving Imperfection," she had no idea her life would change drastically. "On the outside, I was this girl who had it all together," Dempsey said, recalling her bout with restrictive eating, binging, purging and diet pill addiction. "I struggled with an eating disorder for 15 years, and I struggled in silence. No one knew because I became an expert at hiding all the symptoms." After receiving treatment for an eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS) at Carolina House in 2011 and sharing the blog with her best friend, the Ole Miss grad said she knew she had to shine light on the devastating illness. "No one is talking about the eating disorder that is happening every day to the person right next to you or even yourself," Dempsey said. "It breaks my heart because nobody's talking about it, and there are so many people that are really struggling and living and dying and having their worth defined by what size they are, or a number on a scale and how many miles they can run and what their grades are." Dempsey began speaking to small groups of young women and then came up with the idea of smashing scales with sledgehammers. The first organized scale smash was November 16, 2012, on Baton Rouge Beach, La. Dempsey developed the event into a nonprofit organization called Southern Smash, which tours universities spreading positive body image and eating disorder awareness. The Student Center concourse will hold Southern Smash on Wednesday, April 16, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Events include Let It Go Balloons, Dare to Love Yourself Cards, a Be(YOU)tiful Photo Booth and the Southern Smash Scale Graveyard. Smash Talk, a panel discussion, will conclude the event in Student Center Room 2223 from 7-8:15 p.m. Panel members include: Nicole Siegfried, Ph.D, CEDS, clinical director, Castlewood at the Highlands; Jennifer Jordan, MS, RD, LD, dietitian, Castlewood at the Highlands; Jessie Alexander, LPC, NCC, clinical coordinator of women's services, Ridgeview Institute; Jessica-Lauren Newby, MA, RD, LD, IBCLC registered dietitian, clinical instructor, Auburn University; Peach Dumars, owner YogaFLY Studio and author of "Diary of an Exercise Addict"; and McCall Dempsey, founder, Southern Smash. "We're hoping that through Southern Smash, women will feel empowered in a way to really embrace the body that they've been given and the person that they are," said Katie Miles, senior nutrition dietetics and member of AubieEDA. "It's a symbol of smashing what the world says you are and smashing that number and destroying the concept that that number defines you." All students, faculty and visitors are welcome to participate. Miles said Southern Smash is open to anyone who is struggling with eating or body image concerns and those that want to show support and spread awareness. "I think eating disorder awareness and body image is something that people tip-toe around talking about and it has such a negative connotation," said Meg McGuffin, junior in radio, television and film and president of AubieEDA. McGuffin explained that beginning to talk about issues is the first step toward finding a solution. "Auburn men and women are going to be really empowered by this event," McGuffin said. "This is just an awesome opportunity for women and men on Auburn's campus to take a stand against what scales teach us to believe about our bodies." Dempsey explained that Southern Smash also encourages students and community members to become Southern Smash ambassadors. Ambassadors aid in the promotion and execution of Smash events through social media, grassroots and other efforts. An application for ambassadorship and other information about Southern Smash may be found at http://www.southernsmash.org/home.html
You may not know him by name, but chances are, you've seen him on the big screen more times than you can count. From appearances in shows such as "The West Wing," "NCIS," "Grey's Anatomy," "NUMB3RS" and "Sons of Anarchy," Michael O'Neill is a 1974 Auburn graduate with a list of impressive credits to his name. He is best known for his roles in films such as "Transformers," "Seabiscuit," "Secondhand Lions" and most recently, "Dallas Buyers Club." Though O'Neill is a renowned Hollywood actor, he bleeds orange and blue as much now as he did during his time as an Auburn student. You're from Montgomery, but how did you end up attending Auburn University? Were you an Auburn fan growing up?I was. I was born into it. My dad took me to a [football] game. The first game I ever saw was against Florida in 1958. It was love at first sight.Did you have other family members or relatives that attended Auburn, too?You know what? I was the first person in my family to go to college. It was a dream of my parents to attend the University, and they sacrificed a lot to make that happen over the years. I'm so grateful for that.I know you're really busy, but do you still follow Auburn football?My wife and I try to get back for at least one or two games in the course of the year. We try to bring our daughters when we can. I follow football, I follow the swimming program and I'm very excited about what's happening with basketball and baseball. There are a lot of wonderful things happening at the University beyond athletics, too. The campus to me is like a moving painting. Whenever I'm there, it's just so beautiful. There are such bright faces and bright lives there, and I'm just in awe.You went to Auburn in the 70s - that was a pretty interesting time period for our nation. There was a lot going on. What was that like?It was an optimum time to be there. My freshman class was the first to use the Haley Center. That fall, there was a list of the former students who had been killed in action in Vietnam on the lawn. As I was leaving [my senior year], people went streaking across campus. It was a remarkable time. I'm so grateful because we had the opportunity to listen to some very interesting points of view that we wouldn't have been privy too otherwise. Gloria Steinem, Muhammad Ali and Dan Rather came and spoke. It was a tremendous experience. It was a very, very diverse influence. It sure gave me a good education to go out in the world with, I'll tell you that.If you could do it over, would you go to Auburn again?Yes, yes. I would, and I'd hope for the same kind of influences and opportunities. I've always thought that college was the time to expand your vision and your horizon, and that was my experience. It created an appetite for me to go out into the world to see something and do something and make a contribution somewhere. I was fortunate that that was put in me.You were an economics major. Economics to professional acting is quite the stretch! How did that happen?Well, the way it happened is sort of unusual. I was a Lambda Chi at Auburn, and I had written an address for my national fraternity, which I had delivered at an international convention in Indiana. The attendees there recorded the address. They were from California and were doing interviews with distinguished alumni from the entertainment industry. One of them was the actor that played the grandfather on "The Waltons," a popular show in the 70s, and he was sort of iconic. He was a member of Lambda Chi at the University of Chicago 50 years earlier, and someone played that address for him, and he called me. I was at Auburn, and he literally called me and said, "Son, I think you should try acting before the corporate structure snaps you up," and I said, "Honestly... I don't know anything about it," and he said, "Well come to California, and I'll work with you." I really expected him to tell me "Son, go get a job," but he said, "You probably won't make it. But you have to go. You have to try. You don't want to look back on your life and wonder what it might have been like." It was a great ambition. About 10 days later, I loaded my car and drove to California.Was moving from the South to California a difficult adjustment for you?Yes and no. It was difficult in that I didn't know anyone. I was a young man just going out into the world without knowing what the world was - or at least that part of the world. On the other hand, the Montgomery March during the Civil Rights Movement happened when I was a child of about 10 or 11 years old. At the end of the march, a lot of people from California came and spoke. In my childhood mind, California had the answer to the racist issue. I was very excited about going out there because I always thought they had the answer in California. I found out that they had the answer to some things, but there were others they didn't have the answer to at all.You were a member of the Lambda Chi fraternity and the SGA while here at Auburn. Did you do anything with theater?When I first started there [at Auburn], the theater was still in that little chapel off of College Street. I took every opportunity I could to go and see things, but I never auditioned for a play. I never could have imagined what it would have been like to have gone out there and done that. I've been back a couple times [to Auburn's theater] and I've done little classes or a couple question and answer things, but I'd like to do more than that. You get to a certain age where you want to give something back, but even so, I didn't have that theater experience while I was at Auburn. I love the campus of Auburn, and I do because I had to work with a lot of different people... not just one kind.What was it like to work on such an influential movie such as "Dallas Buyers Club"?I could never have seen it coming. I was on a plane trying to get back to Birmingham to see my family, and I got a call from my agents who wanted to re-route me to New Orleans to shoot this movie. I said, "Wait a minute, I haven't seen my kids in three months. I've gotta get home," and they said, "Just read the script." As soon as I read that script, I knew I had to be apart of it. It's a very, very powerful story. It's been a great ride. I've made sure to enjoy it while I can. Before I knew it, I was ready to shoot my first scene, and Matthew [McConaughey] was standing probably 12 feet from me and I didn't even recognize him. I was still waiting for him to come in. Once I knew it was him, I realized the commitment he had made [his dramatic weight loss] was pretty extraordinary, and I needed to make sure I brought the very best of what I could do to match up to this special project. It was incredibly gratifying to work on. It was alive, dangerous and compelling.So far, what has been your favorite character that you've portrayed?I'm really loving "Extant," this new television series I'm involved in. I pinch myself every day when I get to go to work. It's about a former astronaut who returns home from a year-long mission in space, and tries to reconnect with everyday life. It's wonderful, complicated, demanding and fun. What things are you working on now that we should keep an eye out for? There are two things I've been working on. The first is called "Rectify," which is a series I did at Sundance last year, and am filming 10 episodes of this year. It will premiere on SundanceTV in June. The second that I already mentioned, "Extant," is pretty special, especially getting to work with lead Halle Berry and this cast. It's a really good family, and the writing is so smart and clever. I'm excited about it. That premieres on CBS in July.At this stage in your acting career, what are your goals for your self and the roles you're playing?That's a good question. Being a character actor, you tend to just take what's moving in your direction. You try to find something in terms of film or television that stretches you - that breaks the glass a little bit and gives you the opportunity to discover something that you're either drawn to or afraid of. When I was on "Grey's Anatomy" and portrayed that shooter, I didn't want to do that role to begin with. I didn't want to touch it, and yet, it's probably one of the most compelling jobs I've ever done. It put me in touch with more humanity than I would ever have imagined a character could explore or inhabit. That's what I hope for - something to continue to teach me, to stretch me and to make me lean forward and get on the balls of my feet. Usually what that means is something that's going to frighten me. Fear is an incredible motivator. When I can't sleep after I've finished a role, I know I've done okay.What advice would you give to Auburn student body about following your dreams, your passion and becoming successful?The first thing that comes to mind is to be kind. There's something in the currency in the Auburn family that makes us different. A lot of people talk about it, and I don't know what the defining element is, but we're all connected. As I'm out in the world more, I've just learned to value simple kindness more - the kindness where you befriend a stranger. As much as anything for me, it's also been perseverance. I guess that's the thing that I'd recommend. I had more gumption than I had talent. I feel like those who are willing to persevere in whatever that pursuit is, even in the face of doubt, will succeed. Doubt isn't necessarily a bad thing - there isn't much courage without fear, and there's probably not much faith without doubt, but follow your desires as best you can. Persevere. Be kind.Do you have any parting words to us current students?Enjoy every minute of this experience at Auburn. It goes by so quickly. Once we're done at AU we're always welcomed back, but it starts with that undergraduate experience. Look after one another, and enjoy it.
The energy was high and the crowd was jammin' Friday night when singer/songwriter, Andy Grammer, hit the stage at Tiger Night's Backyard Bash. Students took over the Greenspace as they gathered around the stage, did some swing dancing and relaxed on blankets. Fans were ready to see what Grammer had in store for the night. "I'm so excited to hear Andy Grammer," said Christina Carol, junior in exercise science. "I loved all of his old songs. He hasn't had any new songs in a while, so I'm really excited to hear what he's got coming." When the show started, Grammer grabbed his guitar and yelled, "War Eagle," as he ran on stage. He said he didn't completely understand what that meant, but he was still for it. Grammer performed his hits, "Keep Your Head Up," "Fine By Me," and "Miss Me," as well as many other songs from his first album. He also played a couple of songs from his upcoming album. He said this show was the first time to play his new single, "Back Home," live for an audience. The crowd caught on to the song quickly and began to sing along. "The song, 'Back Home,' is really one of my favorites right now," Grammer said. "To have the whole crowd sing it with me--I haven't had that yet--so, it was really exciting. I wrote it specifically for how I would think, like, people in an Irish Bar would be singing together, so to hear everyone together I was like, 'That's how it's supposed to sound.'" He also performed his renditions of songs such as, "We Found Love," "Thrift Shop," and "Sunday Morning." During the show, Grammer fired up the audience by saying he was impressed with Auburn's campus. "You guys have a great campus here, and you have the best rec center in the country," Grammer said. He also involved the audience during some of his songs. He began crowd surfing and took a stroll through the crowd while singing his song, "Slow." He also stepped down from the stage and sang, "Happy Birthday" to Jessica Robbins, junior in nursing. "Southern crowds are literally the best to play for," Grammer said. "I had blast... It was really fun." Katie Hughes, junior in communications and assistant director of Tiger Nights, said they were excited that they booked Grammer for Tiger Nights. "He's so talented, and he's so nice," Hughes said. "He was really thrilled to be there." Hughes said it took a lot of work and planning for the event to happen. She said she was happy with how the night went. "We were a little concerned about the weather, but we were amazed to find that the sky cleared up, and the sun came out," Hughes said. "We had a really great turnout. Everyone I talked to said they were having a great time, and they were thrilled to have such a great band come to Tiger Nights."
Acclaimed platinum-selling recording artist, Andy Grammer, is coming to Auburn University on Friday, April 4, for the first stop on his headlining tour this spring. Last week, Grammer released his first new single "Back Home," a song about the ties he has with home and the appreciation he has when can visit after traveling so much. He said he could not wait to finally be able to share this song, as well as his other new music, with his fans on the tour. "We'll be playing songs from the [upcoming] album and stuff from the old album, and we'll also throw some covers in there and mix it up," Grammer said. "I'm just really excited to get back out on the road. It's been way too long." Grammer reached success with hits including "Keep Your Head Up," "Fine By Me," and "Miss Me," from his first self-titled album in 2011. He said he is still growing and expanding musically with his work. "For this album, I really enjoyed exploring and trying a bunch of different things," Grammer said. "I didn't have a specific idea or sound for the second album. It goes from banjo to heavy beats. It kind of goes all over the map." The concert is part of Tiger Night's Backyard Bash starting at 7 p.m. on the AUSC Greenspace. The event is open for students only.
Peter Beairsto, junior in building science, is taking a new type of summer vacation. He will be biking across the country, while giving back to the community. Here, Beairsto talks the details of his upcoming trip. Can you tell me a little bit about what you’re doing, riding your bike across the country? “It’s for affordable housing, and it’s going to be a ten week program, like around two months. We’re going to l32 different cities, and we’re going to have seven or so build days where we’re going to stop for the day and wake up early and build a house and help with renovations and stuff like that.” Is this through a certain program? “Yeah, it’s through Bike and Build. There’s seven different routes, and I think there’s three people at every route.” Do you know the other two people going on your route? “No.” Where will you stay and sleep at night? “Community centers, schools, churches, really wherever we can. We might not be able to shower. We have sleeping mats to sleep on.” Where will you get your meals? “Through the community. In the mornings we’re going to eat a lot of peanut butter sandwiches and granola and stuff easy to go. And then, at almost every stop, we’re going to do a presentation about affordable housing and get the community together, and they’ll serve us dinner usually before the presentation.” Have you done anything like this before? “No, this is my first biking trip. I had a road trip for spring break to Colorado, but that’s really all I’ve done across the country. This is my first physical [and] volunteer trip."Do you have to do any training leading up to the trip? “We have to do 500 miles. We have to log 500 miles before we go. We have to do one straight, at least 70 miles one ride. We have to log 20 hours of Habitat for Humanity kind of work.” Is there anything that you’re nervous about? “Probably the first few days where we’re going to be doing 70 miles. Just getting used to riding every day is going to be something to get used to, and then going on the side of the road against like 18-wheelers.” Why did you decide to do it? “I wanted to give back to the community. I didn’t really have anything to do over the summer. I thought it was a great opportunity for me to get work experience with building and also have an unforgettable trip that I’ll remember from like the time that I can do it in my life . . . on a bike is the best way to see the country.”
