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(04/11/13 1:48am)
Students for Concealed Carry protest for adults with pistol permits to be able to carry on campus.
The nonpartisan, grassroots organization, which was started nation wide after the Virginia Tech shooting, fights for the right for students to allow themselves the option of protection against a shooter on campus.
"The idea of the organization is that someone who can legally carry a pistol off campus, someone who has a permit that can legally carry in grocery stores, movie theaters and banks should be allowed to carry (a pistol) on campus," said David Shamp, vice president of Auburn's Students for Concealed Carry club.
Currently the University prohibits students, faculty and staff from carrying a gun on campus. Students could be expelled if caught with a gun and faculty and staff can be fired for carrying one as well.
Shamp said Alabama does not have a law against people carrying concealed weapons.
"We just feel that if you can carry off campus why should you lose your right to self-defense right when you step on campus," Shamp said.
Transportation to and from campus without concealed carry protection is also a concern for the club.
"I have friends who live off of Glenn and Magnolia who have to walk back from the library late at night," said Nathan Young, president of Auburn's Students for Concealed Carry club. "Things can happen, so the ability to defend themselves shouldn't be taken away because they're coming from campus."
Young said that since Auburn is a public institution, students, faculty and staff should be guaranteed all the rights that the government guarantees. Concealed carry is one of those rights.
The protest will include a booth station set up on the concourse as well as each member of the organization wearing an empty holster on their waist while going through daily activities.
"It's just an attention getter to let people say 'Oh wow you have a holster with nothing in it,'" said Steve Gulley, adviser for the club. "It's a conversation starter really."
Another feature of the protest will include an opposition table set up down the concourse called Criminals for a Gun Free Zone, which will include people in orange jumpsuits or ski masks demonstrating the views of criminals.
"When (students) see a similar protest down the concourse with a guy in a ski mask saying I like gun control, they'll say 'Woah maybe they have a point,'" Shamp said. "'The idea that criminals want me to be unarmed makes their job easier. I don't want that."'
The group does not want to cause any tension between the students and officials on campus, Young said.
"We want to keep it completely honest and above board at all times," Young said. "Causing difficulties in identification for police officers is not on the agenda."
Universities such as Utah, Colorado, Texas and Oregon all allow students, faculty and staff to carry on campus.
The club set up forms for students to fill out addressed their state senators and congressmen asking for changes in the concealed carry laws.
"We have computers for students who need to look up who their representatives are," Shamp said.
Although the club is passionate about their ideas on guns, they have also addressed the opposition.
"People will say 'Oh they're just college kids, they're only 21, they're drinking alcohol and doing drugs,'" Shamp said. "If you're doing those things you're breaking the law anyway on carrying a pistol. You're not supposed to be inebriated when carrying a pistol and you obviously shouldn't be doing drugs because that's illegal, so that's a moot point."
Many people said they might not feel safe on campus with students carrying concealed guns, Shamp said.
"I ask them if they feel safe off campus because people can carry there," Shamp said.
Allowing concealed weapons on campus does not mean everyone can join in.
"We're not trying to be 'Welcome to Camp War Eagle, here's you 45,' Shamp said. "It's about people who are normally able to carry being allowed to carry on campus. If random shooters were to come on campus we want to give people the option to defend themselves."
The club's main concern is the University's official policy on an on-campus active shooter.
"What the University asks you to do is run, hide and at the last, fight the guy with bullets by throwing books at him," Shamp said. "That's not the right answer."
The offical policy does not condone engaging in physical combat with the shooter.
(04/11/13 1:46am)
Toomer's oaks souvenirs will be available for purchase this summer or next fall.
The University does not know what those products will be yet, but commemorative T-shirts and necklaces are on sale now.
The University is also working with licensed manufacturers to help create wood pieces from the oaks.
"The trees are still up and we really have to see what the trees will look like to see what kind of products can be made from them," said Mike Clardy, director of university communication services. "We don't know in terms of what types of products will be available, but once we get the wood down and let the (tree slices) manufacturer see what they can do with it."
All royalties from the oaks items will go toward a scholarship fund for students.
"We're going to have a special hangtag that goes on every item," Clardy said. "The items that have that hangtag will be the authentic items. Fans should looks for that hangtag t make sure the proceeds go toward the scholarship fund."
The Auburn fans put their input into the item making process.
"People have asked and suggested things and certainly we have taken those suggestions and seen if we could match what they're looking for with the manufacturing who creates things like that," Clardy said. "We've taken that feedback and tried to make things that they would be interested in purchasing."
Items made from the oaks and other commemorative items will be available in bookstores in Auburn as well as other stores around the state and beyond.
"The oaks are special," Clardy said. "The trees are special to the Auburn Family. We've already had significant amount of requests and questions about them, so I expect that the items that are created would sell very quickly."
(04/10/13 2:54am)
The aviation management program in the College of Business has failed to meet accreditation requirements since last fall leaving the program in threat of losing its accreditation.
Aviation Accreditation Board International, AABI, has given the University three requirements it needs to meet to be accredited by February 2013. The requirements are hire more faculty, hire an aviation mechanic and address the flight education facility's needs.
By the end of the Spring 2013 semester, there will be no more tenure professors in the aviation management program.
The College of Business's dean, Bill Hardgrave, has responded to those requirements, but has still not hired on additional faculty to the program, said Jason Mohrman, 1997 Auburn alum.
"I can only think it would be a move to more or less remove the program because without the accreditation, Auburn would (lose) the just signed a contract with Jet Blue Airways, called the University Gateway Program, which allows Auburn students in the aviation program to do internships and have networking opportunities with Jet Blue after they graduate," Mohrman said.
The Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, Tim Boosinger, addressed in an email to concerned alum, David Upchurch, that because of unprecedented events, such as the recent death of one of the tenure professors in the aviation program, no decisions have been made, but the University is dedicated to the students currently in the program.
Mike Clardy, director of university communication services, also said that no decisions regarding the program have been made at this time.
"There is no doubt the program has declined over time to about one third the size it was 10 years ago," Clardy said. "What is less clear is why the program has declined. To understand this trend, we have looked at, among other things, similar programs at other institutions as well as industry factors. These and many other considerations will inform our long term plans"
Clardy said that the college has some near-term issues to address due to the recent loss of two faculty.
"Primarily, to ensure we have a sufficient number of qualified faculty in the classroom this fall," Clardy said. "Our immediate and top priority is to help the students currently in the program."
Another problem the program is having is that the College of Business only looks at the number of declared students in the program when documenting numbers, said Lee Mills, 1997 Auburn alum.
"Most students don't declare their major until they are juniors and seniors and before that they are just pre-business," Mills said. "When the dean reports the number of students in the aviation management program to the provost it doesn't include the number of students who are pre-business and plan to go into the aviation management program. I would say that maybe they're not telling the whole story."
President Jay Gogue has addressed this issue, but did not say how the college was going to handle it.
Auburn's aviation program is the oldest continuously running aviation program in the nation.
"The faculty we have deeply care," said Bennett Nast, senior in aviation management. "They don't just teach you what's in the textbook. They take so much from their lives to teach experience in aviation. They challenge the way you think."
Nast said that the 3,800 alumni will help graduates and current students make connections for jobs around the world.
"I interned at United Airlines up in Chicago and someone helped pass my resume to the hiring manager is an Auburn alum from the aviation program," Nast said.
The program does not just take money from the University.
"We provide $500,000 to the airport, which is University owned, in fuel revenue alone," said David Hoebelheinrich. "It's not like we are taking a lot of resources away from the University. We are actually paying the University quite a bit."
This is not the first time the aviation program has seen some drastic changes.
In 1998, the aviation program moved from the College of Engineering to the College of Business.
"At the time it was more of a lack of resources at the airport and lack of flight training instructors and that has pretty much been solved," Mills said. "The way that we handle the lack of flight training, we had a shortage of airplanes, was we went to other airports and receive some flight training and instruction to supplement what we had at Auburn. We can't do that on the education side of things."
After moving to the College of Business it allowed students to become well-rounded individuals, Mills said.
"It's really a gem of a program because it doesn't focus, say like Embry Riddle, which is an all aviation university, on just aviation," Mills said. "We focus on business, which is big. When you're a pilot a company will talk about business."
Governor Robert Bentley has declared Alabama an aviation state.
"If Alabama is going to be declared an aviation state, we certainly don't want to lose our only accredited four-year aviation program in the state," Mills said.
The aviation students have created a petition at flyauburn.org that currently has over 2,000 signatures and has over 100,000 hits since Thursday, April 4.
"One of our big goals was to get our voices heard and I think we've managed to do that as students," said Blake Schuette, captain of the War Eagle Flying Team.
Although the students, faculty and alumni are expressing their concerns about the strained accreditation process of the program, they do not want to point fingers at anyone, Hoebelheinrich said.
"The student campaign is simply raising awareness for our program and I has really brought the students together," Hoebelheinrich said. "We want to raise awareness for aviation showing the possibility of growth that we can have and showing the depth of how far we can go and what we can really do with the resources necessary for the program that we all love."
(04/04/13 1:04am)
With Alabama being ranked the fourth most obese state in the country, Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of Disease and Health Promotion of Alabama developed the 'Eat Healthy, Be Active' workshops available throughout the state.
Each workshop lasts six weeks. Each work- shop addresses the foods people should eat to stay healthy, how to cook those foods, along with types of exercise people should do three or more times a week.
"The main goal of the workshop is to teach people how to eat healthy and become or maintain physical activity that is based on the dietary guidelines of Americans and the 2008 physical activity for Americans," said Onikia Brown, assistant professor of nutrition and extension specialist at the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. "The workshops are done through science-based advice that help prevent obesity and the risk for major chronic diseases."
Participants of the workshops will learn what types of food to buy at the store as well as easy- to-grab snacks that are still nutritious.
"For example, there are snackable peppers, which may seem off putting, but there's small peppers that can be found in the produce section that all you need to do is rinse them off and pack them up," said Valerie Conner, extension specialist at the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. "People pop grapes in their mouths all the time, but you can also pop cherry tomatoes in your mouth too."
The beginning sessions focus more about what to eat and what not to eat.\0x2028"One of the first sessions we'll have people try different types of spices because we're trying to move people away from sodium," Conner said. "We'd rather them season their snacks with herbs and spices and let them see how it would fit in their food preparation. We'll let them go in and try different foods, so they don't go out wasting their money purchasing it if they don't like it."
Along with people throughout the communities of Alabama, these workshops also target students.
"College students are also at a very transient time and this workshop would really help (them)," Brown said. "It would equip them with tools that would give them a higher quality of life as they move onto the next phase of their life. It would also help them in their current phase of life, just to keep them actively thinking about eating healthier and keeping them physically active."
The workshops also address healthy choices at restaurants for students to choose from.
"Also, if you're living in your own apartment preparing your own meals, one of the workshops it shows you how to make healthy recipes with a slow cooker," said Helen H. Jones, extension specialist at the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. "It can teach them how to make healthy meals at a low cost and have more time for studying."
Although there has not been enough data to see actual changes within diet and amount of weekly exercise of the participants, Brown said that participants have come up to her to show heir gratitude for the program. \0x2028"By the end of the six-week workshops we've found that people have changed the way they shop, the way they prepare their meals, the way they think about physical activity," Brown said. "Participants would come up to me and say 'I'm so glad I'm here. I've learned so many things.'"
Brown offers some tips on eating healthy and staying active for students looking to keep motivated.
"When you plan out your day it should include your planned eating and physical activity," Brown said. "If you plan out your meals, you'll know what you are going to eat, when you are going to eat, so it's not a mad dash to the vending machine where you'll be eating a high calorie, low nutrient snack."\0x2028With appearance being a huge part of a young person's life, Jones said eating healthy and staying active is the way to keep that part of their life in check.
"Another thing young people like to do is look good and be able to dance and move around if they eat healthy and stay active then they can do that," Jones said.
All Upcoming workshops are on Saturday from 9-10 a.m., and dates include March 30, April 13 and 27 and May 25. All sessions are located at True Deliverance Holiness Church in Auburn.
For more information call Helen H. Jones at (334) 201-6775.
(03/27/13 7:12pm)
Peer evaluators from other universities are on campus from March 25-28 to evaluate Auburn's compliance with the accreditation standards of the SACS Commission on Colleges.
The reaccreditation process will include interviews with students, faculty and administrators before filing the final report.
The final decision will be made in December of this year.
The focus on the accreditation will be on the ePortfoio Project, which helps students to digitally express their work that connect with other classes and activities that will help them with graduate studies and getting a job.
The ePortfolio Project was created under the standard called Quality Enhancement Plan, said Drew Clark, director of institutional research and assessment.
"The idea is that each institution in addition to showing that it has a record of being in compliance with other standards, it also has to demonstrate that it can identify a focus project to enhance some aspect of student learning and show that they are bale to carry out and show the impact of the project," Clark said.
Auburn's last accreditation was in 2004.
The standards that the accreditation assesses the university on can range from broad to similar topics, Clark said.
"To prepare for accreditation we first prepare a description on how the university complies with all aspects," Clark said. 'Sometimes there are follow-ups. Then a team is assembled, which is composed of people that work at other universities in the region."
Clark said the accreditation process is going well.
"Auburn has been continuously accredited by the Commission of Colleges," Clark said. "We follow its principles and it's gone well in the past."
(03/07/13 8:06pm)
Auburn's Investment Club continues in second place behind Alabama, in the Student Investment Fund Competition, sponsored by Stern Agee, a Birmingham-based investment bank.
Auburn, Alabama, Georgia and Ole Miss, were each given $50,000 to buy and trade stocks this past September, by Stern Agee.
The competition will continue until Monday, April 1. The school who earns the most profit, any money more than $50,000 by the end date, will be the winner. The winner will receive 100 percent of their returns back from Stern Agee to donate to their respective college of business, but the losers will still receive half of their returns to donate to their college of business.
So far Alabama is first with just above nine percent, while Auburn remains in second with a little above six percent.
The club splits up its members into seven sectors including technology and communications, energy and utilities, basic materials and metals, financial institutions, services, consumer goods and health care.
At each club meeting, each sector's leader presents companies they think the club should invest in.
"Things can get pretty heated depending on the companies or sectors," said Juan Castano, president of investment club. "Ultimately I make the final decision on whether to invest or not, but I really try to be as democratic as possible. If I see the majority of our club is not for the idea, I wont do it."
The club's biggest competition this year is the University of Alabama.
"One of our goals is actually to beat Alabama, so in order to do that we have to come in first, which is what we all want to do," said Zachary Stevens, vice president of services sector.
The club's progress since September has been a rollercoaster ride, Castano said.
"Right now we are sitting at about six percent, so we're close to making that goal," Castano said. "We were losing money in December, we were actually in the negative. That was a scary time, but we'll be able to recover."
Rigby Coleman, chief operating officer for the investment club, said the whole market had been down-turned in the beginning of the competition, making for a difficult start.
"We've separated ourselves from everyone else," Coleman said. "We've come a long way from when it started out."
Marlin Jenson, adviser for the investment club, said that he does not help much with the competition.
"Stern Agee wanted it to be a student-run organization, so I just answer questions if they have them," Jensen said. "If they want to invest in something they get a coalition from the group that this is something they want to buy or get rid of."
Joseph Ashley, director of the M&A and IPO group, believes that the club has a decent chance of winning.
"We're in competition with mainly Alabama and Georgia," Ashley said. "We're definitely in the position where we can make a run, but who really knows, it's very unpredictable. We're near the top right now, so we definitely have a good chance at winning."
Joining the club and participating in the competition is great experience for any student in a business major, Castano said.
"The opportunity to handle real money, real investments and seeing real returns to help the college of business is invaluable," Castano said.
Being in the club also allows for opportunities that a regular business student would not have, like having access to the Bloomberg Terminal, investment software that allows people to research bonds and stocks
"It can improve your outlook to the industry as a whole because you're exposed to so many names and you're close to people with the same interests," Ashley said.
Castano said there is a strong possibility for Auburn to catch up to Alabama.
"We're definitley hopeful," Castano said. "Personally our goals are to stay profitable, meet our benchmark and beat Alabama."
The club has an open-door policy year-round and meets in Room 0005 in Lowder every Tuesday night. For more information contact Juan Castano at jpc0014.
(03/07/13 7:54pm)
With spring break almost here, Rent Gear Here, a business started by Auburn alumni, provides any beach goer the equipment they need to have a good time in the surf and sun.
Rent Gear Here offers rentals for everything from bikes and trailers to beach chairs and other beach equipment.
"We strive to be the one stop shop for all your vacation needs," said Jacob Watkins, managing partner. "Our idea is to have everything available to a family with one call instead of having to call many different businesses."
Phillip Poundstone, managing partner, created the business last May.
"No one had really heard of the business when we started and we effectively marketed and did really well last summer even though we started late," Poundstone said. "We expect to grow probably 10-fold what we did last year."
Currently Rent Gear Here is located in the 30A area of South Walton as well as Destin. This summer they will expand their service territories to include 30A, Destin, Okaloosa Island (Fort Walton Beach) and Panama City Beach.
Poundstone and Watkins hope to expand their business to cover all vacation hot spots.
"We don't want to just be at beaches," Poundstone said. "We want to be in any vacation destination. We want to be renting skis and snowboards and tubes in Colorado. We want to be in Whistler, Canada; we want to be in Utah. Really anywhere that someone takes a vacation, we will eventually want to help rent them items that are going to make their vacation more enjoyable."
Watkins has a created a detailed three to five to 10 year growth strategy for the company.
"We want to make sure our services are top quality before we go into the next area," Watkins said.
Poundstone and Watkins met during freshman year as Auburn students and fraternity brothers.
"We were both involved in different organizations on campus, so we were able to team up with a lot of things on campus while we were at Auburn," Watkins said. "We've been good friends since Phillip started the company last spring."
Rent Gear Here has been nominated for an award by 30A.com, a website that many 30A area visitors go to see where the best places to go are and rent items.
The business has been nominated under the non-dining category.
"If we were able to be in the top five we would be featured on their website for the entire year as the top five hot spots for bike and beach services in the 30A area," Watkins said. "A lot of our customers will visit that website and be looking for who's the best bike and beach place to rent from here and that will be huge for us to be on their website as that."
On the voting survey, Rent Gear Here is currently ranked No. 14.
"We're really hoping to use our Auburn base and Auburn supporters to help us along," Watkins said. "We know Auburn likes to get behind their alumni. We really believe with their support we could be number one."
To vote visit 30A.com and click on their blog that contains their voting link.
Participants will go through a short survey and vote for their favorite business to be featured on the website.
These Auburn alumni will never forget their roots, especially when that means offering Auburn students and alumni special deals.
"We definitely encourage them to call us and tell us they're Auburn alumni or Auburn students and we'll offer a discount to them and make sure to take special care of them," Watkins said.
Poundstone said there are many people out there willing to help people start their own businesses.
"You'd be amazed at how many people are retiring and have had successful businesses that just want to give back and get nothing out of it," Poundstone said.
Although starting a business may be difficult all that matters is who you surround yourself with, Poundstone said.
"Really you can make anything work," Poundstone said. "There's no such thing as a bad idea. It's just really making the commitment to follow through on that and not giving up."
It all starts with an idea, Watkins said.
"Find mentors," Watkins said. "Don't be afraid to take a risk,. I've been working in different jobs for a while and if you just take the chance and the opportunity is there. Our generation has a lot of opportunities to serve customers and serve the generations above us if they just take the risk."
(02/28/13 6:10am)
With the baby boomer generation coming close to time of retirement, the agriculture department is seeing an increase in retirement for many professors, as well as, an increase in new practices.
Many of the senior professors are retiring or are close to retiring within the next year or two.
As a result of the GI Bill, many of the men who fought in World War II were allowed to complete Ph.D.s following their service. Many then pursued careers as professors. These professors were then replaced with the professors that are retiring now.
"We've all been here 30 years and it's time for us to move on," said Keith Cummins, retiring animal sciences professor. "Now you have this big slug that has moved through because World War II took people out and then 30 years later you educated us and then 30 years later we have another lump coming in."
All the senior professors in the department have grown up on some type of ranch or farm, which provided them with the hands on experience they needed to excel in the agriculture field, a strong advantage over those who did not.
"Our departments have labs that have a lot more hand-on stuff that we would not have done when I was in college because everyone in my class when I was an undergrad grew up on a farm except one kid," said Steve Schmidt, animal sciences professor. "He was very naive about a lot of things, but we didn't do those things in lab because we did those things at home."
Because many students interested in agriculture and animal sciences have grown up in urban areas, the department offers more hands-on experience in labs.
"Naturally hands-on experience brings to the table some components that are not available if you don't have hands-on experience, especially in agriculture, particularly animal agriculture, whether it's being hands-on with products and living animals," said Bob Ebert, retiring extension animal scientist. "It is important, but the flip side of that is a college degree is nothing more than a license to learn more, so if you're truly dedicated to being a university employee you'll make sure you keep updated on what's going on in the animal agriculture world."
Cummins said the amount of 'over-educated farm kids,' students who learned more hands-on experience at home than in the classroom, that need to replace the senior staff do not exist anymore.
"Those kind of people don't' exist anymore, but everyone still expects to eat," Cummins said. "Agriculture is a huge, massive industry in the United States, but students are just not all that interested in farming. Everyone still has it in their head that farming is the little red barn form grandma and grandpa's, but it's not. It's industrialized."
Although hands-on experience is irreplaceable, science moves on, Schmidt said.
"People are doing research that I was told was on the horizon when I was in school," Schmidt said. "Some of us that are older have to go back to school, so to speak, and get retrained and do some of the things that we are doing today."
Along with changes in training students, teaching methods have also changed.
Cummins believes that most of the teaching styles will lean toward lectures after most of the senior staff retires.
"It hasn't started as a process yet, but I would not be surprised if you (ended) up with six to eight lectures at the master's level if the (younger generations) did the teaching because money's tight," Cummins said. "You're only going to get a professor's job if you come in with two post docs and a grant in hand."
Although the retiring professors have enjoyed their time here at Auburn, it is time for them to accomplish other things.
"I'm facing uncharted waters because I have not been retired," Ebert said. "That's not saying I don't have a little bit of regret, but the flip side of that is, like I told many of my co-workers, when it comes to retire, you'll know. I know it's time for me to retire."
Along with Ebert, Cummins said he has also enjoyed his time here interacting with students who are always changing.
"Change always happens and this department and this college is going to change," Cummins said. "This college needs to move from growing food to producing food."
Although Schmidt is not retiring he said that he has faith in whoever takes his place.
"We have lot of bright, young people and I'm not worried that they won't be able to carry it on," Schmidt said.
(02/21/13 11:41pm)
The Auburn marching band received a $1 million donation from an Auburn alumna for its indoor practice facility.
Meredith Birchfield, class of 1971, donated $1 million that she earned from past investments.
Birchfield has always been a fan of the Auburn marching band since she frequently attends football games.
"I just think Auburn's band is just fabulous, not just the marching band, but also all aspects of it," Birchfield said. "They are so committed and it's so wonderful to see their commitment. I just think what they put into it should be rewarded."
Birchfield said she has always had a charitable heart, especially working with war veterans in Illinois and wanting to start an equine therapy program here in Auburn for individuals with special needs.
The donation brought the band's total money raised up to $2.7 million. The band's goal is to raise $5.5 million. The University will cover the rest of the cost to build the $11 million facility.
"Potentially people who were unaware that the band was trying to raise money to have a facility, now know how they could meet the needs of their band program," said Vivian Langley, director of development for the College of Liberal Arts. "Hopefully it will spur someone else or lots of other people to give to the band as well."
The athletics department has also donated $1.5 million to the band program.
"A lot of people have been giving and they continue to give," Langley said. "The thing that I emphasize always is that if people want to give, say $500 or $1,000, they can pledge it out over five years."
Donations can be made over a five-yera period. A $500 donation paid out over five years breaks down to $8.38 a month or 28 cents a day.
"When you look at wanting to help the future of the band program it seems extremely affordable," Langley said. "It's about participation. If everybody gave what he or she could, obviously we would move toward that $5.5 million really quick."
The band program has an outdoor practice pavilion to practice in now, but it does not provide adequate shelter for the band members during inclement weather, so the prime concern right now is safety, said Rick Good, director of bands.
Another concern for the marching band is places to store their instruments and uniforms, as well as, finding a place to change into their uniforms that does not involve pressing their faces up against the inside of a car window.
"They have a wonderful practice field now, but it's not close enough to our building where they can go back in forth," said Sara Lynn Baird, chair of music department. "They need a place where they can assemble and use separate rooms to work on sectionals, for example when the trumpets go in one room, the trombones go in another room, so they can practice to come all together on the field."
The indoor facility will also be used for the concert ensemble, like the concert band, symphonic band, percussion ensemble and potentially the orchestra.
Most of the fundraising for the indoor practice facility comes from Auburn alumni and marching band alumni.
Auburn's marching band also has to compete with other universities who already have an indoor practice facility for their band, Good said.
Compared to other universities, LSU, Alabama and Georgia, which have music schools, Auburn does not.
Because Auburn does not have a specific music school, many of the band members are various majors. The largest majority of majors are in engineering, Good said.
The band, as well as, the whole music department cannot thank the marching band alumni, parents of students and alumni in general, who have donated already, enough.
"What these students do for the band department, the University and the athletics is amazing," Good said. "They work very hard with hardly any recognition, but having people donate money the students are very excited that people are noticing them and contributing to building them a new home."
(02/20/13 12:00am)
Don't let the name fool you. The Black Student Union is not strictly for black students at Auburn.
The Black Student Union brings Black History Month specific events open to everyone.
The events that have taken place so far include the Heritage Festival and the Mr. BSU pageant.
The Heritage Festival, an event that caters to the influence of African American culture throughout the world, included talent show type performers as well as speakers from the NPHC and a prominent civil rights leader, Roy Howard who talked about his experience, as well as, gave his advice on civil rights for African Americans.
"Even though it was Black History month we wanted to make it more diverse, so it wasn't all about black people in general, it was about what black history has done for the country and the world," said Jamecia Crenshaw, social director for Black Student Union.
Akiliah Williams, president of the Black Student Union, says her favorite event is the Heritage Festival.
"It wasn't just about black history, it was about the history of cultures and the other organizations showed what is black history influence in the countries that they're from," Williams said.
The Mr. BSU pageant was transformed into something fun and entertaining for the campus, Crenshaw said.
"The different categories had something to do with different areas of black history," Crenshaw said.
Mr. BSU pageant winner, Del Anderson, was happy to make his family and friends proud.
"I think that just to get black students excited about their heritage and also make the whole student body aware how important black history is, not just to African Americans, but to everybody is important," Anderson said.
Upcoming events include tonight's Jazz and Poetry Night, at 7p.m. in the Student Center ballroom, where students can sign up to sing or read poetry and spoken word.
Williams stresses the importance of the Auburn family during Black History Month.
"I invite people out to Black Student Union events because this is what the Auburn family does, we support one another, we get to know one another and we experience one another," Williams said. "From that we become a family and we grow to support, fight and work for one another."
Williams compares the support for BSU to a football game.
"It doesn't matter who you're sitting by, who's in front of you or behind you, we're just all there cheering for the team," Williams said. "We're still there together, whether we're winning or losing. I think going to BSU events or going to Greek Sing, going to Tiger Stomp is like that, maybe a more condensed version. It's an opportunity to be around each other all for the same reason to be entertained, to have fun and to learn more."
Anderson defines Black History Month as a time to recognize the good that has been done in the past.
"Black History month is honoring the accomplishment that blacks have made in the past in the face of struggle and also realizing that we as a people need to keep moving forward and making ground-breaking discoveries, not just for black Americans, but for all races," Anderson said.
Crenshaw's family has taken part in African American history directly. Her aunts and uncles were involved in protests in the 1960s and 1970s.
"My aunt actually was right at 16th Street Baptist Church right at the bombing," Crenshaw said. "There's just a lot of things I think we should celebrate and understand that it's not just about Rosa Parks or Martin Luther King Jr., but it's what (African Americans) have done as a whole."
BSU wants to change the way the students see the organization.
"The Black Student Union, especially this year under Akilah's guidance, has done a tremendous job in representing ourselves. We're working a lot more toward being campus-oriented," Crenshaw said. "We just want to make sure that even though our name may be the Black Student Union, which can kind of sound like it's just for black students, but we really want for everyone on our campus to understand that it just started as the Black Student Union. Even though it was started for black students that's not really where we're taking it. We want everyone to be involved."
Sharing cultures and their histories is essential to the drive behind these events, Williams said.
"What makes BSU to me so transcendent is that it's not just a focus on our history, but it's a focus on sharing our history," Williams said. "I feel like Black History Month and Black Student Union events are events that encompass the Auburn family. We can celebrate our culture while knowing we are in another culture."
(02/09/13 1:30am)
WishmakersAU fundraises to grant wishes closer to home.
WishmakersAU raises money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants wishes for children with life-threatening medical conditions, in Alabama.
Olivia Yocum, president of WishmakersAU, brought the club to campus starting fall of 2012.
"My sister, Nora Banks, works for Make-A-Wish for the state of Alabama as a development manager and so she wanted it to come to Auburn," Yocum said. "It was a really long process. We worked on it for about a year before it got (to Auburn)."
Since the club works directly through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, they have to follow the foundation's rules, which means they are not allowed to ask a 'Wish Kid' to come to any event, unless they volunteer.
"We're not allowed to go through [Make-A-Wish] and be like 'Hey can you come speak.' They have to actually volunteer to come to an event," Yocum said.
Although they have yet to have a 'Wish Kid' volunteer to come to one of their events, the organization has still had success at their fundraisers.
This past fall semester, the WishmakersAU held a Rake-A-Thon.
"We put out an ad in papers and stuff, as well as, handed out fliers and got people to volunteer their homes to rake their lawns," said David Sanderlin, events coordinator for WishmakersAU. "There's a suggested amount of money that they can donate per hour that you're there."
Families were suggested to donate at least $30 an hour for raking.
"People usually went pretty above," Sanderlin said. "People were very generous in the Opelika and Auburn area."
The event lasted a couple weekends long and the club was able to raise approximately $2,000.
WishmakersAU's event for the spring semester will be a 5K Saturday, March 30. Registration is $20 and comes with a T-shirt.
"You can go on our Facebook page and there is a link to our website, or you can go to WishmakersAU.com," Yocum said.
Next year the club hopes to put on a benefit concert and art auction.
"One of the girls that's in (the club), her mom owns a frame shop, so we wanted to put on an art show fundraiser," Yocum said.
The organization's goal is to grant at least one wish this year, which costs approximately $10,000.
"I think if we can do the 5K right, I think we can grant a wish," Yocum said. "We want to make this a long term thing, not with just us every year. When we graduate we want it to still be here and still be big."
Since this is only the second semester that the organization has been around, it only has approximately 15 members.
"With more people we could have bigger events and then we can expand and have more man power," said Will Gosdin, coordinator for financial committee for WishmakersAU.
Small time commitment is all that is needed to join.
"There are very few other ways to spend your time better," Sanderlin said. "It's a really good organization and we don't demand a lot of time. It's really just for these events. It's just a couple hours, like last semester for people to come rake for one or two hours out of their semester."
The club stresses their flexibility with schedules.
"Coming from an outsider just starting an organization, I didn't want to bombard people with fliers on the concourse and shoving it in their faces," Yocum said. "I didn't want to bombard people with fliers on the concourse and shoving it in their faces. I don't want it to be too demanding. We all have our stuff that is going on. We just want to make it fun, but it's also for a good cause."
Although the organization is not allowed to ask 'Wish Kids' to come to events, the members have met people from all over the nation that have been affected by the foundation in some way.
"You can't really say that your money went to this specific kid, but before this even started I met a guy and he was a year younger than me," Yocum said. "He was flying in and out of Houston, Texas, to get transplants and he had cancer. It hit him within the year and he died over the summer. It hit me last summer. I only met him once, but it was a life-changing thing."
Sanderlin had a similar experience when meeting a student at Auburn who used to be a 'Wish Kid.'
"One of the first weeks we asked people to join last semester, we asked someone 'Hey would you be interested in getting involved with this?'" Sanderlin said. "He didn't tell us right off the bat, but after two minutes of talking with us he said 'I was up to receive a liver from the Make-A-Wish foundation when I was a kid." He said by the time (the wish) had gotten to him, he had already received the transplant, so he passed (the wish) on to another person."
The organization enables its members to meet people they would not have met otherwise.
"It was cool to meet someone whose life had been affected and who was familiar with the organization," Sanderlin said. "It was very cool."
(01/31/13 6:36pm)
Parking services, or as some may call them the vultures of Auburn University, shed light on their mission and reasoning behind unpopular ticketing.
"If this university didn't have us out here on foot patrolling, these students would be parked everywhere," said Barbara Barnes, parking enforcement officer. "[Students] would be on top of the buildings."
The strangest place that Barnes has seen someone park in is right off of Biggio Drive by the intermural fields.
"He had jumped the curb and his front end was stuck down in the ditch," Barnes said. "His butt was sticking up in the air."
Safety is the number one factor that parking services revolves around, said Don Andrae, manager of parking services.
Parking services is also improving their system of educating students on rules and regulations.
"It's obviously working because the number of tickets is decreasing and same with the appeals," Andrae said. "The number of appeals decreasing to me means that the students understand the rules and why they are getting the ticket."
Between Fall 2011-2012 students have gotten total of 7,645 tickets and that number has since decreased from Fall 2012-2013, students have only gotten 4,301 tickets total.
Next Camp War Eagle sessions, parking services will have a break out session with the incoming freshman.
"We'll be able to get them right away and let them and their parents know the rules of parking," Andrae said.
Parking services stresses that although some students may feel targeted, they are just doing their job.
"This one student, who received a ticket, happened to be an athlete, so I went to the athletic department and told them 'I just want to let you know that this person did this. And all we're asking for is respect. We're only doing our job,'' Andrae said. "We're not trying to pinpoint anyone for race, color or athletics. All we're trying to do is our job and it's a job we have to do and we want people to respect us for it."
Parking services does not come up with its own rules and regulations.
"Whatever the traffic and parking committee says is a rules, we have to enforce, whether we think it is right, wrong, just, it doesn't make a difference to us," Andrae said. "If there's a rule we have to enforce it. Some of the rules are not very good and we'd have to write a ticket, but a rule is a rule."
Permits are extremely important to parking services.
"We have no idea who they are [with no permit], so what are they doing on campus," Barnes said. "We want to know who they are."
For those who have gotten tickets at 4:59p.m. here's why.
"The reason we do it up to exactly 5:00 p.m. is because the faculty staff are the ones that told us that they would like us to patrol at that time, simply because they would like to go home at 5:00p.m.," Andrae said. "We have been working towards two things; trying to get faculty to change they're going home time to 4:30p.m. or changing class times to start at 5:15p.m."
As for the answer to additional parking for campus, Andrae said it's unfortunately not going to happen any time soon.
"An example I always use is if I went to the Board of Trustees and said I need $7.5 million to buy a parking deck and Dr. Jones comes behind me and says he needs money for a academic building, he's going to get the money," Andrae said.
Parking services does a lot more than just give out tickets.
"We handle all the parking that has to do with graduations, even if it's on a Saturday we're here," Barnes said. "If there's a special event coming up we have to monitor parking in lots and we direct traffic."
Parking service is on duty at least two to three hours before all games and at least two hours after each game.
Parking enforcement officers also look out for unsafe conditions on campus.
"If we're scared that a student might get hurt from it we call [Andre] and he takes care of it," Barnes said. "If there's a big hole in the ground that we're scared someone might set off into it."
Even after 12 years of working for parking services and handling the students harsh opinions, Barnes believes parking services gets better every year.
"I know this sounds crazy, but during Camp War Eagle, you can tell what students are going to be your trouble students and what students are not by the way they act," Barnes said. "Not trying to single anyone out, I've just done it so many years I just know what I'm looking for."
Students are recommended to talk to the parking officers or parking services directly if they have any questions.
"I listen," Barnes said. "That's what we're supposed to do. If a student asks me something I'm going to stop long enough to give them my opinion on what I think it is; not only the students, but the parents too. We're not out to just write tickets."
(01/24/13 4:31am)
6.6 million people are stalked in the United States every year, according to stalkingawareness.org.
The Department of Public Safety and Security has made its mission to promote safe choices and options for students at the University, especially this month dedicated to stalking awareness.
The department is putting on this campaign to raise awareness about stalking.
Stalking is an issue at Auburn, especially because of the age group of students attending the University, said Susan McCallister, associate director of public safety information and education.
Half of stalking victims that are female and a quarter of victims that are male are stalked before the age of 25.
"We have dealt with some individual cases and also through Safe Harbor where people have concerns about stalking," McCallister said. "We want to make sure people know what it is and what to do about it."
Sara Frazier, junior in communications, was a victim of stalking and harassment no less than a year and a half ago.
"The first incident that I ever had with this guy with serious stalking was when I updated my Facebook with a location and he showed up there and ended up assaulting me with my friends," Frazier said.
Frazier then took legal action to get a protection order against the stalker that required him to be no less than 100 feet away from her at all times.
"At this time the campus had issued a statement pretty much saying the same thing that if he saw me on campus he was supposed to go the other way and things like that," Frazier said.
Although the police and the university were involved, the problem was not completely solved.
"He continued to follow me, and I would see him everywhere," Fraizer said. "If I went to the grocery store, he would be there. I would just see his car parked places where I would be."
The issue became so severe Frazier resorted to having an armed guard take her to classes.
"I completely medically withdrew from the semester because I didn't want to do the armed escort to every class, and if I was on campus I was so stressed out that I couldn't concentrate in class," Frazier said.
Frazier, along with McCallister, recommended all girls at Auburn take the self-defense class offered through kinesiology 4970.
"It's taught by police officers that actually work on campus and one of them was the guy that was my bodyguard that took me to all my classes," Frazier said. "You couldn't ask for better teachers to teach you how to be aware of your surroundings. If you want an empowering experience you should take that class."
The class is offered in both the fall and the spring, and is one credit hour.
"[The teachers] go into much more detail about stalking and just safe behaviors and unsafe behaviors and how to protect yourself and avoid these situations," McCallister said. "Also they go over how to escape if you are actually confronted with someone trying to harm you."
Frazier attributes most of her strength through dealing with this issue to McCallister.
"She went with me to everything, like going to university court, coming to get me because I was too terrified to go anywhere, she went with me to regular court and she literally held my hand and walked me through every step," Frazier said. "Safe Harbor is what I went through to get to her."
Frazier hopes to get the word out to alert the students and faculty that even though Auburn may seem like a normal college town, there can be danger here.
"I really do feel as though Auburn did as much as they could to get my story out there," Frazier said. "I know people as high up as Jay Gogue heard my story and understood what a threat there is on campus for stalking. We all think we live in a normal college world, but we have no idea what kinds of predators are on campus."
Students who are dealing with a stalker need to address the issue immediately.
"The main thing that we really want to convey to students is that if they feel uncomfortable is one, tell the person to stop the behavior and if the person does not stop they should bring it to someone's attention because it could be considered stalking," McCallister said.
(01/24/13 4:04am)
Split-second decisions, cold water against your skin and struggling to save yourself and another against river currents; this is the scene Tuesday, Jan. 8, for Doug Bacon, graduate student in masters integrated design and construction.
Bacon rescued an Opelika native, Priscilla Woods, from drowning in the Alabama River after she jumped from the Edmund Pettus Bridge, in Selma.
Bacon was on his way back to Auburn University when he noticed a woman standing on the outside of a guardrail.
"I was driving and I was kind of watching the road since the traffic had slowed down," Bacon said. "I was looking back and forth from her and the road and when I looked back and I saw that she had jumped, so I knew either way that she had either fallen or jumped."
It only took seconds for Bacon to make the decision that he would be the one to save Woods.
"I think for a split second I was like 'Well you know maybe some other people will go and help her,' but another part of me was like 'I better go down there and help her,'" Bacon said.
Bacon drove to a nearby park that he was familiar with since he had driven through Selma in the past.
Bacon ran two blocks to the edge of the park up until the park dropped down to the river said Lt. Johnny King, commander of criminal and narcotic investigation for Selma Police Department.
Bacon then handed his cellphone and wallet to a man willing to help by the water's edge.
"And I just said 'Do you see her? Do you see her?' and then she just popped up and she was struggling," Bacon said. "It was not a graceful dive [into the river]; it was more of a stumble."
Although the water may have looked freezing, Bacon assured everyone that the water was no more than chilly.
"I wasn't really thinking if the water was cold or not," Bacon said.
Bacon swam 35-45 feet out in the river to save Woods.
"I swam out and got to her and she was kind of in shock," Bacon said. "I think she was probably just going through a lot. I got to her and said 'Come here, it's going to be OK.' She was willing to get some help and wasn't fighting it at all."
Bacon struggled with the current as Woods and him swam to shore.
"I was kind of out of energy and going under water, so I was kind of freaking out. So I would throw her arm off of me just so I could get a breath," Bacon said.
Soon after Bacon had jumped in the water a fishermen had emerged from the woods to come help.
"It was too steep to come down to the river from upstream, so the fisherman climbed way up the slope and came the way I did and helped me pull her out of the water the rest of the way," Bacon said.
The police arrived soon after Woods was pulled from the water to shore.
"She wouldn't have survived because it's a long fall," King said. "I know several people who have jumped and she was the only person that survived. [Bacon] jumped in there in that cold water and swam to her and pulled her as much as he could."
Bacon's family was both shocked and surprised when they heard how Doug's afternoon went.
"[My mom] was just happy I was OK and she was really proud of me," Bacon said.
Woods went to Baptist South Hospital in Montgomery, but is now home with her family.
(01/17/13 3:46am)
Some students do not just have exams and attendance to worry about.For Lauren Litchfield, recent Auburn alumna and mother of a two-year-old daughter, and Grace Hall, senior in communications and mother of an 18-month-old daughter, they also have to worry about caring for a young child.
When Litchfield found out she was pregnant the May after her freshman year at Auburn, she immediately started planning around the pregnancy.
"I had to figure that out all on my own and just research," Litchfield said. "There's not much information that you can just find. I just had to pull from a bunch of different resources."
Litchfield was able to pull off graduating a semester early because of her academic advisor.
"She was a huge help, generally because she just cared and she was a mom, other advisors are not like that," Litchfield said.
Although Litchfield got lucky with her advisor, not all expecting students will have that experience because there is no set policy on students expecting a child, whether they are the mother or the father.
"I had one teacher that was going by university stuff and she was really strict and wouldn't doing anything for me," Hall said.
Hall is currently having troubles getting in the classes that she needs and the university is not making any exceptions for her situation.
"[The University] knows that I have a little girl that I am trying to get out of school for," Hall said. "I'm not sure if I'm going to get in those classes, and if that's the case then I'll have to stay another semester and pay for childcare three or four times a week for another semester."
Although both mothers excelled in their classes before and after their pregnancies, there was no guarantee when they came back, after taking a semester off, that their professors had to understand their situation.
"I'm actually in the process of trying to get some classes medically withdrawn because [the university] wasn't really accommodating with all of that," Hall said. "I'm a good student and I usually make good grades, so I'm trying to get the board to withdraw those classes, but I don't know if I'll get it or not."
Litchfield was on the luckier side when dealing with her teachers.
"When I went to go take one of my finals, one of my teachers said I needed to fail the final to get a B and that I deserve not to take the final," Litchfield said. "It was just one less thing for me to worry about especially since my daughter was in the hospital fighting for her life. The fact that one teacher said taking the final didn't matter and finishing her class is silly compared to a child that's two hours away that can't breathe was amazing."
The University at this time does not offer any policy or formal support groups for expecting students or students with children.
If any groups have formed they are all informal.
"People just sit and talk about any number of things like how you get your child to sleep at night," said Donna Sollie, assistant provost for Women's initiatives. "There is not an official advisor, but someone from the women's resource center will kind of help to facilitate."
Litchfield and Hall met through mutual friends, but it would have been better to have a formal support group on campus, Litchfield said.
"I love my friends," Litchfield said. "They were so supportive through the whole thing, but they still don't have a child, so they still don't get it. As much as they're supportive, at the end of the day they don't understand that I can't talk to them how I talk to Kathryn -- another student with a daughter -- and Grace."
Auburn also does not offer marital housing on campus, which could offer easier transportation opportunities to student parents.
"It would have been easier campus-wise," Litchfield said. "[My husband and I] had a situation where on every Tuesday and Thursday we had to literally pick [my daughter] up and go to his COSAM building, pick him up and drive around campus to then drop me off at class. I was late so many times."
Auburn's Women's Resource Center works with different organizations across campus, including the graduate student organization, GSO, which held a forum on concerns of graduate students.
The list of needs the GSO will try to address for pregnant graduate students or graduate students with children include, insurance policies for children and dependents, parking spots, traveling to school, day care, support groups, making the parent group official, Parent's Bill of Rights and resources.
Although some organizations are taking notice to students with these issues on campus, the undergraduate program at Auburn still has nothing to benefit its students with these issues.
"I hate to say to put rules in place, but there should be a policy," Litchfield said. "My situation's different because me and my husband were both students. We both had to get the classes. If the guy is supporting the child his schedule is just as important. If a teacher doesn't want to switch his class that's a problem."
(01/09/13 8:56pm)
Keeping up with the high bar the University Program Council has set for speakers, comedian Kenan Thompson will return to his southeastern roots to perform at Auburn Tuesday, Jan. 29.
"Kenan's definitely really excited to come to Auburn," said Ricky Scheuerle, UPC director of speakers and comedians. "It's in an area of the country that he's familiar with, being from Atlanta, so it's definitely something he's excited about and wanted to do."
Scheuerle's interest in bringing Thompson to Auburn's campus has grown since last year.
"UPC has always kind of talked about it, so we're really excited that the plan went through and we're able to do this," Scheuerle said.
Thompson's comedic lineup is hard to predict, but he always engages the audience in his performances, Scheuerle said,
"He wants a lot of people to get up and interact with him by asking questions," Scheuerle said. "He does something a little different with each school, so he really tries to look at each campus as a separate unit. It will definitely be entertaining and he's one of the biggest comedians out there right now, so people are really looking forward to it."
Scheuerle said Thompson has an interesting platform that is a mixture of comedy and storytelling.
"He'll tell this story about 'one time with a celebrity...' and how that encounter was," Scheuerle said. "He's a funny storyteller that wants to tell how he got to where he is."
Scheuerle and his committee made their decision on this spring's speaker after looking at more than a dozen candidates. He said they wanted the comedian who would draw the biggest crowd.
"We're really trying to establish a speaker that people are going to want to hear and look forward to," Scheuerle said. "Before, I felt like that ideal wasn't really established and it was harder to catch people's interests."
After the last-minute location change for fall semester's speaker Bill Nye, Scheuerle said UPC has been able to gauge students' interests better than ever before. He is expecting approximately 3,000-4,000 students to attend.
"We definitely deal with Kenan Thompson on the same level as Bill Nye and immediately put him in the arena," Scheuerle said.
UPC limits the number of people involved in the decision making process.
"That way it doesn't get around to who we're looking at, but we still have a broad interest group," Scheuerle said.
Scheuerle reflected on his love for Thompson's comedy that dates all the way back to "All That."
"If you asked me when I was five years old if I liked Kenan Thompson my answer would be, 'Of course I like Kenan Thompson,' and if you asked me if I liked him now, I would say, 'I like watching him on SNL,'" Scheuerle said.
UPC wanted to appeal to as many students as possible, Scheuerle said.
"Somebody who is a classic example of somebody that has influenced your, or others' lives," Scheuerle said. "Somebody who has always had appeal and relevance, not a buzz speaker that is really popular now and only appeals to a fraction of the population. I feel like Kenan really personifies that."
The performance will be held in the arena and doors open at 6 p.m. Entry will require a student I.D.
(11/19/12 7:22pm)
Darby O'Brien, freshman in interior design, died Friday, Nov. 16, of a brain aneurysm.
(11/27/12 9:52pm)
Auburn's economics Ph.D program, which was eliminated from campus in 1999, is finally back after 13 years.
(11/27/12 9:50pm)
The War Eagle Flying Team soared into third place at Daytona SAFECON regionals and is heading to nationals May 2013.
(11/15/12 10:45am)
Foy Hall has become home sweet home for Auburn's veterans and the Veteran's Resource Center, as it moves from its previous space in the Haley Center.