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(10/02/14 6:00pm)
Southern Living is coming to Auburn to set up a tailgate for their Southern Living Tailgate Tour. The tour involves the Southern Living test kitchen and the Cobblestone Bread Co. food truck working together to visit three different SEC college towns: Auburn; Columbia, South Carolina; and Athens, Georgia.
"We've commissioned a truck, and so we're going to three different universities and doing this tour," said Brianna Belmonte, public relations representative for Cobblestone Bread Co. "Our first stop will be in Auburn and that will be Oct. 4, for the LSU game."
Southern Living test kitchen director Robby Melvin will be challenging Cobblestone Bread Co. chef Nathan Lippy to a sandwich smack down.
"It's not so much a competition as much as it's kind of a friendly way to go at it with a sandwich that I came up with for a tailgating issue we did last year," Melvin said. "It's a combination, you know, sandwich smack down-cooking demo. We're really going to be able to show everyone who's there, who is watching, how to put our sandwich together."
Southern Living will be serving buffalo chicken meatball sliders on Cobblestone Bread Co. Windy City hot dog buns. Cobblestone Bread Co. will be serving chicken bruschetta with mozzarella and balsamic glaze on their white grinder sub rolls.
Melvin said he will show everybody the procedure on how to mix, season and scoop the meatballs into perfect shapes. All of the ingredients will be fresh, Melvin said.
After both chefs are finished, they will pass out samples so the audience can vote for their favorite on raffle cards that will be handed out. The voters will be entered to win $500 to use toward their own tailgate.
Melvin said the tailgate will be set up with bar tables for the audience and a large demonstration area. They will also have a social sharing photo booth available.
Claire Rock, marketing manager for Southern Living, said Cobblestone Bread Co. approached them regarding the partnership.
"They know Southern Living owns the South," Rock said. "We could really have a presence on campus and get people excited about coming out to tailgate."
After the demonstration, the magazine is going to do a feature on the tailgate.
"It's going to be featured online, and we're going to have lots of digital coverage on this," Melvin said. "We're also going to have a little write-up that will be featured in the magazine."
Melvin said they chose Auburn because they wanted to go to a big game where a lot of Southern Living readers would be attending. Melvin is an Auburn fan himself and said he is excited to come for the game.
"Southern Living has always wanted to do a tailgate tour and take our test kitchen out on the road," Rock said. "I think it was the perfect partnership."
The tailgate is free and open to the public. It will be located in the Gay Street parking lot from 12-3 p.m. They will be doing demonstrations and pass out samples during that time.
(10/01/14 4:50pm)
Former Auburn University football players Eric Mack and DeAngelo Benton were called to the witness stand yesterday for the Desmonte Leonard murder trial.
Leonard is on trial for the capital murder of former Auburn football players Ladarious Phillips, Ed Christian, and DeMario Pitts.
Leonard is also being charged with attempted murder and assault due to the injuries caused by the shooting to Mack, Xavier Moss and John Robertson.
Both the district attorney Robert Treese and defense attorney Susan James focused on an altercation that happened at University Heights the day of the shootings.
Each witness was individually asked to watch video surveillance from the night of the shooting, to identify specific people during the incident.
Benton said that he could feel somebody staring at him at the party, so he took him outside to "have words with him." The person he felt staring at him was Leonard.
Mack also joined him outside with Leonard to calm Benton down.
"We were approaching him about what he was staring at," Benton said.
Benton was also shown on tape having an argument with a female, whose name he could not remember, or the reason why they were arguing. "I guess I was telling her to get out of my face," Benton said.
Benton said they had been drinking alcoholic Jell-O shots at the party, but that he was not intoxicated.
When James asked if he had been smoking spice, Benton said he had not been.
After Benton and Mack went outside with Leonard, Mack then restrained Benton against a wall to calm him down when they were outside.
Turquorius Vines and DeMario Pitts also spoke to Benton.
"No physical fight or anything had started," Benton said.
Treese asked Benton if he then heard anything unusual, and Benton eventually replied that he had heard a few shots being fired.
Mack was shot from behind, and said that he didn't see who the shooter was. "Some shots were fired," Mack said. "I didn't realize I was hit. Everything after that was a blur."
As soon as Benton heard the first shot, he said he ran for the bushes and down Longleaf Drive.
He did not call the police, but returned to the scene 5-15 minutes later.
Benton said he did not see who shot the gun either.
The District Attorneys called forensic scientists to the stand to question what the chain of command for some of the evidence was, and to ask how it was processed.
(09/25/14 11:06pm)
A jury was empaneled and sworn in on Thursday, Sept. 25 in the Desmonte Leonard murder trial after three-and-a-half days of jury selection.
Twelve jurors and four alternates were seated in the afternoon.
During the morning, defense attorney Susan James continued her objections, from the previous day, to the way the jury was being chosen.
James said capital cases are the only cases where the jury has trouble with the punishment.
"Knowing what the potential punishment is in death cases is prejudicial," James said.
James also objected to the manner in which the jury was being selected, specifically the alternates.
After striking three qualified jurors for medical reasons on Wednesday Sept. 24, the court had qualified 59 jurors.
Then the court randomly selected 45 from the jury pool, leaving 36 people to be considered for the jury and leaving the rest as alternates.
"There were six African Americans, five of which were placed in the alternate pool," James said. "We should have been allowed to strike from the entire group of 59."
James asked the court for a mistrial.
District Attorney Robert Treese responded saying that there is nothing that says there has to be a specific percent of a group represented on a jury.
"It just has to be a fair representation," Treese said.
James' motion was denied.
The seated jury was made up of 10 women; eight white, one Hispanic and one black; and six men; three white and three black.
Judge Jacob A. Walker instructed the jury not to read anything or talk to anyone about the case.
After the jury had left for the day, defense attorneys sought to have one of their expert witness certified by the court.
Dr. Lauren Reba-Harrelson, a forensic psychologist, was called by the defense to testify as an expert on the mental-state of Leonard.
Leonard underwent psychological testing by Reba-Harrelson over the summer.
"(Leonard) has clinically significant symptoms with depression and anxiety," Reba-Harrelson said.
Reba-Harrelson told the court Leonard suffered a gunshot wound in 2008 in the abdomen.
"Since the time of his shooting he has had a hyper-awareness and sensitivity to his torso region," Reba-Harrelson said.
Defense attorneys said Leonard was claiming self-defense in the June 2012 shooting.
Self-defense under the law requires a person to have reasonable fear of his or her life, according to Treese.
Leonard feared for his life on the night of the shooting because of his previous injury, according to defense attorneys and Reba-Harrelson.
Treese objected to the testimony.
"Reasonable fear has to be based on an objective standard," Treese said.
Walker said he would allow the testimony from Reba-Harrelson as long as questioning did not go into Leonard's mental capacity.
Opening arguments are scheduled to begin Friday, Sept. 26, at 1 p.m.
James said she expects opening arguments to take an hour from both sides.
(09/25/14 12:00pm)
Auburn University's Fall Family Weekend is Sept. 26-28, in conjunction with the homecoming football game against Louisiana Tech University.
One of the main events for families is the tailgate.
"The tailgate is going to be located between Plainsman Park and the South Donahue Residence Hall, right along South Donahue Drive," said Tess Gibson, coordinator of parent and family programs. "We moved it this year, so it's right where Tiger Walk takes place."
The tailgate is an opportunity for parents to meet their students' new or familiar friends.
The tailgate will be set up by The Tailgate Guys, and includes a large white tent and seating.
"All of The Tailgate Guys' tents run from three hours prior to kickoff to an hour before, so it'll be from noon until 2 p.m." Gibson said.
Tiger Dining will provide the food for an individual tailgating experience that started last year.
"The idea is that we would provide food from some of the different dining locations around campus, so that the students' parents would have the opportunity to kind of eat like a student," said Glenn Loughridge, director of Campus Dining. "We didn't want to cater something in that students would not have access to consistently and not be something they wouldn't enjoy."
The menu will include chicken salad mini wraps from GG's at Lupton, smoked chicken sliders with raspberry chipotle sauce from AU Smokehouse and Donahue pulled pork lettuce wraps with special green goddess and kale slaw from Plains to Plate.
"We get a lot of questions from parents," Loughridge said. "Parents are obviously concerned about students' eating habits, and we want to make sure they feel comfortable with what students have access to."
Other items on the menu will be Greek salad with falafel and tomato jam from Go Greek, homemade ranch chips from Rye of the Tiger and dilled cucumber tomato salad with capers from Campus AYCTE.
Auburn's dessert bars and cookies from the Bakeshop and assorted beverages will also be available.
According to Loughridge, they started having Tiger Dining cater the tailgate last year in conjunction with new food venues opening all over campus.
"It was fun to watch students, kind of pointing out things that they eat on a daily basis to their parents," Loughridge said.
Parents can register for the tailgate online for $20 per person, and it is free for students. Other events will be going on throughout the weekend, including the homecoming parade.
"The Auburn University Marching Band is going to be performing, AU Rhythm will be performing, AU Singers, we have the cheerleaders and we have Tiger Paws and Aubie," said Rachel Berube, director of homecoming and sophomore in agronomy and soils. "Right now, including the floats, we have 27 participants in the parade."
To buy a ticket for the tailgate go to auburn.edu/ustores/web/store_main.
(09/17/14 12:00pm)
Auburn residents who hear an influx of motorcyclists driving by this weekend, shouldn't be alarmed.
It's for a good cause.
On Sept. 20, there will be the 2nd Angels Riding for Autism Motorcycle Benefit and family fun day taking place at Springvilla Park.
Luanne Helms, director coordinator of the event, started planning events and activities in 2012. Helms said this year they hope to double the turnout from last year's event.
"We've got four live bands that'll be playing (and) we're going to have a car show," Helms said. "We have a kids area that will have the Home Depot kids work shop and inflatables."
Helms has been working with the Autism Society of Alabama to plan the event. She said she decided to do the event because her own son has autism and epilepsy.
"She and her son love to go to Springvilla Park, and they love to look at the motorcyclist on the road, and she just put two and two together and said, 'Hey, I could do this.'" said Lynn MaGill, co-planner of the event.
"Last year it was her baby and it just blossomed. Last year we had 85 motorcyclist from Georgia, Alabama and Florida."
MaGill is in charge of the vendors for the event this year.
"We have, like, 15 vendors," MaGill said. "We have several that are doing crafts, like embroidery and quilting and jewelry. It's a big assortment."
Other vendors include Wake Up AU, DMD Creations, a tie-dye booth, a blacksmith and leather smith.
The event will feature music from Junior Cardiel; singing country and Southern rock, Hollow Sky; singing rock, August Redemption; singing alternative and Brittany Avery; singing Southern rock and country.
Food will be available from places such as Bama Jama Barbeque and Sno Biz.
The money raised from the event goes to providing activities all year for children with special needs.
"We provided them with the fall party," MaGill said. "We did a Christmas party with presents, we did a Spring Fling (and) a summer party. This year, some of the money is going to start a respite program in Auburn (and) Opelika, where once a month they can bring their children to the location and then the parents can go have a date and not have to worry about who is watching their children."
Jeff Pokorny, Springvilla Park manager, said the event turned out great last year.
"Last year they had Aubie, he came out and people (were) able to get pictures with Aubie," Pokorny said.
The event is $20 for a bike and $10 for a passenger, which includes lunch and a bracelet. The park will still be open to the public for $5 per person. The event starts at 11 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m.
"I have two children on the autism spectrum, and I just like to see them get out with other children with autism," MaGill said. "I like to meet the other families so I don't feel so sheltered, like I'm the only one going through this."
(09/11/14 7:30pm)
This past year, downtown Auburn acquired a variety of new restaurants, such as BurgerFi and Uncle Maddio's, but now, it's losing one.
Zazu Gastropub is moving from its downtown location on East Magnolia Avenue to a new Opelika location in on 112 S. 8th St.
"There's a building," said Graham Hage, owner and executive chef at Zazu Gastropub. "It was built by William Samford about 140 years ago. It's just a complete shell right now. We have to do all the interior stuff. The outside is mostly done."
The old location closed at the end of June, and Hage said he hopes to open the new location sometime between January and March.
"We had a huge increase in our rent and looked at some places in downtown Auburn, but nothing really fit what we were looking for, so we decided to look a little more in [the] Opelika area," Hage said.
Hage is also the owner of Halftime, and he said some employees have taken jobs there until the new location opens. Tavaris Washington, line cook for Zazu Gastropub, is one of the employees who moved to Halftime.
"I'm kind of excited about it actually," Washington said about moving the restaurant to Opelika. "New location, new opportunities, a lot of new people to feed."
Washington said many of the buildings in Opelika are historic and have a vintage, rustic look to them, so they plan on trying to keep as many of those elements as possible for the new location.
"It will be like a fine dining experience and a pub atmosphere," Washington said.
Hage said once the new location opens they will need more employees.
"The response from the Opelika side is great," Hage said. "They're really looking forward to it and can say nothing but nice things about it, so we're excited about it."
Hage said many of his regular customers at Zazu Gastropub said they were sad Zazu Gastropub was moving locations.
"I would like to thank Auburn students and the community for supporting us for seven years, and ask if they would still do the same when we're in Opelika," Hage said.
There is speculation a new Panera Bread Company may open in the old Zazu location in the future.
"We are looking at that location, but it's still in the developmental (stage)," said Mark Jinnette, general manager at the Opelika Panera location. "There's a process that corporate goes through when they're looking at locations and we have done a couple of the things that needed to be done in that process, but it's not official yet."
If Panera Bread decides to open up a new location in downtown Auburn, Jinnette said they would still keep the Opelika Panera location as well.
"The student population has grown and there's been a lot of changes on campus as far as parking and that sort of stuff," Jinnette said. "A lot of the student business that we used to get, we don't have as much of now because it's just not easy to, you know, get out of class, get to your car, get over here and go back. The Tiger Transit doesn't have a stop anywhere near us."
Although it is not official Panera will open a new location, Jinnette said if they do, they would be hiring new employees, including Auburn students.
(09/06/14 8:19pm)
Anyone looking for a girls' night out in Auburn is in a good place to find it.
Many businesses around Auburn have started the popular trend of hosting special events geared toward women seeking a relaxing, fun night out with their friends.
Monkee's clothing boutique hosted a fashion, facials and cocktails event this week where women could come and shop, enjoy refreshments and walk away with a free mini facial kit from Rodan and Fields after their store purchases.
"We've carried some of their products in the past just sort of as a supplement to our clothing," said Caroline Campbell, store manager for Monkee's.
Rodan and Fields sent five consultants to give mini facials and consultations on what products may be appropriate for different skin types.
"It's fun because there's a lot of the same demographics and clientele, that they like to take care of themselves, they like nice clothing and so it's fun to kind of pair up," said Ali Wilson, executive level five consultant for Rodan and Fields.
Campbell said this is the first time Monkee's has paired with Rodan and Fields. Other places in Auburn are following the trend, such as Perch Jewelry Studio.
Perch hosts an event once per month, usually Friday, where customers can come make their own jewelry and enjoy wine and cupcakes.
"It's just like a relaxing and creative environment to sit and make a piece of jewelry and enjoy cupcakes and wine and other people," said Barbara Birdsong, owner of Perch. "We're located near Amsterdam there's a lot of people waiting to get a table, so it's kind of a nice thing for people to be able to come in and enjoy wine and look at jewelry and relax while they're waiting on their table."
Ladies that are looking for a more artistic night out on the town can find that at Spirited Art, where customers are allowed to bring their own beverages to the painting class.
"Girls bring their wine and we teach them how to paint," said Vincent Canivez, owner of Spirited Art. They have a painting class scheduled every night, but most of their business is geared toward girls' nights out.
"Anybody can sign up, and if you want to have a group of girls, you can book a private party," Canivez said. "They can bring snacks, but a lot of people actually go to Momma G's in the shopping center because it's right next door, so you can always go in and get some nachos or sandwiches and bring it back into the studio."
For customers who bring their own drinks and snacks, Spirited Art has a refrigerator.
The pricing for girls' night out events is regularly $35 per person, but Canivez said they have specials occasionally.
Canivez said the best part about their studio is customers can surprise themselves with their creativity.
"You have fun and you come home with a good painting," Canivez said.
Whether it's painting, jewelry making or skin care, Auburn ladies have options when searching for something new to do for a girls' night out on the town.
(08/29/14 12:00pm)
A new workout trend has been spreading across the country, and now it has floated its way to Auburn.
Stand-up paddleboarding is now being offered at Chewacla State Park.
Lori Fuller, stand-up paddleboarding instructor, created a partnership with Mountain High Outfitters where participants can rent boards for each class.
Fuller said the first time she tried stand-up paddleboarding, she was hooked.
"When I fall in love with something, I'm the kind of person that wants to share it with the world and my friends," Fuller said.
Amanda White, stand-up paddleboard instructor, said the instructors will offer a fitness boot camp class that involves interval training, using push-ups, sit-ups and yoga to focus on balance.
The instructors went through a training period before they started teaching.
"We did an intensive weekend certification, so it was about 24 hours over a three day span where we just were very intense with the technique itself, the way that your body works on a paddleboard and the different benefits of doing workouts," White said.
Classes will be from Aug. 25- Oct. 12. Fuller said they are trying to locate an indoor pool where they can have the classes during the colder months, starting in January.
"When you get to an indoor pool, you anchor down," Fuller said. "Or you can also tie on to the swim ropes so your board isn't hitting on the side of the pool or endangering you in any way."
Fuller said stand-up paddleboarding is the fastest growing water sport in the country, possibly the world.
"It's not just something people are doing in beach towns or lake towns," Fuller said.
Dell Banks, park manager, said there has been interest for classes such as these, and participants who rent a paddleboard from Mountain High Outfitters will have a place to store it at the park.
"People are coming out here," Banks said. "They're paying their entrance fee, it's just like normal and they're using the lake to do their classes."
The park fee is included in the $20 cost for a paddleboard rental and class. Classes are $15 per class if participants bring their own paddleboard.
The instructors recommend participants make reservations 12 hours before the class, so they can have the correct amount of boards.
"Stand-up paddleboarding in general is a much more beneficial workout because it requires more core," White said. "When you're doing things, you're activating muscles and you're using the stability muscles that you normally wouldn't be able to get."
Although there are not different level classes, they do accommodate different skill levels.
"It can help a basic beginner who's never been on a paddleboard and it can also help athletes improve on their stability and working on those inner muscles that really wrap around your organs and keep those in place," White said.
(05/13/14 8:00pm)
Camp War Eagle counselors are some of the first people that incoming Auburn students will be meeting. Lauren Romano, sophomore in elementary education; Jessica Schaus, sophomore in nutrition and dietetics; and Joseph Armour, sophomore in math education, are all going to be Camp War Eagle counselors this summer, and have given The Auburn Plainsman a bit of insight as to who they really are.
(04/29/14 5:59pm)
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.
(04/29/14 5:55pm)
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.
(04/25/14 10:15pm)
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.
(04/25/14 6:30pm)
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."
(04/25/14 7:45pm)
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."
(04/18/14 4:00pm)
As a journalist, I have learned that I will be spending a lot of my time throughout my career doing things that most people would feel too awkward or pushy doing. To get the news, and to keep the public informed, journalists may have to put themselves in uncomfortable situations to get to the bottom of a story, and to ensure that the truth is the only thing printed.
Interviewing someone after they have had a death in the family may seem insensitive, and asking a politician about their latest marriage scandal may produce awkward silences or result in an angry politician, but that's part of the job. Just like it's not uncommon for a journalist to have to track down a source, or call and email them to the point of being obnoxious if they are an important part of the story.
Without journalists, the public would either have to stay uninformed or rely on whatever information they could get from the Internet, which may or may not be true.
So to me it's frustrating when I hear people say that we are in the business of "ruining people's lives," or that we are twisting the truth to get a better story.
Not only does twisting the truth harm whomever the article is about, but it also harms the journalist's credibility, which is arguably the most important credential that a journalist can have, and one that we don't want to lose.
Sometimes, printing the truth isn't enough, and sources still feel that they have been poorly represented or taken advantage of.
I wrote an article last week on Katherine Webb and AJ McCarron having a reality show for their upcoming wedding. I interviewed three members of the Webb family. They were all aware that I was a reporter, and that I intended to publish my article through The Auburn Plainsman.
Once the article came out they had a change of heart and asked if we could take the article down, because they realized that they had made a mistake in discussing the reality show with a reporter so soon.
This put me in a tough situation because I had no intention of causing any problems with the Webb family by writing the article, but I also didn't feel like it should be taken down just because they changed their minds.
Journalism is not the business of pleasing everyone. It is the business of informing the public, staying honest, having full disclosure with your sources, and getting the news out as fast as possible.
I can't control what happens after one of my stories is published. All that I can do is make sure that my facts are correct, that my quotes are accurate, and that the message is clear.
Sometimes an article gets a different reaction from the public than a source thought it would. This is not a valid reason for the source to blame the journalist, or to feign ignorance and say that they didn't realize that the article would be published.
Before I even begin an interview, I always make sure my source knows who I am, who I work for, when the article is set to be published, and what exactly it is about. I do this to prevent confusion and to ensure that a source isn't caught off guard when they read the article.
There are biased and corrupt journalists in the field, just like there are corrupt workers in any field, but there are also journalists who have a passion for reporting, investigating, and informing the public in the most honorable way possible.
(04/17/14 10:00pm)
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.
(04/13/14 1:09pm)
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.
(04/09/14 4:50pm)
Katherine Webb, Auburn graduate and Miss Alabama USA 2012, and AJ McCarron, former Alabama quarterback, have decided to tie the knot, after McCarron popped the question earlier this month. Their engagement will be short and wedding plans are already in the process of being made.
The couple has decided to do a reality show throughout the planning of their wedding, leading up to a televised wedding. Laurie Webb, Katherine Webb's sister and junior in public relations, is going to be maid of honor.
"They've already started filming during the proposal," Laurie Webb said. "From what I understood, it came from someone else. I don't think they were trying to get into a reality show, I think they just had the opportunity and decided to take it."
According to Laurie, right now a group of producers are coming together to make the show, but they haven't decided on a network yet.
Alan Webb, Katherine's father, said that they didn't know a reality show would be involved until very recently.
"After that was made known, my wife and I did several interviews," Alan said. "As reality shows go, this would be a wholesome one for sure."
Leslie Webb, Katherine's mother, said networks started contacting them after Katherine was shown on TV at the BCS Championship game, but that her daughter wasn't ready to do a reality show at that time.
Now, with the wedding set for July 11, the couple has decided to do a show.
The family has already started looking at wedding venues and dresses, according to Leslie Webb.
"We just had to get into wedding mode super quick," Leslie said. "She's wanting to keep it in Alabama, but because it's such a short time frame, that might not be an option."
Laurie said that the film crew won't be there every day, but they will be filming Katherine and McCarron on certain days when something interesting is going on, along with members of the wedding party, family and some friends.
They also don't know how many episodes they will have yet.
"They think it's a great opportunity," Laurie said. "They can also have a documentation of special times during their life, which will be kind of cool."
Alan said the film crew has been professional, fun and easy to work with. The crew interviewed Alan and Leslie after the proposal.
"To me, I still have a hard time viewing my daughter as being some type of celebrity," Alan said. "She's just still my daughter, but having it televised, it probably would work well for the fact that both she and AJ are known to a lot of people."
The proposal happened in Gulf Shores, Ala., when Katherine was under the impression that she and McCarron were going to a charity event.
After McCarron proposed, he took her to a restaurant where their family and friends were waiting to surprise her.
"After the proposal, Katherine still thought she was going to the event," Laurie said. "That's also why she thought there was cameras there."
Laurie said that the engagement ring is approximately five carats, with pink diamonds from South Africa on the side.
(04/05/14 6:00pm)
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.”
(04/03/14 5:00am)
It has come to my attention how obsessed college girls are with being tan. Through this seemingly never-ending cold weather Auburn has endured, I have embraced my paleness.
In my hometown, there were three or four people in my high school that went to the tanning bed, but, other than that, it was fairly unheard of. The few tanning salons we did have were not in the best area of town, and it was considered not very classy for girls to go to the tanning bed.
People who went would be embarrassed if someone saw their car parked outside a tanning bed, and it was a joke that sometimes people would park next door and walk over.
Freshman year of college, I remember being very confused as to how half of the girls at Auburn were still extremely tan in the middle of December. The amount of people that use the tanning bed is much higher than I ever would have anticipated.
Before coming to college, I got one spray tan before prom and immediately regretted it because instead of the "glowing" tan I was promised, I ended up looking slightly orange, a look that clashed terribly with my green dress.
I also despised having to wait six hours after the spray tan before I could shower. I had never gone to the tanning bed because for years my mother had told me it was the worst thing for my skin and I would look like I was 50 when I was actually only 30 if I started going.
I never felt the need to go to the tanning bed because everyone else was pale like me in the winter.
This is not the case for college students. With the warmer weather, pools are starting to open and girls are panicking over their paleness. I have overheard multiple conversations in the Student Center and walking around campus where girls are stressed over their paleness.
This year, I caved in and went to the tanning bed twice before formal because I think I was actually glowing from how pale I was. The experience was a disaster.
I went to one of the tanning beds you can stand up in, because the idea of laying down in a small confined space sounds terrifying to me.
I went for ten minutes the first time, and ended up getting sunburned instead of tan, and then went for 8 minutes the second time.
It made very little difference. I had some color in my face for about a day but by formal day, which was only a day later, I was back to my normal color. And I was now $20 poorer.
The whole time I was in the tanning bed, I was picturing my skin turning to leather and half expected to have aged 15 years after I stepped out.
Other friends of mine took the spray tan route, but many of them went to the tanning bed or attempted to lay out the week before even though it was windy and fairly cold to be wearing only a bathing suit.
Finally, as a junior, I have learned that if there is one thing college girls are more obsessed with than over-sized T-shirts or Starbucks, it is being tan.