Courtney Johnson/Staff Writer - The Auburn Plainsman

Campus

Auburn Steps Up Sustainability Awareness

By Courtney Johnson/Staff Writer | July 27

Auburn University has recently undergone many changes to accommodate the need for sustainability and environmental awareness on campus and in the community.A pronounced step toward a more sustainable campus for the University has been the addition of a permanent Office of Sustainability on campus.The Office of Sustainability has many resources available to students.

Sports

Women's Soccer Has Big Goals to Net This Season

By Courtney Johnson/Staff Writer | July 23

The Auburn women's soccer team is gearing up for the upcoming season. They said they have a strong, experienced group of seniors, specific goals and highly anticipated recruits."I'm excited to think that this could possibly be our best season ever," said Jenni Prescott, a senior in early elementary education.

News

Cold Truth About Frozen Yogurt

By Courtney Johnson/Staff Writer | July 20

Auburn has seen some record high temperatures this summer, and some could agree that an ice cold frozen yogurt is a great way to beat the heat.

Campus

ChaCha Texting Search Service Brings Competition to Google Text and Foy

By Courtney Johnson/Staff Writer | July 16

ChaCha, a new search engine, has danced its way into the competition to rival others like Google text and Foy.ChaCha (242-242) is a service that users can text with any question, and they will text you back with the answer within one to five minutes, said Brian Nunez, an undeclared sophomore in liberal arts who has worked for ChaCha.Nunez said users can ask ChaCha anything from movie times to sports scores and that they can answer pretty much any question regardless of the nature."If you work for them, you sign in on your computer and questions pop up, you look them up and then type them a message that answers their question," Nunez said.The major difference between ChaCha and Google text is that ChaCha is answered by a person said Blair Stapp, a senior in graphic design and employee of ChaCha."There are fallacies that come along with that, because as humans, we're always making mistakes," Stapp said.

News

Lasik Surgery Improves Sight

By Courtney Johnson/Staff Writer | July 16

Lasik eye surgery has become a viable alternative to contact lenses and glasses for young adults.It gives them a chance to experience near-perfect vision without the hassle of contact lenses and glasses.Dr. Charles Cowan, an optometrist at Auburn Eye Care, described the ideal candidate for Lasik eye surgery."Broadly speaking, the procedure has been done on patients of all ages," Cowan said.

Sports

Men's Golf Review

By Courtney Johnson/Staff Writer | July 9

The men's golf team finished with a record of 55-79-1 last season. The team suffered the loss of six seniors from the previous year and began the season with a young team, but expected to get better as the year progressed.Mike Griffin, former head coach of the men's golf team, maintains that his only goal for the team was to make improvements."This year they started a new rule, to make it to the NCAA, you have to have a 500, which means winning 50 percent of your season and we won 41 percent, so that's why our season finished at the SEC Championship," said Gary Thorne, sports information director for men's golf."We had one senior this year with great experience, Glenn Northcutt," Griffin said.

Campus

Auburn Starts Success Strategies Course for Veterans

By Courtney Johnson/Staff Writer | July 9

Auburn is working to keep military students in mind and focus on helping veterans continue their education through a course called Success Strategies in the Veterans Learning Community (VLC).Auburn has made this course available for the upcoming fall semester and its goal is to help transition students in the military back into the university setting."Success Strategies is an opportunity for prior service veterans, active duty, National Guard or reserves," said Steve Barnard, Auburn University Veterans Affairs Certifying Official.David DiRamio, an assistant professor in the College of Education, is the developer and teacher of this class because of his military history."This section of success strategies will help military students to develop personal learning and studying plans, and it will also address aspects of transition from military service to the college setting through guest speakers and peer connections," DiRamio said.

Community

Cambridge Coffee Closes for Repairs

By Courtney Johnson/Staff Writer | July 9

An integral part of the coffee-lovers community across Auburn suddenly closed June 29.Owners of Cambridge Coffee on College Street closed their doors, turned off the lights and hung a "renovation" sign.A former employee of Cambridge, who did not want his identity revealed, said the shop is not undergoing aesthetic renovations, but has shut its doors and is considering a different business avenue."There's talk about all kinds of new types of businesses coming into this spot," he said.

Campus

Haley Goes Dough-Nuts

By Courtney Johnson/Staff Writer | July 9

Daylight Donuts is expanding its horizon by adding a self-service doughnut shop to Haley Center.Bill Springer, owner and manager of Daylight Donuts, is anticipating the arrival of the new location.Right now, the plan is a self-service display case with fresh trays of doughnuts and bags available so that customers can grab a doughnut on the go, he said."We feel honored to be able to go in and offer our doughnuts to campus," Springer said.

Community

Sips and Strokes for Different Folks

By Courtney Johnson/Staff Writer | July 2

A new business in Auburn is painting the perfect picture for a night out on the town.Sips N Strokes, located on University Drive, allows customers to get creative by participating in a painting lesson and going home with their completed work.As the name implies, customers are invited to bring in a beverage of their choice to enjoy while they paint.Brad Baggett, owner and manager of the Auburn branch of Sips N Strokes, said the painting classes are offered Monday through Saturday."Monday through Wed-nesday the classes are two hours long and cost $25 and from Thursday through Saturday, Sips N Strokes offers three hour classes for $35," Baggett said.The paintings offered during the three-hour classes are slightly more difficult.