the spectator - print edition - 2/23/12
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The Spectator Print edition 2/23/12TRANSCRIPT
The SpecTaTor
vALDOSTA STATE unIvERSITY’S InDEPEnDEnT STuDEnT nEWSPAPERvALDOSTA STATE unIvERSITY’S InDEPEnDEnT STuDEnT nEWSPAPER
February 23, 2012 W W W . v S u S P E C T A T O R . C O M vOLuME 83 ISSuE 22
The SpecTaTorInside This Issue
- OPInIOnS: “few hail to the future chief”
- FEATuRES: “Monday makes music”
- SPORTS: “freshman heroics in 2-0 win”
On the WebVisit the WebSpectator for moreflash mob, presidential search
coverage as well as audio clips fromthe concert band and wind ensemble
concerts.
Novel turns
into play
Check out page 6 for
the “A Lesson Before
Dying” preview!
www.vsuspectator.com
Previous questionSo what do you think about gas prices
increasing?A. Doesn’t matter, still have to drive
B. That’s outrageous, I refuse to buy gas
now
C. Well, guess I will be biking/walking
Do you know the real meaning of Mardi
Gras?
0%
86%
Beads, booze and...party!
It’s that holiday with the
masks, right?
It’s French for “Fat Tuesday.”
14%
Question of the Week
USG bill
may ban
foreign
students
the House Higher educationCommittee met on Jan. 31 to dis-cuss the bill that would ban ille-gal immigrants from attending allpublic colleges in Georgia.
House Bill 59, sponsored byrep. tom rice, was proposed lastyear to prevent illegal immigrantsfrom taking seats at Georgia col-leges away from those studentswho are here legally, according toan article published in the at-lantic Journal-Constitution.
although the bill was approvedlast year, the committee decidedto delay due to its proven chal-lenges as a hard and emotional is-sue.
instead, the meeting served asa hearing in which speakers ex-changed conflicting views andundocumented students deliveredtestimonies explaining how thebill, if passed, would affect theirlives.
no date has been provided asto when the House Higher educa-tion Committee will proceed tovote on House Bill 59.
according to interim Presidentdr. Louis Levy, in October 2010the Board of regents approved apolicy regarding the enrollmentof undocumented immigrants intothe University System of Georgia(USG) institutions.
the policy, which went into ef-fect this past fall, allows illegalimmigrants to enroll in Georgiauniversities and technical schoolsprovided that the school has notturned away academically quali-fied students of legal residentialstatus, but they must pay thehigher out-of-state tuition.
according to Walter Peacock,director of the office of admis-sions at VSU, the in-state tuitionfor VSU is $3,322, while the out-of-state tuition is $9,310.
this means that under the cur-rent policy, an illegal immigrant,even if he or she has alwaysresided in the state of Georgia,will have to pay approximatelythree times the tuition fee of legalin-state students in order to attendVSU.
according to the article, ifHouse Bill 59 is implemented, il-legal immigrants will be prohibit-ed from enrolling in any of the 35universities or 25 technicalschools in the University Systemof Georgia. Colleges would be re-quired to run students’ namesthrough a federal database to con-firm that they are in the countrylawfully.
Peacock, who opposes HouseBill 59, said he believes the billto be out of bounds and that thefederal government is not doingenough to help illegal immigrantsgain a legal status.
Ga. gas priceswill rise
in the past 10 days, four candi-dates visited VSU with the hopesof moving one step closer to thehighly coveted position of VSUpresident.
if VSU’s Presidential Search and Screen Committee decides
not to interview more candidates,the committee will choose threeof the four candidates and submitan unranked list to the regents’Special Committee. Out of thatlist will come the final name thatwill be put before ChancellorHank Huckaby.
the four current contendersare dr. Michael Lane from em-poria State University, dr. BillMcKinney from indiana Univer-
sity-Purdue University fortWayne, dr. Cheryl norton fromthe american association ofState Colleges and Universitiesand dr. ray alden from north-ern illinois University.
all four candidates spoke foran hour in front of staff, facultyand students from various depart-ments, such as Odum Libraryand VSUPd and were askedquestions about their experiences
and plans for VSU.One faculty member has al-
ready chosen his personal fa-vorite based on the sessions.
“i think someone whose firstname is ‘Bill’ instead of‘William’ is a down-to-earth peo-ple person,” said history profes-sor dr. Louis Schmier, who at-tended all four sessions.
Georgia prices for gasolinewere on the rise Wednesday andare expecting to keep rising overthe weekend.
regular unleaded gas jumpedfrom $3.58 to $3.63 in six hours,according to Motor trend maga-zine’s gas price chart. according to a press release putout by GasBuddy.com, the sud-den increase in gas came as noshock to GasBuddy.com seniorpetroleum analyst Patrick de-Haan.
“i expect stations to increaseprices as much as 5 to 20 centsper gallon by the conclusion ofthe weekend with some stationsstarting to raise prices immedi-ately,” he said.
Peck flanders, a worker at theformer Phillips 66 on Baytreerd., doubted the increase will af-fect business.
“it wouldn’t change much, be-cause this is more of a collegestore,” he said. “they come andget gas here when they want.”Courtney Bryller, who works inthe Union Station game room atthe Student Union, admitted thatwhile her plans probably would-n’t be affected that much, morefrequent plans would probably bechanged.
“i’m taking a trip to Georgiatech this weekend,” Bryller said.“i don’t do that very often but if idid, it’d probably change becausethe prices went up.”
Megan Harrisa s s t . M a n a g i n g e d i t o r
If passed, House
Bill 59 will bar
illegal immigrant
students from
attending Georgia
public colleges.
Weather at VSUToday Friday Saturday
Thunderstorms
73 H 47 L 61 H 40 LSunny
79 H 47 LPartly Cloudy
Search progresses after sessionsBefore the search moves on, feedback from the candidate
sessions must be reviewed by the Screen Committee.
�There is a potentialfor growth on thiscampus. But, I thinkthat growth forgrowth�s sake is notwhat you really wantto do. You want togrow and becomebetter.�
› Dr. Ray Alden
�I�m most concernedabout student success. I hopefullycan assure that students have thebest academic experience here. Iwant to provide students the resources to excel intheir discipline.�
› Dr. Cheryl Norton
�Clearly ValdostaState University is an excellent institutionwith wonderful andfriendly people. Ileave Valdosta moreconvinced that this isan exceptional opportunity.�
› Dr. Michael Lane
�I want to make it sothat anyone whogoes around thecountry, whetherthey�re an alum orfaculty member, anybody in the country can say, �Oh,you�re the school that� x, y, or z.� What isit that VSU is? What�sthe next big thing?�
› Dr. Bill McKinney
Stephanie Turnere d i t O r - i n - C H i e f
New flexdeposit boxinstallationpossible
See SEARCH , Page 2
Student Government associa-tion discussed the addition of anew Value transfer Station ma-chine, placed more stringent GParequirements on SGa membersand elected three more senatorsMonday night.
the VtS machine, which al-lows for cash deposits to flex ac-counts, would be placed near theStudent Union convenience store.Other ones are in the mail roomat Hopper Hall and in LangdaleHall. Senator reginald Merritt,who represents the Student af-fairs committee, mentioned thedevices are cost prohibitive,which explains the limited num-ber of these machines aroundcampus. Merritt said that there isno time table for this new ma-chine being added but did saythat it would be added in “thenext few weeks.”
SGa also increased the GParequirements for Senators from2.0 to 2.5 and executive Branchmembers from 2.2 to 2.75.
Clint Gray, Lance Stephens,and John Hanna were elected assenators.
Visit the WebSpectator for the full
version of this story.
Joe AdgieS ta f f W r i t e r
Joe AdgieS ta f f W r i t e r
See BILL , Page 2
Ashley Curtis/CAMPUS RECREATION
Music blaring from nearby speakers, students gathered and witnessed as the Campus Recreation Group Fitness staff broke out into a
flash mob along the Pedestrian Mall Wednesday afternoon. The group performed in order to raise awareness to its programs, namely its
new program Sweat to Swag. To get involved with the program, a student can sign up at the Student Recreation Center front desk and
recieve a points card. The student then attends any of the various group fitness classes such as Yoga and Kickboxing, taking his or her
card with him or her. Have the instructor sign the card to gain points. The more points gained, the higher the chance of getting a prize.
These points can be redeemed at any time at the Front Desk, and participants can be contacted when their prize is ready to be picked
up. The Campus Recreation site can be visited for more details. For video clips of the flash mob, visit the WebSpectator.
Flash!: Surprise on mall
in clude: for Sale, Want ed, room -
mates and Help Wanted.The Spectator prints free classi-
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Clas si fieds for fac ul ty, staff,
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Services
The Classifieds
Bartenders Wanted: Up to $250
per day. no experience necessary.
training provided. age 18+ OK.
Call 1-800-965-6520 ext. 233
Wanted
Pregnant? Now what?Answers at
Options Now A Life Choice Clinic
~ Pregnancy Testing
~ Limited Ultrasounds
~ Confidential & at no cost229-506-5017
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spectator sudoku
Answers on Page 5
For RentHouse for Rent2 Bed / 1 Bath
Walking Distance from university Center on
Williams St.Call: 229-292-4400
For Rent
Wanted
PLAY SPORTS! HAvE Fun!
SAvE MOnEY!
Maine camp needs fun loving
counselors to teach
All land, adventure, & water
sports. Great Summer!
Call 888-844-8080,
apply: campcedar.com
Services
Wanted
Japanese restaurant Server Wantedaligatou Japanese restaurant
1922 West Hill ave.229-2440-4784
February 23, 2012Page 2 | VSUSPecTaTOr.cOm N E w s
Thurs., FeB. 23
employment opportunity
Student Union and University
Center, noon - 5 p.m.representatives from Wild
adventures theme Park will beon campus to talk to studentsabout local employment opportu-nities. Contact Career Services at333-5942 for more info.
Bingo night
Library Auditorium, 8 p.m.feeling lucky? Like to play
the numbers? Join natural Highfor Bingo. Great prizes. Snacksprovided. it’s all free! Valid VSUi.d. required.
Palms Dining Discount Day
Palms Dining Center,
11 a.m. - 2 p.m.any students, faculty, or staff
who brings in five non-perish-able food items will only have topay $5 to eat. this event is partof Chartwell’s and Sife’s “iCanWeek” food drive.
Dancing with the Greeks
Student Union Ballroom, 6
p.m. - $5 AdmissionCome watch your favorite
dance teams as they compete intango, Jive, and Cha Cha cate-gories. there will also be twospecial performances by theBallroom dance Club Perfor-mance team.
this event is sponsored by the
VSU Ballroom dance Club. fordetails email ajritfeld@valdos-
ta.edu.
French Club Meeting
Odum Library 1480, 6 p.m.the french Club will be hav-
ing its second meeting of the se-mester. Members are asked tobring dues to the meeting.
sun., FeB. 26
Alcohol education and risk
Management seminar
Student Union Ballroom, 7
p.m.this seminar, by dr. Lori
Hart-ebert, is hosted by VSUGreek Life. all students are wel-come to attend.
Franklin and rosemary
Traveling Boutique
Student Union Meeting Room
1A, noon - 2 p.m.
Chi Omega is sponsoring the
boutique as a philanthropy event,with 10 percent of the proceedsgoing to the Make-a-Wishfoundation. Merchandise avail-able will incude dresses, tops,jewelry, iPhone cases and more.
Mon., FeB. 27
students offering support
Powell Hall - Counseling
Center Conference Room,
5:30 p.m.
this student-led organizationwill be conducted in a smallgroup setting designed to identi-fy potential problems with sub-stances and share stories of re-covery. Use the entrance facingGeorgia avenue. if you havequestions call 259-5111 or e-mail [email protected].
WeD., FeB. 29
Fashion for relay Model
Casting Call
University Center Magnolia
Room, 7 p.m.alpha Phi Omega will host
model casting by Kreative en-tertainment for its fashion forrelay fashion show to raisemoney for relay for Life. theyare looking for male and femalemodels.
Thurs., MArCh 1
european Council Pro-
grams Application Deadlinetravel to one of the major eu-
ropean cities, earn up to eight se-mester hours in just four to fiveweeks in the month of July andsee the world at the same time.
for more information visit theCenter for international Pro-grams at 204 Georgia ave., nextto the Student Health Center, orcall 333-7410.
You can also visit the Centerfor international Programs onlineat valdosta.edu/cip.
Upcoming Events
Comic by: Garrison Muelhausen /THE SPECTATOR
Thurs., FeB. 16a stall door was kicked off of
its hinges in the third floor men’srestroom of nevins Hall.
a cell phone was reportedstolen from Georgia Hall.
Fri., FeB. 17
a female was cut in the foot
and face during an assault be-hind the Student recreation Cen-ter at 2:15 a.m. the offender alsoran over the victim’s foot beforefleeing in a black toyota Camry.
Vandalism was reported in theinfirmary lot after a large pile ofwood was dumped onto the lot.
an elevator in the SustellaStreet Parking deck appeared tohave been damaged by someonekicking something in.
a green northface backpackand Vera Bradley laptop casewere reported stolen from thethird floor of Odum Library.
a recorder was reported stolenfrom a student at the Odum Li-brary Media Center.
sAT., FeB. 18
the nevins Hall gate arm was
broken and multiple benches andtrash bins were turned over dur-
ing the early morning hours.
Mon., FeB. 20
a burglary without force was
reported in Hopper Hall.
Tues., FeB. 21
a black Verizon Pantech Cruz
was reported stolen from theStudent recreation Center.
Police Briefs
Happy ‘Tator Day!
Feb. 23, 1997: Scientists in Scotland
announced they succeeded in cloning
an adult mammal, producing a
lamb named "Dolly."
ATTENTION STUDENTS WHO PLAN TO LIVE ON CAMPUS NEXT YEAR
TIME MONDAY (3-5-12) TUESDAY (3-6-12) WEDNESDAY (3-7-12)
10:00 am -
12:30 pm
Undergraduates who have completed 60 hours or more & graduate students, & have a 3.25 GPA or higher
All undergraduates who have completed 22 - 59 hours
Undergraduates who have completed 21 hours or less, & have a 2.5 GPA or higher
12:30 pm -
3:00 pm
All undergraduates who have completed 60 hours or more & graduate students
Undergraduates who have completed 21 hours or less, and have a 3.5 GPA or higher
All Undergraduates who have completed 21 hours or less
3:00 pm - 5:30
pm
Undergraduates who have completed 22 - 59 hours, and have a 3.25 GPA or higher
All Undergraduates who have completed 21 hours or less & have a 3.25 GPA or higher
Participation is open to all current VSU students including students that do not live on campus
5:30 pm - 8:00
pm
Undergraduates who have completed 22 - 59 hours & have a 2.75 GPA or higher
Undergraduates who have completed 21 hours or less & have a 3.0 GPA or higher
Reclaim process for current Centennial residents only--February 20 from 9am - 4pm, February 21 from 10am - 2pm, & February 22 from 4pm - 7pm, 2012 in Centennial Hall Classroom. Students who currently live in Centennial Hall will be able to reclaim their space if both students in the two bedroom or two of the four students in a four bedroom want to reclaim it. Room Selection for the 2012-2013 school year is March 5 - March 7, 2012 in the Student Union Ballroom C.Please check the Housing web site at h�p://housing.valdosta.edu for more details on both the Reclaim process and Room Selection. Please review the schedule listed below to �nd out what day and time you can participate.
*Each time slot is for current residence hall students only (including pulling in roommates), except the last slot on Wednesday. **GPA = Cumulative GPA
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VSUSPecTaTOr.cOm | Page 3FebrUary 23, 2O12 N E w s
BillContinued from Page 1
“if we don’t educate thesepeople we are compoundingthem down the road,” Peacocksaid. “i think it’s a travesty.”
Peacock also said he finds itparticularly upsetting that VSUis permitted to admit the leastqualified student over the high-est qualified one if that studenthappens to be an undocumentedimmigrant.
“these people have been herefor years to no fault of theirown,” Peacock said. “We can gettons of economic advantage outof these potential nurses anddoctors but instead we want tokeep them peach pickers.”
the topic of illegal immigra-tion in the United States is onethat a vast amount of people arepassionate about and students atVSU are no exception.
their opinions on House Bill59 run the gamut from thosewho hope to see the bill put intoaction and others who stronglyoppose it.
“i don’t think anybody illegal-ly in the country should be ableto go to college here,” JenniferMcMullen, a freshman middlegrade education major who sup-ports House Bill 59, said. “theyshouldn’t even be able to staybecause they don’t pay taxes,and they don’t contribute to ourcountry because they send theirmoney elsewhere.”
Janique Segers, a freshmanundecided major, knows first-hand the obstacles that immi-grants face in working to obtaintheir U.S. citizenship.
“i was born in South africaand moved to the states when iwas 6,” Segers said. “it tookeleven years to get my natural-ization certificate. “
Segers said the entire processof obtaining U.S. citizenship isridiculously long and super ex-pensive.
“i don’t think the bill is fairbecause if illegal immigrants arepaying a higher tuition alreadywhy would they take away theirright to attend universities whenthe schools are making money?”Segers said. “the schools shouldwork with these students in or-der to help them obtain citizen-ship.”
ryan Wood, a freshman, com-puter information system majorwho supports House Bill 59,said, “Citizens should not sup-port illegal citizens by providingthem the same services as legalcitizens.”
Vilma Castillo, sophomore,psychology major, said being ofMexican ethnicity, she hasfriends who are illegal immi-grants and hopes the bill is notput into action.
“these people are just tryingto make a better life for them-selves and this country is notgiving them the support theyneed in order to do that,” Castil-lo said. “they say we are the fu-ture of america, but by pushingthis bill they are severing the fu-ture of the many potential doc-tors and lawyers who have theability to better this country.
dr. Levy said VSU will con-tinue to work with the USG staffto carry out the current policies.
SearchContinued from Page 1
“i got the sense he was a reso-nant leader…a moving person. ifelt he was strong in his values,committed to his beliefs andlives a full, passionate life.”
dr. Louis Levy is currentlyserving as interim president, fol-lowing the departure of former-president dr. Patrick Schloss,who served as president for threeyears before leaving VSU lastspring to become the UniversitySystem of Georgia’s assistant toexecutive Vice Chancellor.
dr. Phyllis Holland, commit-tee chair and Management andinternational Business depart-ment head, said the committee ismaking progress.
“right now we are collectingfeedback from the interviewsand trying to digest the campusreaction to each of the candi-dates,” dr. Holland said. “allalong the way, there is the possi-bility of the need to interviewmore candidates but there are noplans for that now.”
the goal of the committee isto have a new president in placeby July 1.
dr. Holland encouraged stu-dents, staff and faculty to pro-vide feedback on the searchprocess through the PresidentialSearch website located throughthe VSU website homepage.
One of the candidates, dr.Lane, had positive feelings aboutVSU after his day on campus.
“Clearly Valdosta State Uni-versity is an excellent institutionwith wonderful and friendly peo-ple,” dr. Lane said.” their inter-est in VSU is both impressiveand important. i leave Valdostamore convinced that this is anexceptional opportunity.”
dr. McKinney would like forVSU to get more recognition.
“i want to make it so that any-one who goes around the coun-try, whether they’re an alum orfaculty member, anybody in thecountry can say, ‘Oh, you’re theschool that … x, y, or z. What isit that VSU is? What’s the nextbig thing?”
dr. norton holds the studentbody in high regard.
“i’m most concerned aboutstudent success,” she said. “ihopefully can assure that stu-dents have the best academic ex-perience here. i want to providestudents the resources to excel intheir discipline.”
dr. alden sees what VSU canaim for and become.
“there is a potential forgrowth on this campus,” he said.“But, i think that growth forgrowth’s sake is not what youreally want to do. You want togrow and become better.”
for any questions regardingthe search, dr. Holland can becontacted at [email protected].
Jacob McWhorter, Amber
Smith, and J. Daniel Young
contributed to this article.
the department of englishhosted a public reading withnovelist Olympia Vernon tues-day in Ballroom B of the Stu-dent Union.
Vernon was originally pursu-ing a career as a cop, butchanged her mind after a collegeprofessor encouraged her to gether Master’s degree in fine arts.
taking her professor’s advice,Vernon began digging in hercouch cushions for loose changeto copy of one of her old novelsto send to Louisiana State Uni-versity, where she was acceptedwith a full tuition waiver.
reflecting back, Vernon saidshe now realizes that her profes-sor was right in urging her topursue a career as a writer.
“i can imagine myself as acop pulling over a speeder andsaying, ‘Oh, okay cool, you’relate? Well maybe i can turn mylights on so you can drive evenfaster to get to your girlfriendshouse before she leaves for theairport’,” Vernon said. “i’m justtoo liberal.”
Vernon is now a critically ac-claimed author of three novels,“eden,” “Logic” and “a Killingin this town.”
after opening with a poeticjournal entry dedicated to thelate Whitney Houston, theLouisiana resident read aloud toa room of around 50 studentsand faculty attendees.
after the reading, Vernon tookquestions and gave writing ad-vice to the audience.
“…[i]f you ever happen to
stop in the middle of your writ-ing, always stop on a scenewhen something is about to hap-pen because when you pick backup, you’ll get that same rush allover again,” Vernon said.
Vernon also explained her in-teresting writing process to theaudience.
“My process is very danger-ous,” Vernon said. “i don’t eatfor days when i’m writing. iusually get a vision. i don’t usenotecards or anything because ithink when you try to map it outlike that you piss off your char-acters. it’s like you’re tellingthem what to do.”
Several of the audience mem-bers purchased copies of hernovels “eden”, “Logic”, and “aKilling in this town” for thirteendollars each at the close of thereading.
Brian Williams, freshman, en-gineering major, said he foundVernon’s multifaceted and oftencontroversial characters interest-ing.
dr. deborah Hall, creativewriting professor, also foundherself intrigued with Vernon’screative writing style.
“it’s certainly a way of writ-ing that’s probably hard for be-ginning writers to do but onceyou learn the techniques you canprogress to a process that is lessrestricting and more imagina-tive,” she said.
Vernon completed a fourthnovel last year, entitled “Queer”,about a gay man named J.d.foster on trial in rural Mississip-pi. finding a publisher for thismanuscript has been difficult,due to the controversial subjectmatter.
Acclaimed author
visits campusMegan Harris
a S S t. M a n a G i n G
e d i t O r
Today in History
Check out this week’s
WebSpectator for Trevor Smith’s
article on the new student
organization Students Offering
Support, more on SGA, and audio
from the candidates in VSU’s
presidential search!
FebrUary 23, 2O12 VSUSPecTaTOr.cOm | Page 4o P i N i o N s
editor-in-Chief: Stephanie turner Managing editor:amber Smith Business Manager: Lori PaddockAdvertising Manager:John PickworthCirculation Manager: Morgan Mcfarlandopinions editor: Mikayla BeyerFeatures editor: ariel felton
sports editor: Chad Stone Photo editor: J. daniel YoungMultimediaeditor: Jacob McWhorter Web Designer: rebeckaMcaleerCopy editor: Shambree WartelCartoonist: Garrison Muel-hausenFaculty Advisers: dr. PatMiller, dr. ted Geltnerreporters/Photographers:trevor Smith, Maya Kellam, d,
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Opinions expressed in the Spectator other than editorials are the opinions of the writers of signed columns and not necessarily thoseof the Spectator and its staff. all rights reserved. reprints by permission of the editors. Views in this newspaper are not necessarily
those of the Valdosta State University administration, faculty and staff.
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Spectator Staff
People Poll:
What actor or actressdeserves to win an Academy Award?
Adonis Mundy
sophomore
international business major
“angela Bassett. i think she is aphenomenal actress.”
Christine Brower
junior
exercise physiology major
“rachel Mcadams. She’syoung, she’s uprising. She’s
been in many movies lately. Herroles are very differentiating.”
Kenneth Preston
junior
chemistry pre-med major
“Will Smith. He’s made a lot ofgood movies and i like him as
an actor.”
Darrell T. Bowner ii
senior
mass media major
“Viola davis. She’s overdue foran Oscar and she’s always so
good.”
Austin Green
freshman
athletic training major
“robert downey Jr. He can playany kind of eccentric role and he
plays it well. He’s overcome alot of obstacles and become a
successful actor.”
Few hail to the future chiefW
hile people are inter-ested in the GOP pres-idential nomination
race, a search close to home hasVSU looking at a different typeof candidate.
VSU has been putting the VSUpresidential candidates throughtheir paces with interviews,meetings, and public speeches.the student attendance was mini-mal at the speeches. at dr. BillMcKinney’s speech event, theroom was filled, but the numberof students could be counted onone hand.
during these Q&a’s, studentswere given the opportunity toquestion the candidates. Organiz-ers even handed out a survey forstudents to provide their input
into the selection process.Which leads us to ask you: doyou realize the impact you canhave on this presidential search?
History professor Louis Schmi-er gave us his wish list for thenew president. One of the pointsthat he brings to light is the com-ment: “i am looking for a presi-dent who doesn’t want a bunchof ‘Yes persons around him, whoburies him or herself in meetingsso that he or she is inaccessible.”We want our president to be ac-cessible.
if students don’t offer their in-put, imagine where we will be ifVSU hires another dr. ronaldZaccari. do you want a presidentthat uses his position to expelstudents with whom he has an is-
sue?We have been lucky with dr.
Louis Levy, the interim presi-dent. He has an open door poli-cy with students.
if VSU hires someone whodoesn’t have that open door poli-cy, our ability to speak directlywith the administration couldsuffer. that might affect theSGa’s ability to work with thepresident and administration.imagine a campus where stu-dents don’t have the ear of thepresident.
it is our place to question thecandidates. after all, the presi-dent will steer this facility to-ward a possible new direction.
the candidate could lead us inutilizing new technologies, a goal
into which every collegeshould be looking.
the next president will be thenew face of VSU, and weshould try to put our best faceforward. that face is best cho-sen with the assistance of thestudents, through asking ques-tions and providing our input tothe administration and board ofregents.
it’s not like the board of re-gents or administration has toillicit our input, but since theyhave, it is our duty to acceptthis opportunity.
Our presidential search maynot be as grand as the ongoingGOP national search, but it willhave a much bigger impact onVSU as a whole.
This editorial was written by J. Daniel Young ([email protected]) and it expresses the general opinion of the editorial staff.
Higher education poses a
challenge for every student
The Electoral College remainsan outdated sign of the past
the time has come to askwhether citizens of the U.S needrepresentation through which tovote for the leaders of our coun-try.
the electoral College, whichconsists of the electors appointedby each state that then elect thePresident and Vice President ofthe U.S is unnecessary.
Why should we have any formof middle man when it comes tovoting?
are they afraid that we aren’t
capable of expressing what andwho we want in office?
don’t we as the american peo-ple have the right to designateexactly who we want to be ourleader?
Let’s have a definition of whatdemocracy is to the averageamerican.
“democracy is for the people,by the people,” rebecca Stiller, abusiness management and politi-cal science major, said.
“if this is really true, then whydo we need an electoral collegeto vote for president as well?What if for some reason the can-didate that the people elect isn’tgood enough for them? Shouldwe just be stuck with their
choice?”Like Stiller, a lot of Valdosta
State University students sharethe same sentiments.
Some believe though that acompromise of sorts can beworked out, without totally elim-inating the electoral College andgiving the people the choice theywant.
“Maybe we could vote on acandidate and whoever gets themost votes for the states in thatregion, that’ll be the person toget the electoral votes,” SethYoumans, biology major, said.
it’s a personal choice, an ex-pression of the very freedom thatwe as a people should have.
the government is treating us
like little children. We want pow-er and recognition as individuals,but we are being pushed asideand patronized.
to me it seems they’re saying:“Let them think they have pow-er.”
are we like the toddler in thekitchen, banging on pots andpans?
Believing we’re helping momprepare dinner?
do we live in a guise of amake believe democracy?
One thing is for sure, the aver-age american (student anyway)believes the electoral College isunnecessary, and i wholehearted-ly agree.
Autumn SullivanS ta f f W r i t e r
the surprising element on thebudget is his commitment to ed-ucation. His administrationstrives towards the goal of ahigher college graduate rate inthe world by 2020. Some of theways the administration hopes toachieve this goal are through thefollowing :
the Pell Grant current rate of$5,635 per year for post-sec-ondary education will be main-tained through the 2014 to 2015award year.
federal aid to colleges that donot assist in keeping tuitiondown will be stopped.
this mirrors the President’scomments during the State of theUnion address. those collegesthat do help to keep tuition downwill share in the proposed in-crease from one billion dollars ayear to eight and a half billion ayear.
another goal involves creatingan incentive for colleges to keepcosts under control through a onebillion dollar plan to help col-leges meet that challenge.
awarding a portion of a 55million dollar award that will as-sist colleges in developing strate-gies boosting higher educationattainment and student outcomes.
Providing a partially refund-able tax credit worth up to ten
thousand dollars over four yearsof college through the newamerican Opportunity tax Cred-it (aOtC).
improving access to higher ed-ucation to minority students.
investing in community col-leges with a two billion dollarprogram to help develop pro-grams that will foster assistancetoward local and regional labormarket demands.
expanding opportunities formath, science and engineeringstudents which will provide as-sistance in K through 12, whichalso helps to prepare students forhigher education in these fields.
recruiting effective teachersby providing a grant to teachersto teach in high-need schools.
While all of this is great, themost striking is a developmentthat caught me by surprise. dur-ing this summer, Stafford loansinterest rates are poised to doublefrom 3.4 to 6.8 percent.
this proposal intends to holdthat interest rate of 3.4 percentfor another year.
With the current state of theeconomy, raising the interest ratethis summer will have a definiteimpact on student’s future earn-ings.
You may not be interested in
politics, the budget or any of thethings happening in d.C., but theinterest rates on student loansshould be enough to get you call-ing your senator and demandinghe support this budget or at leastthis portion.
as students, we have a voiceand it’s time for these voices tobe heard when it comes to the fu-ture of our education and the dol-lars spent toward education.
if you don’t contact your sena-tor, then don’t complain whenyour interest rate doubles overthe summer.
J. Daniel YoungP H O t O e d i t O r
SXC
An empty classroom symbolizes the difficult road most schools and student face in the future. Fund-
ing will be available for education, but students will need to be aware of the opportunities available to
them. .
Garrison Muelhausen/The Spectator
Our point of view...
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Sudoku Answers
Monday makes Music
former VSU graduate JustinMonday is striving to make aname for himself in the orches-tra world as he has found a wayto incorporate hip-hop into hismusical performances.
Monday, 29-years-old, wasraised in decatur, Ga., with hisolder brother before making hisway to Valdosta, where he ma-jored in music education and vi-olin performance at VSU. Hegraduated in 2006.
Monday has been playing theviolin for 17 years and piano for15 years.
While attending VSU, hestudied under nina Lutz, stringarea chair at VSU.
Originally, he was dedicatedto playing saxophone.
However, one of his teachersgave him reasons why he shouldquit playing it, including the factthat there is much competitionamong sax players.
Monday used to be a memberof “the exchange,” an acousticband under the direction ofMichael Coons.
He joined the band when itformed in 2010.
He currently plays with Sean
newberry, a guitarist, and adamHopper, a singer. the trio per-forms under the name JustinMonday.
Monday got the idea to mix hip-hop with his violin performancesfrom Coons.
His lyrics are about topicssuch as partying, living life andeven discovering that a girl hascheated. He is all about the en-joyment of life.
“You only get one life to live,so why not just have fun?” Mon-day asked.
His inspirations include itzhakPerlman, a violinist, and Boydtinsley, an american violinistfor the dave Matthews Band.
Monday is aiming to be an in-spiration himself with his music,but there is also another goal.
“the goal is not only to in-spire, but [i] want to be amongthe elites,” he said.
along with playing with hisband, he is also an orchestrateacher at Chapel Hill MiddleSchool in decatur, Ga. He’sbeen teaching there for threeyears.
Before joining the Chapel Hillstaff, he taught at Cedar GroveMiddle in decatur for threeyears.
His band is currently awaitingthe release of his music video inmid-March for his song, “it’sLike this.”
“Our eP will be coming out inapril,” Monday said. “the goalafter the eP comes out [is that]we will keep trying to take overthe atlanta scene then go south.”
they plan on touring collegesincluding VSU and GeorgiaSouthern in the future. after,they will head to more places in-cluding florida, alabama andtennessee.
“it will definitely be excitingto come back to Valdosta andplay,” Monday said. “i played afew times in the bars when i wasin college so it will definitely be
fun to do it again.”
Melissa Holcomb / Contributed photo
VSU graduate mixes classical violin with upbeat hip-hop
Justin Monday, vSu graduate, has been playing violin for 17 years. Recently, Monday hooked up with
Sean newberry and Adam Hopper. Look for the band’s EP in April and a music video for “It’s Like
This” in March.
you only
get one life
to live, so
why not
just have
fun?- JusTin MonDAy
“
”
Melissa Holcomb / Contributed photo
Amanda usherAssistant opinions editor
Do you know a VSU student,
faculty member, or alumni with an
interesting hobby or outstanding talent?
Let us know who deserves a profile!
Contact features editor, Ariel Felton, at
Go online to hear “It’s Like This” by Justin Monday!
Page 6 VSUSPecTaTOr.cOm| FebrUary 23, 2012
Starting today, students will beable to see “a Lesson Beforedying,” a theatric performancein the Lab theatre on the secondfloor of the fine arts Buildingroom 238.
the performance, which isbased on ernest Gaine’s novel,has a theme centered in Bay-onne, La. in the late-1940s.
a Louisianan black mannamed Jefferson is accused ofmurder and is sentenced todeath. the play follows his lifefrom the sentencing to his execu-tion.
dr. John Gaston, dean of theCollege of the arts, and H. dukeGuthrie, associate Professor oftheatre, co-directed the stageadaptation by romulus Linney,an american playwright whowrote over 20 plays.
“it’s an experience for the stu-dents—we try to give them a va-riety of different kinds of charac-ters to play,” dr. Gaston said.
the small cast consists of sev-en players: Mark LaMont Hance
as Jefferson, d’amante Wilsonas Miss emma Glen, John Holla-day as Paul Bonin, Jonathanbutts as Grant Wiggins, Clarkfranzman as Sheriff SamGuidry, diamond do’zia as Vi-vian Baptiste and anthony Scott
as rev. Moses ambrose. Both Guthrie and Gaston be-
lieve the show will shed light onthe hardships endured during thelate-1940s for african ameri-cans.
“i found the play incrediblypowerful and exciting in a verychallenging way, but i felt that iwould need the cultural perspec-tive that dr. Gaston would bring,and his wisdom,” Guthrie said.
dr. Gaston feels a good col-laborative effort has been made.
“i think we’ve been able to goa little faster because he seesthings that i don’t see, and whenwe put those together, it allowsus to make progress,” he said.
Others also feel the energygiven by the performance.
“i like the intimate feel for be-ing in the lab so close to the per-formance,” Michael driggers,technical director, said.
despite the closeness of theperformance, seats are filling upfast.
remaining times for the per-formance are Saturday at 7:30p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m. andMonday through Wednesday at7:30 p.m.
VSU Students get into theshow for free with a valid id.all other ticket prices are $12for adults, $10 for senior citizensand $8 for children. tickets areonly $7 for groups of 10 ormore.
tickets can be purchased bycalling the VSU theatre anddance Box Office between thehours of 2 and 5 p.m. at (229)333-5973 for advanced reserva-tion. reserved tickets can bepicked up approximately 30 min-utes before curtain call.
FEatUrEs
From left to right:
Clark Franzman as Sheriff Sam Guidry, John Holladay as Paul Bonin, D’Amante Wilson as Miss Emma
Glen, Mark LaMont Hance as Jefferson, Anthony Scott as Rev. Moses Ambrose, Johnathan Butts as
Grant Wiggins, and Diamond Do’zia as vivan Baptiste.
Jennifer Gleason / THE SPECTATOR
Jennifer GleasonAssistant Features editor
this issue of Spec techis all about newphones, BlackBerry’sOS 2.0 update, and e-
reader tablets.Companies are still announc-
ing smartphones, even thoughthe Mobile World Congress isn’tuntil next week. Samsung an-nounced the Galaxy ace 2 aswell as the Galaxy Mini 2.
the Galaxy ace 2 has a 3.8-inch WVGa screen, 800MHzprocessor, 5-megapixel camera,front facing VGa camera, mi-croSd card slot, 4GB of internalmemory, GPS, USB 2.0 portand will launch with android2.3: Gingerbread OS.
the Galaxy Mini 2 has an800MHz processor, USB 2.0
port, microSd slot, 4GB of in-ternal memory and launcheswith android 2.3 but the otherspecs are less powerful that theace 2. it will have a 3.27-inchHVGa screen, a 3-megapixelcamera and a front facing cam-era. it will also have HSdPasupport, so it is a world phone.
a global release for thesephones will be sometime in orafter april.
a Japanese blog, Macotakara,reported that the next iPhonewill release in the fall, like the 4sdid this past year, and claimedthat apple will continue thistrend for the phone.
the iPhone 4s was the firstiPhone to be released in the falland not the summer, but i expect
this rumor to be true. apple isnot well known for releasingnew products within the sameyear, except for MacBook Pro’s. releasing the iPhone 4s right be-fore the holiday season helpedwith sales, so i expect apple torelease the next iPhone in the be-ginning of October.
Chinese phone manufacturer,Zte announced two new an-droid 4.0: ice Cream Sandwichdevices. the Zte Pf200 has a4.3-inch QHd screen, 8-megapixel camera, 1080p front-facing camera, GPS and anHdMi-out port. Lte support isin the phone, but they have notannounced what company it willbe on.
the Zte n910, on the otherhand, has a WVGa touch screen,5-megapixel camera, 1080pfront-facing camera, GPS andwill only support 3G networks.do not get excited yet though, asZte has not announced whatcountries these phones are com-ing to, but it is expected to debuthere in america.
if you have the BlackBerryPlayBook, then rejoice! the newoperating system, OS 2.0 is here,giving you everything it shouldhave had a year ago.
With a built-in e-mail, calen-dar, and a contacts app, the up-date also allows for more an-droid apps to work on the de-vice. Sadly, it still does not haveintegrated BBM. the update isavailable now for free.
Barnes & noble has an-nounced an 8GB version of thenook tablet for $199. all of thespecs are the same as the 16GBversion. Barnes & noble hasdone this for direct competitionwith the Kindle fire, since thefire is the second best sellingtablet, next to the iPad. the
8GB nook tablet is now avail-able on the Barnes & noble’swebsite.
a report from digitimes saysthat foxconn is making a 10-inch Kindle fire for amazon.the original fire is only a 7-inchtablet. it would be set to launchin the second quarter of 2012.
the question for this week is,“Who do you think has the bettere-reader, the nook tablet, Kin-dle fire or iPad?” i am askingfor the enjoyment of reading, notwhich tablet has the most fea-tures. e-mail me [email protected] or com-ment on the Spectator website,vsuspectator.com.
spec techwith Steven Setser
VSU gets ‘A Lesson Before Dying’
Amazon kindles bigger Fire
I found the play
incredibly powerful
and exciting in a very
challenging way...
- h. DuKe GuThrie,
AssoCiATe ProFessor oF
TheATre
“
”
the members of the improvi-sation troupe will be hostingdancing with the Greeks at 6p.m.in the Student Union Ball-room.
if you enjoy the competitiveatmosphere of smooth and rhyth-mic steps of a ballroom dancecompetition, then this event isfor you.
the event was founded by theBallroom dance Club’s formerpresident taylor Marie Berry, amember of alpha Sigma alpha.She put the competition togetheras another creative way to raisefunds for their organization.
“it was an idea for fundrais-ing,” andrew ritfield, Presidentof the Ballroom dance Club,said.
“We may open that up to more
organizations to keep findingways to make it bigger and bet-ter.”
Hosted by Jeffrey Clifford andisaac Huntington, this 2nd annu-al competition is centered onteams of four couples from eachfraternity or sorority that will beteaming up and performingchoreography in either the Jive,the tango, or the Cha Cha.
the competitors include mem-bers from alpha Sigma alpha,delta Chi, Phi Mu, Kappa alphaOrder, alpha Kappa alpha, al-pha Phi alpha, Kappa delta,Sigma Chi, Zeta tau alpha andPhi Sigma Kappa.
the event will be open to thewhole campus with an entry feeof $5 per person.
“We encourage everyone tocome,” ritfield said. “everyoneshould enjoy our events and ourorganization as well.”
While the brothers and sistersdonate money, the money along
with the entry fee will be put upand 10 percent of the proceedswill go towards the winners andtheir philanthropy.
“it was an idea for fundrais-ing. We may open that up tomore organizations to keep find-ing ways to make it bigger andbetter,” ritfield said.
although this is an extrava-gant event, you are encouragedto wear whatever you have aslong as you come out and sup-port.
“Wear what you got; reallyjust be there to enjoy the eventand see what we are about,” saidritfeld.
the Ballroom dance clubmeets every friday at 3 andcosts only $20 for the whole aca-demic year.
for those interested in being apart of the Ballroom dance club,contact andrew ritfeld at ajrit-
VSU Greeks Jive,Tango and Cha-Cha
Morgan McFarlandCirculation Manager
Don’t forget to check online for more features, including Pop Addict with Maya Kellam! This week: a behind-the-scenes look
at Whitney Houston’s funeral, and Chris Brown and Rihanna hook back up for two remixes!
VSUSPecTaTOr.cOm|Page 7 FebrUary 23, 2012 sPorts
flashback to Sept. 28, 2011.there i was sitting on thecouch, tense, waiting; it
was the top of the 9th. Septem-ber had been a rough month forthe Braves, but there was still achance to secure a coveted wildcard spot in the postseason. allwe needed was a ground ball andthe game would be over, but in-stead the Braves suffered one ofthe worst collapses in the historyof america’s pastime leavingfans and players slack-jawed andspeechless.
So i, like any good Bravesfan, moved on. i have been adiehard for 20 years now, and ihave seen all the fantastic sea-sons followed by postseason col-lapses, but this past year planteda sapling of doubt in the back ofmy mind that is slowly growinginto an indestructible tree ofhopelessness as i watch theBraves returning to spring train-ing after a stagnant offseasonthat saw little change to theBraves while the rest of their di-vision got much stronger (asidefrom the Mets; sorry guys).
there are some positives ofcourse. the pitching staff islooking pretty strong with JairJurrgens and tommy Hanson re-turning after being injured forthe majority of last year.
it’s great to see these twohealthy again alongside BrandonBeachy and Mike Minor becausethey are going to have to step upand fill in for tim Hudson forthe first month as “Huddy” re-covers from offseason backsurgery.
derek Lowe is gone after avery disappointing season thatsaw him go 9-17 in 34 startswith a 5.05 era. the Braveshave too much young talent thatneed as much play time as possi-ble to hone their skills, so keep-ing a lackluster oldie like Lowe
around was counterproductive.the biggest problem that i
have, and something that hasbeen an issue for the Braves inthe past few years, is offensiveproduction. the bats are so in-consistent, and no one is step-ping up and filling that clutchpower hitting position.
Chipper Jones, 39, isn’t get-ting any younger and holy craphe’s looking alittle rough atspring training.did anyone seethe picture oneSPn.com of Mr. Jones, pudgeedition? Chipper, easily one ofmy top 5 favorite Braves pastand present, needs to stayhealthy and keep his bat hot thisyear, but if that doesn’t happen(which isn’t likely given histrack record) then i think itmight be time to hang up the jer-sey and hit the cages training the
young guns on how to be an all-star hitter like he was in the past.
another x-factor is right-field-er, Jason Heyward. His bat reallycooled off last year after a prettygreat rookie season. He wasdealing with an ongoing shoul-der injury and difficulties hittingballs on the inside of the plate(which opposing pitchers ex-ploited like any smart team
would), but if hedoesn’t start toshow improvementthen it may be timefor the Braves to
start looking elsewhere.i know it seems like i am real-
ly ripping into my favorite teamof all time in any sport, but afterthe dismal performance at theend of last year, it is hard not toquestion the lack of activity andjust attribute it to having a youngteam that will somehow just dobetter this year in a division that
got a lot stronger during the off-season.
the Miami Marlins (it’s goingto be hard to not call them flori-da anymore) made major movesto acquire big names includingstarting pitchers Mark Buehrleand Carlos “Big Z” Zambrano,shortstop Jose reyes, and closerHeath Bell who had 43 saveslast season. these major addi-tions along with the bat of rightfielder Mike Stanton could pro-vide some major problems forthe Braves.
One team that looks lacklusteron paper but seems to hand theBraves all sorts of trouble everyyear are the Washington nation-als. With a healthy StephenStrasburg and a one-year dealfor closer Brad Lidge the Bravescould be scratching their headsonce again.
and now we move on to theopponent that ultimately decidedthe Braves’ fate on those darkSeptember days; those damnedPhiladelphia Phillies. Out of 18games in 2011, the Phillies beatthe Braves 12 times includingbeing undefeated 6-0 in the sec-ond half of the season. they mayhave lost one of their star pitch-ers in roy Oswalt, but theyadded the big bat of Jim thomeat first base and allstar closerJohnathan Papelbon.
even the new York Mets arepretty good at being a thorn inthe Braves side splitting thegames in 2011 9-9, but thechances of them being a greaterthreat in the nL east is slim.
Braves fans may have to settleon the fact that this season maybe a lesson in patience for boththe players and fans, but onething is for sure, good or bad,there is always next season.
the beauty of all sports is theprospect of a next season howev-er bad the last one was.
Atlanta Braves center fielder Michael Bourn walks toward Champi-
on Stadium during the third day of pitchers and catchers workouts
in the ESPn Wide World of Sports Complex, Wednesday, in Lake
Buena vista, Florida.
MCT
Collapse doesn’t change Braves ways
STONEWALLEDwith Chad Stone
VSU Baseball Home
Games This Weekvs. Barry, FRI. @7 p.m.
vs. Florida Southern, SAT. @7 p.m.
vs. Tampa, SUN. @6 p.m.
Check out our new sports
Twitter for news and scores
@BlazerSports
Interested in writing for the sports
section of The Spectator?
Email Chad Stone at:
Mac Ingram /THE SPECTATOR
Out with a bangVSU rout Coastal Ga. 100-
65 in last home game
Brandon Klunder, senior guard, goes up for a layup in vSu’s 100-
65 win over Coastal Georgia Wednesday night. vSu plays their fi-
nal regular season game on Saturday at West Florida. The GSC
tournament will start Mar. 1 in niceville, Fla.
Open HouseF R E E F O O D, P R I Z E S , G A M E S & T O U R S
pay zero deposit
come see us March 2, 2-5pm
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Page 8|VSUSPecTaTOr.cOm FebrUary 23, 2012sPorts
Softball is clicking
on all cylinders with
sweep of GSW in
Wednesday’s double-
header; 2-0, 9-1. Im-
prove to 9-2 record.
VSU freshman centerfielderCourtney albritton hit a walk-offtwo-run homerun shot to securethe Lady Blazers first victory ofthe doubleheader against GeorgiaSouthwestern Wednesday after-noon 2-0. the rest of the teamcontributed tremendously in thesecond game with a 9-1 winleaving the Canes stunned andwinless for the day.
the true freshman's homerwas one of the only two hits theLady Blazers recorded the entireopening game.
albritton began the day play-ing like a typical freshman strik-ing out twice before her oppo-site-field slam and VSU HeadCoach thomas Macera lovedseeing the young blood stay fo-cused and come up big for theteam.
"She's a beast," Macera said."i don't like singling out kids, butshe is a freaking ball player andshe doesn’t act like a freshman.that’s the difference."
Both teams had a tough timegetting on base because of im-pressive pitching from both starpitchers.
GSW’s senior ace Jessica Mar-tin had seven strikeouts butfound her no hitter interrupted inthe final inning.
VSU pitcher alanna Hadleyled the Lady Blazers on themound allowing just three hitsand tallying seven strikeouts aswell.
Martin committed two of sev-en walks in bottom of the firstinning putting VSU in scoringposition.
However, the final out of theinning came when third basemenSam Posey was called for runnerinterference after she ran intoGSW shortstop Janna anderson.
in the top of the second,Hadley obviously starting set-tling in retiring the first threebatters she faced.
the side included her makinga difficult bare-handed throw tofirst and recording her firststrikeout of the day.
during the bottom of the in-ning, Martin allowed two walksagain putting herself in anotherearly jam.
VSU was in a good positionwith runners on first and secondbase with two outs left in theside, but they were strandedwhen senior second basemanapril Hutchens lined out.
despite the missed scoringchance, the Lady Blazers contin-ued to be defensive minded andit showed the next inning.
the top of the third inningwas highlighted by a Hadleystrikeout and great defensivegrab by outfielder Morgan John-son.
in the bottom of the inning,Johnson managed to steal secondbase after being walked.
Senior captain Marti Littlefieldpicked up her second walk of theday, but both runners werestranded once again.
GSW third basemen GabbiBuck was caught looking onthree pitch strikeout by Hadley inthe top of the fourth inning fol-lowed by a ground out fromGSW star hitter avery Purser.
Purser leads the team with a.433 batting average.
the bottom of the fourth con-tinued the pitching showcasewith Martin finishing off the sidestriking out Hutchens.
Hadley wasn't on the moundfor long in the top of the fifth in-ning getting assistance fromteammates on defense.
in the bottom of the fifth in-ning, Martin was showing nosign of slowing down strikingout all-GSC Littlefield and gameone hero albritton in the side.
the next inning VSU’s de-
fense held with a three and out. While GSW struggled swing-
ing the bats, Martin showed noweakness recording two morestrikeouts in the sixth.
the Canes looked to make alate score in the seventh with thescore deadlocked at 0-0 whenBuck hit a leadoff double.
GSW leftfielder rachel Mcel-roy’s sacrifice fly moved Buckup to third base.
With a runner 90 feet awayfrom home, the Canes were inposition to finally take the lead.
Hadley pitched aggressivelyand made her last strikeout of theday in perfect timing.
Littlefield made a diving grabin the infield for the final out.
this exciting play got Hadleyout of a huge jam.
Martin, who held the VSU of-fense without a hit through sixinnings, saw her great outingsquandered in the final inning.
Junior outfielder Sarah Vaughnstepped in as a pinch hitter andhit a single up the gap.
albritton was up, and despiteher rough at bats prior to the in-ning she connected for her thirdhome run of the season.
"the first three at bats i wasreally frustrated, but the last atbat i was told not to think, justreact and that’s what i did,"albritton said.
UGa transfer Hadley pickedup her fifth win of the seasonand is proud to have a youngteammate who can step up forthis team.
"i have just as much confi-dence in her as some of the se-niors knowing that she can getthe job done, and i think it's awe-some," Hadley said. "it's greatfor Coach Macera and the yearsto come."
VSU got a lot more offensiveproduction in the second game of
the doubleheader forcing the of-ficials to consider the mercy ruleending the game after the fifthinning because the Lady Blazerswere up by more than eightpoints.
Julia fink and Brianna Han-cock pitched for the Lady Blaz-ers in the second game.
after fink put in 1.2 inningsCoach Macera replaced the se-nior with Hancock who tookcredit for the win with 3.1 in-nings of work.
the sophomore only gave upthree hits and zero runs.
the Canes took the lead earlyin the second inning when John-son committed an error fumblinga sure out in the outfield.
Johnson redeemed herself inthe bottom of inning when shecleared the bases on a double toleft field pushing VSU to a 3-1lead.
the junior finished the game
with four rBi's.VSU continued to play strong
defense leaving GSW runnersstranded on base in the top of thefourth.
during the bottom of the in-ning, Posey hit a rBi single todrive Steinhilber home who wason third base prior to this playafter hitting a double.
the defeated Canes werescoreless in the top of fifth in-ning. VSU, leading 8-1, justneeded one more run to clinchthe mercy rule.
Johnson in the bottom of thefifth hit a pop fly to centerfield.although it was an out, it drovein the game ending run who wason third.
the Blazers move to 9-2 onthe season while Georgia South-western drops to 5-9.
"this team is as solid as theyget. We have the best defense inthe country," Coach Macera said.
Eric Jacksona S S i S ta n t S P O r t S
e d i t O r
Courtney Albritton, freshman centerfielder, is greeted by her teammates at home plate after a walk-off homerun in the bottom of the sev-
enth sealing the victory in the first of two games Wednesday afternoon 2-0.
J. Daniel Young / THE SPECTATOR
Freshman heroics in 2-0 win