The Northerner The Independent Student-Run Newspaper of NKU Thursday, January 24, 2013 | Ed. 51 Is. 2

Part-time professors caught up in full-time problemNKU not affected by national trend in higher education

News, p. 5

Flu outbreak hits Northern Kentucky early this year

Arts & Life, p. 6

Criminal justice Ph.D. turned author

Sports, p. 11

Students return to rec for BASEketball

Photo by Kody KahleThe part-time faculty office (pictured) is where a number of faculty is assigned to work, instead of individual offices. National trends suggest universities are using part-time professors at a higher rate than full-time, but according to vice provost, NKU is not partaking.

_____________________ Continued on p.2

NKU part-time English professor Nathan Singer is a busy man. Starting his mornings at 6:15 a.m.—six out of seven days a week—all semester long last fall, Singer would com-mence his daily routine with practice at a local children’s theatre, then commute to and fro, between four different colleges and universities, where he taught a total of 11 courses.

Although he said he enjoys his busy sched-ule, many people can’t help but wonder why on earth he would keep this more than hectic schedule?

The answer is simple.According to Singer, as an adjunct, or

part-time professor, he is not provided the benefits or competitive salary that a full-time professor would be.

Data released by the Coalition on the Aca-demic Workforce in fall 2010 showed that the average pay per class for a small metro-politan higher educational institution, such as NKU, was $3,000.

So, left without options in this area for a higher paying job in his field, Singer simply continued his passion; teaching English in the only way that fully supported his family of four; teaching the 11 courses, one course and one college at a time.

NKU and other colleges and universities in this area are not the only institutions to place aspiring professors in this position. Universities across the nation are changing the structure of higher education.

According to data released by the US De-partment of Education in 2009, a national trend has developed among four-year pub-lic universities over the past 40 years where part-time professors are being utilized at a much higher rate than full-time professors.

This national trend of increased part-time faculty use brings to question what kind of effect, if any, there is in the quality of edu-cation for students across the country and more specifically those at Northern Ken-tucky University.

According to data released by NKU De-partment of Institutional Research, there

is a developing trend within NKU that goes against the grain of the national trend; showing a larger number of full-time faculty member employment at NKU with a lower number of part-time faculty member em-ployment, over the past five years.

According to Provost Gail Wells, NKU has the highest ratio of part-time faculty to full-time equivalent faculty of all the Kentucky public universities. She also added that over the last six years, full-time tenured and ten-ure track faculty have increased 16 percent.

However, Vice Provost J. Patrick Moyna-han recognized that this is an on-going issue and said that the economy is playing a key role in this growing national trend.

“The bottom line is that part-time facul-ty members are cheaper. Many schools are forced to choose whether to hire more part-time faculty members or to close programs,” Moynahan said. “However, I think at this university we have been very good at manag-ing our resources, which has enabled us to not have to partake in the national trend.”

Kevin SchultzNews editor

2 | News January 24, 2013

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furtherdetailsEntire content is copyright of The North-erner and may not be reprinted without prior consent. Views expressed do not rep-resent those of the administration, faculty or student body.The Northerner is considered a designated public forum. Student editors have author-ity to make all content decisions without censorship or advance approval. The North-erner staff respects the right to a free and open dialogue as allowed under the First Amendment.

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEFClaire Higgins[higginsc1@nku.edu]

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ADVISERMichele Day[daymi@nku.edu]

STAFF WRITERSKyle Biggs[biggsk1@nku.edu]

Brook Clifford[cliffords1@nku.edu]

Nancy Curtis[curtisn1@nku.edu]

Tara Derington[deringtont1@nku.edu]

Kaity Galanos[galanosk1@nku.edu]

Brody Kenny[kennyb1@nku.edu]

Mac Payton[paytonj1@nku.edu]

Maggie Pund[pundm1@nku.edu]

Danielle Roberts[robertsd3@nku.edu]

Derek White[whited7@nku.edu]

COPY DESK CHIEFMary-Kate Gnotek[gnotekm1@nku.edu]

NEWS EDITORKevin Schultz[schultzk2@nku.edu]

PRESENTATION EDITOREmily Lindeau[lindeaue1@nku.edu]

WEB EDITORBrittany Granville[granvilleb1@nku.edu]

PHOTOGRAPHEREmily Chiavelli[chiavellie1@nku.edu]

NKU not part of national trendContinued from front page

ARTS & LIFE EDITORCaitlin Centner[centnerc1@nku.edu]

Moynahan added that NKU’s dedication toward keeping teaching one of its top priorities has allowed NKU to not get swept away into the national trend. “The love of teaching in the classroom is what we look for when hiring professors,” he said. “We value teach-ing and we understand the basic relationship between teaching and learning, which sounds obvious but can easily be lost, especially in this day and age.”

According to NKU Writing Program Director Jenni-fer Cellio, he is right.

Cellio is in charge of the writing program, which means she is responsible for the hiring of professors to teach English 101 and English 291; courses that almost all NKU students are required to take.

In regards to the national trend, Cellio stated that part-time professors are being utilized more in order to make efficient use of shrinking departmental budgets in the writing department, as part of a larger economical situation. Despite this fact, Cellio reassured her confi-dence in the education that NKU provides its students.

“We [at NKU] do all that we can to ensure a high quality education,” Cellio said. “Even if we are put in the position where we must hire more part-time professors, we usually experience very little turnover within the de-partment and are left with some [part-time] professors who have been here longer than I have.”

Both Moynahan and Cellio noted that while some part-time professors may feel spread thin, and therefore not be as invested in the course or the university as a full-time professor, part-time professors can be of just the same quality as their full-time colleagues.

Part-time professor Nathan Singer agreed, “Both full-time and part-time professors are excellent,” he said. “While 11 classes is too much to teach in one semester, I don’t think it is enough to impact my abilities in the classroom.”

“To be honest,” he added, “I don’t think students know, one way or another, whether a professor is part-time or not.”

The system for hiring part-time professors at NKU is done semester to semester. The part-time professors are paid by their department per each course they teach.

“Overall there are not really any pros with being an adjunct professor,” Singer said.

The stress of always being pulled in different direc-

tions and having to teach at more than one university has made him at times feel like more of a visitor at the universities he teaches, he said, rather than a major and more fixed part of just one university.

As defined by the NKU online handbook for part-time faculty, “Part-time faculty are faculty members who teach less than a full course load each semester, as determined and assigned by the university, and who do not hold probationary or tenured positions.”

According to Moynahan, a full-time professor at NKU usually teaches up to about five courses. Moynahan said that problems can occur when part-time professors who teach “less than a full course load,” about three courses at NKU, teach more courses at another college or uni-versity and end up teaching more courses than a full-time professor.

Moynahan admitted that spreading a professor’s workload to teach too many courses can greatly affect the quality of that professor’s ability to teach.

According to Moynahan, part of NKU’s ability to go against the grain of the national trend is due to its cur-rent plan dedicated to the incremental increase in the number of full-time professors.

This plan is currently in the works within the office of the provost, Gail Wells. One recent success of this plan, Wells said, came from the approval in last year’s budget to create 15 new permanent full-time faculty lines.

“The searches for these positions are identifying out-standing candidates and we are eager to welcome these new full-time faculty to our campus next year,” she said.

Singer was pleased to hear of this plan and the cur-rent trend at NKU.

“This plan is a good idea,” Singer said. “I feel as much hiring from within that can happen is best.”

He also added that it would be nice to see part-time professors and other aspiring professors get rewarded with the additional opportunities that could become available at schools with these plans, like NKU.

Overall, Singer made it clear that the things he does in his life are driven from passion and that although the financial aspect of life is important, as it pertains to sup-porting his family, that’s where he draws the line.

“If you are looking for money and stability in life, you probably would’ve done something else,” he said.

Graduates work on Civil War documentaryNKU graduate students Steve Oldfield and Sean Thomas are

working on a Civil War documentary entitled “Hurrah for Ken-tucky: The Fierce, Forgotten Fight for Augusta.” The documen-tary features best-selling author Jeff Shaara and Augusta resi-dent Nick Clooney. Oldfield and Thomas are using the website Kickstarter to raise at least $10,000 in donations for their project which they hope will someday end up on Kentucky Educational Television or in a PBS distribution.

NKU Alumni makes prime time appearance2007 NKU graduate and former student govern-

ment vice president Galadriel Stineman was fea-tured as the Cassidy the tutor character on ABC’s “The Middle.” Stineman played the role of the girl-friend for Indiana high school football star Axl Heck. Stineman has also made appearances in television shows such as “Two And A Half Men,” “Shameless,” “Bones,” “Good Luck Charlie” and a Hallmark Chan-nel Movie entitled “Operation Cupcake.”

Cajun eatery joins Cold SpringsJ. Gumbos, a cajun and creole restaurant, is now

open and located in the plaza off of Martha Layne Collins Blvd. It is one of the latest restaurants to open near campus, amongst others such as Raniero’s, Top-pers and Smash Burger.

Free parking spot wonNKU held a Facebook contest where it gave away a

free parking spot to any current student who “Liked” the university’s page. A winner was chosen on Jan. 23 and is soon to be announced. The prize spot is valid every day of this spring semester.

African American Student Affairs to host step show

African American Student Affairs and the Home-coming Committee are hosting the Annual NKU Homecoming Step Show on Jan. 25 at 7 p.m. in Greaves Hall. The doors to the event open at 6:30 p.m. with the show set to include performances by the National Pan-Hellenic Council chapters and a special performance by ENVI.

The vice president for student affairs search continued for the second week amidst homecoming events. A small crowd size didn’t affect candidates, Lisa Rhine and Brent Paterson, from tackling issues ranging from student involvement to gun control.

Tuesday’s open forum in the Lucas Administration Center introduced Lisa Rhine, the current interim vice president of student affairs. As a first-generation college student raised by a single parent along with her six siblings, Rhine was a non-traditional student. Instead of dwelling on her adversity, Rhine focused on why she is right for NKU’s student body.

“I find myself drawn here, because I think I have the ability to inspire and motivate students and help them see ways out of adversity based off of my own situation,” Rhine said. “Edu-cation is the key to break that chain of poverty and NKU is that place that holds promise and hope for students.”

Plans to focus on a more inclusive environment that “clearly

states that students are welcomed because of their differenc-es” is one of Rhine’s main priorities.

“We need to think on how we embrace students to better help them fit in, because every student, to a person, has a dif-ference.”

Brent Paterson’s open forum, held Wednesday in the sci-ence center, had a different feel from Rhine’s. Students seemed skeptical of Paterson and what he could offer to the growing student body.

Unlike Rhine, who is known across the student population, Paterson, senior associate vice president for student affairs at Illinois State University, isn’t familiar to students. After some conversation, students became more welcoming.

If hired, among many things, Paterson would focus on civic engagement starting with the incoming freshmen class. Civic engagement projects would be included in class requirements.

“Students that feel engaged are more proud of their institu-tion,” Paterson said.

Involvement on a campus and involvement with school spirit go hand in hand. Even though NKU recently went Divi-sion I, student attendance is increasing, but slowly. Paterson

reassured students that it is a common problem among small-er institutions with less prominent sports teams.

Paterson’s career has allowed him to work in many dif-ferent aspects of student affairs, but with this vice president position he would have the opportunity to work and mentor students again.

“That is why we all get into student affairs, because we love working with college-age students. One of the biggest joys is watching students you worked with graduate and then go out and be successful.”

Terry Hogan, vice president of student affairs at the Uni-versity of Northern Iowa and NKU’s final candidate, will be answering questions from students today at 4:15 p.m. in Lu-cas Administrative Center 506. Student participation is highly encouraged.

Regardless of who is chosen to fill the vice president posi-tion, all four candidates offer their own diverse experiences and they have the same common goal- to serve the students of NKU.

Growth across campus is being exhibited in more ways than just those apparent to the eye. NKU Board of Regents has voiced inter-est in purchasing Lakeside Terrace for addi-tional housing.

Lakeside Terrace, located next to Cal-lahan Hall on Martha Layne Collins Blvd., would be able to hold 200 beds, which just so happens to fit the university’s need for addi-tional housing, Dean of Students Jeff Waple said. Lakeside Terrace residents will all have moved out by Feb. 1.

MGT of America conducted a market survey on housing expansion in 2010-2011, Waple said. The survey looked at a number of factors including enrollment trends, stu-dent demographics, pricing and how to fund a project of that capacity.

The data was taken over a five-year trend. How fast enrollment has increased and how it will grow into the future were both factors.

“Going to Division I will also factor into the housing need,” Waple said. “In the past we’ve recruited locally and regionally, mov-ing forward we will be recruiting nationally and internationally and need to house those out-of-town students.”

The university currently has about 1,850 beds, according to Waple. He said having the additional beds are important as NKU con-tinues to become more residential.

“The last couple of years, housing has been full by May 4,” Waple said.

Unlike some other universities, NKU does not require freshmen to live on campus.

“My vision, that I think others share, would be to have enough capacity to house all freshmen,” Waple said.

Currently the university just doesn’t have the available resources to do that. There has been an overflow of students in the dorms for the past few years.

Students placed in temporary housing at the beginning of the semester have all been placed in permanent housing on campus within five weeks of the start of the semes-ter, according to Arnie Slaughter, director of University Housing. After the melt rate, or students that leave housing throughout the semester, dorms remain occupied at over 90 percent.

“As we anticipate an increase in student enrollment over the next 5-10 years, the de-mand for on campus housing will certainly increase,” Slaughter said. “Our projected on-campus housing numbers may range be-tween 1,900 to 2,000 within the next two to four years.”

To meet the increasing demands of on-campus housing, NKU is currently negotiat-ing prices with the county and if all works out, plans are to have a residential hall ready by fall 2014, said Larry Blake, assistant vice president for facilities management.

Blake said renovating the current struc-ture, rather than building a new one, would be more cost effective for the university.

“This building was built in the ‘60s, it’s a well built structural building that isn’t wood frame,” Blake said. Similar to Callahan Hall, it would need a facelift before opening to stu-dents.

Callahan was purchased by NKU in May

of 2007 and opened to students in the fall of 2008. It was a nursing home that had closed two to three years before NKU bought it, ac-cording to Blake.

He said Callahan had issues during reno-vation that Lakeside Terrace won’t have such as gutting the medical rooms, sewer line is-sues and plumbing.

Blake said the overall facelift to Lakeside Terrace would add to the long-term plans for the university and its growth.

The ultimate decision to purchase the property will be decided by the Board of Regents. Waple said the decision should be made by the March board meeting.

NEWSEDITION 51, ISSUE 2 News | 3

Caitlin CentnerArts & Life editor

Tara DeringtonStaff writer

Lakeside Terrace, located near Callahan Hall, will be empty as of Feb. 1 and is a strong option for additional on-campus housing.

Photo by Kody Kahle

Housing explores expansion options

VP student affairs search marches forward

4 | News January 24, 2013

The start of the 2013 spring semester marks the second semester for NKU’s most recent edition to its selection of minors, public service. So far, faculty from the depart-ment said their new minor has yet to gain the popularity they would have hoped.

The public service minor is a facet of the public admin-istration program, which is part of the Department of Po-litical Science and Criminal Justice in the College of Arts and Sciences. NKU introduced the minor at the start of the fall semester in 2012 to replace the public adminis-tration minor. At this time, there are only seven students enrolled in the minor, according to Shamima Ahmed, department chair. She and the other department faculty, however; would certainly like to see more.

“The public service minor aims to prepare students for leadership positions in government and nonprofits, and has a focus on public sector values, such as matters of ethics and accountability,” said Ahmed. “I believe anyone can benefit from this minor, regardless of their major,

and those who don’t want to take the full public service minor can even just take it as a concentration. It provides students with all sorts of marketable skills, from planning and decision making to research and knowledge of fund-raising.”

The page for public service on NKU’s website lists a variety of potential career prospects for students who choose to go into the minor. These include service de-livery or management in a local, state or federal agency, positions in nonprofit organizations, children and social service programs and educational administration just to name a few.

Beth DeVantier, MPA program coordinator, said that public service is a worthwhile avenue and there are di-verse opportunities in the field. “The younger generation has grown up with an emphasis on community service, and the area of public service is really just an extension of that,” she said.

“There are plenty of nonprofits out there in need of help, and there are jobs to be had in local, state and even federal government. Also, you’ll see more positions opening up in public service as the baby boomers start

to retire, and there becomes more of a need for younger workers.”

Both she and Ahmed agree that the lack of popularity in the public service minor is mainly because it’s relative-ly new and many students are unaware that it’s available. “The problem is just that a lot of people don’t know about it,” said Ahmed. “But we’d love to get more people inter-ested in public service, and we really hope to be able to offer more courses in it each semester as enrollment in the minor grows.”

One of the public service electives that is being offered this semester is economic policy. Michael Baronowski, political science professor and instructor of the course, said that a training in public service could come in handy for anyone.

“Gaining a knowledge of public service gives us a good background on how government works, and what to ex-pect in the public sector,” he said. “Since you’re likely to come across economic and political issues no matter what your field, having an understanding role in these is-sues can definitely be useful.”

Danielle Roberts Staff writer

New minor struggles with enrollmentLack of popularity due to students’ unawareness, program’s newness

EDITION 51, ISSUE 2 News | 5

As students are returning to a crowded campus and settling into their spring semester schedules, this year’s unusual flu season is prompting NKU and Northern Kentucky Health Department (NKHD) to prepare and make students aware that it is not too late to take precautions.

Striking hard and early, the flu season has yet to to reach its peak in Ken-tucky, according to the NKHD. In one week of this year more cases have been reported than all of last year. As of last week, a total of 1,041 cases of the flu have been reported in Northern Kentucky in comparison to the 284 total cas-es confirmed in the area last season. The 2012-2013 season is now the highest in the last eight years, excluding the 2009-2010 H1N1 epidemic.

The college environment, with close proximity and low student vaccination rates, puts students at risk for contracting the flu as they return to campus. With the flu season just starting at universities, flu prevention and control are particularly important because the illness can spread “like a wildfire” across college communities, according to NKU Health Services.

“As a whole, college students tend to be young and healthy so that’s a group that will think the flu is not that big of a deal, but we still want [students] to take the flu seriously,” said Emily Gresham Wherle, NKHD public informa-tion administrator. “The flu puts thousands of people in the hospital every year. It can kill people.”

The flu is already hitting NKU’s campus, according to NKU Health Servic-es. Since school resumed, approximately 46 patients have presented flu-like symptoms and been treated at the health center on campus. With most stu-dents commuting to campus at NKU, the number of cases of the flu or those presenting flu-like symptoms could be even higher.

Campuses across the country are feeling the effects of this severe season. Forty-eight states have now declared widespread flu activity and 30 states have reported high influenza activity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Locally, a Campbell County man was the first to die from the virus this season in Northern Kentucky at the beginning of the month. In addition, a 22-year-old Wright State University student was the first flu-related child death of the season in Ohio.

“I think college students are a little cavalier about all of this,” St. Elizabeth Healthcare Infection Control Coordinator Patricia Burns said. “Most of the time the flu is not a serious illness, but it can be serious…[College students] think it’s not a big deal, but it can be a big deal.”

The flu vaccine remains the best protection against contracting and helping to spread the flu. NKU’s health center has given out approximately 600 flu shots this season to faculty and students, according to Amy Fathman, NKU Health Services associate director. The health center has ordered more flu shots in preparation for possible student and faculty demand before the flu season ends.

“It’s just starting here now that students are back, so I’m concerned [NKU

Maggie PundStaff writer

is] going to really get hit,” Fathman said.This season’s vaccine has an effectiveness rate of 62 percent, and it is a 98 percent match

for the circulating flu strains based on early testing, according to the NKHD. This means that 62 percent of people who get the vaccine do not end up being sick enough to go to the doctor. If the flu is contracted after vaccination, chances are the case will be less severe and shorter.

“That’s not a great number. There are a lot of vaccines higher than that, but it’s the best we can do with the type of process that is involved in making a flu vaccine right now,” Gresham Wherle said. “While it’s not a perfect vaccine, it’s the best protection still that you can give yourself...62 percent would be a failing grade on a test, but it is better than zero.”

Campus nurse Michele Kay administers a flu shot to student Brent Holt at NKU’s health center. The on-campus center provides flu shots to students, faculty and staff with or without insurance.

Photo by Maggie Pund

Flu season hits hard this yearNumber of recorded cases highest in last eight years, NKU prepares for more

6 | Arts & Life January 24, 2013

Jennifer Webster is a woman with two sides—one is an assistant director of in-tegrative studies at Northern Kentucky University with a Ph.D. in criminal jus-tice, while the other is a creative writer with two published books.

Webster studied criminal justice and psychology as an undergraduate at East Tennessee State University and achieved her masters and doctorate at the Univer-sity of Cincinnati. She began working at NKU in 2003.

Webster began writing at age nine as a hobby. Her first book was published in 2009, titled “Through A Glass Darkly” and it was written in two months. The next book in the series was published in 2011 and is titled “Ashes for Beauty.” She is currently in the manuscript pro-cess for her third book which will be an addition to the series. The books are on the subject of paranormal romance and have been referred to as the “Twilight for grown-ups.”

“One day I just decided I was going to write my own stuff,” Webster said. “For the first novel, the idea just popped into my head and it came so much easier than things I’d written in the past. It was like the main character was telling me her own story.”

In April 2010, Webster was invited to be the keynote speaker at Minds Wide Open: A Celebration of Women in the Arts in Richlands, Va., her hometown. In 2009, her publishing company, Black Rose Writing, named her Author of the Year based on sales and promotions they had done for her first novel.

Webster sent her first novel out to three different publishing companies through a website called writersmarket.com. She had taken a class at NKU a few years be-fore that taught how to market yourself,

send query letters, etc. Black Rose Writ-ing was the first one out of those three who contacted her and she then signed a contract with them.

“I have a great relationship with them,” Webster said. “They don’t have tons of money to do marketing but they’re very personable. There is a real sense of

‘we’re in this together’ and you know that they’re there for you.”

Webster was featured in her alma ma-ter’s (ETSU) alumni magazine in 2009. She also regularly conducts creative writ-ing workshops for elementary school kids in Virginia and in Boone County, Ky.

On Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. in Joseph-Beth Booksellers (in Crestview Hills, Ky.), Webster will be hosting a creativity workshop with information, interactive problem solving exercises and creativity exercises to help people relax and culti-vate creativity.

Her two published books are available online through Amazon and are acces-sible through the Kindle and the Nook. They will also soon be available at Jo-seph-Beth Booksellers in Crestview Hills, Ky. The books as hard copy range from $18-19, but if purchased electronically they are much cheaper.

“Even now, four years out, I still have people contacting me saying they’ve read the first book,” Webster said. “I definitely think it’s word of mouth and the avail-ability of the books.”

Webster strongly believes that if some-one has enough passion and the will to do something, they can. She encourages anyone who has a dream, to follow it and she mentioned that dreamers are defi-nitely welcome at NKU.

“When I was younger I had a narrow mindset,” Webster said. “I thought you got educated, then a job and that’s how things went. It didn’t occur to me that talents, hobbies or passions could be something you make a life at. You don’t have to be limited to a particular career or profession. I do enjoy what I do, but I also love to write creatively.”

Photo courtesy of Jennifer WebsterJennifer Webster (pictured) is assistant director of integrative studies and also has two published books, with a third in the works. She will host a workshop Jan. 29 at Joseph-Beth Booksellers.

Brook CliffordStaff writer

Faculty member turns hobby into successCriminal justice Ph.D. writes paranormal romance book series

EDITION 51, ISSUE 2 Arts & Life | 7

Homecoming week at NKU is well underway, with only a few events left before the week ends. The annual Nearly Naked Mile, talent show and Homecoming Gala brought students together for philanthropy and fun.

The proceeds raised from the Nearly Naked Mile went directly to St. Jude’s Children’s Hos-pital. The talent show brought out NKU’s musi-cians and poets. The winners, Gavin Bonar and Matt Wallin sang “Cough Syrup,” originally sung by Young the Giant.

At the Homecoming Gala at the Madison The-ater in Covington, Ky. Tatenda Zinyemba and Caroline Walker were introduced as duke and duchess of 2013. The prince and princess nomi-

nees are Nick Berra, David Trump, Tyler Ste-phens, Jackson Kosztala and Clayton Bhola; and Julie Stoll, Elizabeth Ruwe, Nikole Barkalow, Meredith Wolf and Helena Sizemore. The king and queen court includes Austin Green, Ron Burse, Tyler Blau, Taylor Dwyer and Erik Ped-erson; and Emily Condit, Mary Osbourne, Abby Gross, Lauryn Mohr and Chanell Karr.

The winners will be revealed at tonight’s men’s basketball game.

To finish out the week and prepare for the weekend, there is a step show Friday night at 7 p.m. in the Greaves Concert Hall.

On Saturday, the men and women Norse will take on Kennesaw State at 4:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. in the Bank of Kentucky Center. The women’s game will announce the winner of Parent of the Year and the Homecoming king and queen will be announced at the men’s game.

Claire HigginsEditor-in-chief

Homecoming events get students outWeek-long celebration halfway through, more events to come

All Photos by Emily Lindeau

8 | Views January 24, 2013

It might be sort of an odd story, the one of Notre Dame football star Manti Te’o’s supposed dead girl-friend hoax, but in an era of “catfishing” online and a 24-hour news cycle that is too concerned with publica-tion instead of facts, it’s not that surprising to students and student journalists.

In 2012, the Heisman runner-up fashioned a relation-ship through Twitter with Lennay Kekua, who said she was a Stanford student. The story took off in the media as an All-American love story that pushed Te’o into per-fect games and the spotlight.

But in September, Te’o’s life took a turn for the worse in a span of six hours, when his grandmother died and then Kekua after complications with her leukemia. Te’o continued to play and tweet Kekua in the following weeks, saying “@LennayKay I miss you!” and “@Len-nayKay you will always be with me wherever I go!”

Twitter was a big part of the relationship, because of the distance, so the couple communicated through phone calls and social media but had met before, or at least that’s what he told the media and his father.

Last week Deadspin, a sports news website, broke the story that Te’o’s girlfriend, who had supposedly died in September, did not die, and apparently did not even

exist. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Te’o also admitted that the two had never met; he had lied to his father, and therefore had also lied to media outlets.

The photos of Kekua also came out as fake, as the real woman in the photos came forward, stating clearly she was not Lennay Kekua and had also never met Te’o.

Keep in mind that the only news outlet that decided to check the facts on the story from the beginning was Deadspin, and that was three months later after receiv-ing an anonymous email tip.

So what does this tell us? Well, as young students, it seems obvious: be more cautious online, don’t continue a relationship with someone who won’t meet you in per-son and really, Twitter is not a place to begin a relation-ship in the first place.

And as journalists, it seems even more obvious: fact check, fact check and fact check again before publishing stories.

Both situations could have been prevented pretty eas-ily, but since they weren’t, this is a big story that we can all learn from.

Students should be more careful when online, be weary of a new Facebook friend who’s chatting you if you don’t know them. Take the MTV show, “Catfish: the TV Show” as an example. In nearly every episode, the person on the other end of the computer is not who he or she claims to be.

It’s a compulsive liar, an ex-girlfriend getting revenge

or just someone with self-esteem issues. In every case, the people continue an Internet relationship without meeting in person, sometimes never even talking on the phone.

So learn from them and Te’o.Similarly, journalists should have been checking to

see if Kekua was real from the beginning. They were almost played just as bad as Te’o was. From the begin-ning, news sources should have been checking facts, even though a death may seem like something silly or insensitive to check.

There was too much word of mouth and trust report-ed in national news media outlets. There are inconsis-tencies in times of death and meeting times, and even if they actually met, which they did not.

Without fact checking, journalists break trust with readers and the public.

The Internet provided journalists with the same facts and same articles, so many assumed that if multiple other articles said the same thing, then it must be true. This is not how journalists should be reporting.

Use the Internet to your advantage, to research and check background facts, even if you think others have already done it. As a journalist, especially a student one, we should be questioning every fact and making the ef-fort to correct it, even if it takes a little extra time.

Staff editorial

What we can learn from online hoaxManti Te’o story provides lesson for students and journalists alike

EDITION 51, ISSUE 2 OpEd | 9

Just for laughs

Mary FaulconerJuniorEnglish

“I’ve been sick twice already; but I’ve been

washing my hands a lot lately to stay healthy.”

Desia TalbottJunior

Pyschology

“I am drinking my or-ange juice and staying bundled up in layers.”

Ryan ToebeeSeniorPhysics

“I actually already had the flu, so I didn’t pro-tect myself too well.”

What are you doing to protect yourself from the

flu?

Compiled byKevin Schultz & Mary-Kate

Gnotek

Norse Poll Responses

Nasser AldosstiSophomore

Finance

“I got a flu shot this year, so far it’s work-

ing.”

POLL RESPONSESNORSECartoon courtesy of MCT Campus

SPORTS10 | Sports January 24, 2013

[ ]come explore the student media world

and see how you can get involvedFOUNDERS HALL 314

INFORMATIONAL MEETING MONDAY - FEB. 4TH @ 5 P.M.

THE ORTHERNER

Northern Kentucky University men’s and women’s basketball teams recently returned to campus winless from a road trip to Florida against Atlantic Sun Con-ference opponents.

Men’s team

The men’s team (4-11 overall, 2-5 A-Sun) fell to the Stetson Hatters (9-10, 6-2 A-Sun) Jan. 17, 59-71 and the Flor-ida Gulf Coast Eagles (13-8, 5-3 A-Sun) Jan. 19, 54-73.

In Deland, Fla. at the Edmunds Center, the Norse held a 31-27 lead at halftime, but Stetson’s 57.1 shooting percentage in the second half proved to be too much for NKU, who finished the game shooting 40.4 percent from the field, 9-25 from 3-point range and turned the ball over 17 times. The Hat-ters scored 26 points off turnovers.

Junior guard Chad Jackson led the Norse with 15 points, eight rebounds and four steals. Senior guard Ethan Faulkner finished with 12 points, five assists and four steals.

In Fort Myers, Fla. at Alico Arena, NKU was unable to contain FGCU’s se-nior guard Sherwood Brown, who fin-

ished with 29 points and 10 rebounds. The Eagles went on a 28-9 run in the first half and finished 12-for-27 from behind the arc. The Norse went 10-29 from 3-point range.

NKU was led by senior guard/forward Eshaunte “Bear” Jones and senior for-ward Ernest “Stretch” Watson. Jones finished with 22 points and seven re-bounds. Watson recorded his second career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

The men’s team will face the Mercer Bears on Jan. 24 at The Bank of Ken-tucky Center at 7 p.m. and then the Kennesaw State Owls Saturday, Jan. 26 at 7 p.m.

Women’s team

The women’s team (6-10 overall, 3-4 A-Sun) lost to the FGCU Eagles (15-5 overall, 8-0 A-Sun) Jan. 19, 50-79 and the Stetson Hatters (15-4 overall, 8-0 A-Sun) Jan. 21, 39-62.

While in Fort Myers Fla., the Norse went up against an Eagles team that recently broke an NCAA record with 22 3-pointers against A-Sun opponent East Tennessee State. Similar to that game, NKU allowed FGCU to hit 15 out of 38 treys. The Norse trailed by 38 at one point and was never able to get back in the game.

Freshman guard Rianna Gayheart led the Norse with 18 points, three assists and five rebounds. NKU turned the ball over 19 times; which the Eagles capital-ized on with 28 points off turnovers.

In Deland, Fla., the Norse kept the game close against Stetson in the first half, but was held to only 16 points in the second half. The Hatters forced NKU to turn the ball over 22 times,

which led to 28 points off turnovers.Junior guard Kayla Thacker led the

Norse with nine points, six rebounds and two assists. Christine Roush had six points and three assists.

The women’s next game will be against the Kennesaw State Owls Satur-day, Jan. 26 in a doubleheader at 4:30 p.m. in The Bank of Kentucky Center.

Stephen WilderManaging/Sports editor

Photo by Kody KahleErnest “Stretch“ Watson defended the University of South Carolina Upstate inbounder on Jan. 5. Watson recorded his second career double-double against Florida Gulf Coast University Jan. 19.

Norse teams struggle in road trip to FloridaMen and women lose back-to-back games in conference play

EDITION 51, ISSUE 2 Sports | 11

GRAPEVINE, Texas—For young football recruits in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the changes enacted by the NCAA on Saturday might require another cell phone, or at least another charger.

The NCAA’s Board of Directors meet-ing this past week at the Gaylord Texan as part of the NCAA Convention passed 25 of 26 proposals on Saturday in an attempt to make the NCAA’s labyrinthine Division I manual more streamlined. The changes, which passed with “virtual unanimity” ac-cording to NCAA president Mark Emmert, are designed to make the rulebook easier to comply with, easier to enforce and less focused on irrelevant infractions.

But, in doing so, the proposals eliminate several current provisions related to re-cruiting, throwing the doors open for ma-jor college football programs to engage in near-constant contact between themselves and high school recruits.

Among the rule changes that will go into effect on Aug. 1 are four specifically relating to recruiting:

Proposal 13-3, allowing coaches to send unlimited texts and social media messag-es to recruits, as well as make unlimited

phone calls.Proposal 13-5-A, which eliminates re-

strictions on printed recruiting materials sent to recruits.

Proposal 11-2, allowing for a recruiting coordinator or the support staff at a uni-versity to send texts and make calls, as op-posed to the current system, which permit only coaches to do so.

And Proposal 11-4, allowing all assistants to be on the road recruiting at the same time, as opposed to the current rules that require coaches’ trips to be staggered.

“This is a movement toward greater re-sponsibility at the institutional level that will allow them more flexibility, and will focus the rules on the things that are real threats to the integrity of sport rather than things that are mostly annoying,” Emmert said.

Most high school coaches and adminis-trators might disagree.

“I think the thing about texts is terrible,” Cedar Hill coach Joey McGuire said. “I think the NCAA has got to be going crazy. ... One of the reasons that they are doing it is because they can’t enforce their rules. So instead of trying to enforce them, or change them in some way, they’re just getting rid of them.”

McGuire said that if colleges were al-lowed unfettered access this season, his top

prospects — Texas A&M pledge LaQuvion-te Gonzalez and three-star receiver Quincy Adeboyejo _ would have faced an unending barrage of calls and messages.

“It’s competitive,” McGuire said. “If a coach finds out that so-and-so is calling this many times, then he’s going to do it too, to show the kids that they want them as much. ... It’s those coaches’ livelihood.”

Grant Teaff, executive director of the American Football Coaches Association, said the texting issue would solve itself.

“Familiarity breeds contempt,” Teaff said, suggesting that recruiters would know their boundaries and try not to push too much.

Teaff said that college coaches were split on the texting issue but that there was a big push from the NCAA’s compliance office to make a change. Technological changes made some sort of rule alteration neces-sary, he said.

The NCAA instituted a texting ban in 2007, largely brought on by egregious in-fractions by several collegiate basketball coaches. Division I basketball coaches, however, recently pushed through reforms that allowed them to start texting recruits again in 2012.

One proposal that Teaff and college coaches did lobby against would have al-lowed for off-campus visits from coaches

with recruits over the summer between the student’s sophomore and junior years, a year younger than the current calendar al-lows.

That proposal was tabled on Friday, to be revisited in April after further discussion and research.

“We requested that the board not ap-prove that,” Teaff said. “We understand the collateral damage that would be done to high school programs if the calendar got any earlier. Earlier commitments (and vis-its) aren’t a positive thing for either college or high school programs, in my opinion.”

On behalf of NKU’s women’s basketball team, head coach Dawn Plitzuweit said she thinks the NCAA is trying to deregulate some of the rules to allow a little more flex-ibility.

“I don’t know exactly how it will impact us,” Plitzuweit said. “I think it allows us an opportunity to build relationships with players a little bit earlier, which I think is good for the prospective student athlete. But, I also think it speeds up the process even more. With some prospective student athletes, it has the ability to become over-whelming for them.”

Plitzuweit said it will be interesting to see throughout the course of time how this turns out and how the prospective student athlete likes it.

Corbett SmithThe Dallas Morning News

Northern Kentucky University intramurals hosted a BASEketball tournament for a second consecu-tive year at the campus recreation center on Wednesday.

The game, a unique mash-up of two sports, combines the ac-tion of basketball with the scoring system of baseball. The game is scored over nine innings, and the inning ends after each team gets three “outs,” like in baseball.

An “out” occurs when the offen-sive team shoots the basketball but misses, which is where the basketball action takes place. If the shot is made, a runner reaches base. When a baserunner reaches “home,” a point is awarded.

While some players participated last year and were familiar with

the rules, others had to adjust to playing the odd game for the first time.

Chase Wiler, a member of Pike B’s winning team, said his first experience with BASEketball was enjoyable.

“It’s a pretty fun game,” he said. “It’s something different.”

Cody Foley and Harlan Barker, also members of Pike B, noted some of the skills needed to be successful.

Barker credited tip-ins, the act of following a missed shot with an immediate made shot without touching the ground, as a skill necessary to playing defense.

Foley discussed some of the pure basketball skills needed to succeed that ultimately resulted in his team winning the tourna-ment.

“It really shows who the shoot-ers are in the gym,” he said.

Kyle BiggsStaff writer

Coaches allowed unlimited contact with recruits

BASEketball returns to intramurals

Photo by Kody KahleTyler O’Bryan (pictured) tipped a shot in during a game of BASEketball Wednesday evening in the rec center. The sport returned to intramurals for the second year in a row.

Mash-up of basketball, baseball, trash talking uniquely popular

12 | Sports January 24, 2013

NKU’s men’s and women’s track & field teams traveled to Bloomington, Ind. to compete in the Gladstein Invitational hosted by Indiana University Jan. 18.

Men’s team

Junior Kendall Ross set a new NKU re-cord in the 60-meter dash for the men’s team. Ross finished in 7.47 seconds, beating out the record previously held by Henry McCormick (7.55) in 2009. In the 3000-meter race, long-distance run-ners sophomore J.J. Webber (8:34.75) and sophomore Zac Holtkamp (9:00.20) finished with personal bests. In the 5,000-meter race, sophomore Andrew Wolfer (16:00.12) also finished with a personal best.

Women’s team

Freshman Nicole Riveron set a new bar in the 400-meter dash (1:01.68), beating the old record by almost five seconds. Freshman Kendall Richmond beat her own record in the 60-meter hurdles (9.26). Caroline Dreyer (1:03.11) and freshman Alicia Follrod (1:03.24) also set new records. The Norse had two top-ten finishes in field events. Fresh-man Tyler Thomas finished ninth-place in the high jump with 1.58 meters and freshman Karena Fulks smashed the previous record in the long jump with 5.22 meters.

*Both teams’ next meet will be at the SPIRE Midwest Indoor Track & Field Open in Geneva, Ohio Jan. 25-26.

Stephen WilderManaging/Sports editor

Men and women set personal bests at Gladstein InvitationalTrack & field travel to Indiana

Photos by Kody Kahle

J.J. Weber (right) and Zac Holtkamp (far right) both fin-ished the 3000-meter race with personal bests.

Nicole Riveron (top) set a NKU record in the 400-meter dash, beating the old record by almost five seconds.

Kendall Richmond (middle) beat her personal record in the 60-meter hurdles.