The Northerner Print Edition - April 14, 2010

2 Edition 45, Issue 12

COVER STORYOn the heels of health care:How will the new student loan legislation affect col-lege students?

6 & 7

A&EI’m only worth $2.75:The Northerner’s News editor auctioned off for a good cause.

9 & 10

NEWS 4 & 5AASA offi ce looks to the future:AASA director Miya Simpson is working on moving the offi ce in a new direction after the recent fi rings.

WHAT’S INSIDE

SPORTS 11Warming up to your own tune:Baseball and softball teams keep it fun with theme music.

3 April 14, 2010

The NorthernerUniversity Center Room 335Highland Heights, KY 41076Editor in Chief: (859) 572-6128News & Sports: (859) 572-6677Features: (859) 572-5859Advertising: (859) 572-5232Fax: (859) 572-5772

E-mail: [email protected]

furtherdetailsEntire content is copyright of The Northerner and may not be reprinted without prior con-sent. Views expressed do not represent those of the administration, faculty or student body.The Northerner is considered a designated public forum. Student editors have authority to make all content decisions without censor-ship or advance approval. The Northerner staff respects the right to a free and open dialogue as allowed under the First Amendment.

PRINT EDITOR-IN-CHIEFMark Payne[[email protected]]

WEB EDITOR-IN-CHIEFEmily Teaford [[email protected]]

PRESENTATION EDITORKarli Wood[[email protected]]

A&E EDITORJeremy Jackson[[email protected]]

PHOTO EDITORCharlotte Etherton[[email protected]]

COPY EDITORSEmily Christman[[email protected]]

Zach Grady[[email protected]]

Chad Hensley[[email protected]]

ADVISERGayle Brown[[email protected]]

AD MANAGERWilliam Fisher[fi [email protected]]

northernerstaff contactinformation

EDITORIAL CARTOONISTPatrick Delaney[[email protected]]

STAFF WRITERSMichael Willis[[email protected]]

Alex Owsley[[email protected]]

Jesse Call[[email protected]]

COPY DESK CHIEFBetina Kemker[[email protected]]

EDITORIAL ADVISERRyan Clark[[email protected]]

WEB CONTENT MANAGERJim Clark[[email protected]]

NEWS EDITORVern Hockney[[email protected]]

ASST. SPORTS EDITORMike Collins[[email protected]]

VIEWS 8Everybody take a ride on the bus:Public transportation can get you around cheaply.

Rock-a-thon

Charlotte Etherton/ Photo editor

Delta Gamma held their annual two-day rock-a-thon March 31 and April 1. The event included a DJ and Velcro wall. Many students felt this was the perfect way to kick off spring.

NEWS


After fi ring two employ-ees in her offi ce for “ongoing demonstrations of unwilling-ness to work cooperatively with new leadership,” the relatively new director of the Offi ce of African American Student Affairs (AASA), Dr. Miya Simpson, is taking her time in tweaking the job de-scriptions to her satisfaction. In the meantime, the offi ce — with goals that include the re-tention of African-American students —is left with only Simpson, a housing employee who is fi lling in on top of her other duties, and an adminis-trative assistant.

“I hoped to be on a differ-ent timeline,” said Dean of Students Jeffrey Waple, who supervises the AASA offi ce. “The key with any hire is you want to make sure you do it right...(Simpson) has to be comfortable with what she is looking for in a skill set and the type of experience for the positions. In this case, she’s really rewriting job descrip-tions, which takes time.”

Waple said that Simpson specifi cally requested she be given more time to rework the positions. Originally, Waple said he hoped to have the individuals named to fi ll the position by the end of the spring 2010 semester, but it is now possible that the job descriptions for the positions will not be posted until after the semester ends, both be-cause the position is being re-worked and based on new hu-man resources requirements on hirings which mandate approval by University Presi-dent James Votruba.

The approval for the time-line change came after Waple considered that Simpson had only been in her position for about three months at the time of the fi rings. Simpson

needed the extra time to bet-ter assess the needs of stu-dents, the university, the com-munity, and the region as she changed the positions in her offi ce, Waple said.

Student input is also being sought as to how the positions should be changed.

The decision on how the positions will change and who will fi ll the positions will likely take place during the summer, when most students are no longer on campus to participate in forums with the candidates or provide their input. But, Waple said efforts are being made to include stu-dent feedback.

“There are students around (in the summer) and a lot of our students are regional. Leadership of student organi-zations are well informed. We are going to ask for their rep-resentation at the meetings,” Waple said.

While the job descriptions are being changed, their roles will remain close to the same, according to both Waple and Simpson. The positions will be full-time and exclusive to the AASA offi ce. One possibility Waple shared was that addi-tional responsibilities could be added to Michael Griffi n’s former position and the new employee would become the assistant or associate director of the offi ce.

Students have been left with an understaffed offi ce since February, but Simpson said the offi ce is pushing for-ward and making great prog-ress.

“We’re doing well. We’re trying to move ahead with programs and planning,” she said.

Jesse CallStaff writer

Vern Hockney/News editor

Dean of Students Jeff Waple sits at the Feb. 17 forum discussing the AASA offi ce.

AASA offi ce looks to futureMiya Simpson is moving forward after the fi rings of Griffi n and Pringle-Smith

See AASA on page 5

NEWS

5 April 14, 2010

AASA from page 4

One of her major challeng-es is dealing with students who were upset when Prin-gle-Smith and Griffin were fired.

“Relationships had been established and that can cre-ate emotional reactions from people,” Simpson said, add-ing that she has tried to make time to meet with students who had concerns about the firings and that several stu-dents have come into the AASA office to discuss it.

“It does feel different with-

out Mike and Blanche. I can only speak for myself when I say this, but it’s like our home has been disrupted,” said NKU student Chelsea Nich-ols. “It’s kind of like if your mom and dad divorced and your home is left in shambles. You’re left in a disarray. I wasn’t dependent on Mike and Blanche like some other students, but I do miss them being in the office. The spirit of the office is gone.”

Not all of the students have come forward with com-

plaints, Simpson said; others have offered to help the of-fice with the transition.

“Students stepped up to continue to move the office forward and made themselves available,” Simpson said.

Some students expressed concern with the new lead-ership of the office when the firings were first announced. But, others are letting her settle in before they decide.

“I like Dr. Simpson,” said Nichols. “I feel like she’s still adjusting to the position.

She’s definitely making at effort to get to know the stu-dents.”

Simpson said it is too ear-ly to tell if the office being understaffed has impacted the efforts to retain African-American students, a major goal for the university. NKU has been committed to hiring people for these positions de-spite budget cuts and a hiring freeze, and the school is also offering support to the office during the transition, Simp-son said.

The two former employ-ees, Blanche Pringle-Smith and Michael Griffin, have both filed grievances with the university related to their terminations. All requested documents relating to the grievances are being with-held and employees have been told that cooperating with The Northerner may affect the outcome of their grievances. The administra-tion, including Simpson, con-tinues to remain silent on the firings.

Vice President Ryan Fulton pre-sided over the SGA meeting April 12 instead of President Keith Kaseke, who was absent due to a dental ap-pointment.

The body cast ballots to determine who would be named as outstanding senator of the year. The winner will be announced at the April 26 meet-ing along with swearing in the newly-elected body.

Also announced at this meeting was that nine applications had been sub-mitted for the Anne Braden scholar-ship. Dustin Robinson, chair of the Finance Committee hoped that the

winners would be announced at next week’s meeting.

The Student Concerns Commit-tee received its fi rst four complaints: two of the complaints regarded over-priced food at the university, one about traffi c fl ow in the mornings and one expressing the desire for SGA to have more publicity so that students are better aware of elections.

Leigha Phelps presented the sec-ond reading of her committee’s Cam-pus Recreation Center resolution, which passed. The resolution called for an increase in money to improve the CRC facilities, create jobs for stu-

dents and to implement an equipment replacement fund.

The body also fi nished reading over proposed amendments to the SGA constitution. The topic of impeach-ment was heavily debated, with pro-ponents for and against the proceed-ings being held in private.

Phelps brought a point to the table that there are many reasons that con-stitutes impeachment of a member—some of which could be very personal. Phelps proposed that impeachments should be public unless the broad-casting of personal issues might im-pact the student’s reputation on cam-

pus. SGA passed a non-committal vote 13-3-3, effectively voicing their desire to the incoming administration to keep impeachment proceedings private.

SGA has decided not to make fi nal approval on the amendments until next semester—citing they did not wish to rush the matter. Members be-lieve that by allowing the administra-tion to work on the constitution over the summer, they will be able to iron out all the problems that may arise. SGA hopes to have the new constitu-tion on the ballot for the fall elections for student approval.

Vern HockneyNews editor

Impeachments become private?SGA discusses making impeachment processes non-public

On the heels of health careHow will the new student loan legislation affect college students?Vern HockneyNews editor

The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, has received varied criticism and praise from both sides of the political fence. President Barack Obama signed The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act at Northern Virginia Commu-nity College in Alexandria, Va., on March 30. The signing of this act not only reformed health care, but also student loans.

However, some students at NKU were unaware that student loans had been reformed along with health care, or didn’t agree with the act.

Ryan Gnessin, a computer sci-ence major, was disappointed about the health care act passing because his parents were in the bracket that would be taxed more. Gnessin also said that he hadn’t been able to fol-low the student loan portion pass but said he “didn’t see how this is going to decrease the budget.”

Danielle Wallace, an art major, was aware that health care had been reformed but didn’t feel the Ameri-can public had all the information.

“I think it’s sneaky, and the bill they were trying to pass had thou-sands of pages,” Wallace said. “To get it passed, they hid parts.”

In Obama’s address to the audi-ence March 30 in Virginia, he said the bill would positively impact stu-dents.

“You see, for almost two decades, we’ve been trying to fi x a sweetheart deal in federal law that essentially gave billions of dollars to banks to act as unnecessary middlemen in ad-ministering student loans,” Obama said. “So those are billions of dollars that could have been spent helping more of our students attend and complete college. Instead, that mon-ey was spent padding student lend-ers’ profi ts.

“Now, it probably won’t surprise you to learn that the big banks and fi nancial institutions hired an army of lobbyists to protect the status quo. In fact, Sallie Mae, America’s biggest student lender, spent more than $3 million on lobbying last year

alone.”Obama also vowed to increase the

amount of college educated Ameri-cans in his weekly address to the na-tion on March 27.

Obama, taking his time frame from the late John F. Kennedy, said: “By the end of this decade, we will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.”

By cutting out the middleman, as Obama termed the fi nancial institu-tions, the federal government will be able to save $68 billion over the next 11 years, according to a post by Brian Levine, deputy domestic poli-cy adviser to the Vice President, on the Middle Class Task Force White House blog.

This money is to be used for four main purposes.

First, the act allows for nearly 800,000 new Pell Grants to be issued over the next 10 years.

Secondly, the government will raise the award for Pell Grants.

Obama said at the acts signing that Pell Grants previously covered more than three-fourths of the cost of college, but due to infl ation and other economic factors, now covers only about one-third. Using a por-tion of the $68 billion saved will al-low for the maximum award of a Pell Grant to increase to $5,500 starting in 2010.

The process of how much the award for a Pell Grant will in-crease is a complicated mat-ter, but the National Council of Higher Education Loan Pro-grams (NCHELP) breaks the process down to relatively under-standable terms in a presentation published March 30. Beginning in 2013, the grant will increase along with the Consumer Price In-dex, hopefully alleviating some of the cost of infl ation. But beggining in 2018, the award will remain fl at, although no specifi c amount has yet been proposed.

Third, and quiet possibly most im-portant to students, is how students will repay their student loans and

what kinds of loans will be available.Ending June 30, 2010, issuance

of new Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL) will end and begin-ning the next day, all new Stafford, PLUS and consolidation loans will be made under the Direct Loan pro-gram, according to a presentation by the NCHELP.

Also according to the presenta-tion, students who currently have FFEL will be able to continue re-ceiving program benefi ts.

The act does provide for students who have multiple types of educa-tion loans and who have also not yet begun to pay them to consolidate between July 1, 2010 and June 30, 2011. Before consolidating, students should contact a trusted fi nancial adviser to ensure that they are eli-gible for the program and that it will benefi t them.

At the signing of the bill, Obama said he plans to revamp the Income Based Repayment (IBR) program that launched last sum-mer.

Students who currently under the IBR program pay no more than 15 percent of their previous years’ in-come towards repayment of student loans. Under the new IBR program, that amount will be capped at 10 percent. Additionally, if a student makes payments on time, any re-maining debt will be forgiven after 20 years, in certain circumstances. The downside: the new IBR program will not be implemented until 2014. For information about the current IBR program, including a payment chart, visit: http://studentaid.ed.gov

Finally, the act allows for histori-cally black colleges and universities and minority serving institutions (HBCUs and MSIs) to receive addi-tional money.

According the NCHELP, HBCUs and MSIs will receive $255 million each year between 2010-2019, but the act does not include any author-ity for these grants after 2019.

Obama also took the signing of the act to make sure colleges

understand they have a responsibility to

keep tuition costs down.

“We contin-ue to expect colleges and

u n i v e r s i -ties to do their part to hold

d o w n t u i t i o n increas-es. That

has to h a p p e n .

We’ve got to work on

that.”

6 Edition 45, Issue 12 7 April 14, 2010

Photo courtesy of: MCT Campus

Part two: Special on health care and student loan legislation

In last week’s edition of The Northerner, we presented a look at how the health care portion of the legislation will affect stu-dents. This week, The Northern-er looks at how students will be affected by the education por-tion of the bill.

VIEWS


There are many modes of transportation available to students on Northern Ken-tucky University’s campus. Riding the TANK bus is one of the most convenient for many students. The bus is not only easy to ride but is also a way to relax, save a little cash and do your part to take care of our environment.

Since the 2008 fall semes-ter at NKU, staff, faculty and students have had the op-portunity to ride the TANK bus for free through TANK’s U-Pass Program. In today’s struggling economy, students not only have to worry about college fees and tuition, but gas prices as well. We all know that fi lling up a tank of gas is going to the dentist — it’s painful and irritating. If you consider taking the bus for the rest of the semester, you would save some cash and be able to spend it on something worthwhile.

By utilizing the opportunity in taking the bus to school,

you will also be lending a hand in the effort to reduce carbon footprints. All it takes is a swipe of your NKU student All-Card. Leaving your ve-hicle at home results in fewer greenhouse gas emissions and a healthier community.

It is also more effi cient to ride the bus. Think about it this way: 50 people on a bus is better than 50 people in their cars during rush hour, so tak-ing the bus could be less hec-tic for you as you travel to and from school.

Riding the bus could be fun especially if you feel like you want to get away from study-ing for a bit while also getting a change of scenery.

I recently went on a random bus trip with a friend this se-mester. I pretended that I was a VIP member as I showed the bus driver my All-Card. Traf-fi c was bad but we didn’t have to worry about getting cut off by an angry driver with a bad case of road rage. We thanked the bus driver and he let us off

at Newport on the Levee. We didn’t have to endure driving in circles endlessly looking for a parking spot. It ended up being a fun day and I spent a total of zero dollars on gas and parking.

On the bus you can do more, compared to when driv-ing in a car. A bus allows you to have free hands. If you choose to take the studious approach, you could fi nish up your homework or study for a test. If you want to take ad-vantage of your leisure time, you can talk on the phone or login to Facebook using the bus’ free mobile Wi-Fi con-nection.

Taking a ride on the bus is a wonderful way to just relax, get your mind off term papers and with fi nal exams quickly drawing near, we all need to take a break from studying sometimes. Or, if you are just feeling adventurous and want to save cash as you explore the Northern Kentucky area, hop on.

Melissa McLeodStaff writer

Everybody take a ride on the busPublic transportation can get you around cheaply

MCT Campus

Many are realizing the benefi ts of public transportation, so go ahead and try it out for yourself.

In a small room that manages to beat out the size of a closet by just a few feet, LPs adhere to the walls as decorative relics — a throwback to the heyday of turntables and a musical incep-tion that transformed the world. Trendy concert leafl ets hang close by to reinforce the rock “vibe” the studio attempts to emulate. A black micro-refrig-erator sits in the corner, accom-panied by a white piece of paper with a warning — the heading reads: “Rules of the Fridge”.

But to Cody Scott and his partner J.D. Keith, who hit Norse Code Radio (NCR) air-waves every week with hard rock riffs, amplifi ed heavy metal music and a mosh-pit of banter, rules of any kind — refrigerator etiquette or otherwise — don’t seem to apply.

“Yeah, we don’t have a for-mula or rule for what we talk about or play on the show,” J.D. says. “We just try to keep it on the subject of music and humor and wherever else it takes us. And if that doesn’t work, we throw a song on. Isn’t that right, Cody?” J.D. says. He’s looking to his right where his partner is fi xed and perusing the internet in silence.

“I’m not sure if my hearing aides are working today,” J.D. adds as he adjusts his head-phones, letting out a chuckle. “You ready or what, Cody?”

“Yeah, let’s do it,” Cody re-plies, reaching for his mic, his eyes still fi xated on the comput-er screen.

J.D. swings his chair a quar-ter-turn, faces the monitor and pushes a button that makes a beeline for the airwaves, trans-forming the glorifi ed closet into a music hub.

“This is Noise Pollution with Cody and J.D.!” Cody exclaims in tandem with the show’s intro. song by AC/DC, “Rock ‘n’ Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution.”

The two-hour show, which airs on Wednesdays and Sun-days, thrives on a hearty dose of streaming conversation between the duo, consisting of endless one-liners and mocking come-backs, only to be broken up by their distinctive musical lineup that inadvertently bridges the chasm between the very massive noise of artists like Black Sab-bath and AC/DC, with the rock-legend sound of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.

“J.D. brings the music in on his computer and I usually choose what to play,” Cody says. “But you won’t fi nd much discrimi-nation when it comes to music. We try and play a little of every-thing.”

The variety of sound fi ts easily with the mixed-bag personality traits the two 19-year-olds bring to the mics. Cody, as the long-haired, head-banging half, deliv-ers a knack for deadpan sarcasm and dry wit, while J.D., touting an aptitude for self-deprecating humor and a gift for the gab, initiates a hodgepodge of top-ics, gallivanting across uncanny takes on internet sites, such as the world’s worst inventions, to delving into stranger realms, such as the ill-effects of Thalido-mide on babies, and why Cody only owns a total of seven shirts.

“Their two personalities are unique,” says Michael Willis, freshman communications ma-jor and host of NCR’s, On the Mic with Mike, “It’s the situ-ational humor that makes them hilarious to listen to.”

But the matchless rapport of Noise Pollution didn’t surface overnight. Although the show debuted this semester, their on-air dynamic — which features hard music, fast conversation and a multitude of guests — has been years in the making, going well beyond the confi nes of the studio.

The pair met while attending

Ryle High School, both grow-ing up fairly close in Union, Ky. This allowed Cody to stay over at J.D.’s house often, becoming like a son to his parents.

“Yeah, his parents often tell me that I’m their favorite son,” Cody reveals with a short-lived smirk, dissolving into a straight face.

J.D. reaches for the comput-er mouse, queuing up an Iron Maiden song to intentionally ignore his counterpart. As the guitarist breaks out into a solo, he pounds his hands in rhythm against the armrests until sec-onds before the song comes to an end.

“What do you want to talk about next, there, Cody?”

“Anything but sports or poli-tics,” Cody responds.

The song reaches its end, giv-ing way to the “on-air” signal.

“So, how about them Reds on opening day, Cody?” J.D. says, stifl ing another chuckle with the back of his hand.

The strange brew argue the facts on almost every topic, tak-ing each opportunity to give the other a good ribbing. They can’t even assemble on common ground when it comes to their age.

“That’s because I’m older,” Cody says in hopes of provok-ing.

“Older by what? Oh, wow, two whole months,” J.D. mock-ingly replies. “It’s the same age.”

“Yeah, I know — but I’m still older,” Cody proudly replies as if he’s won a victory, even if of the small variety.

Such is the antagonistic for-mula of Noise Pollution, any topic is fair game in terms of ar-gument and commentary.

But for a show that seems to work, it almost never made it off the ground. It was while attending Thomas More Col-lege — where J.D.’s currently a freshman majoring in secondary

education — that he realized the school lacked a radio station.

“I knew I wanted to do some-thing with radio. So, I e-mailed the manager at Norse Code as a shot in the dark to request infor-mation,” J.D. says.

Kaira Simmons, the station manager, e-mailed back within the hour, J.D. says, informing him of the opportunity to create a show, but there was one stipu-lation of having a co-DJ who at-tends NKU.

Cody — a long-time friend, rock bandmate and a freshman computer science major at NKU — was the natural choice for J.D.

“The fi rst show was hard,” Cody says. “But as we learned the equipment, and how we’re able to bounce off each other, the show got better,” he says. “Even if we do run out of things to talk about or don’t totally agree on everything.”

But as much as these dynamic DJs part ways on any number of topics, they seem to agree on one thing: music.

“I like playing music to af-fect people and impact their lives,” J.D. says. “I think we both do. If we can’t do it on stage in our band, radio’s the next best thing.”

A&E

9 April 14, 2010

Noise Pollution in stereoRadio duo rocks NKU airwavesJeremy JacksonA&E editor

Charlotte Etherton/Photo EditorJ.D. Keith and Cody Scott display their energetic personali-ties for radio.


A&E

I’m only worth $2.75The Northerner News editor auctioned off for a good cause

The evening began inno-cently enough. Sitting in The Northerner’s offi ce talking to the other editors, I decided that perhaps covering the Date Night auction hosted by the coed KKPsi band fraternity would be worthwhile. Little did I know that this event would draw me in past the point of no return in reporting.

I arrived in the band room about 7 p.m., camera in hand, every eye on me. “The person behind the table must be the one in charge,” I thought to myself. So I approached a red-haired woman, who appeared slightly distracted by last-min-ute preoccupations.

“Hi, I’m Vern, a reporter with The Northerner. I would like to watch your event, get some photos and write a story about it.” Instantly, she seemed relieved and told me her name was Katharine Tokosh, a junior and co-coordinator of the Date Night auction. She called over a girl — my next interviewee — whom Tokosh said was the other coordinator.

After testing my pen to make sure it had some ink in it, I found it was dead. As I was rif-fl ing through my equipment for a working pen, I looked up to fi nd a young woman standing near me.

The young lady introduced herself as Stephanie Lang, a senior. We sat down to conduct the preliminary interview and I began rattling off the conven-tional interview questions — who, what, why, how.

Right from the get-go I knew that this was going to be more than I had bargained for.

Lang said that KKPsi would be auctioning off 11 guys, fi ve girls and one of the guys will be auctioned off in drag. The fraternity would also be raf-fl ing off 11 prizes ranging from wacky toys to gift cards to help offset the expense of the date.

By this time, I was thinking that the cast of American Pie had come to NKU, although some of my suspicions were abated when Lang told me the whole thing was just in good fun.

“Most of the auctionees are single and a lot (of bidders) are going to bid on others as jokes,” Lang told me. But the biggest question was still not answered and burned in my mind: “Do you think any romances will come out of this?” I fi nally asked Lang.

“I’m going to go with prob-ably not, but you never know,” Lang said. “There is always a

chance.”I’m used to being asked ques-

tions when interviewing some-one, but the question that came out of Lang’s mouth fl oored me: “Are you going to bid on anyone?”

In my mind I was saying, “I would love to, yes,” but what came out of my mouth, what had to come out, was “No. I’m a reporter. I have to maintain my objectivity.”

Brian Theis, the master of ceremonies and auctioneer, dressed sharply in a suit and tie, took the podium and started the bids at $5. Most individuals

sold for close to that sum.When Lang was placed on

the auction block, I thought: “Heck, I’ve got 10 bucks in my pocket, why not. It’s for a good cause and I’ll just have the bookie bid for me.” But be-fore I could even turn to Matt Keeler, who was running the books, and tell him to bid up to $10 for me, a voice resounded, “$30 and a melted Twix,” from the other side of the room. Be-fore the bidding was over, Lang had sold for $50 and a melted Twix bar.

The bidding continued until “Bostina” (Jon Bradner, dolled

up in drag) was on the block. This was obviously the mo-ment many of the audience members had been waiting for. Bostina’s profi le included: “While in the wild, Bostina was raised by a moose named Shar-rell. Her only friends were two small ducklings, and a fl ight-less bumble bee.” Bostina also enjoyed all types of wrestling and hydrochloric acid cocktails. Bostina fetched a hefty sum of $20 for the fraternity.

KKPsi decided to auction off audience members as well. Be-fore I knew what was happen-ing, Lang and Tokosh had sur-rounded me, and I was tossed onto the auctin block.

After giving my introduction and eliciting a few laughs from the crowd, Theis began the bid at $5. The fi rst bid wasn’t placed until Theis lowered the bid to $2. After a short bidding war between Tokosh and Lang (if you can consider increments of a quarter or less to be a war), I fetched a paltry $2.75 by To-kosh.

Although my spirits slightly dampened by bringing in the second lowest sum for the eve-ning, I was comforted to know that I had helped KKPsi pay for their regional convention and help the band in general. KKPsi organizers said they netted ap-proximately $214 for the band with the evening’s activities and hope to do it again next year.

At the conclusion of the show I exchanged information with Tokosh and Lang — Tokosh for coffee; Lang for helping me in identifying people in the pic-tures I took.

Love may not have been found on the auction block as it was in a famous country song or American Pie, but rarely have I attended an event where a smile never left my face. And by the way, I was recently in-formed that three couples have decided to go on a second date.

Vern HockneyNews editor

Vern Hockney/News Editor

Brian Theis (L) and Matt Keeler (R) randomly select winners for the raffl e prizes at the end of KKPsi’s date auction.

Chad HensleyCopy editor

Warming up to your own tuneBaseball and softball teams keep it fun with theme music

11 April 14, 2010

Different varieties of music blaring for short periods of time would normally be heard coming from a disc jockey at a dance club. But if you were to attend a baseball or softball game on campus, you would hear a myriad of different short clips being played.

The Northern Kentucky University baseball and soft-ball teams mirror any profes-sional baseball team as each player gets the chance to pick their own song to be played when they approach the bat-ter’s box or take the mound for the fi rst time in the game.

When choosing a song, the players often select a song that pumps them up prior to stepping into the batter’s box, while others select songs that help them focus and relax.

“It’s defi nitely a mind set. I approach the plate with a killer instinct with a good song playing,” said Larry Pempek, who organizes the music for the baseball team. “I think others choose songs that put memories in their heads with that particular song, or they use them to get hyped up and focus at the task at hand.”

Pempek, who is in his fourth year with the Norse, said while he was searching for a song to use, he wanted to use one from the soundtrack to the movie “300”. After searching the internet, he found a quote from the movie and went from there.

“So when searching for a ‘300’ theme, I got ‘What is your profession?’ The song just fi t what I was looking for, so I am using it,” Pempek said. “It has a hard rock beat with some of a rap bass, and a (great) quote from the movie.”

While Pempek uses music and a quote from one of his favorite movies, other play-ers use current chart-topping songs.

Samantha Del Vecchio, a junior catcher on the softball team, uses DJ Khaled’s “All I Do Is Win” as her walkup song.

“I chose it just because it has a lot of swag to it, and ba-sically is saying I win, point blank,” Del Vecchio said. “It’s a little cocky but that’s what motivates me. Last year my song was ‘Turn My Swag On’ by Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em and I almost thought of using it this year too, but I changed it. They are similar though, and they exude confi dence.”

Confi dence is something every player is looking for no matter the situation in the game. The more confi dent the player is in their abilities, the better (they think) they will perform. And they have per-formed.

The 2009 season was the fi rst year the softball team was afforded the opportunity to have walkup music and they improved their team batting average by .019 from the pre-vious season. Oddly enough, the Norse are currently hitting .291 as a team, which is the same batting average they had in 2009.

One may ask how a song can improve someone batting average. The answer is each individual has their ways of focusing on their upcoming at-bat, and if a certain song helps them channel their thoughts, then so be it.

Freshman pitcher Emily Schwaeble says you can’t think about previous at-bats and she uses her selection to aide her in doing so. Her choice was “It’s My Time” by Fabolous.

“I chose this song as it kind of speaks for itself. When it comes to sports, you can’t dwell on the past because it’s over and done with,” said Schwaeble, a Cincinnati na-tive. “The future and what can be done is all that matters and

when it’s your turn to make the play and make things hap-pen. You have to get the job done for your team — lay it all on the line.”

While some players have hard-hitting, fast-paced rap or rock songs as their walkup, some players have chosen to travel the route of hilarity to loosen their spirits.

Gretchen Lorenz selected Michael Sembello’s “Maniac” to be played as she approaches each at-bat. For those of you not familiar with the tune, you’ll remember it was the sig-nature song of the 1983 Amer-ican romantic musical fi lm, “Flashdance.”

Chase Stewart, the baseball team’s closing pitcher, is an in-timidating fi gure as he toes the pitching rubber with a grimac-ing, scowling look on his face. If you think he uses a heavy metal song to be more intimi-dating, you would be wrong, but if you guessed “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus, you would be correct. Attend any baseball game at the Bill Aker Baseball Complex and you will fi nd people, includ-ing the opposing team, smiling and chuckling at the thought of 6-foot-6, 240 pound closer, warming up to the whine of “I hopped off the plane at LAX with a dream and my cardi-gan.”

Some might think Stewart selected what some would call a “girly” song for his warm-up, but as a freshman on the base-ball team, he is at the mercy of the upperclassmen, who, as a rite of passage, get to choose the song they want the fresh-man to have.

Some selections this season include TLC’s “No Scrubs” for Stevie Gipson-Eberhardt, Britney Spears’ “Hit Me Baby One More Time” for Bradley Vanderglas and Celine Dion’s “All By Myself” for Patrick

Hyde.“It’s always been a tradition

that the upper classmen do. When I was at Ball State, you got to pick your song, but no matter what you picked, some-one got to pick a funny one,” said Pempek, who transferred to NKU after spending one season at Ball State. “I went through it as a freshman, and I hope the tradition continues. It lightens the mood defi nitely, and makes the freshmen feel embarrassed I think...keeps them honest.”

Del Vecchio thinks it is funny that the baseball fresh-men don’t get to choose their own songs, but doesn’t think it would work for the softball team.

“I think it is hilarious that the upper classmen choose frosh songs on the baseball team. That could get real fun-

ny,” Del Vecchio said. “I don’t think it is something we would do on our team, just because I don’t think it’s our style, but I’m totally all for the baseball team doing it.”

Del Vecchio also added a suggestion for the upperclass-men on the baseball team to use in future seasons.

“I haven’t heard any this year but I think they could get really creative and throw some Disney princess songs in there…that’d be fabulous.”

No matter how you think a person should focus in just be-fore stepping into the batter’s box, you will fi nd that both the baseball and softball team both have fun with their song selections and that ultimately is what is important here. If they feel like it helps them, then who are we to judge how they approach the game?

SPORTS

Tim Downer/Staff Photographer

Joe Mack steps up to the box to swing...

The Northerner Print Edition - April 14, 2010

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Transcript of The Northerner Print Edition - April 14, 2010