The Northerner Print Edition - April 18, 2013

News, pg. 4 Arts & Life, pg. 6 Sports, pg. 10

Tech bar opens in success center Zombie Western premiering at NKU Track & field sets new personal records

The Northerner The Independent Student-Run Newspaper of NKU Thursday, April 18, 2013 | Ed. 51 Is. 12

Photo by Kevin SchultzDayton, Ohio artist Matt Kish created an original work based on a passage from Herman Melville’s “Moby-Dick” as part of the Celebration of Student Research and Creativity April 16 in the Griffin Hall Digitorium. Kish published a book in 2011 after creating one piece of art for every page of the novel. NKU currently houses multiple “Moby-Dick” related works of art, including some of Kish’s.

Mearns unveils 2013-14 budget, renovation plans

Exactly a year after being announced as NKU’s fifth president on the same stage, President Geoffrey Mearns addressed the campus about the university’s budget on Wednesday in Greaves Concert Hall.

“We are in a safe and stable financial position,” Mearns said, despite NKU not receiving what he believes is its fair share from the state.

According to Mearns, NKU received $18 million less from the state than the average public university in Ken-tucky and the university operates on less state dollars per student now than we have in the past.

Mearns then said that people are in Frankfort, lobbying for NKU to get the money it deserves.

“We did not create this problem,” he said. “There’s no rational explanation [for not receiving this money].”

One of his priorities is to negotiate with the legislature in order to fix this deficit in the operating funds NKU receives

from the state. To do this Mearns is reaching out to three key groups: alumni, the business community and students.

He primarily wants to mobilize students to talk to their representatives in Frankfort.

“I want them to explain why students at Murray and Morehead get more taxpayer support than students at NKU,” he said. “And I want to hear them answer.”

In addition to this, Mearns addressed campus construc-tion and renovations, budgetary issues with faculty and staff and tuition.

Mac PaytonStaff writer

Story continued on pg. 3 see BUDGET

original work before live audienceArtist creAtes

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furtherdetailsEntire content is copyright of The Northerner 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 authority to make all content decisions without censorship or advance approval. The Northerner staff respects the right to a free and open dialogue as allowed under the First Amendment.

Acclaimed author to visit campusThe university Honors Program will

host the internationally acclaimed author Julia Alvarez on April 25 at 7 p.m. in the Otto Budig Theater. Alvarez has written 19 books for a wide variety of audiences ranging from adults to children. As both a writer and activist, Alvarez has estab-lished a global reputation for her work. Al-varez is coming to NKU to discuss her lat-est work, “A Wedding in Haiti.” For more information or to RSVP for the event, con-tact Stephanie Churchill at [email protected] or 859-572-1373. The event is open to the public.

Business professor named to Cincy Magazine’s Outstanding Educators

ListRodney D’Souza, a professor at the

Haile/US Bank College, has been named to Cincy Magazine’s Outstanding Educa-tors Class of 2013. This list features pro-fessors who are among many nominees received from students and colleagues. These professors are nominated based on various factors including spending extra

time with students, displaying innova-tion in the classroom and excellence in academic research. D’Souza is the direc-tor of the INKUBATOR, an accelerator that aims to increase the competitive ad-vantage for students by providing applied education, mentoring, financing, facilities and other related resources necessary for a successful startup process. D’Souza’s research interests are in the area of op-portunity recognition, new venture teams and new venture investment. D’Souza has been published in various academic journals and presented papers at several national conferences. D’Souza was one of eight professors at NKU who earned this designation.

Student earns first place at neuro-science poster competition

Senior biological sciences major Amy Ashworth was recently recognized for her work in quantifying the levels of dif-ferent metabolic enzymes in parts of mice brains. Ashworth won first place in the Neuroscience Day Poster Competition, Undergraduate/High School Category. While the enzymes particular to her re-search are best known for their function in the liver, other research has reported that these enzymes are expressed in the brain as well, although their function has not yet been determined. Ashworth has worked in the laboratory of NKU professor Chris-tine Curran for three years. Ashworth was aided by researchers at the University of Cincinnati as well as David Thompson of NKU. Ashworth also received first place for Best Undergraduate Poster at the Ohio Valley Society of Toxicology meeting in September 2012 and was one of five stu-dents to receive a Pfizer Undergraduate Research Travel Award to the National Society of Toxicology meeting in March.

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What was once merely an idea from NKU’s Student Senate is now a reality, as students across the university were recently given access to an online course syllabus bank developed by NKU’s Office of Information Technology.

“This portal has been developed to allow users easy access to undergraduate and graduate syllabi, in an effort to learn more about NKU instructors and courses before registering for class-es,” the site for the new database said.

The idea for this online syllabus bank came from the Student Senate resolution that was first presented by Senator Tanner Elrod at the group’s Nov. 12 meeting last semester.

SGA President Erik Pederson has advocated for this idea with several other members, such as Vice President Allen Hor-nung and Secretary for Administrative Affairs David Trump, since the resolution was first presented.

“Open access to classroom information is very important for students,” Pederson said. “I am very excited to show students [the new bank] and have already got responses from some stu-dents talking about how curious they are about the bank.”

Kenneth Rhee, current chair of NKU’s Teaching Effective-ness and Enhancement Committee, understands the advan-tage associated with this initiative in that it will help students make more informed decisions when they’re selecting the courses they are registering for, but cautions “there are always advantages and disadvantages when it comes to stuff like this.”

One disadvantage of giving students online access to course syllabuses, according to Rhee, could be this initiative miss-

ing the focus of what students really need in order for them to make more informed decisions about classes.

“We wouldn’t want students to come to class with false as-sumptions,” Rhee said. “We want students to understand that this isn’t the final say, but rather a guideline.”

It is important for students to understand that syllabuses are constantly changing in a positive way due to professors improving the courses, keeping courses up-to-date and more, according to Rhee.

Another disadvantage, according to Rhee, is how the online syllabus use would be controlled.

“If an instructor came up with something really unique for a course, it could be lost online,” he said. “We want to make sure students are aware that these are copyright materials.”

The Office of the Provost instituted this new syllabus bank and the Faculty Senate and its associated committees were not involved with the process, according to Rhee, who said that other solutions are available that could be more effective.

A better solution to addressing this issue could’ve been hav-ing students visit classes to learn professors’ different teaching styles or having professors release their teaching styles, accord-ing to Rhee. Learning professors’ individual classroom tech-niques is one example of a more focused solution that he thinks will help students make informed course selection decisions.

“Those kinds of things you can’t really learn from syllabi,” he said.

Overall, while Rhee sees the advantages that this initiative provides, he believes further dialogue between students, facul-ty and staff could result in a more focused and refined system.

“As long as we continue to engage in a continuous dialogue, it could lead to a much more effective solution,” Rhee said.

Kevin SchultzNews editor

Pros and cons to new syllabus bank

Construction and RenovationsMearns officially announced what

he called the “worst kept secret,” NKU is negotiating the purchase of Lakeside Terrace, previously a senior citizen living community, next to Callahan Hall.

Lakeside Terrace will be able to house 200 more residents. He expects the renovations to cost $12 million and said it should be ready to house residents by August 2014.

Mearns is calling the second phase of the plaza renovation “the single most im-portant” construction job for the upcom-ing year.

The area of the plaza in between Steely Library, Founders Hall, Landrum Hall and the Fine Arts Center will be getting a $2.5 million renovation with more green space, much like the plaza outside of the University Center and the Student Union earlier this year.

Faculty and StaffMearns said the university has already

hired 23 new full-time faculty members for the 2013-14 school year and is search-ing for 16 more.

For the 2014-15 school year, the uni-versity has already approved 20 new full-time faculty positions that can be filled.

However, it could soon become more difficult for the university to pay retired faculty members, according to Mearns.

The state government has changed its policy toward retired state employees, and is now turning to what he called a “hybrid plan,” where the state would cover part of it, but then would expect the institution to cover the rest, starting in 2014.

While this would have very little ef-fect on the 2013-14 operating budget, this could cost upwards of $5 million in 2014-15 and in following years, accord-ing to Mearns.

Mearns also pledged $62,000 of next year’s budget to support researchers, when it comes to filling out grants and other paperwork.

As an added bonus, the budget allows for $1.6 million in recurring funds to be used for discretionary expenditures, ac-cording to Mearns. With $1.5 million of that, Mearns is setting up a pool for fac-ulty to receive a 1.5 percent merit-based salary increase.

TuitionSixty-five percent of the university’s

revenue comes from tuition. Therefore, Mearns said, the university’s main efforts are to focus on the recruitment of new stu-dents and the retention of the students we have.

The university hired the consulting firm Royall & Company for help with recruiting more students. According to Mearns, this $500,000 investment has paid off.

Currently, Mearns said, we are looking

at a 30 percent increase in the amount of freshmen for next year, with paid confir-mation fees up 34 percent from this time last year.

Tuition prices will still be rising; how-ever, Kentucky’s Council on Postsecond-ary Education will likely cap the tuition increases at three percent, despite SGA requesting a larger increase, according to Mearns.

Other Budgetary Expenses Around the University

The university’s budget will also be giving approximately $168,000 to the library, $42,000 of recurring funds to the Student Fee Allocation Board and $300,000 to the Athletics Department for NKU’s continued transition to Divi-sion I.

In the library, $100,000 will be go-ing toward acquiring new materials, $60,000 toward refurbishing the library and $8,000 toward a pilot program next fall which will extend the library’s hours.

When speaking about the Athletics Department’s allocation, Mearns praised the sports teams, saying that they never gave up and they “give us a sense of in-spiration.”

Mearns concluded his presentation by talking about NKU’s past and where we’re going in the future. He said that, although we do have budget restraints, there’s no reason we can’t dream big dreams and that there’s no reason we can’t achieve those dreams.

“It’s our time,” he said, “so let’s go to work.”

EDITION 51, ISSUE 12| News

3BUDGET, continued from pg. 1

As the student government officials take office, for a second term for President Erik Pederson, they bring new ideas to campus. One of the main ideas on Pederson’s 2013-14 agenda is academic review days, which would give students more time to study the week before finals.

Although the planning is still in early stages, re-view days would prohibit professors from assign-ing new projects, assignments, quizzes or tests that would be due the week before final exams, accord-ing to Pederson.

This idea of a review week has been modified from the University of Kentucky’s Dead Week, but it would be adapted to meet the expectations of Northern Kentucky University.

“We’re learning from universities that have been around a lot longer,” said David Trump, the 2013-14 SGA vice president. “Seeing how they run things and if it works for them, why can’t it work for us?”

Pederson said he hopes to have this in place by fall 2013, then it’s up to the students to use this time wisely. These review days would help the stu-dents’ grade point averages and help them be less stressed out, the SGA president said.

“This will provide built-in time for your study time, your review time, questioning of what im-portant materials you’ll need to know the most for finals,” Pederson said. “[It will] ensure there is a comfort window between the time of finals and your last project so there is adequate prep time for finals.”

Pederson and Trump have already come up with some ideas as to how review week might work, in-cluding continuing to have class during the week, but no new material would be taught or covered. Whether the review days would last an entire week or just part of the week before finals is still in ques-tion.

If there are assignments set on the original syl-labus to be due during these review days they will still be due. Review days would prohibit new as-signments or tests from being assigned last min-ute. But, professors would be encouraged to stay consistent with the syllabus.

“A syllabus is a binding contract with the profes-sor and students so they know ahead of time about projects,” said Brittany Wren, a junior public rela-tions major.

Because this idea is still new, Pederson and Trump are still modifying ideas and planning to work with faculty members on how to best imple-ment academic review days.

Amber TewesContributing writer

SGA in early stages of implementing academic review week

$2.85 million for DEfErrED mainTEnancE President Mearns talked about addressing several top-priority deferred maintenance projects. Here are the projects Mearns hopes to address over the next year:

• Landrum elevator renova-tion: $363,000

• Arc flash hazard assess-ment: $270,000

• Albright Health Center roof replacement: $980,000

• Callahan Hall switchgear replacement: $60,000

• BAC VAV box replacement for the air duct system: $336,000

• Campus HVAC air-han-dling-unit coil cleaning: $35,000

• Central receiving/loading dock roof replacement: $160,000

• MEP exterior caulking and sealing: $319,000

• Founders Hall switchgear replacement: $120,000

• Replace acid storage cabi-nets: $24,400

• Lucas west yard drainage repair: $179,600

Photo courtesy of Chris ColeThe plaza outside of Founders Hall and the Fine Arts Building will get a makeover over the next year. Mearns presented his plan at the 2013-14 budget address.

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The new Student Success Center will cel-ebrate its soft opening on April 22nd from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in its new home on the second floor of the University Center.

President Mearns will speak at this event, addressing why the university felt the need to open the success center. There will also be tours of the new facilities and amenities of-fered. New features include an IT Tech Bar, smart stations and conferencing rooms.

The IT Tech Bar will answer questions and offer support to students about their computers as well as give discounted work on those computers, said Kim Turner, the interim assistant vice president of Student Affairs. They can also borrow laptops for 48 hours if needed.

“We [compare] it to the Genius Bar at Apple,” Turner said.

Turner said the four smart stations will allow students a spot to use university com-puters and screens for working on presen-tations. The six conferencing rooms can be used for private advising appointments and even interviews with employers. Students

can access the rooms using their All Card.Another change that comes along with

the success center is the relocating of Career Services and advising to a more friendly and inviting location, according to Turner.

“We’ve put those two together because they play such a large role with students who are undeclared,” she said.

Undeclared students can find help choos-ing a major by using Focus 2 on the career services website at www.careerservices.nku.edu/students/careerplanning/focus2.html. This is a self-assessment test that has students answer questions about their inter-ests, personality and skills.

Based on the results of these questions, students will get a report about potential careers and majors they may find appealing, said Turner.

Turner said NKU wants students to take advantage of these opportunities “while they are still in the exploratory phase.” Those en-tering the center for the first time will notice the compass desk as they enter. Staff and peers will be at this desk to answer any ques-tions. Turner said having peers work at this desk will help students to feel less nervous when requesting information.

“This is a place to ask a question, no matter what the question is,” Turner said. Turner continued that construction on the first floor of the University Center is slated to begin in May. The university would like it to include First Year Programs, veterans

programs, more offices and a meeting room that can hold up to 100 people. Turner hopes that the second stage of this work will be completed by the fall semester.

To learn more about the Student Success Center you can visit www.success.nku.edu.

Photo by Emily Lindeau Undeclared freshman Donna Menzer is on staff at the Norse Tech Bar. She helps students by answering questions and provides them assistance with computers and other electronic devices.

Matt SpauldingContributing writer

Technology, new features open at success center

Fraternities at NKU will be contacted this fall by the hous-ing office, in hopes that they will push forward with setting up their own Greek affiliated floors in Callahan Hall.

Two sororities, Phi Sigma Sigma and Delta Zeta, are tak-ing advantage of the opportunity and have floors reserved for this upcoming fall semester. That brings the total num-ber of sorority floors in Callahan to five for this coming fall, but the only fraternity-affiliated floor being Sigma Phi Ep-silon.

“We plan to extend an outreach to fraternities in the fall,” said Arnie Slaughter, University Housing director. “We would love to have them.”

According to Slaughter, the Greek affinity and learning community floors are opportunities for members of orga-nizations on campus to live with other members and have a place for “brotherhood and sisterhood bonding,” similar to the way Greek organizations at other universities can do with houses dedicated to their organization.

Each floor must have 20-22 members, according to Slaughter, but one room can be used as an office or a small meeting room. Ultimately, the organizations are left to de-cide how they want to use their space.

The floors are “a place to bond and study,” said Katarina Morris, floor manager for Phi Sigma Sigma.

“Members can come to the floors and use the areas for study buddies, and can use the area as a meeting place,” she said. “It’s like a having a house, just with less space.”

Slaughter said that the process to get the floors reserved is easy and doesn’t cost more to get into than a normal room would.

“Housing said that as long as we had 20 people pay the $200 deposit by the specified date, then we get the floor,” Morris said.

After acquiring the floor, the housing office and floor managers of the organizations can then meet and go over how the floor and rooms will be decorated.

The housing office doesn’t provide renovations above what is required for the floors, but organizations can acquire funding from outside sources, like a grant from their nation-al headquarters or fundraisers, to get furniture and paint to decorate their floors. Housing maintenance will perform the renovations and painting, according to Slaughter.

“The main thing is to get people committed and put things in motion,” said Morris, in regards to getting the floors re-served, then finishing renovations in time for move-in day.

The organizations can reserve their floors every semester by having the required amount of committed members, and by filling out an intent form to show that they want to re-turn, according to Slaughter.

The new organization floors will, however; cause those students that were staying in the rooms previously to move

to make room for the organizations. Slaughter emphasized that they are not being left with a room that they may not want.

“The students displaced will have priority room selection before others,” said Slaughter, due to them being moved.

Currently, eight organizations in total utilize floors at Cal-lahan Hall and Slaughter said he hopes more will take ad-vantage of the opportunity in the future.

EDITION 51, ISSUE 12| News

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Matt HempflingContributing writer

New Greek floors added to CallahanUniversity Housing wants more fraternity representation on campus

Callahan Hall Greek Affinity Housing Rooms

Delta Gamma Sorority C Wing-2nd floor

New for 2013

New for 2013

B Wing-2nd floor

C Wing-3rd floor

B Wing-3rd floor

Delta Zeta Sorority

Phi Sigma Sigma

Kappa Delta Sorority

Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity

Theta Phi Alpha Sorority

Information courtesy of University Housing

Originating at a time when zombies were starting to invade mainstream culture, a concept an NKU professor has been developing for six years has become a reality.

Known to many at NKU as the “zombie movie guy,” John Gibson and his crew have completed the first feature-length indie Western horror film, shot entirely on consumer-grade DSLR cameras, titled “Revelation Trail.”

The first four big-screen showings of the film about the undead rising on the 1880s Western frontier sold out during its release April 12-14 at the Maiden Alley Cinema. With over 550 peo-ple attending the premiere weekend, the crew felt the audience had a “very positive” reaction to Gibson’s first feature-length film. A public screening with the two lead actors is planned for June in Cincinnati.

Since a majority of the film’s crew are part of the NKU community, Gibson organized a free NKU-only screening of this “passion project” on April 19. The showing is for the select group of supporters involved with creating or expanding the unique Western horror universe since its conception in 2006.

A Western Horror FilmThe project began at a time when zombies

were seen in the occasional movie or game and were not part of heavy mainstream culture, ac-cording to Gibson. The idea originated from a conversation with Gibson’s friend and “Revela-tion Trail” executive producer Blake Armstrong, about creating a new type of Western with the inclusion of zombies.

Fast forward to the premiere, when zombies have captured mainstream culture from many different angles and preparing for the apoca-lypse is a common conversation topic.

“It’s one of those things where it could either work for us or it could just be that we are one more movie or story in the mix, which isn’t nec-essarily a bad thing,” Gibson said. “Yes, there is a deluge of zombie apocalypse stuff out there, but this is a really good story.”

Zombie permeation of pop culture does not have to be seen as a negative for new films fea-

turing the undead. The lead actor, producer and co-writer of the film, Daniel Van Thomas, be-lieves that people who enjoy zombie franchises, such as “The Walking Dead,” can use their famil-iarity as a “barometer” to gauge their interest.

Van Thomas agreed that the success depends more on the story, and this film’s character study makes its story line stand out. The zombies were never intended to dominate the film.

“We don’t actually say the word zombie, and we do not dwell on where they come from or why they exist,” Van Thomas said.

In the minds of Americans, a zombie apoca-lypse might already bring to mind the time of lawlessness of the wild West in the U.S. In the face of a changing world, the film’s protagonists are forced to confront a new catalyst on this American Western frontier.

Shot in Kentucky, Ohio and Illinois over a 20-day period, the film works on different levels to explore how a man of faith and a man of law find a way to work together to survive during an apocalypse out west in the late 19th century.

“In that time period, they were probably more adjusted to fending for themselves,” Jordan Eliz-abeth Goettling, who plays the role of Isabelle, said.

The Future of the Budding FranchiseThe world premiere of the film supports the

long-term goal of growing the “Revelation Trail” series into an expanding universe and commu-nity story set in the 1880s as the undead rise and humans return to the nomadic life.

Based on the positive premiere of the film, there is interest in continuing the development of a storyline that continues the journey of Van Thomas’ character, the man known only as Preacher. Currently, there are outlines for at least two sequels, according to Van Thomas.

“The big thing for us really, in the future, I don’t want to have just a movie; I want to have a whole empire or a whole universe,” Gibson said.

As a next step to expand the undead universe, Gibson is looking into creating a graphic novel to supplement the series and continue to build a franchise around the film. The graphic novel would be set in the same world, but it might be set at a different time period.

The series has already experimented with in-

creasing the reach of the “Revelation Trail” story by developing a game set ten years after the main events in the movie.

An NKU graduate and former student of Gib-son is in the process of developing a free browser game to promote the film and story. The future setting has been “very favorable” for the design of the “Revelation Trail: All Abhorred!” game’s storyline, creator Eric Hancock said.

“It allowed me to play with a number of themes in my piece that are kind of interesting in the context of a zombie apocalypse and the 19th century,” Hancock said.

Violence, Gore and GutsWhen people think of a zombie film, some

of the first things they might picture are brains, blood and guts. With each new zombie film, the question on many viewers’ minds is, “Just how gorey is this going to get?”

While “Revelation Trail” is “definitely an R-

rated film,” it is not due to the gore. The gore is not worse than what you would see on “The Walking Dead,” according to Gibson.

“Honestly, it does not even reach “The Walk-ing Dead” level at times because that wasn’t the purpose of [the film],” Gibson said. “There are some pretty intense moments with different people and people being hit in the head with shovels and things like that.”

Since the word “zombie” was not part of the terminology out west in the 1880s, the writers had to come up with a more creative way to re-fer to the undead. They are called “creatures,” “things” and at times vulgar Western curse words.

To view the official trailer for the film, visit www.youtube.com/revelationtrail. For more information about the upcoming game “Revela-tion Trail: All Abhorred!” visit www.misterhan-cock.com/allabhorred.html.

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Maggie PundStaff writer

Photo courtesy of John GibsonPreacher (Daniel Van Thomas) and Marshal Edwards (Daniel Britt) rode horses through the Western frontier in 1880s. The film will premiere for an NKU-only audience April 19.

Do you think you would survive a zombie apocalypse?see this week’s norse poll for other student responses [pg.9]

OLD WEST faces THE undeadProfessor reveals promising film after six years of work

EDITION 51, ISSUE 12| Arts & Life Special

7Future auto engineers take team project off roading

THE PROJECT:

THE TEAM:

When they are not testing out the car’s capabilities across campus lots and steep hills, the team, seven me-chanical and manufacturing engineering technology ma-jors and one electrical engineering technology major, can be found working on their vehicle at all hours of the night in the mechanical lab NKU provides in the Business Aca-demic Center.

The SAE Mini Baja competition requires collegiate en-gineering teams around the country to design and build off-road cars able to survive rough terrains.

Each team’s performance is judged based on a combi-nation of dynamic and static event scores. This year the teams will compete over a four-day period at the Roches-ter Institute of Technology in New York.

“You get to drive something you build. You get to design something you build. You get excellent hands-on experi-ence,” Nathan Rogers, team president and mechanical

and manufacturing engineering technology major, said.Students gain experience valued by automotive and

aerospace businesses, according to SAE. At NKU, only a small group of MMET students participate in the competi-tion each year.

Teams form a new strategy every year to make their car last through the four hours of continuous laps during the endurance race. Along with design changes, NKU’s team has invested this year in new technology, such as walkie talkies and a camera to capture the car’s action.

In addition to planning, constructing, testing and rac-ing their car within the limits of the rules, student teams have to generate financial support for their project. Some members contribute as much as $500-$1,000 to the proj-ect with the hope that sponsorships will help pay it back in the future.

As part of the competition, students are also judged

on a cost report for their project. Teams have to take into account small details such as the size of each tube, bend, notch or weld in addition to labor fees to calculate how much their car will cost. This real-world application makes the students consider topics they will encounter in the automotive industry, such as retail markup.

“Experience says a lot for employment, so if you can say you were part of building a race car, I think employers will find that impressive,” Tyler Spaeth, vice president and MMET major, said.

The top three teams for the Briggs & Stratton overall competition performance receive $1,000, $750 and $500. Teams also have the chance to win awards, such as the SAE Cost Award, Honda Endurance Award and Polaris Overall Design Award.

“What you do get is attention,” Rogers said about the competitions.

Although the Mini Baja competition started in 1976, NKU formed its first SAE division just four years ago. This year’s team is made up of eight members involved in the mechanical and manufacturing engineering technology program.

For three years, Nathan Rogers has remained presi-dent of NKU’s SAE team, a title he gained by his second semester freshman year.

The numerous long days and nights spent in the lab pay off in the end through the experience the team gains with the equipment. The Mechanical and Manu-facutring Engineering Technology department hired Rogers on as a lab assistant due to the fact that he is “so much more familiar than the other students” with the machines.

While other teams chose to focus on specialities and divide up tasks, this team chooses to collaborate and come up with a game plan for each level of the process. They take each step and problem on “as a whole team.” The goal is to avoid isolation and allow everyone to gain experience in each stage of the construction.

“Anyone can do pretty much anything and for people

who don’t know we will teach you how to do it,” Spaeth said. “If you are an expert in one area, you can go ahead and specialize in that if you want... But it is pretty much all hands on deck.”

Active member and former vice president Nick Bertke initially joined the group as an alternative to a fraternity and a way to get involved on campus. He now has a career in 3D modeling for machines.

“It’s actually kind of nice. It’s my hands-on after I sit at a desk all day,” Bertke said. “It is a lot of hands-on, a lot problem solving.”

Other members of the team include Eike Lohrbach, Daniel Walters, Ryan Hillenbrand, Jeremy Trester and Jayson Lotz. The faculty sponsor of the organization is Morteza Sadat-Hossieny.

“[We are shooting] primarily to have fun, but we are trying to get a little more competitive with it,” Spaeth said.

“Off roading is more fun for us,” Rogers said. The most fun part of Norse Baja is the “wheelies,” Rogers said, smiling at the team’s buggy.

- Emily Hodges contributed to this story

Photo by Maggie Pund

Late at night during the spring semester for the last four years, people around NKU’s campus might have heard the roar of an engine or witnessed a vehicle whipping around gravel Lot A.

NKU’s Society of Automotive Engineers has approval from

parking services and members of the police to safely test out the latest version of the off-road buggy they built together to enter in an intercollegiate competition in June.

Before the competition though, the team presented its work as part of the Celebration of Student Research and Cre-ativity on April 16 in the Student Union Ballroom. The poster presentation is a chance for the NKU community to see what SAE has been working on all semester.

Photo by Maggie Pund

SAE Vice President Tyler Spaeth took the Norse Baja buggy out for a ride on campus.

Norse Baja, a part of SAE, will take the buggy to a collegiate competition at Rochester Institute of Technology in June.

Maggie PundStaff writer

Norse Baja presents at Celebration, prep for upcoming competition

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It was like a scene straight out of the movie “Crash.” De’Sean El-lis walked into an elevator after one of his classes on campus and was met with discrimination. A woman who was already in the elevator moved aside and clenched her purse, thinking she might get robbed by the black man walking in.

Ellis, a senior electronic media and broadcasting major, noticed what she did and decided to confront the problem.

“It’s cool, I’m not going to take your purse,” Ellis told her. The woman then opened up to Ellis and they both discussed stereo-types they had and what they had been through in the past.

“We kicked it off nicely after that,” Ellis said.Discrimination is a problem that people face every day and is

a problem that NKU’s chapter of the NAACP is trying to bring awareness and education to.

Ellis said that if you don’t confront the problem, it will build up inside of you and you’ll wish you had spoken up.

“Every time I have the opportunity to hear someone’s story

about being stereotyped, I like to listen and tell them my story so that people can feel comfortable around me,” Ellis said. “It was one of the biggest things that ever happened to me at NKU.”

On April 9, the NAACP met on campus to discuss discrimina-tion within races. This meeting focused mainly on the racism be-tween light-skinned and dark-skinned black people.

Nicole White, a double major in communication studies and or-ganizational leadership, said that discrimination has affected her life.

“I have light skin so sometimes people will see me and auto-matically assume that I am stuck up or that I’m a snob,” White said. “I think this is a problem for society as a whole. It’s not fair, but it happens.”

Nia Slaughter, president of the NKU chapter of the NAACP and senior criminal justice major, led the discussion at the meeting.

“We are all a people. Not just whites and blacks separately, but everybody as a people. We are the human race,” Slaughter said. “We shouldn’t downgrade others of our race just because they have a different shade of skin color.”

“People are people, no matter what race, skin color or ethnicity,” Slaughter said.

The end of the school year is approach-ing as the start of summer creeps closer. Faculty and student-parents often con-template programs or activities for their children while they are out of school. The answer is closer than many might think.

The Northern Kentucky University Early Childhood Center will be offering its annu-al summer program for school-aged chil-dren 6-14 years old.

The camp, beginning on May 28 and ending on Aug. 9, will be divided into two sections; the Vikings, ages 6-9, and the No-mads, ages 10-14.

Summer camp coordinator Amanda Johnson has been hard at work planning and scheduling various events for this year’s program.

“There is a lot in store for the children this summer,” Johnson said. “We are hop-ing to bring both fun and learning into the program, making it an enjoyable and re-warding experience for the campers as well the staff.”

All camp counselors are NKU students, some of whom are pursuing degrees in education and have acquired much experi-ence working with children.

“I cannot think of a more rewarding and fun way to spend a summer than to be a camp counselor,” Samantha Mackenzie,

senior biology major, said. “The last three summers were well spent [being involved in the summer program].”

There are a variety of field trips planned for the campers. Returning counselor Dan-iel Hagedorn, senior history major, enjoys taking adventures with the campers.

“I think the changing atmosphere em-phasizes their growth,” Hagedorn said.

The Nomads will be visiting the Heritage Village Museum, a recreated 1800s com-munity in Sharonville, Ohio containing 13 historic buildings. They will also have the chance to explore the Louisville Mega Cavern, an underground adventure that emphasizes geology, mining, recycling and green building technology.

The Vikings will be visiting Jane’s Sad-dlebag Historic Site located near Big Bone Lick State Park in Union, Ky. The trip will offer a “hands-on” educational experience complete with live farm animals at a pet-ting zoo, 100-year-old barns, 1700s-style flatboats and original, restored saddlebags.

Highfield Discovery Garden in Cincin-nati is another planned adventure for the Vikings. The children will be able to explore the natural world, with a goal to allow an engagement of delight through the senses while exploring the two-acre garden.

Johnson has developed weekly themes for the camp, switching things up to main-tain the interest of the children.

There will be a career week, where the

campers will explore different career fields while visiting departments on NKU’s cam-pus.

A week will be designated to art explora-tion, allowing campers to put their creative minds to use with clay, water colors, wires and jewelry making. They will be exposed to new materials and will have the oppor-tunity to learn more about media that suits their individual interest.

There will also be a drama week. Camp-ers will have the chance to learn about all aspects of production [dialogue, costumes, props, backdrops and filming]. The chil-dren will be able to create and perform their own skits.

“As a mom and a teacher, I think our summer camp offers the best balance of fun opportunities for fun, learning and friendship,” Early Childhood Center Direc-tor Melanie Caldwell said. “Kids come back year after year.”

Caldwell said that parents appreciate that “we are reasonably priced” and that their children are kept safe and their brains are kept stimulated.

Camp registration is now open and spots are quickly filling.

For registration information or fur-ther details contact Julie Christmann, Early Childhood Center office manager, by phone at (859) 572-6338, by email at [email protected] or in person on the first floor of MEP, room 147.

Someone is behind the gruesome murder of dead billionaire Marcus Kane in “Heart Attack with a Knife” and you can witness the murder mystery solved on stage at the 16th biennial Year-End-Series Festival of New Plays, which opens today in Patricia Corbett and Robert & Rosemary Stauss Theatres in the Fine Arts Center.

“Heart Attack” by Oded Gross and di-rected by Ken Jones, kicks off the festival that will feature three never-before-seen productions. The world premiere will also feature “Spake” by David L. Wil-liams, directed by Mike King and “Furbe-low” by J. Stephen Brantley, directed by Daryl Harris.

“Spake” will prove how a few snow flakes can change the world. You can fol-low Regine the Thirteenth in “Furbelow” as she discovers life is not all about velvet and chiffon.

YES Festival begins today and will con-tinue through April 28.

Caitlin CentnerArts & Life editor

Shelby RogersContributing writer

Amber CoakleyContributing writer

WHeN:“Heart Attack”April 18, 22, 25 and 27 at 8 p.m.; April 20 at 1 p.m.

“Spake”April 19, 23, 25 and 26 at 8 p.m.; April 20, 21 and 27 at 4p.m.; April 28 at 1p.m.

“Furbelow”April 20, 21, 24 and 26 at 8 p.m; April 27 at 1 p.m.

WHere:Corbett Theatre and Stauss Theatre, Fine Arts Center

HoW muCH:Students $8, adults $14, seniors $11. Visit theatre.nku.edu or call (859)572-5464.

• IF YOU GO •

YES Festival returns with three world premieres

NAACP working toward interracial equality

Students lead children’s summer camps

EDITION 51, ISSUE 12| Views

9How would you survive a zombie apocalypse?

Compiled by Mary-Kate Gnotek and Kody Kahle, illustrations created using AMC The Walking Dead app

FreshmanMarketing

Weapon of Choice: Flame thrower

“I don’t think I would! I would find a group that knew what they were doing and stick with them.”

SeniorPhysics and math

Weapon of Choice: Grenade launcher

“Climb the Roebling, rewire it with ammuni-tion, then rewire the taps from Yardhouse to run to the bridge ... and stash food up there.”

SophomorePhysical education

Weapon of Choice: Massive gun

“I don’t have a car so I’d have to steal one, go to the police station, look for ammo and cops.”

POLL reSPoNSeSNorSe

The end of the semester is hot on our trails. Two weeks to go and projects, final assignments and exams are already starting to pile up. And it won’t stop until May 10 because NKU does not currently have a week for students to focus on reviewing and reviewing alone.

SGA President Erik Pederson and Vice President-elect David Trump plan to advocate for the idea of implementing an aca-demic review week during their 2013-14 presidential year.

An academic review week, according to Pederson, would prohibit professors from assign-ing new projects, assignments, quizzes or tests that would be due the week before final exams. This sounds much like a dead week, which is already in place at Uni-versity of Kentucky and Murray State University.

But with Pederson’s plan, previ-ously assigned assignments would still be allowed to have a due date during review week.

So now the question is: What’s the point?

An academic dead week is a week where there are no assign-ments due and no tests during the week before finals. It’s a chance for students to study for final exams and for professors to catch up on the semester’s grades.

An academic review week would change nothing in the current system at NKU, besides prohibiting professors from as-signing new assignments after the syllabus is handed out.

This is unreasonable because the syllabus is always subject to change based on the professor’s schedule and unexpected events throughout the semester, causing some assignments to be pushed back to account for lost time.

But if a dead week was already established, professors would plan for ending their syllabus the week leading up to the last week of classes, preventing any last minute due date changes.

If professors do not like the idea of a review week, they will just schedule assignments on the syllabus during the last week of classes, which contradicts the whole idea of having time set aside to study or finish final projects.

Although no formal resolution has been drafted, the team is in the works with faculty members to create guidelines for an aca-demic review week.

Unless review week is a baby step SGA is taking to eventually having a dead week, it doesn’t make much sense. Instead of rushing to get a review week ap-proved, the solution would be for the Student Senate to push for an actual dead week that will directly benefit students.

One of Pederson’s and Trump’s main goals is to represent the “student voice.” It is hard to believe students would prefer a review week over a dead week.

Staff editorial

review week a baby step to dead week

NKU’s men’s track and field team traveled to the University of Tennessee last weekend to compete in the Sea Ray Relays. The team set many personal re-cords and surpassed a few school records as well.

Seniors Ricky Harm and Brendan Chwalek set personal bests. Harm set his own personal best for the 10,000-meter run with a time of 31 minutes, 50.63 seconds. Chwalek set his personal best and the school record for the 3,000-meter steeplechase at 9:11.98, coming in at fourth in the event. He also helped the Norse get seventh place in the distance medley relay, the team had a time of 10:42.04.

Freshmen Jason Zavislak set a personal best in the javelin throw with 42.53 meters and freshman Tyler Mowery helped set a school record of under 18 min-utes for the 4x1,500 relay.

The team keeps the same routine before meets by running two miles the morning before the meet and

eating breakfast as a team at the hotel, according to Chwalek.

Since it’s the team’s first year as a Division I pro-gram, they have faced some challenges and different, more advanced competition than previous seasons.

“We get to travel to more competitive meets,” Chwalek said. “The quality of competition is a little better and there are more meets. Some of the meets in the south get more national recognition.”

Going into each meet the runners are expected to break personal and school records and always per-form to that level, according to head coach Steve Kruse.

“Our team is very young,” Kruse said. “Our expec-tations, well we were holding our breath, we didn’t know how a majority freshman team would perform under pressure of D-I, but I’ve been very happy with the response from our youngsters.”

There is more added pressure to the returning athletes who were on the previous Division II team, the bar is much higher for them, according to Kruse.

For the freshman team, it’s all new to them anyways so expectations are lower.

“The mileage is a lot more intense coming from a high school team to a D-I college team,” Mowery said. “There is a lot more you have to be involved with, like in high school, you just go to practice and leave and here you have to work and go to a whole lot of races just to watch. It’s a full-time thing.”

Mowery hopes to break his own personal records and follow in Chwalek’s footsteps because he’s an overachiever and effective role model for the team.

“My advice to our younger runners was to make sure they do what is required from our coach,” Chwalek said. “Knowing if they do what’s required, they will end up getting better; to work hard and keep a positive attitude.”

The team has two more meets before the Atlantic Sun Conference Championships on May 10 and 11. The next meet will be the Bluegrass Classic in Lex-ington, Ky. this Friday, April 19.

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EDITION 51, ISSUE 12| Sports

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BaseballThe team faced North Florida on April

12, 13 and 14. All three games resulted in losses, 1-12, 7-8 and 4-12, respectively. The Norse are ranked last in the A-Sun Conference with a 1-11 conference record and 6-30 overall. The team’s next game is April 19, at home against Jacksonville at 3 p.m.

SoftballOn April 13 and 14, the softball team

faced East Tennessee State and came out with wins, 3-2, 8-5 and 4-0, respective-ly. Northern Kentucky took on Miami of Ohio on April 16 and lost, 4-5. The team is ranked ninth in the conference, 4-14, and is 10-31 overall. The team’s next game is April 20 against North Florida.

Men’s TennisOn April 11, the men’s tennis team had a

match against North Florida and lost 1-6. The team played again on April 13 against

Dayton and won, 6-1. Northern Kentucky is ranked last in the conference with an 0-8 conference standing and is 3-16 over-all. The Norse’s next match will be on April 20 against La Salle.

Women’s TennisOn April 12, the women’s tennis team

took on North Florida and came out with a loss, 0-6. They played again on April 14 against IPFW and lost, 0-7. The team’s next match is on April 20 against Texas-Pan American. Northern Kentucky is ranked last in the conference with an 0-8 conference standing and is 0-17 overall.

Women’s GolfThe women’s golf team traveled to Geor-

gia for the Atlantic Sun Conference Cham-pionships on April 15-17. They placed tenth and are ranked last in the A-Sun.

Senior catcher Alesa Collinsworth slid into second base on Sunday against Eastern Tennessee State University.

Photo by Kody Kahle

With both the men’s and women’s NCAA championship games completed, the college basketball season has come to a close.

For Northern Kentucky University, basketball ended when the Norse women lost a first-round matchup while hosting the College of Charleston during the Women’s Bas-ketball Invitational on March 20.

The Norse men’s season ended earlier in March with a loss at the University of San Francisco in the team’s regular-season finale.

The tournament appearance capped a successful first season at the Division I level for the women’s team, which exceeded expectations. Though the men’s team was not se-lected for a postseason tournament, it surpassed preseason predictions as well.

Both teams were predicted to finish last in the Atlantic Sun Conference in both media and coaches preseason polls. However, the women finished fourth in the conference, posting a 12-6 conference record and 15-13 overall. The men finished sixth in the A-Sun, going 9-9 in conference play and finishing 11-16 overall.

Historically, both Norse teams appear to have finished in a middle ground in terms of first-year Division I success.

According to Sports Information Director Don Owen, the women of Southern Illinois-Edwardsville finished their first Division I season in 2008-09 with a record of 5-24, while South Dakota State finished on the opposite end of things with a record of 21-7 in 2004-05.

On the men’s side, Savannah State made the move to Di-vision I and finished 0-28 in their first season in 2004-05. Old Dominion set the mark for success during a Division I transition, finishing 25-4 in 1976-77.

Men’s head coach Dave Bezold was pleased with the

Kyle BiggsStaff writer

response of his team after struggling early in the season, crediting veteran players with helping turn things around, leading to the surprising finish.

The men’s team started the season 0-6 before recording its first victory with a 54-52 win over Hampton University.

“After we started 0-6, the seniors did a heck of a job keeping things together,” Bezold said.

Senior guard/forward Eshaunte Jones, who averaged nearly 16 points per game, played a key role not only in keeping the team moving forward, but also in a late-season surge that saw the men win seven of their last 12 games.

Fellow seniors Ethan Faulkner and Ernest Watson also played pivotal roles. Faulkner, a guard, had 89 assists for the year, averaging 3.3 per game. Watson’s presence was felt strongly on the defensive side of the game, where he led the team with 18 blocks while averaging 5.4 rebounds per game.

Junior guard Chad Jackson provided a solid veteran presence as well. Jackson started all 27 games, leading the Norse with 151 total rebounds and averaging 10.1 points per game on the year.

According to Bezold, adjusting to a new level of com-petition throughout the season was critical to the team’s success on the way to exceeding expectations.

“The level was different. We had to make adjustments,” he said. “The size and physicality of the teams we played was different.”

However, Bezold hesitated to describe his satisfaction in surpassing those expectations, preferring to anticipate further success in the future, showing a desire for his team to constantly improve.

“As a coach, you always want to win more games,” he said.

The Norse women’s team followed a similar path to that of the men’s team, losing the first four games before re-cording its first win against Youngstown State in a 66-64 contest.

Women’s head coach Dawn Plitzuweit said that simply being competitive in the early season losses was enough to give her team some of the confidence that it needed to turn things around.

“It helps knowing that you are in games. We lost our first four but they were all close,” she said. “That really helped our players to believe that in tight game situations, we could perform well.”

Veterans led the way for the Norse throughout the sea-son. Junior guard Kayla Thacker led the team in scoring, averaging 11.2 points per game, while senior forward Tiara Hopper averaged 10.7 points and six rebounds per game.

While the veteran presence was crucial, a pair of fresh-men made their mark as well. Freshman guard Christine Roush started 26 of 28 games, averaging 8.1 points per game. Freshman Rianna Gayheart, also a guard, averaged 8.1 points per game as well, contributing from the bench in all 28 games.

Plitzuweit praised the freshmen for working their way into the lineup and was pleased that both received atten-tion from the A-Sun for various performances throughout the season.

Roush was named Atlantic Sun Conference Newcomer of the Week early in the season, while Gayheart was recog-nized for the same distinction twice later in the season.

“Christine and Rianna played a lot of minutes for us,” said Plitzuweit. “Both of them were rewarded for their work ethic by being on the court and also being recognized by the conference.”

Plitzuweit believes the strong season was a result of the players working hard, but also enjoying things while facing big moments and challenges along the way.

“If you enjoy the journey, and work within those mo-ments, and you really get after it, good things can happen,” she said. “And I really believe that’s what our players did.”

Basketball teams surpass expectations despite early strugglesLooking back at D-I, A-Sun debut

The Northerner Print Edition - April 18, 2013

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