@northernermediathenortherner.comThe Northerner Wednesday, November 9, 2011NKU’s independent student-run newspaper

Edition 48, Issue 11Value: 75 cents

Students advocate marriage equality

Layers exhibit closes in Fine Arts gallery

Greek Life adding new sorority

See STUDENTS, p. 8 See LAYERS, p.13See PAN-HELLENIC, p.6

At 9:31 a.m. on Oct. 31, the Northern Kentucky University history listserv received an email of great significance.

The email, sent on behalf of Debra Meyers, briefly explained that the former pre-proposals to combine the Black Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies minors into a major - Gender and Race Studies - and thus eliminating the minors, were officially being withdrawn.

The pre-proposals had been at the head of in-ner-departmental and student discord since the advent of their introduction via email on Septem-ber 8. In the email on Oct. 31, Meyers cited “stu-dent and faculty opposition,” as the reason for the change of direction.

Paul Tenkotte, chair of the history and geogra-phy department, said that the end of the semester is too close for another draft of the pre-proposals to be followed through with. Tenkotte said that a new, “Plan C” will be presented next semester, which includes both the minors and the major co-existing.

Tenkotte mentioned that he had met with about “3 dozen,” faculty and students speak with him about potential changes to the Black Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies programs. Ten-

kotte said that there was a lot more support for the programs than anticipated and that the fac-ulty and students requested alternative solutions.

The department was granted an extension un-til next year for an evaluation by the Kentucky Council on Post-Secondary Education (CPE). When asked about the current status of Black Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies un-der the CPE standards, Tenkotte said that Black Studies is now found in compliance and any fu-ture changes will only be to “bring it into the 21st century.” However, Women’s and Gender Stud-ies still will need changes and a “tightening” of its curriculum.

Now that it appears that Black Studies will still exist as a minor, the question was posed as to who will be filling Dr. Washington’s position as director of the program. Tenkotte responded that they will be making a one-semester full-time hire to fill that role. In the meantime, Tenkotte is serv-ing as interim director of the program.

According to Dr. Washington, former director of the Black Studies program, the motivations of his removal as director and the potential changes to Black Studies were racial and were reflected in both the swiftness of their implementation, as well as handling of the pre-proposals.

In light of the retraction of the pre-proposals,

Washington requested a meeting be held on Nov. 11 to discuss the intentions of the pre-proposals, and why they were so quickly tabled. Attached to the email sent to Meyers and the history listserv on Nov. 7 requesting the meeting was a proposal by Washington as to how an investigation into the departmental motivations be handled.

“Was the idea to create a major in Race and Gender Studies at Northern Kentucky University the focal point of the opposition or was the op-position directed toward the elimination of the minors by means of a sequestered process? All evidence tends to point to the latter,” said Wash-ington in the Nov. 7 email.

The pre-proposals were introduced shortly af-ter Tenkotte sent an email to the history depart-ment on Sept. 4 explaining the potential need to change the history, geography, black studies, women’s and gender studies, military history and medieval and renaissance studies departments to comply with future Kentucky Council on Post-Secondary Education (CPE) changes. Tenkotte explained a desire to be “proactive rather than reactive.”

Tenkotte said that with the decision to re-work the proposals and a new deadline, they will be able to “slow the process down” and “get a better product.”

Karli WoodManaging editor

Show of support for Black Studies and Women’s & Gender Studies minors causes department to reconsider their elimination

The House voted 396-9 last week to reaffirm as the national motto the phrase “In God We Trust” and encouraged its pronouncement on public buildings and continued printing on the coin of the realm. The motto was made official in 1956 during the height of Cold War hysteria over god-less communism and — in the words of Brig. Gen. Jack D. Ripper in “Dr. Strangelove” — “Communist infiltration, Communist indoctrination, Commu-nist subversion and the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids.”

As risible a reason as this was for knocking out a few bricks in the wall separating state and church, it was at least understandable in the context of the times. But today, what is the point of having this motto? There are no communist threats, and belief in God or a universal spirit among Americans is still holding strong at about 90 percent, according to a 2011 Gallup Poll. The answer is in the wording of the resolution voted on: “Whereas if religion and morality are taken out of the marketplace of ideas, the very freedom on which the United States was founded cannot be secured.”

What is troubling — and should trouble any en-lightened citizen of a modern nation such as ours — is the implication that in this age of science and technology, computers and cyberspace, and lib-eral democracies securing rights and freedoms for oppressed peoples all over the globe, that anyone could still hold to the belief that religion has a mo-nopoly on morality and that the foundation of trust is based on engraving four words on brick and pa-

per.If you think that God is watching over the United

States, please ask yourself why he glanced away during 9/11 or why he chose to abandon the good folks of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, and why he continues to allow earthquakes and cancers to strike down even blameless children. The problem of evil — why bad things happen to good people if an all-powerful and all-good God is in control of things — has haunted the faithful since it was first articulated millenniums ago, with nigh a solution on the horizon.

It’s time to drop the God talk and face reality with a steely eyed visage of the modern understanding of the origin of freedom on which the United States was founded and continues to be secured. God has nothing to do with it. If you want freedom and se-curity, you need the following:

The rule of law; property rights; a secure and trustworthy banking and monetary system; eco-nomic stability; a reliable infrastructure and the freedom to move about the country; freedom of the press; freedom of association; education for the masses; protection of civil liberties; a clean and safe environment; a robust military for protection of our liberties from attacks by other states; a potent police force for protection of our freedoms from at-tacks by people within the state; a viable legislative system for establishing fair and just laws; and an effective judicial system for the equitable enforce-ment of those fair and just laws.

With these in place the citizens of a nation feel free and secure. Why? The answer is in the final word of the motto: Trust. Claremont Graduate Uni-versity economist Paul Zak has studied trust among

nations and found that the more of these compo-nents that are in place, the more citizens trust one another. Zak even computed the differences in liv-ing standards that trust can affect, demonstrating that a 15 percent increase in the proportion of peo-ple in a country who think others are trustworthy raises income per person by 1 percent per year for every year thereafter. For example, increasing lev-els of trust in the U.S. from its current 36 percent to 51 percent would raise the average income for every man, woman and child in the country by $400 per year. Trust pays.

Trust has fiscal benefits that are derived through specific political and economic policies that have nothing whatsoever to do with religion or belief in God. Despite a strong faith in God, the percent-age of Americans who believe that “religion can answer all or most of today’s problems” has plum-meted from 82 percent to 58 percent, while those who believe that “religion is old-fashioned and out of date” leaped from 7 percent to 28 percent, ac-cording to a 2010 Gallup Poll. Thus it would seem that Americans are more aware today than half a century ago that it’s up to us to secure our freedom through enlightened secular policies with practical social applications rather than faith-based hope in empty mottoes reflecting an era gone by.

Michael Shermer is the publisher of Skeptic magazine, a monthly columnist for Scientific American and an adjunct professor at Chapman University and Claremont Graduate University. His latest book is “The Believing Brain.” He wrote this column for the Los Angeles Times.

Just

for

laughs

Is God still needed in our motto? Michael ShermerLos Angeles Times

OpEd Nov. 9, 20112

The NorthernerFounders Hall Rm 314Highland Heights, KY 41099Editor in Chief: (859) 572-5812Newsroom: (859) 572- 6677 or 5620Advertising: (859) 572-5232Fax: (859) 572-5772E-mail: northerner@nku.eduWeb site: www.thenortherner.com

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

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Zach FoxFreshman, Chemistry

“I would like to tour the world with my band,

Animal Circles.”

Sky SmithFreshman,

International Studies

“I want to get married and have a family.”

Meredith WolfFreshman,

Exercise Science

“I would like to travel to Ireland with my best

friend.”

rnpCompiled by

Tara Derington & Brandon Barb

“What do you want to do before you die?”

norse poll responses

Daveone HutchinsonSenior,

Political Science

“One thing I would like to do before I die is

skydive.”

ViewsEdition 48, Issue 11 3

The ability to adapt and remain efficient are tenets that are embodied in a technological-ly driven society. They are in every aspect of functioning, even on a daily basis.

That being said, Northern Kentucky Uni-versity should better understand the integral role of efficiency in this two-fold calling.

An ongoing Student Government Admin-istration resolution to make midterm grades available to all students is well intended; but, as evidenced by its still unadopted status, unrealistic. Faculty have previously said the workload involved with assigning these grades to all students would create a great burden.

In response to this request, the current SGA administration modified the resolution to restrict it to 100-300-level classes, because many classes at the 400-level and above are project based.

However, this resolution has many, includ-ing faculty senate, questioning why a more di-rect route isn’t taken.

Instead of forcing professors to calculate midterm grades for everyone, why not require all professors to use the grade book function on Blackboard and eliminate midterm grades entirely?

This easier step ensures that all students, not just freshmen, have access to their current grades not just at midterm, but at all points in the semester. Plus, it would lower the stress on professors to enter in last-minute grades into a new system.

The only burden on professors with this sys-tem is for the ones who do not currently use Blackboard. However, by using this system, students are benefited by not just a way to access their grades at any point in the semes-ter, but by a centralized location for various course documents.

Yes, this is still work for the professors, but it isn’t any more work than they already need to do by entering grades into the system. And all students will know where they stand in a class at any given point.

Not much work to give midterm grades to all

Tell us about it. The Northerner welcomes letters and com-

mentaries. Please send submissions to north-erner@nku.edu. Letters should be 300 words or less. Commentary should be 500 words or less.

Submissions must include the writer’s name, hometown and phone number for veri-fication. If applicable, include class rank and

major. The Northerner reserves the right to edit

for style, length and content. No anonymous contributions will be accepted. All contribu-tions should be submitted by midnight the Friday before publication.

Contributions to The Northerner are the opinion of the author and not that of The Northerner.

What’s your skewpoint?

Staff Editorial

Recent Kaplan test prep survey shows that in the US, 41 percent of law schools and 20 percent of colleges use Google or social networks to learn information about their applicants.

While other top law schools in the US do check applicants’ digital trails, Northern Kentucky Uni-versity Salmon P. Chase College of Law does not. The law school also has no future intentions of implementing this tool in future students’ admis-sions.

“We are not detectives,” said Karen Ogburn, associate dean for administration at Chase. “We don’t go out to check students’ background.”

According to Kaplan, law schools that use the Internet to learn more about applicants have

found damaging information on 32 percent of ap-plicants.

Kaplan raises the question of how law students will go out into the real world and make laws when they are breaking laws or making wrong choices.

“Be careful with what you put on Facebook,” Og-burn said. “Students have to tell us if they have credit issues, commit misdemeanors or even felo-nies. We ask students to tell the truth; and if they omit something, they are required to inform us.”

Ogburn said she doesn’t think NKU will start Googling applicants any time soon, and said if law students hide damaging information and don’t disclose it, this will prevent them from taking the Bar exam.

The Bar examination is the required of law stu-dents in order for them to practice law. The exam also reviews the full file of applicants, including

criminal records.Gina Bray, admissions specialist at Chase, said

students who want to get into law school must ap-ply electronically, take the LSAT test and have a four-year bachelor’s degree from a regionally ac-credited school.

Also, Bray said law schools are “very competi-tive.” She also said that in the admission process, officers have a full file review of students, where they look at student’s major, GPA, community ser-vice, writing ability and work experience. “All law schools are different but we don’t do that.”

“I wouldn’t mind being Googled,” Zachary Hoskins, law graduate student said. “If you don’t want people knowing certain kinds of informa-tion, why would you publish it on Facebook?”

Georgina AlamillaContributing writer

Facebook not admission tool for Chase

The Northerner

Check out the latest issueand keep up with what is going on in and aroundNorthern Kentucky University.

Northern Kentucky University

“Give me dreamers any day . . . dreams motivate and they inspire.” - President Votruba

News Nov. 9, 20114

In the midst of midterm grades, new bike racks and wireless printing options, the Student Govern-ment Association introduced a resolution to place a Redbox kiosk in Northern Kentucky University’s residential village.

Senator David Trump presented the first read-ing of the resolution at the Nov. 7 meeting to 28 of the 42-member student senate. The resolution asks NKU to work in conjunction with Redbox to bring a kiosk to the Norse Commons.

Redbox is a “fully automated video rental store contained in 12 sq. ft. of retail space,” according to Redbox.com. The signature red kiosk allows users to choose and rent DVDs, Blu-Ray and video games with a touch screen navigation system. Users then return their rentals to any Redbox kiosk.

A rental costs between $1-2 for one day, depend-ing on if the rental is a DVD, Blu-Ray or video game.

The nearest Redbox location to NKU is at the Kroger on Martha Layne Collins Boulevard, which affords easy access to Callahan Hall residents. Still,

on-campus residents who want to rent a Redbox movie have to leave campus, which was a main point in SGA’s resolution.

According to the resolution, the “majority of stu-dents reside in dorms located on-campus where no Redbox is of immediate availability.”

The resolution also stated that a Redbox on cam-pus would increase campus activity and decrease the number of students leaving campus to go to the movie theater or to the nearest Redbox.

Josh Gruneke, Activities Programming Board ad-viser, spoke up during the meeting to inform the senate that he had already been in contact with Redbox about doing a trial run with a kiosk. But, he said, the company wanted to place it in the Student Union instead of Norse Commons.

Because of this, and because the resolution is still in its early stages, the senators will do more research with Redbox to set up a trial run in Norse Commons.

With only friendly amendments from the senate, the resolution will move on to next week’s meeting for a second reading.

Resolution for Redbox is up for debateNewsEdition 48, Issue 11 5

Across the University

The senate’s newest resolution presents idea of a Redbox in Norse CommonsClaire HigginsNews editor

New COI director of creative technologyNorthern Kentucky University alumnus Dan Koabel is the new director

of creative technology for the College of Informatics. Koabel graduated in 2008 with a media informatics degree. As director, he will have creative and administrative responsibility of the informatics website and hold a role in programming and planning for events in the Griffin Hall Digitorium.

Support for Steely Library through grocery shoppingSteely Library is selling reloadable $10 and $25 Kroger gift cards that

will, in turn, pay the library back. For every card sold and for every reload, Kroger will pay Steely Library four percent of the reload. Gift cards can be purchased in SL 505 with only cash or check only. For more information about the Neighborhood Rewards reloadable card, contact Sani Webster at websr@nku.edu.

CEO opening doors to entrepreneurship opportunitiesThe Northern Kentucky University Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organiza-

tion is hosting Nehemiah Manufacturing Company founders Dan Meyer and Richard Palmer as part of the “Chellgren Pathways to Entrepreneur-

ship Speaker Series” at noon on Nov. 16 in the Student Union Ballroom. Interested students can contact Jeff Varrone at varronej@nku.edu for more information or to RSVP.

German program wish students a Merry ChristmooseThe German program of the Department of World Language is showing

an authentic German holiday movie, “Es ist ein Elch entsprungen,” at 7 p.m. on Nov. 10 in LA 506. The Wagner family wakes up to a pre-Christmas visitor: a talking moose. The family must return the moose to Santa by Christmas or there may be no Christmas at all. “Es ist ein Elch entsprun-gen” will be shown in German with English subtitles and is appropriate for all ages.]

Building name changes are officialDue to the moves that occurred last summer of the College of Business

and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Northern Kentucky University has implemented two building names changes. The BP building is now the Mathematics - Education - Psychology Center or MP. The ST building is now the Business Academic Center or BC. With these changes, students registering for winter and spring term classes will now see the MP and BC designations for the buildings.

Upcoming Board of Regents meeting The Board of Regents will meet at 1 p.m. on Nov. 9 in SU 104. The meet-

ing is open to the public and attendance is encouraged by the Board.

When the university’s emergency alert system starts going off at 2 p.m. Nov. 9, don’t be alarmed. It’s only a drill.

As part of the first-ever nationwide test of the emer-gency alert system, Northern Kentucky University will test its campus sirens, recorded voice systems and fire alarms.

Anyone on campus or in areas immediately surround-ing the campus will hear the noise, which is expected to

last about 30 seconds.The Federal Emergency

Management Agency (FEMA) has partnered with the Feder-al Communications Commis-sion and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra-tion in and effort to find out if emergency alert systems can send out a national notifica-tion if the need arises.

According to a release on FEMA’s website, the first step is testing existing alert sys-tems.

It says a more effective emergency alert system “re-quires continual testing to

identify necessary improve-ments.

The next step will be devel-oping ways to integrate new technologies to create easier access to emergency notifica-tions.

The groups participating in the test include broadcasters, satellite and digital radio and television, cable television and wireline video providers.

The Department of Home-land Security, FEMA, the FCC, the NOAA and the Na-tional Weather Service will be working together to conduct the test.

News Nov. 9, 20116

Northern Kentucky University’s Greek commu-nity will grow in the spring of 2012. According to Kim Vance, assistant director of Student Life, the NKU Pan-Hellenic Council began to discuss open-ing campus for additional sororities a few years ago.

That discussion continued from Oct. 25 through 27, when women from the national organization of three sororities presented a formal business pro-posal to NKU staff, students and alumni as to why they should be a part of the school’s Pan-Hellenic community.

The presentations began on Tuesday with Al-pha Delta Pi, followed by Alpha Omicron Pi on Wednesday, and Chi Omega on Thursday. Of these three sororities, two will be chosen to join NKU.

Each organization spoke about membership and educational and philanthropic opportunities they could provide for our campus. They also said why they wanted to join NKU’s Greek community.

According to Andriew Sien, a member of Pi Kappa Alpha and vice president of standards for the Interfraternity Council, the visiting sororities talked about their beliefs and philanthropies.

“The big thing for me was two of the sororities took NKU’s mission statement and compared it to their own goals and values,” said member of Phi Sigma Sigma and President of Pan-Hellenic Coun-cil Stephanie Anderson.

According to Vance, the Pan-Hellenic Council’s criteria includes strong national support, alumnae support, marketing and marketability, plans for sustained support of the colony and new member

education, among others.The students at NKU are part of a current, na-

tional trend that shows an increase in interest in becoming part of a sorority.

“We had such an increase in the number of women in recruitment and such an increase in pledge classes, or new member classes in fall 2010,” said Vance, adding that the trend repeated in fall of 2011.

“Based on the fact that we had an increase in the number of women accepting bids, we had an increase in the number of women who came to re-cruitment, and then we had all these women who must have been interested in sororities but didn’t find their match. The council and the delegates decided to see if the organizations interested in coming to campus were willing to come to cam-pus in January instead of in the fall,” Vance said.

Originally the plan was for a chapter to join campus in fall of 2012, but spring recruitment and special initiations will allow them to partici-pate in formal fall recruitment.

Vance said that students who attended the pre-sentations asked knowledgeable questions.

“They were good questions, like, ‘What would you do to encourage diversity within the chap-ter?’” Vance said. “Everyone left the presenta-tions feeling like any one of these three chapters would be a good addition to our campus.”

Pan-Hellenic will announce the new addition to NKU Greek Life on Nov. 13 at 5 p.m. during the Grand Chapter meeting, which will include mem-bers from all Greek sororities and fraternities.

According to Vance, Sien and Anderson, the two sororities to join campus will make a great addition to NKU and will colonize quickly.

Cassie StoneEditor-in-chief

Repeat, repeat, this is only a test

Pan-Hellenic Council ready to expandCaitlin CentnerContributing writer

Photo courtesy of the Nevada Broadcasters AssociationThe emergency alert system is holding a nationwide test on Nov. 9. The test will show FEMA if the system can send out national alert, if needed.

The NKU Greek community is slated to expand in spring 2012 with the addition of two sorority chapters. The Pan-Hellenic Council will announce the chapters on Nov. 13 at the Grand Chapter Meeting.

Photo by Emily Lindeau

NewsEdition 48, Issue 11 7

Northern Kentucky University plans on reno-vating Founders Hall by adding an extension, the Health Innovations Center, that will double the size of the facility -- but only if they can find $92 million to fund it.

The new Health Innovations Center will be fo-cused on programs such as psychology, nursing, radiological technology and respiratory therapy, and will be built on the faculty/staff parking lot C, which separates Griffin Hall and the Natural Sci-ence Center.

“The renovations would be a good investment for our state government,” said Department of Psycho-logical Science Chair Jeff Smith. “The Health Sci-ences field pays very well, and there is a large local demand for it … I really do hope the funding comes through so we can provide our students with better resources.”

Because the Health Innovations Center will be added to the existing Founder’s Hall, the renova-tions and the new construction will be combined into one project.

“The way we envision it happening is that we will build the expansion first and move everybody that is in Founders now into the expanded space,” said Assistant Vice President for Facilities Management Larry Blake. “Then we’ll go in and renovate the va-cant Founders and open the whole thing back up,

putting the right people in the right places at that time.”

According to Blake, the renovation of Founders Hall has been the number-one priority of NKU and the Council of Post-secondary Education. It has also been a high priority of the legislature of the governor’s office for the past six years. The funds put toward the renovations were expected roughly two years after the construction of the Natural Sci-ence Center. But the money has yet to show.

Blake said acquiring the renovation funds is a dif-ficult task.

Other projects have taken precedence over proj-ects similar to Founders Hall’s renovations. First it was the Bank of Kentucky Center, then it was the Student Union, then it was Griffin Hall, and now it’s the Campus Recreation Center.

The Capital Planning Advisory Board suggested 20 projects that they felt deserved funding and sub-mitted them to the state. This year, renovations to Founders Hall was one of the suggested projects chosen. Kenton County Senator Jack Westwood, who serves as the co-chair of the Capital Planning Advisory Board, said that although the Founders renovations have been selected, “it doesn’t neces-sarily mean that it will get funding.”

“We had to cut, borrow and shuffle money around last year to balance the state’s budget,” Westwood said. “And this year, funding is going to be just as tight.”

Currently, construction for Founders Hall is on

hold.“There’s a lot of code compliance [with the Amer-

icans with Disabilities Act] that needs to be taken care of for the ADA accessibility issues -- restrooms in particular -- and if you look at the code there aren’t enough fixtures in the restrooms for students in the building, so code issues like that need to be cleaned up,” Blake said.

Issues stretch from the electrical system not having a wired ground in the conduit, a worn-out HVAC system, “inefficient” lighting, to necessary windows replacements. According to Blake, gener-ally everything except the concrete structure needs restoration.

Three different lobbying efforts are underway in Frankfort, Ky., in order to change how NKU would receive funds, “one of them being to fund us for ‘X’ amount of dollars and not specific buildings, and to do that funding model over six years and not a two-year period,” according to Blake.

If this funding effort is approved, then construc-tion can begin, but the project would still have to be approved by NKU administrators.

Right now the focus is on renovating the Cam-pus Recreation Center, which is student-funded and already approved and underway. This project involving renovations to Founders and the Health Innovations Center extension is still in the plan-ning stages, but the Facilities Management office expects to have a more definitive answer by April of 2012.

Zachary RogersStaff writer

Founders getting a facelift?Facilities Management plans for major renovations in Founders

Hall, but the state funding for the project has yet to come through

Photo courtesy of Jeffrey Smith The Health Innovation Center, plans shown above, will house the health sciences, which includes psychology, nursing and respiratory therapy.

On the corner of Fifth and Vine at Fountain Square in downtown Cincinnati, over 350 people, including Northern Kentucky University students, gathered to partici-pate in the Marriage Equality Protest Nov. 5.

Adam Hoover, a 17-year-old Harrison High School student, originally posted the event via Facebook.

“Everyone has their God-given right to marry the one they love,” Hoover said.Hoover decided to create the event after attending a gay pride parade in May. He

hoped to create an atmosphere that was accepting to all.NKY Equality Now, a LGBTQ activist group on campus, was one of the many spon-

sors for the Marriage Equality Protest.The protesters marched about a half mile from Fountain Square to the National

Underground Railroad Freedom Center.Upon arriving, the protesters listened to speakers such as Chris Seelbach, a candi-

date for Cincinnati City Council; Michael Loch, president of NKY Equality Now; and Bianca Mitchell, an officer in NKY Equality Now.

Mitchell asked if America still stands by its foundations: “When I think of America, I think of ‘land of the free, home of the brave,’ the country of dreamers. Why aren’t our dreams being welcomed?”

Bishop Heckman of The Reformed Catholic Church in Cincinnati also attended and asked of the audience, “How many more kids are going to kill themselves?”

According to the National Youth Association, “LGBTQ kids are four times more likely to attempt suicide then their straight peers.”

Despite the serious nature of the protest, the attendees appeared jovial and united.Loch called on the participants to hold hands by saying, “Feel that connection you

have. And I want you to hold on to that feeling now in the days, weeks, months, years that follow this protest. That is the force that will push us to bend that moral arc to-wards equality and justice for all a reality.”

After the speakers finished, the crowd made their way back to Fountain Square, where they proceeded to march around the downtown area. A clamor of support was echoed by passersby, who honked car horns and yelled words of encouragement.

“Our message in 2011, Greater Cincinnati, Ohio, America is taking a stand for what is right and we will not shut up and we will not stand down,” Loch said.

Students march for LGBTQ rights

Tara DeringtonContributing writer

News Nov. 9, 20118

All

phot

os b

y Ka

rli W

ood

(Top) Michael Loch speaks in front of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. (Bottom three) Protestors display signs while marching through downtown Cincinnati during the Marriage Equality Protest on Nov. 5.

This year’s Veterans Day events hold special im-portance for Americans, and especially military vet-erans, as the day marks the 10th Veterans Day after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Northern Kentucky University’s Veterans Advoca-cy Committee and NKU V.E.T.S. will feature several events Friday to honor military veterans, those who served both prior to and after the terrorist attacks ten years ago.

“The important thing about Veterans Day is re-membering veterans, past, present and future,” said Doug Windford, a junior organizational leadership major and president of NKU V.E.T.S.

The events will begin at 6:30 a.m. with a synchro-nized National Roll Call of the 6,243 US service mem-bers who have died in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The roll call will con-clude with a nationwide minute of silence at 2 p.m.

“The National Roll Call kind of sets this year apart,” said sophomore social work major and Vice

President of NKU V.E.T.S. Missy Levoy. “The fact that we’re pulling out of Iraq -- while it doesn’t mean that it will be the last of the casualties -- hopefully means the numbers won’t go up much more.”

A flag raising and wreath laying ceremony will take place at the flagpole between Founders Hall and Steely Library from 11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. NKU’s gospel choir Anointed Voices will sing “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and renowned bugler and veteran Larry DuPree will play “Taps” at the ceremony.

NKU alumnus Robert Snow will present a uniform and memorabilia display from 12:15 to 1:45 p.m. A slide show with the names and faces of fallen service members will accompany the display. Refreshments will be offered, as well.

A lecture by Executive Director of the Interna-tional Education Center Francois LeRoy, Ph.D., will conclude the Veterans Day events at NKU. From 2:15 to 4 p.m. in Otto Budig Theater, LeRoy will give a presentation about the history of Veterans Day and how other countries honor their veterans.

Veterans Day events to honor fighting and fallen

Roxanna BlevinsA&E editor

Photos courtesy of Veterans Advocacy CommitteeNKU V.E.T.S. and Veterans Advocacy Committee are presenting a National Roll Call at 6:30 a.m., a flag raising and wreath laying ceremo-ny at 11:45 a.m., a uniform display at 12:15 p.m. and a historical presentation at 2:15 p.m. to honor past and present Veterans on Nov. 11.

NewsEdition 48, Issue 11 9

Arts & Life Nov. 9, 201110

Happenings

The Six @ Six lecture series is sponsored by the Scripps Howard Center for Civic Engagment.

Photo courtesy of NKU

November 10

November 14

November 10

November 14

November 10

November 15

November 11

November 16

Six at Six When: 6-8 p.m. Where: Carnegie Visual Arts and Performing Center What: Get an insider’s per-spective on the presidential election campaign from Liz Sidoti, a national political editor for AP. Free with NKU All-Card.

Free Mondays at the Planetarium When: noon-1 p.m. Where: Haile Digital Plan-etariumWhat: Come watch a free screening of “Kentucky’s Cascade Cave.”

Baseball and Beyond When: 6:15 p.m. Where: UC Ballroom What: Join Sen. Jim Bun-ning for a lecture and dinner to celebrate his donations to Steely Library. Tickets are $125 for the dinner and lecture; $25 for lecture only.

Homeless Not Hopeless When: 7 p.m. Where: GH Digitorium What: Rachael Winters, di-rector of Emergency Shelter in Covington, along with people who have experi-enced homelessness, will share stories of what it is like to be homeless.

Merry Christmoose When: 7 p.m. Where: LA 506 What: The Department of World Languages and Literatures German film will screen “Es ist ein Elch entsprungen.” The holiday-themed film is intergenera-tional and free.

Campus Bonfire When: 7-10 p.m. Where: Between parking lots L and Y What: Bring your blankets and lawn chairs and enjoy a bonfire. S’mores, hot apple cider and hot chocolate will be available. Event is free.

Steely Library survey When: 11:59 p.m. Where: library.nku.edu What: Take a 10-minute survey for an opportunity to win a Kindle, or a restau-rant gift card.

Christmas tree lighting When: 10 a.m. Where: Steely Library, sec-ond floor What: President Votruba will read a holiday story to children from the Early Childhood Center and par-ticipate in his last Christ-mas tree lighting at NKU.

The editors of Loch Norse Maga-zine, Northern Kentucky University’s student literary journal, hosted the publication’s first series of writing workshops Nov. 2-4 in the basement of the University Center. Students were given an opportunity to share their poetry or prose and have it cri-tiqued by the editors and fellow par-ticipants.

According to Editor Jenn Whalen, the staff workshops material each week, but they are looking for an op-portunity to add more people to their community.

“I know a lot of writers who have work just sitting there, but are unable to get constructive feedback from a group of fellow writers because they are not currently in any creative writ-ing classes,” Whalen said.

This realization led Whalen and her staff to develop the Week of Work-shops event.

“The reality of it is, no matter how good of a writer we think we are, our

work always benefits when we have peers read it and offer criticism,” said junior writing studies major Anna Maloney.

Maloney received critiques on two of her poems during the Nov. 2 ses-sion. Like other members of the NKU writing community, Maloney strug-gles with finding resources outside the classroom setting to help her in improving her work.

“Another unfortunate reality is that there are only so many writing cours-

es available; and after those courses, where are we going to get workshop experience [without paying for it]?” she said.

Whalen has received positive re-sponses from workshop participants who say they appreciate the small and intimate setting, which allows for a less intimidating experience.

“I’ve been told by some people that these outside writing workshops have been more effective than all the work done during a semester-long course,”

Whalen said.Senior English major Alex Duvall

also attended the Nov. 2 workshop and said he found the experience en-joyable and beneficial.

“Workshops are important because they exercise a sense of support and community among writers,” Duvall said. “The fact that Loch Norse or-chestrates such workshops shows how serious NKU takes its English department and allows writers a more familiar environment to participate in while they are not taking creative writing classes.”

Whalen and her staff plan on making these workshop sessions a monthly practice so that members of the NKU writing community have a stable and consistent resource to im-prove their work.

For more information about up-coming literary events hosted by Loch Norse Magazine, contact: lochnorse@gmail.com.

Kevin GillmanContributing writer

Students attend friendly workshop

Photo courtesy of Jenn WhalenLoch Norse Magazine, an annual literary journal for undergraduate students, hosted their first writing workshop series. They plan to hold additional workshops in the future.

“The Buried Life” cast members David Ling-wood and Jonnie Penn visited Northern Ken-tucky University Nov. 2 to send a message to stu-dents: Anything is possible.

Lingwood and Penn, along with Ben Nemtin and Jonnie’s older brother Duncan, are in the midst of a nationwide college tour. They visited nearly every state except Kentucky before land-ing at NKU.

“‘The Buried Life’ is four buddies that grew up together who have a list of 100 things to do before you die,” Penn said. “We help people do things that they want to do before they die as we try to complete our own crazy things.”

Their name is derived from the 1852 poem “The Buried Life,” by Matthew Arnold.

Before the reality show, Lingwood and Penn attended college in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. They said that starting the bucket when they were in college helped them relate to their fans.

Penn said he feels humility after he helps

someone accomplish a goal on their bucket list.“That’s the thing about not knowing,” Penn

said. “I think you can understand a lot about your own life; but then when you take a look into someone else’s life, you realize that a lot of the problems that you might have in your head … aren’t as big as they seem.”

NKU students were given the chance to share what they want to do before they die. Penn told multiple students who want to meet their par-ents for the first time that their goals spoke vol-umes about who they were as individuals.

“The only motto we’ve found that stuck is you know nothing, and if you think you know some-thing, you don’t,” Penn said.

Lingwood said that his favorite thing to suc-cessfully cross off the list was streaking at a Kansas City Wizards game.

Although season three has been cancelled, the members of the TV show signed a development deal with MTV in late October. They are in the process of shooting a new format for the show.

“It will be a little bit more free and a little bit more fun,” Lingwood said.

Arts & LifeEdition 48, Issue 11 11

Caitlin CentnerContributing writer

Anything is possible before ‘The Buried Life’

The Northern Kentucky University Jazz Ensemble performed a tribute concert for military service veterans Sunday evening at the Guys ‘n’ Dolls Restaurant and Nightclub in Cold Spring, Ky. NKU assistant professor and Director of Jazz Studies Brian Hogg organized and directed the event. The proceeds from the perfor-mance went to Hogg’s NKU EMPOW-ER Program and Gordon Brisker Me-morial Scholarship Fund.

“The event gives our students in the jazz area a chance to perform func-tional dance music,” Hogg said, “...and to study a style of jazz ensemble playing not usually featured in con-cert settings on the university level.”

The concert began with a cocktail with the NKU Jazz Quintet before the jazz ensemble’s two-hour-long portion of the performance got the ball rolling, closing with their pow-erful rendition of Benny Goodman’s perennial classic, “Sing, Sing, Sing.” Following the jazz ensemble was the

debut performance of the In Country Band. The ensemble’s section was the longest running out of the three-part series, which ran until 9 p.m.

Hogg, along with his ensemble, strives to make a difference through jazz music.

“I started the event at a time of pro-test for several wars and conflicts our nation were involved in,” Hogg said. “Even though many of those conflicts remain, the protests have subsided or

changed arenas of discussion.” The NKU Jazz Ensemble segment

featured big band hits of the World War II era. One of the opening pieces was Glenn Miller’s “Moonlight Ser-enade.” The saxophone section, led by clarinets, lifted the song off the ground like a balloon, using silky in-terludes to carry the music. An au-dience of over 50 people applauded as the song came to a close. The en-semble didn’t miss a note. The com-

position that followed, Frank Fos-ter’s “Bass in Yo’ Face,” began with a spider-crawling line of bass notes and raucous, soaring horn section notes that seemed to fly through the room like a fleet of P-51 Mustang fighter jets.

The saxophone section opened the next number: Glenn Miller’s fox-trot hit of the early ‘40s, “In the Mood.” Toe-tapping and finger-snapping caught on like a fever throughout the dimly lit nightclub. A middle-aged couple couldn’t resist hitting the dance floor to swing to the 72-year-old number.

NKU senior saxophone player Trevor Caddell, who has several fam-ily members who have served in the armed forces, performed with the NKU Jazz Ensemble.

“Every time you get on stage, you have a performance rush that comes out of nowhere,” Caddell said.

Kyle SebreeContributing writer

Tribute grooves with jazz ensemble

Photo by Caitlin CentnerDavid Lingwood (left) and Jonnie Penn (right) are two members of MTV’s “The Buried Life.” With their bucket list the group answers, “What do you want to do before you die?”

Photo by Kyle SebreeNKU Jazz Ensemble played a tribute concert for military veterans at the Guys ‘n’ Dolls in Cold Spring, Ky. The proceeds went to NKU EMPOWER and Gordon Brisker Scholarship Fund.

Arts & Life Nov. 9, 201112

Go to Italy and Hawaii, change some one’s life, finish grad school, get married, own a house, and meet her biological father.

Those are all goals one Northern Kentucky Uni-versity student wishes to accomplish — her bucket list. She’s getting closer to knocking off the last item on the list, meeting her biological father.

“It’s always been something that I’ve always wanted to do,” said NKU junior marketing major Tina Hoesl.

Tina is also the public relations director for the NKU Activities Programming Board. She helped bring Jonnie Penn and Dave Lingwood from the MTV show “The Buried Life” to campus Nov. 3. Her bucket list was inspired by The Buried Life crew, and she thanks them for the inspiration, or “having the balls,” to get in touch with her father.

Her father, Billy, has been a jockey and horse trainer all his adult life. The lifestyle called for trips around the country, never staying in one place for long. As a result, Billy learned he fathered many children with multiple women he encountered along his wild cross-country ventures. When Ti-na’s mother, Jean, told Billy that she was pregnant he denied it, thinking he wasn’t the father.

Even though he was never there for her, Tina holds no resentment towards him.

“He’s 47 and still rides horses,” Hoesl said. “I don’t think he wants to settle down with his family and give up his dream of doing that.”

Tina hasn’t been without a father figure for the last 20 years, though. Her stepfather, Phil Jack-son, entered the picture when Billy walked out on her mother. By her stepfather, Hoesl gained two sisters that are “her best friends” and has experi-enced a normal life without her biological father.

“I think everyone should know their biological parents, no matter what the situation,” Hoesl said.

Her stepfather asked Tina if she wanted to take Jackson as her last name. She declined and chose to keep her mother’s maiden name. When Billy asked if Tina wanted to take his name, she again declined, wanting to keep her mother’s maiden name until marriage.

“I thought it would be so terrible to do that my stepdad,” Tina said. “I’m not going to change my

name to either of those because I feel like that is me choosing who my dad is.”

Through Facebook, Tina was able to contact her Billy. She messaged him with a summary of her life, admitting that it was her dream to meet him. A few weeks of waiting, Billy called Tina and they have been exchanging phone calls every day since.

Tina is excited to meet her father, but her mother is skeptical of her daughter meeting him. The only communication her mother had with Billy was when she pressed to get child support. Her mother did wished to drive with Tina to meet him.

“I told her, ‘I don’t think you should go be-cause I’m going to walk in the door with the woman he didn’t want to have a baby with be-hind me,” Hoesl said. “I think she is upset that she now has to share me with him.”

Billy lives in California, training and riding horses, but his family is in Tennessee. Because of the commitments to school and her job, Tina wishes he would move closer and get out of the horse training. That is all Tina wants; to build the relationship she never had with her biological fa-ther. Juggling classes and a job makes rebuilding the relationship difficult for her, she feels living near him is the only way to do so.

To Tina, meeting her biological father is the most important item on her bucket list; and in her eyes, it should be as important to anyone else who doesn’t know their biological parents.

“They are a part of you and you are a part of them. That relationship you have with them can-not be made with anyone else,” Hoesl said.

In the short two weeks she has spoken with Bil-ly, connections have been made that were never made with her stepfather. Their relationship is a work in progress, but Tina calls her stepfather “Dad” and her biological father by his first name.

When parents leave, the question often asked is “why?” The topic of why he wasn’t there for her hasn’t been discussed during any of their phone and Facebook conversations yet, but Tina is wait-ing to confront him with the question over NKU’s Christmas break. “I’m going to cry. A lot,” Tina said.

Brandon BarbFeatures editor

NKU student finds her father after 20 years of his absence

Photo by Brandon BarbTina Hoesl found her biological father on Facebook and is preparing to meet him over Christmas break.

Arts & LifeEdition 48, Issue 11 13

SREYALLayers: A Powerhouse Retrospective at North-

ern Kentucky University’s Fine Arts Center had its closing reception Nov. 3. The art exhibit featured screen-printed concert posters by design company Powerhouse Factories, which is based out of New-port, Ky.

In their statement, the company said, “Our intent was to create an overwhelming wall of imagery.”

The theme of the show was “continued evolu-tion,” with the first piece installed Oct. 7. New pieces were added until the Nov. 3 closing. Gallery director David Knight wanted it so that the show each week would seem newer than the last.

“The closing is the first time you can see the whole show. It’s kind of different, but I like it,” one of the Powerhouse creators, Pat Jones said.

Over 35 people attended the closing reception, including students, faculty and their families. Guests were offered snacks and refreshments and

the chance to get to know the artists. Powerhouse Factories was created by college

friends Pat Jones and Ben Nunery in 2004. Jones said the two were “just friends making posters for their favorite bands. “

Some pieces included posters featuring Death Cab for Cutie, Kanye West, Bruce Springsteen and Public Enemy.

The newest piece was a large collage installation of test prints that imitated the screen printing pro-cess. The piece spanned the length of the wall and depicted an arm pulling a squeegee across a canvas, with multi-color test prints that create the colors used in the screen printing process. It was specially made for the event so that the team could introduce something new in addition to work they’d already done.

“We kind of pushed ourselves to actually do something for this show,” one Powerhouse graphic designer, Brian Bergen said.

Posters were arranged on the walls in a collage-like manner. Framed posters highlighted the back

wall and stood apart from the other pieces. Knight said he arranged the framed posters more simply to give the audience a break from the overwhelming aspect of the collage.

A silent compilation video projected on a screen in the middle of the room helped highlight the theme of the show. Clips of fans holding posters were graphically imposed on top of personal clips from the group’s parties, similar to graphics on a poster.

The exhibit was a last-minute replacement in the gallery after a cancellation. Knight thought Power-house would be the perfect fill-in, because he felt they would be able to really connect with the stu-dents.

“It’s wild to walk in here and see all of this. It’s humbling,” said Austin Dunbar, another Power-house graphic designer and NKU alumnus.

Students who are interested in seeing more piec-es by Powerhouse visit their website, http://www.phfdesign.com/

Crystal HarrisContributing writer

Photos by Crystal HarrisLayers: A Powerhouse Retrospective was an art exhibit held in NKU’s Fine Arts Center from Oct. 7 to Nov. 3. The exhibit featured screen-printed concert posters made by design company Power-house Factories, based out of Newport. Week after week, new pieces were added to the exhibit. The closing was the only time the show could be seen in its entirety.

Powerhouse Factories art exhibit closes in the Fine Arts Center

Sports Nov. 9, 201114

The Northern Kentucky University men’s and women’s soccer teams are set to play in the NCAA Tournament.

The men will begin their quest to repeat as national champions when they face Northwood (Mich.) in the first round in Kansas City.

NKU enters the tournament with a 13-4 record, coming off a 2-1 defeat to Drury in the quarterfinals of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament.

Northwood is 9-4-4 overall after advancing to the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament championship game. NKU and Northwood have never met and head coach John Basalyga does not know much about the team. He plans on making phone calls to get scouting reports on the team.

“Probably the first half, as in most cases when you get into games that you really don’t know people, you survive the half, you get a sense of what they do, and make adjustments at halftime,” Basalyga said.

The winner of Friday’s game will advance to Sunday’s second-round.The women are the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region and will host first- and

second-round games in the NCAA Tournament. NKU will face the winner of the Bellarmine-Rockhurst match in Sunday’s second round at 1 p.m.

“I think whoever we play is going to be a great match,” said head coach Bob Sheehan.

The Norse are currently 15-1-2 on the season. They advanced to the semifi-nals of the GLVC Tournament, where they lost to Quincy in the penalty-kick shootout, 5-3 after a scoreless tie.

Bellarmine enters the tournament with a 15-2-3 record. The Knights won the GLVC Tournament championship. Rockhurst is 12-4-2 on the year. NKU tied Bellarmine, 1-1, and defeated Rockhurst, 2-0, in the regular season.

Soccer teams tourney-bound

The women’s team will face either Bellarmine or Rockhurst in the second round of the Midwest Regional. Sophomore forward Michael Holder (right) and the men’s soccer team will try to repeat as national champions.

John MinorSports news editor

Photos by: Stephen Wilder (left) & Tim Downer (right)

SportsEdition 48, Issue 11 15

Steve Bornhoffer has made some impor-tant career moves after taking a assistant coaching job offer for the Northern Ken-tucky University women’s soccer team.

Bornhoffer was the head coach of the men’s soccer team at Newport Central Cath-olic High School. He took the NKU job two weeks before the high school season started.

“The move was difficult, the hardest part was telling the coaches and the players, but they understood,” Bornhoffer said. “Playing is an experience you can never trade in but coaching is wonderful and there is an extra sense of pride when you can come back to coach for your alma mater.”

Bornhoffer received the 1998 Thomas J. Kearns Career Achievement Award after his senior season when he played for the NKU’s men’s soccer team. The award is given for academic and athletic excellence throughout

a collegiate career. Bornhoffer ranks eighth in NKU’s history in points scored (87) and goals scored (37).

“That is a tough task to score as much as he did because he was a center midfielder,” said Bob Sheehan, the head coach of the NKU women’s soccer team.

In his first season on the coaching staff, the Norse finished the regular season with a record of 14-1-1. Bornhoffer provided a lot of success in a short period of time, according to Sheehan.

“A lot of things made him a good fit for the job,” Sheehan said. “He sunk right in and he embraced the job of recruiting.”

Bornhoffer said his current recruits are just as spectacular as he could ask for and anticipates a move to Division I.

“It’s going to be very exciting because com-petition is going to be harder and the biggest benefit will be that NKU will be more well known which will then bring in some great recruits,” Bornhoffer said.

Soccer coach enjoys first season

Matt NeuhausStaff writer

Photo by Aly DurrettSteve Bornhoffer played soccer for NKU from 1994-97. He is now back at his alma mater as an assistant coach for the women’s soccer team.

Bornhoffer has ‘extra sense of pride’ coaching where he played

Sports Nov. 9, 201116

The Northern Kentucky University women’s basketball program has kicked into high gear for the 2011-12 season.

The team is looking to improve on last year’s record of 18-10, and a season in which they did not make the NCAA Tournament. With several key players returning and newcomers who can have an immediate impact, senior guard Casse Mogan believes that this team can be better this year.

“I think we have a better team than last year all around,” Mogan said. “It’s just going out there, playing hard and getting ready for each game. We should improve from what we did last year and have a better record.”

Head coach Nancy Winstel believes that through hard work, team unity and the play-ers showing up every game, the team can build upon what they accomplished last year.

The two leading scorers from last year return for their senior years. Mogan averaged 17.8 points per game, helping her to earn a spot on the Great Lakes Valley Conference first team. Forward Sadie Bowling averaged 9.3 points per game and also led the team in rebounding (7.3

per game).Also returning to the team are four other play-

ers who started more than 10 games: junior guard Jaimie Hamlet, junior forward Kelsey Simpson, junior center Ellen Holton and sopho-more guard Kayla Thacker.

“I feel good about our team right now,” Win-stel said. “We’re coming together but we’re not where we want to be. However, we’re working pretty hard in practice and when you have expe-rience returning, it’s always a good thing.”

NKU brought in Division I transfers senior guard Maria Bennett from Wright State and junior forward Tiara Hopper from Tennessee Tech. Bennett averaged 9.8 points per game as a junior and led Wright State in 3-pointers made. Hopper started 11 times as a sophomore and av-eraged 6.9 points per game.

Head coach Nancy Winstel said the transfers can improve the team after they adjust to the program.

“I think both of them have the ability to help us,” Winstel said. “They just need to learn what we’re doing here and adapt to our system. Hope-fully, they will both be able to help us at some point in time.”

Assistant student coach Ben Franzen said the two transfers will help the team improve in cer-

tain areas of the game.“Maria definitely contributes to our team

something that we really did not have last sea-son, a shooter with no conscience, having some-one like that is a definite help,” Franzen said. “Tiara adds depth to the post; we look for her to continue to work and make improvements to the team down low.”

On top of adding two Division I transfers, the NKU Women’s basketball team added three freshmen recruits.

“I believe Kaitlyn Gerrety is knocking on the door to start,” Winstel said. “Melody Doss gets better every day and Ashley Schaefer is working really hard to learn our stuff. I think our fresh-men could contribute this year for sure.”

Senior Forward Stephanie Hodges said that one of their strengths this season is their team chemistry.

“We are the most together team I’ve ever seen,” Hodges said. “We hang out together on and off the court. We are always laughing and everyone gets along. We just mesh really really well.”

The Norse will open the regular season on Nov. 15 at the Bank of Kentucky Center. They will take on Virginia-Wise, a member of the NA-IA’s Appalachian Athletic Conference.

Women expect improvement Alex FitzerStaff writer

Along with a new season, there will also be many new faces on the Northern Kentucky University men’s basketball team, who will be trying to im-prove on last year’s 21-9 record.

The Norse have only four returning players, but they are confident they can sustain another suc-cessful year. Head coach Dave Bezold is confident that they can go even further.

“This team is intriguing because they’re not as talented as the team was last year, but the coach-ability is really high with these guys,” Bezold said. “We have a lot of new players that are entering the college ranks for the first time, so they’re eager to learn new things they didn’t know before about the game of basketball. That will help us achieve suc-cess this season.”

This season will be the first time a majority of the new players will play together. Bezold said the most important thing the players have to do is learn how to play as a team.

“Chemistry is the most vital aspect in any sport,” Bezold said. “Without team chemistry, the season can’t be successful. Most of our guys are seeing each other play for the first time, so they’re starting

fresh on learning each other’s game type.”The only returning starter is senior guard Tony

Rack. Rack started 25 games and averaged 5.5 points per game. Rack acknowledges that it will not be easy to get the new players acclimated into the team’s system, but he is convinced it can be done and the results will show.

“We have a difficult offense to jump into, and it’ll be hard for these new guys to get used to it,” Rack said. “It takes time, and we’re not even close to where we need to be at yet, but we’ll get there. Once the season gets going, everyone will start to catch on and start to play well together.”

Being a veteran player comes with responsibil-ity, according to Bezold. Rack feels like he is ready to accept the responsibility of being a team leader this year and to make sure that every player stays focused and works together. In order to do that though, Rack says it’s best to show it, not just say it.

“I need to lead by example,” Rack said. “I’ve got to do all the little things to help this team succeed. I’m not going to be the guy that scores 20 points every day, but I’ve got to make sure I do all the little things for this team and never take a day off.”

One of the new players on the team is senior cen-ter DeAndre Nealy. Nealy, a transfer from Kent State, feels like the preseason has gone well for the

new players. However, Nealy feels like the team can improve.

“We have to play tough defense as a team, and the only way we can do that is by communicating to each other,” Nealy said. “The tough defensive team is the new identity we have to establish for ourselves. Once we do that, we’ll be good.”

According to Bezold, the greatest way to establish that team identity is by playing other teams. NKU played three exhibition games against Division I teams (Marshall, West Virginia, and Cincinnati). Those games are crucial to Bezold in establishing the team’s tough defense mentality.

“When we get to play another team, we’ll be able to define our strengths and see what our weakness-es are,” Bezold said. “When they go up against an unknown player, it really helps them get their feel on where they’re at, and where they need to be de-fensively.”

So far, Bezold feels the team’s positivity is bright and the possibilities for this season are endless.

“The work ethic is high with this team,” Bezold said. “They’re good basketball players, and they’ve really got a good feel of what we’re trying to do here. We’re definitely excited about them.”

The Norse will play at home against UC-Clermont on Nov. 12 to begin the regular season.

Kevin ErpenbeckStaff writer

New team looks for old success