January 29, 2015 Volume 88 Issue 2

Inside This Issue - OPINIONS: Unavailable courses costs students time and money

- FEATURES: One upon a time: Sleeping Beauty wakes audience

- SPORTS: VSU shoots for redemption

Decade Party Night - Are you a true ‘90s baby or a hippie at heart? Join Phi Beta Lambda (FBLA) for a fun decade party night.Dress in clothes from your favorite decade and get ready to dance all night to the memora-ble tunes. It will be held in the UC Magnolia Room #1 at 7 p.m.Lion King with APO- If you‘re looking for a fun night to rewatch a childhood favorite, look no further than Palms Quad. The Sigma Iota chapter of Alpha Phi Omega will be playing “The Lion King” on the Palms Quad at 8:25 pm. Popcorn and drinks will be sold.

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Check out Ivey Ingalls- Rubin’s “Daily Strange” article on the

web!

The “Buck the Menu” Starbucks Sweepstakes com-petition has come to a sweet close.

The Collegiate Men of VSU was declared the winner earlier this week for the com-petition, which was started Dec. 3 by SGA member, Tay-lor Ratcliff. The competition was sponsored by the SGA and V-State Dining.

During the fi rst round of the competition, student orga-nizations could submit their organization’s logo to the VSU Dining Facebook page in hopes of having their drink featured at the VSU Starbucks for a month.

The fi ve organizations with the most likes on Facebook made it to the next round.

In the fi nal round, the top fi ve organizations, Media

Arts Geniuses, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Kix Art Circle, Xchange Ministries, and Collegiate Men of VSU gave out samples of their drinks at Starbucks for voting last week.

CMVSU came out on top with their drink, “A Gentle Blend.” According to the V-State Dining and CMVSU Twitter pages, a portion of the proceeds Collegiate Men re-ceive on their drink sales will go to the Valdosta Southside Recreation Center.

The investigation into events involving former VSU professor Dr. Mark George has concluded, fi nding that no wrongdoing took place in the VSU administration’s treatment of Dr. George last summer.

The University System of Georgia’s director of eth-ics and compliance, Wesley Horne, conducted the review after Dr. George and VSU President William McKinney separately requested it.

This report stems from a dispute between the VSU ad-ministration and Dr. George, a sociology professor at VSU until May 2014. Dr. George

said that in the summer of 2014, VSU acted against him for political reasons, while VSU maintained all actions concerning Dr. George were routine procedures.

The investigation results, published on Dec. 2 as a letter to Dr. McKinney, center on three issues: the deactiva-tion of Dr. George’s VSU email account, funds for the Mary Turner Project, and Dr. George’s claim that VSU failed to comply with Georgia Open Records law.

The Email Account

On July 28, 2014, Dr. George’s university email account was deactivated. At this time, Dr. George was no longer employed at VSU.

Horne’s report found that the email deactivation was in line with USG IT policy, which re-quires the accounts of former employees to be terminated 30 days after they leave VSU.

Dr. George alleged that his account was shut down due to a specifi c email he sent and a subsequent complaint. Last summer, Dr. George sent an email, in conjunction with Rev. Floyd Rose from the NAACP, to Georgia legisla-tors, asking them to withdraw state support for Confederate memorials.

John C. Hall, Jr., a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, complained about the email to Dr. McKinney, saying Dr. George shouldn’t be using his VSU email for political activism.

Horne’s report advised VSU to allow Dr. George access to the emails and con-tacts from his VSU account.

The Mary Turner Project Funds

Dr. George is the founder of the MTP, a social justice organization that compiles slave census data and a his-tory of U.S. lynchings. Funds for the MTP existed under the VSU Foundation Account, and last summer Dr. George requested that these funds, totaling $277, be released to a sister organization called Save Our Children.

VSU refused this request on the grounds that there had to be evidence the money would be used in accordance with

state and federal law. At this point, Dr. George said VSU had “seized” these funds and were holding them illegally.

Horne’s investigative report says VSU was justifi ed in its actions, but VSU is willing to work with the MTP and Save Our Children to transfer the funds.

The Open Records Request

Soon after Dr. George’s email account was shut down, he sent out open records requests to numerous VSU of-fi cials, asking for any emails or documents that discussed himself or the MTP. VSU estimated that the total cost of this request would be $606, but ended up being only $105.

Creative coffee

We’re getting degrees. We’re getting jobs. The way President Obama puts it, it’s a pretty great time to be a col-lege student.

Free college was one of the biggest topics of discus-sion during Obama’s State of the Union speech on Jan. 20. Obama’s proposal is to offer community college for no cost at all. Of course, this doesn’t affect us much, but it may affect our younger siblings, cousins and friends.

However, according to International Business Times, in order for students to take advantage of the “America’s

College Promise” program, they have to at least be part-time students and maintain at least a 2.5 GPA and progress toward fi nishing their pro-grams.

“Whoever you are, this (America’s Col-lege Promise) plan is your chance to gradu-ate ready for the new economy, without a load of debt,” Obama said during the speech. “Understand, you’ve got to earn it — you’ve got to keep your grades up and graduate on time.

“I want to spread that idea all across Amer-ica, so that

two years of college be-comes as free and universal

in America as high school

is today,” Obama said.

Probe clears McKinney

President McKinney requests a USG investigation.

Dr. Mark George controversy spans three semesters

Dr. George stillconsidering legal action against VSU

Dr. George’s VSU email account deactivated.

Dr. George requests a USG investigation.

� e USG issues a report saying VSU had commmited no wrong-doing against Dr. George.

July 28, 2014 Sept. 23, 2014 Dec. 2, 2014 Jan. 28, 2015Sept. 20, 2014

Christian Mitchell/ THE SPECTATOR

State of the Union: Obama talks to the students

Tatyana Phelps COPY EDITOR

tnphelps@valdosta.edu

The faculty senate had a meeting Jan. 22 in the Univer-sity Center Magnolia Room to talk about new, old and unfi n-ished business on campus.

The meeting started out with the election of a new Parliamentarian.

Dr. Peggy Moch, who served in this capacity last se-mester, is on sabbatical leave this semester.

A lot of discussion was brought on from previous semesters, such as academic freedom, political activism,

and electronic communica-tion in connection with issues which surfaced in July of last year.

Another issue that was brought up during the meet-ing was sexual harassment. “There was another incident of sexual harassment at VSU in November in connection with another fraternity which is currently under investiga-tion,” President Micheal Noll said. “Some folks are appar-ently not taking this seriously, and it is time to stop this nonsense.”

The Academic Scheduling and Procedures Committee is

currently analyzing how many students, faculty and staff are negatively impacted by misaligned spring breaks.

Noll thought it would be too early to report on the issue.

Afterward, new business was brought to the fl oor.

One of the things discussed was the ongoing topic of the “Academic Forgiveness Policy.”

No decision was made at the meeting, however.

“There is still some fi ne-tuning to do before a decision can be made,” Noll said.

Julian Thompson and Matthew Cowan enjoy free samples from the different organizations involved in the Starbucks competition. Cowan is a member of CMVSU, the organization that won with its “Gentle Blend Strawberry” drink.

Academic forgiveness still needs ‘fi ne tuning’

Stella Henderson/THE SPECTATOR

Kristin WitmanSPORTS EDITOR

krwitman@valdosta.edu

See George, page 2

Organizations go head-to-head in Starbucks Sweepstakes competition

USG investigator fi nds no wrongdoing in George case

Stella Henderson/ THE SPECTATOR

SGA discussed everything from local philanthropy goals to a ceremonial dinner and brunch at its Monday night meeting.

The student philanthropy committee will be setting up a fund for various projects.

“It’s basically what alumni relations does when they raise money…they get money from the alumni, but we will cater to the students,” SGA Comp-troller Tamelia Hall said.

In future meetings, the committee will discuss three

short-term goals and one long-term goal.

They are not final, but the long-term goal is to help dec-orate the new Valdosta High School stadium. The three short-term goals will involve what to do with Ashley Cinemas or any building that’s not in use as well as possible changes around campus.

SGA also approved a proposal from FBLA, Enactus and BAYBS. The proposal sought a co-sponsorship from SGA for a three-day event named “Act Like a Lady,

Think Like a Boss.” SGA will donate $450 for the orga-nization’s Sunday Big Hat Brunch.

In addition, SGA is helping to coordinate an upcoming

dinner for a scholar-ship that was created last year in honor of VSU’s first two black students, Drewnell Thomas

and Robert Pierce. Thomas and Pierce

became students at VSU in 1963-4.

The Thomas-Pierce Schol-arship helps first generation college students, and to be eligible for the scholarship,

students must have and keep a 3.0 GPA and stay in good academic standing.

Tickets for the scholarship dinner will go on sale Feb. 10 and will be $20 for students and $30 for non-students. The dinner will be Feb. 24 and will take place in the Student Union Ballroom.

Relay for Life’s Jump Start meeting on Jan. 22 was also announced. There is no set date for the Relay for Life event, but the theme was chosen: superheroes. The dates for future Relay for Life meetings are Feb. 12, March 12 and April 2.

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JANUARY 29, 2015

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Planetarium Show

Jan. 297, 8, 9 p.m.VSU Planetarium(Nevins Hall, Third Floor)

This show, titled Orion’s Realm, will focus on the Orion constellation and the effects of light pollution. Tick-ets are free and open to the public. The rooftop observa-tory will be open after each show, weather permitting.

Ground Hog Shadow Day

Feb. 29 a.m.UC Magnolia Room

Come gain real world expo-sure to careers by meeting with employers and touring facilities. Register online at www.valdosta.edu or call 229-333-5942 for more informa-tion.

Broadway Musical

Feb. 37:30 p.m.Mathis City Auditorium

CAB is giving away tickets to see the “Million Dollar Quar-tet,” a rock-and-roll musical presented by Annette Howell Turner Center for Arts. Sign up in the Student Life Office (Student Union Room 3118).

Dive In Movie

Feb. 38 p.m.Campus Rec Pool

Come watch the drama “If I Stay” and enjoy popcorn and snow cones, courtesy of CAB and the Campus Rec. Admis-sion is free with student ID.

Did you lose an item on campus?

Check with the VSU Police on the Sustella Parking Deck’s second floor to see if your lost item was recovered.

Jan. 27

A bike was reportedly stolen from Georgia Hall.

Jan. 26

A female student returned to her red Ford Expedition in the Fine Arts Lot to find it broken into, with red ketchup sprayed inside; she said it was possibly an ex.

A female student reported her vacuum missing from her room in Centennial Hall.

Jan. 25

An RA at Centennial Hall reportedly saw a Snapchat of a Langdale Hall resident hold-ing a gun in his room with a few other guys. It turned out to be a BB gun.

Police Briefs

Upcoming Events

GeorgeContinued from page 1

Dr. George said the estimate was unreasonable and meant to deter him from getting the documents requested. How-ever, Horne’s report says that VSU’s estimated and actual cost for Dr. George’s request

was reasonable considering the large amount of material that had to be reviewed.

Dr. George disputes the findings of the investigation and said he is still considering legal action against VSU.

Since the report’s publica-tion, Dr. George continues to email VSU and USG officials, maintaining he was wronged

by VSU and demanding ac-tion. He also sent an email to VSU alumni and MTP mem-bers, asking them to withhold financial support from VSU.

“As I feared when I filed my complaint, the USG failed to address the evidence I provided them with, and it is clear they simply worked to generate a justification for

Dr. McKinney’s unethical actions in order to do ‘damage control’ and in the event I file a lawsuit,” Dr. George said.

Dr. Kimberly Luse, VSU chief of staff, said that consid-ering the storm of controversy surrounding this situation, the VSU administration is glad an unbiased third-party was able to step in and clear things up.

SGA gives back to communityLaShawn Oglesby

Staff Writerlsoglesby@valdosta.edu

JANUARY 22, 2015 VSUSPECTATOR.COM | PAGE 3

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Opinions expressed in The Spectator other than editorials are the opinions of the writers of signed columns and not neccessarily those of The Spectator and its staff. All rights reserved. Reprints by permission of the editors. Views in this newspaper are not neccessarily those of the Valdosta State University administration, faculty and staff.

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Our point of view...

This editorial was written by a member of the editorial staff and expresses the general opinion of The Spectator.

Unavailable classes cost students time and moneyCollege is typically seen as a four-

year chapter in someone’s life – at least it’s supposed to be. How-

ever, now taking five to six years to earn an undergrad degree is quite normal. This extended college stay can be partly attrib-uted to students hopping from one major to another, but other reasons are the lack of flexibility in class schedules and the ever-rising cost of higher education.

When students attend college, they expect to be given all the tools and resources needed to succeed. In many ways, VSU achieves this goal, but one area where they miss the mark is scheduling.

Many classes required by certain majors are only offered every one to two years. If you just missed that one class you needed to graduate, better luck next time – a.k.a “see you back here next semester.”

The university’s rigid schedule is caus-ing students to stay longer than anticipated, meaning they have to spend much more money than originally planned. Instead of joining the workforce and beginning to earn

a decent income, students are forced even deeper into debt, and all because certain classes are offered so sparsely.

All of the blame cannot fall on the uni-versity, though. While it is always difficult to create a schedule that works for all the programs on campus, this task is made even harder due to recent cuts in state funding for colleges.

A reduced budget means VSU can only pay so many professors to teach so many classes. It also means tuition goes up, and students respond by either getting more loans or getting a job.

More loans mean more financial stress in the future, and students with part-time jobs have less time for school. As a result, their undergrad takes even longer to complete.

Do you see the vicious cycle here?We are the future and the fate of society

rests on our shoulders. VSU and the state government need to recognize this truth and take measures to ensure that we acquire a proper education before we’re old, gray and broke.

Jordan Hillopinions Editor

jorhill@valdosta.edu

Tierra Francoisstaff WritEr

tsfrancois@valdosta.edu

Alison Stephen

President Obama proposed legislation to assist students in paying for two years of community college.

The Digital Privacy Act, proposed by President Obama, would keep students’ personal and educational information private.

Students are stopping school shooters by fighting metal weapons with weapons of steel.

These aren’t your normal weapons of steel, though. We’re talking about the steel cans that contain green beans, ravioli and chicken noodle soup.

As part of its active shooter response, a middle school in Valley, Alabama, is consider-ing collecting canned goods for students to throw at an armed intruder in the event that such a situation may occur.

According to a letter sent to the parents by the school officials, tossing a few cans at shooter can catch him or her off guard or maybe even knock him or her out momen-tarily.

Not to be a negative Nancy, but do school officials really

expect a can of baked beans to stop someone with a gun? Guns are nothing to play with. What happens if the plan to “stun” the shooter doesn’t work? It could possibly just make the shooter more ag-gressive. Students should be taught to get away, not to stand up to the intruder.

The only positive outcome that could come of this is that a canned good could possibly do some damage to someone. However, we have to keep in mind that these are middle school children. Their bodies are still develop-ing, so they may not have the

physical strength to actually knock someone out with one of the cans. Also, more than likely the children are going to be really afraid. What if the safest thing for them to do is run away instead of try-ing to stand up to the armed intruder?

The idea is a good initia-tive; but at the same time, the school officials need to be a bit more realistic. Maybe the school should consider a different approach, rather than something that could pos-sibly put the students in more danger.

Canned defense plan does not have the goods

Schools across the country are preparing students to distract a shooter by throwing objects at him or her.

MGN Online

The federal government is known for its snooping, sneaking and watchdog men-tality, yet they want to cater to citizens’ privacy.

In another attempt to keep Americans safe, President Obama is proposing new federal legislation. Contrary to what some may think, it is actually a good idea.

The president is proposing The Student Digital Privacy Act. It will keep students’ per-sonal, educational information private. This legislation will allow students’ information to only be used by the school. The information will not be sold to third parties in order for them to market to stu-dents.

For example, if students use a computer or iPad from their school, that information will remain private to the student and school.

In an age where technol-ogy is used for the simplest

tasks, it is important for there to be a barrier that prevents students from being taken advantage of. This legislation is a welcome surprise from the president. With so many people afraid of Big Brother, this legislation seems like it will actually be protective, not just nosy.

The information obtained from students will be only for educational purposes, as it should be. It is absurd that there needs to be a legislation to keep educational facilities and companies from selling students’ data, but it is appar-

ently necessary. The president is currently

asking educational technology companies to sign a pledge stating that they will not release student information and asking the Department of Education to train teachers on student digital privacy.

Kudos to the president for keeping students’ information safe. Students deserve to feel and know that their private information is just that – pri-vate. It is not information to be bought, sold and traded for an unrelated purpose.

Digital Privacy Act

Going to a community college your first few years of college is sometimes a good idea. Aside from the fact that all students have to take the same core curriculum no matter the school or major, it is somewhat less expensive as well. Obama is proposing a law to fund students their first two years of community college.

This law seems to be very helpful, but also hard to get passed. Not only does the law have to go through Congress, but it is estimated to cost $60 billion within the next 10 years.

For many students, this law will be the extra help they need to be able to attend school. We can also expect the enrollment rate for com-munity colleges to increase. The federal government will be responsible for three-quarters of the cost of tuition for community college, giving states a huge break.

“States would have to do their part too,” Obama said. “For those willing to do the work and for states and local communities who want to be a part of it, it could be a game changer.”

Tuition costs are one of the reasons many people do not attend school. Accord-ing to the College Board, the average cost of tuition and fees for the 2013–2014 school year was $30,094 at private

colleges, $8,893 for state residents at public colleges, and $22,203 for out-of-state residents attending public universities.

Having these fees waived could possibly reduce student debts. As students, we take out loans because we are not able to pay the tuition. Fed-eral funding is something that should be dispersed wisely, and education is a great start.

The hardest part about getting laws such as this one passed is having people in Congress that do not agree.

“Lamar Alexander and Bob

Corker, both Republican sena-tors from Tennessee, joined Obama on Air Force One and at the community college during Obama’s speech, but neither want Obama’s plan to become federal law,” ac-cording to CNN reporters, Matthew Hoye and Jeremy Diamond.

With the cost of attending school being so expensive, Obama’s “America’s College Promise” program could give every student the same oppor-tunity to be able to attend.

Free community college offers hope to students

New legislation would prevent student information from being sold and used

Mike Lagon/THE SPECTATOR

MGN Online

Check out VSU Spectator on Youtube for this week’s people poll on free community college.

PAGE 4 | VSUSPECTATOR.COM JANUARY 29, 2015

Kailee KivettSTAFF WRITER

klkivett@valdosta.edu

Scan Code to access full horoscope

National all-media art competition names winner for 2015

Over 600 works of art were submitted to be placed in VSU’s Fine Arts Gallery for an all-media competition this year. The works were created by artists from all across the country and included colored

pencil drawings, sculptures, oil paintings, collages, photo-graphs and much more. On Jan. 20, an opening reception and awards cer-

emony was held. Valdosta National 2015 judge Susan Welsh narrowed the collection down to 55 works of art from 34 artists and awarded ribbons to the top four pieces. Welsh, the executive director of The Museum of Arts and Sciences in Macon, Georgia, donated her honorarium to the artists, which increased the total of the awards to $1,900.

When asked about his pieces, Noah Brock from

Tallahassee, Florida, ex-plained that his work is based in mathematics to describe the world around us. “I am drawn to using metal

because of its versatility and strength,” Brock said. Ap-parently his approach to art succeeded, because his piece, “Vitruvian Refl exion,” took fi rst place. Meaghan Gates from New Bedford, Massachusetts, fol-lowed in second place with her work entitled “Release.” Third place went to Mimi Silver from Atlanta for her painting “Legacy.” Fourth place was given to Kyle Hicks from Canton, Georgia, for his piece called “Pulse-Width Modulated #1.”

Once upon a time: ‘Sleeping Beauty’ wakes up audience with performance

“Once upon a time, in a kingdom far away, a beautiful princess was born.” Awaken to the lights and dancing of “Sleeping Beauty.” Valdosta School of Ballet put on the “Sleeping Beauty” ballet last Friday and Satur-day in the Mathis Municipal Auditorium with a cast of all ages. Back by popular demand this year, “Sleeping Beauty” was performed and all pro-ceeds from the show went to VSU’s Theatre and Dance Scholarship Fund. The tale of “Sleeping Beauty” was told in three acts in which the actors told the story through dance. In addi-tion, the production featured elegant ballerinas, a fairy everyone loves to hate and a valiant prince. The theater was packed full of people of all ages to watch the talent on stage. The cast consisted not just of “Sleeping Beauty” characters, but other princesses such as Cinderella, Jasmine, Elsa and Anna. “I loved ‘Sleeping Beauty’ as a kid and the dancers did a great job telling the story,” Lexi Simmons, junior early childhood education major,

said. The Valdosta School of Ballet teamed with the VSU Theatre department to pro-duce the adaptation of “Sleep-ing Beauty” with elements of both classical and animated versions of the traditional fairytale. “The collaborative effort is a wonderful opportunity for our actors and dancers to share their tremendous talents

with parents, family, friends and the community,” Brandi Roberts, Valdosta School of Ballet founder and artistic director, said. Many other shows are scheduled to be performed at the campus theatre such as “Les Misèrables,” “Always Patsy Cline,” and “The Little Mermaid.”

Kristin WhitmanSPORTS EDITOR

krwhitman@valdosta.edu

Kayla StroudWEB EDIOTR

kistroud@valdosta.edu

Lil Wayne Files for Divorce Apparently being the best rapper alive isn’t enough to keep Lil Wayne from being wrapped up in legal disputes. Trouble seems to be brewing in the Cash Money family as Mr. Carter is suing the Bird for $51 million to be released from his contract. He has made it known in the deal that he feels Bird is withholding millions from him. No word on who receives custody of Drake .Blink 182 Nasty Split Members of Blink-182 an-nounced earlier this week that they’re splitting up. And it got ugly quick. Mark Hoppus and drummer Travis Barker are going public, blasting their dislike for guitarist Thomas DeLonge, stating that he is “ungrateful, disingenuous.”

This led to DeLonge hopping on Twitter to give his side of the story. The breakup keeps getting messier as the days pass.Smith vs. Stern Howard Stern went on a rant about British singer Sam Smith, calling him “fat” and “ugly” during his SiriusXM show earlier this week. Smith took the high road and went to Twitter to “Ignore” him. A future passive aggressive song should be expected within the next few weeks.Nick Cannon Wants A Cut Mariah Carey’s former umbrella holder, Nick Cannon has made it a point to be a mess and put his and Carey’s business out in the media. According to reports, Can-non said that he is the sole reason for Carey’s new Vegas residency. In his mind, this leaves him to believe that he deserves a cut of the money.

2 Chainz Runs for Mayor In what is clearly not a pub-licity stunt, rapper 2 Chainz said in an interview with XXL that he wanted to run for mayor of College Park. Do I really think he’d actually run for mayor? No. Would I vote for him if he did? Yes, yes I would. Why? I have no clue.

Idol Winner Wants Out Phillip Phillips is suing American Idol to get out of his “oppressive, fatally confl icted” contract. In his suit, Phillip squared has made claims of mistreatment and low pay. Rihanna’s New Song

After several years wait, Ri-hanna has fi nally, FINALLY come out with new music. She posted a link to her new song, FourFiveSeconds, featuring Paul McCartney and Kanye West on her offi cial website earlier this week. It received a mixed reaction. The sound is much different from her usual stuff. The trio is scheduled to perform at the 2015 Grammys Awards.Cyrus and Boyfriend self-medicate Miley Cyrus and Patrick Schwarzenegger were seen smoking joints. It’s not considered to be that big of a deal nowadays, but maybe Patrick should tell his parents, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver, that Miley has cataracts.

Blink 182 splits; 2 Chainz enters race Collaborate for shared prosperity this year. � ere’s money available, especially a� er 3/20. A friend assists at a fork in your edu-cational road a� er 4/8. A romantic turning point arises. October eclipses usher a new phase in shared prosperity, with a com-munications shakeup. New options appear. Partnership provides key tools. Give your love and it returns magni� ed. To get the advantage, check the day’s rating: 10 is the easiest day, 0 the most challenging.

� is piece, entitled ‘Re� exion,’ is the � rst place win-ner of the Valdosta National 2015 All Media Competi-tion.

“I loved ‘Sleeping Beauty’ as a kid and the dancers did a great job telling the story,” - Lexi Simmons

Sudoku Answer

“I am drawn to using metal because of its versatility and strength.” - Noah Brock

Kailee Kivett/ THE SPECTATOR

Kailee Kivett/ THE SPECTATOR Kailee Kivett/ THE SPECTATOR

VSUSPECTATOR.COM | PAGE 5JANUARY 29, 2015

VSU 5Styrofoam cups spell out “POW/MIA” in observance of the many U.S. soldiers that are either prisoners of war or listed as missing in action.

Students stare intently at their screens in one of Odum Library’s many computer labs.

Ben Westberry and other mem-bers of the Delta Ki fraternity carry on a con-versation in the Student Union.

Nick Gillis and a fellow student hold a conversation in Spanish with Ms. Edris Brannen. Brannen requires her students to carry on a short conversation before they can be dismissed from her class-room.

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Mass media student Chris Carter solicits the help of random VSU students for a class project in front of Odum Library.

New Spectator feature highlightsVSU campus life in fi ve shots

Stella Henderson/ THE SPECTATOR

Stella Henderson/ THE SPECTATOR

Stella Henderson/ THE SPECTATOR

Stella Henderson/ THE SPECTATOR

Stella Henderson/ THE SPECTATOR

The Lady Blazers basketball team is looking to scorch the Hawks as the team prepares for a redemption game against Shorter University.

Losing a battle to the University of North Alabama Lions 63-50 on Jan. 24, the Lady Blazers fell to 9-10 overall record in the Gulf South Conference.

The team will travel to Rome, Georgia, tonight in an effort to bring home a win. During the team’s last meeting in December, the Lady Blazers proved themselves to be too much for the Lady Hawks to handle. After trailing by four, the Lady Blazers seemed to kick things back into gear and ended up outshooting the Lady Hawks 48.1 percent to 37 percent. The Lady Blazers were impressively on fi re

from the free throw line as well, shooting 10-14 with an average of 71.4 percent.

Assistant head coach Jennifer Grubbs explained the team’s on-the-road game.

“Defensively we have to play great team defense and be able to collapse down on their inside post players so that no one is playing against them one-on-one because they do a great job down low,” Grubbs said. “We also have to close out on their shooters and try to prevent them from dribble driving to the basket.”

During the fi rst match-up, defense did not seem to be a problem for the Lady Blazers, as the team was able to capitalize with 22 points off of turnovers made by the Lady Hawks, while they were only able to score 15 points off of our turnovers.

Offensively, Grubbs hopes to match up.

“We have got to get back to our basics of setting screens and utilizing those screens, as

well as making good passes,” Grubbs said. “We will have to run our offensive set and be able to play inside and out and utilize our scorers on the outside just like Shorter is able to do.”

During the fi rst half of their last match-up, SU and VSU both shot 50 percent from the three point line. Things improved greatly, however, for the home team,with the Lady Blazers shooting a whopping 62.5 percent (5-8) from the three point line compared to Shorter’s 14.29 percent (1-7).

The Lady Blazers seemed to be unstoppable from all places on the court, outshooting Shorter on the night 45.83 percent to 36.67 percent in the fi rst half and 50 percent to 37.50 percent in the second half.

The team has the same goals in mind for tonight’s game and hopes to improve its GSC record even more.

JANUARY 29, 2015 PAGE 6 | VSUSPECTATOR.COM

Show Your Love

Blazers hope to keep up streak

It was a Blazers’ total take down, but now they hope to regain that confi dence against Shorter University tonight.

The Blazers defeated the conference-leading the Uni-versity of Alabama-Huntsville Chargers on Jan. 22.

With a late three-pointer from Josh Lemons, sopho-more guard, and a key block from Colin Cook, senior for-ward/center, the Blazers were able to get a big win against the Chargers, 67-66.

James Spencer, senior forward, and Jeff Nibo, junior forward, led VSU in points with 19 and 15, respectively. The Blazers were able to do exactly what they wanted to do against UAH—tighten up on defense and improve their three-point fi eld goal percent-age.

On Jan. 24, the Blazers took on the University of North Alabama, but fell short 95-79. UNA was able to out-rebound the Blazers by 15 and scored 29 second-chance points as a result.

The Blazers are now 9-10 overall and 4-9 in Gulf South Conference play.

The Blazers hope to snap the Shorter Hawks three-game winning streak tonight in Rome, Georgia, at 8 p.m.

The Blazers were defeated by the Hawks earlier this season, on Dec. 15, by a score of 98-94. The Hawks came in with a quick lead in Decem-ber but the Blazers came stomping back in the second half.

SU fought back to eventu-ally claim an 80-78 lead with only two minutes and 23

seconds to go. After a back-and-forth leading game, the Blazers came back once again to end the offi cial game play with an even score of 85-85. The Blazers went into over-time but were unable to come out victorious.

The Blazers hope to bounce back and make a run in the GSU, as the rest of their games are in-conference, starting with a hopeful bounce back against SU.

VSU shoots for redemption Blazers aim to take down the Hawks this time around

Stuart Price SPORTS WRITER

stprice@valdosta.edu

The Blazers softball team starts a fresh season with hopes to shine on the diamond like the season before.

The Lady Blazers will take the mound this weekend for their fi rst four games in Milledgeville against Co-lumbus State University and Georgia College and State University.

VSU will play against each for a double header, CSU on Saturday and GCSU on Sunday.

Last season, the Blazers were 45-15 in the overall season and 16-9 in the Gulf South Conference.

The team participated in the NCAA National Champion-ship game and won the Gulf South Conference Champion-ship last year for the sixth consecutive year.

The Lady Blazers go into the fi rst games with only two seniors: Fran Johnson, outfi elder and Courtney Albritton, a utility player for the team. These players have made tremendous leaps this year already along with another teammate.

In a preseason poll of coaches throughout the GSC, Johnson, Albritton and Kiley Rusen, junior infi elder, were all selected to represent the VSU softball team as mem-bers of the 2015 Preseason All-GSC Team.

In addition, the Blazers

have been predicted to top the standings at the conclusion of the 2015 regular season.

For the CSU Lady Cougars, last season results were 31-20 for the overall season and 10-12 for the conference.

For the GCSU Bobcats, last season’s record was 34-16 overall and 13-9 in the Peach Belt Conference.

However, VSU, CSU and GCSU did not play each other last year, so this weekend will be a challenge for each team, not knowing what to expect.

The Blazers will begin their season at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, with another game at 6:30 p.m. in Milledgeville, Georgia.

Lia ArmisteadASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

jparmistead@valdosta.edu

VSU takes to the diamond

Niamani Carlyle-HollisSPORTS WRITER

ntcarlyle@valdosta.edu

Stella Henderson/THE SPECTATOR

Blake Justice, 20, and James Spencer, 4, prepare to play defense after the Blazers score. The team ended up losing to the Lions

Stella Henderson/THE SPECTATOR

Maggie Davis, 21, dribbles down the court for a basket against the North Alabama Lions, Saturday Jan. 24. The Lady Blazers were defeated by the Lions 50-63 making the teams overall record 9-10.

Intramural sports to look forward to:Basketball

Feb. 2

Bowling Feb. 2

Flag Football Feb. 5

So� ballFeb. 22

Sand Volleyball March 15

Soccer Feb. 22

Billiard April 22

Extreme Dodgeball April 27