May 4, 2011 Volume 63 Issue 13

Photo by Colten Bradford

By Vanessa FergusonNews Reporter

News

Legacy Dance Team hosts Legacy Week

Page 2

UIS men push to post-season, women’s season cut short

Page 7

Athletics

By Kati Maseman

Assistant Editor for Features

Nightcontinued on Page 5

Students and parents celebrate family fun day with cotton candy and bounce houses

Last Saturday UIS stu-dents headed outside to sunny Sunflower court

for a day of good food, carnival games, and bounce house fun.

Planned by the Student Par-ent Association (SPA), the event, known as Family Fun Day, was an attempt to get students and their kids out for an end of year block party.

The previous Family Fun Day hosted by SPA took place last fall. Kendra Johnson, president of SPA, said of the event, “we had about 25 children and 20 ac-tual UIS students.”

For the second Fun Day, the weather was beautiful. It was the perfect day for kids of all ages to enjoy the event. Student Matithia Eiland said she was looking for-ward to the fun-filled afternoon. “I will probably get on the blow up slide and eat cotton candy un-til my stomach hurts.”

Still Eiland said she would most enjoy watching her three boys take part in the activities. Eiland explained, “They are go-ing to have a blast. They have everything a kid wants.”

Fay Alison, student and Fam-ily Fun Day volunteer, said she too was going to watch the kids play. Alison said, “Kids for

some reason love these bounce houses.”

While the day was a lot of fun, it took a lot of preparation to make it a success. Before the event started Johnson was run-ning to and fro while setting up the finishing touches.

Alison said that Johnson had put a lot of work into planning the event and making last minute errands. Still, Alison will have her turn next year as the new SPA president.

She said that SPA is consider-ing a pajama party for next fall’s Family Fun Day event. “It’s not all planned but, we are still roll-ing ideas around.” One of these ideas is to have a family friendly movie projected onto the side of a building outside.

After the event Johnson said that she was pleased with Fam-ily Fun Day. She said the activ-ity brought out a lot of students including those who had to com-mute to campus.

While the event was all fun and games, it is back to work for the Family Fun Day volunteers. Alison said that once the event was over, she had to get right back to finishing her end of the year research.

It is unlikely Alison will for-get the fun afternoon, however. She has the tan lines to remem-ber it by.

Taking back the night and their lives, UIS and LLCC march for sexual assault awareness

Marchers carry candles and posters as they protested against sexual assault. They were participating in the fourth annual Take back the Night.

People gathered in the setting sun. They wore t-shirts of light teal, the

color of their cause, and were ready for the night’s activities to begin. These people were gather-ing for a purpose and they were ready to let it be known.

“Take Back the Night is part protest, part rally, part vigil, part celebration and part storytelling,” Deborah Brothers of UIS said.

To elaborate a little on that, Take Back the Night is a march and rally to promote awareness of, and speak out against domes-tic violence, rape, sexual assault and stalking.

Take Back the Night signified the conclusion of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, which occurs each April. The first ever Take Back the Night occurred over 30 years ago in Philadelphia, but ex-panded all over the country.

Friday night members of UIS and LLCC came together for their fourth annual march and rally. The night started with opening remarks and a few facts. Ashley Price asked everyone to take a moment of silence for vic-tims of sexual assault and abuse. She also let everyone know that she would be ringing a bell every eight seconds to signify the fre-quency that rape occurs.

Then the group took a candle lit march around the UIS campus. Participants also carried bells,

posters and banners to signify what they were doing. Jill Camp-bell and Jill Frieden led the group in chants as they marched.

The march ended at the HSB patio, where Project Clothesline was displayed. Project Clothes-line is a way for women affected by violence to express their feel-ings by decorating a shirt for display. Shirts can also be made in honor of someone. The shirts that were displayed ranged from personal stories, to words of em-powerment, to words of encour-agement. They were painted, printed and colored. See more Take Back

the Night Photos on page 5.

Page 2 The Journal Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Photos by Colten Bradford

By Colten Bradford

Assistant Editor for News

Legacy Dance Team hosts Legacy Week

You’ve seen them at home-coming and you’ve seen them during halftime at basketball games. The Legacy Dance Team has entertained audiences at UIS over the past three years, and last week the team celebrated its own Legacy Week.

The festivities kicked off on Thursday with Dedication Day.

“We picked out 10 to 15 peo-ple who have made a positive im-pact [for the group] over the past couple years,” junior criminal justice major Jessica Smith said. “We just want to thank them for their time.”

The Legacy Dance Team hon-ored 14 students and faculty for their individual contributions to the group.

Members Ashley Scott and Ashley Harris presented these awards to: Beth Hoag, Charles Olivier, Jaleesa Earthley, Ash-ley Price, Clarice Ford, Grant Johnson, Jay Gilliam, Jeannie Capranica, Kudus Ogunseye, Robert Dixon, Anthony Thomas-Davis, Kendra Johnson, Everitt O’Neal, and Ashley Harris.

On Friday, Legacy Dance Team held U.N.I.T.Y. Day. Those who attended enjoyed a dinner followed by games.

On the last day of Legacy Week, the group sponsored Rip the Stage which included per-

formances, music, and a fashion show.

Kudus Ogunseye was the MC for the night that introduced per-formers, models, and entertained the audience between perfor-mances.

In addition to the students who strutted their stuff of the cat-walk, Rip the Stage had various performances including dance numbers by Legacy Dance team and Ritmo Latino. The fashion shows all incorporated pink into the clothing to raise breast cancer awareness.

Donations raised that night were made to the Susan G. Ko-men Foundation, a group dedi-cated to fighting breast cancer.

(top left) Students Latasha Shannon, Precious Monroe, and Brittany Walker of Legacy Dance team move to the beat during the opening dance number at the beginning of Rip the Stage held in the SLB gym Saturday night.

(top right) Students had the chance to walk the runway during Saturday night’s Rip the Stage. The models wore clothes by Rue 21 and all contained pink to raise awareness for breast cancer research.

Thank you for reading The Journal!

This issue is our last issue for the 2010-2011 year

Look for us in August, when the Journal will publish

The Guide for new and returning students!

Page 3Wednesday, May 4, 2011 The Journal

OPINIONMission Statement

The Journal is the editorially independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois at Springfield. Our mission is to publish news and feature stories, editorials and opinions relevant to the campus community while upholding the highest professional and ethical standards as outlined in The Journal Code of Conduct and Editorial Board By-laws and Procedures.

Editor-in-Chief: Kate Richardson

krich2@uis.edu

Assistant Editor for News: Colten Bradford

cbrad2@uis.edu

News Reporter: Vanessa Ferguson

vfergu3@uis.edu

Assistant Editor for Features: Kati Maseman

kdyer4@uis.edu

Assistant Editor for Sports: Carson Buss

cbuss52uis.edu

Sports Reporter: Nick Dow

ndow2@uis.edu

Columnist: Vanessa Ferguson

vfergu3@uis.edu

Photographer: Colten Bradford

cbrad2@uis.edu

Layout & Design Editor: Yu Sun

ysun32@uis.edu

Business Manager: Fahad Khan

journalmgr@uis.edu

Web Editor: Tushar Thakkar

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Adviser: Debra Landis

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Letters to the EditorLetters may be sent by e-mail to journal@uis.edu, postal mailed to The Journal, SLB-22E, P.O. Box 19243-9243, UIS, Springfield, IL 62794 or faxed to (217) 206-7710. Letters should be 300 words or less. Deadline for submitting letters is noon on Thursday of each week. See letter guidelines at www.uis.edu/journal/contact.html

Editorial/Guest CommentaryJournal editorials are the opinion of the news-paper’s editorial board. Guest columns should be between 300-500 words. The Journal does not necessarily endorse opinions expressed in any column. The Journal recognizes the im-portance of providing a forum for our readers to express personal views.

Questions may be directed to The Journal at (217) 206-NEWS.

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Editorial Board:Kate Richardson Editor-in-ChiefColten Bradford Assistant Editor for NewsKati Maseman Assistant Editor for FeaturesCarson Buss Assistant Editor for Sports

Cartoon courtesy of USBICEF

Do you think you could lift the restraining order?This is my last humor col-

umn. (Wait for applause). Thank you. (Wait for applause). Stop, please, you are embarrass-ing me. (Wait for applause).

Because I will not be return-ing to The Journal, I feel it is

necessary to share with my be-loved fans how to write a funny column.

I may not be the best colum-nist (I am), nor the funniest (I am), but I hope that my wisdom will inspire someone to fill my shoes (no one can).

When I first started writing jokes, I wanted to be like Ellen or Seinfeld and write about fun-ny situations. The problem was, I found that sitting alone at home with my cat and a bottle of Mer-lot wasn’t really all that exciting. In fact, it was kind of depressing. I think my cat wants to eat me.

I did not give up easily, howev-er. Like any social experimenter, I tried to set up a funny situation

to see what antics would ensue. But as strange as it sounds, I could not get a rabbi and a priest to walk into a bar. So, I decided to work with animals instead.

I live in the country, so find-ing a chicken was not too diffi-cult. With my feathered friend in hand, I headed out to the side of the road.

Here’s a fun fact. Chickens do not cross the road as easily as you would think. You more or less have to push them out into traffic. Poor Clucky never made the cross.

I guess the best place to find situational humor is in uncom-fortable situations, where jokes unfold organically. If possible, try to surround yourself with dif-ferent cultures and ethnicities.

For example, I am dating a Turk who lives with a Ukraine in a house owned by a Chinese woman. I never thought this situation would be funny until I tried to use the bathroom. Who else can say, “Don’t you just hate it when the Ukraine hogs the shower?”

Of course, a few other things have inspired me to write jokes. If you are going to joke about an-imals, write about cats, squirrels, and beavers. These are the funni-est animals. I’m sure if animals could talk, the beaver would own

the comedy circuit.It may also be helpful to write

about your family. If you do not have a family, try to adopt one, but make sure they are com-pletely dysfunctional and enjoy hoarding stuff or chasing storms.

In all seriousness, here is a general guideline I try to follow when writing jokes. “Know your audience.” If your audience is not going to get the joke, don’t tell it.

For example, I have a real beauty when it comes to chem-istry jokes. Science people, this one is for you.

When mixing acids and bas-es, why did the blonde carry an umbrella and pepper spray? Be-cause she was told it would pro-duce water and assault! Badum-Shh.

While the chemists giggle at this cheesy joke, everyone else is in dead silence. I can actually hear crickets.

This is because jokes are like old boyfriends. If you have to explain to your mother why your boyfriend still lives at home with his mother and doesn’t own a car, he is probably not worth your time. The same goes for jokes. If you have to explain it, don’t even bother.

The other part of the “know you audience” rule is that you do

not want to tell jokes at your au-dience’s expense.

Oh sure, a few innocent jabs might not hurt anyone, but if your routine is “the problem with women” and you are delivering it at a Weight Watchers meeting, don’t expect to walk out alive. Those ladies will completely gnaw your arms off.

Of course, not everyone ap-preciates the same kind of humor. While I might prefer situational humor and one-liners, others pre-fer physical humor. You know, that’s where a guy takes a slap to the face and everybody laughs.

Personally, I think violence is not funny at all. Unless the guy gets tasered, then it’s funny. Tasers are always funny.

I hope my humorous musings have inspired someone to write at least one joke, but I keep my expectations pretty low. I still can’t believe that anyone other than my mother would read this. Now, this is the part where we say goodbye. Remember it’s not you, it’s me. Maybe we will meet again. We just can’t keep fooling ourselves and thinking this will last. Have a nice life, and don’t forget to write.

Oh, and now that I’m going away, do you think you could lift the restraining order?

Editor’s noteLast week, we incorrectly

published the story, “UIS men’s tennis topped at McKendree.” This story ran approximately one month ago. The correct story, “UIS men push to post-season, women’s season cut short” ap-pears on page 7 of this issue. Sorry for any confusion this may have caused.

- Kate Richardson Journal Editor

Page 4 The Journal Wednesday, May 4, 2011

What’s Happening This Weekend

By Kati Maseman

We’re hiring!Part-time positions available:news reporter,

features reporter,

columnist,

and

assistant web editor

Apply today

on Career

Connect!

Thursday, May 5Stressed about finals? Fear not because the UIS Counseling Center

has the solution. They will be hosting a Finals Stress Reduction Table in the PAC Concourse from 12-2 p.m.

LGBtea 4 p.m. in the LGBTQ Resource Office. Head there for a quiet, safe place to have some fun.

Friday, May 6Classes are winding down, so celebrate! Delta Sigma Omicron is

hosting the End of the Year School Party at 12 p.m. in PAC H. Head there for some fun.

In the mood for some music? The UIS Chorus, Concert Band and Chamber Orchestra will be putting on their Spring Showcase. They will be in Sangamon Auditorium and their show is free to the public. Head over at 7:30 to get some great free music.

Saturday, May 7If you like basketball and good causes this is the event for you.

Ball for Breast Cancer will be held in TRAC Gym from 12-5 p.m. Planting Peace will be sponsoring the event, and the fundraiser is sup-porting the Kay Yow Foundation.

Have some fun and make some art. SAC Presents: Paint Battle! Head to the Quad at 2 p.m. to participate. You can create a painting or make a friend a little more colorful. It should be a great time.

Finals Anti-Stress PlaylistPiano Man- Billy Joel•

So Sick- Ne-Yo•

The Only Exception-Paramore •

Marry Me- Train•

Karma Chameleon- Culture Club•

Page 5Wednesday, May 4, 2011 The Journal

Nightcontinued from page 1

Photos by Colten Bradford

Take Back the Night’s motto is “Shatter the Silence,” and this is done through the sharing of words. The night moved on with speeches and survivor stories. Valerie Gebhardt shared her story and advice. “We need to take care of ourselves, take care of those around us, and share our stories,” she said. There were several po-ems that were also read.

The night was about aware-ness, sharing, and also to let vic-tims know that they are not alone. It was a serious event, but also a celebration of the taking back of the night and the taking back of lives. The rally ended with root beer floats and music by A Day and A Wake Up.

Lynn Otterson, Director of the Women’s Center encourages victims to report rape or sexual assault. “It has to be reported, or those of us in charge cannot do anything to help.” She also mentioned that rape and sexual assault can be reported in a safe ways, and protection for the vic-tim can be provided when asked for.

The Women’s Center is al-ways a safe place to go if needed, and the UIS Counseling Center can be reached 24 hours a day. The Women’s Center Facebook page has additional numbers for help and emergency situations.

Sexual Assault and abuse hap-pens to both genders, and is a se-rious issue. Everyone can do their part by making their environ-ment a safe place to be, walking a friend home if needed, report-ing crimes of violence or sexual assault, and even little things like interrupting jokes about these is-sues.

Everyone has the right to feel safe and to say no.

(top) Participants gather for the Take Back the Night march. They listen to opening remarks as they get ready to leave.

(bottom) Marching for Take Back the Night, participants yell chants. Many enjoyed vocalizing their feelings about sexual assault.

Got an opinion?

Write a Letter to the Editor!

Send letter or questions to

journal@uis.edu

STAFF & FACULTYAmanda Binder- Brookens LibraryAmanda Bly- Chancellor’s O�ceBlake Wood- Campus RelationsBob Skorczewski- AdmissionsChad Eversgerd- HousingChris Ryan- Student A�airsChrisa Potthast-Leezer- Disability ServicesCindy Ervin- Facilities and ServicesDana Atwell- Center for Teaching and LearningDave Barrows- Facilities and ServicesDiane Rumme- Facilities and ServicesDonna Bettis- Records and RegistrationDr. Beth Ribarsky- CommunicationsDr. Clarice Ford- Diversity CenterDr. Frances Shen- PsychologyDr. Gwen Jordan- Legal StudiesDr. Juanita Ortiz- Criminal JusticeDr. Marc Klingshirn- ChemistryDr. Shuang Pui-PsychologyDr. Tim Barnett- Student A�airsEdward Bempong- Center for First Year StudentsGrant Johnson- Conference ServicesGreg Mayes- I- CardJanelle Gurnsey- Brookens LibraryJeannie Capranica- Diversity CenterJim Korte- Dean of StudentsJohn Ringle- HousingJonathon Goldberg Belle-International ProgramsJudy Shipp- Counseling CenterJulie Close- Facilities and ServicesKalia Patricio- HousingKandice Pryor- Center for Teaching and LearningKaren Fagg- Chancellor’s O�ceKaren Mooney-PsychologyKaren Willard-Recreational SportsKeith McNath- HousingKerry Poynter- LGBTQ Resource O�ceKim Craig-Undergraduate EducationLinda Tait- Health ServicesMae Noll- Undergraduate Academic AdvisingMary Ellen McElliot- Conference ServicesMichelle Green- Campus RelationsNatalie Tagge- Brookens LibraryPeggy Lister- AccountantSarah Sagmoen- Brookens LibrarySteve Marvel-Facilities and ServicesSuzy Woods- Disability ServicesTarah Sipes- HousingTeresa Seacrist- Facilities and ServicesTrent Tangen- Recreational Sports

UNDERGRADUATE & GRADUATE STUDENTS

Alex DiazAnthony Davis Thomas

Ashley HarrisAshley Palmer

Cassie BernardiCord PatrickDara Abina

Deantre BankheadEveritt O’Neal

Hae Shun ChangLauren BradenPatricia Bonsu

Rashonda WilliamsRenee Rathjen

Sandra WobgapashiahShonda White

Tim RobertTrevor Lister

ALUMNIAlicia White

Cassidy CrossmanSam Kruse

Rachel Dasenbrock

THANK YOU Springfest

Judges!

Thank you for Helping

us Make Springfest a Success

-Student Activities

Committee

Page 6 The Journal Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Editor-in-Chief

The value of what you learn listening to WUIS reaches far beyond the time you spend tuned into your favorite programs. The news, information and music you hear keeps you abreast of current affairs and helps you make decisions and choices that influence and enrich your life and your community. Listener funding makes the difference.

AT&T will add 10% to your renewal/new membership if you make your gift before the pledge drive begins on April 8. Log onto WUIS.org or call 206-WUIS (9847).

S U P P O R T

HoroscopesAries (April 18- May 13) Only one week left

before finals! Don’t let papers and projects pile up and add to your stress level.

Taurus (May 13- June 21) Words to live by: Breathe in, breathe out. Repeat as needed to exhale stress build up (and for life of course!). Don’ let stress build up, just breathe.

Gemini (June 21- July 20) Stressed about fi-nals? Fear not because the solution is as simple as going to the PAC Concourse from 12-2 on Thursday for a stress reduction table.

Cancer (July 20- August 10) Work today, cel-ebrate tomorrow. What are you celebrating? Well if you knew it wouldn’t be as exciting.

Leo (Aug. 10- Sept. 16) ) It’s the final count-down! Get everything done early and study so that you can relax. Prepare so that you can get to celebrating sooner.

Virgo (Sept. 16- Oct. 30) Don’t forget to make plans for this summer! You don’t want to be the only one left without a job or a fun trip in the works.

Libra (Oct. 30- Nov. 23) Finals, finals, and more finals. Who’s worried? Not you because you took the path that lead you to studying and actually being prepared, for once.

Scorpio (Nov. 23- Nov. 29) Don’t worry, be happy. If you work for it, it will be yours.

Ophiuchus (Nov. 29- Dec. 17) Thinking about taking summer classes? If you haven’t signed up yet there may be an interesting class that is waiting just for you.

Sagittarius (Dec. 17- Jan. 20) Your fi-nals will go smoother than you expected, but something surprising will motivate you first.

Capricorn (Jan. 20- Feb. 16) Consider someone else’s needs before your own this week. You have the extra time and they will really need the help.

Aquarius (Feb. 16- March 11) Don’t give up just yet. The summer is almost here, you just need to get through these last two weeks. Freedom is almost yours!

Pisces (March 11- April 18) Take a risk this summer. Find something fun and exciting and get friends to do it with you. Consider skydiving or extreme rollercoaster riding.

Route DeliveryWe are now accepting applications for Route

Delivery Drivers.Home City Ice offers a high earning poten-

tial for hard working, responsible individuals. We have part time / full time positions avail-able servicing our established customer routes. Commission based. Experience not necessary, CDL license not required. Training will start during the school year. Route delivery position will start as soon as the spring semester ends. Apply online today at www.homecityice.com

Page 7Wednesday, May 4, 2011 The Journal

By Carson BussAssistant Editor for Sports

CANEDY COURTAPARTMENTS

Special Student Discounts2 Bedroom Apartment -- $475 mo.Studio(Efficiency)Apt--$375mo.

Deposit Required / Garages Available101 West Canedy St. Springfield,IL62704

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UIS men push to post-season, women’s season cut short

Heading into the GLVC tournament, the UIS men’s tennis team knew they had a tough

road to fight through. Though the Stars were able to grab a win against Northern Kentucky, UIS was not able to navigate the tournament field and ad-vance as the NKU Norse were able to knock out the Stars 5-1.

UIS was able to start off strong in doubles plays as the number one duo of Punsisi Dayaratne and Josh Patrick were able to come away with an 8-4 win. Tough play continued through the day as the number three doubles team fell 9-7. Singles play didn’t go the way the Stars had intended either as UIS number’s one, two, three and four fell to the Norse.

Light did fall upon the Star this week however, as Dayaratne was named to the GLVC’s All-west Division team by the GLVC coaches. Dayaratne went 8-10 playing in the number one spot this year for the Stars and 3-3 in conference, winning two of the last three GLVC matches.

Dayaratne was able to bring his solid play to both aspects of the game as he was also solid in doubles play with partner Patrick. The duo didn’t fall in a single conference match and only lost three times throughout the entire year.

Other members of the All-West Division include Andy Blair, Roman Gonda and Sergio Manzanas from Drury, as well as Chtan Panditi of UMSL and Ben Newell, Zach Newell and John Lazenby of Rockhurst.

The women’s tennis team wrapped up the sea-son in a match against GLVC opponent Quincy. Druvinka Moraes won her number one singles match 6-3, 6-0 and was also victorious in doubles with teammate Jane Brown as the duo defeated their competition 8-4.

However, the Stars fell in their other five match-es bringing the overall match score to 6-2. With this defeat, the UIS Women’s tennis team failed to qualify for the postseason tournament. The Stars ended their season with a 5-13 record, 1-5 in con-ference. Moraes led the team in singles play with a 9-8 finish, followed by Brown and Claire Connor who finished with a 7-10 record.

Stars swing strong to end season

Day one of play at The Intercollegiate opened

last Monday for the UIS men’s golf and brothers Ryan and Mike McKillips took little time getting down to work. Ryan finished day one tied for sixth place af-ter shooting a two-round total of 161 (84-77), Mike trailed by one stroke finishing with a 162 (80-82) and in a tie for ninth place.

UIS (333-326 – 659) found itself in fourth place and only 19 strokes behind first place Lewis (327-313 – 640) following fin-ished from Shane McCafferty (84-81), Mark Klinger (85-92) and Zach Phillips (96-86). Brent Mason, playing as an individual for UIS finished day one with a 188 (96-86).

The second day at The Inter-collegiate proved to be problem-atic for the Stars as UIS fell in the team standings finishing fifth in the seven team field. Mike and McCafferty ended play tied

for seventh. Ryan finished play tied for 16th, Klinger in 32nd and Phillips was alone in 34th.

Lewis continued their solid play into the final day and came away with the team title as well as the medalist, Casey Pyne who finished the 54-hole tournament with a six-over 222 (78-72-72).

Wrapping up their season, UIS average team score through ten tournaments and 19 rounds was 315.05. The low shooters for the Stars this season were Mike McKillips who averaged 77.79 as well as featuring a low round of 74 and Shane McCaf-ferty, averaging 77.95 and a low round of 71.

The UIS golfers only had one finish that was par or better as compared to the GLVC cham-pion Lewis Flyers, who featured 16 finishes that were par or better and feature a low round of 69.

The Stars with their season completed will be back on the links in the fall to begin the 2011-12 campaign in September.

By Carson BussAssistant Editor for Sports

Photo by Colten Bradford

Senior Punsisi Dayaratne is solid in his play in singles as well as doubles with partner Josh Patrick. Dayatatne was named to the GLVC’s All-West Division team as he led the Stars in wins with 8.

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Page 8 The Journal Wednesday, May 4, 2011

By Nick DowSports Reporter

Got an opinion?

Write a Letter to the Editor!

Send letter or questions to

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5/4/1965: Hall of famer Willie Mays hit homerun number 512, breaking Mel Ott’s career home run record for a national leaguer. The “Say hey kid” as he was nicknamed during his career, had one of the most storied careers in the history of Major League Baseball. An All-Star an amazing 24 times during his career, Mays was also the won two M.V.P. awards during his time with the Giants. Willie has become remembered best however for a defensive play. In the 1954 World Series, Mays raced back to the warning track to haul in Vic Wertz’s long drive over his shoulder while running, preventing two runs from scoring and keeping the game tied.

5/5/1935: U.S. Olympian Jessie Owens set the then Long Jump record at 26’ 8 ½”. Owens has one of the greatest single day perfor-mances ever just a few weeks later when he tied the record for 100-yard sprint, before going on to break the records in long jump, low hurdles, and the 220-yard sprint. For Owens is best remembered for his performance in the 1936 Berlin Olympic games, in which he won four gold medals much to the dismay of Adolf Hitler, who’s plan was to use the Berlin Olympics to showcase the German’s dominance of sport.

5/6/1998: In only his fifth career start, Kerry Woods struck out 20 Houston Astros to tie the major league record held by fellow Texan Roger Clemens. In what some consider the finest effort ever by a pitcher, Woods became only the second player ever to strike out their age in a game, Bob Feller struck out 17 in 1936. The game propelled Woods to winning the Rookie of the Year Award in 1998.

5/6/1915: In his pitching debut, Babe Ruth homers for the first time, but loses the game to the Yankees 4-3. Ruth of course didn’t stay a pitcher his whole career, as his bat was to dangerous to play only once a week. Ruth finished his career as a pitcher with a 94-46 record and a 2.28 ERA. Ruth of course went on to his 714 homeruns, including a then record 60 in 1927.

5/8/1967: Mohammed Ali was indicted for refusing induction into the U.S. army. Ali was stripped of his boxing license and also his world title when he refused to step forward at the calling of his name during the military induction. Ali following the beliefs of his Nation of Islam believed that fighting in the war was against the teachings of the Holy Qur’an.

5/9/2001: In Ghana 129 soccer fans were killed in what has be-come known as the Accra Sports Stadium Disaster. The fourth soccer tragedy that month in Africa, unruly fans reacting to a missed call by an official caused the stampede. Hometown Accra Hearts of Oak was leading 2-1 against Asante Kotoko with just five minutes left, when Asante fans began throwing bottles and chairs onto the playing field. Police began firing teargas, but that only created panic leading to the stampede.

This week in Sports history:

By Nick Dow

Quarterbacks valued early in NFL draft

Even during a lockout, Radio City Music Hall

hosted the 76th annual NFL draft this past weekend in New York City. Coaches selected 254 play-ers in the draft’s seven rounds, but they wont be able to talk to their respective teams again until the lockout is lifted. This draft was different from the 75 others that preceded it, as it was the first draft to take place before free agency, as a result of the current lockout.

The Carolina Panthers were first on the clock on Thursday and immediately selected Heis-man-winning quarterback Cam Newton. Newton comes with unlimited potential; his strong arm and speed form a rare combo at the quarterback position.

Newton comes with plenty of questions, stemming from his character and also limited experi-ence at playing quarterback at a high level.

The Panthers maintain that they will not force Newton into starting right away, but its likely that fans will demand to see their draft pick play when the Panthers get off to a slow start. Facing one of football’s toughest divi-sions in the NFC South Newton is unlikely to be successful early if thrown in the mix.

The best key for a team’s success in the playoffs in recent years has been the performance of their quarterbacks. Drew Brees led the Saints to their first ever Super Bowl in 2009 carving the league up en route to winning Super Bowl M.V.P. honors. Ear-lier this year in February, Aaron Rodgers won the same award in a win over the Steelers. Both

quarterbacks played magnifi-cently down the stretch for each team helping prove that elite quarterbacks can help hide other weaknesses on their team’s with strong play.

Drafting a quarterback is one of the most important decisions a franchise can make, as a success-ful quarterback can change the course of the team. Sam Brad-ford did just that last year for the Rams winning rookie of the year award honors and turning a 1-15 team into a division contender.

Drafting a quarterback early that doesn’t pan out can also cripple a franchise for several years like Jamarcus Russell did to the Oakland Raiders, who are still searching for a stable quar-terback.

This year teams weren’t able to trade or sign free agents lead-ing up to the draft because of the lockout. That meant quarterback needy teams couldn’t sign po-tential starting quarterbacks on the market such as Kevin Kolb or Vince Young. More quar-terbacks were being coveted in the draft than usual because of the uncertainty. This led to four quarterbacks being chosen in the first round, the most in the open-ing round since 2004.

In addition to Newton being chosen first, the Tennessee Titans selected Washington Universi-ty’s Jake Locker with the eighth pick. Locker has some accuracy issues, but is a terrific athlete and will have the benefit of learning behind a veteran quarterback.

The Jacksonville Jaguars trad-ed up six spots with the Wash-ington Redskins to draft Mizzou quarterback Blaine Gabbert, who at point had been the top quarter-back in the draft.

The first real surprise of the

draft involved the Minnesota Vi-kings selection of Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder at 12th. The Vikings had been linked to quarterback Donovan Mcnabb, but instead drafted Pon-der over higher rated players that remained on the board.

After Ponder at 12 no quar-terbacks were chosen until the Bengals 35th overall selection of TCU’s Andy Dalton. The 49ers under first-year coach Jim Har-baugh then traded up to select Nevada quarterback Colin Kaep-ernick. Kaepernick is the only division 1 quarterback to pass for over 10,000 yards and rush for 4,000 more in a career, bringing some say more athletic ability to the table than Cam Newton.

Arkansas record setting quar-terback Ryan Mallett fell all the way to the third round where the New England Patriots selected him. Mallett fell in the draft due to character concerns, but Bill Belichik and Tom Brady will be helpful in his development as ei-ther Brady’s heir or trade bait. It will be interesting to see if Mal-lett is able to use this opportunity to learn and mature and become one of the draft’s biggest steals.

In a league where drafts are instantly graded by thousands, before the players even play a snap, these quarterbacks and their success will ultimately grade the teams’ decisions. The teams that chose signal-callers with their first pick can hope that this class has some of the same luck the 2004 first round brought teams in: Eli Manning, Philip Rivers, and Ben Roethlisberger. Roeth-lisberger and Manning have won three Super Bowls combined and Rivers is an annual M.V.P. can-didate.