February 5, 2015 Volume 88 Issue 3

Inside This Issue - OPINIONS: It is up to faculty, students to prepare graduates for work

- FEATURES: Add some rhythm to your next workout routine with Zumba

- SPORTS: Baseball looks to double up

Black History Month Kick-off - Start off black history month to-day with VSU faculty, students and organiza-tions. There will be various performances at 6:30 p.m. in the UC Magnolia room. The attire is business ca-sual.

Student Info Fair- Do you want to buff up your resume? Are you interested in joining an organization but don’t know how to? Come out to the Student Info Fair in the Student Union Ballrooms from 2-4 p.m.

WEBSITE:vsuspectator.com

TWITTER:@vsuspectator

FACEBOOK:� e Spectator

INSTAGRAM:@vsuspectator

orTap the app

Today

Saturday

Friday

Sunny

Partly Cloudy

Check out“Pop

Addict” See Page 5 for more

Weather

What to do at VSU

Find Us Online

Sunny

LaMarcus WilkersonCIRCULATION MANAGER

lkwilkerson@valdosta.edu

Source: Weather.com

Jordan Barela DIGITAL EDITOR

jlbarela@valdosta.edu&

Alex Corbitt STAFF WRITER

acorbitt@valdosta.edu

On the Web www.vsuspec ta tor.com

Check out Tyra Mills’ “VSU IN 5” on the web!

Cole EdwardsMULTIMEDIA EDITOR

csedwards@valdosta.edu

Kristin WitmanSPORTS EDITOR

krwitman@valdosta.edu

IT stops virus sent to students

IT always has its hands full maintaining the mas-sive tech network on campus, but on Jan. 22, the department faced a bigger problem – a virus sent to 2,500 VSU email accounts, which eventually infected 150 computers.

The virus was attached in an email with the sub-ject, “You have received a new fa.”

“The email originated on a mailing list that was distributed to many VSU email addresses,” Brian Haugabrook, VSU IT director, said. “If you opened the attachment, the malware immediately forwarded the email to everyone you had on your contact list. Within a few minutes the virus spread to the entire campus.”

Though this virus spread within minutes after infecting its fi rst computer, VSU’s IT team was able to stop the spread within 15 minutes. IT caught the

malware shortly before 11 a.m. After catching the malware, IT sent out a series of emails to Valdosta.edu accounts, warning users.

“Our fi rewall was able to identify the threat and shut down access to and from the botnet outside of VSU within 12 minutes of the initial event,” Joe Newton, director of Infrastructure Support Services, said.

The malware was a variant of the Backdoor.IR-CBot worm. According to Newton, this form of mal-ware not only could make copies of itself, but could also make pathways to be able to copy information from the computer.

Because the IT technicians have seen an infl ux of spam recently, they have started working with Mi-crosoft to fi nd a solution and decrease the chances of this happening again.

Since the virus was quickly quarantined by the IT team, many students didn’t even know it had hap-pened.

“I feel like VSU’s email is safe, but I hope we fi nd whoever did it,” said Timothy Lewis, a student who didn’t even know about the virus incident.

Newton felt confi dent in IT’s action plan for deal-

ing with the malware. “This threat could have easily infected over 2,000

computers but reached less than 5 percent of the total computers on campus,” Newton said. “IT has made many improvements to provide great and rapid service over the past year that was clearly shown today.”

KJ family found guilty; won’t face prison time

New ATM in the works

Family members of the deceased Kendrick Johnson were sentenced to 12 months in prison after being found guilty by a jury for a distur-bance dating back two years.

Johnson’s parents purposely provoked an arrest at the Lowndes County Courthouse in April 2013.

Then, the Johnsons were handcuffed by local authori-ties for blocking the entrance to the courthouse and the security checkpoint inside the building.

The explanation for their demonstration can be seen on YouTube.

According to the video, the blockade spawned from lack of information to the death of 17 -year-old Kendrick Johnson.

And yet, the family’s sentence was suspended by a sympathetic judge, and they will not be imprisoned or put on probation. Plus, they won’t have to pay any fi nes.

Today, the family is still on the quest for information

about their son’s death. However, Johnson’s of-

fi cial autopsy report stated that he died of asphyxiation after being found lifeless in a wrestling mat at Lowndes High School.

In January, the parents of KJ fi led a $100 million lawsuit against 38 defen-dants, which includes local, state and federal higher-ups, according to a CBS News article.

To be more specifi c, it involves GBI agents, Valdosta police, the Lowndes County school superintendent and a Georgia medical examiner.

The family is ambitious to prove Johnsons death was more than an accident.

Illustration by Tyra Mills/ THE SPECTATOR

Construction began on Monday for a new ATM to be located at the northwest corner of the Student Union.

The ATM located at the University Center will remain open during the two-week construction of the new ATM, although the new location will not go live until mid-March.

“Part of the construction for the new ATM is that there will be additional hall lights that will be provide an abundance of large LED lights, which should benefi t the safety of the students,” said Alan Sanderson, interim assistant director of facilities planning.

Sanderson conceded that while there are less people at the UC during evening hours, the school’s hope is that the new ATM’s prime location just north of the Student Union will make for a safer, more visible location.

“The decision to put the ATM in the Student Union was an easy one because it is the heart of the campus,” Sanderson said.

The new ATM is similar to the old one and is still in conjunction with Bank of America. Plans had been in the works for this ATM location since 2010 when the University Center opened but was only recently put into ac-tion due to safety and security concerns.

Students seem to think the new ATM location would have a positive effect on campus.

“I’m really glad to have an ATM closer to people because the one at the UC is the go-to spot for mugging, so hav-ing one closer to civilization should deter robberies,” Josh Daniels, junior history major, said.

“I think this will minimize traffi c and lower safety con-cerns from people that have to travel to the UC at night to use the ATM,” Jared Scott, senior psychology major, said. “However, with an ATM there now, as with all ATMs, there will be an increase in risk and danger there as well.”

Title IX revisions broaden scope

Title IX, the law against sexual discrimination on cam-pus, will now apply to sexual harassment and violence, according to an email sent to VSU students on Jan. 21.

Revisions to federal law brought about these changes to Title IX.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohib-its discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs and activities that receive federal funding.

Title IX provides, “No

person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefi ts of, or be subjected to discrimi-nation under any education program or activity receiving Federal fi nancial assistance.”

Dr. Maggie Viverette, VSU’s Title IX coordinator, provided a bit of background on some changes that will be made to Title IX.

“The Clery Act and the ‘Violence Against Women’ Act provide guidance and clarifi cation to colleges and universities on how each law should be implemented

and which types of incidents should be labeled as Title IX,” Viverette said.

These revisions include terms of sexual harassment. VSU Attorney Laverne Gaskins said that the Offi ce for Civil Rights sent out a letter to universities in April 2011 telling them they had an obligation, under Title IX, to eliminate sexual harassment, including sexual violence.

Sexual violence refers to physical sexual acts commit-ted against a person’s will or where that person is not capable of giving consent to the other.

“Students, faculty, and staff deserve to learn and work in an environment that is wel-coming and safe,” Viverette said. “Title IX is a critical piece of the effort required to create a safe campus environ-ment. Women as well as men should be able to carry out their daily activities within the campus community without the fear of becoming a victim of sexual violence.

“Every member of the campus community has a responsibility to the campus in the effort to prevent sexual violence. We must work to-gether to protect each other,”

Viverette said.There are measures that

VSU has taken in its attempt to implement Title IX to its fullest, such as VSU President William McKinney establish-ing a special committee on the prevention of sexual assault, which includes the Title IX coordinator.

“Valdosta State University is committed to maintaining a fair and respectful environ-ment for living, working and studying,” Gaskins said. “VSU adheres to all appli-cable laws and has been pro-active in addressing issues of concerns related to Title IX.”

Federal changes cause law to cover sexual harassment and violence on campus

Construction on long-awaited ATM near the Student Union begins

Stella Henderson/ THE SPECTATOR

Construction on a new campus ATM began on Feb. 2. The ATM will be in front of the Student Union and should be ready by mid-March.

Johnson’s parents purposely pro-voked an arrest at the Lowndes County Court-house in April 2013.

www.vsuspectator.com

PAGE 2 | VSUSPECTATOR.COM

Spectator ClassifiedsServices For Rent

FEBRUARY 5, 2015

The Spectator prints free classifieds for current stu dents of Val dos ta State Uni ver si ty only. These must be no more than 40 words, or a $9.30 charge will apply. Clas si fieds for fac ul ty, staff, stu dent or ga ni za tions, stu dent-owned busi ness es and the gen er al pub lic cost $9.30 for up to 40 words. Ads should be sent to the Spectator or de liv ered to our of fice in 1238 Hop­per Hall. The dead line is

5 p.m. Thursday, a week prior. If payment ap plies, it should be sub mit ted in a sealed en ve lope at the time the ad is placed or paid via Mastercard, Visa, Discover or electronic check on­line through Aimee Na­pier, Advertising Manager. Email Aimee Napier at acnapier@valdosta.edu to pay online. Ads must be ac com­pa nied by the name and phone num ber of the per son sub mit ting the ad.

Students must also sub­mit their VSU Student ID number. Ads must be re sub mit ted each week, as nec es sary. The Spectator ad dress is: 1500 N. Patterson St.,Valdosta, GA 31698. Our email address is spec@valdosta.edu. The Spectator re serves the right to reject any clas si fied ad. All ads are sub ject to standard ed it ing pro ce dures. The Specta-tor is not re spon sible for

mis takes due to a sub mit­ted er ror. The cat e go ries for classifieds in clude: For Sale, For Rent, Sub­lease, Want ed, Room mate, Services, Personnels and Employment.

Your Ad HERE!

Happy ‘Tator Day!

The sudoku grid consists of eighty-one squares in a nine by nine grid. To solve the sudoku, each square in the grid must contain a number between one and nine, with the following conditions: · Each row of nine cells must contain each of the numbers from 1 to 9 once and only once. · Each column of nine cells must contain each of the numbers from 1 to 9 once and only once. · Each of the nine 3 by 3 boxes of nine cells must contain each of the num-bers from 1 to 9 ANSWER ON PAGE 5

Show Your Love Contest Ad

Upcoming EventsBlack History Month Events

What Is Black: Art ExhibitionFeb. 5Right after Kickoff ProgramUC Cypress Room

Movie NightFeb. 65 p.m.Bailey Room 3009

Science Seminar Series

Feb. 54-5 p.m.Powell Hall Auditorium

Dr. David Bechler, VSU biology professor, will give a lecture titled “The Blackband-ed Sunfish and Other Species of Concern in the State of Georgia.” This lecture is free and open to the public.

Reading Bowl

Feb. 712-5 p.m.Jennett Lecture Hall & Dewar College of Education

More than 400 South Georgia students will compete in the annual Southern Regional Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl, which will include seven rounds of testing students’ knowledge on a variety of books.

Piano Performance

Feb. 97:30 p.m.Whitehead Auditorium

Hue Jeong Jan, VSU music professor, will perform music by Beethoven, Schumann, and Ravel. This event is free and open to the public.

Theatre & Dance Show

Feb. 6, 7:30 p.m.Feb. 7, 10:30 a.m.Sawyer Theatre(Fine Arts Building)

Pinocchio Commedia, a show for young audiences based on the well-known tale of Pin-nochio, is VSU Theatre and Dance’s first production of the spring semester. VSU students get in free of charge, and non-students can buy tickets by calling 229-333-5973 or visit-ing www.ticketreturn.com.

Police BriefsFeb. 3

A student reported losing her red wallet with white polka dots in the Student Union.

Feb. 1

A caller reported that two males had stolen a red and silver bicycle chained to a truck in the Oak Street Lot. VSU police apprehended the suspects, but later released them to their legal guardians.

Police stopped a vehicle in the Oak Street Lot for disregard-ing a traffic control device.

Jan. 30

Police stopped an 18-year-old female on Baytree Road and charged her with DUI and failure to maintain lane.

West facelift continues

The West Hall renovations that began in Spring 2014 are still in full swing this semes­ter, and the total cost of these renovations is a whopping $2.5 million.

In 1985, the layout for West Hall renovations contained an air conditioning plan that was not prepared for the amount of heat from electronics.

“The air conditioner was 30 years old and was near­ing the end of its life cycle,” Raymond Sable, VSU director of physical plant and facilities planning, said.

The process to replace the broken air conditioning sys­tem includes three stages.

The first stage consists of replacing the system with a current and more effec­tive energy system for the classrooms, which will cost $916,403. They also will add new whiteboards to the class­rooms, rearrange computer labs to improve Internet con­nection, and replace the carpet and paint.

The second and third stages include switching the air conditioning system for the north and south administra­tion wings.

With all three stages calcu­lated together, the total cost is $2.5 million.

“We replaced the air condi­tioning from the rotunda south of south wing and finished on May 15, 2014,” Sable said. “It cost $490,000 for the repairs.”

Sable also said the reason they waited to replace the air conditioner system during the winter season was because doing the project in the sum­

mer allows for greater damage to the building due to high temperatures.

West Hall will continue to undergo improvements until each section is completed, and many students will be alright with the wait.

Nick McLendon, sopho­more mass media major, has classes in West Hall and has little fuss over the improve­ments there.

“I think the changes are great because it is cooler in my class and West Hall looks much nicer with the improve­ments,” Booth said.

Elizabeth Fish, senior Eng­lish major, thinks the changes to West Hall have been good overall since they mean our campus will be better in the long run.

“I find it comforting to know that I can walk to class and not worry about it being too hot for me to focus on my studies,” Fish said.

These renovations should be completed in Summer 2015.

West Hall renovations, which are costing VSU $2.5 million, are ongoing and are scheduled for completion in Summer 2015.

Jyrell WynnStaff Writer

jdwynn@valdosta.edu

Tyra Mills/THE SPECTATOR

FEBRUARY 5, 2015 VSUSPECTATOR.COM | PAGE 3

Spectator StaffEditor-in-Chief:Elan WaitePrint Editor: John StephenDigital Editor: Jordan BarelaBusiness Manager: Kristen VarneyCirculation Manager: LaMarcus WilkersonOpinions Editor: Jordan Hill

Features Editor:John PreerSports Editor: Kristin WhitmanPhoto Editor: Tyra MillsStella HendersonMultimedia Editor: Cole EdwardsWeb Editor:Kayla StroudCopy Editor: Tatyana PhelpsAdrienne Fry

Advertising Manager: Aimee NapierGraphic Designer:Mike LaGonFaculty Advisers: Dr. Pat Miller, Dr. Ted Geltner, Cindy MontgomeryReporters/Photographers:Lia Armistead, Niamini Carlyle-Hollis, Alex Corbitt, Tierra Francois, Zenobia Harris, Ivey Ingalls-Rubin, Kenzie Kesselring, Kailee Kivett, Erin Martin, Stuart Price, Chris Webb, Austin Wells

Contact UsNewsroomAdvertisingBusinessFaxE-mail

(229) 333-5688(229) 333-5686(229) 333-5686(229) 249-2618spec@valdosta.edu

VSU Spectator1500 N. Patterson St. Valdosta, GA 31698

Letters must include name, year in school, major, job title or other appropriate identification and phone number for verification.

Letters should be no longer than 300 words in length. Letters are subject to editing for style, length, grammar, and libelous material. Not all letters are published. Letters should be typed and turned in with a disk, or e-mailed as an attachment by Tuesdays before 5 p.m.

Online at www.vsuspectator.comThe Spectator Mobile App available

on iTunes or Google Play

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.

Our point of view...

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

It is up to faculty, students to prepare graduates for work

College is the time that we are sup-posed to choose what career we potentially want for the rest of our

lives. Forever. No pressure. Right.According to an article on chronicle.com,

a survey was conducted that dismissed all hope for students. The results from that survey said that employers believe that graduates are not ready for the work force. Students however, disagree.

After reading that article, a question arises. Are we really, truly ready for the workforce after college? The point of col-lege is to figure out the career you want after graduating. However, all too often, college feels like a time crunch for deciding the rest of your life, instead of a training ground.

Professors are always harping that “this is what it is like in the ‘real’ world.” While this statement often pierces like nails on a chalkboard, it does have truth to it.

Professors are responsible for teaching students skills that help after graduation, skills that can be put toward said career path. Some professors excel at this, others

crash and burn. While it is the professor’s responsibility

to teach, it is the student’s responsibility to apply that knowledge.

Once the professors have done their part, how do students prepare for the work force that awaits? Simple—apply for internships, take a part-time job, partake in extracurricu-lar activities; the list goes on. Ask your pro-fessors for help. There are professors that do everything possible to help students excel in and out of the classroom. Career Opportuni-ties is another option for students to utilize. The resources for students are plentiful; the only thing that is often missing is the drive to utilize those sources.

Opportunity is out there for students; that is a fact. Students need to learn to grasp that opportunity. Sometimes, like the adage, opportunity will knock and sometimes you have to go after that opportunity. Whatever the case, we as students need to learn how to utilize that opportunity when it presents itself.

Alison Stephen

When it comes to the legalization of medicinal marijuana, the issue can be a little hazy.

Marijuana is a natural drug that, when controlled by medical professionals, does much more good than harm. When it is administered to patients, they can smoke the drug, eat it, apply it topically or vaporize it. Many other drugs that these patients could take are expensive, unnatural and cause the patient to expe-rience even more symptoms. Marijuana helps these patients take a few hours off from

their life of being sick to just enjoy being pain free and alive.

Some people don’t like the idea of administering a taboo drug that is tradition-ally used for recreational use to patients. However, if the same drug can make a cancer patient feel normal for a few hours, there is no reason why they should be denied access to the drug.

Medical decisions are made on a patient-to-patient basis, and one patient’s opinion shouldn’t affect the medical care another patient who is allowed to receive. If you are a cancer patient who doesn’t like marijuana, then don’t take it; but your moral ideas

should be kept to yourself and out of your fellow cancer patient’s medical care.

As far as the government is con-cerned, it is wrong for state legislation to deny patients’ ac-cess to a drug that is perfectly safe when administered in a controlled environ-ment. Hopefully in the near future all state governments will recognize that every patient has the right to try every-thing there is in the world to help them feel better during their dif-ficult time.

Kenzie KesselringAsst. OpiniOns EditOr

klkesselring@valdosta.edu

While the legal-ization of medical marijuana would provide some small relief for children and adults who use cannabis oil as a form of treatment for severe medical conditions, it poses serious problems for both the gov-ernment and the patients.

Because the use of marijuana as a

medical treatment hasn’t been thoroughly tested, some of the dangers and side effects

are unknown to many medical professionals. Rightfully so, some doctors advise against it.

The medical conditions cannabis is being used to alleviate could be made more bearable by other more reli-able, FDA-approved treat-ments.

One Georgia representa-tive, Allen Peake, has been pushing the new legislation for quite some time, but he prefers the new bill to be a lot less restrictive in its guide-lines for the use of medical marijuana.

Some suggest that the drug be produced in Georgia to avoid any restrictions that may occur while crossing state lines, but one concern is

that “home-grown” medi-cal marijuana, along with a loosely regulated bill, could lead to quite a bit of recre-ational use. Similar opinions may be part of the reason why much of the new bill has been edited to only include certain forms of the medicine for certain people.

A happy medium can prob-ably be found when approv-ing this new bill, but when looking at Georgia’s stance on the use of marijuana in the past, it is difficult to say that there will be any leaps and bounds regarding changes to the medical marijuana bill any time soon. However, taking it slowly might just be a smart move.

Zenobia HarrisstAff WritEr

znharris@valdosta.edu

Legalization of medical marijuana in Georgia:The growing conern of whether Georgia should legalize medical marijuana has sparked interest in House debates, as well as college students throughout the state

Are you in favor of legalizing medical marijuana? Tell us why @vsuspectator #blazeupblazers

Jasmin SolisJunior

Psychology

“Try to get internships or try to get yourself a small job in a place where you

know you could start seeing where you want

to be.”

John EagleSenior

Environmental engineer

“Network, network, net-work. Get your name out

there because it’s really not what experience you have, it is really who you

know.”

Kyle CulpepperGraduate student

Instructional technology education

“Get yourself a good portfolio of all the dif-

ferent artifacts you have done throughout your career at VSU and take those to build a profes-sional portfolio for your

career.”

People Poll: What can you do to prepare yourself for the workforce after graduation?

Photoshop goes too farJordan HillOpiniOns EditOr

jorhill@valdosta.edu

It is up for debate as to whether Bruce Jenner is actually turning himself into a woman. It is clear that the tabloids are swaying us to believe his Y chromosome is slowly transforming into an X chromosome with the help of a devilish software—Pho-toshop.

All too often we see celebrities transformed into something they are not with the help of a skilled “Photo-shopper.” Though tabloids are known for causing harm to reputations and feelings, the photo editors often create new people with the technology they have at their fingertips.

While Photoshop can be a great help to edit some mistakes out of pictures or create cartoons and graphs, it is being used as a tool to destroy lives.

Tabloids began the exploi-tation of celebrities’ lives through text stories, but have now transformed to physically exploiting celebrities. Some editors create cellulite on biki-ni-clad celebrities, delete the little extra fat from a woman, create reconstructive surgery on celebrities’ faces, or, in the fortunate case of Justin Bieber (fortunate for him), an editor adds bulges and muscles where there originally were none.

At a time when our society is begging people to accept their bodies and stop body-shaming others, what message

is a Photoshopped celebrity sending? The changes that celebrities and magazines make for the industry is not surprising, but it is a tool that affects the everyday man or woman.

It is time for celebrities to embrace their natural bodies, just like they are asking soci-ety to do – without the use of Photoshop.

Photoshop is commonly used to alter celebrities’ bodies.

Mike LaGon/THE SPECTATOR

PAGE 4 | VSUSPECTATOR.COM FEBRUARY 5, 2015

Marquez SlaughterStaff Writer

mjslaughter@valdosta.edu

Kayla GradyWeb editor

kistroud@valdosta.edu

John PreerfeatureS editor

jhpreer@valdosta.edu

Next flick pick:

Drama – Short Term 12 This week’s drama title is an award winning indepen-dent film by director Destin Daniel Cretton. The film centers on a supervisor for a group home of at-risk teens. Brie Larson portrays the main character, Grace, a dedicated caregiver who struggles with juggling her own personal shortcomings and the troubled teens in her care. The film is shot beautifully and the acting

is on the right side of good enough. The movie delves into the world of teens that have become wards of the state. An interesting dichoto-my is set up between Marcus, an 18-year-old African Ameri-can male played by Keith Stanfield, and Jayden from an abusive home.

Comedy - Long Way Down The comic relief for this week is a bit morbid, but still funny. The story begins on top of a skyscraper in London. A famous actor has dragged a ladder up to the roof in order to jump off. Just before he takes the leap he realizes that he is not the only with the idea. Three other depraved souls are on top of the build-ing poised to jump. Instead of ending it, the four decide to postpone their suicide until Valentine’s Day. The ensuing hilarity is both entertaining and heartwarming. The film is segmented into different background stories that tell why each person decided to

commit suicide. Despite a few insensitive jokes about depression and death, the humor is pretty well-balanced and rarely steps into the realm of too much.

Sci-Fi – The Machine The second British film in this week’s lineup came as a pleasant surprise. I typically tend to steer clear of independent science fiction films. My main reason for only occasionally giving the genre a chance is the negative effects of budget constric-tions. Few have the to finesse to balance low-budget special

effects with solid acting. “The Machine” accomplishes this balancing act fairly well. The special effects are strategically sprinkled throughout the film and exist as embellishments instead of a replacement for the live action. Despite a relatively weak storyline, this film is still good enough to make it

on any sci-fi lovers que.

Animation – A Cat in Paris As the only animated film to make it in this week’s lineup, “A Cat in Paris” does not disappoint. This French-

made film follows the story of a burglar and alley cat that team up for various heists and capers. Although some of the storyline and dialogue get a little mature for some audiences, the rudimentary animation keeps the tone of the film light, yet real at the same time. For those not fluent in the French language, the film is also available in an English-dubbed edition. This movie is ideal for viewers that want to watch a more so-phisticated film, but also have little ones to entertain.

Horror – The Babadook

The last feature in this week’s installment is a weird one. “The Babadook” is about a mother and child who are tortured by a mysterious monster named Mr. Baba-dook. The mother is still recovering from losing her husband on the way to the hospital to deliver her son. The socially awkward son brings a wooden crossbow to school and is expelled. The two are cooped up in the house with a monster bent on possessing them both. This is the perfect film for a late night viewing.

Jenner loses manhood; Nation-wide ad bummer at Superbowl

Add some rhythm to your next workout routine with zumba

Depressing Superbowl Commercials Seahawks fans weren’t the only ones pulling a long face this past Sunday night. In a night of buzzkill commer-cials, one stood out among the pack. Nationwide Insurance Company spent a reported $6.75 million on a Super-bowl spot that left quite the impression with audiences. The commercial featured a kid speaking about things that he “wished he could do,” only for an EPIC plot twist where viewers learned that he

was actually talking from the grave. No word as to whether a Ouija board was consulted in preparation for this com-mercial. Also not sure how an insur-ance company could help a kid BEFORE he got crushed by a flat screen TV. Bobbi Kristina Brown in Critical Condition Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown’s only child, Bobbi Kristina, is currently in a medically induced coma after an alleged overdose. The 21-year-old was found unre-sponsive lying in her bathtub late last week. There has been conflicting reports on her cur-rent condition, but according to latest updates, there has been very little improvement. An attorney of the family has come forward announcing that Brown’s alleged marriage to family friend Nick Gordon has proven to be false. Missy Elliot Makes Her Debut This year’s Superbowl half-time performer, Katy Perry, was kind enough to spare 30 seconds of her airtime to help showcase upcoming artist, Missy Elliot. Elliot rapped her little heart out to show the world who she was … Perry’s kind gesture allowed Elliot to crack the iTunes charts….Wait, she’s actually a rap legend? Oh, my bad.Bruce Jenner In Transition After much speculation, it appears as if the rumors are true about Kardashian’s stepdaddy, Bruce Jenner. Jen-ner is reportedly transitioning from a man to a woman. The

Kardashian-Jenner clan are said to be very accepting of it. Jenner is said to have a sit-down interview on the topic in the works. Harper Lee New Story It has been over half a century since she published her classic novel “To Kill a Mockingbird.” A sequel will be released in the near future. Paul McCartney Should Take Up Crocheting Paul McCartney is bored. The former Beatles mem-ber continues to lend his talents to other artists. In January alone, McCartney was featured on both Kanye West’s solo single, “Only One,” and Rihanna’s song, “FourFiveSeconds.” It now appears as though he is work-ing on another project. He has recently been photographed in the studio with pop star Lady Gaga. They are said to be in the studio working on a secret project.

Spring Break is approach-ing, and for some students, the well-earned “beach body” is what he or she wants to reveal. “Well-earned” is correct, because exercising does not always work how a person wants it to. Valdosta State University’s Recreation Center has group fitness classes that plan to make the experience of exer-cising easier and also amus-ing. Taylor Grant, a VSU junior, decided to try one of the group fitness classes and chose Zumba. “Zumba is a really good workout, and it’s something different for those who are not fans of the weight room,” Grant said. SGA’s sophomore senator,

Daria Thomas, said that even though she could not dance, she was able to enjoy herself in the class. Thomas and Grant went at different times, but felt the same experience. “If you don’t get an ab workout dancing, then you will definitely get one laugh-ing,” Grant said. Tyra Hurst is one of the two Zumba instructors working for the Campus Recreation Center’s group fitness classes. Hurst has been dancing since a young age and thought Zumba would be a way of helping others stay in shape by using her talent and skills.

She was certified as a Zumba instructor in the sum-mer of 2013 and did not start teaching it at the Campus Recreation Center until Spring 2014. “Tyra likes to choose really upbeat songs that she knows people will love to get them excited to work out,” Grant said. Hurst said that the ones that want to participate do not have to be Beyoncé’s back-ground dancers to do it. “It is simple to follow, so just about anyone can get up and move,” Hurst said. Hurst’s Zumba classes are Sundays and Mondays at 7 p.m., and Tuesdays at 6 p.m. at the rec center. The other group fitness classes are listed with the instructors and the schedule on the recreation center’s website.

New movie pick feature is answer to your online streaming indecision and boredom

Bruce Jenner Eonline

Missy Elliott MCTcampus

Harper Lee MCTcampus

VSUSPECTATOR.COM | PAGE 5FEBRUARY 5, 2015

Sudoku AnswerEvery college football fan’s

favorite hump day has come and passed.

National Signing Day takes place every year on the first Wednesday in February. It is the first time a high school senior or college transfer is allowed to officially sign his letter of intent. Signing day is also one of the busiest days of the year for top-tier programs and their coaching staffs, and that was true once again for Valdosta State.

Head coach David Dean and the Blazers will be adding 37 new faces to next season’s

roster, five more then 2014’s total.

Of VSU’s 37 signees, 16 are projected offensive play-ers, 19 defensive, as well as two special teamers.

“We feel real good about the group of guys we got and are real excited to get them in here to see what they can do,” Dean said.

A major priority in recruit-ing this year for the Blazers was bringing in more depth on the offensive line after los-ing four senior starters from last year’s team.

To do the job VSU signed seven offensive lineman, led by the 6’4,” 320-pound Florida A&M transfer Aram Wynn.

VSU will look for the ju-

nior tackle to contribute right away on an offensive line that will have a lot of new faces from 2014’s group that led VSU to an NCAA quarterfinal game last year.

“With all the guys we have coming in, I feel we will have the capability of having guys that can come in and play for us as freshman,” Dean said. “They all have that certain mentality and awareness on the field that you need to play.”

VSU once again was also very successful at tapping into local talent and signing play-ers from their own back yard.

13 Region 1-AAAAAA players signed with the Blaz-ers, four from Tift County, four from Lowndes, four from

Colquitt County, and one from Camden County.

“This is one of the most competitive regions in the state, and that’s one of the reasons we recruit those schools so heavily,” Dean said. “We are blessed to be around it and have guys that want to stay close to home.”

Parker Bonner, another local product from nearby Valwood School, also signed on as a Blazer Wednesday.

Football fans might recog-nize the last name Bonner; his uncle is VSU Hall of Fame quarterback Dusty Bonner.

Blazers are set to start spring practice for the 2015 season this March.

Chris WebbSportS Writer

ctwebb@valdosta.edu

Blazer football signs 37 new players on National Signing Day

2015

BLAZER RECRUITS Offense Special

Justin Fuller/TE Charles Massey/SDemarcus Jackson/WR Andrew Gray/KT.J. Skelton/WR Thomas Lewis/ATHBrandon Kemp/TEChris Johnson/FBMarcus Webb/RBParker Bonner/QBMarik Merine/RBJohnny Williams/WRRustin Suter/WRChris James/QBWitt Campbell/QB

DefenseMalik Austin/DL Ricky Dunbar/DEAlex Brown/DB Peyton Turner/OTAnthony Washington/DL Austin Manglesdorf/LSAdrien Cross/DB Preston Langley/OLDavid Brown/LB Hunter Winters/OLBrian Miller/DB Jaelon Johnson/DL Kendrick Robinson/DB Tyrone Dixon/DLTomarcio Reese/LB Pierce Lewis/OL Javonta Woods/DB Aram Wynn/OLAlex Williams/DE Hunter Harrison/OLJordan O’Neill/OT Carson Leatherwood/DL

VSU is looking for “love” on the court as the Lady Blaz-ers tennis team attempts to shut down three separate uni-versity teams this weekend.

VSU’s women’s tennis team will be playing Nova Southeastern University at home Saturday, then quickly moving on to Carrolton to play University of West Geor-gia as well as Lee University Sunday.

The Lady Blazers defeated both NSU and LU last season but will meet UWG for the first time since the 2013 season.

With practice every day, the Lady Blazers are preparing to keep up their winning streak like they have for the past two years.

Last season, the Lady Blaz-

ers were extremely successful with a record of 12-4 overall and 6-1 in conference.

The team made its way through the regular season, all the way to the Gulf South Conference Tournament, where it beat North Alabama 5-0 in the semi-finals, but lost to routine rival West Florida in the final championship 5-0.

However, after losing to West Florida, one of the Lady Blazers received a title that has been named to a VSU player three years in a row. Sabrina Schmidt received the freshman of the year award last season, after all the coaches in the GSC partici-pated in a poll.

With only one senior this season, Michelle Fischer, the women’s tennis team is work-ing toward the championship again in 2015.

The season starts Saturday at 10 a.m.

Lia ArmisteadSportS Writer

jparmistead@valdosta.edu

The Valdosta State Blaz-ers (9-12, 4-11 Gulf South Conference) look to avoid yet another defeat when they tangle with Mississippi College (8-9, 6-9 Gulf South Conference) tonight at 8 p.m. in The Complex.

In their last game against Lee, the Blazers led by seven in the second half before the Flames took a nine-point lead with 4:10 to play. Playing catch-up the rest of the way, the Blazers never recovered, falling 78-75.

The three-point loss was the Blazers’ sixth defeat by six points or fewer.

“Our focus has to be on making plays down the stretch and finishing games,” Blazers head coach Mike Helfer said. “It’s not going to be easy against Mississippi College or Delta this week because both of them are really hard-nosed teams.”

The Choctaws enter tonight’s game looking to sweep the season series against the Blazers. On Dec. 20, the Choctaws defeated the

Blazers 72-66, led by junior forward Tory Rice’s 18 points and eight rebounds.

The Blazers had four players in double figures but were pummeled inside by the Choctaws, getting outscored 48-24 in paint points.

“You obviously have to deal with (Mississippi Col-lege’s) post players,” Helfer said. “We’ll have to make sure we do a good job on

them. It’ll be nice for us if we can get the floor spread a little bit and hopefully make

some perimeter shots to give our posts a little more room to work.”

Another issue the Blazers faced in the first matchup was the free throw disparity. The Choctaws attempted 25 free throws in the game to the Blazers’ seven—a season low.

Helfer believes his team had many opportunities be-cause of the Choctaws’ defen-sive game plan, but credited the Choctaws’ ability to make plays from the perimeter and inside to get to the foul line.

“We had some open looks,” Helfer said. “We took a lot of threes because they packed it in pretty tight. Their getting to the free throw was just good plays by their kids in the post and on the dribble drive. We’ll have to be ready for that and hopefully (the free throw difference) won’t be as out of balance.”

Turnovers have also dogged the Blazers, who committed 17 turnovers in the loss to the Choctaws. In nine of the Blaz-ers’ 12 losses, they have com-mitted double-digit turnovers and shot less than 45 percent from the floor.

“Two things don’t go to-gether—that’s high turnovers

and low field goal percent-age,” Helfer said. “In the games where we have turned it over, we haven’t shot it well either, so that’s a deadly com-bination for your team.”

The Blazers will have an-other test to pass when Delta State visits The Complex on Saturday.

“These two teams are prob-ably the most physical teams in the GSC,” Helfer said of this week’s opponents. “The No. 1 key when you’re getting ready to play these games is being prepared for the physi-cal aspect.”

The Statesmen have been more perimeter-oriented this season, leading the GSC in three-point percentage at 41.8 percent.

“That’s pretty difficult to guard,” Helfer said of Delta’s style. “If you have a good inside game and you’re mak-ing perimeter shots at that high of a percentage, it’s a tough thing to defend for 40 minutes. They’re better when they make shots, and when that happens, it clears out the lane.”

Shane ThomasSportS Writer

shanethomas@valdosta.edu

VSU women’s tennis team prepares for three matches over weekend

Follow @vsuspectatorsports

for highlights and updates in VSU sports

MGN Online

Blazers look to avoid season sweep against Choctaws tonight

“Two things don’t go together—that’s high turnovers and low field goal percentage.”

-Mike Helfer VSU men’s head

basketball coach

FEBRUARY 5, 2015 PAGE 6 | VSUSPECTATOR.COM

Baseball looks to double up

Baseball prepares for first doubleheader.

After an exciting 7-5 win against North Georgia in last Sunday’s home opener, Valdosta State (1-0) is set to take the field this week-end for a three-game series as they welcome the Paine College Lions (0-2) to Billy Grant Field.

Action will begin at 1 p.m. on Saturday with game 3 scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m.

This will be the third-straight year the Blazers have matched up against the small school located in Augusta, Georgia.

VSU is (6-0) in the series while outscoring the Lions 62-5.

VSU once again enters the year with relatively high ex-pectations and is projected to finish fourth in the always-competitive Gulf South Conference.

Led by all-GSC players Bryant Hayman, Mike Reed and Michael Gouge, the Blazers offense looks to be in good hands for yet another year despite losing senior lead-off man and all-GSC second baseman Matthew Fears from last year’s squad.

The problem, however, for VSU last year wasn’t the bats—it was the pitching.

Nagging injuries were a nuisance all year for the pitching staff and was a huge part of the team’s high 4.75 ERA.

VSU Head Coach Greg Guilliams will look to get that number lowered this

year and will have to rely on four fresh faces in the rota-tion to do it.

Last year’s bright spot, ace Dom DeMasi was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in last summer’s MLB draft and is now pitching for their minor league affiliate.

Even with the loss of DeMasi, there are high hopes and expectations for the new group of guys coming in.

Kyle Andre, Mitchell Cody, Austin Glorius and lefty Kellan Bailey are expected to make up the rotation for this year’s team.

Despite none having any Division II experience, Guil-liams feels as long as the new group can stay healthy, it has the chance to be a strong point for this team.

All four will be looking to get the season started on the right foot when they toe the rubber to face Paine.

A very young and inexpe-rienced Lions team finished last year 15-28 but showed signs of dramatic improve-ment over the course of the year finishing with a 10-9 record in conference play.

Head coach Kerby Marshall and Lions remain young this year, with only four seniors on this year’s roster and will have to rely on them if they hope to build on the late success of last year.

Senior second baseman Avery Wilson leads the Lions offense after batting .322 with 14 stolen bases in 2014; PC will need a big weekend from him if they expect to compete with the big bats of the Blazers.

Chris Webb SportS Writer

ctwebb@valdosta.edu

Lady Blazers want to generate a winning streak starting tonight

The Lady Blazers basketball team looks to spark a winning streak at the complex tonight when they take on Mississippi College.

Last Saturday against Lee University, senior Maggie Davis put up a career high of 23 points and April Thomas added 21 points of her own, giving the team the ammo needed to take down the Lady Flames 64-63. With this win, the Lady Blazers were able to improve to a 10-11 overall, 6-9 in GSC play record.

During their first meeting,

the Lady Blazers seemed too much for the Lady Choctaws of MC to handle. After a free throw made by Thomas in the first 45 seconds of the game, the Lady Blazers never looked back and maintained their lead for the rest of the game.

Thomas led the team in scoring, ending the night with 19 points and shooting 3-6 from behind the arc.

With MC heading this way to try to redeem themselves, assistant head coach Jennifer Grubbs explained the team’s defensive plan to defeat the Lady Choctaws.

“They are a really big team as far as height, so we have to do a great job with post play

defensively and keep them up and off the lane as much as possible,” Grubbs said.

As far as their guard play was concerned, “they are extremely quick off the dribble, so we also have to make sure we do a good job of containing the dribble drive and not having to help as much, so that their post players are not left open for easy baskets,” Grubbs said. “Basically we have to play great individual defense, as well as great team defense in order to get a good outcome.”

In the first matchup the Lady Blazers were able to score 21 points off the turnovers made by the Lady

Choctaws.As for the offense of the

Lady Blazers, “we have to do a great job of utilizing our screen action,” Grubbs said. “Any screens that we set, we have to make sure that we come shoulder to hip off of it and put the ball in position so that we are able to get the ball to our scorers.”

The Lady Blazers shot 60 percent in the first half compared to MC’s 46 percent, and 40 percent in the second half compared to MC’s 8 percent.

The Lady Blazers led by as much as 13 in the second half with 13:02 to go in the game.

Niamani Carlyle-HollisSportS Writer

ntcarlyes@valdosta.edu

Tennis rallies for the 2015 season

The Blazers tennis team looks to frame out the 2015 season leading with the Gulf South Conference game against Lee University on Sunday.

The Blazers ended the 2014 season with a 13-7 overall record and 5-2 GSC to gain national recognition, finishing 14th in the rankings.

Returning players for the team are juniors Andrew Harvin, Niklas Herbring, and Joachim Schemm, along with sophomores Gereon Heitmann and Francisco Yim Kim.

Joining the team this year is sophomore Edward Nguyen, as well as freshmen Leo Blay

and Ramon Weil.The team finished last year’s

season in Pensacola, Florida, after a 5-0 loss to the top-ranked West Florida Argo-nauts.

The Blazers were able to get some off-season action in September, and four players helped the team get a picture of the season to come.

Six Blazers fared very well in the tournament with Rink, Lario, Heitmann, Nguyen and Schemm each winning two rounds and making it to the 3rd round of 32. Yim Kim was able to get to round 8 of the quarterfinals before he was defeated.

The Blazers start the season with three straight road matches and will return to VSU with three home matches.

Stuart PriceSportS Writer

stprice@valdosta.edu

Blazer Football Sponsors Annual

Blood Drive When: Tuesday, Feburary 10 Where: Student Union Ballrooms Time: 12 p.m. - 6 p.m.

How: Make an appointment at redcrossblood.org : enter keyword VSU

Extras: Free T-shirts for all that are involved