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T H E C A R O L I N I A N Follow Us facebook.com/thecarolinian The student newspaper of The University of North Carolina at Greensboro October 9-15, 2012 Established 1919 Vol. XCIII No. 8 twitter.com/thecarolinian Opinions Page 4 Features Page 11 Sports Page 13 Romney and Obama face off in fi rst debate, Warren brings Brown the fi ght he was missing, Hydrofracking holds too many unknowns. The Mystery Issue: The man cured of AIDS, Unknown foundations of UNCG traditions, The Antikythera device, the “Big Bang” theory. Clemson, Wofford leave UNCG’s week pointless; Sports fans who say “We,” Major League Baseball’s wild mistake; Spartan sound of silence. A&E Page 7 Dan Deacon and others at the Blind Tiger, Poet.she presents screening of “Louder than a Bomb,”Lindsey Lohan makes television fi lm comeback. Aaron Bryant Staff Writer see bikes, page 2 cHeck oUt oUR NeW WebPaGe! WWW.UNcGcaRoliNiaN.coM www.uncgcarolinian.com photo courtesy of adam glanzman/flickr Both candidates took full advantage of the time they were allotted during Wednesday’s debates. Presidential debate tackles deciding factors Wednesday night marked the fi rst of the three presidential debates to come before Election Day in America. President Obama and Governor Mitt Romney geared up for the debate in Denver, Colorado, in what some political analysts say could be a deciding factor for undecided voters come Nov. 4. Jim Lehrer, former news anchor for PBS, served as the moderator at the debate at the University of Denver, Colorado. A coin toss determined that President Obama would be the fi rst to speak. Lehrer posed the fi rst question of the debate, concerning an important question many voters want to hear about: jobs. “What are the major diff erences between the two of you about how you would go about creating new jobs?” asked Lehrer. Obama fi rst acknowledged First Lady Michelle Obama, as the debate happened to fall on the night of their 20th photo courtesy of barack obama/flickr anniversary, and began to speak. Th e debate went overtime within the fi rst ten minutes. Obama and Romney went back and forth on issues such as the national debt, social security, tax cuts, the Aff ordable Health Care act, education, and government regulations. Th is was an opportunity for the candidates to give specifi cs and details about their platforms as well as maintain a likable appearance to voters. Romney had a lot to prove going into the session. News analysts from CNN and FOX portrayed Romney as the underdog in the debate, which for many put Romney on the defense, particularly as Obama addressed his “5 trillion dollar” tax plan. Obama mentioned that the governor is failing to give the public any real details on his plan, including specifi cs as which to which “loopholes in government” he wants to eliminate. Romney chose to emphasize Campus-wide bike sweep leaves students unhappy, bikes impounded Parking enforcement and campus police participated in a bike sweep last week, in which up to 30 s students had their bikes taken as a statement about campus safety and rules. Many students are angry because in some cases bike locks were broken; they are looking for reimbursement. Much of the controversy stems from the method with which the sweep was done. A parking offi cial who was spoken to verbally expressed little regret, saying that rules are rules and are meant to be followed. A concerned reader of e Carolinian said in an email that the sweep “made upwards of 30 students think their bikes had been stolen only to fi nd out that Parking Enforcement had cut locks & taken them to the warehouse by the Great Stop on Lee Street.” Th e reader’s lock was destroyed. She is trying to obtain reimbursement for the destroyed lock, and feels the sweep was too drastic simply because rules were broken, not the law. According to UNCG Parking Operations and Campus Access Management, bikes were taken because they were improperly secured to objects around campus, which they say causes a hazard. A parking offi cial, who chose to speak anonymously, felt proud of the actions he took. “We went around campus looking for these rule breakers. We found bikes that were hooked up to staircases, bikes chained up to light posts and lamp posts, bicycles locked to railings. None of the bikes that we took were in the proper, specially designated areas of campus,” said the parking offi cer. “It gives me pride knowing that those who break the rules can and did get punished.” Danny, a frequent biker around the UNC Greensboro campus who chose not to provide his last name, had his bike impounded and lock broken. “Th e notion that you can just take my bike, break the lock and impounded it without UNC System Advisory Committee leads to concerns, creation of North Carolina Student Power Union A new committee, the UNC Advisory Committee on Strategic Directions, was recently announced by University of North Carolina President Th omas Ross and UNC Board of Governors Chairman Peter Hans. Th e committee consists of business, education, and government leaders from across the state combined with selected board members, UNC chancellors, and faculty representation. Th is committee’s input will play an important role in the creation of the system’s next 5-year strategic plan for the development of the 17-campus university. According to UNC President Th omas Ross, “Th e composition of this special Advisory Committee refl ects our commitment to reach out across North Carolina for input and guidance.” Th e North Carolina Student Power Union is a small and new photo courtesy of unc catalogue/wikimedia The 17-campus UNC system is up in arms about the formation and composition of the new UNC System Advisory Committee. group that has organized across North Carolina on nearly every campus in the UNC system, born out of concerns over this new committee and how the future of education is being decided. see UNsPU, page 3 see Debate, page 3 Stephanie Cistrunk Staff Writer Elisabeth Wise Staff Writer News | The Carolinian Box N1 EUC UNCG Greensboro, NC, 27413 Phone: (336) 334-5752 Fax: (336) 334-3518 Editorial Policy Letters may be submitted to: The Carolinian 236 Elliot University Center Greensboro, NC 27413 Editor.Carolinian@gmail.com Letters submitted by 5 p.m. Friday may run in next Tues-day’s edition. Word limit is 250 for letters, 500 for guest columns. Submissions may be edited for length or clarity. No unsigned submissions will be accepted for publication. All submissions come under possession of The Carolinian. The views expressed in the Opinions section of The Carolinian do not represent the views of The Carolinian staff un-less otherwise stated. The Caro-linian Editorial Board is made up of the Publisher, Editor-in-Chief, and Section Editors. Editorial and Business Staff Derrick Foust Publisher Publisher.Carolinian@gmail.com Kaycie Coy Editor-in-Chief Editor.Carolinian@gmail.com Laura Brewer News Editor News.Carolinian@gmail.com Ashley Northup Opinions Editor Opinions.Carolinian@gmail.com Arvé Byrd Arts & Entertainment Editor AE.Carolinian@gmail.com Ian Foster Sports Editor Sports.Carolinian@gmail.com Christopher McCracken Features Editor Features.Carolinian@gmail.com Autumn Wells Advertising Manager Ads.Carolinian@gmail.com Corrections Policy The Carolinian never know-ingly publishes any mistakes. Please promptly notify us of any errors by e-mailing the Editor-in- Chief at Editor.Carolinian@ gmail.com, or calling (336) 334- 5752. Corrections will be pub-lished on page 2 in subsequent issues of The Carolinian. Mission Statement The Carolinian is a teach-ing newspaper that is organized and produced by students of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. It is our objective to teach young writers journalistic skills while emphasizing the im-portance of honesty and integrity in campus media. 2 | October 9-15, 2012 Weekly Forecast Today H: 64° L: 46° Wednesday H: 73° L: 45° Thursday H: 66° L: 46° Friday H: 73° L: 48° Cloudy Weekend H: 68° L: 57° Partly Cloudy Sunny Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy bikes from page 1 International News Briefs Extradited terrorists appear in US courts French shooting during anti-terror raid Malaysian wedding sparks controversy Compiled By: Olivia Cline The extravagantly expensive wedding of Malaysia’s chief min-ister’s son last week has led to al-legations that public funds were used to pay for the event. Ali Rustam, the official in question, maintains that the wedding was a “family arrange-ment” despite questions regard-ing whether his salary is capable of handling the expense of an extravaganza at which,according to some reports, food alone cost over $200,000. Rustam claims that these accu-sations of corruption are merely an expression of jealousy on the part of his political opponents, and that the length of the event was merely to accommodate all the guests,which included the workers on the estate. He also said that much of the labor for the event was on a vol-unteer basis. However, the tough economic situation in Malaysia combined with cuts to government subsi-dies for food and gasoline have resulted in an uproar at the pros-pect of corruption on this scale. According to Datuk Mohd Shukri Abdul, the deputy head for the Malaysian commission for anti-corruption, a thorough and specific investigation into the event has begun. “We are going item by item, to see how much money was spent and who paid for it,” he said, warning that drawing any kind of definite conclusion could be a lengthy process. BBC correspondent Jennifer Pak says that the incident is one of many signs that the govern-ment has lost touch with the Ma-laysian people. French police in the city of Strasbourg shot and killed a man on Saturday as part of a set of anti-terror raids throughout the country. Jeremy Sidney, who was a sus-pect in a recent grenade attack on local a Jewish shop, opened fire on police investigators when they came to his apartment to speak with him. Several officers sustained hits, but helmets and bulletproof vests resulted in only one wounded. Officers returned fire and Sid-ney suffered mortal wounds. Sidney’s female companion, one of his two religious wives, was also arrested. According to prosecution reports, she was 22 years old and the mother of a six-year- old girl and a one-month-old baby. Sidney’s fingerprints had been found on the remains of a gre-nade thrown into a kosher gro-cery store September 19th. Sidney had recently converted to Islam, and was an ex-prisoner who had served time for drug trafficking. Francois Molins, a Paris pros-ecutor, said that a list of Jewish associations had been found that would probably indicate the next targets of this organization. Four of the men had wills in their possession. Strasbourg prosecutor Patrick Poirret noted that “when you have a will in your pocket, it means that you’ve outlined your last wishes and you foresee that extreme outcomes may take place in relatively short order.” Ten other suspects were de-tained in the raids. Five terrorist suspects who were recently extradited from the United Kingdom appeared in United States courts this week. Abu Hamza, Adel Abdul Bary, Khaled al-Fawwaz, Babar Ah-mad, and Talha Ahsan all pleaded not guilty in courts in both New York and Connecticut. They face charges such as hos-tage- taking, conspiracy against the government, using US-based servers to support terrorist efforts in Chechnya and Afghanistan, and being aides to late al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Ladin. Their extradition followed a multi-year legal battle on the grounds that the treatment they would face in the United States would violate their human rights. Most of the media focus is on Abu Hamza, who has been the focus of US extradition attempts since 2004. The majority of the charges, however, belong to Bary, who is indicted on 284 counts of con-spiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, bombing of two United States embassies, mur-der, attempted murder, and con-spiracy to destroy United States property. Both US and UK officials seem pleased with proceedings. UK Prime Minister David Cameron said he is “absolutely delighted that Abu Hamza is now out of this country.” Mary Galligan, FBI deputy head, agreed, saying that “the ex-traditions of Abu Hamza, Bary and Fawwaz are a major mile-stone in our effort to see these alleged high-level terrorists face American justice. me ever knowing is kind of counterproductive, especially if your reason is to teach me a lesson,” Danny said. He also explained the circumstances behind his bike being taken, and his lock being broken. “I was running late one time, just once. So I decided to lock my bike up securely on the tree. I never do this, but I figured that if it was out of the way in the grass chained to the tree, it would be fine. I was wrong. After class lets out, I come outside to see my bike is gone, and my lock busted open on the ground.” Danny later said he contacted Parking Operations and Campus Access Management, who told him many bikes were recently brought to the warehouse. Danny decided not to get a reimbursement for his lock. “I don’t want to even associate with people who thought this was a noble act. They vandalized my property. They told me it was done for safety reasons, but the whole thing was ridiculously overblown.” The parking officer, after being told Danny’s story, said he is glad people’s locks were broken, and that he personally broke some of them. He was noticeably angered by Danny’s comments. He said, “You know what? My job is to make sure this campus is safe. I don’t care what it takes; I’m going to do my job. I am going to make sure you follow the rules, and I am going to enforce the rules to the fullest extent I can. I broke a few locks, and it made me feel good! I don’t care much for those who think they can get by because they are sneaky. You break the rules, you pay the price.” Danny now chains his bike to the closest bike rack he can, and makes punctuality a top priority. “I don’t mind that these people are doing their jobs, that’s fine. But open vandalism based on the notion of safety is just Photo courtesy of Vikram Vitrivel/Flickr Dozens of improperly-stored bicycles on campus were abruptly impounded this week by UNCG Parking Operations, angering students. backwards.” UNCG Parking Operations and Campus Access Management deals with student and staff self-transportation rules in and around the UNC Greensboro campus. They also handle bicycle registration, free emergency rides home, bike racks and minor bicycle repair clinics. The Carolinian | News October 9-15, 2012 | 3 Debate from page 1 Breast cancer survivor speaks for awareness week Alaina Monts Staff Writer The NCSPU’s current project is the circulation of a petition stating their concerns as well as their demands for changes to the committee and their decision-making procedures. The NCSPU is concerned with the makeup of the committee, including the lack of meaningful student, faculty, and worker representation from the various campuses in the system. Also of significant concern to the group is the inclusion of Art Pope, CEO of Variety Wholesalers as well as wealthy financier of many right-wing Republicans, whom they believe poses a threat to public education and its availability to all qualified students regardless of income. Jonathan Lyle, one of the organizers for the newly formed NCSPU, said that Art Pope’s inclusion on the committee is of major concern to them because he has a history of working to defund and privatize public education, and has “notably funded a variety of regressive initiatives including the resegregation of Wake County public schools.” Last week about two dozen protesters, most of them members of the NCSPU, picketed NCSPU from page 1 outside a Civitas Institute luncheon where Art Pope would be speaking. He spoke briefly with the members of the group but avoided answering their questions. Instead, he spoke of himself as a “staunch supporter of public education, misunderstood by his critics.” For the NCSPU, Pope’s past actions speak for themselves. The organization makes three demands in their petition (the full wording of the petition can be found on the NCSPU’s page on change.org): 1. We demand a voice in the decision-making processes that affect us. 2. We demand that Art Pope be removed from the Advisory Committee and that a fully representative committee free of private/corporate interests with meaningful student, worker, and community leadership is created. 3. We demand that the state of NC lives up to its constitutional promise to maintain education “as free as practicable.” One of the NCSPU’s main goals is simply to raise awareness about the committee, about who makes decisions about the future of education, and about the lack of accountability and representation that they find evident in the committee. Lyle said that a lot of students “don’t know how decisions are being made or how undemocratic the decision making process is, and when they are made aware, they are concerned.” He hopes that by circulating the petition and increasing student awareness that more people will want to become involved and realize that by “being organized, students really can have an impact on how those in power view us and if we are loud enough, our voice will be heard.” The next step after the petition is continuing to increase awareness and spread information about the union, and to get more students involved, as currently there are only five active members on UNCG’s campus. Despite their small numbers, they meet every Friday, and all of the NCSPU groups on the various UNC system campuses try to get together with each other every week, though, as Lyle notes, it is difficult to get everyone together because of work, school, and the distance between the campuses. Those who would like to get involved with the North Carolina Student Power Union here at UNCG can email uncg@ studentpowernc.org, go to the group’s Facebook page, or sign the petition. Students may have noticed various pamphlets being passed around on campus last week in recognition of Breast Cancer awareness week. All throughout the EUC, signs urged students to perform self-checks, get mammograms, and know the risk factors about contracting breast cancer. Part of this week’s activities included a guest speaker who spoke about her experiences as a breast cancer survivor. Janet Hendley, who works in the School of Nursing, came to speak about breast cancer for her fifth year in a row. The even was sponsored by Chi Omega, a sorority on campus, and brought almost 60 people to EUC’s Kirkland to hear Hendley speak. “I’m not going to give you facts,” she said over and over throughout the evening, “you can find those on Google.” Her goal for the night was not to list off figures about breast cancer, but to share a real and personal story about a survivor’s journey. “If you could ask one question tonight that would change your understanding [of this issue], what would it be?” she asked students. She then spent over an hour answering a variety of different questions asked by the students, some quite personal, and others very broad. Hendley did her best to answer them all as accurately that she could. Hendley discovered she had breast cancer when she was 48. At the time, she lived in San Francisco and made a living doing woodwork. Students asked her how she felt when she received the news that she did in fact have cancer. “I was scared…I thought some things were pretty vulgar,” she stated, laughing. Nonetheless, she had friends and family who were constantly by her side who helped her make it through her difficulties. To Hendley, the worst part of having cancer wasn’t the gruesome treatment or the fear, but losing her hair. She had very long hair prior to getting cancer and it was a source of pride for her. She recalled the day when she finally started to lose her hair. “The doctor said two weeks after starting chemo, be prepared for hair loss…and on the fourteenth day it just started to shed.” Hendley remembered taking a shower and watching her hair fall out of her head, in what seemed to be large chunks, and onto the shower drain. “How was she able to be strong during such a frightening time in her life?” students asked. Hendley said the most important thing for her was laughter. “I had a friend who said the best medicine is one good belly laugh every day…and he was right.” Hendley had lots of ways to keep her spirits up. She would get together with friends and have tea once a month, as she originally hails from the United Kingdom. She said that was probably the most fun she had. She also stayed very physically active throughout her treatments. Prior to being diagnosed with cancer, Henley said that she swam almost two miles every day. Swimming was her passion, and she was not going to give it up because of the disease. “The first few days after chemo were the hardest, but my friends encouraged me, and by the time I had to go back for my next round, I was in the pool for a full forty-five minutes again, swimming almost a mile.” It was important for her that during this difficult time in her life, she was never going to give up. Hendley said one of the most common questions asked by students is how they can best help a loved one who has been diagnosed with cancer. To their question she gave three suggestions: listen, be there when they need you, and offer to help. She also mentioned how important it was to realize that cancer patients want to have some normalcy in their lives. “Don’t always make cancer the topic of conversation,” she said. In today’s world, cancer is almost unavoidable. It is estimated that almost 90% of people will know someone who has been affected by cancer in their lifetime. Hendley shared her story with the students of UNCG in order to show that while cancer may seem bleak at the onset, there are survivors. Throughout Hendley’s entire ordeal, she kept her spirits high and never gave up hope. Her story of survival was an inspiration to all present. a different issue in his opening statement – the situation facing America’s middle class. As his opening statement concluded, Romney decisively hit on how his policies will be beneficial to the middle-income Americans. “Middle-income Americans have been buried,” said the governor. Throughout the night, the president highlighted what he feels is one of Romney’s main weaknesses, in keeping with what former president Bill Clinton emphasized at the DNC last month: arithmetic. “Governor… it is not possible to come up with enough deductions and loopholes that only affect high-income individuals to avoid either raising the deficit or burdening the middle class. It’s – it’s math. It’s arithmetic,” Obama said in a comment on Romney’s economic plans. The economy proved to be the main focus of the debate, specifically in regards to the ongoing struggle between federal government versus individual states. Something new that voters may not have known going into the debate were a few unfamiliar names – specifically, Simpson- Bowles and Dodd-Frank, names which sparked heavy back-and-forth action between the two when discussing their handling of government regulation. “Race to the Top,” Obama’s program for education reform in schools, was also discussed. Time continued to run out for both candidates, as they out-talked moderator Lehrer in order to get their last points heard. The moderator’s role in this debate left many wondering how CNN analyst Candy Crowley will hold up at the next debate on Oct. 11. While Romney and Obama may not have convinced voters entirely Wednesday night, they certainly made a point, and have started the next month and a half of debates off in style. Photo courtesy of Embassy of canada People of all ages participate in the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure in honor of breast cancer awareness. 4 October 9-15, 2012 Opinions Chris McCracken Features Editor Photo Courtesy donkeyhotey/flickr A drawing shows big headed versions of the candidates facing off. Romney and Obama face off in first debate Obama’s performance does not change the many lies of Romney Debates show Obama’s lack of leadership skills Caleb Patterson Staff Writer Typically, presidential debates are not significant in determining winners of presidential contests. Challengers to incumbent presidents have an inherent advantage in the first general election debate. Appearing on stage with a sitting president tends to make a challenger appear presidential. However, there has never been a televised presidential debate during such a prolonged economic downturn nor were there ever many debate performances as poorly received as President Barack Obama’s last Wednesday night. Obama appeared disengaged and poorly prepared for the debate. He incorrectly assumed he would be facing the Mitt Romney who self-described as a severe conservative during the primaries. Instead, he faced off against an earlier and less scary version of Romney; the Massachusetts moderate. Obama was better than Romney on the policy issues. Romney continues to run on a five trillion dollar tax cut that he claims will be deficit neutral due to the closing of certain unnamed loopholes and deductions. Of course, mathematically, there are not enough deductions to fill that gap. Many deductions are very popular and beneficial to middle income earners making them politically appealing. Early in the debate, Obama tried to push Romney to disclose his secret tax plan and tell the voters how he plans to pay for giant tax cut. Of course, Romney refused. Notice how little the media and your Facebook friends are talking about secret tax plans compared to the amount of discussion about Romney “winning” the debate. Substantively, the major issue I had with Obama’s responses was on Social Security. When asked about his position on this critically important and phenomenally This past week was the first ever debate between presidential candidates President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, and the spectacle all-but-destroyed claims by the Obama team that the president was somehow “pulling ahead” in this race. The debate itself was interesting. Romney appeared very presidential, looking at the president and at the camera as he rattled off the main points of his platform in a clear, easy-to- understand way. He softly rebutted false claims by Obama, like the lie that there is a “tax credit” for shipping jobs overseas. “The second topic, which is you said you get a deduction for getting a plant overseas. Look, I’ve been in business for 25 years. I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said, emphasizing the president’s lack of private sector experience. For his part, Obama often seemed confused, and unclear. His appearance was pale and weak – almost sickly – and it evoked the infamous debate between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy in which Nixon lost the election partly because he did not look presidential on television. The “great orator” also stumbled over his words constantly, and said “uh” too many times. Without having a teleprompter to feed Obama words, the president just seemed lost. In the week leading up to the election, the headlines of the mainstream media were screaming about an impending Obama victory. The president’s lead in the polls – mostly within the margin of error – was harped upon constantly, as his lies and abuses of the office of the presidency were ignored as they related to the attack in Libya. As Obama slowly and painfully handed the debate to Mitt Romney, the spin machine instantly jumped into overdrive in an attempt to save face. According to Media Research Center writer Scott Whitlock, successful program, Obama said there is little difference between him and his opponent. Then Obama cited the 1983 Social Security compromise between Ronald Reagan and Democratic Speaker Tip O’Neil as being a model for possible reforms. This compromise consisted of benefit cuts and a gradual increase in the retirement age. Paul Ryan, Romney’s vice presidential pick, is an outspoken proponent of privatization. Obama could have responded in such a way as to make clear contrast with Romney, but instead blurred the line between him and his opponent. Romney pivoted to the ideological center and Obama made very few attempts at pointing out Romney’s previous extreme positions. The polling on the presidential race has been close for most of the past year, until the past few months. Ever since Romney’s selection of Paul Ryan the daily tracking polls have been trending in Obama’s direction. Choosing the conservative ideologue transformed the race from a referendum on Obama to a choice election. This will reverse if Obama continues to allow Romney to etch-a-sketch towards the center without challenging him. Sadly, in the era of post-truth politics, substance is less important than stage performance. Obama avoided eye contact with Romney and seemed disinterested. If an observer who had known absolutely nothing about American politics had seen the debate, they would have assumed Romney was the sitting president. Obama’s lackluster stage presence reinforced many progressives view of him as being extraordinarily non-confrontational and unable to negotiate from a position of strength with Republicans. The average low-information undecided voter will not remember Romney’s claim that Obama cut $716 trillion in Medicare benefits, nor will they investigate it to discover it is a lie. They will remember that Romney was strong and Obama was weak. Intuitively, they may get the sense that Romney is out of touch and lacks empathy. This instinct in voters could change if Obama again goes whole debates without mentioning offshore accounts, Bain Capital, or the 47 percent comments while allowing Romney to use moderate rhetoric and embrace centrist positions. Luckily, there are two more presidential debates and Obama is a skillful politician. This performance may have loosened his grip on the race, but he is still in control and favored to win. The town hall format of the next debate will favor Obama, and Romney’s expectations will be high. The positive September jobs report should also dampen any post-debate bounce in the polls for Romney. Hopefully Obama can rekindle some passion before the next debate and make clear distinctions between him and his opponent. If not, this race could really tighten. “Politico editor Jim VandeHei appeared on MSNBC, Thursday, to blame Barack Obama’s poor debate performance on the burdens of the office. The journalist spun, “The President had to be the President, and had to be a candidate, and so he didn’t have nearly as much prep time.”” The president was in Las Vegas on the day after an overseas terrorist attack, and even took time to campaign on the anniversary of September 11. Have the “burdens of the office” really limited him? Another theory from the left was Obama had a poor performance because of his race. Author Noah Rothman of Mediaite wrote, “Appearing on MSNBC’s NOW on Tuesday, Georgetown University Professor Michael Eric Dyson claimed that, in his opinion, President Barack Obama was overly deferential to Mitt Romney during the debate because he was concerned he may come off as an “angry black man.” Finally, former Democratic presidential candidate and environmental extremist Al Gore chimed in, blaming Obama’s poor performance on the weather. According to Washington Post writer Erik Wemple, Gore was quoted as saying, “Romney did his debate prep in Denver. When you go to 5,000 feet and you have only a few hours to adjust, uh, I don’t know... maybe…” I have another theory on Obama’s poor performance: maybe he is just a poor candidate who should not be seeking a second term in the first place. While there is no question that the president is generally a good speaker, he has no tools in his arsenal to combat the growing questions about his performance. Why has his Justice Department not been accountable for Fast & Furious? Why was his response to the turmoil in Lybia so botched? Why on earth should he be trusted to create jobs in a second term, if he has not done anything in his first? In the case of presidential debates, it is always substance over style. “Romney pivoted to the ideological center and Obama made very few attempts at pointing out Romney’s previous extreme positions. “ The Carolinian | Opinions October 9-15, 2012 | 5 Warren brings Brown the fight he was missing For 47 years, Edward Kennedy served as Massachusetts Senator, where he was the fourth longest serving senator in United States history. His passion excited both sides of the political aisle and earned him the nickname The Lion of the Senate. In 2009, Massachusetts and the United States lost that great public figure, who reflected more than his last name, but a whole new spirit entirely, that enabled him to stand on his own. The man who filled his seat, Scott Brown, was the first Republican elected to the Massachusetts U.S. Senate seat since Edward Brooke in 1972. Democratic and Republican political strategists were both surprised that the seat was taken by Brown. The Democrats ran Attorney General Martha Coakley against Brown and Democrats (including myself) thought Coakley had the seat pretty much locked in. However, Brown and the Massachusetts Republican party understood the Democrats’ cockiness and won 52 percent to 48 percent in the special Senate election. Now Brown is running for his full second term this November, and the Democrats are not playing around this time. Elizabeth Warren, former head of the Special Advisor to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, announced her candidacy as the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate seat of Massachusetts. She won the nomination this past June. Warren was known to make particularly powerful statements about how the wealthiest people in the United States have made it to where they are today. “There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own – Nobody,” stated Warren, “…Now look, you built a factory and it turned into something terrific, or a great idea. God bless – keep a big hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is, you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along.” These sentiments were expressed later in some of President Obama’s campaign trail speeches and a number of Democratic talking points. It is a point that I agreed with and it is why I gave money to Ms. Warren’s campaign right after hearing them. It is ideal to think that someone can build something entirely on their own, but it is not possible. Sure, a person can come up with an idea, but that one person alone cannot manufacture or market it. It takes those working alongside and under him or her. Democratic challengers are hopefully for a Warren win, as am I. Senator Brown is one of the moderate voices in the Republican Party, which I admire, but he also supported the more conservative bents of his party, and votes with the Republican Party 80 percent of the time. He is a Massachusetts Republican, which is a far cry from the Republicans we see down here in North Carolina (think of Amendment One,) so he cannot be too far off his rocker. He also admonished Warren for her Cherokee past and history. Last month, Brown staffers mocked Warren for her Cherokee lineage (saying she does not have any) and did the tomahawk pose and Indian war whoop at a Warren rally. Brown has since apologized for his staff members and their behavior, but it does not make what they did right or go away anytime soon. Brown is certainly more of an independent voice, and I do appreciate that (unlike most of his party), but if I were a Massachusetts voter, I would have to go with Elizabeth Warren. She is the type of legislator I would want down here in North Carolina, fighting against the hate and bigotry we have seen from our North Carolina General Assembly. Brown has too many ties to Wall Street (that are filling his coffers with donation money), would not support immigrants having a chance in our borders (not letting them have licenses or aid to go to college), and more often than not he is in line with his party. Which, regardless of whether he is a Massachusetts Republican or not, the current state of the Republican party frankly scares me and I would rather have a voice like Elizabeth Warren representing the voices of those in Massachusetts. Samantha Korb Staff Writer Photo Courtesy mdfriendofhillary/flickr Elizabeth Warren, shown above, is running against Scott Brown. People want to know your political affiliation. They can pretend it is not important. They can pretend to know that it is socially inappropriate to ask about intimate details like the way that someone prays or votes, but they want to know. They need to know. It offers a cue for how you see the world, whether or not you think Stephen Colbert is amusing, and what kind of twitter feed you have. They are dying to know. What they really mean, though, is whether or not you are socially and fiscally conservative or liberal, or if you are one of those people who pretends you can be liberal for one and conservative for the other. Even though I stand by the fact that issues like welfare are both social and fiscal, voters presented with the same dilemma will probably need to pick a side. The thing is, that while you are judging me for being as far left as I can get without falling out the window and down a flight of stairs, you have pigeon-holed my political philosophy to cover only social and fiscal issues. What about the environment? Can we talk about the environment? No fracking way. Hydraulic fracturing is a Hydrofracking holds too many unknowns controversial issue – sort of. People have strong feelings about it, but they are not completely sure about what it does. Maybe they heard Governor Perdue is against it, so obviously it is a good idea and she is impeding economic prosperity for the state – or so Fox News told them. Perhaps they saw a documentary where people yelled really loud about oil in drinking water, and they simply cannot stand for that. “Fracking” is when we artificially create a fracture between rock layers. We create a reservoir in sandstone, limestone, or more unconventional bodies of rock like coal. It produces natural gas or oil that otherwise resides below the surface of the earth. The danger of the fracturing process is controversial because it really only occurs where there is error. The fluid used to create the fracture can escape, and the newly-fractured rock can allow the fluid in to the newly-created reservoir – meaning that fracturing fluid can find its way into oil, or, more worrisome, water. Experts can raise their voice about the likelihood that an error will occur until they have finally managed to actually use all of the oxygen in the room. There is evidence in northern states who have already implemented the practice, that such an incident occurred. However, political allies for fracking will continue to argue that the system should merely be perfected, and they will probably win the argument, because, unfortunately, the environment has yet to find a way in to the mainstream political agenda like “the economy” or “social issues,” even though it is at the heart of both. The fact remains that error is a moot point. Humans make errors, and drinking water is nothing to take a chance on. However, we live in a society that uses fluoride or chlorine in drinking water to make it as “pure” as possible. The issue at hand is that America is not in such dire need for oil or water to resort to such a dangerous matter. We use up a majority of the world’s water, and could stop worrying about our access to water if we would stop using it so wastefully. Simply ingraining an eco-friendly conscience in the minds of the American people by implementing standards for use and recycling the water that we do use would do an amazing amount of work for sustaining our access to water domestically. Drilling for oil at home does nothing for the energy efficiency in America, and certainly not for gas prices. The ownership of oil is not immediately determined by the geographic location in which it is drilled – which is why, even after ruining local ecological systems to drill domestically, we still pay nearly $4 per a gallon here in North Carolina (which is far from the most expensive). If you are willing to endanger drinking water for a false sense of security – to incorrectly believe that we are doing everything possible to decrease the cost and increase the access to energy efficiency, oil supplies, and new water reservoirs – then you need to evaluate your priorities. The future of this nation is going to require effort to change, not simply crossing our fingers while breaking in to rock formations, and putting a price on an untouched ecosystem. Emily Brown Staff Writer Photo Courtesy marcellus protest/flickr Across the country people are protesting the use of hydrofracking. 6 | October 9-15, 2012 Opinions | The Carolinian The prospect of having children in the twenty-first century Joseph Winberry Staff Writer If you have ever ventured into a cemetery housing the remains of individuals from the late nineteenth or early twentieth century, chances are you have noticed big families marked by tragedy. It was not uncommon for a woman to have several children in these days, (maybe not quite enough to rival Michelle Duggar,) with the expectation that several of these children would never reach adulthood. Indeed, staring at those headstones, you have likely noticed that the grim expectations were answered by even darker realities. In 1900, one in ten infants died before the age of one. By 2000, the number had fallen by about 99 percent. The advances made in medicine have transformed the world and the number of people living in it. These medical advances, in addition to changes in the nation’s economic and family structures, have forever altered the dynamics of America and the world. Still, these accomplishments bring with them new questions and challenges. As a young college student straddled with debt and facing a broken economy, I have to ask: does it still make sense to have children? Of course, this question has more than financial implications; the economic structure of the nation does play an enlarged role. In the past, when America enjoyed a more agriculturally-based economy, it made sense to have large families. They were needed for farm work, overcoming high infant mortality rates, and gave farmers opportunities to expand the family brand. As the country shifted towards an industrial-based economy, large, or at least larger families, still made sense since it meant more factory income for the family as a whole. Fast forward to the twentieth century and the mass education revolution. When not only was it more affordable to obtain a college degree, it was expected. For the first time, having children became an economic expense rather than an economic gain. As the twentieth-century progresses, there are signs that the prices of education and health care will increase while wages and benefits will either stagnate or decline; it is becoming more and more expensive to have children. By the time working class individuals pay off their college debt, they may be well into their twenties and thirties without the sense of job and economic security felt by their parents or grandparents. In such a scenario, it must be asked: does it still make sense to have kids? Another concern is the state of our environment. China and India are on the rise and are bringing with them hundreds of millions of middle class people dying to get their hands on fast cars, the newest Apple products, and bigger homes. This globalization of the American dream is idealistic, but it also threatens the future of a planet already fraught by resource exhaustion, warming, and overpopulation. If everyone from Albania to Zimbabwe is trying to keep up with the Joneses, will the planet be able to? Do you really think gas is going to be under four dollars when Asia finally gets around to filling up their range rovers? Considering the environmental challenges the world is facing and the rise of larger, consumerist families in more underdeveloped nations, one has to ask: does it still make sense to have children? Lastly, there is the selfish factor. It may seem hypocritical to pull this card, considering the environmental soap box I was just on, but it is just a fact: Americans like to have fun. According to recent research, marriage makes people happy while having children subtracts from this happiness. It is very likely that we are living in the century that will see across-the-board marriage equality in the United States of America. Couple this with the equality won for women and racial minorities in the past century, and you have the recipe for a good time. While the prices of education and health care may be on the rise, the price of traveling and recreation is on the decline, meaning more potential traveling and extreme sports for you and your spouse in the coming decades. With all the good times ready to roll, I have to be a buzz kill and ask; does it still make sense to have kids? You may have noticed by now that I have asked a question four times while avoiding any need to answer it. That is because it is not a question I can answer on a broad scale. For me, someone who is likely going to graduate school, I am probably too worried about resource exhaustion. As someone who wants to have a lot of fun before I die, it makes sense not to have children. You may come to a different conclusion. Still, it is important to identify and acknowledge the economic, environmental, and recreational costs of having children in the twenty-first century. If you go the way of bibs and burps, that is fine by me. Just make sure your kid does not drop any of its baby juice on my new sandals; my husband and I picked them up on our third trip to South America. Is this image a thing of the past? Photo Courtesy glyn lowe photoworks/flickr “ When America enjoyed a more agriculturally-based economy, it made sense to have large families. “ The Carolinian |A&E October 9-15, 2012 | 7 With broken glass littered across the floor, sweaty faces and bodies impossible to escape, and every filthy inch of beer-covered walking space well worn and danced upon, the Blind Tiger was the life of Greensboro on Thursday Oct. 4. Whether or not life exists in the after-party is questionable; Deacon disciples walked slowly from the crowded stage looking dazed, as if the quieter sounds of shuffling feet and casual conversation are now foreign to them. Even the natural lighting felt unfamiliar, as Deacon dealt out visual entertainment in the form of a deft, epileptic control over extremely bright and colored strobe lights pointed directly at the audience. Not a single audience member walked away unaffected from Dan Deacon’s sensory stimulants. Deacon’s all-or-nothing ap-proach regarding technology is a theme that was channeled throughout the night, with each act unknowingly presenting key elements: modern, technological entertainment in their perfor-mance. The Three-Brained Ro-bot served as a palette cleanser for whatever expectations the early audience had for the show’s earlier acts. Three-brained Robot is a project headed by the gyrat-ing hips and unhinged chants of Sam Martin, a mostly impro-vised performance that Martin describes as “demonic karaoke.” Martin says his motivations stem from his dull job in a retirement home; that the insanities that surround his pre-recorded compositions (played on a Mac laptop) are bred out of the pent-up energy he has to contain on a day-to-day basis. The act mostly consisted of a bizarre variety of props, which included: a puppet, a séance involving a rainbow parachute, and a healthy young man sitting still in a wheelchair in the middle of the performance space. It was as cathartic to view as it was for Martin to perform and left most of the audience either confused or compelled to join in on the unbridled madness. The two acts that followed, comedian Alan Resnick and touring musician Chester Endersby (aided by a member from Height With Friends), made small, crowd-pleasing waves that still managed to further the wired mentality of the night. Resnick’s comedy routine involves interaction with a purposely stilted and poorly behaved three-dimensional avatar of himself. Resnick seemed to stumble over the more subtle bits of his act and failed to recover in his allotted time. Chester Endersby’s most notable contribution may have been performing with Deacon himself later in the night, but his jangly rock act had much of the crowd shyly moving their bodies. Endersby’s greatest weakness was his seeming inability to keep his guitar in tune, and often audibly announced his trouble coordinating his own instrument to the songs he wanted to play. The audience did not seem to mind and Endersby’s performance was well-received. Height With Friends are a rapper Height and a few classic rock-enthusiasts that seem to act as his compatriots, and they deal out hip-hop for kids who have quite obviously never been hip-hop fans. Height was a giant, amorous fellow that emanated the enthusiasm any fan would want in a performance. However, the content itself was brimming with dreadful lyrics and painfully dull guitar riffs that made the act seem downright rudimentary in comparison to the previous musicians. There is a distinct difference between the party music that Height With Friends employs and the kind that Dan Deacon showers listeners with: one does not involve a poor-man’s version of the Beastie Boys lacking cultural awareness and deft lyricism. The night’s technological themes culminated as Deacon took his place front-in-center stage, appropriately clothed in in a Looney Tunes t-shirt and a gold, bedazzled hat. His control board consisted of his signature green skull (the crowd murmured excitedly about the prospect of him playing the track that references the prop) and an array of electronic instruments that served as his arsenal for the evening. Deacon knows that these props, blinding lights, and elaborate showmanship matters greatly in the eyes of his audience. More importantly, as an entertainer Deacon realizes the significance of keeping the audience invested in what is happening at any given moment. That level of awareness and transparency is what transformed Deacon’s electronic boutique into a frenzied hurricane of riveting dancing activities. The product was relentless, electric, and ruthlessly entertaining; dancing became a latent symptom of the pulsing night, with bodily rhythms coursing through the venue like an irreversible infection. When Deacon was not preoccupied playing pop songs at speeds that spewed electronic rhythms like prismatic shards of glass (his popular single “Lots,” for example) he was occupied whilst conducting dance competitions. He also kept the crowd going by encouraging a human train to the sounds of “Guilford Avenue Bridge” that curled out of the venue, around his multicolored school bus that served as his tour vehicle, and back into the venue. Cooperation was commanded and there were very few members in the audience who were unwilling to commit the natural rhythm of their body to Deacon’s bombastic vision. Kyle Minton Staff Writer Deacon’s all-or nothing approach regarding technology is a theme that was channeled throughout the night. photo courtesy of cameron harmon photo courtesy of cameron harmon Deacon realizes the significance of keeping the audience invested in what is happening at any given moment. Dan Deacon A nd O thers Live at the blind tiger Arts and Entertainment 8 | October 9-15, 2012 A&E| The Carolinian Megan Christy Staff Writer Arvé Byrd A&E Editor Expressiveness comes in a variety of forms. From the theater, to music, to creative writing, we all find ways to uniquely express who we are as individuals as well as learn about how we perceive others. One of the most effective ways of this kind of communication can be found through poetry. Last Saturday afternoon, the Greensboro Cultural Center held a screening of an OWN network documentary club film called “Louder Than a Bomb” hosted by Poet.she Female Performing Arts, as a part of Greensboro’s 17 Days Festival. Through this documentary screening, young audiences were able to follow the lives of four young adult poetry groups in Chicago as they prepared for world’s largest youth poetry slam, known as “Louder Than a Bomb.” Louder Than a Bomb (LTAB) poetry slam competition was founded in 2001. Based in the Chicago area, the competition has hosted over 600 teenagers from a variety of schools. As stated on LTAB’s website, “rather than emphasize individual poets and performances, the structure of Louder Than a Bomb demands that kids work collaboratively with their peers, presenting, critiquing, and rewriting their pieces. To succeed, teams have to create an environment of mutual trust and support. For many kids, being a part of such an environment— in an academic context—is life-changing.” This poetry slam is not about competing against one another, but rather inspiring each individual to make their voice be heard and make themselves “louder than a bomb.” The self-titled film focused around the LTAB poetry slam contest has gained national attention since its release in 2008. The film delves into the lives of four groups as they prepare to compete in the poetry slam. Nerves run high through each participant as they rehearse their poetry in hope of being the next winner of the LTAB poetry slam. Each student featured in the film has a unique background that has brought them to where they are now on their paths as poets. The most interesting aspect of each student is how they tell their stories through their poetry. Full of emotion and conviction, their poetry allows them the opportunity to express who they are and how they contribute to society. Through the stories captured on film, the audience experiences the anticipation and heartbreak of participating teenagers as they tell their profoundly distinctive stories of how the world around them inspires their writing as well as how the competition has shaped them as a poet. In an interview, producers and directors Greg Jacobs & Jon Siskel said, “’Louder Than a Bomb’ is a film about passion, competition, teamwork, and trust. It’s about the joy of being young, and the pain of growing up. It’s about speaking out, making noise, and finding your voice.” Poet.she Female Performing Arts & Spoken Word hosted the screening of this moving documentary. Based in Greensboro, this group strives to strengthen the female presence in the literary and spoken word community by providing enriching artistic programming. Inspired by the “Louder Than a Bomb” documentary, Poet. she is hosting a LTAB poetry tournament here in Greensboro. High school students are strongly encouraged to register and participate in the 2013 competition, held at UNC-G on April 26, 27, and 28. The group expects 12-16 high school teams, from across North Carolina, of four or five students to participate in the competition. During the three days, students will practice, memorize, and rehearse poems to perform their work for the North Carolina community. The competition will engage students in creative and enriching workshops and provide speakers to make their experiences worthwhile. More information about Louder Than a Bomb Greensboro can be found on their Facebook page at https://www. facebook.com/LTABGreensboro High school and college-age students are invited to get involved with Poet.she. College students in particular are encouraged to volunteer with the upcoming Louder Than a Bomb poetry slam. If anyone is interested, they should contact Poet.she directly at the email address poetshe7@ gmail.com . Meetings for Poet.she are held every Tuesday at 5p.m. at the Best Center Offices at 1325 Eugene Street, Suite 103. Inclusive to this, writing sessions are held every Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Green Bean coffee shop on Elm Street. Those who are interested can find out more about Poet.she on their website http://poetshe.org/ Photo Courtesy Chazaloo/flickr The self-titled film focuses around the LTAB poetry slam. Poet.she Presents Screening of “Louder than a Bomb” After a tumultuous few years of DUI’s and pending court dates, Lindsay Lohan will make her first leading-role screen debut in nearly five years in Lifetime’s biopic “Liz and Dick,” on Sunday, Nov. 25 at 9 p.m. It has been a long road coming for the starlet who many Hollywood producers are apprehensive about casting due to her history of being uncommitted to her roles. However, as the movie trailer depicts, the “infamous, scandalous, and dangerous” tale of Elizabeth Taylors double decade love run with Richard Burton will be perhaps the “biggest television event” of 2012. Lindsay Lohan and Elizabeth Taylor’s lives parallel in many ways. Both actresses began their careers at a young age, and later turned into sexy icons who both ironically graced the covers of Playboy. Lohan’s most notable childhood role was 1998’s “The Parent Trap” and Taylor broke barriers in her recurring roles in the “Lassie” series. Inclusive to this, both “celebutantes” gained the reputation for being an insurance liability to producers due to their numerous medical bouts on sets. In the early 1960s, upon the start of filming “Cleopatra,” the movie that sparked the love affair between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Taylor developed cases of Malta Fever and double pneumonia. While filming “Liz and Dick” Lohan ended up in the tabloids twice: once for crashing her car into an eighteen-wheeler, an incident that frustrated the creators who hired a car to transport her to and from sets; and a second time for calling the paramedics after suffering from dehydration and exhaustion, which caused the production to be under investigation by the SAG-AFTRA for “overworking their actors.” “Liz and Dick” is a portrayal of the sensational love affair that sent media outlets into a mad frenzy throughout the 60s and 70s between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, who Australian actor Grant Bowler plays. Taylor, who was in her fourth marriage when she began shooting “Cleopatra” with Burton was infamously known for being a home-wrecker while Burton was quite the “ladies-man” himself, and considered one of the “finest men in Hollywood” at the time. The couple sent rumor mills swirling when it appeared that their chemistry on-set had evolved into a real-life fling. When Taylor’s husband at the time, Eddie Fisher, left Rome, the Italian press took off with stories about the two holding up productions while hiding in trailers, where sounds of laughter, clinking glasses and heated arguments were heard. After filming wrapped up two years later, Burton became Taylor’s fifth husband in 1964. However, their affair became so widespread, that Taylor refused to appear at “Cleopatra’s” red-carpet premiere out of sheer embarrassment. Taylor would continue this disappearing act in years following this and would actually take crazy preventative measures to keep Hollywood casters from asking her to be in films, such as gaining weight unnecessarily. Taylor would also go on to divorce Burton in 1974, remarry in 1975, and divorce again in 1976. Lifetime’s lusty preview for the movie includes sultry and fiery love scenes between ‘Liz and Dick,’ catching moments where Bowler remarks: “God that woman knows how to make an entrance” and Lohan screaming “who’s counting?!” when a friend asks her why she is ending her fourth marriage. With a trailer as remarkably enticing as this one, no wonder the film is the most anticipated television movie of the year. Lindsay Lohan to make Comeback in “Liz and Dick” amydoll1477/flickr Liz and Dick portrays the sensational love affair between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. The Carolinian |A&E October 9-15, 2012 | 9 Brad Dillard Staff Writer October is usually the last month of the year before the big Oscar contenders start coming out in droves, but that does not mean October does not have movies to look forward to, and even an Oscar heavyweight of its own. Here are five movies worth looking out for. 5. Cloud Atlas Here is a movie that, based on pedigree, should be the biggest spectacle of the year. Written and directed by The Wachowski’s (“The Matrix” trilogy), and Tom Tykwer (“Run Lola Run”), and based on the ambitious, epic novel by David Mitchell, “Cloud Atlas” boasts an amazing cast and what looks to be some stunning visual effects. The problem is that it is 164 minutes long and spans four different stories, using the same actors to play different roles in the different storylines. Early word says that it is a mess, with some critics even invoking “Battlefield Earth,” one of the most notorious disasters in film history. Still, the talent behind “Cloud Atlas” is hard to ignore, and the film should prove polarizing to audiences, with some claiming it is the best sci-fi movie in a long time, and others saying it is an unmitigated disaster. Any movie that can inspire those kinds of reactions has to at least be worth a look. 4. Holy Motors Nominated for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, “Holy Motors” would no doubt be higher on this list if only it were going to expand beyond New York and LA. Since it likely will not, here is a title that people should stick in their mind, since they probably will not get a chance to see it until it hits Netflix. Directed by the acclaimed Leos Carax, “Holy Motors” lets us explore from dawn to dusk, a few hours in the life of Monsieur Osca— a shadowy character who journeys from one life to the next. Rave reviews followed the film out of Cannes, with one critic summing it up best by saying Carax’s film is “pure cinema.” 3. Seven Psychopaths Martin McDonagh is only on his second feature film, but his brand of dark comedy seems to have already won over critics. His first film “In Bruges,” was as risible and self-satisfied as they come, yet it still received raves from critics and most audiences alike. “Seven Psychopaths,” about a struggling screenwriter inadvertently becoming entangled in the Los Angeles criminal underworld after his oddball friends kidnap a gangster’s beloved Shih Tzu. The movie looks to be just as smug as its predecessor, but with outright raves from critics, perhaps McDonagh should tone down the pompousness. If not, at least the premise is charmingly off the wall, and the stellar cast is provided with some quirky material that they should be able to have fun with. 2. Sinister The state of horror films in 2012 is abysmal. It is almost non-existent, as the only halfway decent horror flick released was the sharp, yet too self-aware horror-comedy “The Cabin in the Woods” (though “Dredd” could also be classified as a horror film, and in that case, it is hands down the best of the year). In a month that should bring out the best the movie industry has to offer in the horror field, October will see the release of only three horror movies, and only one of these are original. That would be “Sinister,” which can perhaps save face for 2012’s horror films. Not only has “Sinister” received surprisingly great early reviews, but it looks genuinely scary, like a truly hellish ride through a haunted fun house. The horror genre needs a quick infusion of young talent, and fresh ideas, or else horror buffs will have to continue to suffer through watered down PG-13 dreck, and more unnecessary sequels. 1. Argo Ben Affleck’s direction career has gotten off to a smashing, albeit slightly overrated start. “Gone Baby Gone” and “The Town” were both excellently crafted, entertaining pieces of filmmaking, yet they were a little too well put together, perhaps because they were based on novels. Now, here comes “Argo,” based on an article about the Iranian revolution, and a CIA ‘exfiltration’ specialist who concocts a risky plan to free six Americans who have found shelter at the home of the Canadian ambassador. “Argo” looks like an exhilarating mixture of intense drama and ingenious comedy about the inner workings of the film industry. It is already being hailed as the front-runner for Best Picture, and is surely one of the foremost must see films remaining this year. Scene from Cloud Atlas, based on the ambitious, epic novel by David Mitchell. pHOTO cOURTESY shelley foy/flickr The brand of dark comedy in Seven Psycopaths has already won over critics. pHOTO cOURTESY parkhillsouthview/flickr Sinister can perhaps save face for horror films. pHOTO cOURTESY jdp85/flickr Ben Affleck at premiere of Argo. Photo Courtesy moovieboy/flickr Most anticipated movies for october 10 Features October 9 - 15, 2012 The MYSTERY issue: a man is cured of AIDS, the big bang theory, and more The mysterious case of the man cured of AIDS Charlena Wynn Staff Writer A man provides a “face” for the AIDS epidemic. photo courtesy of fLICKR/ USER dwan.mac Unknown foundations of UNCG’s oldest traditions Mysterious occurrences and cases are fascinating. They have the ability to shock and surprise us. Tracking the unknown allows for us to formulate opinions, theories and ideas about what may have happened as well as who is the culprit. With the popularity of shows like “The First 48” and “Law and Order,” the audience is able to gather clues and come to a conclusion on their own. If all goes well on “The First 48,” they will be presented with the correct suspect, though that is not always the case. We are sometimes left wondering who it could have been. Thus, the mystery of not knowing leaves the audience enchanted and wanting more. In the 1980s, the world was presented with a new virus that we had never seen before. HIV, or Human Immunodeficiency Virus, was first introduced in 1981 according to the Center for Disease Control. This virus can lead to AIDS, Acquired immune Deficiency Syndrome was the last stage of HIV. HIV destroys specific blood cells, CD4+ T cells, which are crucial to helping the body fight diseases. Most who develop AIDS find it difficult to fight other diseases and certain cancers. In the 1990s, combinations of medicines were introduced that allow people to live decades with HIV before developing AIDS. While there is medication to help slow down the progression of HIV/AIDS, there has not been any medicine that will end HIV/AIDS and its symptoms. Or is there? Recently, a man has claimed that he has been cured of AIDS. In addition, there a group of people who cannot contract the disease, who are deemed as immune. This goes against everything we have been taught about HIV/AIDS in more than 30 years of research. What could be the reason for this? Just a few years ago, Timothy Brown, 46, had AIDS but was cured through a blood transplant used to treat leukemia. The blood stem cells came from a donor had a genetic mutation that made him resistant to HIV. This occurs in less than one percent of Caucasians and an even smaller percent in other races. Before Brown had his transplant, doctors tested more than 70 donors with the genetic mutation before finding a match. The genetic HIV resistant mutation is a pair of mutated genes, one in each chromosome, that prevent their immune cells from developing a “receptor” that lets the AIDS virus break in. If the so-called CCR5 receptor is not there, the virus cannot break into the cell and take it over. One must inherit both genes from their parents who inherited a mutated gene from one parent. What does this mean for the future of treating and curing HIV/AIDS? Doctors hope the umbilical cord blood transplants could help others with HIV. Dr Lawrence Petz, medical director at StemCyte, an umbilical cord blood bank and his colleagues have tested 17,000 samples of cord blood. So far, 102 were discovered to have the genetic HIV resistant mutation. In May 2012, the team preformed the first cord blood transplant on an HIV infected patient and plan for another one later this year as of June 2012. The blood stem cell transplants are not just to treat those infected with HIV, but other diseases that were initially the primary reason for this procedure. Since his transplant in 2007, Timothy Brown has shown all positive signs and no indicators of having HIV/ AIDS. Doctors hope that one day this will be a cure for all who have HIV/AIDS. UNCG has a rich history behind it which dates back to 1892, when the North Carolina State Normal and Industrial School officially opened. Many traditions have flourished from our university, which remain a mystery to many. There are also many traditions that faded away, but knowing them is enlightening. UNCG was originally a school to train female educators who would in turn increase literacy in North Carolina, which was key for the state after the Civil War. From that time on, the university flourished and many interesting things came from its students. The founder of our university, Charles McIver was a prominent figure in education for North Carolina, especially when it came to women’s education. He was the first president for the university, and because of his connections, the university attracted top-level instructors. The campus developed a unique identity, with the many organizations that were established. Charles McIver died in 1906 and the first Founder’s Day was celebrated on October 5 1909, which we still celebrate today. UNCG has gone through a number of name changes including State Normal and Industrial School, State Normal and Industrial College, from 1919-1931 North Carolina College for Women, and from 1932 to 1963 it was called the Woman’s College of the University of North Carolina. Daisies, class jackets, dressing up the Charles McIver Jacket and class rings have been old traditions at UNCG for many years. The daisy was adopted as the university’s flower after the first official school colors were established, which was gold and white. A tradition that has died away is the Daisy Chain Ceremony, where seniors would march in double file lines down a lane of daisies woven into an elaborate chain. The tradition went away after the school became coed. Another tradition was jackets and their class colors. Prior to 1970, classes had colors, which rotated red, lavender, blue and green every four years. Class governments were dissolved in 1970, which did away with the class color tradition. Probably one of the most interesting traditions that have been long gone is Rat Day. On Rat Day, freshmen were required to do whatever the sophomores told them to. These were usually small tasks, like carrying their books and campus beautification projects while wearing bibs and mouse ears. At the end of the day, there would be a bonfire to celebrate Rat Day. It is no mystery why this tradition faded away, for today it would be considered hazing. Although many traditions have gone away with the growth of the university and the change in times, there are several other traditions that still stand. One that many are familiar with is that of the clock tower; many avoid walking under it for fear that they will not graduate in time. Another old UNCG tradition is that of the Rawk, brought to the campus in 1973. One of the lesser known traditions is that of the class ring. Students may order the ring once they reach junior status. When the ring is received, it is worn with the words of the University seal readable to the wearer; this is a tradition so that the Roman goddess of wisdom, Minerva, can watch over the wearer until graduation. After graduation the wearer then turns the ring the other way so that the words face the outside world, so that all may see. Bonnie Landaverdy Staff Writer The clock tower is the basis for intrigue and mystery at UNCG. photo courtesy of devon honeyman The Carolinian |Features October 9 - 15, 2012| 11 Mysterious technology of the Antikythera device Ashley Northup Opinions Editor The remains of the elegant yet mysterious antikythera device. photo courtesy of fLICKR/ USER zeeweez The strange disappearance of a district attorney In 1900, off a very small island known as Antikythera (which is right above Crete,) a group of divers came across a shipwreck. It was an old Roman merchant vessel, filled with Greek items. Among the items was one that was roughly 12 inches high, a lump that was disregarded after its initial discovery. According to accounts, it was in a museum with the other pieces for months, until one day it actually split apart and someone noticed it had gear wheels within it. After some studying, it took until 1950 when a physicist and historian by the name of Derek de Solla Price studied x-rays of the device to get a fuller understanding of it. He figured out that the device worked on the Metonic cycle (an ancient Greek lunar cycle based around 19 year intervals for calendars that make those calendars match nearly perfectly to the Earth’s lunar cycle.) In 2005, a group was brought in to take pictures using manipulated light conditions to get easier-to-see images of the object. Thanks to those, as well as 3D x-ray imaging, we know now that the mechanism functioned with layers upon layers of cogs pressed tightly together. Many other clocks later used systems very similar to this one. Except, the clocks similar to the Antikythera mechanism date 1000 to 1400 years after it. Cogs like the one used within the machine just were not, or so we thought, part of the time period. The Antikythera mechanism was created around 100 B.C., but possibly as early as 140 B.C. What information has been learned so far points to Greek origins, and there is mention of a similar item being made by Archimedes himself. (The problem there is that Archimedes died significantly before 140 B.C., so it seems unlikely he made it, but he could have made earlier models of it.) There are different layers within the mechanism that help show when things like eclipses will occur, or when years pass (and specifically when the Olympics would occur.) There is even a section that plots the variable motion of the moon (that is, the moon moves slower at certain points and faster at others while in the Earth’s orbits.) This is particularly important because the device recognizes the changes to the moon within its elliptical orbit – at a time when the world believed that the moon traveled on a circular path, not an elliptical one. Elliptical orbits were not accepted until the 17th century, when discovered by Johannes Kepler. That is, roughly 1600 years after the Antikythera device. Even when Kepler figured out that planets traveled on an elliptical, he could not understand why. It was not until later, when Newton came in, that the theory of gravity came forth to explain why planets traveled the way they do. We have never found anything remotely similar to the Antikythera mechanism. We have not even found writings about anything similar to this advanced piece of technology. Even now, over a hundred years after discovering this, we have not unlocked all of the things it was designed for. The amount of functions the device has are varied to the point where it seems unnecessary. The obvious questions around this mystery are: Who made it? Why? Why did the rest of the world not figure out this technology for 1000 years? Why is there only one Antikythera mechanism, and how could it possibly be so far ahead of its time? With the scandal at Pennsylvania State University drawing to a close, the results of Jerry Sandusky’s recklessness and viciousness have mostly been brought to the forefront. Thanks to an investigation by an independent body, we now know that the school’s sports culture was at least partly to blame for the malfeasance on the part of university officials. We also know that Joe Paterno at least played some role in hiding the scandal, and that Sandusky will be in prison for a very, very long time. One aspect of the case at Penn State may never be solved – and it has been largely hidden from public view. In 2005, Ray Gricar was a powerful and well-known District Attorney living in Pennsylvania. He graduated Case Western Reserve’s School of Law, and gone on to prosecute several cases over the course of his career. He also had a reputation for being a lady’s man, was married multiple occasions and had several different girlfriends over time. While investigating Pennsylvania State University He told his current girlfriend that he was going out for a scenic drive in the country, and never returned. According to some, Gricar was spotted about an hour away from home, shopping at various antiques stores – sometimes with a woman that was not his girlfriend. One anonymous source challenged this part of the story, telling Victor Thorn of the American Free Press that, “There is no physical evidence of Gricar’s visit to Lewisburg. Granted, people did see him, but none of them personally knew Gricar. Plus, nothing can be concretely confirmed because there were no photographs, surveillance videos, credit card receipts or a money trail. Further, the mystery woman in his presence remains unidentified and has never stepped forward, even though this was the area’s highest profile case in recent memory.” The search for Gricar started that afternoon when he failed to return home. First, his car was spotted near a local river. The anonymous source also told the writer, “When search dogs were brought in on Apr. 17, they couldn’t locate Gricar’s scent at the Street of Shops or around the river. Then, only two days after he went missing, Gricar’s Mini Cooper was returned to his girlfriend instead of being held as evidence. This point is important because Gricar’s car withheld a secret compartment that had not been searched.” Over the next few years, several odd coincidences heightened interest in the case. For starters, Gricar’s laptop computer was recovered from a body of water. Unfortunately, the contents of the hard drive could not be recovered due to water damage, despite the government spending thousands of dollars to have it evaluated. Strangely, Gricar had searched for “how to wreck a hard drive,” “how to fry a hard drive,” and “water damage to a notebook computer” on his home computer shortly before his disappearance. Another strange fact was Gricar’s probe into the happenings at Penn State. In 2005, several years before the case was made public, there is evidence that Gricar had information about the Jerry Sandusky scandal but that he refused to prosecute it. According to a story from Ken Belson of the New York Times, “A small but strident minority believes Gricar did not want to tackle a case that involved a hometown icon. Others who knew and worked with Gricar say he was a meticulous, independent and tough-minded prosecutor who was unbowed by Penn State, its football program and political pressure in general.” At any rate, the case remains unsolved, and there are numerous conspiracy theories and explanations for what happened. Some say that Gricar made himself disappear. Others conclude that Penn State officials somehow had something to do with the disappearance. At any rate, the case remains unsolved. Chris McCracken Features Editor Conspiracy theorists believe that Penn State played a role in Gricar’s disappearance. photo courtesy of fLICKR/ USER joe shlabotnik 12 | October 9 - 15, 2012 Features| The Carolinian Bizarre circumstances surrounding killer dingoes Emily Brown Staff Writer A dingo like this one caused one of the most bizarre cases in Australian history. photo courtesy of fLICKR/ USER :/ “Big Bang” theory baffles generations of scientists Humans love puzzles, riddles and mysteries. Not knowing something piques our interest, mostly because the prospect of discovering the answer validates whatever insecurities we all often fall victim to. Puzzles are an intellectual distraction, while riddles are an intellectual stimulation. Mysteries, however, possess a very “human” factor that the other two lack. They often involve other beings, whether that is a human or spiritual figure or natural phenomenon, and you cannot simply flip a card over, check the instructions, or force your neighbor to tell you the answer. Mysteries have room for error, and can potentially affect the life of another person. They occur when airplanes go missing in the fog, when fossil remains that no one recognizes are discovered, or when no one can completely determine why one candidate beat the other. Sometimes mysteries haunt us. Not just because we have an inherent need to have the right answers, but because one thing humans cannot be desynsitized to is the act of another human. Truth is often better than fiction, for those that wish to market either, because we are still capable of being genuinely surprised by what other people are capable of. The aura of mystery and our susceptibility to being shocked by our fellow man often makes us vulnerable to playing tricks on ourselves, through sensationalist media in particular. The death of Azaria Chamberlain is one of the best examples of this happening. Although the case has now been solved, it was a mystery for a number of years and has dramatically changed the way that many countries perceive media’s affect on court cases. The recent Casey Anthony case appears even more mysterious once the Azaria Chamberlain case is explored. The story is popularized in Since humans first looked up at the stars, there has been a fascination with worlds beyond our own. For centuries we have tried unlocking the secrets of the cosmos, attempting to understand how our vast universe came into existence. We have struggled to explain it through religion, cosmology, philosophy, astronomy, and science, yet we crave more; your understanding of the observable universe fragmented and incomplete. Even now, despite being the most technologically advanced we have ever been in human history, scientists still cannot fully explain the origin of the universe we live in, the most widely accepted theory of creation, The Big Bang, still simply being a theory. The facets of this theory, however, are both mind boggling and astounding, bending the apparent laws of physics that govern the nature of the physical world. As stated on big-bang-theory. com, before the events that caused the Big Bang, nothing, absolutely nothing, existed. There were no planets, no stars, no life, not even space; there was simply nothing. This prospect alone is confounding, if for no other reason than the imagination of our own non-existence – the universe’s non-existence. After all, the universe itself is the oldest thing around, predating the human race by roughly 15 billion years. Everything that ever was, is, and will be is a direct result of this single, momentous event. The cause of the Big Bang, however, is still unknown. All we know is that there was nothing, and then there was “something.” This something is called a singularity, which big-bang-theory.com defines as “zones which defy our current understanding of physics.” Singularities, most often referred to by their presence at the center of black holes, are poorly understood. In the case of the Big Bang, the singularity was an infinitely small point of infinite density and heat, which, by some means, suddenly expanded into the universe we recognize today. The explosive expansion itself, however, as explained by Chris LaRocco’s and Blair Rothstein’s “The Big Bang: It sure was BIG!!,” was unlike ordinary fragmentary explosions. They state that it was an “explosion of space within itself,” and was “unlike like an explosion of a bomb where fragments are thrown outward.” At this point, there were no individual physical objects, rather the energy released “[laid] the foundation[s]” of our current, physical universe. Big-bang- theory.com offers a simple example of this phenomenon, comparing our universe to a deflated balloon. As the balloon is inflated, it is given shape, size, and dimension by the energy within, expanding further and further outward over time. Believe it or not, our universe is still expanding, billions of years after the creation of the universe. This expansion has caused galaxies to drift further and further apart, adding incomprehensible amounts of distance between them. As “The Big Bang: It sure was Big!!” explains, the universe, over time, has expanded and cooled uniformly, as evidenced by the detection of previously unknown microwave radiation at our universe’s edge. This radiation was first discovered by astronomers Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, and added further credence to the Big Bang theory. Essentially, what they discovered were the echoes of the Big Bang; the residual energy and “noise” of the universe’s initial expansion. Although the mechanism which initiated the Big Bang is yet to be known, it is now certain that, indeed, our universe had a definite beginning. As astronomers and cosmologists discover more and more about our ever-expanding universe, perhaps, eventually, we will come to learn of the forces that transformed the apparent nothingness of the pre-universe era into the enormous expanse we live in today, and finally unravel the mystery surrounding our celestial origins. Jonathan Waye Staff Writer American culture by the line, “the dingo ate my baby!” which is often uttered as some kind of punchline. Australians Lindy and Michael Chamberlain were camping in Uluru when Lindy discovered that their nine-week-old daughter Azaria was missing from the tent. The infamous line was uttered in the court room when Lindy was describing the moments just prior to discovering the absence of Azaria, in which she saw a dingo exit the tent, but her view of its mouth was obstructed. Upon the report of the missing baby and subsequent search of the area, Lindy was arrested and Michael was charged as an accessory. They were ultimately convicted, and it took three years of imprisonment and just as many rejected appeals before the couple was found innocent. Although witness accounts, local mountain rangers and scientific evidence corroborated the Chamberlain’s story, the police continued to dismiss expert witnesses. They discovered an incomplete set of clothing that was on the infant at the time of abduction, and a detective repositioned the clothing to take a picture for evidence. The arrangement of that clothing in the photograph became an integral piece in the prosecution of Lindy Chamberlain, even though witnesses asserted multiple times that the clothes were found differently than photographed. The presence of fetal hemoglobin in the Chamberlain’s vehicle was the only forensic evidence that supported the argument of the prosecution, although fetal hemoglobin is also present when a test is run on the stain of several popular food items among kids (milkshakes being one). With the help of the media, the police advertised Lindy Chamberlain’s prosecution in a manner that made it play out in a movie. They staged the visit with local campers, she purposefully went to the tent so she could fabricate the initial discovery of her missing infant, and then hid the body with the use of their van while the remainder of the group was attempting to search for Azaria. Although several experts could assure the jury that a dingo would be capable of carrying a nine-week-old newborn, none of them were allowed to speak in court. The Chamberlains were found innocent by happenstance. A hiker stumbled and ultimately died while hiking in the same camping area. When his body was discovered, they also discovered a nearby den for a dingo pack. The den was previously a mystery to the rangers in the area. Inside of the den was an infant’s jacket that perfectly matched the description of a jacket that Chamberlain insisted was still missing from their daughter’s clothes. Discovering this jacket in the den uncovered the important mystery of what happened to the body of their daughter, and made the prosecution evaluate their original assessment of a dingo’s strength. Although this ultimately led to the Chamberlain mystery being solved, the mystery remains that the prosecution had a particular fixation on prosecuting Chamberlain. While some people cite the Chamberlain’s Seventh Day Adventist faith, others simply believe that the attention from the media made the prosecution feel that a guilty sentence was their most important priority, and not actually uncovering the truth. Does the media play a role in determining the outcome of a case? That is the real mystery. While we are busy trying to solve puzzles, we sometimes forget when it stops being a television show and starts being a matter of life or death (or prison). There is only one person alive that knows whether or not Casey Anthony is telling the truth about what happened to her daughter, and that mystery is too much for some Americans. Scientists still have no idea what could have caused the “big bang.” photo courtesy of fLICKR/ USER Eurritimia The Carolinian |Sports October 9-15, 2012 | 13 apparel, luchador masks and were screaming many original chants. In this matchup, our UNCG Spartans faced off against the fourth ranked team in the country, but a completely oblivious person to the NCAA college rankings would never know Charlotte was that good by checking out the amount of people in the stands during the first half. The entire half was filled with the 49er fans simply drowning out the crickets in the background, who happened to be the small number of UNCG fans in attendance. It was because of UNC-Charlotte’s large crowd support that the refs game few to no calls in UNCG’s favor in the first half. The second half was a much better atmosphere, with a large amount of Spartan fans finally arriving to show their team support. It was a truly riveting sight to watch 49er and Spartan fans chant back and forth at 3-0 lead and consistently held onto a two to three point lead the rest of the set. Christina Teter ended the set with a kill for the Spartans to give UNCG an early 1-0 lead. Chattanooga would answer with a second set that saw plenty of sloppy action with both teams committing double digit errors. The two teams traded points through the early part of the set before it looked like UNCG would take control opening up an 18-13 lead. The Mocs used a strong rally though, fueled by several Spartan errors, to even the match with a 28-26 set victory. UNCG produced their own come from behind victory after the break. With Chattanooga leading the third set 12-7 the Spartans rallied with a 6-1 run to even the set. Chattanooga responded and the two teams traded points for the next several minutes before UNCG finally asserted one another, seeing who would eclipse one another in noise produced. Both teams responded to the crowds support putting up a truly amazing match that ended in a 1-1 draw, with the refs calling the game down the middle. While their game versus UNC-Charlotte garnered a large crowd, the attendance for UNCG soccer games has remained minimal. I was pleasantly surprised that a nice crowd showed up to support the Spartans a few weeks ago versus App State on a rainy Saturday evening. This was followed by a small crowd showing when our Spartans played Clemson a week ago. This was a truly perplexing scenario as I could not understand why more people would show to a game against a mediocre in state soccer program such as App State, rather than come to a game against an ACC opponent in Clemson. The Spartans played Clemson well for the first 60-65 minutes of the game, but their inability to capitalize on their opportunities The UNCG men’s soccer team took a break from conference play to host ACC foe Clemson at UNCG Soccer Stadium. However, it appeared the Spartans were looking ahead to their weekend conference match-up against the Wofford Terriers, going down 2-0 to the visiting Tigers. Clemson got goals in the 75th minute from Manolo Sanchez and in the 82nd minute with Austin Savage. Redshirt senior goalkeeper Peyton Ford was UNCG’s top performer with six saves. “In the end of the night, I thought we deserved this loss,” commented head coach Justin Maullin after the match. “A lot of players overlooked this game, as we put so much emphasis in the conference games that we didn’t take this one serious enough. Credit goes to Clemson as they were a little bit sharper than us and wanted it a little more tonight.” Despite the listless performance, the Spartans did manage to maintain solidity on the defensive side of the ball, keeping the Tigers out of the net for more than three-quarters of the match. Ford was called on early and often, making a diving save on Savage in the 12th minute on a shot just outside the 18-yard box. Clemson was unable to capitalize on the ensuing corner. UNCG almost caught Clemson napping in the 32nd minute as Tigers goalkeeper Chris Glodack misplayed a clearance outside his box. Freshman Jannick Martens latched on to the end of the botched pass and tried lifting it over Glodack and into the empty net but missed what would have been a goal against the run of play just wide. After a mostly uneventful middle half-hour of the match, UNCG nearly took the shock lead in the 67th minute off a corner kick. Oddur Gudmundsson and Jonathan Leonard combined for three point-blank shots from within the six-yard box. However, Glodack was prepared, stoning UNCG on all three attempts and keeping the match level. Clemson’s breakthrough finally came in the 75th minute. Manolo made quite a run at the Spartan defenders, creating some space for himself just outside the top of the penalty area, before pushing a shot past Ford and into the net for the game-winner. The goal ended Ford’s impressive shutout streak, which dated back to the Sept. 22 loss at Coastal Carolina, at 280 minutes. UNCG was unable to generate much of a response, and it became moot in the 82nd minute as Savage found a through ball of teammate Amadou Dia’s inside UNCG’s six-yard box. Savage deftly flicked it by Ford to double Clemson’s advantage and seal the three points. Clemson outshot the Spartans 14-11 over the 90 minutes, including putting eight on frame as opposed to UNCG’s three. UNCG played a relatively clean game, earning only two yellow cards—one for the team at the end of the first half for dissent and one for Gudmundsson in the 63rd minute. Although the match was played on a rainy Tuesday evening, a disappointing 651 fans showed up for the match, supporting the Spartans in hope but not in voice. The UNCG men’s soccer team suffered a heartbreaking double overtime defeat at the hands of Southern Conference foe Wofford at UNCG Soccer Stadium on Saturday night. Blair Gaines of the Terriers put away the game-winner in the match’s final minute on a strike that sent the Spartans to 2-1 in the conference and 4-6- 2 overall. Junior center back Mahdi Ali was arguably the Spartans’ top player, snuffing out several Wofford opportunities in regulation and even going forward and creating a chance or two of his own. “I thought we played well,” said a calm head coach Justin Maullin after the last-second defeat. “I thought guys competed. I thought we got unlucky. We created some chances and we didn’t take the chances. Credit to Wofford, it’s only our third loss in three years in the regular season.” Sophomore midfielder Austin Miller earned himself the start for UNCG and got the Spartan attack going early with his blazing speed. His 5th minute strike was the first on frame of the match but was unfortunately right at Terrier keeper Andrew Drennan. As with most UNCG men’s soccer games, the atmosphere was fairly heated early. It only took until the 21st minute for the referee to pull out the book, showing a yellow to Wofford’s Carlos Dominguez Gonzalez for a reckless challenge. Miller again created an opportunity in the 27th minute with a weaving run through Wofford’s charges which led ultimately to a corner kick. Redshirt sophomore Nathan Bunch latched onto the corner but his strike was cleared off the line by a Wofford defender, keeping the match level. UNCG went into the half with the better chances and the better of the possession but nothing to show for it on the scoresheet. They continued their possession dominance coming out of the break, with redshirt freshman Dustin Gamradt earning an opportunity from a tough angle but inside the six-yard box. However, he sent the chance begging over the top corner. Indeed, UNCG had a tough time finishing all match. The opportunities were there but the final touch, the final ball was often not good enough. “Not all goals have to be pretty goals,” Maullin said. “We’re not doing a good enough job at getting good numbers in the box on the crosses and that’s part of braveness. Our final touch just wasn’t good enough in the final third.” The action picked up around the 56th minute, as Wofford’s Benny Puetter forced a save and a corner concession from redshirt senior goalkeeper Peyton Ford. Sophomore defender Forrest Lasso had a go at it on the ensuing corner, but the opportunity went right to Ford. UNCG’s counter-attack led to a great opportunity on a half-volley just inside the box for Bunch…who also hit it right at the keeper. Cards would flash a minute later to Wofford’s Taylor Grim for a blatant takedown of a streaking Miller and to UNCG’s Max Schulz for simulation in the box.Wofford’s opportunities were few and far between, mostly due to Ali’s transformation into a mobile brick wall for much of the match. He came up particularly big in the 60th minute when a Wofford attacker broke free of the Spartan defense and was seemingly alone with Ford. That is, until Ali came up from behind and executed a delicate but precise tackle in the box, sending the ball harmlessly away. “(Mahdi Ali) showed some great leadership tonight,” Maullin said. “He actually did the pregame speech. He showed like a true captain how much it bothered him.” The Spartans should have scored in the 74th minute when Drennan made a mistake by coming out of the box to challenge Ilhan’s claim on a 50-50. The ball bounced away toward sophomore midfielder David Reittinger who had an open net…until the referee bailed out the keeper by calling a foul on Ilhan. The two teams displayed plenty of fire over the final sixteen minutes of regulation but few chances and the match went to golden-goal overtime scoreless. It was at this point where Wofford took over the match, garnering the balance of the opportunities and forcing a couple of brilliant fingertip saves from Ford. However, the draw was not in the cards for UNCG. In the final 100th minute, Blair Gaines, from a possibly offside position, headed on a chance from Wofford’s Nestor Jamarillo into the back of the net. Ford, Ali, and the rest of the Spartans had no chance on the well executed play and they were forced to watch as the Terriers piled up in the Ford’s goal. UNCG will not have long to dwell on the loss, meeting up with the College of Charleston at UNCG Soccer Stadium Tuesday at 7 pm. Clemson, Wofford leave UNCG’s week pointless caused them to come up short, as Clemson’s two quick second half goals allowed them to defeat our Spartans at home. This makes me wonder whether the crowd energy that was clearly missing could have helped provide UNCG with a little extra motivation. As a college student, showing some school spirit is good from time to time. While it is understandable that attendance would be low if our soccer teams were terrible, the fact both soccer teams for UNCG are good teams gives us no excuse why we should not show up. While it is enjoyable seeing the same group of guys come in face and full body paint, as well as hearing Mark the Librarian shouting from the stands, some variety would be nice from time to time. Both the men’s and women’s soccer teams give a solid effort every week to compete and win for our school and I do not know about you, but I feel it is a time that we fans reciprocate that same effort. themselves late. With the score even at 18 an Olivia Humphries kill gave UNCG their first lead of the night and the Spartans scored six of the next eight points, capped by a Chattanooga attack error to take a 25-19 set victory. UNCG never trailed in the fourth and final set and with the score at 17-15 the Spartans went on an 8-2 run to end the match with a 25-17 victory. Karrian Chambers led the Spartans with 19 kills in the match while Olivia Humphries and Morgan Freeman each poured in 17 and 14 respectively. Kellie Orweiler recorded a match high 33 digs and added 2 service aces for UNCG. UNCG improved to 9-8 on the season and 4-2 in SoCon play this year. The Spartans take a break from Southern Conference action on Tuesday night as South Carolina State comes into Fleming Gym before UNCG heads down south for a weekend visit to Georgia Southern and Davidson. split from page 15 quiet from page 15 Tuesday UNCG 0 Clemson 2 Saturday UNCG 0 Wofford 1 (2OT) Ian Foster Sports Editor Spartans drop midweek bout with Tigers despite six Ford saves Terriers shock Spartans in double overtime, giving UNCG 3rd conference loss in three years 14 |October 9-15, 2012 Sports |The Carolinian We are the sports fans who say “We” Jose Torres Staff Writer Ian Foster Sports Editor “We,” a two letter word that carries so much weight in the sports world. “We,” a sense of ownership, a sense of belonging, a sense of self. “We,” a word that annoys a wide range of people involved in the sports word. As simple as this pronoun seems, the word “we” holds a very complex definition in sports. The biggest reason why I gravitate to the sports world is because of the camaraderie among the fans. I am a son of a soldier who has been stationed around the Atlantic. If I were to visit a place like Philadelphia, the only common idea I would share with the people is my allegiance to the Philadelphia Eagles. When fans talk about the feelings they have towards a team, the word “we” tends to come up more often than not. But when they use “we,” what exactly do they mean? Do they mean “we” as fans or rather “we” as a team? Usually the word “we” is used innocently. For instance, I can ask a fellow fan “what time do we play Sunday?” and he will understand that I am talking about the Eagles because we both know that we identify with the team. This irritates people because we do not own the team nor are we employed by the team. So, in their mind, we have no reason to use the word “we.” Yet I still hear people use “we” because of the allegiance. When you are a part of something, like becoming a fan of a certain team, then you identify yourself as such. People ask me when I write about sports, “what’s your favorite team?” When I reply with the Eagles, they tend to lump me in with the stereotypical crazy Philly fans. I always reply “no, we’re not all that crazy,” instead of saying “no, I’m not that crazy.” It is an important distinction because I am defending the community I am a part of instead of just defending myself. That is what the word “we” brings. Not just ownership, but belonging. Why do people get so angry at the word “we?” The easiest way to explain is by comparing them to the Grammar Police. The Grammar Police is anyone who insists on correcting every grammatical error from the spoken word to the written word on any platform. I have to admit, I used to be one. I was the guy who would correct Facebook posts because someone used “your” instead of “you’re.” Now, it does not really bug me as much. People make mistakes all the time, especially on Facebook, Twitter, and any other social media site. I am not comparing the use of “we” to a grammatical error; rather I am comparing the disdain that cultivates among the Grammar Police and those who hate the word “we.” Correcting grammatical errors, just like getting mad at fans that use the word “we,” is inane and quite frankly a waste of time. However, for every rule there is always an exception. Although I do not consider myself as part of the Grammar Police, when someone takes a shot at me by saying “Your an idiot!” I always respond with “no, you’re an idiot.” After all, questioning my intelligence with a grammatical error is idiotic itself. We can use the same idea with the word “we.” If the Eagles lost to the Giants the other week and a fan came up to me and said “We kicked your butt,” I would then have issue. This fan is not using the word “we” innocently like my previous example. Rather, he is using it as a means to embarrass me because the team he aligns with beat a team I align with. This is the only problem I have with using the word “we.” I do not mind it being used as a sense of community or belonging, but if it is used to try to embarrass other communities, it is wrong. The word “we” has had a bad stigma for years among sports fans. Many believe only those who own or are employed by the team they associate with are allowed to use the word “we.” I do not have a problem with people using it innocently. After all, everyone wants to belong to something, and this pronoun helps us express this idea of community. I can see why those like the Grammar Police do not like it but if it is used harmlessly, then why should it matter? Major League Baseball’s wild mistake Major League Baseball makes puzzling decision after puzzling decision. From awarding World Series Home-Field Advantage to the league that wins the All- Star Game to adding a fifth playoff team in each league, commissioner Bud Selig can seem like quite the reactionary baseball overlord. The Home-Field thing was a reaction to a midsummer classic in Milwaukee that ended in a tie. The fans were understandably upset. In response, Selig decided to ramp up the intensity about three notches more than necessary. In response to fans loving one-game playoffs, Selig decided to mandate there being two every year. A forced one-game playoff in baseball is like watching the Kill Bill but skipping ahead to the scene where Uma Thurman finally confronts David Carradine. It is fun and dramatic, but you are not particularly sure how or why anyone got there. From games one to about 140, the 2011 Major League Baseball season was pretty boring. The eight playoff teams all had fairly substantial leads. Even the Wild Cards were far ahead, with both the Boston Red Sox and the Atlanta Braves nursing 9-game leads in late August. Then, Crazy September Baseball broke loose, culminating in what was the greatest Game 162 in baseball’s history. This year, however, baseball fans were robbed. Instead of letting late September madness happen naturally, Major League Baseball decided to force the drama. The result was undeniably dramatic, but for all the wrong reasons. Play-in games are always weird. In 2007, Colorado completed an amazing run with an extra-innings win over San Diego in a one-game playoff that was aided by a contentious homerun call. The next year, the Minnesota Twins fell to the White Sox in a 1-0 one-gamer that was played in Chicago even though the Twins had won the season series. In 2009, the Twins got their revenge in The Best Baseball Game Ever Played (in my humble unbiased opinion, of course) against the Tigers, becoming the first to come back from a three-game deficit with four games to play. The amazing thing about these play-in games is that they were all deserved. The teams played 162 games and at the end, there was nothing to choose between the two. Even though 2010 and 2011 did not feature play-in games, they still featured incredible drama surrounding the potential play-in games. As stated earlier, 2011’s last day of the season was a great day for baseball. What happened? Major League Baseball noticed that their sport never grabs the national spotlight when it matters most: in October. Heck, with Euro2012, the Olympics, the most entertaining NBA playoffs in awhile, and of course football, it could be argued that Major League Baseball never topped the headlines this year. Mid-season NFL games attract far superior ratings and media coverage than World Series games. It took Game 162 and the first 7-game World Series since 2002 to get the nation to care about baseball again in 2011. Bud Selig decided that he was going to manufacture drama, forcing a one-game playoff between the top two non-division winners. Luckily for Selig, the AL version featured two teams that would have played the game anyway in the Rangers and the Orioles. Baltimore won the game handily, 5-1, continuing one of the weirdest seasons in baseball history. The NL version, on the other hand, featured the 94-win Atlanta Braves and the 87-win St. Louis Cardinals. The same St. Louis Cardinals that earned their Wild Card spot the year before by overcoming a nine-game deficit by, well, winning ten more games than the Braves. This season, they got the unprecedented opportunity to make up a seven-game deficit in just one game! What fun! The result? Braves fans got kicked in the mouth again. Three errors and the most bizarre phantom infield fly call in baseball history helped the Cards eliminate the Braves 6-3 in Atlanta. Suddenly, a team that had won 94 games in the regular season in one of the toughest divisions in baseball was knocked out of the playoffs after one game by a team that was not in their class for most of the season. As for the game itself, it was undeniably dramatic. The Braves grabbed an early 2-0 lead on a controversial late time-out call. Jeffrey Ross appeared to strike out to end the 2nd inning when the home plate umpire granted a late timeout. Ross sent St. Louis starter Kyle Lohse’s next pitch into the left-field bleachers. It was the only break that would go Atlanta’s way. Chipper Jones, playing the last game of his storied career (the Braves mowed the number 10, his jersey number, into the outfield) uncharacteristically overthrew his second baseman on a routine groundball, ultimately leading to three Cardinals runs. More infield overthrows (apparently the Cardinals had saved some from the 2006 World Series) led to a 6-3 Cardinals lead. And then the 8th inning happened. Here are my notes as the game was happening: (4th inning) Let the shenanigans begin. Chipper just threw over the 2nd baseman with no outs, leaving runners on the corners. Play-in games are weird. The Cards tie on a double and a groundout. Atlanta Anxiety is full-on. A sac fly puts the Cards up. It is still the 4th inning. (5th inning) David Ross just followed up his homerun with a bunt single. Now there are runners at the corners. Play-in games are… Before I can finish the sentence, Andrelton Simmons bunts also, and the throw sails! Except, Simmons ran on the fair grass, which is a no-no, making the umpires call runner interference. Two runs off the board. Play-in games are weird. (8th inning) Simmons pops it up between left fielder and third baseman…it drops! But the ump calls infield fly! And the fans shower the field with beer bottles! Did I mention that play-in games are weird? Game officially under protest. Game delayed 18 minutes as a result of all the stuff on the field. This is unreal. I am calling (former WUAG Sports Director/ Carolinian columnist) Stuart Barefoot after this (end notes). From here on out, the game will forever be referred to as the Infield Fly Game. The call itself resulted from another puzzling decision of Major League Baseball: two extra umpires in the playoffs. A good idea in principle but one that almost always backfires. Ultimately, of course, the Cardinals won. Major League Baseball got what it wanted: a ton of drama and national exposure. But at what cost? photo courtesy keith allison/flickr The umpires and Major League Baseball teamed up to ruin Chipper Jones’s last game. 10-team playoff, random wild card game, extra umpires among MLB playoff missteps Sports 15 October 9-15, 2012 Calvin Walters Staff Writer Hannah Nystrom Staff Writer Joseph Abraham Staff Writer While soccer is not the most popular game in the United States, it is the most popular sport in the world. Th e lack of popularity in our country is commonly represented at UNCG Soccer games, which is a shame. UNCG puts a lot of money into their soccer program, who recruit very talented players from all over the world. It is because of our team’s talent that we compete against schools like Duke, NC State, Clemson and UNC-Charlotte on a regular basis. Th e lack of student attendance to these games is holding our soccer team back from their full potential. When a large group of fans are at a game cheering their team on, it provides more motivation to these players to keep fi ghting on. Th ese players do not need motivation to play hard and to win, because every athlete should already hold that form of competitive edge. However, when a player has been running up and down a soccer pitch for over 50-70 minutes or even the whole game, the crowd screaming in support is their fuel to keep going. Crowds also have an underrated impact on how a referee will call a game. While refs will call blatant fouls on each side, they are more likely to give breaks to the team that the crowd supports. Th is includes when a player on the home team fl ops. Th e referee will be more likely to call that foul on the opposing team if the crowd is behind the player who fl opped. Th is can work in reverse in terms of defense, if a player on the team the crowd supports commits a not so obvious foul, the ref may not blow his whistle. Th e problem with the atmosphere at UNCG soccer games is that since there is oft en not a large attendance of fans, our Spartans are less likely to get the breaks they should. Th is was most evident when I attended a home game against UNC-Charlotte. As I made my way to the press box to greet Ian Foster, who was covering the game, as well as Matt McCollester from Spartan Athletics, we could not help but notice a large amount of UNC-Charlotte fans taking up a majority of the spectator section. Th ese fans were wrapped in UNC- Charlotte Spartans pick up 4 points in South Carolina Th e UNCG women’s soccer team travelled to South Carolina for a set of SoCon conference games against the Furman Paladins and the Woff ord Terriers. Th e Spartans faced Furman Friday Oct. 5 at the Eugene Stone Soccer Stadium and Woff ord on Sunday Oct. 7 at Snyder Fields. Th e fi rst half defi nitely belonged to Furman. Th e Paladins maintained possession of the ball with 6 to 5 as well as 13 to 5 in the second half. No amount of work would pay off the Paladins performance; the Spartans were determined to win. Th e Spartans tied against the Paladins 110 minutes, in double overtime, 1 to 1. During the 59th minute of the game, Furman’s all-star player Stephanie DeVita via India Robinson shot into the far right post aft er being provided a thru ball by her teammate. With a goal against them, the UNCG women’s soccer team kicked it into high gear, scoring nearly a minute aft er Furman. At the 60th minute mark, red shirt senior, Cat Barnekow, unassisted, wrapped a corner kick around the near post for an Olympic Goal. Th is was the fourth goal of the season for Barnekow. Even though Barnekow scored the tying goal, freshman goalkeeper Jamie Simmons truly made the diff erence for the Spartans. During the fi rst half of the game, Simmons made three crucial saves, two of which came from SoCon’s women’s soccer player of the month, Stephanie DeVita. Once entering second overtime, Jamie Simmons blocked two crucial goals, a header by Furman’s Stephanie DeVita and a shot by Alyssa Althoff , keeping the game tied. Simmons fi nished the Furman game with a career high of 15 saves. A tie against Furman did not hinder UNCG’s performance against Woff ord. Th e Spartans beat the Terriers 1 to 0. During the fi rst half, the Spartans took possession at the 11 minute mark. Lauren Hein via Katie Durst’s cross scored her goal for the Spartans by tipping off the goalkeeper and gently tapping into the net. Th e Woff ord Terriers had two chances to take the lead during the fi rst half of the game with two shots on goal within the last 10 minutes of the half, but to the Spartans’ advantage, goalkeeper Jamie Simmons blocked both shots. Th is was Simmons third shutout of the season. Th e Spartans were able to hold their own during the game, maintaining their 1 to 0 lead through the 90 minutes even though Woff ord had more shots on goal 8 to 3. Th e UNCG volleyball team returned home this past weekend for a pivotal two game set against Southern Conference North division foes Samford and Chattanooga. Following a similar pattern the Spartans split the weekend contest falling to the SoCon leading Bulldogs before bouncing back with a strong victory over the Mocs. UNCG came out strong against Samford in the fi rst set leading through most of the opening action. Th e Bulldogs would not go down quietly though and evened things up just to see the Spartans push back by a point or two. With UNCG leading 22-21, Samford collected two kills in a row to take their fi rst lead of the set. UNCG answered and pushed the Bulldogs to the brink before a Samford kill and a Spartan error left the Spartans with a heartbreaking 27-25 fi rst set loss. Th e Spartans could not recover from the disappointing fi nish and Samford raced out to big leads on the way to taking the next two sets and the match. In the second set Samford raced out to a 6-1 lead and never looked back allowing the Spartans to only close within four (at 9-5) the rest of the set. UNCG aided the Bulldogs with 12 errors during the play compared to only 8 throughout the entire match for the Bulldogs. Th e third set began in a similar fashion with Samford pulling ahead 7-3. UNCG never could respond to the early outburst from the Bulldogs and the matched ended with a Spartan attack error to give the Bulldogs the sweep. Taking the court less than 24 hours later the Spartans bounced back with a 3-1 victory over UT Chattanooga in a very important match for SoCon positioning. Both teams entered the match at 3-2 and the winner would hold on to second place in the North division. Th e fi rst set started out well for UNCG who jumped out to Th is was a successful weekend for the Spartans. Th e UNCG Women’s Team was able to maintain their undefeated streak with the Paladins and the Terriers. Th e tie against Furman and the win against Woff ord provide the Spartans overall ranking at 7-6-1 with a 4-1-1 record in the SoCon. Th ese results pushed the Terriers to 1-4-1 in SoCon and the Paladins 2-1-2. UNCG rises to the top with their 18 team unbeaten streak. Th e Spartans will take on the Davidson Wildcats Friday, Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. at the UNCG Soccer Stadium. Support the Spartans as they continue to improve their SoCon status. Friday UNCG 1 Furman 1(2OT) Sunday UNCG 1 Woff ord 0 Barnekow’s Olympic Goal, Hein’s strike, Simmons’s record day power SC weekend photo courtesy carlos morales/uncg sports infromation department photo courtesy carlos morales/uncg sports infromation department Simmons made a school-record 15 saves against Furman on Friday to preserve a draw. Hein scored the winner against Wofford in Spartanburg, S.C. on Sunday. emma barker/the carolinian Charlotte’s away crowd embarrassed UNCG’s home crowd in a match on September 15. Home splitting Spartan sound of silence Friday UNCG 0 Samford 3 Saturday UNCG 3 Chattanooga 1 see sPlit, page 13 see qUiet, page 13 Chambers, Freeman, Orweiler combine for 50 kills vs. UTC
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Title | The Carolinian [October 9, 2012] |
Date | 2012-10-09 |
Editor/creator | Coy, Kacie |
Subject headings |
University of North Carolina at Greensboro--Newspapers College student newspapers and periodicals-- North Carolina--Greensboro Student publications--North Carolina--Greensboro Student activities--North Carolina--History |
Place | Greensboro (N.C.) |
Description | The October 9, 2012, issue of The Carolinian, the student newspaper of The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. |
Type | Text |
Original format | Newspapers |
Original publisher | Greensboro, N.C. : The University of North Carolina at Greensboro |
Language | eng |
Contributing institution | Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, UNCG University Libraries |
Publication | The Carolinian |
Rights statement | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/ |
Additional rights information | NO COPYRIGHT - UNITED STATES. This item has been determined to be free of copyright restrictions in the United States. The user is responsible for determining actual copyright status for any reuse of the material. |
Object ID | 2012-10-09-carolinian |
Date digitized | 2012 |
Digital master format | Application/pdf |
Digital publisher | The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University Libraries |
Digitized by | Creekside Digital |
Sponsor | Lyrasis Members and Sloan Foundation |
Full text | T H E C A R O L I N I A N Follow Us facebook.com/thecarolinian The student newspaper of The University of North Carolina at Greensboro October 9-15, 2012 Established 1919 Vol. XCIII No. 8 twitter.com/thecarolinian Opinions Page 4 Features Page 11 Sports Page 13 Romney and Obama face off in fi rst debate, Warren brings Brown the fi ght he was missing, Hydrofracking holds too many unknowns. The Mystery Issue: The man cured of AIDS, Unknown foundations of UNCG traditions, The Antikythera device, the “Big Bang” theory. Clemson, Wofford leave UNCG’s week pointless; Sports fans who say “We,” Major League Baseball’s wild mistake; Spartan sound of silence. A&E Page 7 Dan Deacon and others at the Blind Tiger, Poet.she presents screening of “Louder than a Bomb,”Lindsey Lohan makes television fi lm comeback. Aaron Bryant Staff Writer see bikes, page 2 cHeck oUt oUR NeW WebPaGe! WWW.UNcGcaRoliNiaN.coM www.uncgcarolinian.com photo courtesy of adam glanzman/flickr Both candidates took full advantage of the time they were allotted during Wednesday’s debates. Presidential debate tackles deciding factors Wednesday night marked the fi rst of the three presidential debates to come before Election Day in America. President Obama and Governor Mitt Romney geared up for the debate in Denver, Colorado, in what some political analysts say could be a deciding factor for undecided voters come Nov. 4. Jim Lehrer, former news anchor for PBS, served as the moderator at the debate at the University of Denver, Colorado. A coin toss determined that President Obama would be the fi rst to speak. Lehrer posed the fi rst question of the debate, concerning an important question many voters want to hear about: jobs. “What are the major diff erences between the two of you about how you would go about creating new jobs?” asked Lehrer. Obama fi rst acknowledged First Lady Michelle Obama, as the debate happened to fall on the night of their 20th photo courtesy of barack obama/flickr anniversary, and began to speak. Th e debate went overtime within the fi rst ten minutes. Obama and Romney went back and forth on issues such as the national debt, social security, tax cuts, the Aff ordable Health Care act, education, and government regulations. Th is was an opportunity for the candidates to give specifi cs and details about their platforms as well as maintain a likable appearance to voters. Romney had a lot to prove going into the session. News analysts from CNN and FOX portrayed Romney as the underdog in the debate, which for many put Romney on the defense, particularly as Obama addressed his “5 trillion dollar” tax plan. Obama mentioned that the governor is failing to give the public any real details on his plan, including specifi cs as which to which “loopholes in government” he wants to eliminate. Romney chose to emphasize Campus-wide bike sweep leaves students unhappy, bikes impounded Parking enforcement and campus police participated in a bike sweep last week, in which up to 30 s students had their bikes taken as a statement about campus safety and rules. Many students are angry because in some cases bike locks were broken; they are looking for reimbursement. Much of the controversy stems from the method with which the sweep was done. A parking offi cial who was spoken to verbally expressed little regret, saying that rules are rules and are meant to be followed. A concerned reader of e Carolinian said in an email that the sweep “made upwards of 30 students think their bikes had been stolen only to fi nd out that Parking Enforcement had cut locks & taken them to the warehouse by the Great Stop on Lee Street.” Th e reader’s lock was destroyed. She is trying to obtain reimbursement for the destroyed lock, and feels the sweep was too drastic simply because rules were broken, not the law. According to UNCG Parking Operations and Campus Access Management, bikes were taken because they were improperly secured to objects around campus, which they say causes a hazard. A parking offi cial, who chose to speak anonymously, felt proud of the actions he took. “We went around campus looking for these rule breakers. We found bikes that were hooked up to staircases, bikes chained up to light posts and lamp posts, bicycles locked to railings. None of the bikes that we took were in the proper, specially designated areas of campus,” said the parking offi cer. “It gives me pride knowing that those who break the rules can and did get punished.” Danny, a frequent biker around the UNC Greensboro campus who chose not to provide his last name, had his bike impounded and lock broken. “Th e notion that you can just take my bike, break the lock and impounded it without UNC System Advisory Committee leads to concerns, creation of North Carolina Student Power Union A new committee, the UNC Advisory Committee on Strategic Directions, was recently announced by University of North Carolina President Th omas Ross and UNC Board of Governors Chairman Peter Hans. Th e committee consists of business, education, and government leaders from across the state combined with selected board members, UNC chancellors, and faculty representation. Th is committee’s input will play an important role in the creation of the system’s next 5-year strategic plan for the development of the 17-campus university. According to UNC President Th omas Ross, “Th e composition of this special Advisory Committee refl ects our commitment to reach out across North Carolina for input and guidance.” Th e North Carolina Student Power Union is a small and new photo courtesy of unc catalogue/wikimedia The 17-campus UNC system is up in arms about the formation and composition of the new UNC System Advisory Committee. group that has organized across North Carolina on nearly every campus in the UNC system, born out of concerns over this new committee and how the future of education is being decided. see UNsPU, page 3 see Debate, page 3 Stephanie Cistrunk Staff Writer Elisabeth Wise Staff Writer News | The Carolinian Box N1 EUC UNCG Greensboro, NC, 27413 Phone: (336) 334-5752 Fax: (336) 334-3518 Editorial Policy Letters may be submitted to: The Carolinian 236 Elliot University Center Greensboro, NC 27413 Editor.Carolinian@gmail.com Letters submitted by 5 p.m. Friday may run in next Tues-day’s edition. Word limit is 250 for letters, 500 for guest columns. Submissions may be edited for length or clarity. No unsigned submissions will be accepted for publication. All submissions come under possession of The Carolinian. The views expressed in the Opinions section of The Carolinian do not represent the views of The Carolinian staff un-less otherwise stated. The Caro-linian Editorial Board is made up of the Publisher, Editor-in-Chief, and Section Editors. Editorial and Business Staff Derrick Foust Publisher Publisher.Carolinian@gmail.com Kaycie Coy Editor-in-Chief Editor.Carolinian@gmail.com Laura Brewer News Editor News.Carolinian@gmail.com Ashley Northup Opinions Editor Opinions.Carolinian@gmail.com Arvé Byrd Arts & Entertainment Editor AE.Carolinian@gmail.com Ian Foster Sports Editor Sports.Carolinian@gmail.com Christopher McCracken Features Editor Features.Carolinian@gmail.com Autumn Wells Advertising Manager Ads.Carolinian@gmail.com Corrections Policy The Carolinian never know-ingly publishes any mistakes. Please promptly notify us of any errors by e-mailing the Editor-in- Chief at Editor.Carolinian@ gmail.com, or calling (336) 334- 5752. Corrections will be pub-lished on page 2 in subsequent issues of The Carolinian. Mission Statement The Carolinian is a teach-ing newspaper that is organized and produced by students of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. It is our objective to teach young writers journalistic skills while emphasizing the im-portance of honesty and integrity in campus media. 2 | October 9-15, 2012 Weekly Forecast Today H: 64° L: 46° Wednesday H: 73° L: 45° Thursday H: 66° L: 46° Friday H: 73° L: 48° Cloudy Weekend H: 68° L: 57° Partly Cloudy Sunny Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy bikes from page 1 International News Briefs Extradited terrorists appear in US courts French shooting during anti-terror raid Malaysian wedding sparks controversy Compiled By: Olivia Cline The extravagantly expensive wedding of Malaysia’s chief min-ister’s son last week has led to al-legations that public funds were used to pay for the event. Ali Rustam, the official in question, maintains that the wedding was a “family arrange-ment” despite questions regard-ing whether his salary is capable of handling the expense of an extravaganza at which,according to some reports, food alone cost over $200,000. Rustam claims that these accu-sations of corruption are merely an expression of jealousy on the part of his political opponents, and that the length of the event was merely to accommodate all the guests,which included the workers on the estate. He also said that much of the labor for the event was on a vol-unteer basis. However, the tough economic situation in Malaysia combined with cuts to government subsi-dies for food and gasoline have resulted in an uproar at the pros-pect of corruption on this scale. According to Datuk Mohd Shukri Abdul, the deputy head for the Malaysian commission for anti-corruption, a thorough and specific investigation into the event has begun. “We are going item by item, to see how much money was spent and who paid for it,” he said, warning that drawing any kind of definite conclusion could be a lengthy process. BBC correspondent Jennifer Pak says that the incident is one of many signs that the govern-ment has lost touch with the Ma-laysian people. French police in the city of Strasbourg shot and killed a man on Saturday as part of a set of anti-terror raids throughout the country. Jeremy Sidney, who was a sus-pect in a recent grenade attack on local a Jewish shop, opened fire on police investigators when they came to his apartment to speak with him. Several officers sustained hits, but helmets and bulletproof vests resulted in only one wounded. Officers returned fire and Sid-ney suffered mortal wounds. Sidney’s female companion, one of his two religious wives, was also arrested. According to prosecution reports, she was 22 years old and the mother of a six-year- old girl and a one-month-old baby. Sidney’s fingerprints had been found on the remains of a gre-nade thrown into a kosher gro-cery store September 19th. Sidney had recently converted to Islam, and was an ex-prisoner who had served time for drug trafficking. Francois Molins, a Paris pros-ecutor, said that a list of Jewish associations had been found that would probably indicate the next targets of this organization. Four of the men had wills in their possession. Strasbourg prosecutor Patrick Poirret noted that “when you have a will in your pocket, it means that you’ve outlined your last wishes and you foresee that extreme outcomes may take place in relatively short order.” Ten other suspects were de-tained in the raids. Five terrorist suspects who were recently extradited from the United Kingdom appeared in United States courts this week. Abu Hamza, Adel Abdul Bary, Khaled al-Fawwaz, Babar Ah-mad, and Talha Ahsan all pleaded not guilty in courts in both New York and Connecticut. They face charges such as hos-tage- taking, conspiracy against the government, using US-based servers to support terrorist efforts in Chechnya and Afghanistan, and being aides to late al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Ladin. Their extradition followed a multi-year legal battle on the grounds that the treatment they would face in the United States would violate their human rights. Most of the media focus is on Abu Hamza, who has been the focus of US extradition attempts since 2004. The majority of the charges, however, belong to Bary, who is indicted on 284 counts of con-spiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, bombing of two United States embassies, mur-der, attempted murder, and con-spiracy to destroy United States property. Both US and UK officials seem pleased with proceedings. UK Prime Minister David Cameron said he is “absolutely delighted that Abu Hamza is now out of this country.” Mary Galligan, FBI deputy head, agreed, saying that “the ex-traditions of Abu Hamza, Bary and Fawwaz are a major mile-stone in our effort to see these alleged high-level terrorists face American justice. me ever knowing is kind of counterproductive, especially if your reason is to teach me a lesson,” Danny said. He also explained the circumstances behind his bike being taken, and his lock being broken. “I was running late one time, just once. So I decided to lock my bike up securely on the tree. I never do this, but I figured that if it was out of the way in the grass chained to the tree, it would be fine. I was wrong. After class lets out, I come outside to see my bike is gone, and my lock busted open on the ground.” Danny later said he contacted Parking Operations and Campus Access Management, who told him many bikes were recently brought to the warehouse. Danny decided not to get a reimbursement for his lock. “I don’t want to even associate with people who thought this was a noble act. They vandalized my property. They told me it was done for safety reasons, but the whole thing was ridiculously overblown.” The parking officer, after being told Danny’s story, said he is glad people’s locks were broken, and that he personally broke some of them. He was noticeably angered by Danny’s comments. He said, “You know what? My job is to make sure this campus is safe. I don’t care what it takes; I’m going to do my job. I am going to make sure you follow the rules, and I am going to enforce the rules to the fullest extent I can. I broke a few locks, and it made me feel good! I don’t care much for those who think they can get by because they are sneaky. You break the rules, you pay the price.” Danny now chains his bike to the closest bike rack he can, and makes punctuality a top priority. “I don’t mind that these people are doing their jobs, that’s fine. But open vandalism based on the notion of safety is just Photo courtesy of Vikram Vitrivel/Flickr Dozens of improperly-stored bicycles on campus were abruptly impounded this week by UNCG Parking Operations, angering students. backwards.” UNCG Parking Operations and Campus Access Management deals with student and staff self-transportation rules in and around the UNC Greensboro campus. They also handle bicycle registration, free emergency rides home, bike racks and minor bicycle repair clinics. The Carolinian | News October 9-15, 2012 | 3 Debate from page 1 Breast cancer survivor speaks for awareness week Alaina Monts Staff Writer The NCSPU’s current project is the circulation of a petition stating their concerns as well as their demands for changes to the committee and their decision-making procedures. The NCSPU is concerned with the makeup of the committee, including the lack of meaningful student, faculty, and worker representation from the various campuses in the system. Also of significant concern to the group is the inclusion of Art Pope, CEO of Variety Wholesalers as well as wealthy financier of many right-wing Republicans, whom they believe poses a threat to public education and its availability to all qualified students regardless of income. Jonathan Lyle, one of the organizers for the newly formed NCSPU, said that Art Pope’s inclusion on the committee is of major concern to them because he has a history of working to defund and privatize public education, and has “notably funded a variety of regressive initiatives including the resegregation of Wake County public schools.” Last week about two dozen protesters, most of them members of the NCSPU, picketed NCSPU from page 1 outside a Civitas Institute luncheon where Art Pope would be speaking. He spoke briefly with the members of the group but avoided answering their questions. Instead, he spoke of himself as a “staunch supporter of public education, misunderstood by his critics.” For the NCSPU, Pope’s past actions speak for themselves. The organization makes three demands in their petition (the full wording of the petition can be found on the NCSPU’s page on change.org): 1. We demand a voice in the decision-making processes that affect us. 2. We demand that Art Pope be removed from the Advisory Committee and that a fully representative committee free of private/corporate interests with meaningful student, worker, and community leadership is created. 3. We demand that the state of NC lives up to its constitutional promise to maintain education “as free as practicable.” One of the NCSPU’s main goals is simply to raise awareness about the committee, about who makes decisions about the future of education, and about the lack of accountability and representation that they find evident in the committee. Lyle said that a lot of students “don’t know how decisions are being made or how undemocratic the decision making process is, and when they are made aware, they are concerned.” He hopes that by circulating the petition and increasing student awareness that more people will want to become involved and realize that by “being organized, students really can have an impact on how those in power view us and if we are loud enough, our voice will be heard.” The next step after the petition is continuing to increase awareness and spread information about the union, and to get more students involved, as currently there are only five active members on UNCG’s campus. Despite their small numbers, they meet every Friday, and all of the NCSPU groups on the various UNC system campuses try to get together with each other every week, though, as Lyle notes, it is difficult to get everyone together because of work, school, and the distance between the campuses. Those who would like to get involved with the North Carolina Student Power Union here at UNCG can email uncg@ studentpowernc.org, go to the group’s Facebook page, or sign the petition. Students may have noticed various pamphlets being passed around on campus last week in recognition of Breast Cancer awareness week. All throughout the EUC, signs urged students to perform self-checks, get mammograms, and know the risk factors about contracting breast cancer. Part of this week’s activities included a guest speaker who spoke about her experiences as a breast cancer survivor. Janet Hendley, who works in the School of Nursing, came to speak about breast cancer for her fifth year in a row. The even was sponsored by Chi Omega, a sorority on campus, and brought almost 60 people to EUC’s Kirkland to hear Hendley speak. “I’m not going to give you facts,” she said over and over throughout the evening, “you can find those on Google.” Her goal for the night was not to list off figures about breast cancer, but to share a real and personal story about a survivor’s journey. “If you could ask one question tonight that would change your understanding [of this issue], what would it be?” she asked students. She then spent over an hour answering a variety of different questions asked by the students, some quite personal, and others very broad. Hendley did her best to answer them all as accurately that she could. Hendley discovered she had breast cancer when she was 48. At the time, she lived in San Francisco and made a living doing woodwork. Students asked her how she felt when she received the news that she did in fact have cancer. “I was scared…I thought some things were pretty vulgar,” she stated, laughing. Nonetheless, she had friends and family who were constantly by her side who helped her make it through her difficulties. To Hendley, the worst part of having cancer wasn’t the gruesome treatment or the fear, but losing her hair. She had very long hair prior to getting cancer and it was a source of pride for her. She recalled the day when she finally started to lose her hair. “The doctor said two weeks after starting chemo, be prepared for hair loss…and on the fourteenth day it just started to shed.” Hendley remembered taking a shower and watching her hair fall out of her head, in what seemed to be large chunks, and onto the shower drain. “How was she able to be strong during such a frightening time in her life?” students asked. Hendley said the most important thing for her was laughter. “I had a friend who said the best medicine is one good belly laugh every day…and he was right.” Hendley had lots of ways to keep her spirits up. She would get together with friends and have tea once a month, as she originally hails from the United Kingdom. She said that was probably the most fun she had. She also stayed very physically active throughout her treatments. Prior to being diagnosed with cancer, Henley said that she swam almost two miles every day. Swimming was her passion, and she was not going to give it up because of the disease. “The first few days after chemo were the hardest, but my friends encouraged me, and by the time I had to go back for my next round, I was in the pool for a full forty-five minutes again, swimming almost a mile.” It was important for her that during this difficult time in her life, she was never going to give up. Hendley said one of the most common questions asked by students is how they can best help a loved one who has been diagnosed with cancer. To their question she gave three suggestions: listen, be there when they need you, and offer to help. She also mentioned how important it was to realize that cancer patients want to have some normalcy in their lives. “Don’t always make cancer the topic of conversation,” she said. In today’s world, cancer is almost unavoidable. It is estimated that almost 90% of people will know someone who has been affected by cancer in their lifetime. Hendley shared her story with the students of UNCG in order to show that while cancer may seem bleak at the onset, there are survivors. Throughout Hendley’s entire ordeal, she kept her spirits high and never gave up hope. Her story of survival was an inspiration to all present. a different issue in his opening statement – the situation facing America’s middle class. As his opening statement concluded, Romney decisively hit on how his policies will be beneficial to the middle-income Americans. “Middle-income Americans have been buried,” said the governor. Throughout the night, the president highlighted what he feels is one of Romney’s main weaknesses, in keeping with what former president Bill Clinton emphasized at the DNC last month: arithmetic. “Governor… it is not possible to come up with enough deductions and loopholes that only affect high-income individuals to avoid either raising the deficit or burdening the middle class. It’s – it’s math. It’s arithmetic,” Obama said in a comment on Romney’s economic plans. The economy proved to be the main focus of the debate, specifically in regards to the ongoing struggle between federal government versus individual states. Something new that voters may not have known going into the debate were a few unfamiliar names – specifically, Simpson- Bowles and Dodd-Frank, names which sparked heavy back-and-forth action between the two when discussing their handling of government regulation. “Race to the Top,” Obama’s program for education reform in schools, was also discussed. Time continued to run out for both candidates, as they out-talked moderator Lehrer in order to get their last points heard. The moderator’s role in this debate left many wondering how CNN analyst Candy Crowley will hold up at the next debate on Oct. 11. While Romney and Obama may not have convinced voters entirely Wednesday night, they certainly made a point, and have started the next month and a half of debates off in style. Photo courtesy of Embassy of canada People of all ages participate in the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure in honor of breast cancer awareness. 4 October 9-15, 2012 Opinions Chris McCracken Features Editor Photo Courtesy donkeyhotey/flickr A drawing shows big headed versions of the candidates facing off. Romney and Obama face off in first debate Obama’s performance does not change the many lies of Romney Debates show Obama’s lack of leadership skills Caleb Patterson Staff Writer Typically, presidential debates are not significant in determining winners of presidential contests. Challengers to incumbent presidents have an inherent advantage in the first general election debate. Appearing on stage with a sitting president tends to make a challenger appear presidential. However, there has never been a televised presidential debate during such a prolonged economic downturn nor were there ever many debate performances as poorly received as President Barack Obama’s last Wednesday night. Obama appeared disengaged and poorly prepared for the debate. He incorrectly assumed he would be facing the Mitt Romney who self-described as a severe conservative during the primaries. Instead, he faced off against an earlier and less scary version of Romney; the Massachusetts moderate. Obama was better than Romney on the policy issues. Romney continues to run on a five trillion dollar tax cut that he claims will be deficit neutral due to the closing of certain unnamed loopholes and deductions. Of course, mathematically, there are not enough deductions to fill that gap. Many deductions are very popular and beneficial to middle income earners making them politically appealing. Early in the debate, Obama tried to push Romney to disclose his secret tax plan and tell the voters how he plans to pay for giant tax cut. Of course, Romney refused. Notice how little the media and your Facebook friends are talking about secret tax plans compared to the amount of discussion about Romney “winning” the debate. Substantively, the major issue I had with Obama’s responses was on Social Security. When asked about his position on this critically important and phenomenally This past week was the first ever debate between presidential candidates President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, and the spectacle all-but-destroyed claims by the Obama team that the president was somehow “pulling ahead” in this race. The debate itself was interesting. Romney appeared very presidential, looking at the president and at the camera as he rattled off the main points of his platform in a clear, easy-to- understand way. He softly rebutted false claims by Obama, like the lie that there is a “tax credit” for shipping jobs overseas. “The second topic, which is you said you get a deduction for getting a plant overseas. Look, I’ve been in business for 25 years. I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said, emphasizing the president’s lack of private sector experience. For his part, Obama often seemed confused, and unclear. His appearance was pale and weak – almost sickly – and it evoked the infamous debate between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy in which Nixon lost the election partly because he did not look presidential on television. The “great orator” also stumbled over his words constantly, and said “uh” too many times. Without having a teleprompter to feed Obama words, the president just seemed lost. In the week leading up to the election, the headlines of the mainstream media were screaming about an impending Obama victory. The president’s lead in the polls – mostly within the margin of error – was harped upon constantly, as his lies and abuses of the office of the presidency were ignored as they related to the attack in Libya. As Obama slowly and painfully handed the debate to Mitt Romney, the spin machine instantly jumped into overdrive in an attempt to save face. According to Media Research Center writer Scott Whitlock, successful program, Obama said there is little difference between him and his opponent. Then Obama cited the 1983 Social Security compromise between Ronald Reagan and Democratic Speaker Tip O’Neil as being a model for possible reforms. This compromise consisted of benefit cuts and a gradual increase in the retirement age. Paul Ryan, Romney’s vice presidential pick, is an outspoken proponent of privatization. Obama could have responded in such a way as to make clear contrast with Romney, but instead blurred the line between him and his opponent. Romney pivoted to the ideological center and Obama made very few attempts at pointing out Romney’s previous extreme positions. The polling on the presidential race has been close for most of the past year, until the past few months. Ever since Romney’s selection of Paul Ryan the daily tracking polls have been trending in Obama’s direction. Choosing the conservative ideologue transformed the race from a referendum on Obama to a choice election. This will reverse if Obama continues to allow Romney to etch-a-sketch towards the center without challenging him. Sadly, in the era of post-truth politics, substance is less important than stage performance. Obama avoided eye contact with Romney and seemed disinterested. If an observer who had known absolutely nothing about American politics had seen the debate, they would have assumed Romney was the sitting president. Obama’s lackluster stage presence reinforced many progressives view of him as being extraordinarily non-confrontational and unable to negotiate from a position of strength with Republicans. The average low-information undecided voter will not remember Romney’s claim that Obama cut $716 trillion in Medicare benefits, nor will they investigate it to discover it is a lie. They will remember that Romney was strong and Obama was weak. Intuitively, they may get the sense that Romney is out of touch and lacks empathy. This instinct in voters could change if Obama again goes whole debates without mentioning offshore accounts, Bain Capital, or the 47 percent comments while allowing Romney to use moderate rhetoric and embrace centrist positions. Luckily, there are two more presidential debates and Obama is a skillful politician. This performance may have loosened his grip on the race, but he is still in control and favored to win. The town hall format of the next debate will favor Obama, and Romney’s expectations will be high. The positive September jobs report should also dampen any post-debate bounce in the polls for Romney. Hopefully Obama can rekindle some passion before the next debate and make clear distinctions between him and his opponent. If not, this race could really tighten. “Politico editor Jim VandeHei appeared on MSNBC, Thursday, to blame Barack Obama’s poor debate performance on the burdens of the office. The journalist spun, “The President had to be the President, and had to be a candidate, and so he didn’t have nearly as much prep time.”” The president was in Las Vegas on the day after an overseas terrorist attack, and even took time to campaign on the anniversary of September 11. Have the “burdens of the office” really limited him? Another theory from the left was Obama had a poor performance because of his race. Author Noah Rothman of Mediaite wrote, “Appearing on MSNBC’s NOW on Tuesday, Georgetown University Professor Michael Eric Dyson claimed that, in his opinion, President Barack Obama was overly deferential to Mitt Romney during the debate because he was concerned he may come off as an “angry black man.” Finally, former Democratic presidential candidate and environmental extremist Al Gore chimed in, blaming Obama’s poor performance on the weather. According to Washington Post writer Erik Wemple, Gore was quoted as saying, “Romney did his debate prep in Denver. When you go to 5,000 feet and you have only a few hours to adjust, uh, I don’t know... maybe…” I have another theory on Obama’s poor performance: maybe he is just a poor candidate who should not be seeking a second term in the first place. While there is no question that the president is generally a good speaker, he has no tools in his arsenal to combat the growing questions about his performance. Why has his Justice Department not been accountable for Fast & Furious? Why was his response to the turmoil in Lybia so botched? Why on earth should he be trusted to create jobs in a second term, if he has not done anything in his first? In the case of presidential debates, it is always substance over style. “Romney pivoted to the ideological center and Obama made very few attempts at pointing out Romney’s previous extreme positions. “ The Carolinian | Opinions October 9-15, 2012 | 5 Warren brings Brown the fight he was missing For 47 years, Edward Kennedy served as Massachusetts Senator, where he was the fourth longest serving senator in United States history. His passion excited both sides of the political aisle and earned him the nickname The Lion of the Senate. In 2009, Massachusetts and the United States lost that great public figure, who reflected more than his last name, but a whole new spirit entirely, that enabled him to stand on his own. The man who filled his seat, Scott Brown, was the first Republican elected to the Massachusetts U.S. Senate seat since Edward Brooke in 1972. Democratic and Republican political strategists were both surprised that the seat was taken by Brown. The Democrats ran Attorney General Martha Coakley against Brown and Democrats (including myself) thought Coakley had the seat pretty much locked in. However, Brown and the Massachusetts Republican party understood the Democrats’ cockiness and won 52 percent to 48 percent in the special Senate election. Now Brown is running for his full second term this November, and the Democrats are not playing around this time. Elizabeth Warren, former head of the Special Advisor to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, announced her candidacy as the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate seat of Massachusetts. She won the nomination this past June. Warren was known to make particularly powerful statements about how the wealthiest people in the United States have made it to where they are today. “There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own – Nobody,” stated Warren, “…Now look, you built a factory and it turned into something terrific, or a great idea. God bless – keep a big hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is, you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along.” These sentiments were expressed later in some of President Obama’s campaign trail speeches and a number of Democratic talking points. It is a point that I agreed with and it is why I gave money to Ms. Warren’s campaign right after hearing them. It is ideal to think that someone can build something entirely on their own, but it is not possible. Sure, a person can come up with an idea, but that one person alone cannot manufacture or market it. It takes those working alongside and under him or her. Democratic challengers are hopefully for a Warren win, as am I. Senator Brown is one of the moderate voices in the Republican Party, which I admire, but he also supported the more conservative bents of his party, and votes with the Republican Party 80 percent of the time. He is a Massachusetts Republican, which is a far cry from the Republicans we see down here in North Carolina (think of Amendment One,) so he cannot be too far off his rocker. He also admonished Warren for her Cherokee past and history. Last month, Brown staffers mocked Warren for her Cherokee lineage (saying she does not have any) and did the tomahawk pose and Indian war whoop at a Warren rally. Brown has since apologized for his staff members and their behavior, but it does not make what they did right or go away anytime soon. Brown is certainly more of an independent voice, and I do appreciate that (unlike most of his party), but if I were a Massachusetts voter, I would have to go with Elizabeth Warren. She is the type of legislator I would want down here in North Carolina, fighting against the hate and bigotry we have seen from our North Carolina General Assembly. Brown has too many ties to Wall Street (that are filling his coffers with donation money), would not support immigrants having a chance in our borders (not letting them have licenses or aid to go to college), and more often than not he is in line with his party. Which, regardless of whether he is a Massachusetts Republican or not, the current state of the Republican party frankly scares me and I would rather have a voice like Elizabeth Warren representing the voices of those in Massachusetts. Samantha Korb Staff Writer Photo Courtesy mdfriendofhillary/flickr Elizabeth Warren, shown above, is running against Scott Brown. People want to know your political affiliation. They can pretend it is not important. They can pretend to know that it is socially inappropriate to ask about intimate details like the way that someone prays or votes, but they want to know. They need to know. It offers a cue for how you see the world, whether or not you think Stephen Colbert is amusing, and what kind of twitter feed you have. They are dying to know. What they really mean, though, is whether or not you are socially and fiscally conservative or liberal, or if you are one of those people who pretends you can be liberal for one and conservative for the other. Even though I stand by the fact that issues like welfare are both social and fiscal, voters presented with the same dilemma will probably need to pick a side. The thing is, that while you are judging me for being as far left as I can get without falling out the window and down a flight of stairs, you have pigeon-holed my political philosophy to cover only social and fiscal issues. What about the environment? Can we talk about the environment? No fracking way. Hydraulic fracturing is a Hydrofracking holds too many unknowns controversial issue – sort of. People have strong feelings about it, but they are not completely sure about what it does. Maybe they heard Governor Perdue is against it, so obviously it is a good idea and she is impeding economic prosperity for the state – or so Fox News told them. Perhaps they saw a documentary where people yelled really loud about oil in drinking water, and they simply cannot stand for that. “Fracking” is when we artificially create a fracture between rock layers. We create a reservoir in sandstone, limestone, or more unconventional bodies of rock like coal. It produces natural gas or oil that otherwise resides below the surface of the earth. The danger of the fracturing process is controversial because it really only occurs where there is error. The fluid used to create the fracture can escape, and the newly-fractured rock can allow the fluid in to the newly-created reservoir – meaning that fracturing fluid can find its way into oil, or, more worrisome, water. Experts can raise their voice about the likelihood that an error will occur until they have finally managed to actually use all of the oxygen in the room. There is evidence in northern states who have already implemented the practice, that such an incident occurred. However, political allies for fracking will continue to argue that the system should merely be perfected, and they will probably win the argument, because, unfortunately, the environment has yet to find a way in to the mainstream political agenda like “the economy” or “social issues,” even though it is at the heart of both. The fact remains that error is a moot point. Humans make errors, and drinking water is nothing to take a chance on. However, we live in a society that uses fluoride or chlorine in drinking water to make it as “pure” as possible. The issue at hand is that America is not in such dire need for oil or water to resort to such a dangerous matter. We use up a majority of the world’s water, and could stop worrying about our access to water if we would stop using it so wastefully. Simply ingraining an eco-friendly conscience in the minds of the American people by implementing standards for use and recycling the water that we do use would do an amazing amount of work for sustaining our access to water domestically. Drilling for oil at home does nothing for the energy efficiency in America, and certainly not for gas prices. The ownership of oil is not immediately determined by the geographic location in which it is drilled – which is why, even after ruining local ecological systems to drill domestically, we still pay nearly $4 per a gallon here in North Carolina (which is far from the most expensive). If you are willing to endanger drinking water for a false sense of security – to incorrectly believe that we are doing everything possible to decrease the cost and increase the access to energy efficiency, oil supplies, and new water reservoirs – then you need to evaluate your priorities. The future of this nation is going to require effort to change, not simply crossing our fingers while breaking in to rock formations, and putting a price on an untouched ecosystem. Emily Brown Staff Writer Photo Courtesy marcellus protest/flickr Across the country people are protesting the use of hydrofracking. 6 | October 9-15, 2012 Opinions | The Carolinian The prospect of having children in the twenty-first century Joseph Winberry Staff Writer If you have ever ventured into a cemetery housing the remains of individuals from the late nineteenth or early twentieth century, chances are you have noticed big families marked by tragedy. It was not uncommon for a woman to have several children in these days, (maybe not quite enough to rival Michelle Duggar,) with the expectation that several of these children would never reach adulthood. Indeed, staring at those headstones, you have likely noticed that the grim expectations were answered by even darker realities. In 1900, one in ten infants died before the age of one. By 2000, the number had fallen by about 99 percent. The advances made in medicine have transformed the world and the number of people living in it. These medical advances, in addition to changes in the nation’s economic and family structures, have forever altered the dynamics of America and the world. Still, these accomplishments bring with them new questions and challenges. As a young college student straddled with debt and facing a broken economy, I have to ask: does it still make sense to have children? Of course, this question has more than financial implications; the economic structure of the nation does play an enlarged role. In the past, when America enjoyed a more agriculturally-based economy, it made sense to have large families. They were needed for farm work, overcoming high infant mortality rates, and gave farmers opportunities to expand the family brand. As the country shifted towards an industrial-based economy, large, or at least larger families, still made sense since it meant more factory income for the family as a whole. Fast forward to the twentieth century and the mass education revolution. When not only was it more affordable to obtain a college degree, it was expected. For the first time, having children became an economic expense rather than an economic gain. As the twentieth-century progresses, there are signs that the prices of education and health care will increase while wages and benefits will either stagnate or decline; it is becoming more and more expensive to have children. By the time working class individuals pay off their college debt, they may be well into their twenties and thirties without the sense of job and economic security felt by their parents or grandparents. In such a scenario, it must be asked: does it still make sense to have kids? Another concern is the state of our environment. China and India are on the rise and are bringing with them hundreds of millions of middle class people dying to get their hands on fast cars, the newest Apple products, and bigger homes. This globalization of the American dream is idealistic, but it also threatens the future of a planet already fraught by resource exhaustion, warming, and overpopulation. If everyone from Albania to Zimbabwe is trying to keep up with the Joneses, will the planet be able to? Do you really think gas is going to be under four dollars when Asia finally gets around to filling up their range rovers? Considering the environmental challenges the world is facing and the rise of larger, consumerist families in more underdeveloped nations, one has to ask: does it still make sense to have children? Lastly, there is the selfish factor. It may seem hypocritical to pull this card, considering the environmental soap box I was just on, but it is just a fact: Americans like to have fun. According to recent research, marriage makes people happy while having children subtracts from this happiness. It is very likely that we are living in the century that will see across-the-board marriage equality in the United States of America. Couple this with the equality won for women and racial minorities in the past century, and you have the recipe for a good time. While the prices of education and health care may be on the rise, the price of traveling and recreation is on the decline, meaning more potential traveling and extreme sports for you and your spouse in the coming decades. With all the good times ready to roll, I have to be a buzz kill and ask; does it still make sense to have kids? You may have noticed by now that I have asked a question four times while avoiding any need to answer it. That is because it is not a question I can answer on a broad scale. For me, someone who is likely going to graduate school, I am probably too worried about resource exhaustion. As someone who wants to have a lot of fun before I die, it makes sense not to have children. You may come to a different conclusion. Still, it is important to identify and acknowledge the economic, environmental, and recreational costs of having children in the twenty-first century. If you go the way of bibs and burps, that is fine by me. Just make sure your kid does not drop any of its baby juice on my new sandals; my husband and I picked them up on our third trip to South America. Is this image a thing of the past? Photo Courtesy glyn lowe photoworks/flickr “ When America enjoyed a more agriculturally-based economy, it made sense to have large families. “ The Carolinian |A&E October 9-15, 2012 | 7 With broken glass littered across the floor, sweaty faces and bodies impossible to escape, and every filthy inch of beer-covered walking space well worn and danced upon, the Blind Tiger was the life of Greensboro on Thursday Oct. 4. Whether or not life exists in the after-party is questionable; Deacon disciples walked slowly from the crowded stage looking dazed, as if the quieter sounds of shuffling feet and casual conversation are now foreign to them. Even the natural lighting felt unfamiliar, as Deacon dealt out visual entertainment in the form of a deft, epileptic control over extremely bright and colored strobe lights pointed directly at the audience. Not a single audience member walked away unaffected from Dan Deacon’s sensory stimulants. Deacon’s all-or-nothing ap-proach regarding technology is a theme that was channeled throughout the night, with each act unknowingly presenting key elements: modern, technological entertainment in their perfor-mance. The Three-Brained Ro-bot served as a palette cleanser for whatever expectations the early audience had for the show’s earlier acts. Three-brained Robot is a project headed by the gyrat-ing hips and unhinged chants of Sam Martin, a mostly impro-vised performance that Martin describes as “demonic karaoke.” Martin says his motivations stem from his dull job in a retirement home; that the insanities that surround his pre-recorded compositions (played on a Mac laptop) are bred out of the pent-up energy he has to contain on a day-to-day basis. The act mostly consisted of a bizarre variety of props, which included: a puppet, a séance involving a rainbow parachute, and a healthy young man sitting still in a wheelchair in the middle of the performance space. It was as cathartic to view as it was for Martin to perform and left most of the audience either confused or compelled to join in on the unbridled madness. The two acts that followed, comedian Alan Resnick and touring musician Chester Endersby (aided by a member from Height With Friends), made small, crowd-pleasing waves that still managed to further the wired mentality of the night. Resnick’s comedy routine involves interaction with a purposely stilted and poorly behaved three-dimensional avatar of himself. Resnick seemed to stumble over the more subtle bits of his act and failed to recover in his allotted time. Chester Endersby’s most notable contribution may have been performing with Deacon himself later in the night, but his jangly rock act had much of the crowd shyly moving their bodies. Endersby’s greatest weakness was his seeming inability to keep his guitar in tune, and often audibly announced his trouble coordinating his own instrument to the songs he wanted to play. The audience did not seem to mind and Endersby’s performance was well-received. Height With Friends are a rapper Height and a few classic rock-enthusiasts that seem to act as his compatriots, and they deal out hip-hop for kids who have quite obviously never been hip-hop fans. Height was a giant, amorous fellow that emanated the enthusiasm any fan would want in a performance. However, the content itself was brimming with dreadful lyrics and painfully dull guitar riffs that made the act seem downright rudimentary in comparison to the previous musicians. There is a distinct difference between the party music that Height With Friends employs and the kind that Dan Deacon showers listeners with: one does not involve a poor-man’s version of the Beastie Boys lacking cultural awareness and deft lyricism. The night’s technological themes culminated as Deacon took his place front-in-center stage, appropriately clothed in in a Looney Tunes t-shirt and a gold, bedazzled hat. His control board consisted of his signature green skull (the crowd murmured excitedly about the prospect of him playing the track that references the prop) and an array of electronic instruments that served as his arsenal for the evening. Deacon knows that these props, blinding lights, and elaborate showmanship matters greatly in the eyes of his audience. More importantly, as an entertainer Deacon realizes the significance of keeping the audience invested in what is happening at any given moment. That level of awareness and transparency is what transformed Deacon’s electronic boutique into a frenzied hurricane of riveting dancing activities. The product was relentless, electric, and ruthlessly entertaining; dancing became a latent symptom of the pulsing night, with bodily rhythms coursing through the venue like an irreversible infection. When Deacon was not preoccupied playing pop songs at speeds that spewed electronic rhythms like prismatic shards of glass (his popular single “Lots,” for example) he was occupied whilst conducting dance competitions. He also kept the crowd going by encouraging a human train to the sounds of “Guilford Avenue Bridge” that curled out of the venue, around his multicolored school bus that served as his tour vehicle, and back into the venue. Cooperation was commanded and there were very few members in the audience who were unwilling to commit the natural rhythm of their body to Deacon’s bombastic vision. Kyle Minton Staff Writer Deacon’s all-or nothing approach regarding technology is a theme that was channeled throughout the night. photo courtesy of cameron harmon photo courtesy of cameron harmon Deacon realizes the significance of keeping the audience invested in what is happening at any given moment. Dan Deacon A nd O thers Live at the blind tiger Arts and Entertainment 8 | October 9-15, 2012 A&E| The Carolinian Megan Christy Staff Writer Arvé Byrd A&E Editor Expressiveness comes in a variety of forms. From the theater, to music, to creative writing, we all find ways to uniquely express who we are as individuals as well as learn about how we perceive others. One of the most effective ways of this kind of communication can be found through poetry. Last Saturday afternoon, the Greensboro Cultural Center held a screening of an OWN network documentary club film called “Louder Than a Bomb” hosted by Poet.she Female Performing Arts, as a part of Greensboro’s 17 Days Festival. Through this documentary screening, young audiences were able to follow the lives of four young adult poetry groups in Chicago as they prepared for world’s largest youth poetry slam, known as “Louder Than a Bomb.” Louder Than a Bomb (LTAB) poetry slam competition was founded in 2001. Based in the Chicago area, the competition has hosted over 600 teenagers from a variety of schools. As stated on LTAB’s website, “rather than emphasize individual poets and performances, the structure of Louder Than a Bomb demands that kids work collaboratively with their peers, presenting, critiquing, and rewriting their pieces. To succeed, teams have to create an environment of mutual trust and support. For many kids, being a part of such an environment— in an academic context—is life-changing.” This poetry slam is not about competing against one another, but rather inspiring each individual to make their voice be heard and make themselves “louder than a bomb.” The self-titled film focused around the LTAB poetry slam contest has gained national attention since its release in 2008. The film delves into the lives of four groups as they prepare to compete in the poetry slam. Nerves run high through each participant as they rehearse their poetry in hope of being the next winner of the LTAB poetry slam. Each student featured in the film has a unique background that has brought them to where they are now on their paths as poets. The most interesting aspect of each student is how they tell their stories through their poetry. Full of emotion and conviction, their poetry allows them the opportunity to express who they are and how they contribute to society. Through the stories captured on film, the audience experiences the anticipation and heartbreak of participating teenagers as they tell their profoundly distinctive stories of how the world around them inspires their writing as well as how the competition has shaped them as a poet. In an interview, producers and directors Greg Jacobs & Jon Siskel said, “’Louder Than a Bomb’ is a film about passion, competition, teamwork, and trust. It’s about the joy of being young, and the pain of growing up. It’s about speaking out, making noise, and finding your voice.” Poet.she Female Performing Arts & Spoken Word hosted the screening of this moving documentary. Based in Greensboro, this group strives to strengthen the female presence in the literary and spoken word community by providing enriching artistic programming. Inspired by the “Louder Than a Bomb” documentary, Poet. she is hosting a LTAB poetry tournament here in Greensboro. High school students are strongly encouraged to register and participate in the 2013 competition, held at UNC-G on April 26, 27, and 28. The group expects 12-16 high school teams, from across North Carolina, of four or five students to participate in the competition. During the three days, students will practice, memorize, and rehearse poems to perform their work for the North Carolina community. The competition will engage students in creative and enriching workshops and provide speakers to make their experiences worthwhile. More information about Louder Than a Bomb Greensboro can be found on their Facebook page at https://www. facebook.com/LTABGreensboro High school and college-age students are invited to get involved with Poet.she. College students in particular are encouraged to volunteer with the upcoming Louder Than a Bomb poetry slam. If anyone is interested, they should contact Poet.she directly at the email address poetshe7@ gmail.com . Meetings for Poet.she are held every Tuesday at 5p.m. at the Best Center Offices at 1325 Eugene Street, Suite 103. Inclusive to this, writing sessions are held every Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Green Bean coffee shop on Elm Street. Those who are interested can find out more about Poet.she on their website http://poetshe.org/ Photo Courtesy Chazaloo/flickr The self-titled film focuses around the LTAB poetry slam. Poet.she Presents Screening of “Louder than a Bomb” After a tumultuous few years of DUI’s and pending court dates, Lindsay Lohan will make her first leading-role screen debut in nearly five years in Lifetime’s biopic “Liz and Dick,” on Sunday, Nov. 25 at 9 p.m. It has been a long road coming for the starlet who many Hollywood producers are apprehensive about casting due to her history of being uncommitted to her roles. However, as the movie trailer depicts, the “infamous, scandalous, and dangerous” tale of Elizabeth Taylors double decade love run with Richard Burton will be perhaps the “biggest television event” of 2012. Lindsay Lohan and Elizabeth Taylor’s lives parallel in many ways. Both actresses began their careers at a young age, and later turned into sexy icons who both ironically graced the covers of Playboy. Lohan’s most notable childhood role was 1998’s “The Parent Trap” and Taylor broke barriers in her recurring roles in the “Lassie” series. Inclusive to this, both “celebutantes” gained the reputation for being an insurance liability to producers due to their numerous medical bouts on sets. In the early 1960s, upon the start of filming “Cleopatra,” the movie that sparked the love affair between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Taylor developed cases of Malta Fever and double pneumonia. While filming “Liz and Dick” Lohan ended up in the tabloids twice: once for crashing her car into an eighteen-wheeler, an incident that frustrated the creators who hired a car to transport her to and from sets; and a second time for calling the paramedics after suffering from dehydration and exhaustion, which caused the production to be under investigation by the SAG-AFTRA for “overworking their actors.” “Liz and Dick” is a portrayal of the sensational love affair that sent media outlets into a mad frenzy throughout the 60s and 70s between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, who Australian actor Grant Bowler plays. Taylor, who was in her fourth marriage when she began shooting “Cleopatra” with Burton was infamously known for being a home-wrecker while Burton was quite the “ladies-man” himself, and considered one of the “finest men in Hollywood” at the time. The couple sent rumor mills swirling when it appeared that their chemistry on-set had evolved into a real-life fling. When Taylor’s husband at the time, Eddie Fisher, left Rome, the Italian press took off with stories about the two holding up productions while hiding in trailers, where sounds of laughter, clinking glasses and heated arguments were heard. After filming wrapped up two years later, Burton became Taylor’s fifth husband in 1964. However, their affair became so widespread, that Taylor refused to appear at “Cleopatra’s” red-carpet premiere out of sheer embarrassment. Taylor would continue this disappearing act in years following this and would actually take crazy preventative measures to keep Hollywood casters from asking her to be in films, such as gaining weight unnecessarily. Taylor would also go on to divorce Burton in 1974, remarry in 1975, and divorce again in 1976. Lifetime’s lusty preview for the movie includes sultry and fiery love scenes between ‘Liz and Dick,’ catching moments where Bowler remarks: “God that woman knows how to make an entrance” and Lohan screaming “who’s counting?!” when a friend asks her why she is ending her fourth marriage. With a trailer as remarkably enticing as this one, no wonder the film is the most anticipated television movie of the year. Lindsay Lohan to make Comeback in “Liz and Dick” amydoll1477/flickr Liz and Dick portrays the sensational love affair between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. The Carolinian |A&E October 9-15, 2012 | 9 Brad Dillard Staff Writer October is usually the last month of the year before the big Oscar contenders start coming out in droves, but that does not mean October does not have movies to look forward to, and even an Oscar heavyweight of its own. Here are five movies worth looking out for. 5. Cloud Atlas Here is a movie that, based on pedigree, should be the biggest spectacle of the year. Written and directed by The Wachowski’s (“The Matrix” trilogy), and Tom Tykwer (“Run Lola Run”), and based on the ambitious, epic novel by David Mitchell, “Cloud Atlas” boasts an amazing cast and what looks to be some stunning visual effects. The problem is that it is 164 minutes long and spans four different stories, using the same actors to play different roles in the different storylines. Early word says that it is a mess, with some critics even invoking “Battlefield Earth,” one of the most notorious disasters in film history. Still, the talent behind “Cloud Atlas” is hard to ignore, and the film should prove polarizing to audiences, with some claiming it is the best sci-fi movie in a long time, and others saying it is an unmitigated disaster. Any movie that can inspire those kinds of reactions has to at least be worth a look. 4. Holy Motors Nominated for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, “Holy Motors” would no doubt be higher on this list if only it were going to expand beyond New York and LA. Since it likely will not, here is a title that people should stick in their mind, since they probably will not get a chance to see it until it hits Netflix. Directed by the acclaimed Leos Carax, “Holy Motors” lets us explore from dawn to dusk, a few hours in the life of Monsieur Osca— a shadowy character who journeys from one life to the next. Rave reviews followed the film out of Cannes, with one critic summing it up best by saying Carax’s film is “pure cinema.” 3. Seven Psychopaths Martin McDonagh is only on his second feature film, but his brand of dark comedy seems to have already won over critics. His first film “In Bruges,” was as risible and self-satisfied as they come, yet it still received raves from critics and most audiences alike. “Seven Psychopaths,” about a struggling screenwriter inadvertently becoming entangled in the Los Angeles criminal underworld after his oddball friends kidnap a gangster’s beloved Shih Tzu. The movie looks to be just as smug as its predecessor, but with outright raves from critics, perhaps McDonagh should tone down the pompousness. If not, at least the premise is charmingly off the wall, and the stellar cast is provided with some quirky material that they should be able to have fun with. 2. Sinister The state of horror films in 2012 is abysmal. It is almost non-existent, as the only halfway decent horror flick released was the sharp, yet too self-aware horror-comedy “The Cabin in the Woods” (though “Dredd” could also be classified as a horror film, and in that case, it is hands down the best of the year). In a month that should bring out the best the movie industry has to offer in the horror field, October will see the release of only three horror movies, and only one of these are original. That would be “Sinister,” which can perhaps save face for 2012’s horror films. Not only has “Sinister” received surprisingly great early reviews, but it looks genuinely scary, like a truly hellish ride through a haunted fun house. The horror genre needs a quick infusion of young talent, and fresh ideas, or else horror buffs will have to continue to suffer through watered down PG-13 dreck, and more unnecessary sequels. 1. Argo Ben Affleck’s direction career has gotten off to a smashing, albeit slightly overrated start. “Gone Baby Gone” and “The Town” were both excellently crafted, entertaining pieces of filmmaking, yet they were a little too well put together, perhaps because they were based on novels. Now, here comes “Argo,” based on an article about the Iranian revolution, and a CIA ‘exfiltration’ specialist who concocts a risky plan to free six Americans who have found shelter at the home of the Canadian ambassador. “Argo” looks like an exhilarating mixture of intense drama and ingenious comedy about the inner workings of the film industry. It is already being hailed as the front-runner for Best Picture, and is surely one of the foremost must see films remaining this year. Scene from Cloud Atlas, based on the ambitious, epic novel by David Mitchell. pHOTO cOURTESY shelley foy/flickr The brand of dark comedy in Seven Psycopaths has already won over critics. pHOTO cOURTESY parkhillsouthview/flickr Sinister can perhaps save face for horror films. pHOTO cOURTESY jdp85/flickr Ben Affleck at premiere of Argo. Photo Courtesy moovieboy/flickr Most anticipated movies for october 10 Features October 9 - 15, 2012 The MYSTERY issue: a man is cured of AIDS, the big bang theory, and more The mysterious case of the man cured of AIDS Charlena Wynn Staff Writer A man provides a “face” for the AIDS epidemic. photo courtesy of fLICKR/ USER dwan.mac Unknown foundations of UNCG’s oldest traditions Mysterious occurrences and cases are fascinating. They have the ability to shock and surprise us. Tracking the unknown allows for us to formulate opinions, theories and ideas about what may have happened as well as who is the culprit. With the popularity of shows like “The First 48” and “Law and Order,” the audience is able to gather clues and come to a conclusion on their own. If all goes well on “The First 48,” they will be presented with the correct suspect, though that is not always the case. We are sometimes left wondering who it could have been. Thus, the mystery of not knowing leaves the audience enchanted and wanting more. In the 1980s, the world was presented with a new virus that we had never seen before. HIV, or Human Immunodeficiency Virus, was first introduced in 1981 according to the Center for Disease Control. This virus can lead to AIDS, Acquired immune Deficiency Syndrome was the last stage of HIV. HIV destroys specific blood cells, CD4+ T cells, which are crucial to helping the body fight diseases. Most who develop AIDS find it difficult to fight other diseases and certain cancers. In the 1990s, combinations of medicines were introduced that allow people to live decades with HIV before developing AIDS. While there is medication to help slow down the progression of HIV/AIDS, there has not been any medicine that will end HIV/AIDS and its symptoms. Or is there? Recently, a man has claimed that he has been cured of AIDS. In addition, there a group of people who cannot contract the disease, who are deemed as immune. This goes against everything we have been taught about HIV/AIDS in more than 30 years of research. What could be the reason for this? Just a few years ago, Timothy Brown, 46, had AIDS but was cured through a blood transplant used to treat leukemia. The blood stem cells came from a donor had a genetic mutation that made him resistant to HIV. This occurs in less than one percent of Caucasians and an even smaller percent in other races. Before Brown had his transplant, doctors tested more than 70 donors with the genetic mutation before finding a match. The genetic HIV resistant mutation is a pair of mutated genes, one in each chromosome, that prevent their immune cells from developing a “receptor” that lets the AIDS virus break in. If the so-called CCR5 receptor is not there, the virus cannot break into the cell and take it over. One must inherit both genes from their parents who inherited a mutated gene from one parent. What does this mean for the future of treating and curing HIV/AIDS? Doctors hope the umbilical cord blood transplants could help others with HIV. Dr Lawrence Petz, medical director at StemCyte, an umbilical cord blood bank and his colleagues have tested 17,000 samples of cord blood. So far, 102 were discovered to have the genetic HIV resistant mutation. In May 2012, the team preformed the first cord blood transplant on an HIV infected patient and plan for another one later this year as of June 2012. The blood stem cell transplants are not just to treat those infected with HIV, but other diseases that were initially the primary reason for this procedure. Since his transplant in 2007, Timothy Brown has shown all positive signs and no indicators of having HIV/ AIDS. Doctors hope that one day this will be a cure for all who have HIV/AIDS. UNCG has a rich history behind it which dates back to 1892, when the North Carolina State Normal and Industrial School officially opened. Many traditions have flourished from our university, which remain a mystery to many. There are also many traditions that faded away, but knowing them is enlightening. UNCG was originally a school to train female educators who would in turn increase literacy in North Carolina, which was key for the state after the Civil War. From that time on, the university flourished and many interesting things came from its students. The founder of our university, Charles McIver was a prominent figure in education for North Carolina, especially when it came to women’s education. He was the first president for the university, and because of his connections, the university attracted top-level instructors. The campus developed a unique identity, with the many organizations that were established. Charles McIver died in 1906 and the first Founder’s Day was celebrated on October 5 1909, which we still celebrate today. UNCG has gone through a number of name changes including State Normal and Industrial School, State Normal and Industrial College, from 1919-1931 North Carolina College for Women, and from 1932 to 1963 it was called the Woman’s College of the University of North Carolina. Daisies, class jackets, dressing up the Charles McIver Jacket and class rings have been old traditions at UNCG for many years. The daisy was adopted as the university’s flower after the first official school colors were established, which was gold and white. A tradition that has died away is the Daisy Chain Ceremony, where seniors would march in double file lines down a lane of daisies woven into an elaborate chain. The tradition went away after the school became coed. Another tradition was jackets and their class colors. Prior to 1970, classes had colors, which rotated red, lavender, blue and green every four years. Class governments were dissolved in 1970, which did away with the class color tradition. Probably one of the most interesting traditions that have been long gone is Rat Day. On Rat Day, freshmen were required to do whatever the sophomores told them to. These were usually small tasks, like carrying their books and campus beautification projects while wearing bibs and mouse ears. At the end of the day, there would be a bonfire to celebrate Rat Day. It is no mystery why this tradition faded away, for today it would be considered hazing. Although many traditions have gone away with the growth of the university and the change in times, there are several other traditions that still stand. One that many are familiar with is that of the clock tower; many avoid walking under it for fear that they will not graduate in time. Another old UNCG tradition is that of the Rawk, brought to the campus in 1973. One of the lesser known traditions is that of the class ring. Students may order the ring once they reach junior status. When the ring is received, it is worn with the words of the University seal readable to the wearer; this is a tradition so that the Roman goddess of wisdom, Minerva, can watch over the wearer until graduation. After graduation the wearer then turns the ring the other way so that the words face the outside world, so that all may see. Bonnie Landaverdy Staff Writer The clock tower is the basis for intrigue and mystery at UNCG. photo courtesy of devon honeyman The Carolinian |Features October 9 - 15, 2012| 11 Mysterious technology of the Antikythera device Ashley Northup Opinions Editor The remains of the elegant yet mysterious antikythera device. photo courtesy of fLICKR/ USER zeeweez The strange disappearance of a district attorney In 1900, off a very small island known as Antikythera (which is right above Crete,) a group of divers came across a shipwreck. It was an old Roman merchant vessel, filled with Greek items. Among the items was one that was roughly 12 inches high, a lump that was disregarded after its initial discovery. According to accounts, it was in a museum with the other pieces for months, until one day it actually split apart and someone noticed it had gear wheels within it. After some studying, it took until 1950 when a physicist and historian by the name of Derek de Solla Price studied x-rays of the device to get a fuller understanding of it. He figured out that the device worked on the Metonic cycle (an ancient Greek lunar cycle based around 19 year intervals for calendars that make those calendars match nearly perfectly to the Earth’s lunar cycle.) In 2005, a group was brought in to take pictures using manipulated light conditions to get easier-to-see images of the object. Thanks to those, as well as 3D x-ray imaging, we know now that the mechanism functioned with layers upon layers of cogs pressed tightly together. Many other clocks later used systems very similar to this one. Except, the clocks similar to the Antikythera mechanism date 1000 to 1400 years after it. Cogs like the one used within the machine just were not, or so we thought, part of the time period. The Antikythera mechanism was created around 100 B.C., but possibly as early as 140 B.C. What information has been learned so far points to Greek origins, and there is mention of a similar item being made by Archimedes himself. (The problem there is that Archimedes died significantly before 140 B.C., so it seems unlikely he made it, but he could have made earlier models of it.) There are different layers within the mechanism that help show when things like eclipses will occur, or when years pass (and specifically when the Olympics would occur.) There is even a section that plots the variable motion of the moon (that is, the moon moves slower at certain points and faster at others while in the Earth’s orbits.) This is particularly important because the device recognizes the changes to the moon within its elliptical orbit – at a time when the world believed that the moon traveled on a circular path, not an elliptical one. Elliptical orbits were not accepted until the 17th century, when discovered by Johannes Kepler. That is, roughly 1600 years after the Antikythera device. Even when Kepler figured out that planets traveled on an elliptical, he could not understand why. It was not until later, when Newton came in, that the theory of gravity came forth to explain why planets traveled the way they do. We have never found anything remotely similar to the Antikythera mechanism. We have not even found writings about anything similar to this advanced piece of technology. Even now, over a hundred years after discovering this, we have not unlocked all of the things it was designed for. The amount of functions the device has are varied to the point where it seems unnecessary. The obvious questions around this mystery are: Who made it? Why? Why did the rest of the world not figure out this technology for 1000 years? Why is there only one Antikythera mechanism, and how could it possibly be so far ahead of its time? With the scandal at Pennsylvania State University drawing to a close, the results of Jerry Sandusky’s recklessness and viciousness have mostly been brought to the forefront. Thanks to an investigation by an independent body, we now know that the school’s sports culture was at least partly to blame for the malfeasance on the part of university officials. We also know that Joe Paterno at least played some role in hiding the scandal, and that Sandusky will be in prison for a very, very long time. One aspect of the case at Penn State may never be solved – and it has been largely hidden from public view. In 2005, Ray Gricar was a powerful and well-known District Attorney living in Pennsylvania. He graduated Case Western Reserve’s School of Law, and gone on to prosecute several cases over the course of his career. He also had a reputation for being a lady’s man, was married multiple occasions and had several different girlfriends over time. While investigating Pennsylvania State University He told his current girlfriend that he was going out for a scenic drive in the country, and never returned. According to some, Gricar was spotted about an hour away from home, shopping at various antiques stores – sometimes with a woman that was not his girlfriend. One anonymous source challenged this part of the story, telling Victor Thorn of the American Free Press that, “There is no physical evidence of Gricar’s visit to Lewisburg. Granted, people did see him, but none of them personally knew Gricar. Plus, nothing can be concretely confirmed because there were no photographs, surveillance videos, credit card receipts or a money trail. Further, the mystery woman in his presence remains unidentified and has never stepped forward, even though this was the area’s highest profile case in recent memory.” The search for Gricar started that afternoon when he failed to return home. First, his car was spotted near a local river. The anonymous source also told the writer, “When search dogs were brought in on Apr. 17, they couldn’t locate Gricar’s scent at the Street of Shops or around the river. Then, only two days after he went missing, Gricar’s Mini Cooper was returned to his girlfriend instead of being held as evidence. This point is important because Gricar’s car withheld a secret compartment that had not been searched.” Over the next few years, several odd coincidences heightened interest in the case. For starters, Gricar’s laptop computer was recovered from a body of water. Unfortunately, the contents of the hard drive could not be recovered due to water damage, despite the government spending thousands of dollars to have it evaluated. Strangely, Gricar had searched for “how to wreck a hard drive,” “how to fry a hard drive,” and “water damage to a notebook computer” on his home computer shortly before his disappearance. Another strange fact was Gricar’s probe into the happenings at Penn State. In 2005, several years before the case was made public, there is evidence that Gricar had information about the Jerry Sandusky scandal but that he refused to prosecute it. According to a story from Ken Belson of the New York Times, “A small but strident minority believes Gricar did not want to tackle a case that involved a hometown icon. Others who knew and worked with Gricar say he was a meticulous, independent and tough-minded prosecutor who was unbowed by Penn State, its football program and political pressure in general.” At any rate, the case remains unsolved, and there are numerous conspiracy theories and explanations for what happened. Some say that Gricar made himself disappear. Others conclude that Penn State officials somehow had something to do with the disappearance. At any rate, the case remains unsolved. Chris McCracken Features Editor Conspiracy theorists believe that Penn State played a role in Gricar’s disappearance. photo courtesy of fLICKR/ USER joe shlabotnik 12 | October 9 - 15, 2012 Features| The Carolinian Bizarre circumstances surrounding killer dingoes Emily Brown Staff Writer A dingo like this one caused one of the most bizarre cases in Australian history. photo courtesy of fLICKR/ USER :/ “Big Bang” theory baffles generations of scientists Humans love puzzles, riddles and mysteries. Not knowing something piques our interest, mostly because the prospect of discovering the answer validates whatever insecurities we all often fall victim to. Puzzles are an intellectual distraction, while riddles are an intellectual stimulation. Mysteries, however, possess a very “human” factor that the other two lack. They often involve other beings, whether that is a human or spiritual figure or natural phenomenon, and you cannot simply flip a card over, check the instructions, or force your neighbor to tell you the answer. Mysteries have room for error, and can potentially affect the life of another person. They occur when airplanes go missing in the fog, when fossil remains that no one recognizes are discovered, or when no one can completely determine why one candidate beat the other. Sometimes mysteries haunt us. Not just because we have an inherent need to have the right answers, but because one thing humans cannot be desynsitized to is the act of another human. Truth is often better than fiction, for those that wish to market either, because we are still capable of being genuinely surprised by what other people are capable of. The aura of mystery and our susceptibility to being shocked by our fellow man often makes us vulnerable to playing tricks on ourselves, through sensationalist media in particular. The death of Azaria Chamberlain is one of the best examples of this happening. Although the case has now been solved, it was a mystery for a number of years and has dramatically changed the way that many countries perceive media’s affect on court cases. The recent Casey Anthony case appears even more mysterious once the Azaria Chamberlain case is explored. The story is popularized in Since humans first looked up at the stars, there has been a fascination with worlds beyond our own. For centuries we have tried unlocking the secrets of the cosmos, attempting to understand how our vast universe came into existence. We have struggled to explain it through religion, cosmology, philosophy, astronomy, and science, yet we crave more; your understanding of the observable universe fragmented and incomplete. Even now, despite being the most technologically advanced we have ever been in human history, scientists still cannot fully explain the origin of the universe we live in, the most widely accepted theory of creation, The Big Bang, still simply being a theory. The facets of this theory, however, are both mind boggling and astounding, bending the apparent laws of physics that govern the nature of the physical world. As stated on big-bang-theory. com, before the events that caused the Big Bang, nothing, absolutely nothing, existed. There were no planets, no stars, no life, not even space; there was simply nothing. This prospect alone is confounding, if for no other reason than the imagination of our own non-existence – the universe’s non-existence. After all, the universe itself is the oldest thing around, predating the human race by roughly 15 billion years. Everything that ever was, is, and will be is a direct result of this single, momentous event. The cause of the Big Bang, however, is still unknown. All we know is that there was nothing, and then there was “something.” This something is called a singularity, which big-bang-theory.com defines as “zones which defy our current understanding of physics.” Singularities, most often referred to by their presence at the center of black holes, are poorly understood. In the case of the Big Bang, the singularity was an infinitely small point of infinite density and heat, which, by some means, suddenly expanded into the universe we recognize today. The explosive expansion itself, however, as explained by Chris LaRocco’s and Blair Rothstein’s “The Big Bang: It sure was BIG!!,” was unlike ordinary fragmentary explosions. They state that it was an “explosion of space within itself,” and was “unlike like an explosion of a bomb where fragments are thrown outward.” At this point, there were no individual physical objects, rather the energy released “[laid] the foundation[s]” of our current, physical universe. Big-bang- theory.com offers a simple example of this phenomenon, comparing our universe to a deflated balloon. As the balloon is inflated, it is given shape, size, and dimension by the energy within, expanding further and further outward over time. Believe it or not, our universe is still expanding, billions of years after the creation of the universe. This expansion has caused galaxies to drift further and further apart, adding incomprehensible amounts of distance between them. As “The Big Bang: It sure was Big!!” explains, the universe, over time, has expanded and cooled uniformly, as evidenced by the detection of previously unknown microwave radiation at our universe’s edge. This radiation was first discovered by astronomers Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, and added further credence to the Big Bang theory. Essentially, what they discovered were the echoes of the Big Bang; the residual energy and “noise” of the universe’s initial expansion. Although the mechanism which initiated the Big Bang is yet to be known, it is now certain that, indeed, our universe had a definite beginning. As astronomers and cosmologists discover more and more about our ever-expanding universe, perhaps, eventually, we will come to learn of the forces that transformed the apparent nothingness of the pre-universe era into the enormous expanse we live in today, and finally unravel the mystery surrounding our celestial origins. Jonathan Waye Staff Writer American culture by the line, “the dingo ate my baby!” which is often uttered as some kind of punchline. Australians Lindy and Michael Chamberlain were camping in Uluru when Lindy discovered that their nine-week-old daughter Azaria was missing from the tent. The infamous line was uttered in the court room when Lindy was describing the moments just prior to discovering the absence of Azaria, in which she saw a dingo exit the tent, but her view of its mouth was obstructed. Upon the report of the missing baby and subsequent search of the area, Lindy was arrested and Michael was charged as an accessory. They were ultimately convicted, and it took three years of imprisonment and just as many rejected appeals before the couple was found innocent. Although witness accounts, local mountain rangers and scientific evidence corroborated the Chamberlain’s story, the police continued to dismiss expert witnesses. They discovered an incomplete set of clothing that was on the infant at the time of abduction, and a detective repositioned the clothing to take a picture for evidence. The arrangement of that clothing in the photograph became an integral piece in the prosecution of Lindy Chamberlain, even though witnesses asserted multiple times that the clothes were found differently than photographed. The presence of fetal hemoglobin in the Chamberlain’s vehicle was the only forensic evidence that supported the argument of the prosecution, although fetal hemoglobin is also present when a test is run on the stain of several popular food items among kids (milkshakes being one). With the help of the media, the police advertised Lindy Chamberlain’s prosecution in a manner that made it play out in a movie. They staged the visit with local campers, she purposefully went to the tent so she could fabricate the initial discovery of her missing infant, and then hid the body with the use of their van while the remainder of the group was attempting to search for Azaria. Although several experts could assure the jury that a dingo would be capable of carrying a nine-week-old newborn, none of them were allowed to speak in court. The Chamberlains were found innocent by happenstance. A hiker stumbled and ultimately died while hiking in the same camping area. When his body was discovered, they also discovered a nearby den for a dingo pack. The den was previously a mystery to the rangers in the area. Inside of the den was an infant’s jacket that perfectly matched the description of a jacket that Chamberlain insisted was still missing from their daughter’s clothes. Discovering this jacket in the den uncovered the important mystery of what happened to the body of their daughter, and made the prosecution evaluate their original assessment of a dingo’s strength. Although this ultimately led to the Chamberlain mystery being solved, the mystery remains that the prosecution had a particular fixation on prosecuting Chamberlain. While some people cite the Chamberlain’s Seventh Day Adventist faith, others simply believe that the attention from the media made the prosecution feel that a guilty sentence was their most important priority, and not actually uncovering the truth. Does the media play a role in determining the outcome of a case? That is the real mystery. While we are busy trying to solve puzzles, we sometimes forget when it stops being a television show and starts being a matter of life or death (or prison). There is only one person alive that knows whether or not Casey Anthony is telling the truth about what happened to her daughter, and that mystery is too much for some Americans. Scientists still have no idea what could have caused the “big bang.” photo courtesy of fLICKR/ USER Eurritimia The Carolinian |Sports October 9-15, 2012 | 13 apparel, luchador masks and were screaming many original chants. In this matchup, our UNCG Spartans faced off against the fourth ranked team in the country, but a completely oblivious person to the NCAA college rankings would never know Charlotte was that good by checking out the amount of people in the stands during the first half. The entire half was filled with the 49er fans simply drowning out the crickets in the background, who happened to be the small number of UNCG fans in attendance. It was because of UNC-Charlotte’s large crowd support that the refs game few to no calls in UNCG’s favor in the first half. The second half was a much better atmosphere, with a large amount of Spartan fans finally arriving to show their team support. It was a truly riveting sight to watch 49er and Spartan fans chant back and forth at 3-0 lead and consistently held onto a two to three point lead the rest of the set. Christina Teter ended the set with a kill for the Spartans to give UNCG an early 1-0 lead. Chattanooga would answer with a second set that saw plenty of sloppy action with both teams committing double digit errors. The two teams traded points through the early part of the set before it looked like UNCG would take control opening up an 18-13 lead. The Mocs used a strong rally though, fueled by several Spartan errors, to even the match with a 28-26 set victory. UNCG produced their own come from behind victory after the break. With Chattanooga leading the third set 12-7 the Spartans rallied with a 6-1 run to even the set. Chattanooga responded and the two teams traded points for the next several minutes before UNCG finally asserted one another, seeing who would eclipse one another in noise produced. Both teams responded to the crowds support putting up a truly amazing match that ended in a 1-1 draw, with the refs calling the game down the middle. While their game versus UNC-Charlotte garnered a large crowd, the attendance for UNCG soccer games has remained minimal. I was pleasantly surprised that a nice crowd showed up to support the Spartans a few weeks ago versus App State on a rainy Saturday evening. This was followed by a small crowd showing when our Spartans played Clemson a week ago. This was a truly perplexing scenario as I could not understand why more people would show to a game against a mediocre in state soccer program such as App State, rather than come to a game against an ACC opponent in Clemson. The Spartans played Clemson well for the first 60-65 minutes of the game, but their inability to capitalize on their opportunities The UNCG men’s soccer team took a break from conference play to host ACC foe Clemson at UNCG Soccer Stadium. However, it appeared the Spartans were looking ahead to their weekend conference match-up against the Wofford Terriers, going down 2-0 to the visiting Tigers. Clemson got goals in the 75th minute from Manolo Sanchez and in the 82nd minute with Austin Savage. Redshirt senior goalkeeper Peyton Ford was UNCG’s top performer with six saves. “In the end of the night, I thought we deserved this loss,” commented head coach Justin Maullin after the match. “A lot of players overlooked this game, as we put so much emphasis in the conference games that we didn’t take this one serious enough. Credit goes to Clemson as they were a little bit sharper than us and wanted it a little more tonight.” Despite the listless performance, the Spartans did manage to maintain solidity on the defensive side of the ball, keeping the Tigers out of the net for more than three-quarters of the match. Ford was called on early and often, making a diving save on Savage in the 12th minute on a shot just outside the 18-yard box. Clemson was unable to capitalize on the ensuing corner. UNCG almost caught Clemson napping in the 32nd minute as Tigers goalkeeper Chris Glodack misplayed a clearance outside his box. Freshman Jannick Martens latched on to the end of the botched pass and tried lifting it over Glodack and into the empty net but missed what would have been a goal against the run of play just wide. After a mostly uneventful middle half-hour of the match, UNCG nearly took the shock lead in the 67th minute off a corner kick. Oddur Gudmundsson and Jonathan Leonard combined for three point-blank shots from within the six-yard box. However, Glodack was prepared, stoning UNCG on all three attempts and keeping the match level. Clemson’s breakthrough finally came in the 75th minute. Manolo made quite a run at the Spartan defenders, creating some space for himself just outside the top of the penalty area, before pushing a shot past Ford and into the net for the game-winner. The goal ended Ford’s impressive shutout streak, which dated back to the Sept. 22 loss at Coastal Carolina, at 280 minutes. UNCG was unable to generate much of a response, and it became moot in the 82nd minute as Savage found a through ball of teammate Amadou Dia’s inside UNCG’s six-yard box. Savage deftly flicked it by Ford to double Clemson’s advantage and seal the three points. Clemson outshot the Spartans 14-11 over the 90 minutes, including putting eight on frame as opposed to UNCG’s three. UNCG played a relatively clean game, earning only two yellow cards—one for the team at the end of the first half for dissent and one for Gudmundsson in the 63rd minute. Although the match was played on a rainy Tuesday evening, a disappointing 651 fans showed up for the match, supporting the Spartans in hope but not in voice. The UNCG men’s soccer team suffered a heartbreaking double overtime defeat at the hands of Southern Conference foe Wofford at UNCG Soccer Stadium on Saturday night. Blair Gaines of the Terriers put away the game-winner in the match’s final minute on a strike that sent the Spartans to 2-1 in the conference and 4-6- 2 overall. Junior center back Mahdi Ali was arguably the Spartans’ top player, snuffing out several Wofford opportunities in regulation and even going forward and creating a chance or two of his own. “I thought we played well,” said a calm head coach Justin Maullin after the last-second defeat. “I thought guys competed. I thought we got unlucky. We created some chances and we didn’t take the chances. Credit to Wofford, it’s only our third loss in three years in the regular season.” Sophomore midfielder Austin Miller earned himself the start for UNCG and got the Spartan attack going early with his blazing speed. His 5th minute strike was the first on frame of the match but was unfortunately right at Terrier keeper Andrew Drennan. As with most UNCG men’s soccer games, the atmosphere was fairly heated early. It only took until the 21st minute for the referee to pull out the book, showing a yellow to Wofford’s Carlos Dominguez Gonzalez for a reckless challenge. Miller again created an opportunity in the 27th minute with a weaving run through Wofford’s charges which led ultimately to a corner kick. Redshirt sophomore Nathan Bunch latched onto the corner but his strike was cleared off the line by a Wofford defender, keeping the match level. UNCG went into the half with the better chances and the better of the possession but nothing to show for it on the scoresheet. They continued their possession dominance coming out of the break, with redshirt freshman Dustin Gamradt earning an opportunity from a tough angle but inside the six-yard box. However, he sent the chance begging over the top corner. Indeed, UNCG had a tough time finishing all match. The opportunities were there but the final touch, the final ball was often not good enough. “Not all goals have to be pretty goals,” Maullin said. “We’re not doing a good enough job at getting good numbers in the box on the crosses and that’s part of braveness. Our final touch just wasn’t good enough in the final third.” The action picked up around the 56th minute, as Wofford’s Benny Puetter forced a save and a corner concession from redshirt senior goalkeeper Peyton Ford. Sophomore defender Forrest Lasso had a go at it on the ensuing corner, but the opportunity went right to Ford. UNCG’s counter-attack led to a great opportunity on a half-volley just inside the box for Bunch…who also hit it right at the keeper. Cards would flash a minute later to Wofford’s Taylor Grim for a blatant takedown of a streaking Miller and to UNCG’s Max Schulz for simulation in the box.Wofford’s opportunities were few and far between, mostly due to Ali’s transformation into a mobile brick wall for much of the match. He came up particularly big in the 60th minute when a Wofford attacker broke free of the Spartan defense and was seemingly alone with Ford. That is, until Ali came up from behind and executed a delicate but precise tackle in the box, sending the ball harmlessly away. “(Mahdi Ali) showed some great leadership tonight,” Maullin said. “He actually did the pregame speech. He showed like a true captain how much it bothered him.” The Spartans should have scored in the 74th minute when Drennan made a mistake by coming out of the box to challenge Ilhan’s claim on a 50-50. The ball bounced away toward sophomore midfielder David Reittinger who had an open net…until the referee bailed out the keeper by calling a foul on Ilhan. The two teams displayed plenty of fire over the final sixteen minutes of regulation but few chances and the match went to golden-goal overtime scoreless. It was at this point where Wofford took over the match, garnering the balance of the opportunities and forcing a couple of brilliant fingertip saves from Ford. However, the draw was not in the cards for UNCG. In the final 100th minute, Blair Gaines, from a possibly offside position, headed on a chance from Wofford’s Nestor Jamarillo into the back of the net. Ford, Ali, and the rest of the Spartans had no chance on the well executed play and they were forced to watch as the Terriers piled up in the Ford’s goal. UNCG will not have long to dwell on the loss, meeting up with the College of Charleston at UNCG Soccer Stadium Tuesday at 7 pm. Clemson, Wofford leave UNCG’s week pointless caused them to come up short, as Clemson’s two quick second half goals allowed them to defeat our Spartans at home. This makes me wonder whether the crowd energy that was clearly missing could have helped provide UNCG with a little extra motivation. As a college student, showing some school spirit is good from time to time. While it is understandable that attendance would be low if our soccer teams were terrible, the fact both soccer teams for UNCG are good teams gives us no excuse why we should not show up. While it is enjoyable seeing the same group of guys come in face and full body paint, as well as hearing Mark the Librarian shouting from the stands, some variety would be nice from time to time. Both the men’s and women’s soccer teams give a solid effort every week to compete and win for our school and I do not know about you, but I feel it is a time that we fans reciprocate that same effort. themselves late. With the score even at 18 an Olivia Humphries kill gave UNCG their first lead of the night and the Spartans scored six of the next eight points, capped by a Chattanooga attack error to take a 25-19 set victory. UNCG never trailed in the fourth and final set and with the score at 17-15 the Spartans went on an 8-2 run to end the match with a 25-17 victory. Karrian Chambers led the Spartans with 19 kills in the match while Olivia Humphries and Morgan Freeman each poured in 17 and 14 respectively. Kellie Orweiler recorded a match high 33 digs and added 2 service aces for UNCG. UNCG improved to 9-8 on the season and 4-2 in SoCon play this year. The Spartans take a break from Southern Conference action on Tuesday night as South Carolina State comes into Fleming Gym before UNCG heads down south for a weekend visit to Georgia Southern and Davidson. split from page 15 quiet from page 15 Tuesday UNCG 0 Clemson 2 Saturday UNCG 0 Wofford 1 (2OT) Ian Foster Sports Editor Spartans drop midweek bout with Tigers despite six Ford saves Terriers shock Spartans in double overtime, giving UNCG 3rd conference loss in three years 14 |October 9-15, 2012 Sports |The Carolinian We are the sports fans who say “We” Jose Torres Staff Writer Ian Foster Sports Editor “We,” a two letter word that carries so much weight in the sports world. “We,” a sense of ownership, a sense of belonging, a sense of self. “We,” a word that annoys a wide range of people involved in the sports word. As simple as this pronoun seems, the word “we” holds a very complex definition in sports. The biggest reason why I gravitate to the sports world is because of the camaraderie among the fans. I am a son of a soldier who has been stationed around the Atlantic. If I were to visit a place like Philadelphia, the only common idea I would share with the people is my allegiance to the Philadelphia Eagles. When fans talk about the feelings they have towards a team, the word “we” tends to come up more often than not. But when they use “we,” what exactly do they mean? Do they mean “we” as fans or rather “we” as a team? Usually the word “we” is used innocently. For instance, I can ask a fellow fan “what time do we play Sunday?” and he will understand that I am talking about the Eagles because we both know that we identify with the team. This irritates people because we do not own the team nor are we employed by the team. So, in their mind, we have no reason to use the word “we.” Yet I still hear people use “we” because of the allegiance. When you are a part of something, like becoming a fan of a certain team, then you identify yourself as such. People ask me when I write about sports, “what’s your favorite team?” When I reply with the Eagles, they tend to lump me in with the stereotypical crazy Philly fans. I always reply “no, we’re not all that crazy,” instead of saying “no, I’m not that crazy.” It is an important distinction because I am defending the community I am a part of instead of just defending myself. That is what the word “we” brings. Not just ownership, but belonging. Why do people get so angry at the word “we?” The easiest way to explain is by comparing them to the Grammar Police. The Grammar Police is anyone who insists on correcting every grammatical error from the spoken word to the written word on any platform. I have to admit, I used to be one. I was the guy who would correct Facebook posts because someone used “your” instead of “you’re.” Now, it does not really bug me as much. People make mistakes all the time, especially on Facebook, Twitter, and any other social media site. I am not comparing the use of “we” to a grammatical error; rather I am comparing the disdain that cultivates among the Grammar Police and those who hate the word “we.” Correcting grammatical errors, just like getting mad at fans that use the word “we,” is inane and quite frankly a waste of time. However, for every rule there is always an exception. Although I do not consider myself as part of the Grammar Police, when someone takes a shot at me by saying “Your an idiot!” I always respond with “no, you’re an idiot.” After all, questioning my intelligence with a grammatical error is idiotic itself. We can use the same idea with the word “we.” If the Eagles lost to the Giants the other week and a fan came up to me and said “We kicked your butt,” I would then have issue. This fan is not using the word “we” innocently like my previous example. Rather, he is using it as a means to embarrass me because the team he aligns with beat a team I align with. This is the only problem I have with using the word “we.” I do not mind it being used as a sense of community or belonging, but if it is used to try to embarrass other communities, it is wrong. The word “we” has had a bad stigma for years among sports fans. Many believe only those who own or are employed by the team they associate with are allowed to use the word “we.” I do not have a problem with people using it innocently. After all, everyone wants to belong to something, and this pronoun helps us express this idea of community. I can see why those like the Grammar Police do not like it but if it is used harmlessly, then why should it matter? Major League Baseball’s wild mistake Major League Baseball makes puzzling decision after puzzling decision. From awarding World Series Home-Field Advantage to the league that wins the All- Star Game to adding a fifth playoff team in each league, commissioner Bud Selig can seem like quite the reactionary baseball overlord. The Home-Field thing was a reaction to a midsummer classic in Milwaukee that ended in a tie. The fans were understandably upset. In response, Selig decided to ramp up the intensity about three notches more than necessary. In response to fans loving one-game playoffs, Selig decided to mandate there being two every year. A forced one-game playoff in baseball is like watching the Kill Bill but skipping ahead to the scene where Uma Thurman finally confronts David Carradine. It is fun and dramatic, but you are not particularly sure how or why anyone got there. From games one to about 140, the 2011 Major League Baseball season was pretty boring. The eight playoff teams all had fairly substantial leads. Even the Wild Cards were far ahead, with both the Boston Red Sox and the Atlanta Braves nursing 9-game leads in late August. Then, Crazy September Baseball broke loose, culminating in what was the greatest Game 162 in baseball’s history. This year, however, baseball fans were robbed. Instead of letting late September madness happen naturally, Major League Baseball decided to force the drama. The result was undeniably dramatic, but for all the wrong reasons. Play-in games are always weird. In 2007, Colorado completed an amazing run with an extra-innings win over San Diego in a one-game playoff that was aided by a contentious homerun call. The next year, the Minnesota Twins fell to the White Sox in a 1-0 one-gamer that was played in Chicago even though the Twins had won the season series. In 2009, the Twins got their revenge in The Best Baseball Game Ever Played (in my humble unbiased opinion, of course) against the Tigers, becoming the first to come back from a three-game deficit with four games to play. The amazing thing about these play-in games is that they were all deserved. The teams played 162 games and at the end, there was nothing to choose between the two. Even though 2010 and 2011 did not feature play-in games, they still featured incredible drama surrounding the potential play-in games. As stated earlier, 2011’s last day of the season was a great day for baseball. What happened? Major League Baseball noticed that their sport never grabs the national spotlight when it matters most: in October. Heck, with Euro2012, the Olympics, the most entertaining NBA playoffs in awhile, and of course football, it could be argued that Major League Baseball never topped the headlines this year. Mid-season NFL games attract far superior ratings and media coverage than World Series games. It took Game 162 and the first 7-game World Series since 2002 to get the nation to care about baseball again in 2011. Bud Selig decided that he was going to manufacture drama, forcing a one-game playoff between the top two non-division winners. Luckily for Selig, the AL version featured two teams that would have played the game anyway in the Rangers and the Orioles. Baltimore won the game handily, 5-1, continuing one of the weirdest seasons in baseball history. The NL version, on the other hand, featured the 94-win Atlanta Braves and the 87-win St. Louis Cardinals. The same St. Louis Cardinals that earned their Wild Card spot the year before by overcoming a nine-game deficit by, well, winning ten more games than the Braves. This season, they got the unprecedented opportunity to make up a seven-game deficit in just one game! What fun! The result? Braves fans got kicked in the mouth again. Three errors and the most bizarre phantom infield fly call in baseball history helped the Cards eliminate the Braves 6-3 in Atlanta. Suddenly, a team that had won 94 games in the regular season in one of the toughest divisions in baseball was knocked out of the playoffs after one game by a team that was not in their class for most of the season. As for the game itself, it was undeniably dramatic. The Braves grabbed an early 2-0 lead on a controversial late time-out call. Jeffrey Ross appeared to strike out to end the 2nd inning when the home plate umpire granted a late timeout. Ross sent St. Louis starter Kyle Lohse’s next pitch into the left-field bleachers. It was the only break that would go Atlanta’s way. Chipper Jones, playing the last game of his storied career (the Braves mowed the number 10, his jersey number, into the outfield) uncharacteristically overthrew his second baseman on a routine groundball, ultimately leading to three Cardinals runs. More infield overthrows (apparently the Cardinals had saved some from the 2006 World Series) led to a 6-3 Cardinals lead. And then the 8th inning happened. Here are my notes as the game was happening: (4th inning) Let the shenanigans begin. Chipper just threw over the 2nd baseman with no outs, leaving runners on the corners. Play-in games are weird. The Cards tie on a double and a groundout. Atlanta Anxiety is full-on. A sac fly puts the Cards up. It is still the 4th inning. (5th inning) David Ross just followed up his homerun with a bunt single. Now there are runners at the corners. Play-in games are… Before I can finish the sentence, Andrelton Simmons bunts also, and the throw sails! Except, Simmons ran on the fair grass, which is a no-no, making the umpires call runner interference. Two runs off the board. Play-in games are weird. (8th inning) Simmons pops it up between left fielder and third baseman…it drops! But the ump calls infield fly! And the fans shower the field with beer bottles! Did I mention that play-in games are weird? Game officially under protest. Game delayed 18 minutes as a result of all the stuff on the field. This is unreal. I am calling (former WUAG Sports Director/ Carolinian columnist) Stuart Barefoot after this (end notes). From here on out, the game will forever be referred to as the Infield Fly Game. The call itself resulted from another puzzling decision of Major League Baseball: two extra umpires in the playoffs. A good idea in principle but one that almost always backfires. Ultimately, of course, the Cardinals won. Major League Baseball got what it wanted: a ton of drama and national exposure. But at what cost? photo courtesy keith allison/flickr The umpires and Major League Baseball teamed up to ruin Chipper Jones’s last game. 10-team playoff, random wild card game, extra umpires among MLB playoff missteps Sports 15 October 9-15, 2012 Calvin Walters Staff Writer Hannah Nystrom Staff Writer Joseph Abraham Staff Writer While soccer is not the most popular game in the United States, it is the most popular sport in the world. Th e lack of popularity in our country is commonly represented at UNCG Soccer games, which is a shame. UNCG puts a lot of money into their soccer program, who recruit very talented players from all over the world. It is because of our team’s talent that we compete against schools like Duke, NC State, Clemson and UNC-Charlotte on a regular basis. Th e lack of student attendance to these games is holding our soccer team back from their full potential. When a large group of fans are at a game cheering their team on, it provides more motivation to these players to keep fi ghting on. Th ese players do not need motivation to play hard and to win, because every athlete should already hold that form of competitive edge. However, when a player has been running up and down a soccer pitch for over 50-70 minutes or even the whole game, the crowd screaming in support is their fuel to keep going. Crowds also have an underrated impact on how a referee will call a game. While refs will call blatant fouls on each side, they are more likely to give breaks to the team that the crowd supports. Th is includes when a player on the home team fl ops. Th e referee will be more likely to call that foul on the opposing team if the crowd is behind the player who fl opped. Th is can work in reverse in terms of defense, if a player on the team the crowd supports commits a not so obvious foul, the ref may not blow his whistle. Th e problem with the atmosphere at UNCG soccer games is that since there is oft en not a large attendance of fans, our Spartans are less likely to get the breaks they should. Th is was most evident when I attended a home game against UNC-Charlotte. As I made my way to the press box to greet Ian Foster, who was covering the game, as well as Matt McCollester from Spartan Athletics, we could not help but notice a large amount of UNC-Charlotte fans taking up a majority of the spectator section. Th ese fans were wrapped in UNC- Charlotte Spartans pick up 4 points in South Carolina Th e UNCG women’s soccer team travelled to South Carolina for a set of SoCon conference games against the Furman Paladins and the Woff ord Terriers. Th e Spartans faced Furman Friday Oct. 5 at the Eugene Stone Soccer Stadium and Woff ord on Sunday Oct. 7 at Snyder Fields. Th e fi rst half defi nitely belonged to Furman. Th e Paladins maintained possession of the ball with 6 to 5 as well as 13 to 5 in the second half. No amount of work would pay off the Paladins performance; the Spartans were determined to win. Th e Spartans tied against the Paladins 110 minutes, in double overtime, 1 to 1. During the 59th minute of the game, Furman’s all-star player Stephanie DeVita via India Robinson shot into the far right post aft er being provided a thru ball by her teammate. With a goal against them, the UNCG women’s soccer team kicked it into high gear, scoring nearly a minute aft er Furman. At the 60th minute mark, red shirt senior, Cat Barnekow, unassisted, wrapped a corner kick around the near post for an Olympic Goal. Th is was the fourth goal of the season for Barnekow. Even though Barnekow scored the tying goal, freshman goalkeeper Jamie Simmons truly made the diff erence for the Spartans. During the fi rst half of the game, Simmons made three crucial saves, two of which came from SoCon’s women’s soccer player of the month, Stephanie DeVita. Once entering second overtime, Jamie Simmons blocked two crucial goals, a header by Furman’s Stephanie DeVita and a shot by Alyssa Althoff , keeping the game tied. Simmons fi nished the Furman game with a career high of 15 saves. A tie against Furman did not hinder UNCG’s performance against Woff ord. Th e Spartans beat the Terriers 1 to 0. During the fi rst half, the Spartans took possession at the 11 minute mark. Lauren Hein via Katie Durst’s cross scored her goal for the Spartans by tipping off the goalkeeper and gently tapping into the net. Th e Woff ord Terriers had two chances to take the lead during the fi rst half of the game with two shots on goal within the last 10 minutes of the half, but to the Spartans’ advantage, goalkeeper Jamie Simmons blocked both shots. Th is was Simmons third shutout of the season. Th e Spartans were able to hold their own during the game, maintaining their 1 to 0 lead through the 90 minutes even though Woff ord had more shots on goal 8 to 3. Th e UNCG volleyball team returned home this past weekend for a pivotal two game set against Southern Conference North division foes Samford and Chattanooga. Following a similar pattern the Spartans split the weekend contest falling to the SoCon leading Bulldogs before bouncing back with a strong victory over the Mocs. UNCG came out strong against Samford in the fi rst set leading through most of the opening action. Th e Bulldogs would not go down quietly though and evened things up just to see the Spartans push back by a point or two. With UNCG leading 22-21, Samford collected two kills in a row to take their fi rst lead of the set. UNCG answered and pushed the Bulldogs to the brink before a Samford kill and a Spartan error left the Spartans with a heartbreaking 27-25 fi rst set loss. Th e Spartans could not recover from the disappointing fi nish and Samford raced out to big leads on the way to taking the next two sets and the match. In the second set Samford raced out to a 6-1 lead and never looked back allowing the Spartans to only close within four (at 9-5) the rest of the set. UNCG aided the Bulldogs with 12 errors during the play compared to only 8 throughout the entire match for the Bulldogs. Th e third set began in a similar fashion with Samford pulling ahead 7-3. UNCG never could respond to the early outburst from the Bulldogs and the matched ended with a Spartan attack error to give the Bulldogs the sweep. Taking the court less than 24 hours later the Spartans bounced back with a 3-1 victory over UT Chattanooga in a very important match for SoCon positioning. Both teams entered the match at 3-2 and the winner would hold on to second place in the North division. Th e fi rst set started out well for UNCG who jumped out to Th is was a successful weekend for the Spartans. Th e UNCG Women’s Team was able to maintain their undefeated streak with the Paladins and the Terriers. Th e tie against Furman and the win against Woff ord provide the Spartans overall ranking at 7-6-1 with a 4-1-1 record in the SoCon. Th ese results pushed the Terriers to 1-4-1 in SoCon and the Paladins 2-1-2. UNCG rises to the top with their 18 team unbeaten streak. Th e Spartans will take on the Davidson Wildcats Friday, Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. at the UNCG Soccer Stadium. Support the Spartans as they continue to improve their SoCon status. Friday UNCG 1 Furman 1(2OT) Sunday UNCG 1 Woff ord 0 Barnekow’s Olympic Goal, Hein’s strike, Simmons’s record day power SC weekend photo courtesy carlos morales/uncg sports infromation department photo courtesy carlos morales/uncg sports infromation department Simmons made a school-record 15 saves against Furman on Friday to preserve a draw. Hein scored the winner against Wofford in Spartanburg, S.C. on Sunday. emma barker/the carolinian Charlotte’s away crowd embarrassed UNCG’s home crowd in a match on September 15. Home splitting Spartan sound of silence Friday UNCG 0 Samford 3 Saturday UNCG 3 Chattanooga 1 see sPlit, page 13 see qUiet, page 13 Chambers, Freeman, Orweiler combine for 50 kills vs. UTC |
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