Rumors of a shooter in the Mass Media building on Wednesday proved to be false. Eyewitnesses place a young man at the scene who was de- scribed to be around 5-feet-9- inches tall, stocky and traditional college student-aged. He wandered around the building asking for money, claiming to be armed. It was dis- covered that the man was not armed and the situation was deemed non-threatening. According to witnesses, once the man was inside he ap- proached students asking them for money while claiming to be an aspiring rapper and actor. He then asked several female stu- dents if they could direct him to the person in charge of putting people on television. Brejae Wylie, junior mass me- dia major, was a witness to the event. “He continued to ask all the women coming out of their classes and one of them proceed- ed to walk with him outside,” she said. “When we stopped her from leaving, he came back as well and claimed to be armed. He said he would not use the gun and that he would exit the building.” Wylie said that after the man left, the group of women alerted the professors who then locked all the Mass Media Building’s doors. According to Wylie, two mass media professors stepped outside and asked the man to vacate the premises. Michael Taylor, mass media instructor, was in his office when the man entered the building. “Basically we had a young man who wandered into the building,” he said. “Anyone could tell he was not a student. He was disturbing some of our students. When he wandered back out, the other professor and I made sure the door was secure so we wouldn’t have to worry about him coming back in.” This was not the end of the or- deal, however. “[The man] did come back a little later at which point I went ahead and went outside to in- form him that he needed to leave the building to stop harassing our students,” Taylor said. “I no- ticed out of the corner of my eye he kept talking to kids. I said he needed to leave and stop mess- ing with the students. I then saw campus cops were pulling up, so I could back away.” According to Taylor, the man seemed to be acting out of delu- sion rather than malice. “When I talked to him, he was obviously disturbed and not all the way coherent, and at one point threatened to blow up the building, claiming to have a grenade in his hip pocket. Irony being that he said here’s the pen and pointed to his ear. I think he basically was dealing with a situ- November 1, 2012 WWW.VSUSPECTATOR.COM VOLUME 84 ISSUE 11 Inside This Issue - OPINIONS: “Vote Tuesday; No excuses” - FEATURES: “Lamar releases potential classic” - SPORTS: “Blazers host Javelinas tonight” On the Web www.vsuspectator.com SCIENCE SEMINAR - From 4-5 p.m. in Powell Hall. Presented by Dr. Nancy Malcom, Depart- ment of Sociology, Georgia Southern University. The title of her talk is “The Creation of STUNT Cheer: A Story of Title IX, Cheerleading and the Gen- der Politics of Sport”. CONSIDERING LAW SCHOOL? - 7:30-8:30 p.m. Creating a Road Map for College Freshmen and Sophomores Who Are Con- sidering Law School: A Webinar POLICAL DEBATE - Jennett Hall 1111, 7 p.m. The “This Is My Vote” Political Debate, which pits the VSU College Republicans against the VSU College Democrats, is sponsored by NAACP, Sigma Gamma Rho, Phi Beta Sigma, and Delta Sigma Theta ICE CREAM - Marble Slab Creamery, 5-9 p.m. Join the fun at Celebrity Scoop Night! Sponsored by Zeta Phi Beta. BOARD GAME NIGHT - Odum 1480, 8 p.m. Join Natural High for Board Game Night. Snacks provided. It’s all free! It’s Natural High. If you have questions about Natur- al High please call 259-5111 or e-mail [email protected]Today at VSU Weather 76 H 45 L Sunny Today 79 H Friday 83 H Sunny Saturday Who do you think will win the election? A. Romney/Ryan B. Obama/Biden C. Johnson/Gray D. Another candidate Vote online at www.vsuspectator.com! Question of the week Last Week Poll Results What are you doing for Halloween? 57% Studying 36% 7% House Party! Haunted House/Trail Sunny Blazers take on West Georgia in GSC quaterfinals. See page 6 for a preview. Check out the Web Spectator for a Halloween recap. No threat in shooter rumor Miss VSU pageant returns For the first time since 2008, one young woman will hold the title of Miss VSU. Thirteen young women will vie for the coveted crown, but only one will become the face of the university. The Miss VSU Pageant will be held at 7 p.m. on Saturday in Whitehead Auditorium. Alisha Stabler, director of the Miss VSU Pageant, has put in a lot of hard work to make sure the pageant is a success. According to Stabler, she wouldn’t have made it this far without an extremely helpful franchise committee that has helped out--from finding spon- sors to heading up volunteers. “A lot goes into planning a pageant, and with this pageant being the first in a few years they wanted to make sure every- thing went well so that it will continue to be an annual event,” she said. “We all have had so much fun planning this event this year and with all the student involvement and support, I would hate to see it go by the wayside again.” Not only is this the first year since 2008 that VSU has had a Miss VSU pageant, this is also the first year since 2006 that the pageant has been a preliminary for Miss Georgia. The winner of Saturday’s pageant will go on to represent VSU in the Miss Georgia com- petition. That winner will move on in the hopes of becoming Miss America. “This is a great marketing tool for Valdosta State University as there are no longer many Miss Georgia preliminary pageants lo- cated in South Georgia,” Stabler said. According to Stabler, a few students expressed interest in bringing the pageant back to campus. “We held an interest meeting this past spring and had an over- whelming amount of students in- terested so we decided to move forward to look at the possibility of bringing the pageant back,” she said. Everything fell into place for the pageant to be an annual cam- pus sponsored event. The Stu- dent Life office has been respon- sible for making sure that Sta- bler and her committee were in line with regulations for Miss Georgia as well as with the Miss America organization. With a lot of hard work over the past few months, they are all excited about hosting the pageant Saturday. The Miss America organiza- tion focuses on providing schol- arships to young women and motivating them to reach their academic as well as personal See PAGEANT , Page 2 See SHOOTER , Page 2 Amber Smith E DITOR - IN -C HIEF [email protected]& Valencia Williams S TAFF W RITER [email protected]It’s time to fall back! Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. on Sunday. Set your clocks back before bed on Saturday to make sure your time is accurate when you wake up. Four SGA senators warned about attendance, one resigns Above: Dwayne Gray, sopho- more engineering major, is a frightening Freddy Krueger. He participated in Wednes- day’s costume contest in Palms Dining Hall. Right: Kevin Jourden, fresh- man industrial engineering major, plays a creepy jester at the Honors College haunt- ed house on Wednesday. This year’s theme was Carni- vale. Halloween fun creeps across campus A non-student on campus claiming to be armed was found not to be. Ashley Emanuel S TAFF W RITER [email protected]Cody Hicks/ THE SPECTATOR Von Kennedy/ THE SPECTATOR Four SGA senators are in hot water due to lack of attendance. These senators, Stacie Linton, John Maratto, Rachel Martin, and Kaysie Williams, were given warnings for lack of attendance. Martin resigned from the SGA due to multiple obligations that prevented her from attending the meetings. The SGA’s attendance policy states that those that miss more than three SGA meetings without informing SGA secretary Kelly Hessler in advance will be put up for review by the judicial board during their next meetings and could lose their seat as a re- sult. During the week, discussion has been prevalent about increas- ing accountability among both senators and executives, and Ryan Baerwalde, SGA President, discussed this on Tuesday. “Obviously, we’re holding our senators accountable,” said Baer- walde on Tuesday. “Currently, I believe the Judiciary committee Joe Adgie M ULTIMEDIA E DITOR [email protected]See SGA , Page 2 Other business: SGA appropriated $900 to the Collegiate Men of VSU to cover the cost of food for its “Women’s Appreciation Din- ner.” Other funds appropriated: $175 for the Presidential Watch Party $475 for Blazer-A-Thon SGA has $11,750 in their bud- get for the rest of the year. Three senators were elected. Joe Adgie/ THE SPECTATOR While the rumor that went around of a shooter Wednesday turned out not to be an actual threat, students should be aware of what to do in case of an emergency situation. Check out VSU’s Emergency Quick Reference Guide for more safety tips. Blazer Soccer 51 L 55 L 0% Trick-or-Treating
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Transcript
Rumors of a shooter in the
Mass Media building on
Wednesday proved to be false.
Eyewitnesses place a young
man at the scene who was de-
scribed to be around 5-feet-9-
inches tall, stocky and traditional
college student-aged.
He wandered around the
building asking for money,
claiming to be armed. It was dis-
covered that the man was not
armed and the situation was
deemed non-threatening.
According to witnesses, once
the man was inside he ap-
proached students asking them
for money while claiming to be
an aspiring rapper and actor. He
then asked several female stu-
dents if they could direct him to
the person in charge of putting
people on television.
Brejae Wylie, junior mass me-
dia major, was a witness to the
event.
“He continued to ask all the
women coming out of their
classes and one of them proceed-
ed to walk with him outside,”
she said. “When we stopped her
from leaving, he came back as
well and claimed to be armed.
He said he would not use the
gun and that he would exit the
building.”
Wylie said that after the man
left, the group of women alerted
the professors who then locked
all the Mass Media Building’s
doors.
According to Wylie, two mass
media professors stepped outside
and asked the man to vacate the
premises.
Michael Taylor, mass media
instructor, was in his office when
the man entered the building.
“Basically we had a young
man who wandered into the
building,” he said. “Anyone
could tell he was not a student.
He was disturbing some of our
students. When he wandered
back out, the other professor and
I made sure the door was secure
so we wouldn’t have to worry
about him coming back in.”
This was not the end of the or-
deal, however.
“[The man] did come back a
little later at which point I went
ahead and went outside to in-
form him that he needed to leave
the building to stop harassing
our students,” Taylor said. “I no-
ticed out of the corner of my eye
he kept talking to kids. I said he
needed to leave and stop mess-
ing with the students. I then saw
campus cops were pulling up, so
I could back away.”
According to Taylor, the man
seemed to be acting out of delu-
sion rather than malice.
“When I talked to him, he was
obviously disturbed and not all
the way coherent, and at one
point threatened to blow up the
building, claiming to have a
grenade in his hip pocket. Irony
being that he said here’s the pen
and pointed to his ear. I think he
basically was dealing with a situ-
November 1, 2012 W W W . V S U S P E C T A T O R . C O M VOLUME 84 ISSUE 11
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Heart diseasecauses so manyproblems for the hu-man body; it doesn’tjust cause problemswith your heart butwith your brain,body movement andother areas through-out your body.
- SHELBY WILEY
“
”
Lowndes walks forhealthy hearts
Professoremeritusdies
ShooterContinued from Page 1
-uation of psychological diffi-
culty or may have been drug in-
duced. He was obviously not in
his right mind. [He was] truth-
fully more of a nuisance than a
physical threat. But you never
know. It was just a simple mat-
ter where we got him away from
the building. When the police
pulled up, I basically backed
off.”
Taylor did note, however, that
while the man appeared dis-
turbed, his eyes were clear and
did not appear dilated.
According to Thressea Boyd,
assistant to the president for
communications, “[…] The
VSU Police responded and the
man did not have any weapon
and did not appear to be an im-
mediate threat. While being
questioned it became apparent
that he needed some medical at-
tention; VSU Police called for
an ambulance which arrived and
transported the man to SGMC.
A Criminal Trespass Warning
for VSU was issued to the man.”
The entire incident unfolded
in less than 10 minutes, accord-
ing to Taylor, who also praised
VSUPD for their handling of the
situation and quick response
time.
PageantContinued from Page 1
goals. The organization requires
each contestant to choose a plat-
form they are passionate about to
bring awareness to that cause or
organization. The winner advo-
cates for her chosen platform
during her reign whether it is as
Miss VSU, Miss Georgia or
Miss America.
Contestant platforms for this
year’s Miss VSU pageant in-
clude: distracted Driving, child-
hood cancer and poverty.
The pageant will consist of an
opening number, on stage ques-
tion, a swimsuit judging, talent
and evening gown competition.
Stabler explained that the
contestants will be judged on
five categories. The first catego-
ry is the interview, which will
take place the day of the pageant
and will count for 25-percent of
their score. The onstage ques-
tion, which will count for 5-per-
cent of the total score, will be
the first competition attendees
will see. Other categories in-
clude, fitness in swimsuit which
will count for 15-percent,
evening wear which will count
for 20-percent, and talent, the
largest percentage, accounting
for 35-percent of the contestants
overall score.
Preliminary winners of the in-
terview and talent categories will
receive a $200 scholarship. The
2nd runner up will receive a
$500 scholarship, and the 1st
runner up will receive a $750
scholarship. The crowned Miss
VSU will win a $2,000 scholar-
ship.
“We are trying to keep the
pageant fun and high energy,”
Stabler said. “We have incorpo-
rated a performance by VSU stu-
dent, Vicorie Brown, and the
Valdosta School of Ballet. There
is a People’s Choice winner that
will be chosen by the students
and attendees. There are buckets
set up in the Student Union from
11-2 p.m. this week where stu-
dents can cast their vote by do-
nating monies to the contestant
they think deserves to win. All
money collected from the Peo-
ple’s Choice buckets will be do-
nated in the contestant’s name to
the Children’s Miracle Network-
-the national philanthropy of the
Miss America organization.”
Students can purchase tickets
from the Student Life Office in
the Student Union, Event Ser-
vices in the University Center, or
in downtown Valdosta at City
Market. Tickets are $5 for stu-
dents and children and $10 for
adults. If you are not able to
purchase a ticket early, tickets
will be sold at the door begin-
ning at 6 p.m. Monies collected
from ticket sales will help send
Miss VSU to the Miss Georgia
competition in June 2013 and
help begin planning for the 2013
Miss Valdosta State University
Pageant.
There are also Miss VSU
pageant t-shirts available for sale
for $10 in the Student Life of-
fice.
This year’s contestants are a
diverse group of intelligent
young women with talents rang-
ing from singing, dancing, dra-
matic monologue and even com-
edy. Each contestant brings their
own personality and passion to
the competition making this
event one to remember.
We are trying tokeep the pageantfun and high ener-gy.
1500 N. Patterson St., Valdosta, GA 31698Letters must include name, year in school, major, job title or other appro-
priate identification and phone number for verification.Letters should be no longer than 300 words in length. Letters are subject toediting for style, length, grammar, and libelous material. Not all letters arepublished. Letters should be typed and turned in with a disk, or e-mailed as
an attachment by Tuesdays before 5 p.m.
Online at www.vsuspectator.com
Spectator Staff
People Poll:Are you voting nextweek, why or why not?
Amber Hardesty
sophomore
middle grades
education major
“I am voting next week because
I feel that if you want to have a
say about your life, voting is a
great way for that to happen.”
Joy King
sophomore
nursing major
“I am voting next week because
I believe that it is my duty as a
citizen to play my part in our
country’s future.”
Patterson Ambo
junior
business managment major
“No, I am not voting because
I’m from the Virgin Islands and
this election doesn’t do much for
my people.”
Tikeyah Varner
freshman
criminal justice major
“I voted early last weekend. I
voted because I feel it is ex-
tremely important to exercise my
right to vote and have my voice
heard. I encourage everyone to
get out there and vote next
week.”
Tyler Quick
freshman
nursing major
“Yes, I feel that it is important to
exercise my voting rights and I
want to have a part in what goes
on in our government.”
Vote Tuesday
This editorial was written by Jennifer Gleason ([email protected]) and it expresses the general opinion of the editorial staff.
Our point of view...
Joe Adgie /THE SPECTATOR
Imagine if everyone con-
tributed a few cents or dollars
with every non-food and pre-
scription purchase, and then said
contribution went to help all citi-
zens of Lowndes and the sur-
rounding counties.
Think of all of the incredible
new public works and institu-
tions that would be available to
everyone.
For the last several years, the
Special-purpose local-option
sales tax (SPLOST) has done just
that by bringing many public fa-
cilities to Valdosta and the sur-
rounding areas that benefit all
citizens.
SPLOST is a 1 percent sales
tax that any county in the state of
Georgia has the ability to impose
for the purpose of funding public
facilities, operating expenses and
maintenance projects.
According to the SPLOST of-
ficial website, the tax has the po-
tential to generate $670 million
in revenue throughout our dis-
trict.
SPLOST achieves this goal by
simply raising sales tax from 4
percent up to, at most, a mere six
percent on all non-food and pre-
scription purchases.
This incredibly nonintrusive
tax is being voted on throughout
the state’s districts in the Nov. 6
election. If this
piece of legis-
lation is to
pass, the tax
will continue
for the next 10
years.
Currently,
nine of the 12
districts of
Georgia are se-
verely against
SPLOST, refus-
ing to acknowl-
edge the poten-
tial of the tax
that has proven
itself time and
time again.
One of those
districts is the
Southern Geor-
gia District,
which includes
Lowndes County. Voter discon-
tent lies with the tax allowing the
state government to maintain in-
frastructure at the local level. In
addition, people fear that this tax
will put those of lower incomes,
those who may benefit the most
from SPLOST, at a disadvantage.
Yet, the advantages that SPLOST
creates are numerous.
In Lowndes County, the votes
have been projected to be 66%
no, 34% yes. If passed, SPLOST
revenue will be used to build a
new $22 million library auditori-
um near Five Points. Mathis City
Auditorium will then be sold to
South Georgia Medical Center in
order to assist staff and better aid
patients. Millions more generated
through SPLOST will be spent
on other various projects aimed
at the public good. Over the
years SPLOST has giving way to
Fire Station No. 2, the Regional
Airport terminal, the Senior Citi-
zens Center, the Lowndes Coun-
ty Jail facilities, the Valdosta Re-
gional Crime Lab and many
more local innovations and ne-
cessities.
If voted in, SPLOST will al-
low for decaying and outdated
buildings such as Valdosta High
School, and the local Library to
be renovated and equipped with
modern technologies. In addition,
an excess of new jobs will be
created. There is a critical need
to maintain the crumbling foun-
dation that supports the legacy of
historic Valdosta. SPLOST will
do just that by bringing life back
to downtown Valdosta through
renovation of the area and by
providing easy access to the local
venues.
Without SPLOST we risk los-
ing both the culture and nature of
progression that has forever been
identified with Valdosta and its
people. In November we must all
vote yes to SPLOST in order to
create a city of opportunity and
knowledge for future genera-
tions.
SPLOST, spending for the future
Information from the Valdosta Daily Times
OPINIONS
The idea that affirmative
action is preventing white
students from getting a
great education because colleges
are admitting unqualified minori-
ties is nothing more than an of-
fensive joke.
Despite the narrative that some
may try to paint, minority stu-
dents are in college because they
are able to stand on their own
merits and no amount of twisting
facts and distorted history
lessons can change that.
This particular affirmative ac-
tion controversy is back. Abigail
Fisher, a 22-year-old white
woman, who was denied admis-
sion to the University of Texas at
Austin, has sued the school,
claiming that its consideration of
race is unlawful.
To note, Fisher graduated in
the top 12 percent of her class,
which is outside of the top 10
percent of Texas students who
are granted automatic admission
into UT.
I feel that her comments re-
flect a sense of entitlement that
subconsciously puts her academ-
ic dreams above others.
“I dreamt of going to UT ever
since the second grade,” Fisher
said in her Supreme Court ap-
peal. “My dad went there, my
sister went there, and tons of
friends and family. And it was a
tradition I wanted to continue.”
That may be a heart touching
statement, but we have all dreamt
about getting accepted into our
dream college-- key word is
dreamt.
However, I view us as lucky,
Miss Fisher. We had the ability
to dream about college and com-
plain when there are thousands
of minority students who are at a
disadvantage when it comes to
education. You and I dreamed
about college, while minority
students dream about new text-
books, clean classrooms and
holes in the classroom ceiling
closed.
Furthermore, it’s important to
realize that affirmative action
promotes diversity, benefits all
minorities and helps to level the
playing field.
It wasn’t until 1954 that segre-
gation in public schools was
ruled unconstitutional. And be-
fore then, African Americans
were attending Historically Black
Colleges and Universities be-
cause we weren’t allowed to at-
tend predominantly white institu-
tions. So the playing field is not
and has never been equal when it
comes to education.
Even though I disagree with
Miss Fisher’s complaints, she has
the right to complain. According
to an article by Evette Dionne,
Fisher graduated 82nd out of a
class of 674 with a 3.59 GPA and
had an SAT score of 1180. That
is pretty impressive, too. Fisher’s
achievements were good, but
not good enough for her to get
automatic admission into a high-
ly competitive university.
And even though it seems like
Fisher’s argument is that her race
is the reason why she wasn’t ac-
cepted to UT, UT spells out what
they are looking for on “What
we Consider” application review
factors page: class rank, test
scores, coursework, written es-
says, activities information, letter
of recommendation and special
circumstances that include so-
cioeconomic status of family,
single parent home, language
spoken at home, cultural back-
ground and race and ethnicity.
So death to the argument that
the UT is just turning down
white applicants to accept minor-
ity students for the hell of it. And
congratulations to Miss Fisher on
her success as she graduated
from Louisiana State University
and is currently working as a fi-
nancial analyst. It doesn’t look
like affirmative action held her
back any, and if not getting ac-
cepted into UT is her only fail-
ure, I considered her to be lucky.
Weighing Affirmative Action
Editor-in-Chief: Amber Smith Managing Editor:Jennifer GleasonBusiness Manager: Brandon MainerAdvertising Manager:Aimee NapierCirculation Manager: Morgan McFarlandOpinions Editor: J. Daniel YoungFeatures Editor: Ariel FeltonSports Editor: Eric Jackson
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