Jeffrey MooreWRITER

Local used bookstore and long-time trailblazer in the Auburn-Opelika arts scene, the Gnu’s Room, has been a favorite destination to drink a cup of coffee, engage in dis-cussion and read a good book.

After starting as a copier shop for students over twenty years ago, owner Tina Tatum decided to go in a different di-rection when she purchased the shop in September 2007.

“I had a little bit of a differ-ent vision,” Tatum said. “I real-ly wanted to involve the com-munity. Our mission was to expose the arts to people. I put in a coffee bar and start-ed bringing in events. I added Wi-Fi and seating. We’ve done film screenings and hosted all kinds of writers, poets and open mics.”

But after being forced to sell the coffee bar aspect of the business in order to be-

come a nonprofit organiza-tion, Tatum said it’s been a constant struggle to make ends meet.

“As soon as that happened, our revenue took a big hit,” Tatum said. “It became pret-ty clear that it was going to be tough for us to survive by only

selling used books.”With the recent trend of

increased reliance on the In-ternet, especially on college campuses, people no longer flock to bookstores to buy the latest best seller or simply to browse the titles. The emer-gence of the Amazon Kindle,

Nook and iPad has made a se-vere dent in the profits of the bookstore industry, a fact Ta-tum is all too aware of.

“More and more folks are just downloading the books on e-readers now,” Tatum

The Auburn PlainsmanA SPIRIT THAT IS NOT AFRAID

Thursday, May 23, 2013 ThePlainsman.com Vol. 120, Issue 3, 8 Pages

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Rings reveal age of Toomer’s oaks

Gnu’s Room turns the page

Auburn losing battle of bands

Date set for next hearing

» See GNU A2

» See BANDS A2

When it comes to the rival-ry between Auburn and Ala-bama students, fierce compe-tition is a given.

Whether comparing the national ranking of our re-spective business schools, or arguing over who will win this year’s Iron Bowl, it has long been a constant battle to get ahead, and stay ahead, of the other school.

One phase of the battle that our cross-state foe is definite-ly winning, at least in recent memory, is the ability to at-tract and host big name, su-perstar bands and performers to play concerts and shows.

The Tuscaloosa Amphithe-ater hosted the Avett Brothers and Band of Horses for its in-augural gig in April 2011, and since then the Auburn music scene has been struggling to keep up.

Performers like John Mayer, Neil Young, Alan Jackson, B.B. King and Widespread Pan-ic have all graced the stage of the Tuscaloosa Amphithe-ater, while in Auburn, UPC has put on shows with head-liners such as Train, The Goo Goo Dolls and Akon.

That isn’t to say that Train and The Goo Goo Dolls aren’t highly talented, well-respect-ed bands; they just don’t

RAY MAYE / DESIGN EDITOR

The Toomer’s Oaks were removed Monday, April 22. The angle of the cut, however, made it difficult to immediately calculate the ap-proximate age of the tree

CHELSEA WOOTEN / PHOTO EDITOR

Tuesday, May 21, Gary Keever revealed the age of the Toomer’s trees to be 83-85 years old.

After entertaining thoughts of going out of business, Tina Tatum and the Gnu’s Room are pushing for a possible fresh start in Opelika

LEONARD

CHELSEA WOOTEN / PHOTO EDITOR

Tina Tatum took over the Gnu’s Room in 2007 and has had diificulty keeping the business afloat as she tries to establish it asa nonprofit organization.

Andrew YawnNEWS EDITOR

Desmonte Leonard’s tri-al date has yet to be deter-mined, but Judge Jacob Walk-er has scheduled another sta-tus hearing for Leonard.

Leonard is scheduled to ap-pear before Walker Oct. 15 at 2 p.m.

Leonard’s May 16 status conference resulted in Walk-er having some reservations about both sides’ readiness for a trial.

» See LEONARD, A2

Jeffrey MooreCAMPUS@THEPLAINSMAN.COM

MISSED THE HANGOUT MUSIC FEST? CHECK OUT A3 FOR OUR COVERAGE.

James GodwinWRITER

The age of the famous Toomer’s Oaks has been dis-covered by carefully counting the trees’ growth rings.

Originally, the trees were cut down at an angle that made it impossible to deter-mine their age by counting the rings.

However, Gary Keever, graduate program coordina-tor for the department of hor-ticulture, and his colleagues cut out a large section of one of the College Street trees. By applying special oil that in-creases the clarity of the rings, scientists could analyze the minute details by magnify-ing the images and looking at them on a projector.

They discovered the trees were planted in 1937, after they were already about ten years old, making their ages 83-85 years old.

“It’s another piece of evi-dence that clearly supports the earlier information that they were planted in 1937,” Keever said.

To confirm their findings, scientists stripped the leaves from the trees and pressed them between newspapers and boards.

Keever said he suspects the pressed leaves will be sold as souvenirs, similar to the way pieces of the wood are being sold.

As for the piece of the trunk Keever analyzed, he thinks it may find a new home on cam-pus.

“I can see this being dis-played somewhere prominent such as the Student Center as a timeline,” Keever said.

Historical events that hap-pened in the tree’s life can be illustrated by pointing out dif-ferent rings and the year they represent. A display that hon-

ors the historic landmark could be a welcome addition to campus.

No matter what happens to the trees’ remains, this is good news for the University. Since the trees were poisoned and

cut down, a void has been felt around Auburn at the loss of a tradition.

Knowing the age and his-tory of the trees can bring a sense of closure to the story of the Toomer’s Oaks.

said. “We just find ourselves in a situation where we can’t sell enough used books to pay all of our bills. So we had to make the announcement that we were going to close down our location on Gay Street.”

Just as the door was almost shut on having any hope of salvaging the store, some good for-tune came Tatum’s way.

“We got this really generous offer from Rich-ard Patton in Opelika,” Tatum said. “He has some warehouse space that he’s offering to us for a year with free rent.”

While Patton’s warehouse and Tatum’s need for a more affordable outlet may appear to be a perfect fit, this arrangement is far from being a done deal. The warehouse is just that: a ware-house. It has no electricity, plumbing, heat or air conditioning. And to top it all off, the roof leaks.

“None of that is conducive to running a busi-ness, especially a bookstore,” Tatum said.

In order to raise the funds needed to renovate the warehouse space in Opelika, self-described “regular” of the Gnu’s room and local musician Alaina Gomez is organizing the Gnu Summer Festival as a benefit event.

“It’s not definitive that we’ll raise the money needed for the Gnu’s Room to survive,” Gomez

said. “What we’re trying to do with the festival is to raise $3000 to renovate the warehouse in the Opelika Arts District.”

The festival will boast over 20 bands along with several authors, poets and vendors.

“The community has really come together to make this festival happen. So many bands got their start at the Gnu’s Room and every day I get a new email saying ‘Can we please play at the festival? We want to show our support,’ ” Gomez said.

The Gnu’s Room needs the support of Au-

burn students and members of the communi-ty as well.

“We feel like we have provided a place where people can come and be comfortable and just hang out,” Tatum said. “We’ve given a number of college bands their first gig and we always try to have free events because college students are generally on a low budget. Our books have al-ways been very reasonably priced. We’ve done our best to look at the needs of the community

and to offer a place where people can come ex-perience the arts. People who know us tend to love us, but there are a lot of people that don’t know about us..”

The Gnu Summer Festival takes place on June 8 at the Railyard in downtown Opelika from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m., though Gomez says the party will likely continue “a lot later than that.”

See the Gnu Summer Festival on Facebook for information.

possess the star power that is required to draw a huge crowd and engage the interest of the majority of the student body.

Michael Pace, junior in soft-ware engineering and a local musician, echoed those sen-timents.

“I’m not sure if people were too ecstatic to see Train,” Pace said.

It hasn’t always been this way. The Rolling Stones played in the coliseum in 1969. Chi-cago, Three Dog Night, Elton John and Elvis, among others, played at Auburn during the 1970s. What’s changed?

“The easy answer would be to blame the people in charge,” Pace said, “but I’m not really sure. I complain to my friends and they say, ‘So why don’t you get involved?’ So, maybe it’s lack of (student) involvement.”

UPC Adviser Mike Rapay said that Auburn simply doesn’t have a venue that can accommodate the needs of such a large audience.

“The availability of a ven-ue plays a lot into it,” Rapay said. “When you’re looking at a mega star like Blake Shelton, or the Black Eyed Peas, you’re going to need a venue that will hold close to 10,000 people.”

Rapay said that the root of the problem is much more complex than the simple lack of a suitable location.

“In Atlanta (and Birming-ham), they have the Veri-zon Wireless Amphitheater,” Rapay said. “It’s their job to bring in these major artists, and a lot of times the ma-jor artists would rather take a chance on a big city rather than a small college town. A lot of artists simply refuse to play at colleges. Also, many artists only plan summer tours and Auburn is practi-cally a ghost town during the summer.”

Another issue Auburn fac-es when attempting to reel in big time performers is lack of funding.

“We don’t have the funding to bring in more than two con-certs a year at a high level, like we would like to,” Rapay said.

“We just don’t have that kind of money. We’ve talked about charging more for all students in order to raise that money, but whether or not that’s a di-rection we’re going to go in is still up in the air.”

Another idea UPC has been talking about in order to make hosting these “mega shows” more feasible is opening up admission to some events to the general public, not just the students.

“While we do have a large student body, when you’re try-ing to fill up a 5,000 seat arena, or a field that can hold 10,000 people, that can be hard to do,” Rapay said. “So opening it up to the public could help us generate those kinds of num-bers.”

While the corporate spon-sors who support the Tuscalo-osa Amphitheater have no of-ficial affiliation with the Uni-versity of Alabama, Alabama students still reap the bene-fits. They have a top-notch venue to go see their favorite bands play on a fairly regular basis.

The UPC is doing all they

can to provide comparable entertainment options for Au-burn students, but until suffi-cient effort is taken to attract marquee entertainers, stu-dents will have to continue to travel to Birmingham, Atlanta and regrettably, Tuscaloosa to get their musical fix.

Meanwhile, Auburn will continue to fall further behind in its “battle of the bands” with Alabama.

News A2 The Auburn Plainsman Thursday, May 23, 2013

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The Auburn Plainsman

May 15 – Lee Road 137 Theft of a handgun between 3:15 and 3:30 p.m.

May 15 – Magnolia AvenueBurglary of two wallets between 2:45 and 3:20 p.m.

May 15 – North College StreetTheft of laptop between 3 and 6:30 p.m.

May 9-15 – West Glenn AvenueBurlgary of cough syrup, prescription medication, jewelry, alcohol and a purse between 4 p.m. May 9 and 6 p.m. May 15.

May 16-20 – Kinsley CourtBurglary of credit card and set of silverware between 10 a.m. May 16 and 8:10 a.m. May 20.

May 16 – Gentry DriveIdentity theft after an incident be-tween 8 and 8:05 p.m.

May 17 – Bedell AvenueShooting into unoccupied vehicle between 5 and 5:30 p.m.

May 17 – McKinley AvenueTheft of $871 from residence be-tween 12:15 and !2:30 p.m.

May 18 – West Glenn AvenueBurglary of Beretta 96 AI .40 caliber pistol and Beretta AL 391 12 gauge shotgun.

May 19 – Webster RoadBurglary of 42” Sanyo TV, black Xbox 360, four Xbox games between 10:30 a.m. and 7:56 p.m.

May 20 – Opelika Road Theft of 100 pairs of women’s underwear valued at $1.150 from a business.

May 20 – North College StreetBurglary of $2,000 change machine from commercial location between 1 a.m. and 6:30 a.m.

May 20 – Lee Road 137Burglary of Panasonic TV, Apple Macbook and HP laptop.

— Reports provided by Auburn Department of Public Safety

CRIME REPORTS FOR MAY 15 – MAY 21, 2013DUI ARRESTS IN THE CITY OF AUBURN MAY 15 – MAY 21, 2013

■ Lester Jackson, 59, AuburnWednesday, May 15, 5:16 p.m. on East Glenn Av-enue/Ross Street

■ Anna Claire Conrad, 21, AuburnThursday, May 16, 1:14 a.m. on South College Street

■ Chas Burns, 24, AuburnThursday, May 16, 2:53 a.m.. on Webster Road at Ridgewood Village

■ Timothy Terrell, 46, ShorterFriday, May 17, 9:37 p.m. on South College Street

■ Jamie Agee, 22, AuburnSaturday, May 18, 2:48 a.m. on South College Street

■ Peter Jensen, 34, Los AngelesSaturday, May 18, 12:17 a.m. on Gardner Drive/South College Street

■ Alex Tanner, age and origin unknownTuesday, May 21, on Lee Road 53

GNU» From A1

BANDS» From A1

CHELSEA WOOTEN / PHOTO EDITOR

The Gnu’s Room’s charm and passion for the arts should fit well with the Opelika warehouses.

Leonard’s attorneys, Su-san James and Jeffery Duffey, said at the last hearing that they were hoping for a trial by October or November af-ter what James called a re-cord-fast indictment.

However the pair is also intent on gaining permission to bring Leonard back to the scene of the crime.

District Attorney Robert Treese opposed the motion, and said he had reservations about a “capital murder de-fendant (being) forced upon a private landowner.”

Treese’s concerns include public safety, a possible me-dia circus and the chance that Leonard’s attorneys could take Leonard to oth-er places should Judge Walk-er grant them permission to bring him to the apartment complex formerly known as University Heights.

Since his indictment, Leonard has been scheduled for two status conferences.

However, for the first one,

scheduled for March 20, was postponed because Leonard was forgotten in Montgom-ery where he is held.

The May 16 hearing was the replacement for the botched hearing.

August 27 Leonard was indicted by the grand jury for one count of capital mur-der for allegedly killing De-mario Pitts and former Au-burn football players Ladar-ious Phillips and Ed Chris-tian.

He was also indicted on two counts of attempted murder for allegedly shoot-ing at Turquorius Vines and former player DeAnge-lo Benton in addition to first and second degree assault charges for gunshot wounds to John Robertson, Xavier Moss and then-football play-er Eric Mack.

While there is a chance for the trial to begin this year, older capital cases may take precedent.

Leonard is currently being held in Montgomery County Detention Facility.

LEONARD» From A1

“We’ve done our best to look at the needs of the community and to offer a place where people can come experience the arts. People who know us tend to love us, but there are a lot of people that don’t know about us.”

—Tina Tatum OWNER OF THE GNU’S ROOM

“A lot of artists simply refuse to play at colleges. Also, many artists only plan summer tours and Auburn is practically a ghost town during the summer.”

—Mike Rapay UPC ADVISER

Expansion coming for Balcony BarAndrew YawnNEWS EDITOR

Tuesday, May 21 the Auburn City Council approved the ex-pansion of Balcony Bar to pro-vide more room for the down-town bar’s patrons.

With the expansion, Balco-ny Bar will keep its present in-terior lounge space, but it will now also occupy the adjacent space previously used by Ard-istry hair studio.

None of the City Council members opposed the expan-sion, citing that the bar could benefit from more interior space and more bathrooms.

Balcony Bar has become a big factor in the Auburn bar scene with live performanc-es from local bands such as Blame Sydney.

To accomodate the crowd for these shows, Balcony Bar has already commandeered the namesake balcony as its

venue. City Manager Charlie Dug-

gan said the use of the balco-ny above Moe’s and Little An-thony’s is another reason to support the expansion of Bal-cony Bar.

The renovation will include the addition of another bar in the new space with doors con-necting the two lounge spaces inside.

And yet, this is not the only bar undergoing renovations.

In addition to approving Balcony Bar’s expansion, the City Council also approved a deck expansion for 1716.

As Duggan noted at the meeting, the move was already approved in the last City Coun-cil conference.

However, instead of add-ing a “solid, pavilion-style deck roof,” 1716 is looking to add a retractable awning to cover the deck.

ANNA GRAFTON / ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR

Balcony Bar will be expanding to include the space previously occu-pied by Ardistry hair salon.

Thursday, May 23, 2013 The Auburn Plainsman News A3

With their feet in the sand and their hands in the air, Hangout Music Festival goers experienced almost all of what today’s music types have to of-fer.

The fourth annual Hangout Music Festival was held this year the weekend of May 17-19 on the beaches of Gulf Shores. This year’s festival didn’t fall short of continuing its tradi-tion featuring a diverse lineup.

From being serenaded by Jim James during the daylight, to having fans’ hair blown back by the beats of Bassnectar’s speakers at dusk, to experienc-ing something nearly spiritual when Stevie Wonder wrapped up the weekend Sunday night, few musical experiences were left un-experienced by those in attendance.

Other big names at the fes-tival included Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Kings of Leon, Trey Anastasio Band, Mackl-emore, Kendrick Lamar and many more.

Playing nearly every hit in the book, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers had the crowd

singing every word to “Mary Jane,” “I won’t back down,” “Friend of The Devil” and more.

Macklemore performed his now famous “Thrift Shop” ear-ly in the set. The performance was complete with explo-sions of smoke and ejections of streamers, not to mention an attempt by Macklemore to surf the crowd on an inflatable whale.

Kendrick Lamar did the same (minus the smoke, streamers and whale riding) by showing off his recent hit only a few songs deep into the show.

While these well-known acts entertained multitudes, lesser known bands such as Moe. and Moon Taxi kept fes-tival-going veterans content.

Local favorite Trevor Tern-drup of Moon Taxi shared a few memories from the band’s first time performing in Au-burn.

“Our first gig we had in Au-burn was at Quixotes,” Tern-drup said. “I’m pretty sure we spent all the money we made at that show right after at the bar.”

Moon Taxi took the stage with fan favorites “All The Rage,” “Southern Trance” and more. The band rocked the crowd with guitar-heavy, hair-

flailing moves that empha-sized its Indie sound.

After three days of revelry and musical variety, the week-end was concluded by a leg-endary set from Stevie Won-der.

It couldn’t be more obvi-ous that his performances and crowd interaction have been enhanced by his loss of sight.The crowd seemed connect-ed with him on a different and deeper level than that of most musicians.

When Stevie tossed his head back and laughed as his hands danced across the key-board, his fans danced along on the beach.

When Stevie told the crowd to yell, “We want some mo” as he played, the crowd recipro-cated without question.

When Stevie shed a tear on stage in front of thousands, the crowd silenced as every-one listened to him tell of his deceased mother.

And when Stevie’s bassist played the opening rift to “Su-perstition,” the crowd erupted into roars of approval.

As the festival concluded af-ter the extended version of “Su-perstition,” masses of strangers exited the grounds singing Biz Markie’s “Just A Friend” in uni-son, still riding the high of an incredible weekend.

Photos by Chelsea Wooten / Photo editor

Top left: Damon BrysonTop right: MacklemoreBottom left: Jim JamesBottom right: Grouplove

Tom Petty

Kendrick Lamar

Hangout Music Festival HigHligHts May 17-19 2013

Kelsey DaviseDITOR@THePLAInSMAn.cOM

News A4 The Auburn Plainsman Thursday, May 23, 2013

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Justin FergusonNews RePoRTeR

Next month, the American Meat science Association will hold its 66th annual Recipro-cal Meat Conference at Au-burn.

As part of the weeklong event, the AMsA will award three Distinguished Achieve-ment Awards to some of the association’s youngest mem-bers who have made major contributions to industry re-search.

one of the recipients will be Christy Bratcher, associate professor of meat science.

“when I see the impres-sive list of people who have won this award in the past, I am touched,” Bratcher said. “These former winners are

people I look up to in this in-dustry; people I respect great-ly.”

Bratcher has been a part of Auburn’s faculty since March 2008, and has earned more than $7 million in research funding and has published dozens of manuscripts and abstracts.

Her research portfolio in-cludes studies on mechani-cally tenderized roast beef, the safety of hamburger meat from non-traditional meth-ods and flavor profiles of grass-fed beef products.

In March, Bratcher and a team of scientists from Au-burn and Tuskegee Universi-ty were awarded a $4.8 mil-lion grant from the U.s. De-partment of Agriculture’s Na-

tional Institute of Food and Agriculture to help ensure the safety of foods produced in lo-cal areas.

“I am very passionate about meat and meat sci-ence,” Bratcher said. “It up-sets me that there are a lot of activist groups that target our industry. Therefore, I want to teach others the truth about meat.”

Bratcher says her passion first started during her under-graduate studies at the Uni-versity of Florida.

After an unpleasant experi-ence with organic chemistry as a pre-vet student, Bratcher picked up a class called “The Meat we eat.” Her experience in the class inspired her to change her major to animal

sciences and later become a college professor, a career where she could teach and continue working in research.

The AMsA also recognized Bratcher for her success in teaching and mentoring grad-uate students in Auburn’s de-partment of animal sciences.

“she expects us to be profi-cient at our research respon-sibilities, thrive in the class-room and assist in extension work whenever possible,” said staci Degeer, graduate stu-dent in animal sciences. “we stay busy, but we aren’t alone. Dr. Bratcher offers a two-way street of respect, trust and support.”

Bratcher places an empha-sis on giving her graduate stu-dents real-world, hands-on

experience in the field they are entering in the near fu-ture.

“Instead of handing my stu-dents an outline and saying, ‘Here is what you’re going to do the next two years of your life,’ I say, ‘Here are the prod-ucts you have to accomplish before you graduate,’” Bratch-er said. “Now you go and fig-ure out how you’re going to be able to do these things. I find students learn so much more when they discover on their own and come to me for feed-back.

outside the classroom and the laboratories, Bratcher also serves as the faculty ad-visor for the Collegiate Cat-tlemen and Cattlewomen, a student organization that

promotes the department of animal sciences across the southeast while running a full-scale catering business.

“I am excited that Dr. Bratcher is receiving national attention for her accomplish-ments,” said Kim Fisher, grad-uate student in animal scienc-es. “she is an incredible asset to the department of animal sciences and to Auburn Uni-

Hangout Festival performers commemorate Bo Jackson

Kelsey DavisEditor-in-ChiEf

Despite being a self-proclaimed Alabama fan, guitarist samuel williams of The weeks said exceptions can be made for Bo Jackson. 

Members of The Plainsman staff recent-ly had the opportunity to cover Hangout Mu-sic Festival in Gulf shores. one of the acts in-terviewed at the fest was The weeks, a Missis-sippi-born group that’s now spreading roots in Nashville.

The band commemorated the all-star ath-lete by naming its most recent album “Dear Bo Jackson.”

“He sort of did whatever he wanted to,” wil-liams said of the Auburn legend. 

The weeks compared its music style to Bo Jackson’s freedom of transition between sports. Band members were impressed with the ac-ceptance Jackson met when he made his move from professional baseball to professional foot-ball.  

“everybody thought he was a football play-er, and then he decided that he wanted to play baseball, and everyone loved that he did that

too,” williams said. “we get billed a lot as rock ‘n’ roll band, but I want to be able to play soul music when I want to.”

And play soul the band did. The weeks got the crowd moving like only a soulful band could with heavy bass lines and lyrics that in-spired feelings of rebellion within the audi-ence. Festival goers sang along to The weeks’ “The House we Grew Up In” and shouted, “Let the band play, you can’t stop us, you can’t stop us now.”

These soul-inspired performances don’t mean the band doesn’t still resonate with a se-rious rock influence. 

williams said on the whole, the group draws the most inspiration for its sound from The Band.

with their heavy percussion sound and rough and raw vocals, The weeks’ performance was reminiscent of early Kings of Leon al-bums. The week’s music is emblematic of what southern rock has become, but like Bo Jackson, it won’t be confined.

The band is expected to make an appearance in Auburn, but no official date has been set.

Chelsea wooten/Photo editor

Cyle Barnes of the weeks performing ‘the house we Grew Up in’ at the hangout Music Festival.

Meat science professor receives national achievement

Christy BratCher

Thursday, May 23, 2013 The Auburn Plainsman News A5

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Justin FergusonNews RePoRTeR

Auburn University’s south-eastern Raptor Center has re-leased thousands of rehabili-tated birds back into the wild over the years, but the recent release of a bald eagle was a special moment for the Au-burn family.

on May 11, the Raptor Cen-ter released a male adult bald eagle back into the wild near the Auburn Fisheries Center off North College street.

The eagle is the first local raptor to be rehabilitated and released back into its natural habitat.

“Generally, when we have eagles that are ready to be re-leased, we try to release them as close as we can to where they were found,” director Ja-mie Bellah said. “This guy was found stuck in one of the ponds at the fisheries.”

The eagle endured a lengthy series of tests when it first ar-rived at the center.

Bellah said the eagle was weak at first, but it was not suf-fering from any major illness-es, or injuries.

“we couldn’t find any health issues with this particular ea-gle, but he was clearly not able to fly with great endurance or vertical lift,” said Liz Crandall, a raptor rehabilitation spe-cialist at the center. “This was a unique situation. The birds we usually get have obvious trauma, and we usually have a good guess to what it is going to do in rehabilitation.”

The process to get the eagle back to full health took about nine months. The eagle under-went more tests before it was allowed to go back into the wild.

Crandall estimates that ap-proximately 150 people at-tended the release event.

“we get a lot of support from the Auburn Family and the local community, not just for the Raptor Center, but for the college of veterinary med-

icine,” Bellah said. “As Dr. Jill Heatley said when she was here at the center, ‘It takes a college to raise a raptor.’ It’s a full team effort to get to a re-lease like this one, so it’s great to see the public come out and be a part of it.”

After an educational dem-onstration featuring two red-tailed hawks, Bellah released the eagle back over the pond where he was found.

As he flew out of sight, some in the crowd let out a “war ea-gle.”

“This was very special be-cause it was the first eagle we have been able to release in Auburn,” Crandall said. “we may not get another ea-gle from the Auburn area. we hope there aren’t any more in-jured birds in Auburn, but it was great to get to share this special moment with the com-munity.”

The southeastern Raptor Center admits 250-300 injured, ill or orphaned birds of prey

every year. Around 40 percent of those raptors are released back into the wild, while some that are unable to return to their natural habitat are trans-ferred to zoos and other edu-cational facilities.

Southeastern Raptor Center rehabs, releases first local bald eagle into wild

Contributed

Approximately 150 Auburn citizens were in attendance May 11 as the Southeastern raptor Center released a local bald eagle back into the wild for the first time. the eagle, found stuck in one of the fisheries ponds off north College Street, was rehabilitated for nine months and un-derwent several tests before its release.

“We may not get another eagle from the Auburn area. We hope there aren’t any more injured birds in Auburn, but it was great to get to share this special moment with the community.”

—Liz Crandall RAPToR ReHABILITATIoN sPeCIALIsT

Decisions are something we make every day.

Important or unimportant, it’s nearly second nature to seek out a second opinion on a decision, whether it be from a friend or from a family mem-ber.

seesaw, which debuted in the iTunes app store in early 2013, is a free application for iPhones that hopes to bring decision making into the so-cial media realm.

The idea is to create what the app calls seesaws, or ques-tions with accompanying pic-tures, for others to vote on and help you make a decision.The seesaws are arranged much like Instagram.

square photos or photo sets take up the width of the screen, accompanied by vot-ing results and comments. The interface is colorful, clean and intuitive.

You can ask questions that require a simple “yes or no” an-swer or can upload up to four photos for users to vote on.

The topics of questions posted by other viewers on seesaw are varied, and pop-ular posts include outfit op-tions, consumer goods, food and travel.

To give the app an accurate review, I decided to make a question of my own.

I asked, “Do you think see-saw will catch on?” I snapped a picture of the app’s homep-age on iTunes, uploaded it and there it was – quick and simple as promised.

I’ve always believed that so-cial media works because peo-ple you know use it.

what would be the point of spending time on Facebook if you didn’t have any friends to share with?This is not the case for seesaw.

I assumed that because none of my friends were using it, I would only get one vote: my own.

Ten minutes later, my question had five votes, even though my only follower was a

random person I didn’t know. It turns out, unless you

make it private; everything you seesaw (new verb alert) shows up under the “explore” tab.

This casts seesaw in an en-tirely new light.

Additionally, seesaw allows you to share your questions with friends that don’t use the app.

You can share on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or send a text message to a friend in your phone’s address book.

A website link to your ques-tion is given, and whoever you share it with can vote from there.

while sharing your seesaw on social media might lose you a few followers or friends – it seems the sharing market is over saturated these days – the ability to text a question to a friend is intriguing.

For example, say you’re throwing a dinner party and you’re not sure what you want to cook.

You can pull a few recipe options, as many as four, take pictures and add descriptions and text the attendees to get

their opinion. The voting results are in-

stantaneous. of course, the votes are

anonymous, so voters need not worry about their identi-ty being revealed if you hap-pen to ask about a sensitive subject.

You can get opinions from all across the board – people of different demographics, places and beliefs.

while having a stranger’s in-put on the question of, “what should I have for dinner?” may not be helpful; there are in-stances where a random, pub-lic opinion is needed.

If society hops on the see-saw bandwagon as they did with Facebook and Twitter, it could be a powerful tell-all tool for companies who want to know what potential cus-tomers are looking for.

An hour after I posted my first question, I had 17 votes.

After 24 hours, there were 39.

My question’s voters voted 27-12 that seesaw would catch on.

what is your vote?

elizabeth wieckMANAGING.eDIToR@THePLAINsMAN.CoM

Teeter or totter? Seesaw app puts decision-making in the hands of the public

A6Thursday, May 23, 2013 ThePlainsman.com Opinions

Opinions

Jordan DaleOPiniOn@thePlAinsMAn.cOM

Embrace the entertainment

The ruined art of conversation is not gender specific

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PolicyThe opinions of The Auburn Plainsman staff are restricted to these pages. This editorial is the majority opinion of the 9-member editorial board and are the official opinion of the newspaper. The opinions expressed in columns and letters represent the views and opinions of their individual au-thors and do not necessarily reflect the Auburn University student body, faculty, administration or Board of Trustees.

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Kelsey DAviseditor-in-chief

elizabeth WieckMAnAging eDitOr

Ben croomesOPiniOns eDitOr

lainee rosscOPy eDitOr

Dustin shraderOnline eDitOr

Andrew BurnsneWs eDitOr

John BurnssPOrts eDitOr

chelsea WootenPhOtO eDitOr

raye MayDesign eDitOr

his view

Our view

We’ve all heard someone say, “There’s nothing to do in Auburn,” usually in a whiney and annoy-ing tone of voice. They complain about the lack of cool bars, dance clubs, hipster hangouts or whatever else larger, cooler cities have.

normally, we wouldn’t pay these whiners any attention, but the recent hangout Fest in Or-ange Beach has got us thinking and asking some tough questions.

For instance, can we do better than sky Bar?now, before those of you who live in sky every

weekend throw a hissy fit, let us explain. We’re not putting down Auburn’s most popular bar; we’re simply using it as a paradigm.

Most weeks, sky has a few no-name cover bands as its main form of entertainment. some might be great; some might be terrible. either way, they’re just cover bands repeating the same old college music shtick.

We can only listen to a bunch of lame cover bands pretending to be cool for so long.

think about Athens, ga., as what Auburn could be like.

We don’t have the money to truly compete with Athens, but there’s nothing wrong with establishing Auburn as a town with appealing venues that real bands – who play their own music – want to come to.

it might seem hard to believe, but Auburn used to be a happening spot for bands. During the Beard-eaves Memorial coliseum’s heyday,

acts such as Three Dog night, chicago and ike and tina turner played for students.

Beard-eaves is now just a few years away from demolition and is usually occupied by a small number of sweaty joggers. But the lega-cy of good times had there is still alive. it’s just hiding.

however, there is one big building on cam-pus that’s used for only half the year and would be perfect for big-name acts: the Auburn Arena.

The arena cost approximately $92.5 million and seats more than 9,000 people. Unfortunate-ly, the basketball teams haven’t done much to attract people to the arena, and the University Program council shows are hit or miss when it comes to getting acts with the ability to draw a crowd.

sure, people went to see train, but hopeful-ly they learned the error of their ways and re-pented.

We can’t imagine spending so much mon-ey on a building and using it so infrequently. it’s akin to the elderly woman who buys a nice couch only to cover it in plastic and never lets anybody sit on it.

Basically, the arena could be used to make Auburn a great place to see a show, but instead it gets used like the civic center in the most bor-ing town in the country. The UPc has the budget to make this happen, but we get train instead.

The University could even charge money for events that aren’t put on by UPc.

imagine getting a ticket and not driving all the way to Atlanta or Birmingham to see a band you like.

We want to make this happen. We want to issue a charge to the UPc. Only the whiniest among us should ever say Auburn is boring.

currently, Opelika makes Auburn look like Mayberry during most of the year.

Our twin city embraces the arts and knows the value of creating a welcoming atmosphere for bands and entertainers. Auburn should too, considering the University attracts so many cool and eclectic people.

But for some reason, we don’t.There is no need to be a sleepy little village on

the plains when we could be a vibrant commu-nity that appreciates the value of entertainment and the godsend a viable concert venue could be to the local economy.

Fighting for our right to party

two male students were walking on campus when a female student in-tercepted them. 

“Hey, do you remember me?” she asked one of the guys.

What a horrible question.  Why was that her go-to greeting?  it’s a test that the guy cannot pass, and wom-en ask similar questions all the time.  there are only three possible out-comes, and the odds are not in her fa-vor. 

First, he might remember her.  she may have left an indelible impression on him that forever immortalized her in his memories.  That’s probably not

the case.  if she had to ask, she prob-ably wasn’t sure how memorable she was.  The other options are bleaker.  either he will lie, saying he remem-bers her, or he’ll say outright that her brief foray into his life was only a blip on his radar.

“Yeah, of course,” he said.i learned afterward he had elected

to lie and spare her the pain of learn-ing she wasn’t memorable.

“Are you still living in that same place?” she asked.

There are a couple problems with this question.  The primary concern is she’s getting a little too familiar with someone who she obviously isn’t that familiar with.  it could be miscon-strued as stalkerish instead of friend-ly and conversational.

“Uh, I dunno, it’s been pretty cra-zy,” he answered.

let’s analyze this statement. 

he doesn’t remember where he lives?  if we didn’t know he had lied about remembering her, we could as-sume he is giving her the cold shoul-der. 

claiming to not remember where you live is a weak excuse to avoid con-versation with a stage five clinger.

she walked away with an awkward laugh and a “see you later.”  The other guy asked the first who the girl was.

“Bro, I got no idea,” he said.Men and women have interactions

every day that are riddled with con-versational faux pas.  here are some of the most prevalent:

Things said by men:“You [do something] well for a

girl.”Women have cracked the glass

ceiling; gender isn’t an impediment like it was in the 19th century.

“Are you PMSing?”

no explanation should be needed.  i promise you girls don’t think it’s fun-ny.

“Man/bro.”your jockey girl friends are still

girls, guys.“Sweetheart.”Are you dating her?  have you

known her for 10 years?  Are you a 70-year-old man?  if you answered no to any of these questions, don’t use this phrase or other similar pet names.  They’re not pickup lines.

Things said by women:“Let’s just talk about it.”We don’t want to talk about it.  We

want to brood and figure out you were right all along without any help.

“Does this make me look fat?”We can’t say yes.  We can’t say no, or you think we’re

lying.  Most of the time, you’ve already

made up your mind.  Our job is to lie to you or genuinely believe you are beautiful regardless what you’re wear-ing.  in short, ask your girlfriends.

“What are you thinking?”At the moment?  Food.  That made

me think of French fries, which made me think of “the count of Monte cristo,” which made me think of “The Passion of the christ,” which made me think of the roman empire, which made me think of how cool it would be to be a gladiator.  We’re not that interesting, and odds are, we’re not thinking what you’re thinking.

“I can’t hear you; can you come here for a minute?”

For women, it seems logical that a man should get up from his state of placid contentment and be where you can hear us more easily. 

For Men?  We’d rather shout.

The streets close, the drinks appear and the people come in droves to have a good time with friends and spend copious amounts of money, but it only happens three or four times a year.

Am i the only one who thinks the city of Au-burn is highly underutilizing the entertainment district ordinance?

i know many agree with me, and for those who don’t know what i’m talking about, here’s a little knowledge i’m going to fling your way.

every once in a blue moon (a couple times a semester maximum) the cross section of streets from the intersection of glenn and college to Thatch, and from gay to Wright are sectioned off for entertainment. A band usually plays and it’s legal to have drinks on the streets.

it’s usually packed too, which means more money for Auburn’s businesses.

college students love it, especially those who frequent the bars and even those who don’t have an obligation to be social.

so why does Auburn allow this to happen only three or four times a year?

i have no idea. The only downsides i could possibly see is it could be an inconvenience to traffic as Magnolia and college form the driving hub of Auburn, but people can go around.

the other downside for the city would be more police officers have to monitor the people in the entertainment district.

i would say that puts the distinguished offi-

cers of the Auburn Police Department to work more than searching for a reason to pull college students over.

My biases aside, there are really no downsides to using the entertainment district ordinance at least four or five times a semester, especially in the fall.

Auburn officials have said they don’t want to turn downtown Auburn into a “street party ev-ery night.”

Ok, 10 days a year is hardly every night, and it would do wonders for some struggling busi-nesses downtown.

Many businesses are struggling because of the recent lull in Auburn football performance as most stores depend on game day weekends to bring in large amounts of revenue for the year.

i can’t think of a better way to counteract a loss of revenue because of football than the uti-lization of the entertainment district ordinance.

And if the football team gets back on track, (which it should soon with the way we’re head-ed) it will serve as a surplus for businesses, and no one, especially the city of Auburn tax collect-ing, can complain.

i’m saying this like i care about how well the businesses do; i don’t really, but that’s only be-cause i have no share in their profits.

What i do care about is turning Auburn into a college town that others want to come to and have a good time, and that’s a win-win for every-one except crotchety old men who don’t want darn kids on their lawns. so in a sense, i do care about the businesses, because helping them helps Auburn college students.

This ordinance is a gift, a gift to the people of Auburn. so i ask, why not use this ordinance more?

John BurnssPOrts@thePlAinsMAn.cOM

his view

Ben CrooMeS/ oPinion ediTor

Ben CrooMeS/oPinion ediTor

her view

raye MayDesign@thePlAinsMAn.cOM

Campus dining disappoints

nobody likes going to work. i get that. i love my job, but there are still days where i would rather just stay in bed and rewatch an entire season of “Arrested Development” on netflix. so when i say this, i want everyone who works in campus dining to understand that i feel your pain. i do.

i’ve worked in food ser-

vice before. i know that it’s quite possibly the most mind-numbingly repetitive occu-pation on the planet. i used to find myself wishing for the apocalypse with startling fre-quency just so i’d never have to say “would you like fries with that” ever again. i really, really understand what it’s like.

not only do i work on cam-pus, i go to school in the sum-mer too. My co-workers and i are typically here for hours on end, often into the wee hours of the morning. And even without working here, class-

es don’t end at three, and the only place on campus that serves real food past that time is chick-fil-A.

Man cannot live on waffle fries alone. What i don’t un-derstand is why it was decid-ed that 99 percent of the cam-pus dining options close in the middle of the day. i ate chick-Fil-A twice in one day last week. i don’t want to have to do that again.

i’m an American and i be-lieve in choices. it’s not fair that i have to settle for chick-en dinners every night.

Sports A7Thursday, May 23, 2013 ThePlainsman.com Sports

Aaron LakeWriter

Auburn second baseman Jordan ebert was named SeC Freshman of the Week on Monday, May 13, after a break-out week that helped Auburn go 4–1.

“i set a goal earlier in the year,” ebert said. “i wanted to be named SeC Player of the Week, and to get this award means a lot to me.”

ebert batted 11 for 19 with two doubles, one home run, four rBi and five runs scored. His improved play could not have come at a better time for the tigers, who clinched an opportunity to play in the SeC tournament after a series vic-tory against Florida.

ebert is Auburn’s first SeC Freshman of the Week since pitcher Dillon Ortman re-ceived the award April 11, 2011.

“it means a lot to play a role that helps this team,” eb-ert said. “it felt good to have

the performance that i had against guys who throw 92-94 mph.”

While ebert has received praise for his hot bat, his field-ing and progression at second base has helped tighten the Auburn defense. Last week, ebert converted all 33 fielding opportunities without com-mitting a single error.

Auburn assistant coach ty Megahee has noticed ebert’s improvement on the field.

“He’s not what you would call a typical infielder,” said Megahee. “We always knew he could swing the bat, but com-ing into the season we had to find a spot for him on the field.”

Megahee praised ebert for his work ethic and focused on his development on the field.

“You can see the improve-ment,” Megahee said. “He puts in a lot of work, and it’s great to see it paying off for him.”

ebert’s maturation process has led to him seeing more time on the field in pivotal

spots for the tigers.“earlier in the year, we

would pull him and put in an-other fielder in the later in-nings,” Megahee said. “But he has earned our trust to be out there when it counts.”

With ebert’s growing con-fidence comes an increased leadership role on the team.

“He is very outgoing,” Mega-hee said. “He brings passion and energy to the clubhouse and the field. He’s definitely earned the respect of his team-mates and he is definitely be-coming a leader on this team.”

As ebert has improved, the team has also steadily im-proved. Megahee believes that ebert’s progress is symbolic of the strides the tigers have made since February.

“Jordan started the year slowly as he tried to adapt to the college game,” Megahee said. “His progress sort of re-flects the attitude and im-provement of the team, and it’s not a surprise to me that

he’s playing his best baseball at the same time the team is.”

ebert said that although winning the award is gratify-ing, the most important fac-tor is the overall well being of the team.

“People were counting this team out a few weeks ago, but we haven’t given up,” ebert said. “Lately, we’ve been play-ing like we could make some noise in the postseason.”

At this stage in the season,

every game is pivotal, and the challenge is not one ebert or his teammates want to shy away from.

“i want to see us go as far as we can,” ebert said. “i want us to prove how good we can be.”

Contributed by todd Van emst

Jordan ebert was named seC Freshman of the Week for his performance in five games.

Ebert takes SEC Freshman of the Week honors

ethan BradySPOrtS rePOrter

Auburn football’s fifth annual Big Cat Week-end hopes to impress some of nation’s top high school prospects May 24-25 with its unique ap-proach to recruiting.

Started by former head coach Gene Chizik in the summer of 2009, Big Cat has paid for it-self time and time again, pulling in recruits from across the country. Current head coach Gus Malzahn was offensive coordinator under Chizik for three Big Cat Weekends and knows its success first-hand.

Since 2010, 42 commitments have come from players in attendance at Big Cat. This year should prove just as successful. During Memo-rial Day weekend, some of the nation’s top re-cruits agreed to attend.

Big Cat differs from traditional recruiting vis-its by providing a more personal approach to-ward recruits and their families. The focus of the event is not necessarily on football, but to estab-lish relationships between the recruits and cur-rent coaches, players and members of the ath-letic department. traditionally, Big Cat fea-tured a fun-filled two days of socials, cookouts and family activities including games of Fami-ly Feud.

The Auburn tigerettes and tiger Hosts will be a large part of the festivities this weekend.

As the official hosts of the athletic department, the tigerettes and tiger Hosts are students re-sponsible for guiding recruits and their families on tours and assisting coaches in day-to-day re-cruiting activities.

“Big Cat is a chance for recruits to really get to see Auburn and get to know the coaches,” said Weston Awtry, a second-year tiger Host. “they’re going to be going through a mix of camp-type activities with the experience of an unofficial visit.”

Big Cat is a break for the high school pros-pects with no football-related activities unless a recruit has never visited before. Summer is full of recruiting camps where players run drills and scrimmage against one another hoping to im-press college scouts and raise their recruitment stock. Big Cat offers a carefree environment be-fore camps start and helps build a connection between recruits and the school.

“it’s much more laid back than a typical vis-it. Big Cat gives prospects more time to talk amongst one another and have a good time,” said Wayne Parnell, a first-year tiger Host. “Au-burn can set itself apart from other schools with this event alone.”

Auburn hopes to bring its top 25-30 targets for the class of 2014 this weekend, and some of the nation’s top prospects have announced their attendance.

Four-star linebacker tre Williams commit-ted to Auburn May 8 and is excited to attend Big Cat. The 6-foot-2, 220-pound, St. Paul’s epis-copal rising senior is ranked No. 2 at the inside linebacker position and No. 33 overall in the na-tion according to rivals 100.

“i’m happy Auburn is being different. You can actually sit down and talk to coaches, laugh with them and get to know other players. i think you can get to know people better at Big Cat than at a Junior Day,” Williams told rivals.com.

Joining Williams will be the nation’s No. 3 de-fensive tackle and No. 39 overall prospect elisha

Shaw. At 6-foot-6, 300 pounds, Shaw is quick-ly becoming one of the best players in the class of 2014 and is expected to rise in national rank-ings.

“i want to learn more about Auburn during the visit. i like the sound of a relaxed, stress-free visit,” said Shaw to AuburnSports.com. “i want to see Auburn behind-the-scenes. The players will shoot you straight.”

With just over a week until Cedartown, Ga., running back Nick Chubb announces his col-lege commitment, Big Cat could prove the final push for the No. 70 player in the country. Chubb currently has 18 offers from schools and has Au-burn, Georgia and South Carolina high on his list. Before the big decision he plans to visit all three schools in three days including Big Cat Weekend Saturday, a visit to Georgia Friday and South Carolina Sunday.

“We’ve got a lot of big-time recruits coming in this weekend,” Awtry said. “Overall, we’re really looking forward to it. Big Cat shows the ambi-tions and goals of this program.”

eight players in rivals’ top 250 list of ranked prospects have confirmed their attendance at Big Cat Weekend. if the previous four Big Cats Weekend and recent recruiting success of the new staff under Malzahn are any indication of what is to come, Auburn could see multiple commitments following the Big Cat Weekend.

“big Cat is a chance for recruits to really get to see auburn and get to know the coaches. they’re going to be going through a mix of camp-type activities with the experience of an unofficial visit.”

—Weston Awtry tiGer HOSt

Contributed by todd Van emst

Coach Gus malzahn (left) and recruiting coordinator and defensive line coach rodney Garner (right) aim to make big Cat Weekend a huge score for the recruiting class of 2014 as it has been in previous years.

Top recruits interested in Big Cat Weekend

» See KendricK, A8

Will GainesSPOrtS rePOrter

Pitcher Conner Kendrick’s lights-out performance against No. 11 Ar-kansas thursday, May 16 couldn’t have come at a better time for his team, and he was handed the SeC Pitcher of the Week award because of it.

“Playing in the best conference in the nation and being honored with something like that is phenomenal,” Kendrick said. “it’s an unreal experi-ence. You have to pitch to the upmost

importance to be named SeC Pitcher of the Week, and i’m truly honored.”

Kendrick earned his second con-secutive victory against the razor-backs after pitching 7 1/3 innings. He only gave up four hits and one walk in the outing, and struck out a career-high-tying eight batters in a 3–0 shut-out game.

Going into the game, the tigers knew they had to perform well in their final conference series to have any chance of playing in the postsea-son. “We knew coming out of the loss

that we had to get the ball in our court,” Kendrick said. “i knew how to go out there and pitch the best that i could to give us a chance at postsea-son play.”

Kendrick went into postseason play with a 5–3 mark and a 2.03 erA. He logged 75 1/3 innings, lead the team with 74 strikeouts, and held op-ponents to a .257 batting average.

At the beginning of the season Ken-drick was used as a reliever, but in the final eight weeks of the season he was moved to a starter. His performanc-

es in the final part of the season have made him one of the best pitchers on the team.

“Coming out of the bullpen is a lit-tle different than the starting role,” Kendrick said. “i think i matured as the season grew on. i learned how to throw multiple pitches for strikes and just got with the coaches and the team to help me learn and develop into what i became at the end of the season.”

Kendrick named SEC Pitcher of the Week after shutting out Arkansas

“i think i matured as the season grew on. i learned how to throw multiple pitches for strikes.”

—Connor Kendrick AuBurN StArtiNG PitCHer

Sports A8 The Auburn Plainsman Thursday, May 23, 2013

A week in Auburn sports

Baseball: The baseball team took two of three games from SEC West rival No. 11 Arkansas in the final series of the regular season. The games were played May 16-May 18 at Plains-man Park. The Tigers took the first game of the series 3–0, but were defeated in the sec-ond 1–0. Auburn rallied and took the rubber match and regular season finale 11–6. The Tigers then took on rival Alabama in the first round of the SEC Tournament Tuesday, May 21. Auburn entered the game as a 10 Seed, and Alabama a 7 seed. True to the seeding, the Tigers were downed by a score of 6–3.

There is a chance that Auburn could be se-lected for the NCAA Tournament, but the chances dwindled with the loss to its rivals.

Men’s Golf:The No. 18 men’s golf team advanced to the NCAA Championship after tying for second place in the NCAA Columbus Regional Sat-urday, May 18 at the Ohio State Golf Club’s Scarlet Course. Auburn was one of five teams at the regional tournament to qualify for a spot in the NCAA Championship. The NCAA Championship will take place May 28-June 2 at the Capital Ciy Club in Atlanta.

Thursday, May 23Women’s golf, NCAA Championship, UGA

Golf Course, Athens, Ga., all day

Track, NCAA Preliminary Round, Greensboro, N.C., all day

Friday, May 24Women’s golf, NCAA Championship, UGA

Golf Course, Athens, Ga., all day

Track, NCAA Preliminary Round, Greensboro, N.C., all day

Saturday, May 25Track, NCAA Preliminary Round,

Greensboro, N.C., all day

Tuesday, May 28Men’s golf, NCAA Championshio, Capital City Club, Atlanta, all day

Wednesday, May 29Men’s golf, NCAA Championshio, Capital City Club, Atlanta, all day

The next week in Auburn athleticsCoNtRibUted by todd VAN emst

Auburn’s Jordan ebert is congratulated by his team after hitting a homerun in the second inning against Arkansas saturday, may 18.

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Sudoku By The Mepham Group

Solution to Saturday’s puzzle

Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit1 to 9. For strategies on how to solve Sudoku,visit www.sudoku.org.uk.

© 2012 The Mepham Group. Distributed by Tribune Media Services. All rights reserved. 9/10/12

Level: 1 2 3 4

Four-bedroom, two-bath house. Total elec-tric. Large lot, partial fenced yard. Central heat and air. Washer, dryer , dishwasher. Quiet area, nice neighborhood, 5 miles from Auburn! $800.00 per month. 12-month lease required. Avail-able August 15 or sooner. 334-524-6807.

2-bedroom, 1-bath apartment . Total electric. Washer, dryer, dishwasher, stove, refrigerator. Furnished. Water, sewage & garbage included. Near Dean Road School and Kroger store in Auburn. 524-6807.

3-bedroom, 2-bath small house. Deck. Central heat & air. Gas & electric. Washer, dry-er, dishwasher, stove, refrigerator. Furnished. Very quiet, near Indian Pines Golf Course and Tiger Town. $600/month. 12-month lease required. Available August 15 or before. 524-6807.

3-bedroom, 2-bath du-plex with washer/dryer, dishwasher, fridge. 213 Martin Ave. near campus. Available fall semester. Fenced back yard. Great location. $750/month rent, with $750 deposit. Hurry, won’t last! 728-0400.

ACROSS1 Island

witchcraft6 On The Border

restaurantoffering

10 Fabian, for one14 “La donna è

mobile”composer

15 Harmonics17 Storyteller’s

admission18 Symbolic

honor19 Power source21 Ab __: absent22 Statistical

calculations23 High order25 “__ ’nuff!”26 Practice

grounder, say27 Pacific island

nation28 How a lot of bad

decisions aremade

30 Sift31 Nails down32 __ sci33 The River Foyle

runs through it36 Gulf of Guinea

island39 Energy

acronym40 Rolls and binds41 Derisive call43 “Diplomacy for

the NextCentury” author

44 Mosey45 Maintenance46 Shades-wearing

drummer49 Pittsburgh

Steelers’founder

50 Dangerous,probably

51 Argentite, e.g.52 Type of crown53 Host of the 24th

AcademyAwards

54 ’90s Marinersstar

55 Equine

DOWN1 Sheep2 “Animal House”

actor3 Swedish jazz

trumpeter Rolf4 2008 Best New

Artist Grammywinner

5 Tepee material6 Cloudbursts7 Run8 Five-time 1970s

Gold Glovewinner César

9 Sea predators10 Stock pile?11 Relevant12 Nobility13 Cape May hrs.16 Tic follower20 Court jester,

e.g.24 __ paper26 Stood up to27 Inclines29 Mentioned

somethingsensitive

30 Goodcounterfeit, say

32 Discussed

33 Article in LeMonde?

34 Its flagresembles theU.S. flag butwith only onestar

35 Barelysufficiently

36 Arctic37 Where kyat are

spent

38 Tax targets40 Key of Brahms’s

Piano SonataNo. 3

42 Golden age44 Old marketplace45 Flea market

pickup47 Shad output48 __ mat49 Pop the

question

By Barry C. Silk(c)2012 Tribune Media Services, Inc. 10/20/12

10/20/12

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

RELEASE DATE– Saturday, October 20, 2012

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword PuzzleEdited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

xwordeditor@aol.com

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THEAUPLAINSMAN

KendricK» From A7

His development helped him earn the starting role in the opening SEC tourna-ment game against Alabama on Tuesday, May 21.

The game did not end the way Kendrick wanted after Alabama scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth to help the Crimson Tide to a 6–3 victory and eliminated the Tigers from the confer-ence tournament. The team is still hopeful that they will be able to land an NCAA tournament bid next week.

After the Tigers got off to a slow start to conference play they finished the season by winning their final three conference series.

Auburn’s 6–3 record in the final three weekends of SEC play was tied with Missis-sippi State and Texas A&M, and was behind only No. 1 Vanderbilt and No. 2 LSU for the best finish in league play.

Auburn will find out Mon-day, May 27 if the team has received a bid to play in the NCAA tournament.

Until then it, will be an anxious waiting game for the Tiger players and coaches as they hope to receive a phone call with good news.