ThursdayOCTOBER 4

FridayOCTOBER 5

SaturdayOCTOBER 6

SundayOCTOBER 7

50°30°

51°35°

59°40°

76°53°

NEWS

Zombie apocalypseThe undead return to campus this October. Yes, it’s

Humans vs. Zombies. p. 2

BILS-BATTISHILL BRAWL

Shots and blocksChris and Glenn hit the pitch for this week’s brawl,

playing against varsity soccer players, and each other. p. 6

volume 91, issue 4OCTOBER 4, 2012

SPORTS

Eagles trounce StormThe football team avenged last

year’s loss, beating Lake Erie 68-­21.

p. 6

OPINION

More people, more motivationSometimes the best way to motivate yourself is to have

someone else do it for you. p. 6

SECRET MENU

Food at the fair, round twoThis week, design editor Tyler Remmel mixes sweet and

salty in an Ashland County Fair special. p. 7

news 1 campus life 2features 3 sports 4,5opinion 6 entertainment 7in

dex

2012 Runner-up, Best College Non-Dailyby the Ohio Society for Professional Journalists

2012 Runner-up, Best College Sports Writersports editor Chris Bils

A cannon fired, the band began to play and Ashland’s football team took the field. Inside Ashland University President Fred Finks’s loge, a group of donors turned their heads. If it was not for all of the noise, they might have forgotten there was a football game going on at all. Fried oysters, pulled pork, hot dogs, baked beans, shrimp Caesar salad, a fruit platter with watermelon, cantaloupe,

grapes—both purple and green—and pineapple, tortilla chips, vegetables, two types of dip, coffee and soft drinks had been laid out for a glorious dinner party. On the field, Lake Erie’s Sam Marcotte kicked off to AU’s Chris Harvey to begin the game. Behind the glass of the loge, all that could be heard was dinner conversation. Two women had just discovered they both went to Black River High School.

“First down, first down,” Finks said, as running back Anthony Taylor busted through the middle for five yards on Ashland’s second play from scrimmage. “Yeah, we need to watch the game a little bit,” one of the women, Karen Baum, said. Two plays later, quarterback Taylor Housewright scrambled away from a

This season, the crowds for football games at Jack Miller Stadium have been unlike any-thing Ashland University has ever seen. Average attendance has skyrocketed to over 4,500 per game, and head coach Lee Owens has expressed how much of a factor the

home crowd has been in his team’s great start. During Saturday’s game against Lake Erie, I wanted to see who all of these people are. Thus began my quest to watch the game from as many different spots as possible and get a feel for what brought everyone to the stadium.

“You can’t buy tradition.”– Jack Miller

KATY HIGAKI

Students have ! ocked to Jack Miller Stadium to cheer on the Eagles this season, creating an electric home atmosphere for the 5-0 team.

Game day at Jack Miller Stadiumby CHRIS BILS

see GAME DAY, page 4

AU among top 200 US universitiesANDREA STEVENSON

@AUCollegian

The U.S News & World Report ranked Ashland University in the top 200 national universities in their 2013 rankings. This is the second consecutive year in which AU has been recognized in these rankings. “I am extremely proud,” President Dr. Fred Finks said. “This is significant in that we are only one of three private universities in Ohio to receive this distinction.” AU came in at 189 on the list. The only other private institutions in Ohio that were ranked in the top 200 were Case Western Reserve

University and the University of Dayton. “This recognition is based on the quality of faculty and the academic programs of Ashland University which makes this of particular significance,” Finks said. This ranking is a reflection of where AU places in the seven categories scored by the U.S News & World Report: peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, alumni giving and high school counselor undergraduate academic reputation ratings. Vice President for

Enrollment Management and Marketing Scott Van Loo said, “Ashland University continues to invest in providing an excellent educational experience for our students while striving to continuously improve in areas that matter. “It appears that this ranking is the result of our commitment to be a leading private comprehensive university,” he said. Five public universities in Ohio also ranked in the top 200: Ohio State University, Miami University, Ohio University, University of Cincinnati and Bowling Green State University.

DANYELLE KUPFER

For the seccond year in a row, Ashland University is in the U.S. News and World Report Top 200 National Universities rankings.

MEGAN WISE @MeganWise121

This year marks the 37th annual Madrigal Feaste. The Feaste is based on the period of Queen Elizabeth I of England, around the 1600s. Performers dress in period costumes as they sing, act and interact with guests. The most select vocal ensemble on campus, The Chamber Singers, perform ceremonial music and madrigals, while the court jester and players entertain the audience during dinner and dessert, with a few surprises along the way. Dr. Rowland Blackley is the music director and production supervisor for the feaste, ultimately responsible for all aspects of the production. “I work with many other responsible, competent people who are in charge of food, tickets, costumes, lights, the theatrical troupe of players, the script and the set-up of Redwood Hall,” Blackley said. Members of the Madrigal have been rehearsing for weeks, perfecting trumpet fanfares, a cappella music and comedic skits. Senior Eddie Carney—the Jester, or leader of the Players—said students have been rehearsing since the beginning of the school year. “The Chamber Singers began working on the pieces they perform as soon as school started and the Players rehearse their modernized fairy tale skits one to two times per week until the feaste premieres,” he said. “The different songs the Chamber Singers perform are several traditional, ceremonial numbers one might find at Madrigal Feastes in other places,” says Blackley. Other madrigals, which are Elizabethan love songs, are also performed. They are centered around unrequited love, found love and the beauties of nature. A unique feature of the music is that all of the songs are performed in the language they were written: English, French, Italian and German this year. For many students who perform in the feaste, this is one of the most rewarding experiences for them. “For twenty minutes, you are on stage giving everything you have to get the audience to laugh, and they always love it,” Carney said. Carney is involved in many things on campus but the Madrigal Feaste is by far his favorite. “It is a festive and enjoyable evening for everyone,” Carney said. “There is a reason why this is the 37th annual feaste. “Many important people involved with the university come and there are some people who have been to all thirty-six previous feastes,” he said. Blackley said students should attend the Madrigal Feaste this year to experience something different and unique. “Students [can] explore elements of a different culture from hundreds of years ago, eat a good meal, laugh really hard and hear some excellent, but probably unfamiliar music,” Blackley said. Performances will be held from Nov. 28 through Dec. 2.

Madrigal Feaste will enchant guests

FEATURES

Defying ExpectationsSean Sokler can communicate in six languages.

But he can’t speak.

p. 3

sports Thursday, 4 October 2012 // The Collegian4

defender and completed a pass on the run to wide receiver Eric Thompkins for 19 yards, inciting a few claps and a loud whoop from the president. The men began to gather in front of the window to watch the game, while the women moved nearer the food. Both groups con-tinued to mingle. With about 10:22 remaining in the first quarter and Ashland up 14-0, Finks led the men over to the food and grabbed some fried oysters. “I told the coach if they want-ed to score 100 points I would hold the one for them,” he said, and the group laughed.

A few minutes later, he and Jack Miller, whom the stadium is named after, settled at a table together. Miller, a 1974 graduate of Ashland whose floor in Kem Hall used to dominate in intramurals, was perhaps enjoying the game more than anyone. This season, he and Finks have seen their vision for the new stadium come full circle. In its third season of use, Jack Miller Stadium—part of the Dwight Schar Athletic Complex— is more than just a shiny new building on

from page one

GAME DAY

Home

crowd

factors in

campus. As Owens said after the game, it is “the place to be in Ashland, Ohio on Saturday night.” Saturday, 4,766 people watched the Eagles defeat the Storm 68-21 to move to 5-0 and bump themselves to No. 9 in the American Football Coaches Association Division II Coaches’ Poll. “When we did this, the fund-raising theme was ‘Bringing spirit to campus,’ and we really felt that if we could build a stadium on this campus we would have great turnouts,” Finks said. The stadium, which accord-ing to Miller was built $800,000 under budget thanks in large part to the efforts of Finks, is worth more than the people it brings to campus on game days. “You can’t buy tradition,” Miller said, pointing to the walls around the loge that have been plastered with pictures and plaques honoring AU football teams and players of the past.

Outside, there were people enjoying the facility in a much dif-ferent way. Under the September twilight and the glow of the lights from the football stadium, a group of future AU students had started their own football game on the soccer field. Impersonating Housewright, a young boy faked a handoff and floated a perfectly weighted pass to a receiver who had gotten open on the right side. The boy, aged about ten or twelve and wearing a black hoodie and jeans, caught the ball and ran about five yards before being dragged down from behind on the artificial turf. He took a few minutes to get up. “It’s like it rubbed off the top

layer of skin,” he said, rolling up his pant leg to inspect his right knee. After all of the boys had a look, the game continued.

Back inside the stadium, South Central High School’s football team watched Ashland’s Cameron Casey boot a 26-yard field goal to make the score 24-7 with 5:39 left in the second quarter. Fresh off of a 22-7 win over Crestview to bump their record to 2-4, South Central head coach Aaron Brokaw wanted his team to see a higher level of football and hopefully learn from it. They sat near the top of the stadium along the 30 yard line nearest the Northwest end. Senior Hayden Dotson began the year at quarterback for the Trojans but was forced to move to wide receiver when the team’s main target got injured. “How much faster the game is,” he said when asked what he and his teammates were learning. “How much harder you’re going to have to work to get to the next level.” A few seconds later, Thompkins blew by his defender along the left sideline and received a 53-yard touchdown pass from Housewright. Casey’s kick made it 31-7. Saturday’s game was Dotson’s first at AU. Since he lives nearby, he hears plenty of chatter when the team is doing well and follows the Eagles through the Ashland Times-Gazette. He thinks he will come back in the near future. “Sure, you can sit on your couch and probably see every-thing better on TV,” he said. “But I like the atmosphere of being at

the stadium and seeing other fans cheering.”

Val Harris is a 1970 graduate of Ashland who was a part of the 1967 team that went undefeated. He spent halftime munching on chips and pretzels and mingling with the Gridiron Club, which was gathered upstairs in the Troop Center. He has been blown away by the improvements Ashland has made in recent years, especially the football facilities. “There just can’t be anything better than this (in Division II), there just can’t,” he said. When Harris played, Community Stadium was fairly new. Still, he said, it was a pain to share with Ashland High School. The team had to be bused to the stadium and would sometimes play on a grass field that had been ripped to shreds the night before. Jim Phipps and Gary Beal played before Harris, and they can remember picking stones out of their elbows after practices at Redwood Stadium on campus. Phipps and Beal graduated in 1966 as a part of the first class to have a winning record over four seasons (27-8-3) under head coach Fred Martinelli, for whom the field at Jack Miller Stadium is named. They barely recognized the football being played in front of them during the third quarter. “There’s no comparison,” Phipps said. “Hell, the equip-ment’s all better.” The Gridiron Club, founded in 2006, has given former players such as Harris, Phipps and Beal a chance to gather during football games and reminisce about their playing days. These men are walk-ing proof of the tradition Jack

Miller Stadium has put on display.

Right next to the Gridiron Club is possibly the best place to watch a game at Jack Miller Stadium. Connected to the Troop Center behind the field goal posts is a balcony reserved for VIPs. Late in the third quarter, about a dozen people were enjoying the view and the game. Among those people was Dr. Dwight McElfresh, dean of the Founders School of Continued Learning. “This is the most wonderful place to watch a ball game,” he said. McElfresh graduated from AU in 1974 and received his doctorate from the school in 1992. He has noticed a definite difference in the game day atmosphere since the Eagles moved on campus. “I was here an hour before the game and it was crazy outside,” he said. Looking out over the packed stadium, McElfresh called the sporting atmosphere “collegiate,” something that could not have been said a few years ago. Even with the game well in hand, he joined the crowd to help push the Eagles to another touchdown late in the third quarter. On third and one from the three yard line, running back Anthony Taylor dove into the end zone to make it 47-14. “That’s it!” cheered McElfresh, as a family on the balcony gath-ered for a picture during the extra point a ttempt.

If AU’s football program want-ed to arrive on campus with a bang, Dave Brockway has been an integral part. He, Ron Roland and Wayne Williams operate the

cannon that goes off every time the Eagles score. “(Athletic Director) Bill Goldring called and said they wanted something special,” Brockway said. He, Roland and Williams are a part of the First Ohio Light Artillery Battery D, one of two gun crews out of Ashland County. The battery travels around the country reenacting battles and marching in parades. It also spon-sors the Ohio Civil War Show in Mansfield. “Whenever we can go boom, we’re happy to do it,” Brockway said. Each “boom” takes an eight-ounce bag of gunpowder. That means (including pregame and postgame blasts) Brockway went through 104 ounces of gunpow-der Saturday night. As Ashland drove down the field to start the fourth quarter, Brockway used the rammer to shove another pouch into the can-non. He began to explain the process of firing, then stopped. “Do you want to shoot one off ?” he asked. It was an offer I couldn’t refuse. So, when Anthony Capasso caught a nine-yard touchdown pass with 11:50 left to make the score 54-21, I held a piece of string, called a lanyard, taught while Brockway poked the bag of gunpowder with an iron rod called a punch. Then, a piece of metal about the size and shape of a key (called a friction primer) that was attached to the lanyard was put in a small hole above where the powder was stored. I pulled on the lanyard with all of my weight, yanking the friction primer free. “BOOM.”

#13 Ashland University 68 Lake Erie College 21

REDEMPTION

The Ashland football team was victorious over the Lake Erie Storm under a harvest

moon Sept. 29. The Eagles never even trailed the Storm throughout the game. Housewright had another interception-

free game, passing for 305 yards and four touchdowns. Jordan McCune

led the team rushing with 102 yards and two touchdowns.

Anthony Capasso was the top receiver with 93 yards and two

touchdowns.

ZACK LEMON @zack_lemon

The Eagles are mak-ing a statement in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, winning five matches in the past two weeks while only dropping two sets.

Only Northern Michigan managed to even win a set against the Eagles, with Michigan Tech, Lake Erie, Lake Superior State and Saginaw State Valley all los-ing 3-0.

Ashland opened up its home schedule at Kates Gymnasium on Sept. 21 against Michigan Tech, a match that was dominated by AU from start to finish. The Eagles cruised to a 25-20, 25-17, 25-19 victory, a nice bounce-back win after their loss to Wayne State the week before.

Senior Brittany Snider led the team in kills with 16, while senior Crystal Elliott had the team-high in digs with 16, as well as 35 assists.

The next afternoon was one of the tougher tests the Eagles have had this year. Ashland slugged out a win against Northern Michigan 25-16, 20-25, 20-25, 29-27, 15-10 in a tense matchup. The Wildcats entered the match with a 10-2 record, and the Eagles antici-pated a tough match.

The opening set looked great for the Eagles, as they opened up big leads of 10-4 and 16-8 before putting away the set relatively easily. Despite this strong open-ing set, Ashland knew the match would not go as easily.

The second and third sets were both won by NMU and it seemed that absolutely noth-ing could go Ashland’s way. The ball simply could not fall on the Wildcats’ side.

Following consecutive 25-20 losses, the Eagles were down to their last set. In a back and forth affair, they managed to come from behind and take the set 29-27 in a dramatic fashion.

This victory drained the life out of NMU, and the final set was thoroughly controlled by AU on the way to winning the match. This was a crucial win, proving the team has what it takes to win a tough match.

The team then went on the road for three matches, beginning with Lake Erie. This was yet another dominant effort from the Eagles, who won 25-18, 25-12, 25-16 in a swift and easy match.

Junior Kate Eckels nearly recorded a double double, regis-tering 11 kills and nine digs, while Elliott stuffed the stat sheet with four kills, 22 assists, three aces and four digs.

The team followed the win over Lake Erie with a trip to Lake Superior State for what was yet another beat down. The Eagles won in straight sets again, with scores of 25-18, 25-16 and 25-14. Snider led the team with 16 kills, while Junior Susie Jonas had eight.

Ashland concluded its week of play with a match against Saginaw Valley State.

The Eagles took care of the Cardinals in yet another sweep, 25-21, 25-21, 25-23. This was actually a competitive match, but the Eagles pulled it out late.

The first and second sets were controlled by Ashland the entire way, but the Cardinals were always within striking distance.

However, the third set was controlled by SVSU until Elliott tied the match up with a kill at 23 before two attack errors gave the Eagles their fifth straight win.

Ashland is now 13-2 overall and 6-1 in the conference. The Eagles are currently tied for third place in the GLIAC with Ferris State behind Northwood and Wayne State, who are both unde-feated in conference play.

Ashland continues conference play on the road, traveling to Ferris State (12-3, 6-1) tomorrow before heading to Grand Valley State (11-4, 4-3) on Saturday.

PAIGE MARTIN

Senior Brittany Snider pumps up her team during Ashland’s Sept. 21 match against Michigan Tech. Snider had 16 kills against the Huskies. Snider also had the match-winning spike in a huge win over Northern Michigan.

Volleyball dominating

KATY HIGAKI