The Shepherd University Picket issue 65

The Picket Student Voice in the University Community Since 1896

S h e p h e r d U n i v e r s i t y

115th Year No. 60 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2012 First Issue Free

INDEX | NEWS 2 | COMMENTARY 5 | ARTS & LIFE 7 | COMICS & GAMES 9

SAMANTHA [email protected]

Student committees and organizations were asked to give back some funds, as some organizations do not spend all of the funds that they received in their budget, as a result of the $1.3 million shortfall.The shortfall is a result of multiple factors that include the federal gov-ernment’s change in the Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements and the recent elimination of summer semester PELL grants. Fewer students

-cial aid this year compared

to previous years, which had a direct impact on enrollment. President Suzanne Shi-pley previously stated the shortfall should not have much of an effect on students.Shipley said, “There should not be an impact on students other than shar-ing the discomfort of fac-ulty and staff as they have fewer resources to try to do the things faculty and staff need to do to keep current in their disciplines.” A number of student groups, however, have been asked to give back money that they do not have plans to spend based on budget spending from

last year.Vice President of Student Affairs Tom Segar stresses that the overall aspiration is not to take everything away from the organiza-tions. Segar said, “The goal is not to take away all of their money. The admin-istration does not take anything away from SGA. Everyone is just being asked to look at their bud-get and possibly give back what they do not need or do not plan to spend.”The university struggles to overcome the short-fall with fewer students enrolled. Nick Mummert, treasurer of the Student Government Association,

has worked very closely with Vice President for Ad-ministration and Finance Deborah Judd. Several organizations have been asked for money, in-cluding Sans Merci, PASS, Program Board, the Shep-herd debate and forensics team, and many more. Segar said the money that was given back by the groups was to be used for the fall semester but had not yet been.Segar said, “The good part about this is that groups have willingly given back. The one thing about Shepherd is that this is the most student-centered campus that a student can

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ing, embracing. The beau-ty is that these groups are actually cooperating and

to the institution.”The organizations were not forced to give any money back, according to Segar.Segar said, “The great thing is that every in-stitutional unit and department has worked diligently to adjust to this

our expenses and trends from last year to check where we didn’t spend all of our money. No student group is being made to suffer or not get to do what they need to do.”

ZACH [email protected]

Shepherd University has been conducting an ongo-ing search for a new vice president of academic af-fairs since the resignation of Dr. Richard Helldobler last semester.The search, which began this past summer, was conducted by a committee headed by Dr. Dow Bene-dict, dean for the school of arts and humanities. The committee began by meeting with a search consultant who aided in the formulation of the job announcement used to attract applicants for the open position, according to Benedict.Benedict said, “Once the faculty returned in August, we were able to conduct elections for search com-mittee members to rep-resent the four academic schools, the faculty senate, the department chairs, and other campus groups. Once we had the full com-mittee in place, we began to examine the materials submitted by the appli-cants.”Benedict added that the

top eight candidates, who were then interviewed by the entire committee at an off-campus site. From those eight candidates, the committee narrowed down the choices to three to be interviewed the week of Nov. 26. An extensive search has been done to look for suitable candidates. The committee hired an

conduct a national search, an approach aimed to

nation-wide, according to Benedict.Helldobler, the former VPAA, could not be reached for comment per-

taining to why he stepped down. At the conclusion of last semester, he sent out a memo stating his personal choice to resign. There has been no concrete explana-tion from faculty or search committee members re-garding his decision. Dr. Diane Melby was ap-pointed the interim VPAA until the search for Hell-dobler’s replacement is completed. She has taken on the same roles that the full-time VPAA would and has enjoyed the position.Melby said, “I like the challenge it brings, and I like working with the students and faculty in a different capacity.”She has not encountered any problems during her time as VP, aside from some small institutional or budgetary concerns. She has not heard any-thing regarding Helldo-bler’s decision to resign. She does, however, get the impression that he is happy. She feels that he worked hard during his time as VPAA. Timothy Leonard, the student representative on the search committee, feels that Melby is doing an excellent job as interim.Leonard said, “I think she is doing a great job. I cur-rently sit on the Strategic Planning Committee with her, and from this, she has articulated a clear mission about the ways in which her and the president of the university can move the school in a positive direction.”Leonard also thinks the search for Helldobler’s replacement has gone very well.The search committee looks to conclude its pro-cess when it interviews the


Students at Shepherd Uni-versity have the opportu-nity to get into the holiday spirit with a variety of holiday-inspired events held before the end of the semester.Program Board will be sponsoring Stress Bust-ers 2012 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. in the Student Center Ram’s Den on Dec. 5. The event will feature massage chairs, holiday cookie deco-rating, and a wide variety of activities that will give students an opportunity

subcommittee aims to as-sist students with stress relieving events.Many students at Shep-herd look forward to these stress relief events, as it gives them a chance to settle down in between their exams. First year stu-dents will be experiencing these Shepherd events for

psychology major Brittney Crist believes anything to

week will help.Crist said, “I’m going to be crazy that week. The pres-sure is on, but I’m looking forward to decorating my

own cookies and taking full advantage of that massage chair. I didn’t even know colleges had events like this.” Program Board direc-tor Rachel Meads stated that the events are aimed toward the diverse range of holidays that Shepherd students celebrate.

to focus in too much on

we don’t want to make folks who feel sad during the holidays more blue or make those who don’t celebrate Christmas feel excluded.”

-munity Services is coor-dinating annual holiday giving programs on cam-pus which will help the community ministries and Salvation Army. Students will be provided with a list of suggested items. The families and children have

are not fortunate enough to receive any holiday gifts this season. Gifts will be collected through Dec. 7. Volunteers may stop by the

in the Student Center or call Caitlyn or Michelle at 304-876-5402.Sophomore biology ma-jor Jacob Abbott said the

holiday events at Shepherd give students a sense of belonging.Abbott said, “It’s kind of what makes Shepherd so

community here. I partici-pated in helping communi-ty services donate to Salva-tion Army last year. It just feels good to give back and be part the events. This is a university and communi-ty that actually cares about their students.”The Shepherd Bookstore will give out Shepherd Rams plush dolls with a purchase of $50 or more through Dec. 7. Students also have the option of keeping the ram or donat-ing it for the Salvation Army stockings.Students enjoyed various crafts, tasty treats, and a special holiday movie to kick start the holiday season already this semes-ter. Program Board spon-sored a holiday ornament making event on Nov. 28, allowing many students to gather in the Student Center and design their very own ornament to take home for the holidays. Pro-gram Board will also spon-sor a showing of “Elf” at the Shepherdstown Opera House on Dec. 4.

From left to right Katie Biggs, Hannah Safran, Erika Martin, and Kelsey Flether show some festive Christmas gear during hte 4th annual Jingle Bell Jog hosted by Shepherd University Wellness Center on Saturday December 1, 2012. With 27 participants, the even collects toys and food items for local charities during the holiday season.Photography by Don Zumbach

NEWS 2 The Shepherd Picket Wednesday, December 5, 2012

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Shepherd University is working to expand the graduate studies to Mar-tinsburg and meet bench-mark goals set in the Graduate Studies and Continuing Education Strategic Plan.The Martinsburg Center, a center for adult learners and professionals, will be focused on graduate pro-grams. These programs

needs of the population such as the large number of government and health-care workers and educa-tional professionals in the region. Like professional centers on other campuses, plans are to possibly move the entire MBA program to the Martinsburg Center. Shepherd will also look at cohort enrollment, target-

employers or systems.Shepherd is taking a two-pronged approach by ex-amining the needs of the market in Martinsburg while continuing to offer programs on the Shepherd campus that have done well. These programs in-clude the CSDA program and graduate education degrees.

Graduate student Brian Filon stated moving gradu-ate studies is not the best move for Shepherd. He will graduate before the new campus is open and feels that funds would be better spent through improving Shepherd’s home campus.Filon said, “I feel very strongly about the new campus. I think it’s a horri-ble idea. The money being used to build this new cam-pus for graduates would be better spent improving the campus we already have through expanding and im-proving buildings and in-creasing salaries for those who haven’t had raises in years.” Dr. Scott Beard, dean of graduate studies and con-tinuing education, is con-

of graduate culture for the overall satisfaction of Shepherd’s graduate stu-dents. He believes that graduate students will

abroad student experience. Beard said, “Our feeling is that if we work to enhance the graduate student ex-perience, the graduate culture on campus will continue to develop, lead-ing to greater student sat-isfaction and the ability in the future to offer more and different degree pro-

grams.”Sophomore education ma-jor Toni Gaither said it would be nice to have an-other campus for gradu-ate studies. Gaither plans to eventually enroll in the graduate program once she completes her bachelor’s degree at Shepherd.Gaither said, “I think that it sounds like a great op-portunity to experience a new side of what Shepherd is capable of offering. I’ll probably consider doing graduate studies and may-be even taking classes at the new campus. Moving

but it’s never a bad idea.”Beard said Shepherd’s growth rate of graduate degree production should be in the low 50’s per year. The university went from 34 graduates in 2010-2011 to 63 graduates in 2011-2012. This was an improve-ment of 85 percent.A new Dean’s Graduate Student Advisory Council has recently been formed. The council will work to enhance the graduate stu-dent experience on Shep-herd’s main campus while working to build the new graduate program in Mar-tinsburg.

Students Share Bad Roommate Experiences

ROSE [email protected]

Students have heard the horror stories of college roommates that steal, stalk, and just plain suck. Some are rumors that might be told to scare freshman, but some Shepherd students have true sto-ries of the unruly roommate.

Vertigo Entertainment’s thriller “The Roommate” hit theaters in 2011, sparking interest with college-aged audiences. The storyline follows two freshman girls, Sara and Rebecca, who are placed in the same room togeth-er. Rebecca becomes obsessed with Sara, doing anything and everything to get her attention, even through violent means.

Although the cinematographic ex-ample is rather extreme, rumors on campus about terrible room-mates that steal food items and boyfriends, watch TV all night long, or bring various “friends” back to their rooms are in exis-tence. Such rumors seem to have been around for as long as the existence of Residence Life.

Kaitlyn White, a junior social work major, is thankful that her former roommate from her freshman year no lon-ger goes to Shepherd.

White said, “I lived with a girl who didn’t like the guy I was dating, so when she went to move out, she trashed my room while I wasn’t there.”

White was helping her boyfriend study in her room when her roommate at the time, Katie, came back and got upset that he was there. She stormed around the room

before leaving and barely spoke to White for two weeks.

White said, “I came back to my room one

thought that was the end of it.”

The roommate, however, still had access to White’s room until Monday, although

“Anyone could’ve walked in,” White said. “My window was open and my air condi-tioning was on even though it was freezing outside. I also saw that she had opened up her vacuum and dumped all the dirt in my closet.”

White thought the behavior was horrible and rude, but the roommate had still left

another unwanted surprise for her.

White said, “What I didn’t know is that when she took her fridge, I had milk in it. Two weeks after she moved out, I was packing up some things for my dad to take back home when I found two full milk car-tons open and rotting in the back of my closet. It was disgusting. The milk was

gray and black and it smelled aw-ful.”

White is not the only student with bad roommate experiences, how-ever.

One junior social work major, who prefers to remain anonymous, said,

She was one of those popular girls that had it all in high school and kept telling me about how she had it all and how she liked to party.”

The social work major said that the

went to a party, got caught by the police, and was required to take al-cohol awareness classes.

The anonymous junior added, “It was also annoying that she kept bringing home boys, especially when I asked if she could stop bringing them at all hours of the night.”

She said that her roommate report-ed her to the RA after making the request and said that she was “racist against His-panics, as well as homophobic.” She said that although the roommate never did anything negative to her, the roommate was eventually kicked out, probably for the best.

“Two weeks after she moved out, I was pack-ing up some things for my dad to take back home when I found two full milk cartons open and rotting in the back of my closet. It was disgusting.” - Kai-tlyn White, a junior so-cial work major

Voices in the Hall

What were or would have been some fears about living

with a roommate?

Ashley Hudson

[email protected]

“Privacy issues. I would be worried they’d get into my stuff.” - Roy Gaufo, junior

English major

“Meeting new people would’ve made me nervous, as I came from a small school.” - Matthew Walling, freshman undecided major

“I don’t like people being in my space. I used to live on campus, and I hated it.” - Gwynn Allison, junior elementary education

major

“I was worried about my privacy and the sleeping arrangements.” - Katie Bur-roughs, junior elementary education major

“Weirdness. I would’ve been fearful they weren’t cleanly.” - Robbie Green-

major

Wednesday, December 5, 2012 The Shepherd Picket 3

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NEWS

Undergraduate & EngagedCouples Share Their Struggles and Happiness

Samantha [email protected]

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those undergraduates who are engaged here at Shepherd. High school sweethearts Jordan Lubel and Joseph Mullins believe their engagement was truly meant to be. The couple dated on and off throughout high school but could never

drawn to each other.Mullins said, “As crazy as it sounds, we have known since the tenth grade that we were go-ing to get married.”The couple continued seeing each other ex-clusively but were both under the impression that it would be a summer romance. Mullins had been accepted to Virginia Tech and Lubel had been accepted to Clemson. Due to unfore-seen circumstances, neither of them attended those schools and both were able to take a se-mester off, stay home, and continue their re-lationship. Lubel said, “I remember it was a month before high school graduation when Joseph asked me

ice cream. This was a really important experi-ence as I had been vegan all throughout high school and I was slowing becoming a carnivore again. He just knew I had been craving ice cream for the past four years.”On their two year anniversary, Mullins took

and proposed.

The couple’s challenges always come from the following categories: money, communication, and family baggage.

six years, so we tend to think that we can read one another’s minds, and this is certainly not the case.”They also come from very similar family back-grounds and have similar characteristics that

Mullins said, “I wouldn’t say we face too many

are quick to work things out and are never afraid to tell each other what we are thinking or how we are feeling.The couple’s advice to other couples is never go to bed angry, keep the sex life active, and tell each other “I love you.”Lubel said, “Have lots of sex. It does not al-

ways have to be mind-blowing but the more you do it, the better it gets, and the happier you are about everything.”There are times that Mullin and Lubel are an-gry enough that they cannot look at one an-

work through it.Mullins said, “Our relationship works because

much we hate each other at that exact mo-ment.”Another engaged undergraduate couple, Cheyanne Fletcher and Joseph Bender, met in math class.Fletcher was there to help the students in the

work schedule, she helped him with his class work after tutoring hours. The couple became very close but due to moral reasons, they de-cided to postpone their relationship until after the class was over.

-ington, D.C., for a birthday and anniversary trip. Bender asked a bystander to take a pic-ture in front of the statue of Lincoln under the pretense that Fletcher’s sister wanted pic-tures. Bender got down on one knee and pro-posed to Fletcher.The couple is now planning for a wedding that is less than a year away.Bender said, “It works because we can focus on our school work and still make time for each

other to make time for us, even if that means throwing in a movie and doing homework. As long as we are together, it works for us.”

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time to plan their wedding. School schedules

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time to plan a wedding. Neither one of us have steady full-time jobs, so that is a worry.” The relationship works out in the end as each

-cult assignments and other daily stresses. The couple recommends taking the time to talk to one another.

Fletcher said, “No matter how crazy and up-setting things can get, make time for each oth-er and talk about your day, even the miniscule

details.”Laura Young and Yasmeen Alkordi met on

chat and eventually got to talking in person. The two visited one another during the sum-

to watch movies and discuss similar interests.The couple has been together since July 2011. Young proposed on Alkordi’s birthday, March 31 of this year. Young said, “Meena comes from a Middle Eastern background. Her cultural background fascinated me, and I fell deeply in love with her.”The couple enjoys different kinds of music, art, and history and both have huge senses of humor. They also enjoy going to the movies and eating all kinds of cuisine.

and enjoy different tastes of music. She en-joys Usher and Trey Songz, while I enjoy the sounds of bands such as Eisley and Gotye. Sometimes she can’t stand my music tastes, but it all works out.” The two face challenges such as distance and

mentioned how she once had to travel far dis-tances to and from her home in Maryland just to get to Alkordi’s house. The two now live to-gether in Young’s home, which makes it easier for them both.

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we’re together.” Some advice from the couple includes doing the unexpected, telling each other “I love you” every day, and holding hands.Alkordi said, “Some advice I would give cou-ples would be to tell each other that they’re beautiful, hold each other tight, and don’t steal her blanket when she is sleeping.”

-land, gay and lesbian partners can now legally be wedded. The couple plans to get married in the near future and is thrilled to have seen it come through.

extremely attracted to each other physically, mentally, emotionally, all the above. It’s the love that keeps us together. I can’t live with-out her, and she can’t live without me.”

Get to

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Jordan Lubel and Joseph Mullins dated off and on in high school before getting engaged in college. The couple knew from the beginning that they would one day get married. Submitted Photo

Joseph Bender proposed to Cheyanne Fletcher in Washington, DC over the summer. The couple struggles to balance schoolwork and planning for their upcoming wedding. Submitted Photo

Laura Young and Yasmeen Alkordi, who met on OKCupid, got engaged last March. The couple, who are Maryland residents, are happy that Question 6 recently passed in Maryland, allowing them to marry. Submitted Photo

Congratulations and Best Wishes From The Picket!

4 The Shepherd Picket Wednesday,December 5, 2012

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COMMENTARY

CHELSEA [email protected]

The election in November set several milestones for the country, one in partic-ular being two states vot-ing yes to approve mari-juana use for recreational purposes for adults over the age of twenty-one.

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Virginia, this legalization will create a rippling ef-fect throughout the entire nation in years to come. Shepherd University it-self holds a strict zero-tolerance policy for illegal drug use and possession both on and off campus.

According to the code of conduct, any student that violates the policy will be administratively withdrawn, suspended, or expelled from the univer-sity. Now that two states have legalized marijuana use, it poses the ques-tion as to whether or not Shepherd will take a second look at their policy in years to come. Yet what is so frustrating about this legalization is the handling of it in main-stream media and general society. It is easy to make jokes about getting out the Cheetos, making a road trip west, and putting a spin on phrases such as “Let’s be Blunt” for sto-ries, but in reality there are countless lives that have been affected be-cause of drug laws. There really isn’t anything to laugh about when all it comes down to is luck of

room gets busted, but an-other doesn’t, in a matter

of seconds a student’s col-lege career could be over, just by lighting up on a leafy, natural substance. Plus, knowing that can-nabis is legalized else-where, but a student rec-reationally engaging in the same activity here at home could be ruined for life is upsetting. Of course there are other solutions;; the student could move or just choose not to engage in smoking marijuana, but moving isn’t always an option. Alcohol was at one time illegal, and although throughout the years it has caused many deaths, psychological problems, and other issues, it is ar-guably no more dangerous than cannabis. Marijuana is even used by physicians to treat medical ailments. A glass of wine being good for the heart is the extent of alcohol’s medical uses, because other than that it’s really a DUI, a shriveled up liver, or memory black-

outs with extended use. Yet, the legalization of cannabis is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the war on drugs the United States has been facing for many years. Statistics from the Vera Institute of Justice show that taxpayers spend over 39 billion dollars each year to house prisoners, most of which are behind bars for drug related charges. Recently, director Eu-gene Jarecki released a

House I Live In, which is a fabulous documen-tary that takes a look on the failed drug war

-ing for so long. Accord-ing to Jarecki, currently, there are over 2.3 million Americans incarcerated, the largest amount of prisoners in the world, and often times it is the non-violent that are held longer than the violent. The warped prison sys-

tem that is in place needs to be re-examined and turned back into a produc-tive means. Provide treat-ment for those suffering from drug abuse instead of incarceration. Jarecki states essentially that it’s so easy for people to blame their abuse on the drug itself, but in reality those with drug addictions already had ravaging lives to begin with before the drug came into play. Cleaning up this corrupt system is a task that the nation needs to focus on. Spending billions of dol-lars each year of tax payer money is ridiculous just to house non-violent peo-ple who could be restored back to useful members of society with a little treat-

-ton made great strides in having their voters voices heard, the na-tion still has tremendous amounts of work to do.


College students can al--

ing extra help with their classes. The Academic Support Center here on campus provides the per-fect opportunity for stu-dents who need assistance with various subjects.One particular aspect of the ASC that should be given more attention is

the assistance with writ-ing by the ASC writing tutors. These tutors help with writing in a variety of subjects. Students can seek help from caring, pro-fessional tutors who take an interest in helping oth-er students better them-selves as writers. This is why it is important that students use this valuable

I can attest to the neces-sity of having another student look over my pa-per once it is written. In academic writing, it is always important to have another set of eyes look over your paper for spell-ing, grammatical, and/or punctuation errors.

-fessor of English and director of rhetoric and composition, feels the

writing tutor aspect of the ASC is very important for students to utilize.“The ASC provides tu-toring in multiple sub-jects, including writing. As a writing teacher in the English depart-ment, I encourage my students to take their papers to the writing tu-tors to get feedback and to learn strategies that can help them become better writers,” she said.The writing tutoring as-pect of the ASC should be used more often than is should by students. Students should not just go see a tutor because they have gotten a bad grade on a paper. Stu-dents can always be made into better writers, bad grade or not, and it is important to seek help

from another resource, no matter what writ-ing level a student is on. Most students might not even be aware that the tutoring resource exists. For that reason, it is im-perative that the ASC ad-vertise and advocate for it to the best of their ability.

-ers, newspaper articles

site outreach, more effort needs to be put forth to advertise the availability

the same sentiment with respect to spread-ing the word about the ASC and its importance. “As with most aspects of life, word of mouth rules,” she said. “I hope that stu-dents who go to the ASC for writing tutoring share

their experiences with their friends and class-mates. I think teachers need to do their part too by reminding students that writing tutoring ex-ists and encouraging stu-dents to attend sessions.”

aspect of college academ-ics. The resources provid-ed by the university are designed to help students whether they are strug-gling with a subject or not. It is important that students pay attention to the opportunities avail-able to them, especially if they need help. The writing tutor aspect of the ASC deserves much at-tention in this regard and should be taken seriously by students from all aca-demic disciplines in need of writing assistance.

Chelsea [email protected]

-day season, it’s safe to say that the war on Christ-

For many years, self-de-clared devout Christians have laid claims that the religious holiday of Christmas has constantly been torn apart as other religious holidays have in-

the United States. Keep-

ing the “Christ” in Christ-mas is what it’s all about. However, if Christians want to keep the “Christ” in Christmas, then that’s what should be done. In fact, along with it, keep the “Christ” in Christi-anity. Christmas isn’t even a religious holiday anymore;; its commercial-ism. Charles M. Schulz wrote “A Charlie Brown Christmas” back in 1965 but it’s sad that the mes-sage didn’t retain too well.

Mart open at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving night as a ploy to extend Black Fri-day deals based on the only holiday that matters in December and fami-lies are forced to cut their time short with loved ones so that shoppers can stand angrily in line just

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sion for the lowest price of the year, Jesus Christ has disappeared com-pletely from that holiday.In addition, the symbol-ism behind the Savior’s birth has not only been commercialized but dis-torted. Children now as-sociate Christmas with Santa Claus more so than they do with Jesus Christ, and although the piety of Saint Nicholas’s deeds is commendable, that’s truly not the real mean-

each household has a right to celebrate Christ-mas, individuals are still choosing to celebrate a religious holiday and should do so respectively.Not to mention, some tend to believe that Christmas is the only holiday that matters. Yet there are several other traditions

in December and January that are equally as impor-tant. America is a melting pot of cultures and it is time to accept the ability to coexist among others with the tolerance and ac-ceptance. As the Statue of Liberty states, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” The purpose of the empha-sized expression “Happy Holidays” as opposed to “Merry Christmas” is to encompass every holiday, since depending upon the given year, there could be as many as eleven or more major religious holidays during the win-ter months. Plus, when it comes to decorating for the holiday season, busi-nesses should either deco-rate equal parts based on each holiday or not at all.

Even though it would seem harmless to put up decorations, places of

-cons that should uphold a standard of equal ac-ceptance. Personal spaces and homes are one thing, but companies that do not specify a religious

As the holidays draw near, no matter the belief, it is a time of celebration. Being mindful, accepting, and considerate will do much more to make a faith ap-pealing to others, since ultimately that is one of the objectives of most reli-gions, particularly Chris-tianity. Using a phrase to include all holidays will aide in helping the na-tion move toward a more united, tolerant society.

5 The Shepherd Picket Wednesday, December 5, 2012

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COMMENTARY

NATHAN YESSLER [email protected]

Shepherd University awareness events—it seems like there’s always some sort of awareness day or awareness week going on. Is it a good thing to con-stantly have awareness events? I think the an-swer to that is no. Hav-ing too many awareness events creates an indif-ference to all awareness events on the part of stu-dents because of the mag-nitude at which they are advertised and how many different awareness cam-paigns there actually are. It’s not to say that there shouldn’t be any aware-ness campaigns, just that there shouldn’t be so many. I think this is a question of choosing which battles to

tackle. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of issues that can be campaigned on, but sometimes, less is more. I think that Shep-herd students feel indiffer-ent to most awareness cam-paigns because they feel there are too many, that there is always something going on and that students simply just get sick of see-ing the ads everywhere, so they just ignore them. I do not speak on my own behalf only. I have spoken with many students about this and have found this

to be true. I think that in order to have a greater

people involved, having a few choice campaigns would draw more atten-tion because it wouldn’t be something students are seeing all the time. This article is not criticiz-

campaign or lessening the importance of any. I am simply stating that I think that it would be better if there were only a select few, done at certain limited times, rather than so many being done all the time, and that a great many stu-dents, perhaps most stu-dents, would agree. There is such a thing as being so aware of something that people lose interest, and if there is always something going on, people lose inter-est in any kind of aware-ness of issues, save a select group to whom that par-ticular issue pertains to in some way, shape or form.

from this is that maybe it’s time to think about and strategize differently and with more focus, so that awareness is not broad and turned a blind eye to,

and given careful thought and action by those it is aimed for. It is better to hit a bull’s-eye with one bul-let than to hit everything else around it with many.

ZACH [email protected].

edu

Every college sports team across the nation desires to have a stadium that its school and athletic teams can be proud of. The athletic programs here at Shepherd should be included in that group. Here at Shepherd, Ram Stadium is the epitome of success when it comes to team dominance, most

notably for the football team in recent years. Any new additions to the sta-

team and the community in one way or another.

particular change that could be implemented

-luded to earlier. Changes to the away-side bleach-ers are an example of a way to aid in the grow-ing popularity of Shep-herd sports in the arena of Division II athletics. Larger crowds allow for exposure to the public and more recognition. The athletic teams, par-ticularly football, are already nationally rec-ognized as some of the top programs in the na-tion. Realizing this, it

would make so much more sense if the away-side bleachers were reno-vated to accommodate a larger crowd, a result of the national recognition. A new look to that side of

is along the lines of the home side, would make the stadium all the more appealing to students and the community. Cur-rently, the stadium has a capacity of 5,000 and an increase to that number

Larger crowds also equal more revenue. Renovat-ing the away-side bleach-ers and increasing the total seating capacity for the stadium could gener-ate more revenue for the school, a win-win sce-nario in my mind. The conditions of the current

bleachers on that side are reminiscent of an era that is long gone. They are quite unattractive com-pared to the home side and are not conducive to an environment that fans from the away team can enjoy. If the goal of the stadium is to facilitate the enjoyment of watch-ing athletic games by fans from both the home and away team, then it would make sense for something to be done in order to address this goal. Ram football players share in this sentiment, agreeing that renova-tions to the away bleach-ers would be a positive for the stadium and for

come from renovation, starting defensive tack-le Mike Franklin feels

“I feel that modifying the away side bleachers would be a better look for our program. A program that looks good is always a big factor with things like the recruitment of

one of the largest facilities in our conference, so any renovations that could in-crease fan capacity would make things that much better. Bigger crowds would come with more seating capacity, which would make the program better as well,” he said. It is important to invest in various projects that

-sity overall. One of those projects would be reno-vations and additions to the away-side bleach-ers at Ram Stadium.


The sport of lacrosse on the East Coast is one of the more popular contact sports, especially in states like Maryland and New York. Its popularity at a lot of universi-ties on the East Coast makes it all the more relevant as a colle-

sanctioned or club level, students at a lot of schools on the East Coast get a thrill out of playing the game. Shepherd is no excep-tion, and the club team on cam-pus deserves more recognition given its popularity on the East Coast and proximity to Maryland.At Shepherd, the women’s team has gained more notoriety year after year. The men’s team deserves the opportunity for the same notori-ety. Although its function as a club team tends to scare many interest-ed players away, due to the fact that it is not an NCAA sanctioned as a Division II school, more players and more initiative invested in the program could help the club gain the notoriety it needs to make an argument to be NCAA sanctioned. This philosophy is considered strength in numbers: if the cause is great enough and a strong case is put forth, there should be no rea-son why the school cannot move to get the team legitimized in Division II play. Revenue generation would

it were sanctioned, then many of the talented players from Mary-

land schools would come to Shep-herd to play. The Shepherd team could play other Division II pro-grams that have lacrosse and get recognized on the national stage. James Deal, a defenseman who plays on the club team, feels that the growth of the sport

“Adding a men’s team would spark -

cially. It would potentially bring in more students that have an in-terest in lacrosse and aid in the sport’s promising future,” he said.Personally, I was on the lacrosse team last semester and plan to be there this upcoming spring. The

-

and even had scrimmages lined up. The downfall of this was the lack of support and attendance by players, mainly due to the fact that there weren’t any coaches, there

-cial issues, or many players did not show up to practice because they did not want to put forth an effort. If the team were NCAA sanc-tioned, there could be the poten-tial for better playing surfaces during practices and games and a coaching staff hired to recruit players and unify the team.Nate Bruso, the vice president of the club, said,“I think the club def-initely deserves more recognition. It is important to show the differ-ences between the men’s team and women’s team in terms of the play-ing style and rules. Having both

-cially sanctioned by the NCAA will help people learn more about the game so they can enjoy it more.”

recognized by the NCAA, then the members could enjoy all the ben-

issues the team currently faces would disappear. It is imperative to

recognizing it as a Division II team.

COMMENTARY

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Taylor Lucas- News Designer

Haley Shapiro- Commentary Designer

Annie Ellis- Arts and Style Designer

Naomi Craver-Sports Designer

Samantha Jones- Advertisement Designer

Follow us on :

www.facebook.com/thepicket

MR. [email protected]

For the past decade, the world has been engulfed in this thing called the Internet.The Internet pretty much runs our lives now, from keeping up with friends and family on Face-book to playing video games online. This week, however, I’ll look at a more shady side of the Internet – the side that only a select few know about and par-ticipate in (and no, it’s not buy-ing horse tranquilizers). This week, it’s about Internet piracy.

-racy, I mean illegally download-ing copyrighted material - most-

– from a different site. Piracy on the Internet is nothing new. It has been going on for years.

has it become a bigger deal (thanks, Obama) due to the fact that the companies and artists who produce the material are losing money because people are downloading their work for free. I would be lying if I said this

enjoy free stuff (you’re un-American if you don’t), I do respect the artists who made the movies or songs enough to pay them in some way for their hard work. There’s an old saying that “it takes money to make money,” and people who are willing to spend their own money (or a company’s

money, in most cases) should get paid back in some way. You must be asking yourself,

Mr. Gamer?” The government has employed FBI and other law enforcement to crack down on the pirates and send them off to jail for a long time. Companies who provide Internet service are also cracking down. Some services offer a three-strike policy for their customers. If you illegally download too much copyrighted material, your In-ternet could be shut down per-manently and additional pun-ishment could be handed out. Now, other people must be say-ing, “Mr. Gamer, I’m on Shep-herd University’s Internet. Surely I can’t get in trouble.”

-herd does have a policy that you can get kicked out for ille-gally downloading if they catch you. Torrent sites are a com-mon menace and people have been kicked out for download-ing from those sites. Going to movie stream sites or download-ing mp3s are a different story. The only advice I can give is don’t be a pirate. Piracy isn’t fair to the people who made and put out the movie or song you illegally downloaded. That may seem a bit hypo-critical coming from me, but I don’t like getting cheated out of money when I work long and hard on something (your “That’s what she said” joke).

NATHAN [email protected]

As I’m sure everyone has been hearing in the news, Israel is in

-tinually supports Israel, how-ever, is not typically something people hear as regularly as they

Since its establishment as a mod-ern nation in 1948, Israel has had people on both sides of the aisle in the U.S., for and against, pre-dominately for, but the voice of be-ing against has seemingly grown larger in more recent years. Sup-port for Israel, however, still re-mains strong and for good reason.Of all the nations in the Middle-East, Israel is the most modern-ized and advanced of the cul-tures in that part of the world

-ized. They are closer to letting people have rights that we take for granted than any of the other nations there. They are advanced militarily and technologically. Israel has the highest average education rate in the world, with the average person having an average education level of a col-lege sophomore. To put things in perspective, the average in the States is a high school sophomore. Israel is only one of two countries

worldwide to remain a consistent ally of the U.S. (the other being

-dle-East, Israel has been our only consistent ally, partly because they rely on us. However, they provide us with political and strategic ad-vantages that no other country can;; they have the best military there and are the most likely to cooperate with us diplomatically. For those who do not think Israel should be a nation, they should be reminded that many countries in the Middle-East are also the result of European interference, as they modernly stand at least. For those who think that the country was never a nation, they should check their history books, as multiple empires, such as Rome, had the na-tion of Israel listed on their maps. Even so, the country is such a small strip of land, smaller than most U.S. states, that it’s preposterous for opponents to suggest it should not be a nation anymore, and I would question their reasoning. Regardless of what is thought on the issue, where people stand, Is-rael remains one of our best allies and truest friends in peace and in

and strategically, and I would go so far as to say even morally, disad-vantageous not to support them, especially in defending themselves. They are attacked consistently by neighboring countries. However, when they retaliate, as they have every right to do, just as any coun-try does in reaction to violent force, they are construed to be in the wrong by the U.N. and much of the media. The bias shows all too well.

like this, is what we have always done: support our ally in her rights as a free and independent nation.

Program Board. Home-coming. Sans Merci. Mu-

These are just a few of the student co-curriculars and activities that will be asked to give back part of their 2012-2013 funding due to the $1.3 million shortfall.Let’s take a moment and look at what’s been said in previous weeks: According to The Picket ar-ticle printed on November 7th, “Knocked Down $1.3 Million Pegs: Shepherd’s Budget Falls Short,” the shortfall was caused by an unanticipated drop in en-rollment. The budget pro-jections based on enroll-ment were created by the administration, and those projections were wrong. Shipley addressed the

faculty senate committee on October 15th : “There should not be an impact on students other than shar-ing the discomfort of fac-ulty and staff as they have few resources to try to do the things faculty and staff need to do to keep cur-rent in their disciplines”Something went wrong here.The students who have stayed, the students who keep the enrollment num-bers up and whose tuition money pays administra-tive salaries, are now ex-pected to pay for a mistake that they did not make. The administration messed up. And it isn’t like they were playing fast and loose with our money;; sometimes there

are things a person or team cannot predict and we end up with shortfalls.But taking away money from student co-curricu-lars and student activities is a big mistake. The SGA’s current proposed budget cuts at time of print were just over $30,000. That might not seem like a lot overall, but that can mean one less event or opportu-nity for students to inter-act with the campus or to learn something new. It cuts into the heart of why students are still here. Yes, things are going to get tight around here and may-be cutting student groups’ budgets is inevitable. But SGA calling for cuts in the middle of the semester is unprecedented and unfair.

SGA could have stood up to the administration and asked for more time, or have outright told them “No.”Let the SGA know that students do not want to be punished for the shortfall. Tell SGA to show true leadership and stand up against the ad-ministration, even if it’s

-cuss cuts for next year.”So far it has been said that student groups willingly gave back their budgeted money, but maybe they would not have been as willing, or at least may have taken more time to think about it, if they thought they had a choice. The SGA could have made that choice clear. It’s possible that at the

time of Shipley’s com-ment, she did not know that student activities money would be making up the shortfall;; however, this turn of events is a bad sign for Shepherd. This isn’t high school. The administration can-not give students deten-tion for not obeying. They cannot remove students from their leadership po-sitions if the students

to demand answers and we are allowed to say no.

be punished for mis-takes we didn’t make. Contact SGA at [email protected]

304-876-5211

ARTS & STYLE 7 The Shepherd Picket Wednesday, December 5, 2012

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SARAH [email protected]

There are many reasons that it is tempting to eat, well, garbage over the holidays. Throughout the American celebra-tions of the holidays, we are rushing to get ready for the stress-causing strain of giving gifts.Not only must we give gifts, but we must obtain them, which often means spending long hours at shopping malls and spe-cialty stores that are al-ways within, very nearly, arms’ reach of fast food.

-fall: eating fast food to save time during the rush of holiday shopping.

school, or miscellaneous holiday parties where cheese platters, cold cuts, baked goods and fattening munchies are abundant – not to mention the high-calorie and sugary alcohol-ic or non-alcoholic drinks like eggnog, mulled wines,

spiced rums and ciders.Finally, as if all the lead up wasn’t enough, we have the actual holidays themselves: Thanksgiv-ing, Christmas, Hanuk-kah, and even New Year’s Eve. So how do you not gain a serious spare tire in the meantime? Here are a few helpful hints:

sure to take along an easy, healthy snack like an apple, a handful of raw almonds in a Ziploc, or a small bag of pretzels. Also, try to eat a decent meal before you leave the house to go shopping so you will be less inclined to stop by Cinnabon and really hurt your waist-line and your health.Before you get gussied up and go out to all those hol-iday parties that you have inevitably been invited to, make sure to eat a healthy dinner – some grilled chicken and steamed broccoli or anything light and healthy that will,

if nothing else, help to counterbalance the toxins you are about to take in.If you must eat at the holi-day party, stay close to the veggies and the cold cuts. Eat the veggies but with minimal dip because it is usually ranch. Eating two tablespoons of ranch is equivalent to eating a Big Mac for all the fat and saturated fat it contains. If you can’t abide plain veggies, try eating turkey cold cuts but lose the po-tato roll and at least the mayo. If nothing else, try just eating turkey cuts and a bit of cheese alone, because you will be much better off in the calorie, carb and fat department. Avoid chips at all cost, but if you must, eat fewer tortilla chips with heap-ing scoops of salsa or stick to the pretzels. But as always, portion is the main guideline – don’t avoid potato chips and eat a pound of pretzels because that is counterproductive.Finally, it’s game day – Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukah celebration, New

must remember is portion control. Try to balance your plate as well as pos-sible. Remember that a portion of anything should be no bigger than your

a balance of green, brown and white on your plate. The whites (aside from the white turkey meat) should be the smallest –

your grandma’s creamy mashed potatoes, because chances are they are full

Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some!)8 p.m. at the Apollo Civic Theater$7 student ticketsThree actors portray every Christmas story they can remember (or improvise) in 90 minutes

Scrooge: The Musical8 p.m. at the Old Opera House$8 student tickets

of “A Christmas Carol,” great for all ages

Old Tyme Christmas in Harpers FerryAll day, beginning at 8 a.m., in lower town Harper’s FerryFREEExplore different shops, holiday activities and historical sites decorated for Christmas

The Nutcracker2 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the Frank Center for the Arts$13 for advance tickets, $18 for tickets at the doorShepherdstown School of Dance students present the annual Christmas ballet

Harpers Ferry Christmas Parade2:30 p.m. in “Old Tyme” Harpers FerryFREE


Scrooge: The Musical8 p.m. at the Old Opera House$8 student tickets

of “A Christmas Carol” great for all ages

Old Tyme Christmas in Harpers FerryAll day, beginning at 8 p.m., in lower town Harper’s FerryFREEExplore different shops, holiday activities and historical sites decorated for Christmas

The Nutcracker2 p.m. at the Frank Center for the Arts$13 for advance tickets, $18 for tickets at the doorShepherdstown School of Dance students present the annual Christmas ballet


Scrooge: The Musical2:30 p.m. at the Old Opera House$8 student tickets

of “A Christmas Carol,” great for all ages

of real butter and heavy whipping cream, not to mention that you will want to smother them with gravy (unless, of course, your family opts for the Heinz in a jar, non-fat turkey gravy, in which

Try to eat the greens and the white meat and avoid overloading your plate with buttery mashed po-tatoes, cheesy macaroni,

foods are not only riddled with carbs (which turn to sugar, which turn to fat), but they are most often prepared with generous amounts of real butter, which contains tons of fat.Then comes dessert. Holi-day cookies are a chal-lenge, but try to keep it to a minimum. Take a small plate and put a few small portions of des-serts on there to try. You are already half-stuffed with turkey anyway, so just give your sweet tooth a taste and call it quits before you are unable to

probably just got as pres-ents from your family.Finally, it’s recovery time. If you didn’t follow these instructions, you may feel bloated and lethargic. Your best cure is to drink water and eat leafy greens and lean meat when you are

-tiently wait for your liver to stop hating you and for all the sodium to leave your system with all the yummy water that you are pumping into it. Cheers! And have a happy and safe holiday season from ev-eryone here at The Picket!

Winter BreakSaturday, December 15 – Sunday, January 6th

Photo by Sarah Ridgeway

Photo by Sarah Ridgeway

ARTS & STYLE 8 The Shepherd Picket Wednesday, December 5,2012

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Have a lot of group members or co-workers to shop for? Fix the problem by visiting the

of your store. There are usually small, cheap Christmas

you can buy to stuff with small gifts or candy.

Twenty bucks can spread out to make a creative gift for your friends;; they get a cup or pencil box and you get the leftover candy.

Gift cards are a mixed bag. Certain ones should be avoid-ed (like Starbucks and Best Buy) because they could apply

-

the card. The answer to the gift card conundrum is or

probably has a gift card or membership club. These would show that you know what they like and mean much more than a generic pay card or a Star-bucks card. You also do not have to go overboard with the card amount.

My relatives would pull an evil trick by placing fun pres-ents in clothes boxes, mak-ing it look like I got another

sweater. is a fun way to make wrapping easy. There’s always that one gift that is impossible to wrap neatly. Buying an inexpensive pack of fold-able boxes or using an old box can make wrapping go smoothly.

to remember what was said in . If my

friend said “Gee, I wish I had one of those nifty hula hoops,” I would get them a hula hoop (or a time machine back to the 50’s when people

they particularly enjoyed? Also, think outside the usu-al choices. Did they really like the steak at that res-taurant last week? Get them some of the spices used in the steak. Combine that idea with #1 and present it in a unique way for a really touching gift

If I can’t think of a good gift to give people, I think of what else they need to do or may have going on. I stop

thinking of them as a friend or relative and look at them from another perspective. Think of what oth-

different roles. Do they have a lot of siblings? Buy something the whole family can play. Do they need

. Ev-erybody has different roles;; use that to your advan-tage. The gift can be fun or practical and the receiver probably won’t be expecting it.

Buy in bulk.

Be speci!c.

Save your boxes.

Remember.

Think of something useful.

BRITTANY [email protected]

much caffeine plus not enough sleep equal? Give up? It equals you during

fret;; I’m here to give you a few tips on how to not be a zombie caffeine-addict by the end of the semester.

Learn your exam times.Yes, this may seem frivolous, but it is a must!

down your exam schedule on a post-it note or on your notebook. Just make sure that you write your schedule on some-thing that you’re going to look at every day! Other-wise, what’s the point?

Pick a study environment best suited to you. Not everyone prefers a quiet library or a ram-bunctious dorm room. Pick an environment where you know you’ll be able to give your study material your undivided attention.

Distractions! Get rid of them! Turn off your phone. I mean it! Do the same for anything else that might prove to be a distraction: T.V., iPod, MP3 player, Facebook, Twitter, etc. You should be completely focused on your study material and not on ev-erything else around you.

Don’t forget breaks! You don’t want to overload your brain, so give your-self a small rest during your allotted study time. Studying for 20-minute

intervals with a 5-minute break in between each study session is just as effective as, if not more than, studying for an hour straight. Besides, by giv-ing yourself a small break, you can use the time for eating a snack, resting, or some other activity that gets your mind off your studying.

Stop Procrastinating! It’s pretty much a given that professors didn’t just dump papers on you at the last minute be-cause they’re “evil” like that. Take any and all of the time given to you to perfect your paper. Start it early and work on it little by little over the time you were given. This avoids any frantic 2 a.m. emails to professors asking questions that you

aren’t going to answer because, well, It’s 2 a.m. and chances are they’re sleeping.

Zero caffeine. -

lant, the effects are only temporary. The more caffeine you drink, the worse the ending crash will be. So avoid caffeine at all costs. Instead, drink plenty of water, which will keep your body and mind

mind will thank you as your brain’s fuction im-proves greatly with plenty of water.

Eat healthfully.

chips are a quick snack, they for your body. Instead, eat

foods that will heighten your concentration and ex-tended your memory, such as whole grains, fruits, cruciferous vegetables (cabbage, broccoli, cauli-

berries. If you’re craving something sweet, reach for some dark chocolate, which improves memory, alertness, and clarity. The darker the chocolate, the better it is.

Sleep, sleep, sleep! Your body needs it! Always get a full night’s rest (between six to eight

the next day. If you don’t, chances are your brain isn’t going to be at peak performance, which means your exam grade will show it.

Exercise. Exercising is a great way to melt away the piling-up stress. Go for a brief run or ride your bike to your

-ing re-energizes the body and allows you to regain your concentration.

Finally, RELAX!!!

the hardest tip to ac-complish, it is also the most crucial. If you stress yourself out too much, you’ll make yourself sick (this isn’t a myth;; you really can damage your health by overstressing). So when you feel like you’re about to tear your hair out and scream, just take a break and breathe a little. Take deep, steady inhales through your nose, hold it for a second, and exhale slowly out of your mouth.

SEAN O’[email protected]

Steven Spielberg returns to the big screen with his

a tour de force in the tru-est sense of the phrase. Daniel Day Lewis under-takes the role of Abra-ham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United

on the three month pe-riod in 1865 where Lin-coln struggles with two massive obstacles: the

In the works since 2000, Spielberg had obstacles of

a reality. Back in 2005 he pegged Liam Neeson to play Lincoln, with Sally Fields as his wife, Mary Lincoln. Neeson later dropped out, citing his age as a reason. This opened the way for the very talent-

ed Day-Lewis, which to me was a blessing in disguise. Daniel Day-Lewis abso-lutely owns the character of Lincoln. I originally thought Neeson with his height and appearance as well as acting chops would make an excellent Lincoln. Day-Lewis, while a superb actor, made me skeptical

up, he was an absolute spit-ting image of the late Presi-dent. Facially as well as his body’s gaunt appearance, he looked rail thin due to his body’s natural makeup and the immense stresses of the pressing issues fac-ing him. Also as a history buff, while I have seen pho-tos of Lincoln, I have never heard his voice. Day-Lewis speaks in such a gentle yet impassioned way using parables and arguments at various times to make his

points, that it would be the way I’d envision Lincoln would speak. He also walks in a very laboring man-ner at times, fatigued from

The unique thing about Lin-coln is that it focuses on a

-al to the future of the Unit-ed States, and not the one word everyone associates with Lincoln: assassination. Lincoln constantly clashes with his cabinet on how to

abolishing slavery. It is an unpopular choice to many, but no one ever said being president was easy, right? One thing I noticed about

-curacy. Lighting, clothing, and the way they spoke all stayed true to the times. Dynamic settings added to 19th century feel, too. An interesting tidbit is that

the watch’s ticking heard in the movie that Lincoln looks at from time to time was recorded with Abraham Lincoln’s actual watch. It’s a signature artifact at the Kentucky Historical Soci-ety in Frankfort, Kentucky.Another strong point for Lincoln was the incredible casting. David Strathairn

-liam Seward and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Lincoln’s son, Robert. Tommy Lee Jones was the outspoken Thaddeus Stevens, and Ulysses S. Grant was played by British actor Jared Har-ris, whose voice was in-distinguishable under his American accent. Other key actors included James Spader and Hal Holbrook. The one drawback for some might be the length as Lin-coln clocks in at two hours and twenty-nine minutes.

For such a long mov-ie, it does not drag on.

-ator might only appeal to those interested in his-tory, Spielberg manages to

everyone will enjoy it. It is intense, educating and gives life to names usu-ally thought of as words on pages of history books.This movie could never be as good if it was not made by a director who didn’t genuinely appre-ciate Abraham Lincoln. Spielberg’s enthusiasm and love of this period in history are the guiding light to the movie. Lin-coln gives you an intimate look at a man loved and respected by many peo-ple, and like the legacy of President Lincoln, this

in movie history as well.

MIDNIGHT

BREAKFASTSunday, December 9th

MICHAEL [email protected]

Wednesday,December 5, 2012 The Shepherd Picket 9

Page_____ C M Y K 9

GAMES & COMICS

BRITTANY ANDERSON

[email protected]

The Christmas Bazaar is hosted by the Shepherd-stown Community Club and will extend over the period of the

from Dec. 1 and 2 through Dec. 22 and 23. The Christmas Bazaar is currently being held in the

, also known as -

ing, located on 102 E. Ger-man St. The bazaar offers handcrafted work of local and and crafters. Admission for the bazaar is completely free for all in attendance.

For more information about the Christmas Bazaar, visit the Shepherdstown Com-munity Club on Facebook at http: / /www.facebook.com/SMCChristmasBazaar.

-ably taken the chance to visit the small, historic town of Harpers Ferry, taking a trip there during winter break is a nice way to spend the day. Spend your time visiting the

, exploring the of the town by going

to the various (though small) located through-

out the town, and taking in the scenery of the

weather becomes too nippy, you can always stop at the Cof-

fee Mill for a nice, warm cup of coffee or hot chocolate. Harpers Ferry is a wonder-ful place to visit, especially during the holiday season, as the small town is lit up in display of holiday cheer.

The Snowshoe Mountain Resort offers a wide range of winter activities for ev-eryone of all ages. For ex-ample, Snowshoe will fea-ture a brand new edition to their resort this year, the . This zip line allows friends and strangers alike to race through the village while being suspended in the air. Snowshoe also offers a Coca-Cola ,

, and

the Big Top, transformed into Santa’s workshop dur-ing the holiday season. To learn more about Snowshoe Mountain Resort and their

at www.snowshoemtn.com.

Dec. 31 for their annual New Year’s Eve Celebration. The event will feature a

, ment from the band E3, the magical antics of magician Dean Burkett, skiing and snowboarding until 1 a.m., and their very own ball drop at midnight! The party begins at 5 p.m. and doesn’t stop un-til 1 a.m. To learn more about

Eve celebration and pric-

www.skiwhitetail.com.

Conceived in 1974, TU-BACHRISTMAS has been paying tribute to the late

J. Bell for more than 35 years. The event is open to all tuba and euphonium players who wish to partic-ipate. The TUBACHRIST-MAS assembly will be performing on the steps of

there is a registration fee of $5 for all participants, the event is open to the public for

. For more information about TU-BACHRISTMAS, please

www.tubachristmas.com.

Stranger Than Fiction by Brian Ardel

Stranger Than Fiction by Brian Ardel

SPORTS 10 The Shepherd Picket Wednesday,December 5, 2012

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SEAN O’[email protected]

Following a close road win against Elizabeth City on Nov. 17, the Shepherd men’s basketball team hit the road again and defeat-ed Fairmont State, 93-90. Junior guard Brantley Os-borne led the way with 17 points. The key to the win was the balance of scoring throughout the whole team. Senior forwards Sidney McCray and Chad Moore chipped in 15 and 14 points respectively. Sophomore forward Mor-gan McDonald came up big with 12 points and ju-nior forward Kevin Jones

10 points.

On the other side of the ball, the Falcons were led by junior forward Bren-dan Cooper’s 36-point on-slaught and senior guard Malik Stith’s 20 points. Se-nior Isaac Thornton had 14 points.The Rams headed into the half down 49-45. It could

had the Rams not gone 12 for 16 from the free-throw line. The Fighting Falcons

at 51 percent to the Rams’ 45 percent. Shepherd had a staggering 11 turnovers in

They managed to turn it around after the break, only committing six turn-overs in the second half. Shepherd also continued their strong shooting at the

charity stripe, sinking 17 of 22 free throws. They were down by as many as seven points, but came back to build their own seven-point lead with 1:11 left in the game. The Falcons made one last run to get close and eventually attempted a game-tying 3-pointer at the end, but they missed. Along with the big advan-tage at the free-throw line, the Rams won the rebound-ing battle, 42-35. McDonald and Moore accounted for 23 rebounds, with McDonald

double of the season. The Rams had a ten-day break and did not play again until this past Saturday, when they beat Charleston 80-74 in overtime. Osborne was the Rams’ top scorer

with 21 points. The win was their third in a row as well

of the season. -

cient game from three point

attempts. Chad Moore had a great all-around perfor-mance with 13 points, sev-en rebounds, three assists and three steals. Junior point guard Marcus Pilgrim chipped in with 13 points of his own, draining three 3-pointers. Sophomore Aus-tin Cunningham had 11 points, four rebounds and three assists. Charleston was led by freshman for-ward Alexsander Kesic and junior guard Corey Jackson. Kesic had 18 points and eight rebounds, while Jack-son had 14 points, seven rebounds and a game-high eight assists. Once again the Rams played catch-up, down 38-31 at the half. Their free throw shoot-ing gave them an edge, get-ting 15 points from the free-

throw line, as opposed to the Golden Eagles’ nine. Shepherd built a six-point lead in the second half, but Charleston pushed back and forced the ex-tra period. In overtime, Osborne hit a three with 4:43 remaining, giving the Rams the lead for good. Even despite being outrebounded 42-32, the Rams found a way to pull out the win. This win propels Shep-herd to 4-1, 2-0 in the

year, the team was 5-1 before hitting a rough patch on the way to a .500 season. They need to keep up the positives (free throw shooting, rebound-ing) while minimizing the

goal percentage) in a sea-son with so much poten-tial. The Rams’ next game is at home on Dec. 5 when they host the 2-2 Ship-pensburg Red Raiders.

Photo by Don Zumbach

Photo by Don Zumbach

12-12-12this day in history brings

sales beyond beliefSecret

Noon - 3pm

MATTHEW [email protected]

For much of the 2012 Shepherd University Rams football season, the defense led the way for the

-giate Athletic Conference champions. However, on Saturday, November 17, the Indi-ana University of Penn-sylvania Crimson Hawks

-cently awakened Ram of-fense to end the Shepherd football season. Turnovers were a critical theme throughout the affair.IUP got on the scoreboard

-back and former Michigan

fumbled in their own terri-tory. Crimson Hawks quar-terback Mike Box found re-ceiver Terrill Barnes from 5 yards out with 8:27 left in

the early 7-0 lead. The Ram offense quickly responded to the Crimson Hawks’ warning shot. About three minutes later, senior quarterback Bobby Cooper scampered 18 yards to tie up the contest. Redshirt fresh-man Ryan Earls added the point after touchdown.

half, the Rams saw their hard-earned momentum dissipate. As Bobby Cooper was being dragged down, he

where it was intercepted by

IUP defender Carl Fleming and returned 77 yards for a Crimson Hawks touchdown. There is no doubt that this turnover was a major turn-ing point in the contest.Shepherd came out of the locker room nothing short of great. The Rams defense

drive and forced them to punt. Cornerback DJ Scott returned the punt 31 yards, setting the Shepherd offense

-tion. Bobby Cooper knifed his way into the end zone from 1 yard out with just less than 12 minutes left in the third quarter. Once again, Earls added the point after touchdown.Earls gave the Rams their

6:43 left in the third quar-

brought the score to 17-14

in favor of the Rams. His original attempt was from 37 yards but was negated by a false start penalty. Unfortunately for Shep-herd, the Crimson Hawks regained the lead for good with 1:45 left in the third. Rutgers University trans-

reached the end zone from 5 yards out to give IUP the 20-14 lead. Brett Ullman added the point after, taking the Crimson Hawks’ lead to seven.Ullman added three points to the IUP lead with 12:03 left in the game. His 39-yard

giving the Crimson Hawks a full touchdown lead. The Crimson Hawks placekicker

the lead when he connected from 31 yards out with 9:11 remaining in the playoff

took the lead to ten.The loss knocks the Shep-herd Rams out of the NCAA Division II play-offs. However, the Rams end the year as the cham-

Unfortunately, many players competed for the Rams for the last time, including defensive back/outside linebacker Domi-nic Tolson, wide receiver Larry Lowe, wide receiver Robert Byrd, quarterback Bobby Cooper, inside line-backer A.J. Parrish and tight end John Frick. If you should see any of these young men on cam-pus, be sure to congratu-late them on their season and thank them for their dedication to Shepherd.

SPORTS 11 The Shepherd Picket Wednesday, December 5, 2012

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An Interview With Mike FranklinZACH ROUNCEVILLE

[email protected]

Coming off the heels of an 8-3 season which included a playoff berth, Shepherd football team captain and starting defensive line-man Mike Franklin dis-cussed his upbringing in the game as well as his career aspirations.Born in Virginia Beach, Va., he moved to Mary-land at age eight. Since then, he has resided in Silver Spring. Growing up, he did not play many sports aside from occa-sional sessions of pick-up basketball. His passion and desire for the game of football did not begin to

year of high school. He has loved the game ever since, and it was the love and desire he has for the game that allowed him to excel at Long Reach High School, giving him the op-portunity to play at the collegiate level.“I love the game. There’s no other sport like it,” he said. “The camarade-rie aspect of it says a lot about a man’s character, his resiliency, his abil-ity to bounce back in the face of adversity, his per-severance, and capability to gather himself when things get tough. It’s just a great game overall,” he added.

the game, however, is the physical aspect of it.

hitting. But other than

that, succeeding along with my teammates is another aspect that I like about the game. It’s a feeling that can-not be measured,” he said. Being elected a team cap-

characteristics one should possess in order to be a

have to lead by example. It’s more than what you say;; it’s about your character on

be positive and optimistic. Overall, you have to be held accountable and be willing and able to take on the re-sponsibility that is given to you. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication. As a team captain, I try my hard-est to exemplify these char-acteristics but at the end of the day, I’m just one piece in a bigger puzzle,” he stated. His decision to play for the Rams was aided by former

-liams, who ultimately per-suaded him to come and play in Shepherdstown. The tradition of winning, per-suasion by veteran leaders such as former linebacker Brian Taylor, and defensive schemes all played a role in Franklin’s decision to commit to Shepherd. “After weighing all of the factors in my decision, it just seemed

Academically, he likes the atmosphere of Shepherd’s campus. “At Shepherd, I like the fact that you’re not just another face in the crowd, as opposed to bigger schools with larger class sizes. The professors here are more hands-on and approach-

able. You’re not sitting in a lecture hall with 500 people or talking to a teacher’s aide instead of the professor themselves,” he said. Currently, he is majoring in biochemistry but is leaning towards changing to Kine-siology in the hopes of pos-sibly becoming a physical therapist, his ultimate ca-reer goal. In his downtime, Frank-lin likes to play games like Madden and Call of Duty. “I’m a nerd sometimes as well and enjoy reading

medical studies, he said jok-ingly. “All in all, I’m kind of boring.”

season, Franklin was proud of the way his teammates performed en route to an-

title and looks forward to next year as the Rams par-

as part of the newly formed Mountain East Conference.

MATTHEW [email protected]

Benjamin Franklin, one of our nation’s most famous founding fathers, once said that “in life, nothing is cer-tain but death and taxes.”

Franklin may have been a tad bit hasty in that dec-

and taxes are inevitable, it seems that collegiate confer-ence realignment could be added to that famous quote. Colorado’s leaving the Big 12 to help form the PAC-12, Nebraska’s leaving the Big 12 to join the Big Ten, Mary-land’s leaving the ACC, a conference in which it was a co-founder, to join the Big Ten – for these schools, much of the reasoning was

Then why are Shepherd and so many of its conference

-ginia Intercollegiate Athlet-ic Conference? The reason is to form a new conference known as the Mountain East. This is slated for the 2013-2014 academic year.

have shaky athletic depart-ments. To help strengthen the athletic playing stan-

-ty, many schools have decid-

create the Mountain East. The University of Charles-ton, Concord University, Fairmont State University, Glenville State College, Notre Dame College, Shep-herd, Urbana University, University of Virginia’s Col-

-

will make up the confer-ence from the outset. All of the members will be football

Jesuit.This move is a very big deal for the University of Vir-

-rently, the school competes in the NAIA, so there is no doubt that moving from the NAIA to the NCAA (Division II for that matter) is a fairly

make that institution’s athletics more relevant. The move to the Moun-tain East will also allow the school to recruit bet-ter athletes than ever be-fore.One problem that will arise from this move is

road trips can easily be handled by bus in less than six hours. Howev-er, with the addition of two institutions in Ohio, Notre Dame College and Urbana University, and the aforementioned Uni-versity of Virginia’s Col-

have to be considered. “Flying: that is one heck of an expense, especially for football. I wouldn’t be surprised if smaller pro-

still bussed to games,” redshirt freshman kicker Ryan Earls said. The former Kent Island Buccaneer raises a valid

Urbana University tak-ing roughly six and a half hours, the trip to Notre Dame College taking a lit-

just over six hours, the athletic department has a bit of a problem on its hands. Joining the Moun-tain East may allow for a more stable conference, but it also may take away from the athletic depart-ments coffers in a major way just because of travel expenses. “Either way, it is going to cost more. Buses use fuel, as do planes,” sophomore soccer player Taylor Dun-can said. At the end of the day, collegiate athletics are about dollars and cents. Very few athletic depart-

that regard, we are talk-ing about the Ohio State University, the Univer-sity of Michigan and Uni-versity of Florida. Let us hope that the move to the Mountain East is not a hasty one. After all, Ben-jamin Franklin warned us about the inevitable.

Photo by Shepherd University

Shepherd Women’s Basketball were victorious over Charleston on Saturday 12/1/12. Alex Weakland scored eight points for

Shepherd during the game. Photo by Ryan Franklin

JOEY [email protected]

The Shepherd University women’s basketball team traveled to Belmont, Ca-lif., to open their season by taking part in the Notre Dame de Namur tourna-ment Nov. 16 and 17. The

-ish 6th out of 15 teams in

-en’s basketball preseason poll of conference coaches.

of the tournament and

resulted in a dominat-

Union College. Sophomore guard Rachel Johnson helped lead the Rams to the win by scoring a game high 17 points. In addi-tion, she was 8-of-11 from

point range and had four assists. Sophomore center Gabby Flinchum chipped in with 11 points and six rebounds. Sophomore guard Dominic Tolson and junior forward Jimyse Brown had nine points each in the win

forward Emily Daniel had 11 rebounds and Priscilla

both game highs.The Shepherd women’s basketball team shot a mediocre 47.1 percent

Union Pioneers to only

Alejandra Gallardo had 14 points and seven rebounds to lead the Pioneers.Shepherd began the sea-son 1-0 with their win over

the Rams fell to Cal State Monterey Bay in the second game of the Notre Dame de Namur tournament 64-56 on Nov. 17. Six minutes into the contest, Shepherd took the lead 10-9;; howev-er, that was the last point during the game in which the Rams led. Less than a minute later, the Cal State Monterey Bay Otters scored on a layup and regained

At halftime, the Otters had a 42-28 lead and less than two minutes into the second half, they extended their lead to 21 points. The Rams then began to chip away at

1:44 remaining in the game, Jazmin Tolson made a free throw to make the score 59-54;; however, a steal and the ensuing three point shot by Cal State Monterey Bay iced the game. Sophomore center Gabby Flinchum and junior for-ward Jimyse Brown led Shepherd by recording 14 points and six rebounds each. The Rams shot only 38

20 percent from three point range. In addition, Shep-herd was 78.9 percent from

advantage on the boards. The loss dropped the Ram’s

record to 1-1. On Nov. 20 the Rams fell to 1-2 when they ended their stretch of road games against Fairmont State. Kaitlyn Snyder of Fairmont State scored 22 points and had eight assists to lead her team to an 80-67 win over Shepherd. Halfway through the second half, the Rams came within three points of Fairmont after Alex Tamez hit a jumper, making the score 60-57, but they would get no closer. Shepherd shot

and 4-15 from three point range. Despite these setbacks, on Dec. 1, the Rams rebound-ed and captured a deciding win over the University of Charleston with a 106-70 win. At one point, Shepherd lead by 19 points during the

cut the advantage to 46-40 -

maining, the Rams began to pull away after sophomore center Gabby Flinchum scored on a layup to give the Rams a 60-50 lead. Along with 12 rebounds, Flinchum had a career high 26 points in the game. Shepherd reached the 100 point mark

5, 2011, when they won 102-93 over Glenville State. The Shepherd University women’s basketball team returns to action on Thurs-day, Dec. 6 when they travel to Bowie, Md., to face Bowie University for a 6 pm tip-off.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

ADVERTISEMENTWednesday, December 5, 2012 The Shepherd Picket 12

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Happy

Holidays!

The Shepherd University Picket issue 65

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