It was many years ago that Michael Searles, assistant professor of history, bought his first cowboy hat and adopted the persona Cowboy Mike. However, Cowboy Mike will soon say his farewell.

Searles has been teaching for 40 years, but in 1992, he became a part of the Department of History, Anthropology, and Philosophy at Augusta State University and integrated Cowboy Mike into his lectures. He can always be spotted dressed in his authentic western gear, and it is a very rare occasion when he does not sport his cowboy hat.

“When he hasn’t worn his hat to school, the few cases I was concerned there was something wrong,” said Angela Bratton, associate professor of anthropology.

Searles said he believes Cowboy Mike brings a unique learning advantage to his students and dressing as a cowboy captures his audiences.

“I think coming in as Cowboy Mike really sets a different kind of mood,” Searles said. “It opens up students to be more receptive.”

Searles’s focus pertains to the role of blacks in the formation of the American West. He earned his undergraduate degree from Southern Illinois University and achieved a master’s degree in African American History from Howard University in Washington, D.C. Cowboys have appealed to Searles since childhood, but he said he began to wonder why none were black. While Searles was an eighth grade teacher at Bogg’s Academy, he began to incorporate the black cowboy into his lectures and has been doing that ever since.

Not only has Searles made an impact on students, but he has also impacted the lives of his fellow colleagues.

“I will miss his laughter,” Bratton said.  “When he laughs, it’s from the heart. It resonates, and you want to be a part of that. We are really going to miss the joy he brings to our department. He is such a great asset. He is such a great advocate for the students and an advocate for the faculty.”

Mark Fissel, professor of history, said Searles is the perfect colleague.

“He is always there to help, and I will miss that about him,” Fissel said. “Sometimes I will get a second opinion from Cowboy Mike. Cowboy has never turned anyone away. (He) really connects with the students; he draws them in with his active learning strategies.”

Searles said  he is the editor along with Bruce A. Glasrud of “Buffalo Soldiers in the West: A Black Soldiers Anthology” and a contributor to “Black Cowboys of Texas,” edited by Sara R. Massey. He travels to elementary schools in Georgia, South Carolina, and even Texas and educates children on blacks in the West.  Searles is involved with several organizations throughout the community and will continue to stay involved after his retirement.

Searles said his last official day is Aug. 1. Searles will be teaching two history courses this summer and that will be the last chance students will have to enroll in one of his classes.

“He is going to be a huge loss,” said Herbert van Tuyll, professor of history and chair of the Department of History, Anthropology, and Philosophy.  “Of course, when everyone retires they are irreplaceable, but in Cowboy Mike’s case it’s really true.”

Searles said he plans to enjoy his retirement by further educating himself on the West and spending time reading books that he hasn’t had the chance to read. He is collaborating with a friend, and they plan to write a book together. He will also continue to lecture off campus and although he will not be a professor anymore, he will still remain close to Augusta State.  It will still be possible for students, faculty and staff to hear his laugh around campus.

“I’ve been here 20 years, and I’ve never had a bad semester,” Searles said.  “There’s never been a day where I have complained about going to work. After 20 years I’ve enjoyed every minute, and I can’t say I’m retiring because I’m tired of it. It just seems like this is the time I should retire.”

Frankie’s, a take-out restaurant, is set to open February, bringing a variety of Chicago style food mixed with a little southern hospitality.

Located in the Augusta Business Center off Washington Road next to Brunswick National Lanes, Frankie’s restaurant plans to bring a mixture of Chicago style food with a splash of southern hospitality.

A native of Chicago and owner of Frankie’s, Frank Harris, said he has adjusted to the ways of the South, where he has learned there are “so little different foods to choose from,” compared to the Chicago, but the people and community are what makes dining experiences special. This lack of variety gave him the idea of opening Frankie’s, and he ran with it.

“I love the people down south and their hospitality,” said Harris, commenting on southern food culture. He said he believes he can take that hospitality and incorporate it into his restaurant.

To help him with the incorporation, his wife, Latina Harris, a native of the South, offered her experiences.

“I was born in Florida and have lived in Augusta for 15 years, so Augusta is home for me,” Latina said.
Variety and the backdrop of Augusta cuisine were two key elements that led to the Harris’ decision to open up.

“We want to give people the opportunity to have something different,” he said. “We want to give people a choice.”

Harris said his wife was a big reason why he wanted to open up Frankie’s.

Latina has 24 years of experience in management and ownership, with her facility, School Time Daycare which opened in 1987, and has used her business experience to assist her husband in the opening of Frankie’s. Although it is not his first run at restaurant ownership, having owned two Harvard Sweet establishments in Chicago, he has relied on his wife’s knowledge of the southern business environment.

As to the name, Harris said the concept of Frankie’s came from Frank’s childhood nickname.

“My name is Frank. But in my younger years people called me Frankie,“ Harris said.

With the help of a family vote, the name Frankie’s became the name of the restaurant.

Frankie’s holds a vast array of menu items. They will be serving cheesy Italian beef sandwich, which are small slices of roast beef, marinated in the juices of the beef and an Italian style roll, with cheese.
They are also bringing what they call “pizza puffs” to the menu, something Harris said most southerners have never heard of.

“Anytime I ask a person here if they know about pizza puff’s, nobody knows what it is,” he said.

A pizza puff is a baked, never fried, Hot-pocket-like, pastry filled with cheese, tomatoe sauce and any other traditional pizza toppings. In addition to these items, they’re going to have the Maxwell Street Polish sausage, deep-fried or grilled as well as pork and turkey chops.

A turkey chop is another one of the items Harris said he is not sure Augustans will be familiar with.
“It looks like a pork chop without the bone” Harris said, “and the meat is white, which means it’s healthy.”

The Harris’ said they anticipate the grand opening sometime in the beginning of February.

The sound of a softball being thrown, the crack of a bat hitting the ball and the sound of cleats running over bases can only mean one thing: Softball season has arrived at Augusta State University.

The season will begin on Feb. 10 with an away tournament in Columbus, Ga. with the six new players on the softball team, who include five freshmen and one junior, and 11 returning members, according to Melissa Mullins, who has been the softball coach for the past 14 years.

Preparations for this season began on Jan. 11, with the team practicing for approximately three hours a day, but no more than four hours a day. The makeup of the team this year looks to be a strong one, especially with the 11 returning members and six new teammates.

“We have seven seniors, so we have a really strong class of leaders (and) good followers as well,” Mullins said. “I think we fell just a little short last year, although we had a great season, we fell just a little short of winning Regionals and I think this team will be hungry for it. I expect us to go a little further than we did last year; I really have that expectation of making it to Super Regionals.”

One of those new team members is Molly Walton, a freshmen kinesiology major who plays outfield, who has been playing softball for 12 years.

Being a freshman, Walton said she is really looking forward to playing college games and one of the most difficult parts of playing collegiate softball is the workouts and the pressure that comes along with the game. But one task that has become easier as time has gone on is adjusting to new teammates.

“It’s a little hard at first, getting to know everyone” Walton said. “But we’re all meshing together (because) the season is starting.”

Having that many experienced players is going to be beneficial for the team this year because Mullins said she is looking to the seniors to lead the team.

One is Kristen Jones, an exercise and sports science kinesiology who plays catcher and right field and is a captain this year.

As a returning member, Jones said that in regards to the new teammates, it is always a little difficult to adjust to the new players because they get comfortable with the old teammates, but the transition always ends up working out. What also makes the transition easier is that the new players are a good group and are talented.

Adjusting to the new players has not only been easy for the players, but for the coach as well.

“It’s been great; they’re a lot of fun,” Mullins said. “This class, the five freshmen and one junior, have been a lot of fun, very respectful young ladies. There’s a great team chemistry I’ve just really enjoyed. We had a great fall getting to know each other and practicing and just carrying it into the spring. They’ve worked really hard and (have) good personalities.”

Even though there are six new teammates, the team is not doing anything different to prepare for this season compared to past seasons, Mullins said. The team is just continuing to work hard and practice as much as they can throughout the week. But one thing they are working on is becoming more consistent with their pitching and how they work under pressure.

This season there will be about 54 games plus the conference tournament, which will be held in Columbus this year, Mullins said.

The Augusta State University men’s basketball team was able to pull off a win against UNC-Pembroke on Jan. 25, moving the Jaguars into sole possession of second place in the Peach Belt Conference’s East division.

The Jaguars, led by freshman forward Devon Wright-Nelson, hung on to beat the Braves 76-72 to increase their winning streak to four straight.

“We keep coming back and practicing hard,” Wright-Nelson said. “Everyone has the same mindset (of) getting it done.”

Wright-Nelson had a great game, scoring 17 points, and was perfect from the free throw line, hitting 10 of 10 attempts.

“Me and a couple of guys stayed after the (Columbus State) game (on Jan. 23) and worked on shooting our free throws,” Wright-Nelson said. “We shot pretty bad last game.”

“He’s a smart player,” said Augusta State head coach Dip Metress. “He’s consistently getting better and he played a great game tonight.”

The game started with the Jaguars leading after Wright-Nelson made a layup. Jaguars were up by three early with a 3-pointer by freshman guard D’Angelo Boyce. The Braves responded with 11 unanswered points, led by forward George Blankeney, and went up by as many as eight. The Jaguars were able to slow down the Braves’ momentum with a layup from sophomore forward Harold Doby. In the middle of the first half, both the Jaguars and Braves were staying close within each other. The Jaguars retook the lead on a 3-pointer from Wright-Nelson with seven minutes left in the first half. The Jaguars never relinquished the lead the rest of the half, going up by nine into halftime.

The Jaguars made 40 percent of their field goals in the first half. The Braves made a slightly higher 40.9 percent of their field goals. The difference was the free throws. While the Braves shot 66.7 percent from the free throw line in the first half, the Jaguars shot 81.8 percent, making 9 of 11 attempts. The Jaguars also shot 50 percent from the 3-point line in the first 20 minutes, while the Braves only made 25 percent.

During the start of the second half, the Jaguars went up by as much as 10 points after a layup by junior big man Travis Keels. However, the Braves were able to cut into the lead with a 3 pointer made by Shahmel Brackett to trim the deficit to eight. The Jaguars answered with a layup by Wright-Nelson and a 3-pointer by Devonte Thomas. The Jaguars went up by as many as 14 during the second half.

While the Jaguars led the entire second half, the Braves wouldn’t go away quietly. The Braves pulled within 3 points late in the second half with 13 seconds left on the clock. However, the Jaguars were able to make a couple of late free throws to win the game by a 76-72 final.

Guard O’Neal Armstrong had a good game for the Jaguars, scoring 15 points and shooting 100 percent from the free throw line and 3-point range. Devonte Thomas rounded out the group of players with double-digit points, scoring 11. The difference in the game was the free throws. The Jaguars finished the game 31-of-36 from the free throw line.

“It helped us win the game,” Metress said. “(The reason we lost) games earlier this year was because we missed free throws.”

The win moved the Jaguars to 8-3 in the Peach Belt, a game ahead of the Braves for second place in the division. Their next game will be Saturday against Montevallo, which has the best record in the Peach Belt West.

“That’s going to be a big game for us,” Metress said.
Metress said he was happy with being able to win six of seven games during a challenging eight-game stretch and was hopeful his team could come away with a win against Montevallo on Jan. 28 to finish off strong.

“Going 6-1 is pretty good,” Metress said. “Hopefully we can go to Montevallo and (play well).”

In the past 19 years, President William A. Bloodworth, Jr., has transformed Augusta State University in the institution it is today.

In an idea proposed by Bloodworth, he suggested he would write a history of Augusta State for the years in which he served as president.

The only history written, of what was then Augusta College, was published in 1976 by Edward Cashin.
When Bloodworth first began his presidency at Augusta State, he said reading the previous history helped him better understand the institution, even though the previous history was published 17 years before he joined the college.

“There needs to be something,” Bloodworth said. “Maybe it’s even more important now to have something that allows the traditions and the history, not just the memory, but an understanding of the culture of this institution, especially as the institution becomes something quite different.”

Lee Ann Caldwell, director of the Center for the Study of Georgia History, said having anything written by Bloodworth would be vital to the understanding of the history of Augusta State.

“I think it’s important that the people that were there and the creators of the story get a chance to tell their history,” Caldwell said.

The final result of the history is unknown.  There has been talk of turning the document into a book, or it may just be a written history from Bloodworth’s perspective; Bloodworth said this is one of the major things that will have to be determined when writing the history.

“Whether it be a book or whatever, at least it will be a record,” Bloodworth said.  “No matter how many pages it is, the record will be here.”

During his 19 years in office, Bloodworth said he has one year that sticks out to him among the rest.
Bloodworth said 1997 was, perhaps, one of the most important years in which he served as president of Augusta State.

“In June of 1997, the Board of Regents approved two new buildings,” Bloodworth said.  “Allgood Hall and University Hall were two things that really improved this campus.”

With a visit from the president of the United States, millions of dollars spent on campus growth and the renaming of one of the universities main buildings, Bloodworth said he considers 1997 a very significant time.

“Transforming (Augusta State) from an arsenal to a university, that’s all happened under Dr. Bloodworth,” Caldwell said.

Even though there have been hundreds of millions of dollars worth of physical growth during Bloodworth’s administration, he has brought more to the institution than that, according to Nancy Childers, former assistant to the president and Augusta State alumna.

“Dr. Bloodworth listened and learned from the students, faculty and staff,” Childers said.  “He wanted to make sure that everyone was headed in the same direction with the same goals.”

Not only did Bloodworth listen and involve students in virtually everything he could, he made high-quality choices in leadership.

“He picked us up and carried us forward,” Childers said.  “He gave everyone the will to move forward.”
One aspect Bloodworth sustained throughout his administration was his leadership style, according to Childers.

“He wasn’t one of those people that came into the administration one way and left another,” Childers said.  “He always maintained an inclusive management style.”

Both Childers and Caldwell said Bloodworth has been one of the biggest assets to Augusta State history.
“I believe Dr. Bloodworth will go down as one of the most significant presidents in the institution’s history,” Caldwell said.

As much as Bloodworth has accomplished in his years as president, it is not the physical growth that matters most to him he said.

“I hope that my biggest accomplishment was to help sustain and increase the sense of family and pride that the faculty and staff take in this institution,” Bloodworth said.

While there are many important aspects of the written history of (the) last 19 years, there is a certain subject that Bloodworth wants to make understood.

“Whatever I write will be to ensure that there is some understanding of continuity, but a lot of change during that continuity,” Bloodworth said.  “I hope that something didn’t change, some of the basic culture and the interest in students and the service in this community; those things are important.”
Bloodworth said he wants to focus on the things that have happened at Augusta State and the impact that those events have had, not only for the sake of the history but also for the future of the college that will be.

“This history may even take on a greater significance because this will be a history of the last years of Augusta State University,” Bloodworth said.

It was a meeting of the minds.

About 60 members of the two nursing departments met Jan. 19 at 5 p.m. at the Health Sciences Building on GHSU’s campus for a meet-and-greet to discuss the two departments, current enrollments and future plans.

Charlotte Price, chair of Augusta State’s nursing department, and William A. Bloodworth, Jr., president of Augusta State University, gave brief remarks before opening the floor to questions from the faculty and staff of both nursing departments. Bloodworth began the discussion with a little humor.

“Let’s take questions,” Bloodworth said.  “Is this yet another open forum? I’ve got the answers down. There’s a limited number; a very finite number of answers.  Yes, no, that depends on the Board of Regents, that depends on staff, or let me ask Dr. Azziz to respond to that. I’ve got that down.”

Bloodworth said the nursing programs are the two programs that represent the only commonality and academic programs between the two institutions.  He said nursing is the premier program at Augusta State, and it attracts a lot of students.

“We’ve got to get past this ‘we’ and ‘us’ thing,” Bloodworth said.  “We, at Augusta State, can bring some really good things to this merger.  I know we can bring to the new institution nursing faculty an emphasis on nursing that will indeed help make this new university greater.”

Bloodworth then opened the floor to questions and spoke for a few more minutes.  No one asked any questions, so he thanked everyone, and Gretchen Caughman, executive vice-president for academic affairs and provost for GHSU, spoke briefly.

“I want to welcome our ASU colleagues,” Caughman said. “It is wonderful to have you all here. I am really, really excited. It’s going to be challenging; it’s going to be a lot of hard work, but I’m not seeing a whole lot of people who are afraid of hard work when I look around.”

Caughman spoke on the importance of continuing the legacy of providing the next generation with education.  She said she has respect for the nursing profession, and while Caughman is not a nurse, she said she knows what nurses are made of and what nurses provide to the students and to each other.

“I know we can do great things for this state and this community together,” Caughman said. “I am just really thrilled.  I think we will all, as a university, as faculty, staff and students, have the opportunity to show what we are made of. I think this group, more than most, will really be the showcase for making and getting it right.”

The meeting was informal with light refreshments served.  After Caughman spoke, everyone was given the opportunity to introduce themselves to the group.   The group was given another opportunity to ask questions, and Price gave both departments a brief overview of the nursing program at Augusta State.

“Nursing at Augusta State is not new,” Price said. “We’ve been here since ‘68. We started out as ASN and transitioned over into BSN in 2010.  We have produced more than 1,600 nurses, and most of our nurses stay in this community.”

Price said Augusta State’s nursing program’s retention rate is about 90 percent, and the average GPA is about 3.0. The program’s students are not necessarily traditional; she said the students have a life history, and they bring issues with them.  Price said the retention rate is something to be proud of.

“We are student focused,” she said. “We converted from ASN to BSN in 2010, and we were a bit concerned about demographics and whether or not that would affect the student body.”

GHSU’s nursing program is somewhat different, and it is in the process of changing its strategic plan.  Lucy Marian, dean and professor of bio-behavioral nursing for GHSU, spoke about the nursing program and the changes ahead not only with the merger, but with the changes to strategic plans and how it will reflect the enterprise of GHSU.

“We are the flagship for the state,” Marian said. “Therefore we have responsibilities, and that is to partner, to share, and to provide leadership when we have the opportunity to do that.  Partnership is the major focus that we have—and growth.”

Like Augusta State, GHSU offers a BSN, but it also offers a MSN.  Marian said GHSU admits 40 students in Augusta and 40 students in Athens, Ga., each year.  She said it is a 16-month program, and at the end of the 16 months, students are eligible to sit for exams and have their masters in nursing.  In addition to these two programs, GHSU offers degree programs up to a doctorate of nursing.

“We are very proud of our school,” Marian said. “We do see that we can get better with our working together to create this new college of nursing.”

“We can’t relax because we won one. We have to keep on impoving and keep moving forward.”

Led by Brittany White’s 14 points and 11 assists, the Augusta State University women were able to rally past the UNC-Pembroke Lady Braves on Jan. 25.

“She played well, knocked down her shots when she had a chance,” Augusta State head coach Nate Teymer said of White.

The win helped the Lady Jaguars stop a two-game losing streak and put them in the position of winning games down the stretch.

“It’s a big win for us” said White, a junior guard. “Hopefully we can gain some momentum going down the stretch.”

The Lady Jaguars started the game off behind with a jumper by the Braves’ Taylor Gallentine. After Laci Schreiber hit a jumper to tie the game, the Lady Braves went on a 6-0 run to lead 8-2, led by guard DeDe Cotton with two 3-pointers. The Jaguars eventually bounced back and took the lead late in the first half.
The Jaguars were up by five with two minutes left in the first half, when the Braves started gaining momentum and pulled within two by halftime with a buzzer-beating 3 by DeDe Cotton.

Teymer said his team was able slow down the Braves’ momentum by “scoring on the offensive end and (stopping) them on the defensive end.”

At halftime, the Braves had made 45 percent of their field goals and made five out of six free throws, while the Jaguars only made 41.9 percent of their field goals and made 0 percent of their free throws. Despite being behind in stats, the Jaguars were up 31-29.

At the start of the second half, the Braves started a 6-0 run behind a layup from Courtney Bolton to take an early 4-point lead. The Jaguars were able to rally with a 3-pointer by Becky Newhouse. The Jaguars were eventually able to take the lead again with layup by junior center Marina Fox.

The middle of the second half was a seesaw battle with the lead changing twice within that time.
With 9:03 remaining in the second half, Cotton was fouled hard after getting a rebound and would have to leave the game for a few minutes. Despite Cotton’s absence, the Braves were up by three with seven minutes left by the time she returned.

The Jaguars would come back from behind a layup by Fox and a jumper by sophomore Jemimah Ashby. The Braves would answer with a 3-pointer by Cotton. The Jaguars would answer back with a 3-pointer from Peterson. The Jaguars would retake the lead with about two minutes left in the game with a 3-pointer by White. The Jaguars would not give up the lead the rest of the game. White clinched the game with two free throws with 30 seconds left on the clock. The Jaguars would go on to win 59-51.
White had the best performance, having produced her first  career double-double.

“I’m so happy, I don’t know what to do with myself right now,” she said.

White said she was glad her team was able to pull off the win and remain focus.

“I was tired of losing,” White said. “I’m glad my teammates were able to remain focus at the end.”
Peterson led all Jaguar scorers with 15 points and making five of nine 3-pointers. Fox had her highest scoring game with 12 points and added 4 rebounds, and 1 block. The Braves’ Cotton led all scorers with 22 points, making three of four free throws and shooting 7-of-11 from the floor.

Teymer said their goal is to make the conference tournament, and he feels they shouldn’t slow down now.

“We can’t relax because we won one,” Teymer said. “We have to keep on improving and keep moving forward.”

Sometime back in high school, at a talent show with his ‘homeboy’, Ajay Miller, attempted to spit his first live verse, but not before nerves got the best of him.

Miller, who had only been writing poems, nothing real serious, watched his friend do his thing and when it came time for his, he froze.

He said he tried to compose himself, only to freeze up again. He said he even tried pulling out his verses, but that didn’t help. Frustrated, he threw the mic down and walked away.

Miller, now 24, has picked the microphone back up in the underground of rap music, hoping to rise to mainstream.

“Before I didn’t have my own purpose,” Miller said, looking back on his amateur attempts. “I was rapping things that weren’t relevant. I was pretty much a follower. I realized that wasn’t my personality. (So now) I have begun writing what was coming from my experiences and me personally. That’s when music became real to me.”

The real quality he spoke of is one grounded in a military upbringing that had him raised in Germany, and influenced by service life here in Augusta. These influences are evident in quasi-digital funk, and surprisingly soulful, “Just Being Me,” one of his self-produced tracks that includes this poignant lyric, “they say a rapper will never make it out of the AUG, I don’t give a’. I’m just being me.”

Being himself has led Miller to critical observations of the state of hip-hop. Miller said he thinks rappers are blinded to the things in their own house or their own neighborhood, and never really look anywhere else for the creativity that makes their music, what he called, intelligent.

“A lot of people that are black don’t listen to techno, and I love it, he said. “These guys didn’t get a chance to experience Europe, if I can bring that into my music I’m giving a different genre a chance to be heard.”
Miller gently channels the techno pulse; doing so at a rate tolerable for the 808 saturated listeners.

Example; “STFU”

Listenership has grown quickly for Miller, and his fan base, steadily establishing.

Early on, Miller has performed open-mics at Sky City, made radio appearances on AM frequencies in Atlanta and FM, locally on Power 107, and toured, at his own expense, in clubs all over the Southeast.
His biggest acclaim yet was in a competition in Los Angeles. Last fall, Miller flew to California to perform for over 2,000 people in a 5-round competition called RACKS 2 RAP.

Miller was eliminated in the third round, but called the event a success due to the fact that he made it that far as an outsider.

Back home, in Grovetown, Ga. and across the South where he is trying to grow, he continues to make contacts with producers and promoters to get his music heard.

But what is waiting for him in the underground of rap is this critique that in the hip-hop world there are too many kids with a home recording studio, autotune and Beatsaudio, cats like Mac Miller, Wiz Khalifa and Tyler the Creator who are making headway in a less conventional manner, leaving no room for “grassroots” efforts.

Miller said in the underground you have to be discovered by big names and sound like the moguls, or worse cosign with a star on a record, all while never being heard for your pure, original talent.
As he has combated the critique previously, he self-promotes.

“The music I make isn’t underground still, its pre-ready, friendly to the commercial markets,” he said.
Indeed, his unique lyrical structure is instantly palatable. Perhaps it’s the relaxed, southern draw, T.I-esque, but his lyrics pace out over the rhythm crisply and fall plump over quarter note crashes.
However, for all intensive purposes, his music is still pink in the middle, under-produced, yet definitively tolerable.

For best results, give it a few minutes, warm up to it and let it play on the palette with combinations that seem just as unorthodox as the chef who concocted them.

Start with, “I Just Want You to Know,” the hook is nice – a synonym, in this case meaning “appropriate” or “where it should be” at this point in the rap game – as Miller put it.
“These lyrical verses are ready to be gobbled up,” he said.

Funding and fan support are the current challenges for Miller, but it won’t be long before he is feasting on the fame of a tough industry, having his cake and eating it too. -

- Ajay Miller’s debut mixtape, “Practice Makes Perfect,” is available on iTunes and Reverbnation.

“Do not under any circumstances sleep during class.  It’s college, people.  You don’t have to be here if you don’t want to.”  

I have a suggestion for some of my fellow Jaguars.  Why don’t you take your $3,000 tuition payment and flush it down the toilet?  You might as well considering your nonchalant attitude toward higher education.

I’ll never forget watching half my freshman English class skulk out of the room after my professor told anyone who had not read the assigned essays to get out.

Their behavior didn’t seem to ruffle my professor’s feathers.  It was almost as if he expected lackluster students.

I, on the other hand, was baffled.

Why would these students shell out the equivalent of a super-cheap used car for an education they did not seem to have any interest in?  When you decide to attend college, you implicitly agree to the workload.

Apparently, these kids didn’t get the memo.  So I am taking it upon myself to explain the basic rules of college classroom etiquette.

It is disrespectful to come to class unprepared.  You are blatantly telling your professor that his class is not important enough to warrant your efforts after the final bell rings.  This means bringing your books, printing your PowerPoint slides and making sure you have some sort of writing utensil to record that day’s discussions.

Likewise, it’s rude to stand up and walk out of the classroom while your professor is teaching.  Tinkle before class starts and you won’t need to leave mid-lecture.

Come to class on time.  Nothing is more annoying to your professor and fellow classmates than consistently late arrivers.  Not only do you interrupt the professor’s flow of logic, but your loud entrance followed by shuffling your papers and getting settled is seriously distracting to the rest of us who actually want to learn.

Homework is a fact of life in college.  Accept it, but more importantly, do it.  You are the only one who suffers when you don’t turn in an assignment, but you punish everyone when you don’t read the assigned chapters.

In one of my sociology classes, only five people actually read the chapters we were supposed to be discussing that session. Obviously, this irritated the professor, but it also irritated the five of us who did read.  We had to wait while the other students wasted valuable class time reading what should have already been read.

Similarly, do not under any circumstances sleep during class.  It’s college, people.  You don’t have to be here if you don’t want to.  Unless, of course, Mommy and Daddy or the Georgia State Lottery (aka Hope Scholarship) are paying your tuition; in that case, you owe it to your parents and lotto winners everywhere to at the very least try to perform well.

Augusta State University is an institution devoted to bettering its students through the advancement of knowledge. A degree from this school proves you’ve studied hard and obtained a quality education.
Augusta State’s brilliant professors and caring faculty want you to succeed.  The only question is whether you’re willing to put in the effort to do so.

From a strict standpoint of success, pride, dedication, and genuine kindness, Joe Paterno seemed to do everything the right way, but some of his last words regarding Penn Sate were, “With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more.”

The recent passing of Paterno already has several people searching to conclude his legacy. Many believe the countless generous acts over his 60-year period within the Penn State football program already overshadow his knowledge of the many years of child rape accusations against Jerry Sandusky at Penn State. Let’s speak honestly here.

Such blind adoration is why I refuse to have a discussion with anyone who has not read the grand jury report. Before you formulate an opinion from ESPN’s limited and very biased coverage, I suggest you read through the 23-page report that resulted in Sandusky’s arrest. After you’re through reading and throwing up, here is something that needs to be considered when discussing Paterno’s legacy.

More than any other individual, Paterno represented his university. This is why former players, students and alumni are so quick to protect him from media from the very beginning of the scandal until now. Because of this loyalty, countless people felt for Paterno. I for one, will not look past the many great things done by a man who has shown thousands of times over to be decent and caring. The pain is that when those qualities were needed most, they were not there.

By no means am I trying to degrade Paterno’s legacy. It is necessary to point out that we still don’t know all the facts. The only thing we can draw a conclusion from is an allegation, and a decision Paterno made upon it. Remember, he is not the villain in this horrible scandal, but he is also not the victim.

While Paterno died remaining legally clear, morally, some are pointing the finger of disappointment toward what his legacy should be. The alleged criminal, Jerry Sandusky, is the man deserving of the ridicule, but those complicit in any cover up are also in the crosshairs, and the legend is the biggest target.

I don’t know how you or I will remember Paterno in a decade. I believe it is still too early to determine his legacy and whether or not we will choose to remember the wins, a program known for its class and dignity, with the many individuals positively impacted by Paterno himself. But maybe our minds will be drawn to the last memory first. The memory of young boys who may have been protected by a sexual predator if Paterno said something during the 2,000 plus days since he knew something, chose to just say something to someone. Imagine how much of a hero he indisputably could’ve been.

Whatever your opinion may be, one lesson can be learned from this legendary football coach. A scandal will taint a legacy. This just shows how much power there is in speaking up. It is too soon for my final thought on the man, much more needs to be investigated. But for now, let’s make Paterno’s true legacy a cautionary tale of how devastating silence truly is.