OK, I’m going to be honest with you. For the first two years of my Augusta State University experience I never went to a single sporting event.

I never watched a baseball game or a tennis match, and the only time I went into Christenberry was to go to wellness class., however before enrolling here, I did go to one basketball game when I was just a little boy. My dad took me to see the Jags play basketball when I was still in elementary school, and that was my first encounter with Augusta State sports.

For one reason or another, I just didn’t have the interest in going to the games and taking part in my school’s athletics. Those first two years were filled with me just trying to get by in the college world and trying not to touch too many things on the way through. Despite avoiding the games early in my college education, I was a sports enthusiast and grew up in just about every sport imaginable and loved every second of it.

So when I was given the job as sports editor here at The Bell Ringer and walked into Christenberry for the first time with my camera, press pass and notebook, I didn’t really know what to expect. The resulting experience was something I had not been prepared for.

It was a whole new world in there, and I felt like a lone astronaut after landing on a new planet. Greeting me at the front door and in every direction was a rush of smells, sounds and bright colors. The smell of the popcorn down at the concession stand tickled my nose and made my mouth water, while the instant yell of cheering and booing began to assault my ears. Everywhere I looked there were people smiling, laughing, cheering and shouting, and it surrounded me from all sides. In those first few steps in the door, I knew that I had been missing out those first two years and knew that this was something that should not be missed out on.

There’s just something about it — something that makes it hard to explain but, at the same time, gives you plenty to talk about. Standing with your friends in the student section screaming in encouragement for the guys in blue just does something to you. When you watch Ben Madgen drain a 3-pointer like it was breathing or when Garret Siler rocks the rim with one of his signature dunks, it causes something to change inside of you. Something starts growing when you see people your age running up and down a court performing miracles at each end, and when that thing starts to grow, you can’t make it stop.

What is it? It’s school pride, my friend, and I don’t know a better way to obtain it. Surrounded by your classmates and friends, watching other classmates play basketball, just brings it all home for me.

I guess for those first two years I didn’t believe that I was really part of the school. Sure, I went to class and stuff, but I didn’t really put anything back into my time here, and I really wasn’t getting the full benefits of being a student.

So, I encourage all of you to get out and go watch our teams play. Whether it’s a basketball night out at Christenberry or sitting on the hill watching the softball team bat around, just get out, flash that Jag card and be a part of your school.

There’s greatness out on our fields and courts, but the funny thing is we get to be a part of that greatness when we show up to the games and support our athletes, our classmates, friends and roommates.

A new student is ready to make changes in SGA.

In its Feb. 27 meeting, the SGA senate welcomed a new addition. Shanequa Williams, a freshman business and marketing major, is ready to “stop the complaining of the freshman class.” Williams said she believes that being from Germany will enable her to achieve many of her SGA goals.

Williams, who returned to the U.S. last summer, moved for college because in Germany students must be able to speak fluent German to attend college. Even though she lived in Germany most of her life, she was born at Fort Gordon and already knew about Augusta State University.

“When I started calling to colleges, other colleges did not really call me back or answer any of my questions,” Williams said. “The only one that was really there for me was Augusta State. I talked with Dean (Joyce) Jones over the phone. I explained to her my situation. With the six-hour time difference, it made it really hard to call. She helped me out and told me what to do. Also, I heard the business program was really good.”

With her business degree, Williams said she hopes to become a president of marketing for a fashion house. She plans to attend graduate school at Bentley College, in Waltham, Mass., and to receive her master’s degree in marketing.

“I love molding stuff and putting ideas together,” Williams said.

To become a senator, Williams had to get 75 student signatures, complete one semester of college and go through an interview process. According to Williams, the interview process was the hardest part to accomplish.

“The other upcoming senators seemed more experienced,” Williams said. “I am not very good at interviews. I get really nervous, and I was the first one out of the whole group to get interviewed. It was nerve-racking because it was very competitive.”

Williams said her reason for entering SGA was to improve her performance skills and also to have the voice of the freshman class heard. One concern the freshman class has is the bus system.

“I have to depend on the bus system, if not my friends,” Williams said. “It comes only every hour, stops running at 6 p.m., and doesn’t run on Sundays. It is really hard for me to get around town or get to school. If we had a bus that came every 30 minutes, it would not only benefit me, but other students as well.”

Being from Germany, Williams said she will be able to provide firsthand accounts of, what she said she believes, is an effective bus system. In Germany, according to Williams, the bus system comes every seven minutes and costs about two euros.

For students who want to make a difference on their campus, Williams urges them to get involved. SGA, First Year Experience and Jaguar Activities Board are all organizations at campus where Williams is actively involved.

“I want to tell the freshman class to stop complaining and get involved with SGA or the different branches of SGA,” Williams said. “That is the one problem I can not stand — when people complain and do not do anything about it. I complained at first, and then thought to myself, I should just join SGA. Slowly but surely, I am going to make changes.”

In SGA, Williams said she will work to improve her interview skills and work on her ability to effectively present information. Williams expressed interest in eventually being secretary in her junior year.

“I hope to be put in more adult situations and converse with older peers,” Williams said. “I’ve always been the baby, so it will be nice to grow up a bit.”

Since entering college, Williams said she has learned that no matter how hard people are pushed, if they don’t want to do something, then they will not do it.

“(Something) has to appeal to them and not just suit you,” Williams said. “You can’t do an event that just appeals to you; you have to do something that appeals to everyone.”

Super Bowl XLIII drew a crowd of more than 70,000 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., and 97 million television viewers. I wonder if they were as disappointed as I was.

The beginning of the broadcast was exciting enough. Cameras panned back and forth, capturing each team’s pregame interactions. The coaches were shown walking toward the tunnel, followed by the over-exaggerated entrances of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals onto the field.

This was followed by a stirring, yet lip-synched, rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” by Jennifer Hudson, her first appearance since the murders of her family members. Hudson’s performance was followed by an enthusiastic uproar of cheers from the crowd.

The broadcast got pretty boring after that.

During the first half, the Steelers dominated, leading the Cardinals 17-7 at halftime. The first quarter was uneventful, and the Steelers took a 3-0 lead after an 18-yard field goal by Jeff Reed. During the second quarter, both teams scored, with the quarter being capped off by a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown by Steelers linebacker James Harrison.

The Cardinals’ lackluster offensive line was clearly not prepared for Steelers linebacker Lamar Woodley, who had eight sacks throughout the playoffs, including two in Sunday’s game. Woodley, who is just in his second season, had four tackles in the Super Bowl.

The halftime show was performed by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Yes, that was boring as well.

The second half was a bit more exciting, with the Steelers making careless mistakes leading to scored by its opponent. Actually, only the fourth quarter was exciting. The Cardinals scored twice during the quarter, thanks to Larry Fitzgerald, and gained its first lead of the game, with a score of 23-20. Fitzgerald was the star of the Cardinals, catching seven passes for 127 years and scoring two of the Cardinals three touchdowns.

Unfortunately, the lead only lasted two minutes because Steelers receiver Santonio Holmes caught the game-winning touchdown with 35 seconds left in the fame. Clearly, this was the most exciting moment of the game.

Toward the end of the game, the teams had redeemed themselves and made the game watchable again. There have been better games played during the regular season, but maybe expectations were too high. The game ended with a thrilling touchdown, had a 242-pound linebacker run 100 yards for a touchdown and let some of the greatest young players shine on a national stage.

Still, I can’t wait until next year.

A student was charged with theft by taking and obstruction of an officer after a cross-campus pursuit that began when the student allegedly stole food from the JSAC food court.

On Jan. 28, Cyndy Wilson, catering manager of the food court, called in a complaint to Public Safety regarding a student who got food from the food court and left without paying.

According to Jasper Cooke, director of Public Safety, the student, James Alexis, then went to the game room of the JSAC, sat down and ate the food. The officers were unable to locate the student, but according to Cooke, an officer went to the game room at the same time the student was eating his meal.

The officer then left the game room and was later given a better description of the student, realizing he had seen the person in question.

The student, realizing Public Safety would most likely be looking for him, snuck out of the building and went across the field toward Science Hall. He then walked into the building and into a psychology class, where he sat down.

“He tried to tell the instructor that he had lost his phone,” Cooke said. “That’s why he had came into the classroom. She asked him to step outside, and of course, when he stepped out into the hallway, my guys were in the building because we already had the building surrounded. We knew he hadn’t came out. We were fixing to start a systematic search of the building because we had a report that was unsubstantiated, but we had a person who was running and hiding from us, which brought a lot more credibility to what was going on.”

The student then stepped out of the classroom and started running from officers. He was caught near the back entrance of Science Hall, according to Cooke.

“We all do stupid things in our life, and we’ve all made mistakes in our life,” Cooke said. “But, you know, it was pretty obvious that if he walked out of the cafeteria and forgot to pay for his food, he wouldn’t have been running from us.”

Cooke said that on occasion he gets a call involving a theft of items from the food court, but employees of the food court do their part in stopping the crime before a student can get away.

“We get a call probably about once-a-month about a person who has walked out without paying,” Cooke said. “Sometimes the cafeteria people will say, ‘Hello, you need to pay for your coffee or drink,’ or ‘You got a receipt?’ because you’re getting another cup of soda or whatever.”

Although six more weeks of winter are here since the groundhog saw his shadow, that will not hinder soccer season. Even though Augusta State University does not have a collegiate soccer team, there is a Soccer Club to join or support this season.

The Soccer Club was established Feb. 7, 2005, and has been led by Chris Chiapetto for roughly two years. Since then, Lyston Skerritt, club president and psychology major, and Emmanuel Baako, club vice president and biology major, have taken over the club and in two years have turned a small group into an organized intramural club.

“Last semester we had 85 members, 10 of which were girls,” said Skerritt.

Of these members, there are 15 strong males who make up the Soccer Club.

According to Edgar LaMotte, club advisor and public administration major, the Soccer Club has two ultimate goals for the season. One goal is to play against other schools, and the other is to allow anybody that wants to play to be able to join.

When asked if there are any members who do not know about soccer, LaMotte replied with, “No, not currently. The club was born from a group of guys that play soccer, so most have an idea of what soccer is, how to play and the basic rules.”

Practices for the Soccer Club are typically held at Christenberry Fieldhouse on Saturdays at noon, and practices for the intramural soccer club are held on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Saturday practices are usually dedicated to conditioning and skills. These dates and times are subject to change due to student availability.

As of right now, the Soccer Club does not have a coach. Because the team is not a collegiate team, any coaching would have to be on a volunteer basis. Skerritt and Baako mentioned hopes of getting Gram Connolly to coach, but the idea is not definite.

Recruitment for the Soccer Club is done through pipeline, word of mouth and through soccer classes. Club officers are working on a Web site and e-mail account which will both help to better communicate with the student body.

Overall, everybody who joins the club has a desire and a will to play soccer. When asked what is expected of members, Skerritt responded with, “a friendly spirit and an interest in getting better.” Most practices consist of members dividing into teams and playing against each other.

Right now the Soccer Club is scheduled to play an away game at University of Georgia on Feb. 28, and a home game in early March against Georgia Southern University.

Small class sizes provide benefits to students throughout their academic careers, including helping them form relationships with their professors.

Many universities around the state have large class sizes. This can create many problems for students who could possibly need extra help from their professor. Having such large class sizes can also interfere with participation or class discussion. For some students, class discussion is the greatest form of studying. Large class sizes make having a one-on-one relationship with your professor much more difficult, and students well know how difficult creating a professor-student relationship is. Being at Augusta State University allows students the opportunity to ask their professors questions after class, along with asking many questions while in class.

Larger class sizes become a problem not only with getting the help you need, but the enormous classes also have an effect on some students’ attendance. Larger universities do not take a roll for their classes, and while roll-taking does seem to be a nuisance, it actually motivates students to go to class.

What if you knew you could skip as many classes as you wanted to? Would you only come to class to take the exams? First semester students might feel as though all the core classes are a waste of time. They might believe they can learn just as much by not coming to class and simply reading the material on their own. However, that is simply not the case.

Among the benefits of having smaller classes is the issue of recommendation letters. Recommendation letters are essential for most students going on to earn their master’s degree or even a doctorate, and the professors are the people who will write them for you. In larger universities, student could graduate without ever having the same professor twice, or worse, students might never meet with their teachers one-on-one. Letters of recommendation can make or break a person’s future, so imagine a professor you have had once and have maybe never spoken a word to holding the fate of your future when they know nothing about you as a student, much less a person.

At Augusta State, the majority of the classes are taught by professors; however, the same does not hold true for all universities. Many classes are taught by TAs (teachers assistants), and while the concept of having students receive teaching experience is nice, the fact is students should not teach other students at a college level. The idea of having someone who has not even received his degree teach a college class is frightening. Due to the large class sizes, certain schools have no other choice. Is the well-being of the student body at risk? It could very well be.

Putting professor-student relationships behind, small class sizes also gives students the opportunity to meet most, if not all, of their classmates. When you have a class of 100 or more students, it becomes difficult to meet everyone in your class; then again, a class with fewer students can offer students the opportunity to form lifelong friendships, not to mention the fact that you will likely take another class with the same person, especially if the classes the two of you share are classes for your major.

If you are in one of the rare large classes at Augusta State, try these tips to make the best of your situation. Try meeting with your professor once before midterm and once after. You can discuss your progress, things to improve your grade and different approaches to understanding the material. Most students will find that professors, even when teaching large classes, are eager to see that students are interested in their progress and will most likely be more than willing to meet with them.

Also, if you are in a large class, try to form a study group right off the bat. Don’t wait until midterm to realize you need a study group, do it immediately. Study groups can maximize your understanding of the class because it can provide you with other students’ views and ideas on different subjects. Forming a study group will also help you meet new people and form friendships.

No matter what happens in a class, if you meet lots of friend, find a favorite professor or even sleep through part of an exam, having a small class size will always work to your advantage.

Rock ‘n’ roll music started as an idea but developed into a thriving force.

Rock ‘n’ roll boomed onto the music scene in 1955, with Chuck Berry leading the pack. With all the racial barriers in the 1950s, the music industry could do nothing to stop the influence of this type of music. Prejudices were abandoned, and rock music continued to grow. It was an overnight triumph.

Soon after rock ‘n’ roll music burst onto the scene, Elvis Presley made his way into history. By the mid-1950s Elvis was an international star, according to his official Web site. The artist known as “The King” helped launch an entirely new era of music. Using his different musical influences, he pushed the envelope on racial barriers of the time.

“It was Elvis who really got me hooked on beat music,” said Paul McCartney, of the Beatles. “When I heard ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ I thought, this is it.”

These rockers of the 1950s helped influence the rebellious nature of teenagers and young adults all over the world. By the time the Vietnam War came in the 1960s, Bob Dylan was ready to shake up the rock ‘n’ roll music world. Dylan wrote simple songs and used poetic lyrics to lead a generation through his dream.

It was not long after that rock ‘n’ roll hit the surf, the California surf that is. The Beach Boys rode onto the rock ‘n’ roll scene and added a tasteful harmony. The Beach Boys developed an entirely new sound for the California party surf scene.

The 1960s also brought about the Rolling Stones, the band that recorded the most successful singles of the era. The Yardbirds also came on the scene. The band’s intense sound was considered experimental but trained some of the greater guitar players, including Eric Clapton, and was influential in the musical development of Cream and Led Zeppelin.

However, talking about 1960s rock ‘n’ roll would not be complete without mentioning The Beatles. The group from the small town of Liverpool, England, was quite a contrast to the angry-blues music that was most popular in clubs. The Beatles completely revolutionized rock ‘n’ roll and turned it into a major business.

After The Beatles re-created rock ‘n’ roll, a new wave of bands surfaced, including the joining of The Who and The Kinks to the rock ‘n’ roll club. The Who has been credited with introducing the idea of increasing the volume of amplification. Its new sound gave way to a very noisy and chaotic future.

“The Who were composing autobiographical songs of the angry and frustrated urban youth. The Rolling Stones were composing autobiographical songs of the decadent punks of the working class. The Kinks were composing realistic vignettes of ordinary life in bourgeois England. The three together provided a complete picture of the time,” according to cultural historian Piero Scaruffi’s Web site.

Next in the line came Cream and Led Zeppelin, bands that brought back hard blues. When Led Zeppelin came around and began to create its fast rifts, “hard rock” was born, according to Scaruffi’s site.

Hard rock was all over America. Kids in their basements would play their electric guitars louder than ever; however, at the same time, “folk rock” was developing. Groups like Simon & Garfunkel and The Byrds arrived and introduced a new sound.

Over the next few years many famous groups and singers, such as Frank Zappa, The Doors, The Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix and The Allman Brothers, began to introduce their own flair to rock ‘n’ roll. Today, we must credit all the past “rockers” to the music that is still loved.

In the words of Hans Christian Anderson, “Where words fail, music speaks.”

A professor has developed a new system that is especially adapted to monitor local Augusta trends.

The Greater Augusta Economic Activity Index was put together by Mark Thompson, Cree-Walker chair of business administration, to follow specific trends to show how the local economy is performing without the time lag of the Metro Area GDP (Gross Domestic Product), which measures economic trends at the local and national levels.

With the GDP only, the economic report on how the Augusta economy was operating was almost two years old.

With the new index, financial trends can be monitored up to the previous month.

The composite index puts together certain multiple regional economic indicators in the business cycle to provide decision makers with economic information in a more expedient manner.

“The index is much more current and useful,” Thompson said. “We can now look at national factors to relate them to the Augusta economic forecast.”

According to Thompson, the index was created with the use of the Stock Watson methodology, which uses a dynamic, single-factor model.

The index uses indicators for the Augusta Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which contains six surrounding counties (Richmond, Burke, Columbia, McDuffie, Aiken and Edgefield).

The formula goes into logarithms and different variables that represent leading and lagging in the business cycle which comprises the index.

“The basic idea of the index is that when the index is increasing, the economy is increasing, and when the index is decreasing, the economy is contracting,” Thompson said. “Right now the local economy is still contracting.”

The use of economic indicators to observe business cycles has been in use since the 1930s and began with the work of American economists Wesley Mitchell and Arthur Burns, according to Thompson. They were also the first to define the term “recession.”

According to Thompson’s economic commentary, the latest index for January shows a decrease of 1.3 percent from December. This is the sixth consecutive month the index has fallen since May 2008, when Augusta officially entered into a recession.

Although the local economy has been contracting for some time, comparatively Augusta has not been as greatly affected as the national economy, which entered into a recession in December 2007.

The four major indicators used in Augusta’s index are employment, unemployment and initial claims, housing permits and prices, and tourism.

Although there has been some unemployment in Augusta there has also been hiring.

“The sectors where employment has not declined include education, health care and government,” Thompson explained.

According to Thompson, Augusta will continue to see a decline in economic activity through the third quarter of 2009.

Employment will not see a rise until businesses see economic conditions improve and become more stable.

Reassuring news also comes from Deke Copenhaver, major of Augusta.

“Once the economy begins expanding again, developers and planners see our city as a safe investment and good things are going to happen,” Copenhaver said.

Copenhaver said he wants everyone in Augusta to remain positive, citing the new Bass Pro Shops, which is moving forward with construction off of Riverwatch Parkway, and the renovations of existing buildings, such as the Kroger and Fresh Market buildings on Washington Road.

“Bass Pro loves that site due to its proximity to the canal and the river,” he said. “(The company) currently only builds freestanding buildings, and each one is designed with the site in mind, (thus incorporating aspects that highlight the river and the canal). Fortunately, we’re beginning to see redevelopment of existing shopping centers as developers are finding it more affordable to redo centers in good locations, as opposed to building from the ground up. We should continue to see this trend going forward.”

It’s hard to make too many comments about the Oscars this year since I haven’t really gotten the chance to see any of the nominees.

What movies I did see and love last year either received a criminally low amount of nominations or weren’t nominated at all. It doesn’t bother me too much that “Cloverfield” did not receive any nominations. I loved the movie, but I’ll admit that it wasn’t Oscar-winning material.

What does bother me is that Clint Eastwood’s masterful “Gran Torino” did not receive one bloody Oscar nomination, and a garbage movie like “Wanted” got away with two. The fact that “Wanted” is actually going to be mentioned during the award ceremony is a disgrace in itself.

However, there are several movies that I will be rooting for during the show. For instance, “Wall-E” better by God win for best animated film. I can understand if it doesn’t win for best original screenplay, what with it coming up against movies like “Milk” and “In Bruges,” but if it does not win for best animated film, then I’m seriously considering swearing off the award ceremonies from here on out.

There’s also hope that “The Dark Knight” wins for best cinematography. The only other cinematography nomination I saw was “The Changling,” and while that was indeed a good movie, the cinematography in that film seriously pales in comparison to Wally Pfister’s work in “The Dark Knight.”

To talk a little bit more about “The Dark Knight,” can someone please explain to me why this movie wasn’t nominated for best picture? I mean, sure, it wasn’t my favorite film last year, but it was “The Godfather: Part II” of comic book-action movies, one of the best in the genre, if not the best.

Was it because it was a summer action film that it didn’t receive the nomination? Are the people at the Academy too “sophisticated” to give it such praise? I know that I haven’t seen any of the other best picture nominations and that “The Dark Knight” received at least eight nominations, in which case I need to shut up and be happy that the movie even received that much recognition.

But, let’s be serious here. “The Dark Knight” hit the No. 1 spot on the best films of 2008 list for many critics and audiences alike. It had the highest single-day box office record of all-time and was the highest grossing movie that year and the second highest of all time, second only to “Titanic.” It should have received a best picture nomination, especially considering that one of the nominated films (“The Reader”) received mixed reviews from critics and audiences alike.

The Awards ceremony airs on Feb. 22 at 8 p.m.

Students can now compete as an Arab nation with funds given by SGA.

This year is no different than any other for the Model Arab League (MAL) at Augusta State University.

The group is gearing up to attend the annual conference in March. Now with the SGA approval of the funds, the group is putting the final touches on perfecting its knowledge of Somalia.

On Jan. 30, SGA approved a $653.60 request for funding for the league. The money given by SGA is going towards the annual MAL conference in South Carolina.

The MAL Southeast Regional Conference at Converse College will be held March 13-15.

The conference will help students improve their diplomatic skills, problem solving skills, communications skills and will allow for networking opportunities. This year, the MAL is hosting a bake sale to raise the remaining necessary funds to attend the conference. The bake sale is scheduled for February 24-26.

Each year different groups from around the region compete in round table discussions, according to April Demsko, senior political science major and acting president of MAL.

The different groups act as different countries in the Arab world and work for months preparing and studying their different countries.

Augusta State’s MAL contingent must be familiar on not just economic issues of Somalia, but they must also be familiar with the culture and history of the country. Twenty-two Arab league nations compete in the competition, plus a few extra nations.

“We act Somalian the entire time we are at the conference,” Demsko said. “When we go home at night we don’t have to act Somalian, but we tend to be practicing and refreshing for the next discussion.”

The competition is not judged as a typical competition would be; the groups must act as natural and noncompetitive as possible. The judges walk in and out of the round table discussion to ensure each country is acting accurately and realistically.

One example is Egypt and Lebanon. Since the two countries aren’t necessarily friendly to each other in real life, the judges watch to make sure the groups are not being friendly during the competition.

“The national conference is in April and the better we do, the higher our chances of getting invited to the National Conference become,” Demsko said. “If you go to nationals, you might get to meet diplomats or even high military officials,

Each team chooses three or more issues to discuss. There are six councils and each council must find a solution to problems in its country. The trick, according to Demsko, is solving the solution as true leaders from that country would solve the issues.

“You have to take yourself completely out of everything you have grown up with, (every) idea and world view, and put yourself into the mind of someone else,” Demsko explained.

Some of the major issues facing Somalia today will be discussed at the conference. Somalia’s need for aid and help in becoming a whole nation again is a current issue, and because of this, Somalia might not exist under the same government when the competition takes place.

The division in the country is one of the reasons for the weak government. Somalia is divided into north and south areas. Somaliland, in the north, is controlled by people who see themselves as a separate country. Mogadishu, in the south, is the capital of Somalia, and the people of this region continue to view Somaliland as their own country.

Another issue in Somalia is Islamic extremism. Islamic extremists are attempting to overthrow the government. Already the government of Somalia technically has the ability to only control about half of the its whole capital, and according to Demsko, the rest is just mayhem. Somalian pirates are a relevant issue as well, and although the pirates are based out of Somalia, they are also made up of the Islamic extremists.

Even though the competition is only a month away, MAL is always looking for new members. The league meets on Sundays at 6 p.m., in the Department of History, Anthropology, and Philosophy’s conference room. The dues to join the club are $30.