“There is a special place inhell for people who abusehandicap parking.”

My mom is in a wheelchair .She had two heart attacks and a severestroke last summer all in the spanof one week, leaving the left side of herbody paralyzed.

Being paralyzed means a few thingsfor her: She can’t cook, she can’t take ashower by herself, she can’t get in andout of bed by herself, she can’t, shecan’t, she can’t… and, finally, she can’tdrive.

Having a paralyzed mother means afew things for me: I have to prepare hermeals, I have to help her shower, I haveto get her in and out of bed, I have to, Ihave to, I have to… and, finally, I haveto drive her around town.

I do not typically have pet peeves,but if I had to choose one, just one, Iwould probably choose, well let meput it to you plainly – there is a specialplace in hell for people who abusehandicap parking.

Yes, I’m talking to you (and manyare going to get upset by what I’mabout to say, so earmuffs for little babyears):

The just barely 55-year-old manwho was the first in line at the DMVon his birthday because “age is a givenright, and I deserve it”; the obesewoman who refuses to walk those extrafew steps at the grocery store; thosewho don’t even HAVE a placard anddecided “Hey, that’s a cute picture of awheelchair, maybe I’ll park there”; and,lastly, those who abuse their spouse’s,grandparent’s and parent’s disabilities.More specifically, the 22-year-old girl,yes girl, with five kids who stole hergrandmother’s blue tag.

Oh, I almost forgot about the middle-aged individuals who have no apparentdisability other than extremelaziness.

I have had to, more than once, parkon the opposite side of the parking lot,help my mother get out of the van andinto her wheelchair and push her to ourdestination. It doesn’t really bother me so much that I have to walk, but itmakes her sick after sitting in a bumpywheelchair for three minutes.

If my mother doesn’t have to getout of the car, I refuse to park in thehandicap parking space, even thoughthe vehicle I am driving has a legitimatedisabled parking placard becauseI know there is someone else who needsit far greater than I do. Sure, it might behot outside, and it might be a mile-longwalk to the sliding glass doors of Target,but if she’s not getting out of thecar, I’m not parking there.

I’m thinking about inventing somekind of transport machine where I canliterally zap your car to the parking lotof another building across town justso I can make my mother’s life a littleeasier. It’s hard enough having yourdaughter take care of you, but I cannotimagine being unable to use the oneluxury she has as a disabled person.

So when you get wherever you’re“going,” I’m sure someone will bethere to greet you with a placard ofyour own: “I’m a lazy, uncaring individual,and I deserve to (I guess I’llkeep it PG) walk until my feet fall off.”

What’s in a name? Possibly a lawsuit.

Like many students,alumni, faculty and community members,officials of Regent University inVirginia said they feel the name “GeorgiaRegents University” needs advising.

Regent University is filing a federaltrademark infringement complaintagainst the Georgia Board of Regents(BOR) for its decision to name themerged Augusta State and GeorgiaHealth Sciences universities “GeorgiaRegents University,” according to anemail from Regent University to WJBFNews Channel 6.

Prior to the Aug. 7 name selection,Regent University wrote to the BOR askingthem to choose a name without theword “Regent.” Regent University officialsclaimed the new name would causeconfusion among prospective students,“especially in today’s online educationalenvironment,” and said “such a similarname could dilute the Regent University brand,” according to the news release.

Carlos Campo, Regent University’spresident, said the university name is afederally registered trademark and theletter was their attempt to protect theirtrademarked name. However, despitetrying to work “amicably” with theBOR, Regent University filed a complaintafter the BOR made its final decision.

Officials from Regent Universitysaid they anticipate the complaint willlead to further examination by the BORand, in order to avoid further legal action,hope a compromise can be reached.

According to Peter Flanagan, anassistant professor of political science,a lawsuit of this type would take severalyears. However, preliminary ortemporary injunctions may settle thecomplaint before it goes to trial. RegentUniversity could ask the district courtto prevent the use of the word “Regent”until the matter is settled.

A Regent spokeswoman told theAugusta Chronicle the lawsuit wouldbe filed the week of Aug. 22. As of Sunday,the suit had not been filed with theU. S. District Court in Augusta, Ga.

“I’m sure they would like to file itsooner rather than later,” Flanagan said.“Especially if they’re asking for an injunction.In that case, they could havea hearing on that within a month of thefile. So it is in their best interest to fileit soon.”

If the recent forum and protest are any indication, students and community members are not accepting the university’s new name or its administration lying down.

Following the announcement of the name “Georgia Regents University,” decided by the Georgia Board of Regents (BOR) on Aug. 7, distaste for the decision circulated within the community. Anger over the selection was evident through posts on the Facebook page “Everyone Against ‘Georgia Regents University’ Sound Off,” negative public reaction at the Aug. 16 forum, and an organized protest held on the first day of classes at Augusta State University.

Despite incoming President Ricardo Azziz’s initial monologue explaining the naming process and encouraging everyone to “move forward,” community members used phrases such as “left in the dark” and “abused” while expressing a fear of losing the history of Augusta without the city in the name. Austin Rhodes, a local radio personality and an organizer of the protest, said he believes people were misled by the new administration throughout the entire naming process.

“People were conned,” he said. “And to spend close to $50,000 on a market survey, that’s ridiculous. It is a two-pronged protest: Number one, the name is hideous. Number two, the deception was thick and heavy, and it continues to this day.”

Rhodes said the first day of classes was ideal for the protest because, although the forums were helpful in voicing the opinions of the community, they were scheduled at times when there were few people on campus.

“There never is a bad time to make your voice heard,” he said. “Whether or not this is too late, I don’t know, but the students and alumni have not had the opportunity to publicly to do this, and we’re taking the first opportunity we can.”

Unsure of what type of impact the protest will have on changing the name, Rhodes said he recognizes there is a larger message to be sent directly to the BOR, Azziz and future presidents.

“They do not operate in a vacuum,” he said. “They cannot make decisions that last longer than they will be around without taking very careful consideration to who all they are affecting and the legacy they are affecting.”

Also working to publicize the protest, Chris Blanco, an Augusta State alumnus, started a Facebook page on which concerned citizens could air their thoughts about the new name. He said the overall consensus, based on posts, is no one can trust Azziz anymore.

“The community is furious,” Blanco said. “I think (Azziz) is completely disrespecting our city. And if he’s going to be a president and part of our community, why wouldn’t he send our voices up to the (BOR)? I know he’s concerned about his job, but our city would have backed him up if they tried to do anything to him, if he was actually defending our voice.”

By Oct. 1, the BOR must submit a joint prospectus to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), according to SACS Commissions on Colleges President Belle Wheelan. Despite the lack of community approval, SACS will accredit GRU unless the proposed prospectus does not comply with any of their 93 principles of accreditation.

“Just based on the name and the fact that people don’t want to merge those institutions to give up the history, that would not be sufficient for our board to delay action,” she said. “Ideally, you all would create enough furor to stop it from coming to us in the first place, but once we get it and our board acts upon it, there would be no reason for us not to move forward with it.”

On Tuesday, Aug. 21, the Augusta Commission will vote on resolutions requesting the BOR to change the name to include “Augusta.” Unfortunately for those opposed to “Georgia Regents University,” a name change is not guaranteed, but Blanco said people will eventually move on from this.

“I know it’s going to take a while to heal,” he said. “I just hope that, if that name does stay, people can get behind the school and let it grow, keep Augusta prosperous and revitalize downtown while we’re at it.”

Due to scheduling, Azziz was unavailable to comment, and Georgia Health Sciences University representatives did not immediately return phone calls to staff seeking comments in reaction to the forum and protest. Students in support of the Georgia Regents name refused to comment any further on the record.

Round one

Josh Richard leaves his house only twice a month.

No, he’s not under house arrest. No, he’s not allergic to the sun. And no, he doesn’t hide in his shower beneath 12 pillows holding a flashlight reading the Bible in preparation for an impending apocalypse.

Josh Richard doesn’t go outside because he wears gloves.

Richard buys six to seven boxes of medical latex gloves per month. Each box contains 100 gloves. Richard wears 700 gloves per month because he fears touching anything other than his toiletries or computer without them.

“If you consider the social norms, and what’s accepted socially, you can’t exactly go outside wearing medical gloves,” Richard said. “When I’m out and about without wearing any gloves, I come home and I wash my hands for, to be quite honest, it would probably be in the range of 45 minutes.”

Richard has multiple obsessive behaviors — germ phobia, also known as washer and cleaner OCD, and obsessional OCD, in which he thinks something bad will happen to his family if he does not perform his rituals precisely.

Aside from washing his hands with antibacterial dishwashing liquid, which according to his OCD is good enough for his hands because it is good enough for dirty dishes, a 34-ounce family-size bottle of hand sanitizer is commonplace in his life.

But no soap or hand sanitizer could protect him from what happened in 2009. Richard’s germ phobia began contaminating every aspect of his life:

Richard would leave his room with one goal — go to the bathroom. It took Richard one hour to walk 50 feet across the house in fear of bumping into things and becoming contaminated.

With a misleading depth perception and a waving gloved hand in front of his body, each step to the bathroom was a journey in itself. His natural instinct was now an exhausting and emotionally draining task.

“Eventually, I couldn’t do it anymore,” Richard said. “I was so afraid of leaving my room that I began urinating in my trashcan and defecating in boxes. And, of course, this attracts hoards of flies, and that would make me even worse because I’d know where those flies had been.”

Paradoxically, Richard couldn’t clean up for himself out of fear of becoming contaminated by the trash. Eventually, trash grew until Richard was knee deep in piles he hated contributing to but could do nothing about.

Richard lived like this for four months. He was debilitated.

“There was one point where I didn’t take my gloves off for several months at a time,” Richard said. “I would have layers and layers (on), about 10 or 20 on each hand.”

Richard hasn’t worked since 2007. He first stopped working due to the slumping economy, but now he receives an $800 disability pension every month from the government because of his OCD. While his germ phobia seems debilitating, it is his obsessional OCD that plagues him the most.

Over a period of six months, Richard lost three close family members. From these tragedies came his obsessive behavior he associates with scrupulosity, or guilt associated with moral or religious issues. He fears that his OCD lets his thoughts be heard by his deceased family.

“I started to get these nasty, intrusive thoughts,” Richard said. “I (kept) trying to push them out because I’m thinking, ‘Oh my God, what if they hear me? What if they think I’m saying this stuff?’”

Richard describes these thoughts as violent, sometimes sexual, but all seemingly undesirable. In order to prevent these intrusive thoughts from being “heard,” Richard said he performs rituals through praying. The thoughts are so powerful that Richard must argue out loud with his OCD during his ritual to reassure himself that these thoughts are not his, but they belong to the OCD.

For Richard, these meddling thoughts provoke a fear of closing things — doors, cabinets, faucets, lids.

“The OCD tries to tell me that if I don’t ward off the OCD or the intrusive thoughts [and] if I shut those things then my family is going to get trapped in whatever location that is,” Richard said. “The anxiety and guilt if you don’t do that is maddening.”

Weigh In

“Everyone goes through (OCD),” said Jill P. Hauenstein, M.D., private practice psychiatrist. “It is a stage of life and because it is a stage of life, there is a purpose for it. We don’t experience anything in our development that we don’t have a need for later in our lives. Kids collect things, they hoard things, they collect sea shells or a certain kind of toy. They will focus on one particular thing. They will have a collection of hundreds of these things and then, two years later, they don’t care about them at all.”

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) defines an obsession as a frequent upsetting thought and a compulsion as a ritual performed to control such thoughts. Together, obsessions and compulsions create a disease often debilitating and life-consuming.

“It interferes with your life in that you can’t even have a normal life,” Hauenstein said. “Such that you have to wash so many times, or dress yourself, redress yourself, redress yourself until you get it right so then you can’t get to work on time. You lose your job. You become disabled in some way. You can’t function a normal way of life. That is debilitating. That is when it becomes a disorder, a true disorder.”

She says everyone has some OCD, but we don’t notice it in our friends and family until a bizarre nature is pointed out to us. There is a thin, seemingly invisible line between normal and abnormal, and those wired differently develop obsessive compulsive disorder.

“It is a handicap,” Hauenstein said. “You had your leg amputated. Does that change who you are? It changes who you physically are, but it doesn’t mean you can’t be ‘this’ or ‘that’ kind of person. You’re going to be different from those around you because of the experience. You’re not defined by that handicap, but it is a barrier for you that you have to overcome.

Round Two

When Alyssa Lomuscio was 9 years old, she noticed things were different. She was different. She lost 12 family members in a span of three years prior. One week they were tangible beings standing right in front of her; the next week she was attending a funeral for a breathless memory.

Today, as a 21-year-old student filmmaker at Temple University in Pennsylvania, the thought of death still afflicts her.

“I’ll be in a casual conversation and someone may mention something about a trash can,” Lomuscio said. “But then I start to think about someone being dead in that trash can.”

Lomuscio has death and destruction OCD. She is obsessed with making sure people are alive and no one is going to die.

“I saw a woman walking down the street that looked like my third-grade math teacher,” Lomuscio said. “In my head I was thinking, ‘She was really old. She is probably dead by now. But wait a minute, you’re talking about her death. You are the one causing her to die if she dies right now.’”

Like all OCD victims, Lomuscio performs rituals to liberate any intrusive thoughts she has. But unlike Richard, her list is extensive and ever changing.

The ritual she does most begins with touching her nose. She looks at the ceiling, continuously swallows and thinks about herself and nothing else, keeping these intrusive thoughts from harming anyone. If anything bad were to happen, she wants the pain or death to be inflicted on her rather than her loved ones.

Her rituals became more visual and humiliating for Lomuscio after starting college. She sits in the back of class so no one can sit behind her and watch her tilt her head to look up at the ceiling. People tend to think she has neck problems, not OCD – she assures them that’s the problem.

Unlike many sufferers, Lomuscio’s OCD does not debilitate her from functioning during the day. For her, the OCD takes control at night when she can’t fall asleep because she repetitively thinks about the world ending or a similar intrusive thought. She calms the OCD by keeping her mind and body busy with activities like school, fencing and filmmaking.

Lomuscio still obsesses and performs rituals daily, but she has taken her first steps toward accepting her condition through her filmmaking. It wasn’t until she made a promotional video for her film, “A Jaded Life,” that she was open about her OCD. Before her confession, she told people her brother had OCD in order to justify why she is an “expert” about the illness.

Although the film is not an exact replica of her life, it is a reflection of her constant battle with OCD. The first draft of the script originated from a poem she wrote about her challenges with the disorder.

“The whole film is about misconceptions,” Lomuscio said. “Everyone in the film misperceives what he’s doing, and for him (the film) is about him accepting who he is.”

Lomuscio knows first-hand what it feels like to be misconceived, stared at and judged. When she performs her rituals in public, she can feel people watching her. She first thought about this misconception and the idea for the film while in her high school psychology class.

“I remember watching this film about someone with OCD,” Lomuscio said. “I remember these guys who were sitting near me and making fun of the person throughout the entire film. I remember how it made me feel. It made me feel horrible. I knew at that time I eventually wanted to do something to make people see the reality and intensity of (OCD).”

Lomuscio said she hopes to raise awareness about the realities of OCD through her film. And like the main character who eventually comes to terms with himself, she sees this film as an opportunity for her to finally accept who she is, OCD and all.

Round Three

Jeff Bell is a radio newscaster in San Francisco. He is an author, a national spokesperson, a founder of a non-profit. He also battles a harm obsession called hit-and-run OCD making him a checker.

“I might be driving along and run over a pothole and my OCD might plant the seed that perhaps it was somebody I ran over and not a pothole,” Bell explained. “The compulsion would be to turn the car around and go back and check to make sure there wasn’t a body in the road.”

An empty road meant he could drive away. But maybe the body rolled to the side of the road. He would drive back to check the side of the road. An empty shoulder meant he could drive away again. But what if… But what if… And so the cycle repeats itself. This is the checker side of Bell.

“At my worst, I used to pick up rocks and twigs from the street because I was concerned they were hazards for people,” Bell said. “It was debilitating in the sense that if I thought I was strong enough to walk by and not pick up a rock, sometimes I would look back after walking a mile past it because I didn’t think I was strong enough. I would go back and pick it up.”

The physical checking of back and forth, back and forth, back and forth was exhausting. It became difficult to be a field reporter for radio with hit-and-run OCD. Eventually, he quit driving and started taking taxicabs to work.

Sure, the physical checking was life and time consuming, but it was never as debilitating as Bell’s mental checking, or rumination.

“Rumination is checking something over and over again,” Hauenstein said. “Many people do this, especially when they’ve had a disturbing experience. But it can occur to the extent that it interferes with functioning during the day. It’s getting to the point to where you feel you’ve done everything you could have done. Sometimes that doesn’t happen.”

After checking the scene of the bump numerous times, it was his mind’s turn to investigate.

“The next step would be for me to review everything in my head and try to recreate the lane change or the driving sequence in my mind,” Bell said, “and keep replaying it over and over again trying to remove the uncertainty.”

Bell started OCD treatment in his late 20s. His “cure”? A combination of cognitive behavioral therapy and medication. More specifically, he underwent a therapy called Exposure Response Prevention (ERP). Hauenstein defined ERP as desensitization through exposure to certain situations while not being able to correct it or do a ritual.

Inevitably, ERP was successful for Bell, but something stood in his way to winning his battle. There was something missing…

He titled his memoir after the rumination phenomenon: Rewind, Replay, Repeat. The book was written not only as a medium to share his experiences with OCD, but to help others who suffer as well. It was through his outreach where he found what he needed to overcome the disease aside from therapy and medication.

“I went through a lot of years of therapy where I was paying lip service to it and not getting better,” Bell said. “What was missing from me was the motivation, and I found the motivation ultimately by reaching out to other people. I found that the more I tried to help other people with OCD, the stronger I got.”

Today, Jeff Bell is a national spokesperson for the International OCD Foundation and a founder of Adversity 2 Advocacy Alliance, a non-profit organization that networks people from all adversities, allowing them to help themselves by helping others with the same afflictions. Today, he is no longer identified as a victim of OCD but an OCD availer. Bell speaks to OCD sufferers nationwide about his experience and how he survived the disorder.

“There are no shortcuts,” Bell said. “That’s the bottom line of my journey. I’ve come to recognize what I call the ‘certainty paradox.’ The only way to effectively live with uncertainty is to embrace uncertainty.
We have to accept the discomfort of uncertainty.”

Knock Out

Josh Richard still leaves his house only twice a month, but his obsessions and compulsions no longer define him.

Behind a likely opened door to a 10 x 10 foot room, Richard sits behind his computer glove-free, typing to other sufferers who seek companionship through an OCD awareness Facebook group. When he first joined the group, the majority of sufferers used the medium as an outlet to “complain” about their battle with the life-altering disorder. Richard eventually advocated the 11,000-plus followers to stop feeling sorry for themselves and take action.

“I always tell people to believe in themselves and find their inner strength,” Richard said. “When you find that, you’ll be unbeatable. In the end of the day, you need to believe in yourself. That is the single most important thing when dealing with OCD.”

In August, Richard will be moving out on his own and returning to school for filmmaking, leaving behind a 50-foot walk and open bottles and doors.

“I used to sit there for 20 minutes opening and closing the cap on a bottle of juice,” Richard said. “ After that, I had a night where I decided I’m not doing this. That’s one thing I’m trying to tell people in this group. I came back from this horrible OCD with nothing but sheer will and determination.”

Like Lomuscio and Bell, Richard hopes to use his talents and his experience to spread awareness about the disorder and change the world in some way. Moving out on his own is his first step to freedom from OCD and a step closer to sharing his experience from behind a computer screen.

“I’m almost 24 years old,” he said. “I want to get on with my life. I’m not going to sit here and live my life in this tiny little room, inside this little bubble protecting myself from all these things that cause me to compulse or get upset. I can’t be living like this. I consider myself to be a young person with hopes and dreams and while the OCD may have delayed that, it’s not ever going to destroy it because it’s something I would never allow.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I believe young people should be more involved with world issues and social injustices, but I think we have been manipulated with fancy camera techniques and heart-wrenching dirty faces.”

I feel betrayed by Invisible Children and, frankly, a little pissed off.

Just like the first time I watched “Rough Cut” (IC’s original film), “Kony 2012” put a pit in my stomach and brought tears to my eyes. But, I wasn’t crying over the current campaign. I was crying about the same things that turned me into an Invisible Children advocate more than six years ago. That’s right, the same information presented as though it was happening right now but now in a fancier, more slow-motion, bullet time way.

I’ve bought bracelets, showed “Rough Cut” to my friends and family, wore t-shirts, participated in rallies – pretty much everything aside from traveling to Africa. Although I don’t regret presenting the realities of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) to my friends, I regret standing behind them so adamantly, handing over my high school and college money to something I held very dear to my heart just to feel humiliated now.

Don’t get me wrong, I believe young people should be more involved with world issues and social injustices, but I think we have been manipulated with fancy camera techniques and heart-wrenching dirty faces. It is true, the atrocities committed by the LRA are sickening, so sickening I admit to crying for hours over the footage I’ve watched.

“Rough Cut” was a timely film to spread the word about the realities of the civil war in Uganda because not many Americans knew about the humanitarian crisis. I think IC’s intentions back in 2005 were admirable, but now this is just sad.

Joseph Kony hasn’t been active since 2006. If you want to watch some informative videos, google “Ugandans against Kony 2012” or “Kony video exposed” or any other like combinations. There are Ugandans, some hurt by the LRA and personally by Joseph Kony, who truly believe that: 1. Kony is either dead or out of the country.

2. The Ugandan government is just as bad as the LRA (Side note: the founders of IC have photographs posing with the Ugandan military holding guns. The Ugandan military has also been accused, like Kony and the LRA, of rape, pillaging, and torture).

And finally.

3. A group of young Americans should not be spreading the word about their issues.

A few months ago in October 2011, President Obama sent 100 military troops to Uganda to support their government as “advisors” for fighting against the LRA. Let’s say, hypothetically speaking, Joseph Kony is in Uganda still kidnapping children and raping women – why is this video out now if we already have troops on ground? Wouldn’t it make sense to inform the people about Joseph Kony prior to the objective? They started IC to spread awareness and over the years grew into an organization striving for political involvement from our government. IC finally got that. Not at the end of 2012 when this video “expires” but five months ago.

I think IC realized that they got what they wanted (government involvement) and if the problem is fixed then their organization has no meaning anymore. The “invisible children” would be visible, making the organization obsolete. How else do you keep your name in the headlines than stir things up? They’re trying to keep themselves relevant. They don’t want to lose the 2/3 of donations people are donating to what they think is Africa nor do they want to lose the money they receive from every visit to their youtube page. (Another side note: Charity Navigator rates IC’s accountability as 2 out of 4 stars that is because only 32 percent of their donations actually go to Africa. The rest of the money is used for travel, salaries and film production costs.)

I think we are being manipulated by a “movement” not a cause. People strive for community and the idea of being part of a global phenomenon is enough to get even an anti-twitter user interested.

What pisses me off, and genuinely hurts my feelings, is I can see how I was once manipulated like many young adults right now by something beautifully captivating. Don’t get me wrong, Joseph Kony should go down, and someone should take him out. But the idea of getting him “famous” is pointless if the people who really need to know his name (our government and the international criminal court) already know who he is and are doing something about it. What is the importance now? Had they started the campaign soon after “Rough Cut” perhaps the LRA could have been stopped before now and Joseph Kony would be in jail or dead at the hands of an actual cause.

It was 4 p.m. on a Thursday afternoon. Journalist students sweat over keyboards in the Mac lab (not because they are working hard but because its ridiculously hot in there). Suddenly the lights dim, “Eye of the Tiger” begins to resinate from invisible speakers in the ceiling, the door swings open, smoke fills the doorway and in walks a politician they anticipated to see, but did not expect to meet.

Politics, press and the in-betweens are important, but here is the one thing I learned from the time I spent with this man – Mayor Deke Copenhaver reminds me of Harvey Dent (pre Two Face”).

I know you were hoping to hear something more profound, but read me out. Remember when Wayne Bruce was proclaiming his love to what’s her face for the millionth time? No? Well here is the play by play.

Bruce: You know that day blah blah blah when Gotham would no longer need Batman…yadda yadda.

Rachel: Bruce, something, something.

(And here comes the main point.)

Bruce: Harvey is that hero… Gotham needs a hero with a face.

Deke Copenhaver is Augusta’s hero with a face. Not only does Deke slightly resemble Aaron Eckhart, but he epitomizes the whole dark-knight-turns-harvey-dent-turns-vigilante-hero-esque persona.

Okay, perhaps not to that extent, but what comes to mind when you hear the words vigilante or hero? Well type “define hero” in your Google search bar and it will tell you – a hero is a person who is admired for courage or NOBLE qualities or a hero is a chief male character identified with GOOD qualities. See what I’m getting at yet?

Whether you agree or disagree with his political standings and decisions, you cannot deny the bottom line… Deke is a good guy.

See, I was expecting a politically correct robot spewing reiterated words from last month’s press conference. But Deke is the exact opposite of robotic and fake. He quickly responded non-fabricated answers to the millions of random questions hungry journalists demanded. But that’s not what makes him Augusta’s hero – it is his love for this city.

Dent, I mean Deke, has so much love for Augusta that he’s willing to oppose old Augustans who fear change for the sake of people like you and me (youngsters). Deke thinks Augusta has a lot of potential. Inevitably, this directly affects us as students, specifically the potential of a more art and entertainment filled community and of course, the potential of the dreadful MERGER. DUN DUN DUN.

We’re lucky to have a mayor who takes something seemingly negative to the majority and turn it in to a positive. The merger, like any new business venture of combining two establishments, will inevitably produce layoffs, which will in turn bring a bitter taste to the city of Augusta. Not only that but higher tuition means less students who will be able to graduate and get jobs.

Sounds terrible, and it is, and Deke does not deny the obvious, but he ensures that it will all pay off in the end.

Do you continue to put off decisions and hope it is going to be easier to make in the future? Or do you bear the cross of change and suffer a few years to benefit from it later?

We as Augustans are lucky to have a mayor who is willing to kick back in a journalist class chatting about things from tattoos to the economy. We’re lucky to have a mayor who is willing to go against the status quo – positive campaigning, encouraging change and advocating growth.

He’s only got a few more years, so we should milk this for all its worth. Hit him up for a triathlon or ask him out for a round of disk golf, because I’m just guessing he’d slap on his Chacos, bear his yin yang tattoo, and be one with the people. Because thats all he is… a people. I mean, a person. He may not be able to clean the streets with one sweep like Harvey Dent and he can’t perform leaps and bounds in a black bat costume, but he is taking the first steps to better our community. As long as he doesn’t carry around a coin with two same sides, then we’re in good shape.

From the hallways to the runways, when the cool air flutters through the strands of your uninviting darker hair, it can only mean one thing: Winter fashion has finally arrived.

Whether you’re reading Vogue, Elle, or obsessing over a trendy fashion blog, you’ll notice one thing about winter fashion… it will inevitably be bounded to its mate (fall) by a threatening, indestructible slash for the rest of its never-ending days.

Poor winter fashion, you’ll never have your own runway. But this is no fashion show. This is a trend report and report on winter trends we shall. Out with the old and in with the new (or so an old wisdom guy once said).

Yet again, the fashion gods demand us to throw out our fall wardrobes and prepare for the latest winter fashion. Ground yourself, and be prepared for some bold moves this year by the fashion gurus.

This new year of fashion is shocking, sexy and experimental. Seems like an oxymoron, but these unorthodox essentials will add up to be something glamorous.

You’ve heard about it, you’ve seen it with your own eyes, you’ve even contemplated wearing it – yes, the faux fur slipped its way through the countdown and kissed the New Year as the most desired trend this season (yet again).

Still intimidating, but now more than ever. No more blacks, browns or other neutrals. This year think rainbow. Mix it up and try new patterns, but more importantly try new colors. Any style is worth buying, be it a vest or jacket, but not unless you’re willing to step out of the box.

“Oh, I’m so nervous. What if people stare? Do I look like a mink that fell into a river of red paint?” Stop it! Faux is hot, faux is chic and it is exactly what you need to vamp up your closet…. faux real. Next on the list, and not far behind faux, is one trend that might hurt your eyes. Shine is in. Sparkles, sequins, glitter, metallic, glossy, OH MY! (It never hurts to add few extra in there.)

It doesn’t matter whether it’s a rhinestone shirt, a sequin dress, or even metallic leggings – glitzy and flashy is a must have for your winter wardrobe.

Make sure to take your sunglasses because no matter what store you walk in this winter, shine is all you’ll see.

The most daring, sexy, and mildly inappropriate style this season is, for a lack of better terms, uh…. riskay.

Maybe this will paint a picture for you – saucy lace-ups, studs, sheer inserts, black shiny leather and lace. Lots and lots of TASTEFUL leather and lace.

Don’t be completely taken back here. Fall introduced us to the leather skirt and many accepted it for all its unanticipated glory. Little did we know it was just a sneaky gateway to something fabulously shocking.

Not a lot of color changes this winter. Stick to the cozy winter white and you’re sure to stand out amongst the cloudy winter skies. If it snows your winter white outfit will be your camouflage as you stalk your next Valentine’s Day pawn.

Designers are pushing rich purple and red shades to accent your typical night on the town black dress – plum, eggplant, pomegranate, cabernet, and merlot.

So yummy for your eyes you can almost taste it. Lastly, what’s winter without a wonderful coat? Seems simple enough, but like always, try and step out of the mundane winter blues box.

Blanket coats, long swing coats that sweep the floor (like those of fall) and ponchos of all textures and patterns. And of course, don’t forget something faux-esque like a coat with a large faux fur collar.

Now, take this fashion report with you while you shop and enjoy these off-the-wall trends of winter because the season won’t last forever.

Oh, and if you’re lacking the cash to keep up, just remember confidence goes a long way.

It’s not all about what you wear; it’s how you wear it.

From the hallways to the runways, when the leaves change color it can only mean one thing – fall fashion has finally arrived.

Of all the seasons, fall is undoubtably the most “fashionable.” Why else would all the Project-Runway-watching-Voguereading fashionistas of the world suffer all year, impatiently waiting for the September Issue? (a.k.a. the fashion bible for all things autumn.)

Throw out your mundane fall wardrobe, because this year’s fashion is unconventional, yet familiar; bizarre, yet methodical; classic, yet modern… all things your closet might be lacking.

Now, take a seat and keep your hands and feet inside the time machine at all times – we’re going back to fashion future.

Here are a few of the most wearable fall trends that you don’t have to be a size double negative zero to wear or have all the money in the world to buy:

The hottest and most desired trend this season is the faux fur vest. Whether long or short, white, black or even purple, faux is no longer the “faux pas.”

Intimidating at first, but layer it over a long sleeved solid and we’ll see whose intimidating who.

In line with the faux fur vest is the ‘70s “boho meets modern working woman” look.

Brightly colored and high-wasted flares, asymmetrical patterns, maxi skirts and duster coats make this trending era easy to pulloff.

Pair a maxi skirt with an oversized cardigan for a comfortable, yet fashionable look. Make sure you buy a duster coat because the look and warmth will last through winter.

Follow Twiggy and the mod squad back to the sixties for a more classic look.

This fall, vibrant colored block dresses, tweed coats and teased updos are the trend. Wear these and you’ll immediately evolve in to a chic and sophisticated 1960s woman.

Another interesting throwback this season is the leather skirt. The idea seems strange to the average woman, but you’re in luck because today’s leather skirt is more refined and tailored than the old ripped and safety pinned skirts of the ‘90s.

There is a shocking change in color trends this fall. Designers are ditching the traditional gray, brown and orange hues of autumn.

This year think bright, bright, BRIGHT! Deep jade green, brilliant red-orange and rusty burnt yellow are dominating the runways.

Now, take this fashion report with you while you shop and enjoy these off-the-wall trends of fall because the season won’t last forever.

Oh, and if you’re lacking the cash to keep up, just remember confidence goes a long way.

Its not all about what you wear, its how you wear it.

I am obsessed with Michael Cera.

Not in a “I’m-going-to-wear-your-skin-to-my-birthday-party” way. Not even in a “stalk-you-and-tell-people-we-are-married-get-a-restraining-order” way. But in a healthy (as healthy as being obsessed can be) way.

Let me elaborate:

Remember in “Knocked-Up” when Seth Rogen (Ben) asks Katherine Heigl (Alison) about Vince Vaughn? No? Let me refresh that sick memory of yours:

Ben: “Do you know Vince Vaughn? Have you ever met him?”
Alison: “No.”
Ben: “I really feel like we’d get along well. I just – He seems like a fun guy I feel like we’d hang together well.”
Alison: “Mmm-hmm.”
Ben: “I feel like he’d like me. You know, I’m sure a lot of guys are like, ‘Oh, I’d like to hang out with that celeb,’ but I really think he would want to hang out with me, is the cool thing.”

This is the epitome of how I feel about Michael Cera. I really think he would like me. Of course if we would ever meet, I would not just jump his bones or anything. I think we could start with a casual friendship, and then eventually spur into a budding relationship.

People see a lot wrong with my love for Michael Cera. Friends always ask, “Why not be obsessed with someone like Leonardo DiCaprio or Brad Pitt?”

True, those men are gorgeous, but how real are they? When I think of Brad Pitt, I think of an imaginary person, someone totally intangible. When I think of Michael Cera, I think of an adorable, curly-headed, nerdy boy who might like to have a cup of coffee with me.

I know what you’re thinking: Why? He is so awkward. TRUE, BUT, the quiet, awkward type always has something special to bring to the table.

Not only do they usually have a great taste in music (which Michael does), but they can always turn a mundane situation into something silly and fun (i.e. going to the grocery store). Also, he wears mix-matched clothing from Goodwill. This tells me two things: he not only cares and puts thought into his anti-debonair style, but he cares about the less fortunate.

In an interview Michael expressed he wanted an aggressive woman.

“I like a woman to take control, but they’re hard to find. For example, when I go out to a restaurant I know every girl in there wants to come say hi and be sexually aggressive, but they’re all so gripped by shyness that they don’t even make a move.”

I CAN BE THAT WOMAN! I CAN! I REALLY CAN!

All I want to do is listen to him play guitar and share some awkward silences.

If anybody knows somebody who knows somebody who is somehow related to that gorgeous Canadian who stole my heart… hit me up. Seriously.

Often unnoticed and overlooked, the Archaeology Lab is a history book with a door, housing years of knowledge about the campus and Augusta.

With weathered bricks on the outside and archaic wooden floors inside, the 140-year-old building resides between the Pool House and Science Building.

“(The lab) was the powder magazine for the Arsenal, built shortly after 1870,” said Janet Jordan, the Archaeology Lab Manager. “Because of the history here, Georgia State Archaeologist designated the campus as an archaeological site.”

In order to preserve historic heritage and culture ,the Georgia State Archaeologists designated the Arsenal as an official archaeological site. The technical name for where Augusta State University dwells is the Augusta Arsenal Archaeological Site 9RI1045.

Christopher Murphy, Professor Emeritus of anthropology and volunteer at the lab, came to the campus in 1971 – shortly before the spark of “historical sites” in the States.

“No archaeology was being done when I first arrived here in the early 70s,” Murphy said. “Over a period of time, states began to pass laws and things were being designated as historic places and historic structures. We’ve done that for a long time with (American Indian) mounds, but at a certain point, our country was changing very rapidly and things were coming and going, just like our campus. In some ways, the campus itself is like a miniature version of what is happening in the country as far as archaeology and historical conservation.”

There are over 300 boxes of artifacts in the lab, according to Jennifer Trunzo, assistant professor of archaeology and anthropology and head of the Archaeology Lab.

Every individual piece and fragment must be processed by identification and cataloging. With a large number of artifacts comes a wide range of history.

“We have found cannon balls, mortars – which are cannonballs that are used as landmines – and even things as small as bullet fragments,” she said. “As far as household stuff goes, we have parts of toilets and very, very, tiny fragments of drinking glasses. We have marbles that kids used to play with. We even have whole liquor bottles. It kind of runs the entire gamut of what people were making or using in their daily lives.”

According to Trunzo, the Arsenal occupied the site from 1828 to 1955, therefore most of the artifacts found on campus relate to the military lifestyle of the time after the Revolutionary War. However, sometimes the lab finds other interesting artifacts of the past:

“We found out that an area of campus wasn’t always a gravel parking lot,” Trunzo said. “They used it for a time in the 60s and 70s as a centralized trash collection area on campus. So we actually found a 4-inch layer that was full of 1960s trash. It was kind of funny because some of the stuff we were pulling out was really out-dated packaging for chewing tobacco.”

Trunzo said she agrees digging and finding artifacts is what keeps people interested in archaeology.

“To pull a shotgun shell out of the ground that was made in 1860 is pretty cool,” she said. “I’ve worked on digs where I have pulled arrowheads out of the ground that were 8,000 years old. To think that no body has actually touched this object for 8,000 years before I dug it up… that’s pretty cool.”

Archaeology is more than just old artifacts. It is about discovering the mysteries of the past, according to Jordan. An important aspect of archaeology is tying in artifacts to the time period. For example, alcohol was not permitted on the post, but artifacts found by the lab disclose more:

“For a certain number of years, they used to pay soldiers with alcohol,” Jordan said. “We have a lot of letters with complaints of drunken soldiers and eventually it was prohibited on the post. But when the old guard house was renovated, the floor boards were pulled up and (the lab) found over 100 liquor bottles.”

Digging up liquor bottles is not the only thing the Archaeology Lab can offer students. Even if archaeology is not one’s field, Trunzo and her team can utilize diverse skills from any field.

“(We can use) chemistry or biology majors because we are working in the ground and sometimes we find a bottle with a substance in it and it needs to be analyzed,” Jordan said. “History majors are important because with archaeology we are talking about the past. And we can always use someone to draw artifacts and photographers for cataloging.”

When it comes to digging in the dirt, archaeology is nothing less than a hands-on experience. The lab offers students a chance to learn outside of the classroom interior and get a little dirty.

“You’re interacting with the people you’re working with and you’re having fun,” Trunzo said. “Sometimes we throw wads of dirt at each other … You can put pictures on the board, but when you dig a hole outside and can actually see it, it really drives it home for people because it actually exists.”

Trunzo admits “finding stuff is awesome,” but the real excitement of archaeology takes place inside the lab.

“Let’s say you find a bunch of ceramic fragments and you want to reconstruct as much of this plate as you possibly can,” she said. “Its like a jigsaw puzzle. Archaeology can be a very challenging jigsaw puzzle. The hard work is trying to figure out what it all means.”