The Zac Brown Band will give a concert, “The beat goes on,” to benefit the Georgia Transplant Foundation.

Originally from Atlanta, the country music group released its first CD, Far from Einstyne, in 2004 and has given concerts all over the country since then. According to their myspace page, Zac Brown band performs southern rock, folk rock and country. Six musicians and singers are in the group whose leader is Zac Brown, a native from Dahlonega, Ga. Jimmy De Martini sings and plays violin, John Drskell Hokins plays Bass and sings, as well as Clay Cook who plays guitar, organ, mandolin and pedal steel. The two last group members are Coy Bowles who plays guitar and organ and Chris Fryar who plays the dryms.

The band plays upwards of 200 dates a year, has performed in more than 3,000 shows in their career and selling more than 30,000 CDs independently, according to their official Web site.

Zac Brown Band received four nominations for the 2009 CMA Awards including New Artist of the Year, as well as Song of the Year, Single of the Year, and Music Video of the Year for their Number One single, “Chicken Fried”.

On Thursday, November 12, Zac Brown band will give a charity concert at the Bell Auditorium in Augusta. The concert itself begins at 8 p.m., but there is a pre-party at the Plaza, between the James Brown Arena and The Bell Auditorium, from 5 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. The groups Fried Goat and The Ogeechee River Band will perform live music at the pre-party. Free admittance with donations at the door. As for the concert itself, the tickets’ price range from $27 to $32 to $37. All the money will benefit to the Georgia Transplant Foundation (GTF).

According to the Georgia transplant Web site, the GTF, founded in Atlanta in 1992, is a non-profit organization providing financial, educational and emotional support to transplant candidates, recipients, living donors and their families throughout the state of Georgia. Eighty four percent of all funds raised directly supports Georgia’s organ transplant community.

What: The Zac Brown Band gives a charity concert
Where: The Bell Auditorium in Augusta
When: Starting at 5 p.m. on Nov. 12
Cost: $27, $32 or $37.

Students with a GPA of 3.0 or more can now be financially rewarded under one condition. They must be University Village (UV) residents.

“We tried to increase the housing in UV,” said Pamela Lightsey, Campus Card Manager. “It’s a marketing point…UV’s apartments versus somebody else’s apartments.”

Dean Joyce Jones, the Office of Admissions and the Jagcard Office all helped to bring about the start of thei new program concept, known as the Resident Academy Award, during fall 2008.

“It’s an intent for (the students) to be a little bit more observant of their studies, instead of just living it up,” Lightsey said.

So far, over 200 awards have been given out.

“There were very little (awards given) in the summer because just a few students are there during summer break,” Lightsey said.

Students with a 3.0 to 3.65 GPA earn $100, and those with a 3.66 to 4.0 GPA earn $250. The money is directly credited to their Jagcard. According to Lightsey, the money can be spent anywhere on campus.

“If students get (the award) for this fall, the money will be put on their Jagcard in December, so they can use this money to buy books the following semester,” she said. “$100 to $250 definitely helps when it comes to books.”

Before the students actually get their money, there is a process to go through.

First, there is a report from the admissions office sent by Katherine Sweeney, registrar and director of admissions. Then, the Registrar’s Office goes to Dean Jones’ office to verify if the eligible students are still U.V residents. After that, the Financial Aid Office reviews the report to check to see if a student has any other conflicting financial aid. In some cases, there may be a conflict between a student’s existing scholarships and financial aid that may cause the Residency Academic Award to reduce there existing benefits. According to Lightsey, the students can either decline or accept the award based on their current financial aid standings. If they do accept the award, their existing scholarship will decrease by whatever amount they received.

“Some students might be in jeopardy of losing their other type of aid,” Lightsey said. “It concerns 1 to 2% of the eligible students.”

This is the type of situation that Savannah Sutton, a sophomore biology major, recently experienced. Last year, Sutton had a GPA superior to 3.00 and lived at UV. However, she said she couldn’t get the award because she was told that she would lose her HOPE scholarship if she accepted the award.

In most cases, the financial aid office will verify that everything is in order, then the business office makes sure that there are not any holds on the students’ balance. Once everything has been checked and clarified, Lightsey said she receives a list with the names of the students who will be the recipients of the financial award.

“Students receive an email stating that they received money on their Jagcard,” Lightsey said. “This fall, UV is at its full capacity, and students have been talking about the awards. There is a great possibility for more awards this semester.”

While driving through the gated community of University Village it becomes apparent that Augusta State Univerity’s student housing is a well-run and immaculately maintained complex.

Walking through the doors of the rental office is like entering a showroom at Pier One Imports, with warm inviting colors, modern décor and busy people everywhere. While visitors envision their new apartments being just as fabulous, they are quickly greeted by friendly staff members.

Sandra Deguzman, the property’s leasing consultant, is eager to greet applicants as they enter the office and to answer phone calls of students inquiring about the rental property. While Deguzman is consumed with calls and paperwork, she is assisted by the complexes maintenance director, Paul Gannon, who is frequently in and out of the office checking on maintenance issues.

When Gannon is not helping out in the office, he is zipping around the grounds on a golf cart that serves as a miniature maintenance truck and is armed with a two-way radio that prepares him to respond to occupant calls and keeps him in touch with other staff members. Overseeing maintenance, leasing and operations is Property Manager Jennifer Goad.

“Although my job can be very demanding at times, I love working for Ambling Management” Goad said.

Ambling Management’s construction division built University Village in 2005.

“Since the construction of University Village reached completion and the grand opening was announced in fall of 2005, we have remained near capacity,” Goad said. “We actually had a waiting list at the beginning of the current semester.”

According to Goad, University Village is currently 95 percent full, and she expects the vacancies to be filled quickly.

With nearly a dozen units available right now, Goad encourages students to come in and fill out an application.

“The cost of an application is a non-refundable $85 fee which includes students providing personal information, along with a criminal background check that can be processed in as little as a week,” Goad said.

Once approved, the student is required to submit a $150 security deposit that is refundable at the end of their lease.

University Village offers affordable apartments exclusively to students from Augusta State University and the Medical College of Georgia. Apartments include either two bedrooms with two bathrooms comprised of 1,136 square feet or four bedrooms with two bathrooms containing 1,156 square feet.

The fully furnished apartments offer Jag Card key entry to each unit with deadbolt locks installed on bedroom doors for student’s privacy and safety. Rent includes all utilities and an individual lease for each resident. Students need only to bring their basics such as linens, toiletries, cookware and food.

The complex offers a variety of on-site amenities including; a study lab equipped with computers, a game room with billiard tables, an outdoor swimming pool with lounge chairs, a volleyball pit and a walking and jogging trail to help relieve the stresses of a student’s rigorous schedule. According to Goad, with everything a student could need at their fingertips, including free shuttling back and forth to classes, they are well on their way to becoming self-sufficient young adults.

University Village prides itself on helping young individuals become better acclimated to being out on their own, many for the first time. Lamarcus Hall is an on-site activities director who hosts 3-4 free activities per month for residents. Activities range from studying tips to movies on the lawn. According to Goad, the activities usually have a good turnout, and they are a good way for new students to meet their fellow residents.

One student who takes advantage of these gatherings is Stephanie Scott, a sophomore childhood education major. Scott has been a resident for the last 2 years.

“Although our apartment is not quite what you see on MTV cribs, it gets the job done,” Scott said.

After being accepted at Augusta State, she claims that University Village was her first and only choice for housing.

“After I utilized the Roommate HQ website that ASU provides for students to find a compatible roommate, I had no reservations about my decision to move in,” Scott said. “My roommate and I get along great. We have become close friends, and even though we don’t borrow each other’s clothes, we do trade shoes once in awhile for kicks.”

When asked about sharing living quarters that include a kitchen, Scott explained that they each buy their own food and prepare their meals separately, except on special occasions. The two women are on different schedules this semester, so they rarely run into each other except on the weekends.

“I really love living here,” Scott said. “My only complaint would be waiting in line at the security gates.”

While Scott finds the gates surrounding the complex to be comforting, she claimed that on a Friday night, things can become a hassle. When people are having friends over, everyone present must provide ID and be checked in at the security building located in front of the gate. According to Scott, “It can be very frustrating.”

When asked of any other complaints Scott couldn’t think of any.

“The office staff is really nice, and anything I have ever needed fixed has been taken care of the same day or first thing the next morning,” she said. “I spend most of my time studying, but do enjoy relaxing by the pool and playing volleyball.”

Driving while texting (DWT) is becoming a hot-button topic in many states. As of right now, it is still legal to text and talk on a cell phone while driving, but Georgia law enforcement expects a change soon.

Cpl. Mark Chestang of the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office motorcycle division said he sees cell-phone related accidents frequently.

“The bad thing about it is that with the wrecks we work we might know there’s texting or talking involved but a lot of people will say ‘I wasn’t talking’ or ‘I wasn’t texting,’” he explained. “So you’ve got a lot of denial. A lot of people won’t admit it even though you know they were based on what other people tell you.”

As of January 1 there will be 19 states to have outlawed DWT. Chestang explained that many states recognize DWT as similar to DUI. Fines will be comparable to those of a DUI and if injury is involved, the impaired driver may likely see jail time.

Earlier in 2009, Car and Driver magazine conducted a road study that compared DUI driving abilities with DWT driving abilities. The study showed study reaction times of drivers at two different age ranges under three conditions: reading a text, writing a text and while intoxicated. Both drivers’ reaction times were recorded at 35 mph and at 70 mph. The drivers were told to drive a straight line and stop after seeing a light flash on the dashboard.

The 22-year-old driver, according to Car and Driver, took an extra 21 feet to stop when reading at 35 mph and an extra 30 feet to stop at 70 mph. When typing a text, the driver took an extra 16 feet at 35 mph and an extra 31feet at 70 mph. Then when intoxicated, the driver took an extra 7 feet at 35 mph and an extra 15 feet at 70 mph.

The 37-year old driver, according the article, took an extra 188 feet to stop while reading at 35 mph and an extra 129 feet at 70 mph. When typing a message, the driver took an extra 90 feet to stop at 35 mph and an extra 319 feet at 70 mph. Then when intoxicated, the driver took an extra 7 feet at 35 mph and an extra 15 feet at 70 mph.

But DWT and DUIs aren’t the only issues. Chestang said throughout his job as a police officer he has witnessed a number of other dangerous activities that drivers do, such as talking on a phone, reading newspapers and women applying makeup. Radios can also pose a problem, he explained, whether it’s playing music so loud that the driver can’t hear what’s going on around him, changing stations and CDs or dancing.

Just in one week in November, Motor Deputy Dustin Snead saw two overturns that he said he believes were cell-phone related.

“What happened is that (the driver) was on the phone and hit the curb because he wasn’t paying attention,” Snead said. “When he hit the curb he overcorrected and the vehicle went sideways with about 34 feet of side skid before he hit the other curb, rolling the vehicle almost three times before it landed back on its top.”

With the other accident, the driver claimed to have fallen asleep, Snead said, when he went off the road while going around a curve. He overcorrected before clipping a manhole cover, causing the vehicle to flip down an embankment for about 25 feet.

“We’ve all done it,” Chestang explained of DWT. “I can’t sit here and say I haven’t done all of the things I mentioned except for the putting on makeup part. That’s why I know first hand that texting can be dangerous. I, myself, though I hate to admit this, have done it over the years. You’re texting and the next thing you know you’re drifting across the road. You look up and you’re over the yellow line or you’re going off the road a little bit.”

Tiffanie Meador, a junior communications major, could relate when texting cost her around $900 in repairs.

Meador said she was going to pick up a friend from work when she was 19 and texted him to let him know she was on the way. The next thing she knew she had left the roadway.

“I flattened both my right tires, bent both my rims, broke my tire rod and killed the shocks on my car,” she recalled. “It was only a one-car accident but if somebody had been walking beside the road I could probably have hurt someone very badly, if not killed them. I did $900 worth of damage to my car just because I decided that it was important that I text him while I was driving. After that I just kicked myself.”

Now Meador said she does not use her cell phone at all while driving.

“I’m pretty sure I’m one of the few in my generation that feel this way,” she said. “I just think a lot of people don’t care or think ‘You know, I can do what I want to,’ and think ‘I can talk on my phone and nothing’s going to happen. I’m a better driver than that.’ I mean, I certainly thought that. I didn’t think I was going to run my car off the road while I was texting, but I did.”

During November, 400 students from Augusta State University were chosen at random to complete a survey asking about their texting, talking and eating habits while driving. Two hundred and thirty-five students admitted that they text while driving, while 329 admit to talking on their cell phone while driving. Then, 287 admitted to eating while driving. Thirty-nine said they do not text, talk or eat while driving.

Thirty-four students admitted to having been involved in an accident that resulted from cell phone usage.

The survey also asked student to list any other activities they performed while driving. Some of the answers included reading, studying, applying makeup, plucking eyebrows, changing clothes and shoes, holding a dog, using GPS or an iPod, brushing hair, smoking, checking face book statuses, feeding a baby, digging in pocketbook/book bag, balancing a checkbook, shaving, painting nails, using a laptop, knitting, playing video games, drawing and participating in sexual activities.

The Augusta State driving survey was conducted in November with 400 students and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

Mark Smith, a freshman criminal justice major, works full-time for both Martinez-Columbia Fire Rescue and Gold Cross Ambulance in Columbia-Richmond County and said he deals with cell-phone related accidents every day. Smith said usually the accidents are minor, but every once in a while he has seen people be airlifted following a cell-phone related accident.

“I had a friend of mine get killed a year and a half ago,” Smith said. “She was sending text messages and crossed the center line head-on into a Tahoe. Usually, it’s just you look away for a second and stuff happens.”

However, Smith said he is also guilty of DWT not only while driving in a vehicle, but also when driving on a motorcycle.

“It’s in the back of your mind what could happen, but at the same time, you just kind of do what you do,” Smith said. “I get on to my sister all the time though. I guess it’s a double standard.”

Even Augusta State’s campus has fallen victim to DWT, according to Jasper Cooke, director of Public Safety. Cooke said he sees a lot of accidents on campus but, like Richmond County, finds it hard to pin down how many are actually cell-phone related.

Once a year, Cooke said Public Safety conducts a seatbelt study at least once every semester, where it tracks the number of students leaving campus between 11a.m. to 1 p.m. (high-traffic hours) who are wearing seatbelts as well as using cell phones.

“For every 10 people that exit campus after 11, almost nine out of 10 are on their phone… and almost nine out of 10 have their seatbelt on. So we see a low number of seatbelt violations, but a high number of cell phone users.”

Meador said as part of her technical writing course she and her group members have been working with Cooke to see what it would take to prohibit the use of cell phones on campus while driving. She has proposed that signs be put up across campus implementing the rule.

However, Cooke said that without it being a Georgia law, the university can not ticket students for using their cell phones unless there is approval from the student government.

Meador said she believes the a law outlawing DWT should be implemented in Georgia in order to increase driver accountability and save lives.

“It’s gotten to a point where we live in this world where (a cell phone) is kind of like an invisible best friend,” she explained. “If you feel uncomfortable out in public by yourself, you’ve got your cell phone there. You can call anybody and be in touch with anyone at any moment. We have this sense of immediacy. Our fix is our cell phones. I think we rely on them too much.”

Chestang said he also foresees a change in Georgia law coming soon and believes it will serve as an effective deterrent to texting drivers.

“I think once we get out there and really start enforcing it and it got known that this is a $500 or $600 fine, it would (deter drivers)…,” Chestang explained. “It’s the same thing as drinking and driving. We know we’re not going to stop it completely but we want to stop enough of it or make them think about it enough that they don’t do it. How hard is it to wait 15 minutes to get to where you’re going to send a text.”

However for those who just can’t wait, there are phone applications designed to solve some of the problems texters say they have.

Drive Safe.ly is an application that reads your text messages out loud in read time and even understands texting shorthand (OMG, LOL, BRB, etc.). For more information, visit www.drivesafe.ly.

Textecution, on the other hand, is a mobile application that disables the sending and receiving of text messages once the phone has reached an excess of 10 mph. For more information, visit www.textecution.com.

Augusta State University’s recently revived Political Science Club conducts a broad range of activities that include educating, traveling and even baking.

According to the club’s faculty sponsor, Dr. Martha Ginn, the club had been dormant for several years. Several students decided in fall 2008 to bring the club back.

“We are a nonpartisan club that meets bi-weekly to conduct our business meetings and discuss current political events,” Ginn said.

The Political Science Club hosts multiple kinds of events. During the fall 2008 semester, the club hosted a bake sale, along with a voter registration drive, in which voter education guides were provided free of charge. The club was also a co-sponsor of the election night bash on campus.

At the end of the spring 2009 semester, several of the club’s members took a trip to Washington, D.C., along with the ROTC Ranger Club. They observed the House and Senate chambers, toured the Holocaust Museum, visited the Supreme Court and participated in several other tours and events.

Adam Mestres, a graduate student in the Master’s of Public Administration program, is a member that went with the club to Washington.

“The trip is fun, but at the same time, it’s educational,” Mestres said. “When we were in the Senate Chamber, there was a redneck guy in the gallery saying stuff under his breath about the senator that was speaking. The Secret Service agent actually said something to him. He was later asked to leave the gallery.”

The Political Science Club currently has several projects and events in the works. Their first Brown Bag Discussion was held on Nov. 5. The meeting, in which students and professors bring their own lunch and discuss current political topics, focused on the pursuance of a surge strategy in Afghanistan.

The club is also sponsoring a practice LSAT on Nov. 21, as a fundraiser for their spring 2010 Washington trip. Dr. Ginn said that the testing environment will be simulated as closely as possible to the actual testing environment. The cost to take the exam is $25. The club members are also currently selling cookie dough tubs as an additional fundraiser.

The Political Science Club is open to all students, regardless of major or class standing. Graduate students are also invited to participate. They meet on every other Tuesday at 2:30 in the Political Science Conference Room. It costs $15 per semester or $25 per year to join the club.

Wednesday November 4th was senior night for the ASU Volleyball team and emotions were high for the lady Jags as they went up against their biggest rivals, the USC Aiken Pacers.

It was a real nail biter as the senior Lady Jags went up against the Lady Pacers for what might be the last time at Christenberry Fieldhouse. The teams were tied with the score at 21 to 21 in the fourth game. But if anyone in the crowd had any doubts, they soon disappeared.

Rally after rally, both teams scored back and forth until the score reached a close 25 to 24 with the Jags in the lead. The lady Jags took the challenge and delivered a flawless performance to take the final two points of the game and win against the Pacers.

It was a 3-1 victory and the girls finished the match with a total of 50 kills and 14 blocks. Junior kinesiology major Dianna Meyer executed 10 kills, while sophomore psychology major Lagi Roberts completed 16 digs. Sophomore chemistry major Ashley Zappitell, the team’s setter, made 43 assists and had three service aces.

“I felt great,” said senior health and physical education major Jessica Howard, 21, of Athens, Ga. “It was my senior night, last home game.”

“The fourth game was really close,” Howard said with reflection on the emotional game. “I was a little scared, didn’t want to take it to five, but we killed it in the end.”

Howard led the game with 22 kills against the Lady Pacers. Howard also led the Peach Belt conference in 2008 in kills and blocks. She had been selected twice as the Peach Belt Conference Player-of-the-Week. She also made double digit kills in 32 out of 35 matches.

“Its been a rough four years, this is our best season we’ve had,” said senior marketing major Lindsey Weider, 21, of Dacula, Ga. “Its kind of good to go out with a bang.” Weider made a total of 13 digs throughout the game.

Weider played in 33 games last season and had a season high of 28 digs when the Lady Jags played against USC Aiken on Nov. 7 2008. Last season she led the team with an average of 5.43 digs per game and a total of 510.

Senior health and physical education major Emily Joye, 22, of Augusta, held the fifth best mark on the team last season with 32 kills and only 15 errors. Her 2008 season best was four digs against Converse on Oct. 29 and four blocks against Christian Brothers in Sept. 2008.

“I am so pleased,” said head coach Sharon Bonaventure. “I mean yeah, we missed some serves, but overall we played awesome.”
When asked what she would do now that her time with the Jaguars is coming to a close, Howard had this to say. “Its gonna be such a change,” she said. “Oh my God, what am I gonna do at four o’clock in the afternoon!”

The Lady Jags went on to face Anderson and was defeated three games to one ending their regular season play with a 22-11 record. Howard racked up 19 kills and Meyer posted a double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs. Weider had 17 digs of her own and Roberts pulled in 15. Zappitell had 35 assists with eight digs. The Lady Jags head to Aiken, S.C. when they compete in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament on November 13 and 14.

An Augusta State University ROTC cadet recently jumped out of a perfectly good airplane and hit the ground running.

David E. Hernandez, 21, spent three weeks this summer at the U.S. Army Airborne School near Columbus, Ga., where he trained to be a military parachutist with more than 500 of his peers from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines from June 24 to July 14.
Hernandez is a college junior originally from Cape Coral, Fla. He spent nearly 10 years in the Army and was last stationed at Fort Gordon. He is participating in the Green-to-Gold program, at Augusta State, a process that allows Soldiers to attend college ROTC full time in order to be commissioned as an Army officer.

“Being prior service, I had always wondered what the fascination about being Airborne was all about,” Hernandez said. ‘So when ROTC asked for volunteers, I jumped at the chance.”

Airborne school is broken up into three different training weeks; ground week, tower week and jump week. The phases are designed to progress to the ultimate goal, jumping out of an airplane, landing safely and getting off the drop zone as fast as possible.

According to Hernandez, the first week of class concentrated on parachute landing falls, or PLFs. Trainees were taught how to jump from high platforms, fall and roll to the ground properly without getting hurt.
“During ground week, which for most people was the hardest physically, we had to learn what equipment we would be using, exiting the aircraft properly, (and) lots of PLFs,” Hernandez said. “Everyone’s backs and butts were sore when the weekend came, but it was important to learn.”

The next phase, tower week, sent trainees sliding off of a 34-foot tower with a harness attached to a steel cable to simulate exiting an aircraft. Students slid to the end of the steel cable, unhooked and got back in line to do it again.

“If you’ve never jumped off objects that are high in the air, then this would definitely get you ready for the real thing,” Hernandez said. “I think I probably did it 20 times and it was a lot of fun.”

The final week, jump week, was the culmination of all the hard work students put into the training. Hernandez was able to jump out of an airplane, laden with equipment, and parachute and reserve parachute buckled and inspected thoroughly.

“Running onto the flight line and watching the giant Air Force C-17 cargo door open, you could feel the nervousness and excitement from everyone as we shuffled inside it,” Hernandez said.

According to Hernandez, after a short flight the all-clear was given to get ready.

“I remember jumping out the door the way they told me to and saying a few choice words until my parachute opened and then it was very quiet – no breeze or engine noise anymore,” Hernandez recalled.

“The landing wasn’t what I had hoped for, but I survived by using the PLFs we were taught during the first two weeks of the school,” he said. “Once we were on the ground we packed up our parachutes into our bags, I threw the bag over my back and ran to the designated rally point. I had survived my first jump.”

Now back on campus at Augusta State, Hernandez is working to complete the ROTC program by 2011.

For more information about Augusta State University ROTC and the Army’s Green-to-Gold program contact Maj. Ray Short at (706) 667-4795.

The bathrooms in Reese Library are back in service after repairs and upgrades have been completed.

Business manager of Reese Library, Ginny Loveless, said the restrooms were being renovated from June 2009 until September 2009.

“Over the course of the last 5 years, the restrooms on all three floors of the library needed maintenance at the increasing rate,” Loveless said. “The entire plumbing system for the bathrooms needed to be upgraded and brought up to standard to resolve this situation.”

According to Therese Rosier, the director of the physical plant on campus, the library bathrooms required replacement. Rosier also added that Reese library was built in 1976 with wall-hung commodes.

“After 33 years of use, the blocks in the wall supporting these commodes required replacement,” Rosier said. “The project was created to remove every commode and replace the support blocks behind the walls.”

In June, weeks before the restrooms were closed to be renovated, library officials posted signs on campus and sent e-mails out to all faculty, staff and students through Campus Pipeline to inform everyone about this renovation.

“We didn’t just want to spring it on people that our bathrooms was going to be down for four months.” Loveless said.

During the renovation of the bathrooms in the library, students and employees were directed to use the nearest bathrooms, which are those located in the Jaguar Student Activities Center.

According to Loveless, during the renovation of the bathrooms, there was not any noticeable decrease in activity in the library.

Brittany Hudson, a junior [MAJOR] at Augusta State University, is a frequent user of the library. Hudson says that the library is a second home for her when finals are approaching.

“During the summer semester of 2009, I did spend some time in the library,” Hudson said. “Using the restrooms in the JSAC was not an inconvenience for me, I looked at it as a small break from the quiet library.”

With the renovations completed, there are some minor repairs being completed to the restrooms to meet the final inspection requirements; causing the water to be off for short periods of time during the day, according to Rosier.

“Over the past two weeks, we have turned off the bathrooms for very short periods of time, to complete various ‘punchlist’ items.” Rosier added.

According to Rosier, the renovations were completed three weeks ago and the bathrooms were opened up for public use. Rosier added that the library is saving more than what it was before the renovation.

“Since the commodes were removed, we also took this opportunity to replace the high volume flush commodes with the current low volume commodes, saving approximately three gallons of water every time they are flushed,” said Rosier.

According to Rosier, saving the water is a positive step that the library is taking.

“I believe that this savings of three gallons of water a flush is fantastic,” Hudson said. “I think this was a necessary save due to the economic status of our country.”

There is not a shred of reason for anyone to see this shockingly inept and reprehensible toilet-stain of a movie.

The experience of watching “Orphan” is akin to bathing in a tub of vomit for two hours: It’s a disgusting movie that leaves you feeling nauseous and unclean long after it’s over. There are violent horror movies, and then there are movies like “Orphan,” ones that are made not to scare or entertain the audience, but to cause them to experience deep feelings of sadness and sickness.

Who was this movie made for? Horror movie buffs? Certainly they will be as tired as the rest of us by all the cheap “gotcha” moments in the movie, which are of course followed by the obligatory musical sting.

Director Jaume Collet-Serra even does this annoying visual trick of having the camera sneak up on certain characters when they have their backs turned until we realize, thank God, there’s no one really there.

It didn’t work the first time, and it gets downright irritating after the fifth or sixth time.

After opening up with a blood-drenched prologue that goes on a lot longer than it should, the movie tells the story of the happily married John (Peter Sarsgard) and Kate (Vera Farminga), who are quite possibly the blandest movie couple to have ever cursed the big screen.

A year after Kate has a miscarriage with her third child, the two of them go to a nearby Catholic orphanage in hopes of adopting a little girl. There, they find the Russian born Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman, who is not the least bit scary), who is so mannered, polite and talented that she completely wins them over within a matter of minutes.

When Esther first arrives at the house, she is immediately greeted with hostility by the oldest son Daniel (Jimmy Bennett), but is met with a lot of love and affection by the deaf youngest daughter Max (Aryana Engineer).

Everything seems to be fine until, one day, a girl at school is thrown from a slide and fractures her ankle, and the kindly Sister Abigail (CCH Pounder) is found dead in the woods.

Of course, I’m not giving much away when I say that Esther is responsible for everything since, for one, the trailers give away the plot.

The scene involving the nun is particularly off-putting. After Esther pushes Max right out in the middle of the road and Sister Abigail swerves her car, she comes up behind the woman, starts bashing her head in with a hammer, and asks little four-year old Max to help her drag the body into the woods.

Then, when Sister Abigail turns out to not be dead, Esther starts bashing her head in some more, the cinematographer, Jeff Cutter, makes sure to linger on both the hammer crushing the woman’s skull and little Max looking on in horror.

Is this supposed to be entertainment? Some will try to defend this vile heap of garbage as being “daring” and “a return to what horror is meant to be.” This is funny because, the last time I checked, horror movies were meant to be scary, thrilling or at least somewhat creepy. “Orphan” is none of these things. It’s a incompetently made freak show that exists in a moral vacuum, seeming to relish every second that a small child is threatened, brutalized or otherwise tormented by little Esther.

The director seems to have this repellent need to exploit and victimize young children as a way to get cheap thrills.
The scene where Esther grabs a six-shooter and points the pistol at little Max’s face is more appalling than thrilling.

And speaking of appalling, what till you hear the much advertised secret that Esther is harboring. Not only is the final twist laughably absurd, but once you look back at the rest of the movie in retrospect, it’s also inexcusably detestable.

The cinematography is ugly and drab. The editing is graceless. The screenplay by David Johnson is filled with scenes that are as ridiculous as they are unnecessary (there is one instance where John and Kate engage in some graphic sex in the kitchen, where their children can easily walk in on them).

Orphan is such a maddeningly awful piece of junk that I literally cannot put into words just how much I physically, spiritually and intensely despised this movie.

Do yourself a favor: This movie is 123minutes long. That is 7,383seconds of your life that you will never get back. Don’t waste your time on this.

Students are not the only ones having to attend workshops and lectures.

According to Deborah Richardson, a professor of psychology, faculty members attend workshops and lectures through the Academy of Learning at Augusta State University to benefit their teaching styles.

“This has provided workshops and speakers from off-campus to come in and deal with issues of interest to faculty,” she said.

However, the university system has encouraged all the institution to establish a center for teaching and learning.

“The purpose of the center for teaching and learning is to enhance faculty development,” Richardson said. “Each institution can decide how it wants to do that.”

This semester, the Center for Teaching and Learning started with funding from each of the college departments on campus. According to Richardson, the center offers workshops on how to do active learning in the classroom

“We are just beginning to get developed, but we hope that we are going to have enough buy-in that the university will want to keep us around,” she said. “So we have started a leadership luncheon series that we intended to be for new chairs, but ,in fact, old chairs want to be part of it as well.”

This semester, the Center for Teaching and Learning is preparing to allow faculty to request traveling money to attend conferences in the state that center around teaching and learning.

“The notion there is to try to develop a sort of culture of inquiry about and discussion about teaching and learning,” she said “The mission of the center for teaching and learning is to support efforts aimed at enhancing and maintaining effective teaching by advancing a collegial culture of inquiry about teaching and learning.”

Ultimately, Richardson said that the effectiveness should come to the students, but it is allowing faculty to enhance their teaching styles.

“Some of the centers that have been around for a long period of time, when they do their assessments what they really want to assess are what the outcome is for the students,” Richardson said. “Are we changing the way we are teaching? Are we finding more effective strategies?”

Next semester, the center will probably stay with just the leadership luncheon. However, Richardson said that they hope to put more emphasis on teaching and learning. The group will host a speaker to come and discuss online education, because the university is trying to push the faculty to embrace it.

According to Richardson, the main reason the university is pushing online education is because of its efficiency.

“We are going to be running out of space of campus pretty soon,” she said. “We aren’t going to have enough classrooms if we continue to grow. People have talked about having hybrid courses as a possibility for courses that have some online meeting and some face-to-face meeting. Right now, we are exploring what the possibilities might be.”

Another benefit Richardson explained was that online education can make education accessable to many people who may not have access.

“We are figuring it out,” she said.