It’s Halloween again, the time when little kids go trick-or-treating in all sorts of elaborate costumes, and movie buffs, too old to participate, seek out scary movies that put them in the holiday spirit. However, finding a good horror movie to watch is a pretty daunting task since horror movies nowadays are really not that good. Here is a list of reviews on older and newer horror films, the tricks and the treats, to ensure that you don’t get caught with a clunker this holiday season.

Halloween (treat): Shot in only 21 days and made on a rather shoe-string budget, John Carpenter’s masterpiece of suspense, “Halloween,” accomplishes more than most big-budget horror films released these days. It’s a sinister, dexterously photographed thriller that relies more on fear and anticipation than gratuitous gore and mindless violence. Even its heroine is an intelligent, three-dimensional human being that many people can relate to. Jamie Lee Curtis is Laurie Strode, an insecure high school student who is terrorized by an escaped mental patient named Michael Meyers, who savagely murdered his older sister when he was only six years old. Donald Pleasence is Dr. Sam Loomis, who follows Michael back to his home town of Haddonfield, Ill., in hopes of stopping him before he can kill again. Director John Carpenter composed the film’s classic musical score, an eerie piano piece that ratchets up the tension-level a hundred fold. From its shocking opening scene to its thrilling climax, “Halloween” holds you in its death grip right until the end credits roll.

Audition (treat): This movie is seriously insane. What starts off as a deep, poignant story of a middle-aged widower hoping to remarry and move on with his life, slowly turns into a surreal nightmare of grisly, hallucinatory images, mutilated bodies and razor-sharp piano wire. The widower is a film producer named Shigeharu Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi), and in order to find a new bride, he takes his best friend’s advice in staging a phony audition and marrying the leading lady. He’s immediately smitten with a beautiful, seemingly timid ballerina named Asami Yamazaki (Eihi Shiina). He takes her on a few dates and grows to really love her, yet on the night he plans to propose to her, she disappears, and he attempts to go and find her. She ends up finding him, resulting in what is probably the most disturbingly graphic horror climax in movie history. Japanese horror auteur Takashi Miike creates a number of baroque and horrifying images that’ll remain cemented in your mind for days, weeks, maybe even years after seeing the film. One thing’s for sure, once you see “Audition,” there’s no forgetting it. It will haunt you more than any other film on this list.

The Strangers (trick): “The Strangers” is a dark, ugly, irresponsible and evil-spirited movie and a colossal waste of 86 minutes. There is nothing in this movie that is worth a second of your time. In the story, a young couple (Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman) is terrorized by the titular trio of home invaders, which becomes both tedious and aimless. The characters are all one-dimensional. There is not a single scare anywhere. The ending is so distressingly downbeat that it leaves you feeling crummy for many hours afterward. Why was this movie made? The reason is quite simple: to exploit unmotivated human suffering for the sake of entertainment. Everyone involved should be ashamed of themselves for making this despicable movie.

Alien (treat): Ridley Scott’s effective 1979 monster-in-space epic proves that silence and empty space can be far more terrifying than flashy creature effects and buckets of gore. There are moments in this film where you know something terrible is lurking just around the corner, even during the moments of total silence. It’s the uncertainty and anticipation that make “Alien” the masterpiece of horror that it is, and when the titular creature finally punctuates the silence with its slimy presence, it’s almost impossible not to scream. The movie stars Sigourney Weaver in a career defining role as Ellen Ripley, a member of the mining ship Nostromo. The titular creature manages to find its way onto the Nostromo after Ellen and her team are sent to investigate a mysterious distress signal coming from a nearby planet. There are a number of effectively gruesome shocks in the movie, the highlight being the dinner scene where a baby alien pops out of John Hurt’s chest. Atmospheric and brilliantly scripted, “Alien” is a must-see for those seeking a fun, ultra-scary monster movie.

The Mist (trick): I understand what this movie is trying to say, and I can respect it for at least being somewhat ambitious, but “The Mist” is such a solemn and plodding monster movie that I really couldn’t care one way or the other. The story, based on a novel by Stephen King and adapted by writer/director Frank Darabont (who did “The Shawshank Redemption” and “The Green Mile,” two other Stephen King movies), takes place in a small Maine town and focuses on a dozen or so people holed-up in a supermarket after a monster-infested mist consumes the entire area. Although there is exactly one scary sequence set in a nearby pharmacy, the majority of the movie is hampered by an aggressively dreary tone, chintzy monster effects and an annoyingly over-the-top performance by the usually great Marcia Gay Harden. The ending has stirred up a lot of mixed emotions from moviegoers. Some thought it to be brilliant, while others thought it to be depressing and distasteful. I fall into the latter category.

Wolf Creek (trick): Little more than a misogynist snuff film with pretentiously artsy cinematography, “Wolf Creek” seemed to work best during the scenes before the nonsense about the psychotic bushman came into play. The movie focuses on a trio of likable characters, two British women and one Australian guy, who are taking a road trip through the Outback to the titular meteor crater. After hiking around the site for an hour, they return to find that their car won’t start. Enter a seemingly friendly bushman (John Jarrett) who offers to fix their car if they agree to let him tow them to his site all the way out in scenic nowhere. They agree to it, a mistake that they might not live long enough to regret. Debut writer/director Greg McLean does an OK job of establishing character relationships and creating an ominous atmosphere. Yet, once all the hacking and slashing started, the results were more depressing than scary. You can do better than this.

The Descent (treat): Easily one of the scariest monster movies ever made, “The Descent” focuses on a sextet of thrill-seeking women who go spelunking in the Appalachians and encounter an army of cave-dwelling, flesh-eating monsters. Writer/director Neil Marshall (“Dog Soldiers”) evokes a feeling of claustrophobia that is so unbearable at times that those who suffer from it will probably have difficulty finishing the movie. He also gives us a group of women who are not only sympathetic, but also intelligent and super-tough. Superbly crafted, flawlessly visualized and scary as heck, “The Descent” offers everything horror movie buffs crave in spades.

Young Frankenstein (treat): Yes, I know it’s not a horror movie. However, Mel Brook’s hilarious monster movie spoof, which is fun to watch any time of the year, is surprisingly even funnier when seen during the month of October. Gene Wilder is a hoot as the title character, the original Frankenstein’s grandson. His whole life, he has always thought very lowly of his grandfather’s work. “My grandfather’s work was doo-doo!” he says at one point, yet all that changes when he inherits his grandfather’s old gothic mansion and discovers a couple of his journals. Everything from the look to the comic timing is right about this film. The cast is pitch perfect all around, with Marty Feldman’s hilarious turn as Frankenstein’s assistant Igor being a real treat. And keep a look out for Gene Hackman as a blind monk who befriends the monster and has him running for the hills screaming within a matter of minutes.

Now that the accounting program has an official name, The Knox School of Accountancy, Joey Styron hopes that this will lead to the program being accredited, which will make The Knox School one of the most sought-after accounting programs in the nation.

“We’re gearing up to get a special accounting accreditation,” said Styron, director of The Knox School of Accountancy. “So the new accounting faculty members and the resources that we now have available will help us prepare for that accreditation process, which will make the school of accounting here in the top group of accounting programs in the nation.”

The name change came after a meeting in which the Faculty Policies Committee approved a recommendation by the faculty in The Hull College of Business to name the college after the Knox family, who through The Knox Foundation gave a $2 million gift to the Hull College for its accounting program.

“When you have a named program, it’s much easier to market the program and build more name recognition, and that helps build (the school’s) reputation,” Styron said.

Styron said the school plans to hire two new accounting faculty members, which, in turn, will enable the school to offer new accounting courses.

According to Styron, some of the money from The Knox Foundation will go to new accounting scholarships. Now, every year, $50,000 will be available for scholarships. Students interested in the scholarship can apply in the financial aid office.

“Some (students) may be recruited from high school,” Styron said. “We would use the scholarships to encourage them to come to (Augusta State University).”

The Committee also recommended that an endowed chair head up the school. When a chair is named, his title will be Peter S. Knox III Endowed Chair of Accounting.

Styron will still direct the program, and the chair will teach a few less classes than most faculty in order to focus more on research.

According to Marc Miller, dean of The Hull College of Business, in a press release, the college will eventually become a top-tier business school.

Just recently the college was accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business and is one of only 300 schools in the nation to hold that honor. The business college has also been featured in The Princeton Review as one of the top 270 business schools in the nation.

It’s Halloween again, the time when little kids go trick-or-treating in all sorts of elaborate costumes, and movie buffs, too old to participate, seek out scary movies that put them in the holiday spirit. However, finding a good horror movie to watch is a pretty daunting task since horror movies nowadays are really not that good. Here is a list of reviews on older and newer horror films, the tricks and the treats, to ensure that you don’t get caught with a clunker this holiday season.

Halloween (treat): Shot in only 21 days and made on a rather shoe-string budget, John Carpenter’s masterpiece of suspense, “Halloween,” accomplishes more than most big-budget horror films released these days. It’s a sinister, dexterously photographed thriller that relies more on fear and anticipation than gratuitous gore and mindless violence. Even its heroine is an intelligent, three-dimensional human being that many people can relate to. Jamie Lee Curtis is Laurie Strode, an insecure high school student who is terrorized by an escaped mental patient named Michael Meyers, who savagely murdered his older sister when he was only six years old. Donald Pleasence is Dr. Sam Loomis, who follows Michael back to his home town of Haddonfield, Ill., in hopes of stopping him before he can kill again. Director John Carpenter composed the film’s classic musical score, an eerie piano piece that ratchets up the tension-level a hundred fold. From its shocking opening scene to its thrilling climax, “Halloween” holds you in its death grip right until the end credits roll.

Audition (treat): This movie is seriously insane. What starts off as a deep, poignant story of a middle-aged widower hoping to remarry and move on with his life, slowly turns into a surreal nightmare of grisly, hallucinatory images, mutilated bodies and razor-sharp piano wire. The widower is a film producer named Shigeharu Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi), and in order to find a new bride, he takes his best friend’s advice in staging a phony audition and marrying the leading lady. He’s immediately smitten with a beautiful, seemingly timid ballerina named Asami Yamazaki (Eihi Shiina). He takes her on a few dates and grows to really love her, yet on the night he plans to propose to her, she disappears, and he attempts to go and find her. She ends up finding him, resulting in what is probably the most disturbingly graphic horror climax in movie history. Japanese horror auteur Takashi Miike creates a number of baroque and horrifying images that’ll remain cemented in your mind for days, weeks, maybe even years after seeing the film. One thing’s for sure, once you see “Audition,” there’s no forgetting it. It will haunt you more than any other film on this list.

The Strangers (trick): “The Strangers” is a dark, ugly, irresponsible and evil-spirited movie and a colossal waste of 86 minutes. There is nothing in this movie that is worth a second of your time. In the story, a young couple (Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman) is terrorized by the titular trio of home invaders, which becomes both tedious and aimless. The characters are all one-dimensional. There is not a single scare anywhere. The ending is so distressingly downbeat that it leaves you feeling crummy for many hours afterward. Why was this movie made? The reason is quite simple: to exploit unmotivated human suffering for the sake of entertainment. Everyone involved should be ashamed of themselves for making this despicable movie.

Alien (treat): Ridley Scott’s effective 1979 monster-in-space epic proves that silence and empty space can be far more terrifying than flashy creature effects and buckets of gore. There are moments in this film where you know something terrible is lurking just around the corner, even during the moments of total silence. It’s the uncertainty and anticipation that make “Alien” the masterpiece of horror that it is, and when the titular creature finally punctuates the silence with its slimy presence, it’s almost impossible not to scream. The movie stars Sigourney Weaver in a career defining role as Ellen Ripley, a member of the mining ship Nostromo. The titular creature manages to find its way onto the Nostromo after Ellen and her team are sent to investigate a mysterious distress signal coming from a nearby planet. There are a number of effectively gruesome shocks in the movie, the highlight being the dinner scene where a baby alien pops out of John Hurt’s chest. Atmospheric and brilliantly scripted, “Alien” is a must-see for those seeking a fun, ultra-scary monster movie.

The Mist (trick): I understand what this movie is trying to say, and I can respect it for at least being somewhat ambitious, but “The Mist” is such a solemn and plodding monster movie that I really couldn’t care one way or the other. The story, based on a novel by Stephen King and adapted by writer/director Frank Darabont (who did “The Shawshank Redemption” and “The Green Mile,” two other Stephen King movies), takes place in a small Maine town and focuses on a dozen or so people holed-up in a supermarket after a monster-infested mist consumes the entire area. Although there is exactly one scary sequence set in a nearby pharmacy, the majority of the movie is hampered by an aggressively dreary tone, chintzy monster effects and an annoyingly over-the-top performance by the usually great Marcia Gay Harden. The ending has stirred up a lot of mixed emotions from moviegoers. Some thought it to be brilliant, while others thought it to be depressing and distasteful. I fall into the latter category.

Wolf Creek (trick): Little more than a misogynist snuff film with pretentiously artsy cinematography, “Wolf Creek” seemed to work best during the scenes before the nonsense about the psychotic bushman came into play. The movie focuses on a trio of likable characters, two British women and one Australian guy, who are taking a road trip through the Outback to the titular meteor crater. After hiking around the site for an hour, they return to find that their car won’t start. Enter a seemingly friendly bushman (John Jarrett) who offers to fix their car if they agree to let him tow them to his site all the way out in scenic nowhere. They agree to it, a mistake that they might not live long enough to regret. Debut writer/director Greg McLean does an OK job of establishing character relationships and creating an ominous atmosphere. Yet, once all the hacking and slashing started, the results were more depressing than scary. You can do better than this.

The Descent (treat): Easily one of the scariest monster movies ever made, “The Descent” focuses on a sextet of thrill-seeking women who go spelunking in the Appalachians and encounter an army of cave-dwelling, flesh-eating monsters. Writer/director Neil Marshall (“Dog Soldiers”) evokes a feeling of claustrophobia that is so unbearable at times that those who suffer from it will probably have difficulty finishing the movie. He also gives us a group of women who are not only sympathetic, but also intelligent and super-tough. Superbly crafted, flawlessly visualized and scary as heck, “The Descent” offers everything horror movie buffs crave in spades.

Young Frankenstein (treat): Yes, I know it’s not a horror movie. However, Mel Brook’s hilarious monster movie spoof, which is fun to watch any time of the year, is surprisingly even funnier when seen during the month of October. Gene Wilder is a hoot as the title character, the original Frankenstein’s grandson. His whole life, he has always thought very lowly of his grandfather’s work. “My grandfather’s work was doo-doo!” he says at one point, yet all that changes when he inherits his grandfather’s old gothic mansion and discovers a couple of his journals. Everything from the look to the comic timing is right about this film. The cast is pitch perfect all around, with Marty Feldman’s hilarious turn as Frankenstein’s assistant Igor being a real treat. And keep a look out for Gene Hackman as a blind monk who befriends the monster and has him running for the hills screaming within a matter of minutes.

Now that the accounting program has an official name, The Knox School of Accountancy, Joey Styron hopes that this will lead to the program being accredited, which will make The Knox School one of the most sought-after accounting programs in the nation.

“We’re gearing up to get a special accounting accreditation,” said Styron, director of The Knox School of Accountancy. “So the new accounting faculty members and the resources that we now have available will help us prepare for that accreditation process, which will make the school of accounting here in the top group of accounting programs in the nation.”

The name change came after a meeting in which the Faculty Policies Committee approved a recommendation by the faculty in The Hull College of Business to name the college after the Knox family, who through The Knox Foundation gave a $2 million gift to the Hull College for its accounting program.

“When you have a named program, it’s much easier to market the program and build more name recognition, and that helps build (the school’s) reputation,” Styron said.

Styron said the school plans to hire two new accounting faculty members, which, in turn, will enable the school to offer new accounting courses.

According to Styron, some of the money from The Knox Foundation will go to new accounting scholarships. Now, every year, $50,000 will be available for scholarships. Students interested in the scholarship can apply in the financial aid office.

“Some (students) may be recruited from high school,” Styron said. “We would use the scholarships to encourage them to come to (Augusta State University).”

The Committee also recommended that an endowed chair head up the school. When a chair is named, his title will be Peter S. Knox III Endowed Chair of Accounting.

Styron will still direct the program, and the chair will teach a few less classes than most faculty in order to focus more on research.

According to Marc Miller, dean of The Hull College of Business, in a press release, the college will eventually become a top-tier business school.

Just recently the college was accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business and is one of only 300 schools in the nation to hold that honor. The business college has also been featured in The Princeton Review as one of the top 270 business schools in the nation.

Thirty-three mothers, daughters and sisters were beaten, kicked, gagged and choked for standing up for what they believed in, but this Nov. 4, every mother, daughter and sister in this country will benefit from their sacrifices.

In 1915 when Alice Paul founded the National Women’s Party (NWP), only nine states gave women the right to vote. Paul, along with Lucy Burns and other members of NWP, was doing everything she could to get an amendment passed that would give women everywhere the right to vote.

Although the party had had earlier run-ins with the police, the NWP made their first significant push in January of 1917 when members began picketing at the White House. Everyday except Sunday, rain or shine, the “silent sentinels,” as they were referred to by the papers, stood silently at the gates to the White House, carrying purple, white and gold banners saying things like, “Mr. President, how long must women wait for liberty?”

The New York Times described the purpose of these protests as, “…to make it impossible for the president to enter or leave the White House without encountering a picket bearing some device pleading the suffrage cause.”

While the public did not approve of the women’s displeasure with the president’s ruling of the country, nothing much was done until World War I began on April 6. After the war began, the public grew verbally and physically violent, according to the Alice Paul Institute. Many said that the NWP’s banners calling Woodrow Wilson “Kaiser Wilson” were unpatriotic. Guards at the White House gates did nothing to help the ladies when the crowd grew violent.

In late October, arrests began being made, not for the violent public, but for the silent sentinels. The charge was “obstructing traffic.” At first only 16 were arrested, but as the days went on and more women continued the White House picket, more arrests were made – 33 all total. The arrested suffragists were sentenced to seven months in the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia, according to the Alice Paul Institution.

What history refers to as the “Night of Terror,” began on Nov. 14, 1917, at the workhouse. During this time, the women were tortured by 44 club-wielding guards. Burns was handcuffed to her cell door with her arms high above her head. One woman suffered a heart attack, and yet another was stabbed between the eyes with the broken staff of her banner.

In the Nov. 29, 1917, issue of The New York Times, Eunice Brannan, NWP member and wife of the president of Bellevue and Allied Hospitals, described their treatment.

“The scene that took place in the reception room of the workhouse on the night of Nov. 14, was of incredible cruelty… I saw three men seize Miss (Alice) Burns, twisting her arms behind her, and then two other men grasp at her shoulders… I saw Miss Lincoln, a slight young girl, thrown to the floor. Mrs. Nolan, a delicate old lady of 73, was mastered by two men. The furniture was overturned, and the room was a scene of havoc. The whole group of women were thrown, dragged and hurled out of the office…

“The cell door opposite was opened for a moment. I saw Miss Lincoln and spoke across to her, ‘Are you all right?’ Instantly, the guard appeared. ‘Stop that,’ he yelled at me; ‘not another word from your mouth or I will handcuff you and gag you and put you in a straitjacket if you say another word.’ Not a woman attendant was in sight. We were absolutely in the power of a gang of prison thugs. It was a night of extreme terror.”

Meanwhile, Paul, who was also at the workhouse, was getting her own form of torture. After starting a hunger strike among all the prisoners, workhouse doctors began to fear that Paul might actually die. So in an effort to “save her life,” she was taken from her room in solitary confinement and was held down while a feeding tube was forced down her throat. Large amounts of liquid were forced down the tube until Paul eventually vomited. These forced feedings went on three times a day for three weeks, according to the Alice Paul Institute’s Web site.

But physical tortures weren’t the only torturous elements of the workhouse. Many refused to eat, not because of the hunger strike, but because of the worm-infested food.

After her release, a former workhouse officer swore in an affidavit that the worm-infested rumors were indeed true.

“The beans, hominy, rice, corn meal… and cereal have all had worms in them,” the officer wrote. “Sometimes the worms float to the top of the soup. Often they are found in the cornbread.”

Brannan also described how the women were denied toothbrushes and combs. Also, only one bar of soap was supplied for the entire women’s dormitory, pushing communicable diseases within the workhouse to the limit.

In conclusion, Brannan said:

“If proof is needed that the Administration is behind the attempt to suppress our campaign for the federal suffrage amendment, it can be found in the following fact. When Mrs. Morey and three others were giving their names at the desk, (W.H.) Whittaker, (superintendent of the workhouse), said to them, ‘If you will promise not to picket again, I will release you at once. I will take you back to Washington in my own car; you need not pay your fines.’ Yet people say we were arrested for obstructing traffic.”

Finally, letters were smuggled out of the prison and reached the hands of the press. Newspapers across the country ran articles on the front page about the treatment of the prisoners. With support and public pressure mounting, the suffragists were finally released on Nov. 27 and 28.

The Washington, D.C., Court of Appeals overturned the case and said that the NWP was acting completely within its constitutional right to protest.

The NWP began to see the first inkling of success on Jan. 10, 1919, when Wilson reversed his position and spoke in favor of the suffrage amendment.

“The president told the committeemen,” The New York Times reported, “that he felt that in view of the fact that Great Britain had granted the franchise to women and the general disposition among the allies to recognize the patriotic services of women in the war against Germany, this country could do no less than follow that example.”

It took until August of 1920, for two-thirds of the states to ratify the amendment. According to the Alice Paul Institute, it had all come down to one state, Tennessee. Harry Burn, Tennessee legislator, changed his original vote from ‘nay’ to ‘yea,’ giving women just the number needed to create the nineteenth amendment. When asked why, Burn told the press that he had received a last minute telegram from his mother who urged him to reconsider.

And this Nov. 4, women everywhere will be able to exercise the rights that Paul, as well as many others, fought to win.

When Estelle Parsley visited Steve Clements’ Broadcast Journalism class, she passed around two photographs.

Both photos she showed while visiting Clements’ class in University Hall Room 160 on Oct. 9, were of either VHS tapes or DVDs from people interested in recent opening in Parsley’s newsroom. One photo showed a small stack of videos, and the other showed a larger stack of videos that could barely fit on the table on which they were stacked.

When Parsley, director of news and production at WRDW News Channel 12, showed these pictures, she wanted to show how competitive the television news business is.

According to Parsley, for every opening, there is an average of 120 interested applicants.

Clements, a Cree-Walker distinguished professor of communications, said he not only wanted his students to learn the reality of the competition involved in the news business, but also he wanted his students to be able to talk to someone who is currently in the television news business.

“I want them to learn the reality of how a news operation actually works,” he said. “We can talk about it in the classroom, but to get to hear someone who does it everyday, it becomes much more real.”

Parsley said one of the realities a student will face when he enters the television business is having to work as a team and do well in his role in the newsroom.

“It’s a team that puts on a newscast,” Parsley said, “but that team is made up of individuals who have an accountability for what they do. The team only works when every person that’s on that team knows what their role is (and) does it well, and then, it all comes together. That’s when the ‘magic’ happens.”

According to Parsley, the key to being successful in any environment is finding out what you are passionate about and internally motivating yourself.

“I think (students should) learn as much as they can about the craft that they’re entering and to really know what they’re passionate about,” Parsley said. “There are a lot of opportunities an internship or your first job can get you, but really, your motivation has to come from within. Your desire has to come from within. I truly believe that is the key foundation for people who are successful at what they do.”

Parsley has been at her current position for 10 years. Before that, she worked at WRDW in a variety of jobs since 1989. When she was an anchor, she worked on the first 5 p.m. television news show in the Augusta, Ga., market.

A new organization was chartered whose purpose is to give business majors and students interested in business a chance to meet local employers.

At the Oct. 17, meeting of SGA, the Student Business Association (SBA) was officially chartered in a unanimous vote from the senate.

Clint Martin, senior marketing major and president of SBA, said a large number of students have to leave Augusta, Ga., to find a job.

According to Martin, joining SBA would put either a business major or a student interested in business in a better position to find a job locally.

“I’d say that (by joining SBA) they’d be doing themselves a big favor as far as outside employment,” Martin said. “There’s a lot of lag between graduation and finding the job you want. It’s just one more step to put you better in touch with possible employers.”

In front of the senate, Martin said SBA is an important part in turning students of The Hull College of Business to better positions for jobs.

Brian Fleeman, senior marketing major and founding member of SBA, said with the organization officially chartered, students who join will be greatly impacted.

“I think it would be tremendous from both ends of the scale,” Fleeman said. “You can either network to find jobs or talk to entrepreneurs first-hand to learn how to do it yourself.”

At the time, SBA has 20 members, according to Martin. At one point, however, he said there were 45 members.

Students interested in joining SBA aren’t required to be business majors. According to Martin, students just have to have an interest in business.

Martin said that if students joined who weren’t interested in business, then whenever a local business owner comes to speak, there would be less input and interest from the SBA members who are present.

Election Day is drawing near, and the Georgia races are tough to call. There are three races that affect the Augusta, Ga., area – U.S. Senate and Congress, Districts 10 and 12. Here is more information on the candidates.

U.S. Senate

Saxby Chamliss (R) – Incumbent

Family: wife, Julianne; two children

Education: Bachelor’s in business administration, University of Georgia, 1966; Juris Doctor,
University of Tennessee College of Law, 1968.

Chambliss has been a member of the Senate since 2002. Since then he has helped to draft two farm bills and has worked to reform the federal crop insurance program through his chairmanship of the Agriculture Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management. As a member of the Senate, he was also appointed to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. He has been endorsed by many, including Congressman Paul Broun, Gov. Sonny Perdue and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. (Source: www.saxby.org)

Jim Martin (D)

Family: wife, Joan; four children

Education: Bachelor of Arts, 1967; Juris Doctorate, 1969; L.L.M. (Master of Laws), 1972; all degrees earned at University of Georgia.

Martin serves as chairman on a number of committees in the House, including the Judiciary Committee, the Ethics Committee, and a subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee overseeing state health care programs. He also served as an active member of the Industrial Relations, Special Judiciary, and Children and Youth Committees. In 2006, he was nominated for
lieutenant governor. Martin has been endorsed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Macon Telegraph, former Gov. Roy Barnes and the Georgia Association of Educators. (Source: www.martinforsenate.com)

U.S. Congress, District 10

Paul Broun (R) – Incumbent

Family: wife, Niki; three children.

Education: Bachelor of Science in chemistry, University of Georgia, 1967; Medical Doctorate, Medical College of Georgia, 1971.

A staunch supporter of the Second Amendment, Broun is a member of both the National Rifle Association and Gun Owners of America. He is working to end the culture of corruption in Washington, D.C., control federal spending, lower taxes, stop illegal immigration and strengthen national security. Broun has been endorsed by the House Conservative Fund, Team America PAC and the Southern Party of Georgia. (Source: www.paulbroun.com)

Bobby Saxon (D)

Family: son, Will.

Education: Bachelor’s in business administration, Georgia Southern University, 1987.

Saxon has little experience in politics but is a decorated veteran of the U.S. Army. After eight years of service, he returned home and volunteered his time to many organizations. With the tragic events of 9/11, he put his life on hold and re-joined the Army National Guard. In late 2006, he
re-launched his business, PC POWERUSER, Inc. Saxon is a certified software consultant and works primarily with the “ACT! by Sage” software. He holds more than half a dozen technology certifications. He also co-owns A Better World Insurance Agency, located on Baxter Street in Athens, Ga. (Source: www.bobbysaxon.com)

U.S. Congress, District 12

John Barrow (D) – Incumbent

Family: two children, James and Ruth.

Education: Bachelor’s degrees in political science and history, University of Georgia, 1976; Juris Doctor, Harvard Law School, 1979.

Barrow is no stranger to Augusta State University, visiting several times over the past several months. Barrow was a county commissioner for 14 years before running for Congress. Since his election, Barrow has donated his efforts to helping middle class families in Georgia’s 12th district. Barrow voted to increase minimum wage and also to extend the PeachCare program. He was instrumental in passing “Juan’s Law,” which gives parents the right to know whether day care centers that accept moral responsibility for taking care of their kids will accept the financial responsibility if the center fails in its moral duties. He also introduced legislation to lower the cost of heath insurance for small businesses and the self-employed. Barrow has been endorsed by many people and organizations, including the National Rifle Association, Veterans of Foreign Wars Political Action Committee, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the entire Augusta Democratic Delegation. (Source: www.barrowforcongress.com)

John Stone (R)

Family: wife, Deborah; six daughters.

Education: Augusta College, from 1975-1976; University of Georgia, from 1976-1977.

Stone, who has recently been endorsed by The Augusta Chronicle, is a former anchor and news reporter for WBBQ. Some of his opinions on the issues include being against amnesty, increasing border security, pro-life, preserving the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman, against the NAFTA superhighway and “North American Union,” for the Fair Tax, against the income tax, against the death tax, wants locally-run schools and school choice for parents, wants to repeal to NAFTA and CAFTA and end outsourcing of U.S. jobs, and wants to balance the federal budget. Stone has also been endorsed by Gun Owners of America, House Conservative Fund and Americans for Legal Immigration. (Sources: The Augusta Chronicle, www.johnstoneforcongress.com)

With the present state of our economy, you might start to wonder what toll it is having on American families no matter what social or economic status they come from.

On Oct. 7 2008, in Los Angeles, Karthik Rajaram and his family were found shot to death in their home located in an upscale gated community in Porter Ranch. Rajaram had killed himself and his family over being beleaguered by financial troubles.

In his suicide note, Rajaram, 45, at first contemplated killing just himself but decided that it would be more honorable to kill his family before killing himself.

Rajaram shot his 39-year-old wife, three sons aged 7, 12 and 19, and his 69-year-old mother-in-law.

When I read the line that killing his family first would be honorable, chills went down my spine.

How could taking the lives of your wife, three young boys who had promising futures and your mother-in-law be honorable? He didn’t want his family to have to cope with the problems he left behind, so he killed them.

We are entering close to territory that many of us have only read about in history books.

Now our families are being put to the test to see if we can learn to live within our means and gather the strength to keep pushing. Economic times aren’t changing back to what we have long been accustomed to; times are requiring us, as Americans, to change with it.

Through every major event, America has shown the ability to weather the storm, and this one is our biggest storm in a long time.

Take a deep breath. Recheck your hopper lid and make sure all of your pods are strapped in tight. Glance down at your teammates for the final nod signaling your readiness. The opening moments are always intense.
Everything gets really, really quiet, and all you can hear is your own heart thudding like it is trying to break its way out of your chest. One more deep breath and you hear the whistle blow. You find yourself sprinting as hard as you can to your first bunker. With a slide into the trench, you come up firing, and shots rain all over the place, buzzing through the air like a swarm of angry bees. With a few well-placed shots, your team arises victorious.
Augusta State University students are getting a taste of this action almost every other week when they gather to duke it out via paintball on a battlefield that’s scattered with makeshift bunkers, barrels and a really big satellite dish
Paintball is one of the fastest-growing extreme sports in America and has risen to a multi-million dollar industry. The sport originated back in the ’80s when cattle ranchers and government workers decided to use their paint markers against each other instead of against cattle and trees. The men used their markers as a form of tag.
The basic principle behind paintball is that there are two teams, both equipped with paintball guns or markers, each team trying to eliminate the other. Paintball is an ever-changing sport, and there is almost an unlimited amount of differing game types. From capture the flag, to president, to straight-out elimination, the style of play is dependent on the players. The fact that players can change the rules on a whim makes the sport of paintball just about anything you want it to be.
The sport has grown due to its ease of play and basic fun factor, according to Keith Maxwell, a junior middle grades education major, who frequently enjoys the activity.
“We get out there and just go at it,” Maxwell said. “There’s nothing more fun.”
The sport has two main variants, speedball and woodsball. Speedball is when the teams play on a field with bunkers and barricades, with games like capture the flag and elimination. Speedball is the format used for professional play and tournaments.
“We’ve been trying to get a team together and start playing tourneys,” Maxwell said with a laugh. “The guys (and I) have been playing together for almost seven years, and we’re ready to make the jump and start getting paid for what we love.”
The other paintball style is called woodsball. This form is the more popular of the two and is how most of America learned paintball. Teams split-off and play in the woods, using natural terrain as bunkers and camouflage as their best friend. Woodsball is a much more tactical version of paintball, requiring teams to use a large amount of teamwork and planning to pull off.
Maxwell and his friends, most of whom are Augusta State students, all learned to play in the woods behind their friends’ houses and fell in love when they started playing in their early high school years.
Paintball is an action-packed sport, perfect for adrenaline junkies and those needing to relieve stress, but at the same time, it’s a sport that the entire family can enjoy together.