The Patriot - February 2, 2018

Feburary 2, 2018

Letter from the Editor

Dear readers,

On behalf of The Patriot staff I’d like to welcome you to the first 2018 issue of your weekly campus newspaper. If you’re new to UC, hi! If you heard that we wrote an article about Maggie Moore, stay tuned. Every week we report about recent activities on campus. This week you’ll find a story about the new season of Spotlight performances and we cover the confusion surrounding a sudden interest in laundry detergent. Our goal at The Patriot is to provide an organized and entertaining account of events and present it in a digestible format. Throughout the semester we will endeavor to write articles detailing the concerns and interests of UC’s students. Even as this issue is composed, we are simultaneously planning the next one. To reiterate this publication is written by students and for students, and with that in mind we want to encourage you to contact us! Through Instagram (@ucthepatriot) or Facebook (The Patriot Newspaper), we would love hear from our audience and receive feedback. If you have a story to share we want to give students the forum to do so. But, if you and some friends were hiking at Cumberland falls and you saw Bigfoot, keep that to yourself; he deserves his privacy.

Editor-In-Chief

Eric Ford Edwards

Managing Editor

Megan Willoughby

Faculty Adviser

Jeremiah Massengale

Staff

Emilee Agee

Taylor Duke

Leanne Gregory

Tyler Kohn

Shandi Lindsay

Brian Mahadeo

Megan Muggridge

Nichole Sharp

Zane Ross

Editorial Review Board

Lisa Bartram

Marianne Worthington

I’d also like to congratulate the staff here at The Patriot. I work with a staff of individuals who are constantly striving toward improvement. Due to their hard work, The Patriot was awarded first place in our class for best college newspaper in the state at the recent Kentucky Press Awards. Thanks for picking up this issue and I hope you stick with us throughout the semester and appreciate the work of our staff.

Best regards,

Eric Ford Edwards

Email comments, concerns or tips to: thepatriot@ucumberlands.edu or call us at 606-539-4172

7000 College Station Drive Williamsburg, Kentucky 40769

The Patriot is the weekly student publication of the University of the Cumberlands. Our goal is to provide timely and original content by highlighting campus news and views.

Award-winning member of the Associated Collegiate Press and Kentucky Press Association.

Giving Hope Psychology class raises awareness about Intimate Partner Violence

BY LEANNE GREGORY Staff Writer

Relationships are an expected and often celebratory part of life, but not every relationship is something worth celebrating.

According to the “Sourcebook of Violence Against Women,” written by Claire Renzetti, Jeffrey Edleson, and Raqual Bergen, the most common form of violence against women around the world is intimate partner violence. IPV, according to Dr. Kiersten Baughman, an associate professor of psychology at UC, is a type of violence that can be categorized as physical, emotional, spiritual, or verbal. For students at the University of the Cumberlands a unique opportunity has arrived that will allow them to learn more about this complex and difficult issue in the form of a special topics class about intimate partner violence.

Created and taught by Baughman, the goal of the class is to teach students about the nuances of IPV, which includes, but is not limited to, what IPV is, who is affected by it, how law enforcement has approached the topic of IPV, how students can assist victims of IPV and how students can report instances of victimization. “I hope that students learn the difference between intimate partner violence and the many other words that we use such as abuse, domestic violence, situational partner violence, and aggression,” Baughman said.

She added, “Also, I hope they learn about how prevalent intimate partner violence is, the divide between the resources that

exist and victims knowing about those resources, and, very practically, what the students can do themselves to assist with anyone they find out about or to recognize warning signs about someone who is being victimized, and perhaps to encourage them to become activists.” Baughman stated.

In order to take the course students must have taken a basic psychology course as a pre-requisite, but all students, no matter their major or minor, are welcome to take the course. The class is set to be taught every spring semester as an on-campus course and as an online course during the summer semester.

Jordan Floyd, a senior psychology major enrolled in the course said, “Honestly, I hope to learn how to be a better listener, how to better help other people. I’ve learned that there are many different opinions, and that there’s a lot we still don’t know.”

During the course students will have the potential to work with local domestic violence shelters, and have the opportunity to listen to guest speakers and victim advocates who are knowledgeable about the topic of IPV.

For more information about Intimate Partner Violence students can visit online resources such as the National Violence Against Women website, or students can get into contact with a local shelter, such as the one located in London, Kentucky.

How the Tide Pod meme gained popularity and its insanely dangerous impact

BY EMILEE AGEE

Staff Writer

Welcome to 2018; people are eating soap. Within the last couple of months, there has been a lot of talk about Tide Pods in the media. These laundry detergent packs officially cannot be Googled without dozens of news articles popping up about the “Tide Pod Challenge.” What started out as a meme that made fun of how Tide Pods look like candy, blew up into something more serious—people actually eating them, which begs the question: what would possess a person to willingly eat toxic chemicals for the internet?

According to knowyourmeme.com, After Tide Pods were released in 2012, there were almost immediately forum discussion posts concerned with the smell and color being a temptation for kids to try to eat them. In Dec. 2015, satire news publisher, The Onion, posted an article titled “So Help Me God, I’m Going to Eat One of Those Multicolored Detergent Pods” written from the perspective of a child, but CollegeHumor’s YouTube video “Don’t Eat the Laundry Pods” was when the meme started gaining momentum. Since then, there have been Reddit posts, multiple viral tweets, and yet another Onion article (about Tide carrying new green appleflavored pods) that have gained thousands of views. This is normally when a meme should start to die, but this was not the case. Earlier this month, some of the first videos titled Tide Pod Challenge were being posted. Most teens would pretend to eat the pods, but a surprising amount of brave and naïve individuals were actually biting into them. YouTube and Facebook quickly banned these videos in an attempt to prevent further damage, but it was too late. Tide finally released a statement on Jan. 12 with NFL star Rob “Gronk” Gronkowski warning people that their product wasn’t for consumption, but according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC), there have already been 39 cases of teens intentionally eating Tide Pods.

The trend has even made its way to UC. RAs were given flyers to post on bulletin boards in the dorms from student services that strongly

caution against eating Tide Pods, listing the harmful effects they have on the human body. When UC junior Abby Livingston and UC sophomore Mackenzie Smith were asked their opinion on the trend they both agreed on one answer, “stupid.”

“Stupid isn’t even a strong enough word for it,” Smith said. Had they ever wondered how a Tide Pod would taste? They said no. “I have wanted to pop one because they’re so full, just the urge to break them,” Livingston said.

Smith said, “I’ve tried dissolving them in hot water to know how they work,” but both ladies agreed that they would not eat them, knowing they would taste nothing like a Gusher fruit snack.

While it is refreshing that some students do not see the appeal, why would college students have to be told not to eat them in the first place? Why would anyone? Knowing the timeline of the growing popularity of Tide Pods puts into perspective the rate at which a trend can take off and easily be taken too far. Take the cinnamon challenge for example, where participants eat a whole spoonful of cinnamon and are supposed to swallow it without water in 60 seconds. If it is called a challenge, people will try it, even if it has the potential to cause bodily harm.

The knowledge of when to laugh off a meme or when to get over it seems to get lost in all of its coverage. In an age where social media is the place young people find their entertainment and acceptance, internet fame can be earned by the outdoing of one another in the craziest possible ways. If it can be taken to an extreme, it will. The real challenge is finding a way for a simple joke to be pushed too far in order to get massive attention. Aside from this, even though it makes logical sense to think if it looks good and smells good that it’s going to taste good, it is also common sense that if you use it to wash your clothes, that’s just not a good idea. Fingers crossed, the next cool trend inspires teens and adults to think for themselves or to at least not risk poisoning their bodies for a little fame.

Spotlight Duets

UC’s annual singing competition has officially started

BY MEGAN WILLOUGHBY Managing Editor

On Tue, Jan. 29, University of the Cumberlands kicked off its annual Spotlight singing competition where students were able to show off their music talents in front of an audience of their peers. Contestants were paired randomly for their duet performance with hopes of impressing the student body for a chance to eventually win the grand prize of $1,500.

The Campus Activities Board is responsible for hosting this event each year.

Allison Kinman, a graduate assistant for the Campus Activities Board, gave her first impression of the contestants, saying, “Nikki Patterson and Jordan Yaden are doing it again so of course everyone knows them and knows that they are going to do well in the competition. We had a few new ones like Clara Arnold. She tried out and I had never heard her sing before and she was really good.”

Dr. Mike Dickman, one of the three Spotlight judges, said, “It is going to be very interesting going forward. There is a very good mix of people. There are people all over the place, from praise band to hard rock.”

Honored

The Patriot receives 21 awards from the

Kentucky Press Association

BY ZANE ROSS Staff Writer

Among the 20 students who auditioned, freshman Elizabeth Buddenburg is a new soul to the competition. While Sabastian Calmes rocked it out on the electric guitar, Buddenburg proved to the judges that she is worthy of making it to the second round with her confident vocals.

“I’ve just been singing my whole life. Since I could talk, I’ve been singing. I’ve been singing for my church’s worship team for the past few years. I also got the opportunity to sing for my local newspaper this past summer,” Buddenburg said.

The second round of Spotlight will be on Feb. 9. The 12 contestants will fight for their spot in the next round while singing a song that pertains to the theme: The 2000s. Attend the event to see who will be a step closer to the grand prize.

The University of the Cumberlands’ campus newspaper, The Patriot, was honored with 21 awards from the Kentucky Press Association as part of KPA’s annual banquet that took place on January 26 in Lexington, Kentucky. This included a first place award for best student publication.

“I’m really proud of my staff and the people that I get to work with daily,” said Eric Ford Edwards, editor-in-chief of The Patriot, “Their hard work shows. I could not be prouder of them and the previous year of students whose hard work also went into the awards that we received this year.”

The honors were received by The Patriot staff as a whole and individual awards were also credited to the writer, photographer or graphic designer who created the work. The Patriot staff earned first place recognition for general excellence among publication in their class, first place recognition for Best Use of Social Media, second place recognition for Best Front Page as well as Best Headline and a certificate for Best Sports Picture Essay.

• Eric Ford Edwards earned first, second and third place recognition for Best Feature Picture, first and second place recognition for Best Sports Picture, second and

third place recognition for Best General News Picture and third place recognition for Best General News Picture.

- Trenton Canada earned first place recognition for Best Feature Story and for Best Investigative Story or Series as well as earning third place recognition for Best Graphic.

Ashton Rector earned second place recognition for Best Editorial and Best Investigative Story or Series.

• Lydia Huggins earned first place recognition for Best Picture Essay (Breaking, General or Feature).

• Sarah Rainous earned first place recognition for Best Sports Feature Story.

• Megan Willoughby earned second place recognition for Best Sports Feature Story.

• Zane Ross earned second place recognition for Best Sports Story.

“The entire experience is extremely validating,” says former editor-in-chief, Trenton Canada, “To come from a small university, with a smaller staff, many might think that The Patriot is an underdog in the realm of collegiate press. Yet, to be awarded such honors at the state level speaks volumes to the amount of effort put in at The Patriot and the quality of the reporting done by its staff.”

Fashion Flashback Fashion Flashback WINDBREAKERS

BY TYLER KOHN

Staff Writer

Fashion is an ever-evolving form of personal expression. No two people do it exactly the same (every set of identical twins in the history of identical twins lovingly excluded). One thing everyone can seem to agree on though, is that throwback style is hot. Like, really hot. Like, Chris Hemsworth riding a dragon on the sun, hot. So, with that in mind, we at The Patriot are honoring these loveable old-school looks, beginning with the quintessential 80’s layering tool, the humble windbreaker.

The windbreaker has a long, rich history. Originally patented in 1939 by Robert L. Smith, the windbreaker did not really become popular until the 1970’s when young men wanted a fashionable, light jacket to shelter them from the rain and wind. Fast-forward to the 80’s and we had a full-blown windbreaker revolution on our hands. With interesting shapes and neon colors gaining popularity, the windbreaker became a staple in many wardrobes. Declining in popularity in the 90’s, windbreakers went mostly out of fashion by the early 2000’s.

Today, windbreakers are making a comeback in a major way. Sophomore, Simon Robinson explains, “Oversized clothing seems to be the trend that is staying with us even into 2018, but big fashion houses like Vetement and Balenciaga really push oversized and exaggerated jackets, windbreakers, and sweaters. Putting on a vintage, oversized Tommy Hilfiger windbreaker really mirrors what is considered to be ‘in’

right now.”

Freshman, Jeremy Sturgill admires their functionality, stating that “they are light, comfy, and are just thick enough to stop the harshness of the wind without making you sweat.” Sturgill makes a good point. While windbreakers are undoubtedly coming back as a fashion statement, their functional purpose transcends the decades, with sports coaches and even the POTUS rocking them at outdoor events for years.

Although it is super on-trend, even a versatile piece like the windbreaker has its limits in some people’s eyes. Sophomore, Diana Eneh likes the look, but asserts that it isn’t always worn correctly. “They are fashionable when worn in the right way, and it somewhat goes with any outfit you wear, but the wrong way might be wearing it with a cute dress on a hot day. That would make no sense. It’s more of a leggings or skinny jeans look.”

So, good news to all of the secret windbreaker lovers out there: your time is now! Get yourselves to a Goodwill or an online retailer of awesome throwback pieces and shop like your life depends on it. Happy thrifting to all of you beautiful, vintage spirits, and may your windbreakers never fail you!

Midday Mixtape

BY EMILEE AGEE & TAYLOR DUKE

Songs specifically selected to psych you up as you start your spring semester.

As the second semester picks up, we’re all looking for a way to make it through the remaining weeks. This playlist is a means to find some energy and crank out assignments. The artists in this playlist span from the Canadian hip-hop sensation Drake all the way to the iconic rock band, Queen. Keep a look out for “Semester Start-up: Spring Issue 1” on Spotify. We’ll be dropping some more mixtapes throughout the semester, so stay tuned.

Patriot Profile

BY TAYLOR DUKE Staff Writer

Photo by Taylor Duke Staff Writers

Get to know UC athlete Maggie Moore

At the center of her senior year, Maggie Moore is preparing for the Mid-South Conference competition cheering for the University of the Cumberlands. Before getting into cheerleading, Moore grew up in Maryville, Tennessee. There she played softball and swam for her city swim team. She didn’t start cheering until her friends thought about trying out in the sixth grade.

Moore reflects on this time period and her confusion toward choosing a hobby. “It was during the middle school years so I was kind of looking for some sort of team or club to be a part of,” Moore says.

Unlike most athletes at UC, Moore did not begin participating on a collegiate team until her sophomore year. She discusses her early years of her collegiate cheer career and experience at UC for the first time. “Well, I didn’t cheer my freshman year here but I had always been thinking about it so I decided to tryout at the end of freshman year,” Moore said.

As a cheerleader, she gets to participate in cheering on the sidelines of football and basketball games as well as competing on the mat. Cheering at UC is a multi-season sport. This year the cheerleaders began practices a week-and-a-half before school started. These practices get the athletes back into shape, prepared for games, and solidify stunts that will impress crowds.

So far, her favorite cheer memory this year has been cheering for the Pats at the Brass Lantern game. The Battle of Brass Lantern is UC’s annual football game against the Union College Bulldogs.

“I like cheering on the sidelines better because of the atmosphere and being able to be a part of something that gets fans and other teams involved,” said Moore.

The men and women of the cheerleading will compete at the MidSouth Conference Championship on February 28 in hopes of taking home the coveted first place trophy.