• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_2014-04-25_Vol79_No13_A05

#8 April 25, 2014 Ryan Michaud Sports Writer When I stumbled across The Western Carolin- : jans booth at the career - fair my freshman year at WCU, I did not envision : myself covering sports : for this fine newspaper : for the next four years. I . did not envision cover- * ing football, basketball, and baseball games in ' the press boxes. I did not think I would cover two basketball SoCon champi- onship games in the span ' of four years. I did not ' imagine I would attend : two national conferences in Orlando and Chicago. I do not consider myself * an emotional person, but ' slight feelings of bitter ' sweetness are overcom- : ing meas! write. When I joined The West- | ern Carolinian, I knew : I wanted to write sports ' and nothing else. Born / and raised outside of Bos- ton, Ihave had the Boston sports pride engraved in ' me since! was a boy. We are proud of our sports, some say arro- ' gant which is fair, and Pgs we Sere eS we know and study our sports. For me, coming from being a fan of dominant major teams to a small town with at the time, mediocre sports, was an adjustment. What still amazes me about Catamount nation is the pride that you all have in our sports. We know this pride is not limited to Cullowhee but all over Western North Carolina. This is evident in our football games. Many often tease the team for not being able to win a game but the sta- dium is still packed for every home game. When WCU ended their long drought of losing twenty plus games to a SoCon opponent by defeating Elon, the entire stadium stormed the field. That is some school spirit. Iam usually asked two questions; my. favorite moment and my favorite article. My favorite mo- ment would have to date back to 2012 when WCU took Davidson to two overtimes in the SoCon championship. I was in THE WESTERN CAROLINIAN A5 EDITORIAL A sweet farewell from one of ours the media tables sitting alongside a student from Davidson who was tak- ing pictures. At the end of regulation when WCU was down by 10 with about 1:30 left to go, it wasnt looking good and the young man beside me began to talk. I told him if Davidson kept leaving the then freshman James Sinclair wide open on the far left end of the court, he was going to start hit- ting threes. * Sure enough, Davidso doubled Tawaski King and left Sinclair opened who drained a_ three which sparked the run to tie the game and force overtime. Though David- son ended up winning the game and the tourna- ment, it was an exciting game to watch and cover. Inmy four years writing sports I have interviewed coaches, professors, stu- dents, student-athletes, fans, and locals. My fa- vorite interview belongs to former WCU assistant coach and former NFL wide receiver David Pat- ten. I grew up watching Pat- ten play for the Patriots and winning three Super- bowl championships. The man is loved and remem- bered in New England. Because of my heritage in New England and my fan- base in the Patriots, Pat- ten and I talked for hours in a local coffee shop. We talked of past expe- riences, what he learned in the NFL, what he learned through failures, and what he wants to teach young kids today. It was a great interview and that day I saw David Patten, the man, not the football star. Rarely have I strayed from writing sports, and when I did, it typically did not end up well. I have also learned to love reading the columns and articles of other sports minds, especially Skip Bayless and Peter King. Therefore, as I close my last article, although this was actually a column, I offer my thanks for al- lowing me to serve you in reporting the Catamount sports. I sincerely be- lieve that the best is yet to come. Photo submitted by Ryan Michaud Michaud hanging Christmas lights in Central Residence Hall. Letter from the Editor Laura Odom Editor-in-Chief This year The West- . ern Carolinian has gone . through many changes, from losing staffmembers toa changein leadership. We have said good- bye. to several people who were an_ integral part of our newspaper, but we have also wel- comed many new faces. The contributing writ- - ersthatwehaveenveloped into the fold this semes- ter show great promise and have brought many new ideas to the paper. Icannot wait to see what great things that they do here at the newspaper and out in the university. AsI took the reigns last fall, Iwas inundated with information about busi- ness management, ad- vertising, leadership and delegation that at times seemed overwhelming. It was through the amazing staff of the uni- versity and of the West- ern Carolinian that we were able to pull to- gether to bring you the best newspaper we can. A special thanks goes to two assistant professors from the Communica- tion Department: Debra Simply, Thank you" Connelly and Katerina Spasovska, both of whom welcomed my questions with open arms and understanding minds. Although the entire staff is wonderful, there is one person who has been there to listen to rants and assist with al- most the entire process of the paper, our design- er and _. photographer: Ceillie Simkiss. She has been an amazing help whenever it was needed. Christian Henderson started out as a contrib- uting writer last semes- ter and has stepped up to the plate always happy to help when it was needed. Special thanks goes to Allison Adkins, Sports Editor, who also stepped up to help when ~ the going got tough. Our goal now is to make this newspaper the best it can be and we could not do that without you, our readers. Thank you for your continued loyalty and _ dedication to the Western Carolin- ian and our university. We thank you _ for your amazing re- sponse this semester. - Look for the growth that we will make in the upcoming academic year. yourselves: Finals Brace Christian Henderson Staff Writer Its getting to be that dreaded time of year again, and chances are . that you know it by now. Finals are upon us and so is the season of Star- bucks, energy drinks, _ long forgotten notes, and wearing your pajamas 24/7. However, dont curl _ up into a ball and cry, or throw. your hands up in the air because you just * dont care yet. Here are a few tips for you that will help you ace those finals and send * your GPA skyrocketing. * havent First of all, if you already you should. begin studying : right now. : Now. Seriously, there is no Way you can cram the amount of knowledge you need to pass your fi- nals into your short term memory the night before the text. So yes, study. The next thing you should know as you be- gin preparing for finals is that it really helps to fig- ure out what your learn- ing style is. Iam serious, you may think those per- sonality tests hold about as much value to you as bad reality T.V. but they really do hold some mer- it, As the Writing and Learning Commons web- site explains, one of the most common tests to help you understand the best study styles is the VARK test, which places you in one of four cat- egories: visual, auditory/ aural, kinesthetic, and read/write. It just makes sense, some people learn bet- ter with visual examples, such as pictures and - some people learn better when reading flash cards aloud. If you have not yet figured out which style of learning works best for you, I would stress that you should take a minute to take this test. Its only fifteen questions and it could greatly benefit you for the rest of your aca- demic career. After studying, the next mostimportant thing that could largely affect your grade is probably where you study. Think about it, do you really want to study at a football game or in a room full of your friends? It would prob- ably be a-lot more fun, but it might be regretful when you are faced with the final and realize you haven't retained much in- formation. So how do you find this perfect study spot? Well first of all, think about yourself. Can you con- centrate in your dorm or apartment? Would you rather study in the li- brary or on the balcony of the UC? What helps you perform at your maxi- mum potential? To help you out, here are a few spots that are great to get afew hours of studying in. If you have a lot of com- puter work to do but cant focus in your room, try out the Tech Commons on the first floor of Hunter Library. If you prefer dead si- lence, definitely check out the first floor of Hunter Library, which is a des- ignated quiet zone. If you like a little bit of white noise, try studying on the second or third floors of the UC, where there are tables as well as comfy couches and chairs for students to use. If the weather is nice and you just cant resist the feel of the sun on your skin, take your books out to one of the park benches around campus or to the balcony of the UC. Wherever you study, just make sure it is right for you so you can concen- trate. Bring along head- phones if that helps you. If you feel more comfort- able and ready to work in your pajamas so be it.. Whatever works, use it! Honestly it is finals week, there is no judgment. That being said, we should talk about study snacking. As tempting as it may be to down that energy drink and plow through the night hours are coming! battling equations and grammar on a caffeine high, you will probably regret it when you come off that high and feel a lit- tle cruddy, as well as re- alize that you dont quite remember everything as well as you thought you did. Caffeine is great, and definitely needed during this time of the year but it is not that great for your body when consumed in large amounts. leave you feeling jittery, anxious, and exhausted once it wears off. Instead, try supplementing some of that caffeine with wa- ter. - J am not saying cut out all caffeine, I am a col- lege student as well and I know just how crazy an expectation that is around finals time for a concerned student. How- ever, drinking water will help rehydrate you, es- pecially as caffeine has been known to dehydrate you. Plus, it make you feel so much better and ready to hit the books in Tt will the long run. Finally, my last tip for you would be to seek out help when you need it. There is no shame in needing a little extra help, especially around finals time. Trust me, that little bit of embarrassment you feel in the moment will be nothing compared to what you could gain. So ask questions in class, or even stay back and ask questions to the teacher directly after class. Form study groups, especially with people that challenge you. Visit the Writing and Learning Commons and make an appointment with a tutor. Whatever you do, know that you are taking one step closer to passing that final with every effort that you make. Keep your goals in mind, and that will keep you motivated. Youve got this. Now go get em Catamounts! Russia Continued from A1 _ Currently there is an Interim government in Ukraine, which is a patchwork of coalitions. There is no current Prime Minister anymore, but they are planning to do elections May 25. However, they may not even get that far. There 1s a division in Ukraine Where a large portion _ feel historically Russian. The other side is called Ukrainian nationalists. The country has_be- come more and more polarized not only geo- graphically but ethni- cally and linguistically. Because of this split, the economy has gone down and Russia has in- creased the price of natu- ral gas that they export to Ukraine by seventy per- cent, causing major fis- cal damage, said Lance. The third panelist was Niall Michelson. Michelson spoke about foreign policy from an in- ternational perspective. Michelson said, Rus- sia has annexed Crimea at this point. Its going to be part of Russia for the rest of our lives, which is my bet. Ukraine should have kept their nuclear weapons. The reason we're in this mess right now is because in 1994, Ukraine agreed with the United States and Russia to give up their nucle- ar weapons. They gave them up, and Russia and the US agreed to respect Ukraines territory and not to threaten them. The fourth and final panelist was David Doron- do. Dorondo spoke about how Germany plays a big- ger role than we think. Dorondo said, It is my contention based on what I know, that no effective response can be made by the European Union or by NATO unless Germany plays a leading role in the decisions. Germany is a leader in the European Union and a leader in NATO, but in neither case does Germany like to take a pronounced public role. Given Germanys his- tory in the early nine- teenth and twentieth centuries, Germanys government, no matter which party is in power, tends to be risk-averse as far as the application of hard power is con- cerned, said Dorondo. By hard power, I mean military actions and tough diplomatic sanc- tions. Without Berlins cooperation and leader- ship, there will not be an effective response. What is Germanys position? It is the position of the German government, at least publicly, that the European Union and NATO take into account the interests of Russia in East and Central Europe. At the same time, the German government says it is necessary for Western countries to stand united in rejecting what the German govern- ment formally declares to be the illegal annexa- tion of Ukraine by Russia. However, unless some- one stands up to Russia and forces them to stop, then Russia will most likely retain possession of Crimea, said Dorondo. Thefour panelists closed with a question and an- swer session which lasted around twenty minutes. The panelists all urge each person to pay close attention to the media and to the world news. They stress that this situ- ation is far from over and history is being made.

The Western Carolinian is Western Carolina University's student-run newspaper. The paper was published as the Cullowhee Yodel from 1924 to 1931 before changing its name to The Western Carolinian in 1933.

• Creator
  • Western Carolina University
• Format
  • Publications (documents)
  • Text
• Type
  • Text
• Date
  • Date original: 2014-04-25
• Extent
  • Dimension: 22.75" x 11.5"
  • Pages: 12
• Subject - Topic
  • College student newspapers and periodicals
  • Cullowhee (N.C.) -- Newspapers
  • Universities and colleges -- North Carolina -- Cullowhee -- Newspapers
  • Western Carolina University -- Periodicals
• Location
  • Jackson County (N.C.)
  • Cullowhee (N.C.)
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Source Collection
  • WCU Students Newspapers Collection
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_2014-04-25_Vol79_No13
• Repository
  • Western Carolina University Hunter Library