The person behind the wheel: rough draft interview

It’s 10 p.m. on a Friday night. The phone is ringing off the hook because it’s raining outside and the intoxicated students don’t want to walk anywhere. The voice on the other end of the phone answers, “Wittenberg escort, how can we help you?”

No one ever stops and wonders who the voice on the other end is, but these people seem to always be there when we need them. One of many escort drivers, Mickey Murphy, who is a sophomore and has been working as an escort driver for almost a year, sure knows a lot about the service.

The 20 year old Business major is from Carmel, Indiana, and is thinking of pursing an Economics minor. Mickey was hired and trained last spring and officially started working with the escort service in the fall. With the excellent year he’s had, Mickey will become a student manager next year.

When asked about the busiest times for escorts, Mickey said, “They are when you expect them to be, Friday and Saturday nights. Wednesdays are also busy at times.” When the weather outside is nice, Wednesdays tend to be a lot more busy.

With the academic year coming to an end, students seem to be getting a little crazier. Mickey explained one of the funny stories he recently encountered, “A student once tried to give me a tip when I was dropping him off. He must have thought it was a cab or something.” Mickey said most of the time students are under the influence of alcohol and say stupid things, but he usually just ignores it.

“Once a guy called me to take him to a location, and within five minutes, he called me back to pick him up. It was just a little strange.”

Mickey’s favorite part of the job is working with the Wittenberg Police and Security. He says, “Everyone is very nice and willing to help out. I also like driving people around, especially when they are friendly.” However, on the other hand, people can be rather rude to the escort drivers.

When asked if he had ever gotten into an argument with a student, Mickey replied, “A couple of girls got very sassy with me. They were trying to fit five people into the car and I told them I could only take four at a time. They wouldn’t get out, but the guys they were with told them they had to and they ended up having to walk in the rain.” Mickey said his least favorite part of the job is dealing with people being rude and people who try to take advantage of the service.

The escort service has regulars that call almost every Friday and Saturday nights. Mickey said he can almost tell the exact time they will call. Also, he said, “I know a lot of times who I am talking to because I can remember their voice and put their name to it.” Mickey has gotten to know the regulars quite well and seems to have developed some sort of friendship with them.

Overall, Mickey is very pleased with his job. He enjoys working and it’s a time where he can get away from schoolwork. Often making Mickey laugh, the late night phone calls are a never-ending source of entertainment. He recalls one phone call he will never forget. “A women called and said her clutch was stolen and left in a car. We had recently dropped her off at a location and she must have been too intoxicated to remember.” So the next time an escort gives you a ride, make sure to be friendly and remember you don’t have to tip!

feature story rough draft

The other Crazy Cat Lady

Most people would consider the strange, non sociable lady with excessive amounts of cats to be the ‘crazy cat lady.’ A sophomore here at Wittenberg may seem strange when it comes to cats, but she has her own way of being different from the other predictable cat ladies.

Alex Pammer seems like the ordinary college girl, but once you get her started on cats there’s no turning back from there. When communicating with one of her many kitties she owns, named Jinglekit, she made up her own special language. English wasn’t enough for Alex, so she developed a language she believes jinglekit can understand and responds to.

Being away from her cats while she’s at school puts an emotional damper on Alex’s life. Instead of just missing her cats, Alex will try and play with the cats that are all over Witt’s campus. Going out of her away after a night of drinking, Alex thought it would be a good idea to steal and house one of the stray cats. After capturing the kitty and feeding it lasagna for dinner, she realized it wasn’t just a stray cat. It in fact had a collar around its neck and turned out to be someone else’s cat.

After the cat got sick in the middle of the night and Alex’s roommate woke up to a terrible stench in the room, she returned the cat back to outside. When Alex awoke to find the cat missing, she went searching for it, but it was nowhere to be found.

Having pictures of all her cats in her phone and a bumper sticker on the back of her car saying, “ I love my cats,” isn’t enough. Alex recently made a special trip home to attend a pet expo, which included events such as acro- kitties and rock cats. Alex admitted, “The pet expo was the highlight of my week, and I look forward to going to it each year.” One of the first times she attended the pet expo she saw her dream cat, the mainecoon breed. Alex hopes to fulfill her dream of buying one some day, which the sale prices start around $800.

Cats are a big part of Alex’s life and she most likely knows more about them than most people on this campus. Any odd questions about cats that need answered, just ask her. So the next time you see a person chasing after cats using a weird language, don’t be alarmed, it’s probably just Alex.

rough draft:column

A 3:00 a.m. phone call every two months, an e-mail every so often, and sometimes a Facebook message. This isn’t the relationship I would choose for my brother and me. The choice of joining the United States Air Force was one hundred percent his, but not being able to see my brother for a year at a time isn’t something I rather enjoy, especially when he couldn’t even see me graduate from high school.

For nearly a decade, U.S. military forces have been engaged in combat in two far-away lands. In Afghanistan, 949 Americans have died since military operations began there on October 7, 2001. My brother recently returned from a five month deployment to Iraq. There, 4,391 Americans have died since military operations began on March 19, 2003. Many question the wisdom of our military presence in both countries. Soldiers as young as 19 have been killed in the two wars, and it certain that more lives will be lost before our troops are brought home. For me, it’s personal.

President Obama recently announced his new war strategy to increase the number of troops in Afghanistan by more than 30,000 to a total of more than 100,000. In addition to the president’s planned 30,000 surge, NATO has pledged 7,000 new troops. By July 2011, the U.S. will begin withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan, but the time table for completely ending our combat operations there remains uncertain. Regardless, long after combat troops have left the country, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has promised an ongoing civilian commitment to Afghanistan.

As the sister of an Air Force airman, sending more troops to Afghanistan sounds absurd. According to President Obama, the new goal is "a complete drawdown of U.S. forces in Iraq ... to zero by December 31, 2011.” Promises of bringing the troops home are long overdue, and for the family members of those in uniform, the constant fear is that the promises of our political leaders will be broken.

The surge is causing even greater stress to U.S. forces, as many members of the Army, Marines, Air Force and Navy have faced multiple deployments to both Iraq and Afghanistan. Having recently returned to the states, my brother may be receiving orders any day now deploying him to Afghanistan.

A childhood friend of my family recently just switched roles with my brother. Seth Large enlisted in the Army soon after graduating from high school. Having been back in the states for several months to be with his wife and young child, he recently got deployed back to Iraq. Having the chance to talk to him briefly, Seth told me, “ it sucks here, and I would give anything to be back home right now.”

My brother’s route back to the states first took him to Kuwait, where he was stuck for much longer than anticipated. While in Kuwait, he and the other members of his unit were forced to sleep in tents for a couple of weeks. From Kuwait, he was flown to Germany, and after a brief stop there, he endured the long flight to U.S. soil, landing in Maine for an overnight stay before flying to Florida for a bus ride back to his air base in southern Georgia. Although he was granted a short leave, he has not been home in nearly two years. His service and sacrifice are not unique, but I cannot help but feel that they are under-appreciated. Two wars at a price of 5,340 American lives. How many more must die?

review rough draft

“I’ve never had one of these before. “

“What, a room to yourself?”

“…A bed.”

A change from the teary eyed movie, “My Dog Skip,” director John Lee Hancock took a chance and produced the remarkable, uplifting movie, “The Blind Side”, based off the book by Michael Lewis. This true story of a boy who came from nothing had his world changed when he met Leigh Anne Tuohy. He went from a boy who everyone thought would amount to nothing, to a star football player and becoming a part of a family that he never had.

Nominated and won the best performance by an actress in a leading role, Sandra Bullock played the passionate character of Leigh Anne Tuohy. Leigh Anne evolved as an empathetic person who couldn’t resist taking in the broken African American boy, even when it was made clear that it was the wrong thing to do. Taking a chance and going against what everyone thought, Leigh Anne saw a different side of Michael and believed in him when no one else did. Actor and singer, Tim McGraw played the comical husband who never doubted his wife’s feelings.

Big Mike, played by the inspiring actor Quinton Aaron, was not just any ordinary teenage boy. After being accepted and taking in by the Tuohy family, Big Mike really showed audiences what it meant to be thankful and to not take life for granted. By protecting his adorable “little brother,” S.J. played by Jae Head, Big Mike didn’t let harm get in the way of his new family.

By having his new family’s back at all times, Big Mike took that knowledge and applied it out on the football field with the help of Leigh Anne and S.J. Hard work and dedication was needed, but success was on its way.

This well deserved movie was nominated for best picture of the year, with scenes that left audience members in laughs, tears, or joy, even when some parts dragged on for a little too long.

This 128-minute film really showed what protecting and loving your family was about. Rated PG-13 even with some language context, this movie is suitable for all ages. Suggesting seeing the “The Blind Side” will leave everyone with their hearts touched and happy being part of a family.

Poll Story

Sex, drugs and risky business are not what come to mind when thinking of Wittenberg University. From the outside, Wittenberg seems like a prestigious, small private school. However, when being on the inside of the bubble, the truth comes out.

A non-scientific poll was conducted last week of 45 males and 73 females with various questions about the secret sins students partake in. According to the poll, 87 percent of males and 53 percent of females have come to class under the influence. Being a Lutheran school, many would think that coming to class under the influence of drugs or alcohol was unacceptable, but on student’s minds class was just not enough.

Wittenberg University takes their academic honor code with cheating very seriously. However, 84 percent of males and 78 percent of females have cheated in school. Most students think that getting caught with cheating isn’t likely; so a great deal of the student body participates in it. Along with that, 56 percent of males and 42 percent of females have cheated on their girlfriends or boyfriends. Not just cheating in school is what students are doing now days.

On a more intimate level, students engage in sexual intercourse quite often. Twenty-two percent of males and 16 percent of females have had a three some. When not having sexual intercourse students are partaking in sexting. Seventy-six percent of males and 66 percent of females have done so. A sophomore male said, the craziest thing he’s ever done was, “ I had sex in a pool with a girl while 30 people were watching us.”

Students here seem innocent and crazy about their studies, but the truth is they are more interested in the sex, drugs, and partying. A junior female said the most risky thing she’s done that nobody knows is, “ I’ve tried coke, but a lot people know that about me.”

A good majority of students here have shoplifted. Among the favorites are things such as, clothes, condoms, alcohol, food, and lip-gloss. Not being so risky, most students have not dined and dashed. Only 27 percent of males and 8 percent of females have done so. Students weren’t being so rebellious when it came to eating out.

With all the crazy stories, it’s safe to say Wittenberg students know how to have a good time by jumping into a giraffe’s cage or “making love in the club at McMurray’s.”

rough draft: feature story

One night stands are bound to happen on college campuses. Yet, no one really thinks of the process that entails the nightly journey. How do they get started and do you become friends afterwards? When do you know when to call it quits and the biggest question, how do you survive the post one night stands?

One night stands aren’t for everyone, but drunken college nights make them happen more frequently then they should. If someone isn’t wanting a commitment and they’re looking to get lucky then one night stands are a possible route they might take. However, before getting involved in the frisky adventure college students should think about the consequences that may take place.

The process of one night stands usually consists of two drunken people flirting and gazing into each other’s eyes. Thinking in their heads and then blurting out lets leave and go back to my place. What never goes through the drunken mind is what am I going to do tomorrow morning after it’s over.

After the pair or just one of the pair awakens from the night, usually the mystery of what happened starts to sink in. Hopefully, the women or man knows where they are and are able to leave easily. But, what happens between the two people? Should they exchange numbers, have a recap of the night, or just shoot out of the place as fast as they can. Sophomore Debbie Shapiro says, “ the girl or the guy should just get up and leave without saying bye.”

The chance of awkward conversation can be a burden for some people. So, they take the easy way out of the situation and bolt before the other wakes up. However, there are some people who don’t have the chance to do so if they awaken the other partner. Some words are going to need to be exchanged. Maybe a quick laugh and “well that was fun, have a good day” can close the deal.

After the wonderful walk of shame on Saturday and Sunday mornings, and the occasional Tuesday or Thursday, the chance of running into the other person is quit likely as a small school like this. So, what do you do when you see the person for the first time after the journey you had? Sophomore Steph Sodders says, “ avoid eye- contact completely and pretend like you don’t the person.” However, sometimes avoiding doesn’t always work out. A quick “hi” and a wave will always get the job done.

Some people may wonder if anything else can come out of a spontaneous one night stand. Sophomore Tj Little says, “a relationship can never come out of a night one night stand. I don’t think I would ever consider dating a girl I went home with randomly.” Who knows though, a relationship could develop if it turns into a regular process.

The real question is how often does one night stands actually happen on this campus? I bet if someone wanted to find out how often they did happen, they could watch and witness the process at McMurray’s on the weekends. Junior Kristin Komar says, “ it’s Witt, everyone sleeps with everyone. So, quite a bit is a safe bet to say on this college campus. “

The next time before indulging into a one night stand, think of the escape you will take the next morning. Maybe a great friendship will evolve or just an experience. Either way, remember to be safe and don’t get too drunk! No one likes waking up with vomit on him or her.

rough draft chief loney

At most college campuses, the police will never ease up on the students. However, Chief Loney is an exception to that rule, as he just wants the students to be safe. “ I’m not saying I’m a hero here, but we’re not bad guys,” says Chief Loney.

Working with the Sheriff’s Department since he was age 18, Chief Loney retired after 30 years with the department and is now the Chief at Wittenberg University. Not only has he dedicated all his time to this career, but his grandfather, father, and brother have also been involved in law enforcement.

With full frontal force, Chief Loney turns a blind eye when students keep the tradition going of streaking through the hollow. “It ain’t like robbing a bank in my book,” Chief Loney describes. He believes that so long as students aren’t breaking or damaging anything the tradition may continue since it has been going on since day one.

Chief Loney feels that students are starting to take responsibility and are not as wild anymore. “Things have changed for the better. Students seem a lot more respectful.” The biggest offenses on campus are alcohol infractions. From 210 liquor law violation referrals in 2006, to 27 in 2008, the arrests have been decreasing every year.

As the Wittenberg community refers to Chief Loney as the “e-mail man,” and he says, “I believe firmly in giving information as fast as I can.” Wittenberg gets an average of 2,100 to 2,2000 calls a month. Ten calls per hour are made by students on Friday and Saturday nights for the escort system, which the security force takes over after 12 a.m.

Keeping trespassers and unwanted persons off campus is another way of protecting the community; Chief Loney does his best to make sure this task gets done. Can collectors have in the past entered residence homes, used student cell phones, or taken students’ sandwiches. As long as students give permission to the can collectors, they are allowed on their properties. Unless a non-Wittenberg person commits a crime, the Wittenberg security can’t restrict their access to the open facilities the campus offers.

Chief Loney is just like any other person at Wittenberg, except that he always carries a gun. He does his best to make students feel less homesick, and he is a person by whom no one should feel intimidated. Making sure Wittenberg is a safe living and learning environment, he says, “I wouldn’t trade this job for the world.”

Elizabeth Alexander Convocation Speaker

An old man once said to Dr. Elizabeth Alexander, “ Lincoln’s birthday was traded for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and I wish we had Lincoln’s birthday back.” At the Martin Luther King Jr. commemorative speech on Monday, Alexander reminded hundreds of students and faculty members what exactly Martin Luther King Jr. Day stood for.

Born in Harlem, New York in 1692, Alexander is the chair of the Department of African American Studies at Yale University where she received a B.A. Asked to speak at a Witt Series event at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, Alexander showed her remarkable speaking abilities as presented before when she spoke during the inauguration of President Barack Obama.

Alexander told the crowd of students and faculty members that there was no “King Holiday” as she was growing up. She attended the march in Washington in 1963 as a baby. Now, when she thinks back to the day that her parents took her, she told the crowd, “ Neither of them could of known that day would lie in history.”

One of the main points Alexander was trying to get across to the Wittenberg Community strongly dealt with love. “Love makes us better and where is the love,” she said is always the question.

Alexander was not trying to put ideas into the audience members’ heads about what should be done or needs to be done, but rather was explaining the importance of the point King was trying to make during his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. His legacy is on going and Alexander said that it asks us to do something and for us to commit to our country and community.

Reading her poems growing up, June Jordan was always an inspiration to Alexander. June stood for the same messages Martin Luther King Jr. believed in. Alexander read one of her favorite quotes from June: “all war leads you to is death, and all love leads you to is away from war.”

Standing up for what you believe in and what is right and wrong is all Alexander wanted the Wittenberg community to know. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a day that will lie in history forever, and she is proud to be a part of it.

After receiving the well-deserved standing ovation, Elizabeth Alexander concluded her speech with her own poem, Praise Song for the Day. “All about us is noise,” she said again. Her speech will leave the Wittenberg community with a new positive outlook on MLK Day.

Classmate Interview

When first looking at Amber Reyes, most people wouldn’t know about the disease she battles. Vasculitis has been something she has had to worry about since her senior year of high school, but she doesn’t let it get in her way.

With her favorite color being black one would think she was a saddened human being. However, after getting to know Amber better, she’s a very passionate with music and her dreams.

Amber’s biggest aspiration in life would be to become a PR for a record label. Along with her favorite person in the world and one person she would marry if she could, Alex Gaskarth, she said.” I’m interested in men that are in bands and show more emotions than others.”

From the small hometown of Danville, Indiana, Amber would choose to be with the people she loves the most at all time, her family and her role model her little sister, Taylor. With being very family oriented, one thing she would change about her life however, is being more involved with her extended families lives. Though she loves her family so much, Amber said, “ I would not like to have a twin for the fact that I am too competitive and I wouldn’t like if people liked her better.”

Like Amber’s spontaneous personality, she would choose to be the flavor rocky road ice – cream for that fact it has many different parts to it. Amber’s never able to get too much Italian food and never able to say no chocolate being her biggest weakness. “ I crave chocolate a lot and when I see it I have to have it,” says Amber.

When Amber is down in the dumps or not feeling too well music is always something that can make her smile. She listens to her favorite song and her face just lights up. Her biggest achievement she feels she has conquered thus far is joining the band she is currently involved in. Always sticking with things until the end, she wishes she would have stuck with is dance, which is her biggest regret.

Amber loves to write and is a Communication major and Journalism minor, but dislikes any classes of biology or chemistry. “ I’m not too good with science and would stay away from those classes if I could, she says.

With all the wonderful dreams she has in store and being a very goal oriented person, which makes organization a great trait for her along with her ability to make people feel comforted in any situation.

This outstanding person makes her friends and family feel lucky to be a part of her life. “ I like to feel like a important part in people’s lives and I do my best to be the best person I can be”, she says.