by Edonnya Alvarez

With COVID-19 taking the world by storm, changes have been made here at AB, including the hours at the Cave. Before the virus, the Cave was open until 11p.m. and on the weekends it was opened until 10p.m. These hours have changed during these unprecedented times causing an inconvenience to many, especially athletes.

These hours are not ideal for the athletes who get out of practice after 9p.m. The Cave should reconsider staying open for a longer time or the athletic department should not schedule practice times during these new hours.

Being a student athlete during the pandemic comes with its advantages and disadvantages. An advantage would be that AB is able to hold practices but a disadvantage would be that practices may run through dining hours. 

Senior Brianna Miranda says, “it is very disappointing when I get out of practice and I cannot have a late night snack.” Miranda, who is on the lacrosse team, has practice that overlaps with these hours often. There are days where she will not leave practice until 9p.m. or 10p.m., which is when the cave closes. “Having a meal after practice is hard when the Cave is closed and I do not have a kitchen.” Miranda said.

There are sports who have practice during dinner time, which is why they have to eat late at night. But there is more to it, with practices being held at Philip Barbour High School, they travel on and off campus. This lowers their chances of making it back on time for their late night meal. 

The former hours of the Cave were never an issue for athlete’s because if they missed dinner, the Cave was their only option to make sure they got a chance to eat after practice. 

But to also prevent this, the athletic department should take into consideration how scheduling practices during closing hours is something that should not be ideal. With a campus full of athlete’s, scheduling the appropriate practice times for each team may be challenging, but there needs to be alternatives for the sports who have late night practices, like being able to order their food before closing hours and the Cave should not be allowed to close until their food has been picked up.

In order to make sure everyone gets a chance to eat, the Cave hours need to change, especially for athlete’s with late night practices.

by Brianna Miranda

Alderson Broaddus University community continues to grow with new staff, students, and coaches. 

New hire and assistant coach, Maegan Laymon, joins the women’s lacrosse team after establishing her love for the game of lacrosse and leadership in coaching college athletes. Laymon, a Illion, New York native, grew up playing soccer and participating in track and field with her two brothers before discovering lacrosse at Green Mountain College, where she was a dual sport student athlete. Laymon also participated in bowling where she was a state qualifier. 

When asked what drew her interest to the AB community, Laymon says, “I like being in the middle of nowhere, the campus is very nice and it’s not too far away from some of my family. They live about 45 minutes away from here.” 

Coach Laymon goes on to explain her excitement to begin her journey as a Battler.

“There’s so much talent and potential on this team that we can do a lot with, I’m excited to be brought on board,” Laymon said.

As much excitement there is to starting at a new program, Coach Laymon has personal and team goals for each individual to accomplish. 

“I’m looking forward to where the team can take its potential to, we have a lot to accomplish and that decides where the program takes off to,” Laymon said. 

A coaching philosophy is something coaches tend to live by while helping guide their athletes to structure. Maegan Laymon shares her coaching philosophy that she plans to bring on board with her to the team.

“As a coach, I rely on effective communication as it will demonstrate the athlete’s ability to hone in on their skills, challenges and overall voice,” Laymon said. “This is important when trying to develop not only their athleticism, but also enhances their ability to advocate for themselves in the future. I believe if you can converse with an athlete to set their own long and short term goals, it provides them with direction and motivation to keep them on track.

Q. How can I get more sleep with a hefty schedule? Ex. Sports, AGC, Greek life, student orgs, classes, etc.

A.

If you are involved in this many activities the first thing you must do is prioritize. You have to figure out which subject/event is the most important and will have the biggest effect on you.

For every college student classes should be number one on your list. If you are making sure you’re attending classes, homework is done, and studying for tests then you will succeed in the classroom.  Succeeding in the classroom means you are eligible to play a sport (academic wise) and you will not be put on academic probation which means you can participate in Greek Life and be a part of student organizations. 

Next step is to decide if you personally can handle being a part of so many organizations. At first it may seem like fun being a part of something and making new friends, but over time it starts to take a toll on you. Physically, you are being pulled from class, then to a practice, then to a meeting, then to an event. Mentally, it could drain you. 

If you decide you can handle it then you must set a time to go to bed. If your first class is at 9:00 a.m. but you did not get out of practice until 9:00 p.m., try to go to bed no later than 11:00 p.m. That gives you time to shower and get a little bit of homework done. This does not mean at 11:00 p.m. turn the television off and stay up until 2:00 a.m. watching TikTok. You have to discipline yourself if you are serious about getting enough sleep. It will be tough but in time you will learn how to balance it out.  

By Celeste Walters & Lauren McMillen

Student athletes at Alderson Broaddus University are in a frenzy as they scatter across Barbour County to find a practice place to call home. 

On January 16, 2020 Alderson Broaddus University Board of Trustees made the decision to shut down the Rex E. Pyles Arena and Memorial Coliseum for a structural repair and upgrade project. Athletic staff offices were relocated to Paul Jones and all athletic events set to take place in the Coliseum were moved off site. 

March Westin Company Inc., the contracting company hired by AB to reconstruct the Coliseum, set up barriers around the Coliseum to ensure no one would enter the premises or try to sneak in and began working last January.

Students arrived on campus with hope that construction would be done and activities in the Coliseum could resume. However, according to Athletic Director, Carrie Bodkins, although the building was shut down in January, actual physical construction of the Coliseum did not take place until five months later around mid-July. 

“There were a lot of different engineering things that had to take place first,” Bodkins said. “There were things that were happening, they were just behind the scenes.” 

The Coliseum is being constructed in two different phases: the first phase is pure maintenance with no renovations. This initial phase makes it possible for staff and athletes to reside in the building again; participation in athletics resumes, offices are used, locker rooms are occupied and training takes place again. 

Phase two will occur over a three to five-year period that would incorporate some different renovations. Bodkins along with the rest of the Board of Trustees are talking through some of the possible renovations right now but nothing is set in stone. 

“We will have a redo of the basketball court that will take place in the spring / summer,” Bodkins said.

With the transition from the Great Midwestern Conference to the Mountain East Conference it will be more of a rebrand rather than a renovation. 

If everything goes according to plan the Coliseum will reopen this weekend. 

by Jennifer Armasan

● Wear a mask over your mouth and nose 

● Practice social distancing (6 feet) 

● Wash your hands 

● Don’t touch your face with dirty hands 

● Watch out for Covid symptoms 

● Remember Covid-related absences are not something you will be penalized for 

● Cover your cough and sneeze 

by Brianna Lewis

WB, you’re looking new!

Journalism students no longer have to borrow a camera from the Office of Marketing and Communications to take beautiful pictures.

The Student Government Association SGA voted last May to donate $4,202.46 to the College of Humanities and Social Sciences for upgrades to WB, one of the oldest and most used buildings on campus. The improvements included new furniture, a conference table and chairs, an interactive white board and projector, and camera for the media classes. 

Students taking media classes previously had to use the borrowed camera and were limited on usage time. 

Anytime you have been in WB you’ve seen the big bay windows on the first and second floor. SGA also approved money to put cushions in these windows for students to sit peacefully while waiting for class. 

The interactive whiteboard is waiting to be installed by the Office of Information Technology OIT. OIT plans to set up the whiteboard in WB room 14 as soon as possible depending on proper technical support.

“You have no idea how much we appreciate the student government considering your faculty and deans.” Kari Sisk Dean of The College of Humanities and Social Sciences said in the SGA request report.

By Edonnya Alvarez

2020 has been a year full of unexpectancies that has affected people in a way no one could ever imagine. With this pandemic taking the world by storm, Alderson Broaddus University announced in the summer that they will reopen campus for in-person classes after shutting down during spring semester. 

With AB reopening, some students questioned whether this was a good idea. How was AB’s returning rate and incoming freshmen and transfers affected by COVID-19?

Director of Admissions, Molly Henderson, said AB was expecting 315 first-year transfer students as of August 2, but the goal was to have 60 non-student athletes and 285 athletes. However, this goal was not reached and AB lost 30 first-year students.

“On average, we lose about 50 due to summer melt,” Henderson said. 

For students who decided not to come, they were refunded their deposit before May 1, but due to COVID-19, there were exceptions made this time around. 

“During COVID times and before move-in, our office got about 4 calls a day asking about COVID,” Henderson said.

But when it comes to returning students, 149 students withdrew and did not return this fall.

Did COVID-19 affect enrollment? Yes, says Executive Vice President, Eric Shor.  

Shor explained that students do not return to school for different reasons but the virus was this year’s reasoning. Although students returned back to school during a pandemic, AB still experienced less than a 10 percent decline in enrollment. Shor says this is a good thing for the school, especially during these unprecedented times.

By Jose Lujan

Getting a scholarship playing competitive video games at Alderson Broaddus University is closer than you might think.

AB recently created an e-sport organization with a group of students sharing their interests for different videogames and competing between them. Although AB does not currently offer a scholarship, it wouldn’t be out of the question.

This already happens in other universities in the U.S., such as Harrisburg University in Pennsylvania, where they get a big portion, if not a full-ride, by playing video games competitively. Also, because it is not related to NCAA rules yet, students can earn tournament prices that, depending on the game, can surpass $1 million.

“It’s not really a sport” and “It’s not the same as a football player” were typical comments students made at Ashland University when they were interviewed by the New York Post about this topic. But the members in the team dress up, get together to practice, have a coach and require demanding focus and quick response time, so why is competitive gaming not as valid as any other sport?

“It would be relevant,” Jakob Henriksen, goalkeeper and captain of the AB soccer team said. “It’s the fastest growing sport in the world. Especially now with COVID,” Henriksen said.

According to influencermarketinghub.com, e-sports awareness has increased in the last five years from less than a million to over 1 billion, and since the outbreak of the pandemic, numbers have increased significantly in the past few months too.

A different way of competition in AB gives more freedom of choice. It could be a strong recruitment call, especially for younger generations who dedicate a lot of time playing video games.

Adapting to the new changes, and making important decisions when a new era is coming is key to determine the improving or downfall of any institution. Let’s hope AB makes the right call.

By Talia Kotz

Student leaders Diyonus “Dee” Walls and Jonathan “Johnny P” Pierre are taking campus by storm, leading the Black Student Union with over 130 members; making it the largest student-led organization at Alderson Broaddus. Continue reading “For BSU leadership, growth not about numbers” →