The Nicholls Worth

� ursday, April 14, 2011 A Nicholls State University Student Publication Volume 56 — Issue 25

Softballseniors

reminisce in last season

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Index: Sports...7 Lagniappe...12 Editorial...17www.thenichollsworth.com Please Recycle

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worth

Nicholls student allegedly threatens at least three people via Facebook ...page 3

Behind the Screen

Blackboard to bereplaced by Moodle...page 4

Student selectedfor Wheel of Fortune

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HAPPENINGSbriefNicholls string program’s fi rst graduate to perform tomorrow

Christiano Rodrigues, a senior violin major from João Pessoa, Brazil and soon to be the fi rst graduate of the four-year-old string program at Nicholls, will perform a free and open concert at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow in Talbot Theater.

Assisted by Luciana Soares, associate professor of music, Rodrigues will perform Tchaikovsky’s “Violin Concerto in D,” Sarasate’s “Carmen Fantasy” and Brahms’ “Sonata in A Major.”

Rodrigues began playing violin at the age of four. At 15 he debuted as a soloist with the Bahia Symphony Orchestra, and he has since been an active soloist and chamber musician. He has won various awards during his time at Nicholls, including third prize in the Music Teachers National Association competition last year. James Alexander, head of the string department at Nicholls, recruited Rodrigues to Nicholls during a master-class program in Brazil.

The senior has already been accepted into two graduate programs with scholarships–the Cleveland Institute of Music, in the class of Paul Kan-tor, and DePaul University, under Ilya Kaler, both leading pedagogues in their fi eld.

Nicholls concert choir to present free show for Holy WeekThe Nicholls Concert Choir will present “A Concert for Holy Week”

at 7:30 p.m. April 19 in the sanctuary of First United Methodist Church of Houma, 6109 Highway 311. The concert, featuring a multi-movement “Stabat Mater” by Franz Joseph Haydn, is free and open to the public.

Student soloists will include soprano Sarah Sullivan, vocal music and accounting double major from Woodstown, N.J., altos Jessica Frickey, vocal music major from Des Allemands, Michelle Gauthé, education major from Houma, and Danika Malmberg, MBA graduate student from Solvang, Calif., tenor Devin Fields, vocal music major from Morgan City; and Devin Verrette, vocal music education major from Houma.

Additional pieces on the program include the Gregorian Easter Se-quence “Victimae Paschali Laudes,” recently deceased Grammy Award winning composer Henryk Górecki’s “Totus Tuus,” French composer Francis Poulenc’s motet “Salve Regina,” cellist and composer Pablo Casals’ “O vos omnes,” and two selections from the 19th century South-ern hymnody tradition, “Wondrous Love” and “My Song in the Night.” Student conductor Devin Verrette will conduct “O Vos Omnes.”

The Nicholls Concert Choir is conducted by Dr. Kenneth Klaus and accompanied by Casey Haynes, staff accompanist in the Department of Music.

Volunteers to plant beach grass on Grand Isle shoreline The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana and Bayou Land RC&D,

along with over 60 community volunteers from across Louisiana, will plant 6,000 plugs of beach grass at Grand Isle State Park on April 21.

This event will assist in the stability and growth of sand dunes on the beach as well as encourage new habitat and diversity among the wild-life and vegetation communities that rely on the health of the Cameron shoreline. The project will also help remediate damage done to Grand Isle State Park following the Deepwater Horizon Disaster of last April.

This project is being completed through partnerships with Bayou Land RC&D, NOAA’s Community-Based Restoration Program, Restore America’s Estuaries, Grand Isle State Park and the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana.

For more information, contact Hilary Collis at (225) 413-2228.

Colonel Card iPhone app now availableStudent Colonel Card accounts can now be monitored via iPhone by

downloading the new Colonel Card app, which can be found at itunes.apple.com/us/app/colonel-card/id419733429?mt=8#.

With the application students can add Colonel Cash, deactivate a lost card, activate a deactivated card, view their account balance and view locations that accept Colonel Cash.

On the cover:Facebook photo placeholder graphics altered by Derek Matherne

Nicholls Calendar of Events

Monday Tuesday Wednesday

1415 1618 20

Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

Thursday

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19

•Crawfi sh Day from noon to 5 p.m. by John L. Guidry Stadium

•Nicholls Chamber Singers at 7:30 p.m. in Talbot Theater

•Arts Alive at 5 p.m. in Downtown Thibodaux

•Colonel Athletics Drive-Thru Shrimp Boil from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. by John L. Guidry Stadium

•International Film Club presents “Friday” at 6:30 p.m. in LeBijou theater

•Faculty Senate meeting at 2 p.m. in the Multi-purpose Room of Ellen-der Memorial Library

•RELATE: “Done” at 7 p.m. in the Student Union snack bar area

•Bayou Region Pub-lic Safety Expo at 10 a.m. by John L. Guidry Stadium

•Alumni Meeting and Crawfi sh Boil at 5:30 p.m. in the Cotillion Ballroom

•Softball vs. Texas State at noon in the Colonels softball fi eld

•Baseball vs. Central Arkansas at 1 p.m. in the Didier fi eld

•No evening classes

•Baseball vs. Sam Houston State at 6 p.m. in Didier fi eld

Police Reports

Graphic By: Ashley Falterman

April 9

A student reported a problem with his girlfriend who was waiting for him in the La Maison du Bayou parking lot and wanted her to leave. University Police asked her to leave and not return, and she complied.

Housing reported the odor of marijuana emanating from two La Maison du Bayou rooms. University Police found no odor or presence of marijuana in either room.

April 10

A non-student who was visiting a friend reported a stolen CD player from their unlocked car. Surveil-lance cameras are being reviewed.

A La Maison du Bayou resident complained of water leaking from electrical outlets and power going out. Maintenance and safety were contacted and discovered the water was coming from the washing machine in the unit above the resident. The resident was relocated for repairs.

April 11

A caller reported that a person with a protective order against them arrived while the caller was work-ing. The person left, but the caller requested that University Police contact the person to remind them of the protective order.

Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

Louisiana’s Wacky Weekend Weather

High

Low

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58

High

Low 40%

80

67

High

Low 20%

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Correction:Last week’s issue of The Nicholls Worth was Issue No. 24, not 23.

graphic by Ashley Falterman

To have anorganization’s events

or meetings in thecalendar, send information

to [email protected].

� e Nicholls Worth 04.14.11 page 3

Student allegedly creates fake name to threaten others

Alleged cyber stalked targets speak out

By Ashley Faltermanand Katelyn ThibodeauxOnline Editor and Editor

University disciplinary and criminal misdemeanor charges have been fi led against a student accused of cyber stalking at least three people on campus in what University offi cials say is an on-going investigation that may lead to further charges.

According to University offi -cials, Preston Stock, 18, freshman from Waggaman and staff writer for The Nicholls Worth, posed as a female by the name of “Jamie Jackson” on Facebook to harass and threaten at least one student and two faculty members.

When questioned by University Police, Stock admitted to sending threatening messages to all three, according to police reports.

When The Nicholls Worth con-tacted Stock regarding the matter, he declined to comment.

Stock was issued a summons on three misdemeanor counts of cyber stalking on April 4. He has been banned from campus pend-ing the outcome of next Tuesday’s scheduled disciplinary hearing on allegations that he violated the Student Code of Conduct Section

1 Article 5, according to Eugene Dial, vice president for Student Affairs and Enrollment Services.

The University has fi led three criminal charges against Stock. Other charges may be fi led as the investigation continues.

Police records indicate there may have been additional targets of cyber stalking. One of the vic-tims said there may have been as many as fi ve more.

According to police reports, Stock used the falsifi ed Facebook account to contact his fi rst known target, Brian Heck, associate pro-fessor of mathematics, in Novem-ber. At the time, Stock was a stu-dent of his and a member of the Math Club, which Heck advised.

Heck accepted a friend request from Stock, posing as Jackson, af-ter Stock said he would be enroll-ing in one of Heck’s classes.

Heck immediately began re-ceiving sexually harassing mes-sages from the account to which he did not reply. After a number of messages seeking information in exchange for sexual favors, Heck blocked the Facebook ac-count.

According to statements, Stock then created a new account under the same name to continue the

Facebook communication. Under the new Facebook ac-

count, Stock began sending Heck both threatening and sexually harassing messages. Stock wrote to Heck, “For every week and a half you do not contact me, one of your Facebook friends will die, starting with your perfect little students. Let the games begin.” Heck reported the matter to Uni-versity Police on April 4.

When University Police began investigating Heck’s complaint, they found a connection with a similar complaint fi led by Julie Jacobs, freshman from Paulina, on March 29.

According to the police reports, Stock followed a similar pattern with Jacobs. He posed as Jackson, sending her harassing messages via Facebook, including a threat to “slice” her. He then created three additional accounts when Jacobs blocked the fi rst one.

The third victim has been iden-tifi ed as Katherine Conner, assis-tant professor of English. Accord-ing to reports, Stock, posing as Jackson, sent her harassing mes-sages, including a threat to have her fi red. He also threatened to kill himself if she did not accept his friend request.

In his position as a staff writer for The Nicholls Worth, Stock had interviewed and written articles about both Heck and Conner this semester. He also had proposed writing an article on Jacobs.

Dial said the disciplinary hear-ing on the allegations will be held before a committee consisting of one faculty member from each academic college, two representa-

tives from Student Affairs and the members of the Student Govern-ment Association Supreme Court.

Stock is allowed to have one supporter, either an advisor, attor-ney or friend, but they will not be allowed to participate in the hear-ing.

Tommy Ponson, the Student

photo by Maryna Fowler

Preston Stock stands for a staff photo at The Nicholls Worth.

By Ashley Faltermanand Katelyn ThibodeauxOnline Editor and Editor

A week after a student was banned from campus for cyber stalking, at least three victims are still dealing with the aftermath of the attacks.

Preston Stock, 18, freshman from Waggaman and staff writer for The Nicholls Worth, posed as an 18-year-old female by the name of Jamie Jackson on Facebook. He used the Facebook account to harass and threaten multiple peo-ple, sending one a personal death threat.

Brian Heck, associate professor of mathematics, was Stock’s fi rst known target. After receiving a friendly message from Stock, who posed as Jackson, in November, the messages took a quick turn from sexually explicit harassing messages to death threats towards his students.

Heck said that he was never physically threatened by Stock, but decided to involve the police when he got a message saying

see THREATS page 5

see TARGETS page 4

one of his students would die ev-ery week and a half that Heck did not give Stock the information that he asked for. To this date, Heck doesn’t know what information Stock wanted. He was never able to reply to Stock’s messages.

Stock’s next known target was Katherine Conner, associate pro-fessor of English. Stock sent mes-sages to Conner about the way she looked and threatened to get her fi red. One of the messages stated, “wow, total bitch ya know, yea YOU! Im gonna get you fi red from my school. whore. Bet your hair coluor is fake.” Conner felt threat-ened when she received the mes-sage, “i can keep on adding you. i found out where you live kathy.” Stock stated “im gonna go kill my-self because you wont ever add me kathy.”

Conner printed out the messages and turned them in to the head of the English department, who then turned them into Eugene Dial, vice president for Student Affairs.

Conner knew that whoever was


Blackboard to convert to Moodle

English dept. to add film studies

By Melissa HolmanStaff Writer

Students will begin to see the transition from Blackboard to Moodle and the ushering in of new usernames in the coming months.

Tom Bonvillain, director of academic computing, said the pro-posed plan is to replace Blackboard with Moodle by the second sum-mer intersession.

The fi rst step in the transition, Bonvillain said, is getting all fac-ulty members set up with a private “sandbox,” an area in which they can begin to make new course de-velopment. Faculty members are no longer able to make any new course developments on Black-board.

Though faculty members can transfer their existing courses to the Moodle system, Bonvillain said that the converter made a jumbled mess of the information.

“We’ve had a bunch of teachers look at it and say, ‘I just as well

start over.’ ”Once the system is up and run-

ning, it will serve as a cost-saving method for the University and pro-vide a more benefi cial outlet for receiving information, Bonvillain said. Though all the features in Moodle are similar to the ones on Blackboard, a course can be laid out in topics, as it is currently, or in a weekly format.

Usernames are in a period of transition as well, Bonvillain said.

Two types of usernames are cur-rently in use, one that was created in the Plus System and one that was created in its successor, Banner. The goal is to have every student utilizing his or her Banner user-names, the third party ID located in the top right corner of the system, within days of the end of the spring semester, Bonvillain said.

Academic computing manually maintains the old usernames, IDs with the fi rst four letters of a stu-dent’s last name, fi rst initial and three numbers, because they do

not exist in Banner, Bonvillain ex-plained. This is not only a diffi cult task to continually monitor but is also potentially unsafe in regards to student’s accounts, Bonvillain said.

“This is one of the last remnants of the conversion (to Banner) that needs to happen,” Bonvillain said.

E-mail accounts, however, will not be changed, Bonvillain said. Any accounts in the old formats are essentially serving as an alias for the newly converted Gmail system, and students can continue to use their accounts like normal.

Though the University is aware of the severity of such a change, it is one that is necessary, Bonvillain said.

“It is a drastic change, but we’re increasing the probability of errors if we continue to manage the user-names outside of Banner.”

Bonvillain said that he urges all students to become familiar with their third party ID, found by log-ging into the Banner system, in preparation for the changes.

By David GuidryStaff Writer

Studies in fi lm will begin in the fall with two unique classes that aim to introduce students to fi lm and challenge their abilities to analyze and understand visual media.

The proposal to add a fi lm stud-ies minor has passed the curricu-lum board but is not yet offi cial. Eighteen credit hours must be obtained in order for a student to minor in fi lm. Four fi lm courses have already been approved and two of these are being offered for

the fall semester.“It is highly likely there will be

a fi lm minor,” Todd Kennedy, as-sistant professor of English, said.

“There was an issue with the Eng-lish department adding too many classes compared to how many we

were subtracting. We were only able to add the two classes for fall, the Intro to Film class and the Film Genres class.”

Kennedy will not exclusively teach fi lm classes. However, he is teaching both fall classes and will be teaching most future fi lm classes to get the ball rolling with the minor.

Intro to Film is the only required course in the fi lm curriculum so far. It teaches the basic concepts of the critical study of fi lm including cinematography, sound and other

see FILM page 5

“If you’reinterested, you should get on

this.”

— Todd Kennedy

TARGETScontinued from page 3

sending the messages was hiding under a fake name but thought it was a girl who possibly failed a class that she taught.

Julie Jacobs, freshman from Paulina, was Stock’s third known target. Jacobs did not know Stock until he introduced himself as a fellow victim of Jackson’s harass-ing messages. Not realizing that Stock was Jackson, she confi ded in him and believed they were victims. Stock told Jacobs, “One of his friend’s dads was a lawyer, and another friend’s dad was a cop. They were both helping to build a case.”

Jacobs then received a death threat from Stock. Jacobs said that Stock, posing as Jackson, said that on April 7 at 4 p.m., “she was go-ing to use a knife and had been saying that she was going to come see me about two weeks before but had been deciding which knife to cut me with.”

Stock was questioned by Univer-sity Police and admitted to threat-ening to stab Jacobs. Stock was banned from campus last Thursday until the disciplinary hearing next Tuesday.

When it was revealed that Stock was posing as Jackson, all three victims were surprised. Con-ner said, “It was the last person I would have thought.”

The victims also said that Stock’s behavior did not match the messages.

“He spoke and wrote in two dif-ferent languages,” Jacobs said. Most of Jackson’s messages were written with improper spelling, grammar and punctuation, where-as Stock had proper writing expe-rience.

Stock completed a story on Heck and Conner for The Nicholls Worth. Both were disturbed that he

chose to do stories on them. Stock also asked Jacobs if he could do a student profi le on her, which would have run in next week’s paper.

Heck searched out Conner after learning that she was also affect-ed. They had not previously met before the incident but felt a con-nection after sharing their experi-ences.

Conner said that it made her feel better to know there were others also affected; however, none of the victims knew why they were the chosen targets.

“No one expects for them to be attacked by someone who isn’t real,” Jacobs said. Heck thought his laid back and casual personal-ity was to blame.

Heck’s biggest fear now is see-ing Stock. Heck becomes nervous when he’s approached by students that he does not know.

“Don’t engage in a person who is harassing you. You can also set your Facebook settings to where non-friends can’t message you,” Heck said.

Conner said that she couldn’t imagine what students have to deal with when they are cyber bullied or stalked. Conner does not want this situation to happen to anyone else. “People who are doing the bullying online need to know that they will get caught,” Connor said.

“You shouldn’t trust every-thing on the Internet. If someone is threatened, the best thing to do is contact the authorities,” Jacobs said.

Heck summed everything up by saying, “It’s been a nightmare.”

If anyone has been a victim of bullying, stalking or any other form of harassment either on-line or through text message they should notify University Police immediately.


Crawfish Day hosts music, food

technical elements of fi lm. “The Intro to Film course is pri-

marily to introduce people to ana-lyzing multiple elements of fi lm,” Kennedy said.

These introductory classes are going to be taught every fall and possibly during summers. Other faculty members will teach future Intro to Film classes as Kennedy moves his focus on upper-level courses.

The other fi lm course offered for the fall is Film Genres, a class that can be taken twice on two differ-ent genres. The Film Genres class next semester will focus on West-ern fi lms. Movies to be studied in the class include “The Search-ers,” “Star Wars,” “There Will be Blood” and “No Country for Old Men.”

“We’re going to start with tradi-tional John Wayne and Clint East-wood Westerns. There will also be some contemporary stuff and also

THREATScontinued from page 3

By Katie O’HaraStaff Writer

Nicholls annual Crawfi sh Day, when students can get crawfi sh, food and refreshments and play games for free is today from noon to 5 p.m. by John L. Guidry Sta-dium.

SPA hosts this event each spring semester. Students get in free with their Colonel Card as long as they take a minimum of seven hours.

Planning for this event begins in August of the fall semester.

“We’re always on the look for fun and exciting things to bring to Crawfi sh Day,” Melvin Harrison, Student Life assistant director, said, “and we spend the entire school year looking.”

Over 5,000 pounds of crawfi sh are purchased for the day and a va-riety of other foods are available as well.

“I love it,” Brandon Bourque, psychology sophomore from Gon-zales, said. “They hand you this box of crawfi sh and these great little coupons.”

Each student is given coupons to redeem for hamburgers, hotdogs, popcorn and other food and drink items throughout the day.

But the free food is not the only reason students go. Multiple musi-cal talents perform and many games are available throughout the day.

This year, country singer Natalie Stovall and saxophonist Matt Co-rey will be performing. There will also be a mechanical bull, bungee trampoline and many student or-ganizations hosting various booths and activities.

“Crawfi sh Day is such a nice way for all of the students to get out and hang out with each other,” Sa-mantha Neale, business sophomore

from Holden, said.The day gets bigger each year,

Harrison said, with the number of students on the rise.

“The day costs about $40,000 to host,” Harrison said. Nicholls re-ceives donations from Amsan, So-dexho, Bukay Distributors, Pepsi and Coke to help provide for the event.

“Crawfi sh day is a great way to end the semester before everyone leaves for the summer,” Stephanie Eshleman, athletic training sopho-more from New Orleans, said.

photo by Bridget Mire

Students sit to eat during Crawfi sh Day last year. The annual event will be held today at noon near John L. Guidry Stadium.

Judicial Offi cer, will present evi-dence regarding the complaints, and Stock will be allowed to pres-ent a defense. The proceeding is closed to the public unless both sides agree to open it.

Dial said possible punishments

could range from a written admo-nition to temporary suspension to permanent expulsion.

An arraignment date on the criminal charges has been set in Thibodaux City Court for May 9 at 9 a.m.

FILM continued from page 4

fi lms that wouldn’t traditionally be considered Westerns,” Kennedy said.

The Film Genres classes will cycle throughout semesters as they cover various genres and styles of fi lm.

Major Filmmakers and Topics in Film are two other courses in the proposed fi lm curriculum. Major Filmmakers will explore a body of work from a single fi lmmaker or group of fi lmmakers. The Topics in Film course emphasizes specifi c themes or aspects of fi lm, such as women in fi lm or fi lm history.

“I would advise that if you are interested in the minor to start tak-ing classes now,” Kennedy said. “Worst case scenario, you get classes that count for English and humanities credit. If you’re inter-ested, you should get on this.”

For more information regarding Film Studies, see Todd Kennedy in Peltier 246.


Looking for an on-campus job for Fall 2011?Enjoy writing, editing, taking

pictures, or graphic design?STUDENT PUBLICATIONS IS NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS Nicholls Worth Newspaper:

Sports EditorLagniappe EditorCopy Editors (2)Staff WritersSports WritersReportersSports ReportersPhotographers(must have digital camera experience)

Staff ArtistGraphic Designers(experienced in Adobe Creative Suite)

La Pirogue:Section Editors

Nicholls Worth Advertising:Ad Sales Representatives(must have automobile)

All positions are paid through

Student Employment.

For more information or an application, stop by the Office of Student Publications on Ardoyne Drive or call 448-4259

The Nicholls Worth 04.14.11 page 7

nichollssportsSportS BriefS

Baseball

April 12:Nicholls State 8South Alabama 9

The Colonels’ loss breaks their three-game winning streak. With the loss, the Colonels are now 15-17 on the year.

Men’s Basketball

April 10:The Louisiana Sports Writers

Association named senior forward Anatoly Bose the Louisiana Player of the Year.

Women’s Basketball

April 10:Freshman guard KK Babin

named Louisiana Freshman of the Year, and senior guard Ricshanda Bickham was named All-Louisiana Second Team by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.

Tennis

April 10:MEN Lamar 4Nicholls 3

WOMENLamar 6Nicholls 1

April 9:Nicholls State 4McNeese State 3

SINGLES1. Ilona Serchenko (MCN) def. Florina Nosca (NICH) 6-1, 6-32. Natalia Zamora (NICH) def. Ralitsa Pirdopska (MCN) 6-3, 4-6, 6-33. Sumana Kalyanasundaram (NICH) def. Tea Tvrtkovic (MCN) 6-4, 6-04. Tatiana Denezhkina (NICH) def. Anastasio Surkova (MCN) 6-1, 5-7, 6-15. Marina Ljoshevska (NICH) def. Kwynn Biggs (MCN) 6-4, 6-16. Maria Frausto (MCN) def. Melissa Harrison (NICH) 7-5, 6-1

DOUBLES1. Serchenko/ Pirdopska (MCN) def. Florina Nosca/Natalia Zamora (NICH) 8-32. Biggs/ Frausto (MCN) def. Sumana Kalyanasundaram/Marina Ljoshevska (NICH) 8-23. Melissa Harrison/Tatiana Denezhkina (NICH) def. Tvrtkovic/ Surkova (MCN) 8-2

vs. Central ArkansasThibodaux, La.

April 156 p.m.

vs. Texas State (DH)Thibodaus, La.

April 161 p.m.

Senior softball players reflect on careersBy Jake Martin

Sports Editor

The Colonels softball team is led by three seniors who are playing their last seasons of col-legiate softball and all three la-dies agree that they’ll miss their teammates.

The seniors are infielder Tori Lay, pitcher Carlee Winkemann and utility player Whitney Roan. Head coach Jenny Parsons said that the seniors’ biggest assets to the team are their experience and leadership.

“They work hard,” Parsons said. “They’re all really good kids. When you get down like we’ve been down, the people that you go to are your upper-classmen, and they’ve stepped up a lot this year.”

Parsons said that Lay is hitting solid from the field, Winklemann does a great job on the mound and Roan has played three differ-

ent positions this year. She went on to say that she likes for them to give the younger players guid-ance, and that’s what they do.

Lay’s career as a Colonel has been similar to a roller coaster ride and she said that playing softball has been “quite an expe-rience.” Lay said she’s proud of the fact that she “stuck it out.”

Softball was not always easy for me,” Lay said. “When I came in as a freshman, I started but then had a tough two years. It’s hard coming in and starting your first year as a freshman because you think this is going to be the best year of your life, and then I didn’t start my sophomore year. I would get put in the game, and that was tough to get used to, so I’m glad I stuck it out.”

Parsons noticed the senior in-fielder’s ups and downs and is happy to see her have as good of a year as she’s having.

“Tori Lay has been here for all

four years, and I’m happy she’s having the year she’s having. She hasn’t been given a lot of opportunities because of people playing in front of her, but she’s having a good year offensively,” Parsons said.

Lay said with a smirk on her face that the best part about play-ing softball is that she gets to tan and exercise, but then said that she “loves her teammates.”

Lay’s teammate and fellow se-nior Winklemann said that her favorite thing about softball is the drive she has for the game. Winklemann is a junior college transfer and has spent the last two seasons pitching for the Col-onels.

“Coming in as a junior, you’re expected to be a leader with girls that you don’t know so it’s been a growing experience, but I’ve learned a lot from these girls and wouldn’t trade them for any-

thing,” Winklemann said.Roan said her career highlight

was going 5-for-5 in a game when she was a freshman where she also had three steals. But, she said, that was when she “was fast.”

Roan started a lot of games for the Colonels over her career and is thankful for the opportunity to get to play with her teammates.

“Not a lot of people get to ex-perience it, and I’m glad that I was able to,” Roan said. “Being around these girls and making new friends has been awesome.”

As the seniors move on in their life and leave behind their col-legiate careers, Parsons said that they’ll be remembered for their leadership.

“I’m proud that they’ve been here for the years that they’ve been here, and I’m proud of what they’ve done here academically and athletically,” Parsons said.


Senior infielder Tori Lay steps up to bat during the March 19 doubleheader against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.


Senior infielder Whitney Roan waits for the ball during the March 23 game against Louisiana State University.


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Einarsson makes history by winning two tournamentsBy Adrian Bourgeois

Sports Writer

With the capturing of his sec-ond golf tournament title of the season, a freshman has provided excitement to one of the more un-derappreciated athletic programs Nicholls offers.

Kristjan Einarsson, Iceland na-tive, traveled a long distance to display his talents for the Nich-olls State fan base. The lengthy journey to Thibodaux resulted in a rather diffi cult transition period for the freshman.

“It was hard. The biggest ad-justment was with the food be-cause it seems like 90% of the food down here is deep fried,” Einarsson said. “It really helped me a lot having another teammate from Iceland though.”

Fans of golf can attest to the great amount of concentration it takes to become successful at the sport. Even though Einars-son has settled in a foreign land, he is blocks out the potential dis-tractions and concentrates on his game.

Einarsson credits his work ethic and passion for his early success on the course. If he is not study-ing, eating or sleeping, one can fi nd him dedicating his free time at the nearby Nicholls practice

courses and Ellendale Country Club.

“I spend most of my time try-ing to improve my game. I prac-tice fi ve days a week and rest the other two days,” Einarsson said.

His desire to achieve great lev-els of success on the golf course can be attributed to the values his family instilled within him as a child.

“The drive to win comes natu-ral to me. My father is a big sup-porter of me, so I love seeing him happy,” Einarsson said.

Einarsson’s personality fi ts

perfectly to the traits one may believe a golf player possesses, and his calm demeanor is of great benefi t to his game on the golf course.

“I’d say I’m pretty calm, and I really don’t talk much. My pa-tience on the golf course defi nite-ly benefi ts me,” Einarsson said.

Recently, Einarsson became the fi rst golf player in Nicholls history to win a second golf title. While other athletes may be con-tent with achieving something no one has ever done in school his-tory, Einarsson said his career as a Nicholls golfer is only just be-ginning.

“My main goal was to win at least one tournament, and I ac-complished that. Now my goal

is to win at least one tournament every semester I’m in school,” Einarsson said.

In the eyes of Einarsson, golf is not just another sport. Instead, golf is a passion, a sanctuary and an opportunity. Einarsson has already achieved honors that all who have played golf before him has fallen short of accomplishing, but his level of satisfaction is far

from completion.“Back home, I’ve competed

and won in a lot of tournaments. I know how it feels to win, and I do not like to lose, so every time I give it my best,” Einarsson said.

Even though his freshman sea-son at Nicholls is coming to a fast end, Einarsson plans to continue to work on perfecting his game and to come back even more fo-

cused next year. “I will always fi nd ways to im-

prove. I even have a golf statis-tic app on my phone that lets me put my scores after every round,” Einarsson said.

With this determination to his game, Einarsson will continue to contribute big to the Nicholls golf team and provide excitement in the sport for years to come.

“I know how it feels to win, andI do not like to lose, so every time I

give it my best.”— Kristjan Einarsson


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Assistant head coach provides multiple roles for teamBy Carolyn Noble

Staff Writer

Colonel baseball’s associate head coach proves to be an instru-mental part of the baseball pro-gram as he enters his fourth season with the Colonels.

Not only is Chris Prothro deemed the associate head coach, he is also the recruiting coordina-tor and the pitching coach for the Colonels.

Despite having multiple roles on the team, Prothro has not always worked towards becoming a base-

ball coach. After graduating with a degree in history from Arkansas State University, Prothro consid-ered entering either law school or medical school to further his edu-cation. It was not until 2007 when former Colonel head coach Chip Durham called Prothro two days before classes started, asking if he wanted an assistant coaching job with the Colonels.

“He asked me if I wanted the position, and I said sure, and the next day I was here,” Prothro said. “It was about a 20 hour drive when I came down, and I’ve been here ever since.”

Prothro met Durham when he transferred to Crowder College in Missouri, a two-year junior col-lege, from Northwestern State University after his freshman season. At Northwestern, Prothro competed for a spot in the starting line-up as a catcher, but sparing-ly saw playing time, as he was a freshman behind an all-conference catcher.

“I transferred out to go to junior college to play, and that’s where I played for Coach Durham,” Pro-thro said. “After that, I was able to continue on to play at Arkan-sas State University in the Sun-belt Conference for two years as a

catcher.”Prothro admits that coaching

never crossed his mind until after his freshman year of college when he coached an American Legion team in his hometown of Shreve-

port, La.“It was neat for me to try and

help guys get better,” Protho said. “When you tell them to do some-thing, and they try it and have some success, it’s a pretty good feeling.”

It was at this point that Prothro realized his knack for coaching.

“I thought maybe I had a skill for it,” Prothro said. “Who knows if that’s the case now, but I felt like I did, and I feel like I do, and it’s something I’m very passionate about now.”

After seven years on the coach-ing side of baseball, Prothro said it would be very difficult for him not to be involved in the sport.

“I don’t know how I’d get up in the morning,” Prothro said. “I’ve been doing this for seven years,

and I really don’t feel like I’ve worked yet.”

Within a staff of four well-qual-ified members, Prothro said he adds emotion to the baseball dug-out. When comparing himself to

the other Colonel coaches, Prothro describes himself as “a little more firey” by showing emotion in both good and bad ways.

“I think I’m hard on the guys when I need to be, but I think when they do something good, I’m the first one to pat them on the butt too,” Prothro said.

According to Prothro, the Colo-nel coaching staff is successful because they operate on the same page and work towards a common goal.

“There’s no gray area from any member of our coaching staff,” Prothro said. “All we want is for our players to be as good as they can possibly be on and off the field. It’s exciting because our per-photo by Maryna Fowler

Baseball associate head coach Chris Prothro watches the catcher and of-ficial during the April 1 game against the University of Texas at Arlington. see PROTHRO page 10

“I’ve been doing this for seven years, and I really don’t feel like I’ve worked yet.”

— Chris Prothro


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Diaz and Melendez put Gracie camp on the mapThe Strikeforce welterweight

belt stayed around the waist of Nick Diaz Saturday night after he defeated Paul Daley with a fi rst round TKO.

The fi ght lived up to the hype as it delivered an action-packed

fi rst round and will undoubtedly be talked about as a Fight of the Year candidate. I don’t like the way Diaz handles himself outside the cage, but he’s one of my favor-ite fi ghters to watch fi ght because he brings it every single time. Diaz was talking trash as normal and taunting Daley during the fi ght and found himself in trouble early.

Daley possesses a one-punch knockout power that can’t be rivaled by any welterweight in the world and when he hits his opponents with his patented left hook, they usually hit the can-vas. Daley landed one of those left hooks and dropped Diaz, but Diaz showed off his solid chin and recovered quickly.

After that, the two exchanged back and forth before Diaz dropped Daley and fi nished him with fi ve seconds left in the round. The fi ght had a big-fi ght feel to it and delivered above and beyond from an entertain-ment aspect. With the win, I be-lieve Diaz asserted himself as undoubtedly one of the best wel-terweights in the division. With Zuffa now owning Strikeforce, it is possible that fi ght fans will get to see Diaz take on the UFC Welterweight Champion Georg-es St-Pierre down the road.

Diaz wasn’t the only fi ghter from Cesar Gracie’s camp to de-fend his title Saturday night as Strikeforce Lightweight Cham-pion Gilbert Melendez defeated Tatsuya Kawajiri via TKO in the fi rst round. This fi ght didn’t possess the drama that the Diaz fi ght had as Melendez absolutely obliterated Kawajiri.

Melendez dropped him early in the round and fi nished him off with some vicious elbow strikes on the ground. After the win, Melendez called out the UFC lightweights and said he wanted to unify the titles. It’s too ear-

ly to unify the titles, but, then again, whom else is Melendez going to fi ght? None of the other lightweights in Strikeforce make a truly interesting fi ght because Melendez is on another level than they are.

There is one fi ght that would re-

sonalities go together well; we’re friends off the fi eld, we spend time together, we all want to work, and it’s important that we all work hard.”

Before becoming a Colonel, Prothro was the assistant baseball coach at North Iowa Area Com-munity College where he worked primarily with pitchers, catchers and hitters, while also assisting with recruiting. One of the biggest differences Prothro found in the transition to Division 1 baseball was the level of competition.

“I don’t think people really real-ize it’s a very high level of base-ball being played in the Southland Conference,” Prothro said.

According to Prothro, one of the biggest pressures of coaching at a Division 1 level is the amount of preparation that goes in to every day.

“The competition is very good, and you have to do a very good job of preparing your players or you’ll go out and get beat,” Pro-thro said. “That’s what we try to get our guys to do, and realize it’s an every day deal. I know our guys want to win, so we have to prepare to win.”

Since becoming a Colonel coach in 2007, Prothro has had to give up coaching summer league baseball, as the summer is one of the peak recruiting times for colleges.

“You just can’t do it as a full time coach,” Prothro said. “There’s four of us on staff, and we have to be here the whole time; June, July and August.”

For two summers, Prothro coached in the Northwoods Sum-mer Collegiate Wood Bat League. His fi rst season was in Brainerd, Minn. for the Blue Thunder before moving on to work in Mankato, Minn. for the Moondogs. Dur-ing these two seasons, Prothro coached six post-season all-stars and 13 players that went on to be drafted or sign a professional con-tract.

During his four years at Nich-olls, Prothro has seen great strides in the University both academi-cally and athletically.

“University President Dr. (Ste-phen) Hulbert has made a com-mitment to making our University better through the facilities and everything that he’s in charge of, and athletic director Rob Bernardi has done the same thing in our athletic department,” Prothro said. “Despite the economic times, it’s a very exciting time to be a part of Nicholls athletics because ev-erything’s getting better and that’s sport by sport.”

ally intrigue fans as far as Strike-force fi ghters go and that would be the third fi ght between Melen-dez and Josh Thomson. Thomson and Melendez put on two classic fi ghts and are 1-1 against each other. The only problem with

Thomson getting the title shot is that he is coming off of a loss against Kawajiri, whom Melen-dez just walked through.

Say what you will about the Gracie camp but one thing is for sure, they know how to put on fi ghts. With the exception of Jake

Shields, Gracie Jiu-Jitsu fi ghters always entertain the fans. When’s the last time you saw Diaz, Nate Diaz and Melendez put on a bor-ing fi ght? Not only are they ex-citing, but they have dominated Strikeforce as Shields was the

middleweight champion while Melendez and Diaz were cham-pions in their weight classes at the same time. Watch out Greg Jackson and Team Blackhouse, the Gracie camp is making them-selves more well known and back-ing up that trash talk in the cage.

“Watch out Greg Jackson and Team Blackhouse, the Gracie camp is making themselves more well known and backing up that trash talk in the cage.”

PROTHROcontinued from page 9



nichollslagniappe

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Nicholls hosts Grammy nominated electric harpistBy Ross LandryLagniappe Editor

As a part of the 13th annual Festival of the Arts Jubilee, Nich-olls welcomed Deborah Henson-Conant, a Grammy-nominated electric harpist, for a free show on Monday in Talbot Theater.

Henson-Conant uses music, the-ater, storytelling and comedy in her show while performing a combi-nation of blues, fl amenco, Celtic, funk, folk and jazz music all on an electric harp that was made exclu-sively for her.

Henson-Conant has shared the stage with the Boston Pops, opened for Ray Charles and created her own music special, “Invention & Alchemy,” which aired on PBS stations across the country. She has been featured on NBC, CBS, CNN and NPR, and she has been interviewed by Charlie Rose, Lou Rawls, Joan Rivers, Studs Terkel, Scott Simon, Billy Taylor and Su-san Stamberg.

Henson-Conant was given her fi rst harp from her parents after they misunderstood her request for a blues harp harmonica.

“I took harp lessons in college, but I wanted to learn to play jazz on the harp,” Henson-Conant said. “After college, I put together a trio with a harp, bass and drums and started playing in jazz clubs around Boston.”

One of her harpist friends invited her to play at a harp festival in Ed-inburgh, Scotland, and from there she was invited to Germany.

“In Germany, I met an agent who was interested in booking tours for me,” she said. “So for many years

I toured Germany with a huge con-cert harp and a band. At one point, Charlie Rose, who then had a tele-vision show on NBC, invited me to play on his show, and from that I got offered a record contract and started playing more in the U.S.”

Fifteen years ago, Henson-Conant came to Nicholls after be-ing invited by Angela Hammerli, distinguished service professor of education. At this time she was still playing a six-foot tall, 75-pound amplifi ed concert harp but dreamed of an instrument that was smaller and more powerful to make touring easier.

“I was just getting interested in writing concertos for harp and or-chestra, and though I was still play-

ing a standard concert harp, I was using it in very different ways,” she said.

After watching her perform at Nicholls, Hammerli brought Henson-Conant to meet professor William Grimas at Louisiana State University.

“He is one of the nation’s leading pops orchestra arrangers,” she said. “He kindly gave me some pointers and encouraged me in my writing and arranging.”

A few years later, Henson-Conant was invited to tour and solo with the Boston Pops.

“I wrote the orchestra charts, and thus began a huge new phase of my career: soloist with orchestra,” she said. “Trust me. This all has to

do with what brought me back to Nicholls State!”

During this time, Henson-Conant began working with a harp builder in France called CAMAC on a pro-totype for a completely new kind of harp—one that would be a hybrid of a harp and electric guitar.

“This harp would allow me to have much more power than the concert harp and would be almost as small as an electric guitar—the touring harp I’d been dreaming about,” she said.

Henson-Conant continued her or-chestra and solo shows along with her collaboration on developing the new type of harp, and in 2006, she made a musical special for PBS called “Invention & Alchemy.”

“That project featured the new style of harp, and it aired on PBS stations around the country,” she said. “The CD received a Grammy nomination.”

Henson-Conant said that her fa-vorite thing about her career is that she has complete control over what she does.

“I can make my own mistakes and have my own successes,” she said. “It’s very challenging to be pioneering a new instrument, in part because people have a precon-ceived idea about what a harp can and can’t do and in part because I’m inventing as I go along.”

Henson-Conant went on to say that every once-in-a-while she gets pulled in to someone else’s idea of what she should be doing, but she eventually realizes that it is not the path for her.

“The best thing about my career is that when that happens, I have the freedom to reset my compass and head back towards me,” she said.

In her last visit to Nicholls, Hen-son-Conant played her six-foot-tall, 75-pound concert harp. This time, however, she was armed with the latest version of the electric harp—a carbon fi ber model that she is honored to say was named after her—the DHC Blue-Light.

“It’s very exciting to return to Nicholls State many years later and reconnect with a moment when all of that was just a fantasy for me,” she said. “My visits to Nicholls are the brainchildren of Angela Ham-merli, and considering what a rich phase of my life the last one started, I’m delighted to be back here again and see what this one will bring!”

photo by Bridget Mire

Grammy-nominated electric harpist Deborah Henson-Conant performs Monday in Talbot Theater as part of the Jubilee festivities.

page 13 04.14.11 The Nicholls Worth

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Nursing senior to be on Wheel of Fortune college week


Abbie Lapeyrouse, nursing senior from Houma, practices Wheel of Fortune on a computer in Talbot Hall on Tuesday.

By Zavier DavisStaff Writer

Abbie Lapeyrouse, nursing se-nior from Houma, graces Nicholls with her accomplishment of being a contestant on the Wheel of For-tune.

With dreams of being on tele-vision since she was a little girl, Lapeyrouse’s dreams came true when she was accepted to be a contestant on Wheel of Fortune.

“It was a long process to get on the show,” she said. “The Wheel Mobile was at Harrah’s in New Orleans, and I went with my mother and sister. We filled out a comment card, and they put it in a raffle. Out of 50 people, my moth-er and sister were called.”

Lapeyrouse was saddened when her name was not called for the raffle at Harrah’s. She did not know, however, that her mother had already entered her in another contest.

“Way before going to Harrah’s, my mom sent my e-mail to them for being a contestant for college week,” she said. “Around Christ-mas, I got an e-mail from them saying that they wanted me to try out.”

Lapeyrouse will be filmed this Saturday at the Convention Center in New Orleans. The episode will be on TV from May 9 to May 13.

“If I were to win, I would like to go on a trip because I love to travel,” she said. “If I win money, it will be spent wisely.”

Lapeyrouse and her mother were called to the Ritz-Carlton in New Orleans for a private interview in early January.

“I was very nervous because there was over 50 college students there,” she said. “I was the only one from Louisiana. The other college students were mostly from Arkansas.”

With her nerves on edge, Lapey-rouse said that she messed up the first time on the first puzzle.

“The second time, I guessed the whole puzzle,” she said. “I just guessed one letter, and I figured out the whole thing.”

Being awarded with a t-shirt for winning the puzzle, Lapeyrouse was immersed into the competi-tion where she was given a written test to take.

“I possibly passed because they called my name to come back in,” she said. “I introduced myself to the staff of the Wheel of Fortune. I also said a joke that made other people laugh, but the staff didn’t. My joke was ‘what kind of pants does Mario wear? Dun-em Dun-em Dun-em.’ I felt very confident when I left.”

The interview took place in early January, and Lapeyrouse

was told she would get a letter later that month saying if she was accepted on the show.

“I did not get a letter in Janu-ary or February,” she said. “I was like, ‘oh well.’ Then on March 16, I got a voicemail from the people from Wheel of Fortune, and they

wanted me to be a contestant for college week.”

Lapeyrouse strategies are to have fun and buy plenty of vowels.

“This is a once in a lifetime op-portunity,” she said. “I plan on practicing, meeting new people and having a good time.”

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I plan on practicing, meeting new people

and having a good time.”

— Abbie Lapeyrouse


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Freshman student loves free running

Tyler Thornton

By Donny BlanchardStaff Writer

Some may not guess that this Morgan City resident has the po-tential to become the next profes-sional free runner.

Tyler Thornton, a freshman with an interest in business, likes to free run in his spare time when he’s not at school or at work.

“Free running is turning any en-vironment into a playground, so no matter where you are, free run-ning is possible,” he said. “Any-thing you can possibly do on an object in an environment involv-ing tricks, fl ips, jumps, turns and rolls can all be considered free running.”

When he is not free running, Thornton also enjoys skateboard-ing or just listening to his music.

Thornton decided to come to Nicholls after his parents offered to pay for his tuition and other college funds as long as he lived

at home.“I live with them now, and all I

have to do is pay for gas,” he said.Thornton admits that although

it is easier to live at home, it can be rough sometimes to be a com-muter.

“Waking up in the morning can be terrible sometimes because I have a 1M class, but it’s not too bad,” he said.

Q: What is the most played song on your iPod right now?

A: It is “The Opportunity to Be” by My Ticket Home.

Q: If you could wear one pair of shoes for the rest of your life, what would they be?

A: Nike 6.0 because they are the most comfortable pair of shoes I

see THORNTON page 16

photo by Derek Matherne

Tyler Thornton, freshman from Morgan City, backfl ips outside the Student Publications offi ce on Monday.

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Former FBI member teaches psychology

have ever placed my feet in that will support me in my hobbies.

Q: If you had a million dol-lars, what would be the fi rst thing you would buy?

A: I would stock up on real food fi rst, then soda and other junk.

Q: What is your favorite food to eat?

A: Any kind of stew, chicken, beef. I’m satisfi ed with any of them.

Q: If the zombie apocalypse begins tomorrow, what would your weapon of choice be?

A: I would say a crowbar, be-cause I don’t want to have to worry about guns and ammo, and it’s long enough that I can keep a distance from them.

Q: If you could be in any band, what band would it be, and what instrument would you play?

A: I would be the lead vocalist in Asking Alexandria because I love to sing, and they’re my fa-vorite band.

Q: Do you have a hidden tal-ent that not many people know about you?

A: My free running abilities be-cause most people look at me and see my weight and think, “nah that guy can’t do a backfl ip.” Gener-ally when you look at a guy that is 200 pounds, you don’t see any free running happening in their life.

Q: What is your favorite thing to do on a rainy day?

A: I like to swim on a rainy day. It puts me in a relaxed mood.

Q: What would be your fi rst course of action if you were sud-denly the new president of the United States?

A: I would legalize marijuana. If the government would legalize and tax it, our country would ba-sically become debt free. There is so much illegal hauling in between states, and it’s just causing way too many problems. With marijuana being legalized, the government would be more worried about the war cause and other serious crimes

that are taking place in our states.Q: If you had any superhero

ability, what would it be?A: Invisibility because I’m such

a creeper (laughs).Q: If you could learn any lan-

guage at all in the world, what language would you choose?

A: I would learn German be-cause it’s the craziest sounding one. Have you ever heard a speech or something in that language?

Q: If you could create a brand new major for college, what would it be?

A: Procrastination. There’s an art to it, and I believe I’ve mas-tered it. I procrastinated once in high school on a senior project and received an A, so I feel like no one can top me in that fi eld.

Q: What is your dream job?A: I would love to be a profes-

sional free runner. That would be my dream job. The World Free Running Parkour Federation spon-sors competitions where you can get paid.

THORNTON continued from page 15

By Zavier DavisStaff Writer

Monique Boudreaux, associ-ate professor of psychology, is a busy woman who balances her time between teaching at Nich-olls and working with the FBI.

Boudreaux is originally from California where she went to undergraduate school at the Uni-versity of California in Los An-geles. She received her master’s degree at Harvard University in counseling psychology. She then returned to UCLA and earned an-other master’s degree and a doc-torate.

Boudreaux moved to Louisiana after she met her husband while working on her doctoral disser-tation about crimes against chil-dren and kidnapping at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va.

“I moved here because I met a Cajun boy,” she said. “He was in law enforcement, and I was there for an internship. I moved here to Houma, and I have been living here for about 16 years.”

Boudreaux is still affi liated with the FBI. She is on their re-search advisory board where they

still include her in their research on crimes. She travels twice a year to the FBI Academy in Quantico.

“They have been wonderfully generous with me in working with my geographical challenges,” she said. “The FBI agents that I have met at the Academy are amazing. They are so different and open where they have incorporated me into their lives. The FBI itself is a family unit and to this day, some of the agents are like family.”

In her free time, Boudreaux likes to spend time with her kids, work out and read.

“I am a sports-oriented person,” she said. “My daughter plays soc-cer, so I am on the soccer fi eld a lot with my daughter. I also like to swim.”

“When I started in college, I was a pre-pharmacy major,” she said. “Most of my family were pharmacists, so that was some-thing that I thought would be in-teresting.”

Boudreaux realized that she did poorly in the subject and took a liking to her psychology class.

“While taking all my pre-requi-site classes, I took a psychology

class, and I loved it,” she said. “My professor was an incredible mentor that transmitted psychol-ogy material to become engaging. That turned my interest into a life changing decision on changing my career. I literally changed my major the next semester.”

Boudreaux enjoys being a pro-fessor as much as working with the FBI.

“Every semester you have dif-ferent people in your classes,” she said. “I love to see what they are going to throw at me every semester. It is fascinating. Some people have come up to me and said, ‘you taught me something different,’ and that is all I care about.”

Boudreaux has been working at Nicholls for eight years.

“My favorite Nicholls memory is when it was my fi rst semester teaching here and my son was in Pre-K,” she said. “A parent came up to me and said you must be busy because your son says you work at ‘Pennies.’ I explained to her I worked at Nicholls, and I re-alized my son mixed up Nicholls as the coins, pennies and nick-els.”

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Editorials are based on the majority opinion of a seven-member board. Opinions expressed in letters and columns are those of the writer and not necessarily those of The Nicholls Worth. Letters to the editor are encouraged and ac-cepted at the discretion of the editor. Letters should be fewer than 300 words, typed and should include author’s name, classification, major and telephone number. Faculty and staff should include their title and department. Longer letters may be accepted as guest columns. Anonymous letters will not be printed. The Nicholls Worth reserves the right to edit all letters for grammar, obscenity, accuracy and poor taste. Letters are due at 4 p.m. Monday, the week of publication. Letters can be delivered to the Student Publications building, E-mailed to [email protected] or sent to: The Nicholls Worth Editor, Student Publications, P.O. Box 2010, Thibodaux, La., 70310.

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Propriety declines as technology advancesWhile the rest of the world has been

experiencing one disaster after another, the threats to our small community have just gotten more personal, more serious and more alarming.

Though we are thankful we haven’t experienced another weather disaster like Katrina or environmental disaster like the Deep Horizon Oil Spill and are hopeful about our future budget cuts, Nicholls inter-nal student af-fairs have taken a turn for the worse.

Cyberbully-ing, though there are questions on how that term should be de-fined, has come to an all-time high at Nicholls. With the rise of Facebook and Myspace, it’s no wonder that people who used to put them-selves at great risk by stalk-ing through the bushes where anyone could see them are finding it easier to stalk, harass and threaten people.

When you use the Internet, you hide behind a computer. Other users only know what you tell them. If they want to know more, they have to use inva-sive measures, that most people don’t have ready access to and can be illegal, to discover what IP address was used and where that specific computer is lo-cated. Even then, you can only identify the computer and not the person who used it.

There are two sides to the dangers

of social networking. One is that every piece of yourself that you put out there will stay there, possibly forever. The other is that every other person who uses the Internet now knows who and where you are. It just takes a few clicks, and a person’s entire history can be laid out.

Take a look around the room and pick out a person at random. Type in

that person’s name into a search engine. What did you find? You probably just discovered things about that person that they did not even know where available online—a blog they created when they were in their teens about their child-hood fears; a complete contact list for that person, including cell-phone num-bers, addresses and emergency contacts that a Web site they participated in re-leased without their knowledge; maybe even their social security number.

But now that you know where to find

all of this information, just imagine who else knows how. These days, that is at least most people under 30.

Blocking people and hiding infor-mation does not help. There are ways around those security features, and peo-ple determined enough already know how. If they don’t, then they can Google search for the information. We promise that it’s out there. As a precaution, us-

ers should only friend people they know. Any profile can be a fake.

We often raise objections against coun-tries that censor their citizens’ Internet ac-cess, but when it comes to our own students us-ing the Internet to create aliases to play cruel pranks, threaten people, harass people or slan-der names, we have to admit that there are probably very good reasons the Internet can be censored.

The rule of thumb Nicholls students need to re-member is this: If you won’t say it to someone’s face, don’t hide behind your computer to say it.

If you or someone you know has been affected by cyberbullying, harassment or threats, contact Eugene Dial, vice president for Student Affairs and En-rollment Services, at (985) 448-4022, the Women’s Resource and Services Office at (985) 448-4470, University Police at (985) 448-4746 or the Coun-seling Center at (985) 448-4080.

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editorialnicholls

editor Katelyn Thibodeauxmanaging editor Kristen Fisackerlydesign and layout editor Lindsay Duetonline/design and layout editor Ashley Faltermanlagniappe editor Ross Landrysports editor Jake Martincopy editor Nicole Theriotcopy editor Rebecca Plaisancestaff writer Melissa Holmanstaff writer Kami Ellender

staff writer Donny Blanchardstaff writer Katie O’Harastaff writer Zavier Davisstaff writer David Guidrysports writer Adrian Bourgeoissports writer Carolyn Noblephoto editor Bridget Mirephotographer Meagan Gervaisphotographer Maryna Fowlerphotographer Brandon Queen

advertising manager Adrienne Bourgeoisadvertising sales rep Kacey Rodrigueadvertising sales rep Kyla Rodrigueadvertising sales rep David Fordad graphic designer Katie Landrygraphic designer Derek Mathernestaff artist Alicia Voisincirculation manager Jake Loupebusiness manager Anne Toloudisadviser Nicki Boudreaux

art by Alivia Voisin


Former Virginia Tech student recalls campus shootingsBy Justin Merrifi eld

Guest Column

I don’t remember what I had for breakfast the morning of April 16, 2007. I couldn’t tell you what I was wearing or what I did before class or anything that happened the weekend before. Everything before disappeared.

The fi rst thing I remember was walking to my 9 a.m. class in Lit-ton Reeves Hall. It was cold. Up the hill from my apartment and rounding the corner next to Cas-sell Coliseum and everything was business as usual.

When I passed by a dorm on campus, I saw several cop cars parked on the grass right next to the door. There was a girl standing next to the door, crying all by her-self. I didn’t think anything of it. That was the moment everything changed though. In hindsight, I wish I had said something to her, just a comforting word or a hand on her shoulder—just something that would have spread goodness that day.

Our class had a window adjacent to the street. It was a class I didn’t really care about but was required to take. I don’t remember what we were covering, but I do remember hearing sirens going by outside the window frequently—more sirens than normal, more than just a fi re alarm going off. An EMT in class got up and ran out in the middle of lecture after her pager went off several times. That’s when I knew something was very wrong.

It was a short walk down that same road the sirens were on to get to my next class at 10 a.m. I didn’t see anything wrong that matched the feeling in my stomach. I didn’t see anything; no one was driving or walking around at all. At the front door of the building I had class in was a simple sign: “Gun-man in Burruss Hall. Stay indoors and away from windows.”

Waiting outside the classroom for my biotechnology class, peo-

ple were starting to piece together information and rumor that each of them had: A couple people had been killed on the other side of the drill fi eld and the campus was go-ing into lockdown.

There was a guy who sat be-hind me in that class named Ryan Clark, little more than an acquain-tance of mine, but a friend of a friend. He wasn’t there, and we joked that he picked a good day to sleep in. When a couple more peo-ple showed up and said the cam-pus was going into lockdown, we didn’t wait around for our profes-sor to show up. I wasn’t going to be locked inside this building. We ran across the street to the parking lot and drove home.

I don’t know if the professor

ever showed up or if she was stuck somewhere else, but I know Ryan didn’t.

The next several hours disap-peared for me. I sat watching the news. I learned everything the same way everyone else did.

“We have reports coming out of Blacksburg, Virginia of a shooting at Virginia Tech.”

“We have reports of three dead.” “We have reports of four people

killed now.”

“Five dead.”“Six.”Then I remember seeing the

broadcaster go pale. He stuttered for a second.

“It’s just coming out now, we have at least 30 people killed at Virginia Tech.”

How does a number go from six to 30 that quickly?

For a few days, we became the biggest news story in the world. I got in touch with people to let them

know I was OK. All the while, I could still hear the warning sirens outside.

“Get indoors. Stay away from windows. Gunman on campus.” Repeated over and over.

I lived in Blacksburg for years and never even knew those si-rens were there. I still don’t know where they are.

It was during this time I found out that Ryan had been killed. He was an RA in the dorm I passed

and was one of the fi rst two vic-tims. The cop cars and the girl cry-ing were for him. A week later, I would write a card to Ryan’s fam-ily in class. All I could say was, “I wish I would have turned around more.”

That night, I sat down at my desk before bed. I had not cried at all that day. Sitting there, I wept harder than I had before or since. I wept because everything was wrong. These things only happen

“These things only happen on the news. They don’t happen in real life, and they certainly don’t happen

to you and your community.”

on the news. They don’t happen in real life, and they certainly don’t happen to you and your commu-nity. I wept because I couldn’t do anything else. Everything was wrong, and I couldn’t do anything but sit there and cry.

Afterwards, the news media descended on our small town. President Bush came to offer support. Banners, vigils and me-morials appeared all over cam-pus. Schools from across the na-tion and around the world sent letters and posters and all num-ber of displays of solidarity.

The most astonishing feeling in the days and weeks after the shooting was not anger or fear, but love. It was a hurt and dam-aged love, and a love that many years and many hugs would not be completely mend, but it was love nonetheless.

So I wanted to share my story be-cause I love you, whoever is read-ing it. I love you because you’re alive, and you have the chance to do or be anything.

Four years later, life moves on, but the love lingers, and some things and people shouldn’t be for-gotten. I urge you to live your life every day for the 32 people that don’t get to.


Multiple Sclerosis fundraising efforts end in successTo the Nicholls Community,

I am proud to be a part of the Nicholls family. I am a faculty member. I am the Director of Stu-dent Publications. I am a Univer-sity alumna. I am an alumna of Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority. I am also one of the 4,000 people in Louisiana who suffers from Mul-tiple Sclerosis.

I would like to take this oppor-tunity to thank the Nicholls com-

munity for helping our local effort to raise more than $11,000 for the National Multiple Sclerosis So-ciety’s Walk MS event in March.

The money was raised in true Nicholls fashion…as a family ef-fort.

The Student Publications staff

Custodian asks students to stop graffi ti of campus propertyA great article on “Graffi-

ti” vandalism appeared in The Nicholls Worth dated March 7, 2011. Many thanks to Mr. Ross Landry: he certainly did a great job and many thanks for picking Peltier Hall as his first stop.

Peltier Hall was established in 1967, and by my count, that makes it 44 years old. The re-strooms and the whole build-

ing are in pretty dammed good shape for such an old building. It probably is one of the most traf-ficked buildings on campus. We have four custodians with a lot of pride in their work and a great faculty to work with. They also have a lot of pride in their work.

What you failed to mention and is very important is the cost, money-wise, to remove graffiti.

took the lead, approaching local restaurants, accepting donations, coordinating an awareness week, hosting bake sales and selling

“feet.” But it didn’t stop there. Other campus organizations and individual students generously donated their time and money by

buying bracelets, baking goods for the bake sales and participating in the Cane’s fundraising night. The Greek organizations then took our fundraising a step further by donat-ing all proceeds from Greek Week, totaling $5,000, to the cause.

Each day I came to campus and was more and more amazed by the outpouring of support. I have nev-er experienced anything like this. This campus is an amazing family to be a part of.

I have always been proud to be a Colonel. But today, the pride is swelling. I want to thank all of the administrators, faculty, staff and students for their heartfelt gener-osity and for working together to help fi nd a cure.

Nicki Boudreaux1994 Mass Communication GraduateDirector of Student Publications and Instructor of Mass Commu-nication

“This campus is an amazing family to be a part of.”

It’s not cheap anymore. Paint is very expensive. If you had to pay outside painters to remove the graffiti and vandalism, you would have to shut down the building. Thanks to Pat and his crew (NSU Painters): they do a wonderful job, as does the NSU maintenance crews. When you try to use our removal chemicals, it removes the paint and there is

the added work and expense. It’s very costly to remove any graf-fiti today.

Maybe during orientation, the fear of God should be put into the new students when they be-gin their first classes at NSU. I know fear was instilled in me when I came to NSU in 1958. Why has that changed so much? Maybe we should go back to that

old theory, “Train the students; don’t let them train you.”

I leave you with this phrase: Foolish names and foolish faces are always found in foolish plac-es.

LeRoy FremanCustodian, Peltier Hall


Documents

The Nicholls Worth