Children visit the craft table in the annual Epilepsy Stroll. Photo by Kathleen Cook

Once again the Charlotte 49er Athletic Department put on their annual Epilepsy Stroll.

This is an event that is true to the heart of the department. Deputy Athletic Director Darin Spease has a son who has battled with the disease since the age of two. Spease’s family was fortunate enough to be able to afford the care needed in order to combat with epilepsy, but that is not the same for all families who struggle with this disease.

The stroll has been a fundraiser for the Medication Epilepsy Fund in North Carolina for over a decade.

Athletes from various 49er teams took the time to engage in games with children, make bracelets and dance for the cause.

Spease described having the opportunity to connect his fellow 49er family to be “almost emotional.”

Kim Whitestone, Senior Athletic Director for Internal Affairs, has been on the forefront for years along Spease making this Epilepsy Stroll possible.

“We have been doing it so long that it’s actually pretty easy,” Whitestone said. “Once we get our student athletes on board, it’s really a pretty simple event to throw together.”

Athletes are a large contribution to this event.

“They show up, they are enthusiatic, they enjoy and it is humbling and heartwarming to see them here engaged with the community and be apart of this,” Spease said

The 49ers have created an event that have athletes coming back.

“We have student-athletes who leave our program and come back and visit and talk about this event and the impact it had on them,” Whitestone said.

Freshmen men’s soccer player Hunter Omli spent his morning working the cornhole station with his fellow teammates. In his first year at Charlotte, Omli has already valued his opportunities to engage in the community and give back.

“Charlotte gives us such a great place to come and help out people, the community here is great,” Omli said.

Octavia Wilson from the women’s basketball team isn’t new to community service. While working with the kids is rewarding, Wilson also enjoys interacting with the parents.

“I think it’s a good thing that a lot more people should be involved in and just to see a community come together and put a smile on kids but not also kids but their parents faces,” Wilson said.

With the epilepsy walk, the attention shifts from athletes to children. For Wilson, she appreciates opportunities like this because “you don’t know what the next person is going through.”

The Epilepsy Stroll is not only an eye-opener for student athletes, but for families affected by this disease as well.

A parent and active participant of the epilepsy stroll at Charlotte, Temperance Lykins spends each year being humbled by how lucky her family is.

“When you look at others in here we see that we are blessed because it could be worse than what it is,” Lykins said

“I see that there is so much support in this area and I think it’s great we have that to fall back on if we ever need it like raising the money, one day I might have to call and say hey I need help, we are fortunate and blessed that we don’t have to right now but we don’t know what the future holds,” Lykins said

Lykins also appreciates the support shown by the 49er athletic teams in sending out members of their teams to help out.

“It breaks by heart, but it makes me happy because nobody has to come out here and do this. It is so sweet,” Lykins said.

Coaches came out as well in support of the stroll.

“As these young man are growing and I get fortunate enough to coach and we are chasing victories and loses and we get caught up in our little world and get caught up in this microcycle,” men’s soccer coach Kevin Langan said. “It’s very important we take a step back and realize we are apart of something much bigger than us, we are very fortunate to be in the position we are and we can give a little bit back it is very important.”

While soccer is a large aspect of some of these athletes lives, Langan always want to develop skills for his players off the field.

“Student-athletes are not all about soccer and we forget that a lot,” Langan said. “It’s about giving back to the community, helping to grow and develop a fine young man who is well rounded, who gives back to his community, who works hard in the classroom and takes their athletics very seriously so it’s that holistic approach.”

Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert is the undisputed leader of the offense. He is the man. He runs the show.

Leadership at the quarterback position is built-in and part of the job description. But for a defensive safety, that’s extra. That’s the role that senior Ugo Amadi fills, a role that is especially vital for a team wielding a young secondary.

“He’s like a quarterback of the defense,” head coach Mario Cristobal said. “He can do a really good job of lining us up … He’s like a traffic cop making sure guys are in the right spots.”

Oregon secondary will be young this upcoming season. They lost cornerback Arrion Springs and safety Tyree Robinson, two players with talent and experience. So, the secondary could have two sophomores as the starting cornerback, and one of the safety positions is up for grabs. Stopping pass-happy Pac-12 offenses is a challenge that a new secondary will face in 2018.

The young players will have to learn quickly, but there are opportunities. The depth chart is fluid and spring practice is a time for coaches to experiment and develop players.

Amadi will stay at safety for spring practice. He made the switch to safety last season after playing cornerback for two years.  The Ducks need him there. It also allows Oregon to develop depth at the safety position with players like Brady Breeze, Mattrell McGraw, Nick Pickett and Billy Gibson, who all played last season.

It also allows the cornerbacks to get reps and build skills. Right now, it seems two sophomores are in the lead: Thomas Graham Jr., who started last season, and Deommodore Lenoir, who got significant playing time last season as well.

The Ducks are thin and untested at the position, so the spring reps are important.

“It doesn’t matter who it is, you know?” safeties coach Keith Heyward said. “I’m happy to have Ugo. … But we still have to find that right mix of safeties and corners to have the right guys on the field.”

They might be young, but they are following Springs and Robinson who taught them along the way.

“I know they all stay in touch. Those older guys did a great job helping groom these young guys,” Cristobal said. “They’ve learned a lot too just watching themselves on tape.”

Pickett, a sophomore, played early last season, but he is sitting out of spring to heal a torn labrum he’s had since high school. He will compete for a starting safety position come fall, but for now, he needs workout his brain.

“I keep his mind sharp,” Heyward said. “We kind of have like a jeopardy in the meeting room and I’m asking questions. I don’t do a lot of monologue talking. I’ll ask and they have to answer.”

They all might be fighting for playing time, but they are still always on the same team, which helps for each of their development.

“We all just pretty much help each other,” Pickett said.

Follow Jack Butler on Twitter @Butler917

The post Oregon’s young secondary grows during spring practice appeared first on Emerald Media.

Well before the national championship trophy will be handed out, Bruin gymnasts have already taken home a fair amount of hardware for their efforts this season.

No. 3 UCLA gymnastics (18-2, 4-1 Pac-12) had eight athletes earn a total of 14 All Pac-12 honors with two of them earning major conference awards for their performances during the regular season.

Redshirt senior Peng-Peng Lee, junior Katelyn Ohashi, sophomore Kyla Ross, senior Napualani Hall and redshirt freshman Grace Glenn all earned first-team All Pac-12 honors. Ross received first-team honors on the all-around and uneven bars, averaging a 9.942 on the latter. Hall earned her place on the first team for vault with a 9.779 average, while Glenn averaged a 9.871 to earn first-team honors on the balance beam.

Ross also earned second-team honors on the vault and balance beam. Second-team honors were awarded to sophomore Felicia Hano in vault and floor exercise, freshman Nia Dennis in uneven bars and freshman Pauline Tratz in floor exercise.

Lee also came away with the Pac-12 Women’s Gymnastics Scholar-Athlete of the Year award. As a sociology major, Lee has a 3.49 cumulative GPA over her time at the university.

Lee also has scored five 10s in competition this season, four of them on the balance beam and one on the uneven bars. She is averaging a 9.943 as the anchor on the balance beam. Before her last home meet, Lee said her hope for this season is to end it with a ring.

“Personally, (my goal is) to win a national championship,” Lee said. “I’d love to graduate with a ring and do it with this team because this team is so special. I couldn’t have asked for a better season.”

Ohashi took home the Pac-12 Women’s Gymnastics Specialist of the Year award. Although she competed on every event, her best was the floor routine. She averaged a 9.925 score, with three perfect 10s and only one under a 9.8.

Ohashi said this year’s team has a bond that has helped her reach new heights.

“This is one of the more positive teams I’ve been on,” Ohashi said. “I remember my freshman year, it was negative energy a lot of the time. This is probably the best team that I’ve been on, and I feel like we’re very cohesive.”

In addition to these awards, the Bruins picked up 10 Pac-12 Specialist of the Week accolades with five going to Lee, two for Ohashi and one each for Hano, Glenn and Hall. Ross also won one Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week, while redshirt freshman Anna Glenn won one Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Week award.

Coach Valorie Kondos Field led the team to its second Pac-12 title in three years. In February, she said the team drove itself to reach its goals and pursue individual titles and a national championship.

“I’ve always said that you’re never going to be able to create that magic if they don’t do it for themselves or each other,” Kondos Field said. “When coaches can step back and the athletes drive the energy, that’s when the magic happens. And I haven’t felt this magic for about eight years.”

Here’s the scoop: Reasons to visit the Museum of Ice Cream

Eunice Han/Courtesy

Don’t you just love ice cream? It’s the perfect treat for any occasion. Are you feeling sad? Get some ice cream and you’ll feel 10 times better. Did you just ace that midterm that you totally thought you were going to fail? Get some ice cream to celebrate. Thank you, ice cream, for always being there for us. How will we ever thank you for all the joy you bring into our lives? Oh wait, there is a museum dedicated to celebrating you and all your glory! The Museum of Ice Cream is the perfect place to spend your weekend if you’re looking to eat some sweets, take some aesthetic photos for Instagram or just enjoy a day full of fun. Here are some reasons why you should visit the happiest place on earth – and we’re not talking about Disneyland.

So many goodies

We cannot begin to describe all the treats you’ll be greeted by at the Museum of Ice Cream. Soft serve ice cream, cotton candy (made right in front of you), popsicles and mint mochi are some of the many sweets that will definitely satisfy your sweet tooth during your tour of the museum!

Creative exhibits

The museum does a fantastic job in enhancing every one of its exhibits with vibrant colors and extremely Instagram-worthy attractions. We promise that in every room you go into, you’ll feel the need to take a photo! It’s just that cool.

Doing it for the ‘gram

This leads us to our third reason why you should visit the Museum of Ice Cream. The creative exhibits are the perfect places for you to take your next Instagram post. You can take a photo in front of literally anything in the museum (even the trash cans) and it’ll look aesthetically pleasing. The mirrored room and the banana swings are some of the most popular attractions at the museum. Be sure to be basic and take your photos there.

The pool of sprinkles

Yup, you heard that right. There is an entire pool of sprinkles. Take off your shoes and dive right in. For some, it’s like their childhood dream come true (minus the part where you indulge in the sprinkles — sad, we know). But enjoy it while it lasts, because you only have two minutes. Be cautious when you enter the pool because, like with sand from the beach, you’ll find sprinkles in random places in your clothing and in your home.

If you’re interested in visiting the Museum of Ice Cream, we encourage you to get your tickets ASAP because they sell out rather quickly. Don’t let the price scare you. Although it’s about $38 per person, you’ll get to eat so many mouthwatering treats and get perfect shots for the ‘gram. The Museum of Ice Cream is hosted in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Miami. As of now, the museum in San Francisco will be open until May of this year. But there’s a chance it’ll extend its stay once more (as it has the past two times).

Contact Kelly Fong at kfong@dailycal.org.

The Daily Californian

It was one point. Then two. Then twelve. 

As the Longhorns conceded twelve consecutive points in the second set, the offseason blues were prevalent. While technique was lacking during that set, chemistry wasn’t.

In the first scrimmage of the spring season, fans got their first look at Texas’ 2018 squad at Gregory Gym. The Longhorns put away the Aggies in four sets, 25-15, 18-25, 25-16, 25-23.

“It felt frantic at some times,” junior libero Autumn Rounsaville said. “We just tried to come together after each point (and regroup).”

The Aggies matched almost every Texas point to open up the match, staying within two points at the mid-set timeout. However, the Longhorns came out of the timeout and had a 9-1 set-closing spurt.

Texas cruised to a 17-10 lead in the second set, only to concede 12 straight points, and the set, to Texas A&M. Junior outside hitter Hollann Hans used her low, cutting serve to keep Texas at bay and help the Aggies come back. Hans had 15 kills and five service aces on the night.

The Longhorns took the lead early in the first set and never ceded it, cruising to a 25-16 win in the third frame.

Despite falling behind early in the fourth frame, Texas came back to play a contested final frame. Both teams traded points until the Longhorns pulled away from a 23-23 deadlock to take the set and match.

Tonight’s scrimmage also saw redshirt freshman middle blocker Brionne Butler see her first action on the court; the highly touted 2017 recruit put up five kills and four blocks, showcasing her versatile skill set at and around the net.

“You can’t even put a word on their potential,” Johnson said. “It’s limitless.”

Both Butler and junior Orie Agbaji got their first stints of extended playing time outside the practice gym, and their offseason work paid off on the floor. Agbaji added six kills and three blocks in the winning effort.

For head coach Jerritt Elliott, Texas’ scrimmage was an opportunity to shake off rust and tinker with a shorthanded roster.

“The rust has been part of the spring,” Elliott said. “You play so many different lineups, but more so we wanted to see a high performance level.”

During the offseason, Texas graduated three seniors and lost star freshman outside hitter Lexi Sun, who transferred to Nebraska. This left the Longhorns with plenty of voids on the court to fill. 

As a result, Wednesday’s scrimmage provided the Longhorns the opportunity to switch players around and try different positions.

“We definitely get better at playing every position,” senior middle blocker Morgan Johnson said. “It makes us more scrappy … it makes us want to work that much harder to overcome the bad hand that was dealt to us.”

Along with the departures, the Longhorns faced a lot drama within the locker room. On top of the questions surrounding Sun’s departure, fellow freshman Olivia Zelon departed the program, highlighting her grievances in a blog post in early January.

The Longhorns didn’t let the off-court drama get in their heads, using it instead as an opportunity to become closer as teammates and find new leaders to turn to, such as Rounsaville.

“We were in the eye of the storm this spring,” Johnson said regarding the offseason drama. “It showed our determination to work for what we want and ignore all the stuff going on around us.”

With new leaders and changes taking place, Texas’ spring season is poised to be an interesting one. Texas’ next scrimmage is set for next Thursday, April 12, against Texas State. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. at Gregory Gym.

Students can now get pickup storage at their dorm and earn money DENVER, CO – April 4, 2018 – As classes come to an end nationwide, Closetbox (www.closetbox.com) is introducing a way for college students to earn money while also providing discounts to their fellow students for full-service storage over the summer. Closetbox is a […]

Student lots will now become zone lots, and there will be a new ranking system. These are some of the changes coming to parking. | Michael Slaten/The Cougar

Amid a full slate of changes coming for 2018-19, the most significant is that Student parking permits will now require students to park in a specific zone on campus.

Staff within Parking and Transportation Services hope the new zones will improve the distribution of traffic across campus and prevent the most popular lots from filling too quickly. Parking is set to expand over the next several years with new garages and parking guidance systems.

There will be six zones, or clusters of parking lots, for students to choose from. Students can park in zones not specified for their permit after 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and on weekends, according to a PTS blog post.

Director of Parking and Transportation Bob Browand explained in the blog post that the most popular student lots are 4A, adjacent to the UH South/ University Oaks METRO Rail stop, and 20A and 20C, across from the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center.

How students purchase permits will be different. Later in April, students will apply for a parking permit through AccessUH as usual. When a student applies, they will rank their permit choices from most desirable to least, including which zones they would like to park in.

Some zones, such as F, which includes lot 12A, will consist of only one parking lot. Others, such as zone C, will include up to five parking lots.

“I have to say, as someone who parks in the same lot everyday, (if) I didn’t get the one I wanted, I’d be pretty pissed,” communications sciences and disorders senior Niko Reyes said.

Reyes usually parks in lot 20A. He said he’ll make sure to be ready for permit signup so he does not end up with a less desirable zone.

Permits will be distributed to students on first-come, first-served basis, and the permit type they receive will be the highest ranked choice a student picks with permits still available.

Psychology senior Nicole Cordray has a student permit and said students don’t have classes in the same part of campus everyday, so she fears they will be forced to park away from their classes on certain days.

Permit revenue for FY 2018, for Sept. 2018 through Aug. 2019, is expected to be $11 million, according to a PTS budget.

Permit revenue is expected to increase by 169 percent to $30 million by 2024.

By then, garages 5 through 8 will be open. All new garages will have parking guidance systems installed, and current ones will have them installed over the next year.

Garage 6 was approved in March at a Board of Regents meeting and is expected to cost $58 million.

“I’m just glad. (With) all the students that stop me everywhere, I have no problems with money for a parking garage,” said chairman of Board of Regents Tilman Fertitta at a March Board of Regents meeting. “That’s everyone’s biggest complaint.”

About 1,300 temporary parking spaces will be added between Texas Spur 5 and MLK Boulevard by September 2019. Eventually, additional family housing for students will be built over the parking spaces along with soccer and football fields.

Jim McShan, senior vice president of Administration and Finance, said in March the timing of the new recreation fields coincides with the construction of the future medical school over the recreation fields on the corner of Wheeler Avenue and University Drive.

Parking rates will also go up by an average of 16 percent through FY 2020. A garage permit will cost $635 next year and $690 the following year. A student permit will cost $370 next year and $405 the following year, according to parking rates approved in March.

news@thedailycougar.com

—
“Parking explained: Student permits to be divided into zones” was originally posted on The Daily Cougar

The UNC Charlotte Student Government Association (SGA) is gearing up to wrap up the school year, elect new representatives and go out with a bang.

Updates

As of March, 17 new student organizations have been approved by the SGA legislative branch.

Niner Engage has officially replaced OrgSync and is live and running.

Information on newly approved organizations and how to join can be found on Niner Engage. All senate meetings begin at 5 p.m. every Thursday in Popp Martin Student Union room 200. Senate meetings will also be streamed live on Instagram and are open to the public.

SGA has begun a weekly social media campaign on Twitter and Instagram. Every day of the week will represent a different theme. Wednesdays will be used to announce the speaker at Senate for that week.

Legislation

SGA passed the LGBT+ Resource Center Act in favor of dedicating a space on campus for a LGBTQ+ Resource Center, preferably in Cone University Center. University administration has until April 2 to make a decision.

All legislation can be found on https://sga.uncc.edu/legislation

Upcoming Events

Niner Palooza will take place Monday, March 26 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. It will be located in the College of Education and College of Health and Human Services Plaza and will feature food trucks, free food, raffles and Norm the Niner. Niner Passports collected at Niner Palooza can be turned in for a chance to enter a raffle. The winners will be announced before the debate.

The SGA candidates debate will begin at 5 p.m. in the Student Union Rotunda following Niner Palooza.

Follow SGA on all social media platforms to stay updated and connected to your campus and representatives:

Twitter: @UNCC_SGA

Facebook: UNC Charlotte SGA

Instagram: @uncc_sga

Email Press Secretary Ana Valdez at avaldezc@uncc.edu for any further feedback and questions.

Black women face greatest income disparities of low-wage workers in UC system, study finds

Black women face the greatest income disparities among low-wage workers in the UC system, according to a study commissioned and published by AFSCME Local 3299, the university’s largest employee union.

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees spokesperson John de los Angeles said women and people of color earn as much as 21 percent less than their white male counterparts, according to the study. He added that it takes six years for Black women to catch up to the starting wage of white males.

The study found that Black and Latinx individuals are more likely to be hired for lower-paying jobs. Whites and Asian/Pacific Islanders are typically hired for higher-paying jobs, according to the study.

“We’re finding simply that the University of California hiring practices are not giving fair consideration to women and people of color,” de los Angeles said.

UC spokesperson Claire Doan said in an email that the university cannot confirm the accuracy of the figures or the conclusions in AFSCME’s study because it does not know how the union arrived at this information.

“We take issues of fairness and equitable treatment seriously, have mechanisms in place to respond to these types of issues, and follow appropriate Equal Employment Opportunity policies,” Doan said in an email.

The study noted that in 1996, Black people composed 19 percent of all UC service and patient care workers. In 2015, however, this number dropped to 12 percent, according to the study.

“The University of California must do more to combat inequality within its ranks,” the study said. “The lowest-paid jobs at UC must be preserved as ladders to the middle class for communities of color, and UC should enact policies that promote career advancement and strengthen protections against discrimination.”

According to de los Angeles, he had heard anecdotes of the UC’s disparities before and was not surprised by the hard numbers of the study. He said, however, that he was surprised to see this in a publicly funded institution.

“University of California is the third-largest employer in the state,” de los Angeles said. “It’s really, really surprising for a taxpayer-funded institution. … Taxpayers would not be happy or approve of these race and gender disparities.”

AFSCME represents 25,000 service and patient care workers at UC, including custodians, groundskeepers and nursing aids, according to de los Angeles. He said AFSCME wants to give low-wage workers every opportunity to allow them to live a middle-class lifestyle.

“The hard numbers will trigger an intense period of self examination from University of California,” de los Angeles said. “They need to work to ensure that tax dollars are being spent to provide opportunities to not only students but also to their workers.”

Contact Ella Colbert at ecolbert@dailycal.org and follow her on Twitter at @colbert_ella.

The Daily Californian

The Tech College Republicans hosted another Republican candidate for governor at their weekly meeting on Mon., March 28. The Republican primary will be on May 22, in which Brian Kemp will run against Casey Cagle, Hunter Hill, Clay Tippins and Michael Williams.

Kemp graduated from the University of Georgia (UGA) and opened a small business, Kemp Properties. From 2003 to 2007, he served in the State Senate after defeating a Democratic incumbent. In 2010, he became Secretary of State under Governor Nathan Deal, where he continues to serve as he runs to fill Nathan Deal’s open seat.

Kemp spent most of the evening emphasizing his decades of experience. As Senator, he “did exactly what we said we’d do—cut regulations [and] cut taxes.” As Secretary of State, he said he followed through on his promises yet again.

One way he did this was in his “fight for fair and accessible elections” in the state of Georgia. He emphasized how important this was to him, mentioning that he sued Obama and the Department of Justice (DOJ) twice over changes in the voting laws. The lawsuits were both dismissed since the DOJ approved the two alterations, which were to implement a check of citizenship before voting and a cross-check of voter registration data with Department of Driver Services data on file.

In order to continue this work, a component of Kemp’s gubernatorial platform is to create a centralized database of criminals that describes, among other things, the number of offenses, the severity of the crimes, and the gang markings the criminals have. “This will make it easier to track down criminal illegals and deport them.” He claimed that the database will not only keep these “criminal illegals” from voting in Georgia elections but also to weaken the growing reputation that Georgia has for being a “hub for the Mexican drug cartel.”

The rest of Kemp’s platform is based on a four-point plan to make Georgia the number one state for small businesses. Kemp’s view is that small businesses are essential to ensuring that the areas between the big metropolitan areas (Atlanta, Savannah, Athens, etc.) don’t “dry up,” so he wants to “take the power we have in metro areas and spread it to the whole state.”

“It’s great if we get Amazon, but if we don’t, I won’t lose any sleep over it,” Kemp said when asked about drawing large corporations like Amazon to Georgia. Kemp seemed comfortable with Georgia’s situation with its large, metropolitan economy and said that small businesses should become the focus.

Another question probed at Kemp’s stance on the recent March for Our Lives protests on Mar. 24. Kemp, a strong supporter of the second amendment, said that that mental health, not the guns, should be the focus of legislation. Yet he said he did not expect to be dealing with this as governor: “I’m a local control guy. State government shouldn’t make this decision unilaterally.”

Overall, the theme of the evening was trust: “Who do you trust to do what he says he’ll do?” Kemp repeatedly posed this question to the audience.

Kemp said that the ’08 republicans in control of the federal legislature and executive branches “didn’t do the things they said they’d do” and dissuaded republican voters from going to the ballot boxes. Personally, Kemp voted for McCain “because he would’ve been a whole lot better than Barack Obama,” but he couldn’t blame voters for not trusting the Republicans anymore.

That situation had prompted him to decide that “I’ll run on what I’ll do, and when I get in office, I’ll do it.”

The Tech chapter of College Republicans meets on Monday evenings in Scheller School of Business. More information can be found on their Facebook page.