Belhaven University has a 24 hour security watch, but is giving a ticket to a student that pays to attend the school necessary?

By Taylor McDaniel

Plagiarism is on the rise.

Now more than ever, instructors are finding that their students are resorting to copy and paste instead of to the textbook. In a recent survey of  over 71,000 undergraduate students conducted by the International Center for Academic Integrity, 62 percent of participants admitted to cheating on a written assignment.

According to Plagiarism.org, this form of cheating could be considered a criminal offense. By the letter of the law, plagiarism constitutes copyright infringement. However, colleges rarely decide to report acts of plagiarism because many cases are accidental, and intentional cases oftentimes prove difficult to prove. Instead, most prefer to handle cases of potential plagiarism in-house. Many institutions leave disciplinary action up to the discretion of individual instructors and the punishments can vary wildly from person to person.

The Belhaven University softball team has been the most consistent and most respected athletic team on the campus of Belhaven for the better half of 6 years. The team had high hopes for this season and still seems to have high hopes despite the fact of their injuries and the many people playing different positions on the field.

The Blazer softball team has been to the NCCAA National Tournament three years out of the last five. According to Head Coach Kevin Griffin, The Blazers are currently in transition from a division known as NAIA to the well- known Division Three NCAA.
“We only have to win 52% of our games and that is the way it has been for us for 4 years now. Next year we will officially be NCAA and will be allowed to compete for regionals and conference championships then ultimately the NCAA Division Three National Championship. We have had a really hard time adjusting to different positions due to our injuries and other things.”

Coach Kevin Griffin says that due to injuries his players have been all over the field. Their ace pitcher, Bailey Root, plays shortstop when she is not pitching while their right fielder, Marlee Blackwell plays shortstop when she is pitching. The Blazers sometimes have their starting first baseman, Brittany Chetta in right field and their starting third baseman Allie Gordon playing shortstop at times due to another player having limited range of motion because of an injury.

“We’ve had a lot of injuries” says Griffin “you just don’t know how everyone else around will respond when such talented players go down and it kinda changes the whole chemistry and the whole dynamic of your season.”

When asking Head Coach Kevin Griffin on if anyone has stepped up he did not hesitate.

“Anna Peyton Montesi who has played limited innings in the last few years stepped up and has really hit the ball well for us this year. She is always solid for us defensively and she was really the one who had to step up for us and the one who people really believe in now.”
The head coach of the Blazers and several of the players all believe that they still have everything they need in order to have a successful season together as a team despite the injuries. They just must figure out the collective unit part of it. Averi Pender, Abby Mondy and Sarah Depperschmidt are among the injured all of which have decided to redshirt so next year the Blazers are losing three seniors which include: Jordan Self, pitcher, Brianna Dollar, second base and Danielle Darmohray who plays first base.

Averi Pender will be a redshirt senior in the 2020 season which will add a big bat and speed to the Blazer’s lineup. She had hand surgery after catching a pop up in the outfield prior to 2019 season starting. Middle infielder Abby Mondy will be a redshirt junior she will also have speed to the lineup and a good glove to the Belhaven Blazer’s lineup. She suffered from a compound fracture to her leg after a collision with the first baseman of the opposing team in late February. Three days in the hospital and a permanent titanium rod in her leg later she should be ready to go in a year she and the Blazers are hopeful. Sarah Depperschmidt has had three knee surgeries since last July. She will also be returning to the lineup as a redshirt junior as a middle infielder.

It is no secret that the Blazers have not had a very successful year or at least the year that they had hoped for. Their overall average is 9-12 while their conference average is 5-10 as of now. However, they still have a chance at going to the national tournament for the second year in a row and the challenging, gut-checking year is not getting in their way it is only motivating players.
“I think we can get through this. We just have to work hard these next couple of weeks.” Says senior pitcher Jordan Self.

The fans of the Blazers also have no doubt in the players. Averi Pender’s mother, Robin, still believes in her daughter and her teammates.

“They still have a lot of talent on their team and I’m pretty sure they will come back. I believe that they will.”

The Belhaven Blazers know the task that is ahead of them. They have 19 games left on their schedule and they must win 14 of them in order to qualify for playoffs. Their next game is March 27 at Jim McCleod Field in Jackson, MS against Huntingdon College.

https://youtu.be/gljHgPGD00M

by Taylor McDaniel

Imagine this—after years of hard work, countless hours spent on homework, studying for tests, and making sure you have the best grades in your graduating class, you check the mail for a letter from your dream school. With your family gathered around, you open the letter, expecting to words of acceptance and congratulations, only to find out that, “regretfully”, your dream school rejected you. Later, you learn that another student from your school, one with less merit than you by far was accepted to your dream school. The only other difference between your rejection and your classmate’s acceptance—besides academic merit—is the color of your skin.

Move over, Starbucks.

Jackson Mississippi is the home of the first successful lung transplant, a petrified forest, and coffee houses! The city holds many locally owned coffee houses, all with unique flavors and atmosphere. Some of the local favorites include: Cups Espresso Café, Sneaky Beans, The Urban Sip, The Shoe Bird, and new-comer, Coffee Prose. Sure, there are a few Starbucks’ and Dunkin Donuts’ scattered around the city, but locals prefer the small-town shops to the chain stores because they are more welcoming and offer a greater variety.

            Places like Cups Espresso Café offer a variety of coffees in numerous flavors—including their specialty, the blonde. The blonde flavoring is a mix of white chocolate and caramel, able to be mixed into any coffee drink of one’s choosing. Started in 1993, Cups, though local to the state of Mississippi, now has ten locations all serving up hot or cold cups of joe.