Frostburg Homecoming

I went to the first available session at eleven o’clock when the opportunities for students on campus were discussed.  The first to be discussed was Moonlight Media Productions by Anthony Anastasio the current President of the club.  He talked about the opportunities that open up after joining the club.  He talked about how they go to film festivals not only to enjoy the movies being presented but to establish connections in the industry.  He said that a lot of times while at these festivals you run into people that can help you find a job after college.  He talked about how people in the club use other members in their productions.  For example if a student was doing a short movie or a direct study they would fill camera positions with other members of the Moonlight Media Production club.  He also said that TV3 uses Moonlight members as camera operators at the sporting events like the football and soccer games. 

            TV3 was another opportunity mentioned at the eleven o’clock session.  Mrs. Lombardi talked about how the station has a local audience and how it’s not just an on campus audience.  TV3 is a good way to get professional experience and learn hands on how a TV station operates.  There are many ways to get involved with TV3 in front and behind the cameras so it can be a good learning experience for most Mass Communication Focuses. 

            I didn’t enjoy the eleven o’clock session because I am a radio industry focus and I felt that the session was aimed at video focuses.  I didn’t hear anything for radio students; I was hoping that the WFWM would have sent a speaker for so that the aspiring radio students would have somebody to talk to them about opportunities like interning at WFWM, interning at Allegany radio, or having their own show on XFSR. 

            After going to my class at twelve o’clock I came back for the last session which was Frostburg Alum Ms. Tracee Wilkins (Class of '97) who is a successful news reporter in Washington DC.  She talked to us about her career path from Frostburg to now. 

            She started by saying that she didn’t want to be in Mass Communication when she first enrolled in Frostburg.  Her goal was to be the next Clair Huxtable the Wife and Mother on the Cosby show who was a successful Lawyer.  She talked about how she did the morning announcements in High School but never thought she would want to do it as a career.  But when she was on a campus tour and walked into the radio station she felt at home.  She took advantage of all the opportunities on campus and even made some herself so that she would have what she needed to be successful after she graduated.  She encouraged us to seek out internships early because that’s what’s required in the industry now. 

            She went on to talk about how hard it was for her to get on her feet in the news industry.  She wanted to be a reporter but she said that a lot of the time you have to just take what’s available at the time.  She told us about how she worked in Columbus Mississippi a media market that is a lot lower and she talked about how weird the people in town were.  She talked about how she was then offered a job in North Carolina and from there to Washington DC which is media market number 8.  Listening to what she had to say made me even more excited to stick to Mass Communication and start to prove myself in the industry. 

We Belong (Philosophy Paper)

In this paper I plan to write about the struggles of two cultural/ethnic groups when comes to education in the United States.  I plan to talk about the inequality in education between African American and Latino American students. My paper will show evidence that African American and Latino American are not as successful in the classroom as Euro Americans.  I believe that race may be a factor and plan to show evidence that it does. 

            African Americans are one of the largest Minority groups in America today.  African Americans were the largest minority in 23 different states in 2009, and in 18 states had an estimate million African American residents as well.  African Americans are one of the fastest growing cultural groups in the United States.  But the African American race also has various problems as well.

            In terms of jobs and businesses only 28% of African Americans 16 and older were employed in management, professional and related occupations in 2009.  In 2007 about 28.2%  “of businesses in the District of Columbia in 2007 were black-owned, this is a higher percentage than all states or state-equivalents. Georgia and Maryland followed, at 20.4 percent and 19.3 percent, respectively.”  I believe we can improve these numbers and I believe that African American race is underachieving.  I also believe they can do a lot better but I think that success starts in the classroom and with excellent education. 

            Before you even begin evaluating the educational system you see why not many African American adults have management jobs or trusted leadership positions in the work place.  About 84% of Blacks 25 years and older were the portion who had at least a high school diploma in 2009.  These days you need more than a high school diploma to be given a chance at a respectable well-paying job.  It is very difficult to work your way up to a management position at jobs like McDonalds and Wendy’s now a days.  Approximately 19% of African Americans 25 years and older had a bachelor's degree or higher in 2009, and in today’s business environment it is very hard to find a job or a career path without at least a Bachelor’s degree.

            Latin Americans are currently the fastest growing minority group in the United States.  From 2008 to 2009 the Hispanic population in America raised 3.1%.  In 2009 only Mexico had a larger Hispanic population than the United States.  26% of children under the age of 5 are Hispanic American.  In 2009 16 different states had at least half a million Hispanic American residents living there. “About 47% of New Mexico's population that was Hispanic in 2009, the highest of any state. Hispanics also made up at least one fifth of the population in California and Texas, at 37 percent each, followed by Arizona (31 percent), Nevada (26 percent), Florida (22 percent) and Colorado (20 percent). New Mexico had 916,000 Hispanics.”  In 2009 in 20 different states Hispanic Americans were the fastest growing minority group.

            Over the past few years Hispanics have been the fastest growing cultural group in the United States.  But it seems as though they are not gaining ground when it comes to education and income.  The median income of Hispanic households in 2008 was $37,913 which is down 5% from the previous year.  This is because the jobs most Latin American people are working are do not pay well. 

            69% of Hispanics 16 and older who are in the civilian labor force in 2008.  But these are the jobs these are the jobs that employ a lot of Latino Americans.  18% “of civilian employed Hispanics or Latinos 16 years and older who worked in management, professional and related occupations in 2008, the same percentage worked in production, transportation and material moving occupations. Another 15 percent worked in construction, extraction, maintenance and repair occupations. Approximately 24 percent of Hispanics 16 or older worked in service occupations; 22 percent in sales and office occupations; and 2 percent in farming, fishing and forestry occupations.” 

            The reason a lot of Latin American workers have low paying jobs is because a lot of them are not well educated.  Many Latin American young people are forced to drop out of school and join the work force before graduating high school.  As mentioned previously in today’s economy you must have at least a high school level education to even get an entry level job and to be able to get a management position job you will probably need a Bachelor’s degree or higher.  Out of the 48 million Hispanic Americans living in the United States only 3.7 million 18 or older has a bachelor’s degree.  And in 2008 only 12% of college students’ graduate and under graduate were Latin American students. 

            My belief is that the educators are not adjusting well to teaching the minority students.  I think that the culture differences are forming a barrier that is keeping the teachers who are mostly white from helping the Latin and African American students.  I think that when talking about the Latin American students that there may be a language barrier as well as an inability to relate to the students due to cultural differences.  I also believe that lower income Americans who tend to be minorities, African American and Latin American, receive substandard education.  The best and brightest educators are not typically attracted to low income areas with low budget school systems.  These are the reasons I can think of especially since the gap between the white students and the minority students not getting smaller. 

            I read an article written by Jim McCabe called “Afro-American and Latino Teenagers in New York City: Race and Language Development.”  At the beginning of the article his views were the same as mine.  He figured that the teachers were to blame for the fact that the white students are reading much better than African and Latin Americans. “A 1990 report from the National Assessment of Educational Progress put this gap in reading skills at four years.”  So according to this when the kids reached the 12^th grade the white students would be four grades higher than the African and Latin American students.

            The results in the 1990 test were a surprise because in the 1970’s and 80’s the gap between the cultures narrowed considerably.  So to find out why the improvement stopped Mr. McCabe interviewed 35 high school students that went to school in New York City.  A lot of the kids didn’t have a lot to say about the classes they were taking.  Like Robert Holmes an African American 9^th grader said that these classes were not given any novels or books to read other than his text book.  Tonya Blair an African American 11^th grader told Mr. McCabe “we watch a lot of movies, that’s basically what we do in that class, watch movies…we don’t use any books.”  She was referring to her African American history class.  A Hispanic Student named Lillian Vasquez talked about how she used to read a lot on her spare time but now she only reads what she is assigned in school.  What happened as she got older? Why did she walk away from reading her books and novels?

            Then Mr.McCabe interviewed white students as well.  Daphne Greene a 9^th grader and Theresa Cella a 12^th grader and even though I saw slight improvements in what they did in their spare time mostly all of what they said about what the students were asked to do in school were the same as the minority students.  And the author of the article saw the same thing.  In his conclusion he wrote that the lack of reading by the white students in the neighborhood high schools made him rethink his initial statement that “white teachers have low expectations of minority students.”  I agree with him when he says that it seems like teachers in these public neighborhood schools don’t just have low expectations for the minority students but for the white students as well.  

            So maybe it’s not the teachers that are the problem.  After reading this article I believe that household income may come into play as reasons why minority students are having trouble catching up in with white students in reading.  I believe now that because of the poor education in the public schools that most white parent then enroll their children into private schools that are better at challenging them in the class room.  Since a lot of African American and Latin American parents can’t afford private school the gap in the reading skills.  .  I also believe that low income minority parents have to work additional hours to support their families and have less time to do things like read to or with their children.

            My second article was written by Ana Lucia Hurtado.  She is Hispanic and coming out of high school she had 10 full academic scholarships to 10 different universities.  She didn’t go to a private school but she was enrolled in a magnet school which allowed her to do different things that students enrolled in regular public school just don’t have the chance to do. 

            So in conclusion I believe that the educators are not teaching white students more and are not under estimating the abilities of African and Latin American students.  It is my belief that the educators teaching the kids in the public high schools just aren’t as good as the teachers teaching at the private and magnet schools.  It’s more of an income problem because most of the African and Latin American parents cannot afford to send their children to private school.  This is the reason why the gap is growing wider when it comes to minority and white student’s reading levels.  

Upper Marlboro

            Prince George’s county is one of the counties bordering Washington DC.  In 2010 the population was 863,420, at 64% African American Prince George’s county is also the wealthiest majority African American county in the nation.  P.G County is broken up five different regions, North County, Central County, South County, the Inner Beltway, and the Rural Tier.  One town that takes up a lot of the Rural Tier and reaches into part of the Central County is the historic town of Upper Marlboro the county seat of Prince George’s County. 

Upper Marlboro is a rural town in Prince Georges County.  Upper Marlboro is an old town that was settled around 1700.  The town is small with locally owned businesses like the Amish market, Peaches Café, and Nash’s Subs.  Along with some national chains like CVS, Papa Johns, and McDonalds; gives Upper Marlboro a nice mix of small hometown flavor and suburban development. 

            A lot of residents have fallen in love with the Amish market that is relatively new to the area.  The market is in the only shopping center in Upper Marlboro, in the biggest store space that was originally an IGA grocery store. 

Upper Marlboro is not for a town of bright lights and shining stars, its definitely no New York.  But the small town fell you get when walking up Main Street on a day like “Marlboro Day” makes for a fun but relaxing time.  “Marlboro Day” is a day where Main Street is shut off and the town has a parade and venders set up along the street for the entire day.  There’s food, music, games, and tons of fun, anybody would love the family atmosphere at Marlboro day and every year people pack Main Street the day before Mother’s Day to have fun and spend some time outside.  “Marlboro Day” is a great time to come and see all the historic venues this town has to offer just on Main Street and Water Street.  Like the courthouse that sits on Main Street across from the county building. 

            The small town of around 600 has a couple historic buildings and venues that bring a special flavor to the county seat, and you can immediately tell that these historic venues hold great importance to the residents of Upper Marlboro.   But the most notable historic attractions is the county courthouse located on Main Street.  Built in the 1720s the courthouse has been a fixture in Upper Marlboro for a long time.  The courthouse itself has gone through many changes throughout the years.

            When first constructed the Courthouse was paid for by a tobacco tax imposed on residents of Upper Marlboro at the time.  Upper Marlboro was originally a port town for tobacco ships, when the branch of the Patuxent River was still navigable. 

In the 1800s a new courthouse was constructed were the old one used to be located.  Around this time is when the county seat was moved to Upper Marlboro.  One of the first laws that was passed in the new courthouse was the Public School Act, which established a public school system. 

This was just the first time the Courthouse was rebuilt.  There have been numerous changes to it throughout the years making it one of most appealing attractions in Upper Marlboro.  What made the courthouse famous was the remodeling that went on in 2003. 

In May of 2003 the courthouse was closed for a $25 million dollar remodeling.  A lot of residents were excited about how the new courthouse would look and how it would add a new modern look to Upper Marlboro.  But on November 3^rd, 2004 only a couple months before the courthouse was set to reopen, the building caught fire and left the cupola that had looked over Main Street for over 60 years a charred skeleton. 

The town bounced back and rebuilt the courthouse; the charred cupola now sits in the front yard of the courthouse.  It has become almost like a tourist attraction.  On any given day at any given time you may past the courthouse and its old cupola and see various people taking pictures with it.  You can also see another great Upper Marlboro venue standing in the courthouse parking lot.  Down the street not even a five minute walk from the courthouse sits the Marlboro race track. 

Horse racing has also been a huge part of Upper Marlboro since the early days of the town’s existence.  Horse racing came to Marlboro in the mid-1800s, because of the many prominent merchants, lawyers, and politicians that lived and worked in town.  The Maryland Jockey Club sponsored races in Upper Marlboro at the track that was built just south of the court house until 1972.  In 1972 the races were moved to Bowie and the track now sits as a part of the Equestrian Center owned by Prince George's County.  The fair is held here once a year, residents and visitors enjoy rides, music, games, and more.  Some days you also may see people riding horses around the track at a lazy pace taking it the nice weather and spending time with the horse. 

            Upper Marlboro is a nice small town with great places to eat and great history.  A nice place for someone to go and relax.  With so much history and culture Upper Marlboro has become a great place to live and visit.  

Hanover Humane Society

Ashland Virginia is a small suburb a couple miles outside the large city of Richmond Virginia.  Randolph Macon College calls Ashland home which means the town is full of college students, professors, and employees.  Even though the town is considered a suburb Ashland does not fit the description.  Some houses stand three stories high while some only have one floor, but every house has a nice size yard.  Cats, dogs, and other animals are common hear.  It seems like there are at least five or six dogs on every street.  Hunting is also a common activity in Ashland Virginia.  Hunters will take to the woods with packs of up to 20 hounds to assist in finding their prey.  With all these K9’s a lot get loose and the county pound doesn’t have enough man power to keep them all off the streets.  That’s where the Hanover Humane Society comes in. 

            The Hanover Humane Society is a non-profit organization that does a lot for not only the K9 residents of Hanover County but their owners and the residents that don’t own pets as well. 

            The Humane Society does many different things to help the residents of Ashland but one is finding lost K9’s new homes, and they do this many different ways. 

            Alva Hughes a former volunteer at Hanover Humane Society explained to me about the foster parent system.  A volunteer can sign up to be a foster home for a dog while Hanover Humane finds a permanent home for them.  The example she gave me was of a dog named “Five”.  Five was found walking around in a field with a number five spray painted of his side.  It was thought that he was a hunting dog but when nobody claimed him he was put in a foster home while he waited to be adopted by a permanent family.  What is so great about the foster program is that the foster parent can also try to adopt the animal and it gives the animal a chance to be better socialized before he/she finds their new home.  But being a foster parent is a very big commitment, there are many ways people volunteer and help the Hanover Humane Society. 

            Ms. Hughes was a helper at the pound when the Hanover Humane society had eight cages in the pound for their dogs.  She told me that the Hanover Humane society used to pick eight dogs that were going to be put down because of various reasons and keep them in the eight cages.  One of the things she would do is take a dog one at a time into a separate enclosure and let them exercise, play with them, or even walk the dogs that were already home trained.  She told me that the dogs wouldn’t want to go in the cages because they have been taught not to do so.  It was extremely important for dogs that were already house trained to stay house trained because that would help them in their case to be adopted.   

            This has changed in the last couple years as the Hanover Humane Society purchased the Yopaka Kennels.  This gives the Hanover Humane Society a lot more room to care for stray dogs and give care to dogs in the community.  The kennel can hold up to 71 dogs and the upstairs apartments in the house will be used as living quarters for the 24 hour staff that will be working at the Yopaka Kennels.  Dogs that are boarded are kept separate from the rescue dogs but each will have their own individual dog run. (A dog run is a separate enclosure outside of the indoor part of the kennel.  The dogs have the option of going outside or staying inside.)

            The Yopaka Kennels also offer a gift shop, grooming services, and the paw paw path a walking trail that winds through the woods around their facilities. 

            The Hanover Humane Society does a lot for Hanover County.  They make sure that these animals aren’t running loose through neighborhoods and in the streets where and encounter could end bad for animal and human, but they give these animals a good chance at a better life.  If there wasn’t a Hanover Humane Society a lot of these dogs would probably have to be put down because of space running out at the county pound.  The residents of Hanover County and their dogs are thankful for the Hanover Humane Society and the volunteer services of people like Alva Hughes.  

Grandma

The sun was shining but it was a little chilly outside.  Tilmon the oldest was in the living room playing video games.  Gladys Hughes his grandma was sitting and watching the video game she loved to watch football whether it be real or not.  She would occasionally comment on how her father would love to watch Tilmon play football, he didn’t really pay too much attention to it he’d just smile and continue to play.  A couple minutes later Gladys’ daughter Tilmon’s mom Iantha came downstairs said high and sat next to her mom on the couch.

“Iantha…..where’s my father at I just saw him this morning?”

The roar of the virtual crowd was hushed by the pause menu; Tilmon had been asked the same question earlier that day and didn’t know how to respond.  He turned his attention to his mother the one person who had all the right answers to his grandma’s questions.

Gladys Hughes is a small elderly woman that never frowns and always smiles.  She was born in Oklahoma and she’ll let you know every time the sooners when a big football game.  Threw her life she has carried many tittles wife, mom, grandma, church elder, and a lot of the time just Ms. Hughes.  When asked how to describe her mother Iantha Parker said

“My mother is the perfect role model.  She has never been a "do as I say, not as I do parent."  My mother has a kind and loving spirit that is evident in everything she says and does.  She is a Christian and I think anyone who meets her would know almost immediately that she is a spiritual woman with strong faith. My mother is fantabulous!”

A couple months before that sunny day the family noticed a slight change in Gladys’ behavior, she seemed lost and confused and it concerned them because Iantha’s father Alvin Hughes had Alzheimer’s disease and passed while the children were still young. 

What is Alzheimer’s? “Alzheimer's is a type of dementia that causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior. Symptoms usually develop slowly and get worse over time, becoming severe enough to interfere with daily tasks” (http://www.alz.org). 

Gladys was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s after a couple trips to the doctor and it was now Iantha’s responsibility to make sure her mother got the care she needed.  Even though she continued to work full time she still did what she could to make sure her mother was ok.  Like making her food for the day, “I used to make her breakfast and prepare something for lunch so she wouldn’t have to cook anything.” 

During the early stages it wasn’t very hard to care for Gladys, a lot of the work was making sure she took all her medicine and be there to comfort her when she got confused.   She would ask questions about dead relatives or tell you the same thing ten times in five minutes but ask you “how?” when you reply “I know” and “no I didn’t” when you say “you told me already.” 

But “Alzheimer's is a terrible disease that attacks the brain and eventually your body.  It has several phases of progression.”  In the later stages the family began to get worried about Gladys’ safety.  Iantha continued making Gladys breakfast and lunch before leaving to work, but after a while it became evident that Gladys had stopped eating the second meal.

Gladys would eat every meal at the dinner table in the same chair, near that chair there was a big plant.  One day Tilmon decided he would eat in his grandma’s seat because she was finished and had moved to the living room.  To his and Iantha’s surprise when he looked over at the plant he discovered bits and pieces of food stuffed in the leaves and the dirt.  From then on Iantha would eat dinner with Gladys to make sure she got enough to eat.  “She started to hide food; I would find food everywhere in her room in her purse, I don’t know if she just wasn’t hungry any more or if he was trying to save it.” 

As the disease progressed the family began to worry about Gladys and if it was safe for her to live in the house.  One of the hardest things to deal with is when Gladys stated to suffer from “sundowners syndrome.” 

“Sundowner’s Syndrome is the name given to an ailment that causes symptoms of confusion after “sundown.” These symptoms appear in people who suffer from Alzheimer’s Disease or other forms of dementia. Not all patients who suffer from dementia or Alzheimer’s exhibit Sundowner’s symptoms, however. Conversely, some people exhibit symptoms of dementia all day which grow worse in the late afternoon and evening, while others may exhibit no symptoms at all until the sun goes down.”

Alva Hughes Gladys’ oldest daughter had done some research on dementia and Alzheimer’s and eventually came across this to explain why Gladys became so restless at night. 

Some nights Gladys would ask Iantha “where’s my keys? I have to go home and feed the dog.”  Sometimes Iantha would have to stay up and sit in the living room with her mother trying to convince her that she no longer drove and that she lived at her house where there is no dog.

“I used to just be very patient and tell her mommy you’re staying here with me today.”

In the very late stages Iantha and her family had to “Grandma Proof” their house.  Unplug the microwave so she wouldn’t stick anything in it that shouldn’t.  Hide all keys to cars so she wouldn’t try and drive.  Take off the nobs to the oven because she would try to cook dinner but get confused half way and put the plastic bowls straight on the burner.  No chemicals in the bathroom because she would get confused and mistake bleach for perfume and nail polish for lipstick.  Iantha would never mention Gladys’ house in fear that her mother would become emotional and demand to go home.  The whole family would have to watch her during holidays to make sure she wouldn’t feed her medicine to Aunt Alva’s dog, and towards the end of her stay at the Parker house Iantha and the family would have to check on her in the bathroom to make sure she was ok.

It wasn’t that it was too hard to care for Gladys Iantha just felt that it wasn’t safe for her to stay home alone for a long period of time.  Tilmon and Imon were in college meaning she would have to be home alone for a longer period of time.  Gladys now lives in an assisted living home called the house of Joseph where she seems to like it.

I asked Iantha how Alzheimer’s has affected her and her mom

 “Alzheimer's has taken away many of my mother's memories and at times the disease makes it difficult for her to communicate.  She seems to understand what I say to her but she often has difficulty finding the correct words to respond and carry on a conversation.  She can no longer care for herself as the result of the deterioration of her executive functioning.”

            I then asked her, What would you want people to know about your mom?  She said

“I would want people to know that even though she has Alzheimer's, she's still the same wonderful person inside with a heart of gold.”

Frostburg Hospitality

On a cool February night at Frostburg State University the Marymount University’s Men’s basketball team had made the trip up the mountain from Arlington Virginia to square off with the Frostburg State Bobcats.  It was a close contested game and an overall fun game to watch.  Senior forward Maurice Williams led the team with 24 points in his last home game as a Frostburg State Bobcat.  The students were out in force and were supporting their friends and classmates on the way to a 53-52 victory.  During the second half a section of students started to get really into the game and one student yelled an insult directed at one of the opposing players.  As soon as the student yelled the insult an older man sitting two rows down didn’t hesitate to turn around and tell the young fan to cut it out and show the visiting school respect. 

            Fan attitude is a nationwide issue at every level of every sport, from little league AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) basketball where parents start fights and yell threats at opposing parents and refs, to the NBA (National Basketball Association) where fans throw there beers at players and threaten the lives of officials and visiting fans.  But the NCAA promotes good sportsmanship from its fans and players. 

            Before every NCAA game an announcer will read a statement like this “Wesley College and the NCAA promote good sportsmanship by student-athletes, coaches and spectators. We request your cooperation by supporting the participants and officials in a positive manner. Profanity, racial, or sexist comments, or other intimidating actions directed at officials, student-athletes, coaches or team representatives will not be tolerated and are grounds for removal from the site of competition. Also, the consumption or possession of alcoholic beverages at the site of competition is prohibited.”  But in talking to some collegiate athletes this does little to stop fans from becoming a little too rowdy. 

            Junior wide receiver Lucas Adolph said that when the Frostburg football team traveled to Delaware to play the Wesley College Wolverines, he and some of his teammates were subjected to rudeness and racial insults. 

            “I was warming up before the second half and one of the fans leaned over the fence and asked me if I wanted to work in his wood shop or cut his grass.”  Lucas a Hispanic American said it didn’t affect his play it was just annoying.  He also went on to say that on a prior visit to Wesley some of his teammates thought they heard some of the rowdy fans call them the N-word. 

            Other Frostburg athletes have experienced similar treatment on away trips.  Maurice Williams said that on an away trip those fans would spit at the Frostburg basketball team when they ran onto the court.  He expressed how a lot of schools they played weren’t very respectful at all.  “It can be hard for us when we travel but I feel that it’s easy for teams to come here and play cause are fans are just so nice and well behaved.”

            But are Frostburg fans really that well behaved?  Athletic Director Troy Dell says yes.   When asked if he gets complaints about the fans at his school he said “From time to time we do, but for the most part our staff is proactive in addressing unruly behavior before it escalates to an offends anyone.”  With fan support at Frostburg increasing due to the teams joining the CAC (Capital Athletic Conference) , Chill Choices raising promoting black out games, and Frostburg State cheerleaders holding flood games(games when all the other teams attend each other’s games to show support) the event staff will probably have their hands full. 

            Iantha Parker attends Frostburg football games regularly as well as University of Maryland Women’s basketball games.  She told me how comfortable she feels in both arenas.  “At Frostburg I feel very comfortable, the parents are nice and the students are usually well behaved and very supportive of their classmates.”  She then compared her experiences at Frostburg State to her experiences at the University of Maryland College Park.  “Fans at College Park are way more intense than the fans and students at Frostburg.  At Frostburg the only time you see somebody really mad or on the verge of losing their cool it’s most likely a parent of one of the players.  At Maryland games the fans, parents, band, and students are just way more intense.” 

            She went on to say that she feels comfortable at both schools and has seen worse when going to AAU and high school games.

            Question is does it help other teams when there fans are rude and rowdy to visitors?  Senior Running back Patrick Pinchinat doesn’t think so.  “I think that it’s great for people to come out and get behind their team but when they get really disrespectful like verbally attacking players, coaches, and referees it doesn’t really make a difference it actually makes me play harder rather than distract me.”

            Frostburg and other Maryland schools like College park and even rival Salisbury are striving to create an environment at their athletic events that is equally as inviting to visiting fans as it is for their own.  Frostburg may not fill the stands at every game but it’s obvious that they have a solid nucleus of support coming from students, faculty, and other athletic teams.  Fan attitude might be something else to attract more supporters to Frostburg games.  Iantha Parker said she believes that more supporters will start coming to Frostburg games more regularly once they experience it. 

            “Fans at Frostburg are good supporters, they care about the student athletes and they support them.  I like that even though they are intense in that they want to root there teams to a win they do so the right way and are respectful to visiting teams, coaches, players, parents and referees.” 

Sustaining Athletes

            Today’s athletes go through a lot to stay ready to perform on the field.  Sustaining their bodies has become a top priority especially with the long seasons and practices every day.  Pro athletes go to extremes to keep their body fresh; but what about athletes at a small school like Frostburg?  Well your about to find out what todays athletes do to stay fresh and on the field, from pro athletes to D-3 athletes sustaining the body is important and I know all the tricks of the trade. 

            Pro athletes go to extremes to keep their body fresh, anything to extend their career and keep them at the top of their game.  Most players keep up a strenuous work out plan.  Players Chad Johnson and Deangelo Hall took boxing lessons to keep their body in shape.  Mostly all players take advantage of an old cheap remedy known as the “Ice Bath”. 

            The Ice bath helps athletes feel refreshed and all you need is a trash can, water, and ice.  The ice bath is used so much because it is cheap yet affective.  Another trick to a good ice bath is to add Epson salt to the water.  My dad Tilmon Parker Jr picked it up throughout his time playing basketball. 

            But some pro athletes spare no expense when it comes to sustaining their bodies.  NFL receivers Terrell Owens aka T.O. and Laveranues Coles used an expensive piece of equipment that supposedly does wonders for their bodies.  The Hyperbaric Chamber costs more than a couple thousand dollars but when Owens and Coles talked about it on the TV show hard knocks they said it really did a good job keeping their bodies fresh. 

            But athletes at small schools like Frostburg can’t afford hyperbaric chambers to help their bodies heal.  So what do they do?  On campus teams have an entire athletic training staff to make sure their not only ready to play but that they are staying safe while competing.  Players told me that when they have injuries ice and the stem machines in the training room help them return to the field sooner than later.  Athletic training student Chris Acab works in the athletic training said that they also do rehab for the more serious injuries along with ice, stem, heat, stretching techniques, and other little tricks to keep the Frostburg athletes safe and healthy. 

            But the athletic training staff isn’t at the club sports games and they can’t just walk in and get taped up like the school sponsored athletes.  Mason McIlwee has played for the club rugby team for five years now and he’s learned how to keep his body ready without the help of training staffs and hyperbaric chambers.  “I stretch every day, when I wake up in the morning I just do a little stretch to try and keep my body feeling fresh.”  Him and his teammates also use tape and ice on their injuries and drink protein shakes to help their bodies recover from games, practices and lifting.