“Hey, let’s grab lunch.”
My brother’s head pokes hesitantly into the computer room. I reply with a one of those infamous do-not-disturb grunts as my fingers dance across the keyboard, text slowly pouring into the message box on my friend’s Facebook page. I pause briefly, pondering what to write next and notice his inquiring head still lingering in the doorframe.
“I’m not really hungry.” I add, hoping to shoo my intruder.
“Come on, we’ll go somewhere near-by,” he insists—a salesman sweetening the deal.
I figure this effort on his part is a result of my mom constantly nagging him to “spend
time with your sister!”
Regardless, all my facebook notifications have been attended to, and I am out of reasons
not to go. We load into his Ford Fusion and set off towards a local café.
As I stare out the window, watching his Ford swallow up the road before us, I realize my
arms are crossed tightly over my torso, and I sit rigid in my seat. I search for the word to fit what I am feeling—awkward.
I was on my way to grab a quick bite to eat with my brother, the person most genetically
similar to me in this world, and…it is awkward. I can see that he too, feels a little uncomfortable.
Pushing the thought out of my mind, I focus my attention back on the road. After being seated, the struggle for polite conversation begins. I am making polite conversation…with my brother. While he talks on about the different adjustments he hopes to make on his car, it hits me—this twenty-two-year old guy sitting across from me, is practically a stranger. My childhood playmate is no-more. The guy across from me has plans and ambitions, most of which I know nothing about.
On facebook. I constantly “like,” comment, and post on different aspects of my friend’s
lives; we interact daily. Relationships take work. They take communication and effort on both
parts. While focusing all my attention on friends at school, I completely neglect my own brother.
I love my brother. Not just because he’s family, but because I genuinely, whole-
heartedly, love who he is. I think this, in part, is what makes the realization so painful.
When you grow up with someone—someone whose room is just across the hall from yours, maintaining the relationship is minimal—like a hardy hosta plant that even the worst gardeners keep alive. Now though, we are transforming into our independent, adult selves. It’s no longer as easy as bustin’ out the LEGO and spending the afternoon creating new worlds together.
It may not be effortless, but I look forward to this new stage in our lives. I look forward to getting to know the new, grown-up version of my old best friend, sitting across from me. It’d be a whole lot easier if he just accepted my friend request on facebook.

Cacaw! Cacaw! Bird calls echo through the packed gymnasium as a muscled woman on wheels sidles up next to the strong Vixen. With a quick movement of her hip, putting her miniskirt in motion, she knocks the skater down to the ground. She falls slowly, as she’s been taught, but the impact as she hits the floor makes her see stars. As the world spins around her, she hopes for a huge bruise instead of a broken bone. She gets back up and says, “Nice Hit!” to the woman who knocked her down.

This is derby.

A fad of the 70s, roller derby was revived in Texas in the early 2000s. The sport’s popularity has grown at a rapid pace internationally since then. In fact, roller derby has become so widespread that its first world cup will be held in Toronto this December. The competition will include teams from Argentina to Scotland to France.

Roller skates, helmets, pads, fishnets, and miniskirts are worn as the athletes zip around a flat track. The style is described by Lansing Derby Vixens member Julie Yingling as “sexy-strong.”

Fearsome and fun alter egos are chosen by the players, often based on a celebrity or a pun. Yingling is known as Ludacrush. Some of her teammates are Lil Miss Cheeky, UR His Tori, and Lil Hitaly.

But flippy outfits and tough names only skim the surface of real derby. This is a women’s full contact sport. Knee injuries, torn ligaments, broken bones, and especially bruises are not uncommon.

“People just keep going to the hospital because of me,” Yingling said.

She tags along with them. Yingling herself has sustained two serious knee injuries in the past year.

But hurting your opponent is not the point. Roller derby is a real sport, and here are the basics. There are four “blockers, who skate in a pack around the track. At the sound of a whistle, two speedy “jammers” from opposing teams take off. For each blocker that a jammer passes, one point is earned for their team. There are penalties, as some parts of the body cannot be used to knock down, and tripping is not allowed.

Blockers and jammers knock each other down frequently, with legal moves like hip checks.

Roller derby is a different kind of sport. There is a huge community of inclusive girls who have a great time at practices. The Vixens make bird sounds for fun, and often hang out or help each other outside of their tri-weekly practices.

During one of Yingling’s knee surgeries, three team members showed up early in the morning to take her to the clinic, take her home, and spend all day with her. When team rookies are nervous, co-owner and bench coach Regina Calcagno, or Lil Hitaly, makes them sandwiches, pizza, and other comfort food.

“I not only found forty friends,” Calcagno said, “but forty women who you can

call in the middle of the night…”

Everyone starts playing derby for different reasons. Some, like founding members Yingling and Calcagno, wanted a community of women who could support one another and have fun.

Yingling, a graduate student at Michigan State University, said, “Roller derby just seemed like a cool alternative to lame graduate student life.” On their website, the Vixens also said “every cool city has [roller derby].” Others, like newer player Kim Layman, known as UR His Tori on the track, wanted to continue playing derby as a way to get fit.

She found the team through her personal trainer, a Vixen herself called Gluteus Maxine, who leads workouts for her teammates. Whatever reason players have for doing derby, the sport has had a significant impact on their lives.

“It’s a real confidence booster,” Calcagno said. Her teammates agree, and

Yingling adds that she likes the “camaraderie” on the team.

Roller Derby has not only boosted their confidence, but Layman said that it has made her more outgoing as well. In derby, curves and bigger hips are an advantage; the women say it had improved their body image as well. Yingling has become more comfortable with her body, saying “There is a place [in derby] for women of every body size.”

Along with their self image, the Vixen’s popularity has grown. Their first home game, called a “bout,” was sold out. The girls have found fans among friends, family, and coworkers. Yingling said that her fellow students come out to see their bouts.

Layman, a credit card administrator, also has many fans in coworkers and family. “Everybody in the county knows that I’m a derby girl,” she said. The network of support, the fans, and the sport itself have had a positive effect on these women’s lives. Layman doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon, and said she would like to continue playing “until I can’t walk.”

They are fiercely loyal and proud of their team, especially their coach, Ryan Knott, whose derby name is Rexxx Manning. The Vixens say that when Manning is complimented, he shrugs it off and talks about the team.

With a home bout on Saturday, the Lansing Derby Vixens are ready for action. When asked what was next for the Lansing Derby Vixens, member Kristen Apaendter answered, “World Domination!”

It sure looks like it.

Taking lives in war and risking your life to save an animal’s. These are on opposite ends of the spectrum, yet Sea Shepherd Matt Smith switched from one to the other in a blink.

“I guess it was an epiphany that killing is wrong,” Smith said. “Whatever the reason is—I’m sure there’s a reason out there—it’s wrong. I got out of the military, and became a vegetarian, and I guess it was two or three years later that I became a vegan. I guess I just woke up and decided I’m never going to kill anything for any reason, because we have to harmonize with this planet.”

One reason that animals deserve to be protected, according to Smith, is because they harmonize with their surroundings. He describes humans as the only species who constantly take from the planet and kill all other species. He adamantly believes that all life on this planet is worth dying for.

“Sometimes enough is enough. If one person stands up for one animal and I can save one cow, or one dolphin, or one whale, or if I can jump out in front of a harpoon vessel and that harpoon explodes in me and saves that whale, that whale is more important than I am. There are fewer of them and there are how many billions of human beings on the planet? And they’re not killing the planet, we are.”

To find out more about Whale Wars and the Sea Shepherds, visit the Whales Wars page on Animal Planet.

Getting a college scholarship is a dream for many athletes. However, the NCAA reports
only 3 percent of the hundreds of thousands of high school basketball players get a scholarship to play college ball. To put themselves into this miniscule minority, a growing number have resorted to Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball.

“AAU is the reason why I got my scholarship,” said Michigan State University (MSU)
sophomore guard Klarissa Bell.

Bell started playing AAU ball in-between her eighth and ninth grade years. She said she
quickly caught on to the way college coaches scout AAU tournaments.

“We indentify probably 99 percent (of recruits) at AAU games,” said NcKell Copeland,
Michigan State womens’ basketball director of recruiting and assistant coach.

Besides helping with recruiting, Bell also noticed the focus on individuality and the lack of
importance to win.

“College coaches aren’t going to remember if you won or lost,” she said. “They’re here to
watch you, so if you played good, that’s all that matters. If I had a good game and we lost, I was happy.”

Even the faculty doing the recruiting noticed this trend. David De La Pena, MSU womens’
basketball coordinator of basketball operations, said there is a greater focus on the individual over the team.

“One of my really good friends that’s a coach calls AAU ‘All About You,’” said De La Pena.

MSU Mens’ Assistant Basketball Coach Dwayne Stephens said there are reasons that these
players take this “All About You” mentality.

“Now there’s a bigger emphasis placed on (being individually good in AAU) by kids,” said
Stephens. “They feel like they get their rankings from it. But there’s not an emphasis put on
winning.”

Besides the lack of the will to win, there is also a major gap between practicing time of AAU
versus college ball.

“You’re not practicing six days a week for AAU like you’re going to for (Michigan State),”
said MSU womens’ basketball associate head coach Shane Clipfell.

“You get these (high school) All-Americans and they come in and they can’t shoot, can’t

Despite this, De La Pena still acknowledges the fact that AAU is far bigger than high school
for recruiting.

Even a player that benefitted from this system of heavy AAU recruiting admits AAU is far
from perfect.

Byrd said he would play up to 85 games in one AAU season all across the country, on top
of his regular high school season, all for free because of team sponsorship.

“I loved golf more than I loved basketball, but then I got scholarship offers,” said Byrd. “Golf was my life up until my freshman year of high school. But I think if you want to be
really, really good (at a sport) you need to focus on one sport.”

“My parents would drop me off at the course at eight in the morning and pick me up at eight at night,” said Byrd. “My work ethic comes from golf.”

One of the other perks of AAU ball, said Bell, is the level of competition faced, often far
exceeding what would normally be seen at a high school game.

Coaches, too, love the prowess of athletes at AAU tournaments as well as the ease of seeing
so many in such a small area.

“AAU allows us to see a bulk of kids in a certain amount of time,” said Copeland. “You
have so many prospects in one area at one time. It’s easy to identify (recruits at an AAU
tournament).”

Fife said this ease is often attributed to the differences in when the games are played, with
the AAU often playing in the off-season whilst high school plays during the college season itself.
NCAA rules, as well, limit coaches to just July 6th through the fifthteenth and the twenty-second through the thirty-first for seeing recruits play.

Because of this, the AAU caters to college coach’s schedules and places tournaments, such
as the recent 11th Grade Super Showcase which took place from July twenty-third through the
twenty-seventh, during these available periods.

The practice of pressuring players to participate in as many AAU tournaments as possible is
flawed said Fife.

“(Our vision is) to offer amateur athletes and volunteers opportunities to develop to their
highest level through a national and local network of sporting events.”

The mission of the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA), however, is aimed at a different type of scholarship. MHSAA executive director Jack Roberts said that high school sports are aimed at being a tool for academic encouragement.

“We try to make the school more effective in motivating kids [with sports] to do better in school then they otherwise would have,” said Roberts.

Although he is admittedly not its biggest fan, Fife sees no impending change for the flawed
system of AAU.

“(AAU) is not perfect in anybody’s eyes, but it’s here to stay and we have to be able to use
AAU to our advantage,” he said.