FASHION : Sole Digger: Footwear Photography

You may remember that last week we introduced you to trainer enthusiast, photographer and blogger, Sole Digger. Today sees the arrival of his first post exclusively for RWD, complete with stunning photographs of the best women’s and men’s trainers from his recent finds…Welcome To The World Of Sole Digger

It’s been a busy few weeks hitting the streets to find interesting ‘trainer stories’. I look for interesting people that wear and use trainers in an interesting way, and recently Sydney’s Hyde Park and its surrounding areas have been a happy hunting ground for the style and sneaker savvy.

Here are my favourite shots and stories from the last few weeks. Don’t forget to check out I Dig Your Sole Man each day for more great content.
adidas Ciero in Hyde Park, Sydney

First up is a skater called Hamish who I caught in action one weekend.  He is sponsored by adidas Skateboarding, and loves the fact that their trainers combine comfort with retro designs.  He will only wear one style though; the classic adidas Ciero, and with each pair only lasting him a few weeks it’s worth checking some of his local vintage stores as that’s where his near-new shoes go after only a couple of wears.
New Balance in Bondi Beach Market, Sydney

Atlanta is a jewellery designer whose taste in trainers is as eye-catching as the accessories that she makes. She loves trainers that stand out and make a statement, and after seeing these unique New Balance shoes her friends chipped in together to buy them for her as a birthday present.
Converse All Stars in Hyde Park, Sydney

This chilled Korean air stewardess is used to spending her working life in shoes, and loves to touch the ground so she can slip into the style and comfort of her beloved All Stars Converse trainers. They are the only style of trainer that she wears, no matter where she is in the world, due to their universal style and comfort.

Seniors make post-grad plans

As the semester wraps up and comes to a close, seniors are anxious about graduation and what their future holds.
“I'm hoping to get into law school this fall,” said senior administration of justice major Megan McCoy.

McCoy got involved in a number of clubs and activities at the college during her time on campus. She played pitcher on the softball team for four years, is an active member of the Theta Phi Alpha sorority and served on SGA. McCoy said she has enjoyed her time at UVa-Wise and values all the people she has met.

“My experience here has had its up and downs, but overall I love my professors, faculty, friends and sorority sisters so it was good,” McCoy said.

One of McCoy's fellow sorority sisters, Aceshia Wampler, is also graduating this semester. Wampler is a psychology major and a cheerleader at the college.

Wampler said she is planning to eventually attend graduate school at Lindsey Wilson School of Counseling. She hopes to work as a family and marriage counselor.

Wampler said she is going to miss the college —  especially her friends and her sorority sisters.

“My experience at this college was overall really positive,” said Wampler. “I feel like I've grown a lot over the past years and made many lasting bonds with a lot of different people.”

Some seniors are already packing up their rooms, even though graduation isn't until May 14.

Mark Phillips, a physical education major, has already been packing some of his belongings up and loading them in his vehicle.

“I've helped Mark carry stuff to his car,” said junior Jermaine Wright. “I can't blame him because he's really ready to graduate and get out of here, and I would be too.”

Phillips said he is seeking an internship after graduation with the Washington Wizards, the NBA team in Washington, D.C.

He said he wants to work in the Wizards' Media and Game Operations Department so he can utilize his education and training in sports management to its maximum potential.

Sam Eligwe, a senior business administration major, is also graduating in May and already has major plans for his future.

Eligwe was Phillips' teammate on the basketball team at UVa-Wise for the last two years.

“I want to fit in to every aspect of being an entrepreneur,” said Eligwe. “I want to open my own chain of men's boutiques and after I graduate I plan on working hard to get my business up and running.”

Eligwe said he has been developing this business idea with his brother for the past three years. The stores will have a “fashion forward” concept and will feature unique clothing and shoes for men.

He said he will also be traveling to different parts of the world this summer, including Las Vegas, London, New York and Nigeria. He will be doing philanthropy work in Nigeria, helping and giving back to the communities.

Overall, Eligwe said his experience at UVa-Wise was “different” and is something he will never forget.

“Before living here, I honestly had no clue where Wise was, and being from a big city I just couldn't get used to it at first,” said Eligwe. “But, over time, I saw the benefits of this little school and learned to appreciate all of them.”

Men's soccer team gets spring games and practices underway

The Sacramento State men's soccer team is using spring training to build a strong team after losing three graduating seniors last season.

Senior midfielder Adam Bettencourt and junior midfielder Matthew Tellez said it will not be hard to fill the players' shoes because the team has been training together all year.

“We're kind of trying to fill their roles,” Tellez said. “Two of them were playing in the midfield with me so we're looking for guys who can step up and take their positions. We're also trying to find a center back who can fill Diego's position.  All three were starters so we are hoping the new guys can come in and perform as well as they did.”

Linenberger said Diego Marroquin, Fernando Cabadas and Ernesto Carranza were very good players. He said Cabadas and Carranza were some of the best players that the soccer program has had and they were drafted into Major League Soccer.

“We only lost three seniors so we expect to have a good team again,” said head coach Michael Linenberger. “They are big shoes to fill but at the same time it was only three.”

After losing Marroquin, Cabadas and Carranza, the team has 22 returning players for spring training. The team has four new players who will be added to the fall season roster, giving the team 26 players for the spring season.

“We use the spring to get the guys that did not get to play much in the fall a chance and get them in some games,” Linenberger said. “The players get a full three months of training and play in six games so they get an opportunity to get their feet wet.”

The team has been working out in the weight room, running and working on attacking both sides of the ball to get in shape for the fall season.

“Spring practice is the same as fall practice, our coaches always emphasize working hard,” Tellez said. “We are not one of those teams that are gifted with the best players but all of our players have one quality and that's working hard. Working hard everyday is pretty much our main focus. Soccer is more of a collective kind of sport so we look for everyone to complete their roles and make sure they get their job done.”

Linenberger said he expects Adam Bettencourt, Tellez, Rory O'Day, and Chris Bettencourt to step up this season as key players. He expects O'Day to anchor the back line, Adam Bettencourt and Tellez to run the center of the midfield, and Chris Bettencourt to be the main goal scoring threat.

Both Adam Bettencourt and Tellez said they do not believe they are going to be key players this season and that it is going to be more of a team effort.

“It's going to be a majority of how well we gel together as a team,” Adam Bettencourt said.  “I don't think it's going to solely rest on one or two players.”

Linenberger also said he expects Max Alvarez to be an asset to the team because two years ago during his freshman season, Alvarez was the top scorer on the team with 10 goals. Alvarez did not get much playing time and only made one goal last season due to a hamstring injury.

“We feel we've got a good core of returning guys,” Linenberger said. “The new guys we have this spring are doing well and we hope they will come in and have an immediate impact in the fall.”

Capitol Showdown: Sexual Assault Awareness Month

“One in four women in college today have been victims of rape.” Look at that statistic, and then look around you. Many believe that number is even greater, due to unreported cases.
Take Back the Night is a march held on college campuses (Towson’s TBTN will on April 28). Survivors and supporters alike come together to speak out about sexual and domestic violence. Along with Walk a Mile in Her Shoes (which was held on campus on April 20), an event that targets men and challenges them help end sexual violence, Take Back the Night focuses on an issue that, for many college students hits home.
This issue is illustrated clearly by Katie Couric’s recently conducted interview on behalf of CBS News regarding the problem of sexual assault on college campuses, specifically the assault on Beckett Brennan at the University of the Pacific. Brennan, a member of the women’s basketball team, accepted a ride after a party from two men who were on the men’s basketball team. They led her upstairs in a building where she believed there would be another party, and three men proceeded to rape her multiple times.
One of her friends recorded Brennan’s story without her knowledge when she called them to report what had happened, prompting her assistant coach to call her once she had flown home. University Police questioned the alleged assailants four days after the alleged assault.
Later, she was urged by officials at the University to report the assault to the local police, where she was persuaded by a detective’s stories of trials-gone-wrong to not file criminal charges and instead go before the school’s judicial review board; the board, consisting of three students, a teacher, and an administrator, was an option for the Brennans that would conceal their daughter’s identity.
Brennan says many of the board’s questions focused on her behavior, such as drinking, rather than the alleged assault. The judicial review board ruled all three players guilty – one suspended for two semesters, and one suspended for a single semester; the third student was expelled, only to receive a full scholarship to the University of Idaho within three months [CBS].
This story should make you sick. It has notably been said that “we live in a society that teaches us ‘don’t get raped’ as opposed to ‘don’t rape.’” There is no reason why someone who is found guilty of rape should get off with only this so-called punishment. While the messages we send to men should consist of “walk a mile in her shoes” and “don’t rape”, this incident tells them they may even be able to get a full scholarship out of it.
Rape culture is everywhere. The war on women is spiraling out of control, practically unnoticed. Vice President Joe Biden traveled to the University of New Hampshire to address this very problem and explain the school’s guidelines.
Discussing a specific case, Biden explained how a young woman (whom he referred to as Jenny) didn’t have her allegation taken seriously because she had been drinking the night of the alleged assault; other questions by the student judicial panel included how she was dancing and what she was wearing. Biden said, “The student judicial panel said that they didn’t find Jenny credible because she had been drinking. They decided her rapist was a nice kid and didn’t deserve the punishment under the circumstances” [NPR].
If the Vice President of the United States has time to speak out about rape, so do you. There are numerous ways to get involved on any campus, one of which is to join us on April 28 and march in solidarity.


Recently, there was a rape involving a student athlete at the University of the Pacific which showed us how our system fails those that are sexually assaulted. The student in this case was raped by members of the basketball team. At the time she was scared to report it but her friends reported the assault to the police; thereby starting an inquiry. Instead of going through the judicial system the University “dealt” with the incident via a judicial board. The school suspended 2 of the rapists for periods ranging from a semester to a total academic year. The third rapist was sentenced to expulsion. The young lady had originally decided to leave school after the incident but after some time believed it was best to return in order for her to find some normalcy.
Unfortunately following her return she was shunned by her teammates because of new regulations put in place following her rape. This made it increasingly difficult for her to find any sense of a normal life as she knew it before she was raped.
Instead of having a student conduct hearing the police should have addressed situation. The courts in the area should have prosecuted the three young men so that the victim of rape wouldn’t have faced the additional humiliation and suffering that came with her name being made public because of the failures of the University. The University should have provided her with additional counseling to help her heal from the devastating crime committed against her instead of blaming her partly for the incident. Counseling and punishment through the proper channels is vital but there also needs to be harsher punishment for those convicted of the crime of rape and other sexual offenses. With harsher mandatory punishment accompanied by additional public campaigns communicating the mandatory limits along with the ability to remain anonymous for the victims to young men and women, there can be a dent made in the amount of attacks and an increase in the reporting of such crimes. With those actions there must also be a renewed effort to provide anonymous counseling for those affected by sexual assault.
In closing, if you have been the victim of a sexual assault, report the crime. It was not your fault and those that have committed the crime against you may do it again to another.

Boutique expands with shoes and men in mind

One of the coolest additions to Blake & Brady's expansion is the men's corner upstairs, says Chris Sullivan.

It's a bare space now, but a couch and TV will entertain men and children while the women in their lives shop at the Anderson boutique.

“I'm in that same boat," Sullivan said. “I can't do the shopping thing."

He and wife, Sissa Sullivan, like to do the business thing. Their store, in downtown Anderson, will double in size on May 2. A 1,100-square-foot-loft will hold denim and 50 styles of shoes. “When you get a box of shoes it's enormous," Chris Sullivan said. “You're getting one box with 12 pair. People were buying them like crazy, but we didn't have anywhere to store them."

The upstairs addition is an almost mirror image of the store's main floor, Sissa Sullivan said. The loft last housed an attorney's office cluttered with walls and forgotten furniture.An original 1898 hardwood floor lay beneath old tiles.

“It's like people came home from the Civil War, and they laid this floor down," Chris Sullivan said.

A wood bar will be used for after-hours parties. At least two dressing rooms will be to the side of the new space.

Word-of-mouth advertising and an active Blake & Brady Facebook page have led to a growth that has spread throughout the Southeast, California and soon, Ireland.

“It's nice to hear our names on a lot of people's lips," Sissa Sullivan said. “We want everyone to succeed in this town."

Much of the boost happened in the last year, and the Sullivans hired six more employees to meet demands.

Orders from such high-fashion locales as California amused Chris Sullivan.

“It's funny because I know they can find this stuff there because we get it from there so we receive it from California then model it and ship it back," he said.

For all the closings that plagued downtown through the winter, the opening of Mellow Mushroom on Monday brought hope, Sissa Sullivan said.

“Downtown is really starting to boom," she said. “It's showing people that downtown is definitely a place to be, which is nice."

A year ago she never imagined she'd be this close to meeting her goal of shipping to every state.

“My expectations have been met 10 times over," she said.

Students walk a mile in heels

A group Towson University students strapped on high heels and walked a full mile---all for a good cause.

It's National Sexual Assault Awareness Month. And for the second year in a row, members of Towson's football , soccer and golf teams participated in Walk a Mile in Her Shoes marching a mile on campus to stop violence against women.

Walk a Mile in Her Shoes: The International Men's March to Stop Rape, Sexual Assault and Gender Violence was founded in 2001 by Frank Baird, a psychotherapist and marriage counselor.

South County men contribute to rape awareness fundraiser

Several South County men, all wearing women's shoes, went for a mile-long stroll through downtown Redding Saturday, April 9, to raise awareness of sexual assault, gender violence and to bring an end to rape.

Along the way and for several weeks prior to the fourth annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes® event, a fundraiser for the Shasta Women's Refuge, the men garnered support from donors, sponsors and supporters.

“We had 131 registered walkers who raised approximately $26,000 to benefit survivors of sexual assault, rape and domestic violence,” said Kristi Hanson, director of fund-raising for the refuge.

“The international men's march is a unique opportunity for men to educate our community about a very serious subject and to rally our community to take action to prevent sexualized violence, Hanson said.

District 5 Shasta County Supervisor Les Baugh of Anderson, walking for his fourth year in a row, raised $2,745 with much of that coming from a “Baugh Goes Prime” fundraising event that he held April 7 at the Prime 11 Cinemas at the Shasta Outlet Stores.

For the second year, Mary's Pizza Shack and theater owner Ken Hill co-sponsored Baugh's three-hour party that featured giveaways of movie passes for anyone who donated at least $15 toward Baugh's donation total.

Janet Applegarth-Yarbrough received a pair of Prime Cinema annual movie passes with the evening's largest single donation exceeding $1,000, Baugh said.

Of the men's walk, Baugh said, “It was actually encouraging to see so many guys out there doing it.”

Four-year-old Shih Tzu, Daisy, kept up with her master Baugh for most of the mile, but started to lag when Baugh decided to sprint for the finish line still wearing black pumps with inch-and-a-half heels cushioned by calf-high gray athletic men's socks.

When asked to describe the walk, “Ruff!” was all the little dog could pant.

Anderson Police Officer Robert Modin, representing the Anderson Police Officer Association, raised $1,310 while wearing size 15-wide women's patent black stretch vinyl boots that reached almost to his bare and very pale kneecaps visible beneath his khaki cargo shorts.

“We had a pretty good support group. I actually had only collected $655, but an anonymous donor matched that amount,” said Modin, who was walking for the second year. Modin said he raised $1,200 during last year's event.

“It was a fun event, although it was for a serious cause,” Modin said. “I've learned just how difficult it is to walk on a sloped driveway or curb cut with those high heels and I feel empathy for anyone who has to do it on a regular basis.”

Walking for the fourth year in a row was Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko, a resident of Palo Cedro, who presented the Women's Refuge organizers with $800 raised from various supporters.

A gold sheriff's seven-pointed star adorned the toe of each of Bosenko's two-inch-heeled black pumps. During the walk, he carried a placard supplied by event organizers that read, “Put yourself in HER shoes.”

Mark Lathrop, community relations manager at Sierra Pacific Industries in Anderson, turned in $220 for his efforts.

Walking as a large group were at least 12 men from Redding Rancheria and Win-River Casino. They raised $784 as well as contributing $2,500 as an event sponsor.

They couldn't be missed in their matching black pumps with two-inch heels and casino-themed black, red and white stockings featuring all four suits from a traditional deck of playing cards.

“Walk a Mile in Her Shoes® informs the community that services are available for recovery. It demonstrates that men in Shasta County are willing and able to be courageous partners with women in making our community a safer place,” Hanson said.

From a village boy to Nigeria's most powerful

Who is Goodluck Ebele Jonathan? Who is this political phenomenon who many across the country are attempting to deconstruct? Central to most of the stories on Goodluck Jonathan is the place of destiny and providence in his meteoric rise to power in Nigeria. There is talk of "unmerited favour", "destined to supplant superiors." The media is awash with stories of how Goodluck has always been lucky to be in the right place at the right time. The story is all over the place that Jonathan is always there to profit from the bad luck or mistakes of his superiors. We are told he is always privileged to be fortuitously positioned to step into dead men's shoes!

This writer spoke with Femi Ajayi who has known Mr. President from his NYSC days and also dug into the archives to know the real Jonathan story. Femi Ajayi explained: "Goodluck Jonathan is not all about good fortune. Goodluck's academic exploits, political feats, immense goodwill and extensive social networks did not come out of sheer luck and happenstance…"

The Goodluck Jonathan that he knows, "is not the one in the fertile imagination of ideologues of unmerited favour, is a divinely rewarded honest, hard-working and dedicated person."

Ajayi argued it is important to realise that no matter our God-given talents, situations in life or in circumstance of birth, what we become at the end of the day is largely an outcome of the result-oriented choices we make daily.

On November 20, 1957, three years before Nigeria became a nation, the family of Jonathan in Otueke, Ogbia Local Government Area of the then Eastern Region, later Rivers State, and now Bayelsa State, was blessed with a baby boy, the parents, going by the tradition in Nigeria, where a child's name often expresses the parents' expectations of the child or the circumstances surrounding the child's birth, instinctively realised that this child had an element of fortune in him and so named him ‘Goodluck'. This Jonathans' action should be taken as a prayer, a wish followed with diligence, obedience and good citizenship, Ajayi argued.

According to him, Jonathan chose to be an obedient son to his parents and a law-abiding citizen in his village. He argued he could have opted to be a deviant, become a juvenile delinquent or an outright vagabond. He recalled, in school he chose to be a bookworm who faithfully applied himself to his books rather than be a lay-about. He argued he could have dropped out of school because of one social deprivation and economic problem or the other but he trudged on until he earned the highest academic certificate, that is, a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).

Jonathan holds a B.Sc. degree in Zoology (Second Class Honours, Upper Division). He also holds a Msc. degree in Hydrobiology and Fisheries Biology, and a Ph.D. degree in Zoology from the University of Port Harcourt. After obtaining his degree, he worked as an education inspector, lecturer, and environmental-protection officer, until he decided to enter politics in 1998. Jonathan is married to Patience and has two children. Jonathan is a current member of the Ijaw ethnic group.

Recalling Goodluck Jonathan's National Youth service days which they had together, he argued it was not sheer good fortune and luck that endeared Goodluck to his students and school management then. "He was a likeable and popular person because of his generosity, hard work, commitment to duty, and dedication to service. As a youth corps member, he bought meals and books for needy-but-brilliant students, yet he earned a meagre N200 per month allowance. He organised extra lectures and practical classes to adequately prepare his students for Biology in the West African School Certificate Examination," he said.

Again, for those whose traditional thinking is that Goodluck Jonathan is a perpetual beneficiary of good fortune, he argued that the President needed more than mother luck to survive the murky and difficult political terrain in Bayelsa. For him, it is on record that Jonathan deployed his quiet diplomacy, mediatory skills and conciliation acumen to stabilise the conflict-prone and crisis-ridden communities of Bayelsa to promote lasting peace.

He argued, "Despite all the marginalisation, deprivations, and provocations he was exposed to in Bayelsa, his legendary patience, uncommon perseverance, dovelike disposition, and meekness, even-handedness most probably endeared him to both God and man and thus ensured that he laughed last."

And for those who do not know the hell Jonathan went through in Aso Rock when he was vice president which he called, "the fractious, difficult and challenges politics of Umaru Yar'Adua's presidency", he explained he became a vice president without any budget of his own in the name of one presidency. "He had great responsibility without commensurate power or resources. He stoically endured the relegation, provocation and disempowerment by the Turks that hijacked the Yar'Adua Presidency," he said. This, he believes, like many others do too, does not make him a weakling.

Summer Programs. Extra-Wide Shoes. Big Lessons in Small Space Ads.

You'll find them in the ‘marketplace' section of a magazine or newsletter or along the column edges in the second half of long articles. Online on publisher sites, instead of box banner display ads, they're the text ads with a link.

Small space ads. Do you read them? Do you like them? Do you respond to them? The New Yorker has the best variety. Summer camps in the Berkshires. Summer programs at colleges. Retirement communities in Arizona. Immigration services. Tour groups. Men's extra wide shoes. The magazine even has a dedicated online media kit about the big benefits of small space advertising. Rates for one inch black-and-white seem to start around $1,700 and reduce with multiple insertions. You're probably smart to time it to the editorial calendar so your service or product runs when the issue has your category or issue as a focus. When there's extra space, you'll see a ‘house' ad by the publication, advertising his website or in the recent New Yorker issue, a big ad asking you to “like” it on Facebook.

Small space advertising is also the biggest marketing offering on Facebook and LinkedIn, two social networks where my agency and I have run dozens of campaigns for clients. There, the prices are so low and the tools so easy, I've even done one or two experiments on my own.

A small space ads needs to beg for your attention. It might employ a photo that stands out like a jacket or a logo, or a desperate headline that promises a magic cure or exclusivity. What I like is that as a creative marketer, it gets me back to the basics of advertising and direct response. I have to think about the craft of what actually works and sounds interesting — the right photo, the right words and the right order. You also have to keep to word counts and space limitations.

I know it because I've failed at it. It's often smaller businesses that run these at great expense, vulnerability and without much professional help. During a period of my life when I freelanced and had my own business, I ran a campaign for a portrait photographer named Steve who wanted to break into the lucrative head shot market for actors. Unlike the casting couch genre of photographers who charged hundreds of dollars for portfolio shots, Steve was a warm, smart, no-nonsense guy who treated people right, so my campaign tackled pain points of getting your head shot taken (expense, photographer arrogance, sketchy business practices) and promised Steve as the antidote. “Headshots for Models with Heads” was the tagline.

The competitions' ads showed typical customer success photos, so I suggested we do the opposite and run bold, witty headlines to tackle each pain point: “Just a reminder, a picture is worth a thousand words. Not dollars.”; “A photographer who captures great attitude. Not gives it.“; and my favorite that made Steve blush but his wife helped me get him to run: “It's a myth models have to sleep with the photographer. But it's true they usually get screwed.“

The client was skeptical about forgoing photography but agreed to my approach since, five years out of college, I was such a seasoned professional. I could only buy three inch by one inch display ads in the weekly stage publication, horizontal rectangles at the bottom of busy pages. I designed and placed the ads myself, running them on Mondays and Thursdays for some reason having to do with matinees I can't remember. Pre-internet, calling his phone number was the way people would respond. I sat nervously by my phone as he sat nervously by his phone, waiting for any response. It was up to Steve to close the deal but it was up to me to provoke the calls. Each evening he'd call me to let me know how many calls he got. The first day, one. The second day, none. The third day, none. That Friday, one. I kept a tally of hash-tags by my phone, which must be the world's least advanced marketing dashboard. We ran the campaign for three weeks and he spent about $600 on media and $800 dollars on my fee. He nabbed one actual job for it, which made him back half his money. He didn't blame me completely, thinking we should have bought bigger space ads. I had my own thinking. I should have used a photo.

The sensitivity to small business budgets has always stayed with me. If I respond to a small space ad now, I  let the business know that it's because of the ad so they keep running them. I also judge them based on more than just my gut. What do you do?

Hundreds of men don high heels to protest against rape

Hundreds of men — and even a 2-year-old boy — struggled to stay upright as they walked a mile in high-heeled women's shoes Saturday morning in downtown Lubbock.

The Walk a Mile in Her Shoes men's march to stop rape, sexual assault and violence, benefiting Lubbock Rape Crisis Center, had more than 250 men and women strutting around the Lubbock County Courthouse.

Father and son Gary and Jake Garcia walked hand-in-hand as they balanced in their platform shoes.

Gary Garcia, wearing a pair of maroon heels with homemade lace-adorned socks, was an old pro.

Saturday's walk was his third time to participate in the fourth annual event.

But 25-month-old Jake seemed to struggle as he toddled along in his silver heels covered in sparkles.

His parents said he initially seemed eager to join his dad.

"But I worry this might traumatize him when he sees pictures later when he's older," his mother, Angela Garcia, said with a smile.

The toddler was being pushed on a red tricycle by his father during the last half of the one-mile walk around the court house.

Gary Garcia said he's supported the walk for three years because the center provides an important service to Lubbock's victims of sexual assault.

"I think there's a lot of rape going on in this city and the center helps men and women come forward," he said.

The event serves as the only fundraiser of the year for the Lubbock Rape Crisis Center, said Leslie Timmons, community educator and volunteer coordinator for the center.

Even though seeing men struggle in heels can be a humorous sight, she said the event aims to raise awareness of a problem that affected more than 300 people in Lubbock last year alone.

"It's a light-hearted event — we don't want to bum anybody out — to bring attention to the serious topic of sexual assault," Timmons said.

She said the event features men because it's important men are seen in a positive light.

"We want to get men involved to change the perception from men who are perpetrators to men who are those who prevent sexual assaults," Timmons said.

Walter "Red" Paschal, also a three-year-participant in the walk, said he slipped into a pair of shiny red heels on Saturday as a show of solidarity against rape.

"There are some sick men in the world that abuse women," he said, "and I enjoy what this benefits by helping those women and the Rape Crisis Center."

But as a regular tennis-shoe wearer, making the walk in heels has been no easy task, he said.

Asked how the heels compared with his normal shoes, Paschal said the difference was simple.

"High heels hurt and tennis shoes don't," he said with a chuckle.

Pashcal said he fancied the heels nonetheless.

"They look great," he said, "and they call me ‘Red' and they're red."

Before the walk began, Lubbock City Councilman Todd Klein read a proclamation recognizing April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

He praised the Rape Crisis Center's efforts in supporting victims of sexual assault.

And he rooted-on the more than 200 men waiting to walk a mile in heels.

Klein recalled his high-heeled walk in the event last year and "how horribly painful that was" for his feet.

"I would suggest you elevate them in ice like you ran a marathon," he told the crowd.

Last year's walk raised approximately $26,000.

Though a tally from the 2011 fundraiser wasn't available Saturday afternoon, Timmons said more people and teams participated in this year's event than in the 2010 walk.

Men to 'Walk a Mile in Her Shoes'

The third annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes: Men's March to End Rape, Sexual Assault, and Gender Violence is Tuesday, April 19.

Registration begins at 11:30 a.m. at Someplace Safe’s office at 202 Atlantic Ave., in Morris. The walk begins at noon.

Walk A Mile in Her Shoes is literally asking men to walk for one mile in a pair of women's shoes, while raising awareness and funds to help provide services and support to victims and survivors of violence in our area. Walkers are encouraged to gather pledges from friends, family and co-workers.

Of course, women are welcome to walk, too, and each participant will receive a free t-shirt. Women's shoes will be available for those who need them. The walk ends back at Someplace Safe's offices, with lunch provided to all participants and offered to all other individuals for a free-will donation.

The Walk a Mile in her Shoes March is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2011. For more information about the origin and purpose of the march, log onto the national website at www.efadmall.com.

All proceeds will go to help victims and survivors of sexual and domestic violence in Stevens County. For more information on this event or Someplace Safe's services in general.
The 2011 walk is sponsored by the University of Minnesota, Morris Commission on Women, M.O.M. (Men of Morris) and Someplace Safe. April is also recognized across the country as National Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

Winthrop hires former Ole Miss assistant Stollings to replace Childers

In her climb up the coaching ladder, Marlene Stollings has changed conferences and continents.

To get the Winthrop job, she had to change her shoes.

The 36-year-old Stollings was announced as the 13th head coach in women's basketball history at Winthrop on Tuesday, replacing Bud Childers.

Winthrop athletic director Tom Hickman caught Stollings in violation of the new Winthrop dress code, as she was buying a pair of new Nikes in an Oxford, Miss., mall when he told her she'd be trading those in for the school's new apparel sponsor.

"By the end of the call I had adidas," Stollings said with a laugh.

She's also got quite a task on her hands. She's now responsible for turning around a program that hasn't had a winning season since 2007-2008.

Stollings emphasized the need to improve recruiting, and she's hitting the road this weekend for a tournament in Raleigh, N.C. But mostly, she stressed preparation during her introductory press conference, saying "our ultimate goal is to win the conference each year and advance to the NCAA tournament."

Stollings has spent the previous four seasons at the associate head coach at Ole Miss, where she helped develop Bianca Thomas into a WNBA first-round pick. She's also worked as an assistant at Jacksonville, New Mexico State, Wright State and St. Louis before going to Ole Miss in 2007.

She posted a 9-3 record as interim head coach at New Mexico State in 2002, but her most impressive coaching job might have been with a bunch of men who didn't speak her language. She was playing for a club team in Switzerland (Club ABB Baden) when the men's team, eager for some American influence, pleaded with her to coach with the aide of a translator.

"They look up to the American game, and they begged me to coach the team for two weeks," Stollings said. "Finally they stopped me and said 'Tell us what to do.'"

The then 23-year-old coached that team to an undefeated season, and quickly climbed the ladder from the Horizon, Atlantic 10 and Sun Belt to the SEC, where she saw nightly lessons from coaches such as Tennessee's Pat Summitt and South Carolina's Dawn Staley.

"In the SEC, the challenge is you're going against a legend every night," Stollings said.

As a player, Stollings averaged 22.9 points per game to lead the Mid-American Conference as a senior at Ohio University. A former Miss Ohio Basketball, she finished her prep career with 3,514 points, a mark which is the highest for boys or girls, and still stands in the state.

Men march to support sexual assault awareness

Walking in four-inch high heels is something even many women have an issue with, but 200 men took on the daunting task of walking a mile in women's shoes Saturday for the Lubbock Rape Crisis Center.
The LRCC planned Walk a Mile in Her Shoes to raise money for the support the center provides to sexual assault survivors in Lubbock and the surrounding counties.
“I hope this brings awareness that sexual assault occurs and it’s a very serious thing,” said Leslie Timmons, community educator and volunteer coordinator for LRCC. “Most of our assailants are males, so we really want to get guys involved in prevention of sexual assault.”
The event began at the Lubbock County Courthouse with a men’s march, followed by a women’s stiletto “dash for cash.” Saturday evening the LRCC hosted a dinner and an auction.
Liza Hooser, a senior social work and music major from Houston, serves as an on-call advocate at the LRCC. She said she enjoyed watching the march because of all the men who supported a cause with which she is very involved.
“You have guys that are repeaters who come every year, and they are pretty comfortable and have the strut down,” she said. “We try to help the (first-timers) out and tell them how to walk in heels.”
Men of all ages participated in the event to support the LRCC during the month of April, which is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Hooser said. The women’s event consisted of four heats of four women, with the winner receiving a $500 cash prize.
At the after party, the LRCC honored four Lubbock police officers — Bill Carter, Ross Hester, John Lofton and John Thomas Gomez — for their involvement with sexual assault prevention in the community.
Timmons said the LRCC honors men each year who have spoken out against rape.
“I always tell the victims your body is like the church, and it’s very sacred; nobody should be abusing your body in any means or forms,” said Bill Carter, a detective with the Lubbock Police Department.
Carter said he works in the crimes against persons unit and is a supporter of sexual assault prevention in Lubbock and on the Tech campus. He emphasizes that male students need to set the example for other students about how to treat women.
“It’s a big deal to be able to stand up and say no and know what’s right,” Hooser said.
The LRCC provides a 24-hour hotline to assist sexual assault survivors and their family and friends, assistance at hospital visits following a crisis, and free counseling. These services are available to Tech students as well as residents of Lubbock and the surrounding areas, Timmons said.
Last year the LRCC helped more than 300 survivors and plans to provide their services in the future with funds raised at the event on Saturday.
“(The LRCC) is important because we have to support the victims,” Carter said. “They need a support system through family, counselors, the police department and anybody that knows about the situation.”