Mark Payne

Finding Hank HIll

markpaynemedia — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 01:40:55 +0000

It has a Midwestern city feel, but much more authentic and spotted with palm trees. Austin, Texas is a small city with much character.

On Wednesday a few of us went to hit the main entertainment street. The Sixth street area in downtown Austin is home to famous venues, such as Emo’s. The district offers bars of all sorts; chuddy bars, Irish bars, dance clubs and various others. There are several walk-up pizza joints — even one called “Heavy metal pizza”. I approached looking for some pie, because I am a pizza connoisseur of sorts. Looked at the dry, cardboard looking pizza under the heat lamp and needless to say I wasn’t going to eat it.

The bar of choice for us was a place called Ace’s. There was a DJ flanked by an artist drawing a picture in the background. Many kids were there arms flailing, legs wobbling, keeping time with the off-the-wall music. A guy had a girl against the wall shoving his tongue down her throat; they probably had a good night. As the night went on, the streets became more filled. I approached a man nursing a tall beer.

“What is that?” I asked.

“Lone star,” he said.

It’s a cheap beer – under three bucks at most places- and is only sold in Texas. I’ve now drank much Lone Star.

One thing to find interesting about the city is the pedicabs, which are bikes with cabs attached on the back for toting drunks around town. The pedicabbies work on tips only.

I am also on a mission to find Hank Hill’s house – I will let you know how it turns out.

My encounter with Chris Sabo

markpaynemedia — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:17:58 +0000

When I found out Chris Sabo was attending Northern Kentucky University I had mixed feelings. I don’t watch sports too much anymore, but I have very fond memories of growing up around the Cincinnati Reds in the early nineties. So when the opportunity came for this I jumped at it.

Chris Sabo is a friendly guy. However, I was worried when I started to try to get a hold of him.

Sabo has been infamously modest and rumor has it he is a recluse.I called his house — no response. After a couple e-mails I was finally able to get a hold of him.

His e-mails were pretty cut and dry, so when I was scheduled to have an interview with him I was worried that I would only be getting simple answers.

I was nervous when I introduced myself and as we sat down to talk my knees were shaking. I was pretty giddy.
Before the interview I let Charlotte Etherton — The Northerner’s Photo editor and photographer for the interview — know I wanted her to sneak a couple shots of us sitting down talking to each other, just in case he said no to a picture of us together after the interview.

Chris Sabo, right, and I pose for a photo after our interview. Photo courtesy of Charlotte Etherton.

Sabo turned out to be a very friendly guy, as aforementioned. It was one of the most interesting experiences I have had in my life. To be able to sit down and speak with the “goggled” third baseman for the Cincinnati Reds.

Read the story, CLICK HERE.

WEBN fireworks

markpaynemedia — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 22:25:53 +0000

This year's WEBN fireworks. Photo by Mark Payne.

3CDC could strike again

markpaynemedia — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:39:02 +0000

Story about Cincinnati Corporation seeking to buy low-income apartment building and turn it into an upscale hotel. Click here

Where ever I went, I was running

markpaynemedia — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 22:06:05 +0000

Northern Kentucky University's Student Government President, Keith Kaseke. Photo by Mark Payne

This article originally appeared at www.thenortherner.com

By Mark Payne

Keith Kaseke ran from Zimbabwe to the United States, literally.

Kaseke, the first international student to become Student Government Association President, was once on the cusp of becoming a world-class runner.

Zimbabwe

Kaseke, born in Zimbabwe, a country plagued with the HIV/Aids epidemic and economic problems, saw a different life than most Zimbabweans. His parents were entrepreneurs owning general stores and real estate and in fourth grade, Kaseke began attending private boarding schools on athletic scholarships.

“I think at my school of 662 students, we had seven (black) students,” Kaseke said of the ratio between white and black student in boarding school.

Boarding school, for Kaseke, wasn’t the teacher-slappping-the-hand kind you see in Hollywood films.

“The food was great. I don’t know if Chartwell’s wants me to say that,” he said jokingly. “It was almost like living in a hotel.”

He said for most students the only way to get off campus was to participate in some type of sporting event.

“They’re usually in the middle of nowhere and the only way to get off campus was through some activity,” he said. “So, I started engaging in sporting activities. That was my ticket to leave campus.”

Kaseke participated in rugby, field hockey and track during his years at EaglesVale High School. He said if you played a sport like rugby you knew you could get off campus on Saturdays and if you played field hockey you could get off campus on Fridays.

“That was a way to see southern Africa,” he said.

Out of Africa

In 2001, Kaseke’s athletic ability led him to the University of Cincinnati on a track scholarship. He chose UC because he had relatives living in the area, who attended the College of Design, Art, Architecture and Planning.

“Actually, when I came that was my goal, to become an architect,” he said.

Once he arrived at UC, Kaseke did not see DAAP as a good fit for him and chose Entrepreneurship instead. Kaseke remembers one of his first classes at UC.

“I remember one of my first classes was in an auditorium with like 400 kids,” he said. “I sat next to this girl—I had dreadlocks at the time — I sat next to this girl from Connecticut and she’s like, ‘I’ve never been close to a black person before, can I feel your hair?’ I thought it was a prank, so I played along.”

Kaseke said he didn’t know what Connecticut was, but soon realized this girl was from the countryside of the state.

“I never realized stuff like that existed, where somebody could actually live, grow up their entire life in the United States and not meet a black person,” he said.

In 2003, Kaseke experienced a devastating knee injury, tearing his Anterior Crucial Ligament (ACL). Kaseke had a decision to make: He could get surgery on his knee, ending his track career, or he could opt out of surgery, continuing to chase his dream of being an Olympic runner, but live in excruciating pain.

“My dreams had always been to run in the Olympics,” he said. “I had to choose between having surgery, or not having surgery, and seeing where it would take me. That was a really tough decision.”

Kaseke went back to Africa for a couple years to muddle over the difficult situation.

“I was advised into having surgery,” he said. “When you have surgery it’s never the same.”

The surgery put an end to Kaseke’s competitive running career.

Northern Kentucky is home

In 2005, he headed to back to the United States, this time his destination was Northern Kentucky University.

“Well it was a no-brainer ‘cause the tuition was cheaper,” Kaseke said of choosing to attend NKU over going back to UC.

Attending NKU has been a good choice.

“NKU has been one of the best decisions I’ve made,” he said. “Simply, because it’s a smaller university, and most importantly it’s a growing university.”

When Kaseke and his family first came to the U.S. they were given refugee status. In March 2009, Keith became a citizen of the U.S.

Kaseke makes Northern Kentucky his home, along with the rest of his family, including his mother and father. He has two sisters and one brother. His oldest sister, Karuva Kaseke, attends Berea College and his youngest sister, Joy Kaseke, attends Conner High School. His brother, Taonezvi, attends NKU. He also has aunts, uncles and cousins that live in the area.

Besides keeping himself busy with SGA, Kaseke also plays field hockey for the Cincinnati Centurions and is the head coach for Xavier University’s club field hockey team.

Kaseke realizes the stakes are higher since he is the first international student to be SGA president.

“The stakes are higher,” he said, “The standards are higher … I can’t afford to slack.”

How do you get to school/work?

markpaynemedia — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 19:33:44 +0000

View This Poll

Leave a comment letting me know how many miles per day you log during your commute.

Words of advice

markpaynemedia — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 01:30:57 +0000

Incoming freshman the best piece of advice I can give you is have an “open mind.” Things are going to change so much over the next four -or five, or six, for some seven- years that the only thing you can do is be patient and open.

You will probably lose some friends that you could never live without. You will wonder what the hell you are doing with yourself. You will change your mind about what you want to do at least a few million times. And you will ask yourself, “Is this worth it”?

Well, it is. Just keep going at it and you will see. There are a lot of awesome things and brilliant people to meet.

P.S. To you journalism freshman, get an AP stylebook and practice your grammar. Mary Cupito’s classes are going to be tough.

Obama’s health care plan

markpaynemedia — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:27:11 +0000

President Obama’s health care plan has been likened to that of Nazi Germany by several conservatives, such as recent failure Sarah Palin. They state they he will create so-called “death panels”, which comes from the idea of the Nazi’s T4 Aktion (action) program, which would grant a “mercy death” to newborn babies with birth defects. It never ceases to amaze me what level politicians will go to to derail a plan, no matter how good it may be. It’s the belief system that if you are the other side, you have to fight against it no matter what.

Basic rifle marksmanship

markpaynemedia — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 00:51:57 +0000

Cadet participates in basic rifle marksmanship

I shot an M-16 rifle, while covering a story about basic rifle marksmanship at Leader’s Training Course in Fort Knox, Ky.

I had a safety brief leading up to the live firing. A drill sergeant let me know firing weapons isn’t a joke.

“I know you are a civilian, but if you point that gun at anybody it’s going to be bad,” he said as he tapped the 9mm handgun on his hip, while pointing at the other drill sergeants who were also carrying weapons.

Basically, if I did anything that would put anybody in harms way they were going to shoot me.

I didn’t hit the target, but found shooting exhilarating. I am intimidated by guns, so this was really stepping outside the box for me. Also take in to consideration it was a high-powered assault rifle.

Tattoo

markpaynemedia — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 00:29:31 +0000