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Gold Side wins with “Big Easy”

It’s a bright sunny day in 1950’s New Orleans, Louisiana when Marilee Montelimar comes to town to settle the estate of her recently deceased Aunt Pauline.

Pauline Montelimar was a known aristocrat in the Big Easy, and her estate may or may not hold a valuable treasure called “The Blood Diamond.” The talk around town is that the jewel possesses mystical powers that can either help or harm depending on the owner.

The city streets come to life with the unfortunately for-tunate news of Montelimar’s death. Various residents de-clare their interest in obtain-ing the treasure, including the villainous Vella Delavinge.

Beauregard “Beau” Devereau is the attorney assigned to help the young Marilee set up an estate sale. As the two talk, a budding, no-business romance blossoms.

Back at Delavinge’s abode, she begins hatching a plot to steal the Blood Diamond with the help of a trio of earnest and eager thespians titled Acting Troupe #2604. The wizened debutante convinces the actors to don disguises as the ancient ancestors of Montelimar. In the song “Fear Is Fun,” she in-sists that the frightened towns-people will be too distracted to notice her heisting the jewel.

Beau and Marilee convene at Ms. Darby’s Place to have a bite to eat, only to be be-rated by nosy New Orleans residents interested in the where-about of the Blood Diamond.

In a flash of jazz horns, a mas-sive dance number ensues. The message of this number, titled “Leave It Behind,” is that in-stead of focusing on the treasures found in the late Montelimar’s house, the townspeople should treasure what they already have.

The day of the estate sale comes, and all of the town is gath-ered to sort through Montelimar’s items. After a motor-mouthed auction led by Officer DuPont, Acting Troupe #2604 makes an entrance from beyond the grave, claiming to be the ghostly visages of Montelimars past.

The devilish Delavinge takes control of the Blood Diamond and forces the horrified residents into a haunted hoe-down while Marilee and Beau steal away.

The pair’s discovery of aban-doned make-up and cue cards leads them to uncover Vella and her cronies as frightful frauds.

The town awards Marilee the key to the city for her acts of brav-ery and Beau follows by asking her to stay in the Big Easy with him.

“Diamond in the Rough” ends with a big final jazz jamboree.

No. 11 Saturday, February 14 2015Vol. 89

College Night EditionPurple Side performs ghoulish rock opera

See photos and story on page 6

College Night

“Diamond in the Rough” takes the audience to New Orleans for a tale about appreciating the simple things.

BY REED STRENGTH, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

PHOTOS BY JASMYNE RAY

Viewpoints Page 2

I’m about to say something blasphemous.

Don’t judge me, fellow Purples.

Sometimes I root for that other side.

I know. It’s hard to believe. There was a time when my militant little heart couldn’t imagine the possibility of such a horror. But it’s true.

A couple of years ago, one of my little sister’s friends was a senior at Montevallo. I had known this boy since he was seven years old, and darn it, when he wrote the winning Gold show, I could not have been more proud.

You could say I was born into the Montevallo family. I came to UM as the granddaughter of a hard-core purple. She spent my whole life convincing me to go to Montevallo and promised me if I ever went Gold I’d get disowned. She claims it was a joke, but I’m not so sure. To this day she signs letters to me “PV! Yay Purple!”

When I came back for my first College Night after graduation, I was sure it would

be too sad. I had graduated in December, so I still felt like a student--those were my friends, on my side, on the stage I had just been on a few weeks before. Not being a part of all that magic was going to break my heart! Sure, it was a little bittersweet. There were so many memories. I played for three years out of my four at Montevallo. I was in the show once (try roller skating to the edge of Palmer stage at full speed and stopping on the exact right beat), helped with costumes once and was in the pit chorus my senior year.

I loved those years. I made friends and felt like I was a part of a family. And I loathed those “yellas.”

But let me let you in on a little secret: College Night as an alum is awesome.

Coming back as an alum gave me a whole new perspective. I realized for the first time just how special the Montevallo family is. When I think about College Night, I think about everyone that will be outside Myrick Saturday afternoon. Purples, Golds, Greens, spouses

and significant others. It also means probably

meeting a few tiny cows and itsy-bitsy lions who have arrived in the last year. There are hugs and reunions and tears and laughter. One year I met someone I never knew as a student who became one of my best friends. If you look down at that group from above Saturday, you won’t see two rival sides. You’ll see a group of friends with some magical shared moments.

That’s the biggest thing I’ve learned about College Night since graduation. No matter what side you’re on, we share the same memories. Purples and golds alike know what Palmer looks like at 3 a.m. as you’re dragging back to a dorm.

They both know what it’s like to pour your whole soul into something that lasts for only 45 minutes and feel like every drop of blood, sweat and tears was worth it. Both know the high of the win and the utter crushing despair of defeat.

There’s a phrase that a few of us started saying several years ago. “What’s it always gonna

be? An Alumni victory!” Keep that in mind. No matter what happens Saturday night, when Monday rolls around (because we all know everyone is going to sleep all day Sunday…), another College Night will have passed into history. But those memories last.

Those experiences stay with you. They cement your place in Montevallo lore and create bonds that really will last a lifetime (ask my grandmother!).

On Saturday night, I’ll circle up with my side. I’ll sing about the little town in the valley and the side I love so well. And when the other side sings, I’ll hum a little on the inside because their song is a part of what Montevallo is to me too.

I’ll tear up a little looking around Palmer and think, as I have every year that I’ve gone back, about what a true HOMEcoming College Night is. I’ll think about how, no matter how unbroken the Montevallo family circle may be, there’s always room for one more member.

What’s it gonna be?

Farmer Hall, behind Post OfficeStation 6222Montevallo, AL 35115alabamian@montevallo.edu205-665-6222www.thealabamian.com

Editor-in-Chief

Alabamian

Reed Strength

Layout EditorConnor Bucy

Copy EditorJoe Tutwiler

Contributing Writers

www.thealabamian.com

Adviser

The

Staff PhotographersDonnie BennettJane GoodmanKatie Compton

Online EditorLily Elmore

Tiffany Bunt

www.facebook.com/TheAlabamian

Staff Writers

lLeslie SmithLindsey SherrilBritt Headley

Business ManagerStephanie Howe

Laura Poythress Jasmyne Ray

College Night always an alumni victory

Valentine’s Day is a holiday that has a history reaching far beyond romantic love. But since it is modernly a day to celebrate love, it’s astounding that people find themselves posting bitter diatribes about the day on social media. Is complaining about be-ing alone on “single’s awareness day” and wishing you had some-one special to cuddle really in the spirit of genuine love? If Val-entine’s Day is indeed a day set aside to celebrate love, it would only make sense that those who seem upset that they have nobody loving them would be looking to genuinely love someone else.

It’s not a wonder that the people alone on Valentine’s Day are exactly that-alone.

Through their whining and complaining on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter and the like, it would seem their idea of love is all about themselves. The op-posite of love is selfishness. To love is to put the needs of others ahead of your own. But don’t ask Merriam-Webster’s online dic-tionary. It defines love the same way these selfish people define it.

Love doesn’t have to be roman-tic and neither does Valentine’s Day. It can be baking cookies for the elderly or widowed. It can be spending time with people you appreciate, thanking them for helping you get to where you are. Love can be feeding a home-less person under a bridge, shar-ing your blanket with your little

sister, listening to and helping someone who is battling depres-sion or even mentoring someone.

Science has proven time and again that helping others provides a greater sense of self-worth than selfishness provides. In 2013, Bio Med Central published a re-view of 40 studies that confirmed volunteering increases mental health and reduces loneliness in individuals. Logically, it would make sense, then, to stop wal-lowing in self-pity and do some-thing for another person who might also wish they felt loved.

People tend to forget that cel-ebrating Valentine’s Day with-out a significant other is not as bad as celebrating Mother’s Day or Father’s Day without either

parent or (if they want to have children, but cannot) children.

Every other holiday on the cal-endar has its purpose and mean-ing. On Martin Luther King Day, we revere one of the most pow-erful men in the history of civil rights. On Independence Day, we watch fireworks that symbol-ize gun shots made in the name of freedom. The holidays are many, but the point is the same.

We celebrate those the way they were meant to be, so we should obviously celebrate this holiday the way it was intended. Rather than complaining about a day where we can fly our freaky love flag, it just makes so much more sense to gush love onto someone else who wants to be loved, too.

The current weapons policy of the University of Montevallo restricts lawful gun owners from possessing a firearm on campus. This is a violation of the constitu-tional right to keep and bear arms guaranteed by the second amend-ment of and affirmed by the Su-preme. I believe the University of Montevallo should allow students with a valid concealed carry per-mit to exercise their constitution-ally guaranteed right on campus.

As a concealed carry permit holder I believe the University of Montevallo is infringing on my constitutional right to keep and bear arms. The Supreme Court case McDonald vs. Chicago stated that the second amend-ment and all of the provisions in the decision of DC vs. Heller ap-plied at the state and local level. This means that any governing body, such as the University of Montevallo, cannot constitution-ally restrict the second amend-ment or the free exercise thereof.

The policy prevents lawful gun owning students from being able to properly defend ourselves on campus. This also prevents us from being able to properly defend ourselves when we leave campus because it would be completely impractical to go all the way from Montevallo to our homes to re-trieve a firearm, to our destina-tion, back home and back to Mon-tevallo. This is an inconvenience magnified by the distance from Montevallo a student lives and where they are going that could be avoided if permit holding students were allowed to keep firearms.

Sincerely, Michael LaRiviere

Letter to the Editor

We live in a connected world nowadays, y’know? Anyone can be your friend on Facebook-your roommate, aunt, dog and yes, even your professors.

So Talulah I need your help. I might or might not have engaged in a bit of a political battle with an arch nemesis on Facebook over the weekend. The comments list turned fairly bloody after a while, but I’m more afraid of my professor’s scorn. I said a few harsh words, and maybe came off a little callous and insensitive.

You see, he (my professor) liked the original status that this comment war sprouted from. While that doesn’t necessarily

mean that he followed the entire thread, there is a possibility that he saw the more brutal comments.

He hasn’t said anything to me about it, but now I can’t help but think that whenever he grades my work or calls on me in class, he is secretly thinking about the dumb things I said.

What do I do Talulah? Do you think I should confront him? Or would it be stupid to bring some-thing like that out of the open?

-Social Media Sorry Shaun

You didn’t tag him in this post right?

If the answer is no, then I simply wouldn’t worry about it.

Because this professor merely liked the status doesn’t mean he spent all that much time noo-dling through the comments.

Since that’s most likely the case, bringing it up to him only puts you in a spotlight you were never aiming for any-way. If you are prone to spitting racey political diatribe on con-troversial statuses, maybe you should unfriend this professor.

Not to burst your bubble,

but professors are forced to see us everyday. Though a great deal of them enjoy teaching their material week to week, the last thing I think any of them look for on their down time is how often their students say dumb things on social media.

For now, I’d say to enjoy this person’s class as is. The next time he gives you a fun-ny look, maybe look at the present, rather than the past.

-Best of Luck, Talulah

Dear Talulah, Dear Shaun,

Talking with Talulah

Hearts cry on Valentine’s DayBY LAURA POYTHRESS

BY LINDSEY SHERRIL

On-Campus & Local Page 3

Purple and gold is everywhere. From the ribbons strung up around campus to the clothing students wear and, supposedly, the color of the blood pumping through their veins: College Night is here.

Preparation for the nation’s longest running homecoming tra-dition began as early as late De-cember with both sides holding mixers to welcome new members. On Jan. 7, the sides began holding auditions for their shows. Then, on Jan. 20, the sides revealed their casts and their signs. From then on, for the students in the shows, it’s been an endless rush of going from class to the caf and finally to night swallowing rehearsals.

It’s easy for students to get caught up in the College Night excitement and even easier for them to fall behind in class. With rehearsals that go into the late hours of the night, having to get up for class in the morn-ing can be an exhausting process.

As part of this year’s Pur-ple Side cast, freshman musi-cal theater major Michael Lo-man understands that this is just the way things have to be.

“When you’re in College Night, it’s kind of a necessity to stay up on your school work because that’s what determines if you get to play or not,” he said. “So, I think for me, knowing that schoolwork comes first before College Night, that’s what keeps me moving forward.”

Rebecca Blankenship, a fresh-man interior design major and business minor, credits her ability to balance her responsibilities as a Gold Side cast member and student

to an early graduation program she was in during high school.

“I developed better time management skills, which is the most significant factor in keep-ing good grades during the two months of College Night,” Blan-kenship said. “I basically carry a full backpack around all day so that during dinner break or when the cast takes turns running scenes, I can pull out my books to crank out my study time.”

To take some of the pres-sure off of their students, some professors plan their syllabus around the College Night ac-tivities. Dr. James Day, professor of history, always schedules his first exam of the spring semes-ter after Homecoming weekend.

“Achieving a balance between those activities and the academ-ics presents a great challenge,” Day explained. “However, you’re only in college once, so it’s im-portant to enjoy events like Col-lege Night while you’re here.”

Dr. Bruce Finklea, assistant professor of mass communica-tion, adopts a similar attitude by not planning an assignment that requires a lot of outside class time and setting due dates for before or after Homecoming weekend. For students that are juggling the pressure of College Night and aca-demics, Finklea advises that they manage their time wisely and not overextend themselves. Accord-ing to Finklea, some students love the pressure while others crumble.

“Look at what your respon-sibilities for class are and fin-ish a couple of assignments early

so that way you won’t have to worry about them the week of College Night,” he said. “You can have your cake and eat it too, you just have to plan how you’re going to juggle all of that.”

Ben Kaiser, a junior BFA double concentration art major and Gold Side’s artistic director, has micromanaged his school, work and College Night sched-ules to the point where they overlap. Kaiser says he is able to get to everything on time and keep his 3.8 cummulative GPA.

As artistic director, Kai-ser runs the scene shop, designs and makes his side’s sign and tries to recruit more workers. The art major says there’s never a day that he’s not in the shop.

His most stressful days be-gin at CVS where he works from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. so he can make it to his art history class at 12:30 p.m. When that class ends at 1:45 p.m., he has 15 minutes before his two hour and 30 min-ute metal casting class at 2:00 p.m. Then, from 5:30 p.m. to

1:00 a.m. he works on the sets for Gold Side. He’ll start on what-ever homework he has when he gets back to his apartment and manages to get to bed around three or five in the morning.

“There are times where the pressure builds up and there are time where I ask myself ‘what am I doing?’ but the the fact of the matter is that I love it,” Kai-ser said. “Pushing one’s own lim-its like this makes me a stron-ger person and I am proud of what I am able to accomplish.”

College Night sighs: a look at homecoming stress

On Saturday, Jan. 31, a crowd of more than a thousand people entered Orr Park to welcome the University of Montevallo’s first ever softball team. Specta-tors and fans showed from all over the country to cheer and observe as the Falcons played and won both of their first ever games against the Univer-sity of West Alabama Tigers.

It was one of the year’s most stunning days, with a bright blue sky and crisp cool air warmed just enough by the sun. The recently completed stadium bleachers were filled with little room to move about. Nearly half the crowd had to stand or sit in bleachers out-side the stadium if they wanted to watch the game. Some spec-tators even sat in trees. Many of the people watching were not just direct affiliates of the university, but also members of the greater Montevallo town community.

To start the day off, Univer-sity president, Dr. John Stewart dedicated the field to the Univer-sity of Montevallo and threw the first pitch to get the game going.

After making his way to his seat in the stands, Stewart com-mented on his expectations for the day. “I am so excited to finally

welcome the softball team to our school. I have butterflies in my stomach as I wait to watch their first game against West Alabama. I know they will do their best and make me proud,” said Stewart.

Jostlyn Higgerson was the starting pitcher for Montevallo, striking out West Alabama’s Lydia North as the first to bat on the new field. The Falcons won their first game in history 6-5, scoring the point that put them in the lead in the bot-tom half of the seventh inning.

Their second game was anoth-er close match, with the Falcons winning again, 9-8. Jana Arm-strong was the starting pitcher. The Falcons trailed by two points toward the end of the game but were able to get the necessary runs for their victory from Jessica Men-tzer, Kelsey Vining and Shelby Clark. Mentzer did not go to bat in the first game, but made up for lost time with her two home runs.

After winning their first game, Falcons third baseman Lexes Wilson left the dugout with her team to talk with friends and family about the first win. “I am just so proud of my team. Some people said we wouldn’t be able to win because we are a first-

year team, but we proved them wrong. We have what it takes and Coach Vanover is proud of the outcome. She believed in us from the start, and all our hard work is paying off,” Wilson said.

In the stands, during the games, several new recruits for next year’s softball team sat and watched with their families. One mom, Susan Hall, mentioned her amazement at the commu-nity support. “I have never seen anything quite like it. It’s like a storybook. I am proud to know this is what my daughter will be a part of next year,” said Hall.

Falcons head coach Lindsay Vanover also shared her take on the game. “These girls have worked so hard for this moment, for these wins. I could not be more proud to celebrate their ef-fort, or to start our first season with two wins,” Vanover said. “I am so thankful for all the sup-port we have received from the community and look forward to making them proud,“ she said.

The softball team has their season schedule posted on the web at Montevallofalcons.com. Their next two games will be in Columbus, GA on Feb. 15.

In the 2013-2014 school year, UM’s recycling program took in 3,045 pounds of alu-minium, 18,000 pounds of plastic and 65,000 pounds of paper. In each building on cam-pus, there is at least one recycle bin for all three materials. Each day, Physical Plant employees come and take the contents of the bin bags away to be recycled.

Recently, it’s been noted that some residence halls have been throwing the recyclable materials out with regular trash. Landon Walls, recycling coordinator and custodial supervisor, was un-aware of the neglect. The recy-cling program has been in place since before he began working for the university in 2010. Ac-cording to Walls, waste manage-ment used to take everything and dump it into one large dumpster until it was removed in Sep-tember 2010. Currently, all the university’s recycleable material goes to a plant in Birmingham.

The amount of recyclable ma-terial that is being thrown away could be a result of custodial neglect, but students can also be held accountable. Each recycling bin has the name of the material that’s supposed to go inside of it clearly labeled on its side. When students use the recycle bins like regular trash cans, the recyclable material gets mixed in with the

trash, thus contaminating it. According to John Denson, the director of housing and resi-dence life, this makes it difficult for the cleaning staff to dispose of recycled items appropriately.

For example: One thing that always finds its way into the recycle bins is pizza boxes. Cardboard is made from or-ganic matter so the boxes can be recycled, but since the grease and whatever leftovers from the pizza are still inside of it has to be thrown away as waste.

“There are dumpsters con-veniently located outside each residence hall,” Denson said. “Residents are reminded to properly dispose of their per-sonal trash in the dumpster and not in the hallways, stairwells, kitchens and recycling bins.”

“I know that with further education the program would just absolutely blow up,” Walls said. “And the truth of the mat-ter is that it would be a good problem to have, but we don’t have the manpower to just sort through and handle it all.”

To help make the recycling process flow smoother and to avoid any future contamination of recyclable materials, simply sort your discarded materials into the right bin and keep ac-tual pieces of trash out of them.

Inaugural softball team sweeps the field

The reduce, reuse recycle blues

BY LAURA POYTHRESS

BY JASMYNE RAY

BY JASMYNE RAY

With weeks of night consuming rehearsals, College Night is a strenuous commitment with lots to consider in terms of scheduling.

The UM Falcons defeated the University of West Alabama Tigers 6-5, and then 9-8 in their inaugural home game.

Recently, it has been reported that custodians have been throwing the recycling away along with normal garbage.

Photo by Katie Compton

Photo by Katie Compton

Photo by Jasmyne Ray

On-Campus & Local Page 4

Accounting students Teri Lyn Walton and Carolina Sanchez look over a yellow sheet of paper in Morgan Hall room 202. Their eyes dart from the crinkled page to the quiet computer monitor in front of them. They murmur questions and statements to each other, ensur-ing that the info they’ve received is one hundred percent accurate.

The two women are members of Montevallo’s chapter of the na-tionally recognized Volunteer In-come Tax Assistance (VITA) pro-gram, a community service project hosted by the College of Business’ Center for Professional Practice. Originally beginning in the Spring of 2012 at UM, the program aims to provide a free tax return service to low income clients and those in need. University students and professors, as well as the rest of the Montevallo community, are en-couraged to seek their assistance.

Lyn Walton and Sanchez are part of a team of seven total stu-dents plus UM associate professor of accounting Dr. Douglas Smith.

Though it is only Smith’s sec-ond year at the University, he is enthusiastic and confident when talking about what the VITA pro-gram offers both clients and volun-teers. “If you look at just the basic fee to go to an accounting services firm and get a tax return done, it might cost you a hundred dollars. We do it for free. We do a good quality service,” he explained.

The process goes like this: anyone who wishes to have their taxes done by the VITA pro-gram can either set up an ap-pointment via three telephone numbers or can simply walk in with their materials in hand.

After a client arrives, they are directed to a room where they fill out a basic intake form that asks for name, date-of-birth, dependent

or independent status and so on.After completing the form, the

client is paired with two student volunteers who use an account-ing software to enter their infor-mation and complete their taxes.

Smith said there are always two students working on a single return. “I personally do not like to do tax returns by myself, and I’ve done this for years. Because anybody can overlook a number, make a mistake and doggone it, every button and every num-ber you put in can mean 50 to one hundred bucks to a client.”

Each student volunteer is re-quired to take an online test host-ed by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Smith says the process is fairly challenging, with students having to complete hours of study-ing and a long testing process.

While Smith describes his role during the sessions as a “rover” offering help when he can, senior accounting major Stacy Burke is the last pair of eyes to examine each return.

This is Burke’s second year volunteering in the program. She said she approached Smith earlier in the year requesting to be this year’s quality reviewer.

This role is required by the IRS to double check all the numbers in each return.

Burke has worked in an ac-counting office for close to 20 years and says she appreciates the work she does. “I enjoy telling people, ‘Hey, you’re getting money back’ but when you have some-body and you have to tell them ‘You owe a thousand dollars’ or something, that’s not always fun.”

The program will occur every Saturday until April 11, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Burke explained the importance of getting a tax return done. “They’re taking

taxes out of your check, and it’s a possibility you could get most, if not all, of that back a lot of times. So why wouldn’t you file?”

While six of the volunteers in the program are new to tax re-turns, Smith said that they are certified, supervised and con-scientious students who work hard to provide the free service.

“Some accounting services earn their money by doing lots of re-turns. The way you do that is you work really fast. Here, we’re going to take our time. If we have to lay it aside and come back to it the next week, we’ll do that if we need to do some research,” said Smith.

Burke says she thinks the program also offers valuable ex-perience to accounting majors. “Whether you’re dealing with au-dit, income tax, it doesn’t matter, you’re dealing with people every-day and you’ve got to know how to talk to them,” the senior said.

“In 2012, we served 30 clients with four volunteers and in 2013 we served 42 clients with five vol-unteers,” said Dr. Bill Haymer, the director for the Center of Profes-sional Practice. Haymer said that the program’s reach goal for 2015 is 100 total clients, roughly a 30 per-son increase from last year’s draw.

Smith says that even by April, he won’t be able to completely give his volunteers the reins. “Every cli-ent is different,” he reasoned. “But they certainly will be much more capable and confident. By the end of this period, they will feel really good about the work they’ve done.”

As Lyn Walton and Sanchez finish their second return of the day, Smith offers delighted en-couragement to his nervous stu-dents. “You two are famous now. Everyone’s asking for you to do their tax returns,” he chuckled.

The first athletic event of the College Night season was wom-en’s volleyball on Saturday, Jan. 31 in Myrick gymnasium. Both Purple and Gold Side had a fair turnout of support from students and parents, all in their sporti-est purple and gold apparel.

Each side came out play-ing strong, alternately scoring point after point. For a while, it looked like it could have been anyone’s game, but Gold Side quickly pulled together for the win and ended the game 25-21. In the words of Gold Side leader Madison Imbusch, “The first battle has been won.”

Some of the girls on the

Gold Side team had actually played against each other on their high school teams. Accord-ing to Miriam Argote, a junior speech pathology major, the fact that most of them were used to playing with the pressure of a big crowd was their advantage.

Despite their loss, Allison Watts, a senior social work ma-jor, felt that Purple Side played much better than they had in previous years and has the poten-tial to grow in the next few years.

“The biggest factor in our loss was our mentality.” Watts said. “I think that we beat ourselves mentally more than our technical mistakes did.”

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February 2015 Calender of Events

4:00 p.m. Montevallo Cooperative Development District MeetingParnell Library

5:30 p.m. Montevallo City Council Meeting Montevallo Chamber of Commerce

6:00 p.m. Active Minds MeetingComer 309

6:00 p.m. Senior Class MeetingFarmer Hall Meeting Room

6:00 p.m. Spectrum MeetingFarmer Meeting Room

8:30 p.m. Anime Club Meeting Harman 119

5 6 7

6:00 p.m. Roller RinkBibb Graves

8:00 p.m. Resonate (Worship Service)Montevallo Baptist Campus Ministry

11:00 a.m. Cafe EscapeMontevallo Baptist Campus Ministry

3:00 p.m. UM Softball vs. West Florida Softball �eld (Orr Park)

4:00 p.m. UM Pre-Health Guest Speaker UAB Medical Scientist Training ProgramHarman 105

5:00 p.m. UM Softball vs. West Florida Softball �eld (Orr Park)

5:30 p.m. Women/Men’s Basketball vs. Young HarrisTrustmark Arena

7:30 p.m. Chess Club of Montevallo MeetingHill House

5:30 p.m. Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance meetingReynolds 116

6:00 p.m. UPC Black History Month Game ShowFarmer Hall

7:00 p.m. Korean Culture Club meetingReynolds 226

8:00 p.m. Secular Student Alliance Weekly MeetingMorgan-Commuter Lounge

2:00 p.m. Faculty Senate MeetingRamsay 106

1:00 p.m. UM Baseball v. UNC Pembroke Kermit A. Johnson Baseball �eld

2:00 p.m. Alabama Young Democrats State ConventionUMOM 201

2:00 p.m. Women’s Tennis vs. Ga. SouthwesternTennis Court Complex

4:00 UM Baseball v. UNC PembrokeKermit A. Johnson Baseball �eld

9:00 p.m. Giving Up/Life Partner showEclipse Coffee and Books

12:00 p.m. Baseball v. UNC PembrokeKermit A. Johnson Baseball �eld

1:30 p.m. Women’s Tennis v. Columbus St.Tennis Court Complex

1816 171512:00 p.m. Women's Tennis vs. Georgia CollegeTennis Court Complex

1:30 p.m. Baseball vs. Albany St. (Ga.)Kermit A. Johnson Field

President’s Day (Washington’s Birthday)

3:30 p.m. Graduate Council MeetingWills 200

6:00 p.m.Intramural Ultimate Frisbee BeginsIntramural Fields

6:00 p.m. Spectrum MeetingFarmer Meeting Room

8:30 p.m. Anime Club Meeting Harman 119

5:00 p.m. Miss Black and Gold Scholarship Paegeant Interest Meeting Farmer Meeting Room

8:00 p.m. Resonate (Worship Service)Montevallo Baptist Campus Ministry

11:00 a.m. Cafe EscapeMontevallo Baptist Campus Ministry

2:00 p.m. Softball vs. Delta StateSoftball Field Orr Park

3:30 p.m. UM Pre-Health Guest Speaker AU School of Veterinary MedicineHarman 105

4:00 p.m. Softball vs. Delta StateSoftball Field in Orr Park

5:30 p.m. Women’s/Men’s Basketball vs. Columbus St.Trustmark Arena

5:30 p.m. Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance meetingReynolds 116

6:00 p.m. Alpha Gamma Delta’s “He’s A Lady” Pageant Palmer Hall

7:00 p.m. Korean Culture Club meetingReynolds 226

8:00 p.m. Secular Student Alliance Weekly MeetingMorgan-Commuter Lounge

Tax assistance at no charge Gold Side wins volleyball game

Feb. 7 was a bright, breezy day on the UM varsity soc-cer fields. Purples and Golds alike made their way to the fields for the first ever College Night Ultimate Frisbee game.

The matchup was a dance of dives and sharp turns. Gold Side scored first to cheers and chants. The game was interrupted when a Gold Side cheerleader passed out.

The players continued but were held up again when Uni-versity President John Stewart’s dog took the field. Attempts to catch the runaway pet were unsuccessful and resulted in

a short pause in gameplay.Gold Side eventually

won the game 12-4. Purple Side rallied on the field de-spite the lost, congratulating and supporting their players.

Purple Side player An-drew Birikorang described his experience as “Fun, it was the first time we ever did this and I really enjoyed it.”

Gold Side player Will Grantham described his ad-mittedly limited experience as “Enjoyable. There was a mixup and I didn’t get to play so I’m only here so I don’t get fined.”

Gold Side wins first College Night ultimate frisbee game

BY REED STRENGTH, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Accounting majors Teri Lyn Walton and Carolina Sanchez fill in the tax return information of mass communication alumni Zack Hill on Saturday, Feb. 7. Hill was the pair’s third client of the day.

BY JASMYNE RAY

BY LESLIE SMITH

Photo by Reed Strength

Photo by Jasmyne Ray

Arts & Lifestyle Page 5

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What do you call a polar bear in Iceland? Very lost. (Because—sor-ry to disappoint all those who were banking on me wrestling one—there are no polar bears in Iceland.)

I have finally made it to Ska-gaströnd (or “Skagi,” for short). The trip involved about 19 hours of flight and layover time, one lost suitcase, two and a half days in the capital of Reykjavik, and almost seven hours on the bus. There were a few times I wondered if I’d ever arrive. “But,” I told myself, “if Bilbo Baggins can make it to the Lonely Mountain, I can make it to Skagi.” And, finally, I did.

But first, Reykjavik 101. Reyk-javik sort of reminds me of Navan, Ireland. It’s just the right amount of bustle. The house I stayed in was on Hafnarstræti, a semi-busy street a couple of blocks from the har-bor. A few streets behind me was Laugavegur, a main commercial street that smells very distinctly of cherry syrup and smoked meat. When I arrived on (need specific date), I was greeted by a tempo-rary housemate—a professor and photographer from Montreal on her way to Sweden for a showing of the project she’d been work-ing on in residence last month. We cased the main street and she tipped me off about the cheap-est grocery stores and best cafés,

only making a brief stop for the best cup of hot chocolate I’ve ever had (seriously, Icelandic chocolate alone makes the airfare worth it).

The next day, I had planned to walk down to the harbor for photos of the mountains across the bay, but the air was so thick with snow and cloud cover that it wasn’t visible at all. Instead, I and my new housemate covered a small area of the city from the harbor to Alþingi (the govern-ment building, pronounced like “all-thing”), behind which is a now frozen over duck pond. The ducks and geese, no doubt frustrated about the uncoopera-tive weather, had taken over the square and were “yelling” at all passersby for hours. While on this unguided tour, I also learned some interesting things about the history and politics of Iceland.

Towards the beginning of Ice-land’s economic crisis in (which hit in 2008), Reykjavik rebelled: the people met in the square outside Alþingi banging angrily against pots and pans, demand-ing the government take notice of their plight. This was called “The Kitchen Pan Rebellion.”

The majority of Icelanders promote the traditional belief in elves (we’re talking mischievous little imps, not Legolas style hot-

ties) and the land is littered with “elf rocks.” Now, one can’t disturb elf rocks. For example, if Alþingi decides to pave a new road that would require an elf rock to be re-located, an elf expert must come to check in with the elves before any decisions are cemented. I expect many would think this a silly no-tion, but I think it says something about the resilience of those whose families settled here so long ago. When the decision was made in 1000 CE about the role Christian-ity would play in Iceland, people weren’t willing to simply give up their Northern gods. I admire that one of the most technologically

advanced countries in the world still makes room for the spiritual, the whimsical, the mysterious.

My favorite tidbit, however, is the magic that is Candy Day. To encourage people to make healthier choices during the week, every Saturday is Candy Day and on Candy Day, all candy (ev-erywhere!) is sold at half price. Children are warned that eating candy on any other day of the week is a “grave legal offense” and Candy Day is a celebratory experience for everyone. I my-self am also very much looking forward to this coming Candy Day because, as I said, Icelandic

chocolate is a gift from the gods. For now, Montevallo, I will

leave you with this: the sun rises at a different time every day. The light here is never constant and the snow crunching under my feet is satisfying in a way indescribable. In the months leading up to my departure from Alabama, I found myself a bit terrified of being alone in a place so completely different. Some mornings I’ve had to give myself a moment to adjust to see-ing the snow covered sea cliffs out-side my window. This is a part of my journey that I will not regret.

Kingdom of Ice-olationAlum Britt Headley records her experiences during her residency in Iceland

BY BRITT HEADLEY

The Sólfar, or Sun Voyager, statue in Reykjavík Harbor.

Photo by Britt Headley

College Night Page 5

Purple side cast the audience into the mysterious, foreboding land of Transylvania for this year’s College Night show. Two college students, Alan and Becky, travel to the famous and frightening land for a study trip. Soon, the pair fall into the rock n’ roll refuge of Dracula, who hordes over a castle full of monster moshing characters.

The mob includes an axe wield-ing Frankenstein’s monster and a herky-jerky 118 year old witch by the name of Blair. As the kids are thrown into a full blown dance par-ty, the bumbling Sheriff Wilhelm and bounty hunter Vera Van Hels-ing arrive to quiet the roaring party.

When Becky gets swept off her feet by the lumbering charm of Frankenstein, a jealous Alan attempts to convince her that they should proceed with their trip. During the heartfelt “I Care Too Much,” the flirting friends reveal their true intentions between one another.

At Wilhelm’s Tavern, Van Helsing lays out her plan for pulling the plug on Dracula’s party. She explains that her family legacy compels her to smite any “monsters” that she comes across.

Back at the castle, Dracula convinc-es Alan that breaking out of his shell by dancing will impress Becky. Simply ti-tled “Dance!” the number sees the mon-sters moving and grooving. In an act of passion, Frankenstein kisses Becky.

Angered and jealous, Alan leaves the party in a huff. Concerned, Becky asks her new fiendish friends to retrieve him. The “monsters” insist that he will come back of his own volition, spurned by his rejection of their alternative lifestyle.

Seeking a cold glass of chocolate milk for solace, Alan overhears the ne-farious plot of Van Helsing in Wilhelm’s Tavern and confronts her. He attempts to understand Van Helsing’s hate for the castle’s denizens and realizes the destructive extent of her prejudices.

Alan leaves to warn Dracula of the bounty hunter’s plan as the sheriff real-izes that Van Helsing is not the secret government agent she claimed to be.

When a worried Becky runs into the Tavern looking for Alan, she finds a crying sheriff handcuffed to his own bar. The two rush to the castle for the final showdown.

The final scene finds Alan fight-ing for Becky’s love after Van Hel-sing threatens her. When it looks as if the young couple is doomed, the “monsters” emerge from their crypts to help their friends.

The show ends as Becky and Alan kiss to the ghoulish gratification of Dracula’s creepy crew. Purple leader Seth Michael Smith emerged from the curtain to declare that the show was not over and lead “The Love Bites MegaMix” with the entire cast.

Purple Side takes a bite too big

The 97th annual College Night is dedicated to Mary Lou Williams, a longtime advocate of the tradi-tion and a woman who has served numerous roles throughout the past few decades of University history.

In 1969, Williams gradu-ated from Alabama College with a bachelor’s degree in English and a speech minor. Four years later, Williams earned a master’s degree in English at the newly named University of Montevallo.

As a student, Williams was in-volved in the Baptist Campus Min-istry. Williams was also a charter member of the Omega sorority, now Chi Omega, and later served as the chapter’s advisor. During her education, Williams claimed Pur-ple side as her College Night color.

“She was a very loyal Purple, but when she worked at the University, she was always very non biased when dealing with the students. [She was] always fair and understanding no matter purple, gold, or green” said close friend and UM alum Kit Waters.

Of her own time as a student participating in College Night, WIlliams said, “I remember the emotion of winning and los-

ing. Winning is better, but you learn from both experiences.”

Williams served as the Direc-tor of Development and Alumni Affairs from June 17, 1985 to March 1, 2008. During her time as director, Williams was able to grow the annual fund and triple the percentage of alumni donors.

Williams took her role as di-rector seriously. “ Because I had been active in College Night as a student, I knew how precious the tradition is. There were some years when penalties had to be ap-plied and it was painful,” she said.

Williams also served as execu-tive director of the University of Montevallo Foundation from 1985 to 1995. While occupying this role, Williams worked with donors to create current university struc-tures such as the the Merrill Room at Reynolds Hall and The Mary Lee Garrett Brown Alumni Center.

“She was dedicated to enhancing the living and learning environment for students through increased schol-arship support, programs, equipment and other projects,” said Racheal Banks, director of development and alumni affairs from 2008-2012.

In 2000, Williams received the Outstanding Staff Service Award from the National Alumni Associa-tion for her work and achievements.

“I can say that I have known few people who are as caring and compassionate about UM as Mary Lou,” said longtime colleague Lois Cooper, executive assistant to the President of the Univer-sity. “She has tremendous strength and has maintained an amazingly positive attitude during her brave battle with cancer for the past sev-eral years. She loves Montevallo and is so deserving of this honor.”

The celebrated alum said one of the most important lessons that College Night taught her was that “sometimes you work as hard as you can on an important proj-ect and it just isn't good enough.”

“Winning is grand, but College Night is about working together and living the legacy. You can’t imagine that when you are an un-dergrad,” said Williams. “My first College Night was 1967. I promise you that I still have an emotion-al rush when someone begins to sing, ‘In the town of Montevallo.’”

Williams receives the 97th College Night dedication award

BY REED STRENGTH, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

PHOTOS BY JANE GOODMAN

BY REED STRENGTH, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

“Love Bites: A New Rock Musical” took the audience to Transylvania for a rock n’ roll muscal tale about love and accepting others for who they are.