Volume 81, Issue 8Oct. 11, 2012 www.FlorAla.net Student newspaper of the University of North Alabama

Administrators plan for universityʼs future, create strategic plan

Over the course of the next year, university offi cials will commence the development of a new strategic plan, with the assistance and input of faculty, staff, students and the adminis-tration.

“A stra-tegic plan helps an i n s t i t u t i o n think about the future, prepare for the future and put itself in the best po-sition possible to be ready for what’s down the road,” said David Shields, vice president for student affairs.

“Where do we want to go? What do we want to look like in fi ve years?”

The university’s last strategic plan (2007 to 2012) will con-clude Dec. 31 this year. Among its many accomplishments are plans for a new science building, the black box theater and the new Academic Commons Build-ing currently in construction, of-fi cials said.

“The plan we are now under, soon to be revised, set clear di-rection for us in improving our approach to campus diversity, to revising all aspects of our in-ternational programming, to our campus building plan (by way of a new campus master plan) and to our programs in student life,” said President Bill Cale via

RYAN PAINE

”OUR QUALITY ENHANCEMENT PLAN WILL BE ONE WAY WE MOVE TOWARD

DISTINGUISHING UNA, AND ITS IMPLE-MENTATION WILL MOVE US CLOSER TO

THAT ASPIRATIONAL GOAL.

BILL CALE

ADMINISTRATION

Safety on their minds

photo by JOSH SKAGGS I Executive Editor

UNA police Chief Bob Pastula and Vice President for Student Affairs David Shields speak as Librarian Doris McDaniel listens during campus forums the Division of Student Affairs hosted after a student was reportedly raped in the parking deck.

In response to recent increased crime on campus, UNA offi cials held four open forums to address safety and security concerns to the UNA community.

The purpose of the forums was to in-form the campus about safety measures UNA police have introduced over the last three years, said David Shields, UNA vice president for student affairs.

“When things like this happen, it cre-ates an urgency for all of us,” he said. “We want to know why this is happening and how we can prevent it.”

UNA police Chief Bob Pastula said he’s seen several security and safety is-sues that need to be fi xed since he started working at UNA and has made efforts to fi x those problems.

“We’ve gone to 12-hour shifts to in-

Police chief, vice president meet with campus community during public forumsALEX LINDLEY

UNA POLICE

Following the recent string of crimes reported to campus police, safety and security are on the minds of students, as evidenced by social media comments on Facebook and Twitter.

Vice President for Student Affairs Da-vid Shields and UNA police Chief Bob Pastula said student safety is at the top of the list of priorities for administrators at

UNA.“Safety and security are a primary

concern on our campus,” Shields said during an open forum Oct. 9.

David McCreary, a senior, said he doesn’t feel safe on campus anymore.

“With so many incidents happening, apparently something isn’t right,” Mc-Creary said.

McCreary said he doesn’t know ex-actly what needs to change.

“Maybe they need to add more pa-trols; I don’t know,” McCreary said. “I

just want to know exactly what’s going on and why no one is fi xing it.”

Senior Will Whaley said he went to school in Memphis before transferring to UNA, and he said he’s shocked by the crime here.

“I’ve never seen this kind of crime on campus before,” Whaley said. “I went to school in Memphis and it was never like it is here.”

Whaley said he feels like the uni-

BLYTHE STEELMAN

See page 8B for an special

AT A GLANCE• 12 NEW RESERVE OFFICERS HIRED

• MORE OFFICERS IN PARKING DECK FROM 6 P.M. UNTIL 12 A.M.

• DISPATCH CENTER RUNNING BY END OF NOVEMBER

• STUDENTS SHOULD CALL 911 IN CASE OF EMERGENCY

Students speak out about recent crimes on campus, safety concerns

CALE

SOCCER LOSES TO GEORGIA COLLEGE

SPORTS 5B

NEWS Oct. 11, 2012 • The Flor-Ala2A

The UNA SGA Senate met Oct. 3 to discuss and settle funding matters for the UNA Rugby Club.

Rugby is a recent addition to the club sports at UNA. The club made an appeal to the budget oversight committee this September to receive funding from the student allocations fund as well as from the club sports fund, said Tyrie Fletcher, chair of the budget oversight committee.

Fletcher said he thought the existing policy clearly restricted the rugby team from drawing from the allocations fund and sent the matter to be handled by the SGA Senate.

As an appeals ward, the senate is re-

sponsible for handling such special cases and distributing the student recreation fund fairly, said SGA President Will Ri-ley.

The club sports fund was formed last

year when the funds from the $1 student recreation fee were turned over to Sen-ate, who in turn allocated the funds to Student Recreation and Fitness.

SGA Senate Vice President Jordan Brasher said rugby is a club sport, not a registered student organization, meaning that the club is not qualifi ed to pull from the student allocations fund.

After discussion, the Senate unani-mously decided to limit the Rugby Club’s funding to only that which comes from the club sports fund.

“We didn’t want to create double dip-ping of any student organization,” Riley said. “We can reassess the situation if they are short on funds at the end of the year, but for now, our goal is fairness.”

SGA has decided not to pursue plans announced last November to purchase a rock climbing wall for the SRC.

Following a student opinion poll on Facebook, SGA had originally in-tended to utilize surplus funds from the failed acquisition of the Florence Golf and Country Club to bankroll a number of initiatives, including the rock climb-ing wall, an outdoor pool and a disc golf course.

Instead, this excess money, along with some additional cash raised by a one-time $1 addition to students’ recre-ation fees, was pumped into fi nancing the spring concert, providing the Military-Veterans Affairs Alliance with additional funds and facilitating the construction of

the Communications Building’s movie room.

SGA Senate Vice President Jordan Brasher said that while plans for the disc golf course were discarded due to the campus’ proximity to the course at Vet-erans Park and plans for the outdoor pool were never realized due to the unrealis-tic cost of the project, plans for the rock wall fell through mainly due to fi nancial disagreements among senators and logis-tical concerns. Among these concerns, SRC Director Jim Eubanks informed SGA that the infrastructure of the SRC would not support a “full rock wall.”

To remedy this and the funding is-sues, SGA President Will Riley said the organization found four transportable “rotating” rock walls, though that project was discarded, too.

“People decided that wasn’t a suffi -cient spending, and they decided not to

pursue to the purchase of the rock wall,” Riley said.

Outdoor Adventure Center staff member and UNA student Brandon Pen-nington said he’s disappointed the rock wall didn’t happen.

“We were all pretty excited at the Outdoor Center; we were hoping for (a rock wall),” he said. “I think the rock wall would’ve seen a pretty good bit of use, had they installed it.”

Riley said he thinks the wall would have been a good addition to UNA.

“I think it would be a great addition if the students would want it, but we haven’t done the research to see if stu-dents want it or want to pursue it,” Riley said.

Brasher said the rock wall would be put to good use by the UNA community,

A Pew Research Center study reported that student loan debt now affected 19 per-cent, nearly one out of fi ve, of U.S. house-holds in 2010, more than double the share two decades ago. The average outstanding debt is $26,682.

According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, U.S. student loan debt has reached $1 trillion.

“It is really diffi cult to keep up with my loans myself,” said Victoria Paige Small-wood, an accounting major. “I wish my parents could help out to take some of the burden off of me.”

The percent of households with debt headed by those younger than 35 has grown from 25 percent in 1995 to 40 per-cent in 2010, according to the Pew Re-search Center.

“As the level of student debt contin-ues to drain more and more of household resources, the standard of living of these families will be negatively impacted,” said Mark Foster, associate professor of fi nance.

Smallwood said rising tuition causes her loan amount to increase.

“I have a campus job, and most of my paycheck goes toward living expenses,” Smallwood said. “There is very little left over to start paying on my student loans.”

Foster said colleges will need to look for innovative methods of delivering their product to keep cost from continually rising; a healthy economic environment would aid colleges in holding down cost.

The default rate on student loans is high, according to the U.S. Department of Education, which paid $1.4 billion last year to acquire the $76 billion that are cur-rently in default.

“Using alternative methods such as scholarships, work study and other fund-ed programs could serve to help students from getting into the situation of owing large sums of money for student loans,” Foster said.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, nearly 26 percent of people under 25 with a bachelor’s are unemployed, and 38 percent are underemployed. College students are not only forced to take huge student loan debt, but they are unable to look for a job to pay it off.

Foster said if the economy continues to remain in its present downturn, some indi-viduals may choose to return to school be-cause they are unable to fi nd employment.

“Students with parents affected by the economy slowdown are fi nding them-selves more responsible for paying their own way; this has increased the need for these students to seek out aid in the student loan market,” Foster said.

RECREATIONSTUDENT DEBT

Rock wall not coming to campus

photo by KAYLA SLOAN I Chief Photographer

SGA executive offi cers meet in the GUC Oct. 4 and discuss student and campus issues. Last week, senate limited the funding of the UNA Rugby Club to only the club sports fund.

RYAN PAINE

SGA

Senate limits Rugby Club fundingELISE COFIELD ”WE CAN REASSESS THE SITU-

ATION IF THEY ARE SHORT ON FUNDS AT THE END OF THE YEAR, BUT FOR

NOW, OUR GOAL IS FAIRNESS.

WILL RILEY

Loan debt doubles in

two decades

YU FU

• Nearly 1 in 5 house-holds affected by stu-dent loan debt, study says.

NEWSOct. 11, 2012 • The Flor-Ala 3AVOTING

Out-of-area students opt for abesntee ballots

photo courtesy of MorguefileSome students opt to vote in their home areas using absentee ballots even while they are attending UNA because their votes mean more to them in lo-cal elections or in swing states.

The country will elect a new presi-dent Nov. 16. Or re-elect the previous one.

Regardless of students’ political be-liefs and affi liations, if they aren’t reg-istered to vote in Lauderdale County, they’ll need to get an absentee ballot to participate.

“In the state of Alabama, absentee ballots are available to people who are temporarily living outside the county in which they’re registered or to those who are ill or physically disabled and are unable to make it to the polling place,” said Tim Collins, professor of political science. “Ideally, it’s if you’re going to be out of the country or if you’re a stu-dent and you’re away at school.”

Students can register to vote at rockthevote.com.

Students can check their registration and print out an absentee ballot applica-tion at longdistancevoter.org.

“Make sure you apply for it and think ahead,” Collins said.

According to longdistancevoter.org, the deadline for the absentee ballot ap-plication is Nov. 1. The actual ballot must be postmarked by the day before the election and received by noon the

day of the election if mailed. If hand de-livered, it must be received by 5 p.m. the day before the election.

“(Absentee ballots) are more conve-nient,” said UNA senior Atticus Wright. “You’re exercising your rights as a citi-zen to vote.”

Though these two students are get-ting absentee ballots, “a signifi cant number do change registration to where they are,” Collins said.

“College students are notorious for not voting in as large a percentage as older voters,” Collins said. “For stu-dents, the issues are abstracted, and they tend to be more transient. They don’t think their vote matters because they don’t know how to make it matter. The more you get involved in the process (of voting), the more you can affect the process.

“A few votes can make a big differ-ence. It’s kind of a duty of citizenship.”

Collins said students should stay in-formed on the issues before voting.

Collins said UNA makes this pos-sible for students by airing the presiden-tial and vice presidential debates.

If students can’t make it to these, the debates are also aired on YouTube. Ac-cording to debates.org, the debates are Oct. 11, Oct. 16 and Oct. 22. Each de-bate starts at 8 p.m. and lasts until 9:30 p.m.

KATIE LINDSAY

IMAGES Oct. 11, 2012 • The Flor-Ala4A

Local music is everywhere from the streets to the big stage right here in Florence. Music is one of the core aspects of this town that brings in talent and produces the main attraction for Florence’s small city crowd of music lovers. Florence and its surrounding cities, such as Muscle Shoals, Sheffi eld and Tuscumbia, were made to host entertainment throughout their outside down-town areas and, most of all, having live talent inside bars and sometimes in selected restaurants. Local acts even become popular through the college life on UNA’s

own campus. Home on a Friday night? No homework? Have some extra cash? Florence at night and especial-ly on days such as the traditional fi rst friday festival, which is mainly a holiday in Florence, is the best time to fi ll that Friday night up with its free and local music in downtown. Florence is and has always been a good place to discover and experience great music and it’s such a great, musically talented city that it even is home to a GRAMMY award winner. Go support and enjoy!

Music THRIVES in Shoalsby Christina Covington, staff photographer

crease our coverage and have three of-fi cers on duty at most times,” he said. “We moved to a more centrally located area of campus to increase our visibility. We also offer bike patrols, Segways and offi cers patrolling on foot.”

Recently, UNA police have created new investigative positions, Pastula said.

“I’ve created an investigator’s posi-tion and, more recently, in response to the recent events, a sexual crime investi-gator who is specially trained,” he said.

Shields said the recent addition of reserve offi cers, who train for seven to eight months, to the UNA police force has doubled the size of the force and said they don’t cost the university much money because they work on a volun-teer basis.

“Recently, we had 12 reserve offi -cers trained, and they’re out there assist-ing us right now,” he said. “They’ll be offi cially joining our ranks soon.”

Pastula said he has arranged for more security in the parking deck, citing offi cers who will patrol the deck from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m.

A new 24-hour dispatch center will open in late November or early Decem-ber, Pastula said.

“We will be opening a new dispatch center, which will be manned 24 hours a day,” he said. “And we have blue phones located throughout campus — about 70 phones, with fi ve on each level of the parking deck.”

Pastula said students should call 911 for campus emergencies and 765-HELP for non-emergencies. A sign displaying the HELP number will be hung outside the university police station soon, he said.

Shields and Pastula encouraged

students to take advantage of campus safety resources, such as the Student Nighttime Auxiliary Patrol and the Rape Aggression Defense courses offered on campus.

“Saturday (Oct. 13) is the last class of this year, and new ones will start in January,” he said. “Because they aren’t usually well-attended, we only offer

them once a quarter, but if demand goes up, we’ll create more classes.”

Shields said campus will be safer with the help of students.

“We have 7,000 people a day on campus,” he said. “If we can employ 7,000 eyes, we have a better opportunity to respond to security issues.”

FEATUREOct. 11, 2012 • The Flor-Ala 5A

email. Some of the things students can ex-

pect to see featured in the new university strategic plan are new residence halls, the completion of a new science build-ing, plans for Floyd Science Building’s second life, new partnerships between academics and student affairs, a new “university success initiative” to aid in retaining students through graduation, programs to aid in preparing incoming students for collegiate life, enrollment increases and the expansion of on-cam-

pus programs and services for students, in addition to a possible move to Divi-sion I.

“We can’t do all things,” Shields said. “We don’t have the resources to do everything. So we have to strategi-cally look at what key things will help our institution to grow, to remain strong, to distinguish ourselves as an institution, to support our students and to make the in-class and out-of-class experience for students top-notch.”

Cale said the university still had more to do in the way of ensuring students’ academic success but pointed to the cre-ation of a University Success Center as work progress toward this end.

Also, he said the university will rely

on a “comprehensive fundraising cam-paign as part of the next plan.”

Through this campaign, the adminis-tration hopes to decide what new build-ing projects UNA needs.

“Our Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) will be one way we move toward distinguishing UNA, and its implemen-tation will move us closer to that aspira-tional goal,” Cale said.

Shields said the new strategic plan will be reviewed every year to ensure its goals and initiatives align with the inter-ests and realities of the university. In ef-fect, the plan will become a “living doc-ument,” something that guides UNA’s progress as a whole, he said.

“Destiny is going to come,” Shields

said. “The future’s coming. We have the opportunity, through a strategic plan, to chart out destiny or have our destiny chart us. I think the next 10, 15, 20 years of this institution are going to be very, very exciting years.

“UNA is in a very, very good position to become a stronger institution. We have an outstanding faculty, a tremendous staff — our student body is active and growing, we have a strong connection to our community, and we have a lot of friends and donors and supporters. Presi-dent Cale, the administration, along with the faculty, staff and students, has laid a good foundation on which to build.”

versity doesn’t have its priorities in or-der.

“Instead of worrying about parking, they need to be worrying about campus safety,” Whaley said.

Amanda Frazier, a junior, said her fears about safety and security extend beyond the campus.

“I don’t feel safe on campus because they’re not doing anything to implement security measures,” Frazier said. “But it’s not strictly the campus. I don’t feel

safe in Florence, period, with every-thing that’s happened on campus and the inmates escaping recently.”

Arielle Jones, a student living in Rice Hall, said she recently found her-

self in a situation that tested how safe she feels, even though she lives on campus.

“It was late, and I left my room to go brush my teeth in the (community-style) bathroom,” Jones said. “There were two drunk guys wandering around in the hallways, knocking on people’s doors. They stuck their heads in the bathroom and started talking to me.

“It’s not that they did anything to me, but they were blocking the door, and if I had tried to leave, they might not have

let me.”Kevin Jacques, director of residence

life, said it’s important for students to re-port these types of incidents as soon as possible when they happen.

“I can promise you this — we address situations as soon as we’re notifi ed,” Jacques said. “It’s diffi cult to respond, though, when it’s not reported. People are quick to put information on Twitter or Facebook, but they don’t report it to the proper people.”

Jones said she doesn’t feel like the residence halls are as secure as they could be because there aren’t cameras anywhere, and once someone gets past the card swipe outside, they’re free to go

wherever they want in the building.“People are doing this stuff on cam-

pus because they know they can get away with it and they won’t get caught,” Jones said.

SGA President Will Riley said SGA is currently looking at options to help in-crease student safety.

“It’s certainly something we want to be a part of,” Riley said. “I’m not real sure how or in what capacity yet, but we’re looking into it.”

Shields and Pastula are both encour-aging students to report anything suspi-cious they see happening on campus.

“The more we know, the better pre-pared we can be to help,” Shields said.

What students are saying on Twitter:UNIVERSITY POLICE STEP UP PATROLS FOLLWING RECENT CRIMES

photo by JOSH SKAGGS I Executive Editor

Vice President for Student Affairs David Shields speaks during an open forum Oct. 9.

A group of UNA students launched a small rocket last week, marking the be-ginning of a joint undergraduate research

project by students majoring in math, education and computer science.

“The project consists of two under-graduate teams that are studying alterna-tive ways to teach projectile motion to high school and college students,” said Atticus Wright, a senior computer sci-

ence major. “We are in the early stages of the project; the launch gave us some real-world data to work with.”

Wright said the project began when he and Patrick Lindsay, also a senior at UNA, asked their professors about doing an honors capstone project.

“Our professors realized we had several students looking to do some re-search, so we decided to combine them,” Wright said, “I’ve never been involved with a project like this. I’m learning a lot about research methods.”

While one team designs a computer simulation to teach projectile motion to calculus students, the other will create a lesson plan for Algebra 2 students, using model rockets, Wright said.

“We were discussing how a lot of our students didn’t notice the relationship between math and computer science,” said Cynthia Stenger, interim chair of the UNA Department of Mathematics. “On each team we have a math major, a com-puter science major and a math education major.”

All members are responsible for their own area but closely rely on their team to complete the research and build a lesson plan, Stenger said. The goal of both teams is to determine the benefi ts of teaching projectile motion to students through alternative means.

“Undergraduate research, in general, is good experience, but this project is good in particular because (students) get exposed to how several different areas all work together,” Stenger said. “You get to interact with people you wouldn’t other-wise interact with — who have a differ-ent viewpoint. It’s been a blast for us.”

James Jerkins, instructor of computer science, said the students were hand-picked for the project, although all stu-dents should consider doing undergradu-ate research.

“You need to be able to think clearly, carefully and creatively,” Jerkins said. “Developing those skills comes from the process of scientifi c inquiry.”

Jerkins said the team will be attend-ing an undergraduate research confer-ence in two weeks to present their initial fi ndings, but this is only the beginning.

“Next semester we plan to scale this up with a bigger rocket, our own fl ight computer with software we are designing ourselves, actual high school students to test our lesson plans on and a conference with more than just undergraduates,” Jer-kins said.

Stenger and Jerkins said they intend for the results of the project to encour-age more students to get involved with undergraduate research at UNA.

NEWS Oct. 11, 2012 • The Flor-Ala6A

Expires: 10/31/12

STUDENT RESEARCH

Group teaches projectile motion with rockets

photo courtesy of Cynthia Stenger

Research group adviser James Jerkins holds the rocket’s fl ight computer with members of the undergraduate research group. The group is divided into two teams: one that will design a computer simulation and another that will study alternative methods of teaching projectile motion.

PACE HOLDBROOKS

MUSIC

MEISA to hold third annual music showcase

The UNA Music and Entertainment Industry Students Association (MEISA) will hold its third annual music showcase Nov. 8 at 6:30 p.m. in the entertainment industry department’s new location on Pine Street.

Auditions for the showcase will be held Oct. 16 and 17 from 3 to 7 p.m. in the GUC performance center.

“They do it every year,” said Bob Garfrerick, chair of the Department of Entertainment Industry and MEISA ad-viser. “They have preliminary open audi-tions, and whoever makes the cut plays in the actual show. It’s been well-received.”

Members of MEISA are hoping for a strong turnout of talent at the auditions and the showcase.

“This is our third annual UNA music showcase,” said UNA student and MEI-SA president Katie Swann. “It’s kind of like ‘American Idol.’ We have a bunch of people audition, and whoever makes it through the auditions will get to compete in the actual showcase on Nov. 8.

“We’ll have a panel of judges who are from the entertainment industry. We haven’t gotten all of them nailed down yet. Hopefully, we’ll have some good people, and it will be good for people to perform in front of them and get expo-sure.”

Swann said people who audition have several options.

“What they’ll do is play one song. They can do it a cappella, or bring in a CD or guitar. It can be an original or cover song. They’ll audition in front of the MEISA offi cers, and then we’ll pick who will compete in the actual showcase.

“The fi rst-place prize winner will get a four-hour recording session at Noise-block studio, which is downtown, and that’s really huge. There will also be sec-ond- and third-place prizes.”

Swann said the auditions are open to everyone.

“We want to get as many people as

possible to audition,” Swann said. “We want a lot of good talent. It’s open to the campus and the community — it’s not just a campus event. We want really good people to audition so we can get a good winner and have them record one of their songs or a cover song.”

The group members are excited about this year’s competition, said UNA stu-dent and MEISA member Olivia Ten-nant.

“We’re really excited about this year because Gary Baker is a judge,” she said. “We’re advertising on radio stations in Florence and the Shoals area, and we’re putting up fl yers around campus. It’s good exposure, even if you don’t win.”

MEISA can be found on Facebook by searching for “MEISA: University of North Alabama Chapter.”

LUKE SMITH ”ITʼS OPEN TO THE CAMPUS AND THE COMMUNITY — ITʼS NOT

JUST A CAMPUS EVENT.

KATIE SWANN

Recent events both local and worldwide have pushed me into thinking more about the First Amendment freedom of speech and what it means to me on a personal level.

Journalists often get a bad rap for spreading an area’s or institution’s shortcomings to the masses.

The fact of the matter is that only bottom of the barrel journalists actually intend for their stories to be negative — or positive, for that matter.

A printed news story is simply a set of inkblots on a page; it is morally neutral until reached by an audience to inter-pret it one way or another.

Last week’s article regard-

ing errors made by campus po-lice served no personal vendetta against any UNA offi cials being criticized in the piece. It did not serve this purpose because no such vendetta exists against UNA offi cials.

It is not the business of a proper reporter to mar another person’s reputation just for the sake of being sensational or for shock factor. After all, what’s to stop another reporter from writ-ing the same kind of personal attack about me or any of the staff at The Flor-Ala?

A proper reporter collects facts and quotes related to a particular topic and lets the readers know the sources of such information so that they may check the reporter’s valid-ity, if necessary.

In such a context, the story becomes less about a posi-tive or negative depiction of a person or event and more about how accurate or inaccurate the depiction is.

Recent First Amendment arguments have shown just how lenient the legislation can be, especially in concerns of creative and artistic speech endeavors.

Just recently, one of my

classes assigned me to read and review a book related to speech or publication law, so I started reading Salman Rush-die’s book, “Joseph Anton: A Memoir.”

The memoir details 10 years of Rushdie’s life spent in hiding after receiving a fatwa death sentence from Iran’s supreme leader, the Ayatollah Khomeini.

The ayatollah gives this decree in response to Rushdie’s novel “The Satanic Verses,” a work the ayatollah and many Muslims worldwide viewed as being blasphemous toward Mu-hammad and Islam as a whole.

While I certainly can’t relate to being hunted for assassina-tion and don’t mean to imply that I feel that way, as a writer I understand how important it is to be able to hand out ideas and information that offi cials do not want spread.

If an unpopular statement — especially a truth that might not refl ect upon a person or group favorably — remains untold, the population of readers learns nothing and potentially suffers at the hands of an embarrassed party’s desire to look present-able in public.

VIEWPOINTSOct. 11,2012 • The Flor-Ala 7A

JOSH SKAGGS

EXECUTIVE EDITORALEX LINDLEY

NEWS/MANAGING EDITORANN HARKEYLIFE EDITOR

MALISA MCCLURE SPORTS EDITOR JARED MCCOY

COPY/OPINION EDITOR BLYTHE STEELMANONLINE EDITOR

LAURA IVIEBUSINESS MANAGERMATTHEW WILSON

CIRCULATION MANAGERKAYLA SLOAN

CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHERCHRISTINA COVINGTON

MICHAEL REDDINGALLI OWNBY

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERSREBECCA WALKER

ADVISER

The Flor-Ala welcomes and encour-ages Letters to the Editor.• The deadline for submitting let-ters is 10 a.m. Monday, the week of publication.• Letters must not exceed 400 words. • Letters must be accompanied by the writerʼs name, mailing address, phone number and email.• The Flor-Ala prefers to publish your letters exactly as written, but reserves the right to reject slanderous or libelous material.• The publication of any letter is left to the discretion of the Editorial Board.• Priority is given to letters critical of The Flor-Ala, or written in direct response to an editorial, a column, or a news story.• When the editors deem it neces-sary for ease of understanding or to clarify facts, an Editorʼs Note may accompany a letter.• Address correspondence to The Flor-Ala. UNA Box 5300, Florence, AL 35632.Email: florala@una.edu. • Phone: 256-765-4364

Letters Policy

Copyright © 2012The Flor-AlaAll rights reserved.First copy free.Additional copies $1 each.

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The current outbreak of fungal menin-gitis has infect-ed 119 people and killed 11, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Preven-tion.

UNA ju-nior defensive back Caleb Massey was named GSC D e f e n s i v e Player of the week after his performance in Oct. 6’s game against Texas A&M Universi-ty-Kingsville.

PAWS UP,

PAWS DOWN

Calling it like we see it

C a m -pus offi cials hosted open forums to dis-cuss safety at UNA with students. These forums were hosted by UNA police Chief Bob Pastula and Vice Presi-dent for Student Affairs Da-vid Shields.

SHOUT-OUT!

Congrats to James Dubuisson for being named Writer of the Week for The

Flor-Ala.

Seek positive stress relief

The weather has turned cool, the scary movies are coming out in theaters by the dozens, and Arx Mortis is up and running. This means only one thing: midterms are here (thought I was going to say Halloween, huh?).

Where did this semester go? It is bad enough I am

responsible for an entire sec-tion of the paper each week, enrolled full-time, work at a law fi rm and now I have to study for midterms? I realize I’m whining, but I am just so stressed out all the time.

Midterms are the time I stress the most. This semester

will be the worst yet. Not only will I be putting my nose in a book from now until next week, I will be getting everything together for graduation, apply-ing for possible spring intern-ships, freelancing for websites, budgeting my slowly-dwindling supply of money and trying to plan some gifts for Christmas.

I do have a foolproof method of de-stressing each week, however. Every Sunday evening — which is the only time I am free — I sit in front of my TV with a cup of cof-fee and watch my shows I’ve missed during the week. I take this time to let my scattered brain settle and mellow out. “Doctor Who,” “Wilfred” and “Adventure Time” are the best therapists out there.

Why do I make this point? Stress management is crucial for college students — actually everyone — to master early in life. The college experience is all about learning life skills, and this is a biggie.

I know how I can be when I don’t allow myself the time to de-stress. I become irritable, forgetful and anxious.

There is no telling what it is doing to my health; when I am stressed, I lose sleep and eat the greasiest, most artery-clogging fast food available.

My looks suffer, too. My skin breaks out, my hair won’t fi x right and I often bite my nails to the quick. It is almost a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde type of transformation.

There are moments where I feel the need to chill out by having a beer or the occasional cigarette. This can become a slippery slope for most people, which is why I stay true to my Sunday routine as my main source of stress management.

My word to you, lovely readers, is to fi nd a routine, ac-tivity or hobby that calms you down, chills you out and cheers you up.

Some people exercise, some people paint and those people make me look bad, but I digress. Everyone can get stressed. Some people work better under it.

However, staying stressed is not healthy. Take the time to unwind and see how much bet-ter your life can become.

ANN HARKEY

Interested in writing or taking photos for The Flor-Ala?

Come to our writers meeting every Monday at 6 p.m or photographer meeting Tuesday at 5 p.m. Take a story, shoot a photo and get involved.

Reporting seeks full truth

JARED MCCOY

A judge s e n t e n c e d Jerry San-dusky to only 30 years in prison. San-dusky was convicted of sexu-ally abusing several young boys at Penn State University.

NEWS Oct. 11, 2012 • The Flor-Ala8AHEALTH

Alabama has 4th highest rate of obesity

Thirty-two percent of adults in Ala-bama are obese, defi ned as a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or greater, according to a recent study by the Centers for Dis-ease Control and Prevention (CDC). Ala-bama ranks fourth among all states with the highest obesity rates.

27.5 percent of men were ruled obese from 1999 to 2000, and the frequency had increased to 35.5 percent from 2009 to 2010, according to a National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Among

women, 33.4 percent were ruled obese from 1999 to 2000 with no signifi cant change in 2009 to 2010 (35.8 percent).

“There are many factors that cause obesity, such as food with high calories, lack of activity, genetic factors and en-vironmental reasons,” said Jill Englett, instructor of human environmental sci-ences.

Obesity is linked to increased risk of heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, certain cancers and other chronic conditions, according to the Na-tional Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).

Alabama has the highest rates of hy-

pertension in the South, according to the CDC’s report.

“I think it really depends on your life-style,” said Olivia Melvin, UNA student. “Some people can diet to lose weight; others need to work out.”

If current trends continue more than 44 percent of adults could be obese by the year 2030, according to the National Heart Forum.

“I would drink green shakes and work out if I’d like to lose weight,” Mel-vin said.

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services discourages eating meals or snacks while watching TV. Cut-ting down on the amount of fat and calo-ries in your family’s diet is a good way to maintain healthy weight.

Limiting fast food and being more active would help people to lose weight, Englett said.

“Eat healthier, at least fi ve fruits and vegetables each day; decrease your screen time,” Englett said.

Screen time at home should be lim-ited to two hours or less a day, unless it’s work- or homework-related, according to the NHLBI. The time spent in front of a screen could be better spent being more physically active.

“If you lose more than one or two pounds per week, it is very unhealthy be-havior,” said Joyce McIntosh, associate professor of health, physical education and recreation. “You need to plan your physical activity.”

Adults need 105 minutes of moder-ate-intensity aerobic activity and two or more days on muscle-strengthening ac-

tivities per week, according to the CDC. Busy students can break up 105 minutes into smaller chunks of time during the day, as long as the activity is at a moder-ate or vigorous effort for at least 10 min-utes at a time.

McIntosh said exercise as well as di-eting would be a better approach to los-ing weight.

“Pick up exercise you like and don’t stop,” she said.

photo by CHRISTINA COVINGTON I Staff Photographer

McDonald’s recently began posting calorie counts next to its menu items. Many restaurants take measures to be more transparent with their food’s nutrition.

YU FU

speculating that if it lacked demand for recreational use, it would be used by the personal training program at the SRC.

A resolution for the purchase of mul-tiple rotating rock walls came to the SGA senate fl oor three times, the maximum number of times any proposal can be submitted to the senate. This means a new resolution can be submitted, but it would have to be “completely redone” and “from another author,” Brasher said.

Pennington said he thinks there’s cer-tainly demand for a rock wall on cam-pus and thinks the resolution would be “worth considering again.”

“The purchase of a rock wall would have to be brought up again,” Riley said. “Most senators that are here now were not in the senate last year. These are com-pletely new faces that think different.

“We’re currently not pursuing it. That’s not to say it couldn’t come up again, but it is not currently on the 2012/13 agenda at this time.”

LIFE Oct. 11, 2012 • The Flor-Ala • Life Editor: Ann Harkey 256-765-5233SECTION B

Each year, there are approximately 207,000 victims of sexual assault ac-cording to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network.

Rape is a source of trauma and can have long-lasting mental implications, said Selena Rachelle, victim services co-ordinator of Rape Response in Florence.

“Abuse causes trauma to the brain,” she said. “It is a complete rewiring of the brain.”

This rewiring of the brain is related to the hormone cortisol, she said. Cortisol is produced by the adrenal gland as the body’s natural response to stress. In large doses, cortisol can impair cognitive per-formance and damage the hippocampus, which is the part of the brain responsible for memory, according to information gathered by Rape Response.

“It is not uncommon for us to get a report from victims who are unable to identify their victims at all (because of trauma to the brain),” she said.

According to Rape Response’s in-formation, too much cortisol can be the building blocks of post-traumatic stress disorder. If this happens, the victim may develop known and unknown triggers that can cause fl ashbacks, panic attacks and anxiety.

“Triggers can be things you aren’t even aware of during the time of the rape,” she said. “Be aware that you (the victim) are not aware of all your trig-gers.”

Along with the damage caused by cortisol, a victim may also dissociate during the assault, which is a natural protective response to traumatic events, allowing a victim to block out the event, she said.

Rape Response provides free indi-vidual counseling. While each victim’s cases are individualized in what therapy is needed, Rachelle uses normalization and disclosure response, healing through having someone listen, as her main form of therapy.

“Disclosure response is one of the most important parts of healing,” she said. “We don’t make suggestions on how to heal. We haven’t walked their path so we don’t push people into what they need to do. We don’t tell people to get over it, we tell them they have to learn to live with it now.”

UNA Counseling Services also pro-vides individualized counseling for vic-tims of sexual assault.

“It has to be individualized,” said Lynne Martin, director of Counseling Services. “There are stages, from ob-servation, when the individual kind of comes to grips with what happens. (Usu-ally) that initial response is a shutdown

and they need an advocate for this post-trauma time.”

According to Rape Response, there are steps victims need to take after a sexual assault.

“If possible, victims need to fi rst call law enforcement,” Rachelle said. “It is also important they have support from family and friends.”

However, because of the memory im-pairment that can happen from trauma, victims should be aware they don’t have to sign their police report immediately, she said.

The next step should be to visit the Rape Response exam room or the emer-gency room to have a forensic rape kit performed, she said.

“We have an exam room, but we only have one full-time nurse,” she said. “As long as our nurse is on call, the exam room is open.”

The victim should avoid bathing, urinating, douching, eating and drink-ing before the medical exam, according to Rape Response. Clothing should also not be changed.

Victims of sexual assault need to be aware that, even if they engaged in risky behavior, it is not their fault, she said.

“I try to work on alleviating shame or self-guilt,” she said.

For more information, contact Rape Response at 256-767-1100 and UNA Counseling Services at 256-765-5215.

According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, rape has decreased more than 60 percent since 1993.

ANN HARKEY

How to healMENTAL HEALTH

This past week’s senior ex-hibition at the Art Department fea-tured the artwork of UNA senior art student Anna Lyle.

Although Lyle practices several forms of artistic expression, her pri-mary form of expression is through pho-tography and the story that she can tell through those photos.

Lyle’s father is an alcoholic. She said she has never really talked about this part of her past, but now uses her art to put it out for others to see.

“It’s a burden I have, and it’s some-thing I have to get out,” Lyle said. “The whole body of work is about me dealing with my father’s alcoholism.”

Many people have seen and reacted to Lyle’s work in the exhibition. She said there have been quite a few people who came up to her and told her of their own story of loved ones who struggled with al-coholism.

“You fi nd your own way of dealing with it; I am an art major, so this is mine,” Lyle said.

Suzanne Duvall-Zurinsky, associate professor of art, has each of her art appre-ciation classes look at all the exhibitions done in the department. She said she has especially enjoyed this exhibition.

“This is the fi rst senior exhibition of the semester, and I think that it is a strong, powerful show to start off the semester,” Duvall-Zurinski said.

Lyle’s photography professor, Wayne Sides, also enjoyed the exhibition. Sides has been instructing Lyle for the past four years.

“It’s one of the better exhibitions of photos that I have seen out there — kind of sci-fi meets horror fi lm — but it is re-ally quite beautiful,” Sides said.

Sides also said he felt like Lyle al-ways had a lot of potential and that she was always a curious student and trying new things. He even said that all of the students liked Lyle’s exhibition, and that does not usually happen.

“I want her to take what I teach and use it to open her own path,” Sides said.

Lyle is going to graduate at the end of this semester with a bachelor’s in fi ne arts. Since she is a senior, she had to do this work to graduate, but she said she would have done it anyway.

“If it helps somebody with dealing with this then I have done my job,” Lyle said.

As for future plans, Lyle said she will probably not continue doing this narrative in her photography, but she will do free-lance work.

“As long as there is a camera in my hand and I have that skill, then I will be happy,” she said.

Student expresses herself

through art

STUDENT PROFILE

MARCUS BICE

LYLE

Experts: rape can cause trauma to brain, mental health issues

The Flor-Ala I File Photo

LIFE Oct. 11, 2012 • The Flor-Ala2B

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Expires 10/1/12. Valid for product of equal or lesser value. Valid at all McDonald’s locations in Lauderdale County, Alabama. Prices may vary. Not valid with any other offer, discount, coupon or combo meal. Cash value 1/20 of 1 cent. Limit one coupon per person per visit. Tax may apply. Price of required purchase posted on menu board. Coupon may not be transferred, auctioned, sold, copied or duplicated in any way or transmitted via electronic media. Valid when product served. May not be valid for custom orders. ©2012 McDonald´s

Expires 10/1/12. Valid for product of equal or lesser value. Valid at all McDonald’s locations in Lauderdale County, Alabama. Prices may vary. Not valid with any other offer, discount, coupon or combo meal. Cash value 1/20 of 1 cent. Limit one coupon per person per visit. Tax may apply. Price of required purchase posted on menu board. Coupon may not be transferred, auctioned, sold, copied or duplicated in any way or transmitted via electronic media. Valid when product served. May not be valid for custom orders. ©2012 McDonald´s

Expires 10/1/12. Valid for product of equal or lesser value. Valid at all McDonald’s locations in Lauderdale County, Alabama. Prices may vary. Not valid with any other offer, discount, coupon or combo meal. Cash value 1/20 of 1 cent. Limit one coupon per person per visit. Tax may apply. Price of required purchase posted on menu board. Coupon may not be transferred, auctioned, sold, copied or duplicated in any way or transmitted via electronic media. Valid when product served. May not be valid for custom orders. ©2012 McDonald´s

Expires 10/1/12. Valid for product of equal or lesser value. Valid at all McDonald’s locations in Lauderdale County, Alabama. Prices may vary. Not valid with any other offer, discount, coupon or combo meal. Cash value 1/20 of 1 cent. Limit one coupon per person per visit. Tax may apply. Price of required purchase posted on menu board. Coupon may not be transferred, auctioned, sold, copied or duplicated in any way or transmitted via electronic media. Valid when product served. May not be valid for custom orders. ©2012 McDonald´s

Visit any of our Lauderdale County locations: • 1155 North Wood Avenue, Florence • 101 Highway 72 East, Rogersville • 306 Cox Creek Parkway, Florence • 1001 Highway 72 East, Killen • 3138 Cloverdale Road, Florence • 1505 Florence Boulevard, Florence

The Shoals Symphony opens concert season this month

The Shoals Symphony at UNA will be opening the 2012-2013 season with “Music & the Musician Extraordinaire” Oct. 14 at 2 p.m. in Norton Auditorium, featuring renowned guest pianist Yakov Kasman, Silver Medalist in the Tenth Van Cliburn International Piano Compe-tition, according to UNA’s website.

Viljar Weimann, music director/con-ductor of the symphony, said the title “Music & the Musician Extraordinaire” refers to the absolute best. It is “a concert not to be missed,” Weimann said. People coming to the concert should anticipate exceptional, powerful playing, he said.

The concert will feature Tchai-kovsky’s Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64, and Kasman playing Rach-maninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini,” Op. 43, according to UNA’s website. Tchaikovsky had the gift of tak-ing the audience places with music, Wei-mann said. Each of the four movements has numerous magnifi cent melodies, and the sheer volume the orchestra is going to produce should be extraordinary,” he said.

Weimann has known Kasman for about 10 years and said Kasman’s play-ing is top-notch with special clarity and fast fi nger speed during runs.

In addition to “Music & the Musician Extraordinaire,” the 2012-2013 season is comprised of three more concerts — in-cluding a concert Dec. 9 that celebrates the 30th anniversary of the Shoals Sym-phony.

A brand new symphony, composed by Florence native and international composer and conductor Roger Briggs, has been commissioned for the Celebra-tion Concert.

“It is a huge honor, joy and privilege to give a world premiere of that sympho-ny,” Weimann said.

The Celebration Concert also in-cludes Berlioz’s “Le Corsaire” Overture, Op. 21; Leoncavallo’s “Prologo” from “Pagliacci;” Puccini’s “Si mi chiamano Mimi” from “La Boheme” and “O mio babbino caro” from “Gianni Schicchi.”

“A Family Concert” will be held on March 10 at 2 p.m. that features Britten’s “The Young Person’s Guide to the Or-chestra,” Op. 32. The concert will also consist of Gershwin’s “Cuban Overture,” Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera” and Berlin’s “A Symphonic Portrait.”

May 4 at 7:30 p.m., a “Choral Extrav-aganza!” has been scheduled to close the season; it will involve Schubert’s Sym-phony No. 8 in B minor “Unfi nished” and Orff’s “Carmina Burana.”

Soprano Tiffany Bostic-Brown, voice lecturer in the Department of Mu-sic & Theatre, will be singing with her husband in both the “Celebration Con-cert” and the “Choral Extravaganza!” Bostic-Brown said she enjoys being able to communicate emotion and share with audience members through music.

“Everybody can fi nd something to relate to out of any piece of music,” she said.

Bostic-Brown is “known for her ‘sweet and ethereal voice,’” according to UNA’s website. Before a performance, she does a lot of deep breathing and tells herself that she trusts her technique, she said.

Being nervous maintains the humble side of being a performer, Bostic-Brown said. Nerves prevent performers from thinking that they are “greater than the art itself.”

Students make up about 50 to 60 per-cent of the symphony, depending on the concert, Weimann said. Jennifer Hager, a violin player and English major, is now in her fi fth year playing in the symphony.

“My favorite part is the feeling of be-ing in something so important, both to the community and to me personally,” Hager said. “The concerts are an amaz-ing part of it, too. They are the pinnacle of what we do as a symphony orchestra. To be able to give the community some-thing they can appreciate and enjoy is such a good feeling.”

Tickets are available at the door, priced $5 for students and $15 for adults. Concerts should be about an hour and a half long, and are all held in Norton Au-ditorium. More information can be found at www.una.edu/shoals-symphony

file photo by KAYLA SLOAN I Chief Photographer

The Shoals Symphony will start the concert season Oct.14 in Norton Auditorium.

CAMPUS

LYNN ECCLESTON

LIFEOct. 11,2012 • The Flor-Ala 3B

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I will be honest and ad-mit scary mov-ies aren’t my thing — I’m not ashamed of that fact. I thought trying something new this Hallow-

een season would be good for me, so I agreed to go see “House at the End of the Street.”

Seeing as how the lead character, Elissa, is played by Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss of the award-winning movie “The Hunger Games”), I had high hopes for the fi lm.

The fi rst fi ve minutes of the movie led me to believe I would spend the rest of the movie with my face buried in my jacket, with two less-than-pretty mur-ders taking place and the sadistic child of the murdered on the loose.

However, the drama slows when Elissa and her divorced mother (Elisa-beth Shue) move from Chicago to a house in a small, rural town, next door to the house where the murders took place years earlier. Though the two are told no one lives in the house anymore, they soon fi nd out the older son of the dead parents actually lives there.

Continuing the predictable plot, Elissa’s mother doesn’t want her to spend time with the son Ryan (Max Thieriot), yet Elissa goes against her mother’s wishes and does so anyway. He’s the outcast of the town and rocks the whole misunderstood, brooding, mysterious guy act, so naturally rebel-hearted Elissa is drawn to him.

The viewer soon fi nds out that shy-but-nice guy Ryan isn’t so nice at all, with keeping his crazy — and presumed dead — sister locked in the basement.

Naturally, things go awry when Elis-sa (the typical dumb girl in scary mov-ies) decides to have a peek in the base-ment for no apparent reason. A couple of twists, a few sub-par murder scenes and one great escape later, and we can

ʻHouse at the End of the Streetʼ doesnʼt meet expectations

STUDENT REVIEW

BLYTHE STEELMAN

What scares you the most?

Chinese Moon Festival brings authentic Chinese food to campusCULTURE

UNA students received an opportuni-ty for intercultural experience in the form of the annual lunar harvest holiday, the Chinese Moon Festival, held in the GUC Atrium Oct. 4. Students were exposed to various rituals and authentic Chinese foods such as sushi, tempura and moon cakes.

Students were welcomed by the hosts in both Chinese and English and were given hope for a free-spirited night. Soon after, a cultural dance was performed, fol-lowed by numerous welcomes and skits. The audience became directly involved

with the events when a game involving a tossed ribbon made its way through the crowd. As music played, students were to throw the red ribbon up in the air. When the music stopped, whoever was holding the ribbon was to go on stage and try a mystery food.

Freshman computer science major Tyler Yasaka participated in this unique tasting, feeling fairly confi dent based on his upbringing in a Japanese household. He began to eat his mystery food, de-scribing it only as “crunchy” and “good.” The host then announced to the crowd that Yasaka had just eaten the delicacy of chicken feet. Next, Yasaka indulged in a pepper that the host referred to as “the hottest pepper in China — you are now a

real man.”Despite Yasaka’s burning mouth for

the next 20 minutes of the evening, he said he truly enjoyed the event and plans to go again next year.

“I think it’s important to have inter-cultural experience,” Yasaka said. “It’s important for us to learn to interact with people who may not share the same back-ground as us and to learn to appreciate the differences among cultures.”

Numerous students on campus cur-rently participate in the Language Partner Program offered by the Offi ce of Inter-national Affairs to help international stu-dents become better acclimated to stark

KALI DANIEL

” TRAIN WHISTLES. NOT THE TRAIN THEMSELVES, BUT

THE WHISTLES.

” CHUCKIE DOLLS SCARE ME. CHUCKIE IS SCARY. THIS IS

EMBARRASSING.

” SPIDERS AND INSECTS THAT JUMP.

”CLOWNS. THEYʼRE TERRIFYING. I LITERALLY DRUG

SOMEONE THROUGH A HAUNTED HOUSE BECAUSE THEY WERE

DRESSED LIKE CLOWNS.

”ELEVATORS, SPECIFICALLY THE ONES ON CAMPUS BECAUSE

IʼVE GOTTEN STUCK IN THEM TWICE.

”CRAZY PEOPLE DRESSING UP WITH FACE MASKS.

”GHOSTS. THEYʼRE WHY I LEAVE MY LIGHTS ON AT

NIGHT.

” I DONʼT LIKE METAL DETECTORS. THEY MAKE ME

NERVOUS.

*Information gathered by Haley Wright

COURTNEY WATKINSEMILY HODGE MOLLY ODOM HUNTER ABRAMS

SHANE PARKER BREAUNA DUFF JESSICA ORR KAITLIN ASHLEY

LIFE Oct. 11, 2012 • The Flor-Ala4B

all say “Thank God for ‘The Hunger Games,’” or else Lawrence’s character might not have made it out alive (I’m joking, of course).

There’s obviously more to the movie, but in the interest of not giving away too

many details or spoiling scenes, I’ll stop there.

Honestly, I didn’t fi nd the movie to be scary at all. That’s not to say there aren’t a couple of make-you-jump-in-your-seat moments, but they are few and far be-tween, and even then I wasn’t that scared. I spent the majority of the movie trying to fi gure out just how stupid Lawrence’s character could be while also trying to

psychoanalyze Thieriot’s character. All in all, it’s your typical wannabe

scary movie. The plot is laughable, though there were a few twists I didn’t see coming. The ending is predictable, and while Lawrence was superb in “The Hunger Games,” even she can’t make this movie worthy of being watched more than once.

If you’re looking for a truly scary

movie this fall, “House at the End of the Street” isn’t it — there’s something to be said for someone who hates scary movies not being the least bit scared by some-thing that claims the horror movie genre. I would advise not wasting your money to see it in theaters, but wait for it to show up in Redbox or on Netfl ix.

cultural changes, with emphasis on a comfortable setting for learning English. Yao Zhang, a freshman at UNA, said the

intercultural events offered on campus help better the community.

“Part of the reason I came to America was to experience a different culture,” Zhang said. “I have always been very in-terested in Western culture and fi lms, and such American traditions as Christmas

and the idea of Santa Claus are very dif-ferent from what we experience in China. It’s a very special thing to be able to ex-perience another culture.”

With the close of the festival, students were brought together through photos, a dance party, karaoke, three consecutive

playings of “Gangnam Style” and the hopes all would come again next year for not simply food and fun but for the op-portunity to explore and navigate through a collectively cultural encounter.

GREEK LIFE

UNA’s chapter of Zeta Tau Alpha sorority hosted its annual Pink Week events, marking the beginning of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Throughout the month of October, ZTA partners with the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation to help raise money for breast cancer research, educa-tion and advocacy.

“Breast cancer can happen to any-one,” said Brittany Champion, vice pres-ident of ZTA. “I’m proud to be able to help women become more aware.”

In addition to events, ZTA will “paint the town pink.” Sorority members will spread pink decorations across campus and also sell pink bows to businesses

throughout Florence to display outside their buildings as a symbol of breast can-cer awareness.

Champion said selling the breast can-cer awareness bows to the community is a great way for ZTA to reach out beyond the campus.

Members of ZTA hosted their annual Pink Party Oct. 5 for students, faculty and community members to participate in. The Pink Party gives ZTA a great opportunity to raise money and spread awareness, she said.

“It’s great to see the community come out to Pink Party to get involved and en-joy their time promoting breast cancer awareness,” said Avy Stansbury, presi-dent of ZTA.

T-shirts, breast cancer awareness bows and cupcakes were sold during the Pink Party. All money made during Pink Week will be sent to the Zeta Tau Alpha Foundation and Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation.

“The Pink Party was a great turn out,” said Candace Crane, Pink Party chair with ZTA. “We sold almost all of the girls T-shirts and cupcakes.”

They will continue to raise money and promote awareness throughout the month of October, she said.

“I enjoyed how many questions people had about raising money,” Crane said. “It made me realize why we’re do-ing this.”

ZTA brings awareness to breast cancer

photo by ROGER WANG I Student Photographer

Zeta Tau Alpha sorority hosts its Pink Party on Mobile Plaza in downtown Florence.

”BREAST CANCER CAN HAPPEN TO ANY-ONE. IʼM PROUD TO HELP WOMEN BECOME

MORE AWARE.

BRITTANY CHAMPION

JESSIE RODGERS

SPORTSOct. 11, 2012 • The Flor-Ala 5B

@FlorAlaSports

Follow us onTwitter!

Keepinʼ up with the

LionsThis weekʼs UNA scores, stats and other tidbits

FOOTBALL (5-1, 2-0)UNA - 21TAMUK - 16The Lions held the Javelinas from gaining a third-quarter lead when Caleb Massey intercepted Nate Poppell and returned the ball a record-setting 93 yards for a touch-down. The Lions host Valdo-sta State Oct. 13 at 7 p.m.

SOCCER (8-1-1, 3-1-1)UNA - 3Union - 1The Lions defeated the Bull-dogs with goals from Jen-nifer Osmond and Jo Chubb. Beginning Oct. 8, the Lions start a week-and-a-half-long road stretch before returning to the home turf to host GSC rival UAH Oct. 20 at 7 p.m.

VOLLEYBALL (5-10, 3-3)The Lions achieved home wins over Union and the GSCʼs Christian Brothers Oct. 5 and 6. The team swept Union with three set wins. Against Christian Broth-ers, the Lions split the fi rst four sets before pulling out the match-winner in the fi fth.

CROSS COUNTRYWomen - 3rd place of 5 Men - 4th place of 5The teams competed against mostly Division I teams in the Tennessee Tech Invitational Oct. 5. Olivia Brady led the women with a 10th place overall fi nish while Fabian Cortez led the men. The Li-ons travel to Tuscaloosa Oct. 13 to compete in the Crimson Classic Invitational.

GOLFAfter taking the lead in the fi rst round of the Indian Bayou Classic, the Lions host the Tennessee Valley Credit Union Classic in Killen Oct. 15 and 16.

SPORTS BRIEFS

RUGBY (2-1)Memphis - 42UNA - 8The UNA rugby team lost its home opener to Memphis Oct. 6. The Lions host Lee Univeristy Oct. 13 at 1 p.m.

Soccer takes worst loss of season

UNA’s win in its inaugural Pink Game Oct. 5 at home to Union preceded their worst loss of the season at Georgia Col-lege & State Oct. 8.

Senior Nikki Brown had a hand in all three goals Oct. 5 for the Lions as she recorded three assists.

Jennifer Osmond scored in the fi rst half from Brown’s cross to put the Lions in the lead. Os-mond’s second goal of the night came early in the second half when Brown put a through pass onto her feet.

“Jenn’s fi rst goal was a re-sult of us keeping the ball wide and giving her time to get into the box,” said coach Graham Winkworth. “Her second goal was just a class move — hold-ing off the defender and slotting it back across the goal.”

Shortly after Union had pulled a goal back, Jo Chubb put the game out of reach with a 25-yard blast that beat the Union goalkeeper before ring-ing off the post and into the net.

Striker Chloe Roberts sat out with an injury against Union. Winkworth said it shouldn’t be too serious.

Union had most of the pos-session during the game, but Winkworth said that’s not al-ways a threat.

“They probably had us beat

60-40 in possession, but they were comfortable keeping it in their back four,” Winkworth said. “We defended well in the important parts of the fi eld.”

Going forward into the con-ference and national tourna-ments, Winkworth said a team that plays like Union could be dangerous.

“We went up a goal early.which was good, but if we go down a goal to a team that pos-sesses the ball well, we would have to change things,” Wink-worth said. “We would have to go win the ball and get it back.”

The Lions suffered their worst defeat of the season on the road Oct. 8 at Georgia Col-lege & State falling 6-1. UNA gave up fi ve goals in a 25-min-ute period during the second half, which saw a UNA equaliz-er disallowed and an ejection of Winkworth after a disputed call.

“We went down a goal early and decided to open things up in the second half,” Winkworth said. “We equalized early in the second half and thought we got it right.”

Georgia College went ahead again before UNA’s equalizer was called back after being deemed out of bounds by the offi cial.

“That equalizer would have changed the game for us, and I feel like the ref got it wrong,” Winkworth said.

UNA outshot the Bobcats 20-15 but could only fi nd the

net once.“Everything just kind of

went their way today,” Wink-worth said. “Our team could have started bickering amongst themselves, but they didn’t. They stayed classy and kept their composure.”

The Lions continue their

current road stretch Oct. 12 at Columbus State before con-tinuing on to road conference matches at Shorter and Chris-tian Brothers.

“We have a classy team; we’ll bounce back,” Winkworth said.

SOCCER

MATT WILSON

CLUB SPORTS

Chloe Richards takes a swing and a miss at the Union goal dur-ing the Lions’ Oct. 5 Pink Game. The team went on to win 3-1 with goals from Jennifer Osmond and Jo Chubb.

photo by CHRISTINA COVINGTON I Staff Photographer

The UNA Rugby Club lost its Oct. 6 home game (42-8) to Division I Memphis University after failing to contain the Ti-gers in the fi rst half.

“They did all their scoring in the fi rst half,” said UNA rug-by player Michael Cole. “In the second half, we settled down and didn’t let them score until the last fi ve minutes.”

The Lions came out with an early lead behind a fi eld goal by Forrest Lyon, making the score 3-0. The only try scored by the Lions was by Landon Whaley and was also scored in the fi rst half.

After the Lions scored in the fi rst half, the Tigers “got on a roll,” scoring fi ve times within a 10-minute span, Cole said.

In the second half, however, the Lions kept the Tigers from scoring until the fi nal minutes of the game.

“We played good defense the entire second half,” Cole

said. The Lions will now turn

their attention to Lee Univer-sity, who they will play at home Oct. 13 at 1 p.m. Current UNA rugby coach Eddie Roberts used to coach at Lee University.

“Lee will be a team that is very similar to us,” Cole said. “It’s always a good-fought game (when we play against Lee).”

Cole said the lesson the

Lions learned in the Memphis game is that the team needs to work on conditioning.

“We really learned we have to be in better shape by the end of the season or we’re not going to make it very far in (confer-ence play),” Cole said.

Conference play for the Li-ons starts Nov. 10 and will in-clude games against Harding, UT-Martin, Freed-Hardeman, UAB and Murray State.

Rugby drops home opener to MemphisMALISA MCCLURE

Lions succeed at Tennessee Tech Invitational

BEN ELLIOTT

CROSS COUNTRY

The UNA cross country team ran at the Tennessee Tech Invitational in Cookeville, Tenn., Oct. 5, placing fourth overall in men’s and third over-all in women’s on the Southern Hills Golf Course.

UNA’s Fabian Cortez, a sophomore who placed 27th in the men’s 8K, and Olivia Brady, a freshman who placed 10th in the women’s 5K, were the leaders for UNA.

“It was a tough course, probably the toughest I’ve ever ran,” said Roger Good, a junior. “But it was nice to see the team compete hard and fi nish in the places we did.”

Cortez fi nished at 29:36:13 for 27th place with Zeke Nich-ols, a senior, placing close be-

Caleb Aldridge breaks a tackle from Memphis player Josiah Shipley during the rugby game Oct. 6.

photo by ALLI OWNBY I Staff Photographer

SPORTS Oct. 11, 2012 • The Flor-Ala6BCaddyshack campusCaddyshack campus

LIFE SPORTS

Students have been playing Frisbee golf on campus at night for at least three years, though not many people know about it, said students who play on cam-pus.

“Every fraternity has at least one course, and there are a few student cours-es on campus that only a few students know about,” said Rob Tyree, UNA stu-dent and Delta Chi brother.

Delta Chi brothers Marshall Hess and Justin Allen Pipkins decided in fall 2009 to make the fi rst 18-hole Frisbee golf course on UNA’s campus, called the Car-dinal Blue Course, Hess said.

Hess said they made this course so they would not have to drive to Veterans Park if they wanted to play a game. It took them about two weeks to make the course, which included deciding where the holes would be and playing it until they worked out all of the kinks.

Playing Frisbee golf on campus in-volves hitting goals that include various campus buildings. One of those build-

ings is Lafayette Hall, said honor student Molly Lynn, who used to live in the resi-dence hall.

“I can say your refl exes improve,” said Molly Lynn, a junior at UNA. “The minute you step out the door (at Lafay-ette Hall) at night and hear someone yell, you better duck or get beaned by a Fris-bee.”

Lynn said she remembers some close calls she had with on-campus Frisbee golfi ng.

“(There’s) nothing better than walk-ing — then suddenly out of nowhere — a Frisbee whizzes past your face and slams into a light pole” she said.

Amy Brown, a junior at UNA has also seen people practicing the sport.

“I’ve seen a lot of groups out behind Lafayette at night,” Brown said. “I’ve seen maybe two or three groups during the day the whole time I was there (two years).”

Some students said they never knew about people playing on campus but had heard rumors about it.

Mark Bryant, a senior at UNA, said he has never seen anyone playing Frisbee

golf on campus but that older students would always tell him about it.

Frisbee golf on campus is not illegal. “As long as your course does not go

inside of a building or you don’t hit a building, then the cops don’t care,” Tyree said.

Students turn UNA into frisbee golf courseMARCUS BICE

photo illustration by CHRISTINA COVINGTON I Staff Photographer

A UNA student plays frisbee golf on campus, aiming for a light pole near Willing-ham Hall.

Students enjoy weekly on-campus slacklining events

OUTDOOR ADVENTURE CENTER

There’s a new student activity go-ing on weekly on campus this semester: slacklining.

The Outdoor Club, headed by UNA alumna McKenzie Martin, has been hosting weekly on-campus slacklining events. So, what is slacklining?

According to slackline.com, slacklin-ing has long been a part of the athletic world. From tightrope walkers in the cir-

cus to the gymnastics balance beam, the central theme of balance is not new.

“Slacklining has been pretty popular since the ‘60s or ‘70s,” Martin said. “It’s kind of a hippie activity, but it’s good ex-ercise and laidback.”

Jonathan Oliphant, while slowly mak-ing his way between trees on the thin, fl at slackline, said he enjoys doing it because it is very relaxing.

“It is a fun workout and challenging,

MATT WILSON

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Tweet @FlorAlaSports@FlorAlaSports using the hashtag #FAvballPoll#FAvballPoll with your answer and you could win

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Clark Greer tries to maintain his balance on the slackline near the amphitheatre on campus Sept. 18.

photo courtesy of Jonathon Oliphant

SPORTSOct. 11, 2012 • The Flor-Ala 7B

YOUR

Located in the heart of campus inside the GUC.

ON-CAMPUSSTUDENT-RUNNOT-FOR-PROFITCREDIT UNION!

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UNA middle hitter Taylor Chapman puts the ball over the net against Union Uni-versity Oct. 5 at Flowers Hall. The Lions went on to win the game and also won their Oct. 6 game against Christian Brothers.

photo by MICHAEL REDDING I Staff Photographer

The UNA Volleyball team won both its weekend home games against Union Oct. 5 and Christian Brothers Oct. 6.

The Lions swept Union with three straight victories (25-13, 25-14, 25-16).

Priscilla Massengale had six kills in the opening set, and Cara Gregg had seven in the second.

Though the Lions trailed Union early in the third game, the team caught up with four straight points and didn’t trail again. Hope Rayburn had fi ve digs in the game, and 13 in all three games.

Oct. 6, the Lions split the fi rst four matches with Christian Brothers before tri-umphing in the fi fth to win the match.

In the game, the team achieved a sea-son-high of 70 kills.

Defensively, Jessica Ronyak led the team with 24 digs.

The Lions are now 5-10 overall and 3-3 in the GSC. They host Kent State Oct. 13 at 1 p.m. and West Alabama Oct. 14 at 1 p.m.

*Match statistics compiled by Sports Editor Malisa McClure using roarlions.com

but its very relaxing,” Oliphant said.Martin pointed out that there are dif-

ferent types of slacklines. “Some can be used for different tricks

and some are just for balancing and walk-ing,” Martin said.

The slackline is anchored around two trees with protection for the trees, such as sleep pads.

“We are looking to install some old telephone poles down at the OAC so we can set up a permanent slackline,” Martin said. “That way we don’t have to worry

about damaging any of the trees on cam-pus.”

Students who are interested in par-ticipating must fi ll out a waiver each time they want to try their hand at balancing. Martin said that so far they have had 53 students try it out.

“We have some regulars now that come out each Tuesday,” Martin said. “We have been doing this since early September and plan on continuing it ev-ery Tuesday for the rest of the semester.”

hind him in 33rd and Good in 36th place. The rest of the men’s team followed

closely, giving Clay Oden 37th place and Colby Phillips 39th.

The UNA men’s team fi nished up with Matthew Cooper (34:22:39) giving the UNA men’s team the fourth place spot with an overall score of 117, making them the highest ranked Division II team.

The UNA women’s team stuck close together, Brady leading her teammates by only a few spots.

She was followed closely by Victoria Acocella, (junior, 13th); Kenley Crouch (freshman, 15th) and Katherine Steinman (sophomore, 17th).

The rest of the girls fi nished within four minutes of Brady.

“It was not necessarily pack running, but (the girls were) defi nitely close to each other,” Cooper said. “When a few girls fi nish within 45 seconds of each other in a 5K, they’re all pretty close to-gether.”

The women’s team scored an overall 74 points to secure a third-place win.

UNA’s next cross country meet is Oct. 13 at the Alabama Crimson Classic in Tuscaloosa.

WANT TO GIVE SLACKLINING A TRY?

• THE OUTDOOR CLUB IS HOST-ING SLACKLINING EVENTS EVERY TUESDAY FROM 2 - 4 P.M. IN THE AREA NEAR THE AMPHITHEATRE AND LIBRARY. ALL STUDENTS ARE WELCOME TO JOIN.

”It was a tough course, probably the toughest Iʼve ever ran. But it was

nice to see the team compete hard and finish in the places we did.

ROGER GOOD

EXTRA Oct. 11, 2012 • The Flor-Ala8B

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