Due South Spring 2018

DUE SOUTH students | campus | community

THIS SEASON’S POP CULTURE

PRISONERS OF OUR OWN MINDS

CONNECTING THROUGH COLOR

A look at the most popular things in our culture this semester.

A growing number of college students live with anxiety and depression.

Holi Festival returns to USA to spread Indian culture.

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15

19

spring 2018 | vol. 7, issue 2

DUE The University of South Alabama Communication Building, Room 132 Mobile, AL, 36688 Tel: 251-380-2805 | Fax: 251-380-2850 duesouth@southalabama.edu Director of Student Media |

Heather Leigh Stanley

Editor-in-Chief |

Sara Boone

Assistant Editor |

Jennifer Le

Contributors|

Madison Allen Akshay Aluri Jacob Armistead William Chandler Chandler Hubbard Lexi Naughton William Riddick

Advertising Manager |

Preston Smith Advertising Graphic Designer | Jennette Bago Due South is published twice per academic year-once in the fall and once in the spring. Unless otherwise noted, all content is copyrighted by Due South. Due South is a production of USA Student Media and does not necessarily reflect the views of The University of South Alabama’s administration. The Editor-in-Chief is decided by the Board of Student Communications. All contributors are freelance.

Cover photo from “Connecting Cultures Through Color”

by Jennifer Le. See more on page 19.

Best of South third place for Best College Magazine, 2018

CONTENTS 01

contributors

02

Letter From the editor

03

dedication

students 05

Dr. Jim Aucoin, creator of Due South, receives this issue’s dedication.

this season’s pop culture

A look at the most popular things in our culture this semester.

07

fighting together on opposing sides

11

broaden your studies

13

money-saving tips for you

15

PRISONERS OF OUR OWN MINDS

campus 17 19

community 23

USA students become more politically involved through clubs.

One student shares her experience of studying abroad along with some tips.

College is expensive, but there are ways to save a little here and there.

A growing number of college students live with anxiety and depression.

dancing for dreams

Dance Marathon raises thousands of dollars for local hospital.

connecting cultures through color

ISA hosts fourth annual USA Holi Festival to spread Indian culture.

24 things in 24 hours

Follow this guide to experience 24 aspects of Mobile in only 24 hours.

25

mom and pop’s local stop

27

sanctums of silence

29

PUT A SPRING IN YOUR STEP

Locally owned restaurant continues to feed the community after 32 years.

Libraries have provided a sanctuary for this student through his life.

The Azalea Trail Run acts as a catalyst to bring together the community.

HEATHER LEIGH STANLEY

sara boone

JENNIFER LE

madison allen

Director of Student Media

Editor-in-Chief

Assistant Editor

Writer

akshay aluri

jacob armistead

william chandler

chandler hubbard

Writer

Photographer

Writer

Photographer

lexi naughton

william riddick

Writer

Photographer

01 | due south |

CONTRIBUTORS

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Due South plays a crucial role in the university spectrum. We are much more than just people who write stories and take photos. We create memorable content for students and members of the community. We lend a voice to students who would otherwise be spoken over. We provide outlets for creativity. We provide a source of entertainment. We relay the stories that get drowned out in the high-paced world of media. We work to provide the University of South Alabama with a spectacular magazine.

With this being my second issue of Due South as Editor-in-Chief, I wanted to do something that has never before been seen in the magazine. Due South’s last issue, Fall 2017, won third place for Best College Magazine at the Best of South Awards. Because of this, I wanted to push myself, my Assistant Editor Jennifer and my staff of contributors to achieve more than we had previously. I appreciate all the hard work everyone put in to create this magazine. Without Jennifer and my contributors, there would be no magazine at all. We work together to generate unique, incredible content that surprises even me, and I want to give them the recognition they deserve.

I hope you genuinely enjoy this issue, as we have poured our hearts and souls into creating it. I have learned that there will always be times where I question my abilities as a creator, but I have a fantastic group of people who support and encourage me along the way. Thank you to everyone who has pushed me to do more than I thought possible.

This issue is dedicated to the man who created Due South in 2012, Dr. Jim Aucoin. He is retiring from the university this year, and he leaves behind the magazine in our hands. His contributions to Due South and to the communication department are greatly appreciated.

Due South’s goal is to link the University of South Alabama campus and the Mobile community. We worked tirelessly to capture every memory we could fit into these 30 pages. Our campus and community are so unique, and we wanted to feature the little quirks that cannot be found anywhere else. I hope you enjoy learning about our home.

Sara Boone

Editor-in-Chief, Due South

| contributors | 02

Dr. Jim Aucoin founded Due South in 2012 when he realized the need for a magazine on campus.

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By Sara Boone Photo by Sara Boone

here’s to the man who started it all Dr. Jim Aucoin, creator of Due South, receives the dedication of this issue as he retires from the communication department after 24 years.

A

fter 24 years with the Department of Communication, Dr. Jim Aucoin is retiring from his position of communication department chair.

Since becoming the department chair in 2009, he has been instrumental in the development of the department and founded Due South in 2012. For this, we dedicate this spring 2018 issue of Due South to Dr. Aucoin.

Aucoin has watched the department grow into one that offers diverse courses, majors within all types of media, hands-on education and experience that students can use in their careers.

He was the second full-time journalism faculty member at USA. He worked alongside previous department chairs to build the journalism and mass communication majors in order to grow with the changing real-life media demands. Mass communication has grown significantly and is driving the department. Throughout his time as chair, he worked to keep the department curriculum up to date with the quickly changing media.

After he became the department chair, the University asked him to advise the Vanguard newspaper and JagTV. While doing so, he realized that the missing media at USA was a magazine. So, he hired a designer and students to create Due South. The name carries multiple meanings: It contains “South” which represents the University’s name, it indicates that all roads lead to “South,” and its compass logo indicates that Due South will point students in the right direction.

Needless to say, Aucoin is a believer in the immense benefits of student media at the university. He believes

students involved in student media get the opportunity to receive an education that they cannot get in the classroom. All four media within Jag Media provide hands-on experience to students who want to practice that field. Along with acting as a teaching agent, he believes the role of student media is to provide information and entertainment to the student body.

Throughout his career, Aucoin has worked on numerous historical pieces.

He wrote a book called “The Evolution of American Investigative Journalism,” which discusses America’s history of investigative journalism from the first newspapers to television.

One of his biggest passions in life is literary journalism, and he works every day to spread that with students in his department.

“You can never be a good chair without faculty and students. what they do is what makes the department successful.” -jim aucoin He has also worked on historical documentaries, one of which recently premiered in April. It is entitled “Journey to the Wilderness” and is based on a book of the same title by Frye Gaillard. Aucoin is passionate about teaching and incorporated it into one documentary he worked on.

It discussed the history of African American voting rights in Mobile. The documentary was distributed to local

high schools to teach students about the history in their own town.

While teaching and research are Aucoin’s biggest passions when it comes to his work, he also enjoys sailing and traveling in his free time. He hopes to do travel writing and journalistic work in his retirement, which would allow him to combine his greatest passions.

His enthusiasm for these projects is what makes them so successful, and it is something that will be missed in the department. Aucoin’s dearest memories from working at USA are the ones of faculty members who he has gotten to know and students he has gotten to teach.

“I have taught thousands of students, and I have had a wonderful experience.

The faculty is always wonderful, and it has been a blessing to work with them to build such a substantial department,” Aucoin said.

Aucoin hopes the new department chair will remain open to possibility while embracing the people already with the department and their ideas.

The department is steadily growing, and he hopes the new chair will contribute to this.

As parting words to students, Aucoin would like to say, “The University provides a lot of opportunities, but it is up to you to embrace them and do the work that provides you with a good education and experience working in various media. It is not where you go to school. It is what you do when you get there.”

On behalf of Due South, thank you for your contributions, support and reassurance. We wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.

| DEDICATION | 04

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this season’s pop culture Here is a look at the most popular things in our culture this semester. | By Jennifer Le, Photo by Jennifer Le

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| students | 06

By Akshay Aluri Photos by William Riddick

fighting together on opposing sides After the 2016 Presidential election, students at South Alabama became more politically involved with two clubs on campus.

M

illennials and Gen Xers, for the first time, outvoted Baby Boomers and other generations in the 2016 Presidential election, according to the Pew Research Center. This gap will continue to widen as the older generation fades away, and the younger generation across the nation will control the fate of our republic.

Unlike the politically engaged younger generation of the 1970s that marched and protested against the Vietnam War, over the last decade, college students have remained apathetic and unconcerned with the debilitating effects of certain public policy on average Americans.

However, with the election of President Donald Trump on November 8, 2016, a seismic shift in the political landscape propelled college students across the nation to seize the moment and

07 | due south |

capture the attention of their peers.

The rising tide of student activism has struck the University of South Alabama in the form of two political organizations: College Republicans and College Democrats.

The chairwoman of the College Republicans Grace Newcombe shares a similar story about a hike in student participation since the 2016 presidential race.

Having noticed the absence of a Republican organization on campus, Newcombe, during her freshman year, “began to meet with fellow Republicans in [her] classes about helping charter the club� and enlisted 20 students to form an active organization on campus.

The South Alabama College Republicans, now a major campus political organization, currently comprise over 250 members. Newcombe also credits the

Despite their differences, students have learned to come together for the good of the future of the country.

| STUDENTS | 08

massive surge of organization members to the considerable media coverage of the presidential race, including unprecedented election focus from entertainment and sports news channels.

“I believe incentives such as student loan forgiveness and tuition-free college played a crucial role in drawing the attention of students across the country,” said Newcombe.

“By reaching out to [us], students can educate themselves on political issues across the country and the different ways to engage with their community.”

-grace newcombe However, another head of a South Alabama political organization, Nathaniel Robertson of the College Democrats, has a far more cynical view on why students are politically active in the Trump era.

He believes President Trump’s views and actions were reprehensible to a large swath of American people, and they were, as a result, jolted into action.

He argues that many students, most of whom who had voted for the first time

in 2016, realized they could not always “trust their political leaders to make the right decisions for them, so they had decided to take matters into their own hands.”

Robertson’s cynicism is tempered by his sustained belief that “young people [are] the key to the Democratic party’s future success.”

It was this belief which motivated Nathaniel to join the College Democrats when he started school at South Alabama. However, he discovered the organization was fairly inactive and had only met once throughout 2016.

The 2016 election provided the impetus Robertson needed to restart the South Alabama College Democrats—an organization that once only had two members and now has more than 25.

For the College Democrats, a monumental achievement came after the special U.S. Senate election in Alabama, when Doug Jones, the Democratic candidate, beat Roy Moore, the controversial Republican candidate, making him Alabama’s first Democratic senator in 25 years. The College Democrats, Robertson said, worked hard to canvass the local area and make phone calls on behalf of Jones’s campaign.

Despite their political differences, Newcombe and Robertson both believe college students will not only play a significant role in American politics but also can swing the results of an election.

Both Newcombe and Robertson recommend students join a campus political organization in order to keep in touch with the current political world.

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Freelance Photographers: A photographer will be given instructions and paid for each photo Due South chooses to buy (not per photo taken).

Photographers are responsible for providing photos for all stories in Due South. Photographers are paid as freelancers.

Freelance Writers: A writer is responsible for writing the stories for Due South. Writers are expected to be able to conduct interviews in a professional manner for their stories.

Writers will be assigned stories or may request stories themselves. Writers are paid as freelancers.

| STUDENTS | 10

broaden your studies Traveling in college can be the most eye-opening experience you can have as a student. You get the opportunity to learn and have a better understanding of different cultures and meet people from different ethnic backgrounds while being on track with your degree.

A student from USA shares her experience with studying abroad and some tips and tricks. | By Jennifer Le, Photos courtesy of Savannah Barfoot

MEET SAVANNAH

Savannah Barfoot is a Senior at the University of South Alabama who has never been outside of the United States. She did a multi-country study abroad program in summer 2017. The Celtic program took her to different cities in Ireland like Galway, Dublin, Sligo, Cliffs of Moher and Inisheer. She studied in Edinburgh, Scotland and took Art Psychotherapy in London, England.

HOW TO FUND YOUR TRAVELS

“It was actually cheaper for me to study abroad than to stay at South and take the same number of credit hours.”

One of the concerns students have is how are they going to afford to go abroad. There are different scholarship opportunities on JagSPOT that are filtered to accommodate you and your major. Applying for scholarships may take an intensive amount of time and hard work, but the experience will be worth it. Financial aid also provides assistance for students studying abroad because is treated like a regular semester at the university.”

THE PROS

“I was terrified to go to a foreign country by myself where I did not know anyone. I pushed myself at every opportunity to explore and meet new people. I made some awesome friends, visited some awesome places and made some awesome memories.”

The perks of going abroad are how easy and inexpensive it is traveling to other countries. Barfoot was able to travel to other countries like England, Scotland, Spain, Italy and France on her off days. You are also able to get out of your comfort zone because you are in a different country, experiencing different cultures and meeting locals and other students who are also studying abroad.

“My classes were filled with others studying abroad. I met people from Russia, Australia, India and all over the U.S. It made me realize how small the world really is, because a lot of us had shared similar experiences or wanted the same things out of life.”

THE cons

Savannah also shared some of the downs she had while on her trip.

“I had some crazy experiences: getting slapped by apick-pocketer on the underground because I stopped her from going through my friend’s purse, getting my passport stolen from my carry-on when I fell asleep on the plane to Denmark and calling the cops on a drugged up guy trying to grab my friend while she slept and acting out the encounter, because they did not speak English, but I had an amazing time.

Advice for Traveling Abroad

Take a Chance. If you are thinking about studying or interning abroad, go for it. There are resources to help assist you from the enrollment process to getting the funds you need.

Be Vigilant. Just like everywhere else, be cautious of your surroundings. Keep your belongings locked and hidden at all times.

Bring Identification. Bring copies of your passport and birth certificate in each bag you carry on the plane. Give your family and friends a copy of your identification, if necessary. After Barfoot had her passport stolen, her dad had a copy of her passport, which allowed her to prove her identity and enter a country without complications.

Keep an Open Mind. Don’t be afraid to travel by yourself to places and to meet new, different people.

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Studying abroad provides unique learning opportunities which cannot be matched by classroom learning.

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MONEY-SAVING TIPS FOR YOU College is expensive, but there are some easy ways to save a little here and there. | By Madison Allen

Scholarships

1. Student Discounts | It’s difficult to

say no to shopping every time your friends want to go. Luckily, many stores offer student discounts. They may only be 10 percent, but it all adds up. An easy way to find out where you can get this discount is to use the app UniDays, which is available for Android and Apple, lists discounts for hundreds of different stores. No matter what you’re shopping for, there’s a discount for you.

4. Affordable Entertainment | Just be-

cause college is expensive doesn’t mean you have to spend every weekend in your dorm room. Mobile offers many types of affordable entertainment. The Jaguar Productions ticket window sells $6 movie tickets and $5 Mobile Symphony Orchestra and Mobile Ballet tickets for students. Mobile Art Museum, which is only a five-minute drive from campus, also offers $8 student tickets.

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Entertainment

Textbooks

Clothes

Student Discounts

13 6 245 2. Scholarships | Most people think they

3. Couponing | No one thinks a college

5. Renting and Selling Textbooks |

6. Selling Old Clothes | Another easy

can only apply to scholarships as incoming freshmen, but scholarships are available to everyone. USA has its own scholarship website called JagSPOT which matches you with scholarships based on your major. FastWeb. com is a database with thousands of scholarships listed. Like JagSPOT, it matches you with scholarships based on your major.

This is one of the best ways to save money and make money. Renting textbooks off Amazon, Chegg or from the bookstore will easily save you $30 or more per book. If you have already bought a textbook, the campus bookstore will sometimes buy them back, or you could find someone who needs the textbook and sell it to them.

student has the time to coupon. It’s convenient now with all the apps available to use.

One is Walmart Savings Catcher. All you have to do is scan your Walmart receipts, and it pays you back the difference if another local store sells the same item cheaper.

Additionally, you can clip coupons within the Publix app, type your phone number in at checkout and it will apply all the coupons you clipped.

way to get a bit of extra cash is to sell your lightly used clothes. Plato’s Closet buys gently used, name brand clothes. Depending on the season and their need, you can easily take a bag of clothes and walk out with $10-50.

Additionally, shopping at places like Plato’s Closet and other resale boutiques is a good way to save money on clothes.

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| students | 14

Anxiety and depression can often yield physical symptoms, so it is important to have a support system to help you get through it.

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By Lexi Naughton Photo by Jacob Armistead

prisoners of our own minds Mental illness is a growing problem among college students, but tolerance and understanding are the keys to helping fight it.

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t is two voices spiraling through your head, both with completely differing opinions. Anxiety screams telling you to get up and be productive in order to avoid failure, while depression convinces you that your life has no purpose anyway. It is an overwhelming stress hovering over your head at all times while simultaneously not caring about anything at all. It is a pounding heart and shaking hands. It is a strong desire to live along with an undying urge to end it all. It is described as being “a prisoner stuck inside your own body.” It is two separate entities tearing your mind to shreds while you are expected only to be still and exist. Anxiety and depression, together, have the ability to create a massive whirlwind of emotions and turn one’s life from worthwhile to hopeless in a matter of minutes.

While these conditions are undoubtedly the most prevalent among all mental disorders today, they are often overlooked by society. As this issue continues to surface, it is evident, through the anonymous feedback from many South Alabama students, that the need for help and a greater understanding of the situation does the same.

Imagine drowning. The water is bitter and cold, and your muscles begin to ache. You become tired and your wading slows; you begin to sink. As you sink deeper and deeper into the water that slowly engulfs you, your entire life flashes before your eyes while the bitterness of the water singes your tired skin. This feeling of physical and emotional turmoil can be easily compared to what it feels like to suffer from anxiety and depression.

According to one student, anxiety “feeds on the fear of failure.” This constant fear pulls you deeper and deeper into the life that engulfs you and makes it seem almost impossible to function normally. Fear even stems forward into a great terror of the future.

One student, seeking a future career in medicine, emphasized how prevalent anxiety is in her academic career, because “the standards are so high and so daunting.” While the typical student experiences a reasonable amount of stress with such a prestigious career path, this process can be extremely destructive for a student suffering from a severe anxiety disorder.

This student may experience physical symptoms such as a racing heart, sweaty palms and shaky hands, but these symptoms are not limited to physical ones. Many people do not experience physical symptoms at all.

Instead, they feel panicked and unworthy of even their own life.

“I feel panicked, worried and useless… as if my life is worth nothing at all” It is often difficult to strictly define anxiety and depression because it is so different for each person. However, it is vital to recognize the wide variety of symptoms anxiety may display.

While anxiety and depression do have massive effects on one’s personal life and goals, it also manages to take a toll on one’s social abilities. Anxiety

often causes one to draw away from crowds to “give others their space” because the need to give space is the idea that this condition is drilling into the minds of so many. Socialization becomes draining and emotionally tolling as the mind spins in circles trying to catch up with everything happening around you, and you find yourself dreading every social interaction. Each little move made in a social situation is slowly trailed by a haunting sense of anxiety tricking the person into a emotionally binding situation. These thoughts followed by risky behavior can be particularly dangerous for those suffering with anxiety and depression because permanent solutions may be caused by temporary issues.

As a whole, it was evident that people simply longed for a greater sense of patience from others who may not understand what they are going through.

Because not everyone struggles with such a disorder, it can often times be very difficult for others to relate. While this is understandable, a greater education on the matter could be wildly beneficial for certain dangerous and risky anxiety and depression situations.

Another student responded by stating that they “can still be happy while suffering with such a disorder.” Often times, people struggling with these conditions are stereotyped as “sad” or “crazy.” Realizing that these people are no different than anyone else is the first step to tolerance throughout today’s society. As we move forward in age where such mental illnesses are so prevalent, realizing the importance of education and tolerance is key to understanding the world in which we are living.

| students | 16

By Sara Boone Photos by Chandler Hubbard

dancing for dreams

USA Dance Marathon raises over $20,000 for USA Children’s and Women’s Hospital.

Serena Bruder dances on stage during the last hour of the nine hour long dance marathon.

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“

We wanted to do something to bring together the campus and the community, and USA Children’s and Women’s hospital does exactly that.

-RACHEL SHORT

I

magine being given the opportunity to do something to benefit the University of South Alabama. In 2016, honors college students Rachel Short and Frances Clarke were given this exact opportunity for their Honors 201 project. What they did was beyond what any student had done in the past.

Instead of creating an event to benefit just the honors college, they wanted to make it bigger in order to help the community, as well.

While visiting friends at another university, they learned about the nationwide movement called the Children’s Miracle Network Dance Marathon. It is a movement created in 1991 with the purpose of raising money for CMN hospitals all around the country.

Participants raise money and dance for eight to 36 hours straight in support of the hospitalized children who cannot do it themselves. Short and Clarke found this to be the perfect opportunity to raise awareness and money for a good cause. Conveniently, the local CMN hospital is USA Children’s and Women’s.

They worked for an entire year to put together the marathon. In its inaugural year in 2017, USA dance marathon raised over $15,911 for the hospital. When most people think of hospital expenses, they think of the large machinery and surgical equipment. Most of the money the dance marathon raises, however, goes to the small things, like premature pacifiers, wagons with IV poles, Star Wars hospi-

tal gowns and diapers. Short said they chose their goal after they toured the hospital and realized how much every little thing adds up.

Armed with her past experience and a new goal of $20,000, Short and the rest of her team put together another marathon for 2018. Short served as vice president and Sarah Larsen as president. This year’s theme was “Dancing Through the Decades,” a theme that they hoped all the generations participating could have fun with. For nine hours straight, 218 participants danced and raised money for USA Children’s and Women’s. Previous patients of the hospital and their families visited throughout the evening and told their stories, reaffirming all the good that CMN does.

One previous CMN patient who is a former student at USA couldn’t make it to the dance marathon because he was training for the Olympics. Nate Riech graduated from USA last year and was on the track and cross country teams.

Riech was admitted to Phoenix Children’s Hospital at the age of 10 after being hit in the head by a golf ball. He suffered full paralyzation on the right side of his body. After only three weeks of therapy, he recovered and was able to walk again.

Thirteen years after his injury, Riech is now approaching achieving a 4-minute mile and is training for both the Paralympics and Olympics with the hope of being the first person to participate in both.

“

Participants learn the dance marathon spirit dance, which incorporated dance moves from the past ten decades.

“My experience was very positive in the hospital, which isn’t always the case. I think CMN does such a great job, because they help the kids recover in their own environment. Honestly, all you want as a kid in a hospital is to feel normal,” Riech said.

CMN hospitals like USA Children’s and Women’s fight to make recovery and treatment as easy as possible for children, especially since they may not always know what everything means.

USA Dance Marathon’s three goals were to make the children happy, help the hospital and show people how great the hospital is. Short emphasizes that they want all the attention to go towards the hospital, not on the fact that they are raising so much money.

Hospital Advisor for the USA Dance Marathon Nancy Calhoun agrees with this. She wants people to learn more about USA Children’s and Women’s.

“Our culture at the hospital is what makes us unique. We are a smaller children’s hospital, but we have that family feel. We are all just one big family that helps each other out. A lot of people on campus don’t know that we have a hospital right here, so we want to raise that awareness,” Calhoun said.

After months of fundraising and nine hours packed full with games, stories and a lot of dancing, the 2018 USA dance marathon raised $20,759 for the kids. Short and Calhoun hope the marathon continues to grow in the coming years and shines a light on all the great things the hospital does.

| CAMPUS | 18

Marissa Mason gets covered in powder of all different colors.

19 | due south |

By Sara Boone Photos by Sara Boone

CONNECTING CULTURES THROUGH COLOR

The Indian Student Association hosts its fourth annual Holi festival at USA with the intent of spreading Indian culture to other students and the Mobile community.

| campus | 20

T

“

a lot of students, including myself, come from small towns that are not diverse. we want to share the indian culture with them.

-pooja revanna

“

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he Indian Student Association brought the Indian Holi Festival to USA once again for the fourth year in a row. Holi is the traditional Indian festival celebrating the coming of spring and release of bad energy while moving forward into the new season. During the celebration, people throw vibrantly colored powder at each other to mark the budding of spring. Renu Pandit, vice president of ISA, says they also use the Holi Festival as a way to bring together divided social groups to celebrate together. Students at the university and members of the community were invited to take part in the unique celebration.

The first year ISA hosted Holi, it was held in downtown Mobile. While there was a large turnout, they wanted more students from USA to attend. Since their second year hosting it, the festival has been on campus.

“Everyone talked about how much they loved Holi and how it is something that South has never seen before or Mobile in general. That gave us the idea to bring it on campus so students and the community could get involved and get to indulge in the Indian culture,” said Pooja Revanna, president of ISA. Pandit said they wanted to keep it on campus, because it is a good thing for the university. Students at USA come from so many different backgrounds, so ISA believes it is their duty to educate them about the Indian culture. They wanted as many people as possible to attend in order to reach further into the community.

They achieved their goal, as 375 people attended this year’s festival and had 250 pounds of colored powder. A unique thing about their festival is that the event is free for anyone who wants to attend.

Their purpose is not to make a profit, but to have as large of an impact as they can within the community. They sold Holi tee shirts in order to raise money for their philanthropy, Sridevi Orphanage in India.

Another goal they have every year is to educate students about Indian culture through the festival and their organization’s other events. At Holi, they had Indian music, Indian vendors and henna

tattooing, which people typically do before Indian festivals and celebrations.

“We want to share this culture with South students. Hopefully, they start to love Indian culture as much as we do,” said Revanna.

This year’s festival marked the third one held on USA’s campus. They had color waves every hour where all participants stood together and threw colored powder into the air in unison. They also had different games such as a water balloon toss, hula hooping competitions and dancing competitions. ISA members and their family members also attended and provided entertainment by singing Indian songs and serving traditional Indian cuisine.

Their slogan, “Let’s connect cultures through color,” was thought up in the hopes of connecting attendees.

“There are a lot of cultural divides right now. When you think of colorful things, it makes you happy. That is what we wanted people to feel. Connecting cultures through color means to be open-minded and to love each other,” said Revanna.

People from all different backgrounds, genders, races, ages and personalities gathered together to celebrate Holi together this year. People wholeheartedly welcomed each other and became friends in that moment. Any time a new person joined the festival, they were immediately bombarded with color from people who may not have even known them.

Holi is unique in that you can celebrate it and relate to it no matter who you are. As Steven Doan, an ISA member, pointed out, “You don’t have to be a certain race to be a part of something. I am full-blooded Vietnamese, and I am a member of ISA. Holi is about bringing down the walls we put between each other.”

Pandit and Revanna both hope that ISA’s future Holi Festivals continue to grow and bring change and awareness throughout the community. With the state of our country right now, it is important now more than ever to come together as one, even if it is just to throw powder at each other.

The colored powder used for the Holi festival is made of cornstarch, so it is safe and natural.

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Seize the day at Carpe Diem

Take a stroll at the Medal of Honor Park

Stop and smell the roses at Mobile Botanical Gardens

Hold your ground at Fort Conde

Unwind at the USS Battleship

Say “ok” to OK Bicycle Shop

24 things Cast a line at Big Creek Lake

Watch the sunrise at Waffle House

Experience Tunnel vision in the Bankhead Tunnel

Meet your peers at the Fairhope Pier

Stargaze on the Causeway

Search for seashells on the beaches of Dauphin Island

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Be there or be square for a picnic in Bienville Square

Act like a fool at Mobile’s Carnival Museum

Explore your world at the Gulf Coast Explorium

Jump around at Get Air Mobile

Act aquatic at the Dauphin Island Estuarium

Meet the moonlight at the Crescent Theatre

Run the bases at Hank Aaron Stadium

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Dine in at Dauphin’s

in 24 hours Follow this guide to experience 24 different aspects of Mobile and surrounding areas in only 24 hours. | By Lexi Naughton

Catch the “hot” light at Krispy Kreme Doughnuts

Escape reality with Room Escape Games

Strike out at AMC Bowling Lanes

Quit your quacking with Mobile Duck Boat Tours

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| community | 24

By Sara Boone Photos by Chandler Hubbard

MOM AND POP’S LOCAL STOP Al’s Hot Dogs and Other Fine Foods continues to provide the Mobile community with quality food for more than 30 years.

Al Kay, owner of Al’s Hot Dogs and Other Fine Foods, serves a hot dog with everything on it.

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While hot dogs account for half of Al’s business, traditional southern foods like beans and rice and corn bread are also popular.

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hile most restaurants in Mobile come and go through the years, one in particular has remained a staple in the community for more than 30 years. Al’s Hot Dogs and Other Fine Foods is your quintessential “mom and pop” restaurant owned by Al Kay and his family.

Al moved to Mobile from Chicago in 1984 after helping a friend move down.

That friend had just gotten the history department chair position at the University of South Alabama. After moving down, Al was shocked by the restaurant options here.

“I realized I couldn’t get tomato on a hot dog here, which is traditional Chicago style, so I decided to open up a hot dog place,” Al said.

Two years later, he established Al’s Hot Dogs and Other Fine Foods. As its name implies, Al’s serves much more than hot dogs. While he may have lived in Chicago, his food represents a blend of southern flavor with an original style. He serves hot dogs, hamburgers, beans and rice, chicken gumbo, nachos, snow cones and much more. He wrote his own recipes over time, and rarely adds new things to the menu.

When he first opened the restaurant in Downtown Mobile, there was not much competition.

“Back then, downtown had nothing. If you went past Conception St, all the buildings were boarded up,” he said.

Al and his son, Brad Kay, operated the storefront along with four hot dog carts stationed downtown. While downtown, they amassed a great following of regulars.

When a hurricane damaged the downtown location, he was forced to move to Airport Boulevard, where the restaurant still stands.

While the storefront may have changed, the signature food and small crew stayed.

Al employs only seven people, and most of them are family members. Brad continues

to hold the position of second in charge, and Al’s wife Yvonne manages the books.

The Kay family resides in the kitchen, but the restaurant family comes from all over.

The unique thing about Al’s is the sense of family and togetherness that you feel when you walk in. Al takes pride in how loyal his regulars are, since they, too, made the move from downtown to Airport Boulevard.

The restaurant industry is not for everyone, especially in Mobile. However, Al says he loves the business. He admits it is hard work, but he loves the “neighborhood” feeling he gets when everyone knows everyone.

“It’s a passion. We do quality, and I am here every day to make sure it’S done the right way.”

-al kay Yvonne says she is proud of all her husband has accomplished. “He’s the guts behind it all. He keeps it top quality by insisting everything be top notch. Whatever he does, it works. We are blessed with all the success we have had,” she said.

Al says he eats his restaurant’s food for lunch every day, which goes to show how many options they offer. With 13 toppings and four different types of hot dogs to choose from, you could eat one a day for over 100 days without repeating an order.

Al and Yvonne hope to pass the restaurant along to Brad soon so they can enjoy their retirement. One thing is for certain, though--as long as Al’s resides in Mobile, there will always be a place people can go to feel at home.

| COMMUNITY | 26

Libraries provide a sanctuary for students who want to study, relax or dive into the world of books.

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By Akshay Aluri Photo by Chandler Hubbard

sanctums of silence

Through all the changes in his life, libraries and books remain constant for one South Alabama student.

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anctums of silence and adobes of literature, libraries have a unique smell of a musky mixture of polish, old books and shelves. As a young boy, I remember grasping my grandmother’s arm and walking astounded through walls of books on all sides towards a young woman wearing glasses. The woman, a librarian, was my guide through a remarkable treasure trove full of comics, novels and non-fiction on every topic you could imagine. I sifted through the many books and picked up tidbits of esoteric and obscure wisdom.

Beginning at the age of 11 in India, I was always the only child waiting for the library to open on a Saturday morning.

These were the days when quiet was compulsory in a library, under the penalty of receiving a dark, austere frown from fellow readers. A distinct memory in my mind was the sound of the sole of my shoes against the shiny marble floor, a loud tap-tap which I avoided by walking on tiptoes.

For years, seeking a connection with real people but being too strange and awkward to obtain it, I turned to books.

They made me, they molded me and they broke me, but they were always present.

Then after I moved to the United States and began to pursue my degree in science, I turned away from books, at least until I began schooling at the University of South Alabama.

On my tour, the most alluring building on the campus was the Marx Library

with its gorgeous glass windows and elegant four floor structure. It cemented my desire to attend the university.

Beyond The Marx Library, the public library system in Mobile is spread across eight branches. While none compare to sheer beauty of the Marx Library, the two particular branches have a rich history and fascinating features.

In 2002, First Lady Laura Bush gave an inaugural address at the opening of a new West Regional Branch Library.

Closest to the University, the West Regional Branch features an astonishingly large fiction room with books and computers for all ages.

The newest branch of the public library system, the Ben May Main Library, was renovated in May 2007. In 1925, the Mobile city commissioners, under increased public pressure, assigned $250,000 to construct a building that became the original Ben May Main Library. The programs in the library include various book clubs, storytimes, chess clubs, LEGO build nights and children’s educational programs.

The small room for story time, the humble librarians inside and the tall arches of the Gothic Revival style remind me of the first library I ever visited. The transformative, quiet power of books, the contents of a library, is only overshadowed by these stunning landmarks that will always be tied to the memory of a certain exciting period of my life.

| community | 28

By William Chandler Photos by Chandler Hubbard

put a spring in your step

The Azalea Trail Run continues to act as a catalyst to bring together the Mobile community.

People of all ages participate in the different events of the Azalea Trail Run each year.

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running the Azalea Trail for the first time. Two older couples were discussing how many Azalea Trail Runs they had completed in the past with their families and how despite moving from Mobile, they migrate back every year just for the run.

“As you are running down the pavement of the designated course, you start to notice certain things, especially the families,” said George. “There are mothers and fathers pushing baby strollers and more times than not there are six-

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year-olds running the race faster than their parents. You’ve also got everyone there from the Mobile Police Department blocking streets to prevent drivers from getting on to the track, residents on the streets cheering you on with their jukeboxes hooping and hollering encouragement as you run by, the water boys picking up your discarded water cups from the various water stations and the multiple dislocated conversations of the runners surrounding you that don’t make much to you at all. It is all these sideshows and people that make up this great, big event.”

George is just one of the 1,400 dedicated runners who took the challenge this year to better themselves and the Mobile community. While the Azalea Trail run is meant to raise money for charity, it has developed into so much more. It is an event celebrated by the community which brings together various groups of people, further bonding this close-knit community.

it’s more than just a run. it’s an entire community coming together to support one another.

-patricia chandler

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obile, Alabama is home to one of the United States’ premier road races, the Azalea Trail Run. The charity run has been held in downtown Mobile for the past 40 years and is always in late March when the flowers are in full bloom. The vibrant colors of the pink azaleas stand out from the city’s greenery when the mix and mingle with the white blooming dogwoods.

Every year the event donates to a certain medical research or other charities such as the American Cancer Institute or the American Heart Association. The charity is determined by the runners who place their tokens in their desired charity’s jar.

This year, the legendary 10K, 5K and 2K event turned 41 years old. Runners from all over Alabama, the United States and even other countries crowded Mobile’s Civic Center, primed and ready to run their event. People of all nationalities and ages gathered together downtown to begin the race. George Keel Chandler anticipates the coming of the race each year. The 82-year-old runner has been participating in Azalea Trail 10K run for over 30 years.

“He gets up at the crack of dawn every year for this event,” said George’s wife Patricia.

“George is by no means a newcomer to this event and neither are his children and grandchildren. He has brought them up over the years alongside him to share in the excitement of the experience and purity of the event’s atmosphere.

He continues the tradition with his eldest grandson year after year, lining up together for the 10K at 8 A.M. and finishing the 6.2 mile run together. This year marks one more successful run, and one filled with happy memories and another medal to add to his collection!” said Patricia.

This unique experience is hard to come by, but it is a sentiment easily demonstrated as soon as you arrive at the event. Everywhere you turn, there is a wide variety of runners standing by chatting with other racers in preparation for the event. Eight-year-old children who were total strangers to one another were chatting with each other about

| community | 30

Moulton Tower symbolizes the university and is an iconic structure on campus.

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JAG MEDIA

WE COVER THE CAMPUS

A coalition of USA’s student-run media organizations.

hlstanley@southalabama.edu

University of South Alabama | Department of Communication 6021 USA Drive South, CB 108 Mobile, AL 36688-0002

PH: (251) 380-2800 FAX: (251) 380-2850

DUE SOUTH Student Magazine for The University of South Alabama