The
Journal
The Newspaper of the 34th Multicultural Journalism Workshop at The University of Alabama
Art in the community Page 8
2 Table of Contents Page 3-4
Check Out Our Staff
Page 5
Bryant Museum
Page 6-7
Athletic Stereotypes
Page 8
Art in the Community
Page 9
Police Brutality
Page 10 ROTC
Page 11
Things We Don’t See
Page 12 Appreciation
View our broadcasts as well as other student work at mjw16.wix.com On the Cover
Photo by Sofia Lavidalie
Meredith Cummings is director of the National Elementary School Press Association, the Alabama Scholastic Press Association and the Multicultural Journalism Workshop at The University of Alabama. She has over 20 years of experience in print, web and multimedia reporting. She advises the Capstone Association of Black Journalists and is a member of SPJ’s Journalism Education Committee. She is lead organizer for TEDxTuscaloosa, and currently writes for al.com where her blog won first place in the 2017 National Federation of Press Women contest. Cummings has worked at newspapers and websites in Alabama, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, New York and Florida. She supervises Editing and Digital production for UA’s Journalism Department in the WVUATV newsroom, a professional commercial TV station.
@ALASPA
One of the things I love about directing the Multicultural Journalism Workshop is that each class has its own personality. The students this year, as in other years, came from five states, one as far as California. These students have personality for miles! This newspaper you hold (and the accompanying website) is truly their work. Photos, stories and ideas were all those of the students. This year students chose to focus on emotions. It is an emotional time in the history of our country. Being a teenager can be an emotional roller coaster. You will notice a thread of the human aspect of emotions running through the stories on these pages. It is uplifting that student journalists want to focus on the human aspect of news stories, especially in an era where phrases like “fake news” go viral. For 34 years high school students have come to The University of Alabama to learn about journalism and communications. Topics covered include media law and ethics, how to shoot photos and video, social media management, writing and various specialty reporting topics, such as sports, religion, science and entertainment journalism among other things. Students who attend MJW apply by April 1 to attend the following summer. They come to the UA campus for 10 days thanks to generous support from our patrons. This year students explored the journalistic benefits of virtual reality technology thanks to the Innovation Team at UA. They also visited media outlets and attractions in Birmingham and Huntsville. MJW is always one of my favorite times of year. I love seeing students from former classes come back to teach current ones. This continuity of increasing diversity in America’s media and communications companies is inspiring. Enjoy the pages here, and check out the website for more content at aspa.ua.edu/MJW. Meredith Cummings Director, Multicultural Journalism Workshop
Meredith Cummings Director
@ALABAMASPA
ASPA.UA.EDU
ALABAMA SCHOLASTIC PRESS ASSOCIATION AND MULTICULTURAL JOURNALISM PROGRAM
Co-Director
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Arron DePorter, a Tuscaloosa native, is a recent graduate of the University of Alabama. During her undergraduate studies, Arron earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism and Spanish. She is very excited to have the opportunity to stay at UA for at least two more years to earn her master’s degree in Spanish literature. Arron has always had a passion for the written word and is immensely grateful for the opportunity to help others learn the fundamentals of journalism.
Counselor Brian Ogden graduated from The University of Alabama with a bachelor’s degree in journalism in December 2016 and is now attending graduate school at UA in the sports management program. He is in his third year working in the Crimson Tide’s athletics communications office, and began working as the hockey club’s director of media relations in June 2016 with the creation of the team’s first media guide. The Argyle, Texas native plans to pursue a career in sports information at a Division-I institution or in media relations at the professional sports level
Christina Jimenez is 16 years old and attends Clay Chalkville High School. She was born in Modesto California and raised in Birmingham Alabama. As a rising junior she will take the role of a yearbook editor and a reporter, as well as being a special project producer for her school’s broadcast program, CCN TV. Being a part of the Multicultural Journalism Program has taught Christina so much, especially the realization that in order to love journalism she has to know how to listen.
Elizabeth Flaherman is a rising junior from San Francisco. This summer, she hopes to learn from citizens from another part of the country as she explores how political ideology varies by geographical location. She misses her family and friends back home, but is excited for her time in Tuscaloosa.
Hannah Sanders is a junior at Tuscaloosa County High School in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. She is the film editor of her school’s broadcasting program, Cats-TV. Hannah enjoys making short films and taking pictures. Her future goals include producing cinematic movies and becoming a creative director.
Jada Woods is 14 years old and attends Germantown High School in Tennessee. Jada is very involved in her school. She runs track, is an active member of NJHS, and takes IB courses which that helps students prepare for their future. Jada takes advantage of her opportunities and hopes to become a travel nurse in the future. By attending MJW, Jada has learned that failure really is the key to success.
John Burns is a student from Memphis, TN, where he attends Germantown High School. He is 13 years old and was born in Atlanta, Georgia. In the 9th grade John will be taking pre IB classes that will prepare him for IB in the 10th, 11th, and 12th grade. One of the things John enjoys to do is watch and play sports. He enjoys the fact that each game is different and he finds the them fascinating to watch. John also likes math and journalism and enjoys to write about is sports, especially football and basketball.
Kailyn Washington is a senior at Hillcrest High school in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. She is the assistant director and film editor in her school’s broadcasting program. She enjoys filming and reporting on current events. Her future goals include becoming a broadcast journalist and the producer of her broadcast team.
4 Lamarcus Weir is a 19 year old Tuscaloosa native and is a member of the 2017 class of County High School. He has a great passion for journalism and video editing, and is very knowledgable in photography and film. At County High, LaMarcus actively participated in the broadcast program, Cats-TV, where he produced and edited videos.
Love Lundy is a rising sophomore at Bob Jones High School in Madison, Alabama. She is 15 years old with three older siblings and loves to spend time with her family. Love is very active in her school, participating in HOSA and having leadership positions in her Student Government Association, Gay-Straight Alliance, and Young Advocates For Equality club. She enjoys reading and writing about politics and controversial issues for her school newspaper, The Patriot Pages, and is looking forward to pursuing a career in broadcast journalism.
Sofia Lavidalie is a homeschooled rising sophomore from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In her spare time, she enjoys drawing and participating in the performing arts. Her passions in life are writing and science, and someday she hopes to combine them by working for a psychiatric medical journal.
You can’t talk color By LaMarcus Weir When a classmate outed Amaya McNealy for speaking “white” simply because she enunciates her words, she was taken aback. “A lot of people are surprised by the way that I speak,” she said. “They don’t express it but I can tell it on their faces.” McNealy, a 16-year-old rising senior from Tuscaloosa County High School, said that her type of language depends on her surroundings. In society, blacks are expected, by some people, to speak in slang or wit the dialect of ebonics. McNealy’s use of big words and proper speech pegged her as a target for ridicule among the black community. The expectation for people to speak a specific way because of their race and culture puts all people into a very small box. People are sometimes expected to conform to stereotypical racial categories, which some see as a way to oppress freedom of speech. “I answered a question in class and a girl stood up and said, ‘Why do you talk like that? You talk like a white girl. You’re not supposed to talk like that,’” McNealy said. “I said ‘Oh, so I’m not supposed to speak in a proper manner? That’s very stereotypical of you.’”
The discussion about talking color crosses generations. “People believe that I don’t have the manner to use proper English,” said Linda Harkness, a 65-year-old grandmother and mother of two who lives in Tuscaloosa. “As I got older I started to speak in improper English after I left the school environment.” Some argue that talking a color or speaking in proper english is a byproduct of the environment in which they were raised. Friends, family and other personal situations can directly affect the way a person speaks. Shykeria Long, 18, and a graduate of Tuscaloosa County High School, believes that a lot of black people are pressured to speak in a certain way because of their personal upbringing and connections within the African-American culture. “I don’t even talk proper, I talk pure slang,” she said. Long lives with her brothers and attended a diverse elementary school. She was passing AP English with a B and during a class discussion, a “preppy” white girl challenged the way she spoke, and got Long sent to the hallway. Through her personal experiences, Long has realized that the color of her skin does not determine the manner in which she speaks. Long and others believe that there is no such thing as talking in color. Language is an ever-flowing part of life that takes many forms no matter a person’s race, culture, or background.
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Bryant Museum Connects Community By Hannah Sanders
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – As the final seconds ticked down in the 1982 Liberty Bowl, the old ball coach was lifted in the air with decades of success as well as failures smeared across his withered and wrinkled face. The players carried him across the field and celebrated his final moments as a collegiate head coach – a career that spanned more than 35 years, 323 victories and six national championships. A career that only a museum could commemorate. The Paul W. “Bear” Bryant Museum opened in 1988 – three years after it was founded and seven years after the creation of a committee in 1981 to honor coaches and players that helped Bryant set the record for most victories. “I like to think of us first as a history museum,” director Ken Gaddy said. “It’s not only the history of football but the history of Tuscaloosa, the history of the state of Alabama.” The museum is not only brick and stone. It tells the stories of coaches, athletes and fans. When visitors enter the museum, they are able to see, touch, and feel these stories.
Gaddy said when people first think of Tuscaloosa, great coaches, players and national championships come to mind. The Bryant Museum’s main goal is to bring the community together through its love of Alabama football. “For Alabama football fans, like me, the museum is a treasure trove of nostalgia,” Bill Buchanan, director of corporate group sales and services, said. “It provides detailed information about games, coaches, players that I remember from my youth, right up to the present second golden age of Alabama Football with Nick Saban.” The museum doesn’t just unite the community, but it also binds families together as well. Gaddy said he loves to see families come into the museum and tell one another the stories of their football experiences. Gaddy described how a grandfather and his grandson might go into the museum to view the different exhibits on display, see the replica of Bear Bryant’s office and, with a tear in his eye, the grandfather tells his grandson about how Bryant became the head coach of the Crimson Tide in 1958. “It’s good to see that interaction with the families and that family dynamic,” Director Ken Gaddy said. “It tells me we’re doing the right thing.”
In addition to being just a place that Alabama fan visit on game days, the museum is also a tourism site for the city of Tuscaloosa that many people across the country come to visit. “When Coach Bryant began winning national championships, it also brought a lot of state pride and some positive things for Alabama,” said Bill Buchanan, director of corporate group sales and services for the Tuscaloosa Tourism and Sports Commission. When most people from out of state come to the Bryant Museum they focus on trophies and uniforms, until they learn how the museum unites the community. Yet these are stories of the people who live and work in Tuscaloosa. Die-hard Alabama fan, Tuscaloosa resident and frequent Bryant Museum visitor Jerry Watkins said once visitors get a sense of what the museum is and how it unites the population of Tuscaloosa, they begin to understand Tuscaloosa’s story. “The Bryant Museum represents a legacy that Paul W. Bear Bryant started,” he said, “and Tuscaloosa as a community carries on that legacy together.”
Political Profiles in the Community on Donald Trump By Christina Jimenez He might be the most controversial President in the history of the White House. Not even 200 days in his first term, President Donald Trump’s decisions in office have changed people’s lives. One of his first executive orders, Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States, suspended the entry of immigrants from seven Muslim countries: Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Yemen and Somalia. A federal appeals court blocked President Trump’s ban on six of the seven Muslim-majority countries targeted in the order. President Trump plans to appeal to the Supreme Court to enforce the policy on all seven nations. When Trump first proposed the ban in January it created an uproar and uncertainty. Two Federal judges, Derrick Watson and Theodore D. Chuang, later overrode the travel ban because they thought it would threaten the United States’ relationships with foreign countries.
In Tuscaloosa, people have various reactions to Trump’s actions. “I think it’s not fair, especially if they did have a visa. A lot of people come here for work so he is preventing someone from providing for their family.” -Christina Jones “We need to make sure everyone here in the United States is safe and secure ... American lives come first.” -Janelle Lawrence “I think he believes banning those six or seven countries will help his presidency. It will play well with his political supporters on what he said he would do.” -Joseph Smith, political science professor
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Kicker goes here and here and he
Teammates attend a pre-game film session.
Laura Thonus stands along the sides with Coach Bierchen and teammates.
Women tackle locker room talk after political storm By Kailyn Washington
She walks into the locker room where 30 guys just came off the ice and are preparing to shower. She stoops down to pick up a jersey without considering who might be behind her and what they might be thinking. Laura Thonus, the Alabama hockey program’s equipment manager, spends hours in the locker room sharpening skates, washing jerseys and making sure the hockey sticks are labeled and organized. There are times that women working in or playing sports are seen as groupies or sex objects, and Thonus has not been immune to that stereotype. “My guys don’t really [hit on me], if they are a close friend of mine I know that they are kidding.” Thonus said. “But I have encountered sexism with the other teams, so you can tell which teams have worked with a girl and which ones haven’t. I’ve had guys cat call me in the tunnel. Whenever that happens, I just tell their coach.” With only one month left in the presidential election cycle, questionable language became something of a lightning rod for the eventual winner, Donald J. Trump in October 2016. Obscene “locker room talk” has dominated headlines across the nation since. The Washington Post posted an article online that included audio from 2005 of Trump and Entertainment Tonight co-host Billy Bush, “having an extremely lewd conversation about women,” in which Trump described groping and kissing women without their consent. Some tried to excuse it as “locker-room talk.” Yet the question remains: what differentiates locker-room talk from lewd or offensive language?
While Trump’s defenders have excused the President’s locker room talk, others publicly disagreed, and said they have no place anywhere in conversation, whether in a locker room or board room. Alabama hockey head coach John Bierchen sees the locker room as his players outlet, a space where they can freely converse as a team. “When it comes to the locker room, I think it becomes a space where, it is my philosophy, it’s the guys area,” Bierchen said. Defenseman and Club President James Benedetto did not deny that inappropriate conversations do occur from time to time. “I’ve been in a lot of locker rooms growing up playing hockey, he said. “ I don’t think it depends on just the locker room in general. I think it depends on the person. It’s hard because my group, we’re very focused on our task, but I can’t say that hasn’t come up in conversation. I just know that not every player will partake in that conversation.” While it can be easy to assume locker rooms are filled with conversations similar to Trump’s. Athletes and coaches alike argue that often it is actually the opposite. The perception of locker room talk is one of a coarse or sexual nature, but in reality normal locker room talk can resemble conversations with friends. Athletes are often comfortable enough with each other to speak freely. They talk about anything from sports to fame and even social issues inside of the locker room. “We get a lot of freshman and they vent to us a little about what’s going on in school,” Benedetto said. “We basically talk like how you would talk with your friends, it’s kind of the same conversations going on.”
ere and here and here and here
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Students athletes combat stereotypes one player at a time By Jada Woods Byron Mason wants people to know that he’s more than just what people see on the outside. In his experience, many people can view African-American athletes in a negative light, but his aim is to change that narrative. Stereotypes have affected athletes playing other sports in many ways as well. “I have to show people that AfricanAmericans are more than just the viewpoint of people, such as sagging pants,” Mason said. “We can get a 4.0 GPA and still manage to play football. I call it black excellence.” Mason was born in Decatur, Ala., but after kindergarten, moved with his family to Montgomery. Growing up in an athletic household, he developed a love for football. Now 15, Mason plays wide receiver and safety at Park Crossing High School. He’s found an extended family with his teammates, and said that their sense of togetherness and purpose has allowed him to focus his energy and attitude in a positive way. “We work together, we strive together,” he said. Mason uses football as his getaway from potentially negative influences in his daily life as a young black man growing up in Alabama. He wants people to know that not all athletes have to be tall and muscular, and they’re not always angry, as sometimes portrayed in the media. “When most people think of football players, they think of us being mad but we’re not mad at all. We just keep our focus,” Mason said. “I do believe that the viewpoints of people that have been said are negative because when we have tryouts, most small guys don’t want to play and drop out because they think they have to be buff
and tall. But really a small person can be more effective than someone who is tall and muscular.” That focus can lead to further opportunities in life, as 18-year-old Blake Petty learned. Petty, a member of the 2017 recruiting class, signed a baseball scholarship to Walters State Community College in Morristown, Tennessee. Growing up, he was a multi-sport athlete playing baseball, football and basketball. He dropped football and basketball when he lost interest and lacked time, but his career on the diamond continued. “Baseball has influenced my life also because it has led to most of his friendships and relationships that I have today,” Petty said. “My dad loves baseball and I really think he influenced my decision, however, I believe that I would’ve still became a baseball player due to all of my friends being a part of baseball,” he said. Benedetto is a defenseman for the Alabama’s club ice hockey team. The team practices at least four days a week and plays their games on the weekends. “When people think of ice hockey players they think about someone that has their teeth missing but that is not the case because most players still have all their teeth,” Benedetto said. Benedetto, 20, was born in Kings Park, N.Y., and also grew up in a sports household. He played soccer and baseball, but hockey grabbed his attention. With his team, Benedetto sees sports as a way to learn life lessons. “From failure, I learned success and when players go into sports I believe that you have to learn to cope with failure,” Benedetto said, “and to get on from maybe losing a game and to get focused.”
James Benedetto checks his skate blades before heading onto the ice for a game. Photos provided by Alabama Hockey
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Photo by Sofia Lavidalie
Bridging the gap
How artists in Tuscaloosa engage with the community By Sofia Lavidalie On an average day Sydney Gruber can find herself doing anything from restoring old chess sets to making candles with beekeepers. As an alchemy artist, she harvests and restores old pieces of home décor. Every week, she gets another commission from a client wanting to bring new life to their clutter. Gruber is a resident studio artist employed by the Kentuck Art Center. She is one of many people in Tuscaloosa who are working endlessly to engage public interest in the arts and bridge the gap between artists and the community. The Kentuck Art Center in downtown Northport offers art nights on the first Thursday of each month along with openings, exhibits, art classes in local primary schools and other events. Kentuck also hosts a yearly, nationally-recognized, two-day-long festival, which holds a lot of cultural significance in the Tuscaloosa area. This festival also has a significant economic impact. Each dollar spent at the festival, generates $12 in the community. “We’re not a conventional gallery,” says Exa Skinner, Kentuck’s program manager. “[The festival was] the brainchild of Georgine Clark…[she] celebrated people
who’d not been to art school and people who just created It also plans to offer more performances that appeal to because that’s what they had to do.” broader audiences. The University of Alabama’s School of Music is also The School of Music interacts with other artists at the engaging with the community to improve its outreach University of Alabama as well. They often collaborate to the public. with the band, opera, or other artistic programs on “[This] upcoming year we’re actually going to be campus. refocusing our efforts on marketing the School of Music “Collaboration is a hugely important part of the to a broader population,” Trevor Pruitt, marketing School of Music,” Pruitt said. “The arts at this campus support assistant at the UA School get overshadowed … that can hamper the art culture at of Music said. times. [The musical culture is] an integral part of “We really the culture here in Alabama.” just want to Overall, the process of bridging the get the word gap between artists and the public is Everyone’s investing, out that the very much a communal effort. All everyone’s giving a School of facets of artistic work in Tuscaloosa Music has a are collaborating to help more part of themselves... lot to offer.” people interact with artists in the The community keeps The School of Music, community. which, in the past, has “Everyone cares,” says Gruber. the wheel going. mainly focused on “Everyone’s investing, everyone’s marketing to an older giving a part of themselves. -Sydney Gruber crowd, is currently Without everyone’s focusing on younger volunteering, it just listeners by offering wouldn’t be the same. instrumental music The community keeps the lessons for people of all ages. wheel going.”
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Police brutality: more than just racism By John Burns Jr.
As police departments across the United States continue to struggle with policing minority communities, conflicting information about policies and procedures continues to muddy the waters around the conversation. Fifty nine of the country’s largest municipal police departments killed civilians in 2015, according to Mapping Police Violence, an organization that tracks police killings. The group’s website shows that some departments killed at a much higher rate than others. Bakersfield, California; Oklahoma City, Oakland, Indianapolis, Long Beach, California; New Orleans, St. Louis, and San Francisco’s police departments killed people at the highest rates in 2015, according to the the site’s report. Rates of police killings differed sharply across the country. For example, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department killed over seven times more people per capita in 2015 than did Philadelphia Police Department. On November 23, 2014, in Cleveland, Ohio, a 12-year-old African American boy named Tamir Rice was shot and killed by two police officers. Both policemen said they shot the boy because they thought the he was carrying a real gun and aiming it at people. After they shot him they saw that it was merely a toy gun. They simply opened fire on him before telling the young boy to drop the gun, sparking the Black Lives Mat-
ter movement nationwide. Unfortunately, the officers made a mistake with permanent consequences “If you worked as an engineer and you make a mistake you could fix it the next day, but in law enforcement if you make a bad decision you can’t fix it,” said Lt. Micah Rodgers of the University of Alabama Police Department. Some citizens think the large number of African-American deaths at the hands of police is a sign of underlying racism. However, Rodgers sees a different factor at play, and believes that poverty is a key element that drives the issue. “The media just shows what they want to show the people, and most times, people do not know the whole story of what happened,” Rodgers said. “What a lot of people fail to realize is that officers are humans, and in a lot of respects, it is a job and there perhaps some people who are not very good at it and they make some bad decisions.” Although some cases involving police brutality could easily be explained as an act of racism, many people, including Rodgers, believe it is important to consider other circumstances surrounding the incident to better understand the situation. “The one thing that I saw is, more than just a race issue, it is almost a microcosm of socioeconomic issues” he said. “We saw violent crimes where there is poverty. It follows that trend, I believe, more so than just race. The people that live in those areas are the ones that feel like they have a target on their back.”
Students at the University of Alabama give perspectives on slut shaming TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Students in Tuscaloosa said they hope that slut shaming eventually disappears and are actively working to make women more comfortable wearing what they want and not being shamed for their sexual encounters. Whether it’s a young woman called a slut for being open about her sexual endeavors or a high school student written up for showing her shoulders during class, girls and women experience slut shaming during their years of high school from fellow students and family members. Slut shaming is the act of stigmatizing a woman for engaging in behavior judged to be promiscuous or sexually provocative. Kaleah Gipson, a student at Paul W. Bryant High School in Tuscaloosa, agreed that the general consensus at her school is that a girl who decides to be more revealing should automatically be considered a “hoe.” For she and other women, the words hoe and slut are interchangeable. Gipson and Jada Washington, a high school student from Tuscaloosa, said that the double standards girls face when they sleep with multiple men is prominent in their schools. “The moment a girl has sex with more than one person, the girl is automatically a hoe, or she’s easy, or she’s easy to get with,” Washington said. “But if a dude does it, all
his friends are like, ‘Oh, you hit that? That’s what’s up!’” Madison Hyde, a member of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority at the University of Alabama said that new members in most fraternities are encouraged to engage in sexual activities and to inform their pledge master of any hookup they have during rush week. Claudia Martin, another member of Gamma Phi Beta, has found a very different reaction from the sororities. “If girls are like, sleeping around in the fraternities and stuff, if they sleep with enough guys in one fraternity, they become the scapegoat,” Martin said. “They basically say she’s easy for everybody in the house, which I mean, is not ridiculous.” Being a victim of slut shaming can ruin a girl’s reputation, but the administrators at Gipson’s high school have told her a male student’s character would not be as questioned. “I remember my principal said, if you watch a video, like, you know how people at school sneak off to do sexual stuff? You’re always going remember the girl and you won’t remember the guy,” she said. A girl’s sexuality is not the only thing that determines her level of promiscuousness. Washington said if a girl went to a football game in a crop top shirt and shorts that allow people to “see her butt,” she will most likely be labeled a “hoe.”
Roman Robinson, a UA student, described the issue from his perspective: “I think there’s a thin line between being classy and showing skin and hoeing,” he said. To Robinson, an elegant dress with a slit and a spaghetti strap tank top are on two completely different sides of the spectrum. He said that a girl isn’t a considered promiscuous just because she is sexually active or likes sex. How she carries herself is much more important. Martin said that much of the judgement of the typical outfits women wear on campus depends on the man who judges. Hyde takes particular issue with members of the fraternity community. “They’ll sexualize anything,” she said. Liam Finnegan and Chase Tirman, rising seniors and members of Alpha Delta Phi, debunked the frat boy archetype described by Hyde. Tirman takes pride in the environment he and his brothers have carried on in Alpha Delta Phi. He says that it is not normal for men in his fraternity to seek sleeping with as many women as possible at a party, which surprised the both of them. “Our goal is to respect women,” Finnegan said. “You don’t expect that, pledging a fraternity at a large school.”
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ROTC Shooting Student Loans Dead Financial burden aside, ideological reasons can motivate incoming college students to join the program. With TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - For many prospective college conflict seemingly endless in the post-9/11 war on terror, students, ROTC (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) may some cadets simply want to protect the American way seem like the only way to pay for a four-year degree. of life. “Lots of people want to serve the country,” said Cadet For some of them, the potential danger of joining ROTC will pay off in a college education and successful career, June Han. “A lot of my friends are actually ... military whether as a soldier or civilian. But others, just because families. Their father was in the army, or grandfather was they wanted to go to college, will end up making the ul- in the army, so I think for some they just want to to continue tradition.” timate sacrifice in the line of duty. But others say that entering ROTC for purely patriotic ROTC is a U.S. military training program on college and university campuses across the country. Cadets par- reasons isn’t exactly common. “Some of [the cadets I trained with] did it purely out of ticipate in daily physical training and military science classes to prepare for a position as an entry level offi- patriotism, but for the most part the scholarship was the cer in the armed forces after graduation. After big lure, the one that really took everybody right over the top,” said retired Army Sgt. Hoa Johnson. a collegiate career Both current and former ROTC cadets of increasingly are disdainful of the suggestion that demanding imROTC members might have resermersion into a vations when it is actually time to military lifestyle, most stu...it’s like a guaranteed serve. Johnson’s reply was terse when dents willingly job coming out of asked about whether he has ever begin their service heard of someone refusing to time in the armed forces. But college. serve after having college paid for that’s not always the case. by ROTC. In return for mandatory “Think about it, it’s like service post-graduation, -Hoa Johnson a guaranteed job coming ROTC funds the cadets’ out of college.” tuition. This financial inHowever, he accentive is a selling point for knowledged there is many students. The money an option to decline a can be seen as a relief for strugcommission after complegling college students who are looking for a way to comtion of the ROTC program. plete a four-year degree without the burden of onerous Though rarely used, the out can be available, under the student loan packages. “When I was applying to colleges – and I also applied right circumstances. However, the military has recently for scholarships – by far the biggest scholarship I got made some changes to limit the already few exceptions. was to ROTCU,” said retired Army Capt. Mark Guffey. On April 29, the Department of Defense decided that ca“Basically a full ride at any college that had a ROTCU dets attending a military academy could no longer defer program. So when I got into Duke it just made sense [to commissions in order to play professional sports. In the future, athletes at these schools will have to serve two join].” years of active duty before being released from their conElizabeth Flaherman
tracts with the military. “There have been a few people to defer their commissions, but not for bad reasons, because they wanted to enlist [as a private] because they thought that fit best in their lives at the moment for whatever reason,” said Ashleigh Flanary, a current cadet at The University of Alabama. She explained that declining a commission because they have decided not to fulfill service requirements would probably be similar to when a cadet is kicked out of the program and must pay the money back. Guffey has heard cadets express hesitation about entering active duty. He lamented that when he joined, many cadets did not fully recognize that joining ROTC could also come with the possibility of deployment. Now, he said, people are more aware of the risks. When Guffey entered ROTC, the U.S. was not in any major military conflicts. He recalled a pervasive attitude among the cadets in his cohort that “you were going to sign up to be a soldier and never really do anything.” However, just a few months after Guffey completed ROTC and begun his officer training program, a few of the new lieutenants who were in his graduating year were called to join the 1989 invasion of Panama. “I remember very distinctly that many of them were very surprised and very scared like, ‘Oh, what do you mean I actually have to fight and do this?’ It was shocking and not expected and people were hesitant about actually being in it … It is a reality that you could be in danger, and a lot of people in my generation just didn’t have that mindset at all. They didn’t think they would have to go to combat.” However, Guffey maintains that fear of deployment is not a sign of weakness. To him, a rational fear of violence is a mark of humanity. “Some of [the cadets] believe they are fighting for freedom, which they are,” he said. “But some of them think, ‘I will be in infantry,’ and I always worry about those people a lot because you should not be gung ho for [the trauma of combat] – you should have a different mindset.”
Things We Don’t See By Jada Woods
We say he’s hateful but how can it be Yet his actions just can’t be How can someone have so little of a heart Or maybe it’s as big as can be He’s hiding it all: emotions, feelings and caring for people Everything comes out and maybe it is time for them to spring up But maybe he’s blocking it and building a wall We say he’s hateful but how can it be Yet his actions just can’t be How can someone has so little of a heart Or maybe it’s as big as can be He’s hiding it all emotions, feelings, and caring for people Everything comes out and maybe it is time for them to spring up But maybe he’s blocking it and building a wall.
Reasoning
As we all know Donald Trump as president has done some things we totally disagree with and some of his actions have taken a great toll on people. But, maybe Donald Trump has been hurt or has blocked out his emotions and is trying to hold them back. Sometimes they reveal, but every time they attempt to escape he builds a bigger wall to shut them out.
11 Photo by Jada Woods
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The Alabama Scholastic Press Association and the Multicultural Journalism Workshop would like to say thank you to our supporters: Dean Mark Nelson and the C&IS Dean’s Office Dr. Wilson Lowrey, Journalism Department Chair Holley Mabury, Crechale Stevens and the Department of Journalism Department of Advertising and Public Relations Department of Telecommunication and Film Department of Communication Studies Diane Shaddix and the C&IS Graduate Program Steve Diorio and the staff of WVUA-TV Paul Wright, Mark Mayfield and the Office of Student Media
Patrons
Alabama Broadcasters Association Alabama Press Association The Selma Times-Journal Boone Newspapers, Inc. Center for Community-Based Partnerships
THANK YOU to our ASPA board members:
President Connie Nolen, Pelham High School, Pelham Past President Melissa Dixon, Oak Mountain High School, Birmingham Vice President Renee Quaife, Sparkman High School, Harvest Secretary Capri Day, Hillcrest High School, Tuscaloosa Member at large, Mobile, Barbara Bateman, Murphy High School Member at large, Montgomery, Susanne Harrison, Stanhope-Elmore High School Member at large, Auburn, Beth Antoine, Auburn High School Member at large, Birmingham, Melissa Dixon, Oak Mountain High School Member at large, Huntsville, Michelle Sisson, Lee High School Director Emeritus Marie Parsons Director Meredith Cummings Program Assistant Anna Waters
Thank you to the contributors of the Multicultural Journalism Program endowment: The estate of John Brooken Gaines and Marci and Louis Henna Jr.