Volume 129, Issue 4: Oct. 15, 2020

VOLUME 129, ISSUE 4

the

SIGNAL A P U B L I CATI O N O F O U AC H I TA BA PTI S T U N I V E R S I T Y

OCTOBER 15, 2020

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cover story....................................3 news................................................4-5 arts/entertainment....................6 opinions...........................................7 Sports................................................8

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SIGNAL

Caity Hatchett

Elizabeth Steely

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

SPORTS EDITOR

Sara Patterson

Matthew Branch

OSDN COORDINATOR

Katie Kemp

Hannah Smith

COPY EDITOR

NEWS EDITOR

Langley Leverett ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT & OPINIONS EDITOR

Dr. Jeff Root Adviser

Caroline Derby AD COORDINATOR

PHOTO EDITOR

Abby Blankenship PHOTO EDITOR

Dr. Deborah Root Adviser

The Signal is the student newspaper of Ouachita Baptist University, and is published twice a month on Thursdays during the fall and spring semesters when school is in session. The newspaper is distributed free of charge; 1,200 copies are placed in more than 20 locations across campus.

Opinions expressed are those of the writer and not necessarily those of the newspaper staff or university. The Signal is a member of the Columbia Scholastic Press Association and the Associated Collegiate Press and is printed by the Nashville Leader.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Letters to the editor are encouraged and accepted, unless libelous, irresponsible or obscene. Letters should be typed and include a signature and contact phone number, and must be less than 500 words. The Signal reserves the right to edit letters for space and style. Letters should be sent via campus mail to Box 3761 or via email to signal@obu.edu.

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Dancing to TikTok fame and just having fun

BY RACHEL SANSANO Staff Writer

On the cover: Sophomore Hayden Childers shows his TikTok account. Childers gained a large following on the app after creating dance videos with his younger sister Aubrey. (photo by Abby Blankenship) On this page: Childers and his younger sister dance in one of their TikTok videos. (photo courtesy of Hayden Childers) Childers scrolls through his TikTok. He’s a sophomore kinesiology major from Cord, Ark., and a member of the Ouachita baseball team. (photo by Abby Blankenship)

TikTok rose in popularity during quarantine, and it remains a global phenomenon. Billions downloaded the app, and most people have seen at least one TikTok. It’s easy to spend hours watching the various types of videos.

Creating those videos, however, is a different story. While TikTok is most well-known for crazy dances, recreating those steps can be a bit tricky. Everyone can dance, but few do it well. Especially on TikTok. Hayden Childers, a sophomore kinesiology major, knows all about this. Childers became a TikTok star during quarantine, with the help of his 8-year-old sister Aubrey.

“It started out with us just having fun together on the app, and then it turned into something big,” Childers said.

With almost 550,000 followers and a sponsorship from Bang Energy, Childers has done very well. He gives most of the credit to Aubrey, though.

“My little sister is the main source,” Childers said. “Everyone loves her.”

After being sent home from Ouachita during the COVID craziness, Childers and his sister passed the time making TikTok videos.

“People follow us because they want to see us dancing, so when I kept posting more and more of that, it just blew up,” Childers said.

He has solo videos and videos with his roommates, but the ones that are best received involve his sister.

“My page is basically based off of Aubrey and I dancing,” Childers said. “The app is crazy…you can blow up so fast from one good video and that’s what happened to us”.

As with everything, practice

makes perfect. TikTok dancing can be a lot harder than it looks, and Childers definitely discovered that.

After months of making videos, though, he and Aubrey are much better.

“I thought we were good at dancing, but looking back, we were not good when we first started. But now its way better,” Childers said.

“It’s funny to look back at.”

Making these videos does require a commitment. Learning dances alone can take a while, but Childers recommends that you “just have fun with it.”

When Childers started out on the app, he had no intention of being sponsored. But he saw other people on TikTok with sponsorships, and decided to reach out to Bang Energy, a company that sponsors many TikTok creators.

Childers emailed the company but wasn’t expecting much to come from it. Over a month later, Bang responded, offering Childers a year-long contract with their company. It was then that his page grew from 100,000 followers to over 500,000.

The sponsorship requires Childers to make at least two videos a week. Each video has to be at least 15 seconds long and he has to take a sip of a Bang Energy drink in each one.

Ironically, before getting the sponsorship with Bang, Childers had never really given energy drinks a chance. However, since he would have to take a sip of a drink in each video anyways, he decided to try Bang’s energy drinks and ended up loving them.

At the end of the day, though, Childers is making videos because he enjoys it. And as an added bonus, he gets to spend quality time with his little sister. And for Childers and his sister, the goal of their videos is pretty simple.

“We just have fun with it.”

news

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From left to right: Freshmen Jenae Wilson and Kathryn Totty chat at the Tri Chi 80s festival. (Photo by Callie Rogers) Sophomore Lauren Bridgeman shows off both of her masks at the Chi Mu Mask-querade. (Photo

by Hannah Adamson) Tri Chi members Ryanne Thompson and Hyland Alfonso pose for a picture at Tri Chi 80s festival. (Photo by Callie Rogers) TWIRP dates draw with sidewalk chalk. (Photo by Hannah Adamson)

Women’s social clubs host TWIRP events

BY KENZIE BURKS Staff Writer

“The Woman Is Required to Pay” (TWIRP) is a long-standing tradition at Ouachita. Under normal circumstances, TWIRP would be a week of themed dances sponsored by the women’s social clubs and other campus organizations.

Girls are encouraged—but not required—to ask guys to these activities.

This year, October has been labeled TWIRP month. Each women’s social club is hosting a different TWIRP event every Friday night this month. So far, Chi Mu has hosted their “Mask-querade,” and Tri Chi hosted their 80s Festival last weekend.

“The turnout for ‘Mask-querade’ was great, and we loved everyone who came and decorated a mask,” Chi Mu member and social chair Erin Bagley said.

As social chair for Chi Mu, Bagley was in charge of planning her club’s TWIRP night. She had to keep health and safety in mind while preparing for the event.

“The biggest struggle was keeping everything sanitized and making sure everything was socially distanced,” Bagley said.

All of the social chairs have had to adjust their TWIRP activities to adhere to social distancing guidelines.

“We’re trying to become creative, but we’re also trying to be wise with how we’re doing things,” Gamma Phi social chair Juliana Shaw said.

Shaw and her fellow social chair, Natalie Moore, have had to be innovative as they plan their club’s TWIRP night.

“We were kind of in shock when we were told no dancing,” Moore said.

A common mantra for all of the

social chairs seems to be “adapt and adjust.”

“So, normally our TWIRP would be a dance, which is pretty much what all of the TWIRP events are,” Moore said. “We usually have some fun twinkle lights in the Tiger Den, and we play music and everyone has a great time.”

Dancing is virtually synonymous with TWIRP at Ouachita, so social chairs are working on other ways to entertain attendees while following the guidelines.

“Each club usually charges a small admission, and they usually have snacks and dancing,” Jasmine Baughman, fundraising chair for the Women of EEE, said. “I know EEE and Tri Chi put on performances by their youngest pledge class.”

The clubs met in advance and tried their best to come up with some fun, themed parties that could also be hosted in a campus

location where attendees could stay six feet away from each other.

“The biggest struggle was finding activities to fill the time that’s normally filled by dancing,” Baughman said.

TWIRP is still an opportunity for girls who are not in a social club to see what each club is like. This is especially helpful for freshmen who are not familiar with social clubs and plan on participating in rush week.

While TWIRP this year is not exactly what the Ouachita community had in mind, there are still plenty of opportunities for everyone to come and have a great time.

“We’re all so excited—mostly for the freshmen that have never gotten to experience TWIRP before,” Moore said. “Yes, it’s going to be different, but I know all of the clubs are working super hard to make it different, but amazing.”

The hope for all of the women’s

social clubs and for Ouachita is that the turnout for the remaining TWIRP festivities will still engage the campus and allow students to have fun, but that the events will also follow all of Ouachita’s COVID guidelines.

Chi Mu and Tri Chi have already hosted successful TWIRP nights.

EEE, Campus Ministries, Chi Delta and Gamma Phi will be hosting their events over the next few weeks.

Tomorrow night, EEE is hosting “FiftEEEs Fair” at Cliff Harris Stadium, and Campus Ministries will hold their annual Barn Bash on Saturday night. Chi Delta is hosting a carnival on Oct. 23 and Gamma Phi is having an “Angels in the Outfield” picnic in the park on Oct. 30.

All students are welcome to attend each TWIRP night. Grab a mask (and a date, if you want), and come have fun with your friends.

NEWS

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Homecoming festivities planned amid difficulties

BY GABBY DAVIS

Staff Writer A normal Ouachita Homecoming includes a football game, Tiger Tunes performances and choosing a Homecoming queen.

Because of COVID, Tropical Storm Delta, internet issues and a 30-hour deadline, crowning a Homecoming queen would be more difficult than normal.

Kat Allen, a senior from Texarkana, Ark., serves as the internal vice president and social chair for Student Senate. In this role, she helped plan out the Homecoming queen selection process and crowning ceremony.

Allen has previously helped plan two homecoming celebrations. But this year is the first that she found it difficult to do so.

“This year has brought a lot of challenges, but I’ve just decided to view it as a growth opportunity,” Allen said. “We were kind of told last minute that Homecoming was going to happen and not really given a sense of direction as to what that would look like, what the goals of that would look like.

I wanted to make sure that we kept it—whatever we did—as close to tradition as possible, but I only had 30 hours to do that.”

In those 30 hours, Allen had to plan the whole event and submit the proposal. She educated herself on COVID guidelines and drew from past Homecoming planning experiences to plan this year’s event.

Most changes revolved around making sure the celebration complied with COVID guidelines.

Since the 2020 football season was canceled at the beginning of the semester, Student Senate decided to combine Homecoming with Purple Plaza Party.

Usually clubs host booths near

the student center. This year, Student Senate planned to have each booth 10 to 12 feet apart, spreading them out around the middle of campus.

“This year, we’ve had the front of Evans, the steps of Mabee, the amphitheatre, the whole courtyard in front of Cone Bottoms and the road in front of JPAC,” Allen said.

“We were planning to have it super stretched out, just to make sure that everybody was socially distanced as much as possible.”

Student Senate also ordered hand sanitizer and boxes of gloves for each booth.

Although adapting to this proved difficult, Allen knew that students would appreciate the effort to maintain a sense of normalcy and tradition during this tumultuous season.

“I just had to take a beat and realize that this is COVID season, this is 2020, and I feel like people on campus would just be more appreciative of the fact that we are trying to keep a lot of the same traditions,” Allen said. “We do still want to have a top 20, we do still want to have a presentation, we do still want to hear Dr. Motl over the loudspeaker… and we do still want to have the girls dress up and have mums.”

The top 20 candidates were announced last week, and the Homecoming queen was supposed to be crowned during the Purple Plaza Party that was schedule for last Saturday night. However, these festivities were postponed because of Hurricane Delta. But Allen is hopeful.

“If we can get a new date set, we can carbon copy the plan that we had and move it to whatever date that is,”Allen said, “and we can crown a Homecoming queen and if we have a good turn out, then I think it’s all going to be worth it.”

World Food Day sheds light on hunger

BY ELIZABETH STEELY

Sports Editor Over two billion people in the world do not have regular access to safe, nutrient-rich food.

The pandemic continues to add to this number, with an estimated 83-132 million more people becoming hungry due to challenges that have arisen from the global consequences of COVID. Clearly this is a significant problem, but how can students raise awareness of this issue? World Food Day (WFD) is a good place to start.

WFD is celebrated annually around the world; it serves to educate people about those who suffer from hunger and to communicate the present need to take action toward ensuring access to healthy diets for all.

WFD is on Oct. 16 this year.

This year’s celebration marks 75 years of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the United Nations working together to

fight hunger.

The themes for this year’s WFD are sustainability and food heroes.

Ouachita provides many ways to promot sustainability on campus.

Recycling is available in most buildings, the student-led Green plans recycling initiatives and there are water bottle refill stations across campus, which helps reduce plastic water bottle waste.

Food service workers have had an even more difficult job this year in trying to make sure people are not only fed, but fed safely. Taking extra precautions, controlling student food lines and producing food even more quickly are just a few ways that Ouachita’s food workers’ jobs have become more difficult.

This is one of the reasons why these workers are being celebrated as part of this year’s WFD. On Ouachita’s campus, it’s usually much easier for the Student Dietitic Association to raise awareness for and promote WFD by passing out food, handing out flyers or hosting an event on campus.

However, COVID has made that a lot more difficult this year.

So, the Student Dietetic Association has decided to create an informational video celebrating WFD and some of the food service workers on campus. It will be emailed out on Friday as part of WFD. Celebrating and taking part in WFD is important for students.

This year, it allows them to celebrate the efforts of those working in the foodservice industry and to promote sustainable living.

Having relatively more reliable access to a variety of foods is something students should not only be grateful for, but feel motivated by.

WFD is important and easy to participate in, especially now.

Raising awareness of world hunger and sustainable living on social media is one way students can participate in WFD this year. Using the hashtag #WorldFoodDay, they can share their appreciation of food service heroes and any personal commitments to living sustainably.

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ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT COLUMN

Banned books spark controversy

BY MADELINE MARTIN Staff Writter

Banned Books Week is a national event celebrating the freedom to read without censorship. This year it took place from Sep. 27-Oct. 3.

Sponsored by the American Library Association, or ALA, many school libraries across the nation participate in Banned Books Week by hosting events or discussions.

This week highlights historical and current attempts to censor books in libraries and schools.

Banned Books Week draws national attention to the dangers of censorship in literature and supports the freedom to explore different ideas.

Banned Books Week began in the 1980s after a series of attempts by schools to ban books in their libraries. This culminated in Island Trees School District v. Pico, a 1982 Supreme Court case which ruled that school officials cannot ban books based on their content.

This case led to exhibits and conversations over banned books, and the American Booksellers Association invited ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom Director Judith Krug to join a new initiative called “Banned Books Week.”

It was a success, and Krug spearheaded the event until her death in 2009.

According to Professor Jennifer Pittman, Director of the Speer Writing Center, writing program administrator and language & literature lecturer, Ouachita began celebrating this event about three years ago with an outdoor reading.

“We had volunteers that would read from banned books,” Pittman said. “This included readings from the Bible, which has been banned.”

Ouachita’s library and writing program usually team up to host events. However, the pandemic

kept the timing from working out to do something more specific this year.

The Banned Book List is comprised of books that have been challenged or banned frequently throughout history. This includes books that still face scrutiny today.

Many books find themselves at risk of being banned due to their content.

Common reasons for banning books include: racism, sexual situations, violence, witchcraft, encouragement of “damaging” lifestyles and political bias. The list includes many well-known books: “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “The Catcher in the Rye,” “The Great Gatsby,” “The Kite Runner,” “Of Mice and Men” and the Harry Potter series.

Typically, a book gains an unfavorable label due to misjudgment or misunderstanding about its themes and message. This leads to opposition of the material being taught in a classroom. A book can be challenged or banned and still end up in libraries. Just because one school bans a book, it does not mean that book is now banned everywhere.

As an avid reader and lover of literature, I was surprised to see that several of the books I have read are on the Banned Books List.

As I write this, I am looking at a banned book sitting on my desk— “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” by Ken Kesey.

Based on the harsh realities of mental asylums of the 1960s, Kesey questions the truth of insanity in his novel. The book faced bans in the 1970s for supposedly glorifying criminal activity and violence. In my opinion, a book being banned or challenged means that there is something in it that you need to know about.

This novel and others on the list

force readers to see the darker sides of society.

The purpose of these books is to bring attention to the “controversial” ideas they cover.

Books about racism, politics, war and other sensitive topics serve as tools for education. Banning them from being read in schools contradicts their purpose. Literature serves as a source of entertainment and education, and it is the key to expanding our worldviews.

It is important to learn about ideas that differ from our own. By censoring what students can and cannot read, schools narrow the worldview of students and limit the spread of important ideas.

Pittman agrees that avoiding literature with problematic or disturbing subject matter gives people tunnel vision.

“Just because we don’t agree with something doesn’t mean we can’t engage with it,” Pittman said.

“Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury frequently faces bans.

The novel features a dystopian society in which books are banned.

In the story, firemen are sent to burn any books that are found. The book explores the curse of knowledge, showing a world where most people live in ignorant bliss.

The characters in the novel discuss how books are feared and despised because “they show the pores in the face of life” while people would rather be comfortable with “poreless” faces.

This is true of our society. People fear ideas that differ from their own, and the truth and power of books make people uncomfortable.

They would rather be comfortable and blind than face reality.

“You’re learning about humanity when you’re reading fiction,” Pittman said. “It’s inconceivable that someone would want to limit that or to censor that.”

Revisiting ‘42: The Jackie Robinson Story’ in 2020

BY WYATT ASHLOCK Staff Writer

In the aftermath of World War II, soldiers of color who had fought fascism overseas found themselves fighting against racism in their own country. Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford), the general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, decided not to stand for racism anymore. Rickey signed the first African American baseball player to a Major League Baseball team. Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman) donned the number 42 and forever changed the world of baseball—one home run at a time.

“42” tells a vivid story that brings the audience into 1946 and shows the world through a Black man’s eyes. The racism Jackie endured from the spectators, the referees, the opposing teams and even his own team tugs on the audience’s heartstrings.

The film’s writers worked closely with Rachel Robinson, Jackie’s widow, to tell a story that shows everything that Jackie went through. Rachel had final approval on the script and worked closely with Boseman on his performance to ensure that the story on screen accurately portrayed Jackie’s life.

However, there is one scene that Rachel said never happened. Boseman defended the scene, though.

“At some point he [Jackie] had to break,” Boseman said, “and the fact that Rachel Robinson didn’t fight us to take [the scene] out [of the film], to me proves that it is true.”

Boseman’s performance as Jackie Robinson is powerful. His range of emotion and expression allows the audience to instantly connect with the character. Boseman and Ford’s chemistry is undeniable.

Ford shows how dedicated Rickey

was to bringing everyone together for America’s favorite pastime.

Rickey constantly battles Ben Chapman (Alex Tudyk), who is portrayed as the most bigoted man in baseball. Tudyk’s performance makes the audience’s skin crawl, and it shows the harsh reality of how the league used to be. But it also shows how baseball changed because of Jackie.

“42” highlights the fact that many people put a target on Jackie’s back. They tried to get him to make just one mistake, something that would give them an excuse to end his career. However, many people were on Jackie’s side and fought with him to show that everyone should be able to play baseball.

Writer and director Brian Helgeland brought his A-game in developing this film. The cinematography and score are exemplary, and both work to bring emotion to the screen. These elements allow the story to flow seamlessly, but without distracting from the narrative.

This film is spectacular. It’s a masterpiece that brings a new light to Jackie’s story and puts it on the big screen for everyone to see. “42” was Boseman’s first starring role— which is shocking because of how amazing his performance is.

Throughout the film Helgeland stayed true to the fact that both Jackie and Rickey were Christians, and he even showed how faith influenced both characters throughout the story.

“42” is one of the best sports movies that has been made to date, and it does a good job of showing Jackie’s personal life and his career. I highly recommend this film to anyone ages 13 and up (due to harsh language). Because of the historical accuracy, amazing acting and overall excellence, I give this film five out of five tiger paws.

OPINIONS WWW.OBUSIGNAL.COM | PAGE 7

Autumn in Arkansas: 7 activities to try this fall

BY MACKENZIE HALL Staff Writer

As the nights get cooler and the days get shorter, we bid goodbye to summer and say hello to fall.

This season is marked with autumn leaves, sweatshirts, crackling fires and pumpkin spice, and as the season turns the colors into orange and red, it becomes the perfect time to embrace the beauty of the Natural State. Here’s how to welcome the new season with seven activities that follow COVID guidelines.

1. Take a scenic drive with your suitemates.

As the fall foliage starts to appear, take a day trip and make the trek up Highway 7 through the Ouachita Forest to Russellville.

Enjoy the two and a half hour drive that cuts through Hot Springs and admire the vibrant colors of fall.

2. Take a hike at Lake Catherine State Park.

Lake Catherine in Hot Springs has four hiking trails with beautiful views. For a short and quick hike, the Falls Branch Trail is a two mile round trip with views of rolling waterfalls. For a longer hike, take the four and a half mile Dam Mountain Trail with towering pines and rolling cascades. For an afterhike snack, head to downtown Hot Springs for a warm, homemade cinnamon roll at Will’s Cinnamon Shop.

3. Visit a pumpkin patch.

Drive up to Motley’s Pumpkin Patch in Little Rock for an assortment of pumpkins, mums and gourds. While you’re there, enjoy homemade fudge and watch the pig races.

4. Ride a bike on Feaster Trail.

Rent a mountain bike and helmet from the Rec Center for $3 and peddle down Feaster Trail. The trail starts by Cliff Harris Stadium and goes for two and a half miles.

For a post-ride treat, stop by

The DeSoto Bluff overlooks the Ouachita River. The trail starts by N. 10th St. and weaves into the woods before opening onto the actual bluff. (photo by Caity Hatchett)

Samantha’s Sweets for a Fall Spirit Latte.

5. Go camping at Degray Lake.

Pitch a tent at Degray Lake State Park for the weekend. The Rec Center offers tents and other camping equipment rentals, and the state park has lots of amenities

including trails, horseback riding and a golf course. Cozy up by a campfire and roast a s’more.

6. Attend Taste of the Fair in Little Rock.

This year the Arkansas State Fair was cancelled because of the pandemic. To continue its

tradition, the fair is offering a three day event where attendees can eat their favorite fair food. From Oct. 23 to Oct. 25, the Arkansas State Fair Complex will host nine food vendors. You can look forward to corn dogs, deep fried oreos, funnel cakes, iced tea and kettle corn.

7. Visit Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro.

Crater of Diamonds is one of the few places that the public can dig for diamonds and keep them. For $10, you can shovel through the 37-acre field for rocks, gemstones and minerals. Come prepared with your own shovel, or search for rocks on top of the ground. Tickets can be purchased online at www. arkansasstateparks.com/parks/ crater-diamonds-state-park.

So, go enjoy this new season.

Get out in nature, try something different and celebrate the beauty of Arkansas. Wear your masks, wash your hands and social distance. But remember to have fun, too!

Exercise your right: Voting in 2020 is essential

BY CAROLINE DERBY Ad Coordinator

The 2020 presidential election is less than a month away, and many college students are gearing up for what will probably be their first time voting in a national election.

College Republicans, Young Democrats, Student Senate and the Multicultural Students Program came together last Tuesday to provide a way for Ouachita students to learn more about voting and elections by hosting a “Let’s Vote, Set the Trend” student panel.

Representatives from the host organizations provided a voter registration table for attendees.

They also spoke and answered audience questions, as well

as questions from the panel’s facilitator, Special Assistant to the President Dr. Lewis Shepherd.

“In two days of having the voter registration table, 30 voter registration forms were completely filled out,” Shepherd said. “Thirty more people are now registered to vote because of those tables.”

With the heightened media coverage of the upcoming election, the voting panel covered questions such as, “How much does the college-age vote actually matter?” and “Why should we vote?”

“The number of eligible voters that did not vote in the last election was huge,” Young Democrats president Madi Rawls said. “For a lot of our age group, this will be our first time voting in the

presidential election. Particularly with our generation, we are one that is forward with our opinions and speaking up for what we think is right. It’s time to do that when it comes to voting.”

College Republicans Chair Madison McGhee hopes that by having this panel, college students are encouraged to use their voice and go to the polls and vote.

“I believe it is so important for our age group to vote. Voting will determine our nation’s future,” McGhee said. “Most college students will go into real adulthood after college and government decisions will affect them.”

In addition to answering questions, the panel provided practical solutions to becoming

an educated voter. Although social media is a way to stay informed about current events, the audience was encouraged to fact check what they saw online.

The panel also encouraged voters to do research about topics and to develop personal opinions regarding current issues. Staying informed and up to date on current events allows voters to have a better understanding of who they are voting for, as well as the policies that current candidates want to implement in the government.

Although the main focus was voting in the presidential election, the panel also provided insight on how important it is to vote in local elections.

“National elections are

extremely important, and your vote does matter in those elections.

Your vote matters in local elections as well,” Shepherd said. “In local elections, your vote could be the difference between something like having trash picked up twice a week or once a week.”

The presidential election will be held on Nov. 3. Although voter registration has closed for Arkansas residents, it is still important to register for future elections. Out of state students can also register for absentee ballots.

It’s important that we make it to the polls-- in one way or another-on election day. This event was an excellent learning resource for students to gain awareness about the importance of exercising their

sports

PAGE 8 | WWW.OBUSIGNAL.COM SPORTS COLUMN

Longstanding tradition: Kaepernick’s 2016 protest

BY CAITY HATCHETT Editor-In-Chief

Junior Sean McKinney gets ready to pitch the ball in one of the first intramural kickball games of the season. Kickball is RecLife’s second new addition to the intramural lineup, and the season kicked off on Monday. (photo by Abby Blankenship)

Staying in shape with kickball

BY RYAN YORK Staff Writer

Ouachita RecLife continues to find ways to keep students both active and safe. Adhering to social distancing has made staying active and in shape more difficult for students. Kickball is RecLife’s newest intramural sport, and a few rule adjustments have made it safer for everyone to play.

One of the new adjustments requires everyone on the field to wear a mask and stay socially distanced.

Tagging up is a potential problem, as the fielder and the runner will be going for the same base, resulting in close contact. Thankfully, they have a creative solution with “alternative bases” as Kendall Jones, a kickball referee, likes to call them. They will place small orange cones near each of the bases for the fielders to tag up, rather than the actual base.

Another new adjustment is that

physical tagging of players with the ball will not be allowed. However, players can still throw the ball at other players to get them out.

In between each play, the referees will be swapping out and sanitizing the previously used balls to reduce cross contamination. As for the outfielders, they are allowed to remove their masks once in position, because they are well away from other players on the field.

“Students have been requesting intramural kickball for quite some time now, but with so many other sports in high demand it took the backseat,” Jones said. “Now, because of all that has been going on, Matthew Cook, assistant director of Rec Life, saw this as an opportunity to experiment with different or unique sports that usually wouldn’t be played or thought of.”

Before the season started, the RecLife team had a test run to see how everything would work. The referees played against a group of students. The game ran smoothly

but with a bit of a learning curve for the alternative bases and a slower pace of game as the refs sanitized the balls being used.

The guest group started strong, scoring a few runs in the first inning, while the RecLife team struggled to get past first base. As the game went on, the RecLife team continued to trail as the guests added to their lead. Even with a significant loss, the RecLife team found it to be a success and thought the game ran efficiently.

The kickball season began on Oct.12 and will finish on Oct. 22.

The student body is excited, with 14 teams in the co-ed division and six in the men’s division. So far this semester, intramural kickball is the most popular sport, since human foosball only had a total of 14 teams. As the season progresses, it will be exciting to see students being active again. RecLife plans to keep finding ways to help students stay active with talks of disc golf possibly being an intramural sport.

I remember my parents being upset. They wondered why anyone would want to disrespect our flag like that. But all Colin Kaepernick (whom I was unfamiliar with at the time) had done was take a knee. It just happened to be during the national anthem.

I didn’t understand in 2016 what the big deal was, but now I know.

Kaepernick was brave enough to take a stand, and he got blacklisted because of it. And I’ve realized, along with many others, that it was never about the flag. But what does it say about us that we consider disrespecting property a higher offense than disrespecting the lives of millions of people of color in our country?

Jackie Robinson’s entrance onto the Major League Baseball scene didn’t just break barriers. It was, whether Robinson intended it this way or not, a stand against segregation. Tommie Smith and John Carlos raising their fists during the 1968 Olympics signaled a new era of what the Smithsonian Magazine accurately calls “athletic protest.”

And it also ended their careers.

So when Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem in 2016, he was continuing a tradition. And when the San Francisco 49ers released him after the 2016 season and he was unable to find a place on another NFL team, the league continued another tradition.

Kaepernick was the most vocal about his beliefs, and he became a target for then presidential candidate Donald Trump..

Trump and many other Americans felt—and still feel—that what

Kaepernick did was unpatriotic.

In a tweet on June 9 of this year, ESPN reminded us of Kaepernick’s response to this.

“I don’t understand what’s un-American about fighting for liberty and justice for everybody, for the equality this country says it stands for,” Kaepernick said. “To me, I see it as very patriotic and American to uphold the United States to the standards that it says it lives by. That’s something that needs to be addressed.”

In the wake of this summer’s events, Kaepernick’s statement is more crucial than ever. Hundreds of professional athletes—and thousands of athletes at all levels—have taken a stand in various ways against the unjust killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor.

And while many people are opposed to these protests, I’d like to remind everyone that wearing a jersey with Breonna Taylor’s name on it does not affect the outcome of a WNBA game. And kneeling during the national anthem doesn’t mean that a quarterback will perform less successfully in a game.

These athletes are hurting for the people just like them that are victims of police brutality and systemic racism. We’ve given them a platform, and they’re using it to raise awareness for issues that affect them. We shouldn’t punish them for speaking their minds because we don’t agree with them.

So, it was never about the flag.

It was never about the kneeling.

Kaepernick’s protest—and that of many others—has always been about holding America to the standards it professes to have for itself .

And I think it’s high time we took a knee with our brothers and sisters.