MAY 10, 2016 VOLUME 87, ISSUE 28
’ THE LION S ROAR S O U T H E A S T E R N L O U I S IA NA U N I V E R S I T Y
A Student Publication
Campus Life Page 2
Opinions Page 3
Arts & Entertainment Page 4
Sports Page 6
News Page 8
LionsRoarNews.com
Future teachers of Panama graduate program at SLU BY LARSHELL GREEN Staff Reporter
The Lion’s Roar / File Photo
Graduating seniors choose the decoration for their caps with creativity and a lot of thought about their degree and future plans.
Graduation caps reveal personalities BY MORGAN LEDET Staff Reporter
As Spring Commencement approaches, graduates are preparing to walk across the stage, but not before they decorate their caps. If you have ever seen a college graduation, some students like to decorate their caps accordingly. For example, one senior decided to put her future plans on her cap. “I wanted to decorate my cap to make my graduation more personal and to stand out from others during graduation,” said education major Gabrielle Ponthieux. “I decided to put a Mickey because I have always loved Disney and am participating in the Disney College Program after I graduate. I added an apple in his ear because I am an early childhood education major.” According to the university website, any excessive decorations on gowns or mortarboards are distracting and therefore inappropriate. This has never stopped students in the past. Some examples at past commencements have been “May the work force be with you,” “Hire me,” “She believed she could so she did,” “About time,” “#Murse,” “Finally,” “Just did it,” “Can I take a nap now” and “I know I wined a lot, but I did it.” These are just a few of the many quotes. There have also been more quotes, bible verses, sorority letters, stickers, designs made out of ribbons and rhinestones, bows and degree titles. One senior does not graduate till the fall, but she already knows how she is decorating her cap. “I plan on putting my sorority letters on it, AOII,” said senior communication major Kathryn Kennedy. “I want to do it because
Each semester a group of Panamanian teachers become students of English at the university. Students take courses in English that include reading, listening, grammar and vocabulary courses. On Friday, May 6 this semester’s participants of the Panamá Bilingüe Program graduated in the Alumni Center at 10 a.m. The ceremony opened with the Panamanain national anthem, “Himno Istmeño,” followed by the “Star Spangled Banner.” The Panamá Bilingüe Program started in January 2015. Program coordinator Rose Rogers describes the beginning of the program as “very hectic.” “It was figuring out every little detail,” said Rogers. “Each time you learn something different, like different ways to set up classrooms and teach.” According to Rogers, Panama Bilingüe participants who spoke English well were taught methodology. This semester, students were broken into three groups based on their skill levels: level one (beginner), level two (intermediate) and level two a (intermediate two). Throughout the difficulties of the program, students kept positive attitudes. “They don’t really tell you the level of English that each student has, so you can’t really plan for it,” said Rogers. “They make it so easy because they’re always so fun and happy. Seeing how hard they work is inspiring, it’s the most frustrating thing in the world to
not know something.” The Panamá Bilingüe Program lasts for four months. It begins with an orientation and ends with the graduation ceremony. During the course of the program, students take classes Monday through Friday every week. According to Rogers, they also get about three hours of tutoring a week and use Mango, “an interactive learning program to learn English.” Senior English education major and student worker for the Panamá Bilingüe Emily Nodine is a tutor for participants. According to Nodine, she helps students with homework and English concepts during the hour long sessions that take place multiple times a week. “I loved working with this program,” said Nodine. “This is what I want to do long term, travel and teach English in other countries, so this was preparation for that.” According to the Director of the Panamá Bilingüe Program and marketing Associate professor Dr. Tara Lopez, the program has developed as they learned how to host foreign students. “I think we have learned what students need,” said Lopez. “When we first started, we didn’t realize the different backgrounds the students were coming from.” According to Lopez, classes like Consumer Behavior allow American students to gain international insight into trends of Panamanian culture like shopping and education.
see PANAMA pg. 10
The Lion’s Roar / Kelonda Dixon
Students from Panama dance during Fais Do Do, while wearing traditional Panamanian clothing. These students are now graduates of the Panamá Bilingüe Program, a program at Southeastern that instructs teachers of Panama in English for four months each semester.
Music and more offer opportunity to destress at REC Fest
see CAPS pg. 5
Seniors invited to sendoff party
The Lion’s Roar / Kelli Meynard
BY ALEX BRAINARD Staff Reporter
At the end of every semester, it is time for seniors to gather after the years of hard work they have endured to finally step up and receive the diploma they have earned. The Alumni Association will be holding an event for the graduating seniors to celebrate their achievements. “Senior Sendoff is a graduation party for the graduating seniors,” said Assistant Director of the Alumni Association Julie Perise. “It is also an introduction into their life as an alumnus. They get to see what the Alumni Association is all about, what we do and they get to experience the fun we have.” The Senior Sendoff will be taking place in the Alumni Center on Wednesday, May 11 from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Graduating seniors will be able to get in for no charge, however it will cost $7 for guests who wish to attend. “Everyone has to be at least 21 because we’re serving beer as well as soft drinks,” said Perise. “We’re going to actually have one of our alumni chapters, Redstick Chapter, coming to cook burgers. We want seniors to see even after they leave, they can come back and give to Southeastern.” The Senior Sendoff will have prizes for
see SENIOR pg. 10
The Lion’s Roar / Elizabeth Brown
The REC provided students with many games, including a life-size jenga game (above). Aside from games and free food, four bands played including The Chee-Weez, The Gillis Silo (top, right), Impaired Faculties and Jonathan Koeppel. Students embraced the festival feeling of the day and sat out in the grass and danced as the bands performed. The Lion’s Roar / Elizabeth Brown
BY KELLI MEYNARD Staff Reporter
Crawfish, live bands, inflatables and games, what more could students ask for on a beautiful day? REC Fest 2016 was rescheduled due to bad weather, but the sun shined bright the following week. On Wednesday, May 4 REC Fest was held from 2 to 10 p.m. outside the Pennington Center. Free crawfish, jambalaya, Monster energy drinks and New Orleans Roast iced tea and coffee was provided. “REC Fest is a fun environment for family and friends to get together to enjoy good music and good food,” said sophomore nursing major and REC staff Savannah Laborde. There was a wide variety of inflatables and games, from obstacle courses to knocker balls, life sized Jenga, Tic-Tac-Toe and even beanbag toss were also available to play. Sophomore environmental biology major Michael Angelo Latino worked the knocker ball station and
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found it fun to watch. “With the knocker ball, you get three tries with you and somebody else,” said Latino. “You get about 20 feet apart, and you just take off running and see who can knock who down. It’s pretty interesting and fun to watch.” Some students found REC Fest to be distressing with exams coming up. “I think the event is fun,” said junior communication major Carnisha Tassin. “The crawfish was really good. The inflatables were fun. The music was nice. It’s just really chill, and it helps take the stress of exams away. You don’t really think about exams when you’re out here.” Latino also agreed that the crawfish was good and so was the music. “The music has been really good, as well as the crawfish,” said Latino. “They were really big. The bands are really talented and there is a good bit of people here.”
Weather Tuesday H 87 L 66
Students were not the only ones who had a good time. The Chee-Weez were having a blast at their mini rock concert. “We had a great time at Rec Fest,” said bass player from The Chee-Weez Joey Mangiapane. “We play these kind of events at a lot of colleges. Most of the time they sit around and listen and enjoy the band, but last night it turned into a rock show. All the kids were in the front singing all the songs. That makes our job much easier. Hopefully we’ll be back next year.” Relaxing can be an important thing for students to do before taking a ton of exams and singer Jonathan Koeppel thought this is exactly what students needed. “I’m extremely grateful for CAB, SGA and The REC for having me perform with my band,” said Koeppel. “I also enjoyed getting to rock out before finals week. It was a great way to de-stress. Definitely an event that stressed out students can use to have fun and relax.”
Reminders Wednesday H 87 L 65
Commencement takes place May 14 at 10 a.m. Also, the next issue of The Lion’s Roar will be distributed June 14.