March 11, 2015

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THE UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL ARKANSAS’ STUDENT NEWSPAPER

WEDNESDAY

MARCH 11, 2015 Volume 108 — Issue 8

ucaecho.net 4 TODAY’S FORECAST CONWAY

Campus Life:

Sports:

Trap Lords:

Basketball:

Women of Ireland bring mix modern, traditional songs 4 page 3

INFRASTRUCTURE

Meeks’ measure

4 THE NEWSDESK

4 page 7

4 page 6

GOVERNMENT

72/54

Women wrap up season with loss, place as seventh conference seed

EDM artists Diplo, Skrillex pair up for Jack Ü album drop

Culture:

Warm & Cloudy

CONTROVERSY

UCA groups discuss law’s consequences

Conway representative brings forward bill

FROM THE EDITOR

UCAPD begins replacing unit cruisers with SUVs UCAPD officially welcomed a Ford Interceptor SUV to its fleet March 3. Sgt. Brad Moore said the Interceptor is “basically a Ford Explorer fitted with a police package” that includes sway bars, a lowered body and a pursuit engine rating. UCAPD plans to eventually replace its five marked and three unmarked Dodge Chargers with more Interceptors in the coming years.

After UCAPD purchased the SUV in December 2014, it was sent off and adorned with the No. 9 and UCAPD decals. Car No. 9 features red lights in between the standard blue and white lights.

Goodman selected as good man to represent Hunter Phillips Goodman, UCA Division of Advancement development director, was chosen to be a member of the inaugural class of the Presidential Leadership Scholars. She began the sixmonth leadership development program Feb. 24 at George Washington’s home in Mount Vernon. Goodman and 59 other scholars will participate in approximately 100 hours of informative sessions about leadership theory drawing on presidential archives at four presidential centers. The scholars will visit the William J. Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock this month to study vision and communication through case studies on welfare reform.

Art walk to display new, old artwork on campus The Art History Association (AHA) will host students, faculty, staff and interested onlookers for an art walk around campus, starting at 4:30 p.m. March 16 at the Song of the Earth sculpture in the Irby courtyard. AHA will present the stories about the sculptures and the artists who created them, as well as the construction techniques and UCA’s preservation methods.

The walk should last no longer than 30 minutes.

by Austin DuVall Online Editor

Rep. David Meeks (R-Conway) put forth House Bill 1676 on March 5, a measure that would prohibit the “re-homing” of adopted children in the state, in response to a media firestorm surrounding Rep. Justin Harris (R-West Fork).

The Arkansas Times published a cover story last week detailing how last year, Eric Cameron Francis, 38, of Bella Vista was arrested for raping a 6-year-old girl who was, according to the initial report, in his temporary care. Francis had previously worked at a West Fork Christian preschool owned by Harris and his wife. He was fired due to poor work attendance, Harris told the Arkansas Times, adding that Francis came in “with

a pristine record.”

Francis was sentenced to 40 years in prison in November 2014 on a negotiated plea.

However, according to last week’s Arkansas Times article, Harris did not disclose that the girl was the legally adopted daughter of he and his wife, Marsha. The Arkansas Times wrote that for “unknown reasons,” the Harrises sent the girl and her 3-year-old sister — who was also adopted by the couple — to live with Francis six months after they were taken in. All of this was revealed after the magazine recently obtained prosecutor documents.

The Democratic Party of Arkansas publicly asked for Harris’ resignation March 6.

“Re-homing,” a legal practice

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ACADEMICS

Arkatext writes history

By Kendra Beattie Opinion Editor

The UCA writing department held its annual Arkatext literary festival March 2 – 6, which included the fifth annual launch of The Toad Suck Review literary journal.

The Arkatext literary festival began approximately 10 years ago when College of Fine Arts and Communication Dean and writing professor Terry Wright came up with the idea for the Arkatext festival. He wanted to expose students to different writing styles and to give them an opportunity to learn from experienced authors, editors and publishers.

“It was Terry Wright’s dream to have a writing festival in the spring,” associate writing professor John Vanderslice said.

“Every fall, a group of [writing] faculty members get together, and we toss around ideas for different Arkansas-based writers to bring in.”

This year, the Arkatext festival also hosted Launchapalooza, the reception for The Toad Suck Review’s newest edition. The literary journal is created by associate professor Mark Spitzer (chief editor) and Vanderslice (associate editor), as well as by several graduate students.

Six students working toward master’s degrees in creative writing assisted Spitzer and Vanderslice this year to put together the journal’s fifth edition.

“We all edited different pieces…independently and as a group, [and] we got to interview Jericho Brown and transcribe it for the journal,” graduate student Devon Norris said. “It gave us a good understanding of the editing process and the publishing side [to writing].

It was a great experience.”

Usually beginning in

See Arkatext - page 2

LECTURE

Author speaks philosophy

By Joe Kramer

Flow arts group to host one-year anniversary

Entertainment Editor

Friday Jammings, a flow arts and drum circle community of Conway, will celebrate its first anniversary starting at 6 p.m.

Friday, March 13 at the Rogers Plaza on the corner of Oak and Van Ronkle Streets. Five local artists, including The Whole Famn Damily and Bodacious Dingos, will play live music beginning at 7 p.m. Friday Jammings is “a public art project” that aims to engage the Conway community with music, dance, flow arts fire and LED performances. More information about Friday Jammings can be found on the “Friday Jammings First Anniversary” Facebook event page.

4 WHAT’S AHEAD IN OUR NEXT ISSUE

Break-ins at Bear Village trending, anthropology seedlings sprouting, chemistry coursework changing

Award-winning author, former Boston Globe columnist and foreign correspondent for The Associated Press, Maggie Jackson made her way to UCA on March 3 as the first of many nationally renowned speakers in a lecture series hosted by the UCA Schedler Honors College.

The lecture primarily focused on the way humans today think in a world ruled by speed. Her lecture, “A Workmanship of Risk: The Craftsmanship of Thought in an Age of Speed,” dove into the different challenges humans face in preserving their intellectual development and creativeness when society prizes the hare in all circumstances over the tortoise, despite the age-old fable.

Humans often see slowness as some level of retardation and as a hindrance in society. Jackson pushed the audience to slow down their thinking in order to break the societal stranglehold that forces humans to think faster and, often, sloppier.

She highlighted the American workplace, saying,

Index: 4Police Beat 4Around Campus 4Entertainment

Entertainment:

“[Humans] often think first is best,” making fast decisions with little forethought and springing those answers out, despite their shortcomings.

Decision-making methods are often developed at the early stages in education. Students are pushed to learn through trial and error and, in turn, make future decisions and methods of success based off past choices.

Jackson said this run-and-gun method of thinking gets people in trouble when they try to tackle the more pressing issues found in daily life.

“The reality is simple,” Jackson said. “We place much of our spur-of-the-moment decision making on past experience.

But experience does not merit superior decision making in almost all cases.”

Jackson did not argue that working off past experience is a good rule of thumb in some cases, but argued that ignoring the reason is reckless and leads to the betrayal of self-preservation.

“Quick is our familiar tempo,

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Phone: 501-499-9UCA (822) E-mail: ucaechoeditor@gmail.com

by Austin DuVall Online Editor

photo by Blake Eiermann

Guards designed to prevent ice buildup hang off the south side of the HPER Center after last week’s wave of winter weather.

Winter hurts HPER

By Laura Landers Associate Editor

As temperatures start to increase and the snow and ice melts away, the HPER Center has experienced some damages to its new and existing buildings.

Snow guards, designed to prevent the buildup of ice and snow on roofs by allowing it to slide off gradually, fell off the south side of the newly renovated HPER Center building sometime between March 4 and March 5 during the last bout of winter weather. These long, metal guards can be seen protruding off the roof in the back of the building, with one having fallen from the roof to the ground.

Caution tape has been placed to prevent people from entering the area.

“It looks a lot worse than it is,” HPER Director David Dennis said. “It looks like the roof is falling apart.”

Dennis said UCA has a one-year warranty on the new building, and Cohn Group, the construction company that worked on the project, will contract a company to repair the damages. There is no way to tell, at the current time, whether the damage is due to construction

issues or weather.

HPER Center Assistant Director Jarod Matheney said that since the majority of the damages were restricted to the south side of the building, they do not pose any drastic safety threat to students and faculty.

“It just gives [people] something to look at,” Matheney said. “Most students didn’t even notice it.”

The older gutters on the existing HPER building also suffered a hit. The accumulation of ice and snow has bent them, causing water to steadily drip as temperatures have increased.

However, according to Dennis, this damage is unusual.

“Those gutters were put in back in 2000,” Dennis said. “We have never had an issue with them before.”

Dennis believes it was the immense amount of freezing rain and sleet that made the difference with this round of winter weather. However, the damage is not extensive and should require only minimal repair.

A time frame on the repairs to the existing and new buildings has not been given, as the damages are currently not substantial enough to require immediate repair.

SGA

University places safety first

By Peyton Olsen Assistant News Editor

UCAPD announced at the March 9 SGA meeting that 81 percent of the problems uncovered during the November 2014 Operation Safe Walk have been remedied.

The annual event invites SGA and other students to search for weak spots in UCA’s campus safety net and to suggest changes that would make campus safer.

Lighting, landscaping and repairs (LLRs) and suggestions are prioritized into four categories.

UCAPD Communications Director Arch Jones said all LLRs listed as first priority would be completed by June 30, 2015.

Some of the more notable repairs include leveling out the gravel parking lot east of the Bear Village Apartments and installing lights around the parking lot behind the Sigma Phi Epsilon house.

Six SGA senators who attended the Conference

on Student Government Association (COSGA) at Texas A&M Feb. 28 – March 3 presented their experiences to the senate and shared some of the inspirational methodologies they learned there, such as implementing gender-neutral pronouns and encouraging school spirit.

Junior Sen. Stephanie Daigle announced that SGA’s Day at the Capitol event would take place March 19 and transportation for up to 119 students would be available.

President Ashley Ross also announced the formation of a new committee that would decide how $10,000, which SGA had originally set aside about 10 years ago for an Alumni circle project that never broke ground, would be used.

Status updates on the Big Event community outreach program showed SGA had 635 volunteers organized for 35 projects. The Big Event will take place this Saturday, March 14

Social:

Nationwide attention has been focused on Sen. Bart Hester’s (R-Cave Springs) controversial measure, Senate Bill 202, for over a month now. The same feverish attitude, both in support of and against Hester’s bill found in mainstream media, was mirrored here in Conway, especially after Gov. Asa Hutchinson allowed it to pass into law without his signature Feb. 23.

SB 202 seeks to prevent city and county governments from writing their own anti-discrimination ordinances based on issues not addressed by state law, though rules can still be created in relation to employees of a county, municipality or other political subdivision.

“SB 202 is, at the core, a flawed piece of legislation, something that has set the entire LGBT community back.”

­—- Senior Colby Sansom UCA Young Democrats President Junior and UCA College Republican President Anna Broadaway said she does not consider the new law — now Act 137 — to be discriminatory, but to act as clarification for local governments.

“The new law is intended to make the same laws apply statewide, which prevents local governments from having to decide who qualifies as a ‘protected class,’” Broadaway said. “I do not consider the intent of the new law to discriminate, therefore, I consider the addition of the LGBT community to the list of those protected under anti-discrimination laws to be a separate issue.”

Broadaway said SB 202 isn’t about making discrimination legal, but to pursue the “greater good.”

“There are so many people and so many groups crying for ‘equality’ when what they really want is a legal straightjacket to force businesses and the individuals who run them to show preference to one group or another,” she said, adding that Hutchinson’s actions were in line with his campaign promise of supporting the majority’s opinion to not allow gay marriage in Arkansas.

“Hutchinson is doing his duty as governor to uphold the wishes of the people … like it or not, the passage of this law is another [promise kept] by [Hutchinson],” she said.

Senior and UCA Young Democrats President Colby Sansom had a different take on the matter.

“SB 202 is, at the core, a flawed piece of legislation, something which has set the entire LGBT community back,” Sansom said.

“Aimed at keeping state and local laws in step with one another, the law purposely moves to exclude LGBT people. Not only ethically abhorrent, this law is shaky, at best, under federal [examination]. With the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Romer v. Evans in mind, there is major legal precedent for it to be challenged and struck down.”

See Law - page 2

Inside: The skinny on dipping

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We’re all adults here; there is no reason to ban bikini-style swimsuits for women

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Police Beat

Measure:

State representative from Conway proposes law against re-homing adopted children as response to Harris controversy

The following information is compiled from UCAPD incident reports

by Assistant News Editor Peyton Olsen.

Off-duty cop knocks at door; underage students make dash out of Torreyson apartment UCAPD cited two UCA students for running away from police at Torreyson Apartments about 4:25 a.m March 1.

An off-duty police officer heard loud noise coming from Torreyson Apartment 4 about 3:25 a.m. and knocked on the door. The noise hushed and UCA student Alex Miles, 19, of Rogers, whom the officer immediately recognized, “promptly shut the door in [the officer’s] face.”

While continuing to knock on the door, UCAPD heard the back door open and rapid footsteps pattering against the waterlogged ground. At that time, nonstudent Forrest Johnson, 20, of Rogers, opened the door.

Johnson told the officer he did not live in the apartment and had “no idea” where his friends had gone. Because Johnson was unaccompanied in a campus residence building, the officer told him he could not stay inside the apartment.

At that time, UCA student Jeremy Spickes, 19, of Rogers, walked up from the east side of the apartment complex.

Spickes told UCAPD he went out the back door to find where his friends had gone. Spickes said he had not known who was at the door when he ran.

UCAPD found University of Arkansas student Megan Greenway, 20, of Rogers, walking barefoot in the “soaking wet grass.”

UCAPD said the temperature was approximately 33 degrees at the time, and Greenway admitted to being inside the apartment.

About 3:50 a.m., UCAPD woke the resident coordinator to obtain access to the apartment. UCAPD found several alcohol bottles, mostly empty, and found student Daniel Spickes, 19, of Rogers, in bed.

After interviewing the students and nonstudent, UCAPD found that Miles and student Payton Russell, 19, of Rogers, had also been in the apartment. UCAPD gave Miles and Russell the opportunity to return to the apartment to receive a citation, but “they refused.”

Jeremy Spickes and Daniel Spickes received Judicial Board (J-board) violations. After learning that UCAPD would put out warrants for Miles and Russell, Spickes called them repeatedly and encouraged them to return for their imminent citations.

Miles and Russell arrived just as the officers were leaving and Miles said running from UCAPD was “the natural response” and asked why the officers had not been in the backyard waiting to chase him.

According to the report, the officer “informed them of the stupidity of [their response],” and told Miles he should have ran out of the front door if he wanted to be chased.

Both Miles and Russell were issued municipal citations for fleeing from police.

!

Nonstudent earns pair of cuffs after running light with ganja Nonstudent Devontae Williams, 20, of Conway was arrested for possession of 4.8 grams of marijuana after running a red light at the intersection of Dave Ward Drive and Donaghey Avenue about 12:30 a.m.

March 4.

William pulled his white 2004 Cadillac DeVille into the Griffin Leggett Funeral Home parking lot.

UCAPD said Williams slurred his words and the car smelled like unsmoked marijuana.

UCAPD asked Williams if he ran the light for an emergency and he said yes, but did not say what the emergency was.

Williams told UCAPD his driver’s license was suspended and handed his insurance to the officer.

His legs were shaking and UCAPD saw him grab for something under the driver’s seat.

Williams agreed to allow UCAPD to search his car by hand and with a K-9 unit. The dog signaled the officers to the center console, where they found marijuana shake and $100 in $20 bills.

According to the report, Williams became agitated when UCAPD asked about moving his seat. After stepping toward the officers with a bowed chest, Williams was handcuffed.

At that time, UCAPD found 4.8 grams of marijuana leaves, stems and seed, estimated at $50, and $65 cash in Williams’ jacket pocket.

Williams was cited for running a red light, driving on a suspended license and possession of marijuana.

He was taken to the Faulkner County Unit II. Pro Auto towed the Cadillac.

False fire alarm under review UCAPD responded to a false fire alarm at State Hall about 11:36 p.m. March 4.

After clearing the building, UCAPD found the southernmost pull station on the first floor had been released. None of the residents knew who could have pulled the alarm. Security camera footage was reviewed.

Student loses cash in wallet, claims friend seemed sketchy Student Tierrah Smith, 18, of Malvern, reported $195 in cash stolen from her wallet in her Conway Hall dorm room about 9:30 p.m. March 3.

Smith said she last saw the money about 1 p.m.

March 2. She told police that she left nonstudent Khalid Dawn, 19, of Malvern, alone in her room about 3:30 a.m. March 3.

When she returned, she saw her wallet had shifted position and noticed Dawn “visibly jumped at her presence.”

TUITION, FEES, ROOM, AND BOARD BALANCES ARE PAST DUE

!

If you have not paid your student account bill in full or do not have an APPROVED payment plan, you are subject to administrative withdrawal and meal plan suspension.

You have until March 16 to pay in full or make APPROVED payment plan arrangements (60% down).

Payments can be made online at

http://uca.edu/studentaccounts/payment-options/

Approved payment plans must be set up in the Student Accounts office.

The Student Accounts office is available to help you, but you must contact them to resolve this matter.

If you have any questions, call Student Accounts at (501) 450-5015 or stop by the office in McCastlain Hall 144 170 students were removed from classes for nonpayment last semester.

Due Date: Monday, March 16

4 Continued from page 1 in Arkansas, is the act of placing an adopted child freely into the care of another person without having to go through any form of processing. Meeks’ new bill seeks to prevent this option from being on the table.

Meeks’ bill — a more researched and in-depth version of Rep. Greg Leding’s (D-Fayetteville) HB 1648, which seeks to prohibit private transfers of adopted children except to relatives — carries a lot of weight for the Republican representative, considering Meeks and his wife, Naomi, are foster parents themselves.

“The focus of [HB 1676] is to make the system the best it can be,” Meeks said. “This was an unfortunate situation, and we want to make sure parents have all the resources they need.”

Meeks said he knows HB 1676 will not fix every problem with state adoption protocol and that Leding’s bill was just a “starting point,” but he’s glad the House has realized “we have a problem.” Instead of re-homing, adoptive or foster parents would have to go through a court, an adoption process or another route appropriate for the situation.

The bill has been referred to

committee and has been sent to Gov. Asa Hutchinson. Meeks said the main problem with his bill is that House members are concerned about subsidies.

“When you have a foster child, you get certain federal subsidies to help parents, but not every child gets them,” he said, adding that it’s harder to place children with certain subsidies because some parents only want to take in or adopt certain children.

Meeks drew most of his bill from Louisiana Act. 721, a law passed last year that prohibited the re-homing of a child.

Law:

Political chapters on campus voice opinions, concerns about recently passed ban on city-wide anti-discrimination laws in Arkansas 4 Continued from page 1 Romer v. Evans was a 1996 court decision in Colorado, which found that denying LGBT people protected status did not satisfy the Equal Protection Clause, part of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment.

“From the inception of the law, there have been Young Democrats actively contacting and meeting with their legislators to vote against and protest the law,” Sansom said. “Along with that, many Young Democrats have sought to be a part of the opposition effort by participating with the Democratic Stonewall Caucus, the LGBT coalition of the Democratic Party, as well as in it’s campaign against the law.”

Though passed into law last month, the bill will not become enforceable until July 1.

In contrast to Broadaway’s stance, Sansom said what is at stake is not a “promise kept” by the governor, but the lives of the people the bill affects.

“The LGBT community is not asking for an extension of privilege or for any special treatment,” he said. “Instead, we ask for the same protections that straight people receive under the law. I think it takes a large ego and a lot of privilege to gloat that the marginalization of a minority group is a good thing to be applauded.”

While the UCA chapter of the Young Americans for Liberty neither condones nor opposes the bill, sophomore and chapter president Natalie Frye took a more economic approach to the argument at hand.

“When it comes to a private business, the government cannot and should not regulate who they can provide services to,” Frye said. “I support SB 202 because I believe in our capitalistic society, our individual liberties and lastly, I support the rights private

businesses obtained under our law. If the business is using their own private resources, they can deny services to whomever.”

To those opposed to the bill, such as Sansom and other students, Frye said what is unethical to some is not necessarily illegal.

“In a theoretical situation, if a business denies their services to someone of a specific group — including race, gender or sexual orientation — the general public will get angry,” she said.

“Due to this publicity brought upon the business, people will stop spending their money at that establishment and take it elsewhere, causing the business to fail. If the public does not respond accordingly, then it is the discriminatory culture of our society that we need to fix — not the law.”

Frye said she hopes to see the idea of equality spread, even to the extent of allowing discrimination if a person chooses to act on it.

“This bill protects your right to discriminate or to not, and that is your personal choice,” she said.

“When you tell someone they can or cannot discriminate against a specific group, you are allowing that group to have special rights, which opens doors for inequality.”

To those who could potentially experience discrimination under this bill, sophomore Eamonn Mayo said to fight back.

“Don’t wait on government to do your work for you,” he said.

“Make a stand yourself. I know that while I personally don’t have a dog in the fight, so to speak, I’d probably avoid a bakery that was blatantly anti-gay because I don’t like baseless discrimination. So, until there is an issue, don’t worry.

If one comes up, fight it.”

Sophomore Devin Dishner said part of the push against the bill largely has to do with where the bill was written — in “the Bible

Belt.” “[Hutchinson] leaving the bill on his desk is a political move,” Dishner said. “Look at the demographic. It is loaded with people who would hate to see this passed. There are also homosexuals in the community who are fighting for their rights.

There is no way to please everybody and [Hutchinson] knows that. His hands are tied and leaving the bill, in my opinion, was a professional move.”

While Dishner said he could not back the LGBT community due to personal beliefs, he still understood the fight.

“As for being an American being denied rights, I see eye to eye with you,” he said. “However, I wish there was more community understanding within the minority groups that just because people disagree with the bill does not make them ignorant or a homophobe — it’s simply a difference of opinion on the issue.”

Mayo later added that while he doesn’t support anti-discrimination rules for private businesses, he believes there is a place for them in state and federal government.

“Capitalism allows for businesses to fail if the product or production causes issues with the consumers,” Mayo said. “However, something like a governmental position — your city or state employees — doesn’t have a competition. I can’t get documents that need government approvals or things of that nature from an outside source.”

The day after SB 202 was passed into law, the Conway City Council voted 6-2 in favor of providing sexual orientation and gender identity protections to city employees, which immediately went into effect. Other cities including Eureka Springs and North Little Rock have already passed similar ordinances.

Arkatext:

Public lectures, release of The Toad Suck Review mark another year of writing department’s festival 4 Continued from page 1 September or October, writing department faculty members gather to suggest speakers who are either Arkansas residents or have a strong Arkansas connection. From there, the group reaches a consensus on which people would most benefit UCA students and attempt to bring them to campus. The authors are compensated with allotted money from the student arts fee, which goes through the writing department.

“It’s fun and easy to pull together,” Vanderslice said. “We offer them $1,000 each…to give a public reading and a craft talk.”

The public readings are selected excerpts from each speaker’s personal works. Craft talks are public lectures about

Author:

the guests’ overall career and are intended to give students an opportunity to learn more and ask questions about their work. The writing department’s goal each year is to bring in a wide variety of styles and job experiences to the festival so students can see all that Arkansas authors have to offer.

“We’ve had nature writers [in the past], sports writers, someone who wrote pop-culture articles for ‘The Onion,’” Vanderslice said.

“Once we had a travel writer who wrote for National Geographic.”

Vanderslice and Spitzer were particularly excited to bring author and Monkey Puzzle Magazine publisher Nate Jordan to this year’s Arkatext festival at Launchapalooza. Jordan moved to Harrison, Arkansas, from

Colorado in December 2012.

He shared encouraging advice for students looking for their style and shared about what he looks for when publishing. He also welcomed all interested writers to submit work to his magazine at monkeypuzzlepress.com.

“There’s got to be some passion, urgency and some vulnerability in the writing [I choose],” Jordan said. “Stay true to your own self. Of course, you’re influenced by what you read and who you listen to, but don’t imitate them. That you’re naturally gifted is good enough.”

The fifth edition of “The Toad Suck Review” is available for purchase on Amazon, or through the UCA’s writing department.

For more information, visit toadsuckreview.org.

Award-winning reporter, author encourages students to

become their own sages

4 Continued from page 1 but in a sticky situation, slow changes the game, allowing us to see subtleties and check our assumptions and allow us to really walk around the problem,” Jackson said.

Jackson didn’t name stupidity or irrationality as the cancer in the mind of quick thinkers. She explained that it is how people

are conditioned and that they are products of their environment, which is slowly hurting them in both test scores and creative innovations.

Jackson said to combat this problem, people must be their own sages.

“In an information age where we have vast oceans of

information at our fingertips, we have to be our own sages, our own sense, so to speak,” Jackson said.

“We have to work individually to pull away from the cliché, the easy and the quick answer. Only through these little actions will we be able to make drastic changes to the way we think and act in our everyday lives.”

Campus Life

3

March 11, 2015

Around Campus:

Poetry Reading UCA Writing professor and poet Terry Wright will hold a poetry reading, “20 Years of Poetic Confrontations,” at 7 p.m. today in the Farris Hall Presentation Room.

‘Non-profit Theatre in America’ Arkansas Repertory Theatre artistic director Robert Hupp will deliver a public lecture, “Non-profit Theatre in America,” at 6:30 p.m.

March 12 in the Bridges/Larson Theatre in The Snow Fine Arts Center.

Hupp will direct UCA Theatre’s “Lucky Stiff” performance April 9-11 and 16-17 as an artist in residence.

Financial Wellness UCA Student and Wellness Development department will host a Financial Wellness event from 12-2:30 p.m.

March 30 outside the Student Center. Tables will be set up, and people will be available to provide tips on budgeting money. Prizes will be given.

Debate tournament The newly named State Champion UCA Debate and Forensics team is hosting a collegiate debate tournament March 13-15 in the College of Business. The event will be free and open to the public.

The championship round of the tournament will be held at 7:30 p.m. March 14.

Big Event UCA’s Student Government Association’s Big Event will be 8 a.m. - 11 p.m. March 14. The event, the largest community service program on campus, offers students a chance to volunteer their time to pick up trash, clean the Jewel Moore Nature Reserve, pull weeds in plant beds, spread mulch in flower beds, wash Physical Plant vehicles, sweep and rinse porches and sidewalks, clean glass entries on buildings or assist custodians in assigned buildings in order to help clean the campus. This will be SGA’s second time to hold the event.

photos by Makenzie Evans

(Left): Sarah Vaughn sings as aerialist Kelly McDonnell dances overhead. The Women of Ireland came to UCA on March 3. (Right top): Una Pedreschi, Karen Tynan and Sarah Vaughn of the Women of Ireland performs. (Right bottom): Una Pedreschi of Women of Ireland sings at the group’s sold-out performance.

Women of Ireland uses contemporary, cultural music to wow crowd

by Audrey Roberts Staff Writer

The Women of Ireland showcased Irish women’s talent in music and dance, bringing an action-packed performance to Reynolds Performance Hall on March 3.

The performance featured an all-female cast of vocalists and dancers that showcased traditional Celtic music.

Principal choreographer Anthony Fallon, who won the world Irish solo dancing champion title four times from 2000-2004, also performed in the show as a special guest.

UCA Public Appearances Director Amanda Horton knew the show would not disappoint.

“The audience will be captivated with the variety of artists this performance highlights,”Horton said prior to

the performance.

The show consisted of ethnic Irish folk songs performed with a pop or rock twist. Contemporary selections also found a place in the show, though the well-known songs featured a Celtic treatment.

Sarah Vaughan, Karen Tynan and Una Pedreschi were vocalists specially chosen for the North American portion of Women of Ireland’s 2015-2016 World Tour, which will visit Europe, North America, Asia and Australia. The vocalists performed alongside fiddle player Lotta Virkkunen and a band including bagpipes and piano.

Principal dancer Kelly McDonnell and aerialist Taylor Rowland added to the show’s complexity.

Performers presented well-known Irish selections such as “Fiddlesticks,” “Black is

the Colour” and “Danny Boy,” which was the most popular performance of the night with a round of applause rising from the audience after its first line.

“Danny Boy” was followed closely in popularity by a version of the Beatles’ “Let It Be” and Josh Groban’s version of “You Raise Me Up.” Rowland performed an aerialist silk routine to Groban’s hit song, demonstrating a series of acrobatic flips and twists aided only by two silk sashes suspended above the stage.

Originally from Warren, Ohio, and one of three Americans in the North American lineup, Rowland danced professionally in Royal Caribbean Cruise Line’s Adventures of the Seas show after graduating high school.

Rowland trained as an aerialist with Nicholus Quade, president and founder of Hayden

Productions LLC., a Las Vegas talent agency that specializes in circus performances.

“I’ve been dancing since I was 6,” Rowland said. “After training in Las Vegas, I heard that [Women of Ireland] needed an aerialist, so I auditioned, and here I am. It was a natural progression from dancing to where I am now.”

The performers captivated audience members at Tuesday night’s show. Anna Scholz of Conway enjoyed the performance. Scholz and her daughter Sophia attend as many Reynolds events as possible, particularly those pertaining to dance.

“It’s not just dance,” she said of the performance. “[The dancers] play.”

Scholz’s daughter Sophia, who studies ballet and tap dancing, also enjoyed the show.

SPOTLIGHT

D R E S S TO I M P R E S S

PEOPLE OF UCA Caleb Stovall

Job Fair brings career opportunities

by Maggie McNeary Staff Writer

by Calli Morrison Staff Writer

Caleb Stovall’s experience at UCA has been far from traditional. Starting off at Harding University, he originally chose youth ministry as his major. After spending two summers as a youth ministry intern, he realized he wanted to pursue his minor, psychology, instead.

Stovall transferred to UCA four years ago, now a psychology and sociology double major.

“Sociology initially interested me because I liked the way it helped expand my world view,” Stovall said. “It really makes you aware of the experiences of people with different backgrounds than yourself.”

When he completes his degree, Stovall is looking to pursue counseling or one of the many psychology subfields that is important to him. Stovall’s interest in people has led him to many other opportunities.

When he first moved to Conway, he began volunteering regularly at the Conway Locally Grown farmer’s market. Eventually, he became a manager, taking on duties such as completing the paperwork before and after the

She said her favorite part was Fallon’s intricate tap dancing.

Fallon performed an intricate tap dancing routine in a crowd favorite selection called “Tapped.” The performance showcased tap dancing mirrored by the Irish Bodran drum in a light similar to “Dueling Banjos.”

Though not all songs in the performance had Irish roots, performers brought a traditional light to each selection. A main purpose of Women of Ireland performances is to bring aspects of ethnic Irish music to the masses.

According to Women of Ireland’s website, the show seeks to bring Celtic music “from the Irish fireside to the international concert hall platform.”

Women of Ireland will tour North America and Canada for five weeks from February to March.

photo by Calli Morrison

Caleb Stovall poses next to books in the library, where he spends his nights working as a Night Owl. market, training new volunteers there, the market has provided a and generally making sure things community, offering a resource run smoothly. The experience of relationships. proved financially beneficial for “It’s been a great way Stovall and his wife, Bethany, to make connections with with volunteers receiving $20 like-minded people and learn credit for food after every market things about food and the local they work. Over the course of food community,” Stovall said. the year he has been managing “Everyone I interact with at

Conway Locally Grown cares on some level about where their food comes from. People have different reasons for wanting to eat locally or organically, but if we have that in common, we usually see other things similarly, too.”

Stovall is not only a UCA student, but also an employee.

He started working at the Torreyson Library Starbucks shortly after moving to Conway, and he currently works as night staff for the library.

“I met Steve, the [library] Night Owl guy, because of our overlapping schedules at opening and closing,” Stovall said.

“When the Night Owl expanded to the entire first floor in September 2012, I knew about it because of Steve and applied. I have a crazy schedule because of it, but it’s a great job for me right now.”

Even with the diverse aspects of his life, Stovall looks forward to the many opportunities before him with his future in academics.

“My main life goal right now is to continue to work toward a career in psychology and figuring out what exactly I want to do with that,” he said.

Hopeful UCA students spoke to potential employers at the Spring Job Fair hosted by Career Services on March 4 in the Student Center Ballroom.

If students were lucky, they traded a résumé for a business card or chance to interview.

Freshman finance major David Tachie said he got a few business cards and emails from business representatives at the fair.

“I enjoy having the opportunity to come out and make connections,” he said.

He went to the job fair without a résumé, but he plans to go to Career Services and build his résumé during the next few weeks.

Attendees were required to dress properly. Freshmen, sophomores and juniors were encouraged to wear business casual clothing, while seniors were required to wear business professional or a suit. Some students were turned away if they didn’t wear proper attire.

Underclassmen often attend the fair in hopes of receiving an internship offer.

Tachie heard about the job

fair around campus.

“My teachers told me about it, and I wanted to make sure I had as much of an edge as upperclassmen,” he said.

The stakes can be higher for juniors and seniors. They might hope for an internship now, but many are also looking for a career after graduation. Students might also be trying to figure out what they might want to do after college.

Junior biophysics major Harrison Cardillo attended the job fair, because he wanted to know what was out there.

Cardillo wants to go into engineering. He was especially interested in checking out the booths for Regions and Acxiom.

Seventy-nine groups were scheduled to attend the fair.

Several offered internships for college students, such as Acxiom, ArcBest Corp., Inuvo, Target Corp. and the Around Campus Group.

Internships can be paid or unpaid. Cardillo said many students are probably looking for paid internships. He pointed out that many students use school breaks to make money to pay for school and other expenses.

“I don’t feel that unpaid internships are even an option for most students,” he said.

See Fair- page 4

ucaecho.net

CAMPUS LIFE

BOOMIN’ AND BANGIN’

March 11, 2015 /4

STUDENTS SAY

“

What do you think UCA

should spend less money

on and where should that

”

money go?

photos and story

by Mackenzie Evans

photo by Krisa McCullough

Brandon Alanis, an instructor from Preston Palmer Studios, demonstrates while leading a workshop during the UCA Percussion Festival on March 7 in Snow Fine Arts Center.

Percussion Festival offers education from well-known rhythmists

by Paige Yutsus Staff Writer

Aspiring instrumentalists from schools around the state watched and learned as some of music’s most well-known rhythmists gave expert advice through performance and demonstration at UCA’s Percussion Festival on March 7.

The university entertained many future musicians and curious spectators in the Snow Fine Arts Center for the festival, which featured rhythmists including Escape X, Scott Johnson, Blake Tyson and Brandon Alanis.

Opening the event were performances by neighboring high school percussion ensembles, including the Lakeside Percussion Ensemble from Hot Springs, directed by Neal Moss.

Moss is a UCA alumnus and has been preforming at this event for about six years, each time bringing in performance-ready groups of his students. This year, his group of students varied in age and grade, some as young as the eighth grade.

Moss advised hopeful artists who plan to pursue percussion to expose themselves to as much music as possible and to play as often as they can.

“It’s performing that makes you better,” he said.

The other artists backed Moss’ point by holding clinics throughout the festival, offering tips and tricks for drummers to improve for future auditions, which many attendees found helpful considering drum line auditions are coming up soon.

Caption Head for Blue Devils’ Percussion Scott Johnson offered tips while hosting his clinic in the recital hall, showing off his

fast hands while going over correct drumming practices.

Several UCA students participated in the festival, including graduate students and percussionists Scott Strictland and Bailey Seabury.

Both performed a piece on the marimbas after the Lakeside Ensemble.

Strictland’s middle school band director inspired him to get into percussion, while Seabury’s father inspired her.

Strictland gave advice to aspiring timpanists.

“You have to find someone you admire and imitate what they do,” Strictland said. “How they work, practice, everything.”

After graduate school, both artists plan to get their doctorate degrees and begin teaching.

The final entertainment for the evening was the grand finale, involving almost all artists who

Sophomore William Gordon

contributed in the event, along with UCA Percussion Ensemble members.

The various instruments collaborated to form smooth, cohesive music, showing the time and effort put into creating the performances.

From the rhythmic styling of Escape X`s Radiohead renditions to the eccentric jam session with Johnson and the UCA Ensemble, the event aimed to entertain the audience, which boasted members ranging from those seeking protégé to those interested in the music.

After the show, all artists waited in the Fine Arts Center entryway for a meet-and-greet with the students, ready to sign souvenirs and door prizes received at the bordering stands.

The proceeds from the night went toward UCA’s Percussion Club.

A L L N AT U R A L

Alliance sets goal to create state-wide coalition, spread awareness

by Kendra Beattie Opinion Editor

The UCA Environmental Alliance shows its dedication to maintaining both environmental awareness and UCA’s unique green space through routine clean-up projects in the Jewel Moore Nature Reserve and through various events on campus.

While focusing on environmental issues that directly relate to UCA are important to the club, what sets Environmental Alliance members apart is their approach they to state and nationwide activism. The group’s Facebook page shares petitions on environmental issues and promotes statewide lectures and demonstrations and is highly involved in the youth climate movement through an online community called We Are Power

Fair:

Some

intern opportunities given become long-term jobs 4 Continued from page 3 Some interns go on to become full-time employees after college with companies they met at a job fair, such as UCA alumna Healea Taylor. Taylor stood at the Around Campus Group’s booth, handing out fliers for its sales and marketing summer internship.

She said she took advantage of the internship as a student, and it led to a job with the Around Campus Group after graduation.

The Around Campus Group has a close relationship with UCA and its students. Besides employing UCA graduates, its interns sell the advertisements in the UCA planner and handbook that students receive every fall. Several companies from the job fair are conducting interviews with UCA students for internships during March.

Shift.

“Within the first couple months that I joined, we [took] a trip to Pittsburgh, [Pennsylvania] for the Power Shift Conference for student youth environmental groups,” Environmental Alliance Vice President junior Clara Plum said. “It was so cool to talk about something bigger than what we’re doing at UCA and even in Arkansas, and how we as a nation can play a bigger role in environmental awareness.”

Plum joined UCA’s Environmental Alliance as a sophomore in 2013. Before she transferred to UCA, she was an environmental science major, but later switched to sociology and public administration.

Now a junior, she is happy to be part of a group that still allows her to follow her passion for helping the environment, especially one that is dedicated to joining a larger movement.

“Last fall, we went to the New York City Climate March with the Sierra Club,” Plum said. “There were so many people there that they had to close off roads and stop the march early. It was an amazing opportunity to see all those people from [across] the country and different organizations come together.”

The Environmental Alliance started working closely with the Sierra Club’s Little Rock chapter last semester and is currently working toward broadening the scope of collegiate involvement alongside the group.

The group’s goal is to create an Arkansas student environmental coalition.

“We want to be able to communicate with students all over the state and use that to get together for environmental demonstrations,” Plum said.

The alliance currently has around 20 members, and though

it dreams big, the club still tries to bring as many events as possible to UCA. As Earth Day approaches, the Environmental Alliance plans to set up an information booth and to host a documentary screening.

Members also hope to work with the Biology Club and others to involve the nature reserve in Earth Day events.

“It’s important for everyone to at least be aware of environmental issues facing our country and Arkansas, because there’s a lot going on,” Plum said.

“These issues are [often] treated as political, but it’s really about our health and human rights. We want everyone to be aware.”

Anyone interested in joining Environmental Alliance can attend a meeting or event.

Dates and times of meetings and events are updated on the UCA Environmental Alliance Facebook page or on OrgSync.

“They over price food too much and need to put that money towards clubs, especially anime club.”

Sophomore Mohammad Roberson “[Less money on]Greek life, and put it towards scholarships so they could give students more opportunites [to come to college].”

Junior Melissa Foster

Senior Bryce Nicholson

“[They spend money on] pointless things. The art department could be improved. There is so much focus on the new apartments and new dorms.”

“[Too much is spent on] athletics. We need more money put towards technology. I’m a Computer Science major, and we still have Windows XP operating systems on the computers we use.”

Senior Ashley Gonzalez

Sophomore Amelia J. Mayhan

“The Greek Village and turning it into parking.”

“UCA is a rational place; we’re here to learn and not have all these fancy [things]. We need effective, low-cost housing.”

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Opinion

ucaechoeditor@gmail.com

5

The Voice

March 11, 2015

Aramark disregards basic customer service

HPER pool oversteps swimsuit dress code boundaries

The Echo Staff Misti Hollenbaugh Editor

Laura Landers Associate Editor

Jared L. Holt News Editor

Peyton Olsen

Assistant News Editor

Morgan Embry Campus Life Editor

Andy Robertson

Sports Editor/Associate Online Editor

Mason Addison Executive Assistant

Joe Kramer

Entertainment Editor/Editorial Cartoonist

Kendra Beattie Opinion Editor

Many students have embraced the HPER expansion.

It’s exciting to walk in and see everything so shiny and new. A feature that many students were looking forward to, including myself, was the new pool. It’s indoors. It’s heated. It’s new.

And, it’s inaccessible if you happen to be wearing the wrong swimsuit.

This lovely new pool has some strict dress code standards, as does the HPER itself.

UCA’s HPER Center doesn’t have a great track record when it comes to dress codes.

Before the expansion, signs went up in the women’s bathrooms that forbade showing skin.

It is apparently important that women cannot wear shirts with the sides cut open that might expose their bare sides.

There is already a rule that women can’t wear sports bras to work out, but it doesn’t even matter if you have a tank top on over your bra. You have to wear something that covers your side.

These rules aren’t exclusive to women, either.

Men aren’t allowed to

by Maggie work out shirtless. The only McNeary times men are allowed to be Staff Writer shirtless are while playing basketball or swimming.

According to the UCA HPER Center website, “All swimwear must be modest in coverage, style and cut.”

The discerning reader is probably asking himself, “What exactly does that mean?”

It means women can’t wear bikinis and men can’t wear speedos.

This may seem like it isn’t a problem. Most men wear swim trunks, and women can wear one pieces, right?

In theory, sure. Most men in our part of the world do wear swim trunks, but competitive swimmers don’t. At one point, UCA had a swim team.

If someone decides to form that team again, will they be the only swimmers on campus allowed to wear speedos?

Or maybe a man isn’t part of a team, but he’s serious about swimming. He’ll be forced to wear swim trunks, which will slow him down considerably.

Many women our age typically wear bikinis when they go swimming.

Bikinis are comfortable and not constricting. As a woman, if given the choice, I usually wear a bikini.

Two-piece swimsuits are convenient. However, humans sometimes have to relieve themselves or change out of their swimsuits.

Those acts are a lot more simple if a woman is wearing a bikini. I dare any man who disregards the irritation of a cold, wet one piece to attempt to put one back on after it has lain on the grimy bathroom floor.

Many college-aged women already own bikinis. It’s silly to force them to drop $30 or more to buy a new swimsuit, just so they can cover their stomachs.

They’re already paying the HPER fee, after all. We’re all adults here. UCA is not a Christian summer camp.

I shouldn’t have to make sure my stomach is covered so that the loins of my peers don’t fill with lust.

Modesty rules such as this aren’t based on safety or cleanliness: They’re based on moral judgment.

Well I, for one, don’t need UCA employees judging my morality on the fact that I find bikinis comfortable.

This college is full of men and women who are 18 years and up.

Many students are in their 20s. We don’t need to be treated like a bunch of crazed teenagers who are ready to jump each other’s bones because someone is wearing a bikini.

Our clothing does not need to be policed by someone who has no business doing so.

We should be free to choose what to wear, whether our choice is a bikini or a wetsuit.

Letters to the Editor

Austin DuVall

HPER needs flexibility for alums

Online Editor

Makenzie Evans Photo Editor

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Comments or complaints about content of The Echo or in reference to anything on campus should be registered with the newspaper by letters or e-mail to the editors.

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Editorials written in The Voice express the opinion of the newspaper and the editorial staff. Individual staff opinions are expressed in individual columns.

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ucaecho.net ucaechoonline@gmail.com ucaechoeditor@gmail.com David Keith, Adviser

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At the University of Central Arkansas, alumni have a partial amount of accessibility to the HPER Center through a membership. This is the fitness center that students access where they can swim, workout, play basketball and racquetball or relax with friends. I don’t see it fitting that the alumni to the university are limited in their access to the HPER, and I believe they should have more freedom to spend time in the HPER through a more reasonable membership.

The University of Central Arkansas should reconsider their HPER membership given to alumni of the university. Alumni pay roughly $165 a semester for a membership on top of applying for the UCA Alumni Association, which is another $30. The average student pays around $110, based upon classes taken. Alumni have limited hours they can be in the HPER (MondayFriday 6 a.m. – 2 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.).

Student hours are Monday-Thursday 6 a.m. – 12 a.m., Friday 6 a.m. – 9 p.m., Saturday 9 p.m. – 6 p.m., and Sunday 3 p.m. – 12 a.m. The hours need to work around an eight to five workday, and right now that is not happening.

If more alumni are using the HPER, the atmosphere on campus will thrive. Having more alumni buy memberships at a lower price with better hours will also produce more money for UCA. UCA needs its alumni, and this is step one to bring more prestigious alumni back to their home.

— Wesley Freeland

Gen eds should include finance classes

I am writing this letter in response to a trend that I have begun to notice among our university students.

Many students have no idea how to manage their finances. They do not know how they will pay off their student loans, they are using credit cards irresponsibly, and their financial futures are uncertain.

Because money is such an important part of our daily lives, and our futures largely depend on our financial stability, it is important for college students to be financially literate and able to manage their finances. For this reason, I believe UCA should make a personal finance course part of our general education requirements.

Currently personal finance is offered as an elective, but I believe that it should be required. According to a study done by the Institute for College Access and Success, the average Arkansas college student graduates with $25,000 in student loan debt and $4,000 in credit card debt. Upon graduation, not only are they in need of a job, but they also are starting their career in a negative financial position.

While courses like physical education and history

Have an opinion?

are required before students may graduate, many students make it through college without any financial education. Because personal finance is such a generally applicable and necessary subject to learn about, this trend needs to change.

Financially literate students have the tools to make smart financial decisions. Our economy was thrown into a crisis in 2008 after millions of people made unwise decisions with their finances and mortgaged homes they could not afford.

A required personal finance course covering topics such as responsible credit card use, financial goal setting, retirement planning, the time value of money, types of loans and an overview of investing would not only benefit our students, but also our community.

— William Swartzwelder

Vegetarians need more dining options It happens multiple times a week. I get hungry, so I go to the common feeding ground on campus: the Student Center. Something I tend to forget each time however is how little options I have as a vegetarian.

There are only 11 meal options for myself, compared to the 35 plus options available to non-vegetarians. On top of that, many of the vegetarian options are not healthy and also more expensive.Non-vegetarians on campus have the luxury of take and go food, like pre-prepared sandwiches, as well as full-sized salads that have meat in them.

I am reduced to spending twice as much for a smaller sandwich at Quizno’s with no protein option or iron option, and only the pre-prepared side salads are meat-free, and are much smaller than the entrée sized salads.

All students pay the same rates on campus, and it would only be fair to receive the same multitude of options to the menu. Simple solutions would be to add spinach to the Student Center for sandwiches and salads so that instead of just ingesting carbs (pizza, breadsticks, chips, French fries), vegetarians can put nutrients into their bodies.

For pre-prepared cheap meal options, adding a peanut butter and jelly sandwich would be beneficial, as it adds protein, and a quick meal option that is equal to that of the other students.

Another option, with consideration, would be to offer vegetarian fake meat options, like adding fake chicken patties to the Chick-fil-A menu, or fake sandwich meats.

If non-vegetarians are getting money spent on meat options, then vegetarians, who pay the same fees and dues as other students, should have money spent on vegetarian options. It would make for happier, healthier students.

— Heidi Willits

Everyone does.

Write a letter to the editor at ucaechoeditor@gmail.com Letters to the editor don’t just have to be about Echo content.

If you’ve noticed something on campus that’s positive or negative, we want to hear about it.

Aramark has announced that it will strictly enforce the policy of no to-go boxes on days without classes, such as weekends and snow days. This policy has always been in place, but has not been enforced by cafeteria workers.

Aramark’s logic behind this rule is the assumption that students have plenty of time to finish meals in the cafeteria.

While this may be true for many people, it is not the approach a service industry should take.

Students who primarily eat on campus are still paying customers, and no other restaurant would dictate specific days where leftovers are not allowed because it is bad business and bad customer service.

The main reason Aramark feels comfortable cutting corners in customer service is it has no competition on campus.

The company doesn’t have to struggle with better business strategies because all food vendors on campus must go through it.

However, this does not mean the university and students aren’t worthy of basic customer service, especially when many students pay up front for their services without guarantee they’ll get their money’s worth.

Making this rule change puts students in the position to work around the cafeteria’s hours on days without classes, regardless of their extracurricular obligations.

This applies especially to residential students who have already budgeted meal plans into their tuition and might not have the option to eat elsewhere.

The top-listed residential meal plan on the UCA website is the unlimited plan with $50 DCB. For someone paying up front and on a budget, as many students are, it’s the most simple plan.

Students on this meal plan are paying $1,259 each semester to Aramark, and their options shouldn’t be limited because they’ve already paid for it.

People who pay to eat in the cafeteria on a daily basis could, in fact, choose to dine elsewhere if they don’t have enough time to finish their meals. But it is often inconvenient to leave campus, especially for the type of people who frequent the cafeteria, which includes underclassmen and exchange students who may not have vehicles.

Any company working for the university should do whatever it can to assist its customers.

Providing students fewer options or not enough food for their money is Aramark taking advantage of its business situation.

When UCA renews business contracts, the administration should keep in mind that it is making a customer service decision for its students, faculty and staff.

That means we should routinely seek feedback from those who use Aramark’s services in order to rate its business for future contract renewals.

Consider how anyone would want to be treated at any other restaurant or food service industry.

If you knew you had to finish all your food in one sitting, would you still go to that restaurant? Probably not.

It makes no sense that Aramark’s operations should limit its consumers when no other business would.

Customers still deserve respect, regardless of the lack of competition or type of service industry.

The only way to keep business strategies in check is to make it clear that the customers are in charge.

Without people paying for services, there would be no gain.

While contracts are in place, UCA has little opportunity to enforce any type of immediate change.

However, we can make it clear to Aramark that we might be forced to reconsider renewing its contract in the future if the business fails to meet certain standards.

The Echo is printed weekly at the Log Cabin Democrat in Conway, Ark. Decisions about content are made by the student editors.

The views published are not necessarily those of the University of Central Arkansas. All material is subject to respective copyrights.

When UCA renews business contracts, the administration should keep in mind that it is making a customer service decision for its students

Entertainment

6

March 11, 2015

MUSIC

Big Sean delivers gold

New This Week Movies

by Cody Morris Staff Writer

March 13 - Cinderella (PG), directed by Kenneth Branagh, starring Lily James, Hayley Atwell and Richard Madden.

March 13 - Run All Night (R), directed by Jaume Collet, starring Liam Neeson, Ed Harris and Joel Kinnaman.

March 13 - It Follows (R), directed by David Robert Mitchell, starring Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Olivia Luccardi and Lili Sepe.

Music March 16 - Froot - Marina and the Diamonds March 17 - Run - AWOLNATION March 17 - Little Neon Lime Light Houndmouth March 17 - Maze of Woods - Inventions March 17 - Sleeping With Sirens Madness March 17 - Eclipse -Twin Shadow

Books March 16 —NYPD Red by James Patterson March 17—The Burning Room by Michael Connelly March 17— A Dangerous Place by Jacqueline Winspear March 17— Hausfrau by Jill Alexander Essbaum March 17—Mademoiselle Chanel by C.W. Gortner March 17— Prudence by Gail Carnger

Netflix March 19 —Life Itself (2014), directed by Steve James , starring Robert Ebert, Chaz Ebert and Gene Siskel.

March 20 — Madmen Season 7, Part 1 (2007-present), created by Matthew Wiener, starring Jon Ham, Elisabeth Moss and Vincent Kartheiser.

March 15 — A Different World (19871993) created by Bill Cosby, starring Lisa Bonet, Kadeem Hardison and Jasmine Guy. March 15 — Seymore; An Introduction (PG) directed by Ethan Hawke, starring Seymour Bernstein and Ethan Hawke.

photo courtesy of facebook.com

Diplo and Skrillex, who recently released their new project, pump up the crowd at the Jack Ü event at Madison Square Garden on New Year’s Eve.

Diplo-Skrillex duo overwhelming

by Jared L. Holt News Editor Six months after the initial premiere of “Take U There (ft.

Keisza)” at the Mad Decent Block Party in Brooklyn, New York City and the explosive, positive reaction of their fans, electronic dance music superstars Diplo and Skrillex have released their first collaborative album, “Diplo and Skrillex Present Jack Ü.”

The album’s release date was never formally announced.

Instead, the duo announced plans for a 24-hour DJ-marathon party that would livestream online Feb 26. Three hours into the “24-hours of Jack Ü” party, Skrillex announced the group’s album would be releasing that night at midnight.

Los Angeles police shut down the festivities after it became too wild at the 18-hour mark, falling six hours short of its goal. Minutes after cops entered the party, posts flooded the Internet that screamed, “Free Jack Ü.”

The massive throw down in Chicago, despite its early conclusion, proved to be the ultimate launching mechanism for the new album, consuming the attention of media outlets and fans worldwide.

“Don’t Do Drugs Just Take Some” opens the album with a man’s slurred phone recording on top of spacey ambient tones, which

creates a cinematic introduction for the insanity to come.

Then, Fly Boi Keno’s vocals start blasting over the next track, “Beats Knockin,” and the album’s madness is set in stone.

Jack Ü’s signature 808 and open snare drums punch listeners’ eardrums with rhythms that feel almost impossible not to dance to.

These drum sounds continue throughout the album, providing the foundation on which Diplo and Skrillex get experimental with different flavors of EDM, such as big-room trap and future.

The album features cameos from some of the music industry’s biggest names, such as 2 Chainz, who proclaims, “Yeah, I’m the sh*t, I should have Febreeze on me,” on the track “Febreze.”

There are also features from stars including Justin Beiber, AlunaGeorge, Missy Elliot and Kai. My personal favorite track, “To Ü,” is a blender full of chopped orchestral sounds, claps and enchanting vocals. The track drops a space-age trap beat that is currently characterizing the charisma of Diplo’s record label, Mad Decent.

“Holla Out” features EDM artists Snails and Taranchyla, and it is chock-full of grime that will turn every bass-head’s brain into soup. However much grime this track may possess, I have to admit it feels extremely out of place on this album.

Jack Ü’s track with Justin Beiber is surprisingly touching and emotional. It was nice to see the kid can still sing after the past few years of delinquency.

Diplo’s influence on this album is overwhelmingly obvious, but I had difficulty finding Skrillex’s input on this project.

I get the feeling I’m listening to an experimental Diplo album which features Skrillex in the studio, nodding his head up and down, rather than an album that truly captures both of their styles.

This is in part due to Skillex’s shift in sound over the last year.

With the release of his 2014 album “Recess,” he walked away from the distorted-garbage-disposal sounds in his early albums and more toward the heavy trap sounds populating the festival scene that year.

Some of the tracks on this album are purely obnoxious, which is hard for me to admit. It’s a true 50-50 split on this album.

While I’m sure all of these tracks will do well in stadiums during Diplo and Skrillex’s tour, the songs are really hard to digest for everyday listening.

But if you’re able to listen to trap and dance music in any context, like I am, this album will surely become a staple in your playlists.

“Diplo and Skrillex Present Jack Ü” can be found on iTunes for $8.99.

NETFLIX

Tina Fey’s newest project fails to impress audiences

by Austin Duvall Online Editor It took three episodes of “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” a new comedy series from the beloved SNL-alum Tina Fey and NBC writer Robert Carlock, before the show finally began to grow on me.

The series was released on Netflix, March 6, and had already received widespread critical acclaim by the time most people even began watching it, myself included. The dark comedy focuses on Kimmy Schmidt, a doomsday cult survivor who is thrust back into the real world after spending 15 years in an Indiana bunker having been told the world had been laid to waste from a nuclear holocaust. Schmidt — played by Ellie Kemper, the perky, redheaded secretary from “The Office” — decides to move to the East Coast and pick up where she left off: the eighth grade.

An interesting premise, no?

It certainly caught my attention.

But with only five to six clever one-liners in the pilot alone, it took a glass of chardonnay and my roommate to help me get through the show’s 13-episode first season.

Before saying what I liked about the show, let’s get one thing out in the open: Why is there only one black character?

Hell, why are there virtually no minority characters? The only black character is Titus Andromedon (Tituss Burgess), Schmidt’s roommate after finding a place to live in a small New York neighborhood. He’s also gay. And when I say “gay,” I mean severely, stereotypically gay.

Fey and Carlock try to appease two minority groups by creating one poorly acted-out character who, unfortunately, isn’t funny at all. In fact, I hated every scene he was in.

But let’s also not forget that

1. Abrams and Kasdan

Five Reasons to Look Forward to “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” List compiled by Tanner Smith

J.J. Abrams co-wrote the script for the new “Star Wars” film with Lawrence Kasdan. If Kasdan’s name sounds familiar, you have to be excited about what he’s going to deliver with this new film. If it doesn’t sound familiar, he’s the co-writer of “Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back” and “Episode VI: Return of the Jedi,” as well as the writer for “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” If anyone can give “Star Wars” what it needs, this man’s a pretty good choice to have work alongside Abrams.

the only two Latino characters are both maids with less than 10 lines in the entire season.

There’s also Dong — yes, his name is Dong — Nguyen (Ki Hong Lee), Schmidt’s Vietnamese GED study buddy who becomes more than just a friend as the series progresses. But while Nguyen is the only minority character to seem vaguely human, most of his lines are filled with horrendously racist speech errors and other racial stereotypes.

This was my biggest beef with Netflix’s new show. I know some could argue that calling a show out on its miniscule use of minority characters is an overused critique, but I strongly feel that it is a relevant one. As I got past episode three and through another glass of wine, I was hooked — mainly due to Jacqueline Voorhees, played by “30 Rock” favorite Jane Krakowski. If you liked “30 Rock,” which I wasn’t a fan of but I adored Krakowski’s character,

2. Story by George Lucas George Lucas did, of course, conceive the original “Star Wars” story arcs, and the rest of the films came directly from his imagination, which drove him to write and direct the publicly berated prequels. Though many say the prequels suffered from hokey dialogue and bland direction, it’s hard to deny the storytelling was still top-notch.

With a new writer such as Kasdan telling his story for “Episode VII,” the story may change here and there, but the overall plot remains Lucas’ creation.

you’ll like her here, too. Whether it’s due to her general acting skills or her uncanny ability to make Fey’s writing funny, Voorhees was undoubtedly my favorite character throughout all 13 episodes. The two episodes where she didn’t make an appearance were the hardest to watch.

Few shows can make me laugh out loud. Before “Unbreakable,” that award had only been given to FX’s “Archer” and HBO’s “Veep,” but Krakowski’s quick wit and deliciously dark humor made me laugh during every one of her scenes hard enough to scare my cat.

“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” is not perfect, but it’s not horrible. With a solid cast of supporting and guest characters and an arguably clever opening credits scene, I look forward to season two, which has already been green-lighted after Netflix bought the show from NBC, where it was set to air later this year.

3. J.J. Abrams directs J.J. Abrams is best known in the business for crafting exciting and well-executed entertainment, such as the previous two “Mission: Impossible” sequels and the latest two “Star Trek” films, making him practically the perfect person around nowadays to resurrect a franchise. With a lot of people talking trash over the last three “Star Wars” films, this guy may be the right director to save the day and give the movie new life, especially after the seeming flop of the “Star Wars” prequels.

If you haven’t heard rapper Big Sean’s new album “Dark Sky Paradise,” you’re missing out.

This is Sean’s third studio album and by far his greatest.

With appearances by artists such as Drake, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Chris Brown and John Legend, Sean locked in his place as one of the best rappers in the game.

When the album dropped Feb. 24, Sean took to Instagram to express his thankfulness to the fans and to share his passion about the project. The picture caption reads, “When Dark Sky Paradise dropped, I was in my hotel room alone. I dropped to my knees and prayed with tears running down my face because I knew this album marks a new chapter in my life.” He goes on to say, “I do this for my fans, my family and myself.”

The album has two hits that have been getting a lot of air time.

“IDFWU” featuring E-40 was his first single of the album, and it definitely brought a lot of attention to the rapper. In what seems to be a liquor-fueled rant, Sean raps to a girl who broke his heart and now wants him back because he made it big. At one point he raps, “When you get a fine b*tch just don’t forget to read the fine print.”

My personal favorite song off the album is “Blessings,” featuring

Drake and Kanye. While any song with these two on it is guaranteed to be a hit, Sean did more than just pull his weight on the track. With lines such as, “I done lost homies who been with me since Ed, Edd n’ Eddy who flip like confetti” and “Funny thing about talkin’ behind my back is that it keeps comin’ back to me,” Sean shows that his lyrical abilities are only growing as he rises to the top of the charts.

“Research,” featuring Sean’s new girlfriend Ariana Grande, also seems to be gaining quite a bit of popularity. In the song, Sean raps about how his girl is always looking for possible signs or clues that he’s been cheating, yet she does the same thing behind his back.

This album was a huge step for Sean who, until now, was considered more of a feature rapper than a main artist. The lyrical content and powerful delivery Sean put into each song on the album proves to the world that he is more than a side act.

The songs “Blessings” and “IDFWU” have remained in the top 10 since they were released and just recently got bumped down to the 11th and 12th spots on the hip-hop singles chart. With the ability Sean shows on this album, it appears that he will be considered by many to be one of the top 10 rappers in the industry soon.

You can buy the album “Dark Side Paradise” on iTunes for $13.99 or listen for free on Spotify.

D O C U M E N TA R Y

photo courtesy of thedropboxfilm.com

Pastor Lee Jong-rak opens the door of his home for another child.

Saint of Seoul saves kids

by Makenzie Evans Photo Editor Every year in Seoul, South Korea, hundreds of babies abandoned — an issue the documentary “The Drop Box” addresses and brings to global attention. For three nights, the emotional and riveting film played at the Cinemark Theater in Conway.

“The Drop Box” shows the life and story of South Korean Pastor Lee Jong-rak, who welcomes abandoned babies into his community and takes care of them. Lee and his wife have a 26-year-old son, Eun-man, who is extremely handicapped and will lie on his back for the rest of his life. Eun-man’s disability is one of the reasons that inspired Pastor Lee to open the “baby box.”

The box, which is on the side of Lee’s church, has one door that opens on the outside and one that opens on the inside. Every time a child is placed in the box, a doorbell rings through Lee’s home attached to the church.

“It’s horrifying,” one child said, “because everything is happy in the house until a new baby comes. They have to find out how old it is, alert the police and make sure it is stable. It becomes chaos.”

Most of the babies are given anonymously because the majority of the mothers are minors and could be shunned or possibly beaten if their friends

4. New talent We all know Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew and Kenny Baker are reprising their roles from previous films, but there are also some new leads alongside them: John Boyega, Oscar Isaac and Daisy Ridley as the heroes, and Adam Driver as a currently unnamed villain. None of these actors are especially well-known, though maybe their appearances in this film will help change that, as it did for some of the original cast.

or parents knew they had a baby. Lee works to protect these children and mothers. He makes sure the children know God loves them and that they understand he is adopting them like Christ adopted Lee. Pastor Lee takes care of the children until someone can adopt them. Because of handicaps such as Down syndrome, heart problems and missing limbs, this proves difficult.

The documentary captures every aspect of love that could be portrayed. The love Pastor Lee has for these children to make sure they have the best life possible is incredible. The documentary addresses the huge issue of unwanted babies being thrown away, seeking a solution to that problem.

Director Brian Ivie initially wanted to show how this issue is a problem in the world, but once he got to Seoul and saw Lee’s love and devotion to the children, Ivie’s perspective changed. He realized the film needed to be about the hope Lee has given these children, who would likely die if left on the streets.

The powerful piece is well filmed, intriguing and makes you want to adopt a child in need.

The independent film shows the beauty, challenges and hardships of life and does not “glamorize” the situation like a big-screen production would have. This documentary is worth the two hour watch.

5. Andy Serkis - Imaginarium Andy Serkis, another new cast member, confirmed there would be motion-capture in the film and that his company, the Imaginarium, would be running it. Since Serkis has practically proven himself to be the king of motion-capture, having played Gollum in LOTR, King Kong and Caesar from the “Planet of the Apes” prequels. Just be glad there aren’t any CGI alien-clowns walking around anymore, seeing as how motion-capture paved the way to bringing animation to life.

Sports

7

March 11, 2015

Week at a glance

Freshman of the Year

Women close out season with defeat, earn No. 7 seed

Freshman guard Jordan Howard earned Southland Conference Freshman of the Year honors March 9. The award is UCA’s first preseason award since the Bears joined Division I in 2006. Howard finished first in the conference in 3-pointers this season with 77, which is the most by a UCA freshman in school history and the fourth-most by any UCA player in program history. He is the fifth-leading scorer in the SLC with 15.7 points per game, and he reached double figures in scoring in 28 of UCA’s 29 games. He was fourth in 3-point percentage this season with 38.9 percent, hitting five of nine 3-pointers in the season-ending game against McNeese State University on March 8. Howard set his career-high in points in a game with 27 points in the Bears’ 110108 loss to Northwestern State University on Feb. 3 at the Farris Center. He also set career-highs in assists with seven, rebounds with six and steals with three. Howard played a majority of the season with a knee injury “that hampered his explosiveness.”

by Kelly Hays

Spring football

Bears close out campaign with back-to-back Senior first baseman looks losses, falls 77-70 against NSU, 70-68 to MSU forward to graduate school

The UCA football team’s spring practice schedule was released March 6. The Bears had their first spring practice at 9:30 a.m.

March 7. The Bears were using the First Security Field for practice because of recent weather, but returned to the practice field March 10. The Bears’ spring practices will end with the annual Purple-Gray game at 1:30 p.m. April 11.

Upcoming games Women’s Basketball

Thursday vs.

Northwestern State University at Katy, Texas. 1:30 p.m.

Softball

Friday vs. Stephen F. Austin State University.

4 p.m. (doubleheader) Saturday vs. Stephen F. Austin State University.

12 p.m.

Baseball

Friday vs. Lamar University. 6 p.m.

Staff Writer

UCA’s women’s basketball team dropped its last two regular season conference games to Nicholls State on March 5 and McNeese State on March 7, now going into the Southland Conference tournament ranked seventh.

UCA (17-13, 10-8 Southland Conference) lost to Nicholls (16-12, 12-5) on the road 53-43.

The Sugar Bears got down by 21 in the first half as the Colonels made an early 11-4 run.

UCA cut the lead down to 13, heading into halftime on an 8-0 run.

The Sugar Bears were able to cut the lead down to only four in the second half, but ultimately couldn’t get any closer toward the end.

UCA struggled offensively, shooting 37.7 percent from the field and 15.4 percent from the 3-point line. The Sugar Bears shot only one free throw the entire game.

UCA’s sophomore guard

photo courtesy of ucasports.com

UCA junior guard Kendara Watts makes her way around two McNeese State University players in the Sugar Bears’ 72-68 loss to the Cowgirls on March 7. Watts finished the game with 15 points on six of 13 shooting. She finished second on the team in points behind sophomore guard Maggie Proffitt.

Maggie Proffitt said things were not working well offensively for the Sugar Bears.

“To get down by 21, we just weren’t having shots fall,” Proffitt said. “We were taking some

Men’s and Women’s Track and Field

Friday-Sunday at Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Men’s Golf

Friday-Sunday at Border Olympics.

Tennis

Saturday vs.

Southeastern Louisiana University. 10 a.m.

Sunday vs. University of New Orleans. 10 a.m.

Men’s Soccer

Sunday vs. Lyon College. 12 p.m.

Sunday vs. Central Baptist College 4 p.m.

UCA coach Sandra Rushing said the team needs to have better focus as tournament time approaches.

“We just looked really confused on the court,” Rushing

JUMPER

by Calli Morrison Staff Writer

Sports Editor

The UCA men’s basketball team lost a pair of games this week to finish the season.

In the first game of the week, UCA lost 77-70 to the Nicholls State University Colonels (10-18, 7-11 Southland Conference) on March 5 in Thibodaux, Louisiana.

NSU senior forward Ja’Donte’ Frye led the Colonels in scoring, with 16 points on five of seven shooting.

UCA freshman guard Mathieu Kamba led all scorers with 18 points on seven of 10 shooting.

The week’s second game saw the Bears (2-27, 2-11 SLC) lose 70-68 to the McNeese State University Cowboys (14-15, 8-10 SLC) on March 8 in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Despite the loss, freshman guard Jordan Howard thought the team performed well.

“We competed for 40 minutes, and everyone was ready to fight and play, knowing it was our last game,” he said. “We confused them with our defensive schemes and shared the ball well.”

Both teams battled for the first minute with the defenses, not giving anything to either side until MSU senior forward Desharick Guidry tipped in senior guard Keelan Garrett’s miss.

UCA junior center Jake Zuilhof

photo courtesy of ucasports.com

UCA freshman guard Mathieu Kamba tries to shake McNeese State senior guard Keelan Garrett in UCA’s 70-68 loss to the Cowboys on March 8 in Lake Charles, Louisiana. fouled Guidry on the shot.

Guidry made the and-one, giving the Cowboys the game’s first points.

The Bears got on the board following a layup by freshman forward Boo Milligan, bringing the score to 3-2.

UCA took the lead after junior guard Mike Martin stole the ball from sophomore guard Jamaya

See Earn - page 8

DEFENSE

by Andy Robertson

Saturday vs. Lamar University. 4 p.m.

Sunday vs. Lamar University. 1 p.m.

rushed shots and missed some assignments on defense.”

In addition to having problems on offense, the Sugar Bears also had 21 turnovers that Nicholls converted to 21 points on its end.

said. “This time of year you have to have complete focus throughout the game.”

After the Nicholls game, UCA traveled to McNeese State (17-12, 11-7) to play its last game of the regular season conference schedule.

In the second consecutive game, UCA gave up a big lead early in the first half and was down by 16 points with only seven minutes left.

The Sugar Bears went on a 9-0 run late in the second half to cut the lead to three with 27 seconds remaining. Again, the team would make a comeback late in the game and come up just short, this time losing 72-68.

Proffitt said the game felt similar to the previous battle with Nicholls.

“It felt like a repeat of the previous game because we got down and were able to fight back, but couldn’t cut the lead enough to put us in a position to win,” Proffitt said.

Burr and hit a transition 3-pointer, making the score 5-3.

MSU senior guard Kevin Hardy dunked on a fast break, tying the game at 5 with 15:50 left in the first half.

Neither team gained a clear advantage until the Bears went on

See Bears - page 8

Senior first baseman Ashley Boswell is one of the more productive players in UCA softball history.

“If you push through the tough times, it is that much m o r e Ashley Boswell rewarding in the end and will prepare you for the next challenge ahead,” Boswell said.

Boswell has seen this determination come to reality through the UCA softball program, starting every game in her career and having a .295 batting average, a .374 on-base percentage and a .422 slugging percentage.

Boswell has hit 21 doubles and seven home runs, driving in 54 runs. Her fielding percentage is .978, which is the eighth highest in school history.

Playing softball in college comes with many obstacles and requires much discipline, which goes hand in hand with determination. Boswell has gone through many difficulties while playing softball.

“Getting in a hitting slump has been most of my challenges,” Boswell said. “I have found that the best way to get out of a slump is to just keep swinging away,

because you are bound to make solid contact eventually.”

Playing softball through school has posed academic challenges, but Boswell has maintained a positive outlook about it.

“Though it is harder to keep up with school when you are gone three days a week, perseverance is key,” Boswell said.

When recruited by UCA, she saw the softball team as a perfect fit because of the community surrounding it.

“All the teams really get behind each other,” Boswell said. “You see all the different sports supporting each other, no matter where you turn. Through athletics, you get a great networking system through other players and coaches and even other athletic staff, which is very beneficial when you need a helping hand or any references.”

Boswell’s softball college experience has also resulted in forming close relationships with the other players.

“My teammates and I love to sing along to music in the batting cages while we warm up,” Boswell said. “Your teammates become basically sisters, and they become your biggest supporters on and off the field.”

Growing up in the small town of Tahlequah, Oklahoma, Boswell went to a rural school, which gave her the chance to begin playing in third grade.

See Senior - page 8

SINGLE

Softball continues to roll, sweeps Texas A&M—Corpus Christi University

by Mason Addison Executive Assistant Editor

The UCA softball team won its first three conference games this season at home March 6-7 against the Texas A&M—Corpus Christi Islanders.

The Bears won their game 8-0 March 6.

UCA started out the game strong, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first inning.

Sophomore outfielder Briana Whisenhunt and junior outfielder Sam Forrest scored off a single by sophomore outfielder Hannah Stirton, making the score 2-0.

The teams didn’t score for two more innings, but UCA picked up the offense again in the bottom of the fourth, scoring four runs.

Senior shortstop Hayley Parker scored off a double to left center by junior outfielder Amy Gunnells, increasing UCA’s lead to 3-0.

Senior first basemen Ashley Boswell scored after a single by Whisenhunt, making the score 4-0.

The Bears scored two more times in the fourth inning; Whisenhunt scored off a throwing error and Gunnells scored, running the score to 6-0.

UCA scored for a seventh time when Stirton scored off a single to

photo courtesy of ucasports.com

UCA sophomore Briana Whisenhunt gets one of her three hits in the Bears’ 8-0 win over the Islanders on March 6 at home. Whisenhunt went three for three with two runs and an RBI. right center field by Parker.

The Bears’ final score came after Forrest reached on a throwing error with bases loaded, allowing Parker to score the game’s final run and ending the game 8-0.

“Their ace pitcher is talented, but this weekend we were better and that’s what this game is about,” Stirton said.

Senior pitcher Kylee Studioso faced 19 batters and had seven strikeouts.

UCA played TAMUCC in a

doubleheader March 7.

The Islanders struck first after junior utility player Cosette Hernandez scored after a double by junior outfielder Dani Tefft.

The Bears answered that score with one of their own when Whisenhunt scored after a double by junior utility player Sarah Bigej.

After tying the game 1-1, UCA struck again in the first when Bigej scored after junior catcher Jessie Taylor hit a sacrifice fly to right field, making the lead 2-1.

UCA scored in the second inning after freshmen infielder Audrey Pratt hit a home run down the left field line, increasing its lead to 3-1.

The Bears were able to pick up two more runs after scores by Bigej and Whisenhunt, making their lead 5-1.

The Bears increased their lead to 6-1 in the third inning when Stirton scored after Pratt reached on a throwing error.

In the fourth inning, Gunnells

scored after Stirton reached on a walk with bases loaded, increasing the lead to 7-1.

TAMUCC didn’t score again until the sixth inning.

The Islanders started to come back after scores by senior catcher Michelle Sorenson, senior infielder Lindsey Lyles and senior shortstop Galloway, making the score 7-4.

Bigej hit a home run in the sixth inning, increasing the Bears’ lead 8-4.

In the final inning, Islanders sophomore catcher Brittney Morse hit a home run, bringing in Tefft and Hernandez for scores, making the final score 8-7.

The Bears won the second game of the doubleheader 12-3.

Pratt, Boswell and Gunnells picked up two runs in the game while Whisenhunt, Taylor, Stirton, Parker, sophomore utility player Bailey Reynolds and sophomore pinch hitter Lindsay Elliott scored once in the game.

The Bears had 32 at bats, 18 hits and 12 runs in the game.

“Essentially, we executed in all three aspects of the game to get the sweep,” Gunnells said.

UCA is at home for a doubleheader against the Stephen F. Austin State University Ladyjacks on March 13.

8/ March 11, 2015 SPORTS

ucaecho.net HOME RUN

LOVE

Tennis drops season’s first conference game Baseball sweeps Lumberjacks, moves to 7-3

by Misti Hollenbaugh

by Joe Kramer

The UCA tennis team dropped its first game this season, falling to the Northwestern State University Lady Demons (2-7, 1-0 SLC) 4-1 in the Bears’ conference opener March 7 in Natchitoches, Louisiana.

Though the Bears lost, they fought hard against the Lady Demons, who won the regular season title last season, while UCA placed seventh. “[The game] really showed that we have grown to be a top five team and shouldn’t be underestimated,” senior Kelsey Williams said. “I think our team has drastically improved and with this comes with the confidence that we are just as good as any other Southland Conference team.”

Though the Bears have missed the last five matches due to weather, Williams said she did not think it made a big impact on the team’s play.

“I think that it was the fact that we have only been able to practice indoors the last three weeks, and then we went down to Louisiana and played outdoors and had to adapt to the outdoor conditions,” she said.

Senior Cassidy Crawford said everyone on the team played great.

“With the weather being so bad lately, it’s been hard to get on court as much as we would have liked, but we had so many close matches and really the outcome could have gone either way,” Crawford said. “It’s encouraging to know we were so close to beating the team that was ranked first in the conference last year.”

The Bears (5-1, 0-1 SLC) dropped two of the three doubles matches, failing to secure the

Last weekend was wild for the UCA baseball team (7-3, 3-0 Southland Conference), with three games in two days that resulted in a sweep of the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks 5-4, 9-8 and 11-1 March 6-7.

The Bears opened conference play Friday in Nacogdoches, Texas, with a long night, going 12 innings to pull out a 5-4 victory over the Lumberjacks.

UCA came out swinging to start things off, jumping out 2-0 in the first with a home run from senior third baseman Nate Ferrell, bringing junior infielder Chris Townsend with him.

After holding onto the lead, SFA (4-10, 0-1 SLC) smacked back-to-back home runs off junior pitcher Connor Gilmore in the bottom of the seventh to tie it at 3-3. This gridlock continued until the Bears took the lead in the 12th, playing solid defense to end the game.

Saturday was the last day for the weekend series because of weather moving into Nacogdoches on Sunday.

The first game of the doubleheader was déjà vu from the night before, stretching into 10 innings. The Bears proved their defensive skills, forcing the Lumberjacks into a pitching duel, with both defenses relentlessly backing up their pitchers.

The show didn’t really begin until the final game of the series, when the Bears came to the plate ready to knock the leather off the ball.

UCA dominated the day’s second game, putting up six runs in the first inning and getting a complete game from junior right-handed pitcher Brandon Hagerla on the mound.

A two-run triple to right center in the eighth inning by junior catcher Travis Hull ended the game by run rule. Hagerla sat down the Lumberjacks in order in the bottom of the eighth to improve to 2-0 on the season.

Hagerla went the distance, allowing five hits and one run

Entertainment Editor

Editor

photo courtesy of ucasports.com

UCA senior Allison Murphy sets to return a volley in the Bears’ 4-1 loss to Northwestern State University on March 7. Murphy improved to 6-0 in singles play. doubles point for the first time this season.

Williams and senior Allison Murphy remained perfect on the season, improving to 6-0 with their 8-4 win over freshman Barbora Kollarova and redshirt freshman Polina Ivanova in the No. 2 match and securing the Bears’ only doubles win.

UCA junior Nataly Yoo and Crawford fell 8-1 in the No. 1 match to senior Tatiana Larina and junior Natalya Krutova, while senior Kristina Horsikyan and junior Bianca Strukelj fell 8-5 in the No. 3 match to freshman Emily Kerr and sophmore Aliona Ladutska.

In singles play, the Lady Demons won three matches to secure the victory.

Murphy brought home the only victory in singles play for the Bears, winning 6-3, 6-4 against Kallarova in the No. 4 match and moving to 6-0 on the season.

Williams and Horsikyan each suffered their first defeat in singles play for the year.

Williams fell 3-6, 2-6 to Krutova in the No. 2 match, while Horsikyan fell 6-3, 1-6, 1-6 to

Ladutska in the No. 3 match.

Strukelj dropped the No. 5 match 0-6, 1-6 against Ivanova, falling to 3-2 on the year.

The No. 1 and No. 6 matches went unfinished, with the Bears leading both.

In the No. 1 match, Yoo held a 6-4, 4-6, 3-2 lead against Larina, while freshman Amanda Alvarez held a 7-6, 4-6 lead over Kerr in the No. 6 match.

Crawford said the Bears took a lot of positives from the game, which they will take into their matches this weekend.

Before its next game, Williams said the team would work on playing to bigger targets and trying to stay more consistent.

The Bears’ match against Stephen F. Austin State University, which was scheduled for March 8 in Nacogdoches, Texas, was postponed due to inclement weather.

The Bears return to the court to continue conference play against Southeastern Louisiana University on March 14 and the University of New Orleans on March 15, both at 10 a.m.

MARCH MADNESS

Sugar Bears set sights on conference title; SFA looks to turn heads with NCAA run

by Andy Robertson

However, the Sugar Bears earned the No. 7 seed in the tournament.

A few weeks ago when I was announcing the Sam Houston State University game Feb. 21, my broadcast partner and I discussed how the Sugar Bears could be a dark horse in the tournament because of their defense.

UCA boasts the best scoring defense in the SLC, giving up 57.1 points per game.

This qualifies as the 34th best scoring defense in the nation.

It has the capability to choke out the opposing team’s offense, but UCA struggles with consistently putting points on the board, averaging 58.7 points per game, which is 11th in the conference.

If the Sugar Bears can find a way to put more points on the board, they could be a surprise team and earn a NCAA Tournament berth.

How long the team will last in the tournament will be a question, but don’t rule the Sugar Bears out too early.

Sports Editor

March Madness, arguably the most exciting time in college sports apart from bowl season, is upon us.

This week, the top teams in the nation will battle for their respective conference titles in both men’s and women’s basketball.

The Stephen F. Austin State University men’s basketball team earned top seed in the Southland Conference Tournament for the third consecutive season, and the team does not look like it’s slowing down.

The Lumberjacks lost four games overall this season, with one in conference play against Texas A&M—Corpus Christi University on Feb. 14 in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Last season, SFA won the regular and postseason titles in the SLC and made it to the final 32 teams in the NCAA Tournament before losing 77-60 to UCLA. The Lumberjacks brought

Spring Training back a similar roster this season, boasting SLC Coach of the Year honors (Brad Underwood) and SLC Player of the Year honors (junior forward Thomas Walkup).

UCA’s men’s basketball team cannot participate in the SLC Tournament this year because the team finished last in the conference and because of last season’s poor academic progress rate.

Earn:

Sugar Bears lose final two games, get the No. 7 seed in the Southland Conference Tournament 4 Continued from page 7

The Sugar Bears were better on the offensive end in the McNeese game, shooting 44.6 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from the 3-point line.

They had 11 turnovers in the game.

UCA held McNeese’s leading scorer junior guard Allison Baggett to only four points, but it was sophomore guard Victoria Rachal coming off the bench who was unstoppable, scoring 24 points against the Sugar Bear defense.

With the two losses, UCA will go into the Southland Conference tournament as the No. 7 seed and face No. 6 Northwestern State in the opening round.

Rushing is confident in the team going into the tournament.

“I think we can beat Northwestern, and that’s the plan,” Rushing said. “We need to do a better job with our offense and talking on the floor. We need to go in playing Sugar Bear basketball. Mental toughness is big. This team has played some good basketball this year, and it needs to carry over.”

The Sugar Bears are set to take on the Northwestern State Lady Demons at 1:30 p.m. March 12.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL 2015 Southland Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament March 12-15, 2015 | Leonard E. Merrell Center | Katy, Texas Thurs., March 12

Friday, March 13

Sat., March 14

Sun., March 15

No. 8 Houston Baptist Game 1 - 11 a.m. Winner Game 1

No. 5 McNeese State

Game 3 - 11 a.m. Winner Game 3

No. 4 A&M-Corpus Christi Game 5 - 1 p.m.

ESPN3

Winner Game 5

No. 1 Stephen F. Austin

Championship Game - 12 p.m.

CBS Sports Network

No. 2 Lamar

No. 3 Nicholls No. 7 Central Arkansas

Game 6 - 3:30 p.m.

ESPN3

Winner Game 6

Game 4 - 1:30 p.m. Winner Game 4

Game 2 - 1:30 p.m. Winner Game 2

No. 6 Northwestern State

The first four games of the 2015 Southland Basketball Tournament will be streamed live for free on the Southland Conference Digital Network, including Southland.org and the league’s iPhone and Android Apps available at: Southland.org/apps Games five and six of the tournament will be available exclusively on ESPN3.

The championship game will be televised CBS Sports Network.

Southland Tournament Champion and NCAA Automatic Qualifier

photo courtesy of ucasports.com

UCA junior catcher/infielder Travis Hull gets one of his three hits in the Bears’ 11-1 win over the Stephen F. Austin State University Lumberjacks in game 2 of a March 7 doubleheader. while striking out three and walking one.

Hull finished the game three for five with four RBIs and two runs scored. UCA outhit SFA 10-5 in the doubleheader’s second game.

Junior pitcher Bo Stitch (3-0) picked up the win on the mound for the second consecutive game, going the final three innings, striking out three and allowing two hits.

Junior outfielder Tyler Langley felt good about the weekend against a tough Lumberjack squad, going three-for-five with two RBIs and two runs scored Saturday.

“SFA is a tough team all around,” Langley said. “All the teams in our conference are like that. No one will just run away with games very often. They played all around good baseball.

I felt like offensively, we had a big weekend.”

This series was a close one, but without UCA’s big bats the outcome could have been a little less exciting.

Langley said junior infielder Logan Preston, Hull and junior infielder Matt Anderson all had a good weekend.

“I felt like offensively, we really hooked it up when we needed to,” Langley said. “We got behind on Friday and fought our way back.”

Langley attributed the wins to great pitching, with all of UCA’s pitchers putting up impressive numbers.

“Defense starts with pitching though, and that was great this weekend,” Langley said.

Langley also said Gilmore and Hagerla both had great starts and that Stitch, senior pitcher Josh Markel, junior pitcher Derek Bier and freshman pitcher Chris Durham all came in and led the team to wins later in the games.

Townsend believes the key to making it in conference play this season is to grind out each and every game.

“This weekend gave us a good look of what to expect every weekend: tough games against tough teams,” Townsend said.

“You just have to be mentally tough and grind it out each and every game, but definitely can’t look to far ahead. Take it one day at a time.”

Though the Bears came home with a set of wins this week, Coach Allen Gum has the team refocused on the next series against Lamar University on March 13-15, continuing SLC play.

Though both the coaches and the players must take one game at a time, it is hard for Bears fans not to look to the future, seeing what all collegiate baseball teams dream of come the end of the season: a ticket to Omaha, Nebraska and a chance to compete for the national championship. Time will tell if UCA’s strong start to the 2015 season holds hopes for a ticket to Omaha.

Bears:

Men’s basketball loses final two games of season, looks forward to successful offseason 4 Continued from page 7 a 7-0 run, giving UCA a 20-15 lead with 6:33 left in the first half.

The Cowboys came back, tying the game at 24 with one minute and 59 seconds left in the half.

The Bears outscored MSU for the remainder of the half, going into halftime with a 30-26 lead.

Martin led all scorers with 10 points on four of seven shooting from the field, making two of three 3-pointers.

Hardy and Garrett had six points each, leading the Cowboys in scoring in the first half.

UCA shot 38.7 percent from the field, while MSU shot 24.2 percent.

The Cowboys held the advantage in rebounds with 30, compared to the Bears’ 18.

The second half was a little more competitive, with both teams fighting for the win until the final minutes.

UCA held the lead for much of the second half, with its largest lead at 5 points with 11:25 left in the game.

MSU quickly erased the deficit after junior forward Austin Lewis dunked and junior guard Shaun Johnson hit a three, tying the game at 46 with 10:04 left in the game.

Both teams fought for the lead until Burr made a layup with 1:04 left in the game, bringing the score to 68-66 in MSU’s favor.

Following a UCA timeout, Zuilhof made a layup, tying the game at 68.

On the Cowboys ensuing possession, Guidry made a layup, giving MSU a 70-68 lead with seven seconds left.

Senior:

UCA vs. McNeese State March 8, 2015 Burton Coliseum

2-27, 2-11 SLC 14-15, 8-10 SLC 68

Score

70

44.8

Field Goals %

39.1

47.6

3FG%

21.1

66.7

FT%

75

32

Rebounds

46

8

Offensive

20

24

Defensive

26

8

Turnovers

5

4

Blocks

5

3

Steals

5

Assists

15

18

Following a timeout and a foul by Burr, UCA freshman guard Unruh missed a last-second 3-pointer, giving the Cowboys the win and ending the Bears’ season.

Hardy and Garrett led all scorers in the second half with 10 points each. Both finished with 16 points.

Howard led the Bears in scoring in the second half, scoring nine. He finished the game with 15, leading UCA in scoring.

The Bears finished the game with four players in double figures.

Howard was followed by Kamba (12), Martin (11) and Zuilhof (10).

The Cowboys had five players reaching double figures, including Garrett and Hardy.

Guidry and Burr finished with

12 each, followed by Lewis with 10 off the bench.

Guidry and Lewis each finished with 10 rebounds, giving them a double-double.

Because the Bears were last in the conference and because of last year’s poor academic progress rate, UCA’s season will not continue into tournament play.

Unruh said the team went through growing pains this season, but is ready to be better next season.

“We were able to grow a lot this season,” he said. “We have to get stronger in this offseason. That will be a big focus.”

On March 9, Howard was named Southland Conference Freshman of the Year.

Softball first baseman looks to play recreationally after

graduation

4 Continued from page 7

“Once I started, all I wanted to do was go play,” Boswell said.

This followed her into high school, where Boswell excelled in her athletic endeavors. She was a two-time Metro Lakes All-Conference selection, received All-Region honors, received All-Muskogee Phoenix honors and was a scholar athlete.

Boswell currently plays first base for UCA, but that has not

always been the case.

“First base was always my first choice,” Boswell said.

Growing up, however, she was a pitcher until her sophomore year in high school.

Coming to UCA has not only helped her fulfill her dreams for softball, but also to achieve her future goals.

“The physical therapy program was a big selling point

for me, because I knew I wanted to become a physical therapist,” Boswell said.

However, with plans to attend doctorate school after graduation, softball will play a different role in her future.

“After I graduate, I don’t think I’ll keep playing fast pitch softball,” Boswell said. “I will probably start playing slow pitch just for fun.”