ARKA
THE OFFICIAL STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1923
THE
Old Post BBQ Food Review
PAGE 6
ARKANSAS TECH UNIVERSITY // THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2018 • VOL. 94 NO. 13
Take a tour of another country on ATU campus
You can transfer, but you must sit Noah Delshaw Sports Writer
HANNAH COSTER
Contributing Writer
The International and Multicultural Student Services Office hosts many events throughout the year, including: World on Wednesdays, International Game Night, International Food and Talent Expo and their annual Light the Night Festival coming up in April. Their next event will be a 50-minute tour of a country, where student volunteers will give a tour of their home country. This includes customs, food, traditional dances and more. This will take place at noon on March 1, in the Doc Bryan Lecture Hall. There are over 1 million international students nationwide and Arkansas Tech is currently home to 362 of those students, hailing from 35 different countries. These numbers are
(TOUR page 3)
MARCOMM
Crowned again Miss Tech Top 5 (from left): Kaylee Lawrence (4th runner-up), Anna Adams-King (2nd runner-up), Madison Oswalt (Miss Tech), Payton Marshall (1st runner-up), and Danielle Duggan (3rd runner-up).
BAILEY GREENWOOD
Contributing Writer
A freshman pre-veterinary medicine major was crowned the 63rd Miss Tech on Friday, and earned the opportunity to advance to compete in the upcoming 2018 Miss Arkansas pageant. Madison Oswalt from Harrison won the new Miss Tech title on Friday, at the annual Miss Arkansas Tech Scholarship Pageant, where she promoted her critical issue "That’s Not Love" and performed her jazz dance talent to "Gimme Gimme." Oswalt was awarded the Kristen Hayes Dance Award, the Nona Dirkesmeyer Memorial Award and the interview portion in addition
to winning the Miss Tech crown. "Winning this title is honoring and exciting," said Oswalt. "I worked very hard to win the job of Miss Arkansas Tech and cannot wait for this year of representing this wonderful campus!" The Miss Tech Pageant is an official preliminary pageant meaning Oswalt will represent ATU as she advances to participate in the 2018 Miss Arkansas Scholarship Pageant this summer. This will be Oswalt's second year competing in the Miss Arkansas Pageant. Miss Tech 2017, Kelsey Stone, got the opportunity to compete in the 2017 Miss Arkansas pageant where she was awarded the Overall Coleman Dairy Talent and top 15. Stone, a nursing major from Rus-
sellville, said her favorite part about being Miss Tech was being able to represent ATU at Miss Arkansas. "I sincerely felt the love of my campus while there because of the endless notes and flowers sent from faculty and Dr. Bowen," said Stone. Stone attended the Miss Tech Pageant on Friday night where she sang her award-winning song, "Rise Up", sang a duet with 2017 Miss Arkansas, Maggie Benton and handed her title down to Oswalt. Stone’s advice to the new Miss Tech is to enjoy every bit of the experience and go to everything she possibly can because it is worth it. The Miss Arkansas Tech Scholarship Pageant is sponsored by Del-
(CROWN page 3)
Study Abroad: Dancing Americans
Last week, I was sitting in a booth at McDonald's (because a girl can crave McNuggets from anywhere in the world) with Brent, who is another Arkansas Tech student who came to Austria. A song with a catchy beat came on the radio and, without thinking, I began to bob my head along. Okay, there was some shoulder action, too. Anyway, Brent noticed and, with a smirk, stated, "Somebody told Gabbi me that the best Calabrese way to spot an American is to Foreign find the person Correspondent dancing along to the music in public." I went still, the hot coils of embarrassment slinking down my throat. And then a moment later, I shoved that feeling to the side and said, "So what? I am American. That's not something I should be ashamed of or trying to hide." As I thought about it, I realized that has been a common theme in my life since leaving the United States: Don't exude tourist vibes. Don't stick out. Don't behave like an American. As if "American" is a dirty word, which is absurd. Don't get me wrong, I strive to be a positive representation of USA and ATU, but I have never been fond of pretending to be
someone I'm not, and Europe isn’t going to change that. I am from America, and no matter what I do, something is going to give that away, so that night in McDonald's I made a decision. I said to Brent, "I cannot obsess over what other people think of me. I traveled thousands of miles to have a once-in-a-lifetime experience, I will not let other people's opinions hinder my enjoyment." Granted, that is easier said than done, but it is a mantra I have to keep in the back of my mind at all times, because, country of origin aside, there has been a lot of pressure to change since I've been here. Since arriving in Austria I've developed these notions of how I should be feeling and spending my time. I feel as if there should be excitement around every corner, or that, in the two weeks I've been here, I should have already made some fabulous best friends. That simply is not the case. Some days I explore the wonders that Graz has to offer, and some days I come back from class and watch Netflix for six hours. There has absolutely been an adjustment period and it has taken time to feel comfortable in this foreign city. That is not a bad thing. I know there are plenty of thrills in my future—I've got trips to Budapest and Italy and Vienna planned!—but I've learned how important it is to seek out genuine joy while I'm here, rather than a manufactured rendition of
GABBI CALABRESE/THE ARKA TECH Gabbi Calabrese, shows off a section that is closed during the winter (Wintersperre!). adventure just because of what I feel like my experience "should" be. I am studying abroad to grow as a person, not change as a person. People, in any country, are going to judge me no matter what I do, so these next five-anda-half months, I am focusing on what makes me happy. This experience is mine, and I am not surrendering it to other people's negativity.
A rule in NCAA sports at any level and any sport is one that says if a player is to transfer to another school, they must lose a year of eligibility and must sit a year. This has been around for a while. The goal of this rule is to keep players from changing schools for reasons that would be considered less important, such as they want a different coach or more playing time or an environment change. This is a terrible rule to have in place. The reason they have not changed this rule is because they are worried that that rate of transfers will increase by the hundreds because of the previously stated reasons. “If we allowed players to transfer and play right away, you’d have a mass exodus every year because I have three or four guys, if they knew they could play right away, they’d probably think, `Might be a little better over there,’ “ said Jim Boeheim, Syracuse head basketball coach. “You’d have a mass chaotic situation if you had that kind of freedom… Kids are going to get upset at a lack of playing time and start moving around willy-nilly.” I don’t really see the big problem in this. If a student who is not even contracted with the school to play and the coach or school can take away their scholarship at any moment, why should they not be allowed to leave and play where they can find something better? Coaches do this all the time, and they do have contracts. If a better position comes about, coaches can just get up and walk out on the team whenever they want to. Some argue that they can do this because
(TRANSFER pg 8)
Difficulty of appealing parking tickets vanishes with online process TREY STARKS
Contributing Writer The process of appealing a parking ticket has become an online and streamlined process. Once students receive a parking ticket, the charge will be added to their student account on OneTech. If you feel as though your ticket needs to be appealed, you can go on OneTech to the “purchase parking permit” section and select the appeal form. There, you
will fill out a form about your ticket and why you think it should be appealed. Tori Rollins, a wellness science major from Little Rock, received a parking ticket for parking in a handicapped spot while having an expired handicapped hang tag in December 2017. Rollins, whose previously injured foot made her eligible to receive a handicapped hang tag, stated that going through the appeal process was not difficult at all.
THE ARKA TECH ARCHIVES
“It was super simple,” said Rollins. “I went on OneTech to where you can buy a parking pass, clicked on the appeal section,and filled out a form on why I thought my ticket should
be appealed. It didn’t even take me 10 minutes.” Rollins stated that after a week, she looked at her “Student Accounts” tab on OneTech and realized her ticket had been removed
from her account. According to one Arkansas Tech faculty member, parking ticket appeal requests are fairly common. Will Cooper, assistant dean for student conduct, said that the Traffic and Parking Committee receives roughly 20-30 appeal requests per week. Cooper, who is the head of the Traffic and Parking Committee, says that the committee meets once a week to discuss appeal requests. “First and foremost, make sure to
appeal the ticket in a timely manner, within the threeday window,” Cooper said. Cooper also stated that he and the committee are always open to student recommendations. He is also open to volunteers for the Traffic and Parking Committee. If you or someone you know is in good academic and disciplinary standing and is interested in being on the Traffic and Parking Committee, contact Will Cooper at wcooper@atu.edu.