20 March 2019

e: 62 m u l Vo : 19 Issue

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March 20, 2019

POLITICAL CONVERSATION IN A POLARIZED NATION

BY JACK WAGUESPACK News Editor On Thursday, March 14, the Honors Program invited Melissa Harris-Perry and Rod Dreher to discuss the current political climate and the future of political conversation between opposing parties. Melissa Harris-Perry is the former host for the MSNBC television show “Melissa Harris-Perry” and author of Barbershops, Bibles, and BET, Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought, and Sister Citizenship. Rod Dreher is senior editor for the American Conservative Magazine and author of the Benedict Option.

He also writes for many other outlets, such as The Wall Guest speakers Melissa Harris-Perry and Rod Dreher sharing the stage at the Homer. L Hitt Alumni and Visitor Center.

Street Journal and The Nationsaid. As a black woman in the South, she said her father’s and al Times. The two come from varying political parties and grandfather’s experiences living in the Jim Crow South don’t hold differing views, but they sat together to open a discussion compare to where we are now. around how each party sees the other and whether their rela“We seem to be at a point where to admit you might be tions are really the worst they have been in history. wrong about something is considered a weakness, and you Perry opened the discussion by talking about the polarizanever do that,” Dreher said. When people are talking about tion of the two parties. politics, they put their emotions before the facts, he said.

“Each side perceives the other as a danger,” said Perry. “If Watching the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers firsthand and you believe that someone is a “danger” to your nation, you only surrounding himself with like-minded people clouded aren’t curious about them. You aren’t listening to them. Your his judgement about going to war. He also hit on fear and how only goal is to defeat.” such a strong emotion can sway your judgement to something While the way we interact with people we disagree with is you may not usually agree with. pretty bad, it is not the worst we have seen in history, Perry

“I was so angry after that, just filled with rage,” Dreher shared. “As a result, I was ready to go to war out of fear.

I had to repent because I only talked to people who agreed with me back then, and it led me to make a huge mistake.”

Trauma and fear can cause someone to think rashly or selfishly, due to witnessing discrimination or harassment first hand.

Said Harris-Perry, “In trauma, in fear, in pain, we close and make decisions from that … what is the trauma behind the action?” She believes trauma is one reason people vote the way they do. Each person - Photo by Terry Shields. has a different interaction with society based off the trauma they face. She also brought up the importance of representation, mentioning that having a black president gave her confidence she didn’t think it would until it actually happened.

To wrap up the discussion, both sides agreed on the importance of researching the opposite parties’ policies and seeing how they really work and think. Neutral ground can only be established with conversation, open mindedness and a open line of communication where neither side feels attacked or belittled. Political discourse is not even close to the worst it has been in history, but things will not get better without effort from all sides and all beliefs.

SUPER SUNDAY

Crowds gathered to admire the beauty of the handcrafted suits. Photos by Terry Shields

See more on pages 6 & 7

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MARCH 20, 2019

FEATURES

Are right-wing dollars affecting campus programming? ophy and director of the Honors Program.

You may not be aware of who Charles Koch is and his connection to some of the other speakers invited to speak on campus, but he and his many foundations have a powerful hold on content on college campuses across the country.

Surprenant was awarded a threeyear $1.8 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation. The Templeton Foundation is one of the foundations the Koch brothers use to funnel their money into different forms of grants, which are distributed to professors and entrepreneurial programs.

-Photo via cultureandpolitics.org With this grant, guest speakers such as Chris“Despite the notoriously covert nature of their operation, several key documents and recordings have been topher Wolfe are able to lecture on campus obtained that reveal the intent and strategy Charles Koch and his network has been using for decades”. without funding from the university itself. On -UnKoch My Campus Feb. 21, Professor Wolfe visited to speak about “legislating morality,” and while his lecture did pertain to the government’s place in regulating

BY JACK WAGUESPACK moral behavior, Wolfe also has some controversial articles News Editor and books published; namely, “Same-Sex Matters” and “Homosexuality and Public Life.” These books reveal his philo“I would like to thank everyone who has made this night sophical views on same-sex relations as a disease that can be possible, and a lot of the stuff that we do here — which in- “cured.” While these beliefs were not publicly stated during cludes the UNO student government association, Charles his lecture, Wolfe still received a platform on UNO’s campus.

Koch Association, and the UNO Founders Club,” said ProfesThe Koch brothers are second-generation libertarians who sor Chris Surprenant on Thursday night’s political discussion use their multi-million dollar platforms to insert their politipanel with MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry and The Ameri- cal and educational influence on certain curricular and extracan Conservative Rod Dreher. curricular content in their colleges of choice. In 1980, David “So think about what we have tonight. We have the Ameri- Koch ran for vice president as a libertarian candidate, pubcan Conservative Magazine and the Charles Koch Foundation licly sharing the views of his party, family and foundation. sponsoring a discussion with Melissa Harris-Perry. Perhaps These views included the abolition of Medicare and Medicit’s the case that things are not as bad as they seem, not as aid programs, deregulation of the medical insurance industry, toxic as they seem,” said the associate professor of philos- the belief of separation of education and state, and support

for repealing the minimum wage. While these beliefs are not unique when associated with the libertarian party, the Koch brothers are running a platform that benefits the top 1 percent and puts middle-class people’s livelihoods in jeopardy.

In 2011, the Charles Koch Foundation pledged over $1.5 million to Florida State University’s economics department, a donation which came with contractual obligations that bound the university to guidelines made by the foundation. The university was obligated to allow a Koch-appointed advisory committee to select professors and conduct certain evaluations of programs as they deemed fit. These donor agreements have occurred with multiple grants and scholarships from the Koch brothers and their affiliated foundations at many other universities. The contractual grants allow the Koch brothers to give faculty that agree with their political views a platform in academia.

UnKoch My Campus is a national movement between universities and students whose mission is to protect democracy within campus grounds. Co-founders Samantha Parsons and Connor Gibson started the UnKoch My Campus movement in 2014 in an effort to maintain political freedom and safety in education for all students regardless of political alignment.

This campaign was started in response to the Koch brothers, Charles G. Koch and David H. Koch. Multiple universities such as Florida State University, University of Arizona and George Mason University have started their own campaigns to challenge how much influence they give to outside donors and to monitor the insertion of political agendas into curricula.

“Charles Koch’s political activities consist of a large and rapidly growing network of wealthy corporate and ideological donors that coordinate funding to achieve policy change by leveraging universities, think tanks, front groups, and politicians,” UnKoch My Campus stated in a press release.

Multiple UNO professors declined to be identified and to speak on the record regarding this topic. Given a limited time window, the UnKoch My Campus team were not able to comment directly on the Koch brothers’ funding campaign as it pertains to UNO.

Newman Center Lenten Schedule

Weekly Events:

Confessions:

Sunday, Tuesday, & Thursday hour before and after each Mass.

Everyday by Appointment

CATHOLIC PRIVATEERS

Catholic Campus Ministry at UNO

University Center Alumni Drive International Center

Newman Center

Elysian Fields

Sunday: Night Prayer (Liturgy of the Hours) at 6:50-7:00 PM Monday: Rosary at 12:30 PM Wednesday: Mass and Munch at 12:00-1:30 PM Thursday: Holy Hour with Adoration 12:20-1:20 PM Friday: Stations of the Cross at 3:00-3:30 PM

Weekly Mass Schedule: Sundays at 6:00 PM Mondays-Thursdays 12:00 Noon

FEATURES

MARCH 20, 2019

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What is it really like to study abroad? no one else she knew was going there.

“I just wanted to be different and try a new place that many people do not automatically envision traveling to,” she said. She says she knew very little about Japan and did her own research before leaving, but said that ultimately, firsthand experiences with Japanese students and everyday people taught her the most.

Picolo chose Japan for a more personal reason. “My -Photo courtsey of UNO Innsbruck goal post-graduation is to In 2017, the Innsbruck program — the largest study abroad program at UNO —enrolled its 10,000th student. teach English in Japan, hopefully with the Japan Exchange Teaching (JET) program,”

BY DEMI GUILLORY she said. “[Studying in Japan] Reporter seemed like a smart, exciting opportunity to have before dedicating two or more years of my life to living there.”

Every summer since 1973, UNO has sent students around Dylana Evans and Carolyn Saurez decided on the France the world to study abroad. According to the summer pro- program. For Evans, the decision was based on recommengram’s webpage, 17,000 students, including guest students dations from friends who’d experienced the same program. from 75 American universities, have studied abroad with Evans, who had not been out of the county before, knew the UNO’s award-winning programs. For a handful of UNO stu- French program was the right fit for her because it was based dents and educators who recently shared their life-changing in Montpellier, a small city in the south of France. “[It] alexperiences with Driftwood, studying and teaching abroad lowed for a full immersive experience,” she said. has lived up to all of the hype.

Saurez, who was taking French classes at the time, joined Students Gabrielle Bonck and Annemarie Picolo took the program because she wanted to experience life in a their studies to Japan for a summer. Bonck, who also studied country she’d “always wished” to visit. with UNO in Austria, picked the east Asian country because Other students like Harihar Ojha and Bond Ruggles chose

to study in Austria with the Innsbruck program. Ojha is an international student from Nepal who said studying here at UNO “is already a study abroad program for me.” He was drawn to Innsbruck because of the variety of classes offered and the time available to travel around Europe on the weekends.

Ruggles agreed and credits the time to travel as one of his deciding factors as well. “Innsbruck is, quite literally, dead smack in the middle of Europe, making travel to other countries wide-open,” he said. He also chose Innsbruck primarily because the program provided the credits he needed to fulfill the rest of his degree requirements. Like Evans, Ruggles had never traveled outside the U.S., and his study abroad experience in Austria was his first international trip.

It isn’t just students who benefit from the study abroad programs. Professor of English Dr. Anne Boyd Rioux, once an exchange student in Germany for a year, has taught on two of the programs. “I taught on the Cork, Ireland program in 2015, and the Innsbruck program in 2017,” she said. This summer, she will be teaching in France.

History Professor Marc Landry has many personal connections to Austria. He has taught on the Innsbruck program for the last few years and was also a guest student with UNO in Innsbruck during his time at the College of William and Mary in Virginia.

“That year-long experience in Innsbruck was the most formative of my college experience, if not my young life,” he said. “Living in another culture really caused me to look at myself and my own culture with new eyes.”

Dr. Clarence Mark Phillips is also a professor of history and philosophy. Phillips has taught on all of the study abroad programs UNO has to offer since 2000. This summer, he’ll be in Ireland and then back to Innsbruck in 2020.

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MARCH 20, 2019

FEATURES

UpBeat Academy teaches teens to make beats

- Photo by Milena Martinovic Amal Abdul coaches student Louis Hubbard as he concocts beat sequences.

BY MELINA MARTINOVIC Staff Writer Matt Zarba is trying to organize “meet and greets” between his students and the electronic and hip hop performers at the upcoming BUKU music and arts festival.

“Wanna meet Kevin Gates?”

“Nuh, I already met him,” replies Louis Hubbard, age 17.

Upbeat Academy is a unique nonprofit organization providing local underprivileged teens with resources, mentoring and classes in producing and creating electronic and hip hop music. It started in 2013 as a memorial fund for two deceased members of the local electronic music community and grew to become a large organization offering classes at a variety of outreach programs, community centers, a youth homeless shelter and even Orleans Parish Prison for its incarcerated juveniles.

In New Orleans, playing music is a way of life. Because of this, there is an array of rich resources for young people, like after-school programs and marching bands. However, more modern genres of music, including those made on the computer, are neglected and underdeveloped. The majority of the kids in the program were originally rappers or singers who didn’t have their own beats and instrumental tracks to rap and sing over. So instead of just downloading someone else’s instrumentals from YouTube, they came to Upbeat Academy to learn how to do it themselves. They started “making beats out of necessity,” says Zarba.

Amahl Abdul, a prominent local beat-making musician known as “AF The Naysayer” is one of the main instructors.

He likes to give students a challenge beyond just making music. “I like to see what they can do: mixing, mastering, arranging. I really want them to have their own voice,” he said.

Upbeat Academy’s new location at the Jazz and Heritage Center certainly “adds an arts conservatory feel to it,” says Zarba, the organization’s director. The kids who come to the classes are exposed to other music classes like audio engineering, which is provided by the Heritage School of Music.

“There is definitely a crossover,” Zarba says.

Zarba taught high school English before becoming the director, which helped him bring experience to his youth mentoring. His role at Upbeat Academy is both more involved and more rewarding than teaching, because it allows him a closer relationship and an opportunity to be a positive influence on

students who need mentorship the most.

“Would you rather hang out with a teacher who makes hiphop beats or with the one who expects you to have a five-page paper written?” Zarba asks.

There is something very fulfilling, expressive and fun in this classroom, even if at first glance it seems like students just sit in front of the computer for hours wearing large headphones, doing mundane tweaks and tasks. When Hubbard was asked whether he gets tired of the tedious process and its long hours, he responded, “I just like it. It don’t feel like work.”

Hubbard is about to complete his GED. Abdul says he has had “an interesting life,” implying that it was rough. His passion is evidenced by the hours he spent calmly in front of the computer and his dedication to the program. His mom and Zarba made a deal that he’d be able to go to Upbeat Academy if he earned his GED. His mom gives him a ride to and from the academy, but it is not unusual for Zarba to give students rides.

I ask what happened to Troy Shelton, a UNO film sophomore who stayed for about an hour. “I couldn’t bring him home tonight,” says Zarba, “so he had to leave early.” Some kids take two buses to get here. Zarba is aware of this fact and tries to help whenever he can. “I like seeing how much they want it,” he adds.

This is the fourth year that the Upbeat Academy is doing a 45-minute showcase at BUKU. Ten songs will be presented by 10 students, and each had to audition for the privilege. For many students, this is their first time playing in front of an audience. “[They might] catch a performance bug,” says Zarba.

See the students of Upbeat Academy at its showcase this Saturday, March 23 at 4:45 p.m. at the Switchyard Stage at the BUKU festival.

NEWS

MARCH 20, 2019

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Marcus Colston shares entrepreneurship advice

-Photo courtsey of College of Business Famous Saints wide receiver Marques Colston talks to students and faculty of UNO’s College of Business Administration about his transition from professional football player to successful entrepreneur.

BY NICOLE GUILLEN Managing Editor Former Saints wide-receiver Marques Colston came marching into UNO for the Management Week keynote address on March 14. Kirschman Building’s lecture hall was no match for the overwhelming amount of students, faculty, and members of the community awaiting his presence. The number of people greatly exceeded the number of seats and

space, causing many to be turned away.

With 10 years of Superdome crowd noise under his belt, Colston might have felt at home surrounded by last Thursday’s large, excited audience. “The Quiet Storm” acknowledged his past as a lucky team member of the New Orleans Saints.

“I was a seventh-round pick, which usually has a three or four percent chance of starting with a three-and-a-half-year career...I ended up being a first-day starter that played for 10 years,” Colston said. His success with the NFL is no secret

to New Orleans natives, but his journey to success is a little lesser known.

Colston attributes his professional football success to his irrational confidence.

“If there’s a one percent chance that somebody will make it, you’re that one percent,” Colston said to a shocked audience. His irrational confidence helped him prioritize winning. Colston discovered which skills he could use to get the team into the best position to win.

The self-proclaimed “serial operator” uses these same philosophies in the business world. Colston noted that it was crucial for him to evaluate his individual skill sets and how they could fit into any opportunities that came his way.

“The odds that exist on the business side match the odds in pro football,” Colston emphasized. His positive mindset and drive to succeed easily transferred to business. But his journey to entrepreneurship wasn’t always smooth.

“The common misconception is that it all goes right...not all of my journey was pretty,” Colston stated. He described his entrepreneurial career, starting with businesses he was involved with when he was in the Saints. Colston started as a silent partner in many of his early ventures. It was only until he worked with bottle water supplier Wat-aah! that he took on an active investor role. Despite an initially successful PR campaign, the business didn’t get much momentum and is now what Colston refers to as part of the “living dead.”

Colston also founded a digital marketing agency and athlete network that both failed due to an inability to choose the right partners on the front-end of the business. Now in proactive managerial roles for companies like Main Squeeze Juice Co. and Timeless Herbal Care, he’s realized that his past failures have propelled him to success.

“A failure is only a failure if you let it be,” Colston said.

He urged UNO business students to value their strengths, and especially their weaknesses.

“Be your best self in all aspects of your life to add value,” said Colston.

Edwards comments on gender roles and marriage: then vs. now

BY MELINA MARTINOVIC Staff Writer “Sex is more cultural than biological,” said famous cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead back in the 1930s, according to distinguished emeritus faculty member Ann Edwards.

On March 12, Edwards hosted another interactive discussion with the Diversity Engagement Center. Edwards spoke fondly of both Mead’s professional and personal work. At the time, in the 1930s, only men obtained doctoral degrees. Edwards found it amazing that Mead received one, studying under “the father of anthropology” Frances Boas.

Edwards discussed Mead’s study of sex roles in the tribes of New Guinea and Samoa in the 1920s. At that time, a female studying alone on a foreign island was itself a groundbreaking phenomenon. Mead discovered that Samoan girls enjoyed a significantly larger amount of sexual freedom than women in the U.S. Sex was not a taboo subject, and neither was extramarital sex. She then discovered that marriage in the Pacific Islands took place only because boys needed father figures.

Mead was criticized heavily for exaggerating some conclusions, especially after her death. Edwards forgives Mead for “having the wrong statistics” due to the magnitude of her influence on cultural anthropology as a study; she was the first to say “we must study babies and families, not chiefs.”

Edwards visited Samoa recently and was surprised by the number of churches in close proximity to each other. “Why do [missionaries] want to convert them?” she asked. “Other than that, the culture is open and beautiful.”

Edwards is an immigrant originally from former Yugoslavia, now Croatia. She met her American husband in Yugoslavia while he was on an engineering assignment. That was it for her — she was off to New York.

She experienced deep cultural shock when it came to female roles in the 1960s in Long Island. Having come from a Communist proletarian country where women had to work like men, she was not used to so many women embracing the role of traditional housewives. According to Edwards, before the men came home, the women would dress up and put makeup on. She discussed modern challenges in the U.S.,

-Photo by Milena Martinovic Distinguished emeritus faculty Ann Edwards lectures and leads the discussion on gender and family.

such as women not receiving enough maternity leave, especially compared to other developed countries, and the high cost of childcare. She pointed out that 30 years ago, most of her students wanted marriage, whereas more recently, most of the students do not want marriage. This may be because marriage is linked to childbearing.

Edwards disagrees with Mead’s pessimism regarding the family unit. After years of study, Mead believed that the family unit would dissolve. Edwards thinks “No, people will adapt,” meaning that the family unit will instead move toward more nontraditional forms.

Before her retirement, Edwards had 35 years of experience teaching anthropology at UNO, often with more than 400 students per semester. Her specialty is cultural anthropology, involving a wide array of topics found in linguistics and archaeology.

Nest, Edwards will continue the Diversity Dialogue series with “Religion and Spirituality” on Tuesday, April 9 at 12:30 p.m. at the University Center room 201C.

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-Photos by Terry Shields In classic Super Sunday fashion, Mardi Gras Indian tribes donned self-made colorful and elaborate suits. Several tribes marched in a procession through the streets of their respective neighborhoods. The festivities were open and free to the public.

SUNDAY

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MARCH 20, 2019

NEWS/SPORTS

Heroines of page and stage

BY DEMI GUILLORY Reporter

On March 14, a group of students and faculty recognized female legends in literature and drama. In an empowering discussion, Dr. Elaine Brooks and Kalo Gow examined the roles of female characters and how they were able to break free of centuries-old patriarchal restrictions.

Brooks, a Spanish professor at UNO for more than 30 years, shared stories of heroines from Latin American literature. She began by introducing the work of Simone de Beauvoir. The heroines in de Beauvoir’s works refuse to succumb to the life that has long been ascribed to them.

In her book “The Second Sex,” de Beauvoir explained her heroines are driven by “madness.”

“When women are confined in the space that represents traditional gender roles, they often go mad,” she wrote. Her heroines are self-described “rebels,” fully understanding that power lies completely in the hands of their male counterparts, and that they are doomed to lives of enslavement.

Brooks has observed that a female hero’s quest for “inner self-fulfillment” revolves around the notion of space: how to escape, how to experience and how to conserve it.

“The first stage is leaving a space, leaving the garden of dependency in which the female hero has been kept hidden away to guard her virginity,” Brooks said.

Brooks references one character who successfully finds the freedom and the “unlimited possibility” she’s longed for: Sofia from Alejo Carpentier’s novel “El Siglo de las Luces.” The English-translated title is “Explosion in a Cathedral.”

“Like many heroines from the past,” Brooks wrote, “Sofia is orphaned, along with her brother Carlos and cousin Esteban. Sofia feels alienated from the world by her grief and longing to see a world she fears.”

In the novel, Victor Hughes represents a historic figure who strips Sofia of her virginity and “launches her into the world,” Brooks explained. In this new world, Sofia becomes an “active agent, conscious of her newly acquired masculine traits of independence, courage, and greatness of heart.” She transforms herself from merely an object to

a subject when she takes it upon herself to save the thousands of people living under Victor’s dictatorship.

Brooks has written many translations of Latin American works and spent a lot of time writing over spring break. “I didn’t expect to write so much, but I did,” she said. She also said that she is “excited” about what she could do in the future “in regard to the female hero and the quest.”

The second half of the discussion was devoted to heroines in drama. “With a subject as big as female heroines, I had no idea where to start, so I started at the beginning — ancient Greek theatre,” said Gow, a first-year assistant professor of film and theatre at UNO. In her humorously inspiring “dumbed-down Hollywood version of a lecture,” Gow referred to two popular heroines in Greek theatre — Antigone and Clytemnestra. Antigone, the title character in a play by Sophocles, is regarded as one of the “most powerful heroines in theatrical history… by men,” Gow concluded to an amused audience.

She led her discussion with controversial questions: “Can we claim a character as a true heroine when she is essentially holding up an inherently misogynistic platform?

What about Clytemnestra, who’s often described as a villain? Can we overlook just a [smidgen] of murder, call her a heroine for railing against her society and her abusive husband?”

Gow theatrically compared the females’ tales of “woes, for if a heroine is to rise, she must suffer, she must suffer extravagantly.” Through her lively and detailed comparisons, Gow explains that both characters are heroines in their own right despite the extremities of their differences.

Clytemnestra is a woman, as Gow described, who “essentially defines every role that society put upon the women of that time period.” Yes, the murder of her own husband can be seen as villainous, but Gow explained she has her reasons. “(Clytemnestra) has suffered greatly because of [Agamemnon’s] war with Troy and his sacrifice of their eldest daughter,” Gow said. “She doesn’t hide from what she’s done.”

Meanwhile, Antigone is often regarded as the “good girl,” who is condemned and punished severely for reject-

ing the king’s laws in favor of God’s laws.

Gow’s thought-provoking questions ended the hour-long lecture.

“Who do you see as the greater heroine? Who do we choose to admire and call a heroine, and why?”

-Photo via Pixabay.

(Above) Clytemnestra from “The Oresteia” by Aeschylus. The stories of heroines from Latin American literature and ancient Greek theatre were celebrated in conjunction with Women’s History Month, observed annually every March in the U.S.

State of the Saints

BY STEFAN MURO Reporter Before being traded to the Oakland Raiders, superstar wide receiver and Madden cover athlete Antonio Brown was rumored to be high on the Saints’ radar. After the trade finally went down and rumors ceased, fans are expecting the front office to sign a big name that could take the team to promised land. Although the team has lost some important players, they kept some key players and made smart moves in hopes to attract star players.

The biggest loss of the Saints’ offseason thus far is running back Mark Ingram II, who joined the Baltimore Ravens.

The former Heisman Trophy winner and first-round pick left New Orleans as a two-time Pro-Bowler and the franchise’s career rushing leader, with 6,007 yards in eight seasons. The 29-year-old running back took to Instagram and posted “I BLEED BLACK AND GOLD FOREVER!! THANK YOU, NEW ORLEANS, FOR EVERYTHING!!” That Friday, he signed a three-year $15 million deal with the Ravens.

Not long after losing Ingram, the Saints signed another 29-year-old running back, Latavius Murray. Like Ingram, the former Minnesota Viking is a very physical runner and will easily fulfill that power running role. Murray surpasses Ingram in speed, size and ability to catch the ball out of the backfield. He will create an interesting dynamic in the Saints’ running game because the veteran will clearly be the second string to the electrifying Alvin Kamara.

The Saints also lost tight end Benjamin Watson, 38, and three-time Pro Bowl center Max Unger, 32, to retirement.

Both players contributed to 95 percent of the team’s total offensive snaps last season and won’t be easy voids to fill. However, the Saints signed yet another former Viking to fill Unger’s role. Nick Easton is a versatile offensive lineman who naturally plays guard, but inked a four-year $24 million deal to be the Saints’ new center.

On a further positive note, the Saints signed kicker Wil Lutz to a five-year deal worth $20.25 million dollars ($9.2 million guaranteed). This makes him the highest-paid kicker in Saints history and the third-highest in the NFL, behind Baltimore’s Justin Tucker and Green Bay’s Mason Crosby. Lutz connected on 28 of 30 kicks last season, surpassing Hall of Famer Morten Andersons’ best season with the Saints. Signing Lutz, along with players such as linebacker Craig Robertson and defensive backs Chris Banjo and Justin Hardee, further solidifies the best Saints’ special teams fans have seen in years.

-Photo via Wikimedia Commons Some would argue that an (Above) Mark Ingram II, one of several players leaving the Saints this off-season. even bigger signing for the The team plays it smart in spite of an electrifying NFL off-season, and they are still the favorites to win NFC South.

Saints is backup quarterback the Super Bowl…”

Teddy Bridgewater. The team After losing edge rusher Alex Okafor to the Kansas City traded a third-round pick for him last season in hopes that he Chiefs, the Saints quickly responded by signing former Pacould be the predecessor to Drew Brees. Bridgewater chose to triot linemen Mario Edwards, Jr. and Malcolm Brown. These stay in New Orleans for a one-year $7.25 million contract that two signings aren’t blockbuster, but they bring much-needed could add up to $12.5 million if all incentives are met. Shockdepth to the defensive line. ingly, he chose to stay with the Saints instead of taking a mulOver the weekend, Brees and the Saints restructured his tiple year offer from the Miami Dolphins — rumored to be contract, which adds $10.8 million in cap space. After the up to $60 million — plus an opportunity to start for the team. signings made so far, this gives the team wiggle room to make “I’m only 26 years old,” he said in a press conference. “The one more splash before the upcoming draft. Rumors have it way I look at it is that I’ll have another opportunity to start in that the Saints are receiving visits from names such as Lithis league at some point. … I get to compete with and learn ons defensive lineman Ezekiel Ansah, Raiders tight end Jared from a guy who is going to be a Hall of Famer (Brees), and I Cook, and Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert. get to be part of a team that was one call away from being in

ENTERTAINMENT

MARCH 20, 2019

9

Behind the scenes of chopped and screwed music

BY DYLAN MININGER Entertainment Editor In the early 1990’s, somewhere deep in a basement in Houston, Texas, a bass heavy track emits from within the cracks of the house and pours into the street. Robert Earl Davis Jr..or DJ Screw, sits at his turntables, pitching down his music to a low tempo and letting the record spin more slowly. The song unveils a deeper layer of tone, the texture revealing itself to be rich. This codeine-fueled, blunt wrapped, slowed-down music is something called chopped and screwed.

Originating in Houston, chopped and screwed music is essentially the act of taking a song, and slowing it down to around 60 to 70 beats per minute. While keeping the same song spinning on the opposite turntable, the DJ cuts back and forth, usings techniques such as scratching, stop time and repetition.

Originally created by DJ Screw, this style of music typically was an instrumental or a popular rap, R&B or soul track.

When Screw would spin the record, he was often with friends, who enjoyed rapping, and they would jump in on the tracks, spitting rhymes over the slowed down tempo, often having their voice pitched at a lower level as well. This type of music gave rise to many popular rappers from Texas and other southern states as well.

DJ Screw had no idea what he had made, but he knew he wanted to create something that the listener could feel and relax to, something with deeper layers that the listener could appreciate. Chopped & screwed music has an oozing quality, something that sounds so deep and rich that it feels like a viscous liquid has been spilt and is dripping slowly on to the platter of a Technics SL-1200 — arguably the best turntable ever invented.

These Deep South rhymes and codeine-beats found their way into the ears of locals, encouraging DJ Screw to create tapes, which sold at $10 a piece were getting passed around the city of Houston like crazy, and were being bootlegged even more than something like a Grateful Dead live album.

DJ Screw also helped to develop the careers of local Houston rappers such as Lil’ Keke, E.S.G., Big Pokey and Lil’ Flip.

Many of these people joined together with DJ Screw to form the Screwed Up Click. Their tapes became and still are a big deal today, although they are much harder to find. DJ Screw created a legacy, invented an entirely new genre of music with these tapes and paved his way to being an underground sensation. These tapes have all been reproduced, and in the mid 1990s, DJ Screw created four major album releases

Photo via Screwed Up Tapes DJ Screw diggin’ through his crates.

for Bigtyme Records.

One of the biggest influences on chopped and screwed music ended up being the biggest defeat of the music and its pioneer as well. Mixing codeine and promethazine creates “Purple Drank,” or lean, a drug mixture typically given to patients with a severe cough. The drugs give the user a sedative effect, causing dizziness, often referred to as a “swooning euphoria.”

DJ Screw and many other popular musicians partake in this drug. While it is still a prominent drug today, the DEA and drug companies have found a way to make it less available.

On Nov. 16, 2000, DJ Screw was found dead in his studio at the age of 29 from an apparent overdose of codeine as well as other drugs.

DJ Screw’s influence lives on today, as chopped and screwed music has been popularized by various influential

musicians as well as modern DJs such as OG Ron C and Slim K, who chop and screw every popular record that comes out.

As a pioneer of this complex subgenre, a bizarre, multi-faceted and deeply textured form of music, DJ Screw is unmatched.

Suggested Listening: “3 In Da Mornin’ Pt.2” “Wineberry Over Gold” “Ridin’ Dirty” from DJ Screw

QUESTION OF THE WEEK What is your biggest fear?

With Stefan Muro and Matthew Stennis “I fear nothing.”

“Getting stuck on the moon by yourself.”

“Writer’s Block. It’s like you just look at the screen in frustration and don’t know what to do.“

John Guidry Junior Civil Engineering

Cisco Garcia Freshman Psychology

Nathan Rojo Sophomore Journalism

“Returning to a more religious world where the church rules the goverment’s decisions.”

Jaymie Huffstickler

“The 4:30AM ‘I’m pregnant’ text.”

Nick Dorner Junior Electrical Engineering

“Getting married and getting divorced.”

Mariana Miranda Freshman Earth Environmental Science

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MARCH 20, 2019

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MARCH 20, 2019

DRIFTWOOD STAFF Hope Brusstar, driftwood@uno.edu....................Editor-in-Chief Nicole Guillen........................................................Managing Editor Jack Waguespack.........................................................News Editor Dylan Mininger............................................Entertainment Editor Stefan Muro.........................................................................Reporter Demi Guillory.....................................................................Reporter Milena Martinovic.............................................................Reporter Christine Bourgeois.................................Distribution Manager Kimberly Williams..................................................Visuals Director Nate Nguyen...............................................................Layout Editor Brennan Probst.........................................................Photographer Matt Stennis......................................................Business Manager Missy Wilkinson...................................................................Adviser

2000 Lakeshore Drive, UC 252 New Orleans, LA 70148 (504)-280-6377 Driftwood is produced solely by students of the University of New Orleans. Driftwood publishes every Wednesday during the fall and spring semesters, with the exception of holiday breaks and midterms/finals week.

Letters to the Editor and columns are the opinions of the author and do not represent the opinion of the Driftwood editorial board. All letters to the Editor are subject to editing for length, style and grammar.

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