Volume: 59 Issue: 21

Volume: 59 Issue: 21

APRIL 6, 2016

driftwood.uno.edu

MOVING FORWARD

New university president brings innovative ideas

BY CHARLES NICHOLSON Managing Editor Newly instated as the president of UNO, Dr. John Nicklow takes the university’s reigns in hopes of directing the campus toward prosperity and making it an ambitious institution.

Nicklow, a native of Pittsburg, PA, earned his stripes in academia at Southern Illinois University as the assistant provost for enrollment management. He said that his experience since being here is one-of-a-kind.

“The weather, the food, the culture, the hospitality. You go to New York City and you don’t get treated this way in that city. And I think it’s the hospitality,” Nicklow said. “It’s a very welcoming atmosphere that does not exist in many other places.”

Nicklow didn’t come to New Orleans just for the warm greeting, however. What he saw was a great opportunity to make a dif-

ference in the city and the university.

“This is a campus that has so much potential in front of it.

There’s so much we can be doing and the opportunity here is so much greater than many other institutions; because of the city but also because of new practices and new procedures that we can implement.”

What Nicklow sees as America’s largest “small town,” New Orleans, is a very intimate place that is teeming with signs of growth and change, and he is not a stranger to either. Nicklow’s academic career was spent earning his B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. in civil engineering. But how did he go from studying engineering to a career in academia?

It started from being a highly involved undergraduate student, becoming a teaching assistant and earning an undergraduate research assistantship. Post-grad, he went on to be a commissioned officer with the U.S. Public

Health Service “designing largescale water distribution systems.”

“When I say large-scale you might think of a city, but no, they were not very big, but they were 50 miles long, so they were large.”

At the time, he didn’t find the job fulfilling as a career and sought to do more.

“After a few years I got bored.

I liked what I did but I thought I really wasn’t doing enough.

I needed a faster pace. I really missed research, innovation. I missed teaching,” Nicklow said .

“So I went back and started re-engaging in higher ed and ended up finishing my Ph.D. where I did more teaching and more research and that kind of sealed the deal for me.”

Fast forward to July 2015, Nicklow would be the new provost and vice president for academic affairs at UNO for eight months before successfully campaigning for his current position as president.

The opportunity presented itself when former president Peter J. Fos retired on January 31.

During the time of the presidential search, former UL system president Dr. Randy Moffett took the helm as interim president where he shared his considerable expertise with Nicklow.

“Dr. Moffett is very talented and a well-experienced man who has served this institution really well in a very short amount of time. He has a wealth of knowledge and has been a great advisor to me. And we’ve worked very well together,” Nicklow said .

Since a provost position is so different from that of a president, Nicklow said that his amount of free time will be cut short, but noted even bigger changes.

Nicklow wants to increase his focus on creating relationships, “Communications with alumni, the students, the faculty, the staff, business partners and leaders. We need to communicate often and make sure our brand is widely

recognized and understood.”

Nicklow said that he will also be concentrating on fundraising, as well as academics, enrollment and research, though less so due to having others in the administration who will working in those areas. However, he affirms that he won’t stray from responsibilities.

“I’m not a hands-off president.

I will be involved. I will recognize and know what people are doing and what our strategies are because I think if you’re going to be a successful president...those that understand their institutions believe in the institution and are hands-on with activities and what’s happening in the day-today and week-by-week.”

One of Nicklow’s top priorities has been enrollment. He has spearheaded a major retention and recruitment effort with the help of the various faculty members of the Strategic Enrollment Management Committee (SEMC).

Continued on page 4

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OPINION

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2016

COLUMNS

Foreign films, better than you think despite subtitles

BY CHLOE GAGNON News Editor For years, try as I might, I couldn’t get my sister-in-law to watch a foreign movie with me.

She always said, “If I wanted to read, I would read a book.” That always irritated me because, in my

opinion, a lot of foreign films are better than American films.

Don’t get me wrong, American films are terrific. I watch many movies, foreign and domestic.

Yesterday, she finally agreed.

Many films popped into my head.

I was excited to open her to this world of foreign film that I love so much. Even though they are in a foreign language, there’s something about watching a slice of life out of a different culture.

For example: the film “Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom” was made in 2015. It is about the 2013 Ukrainian revolution. I loved watching the film because it helped me understand the situation, but I wouldn’t have wanted to be there in the flesh.

American films are all about money. After all, it is a business.

The production companies want to make as much money as they can from them. The way to do that is by

making a film appeal to the biggest audience possible.

American films tend to appeal to the wow factor. Most foreign films that I watch are low concept, meaning they are more focused on real life, similar to independent films. Hollywood films are mostly high concept, meaning they are flashy and eye-catching.

Let’s compare the two most recent films I watched: “Mommy” (Canadian) and “Allegiant” (US).

These two films are sort of weird to compare because they don’t really have anything in common, they were just the last two films in each category that I watched.

“Mommy” was made in 2014 by Xavier Dolan. It’s about a mother, Diane, trying to raise her troubled and violent son while surviving life herself.

The filmmaking style was so innovative because it used a 1x1 aspect ratio, which is a perfect

square. Most films use a 16x9, which is widescreen. There was a particular scene that played with these aspect ratios in the middle of the film. It’s a montage scene of Steve improving his life. One of the shots is of him on a skateboard riding down the street and he pushes his hands apart. At the same time, the aspect ratio expands to 16x9. The effect on the story was significant and impressive. It was a symbol for him getting rid of the bad in his life.

I’m not saying this has never happened before in a film. There are millions of movies all around the world so there is a definite chance that it has. But I’ve never seen this before.

IMDB states: “Dolan said that the unusual aspect for the film is because he wanted to amplify the emotions from the characters.” The square creates a smaller window into their world and it focuses on

the characters themselves rather than their surroundings.

“Allegiant” was made in 2016

by Robert Schwentke. It’s the third film in a trilogy, but not the last.

The production company decided to produce a fourth film under a new title, “Ascendant” instead of “Allegiant: part II” like other book series that have taken this route such as “Twilight,” “Harry Potter” and “The Hunger Games.”

Even though it was a solid, wellmade movie, it was not as artistic as “Mommy.” It had all the right stuff for a cinematic film except there was nothing special about it.

It glazed over me like any other Hollywood feature.

I guess the point I’m trying to make here is that foreign films are riskier than American films in aesthetics and it makes them more interesting and enjoyable to watch.

My sister-in-law is about to see a whole new side to film.

Band-Aids don’t fix bullet holes

BY MINDY JARRETT Driftwood Staff If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over again while expecting different results (and it is), then the fact that the majority of states continue to enforce gun-free school zones, despite increases in campus shootings, is insane. Advocates against campus carry claim that most campuses are the safest places in the country because of the Gun-Free School Zone Act of 1990 (GFSZA). Normally, they’re right; but unfortunately, we’ve seen far too many exceptions to this statement.

I can’t claim to know the motives of Vice President Biden, the man who introduced the act to the Senate almost thirty years ago, and I certainly won’t make judgments on them, but I will say that the passing of this act has only prolonged the sensitive subject of gun safety. Have we learned nothing from prior historical bans? (See “prohibition”) What an outright ban of something does is sweep the issue under the rug. It is a quick fix. It is nothing more than a patch job bursting at the seams.

Let it be eminently clear that I do not propose the state allow

just any old Joe Schmoe to carry a weapon on campus; in fact, I dare say that I do not propose the state allow any Joe Schmoe to carry a weapon anywhere. I do, however, believe that the state should allow its residents who obtain concealed carry permits to carry on campus.

It is a decision of the state; federal law currently permits concealed carriers to carry on campus in all 50 states. Yes, you read that right.

The federal law actually states that concealed carrying on campus is legal “if the individual possessing the firearm is licensed to do so by the State in which the school zone is located.” While concealed carriers are licensed by the state, the rules that accompany each state’s permit vary.

Louisiana’s rules require the applicant to be 21 or older and provide proof of training by “an approved firearms safety or training course taught by an NRA (National Rifle Association) or POST (Peace Officer Standards and Training Council) certified instructor that is registered with State Police.”

The training required is an eighthour class, along with one hour of live-range fire training. Applicants must also submit two fingerprint cards taken by a “trained fingerprint technician” (this person usually being the instructor). The Department of Public Safety and Corrections conducts a criminal history background check on all applicants; anyone who qualifies under 18 USC 922(g) - “anyone who is convicted of a felony; is a fugitive from justice; is an unlawful user of controlled dangerous substances; has been adjudicated mentally defective or been committed to a mental institution; is an illegal alien; was dishonorably discharged from the Armed Forces; has renounced his citizenship; or is under restrictions of a protective order” - is automatically ineligible

to receive a permit.

Of course, there is no evidence that the allowance of these weapons on school property would prevent and reduce violence, but there is evidence that gun-free school zones are not entirely safe.

The problem with these zones is that only law-abiding citizens uphold them, clearly a category that would-be campus shooters do not fall under.

The FBI conducted a study using active shooter incident data from 2000 to 2013 and found that 70% of incidents ended in 5 minutes or less, and 60% ended before police even arrived. Stronger campus security measures would be, without a doubt, incredibly beneficial in these transient situations. Of course, while every school dreams of having adequate security – whatever that may be – it is incredibly costly, and Louisianians have enough trouble receiving general funding for higher education.

Regardless of which side of the gun debate you lie on, both sides share a common end-goal: to rid our country of gun violence. Firearms are unnerving to those unfamiliar with their handling and rightly so. They are weapons and with any weapon should come a responsibility; however, we have seen that this is not always the case. A concealed carry permit, just like a driver’s license, comes with a set of rules and responsibilities that a person must uphold.

Since adequate campus security is both nonexistent and unattainable for active shooter conditions, the men and women who take the time and effort required to obtain a concealed carry permit should be allowed to defend themselves, as allowed for in the second amendment. Band-Aids don’t fix bullet holes, and gun-free school zones don’t stop campus shootings.

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NEWS

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2016

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UL System approves merger of two UNO colleges

BY NIGEL WASHINGTON Editor-in-Chief The University of Louisiana System recently approved a proposal from the University of New Orleans to merge the College of Liberal Arts and the College of Education and Human Development into one standing college.

In one fell swoop, the merger will maximize potential for both students and faculty with a now expanded staff in addition to the money the university will be saving.

With the current financial crisis facing all public universities across Louisiana, the $419,500 per fiscal year UNO will save with the new merger is an important factor as to why this merger was approved.

According to Kevin Graves, the interim dean of the college of liberal arts and college of education and human development first year’s savings will be slightly lower, approximately $327,500 due to merging costs, but the savings will go up for the second year and are expected to increase each year after.

The College of Education and Human Development will combine

three academic departments and 22 faculty members with the College of Liberal Arts, which currently boasts 11 academic departments with 111 faculty members.

“Currently, neither college office is fully staffed,” said Graves. “With the merged staff, student services will be significantly improved.”

Once run by two understaffed colleges, administrative work that students need can now be distributed and handled by one college with a sufficient staff, making it easier for all parties involved.

Faculty from both colleges supported the merger in preliminary

school-wide voting, as it not only offers more support, but also promotes collaboration.

“While this merger is, at first an administrative structural change, it will open avenues for faculty to cross traditional academic boundaries to create new, interesting and exciting opportunities for student learning and involvement.”

With the merger, expansion and addition of academic programs becomes more likely, which could provide students more academic opportunities.

“One of the chief advantages of this merger is the ability to explore

and develop interdisciplinary and academic opportunities that have otherwise not been explored,” Graves said. “This merger will position all disciplines to develop synergisms and cooperative academic initiatives that will become extremely exciting and unparalleled for our students.”

In the end, Graves said that the main beneficiaries of the merger are the students.

The merger will go into effect on July 1 of this year and will be named the College of Liberal Arts, Education and Human Development.

MAN ON THE STREET What advice would you give yourself at the beginning of this semester?

Photos by Grant Campbell & Nathan Nguyen

JOY BALLARD-OLIVER Ph.D. candidate, Political Science

Not to procrastinate.

To get a head start on my projects when they’re given to me and to not wait till the last minute.

MICHELLE NGUYEN Freshman, Biology

JAI WASHINGTON Senior, Sociology

DEVIN GAETA Junior, History

SOPHIE GRACEY Senior, Biology

Be more organized and work on time management between work, school and free time, just learn how to schedule better.

Time management is everything. As long as you plan everything, not to a tee, but enough, everything will be fine. Don’t stress over unimportant things and if you have a set time schedule, you’ll be fine.

Go to class a lot. Go as much as you can.

Don’t let yourself get bogged down with all the stuff that you have to do. Have the drive and do it.

Even if you go out the night before, still go to class.

Attendance counts.

CRIME SCENE DO NOT

CROSS CRIME SCENE

• On March 30, a complainant reported the display window of a vending machine in the Privateer Place laundry room shattered and products stolen.

• On March 30, a student reported his mountain bike stolen outside the University Center.

• On April 1, a student reported his wallet lost at the University Center. He received a notification that one of his credit cards had been used off campus across town.

CAMPUS CALENDAR WED., APR. 6 JAZZ AT THE SANDBAR A series of jazz artists will be performing at UNO’s Sandbar every Wednesday from March through April. This week’s performance is by guitarist Todd Duke and begins at 7 p.m.

FRI., APR. 8 CHEATING... IS IT IN OUR DNA? A public forum debating the intricacies of cheating between men and women, presented by Alpha Phi Alpha. The forum is from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. in Milneburg 165.

GRADUATE STUDENT FUNDING PANEL Grant and fellowship application process will be explained to the audience by current graduates who will be sharing their experiences. The panel is from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m in the Atchafalaya Room in the UC.

TUES., APR. 12 SAC MOVIE NIGHT Student Activities Council will be playing Disney’s “The Good Dinosaur” for all students. It’ll be from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the UC Ballroom.

PRIVATEERS BASEBALL The men’s baseball team will be going up against the McNeese State Cowboys. The game is for 6:30 p.m. at the Maestri Field at First NBC Ballpark.

THE HUNTING GROUND SCREENING In highlight of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, a screening of the film “The Hunting Ground” will be followed by a panel discussing the prevalence of sexual assault on college campuses. A location and time will be provided at a later date on UNO’s event calendar.

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2016

NEWS

Public transportation for UNO students lacking

RTA bus and streetcar lines hinder carless students from getting around.

Photo by Nathan Nguyen

BY ADAM POYNER Driftwood Contributor For UNO students who do not have access to a car or other type of vehicle, transportation options are limited.

The problem has not gone unnoticed by university administrators. According to Vice President of Student Affairs Brett Kemker, he and former university President Peter Fos made an attempt to address the issue with the Regional Transit Authority (RTA) almost three years ago. “We asked about lowering fares for students, and were told the prices were already reasonable.”

Kemker said he was disappointed in the overall lack of interest from the RTA representatives regarding UNO students, but said UNO administrators have not given up on helping students in need of transportation. “Just today [Monday] at an Executive Board meeting, we spoke about a committee to investigate transportation for the current student body.”

Kemker said a bus similar to the ones used at other universities could be used to transport students to places like West Campus, the grocery store and other places.

In the ten years since Katrina, transit recovery in New Orleans has been uneven, to say the least.

Fewer buses are serving fewer

lines, while local, state and federal funding has been directed more toward streetcar growth and expansion.

As a result, wait times at bus stops are almost always long, increasing commute times for people who depend on buses as their only source of transportation. Students who live on campus with no car are essentially stuck, because in addition to longer wait times, bus service on nights and weekends is further decreased.

According to a report published in 2015 by Ride New Orleans, an independent non-profit organization that has conducted two indepth observations of the New Orleans transit system in the last four years, combined bus and streetcar service is at only 45 percent of what it was before Katrina.

In 2005, the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (NORTA) buses and streetcars made more than 17,000 trips weekly. As of last year, that number has fallen to roughly 7,800 trips weekly. While this is a 9 percent increase from Ride New Orleans’ 2012 report, there is still a long way to go.

Students at UNO are seeing the effects of limited bus service right here on campus. Students like Paige Poucket, a freshman who lives on campus, rarely use the bus because the hassle of waiting at bus

stops is too onerous.

“From campus it’s hard to get where you want to go without making a transfer,” Poucket said.

“Sometimes the buses are on time, other times you can wait a while.”

That element of uncertainty is what discourages many people from utilizing the bus, and students or commuters who have no other options are forced to deal with it every day.

Unfortunately, the recovery has been very uneven; most major system improvements have been focused on streetcar expansion.

Streetcar lines have the highest frequencies during peak commute hours of all other transit lines in New Orleans, and more money has been allocated to streetcar service expansion than bus service expansion. Currently, work is almost complete on the brand new Rampart/St. Claude streetcar line that has been several years in the making.

Already the NORTA is planning for more expansions on this line; from St. Claude Avenue to the Riverfront via Elysian Fields Avenue and extending the line from its current terminus at Elysian Fields Avenue to Press Street, as outlined in the NORTA Board’s Future Service Plans.

While streetcars will always be an iconic and integral part of the

transit system in New Orleans, it begs the question if NORTA and other city leaders should re-focus their efforts in order to better serve transit riders, by improving bus lines as well as streetcar lines.

In addition to bus service lagging across New Orleans, there is also a lack of good transportation options to connect downtown New Orleans to the Louis Armstrong International Airport. For a student travelling by bus from UNO to the airport, the journey takes, on average, about 3 hours, and requires at least three buses.

Even worse, when transferring from the NORTA bus lines to the Jefferson Parish Transit (JeT) bus line, passengers have to pay a second fare. This current configuration causes many problems for UNO students from outside the state or country, often forcing them to pay for expensive cabs or Uber.

According to the NORTA’s Future Service Plan, some of these issues will be addressed in the next five year plan. Some of their goals and strategies include increasing transit access and reliability on weekdays and weekends and in late evenings to jobs, schools and neighborhoods. UNO students can only hope that these changes will be implemented quickly.

Dr. Kim Long appointed as new Dean of College of Liberal Arts

Dr. Kim Long was the Founding Dean of the School of Business and Humanities at Delaware Valley University.

Photo courtesy of DelVal

BY ANNA GOWIN Features Editor Dr. Kim Long, the recently appointed Dean of Liberal Arts, is

prioritizing harmony within the college as she takes her position.

This follows news that the College of Education and Human Development will be merging with the College of Liberal Arts.

While the merger was put in place by Kevin Graves, the department’s interim dean, Dr. Long said that completing the union is one of her biggest goals.

“The faculty at UNO are a committed group of people, and I believe that they will work with me collaboratively in moving things forward together. Identity and unity are my two biggest goals, and clearly there will need to be many small logistical decisions, plans and actions in getting there,” Dr. Long said.

The future dean made it clear, however, that she understands any anxiety on behalf of students and faculty regarding a move this big

within the college: “I understand that there is angst in any big change like this. People get used to certain ways of doing things, and in this case, their identities are changing.”

Dr. Long even joked that hopefully down the line, a more successful acronym than COLAEHD will be found. But, she said that she is certainly optimistic about the possibilities that will come from the merger.

“Everyone in the college is focused on human potential and performance. We all value creativity and passion. We have perhaps more similarities than we do differences. We need to get to know each other better, learn to respect each other’s discipline and practices and learn to live together in the same college, which doesn’t mean we all have to agree on everything or do everything the same,” Dr. Long said.

Dr. Long even hopes that programs like a strategic retreat in the upcoming academic year can help ease the transition for both students and faculty.

In regards to the relationship she hopes to foster between the UNO community and herself, Dr. Long said that she hopes to create a bond of trust in order to do her work successfully. “One of the things important to a new dean, apart from any plans or initiatives, [is] relationship building. That’s really my top priority,” she said.

“When I do my job well,” Dr. Long said, “I’m almost invisible.

The students and faculty will be able to learn and with things working as they should.”

When it comes to achieving that trust, Dr. Long emphasized collaboration and transparency between her and the students at UNO; “This takes a little time, but it’s import-

ant.”

“I do, however, have plans to hold some open hours for anyone, maybe in a central location. That should give anyone the opportunity to talk and ask questions,” Dr. Long said.

Dr. Long also hopes to ease any bumps that might arise through future financial obstacles for the university, despite the budget for higher education escaping significant cuts this year.

“One of the reasons I chose UNO was the leadership of Dr. John Nicklow, now set to assume the presidency of the university.

I have tremendous trust in him to manage the big picture financial plan and to be fair with the colleges as we move forward with our strategic goals in this shifting financial climate.”

Moving forward: New university president brings innovative ideas CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 “A fundamental thing we do here is educate and sometimes we measure the value of learning outcomes and achieving outcomes in interesting ways. One way we measure that is through different assessments including retention and graduation,” Nicklow said . “We want to increase

the learning achievements in the institution, because that’s fundamental to who we are. That’s the value we bring to our society, our community.”

Nicklow said that enrollment is the key to moving the university forward and keeping it competitive.

“From an institutional viewpoint, the majority of our funds at this point come through tuition. Not

from the state anymore. And so our success revolves around enrollment and that’s why often [for] many institutions today a healthy enrollment is important to the success of the future of the institution in terms of being able to have healthy facilities and hiring personnel.”

In the wake of the state’s financial crisis, when education and healthcare are taking the biggest hits in

budget cuts, Nicklow has chosen to put students first in anyway he can.

“Fundamentally, the decision to cover the TOPS shortfall was important to me and Dr. Moffett. We can talk about what it means financially, but at the end of the day, if I brought a student here, [the student is] a part of this family and we become committed,” said Nicklow.

“Faculty spend a lot of time and

investment in making sure [students] learn. [Students] spend a lot of time and effort in succeeding and studying and being engaged. [That student’s] engagement is helping another student’s engagement. This is how families work.”

Now this family may be looking at a robust future with countless opportunities as Dr. Nicklow, its newest father, has taken the lead.

FEATURES

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2016

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Grad student earns Armstrong scholarship

Oscar Rossignoli has used his Pianist extensive music background towards success.

Photo courtesy of Tilted Kilt Photography LLC

BY MINDY JARRETT Driftwood Staff University of New Orleans graduate student Oscar Rossignoli is the most recent recipient of The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Louis Armstrong Scholarship.

The $3,000 grant is awarded yearly to three young jazz composers, hailing from New York-based Queens College, Mount Vernon High School, also located in New York, and of course, UNO. Rossignoli’s musical excursions began about two thousand miles away from New Orleans in his

hometown, San Pedro Sula, Honduras. “My dad has a musical heart.

He played bass and guitar in rock bands in Honduras when he was young, but [he] didn’t do it professionally [in order] to search for a more stable career,” Rossignoli said.

Rossignoli’s acceptance to La Escuela Primaria de Aplicación Musical, which he described as “an elementary school that was mainly focused on music,” gave him the chance at a life his father gave up for him. From first to third grade, the school focused on teaching its students music theory and history.

First it was the recorder. Then, in fourth grade, the school assigned each student to an instrument.

Rossignoli secretly hoped to be assigned drums. “That was my first love with music.”

However, because the school focused on classical music, the drums were not an option. But when the school assigned ten-year-old Rossignoli to the piano, he didn’t blink an eye. “I just wanted to play some-

thing.”

Fast-forward some years to teenage Rossignoli, who grew up and expanded his dreams a bit further than the drums. “It was a dream of mine since I was little to come study music in the US, and I auditioned for several schools,” explained Rossignoli. But when a friend requested Oscar’s musical talents at the Louisiana State University’s graduation recital, fate took its course.

“I met the piano professor and then Director of the School of Music, Dr. Willis Delony, who is well versed in both classical and jazz music, which was what I wanted to keep working on at that point,” Rossignoli said. “That was the main reason I decided to attend LSU, to study with him.”

It was at LSU that Rossignoli acquired his undergraduate degree.

From there, he followed the Mississippi River down from Baton Rouge to New Orleans and is currently enrolled in the master’s program at UNO, where he is “learn-

ing and growing musically and as a human being with every experience and want to keep learning.”

New Orleans, to Rossignoli, is “overwhelming, in the best sense possible. My connection with music has gone so deep since I moved here almost two years ago. There are times when the music takes over. Almost every day here in New Orleans makes me feel outside of myself.”

Rossignoli’s immediate plan is to finish graduate school, and the ASCAP Louis Armstrong award only pushes that drive. “The ASCAP award, to me, is such an inspiration - an inspiration to work harder and keep creating music.”

In the future, Rossignoli dreams of branching out even further than New Orleans. “One thing I would love to do is play my music everywhere, go on tour with a trio or quintet, meeting new people, traveling a lot. In the end, everything that I am doing right now, I want to do it on a high level in every aspect of my life.”

Spotlight: Positive attitude propels UNO alumna Borrego

BY ALEXANDRA GARCIA Driftwood Staff Many students often feel the post-graduation crisis: “Was my degree worth it?” But for the 23-yearold Sarai “Betsy” Borrego, her time at the University of New Orleans has helped her swoop into her new chapter in life.

Borrego earned her film degree in 2015 from UNO. “I knew I always wanted to be an actress or at least something that involved film, so I figured the UNO film program was the best option for me,” said Borrego.

Student loans were thankfully not an issue for her because the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students (TOPS) greatly helped with her tuition. “Fortunately, I was blessed with the TOPS scholarship so I only had to come up with about $700 a semester which my mother helped me with,” Borrego said.

Her film degree and experience

at UNO has helped to connect her with people similar to herself so they are able to help through casting each other and assistance in filming short films. “Going to UNO put me in touch with many people interested in the same thing. Many talented people who are just ready to learn and make magic,” Borrego said.

When asked if she feels her degree has helped her out of college so far: “Honestly I think my degree didn’t really help me as of yet,” Borrego said.

However, her time at UNO has been an invaluable experience where she has met people that inspired and encouraged her to keep pushing forward with her dreams.

“All the professors believed in me and I’ve met some amazing, talented people,” Borrego said.

Those same people speak highly of Borrego as well. Blaire Pourciau, another actress who performed with Borrego in the play “Parsifal Worthy” by Mark Medoff, remembers

her outgoing personality.

“She had a really positive, creative energy. It was really easy to work with her. It was really cool that she was able to characterize that, going from someone on the street to someone who has a family.

It was really beautiful,” Pourciau said.

She currently works at Starbucks as a barista and for the NBA as a Swoop Troop member. The Swoop Troop is the entertainment team for the New Orleans basketball team the Pelicans.

Borrego, like most students, did not have a steady career lined up.

She has an agent that always sends her to auditions, and she is always working on film projects whether through her friends, agent or writing a script.

She works tirelessly to move her career forward and still has a good time doing it. Even as a Starbucks employee, Borrego can be found half-joking half-seriously discussing ideas for a Starbucks musical

“Betsy” Borrego’s undying positive attitude about her future career and endeavors could inspire anyone.

Photo by Steve Hammond

featuring the regulars and coworkers.

Borrego’s undying positive attitude about her future career and endeavors could inspire anyone. She continues to work toward her goals of becoming an actress while also giving her full attention to other

commitments.

If she could change anything about her past decisions, Borrego said, “I honestly wouldn’t do anything differently. Like I said, UNO inspired me to just keep following my dreams.”

6

FEATU

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2016

MAN ON THE STREET

What advice wou

RUBÉN Senior

HOPE TERRANCE Senior, Film & Theatre

CHLOE WILLIAMS Sophomore, Theatre

I would tell myself to meet graduate students earlier than I did. They are fantastic people who are always looking for workers on their thesis film. Try to get an internship early and stop procrastinating so much in fear. Don’t think of it as a rejection, because they are looking at you to be a solution for them.

Get out of your room. Get out of your class. Get in your car and drive off into the distance so no one can find you only to realize years down the road that no matter how far you run away from your problems nothing will fill the black hole of your heart and soul.

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8

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2016

ENTERTAINMENT

Williams’ “Orpheus” descends on UNO campus

BY LONES GAGNARD Driftwood Staff For almost the entire month of March, leading into April, Orpheus descended on UNO’s campus.

Southern Rep partnered with UNO to stage a 20-day run of the rarely performed Tennessee Williams play.

“Orpheus Descending,” directed

by Jef Hall-Flavin and performed in the Robert E. Nims Theatre, is a drama about loss, how people deal with it and what happens when it catches up to you.

Set in a general store in the south, “Orpheus Descending” tells the story of what happens when an outgoing, artistic man gets caught up in a conservative society way before “Footloose” ever did. Valentine Xavier (Todd d’Amour) is an ex-hustler who is on his last leg, desperate for a job, roaming from town to town. After spending his first night in jail, Val is taken to the

general store, which is owned by Jabe Torrance (Carl Palmer), but due to health reasons is run by his wife, Lady (Irene Glezos).

Upon arrival, he immediately attracts the attention of Carol Cutrere (Beth Bartley), the local exhibitionist who is immediately smitten with Val, as many other women are.

After being offered a job by Lady, Val and Lady grow closer under the nose of her husband Jabe, who sits on a darkly colored throne wearing a red coat resembling Lucifer himself.

Carrying the performance of the entire play was the raw emotion behind Lady, portrayed by Glezos.

The emotions produced by the circumstances of Lady’s life come forward in Lady’s screams of desperation and other nuances of Glezos’ performance. In memoriam of her father, Lady builds a confectionery that would act as a hot spot for youth like her father’s orchard was once upon a time. The grand open-

ing of her confectionery is the only thing lady has to look forward to and is the only thing keeping her from going before Val, and when the audience gets to experience it, it is easy to feel Lady’s joy.

“Orpheus Descending” had a large cast of supporting actors who surrounded the stage on all sides, as backstage sprawled out around the theatre. There was a lot going on constantly, whether it was nine townspeople running through the audience or a man conjuring spells that changed the direction of the play, truly immersing the audience in the action.

The set resembled the ruins of a medieval church which did add to Jabe’s ominousness, and the overall themes of what it means to judge and be judged. Hall-Flavin left a lot up to the audience’s imagination ,whether it was through metaphorical speaking or a change to the final act of the play.

Although “Orpheus Descending”

Both Val (Todd d’Amour) and Carol (Beth Bartley) are out to prove something to themselves, a common theme in Tennessee Williams’ “Orpheus Decending.”

Photo by John B. Barrois

was broad in its scope, it achieved what the play wanted to do. Combining two genres that are split by hundreds of years is never easy and staging a play of that combination may be the most difficult way to do it. The lesson learned from “Orpheus and Eurydice” was present

in the play; humans will fight back against all oppression and threat for the people they love. Unfortunately, more than love was carried from the old Greek tragedy, as Williams shows us that love does not always conquer.

One-take film “Victoria” impresses with improvisation

BY CHLOE GAGNON News Editor Editing is a stylized art form. It’s weird to think of editing as an art form, but it really is. If two editors were given the same material to edit, it would not come out the same way, therefore, it is an art form.

“Victoria,” a 2015 film by Sebastian Schipper, is a two-hour, 18-minute film that involved no picture editing. The film was produced in one single take, an impressive feat.

Instead of having roughly 60 scenes with approximately 10-20 different shots in each scene, the production team shot it straight through, beginning to end, without stopping the camera. The cameraman followed the characters the entire time whether it be in a club, a car or walking down the street.

Because the camera is continuous the whole time, the film is in real

time, meaning there are no jumps in time like in most movies. One of the great things about film is that a film can take place over the course of minutes (if it’s a short film), hours, days or years (For example: “Boyhood”).

“Victoria” is about a girl named Victoria, played by Laia Costa, who is originally from Spain, working and living in Berlin, Germany for the summer. While out clubbing one night, she meets a group of guys who convince her to hang out with them. Eventually, they ask her for a favor: to drive them somewhere. They end up robbing a bank and being chased by the police.

The story is just as intriguing to watch as the film because it is about a bank heist. The first half of the film focuses on the characters getting to know each other. The second half shows the bank heist and the police chase. What makes this film appealing is that even though

it’s about robbing a bank, it doesn’t seem like it. Unless one knows that that part is coming, he or she would never suspect it.

After the robbery, they get to safety, cheer and party. Even Victoria does this, though she just met them and is not a criminal like the others.

The internet is full of people pointing out mistakes to be seen, such as hearing panting from the cameraman or hearing two car doors instead of one. With a goal of doing the entire film in one take in 22 locations, mistakes are bound to happen. With only a 12-page script, most of the dialogue was improvised.

IMDb stated: “In the scene right after the bank robbery, Laia Costa actually forgot where to drive and takes the wrong turn. Everyone’s outburst of panic in the car is completely genuine as they were risking filming crew members and thus ru-

ining the whole take. Even the director Sebastian Schipper, who was lying in the trunk of the car, started screaming directions in sheer panic.

His screaming was later removed during audio editing. The car actually ended up driving past crew members but none of them can be seen thanks to the cameraman who reacted quickly by filming from a much lower angle so as not to have any windows in the frame.”

Costa dominates the screen with her wild, carefree attitude, never stopping the entire time she is on screen. She begins and ends the film in a cinematic way—alone and free.

The only part that took me out of the cinematic experience is when twice, soundtrack music was added. The only other music was in the club when it was source music, meaning the audience could detect where it was coming from. Because everything was so realistic and in real-time with no editing, when

Photo courtesy of Adopt Films

there was an edit, it took me out of the story world.

The innovativeness is definitely a reason to check out this film, if nothing else. It is impressive and entertaining.

ENTERTAINMENT

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2016

9

“Daredevil” season 2 is a duel between law & order

BY CHARLES NICHOLSON Managing Editor There’s something about Marvel’s Netflix series that is a cut above any of the live-action content that either Marvel or DC have put out, including the films. The acting, screenplay, cinematography, all of it is top-notch production and season two of “Daredevil” didn’t disappoint.

In the aftermath of Wilson Fisk’s (Vincent D’Onofrio) downfall, Matthew Murdock (Charlie Cox), secretly the infamous Daredevil vigilante, enjoys a time of relative ease as as Fisk’s crime syndicate is dismantled.

Hell’s Kitchen is dragged into turmoil once more as a mysterious new vigilante Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal), later dubbed as the Punisher, is caught mass murdering other criminals and Murdock dons the red suit once more to defend his city.

The conflict between the two is a battle of ideologies. Murdock’s idea of justice is through the legal system. Those who have committed wrongdoings can only be judged in a court of law or by God. Castle’s view is that the only way to permanently keep criminals off the street is through death. The plot highlights

the unseen barrier between upholding the law and creating order, and boy is it a joy to watch.

Punisher’s expertise in military-grade weapons prove to be one of Daredevil’s most challenging threats and even when he manages to get into close-quarters, Punisher doesn’t back down. There is an episode where Daredevil is captured and Punisher forces him to make an impossible decision in order to save an innocent man. Watching Murdock struggle with saving a life while not giving up his code is both heart-breaking and mesmerizing.

Interestingly, this conflict is only one short arc within a much larger story as Punisher is arrested early within the season and continues his battle in prison.

Meanwhile the Nelson and Murdock law firm has not been seeing much success since they put away Fisk. Their method of taking on clients for free in hopes of gaining a reputation has brought them to the brink of bankruptcy. Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) get some activity when they make the bizarre decision to take up Castle as a client. Taking on a mass-murderer was difficult enough, but it was made even more bothersome by the fact that D.A. Samantha Reyes (Michelle Hurd) has it out for Castle

and will do anything to maximize his own punishment.

Unfortunately for Murdock, as much as he wants to help his friends in the case, he’s been pulled into more troubles as the Daredevil when his former lover, Elektra Natchios (Elodie Yung), returns to New York. She’s learned some things in the underbelly of the criminal world and has found that the Yakuza have made a return to Hell’s Kitchen.

However there is something much deeper and more sinister going that will be revealed later.

The introduction to Elektra opens up a new plotline in the season, seperate of Punisher’s, and they never really connect throughout the season. Whether or not that’s positive thing is purely up to the viewer, but the two stories never take away from one another so it’s never bad.

As for character portrayals, Bernthal and Yung kill it as Punisher and Elektra respectively. As a damaged man, Castle isn’t just a senseless murderer, but a man trying to find closure after a life tragedy. And Elektra is a seductive warrior with a mean streak and quite a few secrets of her own.

The usual cast is just as good as last season. The friendship between Murdock, Nelson and Page is so realistic that when there is trouble in the waters you really can’t help

but feel for the characters’ relationships.

Visually, the cinematography is up to par. Fighting sequences are so well done and easy to follow and you’re almost never want for action. Remember the hallway scene in episode two of last season? They manage to pull off something simi-

Photo courtesy of Netflix

lar but better this time around.

Daredevil season two takes the chance at introducing not one, but two major players in the series and the payoff is glorious. The season is never met with a dull moment and you’ll be right alongside Murdock trying to decide what’s right and what’s wrong.

“Zootopia” provides humor for young, insight for old

BY THANH NGUYEN Driftwood Contributor Disney’s new animated film “Zootopia” is a film so timely and relevant, it’s almost startling. In America, where craziness, hatefulness and fear is being further instilled in the general public by the very same people who should be fighting against it, “Zootopia” manages to send deep messages about the failings of our society, while also retaining subtle humor for adults and face value entertainment for kids.

In a world populated by human-like mammals, Judy Hopps, a rabbit from rural Bunnyburrow, fulfills her dream of becoming the first rabbit officer in the police department of the nearby city Zootopia. Upon arrival, she is assigned to parking duty by Chief Bogo, an African buffalo who doubts her potential due to being a small, non-intimidating rabbit. During one of her shifts, she meets Nick Wilde, a con artist fox.

Later, Hopps abandons her shift to arrest a thief, but she is reprimanded by Bogo and nearly fired until Mrs. Otterton, an otter, arrives pleading for help locating her missing husband – one of many animals recently missing in Zootopia. To Bogo’s dismay, Hopps volunteers and agrees to resign if she cannot solve the case within 48 hours. She sees Wilde in the last known photo of Otterton and tracks him down,

coercing him into assisting her with the investigation.

As you can probably tell, this is a film about both racism and sexism, two features of society that will probably never go away as long as humans roam the Earth, do not have to be such amplified forces of hate. Screenwriters Jared Bush and Paul Johnston carefully construct a world predicated upon a particular dream, and within that world, populate it with a variety of characters, some labeled as normative, others quietly labeled as the enemy that many are waiting to step out of line. It doesn’t take a scholar to see that rabbits represent women in society, while predators represent minorities.

Countless animated films have made themselves about preaching the gospel of acceptance and loving thy neighbor, but few have done it with the kind of thematic relevance, consistent wit and zealous energy as Zootopia. Rather than sticking to a cleverly storyboarded, intricate plot, Bush and Johnston allow Judy and Nick to free-roam in a sandbox full of original characters and conversational or situational humor.

There are also uproariously funny scenes that are hidden to children, but greatly appreciated by adults, such as the sloths at the DMV, references to the TV show “Breaking Bad” and the film “The Godfather,” rabbit multiplication jokes, etc. The film is full of ideas and energy, and the

animation is smooth and incredibly detailed throughout with an extreme amount of colour and texture. “Zootopia” packs a punch

with a talented cast, a fun screenplay, crazy action and a whole lot of awesome music by Giacchino.

This is one of the most brilliant

pieces of work by Disney and will undoubtedly do wonders in both domestic and international box offices.

LAGNIAPPE

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2016

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SPORTS

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2016

11

UNO baseball drops series finale against Troy Women’s

Tennis soars over weekend

BY NIGEL WASHINGTON Editor-in-Chief The University of New Orleans (18-10, 4-5 SLC) baseball team split a doubleheader against Troy (20-13, 12-8 SLC) over the weekend, but dropped the final game and the series on Sunday at Riddle-Race Field.

Sophomore pitcher Shawn Semple had another outstanding performance in the series opener on Friday. The 6-foot-11 ace held Troy to only two runs in the sixth inning and shut out the Trojan’s bats prior.

In six innings of work, Semple recorded five strikeouts on three hits and two runs.

New Orleans head coach Blake Dean said Temple’s arm tightened up a bit earlier in the game, “but we loosened it back up and he gave us a great outing tonight.

Meanwhile, the offense for the Privateers started off slowly as well, but was still ahead of Troy thanks to Semple’s work on the mound.

UNO managed two runs in the third and fourth innings thanks to field errors by the Troy infield and clutch batting with two outs already on the board.

The Privateers exploded in the seventh and eighth innings, scoring four runs before junior catcher Kyle Bracy soared a three-run homer to expand the lead.

Troy would make some noise late in the game with four runs in the ninth, but the wave would eventually go out as UNO took a game one, 10-4 victory.

BY NIGEL WASHINGTON Editor-in-Chief

Sophomore pitcher Shawn Semple led the Privateers to their lone weekend victory over Troy on Friday.

Photo coutesy of Ron O’Rourke | UNO Athletics

In game two later in the day, the Trojans jumped out to an early 3-0 lead off a three-run homer to left field. Troy would score four more runs before the Privateers managed to get their first man across home plate in the sixth inning.

With a 7-1 score, UNO clawed their way back with smart, aggressive base running.

Junior Sam Capielano and sophomore Jay Robinson both stole second in the seventh inning, helping the Privateers score three runs and cut into the deficit.

The team was also able to put up two more runs in the eighth inning, but couldn’t come finish the rally in the ninth and dropped the second game 9-6.

In the final game of the series, the Privateers found themselves down

6-3 in the third inning.

Freshman pitcher Bryan Warzek started off strong in the first two innings, sitting down the Trojans in order with no hits given up or walked batters.

Warzek looked to start the third inning the same way as he sat down the first batter with a strikeout, but a single and a walk by the Trojans eventually turned into a six run inning that led to Warzek being pulled mid-inning.

“I thought we’d get a good outing from him,” Dean said. “He gave up a base hit and a walk and it kind of snowballed. A six spot is just too hard to recover from.”

The Privateers couldn’t recover from it either as the offense stalled, only scoring one run for the remainder of the game.

Dean praised the Trojan pitchers on their location throughout the game.

“Their pitchers filled up the bottom of the zone and everything they missed was down. They didn’t miss up very much. That pays off in the long run.”

UNO couldn’t rally back and dropped the final game of the series, 9-4.

The Privateers will finish their four game road trip today against South Alabama and will begin a seven game home stand, starting with a weekend series against Southland Conference rival McNeese State.

First pitch for the South Alabama game is for 6:30 p.m.

The women’s tennis team (114, 5-3 SLC) had a great weekend, going undefeated against Arkansas State at home in the University Tennis Center and Southeastern (11-7, 5-4) in Hammond, La. The Lady Privateers were close to a sweep in their road contest against Arkansas State on Saturday at the University Tennis Center.

UNO dominated Arkansas State throughout, controlling both doubles and singles matches.

The Privateers held the Red Wolves to only one point in a singles match en route to a 6-1 victory to kick off the weekend.

On Sunday, the lady’s team had a close finish against Southeastern.

UNO was able to capture the first point of the day with two doubles wins.

Southeastern kept the contest tight with three singles victories.

UNO had three wins as well, but earned the 4-3 victory with the doubles competition.

After a midweek road matchup against Louisiana Tech on Tuesday, the Lady Privateers will finish their three game trip on Friday against Nichols State.