Volume: 60 Issue: 7

THE COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW ORLEANS Volume: 60 Issue: 7

unodriftwood.com

OCTOBER 19, 2016

HOW DOES UNO STACK UP?

BY MINDY JARRETT Copy Editor The University of New Orleans reported a total of 8,037 students for the 2016 fall semester; 48 percent of whom are male and 52 percent of whom are female.

The data comes from the Office of Institutional Research, which releases enrollment summaries based on the first 14 days of classes for the spring and fall semesters and the first seven days of classes for the summer term.

While the male-to-female ratio of students is relatively close, both age and ethnicity show larger gaps.

A small majority of all students 57 percent - fall in the 18-24 age range. Students who identify as white make up 54 percent of all students, while only 15 percent of all students identify as black and only 11 percent of all students identify as Hispanic.

The majority of the university’s students hail from Louisiana - 87

percent, and 7 percent represent other parts of the United States.

Every state is represented except for Alaska, Idaho, Nebraska, Nevada, Vermont and Wyoming. Excluding Louisiana, the majority of the university’s U.S. students come

from Texas, 66; Florida, 44; and Mississippi, 36.

The percentage of international students almost matches the number of “other U.S. citizens.”

Students from 70 different countries attend the university, making

up 6 percent of the total number enrolled. The top three countries represented at the university are: India, 68; Saudi Arabia, 63; and Nepal, 56.

Of the 8,037 total students enrolled at UNO this semester, 80

8037 48%

By the NUMBERS

52% female

male

4191 Most popular college Least popular college

Sciences

3846

2002 Education

332

Top state enrollment

Texas

66

Florida

44

total students

6443 1595

undergrad

graduate

Top country enrollment

India

68

Saudi Arabia

63

percent are undergraduates. The College of Sciences has the highest enrollment with 31 percent of those undergraduates, and the 14 percent of undergraduates majoring in biological sciences make it the prevailing major. Though the College of Education and Human Development merged with the College of Liberal Arts on July 1 to become the College of Liberal Arts, Education, and Human Development, or COLAEHD, the report lists the College of Education on its own, and it has the lowest enrollment among undergraduates.

COLAEHD’s Foreign Languages major has the lowest enrollment among undergraduates, with only 16 students enrolled.

Postgraduate students make up the remaining 20 percent enrolled.

The most-populous college among postgraduates is COLAEHD, with 32 percent representation, while the College of Engineering, with only 11 percent of postgraduates, is the least-populous.

Honors Student Council helps to bring awareness to mental illness

BY ANJANAE CRUMP Driftwood Contributor According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, one in five adults experience a mental health illness in a given year. NAMI is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness.

This past week, the Honors Student Council at the University of New Orleans participated in various events in order help further the cause and raise awareness.

“NAMI holds a special place in my heart as someone who has mental health issues. I think it’s important that we raise awareness and show that you can do anything, regardless of all that,” said UNO Honors Student Council President Michelle Butcher. “Yes, I’m the president of Honors, and yes, I have a mental illness, and I’m here every year walking to ‘stamp out stigma.’”

Butcher was not alone. Hundreds of walkers gathered at Audubon park on Saturday morning to help raise awareness. Many of them were affected by mental illness in some way.

“Depression’s affected me in ways that I don’t think a lot of

people would anticipate. It’s hard to make commitments to things when you anticipate having a depressive episode. I’ve gotten better about it, but you say you’re going to do something Saturday, and then you don’t want to wake up. You get physical symptoms; obviously, the mental is a part of it, too, but it hurts relationships because people don’t understand, usually.

They think you’re just lazy,” said Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance walker Rosa Johnson.

“This walk is important to me because I really believe that the more people come out and take the stigma-free pledge and support mental illness, then we don’t have to hide anymore. We don’t have to be afraid and make excuses on why we can’t do this or live in this perpetual madness anymore,” Johnson added.

Dominique Augustine, a walker with JenCare Medical Center and a victim of postpartum depression, said, “I think it’s important that people know that there’s help. A lot of people suffer with mental illness and they don’t get help or are probably unaware of what’s out here for them.”

Organizations like NAMI and Stamp Out Stigma work to open the dialogue on mental health and offer the very help that Butcher, Johnson and Augustine cite as im-

portant. NAMI offers various services, including mental education courses, support groups, a HelpLine, and various events like the NAMIWalk.

The Honors Student Council recently put together a few of their own events in order raise money

day, Oct. 10 and we raised only about $80, which is why we’re actually doing a part deux, if you will, on Oct. 24 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. outside the UC, and all proceeds will continue to go to this wonderful organization.”

Butcher added, “For the first

Grassroots organizers for the National Alliance on Mental Illness raise awareness through marching at Audubon Park.

Photo by Brennan Probst

for NAMI. “The goal of all our events,” said Butcher, “[the goal of] the thrift sale, the bake sale, and things of that nature, is simply to raise funds to help [NAMI] to continue, since they are a nonprofit. So we held a bake sale on Sept. 26 and raised $300. We had a thrift sale on Mon-

[thrift sale], a lot of people said they wished they’d have known earlier because they wanted to donate…

So we’re going to go ahead and do a second event so that we can get more people involved. Counseling services will be co-programming with us to help talk about mental health, and October is Depression

Awareness Month, so they’re going to be having some information on that as well. It’s going to be a good time.”

While participating in the upcoming thrift sale is one way to get involved, Butcher explained that there are many other ways. “You can become a member of NAMI yourself as an individual; you can participate in any of their outside fundraising activities, and they have things going on all over the city, all year. Students can make teams on their own and raise money with their own different fundraisers, like we’ve done, or they can volunteer with NAMI. They’re always looking for volunteers for different things. There’s a bunch of different ways you can get involved.”

However, some acts of support require nothing more than what’s already inside of you. Emily Holley, a walker with Mid City Rotary said, “Just show your support to your friends and loved ones and strangers and anybody.”

To learn more about NAMI visit www.nami.org, and to take the Stamp out Stigma pledge, visit www.stampoutstigma.com. Students may also call Counseling Services at 504-280-6683 for help on campus.

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2016

NEWS

UNO hosts panel discussion on inequality, race in America

BY KELLEY DAVIS Driftwood Staff Louisiana Public Broadcasting (LPB) and the Alexis de Tocqueville Project at the University of New Orleans hosted a panel discussion on Oct. 4 to explore issues of economic and political inequality. The panel included speakers Jarvis DeBerry from The Times Picayune, as well as Swarthmore College associate professor of Political Science Benjamin Berger.

Chris Surprenant, associate professor of philosophy and director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Project at UNO, moderated the panel discussion.

French historian Alexis de Tocqueville wrote about a political “equality of conditions” in America in the 1830s. He observed the way the lack of nobility titles shaped its people and the democratic process. The panel explored what Tocqueville’s writ-

ings can teach about equality in present-day Louisiana.

The talk began with a three-minute clip from “Dream On,” a documentary focusing on the rising inequality and the American dream. It pointed out that the top 1 percent of Americans own more than the 150 million Americans in the nation put together.

“Go back to the nineteenth century, and Tocqueville’s prose speaks to people on both the left and the right side,” said Berger.

“In elections, neither side wants to be pushed around by the other side because that’s when you welcome in a strong government with police power and military power.

Are we up to that?”

“I think it’s impossible to talk about [inequality] without talking about race,” DeBerry said. “I don’t think there has ever been a time in New Orleans where there isn’t gaping inequality.”

DeBerry also said that many black people in poor neighbor-

hoods in the city of New Orleans don’t think there is much that elected city officials can do about the problem of race inequality.

“Most people expect to be ignored.”

Berger took the stage again to touch on Tocqueville one last time: “Tocqueville is very depressed on the state of relations in the U.S. He calls slavery not only a moral evil, but inefficient.

For Tocqueville, the beginning of things is really important. He believed that going back to the beginning of anything told you what the trajectory of something would be.”

DeBerry finished by addressing race relations that affect the community: “It’s taxing and it’s weary. It may not seem there’s anything you can do when there is a lack of control of black workers have over their schedules. They can’t get a second job, they can’t make it to appointments. It creates a sense of exhaustion.”

Progressive Black Student Union hosts another successful fashion show

BY SUMMER PIERCE Driftwood Contributor On Sept. 30, the University of New Orleans’ Progressive Black Student Union hosted its annual fashion show. The event first began last year with the election of the club’s new president.

“We have our heritage ball that’s in the spring semester, but when I became president, since I’m very into fashion, I’ve always wanted to throw my own fashion show,” said PBSU President Crystal Suggs. “That was basically the deciding factor for us to do it the first time around.”

The event was a major success.

“It turned out to be the most-attended event on a Friday night for UNO,” said Suggs.

“So this year we were like, you know, we have to max it out,” said Suggs. The money made from the fashion show will be used to give one incoming African American freshmen a scholarship.

“60 percent of the funds go toward the scholarship. The other 40 percent goes back into the organization,” explained Suggs.

“In order to put on these events, of course, we have to have money for them. But the majority, of course, is going to go towards the scholarship.”

PBSU’s main focus is helping the community, so the scholarship is essential to achieve their goal.

“We know not everybody is able to afford tuition, so what better way to help alleviate that stress

UNO Diversity Celebration slated for Oct. 21 - Nov. 1

BY LEO CASTELL Driftwood Staff The University of New Orleans’ Diversity Celebration will begin on Friday, October 21 and last through Tuesday, November 1. The event, which is also known as Diversity Week, sponsored UNO’s Diversity Affairs and is meant to promote involvement and engagement in the UNO community.

Graduate Assistant Matthew Farley is helping to coordinate the event which is hosted by several student and departmental organizations. “The main initiative is to engage the UNO community in a multitude of diverse experiences,” said Farley.

Diversity Week is a regularly occurring event at UNO put on during the fall and spring semesters.

The events include everything from a book discussion about “The Jungle Book,” to a forum about internet horror stories or “creepypastas.”

Some of the organizations sponsoring these events include UNO Genshiken Anime Club, the Honors Program, the International Student Organization, the Honors Student Council, UNO Counseling Services and The Office of Service Learning and Institutional Community Engagement (SLICE) among others.

“All events, whether they are sponsored by one student organization or department, concern

themselves with diversity directly or indirectly. For Diversity Affairs, engaging in the UNO community through a variety of activities and methods is the primary mission for our department,” said Farley.

All of the events are free with the exception of Test of Courage, sponsored by Genshiken Anime Club, which costs $5 to participate. Test of Courage is a haunted house-like event taking place from 8-11p.m. on October 21- 23 in the wooded area near Privateer Place.

The UNO Creative Writing Workshop will host a poetry reading by poets Rodrigo Toscano and Kelly Harris on October 26 from 8-11p.m. in Liberal Arts room 197. The UNO Honors Student Council and UNO Counseling Services will host a thrift sale in support of the New Orleans Chapter of National Alliance on Mental Illness on October 24 from 10a.m.- 2p.m. in the University Center. The New Orleans Civic Symphony will also play in the Performing Arts Center Recital Hall on October 23 from 7- 10 p.m. These and many other programs and events will be made available throughout the day, every day except October 30 for just over a week.

The majority of the events will also provide free food and beverages and all events are open to the public. For more information visit the Office of Diversity Affairs’ website at www.uno.edu/ diversity-affairs.

Sweet and spooky book sale slated for Halloween

BY LINDSAY MAXIE UNO’s Progressive Black Student Union-sponsored fashion show particiants show off original creations.

Courtesy of PBSU

than to give a scholarship to a UNO freshman?”

“It also welcomes the student to the university, and hopefully to the organization, so it’s just a no-brainer for us that we want to be able to give to the community because we love doing community service so in this way we’re actually able to provide something of our own to our students.”

The scholarship information will be available online within the next month.

“A lot of scholarships are based off of GPA. Ours is based off of GPA, of course, but it’s not the deciding factor. The scholarship recipient has to be able to provide us with a form of spoken art - it could be a painting, a poem, a song - and they have to submit a video along with the scholarship application that pertains to

the black community.” Suggs explained that these requirements are not as intimidating as a standard essay-based scholarship. “If you’re actually able to use your creative mind to come up with something that’s well-written, well-versed, well-painted, then you feel like you have a better chance of winning it.”

Once the information is available, applicants may submit their applications, which the PBSU board will review before choosing a recipient.

This year, we have way more well-known performers and we also have a purpose for it, and people love to support a purpose especially a scholarship and especially education,” said Suggs.

“We want it to always be bigger and better; we want it to improve every year.”

Driftwood Staff Sigma Tau Delta is hosting a used book sale for University of New Orleans students and faculty on Oct. 31 from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

This Halloween-themed book sale is offering used college textbooks and a wide selection of novels for leisure reading. Sigma Tau Delta will also be selling bookmarks and allowing students and faculty to trade books.

“The books are our main attraction, of course; but I think our Halloween theme and our affordability will draw people in, too,” said Sigma Tau Delta Vice President Claudia Smith. “The books will all be reasonably priced, and we are selling homemade bookmarks as well. Plus, students have the option to swap a book, rather than buy one. If they bring a dollar and a used book of their own, they can trade it for one of ours.”

Sigma Tau Delta, the university’s international English honor society, has recently seen mem-

bership decrease due to many officers graduating. Their Halloween used book sale seeks to establish their presence on campus and benefit the English Department.

“We’re very excited about our fundraiser. It’s an ambitious endeavor for such a small student organization, but we truly believe it can be successful. It’s something that will be fun for students, and it will benefit our English department,” said Smith.

Sigma Tau Delta would like to use this fundraiser as a tool to reward some of the teachers and students involved for all of their hard work and accomplishments.

“The proceeds will go towards teaching awards for the English department and student awards for the dedicated members of our honor society,” said Smith.

This event will take place in front of the library, and will be complemented by the university’s honors program who will host a bake sale one table over. Both organizations encourage students to stop by to grab a treat and a good read this Halloween.

NEWS

Honor societies join forces to support Denham Springs school

BY LINDSAY MAXIE Driftwood Staff The University of New Orleans Kappa Delta Epsilon chapter was aided by Sigma Tau Delta in holding a school supply drive for the teachers and students of Denham Springs High School.

On Aug. 12, Denham Springs High School closed its doors after sustaining four feet of water during a life-changing flood. After this catastrophic event, many citizens came together to donate items to areas affected.

After donations were made and the news briefly covered the story, society moved forward and began looking at this event as something in the past. However, many students and teachers of the Denham Springs area are still being affected.

Flood victims in the Denham Springs area still search to find a stable environment, while families try to put the pieces of their lives back together. Denham

Springs High School Mathematics Teacher Jordyn Riviere said, “The flood took away everything from us, including our sense of normalcy.”

“We have partnered with Live Oaks High School in order to provide our students with an education while our school remains closed. Since we are teaching Denham Springs students after Live Oaks is dismissed, most students do not get home until 6:30 p.m. or later.”

Home does not hold the same meaning to students anymore; their home is now a friend or family member’s house, or a gutted home they return to at night.

Having a home and school were two things these kids could count on, and now they have lost both.”

This flood took place during the beginning of the school year, shortly after parents had just purchased uniforms and school supplies. Many students have lost everything and no longer have the essentials needed to succeed in school. This places an extra

financial responsibility on teachers, who are using their own paychecks to purchase supplies for students whose parents cannot afford them at the moment.

“The students had anywhere from two to ten feet of water in their homes. Their families were worried about getting out safely and had to leave everything behind. This resulted in schoolbags being ruined with all of their new textbooks and supplies inside of them for the new school year.”

The parent’s first concern is fixing their home, which is demanding a lot of time and money.

This leaves our students coming to class asking us for looseleaf, pencils, and calculators,” said Riviere.

Although most of Louisiana has moved on since August 12, many continue to be affected, and many will continue to be affected for months to come. The effects of the catastrophic flood continue to compromise the education of students daily.

New Planned Parenthood clinic opens on Claiborne Avenue, despite protests

BY BRITTANY KARNO Driftwood Staff In July 2015, anti-abortion activist David Daleiden and his organization released staged videos aiming to prove that Planned Parenthood had sold fetal tissue for profit. Although the videos were proved to be misleading, and its creators jailed, some states began to defund Planned Parenthood, including Louisiana.

A Louisiana state law passed in February has limited the state to two abortion clinics. According to the New York Times, under the new law, physicians must have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital in order to perform abortions.

On July 5, Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast CEO Melaney Linton reported a victory for New Orleans as a new Planned Parenthood health center opened on South

Claiborne Avenue.

“This victory didn’t come easy.

From the day Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast announced plans to build a new health center, its opponents were on the attack,” said Linton.

Linton continued to catalog the hurdles faced in opening the new clinic. She alluded to an arson hate crime that took place last summer, where New Orleans Fire Department found a burning vehicle parked inside a locked gate at the Planned Parenthood construction site.

The new Planned Parenthood clinic, located at 4636 South Claiborne Avenue, offers abortion referral, birth control, general health care, STD and HIV testing, men’s health care, emergency contraception, pregnancy testing and services, treatment and vaccines, and women’s health care.

According to Nola.com, on September 30, Louisiana Gov-

ernor John Bel Edwards and Attorney General Jeff Landry, both of whom oppose abortion, announced that they have come to an agreement in order to defend Louisiana’s abortion restrictions.

Edwards indicated that he will provide Landry with more resources so that Landry’s team can further investigate Medicaid fraud.

On May 23, Louisiana approved a bill that restricts tax dollars from funding any organization that performs abortions, but Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast and three Planned Parenthood patients disputed the funding cut in federal court.

In August 2015, former Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal sought to stop Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood.

On Sept. 14, the 5th U.S. Circuit of Appeals prevented Louisiana from defunding Planned Parenthood.

FOR BETTER OR WORSE

La. Attorney General Jeff Landry blocks LGBTQ protections in workplace

New Orleans to double traffic safety cameras in 2017

New Orleans postpones voting on short-term rentals (again)

Rob Reiner’s LBJ film opens New Orleans film festival

New provost for UNO found after months of searching

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2016

QUESTION OF THE WEEK What restaurant would you like to come to campus?

I could go for a McDonalds.

The stuff on campus is a little pricey, so having a budget option would be nice. I just want something quick.

JOHN DUONG Computer Sciences, Sophomore

Mediterranean food, maybe something like Shishkabob House in Metairie. On campus you can’t find Arabic food, you can’t find Asian food. We’re trying to get Arabic food, maybe it’ll happen one day.

FAISAL ALSHAREEDAH Civil Engineering, Sophomore

I would like Chinese food, like Chopsticks, this restaurant on the West Bank. It has all my favorite food like Chinese food, sushi, shrimp and all of that.

WALEED SALEH Civil Engineering, Sophomore

I’m from California, so I would like In-n-Out. I love it and I miss it. The Animal Fries make it the best.

CHELSEA LION Biology, Junior

Smoothie King would be the best addition to campus. I know there’s one close by, but if we had one on campus, I could just get a smoothie anytime in between classes.

NATHAN NGUYEN Mechanical Engineering, Sophomore

Compiled by Nathan Nguyen

3

4

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2016

SPORTS

UNO Sailing Club competes in first invitational regatta

From left to right: Morrgan Haack, Emily Digiovanna, and Nigel Watkins placed fourth in the UNO Sailing Club’s first-ever invitational regatta, beating out nationally-ranked teams.

Photo coutesy of UNO Athletics

BY JAMIE LLOYD Driftwood Staff The University of New Orleans Sailing Club participated in their first-ever invitational regatta hosted by RICE University in Houston during the first weekend of Octo-

ber. Three UNO students from the club (senior Emily Digiovanna, sophomore Nigel Watkins, and club president Morrgan Haack) were selected to compete and gained some valuable experience in the process, having placed fourth overall in their first regatta, beating out nationally-ranked universities.

Morrgan Haack, junior in NAME (naval architecture and marine engineering), said he is proud of their achievements in the world of SEISA district college sailing. “This is the best that UNO’s done since Katrina. It’s been awhile since UNO’s raced that well.”

The regatta, a series of compet-

itive boat races, is an alumni event dubbed by RICE as “Owlpalooza” that largely draws in teams from high-profile state colleges in the region, such as Texas A&M and Baylor; however, other teams closer to home, such as Tulane, made appearances alongside UNO. RICE alumni supported housing and travel costs for all teams that participated, making it an affordable event for competition and camaraderie among the university sailing community in the SEISA district.

Haack hopes to expand the sailing club in the next few semesters to take on more exciting challenges, training students into sailors. “We get people that don’t know how to sail all the time…any person that’s at UNO can join, even if it’s advisors. For students, if you have a student ID, if you know how to swim, you’re good to go. It’s open to the public, we teach you how to sail if you don’t know how to sail, and it’s really fun.”

The sailing club has been around since 1962, making it one of the oldest clubs affiliated with the University of New Orleans. The club operates spring and fall semesters with a $35 fee per semester for frequent members.

As for future endeavors, Haack hopes to take the club to new heights never seen before in its 54-year-old history, which means racing in official races (such as another SEISA regatta hosted by Southern Yacht Club on Oct. 22), and with some practice, getting the club to nationals.

“Our goal for this next semester is to try to get into nationals, to get nationally ranked. For that, we need to be in the top two boats, the top two teams in SEISA.” Haack explained that the top two teams in the SEISA college conference are guaranteed to race with other national conferences.

The club also plans on going back to the Owlpalooza regatta. “If they ever do another invitational like that, we’ll definitely be interested.”

“Hopefully we can get there—I believe that we have the talent to do it—we just have to put in some dedication and some time, and I think we’ll do it.”

For more information about the UNO Sailing Club, check out the UNO student organization page online or attend the regatta at Southern Yacht Club on Oct. 22 to see the Sailing Club in action.

FEATURES

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2016

5

Caroline Fayard, senate candidate running against the status quo

BY CLAYTON MISTICH Driftwood Contributor Caroline Fayard, former candidate for Louisiana secretary of state, hopes to capture a seat in the United States senate following incumbent David Vitter’s decision to retire. Fayard is competing against 24 other candidates in a race some say will likely fall Republican.

Fayard said her candidacy was inspired by not feeling represented in Louisiana politics. “I think Louisiana has a chance to make a fresh start with a new kind of leadership.

When I looked at who was running, I didn’t see anyone I could connect to. We can do better; we have to do better.”

According to Fayard, what distinguishes her from other candidates is her strong progressive platform, which she refuses to compromise in attempt to win over to non-progressive voters.

“Besides David Duke, we have the most name recognition out of any candidate. This is because I refuse to pander to voters or remain silent on the issues that are most important to me. I’m not interested in sharing voters with him; instead,

I want to educate people on why his rhetoric is wrong.”

Rhetoric is an important aspect of this election season. A mere week ago, Republican candidate for president, Donald Trump, faced national backlash for tapes released in which he talked of forcing himself on women and grabbing female genitalia. He dismissed the comments as “locker room talk.”

“I want to work with colleges and universities to make sure there is a quality of access for all, and to make sure that people, regardless of gender, feel as though they are in a safe and supportive environment.”

Fayard wants to provide universities with adequate sexual assault programs focused on education and prevention, as well as on appropriate response when sexual assaults do occur.

“My other opponents, including Democratic candidates, are so quick to dismiss it, to just sweep it under the rug. I’m here say we must have the courage to stand up and say that rhetoric like this is not okay.”

On education, Fayard stated, “At a state level, we could be doing a

lot better. We have to keep fighting the fight to raise the standard, and that’s at all levels.” Her plans to reform education include policy to reform and refinance student loans, as well as making tuition more affordable. “The goal should be everyone having the option to go to college.”

For Fayard, a huge issue in this race is economic inequality. “In Louisiana, our female workforce is the worst paid in the nation, earning 65 cents for every dollar a man makes. Consequently, Louisiana families are losing nearly $11 billion a year in what they would otherwise be earning. This isn’t about ego, this is about eating.”

“It’s even worse for women of minority groups. In states where women don’t do well, the states themselves don’t do well. We need equal pay for equal work.”

Fayard goes a step further with this particular issue, promising to donate 35 cents of every dollar earned to Louisiana-based women’s charities until the pay equity act is passed.

Early voting in Louisiana begins October 25, and ends on November 1.

Democratic senate candidate, prominent New Orleans lawyer Caroline Fayard, is running for the seat left by Republican David Vitter.

Photo coutesy of Caroline Fayard

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FEATURES

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2016

UNO alumnus Victor Arroyo cast in Big Brother’s 18th season

BY CHRISTOPHER WALKER Editor-in-Chief “Big Brother”, the smash-hit reality television show, cast UNO alumnus Victor Arroyo for Season 18.

Although Arroyo did not end up winning the grand prize of $500,000 dollars, he won “America’s Favorite” title, chosen by the viewing public, along with a cash prize of $25,000 dollars.

Arroyo auditioned when the show came into town, and was picked to be one of the 16 contestants. Victor packed his bags and

moved into the house along with his new roommates.

“I had a game strategy before I went in; I wanted to focus on winning the game competitions. I know I’m not a good liar, so my best bet would be to win competitions and be loyal to people. Only thing is, the backstabbing in the game is just vicious. I always want to think the best of people, but that attitude will hurt you in the game.”

Victor credits winning his title of “America’s’ Favorite” to his two evictions.

“Once I got evicted that first time and came back I thought, ‘I was evicted once, I’m on borrowed

time anyway, now I can enjoy myself.’ That’s when I started loosening up, and I think that’s when America started liking me.”

Although Victor has not watched the season yet, he believes that he was portrayed fairly in the show.

“I think the producers can try to edit the footage of the houseguests to make one person look bad or another look good, but they can’t perform miracles. They’re using real footage, it’s not made up. The argument can go both ways, maybe they can push the needle a little bit on a person’s personality, but generally what you see on television is what you get.”

Arroyo looks at his “Big Brother” experience as positive. “It was fun, and honestly if I did it again I would do it the exact same way.

I absolutely gained real, long-term friendships from my time in the house.”

“My advice for someone that gets picked for Big Brother would be: playing the game, whatever happens in the Big Brother house, it’s just to win. Don’t take it personally when you leave the house, everybody’s trying to play for half a million dollars. If you take it personally, you won’t gain any friends from the experience. They don’t hate you as a person, they’re just

trying to get the money.”

Arroyo, a finance major, wants to use the money he won from playing to go on a vacation with his family. “I don’t want to go crazy or blow it on stupid stuff.”

Arroyo remember his time at UNO fondly. “ I love New Orleans and I love UNO. It’s a small school, but it’s like a big family where everyone knows everyone.”

Does Victor plan on continuing his reality television career? “If the opportunity presents itself, I figure why not? It’s fun.”

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7

Ambassadors host another successful Swampball tournament

BY CLAYTON MISTICH Driftwood Contributor Swampball, a mud-pit style volleyball tournament, was hosted by the University of New Orleans Ambassadors in the quad on Oct. 1.

All funds raised for the event was funnelled back to UNO students through scholarships funds.

“What’s great about Swampball is that not only is it such a fun event, but the real purpose behind it is to give back to the students. The funds raised from it go into the ambassador scholarship, something any UNO student can receive,” said UNO Ambassador Michael Mariana.

The tournament lasted most of the day, and it featured 32 teams of

students from all different parts of campus. The event was catered by Aramark, and it featured two live music acts: one by student Michael Roussell and the other by local band Foxhunter.

“To me, it’s one of the most entertaining events that UNO puts on. It attracts people from all the different walks of life at UNO. Different organizations, such as the Greek community, foreign exchange [students], and the ambassadors really come out together to show the diversity of UNO,” said Mariana.

Freshman Paige Guillory said, “I had a great time for my first Swampball, this really exceeded my expectations. I didn’t think everyone would be getting so into it

and [would be] so competitive.”

The tournament used to be held biannually, in both the spring and fall semesters. However, low attendance and weather problems forced a fall-only event.

Mariana explained, “The complicated thing with having it in the spring is that we never had a lot of attendance. Spring is always harder for planning. We’ve also had to cancel dates due to rain several times. 15 teams. It was low enough that it wasn’t worth it to us to do it.”

For those who can’t get enough of Swampball, there is a way to bring back the biannual tournaments. Mariana said, “If we can get enough people interested, it may return in the spring.”

Swampball, an annual event where giant mud pits are dug into the quad and filled with water, took place on Oct. 1 and featured 32 student teams.

Photos by Brennan Probst

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ENTERTAINMENT

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2016

Luke Cage: Bullets can’t destroy this black man

Photo courtesy of Netflix

Mike Colter stars as the indestructible crime fighter Luke Cage.

BY REGINE MERIDY Driftwood Staff Netflix and Marvel continue to make a pretty powerful team.

Following the success of “Jessica Jones” and “Daredevil,” “Luke Cage” promises another big hit.

This show is so popular that it actually caused Netflix to crash. That’s pretty impressive.

Mike Colter stars as the indestructible crime fighter Luke Cage, or Power Man, one of Marvel’s black superheroes. With super-strength and a bullet-proof body, Cage is just a humble guy trying to live peacefully in Harlem.

There are some famous faces in this show. Mahershala Ali plays as Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes, Cage’s rival who wants him dead.

Alfre Woodard plays Mariah Dillard, one of Cage’s foes who he wants to put an end to. Rosario Dawson plays Claire Temple, a spicy, Latina nurse who is one of Cage’s love interests. She also helps him out throughout the season.

The hardcore, grimy and dirty Harlem setting almost functions like another character. New York is featured as a sophisticated city

filled with black life and black creativity. It is dark, moody and dangerous at night. During the day, though, Harlem is a place where families thrive in their connections.

Cage works at Pop’s Barber Shop, which appears to be one of the only places in Harlem where there is peace. While characters like Cage and Cottonmouth are introduced in the present, barbershop conversations lure the viewer into the plot and provide valuable background.

Music also adds to the mood and the dark and dangerous tone of the show. From jazz and blues to hiphop, special performances include Jidenna, Raphael Saadiq, Faith Evans, and Wu Tang Clan. Cottonmouth himself opens a scene at the famous nightclub, Harlem’s Paradise, by playing the piano. Music lovers will find the soundtrack of this show irresistible. Special guests such as Method Man and Sway also appear on the soundtrack.

What makes Luke Cage’s show so different? Foremost, he’s a black superhero who is bulletproof. The fact that a black man cannot die from bullets is significant because he cannot be killed by the cops.

With the turbulence of all the social injustice showing its face in the black community, particularly po-

lice brutality against unarmed black men, this feature is very symbolic.

It shines light on the way black and brown people in this country are targeted for death whenever they run from the cops. It ultimately sends the message that we will not die. Luke Cage’s strength and resilience is the representation of the exact way many of us feel in the black community.

Those characteristics of strength and resilience are also the glue of black families. This show touches on the intimacy of the black family unit and at the same time it adds a little social commentary from the black church community, also a pillar of many black families.

This show is not for everyone.

Not a lot of people are going to understand the significance of having a bulletproof black man as a superhero. This series is important to black culture because it gives little boys someone who they can aspire to be.

This show earns top ratings The setting, the tone, the actors’ performances, and the special effects were well done. “Luke Cage” is binge-worthy. Go ahead and give Marvel and Netflix 13 hours of your time to watch all 13 episodes. It will be worth it.

Plain and Simple: Current season of “South Park” isn’t funny

BY ARIANA LONGORIA Driftwood Contributor This season of “South Park” marks the show’s twentieth anniversary. For 20 years, America has loved watching these four maniacal, twisted versions of “Peanuts” characters every week.

“South Park” has become, from its humble cardboard-cutouts roots, a premiere example of satirical, rapid-fire entertainment. In the previous, as well as the current season, “South Park” has experimented with episode-to-episode continuity, each season structured as one long narrative arc.

Last season’s larger storyline blended well with each episode’s smaller plot. The entire season lampooned political correctness while also acknowledging its deserved place in culture. It was funny and intelligent, even at its lower points.

Most importantly, each episode still felt independent.

This season, however, is not working as well as the previous season. Its focus is light on jokes, and heavy on plot. Each episode ends on a cliffhanger, and every time we

tune in, it seems like we are watching another installment of a very lame, very unfunny “South Park” movie.

In addition to lacking humor, this season covers the presidential election in a very safe, predictable way.

Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the show’s creators, offer no new, interesting or even comical takes on the election, which is satire-proof. This election is already ridiculous to the point of lunacy. “South Park” has not seemed to realize this yet.

The main storyline that writers have been spending an abhorrent amount of time on is internet trolls.

Gerald Broflovski, a world-famous internet troll, makes the entire storyline ridiculous, humorless, and uninteresting.

This season does have a few merits, though. By far, the funniest focus that the season has is the fictional-fruit, “memberberries.”

Memberberries whisper nostalgic phrases to the characters as a way to unwind and relax. They seem harmless, recalling things like “Jurassic Park” and “Ghostbusters” but become troublesome when they yearn for the days that there were fewer Mexicans around and when gay

Photo courtesy of Comedy Central

marriage was not legal. Hopefully, this plot device will intersect with the presidential storyline at some point.

Overall, this season of “South Park” may be its weakest yet. This is surprising, given how good last

season was. Perhaps after this experiment, Parker and Stone should return to the tried-and-true formula of self-contained episodes.

Of course, every time people have given up on “South Park,” the show bounces back with breath-

taking creativity and originality.

There’s a reason this show has been on the air for 20 seasons, and there’s little reason to believe it won’t be on air for another 20.

IMPORTANT DATES FOR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: Voter registration ended Oct. 11. Early voting is Oct. 25 - Nov. 1 from 8:30 a.m. - 6 p.m., excluding Sundays. Election day is Nov. 8 from 6 a.m. - 8 p.m. Nov. 4 is the last day to request an absentee ballot.

ENTERTAINMENT

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2016

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“Girl on the Train:” Film version of bestseller novel disappoints despite Blunt’s performance

Emily Blunt stars in the film version of bestseller “Girl on the Train.”

BY KELLEY DAVIS Driftwood Staff “The Girl on the Train,” based on

Paula Hawkins’ best-selling novel, is a bit of a mess. The film portrays its main character, Rachel Watson (Emily Blunt), as an alcoholic who spends the first half of the movie

Photo courtesy of Universal

pining over her ex-husband, Tom Watson (Justin Theroux), who left her for real estate agent Anna Boyd (Rebecca Ferguson). She drinks herself sick every day on the train

where she becomes obsessed with her former neighbor, Megan Hipwell (Haley Bennett), whom she envisions to have the perfect life, the perfect man, and the perfect home.

One day on the train, Rachel sees Megan with another man and she goes completely berserk. Rachel gets plastered, yet again, and gets off the train at the exit where Megan lives, then proceeds to blackout and wake up covered in blood the next morning. She tries to piece her night together, but with no luck; Rachel is now part of a woman’s disappearance and possible murder.

The film plays out as a mystery thriller, but more often than not completely fails to surprise or thrill.

It’s too easy to predict what goes on behind the scenes as Rachel’s memory of that night finally returns from the drunken depths of her mind.

As the scenes progress, the mystery surrounding Megan’s disappearance becomes obvious and

cliche, and even at just a two hour running length, it seems to drag.

“The Girl on the Train” has a few twists and turns along the way, but nothing really leaves the viewer completely blind-sighted. The whole premise is a little far-fetched in general: a woman gets caught up in a stranger’s life that she sees everyday on the train, and she is suddenly being thrust into a homicide investigation?

Emily Blunt does a fine job of portraying main character Rachel as the sorrowful alcoholic who can’t get her life together, and ends up being in a life-changing web of lies.

All actors do a decent job with what they’re given, which isn’t much.

The film provides the viewer with a voyeuristic view into Megan’s world, but does a poor job of surprising us at the end.

Entertaining at parts, but ultimately disappointing.

“Girl on the Train:” Novel does not deserve its success

Courtesy of Penguin

BY CHRISTOPHER WALKER Editor-in-Chief “The Girl on the Train,” the third novel by British author Paula Hawkins, has become one of the decade’s best-selling books. The smash-hit, high-concept thriller novel that took the public by storm is now a major motion picture, and millions more are going to experience a version of Hawkins’ work in the theatre.

Rachel Watson, an alcoholic in her early 30s, commutes on a train every day to London, and from that train she consistently sees a young man and woman in their backyard.

This couple is, in Rachel’s mind, perfectly happy and deep in love.

She conjures up individual names for the couple and creates an entire backstory in her mind about who they are and what they do.

One morning, as the train pass-

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es by the couple’s house, Rachel thinks she sees something amiss.

What she sees haunts her, and she finally decides to investigate the incident. The novel escalates until Rachel is involved in a story of murder, infidelity and deceit.

The book’s premise sounds exciting, and parts of it are. As a whole, however, “The Girl on the Train” is a best-selling book with sales that reflect quantity rather than quality.

When modern literature is criticized as a whole, a common complaint is that many authors now write in a bland style, light on description and character development and heavy on dialogue and plot.

This style of writing is similar to screenplays, and therefore makes the book extremely easy to adapt to a feature film. There is no better example of a book unashamedly written for a possible movie deal than “The Girl on the Train.”

For someone who very rarely reads, the novel’s bare-bones descriptions will go unnoticed. The shortcomings of the prose make it easy to read quickly and could be mistakenly seen as an asset.

For veteran readers, though, “The Girl on the Train” doesn’t impress.

Even putting the maddeningly simple prose aside, the characters are largely uninteresting and reprehensible people. The novel switches among the perspectives of three women, each more vile and one-dimensional than the last.

The main character, Rachel

Watson, is a hopelessly bland, alcoholic woman who spends much of the book wallowing in her misery, offering no real insight into causes or symptoms of alcoholism.

Hawkins seems to believe that if she makes her character wallow in her self-pity long enough, the reader will feel sorry for her and sub-

sequently root for her. It does not work.

It’s hard to criticize the plot in a spoiler-free review, but Hawkins gives the reader red herrings that only the simplest of people would be fooled by, and it all reads like a run-of-the-mill “whodunit” novel.

This latest entry in the literary

fad of sticking “girl” wherever one can in the title is not nearly as impressive as its predecessors. “Gone Girl” and “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” are both absolutely stellar works that will stand the test of time.

“The Girl on the Train” is here today, gone tomorrow.

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OPINION

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2016

COLUMNS Hillary: lesser of two evils

BY LEO CASTELL Driftwood Staff Hillary Clinton is commonly seen as the lesser of two evils, which means that she’s better than her opponent, but is still, ultimately, a bad candidate. Never forget that. You can vote for Hillary Clinton and feel good knowing that you voted for the only other candidate that’s better than Donald J. Trump. That’s fine, but don’t make excuses for her.

Hillary Clinton fans need to acknowledge every major mistake she’s ever made: voting for the

Patriot Act, voting for the Iraq War and supporting fracking across the world. If Clinton sincerely apologized for all these past transgressions, she would still come out looking like a much-better, moresane presidential candidate than Trump.

So why doesn’t she? Her campaign staff simply changes the subject whenever one of her many criticisms come up, and liberal media outlets like The Huffington Post gloss her flaws. Why is the Democratic nominee not crushing the least-liked presidential nominee in the history of American politics?

It’s because she’s the second-tolast least-liked presidential nominee in the history of American politics.

Donald Trump is the only Republican nominee that Clinton polled better than in the primaries, and even then, not by as much as any of us would probably have wanted her to. Ideally, Democrats would want their candidate to mop the floor with someone like Trump; and while Clinton certainly hasn’t been losing, she’s been uncomfort-

ably close.

Any other Democrat, such as Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, or Bernie Sanders, would consistently have a double-digit lead against Trump and would probably never slip below nine points in their worst poll.

I don’t like Clinton, but Trump actually scares me because he’s just the right balance of charismatic, moronic, and hateful. Trump makes me worry for my family of Spanish immigrants and my friends who are also minorities.

Hillary Clinton is probably going to be our next president, which means I can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that the big orange man won’t bankrupt our economy and start wars with countries we have no business starting wars with.

That doesn’t mean I’m going to stop holding Clinton’s feet to the fire, and you shouldn’t either. The Democratic establishment needs to learn that if they keep betraying the hearts of their base population the way they’ve been doing since her husband’s presidency, then eventually the next Trump will win because the base will be too jaded.

PERSPECTIVES

Two debates down, one to go

BY ADAM POYNER Driftwood Contributor America has plodded through the second of three presidential debates, and we are on our way to wrapping up an unnecessarily long and draining election season in just under three weeks. People have been hearing about scandals, sickness, and every form of mudslinging for months on end, and all of the negativity came to a significant milestone last month at the first presidential debate on Sept. 26 in Hempstead, New York.

Upwards of 84 million Americans tuned in. For reference, the Super Bowl usually garners about 100 million viewers, and the last time a presidential debate broke the record for viewers was in 1980, 10 elections ago, with just over 80 million viewers.

I spoke with several people who tuned in, and most of them handed the victory for the first debate to Hillary Clinton. Her composure was as polished as people have come to expect. She was comfortable and calm, yet prepared and energized on stage, as we would hope any presidential candidate would be.

By contrast, Mr. Trump seemed to lose focus throughout the debate, interrupting the moderator Lester Holt and Mrs. Clinton several times, hurling his traditional accusations at Mrs. Clinton and

offering little-to-no details, whatsoever, about his policy plans.

This was, however, a whole lifetime ago, before a new round of scandals surrounding these candidates exploded onto the national news scene. A video from 2005 of Mr. Trump bragging about sexually harassing women put the Republican party in a very difficult position, their national and state legislators facing reelection choosing between supporting Mr. Trump and winning their own races. It is becoming increasingly clear that Mr. Trump does not have what it takes to unite the Republican party.

This was the tense situation heading into the second debate.

Mr. Trump fell apart even more quickly this time around. He excused the video from 2005 as “locker room talk,” and he immediately launched into an attack against Mrs. Clinton for enabling her husband’s less-than-desireable treatment of women before declaring he would defeat ISIS. For Democrats in the crowd, the night had a feeling akin to the first debate. Mrs. Clinton decisively won. Once again, she laid out her policy plans as neatly as ever, especially with regards to issues such as health care, the environment and energy economies, and Islamophobia in America and abroad.

However, when faced with tough questions about her Wall Street speeches and a new round of emails that have been released, Clinton responded in the wooden and practiced manner that is all too disconcerting for many voters who favored Bernie Sanders, and she was visibly eager to move off those subjects.

It’s clear that her ties to the wealthiest Americans exist and will obviously continue to exist if she is elected president. By this point, no one needs to be reminded of Mrs. Clinton’s glaring flaws as a politician; however, her positives,

especially her experience and policy ideas, can more than outweigh them.

The task at hand remains to emphasize these positives and lay out the policies before the voters because many still care more about the issues, but don’t know where anyone actually stands on them, considering the only things being talked about are scandals and accusations.

This feeling was obvious at the end of the night when an audience member asked the candidates to name one thing they respected about the other, even though the past year has been so fraught with contentiousness between everyone involved in this race. In regards to this strategy, Mrs. Clinton did an excellent job of setting the stage for a final debate in which she can devote more time to her policy stances, and hopefully spend a little less time responding to accusations from Mr. Trump.

What remains to be seen is how the rest of the Republican party will react to Mr. Trump’s second lessthan-ideal performance. Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, and many other Republicans have expressed their distaste for what Mr. Trump has said over the course of his campaign, though often without completely disavowing him, for fear of losing their own races.

It’s a near-impossible line to walk, and if Mr. Trump continues on the track that he’s been running, the Republicans may be facing large losses in congressional, state, and local elections. While it is unlikely that Mr. Trump will go down quietly, it does seem possible that the leaders of the Republican establishment may choose to try to save their down-ticket candidates rather than their presidential candidate who is anything but presidential. They certainly need to decide soon.

Christopher Walker Editor-in-Chief driftwoodeditor@uno.edu Anjanae Crump Managing Editor driftwood@uno.edu Visuals Director | Grant Campbell • • • • • • • • • • • • driftwoodart@uno.edu Copy Editor | Mindy Jarrett • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • mjarrett@uno.edu Adviser | Vickie Kennedy • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • vkennedy@uno.edu Reporters: Leo Castell, Lones Gagnard, Brittany Karno, Jamie Lloyd, Lindsay Maxie, Regine Meridy & Nathan Nguyen Contributors: Roxanne Ardekani, Kelley Davis, Milan Holman & Fernando J. Saballos Illustrators: April Curran & Delvonte Smith

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Editorials are the opinions of the Driftwood editorial staff and do not reflect the opinions of the University of New Orleans, its administration or staff.

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