Volume 58 Issue 24 by Driftwood

UNO Driftwood @unodriftwood

Driftwood The community newspaper of the University of New Orleans

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Volume: 58 Issue: 24 What’s Inside:

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April 22, 2015

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NO FUNDS NO FUTURE

Former UNO professor currently President and CEO of National WWII Museum Gordon “Nick” Mueller to receive honorary doctorate degree page 3

Find out students’ opinions on the proposed $384/semester fee Students express thoughts on whether SSAFs are the answer to budget cuts page 5

photo by Veronica Mansell

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UNO students travel to Capitol to support higher education

SG President David Teagle spoke to the Board of Legislation page 7

Student Spotlight: Freshman English major is an artist in every sense of the word

Ben Aleshire shares his journey that led him to UNO and the streets of the French Quarter page 9

Men and Women’s tennis play last games before Southland Conference Championship page 10

Christy Lorio, Aviayna Thomas and Anna Gowin Driftwood Editors Around 150 college students gathered on the steps of the Louisiana State Capitol on Wednesday, April 15 for a student organized protest during the legislature’s third day of the 2015 session. Higher education funding will be whittled down from $1 billion to a mere $123 million to be divided amongst all of Louisiana’s public institutions. The protest was hosted by Southeastern Louisiana University (SLU) Student Government President Stephanie Travis. She said, “Something needed to be done to bring our demands to the attention of our legislators. With the budget shortfall, due to the decreased oil prices, we knew that this year would be a critical one.” The demonstration brought together student government presidents from schools across Louisiana including Baton Rouge Community College, Grambling State University, Nicholls State University, McNeese, Louisiana State University at Alexandria and the University of New Orleans. The Advocate reported that UNO “appeared to make up a large portion of the crowd” in an April 19 article. UNO students heard about the protest from their teachers, flyers handed out on campus by the Drift-

wood staff, email blasts and Yik Yak. The majority of students wore their school colors and held signs. Travis encouraged students to expand the conversation to social media with the hashtag #NoFundsNoFuture. Protesters were allowed to speak at an Appropriations Committee in order to share their stories with state legislatures. So many students, alumni and supporters flooded the rooms that an overflow room was opened up to accommodate the crowd. Each protester who wished to speak was asked to write their name on a card. When it was their turn, students and faculty were called upon in groups of two and three to come to the stand and share their stories. Several legislators were observed on their cellphones while a steady stream of students made their case for the budget cuts to end. Representative Edward C. “Ted” James II (D) appeared to be napping. UNO SG President David Teagle challenged state representatives to address the current budget situation and to recognize the promise that college students have made to the state. Teagle said, “The fact is that so many times that when there’s a budget shortfall in this state, you are putting the burden literally on the people that are in this room. The burden falls on the students behind me, and the issue is that we feel when we signed up for these institu-

tions, we made a promise. We made a promise with the institution and with the leadership of the state that we would become great Louisiana citizens. And we feel the state made a promise to us that you would educate us and give us those tools to become great Louisiana citizens. And I can tell you, we are doing our best to keep our end of this promise, but we feel that it’s not being met halfway on the other side. We feel that the current environment, the budget cuts previously, and the budget cuts being currently proposed, are a failure on behalf of the state to us. We find that fairly unacceptable.” Ben Aleshire, a UNO freshman English major, said that students did not go to Baton Rouge just to discuss the budget cuts. Aleshire said “We’re basically talking about the destruction of an institution’s ability to function in the way that it should, which is, I think, really humiliating for Louisiana, and I think what we should be here talking about is how much we’re going to raise the budget of higher education of Louisiana, and I know that money doesn’t grow on trees, but I think the answer is to tax the rich.” Adam LeFort, outgoing SG President for NSU and a representative for the Board of University of Louisiana System said, “We are the future leaders of Louisiana, and I know from dealing with the UL system that people have to take classes out of state because classes are being cut and they’re not able to graduate or their graduation has been

pushed back to six years instead of four years...When ya’ll keep cutting after we raise tuition, it’s hurting those programs, not helping them. Just remember that we are the future and to invest in our education.” GSU’s SG President Erik Johnson said, “The state is asking us to do more with less, and by all means we’ve done just that. But now they’re asking us to do more with nothing.” Johnson noted that GSU’s library is severely understaffed- four librarians serve 4,000 students. Johnson said, “When I go into the library, I struggle to find a librarian. You know, sometimes you stay in the library two or three hours when I only had to be in there 30 or 45 minutes because I don’t have the help of a library technician.” Travis stressed that it’s important for students to participate despite the inconvenience of missing class. She said, “It’s critical that students understand the larger picture. Yes, you might miss that one class to attend a protest at the capitol. However, you might not have a university next year. We need to continue to stay on the minds of our representatives, to ensure that they vote in our favor.” She encouraged students to write, call and email legislators if they were unable to attend No Funds No Future. Travis said, “ It takes three minutes, but if everyone gives three minutes, then that’s enough for them hear us all day.”

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

NEWS

A few ‘No Funds No Future’ attendees shared their thoughts on the protest and higher ed budget cuts Matthew Bravender Sophomore History major: “I liked the passion of the students at the protest and I think that the students made their presence known, especially UNO! However, I was disappointed with the reaction of the legislators because many of them were playing on their phones during the hearing. Given the reaction of the legislators, I think that changing their minds will require a sustained effort from students, faculty and staff from every public college and university around the state.”

Ben Aleshire Freshman English major: “Jindal doesn’t care about Louisiana, he only cares about pillaging the state budget in order to lower the taxes for his rich corporate friends, while kissing the asses of the far-right conservative extremists. He’d rather sacrifice education on the altar of corporate welfare, than to lose his ‘tax virginity’ during his delusional quest for the presidency. Jindal doesn’t want us to be educated! The business lobbies which he represents have a vested interest in keeping Louisiana’s population as poor and uneducated as possible:

it means cheap labor for them.”

Hannah Marcotte Senior English major: “I decided to attend the protest because Dr. Schock, the head of the English department, gave a compelling speech about how students should be speaking up about this huge budget decision that will affect all of us. I graduate in December, but it is important for all students to stand up for their friends, sib-

lings and professors who might want to receive and education in Louisiana. If the legislators decide to slice our budget, and I hadn’t gone to the protest, I couldn’t have lived with myself. I will be so frustrated when I see students complaining but they did nothing to help persuade the legislators. I don’t know if our voices were heard by the legislators, but I’m glad that I was there at least trying to make them hear us.”

Brooke McNeely Junior Business Administration major: “Our concerns were well represented Wednesday at the Capitol Building. Each of us has a countless number of arguments against budget cuts being taken from our state’s education funding. Our representatives were never stuck without a point after the other to the point that one would guess the entire thing had been heavily rehearsed. The largest rebuttal we received was something along the lines of: “WWYD” and it is clear that the spread of the concern is through a group so large that the best we can do at this point is to encourage and remind each other to vote.”

Students took to twitter to voice their opinion @GeauxKris Very proud of New Orleans for standing up for our education. But we have to do more than ask Bobby Buttface for money. @UNOAlum So many students and #HigherEd supporters at Capitol, overflow room needed to accommodate! @liljuliffokilem There’s already moldy broccoli and inedible food in our cafeteria, we can’t deal with ANY more budget cuts. @zacleto @UofNO equipping me with the communication skills I need for a career while staying in my home without breaking the bank @Tornado_ofRoses I’m sorry, but a university that’s only 35% funded by the state is NOT a public university. @MarthaSibley I’m thinking we vote David Teagle for the next Governor of Louisiana! @MarcSettembrino @JohnBelforLA I’d love to own a home but as a state university employee I’m not sure when I’ll be able to afford it @OfficialDomJ “If we gut higher education there is no reason for anyone to come to Louisiana.” @shalomchristie I am legitimately scared of what my future holds due to these education cuts. I can’t afford to go to school out of state.

Wednesday, April 22, 2015 3

President and CEO of the National WWII Museum to receive award from UNO Coreyiel Ellis Driftwood Staff Gordon “Nick” Mueller, President and CEO of the National WWII Museum in New Orleans, is to receive an honorary doctorate degree at the Spring 2015 commencement. Mueller spent over 33 years at UNO before developing the plan for the WWII museum in New Orleans. Mueller started UNO’s international education department, creating the first study abroad programs in Munich, Germany and in Innsbruck, Austria. It was Mueller’s fascination with history and the education of history that led him to help found the WWII museum. He began on the board as chairman and later became the president. “I didn’t have any idea that I would end up leading the museum as chairman or later as the president,” said Mueller. Though Mueller started his career as a history professor at the university, he credits his time at the foundation to his success at the museum. “It was something totally unexpected but graciously received,” said Mueller. Mueller is honored to receive the honorary doctorate from the university. “It’s an extraordinary recognition of both my work and career at the University of New Orleans, my career in higher education and also a recognition of my efforts to help

develop the national museum.” Mueller expressed deep appreciation of his colleagues at the university and the museum. “I’m deeply flattered and honored that my colleagues in the department of history would have nominated me for an honorary doctorate,” said Mueller. “I can not thank my colleagues in the department of history, the college of liberal arts or the chancellor too much.” Mueller looked back on his time in school and at the university. “As I told President Fos, I’m not sure which was harder, the 6 years it took me to earn a master’s degree and a PhD degree in graduate school or the forty-five more laboring in the vineyards at the university and the museum to deserve this recognition.” Mueller gives credit to his friends and colleagues for helping him along the way. “Both achievements come with a great deal of satisfaction and appreciation especially for the men and women at the university, the men and women in my life, and here at the museum as well, the members of the board of directors here and my colleagues at the university of new orleans who helped in many different ways with their friendship and support to enable me to have the success that I have had.” Though Mueller didn’t expect this amount of recognition, he is very grateful. “These are things that you don’t expect your life and you’re very grateful when something like that

photo by David G. Spielman Nick Mueller, President and CEO of the National WWII Museum, reflects on his time with UNO.

happens.” According to Mueller, his success is the success of so many others. “Nobody accomplishes anything

significant in life without the support of other individuals and this recognition is really recognizing, in many ways, so many other people

who have contributed to my success and enriched my life in so many different ways.”

OPINIONS

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Student Government’s stance on the SSAF Josh Lambert SG Liberal Arts Senator The University of New Orleans is faced with a difficult road ahead as cuts to higher education across the state continue to pile up. Entire degrees are being terminated making university growth simply impractical compared to the very real struggle for survival. The burden of education has shifted away from government and onto the shoulders of students themselves. The grad act has allowed for the automatic 10% increase in tuition. Where does this money go? It’s actually deducted from the state support for each university in the UL system. This tuition swap is a tax on students, plain and simple. This taxation on students should come with representation, but this isn’t the reality. When the faculty senate made their recommendations for program closures this past fall,

students were not part of that process. Both graduate and undergraduate degrees are once again being systematically destroyed by UL boards without any legitimate discussion. Students have no voice, but they are bearing more and more burden. Whether UNO students want to be the champions of self-generation or the victims, remains to be seen. Students representing every college and all aspects of UNO student life, came together to come up with a solution. The answer they arrived at was a comprehensive package of Student Self-Assessed Fees (SSAF). A major attribute of SSAF’s is they target all of UNO; students, teachers, faculty, staff, Greek life, student organizations, traditional and non-traditional, in or out of state, commuters, international, etc. By compiling many aspects into one fee package, UNO can stand unified behind the banner of individual

empowerment. Transparency is an integral feature as every penny is protected by state law so that only students may a l -

locate funds. Students will have the ability to take their experiences at the local level, recognize a problem, and translate that into a solution they can be a part of. Making SSAF’s work will take more than just the efforts of the Student Sub-Committee formed under the University Budget Committee or those of students involved in UNO student government. The success of SSAF’s hinges upon the integration and cooperation of UNO students. This fee empowers students by giving them a voice in how money spent on their education is actually spent. The only method for students to truly take control of their

contributions is through SSAFs. Sadly students are just customers in the modern American Universities, but shouldn’t customers have the right to know what they are buying? SSAF’s means transparency, no hidden trails and lost sums of money, it means students get to see every dollar they contribute as part of the total amount being put to use by the collective body. This package creates unique pathways for student dollars in order to strengthen the focus and quality of allocation. Please help the many UNO students actively involved in disseminating information with regard to SSAF’s. Yes this referendum will increase the cost to attend UNO, but it does so transparently and with student authority. If education must be self-generated, students deserve both information and a voice with regard to the fiscal decisions that constitute the University of New Orleans.

thing. It’s like an insurance of sorts - rather than waiting for a leak to happen and asking every student to give $2, we’re asking students to give $2 now to be ready for the leak. And this applies to every aspect of campus life - people complain that “UNO doesn’t have this” or “UNO can’t do that” and a large part of it is that we just don’t have the money for it. But with this fee, we will! It will help every single student on this campus. Sure, you may not be a member of Greek Life, but I don’t use labs

or scientific equipment. It affects us in ways unique and important to our college experience. If it takes me paying a few hundred extra dollars each semester to feel like I’m attending a healthy university - and not the hollow, fragile one that UNO is soon to become - then fine, I’ll do it. It’s not ideal, but it’s an idea.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Dear Editor, I view this Student Self Assessed Fee as a lot like taxes - nobody wants to pay it, but everyone magically wants the benefits. I think a lot of students that are acting out against the fee haven’t taken the time to learn what it is about, who it is by, and what it really is. This fee isn’t just the university taking our money and shoving it into executive pockets, never to be seen by the students again. In contrast, this is OUR

money. What we currently pay in tuition goes to the University of Louisiana System - NOT to the University of New Orleans. The SSAF will stay here at our university, to be spent as suggested by a select group of students and then negotiated by Student Government. Right now if the UC were to get a leak, we could ask the UL System for money to fix it, but they could tell us no, and we have to live with the leak. With this fee, we would have money designated to go to maintenance, ready to fix anything and every-

Meara McNitt Film Major and Student Government Justice Member

THE DRIFTWOOD UNODriftwood

Staff

The Driftwood is the student run newspaper of the University of New Orleans. We publish every Wednesday with the exception of mid-term and finals weeks and official holiday breaks.

Christy Lorio Editor-in-Chief

All submissions are subject to editing by Driftwood Staff. The Driftwood office is located in room 252 of the University Center, 2000 Lakeshore Drive University Center 252 New Orleans, LA 70148

Nigel Washington Sports Editor

Staff may be reached by phone at 504-280-6377 or email driftwoodeditor@uno.edu or online at.driftwood.uno.edu. Ad sales inquiries should be directed to driftwoodads@uno.edu

Aviayna Thomas Managing Editor Veronica Mansell Features Editor Anna Gowin News Editor

Ave Maria Bordenave Web Editor Willie Marsalis Photography Editor Distribution Manager Traven Stout Photographer Kerry Leigh Pittenger Business Manager Pawan Aryal Layout Editor Ashley deBaroncelli Cartoonist Vickie Kennedy Faculty Adviser

Campus Calendar April 22 Recently appointed Joseph Joachim Professor of Violin and First Violin of the Blair String Quartet at Vanderbilt University, Master Clinic Violinist Stephen Miahky, will perform in the Performing Arts Center Recital Hall from 2-3 p.m. April 24 Irvin Mayfield & The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra will perform for the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra annual fundraising gala at the Peoples Health New Orleans Jazz Market from 7-9 p.m. April 25th UNO Ambassadors Swampball will take place in the The Quad from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Swampball is a mud volleyball tournament that is hosted by the UNO Ambassadors Committee to help raise money for student

scholarships. All students are welcomed to come out and enjoy the event. April 28 The UNO Official Ring Ceremony will take place in the Performing Arts Center Recital Hall from 7.-8 p.m. The rings are being presented by The University of New Orleans International Alumni Association and University President Peter Fos. All students, families and guest of students are welcomed to attend. The 2015 Faculty and Staff Service Award Ceremony is being held in the University Center Ballroom from 2:304 p.m. All current UNO employees and recent UNO retirees that have reached their 5-year milestone with the university are being recognized for their achievement at the ceremony. All UNO

community members are invited to attend this event. Google Tech Talk, hosted by Google’s Security Princess Parisa Tabriz at 11 a.m. Parisa is a hired hacker software engineer who is currently leading Google’s Chrome security team and who has been working on information security with Google for almost 8 years. Parisa will deliver a lecture titled “TechTalk: The Hacker Spectrum: Tales of people that break things and how being hacker-friendly can lead to better security.” Parisa is inviting everyone to come out and learn about Google, as well as meet some current Google employees.

Wednesday, April 22, 2015 5

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Several students wrote in about Student Government’s proposed Student Self-Assessed fee. The Driftwood ran a front page article explaining the fees as well as an editorial on the opinions page in last week’s issue. This week we are sharing feedback received from members of SG as well as concerned students. Letters may have been edited for brevity’s sake. Less than eight percent of students voted in the Spring 2014 elections and less than one percent voted this fall. Every students has the opportunity to make a difference im this election. -Christy Lorio, Editor-in-Chief Dear Editor, I am writing to urge all students to vote no in the upcoming referendum on a new student assessed fee. Not only is this fee for $384 too much but the manner in which it was devised and will be voted on is suspicious. As students we are not generally given the opportunity to have a say in how things go at this university but we have the opportunity now, albeit not with much time. For some this does not seem like a make or break amount but for many it will be. Most scholarships and assistantships will not cover this fee. You will pay this fee whether you are taking one class or ten. The argument for the fee is that UNO is one of the cheapest schools in the country, which it may be. But let’s face it – most people are here because it is the cheapest. Raising fees will not do much to help our most marketable asset. These fees cannot be used to pay professors directly so instead will go to other uses like office supplies or campus beautification with the hope that this will free up money within departments for other things. But at this point we will have no control over how it is spent. To top it off there is also no guarantee that other fees or tuition won’t be raised as well. The most worrying aspect of this upcoming vote is how the election is being rolled out. Last week’s SG elections were downright undemocratic to the point they had to call it off. People received multiple ballots and when this issue was raised we were told they would try to ensure it didn’t happen again. That is not democracy. This fee referendum should rightly have been attached to the SG elections to ensure high turnout, but SG were given special permission to hold it separately. At a recent forum I asked what was needed for the fee to pass or fail. Is it the majority of those who vote, or of the entire student body? They did not know. Will it pass automatically if a majority No vote is not achieved, or do they need a majority Yes vote for it to go ahead? They did not know. There could have been options presented to the student body before this final vote. A lesser fee, grandfathering in those already enrolled, a more detailed spending plan, a tuition swap, etc. But we never even heard about it. With morale at the university at an all time low it is clear that students are getting restless with the way decisions are made at UNO. Vote No. Karen Trundle Grad student - Public Administration

Students, The University and your Student Government has a plan to implement something called the “Students Self-Assessed Fee” Plan, which will increase your fees by $768 per year, starting next August. There will be a vote on April 28-29 which deserves your urgent attention. If you ignore it like I’ve ignored every other Student Government election, it will hit you like a ton of bricks in August. For those like myself, with only one year left, that $768 hurts. Imagine you’re a freshman that will be starting college in August, who didn’t have a chance to vote, for whom these “Self-Assessed” fees will cost over $3,250 extra for their 4 year degree. If you’re using student loans, add an extra $1,000 in interest. No, TOPS does not cover this fee. I came to UNO to get a deal on my education. Now it will cost the same as LSU. Surely, you are all aware of the budget cuts facing higher education in Louisiana. It’s an unfortunate political debacle, but what’s more unfortunate is the misinformation that University officials are using to paint a dire picture of our financial situation. They will lament about an 82% state funding cut, or a $23.5 million loss, which is the absolute worst case scenario. Jarvis DeBerry of the Times Picayune will even tell you that UNO is closing down. The truth is that the University, with the current executive budget, will need to cut its total $102 million budget by about 7.5%. What do you do when you have an unexpected car repair that you can’t afford? You turn the A/C to 78, cut the cord on your cable, and quit eating out. Yet your Student Government, which spent $8,200 to take themselves on a Disney World vacation this year, wants to collect your $7.5 million and “promise” they will only spend it on what they say they will. I think you can do better yourself. You already pay over $1000, over 27%, of your fee bill for the Building Maintenance Fee, Technology Fee, Operational Fees, Privateer Bucks, Academic Excellence Fee, and other charges. Please educate yourself about these fees, how they will impact your bottom line, and then vote on whether you believe Student Government should be responsible for spending your hard earned money better than you can spend it yourself. If you vote NO, you can keep $768. James Halk UNO Naval Architecture Student Did you know that Student Government members want $768 from each student [per academic year]? This fee would offset the cut in funding to the university from another round of budget cuts totaling over $7 million. Do you trust a board of SG members with managing $7 million of your money? I contacted SG members about this fee increase and why only a small number of students have heard about this. I received this explanation: “I am sorry you feel we are not doing an adequate job of getting the information out to students. I assure you we are trying our best. Please remember we are only students, just as you are. We are limited to what we have access to. For instance, we do not have access to the entire UNO Community email list. To have an e-mail sent to the entire student body, we must go through our faculty advisers.” – Jessica Willis, SG Vice President Raising YOUR fee bill $768 doesn’t even get its own email. To be fair to Jessica, she did take the time to actually reply to my concerns while most of the other SG members did not. I suppose they did not even take the time to set up their SG email accounts. So for those of you who are red in the face at this point, want to know how SG has their hand in the cookie jar? Last year, they each received $7500 for an “Academic Leadership Scholarship.” They spent $24,000 on “SG Supplies”, and $46,000 on “Attorney Fees”. The list goes on, including their trip to Disney World and scholarships for students who want to spend a summer in Austria. This is what the ballot will look like (if you get it).

What part of this is “Self Assessed”? Where is the mention of the amount in this ballot? It looks like it. It smells like it, but all I hear is shhhhh. Ever delete a UNO email without reading it? That’s what SG wants you to do when it comes time to vote Friday, April 24. Michael Roy Student of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

FEATURES

Wednesday, April 22, 2015 7

photo by Veronica Mansell SG President David Teagle delivers inspiring testimony to the appropriations board.

TALK TO A RECRUITER

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At the CAREER FAIR on the 27th

Angry protesters rallied at the steps of Capitol in Baton Rogue.

photo by Charles Nicholson

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Wednesday, April 22, 2015

FEATURES

Wednesday, April 22, 2015 9

Student Spotlight:

Student by day, street poet by night; Ben Aleshire embraces New Orleans and UNO Veronica Mansell Features Editor

Students and staff from the UL system listen intantly to testimonies at the April 15th appropriations meeting.

photo by Veronica Mansell

Timeline of the Student Self-Assessed Fee Plan 2015 February 24, 2015 The first mention of student government fee increases in SGA Senate minutes. Quoting student senator Ballard regarding UL system board meeting: “The positive news is that the board did say if we could pass some student assist [sic] fees and fix the budget and come back with money and they would pass our fees as well as Fos would guaranteed [sic] to pass our fees.”

Musician, playwright, actor, poet; non-traditional student Ben Aleshire encompasses the word artist. After two years of living in New Orleans, Aleshire is embracing opportunities around the city and at the University of New Orleans. Aleshire grew up in the small, “no stoplight” town of Cuttingsville, Vermont. With the support of his artistic parents and a copy of The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac, Aleshire began writing poetry in high school. “My science teacher gave me a copy of The Dharma Bums at just the right time, when I was around 16. That’s what got me into literature. I started thinking of poetry as something really excited and revolutionary, as opposed to a stuffy, academic pursuit.” After high school, Aleshire began traveling the world and exploring his poetry on a deeper level before gravitating back to Burlington, Vermont. “I started writing poetry in high school, but it wasn’t until I started traveling the world when I was 18,19, 20, hitchhiking through Latin America, teaching English on these little islands. All of these surreal, wonderful experiences were happening to me, and these poems started coming out. Those were the first mature poems that I published,” Aleshire said. Aleshire returned to the states to jump on artistic opportunities

in Vermont working as a musician (trumpeter), actor, poet and playwright in Burlington. “I got involved with the downtown art scene in Burlington, working with burlesque shows, touring with bands, doing a lot of strange underground art stuff. [On burlesque shows] I was playing trumpet in the band, acting this sort of actor-clown type. Theater was my first love, so I have background in that. I also write plays. Poetry is really good for informing playwrights and fiction writers. I’m enjoying the play writing class I’m taking at UNO this semester.” Feeling slightly bogged down by a variety of projects and a very busy schedule, Aleshire escaped Burlington to unwind in New Orleans two years ago. Although, he couldn’t resist the art scene in New Orleans for very long either. “I was involved in a lot of different projects in Burlington. They were sort of hounding me like wolves. I had just finished a visual arts residency and thought it was a good time to do something else. So I sort of recklessly came down to New Orleans, abandoned my life with the intent of healing myself a little bit. I used to come here on tour with bands. I thought it would be the perfect place to recuperate, but then New Orleans dragged me into the art scene immediately. I was living in the dressing room of the Mudlark Theatre, I got roped into all of their shows. Then I was hired to compose the music for something at the Marigny Opera House. Then this poet, Dave Brinks, hired me to

March 3rd 2015 UNOSGA Senate meeting minutes deleted from SG website. March 10th, 2015 UNOSGA Senate meeting minutes deleted from SG website. March 17th, 2015 No UNOSGA meeting due to Mardi Gras March 26, 2015 1:33PM

photo by Veronica Mansell Hannah Marcotte and Steve Juliff held signs of protest at the Capitol.

Kim Jovanovich forwards Chance Aucoin’s first announcement to all engineering students about proposed fee increases. This is evidently the first announcement of the proposal to increase fees to UNO students. There is no invitation to an open forum at this point. Many students from other departments have attested that they never received an email about the fee increase before or after this date. March 27th, 2015 UNOSGA Senate meeting minutes deleted from SG website. This is supposed to be when they voted on the FINAL DRAFT of the fee increase, which passed 16-2. March 27, 2015 UNOSGA publishes Referendum RX15.C034 passing the final draft of the SSAF plan. In the opening paragraph of the Referendum, President Fos is credited with directly influencing the fee increase:

SPECIAL - SHOW YOUR UNO ID

April 7, 2015 Luncheon provided for Student Government members by President Fos.

Compiled By Michael Roy

Freshman English major, Ben Aleshire, shares his world as an artist.

start archiving these trunks of manuscripts from famous writers like Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg that had never been read by anyone before. All of this strange, wonderful stuff was happening to me. I knew I wouldn’t be leaving New Orleans anytime

soon,” said Aleshire. Within the last year, Aleshire decided to add one more endeavor to the many hats he wears as an artist: becoming a student. Aleshire began his first semester of college this year at UNO. This non-traditional student is balancing his work, art

photo by Veronica Mansell

and education as a freshman English major. “For the longest time I had an anti-academic sentiment going on, part of what changed that was moving to New Orleans and checking out the colleges here. I checked out UNO, and thought wow, after doing the numbers, I realized I could afford to go to college. Higher education had previously turned me off because it seems like a giant hustle, a giant debt bubble growing larger. Looking at UNO, I thought here is a university that wants to educate people without taking advantage of them. If I don’t have to go into a vast amount of debt, I thought why shouldn’t I get a degree?” said Aleshire. Among his many artistic outlets, Aleshire has found a way to turn his poetry into cash. He pays his rent working as a street poet on the weekends in the French Quarter-a form of poetry he has been working with for years while travelling the world, setting up his typewriter at farmer’s markets in Vermont, art shows and various areas around the Quarter and Marigny. “One time a newspaper was doing a story on me and they sent their reporter to try to stump me. The guy asked me for a poem about a nuclear holocaust seen through the eyes of a puppy. I told him, ‘Wow, what a great topic, amazing,’ I was so excited to write that. I have always felt that the more creative, the better. Some people are like ‘Write a poem about my cat,’ or a lot of tourists will want a poem that is ‘New Orleansy,’ and I think ‘But what are you about, what is something that pierces you?’” Aleshire typically sets up in front of St. Anthony Park (behind the St. Louis Cathedral) on Royal St. in the French Quarter Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Catch him on the weekend with a creative topic or offer a piece of yourself for the sake of poetry.

10 Wednesday, April 22, 2015

LAGNIAPPE

SPORTS

Privateers snap nine-game losing streak

Sports Wrap-up Nigel Washington

Nigel Washington

Sports Editor

A long and gloomy month so far for the Privateers finally begins to show a glimpse of light with a 2-0 win against Texas A&M Corpus Christi on Sunday (April 19). It’s been a little over a month since freshman pitcher Shawn Semple saw time on the mound for the Privateers. He shook off the cobwebs in a big way as he able to start and finish the series finale for UNO (12-26, 3-15 SLC) with a complete shutout game at Maestri Field. Semple limited the Islanders (1916, 9-9 SLC) to only four hits for the day and recorded five strikeouts with a 94-pitch game. The two pitchers for the Islanders combined for 101 pitches and only five strikeouts. UNO got out to an early 1-0 lead in after the first inning. With two outs already recorded, and senior Jonathan Coco on second base after a double to left field, junior Preston Marsh singled to left to drive Coco home. There wouldn’t be another score until five innings later in the sixth. Junior Ryan Calloway started the inning and was able to get on base with a leadoff single. Senior Sam Carriere drove Calloway home after a double to right field to give the Privateers a 2-0 lead. The score wouldn’t change but the Privateers would go on to earn a hit in three out of the next four innings. Semple held the Islanders to only one hit for the final four innings with the only hit coming in the ninth round. Texas A&M Corpus Christi weren’t able to make a late game rally with the opportunity,

Wednesday, April 22, 2015 11

photo courtesy of UNO Athletics Freshman Shawn Semple only allowed four hits in his shutout performance. His efforts earned him Southland Conference Pitcher of the week honors.

however, and the Privateers would walk away with the 2-0 win. It was a bittersweet win for the team as it gave them their first win for the month of April, but still resulted in another weekend series loss. In game one on Friday (April 17) the Privateers weren’t able to hold a 1-1 tie game in the ninth while the

Islanders scored two runs in the top of the inning. Game two saw a close game turn through six innings turn into a lategame runaway. With a 3-1 Texas A&M Corpus Christi lead, the Privateer defense began to break down. The Islanders scored nine runs in the final four innings to jump away

with a 10-4 win. UNO could only manage one run in the last four innings. Now sitting at eighth place in the Southland Conference, the Privateers will host the Jackson State Tigers (25-14) at Maestri Field today (April 22) at 6:30 p.m.

Track and Field After being rained out for the Southeastern Invitational, the UNO Track and Field team competed in the LSU Alumni Gold in Baton Rouge on Saturday. Sophomore Alexia Fortenberry finished seventh in the 100-meter hurdles. In the 400-meter hurdles, fellow sophomore Mikayla Barber came in fourth while junior Callie Wilcox earned fourth in the 3000-meter steeplechase. Junior Lakayla Lafrance finished in eighth for the women’s high jump. The women’s 4x100 relay team came in seventh with a 46.00 time. For the men’s side, Junior Constant Pretorius came in second men’s 400-meter hurdles. Sophomore Michael Batson capped off the day with a fifth place finish in the men’s 800-meter run.

Yik Yak is an anonymous messaging app for college students.

posed it into a way to hide from a perv. Thanks Driftwood!

There were ducks swimming by the library. SWIMMING

The big mushrooms outside lib arts building are poisonous lookalikes of an edible mushroom. Do not eat them.

Oh. My. Goodness. Just saw the new signs in the library about trash. So unprofessional. Picked up a Driftwood because I didn’t have an umbrella, multi pur-

I like how UNO sent the email about the severe weather yesterday while it was all happening.

My mind, body and gas tank all told me not to come to class today. Why am I here? I’m seriously convinced all Youtubers hair contains some kind of dark magic because I can’t do a single one of these “super easy messy buns.” I wonder if these budget cuts are gonna make the internet worse than

it already is. Thanks yellow mustang guy for almost hitting me cause you were on your phone. Shout out to our students who went to BR Wednesday for the rally... We made LSU look pathetic and they’re only 15 minutes away...LSU had a very small number of students there...football game?

Sand Volleyball The sand volleyball team wrapped up its first season at LSU for the Battle of the Bayou. With matchups against LSU, Tulane, and UL-Monroe, the Lady Privateers weren’t able to come away with a win.

Men and women’s tennis finish last games of regular season Nigel Washington Sports Editor

With the regular season now finished, the men and women’s tennis team now look to the Southland Conference Championships on Sunday (April 26). Both squads played their last two games of the regular season this past week. The men’s team split the final two games with a win against Incarnate Word on Friday and a loss on Sunday to Lamar State. Against Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Tx., UNO came away with wins at the two and three spots in doubles. Seniors Rui Silva and Blake Gregor teamed up to win at the two spot 8-1, while Christoffer Applegre and freshman Giacomo Adoncecchi took the win at the three spot 8-5. The team also succeeded in singles competition with four wins. Adoncecchi, Gregor and senior Romain Lefevre all won their matchups in two sets. Silva had the close match but came away with a win in the only three set game of the day as the team won 5-2. On Sunday the men’s team headed to Beaumont, Tx. to face Lamar State as the last regular season matchup of the year. The Privateers didn’t have the

same level of success as they did against Incarnate Word, however. Silva saw another three-set match, and he was able to salvage a point for the Privateers before losing 5-1. For the women’s side, it was a perfect day against Incarnate Word on Friday. Freshman Anja Luethi and sophomore Anna Segarra Ruis won the first doubles match for the Lady Privateers at the two position. The doubles point was on the board for UNO as sophomore Yasmine Rashad and junior Hafsa Laraibi won 8-4 at the three spot. In singles matches the team was undefeated and walked out of Texas with a 7-0 victory. The season for the Lady Privateers finished on Sunday in Lake Charles in a loss to Mcneese State. After not being able to earn the doubles point, the team looked to the singles matches to get the win. Ruis and Laraibi both took their matches to three sets and were able to come away with the points for the team. McNeese State would go on to win the remainder of the singles matches to earn a 5-2 win. The women’s team heads into the Southland Conference Championship with a 14-10 record, and 4-7 Southland record while the

A squirrel enjoys his healthy lunch at the Amphitheater.

photo by Veronica Mansell

photo by Charisse Celino A mural painted by Charise Celino’s Drawing I class was requested to be painted over by the Fine Arts Department.

Now Hiring: Driftwood Editor-in-Chief The Student Publications Board is seeking a student interested in serving as editor-in-chief of UNO’s student newspaper for the 2015-16 school year. Please submit a cover letter, résumé, at least two published writing samples and one reference letter by noon Monday, April 20. (May be submitted as attachments electronically or dropped off at the history department office, LA 135.) Applicants must meet the following qualifications: -be a University of New Orleans student (graduate or undergraduate). -have a GPA of at least 2.5 for the fall 2014 semester. -be a student in good standing. -and have worked at least one semester for the Driftwood or equivalent publication experience. Senior Tim Kranz eyes a return again Incarnate Word on Friday to 5-2 victory.

men’s side hold a even 10-10 record and are 3-2 against Southland

opponents. Beaumont, Tx. will be the site for

photo courtesy of UNO Athletics

the Southland Conference Championship on Friday and Saturday.

Applications should be submitted to Dr. Connie Atkinson at c.atkinson@uno.edu. Questions, please call Dr. Atkinson at 504 280 6611 or by e-mail. The editorship is a paid position.

12 Wednesday, April 22, 2015