e procedures that are currently in place are a little bit cumbersome,” Smith said “[Title IX] is 2,000 pages of legisla tion [T eDept of Education] recognized that T ey’ve recognized the distinction between a student that’s in elementary or secondary education and a student that’s in post secondary education T ey are focused on trying to make it more user friendly and makeit asimpler process”
InterimTitleIXcoordinator appointed
T e close proximity of UNA to her homeisawelcomeconveniencefor Smith, as she returned to the Florence area in 2021to carefor her parents Sheworksfor Bishop Colvin remotely
ColvinTile
T e university Title IX of ce faced backlash in thespring followingaseriesof stories published in theFlor Ala Smith’s hope is to be available and responsive for those who have questions about Title IX, aswell aspeoplewhowanttoreport Cases that arenot f t for TitleIX will bereferred to Student Conduct or whichever service isbest f t for their report
knows Title IX extends past complaints and the adversarial process Shesees it assomewhat of astartingpoint for further concerns Her interest in Ti tle IX branches from her law experience workingwith educational institutions
Smith comes from a family of lawyers; her father served as circuit judge in Lau derdaleCounty and her mother also prac ticed law in Florence Smith chose Cum berland School of Law over University of Alabama’sSchool of Lawduetoitssizeand proximityto family
Former Title IX Coordinator Kayleigh Baker resigned in April 2022, leaving the position vacant. As of August 2022, Bak er still receives monthly payments of $756036 from theuniversity according to university spending
Following Hef in’s retirement, Smith worked for former AlabamaCongressman Robert E “Bud” Cramer, for whom Cra mer Way is named She worked for two years as his scheduler and of cemanager Shereturned to theSenatefor Senator Di aneFeinstein (D CA) asascheduler Af er
She also has extensive experience in TitleIX law, thanks to her work at Bishop
“If students are transferring in from another institution, we don’t know what kind of education or background or train ingthey got at their prior institution,” said Dr. K.C. White, VicePresident of Student Af airsSmith
report to inform them of the supportive measuresof ered
isaFlorencenativeand current ly worksfor Bishop Colvin, alawf rmthat primarily represents public school boards, aswell asstateand local government of c es in Alabama Bishop Calvin has clients state wide but focuses mostly on the Bir minghamarea
Her choice to go to law school was rootedinhomesickness.Shespentsevento eight yearson Capitol Hill and decidedshe needed additional education T e skillset shedeveloped in D C was somewhat lim ited when translatedto theAlabamawork force, especiallysinceSmith didn’twant to work for theAlabamagovernment
Title IX is ever evolving Most recent ly, theBiden administration has proposed amendments to include protection for LGBTQ+ students and employees who facediscrimination on thebasisof sexual ity or gender identity T ese amendments arecurrentlyinthe60daypubliccomment period, wherein the public has the power
G”iven how many new students have arrived on UNA’scampus, TitleIX ismak ingapoint to showtheresourcestheyhave available Informingfreshmen on consent, reporting and the purposes of Title IX is important for both Gurley and Smith A total of 48 presentations were given at SOAR regardingTitleIX
Smith’s primary focus is public educa tion from kindergarten to twelf h grade. She previously worked at the f rm from 2004 to 2011 before working at Ogletree Deakins Ogletree specializes in employ ment law Many of Smith’s clients were higher education institutions, whichbegan her experienceworkingwith post second ary institutions She returned to Bishop Colvin in 2018
September 8, 2022 •The Flor-Ala NE3 WS
Smith earned a Bachelor's (B S) De gree from Hollins University in 1992 and a Juris Doctor (J D) degree from Samford University’sCumberland School of Law in 2004Smith
Asof Aug 23, TitleIX hastwo pending incident reports Incident reports are not necessarilyTitleIX violations, but theyare reported violations T ey areyet to bede termined to be Title IX T e of ce makes a point to reach out to the subject of the
Title IX currently operates under the 2020 amendments Presented by the Trump administration, Title IX was amended to strengthen the protection of sexual assault survivors
“TitleIX hasbecomemoreprevalent at all levelsof education,”Smithsaid “It’sone of many statutes that I have to advise my clientson and work within When thenew regulations cameout in 2020, it becamea primary focus for every public school in the state A large percentage of my day is talkingto TitleIX coordinators”
byEMMATANNER NewsEditor
“As you can imagine, it is a very emo tionally taxingtime,” said Dr John Gurley, University Investigator and Title IX Dep uty Coordinator “My goal is to treat [the victim and the accused] with dignity and respect and to prepare an independent report that can bepresented to a panel so they can make an appropriate determina tion
Smith’sother experienceincludesnear ly a decade working at Capitol Hill She served as astaf er for theHouseof Repre sentatives and Senate. She f rst worked as a secretary for late Senator Howell Hef in (D AL) in 1993 While her career plans for Capitol Hill wereoriginally murky, she ended up becomingHef in’sscheduler un til his retirement in 1997 She still feels a fondness for the Hef ins and says that the work environment madetheteamfeel like afamily
working for Feinstein, she attended law school at Samford
According to the Department of Edu cation, the amendments “codify that sex ual harassment, including sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence and stalking, isprohibitedunder TitleIX”Title IX also ensures that thoseaccused of sex ual harassment will be given due process T e amendments provide clearer proce duresfor theaccused
T eBiden administration also plansto broaden the def nition of sexual harass ment beyond what the previous amend ment did T eterm would broaden to any form of harassment that is sex related whether it apply to LGBTQ+populations or sexual misconduct.
T e Of ce of Student Af airs named Samantha Smith interim Title IX Coordi nator over thesummer Asinterimcoordi nator, Smith only holds theposition while UNA undergoes the hiring process for a full timeposition
TreasureFranklin| Staf Photographer
“T e implementations of [the amend ments] in 2020, I think, were designed to try to amelioratetheinvestigation process and also af ord additional due process for thosewho havebeen accused,” Smith said “[T edef nition of sexual harassment] was put into place for the f rst time, as well as the particular processes for investigation and decision making”
to submit opinionsandcomplaintsregard ing new regulations T e period ends on Sept 12 Af er, the Dept of Education will evaluate the comments and make chang es appropriately T e amendments would not be issued until approximately August 2023.“T
IX is a federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded educational institutions Since Title IX was originally introduced to encourage equality in sports, it has become most associated with athletics TitleIX also ap plies to employment and the educational environment asawhole In itsf f yyearsof existence, it hasremained asourceof both support and criticism.
SamanthaSmith,InterimTitleIXCoordinator,smilesforapictureatMemorial Amphitheater
beforetheadoptionwasf nal
for f vemoredaysaf er that, ” said Alondra Vargas Ramirez, auniversityresident
community T eir largest fundraiser ist shirt sales T e BRAT Pack makes care packages for newlydiagnosedwomen andleavesthem at doctorsof cesto begiven upon diagnosis T esecarepackagesincludethank you notes and stamps, fuzzy socks, gif certif cates and many other items to help patients through chemotherapy T egroup also helps arrange Christmasgif sfor children of af ectedwom en.
She knew she wanted to adopt the chil dren, but it wasanother two and ahalf years
Vargas Ramirez and her roommate Sydney Dent had discussed aplan in the caseof adiagnosis, but without anyof cial guidancefromhealthservices,workingout asolution wasdif cult “I wastryingto contact Health Services and I washittingdead ends, ” said Dent, “I would call and get ‘Hey thisperson’sgoing tocall youback’andI never gotacall back”
ingstudentsincurrent situations. In the COVID 19 addendum of the 2021 2022 housing contract, any campus resident must comply with the universi ty’s requests that a student leave their as signed livingspaceif they poseahealth or safety risk to other residents T ough, the residential student would not lose their housing contract T e contract has no in formation about where the displaced stu dent would residefor theduration of their isolation
“T erewereso many women that I went through treatment with andgot toknowthat didn’t survive, ” Robinson said “T ey had theseawesomecareersand familiesand kids HereI was, kind of aself shperson, not mar ried, no kids, kind of just doing whatever I wanted to do All of my goalsand ambitions weredirectedatmyself”
Not long af er completing cancer treat ment, Robinson (then Amy Goss) met Chad Robinson Hehadassistedher withtheBRAT Pack’s work on Relay for Life T ey werein troducedbyaBRAT Pack friendwhopassed away
cli to vie sen low ove sity Health Services remains in contact with healthcare of cials and is followingguidancereceivedfromAlabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) as well astheCentersfor DiseaseControl and
“Hewaswithmewhen I had no hair and still was at what I consider to bemy worst, ” Robinsonsaid
or regulations T e children were of cially hers in Au gust 2020 COVID 19prolonged theoriginal adoption plan Rather than havingtheir time inthecourtroom,thechildren’sadoptionhap penedviaphone Robinson and Chad married in January 2021 Chad had always wanted to adopt the children, but stepparent adoptions require a coupleto bemarried for at least a year T e familywasf nallyunitedasRobinsonsinJan uary2022 T echildren arenowseven,seven andeight Robinson’s main goal as Woman of the Year istopromotethatBRAT Pack and what they stand for She is now ready for the or ganization to branch out further than the Shoals and create an even larger sisterhood T eBRAT Pack washer main support at the Woman of the Year luncheon She credited theminher acceptancespeech Another goal isto spread theword about foster careand theshortageof foster parents Sheseestheneedfor reformin thechildwel faresystem Inher eyes,thefoster caresystem doesnotvaluefoster parentsandseesthemas “glorif edbabysitters”
If theseconditions arenot met, ADPH advisesto continueto isolateuntil day ten It is suggested to mask until day ten af er exposure, not to come into contact with high risk individuals until day 11, and, if asymptomatic,nottotest unlessknownex posureoccurredandtheyarein ahigh risk setting.
Cancer gave Robinson a wake up call T roughthepeopleshemet and experiences shehad, sheunderwent a personal transfor mation Shesaw her diagnosis asa sign that shewas not livingher lifetheway it wasin tended She did not understand true happi ness until sheref ected on herself and began givingback “I hopemy storyinspirespeopleto reach out beyond themselves, ” Robinson said “Do morefor thecommunity Domorefor things that areimportant to you T ereis so much more happiness and fulf llment from doing for othersthanfromdoingfor yourself”
She began looking at adoption, but dis covered that cancer patients are blacklisted fromprivateadoption agencies Sheexplored foster parenting,tooktherequiredclassesand wascertif ed Af er housingafewshort term placements, she got the call for a 3 year old
“[Health Services] said that [my roommate] had a right to the room, ” Var gas Ramirez said “But if that wasthecase, andshewantedtostayintheroomwithme, I wouldhavetowear amask,andshewould haveto wear amask”saidVargas Ramirez, “Which isreallyinconvenient”
Even though UNA remains in accor dancewith AlabamaDepartment of Public Health Guidelines, theuniversity isunable to accommodate the need for isolation spaceduringthecontinuingpandemic According to the ADPH guidelines, “thosewho areinfected [with COVID 19] shouldstayinisolationfor atleastf vedays T ey can end isolation on day six if they arefever freefor at least 24 hours without medication and their symptoms are im proving”
GraphicdesignbyColbyGreen
Prevention (CDC), ” T e ADPH website’s guidelines for isolation and quarantining lists to “stay at homeand away fromoth sity ces has to st for so a on d an nt sity 022 guidelines posted onto the UNA website. T e 2021 2022 guidelines and protocols are not consistent with the informationthat Health Servicesisprovid
T e lack of updated COVID guidance
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Without support from University Health Services, Dent choseto stay with a friendfor theduration of Vargas Ramirez’s isolation period “[University Health Services] said they didn’thaveanyother housingor anyrooms they could put mein, ” Dent said “And the best option I would havewould beto stay in myfriend’sroom”
boywithmedical special needsinApril 2018 Hisneeds exceeded what his previoushome couldhandle Robinsondidn’thesitatetotake himin
T e children also saw Chad as a father However, in order for Robinson to adopt the children, shecould not marrywhilethecase wasactive Gettingmarried duringan adop tion process is signif cantly more dif cult Any timea signif cant lifeevent occurs in a prospective parent’s life, a home study must bedoneagain Adoptionsmayalsobeput on holdformarriages,dependingonthestatelaw
T elittleboy,Nicholas,becamemedically stableover thenext few months Six or sev en monthslater, Robinson decidedto reunite himwithhissisters Her homewassoon bus tling with three, occasionally four (as Chad had partial custody of his daughter from a
“Laws and policies need a whole lot of updating, ”Robinsonsaid. “T esystemisvery brokenandverydif culttonavigate I hopeto helpother foster familiesnavigatethesystem andknowabouttheir rightsasfoster parents. ”
UniversityHealth Servicesneglected to give Vargas Ramirez any information on how to cooperate with her roommate in thismatter
procedures puts student residents at risk for moresituationslikethese Sheena Burgreen the Un tiv He We ing
AmyGossRobinson,ShoalsWomanoftheYear2022.
Photocourtesy DanBusey/TimesDaily
T eBRAT Packcontinuestohavemonth ly meetings, which include fun gatherings Most recently, thegroup attended acooking class on UNA’s campus T e group always welcomesnewmembers
Robinson hadsurvivor’sguilt. Shefelt the need toleavean impression on theworldbe causelife was too short to procrastinateany longer Her lifehad been non stop sincecol lege Shenever madetimetohaveafamilyor children and her cancer diagnosisonlymade it harder Bythetimeshef nished treatment, thechemotherapyrenderedher infertile
previous marriage), young children Robin son was not seasoned in caring for multiple youngchildren at atimeandfoundthework stressful T eentirefamilytooktimetoadjust
September 8, 2022 •The Flor-Ala4 NEWS FromCOVID-19Page#1
Even with the camaraderie gained from theBRAT Pack,Robinsonstill feltadeepsad nessinher heart.Shecouldnotplacewhatthe sourcewas
“With mesteppinginto theroleas Presi dentthisyear,I lookforwardtoseeingwhatall our amazingteamscan accomplish thisyear, ” Garner said “Hopefullybythistimenext year we’ll betalkingabout acouplemorechampi onshipsunder our belt!”
Esportscaptainsexpect even morepeople tojointheEsportsteamwhenthesegamesare released,whichwilladdtotherecord breaking number ofpeopletryingoutfor Esports
GavinVanDevender|GraphicDesigner
Amongst the teams, Esports has three teams for “Rocket League, ” ten people for “Leagueof Legends, ”f vepeoplefor “Rainbow SixSiege, ”andf f eenpeoplefor “Super Smash Bros. ”
UNA Esportshasacommunityfor every onewholovesall kindsof games T eyhavea discord for anyoneinterested to join and they can talk to 300+students, 50+alumni and a few staf members However, thecommunity is not only for competitive gamers T ey ac ceptanyonewholovesanykindofgamesfrom tabletopgamestocard games T eyalsohost aMinecraf server freeto anyonewho would liketojoinandconnectwithmembersoverthe videogame T einformationfortheMinecraf server canbefoundviathediscordlink. “NorthAlabamaGamingisopentoall,not just competitive gamers, ” Mooney said“We havemanysub communitiesthatareinterest ed in all typesof games, casual and competi tive Youcan f ndanamazinggroupof people here!” https://discord.gg/unaesports
Esportsplayerswillwearjerseysduringcompetitions.RenderingscourtseyofUNAEsports
Asidefromtheteams, theEsportsfacility has undergonechanges T ey rearranged the facility and set up new TVs, monitors and computers
Inthepast,UNA Esportshasmadenotable achievements Inthespringof 2021, theywon adivisionchampionship,andeachplayer won a ring T ese rings were manufactured from Baron rings, which isthesamemanufacturer that craf ed the Cleveland Cavaliers champi onshipringsin2016.
September 8, 2022 •The Flor-Ala SP13 ORTS College Football Predictions Virginia-Wise vs UNA from the Flor Ala Staf KSU vs Cincinnati Noah Catchings Sports Editor Audrey Johnson Editor in Chief Emma Tanner News Editor Gavin Van Devender Graphic Designer Trenedy Parks Staf Writer Alabama vs Texas UABvs Liberty Kentucky vs Florida Tennessee vs Pit UVA Wise Cincinnati UAB Alabama Kentucky Tennessee UNA Cincinnati UAB Alabama Florida Tennessee UNA Cincinnati Liberty Alabama Florida Tennessee UVA Wise KSU Liberty Alabama Florida Pit UNA Cincinnati UAB Alabama Florida Tennessee UNAEsportsHoldsRecord-Breaking Tryoutfor the2022-2023School Year byNOAHCATCHINGS SportsEditor T e UNA Esports team had a re cord breakingnumber of studentstryout for the2022 2023 season from Aug 24 through Aug 26 T eteamheld tryouts in thenewlyreno vatedEsportsFacilityinCovingtonHall where 75 students tried out amongst the games “League of Legends, ” “Super Smash Bros, ” “Rocket League” and “Valorant” T ey also founded a “Rainbow Six Siege” team for this year aswell Next semester, Esportswill bein troducinga“Halo”teaminthespringsemester Considering the Esports team acquired this many peoplebeforethetryouts for their two most popular games “Overwatch” and “Call of Duty, ” these numbers show an in creasedinterestinEsportsoncampus Esportshasyet to holdthesetryoutssince “Overwatch 2” and “Call of Duty Modern Warfare2”haveyettobereleased “Overwatch 2” isexpected to bereleased on Oct 4, 2022 “Call of Duty Modern Warfare2” isexpected to be released on Oct 28, 2022 Tryouts for theseteamswill occur shortlyaf er therelease ofthesegames
T ey also havenew jerseys for the2022 2023 school year: they are purplewith black accentsandhavetheUNA Esportslogoonthe upper right, sponsorson thesleevesandback and theplayers’ Gamertagon theback of the jersey Studentswhoareapartofthisorganiza tionwill wear thejerseys duringtournaments, aswell asaroundcampus
Former President of UNA Esports Zane MooneygraduatedinMay. Now, JaidenGar ner hasbecomethenew UNA Esportspresi dentforthe2022 2023schoolyear Hehashigh hopesforthissemesterwiththenewmembers joiningandnewgamesbeingreleasedsoon
Golf teamsreadyfor seasontobegin
byNOAHCATCHINGS
also earned three All State Honors while in high school Coach Self’sother recruits areKerigan Klauber, JackieKlemm, Zarah Fisher and AllyciaGan Kerigan Klauber earned All State Honorsand won the2022HurricaneLong Drive ChampionshipShe is a four time district 2 champion and f nished sixth in theTennesseeStateChampionship From Kelheim, Germany, Jackie Klemm is a player to watch She was a four time All American golfer at Arkan sas Tech and won eighth placein thena tional tournament and GAC freshman of theyear.
“We can’t wait to get started; the con nection theteamhasbuilt in our f rst few weekstogether hashappenedquicker than I expected, ” Calcaterasaid “Everyonehas been working really hard and we’re all lookingforward to seeingwhat wecan ac complish together”
SportsEditor
As for men’s golf, their roster has also undergone signif cant changes UNA Men’s Golf only has three players return ingfor theseason thisyear, which brought the team signif cant opportunity for re cruitment SinceCoach LukeCalcater’s washired on June 6, , UNA Men’s Gold has added three All American transfers from Ar kansasTech University:HenryFrizzel and
Anna Grace Brock is from Green wood, SC , and played three seasons at the University of North Carolina Greens boro She shot 7873 for 11 rounds She
T e two transfers, Rose Baral and AnnaGraceBrock aresuccessful Division II athletes Baral is from Las Vegas and transferred from the University of Ala bama at Birmingham Shehe shot a 778 averagewith alowround of 72in 2021.
Coach Calcatera also mentioned fans watch for Carter Goodwin who f nished second in theASUN ConferenceChampi onshiplastseasonandisexpectedtomake an impact thisseason.
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Men’s er Invitational ept 19 20 over, Ala PSU Intercollegiate ept 26 27 arksville, Tenn
At Arkansas Tech, the Jacobs’ broth ers won All American all threeyearsthey attended Arkansas State, and they were First Team All Great American Confer ence and PING All Central Region hon orees According to roarlionscom, both brothers were ranked top 15 Division II players
Men’s Golf will begin the season on Sept 12 and play in tournaments at Au burn University, Florida State University, the University of Alabama Birmingham and SamHouston State
To build a winning program, Self re cruited f ve new players Self expects the addition of these players to the roster of returning players will take the team far thisyear “We have 6 new players, which is a large class for a women’s golf squad, ” Self said “All are very talented and can make an immediate impact on the team Two arehighly successful D2transfers”
Henry Frizzel is ranked 139 in Divi sion II according to roarlionscom He is a two time All Conference honoree as well asthe2021PING All Central Region pick In highschool, hewasf rst teamAll State, All Region and All District
Golf Allstate Streamstrong Invitational Sept 12 14 Bowling Green, Fla Grover Page Classic Sept 19 20 Jackson, Tenn Women’s Golf Hoov
From the Division I transition to new players and coaching staf , the University of North Alabama has undergone signif cant changes since last school year Both men and women’s golf teams have grown with thesechanges and hope to makean impact right away “In general, it’s a really big year for us in regard to buildingawinningprogram, ” said CoachNeil Self, head coach for wom en’sgolf
twins Andre and Francois Jacobs While attending, the players won a Division II National Championship
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“Add them to the returners, and I ex pect usto makeasignif cant leap forward competitively, ” Self said Sophomores Hannah Dees and Jahnavi Prakhya, had the 2 best freshman seasons in program history last year And Hannah Pope, a5th year senior, has played every tournament since we started the program four years ago”
GavinVanDevender| GraphicDesigner
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September 8, 2022 •The Flor-Ala14 SPORTS Upcoming UNA Sports Schedule Volleyball Sept 9 vs Robert Morris 1p m Morehead, Ky Sept. 9 vs Quinnipiac 4:30 p m Morehead, Ky Cross Country UNA Invitational Sept 10, 7:45 a m McFarland Park North Alabama Showcase Sept 16, 8:15 a m Huntsvilla, Ala Football Sept 10 vs UVA Wise 6 p m Braly Stadium Sept 17at Chat anooga 5 p m Chat anooga, Tenn. Soccer Sept 8 at Chat anooga 5 p m Chat anooga, Tenn Sept. 11at UA 5 p m Tuscaloosa, Ala Sept 15 vs EKU 3 p.m. Richmond, Ky
