What’s May 7?
Taco Bell breakfast a bust, page 9
page 4
MONTEVALLO, ALABAMA
THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 2014
VOL. 88, ISSUE 11
Brick by brick
R ebuilding Montevallo’s history one brick at a time BY ANDREW FANCHER
It all started with seeing the top of bricks sticking above the ground in a row; after that curiosity took over. Billy Hughes, director of the physical plant at the University of Montevallo, knew that the bricks were part of a once existing amphitheater located next to Flower Hill. He didn’t know, however, that the majority of the original structure was still there laying seven inches below the dirt. Thanks to university bond money, approved by the board of trustees in 2012, Hughes now has the opportunity to restore the piece to its former glory. In 1928 the Olmsted brothers, famous for designing several parks, including Central Park in New York City, were contracted by university president Thomas W. Palmer to design the layout of the growing campus. The Olmsted brothers’ plan is where Montevallo gets its beautiful aesthetics from; the brothers planned every piece of campus, from the brick streets and sidewalks all the way down to the flag pole and what plants and trees to plant around campus. In January 2009, the University adopted an official strategic plan to guide the University over several years. Part of this plan was to remain faithful to the original Olmsted design. When the board of trustees approved the usage of university bond money in 2012, the money was divided among many maintenance projects. Along with these projects, mon-
ey also went to upgrading the brick streets and sidewalks and changing some of the plants around campus to keep to the Olmsted plan. Even with all these projects, Hughes managed to make the funds stretch, allowing him to add in a few more projects that
Hughes is now replacing concrete sidewalks on campus with brick, starting with the sidewalk leading up Flower Hill. Hughes is also giving brick sidewalks across campus a major facelift. All this was not enough for Hughes. He kept looking at the original plan and the amphitheater just kept looking back. The original design included the amphitheater and at once Hughes knew what his next project would be. “I love the history and beauty of this campus,” Hughes said. “I thought, well, this is kind of cool — I would like to try to bring that back.” Whenever Hughes would get the chance, he would go to the area where he had seen the bricks sticking above the ground. He could tell the bricks were standing on end, forming the border of a walking path. He started to probe the ground in the area around the bricks. What Hughes found surprised him; buried about seven inches below the surface, he could feel bricks. He kept probing and kept finding more brick. Then seven feet away from the first row of bricks he found another row — what he had found was the outer walkway of the amphitheater. After several months, Hughes found not only the entirety of the walkways but also the stage and a terracotta drainage system that had would help get campus back on the been put in to funnel water away Olmsted plan track. Hughes had from the seating and under the stage. contacted the Olmsted Brothers museum and received from them de- See BRICKS, page 3 tails and maps of the original plan. After reviewing these plans,
Killian to chair at WIU BY AUSTIN GOODWIN
Professor Tammy Killian of the Department of Theatre has decided she will not return in the fall but instead chair the Department of Theatre and Dance at Western Illinois University. Killian has been a professor at the university for seven years now, first coming to Montevallo in August 2007. Students are very sad to see her go. Junior Jalen Brown reflects, "Tammy was my Acting I teacher, so she was sort of my first taste of this department. That class taught me so much about my craft and about myself. For the past 3 years Tammy has continued to teach me things about this artform not just in class, but outside the classroom as well. She is so passionate and radiates such positivity when it comes to anything that happens in the department. She has taught me that passion and hardwork are very important to this
INSIDE this issue
career path. She cares for her students and wants every single one to be successful. I will truly miss her presence here and I want to thank for everything she's given me. Her lessons will live on with me where ever I go next and beyond. Good luck Tammy on your new adventure! I know there are great things waiting for you!" Her colleagues will miss her as well. Professor Marcus Lane said, “She’s fantastic, one of the most caring instructors and hardest workers I’ve met. It is sad to see her go; it is a loss to the program here.” Fellow instructor Steven House stated that he will spend some of his professional career trying to work with her again in the future. Killian says she’s had numerous wonderful experiences during her stay here. “I loved my work on productions collaborating with Emily Gill, Kel Laeger, Marcus Lane and Ste-
ven House as well as the many student designers I’ve had the great pleasure to work with,” she said fondly. The theater professor said from the freshman she met in Acting I, to “being stretched as an academician” in Directing III, all of her classes have been “a blast.” She expressed having fond memories of the College Night Committee, and her colleagues in the theatre department. “We’ve laughed, cried, yelled and supported each other through so much. I can’t even begin to describe how much they mean to me and/or how much I’ll miss them. Theatre is a collaborative art form. I’ve been blessed to be surrounded by a group of amazing collaborators who are passionate about what they do and how they do it.” To incoming and current theatre students, Killian advised understanding text. “The script
is the handbook for production, the foundation of this art form.” Her advice can be applicable to any student, however. “Read everything you can get your hands on. Read, think, understand, dream, imagine and read more.” Her decision to leave the university was unexpected. She never sought a position outside of UM. Killian says the new position simply “showed up on my radar. "As I read the ad for the position, I knew it would be a great step to help me to achieve my future goals. My goal has always been to be the chair of a large department with graduate studies, and now I will be!” she said. Killian has spent the past seven years at UM. In this time she has been extremely involved not only within her department but also in the world of theatre around Alabama and the rest of the southeast.
Photo by Heather Buckner
Bomb scare in Montevallo
BY COREY JOHNSON
CVS Pharmacy on Main Street received a call around 6 p.m. on Thursday, April 16. An unidentified person called in a bomb threat. At 7:15 p.m., students, staff and faculty were alerted of the bomb scare through an automated text message, email and phone call via the UM Alert System. The immediate area from Montevallo City Hall to McDonald’s was evacuated and closed off. Jefferson County deputies brought in a
bomb-sniffing dog from the Hoover precinct, but no bomb or any other suspicious materials were found. Montevallo Police re-opened Main Street around 8:30 p.m. after a vigorous two-hour search. Montevallo Police Chief Jeremy Littleton said his office would continue to investigate the threat. He said that whoever made it could face terroristic threat charges.
To read the full story, click here.
News in Brief MOBILE, AL — Three outbreaks of illness have been reported aboard two cruise liners, two of them in back-to-back cruises of the same ship. The double dose of ill-fated cruises struck the Royal Caribbean’s Grandeur of the Seas, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. During the ship’s April 5 to April 12 cruise, 105 of the nearly 3,000 passengers and crew were affected. PINSON, AL — Authorities found the body of 22-year-old Megan Elizabeth Monroe of Pinson on Saturday, April 19. Firefighters found the body when they responded to a call reporting a fire behind an abandoned house. Police are unsure what caused Monroe’s death but believe she was killed elsewhere, dumped there and set on fire. TRUSSVILLE, AL — Evangelist Matt Pitt of The Basement returned to preaching Tuesday after eight months in jail. Pitt was initially sentenced to one year in 2012 for impersonating a police officer. On August 20 Pitt had his probation revoked for impersonating an officer again. He still faces the second charge of impersonation. AUBURN, AL — Auburn University and police are offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the restroom vandal or vandals who left two threatening messages, causing a cancellation last week and an evacuation April 22, according to AL.com. WASHINGTON, D.C. — Kathleen Sebelius resigns as secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services despite the ACA reaching past its goal of 7 million signups for health care since the open enrollment deadline earlier this month. LOS ANGELES, CA — Legendary actor Mickey Rooney died on Sunday, April 6 at the age of 93. His film career spanned 80 plus years and is most remembered for his Andy Hardy films with iconic “Wizard of Oz” actress Judy Garland.
The story of Little Foot, page 7