UNC Charlotte is on the radar of the U.S. News Media Group.
On their list of best 2013 education schools in the nation, UNC Charlotte’s graduate and doctoral education programs rank 84 out of 238 schools.
p.3
LIFESTYLE
NEWS
CAMPUS EDUCATION PROGRAM RANKS HIGH
THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2012
WHAT NATURE CAN DO FOR YOU
PAGE 1
With the Botanical Garden Sale coming up on campus, students can learn how owning a plant has its benefits.
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NINERTIMES Thursday, April 19, 2012
Published twice weekly and online at www.nineronline.com
A product of Student Niner Media • The University of North Carolina at Charlotte • Partially funded by Student Fees • Breaking News? Email us at editor@nineronline.com or call 704.687.7148
New on NinerOnline.com: Catch baseball game recaps this weekend as the Niners take on St. Joseph’s.
Catching the cure Sarah Obeid
HIV p.3
Joel Hanel and Corbin Peters
Estimated new HIV infections in 2009 per 100,000 people
SOBEID2@UNCC.EDU
On World AIDS Day in December 2011, President Barack Obama gave a speech concerning AIDS and HIV treatment plans. “When new infections among young, black, gay men increase by nearly 50 percent in three years, we need to do more to show them that their lives matter,” said Obama in his speech. Diana Rowan, UNC Charlotte social work assistant professor, lives by Obama’s statement as she prepares to begin a project to reduce HIV for the gay African American community. Rowan has worked five years at UNC Charlotte, two years as a professor and three years as a lecturer. Rowan was granted $1 million by the federal government to conduct her four year project involving HIV. Her grant will be used to target African American men in North Carolina and South Carolina. Next year she plans to expand her research to include 10 to 12 states in the southeastern region of the country. “HIV is a forgotten epidemic in the United States. People tend to focus on the idea that HIV is increasing in developing countries, yet it’s actually becoming widespread here in our very own country,” said Rowan.
Faculty Council pass student scholarship
Caucasion 15.9
EDITOR@NINERONLINE CPETER43@UNCC.EDU
African American 103.9
Hispanic and Latino 39.9
Graphic by Eden Creamer
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Men’s basketball signs All-State guard Nathan Butler NBUTLER4@UNCC.EDU
Charlotte 49ers head coach Alan Major has announced the signing of 5-11 point guard Denzel Ingram from Chapel Hill High School. Ingram signed a National Letter of Intent to play basketball for the 49ers. Ingram, the NCBCA 3A Basketball Player of the Year, averaged 23.9 points, 7.6 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 3.2 steals as a high school senior.
The Charlotte 49ers mascot, Norm, hyping up the crowd at a basketball game this past season. FILE PHOTO
A&E NoDa: Green River Ordinance
and Graham Colton comes to NoDa for their “Under Fire” tour.
Ingram was also named the 3A Basketball Player of the Year by NCPreps.com. As a high-scoring guard, Ingram completed his career ranked second all-time for the Tigers with 1570 points. Ingram’s record during his high school career was also impressive. Racking up 63 wins in 78 total games, with a winning percentage of .808, allowed Ingram to play AAU ball with Garner Roads AAU. “We’re very excited to have BASKETBALL p.10
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
ADVISOR ISSUES
SPORTS STATUES
VEGETARIAN FRIENDY
Festival: On Saturday the
When one UNC Charlotte student
second annual All Walks of Life festival will be held in Symphony Park.
saw an article in the Huffington Post
UNC Charlotte’s athlete statues out-
of restuarants in the University area
about “guerilla registration” she
side of each complex have become a
there are some options made for local
decided to look into the
49er tradition. Will the football statues
vegans and vegetarians. Check out
Tupac: Tupac’s reserrection via
registration and advising problems
look like all the other athlete statues
five of the top vegetarian restaurants
at other universities.
and will they add to the football
in Charlotte.
hologram at Coachella music festival shocked students. p.5-6
In the midst of the countless number
tradition? p.4
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With student-loan debt reaching $1 trillion dollars in the United States and student need constantly growing, the UNC Charlotte Faculty Council has unanimously approved a voluntary faculty scholarship fund to ease the pressures of student debt. The Faculty Legacy Scholarship is aimed at meeting all UNC Charlotte students’ financial needs. Starting with small donations from faculty that accumulate over time, the fund’s goal is to eventually pay tuition and fees for all UNC Charlotte students. “The vision is to the point where students, all students who are attending or want to attend the university, who have need, will in fact have the need covered,” said Al Maisto a Bonnie Cone Distinguished Psychology Professor who helped design the fund. Starting this fall, faculty will have the option to give monthly or per-paycheck donations to the scholarship fund. According to Maisto and Michael Green, current UNC Charlotte Faculty President, in its early years the scholarship fund will award a limited number of scholarships to the students with the most financial hardship. During this time the scholarship fund is designed to spend 30 percent of the fund on scholarships and place the remaining 70 percent in an endowment. With time they SCHOLARSHIP p.3
High school student arrested in shooting Eden Creamer ECREAMER@UNCC.EDU
An arrest has been made pertaining to the shooting of John Borek, a UNC Charlotte student. Police have arrested Devaughn Johnson, 17, a Mallard Creek High School student in connection with the shooting. Authorities say Johnson shot Borek over an incident involving drugs. UNC Charlotte Chief of Police Jeffrey Baker responded to the scene of the shooting within 30 minutes. Campus police is continuing to monitor the situation, he says, to determine the outcome. After the incident Baker received questions as to why he did not alert the campus about the shooting. “Based on the investigation the campus community is not in any danger,” said Baker. “We knew that [Borek] was called to The Flats and then [the shooter] left The Flats following the incident. I don’t want to alarm the campus with a shooting that doesn’t pertain to them.” Borek’s condition at Carolinas Medical Center is stable and he is expected to recover.
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NINERTIMES
THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2012
Professor wins Scholars Medal Malcolm Carter MCARTE72@UNCC.EDU
In conjunction with First Citizens Bank, UNC Charlotte hosts a ceremony to present the First Citizens Bank Scholars Medal. According to UNC Charlotte’s Office of Provost’s website, the medal “recognizes outstanding scholarship, creativity, and/ or research among senior full-time faculty members.” This year Dr. Jonathan Marks, professor of anthropology, was awarded the First Citizens Bank Scholars Medal. “It’s nice,” said Marks. “[The Department of Anthropology is] competing against very highly funded people in engineering and health and human sciences and all the other colleges in the university. So it’s a great honor to be judged at the university wide level and recognized as a great scholar.” According to Marks, academia is a world of great scrutiny. Through a process called peer review educators basically “beat each other up, usually anonymously.” Professors will observe their colleagues during class and write comments. Commonly the reviews aren’t positive in academics. “It’s a field where we get a lot of knocks, and not a lot of pats on the back,” said Marks. “It’s very gratifying when you do get a pat on the back.” Marks is known for his award-winning book “What It Means to be 98% Chimpanzee: Apes, People and their Genes” which was published in 2002. In his book Marks analyzes how we make sense of genetics. He acknowledges that it is a well-known
fact that monkeys and humans are very close in the gene pool but he seeks to find out what that really means. “Similarity and difference is fairly obvious. It runs from 0 percent similar, which is really really different, to 100 percent similar, which is exactly the same,” said Marks. “But the fact is [deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)] doesn’t work that way.” He goes on to examine in the book how DNA is a long sequence made up of four different strands - A, C, G and T - and that because there are only four, two random sequences of DNA are probable to match up at least one every four strands. “By the same measurement that you’re 98 percent genetically identical to a chimpanzee, you’re at least 25 percent genetically identical to a daffodil. But obviously you’re not a quarter daffodil,” said Marks. Marks is currently studying the history of the study of race and the application of eugenics. Eugenics is the study of selfdirecting of human evolution by discouraging those with undesirable inheritable traits from reproducing and encouraging those with desirable traits to reproduce. In the 1930s this idea became associated with the Nazis and since has gained a less than favorable view in the eyes of many. Marks is taking a look at eugenics from a different angle, examining its validity as a science. “When you’re studying who we [humans] are and where we came from, you want to do it objectively. But there is no objectivity possible if you’re studying your own diversity and your own ancestry,” said Marks. “We’re stuck being humans studying humans.”
NINERONLINE.COM
THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2012
PAGE 3
Education program nationally ranked UNC Charlotte’s graduate and doctoral education program ranked 84 out of 238 universities in the U.S. Elizabeth Bartholf EBARTHO3@UNCC.EDU
The U.S. News Media Group recently announced UNC Charlotte’s College of Education graduate programs rank among the top in the nation. In U.S. News’ list of best education schools for 2013 Charlotte is 84 out of 238 schools assessed, an increase from last year’s rank of 101. U.S. News ranks schools according to several assessments, including surveys of graduate and education deans and superintendents across the country on their perceptions of the quality of education offered at graduate schools. Programs are rated on a scale of 1 to 5. “The perception of UNC Charlotte is growing in stature nationwide. More people in positions of authority are aware of the very good work that is going on here,” said Mary Calhoun, dean of the College of Education. Schools are also evaluated by acceptance rates, student-to-faculty ratios and the number of doctoral degrees granted. Charlotte’s doctoral education
programs include 91 full-time faculty and a 1.3:1 ratio of full-time doctoral students to full-time faculty. “[UNC Charlotte’s College of Education] is not the top tier [in rankings] because we are new, but we are doing the kind of work that will increasingly have a positive impact on schools and communities. I really think our work [in doctoral education programs] is outstanding,” said Calhoun. Calhoun says having new graduate programs that are still developing is also an advantage for the university. “[Charlotte] programs are not tied to practices of the past. We can examine the needs of today and create programs that respond effectively to these needs without having to change traditional practice,” she said. The College of Education offers four doctoral degrees in education: a Doctor of Education in educational leadership and Doctors of Philosophy degrees in counseling, special education and curriculum and instruction. Sequoya Mungo, former education graduate student, knows
The College of Education. Photo courtesy of Barry Falls firsthand about the opportunities in Charlotte’s growing doctoral programs. Mungo earned a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction and now works as a teacher recruiter for UNC Charlotte, educating future undergraduate students about Charlotte’s education degrees. “Moving up the rankings is a testament to [graduates’] education and they should be proud. It’s also something for them to share
HIV from p.1 Young African Americans engaging in intercourse with other African Americans are the number one demographic HIV reaches. According to a study done by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, “In North Carolina, African American men account for two-thirds of new infections. The HIV incidence rate for black men was about six times as high as that of white men. Among black men, more than half of new HIV transmissions occurred in men who have sex with men.” Rowan plans to use new media to reach a younger audience. “My initiative involves an online intervention. It allows for special, tailored messages to be spoken to this group of people. They are messages in which this African American population can relate to. The intervention is like a private, social network, similar to Facebook, just for this community,” said Rowan. Health promotion and HIV prevention will be spread through the online intervention where participants do not have to worry about their statuses’ being ousted. “I will be partnering with an AIDS service in Charlotte through Carolinas CARE Partnership. I have a sub-contract with
with their students so they might come to UNC Charlotte to become teachers too,” said Mungo. Many other graduates from UNC Charlotte’s Ph.D. education programs teach as professors in colleges across the country including Temple University, Ohio State University, University of Kentucky, UNC-Greensboro, UNC-Wilmington and Western Carolina University. “For doctoral programs [in
SCHOLARSHIP from p.1 them. I plan to work with Darrin Johnson from Carolinas CARE Partnership. Johnson is an expert in reaching this particular demographic in terms of HIV treatment and prevention. Carolinas CARE Partnership plays a huge role in the AIDS service community and will be supporting the website initiative,” said Rowan. There are a number of factors that explain why HIV affects African American men more so than white males. “This group of African Americans has an unequal access to health care. There is an inherent lack of trust in the system for good reason and a lack of tailored prevention messages for this specific community,” said Rowan. In addition homophobia is quite common in African American communities, which in turn does not help the spread of prevention information or the reduction of HIV. Rowan suspects her initiative will result in success. She believes the project will create a positive impact for gay African American communities across the nation. “The rates for HIV are growing so extensively, so I really feel the affected people should be shown that people care and that their lives are worth saving,” said Rowan.
hope that the endowment and its interest will grow to support the scholarship’s greater vision of paying for every UNC Charlotte student. Assuming that at least half of the faculty donates $20 of each of their paychecks Green and Maisto estimate the scholarship fund could grow to $120,000 the first year and $30 million dollars after 20 years. “Now your talking about spending not just the 30 percent, we will start pulling the interest off of this thing which is a few million dollars a year,” said Maisto. Maisto and Green said the faculty has shown an unusual amount of enthusiasm about the scholarship fund compared to its typical legislation. An ad-hoc committee drafted the scholarship fund in only six weeks. “Many people would not see it so clearly because normally you spend your first month just trying to schedule a meeting, and then some come. This was the case of ‘we’ve got to get it done in six weeks who can come?’ Well everybody came,”said Maisto. The faculty’s enthusiasm surprised Maisto and Green considering UNC Charlotte professors have not received a raise in four years. They said this is evidence of the faculty’s passion for giving students access to affordable education. “This is something the faculty are do-
education] that are barely over 10 years old to have this kind of quality and impact is exciting,” said Calhoun. UNC Charlotte is the second highest producer of teachers in North Carolina, after East Carolina University. “There are exciting opportunities for graduate study [at UNC Charlotte]. The rankings help communicate that this is a place worth looking at,” said Calhoun.
ing for the students,” said Maisto. “It’s not something we are doing for the University. That line we have been rather clear in drawing.” Both professors said the faculty feels a need to leave a legacy with the UNC Charlotte community once they retire. They want the fund to become a measurable way for faculty to give back. “If you look around there are a lot of faculty who retire and go away and they are moderately pissed because they don’t feel highly valued by administration or even by their colleagues anymore. They look around and there is no real measurable change in this University that they helped build.” Green hopes students become a catalyst to increase faculty donations. He says one simple questions from students to their professors can drive donations. “‘Are you participating in the Faculty Legacy Scholarship?’ And if the answer is ‘no,’ then follow up is ‘why not?’ And if the faculty member says ‘yes,’ the students say, ‘thank you’,” said Green. Maisto and Green know that their goal of paying for every student is a lofty one, but they think given time and faculty cooperation this scholarship fund can reach its vision. “We can’t fix it in a week, we can’t fix it in a decade, we may be can fix it in 50 years, but the idea is to give it a start,” said Maisto.
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THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2012
OPINION NINERTIMES Volume 24, Number 49 A PRODUCT OF
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You know you’re a college student when you have a bone to pick with administration. You can’t get an appointment with your advisor quickly enough. Or maybe you can’t get financial aid to give you a straight answer about how much funding you’ll get next year. Or maybe you even find out that you‘re short on the number of credits you need to graduate on time, leaving you to seriously wonder about the money, time and energy that you’ve invested into a college education. What if I told you that you might actually have it easy compared to some other students who have been seriously victimized by the institution of higher education? In February The Huffington Post published an article indicting Kaplan University for what has been termed “guerrilla registration,” which allegedly involves its advisors hacking into students’ e-mails in order to retrieve their passwords and covertly sign them up for classes. Of course the university has denied utilizing this practice that involves registering students into classes without their knowledge and leaving them with surprise bills to pay that leads these victims into debt. Several former Kaplan advisors have spoken out against the practice and have illustrated a picture of a conglomerate that pressures its advisors to meet a sales quota. The for-profit university itself claims to be an educational haven for “higher risk students from lower-income backgrounds” that have been traditionally “overlooked by other institutions.” While this news is shocking to some degree, it is not altogether surprising that yet another college has seen its undergraduates as consumers instead of valued students. Having transferred from a small private school to a large public institution, it tends to feel like the larger colleges treat their students like numbers. While this is a bit of a pipe dream, we can only hope that colleges all around will begin to look within themselves and the practices in which they’ve been engaging. I think corruption and fraud are the words we’re looking for here. The Rolling Stone did a similar story on
Letters to the Editor Do you want your voice to be heard?
procrastination Eden Creamer
the plight of today’s college students and interviewed a former admissions counselor for a major for-profit school. “The pressure to sign people incapable of doing the work was overwhelming,” said the former counselor. This doesn’t surprise me in the least, considering that once I applied to a handful of colleges, some of them spent months leaving me voicemails and sending me mail in an attempt to get me to go to their schools. To me, any school that was buttering me up way too much was a red flag. It’s possible that these academic advisors were just being a little overzealous, but isn’t college supposed to be a little competitive? I always think there is something fishy about schools that heavily advertise themselves and practically beg students to sign on with them. It just makes me think that they’re trying to fill a quota and that the institution they work for is money hungry. That being said, how much longer are students going to have to endure this sort of treatment? Are we valued students who deserve to be treated as such or are we customers who are just emptying out our pockets for a system that doesn’t give us the time of day once we’ve handed them our money?
Do you have something you need advice on?
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OUT FROM THE CROWD
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Send it to Norm at editor@nineronline.com
Procrastination sucks and it would be a bold-faced lie if I said I never did it. I procrastinated writing this article that you’re reading. Granted I had no idea what to write about until I realized I was procrastinating but it still counts. The worst part about this time of the year is that summer is within our grasp. High temperatures spouting up every other week and teachers saying, “So I guess all we have left is this, this and this.” At the beginning of the semester this wasn’t a problem. I used to sit down and do homework days before it was due. Now the night before class I’m doing all the work that I should have started a week ago. It isn’t just schoolwork that I’m procrastinating on either. Two of my final exams are on the same day at the same time. I’ve been thinking about doing something about it for a few weeks but I just haven’t gotten around to it. I blame Netflix. Every episode of Law and Order available for me to watch instantly? Ahh, who needs work. The only answer now is to work on a fool-proof way to avoid procrastinating. And no it doesn’t involve cancelling Netflix (blasphemy!). I could lock myself in a room with nothing but my textbooks and a computer. But then again that would send me back to Netflix. I could lock myself in a room with nothing but my textbooks and a computer without Internet. But then I wouldn’t be able to use Wikipedia to write my papers. Uh, or should I say scholarly online sources pertaining to my topic. Yeah, that’s what I meant. This is obviously the great, unanswered struggle of college. To work or not to work. That is the question. There’s still three more years of this scuffle. Three more years of coming up with some meaningless task to complete instead of doing my real work. Three more years of scrubbing my bathroom walls to avoid reading a chapter in a textbook. Three more years of rearranging my closet so I don’t have to write papers. No amount of organization, scheduling and dedication can help this turmoil be avoided. No matter how many times you say, “I’ll do that tonight,” you never will. Unless it is due tomorrow. Then you might do it tonight. All I know is, I don’t want to deal with this every year until I graduate. I should come up with a comprehensive plan to destroy procrastination right now. A plan equipped with a PowerPoint, 10 page paper and a speech to provide audiences with understandings of my detailed plan. And luckily doing that means I don’t have to do my real work.
NINERONLINE.COM
A&E
THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2012
LIVE MUSIC:
4/20 - Eyes of the Elders Neighborhood Theatre, 9:30, $10 4/20 - Brandon Kirkley and the Firecrackers Amos’ Southend, 7:30, $7
PAGE 5
NEW IN THEATERS: • • • • •
Think Like a Man The Lucky One Chimpanzee Jesus Henry Christ Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
Fan-funded “Under Fire” tour stops in NoDa Patrick Bogans
PBOGANS@UNCC.EDU
Mac Miller’s stop at UNC Charlotte for the Macadelic Tour wasn’t the only great show in Charlotte last Monday. On April 16th Texas rock band Green River Ordinance (GRO) and singer/ songwriter Graham Colton made a stop in Charlotte for the “Under Fire” tour. The event was held at the Chop Shop in the NoDa arts district. As a recently independent supporting artist, Colton began the show in the traditional fashion most smaller shows do: an acoustic set from a seemingly unknown artist. Oddly enough however, Colton has had some very notable mainstream success, touring with Maroon 5, Counting Crows and John Mayer prior to this tour. His most popular song “Best Days” was used for a season of American Idol as the ‘exit’ song for live first-round auditions. Colton did a great job performing and tugged on the heart strings of the audience with his memorable acoustic set filled with southern charm. Colton performed his songs from his newest album “Pacific Coast Eyes,” the most memorable songs being “Twenty Something” and his cover of “You’re So Vain” by Carly Simon. After a while GRO took the stage. As soon as they took it, they owned it. “Under Fire” is the name of GRO’s amazing new album that was released
last February. Once a signed band to EMI records, GRO is a recently independent band. Their album’s success post-EMI has been a delight to many, including the band itself. They began a Kickstarter campaign in the middle of last year, raising around $40,000 from their fans to help fund the production of their new album. The album on its release date back in February peaked at number 12 on the iTunes album charts. The somewhat small venue and moderate amount of people at the show made the event much more intimate than expected. However GRO didn’t take that into consideration as they performed their southern rock show just as loudly and just as brilliantly as they would if they were performing at the Time Warner Cable Arena. The changing lights in the background of their performance coordinated with the songs perfectly throughout the entire show. This effect was aesthetically pleasing on a completely new level. Not even just in between songs, but consistently within the songs as well. The show never seemed to take a break. GRO ended up playing their entire 15-track “Under Fire” album over the course of the night. The band even made room for a few classics from their freshman album like “Out of My Hands” and “Endlessly.” They did this all in about an hour
Geoff Ice (left) and Josh Jenkins (right) performing at Chop Shop and 15 minutes. The band sounded just like their album from their first song performance to their last, with some occasional and welcomed surprises including riffs and solos. The reason why this concert was particularly special is because of the band’s independent status. GRO’s fans have funded much of their second album and their tour, and the band mentioned plenty of times throughout the concert how grateful they were for those contributions. That help from their fans motivates them to put on an immensely memora-
Photo courtesy of Patrick Bogans
ble show, no matter where they are performing, because without the fans the band wouldn’t have had the opportunity to be there at all. Josh Jenkins, GRO’s lead singer, even walked into the crowd at the Chop Shop a few times to get the crowd to sing along. The entire band, along with Colton, chatted with anyone who wanted to meet them after the show. The nice intimacy of the entire ordeal was greatly surreal and memorable. Check out grahamcolton.com and greenriverordinance.com find out more on these southern rock artists.
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NINERTIMES
THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2012
Second annual music festival celebrates All Walks of Life A.W.O.L.
BY THE NUMBERS
45 85 2 11 8 0
Dollars per general admission ticket. A ten dollar discount is applied if you order tickets with a group of ten.
Dollars per party tent ticket. Party tent tickets will also come with ten drink tickets.
25’ x 16’ jumbotron screens. A free app will allow festival-goers to post pictures on the screens.
A.M.: Time when the festival opens upthe same time that the shuttle begins operating.
Bands that will be featured at this year’s A.W.O.L. show including: Robert Randolph & The Family Band and Outasight.
Dollars you will have to pay the All Walks of Life festival shuttle which runs until 10:00p.m.
Barry Falls Jr
B FA L L S 4 @ U N C C . E D U
“I had such a blast last year! Such a great, diverse selection of music and a cornhole tournament,” Charlottean Katey Kelly posted on the All Walks of Life (A.W.O.L.) in Charlotte’s Facebook. Katey is not the only person excited about the second annual A.W.O.L. festival. A.W.O.L. is a newer annual music festival that aims to bring together the people of Charlotte in a celebration of life, peace, happiness and health through the live music experience. A.W.O.L. is hosted at Symphony Park, near South Park Mall. The event begins at 11 a.m. this Saturday and features eight bands based in and out of Charlotte.
The changes from last year
With the massive success of last year’s festival the event directors at A.W.O.L. hope for this year to be even better. “We were pleased with the great deal of success we had in our inaugural year,” said A.W.O.L. executive producer Drew Picciano. “There was never any thought of going away from the BYOB aspect that people loved, and the free shuttle buses that were utilized by many.” For this year’s event the staff added a jumbotron and partnered with RawPorter, which allows fans to download the free RawPorter app, take photos of themselves and their friends and post them to the jumbotron throughout the day. A.W.O.L. also added a few bus hubs to enhance the experience of getting to and from the event. In addition to Uptown, Southend and NoDa, UNC Charlotte is a confirmed bus stop.
The unconventional alcohol policy
Typically outdoor music events make much of their money through drink sales. However A.W.O.L. has implemented a bring-your-own-beer policy. “We wanted to be different, and we think allowing fans to BYOB and provide them free rides creates a differentiating factor between us and any old concert or festival,” said Picciano. “Personally I was tired of going to festivals and concerts and paying outrageous food and drink prices so we try to be conscious of that and everything we
An enthusiastic crowd at the first annual All Walks of Life festival. Photo courtesy of A.W.O.L. According to the A.W.O.L. website do is to enhance the fan experience.” The only rule is that you cannot bring Outasight has been known to weave together the cadenced sounds of popular any beverages in glass containers. Beer, liquor and wine will be avail- hip-hop and indie rock with the poiable for those who simply want to ac- gnant sensibility of classic pop and soul music to create a fresh, new sound that quire it on site. is all his own.
The musical line-up
Eight bands are scheduled to perform this Saturday ranging in genre from rock, funk, pop, jazz, hip-hop and soul. In 2011 A.W.O.L. presented the musical likes of Mike Posner, Matt and Kim and Sugar Glyder. Contrary to last year’s music event this year’s A.W.O.L. will feature more bands rooted in the Queen City. “We learned in year one that the DJs were a hit throughout the day and added a few more DJ sets to add to the party/ dance scene of the event,” said Picciano. “Last year we had a number of local acts leading up to the headliners who were great, but we noticed people wanted more music they were familiar with mixed in with some up and coming, local bands.” Robert Randolph and The Family Band will be headlining the show. Hailing from Orange, New Jersey Robert Randolph has been compared to musicians like Louis Armstrong, Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Wonder. Randolph is known for his unique use of pedal steel guitar that has become an energetic staple for the group. The New York-born Outasight is also scheduled to perform.
‘Pac returns with bulletproof body Ryan Pitkin RPITKIN@UNCC.EDU
Any college student who hasn’t yet heard the biggest news to come out of 2012’s Coachella music festival must have a workload that is close to killing them. No worries: you can be brought back. As anyone with a Twitter feed has probably seen or heard, Tupac stopped by during Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg’s set at the concert by means of hologram. He did not pass on any messages from Obi Wan Kenobi, but instead pranced around on stage and rapped his hit song “Hail Mary.” The hologram of Tupac appeared to rise from the stage exactly a week after the holiday celebrating another man’s resurrection; a man you may have heard of who has sold similar amounts of work since his death. The slightly transparent rapper had a bit of a back and forth with Dre and Snoop before asking the crowd, “What up, Coachella?!” This seems to give some hint to-
wards whether an impersonator was behind the hologram’s voice, since Tupac died three years before the festival was founded. The idea was apparently Dr. Dre’s from the start, and although no one has
Tupac’s ghost comes through the Coachella stage. Photo/YouTube
commented on the exact price, a recent report puts the approximate range between $100,000 and $400,000. I know it wouldn’t have been the same, but I feel like for that sort of money they could’ve pulled Pac’s pants up just a bit. As funny as this is to me and as much as it’s suffered from media overkill, I must admit it is pretty great to think about what technology has been able to accomplish. To be honest the idea of seeing Tupac live, even as a hologram, is much more enticing to me than seeing the Beatles’ children starting a band, which they have been threatening to do. There has been a rumor regarding Dr. Dre touring with the hologram, and although it would cost a lot, at least he could guarantee that the two would probably get along the entire time. After Dre changed the audio game with his headphones and pioneered this hologram idea, one wonders what sense he will own next.
The non-musical activities
A.W.O.L. will also feature corn hole, life-size jenga and a beer pong tournament as well as a variety of other fun things for attendees. “Everything besides glass bottles is pretty much allowed, so we often say we provide the venue, the music and the ability to ‘create their own party’ within a larger party,” said Picciano. Food and drink vendors will also be present and active.
The charities
A.W.O.L will benefit two local children’s charities: Don’t Break the Bond and Camp Care. The goal of Don’t Break the Bond is to educate and maintain communication between incarcerated parents and children, creating a bonding relationship of growth. Camp Care is a nonprofit organization that provides a camp and other year-round activities for children in the CharlotteMetrolina area who have or had cancer. If you want to support these charities bring your friends and a cooler to Symphony Park and celebrate A.W.O.L. this Saturday.
NINERONLINE.COM
THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2012
PAGE 7
Where a Niner’s spare moments go
ARE YOU VEG?
IF YOU’RE A VEGAN, A VEGETARIAN OR GLUTEN-FREE TELL US YOUR FAVORITE PLACES ON OR OFF CAMPUS TO DINE. EMAIL LIFESTYLE@NINERONLINE.COM. Woodlands Pure Vegetarian South Indian Cuisine 7128 Albemarle Road
Veg gie delights Tricia Bangit
Photo/ MCT Campus
TBANGIT@UNCC.EDU
the top vegetarian restaurants in Charlotte Finding somewhere decent to eat can be hard for vegans and vegetarians. After a while the small selection of soups and salads at regular restaurants inevitably gets old and unsatisfying.
Zizi’s Vegetarian (Vegan) To Go 7945 North Tryon
With an assortment of curries served with basmati rice, dosas (gigantic savory crepes), 10 types of delicious bread and other types of Southern Indian cuisine, Woodlands has a large menu to choose from. On Saturdays and Sundays they have a lunch buffet from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. The restaurant also offers a smaller, slightly more expensive organic menu.
Fern: Flavors from the Garden 1323 Central Avenue
www.woodlandsusa.com
The menu at Fern is a little unconventional. The starters, called community plates, are served tapas style. Super-small plates are $5, but the more you order, the less they cost. These include hummus, red curry eggplant and spiced olives. Other starter plates consist of bruschetta, “meatballs,” a cheese plate and several types of salads. The entrees, ranging from $12 to $16, include roasted eggplant and zucchini parmesan, tacos made out of Indian fry bread, Bavarian cabbage and Spaetzel.
Luna’s Living Kitchen 2102 South Boulevard
www.fernflavors.com
Luna’s takes pride for using organic, local, raw and vegan ingredients. This restaurant serves a breakfast menu that includes muesli, granola and parfait. Luna’s also serves a variety of salads, veggie burgers, wraps and raw vegetable lasagna.
Zoë’s Kitchen 1055 Metropolitan Avenue
www.lunaslivingkitchen.com
Zizi’s is a vegan takeout and delivery restaurant that offers a variety of vegan subs and burgers that range from $4.99 to $6.75. Salads and entrees are available for $7.99 to $9.99. You needn’t worry about just being served a bunch of vegetables here. Veggie fish and chips, soy chicken nuggets and jumbo vegan shrimp nuggets are just a few of the meatsubstitute dishes that Zizi’s serves. In addition gluten and soy-free selections are available for those with particular food allergies.
Located in Midtown Zoë’s Kitchen serves hummus plates, Greek salads, pimiento cheese sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches, spinach roll-ups, veggie pita pizza and veggie kabobs. The vegetarian plates range from $4.65 to $8.55. Zoë’s also offers its food to-go. If you call ahead, you can order from the to-go menu that serves four people.
www.awesomevegan2go.com
www.zoeskitchen.com
PAGE 8
NINERTIMES
THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2012
The benefits of
owning a plant Michele Karr
MKARR1@UNCC.EDU
This Friday and Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., UNC Charlotte’s Botanical Gardens will hold its annual Spring Plant Sale. It will take place at the McMillan Greenhouse located across from parking services, behind McEniry. The assistant director of the gardens Paula Gross said this year we can expect a wide selection of native plants as well as exotic botanicals. Purchasing a plant can benefit one’s life in various ways. Read the list below to see how purchasing a plant could increase productivity, enhance positive energy and improve the air quality in your dorm or home.
UNC Charlotte garden and greenhouse photos by Holli Garrido
1) Plants can make you happy.
Studies have shown that taking care of a plant reduces stress. It can give people something to focus on and feel good about. Plants can also help people who are experiencing depression or loneliness.
2) Plants add beauty to your living space.
Plants are a great way to bring texture and color into one’s home, apartment or dorm. Rooms that have live plants seem more homey and warm because they enhance appearance as well as livability.
3) Plants work as humidifiers.
Plants filter the air and control the humidity. This decreases dust and allergens in the air, reducing one’s chance of getting a cold.
4) They serve multiple purposes.
Plants such as rosemary and basil not only add appeal to your room, but give off a great scent and can be used for cooking. They are flavorful and put color into certain dishes. Some plants can even be used in medicinal ways such as aloe for sunburn.
5) Inspiration.
Taking care of a plant can inspire one to be more responsible about other things. For instance people who have live plants are typically forced to keep a tidier home, or at least to clean up the area around the plants. They could also motivate one to take better care of living spaces.
6) Plants increase Feng Shui.
Feng Shui is the Chinese art of placement and positioning in a living or working environment to enhance the flow of positive energy. Try placing a plant in the part of a home, apartment or dorm that could use some energy enhancement.
7) Increase air quality.
Plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen, keeping the air clean. Fresh air is easier and healthier to breath and also decreases headaches, nausea and drowsiness.
8) Stay Focused.
Increased air quality provides quicker recovery from mental tiredness. Studies have shown that plants boost concentration and productivity, particularly with people who work on computers.
9) Dorm decorations.
Plants are a great way to enhance small spaces and mask smells. Dorms can harbor funky scents and many plants have strong fragrances to help with this problem.
10) Keep our campus beautiful.
Proceeds from the sale will go to the greenhouse and the gardens operation.
NINERONLINE.COM
THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2012
PAGE 9
DOWNTIME 19
Thursday
20
Friday
21
Saturday
22
Sunday
Awareness Day
RSA Carnival
Project/Hope
Project/Hope
Student Union
Front Fields
Robinson Hall
Robinson Hall
12:00p.m.
Spring Plant Sale McMillan Greenhouse 3:00p.m.-4:00p.m.
ReTweet Off Studnet Union 7:00p.m.
2:00p.m.-6:00p.m.
Katie Armiger & Casey Weston Norm’s
7:00p.m.
8:00p.m. Student Tickets $6 Faculty/Staff Tickets $9
Guitar Ensemble Rowe Arts 8:00p.m.
8:00p.m. Student Tickets $6 Faculty/Staff Tickets $9 -Runs from April 18, 2012 to April 22, 2012.
23
Monday
24
Tuesday
What’s on Your Plate?
Stop Hunger Now Project
Fretwell - Rm 310
In front of Student Union
LSAT Exam Prep
Charlotte 49ers Baseball vs. Duke
5:30p.m. - 6:30p.m.
UNC Charlotte Main Campus - See Website 6:30p.m. - 9:30p.m.
All Day
Robert and Mariam Hayes Stadium 6:00p.m.
PAGE 10
THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2012
SPORTS
“Go Long” falls short Travis Durkee TCDURKEE@UNCC.EDU
There have been countless updates on the construction of the new football stadium. Understandably so, football is the “grandaddy” of college athletics. However, I believe that a story line is being missed. As a 49er student and soonto-be alum, I can’t express my excitement for a Charlotte football program enough. The new facility will be brand new and state-of-art, but I’m not excited about the 12-foot statues that will stand by the entrances of McColl-Richardson Field. All Charlotte varsity sports are represented by a life-size statue of an athlete in their respective sports including the two new statues outside of the recently completed HaltonWagner Tennis Complex. These statues, as detailed and complex as they may be, are still generic figures. Irwin Belk, who has donated the money for every statue on campus as well as well as the Irwin Belk Track and Field Complex, is continuing his generosity by donating the money for the football statues. UNC Charlotte has commissioned the job to sculptor Jon Hair who lives and works in nearby Cornelius, N.C. And to continue another
Jon Hair stands in front of his panther sculpture on the campus of High Point University. Photo courtesy of www.jonhair.com
theme, the statues will also be a generic figure. A 12-foot tall generic quarterback looking downfield for a receiver. The statue is named “Go Long.” I’m all for continuing the theme of a statues to represent varsity sports, but with all due respect to volleyball and cross country, I feel that football should be an exception. Football is a sport where mere players can become immortals. For example, earlier this week Auburn University unveiled three larger-than-life statues of their past Heisman Trophy winners, including Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton. What will Charlotte do when we have a legendary football coach or Cam Newton-esqe player? Put a statue of them next to “Generic Joe?” I understand that Charlotte 49ers football is nowhere close to comparable with Auburn Tigers football of 2012, but neither was Auburn Tigers football in their first season back in 1892. This program will grow and the stadium and its features should allow room for that growth. The stadium has the option to expand to nearly 60,000 seats to accomodate a growing fan base. Why does it not consider the players and coaches that will attract those fans? What I’m trying to say is that a sculpture of an ultra-intimidating Norm or any variation of an actual miner would be a much better fit for the stadium. If Belk and the university want to continue with the nameless statues as well, that’s fine, but continue with the life-size theme and not a 12-foot generic giant. Larger-than-life statues should be designated for those that make a larger-than-life impact. Even more frustrating is that Belk and Hair have teamed up for several other statues
MBRENNA7@UNCC.EDU
How do you envision your Charlotte 49ers football uniforms? Everyone hopes that the apparel for the newest buzz around Charlotte, the soon-to-come 49er football team, is both captivating and symbolic. But for several students this year, their dreams have become a reality. Earlier this year the CAB (Campus Activities Board) hosted a competition that would allow students at UNC Charlotte to be able to generate their own master-
piece uniforms. While this competition was not held in conjunction with the athletic department in determining a uniform, it is still unique to see the potential that Charlotte has with its design. Several entries were submitted but some of the best are on display online. The competition offered $200 to the best design for Charlotte’s football uniforms. The entries were submitted to CAB’s Facebook page and were chosen by fellow students based on their feedback on the site. The top choice ended up with 152 ‘likes’ on Facebook
SPORTS SCHEDULE
Friday Baseball vs. Saint Joseph’s 6 p.m.
Saturday Softball @ Saint Louis 1 & 3 p.m. Baseball vs. Saint Joseph’s 2 p.m.
Sunday Baseball vs. Saint Joseph’s 12 p.m.
Tuesday Baseball vs. Duke 6 p.m.
Wednesday Jon Hair stands next to his sculpture for the new McColl-Richardson football field. Photo courtesy of www.jonhair.com throughout the state that are far more interesting and intimidating. The 26-foot long lion outside of Queens University was a gift from Belk that Hair sculpted. Hair also created a 20-foot tall boilermaker for Purdue University, a 14-foot tall “demon deacon” for Wake Forest, a 16-foot long panther for High Point University and several other sculptures for various universities. Belk also funded a pirate statue for East Carolina and a camel sculpture for Campbell University, so I’m
CAB contest for Charlotte football uniforms Michael Brennan
NINERTIMES
and was created through a virtual design site that gives fans a very realistic view of what Charlotte’s new uniforms could look like. Five entries are visible online currently but all of them feature a very different style for fans. Several concepts of the football jerseys are available in the school bookstore along with helmet concepts as well. The Charlotte color scheme is one that is not often seen in sports but has a lot of potential for success. Charlotte football will be unveiled August 31, 2013 at home against Campbell.
not sure who decided on a generic quarterback statue. It may be too late in the game to change anything up regarding the statue, but if it’s at all possible it should be considered. Maybe creating a statue of Bonnie Cone to take place of the miner at the entrance to campus and moving him to the football stadium. Or in all honesty, I would rather scratch the statue all together if a different design isn’t created to better symbolize the university and culture of Charlotte.
BASKETBALL from p.1 Denzel join the 49ers family,” Major said. “One thing about him that you see in both his AAU and high school careers is he’s a proven winner. He has the ability score but one of his biggest assets is his ability to make his teammates around him better.” Ingram joins an outstanding recruiting class that includes fall signees Willie Clayton, Darion Clark and Shawn Lester. Clayton, a 6-7 forward from Thomasville, Ga., was recently named MVP of Georgia’s North-South All-Star game for the second straight year. Clark, a 6-8 power forward from Conyers, Ga., helped key Oak Hill Academy’s perfect 44-0 season that included a No. 1 ranking in the final national polls. Like Ingram, Lester, a 6-3 guard from Mooresville, N.C. who scored 1500 points in his career, was selected to play in the Carolina All-Star Basketball Classic and the Jordan Brand Regional All-Star Game. The 2012-13 recruiting class enters a program that won 13 games this past season.
Baseball @ NC State 6 p.m.
SPORTS RESULTS Men’s Tennis
LOSS
vs. George Washington
2-4
Softball
WIN
vs. St. Bonaventure
5-0
Baseball
WIN
@ Temple
3-2
Women’s Tennis
LOSS
@ Campbell
2-5
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THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2012
NINERTIMES