Issue 6

Volume 1.

Issue 6.

The Falcon

A Keen Eye For News

IN THIS

ISSUE

thefalconat.tumblr.com

Monday, October 1st, 2012

We Bring You Election Coverage 2012

Intramurals

Show Review

See what got shook up this weekend in Birmingham page 6 sports page 4 a&c

It’s Playoff time for Ultimate Frisbee

page 3 Election

IMMIGRATION WORLDWI D E CAMPUS

CROSS Spectrum Meeting October 1, 7pm – 8pm Morgan 203 Al Connection Grad School Fair October 2, 3pm – 6pm Samford University

The Avengers in 3-D October 3, 7:00pm-9:30pm Bibb Graves Gym Civic Engagement Fair October 4, 4pm–6pm Main Quad

Shuttles to Alabaster October 6, 12pm – 6pm Becoming Sculpture

Submit announcements facebook.com/ thefalconmontevallo

by Kyle Jones Editor-in-Chief

In 2010 it was recorded that 47.3 million people live in the EU who were born outside their resident country. The majority of them, 20.2 million, were third-country nationals (i.e. citizens of non EU countries), while the remaining 12.3 million were citizens of another Member State.

In the spring of 2007 I travelled to Europe for a tour of France and Spain with an excursion to Morocco.

The first part of the trip was spent mainly experiencing the obligatory tourist destinations and cultural exploration that awaits a young man the second time he ventures overseas.

The Eiffel tower, the Louvre, Barcelona,

Royal Madrid and a slew of small ancient Moorish-Spanish cities to be tasted and gawked at, but the real adventure would not begin until, like my father 20 years before me, I crossed the straits of Gibraltar.

The ferry left the Iberian Peninsula and headed towards Ceuta, Spanish Morocco. Much like what we left in Europe, Ceuta was the prime example of a coastal western influenced Mediterranean port city. Beautiful villas lined the tops of breathtaking cliffs that plunged into the dark blue depths of the sea.

But when we boarded a tour bus and crossed into Morocco the difference was day and night.

Paved road turn to dirt, hotels and shops were nowhere to be found, and the sense of western comfort and civilization was a memory.

Our would-be guide was a man with an unpronounceable Arabian name, instead he opted for us to call him Michael Douglas, after

Part One of a Three Part Series

Currency is king in Morocco, camel rides for $1

continued on page five

Smoking The Apple

by Reed Strength Staff Writer Singer-songwriter Fiona Apple was arrested and charged for possession of marijuana, after her tour bus was stopped at a Texas border patrol station on September 19.

With the help of drug sniffing dogs, officers found 0.010 pounds of marijuana and 0.010 pounds of hashish in Apple’s tour bus.

When questioned about the drugs, Apple freely admit-

ted they were hers.

The maximum penalty for possessing 0.1 pounds (45.4 grams) of marijuana in Texas is a Class B Misdemeanor, with a $20,000 fine, and up to 180 days in a county jail. Possessing 45.4 grams of hashish, on the other hand, is classified as a Second Degree Felony, with a $10,000 fine, and two to 20 years of state imprisonment.

The musician was booked and spent the night in the Hudspeth county jail, and was released the next day after posting $10,000 bond.

Her scheduled appearance at Austin City Limits in Austin, Texas was cancelled. The next night, when she performed at the Bayou

Music Center in Houston, Apple told her audience about the arrest.

Apple stated, “There are four of you out there, and I wanted you to know that I heard everything you did”.

Apple went on to say that the behavior towards her from these people was “inappropriate and probably illegal”. The names and actions of the people were put into “two lockboxes” according to the singer, labeled “holding cell one and holding cell two”.

The singer threatened to use the information to make this person “f****** famous” if the person ever “asked”.

The audience cheered, and Apple began her

set. On Monday, Rusty Flemming, the Officer of the Department of Public Information for the Hudspeth County Sheriff’s Department, sent Apple a letter.

Flemming starts off with: “First, honey, I’m already more famous than you. I don’t need your help”. The officer stated that her arrest “jump-started” Apple’s career, and that she needn’t “bill him” for the attention. Flemming listed other celebrities that had been arrested for drug possession at the border, citing Snoop Dogg, Willie Nelson, and actor Armand Hammer as examples.

The letter ends with the acknowledgment of Apple’s tal-

ent, and asserts that for the sake of her fans and career, she should “just shut up and sing”.

Three days later, at an appearance in New Orleans, Apple again expressed her thoughts to her audience.

Apple apologized for how the “work we did is being overshadowed by this bull s***”. Apple went on to express that the “lock boxes” she had alluded to at the Houston show were not real, and were merely an attempt “to make a parallel with the self”.

In a recent Paste interview, Rusty Flemming stated that Apple hasn’t filed a formal complaint on how she was treated. “Any time we have

somebody that makes an allegation of impropriety of any kind, we want to get that person in front of the authorities. In this case, she had made the statement that it was possibly illegal, she didn’t know.

We wanted her to file a complaint and she didn’t before she left.”

Apple is currently on tour through late October. The singer has yet to make another statement about the arrest since the stop in New Orleans.

According to Flemming, he isn’t sure of just what Apple meant to use against him in the mental lockboxes: “I don’t have the decoder that it takes to decode the message for holding cell one or two”.

The Falcon

news

Monday, October 1st, 2012

Page Two

“The first duty of a newspaper is to be accurate.

If it be accurate, it follows that it is fair.”

-Herbert Bayard Swope

Five Day Weather Forecast

An Editorial

We all did it. We were tested and given passing scores based on our ability. We even carry around the proof in our pockets and our purses.

We all have driver’s licenses. So why is it that some days it seems the good folks here at the University of Montevallo can’t park a car to save their lives?

Everyday when I arrive on campus I’m treated to a wonderful sight; parallel parking spaces half filled with automobile (the other half spilling awkwardly into the street), parking lots with cars way over the dividing lines in front and to either side of them and a general apathy for the art of parking.

Sure parking your car doesn’t sound hard. It doesn’t even sound like something we should concern ourselves with.

But the chance for comedy and insurance claims presents itself every day nonetheless.

I have a great vantage point to watch people try and parallelpark from outside the Mass Communications building. Each day I am treated to the broken leg ballet that is a young student trying

to parallel-park. I get to watch as they overshoot their intended spot causing them to correct (usually it’s an over correction as well).

The best part is watching people do the Austin Powers maneuver of moving backwards and forwards, each time turning the wheel hard left or right, in the hopes that each small adjustment will get them closer to perfection. It won’t.

The end result is usually a car with one end or the other sticking into traffic. Truly great masters are those that manage to be perfectly centered in the spot, but are only occupying the outside third of the spot. On occasion I can find a car with one or both tires rubbing against or flat out sitting on the sidewalk.

Perhaps my favorite part of nearly every car parked on the hill of College Drive is the orientation of the wheels. Standard parking procedure for hills is thus (pay attention now); when facing up-hill turn your wheels out ( \ \ ), when facing down hill turn your wheels in ( / / ).

Doing this will cause your car to turn into the sidewalk as opposed to into traffic or rolling into the vehicles at either end of you should your brakes fail. If you insist on parking on a hill and keeping your wheels straight, don’t come

calling to me when you have to pay for repairs to someone else’s car.

Some students know they aren’t any good at parallel parking and wisely choose to find a spot in one of the parking lots. Yet, ineptitude rears its ugly head once again in these bastions of parking bliss.

While the mistakes aren’t filled with comedic joy the way parallel parking mistakes are, they are frustrating all the same.

We are all aware which parking spaces we can use based on the bright colors used to paint each lot. Yet, some people refuse to be “boxed in”.

The average parking space is nine feet wide and 19 feet long; more than enough space to fit a car or truck…right?

I’m sure I’m not the only one to finish class and find my car has been the unlucky victim of someone else’s pitiful parking. Surely you too have returned to your car only to find that you should have packed a can opener when you left the house, because that’s the only way you’re getting in.

Parking is simple. They even put lines on the ground to show you where to go!

So buck up Montevallo.

Go to an empty parking lot and practice for a bit this afternoon so that you can show off your parking skills to everyone. Or don’t, I could use a good laugh.

Follow me at @amechum

things about Frank Miller’s graphic novel was the gritty art. His art style gave a gloomy feel to the original work. The Gotham that he drew looked dirty and dark; it fit the mood of the story perfectly.

The heavy use of blacks and grays further set the mood for the whole piece. This was not the case with the animated feature it was simply too bright, too clean and too polished. The fact that

the animation was well done almost took away from the story. It gave the whole animated feature a sugar coated feel.

Other than the sugar coated feel it still had a nice bite to it. Batman was still a pissed off old man itching to get back in the fight. The Batman of the Dark Knight Returns is older, meaner and far more brutal.

He snaps bones and cracks skulls of thugs’

decades younger than him. The graphic novel is a masterpiece, and the animated retelling did a decent job overall.

Other than the animation being a little too bright the movie is great. If you are a Batman fan it is a must see, if you’re not already a fan it may not be for you. The Dark Knight Returns is more for the hardcore fan than anything else. We give it 4.2 out of 5.

byAndrew Meechum Associate Editor

Step Show Stomps Palmer Stage

by Savannah Champion Contributing Writer

Zeta Phi Beta's fifth annual Greek Unity Step Show competition was on Friday, September 28th, in Palmer Hall. Four of our campus' greek organizations performed, including Alpha Delta Pi, Alpha Gamma Delta, Delta Gamma, and Lambda Chi Alpha. As a favorite event every year on campus, the auditorium was packed, bringing students together for a good cause.

The event was emceed by Birmingham-native comedian and disc-jockey Jermaine "FunnyMaine" Johnson. It was judged by two University of Montevallo staff members including the dean of students Dr.Dahle, as well as a Montevallo Middle School teacher, Ms.Jamaica, who is also a Zeta Phi Beta alumni.

Alpha Gamma Delta took the stage first with a tightly choreographed puppet-andmaster routine, including both dancing and stepping. When they all walked on for the first time, three of the girls were wearing colored shirts, but by the end all were in black and white costume.

Next was Lambda Chi Alpha dressed in all black with a strictly step only drill. Third to perform was Delta Gamma, bringing on the longest performance in zombie themed costume. Alpha Delta Pi entered the stage last sporting purple bid day shirts and performing a jazz-age style number.

All of the groups showed their pride by shouting chants while stepping.

As a special treat, Jemison High School's step team and

the Sigma chapter of Phi Beta Sigma from Miles College performed while the crowd awaited the results. After the high school's team finished, there was no mistaking they were the favorites of the night when they received a standing ovation without even participating in the actual competition.

In the end, as the only male group to compete, Lambda Chi Alpha deservingly took first place. For the girls, Delta Gamma took third place, Alpha Delta Pi received second, and Alpha Gamma Delta were crowned the winners.

All proceeds went to March of Dimes, an organization that supports families of babies with birth defects and is one of the three foundations that the Tau Pi chapter of Zeta Phi Beta contributes to.

Classic Graphic Novel Gets Animated time to tell the story;

by Matthew Lord Contributing Writer The Dark Knight Returns tells the story of an aging Batman coming out of retirement. He is old, but not feeble; he still has a

lot of fight left in him.

The book is one of the most famous Batman stories and has been a fan favorite for years.

So it is not surprising that it was made into an animated feature. DC has been popping out animated features regularly targeted towards older audiences. Though it is one of their better releases, it’s not perfect.

The two part release allows for more

considering the graphic novel is around two hundred pages this move makes sense. Part one fills up the first hundred pages with the second being the other half.

While this gives more time to tell the story it does not feel rushed, but flows from scene to scene. The plot is solid and engaging to watch, but it misses a major part of the sources charm.

One of the best

The Falcon

Monday, October 1st, 2012

Election 2012 Presidential Promises

Whether you think it’s a travesty or just the way of things, politicians make promises they can’t keep.

Some are big and we know they won’t happen; others are small and give us hope that change is possible.

Either way, politicians have shown time and time again

that hoping for change and enacting change in Washington are two very different beasts.

So how does our current president measure up when compared to his campaign promises?

With Election Day only 37 days away perhaps it’s time to look at what President Obama has accomplished in

his first term as compared to what he said he would accomplish.

Candidate Obama promised a repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between one man and one woman. The act was signed into law in 1996 by then President Clinton. As of today the law still stands and save for a personal endorsement for gay marriage from Obama, nearly nothing has been done by the current administration to remove the act

Obama promised to close down the facility at Guantanamo Bay while campaigning in 2008. Today the facility is still running and houses over a 150 detainees. many of whom haven’t been formally charged. Currently no plans are in place to close, move or otherwise change the facility.

The big test for any president is how they handle Congress. Being able to

effectively work with and compromise with members of Congress can make or break a president.

The ability to fulfill campaign promises, enact change and increase the hope of the American people rests with the president and his aptitude for bipartisan politics.

During his first campaign Obama said he and Vice President Biden would, "turn the page on the ugly partisanship in Washington, so we can bring Democrats and Republicans together to pass an agenda that works for the American people."

According to a report by USA TODAY, which analyzed congressional records dating back to 1947, this Congress is on track to be the least productive Congress in decades having only passed 61 bills out of 3,914.

While Obama can’t be blamed outright for the gross inaction of Congress, he didn’t fulfill his

Page Three

byAndrew Meechum Associate Editor

promise of ending partisanship in Washington.

Today we are faced with a Congress so divided by partisan politics that they have passed less than 2% of legislation brought before them.

Perhaps Obama’s biggest success is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obama care. Many arguments have been made for and against Obama Care, but Dr. Barbara Bellar, a candidate for the Illinois State Senate, sums up the act in one (very long) sentence: “We are going to be gifted with a healthcare plan we are forced to purchase and fined if we don’t, which purportedly covers at least 10 million more people without adding a single new doctor but provides for 16000 new IRS agents, written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn’t understand it, passed by a congress that didn’t read it but exempted themselves

from it and signed by a president who smokes, with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn’t pay his taxes, for which we will be taxed for four years before any benefits take effect by a government which has already bankrupted social security and Medicare all to be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese and financed by a country that’s broke.”

The question in the upcoming election shouldn’t be who to vote for; it should be whether or not Obama deserves a second term.

His inability to reconcile bipartisan politics on Capitol Hill has limited his ability to enact the change he campaigned on. If his first term is any indication of how he will approach the job in a second term, it falls to the people to decide if his actions, or lack thereof in some instances, are suitable to keep this country moving forward.

What is the Key to Mitt’s Success?

Old white people are pissed off, its no surprise, the electrified Tea Party has been telling us so for the past year and a half now. Early in Mitt Romney’s campaign it seemed he had accomplished rallying those on the right to his cause, but as Election Day nears closer, just five

weeks to go to be exact, has he managed to captivate and hold on to the grassroots movement?

Besides the obvious glaring stains on Romney’s record recently, the misunderstanding as to why airplane windows do not roll down and somehow his face getting brown-

er before appearing on Univision, the Romney campaign has also been lacking elsewhere.

A less than splendid national convention in Tampa, that provided us with an American cinema icon and noted Republican talking to an empty chair and a speech from running mate Paul Ryan that left him as nothing more than a name on shirts and stickers.

Let’s not forget his wonderful reception when he visited our closest allies during the Olympics.

But these events and mistakes are merely minor gaffes that can be looked past right?

Rachel Maddow pointed out recently on her show that even the party supporters as a whole aren’t seeing eye to eye. Conservative radio show host Michael Savage said, “The issue that’s trou-

bling me is Ann Romney. I don’t like the prominence that she is taking. She is enjoying herself a little too much.

She is not doing him a service, as far as I am concerned, by playing such a prominent role. “

Maddow paraphrasing Frank Rich said, “What fox news represents right now is the Romney campaign, sometimes literally the Romney campaign, the campaign advisors are on the payroll at Fox giving you analysis of the campaign that they work for, which is very very tidy.”

Dana Loesch had this to add on her show back in August, “As someone who’s grassroots, I really get ticked off whenever I talk about the battle between the Establishment and grassroots, and I’m told it doesn’t exist.

I’m constantly told that ‘No, you’re just being a

Follow Us The Rest of the Way Election Day is now only five weeks away, as the big day draws closer and closer The Fal-

con will be watching.

Each week of October and into the month of November our writers and columnists

will be covering multiple aspects of the campaign as it comes to a close.

We will offer news and recaps of all

major events and debates. Make sure to check in each week as we break down everything you need to know.

drama queen.’ I’m told, ‘No, you’re just making stuff up.’ ‘No, no, it’s happy, and we’re all getting along. You need to stop talking about crap like this because we’re supposed to have unity.’ I am told that every single week.”

It seems those on the right can’t come to an agreement, how will this effect Romney’s campaign, his closest supporters suggest looking forward to the upcoming debates.

“Come Thursday morning, the entire narrative of this race is going to change,” New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“You saw the change in those polls happen very quickly, and I’m here to tell you this morning it can happen very quickly back the other way,” Christie added.

“And I think

by Kyle Jones Editor-in-Chief

the beginning of that is Wednesday night, when Governor Romney, for the first time, gets on the same stage as the president of the United States, and people can make a direct comparison about them and their visions for the future.’’

It seems Republicans are banking on a good showing against President Obama, which is in fact true, if not necessary for Mitt Romney to regain his footing and to convert or convince supporters.

If the election were held today, an Associated Press analysis shows Obama would win at least 271 electoral votes, with likely victories in crucial Ohio and Iowa along with 19 other states and the District of Columbia.

Romney would win 23 states for a total of 206.

The Falcon

&culture

arts

Page Four

Monday, October 1st, 2012

Southern Rawk at its Finest

by Reed Strength Staff Writer

Bar shows are tough venues to overcome for a band. Often times, the patrons at the show are more concerned with their drinks than the bands in front of them. True, a few dedicated followers are often there, if it’s close to their hometown at least.

They stand near the front, trying to incite the rest of the crowd to dance and cheer with them.

Sometimes, they’re merely another form of entertainment for the rest of the crowd, especially after one too many beers.

This is what local Montevallo band Giants and Toys had to overcome on Friday night, when they

Photo:Reed Strength opened up for Gringo Star and The Whigs at Zydeco in Birmingham.

Before the band went on stage, lead singer Mike Messina had expressed anxiety when he heard the Whigs sound check.

This was the band’s first time opening up for a professional, signed band and presented a potential stepping stone in their career.

Giants and Toys opened with “Blue Cars”, the first song from their new “Strand” EP. While the performance was solid, the band looked nervous; the red coated jumping bean that is normally rhythm-guitarist Jack Kish was stationary, as

the band seemed to focus more on playing the song than performing.

Messina and drummer Chris Estes were the only members to look relaxed, as the band plowed through cuts from the EP and their selfrecorded first album.

It was during the song “This Town” (normally about Montevallo, but according to Messina “tonight it’s about Birmingham”) that something changed: the band loosened up, smiles broke across the member’s faces.

They took the stage by storm from there on, with the slow burn of “What Ends Well” and the anthemic

“Whoa-oh-oh-OH’s” of rocker “Johnny” winning the crowd over, and the Whigs spying backstage as well.

Next was Gringo Star, a band out of Atlanta. The group took the stage with thundering riffs surprising the still chattering audience into attention. The band was made up of two brothers, Peter and Nicolas Furgiele, bassist Chris Kaufmann, and a replacement drummer filling in for Pete DeLorenzo.

Once dubbed “The Hardest Working Band in Atlanta”, the group’s escalating indie success has taken a nose dive, as evidenced in the dramatic trailer to their

2009 tour documentary.

This faint brush of success seemed to leave the band a little cold at first, as they stared over the small crowd’s heads and plowed through blistering garage rock tunes.

The band played instrumental musical chairs between songs, as Nicolas Furigele and Chris Kaufmann nearly knocked their instruments into each other swapping bass and guitar between songs.

The two brothers seemed to be the main songwriters, with the rest of the band providing back up vocals where needed.

Peter’s songs were rougher, his Ricken-

backer guitar and Ray Davies like voice adding a classic rock crunch to the band’s sound.

His songs ranged from the organ creep of “Shadows”, reminiscent of old school psych bands, to stompers like “Make You Mine”. His brother, Nicolas, sang straighter numbers with a shrill sneering voice, reminiscent of The Walkmen’s Hamilton Leithauser.

The “ah-ahah” backed chorus of cruncher “You Want It” seemed to be a crowd favorite.

What was interesting was how each member handled their swapped instruments with such

ers might find this leap between dynamic extremes a thrill-ride; but after only a few tracks, this becomes a tired and predictable technique that even die-hard fans will begin to pick up on.

The band also seems to only know one particular rhythmic pattern - A 4/4 time signature, at around 120 beats per minute.

The twelve songs very quickly begin to sound like one another, with no stark differences between them, even with each mem-

ber supposedly being a "multi-instrumentalist."

Lack of melodic differentiation also plagues the record - the chorus of "Lovers' Eyes" sounds blatantly identical to that of "Ghosts that We Once Knew," and verses all throughout the record sound pretty similar.

Production work is unsurprisingly respectable, coming from the über-talented Markus Dravs, who previously produced Arcade Fire's brilliant Suburbs album. His

fine work - while giving the instrumentation a warm, natural mix - isn't quite enough to save this record, though.

Passionate fans will probably enjoy Babel for a few spins (or will enjoy a handful of particular songs) but its lack of long term value will likely deter casual and new listeners.

If you are looking for some meaty, modern folk, give Fleet Foxes a Google search.

You'll find no disappointment there, unlike here with this Babel-ing.

continued on page five

Mumford & Sons-Babel

by Matt Sanderlin Arts & Culture Editor Three short years ago, British sensations Mumford & Sons arrived on the scene, making lots of noise and very quickly attracting a lot of fans. Their debut album, Sigh No More, topped charts for an obscene number of weeks, and still continues to sell well, despite its three-year age.

Marcus Mumford and his band of traveling (but unrelated) brothers return for a second proffer this year with Babel, which is essentially

Sigh No More Part II.

The basic principles upon which Sigh No More was founded - Simple melodies, busy instrumentation, severe dynamics - Are subsequently the cornerstone composition methods used in Babel.

Leader Marcus Mumford sings often of epic notions, and flaunts a substantial amount of key "emotional" words and phrases - "God," "love," "believe," "unborn child," "forgive," etc - But he does so by simply mention-

ing these things in their simplest form.

Instead of painting the listener a rich picture (or even really a picture at all), Marcus is content with the quick-and-easy route of name-dropping and surface emotion.

D y n a m i c a l l y, the band frequently finds themselves either whispering or yelling, with not too much falling in between.

The typical progression is a gradual build from very quiet to very loud. Some listen-

Page Five

Monday, October 1st, 2012

The Falcon

IMMIGRATION

continued

the famous American actor, which he claimed he shared a likeness to.

To his credit,he did, enough so to make you wonder why he was taking foreign white tourist on a tour of his country instead of starring in North African remakes of American cinema.

We began our journey with Michael Douglas as we headed towards the city of Tetouan. In the hour or so it took to arrive I witnessed some of the most beautiful mountain scapes I have ever seen. It crossed through the plains-like desert and jutted upwards, the tallest thing for miles, the mountain range commanded attention.

A range that went for miles, it co-existed with the sky and earth to display every single color imaginable.

Intermixed with this beauty were what looked like scenes from a CNN broadcast of the war in the Middle East, dilapidated buildings, no sign of civilization or life save for the lone man walking beside a

RAWK continued personality; Chris Kauffman played thudding bass, but feedback screeching guitar solos, and Nicolas played crunched power chords on his guitar, and groovy, fluid bass lines. Despite this variation, there was a detached mood that the members expressed to the crowd; there was something in their performance that spoke of punching a time clock.

The crowd liked their tunes well enough, with a young lady behind me saying half to the band, half to herself “No, play more! Infinite!”.

Although warmly received, they half-heartedly thanked the Whigs for bringing them, and finished their set, playing hard, but never seeming to break loose.

The Whigs, a band of Georgian “Long Hairs”, had a very dedicated fan in the crowd, a tattooed, Iron Maiden shirted veteran rocker, complete with biker ‘stache and backwards cap. When the band walked on the stage and picked up their instruments, singer and guitarist Parker Gispert gave a friendly “Hey y’all” to alert that they were about to start.

The ‘stached cat let out a drunken “Woo!”, and placed himself right in front of the band, ready to “rawk” old school.

With a cannon blast from skins basher Julian Dorio, the band rocketed into their set. Parker’s guitar was an absolute siren, with feedback subtly screeching under-

cart pulled by a goat.

This seemed like a forgotten world, or a civilization in a former epoch.

After about 40 minutes we had the option to get off the bus, stretch our legs, take pictures, and for a dollar, euro or whatever else you had, you could ride a camel. I paid my dollar, rode around in a circle, had my picture taken for another dollar and then hopped off. All this for only two dollars, I had a sense of accomplishment and thriftiness, as the other travelers were all paying in euro, I felt I had come out on top.

But it was in this situation when I started to notice something was odd. Our trusty guide Michael Douglas was barking out what seemed like orders and directions to the camel handlers and photographers. Usually this could be explained as he was trying to get us a good deal or to insure our safety, but there was something about his tone and demeanor, he seemed almost like he

was the authoritative figure, and the men all regarded him as such with their responses and body language. His face turned from frustration to humbleness as he motioned us all to get back on the bus, as we were almost to Tetouan and the medina.

A medina is a traditional marketplace in North African and Middle Eastern cultures.

The medina was more like a labyrinth than the open marketplaces we are accustomed to in the western world. Small alleyways packed with vendors selling dyes, toy camels made from camel hair or ivory.

Small children who obviously anticipated our arrival run down the packed alleys with their hands out, shouting in their language, eventually patting the tourist pockets and tugging at their bags. Then Michael Douglas swoops in to protect his followers and forces the children away with the same tone he used with the camel handlers.

We are shown specific

neath his southern rawk riffs. Dorio and Gispert seemed to fight for the right to be the loudest.

The drummer almost seemed possessed at times, his hair floating above him like some sort of demonic, clawing spirit that commanded him to make war with his kit.

When he could tear himself from the mike, Gispert would hop on one foot towards Dorio, challenging him with searing solos and riffage.

Not that Dorio paid any attention; he couldn’t.

His head was down, his arms hammers.

Bassist Timothy Deaux added his own thuds to the noisy wall, but his job seemed to be to ground the band with his steady basslines….not that he didn’t jump when he caught the chance.

Despite the ruckus, Gispert's ragged vocals were surprisingly clear.

Resembling a cross between Neil Young and Nathan Williams from Wavves, the Southern rock moniker was evident in his lyrical quotes.

Some were defiant and proud (“I don’t care what your old man thinks”), others were of a passed down wisdom (“you can celebrate my art/you can shoot me in my heart”).

Despite the The Whig’s Southern roots, they could give noise rock bands a run for their money. During “In the Dark Cut” and “Dying”, what started as a slow chant (“It used to be right in front of me/but

now it’s gone”) turned into a full-fledged feedback freak-out. Gispert was brought to his knees as he called a wall of distortion from his Telecaster. He provided the lightning, as Dorio provided clattering thunder, using cloth tipped soft sticks to provide extra boom to his fills.

‘Stache cat ate all of it up, calling the lyrics back to the band, fist raised in support.

“Go Julian!!! Go Parker!!” he would shout; these guys, at least to him, were his friends and comrades in some great struggle. The band seemed happy to oblige him, and any other member of the crowd hungry for downhome, deep fried music. A waving flag seemed necessary for new album cut “Rock n’Roll Forever”, an old school anthem worthy of Skynyrd.

“ D i d you guys see that first band? They were great”, Gispert said before he teased an encore. Offstage, Mike Messina’s face lit up with pride. As the Whigs left the stage, shouts of “USA!” emanated from the crowd; an appropriate encore call if there ever was one. The band obliged quickly, as Gispert got behind a keyboard, and Deaux grabbed a guitar. The band played the most Southern cut of the night, a light, blooze ballad; something Tom Petty could write in his sleep, but would be damn proud of.

booths and encouraged to buy things, while if we dally at others we were escorted away, which indicated another peculiar part of our journey. Even a local man dressed in a traditional costume was bullied away when caught taking pictures with some of our group.

We were taken to a traditional spice shop and a rug shop where we were given demonstrations of spices which would give our food an exotic flavor, or a root that would clear our sinuses, rugs that could not be burned or cut easily with a knife.

It was all a show, meanwhile Michael Douglas was constantly on the phone or slyly shaking hands with shop owners and shady characters.

When the tour was over we all piled back on the bus. Tired and confused from our day long excursion we headed back to Spanish Morocco. I slept for most of the ride back to the border but was awoken when we stopped unexpectedly. Michael

Douglas assured us it was only a minor delay.

The minor delay turned into a 45 minute delay. Peering out the windows we could see our guide and one other man arguing with Spanish military at the border. In what I suspected to be a move to distract us, an Arab man walked up and down the aisle with printed pictures of tourists on camels from earlier in the day, once again accepting only a dollar or euro for his wares.

The tactic seemed to work for most all of the gullible tourists, not me though. After watching 45 minutes of arguing and a heavily padded handshake to a Spanish official from our guide Michael Douglas I realized that we were not alone on the bus, there was someone onboard that wasn’t supposed to be. With a wave and a smile, soldiers pocketing something in their hands and no passport stamp, we were back in European territory.

Spain's enclaves in northern Morocco are

initial targets for many migrants. The main aim of migrants is to reach European soil be it mainland Europe or the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla or islands in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. As the closest European country to the African continent, Spain is on the frontline for illegal migration. From there, migrants often make their way to other European countries.

Legislation and protest are on the rise within the EU and other parts of Europe concerning illegal immigration. As well as pro-nationalist parties and leaders garnering support in their respective countries like France’s Marine Le Pen who won close to 20 percent of the vote in a French poll. With the increase of illegal immigration in Europe on the rise, the horizon of European politics will center around it, sure to be met with backlash from both sides, considering almost all immigrants coming from North Africa are of the Islamic faith.

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Monday, October 1st, 2012

The Falcon

Page Six

sports

Intramurals Heat up Going into Playoffs

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( $ (

"

"

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# $

%

&' $

!

Ultimate Frisbee Standings Men’s Standings

Team 1 Alpha Kappa Lambda 2 Highland House 3 Alpha Tau Omega 4 Lambda Chi Alpha 5 Flint Tropics 6 Swag

W-L-T 6-0-0 4-0-0 3-2-0 2-4-0 1-5-0 0-5-0

Win% 1 1 0.6 0.33 0.17 0

Women’s Standings

Team 1 Delta G 2 TBA 3 TNN 4 ADPI 5 Phi Mu 6 TieDye 7 Chi O 8 AGD

W-L-T 4-0-1 0.8 3-1-0 0.75 3-1-0 0.75 3-2-0 0.6 2-2-0 0.5 1-3-1 0.2 1-4-0 0.2 0-4-0 1/0

Win% 0.92 0.75 0.75 0.6 0.5 0.32 0.2 0

PF 39 13 14 42 28 14 8 5

PF 87 48 61 40 40 36

PA 33 20 53 57 72 77

PA TOT PTS 18 23 9 15 8 15 17 15 21 10 26 8 38 5 26 0

TOT PTS 30 20 15 10 5 0

The Falcon

presents a

Page Seven

featured essay

Outside Fences

by Kyle Jones Editor-in-Chief I ventured downtown in the city of Bergen, Norway. After checking my local haunts for familiar faces and coming up disappointed, I decided to explore lesser-known parts of town. On my walk I began to hear music, a loud repetitive thud that vibrated down the street, muffled vocals of unrecognizable words, and a shrill sound reminiscent of guitars. So naturally I headed in that direction.

What I found was Judas Priest, nestled next to Edvard Grieg Plass with a beautiful view of the mountain Ulriken lurking in the background. I arrived at the end of an unfamiliar song, which happened to be the end of their set, but in stereotypical fashion it was only the beginning of a 30-minute encore.

After a minute and a blast from the smoke machine, Rob Halford and the gang returned with "Hell Bent for Leather".

After that it was decided, my spot for the remainder of the show would be right across the street with a perfect view of the stage, sharing the company of others with the same idea and a homeless man who was setting bits of paper and

Photo:Kyle Jones

The view of the City of Seven Mountains, Bergen, Norway rubbish on fire in a small aluminum grill.

Halford was dressed in his trademark biker hat and a jacket made of tinfoil that went down to his knees.

The homeless man, to be expected, was extremely unshaven, wearing an assortment of clothes and old snow boots, waving a cucumber and an eggplant around in the air.

The man bumped into the crowd carelessly, he was searching for something, and I suspected that neither he nor I knew what he was looking for. The man was almost completely oblivious to the spectacle around him; these were his streets, and his sidewalks.

He proved his

point by making no effort to move to the side, just shouldering people out of the way, smirking and laughing at their disgusted faces, because he knew just as well as us that the smell would not be coming off.

Assuming he found what he was looking for or simply that the grill was ready, he plopped down on a concrete medium that separated the roadway and began grilling his produce. A large eggplant, a cucumber, a few small potatoes, some type of green vegetable but could have easily been part of someone’s garden shrubbery.

The police paid no mind to him, neither did the people watching the concert, an oc-

casional group of high school kids would stop and pose to take pictures with him and then run off giggling.

But I found myself paying more attention to this man than the legendary aging rock stars of Judas Priest. I couldn’t help but think, who he was and how he became this way, was it by choice or a lifetime of mental illness.

Was this man free, he seemed to be able to do whatever he pleased but lacked the essential comforts of what makes us civilized.

My conclusion was that he came to an epiphany early in his life, I like to think he chose this way in pure defiance of what was happen-

ing around him, some sort of savage protest.

But then the man pulled out a plastic recorder, like the ones most of us used in elementary school to play Mary Had a Little Lamb on. He began playing, or more so he began blowing and placing his fingers over random holes to create the shrillest but beautiful noise possible.

It was like a mockery of the band, they were now playing back up to a man who lived on the streets, and in that moment he was the star, he was the one calling the shots.

He showed them that dressing up in a costume, being in your senior years and shredding on an instrument

The Falcon Playlist

was not unique to them.

To wrap things up, the homeless man, nay prophet, began to profess, "Revolution is now, and you stopped the wrong war!

Revolution! End the World War!" as "Living After Midnight“ began and the crowd started to dissipate.

Unfortunately it seems the choice was not his, an educated guess would point to the idea that the man had succumbed to mental illness, with no one there to help him.

And as thousands of people walked by once again, not a one of them bent down to lend a helping hand.

Check out our playlist only available on Spotify to listen to what we’re talking about.

The Falcon

next weeks issue

Monday, September 24th, 2012

the staff

Page 10

Editors Editor-In-Chief: Kyle Jones Associate Editor: Andrew Mechum

-A Female in the Fantasy Football World.

-U Review “Gangnam Style�

-$1 Review -More on Election 2012 -Pussy Riot Update -Part 2 on Immigration

Art & Culture Editor: Matt Sanderlin Sports Editor: Joseph Antonio Campus & Local Editor: Joseph Thornton

Staff Writers

Rosemary Maguire Mandy Steadman Neal Embry Reed Strength

Contributing Writers

and more...

October 8th, 2012

Matthew Lord Savannah Champion

Photographer Dillon Owens

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is accepting articles and applications for staff positions contact us at thefalconeditor@gmail.com