Volume 2.
Issue 9.
The Falcon
A Keen Eye For News
IN THIS
ISSUE CROSS
CAMPUS
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Monday, March 25th, 2013
The wait is over! We’re back!
Arts & Culture
News North Korea is coming for us
Music, music, and more music.
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The call for sanitation
National Waffle Day Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 KYLE JONES Housing/Res. Life Luau March 27, 4:30pm – 6:30pm Main Quad UPC Laser tag too Something On a Stick Day Thursday, Mar 28, 2013
Sherlock Holmes Society Interest Meeting March 30, 7pm – 8pm Hill House Greek Week Begins Monday, Apr 1, 2013 SGA Elections on Blackboard April 1, 8am – 9am Blackboard Through April 3 at 3 p.m.
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Editor-In-Chief | @TheUMFalcon
A recent UN report announced that of the seven billion people on Earth, six billion of them have cellphones, but only 4.5 billion have proper sanitation facilities such as toilets. UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson is reaching out to the global community stating, “I am determined to energize action that will lead to results. I am calling on all actors – government, civil society, business and international organizations – to commit to measurable action and to mobilize the resources to rapidly increase access to basic sanitation." This initiative is in an effort to bring 2.5 billion people worldwide proper sanitation facilities. As of now 1.1 billion people
defecate in the open, under bridges or trash dumps, all while making phone calls or checking their facebook. Eliasson also added, “Let’s face it – this is a problem that people do not like to talk about. But it goes to the heart of ensuring good health, a clean environment and fundamental human dignity for billions of people – and achieving the Millennium Development Goals. With just over a thousand days for action before the 2015 MDG deadline, we have a unique
window of opportunity to deliver a generational change.” The UN reports that the countries where open defecation is most widely practiced are the same countries with the highest numbers of under-five child deaths, high levels of under-nutrition and poverty, and large wealth disparities. Eliasson’s plea will not set up any new structures or funding mechanisms, but instead will focus on a global grassroots campaign of information and action by impacting one community at a time.
Three years later Obamacare is still here KYLE JONES
Editor-In-Chief | @TheUMFalcon
It’s been three years since the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA), or otherwise known as "Obamacare" was passed. The ACA healthcare reform program ensures that by 2014 every tax-paying citizen will be covered by an insurance plan. Since its inception the act has received its fair share of opposition from politicians and citizens alike. But what has the act accomplished thus far? Through Obamacare, young people have been allowed to stay on their parents healthcare until they are 26 years old, this has directly impacted about 3 million people. In a time of financial hardship, this has been crucial to young people receiving the healthcare they need. Michele Bachmann claims that the ACA “literally kills women, kills children [and] kills senior citizens.” Though, because of Obamacare the act requires all
health insurance plans to cover birth control with no co-pay as well as other women’s preventative care options at no out of pocket fee. As well as aiding young people, The Health and Human Services Department announced this week that more than 6.3 million people with Medicare have saved over $6.1 billion on prescription drugs because of the law. Overall, the country is still very torn over the issue of national healthcare, with 37 percent of Americans having a favorable view of the law and the opposing unfavorable view garners 40 percent says a poll conducted by the nonpartisan, nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation. With a little under four years left in office it will be interesting to see how the healthcare debate and legislation will develop. Let us know your thoughts via twitter by tweeting us @TheUMFalcon.
The Falcon
news
Monday, March 25th, 2013
Senate to tax internet
Page Two “Bad things don’t happen to writers; it’s all material.” – Garrison Keillor
The Editor’s Desk: The good people of New York or How Steve Jobs inadvertently made New Yorkers less hostile ANDREW MECHUM
Associate Editor | @amechum
ANDREW MECHUM
Associate Editor | @amechum
The Senate on March 22 passed 75-24 an amendment to the budget to tax the internet. This tax would impose state sales taxes to all online purchases regardless of where the buyer and seller are located. Bear in mind, Senate hasn’t passed a budget in four years and in 1992 the Supreme
Court case Quill Corp. v. North Dakota set the precedent for online retailers to operate tax free. Where you do stand on this? Do think states have a right to their sales tax dollars? Do you think internet retailers should be allowed to operate without paying state taxes? Or do you think this will open a Pandora’s Box of taxing the internet? Let us know.
The Best Korea Report: 0-Seoul in four minutes KYLE JONES
Editor-In-Chief | @TheUMFalcon
Our favorite little hermit kingdom of North Korea never fails when it comes to showings of antiwestern shenanigans and vast exploits of exaggeration and puffery. The DPRK has released a 4-minute long propaganda video via North's official website, Uriminzokkiri, depicting an invasion scenario of Seoul that boasts the potential successful capture of 150,000 US citizens living in Korea. A male narrative breaks down each stage of the invasion as the “powerful weapons of
mass destruction” do their thing. The video depicts a full onslaught of crackpot “Best” Korean forces surging over the border on foot and in tanks all while backed up by starving socialist paratroopers dropping in from planes and helicopters. A scene reminiscent of the late 90s PC game intro video for Command & Conquer. As of today the US and South Korea have signed a military plan of action in the event of North Korean aggression. The full video can be seen here.
Established 2012 An Independant Student Newspaper EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Kyle Jones ASSOCIATE EDITOR Andrew Mechum ARTS&CULTURE EDITOR Reed Strength STAFF WRITERS Neal Embry Mandy Steadman Jake Smith Teddie Taylor Matthew Lord Clarke Stackhouse CONTACT US AT: thefalconeditor@gmail.com
The good people of New York or How Steve Jobs inadvertently made New Yorkers less hostile Anyone growing up in America on a steady diet of movies and television will tell you New Yorkers aren’t very nice. This idea of the mean/arrogant Yankee is amplified here in the south where we pride ourselves on our hospitality. When we think of New York we can imagine Dustin Hoffman’s famous “I’m walkin’ here!” line from Midnight Cowboy or Bruce Willis wearing a sandwich board scrawled with a racial slur on a corner in Harlem. For many, the characters they encounter on shows like Law & Order typify who New Yorkers are. Well, sorry to break it to you good people: This simply isn’t true anymore. Here in the south when you’re walking on the sidewalk you make eye contact with people passing you and often exchange greetings. Such as “Good morning.”, “Hello.”, “Nice day out.” In New York you have none of this. There is no eye contact. There are no pleasantries exchanged. Some people stare at their
shoes as they walk. Others look straight ahead, defiant of those around them. But an alarmingly large number of them are near oblivious to anyone else’s presence. How you might ask? The ubiquitous white cords dangling from the ears of people. On college campuses like the University of Montevallo it isn’t uncommon to see a handful of students, and the occasional professor, walking around lost in their own private world, pumped directly into their ears, provided by these magical ear lanyards. These electronic yokes tether New Yorkers of all ages, races, colors and creeds to the miniature computers firmly glued to their palms. As such, their necks are permanently drooped, eyes fixed on their hands as they cup their wonder machines. Thousands of people willfully cut off from the sights and sounds of the world around them. And what sights and sounds they are. Of course, with any luck, a time will come when these powerful contraptions of distraction will allow us to avoid the myriad smells that waft through the cavernous avenues of NYC. Yes, the city smells. While deployed
to Iraq I discovered what human waste really smells like. No matter how bad the damage to your bathroom is after a Taco Bell bender, nothing compares to the smell of human sewage flowing through the streets (and occasionally your bedroom). Between the smells emitted from the thousands of restaurants in Manhattan and the random waft of air from the bowels beneath the concrete jungle, the mix was enough to trigger flashbacks. But I digress. Most people fear New York and, more accurately, fear the people. But the people are genuinely nice. Inside, away from the hustle of the street, everyone I encountered was as pleasant as could be. On the street, they ignore you. They aren’t mean or unpleasant by any stretch. They simply ignore you and instead focus on the world fed to them by their headphones. Einstein once said, “I fear the day when the technology overlaps with our humanity. The world will only have a generation of idiots.” He might be right. Just take a look at YouTube for confirmation. However, in the case of New York, technology has created a generation of islands.
J
The Falcon
Monday, March 25th, 2013
bird food
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Bao Bao Bao, Baohaus is bustin’ at em KYLE JONES & ANDREW MECHUM Editor-In-Chief | Associate Editor
At first it doesn’t make sense for a small student publication to review an even smaller Taiwanese restaurant 1000 miles away in New York City, but what was found there may be essential the next time you find yourself in the Union Square area. Opened on Christmas Eve in 2009, Baohaus looks like a forgotten pop club of the 1980s with its blue neon sign and enclosed doorway. Brothers Eddie and Evan Huang’s mentality from the beginning has been to tear down everything people knew about Taiwanese-Chinese food and rebuilt it from the ground up according to the restaurant’s website. Upon entering visitors are corralled into a narrow space reminiscent of a New Orleans shotgun house, the walls and tables are covered in past patron’s hand scribbled graffiti, a thin plexiglass wall separates diners from the fryers and grill as hip hop music blast through the speakers. For the uninitiated, bao is a steamed bread-like food popular in many Chinese style cuisines. At Baohaus they are presented as small sandwiches, ala eastern White Castle style. At the end of the day the only thing that matters is the food, and Baohaus delivers the goods. At an average price of about $3.50 per bao, this place is also one of the least expensive dining options available in the big city. The space exudes typical NYC coolness, all the way down to the names on the menu. Baohaus features a variety of Bao such as The Chairman Bao, a slab of pork with crushed peanut, cilantro, Haus Relish, and Taiwanese red sugar as well as a pun on China’s former leader Mao Zedong. Along with the Chairman Bao we sampled the Birdhaus Bao, which could be politely dubbed a Taiwanese Chik-Fil-A. What’s also amazing is that for such quality and exot-
icness each bao is reasonably priced at $3.50. The Chairman Bao’s thick cut of pork comes with about half an inch worth of fat riding along the edge, something that at first glance would even make we southerners shy away. What was discovered was that, that piece of fat was so essential to perpetuating the flavor and texture of the rest of the ingredients. It provided a bed for the cilantro and peanuts to stick to as well as a foil to the savoriness of the pork, all enclosed and neatly delivered by the fluffiness its bao carrier. However, it is advised that you do not shovel three of these bad boys into your maw in quick succession. You will love every bite, but the flavor overload will potentially send you into a minor food coma. An added plus to Baohaus’ menu is that all their meat is all allnatural, antibiotic, and hormone free, a fact that is noticed so prevalently in the Birdhaus Bao. The all natural fried chicken is brined for 24 hours and served with the Haus seasoning salt and like its culinary brothers crushed peanuts and Taiwanese red sugar are included for good measure. The red sugar provided the perfect sweetness to the soft chicken and the crushed peanuts picked up the slack in the crunchiness department. The downside, unfortunately seating is extremely limited and you will more than likely find yourself sitting with a set of strangers, though this does add to the atmosphere and as the cashier calls out your name to come and retrieve your order, even a visitor feels like part of the neighborhood. This lack of butt parking seems to have left some people with the desire to dance on the counter tops. Sadly, Baohaus doesn’t encourage dancing anywhere but on the floor. Baohaus is located at 238 E 14th St (2nd Ave) and is open Sunday-Thursday 11:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 11:30 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.
Monday, March 25th, 2013
The Falcon
Page Four
Wavves come crashing in
KYLE JONES
Editor-In-Chief | @TheUMFalcon
Wavves ringleader Nathan Williams is set to release his band’s fourth album, Afraid of Heights, on March 26. The album has been streaming via NPR’s website since March 17, which is available here. Overall, the album is drenched in self loathing and fear, it is a darker release than past albums such as King of the Beach. Williams cites that the album is about the fears of growing older and the added responsibilities of fame. At first listen the album comes off as bratty and immature but this feeling quickly dissipates as the feelings of apathy and hopelessness give us something to relate to via simplistic lyrics and driv-
ing choruses. A perfect soundtrack for a hazy one bedroom apartment with no food in the cabinets or a solitary walk in sunny weather. “Lounge Forward”, the fourth track on the album, sounds like the best Green Day song that was never written. “Paranoid” and title track “Afraid of Heights” amp up the albums message of fear and anxiety in an amazingly catchy way. The bubbly beach rock songs like those on previous albums are not missed with this latest release, “Cop” provides that classic sound Wavves has become known for but with hauntingly morbid lyrics. Afraid of Heights unsurprisingly gives us everything we’ve come to expect from the three-piece.
Album Review:
REED STRENGTH Arts & Culture Editor| @ReedStrength
When the Strokes burst onto the music scene in 2001with debut album “Is This It?”, they were instantly declared the “Saviors of Rock n’ Roll”. Their apathetic leather jacket aesthetic blended perfectly with songs chock full of neon guitar riffs, machine tight rhythms and singer Julian Casablancas’ characteristic croon. There was possibility to this lofty claim. By “First Impressions of Earth” in 2006, the Strokes seemed to have lost their cool. Songs about girls turned to ruminations on suicidal love coupled with themes of social alienation and
dejection. The fun of the first two albums was buried under 14 tracks of uncharacteristic nervy post-punk. The band took a five year hiatus, only to return in 2011 with the hugely disappointing “Angles”. However bad “Angles” was, the record’s dance and electronic influences are pivotal in understanding the band’s current musical evolution. The just released “Comedown Machine” is a long awaited return to form which moves away from the Strokes’ trademarked retro rock. As evidenced by the twelve tracks here, the Strokes have left the grimy dive bars of their youth and are attempting to tap back in time to the glitzy sheen of 80’s new wave. This era’s influence was always evident; a look back at the music videos for Strokes classics like “12:51” and “Hard
2 Chainz Da Bottom 37 Oarfin RAP
on March 14 via datpiff. com. This marks his first release since last November’s Psycho White, a collaborative project featuring infamous drummer Travis Barker. The mixtape features guest appearances from hip hop artist ranging from the Alabama native greats to those new to Yelawolf recently re- the spotlight, a lineup leased his 6th mixtape, that includes A$AP Trunk Muzik Returns Editor-In-Chief | @TheUMFalcon
Alan Jackson Precious Memories, Vol. 2 EMI Nashville COUNTRY Eve Make It Out This Town
11-7 Recordings R&B Ke$ha C’mon POP/ROCK
Kvelertak Meir Roadrunner Records POP/ROCK Skream, Pete Tong
Fast paced SoCal punk and droning repetitive eerie ballads. This is not necessarily a bad thing,
it is a welcome continuation of the bands formula that also shows the band and Wil-
liams growth as artist. The Falcon gives Afraid of Heights a 8 out of 10.
All Gone Miami 2013 Defected / In the House
ELECTRONIC
The Strokes “Comedown Machine” to Explain” show visual references to the decade’s kitschy aesthetic. Where “Angles” lead single “Under Cover of Darkness” played like a long lost “Is This It?” cut, new lead single “All the Time” sounds like a flat and bored bone thrown to fanboys of the old sound. The band is at their worst when they try to recapture former glory here. Even the dirty punk of “50/50” can’t shake the impression that these “saviors” have no interest in straight rock music anymore. The first tune released from the album, “One Way Trigger”, was a decisive track for longtime Strokes fans. The normally prominent twin guitar playing of Albert Hammond Jr. and Nick Valensi is layered underneath a squelchy synth seemingly lifted from Ah-a’s “Take On Me”. The record feels lighter and goofier than any
other Strokes release. “One Way Trigger” has a ridiculous, but infectious hook. Opening track “Tap Out” sounds like a better and more nocturnal take on “Machu Picchu” from their last record. Skittering and glittery disco beats dance around an especially impassioned and sultry Casablancas’ vocal delivery. “Welcome to Japan” throws disco in the mix while maintain
the tightly coiled guitar playing the band has made its name on. The group has had trouble in the past attempting less than stellar experiments with electronica. The flickering “Chances” and woozy title track are much better stabs at a synth based sound. The former has an especially stellar falsetto hook from Casablancas. Despite the renewed confidence, the reinvention comes with
ing realization for fans . Fans can rejoice Rocky, Paul Wall and legendary Wu-Tang that the tape does knock Clan member Raekwon. on the door of what The title offers we grew to love from the idea that the mixtape the rapper. Tracks like will return to the sound “Way Out” and “Catand style that propelled fish Billy” once again his career on Trunk paint the picture of the Muzik 0-60, though it redneck lifestyle and is a welcome change landscape when hip hop from Yelawolf’s previ- music is juxtaposed in ous haphazard releases, the mix. Where we fall overall the mixtape falls short is on “Box Chevy just short, a disappoint- Part 4”, a song that for
fans should carry on the legacy of the previous beloved releases of the same name. An unlikely gem from the mixtape comes from “Hustle” which features Houston staple and grill jeweler to the hip hop stars, Paul Wall. Somehow this track is perfect from the smooth and cool beat to the attributing verses of both Wall and Yelawolf.
Trunk Muzik’s lackluster return KYLE JONES
New this week
a few kinks. “Partners in Crime” is compiled of several annoying musical parts. A spring loaded guitar riff clashes with an especially poor chorus. Closer “Call It Fate, Call It Karma” does away with New Wave for an older turn of the century jazz approach. The results? A perplexing and illadvised end choice for an otherwise decent comeback album. It took three albums and seven years, but The Strokes finally sound refreshed and ready after highly publicized bouts of indecision and infighting. With their five album contract with RCA expired, the band can explore new possibilities and territories with renewed confidence and nostalgic expertise. The Falcon gives The Strokes “Comedown Machine” 7/10.
A consolidation from this release is that Yela spends part of the album apologizing for his past lackluster releases and is on the road to returning to his former greatness. Hopefully we can expect a full reemergence later this year with the release of his third studio album titled Love Story. Until then, at least we still have 0-60.
The Falcon
Monday, March 25th, 2013
Page Five
Chinatown in Pictures
next week’s issue -Baseball Preview -Holy Week -Awk Interview -Spring Theatre -Comic Book Review -Springbreakers -Jingle Show Review -Bowls of Campus -Music -Sports -News and more... April 1st, 2013
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