Your brain in love Page 5
Love song mix tape
Baseball preps for season
Page 7
Page 9
Visit us Online
ualr.edu/forum Volume LXXXV Number X
News in a
FLASH
Neyland Hester, 90, a 23-year administrator who started as UALR’s first director of University Relations in 1963, died Jan. 28 at Hot Spring Medical Center near his home in Traskwood. The UALR Alumni Association is scheduled to host its 10th annual “Taste of” event from 6- 8 p.m. March 14 at the university’s Alumni and Friends Center. Taste of Little Rock will feature local cuisine and entertainment in honor of Janet Jones, who is both a university and community donor. Over the past 10 years, the series has raised more than $200,000 for Alumni Association scholarship funds. Jim Balfanz, president of education-focused nonprofit City Year, is scheduled to give a lecture at the Clinton School of Public Service’s Sturgis Hall Feb. 15 at noon titled “Closing the Implementation Gap and Building the Graduation Pipeline.” During the event, the speaker will discuss the role his company plays in national school reform. For more information, you can contact by phone at 501-683-5239 or by email at publicprograms@ clintonschool.uasys.edu. The Arkansas Association for Women Lawyers is scheduled to host a screening of “Miss Representation,” a movie that addresses the underrepresentation of women in American media, at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 25 in the UALR William H. Bowen School of Law’s Friday Courtroom. “Manson and its Progeny: An Empirical Analysis of American Eyewitness Law,” a paper by UALR William H. Bowen law professor Nicholas Kahn-Fogel, which has been downloaded nearly 100 times, was recently among Social Science Research Network’s Top Ten list for the Empirical Studies and the Criminal Procedure eJournals.
Index Opinions News Features Personal Ads Entertainment Sports Campus Life
2 3-4 5 6 7-8 9 10
SOCIALize with
US!
Breaking News The UALR Forum Photo Galleries @TheUALRForum
Trojan Sports
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Student Newspaper
Student government approves $1,000 bill in special meeting
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Ticket to sing
Jennifer Ellis
Executive Editor
The Student Government Association unanimously passed its first bill of 2013 authorizing an expenditure of up to $1,000 for T-shirts for its members on Jan. 30 in a special meeting, of which the governing body failed to notify The Forum despite its many requests. The Forum found out about the special meeting when the Senate approved minutes for the meeting during its regularly scheduled assembly on Wednesday, Feb. 7. In the case of emergency or special meetings, the Freedom of Information Act Annotated 25-19-106 states the person calling the meeting must notify newspaper and other media representatives, who have requested to be notified,
of the meeting time, place and date at least two hours prior to the meeting, so that the public may be represented. “From what I understand there was miscommunication about the special meeting time and making sure The Forum was informed,” Chief of Staff Jonathan Bobo said. “I apologize personally on behalf of the Student Government Association that the correct meeting time and agenda were not conveyed to you in a clear and timely manner.” This is the second time in as many years that the SGA and The Forum have been at odds over the Freedom of Information Act’s open meetings laws. During the 2011-2012 SGA Administration, then-President
See MEETING, page 3
Spencer Lloyd, freshman business finance major, holds his callback ticket for ‘The Voice’ auditions Saturday, Feb. 9, in Houston. Photo courtesy of Tim Lloyd
Article, page 4
Green Dot program aims at violence prevention Safety initiative comes year after student disappearance, death
Sarah De Clerk Features Editor
After a year of planning, a program focusing on preventing violence through bystander awareness will officially launch on campus at the Trojan basketball game Saturday, Feb. 16 with an information table, promotional video and T-shirt giveaway. The program called Green Dot specifically targets powerbased violence within personal relationships, said Sarah Beth Estes, steering committee chair and gender studies coordinator with the Department of Anthropology and Sociology. This kind of violence includes sexual, partner, child and elder abuse as well as harassment, bullying and stalking. “What makes this program unique is that it focuses on bystanders – all of us – and what we as community members can do to prevent violence from occurring,” Estes said. While other programs concentrate on the victims and perpetrators of violence, Green Dot is concerned with the role that community members play in violence prevention. The program is based on social science research, she said, and is the most effective tool for reducing violence in a community. “The idea there is that we are all members of this community together,” Estes said. The program encourages people to become active bystanders who show that they will
Senior Mario Wallace, professional and technical writing and Spanish major, clicks in his answer to a poll question during Green Dot training in Ledbetter Hall on Saturday, Feb. 9. The Green Dot program is a violence prevention initiative that will be officially launched Saturday, Feb. 16 at the Trojan basketball game. Photo by Jennifer Ellis
not tolerate violence in their community, she said. The green dot is a symbol that counteracts red dots – violence or potential violence, she said. Proactive green dots promote the program, while reactive green dots confront violence when it occurs. Bystanders can spread green dots by following the
“three D’s,” Estes said. Direct action involves “checking in” with people who are in a potentially violent situation. Bystanders can also diffuse potentially violent situations by causing a distraction. In cases where bystanders are not comfortable interfering, they can delegate the green dot to a higher authority, like the
Statistics reflect drop in remediation rates Liz Fox
Entertainment Editor
The number of first-year students at Arkansas public colleges and universities deemed unready for coursework fell in fall 2012, according to a report released by the Arkansas Department of Higher Education. These statistics, which are collectively known as remediation rates, concern first-time students who scored below 19 in one or more areas of the ACT admissions test and are required to pass remedial courses before continuing on to core and major-related programs.
Approximately 40 percent of UALR first-time students enrolled in fall 2012 were required to take non-credit courses. Mathematics, which competed with reading and English scores, saw the highest rates with 252 of 833 students adding remedial coursework to their existing degree plans. State statistics indicate a rate of 47.8 percent, a decrease from fall 2011 that reflects a steady decline during the last five years. This number also beat the state’s all-time low of 48.5 percent, which was recorded in 1994. The state’s remediation
Department of Public Safety. Green Dot trains people to recognize potentially violent situations and to spread green dots safely, without risking the bystander’s safety or making the situation any more dangerous for the people involved, Estes said. It also
See PROGRAM, page 4
Black History Month speaker inspires room full
rate, which is among the highest in the country, can be accounted for by the number of Arkansas institutions with open-admissions policies. Many small campuses admit students regardless of gradepoint averages or test scores. But Calvin Johnson, who serves as interim chancellor at the University of Arkansas in Pine Bluff, said these policies are beneficial to firstgeneration and low-income students. “It’s a challenge for us,” Johnson said in a story published by the Arkansas Dem-
Academy award-nominated actress Taraji Henson spoke to a packed auditorium of UALR students and surrounding community at 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 4 in the University Theatre. In celebration of Black History Month, Henson delivered a powerful speech dedicated to the youth, which she titled “Finding Faith in Yourself." Though a woman of self-pro-
See STATS, page 4
See SPEAKER, page 3
Alexis Williams Assistant Editor