The Forum February 2023 Edition

THE FORUM

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Student Newspaper

February 2023

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

UALR UPDATES ANIME FEST SPOTLIGHTS BASKETBALL OPINION

CRIME BEAT

Welcome back Forum Readers! Did you miss me? The Forum is back in full swing and I hope you’re ready.

Criminal Trespass and Fleeing

On Monday, Jan. 2, 2023, dispatch received a call from Mr. Maurice Guest, the director of eStem High School, for a possible suspicious person.

Officer Tomeka Stacker was dispatched to eStem to check out the situation. Through dispatch communication, Officer Stacker found the suspect in Lot 5 heading south towards the Plaza.

When Officer Stacker made contact with the subject she asked them to come here. As stated in Officer Stacker’s narrative, the suspect said they were leaving and began to walk fast heading east behind the Plaza.

Officer Stacker followed the suspect with the patrol unit and got out of the vehicle to question him.

Officer Stacker asked the suspect what their name was and they mumbled a reply.

At this point, Assistant Chief Rommel Benjamin joined and told the individual to put their hands on the vehicle to conduct a pat down search to check for any weapons.

The suspect was told to drop the pencil that was in their possession and Officer Stacker and Assistant Chief Benjamin asked for their name and date of birth.

After their information was run through dispatch they found out the suspect had prior traffic and was an absconder. An absconder is an individual who runs away or flees to avoid arrest or prosecution.

As Assistant Chief Benjamin was placing handcuffs on the

individual, the suspect began to flee toward Asher Ave. Assistant Chief Benjamin began to pursue the suspect with Officer Stacker close behind in her vehicle.

The subject ran out into the street and Officer Stacker made a U-turn around the suspect effectively cutting them off.

Officer Stacker yelled at the subject to get down on the ground and proceeded to double-lock handcuffs on the individual and placed them in the patrol unit.

After going to the department for more information on the warrant, it was found out the suspect had an active warrant and was then taken to the country jail for fleeing and trespassing.

And it appears the suspect did not learn his lesson and was taken into custody again on Jan. 23, 2023.

Officer George Perez and Assistant Chief Benjamin were dispatched to TRIO University Plaza for a disturbance.

They both made contact with the suspect and asked for their name and date of birth. The suspect finally gave Officer Perez and Assistant Chief Benjamin their information but not before refusing and becoming agitated.

It was then found out that the individual had a warrant from the Department of Parole and Probation.

The suspect was then taken into custody and transported to the Parole and Probation Office.

Suspicious Person at Ross Hall

On Jan. 20, 2023, Officer Aaron Birmingham and Detective Corporal Joshua Webb were dispatched to Ross Hall about a suspicious person entering the first-floor men’s restroom.

According to Officer Birmingham’s narrative, the custodian recognized the individual as they had encountered the suspect a week ago on the fifth floor of Ross Hall.

At the time, the suspect was cited for criminal trespass and had been told to stay off campus.

Detective Corporal Webb and Officer Birmingham arrived at Ross Hall at the same time as Sergeant Rodney Barnes, and the trio went to the first-floor men’s restroom.

Inside they found one of the stalls locked with miscellaneous items spread out on the floor.

Officer Aaron Birmingham called out to the suspect and he responded, “Yeah.” Officer Birmingham then told the suspect to finish up and come outside to talk to him, Sergeant Barnes and Detective Corporal Webb.

While waiting for the suspect to come out, Officer Birmingham had dispatch run the suspect’s name through the Arkansas Crime Information Center (ACIC) to see if their warrant in Conway was still valid.

After finding out it was, the confirmation process began. According to Officer Birmingham’s narrative, the suspect walked out of the stall saying he was just trying to survive and why do they keep bothering him.

Officer Birmingham advised him that he was told not to come back and that this time he was being arrested.

When Detective Webb went to put handcuffs on the suspect, they tried to move back, so he pinned them to the wall while Officer Birmingham placed handcuffs on them.

The Conway Police Department confirmed the warrant and the

suspect was then transferred to the custody of the Conway Police Department.

Loitering at William H. Bowen School of Law

On Jan. 23, 2023 dispatch was advised about an individual loitering at the William H. Bowen School of Law.

Officer Jesse Ball arrived on the scene and was advised the individual was in the Bowen School of Law Library.

Once making contact with the individual, Officer Ball led them outside the library so they could talk.

The individual claimed at first to be doing research, although not a student at the law school.

When Officer Ball told the suspect they were seen in parts of the law school where research could not be done, the individual admitted they were washing up in the bathroom and that’s why they were in there for a long period of time.

After Officer Ball received identification from the suspect, dispatch advised they had a warrant in Searcy, AR, but were outside the limits on the warrant.

Officer Ball issued a verbal criminal trespass warning and escorted them off the Bowen School of Law campus.

Towed Vehicle at the Bailey Alumni Center

On Jan. 29, 2023 at 10:59 a.m. Officer Stacker towed a vehicle from the Bailey Alumni Center.

The vehicle had been left unattended since 3 a.m. with the emergency flashers activated and the driver-side window down. The

owner of the vehicle was identified but with no valid insurance and inside the vehicle were various personal belongings.

Officer Stacker took photos of the vehicle and Asher Wrecker towed the vehicle.

Suspicious Activity at Gary Hogan Field

On Jan. 30, 2023, Officer Marilyn Thompson and Assistant Chief Benjamin were dispatched to the Gary Hogan baseball field about a person dancing, singing and yelling near the bleachers in the ball field.

Once Officer Thompson made contact with the individual she observed the suspect was, “delusional, spacey and on some kind of drugs.”

Officer Thompson and Assistant Chief Benjamin dispatched Metropolitan Emergency Medical Service (MEMS) to make sure the individual was okay.

MEMS confirmed the individual was okay. Officer Thompson and Assistant Chief Benjamin later made contact with the individual’s grandmother and mother who informed them the suspect was bipolar and on meth.

Upon their request, the individual was transported to a relative’s house.

If you see any suspicious or criminal activity, or simply feel uncomfortable, do not hesitate to call University Police. For emergencies dial 911 or 501-9163400 and for non-emergencies dial 501-916-5304. Stay safe everyone!.

BY RIAN NEWMAN

Commiserate with me a little about how far we have to walk to get around campus nowadays, will ya? I mean, what is the purpose of all this?

Well, one positive thing I can think of personally, is that we are required to take a lot more steps to get where we are going, right? That, my colleagues, is definitely some low-key extra exercise, but outside of that, what is really going on here?

Okay, well, let’s just call it what it is - The Trojan Way Project. This project started with these blasted fences going up around midOctober and will go on for about another 12 to 18 months.

Yes, you read me right. This isn’t going away anytime soon, but there will be a way to navigate through all this ruckus as construction fencing has been placed through the north-to-south promenade of the campus.

There are cut-throughs in the fencing that help ensure access to the campus and maps of the cut-throughs have been made available to us all. You can also read the signage on the fencing which is there to assist with directions.

If anyone is ever so inclined to, they can keep up with the latest updates about this project by frequenting this website address: https://ualr.edu/ facilities/construction/.

The good news about all of this transformation going on around here is that the University of Arkansas at Little Rock campus will be even more beautiful than it already is.

Have you ever walked the trail along-side the creek? It is absolutely

beautiful and therapeutic and one of my favorite spots to frequent! You can even sit and study close by if you so choose to do so.

So now that I’ve written about what the fences are for, I will stop my complaining and commiserating about all the extra walking I have to do around campus, I will have an attitude of gratitude for all of the extra steps that I will be taking to burn calories and tone up and look forward to viewing the outcome of this endeavor in about a year or so.

WHAT THE FENCE? LITTLE ROCK CONGREGATIONS STUDY RELEASES RESOURCE GUIDE TO PROMOTE FAITH-BASED RACIAL JUSTICE WORK

The outcome of the construction to Trojan Way will result in a path that will run throughout the campus starting from 28th Street to University Drive creating enhanced walkways, seating areas and gathering spaces for all of us students, the faculty and staff to make use of.

The other projects you can read about on the website provided are the Library Plaza, Alumni Patio, and the Campus Grove. There is also information about the demolition of the Education building that was located between Dickinson and Ross Hall and the removal of the old Earth Science building.

We should all look forward to seeing the creation of additional green spaces to enjoy in the places where those vacant and unused buildings stood. So, with all that being said (or written) I would say that it will be well worth the trouble of walking the distance around campus for a while, and let’s all keep in mind during this time that patience is a virtue!

BY VAL BELL

The Little Rock Congregations Study (LRCS) is a community study here on campus at UA Little Rock.

The LRCS is composed of Dr. Rebecca Glazier and her team of Dr. Gerald Driskill, from the Mass Communications Department; Engineering and Information Technology graduate student Sai Charan Machavarapu; and Political Science undergraduate students Jack Schlotter, Yvonne Rodriguez and Owen Haynes.

LRCS keeps contact and relations with all the religious congregations within Little Rock city limits to collect data on religious attitudes and practices, and observe how those attitudes and practices can be applied to create themes of worship and accumulate impact on the community.

As a part of the latest installment in the decade-long study, the LRCS team invited congregation leaders from across town to meet at UA Little Rock Downtown for a luncheon to discuss the issue of racism that is plaguing communities across the United States.

During the luncheon, Dr. Glazier shared the recent data collected concerning racial attitudes and current efforts within the religious community to combat racism; along with the data sharing, Dr. Glazier shared her curated models on how congregations can most effectively confront racial barriers in their own congregations, along with resources from novelists, philosophers and other political

scientists.

A diverse group of religious faiths were represented including Catholics, Protestants, Mormons, Baha’is, Buddhists, Jews and Muslims.

Attendees were purposely spread out to encourage the dissemination of a broad range of beliefs. Religious leaders shared their experiences with racism in their congregations, while also sharing what religious interpretations and commonly held beliefs were holding them back.

For the Muslim imam who spoke, he said his congregation believed themselves not to have a race problem, but he realized their overlooking of race was the problem.

For Protestant Christians, leaders pointed to parables in

the Gospels that outline why Christians have a God-given duty to fight racism.

Some congregations felt more prepared to discuss racial issues, while others felt it was not necessarily the responsibility of the Church to address such social issues.

One man frequently referenced was Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. His beliefs connecting religious and social philosophies have provided a framework for many, including our city’s religious leaders.

The LRCS continues to study religion and its relationship to combating racism and will continue to study the religious community at large in Little Rock.

It should be noted that the author of this article is one of the student researchers on the LRCS.

BY OWEN HAYNES

TROJAN WAY PROJECT Courtesy UA Little Rock

LRCS LUNCHEON Owen Haynes Photos

ENTERTAINMENT

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT: ALEXANDRA NUNEZ

Alexandra Nunez has taken control of her future and her story proves it.

This past semester Nunez took an internship at the Little Rock Police Department (LRPD) to take an in-depth view at pursuing a career as a detective.

Nunez is a junior at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, double majoring in psychology and criminal justice.

She plans to graduate in the spring of 2024 and then start her career from there, or start her journey to collect a master’s degree.

Nunez applied for the Little Rock Police Department Victim Services Internship and was one of a few who got the internship.

She helped with crisis counseling, victim advocacy and intervention services for violent crime and domestic violence victims.

Nunez said she finds passion in helping victims because it brings

her happiness to know they are getting help.

“I have always loved helping people since I’ve been a young girl,” said Nunez.

She also said she learned great communication skills from the internship and values the lessons learned.

With what was learned, Nunez now has plans to do a new internship with the FBI to further her career.

While attending her studies and working an internship at the LRPD, she also helps out as a resident assistant on the third floor of East Hall.

She says communication comes easy with helping residents. She also says building a relationship with her residents helped with the skills she needed as an intern at the LRPD.

Nunez was born and raised in Dumas, AR, where she lived until

she came to UALR.

Nunez graduated third in her class from Dumas High School and attended the Arkansas Governor’s School in 2019.

She kept a consistent 4.0 GPA throughout grade school and joined many school clubs.

As a Latina girl who grew up questioning her ethnic roots due to her diverse parents, she felt she was too Mexican to be around Americans and too American to be around Mexicans.

She wanted to bring diversity into her dream career because it was mostly run by men.

She says she feels great pressure as a Latina woman, but will be sure to accomplish her goals.

Nothing has stopped Nunez this far, and nothing will stop her later. Her passion for helping people is strong, but her love for her passion is stronger.

BY JOE SANTANA

FOR SOME SOUP?: A LOOK INTO UA LITTLE ROCK’S CERAMICS TEAM “BOWL OF SOUP” FUNDRAISER

CARE

Using craft and creativity, the UA Little Rock ceramics team hosted a ceramics bowl sale to raise funds for their upcoming trip to the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) conference in March.

After learning about their bowl sale, I knew the trip had to be made as it offered me some time to unwind after school.

The sale was hosted by Boulevard Bread Company in Little Rock, AR, in the Heights neighborhood.

It was exciting getting to both visit a new place and view the creations of the ceramics team.

The sale lasted from Feb. 1-14, and the bowls were set at $15 each. NCECA, according to their website nceca.net, is a nonprofit organization that supports individuals, schools, and organizations demonstrating interest in ceramic arts.

Every year, they host their conference in a different city. This year, it will be held in Cincinnati, Ohio.

At this conference, students and professionals alike will have the opportunity to meet other artists and presenters, learn new skills and techniques, and even attend lectures and conversation rooms.

While I visited on the last day of the sale, I was still able to see some of the bowls that were available.

I was amazed at the ceramics team’s works, as some of the bowls looked like they could be sets, but were each detailed differently and so beautifully. I would definitely encourage everyone to attend the ceramics team’s future sales, as it not only supports students pursuing something that is more than just a hobby, but fuels their passion furthermore.

BY VASTI HERNANDEZ

ALEXANDRA NUNEZ Joe Santana photo

BOWL OF SOUP FUNDRAISER

Rian Newman photos

PORTER NAMED EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF CENTER FOR ARKANSAS HISTORY AND CULTURE

Dr. Deborah Baldwin, associate provost of collections and archives, and now former executive director of UA Little Rock’s Center for Arkansas History and Culture has now become interim dean of the College of Business, Health, and Human Services.

As a result, someone new needs to fill her position, and Dr. Jess Porter, associate professor of Geography at UA Little Rock has taken over as executive director of the center.

I had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Porter recently. He is a fascinating individual, and quite smart to boot.

Over the course of the interview and the tour of the facility he gave me, I learned quite a lot about what he does at the facility, and about him as a person. His friendliness and competence both

struck me immediately.

He’s the type to have fun tackling difficult projects. When I asked what his favorite part of the job is, he told me that “You have all kinds of interesting challenges and opportunities that show up every single day” and compared his work at the Center to his former position as chair of the history department, which he says was much more routine than what he now does.

Like his new duties, Dr. Porter is quite multifaceted. He started out his undergraduate degree as a double major in French and International Business at the University of Colorado before transitioning to Geography after taking a class in the subject. It was his first time encountering Geography as an academic subject, and it really sparked his interest in it.

He’s particularly interested in the geospatial technology area of the field, though he hasn’t worked as much with that recently.

What Dr. Porter enjoys most of the Center’s mission is distilling the records they get in order to preserve Arkansas’s history and culture. As the premier archive in the state, they get a lot of donated records from politicians.

They’re currently processing the records of former Representative Vic Snyder, and they have an agreement with current Representative French Hill to take his papers when his term comes to an end. It’s not just the records of politicians that they get though.

They might also get business records, or old family photos, really anything that’s part of the historical record of Arkansas.

And they get a frankly

astounding volume of donations. Vic Snyder’s collection is composed of 800 boxes.

Not all donations are anywhere near as large as that of course. Some are as small as 1 box, but with the number of donations that come in, the archive is constantly growing and processing new material.

They got 50 donations in 2022 and so far in 2023, they’ve received 20 donations.

The collection is already massive too, with the digital archive currently approaching 40 terabytes worth of records.

The breadth of techniques necessary for the proper preservation of the physical data the Center receives is astounding as well.

Some of the techniques are common sense procedures, like storing the papers away from

sunlight and in climate-controlled areas, but others are less obvious, like the need to freeze or bake some collections in order to ensure any bugs or other vermin in the collection don’t make it into the archives.

Like Dr. Porter’s education history, work at the Center is multifaceted. And nothing sums that up better than the fact that two of the other workers at the center were looking at legos when I arrived.

Admittedly, this was only tangentially work-related, but it still contributed to an overall sense of a fun and fluid workspace.

And like his workspace, Dr. Porter is a fun and fascinating individual. It was a joy to talk to him and the Center is clearly in capable hands.

BY SABLE HAWKINS

LITTLE ROCK ANIME FEST AND LOCAL ARTISTS MEET DOWNTOWN

Somewhere between the world of reality and the fantastic world of eastern animation lies a community of interesting, diverse and talented individuals.

From local costume designers to aspiring animators, the world of anime is much broader than a handful of English-dubbed animated television shows.

At the Little Rock Anime Fest, many such talented individuals appeared to showcase their works and support one another in a convention-style exposition at the Statehouse Convention Center.

Booths lined the walls and the center floor of the venue, offering apparel, memorabilia, action figures and other collectibles from a wide range of anime franchises.

The event was also riddled with celebrities, animators and content creators providing autographs and meet and greets to the fans.

Local artist and aspiring anime show creator Alex Fitzgerald was present enthusiastically explaining

his idea for an anime program named “Laughable Fears.”

Fitzgerald’s booth included information about his intriguing characters, his show’s premise and some fashionable merchandise to promote his venture.

Fitzgerald’s concept is welldeveloped and features interesting themes that touch on real-world psychological aspects that are often thought-provoking.

In addition, Fitzgerald’s worldbuilding is elegant and is a testament to his imaginative talent. With a pilot script written, an upcoming webcomic and promotional materials available, “Laughable Fears” has all the ingredients to become a hit franchise.

To learn more about Alex Fitzgerald and “Laughable Fears,” visit the website at https://www. laughablefears.com/ and support local artists.

BY JESSE CAIN

LITTLE ROCK ANIME FEST Jesse Cain photos

LOVE AND SUSTAINABILITY ARE IN THE AIR AT FOREVER THRIFTED VALENTINE’S DAY EVENT

On Saturday, Feb 11, Forever Thrifted held its Valentines Market of the year on Main Street in downtown Little Rock.

Dozens of tents and clothing racks were set up in between buildings, with over 30 vendors and artists selling clothes, jewelry, paintings and much more.

The free event ran from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and included food trucks and music. With sunny weather and a warmer

temperature, it couldn’t have taken place on a better day.

“I first heard about Forever Thrifted from a friend,” said Paige Henry, a Little Rock sophomore.

“I’ve been to two of their events. It’s a super cool community and a great place to go with friends.”

Forever Thrifted is organized and run by La Rosa Collective, a vintage clothing store that opened

in 2021. The message they promote, as seen in their logo is “destroying fast fashion & unchanging individuality.”

It is more important than ever to be more aware of one’s consumption and turn towards more sustainable alternatives, as fast fashion has become more popular than ever before.

Forever Thrifted is a great place to find unique articles of clothing along with supporting small businesses. The types of

clothing and items that were seen at every booth varied.

Certain vendors sold their best thrift finds such as vintage Levi jeans or a Christian Dior vest, whereas others promoted their own clothing and designs.

“I bought two t-shirts from a local brand called Freeway Supply Company. I like how unique and different they are from the stuff you see at big stores or online. I also like being able to help out smaller

businesses.” said, Mykena Turner, another Little Rock student.

The Forever Thrifted market and swap-meet host an event every month.

They next markets will be March 11 and 25, 2023, the one year anniversary of the event. They post all updates and information on their Instagram, @foreverthriftedswapmeet, or on their website.

BY KATE BENNE

FOREVER THRIFTED Jacobb Nichol photos

UA LITTLE ROCK WIND ENSEMBLE CONCERT

It is my intent to one day, in the near future, see the Stella Boyle Concert Hall packed out wall to wall, floor to floor (this includes the balcony) with standing room only during concerts presented by the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Jazz, Wind and Percussion Ensembles.

As I continue to catch up with the diligent and devoted doctors of music who direct these ensembles, I hope to also catch up with the student body and faculty to apprise them beforehand when these concerts take place.

Now mind you, they are announced in various ways on our school websites, but I would like to share why one should not sleep on these concerts and make plans to attend as often as possible.

Given the fact that we are in an academic environment that inspires and strongly encourages the study of culture and history, there is so much that we can learn while enjoying the musical compositions and collaborations performed by the personnel that make up these ensembles.

Supporting them by attending is the same as supporting future music teachers, instructors, professors and even Arkansas Symphony Orchestra (ASO) members or whatever orchestra they might end up in.

Speaking of ASO members, our very own Drs. Michael Underwood and Justin Bunting are just that. They are able to bring the exquisite professionalism that they display at Robinson Hall or wherever you may find the ASO to our very own Stella Boyle Concert Hall as they train, instruct and direct the student musicians that study, practice and rehearse at the Fine Arts Building here on campus on a daily basis.

Before the most recent Jazz and Wind Ensemble concerts were presented over the past

two weeks, I sat down with Dr. Underwood to talk about the pieces that would be performed.

Be sure to catch the previous article written by yours truly about the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Jazz Ensemble concert that was presented on Valentine’s Day if you haven’t already.

Dr. Underwood shared with me that his philosophy on choosing music has little to do with the band literature that we are currently hearing these days. He stated that he wants to play music by established, great composers.

His selection of the “Miller’s Dance” by the Spanish composer Manuel De Falla, which was originally written for the piano, came from a larger piece titled “The ThreeCornered Hat,” a ballet.

In the UA Little Rock Wind Ensemble’s performance of this piece, community member Al Farmer was featured on the oboe.

Farmer is an accomplished musician who could probably have a book written on his experience playing for bands and orchestras, but I will just mention a few that you could catch him in such as his church orchestra at Geyer Springs First Baptist Church on I-30 heading toward Bryant, and also the North Little Rock Community Band that is filled to the brim with band directors, student musicians and even retired musicians who continue to play their instruments just for the love of it.

For those who are graduates that enjoy music, Dr. Underwood suggested that the next piece they play is of great interest. Paul Hindemith,

who Dr. Underwood called the “Father of Great Composers of the Modern Era,” actually wrote a sonata for every instrument, and was very passionate about music education.

Hindemith composed “Interludium No. 6 in E Flat Major” which Dr. Underwood arranged for this ensemble to play.

He chose this march because it matched the spirit of band literature. He felt that the Wind Ensemble could play it well because it is straightforward.

In explaining his strategy when rehearsing with student musicians, Dr. Underwood said, “You can’t let anything that’s not up to standard pass; rehearsal is the time to grow and tedious rehearsals are worth the rewarding outcome.”

The second to last presentation in the UA Little Rock Wind Ensemble concert were three selections from the composition written around the turn of the 20th century titled “Sea Pieces” by American composer Edward McDowell.

Edward McDowell was a prolific composer who wrote a piano concerto that is pretty famous. The three selections that were played were “From a Wandering Iceberg,” “Song” and “To the Sea.”

The final piece was another march called “His Honor,” which was composed by Henry Fillmore.

He had his own band just like another popular American composer by the name of John Phillip Sousa during the late 19th and early 20th century. The piece was written for a Major in Cincinnati at the time.

Underwood described it as having a lot of chromaticism in every theme, such as in the first theme (introduction) where you hear a descending (falling) chromatic scale.

The second theme highlights half-steps and then a trio features rising chromaticism.

He concluded his description stating that the way Henry Fillmore uses chromaticism is entertaining. Dr. Underwood

closed out his interview with this statement: “Music is best when it can be shared, it’s all about sharing. I want my students to be just as excited as me to play it.”

BY VAL BELL

UA LITTLE ROCK JAZZ ENSEMBLE IS ALL ABOUT LOVE

Love is in the air, Happy Valentine’s Day and all that jazz! Speaking of jazz, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Jazz Ensemble performed on Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m. in the Stella Boyle Concert Hall. This experience was a sweet treat for all who attended, and a special outing for couples before or after their romantic dinner to celebrate the occasion of love being in the air, even on a rainy day. Once again as I did last semester, I had the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Michael Underwood, the conductor for both the UA Little Rock Jazz and Wind Ensembles, to speak on two of the upcoming concerts that he will be conducting this spring. After this concert, the next concert scheduled is for the Wind Ensemble on Feb. 20.

The concert’s theme was love, of course. Dr. Underwood described it as nostalgic and from his grandparents’ era. It was comprised of four songs, starting with the first piece titled “I’ll Take Romance” (1937), a swing chart composed by Oscar Hammerstein; “Moonlight Serenade” (1939), a swing ballad composed by Glen Miller during World War II; and “Stolen Moments” (1960) composed by Oliver Nelson, featuring several improvisations from student musicians Josh Warren on trumpet, Omar Delgado on vibraphone, Clifton Belcher on trombone, Dorian Izzo on guitar, Elijah Jennings on bass, Harris Hogue and Renee Buras-Sims on alto saxophone and Joshua Gregory on tenor saxophone. The final piece was titled “Jump, Jive, an’ Wail”

(1956), which represents the Big Band era and was composed by Louis Prima. During this piece you can see Omar Delgado jump on drums, Joshua Gregory switch to clarinet, Kaleb Hatley featured on trumpet and Harris Hogue again on alto sax.

I got a chance to catch up with a few of these cool musicians. When I asked them what they LOVE about playing in the UA Little Rock Jazz Ensemble, Clifton Belcher stated that he “loves being able to perform on stage and entertain people with the music that we play.” Joshua Gregory replied that he “loves the opportunity to play solos on both the instruments that he plays” (clarinet and saxophone). Renee Buras-Sims said, “I love how our ensemble is so close-knit, depending on each other to create our sound of music and how everything is so intertwined.”

What better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day but by doing what you love? Playing or even just listening to great music is just the thing for students, staff, faculty and connoisseurs of the fine art we call music. I will be back soon to talk about what the Wind Ensemble has been working on for our listening pleasure as disclosed by Dr. Underwood, but until then, be sure to stay tuned to the Forum! Look forward to stepping out in the rain if you must to hear four great songs from the past that are still held dear to our hearts in the present and will continue to be relevant in the future, because they are just that good. Hope to see YOU there.

BY VAL BELL

WIND ENSAMBLE CONCERT Rian Willow photos

I LIKE MIKE: MIKES CAFE REVIEW

College students are known for surviving on ramen noodles and energy drinks. Not as much so if you have a meal plan. Although, meal plan or not, no one really likes eating the same thing every day. So, I figured I’d review a local restaurant near our UA Little Rock campus.

Mike’s Cafe is a local restaurant that serves Vietnamese and Chinese cuisine. There are various things that make this restaurant nice and I will talk about all of them.

Mike’s is not very far from the UALR campus. You could even walk there if you’re brave enough (I wouldn’t recommend it though).

It’s located at 5501 Asher Ave. and can be spotted by the big turquoise green sign displaying their name: “Mike’s Cafe Chinese and Vietnamese Cuisine.”

Once you get in there, the first thing you will notice are the tables. They have an assortment of different tables from circular to

long and then just simple square tables.

The staff working will tell you to sit anywhere you like, and once you’ve chosen your seat you might start to notice all the decor.

The walls depict various forms of art showcasing different cultures. There is a wall with drawings of celebrities on it.

There are even chandelierinspired lights that hang from the ceiling and a karaoke stage.

The karaoke stage/area is one that you cannot miss with its flatscreen TV, flowers, vases and lights (they even have a miniature disco ball).

You and your friends could make it a night to remember by eating, drinking (if you’re over 21) and singing the night away.

There usually aren’t too many people out in the crowd, so you don’t have to worry about an angry mob of people coming to chase you off.

If karaoke is not really your thing, that’s fine. The food and the

food selections are still a fun time.

They have stuff from pho all the way to seafood. My preferred choice is fried rice with steak or chicken because I like rice.

There are so many options and ordering is a breeze. You can just tell them the number you want (e.g. C28) or just say it out loud.

I think this is a great way for people with anxiety to order especially if they have a harder time speaking with others.

There is something for everyone, even the picky eater in your life. Just get them chicken wings!

You don’t really have to worry about leaving hungry since the portion sizes are so huge.

They come out on these big white plates and there’s so much food that I end up eating on it for two days (or one if I’m in a mood).

They even have sriracha and other sauces out on the tables so you don’t have to ask.

The staff that takes your order is extremely nice. They helped us to figure out what we wanted and

FOOD TRUCK FRIDAY

offered suggestions.

They even offered to tell the chef to make it less spicy for one of my friends.

There is only one downside to the whole thing: the way they bring out the food. Now personally this doesn’t bother me, but it could bother others so I choose to include it.

It seems as though they bring out the food at different times which can be a bit awkward. I ordered fried rice and my companions ordered pho and curry noodles.

My order came out first and we had to wait about five minutes until theirs came out. It wasn’t a big deal or anything, but still, someone might wanna know that.

The whole vibe at Mike’s is chill. The staff is wonderful, the decorations are nice, there aren’t a lot of people, the food is good and the music they play is up to date.

They played various kinds of music but nothing too extravagant. They played Justin Bieber’s “Peaches” and “Time Zone” by

Surfaces.

The volume of the music was just right. It was loud enough for you to enjoy but quiet enough for you to tune out if you weren’t vibing with it.

They even have TVs stationed throughout the building, although they seem to only show “Impractical Jokers” or sports.

If you’re into that kind of thing, then you get a show and a meal and maybe even a special karaoke performance.

Overall, Mike’s is a nice place to go if you want to get off campus and try something different.

I highly recommend going there and trying it out at least once. You might love it or maybe it isn’t for you. Either way, trying something new can be good for you every once and a while.

BY ZYKEYAH EASTER

Jacobb Nichol photos

HEALTH: ARKANSAS RANKS LOWEST FOR TEENAGE WELLNESS

Arecent data analysis of teenage health across the U.S. found that Arkansas has the least healthiest teenagers.

On average, Arkansan teenagers consume much less fruits and vegetables and more soda than other teenagers across the country.

Furthermore, Arkansas ranks second for teen obesity, which is generally defined as having a body mass index (BMI) over 30.

In addition to Arkansas, several other southern states, including Texas and Louisiana, rank low

in teenage health while western states tend to rank higher.

These findings underscore the importance of health education and promotion in Arkansas schools.

Poor adolescent health is associated with poor academic performance and even increased biological aging. Indeed, the health habits (or lack thereof) that one develops during adolescence can carry on into adulthood and have long-term effects.

The most important health

GRAMMY’S 2023

The annual Grammy awards were held on Sunday, Feb. 5. For years they have been recognized as the most prestigious award show a musical artist can attend, and are known as “music’s biggest night.”

After years of constant criticism over who won what award, this year was no different. Whose big night was it?

Top names in the industry like Bad Bunny, Beyoncé, Adele, Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, Lizzo and more were all nominated for special categories.

There is not doubt that each artist had a great year in music during 2022. Bad Bunny was named the most streamed artist

and had the top album of 2022, with 4.2 billion streams and 3.4 million album consumptions according to Forbes.

With this knowledge it’s hard to believe the latino superstar only won one out of three categories he was nominated in.

The one he took home was for “Musica Urbana Album” for his album “Un Verano Sin Ti.” He lost his nomination for Pop Solo Performance and Album of the Year.

Beyoncé also lost her nomination for Album of the Year, which is another head scratcher.

Her album Renaissance was a game changer in the music

habits to develop during adolescence are eating a healthy diet, getting adequate sleep and exercising regularly. Adopting these behaviors during adolescence and maintaining them can reduce the risk of several diseases like heart disease, diabetes and obesity. What health habits should teenagers adopt to improve their health?

First, teenagers should try to consume more fruits, vegetables, grains and proteins and cut out unnecessary sugar and processed

industry, bringing back the vintage disco and house music that the black queer community created. It is a feel good album that makes you want to go out and dance.

Beyoncé had kept the BeyHive waiting since 2016 for her next album and Renaissance did not disappoint. Beyoncé has since announced the tour and tickets are in high demand.

Beyoncé didn’t win Album of the Year, but she did break the record for the most Grammy awardwinning artist in history, holding 32 Grammys total.

Another Grammy record breaker, Adele, didn’t collect all of her nominations like she is used to.

Adele won one out of the seven major categories she was

foods. It’s also important to not skip breakfast.

Second, teenagers should aim for at least one hour of physical exercise daily.

As we get older and our responsibilities increase, it can be difficult to find time to exercise, so adopting this habit early on can help set a foundation for a physically active and healthy adulthood. Finally, teenagers should try for at least eight hours of sleep every night.

The benefits of these health

nominated for, only taking home a Grammy for Pop Solo Performance for her EasyonMe

In the past, Adele is no stranger to sweeping most categories she has been nominated for.

Taylor Swift also only won one nomination out of the four she was in, being Music Video for the 10 minute version and short film of AllTooWell.

The four major categories in the Grammys are Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist.

Record of the Year went to Lizzo for her hit song About DamnTime Song of the Year went to Bonnie Raitt for JustLikeThat

This specific win had social media questioning the Grammys

behaviors do not just apply to teenagers. Anyone at any age can benefit from adopting healthier habits.

Incorporating these habits can be difficult, especially those that require significant lifestyle changes.

To make it easier, start small, make little changes and celebrate your minor victories. These small changes will add up to yield a much healthier and happier life.

BY AHAD NADEEM

judgment because of the big hit songs Bonnie won against, and Just Like That having little success compared to the other nominees. Another controversy out of an award category was the Album of the Year making Harry Styles win for his chart topping album Harry’s House.

Even though the album made numbers on the charts, many believed other albums deserved the award like Bad Bunny, Beyonce or Adele for their albums. The Best New Artist award went to Samara Joy. Samara also took the award for Jazz Vocal Album.

BY JOE SANTANA

RIHANNA’S SUPERBOWL PERFORMANCE WAS ENTERTAINING BUT DISAPPOINTING

Sunday Feb. 12 was the 57th annual Super Bowl and if you’re anything like me then you only watch the game for the halftime show.

The highly anticipated halftime show brought out the most anticipated artist, Rihanna. Rihanna made her comeback after seven years of not performing and without any new music (excluding the 2022 original song for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever).

Rihanna took the stage in an all red puffer coat over a red jumpsuit and glossy bustier.

The show started off with a close up of Rihanna’s face as she smirks to the audience. The camera zooms out onto the entire stage and fans could quickly tell the nine-time Grammy winner was pregnant.

Rihanna later revealed she was indeed pregnant and many

people started to forgive her for her alleged “lack of energy” in the performance.

Rihanna’s performance lasted about thirteen minutes and she was still only able to squeeze in a few of her hits out of her entire discography.

Rihanna started her performance with “B**** Better Have My Money” and followed with “Where Have You Been,” “Only Girl (In The World),” “We Found Love,” “Rude Boy,” “Work,” “Wild Thoughts,” “Pour It Up,” “All of The Lights,” “Run This Town,” and “Umbrella.” Rihanna ended the show with her hit melody “Diamonds.”

For a long awaited performance it wasn’t what I was expecting. I completely love the idea of bringing motherhood and announcing her second child on the biggest stage in the world, but it was not my favorite halftime show.

Starting off with the song choice, I don’t think “B**** Better Have My Money” was the perfect opener.

The perfect opener in my opinion would have been “Don’t Stop The Music.”

Imagine the beginning of “Don’t Stop The Music” looping while the lights flash and eventually she reveals herself to the crowd, then it cuts to “S&M.”

Rihanna is one performer who doesn’t need a guest star, so her being completely solo is something I’m not mad at.

But the amount of potential to have the best Super Bowl Halftime Show ever was missed for someone as big as Rihanna.

Overall it was a good performance, and I give her all of my respect for doing this while pregnant.

I absolutely loved the Fenty Beauty advertisement/break she did. Then the perfect closing

song was definitely chosen right. “Diamonds” could not be beat by any other song as a closing to the millions of fans watching.

With the performance, Rihanna broke the record for the most watched Super Bowl Halftime show with 118.5 million viewers. Surpassing Katy Perry of 114.4 million in 2015.

In my books, my favorite halftime show would be Katy Perry’s (2015), followed by Lady Gaga (2017) at second, Beyonce (2013) at third, JLo & Shakira (2020) fourth, Madonna’s (2012) fifth, and Rihanna’s at sixth. Katy offered a variety of hits that the entire world knows.

When she told the crowd at the stadium to sing a verse in “California Girls,” everyone yelled the lyrics out loud and well.

The dancing and live vocals created a hype like no other and hard shoes to fill in for upcoming

performers.

Also the iconic Super Bowl meme of the “left shark” was born. Katy also offered different outfit changes and a variety of stage props. I feel this is something Rihanna could have done but entirely missed.

After seven years you would think Rihanna would have at least one new song to drop at the Super Bowl. But I love how she is bringing back the hype for her music, and the anticipation is definitely higher than ever for Rihanna’s upcoming album.

After the Super Bowl performance Rihanna’s music on Spotify spiked more than 640% in streams inside of the United States. She also told British Vogue she wants to release a new project this year. She will definitely have all of us waiting.

BY JOE SANTANA

PANDEMIC INSPIRED ART EXHIBITION AT THE WINDGATE CENTER FOR ART AND DESIGN

Jesse Cain photos

SOMARDI GRAS VALENTINES ON ICE

Jacobb Nichol photos

Noah Householder photos

BOONDOCKS: THE REVIEW

“The Boondocks” is an American cartoon set in Baltimore. The show/cartoon is animated in the Japanese style anime.

The show follows the Black (African-American) Freeman family.

The family consists of Huey Freeman,10, Riley Freeman,8, and Robert Freeman, who is old but not nursing home old, as they try to survive life in the early 2000s.

Huey Freeman and Riley Freeman are both voiced by Regina King, who is known for her roles in “If Beale Steet Could Talk,” “Ray” and “Friday.”

Robert Freeman, aka Grandad, is voiced by John Witherspoon. John is known for his role in “Friday.” The show was created in 2005 by Aaron McGruder. Interestingly enough, the show

started out as just a comic strip in the newspaper and then eventually became a TV show.

The show is no longer continuing since the voice actor for Robert Freeman passed away in 2019 due to a heart attack.

“The Boondocks” is great for many reasons, but the best reason is the way they depict serious issues in a funny, yet serious way.

The topics shown range from African-American movements, religion, family and race, all the way to American politics and how the government treats and mistreats the African-American community.

They show all this by following the dysfunctional family through their day-to-day lives.

The youngest in the Freeman family is Riley Freeman. He’s only 8 years old, but watching the show

WILL THEY OR WON’T THEY?

NORMAL PEOPLE REVIEW

Last month, I finally finished reading Normal People by Sally Rooney.

Labeled a psychological book, it teeters on the edge of the young adult genre. It was made incredibly popular by #BookTok on TikTok and the TV series adaptation available on Hulu.

The book focuses on Marianne Sheridan and Connell Waldron.

It follows their on-and-off, willthey-won’t-they, relationship. At the beginning of the book, they start off as seniors in high school.

By the end, they are finishing up their final year of college. In high school, both are exceptional students, receiving higher grades

than anyone else in their class.

However, Marianne and Connell are not friends.

Marianne comes from a wealthy and absent family, while Connell comes from a lower-class family made up of him and his adoring mother.

Also, Marianne is an outcast in high school, having no friends and being constantly made fun of by Connell’s friends.

That being said, Connell is extremely popular, surrounded by many friends. On top of that, he is the star rugby player, constantly being chased by the prettiest girls in school.

As a result of Connell’s mother

you’d think he was at least 12.

Riley is best known as a (selfproclaimed) “rising gangsta.”

An example of this is in episode 7 of season 2, when Riley was willing to risk his life for a chain (a fake chain, might I add) from Thugnificent, a rapper.

The chain would signify that he was a part of the “Thugnificent crew”.

His beliefs can be said to come from his life in the rough parts of Chicago, which rivals his new life in the Baltimore suburbs.

His views contradict those of his older brother Huey Freeman, who is a radical leftist.

Huey is best described as a logistical leftist and a terrorist, despite being only 10 years old.

He looks at the facts and speaks the truth. In simple terms Huey

working for Marianne’s mother, Connell and Marianne begin to see each other after school.

They begin to talk, and they started to get to know each other. They come to understand each other in a way no one else did.

Connell, while him and Marianne are lying in bed, even tells her, “I’m not a religious person, but I do think sometimes God made you for me.”

However, as beautiful and intense as their relationship was, Connell insisted on keeping it a secret. He didn’t want anyone from their school to find out he and Marianne were seeing each other.

He’s embarrassed of her and his feelings for her. This singular issue is the root of all of their issues hence forth.

From the end of their senior year to the end of their college years, Marianne and Connell’s relationship is full of anxieties, insecurities and miscommunications.

They love each other, but they

knows the truth, looks for the facts and then tells you why you’re wrong.

Robert Freeman, on the other hand, is just doing his best to survive while raising his grandchildren.

He is not to be mistaken as an amazing parental figure, though.

He is far from that. He uses all of Huey and Riley’s inheritance on women and having fun.

Which is why they eventually become slaves. Although he is doing what he considers his best…….

This show shows the truth and shows it for what it really is, but through the eyes of children, making sure to leave room for comedy in the process.

It may all seem like nonsense, but everything shown in The Boondocks is a metaphor for something greater.

I’m not gonna delve into all the

continue to push each other away just to come back to each other over and over again.

In my opinion, I think Normal People displays modern relationships frighteningly well.

In a sad sort of way, many of today’s relationships involve pushing each other and coming back together solely because of insecurities and miscommunication. In so many scenes of the book, there was so much left unsaid between Marianne and Connell.

The bulk of their problems could have been solved if they had just talked to each other, and it’s frustrating, and annoying and completely understandable.

Normal People was an incredibly heart-wrenching and beautiful book.

Not only are the emotional and intimate scenes beautifully written, but Rooney has a way of making the reader relate to Marianne and Connell.

She writes about their traumas

secret “The Boondocks” has and why it’s all so great, but if you’re curious about it, I’d recommend watching the show.

Another thing that makes it so good is the animation style and the fact that there are so many people of color, who aren’t shown a lot even in 2023.

The animation style is inspired by the classic anime style we all know and love (think Hunter x Hunter or Afro Samurai).

The show isn’t as long as other shows doing the same thing, such as Family Guy or American Dad, with only 4 seasons and a total of 55 episodes.

It is a quick watch, a fun time, and sure to keep you laughing and questioning what is really going on. I recommend it to anyone looking for a new anime to watch or just something to pass the time.

BY ZYKEYAH EASTER

well and the reader understands, from both characters’ perspectives, why they made the decisions they made.

BY VIVIAN ANGELES

PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH REVIEW

Iwatched “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” in theaters and loved it.

It is now nominated for an Oscar in the Animated Feature Film category, so don’t just take it from me.

The animation style was very similar to that of “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” which I enjoyed, especially during action sequences.

It is very colorful, and some scenes even look to be drawn by hand, which looks really cool on-screen.

There is a lot of star power as well. Antonio Banderas returns as the voice of Puss, and Salma Hayek returns as the voice of

Kitty Softpaws. New characters Goldilocks and Jack Horner are voiced by Florence Pugh and John Mulaney.

The movie opens with Puss at a party, and even if you have never seen “Shrek 2” or any of the “Puss in Boots” spin-offs, you can begin to get a sense of who he is from the beginning.

He loves music and parties, he is arrogant and reckless, and he wants to be seen as a heroic outlaw.

He defeats a giant and wakes up at a doctor’s office, where the doctor tells him that he is now on his ninth and final life.

Puss laughs it off and goes to have a drink at a local bar, where he

has a frightening encounter with a bounty hunter and decides to retire.

He discovers that he could potentially get his lives back and be restored to his former glory, if he gets the map that leads to the fallen wishing star.

He unwillingly teams up with his former flame, Kitty Softpaws, and Perrito, a chihuahua that has attached himself to Puss.

Goldilocks and the Three Bears, a “Peaky Blinders”-esque crime family, and Jack Horner, a crime boss, are also determined to get to the fallen star and make the last wish. Meanwhile, Puss is being pursued by the bounty hunter.

FUN WITH FUNLOLA COKER

This past weekend I attended Funlola Coker’s workshop “Mark Making on Enamel.” Coker is an artist from Lagos, Nigeria but moved to Memphis, Tennessee in 2007 to pursue her BFA in sculpture from the Memphis College of Art. Although she majored in sculpting in college, she went on to focus on metalsmithing and jewelry making with a focus on enameling.

As I walked into the metalsmithing studio in the Windgate Center for Art and Design on campus, my nerves were shot: I was one of the two people at the workshop who had never done metalsmithing before.

Although the fire, kilns and sharp metals that we used for the workshop were out of my comfort zone, Coker was extremely thorough in her demonstrations.

If you’re anything like me, you likely know nothing about enameling. Enamel is a powdered glass substance that can be applied to metal and melted to create a smooth coat of color.

You’ve likely seen enamel artwork out in the wild; if you’ve ever seen one of those metal pins with a smooth, glossy coat of color on top then you’ve seen enamel in the works.

However, what we focused on in the workshop was a more artful and experimental approach to enameling than a pin. On Friday, we learned the very basics of enameling: how to clean your metal plates, how to apply enamel

on to metal and two methods of firing: torch firing and kiln firing.

The application of the enamel is the easiest part of the process. It is similar to how one would sift flour. I picked my first color— an opalescent purple—and transferred the powder to a fine sifter before tapping it to apply the enamel in a thin, even coat.

I first attempted torch firing. Although torch firing is much more unreliable than kiln firing, the process is more involved and satisfies my pyromaniac urges.

My clumsiness proved to be an obstacle when I transferred my metal sheet to a trivet and then to the firing station. After dropping both the trivet and metal multiple times, I eventually steadied my hands and successfully set the trivet atop the torch station grate

After turning on the torch with a striker—the same one you’d use to light a Bunsen burner—I started the process of torch firing at last.

I followed Coker’s instructions and positioned the flame under the metal grate, slowly moving the torch up. Eventually, the fire begins to surround the trivet, nipping at the metal piece. The heat of the torch melts the glass enamel, creating a shiny, beautiful surface.

However, once I took my flame away and let my piece cool down, I was a bit disappointed with the outcome. Instead of the enamel being that lustrous purple color I desired it was a deep, royal purple with pink speckling the edge.

I think the “bounty hunter” might be one of the most terrifying villains I’ve seen in a children’s movie.

Every time he was on screen I got goosebumps, and it wasn’t because the theater was cold.

He’s literally Death.

Because of this, there was some backlash from parents who believed that the movie was too scary and dealt with topics too heavy for children.

To be fair, there were quite a few scenes that made me a bit emotional, but that’s because I actually understand the heavier topics that were talked about, like animal abuse, regret, panic attacks,

family and mortality.

Despite the spooky wolf and heavy topics, I don’t think that “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” is too scary for the average child. It is an entertaining movie with a lot of important lessons that can be enjoyed by adults and children alike, and I recommend it to all.

BY EMILY WELLS

But what was a disappointment swiftly became an avenue for experimentation. I found myself applying different enamels and trying different experimental ways to fire: what if I stopped firing my piece the moment the enamel melted? What if I fired my piece well beyond its melting point?

None of the experiments turned out the way I expected them, but the excitement of waiting to see the result was the best part.

But eventually my experimental urges ceased—I wanted to get a reliable result. That’s where kiln firing came in. To kiln fire, I followed the same preparation process. Although kiln firing is much less involved, it’s quick and easy.

After popping my piece into the kiln, I simply waited until the kiln hit 1450 degrees and then began to check. After the trivet turned a bright red, I promptly removed my piece and let it cool down.

With Kiln firing, I had a greater sense of control over the texture of the enamel. I found that as you fire, the texture of the enamel changes: a speckled, grainy texture, a texture that resembles an orange peel, a smooth texture, and a liquified one that leaves the edges burnt.

Kiln firing also makes it easier to use more advanced techniques like etching, glazing and drawing. Drawing was my favorite method I tried as I was able to achieve interesting effects with the graphite depending on how long I left my

piece in the kiln. If I left my piece in the kiln for a longer time, I found that the graphite would bubble and create a pattern that mimicked stippling.

Although I felt unprepared in the beginning, I had a blast once I hit my stride. Seeing people’s process and their outcomes inspired my own process—a feeling that’s specific to a workshop. It was nice to sit back and learn without focusing on a grade or how your work will be received.

Even if you are not an art major I would highly recommend you attend one of the workshops held in WCAD. They’re a fun and completely free way to explore mediums from established artists.

BY SKYLAR BOONE

FUNLOLA COKER WORKSHOP

Skylar Boone photos

THE WOMAN BEHIND THE WRITING: STAFF SPOTLIGHT ON ANGELITA MARIE FALLER

Angelita Marie Faller has impacted hundreds of students’ lives all from clicks on articles.

She’s the woman behind every press release or article about all of UA Little Rock’s students, faculty and alumni. She loves finding the “untold stories” of UA Little Rock, but Faller herself is one of those.

Faller, the news director at UALR and a freelance writer, grew up in a small town in Illinois that was “very different from Little Rock,” with three older brothers and jokingly, “around 150 cousins.” Faller was close with her family and grew up very active, attending large family gatherings from a young age, and being very involved in her high school, probably a part of more than half the clubs her school offered, Faller said.

Although she was a member in more clubs than one can count, Faller knew as early as 10 years old that she wanted to be a journalist. She even started a neighborhood newspaper with a few childhood friends and was able to “circulate a few copies,” even as a child.

By high school, she was already a reporter at her hometown paper, the Newton Press Mentor, which sadly closed just last year, covering high school sports. She was also the photo editor for her high school yearbook.

Wherever Faller goes, busy follows. She attributes this largely to her involved childhood, and says it has followed her into adulthood. In addition to her work and community involvement, Faller is still close with her family, especially her nieces and nephews,

who you can see as soon as you walk into her office.

Education-wise, Faller started at community college. She then moved onto Eastern Illinois University for her bachelor’s degree, then Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, for her master’s.

Of course, she wasn’t just doing school. Faller was a part of the famous Disney World Internship in Florida, and then the Americorps in Washington state as an outreach intern. She worked as a teaching assistant at Ball State and was very involved with the school.

She then moved onto Ohio University; at the time, she wanted to become a professor. At one point after her third year, her graduate assistant work ran out and she was working 50 hours a week to stay in school on top of her other responsibilities.

While many may not have bothered, Faller is a proponent of “lifelong learning,” and though she did not finish her dissertation, she still continues to prioritize learning in her life.

Lifelong learner indeed, Faller has multiple certifications and enjoys taking classes in her spare time, whether it be cooking classes at Pulaski Tech or earning her drone license from the FAA, she is firm in her belief that “education is powerful.”

After Ohio State, she started work at Grambling State University in Grambling, Louisiana, then came to UALR in 2016, where she has been making a difference ever since.

Perhaps one of her most impactful moments at UALR is starting the Women To Watch program a few years ago, where

in celebration of Women’s History Month in March, she profiles women in leadership positions who are making a difference on campus and in the community. What may seem like another profile is so much more to women, and Faller is actively uplifting the women in her community. Not only does she work on the Women to Watch program, but she is also the at-large scholarship chair and membership director for the Arkansas Press Women foundation.

She wants to “inspire young women to know they can do anything,” and Faller is the perfect example of that. She puts 100% into everything she does, which is

quite a lot, and takes it all in stride while also uplifting others. She’s also won multiple awards for her work.

Faller said her parents raised her to believe “volunteering is a public duty,” and that she still prioritizes volunteerism today. Her long list of accomplishments isn’t limited to being on the MacArthur Military History Museum commission, or holding multiple leadership roles in the UALR staff senate, including president, but it all does connect to her love of community and people.

First and foremost, Faller is a people person. Her favorite part of her job is when she tells the untold stories of people in her articles. “It’s

important to recognize people,” Faller said, and that many times, she will hear interviewees say they never thought they would be interviewed, something Faller repeated back to me when I told her I wanted to profile her.

Faller loves the stories that will surprise people, and hers is one of them. She’s always writing about us, but behind the words is somebody deeply ingrained and integral to our community.

BY CHLOE MCGEHEE

Angelita Marie Faller

Photo provided

MEET UA LITTLE ROCK DANCE TEAM COACH BRITTANY DENHAM

Have you met the new coach for the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Dance Team?

Well if not, let me introduce to some and present to others Brittany Denman. Denman hails from Bryant, AR, and is a UALR alum where she acquired a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance in 2017.

With this team, she intends to use her experience with coaching dance at a competitive level. She is coaching eight dancers

during this 2022-23 year. She has been working with them since September, just right after school started.

She is glad to see growth in pep band participation, which is always a plus, because the band partners with the dance team to hype up the audience who attend the basketball games where they perform.

She hopes to see a lot more student involvement because having an active and supportive

student body helps boost morale for the men and women’s basketball teams, the dance team and the pep band.

Her vision for the dance team is to have a more cohesive, unified look with clothing and hair. Look forward to seeing new dresses and tops this year.

During the next school year, she plans to take the dance team to compete, but in the near future they have the upcoming Ohio Valley Conference to prepare

for, and is where our men and women’s basketball teams will go to represent UALR in Indiana. Welcome Brittany Denham and Go Trojans Go!

BY VAL BELL

ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT: LADY TROJAN ANGELIQUE FRANCIS

While waiting to conduct an interview with The University Arkansas at Little Rock Lady Trojan forward Angelique Francis, I got a chance to sit in and watch the UA at Little Rock Women’s Basketball Team practice.

It was really cool to see their interaction behind the scenes while watching this powerhouse team who has been rocking the Ohio Valley Conference Women’s Basketball games this year like bosses.

Coach Joe Foley was on the court giving instructions and watching them set up plays along with the assistant coaches as they practiced as if they were opposing teams, some dressed out in white and the others in black.

After finishing with her practice, senior Angelique Francis who stands at 5 ‘11 graciously allowed me time to question her about her background, present and plans for the future.

Before Francis started playing in the UA Little Rock sports program, she had a highly active athletic background in her hometown where she played basketball

averaging 8.0 points and 7.0 rebounds during her junior year and golf, winning the district title back to back and also ran track for her high school, MacArthur in Irving, Texas.

When she came to play basketball here at UALR, she was accustomed to playing golf as an individual sport so her highlight of being here is the aspect of being a part of a team that is like a family.

By clicking on the following link you can view her outstanding sportsmanship and how she has benefitted the team throughout her college career here on campus. https://lrtrojans.com/sports/ womens-basketball/roster/ angelique-francis/7045

Her future plans are to make a decision whether to stay on for another year which is an option due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic affecting the athletics program schedule during her time here, or to go on to coach. Whatever that may be, she is excited and ready for the next chapter of her life as an athlete.

Her razor focus vision for the team as the season is wrapping

up is to “Stay humble, Don’t let up and Keep your Head Up.” As they prepare to defend their title as OVC champions in the final, Francis asserts that “We’re not finished.”

BY VAL BELL

“STAY

ANGELIQUE FRANCIS Courtesy of UA Little Rock

COACH DENHAM Courtesy of UA Little Rock

A SPOTLIGHT ON UA LITTLE ROCK’S DANCE TEAM

When it comes to boosting team morale and hyping up the student body and basketball game attendees at The Jack Stevens Event Center you can count on the UA Little Rock Dance Team.

They’ve got the moves, grooves, and team spirit. I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing three of the eight ladies who make up the team and am delighted to share a little bit about them.

I first spoke with Maygan Bryant, a journalism major who is a senior this year.

She came to UA Little Rock from Lonoke High School.

When asked about her previous experience as a dancer before coming to dance at UA Little Rock here she informed me that she has been cheering all of her life starting at the tender age of six years old as a “pee wee”.

She also played soccer when she was younger.

This is her fourth year on the team and what she loves most about being on the team is getting to cheer during the game.

She stated that she loves “the team, the crowd, and the players”.

When asked about how she feels about standing the entire game she replied, “I’m used to it from working jobs where you have to stand a lot.”

Maygan says the highlight of her college career on the dance team is when kids who view the dancers

as superheroes come to cheer with them during the game.

We conversed about her first two years on the dance team where they had to deal with the effects of covid, how the team had to stand with a distance between them during her freshman year, and how disappointing it was to not be able to go and cheer on the road with the basketball team when they played in the Sunbelt Conference tournament during her sophomore year.

However last year as a junior she was able to experience a little more normalcy with the pep band being able to join the dance team at the games and also being able to travel with the men’s and women’s basketball teams to Pensacola, Florida for the Sunbelt Conference Tournament there.

Besides cheering the teams on during the games, the dance team had a chance to experience Pensacola Beach and go shopping at the mall.

Now in her senior year, she anticipates traveling with the UA Little Rock Dance team, Men and Women’s Basketball teams, and Pep Band to Evansville, Indiana for the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

As she is not familiar with the northern part of the country, she stated that she does not know what to expect but is looking forward to experiencing the town while there to cheer and dance for the UA Little

Rock Trojans.

Her future plans after she graduates this year are to pursue a career in radio and as an influencer. You can look her up on Tik Tok and Instagram as @thatssomaygan.

The next UA at Little Rock Dance Team member that I had the pleasure of sitting down with to interview was the lovely Tamara Biddle who is a senior from Texarkana, Arkansas, and is in her fourth year on the team as well as being one of the captains, her co-captain is also her roommate, Maygan Bryant.

Tamara has been athletic since the age of two doing gymnastics up until her sophomore year in high school. She is majoring in Health Education & Promotions and minoring in Biology.

Her plans after graduating this year are while she studies for the MCAT take a gap year before going to medical school.

Tamara is excited about the opportunity to travel up north to Evansville, Indiana.

She remembers how heartbreaking her freshman year was due to covid because the dance team was not able to travel with the Trojan Men and Women’s basketball teams that year, “The men were in first and the women were playing great”.

She however was happy to go to Pensacola, Florida last year. She describes the opportunity for the dance team to go on the road,

“helps us all draw closer”.

Even though sometimes they get on each other’s nerves she says, “at the end of the day, you’re still my sister”.

The third dance team member that I had the pleasure of interviewing was Marygrace Mcafee, who is a sophomore at The University Arkansas at Little Rock, which makes this her second year on the dance team.

She like Maygan Bryant, stated when asked about her background in dance that she has been a cheerleader her whole life but precisely dating back from 6th through 12th grade in addition to a year of gymnastics as well as a year of basketball.

A fun fact is she was on the same basketball team as Tamara Biddle when they were younger with Tamara’s parents as coaches back then.

It’s hard to miss Marygrace on the basketball court because of her big bright smile that consistently beams from her face.

When I mentioned this to her she responded, “I feel that it is important to be expressive”.

Ms. Mcafee, who is from Texarkana, Arkansas is a biology major with chemistry as her minor and a Donaughey Scholar who intends to attend premed school after she graduates.

When asked about how she feels about being on the dance team she replied that “dance is a way of

escape” and also that “it’s a second family”.

She reflected on the trip to Pensacola, Florida last school year for the SunBelt Conference along with the UA at Little Rock Pep Band to cheer/dance for the UA at Little Rock Trojans Men and Women Basketball teams, that a lot of bonding took place within the dance team where they also had the opportunity to shop and go to the beach after the games of course.

Before ending her interview we briefly spoke about the upcoming trip to Evansville, Indiana for the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament where our women’s basketball team has proven themselves to be a force to be reckoned with and is at the forefront in the rankings, that she is excited to be going and it’s going to be different.

Finally, she describes her new coach Ms. Brittany Denman as “younger and easy to relate to, she understands and is able to connect with us.”

Well, that’s all folks for now. I hope and look forward to meeting up with the other five dance team members at some point but it was so great to touch base with these three who are definitely a stellar boost to school spirit and morale within our student body representing UA at Little Rock’s sports program. Go Trojans!

BY VAL BELL

MAYGAN BRYANT

Photo Provided

TAMARA BIDDLE Photo Provided

MARYGRACE MCAFEE

Photo Provided

TROJANS TURN IT UP IN TENNESSEE

University of Arkansas at Little Rock track and field headed to Nashville, Tenn, to compete in the Indoor Vanderbilt Invitational, a meet that took place over the course of two days.

There, they faced off against some of the top schools in the nation, such as University of Tennessee, Auburn University, University of Mississippi, and University of Kentucky.

The Trojans quickly showed that they were not intimidated by their competition, setting the standard early on with the distance runners.

The distance medley relay team was 2.3 seconds short of the 2008

school record, claiming bronze and beating in-state rivals Arkansas State University by a whole 13 seconds.

Little Rock’s team continued to impress from there.

On day one alone, the Trojans had six marks that posted in the top five in school history, and two in the top ten.

The success from the first day didn’t seem to hinder the team from their goal; it seemed that they were just as determined and focused on day two.

Most notable were performances by Troy McKnight and Desmond Frazier.

McKnight took home gold in the 60m dash, beating out Florida State’s Taylor Banks – a four-time All-American and eight-time AllAtlantic Coast Conference sprinter – by one-thousandth of a second. McKnight’s time of 6.71 matches De-Von Bean’s time from 1998, the second fasted mark in school history.

Frazier smashed the school record in the shot put by over 19 inches to claim the bronze medal. The sophomore’s throw topped his own personal best by over 55 inches.

Day two concluded with seven additional Trojans writing their

names in the Little Rock record books by recording times in the top five in school history.

Little Rock’s hard work and effort are clearly paying off, as seen by the 2022-23 US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Indoor Rankings.

The men’s track and field program was ranked No. 52 in the nation. This is the highest ranking for the Trojans in program history.

The Trojans are the highestranking of the four Ohio Valley Conference teams listed, ahead of No. 58 Southeast Missouri State University, No. 142 Tennessee State University, and No. 146 University

of Tennessee at Martin.

Little Rock is concluding the indoor season on Feb 22 and Feb 23 at the OVC Championship taking place in Birmingham, Ala.

BASKETBALL V. SOUTHERN INDIANA

MAESTRO JOE ORCHESTRATES WIN #850 (WBB)

The Lady Trojans dictated the pace as the game against the University of Southern Indiana was close on the scoreboard, but didn’t feel as such during play.

Junior forward Sali Kourouma was a physical phenomenon as she battled for 12 rebounds and 18 points inside the arc.

To add to that, she was a defensive menace forcing multiple missed shots, two of which were blocks.

In addition, junior guard Tia Harvey and freshman forward Faith Lee poured in 15 and 11 points to propel their team to the No. 1 seed in the Ohio Valley Conference. Here is a breakdown of how this came to be.

The game started with a turnover as the Trojans won the tipoff, but it sailed out of bounds.

They were able to get it back, and Kourouma began her impressive game with a forceful shot over USI’s Vanessa Shafford.

The Screaming Eagles would answer right back and that was how it continued, albeit through tough defense from players like senior forward Angelique Francis.

Foley’s offense led to more high percentage shots and while the conversion rate wasn’t high, it was a sign that UA Little Rock looked more comfortable tonight, and coupled with their defensive pressure, it was a brutal night for USI.

Physicality and frustration were main courses as there were five technical fouls issued during the matchup, four of them belonging to USI and both teams with abysmal performances outside of the perimeter 20% and 0% respectively.

UALR forced 21 turnovers and converted them to 25 points, 15 of them on the fastbreak. In comparison, USI ended up with just 15 and 12 respectively with a single fastbreak point.

UALR pushed the pace in the fourth quarter allowing only four points from the field and two from

the line while USI gave up six in both categories slamming the door on USI in a 58-50 victory for the home team.

When a coach dials up a grueling game plan such as this one, fouls are usually in abundance, but a lack of them here revealed both a great teaching of his system, and a tremendous buy-in effort from the team.

HEARTBREAK IN THE HEART OF THE CITY (MBB)

As for the men’s game, both teams played their hearts out.

Senior forward DeAntoni Gordon, sophomore forward Nigel John, graduate guard CJ White, senior guard Isaiah Palermo and sophomore guard D.J. Smith all turned in double digit performances. In terms of overall efficiency, Gordon’s 20 points were the most efficient at 62% from the field and 66% from the line.

Palermo was right behind him with 75% from the field and 50%

from the free-throw line.

When it comes to close games like this, the stat sheet does not look much different for either team.

However, the glaring difference were the overall points left at the line. USI converted seven of 15 attempts while UALR converted 13 of 20.

With the game ending 81 to 82 in favor of USI, a few more of those shots at the line could’ve made all the more difference.

The crowd was still treated to an impressive effort from both teams, especially from the Screaming Eagles center.

USI’s Jacob Polakovich scored 27 points on 85% from the field along with 10 rebounds.

Accompanying him were the likes of Isaiah Swope with 21 points on 57%, and both Jelani Simmons with 21 points and Trevor Lakes with 11 points on 44%.

In the end, UALR had a chance to win the game, but the ball would come out after a slip from White, and after a scramble, there was a travel call on USI.

BY KATE BENNE

Officials placed the final play under review to determine whether there would be time left on the clock due to the violation. However, the review showed that the clock had already expired, and thus UALR suffered yet another loss, this time without a chance for redemption.

BY JOHN REED

BASKETBALL V. EASTERN ILLINOIS

OVC SUPREMACY

Following a low-scoring affair ending in a narrow 46-42 victory, the Trojans stood alone atop the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) in their first season after leaving the Sun Belt.

On par with their theme, the Trojans stormed the interior led by junior forward Sali Kourouma and her 21 points, 16 from the field and the rest from the line.

Senior forward Angelique Francis was right behind her with 12 points and also brought in seven rebounds.

The team effort on the glass was superb, as the majority of the players finished with four or more rebounds and sophomore guard Jaiyah Harris-Smith led the effort with 11.

With UA Little Rock being 18-9,

14-1 in conference, they were able to avenge their only in-conference loss by winning the battle at the Jack Stephens Center and asserting their dominance.

Speaking of dominance, Kourouma scored the first 11 points for UALR, including a tough shot over Thornton and Lariah Washington and converting the one thereafter.

Washington was held to just two points in the effort going 1-13 from the field. This forced Eastern Illinois University to look for other sources to stay in the game, however it was not enough to overcome the stifling defense from UALR.

Games like these highlight why the Trojans are No. 4 in the nation when it comes to points allowed.

The Trojan women will ride high entering the OVC tournament,

after two more stops, as the No. 1 seed looking to show everyone why they shall be feared for years to come.

While today’s game is based around the three-point-shot, the Trojans are tried and true to their interior mastery and starting on March 1, 2023, it will be known if that style is championship worthy.

UALR is a team that knows its strength and uses that to bulldoze anyone in their path.

THE WORLD STOPS IN THE ROCK

The men’s game tipped off with ferocity as both teams went scoreless in the first minute with a series of turnovers forced by both teams setting the tone for a grindit-out style game.

Every shot during the first quarter was tightly contested along with every rebound and loose ball.

Simply put, it was clear that this game was a duel of wills from each man who took the floor that night.

TROJAN WOMEN WIN BIG AGAINST MOREHEAD STATE IN FRONT OF AN ELECTRIC CROWD OF KIDDOS

Student night was a smashing success at the Jack Stephen’s Center on Thursday, Feb. 9.

Over 2000 elementary school kids from across the Little Rock area were bussed in to watch the Trojan Women’s basketball team battle it out against Morehead State Unversity. Official attendance for the game was 3777 attendees and you could feel every single fan lifting the decibel count.

Most of the kids didn’t know what they were cheering about or who they were cheering for, but that didn’t stop them from being loud and energetic for four quarters of thrilling basketball.

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock women must have felt the energy permeating throughout the building as they came out ready to play from the opening tip.

Little Rock led big after the first quarter buzzer thanks to their staunch defense that allowed just 8 points in the entire quarter.

Morehead came back with a vengeance in the 2nd quarter,

however; outscoring UALR 23 to 16.

After some halftime events tailored toward the youngsters (the most entertaining of which being musical chairs), the kids must have replenished their sugar highs because they somehow came back from break even more jazzed than before.

The second half was just about over as soon as it started. Morehead could not keep themselves out of foul trouble.

Allowing Little Rock to shoot a PERFECT 9-9 from the free throw line in the third quarter and a highly efficient 10-13 in the fourth.

That coupled with the Trojan’s signature stingy defense (which held Morehead to single digit points in both of the late quarters) put the nail in Morehead State’s coffin and sent them packing back for Kentucky.

The fun wasn’t over, despite the overwhelming score in the 4th.

The kiddos were treated to some late game theatrics as Morehead

Whilst the Jack Stephens Center wasn’t sold out, the passion from the student section added fuel to the fire that was UALR.

After a timeout at the 15:28 mark of the first half, senior guard Isaiah Palermo and EIU’s Yaakema Rose Jr. had a heated exchange as they were both getting in position for the inbound.

The altercation would be broken up before it could escalate, however the students ate it up by shouting nicknames at Rose and hyping up Palermo.

The game would remain close throughout as each team would maintain a high tempo.

However, with 16 seconds remaining, sophomore guard D.J. Smith nailed two clutch free throws to make it a 69 to 66 game for the Trojans. EIU’s Cameron Haffner dropped in a contested three-pointer to send the game to overtime (OT) as UALR could not capitalize on the 2.2 seconds

remaining thereafter.

The once rambunctious student section stood silent as the clock expired with OT set to begin shortly after a break.

The game stayed close. Even with 4.6 seconds remaining in OT, graduate guard CJ White uncorked a bomb to Smith, who was blocked on a layup attempt but recovered the ball and scored the go-ahead bucket to slam the door on EIU, 81-77.

Senior forward DeAntoni Gordon was named Player of the Game finishing with 18 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks in an absolute clinic, the 6-foot 8-inch forward from Mobile, AL. Accompanying his efforts were Smith, Palermo and senior guard Myron Gardner with 20, 17 and 11 respectively.

The Trojans now take the road hoping to snag the eighth seed and sneak into the OVC tournament.

BY JOHN REED

State head coach, Cayla Petree, became absolutely irate over a foul call against one of her star players.

Petree received a technical for her antics, allowing Little Rock to add to their 12-point free throw disparity.

When asked about the drama at the end of the game, UALR women’s head coach Joe Foley (notably hoarse from the deafening environment) spoke to the growth and focus of his team, saying “We just focused on what we needed to do” and “Our team’s getting pretty mature about stuff like that… we don’t worry too much about what the other team’s doing.”

The Little Rock women currently sit at second in the Ohio Valley Conference and look to finish strong in their final four games of the season. A game to look out for in the coming weeks is Saturday, Feb 18, as the Trojans will take on the number one conference team in Eastern Illinois.

BY NICK BLANFORD

UA LITTLE ROCK V MOREHEAD STATE (MBB) Jacobb Nichol photos

OPINION THE TOXICITY OF ANDREW TATE

Andrew Tate is a former professional kickboxer. He is a four-time world champion with a record of 73-9, but that is not why most people know his name.

After his successful career in professional kickboxing, Tate began making waves in a much different way, starting with his infamous participation in the British reality show, “Big Brother,” in 2016. T

ate was only a contestant on the show for six days when a video of him beating a woman with a belt surfaced, causing concern from the production team, who then decided to remove him from the program.

An investigation on Tate would later come to light concerning allegations of sexual assault from two women. The investigation was dropped in 2019, however, with no charges filed.

After he departed from “Big Brother,” Tate became a controversial social media influencer, self-proclaimed “Top G,” and heralded his philosophy on building wealth and successfully courting women.

There is an exhausting list of his antics, including things like him bragging about breaking a woman’s jaw during a bar fight and being quoted in the New York Post saying, “you can’t slander me because I will state right now that I am absolutely sexist and I’m absolutely a misogynist, and I have money and you can’t take that away,” during an interview.

Tate’s radical views on society have amassed over 4 million online

followers, many of whom are impressionable young men who idolize Tate for his success.

As a poster child for toxic masculinity, Tate has regularly expressed his reckless opinions on social media, which has earned him bans on the social media platforms Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

Only recently has Tate’s rampage of appalling behavior been halted by his arrest in late December following a feud with climate change activist Greta Thunberg.

According to CNN, Tate and his brother, Tristan, and two unnamed women are suspected of human trafficking and operating an organized crime ring.

Both Tate brothers are also being investigated for allegations of rape. Authorities claim that the brothers use the “lover boy method,” in which the suspects misrepresent their romantic intentions with young (sometimes underage) females to coerce them into participating in online pornographic broadcasting.

The Tate brothers denied such allegations, claiming that some 75-plus webcam models consented to participate in their online webcam studio.

While not a complete list of Tate’s irresponsible behavior, it sufficiently illustrates the scope of the type of person who is the subject of this article.

The digital age has brought about a significant paradigm shift regarding whose opinions are heard and what ideas are readily available to the public.

Social media influencers such as Tate have been given free rein to express their views no matter how damaging they become to our impressionable youth.

The blatant disregard for the gatekeeping responsibilities that Andrew Tate has displayed is staggering. Four million followers are watching everything this person does. That is an alarming number of people, no matter how you look at it.

To put this figure into perspective, there are about 1.2 million active-duty service members in the United States; according to militaryonesource. mil, that’s not even a third of his influence.

At what point do men actively condemn such behavior and strive to set a better example for our youth.

The closed-minded nature of influence like Andrew Tate’s is harmful and corrosive.

How has our society fostered this image as something desirable to young women? Or is it that men like Tate target the emotionally vulnerable?

Either scenario demands an introspective look at the climate of what we have normalized.

Even as this article is written, Tate sympathizers are taking to social media to defend Tate and his abhorrent views of the world.

The saddest part is that some people agree with them; some people are listening.

It is important to note that apathy to such a topic is often the same as advocacy. People like Tate

have tarnished the reputation of decent men enough.

This behavior is not normal. Decent men do not treat people like these goons do. Real men are tolerant, understanding, and supportive.

Regardless of what Andrew Tate would have his followers believe, no amount of money and influence can replace basic human decency.

We can only hope that the

investigation yields a collective statement that there is no place in our world for Tate’s brand of contempt.

BY JESSE CAIN

AR 2023 LEGISLATIVE SESSION PRESENTS A DANGEROUS PRECEDENT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Ever since its first day on January 9th, the 2023 Arkansas legislative session has been a grueling hellscape that will seemingly never end. The intention of the politicians in our Capitol is obvious: all Arkansans must adopt the same bigoted, conservative attitudes as the representatives and senators.

Any Arkansan not willing to take up arms in the name of hate is stripped of any tool to embrace the contrary. Want to watch a drag show? No, that’s illegal. Okay well would you like to equip yourself with the information to stand up against the government on this issue? No, you can’t do that either because your library shouldn’t have LGBTQ+ books. The buck does not stop at queer books either. Look up SB81 if you’re curious.

Common sense seems to be in the crosshairs of the Arkansas Republican party. Common sense would obviously say that because drag queens must be corrupting grade school children when they perform in 18+ or 21+ clubs, it is only right to ban drag queens and other drag performers. SB43 would ban drag queens anywhere in the state including at events like Little Rock and Arkansas Pride Month celebrations. The only place they could perform is at “adult entertainment” venues, which have to meet a quota of so far from public places like churches and parks.

Luckily and importantly, people complained so much through social media posts, phone calls, text messages, emails, and protests that the legislators changed the wording from “drag” performers to those who expose real or prosthetic genitals.

If one took the time to watch the hearings from inside the Capitol, they might have heard from local drag legend and

lobbyistAthenaSinclair,formerMissGay ArkansasandfrequenthostofshowsattheTriniti andDiscoverynightclubs.Shearguedthatdrag artistshavetowearlayersuponlayerstoachieve thebodysilhouetteneededforeachspecificlooks, thereforenotexposinganything.

Legislators arguing that drag performersaretheequivalentofexotic dancers is seemingly mindless considering drag performers are putting on more clothes than the averageperson,nottakingthemoff.

Not even did the bill originally target drag performers, but the language of the bill would have even stopped trans people from doing anything performative in public. By performative,Idon’tmeanprotesting; I mean karaoke. Karaoke could have beenillegalfortranspeople.

To make things worse, HB1468 would allow school employees to misgender their students and coworkers without any kind of punishment or retaliation. Parallels can certainly be drawn between bill andtheDon’tSayGayBillinFlorida.

Another attack on common sense: SB71. This bill introduced to the senate would remove incentives for small businesses owned by minorities andwomen.Itshouldnotbeconfused in2023thatwomenandminoritiesare alreadydisadvantagedinsociety.Need Isaymore?

The same bill would remove the use of affirmative action, which ensures equity in the hiring of state andlocalgovernmentofficials.

More attacks on minorities can be seen in HB1156, which would reduce state funds for public schools that allow trans kids to use the bathroom oftheirgenderidentity.

SB270 takes anti-trans bathroom bills to a whole new level. Trans people can be convicted of a state crime for using the bathroom that matchestheiridentity.

SB199 would criminalize doctors who give care to trans kids. Banning health care—I’m sure that contributes to the general wellbeing of Arkansas. Almost half of trans youth already considerattemptingsuicide.Arewe

really willing to let kids die because a senator's preacher said so? What happened to their staunch, unwavering belief in the sanctity of life?

HB1174 would make it a felony to receive an abortion. Will it criminalize women who take the seven-hour drive along Interstates 40 and 49 from Little Rock to the nearest Planned Parenthood abortion clinic at 4401 W 109st #100, Overland Park, Kansas, 66211, in the Kansas City metro area for the purposes of receiving an abortion and then traveling back after the procedure? That’s not completely clear, but probably. Will it criminalize women who get abortions by pill from www.plancpills.org, which provide safe and effective abortions in the early stages of pregnancy? It will certainly try, but the state government has no right to surveille your mail, the method through which the pills are distributed.

Will HB1174 criminalize the act of encouraging or educating people on how to get an abortion? Most certainly—it says so right there in the bill. So, if one had the need to get an abortion, and I’m just guessing here, it would be most logical for that person to tell no one, or the least amount of people needed to help them get the abortion.

I would also assume that because states are already prosecuting women for planning abortions on Facebook Messenger, one should discuss plans for an abortion in person and not over the Internet. These are all hypothetical of course. Also just a guess, but one would also hypothetically want to order abortion pills as soon as possible after discovering they are pregnant because the pills are most effective in the first 13 weeks of pregnancy. This option does not come free, but there might be hypothetical non-profits found on

the same website that are willing to help cover some of the cost, some even completely covering the cost.

This is all without the mention of what is coming out of the governor’s office. There are plenty of other bills that have been and will be filed that I do not have the time to get into to. Such an example is the reworking of DHS in HB1442, which would overwhelm and already suffering state department.

If you have made it to the end of my piece, you might feel exhausted. And that is exactly what they want. If they are able to tear us down and tire us out, then they will be able to pass whatever legislation they want. We have to stay vigilant. Our lives literally depend on it. The lives of our trans brothers and sisters depend upon it. The lives of women depend on it.

You may feel tired, but we can take a break when they have been voted out. Other than wearing us out, they want to dictate what we

think.Defundingschoolswhodonot fallinlinewiththemoralsofthe legislators:theyareleveragingourtax dollarsagainstpoliticalopponents. Alsohaveyounoticednoneofthis affectscisgenderstraightwhitemen.I knowpeoplegettiredofhearingthose fourwords,butalloftheseattacks havebeenagainstqueerpeople,people ofcolorandwomen.Makenomistake: thisishappeningbecausethe legislatureisoverwhelminglystraight, whiteandmale.

BY OWEN HAYNES

“WE HAVE TO STAY VIGILANT. OUR LIVES LITERALLY DEPEND UPON IT.

THE LIVES OF OUR TRANS BROTHERS AND SISTERS DEPEND UPON IT. THE LIVES OF WOMEN DEPEND UPON IT.”

SB43 Protest

Adrian Rogers photos

WE WILL FIX IT LATER: AI AND APATHY

ChatGPT was quietly released to the public on Nov. 30, 2020, to a population consisting mostly of people entirely ignorant to the existence of the product. However, this blissful ignorance would not last long - less than a week, actually.

Within 5 days, ChatGPT would reach 1 million registered users, becoming the fastest growing app in history. To put that in context, it took Facebook over a year to reach 1 million and in 2010, Instagram reached it within 2.5 months.

This new chatbot AI is a type of large language model that uses generative pre-trained technology, and was refined to use stored knowledge by solving a problem and furthering the ability of what it learns to solve problems outside of the initial scope.

OpenAI, the developers of the product, spent years of refinement to turn it into a chatbot, a form of Artificial Intelligence few people had much experience with, though the use of Artificial Intelligence as Virtual Assistants such as Siri has been widely known and used since its release.

Within a few months, this previously unknown product had employees of nearly every industry with a deep unease in how it was going to change their lives.

The first to really raise the alarm was that of academia, with good reason. The seemingly perfect recreation of the nuance of human language and knowledge was overwhelming, introducing the reality to many professors that the years of anti-plagiarism and anticheating resources developed over the years had been totally erased.

Considering the text produced by the predictive model was generated uniquely and not just a

copy from a sourced material, the AI had become what linguist Noam Chomsky describes as “high tech plagiarism.”

I think this is an extremely good description of it in relation to academia and work. ChatGPT was trained from what is on the internet already, which is the effort and work of actual people, nothing it produces is a unique or original idea, as it is nothing more than a prediction based off the design it was given.

This fear soon began spreading to other professions, including copywriters, paralegals, programmers and even those in the medical and legal field, once the AI had passed multiple state medical and legal practitioner licensing exams.

After this initial period of concern, things shifted to the topic of the optimization of productivity that could happen as a result of this new technology.

The coverage of AI over these two months was a roller coaster, but there was one aspect that seemed to be missing and that would be “does this roller coaster have breaks? Or seat belts?”

In typical fashion, when introduced to a revolutionary technology we seemed to focus on generally positive ways to adapt the technology and whatever passing insights into potential dangers were fleeting. Facebook is a good example of our fascination with novelty that leads us to don horse blinders, shielding society from the actual ugliness of what is under the hood.

The content moderation teams, all crammed in a large office space for 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week, were confronted with some

of the most grotesque aspects of humanity.

The internal documents showing that the high level executives at the company knew their messaging app was being used for genocide in Myanmar against the Muslim Rohingya, but did not cut service off as it could hurt their bottom line, and of course the issue we deal with on every platform: misinformation and disinformation.

This likely will be the area that will be the most destructive in the quickest amount of time. Because of the ability to create mass amounts of disinformation, false news articles, accompanied with deepfake technologies at scale, giving them all a unique voice and style, we will find ourselves in a constant cat and mouse of trying to decipher what is real and what is not real.

Societies all over the world have already been greatly impacted by much less sophisticated bot networks and even human networks who can not produce on a scale anywhere close to what generative AI is capable of, and this is a issue that we are still behind on and seemingly have no desire to pass any sort of regulatory oversight on these companies.

The high potential for loss of human agency is a harsh reality of another mounting problem we face in the near future that will require urgency at a time when we are facing a climate crisis that we still seem to imagine as happening in some futuristic period, despite the devastation already being caused to large areas in the global south.

AI is also being developed in the private sector, with billions of dollars going into research of new

technologies by many companies, with many different ethical standards and many different types, and layers of bias that are rooted in AI programs.

As recently as 2021, Facebook was once again having to explain away how and why their facial recognition AI did something as despicable and grotesque as tagging photos tagged a video of several Black men as “primates.”

This also happened to Google back in 2015 and took 3 years to fix, and Amazon’s facial recognition misidentified 28 members of congress, most of whom were minorities, as convicted felons.

These are problems that have been known and called to be regulated for nearly a decade now and there has hardly been any movement at all, to the point where four countries keep blocking an international law on the restriction of AI offensive weaponry used during war.

Malware and ransomware has seen a huge spike in the last five years, going so far as to disrupt the oil supply of the entire east coast of the United States.

In the first year of the pandemic, hundreds of hospitals had attacks that locked their systems out, resulting in direct payments to the attackers of nearly 20 billion dollars.

These types of malware will be much more accessible to far less sophisticated programmers, considering the ability already displayed by ChatGPT in the field of programming.

Less than one month after release, there had been three incidents of malware written by the program being sold on the dark web. Identity theft, romance

scams, large scale fraud and cases of libel will all become much more frequent in our society if we continue to let companies only care about their shareholders, constant growth and profit.

A society having a philosophy of focusing on growth of economy as the most predominant aspect has created a growing gap between the amount of cuts that are being inflicted and the bandages we have to use.

It is really important to think of the benefits we might gain from something like ChatGPT, outside of the realms of economic productivity and how it will positively improve our lives in a non-material way that does not result in the outsourcing and erosion of uniquely human skills.

It is something I have thought of for over a month now and struggle to come up with one that would have a great impact on the world that I could endorse confidently, knowing that all the potential dangers are a means to an end.

This should not be interpreted as a call to abandon these new technologies and stick our heads in the mud when it comes to progress around the world.

It is merely a request that before private companies unleash these society-altering technologies into the world, there is a set of boundaries and supervision as to determine what use is acceptable.

This adds an aspect of consent in a world of nearly 9 billion people who will have this alter their lives in some manner, before a small group of like-minded people with very little diversity and perspective make this widely available without any assurances of responsible use.

BY MICHAEL HESSELEBEIN

YES —GOVERNOR HUCKABEE SANDERS’ BAN ON ‘LATINX’ IS THINLY VEILED TRANSPHOBIA, BUT IT IS EVEN MORE DANGEROUS THAN YOU MAY THINK

One of Governor Huckabee Sanders’ first orders in office was to ban the term ‘Latinx’ from all state documents.

Latinx is a label created in the United States that is meant to be inclusive to non-binary Latin Americans, as Spanish is a very gendered language.

Governor Huckabee Sanders condemned the label as being “culturally insensitive.”

Latinx’s Spanish counterpart, Latine, also tends to be more popular in the United States than in Central and South America and has been criticized by many Spanishspeaking people across North and South America as being part of an American liberal agenda.

However, there are many Latinx who feel that the term is crucial for being inclusive to non-binary and transgender people.

Governor Sanders’ quoted a survey by Pew Research conducted in 2020 that asserted that only 23 percent of Latinx in the United States had heard of the term ‘Latinx,’ and only 3 percent of that sample actually used the term.

However, Nathian Shae Rodriguez, associate director in the School of Journalism and Media Studies at San Diego State University investigated the survey.

Of the 62 million Latinx (as of 2021), only a little over 3,000 were surveyed, and Rodriguez noted that most of the respondents were over the age of 35 or 40.

He asserts that Millennial and Gen-Z Latinx are much more likely to use the term.

However the individual Latin American may feel about the term, one thing is certain: this is not an issue that should be dictated by the Arkansan government and certainly not the governor.

To allow Governor Huckabee Sanders to ban the term Latinx is to allow our identity to be dictated by our state’s government, and more dangerously, by people who are not

of our community.

After all, the frustration that many Latin Americans feel about the term ‘Latinx’ is derived from a feeling that an identity is being imposed upon them that they did not choose.

I would argue that this frustration is worth exploring.

Although I caution that this exploration should not come at the expense of our fellow nonbinary and transgender Latinx. We must change our language to accommodate them. Language is a malleable tool that can be used to suit our needs—or at its worst—be used to control us.

Spanish itself is a colonial language that was used to assimilate and control Latin American indigenous peoples while attempting to destroy their cultures.

The terms ‘Latino’ and ‘Hispanic’ assert that our history and present culture is the finished product of Iberian colonization.

Nothing could be further than the truth.

Our indigenous cultures persist in the form of indigenous communities, as well as detribalized indigenous peoples who may not be directly connected to their ancestral roots.

This is why we are often confused for Native Americans here in North America.

I was born and raised in Arkansas and am often mistaken for being native to North America.

It was not until I was an adult that I realized I had significant indigenous ancestry, as well as Spanish and African ancestry, although I still cannot identify my indigenous culture because of the task of tracing my lineage. I most likely never will.

Most Latin Americans face this reality because we are so disconnected from our indigenous and Afro-indigenous backgrounds.

This is not an accident—this is the product of violent and systemic colonization—of attempted

genocide.

We were always meant to be suffer an identity crisis under colonization. This is what it means to be detribalized.

Although the majority of Latin Americans identify as being mixed race, such as the concept of mestizaje in Mexico, the outcomes can be extreme among race groups and have real consequences in Latin America, as well as the United States.

Such differences in race result regularly in colorism and racial tension within race groups.

As a result, economic disparities exist in Latin America that are directly determined by with race.

For instance, according to a report conducted by Vanderbilt University in December of 2017, race in Mexico is the single strongest determinant of a Mexican citizen’s economic status and educational attainment.

The average Mexican household income in 2017 was reported to be approximately $193 in US dollars a month.

For lighter-skinned Mexicans, household income raises to $200 a month, while darker-skinned Mexicans earn only $137.

It is worth noting that Latin America has deep roots in African culture by enslaved peoples who were ripped from their homelands.

Apart from many Latin Americans having African ancestry, one may see the widespread influences of African culture melding with indigenous cultures such as in our foods like barbacoa and banana leaf tamales.

It is evident in our music like reggaeton, samba, cumbia, and bachata. Latin America also unknowingly guards indigenous language with our everyday speech, sprinkled with words such as cachete (cheek) and aguacate (avocado).

Our religions; our traditions; our family structures—they all speak to a truth hidden in plain sight: we are not a monolith.

Our peoples are made up of descendants of countless communities: of indigenous cultures scattered throughout the continent; of African enslaved peoples in Haiti; of waves of European refugees across South America; of Japanese immigrant agricultural workers in Brazil; of Chinese refugees in Panama; and of course, the descendants of Spanish colonizers across Central and South America and the Caribbean.

To untangle what it means to be Latin American is an impossibly complex task.

Yet, we seem to seek a form of unity. We accept the terms Latino/e/x and Hispanic because it suggests a form of solidarity, even if we cannot directly identify what binds us together.

Perhaps to be Latin American is to persist. To survive.

Are non-binary and transgender Latinx not trying to survive as well?

Non-binary people (and all LGBTQIA+ people, for that matter)

have always existed in the Americas and always will.

They have always existed in our cultures. The muxes of Zapotec communities in Oaxaca, Mexico are celebrated even today as a third gender. They still wear traditional dress, preserve the indigenous Zapotec language, and maintain various traditions that are not as widely observed among the rest of the Zapotec community. They too, persist.

The Western concept of nonbinary as a gender should not be confused with their status as a third gender, however, as they have recognized indigenous roles that do not directly translate to Western concepts.

They deserve recognition, protection, and celebration, as well as all people who are not included in the traditional gender spectrum in Latin American and the United States.

Latin Americans should use the term that suits their individual

identity.

No one will ever be or should be forced to use the term ‘Latinx.’ But the attempt to eliminate the word ‘Latinx’ in any official capacity is a form of colonization and forced assimilation.

Governor Huckabee Sanders’ attempt to deny non-binary and transgender people’s existence while pandering to conservative Latinos is an underhanded attempt to position Latin Americans against each other.

It is my hope that Latin Americans in the United States will see that that Governor Huckabee Sanders’ directive poses a risk to

the identity that we share as Latin Americans and challenge any such efforts with swift repudiation.

To accept the Governor’s ban on the term ‘Latinx’ is to lend legitimacy to her authority—or any non Latin American politician, for that matter—to decide our identity for us. After centuries of forced assimilation, we deserve selfdetermination of identity.

BY BRYAN HERNANDEZ

“Perhaps to be Latin American is to persist. To survive.”

STAFF

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