UAB’S OFFICIAL STUDENT NEWSPAPER
VOLUME 58, ISSUE 2
OPINION: BELL, WOODFIN MAKE THEIR CASES William Bell advocates for continuity while Randall Woodfin calls for change. Read more on Page 2.
The
Kaleidoscope CELEBRATING OUR
50th YEAR OF PUBLICATION
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
“
They’re chasing after their dreams and contributing to society. —Enrique Romero
The threat of
Dreams deterred Students stand in solidarity with DACA recipients as program’s end looms Sufia Alam Campus Editor
O
n Tuesday, Sept. 5. Mauricio Sandoval, a senior in industrial distribution, received a call from his father telling him his future was in jeopardy. “All the hours I’ve put in to working overtime [for you], it’s about to be for nothing,” his father told him, holding back tears. “Your education is about to go to waste.”
President Donald Trump announced earlier that day that his administration would bring an end to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in six months to allow Congress to implement a new legislative solution. This decision is estimated to directly affect 800,000 young adult unauthorized immigrants who were brought to the United States as children, according to the American Immigration Center.
DACA was established in June 2012 by former President Barack Obama to allow young adult unauthorized immigrants to receive a renewable two-year permit approving them to work and attend universities in the U.S. without fear of deportation. Without the protection of the policy, recipients will once again become vulnerable to deportation and will potentially lose their ability to work and attend universities legally.
When students Diana Martinez-Garcia, senior in public health, and Maria Cruz, senior in information systems, heard the official announcement, they felt they needed to organize a rally to allow UAB students and DACA beneficiaries to share their story. On Wednesday, Sept. 6., students and community members gathered outside the Hill Student Center to unite in solidarity
See DACA, Page 4
PHOTO BY IAN KEEL/PHOTO EDITOR Students and community members gather on the lawn outside of the Hill Student Center on Sept. 6. DACA recipients spoke about their fear of their potentially threatened futures.
HURRICANE IRMA
Weather causes chaos in the Gulf of Mexico UAB keeps regular schedule but prepares students for emergencies Sufia Alam Campus Editor Only mere days after the Texas coast was devastated by Hurricane Harvey, south Floridians awoke Sunday, Sept. 10, to Hurricane Irma hammering the Florida Keys. This event was the first time in 166 years that two Category 4 storm hurricanes made landfall on the conti-
nental United States in the same year. Irma continued up the Florida gulf coast, passing over Tampa and Tallahassee, and into Georgia and Alabama in the hours following landfall. The storm later moved over Birmingham and northeastern Alabama as a tropical storm. UAB administrators met with National Weath-
er Service officials Sunday afternoon to discuss the university’s plan going into the week. The university continued its operations as usual Monday. However, some instructors took it upon themselves to cancel their own classes regardless of the University’s decision. Undergraduate Student Government Association president Mugdha Mokashi expressed her concern with the decision. “I’m hopeful that things
See IRMA, Page 3
PHOTO BY IAN KEEL/PHOTO EDITOR Students walk to class outside The Rec during the beginnings of Irma’s descent into Birmingham.