THE UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL ARKANSAS’ STUDENT NEWSPAPER WEDNESDAY
DECEMBER 4, 2019 Volume 114 — Issue 13
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The Echo
Campus Life:
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Study Abroad Fair: Students explored study abraod opportunities.
New Release: “Frozen II” proved to be just as good as the first.
Women’s Basketball: UCA women beat Jackson State.
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Fraternity faces suspension after hazing, drug use
Cloudy
62/37 THE NEWSDESK FROM THE ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
I N T E R N AT I O N A L New U.S. legislation affects China affairs China announced Dec. 2 that it would suspend U.S. Navy visits to Hong Kong ports following the passage of legislation to support human rights. China will also sanction pro-democracy organizations for what it deemed poor performance during the Hong Kong protests. President Trump’s signing of legislation, which protects against human rights abuse, was found to be in interference with China’s internal affairs.
N AT I O N A L Cruise passengers fall mysteriously sick
by The Echo Staff Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity is under a cease-and-desist status order for its role in an alleged hazing incident at its Greek house in the early morning hours of Sept. 26. According to a UCAPD incident report, two UCAPD officers and one Conway police officer arrived to the Sig Ep residence in response to a caller who reported he had smoked a marijuana joint laced with a unknown substance. Amanda Hoelzeman, the media director for UCA, said the Academic and Diversity Committee met Nov. 20 to discuss a recommendation of punishment for the fraternity. The recommendation was sent to the Vice President of Student Services Ronnie Williams for a final decision. Hoelzeman said the ceaseand-desist order for the fraternity means it cannot hold meetings or any organized activities. Williams has not commented to The Echo on when he will
make his final decision. The police report states that the officers noted that the distressed calls were still coming in from the individual as they attempted to locate him. A male at the door refused to let the officers in, but another male came to the door and led them to the caller. The caller, identified as Bailey Fields, a Sig Ep pledge, told the officers several times that “they laced it” and “they laced me,” also saying “they had already rolled it” before handing it to Fields. Fields was taken by ambulance to Conway Regional Medical Center to receive treatment. Fields, as stated within the police report, also told UCAPD Officer Zachary Sanders that he was required to carry around a lighter as a part of initiation into the fraternity. On the evening of Sept. 25, Fields had handed sophomore Matthew Many his lighter upon Many’s request and walked out of the room, leaving his lighter behind. After he left the house, Fields told police, he received a text
to return to retrieve his lighter. Fields was led into a bathroom by Many, where sophomore Kyle Brantley locked the door behind Fields and Many instructed Fields that if he wanted his lighter back, he had to smoke a joint. Fields followed Many’s intructions and after his fourth time inhaling the marijuana, Fields stated that he was having trouble breathing. Fields made his way out of the bathroom into Brantley’s room, where he stopped and sat down due to shortness of breath. The door was then locked behind Fields. Despite Fields asking repeatedly to go to the hospital, the members present were “laughing, joking, and making fun of him.” Fields said they all went into the bathroom and gave him a window of time to call for the police. Fields spoke with The Echo about his recollection of that night. “[After smoking], I told them I wasn’t feeling right and I couldn’t really breathe,” Fields said. “Then I told them to call me an ambulance, but they just
laughed me off and asked me, ‘Do you know Jesus?’ Then they put me in [Brantley’s] room and left me alone.” Upon obtaining Fields’ emergency room report, The Echo discovered the attending physician diagnosed Fields with polysubstance abuse, confirming that at the time of his admission to the ER, there was more than one drug in his system. In a seperate meeting with police, Many confirmed that he asked Fields if he wanted his lighter back by saying “A. Do you want your lighter? [or] B. Do you want the blunt?” Many said that Fields replied, “C. I want all that shit!” Many admitted to having marijuana at the Sig Ep house that night and also told UCAPD that they all — including Fields — smoked the same blunt, which is a contradiction to Fields’ statement that he was provided a different blunt than what was already being smoked. However, both Many and Brantley, according to the report, deny that any hazing took place,
GIVING
or that they had kept Fields from leaving Brantley’s room after the marijuana was smoked. Fields is no longer a student at UCA. He said the incident “ruined Greek life for him,” but did not want to press any charges. Multiple reports of hazing within UCA’s Greek life have emerged within the past few years. Most recently, the Kappa Sigma fraternity was suspended from campus, effective until 2021, due to students’ accounts, intially reported on by The Echo in February of 2018, that the fraternity performed hazingrelated activites such as spraying cold water on pledges, requiring physical workouts, confining pledges to the fraternity’s “Yellow House” living room all day and all night — except for work and classes — and alleged intimidation to make pledges carry certain items with them at all times. Hoelzeman said as of Nov. 22, that the only university violation that Sig Ep is under investigation for is “an allegation of hazing.”
RECOGNITION
The Los Angeles Fire Department said that 19 people aboard a Norwegian Cruise Line ship fell ill as they reached a port in Southern California Dec. 1. Those affected reported flu-like and stomach-related symptoms. The patients were evaluated, but were declined to be transported to the hospital. Four passengers on the same ship were sent to the hospital with an illness the week prior.
Rosa Parks dedicated with civil rights statue
A statue honoring civil rights icon Rosa Parks was dedicated Dec. 1 in downtown Montgomery, Alabama. The dedication took place on the exact day of the 64th anniversary of her arrest for refusing to yield her seat on a city bus to a white man. Her actions helped draw attention to the need for integrated public transportation. Parks was a significant symbol in the civil rights movement. She died at the age of 92 in 2005.
photo courtesy of UCA .edu
Professor Stephanie Vanderslice in her staff picture. Vanderslice was recently placed on the board of directors for the Assoication of Writers. Vanderslice is an author, a columnist, and a New York native. She holds a P.h.D in philosphy, and a Masters of Fine Arts.
UCA professor placed on AWP board of directors
S TAT E
Intoxicated LR man arrested after biting An intoxicated Little Rock man was taken into custody after biting two Shell Gas station employees Nov. 29. Dirk Edwin Johnson bit off part of a female worker’s fingertip after he became angered about the pricing of the cigars he wanted to purchase. He then bit off part of a male worker’s earlobe when the worker tried to intervene. Both victims were taken to the hospital. Police said that Johnson has a history of biting off extremities.
WHAT’S AHEAD IN OUR NEXT ISSUE The Echo will be back in January
by Sarah Coleman News Editor photo courtesy of UCA -SGA
Students and police officers stand in front of the donations for the first “Food For Fines” program drive. This program will help not only the Bear Essentials Food pantry to grow but also to help students take care of debts earned by parking tickets.
“Food for Fines” program puts on first food drive, accepts over 50 pounds of donations by Kaitlyn Benight Staff Writer
UCA’s SGA, in partnership with UCAPD and the Bear Essentials Food Pantry, held the campus’ first “Food for Fines “food drive during the week of Nov. 22. “This was really [SGA and Bear Essentials Food Pantry’s] project, we just lent our support to it,” UCAPD Cpl. Michael
Hopper said. The drive collected 58.2 pounds of food for the pantry, which is entering one of its busiest times of the year. “We thought ‘what better way than to help the students with parking tickets [and] also to ensure that the Bear Essential Food Pantry is being stocked throughout the semester as well as the summer?’,” Jamaal Lockings, junior and vice
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president of operations for SGA, said. Students, faculty and staff were given the opportunity to eliminate two parking tickets with values of $10 to $15 for donating eligible food items. For example, six cans of vegetables would eliminate a $10 ticket, while 10 cans would eliminate a
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Stephanie Vanderslice, a professor and director of the Arkansas Writers MFA workshop, has officially begun serving as a director for the 2020 Association of Writers (AWP) board of directors as of Nov. 7. Vanderslice was elected as an AWP board director through unanimous voting in October. Vanderslice will be serving as co-chair of the Professional Standards Committee, where she will be leading the development of new professional standards and hallmarks for writing programs, which are guidlines that have not been revised for many years. “I’m extremely excited to be a part of this committee
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and to have input on a national level,” Vanderslice said. “It’s a really good time to be joining the board [to] support all the new leadership and help to move the organization in new directions that it has not yet been moved in.” The leadership of the organization itself is undergoing some monumental changes that Vanderslice will be involved with implementing. There are currently 18 people serving on the board of directors. According to the Association of Writers website, awpwriters.org, the AWP works to provide support, advocacy and opportunities for writers and to “foster literary achievement, to advance the art of writing as essential to a good
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