Issue #16, Volume 113, Feb. 6, 2019

The Echo

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February 6, 2019 Volume 113 — Issue 16

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THE NEWSDESK

by Emily Gist

by Logan Howell

Associate Editor

Staff Writer

FROM THE ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

I N T E R N AT I O N A L Brazil dam collapse; death toll still rising The number of deaths resulting from a collapsed dam in Brazil has risen to 121. Over 200 are still missing. Lt. Pedro Aihara of the Minas Gerais State Fire Department expects the recovery mission to last more than a month. No one has been found alive since Jan. 25. The mining dam in southeastern Brazil collapsed Jan. 25, flooding nearby communities in liquid mining waste. The disaster is not the first of its kind; a 2015 dam collapse in Miriana, Minas Gerais resulted in 19 deaths and the relocation of hundreds of residents from their homes.

N AT I O N A L Virginia governor faces wide backlash On Friday, a photo emerged of Virginia Governor Ralph Northam from his 1984 medical school yearbook showing one person in blackface and another in a Ku Klux Klan robe and hood.

Northam graduated from Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Virginia.

He had previously denied that he was in the picture.

Virginia senators said they no longer believe Northam can serve effectively as Governor. If he does resign, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax would take his place as the second African-American governor in the state’s history.

Superbowl LIII results On Sunday, Feb. 3, the New England Patriots beat the Los Angeles Ram 13-3 in the 53rd annual Super Bowl. The two teams met at the Super Bowl 17 years ago, which was the last time the Rams played in the bowl. The Patriots attended the Super Bowl last year as well and lost to the Philadelphia Eagles 41-33.

S TAT E 70 pounds of meth found in drug trafficking bust A drug bust off I-40 on Wednesday resulted in the seizure of more than 70 pounds of methamphetamine and over 500 30mg-oxycodone pills.

The driver, Rebecca Brenes, and the passenger, Jose Jimenez-Cruz, were both from California and en-route to Georgia when they exited the interstate to get gas.

At which time, they were involved in a traffic accident in Van Buren. They were charged in Crawford County Circuit Court with Trafficking a Controlled Substance.

UCA commences celebrations for Old Main’s 100th birthday

“The only way to make metal stronger is to heat it up,” a student referred to as Student20 said according to documents sent to UCA’s Dean of Students.

This was the explanation given as to why pledges were being put through what the older members of UCA’s Kappa Sigma chapter call Hell Week, which lasted from Nov. 4 until the initiation of pledges Nov. 11.

Kappa Sigma’s UCA chapter has been suspended until spring 2020 due to alleged hazing that took place during Hell Week.

According to UCA’s student handbook, page 96, hazing is defined as “any intentional action taken or situation created, whether on or off university property, to produce mental or physical discomfort, embarrassment, harassment or ridicule.”

An investigation into the hazing allegations began after a former pledge was upset that he had been removed from the initiation process Nov. 6 without explanation as to why. The student, referred to as Student1 in investigation documents, requested a meeting with IFC Advisor Katie Frazier.

During the meeting with Frazier, Student1 provided hazing details which were later substantiated by many other new members of the fraternity.

The allegations made against Kappa Sigma include: - Cold water being sprayed on pledges by older members while they took a quiz on the fraternity’s history, causing them to have to retake it.

- Pledges being forced to stay all week in what Kappa Sigma refers to as the “Yellow House,” only allowing them to leave for classes, jobs or meals.

Pledges would have to sign out with one of the older members to leave, and their phones were taken from them while they were in the house.

- Pledges were ordered to carry a lighter, a red bandana

photo courtesy of Amanda Hoelzeman

Dean of Students Kelly Owens sent an email to Kappa Sigma confirming the fraternity’s policy violation after hazing charges were filed in November 2018. The fraternity was put on suspension that will be effective until spring 2020.

and a small notebook with them at all times. They would be occasionally checked for these items by older members.

- The small notebooks were given to pledges so that they could interview older members by asking them 20 questions.

One pledge claimed that the last five questions of the interview were supposed to be “inappropriate.”

- The red bandanas were used to blindfold new members “about five times,” according to multiple pledges. While pledges were blindfolded, older members would recite rules for them to follow and tell them what a poor job they were doing.

- All pledges would have to get up and dance whenever “FeFe” by Nicki Minaj played.

After leaving the meeting with Frazier, Student1 came back a few minutes later, claiming that during bid night Sep. 14, one of his former pledge brothers witnessed a sexual assault in a bathroom at Yellow House.

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POLITICS

See Hazing- page 2

Campus officials stay silent on military ban

by Lisa Sullins Staff Writer

On Tuesday, Jan. 22nd. the Supreme Court backed President Donald Trump to prevent new transgender recruits from enlisting in the U.S. military. This action began in July 2017 when Trump announced his intentions on Twitter. In answer to Trump’s announcement, the Pentagon immediately went into action by implementing ways to get around the banning policy.

However, the Supreme Court lifted two Obama-era injunctions Jan. 20 which allowed troops to serve as openly transgender. Supreme Court Justices refused to comment on the lifting of these protections.

The Trump Administration argued that allowing people who identify as transgender into the military ranks will hinder the ability of the troops to be at their most effective while serving and protecting our country.

Trump said, in a Twitter post, that allowing transgender people to serve would not be in the best interest of national security. The Echo contacted Recruiting Operations Officer Rosyln Tillman from Meaders Hall, which houses UCA’s ROTC, for a comment. She said she

would have to check to see if she could give a comment.

Tillman soon called back with “no comment.” She provided the phone number of the Washington D.C. Press Office to call for a comment. The Press Office in Washington did not return numerous phone calls.

PRISM, (Pride, Raising Awareness, Involvement, Support, and Mentoring Alliance), is UCA’s Recognised Student Organization aims to support students who identify as anything other than heterosexual. When the Echo reached out to PRISM, their officials were glad to comment on the transgender military.

Faculty advisor of PRISM Allen Thomas said the ban will not provide the U.S. with any world-power merit.

“Regarding my own thoughts: Trump’s efforts to ban transgender people from the military are transphobic, and there is really no way around that reality,” Thomas said. “The ban on transgender service members does not have any scientific or empirical merit or foundation, and arguments to the contrary tend to fall short and are largely reminiscent of ideas used to keep people of color, women, non-heterosexual people, disabled people, and others in marginalized

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Yellow House is one of the fraternity’s two houses on campus. The potential sexual assault was said to have been between an unknown Kappa Sigma member and a woman who “looked like she wasn’t able to give consent,” according to Student1’s retelling of what the other pledge witnessed.

Student1 provided screenshots of text messages between himself and his pledge brother to Frazier. The screenshots showed Student1 encouraging the other pledge to report the sexual assault.

The other pledge refused to report it, claiming that he had been told by older Kappa Sigma members that if he didn’t report the incident, he would be in good standing throughout the initiation process.

“It’s incredibly disheartening that a group of people who are supposed to be leaders on campus would decide to

Arkansas voters passed a vote Nov. 6 to increase the minimum wage over the next three years: from $8.50 per hour to $9.25 in 2019, $10 in 2020 and $11 in 2021. UCA departments that pay workers hourly are implementing various degrees of changes to accommodate the minimum wage increase.

Human Resources Associate Director Bridget Fortenberry said there are currently 732 UCA students on payroll who are working for minimum wage, which now amounts to $9.25 per hour.

Because the current minimum wage is $0.75 greater than last semester, the school needs to account for an additional $549 per hour for the 732 students currently working at minimum wage.

Vice President for Finance and Administration Diane Newton explained how the increased wages will be carried out for the current fiscal period.

“For the rest of the fiscal year, the cost will be absorbed within the departmental budgets for which [hourly workers] are employed,” Newton said. “No decisions have been made for future fiscal years.”

In the Torreyson Library, this absorption has meant a change in workers’ hours.

Junior Lexi Parker said she’s been working at the Torreyson Library for three years and has noticed a difference since the minimum wage increase.

“My hours were cut shorter, but other than that there hasn’t been a change,” Parker said.

Administrative Specialist III in Torreyson Library Patricia Rogers said the increase hasn’t impacted the amount of money students receive in a paycheck, but it has impacted the number of hours students can work.

“The minimum wage [increase] has not helped the students in the library because we are given a certain amount of money each fiscal year for student help,” Rogers said. “As an example, if a student last semester was allowed 12 hours, this semester the number of hours was reduced.”

Rogers said students weren’t offered more money because each student worker can only receive a certain amount of money based on that student’s financial status.

For the spring 2019 semester, Rogers said the maximum number of hours any student worker can earn at the library is 12 hours per week.

As minimum wage continues to increase over the course of the next three years, Rogers said the increase

SERVICE

Index: 4Police Beat 4People of UCA

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Kappa Sigma suspended for hazing, Increased minimum wage drinking amid sexual assault report affects campus employees

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Men’s Basketball: Weekend of defeat in games against SFA and NS

Fyre Festival: Netflix documentary explores fradulent music festival 4

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communities out of various institutions in America and in global communities.”

As a consequence of this ban, current members of the military who identify as transgender will be forced to ‘stay in the closet.’

These people, under the current ban, also run the risk of being physically and psychologically abused and/or discharged from the military.

“To put it shortly: this is much more an act of discrimination, one that we have routinely seen throughout history, than an effort to bolster the American military, and [it] sets a dangerous precedent that this administration has been trying to make tangible since [before] the election,” Thomas said.

Vice president of PRISM and junior Michael Huffman supported those who may be affected by the ban.

“If an individual wishes to serve their country, allow them that opportunity,” Huffman said. “Individuals in the LGBT community are already stigmatized enough. Attempting to bar them from protecting those that they care about is absurd.”

photo by Taylor Sone

Former state senator and UCA music professor Gilbert Baker reads from a prepared statement after an arraignment at the District Courthouse in Little Rock Jan. 22. Baker pleaded not guilty to nine charges, including conspiracy, bribery and honest services wire fraud.

Baker absent from UCA; whereabouts uncertain

by Lauren McLemore

Assistant News Editor

UCA music professor and former administrator Gilbert Baker, who was indicted Jan. 11, is not currently teaching his classes.

In an email Feb. 4, Director of Media Relations Amanda Hoelzeman said that adjunct instructor of Music Technology Deborah Eastwood is teaching Baker’s classes. Hoelzeman said she couldn’t discuss Baker’s current employment status due to university policy, but she did include a link to the Faculty Handbook in which sick leave is addressed.

“Faculty sick leave is paid leave that must be approved by the provost,” Hoelzeman said.

On Jan. 24, Baker pleaded not guilty at his arraignment held before U.S. Magistrate Judge Patricia Harris at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas in Little Rock at 10 a.m. He was represented by his attorneys, Blake Hendrix and Annie Depper. His wife and four of his sons were also in attendance.

“I’ve never felt better in my life,” Baker said preceding the arraignment.

Baker and his lawyers requested a jury trial which was scheduled to be held before Judge Price Marshall at 9:30 a.m on Feb. 25.

Baker’s indictment lists his charges which include

See Arraingment- page 2

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People in the LGBT community are subjected to unecessary and harmful attacks .

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2/ February 6, 2019

NEWS

Police Beat The following information is compiled from UCAPD incident reports

by Assistant News Editor Lauren McLemore

“Missing” student on church retreat Around 7 a.m. on Jan. 20, officer Kelsey Dale was dispatched to Georgetown South, apartment 137, after international student Delano Rolle’s mother, Kristine Cash, called and requested a welfare check for her son, whom she had not been able to contact since Jan. 17.

Officer Dale was unable to make contact with Rolle at his apartment and called Cash for more information. She informed Dale that Rolle does not have a vehicle and does not drive. She said he is a member of a student ministry, but she was unsure which one. Cash said they talk every day and this has never happened before.

Rolle did not answer Dale’s call to his cell phone and no recent activity appeared on his Bear Card. Verizon Wireless said the phone was last used on Jan. 18 at 3:07 p.m.

Dale typed the latitude and longitude coordinates that last pinged the phone’s location into Google Maps and a heavily wooded area near the Stone County/Van Buren County line was pinpointed.

Dale saw from Rolle’s Facebook page that he had liked the Chi Alpha page. In her attempt to contact someone from the organization, she made contact with former Chi Alpha staff member, Timothy Tate, who told her a group of members were on a men’s retreat, camping near the location provided by Verizon Wireless.

Rolle’s name was on the roster.

The camping group did

not have cell service at their location. Cash was contacted and advised that Rolle was believed to be camping with church members and returned safely Jan. 21.

UCAPD responds to student’s seizure On Jan. 31, officer Phillip Boyd was dispatched to Arkansas Hall for a medical incident. When he arrived, student Nicholas Whisker was laying on the classroom floor seizing. Others in the classroom had moved tables and chairs away from him to prevent injury. As Conway Fire Department arrived, he regained consciousness and was transported by MEMS to Conway Regional Medical Center with a classmate.

TO U R I S M

UCA professor helps to conduct feasibility study

by Lauren McCabe News Editor

Arkansas thrives on recreational nature activities such as hiking, biking, canoeing and walking. One does not have to go far to find one of the most popular tourist destinations in the central part of the state, Petit Jean Mountain, located in Morrilton.

Recently proposed, however, was a project that may soon become important to Morrilton tourism, as it involves the potential for constructing a bike and pedestrian crossing at the Ormond Lock and Dam. The project, currently coined as the “Little Dam Bridge,” would ultimately be a smaller version of Little Rock’s Big Dam Bridge.

The proposed bridge’s research was something that associate professor and chair of UCA’s Department of Geography Steven O’Connell was more than happy to take part in.

“Amy Whitehead [UCA’s assistant vice president of Community and Workforce Development] reached out to me knowing the background of the Geography Department’s interests in regional development, uses of GIS [Geographic Information Systems] and demographic analysis [and] suggested it might be a project that we could work on,” O’Connell said.

Those who enjoy partaking in walks or biking on the Big Dam Bridge could now expect a similar, smaller model closer to home.

“The premise is the same,” O’Connell said. “The Big Dam Bridge in Little Rock, when it was built, always had the interest in connecting the recreational assets on the Little Rock side and those on the North Little Rock side. The Ormond Lock and Dam [will be] somewhat a similar structure to connect Petit Jean to downtown Morrilton.”

The study, which was done on behalf of the City of Morrilton and the Morrilton Chamber of Commerce, enlisted the help of O’Connell to investigate similar projects across the United States and to evaluate the local market for participation in recreation activities.

That’s when the participating parties learned that the state Department of Parks and Tourism had a grant program to do feasibility studies for new tourism assets.

The Economic Development Corporation of Morrilton put up half of the money for the research while the Parks and Tourism grant covered the other half.

President and CEO of the Morrilton Area Chamber of Commerce Jerry Smith also worked with O’Connell to evaluate the cost of building the structure over the current dam, which was constructed in the mid-20th century with a bridge on top of it, and plans for a roadway to eventually connect to it. This roadway never happened.

“The cost would be cheaper because it already had the

Arraignment :

strength to hold a highway in the foundation of the dam,” Smith said. “That is a particular advantage that we have here over other locking dams that don’t have a bridge because theirs were built to a lesser standard due to the [absence of ] a highway.”

O’Connell said many residents of Morrilton are interested in seeing the pedestrian bridge plan come to life.

“Some folks in Morrilton said, ‘Well that would be a nice thing to have,’ in the same way that Little Rock recreation users on one side of the river were disconnected from the North Little Rock recreation users and landscapes on either side of the river,” O’Connell said. “There are a lot of people in Morrilton who see Petit Jean across the river as a recreation amenity.”

Smith also predicts that the construction of the “Little Dam Bridge” would present Morrilton with an abundance of economic opportunity. “[We want] to better connect Petit Jean Mountain with downtown Morrilton [concerning] shopping opportunities for people that are visiting,” Smith said. “We know that hiking and biking is a growing area in tourism, so the idea of bike paths and pedestrian hiking paths would be a great way to make that connection. Getting over the river would be the problem.”

The proposal and funding for the bridge’s construction are still underway.

Baker to uphold conditions

4 Continued from page 1 one count of conspiracy, one count of bribery and seven counts of “honest services wire fraud,” all based upon his alleged involvement in a scheme to influence a local circuit judge’s ruling on a 2013 case by funneling contributions outside of the fundraising window to the judge’s campaign for a seat on the Court of Appeals.

Baker’s pre-trial conditions included no alcohol consumption, no law violations, notifying authorities of a change of address or phone number, submitting to the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office, remaining employed full-time, avoiding contact with victims and witnesses, surrendering his passport and firearms, no unlawful possession of narcotics, complying with random drug screenings, participating in inpatient substance abuse counseling or treatment and staying in constant contact with his lawyer. Baker signed off on the agreed conditions.

Baker was made aware of the potential penalties if he refused to comply. These included having a warrant issued for his arrest, being detained pending his trial, enhancing his sentence if found guilty, enhancing his sentence by 10 years if he commits a federal crime and a revoking his release if he knowingly fails to appear on his scheduled court date.

In a later press conference, Baker said that the condition of partaking in inpatient counseling or treatment will be taken up with his department chair in order to make

accommodations regarding his employment at UCA. Prosecuting attorneys Julie Peters and Jana Harris were also in attendance. Harris listed the maximum potential sentencing for each count if Baker is found guilty. For conspiracy, he could face up to 5 years in prison, 10 years for bribery and 20 years on each of the seven remaining honest services wire fraud counts.

He could also be faced with $250,000 in fines, three years of supervised release and a $100 special assessment on each individual count.

“I’m probably more upset about the bad call against the Saints last Sunday than I am about being indicted.” Baker said.

At the arraignment, Peters objected to him having a court-appointed attorney because his income and expenses are nearly equal and his house is fully paid off.

Harris denied the objection and said Peters could appeal it to Marshall.

The investigation leading to Baker’s initial indictment began with a lawsuit filed against a Greenbrier nursing home regarding neglect and mistreatment, which led to the 2008 death of patient Martha Bull. The case was presided over by former Circuit Judge Michael Maggio, and a Faulkner County jury awarded $5.2 million in damages against the nursing home May 16, 2013. However, about one month later on June 17, 2013, the nursing home owner Michael Morton filed a motion for a new trial, on which a hearing was held by Maggio July 8, 2013. Two days

later on July 10, 2013, Maggio reduced the previous verdict to $1 million.

At the time of Baker’s alleged involvement in bribing Judge Maggio, he was also fundraising for Rhonda Wood, who was running for a seat on the Arkansas Supreme Court.

According to the indictment, on July 8, 2013, two days before Maggio reduced the verdict, Morton wrote 10 checks for $3,000 each to 10 PACs created by Baker and an attorney the indictment refers to as “Individual B.” The checks were sent in response to a facsimile from Baker asking Morton for that specific amount in campaign support for Maggio.

The checks were mailed to Baker’s home address, and arrived along with two $25,000 checks for what the indictment refers to as “Company B,” a $100,000 donation to UCA, which was later returned, and $48,000 to Wood’s campaign.

The checks totaled $228,000.

According to the indictment, Baker organized a fundraiser for Wood months later in November 2013, where he provided the $48,000 donation to her designated campaign representative, having changed the dates from “7-8-13” to “11-22-13.”

Additional allegations suggest that Baker also caused individuals to issue false invoices from various companies with the purpose of serving as reimbursements and “bonuses” for the individuals that Baker, in November 2013, asked to donate to Maggio’s campaign.

ucanews.live

Winden Fey finalist for new position

by Lauren McLemore Assistant News Editor

SGA representatives discussed the Day of Giving, potential parking lot changes and many upcoming projects at 5 p.m. on Feb. 4.

Following a presentation from director of Governmental Affairs and External Relations Jeremy Gillam, the Director of Annual Giving Lauren Norris expressed interest in seeing another SGA donation booth and another matched giving plan similar to the ones they implemented last year for the Day of Giving on March 7.

Last year, SGA agreed to match $1,000 of giving. SGA raised over $400,000 and broke the state record for the most money donated, but was surpassed by UAMS later on.

While that fundraiser focuses primarily on what students can give, other committees focused on what students can receive. In the Student Resources committee report, Senator Taylor Beevers said she had met with UCA President Houston Davis regarding the Open Educational Resources Program which aims to support free and reduced textbooks. He expressed that he was in support of the program.

The Open Educational Resources Program uses a free-access website for educational resources. He had implemented the program at his last institution, and over the course of the first year or two, it saved students about $20 million.

President Joshua Eddinger-Lucero said through university reports that Director of Student Success Julia Winden Fey was selected as a finalist for the position of associate vice president of Enrollment

Hazing:

Management and her on-campus interview is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 8 in Wingo Hall in the Board of Trustees meeting room.

According to the LinkedIn posting for the job, “This position is new and will report directly to the Provost and Executive Vice President. The Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management will have the exciting opportunity to establish the collective vision and direction of the offices within enrollment services, including Academic Advising, Admissions, Financial Aid, the Registrar and Transfer Services, and to work collaboratively with faculty, staff and other administrative leaders to develop and achieve the university’s strategic enrollment goals.”

The posting also said the job duties will include overseeing the “development, communication and implementation of a strategic enrollment management plan that is consistent with the university’s strategic plan.”

Eddinger-Lucero said Davis put a pause on strategic planning through the Strategic Planning Committee and advising through the Strategic Budget Advisory Committee in order to re-evaluated the guidelines to be included in a new draft of the document. He received the previous strategic plan prior to his interview for the position and upon stepping into his role as UCA president, he noted a lack of buy in from the campus community in the current plan. Since then, “he has officially hit the reset and we met last week for the first time,” Eddinger-Lucero said.

Executive vice president of Academic Affairs and provost

Dr. Patricia S. Poulter is serving as the chair of SPC and they will be revisiting multiple initiatives within the document.

In other committee reports, Senator Karlie Galarza said that the University Parking and Traffic community met Jan. 29 to discuss issues including faculty parking. Due to complaints from faculty about not having parking for their evening classes because of students parking in faculty lots after 4:30 p.m. A proposition was created to be presented to Faculty Senate.

This proposition could include specific lots being reserved 24/7 for faculty, other lots being reserved until 7:30 p.m. instead of the current faculty lot reservation that expires at 4:30 p.m. or all faculty lots reserved 24/7.

Further discussions included the mention of UCA-owned parking lot 109 located near the roundabout by Buffalo Hall that many students are unaware of.

In the Bear Advocacy Group’s committee report, Senator Cagney Kilgroe discussed SGA’s involvement in preparing for the Arkansas Association of Students, where SGAs from around Arkansas come together to network. It will be hosted from 8:30 a.m.

- 3:30 p.m on Feb. 8 at UCA. A motion was presented for $950 from the Aramark donation fund to supply the catering for AAS and it passed.

Other topics discussed included the gazebo project, the possibility of implementing solar charging stations on campus, preparations for the Save Our Students event and the upcoming Conversations about Diversity event during x-period on Feb. 5 in the Student Center room 223.

Fraternity suspended until 2020

4 Continued from page 1

conceal such an ugly act,” junior Jade Mongo, a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha’s Theta Mu chapter, said.

During the investigation, some pledges were hesitant to provide any information in their interviews. In documents sent to Dean of Students Kelly Owens, a student referred to as Student10 denied all allegations, claiming that he felt no obligation to provide any information to the investigators.

A student referred to as Student11 went even further to say that he had never heard of Hell Week. Student12 similarly denied any knowledge of Hell Week and went on to say that he didn’t feel that he had to provide information because what they do as pledges is “sacred to their fraternity.”

This is not the first time that Kappa Sigma has been in hot water. Kappa Sigma was already on a social suspension through May 2019 for promoting excess alcohol consumption after an Instagram video surfaced showing a certificate for “Blackout of the Week” with the name of the fraternity and a member on it. The video was posted by Instagram user ‘barstooluca’ with the hashtag

Wages:

#WelcomeWeek in August 2018.

The fraternity offended several students when a banner promoting their Bahama Mama party was erected outside of the Student Center. The banner depicted a Bohemian man with a large septum piercing, yellow teeth and a stretched face meant to resemble a tiki mask.

Many students equated the image as being a Jim Crow-era type of racist caricature. An official statement was released

by Kappa Sigma alumni adviser Drew Davis that said, “To those who were offended or upset by the image on our sign, we are deeply sorry and regret that this is the impression that we’ve given.” He continued on to say, “We hope that the UCA family of students will give us some space for grace on this.

We can and will do better. More eyes will be put on the media that we put out, and we will make sure that nothing like this ever happens again.”

The banner was taken down the same day it was reported to UCA administration; however, the “Bahama Mama” party still took place. The party was

eventually shut down after Captain Chris Bentley reported two incidents of drunken students and empty beer containers while patrolling the Yellow House property.

“It’s not the organizations themselves as much as it is the individuals. Their organizations just serve as their platform,” Mongo said.

“It’s a very sad representation.”

In order to become a Recognized Student Organization again after their suspension has ended, Kappa Sigma must submit an action plan detailing the steps that they will take to ensure incidents like those listed won’t happen in the future. It is uncertain what their action plan must include.

“Action plans vary for each situation, depending on the severity of the incident and the past history of the organization,” Owens said.

To remove individuals of Kappa Sigma that poorly represent the fraternity, the national Kappa Sigma organization plans to conduct a membership review and remove 10 members from their UCA chapter.

Campus reacts to rising pay rates

4 Continued from page 1 would affect future library employment more than the current student workers because the workers’ pay allotments would remain the same.

“If the increase continues to climb and the amount of money [student workers] are awarded stays the same, then we would have to employ more students to cover the hours we need,” Rogers said. “It’d be less of an impact on students than it would be for the library.”

Meanwhile, HPER Center student workers’ hours haven’t been cut, and the minimum wage increase has provided those student workers a higher paycheck.

Senior Chala Simpson said she’s working 16 hours per week this semester, an increase from last semester. Because she is working more hours, Simpson said her paycheck will increase due to the increased minimum wage.

“This semester I have more hours, but that’s just because my schedule worked better,” Simpson said. “[The work] feels

the same, I just get paid more.”

Director of Campus Recreation Richard Hammond said HPER workers are paid through the HPER student fee collected every semester.

Hammond also said the money from the increased minimum wage will be absorbed through the HPER’s reserve account.

“We have been able to put money into a reserve account every year due to some of the rental and membership fees that we collect over the year,” Hammond said. “This amount will just have to decrease to absorb the wage increase. Over the next few years we might have to pull out of reserve to cover the expenses at the end of the three-year adjustment period.”

Physical Plant Director Larry Lawrence said the minimum wage increase won’t impact Physical Plant workers’ hours. Lawrence said, before the increase, his lowest-paid workers were paid $9 per hour. Those workers will earn $0.25 cents more per hour as opposed to the $0.75 increase

seen by many other campus workers who were paid the previous minimum wage of $8.50 per hour.

For the Physical Plant, part-time workers are seasonal workers. Their work is flexible, so the additional cost for wages will be absorbed within the jobs themselves or through decreased hiring.

“When the grass starts growing, we have to mow this campus … we’re gonna hire about 10 people in the growing season,” Lawrence said. “[but] if I think we can get by with eight, we hire eight.”

However, currently the raise is low enough such that Lawrence said he doesn’t believe he will need to hire less workers right away.

Additionally, Lawrence said many part-time workers end up working full time and receiving the benefits applied for full-time employees. Because full-time workers receive above the increased minimum wage anyway, the increase wouldn’t affect their paychecks.

Campus Life

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February 6, 2019

Around Campus: Golden Globes At 7 p.m. on Feb. 6 in the Ida Waldran Auditorium, Sigma Gamma Rho sorority will host a talent show. Anyone is welcome to perform for a $100 cash prize.

For more information, email jfliewhite1@cub.uca.edu.

Marketing on a Dime At 9 a.m. on Feb. 7 at UCA Downtown, Managing Director of the UCA Center for Community and Economic Development Shelley Mehl will lecture on budget-friendly marketing techniques. A panel of nonprofit leaders and board members will provide personal insights. This event is a part of UCA’s Outreach and Community Engagement Nonprofit Workshop Series. It is free and open to the public. Register online at uca.edu/outreach/nonprofits.

Memoir Author During x-period on Feb. 7, in the College of Business auditorium, Mark Mathabane, an award-winning author, will speak. Mathabane will lecture on African philosophy, Ubuntu, and the book he wrote about it. Hosted by the UCA African and African-American studies program, this event is open to the public. For more information, send an email to mkithinji@uca.edu.

Beast Feast At 1 p.m. on Feb. 9 at the Conway Expo Center, the Second Baptist Men’s Ministry will host a men-and boys-only sportsmen’s banquet. Live music, food and games will be provided. Local businesses will set up booths.

For more information, go to beastfeastarkansas.com.

Family Movie Matinee At 3 p.m. on Feb. 10 in the Student Center Ballroom, the Student Activities Board will show “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.” The PG13-rated movie is a family-friendly fantasy adventure film. Anyone in the UCA community is welcome to attend. Refreshments will be provided. For more information, visit ucasab.com.

Cinema Night At 7 p.m. on Feb. 10 in the Student Center Ballroom, the Student Activities Board will show “A Star is Born.” This movie is rated R, so no one under 17 years of age will be permitted.

The romantic drama stars Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.

This event is open to the UCA community, family and friends.

Snacks and drinks will be provided. For more information, visit ucasab.com.

Overcome At 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 11 at Reynolds Performance Hall, Damien Sneed will present “We Shall Overcome” — a Martin Luther King Jr.-inspired musical arrangement. Many genres will be covered. The work of several artists including Aretha Franklin, Duke Ellington and Stevie Wonder, will be featured. To buy tickets, go to tickets.uca.edu.

Networking At 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Feb. 12 at the Arkansas Workforce Center, Molex — an electronics manufacturing company — will meet with potential employees. Learn about the company and be interviewed by Molex management. Register at eventbrite.com/d/ar--conway/ events.

photo by Lauren McLemore

Freshman Jazmin Wallace laughs with friends during a game of Uno during Game Night Jan. 30 in Student Center room 213. The Game Night was organized and attended by African American Studies Society and the African Students Association.

Game night brings together two campus organizations

By Lauren McLemore Assistant News Editor

The African American Studies Society collaborated with the African Students Association to host a game night at 6 p.m., Jan. 30 in Student Center room 213.

There were sweets, pizzas and sodas available for attendees to snack on while they played games like Uno and Monopoly. About 40 students attended the event.

“It was very inspiring to see both groups coming together and working together to build and host an event,” ASA member and senior

Denn-Warren Tafah said.

AFAM President and senior Shayla Harrell said that the ASA wanted to be present so that members from the two organizations could get to know each other better.

While UCA does offer an African/African-American Studies major, the society is separate and does not require any specific major to join. Harrell is majoring in pre-physical therapy.

While the organization is growing now, Harrell said it wasn’t always this way. After noticing the lack of activity within the society, she and other students met with an

advisor at the beginning of the summer 2018 term to begin rebuilding the organization.

“Five of us who were general body members were like, ‘We’re not gonna let this organization go,’” Harrell said.

She said that the organization now makes an effort to host events that are broad and that might encourage students outside the African and African-American communities to join.

The AFAM executives attended the 31st annual Southwestern Black Student Leadership Conference at Texas A&M to learn about the importance of defining their

blackness.

According the SBSLC website, “The conference encompasses history, leadership and networking skills, and self-improvement techniques. In addition, the conference values clarification and uses corporate America to inspire and motivate the intellect of young black collegians to be productive leaders of tomorrow.”

Harrell said that, along with increasing membership, AFAM’s ultimate goal is to promote the same ideals that were expressed at the leadership conference.

“Now that we had a fun and

interactive event, AFAM can begin to focus on other areas within the community,” Harrell said.

Upcoming events on the society’s radar include volunteer/community service around campus, providing tutoring services to local students, visiting high schools in academic distress and the formation of new programs, one of which will be titled “Your Misconceptions vs. My Reality” and another with the purpose of defining what it means to be African American.

You can watch for upcoming events on the organization’s instagram @afamsociety.

S E E I N G S TA R S

Planetarium educates kids about ancient Egyptian mythology

by Emily Gist Associate Editor

The kids in the planetarium laughed while the wide screen above their heads projected the relative sizes of a handful of suns from throughout the universe.

“In case you all forgot, this is how big our sun is,” associate astronomy professor Scott Austin said, revealing the sun as a dot beside the other giant, blue suns that exist in our solar system.

Austin took the Griffin planetarium audience in the Conway Corps Science building on a tour of the universe before the projection’s Feb. 1-2 feature showing of “Stars of the Pharaohs,” which delved into the ancient Egyptians’ perceptions of the sky and the universe.

The show, voiced by John Rhys-Davies who played Sallah in Indiana Jones, condensed

information that could fill a textbook into a 30-minute feature, which projected over the kids’ heads.

“It’s got a lot of information in it. If you’re not familiar with that history, it’s a lot to absorb, but it’s pretty interesting,” Austin said.

However, the kids latched on to the learning segment before the presentation, especially the sun comparison.

“I learned the sun is a lot smaller than a lot of the other suns,” Gwendolyn Smith, 10, said after the show.

As the feature began, the crescent projector sped past the Nile river, the largest river in the world, and traveled into a temple made by ancient Egyptians. The audience gasped as the camera zoomed.

“I had butterflies in my stomach,” Little Rock resident and father Jeremy Smith said.

“It makes you a little bit queasy, but not in a bad way. That kind of adds an element of coolness to it.”

Rhys-Davies’ voice overset the visuals and gave an overview of ancient Egyptians’ perceptions of the sky. The ancient Egyptians believed the sky was filled with the gods.

Each star was believed to be an oil lamp that gods carried on boats in their journey through the sky, and the order of the heavens maintained order on Earth.

The sky itself was believed to be a goddess named Nut (pronounced Newt) who was arched over, with the stars interlaying her skin. Ra, the most powerful god, was believed to be the sun, and he would journey across the sky every day and undergo treacherous trials every night.

There was no guarantee for the ancient Egyptians that the sun would rise every morning, but Ra always won.

Four goddesses held up the sky according to ancient Egyptian belief, and they represented the cardinal

directions. To explain why the stars seemed to gravitate around the north star, which at the time was Thuban instead of Polaris, ancient Egyptians believed a giant Hippo held a stake in the sky, keeping that point fixated.

Ancient Egyptians based virtually every aspect of their infrastructure on the heavens.

Their pyramids are believed to represent the mounds of creation, three of which also resemble the three stars in Osiris’ sash. What we know as the big dipper makes a shape that ancient Egyptians used to breathe life into the mummified pharaohs so they could continue their godly duties into the afterlight. Ramses’ temple has a cut in its ceiling such that on Ramses’ birthday, the sun shines into the temple and lights up a sculpture of Ramses.

Our 365-day calendar originated from the ancient Egyptians. Every year, when ancient Egyptians observed

the star of Osiris appear in the sky, the Nile river would swell offering the desert sustenance.

Our 12-hour night cycle also originated from the ancient Egyptians as 12 baboons represented the 12 hours of the night.

The narrator remarked that ancient Egyptians were far more aware of the sky than we are today. They used the sky to tell time and determine the season whereas we use technology.

In ancient times, the sky was used to “check the pulse of our existence,” Rhys-Davies said.

As the presentation drew near its end, Rhys-Davies remarked that, though, we are less in-tune with the sky, we are closer to its exploration than we have ever been. He said the ancient Egyptians dreamed of exploring the stars.

“We have embarked on the first steps of a journey that may make that dream come true,” Rhys-Davies said, ending the presentation.

OUTREACH

Cubs decorate, make Valentine’s Day cupcakes, strawberries at UCA Downtown

by Kaitlin Benight Staff Writer

Saturday morning, UCA Outreach held their first Cubs in the Kitchen class this year, “Be My Valentine,” where they taught kids ages 7-12 basic cooking skills.

This year, UCA Outreach’s culinary department is hosting five Cubs in the Kitchen classes, and a culinary camp this summer.

“We’re going to be teaching the kids cooking skills, like how to mix and measure wet and dry ingredients,” UCA Outreach’s culinary class coordinator Emily Cooper said. “First, we’ll be making chocolate cupcakes with strawberry frosting, then chocolate-covered strawberries and we’ll finish with making a special Valentine’s drink.”

Around 9:25 a.m., excited kids started to pile in and find their name tags. They were given aprons and chef hats, found their seats and were encouraged to customize their hats. In total there were around 20 kids, and parents were given the option to leave for a few hours and run errands.

photo by Kaitlin Benight

After the ingredients were passed out at UCA Outreach’s first Cubs in the Kitchen class on Jan.2, Outreach employees make sure the kids stayed on task. Kids enjoyed the treats that they made after two hours of hard work.

Vernetta Sanders, a French and English teacher at Maumelle High School, only had good things to say about the program.

“We bring Brooklyn to

all of these, she loves them,” Sanders said, referring to her granddaughter. “Everyone up here knows her, and her picture is even in this year’s catalog.”

Tiffany Block, the class

instructor, took her time to make all the kids feel welcomed and comfortable. During the first 10 minutes of the class, she went around asking questions to anyone willing to answer.

She strived to personalize the event and told every kid “It’s all about you.” There was one UCA Outreach employee at every table with the children.

Ingredients and mixing bowls were handed out to everyone, along with warnings like not to eat the cocoa powder, because it’s very bitter without anything added. The kids whipped the batter and licked the bowls clean after the adults put the cupcakes in the oven.

The kids piped the icing onto their cupcakes with plastic bags.

Each kid made two cupcakes, a batch of chocolate covered strawberries and a drink. At the end, the kids enjoyed the nice treats that they had made themselves.

Cubs in the Kitchen will meet again April 13 and May 10 for kids ages 7-12, and March 9 and May 18 for the little ones ages 3-6. All Cubs classes are $35. The summer camp is in June, but it is not strictly for kids. UCA Outreach’s culinary department offers adult cooking and cake decorating classes too.

To find out more, go online to uca.edu/outreach.

ucanews.live

CAMPUS LIFE

February 6, 2019 /4

STUDENTS SAY

SPOTLIGHT

PEOPLE OF UCA

“

Temple White

What do you think of the state’s minimum wage increase?

”

story by Christine Nichols Photos by Taylor Sone

Junior Jade Jones

photo by Taylor Sone

Sophomore Temple White is highly involved in campus extracurricular activities as an executive for the Ebony Models and a member of the Theta Mu chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. Temple is a biology and pre-med major and plans to become an OB-GYN.

by Dj’Kajeon Brown Online/Social Media Editor

“Half of her beauty is her brain.”

This is a quote that sophomore Temple White has always used to describe herself.

Born in Memphis, Tennessee to Renee and Jerrick White, White always knew she was destined to be something great. Growing up as the middle child between two brothers — Jerrick, 25, and Jarren, 15 — White took a liking to ballet, so she began dancing for the Jennifer and Co. Dance Academy at the age of 8 and continued until she was 12. Her favorite memory was going to the recitals and performing in front of the smiling crowd.

White’s life hit a rough patch when she was a freshman in high school and her best friend committed suicide.

“That was something

that always affected me in life, letting me know that my voice matters, and that there is always someone to talk to about whatever issue I have,” White said.

With both of her parents being UCA alumni, from the age of 14 White knew she would attend UCA. “UCA was just one of those schools I knew would always be there,” White said.

White graduated Summa Cum Laude from her high school and her next stop was UCA. Arriving on campus as a freshman in fall 2017, White joined several organizations on campus where she has maintained active involvement.

She is an Ambassador and the Treasure and Vice President of Ebony Models. White is also a member of the Theta Mu Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, pledging in fall 2018.

Along with her involvement on campus, White holds an on-campus job position with the Chemistry Department.

“My first paycheck was $6,” White said.

White is a biology pre-med major with dreams of going to medical school and becoming an OB-GYN. White expressed how she always wanted to be present in one of the most amazing yet intense moments in a woman’s life.

“Just the thought of being there when I hand the woman one of her most prized possessions excites me for the future,” White said.

White enjoys spending her free time listening to her favorite singers — including Miguel and Summer Walker, watching natural hair care videos, hanging with her friends and eating Chinese food.

One of White’s biggest challenges has been time management, especially with

having to juggle campus involvement and grades, along with the added stress of sorority involvement. Although White has to balance multiple responsibilities, she sets high standards for herself.

“When I have standards and I don’t meet them, I try not to be as hard on myself,” White said.

Following her 2021 graduation, White plans to move to Houston, Texas to start her very own family, which she said will consist of a husband, two children and a blue pit-bull named Prince.

But for now, White will continue to strive to be a better version of herself than she was yesterday. She has high hopes for the upcoming fall semester, and although she doesn’t anticipate any drastic changes, she plans to keep an open mind for all new possibilities that could enter her life.

I N V O LV E M E N T

Farris Hall residents show off their talents

by Sarah Coleman Staff Writer Residents and RAs gathered in the Farris Hall Lobby for ‘Farris Got Talent,’ a Resident Assistant-sponsored program.

Several students participated in the Jan. 28 talent show for fun.

“We’re trying to promote diversity and get everyone involved,” first-time RA and sophomore Vinz Ong said about the event.

There was a fairly equal turnout of RAs and residents at the event. Programs in residential halls typically happen once a month, and this month, the program included free food, talent performances by residents and trivia questions between acts.

There were multiple types

of performances, however, most of the participants chose to perform musical acts.

Sophomore resident Autumne Kendricks decided to sing “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miserables.

Kendricks loves living in Farris and described it as one of the best parts of going to UCA. “I love living in Farris, my roommates make living here so fun,” Kendricks said.

Kendricks also really enjoys going to the programs because they are always different.

“I come to almost all of them,” Kendricks said.

Farris Got Talent was not only a diversity-driven RA program, but also a way for the residents to creatively express themselves while taking a break from the usual late-night study

sessions. The mood of the event was consistently upbeat.

“I like performing for practice, but I just wanted to perform for fun,” Kendricks said.

Farris Hall houses students enrolled in the Schedler Honors College on campus. According to its website, the mission statement of the Schedler Honors College is “to identify exceptional students, immerse them in a learning community where they can examine who they are and practice who they want to become, provide them with opportunities of growth and transformation, and develop them as citizen scholars ready to guide socially responsible change.”

Farris Hall allows residents to further their experiences by living in a tight-knit learning

community. Freshman resident Maria Lambdin said she loves being apart of Schedler Honors College, along with living in Farris Hall. Lambdin decided to sing a gospel song that is important to her during the talent show.

“I wanted people to experience the Holy Spirit through my performance,” Lambdin said.

Residents attended the talent show to support and cheer on their friends. RAs promoted inclusiveness and fun, and residents practiced performing while having a good time.

Ong said that the RAs plan to have more programs such as this one throughout the semester. The next RA program will be about banking and finance at 5 p.m. on Feb. 6.

“As a business student, for me, it’s double sided. If I was an employer, it would be tricky. I might have to have less employees to actually pay them the minimum wage. But for the employees, I would say yes. Because, for right now, I can pay for a little bit more groceries. But as soon as the groceries increase, it’ll be basically the same as before.”

Senior Jerod Powell “So, I’m actually a business major and the way it’s been explained to me is that it has a positive and a negative. Jumping it up to like $9.50, I probably would have been like, yeah, sure. But they raised it to $11. For me, that’s too much of an increase.”

Sophomore Diyonne Summers

The three panelists, UCA English professor Wayne Stengel, Hendrix associate professor of psychology Jennifer Paszka and UCA biology professor Jeffrey Padberg, spoke about dreams at UCA’s College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics’ Science Wednesday event at King’s Live Music at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 30.

The panelists answered the packed audience‘s questions.

Many UCA students attended the event for extra credit.

An audience member first asked the panelists to define exactly what a dream is and explain how someone can know if they are dreaming.

“We don’t,” Padberg said.

Even though the event was about dreams, the panel recognized that dreams are hard to define.

The second question was about whether daydreaming counts as a dream. The panel responded by saying it is hard to study dreams because there is not a universal definition of what a dream is.

Another concept explored in the discussion was lucid dreams.

“Lucid dreaming is being in the dream and knowing you’re in that dream,” Paszka said.

Paszka said her husband is interested in control dreaming, which occurs when someone in a lucid dream is able to control their dream. She said he wants to be able to travel and go on

adventures through his dreams.

“It could create whatever reality you want. You could do whatever you want and test your ideas,” Padberg said.

The panel also discussed whether or not dreams have functions. They talked mentioned dreams could be used to test out problems in real life.

“Dreams are the meeting of the conscious and unconscious world,” Stengel said .

This concept was illustrated through a scientific study.

Padberg brought up a study where people with antegrade amnesia played the game Tetris for several days on end. The game consists of colorful blocks falling from the sky.

Each day, the participants could not remember having

played the game, even though they had played the game the day before. The researcher woke up the participants at night and asked them to report what they had dreamed about.

They reported dreaming about colored blocks coming from the sky. Therefore, even though the study participants were not able to remember the game Tetris when they were conscious, they were able to access the memory of playing Tetris through their dreams.

Science Wednesday topics vary; previous topics included “The Science of Cybersecurity” and “The Science of Sex.” The next Science Wednesday is Feb. 27 at King’s Live Music, and the topic is “The Science of Love.”

Sophomore Janae Burket “Hmm, I kind of feel like it wasn’t that much of an increase. I don’t think it had that much of an impact. I feel like people are still in the same boat.”

Sophomore Bethany Russell “I voted for it. I thought it was a good idea at the time. I think it’s nice to be able to have more money but at the same time, other expenses go up. I think it’s going to be nice for people in college who don’t have to pay for a house or utilities, it’s nice for them to have a wage increase.”

Senior Kyle Stcyl

Senior Kevin Essis

UCA professors talk about Tetris, dreams at King’s Live Music Staff Writer

“Personally, I don’t think it was really a good idea because, yeah, we increased the minimum wage but that didn’t really help because it just caused everything else to become more expensive to compensate for that.

And businesses are going to have to lay people off to compensate for it.”

“I’m a little worried because I feel like it’s going to make our tuition increase. I can’t afford college as it is. I owe the college money already.”

SCIENCE WEDNESDAY

by Rose Mcgarrity

Freshman Timothy Carr

“I guess it helps everybody.

I’m an international student, so I’m kind of neutral on it.”

“It’s a good thing. I mean, it’s more money.”

Opinion

5

ucaechoeditor@gmail.com

February 6, 2019

The Voice Billionaires should not campaign for president

The Echo Staff Marley Cash-Powell Editor

Emily Gist

Associate Editor

Lauren McCabe News Editor

Lauren McLemore Assistant News Editor

Aysha Dixon

Campus Life Editor

Christine Nichols

Assistant Campus Life Editor

Ryan Bradford Opinion Editor

Caela Rist

Entertainment Editor

Marcus McClain Sports Editor

Daniel Adams

Assistant Sports Editor

Dy’Kajeon Brown

Online/ Social Media Editor

Taylor Sone Photo Editor

Ricky Rivera Cartoonist

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Attacks against LGBTQ community still persist Republican representative Merrill As turbulent as times have been, I can’t help but feel anxious for the LGBTQ Nelson from Utah introduced a bill Jan. 29 community. Our current president hasn’t that would define gender as the reproductive handled policy affecting LGBTQ individuals organs people are born with. This bill well; he hasn’t been keeping them safe or would hurt those who want to change treating them equally, especially in light of their certificate to transition, and it would introduce new problems to intersex people. the transgender military ban.

What good is there in preventing people I don’t understand why people can’t treat others with dignity. The state of our country from living the way that they want to? feels like it’s deteriorating, especially Legislation like this is pointless. It’s pushed by people who are dead set on forcing when you hear about people getting others to live their lives based on a attacked in the news: like actor political agenda.

Jussie Smollett being attacked Jan. Times continue to change and 29. with every victory that the LGBTQ Unfortunately, this attack community achieves, there’s always was likely only harbor attention because Smollett is famous for his someone who wants to negate that work on shows like “Empire.” victory and say, “Sorry, you don’t However, other LGBTQ get to do that after all because people are attacked daily, we said so.” and the public doesn’t It’s good to find people care as much as it who are willing to support should. the LGBTQ community In fact, a man was and make sure the people

by Daniel Adams attacked outside of a in that community are Philadelphia gay bar Jan. Assistant Sports Editor treated with the respect 27, while the attackers and dignity that any shouted homophobic human being deserves. slurs. The group’s motivations aren’t With America’s current situation, however, confirmed, but their actions don’t exactly I don’t know how many people carry that paint the best picture.

I have several friends in the LGBTQ sentiment.

It feels like every day a new story reveals community whom I care about and I wouldn’t want any harm to come to them how much negativity and hatred people can no matter the circumstances. When I carry in their heart.

Hopefully, things improve with time. hear in the news that Utah is considering adding language that would prevent After all, it’s easy to respect, care for and transgender people from updating their love everyone around you. If we could treat birth certificates, I wonder why people want people humanely, maybe the world would be better. to do these things.

Before becoming outraged, rethink comic’s intent Comedy is as subjective as it is quotes from the special, it doesn’t look good. prominent in today’s hyper-political world. But those quotes were taken out of context.

Everyone is outraged by something different Segura even encouraged those criticizing on social media. However, entertainment him to watch the entire special; after which, has become oversaturated with over 150 many critics changed their perspectives. stand-up specials on Netflix alone. They’re Even the most famous entertainers aren’t becoming the new mixtape: Everyone has immune to being berated on Twitter. Kevin one, and if he doesn’t, he thinks he should.

Hart didn’t host the Oscars in 2018 because of Unfortunately, most specials and shows outrage resurfacing over 10-year-old tweets are filled with recycled jokes and bland which he has apologized for numerous content. Most comedians won’t broach times. That isn’t to defend what Hart said, certain topics simply because they’re afraid. but he made it clear that he’s moved on and Besides the backlash they’ll face on Twitter, is a better person. they’re more afraid of losing endorsements Another comic who faced endless and having their shows canceled. backlash because of his misogynistic When discussing how he answers jokes was Patrice O’Neal. He politically-charged questions on responded on a 2007 Fox News show. the Opie Radio podcast, comic and “My world is people trying to be executive producer Bill Burr said he funny. It’s the PC [politically correct] refuses to answer them because of cops running amok,” O’Neal said. the backlash and potential losses he Almost all the comics mentioned would suffer. are edgy. Edgy comedy isn’t for “You can afford to pay for your everyone, and there’s nothing house this month, want to wrong with that. Any time a f**k with that? No, I don’t, comic tells an edgy joke, it’s because you’re only designed to make people allowed to have one laugh and to offer people opinion on so many a chance to laugh at topics now,” Burr said. by Matt Smothers themselves.

Burr isn’t the That’s what made the Staff Writer only comic who has “Chappelle’s Show,” and expressed his annoyance shows like the “Opie and with outrage culture.

Anthony Radio Show” so Chris Rock, Jim Norton, Larry the Cable Guy, Patton Oswalt, Colin Quinn, Joe Rogan great; nobody was safe from the punchline and Gilbert Gottfried are some of the many of a joke. Unfortunately, those shows will comics who have expressed their discontent likely never exist again.

Standing up to racism, misogyny, with outrage culture.

Salon Quinn has a new show in New homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia York called “Red State Blue State” that and hate speech should absolutely be a top tackles many of today’s societal issues and priority in American society. The goal should will release on Audible later this year. In an be to make America more safe, comfortable interview, Quinn said the way comics’ jokes and equal for everyone.

Unfortunately, right now, America is not are dissected like a politician’s speech is a place that’s equal and safe for everyone, nearly “Orwellian.”

“Comedy’s never positive. It’s talking often because of things people aren’t able to about the people’s flaws and society’s control. Comedians understand this just as well as most people. problems,” Quinn said.

So next time you hear an edgy joke, Tom Segura, who has three Netflix standup specials and is the host of the Your Mom’s don’t take it as the comic being deliberately House podcast, faced his share of criticism offensive; take it as someone who is attempting to help you forget all your and outrage from his special “Disgraceful.”

To be fair when you just look at the hardships by way of comedy.

There seems to be a trend lately of billionaires running for president, but why? The most recent presidential bid coming from former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has caused an uproar, as it should.

But it has happened in the past, too.

Ross Perot, the tech billionaire Texan who had a net worth of $3 billion at the time, ran as an independent in 1992, grabbing one fifth of the electorate.

Most recently, and most obviously, we have President Donald Trump. He is a billionaire, a fact he likes to brag about along with everything else about himself. Trump had a net worth of $2.9 billion approximately, according to the Bloomberg website.

Other than Schultz there have also been rumors of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg running. Michael Bloomberg and Mark Cuban have also considered running for president in the past.

Why would some of the richest people in the world, presumably living the good life, suddenly decide to run an exhausting campaign for one of the most stressful jobs in the world?

Is it to change the world? There are certainly better ways to go about that such as starting a charity or program to help those in need.

There’s no reason to become the person in charge when there are more meaningful ways to create change, especially with that kind of money.

Another question: After becoming a billionaire, what else is there to gain?

Perhaps this bid for the presidency is an attempt for these billionaires to fill some void in their lives because something is still missing.

All these business-leader rich folk lack the experience for the position of the office.

Being the head of a company is vastly different than leading a nation.

Politics is a completely different game altogether.

It takes years to become a professional politician, and even then, one wrong move could end a career. Just because you were able to win at capitalism doesn’t mean you’ll be good at politics.

An example would be in job creation.

Creating jobs as a CEO and employer is different than doing so as the commander in chief. Yet this didn’t stop Trump from claiming his “opponents have no experience in creating jobs or making deals.”

Maybe it is the celebrity that comes with the money of the fame of being a billionaire. Take Elon Musk for example, he was heralded as a real life Tony Stark, even making a cameo in Iron Man 3.

Musk has had a lot of buzz over the past year, none of it good. He still has 24.5 million followers on Twitter.

One reason the public easily elects billionaires is because they are not politicians — an aspect that Trump emphasized during his campaign repeatedly.

Presidential elections are, in large part, a popularity contest. The rest usually comes from whoever has the most money, and being rich certainly helps.

For me, that fact isn’t necessarily a good thing. It simply says: “I have no qualifying experience for the job I am vying for,” which would drop you from the running in a normal job, but somehow earns votes in the political arena.

There is also a low chance that any third-party candidate will win a presidential election. Schultz may want to run as a “centrist independent,” but many of his policies are left-leaning.

This would split the vote between Schultz and the democratic nominee, giving his opponent a boost in the votes.

Trump wants Schultz to run for this very reason.

We, for one, would prefer candidates with political experience. We’ve gotten our fill of billionaire presidents.

There’s no reason to become the person in charge when there are more meaningful ways to create change, especially with that kind of money.

Have an opinion? Everyone does.

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Entertainment

6

February 6, 2019

New This Week

Netflix highlights failed festival with ‘FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened’

by Aysha Dixon

Movies Feb. 15 — Happy Death Day 2U (R), directed by Christopher Landon, starring Jessica Rothe, Ruby Modine, Israel Broussard, Suraj Sharma Feb. 15 — Alita: Battle Angel (PG-13), directed by Steven Knight, starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Diane Lane, Djimon Feb. 15 — Fighting with My Family (PG-13), directed by Stephen Merchant, starring Dwayne Johnson, Florence Pugh, Lena Headey, Saraya-Jade Bevis Feb. 15 — Isn’t It Romantic (R), directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson, starring Priyanka Chopra, Tom Ellis, Liam Hemsworth, Betty Gilpin

Music Feb. 8 — From Hell With Love— Beast In Black Feb. 8 — Sunshine Rock— Bob Mould Feb. 8 — Tip Of The Sphere— Cass McCombs Feb. 8— Quiet Signs — Jessica Pratt Feb. 8 — The Delta Sweete Revisited — Mercury Rev Feb. 8— Buoys — Panda Bear Feb. 15 — Ladytron — Ladytron Feb. 15 — Triage —Methyl Ethel Feb. 15 — Ephyra — Woman’s Hour

Feb. 15 — American Love Song — Ryan Bingham Feb. 15 — Berkeley’s On Fire — SWMRS Feb. 15 — Signs — Tedeschi Trucks Band

Netflix Feb. 3 — Disney’s Beverly Hills Chihuahua, dirrected by Raja Gosnell, starring George Lopez, Drew Barrymore, Piper Perabo

Jan. 25 — The Soloist, dirrected by Joe Wright, starring Jamie Foxx, Robert Downey Jr., Catherine Keener Feb. 8 — One Day at a Time: Season 3, created by Gloria Calderon Kellett, Mike Royce, starring Justina Machado, Todd Grinnell, Isabella Gomez Feb. 8 — Unauthorized Living, created by Aitor Gabilondo, starring José Coronado, Álex González, Claudia Traisac Feb. 8 — The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants: Season 2, starring Nat Faxon, Jay Gragnani

Top Five Languages to Learn List compiled by Ryan Bradford Opinion Editor

Campus Life Editor

Netflix’s newest documentary, “FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened,” tells the personal accounts of models, executives and social media influencers who expected to attend the most exclusive music festival to date, but actually wound up experiencing fraudulent claims and days of hell on Earth.

The documentary begins by telling the story of how the festival was founded by a wealthy entrepreneur, Billy McFarland, and a well-known rapper, Ja Rule. Although McFarland had a reputation of throwing marvelous parties and networking events in his past via his company Magnesis — a company that produced a credit card built for the future — the eerie background music foreshadowed this documentary’s inevitable fate.

Fyre originated as a potentially revolutionary app where booking your favorite artists was as simple as the click of a button for music professionals, club owners, etc.

Since the app was the first of its kind, artists and big-name music labels were naturally drawn into the illustrious future the app promised.

McFarland and Ja Rule crafted an ambitious idea to host a massive music festival in order

photo courtesy of consequenceofsound.

Fyre Festival employees desperatly try to assemble tents to provide living arrangements for their guests. A massive rain storm fell over the Bahamas the night before and soaked the mattresses they planned to use.

to promote this new app. They called it Fyre Festival.

McFarland easily twisted his words to charm those around him into believing that Fyre Festival would be successful.

Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter videos were used as advertisements for Fyre Festival.

The founders supposedly booked Pablo Escobar’s former private island — Norman’s Cay — and hired supermodels like Bella Hadid and Chanel Iman to shoot a promotional video which was blasted on social media. The promotional video should have been the first red flag for the production team.

Not only were McFarland and Ja Rule trying to shoot scenes that were not previously agreed upon, but the entire shoot seemed more like a party than a step toward a successful

business move.

As tickets sold out, McFarland was given multiple recommendations that the island was far too small and undeveloped to accommodate the estimated number of festival-goers. There were no power sources, and plumbing would be impossible. Still determined to throw his game-changing concert, McFarland ignored these suggestions.

It was obvious employees were blindly following Mcfarland.

It’s hard to understand why people involved didn’t think to call the police to shut down this charade of a festival before anyone arrived.

Instead, employees sent passive emails and group texts stating McFarland was out of his

MUSIC

mind.

I grew annoyed listening to former Fyre Festival employees tell their stories about being fired, and I was saddened that the festival’s horrible outcome could have easily been avoided.

Bahamian natives subbing in as the festival’s construction workers, cooks and culture specialists did everything in their power to satisfy McFarland. I could not help but to take their sides as the unpaid employees eventually put hits out for the Fyre executives. Andy King, a professional event planner, admitted his willingness to exchange sexual favors in order to obtain bottled water for festival goers. McFarland dangled jobs and checks in front of employees’ faces to ultimately get what he desired.

Jaw-dropping videos from festival-goers showed frenzy on the island as festival employees tried to handle the situation as professionally as they could. McFarland’s solution was to keep them drunk with tequila and pump up the music.

Stolen luggage, no housing, skimpy meals and no plan for how to return home just scratches the surface regarding what the festival attendees had to endure.

Even after the festival was branded a scam by every news network, Ja Rule and McFarland still attempted to manipulate their employees.

Instead of firing employees, which would have allowed them to file for unemployment, McFarland announced that there would be no more payroll.

Mcfarland was eventually sentenced to six years in prison October 2018 for wire fraud and his most recent scamming technique — selling fake tickets to events like the Met Gala, Victoria Secret Fashion Shows and the Grammys.

The biggest take away from this documentary is to avoid relying on social media as your main source of truth, even if it’s advertised by your favorite influencer.

“FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened” is now streaming on Netflix and is rated TV-MA.

VIDEO GAME

Band Vampire Weekend rises from its coffin with unpredictable singles

by Lauren McCabe For any Indie pop or rock fanatic like me, chances are you’ve heard of the band Vampire Weekend. Formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Ezra Koenig, the band released its first album back in 2008 titled “Vampire Weekend.” Soon after, the band was acclaimed by critics for its global cultural influence and gained a following of what some may describe as angsty teens, like myself, who live for the beats and music mixes that defined their song style.

Sadly, for some devoted fans, the band members took a break from creating music after their 2013 album “Modern Vampires Of The City.” Despite their break, fans continued to listen, cover and gawk over the band’s musical accomplishments and feats that described the challenges of coming-to-age.

But fear not, valid listeners!

Vampire Weekend has recently emerged from their dark, garlic-free studio to announce that their hiatus is over and they are ready to present a new album titled “Father Of The Bride.”

Even better, they decided to release two new singles every month through at least March to tease their album’s release in April or May. Luckily, for any new or skeptical fans, I excitedly clicked the link they shared on their social media outlets to check out this month’s songs, “Harmony Hall” and “2021.”

Along with the release of the song “Harmony Hall” came a simple video of ants crawling across what looks like a green branch. During the sample video we’re taken back to the iconic voice and songwriting of Koenig which describes a joyful, jumpy, springtime mood filled with piano and sweet guitar-licking solos.

However, some may see the cheerful music as an offset to the repetition of the lyrics. Compared to past album singles, Koenig sounds less afraid of the sentiment of death, though there are still areas of the song that gives off the impression that he continues to fight against the same existential doubts.

Specifically in the lyrics “I don’t wanna live like this, but I don’t want to die.” Koenig’s raw lyrics and ideas are the reason Vampire Weekend remains on the charts. With this song, at least, it seems that Koenig is warming up and embracing the idea of adulthood and settlement.

My love of the band’s use of short and sweet electronica-driven music was reinstated in “2021,” as I laid in my bed with my eyes closed and my ears grooving to the music. The style of the song reminded me of the similar paces found in their earlier work, specifically in the song “Obvious Bicycle,” which was the opener on their last album.

With the vibe-induced work of a subtle piano and a repeated sample yelping “BOY,” this two-minute track possesses a far more immediate sound than ‘Obvious Bicycle.” For me, I couldn’t help but find myself listening to it over and over again, making it an oddly addicting teaser.

The nostalgia that these two singles bring to me is sweet, bringing me back to my 13-year-old self who jammed to “Horchata” every second possible for months at a time.

I predict that I’ll be doing the same with this album and the teaser singles that accompany it. For current VW fans, this album will not disappoint, and I encourage those who may be new to the scene to check out both “Harmony Weekend” and “2021” for the soothing yet existential enjoyment of groovy beats and intimate lyrics. The songs can be found now streaming on Spotify.

1. Japanese Japanese is a complex language that I am enjoying learning now. It will fit the bill if you’re a fan of anime, enjoy any other language or if you plan to travel to a country where they speak it. Japanese characters — hiragana, the main alphabet; katakana, which is normally used for foreign words; and kanji, the adopted Chinese characters — can be difficult to understand, but once you get the hang of the characters, it becomes easier to handle.

It will also take some time to grow accustomed to the style, especially kanji, as the letters can be complex in shape and writing order.

2. Spanish Spanish is the second most spoken language in the United States, which makes it convenient and appropriate to learn. Many of you have probably already learned some Spanish in high school, so it isn’t something entirely new. It’s also a language you come into contact with quite often, which will help you to recognize and learn it. Spanish uses the same alphabet as the English language with a few variations such as the accents above the letters: ñ, é and ü. The Spanish language can be easily mastered with the increased chances of immersion available here in the U.S.

Assistant News Editor

photo courtesy of www.ballstatedaily.com

“Life is Strange 2” is a sequel to a previously released video game “Life is Strange.” The game follows the life of two Hispanic-American brothers, Sean Diaz and Daniel Diaz [above],s as they maneuver racism and politics.

‘Life is Strange 2’ video game sheds light on racism

by Emily Gist Associate Editor

How do you make a video game involving psychic manipulation and superpowers while also containing the state of the country concerning Hispanic-Americans?

“Life is Strange 2,” by DontNod Studios, manages to combine the extreme surrealism of superpowers with the horrific reality of the current political climate. Episode two, which was released Jan. 24, is the eye amid the storm.

“Life is Strange 2” is a sequel to the previously released video game “Life is Strange” and, like its predecessor, it’s a choice-based, story-based game. Therefore, the plot plays more like a movie, with several key decisions changing the ultimate outcome of each episode and the game as-a-whole. Thankfully, one doesn’t have to play “Life is Strange” to enjoy “Life is Strange 2” because the stories are vastly different. Each game employs a completely different plot and completely different characters.

However, one should consider playing “The Awesome Adventures of Captain Sparkle” before playing “Life is Strange 2” because specific events that transpire in the former play parallel to “Life is Strange 2” episode two. To explain episode two, however, some basic events of episode one need to be highlighted.

Without giving too much away, shortly after episode one kicks off, the two main characters — teenager Sean 3. French French — the language of love. It is another language spoken fairly often in the United States in places like Louisiana and in many parts of Canada. It is also the most widely-spoken language in the world, after English. French also uses an alphabet similar to Spanish with its use of accents such as é, ï or â. It is somewhat difficult to learn as many letters are silent, something that has become a joke on the internet. Regardless, French sounds pleasing to the ear and I find it to be an overall fun language to learn, albeit tougher than the previous languages I have attempted.

Diaz and younger brother Daniel Diaz — are suspects for the murder of their own father, Ernando Diaz. The circumstances behind their father’s death immediately outline the theme of the whole game and reveal the tensions between society and marginalized groups.

The brothers abandon their home and almost immediately face backlash from their community. When they beg for food, they are believed to be begging for “handouts.” When given the choice to purchase or steal supplies from a shop, the two are presumed to have stolen the supplies and are tied up for the police to arrest.

These moments, and a plethora more, provide context for episode two of the series.

The first episode reveals just how high the stakes are for these two protagonists, and just how racist the world around them is.

In episode two, however, these tensions take a backseat, lulling the player into a false sense of security. The brothers find respite in a small town where their white grandparents live. The brothers are initially hesitant to see their grandparents because of previous familial tensions.

However, Sean ultimately encourages his brother, saying they are all still family despite the looming strain.

The following events are relatively uneventful. However, several little things sprinkled throughout the grandparents’ house hint at their political affiliation. The grandparents are ultimately welcoming to 4. Arabic Arabic is a language that truly surpasses others in sound.

It has quickly become my favorite language to listen to. Arabic does have its own original alphabet and is also physically written in a cursive style. Arabic has around 250 million native speakers worldwide and comes with many varying dialects, but don’t let that scare you off. Reasons to learn Arabic are vast and include gaining a better understanding of Islam, the second largest religion in the world, and educating yourself in the prosperous world of Arabian culture, which is rich and diverse.

the boys, contrasting with the last episode and sidestepping expectation. This reveals the comforting theme that family roots run deeper than politics.

The lull is short-lived, however. When the boys go to a Christmas shop, a man berates two hippies and calls them parasites. If the player chooses to talk to the heckler afterward, his rhetoric implies his political leanings as he says, “This is why our country’s broken” and “we have to take care of our own kind.”

This rhetoric matches common notion surrounding many minority groups today and serves as the player’s first reminder that the characters aren’t safe yet. When the boys return to their grandparents’ house, events escalate, but I will leave those juicy bits for if you choose to play the game.

Ultimately, I appreciate the game’s acknowledgment of the political climate; however, I feel the game’s characters are too extreme and one-dimensional. When the players are influenced to despise a character, that character is blatantly racist and irredeemable. When there’s someone you’re supposed to sympathize with, he is an angel among mankind. This is especially apparent in episode one but also leaks into episode two. Overall, I wish the game had explored more complexity among its antagonists, and even its protagonists, to paint a more complex picture of the world.

Life is Strange 2 episodes one and two are available for purchase on Steam.

5. Chinese Chinese closely follows the English language in the number of speakers, with 1.1 billion native speakers. The standard form is based on the Beijing dialect of Mandarin, the most common form of the language. It uses a writing system of characters similar to the Japanese’s kanji but with distinctive pronunciations.

There are over 80,000 Chinese characters, but only about 3,500 are used in conversation. China is the world leader in exports and has the second largest economy, after the United States. China will only rise beyond this, making Chinese a great language to master.

Sports

7

February 6, 2019

Upcoming Games Tennis

8:45 a.m., Feb. 8 at Clarksville, Tennessee Softball

Feb. 8-9 at University of Southern Mississippi Men’s Basketball

4 p.m., Feb. 9, vs Southeastern Louisiana University Women’s Basketball

2 p.m., Feb. 9, vs Southeastern Louisiana University Men’s and Women’s Track

Feb. 9 at Houston University

Editor’s Take

photo by Taylor Sone

Sophomore point guard DeAndre Jones (55) picks up the foul on a fast break against Demons post Ishmael Lane (20) during the Bear’s 80-75 loss to the Northwestern State. The Bear’s fell just short of pulling off the comeback after trailing by 24 points at halftime.

University of Missouri

Bears drop two against Lumberjacks, Demons in Farris

by Daniel Adams

Staff Writer

Academic fraud hits the

by DJ Jones

Assistant Sports Editor

Once again, another school’s athletic program has made the news for the wrong reasons.

The University of Missouri accepted postseason bans for their football, baseball and softball programs Jan. 31.

This came after a two-year investigation revealed that extensive academic fraud had occurred since 2016 as a tutor had completed final exams and online classes for basketball and football players.

This case is intriguing because the University of North Carolina previously underwent an investigation for academic problems as well.

The only difference was that North Carolina’s players had completed the work on their own while Missouri’s players had a tutor complete work for them.

The UCA mens basketball team (10-13, 5-5 SLC) was defeated by Stephen F. Austin (11-9, 4-4 SLC) 105-99 on Jan.30 and Northwestern State University (8-14, 3-6 SLC) 80-75.

These losses gave the Bears their fourth and fifth loss in conference play.

Against SFA, the Bears went into the second half of play trailing the Lumberjacks 47-46, but were able to outscore them in the second half and send the game into overtime.

With two 3-pointers and eight free-throws from the Lumberjacks, and two missed shots in the final seconds from UCA, SFA was able to outscore the Bears 18-12 and seal the win. If UCA had won, it would have been their first win at SFA. The Bears shot 44 percent from the field and 42 percent from behind the three-point

line.

The team grabbed 36 rebounds and had 10 steals.

Sophomore guard Deandre Jones lead the bears in scoring with a career-high 29-points shooting 8-18 from the field, 5-11 from beyond the arc, and 8-11 from the free throw line.

Jones also added in eight assists, six steals and 5 rebounds.

Sophomore guard Matthew Mondesir was next in scoring for the bears with 16 points and six assists. Senior guard Thatch Unruh also chipped in 16 points.

The Lumberjacks shot 51 percent from the field, 44 percent from behind the three-point line and 73 percent from the free-throw line.

Junior guard Kevon Harris lead SFA in scoring with 33 points, 16 rebounds and five assists.

Forward Davonte Fitzgerald was next with 29 points while senior guard Shannon Bogues pitched in 18 points.

The Bears also lost in a home game to Northwestern State 80-75 Feb.2 in the Farris Center.

This loss gave UCA its fifth loss of conference play, moving the Bears conference record to 5-5.

Northwestern outscored UCA 51-27 in the first half of play, but the Bears managed to chop down the 24-point lead outscoring the Demons 48-29 in the second half.

Late in the half, senior guard Thatch Unruh converted on a 3-point play and sophomore center Hayden Koval hit a pair of free throws to tie the game at 68.

The Demons were able to take the lead back after making four consecutive free throws and a layup.

After another 3-point play from Unruh with 21.5 seconds left, the Bears were able to cut the lead to 76-75. However, the Demons held the Bears off and secured the win.

BREAKING EVEN

Academic fraud cases like these don’t appear often in comparison to other recent college scandals at Michigan State and Penn State, among others. Academic fraud isn’t often discussed because the issue simply doesn’t carry the heavy connotations that other crimes might.

In September 2017, The FBI announced the results of a corruption investigation into several schools across the country where coaches were accused of giving their players illegal benefits that ranged from helping a recruit and his family move near the University of Lousiville to Adidas employees helping a player move to Miami, Florida.

Bears motivated to finish strong after loss to Tulsa

by Marley CashPowell Editor

Hopefully, this trend of academic fraud doesn’t continue into the future. After all, it says something when academic integrity rules have to be made in the first place.

Perhaps changes can be made at a systematic level to where players won’t think it would be necessary to try to get bonus money or skip out on classes.

photo by of Marcus McClain

Senior guard Kamry Orr attempts to drive down the lane Jan. 30 in the Farris Center against Stephen F. Austin State University. Orr lead the Sugar Bears with 15 points in the game.

Sugar Bears fall short against Ladyjacks; Orr extends streak in win over NWSU

by Marcus McClain Sports Editor

The UCA women’s basketball team (8-12, 3-7 SLC) split games in their last two contest against Stephen F. Austin State University (17-3, 8-0 SLC) and Northwestern State University (7-13, 2-7 SLC) in the Farris Center.

In the first contest against, the Sugar Bears suffered a close 59-53 lost to SFA, the second place team in the conference, which kept the Ladyjacks as one of the two unbeaten teams in the Southland.

The Sugar Bears were within one point during the fourth quarter, but a 14-4 run over the final five minutes was too much for UCA to overcome. This game marked the sixth single digit loss for the Sugar Bears.

Despite being on the wrong side of these closely decided games, UCA is keeping a positive attitude after falling to one of the conference’s top teams.

“I think our kids are showing that we’re getting better every game,” associate head coach Greg Long said. “We’ve lost to two of the top teams in the conference by seven and six, so these girls just have to keep getting better.”

Senior guard Kamry Orr and sophomore forward Hannah Langhi led the Sugar Bears in scoring with 15 points each. Orr was also able to add eight assists and four steals. However, the Ladyjacks’ strong inside play kept SFA in control.

They also reaped the benefits of strong rebounding to help them grab the win.

“They got a lot of offensive rebounds,” Orr said. “That’s what it was for them, but we have to box out and rebound.”

The Sugar Bears were able to make the adjustment and have a strong performance on the backboard Feb. 2 against Northwestern State.

They finished the game with a 49-23 advantage in rebounding,

one that should have been won from the start.

“We started off so slow and it showed that they wanted this game more than us,” Chatham said. “If we would’ve played harder or at least matched their intensity in the beginning, we would’ve had this game for sure.

As a team we expect to win every game from here on and not take any plays off. Our goal is to go into the tournament with the hot hand,” Catham said.

Jones said after halftime that the team knew they had to take a big step.

“We just knew we weren’t playing up to our potential.

Nothing was really needed to be said. We took it upon ourselves to cut the lead down and give ourselves a chance after a poor first half,” Jones said.

UCA will host Southeastern Louisiana University next game, whose one spot ahead of the Bears in conference, Feb. 9 in the Farris Center.

F I G H T I N G FAT I G U E

These cases tend to lead to the same old storyline: players cheating in classes and getting caught.

But even if that’s the case, that there’s nothing spectacular to report, this still needs to be investigated and discussed.

People act like these stories are nothing but they’re something.

There is constant motivation for players to try to get these bonuses, but they need to be shared every time so people can know about what all happens behind the scenes.

This wouldn’t be the first time corruption has made the headlines either.

The Bears shot 46 percent from the field, 30 percent from behind the three-point line and 66 percent from the free throw line.

Unruh lead the team in scoring with a career-high 33 points and also added in three assists and one steal.

Koval was next in scoring with 14 points, ten rebounds and two blocks, moving into first place for UCA in career blocks. This game also gave Koval his second career double-double.

Northwestern shot 56 percent from the field, 47 percent from behind the 3-point line and 55 percent from the free throw line.

Senior forward Ishmael Lane lead the Demons in scoring with 22 points, and 13 rebounds. Junior guard Laterrance Reed was next in scoring with 19 points.

Sophomore forward Jared Chatham said this game was

leading to a 74-52 victory.

Twenty-six of those rebounds came on the offensive end and 23 second chance points. The Sugar Bears also found an advantage in points off turnovers, carving out a 25-14 edge.

UCA used these advantages to respond to the Lady Demons’ early 9-2 lead. A huge 20-3 run in the second quarter put the Sugar Bears back in front, with NSU never being able to jump ahead.

However, the Lady Demons did respond by cutting the Sugar Bear lead down to two in the third quarter, but UCA again went on a big run to remain in control.

The Sugar Bears won the fourth quarter 24-9 to pull away and seal the win. Orr was again able to lead the team in scoring with 26 points, notching her eighth 20-point game of the season.

See Sugar Bears- page 8

The UCA tennis team hopped across state lines to neighboring Oklahoma, facing off in their first double-header of the season Feb. 2.

In the morning game against the University of Tulsa, UCA lost 1-6, but bounced back in the afternoon game against Oral Roberts University, winning 4-1.

Against Tulsa, the Bears took an early lead in doubles on the indoor courts of the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.

Seniors QiLi Ma and Rada Manataweewat shook Tulsa freshmen Megan Hopton and Marina Davtyan with a 6-1 win. This win kept the Ma-Manataweewat duo undefeated, moving to 4-0 on the year.

In the No. 2 spot, Tulsa’s senior Martha Matoula and sophomore Shura Poppe evened the score with an ace to end the match at 6-4.

Tulsa also holds the nation’s No. 4-ranked doubles tandem of juniors Martina Okalova and Vera Ploner, who defeated UCA’s pairing of freshman Fuka Nonoyama and senior Marli Van Heerden, 6-4.

Van Heerden stood out in singles play, defeating Poppe 6-3, 6-7 (7-5), 1-0 (10-5), earning the only team point for singles.

Sophomore Yada Vasupongchai nearly earned the Bears a second point in a duel against Hopton, but she fell just shy of a win at 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-2).

The remaining singles play matches didn’t fare nearly as well. Tulsa’s Okalova defeated UCA’s Nonoyama, 6-3, 6-0.

Tulsa’s Matoula defeated UCA’s

freshman Mei Ishimura, 6-1, 6-0. Tulsa’s Ploner defeated UCA’s Ma, 6-1, 6-1. And, lastly, Tulsa’s Davtyan defeated UCA’s Manataweewa, 6-1, 6-0.

“Even though we didn’t win, we are not upset with our results or the way we played,” Manataweewa said.

Ishimura added to Manataweewa’s statement.

“We fought hard and made them work for it — they are a tough team and we made sure not to give them any free [or] easy points,” Ishimura said.

The morning match was a tough battle, but the Bears used their loss as motivation and encouragement to go out again at 2 p.m. against ORU. Coach Casey Wharton encouraged the team before facing ORU, telling them to put the loss behind them and focus on the battle against the Golden Eagles.

“We were a little physically tired, but we didn’t let that stop us from giving it our best,” Van Heerden said.

“I was so tired physically after my match that I fell asleep while stretching but I felt better and ready to play again—and I did well,” Vasupongchai said.

The morning match was the first match up against Tulsa, but the Bears have played ORU before, so they were confident that their chances for a win were good.

“Our plan was to focus from the beginning and focus more on how we play than the result,” Manataweewat said. “Today reminded me of my freshman year when we played against [ORU] indoors at this same venue. I’m happy when I look back now and see how far

See Tennis- page 8

ucanews.live

SPORTS

8/ February 6, 2019

SPORT

UCA STATS CORNER

Men’s Basketball

OPPONENT

RESULT

RECORD

80-75 (L)

(10-13, 5-5)

Northwestern State

74-52 (W)

(8-12, 3-7)

Oral Roberts University

4-1 (W)

(3-2)

Northwestern State University

Women’s Basketball

Tennis

J U M P S TA R T

Baseball brings toughness, depth into new year photo by Rafael Soliz II

Redshirt sophomore forward Jared Chatham performs a dribble move after practice Jan. 21 in the Farris Center. Chatham has played in 22 games this year and has helped the Bears to seventh place in the current conference standings.

Sophomore looks to improve on defensive end

by Rafael Soliz II Staff Writer

Sophomore forward Jared Chatham, known by most as Jay, is your typical 6’9” kid who enjoys playing basketball just a little bit more than most people.

He can remember growing up, playing basketball at the park with his brother in South Central Los Angeles where he was born and raised.

“My brother put the ball in my hands at a young age.

I saw him playing at the park and I wanted to play with him,” Chatham said.

Growing up in Los Angeles wasn’t easy for Jared. He had to stay on his toes while also minding his own business when it came to being in public.

“When you’re back home [in L.A.], you have to always be aware of your surroundings.

A lot of things can happen so quick,” Chatham said.

Chatham started playing basketball in the fifth grade, but he didn’t start taking the game seriously until eighth grade.

Chatham attended George Washington Preparatory High School in Los Angeles and

appeared in the starting lineup his junior and senior years on the team. He helped the team to consecutive 20-win seasons and also played for the Belizean National Team in high school.

With so many things to do in Los Angeles, Jared said he always found himself having fun and hanging out with friends in his down time.

“My friends and I always liked going to the beach in Santa Monica, and going shopping afterwards,” Chatham said.

Moving from L.A. to Conway was an adjustment for Chatham, but he likes the changes that came with the move.

“I like it here because there’s a lot of good people and everyone is so nice,” Chatham said.

Chatham is currently a rotation player for the Bears , playing 10-15 minutes per game. To improve as a player, he wants to mold himself into a defensive juggernaut who will help lead to a starting role on the team. Chatham said his desire to perform at a high level is what drives him to be a better player and improve every day.

“I want to try and become

one of best defensive players this school has ever seen,” Chatham said. “Anybody can score the ball, but I want to be different. If I’m not impacting the game offensively, I want to make sure I can impact the game defensively at a high level.”

Chatham’s teammates think highly of the sophomore forward.

They said they appreciate his work ethic and his desire to improve in any way possible.

“Jared has an awesome work ethic and he is always one of the first ones in the gym, and one of the last ones out of the gym,” senior center Tanner Schmit said.

The Bears are currently fifth in the Southland Conference standings with a record of 5-5, but Jared believes they can achieve much more. His goal is a conference championship this year.

“It’ll take consistent effort every night, from every player, and it has to start on the defensive end,” Chatham said.

Jared is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Family and Consumer Science and is set to graduate in the spring of 2020.

RIGHT ON TRACK

Men’s Track continues success at Don Denoon Invite

by Macy Davis Staff Writer

The UCA men’s track and field team traveled to Carbondale, Illinois for their sixth track meet of the season Feb. 1-2.

The meet took place at Southern Illinois University Feb. 1-2. Categories they competed in included the one-mile run; 60-, 200-, 400, 800- and 3000-meter runs; 4x400-meter relay race; pole vault, long jump, triple jump and shot put.

Placing in seven out of 11 categories, UCA played well in the meet last weekend.

“Overall everyone is progressing really well, and we’re right on track for our conference championships in three weeks. So, I’m very happy with how everyone is performing at this point in time of the year,” UCA Men’s Track and Field assistant couch Beau Theriot said.

UCA earned the top placement from senior Markus Schweikert with a time of 8 minutes 26.6 seconds in the 3000-meter race. Schweikert’s

Tennis:

teammate, senior Julien Jeandree, finished soon after, taking second place with 8:34.98 as his final time.

Schweikert broke a personal record this weekend as well as UCA’s record with his 8:26.56 time in the 3000-meter race.

This is his second time to break a school record. Schweikert broke the school record for 5000-meter outdoors last year at a meet in Florida.

“I am happy about the race and did exactly what I wanted to do. It is a personal record for me, and I also broke the school record at the same time,” Schweikert said.

Although this was a successful meet overall, Theriot said it was meant as a resting period for most of the players. Many of the men didn’t compete at all, and they were told to either stay at home or workout at the meet.

Men’s track also placed in the top 10 for the 200-, 400-, and 800-meter races.

In the 200-meter, UCA freshman Johnson Adegbite ran through the finish line with a time of 23.49 at seventh place, followed by junior Ryan Yarde

at eighth place with 23.59 as his final time.

Three of UCA’s players also came in the top 10 for the 400-meter race. Bears’ junior Luis Colon ran in fourth place with a time of 51.51. Senior Chris Walker followed Colon in 10th place with a time of 53.78.

Not only did Schweikert, Jeandree, Yarde and Colon place top 10 in their individual categories, but these four runners together placed sixth in the 4x400 meter relay race with a final time of 3:31.00.

Freshmen Thomas Hutchinson and Joshua Barber each landed in the top 10 for pole vaulting.

Hutchinson placed second with a final score of 4.25 meters while Joshua came in sixth place with a score of 3.65 meters.

UCA junior Jalal Taylor was the only UCA student to place in the long jump competition with a jump of 3.63 meters.

Freshman Jalal Taylor was also the only student at UCA to place in the triple jump category with a final jump of 13.44 meters.

The team’s next meet will be Feb. 9 at the University of Houston.

Teammates pick up slack after setback

4 Continued from page 7

we have come as a team and, specifically, us seniors.”

The Bears started out with good energy going into the doubles, and the results showed it.

ORU sophomore Gorana Kadijevic and senior Ceijenia Cornelius lost to Van HeerdenNonoyama, 1-6, ORU seniors Flavia Gutierrez Balcazar and Jovana Antonijevic lost to Ishimura-Vasupongchai, 3-6, and ORU senior Valentina Gisbert and junior Andrea Vasiljevic defeated Ma-Manataweewat, unfinished.

The Bears carried that same energy into the singles, but Ma suffered an injury and had to retire from her match

against ORU’s Antonijevic after completing a 3-2.

“Although not everyone had the opportunity to finish their matches, we were ahead in all of them except for QiLi Ma, who had an injury today and had to retire,” Van Heerden said.

Despite her injury, Ma wasn’t too concerned, knowing she could depend on her teammates.

“I had an injury today and felt like I could not help the team, but because I know my team and know how good and strong they are, I was not worried because I knew that they would take care of it and win for me,” Ma said.

The Bears did just that with

Ishimura, Manataweewat, Van Heerden and Nonoyama all winning their matches. Next, the team will travel to Clarksville, Tennessee to face Belmont and Austin Peay Universities Feb. 9.

by Kaitlin Benight Staff Writer

With a new team and strong pitching, UCA baseball is getting closer to the start of an exciting season.

“We didn’t finish the season out like we wanted to,” head coach Allen Gum said of their 32-25 record last season.

“But we’ve got a good team.

They’re well rounded, solid on the mound, have good depth and are good in a lot of areas. I feel good. We’ve got boys with character who play hard.”

Toughness is always a good quality for teams to have and the Bears believe they have it.

“They’re very tough. They’ve got capital G-R-I-T,” pitching coach Nick Harlan said. “We

have lots of new players, all good, both junior college transfers and freshman.”

The amount of contributors on this team is something they are looking to rely on throughout the season.

“Depth is definitely our biggest strength. We’ve got boys who can move in and out and play different roles,” senior pitcher Cody Davenport said.

Davenport said this year has the most depth he’s seen since he started at UCA in his freshman season.

“We’re looking forward to conference games, like Sam Houston and Southeastern Louisiana,” Davenport said.

Last April, the Bears lost their series against Sam Houston, 1-2, but are looking to

bounce back this season.

“I’m pretty confident about this season, we’re going to have a good team and a fun year,” Davenport said.

The Bears have also added several new players who are looking to contribute.

“There are lots of new kids, transfers and freshman, and lots of pitchers with good arms who throw strikes,” senior first baseman Tyler Smith said. “I’m looking forward to playing Sam Houston and at the University of Missouri. It’s going to be a fun season. We’re going to win games.”

The team has a positive attitude that they will look to carry to the field. Their first series starts on Feb. 15 at home against Bradley University.

RAISING THE BAR

Women’s track set three personal best in Illinois

by Lauren McLemore

The UCA women’s track and field team competed at the Don DeNoon Invitational at Southern Illinois University’s Student Recreation Center in a two-part meet Feb. 1-2.

According to the informational packet for the meet, it was a non-scored meet in terms of team scoring.

At the end of the first day, the women were in sixth place with 12 points and by the end of the second, they climbed to sixth place with 48 points.

On Friday, the meet opened with a pentathlon at 10 a.m. and field events that afternoon at 3:15 p.m.

Sophomore Teshuna Sheppard placed fourth in the triple jump at 11.02 meters, bringing in 5 points for UCA. Just behind her was sophomore Taylor Coleman in fifth with 10.98 meters, bringing in 4 points.

Saturday’s events began at

10 a.m. with the remainder of the field events including shot put and long jump, followed by running events which began shortly after, at 11:15 a.m.

Freshman Z’Kiah Kuykendall finished at her personal best of 7.75 seconds and came in fifth in the finals for the 60-meter run, receiving 4 points.

In the 60-meter hurdles event, sophomore Aysha Anderson placed eighth with a finishing time of 9 minutes 46 seconds.

Sophomore Charlotte Blair also set a personal record for her 5:12.3 mile run which put her in fourth place with 5 points.

Behind her in 15th, freshman Kennedy Timmerman finished with a time of 5:30.71.

For the 400-meter run, freshman Zailey Chaffin placed 14th at 1:02.39, sophomore Demicya Griffin placed 16th at 1:02.85 and senior Tia Coleman came in 19th at 1:04.85.

Blair set an additional personal record when she came

Sugar Bears:

Fighting off the injury bug

Assistant News Editor

in third for her 2:21.15 finishing time in the 800-meter run, for which she received 8 points.

In the 200-meter run, Freshman Laterrica Thomas came in 12th at 27.34 seconds.

Senior Alejandra Ruiz came in second place and received 10 points for completing the 3000-meter run with a time of 10:09.36. This was also a personal record for her. Not far behind her was junior Erin Woodward with 1 point for her 10:29.01 run that put her in ninth place.

Woodward said that, considering it was the middle of the season, the team performed really well.

“I think everyone gets more focused to realize the importance of conference championships right around the corner,” Woodward said. “You learn to work even harder to keep improving day after day.”

The team will be traveling to Texas for its next meet Feb. 9 at the University of Houston.

4 Continued from page 7 Senior guard Alanie Fisher also notched her second double-double of the season with 13 points and 13 rebounds.

Freshman forward Alana Canady added 13 points while grabbing eight rebounds.

However, the Sugar Bears

are now further tasked with playing through injuries.

Junior guard Taylor Sells left the game in the second half with a foot injury, while junior Maddie Goodner was limited to just six minutes with a wrist injury.

UCA will look to overcome these setbacks Feb. 9 when they take on Southeastern Louisiana University in the Farris Center at 2 p.m.

Following this, UCA will be back on the road to face Houston Baptists University.