Issue 21, Volume 117--March 16, 2022

THE UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL ARKANSAS’ STUDENT NEWSPAPER

SINGLE COPY PAID FOR BY STUDENT PUBLICATION

WEDNESDAY

MARCH 16, 2022 Volume 117 — Issue 21

ucanews.live TODAY’S FORECAST CONWAY

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BY MACI ENGLAND

THE NEWSDESK

Staff Writer

FROM THE ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

I N T E R N AT I O N A L McDonalds exits Russia amidst war

McDonalds announced it would temporarily close nearly 850 stores in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Monday, March 14, via McDonald’s Russian website. McDonalds said that it is impossible to predict when they will be able to reopen restaurants in Russia.

But, it is continuing to pay its 62,500 Russian employees.

The company said this week that it expects the closure to cost around $50 million per month.

N AT I O N A L

Search for killer of homeless underway A search was underway on Monday, March 14, for a gunman who has been stalking homeless men. The gunman stalked the streets of Washington, D.C., and New York City, fatally shooting two people and wounding three more in less than two weeks.

Police released surveillance photographs of the suspected gunman late Sunday, March 13, including one in which the hooded man can be seen holding a pistol in a blue glove.

Astronaut to return on Russian capsule U.S. astronaut Mark Vande Hei faces his trickiest assignment yet — riding a Russian capsule back to Earth at the end of the month in the midst of deepening tensions between the countries. Hei is due to leave with two Russians aboard a Soyuz capsule for a touchdown in Kazakhstan on March 30. NASA insists Vande Hei’s homecoming plans remain unchanged, even as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has resulted in canceled launches.

Former principal arrested for killing Rocky Dodson, 53, of Omaha, was arrested Thursday, March murder

second-degree

warrant.

Jewel Moore, former UCA biology professor and eponym of the Jewel Moore Nature Reserve, died on Feb. 25 at 103 years old.

Moore taught biology and ecology at UCA when it was still called the Arkansas State Teachers College from 1947 to 1983.

Before teaching at Arkansas State Teachers College, she taught math and science at Mountain Pine High School and Beebe Jr. College.

Moore’s legacy was immortalized on UCA grounds in 1980 when the nature reserve was named in her honor.

The area that is now the nature reserve was originally used to pasture livestock in the beginning days of UCA. In 1977, Moore began using the pasture as an outdoor classroom.

Her dedication to students and love for the

outdoors led then-UCA President Jeff Farris and the UCA Board of Trustees to name the reserve the Jewel Moore Nature Reserve after her in 1980.

A UCA Foundation scholarship was also established in her name and is still given out to biology students today.

Throughout her life, Moore strived to make a difference in the community by spreading her love for education and the natural world. She even received the Conservation Education Award from Arkansas and National Wildlife Federation.

Moore also served as state president of the American Association of University Women from 1969 to 1971, vice president for both the state and Conway organizations from 1967 to 1969, and was named the 1976-1977 contributor to the Educational Foundation Programs.

Moore’s time at UCA is remembered fondly by her

old coworker, Dr. Donald Culwell.

Moore and Culwell spent 13 years together on faculty at the Biology department.

Some of Culwell’s favorite memories of Moore come from the field trips they would take students on together. These trips included going to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, for a wildflower pilgrimage and to the Gulf Coast Research Lab in Ocean Springs, Mississippi.

“She was excited to see the students get out and see life in a different place. We took tents and sleeping bags and did our own cooking in the campsite,” Culwell said.

The two also shared a passion for going on hikes.

They would often take hiking trips to Blanchard Springs Caverns in Mountain View.

Culwell believes that Moore impacted the world through the lives of her students. He described her as a kind professor who was in her element when she

Dodson

was a northwest Arkansas high school principal and basketball coach and has been arrested in the death of his wife. Jail records show Dodson remained in custody Saturday, March 12, and does not list an attorney who can speak on his behalf. Authorities have not said how Amanda Dodson is believed to have died.

could be with students.

“She was always smiling. She was willing and able to work with students.

She loved to have students around, and they knew she

was a friendly person,” Culwell said.

Moore was born June 5, 1918, in Hot Springs and died Feb. 25, 2022, in Conway.

FUNDRAISING

Day of Giving achieves second highest donation total BY

MIA WADDELL

News Editor

UCA achieved its second-highest donation total with $758,130.49 on its eighth Day of Giving event on March 10th, 2022.

Over 1,950 donors contributed, bringing UCA’s year-to-date giving total to $9,957,771, passing the current year’s fundraising goal.

Donors from 40 states and 14 nations gave during the 24-hour fundraising event.

“It’s geared towards giving back to the part of the university that meant the most to them … It’s a department, it’s a program, it’s a student organization or maybe it’s a general scholarship fund,” Davis said.

“The opportunity to pay it forward, if we are here at all, relative to the world we’re blessed. Jenny and I are giving to quite a few.

I just gave to News 6 and SGA,” Davis said.

“Forget the overall

Photo by Mia Waddell

SGA members Kaleb Vassar, McKenzi Bogan, Kylie Garritty, and Chanel Dale collected donations outside the Ronnie Williams Student Center. SGA gave $3000 to the African/African American Studies Program.

dollars. We are always interested in trying to break that record of donors. In the end, that means whether it’s a dollar or 10,000 dollars, we want to have more people involved with the university,” Davis said.

Additionally, Davis said he gave to the Oxford American Fund, the Bear

Food Pantry, the English Enhancement Fund, the Pride Alumni Club Fund and the Arkansas Shakespeare Fund, to name a few.

“We’re in the $100,000,000 capital campaign. All these efforts go towards that,” Davis said. UCA Now: Impact Arkansas and Beyond is a

capital campaign running from July 1, 2016, to June 30, 2024.

“To be nearly 85% towards our $100 million goal is a testament to the incredible support for our students and our university,” Davis said in a press release from UCA news. The UCA Now campaign fund now sits at $84,517,095.

The newly built Integrated Health Sciences Building and The Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts have benefited from the fund. It also supports the only educational range in the region and the only comprehensive film production in the state.

43% of donors were students, 36% were alumni, 15% were Faculty/Staff, 3% identified as friends of the university, and 3% were parents.

UCA’s Student Government Association collected donations at a booth outside of the Ronnie Williams Student Center.

“The students come in waves,” Honors College

Representative Audra Watts said. “When classes get out, we get more donations.”

In an Instagram post, SGA said, “Each year SGA is able to give back from donations to a selective organization and/or program. This year SGA wants to match up to $3,000 of student donations towards the African/African American Studies Program.”

SGA donated $3000 to the AAAS program, pulling from its reserves, freshman class representative Brad Lewis said.

The grand total was presented by SGA president Mya Hall, alongside President Houston Davis at the Buffalo Alumni Hall.

Centennial Bank provided food to all in attendance.

Since Day of Giving began in 2015, the university has raised more than $3.9 million in funding for the university.

The highest Day of Giving total was $1,126,580 in 2020.

2021 saw a donation total of $717,095.

C U LT U R E

Fight at Bears Den Pizza leads to arrest Windgate opening looms, S C faculty talks collaboration BY

YDNEY

YR

Entertainment Editor

Antonio Battles, 23, was arrested for third-degree battery and disorderly conduct after physically fighting with multiple different people at Bears Den Pizza on 235 Farris Rd. March 5, 2022, according to the Conway Police Department.

Conway PD was dispatched to Bears Den Pizza after receiving reports of males fighting in the parking lot.

After arriving at the scene, officers found Battles, who was yelling and would not follow the officers’ orders, saying, “I don’t give a fuck.”

Officer Hannah Slajer told Battles he was detained due to his “belligerent behavior and obvious intoxication.”

“Battles smelled very strongly of intoxicants and, due to him already being involved in several physical altercations, was proven to be a danger to others,” Slajer said.

Battles told officers that a male inside Bears Den Pizza grabbed his butt, so he hit him, and that he did not know who the male was.

Video surveillance showed an unidentified male walking up behind Battles and moving his right hand in a motion towards Battles’ butt.

“The camera angle is cut-off due to another male standing in between them, so you cannot see if the man touches Battles’ butt,” officer Charles Reynolds said.

The video then shows Battles reaching for the man’s throat, causing the man to fall to the ground.

Another man attempted to step in between the two, but Battles pushed him to the ground.

A third man attempted to grab Battles from the back, but Battles pushed him away and threw four punches at him.

Shortly after this, Battles was grabbed and walked out of

view of the camera.

Additionally, a security guard at Bears Den told Reynolds that Battles had punched Kaden Mitchell, 25, who was one of the other Bears Den security guards.

Reynolds went to the back of the business to find Mitchell and found him shirtless, sitting in a chair, while people tended to his injuries.

“I observed a cut over his left eyebrow, and Mitchell also had blood on his person. Mitchell also showed me where he stated that Battles had bit him,” Reynolds said.

Mitchell told Reynolds that Battles swung at him, striking him in the face, as he was outside attempting to have Battles get into his vehicle.

Video surveillance of the incident confirmed Mitchell’s story that Battles threw the first

Contact Us: 4Police Beat 4People of UCA 4Students Say

Photo courtesy of Legacy.com

Former biology professor Jewel Moore died Feb. 25, 2022, at 103 years old. The Jewel Moore Nature Reserve is named after her.

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Jewel Moore dies at 103, namesake of nature reserve

Sunny

on

Softball: Bears split to games at University of Memphis tournament.

New release: ‘Loverboy’ delivers summer vibes.

Artist in Residence: Chase Kahwinhut Earles demonstrates Cato pottery making.

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Sports:

Entertainment:

Campus Life:

See Bar page 2

BY

BENNETT TINNERMON

Associate Editor

The Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts is set to open in January of 2023 and will hold new equipment, facilities and a state-of-the-art concert hall.

The building, originally scheduled to begin holding classes in the fall semester of 2022, will be used for visual arts, theater and music departments.

“I’m excited to hear the first musical notes to be played or sung in the hall,” Stephen Plate, professor and chair of the music department, said.

The Department of Art and Design will move from its current home in Schichtl Hall, along with some classes from McAlister Hall, art chair and professor Bryan Massey said.

The interior design major will not move with the rest of the

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6 4Opinion 4 4Entertainment 7 4 4Sports 5, 8

department due to space issues. “[The possibility for growth] was sort of plateaued in this building,” Massey said about the move from Schichtl Hall to the Windgate Center.

Massey said Schichtl Hall will go offline to be revamped, then the Center for Chinese Language and Culture and the Center for Global Learning and Engagement will move in.

Massey said he was excited for the space and the possibility for growth, as space was quite limited for his department in Schichtl.

For the theater department, the space for performances can be reconfigured for different events, theater department chair and associate professor Shauna Meador said. There will

See Culture page 2

Inside:

Opinion:

Technology has gone too far.

E-mail: ucaechoeditor@gmail.com @ucaecho The Echo ucaecho © 2022 The Echo, Printed by The Courier, Russellville, Arkansas.

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2/March 16, 2022

NEWS

Police Beat

Lien placed on property angers landlord

The following information is compiled from UCAPD incident reports

by Assistant News Editor Kathryn Thornberry

Student leaves gun Student hits car in bathroom stall and leaves note

On Wednesday, March 9, Sergeant Kevin Ford was dispatched after student Lauren Kremers left her gun in a stall in Lewis Science Center. When Ford arrived at the Lewis Science Center restroom, he found a Springfield Hellcat 9mm in a concealed carry waistband holster sitting on top of the toilet paper dispenser. Ford recovered the weapon and cleared it of ammunition, and left a business card and note for the owner of the lost property. UCA student Kremers contacted Ford, and arrived at the police department to claim the weapon. She presented an Arkansas Enhanced Concealed Carry license and was informed that she might have violated a university policy.

On Monday, March 7, Officer David Stone was dispatched to the UCA police department because UCA student Edward Fields stated that someone had damaged his vehicle and left a note.

Fields said he parked his car east of Donaghey Hall. He got into his vehicle around 1:30 p.m., and a note on the driver window said ‘sorry I hit your bumper,’ along with a license plate number.

Stone had dispatch run the license plate and locate a student match of Venisha Hancock. Stone was able to make contact with Hancock via phone, where she admitted to hitting the vehicle. On Tuesday, March 8, Hancock provided Stone with her insurance information.

ucanews.live

Reckless driving damages vehicle

On Monday, March 7, Officer Chris Kalz was approached concerning damage to student Jordan Lawrence’s vehicle.

Lawrence said he left Stadium Park Apartments around 7 p.m. that night and did not notice damage to his vehicle. He drove to the Student Center and parked his car in front of Carmichael Hall.

When he returned to his car he noticed scratch marks on the rear trunk lid of his car and spoiler.

Kalz concluded that the damage may have been done recklessly and not on purpose.

Officer Mike Shaw reviewed footage of the area in which Lawrence’s vehicle was parked. Shaw did not see anyone damage Lawrence’s vehicle.

SUPPORT

BY

DELANEY VAN WILPE

Online Editor

The Conway City Council voted 8-0 Tuesday to place a lien for $210.98 on property belonging to Paul Calvert for reimbursement of city clean-up fees.

Calvert objected to the liens on his property at 512 3rd Ave., saying the city’s actions were illegal.

He cited Arkansas Code 8-6-406, an environmental law about littering. The code says, “it is unlawful to drop, deposit, discard or otherwise dispose of litter upon any public or private property in this state or upon or into any river, lake pond or other stream or body of water within this state.”

To the council, Calvert specifically cited: “However, a property owner shall not be held responsible for the actions of his or her tenant.”

Calvert said, “They have illegally filed liens against my properties. They have illegally filed charges against me. I was a victim of bad tenants.”

The city first notified Calvert via phone call on Dec. 15. They followed up on Dec. 17, Dec. 29, Jan. 6 and Jan. 11.

He was sent a courtesy warning on Jan. 12, and the city requested a clean-up on the same day. With no cleanup progress, the city removed debris on Feb. 2.

Spencer Clawson, director of Conway’s Code Enforcement, said, “During this window of 50 plus days, he was given roughly 13 attempts of contact saying that this mess needed to be cleaned up.”

Charles Finkenbinder, city attorney, said according to state law the charges fall on Calvert because they gave him every

chance to clean up.

Calvert filed a lawsuit against the city of Conway, Mayor Bart Castleberry, Austin Sullivan, code enforcement officer, Missy Schrag, code enforcement administrative assistant, and Clawson.

Castleberry said he currently has 16 lawsuits against him. “It comes with the job,” he said.

The council also voted 8-0 to accept the low bid of $1,805,000 from BMD Builders to remodel an office at 1116 Gum St. for an overnight emergency shelter, becoming a first for Conway.

Shawnna Rodgers, diversity and economic development coordinator at the city of Conway, said, “It’s going to be great because it’s the first overnight shelter for our homeless neighbors. We do have a transitional shelter, which is the Bethlehem house, but this will actually be the first overnight emergency shelter for the city.”

Rodgers said there will be sleeping quarters, showers, restrooms, laundry facilities and resources for case management.

In other business, the council: —Voted, 8-0, to set a public hearing March 22 at 6 p.m. to discuss the closing of a portion of the street (old Highway 25) west of 870 Friendship Rd. —Voted, 8-0, to authorize the city to seek condemnation of property at 2035 Prince St. for the roundabout at Donaghey Ave. and Prince St., which is a part of the Donaghey Project Phase 2. Finkenbinder said he had been in contact with the owners, who agreed with the condemnation process.

—Voted, 8-0, to appropriate $5,178,000 to enter a lease

agreement with Conway Corporation for properties located at 800 and 850 South Harkrider St. and 695 Enterprise Ave. This lease will be used as storage for Conway’s Transportation Department.

—Voted, 8-0, to approve HALFF & Associates Inc. to design the newly approved Conway Soccer Complex.

The council also voted to waive the request for qualification process on the designers because HALFF designed the original concept of the complex.

—Voted, 8-0, to appropriate $2,750,000 to acquire an Acxiomowned property at 450 Corporate Dr. for the Conway Community Center.

—Voted, 8-0, to remove five vehicles from the city’s inventory that the Public Safety Department no longer uses: two 2014 Chevrolet Tahoes, two 2009 Honda Motorcycles and a 2004 Dodge Durango. The vehicles will be sold through auction on www.publicsurplus.com.

—Voted, 8-0, to appropriate reimbursement funds for Conway’s Police Department in the fiscal year of 2021. Reimbursements: from various companies in the amount of $18,772.01 to the Conway Police Department’s overtime expense account, from the Municipal Vehicle Program in the amount of $8,940.97 to the Police Department’s vehicle maintenance account, and from donation funds from various companies in the amount of $350 to the Conway Police Department grant and donation expense account.

STUDENT VOICES Photo by Mia Waddell

A Ukrainian flag hangs on the Dave Ward pedestrian bridge, aside an American flag, captured on March 12. It is unclear who tied the flags up, but as of March 14, the Ukrainian flag has been taken down.

Bar:

Battles arrested for throwing punches

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punch to Mitchell, striking him in the head.

Shana Robinson, 24, told Conway PD that the security guards were enticing the fight while she was trying to take Battles home and away from the incident.

Video surveillance shows that the Bears Den bouncers continued to instigate a disturbance after Battles left the property.

“There were several different individuals that advised the bouncers were inciting the disturbance.

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The video also shows several bouncers holding Battles on the ground outside, punching him consistently,” Slajer said.

Battles was told the misdemeanor warrants process and issued a criminal trespass warning for Bears Den Pizza.

Slajer transported Battles to Faulkner County Unit II, where he was jailed.

Bears Den Pizza is located right across the street from UCA’s campus.

UCAPD’s Sgt. Michael

Windgate center to open soon

4 Continued from page

also be a new sound system and an all-LED lighting system.

“It’s just really exciting to have this space … It will be a lot more intimate,” Meador said.

The current stage is far away from the audience, but they can sit much closer in the Windgate Center.

Meador said their plans for first performances in the Windgate Center are “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” by Christopher Durang and “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” by Simon Stephens, based on the novel by Mark Haddon.

The Windgate Center is funded in part by the Windgate Foundation, according to the UCA website. The Windgate

Hopper said, “we are always on alert for incidents that could impact campus.”

“Most often, incidents like the one at Bear’s Den are contained and do not spill over onto campus.

However, our officers are trained to handle situations as they arise and will respond accordingly,” Hopper said.

If needed, UCAPD will issue alerts to UCA students to make sure UCA’s campus community is aware of a dangerous situation.

Up to $7,500 allocated to speaker for sexual assault awareness event

BY WILL

MCDONALD

Assistant Sports Editor

1

Foundation has helped fund similar projects at other colleges in Arkansas, like the University of Arkansas and Hendrix College.

The Department of Music will also benefit from the new building, located at Donaghey Avenue and Bruce Street. Currently housed in the Snow Fine Arts building, the music department will have new facilities in the Windgate Center, like practice rooms and a music library.

Plate said Snow Fine Arts will still be an important building for the music department. The building will be refurbished in December.

The Windgate Center will open opportunities for

Graphic by Mia Waddell

The logo of UCA’s Student Government Association. The student group, led by President Mya Hall, meets weekly with concerns of students.

collaboration between the different areas of academic disciplines, according to the UCA website.

“I think the greatest thing is the opportunity to have collaborations with music and art,” Plate said. The visual arts and music departments will be a lot closer, with both departments having spaces in the Windgate Center, allowing possible collaboration. Plate said a string quartet playing in the art gallery could be one possibility.

Plate and Meador said there will be celebrations for the opening of the Windgate Center for 18 months.

SGA allocated up to $7,500 to fund Take Back the Night, an annual sexual assault awareness event, during their meeting on March 14.

The motion to allocate the funds passed 25-5.

The money will come from the SGA reserves, which currently hold over $300,000.

Take Back the Night is planned to be April 21, 2022, from 7-9 p.m. at the amphitheater in front of the Ronnie Williams Student Center. The $7,500 will cover the speaker fee.

The proposed speaker is Sandra Miles. Graduate assistant Abigail Greiner presented the request on behalf of the Housing Committee.

“Dr. Sandra Miles is a survivor from an abusive relationship who can talk about healthy and unhealthy relationships, bystander intervention and finding healing after suffering from sexually violent situations,” Greiner said.

Senators debated on if SGA should allocate amounts ranging from all $7,500 requested, $3,750, or anything up to $7,500.

Senator Makenna Goss supported the motion to allocate up to $7,500 to the Take Back the Night event.

“You were elected for a reason. You were elected to serve students. The money is worth it even if one person shows up and is impacted. That could change the rest of their lives. That could indeed actually be the difference on if they are here tomorrow or not. So I ask, when you vote, do not think about the $7,500 that we are taking away from an account that has over $300,000.

Think about the impact on the students that you are elected to represent. Think about your role as a Student Government Association representative when you vote on this motion.” Goss said.

Senator Toni Olayoe opposed the motion.

“I oppose this motion because I’ve been in housing for years and attended all of these events.

They are usually activities in booths all over the student center where students go to participate in hands-on events and win free stuff. It is like a moving thing. Just having someone speak and having everyone sit together and listen is not how this has always gone, and students will say, ‘let’s go do this instead,’” Olayoe said.

Senator Courtney Clawson also opposed the motion.

“We’re not talking about funding the event.

We’re talking about funding the speaker — a possible speaker who’s not even guaranteed yet. Like I said, there are plenty of other options like local speakers. The event is still happening whether we fund the speaker or not. I think it’s important to note that it is still happening and that we are not voting on funding the event; we are voting on funding a speaker for an hour,” Clawson said.

Senators in opposition argued that the event might not be well-attended due to other events happening at the same time.

Senator Lexie Mosby stood in support of the motion.

“It goes against everything that we stand for to withhold funding because of assumed low attendance and perceived low organization. That is not our job. It’s not what we’re here for. We were elected to speak to students. We were elected to see the best in people. We were elected to make big things happen on campus. If we were elected to make big things happen on campus and we withhold funding to make something big happen on campus, we are going against everything that we stand for and that we were elected for,” Mosby said.

Campus Life

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March 16, 2022

Around Campus:

Alpha Sigma Alpha Spaghetti Dinner From 5-8 p.m. on Wednesday, March 16, Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority will host a spaghetti dinner fundraiser at Holly’s Country Cooking.

Financial Literacy Night From 6:30-7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 16, the Latino Student Association and Hermandad de Sigma Iota Alpha Inc. sorority will host a financial literacy event in Student Center room 214 where students can learn how to manage finances. There will be a speaker from the Bank of America at the event.

General Recital From 1:30-2:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 18, the music department will host a general recital in the Snow Fine Arts Center Recital Hall featuring various performers.

UCA’s F1RSTs’ Game Night From 5-6 p.m. on Thursday, March 17, the First Generation Scholars Society will host a game night in Main Hall room 113. The event offers prizes and free food.

The Big Event From 7:11-9:11 p.m. on Thursday, March 17, the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. will host a ceremony in the Student Center, where they will honor women who have been actively serving on campus.

Author reads novel to Torreyson book club

BY WILL MCDONALD Assistant Sports Editor

own queerness, the queerer the book got. So I think there’s something for Students and faculty discussed M. everyone in there,” Conner said.

Shelley Conner’s novel, “Everyman,” M. Shelley Conner joined UCA’s in a book club meeting with Conner Masters of Fine Arts program as a at the Torreyson Library on faculty member in 2018. Some of Thursday, March 10. her students attended the meeting to Conner read an excerpt, signed support her. copies, answered questions and gave “It feels weird for my historical away two free copies of her book. fiction class to be here applauding “Everyman” is a novel where me, but I’ll take it,” Conner said. the main character, a Black woman “Everyman” is Conner’s debut named Eve Mann, travels to Georgia novel and has been featured in Ms. in 1972 searching for answers Magazine, Travel and Leisure and about her mother, who died during Parade and Entertainment Weekly. childbirth.

It can be found in the campus “It’s a story of someone trying to bookstore or on Amazon; however, find themselves and connect with a Conner recommends visiting history. It’s a story of friendship. It’s Pyramid Art, Books and Custom about surviving rifts and generational Framing in Little Rock if you wish issues. It’s a pretty queer book, too. to buy the book yourself. This is The more comfortable I got with my Conner’s favorite book store and

is owned by an African-American woman.

This was the first book club meeting this semester and the second-ever meeting. Library faculty, such as Jessica Riedmueller, helped organize the club.

“The first time we met, we had a very successful [book] club, and then the pandemic happened. So our hope is that every semester we’ll be able to do something. Some of the things we’ve been talking about doing are branching out into different types of media. Like maybe we’ll do a movie, podcast or graphic novel, ‘something to keep things fresh’. For instance, during LGBT history month of 2020, we listened to a podcast called “Making Gay History” about civil rights activist Byard Rustin. We listened to that and had a discussion

about the podcast,” Riedmueller said.

Towards the end of the meeting, Riedmueller offered a reading list to everyone titled “Queer Summer Fact and Fiction Reading List,” “I wanted [books] that focused on joy or were kind of cozy, or just kind of had those fuzzy, good feelings, and so that’s what’s on this list,” Riedmueller said.

In addition to the reading suggestions and giveaway, students that attended left with new custom bookmarks made out of old library catalogs.

Students interested in joining the club can join the club’s Facebook group, @UCATorreysonLibrary, or get connected through the Torreyson library’s Instagram, @uca_library.

LEADERSHIP

MIDTERMS

Students mingle in Cram Jam Bear Talk stresses perspectives

BY ESTEFANIA MOJICA Staff Writer

The Student Activities Board held a study event for students, entitled the “Cram Jam,” on March 9 in the Student Center Ballroom.

SAB offered snacks and drinks such as coffee and energy drinks.

They also had various kinds of small art kits available for students.

This event was initially thought of during March 2020 before the pandemic occurred.

The graduate assistant of SAB, Hazel Bonilla, said, “We wanted to bring it back because we knew students really liked coffee and DIY kits as we have had at other events.”

SAB holds events like this one to give students an environment to relax and have some fun.

Bonilla suggests that events like this give students a distraction away from the stress of academics.

“That’s really what we strive for with these events. We want people to have fun. That’s really our motto with anything that we do. And we just like being able to provide that environment for them,” said Bonilla.

“Events like these allow students to step away from their school work and be creative and express themselves.”

SAB categorizes the Cram Jam to be more along the lines of a novelty event, considering it to be one of the most popular types of events they host.

Freshman Sydney Pejsa said, “I think events like these help students connect with each other and lets us

be around new people and different environments.”

Taking breaks from a busy academic schedule can also be beneficial to the mental health of students.

“I think taking breaks from school help with the mental wellbeing of students and making sure that they get out instead of staying in their dorm all the time,” said Pejsa.

“This is actually the first event of this type that I have attended but I actually like it.”

Freshman Makayla Shaw agreed and said, “It prevents students from getting burnt out.”

Bonilla said, “We know sometimes it can be overwhelming and stressful, so we want to provide a space where they can relax.”

Events like this give anyone on campus a chance to distract themselves from college work.

“You come to college because your ultimate goal is to obtain your degree, but there’s so many things along the way that you can learn about yourself,” said Bonilla.

“Sometimes when it comes to school, you’re so wrapped up in what you’re doing that you kind of forget to take care of yourself. So we like to give people opportunities to take a break from that, have fun and relax.”

Toward the end of March, SAB will host a caricature artist and a letter brush artist for students to engage with.

Students can look for details about future SAB events through CubConnect.

BY MILO STRAIN Opinion Editor

The Center for Leadership Development recently hosted the second BEAR Talk of the semester, featuring a presentation on leadership and perspective-taking from professor Leslie Zorwick of Hendrix College.

Professor Zorwick’s presentation, entitled “Developing Inclusive Communities and Better Leaders Through Perspective Taking,” argued the importance and usefulness of diversity and inclusion in the context of leadership.

“When I got asked to give this talk and think about what I might have to say from psychology that talks about leadership, the first thing I thought of is perspective taking and how important it is to try to think about things from other people’s perspectives,” Zorwick said.

“We don’t recognize the things that don’t stick out to us, right? That’s why we need other people.”

Zorwick is a professor of psychology at Hendrix College where she conducts research in various topics relating to stereotypes, diversity and identity.

“What we don’t talk about enough is that, y’all, diversity makes us make way better decisions, like, measured in so many different ways in so many different situations because diversity is how we get new perspectives to fill in our blind spots,” Zorwick said.

After Zorwick’s presentation ended, Steven Shook, director for student leadership and one of the organizers of the workshop, instructed audience members to pair off and talk about what

they learned from the presentation.

“I love this topic just because it can be applied in so many areas,” junior Courtney Clawson said. “Just being more aware of [perspectives] and being like ‘What’s your perspective on that?

What do you think about this?’”

Clawson is a member of LEAD Team, a program run by the Center for Leadership Development made up of students that run the BEAR Talks as well as provide leadership training for registered student organizations, faculty and staff.

The BEAR Talks Workshop Series consists of several workshops or presentations held every semester with the goal of developing students’ leadership skills. This BEAR Talk, the second of the semester, was held at UCA Downtown and saw several Hendrix students in the audience in addition to the UCA students in attendance.

Professor Zorwick’s presentation is available to view on YouTube via a link on the BEAR Talks page on uca.edu.

The previous BEAR Talk, which featured UCA Director of Professional Development and Training Charlotte Strickland, is also available via the same uca.edu page.

Students interested in attending a BEAR Talk in the future can catch the next and final talk of the semester on Monday, April 4 at noon in the Ronnie Williams Student Center.

UCA student success coordinator Marvin Williams will be giving a presentation entitled “Procrastination Problem? Grin and Bear It! Leaders Get It Done!”

WOMEN’S HISTORY

Women of Integrity

SIA celebrates notable latina women in panel, bingo game

From 7:13-8:13 p.m. on Thursday, March 17, Hermandad de Sigma Iota Alpha Inc. sorority will host another spring informational in the Student Center room 224.

Students interested in joining the sorority and learning more are invited to attend the event.

Low Brass Faculty Recital From 7:30-9:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 17, the music department will host a Low Brass Faculty Recital in the Snow Fine Arts Center Recital Hall.

Photo by Emily Kennard

Stock the Den From 8 a.m.-12 p.m. on Friday, March 18, the Dietetic Intern Association will finish a campuswide food pantry.

Jazz Repertory Ensemble Concert From 7:30-9 p.m. on Friday, March 18, the music department will host a jazz ensemble concert in the Snow Fine Arts Center Recital Hall.

Sophomore Jazmin Gonzalez and junior Daisy Lemus share a Loteria card and place beans on famous Latinas as they’re pulled from the deck. Hermandad de Sigma Iota Alpha held this event on March 8 in recognition of famous female figures of latina heritage, since March is Women’s History Month.

BY EMILY KENNARD Staff Writer

Hermandad de Sigma Iota Alpha, also known as SIA, hosted a presentation about prominent Latinas at the Ronnie Williams Student Center on March 8, followed by a bingo game with prizes.

The presentation was for International Women’s Day and featured civil rights, transgender rights and labor activists — including Sylvia Mendez, Sylvia Rivera and Dolores Huerta, respectively.

Afterward, the audience played Loteria — a game similar to bingo

but with art instead of numbers — with pictures of the “Latinas poderosas,” or powerful Latinas, from the presentation.

Seniors Melissa Velazquez and Gabby Vargas and sophomore Dianne Trujillo hosted the presentation and game.

For the presentation, Velazquez, Vargas and Trujillo each took turns talking about Latina women from different industries and fields.

They talked about Joan Baez, an activist who performed folk music about social justice at civil rights marches, as well as Claudia Paz y Paz, Guatemala’s first female attorney general, who charged the

country’s former president with genocide.

They also included many Latina artists, like Puerto Rican poet Julia de Burgos, Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, Chilean author Isabel Allende and Mexican singer Selena Quintanilla-Pérez.

“We wanted to pick a wide variety [of women] because I know a lot of people think it’s just ‘Mexican,’ but there’s also women from Argentina, Guatemala, El Salvador, from different backgrounds,” Velazquez said.

Yasmin Reyes, a senior double majoring in computer science and cybersecurity, said, “I actually learned a lot … Coming to events

that my fellow sisters do, I learn a lot from it, too. So it’s very interesting, and I love coming to these.”

Anyone who wishes to get involved with the sorority can attend its second spring informational 7:13 p.m. March 17, in room 224 at the Student Center.

Hermandad de Sigma Iota Alpha’s CubConnect description says that while the sorority is Latina-based, it is not Latina-exclusive.

For the group’s next event, the SIA sisters are bringing a police officer to teach self-defense techniques at 6 p.m., March 31, in room 213 of the Ronnie Williams Student Center.

4/ March 16, 2022

CAMPUS LIFE

ucanews.live

$3,800 raised in New Member King Pageant

BY OLIVIA SNELSON

Assistant Campus Life Editor

New Member King, a greek pageant hosted by Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority, was held in Ida Waldran Auditorium on Tuesday, March 8.

The pageant, which is held every year, recognizes the new members of each fraternity on campus.

A fraternity member is usually nominated to represent a sorority, but they can also represent the fraternity that they belong to.

“These organizations work together to create an amazing performance for all four rounds. All fraternities and sororities are able to participate in this pageant whether they are IFC, NHPC or Panhellenic,” Hope Harness, pageant chair for Alpha Sigma Alpha, said.

“Alpha Sigma Alpha hosts this event because it is a fun way to get Greek life to work together and overall support Greek unity,” Harness said.

The competition consists of four rounds: the introduction round, the talent round, the toga round and the formal round.

“The first round is when the new members will show their pride for their fraternity and the fraternity or sorority sponsoring them by wearing

Photos by Delaney Van Wilpe

Miss UCA, Nia Kelley, addresses the crowd before performing at the New Member King Pageant. Alpha Sigma Alpha raised $3,800 at the event.

their letters. The talent round, which is also called personality round, is where the new members will showcase their best talent. This year we had five dancers and one who played three instruments at one time,” Harness said.

“The third round is where the contestants line up in their best togas and show us their best poses. The formal round is when the contestants dress up in suits and come out and answer an onstage question.”

Harness was responsible for keeping contact with the different fraternities and

sororities on campus in order to make this event possible.

“I had countless conversations and interactions with each organization. My committee worked with all of these organizations to lead them where they were supposed to go during the night and get them anything they needed,” Harness said.

“Alpha Sigma Alpha also put up a new member of Pi Kappa Alpha, Adam Martin.

We worked with Adam to plan outfits, choreograph a dance, and get girls and guys involved in it. I, along with two

other girls in my sorority, put everything together and spent countless hours making it all perfect.”

Brad Lewis, who participated in the event, said he really enjoyed it.

“I chose to do New Member King because I thought it would be a really fun time and a great way to get to know more people. I had no clue that pageants like New Member King existed whenever I joined Greek life.

Looking back, I didn’t have a very complete idea of what Greek life was like at all.

However, I’ve really enjoyed taking steps in a different direction,” Lewis said.

“I believe this event was a huge success. I have been told by countless Greek organizations that it was amazing and that it was the best pageant they have been to so far at UCA. The contestants had amazing performances. I am very lucky to have had such great men compete,” Harness said.

The money raised at the event goes towards funding this event and future ones the organization may have.

This year, Alpha Sigma Alpha raised $3,800.

ARTIST IN RESIDENCE

Photo by Amber Austen

Photo by Madison Ogle

(1) Chase Kahwinhut Earles demonstrates the traditional pit firing method used to make Caddo pottery. He partook in the demonstration on March 11 as part of his Artist in Residence appearances. (2) Earles speaks on the history of Caddo culture during a presentation on March 8.

Earles said that the Caddo people are still an active and vibrant tribe when compared to the remaining Native American tribes of today.

Caddo culture showcased through pottery making

BY AMBER AUSTEN

Staff Writer

Students and faculty gained insight on Native American Caddo culture from UCA’s artist-in-residence Chase Kahwinhut Earles during a presentation Tuesday afternoon, March 8, in McCastlain’s art lecture hall.

Chase Kahwinhut Earles is an ambassador of Caddo heritage and tradition and a Native American traditional potter. The purpose of his residency was to educate students on Caddo history and showcase his contemporary art through workshops and demonstrations.

“The Caddo, who — prior to removal — once occupied portions of Arkansas, are a vibrant and active Native group, although many are not familiar with their traditions and expressions, ‘’ Duncan McKinnon, director of the Jamie C. Brandon Center for Archaeological Research, said.

“Students and the community will have an opportunity to learn about Caddo culture and the distinctive types of pottery designs, styles and forms that define this culture.”

He added that participants will explore and learn how Caddo traditional potterymaking represents continuity in tribal identity and heritage, linking contemporary Caddo with its ancestral past.

As Earles’ residency was in

collaboration with UCA’s Jamie C. Brandon Center for Archaeological Research Annual Spring Lecture Series over Caddo culture, Earles tuned in on the agricultural achievements that his ancestors accomplished.

“We were an agricultural tribe. We would create farmlands that would stretch miles where you could not see the end in any direction,” Earles said. “Land was managed heavily as we grew crops and other things, like sunflowers, that people would now consider weeds.”

On that land, the Caddo tribe would create the Turkey Dance that sings the tales of its people is still sung today, 100 years later, with add-on verses and steps across many generations.

The same thing applied to the Caddo’s pottery, which the tribe is known for, as they would travel vast distances to trade and interchange ideas when it came to the artwork.

This is how Caddo culture adopted the different artworks of clay, wood, copper and stone.

Despite the number of generations the tribe has circulated through, Earles emphasized how the Caddo people have always been the welcoming kind.

“Our history is that we are a very diplomatic tribe. One thing about Caddo is we have always tried to get along with everyone, even if it was difficult, we would

try to make peace among all neighboring tribes,” Earles said. “If you lived by us, you would become a part of us. This is how we would form our sister/brother tribes.”

However, those extended tribes are almost nonexistent today as the number of Caddo tribes left is scarce. This has to do with the remaining tribes being split between the idea of wanting to leave their homelands to get outside education or stay connected with their people and help implement tradition into the young children of Caddo.

It is because of this that the Caddo identity is unclear in today’s generation.

With determination like Earles’, others come together in an attempt to reimplement the Caddo Identity.

“A lot of us come back and reconnect our family to our tribes and identities and teach our young Caddo children our Caddo identity,” Earles said.

Reuniting with his heritage allowed Earles to spread Caddo culture throughout communities like UCA. To further this education, Earles showcased the Caddo process of making pottery on March 11, 2022. At UCA’s Schichstl Art Studio, Earles spoke on the process of pit firing the pottery. Students of one of UCA’s ceramics classes were able to have their own pottery fired by Earles, after constructing the pieces during a class earlier that week.

STUDENTS SAY you worried about “Arecurrent gas prices? ” Story and photos by Olivia Snelson

Senior Kaitlyn Shea

Freshman Emma Schmitz

“I don’t really think about it too much because I just need gas so I’m not paying too much attention. I’ll pay what I need to. I don’t doubt that it will eventually go down.”

“I am, I mean, it’s very expensive. And personally, I don’t have a car here, but for all my friends who have cars, it really affects them. And all that money that could be going to other things like tuition.”

Freshman Peyton Owens

Freshman Ennis Lam

“For me personally, no, I do not. I do not drive enough to be concerned by it. But I mean, I can only see this thing going up. I’m not concerned by it but other people definitely will be concerned by it if it keeps going up.”

“No, it’s cause I really don’t pay for my gas my parents do.”

Freshman Ethan Austin

Senior Alex Merguie

“Yeah, a little bit. I perceive them to continue to go up for a little while with everything that’s going on with Russia and considering they import a lot of it.”

“I’m actually unaware of it because I don’t really drive a car.”

People of UCA: Erin Smith

BY EDMUND Staff Writer

BURKE

Erin Smith enjoys the city of Conway and its atmosphere — a departure from her small hometown of around 5,000 people.

Smith, 18, graduated from Poyen High School in 2021 and grew up in Sheridan, Arkansas.

“I moved from a small town to UCA, and Conway was a definite deciding factor — there are more options, things to do, places to eat, a bigger city just provides more opportunities,” Smith said.

Smith, a freshman, is working toward a Bachelor of Science in Radiography and plans to get certified as a computed tomography scan technician after graduating, often referred to as CT Scan Technician.

Not a typical freshman, Smith lived on campus for one

day before opting out of dorm life.

“I remember right after moving into the dorms waking up to banging on my door at 9 in the morning and people screaming and playing music in the halls during quiet hours and being mad because I had to work later that day,” Smith said.

“The irony is we were all given a rundown on quiet hours the previous night,” Smith said, “I quickly realized co-living with people, no, can’t do it.”

Smith’s favorite place on campus is the Torreyson library.

“Going into the private study rooms is nice, especially if you’re in there for a group project or something. It gives you privacy without it being awkward. Like you’re not in someone’s dorm room or apartment but together in a common area, and you can

focus on doing your work without any distractions.

Plus, there’s a Starbucks and vending machines, like you’re set-up,” Smith said.

One of Smith’s f a v o r i t e classes this semester is her biology lab.

“I love lab. It’s my biology 1400; it’s fun. It’s not as daunting and hard as I thought it would be, and our instructor is cool, and he makes sure that we get the help that we need and that he relates to us and all the people I sit next to are helpful,” Smith said, “It’s 100% my favorite class this semester.”

One thing Smith wishes she could change is starting college amid a pandemic.

“Having started college in the middle of a pandemic seems like it probably made the experience a little bit more difficult — it’s very true,” Smith said, “I didn’t get to experience pre-pandemic

college life, but I feel like it was definitely different.”

To decompress, Smith likes to spend time with her boyfriend and dog outside as much as possible.

“When it’s really nice out, I like to go hiking. I like to take my dog with me. She’s part Australian Shepherd and part lab,” Smith said.

When not in class or hiking, Smith can be found binge-watching “Attack on Titan” on either Crunchyroll or Netflix — her latest obsession.

“Anime is 100% my favorite genre,” Smith said.

Like most college students, Smith works in retail.

“Working in retail during the pandemic has been a challenge regardless of the precautions in place — it’s been hard,” Smith said.

“People touch everything — like they touch everything.”

Photo by Edmund Burke

Erin Smith is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Radiography. Smith has future plans to become certified as a computed tomography, or CT, scan technician.

Sports

5

March 16, 2022

Upcoming Games

Baseball 5 p.m., April 1 at North Alabama Tennis 12 p.m., April 1 vs.

Bellarmine University Beach Volleyball 1 p.m., April 1 at University of Louisiana Monroe Softball 1 p.m., April 2 at North Florida Women’s Golf April 4-5 at Brickyard Collegiate

Editor’s Take

Photo courtesy of ucasports.com

The importance of sports for children BY

WILL MCDONALD

Assistant Sports Editor Sports, whether they are recreational or competitively practiced, are crucial to the development of young minds and bodies.

The most recent National Survey of Children’s Health found that 16.2% of U.S. youth ages 10 to 17 have obesity in America.

Kids in America are being less active as access to technology grows.

Sports are a good way to keep young people out of obesity.

In addition to making them more physically healthy, sports give energetic kids an outlet for their energy and even their anger or aggression. They can get this energy out in a controlled setting.

There are many valuable lessons to be learned from playing sports during youth.

These lessons include responsibility, teamwork and social skills.

However, the most important lesson sports teach young people is self-discipline.

Self-discipline is vital to learn and practice from a young age. It leads to better time management.

Time management seems to be the bane of every college student’s existence.

It is less of a pain for the students who have more selfdiscipline.

For instance, student-athletes juggling sports and school are made to rely heavily on selfdiscipline in order to succeed.

One of the pillars of discipline is acceptance. By playing sports, children can learn to accept defeat from a young age.

They can learn to accept when someone is better than them at something, and they can accept the amount of work and practice required to get to that player’s level.

Practicing acceptance of reality and the tough road ahead can mold young players into decent adults with integrity, no matter if those players continue to play sports later in their lives or not.

12-run rally in bottom of seventh leads to Bears’ win BY

EMILEE HAGEWOOD

Sports Editor

After Friday’s game resulted in a loss, the Bears baseball team brought back the heat Sunday against UT Martin by going on a 12-run rally in the bottom of the seventh inning to win 13-10.

The Martin Skyhawks scored three in the third, one in the fourth and fifth, and five in the seventh.

The Bears were unable to give them an answer until the third inning when Tanner Johnson singled to right field and brought Drew Sturgeon home.

“Their pitcher did a nice job of being aggressive early. We missed some pitches early and didn’t have the quality of at-bats that we wanted early,” coach Nick Harlan said.

Senior Connor Emmet said , “Many other teams would simply give up mentally when they’re down 10-1, but that’s not who are as a team. We’re going to give 100 percent of our focus and effort till the game is over.”

Emmet said that the team focuses on playing the game, not the scoreboard.

The third inning was when the Bears got some

competitive swings and at-bats in.

Harlan said, “I knew that if we continued to put together competitive at-bats, something good would happen.”

The Skyhawks homered to left field in the fourth, bringing in another run. A single up the middle brought the score to 5-1 in the fifth.

The sixth inning saw no runs from either team, but the seventh was filled with them. At the top of the seventh, a single up the left side brought two Skyhawks home.

A triple to left-center and a single up the middle brought home two more, bringing the score to 10-1.

Emmet said, “The scoreboard does not always reflect how a team plays on a certain day in the game of baseball.”

He was certainly right as the Bears clawed their way through to the seventh inning when things took a turn.

“In the seventh inning, we had four really disciplined at-bats to lead off the inning,” Harlan said, “And we just kept stringing them up together until we got a couple big hits, a couple timely hits.”

Junior Kolby Johnson got walked, allowing freshman Reid Bowman to advance to second, Tanner Johnson to

advance to third and Sturgeon to score.

Emmet hit a single to left field, getting two RBI’s when Reid and Leonard scored.

A walk for junior Trey Harris got Kolby Johnson home and closed the gap in the Skyhawks lead to five.

“In the beginning of the game, we were struggling, and Coach Harlan challenged the offense to be competitive in our at-bats. Every inning, we continually got better, then finally, in the seventh inning, things started to click, and our true capabilities as an offense showed,” Harris said.

Two more runs came after redshirt freshman Brock Kuehler singled to second base and a pitching error took Harris to third. Emmet ran home along with sophomore AJ Mendolia.

Sturgeon got hit at the plate, bringing Harris back home. Bowman hit a pop-fly to center field, sophomore Jack Angus ran home, and the score was brought to 10-9.

The Bears had a fire lit underneath them that transferred to their bats, and they were able to

See Baseball- page 8

SOFTBALL

Photo courtesy of ucasports.com

Bears win three of four games at University of Memphis Tournament BY

MILO STRAIN

Opinion Editor

The UCA softball team recently competed in the University of Memphis Softball Tournament from March 10-13, winning three games in a row before losing to Oklahoma State University.

The UofM Tournament had a delayed start due to bad weather on Thursday, March 10, with the UCA Bears facing off against the University of Memphis Tigers followed by a game against the Southeastern Louisiana University Lions.

The Bears were victorious in their first game, beating the UofM Tigers (1-0) on their home turf. In a lowscoring game, UCA racked up nine hits but scored their only run on account of a throwing error by the Tigers in the top of the fifth inning.

UCA continued to steamroll through their second game of the day, triumphing over Southeastern Louisiana University (6-1). The Bears trailed behind the

SLU Lions until the fourth inning when the Bears scored twice and took the lead with the bases loaded.

Junior infielder and pitcher Jaylee Engelkes then came in and hit a 2-RBI single bringing the score up to (4-1).

It was at this point the Bears hit their stride in the game, preventing the Lions from scoring again while scoring another two points of their own before the game was over.

The Bears’ winning streak continued into the second day of the UofM Tournament as they overpowered the University of South Dakota Coyotes (12-2).

UCA came out swinging, scoring six points in the first inning against the Coyotes, who were unable to recover.

The first inning put the Bears at a large advantage, and they hardly let up the pressure as the game went on, hitting multiple homers and bringing their total up to 12 points before the game ended.

Junior catcher Tyla Vernon hit her first home run of the season in the second inning and then hit a second homer just a while later at the top of the fifth.

UCA’s streak came to an end with their final game against Oklahoma State University, where the Bears were dominated by the OSU Cowgirls (14-1).

The game was fairly close at the beginning, with OSU only leading by two heading into the third inning, but it was here that the game took a turn.

The Cowgirls quickly scored eight runs in the third inning and kept going from there, getting four more runs in the next two innings and preventing the Bears from scoring again in the game.

This game would mark the end of the University of Memphis Softball Tournament for the Bears, as inclement weather caused the Saturday portion of the tournament to be canceled.

The Bears’ last game would have been a rematch against Southeastern Louisiana University on Saturday.

The UCA softball teams’ next destination is Fort Myers, Florida, where they will play three games against the Florida Gulf Coast University Eagles on March 19-20.

Opinion

6

The Voice

March 16, 2022

Despite diversity initiatives, UCA faculty does not reflect student demographics

The Echo Staff Addi Freeman Editor-in-Chief Bennett Tinnermon Associate Editor Mia Waddell News Editor Kathryn Thornberry Assistant News Editor Madison Ogle Campus Life Editor/Cartoonist Olivia Snelson Assistant Campus Life Editor Milo Strain Opinion Editor Sydney Cyr Entertainment Editor Emilee Hagewood Sports Editor Will McDonald Assistant Sports Editor Delaney Van Wilpe Online Editor Olyvia Gonzalez Assistant Online Editor

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Editorials written in The Voice express the opinion

The Echo office is located in Stanley Russ Hall 124 ucaechoonline@gmail.com David Keith, Advisor

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ON CONGRESSIONAL BILL S.2992 To the Editor, Rely on, or maybe just enjoy Amazon Prime? Then you better take notice — Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar has sponsored a bill that would do away with e-commerce features like two-day shipping. How? It would keep companies like Amazon from cutting deals with sellers and storing their goods in fulfillment centers that make fast shipping possible. Why? Because Democrats think this is unfair to businesses that don’t want to become Prime sellers.

Last I knew, businesses could think for themselves and make their own decisions about how they operate and grow.

So, if you care about getting the goods you like and need. You might want to speak up about S.2992, the falsely named American Innovation and Choice Online Act.

BY DEVIN ALVEN Senior Political Science Major

Addiction should not be taboo in college As mental health trends on Twitter and infects syllabus day, addiction digs its hole, deeper and deeper, into the taboo.

No one wants to talk about it. Its hands are around your neck, killing every ambition you’ve ever had.

It’s a darty. It’s a pregame. It’s a house party. Nothing abnormal about drinking in college.

What does one do when it goes beyond fun? Empty bottles decorate apartments, a sign of the times – happiness and the good times.

I stuffed my bottles into the trash, pretending they weren’t there.

Addiction runs deep.

I went on a date with a boy, and he told me in the secrecy of my car, “I was addicted to heroin. Now, I’ve got to run. I have a biology lab.”

My best friend, absent for months, working on herself in a rehab center — I had no idea. Her love was stolen from me for the greater good.

BY MIA WADDELL Why is no one talking News Editor about this?

I’m drinking until the sun rises. I’ve got a paper due tomorrow. Is this normal? Is this just college? Why do I feel so alone?

The screaming, resounding answer — NO. Substance abuse is almost comically tied to college students. Stimulants and depressants guide our lives.

It goes beyond fun and youth.

Addiction grips us. It ruins us. It’s not fashionable to treat it. It’s not fashionable to talk about it.

We let these issues fester until they ruin us in our adulthood. The day drinking isn’t problematic until you’ve graduated.

We all have pill bottles in our purses.

This is an admonition — I don’t know what to do about it.

I can’t change the culture. I can’t change genetics.

All I can do is speak my truth.

Addiction in college is so very real.

Recovery is possible, but most certainly, difficult.

Everyone I meet has been touched by it, but no one speaks of it.

I want to scream when the conversations go on and on about mental health days and selfcare. I understand it, but it seems trivial compared to reality.

Why do you need a mental health day? Did you keep yourself up drinking? Are you withdrawing? Are you fighting for your sobriety until the birds chirp?

It’s not an accusation. It is a genuine question. Why don’t we be honest?

College kids are not immune to substance abuse.

They aren’t immune to addiction.

Most of us had our first foray in high school.

Here we are now — all alone.

It’s okay to struggle. It’s okay to reach out.

What is a leave of absence if it means your sobriety and sanity?

What is dropping a class if it saves you from yourself?

We are young and fragile.

There is nothing more important than our consciousness, yet we want to rid ourselves of it so violently.

I find myself meditating on the hope my father brings me, once gripped by addiction, 20 years sober now. If he can do it, so can I. So can the boy I met. So can my high school best friend.

Sometimes technology can go too far

Technology is undeniably a part of But is there really anything to be done everyone’s daily life, whether you like it or about this? You could use a VPN or turn not. off your microphone for certain apps, but it Even trying to go low-tech will still require still seems to find a way through connected some level of use to function in today’s accounts or the app utilizes the microphone society. It’s doubtful you could get and a lot. Maybe it isn’t listening. maintain a job somewhere without a means of The tech in your hand isn’t the only thing communication like email or phone. that’s so advanced. Elon Musk’s Teslas and This opens up how not having technology self-driving features have made headlines in because you have no job can create a vicious past years for both good and bad reasons. cycle that makes it difficult to get a job and A quick Google search for “Teslas maintain it, but that’s another topic. self-driving” showed me articles On top of having to use tech, it has about Tesla defending themselves, such a strong grip on our lives. claiming that their self-driving Social media knows you on feature is safe. Meanwhile, an a personal level — in scary ways article from New Scientist said sometimes. If you’ve been using a Tesla recalled 50,000 cars that certain social media platform long disobey stop signs in self-driving enough, it knows extremely well what mode. to show you next and what content They can recall the cars, but you will like. what if others have this issue, When I started using and how bad could the TikTok, it didn’t take long consequences of issues for it to start showing like this be? In 2019, a me motorsport videos Tesla on autopilot ran

BY BENNETT TINNERMON and stand-up comedy. It a red light, running Associate Editor knows what I will watch. into another car and Surely most people killing two people. have had that weird Maybe a future experience of talking about something where all cars are self-driving and connected out loud with a friend and being shown to work perfectly, but can that realistically be recommendations or advertisements for it achieved when not everyone will be willing online not long after. to drive one of these high-tech spaceships? I Maybe it’s just another feature of your don’t think so. phone knowing you extremely well based on Musk is like the poster boy for tech going browsing habits. But it’s happened to me way scarily far, with his Neuralink brain chip too many times for it to be a coincidence. experiments that killed monkeys implanted It’s up to you whether or not you think with the chip. this is okay. I’m not a huge fan of it, but I’ve Technology is always moving forward in a heard others say that if it helps them find what variety of ways, and there isn’t much we can they’re looking for online, then they don’t do about it besides sit back and decide what care. parts to use or not.

A recent article in The Echo by staff reporter Courtney Shepherd did a very thorough examination of UCA’s faculty diversity and highlighted the severe lack of Black faculty and the large demographic disparity between Black students and Black faculty. Shepherd also interviewed multiple Black faculty members about their experience working at UCA and their thoughts on UCA’s attempts at increasing diversity.

The general sentiment raised by the faculty members interviewed is that while UCA’s efforts to increase diversity so far are appreciated, there are still areas that need to be addressed. Multiple UCA professors mentioned being the only Black professors in their entire department and being used to being the only Black person in the room.

While not a problem specific to UCA, it is definitely disappointing to learn about the lack of diversity among faculty at a school that generally has average to above-average diversity among students, according to several college demographic websites. If UCA truly cares about increasing diversity and inclusion, their faculty demographics should reflect that at this point.

Diversity among faculty is arguably just as important or more important than diversity among students. Increasing diversity among the student body is wonderful and should continue without a doubt, but increasing faculty diversity could arguably have a larger positive impact on student diversity in the long run. The closer our student and faculty racial demographics match, the better represented minority students will be.

The closer our student and faculty racial demographics match, the better represented minority students will be As mentioned in Shepherd’s article, right now UCA faculty is overwhelmingly white, making up about 82% of the faculty even though the student population is closer to 65-75% white according to data from the most recent Minority Recruitment and Retention Report released by UCA and several estimates from college demographic websites. That same report says that Black students made up 14.6% of the student body in 2019, while Shepherd’s article mentions that only 4.7% of UCA faculty in 2021 were Black. It’s hard to find comprehensive statistics on these things because UCA doesn’t release them anywhere consistently for whatever reason, but the disparity is clear.

The lack of diverse perspectives among UCA faculty could lead to situations where minority students aren’t taken into consideration because they don’t have anybody representing them when decisions are made.

Faculty are also generally at UCA for much longer periods of time than any student and could have more influence and opportunities to raise concerns and increase diversity compared to a student.

The current situation also just seems unfair to our current Black and minority faculty members. As chemistry professor Marsha Massey mentions in Shepherd’s article, being the only Black faculty member or faculty of color in your department can bring unexpected stress and cause you to stand out in ways that might not be comfortable.

While UCA continues to make efforts to increase diversity, the fact remains that it is a predominantly white institution, and unless some really radical policies are adopted quickly, diversity at UCA is fated to endlessly limp along, forever alternating between incremental gains and setbacks, painfully reflective of social progress in America.

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If you’ve noticed something on campus that’s positive or negative, we want to hear about it.

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The views published are not necessarily those of the University of Central Arkansas. All material is subject to respective copyrights.

Entertainment

7

March 16, 2022

New This Week

‘Fresh’ falls short due to impractilality, cheesy writing

Movies

BY

COURTNEY SHEPHERD

March 18 — X (R), directed by Ti West, starring Jenna Ortega, Mia Goth, Brittany Snow, Kid Cudi, Martin Henderson, Owen Campbell and Stephen Ure — A group of young filmmakers make an adult film in rural Texas, but have to fight for their lives after their hosts catch them in the act

Relying solely on shock factor and a played-out comedic edge, Hulu’s newest thriller, “Fresh,” tries its best to accurately depict the fears of women who date in the modern world.

After a failed attempt to find meaningful connections online, Noa, played by Daisy-Edgar Jones, meets the seemingly perfect Steve at a grocery store. From here, the plot progresses in a predictable manner, one that is to be expected from any other movie in this genre.

March 18 — Expired (R), directed

by Ivan Sen, starring Ryan Kwanten, Hugo Weaving, Jillian Nguyen and Keiichi Enomoto — A hitman meets two strangers As Steve, played by that change his life, a club singer Sebastian Stan, primes himself who he learns to love and a scientist to be the perfect candidate who discovers his weakness for Noa’s affections, he is simultaneously grooming her for a sinister, yet tasteful March 18 — Alice (R), directed by twist in the plot. Only, the audience already knows that Krystin Ver Linden, starring Keke Palmer, Common, Jonny Lee Miller, Steve is a bad guy, and the twist is heavily implied in the Gaius Charles and Madelon Curtis — Alice flees enslavement in rural description of the movie.

Georgia and soon discovers that the In an interview with year is 1973 Deadline, director Mimi Cave said of her directorial debut, “I felt like I had the

Photo courtesy of www.hulu.com

“Fresh” premiered exclusively on Hulu on March 4, 2022. The film follows a woman as she experiences the horrors of dating in the modern world.

opportunity to take an age-old story and twist it.” She said the movie “comments on the perils of dating.”

The movie had the potential to be the thoughtprovoking commentary that the creative team seemed to strive for, but it fell short due to its impracticality and cheesy writing style. While these choices definitely felt purposeful, the movie would be better off without the profound label they are so

tightly holding on to.

It’s not that “Fresh” is a bad movie; it’s actually quite entertaining. It has everything that a person would want in a thriller: suspense, wellwritten characters and a few surprises along the way. There is playful banter among the characters, and a well-rounded friendship between Noa and her best friend, Mollie, played

by Jonic T. Gibbs. It even sets up the opportunity for a male character to save the day,

March 18 — Sink Into Me — Babeheaven March 18 — CRASH — Charli XCX

MIA WADDELL

News Editor

— Mattiel March 18 — MOTOMAMI — Rosalía March 18 — For The Sake Of Bethel Woods — Midlake March 18 — In/Out/In

www.

Netflix March 17 — Soil (Season 1), directed by Mathieu Mortelmans, starring Yassine Ouaich, Ward Kerremans, Ahlaam Teghadouini and Charlotte De Bruy ne —A young entrepreneur creates a risky plan to help the family business by importing soil from Morocco to bury his community’s deceased

March 17 — Rescued by Ruby, directed by Katt Shea, starring Grant Gustin, Scott Wolf, Kaylah Zander and Camille Sullivan — A state tropper partners with shelter pup Ruby to chase his dream of joining an elite K-9 unit

March 18 — Black Crab, directed

by Adam Berg, starring Noomi Rapace, Jakob Oftebro, Erik Enge, Dar Salim and Ardalan Esmaili — A soldier embarks on a mission across a frozen sea carrying topsecret cargo to end an apocalyptic war and save her daughter

Top 4 Overrated Movies List compiled by Addi Freeman Editor-In-Chief

However, these traits are not unique to “Fresh,” and they certainly do not help it stand out within its genre.

Any good thriller will include suspense and a character or two is willing to put up a fight, and there have certainly been movies where the victim comes out on top. It seems that any

‘Loverboy’ experiments, local artist new release BY

March 18 — Georgia Gothic

then removes it. This allowed the audience a chance to see women save themselves from the situation they were thrust into.

This flaw cannot be mended by the overuse of the shock factor. Occasionally, the screen would flash in succession with bloody and grotesque images of Steve, and other men, performing acts of violence against women. While this is common in movies of its kind, a more subtle approach would have created the eerie atmosphere that this movie so desperately needed in order to stand out.

These scenes could have been switched with ones that would allow the desired theme to shine through more clearly.

It’s easy to splatter blood across the scene and call it a scary movie, but having to rely on shock to entice your audience means your script probably isn’t very good.

“Fresh” is available on Hulu.

ALBUM

MUSIC

Music

Information from:

scary movie in which a woman is victimized could then be considered commentary on the brutalization of women and the fears they internalize when interacting with men.

This is the true weakness of the movie. It is unremarkable despite its attempts to be profound.

Staff Writer

Love, loyalty, and loss weave their way through Conway rapper Wanya’s newest EP, “Loverboy.”

The tracks match the vibes of the flowers and butterflies adorning the front cover, a markedly warmer and more experimental tone than his last three albums.

Writing, mixing and recording his own music means that Wanya’s progress and growth as an artist are easily tracked through listening to his past tracks. Each release sees a stronger production and vision.

“Loverboy,” an admittedly quick EP, tells the story of loving a girl but needing to let her go. “Heard About the Kid,” arguably the best track, has shades of J. Cole and the trappy, summery vibes contained in the collaborations between Lana Del Rey and A$AP Rocky.

The EP was made in just two days, Wanya said, in an effort to express his relationship woes.

Ironically, the beats and sound of the EP feel upbeat and hopeful, but the lyrics are all but that.

The musings on sex, love and loyalty strung along trappy beats deliver a somewhat unintentional commentary on modern love.

Closing the restaurant Wanya and I work at, most nights every week, conversations drift towards our art and life while rolling silverware. This is where I learn the most about the behind-thescenes of his music.

Incredibly loyal and sensitive, his music expresses more than he can usually say to me in person.

“Wanya Forever,” his last full-length album, was soapier, slower and had a much more

old-school sound. This album stands out lyrically, but the sound begins to blur together.

“Loverboy,” finds itself experimenting with its sound.

Most notably, with a guitar riff in “Before I Let Go.” The heartfelt and earnest lyrics of the track combined with the experimental sound make this track a strong contender off the EP. Sonically, this album is one of Wanya’s strongest.

Lyrically, the tight time frame of production becomes slightly more noticeable.

In comparison to Wanya’s past tracks from “Immortal Pt. 2” and “Wanya Forever,” “Loverboy” is an album to vibe to, not dissect.

“It has late-night vibes,” Wanya said. “I just wanted to make something for people to listen to at night.”

“Loverboy” has a purpose and place in Wanya’s discography as a trappy and summery EP about a girl he loves. It does not propose itself as an incredibly deep setlist.

The closing track, “Late Night Vibez,” captures the feeling incredibly well and further experiments with a feature from rapper 870 LG — something Wanya doesn’t often do seriously.

Past songs featuring friends such as his roommate, Evan, found themselves as quite goofy and not earnest endeavors in collaboration.

“Late Night Vibez,” however, works well. Although the two aren’t friends anymore, according to Wanya, their verses mesh well to create an interesting track.

“Loverboy” delivers an incredibly well-produced and more experimental take on Wanya’s music, with shades of the pop-rap that invaded the music scene near 2018 — even if it lacks in-depth lyrically.

Wanya’s music is on Apple Music and Spotify.

1. ‘Harry Potter’ franchise I have never read a “Harry Potter” book, and I have never watched any of the movie adaptations. However, I cannot adequately portray my bone -deep hatred for the franchise. I have never had even the slightest interest in entering the “wizardly world.” But here’s what gets me the most: the absolute cultlike following of adults – millennials, for more clarification – that can’t seem to let go of the first fantasy series they read as a teen. Seriously, these people are 30-40 years old and are proudly (yes, proudly) toting around their wizard robes and house color scarves like they’re a three-year-old who just discovered Frozen. And with all of the controversy surrounding J.K. Rowling people still choose to let this series have an inexplicable hold over their lives. Are you not embarrassed?

Photo courtesy of www.rexorangecounty.com

Rex Orange County’s fourth album, “WHO CARES?,” released on March 11, 2022. The album can be accessed on most music streaming platforms.

‘WHO CARES?’ doesn’t compare to Rex Orange County’s past work BY

ESTEFANIA MOJICA

Staff Review

Alexander James O’Connor, professionally known as Rex Orange County, released his fourth musical album titled “WHO CARES?” on March 11.

To say the least, this album was underwhelming but not disappointing.

It seems he was most laid back with this album, and it wasn’t as energetic as his previous work.

The last time O’Connor released an album was in 2019.

When there’s a long period between albums released, one would expect more from it.

O’Connor began teasing the album in January of this year. For the amount of promotion produced for this album, expectations were set high.

The album is close to 35 minutes long, with eleven songs all averaging a length between three to four minutes. Except for an almost five-minute-long song titled “Shoot Me Down” With five-minute-long songs, it’s always a hit or miss.

The artist has to do something great to maintain the attention of listeners for that long In this instance, O’Connor did a good job at keeping the song interesting enough for the

entire four minutes and fiftytwo seconds. It’s repetitive but the emotions he expresses kept my attention.

Before the album release, Rex Orange County had released three singles including “Open a Window,” which featured rapper Tyler the Creator.

The two artists have worked together in the past, with O’Connor being featured in Tyler’s well-known song “Boredom” from his 2017 “Flower Boy” album.

This previous collaboration definitely helped O’Connor in growing his career.

In April of 2017, O’Connor self-released his second studio album, “Apricot Princess.” This album holds some of his most popular songs and was truly what caused his rise to fame.

Anticipation for a new album started when O’Connor and his ex-girlfriend broke up in November of 2020. Many fans expected a heartbreakingly sad album but unfortunately, O’Connor didn’t fully meet those expectations.

Many of the songs on “WHO CARES?” have an upbeat tempo and music, however, there are a few instances where he slows the tempo down.

The third song on the

album, “WORTH IT,” sounds similar to some of his past releases, with an instrumental intro lasting around half a minute, and then the lyrics begin.

It’s a very significant style that O’Conner has. Having long instrumental intros or outros in his songs or sometimes in the middle of a song.

It’s clear he keeps his same style and rhythms with this new album.

If you’re not a big fan of his previous work, it’s not likely this album will change your opinion.

Despite the great lyrics and melodies presented in “WHO CARES?,” it simply doesn’t compare to his past work.

O’Connor plans to tour this album throughout North America and the United Kingdom. The tour starts at the beginning of May. Multiple shows have already completely sold out, while others still have a big availability of tickets.

Overall, Rex Orange County once again provided fans with a great album but will probably not become a favorite compared to his past albums.

The album is available on most streaming platforms.

2. ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’

3. ‘Star Wars’

4. ‘Thor: Ragnarok’

Now, this movie I have seen, and boy do I regret wasting 103 minutes of my life. I can understand how some people like the HP franchise to a certain extent — its fantasy elements are easy for some to escape the mundanity of their lives within. But “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” is just a camera following a teen around through a fairly regular day. If John Hughes wants to reboot the film in some way, he might as well go to a college campus and follow a student around for the day. But watching a student walk from their dorm to the library to their classes would be far more engaging and fun than this terrible “classic” film was. Digging into the actual character, Ferris was just an all-around, self-absorbed jerk. His so-called friendship with Cameron is incredibly toxic as he always guilt-trips and talks over Cameron.

I’m not quite as viscerally enraged by the “Star Wars” franchise as I am by Harry Potter, but I still can’t stand it. The first film in the series was released about 43 years ago, yet this franchise still has an avid following. The fans can’t let it go, and, apparently, neither can production companies and producers. Let me give you the gist of every single “Star Wars” film and mini-series: fights in space with big glow sticks. Add a few other pieces of drama, and we’ve got a series and storyline that just won’t end. How? Plus, what’s the point of even watching the films anymore? At this point, they are so widely known that babies come out of the womb knowing Darth Vader is Luke’s father, and Luke and Leia have a romance that’s stomped out when it’s revealed they’re siblings. It’s time to let this franchise go.

I was so excited to see this film when it came out. I have always been a huge fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, “Thor: Ragnarok” was the worst “Thor” movie and hands down the worst Marvel movie out of all the films in the franchise. The forced humor in the film was absolutely terrible. Also, the random addition of Hulk being able to speak was crazy and completely uncalled for. With such a stellar cast, this movie had a level of potential that must have been unreachable because it genuinely seemed like the director didn’t even try to take the project seriously. This film was extremely disappointing. Overall, I give this movie a one out of 10.

ucanews.live

SPORTS

8 / March 16, 2022 FEATURE

UCA STATS CORNER SPORT

OPPONENT

RESULT

RECORD

Baseball

UT Martin

13-10 W

5-9

Softball

Oklahoma State

1-14 L

14-8

3-4 L

7-6

3-2 W

3-5

Tennis

Beach Volleyball

ULM

UT Martin

WOMEN’S GOLF

Photo courtesy of Jaidyn Simington

Simington finds family, friends through UCA cheerleading team BY

SYDNEY AMBRUS

Staff Writer

Jaidyn Simington is a senior cheerleader for UCA from Hope, Arkansas.

Simington has been a cheerleader for UCA for three years and decided to try out for the team in April of 2019 after seeing a performance by the UCA cheerleaders.

“I first saw UCA cheer at a performance they held in 2013.

I fell in love with them then,” Simington said.

Her cheerleading career has been progressing for over a decade.

Simington started allstar cheerleading, a form of competitive cheerleading, at the age of 5 years old after transitioning from gymnastics at Southwest Arkansas Gymnastics Academy.

“My aunt cheered at Southern Arkansas University, and I

always wanted to be like her,” Simington said.

She continued to do all-star cheerleading at SAGA until her 8th-grade year of middle school.

From there, Simington cheered at Hope High School for four years, cheering on her school’s basketball and football team.

Simington has had a passion for cheer since she was just five years old, but her favorite part of UCA cheer is the people.

“I have made some lifelong friends in my teammates,” Simington said. “UCA cheer feels like a huge family, and that’s one thing I really love about it.”

Simington’s favorite sport to cheer for at UCA is football.

“There’s nothing like waking up at 8 a.m. on a Saturday getting ready to do a bear walk down Bruce Street and then getting to cheer on the stripes,” Simington said.

One of Simington’s proudest

moments as a UCA cheerleader was last year in Daytona, Florida, at the National Cheer Association collegiate nationals, where the team landed in 3rd place.

Placing 3rd put UCA Cheer in the top three winner’s circle, which UCA’s cheer program had not seen since 2015.

Simington is a classified senior, with a major in radiography and a minor in sports psychology. She plans to apply for a Radiography program through UCA. “Once I am done with the two-year program, I plan to work as a Radiologic technologist at hospitals here in Arkansas, then eventually move to Texas to work in hospitals there,” Simington said.

Outside of cheer, Simington also enjoys doing pageants.

Along with this Simington loves doing hair and makeup on herself and her friends.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL UPDATE

Photo courtesy of ucasports.com

Bears end UNF Collegiate in 11th, Moreno finishes in top-20 at 19th BY

OLYVIA GONZALEZ

Staff Writer

Women’s golf fell from 11th to 19th place in the twoday tournament at the UNF Collegiate in Jacksonville, Florida.

“Team looks good,” women’s golf coach Natasha Vincent said, “We are all disappointed with our secondround performance, but really had some great highlights, and we can see the improvements from their off-season prep and in our stats.”

Sophomore Camila Moreno served as the star player from UCA. On the first day, Moreno soared in the first two rounds by jumping 16 places.

Ultimately, she placed 11th on closing day after shooting an even 72.

The purpose of the tournament is to gauge the

Photo courtesy of ucasports.com

Baseball:

competition, specifically the ones in the Bears’ conference.

“Ranking isn’t super important at this juncture,” assistant director of sports media relations Ryan Thiele said. “It’s a little different than a lot of other sports because you can improve your ranking without winning, and the depth of the event matters, but the most important thing for a school like ours is going to be the [ASUN Championship] in mid-April.”

The University of North Florida held a tight grip on first place, followed by Furman University and the University of North Texas.

Junior Elin Kumlin jumped from 36th place to 29th in three rounds, shooting a final round of 73. Her teammates were slightly behind her.

Junior Tania Nunez and freshman Madison Holmes finished in 54th place, Nunez

ending with a 76 and Holmes ending with a 77. Senior Karley Whittington finished in 73rd place with an 8-over-80.

“I think it was a good season opener. We usually start earlier in spring, but this semester we had a little bit of a late start,” Nunez said. “With that said, it was a bit tough to compete against teams that had already played two to three tournaments this semester.

However, I think we had some good rounds in, and I’m excited to see what we can accomplish in the next events this month.”

Next for the Bears will be a trip to Gulf Shores, Alabama, for South Alabama’s Beach Bash on March 20-22.

“Obviously, making the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament is always the goal, but if we do the things we need to do early, that will take care of itself,” Thiele said.

Comeback of the ages leads to Bears win

Continued from page 5

Bears beat Jacksonville State 5-0, University of Tennessee at Martin 3-2 BY

MEGAN HOLDER

Staff Writer

The University of Central Arkansas Beach Volleyball team walked away with two victories from the Governors Beach Duals hosted by Austin Peay State University on Friday, March 13.

The Bears won 5-0 against Jacksonville State.

In the first match, senior Faith Hasness and graduate student Carol Barbosa went 21-11, 21-14.

The second match was won by junior Evelyn Griffith Davis and senior Kelsie Sager, 21-9, 1921, 15-11. Senior Kayla Cook

and freshman Katie Atkinson took the third match, 21-14, 18-21, 15-10.

Junior Julia Oravec and sophomore Bria Garmon won the fourth match, 21-13, 21-14.

Freshman Reynne Gepford and sophomore Anna Collums won the fifth match, 21-8, 21-12.

UCA went 3-2 against the University of Tennessee at Martin.

Hasness and Barbosa went 21-14, 21-19 in the first match.

The second match was won by Davis and Sager 21-17, 11-21, 17-15.

Oravec and Garmon went 21-

17, 21-12 in the third match.

The fourth match was won by Cook and Atkinson 21-14, 2118. Columns and Gepford went 21-19, 27-25 in the fifth match.

The two matches against Austin Peay and TennesseeChattanooga were canceled because of weather conditions.

The Bears will travel to Nacogdoches, Texas, to participate in the Stephen F. Austin Spring Tournament.

They will play Abilene Christian University, Stephen F. Austin State University, Southeastern Louisiana University and the University of Mary HardinBaylor.

make one of the biggest comebacks of the season.

“It’s no surprise to me because of the character of our team. They pride themselves on playing the game the same way whether we’re up by ten or down by ten,” Harlan said.

The Skyhawks lead was taken away when Kolby Johnson singled up the middle and brought both Sturgeon and sophomore Connor Flagg over home plate.

Emmet homered through the left side, bringing Kolby Johnson home with him and leaving the score at 13-10.

Sophomore pitcher Jesse Barker held the lead in the final two innings, allowing one hit and striking out three.

Harlan said, “It was a great opportunity for their character to shine through, and sometimes that happens in baseball if you continue to play

hard and play regardless of the scoreboard.”

Emmet agreed with him saying, “our overall character we have on our team led us to the late inning success.”

Following a loss against Creighton University on Thursday (10-3) and another to UT on Friday (3-0), Harlan said that the men were ready for a win. “... going back to Thursday when we played Creighton, I think we won six out of the nine innings. We had one inning that we didn’t play well, and it ended up costing us the game.” Harlan said, “It left a bitter taste in their mouths because they know they played so well for six of the nine innings.”

The second game against Creighton was canceled due to inclement weather, but Harris said it gave the team a chance to prepare.

“I think the canceled game allowed us to take a step back and make some adjustments.

We had been struggling to get our offense going, and that Saturday, we went to the cages and made some improvements,” Harris said.

Harlan said they try to have a “patient urgency” when it comes to games, “being patient with the process but having a sense of urgency to get the job done.”

The Bears proved that their patience paid off as they scored 12 runs in a row and won the game, bringing their overall record to 5-9.

Emmet said, “Overall though, it was amazing to get a win like that the weekend before starting up conference!”

The men will be traveling to Louisville, Kentucky, March 18 for a three-game series against Bellarmine University.