Issue 23, Volume 117--April 6, 2022

THE UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL ARKANSAS’ STUDENT NEWSPAPER

SINGLE COPY PAID FOR BY STUDENT PUBLICATION

WEDNESDAY

APRIL 6, 2022 Volume 117 — Issue 23

ucanews.live TODAY’S FORECAST CONWAY

Sports:

Campus Life: Artist Couple: Jeff Mandell and Poppi Frey talk about the joys of art.

Documentary: Olivia Rodrigo takes fans behind the scene.

page 7

page 8

page 3

Ronnie Williams discusses police and family at book signing

Sunny

70/46

BY KATHRYN THORNBERRY

THE NEWSDESK

prospective black juror was struck.”

Assistant News Editor

FROM THE ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

I N T E R N AT I O N A L

Ukraine accuses Russia of massacre Ukrainian authorities on Sunday, April 3, accused Russian forces of committing war crimes and leaving behind a ‘scene from a horror movie.’

Bodies with bound hands and close-range gunshot wounds lay scattered in a city on the outskirts of Kyiv after Russian soldiers withdrew from the area. As images of the bodies began to emerge, a slew of European leaders condemned the atrocities and called for tougher sanctions against Moscow.

N AT I O N A L

Six killed in California Six people were killed and 12 injured in a mass shooting early Sunday, April 3, as bars and nightclubs were closing in downtown Sacramento.

Sacramento Police Chief Kathy Lester said at a news conference that police were patrolling the area two blocks from the Capitol at around 2

Ronnie Williams discussed the behind-thescenes of his new book, “Markham Street: The Haunting Truth Behind the Murder of My Brother, Marvin Leonard Williams,” during a signing held on Thursday, March 31.

Williams said he began writing the book in “There were many times that I would walk away,” Ronnie said. “There were many times I would close my small study and shed some tears.”

On Thursday, May 5, 1960, Marvin Williams and three of his friends went to the Sunset Café on a stormy prom night. Marvin did not enter the cafe but instead slept in his car.

Police say they arrested Marvin for drunkenness and took him to a jail cell, where he tripped and hit his head — dying the next day. verdict.

“No one. No one from the city of Conway. No city

Photo courtesy of Ronnie Williams’ Facebook

Ronnie Williams and Arkansas House Representative Fred Allen speak at William’s book signing.

The book discusses the suspicious circumstances around his brother’s death.

family of Marvin’s death,” Ronnie said.

For 24 years, Ronnie’s family did not talk about the incident. In Aug. 1984, investigative reporter Mike Masterson received a letter from a prison inmate who was in the county jail the night Marvin was arrested.

The inmate, Charles Hackney, said he saw the the jail cell and beat him in the back of the head.

At the book signing, a video of Hackney explaining what he saw was shown.

Williams said his

States look to end opioid epidemic For the past two decades the addiction and overdose of synthetic opioids has gripped the U.S., and state governments are scrambling for ways to stem the destruction. Some National Guard units with a mission that includes

to help people and try to get people clean, and at the same time incarcerate and get the drug dealers off the streets,” Nathan Manning said, a Republican state senator in Ohio.

S TAT E

Tornados touch down in Arkansas

A weak tornado struck Arkansas on Wednesday, March 30, as severe storms rolled across the South, according to the National Weather Service in Little with winds of about 100 mph struck the Harmony community in Johnson County, about 90 miles northeast of Little Rock, the weather service reported Thursday. There are seven injured people, and the storms crossed several states and spawned isolated tornadoes and high winds.

family is painfully aware of the fact that there are some not work in the profession because their judgment gets cloudy when they deal with people who look different and act differently from them.

“This book is not an angry black man accusing racist,” Ronnie said, “because they’re not.”

There were two autopsy reports — one done in 1960 that was never shown, and a second one done in 1984 that was a part Marvin’s death was a result

Diane Newton, the Vice President of Finance and Administration, will be retiring after 12 years of service to the UCA community.

Newton began working for UCA in Jan. 2010 after receiving a call from a former colleague.

“I was thrilled at the opportunity not just to come home to Arkansas but also come to a place that had such meaning to me. My mother attended AR State Teachers College, now UCA, and had such fond memories of her time here,” Newton said.

“Her yearbook is well worn from my many hours of looking through it. From my window in Wingo, I’m able to see the room in McAlister where she lived, had friends and colleagues who were currently or had been part of the UCA family. It just felt like home to me,” Newton said.

Newton has worked in university administration for 38 years, and it’s all she’s ever done.

“I started out as an accountant at Henderson State University, my alma mater for both my undergraduate and graduate degrees. From there, I went to Southern Arkansas University as Controller, then to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock as Associate Vice Chancellor for position was at Lander University in Greenwood, South Caroline, then back to Arkansas for my current position,” Newton said.

Newton has been a part of many accomplishments at UCA, including new buildings and projects such as the HPER Center expansion, “The Stripes,” Donaghey Hall, Integrated Health Sciences, Greek Village, Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts and many more.

Newton was heavily involved in a lot of these projects from the ground up and was also a part of

Photo courtesy of UCA

Diane Newton will be retiring after 12 years at UCA. Newton plans to spend more time with her family.

the ongoing ROI Project.

“While those projects were interesting, challenging and very important to the campus, the highlight is working with the amazing team that put together and is executing the Resource Optimization Initiative,” Newton said. “Because of these efforts, under the leadership of President Houston Davis, this campus is successfully preparing for the

Water researchers awarded $158,250 in grant money

Campus Accolades List compiled by Mia Waddell News Editor

Three UCA researchers were awarded a grant to study water quality by Arkansas’ Department of Energy and Environment’s Division of Environmental Quality. Halvor Harrison, assistant professor of biology, Ginny Adams, associate dean of the college of arts and sciences, and Reid Adams, professor of biology, received a $158,250 grant over two years to study Ouachita River Basin quality. Halvorson said, “The state is interested in having a better understanding of human impacts on water quality so they can better establish protocols and critics to determine how water system has degraded.”

The research team includes undergraduate and graduate students.

Contact Us: 4 4

Because

Williams

words he wrote in his book, his son Greg Williams read for him.

“My mother could tell I was not in a good place,” Greg Williams read. “She could see my dysfunction.

What my mother said to me that day has forever altered the way I handled disappointment. She said ‘baby, you have enough of me and you to not do something wrong.’ In essence, she was reminding me of everything she had poured into my siblings and

Photo courtesy of Amazon

Markham Street by Ronnie Williams is about the death of his brother, Marvin Williams, pictured above, died in 1960.

me.”

“She was betting that what she had trained her children would outlive and outlast the injuries — psychological and physical — that each of us would suffer when we encountered racism in our society,” Greg Williams said.

The last video clip played at the reading was of Marvin’s father, DB Williams.

“A simple request: I live long enough to find out the truth,” DB Williams said.

The book is available to purchase on websites such as Amazon, Walmart and Barnes & Noble.

Vice President of Finance Diane Newton to retire after 12 years

Index: 2

of a skull fracture located behind his left ear.

Although Williams’ attorney was ecstatic from a legal perspective after the second autopsy, the family could not rejoice.

“All we could think of was how much Marvin suffered,” Ronnie read from his book. “And what were his last words.”

The trial began in July 1985. Ronnie said the jury selection was disappointing.

“It was painful to watch the strategy that was being used or deployed during that selection,” Ronnie said.

“Every

remained that Marvin died from tripping.

Ronnie explained how devastated he was after all of the testimonies and evidence that was shown during the trial.

“Most importantly, we had the forensic evidence,” Ronnie said.

Ronnie read the words that said saved his life from his mother in his book.

“She said ‘Baby are you okay?’” Ronnie said.

“My reply was always ‘yes mother, I’m okay.’ But she

FA C U LT Y

and rushed to the scene. They found a large crowd gathered and six people dead in the BY OLIVIA SNELSON Staff Writer street.

Police Beat People of UCA Students Say

Entertainment:

Softball: Bears drop conference game against North Florida.

6 Opinion 7 Entertainment 5, 8 Sports

Students awarded at Board of Trustees with CLAWS

Two students were awarded the Bear CLAWS award, an acronym for celebrating the lofty achievements of our wonderful students. Senior Hannah Bender, a studio arts major and president of the UCA Feminist Union was recognized for her work within the Bear Essentials Food Pantry. Last year, Bender helped the organization secure a grant from the National Association of College Auxiliary Services foundation. Senior Marvin Russell, a computer information systems major, was recognized for his excellence. Russell led the planning of activities for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Black History Month. Russell was named outstanding mentor for the Minority Mentorship Program in 2020 and 2021.

a profound impact on higher education campuses throughout the state and country.”

Newton will be missed by many of her colleagues.

“Ms. Newton is the most accomplished, mission-driven, student-centered Vice President of Finance and Administration I have ever had the honor to work with,” Provost Patricia Poulter said. “She is smart, analytical, empathetic, and brings years of experience to bear in all of her decision-making. Ms. Newton is highly respected by all who work with her, from our oncampus employees to off-campus partners. She has given tirelessly of her time and expertise to stable today, but for the future.”

“She is collaborative, engaged, has a wonderful sense of humor, and will be missed.

Whoever has the honor to step into the role after Ms. Newton’s departure will be amazed

at the depth of thought and consideration that have gone into every decision. She will be greatly missed, but will always be a key player in the history of UCA,” Poulter said. it’s looking for someone that is a great steward of resources, somebody that can think medium and long term and not just decisions,” President Houston Davis said.

Newton is retiring to spend more time with her grandchildren and enjoy life.

“I think it is just the right time. My husband is already retired, I’m at retirement age and we know there are so many adventures we want to experience, watching our grandchildren grow up is certainly one of those experiences. Traveling has always been something we’ve enjoyed, so we have plans for that, as well,” Newton said.

Chair awarded for serviceChair of the Department of Philosophy and Religion Taine Duncan was recognized with the Service-Learning Award at Gulf-South Summit on ServiceLearning and Civic Engagement in Higher Education. The award was given to Duncan for her work in service-learning pedagogy. The Outstanding Faculty Contributions to ServiceLearning Instruction in Higher Education is given annually at the summit to a faculty member who has demonstrated excellence in incorporating service-learning pedagogy in the classroom. The summit’s mission is to promote networking, research, ethical practices, sustainable programs, and a culture of engagement and awareness through servicelearning and civic engagement.

Social:

Photo courtesy of UCA

Senior Hannah Bender receives her Bear CLAWS award from President Houston Davis.

Photo courtesy of UCA

Senior Marvin Russell receives his Bear CLAWS award from President Houston Davis.

Inside:

Opinion:

Eco-friendly products are scammy.

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

see page 6

2/April 6, 2022

Police Beat

NEWS

The following information is compiled from UCAPD incident reports

by Assistant News Editor Kathryn Thornberry

Student threatens Student pointing Gate at stadium another in French fake gun on Bruce hits student car dispatched to Stadium Park apartments on Wednesday, March 23, because UCA student Aissata Diare was receiving threatening messages from another student, Mensimah Gnagbe. Hargus said they received a call stating that student John Benson was locked out of his apartment Lasker found one person inside the apartment outside.

Diare said Gnagbe was there and had sent her a voice message in French, threatening to go her. Diare said Gnagbe grabbed her by the collar of her shirt before Diare went into Benson’s apartment. but an informational report

On Tuesday, March 29,

On Wednesday, March

dispatched to a report of UCA student Jacob Cox in a white Mustang pointing a fake gun at pedestrians on Bruce Street. As dispatch said this, a white mustang pulled into Stadium apartments and parked.

was called to a parking lot west of Estes Stadium after UCA student Kylin James’ car was hit by the gate.

After Colvin arrived at the scene, he found Sgt. Ford stated that the student needed a report due to the incident. Colvin spoke with James. James said he

a housing check at the apartments at the time.

Hargus approached the vehicle, and asked Cox if he was driving on Bruce street, and he said he had arrived on the scene, and asked Cox if there were any Cox said no. Cox searched the vehicle to reveal a minipaintball gun. Hill told Cox what his actions looked like to bystanders, and that he would be creating a report.

Big Event volunteers complete 12 projects News Editor

Over a hundred students, faculty and staff at UCA came together for the annual Big Event on March 12, 2022. Despite an unexpected snowstorm the day before, Bears showed up to help out on 12 community projects.

Another 20 were rescheduled to April 2nd and 9th due to the inclement weather.

Kayla Young, the Big Event Student coordinator told UCA news she was surprised that the snow did not have more impact on the day and participation.

Some of the work done during the Big Event includes yard work, cleaning and painting.

Conway residents,

Milestone Services, Conway Ministry Center, and Rise House Arkansas all requested volunteers for projects.

Rise House Arkansas thanked the Big Event volunteers on its Facebook page, “Thank you so much UCA Big Event & Alpha Sigma Tau for cleaning and organizing our Child Advocacy room! Our families appreciate your hard work and support.”

Conway resident Mark Steven Cambiano posted his thanks to the students who helped clean his yard on the big day. “37 students cleaned our yard of snow and leaves while having a great time! Thank you all!” Cambiano wrote.

The Big Event is a volunteer event led by students with the

Go Baby Go event brings joy to patients

BY MADISON OGLE Campus Life Editor

It was all gas, no brakes during UCA’s Go Baby Go event, where spinal disorder patients of Arkansas Children’s specially adapted electric toy cars at no cost to families.

Check-in began at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 2, and was followed by two car building in UCA’s integrated health sciences building. UCA’s ‘Pit Crew’ members consisted of occupational therapy students, physical therapy students, speech-language pathology students and medical students.

Electricians, engineers, assistive technology professionals and clinicians were also present, allowing a combined effort to construct cars that were both functional

pass so that he could pull onto Bruce. James said the wind picked up and the gate swung close, striking the side of his car.

Damage was at the body line of the driver side door, and it was a dent and some black paint from the gate. The paint of the car looked to be scratched as well. Colvin gave James receiving them. his business card with the report number written on Baby Go had been held at UCA the back.

W O R K - D AY

BY MIA WADDELL

ucanews.live

mission of helping community members. The organization takes requests for its projects each year.

UCA’s service-learning website says, “The vision of the Big Event General Committee is to involve every UCA student, faculty, and staff member in the Big Event to strengthen the bond between UCA and the Conway community by acts of Volunteers can sign up as individuals or as members of a group.

A total of 167 members of the UCA community participated in the 2022 Big Event. Over the years, the organization has completed over 100 service projects within the community.

PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST

Photos compiled from UCA’s Facebook

and was an event that Lynne Hollaway, Clinical Instructor of UCA’s occupational therapy department, hoped would be held annually pending its success. “[The families] have such a need to get this to their children, but they don’t have the manpower,” Hollaway said. “It’s just a really great partnership because we’re able to provide the manpower and it’s meeting our goals as a college, as instructors. We were so excited to say ‘yes, this is what we’ve been needing.’”

Hollaway said that the main goal of the College of Health and

Photo by Madison Ogle

Andrea Harshaw assembles an electric car for the event. The Go Baby Go event provided cars to Children’s Hospital patients with spinal disorders.

Behavioral Science is to promote interdisciplinary communication and relationships. For Hollaway, this was a way to meet those goals while also serving a direct need of the community.

“For [the students], they’re like ‘Oh my gosh, this is huge.

This is supporting something we’ve had a desire to do for so long,’” Hollaway said. “What’s fun about it is when you blend two groups, that can really enhance what the other’s goals are.”

Members of Arkansas Children’s Hospital’s Spinal Cord Disorder Clinic worked to the most from the adapted cars.

Pediatrics Plus donated older Go Baby Go cars from an event held seven years prior to let students practice before servicing the event. These practice cars were donated back to Pediatrics Plus to assist other children at their sites.

Maha Madani, a student of UCA said that this event highlighted how varying

disciplines can collaborate to make an event like this come to fruition. without every single person here, so that’s what’s been really great about Go Baby Go. It’s bringing all these disciplines together,” Madani said. “Typically, as a speech pathology student, I wouldn’t work with an engineer, and here I am. So it’s pretty great.”

After the assembly of the cars was completed, the children receiving them were able to claim a personalized driver’s license and car user manual as part of the “Get Your Keys” portion of the event. The families were given time to work with their assigned team of professionals on how to operate the car before letting their child get some driving practice in.

Though Hollaway was appreciative of all partnerships that went into this collaborative event, she wanted to ultimately thank the UCA Foundation for its contribution to the project.

H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N TAT I V E S

Bill aiming to legalize marijuana passes

BY MIA WADDELL News Editor

In a vote of 220-204, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to decriminalize cannabis, with support from both Republicans and Democrats on Friday, April 1.

The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, also known as the MORE Act, is not likely to pass through the senate with 60 votes.

Democratic Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer has voiced support for the bill.

Most Republican representatives who support the legalization of marijuana voted the bill down, citing partisanship. Many have already signed onto a similarly written bill produced by Republican representative Nancy Mae of South Carolina.

Republican representatives Matt Gaetz and Brian Mast of Florida and Tim McClintock of California voted in support of the bill.

Arkansas representatives Eric Crawford, French Hill,

Steve Womack and Bruce Westerman voted against the bill.

Responsible Growth Arkansas, a group advocating for the passage of “an amendment to the Arkansas Constitution which will authorize the possession, personal use, and consumption of cannabis by adults 21 and over,” according to their website, has over 35,000 signatures on a petition stating their goal.

The group needs more than 89,000 signs on their petition before July 2022 to qualify to get onto the ballot for the 2022 midterm elections in Arkansas.

The petition would come before the election commission, which would decide whether or not to include it. marijuana petitions are to get on the 2022 midterm ballot in Arkansas, according to THV11.

Medical marijuana is legal in Arkansas and surpassed $21 million in sales in February 2022. The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration estimated a

total of $41.69 million in sales revenue of Jan. and Feb. The state of Arkansas has collected over $65 million from medical marijuana since mid2019 from state taxes on the industry.

The MORE Act, if passed through the Senate, would expunge prior marijuana convictions and would result in the resentencing of all individuals serving time for a cannabis-related conviction.

In addition, the MORE Act would remove marijuana and THC from the Controlled Substances Act, ban the denial a person’s use or possession of cannabis, create a cannabis tax, and would direct the Bureau of Labor Statistics to gather demographic data about cannabis-related business owners and employees.

The bill was introduced in the House in July of 2019 by NY 10th district representative Jerry Nadler.

Vice President Kamala Harris introduced the bill to the senate in 2019.

Winners of the 2022 Jewel Moore Photography contest. Left: Will Flately, 2nd place faculty. Top right: Jackson Renfroe, 1st place student. Bottom middle: Mackenzie Hoogshagen, 1st place alumna. Bottom right: Jackson Renfroe, 2nd place student.

STUDENT VOICES

Graphic by Mia Waddell

SGA allocates $4000 to student events BY

KATHRYN THORNBERRY

Assistant News Editor

SGA donated over $4,000 towards events held on campus Monday, April 4.

Up to $2,000 was donated for the housing and food appreciation event. This event will show gratitude to those who work for and help in housing and food on April 13.

The event will be held at the Buffalo Alumni courtyard from 6 to 8 p.m.

SGA donated up to $2,725 to the Diversity Committee for the sandbox event, with the idea that people should all play with one another like kids in a sandbox.

Director of Professional Development and Training

Charlotte Strickland presented about critical thinking and perspectives.

“Every one of us has a perspective about something,” Strickland said, “and the key, as a leader, is to first understand your perspective.”

Strickland said it is vital to understand and reflect on why you respond to a person or issue.

“You really need to sit down and reflect on ‘what am I thinking right now when we talk about this issue?’” Strickland said.

Strickland also discussed ways to get information.

“The first way that we get our information is it happens to us,” Strickland said. “The second thing that

you’ll have information on is authoritative.”

Strickland also discussed the importance of determining if information is true or not.

“This is a life skill that you’ll use until you take your last breath on Earth,” Strickland said. “And that is, as information is given to you, for you to assess it and determine what is true.”

There is a new feature on CubConnect — a category for organizations to choose whether or not their event is a kid and family-friendly event.

This feature will hopefully allow more nontraditional students, and students with kids, to attend events.

Graphic by Mia Waddell

Graphic by Addi Freeman

Campus Life

3

April 6, 2022

Around Campus:

Science Spring Concert: AJR with 24KGoldn Wednesday, March 30, Hughes From 8-10 p.m. on Wednesday, April 6, the Student Activities Board will host a spring concert with performances by AJR and 24KGoldn in the Farris Center.

Artists in Residence From 1:40-2:40 p.m. on Thursday, April 7, the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences will host an artist in residence event at the Harding Fountain featuring Gasali Adeyamo, Akeem Ayanbisi Ayanniyi and Sue Schroeder and Core Dance. The artists will be delivering a community performance.

Photo by Addi Freeman

Miss UCA, Nia Kelley, practices the self defense strategy to break out of a throat hold with a member of Sigma Iota Alpha. The sorority hosted the event in partnership with UCA Police, who are available to teach self defense classes upon request.

UCAPD hits SIA with tips for self defense

BY ADDI FREEMAN

Editor-in-Chief

Students for the Arts Event From 5:30-6:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 7, the UCA Students for the Arts will host a free salsa dance class with a professional instructor in Student Center room 203A.

Saxophone Studio Honors Recital From 7:30-8:30 p.m. on Friday, April 8, the Music Department will host a Saxophone Studio Honors Recital in the Snow Fine Arts Center Recital Hall.

Hut For Hearing From 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday, April 9, Delta Zeta sorority will host a flag football tournament at the Jeff Farris Softball Fields Complex to raise money for the Starkey Hearing Foundation.

Latin American Music Fest From 6-11 p.m. on Saturday, April 9, the Latino Student Association and Hermanadad de Sigma Iota Alpha Inc. will host a night full of Latin American music in the Bear Village Storm Shelter. There will be a DJ and students who will teach different dances.

Spider-Man: No Way Home From 7-9 p.m. on Sunday, April 10, the Student Activities Board will host a movie night in the Student Center Ballroom featuring Spider-Man: No Way Home. Free food will be

The sisters of Sigma Iota Alpha teamed up with officers of the UCA Police Department to learn how to protect themselves in various dangerous situations Thursday, March 31.

Patrol Sergeant Keith Robinson and Officer Nicole Sumner went over the definitions of some common offenses students may face.

Attendees of the class — all women — listed ways they try to protect themselves on a daily basis.

Many mentioned sharing their location with friends and family and walking with their car keys between their fingers.

Sumner shared precautions she has used in the past.

“I have a couple of sisters and a couple of different things we

BY COURTNEY SHEPHERD Staff Writer

Working toward a goal of equality on campus, the UCA Feminist Union is an organization dedicated to educating, providing resources and creating safe spaces for all.

Hannah Bender joined the organization her freshman year with an interest in learning more about social justice.

Now, in her senior year, she uses her position as president of the FemUnion to give students a safe space to celebrate themselves.

“The Feminist Union is an organization designed to promote equality and diversity on UCA’s campus, while acknowledging the systemic marginalization of students based on their gender, sexuality, race or age,” Bender said. “It also serves as a space for those students so that they can be proud of their identities.”

“With the current political climate – and being in a predominantly conservative state – it’s important to make sure those who are societally oppressed have a space they can feel appreciated and valued in,” Bender said.

Through collaboration with other organizations on campus, the FemUnion has done just that. According to Katy Reagan, vice

we love a broader student engagement with collaborating,” Bender said.

“It’s very important for students to be exposed to new ways of thinking that aren’t a reflection of traditional, southern attitudes,” Bender said.

“Learning about feminism and social justice is imperative to those in college, who will be the next generation of politicians, doctors, therapists and teachers.” After facing difficulties as a result of the pandemic, the FemUnion hopes to regain their engagement through increased social media activity and in-person events.

“We’re all ready and willing to put in the work,” Reagan said. “We’re all very dedicated.”

Despite this loss in participation, Bender said it has given her a chance to grow closer to her fellow FemUnion members, especially with FemUnion advisor Taine Duncan, whom she describes as “an absolute gem.”

According to Reagan, the FemUnion was recognized for their work in the community at PRISM’s first annual Diversity and Inclusions Awards Formal. “We’re working to improve the lives and experiences of all students here at UCA through our goal of equality,” Reagan said.

“We are so thankful for the RSOs, faculty and members that make it possible for us to do what we do.”

Okoli discusses separation from queer family ties “Finding Frank: Fashion and Femme-inist Praxis in Times of War” was an event held by the UCA feminists union, where Professor Adele Okoli shared her thoughts on queer family genealogies using archives from her own family and other scholarly sources.

Okoli is a French professor here at UCA and an affiliate of the gender studies and African American studies programs. Her event took place Tuesday, March 29.

Okoli showcased the relationship between two of her family members, her great grandmother Harriet Gillepse and Harriet’s uncle Frank M. Brown.

Frank was a gay man and worked at a fur factory in Brooklyn.

He was the main support to Harriet when she was a single mother and helped her when no

Center Amphitheater.

president of the organization, a lot of their events have open attendance to non-members.

Reagan said the FemUnion hosts many types of events, including Take Back the Night, which focuses on sexual assault awareness, and UNITY, a promotion of diversity and inclusivity through music, speakers and art.

The FemUnion sponsors other types of events that aim to further them in their goal, such as voter registration campaigns, film screenings, poetry and art slams, sexual health awareness events, drag shows and speakers on LGBTQ+ topics.

The organization hopes to host a few familiar events, including the self-love photoshoot and drag show “to highlight the wonderful and talented artists in our community,” Reagan said.

“A lot of our events are things we hold every year that we just get to continue to make bigger and better.”

Reagan said the organization’s UNITY event will be held on April, 12, 2022. They also plan on partnering with Students for the Arts to host their Trashion Show on April 21, 2022.

The FemUnion works closely with other organizations on campus, including PRISM, Allies in STEM, and NAACP. “It’s hard to do everything by ourselves and

LGBTQ+

UCA Writers Collective

From 1:30-2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 12, the Student Activities Board will host an event featuring beat box looping artist SungBeats in the Student

The women also learned how to get out of a throat hold by breaking apart the attacker’s grip around the neck.

In case the attacker hasn’t grabbed the woman yet, the women were instructed to clap the attacker’s ears – potentially bursting the attacker’s eardrums — then knee them in the groin with as much force as possible.

Senior Melissa Velazquez, Community Service Chairwoman, said, “There’s just been a lot of stories about incidents nearby in Conway and Little Rock, and we thought it was important to have our sisters know some moves in case they ever, god forbid, be in a situation like this, just to be wellequipped.”

Any RSO can reach out to UCAPD’s outreach division and request a self-defense lesson. To learn more, email nsumner@uca.edu.

Feminist Union stresses equality among students

BY ESTEFANIA MOJICA Staff Writer

Musician: SungBeats

it would take about 15 minutes before we could get people out to you.”

Robinson told the women to press multiple emergency buttons around campus instead of pressing one and staying in that location.

“If you hit those blue lights and someone is chasing you, just keep running to the next one,” Robinson said. “Hit the next one because what that’s going to do is … give us a direction that you’re going. We’ll be able to know she’s headed east on Bruce Street.”

Sumner and Robinson also taught the women basic ways to get out of holds attackers may use.

Attendees learned the proper way to make a fist and throw a punch, then practiced hitting a dummy’s nose in a way that would disable an attacker long enough for the woman to gouge the attacker’s eyes.

S T U D E N T O R G A N I Z AT I O N

available to students.

UCA Writers Collective is a student-led literary community at UCA, for anyone interested in creative writing, regardless of major or minor. Join the group in Discord at https://discord. gg/Xa8ScYFnq7 to hear about upcoming readings.

used to do if we were going out with a guy or someone, we would grab a license plate number and text that information to a friend or sister,” Sumner said. “Just always be aware of your surroundings.

If you see something, if you feel something isn’t right in your gut, you’re probably right.”

The officers taught the women several different methods of evading threats and fighting back during an attack.

Robinson suggested sitting with backs against the wall and taking notice of how many exits are in a room as a preliminary step in surviving an emergency.

In case of an attack on campus, Robinson and Sumner suggested using the Emergency Call Boxes placed throughout UCA. “That’s a direct call to UCAPD. It goes directly to us,” Robinson said. “If it went through 911,

other family member did.

Before presenting her family findings, Okoli presented the audience with a general idea of queer genealogy.

“The idea of queering a family tree, I’ve been thinking about this for a while, there is nothing straighter than a family tree,” Okoli said, “There is nothing straighter, there is nothing whiter, there is nothing more patriarchal, in the United States, of family genealogy.”

When trying to find the history of queer relatives, most often, a dead end is reached because of the lack of inclusivity.

Okoli mentioned that most queer people don’t have children who can carry on the memory of those queer family members.

“I have blood relatives who I know were also queer like me, but they’re these dead-ends on the branches … they often don’t have kids, especially gay men like Frank,” Okoli said.

“Frank is one of these deadends in my family tree,” Okoli said. “I grew up hearing more like snippets of Frank’s life through my great grandmother.”

Okoli was inspired to reach back into her family’s history and find more about Frank M. Brown.

“I felt something calling me to try to learn more about him,” Okoli said.

The main point she emphasized throughout the presentation is that people are more than the sum of their trauma.

“This is true not only of LGBTQ+ people but also of other groups who are marginalized in society,” Okoli said. “We shouldn’t not critique, analyze and talk about the violence that is experienced by queer people and other marginalized groups, but we can’t let that take over everything for us.”

Okoli also drew focus from the idea of radical refusals. Okoli saw various examples of this in

the actions Frank Brown made, especially because of the era he lived through.

“My biggest takeaway from Frank M. Brown’s story is that he was a man that saw himself for who he was and he consistently throughout his life said ‘No, I’m not going to do this thing that would enact violence on others and is not true to me,’” said Okoli.

“I traced moments throughout his life of him refusing to follow a scripted timeline that was set in by society at the time.”

Okoli said she enjoyed digging into and learning about queer family history.

“This is a story of joy. A story of a happy relationship and not just a story of trauma. And I think we need more stories that are centered on queer joy,” Okoli said.

Okoli will present this project as a creative work at a national conference in the upcoming weeks.

4/ April 6, 2022

CAMPUS LIFE

ucanews.live

Science Wednesday discusses tree properties

BY BRAYDEN BAILEY

Staff Writer

The University of Central Arkansas Science Wednesday committee held a panel discussion at Kings Live Music to discuss the importance and preservation of urban trees in partnership with the Conway Tree Board.

Science Wednesday held a panel of four experts from the Conway Tree Board for the audience to ask anonymous questions in person and online about urban trees.

These questions asked about the importance of these urban trees to the consequences of removing them.

Trees in urban environments enhance the comfort of citizens

in larger areas, so people share enough fresh air when commuting in open areas.

This is done by planting lines of trees across sidewalks and in large clusters in parks to improve the quality of air where it matters most.

In response to the destruction of these urban environments, a student asked “Is it too late for us to make a change?” The panelists gave hope for the future during their answer.

“I personally don’t think so ... if you plant a tree, in 20 years, you have shade,” Krista Quinn, director of planning, said.

This is the case with the potential to plant many more trees around the globe, and even in our local areas.

Will Flatley, a professor at UCA, said “There’s a lot

of public land around here, so it’s certainly not too late for those areas.”

When choosing what types of trees to promote, bigger and thicker trees provide the most environmental effects.

“We also need to be thinking about planting big trees because big trees actually provide more environmental services than smaller trees,” Quinn said.

Although Arkansas favors tree growth for its good soil, it isn’t as easy to implement trees in bigger cities.

“Trees in cities do tend to struggle ... in cities, you have warmer temperatures, less shade..., pedestrians and traffic and all these different stressors,” Quinn said.

However, not every tree in our environment is

positive, as many invasive plants and tree species negatively take up our green space.

Particularly in Arkansas, there are the Bradford Pear trees, beautiful white trees are meant to be ornamental, that are “taking over our green spaces ... and they provide very little environmental services,” Quinn said.

Maureen Skinner, a catalyst counselor, said “A lot of times we think that we can’t really change the world ... that’s how we change the world, by changing me, to destress and appreciate trees.”

Science Wednesday will be hosting another panel at Kings Live Music on April 20 at 6:30 p.m. discussing medical marijuana.

STUDENTS SAY is your favorite “ What thing about UCA? ” Story and photos by Olivia Snelson

ARTWORK

Nick Zakrzewski Senior

Emily Rychly Freshman

“No matter what part you are at during your college trip, there’s always a group that has very similar ideas to you. It’s so easy to be integrated into college. You don’t feel pressure for anything.”

“I love getting to meet new people and go to the cool events that they hold on campus and things like that.”

Madisyn Ellis Freshman

Cameron Heslib Junior

Photo by Megan Holder

Robin “Pippi” Frey stamps a shape onto a piece of paper as part of a student’s name artwork. Frey and her partner, Jeff Mandell, have worked together for about 40 years now, creating digital caricatures and name art for various events.

SAB hosts digital caricature and name artists

BY MEGAN HOLDER Staff Writer

The artistic duo Jeff Mandell and Robin “Pippi” Frey visited UCA on behalf of the Student Activities Board on Tuesday, March 29.

This isn’t the couple’s first time being at UCA. They are well known for their digital caricatures and name paintings.

Names & Faces is the name of the couple’s business. They can do their work virtually using Zoom technology. They ship the names, and the digital caricatures are available to download on phones in the United States.

Hazel Bonilla, a graduate assistant with SAB, said, “We’ve worked with them before when we’ve had Fall Fest … So they’re very familiar with the campus.”

Bonilla said SAB first connected with the Mandell’s through an agency.

She said, “We go to conferences, and different agencies will perform novelty events, music events, and comedy events. When we go, we check out the different events to see what we want to bring to campus, so that’s how we found them.”

SAB has been working with the duo for at least three years.

Bonilla said, “We try to do events like this just so all the students can have fun.”

She said the events are free, so they encourage students to participate whenever they can.

Mandell is the digital caricature perfectionist. He has been perfecting his craft for almost 40 years. He began in Winter Park, Florida. Mandell has done work across the United States and for large corporations.

He started his cartooning career as a teenager. Mandell’s digital caricatures have been in four Walt Disney World locations, trade shows, colleges and other events. His art has also been published in a variety of media outlets.

Mandell was 15 years ahead of everyone else when it came to creating digital caricatures. He draws on a tablet, which is connected to his laptop. The image then appears on a TV monitor or screen.

On Mandell’s website, he said, “I feel like I haven’t worked a day in my life.”

Frey has been painting for most

of her life. She started in Florida as a muralist and decorative painter.

Frey teamed up with her boyfriend, Mandell, about 40 years ago.

Name painting art wasn’t always just letters on a sheet of paper. It was an important part of Korean life during the 500 years of reign by the Lee Dynasty. Name painting art originated in the 16th-century but has been brought to the U.S. corporate market and college campuses.

Not only can Frey paint names, but she can paint custom logo stamps and ancient 16th century art.

In the Lee Dynasty Era, name character painting was used to spread the idea of Confucianism.

Confucianism stressed the importance of living a happy life on earth, which is why the name art is colorful and vibrant.

The couple attends annual meetings and events, trade shows, incentives, corporate gatherings, and group caricatures.

Mandell can be booked at jeff@caricature.com or Caricature. com. Frey can be booked for her name art at PippiArt.com or pippi@ pippiart.com.

“The professors. They’re very easy going and not as hard as you think they will be.”

“I’d have to say how easy it is to fall into a community.

Coming here with not very many people that I knew and getting into the activities and clubs and the programs and stuff like that. Meeting a large group of people has made the transition much easier.”

Johnny Kopp Junior

Kaya Bonds Freshman

“My favorite thing about UCA is the size of it. I like being able to walk around, and I know people from being in organizations.

I like that sense of community.”

“My favorite thing about UCA is probably the atmosphere of the campus. It’s very lively and nice and open.”

People of UCA: Annie Grimes

BY EMILEE HAGEWOOD Sports Editor

Senior Annie Grimes is a Conway native doublemajoring in creative writing and sociology while making an impact in her community through books.

Though it was the only college she applied to, Grimes’ decision to attend the University of Central Arkansas turned out to be a great decision, allowing her to discover her future career.

“I came to UCA with no clue what I wanted to major in, but after taking an intro to creative writing class and intro to sociology class, I fell in love with both of the subjects,” Grimes said.

“The theories and phenomena I learned about in my sociology classes informed my writing in a really profound way,” Grimes said.

Her sociology and writing background have certainly influenced her life

and the lives of others in Conway.

When COVID-19 hit Conway, Grimes was bored at home when an idea hit her to use her time in quarantine in a way that would benefit others in her community.

Her time in the house had reinvigorated her love for reading, and Grimes decided, “I wanted to share the magic of books with others in Conway.”

Grimes began building a little library with her dad, a small structure with bookshelves inside.

People that grab a book are encouraged to leave a book as well, making the library self-sufficient.

Once Grimes emailed the parks department, they agreed it was a great idea, and the location was set for the Salem road entrance to the Tucker Creek Trail, which typically garners a lot of foot traffic.

Grimes has set up an Instagram account for her little library, a

“bookstagram”, where she’s made many friends who share a similar passion for books.

“It has brought a lot of new books into my life, opened my life up to a corner of Instagram full of other people who also love to read, and honestly brought me so m u c h joy,” Grimes said.

The library has been up since August 2020, and Grimes still checks on the stock often to make sure there is a variety of books for all ages.

Grimes considered what would happen to the little library after she graduated this May. “My professors in the creative writing and sociology departments at UCA were extremely helpful when it came to applying for grad school and writing recommendation letters,” Grimes said.

Grimes said, “I am hoping to build up a good back catalog of books and leave them at my parents’

house, that way they can check on the library every once in a while.”

Grimes has spent a lot of time with fellow creative writers on UCA’s literary magazine, The Vortex, as a poetry and fiction reader.

She is currently serving her final semester as the associate editor.

“I have loved working on the magazine, and I’ve met a lot of great people through the process,” Grimes said.

Though she loves sociology, teaching it at the collegiate level would require a graduate degree, which Grimes will already be pursuing in writing.

Instead, she plans to teach English or creative writing and, if given the opportunity, would teach at UCA. Grimes said, “I would love to teach at UCA someday. Conway will always be my home, and my heart will always be with the UCA writing community.”

Photo courtesy of Annie Grimes

Annie Grimes poses in front of her constructed library, where people can take and leave books as they please. The idea came to Grimes during the COVID-19 pandemic and has brought her closer to books since.

Sports

5

April 6, 2022

Upcoming Games

Men’s and Women’s Track and Field April 7, at John Mcdonnell Invitational Baseball 6 p.m., April 8 vs.

Jacksonville State Tennis 10 a.m., April 8 at Stetson University Beach Volleyball 10:30 a.m., April 8 vs.

Spring Hill College Softball 2 p.m., April 9 vs.

Bellarmine University

Editor’s Take

Photo by Madison Ogle

Junior Fuka Nonoyama lunges forward with her racket to hit the ball. Nonoyama won her singles match against Madison Devillez and her doubles match alongside partner Chunxi Xin. The Bears’ next match will be in Deland, Florida, April 8, against Stetson University.

Sports lower crime rates, promotes camaraderie BY

WILL MCDONALD

Assistant Sports Editor Sports bring people together for many reasons. The entertainment value that they give to our culture and society is unparalleled. In addition to providing good entertainment, sports can lower crime rates.

I recently read an interesting article in the Journal of Sports Economics called “Entertainment as Crime Prevention: Evidence From Chicago Sports Games.”

Ryan Copus and Hannah Laqueur address the concern that many of us share — is mass media responsible for aggressive and criminal behavior? They argue that sports entertainment diverts crime.

In their study, they compare Chicago crime reports by the half-hour to the times when a Chicago sports team is playing.

The crime rates are also compared to a similar time and day when a Chicago sports team is not playing.

They analyzed the Super Bowl, NBA Finals, and the MLB World Series. They found consistent decreases in crime during these games.

This study is telling us that sports are imperative to the way our society functions.

Imagine growing up without ever witnessing a sporting event on television or in real life.

For many of us, that is next to impossible. People generally make room for sports, no matter the setting.

For instance, I know a few workplaces that hand out brackets for March Madness for friendly workplace competitions.

Whether you are interested in sports or not, they attract a lot of attention. The attention and space given to sports is sometimes, as you can see in the study I mentioned, safer for our society.

Sports make the world safer.

They can bring people together who otherwise have very little in common.

The article I read made me think: if sports are powerful enough to divert crime, what other social changes could they create?

Bears rattle Bellarmine Knights, claim 6-1 victory BY

MADISON OGLE

Campus Life Editor and Cartoonist

In UCA Tennis’ fourth matchup in the ASUN conference, Bellarmine bowed to the team with a 6-1 loss against the bears Friday, April 1.

Opening with three doubles matches, Chunxi Xin and Fuka Nonoyama went up against Bellarmine’s Madison Devillez and Ekaterina Tikhonko, leaving in an unfinished match.

UCA’s Yada Vasupongchai and Mei Ishimura took a six love win against Maja Kozerski and Laurie Hargis.

The final doubles match was a win by forfeit, landing in favor of UCA’s Maja Gledic and Sumomo Hamanaga.

Fuka Nonoyama took home the win against Madison Devillez in her singles match of the day. Nonoyama said that there wasn’t much that surprised her when it came to her opponent.

“I think I did a really good job,” Nonoyama said. “This semester has been really good as a team as well. We try to focus on every single match, no matter how good our opponent is.”

Though Nonoyama left this matchup as confident as

she entered, she said that the team’s next match against Liberty University will be a tough one.

“I still need to have focus,” Nonoyama said.

During the remaining singles matches, Jauen Lee took the victory against Bellarmine’s Maja Kozerski.

Sumomo took the win from Bellarmine’s Laurie Hargis, and UCA’s Maja Gledic won by forfeit during her singles match.

Yada Vasupongchai claimed a six love win over Bellarmine’s Channing Varnum, saying that overall, she was satisfied with her effort in the match.

“I think I did good. I did what we worked on for the past week, and I tried to use everything that we worked on,” Vasupongchai said.

Going into both her doubles match and singles match she felt confident, but she said that she felt especially good going into her doubles match alongside teammate Mei Ishimura.

“We know each other so well, so every time I get to play with her, I get very confident,” Vasupongchai said.

“In singles, I got excited a little bit because, the past week, I didn’t do so well in my singles. I had quite a few injuries, so I wasn’t sure like ‘How much can I do?’ But as

I kept going, I felt pretty good.”

In the final singles match of the day, UCA’s Chunxi Xin went against Ekaterina Tikhonko. After going into a tie-breaker, Tikhonko ultimately emerged with an 11-9 victory.

This win, however, was not enough to save the day’s matches for Bellarmine, leaving a 6-1 victory for UCA. UCA head coach, Casey Wharton, said he thought the doubles and singles matches were all played really well, emphasizing that the biggest focus going into the next match will be management.

“We’re in the part of the season where it’s about managing, not really changing much. To manage their health [we might] need to have a shorter practice tomorrow or need to do more rehab so that we’re ready for Sunday,” Wharton said. “I think as far as game style, the way we’re playing is building momentum. So I don’t really want to try to change anything at the moment.”

The UCA tennis team ended with a 5-2 loss against Liberty University on Sunday, April 3, bringing their record to 12-7, 4-0 ASUN. The team’s next match will be against Stetson University in Deland, Florida, on Friday, April 8.

FEATURE

Sullivan: ‘As a student-athlete, you’re a student first, then athlete...’

BY

MACI ENGLAND

Staff Writer

Shamal Sullivan is a senior family and consumer sciences major who has been running track since the seventh grade.

Sullivan is on the long sprints position for the UCA track and field team. UCA has been the conference championship team for both indoor and outdoor track every year he has been a student, excluding 2020 and 2021.

Sullivan most recently placed 17th in the 600-meter dash with a personal record time of 1:21.77 and placed eighth on the men’s 4x400 relay team with a time of 3:22.11 at the Woo Pig Classic in Fayetteville in December.

One of the highlights of Sullivan’s career is the indoor conference he participated in during his freshman year. That year, UCA came in third place on the Southland Conference podium.

Last year, Sullivan joined the sprints team and broke a 49-second personal record.

Sullivan’s season last year ended early due to getting sick, but he is looking forward to the spring 2022 season.

“I just need to figure out how to be relaxed for the first part of the race,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan enjoys getting to travel to different cities for meets.

“What I’m most excited for before each meet would be buying a lottery ticket at every gas station we stop at,” Sullivan said. “I also like racing against new schools because the same people get boring.”

Traveling is something Sullivan has become familiar with during his time at UCA. Sullivan is originally from Mckinney, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. It takes almost five hours to drive from Conway to Mckinney.

“I got homesick my second semester here because I was the only freshman on the team traveling to a meet in Florida for our Spring Break,” Sullivan said. “Shortly after that, I realized you’re always at home if you know where God is.”

Sullivan says the best thing about Track

See Sullivan- page 8

Photo courtesy of ucasports.com

running for 10 years.

AWAY GAMES

Beach volleyball has split at ULM Beach Invitational

BY FELICITY

AUXIER, EMILEE HAGEWOOD

Staff Writer, Sports Editor

The Central Arkansas Bears beach volleyball team lost 4-1 against the University of Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks, while they beat the Southeastern Lions 3-2 on Friday at the ULM Beach Invitational.

On Saturday, the Bears lost to the University of New Orleans Privateers 3-2 and won 5-0 against the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.

“We’ve really continued to push the mentality of winning for each other. Each individual game we play counts for the overall team win, so we’re all continuing to push in matches for each other,” sophomore Marissa Gilmore said.

Although the Bears lost their first match, their match against the Lions ended in a victory.

“We come out starting strong and continue staying strong during the match to finish strong. As a team, we cheer on our teammates, and it’s one of our greatest weapons. It helps our teammates feel more confident and play better,” Gilmore said.

In the first match against the Warhawks, duo Faith Hasness and Carol Barbosa came up from a loss of 14-

21 in the first set to win 21-14 in the second and 15-10 in the third with a final score of 2-1 on the number one.

The Bears seemed to have a trend occur, with each duo starting strong and winning the first of their three sets but losing the second and third.

Evelyn Griffith and Kelsie Sager won the first set of three 25-23 but were unable to keep the momentum, losing the next match 21-18 and the last 15-13.

Bria Garmon and Julia Oravec also won the first of their sets and lost the last two.

The fourth duo, Kayla Cook and Payton Sproule lost to ULM’s Rylin Adams and Kayla Gallant.

Ryenne Gepford and Anna Collums lost the fifth match in two sets, both ending 21-11.

“As a team and individually, we have all communicated our expectations and the confidence we have in ourselves to get the wins for the rest of the season,” Gilmore said.

Barbosa and Hasness won the first match against the Lions, 2-1.

The second and fifth matches were both lost. Duo Garmon and Griffith won the third in two, followed by another two-set win from Avery Carroll and Ariana Hebert.

“Each game we play for the rest of the season is going to be a battle, and we know we can come out on top if we keep the same confidence and mental strength we have had to get us the wins we’ve gotten so far,” Gilmore said.

The Bears succumbed to the pressure in their first game Saturday morning against the Privateers, losing the clencher 3-2.

The team’s last game of the invitational was a total shut-out, with all five duos winning in two sets.

The Crusaders were no match for the Bears, with their worst set score being 21-6.

“5-0 wins are amazing but not common when we are playing other high level competitive teams, which means one or two pairs could lose,” Gilmore said. “The best way we come back from those losses is giving our effort into cheering for our teammates on the sidelines and contributing in that way, even if your pair didn’t get a win.”

The Bears left the invitational tied for wins and

See Invitational- page 8

Opinion

6

The Voice

April 6, 2022

E-s co oters cou ld b e f un, but bi kes mig ht b e more prac t ic a l

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

Got Letters?

Comments or complaints about content of The Echo or in reference to anything on campus should be registered with the newspaper by letters or email to the editors. All letters must be limited to 300 words and include the author’s name and phone number. All letters may be published unless they are marked private. Letters may be edited for style, clarity and length.

Editorials written in The Voice express the opinion of the newspaper and the editorial staff. Individual staff opinions are expressed in individual columns.

The Echo office is located in Stanley Russ Hall 124

ucanews.live ucaechoonline@gmail.com ucaechoeditor@gmail.com David Keith, Advisor

Advertising echonewspaperads@gmail.com

Eco-friendly products are deceptively scammy

At last week’s SGA meeting, the prospect of bringing electric scooters to UCA was brought up and discussed, although nothing was voted on. Several pros and cons were explored, and SGA looked at scooter programs implemented at other Arkansas colleges that failed.

Electric scooters could be a major improvement to UCA, making campus more accessible and traversable for more people, but it all depends on how they’re implemented. It would be unfortunate to roll out a scooter program that nobody ends up using, leaving our campus littered with electric scooters like Arkansas Tech. As mentioned in last issue’s article about the SGA meeting, interest in the electric scooters at ATU had sharply declined within just five weeks of implementing their program.

In Fayetteville, though, the University of Arkansas has had a successful electric scooter program for over two years. With an average ride cost of three dollars and two different scooter companies on campus, UofA claims to still have consistent, high use among their students two years into the program.

A major lesson that can be learned from this is to keep the scooters cheap.

Ideally, they would be free to students, and using one would be a seamless experience that enhances your day, but realistically we’re gonna have to download yet another app and have to pay for every ride. Obviously, there are no plans in motion yet but if an e-scooter program ever does come to fruition, keeping the process smooth and as close to free as possible for students will ensure that people won’t quit using them after a few weeks.

We’ve all seen products with labels such Companies often highlight the as “environmentally friendly,” “green,” importance of fixing one environmental “non-toxic,” “eco-safe,” “all-natural” and issue while hiding a more concerning one. more.

Nestle, the company that sells Pure Life The number of people searching for water bottles, is one of the largest global sustainable products and services has polluters of single-use plastic. Nestle pledged increased as concern about the climate crisis that, by 2025, 100% of its packaging will be continues to grow. This growing consumer recyclable. interest has led to a massive “eco-friendly” This sounds great at first, but the world industry that uses “green marketing” or does not have the infrastructure to recycle “green-washing” to sell products. all those bottles, so the effort is futile. Of the Many people assume that there are laws 20,000 water bottles bought globally every and regulations surrounding what companies minute, less than half of those are recycled. are allowed to advertise, so if a company says Additionally, in 2018, China’s National their product is “eco-safe,” they must’ve Sword Policy banned the import of most met a certain standard of sustainability plastics, which means that millions of guidelines. recycled materials from the U.S. are Although there are eco-labeling becoming waste. laws in some areas to protect Companies also make vague consumers there is still a lot of gray claims to trick consumers into area, and companies rarely face believing a product is “natural.” strict punishments for lying to Companies can say that products consumers. Some corporations are “made with natural flavors” if make outright false claims about just one of the flavors they mention their environmental impact. is natural, even if every other For example, in 2015 ingredient in their product is the Environmental artificial or synthetic.

Protection Agency If a company isn’t found that Volkswagen explaining exactly how used emission cheating they are being more

BY SYDNEY CYR software when external environmentally friendly Entertainment Editor testing took place in their or natural, they are facilities so that diesel probably just using vehicles appeared to emit less gas. buzzwords to sell you a product.

Mercedes, Chevrolet and Ford have As far as false claims go, companies also been guilty of using emission cheating operate under the notion that it is better to software to pass inspections. ask for forgiveness than for permission.

Companies also promote the fact that a We have to demand regulations and product is free from a certain ingredient, even much stricter repercussions for companies if it is completely irrelevant. For example, that make false claims. chlorofluorocarbons, also known as CFCs, Americans tend to cringe and shudder are banned in 197 countries across the world at the thought of regulating corporations, because of their negative environmental but regulations are an essential part of impact. Despite this, companies still feel environmental protection. the need to emphasize that their products Unfortunately, fighting for these types are “CFC-free” to appear as if they are of policy changes is often a slow and painful taking responsibility for protecting the process. `Reducing or minimizing our use environment. of products in environmentally harmful While this topic is being discussed In reality, the products are “CFC-free” industries is usually the most immediately it’s also worth noting that partnering because CFCs are illegal. impactful thing we can do.

Regular old mechanical bicycles would be less expensive to invest in and maintain than electric scooters

You cannot rush society’s return to normalcy

Two years after its start, the subsiding productivity. Now, however, people are pandemic is creating a spiral of emotional having to relearn how to function in society. and physical discomfort all over again.

They have to reimplement timeliness and Yes, the pandemic has settled, COVID figure out how to gauge new time demands cases are dropping and the world is trying to in a physical setting. readjust back into its old habits. No, I am not They have to rebuild their confidence saying these are bad things. as they are forced to physically present What I am saying is that, at the start of it themselves on the other side of a mask and all society was not prepared for what the next outside of a computer screen. two years would bring, but it was also not People must reenter the workplace where prepared for what would come after. they feel unsure of their abilities with These last two semesters the pressure from their surrounding transitioning back into face-to-face coworkers and re-evaluate their normalcy have been the hardest of physical spaces, proceeding with my college career. It was not the year caution in hopes they do not of virtual classes or the dilemma of contract the virus from social transitioning to online work; in gatherings. They have to refact, it was during this time I was submit to society’s standards, able to become self-aware and obligations and so much fully grasp my priorities. more.

Before last semester, The transition back people were able to take into normality is care of their bodies and causing people to be

BY AMBER AUSTEN sleep in until 20 minutes pulled away from the Staff Writer before work as all they new lives and daily had to do was brush their routines they worked teeth, put on a nice shirt hard to create. This and click a Zoom link. They were able to is recreating the same sense of anxiety and fuel their bodies with good nutrition as they self-doubt that many experienced at the prepped lunches in their kitchen instead of beginning of the pandemic. rushing and spending the majority of their Trying to rush people back into a world lunch break in a drive-thru. that is rebuilding itself in an attempt to People were able to spend more time with ‘move on’ or ‘forget’ the tragedies that have family in the evenings as they did not have occurred in the last two years will cause more to spend an hour in after-work traffic, as the damage than the crisis itself and create a only commuting they had to do was a walk chain reaction of downfalls. from their home office to the fridge.

So with this, give people grace. Give It was possible to create a work-life them time to adjust. Give them whatever they balance that brought peace and increased need so they can hold onto the self-progress mental and physical effectiveness and they accomplished along the way.

with a bike-sharing company or program, similar to the one UCA partnered with before the pandemic, could potentially be a cheaper, safer way to make campus more traversable. While certainly a lot less exciting than electric scooters — bikes, or even e-bikes, could be a good compromise if the higher-ups at UCA don’t like the scooter idea.

Regular old mechanical bicycles would be less expensive to invest in and maintain than electric scooters, and there wouldn’t need to be charging stations installed on campus. There’s already a little bit of infrastructure for bikes on campus anyway, with the bike stations left by Zagster, the previous bike-share company UCA partnered with.

As far as downsides go in terms of electric scooters, they’ve received criticism for being unsafe. Although outside of rare technical glitches and careless drivers hitting scooters, injuries are largely due to improperly using the scooter. UCA must ensure that every student knows how to safely operate the scooter before they touch one.

They could follow UofA’s example and have safety events where they give out helmets.

Electric scooters seem like an interesting and useful idea and could really invigorate campus life and make UCA a more lively, enjoyable place to be.

Have an opinion? Everyone does.

Write a letter to the editor at ucaechoeditor@gmail.com Letters to the editor don’t just have to be about Echo content.

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

The Echo is printed weekly by The Courier. Decisions about content are made by the student editors.

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

Entertainment

7

April 6, 2022

New This Week Movies

‘Morbius’ fails to sink its teeth into complete story BY

BRAYDEN BAILEY

Staff Writer

April 8 — Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (PG), directed by Jeff Fowler, starring James Marsden, Ben Schwartz, Natasha Rothwell, Adam Pally, Jim Carrey and Scott Mescudi — Sonic teams up with Talis, Dr. Robotnik and Knuckles to embark on a journey across the globe to search for a mystical emerald

“Morbius” fails to deliver a compelling story by its lack of effort with its characters and exposition, creating a mess of loose ends the audience does not wish to solve.

Sony’s interpretation of Marvel’s Morbius was uninspired, as they tried to replicate the same formula as their previous movie “Venom.” Cheesy one-liners, half-baked horror and the lack of an interesting conflict were taken from “Venom” to try April 8 — Ambulance (R), and create “Morbius.” directed by Michael Bay, Although this made Photo courtesy of www.morbius.movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal “Venom” a bit mediocre, “Morbius” premiered on April 1, 2022. The film stars Jared Leto, Michael Keaton, Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, the same cannot be said for and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Jared Harris and Tyrese Gibson.

“Morbius,” as its breakneck — A veteran teams up This new thirst for blood what is happening. being thrown at me at once. pacing does not allow any with his adoptive brother “Morbius” doesn’t use characters or themes to be puts Morbius in a moral Questions that the to steal $32 million from storytelling fleshed out. For 104 minutes, dilemma between helping audience may ask about environmental a Los Angeles bank, but “Morbius” fails to juggle all of people as Dr. Morbius or the powers of Morbius, or character actions to tell when their getaway goes the ideas they packed into its succumbing to his vampirism. himself and the antagonist’s the story but only through But this idea isn’t understood motivation and the moral dialogue. wrong, the thieves hijack an story.

Every character feels ambulance The story follows the if you watch the movie, conflict between Morbius main character, Dr. Michael as there are no events in and his vampirism are never like a boiled-down cliché of Morbius, an intelligent “Morbius” that develop the explained. This is the result every superhero film. The April 8 — Agent Game (R), of rushed scenes and cut protagonist follows around biochemist plagued with a main character. directed by Grant S. Johnson, debilitating blood disease, on This is a recurring interactions that leave more to the antagonist to try and starring Mel Gibson, Katie defeat him, the antagonist his search to cure himself and problem that happens within be interpreted.

Cassidy, Adan Canto, Barkhad those that share his disease. the movie, as it jumps between When watching the movie, is psychotic and enjoys murdering people, the After injecting himself with scenes with no flow or Abdi, Jason Isaacs, Rhys my mind felt almost dizzy love interest supports the Coiro and Dermot Mulroney the supposed cure, Michael explanation, leaving out entire Morbius develops vampirism chunks of exposition that trying to keep up with all protagonist to do good. This is — A CIA officer becomes confuse the audience about of the different information all you will see when watching with a bizarre set of powers. the target of a rendition D O C U M E N TA R Y MUSIC operation after being the scapegoat for the death of an interrogation subject

Music April 8 — Fear Of The Dawn — Jack White April 8 — El Mirador — Calexico April 8 — The Line Is A Curve — Kate Tempest April 8 — Second Nature — Lucius April 8 — Bronco — Orville Peck Information from:

www.metacritic.com

Netflix April 8 — Dancing on Glass, directed by Jota Linares, starring Maria Pedraza, Paula Losada, Mona Martinez, Olivia Baglivi, Javier Lago and Ana Wagener — When intense pressure threatens a ballerina in a lead role, she and another dancer escape into a friendship that isolates them from the real world April 8 — Dirty Lines (Season 1), created by Pieter Bart Korthuis, starring Joy Delima, Minne Koole, Chris Peters, Charlie Chan Dagelet, Abbey Hoes and Benja Bruijning — A college student starts a new career at a phone sex line started by two wildly different brothers April 8 — Metal Lords, directed by Peter Sollett, starring Jaeden Martell, Isis Hainsworth, Adrian Greensmith and Sufe Bradshaw — Teenage misfits Hunter and Kevin devote themselves to metal music to win the Battle of the Bands

Top 5 places to shop in Conway List compiled by Olivia Snelson Assistant Campus Life Editor

“Morbius.”

This happens from the product of awful pacing.

The beginning starts with the origins of the presentday Morbius and then skips to several years in the past to establish his disease and childhood.

Then it skips to Morbius accepting an award for a scientific accomplishment, which is shortly cut to him helping a patient in a hospital explaining what happened at the award ceremony. This cycle of storytelling repeats until the end of the movie, each scene cramming in enough information so it can jump to the next idea.

This, combined with the lack of effort from the actors, makes for a lackluster film that will make you agitated from the confusion of the events and the characters. At the end of the movie, I forgot the characters’ names and did not understand who Michael Morbius was or what he could do.

This poor attempt to execute any attempt at storytelling or world-building felt like a pathetic cash grab from Sony riding off the back of the success of Marvel’s Spider-Man series.

COIN’s album stays true to band’s pop-rock roots

BY WILL

MCDONALD

Tracks like “Chapstick,”

“Cutie,” “Take a Picture,” and “Brad Pitt” are exactly the upbeat new wave sound that COIN is known for. I group these tracks because they stay true to COIN’s sound, and they are expertly mixed.

You will hear something new every time you listen to these for at least the first five listens. These songs are the real catchy earworms of the album. If you are interested in which songs are going to be the “hits” of “Uncanny Valley” — it’s these four.

“Killing Me,” “I Think I Met You In A Dream,” “Take The Stairs,” “Getting Older” and “Loving” are a step down from the aforementioned earworms in tempo but not groove. These songs have funkier bass lines and running guitar parts to create a more laid-back pop feel. I respect that the whole album isn’t trying to be a hit single, and these songs provide a contrast to the songs that are obviously meant to be more mainstream.

The slower tempo tracks like “Learning,” “Blackbox,” “It Works” and “Plug Me In” are perfect songs for a latenight drive. The synth sounds and vocoder filters utilized throughout these tracks give lead singer Chase Lawrence’s voice an airy, echoey sound as if you are listening in a dream.

Overall, I think the album is solid all the way through.

The transitions are masterful, and the production is stellar.

“Uncanny Valley” will create a lot of new COIN fans. My only problem with the album is that I wish there were more heavier-sounding tracks like “Watering A Dead Flower.”

1. Hobby Lobby I put Hobby Lobby as number one because it is the perfect store. Most people would assume that Hobby Lobby is just another craft store similar to Michael’s, but it’s not. They have so much more than just craft supplies and they have a wider variety of products than Michael’s. They also offer a wide variety of home decor.

It’s the perfect place to go if you want fake plants or frames for your pictures. And no matter what, there is always a sale going on. If wall decor is 50% off one week, then table decor is 50% off the next week. It doesn’t matter what mood I’m in because I know I’m going to find something I really like.

2. Target A lot of people love Target for the same reason they love Hobby Lobby. Target does offer a wide variety of things to buy and has even more than Hobby Lobby does. But, the prices at Target are a little steep, and they hardly ever run any sales. When you go into Target, you have to be ready to spend a lot of money on just a few items. The items are of really good quality, though.

My favorite thing to get from Target lately has been wicker baskets. They have so many different designs and sizes and they are a lot cheaper there than at most places.

Assistant Sports Editor

“Uncanny Valley” has something for everyone, and I believe anyone, old fans or new fans, can find a song on the album they enjoy.

COIN’s new album explores more of their techofunk sounds while staying true to their pop-rock roots.

The 14 track album begins with the song “Learning” and ends with “Loving” to complete the band’s motto “Learning and Loving.”

COIN has been around since 2015, but this is the album that will finally put them in the mainstream spotlight. If you give the album a listen, I suggest you listen to it in its intended order because the songs transition seamlessly and beautifully.

I was excited for the release of this album, and it definitely lived up to the hype. The track that surprised me the most was “Watering A Dead Flower.”

COIN really leaned into their rock side for this song, holding nothing back.

The chorus hits are unexpected and the screaming guitar solo is just the perfect amount of crunch.

It is definitely the heaviest song on the album. I’m not a hard, heavy rock fan, but this song hits differently than the rest.

It is my favorite track on the album, and I wish there were more songs like this in “Uncanny Valley.” However, if there were, this track wouldn’t stand out to me as much.

Photo courtesy of www.disneyplusoriginals.disney.com

“Olivia Rodrigo: Driving Home 2 U” premiered on Disney+ on March 25, 2022. The film was directed by Stacey Lee and produced by Interscope Films.

‘Driving Home 2 U:’ like watching a virtual concert

BY

ASHLYN LITTLE

Staff Writer

Olivia Rodrigo became an overnight sensation last year after the release of her hit single, “Drivers License,” followed by her debut album “SOUR.” Now, nearly a year later, her documentary takes viewers behind the scenes of the process and inspiration behind the album.

“Olivia Rodrigo: Driving Home 2 U” is a Disney+ documentary released March 25, 2022, a little over two months shy of the anniversary of “SOUR.” The documentary is an emotional diary that portrays the feelings and scenarios that inspired Rodrigo in writing and creating the beloved angsty teen album.

Throughout the documentary, viewers follow Rodrigo along the route from Salt Lake City, Utah, to Los Angeles, California. This road trip was the one she would take while writing the album between working on the set of the Disney+ Original series “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” in Utah and being home in California.

3. Ulta I absolutely love Ulta. It is an amazing store and has everything you could want in terms of makeup and hair.

They offer a lot of different brands, and they even have a salon inside their store. They have fancy makeup brands for people who may want higher quality, but they also have reasonably priced brands like E.L.F that work just as well.

The only reason that Ulta is ranked third is that a lot of their products are for people who wear makeup, and some people don’t. But if you do wear makeup and are looking for a good place to buy it, Ulta is the one.

Playing off of her hit song, “Drivers License,” Rodrigo is driving throughout the entirety of the film, making pit stops along the way.

The film felt like watching a virtual concert, with the background of each song sprinkled throughout.

Throughout the documentary, Rodrigo performed renditions of each song off of her album.

She was accompanied by a band in most of the performances and even an orchestra in a version of her hit song, “Good 4 U,” with a few solo songs, as well.

“Driving Home 2 U” is well worth the watch for fans of Rodrigo simply for the exclusive, never-before-seen footage from the recording and producing process of “SOUR.” The documentary allows viewers to glimpse both the technical aspects of crafting the album and the emotional elements that inspired the songs. In some interview scenes, Rodrigo opened up about her heartbreak and the feelings that she experienced during the final stages of her relationship, which heavily inspired the music she created.

If nothing else, the

documentary captures the aesthetic of the album and portrays it in a unique way.

Rodrigo’s heavy inspiration from the late ‘90s and early 2000s in her music is symbolized through the several scenes in the film that appear grainy as if filmed with a VHS camera. Her style also shines in the documentary, with loud, funky, Y2K-influenced outfits worn in several scenes.

The film follows a similar previous project titled “SOUR Prom,” a live-streamed concert film that aired on her YouTube channel on June 29, 2021.

Next month, she will begin her first headlining tour, the Sour Tour, across North America and Europe, with 47 shows scheduled.

The 76-minute documentary is a beautiful portrayal of Rodrigo’s debut album that provides fans with a deeper understanding of the emotion behind each song and the journey of creating this hit album. While it is only a one-time watch, if you like her work, this film will provide you with a greater appreciation for the “SOUR” album and for Rodrigo as a singer and songwriter.

4. Five Below Five Below is a very nice store. They offer something for everyone, and it’s always at a decent price. However, a lot of the items at Five Below are not of the best quality and can fall apart or break really easily. Five Below is usuall a really good place to find things like stocking stuffers or stuffed animals. I like the atmosphere inside Five Below because it is fun and relaxed.

5. T.J. Maxx T.J. Maxx used to be one of my favorite stores to shop at, but lately, it has not been as good. T.J. Maxx does sell a lot of different products, but some stores are really messy and unorganized, and it can be really hard to find specific items. It also seems like they sell a lot of the same stuff and never really get new products in. The store has just become super overwhelming to me and I can only go in there every now and then. More often than not, when I actually do go in, I leave empty handed because there just wasn’t anything I had to have. I used to like the clothes they sell there, but I’ve grown out of a lot of the styles they sell there.

I also really like Five Below’s candy section because you can individually pick candy based on the flavors you like.

ucanews.live

SPORTS

8 / April 6, 2022

UCA STATS CORNER SPORT

OPPONENT

Tennis

Liberty University

5-2 L

12-7, 4-0

University of Mary Hardin-Baylor

5-0 W

12-8

Softball

North Florida

2-3 L

19-4, 4-5

Baseball

North Alabama

5-2 W

11-15, 6-3

Beach Volleyball

RESULT

RECORD

SOFTBALL

Photo courtesy of ucasports.com

scoring one run and getting two RBI’s. The Bears next series will be April 8-10 against Jacksonville State University.

Bears beat North Alabama Lions, third straight ASUN series win BY

MILO STRAIN

Opinion Editor

The UCA Bears faced off against the University of North Alabama Lions in the recent ASUN conference series from April 1-3, winning two and losing one, giving the Bears their third straight ASUN series win.

UCA came out of the gate strong, winning the first game against North Alabama 7-1.

The Bears showed out in the third inning, reaching a 6-0 lead, with the Lions getting their only run of the game in the fourth inning on account of a couple of UCA errors.

The Lions were coming off of a tough conference series where they were swept by Jacksonville State and a brutal game during the week against the University of Mississippi where the Lions lost 20-3.

UCA was heading into this series coming off a midweek loss as well, losing 4-3 to Arkansas State University, but that didn’t affect the team

heading into this past weekend.

After the Bears’ dominating performance in the first game, the second game of the series went to the UNA Lions 3-1.

Both teams fought tooth and nail with it being anybody’s game right up until the end, when UNA gained two runs in the last two innings, hammering the final nail in UCA’s coffin.

The game didn’t faze the Bears, though. “[The loss] did not affect morale. One day does not define us. We make an effort to stay in the present,” said Nick Harlan, head baseball coach.

“The mindset of our team is that neither the past or future determines how we play in the moment.”

The third and final game of the series took place Sunday, with both teams hungry to take home the series win.

The end of the fourth inning saw the game tied 3-3.

The next two innings were a hard stalemate, with no more runs until the seventh, when UCA came through

Invitational:

with a staggering four runs, bringing the score up to 7-3 and securing the Bears’ third straight conference series victory.

Sophomore pitcher Trent Gregson from Longview, Texas, earned the ASUN Pitcher of the Week award after his performance in the series, UCA’s second consecutive ASUN award and their third overall, a major achievement.

“I was pretty excited and pumped [after winning],” said Gregson. “This conference we’re in this year has several teams that have a lot of talent.

Going into this weekend vs..

Jacksonville State is definitely going to be a battle. Obviously, they’re a really good team also, so I think if I and the team bring the same mindset we had this past weekend, we’ll get the results we’re looking for.”

The Bears will play their next series this weekend April 8-10, at home against Jacksonville State, the team that swept North Alabama in their series matchup.

Ospreys ring in their three-game series win. The Bears will face Bellarmine in another three-game series April 9-10.

Ospreys sink talons into Bears, take home 3-0 victory in series BY

MIA WADDELL

News Editor

Each win brings more confidence

Continued from page 5 losses, with a 12-8 record overall.

Gilmore said, “These wins contribute to our overall record and team vision for the season.

Photo by unfospreys.com

With each win, we gain more and more confidence that we need to do well in the conference tournament, which is the end goal.”

Their next game will be April 8, against Spring Hill College at the Southern Mississippi tournament in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

MEN’S GOLF

Following a four-game winning streak, the Bears — 1914, 4-5 ASUN — lost all three games in their April 2-3 series against North Florida.

The Bears entered the series ranking at the top of the ASUN offense, having outscored its opponents 31-4 during the winning streak.

Falling 2-0 in the first game of the series, the Bears endured a multi-hour weather delay, after falling short in the first half of the game.

Sophomore Kayla Beaver struck out the first three batters.

Beavers was recently awarded ASUN pitcher of the week, marking her first award of the season.

Beaver holds the 5th lowest conference earned runs on average, allowing only 2.27.

In the fourth inning, a single from freshman Mary Kate Brown and two walks from sophomore Tyler Vernon gave the Bears a glimmer of hope, but it was lost as the Ospreys scored another run. Despite continually getting

Sullivan :

runners in the last two innings, the Bears could not bring any runs in to score.

In the double-header finale, the Bears fell once again to North Florida 1-0 in the first game and 3-2 in the second.

In the first three innings of game one, Mary Kate Brown and freshman Jenna Wildeman were the only players to get on base for the Bears.

Both teams struggled to advance runners and get them on throughout the middle of the game.

In the 7th inning, freshman Kylie Griffin and sophomore Erin Blackburn snagged singles.

The Ospreys won the first game with a single that drove in a runner from second.

The second game of the day also saw the Bears falling 3-2 in a markedly more exciting match, with both teams scoring in the first two innings — marking both teams’ first scores before the 4th inning in the series.

Griffin evened the score in the second inning when she quickly passed to second, got to third on a groundout and came home on account of an ambitious pitch.

In the third and fourth innings, the Ospreys grabbed two more runs, retaking the lead.

Kylie Griffin earned a single in the fifth inning, moving to second. Junior Reagan Sperling pushed Griffin to third with a single.

In an effort to tie the Ospreys, Blackburn singled in the first part of the 7th inning. Blackburn made it to second on a sacrifice bunt made by Griffin. Teammate Reagan Sperling sent Blackburn to third with her second single of the game. Griffin eventually made it home, earning the Bears a second run.

The bases were loaded with one out, but the Ospreys’ defense held firm, and they ended the game 3-2.

North Florida has shown to be a strong conference contender with multiple wins against Power 5 opponents such as Michigan and Rutgers. The Ospreys managed to bring home 25 wins before the team hit 10 losses.

Their record now lies at 29-10, 8-4 ASUN. Coming up, the Bears will be hosting a three-game series against Bellarmine on April 8-9.

Past teachers encourage future career goals

Continued from page 5

Photo courtesy of ucasports.com, Graphic by Mia Waddell

and Field is that you can watch your teammates from one spot without having to worry about moving around to get a better view.

“For example, in cross country, you can stand still in one spot, but you’ll miss the majority of the race,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan stays involved on campus by attending campus ministries and volunteering at the Bear Essentials Food Pantry and for Bear Patrol.

“I enjoy Bear Patrol because I get to escort people on a golf cart while playing music on my speaker,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan is also a part of the Student Orientation Staff.

“I joined SOS because it gives me summer camp vibes, and I love to be very energetic while helping someone. I wanted to give out information I wish I knew about my freshman year to the newbies,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan says it can be challenging at times to juggle being in sports and clubs on top of classes, but you just have to remember what your priorities are.

“As a student-athlete, you’re a student first, then athlete, then you can add on other things,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan’s end goal for track is to run a 46.99 in the 400-meter dash.

He also wishes to bring gold home in the men’s 4x400 at the outdoor Atlantic Sun Conference Championship.

As for career goals, Sullivan wants to help influence the next generation by being a teacher.

“I would love to be a high school teacher to motivate and challenge students to be the best person they can become,” Sullivan said.

“It means so much when you have a teacher rooting for you in your corner.”