The Echo | March 2, 2016

THE UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL ARKANSAS’ STUDENT NEWSPAPER

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WEDNESDAY

MARCH 2, 2016 Volume 110 — Issue 7

ucaecho.net 4 TODAY’S FORECAST CONWAY

Opinion:

Sports:

Entertainment:

Columns: Presidental candidates don’t focus on real issues

Baseball: Baseball team sweeps Eastern Illinios series games

Award show: Leonardo DiCaprio finally takes home an Oscar

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Greek village will receive safety cameras

Partly cloudy

63/43 4 THE NEWSDESK FROM THE EDITOR

by Erica Nicolas Staff Writer

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

24 killed 52 injured during twin suicide bombings An outdoor market in eastern Baghdad was bombed twice Sunday afternoon.

A bomb went off in the Shiite district of Sadr City followed by a suicide bomber exploding minutes later in a crowd of onlookers around the first bombing. This attack caused 24 deaths and 52 injuries. photo by Lauren Swaim

Presidential candidate Marco Rubio is introduced by Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson at a rally Feb. 29 at the Pepsi Center Indoor Practice Facility.

During the rally Rubio discussed his platform and views on the importance of the 2016 presidential election.

N AT I O N A L

Leonardo DiCaprio finally wins Oscar for best actor After waiting for his first Oscar since his nomination in 1994 for “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape,” actor Leonardo DiCaprio won his first Oscar for the best actor award in “The Revenant.”

Ku Klux Klan members attacked by protestors A KKK rally resulted in five injuries and at least 12 arrests at noon Feb. 27 in Anaheim, California. Police reported the KKK demonstrators arrived for a “planned walking protest” in Pearson Park and were confronted by a group of more than 24 protestors. Two KKK members were stomped and another three stabbed attackers. Five KKK members and seven counterprotestors were arrested.

Impact of election center point of Rubio rally at UCA

by Jordan Johnson, Erica Nicolas

country, because while that may not get a lot of media coverage, you deserve to know that,” Rubio said. “You’re being asked to elect someone to be President of the United States of America, which is the most powerful political office on the planet.”

One of Rubio’s policy plans is to rebuild the military, which he says has fallen to numbers not seen since World War II. Rubio promised what he called a “Reagan-style rebuilding of the military” in order to combat global terrorism.

Rubio also ensured his audience that he would uphold the Constitution as president, with an emphasis on the Second Amendment. He pointed to the

Opinion Editor, Assistant News Editor Presidential candidate Marco Rubio’s message at his Feb. 29 campaign rally at UCA emphasized that this election will determine America’s position and character in the 21st century.

At a time when the Republican Party is more divided than ever, Rubio appealed to those who wish to return to a more traditional conservative party by offering solutions that would give more power to the states and focus on empowering the private sector.

“I offer real ideas and solutions on the problems before our

necessity of allowing states and local governments to control issues such as education, and held the conservative stance that taxes should be cut across the board to improve the economy.

Rubio pulled no punches when calling out those in his party that seek to prey on fear and anger instead of focus on the issues at hand. Many of Rubio’s criticisms centered around Donald Trump, whose campaign has been carried by rhetoric that divides rather than unites.

“There are two ways to campaign. One is to speak to your fears, to your anxieties, to your anger. And I’m not saying you shouldn’t be afraid or angry or upset,” Rubio said. “But I don’t

OUTREACH

Workshop aims to aid domestic violence victims

Two men arrested for trafficking juvenile women

by Morgan Embry

Two men were arrested Feb. 27 by the North Little Rock Police Department for trafficking female juveniles.

Taverns Candy, 28, of North Little Rock was arrested on Trafficking of Persons charges after Jerry Nutt, 41, of Little Rock was arrested on Rape and Trafficking of Persons charges.

News Editor

photo by Michael Benzmiller

Presidential candidate Ted Cruz speaks to supporters at a rally Feb. 27 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Downtown Little Rock. Nearly a thousand people attended the event to learn about Cruz’s views.

Cruz hosts last-minute rally in North Little Rock

by Michael Benzmiller

Board of Trustees host brief telecomphrence

Staff Writer

The Board of Trustees phoned in for a teleconference to discuss fiscal contracts and the purchasing of more property on Robin Street on Feb. 26. During the conference, the board agreed to purchase a duplex on Baridon Street.

4 WHAT’S AHEAD IN OUR NEXT ISSUE The news section will cover Super Tuesday and the presidential election.

Just under a thousand people joined to hear Senator Ted Cruz and Glenn Beck discuss their views on economics, immigration, military and the appointment of the next Supreme Court justice during their rally on Feb. 27.

The rally took place at the DoubleTree Hotel and was sponsored by Keep The Promise PAC. According to Senator Cruz, this election is going to be mainly about jobs, freedom and security.

Cruz began by talking about the American economy.

More specifically on how small businesses create jobs.

“When it comes to the economy, small businesses are the heart of the economy,” Cruz

said. “Two-thirds of all new jobs come from small businesses.”

Cruz then spoke of how Washington is wronging small business and the economy.

“If you want to kill the economy do what we’ve done the last seven years,” said Cruz.

“Hammer small businesses each and every day and jobs and wages go away.”

“On the flip side, if you want the economy to take off,” Cruz said. “Lift the burden of Washington off of the backs of the necks of small businesses. Lift taxes. Lift regulation. Free this economy.”

Cruz also shared his vision on how the tax system should be modified.

“We are gonna pass a simple flat tax, so that every American can fill out his taxes on a postcard,” Cruz said. “When we do that, we should abolish the IRS.”

Contact Us:

Index: 4Police Beat 4People of UCA

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want to appeal to that, I want to do something about that.”

Rubio also denounced the controversial Trump University, which he called a scam that swindled people out of their money for a worthless product.

Then he went a step further and said that Donald Trump was doing the same thing now to the American people as a whole.

“What he told those students is the same thing he’s saying to America now- that he is the most successful businessman, that he’s going to be tough on this and hard on that, and it’s all the same rhetoric,” Rubio said. “But this

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Cruz went on to speak about the economic repercussions of illegal immigration.

“Immigration is also fundamentally an economic issue,” Cruz said. “It’s about jobs, it’s about wages.”

The senator cited a Wall Street Journal article concerning what has happened in Arizona since they have passed strict immigration laws.

“Number one, their public expenditures have dropped,” Cruz said. “Hundreds of millions of dollars. They’re spending less on prisons, hospitals, on education.

With the illegal immigrants not there, they’re not paying for that and as a result that’s hundreds of millions of dollars available to go to the citizens of Arizona.”

The senator also called out

The Department of Outreach and Community Engagement has partnered with the Unseen Homeless Campaign to teach professionals how to identify, assist and advocate victims of domestic violence in the workplace.

The free workshop will take place from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. March 18 in the Brewer-Hegeman Conference Center Rooms 111 and 113.

According to the Outreach Department website, the workshop aims to help professionals serve those in need in the workplace by teaching them how to recognize signs of violence, assist survivors, learn how to be an advocate for survivors and understand the long-term effects victims face.

Though the workshop is geared towards professionals, such as care givers, counselors, educators or judicial workers, it is encouraged for anyone interested in supporting victims to attend.

“We wanted to provide caregivers, families and friends of domestic violence victims or

See Cruz - page 3

See Aid - page 3

Social:

Greek Village can look forward to receiving cameras behind the houses after the issue was brought up to leaders in Operation Safe Walk during the Student Government Association meeting Feb. 29.

Senator Megan McAfee brought attention to the lack of cameras behind the houses to Operation Safe Walk, a program determined to provide safety to students and faculty on campus.

The operation also received requests from Greek sorority members for cameras.

“Girls are more concerned about having better surveillance.

It was brought to the attention of the girls that they didn’t put up many surveillance cameras because it would be an invasion of privacy,” McAfee said.

“Personally, I’ve heard that girls are supporting it. They want the extra security.”

Along with the extra security cameras for Greek Village, Conway Police Department Captain Chris Bentley spoke to senators about lighting, landscape and repairs around campus.

The operation spent nearly $40,000 last year and has currently spent around $30,000 toward the program. It has been a program in effect for six years.

“There’s no such thing as a bad idea. We will put in on the list but it all comes down to money,” Bentley said. “This university has been very generous in making sure that safety is a number one concern that we have.”

As of today, 70 percent of the items on the Operation Safe Walk list have been completed. Some of the accomplishments include a stop sign placed on Bruce/ Western, a replaced privacy fence on the south side of Greek Village and replacing a light by the dumpster on the north side of the cafeteria.

Additions that will be fixed in the future depend on allocated funds and will take action to complete.

Some additions include students requesting lighting added on Sesame Street drive by AETN, more lighting to the fountain area and the gravel lot at Bear Village.

Four new RSO committees were approved which are the Graduates Writers Association, UCA American Association of Women, National Residence Hall Honorary Society and UCA Student Congress. A name change for the Student Congress is underway because of confusion between the new RSO title and SGA. “When I hear UCA Student Congress, I think of SGA,” UCA Vice President Corey Parks said.

“They are supposed to be coming up with a new name that either spells out what they deal with or is different.”

A motion passed unanimously to hire a full-time assistant director for NonTraditional Student Services.

SGA supports the non-traditional students that make up 18 percent of campus population. A price for the Community Service Cord was announced for UCA graduates who earned 100 community service hours over the course of four years. The cords will be $3.50 and can be purchased on OrgSync under volunteer opportunities.

A non-traditional student fundraiser, Spirit Night, will be between 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thurs. at Waffle House on 65th St.

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2/March 2, 2016

NEWS ucaecho.net PERFORMANCE

HPER

COPA hosts outdoor education courses on biking, ethics, waste

by Brandon Jones Staff Writer

photo by Lauren Swaim

Sophomore Deyauni Johnson waves to the audience after being crowned Miss Essence 2016. The ladies won a cumulative $2100 in scholarships at the event on Feb. 26 at Reynolds Performance Hall.

Miss Essence pageant grants seven $50-$1000 scholarships

by Mary Kate Mansfield Staff Writer

The Students for the Propagation of Black Culture and Office of Diversity and Community paired up to host this year’s Miss Essence Pageant on Feb. 26 in Reynolds Performance Hall to offer seven competing ladies scholarship opportunities ranging from $50 - $1000.

While many awards were given at the end of the pageant, the main event was the winner of the Miss Essence title, which was awarded to Deyauni Johnson.

“My platform is women empowerment and I also emphasize on sexual assault so I want to bring awareness and to educate people about sexual assault on college campuses and how it’s rising and I also want to bring women closer together so

they can be powerful together,” Johnson said after receiving the Miss Essence title.

The event started with a dance number where the contestants introduced themselves.

With four areas to be judged on.

These four areas of competition were swimwear, talent, evening gown and the on stage question.

The seven contestants were Tyra Jones, Brianna Searcy, Tiera Grissom, Quanesha Wade, Diamond White, Raynika Jones and Deyauni Johnson.

The judges were all UCA alumni and former Miss Essence winners.

The judges were Barbara Mitchell (Miss Essence 1979), Jade Babbs Bolton (Miss Essence 1980), Jennifer Baltimore Siccardi (Miss Essence 1986), Viki Wayne (Miss

Essence 1991), Kimberly Bryant Gardner (Miss Essence 1997), Candice Bailey Coe (Miss Essence first runner up 2011) and Fanchon Bone (Miss Essence 2012).

The judges awarded the social media award (the contestant that had the most likes on Instagram before the 7 p.m. start time of the pageant), miss congeniality, people’s choice (the contestant with the most donations given at the door), highest GPA, most ad sales, talent, evening gown, interview, swimsuit, second runner up, first runner up and of course, Miss Essence 2016.

Pageant director Angela Jackson is also the Students for the Propagation of Black Culture advisor and former member.

“As an alumni of UCA I’ve been immersed in the Miss Essence pageant since I was a student here and it is a wonderful

pageant that uplifts our women of color regardless of their size and regardless of anything they have going on, so it’s just an opportunity for them to shine and some of them might not have had other opportunities in other pageants. This time they get a chance to showcase their talents,” she said.

Miss Essence herself won a $1000 scholarship, first runner up won a $500 scholarship, second runner up won a $300 scholarship, overall interview award won a $100 scholarship, overall swimsuit award won a $50 award and overall evening wear award won $50 award.

Most ads sold, highest GPA, people’s choice, miss congeniality and social media were all awarded a plaque and all seven girls received a trophy for participation.

The Campus Outdoor Pursuits and Activities (COPA) has introduced outdoor education courses during x-period on Tuesdays and Thursdays to teach students about biking, outdoor ethics and proper waste disposal.

The two classes on biking are “Biking 101- General Riding,” and “Biking 101- On the Trails.”

“We’ve had a decent amount of participants,” bike mechanic Branden Blume said. “We just started offering them this month.”

According to assistant director at COPA Anthony Fillippino, the general riding class is based more around leisure for beginners.

Participants of the class will learn city laws and policies for biking, what kind of clothes should be worn while riding and bike maintenance, such as the proper amount of air to put in tires.

The trails class is specifically mountain biking and will focus on a variety of terrains, staying safe and maintaining traction.

Tune-ups and other maintenance are offered for bikes when necessary.

According to Fillippino, the ethics class “Leave No Trace” is his favorite to teach. It covers guidelines for biking, canoeing, kayaking and keeping nature the way it is.

“We have a saying: Take photographs, leave nature,” Fillippino said.

Though Fillippino hopes students do not just go into nature and spend all of their time on their phones, he thinks cell phones could help because students will take pictures and spread information about the places they visit, rather than taking what they find in the area.

Another ethics class teaches about proper waste disposal, including areas that people might not consider.

Most people would think of basic waste disposal, like properly throwing away a bag of chips, but might not realize there is even a proper way to dispose of food crumbs, as well as going to the

bathroom when there is no place to go.

Some national parks require you to use a bag after you go to the bathroom and there is also an item some people use, a “poop tube,” that is essentially two inch PVC pipes that are connected, Fillippino said.

The ethics classes are also designed to help travelers stay safe.

“Sometimes you should think about where you’re going, when you go and how,” Fillippino said.

When you go without preparing, you run the risk of a fine, jail time or even killing yourself.

According to Fillippino, the classes offered this semester are not a one-time deal, but the downside to trying something new is that you do not know if people will like it or not.

So far there have been a few people in the different classes, but those at COPA are trying to determining what is currently keeping numbers down.

One idea is that because it is still cold, people do not want to go biking and take nature classes, Fillippino said.

During the summer there will be new subjects added, and in the fall they are looking at the possibility of events.

“These special trips that are hoped for will be small in nature, to assure they will be both fun and safe,” Fillippino said.

There are administrative bugs to work out, like finding the best way to travel so that hopefully no one will bring in drugs or alcohol and logistic bugs such as food, drinks, cost and places to stay.

To take the classes, you must either be a UCA student or a community member who has a HPER ID, because to be safe, they cannot just let anyone in.

Fillippino said. the people at COPA want to figure out the classes and see if they’re right for the students before planning group trips. According to a list of classes at the HPER center, both March and April will have “Leave No Trace” classes, but the April 14 and 21 will be days for biking classes.

S TAY I N ’ A L I V E

Broadway comes to Reynolds with Saturday Night Fever

by Kirby Smith Staff Writer

Reynolds Performance Hall was turned into a disco party with bell-bottoms, afros and glitter on Feb. 28 at 5 p.m. with the “Saturday Night Fever The Musical” performance.

“We had a wonderful turnout for the show and it was close to a sell out,” Public Appearances Director Amanda Horton said.

A packed crowd of all ages gathered to sing along to the music originally performed by the Bee Gee’s.

Some of their popular songs include “Stayin’ Alive,” “You Should Be Dancing” and “Night Fever.”

According to the Broadway Musical Home website, the story comes from Nik Cohn’s NY magazine article “Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night,” and the 1977 Golden Globe nominated film starring John Travolta.

Dancing is Tony’s (Matthew Baker) one true passion in life.

He lives for Saturday Nights at the local disco club so he can show off his smooth moves.

He is an immature teenage boy who hasn’t quite figured his life out yet.

At the beginning of the story, all we see is Tony bumming around with his pals Joey (Michael J. Clark), Double J (Maclain Dassatti), Gus

(Benjamin Paul Rowan) and Bobby C. (Lance Bordleon.) However, once Tony meets the beautiful and talented Stephanie (Danielle Marie Gonzalez), his story begins.

Stephanie makes Tony work for her attention, unlike the rest of the girls he is usually with. He admires Stephanie’s dance moves and must convince her to enter the town’s dance competition with him.

Tony’s former fling, Annette (Anna Baker) is not pleased with his new infatuation for Stephanie.

Tony ditched Annette for Stephanie, which led to a tearjerking performance of “If I Can’t Have You.” Baker isn’t the only one who gave the audience chills with their singing voice.

Gonzalez gave an emotional performance of “What Kind of Fool.”

“They had amazing vocal skills and the choreography during the dance scenes were fun and energetic,” Horton said.

Travolta would be proud of Baker’s performance of the beloved character.

He played the part well and his dance moves were a crowd pleaser.

Even with constantly practicing for the competition, Tony realizes that dancing is not the only thing that matters in life and he must grow up.

He struggles, along with his friends with real world issues

as he tries to transform from an adolescent into a mature adult.

While most of “Saturday Night Fever” is light-hearted with fun singing and dancing, the musical deals with some serious subjects.

The story is set in the 70’s in Brooklyn, New York.

The musical address the racial and gang issues that were going on at this time.

At one point, Tony and his friends get in a fight with a rival gang.

Racist comments are addressed throughout the musical.

“I thought the performance was excellent with talented actors who portrayed the complicated characters with theatrical style,” Horton said.

The original film is rated R for strong language and adult themes.

The musical toned down a little on the language, but the mature themes were still present.

“It was a fun twist on a classic,” junior Miranda Henderson said.

“The costumes, set and music definitely took the audience right back to the 70’s.”

The musical sent the crowd on a roller coaster of emotions with constant plot twists. The audience laughed, cried and danced along to the music.

For more information concerning Reynolds Performance Hall shows and tickets visit www.uca.edu/publicappearances or call 501-450-3265.

photos by Lauren Swaim

[Top left] Matthew Baker (Tony) and the company of Saturday Night Fever sing and dance to “Disco Inferno” Feb. 28 at Reynolds Performance Hall. [Bottom left] The company of Saturday Night Fever sings and dances to “Disco Inferno.”

[Right] Matthew Baker portrays Tony in Saturday Night Fever.

Police Beat The following information is compiled from UCAPD incident reports

by Assistant News Editor Jennifer Buckley.

Student caught with alcohol, pills, marijuana, grinders

Three rounds of ammo, pistol Car window in Bear Village magazine found in Conway Hall broken into, wallet is missing

Student backs into non-student car, minor damages occurred

Student, Tanner Covington, 18, was found drinking a bottle of UV Blue vodka inside of a car he claimed was not his on Feb. 12. UCAPD was notified that the car belonged to student Savannah Giles. Upon searching the car, pills, marijuana and two grinders were found which belonged to Giles.

Giles and Covington were both arrested and taken to UCAPD for further processing.

Student Kevin Williamson was asked if UCAPD could search his room after they smelled marijuana in Conway Hall on Feb. 15.

They found three rounds of ammo in his room along with a pistol magazine and Williamson became verbally abusive. UCAPD claims they had to be loud and stern to calm him down. Williamson was for a cited conduct code violation.

Christian Cafeteria staff member Katrina Ray notified UCAPD after a car accident occurred with non student Hannah Bernard on Feb. 19. Bernard said that she had pulled up behind Ray who began backing her car up. Bernard stated she was unable to move out of the way. The damage to Ray’s car is estimated at $100 due to scratches and a small dent.

Bernard’s car did not have any visible damage.

On Feb. 16 student Madison Martinez notified UCAPD that her car window had been smashed in front of Bear Village Building Six. Martinez said her friend had called her and informed her of the damage to her car. Martinez’s wallet was missing from her car, which had her driver’s license, debit card, social security card, a gift card and some cash.

No other items were missing from her car.

3/ March 2, 2016

NEWS ucaecho.net

Rubio:

STUDENTS SAY

Rubio stresses that Donald Trump is a threat to America; says Hillary Clinton would leave all the “damage” Obama did during his administration; focuses on importance of college-age voters 4 Continued from page 1 time, he’s not after your money, he’s after your vote. He’s asking for the presidency of the United States.”

Other criticisms lobbied at Trump were that he was inconsistent in what he said and what he has done in the past, such as his tendency to hire illegal immigrants while railing against them on his platform.

Governor Asa Hutchinson’s opening words at the rally captured Rubio’s sentiment that the party has been hijacked by those who do not represent traditional conservative values.

“We have the opportunity to change the direction of the party.

We have to reject silly leadership and go for the serious leadership of Marco Rubio,” Hutchinson said.

Rubio also said that if Republicans allow Donald Trump

to take control of the party, they will most certainly lose to Hillary Clinton in the fall. This, according to Rubio, would “set the conservative movement back by a decade.”

Speaking on the matter of a possible Hillary Clinton presidency, Rubio said that Clinton would “leave in place all of the damage done by the Obama administration.” On this note, Rubio promised to repeal every executive order given by President Obama, as well as Obamacare and the United States’ nuclear deal with Iran.

Speaking to a mostly collegeage crowd, Rubio reminded attendees that this election was about them in particular, because the decisions made now will determine what kind of environment they will raise their children and enter careers

in. Indeed, he called this year’s election “the most important election of a decade.”

“Most elections are a choice between political parties, or even two ideologies- this election goes much deeper than that,” Rubio said. “This election is a choice about what kind of country America will be in the 21st century.”

Many attendees at the rally were already Rubio supporters, or were at least conservative. Allison Smith, 23, was one of those who generally supports Rubio’s message.

“I haven’t been very pleased with any candidate from either party and wanted to see things for myself and make an informed decision based off of that,” Smith said. “I’m definitely interested in financial reform. Rubio seems to have more of a liberal stance for

Cruz:

Cruz stresses his concern of having Obama appoint the supreme court justice; says that having a ‘radical leftist’ supreme court threatens the Bill of Rights and contitution; emphasid his belief in ‘restoring our war-fighting capacity 4 Continued from page 1 the Democratic Party for their response to illegal immigration.

“The democrats support illegal immigration,” Cruz said.

“It’s not complicated why. They view those as votes. You know there’s a new politically correct term for illegal immigrants, it’s called undocumented democrats.”

The second deciding factor in the upcoming election will be protection of freedoms, according to the senator.

Cruz spoke of the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. He said that this election is not for one branch of government, but for two.

“His passing has left the supreme court hanging in the balance,” Cruz said. “We are one liberal justice away from a five justice, radical leftist majority the likes of this country has never seen.”

Cruz proceeded to state ways that this “radical leftist majority” would impact citizen’s personal freedoms.

“We’re one justice away from the supreme court taking away the religious liberty of every man and woman, from the supreme court saying the federal government can force you to violate your faith and you have no constitutional right to stand up against it,” Cruz said. “We are one liberal justice away from the Supreme Court ordering Ten Commandments torn down all over this country,” he said.

“We are one liberal justice away from the Supreme Court striking down every state restriction on abortion and mandating unlimited abortion on demand up till the moment of delivery, partial birth with taxpayer funding and no parental notification. We are one justice away from the Supreme Court effectively erasing the second amendment from the bill of rights, concluding that not a single one of us has any

individual right to keep and bear arms. We are one justice away from the Supreme Court ordering that veteran memorials be torn down all over this country if they have any religious symbols on them whatsoever. And were not far away from the court ordering the chisels to come out to remove the crosses and the stars of David from the tombstones of fallen soldiers.

We are one liberal justice away from the Supreme Court holding that we are subject to the authority of the world court and the United Nations and international law and giving away America’s sovereignty,” he said.

The senator elaborated on how he would protect the country’s personal freedoms from this outcome.

“If we elect a democrat the court and the bill of rights will be lost for a generation, but I’ll tell you this, if we elect the wrong republican the court and the bill of right will be lost for a generation,” Cruz said. “Every Justice I appoint to the Supreme Court will be a principled constitutionalist who will vigorously protect the bill of rights.”

Security was the third issue Cruz felt was key to the election.

The crowd jeered when Cruz mentioned Donald Trump’s foreign policy.

“At the debate last week Donald Trump said we should be neutral between Israel and the Palestinians,” Cruz said. “Let me tell you this right now, If I am elected president we ain’t gonna be neutral.”

Cruz then elaborated on his vision for the military and how foreign policy would be applied.

“We are going to fundamentally rebuild the military,” Cruz said. “We are going to restore our war-fighting capacity.”

“The U.S. military will no longer be governed by political correctness,” Cruz said. “We will have a commander and chief who stands up and says to the world

we will defeat radical Islamic terrorism.”

Cruz spoke about how he does not agree with the current rules of engagement military personnel must abide by.

“One of the most shameful aspects of the last seven years has been the president sending our fighting men and women into combat with rules of engagement so strict they’re not able to defend themselves,” Cruz said. “They’re not able to win. Let me tell you that is wrong, it is immoral and come January 2017, that will end.”

“America has always been reluctant to use military force, we are slow to anger.” Cruz said.

“If and when it is required, we should use overwhelming force, kill the enemy and then get the heck out of there.”

Cruz wrapped up by calling people to come out and vote for him on Tuesday, citing the great importance of the day.

“Do we want another Washington dealmaker that will sell us done the river or do we want a principled constitutionalist who will stand in the river firm,” said Cruz.

A lot of the people in attendance of the rally were there to support Cruz due to his firm constitutional values.

“I may have made my decision,” said Leslie Dorn.

“I think he’s the most proconstitutional of all of them.”

That viewpoint was reiterated many times among the members of the crowd.

“We’re one hundred percent dedicated to Cruz,” said Maryann Hill.

When Hill was asked why she was so dedicated to Cruz she said it all went back to the constitution.

“His love for the constitution and wanting to get us back to the constitution,” said Hill. “This has gone on far too long.”

Arkansas along with 11 other states will hold primary elections for both major parties on March 1

“

immigration issues and I think that reflects more of what I’m hoping to see.”

Others who attended were more interested in the positions that Rubio takes so that they could form more rounded arguments, such as UCA junior and Democrat Emily Roberts. ““I’ve been trying to watch the Democratic and Republican debates to see all the sides so I can actually say why I disagree with them,” Roberts said. “I’m here to see what he has to say to see if I disagree with it or not.”

Greg Roberts, who has not decided who he will support in this year’s election, came to the rally to hear what Rubio had to say. ““I thought I’d see what senator Rubio has to say. I’m conservative by nature and I’m just checking him out.”

Aid:

Workshop aims for participants to have general knowledge, awareness of domestic violence, able to help those in need

If you were to

win an Oscar, what

”

would it be for?

story by Jennifer Buckley photos by Lauren Swaim

Sophmore Sonja Wagner

Freshman Brittany McBroom

“I would be the best supporting actress.”

“I would get an Oscar for being the dancing queen.”

Freshman Kaylee Green

Freshman Madeline Moix

4 Continued from page 1 survivors with an opportunity to learn about advocacy, support and coping techniques,” Department of Outreach Director of Marketing Kristy Cart said.

Speakers for the workshop include City of Hope Outreach Executive Director Phillip Fletcher, Central Arkansas Women’s Shelter Executive Director Beth Goodrich, Angela McGraw of Women and Children first and Carrie Curtis of Central Arkansas’ Women’s Shelter.

According to Carter, the goal is for the participants to gain the general knowledge and awareness of domestic violence and learn ways to support this particular population of people.

“We hope they leave the workshop energized and motivated to continue providing help and services to those in need,” Carter said.

Completion of the workshop grants participants a Certificate of Completion and Continuing Education Units (CEUs).

“This workshop is vitally important to support the emotional and mental well being of men and women who are in daily contact with women who experience this type of relational difficulty,” City of Hope Outreach Founder and Executive Director Phillip Fletcher said.

Those interested can register online at the Department of Outreach website or from 8 - 9 a.m. the day of the event.

Continental breakfast will be served at the event.

Help for victims of domestic abuse is available through the Women’s Shelter of Central Arkansas hotline at (866) 358-2265.

“I would superhero.”

be

the

“I would get an Oscar for being a princess.”

Junior Hope Thurston

Junior Edwin Saez

“It would have to be for Best Female Supporting Actress in a Dramatic Role.”

“I would get an award for a comedic role, I like to laugh a lot and be the funny guy.”

SPOTLIGHT

PEOPLE OF UCA Rebekah Csonka

t ”

by Mary Kate Mansfield Staff Writer

photo by Lauren Swaim

Junior Rebekah Csonka, a nutrition major, studies outside at the amphitheater.

Food is undeniably one of the biggest parts of human life. It fuels not only the body, but the soul as well. This highly important part of life is one girl’s professional life as a nutrition major.

Junior Rebekah Csonka, from Colorado, recently moved to the south near Shreveport, Louisiana.

Since moving to Louisiana, this nutrition major and avid subscriber to the holistic lifestyle has had an interesting and educational experience with traditional southern food.

“In the north everybody is self-conscious, there are a lot of hippies and everybody eats sushi all the time and they have

different noodle places like “Tokyo Joe’s” and everything is made with natural ingredients or organic ingredients, there are a lot of vegans and people thinking about their health and then you move down south and there is Popeye’s, McDonald’s, Chik-fil-A. What are these people eating? It’s all fried, I don’t think they ever get their daily intake of fruits and vegetables.”

Don’t be fooled by her condemnation of fried southern food, though, this former Chik-fil-A employee uses plenty of butter and whole milk in her cooking.

Of course, Csonka uses butter and whole milk as part of her belief in a holistic lifestyle.

As a nutrition major she fully believes that food has not only properties to nourish the body but

the mind as well.

“Your body has an effect on your mind and your mind has an effect on your body,” she said.

“They go hand in hand and I feel like if you take somebody and say that they can eat fast food their whole life and they’re never going to be lethargic or sometimes depressed or their missing certain key vitamins that are going to make them not function to their fullest capability that influences your mind and has bad effects on your mind in general, so it goes back and forth.”

Csonka is not only a nutrition major, but has aspirations to be an occupational therapist as well.

Occupational therapy is similar to physical therapy, but physical therapy helps heal the injured muscles and occupational therapy

takes the muscles that physical therapy works and applies them to the patient’s daily life to help them get back to a sense of normalcy and live the fullest life they can, Csonka said.

Though she wants to be an occupational therapist, being a nutrition major will prepare Csonka to help her future patients in all aspects, which is why she chose to major in nutrition.

Csonka and her feelings about food can be summarized by how she shops for groceries, “Look at why you’re eating.

Where did it come from? Don’t eat it just because there’s a label stuck on the side that says “no fat” because there is something else in there that is filling that up and do you want to eat the fillers over the natural food?”

Opinion

ucaechoeditor@gmail.com

4

The Voice

March 2, 2016

Cooperation between high schools, colleges needed

The Echo Staff

Candidates should focus on issues, not opponents

Joe Kramer Editor

Morgan Embry News Editor

Erica Nicolas

Assistant News Editor

Jennifer Buckley Assistant News Editor

Jordan Johnson Opinion Editor

Johnathan Woodson Assistant Opinion

Taran Meyer Sports Editor

Malachi Thornton Assistant Sports Editor

Kayla McCullough Entertainment Editor

Maggie McNeary, Julia Kramer Online Editors

Julia Kramer, Morgan Embry Copy Editors

Presidential candidates are giving it everything they have to gain the voters. Super Tuesday has passed and the general elections are just a little over eight months away.

Candidates get on stage and they tell the American people a little bit about their ideas and policies, then criticize the opponent repeatedly.

Candidates are not as worried about telling the voters about what they plan to do when in office or about their values.

They are more worried about making sure they tell everyone what the other candidate has done wrong.

Candidates will get on debate stages and argue not about the question at hand, but try find things wrong with the person they are debating with.

Debates are not as productive as they seem.

When the debate is done, people know less about the candidates policies than what the candidates have allegedly done wrong.

This creates a very interesting selection process for American voters.

Instead of voters deciding on a candidate that they align their values and policies with, they find the candidate they do not want to win and vote for the other person that has the best chance of winning against them.

All of the arguing and alleged wrongdoing takes attention away from what is supposed to be in focus. The issues get put to the side and the name calling begins.

Unproductive criticism is not only in with debates and speeches.

Super PACs and other organizations create television advertisements that take over the media and tell viewers about how bad of a job the other candidates have done.

Presidential candidate Donald Trump has taken the insulting of other candidates to a new level in his tweeting campan.

“Lightweight Marco Rubio was working hard last night. The problem is, he is a choker, and once a choker, always a choker!

Mr. Meltdown,” Trump tweeted Feb. 26.

This tweet tells nothing about the

by William policies of Trump to Middleton his disagreements with Staff Writer Rubio’s policies.

This is only an attack on Rubio that carries no weight and makes Trump look immature.

This also creates an impression that politicians are unproductive.

The American people want to hear what is wrong with the country.

It easier to point out what is wrong and blame it on other candidates.

Solving a problem is hard work that requires critical thinking skills and time.

Do not think that this is only for the presidential election, this happens at every level of politics national, state and local.

It is time to stop the unproductive criticism and start facing the problems at hand regarding the nation.

Lauren Swaim Photo Editor

Human interference with wildlife harmful, cruel

Morgan Embry Editorial Cartoonist

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A video has gone viral of a man carrying a shark out of the ocean to take a “selfie” with the wild animal.

This is not the first video to make it to the internet that displays this sort of barbaric behavior.

People seem to have gotten it in their minds that animals were put on this planet for their pleasure only, but are blind to the fact that what we do to the Earth’s other creatures has irreversible consequences.

Sadly, we live in a world now that people crave fame and popularity.

They are constantly looking for “likes” and “retweets” and are putting everyone and everything’s safety after theirs.

Not only was it dangerous for the man and the people around him in the video to mess with the wild animal, but it also put the shark at risk as well.

Weeks before, a video of a person removing a baby dolphin from the water for the same purpose was uploaded and it has since been revealed that his actions led to the death of the baby dolphin because he waited too long to put it back in the water.

Fortunately a bystander saw the shark and quickly rescued it from the man and his camera, but the situation could have ended much worse.

Due to man’s inability to grasp the fact that we are not the only living creatures that matter on this earth; this planet is quickly beginning to come undone.

We are seeing more and more animals join the endangered species list and seeing some become

extinct all together.

It is up to people to come together and fix the problems they created.

Today’s society has been built on the idea that we should do whatever we want to ensure our happiness, no matter the penalties.

People do not realize their consequences will affect everybody in the future.

As a consequence of mistakes people have made in the past, our generation is seeing less bengal tigers and polar bears and if we keep disturbing nature’s peace then we could become the reason for other animal’s downfall and to many people’s surprise the world will not last without animals.

Humans need to stop seeing themselves as

By Darian dominant over the world Whitmore and see themselves as a Staff Writer part of this planet if we are to continue living in the world we do today.

Soon we will be living in a world with no animals, plants or clean water.

We are not above any other species or life form in the world.

We do have the ability, however, to help take care of the planet and all of the organisms living on it, so we should work our hardest to keep everything going in its natural order.

At the end of human existence it would be a pity to know the only animals left on earth were the humans because we decided having a selfie with a shark on our Facebook was more important than taking care of the planet and its needs.

Maleka Momand, Business Manager

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.

Financial aid is perhaps the most important issue facing college students.

It means the difference between paying off decades of loans and living relatively easily.

Colleges have a responsibility to their students to ensure that when they graduate with a degree, that it is one that they can afford.

Finding financial aid in college can be a long, complicated process that often ends in frustration.

Between tax forms, essays and letters of recommendation, it’s easier to just avoid the process altogether and stick to the bare minimum of what you need to get through school, which may mean taking out a loan or two.

The thing is, there are millions of scholarships available for students that don’t require a perfect GPA or community service, which no one has time to do.

These scholarships should be made easily accessible to students who need them, instead of awarded to the few people lucky enough to find out about them and apply.

Scholarship websites are often overwhelming and may offer two or three scholarships that you are even eligible for out of 50.

In addition, most of these scholarships are not merit-based and are given out on a random basis.

Only those who consistently apply for several of these scholarships ever really get a payoff. Instead of making students search the internet for scholarship opportunities that may or may not be legitimate, high schools need to start informing students of such opportunities while they are in school.

The process needs to be simplified for merit-based scholarships, and those scholarships should be extended to those who meet the requirements, not simply those who apply.

Many colleges offer scholarships that are funded privately by donations.

UCA is one such school, and offers millions of dollars in Heritage Scholarships each year.

Unfortunately, many students don’t know about these scholarships and therefore never apply to them.

Only those privy to the information reap the rewards.

The point is that universities and high schools need to do their part in informing students of opportunities available.

Students have gotten scholarships for being left handed, while others struggle to make it through school because they don’t know that there is aid available, even if they are doing very well in school.

Perhaps the problem is that students assume that they cannot get scholarships based on their grades in college- high school GPA was important when they applied for scholarships entering school, and their GPA in college was only a means to keep scholarships they already had.

However, there are literally millions of merit-based scholarships offered to students in the middle of their four-year degrees, and UCA offers many as well.

Many of them are specific to major, but not all of them are.

Most require only an application and perhaps a short essay.

Students can be rewarded for doing well in college, but the process needs to be simplified and the scope needs to be widened.

Any student doing well in school or struggling financially should be able to easily find, apply for and receive scholarships.

The Echo is printed weekly at the Log Cabin Democrat in Conway, Ark. 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.

Unfortunately, many students don’t know about these scholarships and therefore never apply to them. Only those privy to the information reap the rewards.

ucaecho.net

OPINION

March 2, 2016 /5

Donald Trump a troll, not serious candidate Donald Trump will not become president, no supported and loved the Clintons (both Bill and matter his dominance over every other candidate.

Hillary) until this presidential race where he is now I say this for one of two reasons, the first of directly competing against Hillary. which being that he will not win many, if any, of the This is wild I know, but what if Trump is now electoral votes. trying to help Hillary when the election since he Even if he has the majority of people actually can. voting go out and vote for him, I doubt the people in What I mean is, Trump is eliminating every the electoral college will will vote that way. other republican candidate, even the few remaining This has happened many times in the past. Just are so behind Trump at this point they can’t catch because a candidate has the popular vote, even if by up. a large margin, in the end it is all dependent on what So what if Trump is playing the part of a crazy the electoral college wants. person, to turn people Although I am a heavy over to Hillary or just not critic of the electoral college, I vote at all? understand their purpose in a It may sound crazy but situation like this.

Trump has never acted as However that is not the outrageous and over the main reason I think Trump will top as he has been since

by Johnathan not be president. running, almost like he Woodson My second, and main is playing a character Assistant Opinion Editor reason is that I believe Trump to entertain the people is trolling America and seeing voting for him. for his own entertainment how If in the end it will be long the joke will last.

Trump or Hillary people I have a couple reasons for this bizarre belief. My will either choose between the two or just not vote. first one is that he has run for president before and This leads me to my final point in why I think dropped out fairly early because he did not have a Trump is just playing a joke on America, he knows large following, although he still got attention from the people voting for him are dumb. the media.

Go and watch where Sarah Palin is endorsing He then said he ran to generate PR for his new Trump and watch his facial expressions. golf course he just finished building, and it worked He is dumbfounded and smirking in shock at exactly the way he wanted it to. the stupidity of what Palin is yelling about, and It would be no stretch of the imagination for him the roar of misguided applause she is receiving for to see the success of his current campaign and think endorsing him. he can use his now large and loyal followers to start It is surreal. Like I said, Trump has run for purchasing/using his many products and services president already for his own personal gain with once he loses/drops out of the race. no intention of actually becoming president, and I My second reason is this, Trump has always think the same thing is going on here.

theodysseyonline.com

An individual prepares food before cooking. In today’s fast-paced world, less people take the time to cook their meals and opt for the faster and easier fast-food option, which diminished America’s food culture.

Losing touch with food results in loss of cultural identity

Courtesy of omegafi.com

Graduates toss their caps into the air after a graduation ceremony. Post-graduate plans can be scary for many who don’t know exactly how or where they will use their education after graduaion.

Uncertainty just another necessary step in growth Speaking of God, He’s the reason I’m here, in The time is quickly approaching that my husband, Jack, and I will be leaving UCA Conway at UCA working for The Echo and all the with undergrad degrees and bunches of great million other things I do.

He put me here for a reason, and I’ve learned memories. The next chapter of our lives is waiting, to trust in that. hopeful and full of promises of adventures.

After graduation Jack and I have no idea what As graduation creeps closer, peers and family constantly ask us, “So, what are your plans after we are doing. We’ve been applying to several jobs relating to our Journalism and Digital Film degrees. you graduate?”

We even applied to some seasonal jobs at ski 99 percent of the time I say, “Oh we aren’t sure yet! We’ve applied to XYZ and are just waiting to resorts because we aren’t sure if we’re ready to have hear back!” One percent of the time I say, “God is ‘big kid jobs’ yet.

It’s been a rollercoaster ride answering people in control, wherever He leads us.” who ask us what our plans are There are two post-grad. points I want to make Here’s the deal, we’ve right now: God really is grown and learned to trust in control and seeking in God and know that He will His plan is our plan and lead us wherever He wants I need to honor that us. It doesn’t matter what my more, and it literally

by Makenzie Evans grandparents or co-workers doesn’t matter what Staff Writer or fellow classmates think we anyone else thinks should do. you should do after No, we probably won’t graduation. make their standard salary or If they aren’t live in a big house in a fancy impressed with your response, “I think I’ll just take some time off and work and save money to travel,” neighborhood. But if we trust in Jesus and know or “No, I’m not going to grad school,” or “I might that He’s in control, we will be so much more joyful have to move back home,” it honestly doesn’t than if we had all that other stuff.

Recently it was placed on our hearts to travel to matter.

After five years in college I’ve learned that I will Thailand and consider living long term over there.

Is it God’s plan for us? We don’t know. We are never meet every single person’s expectations and specifically praying for Him to close every door I’m O.K. with that.

We want to please people or we’ll be fearful of except the one we are supposed to go through.

As graduation continues to creep up, I know I how they may react when we disagree about the can confidently 100 percent of the time say, “We future or what is “best” for me in this moment.

It’s funny how caught up we get in this don’t know where God is taking us yet, but we’ve glamorous life of late nights, endless piles of applied in places where our talents can be used and are trusting in His timing.” assignments and Saturday morning hangovers.

So y’all, don’t worry about all the pressure Through all of that though, I’ve experienced people are putting on you. growth and maturity.

Even if you don’t trust or believe in God, He still Let me tell you, looking back since freshman has a plan for you and you can rest in that. year, thank God I’ve matured.

“Food, in the end, in our own tradition, is something holy. It’s not about nutrients and calories. It’s about sharing. It’s about honesty. It’s about identity.” -Louise Fresco

Food is a fundamental pillar of my life. It used I am not saying that I don’t love a good burger to be a fundamental pillar in all of our lives. As every now and then. But I wish to impress upon you humans we escaped, or ascended, from “ape-hood” the importance of a real meal. when we discovered fire and decided to alter the I want there to be serious reflection on what we raw produce and meats we had come to know. put in our bodies. It doesn’t have to be healthy.

This ascension, this conscious or maybe But more often than not when we cook things unconscious decision we made, altered not only ourselves, when we put in the effort or consciously what went into our bellies but also fundamentally work towards understanding food, there is a direct changed our everyday lives. benefit.

As a species we went from digging tubers out of This benefit isn’t only something that can be the ground and picking berries to planting fields in measured by a check-up at the doctor’s office but as order to feed whole communities in bulk. something deeper than that. It is something almost We preserved our meats by chemically altering ethereal in nature. It is a gut feeling. them via salt. We preserved our produce by pickling When we connect to the food we eat or when and making jams and jellies. there is some sort of appreciation and enjoyment We as a species got keys to a door that we in the process behind cooking, we can find a small unlocked to find what we take for granted as our sliver of heaven right here in our own kitchens. collective human culture.

Every person has memories of their mother or It is hard to deny the impact that food has on us. father cooking. Maybe a grandmother who used to I would argue that it is impossible. sneak you sweets as a child.

A good meal around a table, a few fermented I’d be hard-pressed to believe that someone drinks and maybe something doesn’t have at least one sweet could turn even food-centric memory laden the most rotten day into deep in the recesses of their something to be relished. mind.

It is easy to imagine that This is proof enough there is a direct line from our that being a foodie, and stomachs to our minds and when I say foodie I don’t

by Joe Kramer our hearts. mean those hipsters with Editor Food in and of itself Yelp accounts who wear seems to be, when one pays oversized socks on their attention, reason enough to heads. When I say foodie exist.

I just mean someone who That is why when one looks at the timeline of is conscious of what they eat and relishes a good food and cooking, it is easy to become nostalgic or meal. even melancholy about the way our daily lives and They have an unquehable desire to understand the way we eat and cook has changed. food. It is a curiosity and openness that makes a I am dismayed at what a major percentage of good foodie. the American population deems delicious or even The years I have spent working in restaurants considers food. has shown me the lack of thought that many people We have traded in our family meals for frozen have towards what they eat. dinners and drive-thru windows. The abandonment Not only nutritional ambivalence but also sheer of tradition and the neglect or near ambivalence lack of thought towards taste. It has become about to our history with food has no doubt led to a familiarity rather than adventure. depreciation of our much talked about standard of It has become about the salt and the sugar and living.

MSG. Food culture in America isn’t what it once Anyone can tell you an easy answer for why they was. don’t cook. “It takes too long, I never have the time.”

But as a young people, so full of potential and Or maybe “I never learned how, I don’t know what I energy, we should work towards rebuilding our long am doing.” lost American food culture.

I am empathetic towards these excuses. We live The potential change in our everyday lives that in a much different world now and it isn’t one that would permeate from such a movement could is necessarily laid back or conducive to labor in the alter the very fabric of American culture, especially kitchen. culture at home.

We have professionals for that. It most certainly I think that change would be positive. I also makes it easy to make the quick decision to swing think this change is necessary. This all has to start by the burger joint on the way home instead of the with the individual. butcher’s shop or the bakery.

Make time to cook or at least put some serious Our daily lives have changed so much due to the thought into where you go to eat. corporate nature of the food industry.

These are the fundamental steps towards Do not get me wrong. I am not saying that changing the fabric of not only our food culture but eating out isn’t right. our culture as Americans.

Courtesy of cnn.com

Citizens enter voting booths on election day. Younger people and those in the low-income bracket are less likely to vote, leading to a skewed political system that does not take their interests into account.

Voting is important duty as democratic citizen Voting is an American right that is often not It is a civic responsibility to cast your vote and expressed in younger generations. help form the community as well as the country Many are under the misconception that their you live in. vote will not have an effect or that it does not Voting also allows you to become more matter. involved in your community and to be educated Others claim they have no interest in politics on the social and political issues in your state. and therefore do not care to cast their vote.

Knowing what’s going on in your community is If you don’t vote you are passing up on the important because there is a likely chance that you opportunity for your voice will be affected. to be heard.

For young voters, it is The public’s imperative that you partake participation in in government decisions. democracy is critical for It is your future that our nation to have a wellwill be affected greatly by

by Jennifer Buckley rounded and balanced the next president and the Assistant News Editor government. issues that occur during his For several decades, or her term. it has been a trend for Casting a vote is people of higher income beneficial to you. and the older generations If you don’t vote then to participate in the voting seasons, according to you do not reserve the right to complain when massvote.com. the outcome is not what you want and you are With this trend, lower income families and dissatisfied with political decisions. young voters become more frustrated because If you are unsure of what presidential candidate they feel as if they are not being heard or simply you should vote for visit isidewith.com. being ignored, but it is truly because there is a It allows you to take about a 15-minute quiz in smaller amount of participants in these areas. which you answer questions based on how you feel This is your chance to express your opinion. about major topics.

Even for people who aren’t interested in politics, At the end it will show you which candidates there is no way you can hear about some of the are proactive about the topics most important major topics and not have an opinion. to you and who you agree with based off of your What you have to say can affect the world opinion. around you and if you don’t express your opinion To be an informed voter is the most important at all then you cannot expect to be heard. thing.

Sports

7

March 2, 2016

Kenyan runner finds his spot at Central Arkansas

Week at a glance

Gilmore ties record for most wins for a starter

Denn-warren Tafah Staff Writer

By Malachi Thornton Assistant Sports Editor

Senior starting pitcher Connor Gilmore just celebrated his 16th win this past Friday that ties a UCA record for career wins for a starting pitcher. He has a 3.00 ERA so far this 2016 with 12 strikeouts. In the 2015 season he finished with a 8-3 record and had a 2.42 earned-run average with 59 strikeouts while only walking 30.

He was named SLC Pitcher of the Week twice. Gilmore hails from Little Rock Catholic High School where he was both a All-Conference and All-State selection. Gilmore had only three hits against him in eight inning in their 4-2 victory over Eastern Illinois. The Bears (5-3) are rolling with five wins in consecutive games. They will next be traveling to Norman, Oklahoma to face the Sooners beginning at 4 p.m. this coming Tuesday, then next they will be moving down to Cape Girardeau, Missouri to square off against Southern Missouri for a weekend series.

Gilmore has become a mainstay on this Bears team and has become a leader both on the field and off the field.

He is set to finish his senior season at UCA and expects the rest of the season to be a massive one for the Bears.

It is always good to see natural leaders like Gilmore lead by example and carry themselves as professionals.

Gilmore

Upcoming games Men’s Basketball

photo by Shiori Soya

Junior shortstop Butch Rae scores a run on Sunday. Rae’s hit in the sixth inning proved to be the winner for the Bears.

Bears tear up series, send Panthers home with tails tucked between legs

By Taran Meyer Sports Editor

The runs were rampant for the Bears against the Eastern Illinois University this weekend as they swept the Panthers, 4-0.

The Bears won all four games in Bear Stadium, 4-2, 9-1, 4-3 and 6-5.

Senior centerfielder Tyler Langley spoke highly of how his team played this weekend.

“I thought this weekend was good,” Langley said. “We had a lot of guys step up and do big things.”

Assistant coach Jordan Hill also praised his team after an impressive series.

“It was a great weekend for our guys,” Hill said. “It’s hard to beat a team as competitive as Eastern Illinois like that.”

The teams started things off on Friday Feb. 26 in a chilly evening affair, which saw the Bears win 4-2.

Starting pitcher Connor Gilmore took ahold of the game early and never let go.

Gilmore finished the game having only giving up three hits for eight innings while striking out seven batters on the night, tying the all time wins record at UCA. Assistant coach Jordan Hill said he loved to see Gilmore tie the record.

“You love seeing Gilmore do what Gilmore does. And that’s simply win,” Hill said.

Leading the way in hitting on the first night of action was sophomore right fielder Ty Tice who had two hits in four at bats for the Bears and was able to earn himself a run early in the first inning from an RBI single hit by senior left fielder Brandon Montalvo.

Freshman first baseman Hunter Strong finished the game going one for three at bat with two RBI. Feb. 27 featured a double header between the teams that saw the Bears take both games 9-1, and 4-3 respectively.

In the first game of the day the UCA order made life difficult for EIU starting pitcher Michael McCormick by racking up three runs within the first two innings.

A five run sixth inning finished the game off for the Bears in the opener.

The second game of the day saw the Bears finish with a narrow win of 4-3.

All seven runs came within the first inning of play with EIU earning three runs within the top of the frame and UCA answering quickly in the bottom of the frame.

The first inning of the game

also saw sophomore catcher Justin McCarty tag his first career home run. Smashing a three run ball that gave the Bears a 4-3 lead and what ended up to be the final score.

In the series closer, junior shortstop Butch Rae proved to be the hero of the day in another narrow 6-5 win.

Rae’s sacrifice fly ball in the sixth inning proved to be the winning run as the Bears were able to sweep the series against the Panthers.

Senior third baseman Logan Preston finished the day going two for four at bat with an RBI. Freshman first baseman Hunter Strong finished the game going one for two at bat and bringing in two runners.

The Bears will have the day off on Feb. 29 as they travel to Norman, Oklahoma to take on the Sooners of Oklahoma University.

When asked about the team playing at a Big 12 conference school, senior Tyler Langley shrugged at the task.

“It could be Missouri State, Mississippi State or Sam Houston State, we still have to play Bear baseball,” Langley said. “The bases don’t change in distance, the pitcher still has to throw the ball.

We’re not doing anything different to prepare for them.”

SWING

March 3 vs Nicholls State University at 4 p.m.

Some 8,521miles from home, Kemboi Kiptoo Mitei, better known as Bill Kemboi his Christian name, is a Central Arkansas track and field distance runner from the mecca of long distance running in Kenya.

“I was born in a village where most of Kenyan professional runners are from and it’s called Iten,” Kemboi said.

In Iten, Kenya, Kemboi is from a village called Mundiliwo where long distance running is a social norm.

As a child Kemboi would run long distances to school and back, while racing his friends and on his way there, Kemboi said, “They would be about 300 runners on the road and I thought to myself, I love this, I should one day do this.”

So he started competing at his school, which brought him a lot of attention and he began to realize he was good at running.

“At 10 I ran in a charity race against 17-year-olds and came in third,” said Kemboi.

More success would come in high school, as Kemboi participated in the East African championships every year in high school. However, things went south when he injured his leg, and lost his mother to cancer and father to tuberculosis.

“Through my hurt and pain God is my father and my mother,” Kemboi said, Before their death, Bill, had never officially met his dad, and his mother was a farmer, taking care of five kids on her own.

Kemboi’s mother sold vegetables in the market, to get money to feed, educate, and clothe them.

“I am not from a well off

WIN

photo courtesy of UCA Sports

Junior center Taylor Strickland takes a shot against Sam Houston.

Strickland had 14 points against the Bearkats.

Sugar Bears take down SHSU in tough battle of the boards

March 5 vs Mcneese State University at 2 p.m.

Denn-warren Tafah Staff writer

Women’s Basketball

March 2 vs Nicholls State University at 4 p.m.

March 5 vs McNeese State at 2 p.m. photo courtesy of UCA Sports

Baseball

March 4-6 at Southeast Missouri State University at TBD Softball

March 4 vs Western Kentucky and Longwood University at 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.

Senior catcher Jessie Taylor connects with a ball during a game in the Bear Invitational. The Bears pulled out four wins dropping just one to South Dakota State University.

Softball wins four of five in Bear Invitational

by Joe Kramer Editor

With just one game left in the Central Arkansas Invitational, the Bears’ softball team managed to come out of the weekend with just one loss against South Dakota State University out of five games played.

Central Arkansas struggled last weekend as they dropped two games against two top-ten ranked teams. Despite the loss the Bears felt as though the struggle made them stronger as a team.

“Coming off the loses this weekend against organon and the Cajuns we will just have to continue to play our game and stay confident in our selves and our abilities as athletes to be successful this weekend. We had a great learning experience,” senior second baseman Sarah Bigej said.

The Bears (9-5) started off their weekend against the Belmont University Bruins (0-11) with a 3-2 win. Belmont hopped on the

board early after a Bear error that allowed the Bruins to drive one in off of a double.

Central Arkansas battled back in the fourth when sophomore shortstop Kate Myers was walked with the bases loaded to bring home senior catcher Jessie Taylor.

Sophomore Brianna McArthur then grounded out to short driving in junior outfielder Hannah Stirton, giving the Bears the lead.

Belmont managed to swing their way back into the game by tying it up in the fifth off a single RBI into right field. This tie up would hold through the rest of the game, forcing the Bears and the Bruins into extra innings with the international tie-breaker in effect.

With Belmont quickly putting the Bears in the danger zone, senior pitcher Shivaun Landeros managed to force a grounder to third that allowed the Bears to keep the Bruins from tacking on another run. The Bears closed out the game as Taylor led off the inning by knocking a laser

family, I come from a very humble background,” Kemboi said.

Also with the lack of good healthcare and money for proper treatment, Kemboi would have to stop running for almost two years to let his leg heal.

“I would put water outside to get cold, because we didn’t have a fridge and in the morning I would put my leg in cold water,” Kemboi said.

When asked more about his recovery Kemboi said he came back even healthier than before.

“I picked up very well, and I was among the favorites of my coach, then I was proposed to come to this school,” Kemboi said.

While at Central Arkansas, he still deals with injuries, but recently Kemboi ran a 15:33.34 in a 5000 meter at the Southland Conference Indoor Track and field Championships in Birmingham, Alabama on Feb. 15.

Teammate Woodrow Murray spoke about Kemboi and his performance at the indoor championships.

“He stopped a lap short and stood there and thought he was finished and still was able to run a 15:33 in the 5000 meter,” Murray said.

Currently Kemboi is an accounting major, who loves to run, meet new friends and listen to Swahili worship songs.

“I was so down but I thank God he gave me the strength again and now I am going further,” Kemboi said.

When asked if he could give up track Kemboi said “It would be hard but if God asked me to I would, because I have given my life to God.” “He has absolute trust in God as his supplier, his shepherd and comforter” Central Arkansas Physician Randy Pastor said.

down the left field line that drove in junior right fielder Briana Whisenhunt.

The Bears played a doubleheader on Saturday against Middle Tennessee University (8-6) and South Dakota State University (3-11), splitting the day 1-1.

Central Arkansas got things going against MT with a stand-up triple to left fielder by Stirton that drove in senior third baseman Sam Forrest after getting on base with a single. MT was able to capitalize on a duo of errors by the Bears driving in three runs.

The Bears battled back and were able to get on the board as Forrest connected to get a single that drove in junior first baseman Tylor Dodson. With a couple more runners making their way on base. Taylor singled to left-center bringing in a pair of runs. With Stirton and Whisenhunt on base, the Sugar Bears were able to

See Softball- page 8

The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears Basketball Team thrashed Sam Houston State Bearkats 7253, at the Farris Center on Feb. 25.

The Bearkats (9-16, 5-10 Southland Conference) started the game going back to back with the Sugar bears (23-3, 13-2 Southland Conference) for the first four minutes. Until junior guard Briana Mullins made a layup in the paint while been fouled for the, and a free throw. Also, sophomore forward Taylor Boudain was making her presence known on the defensive side, blocking shots and getting rebounds.

Throughout the game, the Bearkats played a man-to-man defensive game but it wasn’t enough to keep up with the Sugar Bears athleticism and conditioning.

“She is bigger than me so I could run her up and down the court and wear her out,” junior center Taylor Strickland said.

At the end of the first quarter the leading scorer in the Southland Conference had yet to score a point. Senior guard Shernise Robertson for the Bearkats was 0-2 from the field with no three point attempts.

In the second quarter the Bearkats started off well bringing the gap down to just a three-point lead but that would be the closes they would get.

Central Arkansas would continue to out play the Bearkats man to man defense, ending the half leading 33-22.

At the Start of the second

half the Sugar bears pick up right where they left off, scoring 19 points to the Bearkats 12. Led by senior forward Kendra Watts draining three uncontested midrange shots.

The fourth quarter was Sam Houston’s best quarter as they were able to score 19 points to Central Arkansas’ 20. Freshman guard Laurynn McGowen would lead them with seven points and Robertson would shoot a 100 percent field goal percentage scoring most of her points in the fourth quarter.

Strickland would come to life this quarter showing off her low post skills. She led the sugar Bears with nine points, attempting five and making four. While her adversary Beadle would be held to only two points.

“We contained number three and we contained number twelve and we ended coming up with the win,” Jackson said.

Even with the Bearkats marvelous effort the Sugar Bears would win by 19 points.

“Our coaches prepared us for this and we expect nothing but to win.” Strickland said.

The final stats show that Watts and Strickland led the team in scoring with 14 points each, followed closely by Baudion who had a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

The leading scorers of each team weren’t as active this game.

Junior guard Maggie Proffit only had seven points and Robertson for the Bearkats only had nine.

“We know what we have to do to win conference so we have been doing it,” Strickland said.

8/ March 2, 2016

SPORTS

Women’s Basketball topples Lady Lions, move to 14-2 in Southland Conference

Denn-warren Tafah Staff writer

photo courtesy of UCA Sports

Senior small forward Justin Foreman drives to the hoop against Southeastern. Foreman scored nine points in 33 minutes for the Bears.

Basketball beats McNeese State on the road

by Julia Kramer Online Editor

The men’s basketball team brought home a win and a loss from Louisiana last week. Playing against McNeese State on Feb. 22, the Bears took the six-point victory and left the court with an 88-82 win.

The McNeese Cowboys started out on fire, shooting 47.1 percent in the first half, but hit a decline in the second, scoring 16 points off of nine turnovers from the Bears.

Senior center Jake Zulihoff said the first half was stagnant for them.

“Coach Russ got us going during halftime and we got ourselves back on track during the second half,” he said.

The Bears were down 11 points midway through the half but quickly took the lead and solidifying it with an 81-79 lead with just minutes left on a threepoint play. The Bears and Cowboys fought back-and-forth trying to get ahead and junior point guard Jeff Lowery made a free throw with 22 seconds left and then two more with nine seconds left, after Cowboy’s James Harvey missed his

ucaecho.net

attempted three-pointer.

For the first time since 2013, three Bears players scored 20 points each during the game.

Junior guard Derrek Brooks scored 23 points, sophomore point guard Jordan Howard scored 24 and sophomore guard Mathieu Kamba scored 20.

Along with the win, the Bears took home their second highest conference win since 2007.

The Bears’ next game against the Southeastern Louisiana Lions on Feb. 27 wasn’t as successful with the Lions taking the win 7556.

“We really struggled on offense during the first half of the game,” Zulihoff said.

“We had a massive scoring deficit that we couldn’t overcome during the second half. We played them really even but at that point we were too behind from the first half.”

The Bears started out with a seven-point lead but the Lions quickly swooped in and grabbed ahold of the lead.

Gaining 24 points in the second half and despite the Bears’ attempts to catch up, the Lions kept pushing ahead.

“Our game was rough, as we did

not do very well on the offensive end,” sophomore shooting guard Thatch Unruh said. For the rest of the season we just need to play up to a high standard all the way until the end. We have to finish strong mentally.”

Howard and Kamba scored the most out of the Bears’, Howard with 11 points and Kamba 10. Foreman and Zuilhof closely followed, both scoring nine points each.

“We really were just stagnant on offense,” Bears head coach Russ Pennell said to ucasports. com. “We thought they were going to come out in a zone and they did, and we were ready for that.

But when we were going against their zone, we didn’t really throw the ball inside. We just threw it around the perimeter and took a few threes and never got in a flow offensively. Then, when they went man, we were really out of sync.

It’s unfortunate, because in the second half I thought our defense was good. We lost by one point and shut them down a little bit – 27 points was all they scored, but we couldn’t score.”

The Bears’ season will be wrapping up this week with a game against McNeese State on Sat. March 4 at the Farris Center.

The Sugar Bears almost left Hammond, Louisiana with an upset to the Lady Lions, the worst team in the Southland Conference, but were able to pull through 6460.

The Lady Lions (4-23, 3-13 SLC) didn’t let their ranking or record affect them as they came to play against the Sugar Bears (24-3, 14-2 SLC).

This is the lowest scoring game the Lady Bears have had during this four game winning stretch. Central Arkansas regularly averages 64.8 points per game, while holding their opponent to 51.0 points per game. While Southeastern Louisiana averages 63.5 points per game and holds their opponents to 79.4 points per game.

To begin the game the Lady Lions and the Sugar Bears would trade shots. The Lady Lions would hit an early three-pointer and junior guard Maggie Proffitt would

do the same. Proffitt led the Sugar Bears with a career-high 32 points.

“I just came out of the beginning of the game and I was hitting and my teammates did a really good job looking for me because they knew I was hitting,” Proffitt said.

In the last three minutes Central Arkansas would go on a 5-0 run, making the score 16-11 at the end of the first quarter.

At the start of the second quarter Proffitt would hit two three’s to put the Sugar Bears up by 11. It seemed like Central Arkansas was going into overdrive like usual but the Lady Lions would stand their ground, with the help of senior forward Nanna Pool and junior forward Dani Fielder.

At the end of the first half Maggie Proffit, would have 16 points with no turnovers, while Pool had eight on 50 percent shooting.

“There center Nana pool had a really good game, and we didn’t do a good job of really stopping her and I feel like they got a lot of momentum of her” Proffitt said.

In the third quarter the Lady Bears would only score 11 points which is well below their average of 17.5 points in the third quarter.

While Southeastern would take advantage of this quarter to tie the game 40-40.

“There a good team, their record doesn’t show that, they had players that could really play,” junior guard Brianna Mullins said.

For the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, the Sugar Bears were down.

After that Central Arkansas would take the lead and never let it go sealing the win with a shot from senior forward Kendra Watts.

“We were pretty confident throughout the whole game, we just knew we were going to be able to win,” Proffitt said.

The Sugar Bears have two tough games to begin the month of March against Nicholls and McNeese State at home.

When asked about the last two games Mullins said, “They have always been a big rivalry game to us, so everybody is going to have to come out and play if we want to win.”

Softball:

Central Arkansas Invitational provides a weekend chalked full of games that put the university on a big stage.

4 Continued from page 7 pull off a double steal that put them up 7-3. Tennessee managed a pair of runs in the seventh inning bringing the score to 7-5. With the offense picking up steam, the Bears brought in junior pitcher Kayla Gomness in from the pen to earn the save.

Landeros picked up her fifth win of the season for the Bears with just three runs allowed on eight hits. She also managed three K’s in six innings in the circle.

Gomness picked up her first race with just one hit allowed.

The second game of the day went the opposite way for the Bears as the SDSU Jackrabbits (311) managed to put up nine runs against the Bears keeping the Central Arkansas bats quiet with a final score of 9-0.

With the series finale on Sunday, the Bears were able to come back from a loss with a pair of wins against Middle Tennessee and the UAPB Golden Lions (5-10).

The Bears got things started early in the game as Taylor doubled to left center driving in Bigej to get the 1-0 lead. Senior third baseman, Lindsay Elliot, followed up Taylor with a big home run to left center driving in Stirton and Taylor.

In the second the Bears continued their hot streak after holding MT to no runs with a double from Forrest who managed to drive in sophomore shortstop

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Kate Myers and advance senior outfielder Amy Gunnells to third.

Taylor would then lace another double for the Bears that would score both Forrest and Gunnells.

MT finally retaliated in the third inning with a sacrifice fly that would bring in their first run. They followed this up with another sacrifice fly that would bring in another run. Despite the momentum that picked up for MT the Bears kept the pressure on driving in another three runs with a homer by Taylor and an RBI from sophomore infielder Audrey Pratt.

The game would end up with a score of 10-2.

The final game of the series against Arkansas-Pine Bluff would go much the same way for the Bears with a final score of 18-4.

The Golden Lions would get on the board first with a pair of RBI in the first two innings. Central Arkansas would then pound out 10 runs in the second inning, taking advantage of errors, walks and getting hit by pitches.

Pine Bluff would try and battle back in the third inning but would be held to two runs one of which came off a throwing error by UCA. Despite the slight momentum gain by the Golden Lions, the Bears tacked on another six runs in the third and fourth innings, bringing the final score to 18-4.

The Bears led the day with nine

091TE

hits in comparison to Pine Bluff’s seven. Despite this the Bears led in errors for the day with three.

The weekend went well for the Bears despite their lead pitcher being absent from the starting roster.

While this was a major concern for the Bears heading into the weekend coach preached that they had enough talent to come out on top.

“Everyone was a little unsure about how we were going to fill the holes but it all ended up coming together! Hitting was off and on this weekend along with the pitchers having to throw more then they ever have this year,” Forrest said.

Despite this, the Bears managed to pull out two impressive wins on Sunday as they gear up for the coming week.

“We made some adjustments for Sunday’s two games and had two run rule wins. We play two games on Tuesday that we plan to use to gear up for this coming weekend at Mississippi State,” she said.

The Bears finish up their home-stand against Lyon College (10-4) on March 1 at 6 p.m.

The Bears will then hit the road for the Bulldog Slamboree starting on March 4 against Western Kentucky University at 8 a.m.

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