Oct. 03, 2016

If it matters to you, it matters to us.

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH ALABAMA

anguard V THE

MONDAY OCT 3 2016 VOL 59 ISS 9

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Inside Poker and Pearls

Student Spotlight

General Education

Alpha Gamma Delta sorority event to raise money for diabetes awareness. Page 4

Piwat Klomkaew, changing the world through meditation and community service. Page 6

Student response to last week’s opinion piece. Page 7

LIFE

NEWS

USA graduation rates sit in the middle compared to state statistics

By Jason Ruffin | Life Editor

Ten Sixty Five certainly did return with a better feel. On Friday night people sat on the makeshift patios that were set up in order to serve alcohol for the festival and relaxed with a bite to eat. Dauphin Street and Cathedral Square were filled with people young and old, but the atmosphere was more inviting and casual than BayFest ever felt.

Paul McDonald, lead guitarist for

Schools across the state, including the University of South Alabama, have seen stark tuition increases since the recession.

But have graduation rates risen with the increased cost of tuition?

It should come as no surprise that in terms of graduation rates, the state of Alabama lags behind most others in the country. Out of all 50 states, Alabama ranks 37th in college graduation rates, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.

USA still has one of the lowest tuition rates in Alabama and an acceptance rate of 78 percent. How does USA perform compared to the rest of those colleges across the state and its competition?

According to the fact book on USA’s website, the graduation rate for the class of 2015 was approximately 35 percent.

These percentages are recorded as six-year graduation rates, since that is how the U.S. federal government measures graduation success, four-year graduation rates are much lower at most schools. This number is representative of classes spanning back a decade. Graduation rates have remained within the range of 34-37 percent since 2000.

Troy University, one of the comparable schools to USA in terms of tuition costs and enrollment, has a similar graduation rate of 34 percent for the 2015 class. Troy charges $301 per credit hour for in-state undergraduate students. USA charges $302 per hour for an undergraduate course.

According to Troy’s website, 18,376 students attended Troy in 2016-2017,

See page 4

See page 3

Trevor Terndrup, lead vocals for Moon Taxi, plays to a large crowd of Mobilians at the Jake Peavy Foundation stage during Ten Sixty Five, Sept. 30, 2016. Photo by Jake Cannon.

1065 music fest returns to Mobile Music and people fills downtown mobile second year in a row

By Jason Ruffin | Life Editor

People filled the streets this past weekend for Mobile’s second annual Ten Sixty Five Music Festival.

Moon Taxi and Blind Melon kicked things off on Friday. Seether, Dirty Heads and The Struts headlined Saturday night.

And Counting Crows wrapped up the festivities Sunday evening.

Ten Sixty Five also featured many local bands such as The Mulligan Brothers, Wet

Willie and Infant Richard and The Delta Stones.

University of South Alabama student Peter Favier said Ten Sixty Five’s contributions to the local music scene set it apart from its predecessor, Bay Fest.

“I like this more honestly because I like the local music scene, I like the just you know helping out the local bands, there’s a better vibe,” Favier said.

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Vanguard THE

atured Photo Photo by Jake Cannon

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Trevor Terndrup, lead vocals for Moon Taxi, pumps up Mobilians at the Jake Peavy Foundation stage during Ten Sixty Five, Sept. 30, 2016.

STAFF Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Copy Editor Opinion Editor Life Editor Sports Editor

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Mission

Concert Series Sunday, Oct. 2 - 4 7:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

Location: Laidlaw performing Arts Center

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Brown Bag Concert featuring Eric Erdman Wednesday, Oct. 5 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.

Location: Bienville Square

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USA Women’s Soccer vs Troy Friday, Oct. 7 7 p.m. - 10 p.m.

Location: Soccer Field

The Vanguard, the student-run newspaper of the University of South Alabama, serves its readership by reporting the news involving the campus community and surrounding areas. The Vanguard strives to be impartial in its reporting and believes firmly in its First Amendment rights.

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Bro Code Tuesday, Oct. 4 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Location: Student Center Ballroom

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Think Pink Tea Thursday, Oct. 6 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.

Location: Alabama Cruise Terminal

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Women’s volleyball vs Troy Saturday, Oct. 8 4 p.m. - 7 p.m.

Location: Jaguar Gymnasium

Find out what you missed www.thevanguardusa.com The Vanguard USA’s Student Newspaper

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NEWS“The one that’s mentioned Managing Editor | Alanna Whitaker acw905@jagmail.southalabama.edu Monday, Sept. 26, 2016

USA rates Cont. pg 1

compared with USA’s 2016-2017 record enrollment of 16,699. The acceptance rate at Troy last year was nearly 92 percent and according to their fact book, new enrollment has been in decline the past couple of years. So comparably, there is not much difference in terms of costs vs. success between Troy and USA. The University of Alabama at Birmingham boasts a graduation rate that has been huddled around the 55 percent mark for the past couple of years. UAB also has slightly more students than USA at 19,535, according to their factbook.

UAB charges more in tuition and fees than USA. An in-state student at USM can expect to pay $331 per credit hour. Is $876 in tuition worth a 20 percent better chance at graduating on time?

Graduation rates are also higher at the University of Southern Mississippi. USM charges slightly more per credit hour at $315 and has an acceptance rate of 58 percent. Their graduation percentage for the 2015 class is nearly 50 percent.

Although USM is more competitive and harder to get accepted into, their price tag is comparable with USA and have a high graduation rate.

Dr. Nicole Carr, associate vice president

USA Crime Report

251-460-6312

first and the one that’s most important is student success and access. We’ve put a considerable amount of funding in making that possible.”

of student academic success, said USA’s graduation rate is a hard number to pin down, as any changes made take six years to measure the results.

“We typically calculate, and report, a six-year graduation rate,” said Dr. Carr.

“It is difficult to change that rate quickly.

Many of the initiatives, policies, and practices changed over the past five years have focused on the entering class. We most commonly report on what is called the freshman cohort.”

In an interview earlier this year, University President Tony Waldrop acknowledged USA’s low six-year graduation percentage. “It’s not anywhere it should be, in fact that is another place a

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lot of tuition dollars have gone,” Waldrop said.

According to board meeting notes and charts used by USA’s board members, the university has a graduation rate goal of 45 percent by 2021. Waldrop sounded more optimistic earlier this year and said in the next five years, he hoped to be around the 50 percent mark.

“When I came, the leadership team and I had five priorities and I said they weren’t ranked, but really they were,” Waldrop said. “The one that’s mentioned first and the one that’s most important is student success and access. We’ve put a considerable amount of funding in making that possible.”

3 One of the programs USA developed to increase graduation rates is USA Pathways.

The program is intended to help students who attend Faulkner State and Bishop State Community Colleges and plan on transferring to USA after graduation.

Students are provided with a USA advisor to make sure they are taking all the classes they need for their eventual degree, along with a special ID card that allows limited privileges to the library and other perks.

The new program took effect this semester.

Despite graduation rates remaining steady and not rising for most of the past decade, Dr. Carr hopes to soon see a turna-round beginning with the graduating class of 2017, whom was the first she was able to implement changes to in 2011.

“The university is a large bureaucracy with many different parts,” Dr. Carr said. “Over time, as we have developed initiatives, we have also been working slowly to align policy, practices and even the physical plant with the overarching goal of student success and access.”

According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, there are other schools in the state doing much worse than USA, such as Alabama State University and Alabama A&M University. When it comes to graduation rates, USA sits somewhere in the middle. Past changes are bringing hope that USA’s graduation rate will soon be higher, but it may be awhile until we’re at the national average of 50 percent.

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Life Editor | Jason Ruffin jwr1321@jagmail.southalabama.edu Monday, Oct. 3, 2016

Students and non-students alike took time to enjoy Texas Hold’em in The Student Center Thursday night.

Photo by Jason Ruffin.

LIFE

Alpha Gamma Delta sorority members learned how to deal cards right before their casino night fundraiser last Thursday. Photo by Jason Ruffin.

Poker and Pearls draws students to fundraising event

By Jason Ruffin | Life Editor

The Alpha Gamma Delta sorority held their second annual Poker and Pearls event late last week.

The event was hosted in order to raise money for diabetes awareness. The sorority takes part in a number of events throughout the year related to the disease, such as The Diabetes Foundation Walk.

An outside company called Monte Carlo Casino Productions, set up casino style games such as blackjack and roulette in the Student Center Ballroom. The company also trained members of the sorority how

to deal cards like a professional prior to the event.

Autumn Krueger, a member of the sorority who helped organize the event said it was important that not only students come out to events but also participate in the community.

“It’s important for Alpha Gamma to go out to the community,” Krueger said. “So, yes we go to our foundation, but we want to give back to Mobile and the area. Where we call home, so we like for the whole community to come out.”

Many alumni attended the event and sat down beside current students to wager their chips in hopes of winning one of the many door prizes.

Eric Anderson, USA freshman, won the handmade pottery raffle. “The event was a great time,” Anderson said “It gave the sense of gambling without the losing money aspect that’s usually attached to it.”

According to Krueger, Poker and Pearls raised around $5500 last year and they were hoping to surpass that number this year.

Krueger said in February the sorority is planning on hosting an event called Pearl Jam, which is a lip sync competition, and will also host AGD’s annual spaghetti dinner, which is planned for spring.

In December the sorority is hosting a breakfast for finals week.

For more information head over to Alpha Gamma Delta’s Facebook Page at Alpha Gamma Delta, University of South Alabama.

Moon Taxi, one of Friday night’s headliners, plays to a cheering crowd during Ten Sixty Five. Photo by Jaccob Hearn.

Trevor Terndrup, lead vocals for Moon Taxi, plays to a large crowd of Mobilians at the Jake Peavy Foundation stage during Ten Sixty Five, Sept. 30, 2016. Photo by Jake Cannon.

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lineup of musicians that turned out to be just what the city needed.

It’s all in an effort to change Mobile’s music scene, and it seems to be working.

Dauphin Street Sound, where Symone Cobb, lead singer for the Infant Richards said the band is recording their final songs for an upcoming album, is already contributing with their flashy new studio.

The studio is owned by The Jake Peavy

Cont. pg 1 Infant Richard and The Delta Stones said, “Overall incredible vibes last year.

Definitely a better fit for the city of Mobile than BayFest was. With BayFest it cut off a lot of downtown to the rest of civilians,

and also brought in outside vendors to sell food and alcohol. With Ten Sixty Five the vendors are the bars and restaurants of downtown Mobile.”

Ten Sixty Five was famously put together in short fashion last year after the announcement that BayFest would be ending its 20 year run.

Local businesses and sponsors banded together to bring Mobile a solid, if smaller

Foundation, who was a huge supporter of the new festival and even claims the name of one of the stages.

Out of crises is born opportunity, and the people of Mobile seized that opportunity last year with the demise of BayFest. Ten Sixty Five’s second year certainly inspirited that sense with an even better lineup and atmosphere.

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LIFE

Monday, Oct. 3, 2016

Student Spotlight: Piwat Klomkaew

Piwat Klomkaew (at the head of the group) leading a flash mob meditation at the USA bell tower. Photo courtesy of the Meditation and Mindfulness club.

By Megan McDowell | Copy Editor

Not many people in the world can say that they’ve found a cause or subject that they are willing to dedicate all their time, work, and passion towards. The people who can are the people that make our world a better place.

Piwat Klomkaew, a third year chemical engineering student at the University of South Alabama, is one of those people that found their drive to change the world and is doing so through meditation and community service.

Originally from Chiang Mai, Thailand, and then later Huntsville, Ala., Klomkaew has come to Mobile with a passion for bringing peace and happiness to other people’s lives. He currently works as a meditation instructor with SouthFit,

Alabama District Secretary-Treasurer position with Circle K International, and president and co-founder of USA’s Meditation and Mindfulness Club.

Klomkaew said that he was an active member of Key Club in high school, an international organization that focuses on community service and charity work, and was eager to find a similar group when he arrived to college.

“I immediately sought out Circle K during freshmen orientation,” Klomkaew said. “I was a very active member my first year at South. I signed up to volunteer whenever I could, attended every meeting I can make, and went to all the district events. At District Convention 2015 I won Outstanding General Member Award.”

During his sophomore year at USA, Klomkaew was voted in as the club’s vice president and was able to do even more work with the group.

“I ran for the club’s vice president at the end of my freshman year,” he continued.

“During the summer, I came up with creative methods to recruit as many incoming freshmen as possible at summer orientations. We grew from four to 40 active members that year. I was never so proud of ourselves and our effort.”

In his third year with the group now serving as the Alabama District Secretary-Treasurer, Klomkaew now has responsibilities that go beyond USA’s campus and outreach.

“As the Alabama District Secretary-

Treasurer, I am overseeing officers from 10-15 Circle K clubs in the state of Alabama I got the chance to work with dedicated Circle K-ers who serve in the district board and the opportunity to attend CKI International Convention in Toronto, Canada, last summer,” Klomkaew said. “Circle K, by far, has been my favorite club because it has allowed me to serve Mobile community, find my leadership potential, and network with many people across the country!”

Klomkaew serves his community even further with the work he does in the club he co-founded and served as vice president for his sophomore year at USA’s Meditation and Mindfulness Club.

The group meets every Tuesday at 6 p.m. to discuss how meditation can be used for different purposes such as stress relief, generosity, and mending past traumas followed by a group guided meditation for around 20-30 minutes. Now in it’s second year as a USA student organization, Klomkaew serves as USA Meditation’s president.

“My favorite events that we’ve done with Meditation and Mindfulness club are Random Acts of Kindness, which was a nice way to spread peace on campus by our public meditation lecture, and the Meditation Flash Mobs we hold at the Bell Tower. So peaceful.”

As President this year, Klomkaew’s goal is to grow the club’s membership and increase meditation exposure on campus, which he has already begun doing by working as a SouthFit meditation instructor.

With his work within these clubs and in his academic endeavors, he has also been given several awards and scholarships, including the Tau Beta Pi Outstanding Sophomore Scholarship, the Circle K David C. Womack Outstanding Vice President Award, and the Circle K Outstanding General Member Award.

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Sports Editor | Shawna Mason smmtheii@gmail.com Monday, Sept. 26, 2016

SPORTS

South Alabama safety Diantae Thomas and running back Deonta Moore celebrate after defeating San Diego State, Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Triumphant Win Over #19 San Diego State

By Casie Carr | Reporter

In the matchup of #19 San Diego State University Aztecs against The University of South Alabama Jaguars on Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016, the final score was USA 42 SDSU 24.

“This is a big win, and comforting going back into conference play,” said #6 senior safety Kalen Jackson. “We knew that if we put our minds to it and everyone did their job that we could win.”

In this game the Jaguars were definitely the underdogs, with many injured starters, and a game against the #19 team in the country, the Jaguars really needed to play well to win.

“Because our players bought into what we’re trying to do, we were able to beat an SEC West team and a top 20 team in the country,” said head coach Joey Jones. “I thought tonight was the first time we’ve played great in all three phases of the game. Offense, defense, and special teams all were dynamic and played well.”

By the end of the first quarter USA was already up by a touchdown and an extra point missed by SDSU, the score USA 14

SDSU 6. USA backup quarterback, #13 Cole Garvin completed 6 of 7 passes in the first quarter alone. Between his 17yard rushing gain, #4 Dami Ayoola’s 18, and #9 Tyreis Thomas’s 19, our offense played much better than their opponent.

Also, SDSU’s star runner, #19 Donnel Pumphrey, was held by our defense to a mere 8-yards in the first quarter.

“Cole played great, he was cool as he could be, made great throws, runs, and protected the ball. Hats off to Coach Vincent who got him ready, Cole played to win tonight,” said Jones. “One thing that’s great about this team is that our defense believes in themselves, they’ve got the heart of a Jaguar. We got better as a football team and didn’t make too many mistakes, so hats off to our players and coaches tonight.”

The second quarter was more difficult for the Jaguars, while our offense completed more passes, gained more rushing yards, and had possession of the ball more than twice as long as the Aztecs, Pumphrey gained his yards, we had more

penalties and we threw an interception.

But, with all of the craziness that was second quarter, the Jaguars were only behind by two points at the end of the half, the score being USA 14 SDSU 16.

“We knew we had to stop #19, Pumphrey, on their team, a great running back, we gave up a few plays, but defense did great and we stopped them for the most part,” said Jones. “We tried to keep him off the perimeter, but he’s just going to get his yards, he’s an excellent player.”

Third quarter the Jags came out full steam ahead. With more total offensive yards in this quarter, and a longer possession time, the Jags were able to complete six third down conversions, over the Aztecs one.

Unfortunately, SDSU stepped up as well and completed equal first downs, almost equal passing yards, and successfully completed four of four red-zone scoring chances. The score at the end of the third quarter was USA 21 SDSU 24.

“They had a great defense… and we knew we had to eliminate the edge for

#19,” said Jackson.

“I was nervous until I jumped on the field, but after that first throw I remembered how great it felt to play, after three years,” said sophomore backup quarterback #13 Cole Garvin. “All I could think with those TD passes was don’t throw bad, and it worked, we had some great catches tonight.”

SDSU had two fumbles in the last quarter, both recovered by USA resulting in touchdowns, and a failed punting attempt resulting in USA possession at the 3-yards line and ending in another touchdown. This game came down to mistakes and drive. By the fourth quarter, it looked as if the Aztecs just gave up, they stopped playing to their full potential, while the Jags played their heart out for their hometown crowd.

“We had one of our best weeks of practice and nailed the game plan tonight, I had help from Coach Vincent, but I want to point out the players around me who stepped up, this was a team effort,” said Garvin.

OPINION

Opinion Editor | Joel Goode jdg908@jagmail.southalabama.edu Monday, Sept. 26, 2016

The importance of general education Submitted by Joshua Plummer

For many of us, we strive for a higher education so that when we have completed our schooling we will be ready to delve into the workforce and begin our careers.

There’s nothing wrong with this. Students have been doing this for decades and their drive to better themselves should be admired. However, there is certainly more to a Higher Education than learning the skills and knowledge of a single trade or practice.

My first semester at USA was the fall of 2010, and I had chosen to major in physics. Why? Wel,l I was good at and enjoyed physics, sure, but I also had this neat idea of becoming a medical physicist one day. The idea was very cool to me. I’d work with a few hospitals in an area either calibrating their radiation machines (the mundane part), or I’d be working directly with oncologists to prescribe radiation treatments for cancer patients (the insanely interesting part).

I’ve always wanted to be in the medical profession to help people, and I was finally going to be able to accomplish this through my physics curriculum. Besides

my genuine drive to help people, there was that one extra reason: Money. Medical physicist make lots of money. So there it was. It wasn’t until midway through my junior year here at South that I decided to add another major of Mathematics & Statistics and a minor in Chemistry to my degree path. There was even a moment when I also added a second minor of Biomedical Sciences to my repertoire; however, I quickly realized I was just being overzealous and impractical in my desire to learn more.

I’m sorry to say that I can’t fully explain why I had that decisive idea junior year.

All I know is that I was very much head deep in my physics studies, feeling great about my career choice, and well on my way to accomplish everything I had set my sights on. But something was missing. I couldn’t help shaking this feeling of ‘Is this really all I’m going to know or understand after spending four years here?’

Then it hit me. I’m not here just to learn physics; I’m here to learn. All my general education classes that were once on the back burners slowly crept back up into the

forefront of my mind. You see, I had the idea all wrong. While I was too busy feeling that I was being forced to attend these classes, wasting my time and money on subjects that I cared little about, I was not realizing the amount of knowledge I had right before me. That public speaking class that we loathe: it is supposed to teach us how to effectively speak and communicate ideas to our future employers, coworkers, and clients. We will have to speak in a professional setting in our future jobs, and being able to do this successfully will not only allow us to do our job better, but it will likely be the reason we are hired in the first place. I also now know about the first human civilizations and their religions from Dr. Monheit’s western civilization I, how impressionism, expressionism, cubism, surrealism, and the other modern art styles interplay with and contribute to each other from Dr. Lindeman’s survey of art, and how to (barely) interact with

7 Spanish-speaking folks from Dr. Pineda’s beginning Spanish I. The mere fact that I now know these things allows me to be more well-rounded as a person. Even if I forget these facts, I will have benefited from the experience.

Albert Einstein once said that “education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school,” and this is because education’s scope extends further than being a knowledgeable person and persists longer than our memory of the facts that we learn.

Education is a process, and in its process, we learn critical thinking and leadership skills as well as the skills needed to be an exceptional employee. We endeavor through its process in the lifelong effort for self and global betterment. And who knows, along the way we may even find a path to greater happiness, success, and self-fulfillment than we once thought possible.

“Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.”

Between Corruption and Scandal, How Sacred are Alabama’s Values?

By Joel Goode | Opinion Editor

Roy Moore has officially been removed from office. His suspension is effectively permanent, given that he is too old to run for Chief Justice again. The Alabama Court of Judiciary (COJ) decision comes only three months after the removal of Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard upon facing felony convictions for corruption.

In the meantime, Governor Robert Bentley is facing impeachment over charges that he had an extramarital affair with a staffer.

What is wrong with Alabama’s government? This is a difficult and vague question, but in the three cases listed above we can at least find a common core of misplaced values.

First, let’s look at Hubbard. He was convicted of directly soliciting lobbying services for corporate heads as a means of personal gain. His actions were clearly illegal, as the CEOs (who are the CEOS) he pressured into financially supporting him warned over hand-wringing e-mails which now constitute evidence. Still, Hubbard was able to convince so many high-powered business people to collude with him simply because of the “probusiness values” he pushed forward through legislation.

“If the speaker doesn’t want something to happen in the House, it doesn’t happen,” Steve French, a former state senator, said during the trial. “And if the speaker does, the chances are much greater — in the range of 90 percent.”

The Bentley scandal started in

connection with Hubbard’s trial. Bentley, a political ally to Hubbard, told then chief of police Spencer Collier not to testify against the Speaker. Collier, ostensibly to preserve the integrity of his own office and to seek justice on behalf of the people of Alabama, ignored Bentley’s orders and testified against Hubbard anyway. Collier was then removed from office by Bentley.

Bentley claims Collier was removed for misappropriating state funds. Collier’s agency was audited, and an investigation is currently underway by the FBI into the veracity of the accusation. Collier said, with confidence, that the FBI will find nothing whatsoever, and that his removal is a political ploy by Bentley.

Soon after his removal, Collier held a press conference detailing knowledge he had of an extra-marital affair between Bentley and one of the governor’s aids, Rebekah Mason. A day later, a recording was released of a sexual phone conversation between Bentley and Mason, confirming Collier’s accusation.

Bentley has long been a proponent of “family values.” Given the capacity for these values to be so utterly compromised in such a public way, perhaps their underlying strength may be called into question.

To be frank, Moore’s removal is far and away the least scandalous among the three cases. He simply issued a four page document on January 6 of this year demanding probate judges ignore the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of gay

marriage. The document itself is rather funny, because Moore at one point says it is not his place to issue guidance to probate judges, but ends the document unequivocally ordering probate judges to adhere to Alabama’s 2015 ruling on the unconstitutionality of gay marriage.

In a sense, Moore’s destruction was at the hands of his own unwillingness to compromise “Christian family values.”

As Alabamians living in the year of our lord 2016, it is appropriate to question what “family values” and “business values” really mean, especially given how they are constantly touted by our elected officials as correctives to society’s problems.

To me, family values begin and end with a network of people who are loyal to eachother. The existence of a bloodline, or a gendered dynamic, is wholly immaterial.

Similarly, business values begin and end with transparency through reciprocal exchanges. In a well-functioning business environment, stock prices and executive pay take a backseat to accountability, living wages, and above all else safety. As much as we like to villainize organizations like the FDA and the EPA, we must realize that these agencies exist solely for the protection of citizens from malpractice.

Given the anti-regulatory culture politicians like Hubbard promote, perhaps we should reevaluate our tendency to pour faith into “pro-business” politicians as having our interests at heart.

“Loyalty,” in other words, is a true value, as is “reciprocity”. When we talk

about family and business, we are actually talking about loyalty and reciprocity.

Overall, we should not take Moore’s removal as a sign of progress, but merely the realization of something long-overdue.

The case is not a grand social justice victory. The Alabama COJ said as much.

“This case is not about whether same-sex marriage should be permitted,” said the COJ in their ruling. “Indeed, we recognize that a majority of voters in Alabama adopted a constitutional amendment in 2006 banning same-sex marriage, as did a majority of states over the last 15 years.”

Moore has faced suspension before.

The last time he was removed from office, the charges were for refusing to remove a stone monument of the Ten Commandments he had erected in Alabama’s ostensibly secular Judicial Building in Montgomery. Nevertheless, Moore was overwhelmingly voted back in.

Alabamians have a long way to go in terms of fixing their social attitudes. However, one way of looking towards which values should be preserved and which should be discarded would be to look at the character of politicians who claim to uphold them. If our elected officials are calling for marriage inequality on the basis of “family values,” then we must recognize that “family values” have nothing to do with moral virtuosity and everything to do with signaling the political exploitation of an uneducated constituency. Values cannot rest on sand.

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