Sept. 19, 2016

www.thevanguardusa.com

anguard V

If it matters to you, it matters to us.

THE

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH ALABAMA

MONDAY SEPT 19 2016 VOL 59 ISS 7

Inside Poet puts on show

USA vs ULL

Odd Rodd fills Student Center with laughter. Page 3

USA football suffers defeat at the hands of Uni. Louisina at Lafayette. Page 7

Police oversight The Mobile City Council approves citizen’s oversight board for police. Page 8

The Prowl student radio enters Mobile airwaves

A USA student asks about job opportunities. Photo by Briana Cunningham.

HireAJag connects students to jobs The Prowl student staff say “Cheese”! Photo courtesy of The Prowl.

By Jaccob Hearn | Editor-in-Chief

WJGR The Prowl launched a

By Albert Terry III | Reporter

The Career Services department

programs that run during the week,

areas, including JagTrans, the USA

low-powered FM station on Friday,

all created by students for students,

bookstore and Student Center. It’s

at the University of South Alabama

Sept. 16, 2016.

and it plays a variety of music and

estimated that the station will reach

hosted the HireAJag Career Fair

talk shows.

to about 250,000 people.

last Thursday, Sept. 15.

The Prowl is a student-run radio station located in the USA

The Prowl has an outreach of

department of communication.

3.5 miles around the USA campus

The Prowl currently has seven

and will be played in the common

The Prowl is available on other

See page 3

The HireAJag Career Fair is a semiannual affair, with one being See page 4

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Vanguard THE

eatured Photo

University of South Alabama Alpha Hall South Room 336, Mobile, Ala., 36688 Tel: 460-6898 I Fax: 414-8293 Advertising: (678) 644-7838 thevanguardeditor@gmail.com

The Prowl staff hosts a celebration of its new 97.1 FM station. The Prowl filed for a FM station in 2013. Photo courtesy of The Prowl.

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

Jaccob Hearn Alanna Whitaker Megan McDowell Joel Goode Jason Ruffin Shawna Mason

Reporters Albert Terry Casie Carr

Upcoming September Events

Advertising Advertising Manager Spencer Schuneman Advertising Rep. Tiffany Martin Graphic Designer Alexandra Jackson

Management

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Advising J. Sellers J. Aucoin Accounting Kathy Brannan

Distribution

KA Blood Drive Monday, Sept. 19 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Location: Student Center SC Mall 3

Wilters Lecture Series Tuesday, Sept. 20 7 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

Location: Student Center Ballroom

Distribution Cory Judkins Cameron Hall

Mission 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.

Send letters and guest columns to: thevanguardeditor@gmail.com Letters and guest columns must be received by 7 p.m. on the Wednesday prior to the Monday publication.

Submissions should be typed and must include the writer’s name, year, school and telephone number. All submissions become the property of The Vanguard.

The Vanguard reserves the right to edit letters and guest columns for length and clarity. Letters will be limited to 300 words. Letters and guest columns are the opinion of the writer. The Staff Editorial represents the consensus opinion of the Editorial Board. All members of the Editorial Board have the same weight. The Vanguard has a commitment to accuracy and clarity and will print any corrections or clarifications. To report a mistake, e-mail thevanguardeditor@gmail.com. The Vanguard is published Mondays during the academic year, except for exam periods and vacations, and is published twice each summer. The Vanguard is supported in part by an allocation from student activity fees and operates in the Student Media Department of the Division of Student Affairs. Issues are available at most University buildings and select off-campus locations. The first copy is free.

Additional copies are $1 each. Freelance writers will receive payment at the discretion of the section editor and will be notified.

To request additional issues at a stand near you, email: vanguarddistribution@gmail.com

Girls Night Out Wednesday, Sept. 21 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Location: Student Center Ballroom

Women’s Volleyball vs.

Texas-Arlington Friday, Sept. 23 6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

Location: Jaguar Gymnasium

EID Celebration Thursday, Sept. 22 6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

Location: Student Center Ballroom

Guitar: The Instrument That Rocked The World Exhibit Opens Saturday, Sept. 24 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.

Location: Gulf Coast Exploreum

USA Children’s & Women’s Bell Ringing Ceremony Wednesday, Sept. 21 4 p.m. - 5 p.m.

Location: USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital Courtyard

Dulce Sloan Comedy Thursday, Sept. 22 8 p.m. - 9 p.m.

Location: Student Center Terrace

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Football vs. Nicholls State Saturday, Sept. 24 All Day Event Location: Ladd-Peebles Stadium

Find out what you missed www.thevanguardusa.com Follow our social media:

@TheVanguardUSA

USATHEVANGUARD

The Vanguard - USA’s Student Newspaper

NEWS

USA Crime Report 97.1 The Prowl If you SEE something SAY something!

251-460-6312

No Crimes

Cont. from page 1

regardless of major. All positions

According The Prowl’s

are voluntary, except those

webpage extension on USA’s main

mission is to promote learning

Communications.

site and the TuneIn app. It will

and professionalism through

“This is a historic moment for the

soon be available on The Buzz, the

station operations, to represent

department and the university,”

USA app. Both apps are available

the student body’s interests

Faculty Advisor Heather Leigh

on the Apple App Store and Google

through programming, to

Stanley said. “It’s nice to see the

Play Store.

encourage diversity through

culmination of one student’s

“It’s a big opportunity for us to

station programming and student

idea five years ago transform in a

be recognized for the work we put

media personnel and to promote

program,”

in to our shows and this station,”

university programs that aid in

Operations Manager Adam Shubert the development and growth of

For more information contact Heather Leigh Stanley at

said. “This launch is something

students’ academic and personal

hlstanley@southalabama.edu or

that past students have laid the

lives.”

visit http://www.southalabama.edu/

that we could take their work and grow it into this.”

USA student Jason Cooper started Jag Radio with a group of friends.

The station was cobbled together as internet radio startup in an equipment closet nicknamed The Bunker in the department of communication. USA filed an application for a low-power FM permit with the Federal Communications Commission.

The FCC assigned 97.1 FM as the frequency.

Go Jags!

May 2013.

decided by the Board of Student

Jag Radio in Fall 2010. Former

Week.

currently-enrolled students,

website, “WJGR The Prowl’s

The Prowl began as internet-only

This

renamed the station The Prowl in

platforms including their online

foundation for and we are excited

Reported

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Managing Editor | Alanna Whitaker acw905@jagmail.southalabama.edu Monday, Sept. 19, 2016

The makeshift studio moved into a new building on the main campus spring 2013 with its own dedicated space, complete with an old couch in honor of the tradition of all great radio stations. The students

The Prowl is open to all

org/theprowl.

4 HireAJag Cont. from page 1

held each fall and spring. According to Beverly Hendley, associate director of USA Career Services, the career fairs have been held for well over 10 years. In fact, none of the career services employees present were sure exactly how long because the program predates them. Hendley also said that the program has been wildly successful, partly because they encourage students to think outside of the box when it comes to choosing a career. “Vendors have such a wide variety of positions,� Hendley said. “We encourage students to talk to companies they may not have heard of. You never know what they might have.�

A total of 65 employers representing local, national and international firms, as well as state governmental agencies, set up shop in the Mitchell Center’s Waterman Globe Lobby to meet and greet USA students seeking employment.

Employers included local news channel WKRG 5, UTC Aerospace Systems, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, the city of Daphne and Austal USA among many others. Many USA alumni were on hand to give personal testimony of their rewarding new careers.

Elissa Wienke is a recent USA grad who now works for Enterprise, a car rental and sales company based in St. Louis with several offices in Mobile.

Wienke says she met an Enterprise representative at one of the HireAJag fairs from last school year and applied after she graduated. “I absolutely love it,� Wienke said of her new career. “I couldn’t have asked for a better career.�

Tim Schnoor spoke for Total Quality Logistics, which according to him is the second-largest thirdparty logistics company in the United States. Meghan Chandler, another TQL employee, noted that 15 USA alumni work in TQL’s Mobile office, including former baseball team outfielder Ray Kruml.

Also present were representatives

Life Editor | Jason Ruffin jwr1321@jagmail.southalabama.edu Monday, Sept. 19, 2016

from Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers, based in Baton Rouge, LA. Operations manager and current USA student Hannah Ellsworth catalogued the massive growth of Cane’s in the past few years, growing from 100 locations in September 2012 to 288 locations presently. There are locations as far-flung as St. Paul, MN, and Boston, MA, and there are plans to open locations in Denver, Kuwait City, and Bahrain by the end of this year. Ben Alleman made note of the company’s philanthropy, saying that roughly 20 percent of Cane’s profits are reinvested into the community.

According to Alleman, Cane’s is also a corporate sponsor of Jaguar Athletics.

The Mobile Museum of Art attended the career fair for the first time in four years, according to representative Glenn Bingham.

Bingham said that the museum’s special events coordinator is a USA alumni and that they have many volunteers and interns that are USA students. Yet, there are other positions open as well. “We have a media marketing position open,� Bingham said. “It’s basically a social media coordinator position.�

The position requires one year of experience in social media, with a background in art or graphic design.

Penelope House also has positions open for USA students, according to Janie Lumpkin. “We’re looking for a case manager, a court/victim advocate and night and weekend staff,� Lumpkin said.

Although the events have been successful, Hendley says she hasn’t heard as many success stories from students who found great careers through the HireAJag fairs as she would like to. She is hopeful that will change this year. “We had a good turnout from employers and students this year so I think it went well,� Hendley said. “I think we’ll get some good feedback.�

Students who couldn’t make it to last week’s fall career fair can attend the second HireAJag fair in the spring. Students can also find more information about last week’s career fair, including a list of all 65 employers present on Career Services’s webpage on the USA website.

LIFE

The HireAJag career fair provides USA students the opportunity to ask potential employers meaningful questions. Photo by Briana Cunningham.

Heathers Heathers

the Musical

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Books, Music and Lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Kevin Murphy %DVHG RQ WKH ÀOP ZULWWHQ E\ 'DQLHO :DWHUV 'LUHFWHG E\ /DUV 7DWRP ȿ 0XVLFDO 'LUHFWLRQ E\ 7KRPDV 5RZHOO &KRUHRJUDSK\ E\ .DWLH )HOLV Heathers the Musical was originally directed Off-Broadway by Andy Fickman and choreographed by Marguerite Derricks.

Heathers the Musical is presented by special arrangement with SAMUEL FRENCH, INC

Laidlaw Performing September 23, 24, 2016 @ 7:30 pm Arts Center September 25, 2016 @ 2:00 pm (251) 460-6306 September 29 - October 1, 2016 @ 7:30 pm www.southalabama.edu/theatre

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LIFE

Monday, Sept. 19, 2016

USA students laugh at Odd Rod’s spoken word poetry. Photo by Jason Ruffin.

Poet puts on show in Student Center

By Jason Ruffin | Life Editor

Students filed into the Student Center Terrace to hear spoken word poet Odd Rod in a show organized by Jaguar Productions this past Thursday.

Odd Rod, given name Roderick Borisade, travels across America to give spoken word poetry performances. He draws on his own life experiences and weaves them into his poems and shows, taking questions and telling stories of friends and family in between.

Borisade’s poems flowed when he spoke, which gave them a more lyrical sound similar to rap music. Halfway through the show, it was hard to tell if he or the students in attendance enjoyed the performance more.

“There’s a level of entertainment that has to be there,.” Borisade said of his shows. He talked about how draining some poets can be to students, who may not be fully

open-minded when walking into poetry performances. However, he also said those same students usually leave having enjoyed themselves. “By the time they leave man they’re giving me dap, they’re hugging me.”

Borisade said he iswell-aware of the mindset some students harbor when it comes to poetry performances. He discussed his own experiences with poetry and how draining some poets can be.

“When I go to a lot of campuses people are like yea,” Borisade said with his hand over his mouth, mimicking a bored student. “Unless it’s like a club or something, or there’s some type of incentive, they don’t come to poetry events because they don’t know how good it can be.”

Students did not need much encouragement to ask questions.

Borisade told stories of rising up through his impoverished

neighborhood. At times his tales had students laughing hysterically, and they were eager to ask questions and poke fun of the artist and his many love stories. Other times, his stories brought glazed eyes and even tears.

USA student and creative writing major, Madison Hunter, had nothing but admiration for the poet and his performance.

“When poets come, you know they have a podium, they have the light on them, they have a stool but it wasn’t like that,” Hunter said. “He dragged us into his experience and you could feel it. You don’t get that often.”

Borisade has written three albums full of poems, some of which are accompanied by music, which make his poems seem more like songs at times. He also has a YouTube channel where he posts videos with his poems. For more information visit oddrod.net

OPEN 7AM-10PM M-S KITCHEN OPEN 8AM-6PM 5460 OLD SHELL ROAD

251-344-4575

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Sports Editor | Shawna Mason smmtheii@gmail.com Monday, Sept. 19, 2016

SPORTS

Loss for USA football vs. ULL

By Casie Carr | Reporter

The University of South Alabama versus the University of Louisiana at Lafayette was a challenging and upsetting loss on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016. The final score was 28-23.

“The atmosphere of this stadium was tougher than most, but that shouldn’t affect us,” defensive lineman No. 5 Roman Buchanan said . “They didn’t do anything that we hadn’t prepared for. Again it came down to a lack of execution, we of course did have some injuries, but that’s just football. We have to overcome those things; we can’t blame our loss on that. We deserved to lose today,” Although the Jaguars held possession of the ball for longer

than the Cajuns during this game, their time was not well spent. The running game of ULL was much stronger, and the USA passing game did not exceed theirs enough to overcome it.

“We started out slow, but we came out stronger in the second half,” running back No. 28 Xavier Johnson said. “We need to run the ball to win, and tonight we did a better job of that than last week.

We just still fell short,” The USA defense did a good job of making big interception plays and getting the offense back on track, but the slow speed of the USA offense is what this game came down to.

“We need to prepare better, we thought we fixed the errors of last week, but we still have work to do,”

tight end No. 12 Gerald Everett said . “We’re going to use the next two weeks at home as confidence builders and try to get a win for our crowd,” After two conference losses, both causal of the speed and performance of the offense, the USA Jaguars are going to have to buckle down and work on these problems of execution.

“We have to start faster,” quarterback No. 11 Dallas Davis said. “Only seven points in the first half is tough. We had the opportunities, we just didn’t take advantage of them. But, we’re not going to let these two conference losses dictate our season,” The team and coaches seem to agree that this is a special team, but there are things to be improved

looking toward non-conference teams, including Nicholls State next week and San Diego State week thereafter.

“Defense fought a good first half, but offensively we have to start out faster,” head coach Joey Jones said. “I definitely think our running game is improving, but we still have things we need to work on. We have a lot of character on this team, and bottom line is we just want to win, but the Sun Belt Conference is tough. We better be ready to play next week.”

Tickets for USA sports can be purchased by calling (251) 4611872. For more information about USA athletics, including 2016 schedules and rosters, check out www.usajaguars.com

The weekly USA sports roundup

By Marissa Mason | Sports Editor

The University of South Alabama’s women’s golf team finished seventh out of 10 teams in a three-day match up, ending with a team score of 910. Southern Mississippi State won first place with a team score of 877.

“We’re not going to win a national championship next week, but we will get a little better than we were last week,” head coach Matt Luther said.

Men’s golf finished the two-day Invitational at The Ocean Course tournament ranking 11 out of 16.

Their team score was 874. Middle Tennessee State came in first with a score of 850.

“All in all, we would’ve like to have finished a little bit higher in the team standings, but I saw a lot of positives,” head coach Alex Hamilton said. “I was proud of the way the guys handled everything, I’m looking forward to seeing them learn from today.”

The women’s volleyball team scored two wins at the Bulldog Invitational in Athens, Ga. this week. USA defeated McNeese in five sets before going on to beat Bethune-Cookman University .

This was followed by a loss to the University of Georgia.

The USA women’s tennis sophomore Alina Zolotareva won the A draw final at the Thomasville

Invitational. USA freshman Malika Auger-Aliassime joined Zolotareva in doubles but lost 8-5 to Laura Ubeda and Sabrina Schmidt in the semifinals.

The men’s tennis team suffered three losses in their flight finals at the Thomasville Invitational.

“We saw some good things today

and some things we need to work on,” USA head coach Nick Brochu said. “We now have two weeks to get better before our next tournament.”

The women’s soccer team won against Ole Miss (1-0) and Georgia Southern (5-0) this week

The Department of Political Science & Criminal Justice & The University of South Alabama Foundation present:

THE FOURTH ANNUAL JUDGE HARRY J. WILTERS JR. LECTURE IN SEARCH OF THE NATION OF IMMIGRANTS: BALANCING THE FEDERAL-STATE DIVIDE M. Isabel Medina Ferris Family Distinguished Professor of Law Loyola University New Orleans College of Law

20th

SEPT.

Tuesday 2016 at 7:00pm

Student Center Ballroom USA Main Campus Reception Following the Presentation For information, contact Dr. Ron Nelson 251-460-7161

OPINION Police oversight should serve citizens

By Joel Goode | Opinion Editor

The Mobile City Council has approved a citizen’s oversight board for police conduct, formally called The Mobile Police Citizens Community Relations Advisory Council. The Advisory Council will be comprised of eight members. Seven members are appointed by the city council and one member is appointed by the Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson.

The approval is compromised by Stimpson’s proviso that the committee can only exist if it provides “unequivocal support” to the MPD. Such a requirement is counterintuitive to the point of negating the function of the organization. A true citizen’s council will have only one obligation: to the citizens at large.

Renewed interest in an Advisory Council arrived after the shooting death of 19-year-old Michael Moore three months ago. According to police, Moore was driving a stolen vehicle when he was pulled over by officer Harold Hurst. Hurst claims that Moore reached for a gun in his waistband, prompting the officer to fire four shots, three of which fatally hit Moore.

As catalogued by The New York Daily News, the official story has changed three times since the shooting. First, a spokesperson for the MPD claimed that the gun was found in Moore’s vehicle. A few days later, the claim changed from the gun having been found in the vehicle to having been found “at the scene,” implying the gun may have been found outside the vehicle. Not long after that, the narrative changed once again to the gun having been recovered from Moore’s body at the hospital.

Hurst was not wearing a body camera at the time of the incident. According to councilmember Fred Richardson, although taxpayers spent nearly $2 million to purchase 300 body cameras for the MPD, the policy surrounding the use of the cameras remains unclear. Richardson said he’s waiting for the policy’s release and that “it should come from the mayor’s office.”

“They need a policy that if you don’t have a camera, you call for backup,” Richardson continued.

Although, given what little information we have, we may as well assume for now that body cameras are required for on-duty officers. According to a police spokesman, Hurst was not yet on duty. Of course, the question arises: if Hurst was not on duty and without a required body camera, then why did he conduct a traffic stop?

One month after the shooting, officer Hurst was reintegrated into the department at a desk job on

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Opinion Editor | Joel Goode jdg908@jagmail.southalabama.edu Monday, Sept. 19, 2016

administrative duty despite the fact that the investigation was still ongoing. At the time, representative Barbara Drummond (D-Alabama) expressed dismay at the department’s decision.

“Mr. Moore was killed about three weeks ago and to have this officer back on the job in any capacity, even administratively, is totally unacceptable,” Drummond said.

Now, three months after the shooting, with the investigation nearly concluded and at least a few of the initial claims by the MPD called into question, we must ask ourselves: what message was sent to Moore’s family, and to citizens in general, by rehiring Hurst?

Essentially, we are being told that the death of a citizen does not carry enough weight to withhold rehiring an officer. Until a judiciary committee has thoroughly concluded that an officer is not a murderer, it is completely inappropriate to employ the officer, even if the officer is relegated to desk-work. Rather than show neutrality, the department expressed support for the compromised officer, creating a perception that Hurst remains a public servant and not a suspect. This perception may create bias within the Grand Jury who will hear Hurst’s case.

The Advisory Council formation comes as a response to calls from black community leaders for greater police oversight and accountability following Moore’s death.

Racial tensions between the MPD and black communities are a familiar but underreported issue. In an article published in 2014 for AL.com, Sharon Perry recounted two separate incidents involving her then 18-year-old son, DeMarco Edwards, and the police.

During the first incident, Edwards was pulled over while driving home from an evening at church spent with his mother.

Edwards was removed from his vehicle and frisked, but apparently no reason was given for why, according to Perry.

A few months later, Edwards was questioned by an officer while talking on the phone with his mother at a gas station.

Perry said that Edwards was issued a traffic citation for an unbuckled seatbelt, although he was standing outside his car pumping gas at the time.

Perry believes her son was racially profiled. “We need something to actually take care of the situation,” she said at a city council meeting at the time. “It’s OK to talk about it, but let’s put some action into it. If you want to prevent a Ferguson, make some moves. ... I’m not only afraid for my son, but other youths in the city.”

The meeting was attended by Police Chief James Barber. Barber questioned the utility of a citizen’s review board, claiming complaints about police misconduct were

already handled “internally within the department.”

Barber’s position represents the same “unequivocal support” view expressed

by Stimpson. However, what these officials fail to acknowledge is how internal accountability within U.S. police departments is notoriously lacking. There have been numerous cases in which bystander footage has conflicted with police narratives following events in which conduct was called into question. The New York Daily News catalogued three different accounts of the Moore case, and there more documented occurrences of this happening across the country.

Albert Terry III is a Mobilian, USA student and reporter at The Vanguard who, over the past several years, has been active with community organizations pushing for police reform. “The political, economic, cultural and even geographical marginalization of black people in this majority-black city is and has always been starkly evident,” Terry said In regards to reform, Terry III explained that “our demands for a civilian oversight committee, an unbiased independent prosecutor to take cases against police officers, and body cameras which cannot be controlled by officers and that feed into a third party server, are immensely popular and have received tremendous support from the public.”

The current advisory board hardly meets the goals set out by its original

proponents. Although it is an important first step towards improving community relations between citizens and the police, more has to be done to address the issue of accountability.

“A major deficiency with the board in its current form is that advisory members are chosen by appointment, not election,” Terry said.

The organization will pend renewal on Jan. 21, 2021. Given the political interests expressed by City Council members Fred Richardson, Levon C. Manzie, Gina Gregory, C.J. Small and Joel Daves, all of whom co-sponsored the compromised ordinance along with Stimpson and Barber, it is unlikely that the council will appoint advisory members willing to hold the MPD’s feet to the fire in cases of potential wrongdoing.

Currently, the Advisory Council will serve as a sounding board for members of the community whose voices have previously gone unheard. Still, the power of the council to affect change based on the issues brought before them remains lacking.

Transparency and accountability can only improve relations between police and the communities they are sanctioned to protect. Although some may see greater oversight as compromising the welfare of officers, the reality is that violent situations are more likely to occur in communities which perceive the police as unwilling to accept responsibility for their own actions.

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Applicants should have an open availability to attend various school functions and sports events.

Apply with resume, cover letter and sample pictures to thevanguardeditor@gmail.com.