Volume 81, Issue 29April 25, 2013 www.FlorAla.net Student newspaper of the University of North Alabama

INSIDEthis week’s paper

NEWS................2AIMAGES..............4AVIEWPOINTS.........7A

SPORTS............1BLIFE...............5BEXTRA.............8B

INFO BOARDS INSTALLED ON CAMPUS... 2A

University offi cials hosted several open forums on student safety this year. These forums were held on campus, in locations such as the GUC and Towers Cafeteria.

Offi cials from student affairs, university police and residence life addressed growing concerns about campus safety, in light of alleged sexual assaults, robberies and thefts that occurred on campus this year.

1. Campus safety discussions

TOP 10 STORIES OF 2012-2013

Construction crews broke ground on the university’s new Academic Commons Building, which will be located between Keller and Rogers halls.

The new building is set to open in spring of 2014 and will house several restaurants, offi ces and classrooms.

2. Construction begins on campus

The Florence City Council unanimously approved a zoning change Feb. 19 during their regular meeting that will put UNA and its partner college Shenqi Medical College closer to their goal of obtaining the Florence Golf and Country Club.

The land will be used to construct a building for the uni-versity’s new integrative health program that was approved last fall.

3. UNA goes clubbin ,̓ gets country club

4. Board of trustees approves $39M bid for science buildingThe Board of Trustees approved a low bid from Birmingham-based company B.L. Harbert Interna-

tional on April 3 for construction of a new science building on campus.University offi cials said they plan for construction crews to break ground on the building later this

year. It will house the chemistry and industrial hygeine, biology, physics and earth science departments. for 5-10 see page 5A

BSA HOSTS FASHION SHOW

NEWS 6AN

According to UNA’s 2012 Marketing Research Report, the number of social science graduates has surpassed that of business majors over the course of the past six years. The report, which shows data as far back as 2006, shows that busi-ness majors at UNA have decreased a to-tal of 25 percent while social science ma-jors have increased 30 percent, according to a breakdown of the data provided by the Department of Institutional Research, Planning and Assessment.

“We keep tabs, and have been keeping tabs, on degrees for over 20 years,” said Andrew Luna, director of Institutional Research, Planning and Assessment. “So we do see some changes from year to year.”

Luna said it has been a while since the department has decided to analyze trends in UNA degrees. He said the report was compiled since the department already had collected data for federal reporting.

According to the report, the highest in-

crease in social science majors has come from geography, which has increased by 65 percent over the past six years.

“I will never forget attending SOAR as a transfer student when I went with my adviser to meet teachers in our de-partment,” said Brianna Clark, a geog-raphy information systems (GIS) major. “I instantly fell in love. All the teachers that were there were genuine and took the time to speak with me and were very helpful.”

However, psychology, another major listed as a social science in the report, has remained consistent in its majors.

“We are kind of holding our own,” said Richard Hudiburg, chair of the psy-chology department.

Psychology degrees awarded at UNA peaked at 31 during the 2007-08 academ-ic year.

“Social sciences, or at least psychol-ogy, interested me because it’s a differ-ent side to a person’s well-being,” said Victoria McCoy, a psychology graduate. “Many people seem to choose a medical fi eld if they want to help people, but the mind is also important to everyday well-ness.”

The biggest decrease in graduating business majors comes specifi cally from the branch of management information systems and business data processing, which decreased 73 percent during the past six years.

A new multimedia platform, display-ing information from breaking news, campus alerts and even social media up-dates is being distributed campus-wide this fall, coming to a fl atscreen near you.

MANE Feed is the new program be-ing implemented by the College of Busi-ness and the Center of Professional Sell-ing after receiving a grant of $100,000.

There are currently six screens in Keller Hall displaying MANE Feed.

UNA police Chief Bob Pastula said he put together a package for other schools on campus to get involved in this pro-gram after he was approached by several faculty members.

“There are plans to have screens

displaying MANE Feed in every single building on campus,” he said. “This will help to promote campus safety and awareness.”

Assistant Professor of Marketing and Management Jerome Gafford said he has wanted to fulfi ll this vision for more than two and a half years.

“The content we are able to display is unlimited, within reason,” he said. “The general format of the outgoing informa-tion will be campus announcements, campus events and advertisements.”

Both Pastula and Gafford believe this program will enhance the foothold UNA already has in the digital world.

Gafford said the campus as a whole will benefi t from this informational tool, particularly for campus safety reasons.

UNA student Ashley White thinks

MANE Feed would best be displayed in the GUC where students congregate regularly.

“I think the best places to put the screens would be near food,” she said. “It would give us something to look at other than our phones or the back of someone’s head in line.”

The Center of Professional Selling will be updating the content regularly.

“The time, weather and date are all set within the program to update in real time, whereas news, Twitter and entertainment feeds will be updated anywhere from an hour to three hours,” he said.

Gafford said MANE Feed will be more effective than posters set up around campus.

“Times and dates of events can always change, and with the MANE Feed, that information can be updated instantly,” he said. “However, information on posters cannot be updated quickly.”

UNA sophomore Allison Stover said she is worried about how much this might add to her student fees.

“Not everyone uses the SRC or at-tends a spring concert, yet we still have to pay for that,” she said. “The MANE Feed seems like something I would actu-ally utilize, but how much is it going to cost me?”

Gafford wants to assure students there will be no student fees involved. How-ever, if a student would like to submit content either print or electronically to be displayed on MANE Feed, there may be a fee involved.

Gafford said there is potential these MANE Feed screens could be installed in UNA transportation buses.

“The great thing about this program is there are only two primary components to make it work,” he said. “You need access to the Internet and access to power. Since the MANE Feed players can run for 22 days off battery power after they lose Wi-Fi signal, each time the buses come in contact with a signal, that 22 days re-plenishes.”

For more information about MANE Feed, contact Gafford at (256) 765-5240 or email him at jmgafford@una.edu.

NEWS April 25, 2013 • The Flor-Ala2A

Parents of incoming freshmen have expressed concerns over recent crime on campus, said Kimberly Mauldin, direc-tor of admissions at UNA. Mauldin said both the admissions offi ce staff and La-Grange Society members have received questions from potential students and parents visiting the campus.

“I was about 20 minutes into giving a tour (earlier this week) when a parent be-gan asking about the recent crime,” said Taylor Pickens, LaGrange society mem-ber. “The questions dealt with many areas

of campus and campus life. I think their daughter leaving home for the fi rst time is a concern for them.”

Pickens said he explained the some of the recent events on campus to parents and followed by discussing SNAP, Not on Our Watch (NOW) and campus safety protocol with the tour group.

“Vice President (David) Shields is taking good care of us here, and the fac-ulty have risen to the occasion and done their best to protect the students here,” he said. “I make sure I tell them that we are doing everything we can to take care of it and stop future crimes from happening. I think we are doing the right things and

taking the right steps.”Mauldin said no statistics have been

collected on how this may affect fresh-man enrollment for the fall semester.

“It’s created some questions, but to my knowledge we haven’t had any stu-dent notify us that they aren’t interested in us anymore as a result of what’s been going on,” she said. “The true data will be revealed on Aug. 21 when (students) start (the fall semester). We won’t know what our numbers will be until August when the new freshmen show up.”

She said some parents and incom-ing female students have called the

ADMISSIONS

Parents express concern over recent crimePACE HOLDBROOKS

CAMPUS

Officials to implement MANE Feed next fall

photo by SARAH HOLLIDAY I Student Photographer

Students enter Keller Hall beneath two new MANE Feed screens to be located in various buildings on campus. Keller Hall houses six of the screens, which were obtained by the College of Business through a $100,000 grant.

ANNA GRACE USERY

”I WILL NEVER FORGET ATTENDING SOAR AS A TRANSFER STUDENT WHEN I WENT WITH MY

ADVISER TO MEET TEACHERS IN OUR DEPARTMENT. I INSTANTLY FELL IN LOVE.

BRIANNA CLARK

Social sciences majors surpass business majors

ACADEMICS

TEENA PATEL

Collier Library hosted a book signing for local authors April 18 to celebrate Na-tional Library Week April 14-20.

The event featured 17 local authors who displayed their books for interested students and faculty members to discuss and share their stories as authors with them.

The books on display ranged from historic to children’s books, fantasy fi c-tion to Christian romance and motiva-tional to fi nancial readiness.

Many of the authors present said they utilized self-publishing. Rebecca Linam said she chose to self-publish her book “Journey of the Nightisans” after she was rejected by agents who required previ-ously published authors and publishers who required clients to have agents.

Brad Bradford, former running back coach for University of Louisville, shared his experiences as a coach and motivational speaker. His book “Hang in There like Hair in a Biscuit” discusses overcoming adversity and “Selling the C’s of a Winner”.

“It was not diffi cult to transition from speaker to author,” Bradford said. “It was more of an added benefi t. The tough-est part about writing is getting your thoughts organized and getting started. Knowing the emotions that you would like for your readers to experience is of utmost importance.”

Jerry Danley, author of the children’s

book “Billy’s Black Ant,” said the big-gest problem he ran into was distribution.

Annie Cole, author of the “Bell For-est” series, spoke about her success with distribution and commented on her feel-ings toward the feedback she receives on Amazon.

“As an author, putting your work out is like putting your ego out there; it’s very personal,” Cole said. “I was very in-timidated when I started getting feedback because it’s like you’re saying ‘OK, take a shot.’”

“I enjoyed seeing all the different genres of books that have been published by the members of the community and learn about the process they went through to get their works published,” said Eliza-beth Kee, UNA student.

UNA librarian Doris McDaniel said she feels National Library Week is im-portant to celebrate because it not only brings recognition to the library but in-vites people who have not visited a li-brary recently to do so.

April 25, 2013 • The Flor-Ala 3ANEWSEVENTS

Collier Library hosts local authors book signing

photo by ROGER WANG I Staff Photographer

Local author Jerry Danley chats with Michael Danley at Collier Library’s local authors book signing April 18. The book signing was a part of the events to cel-ebrate National Library Week.

TRISTA IRVIN ”THE TOUGHEST PART ABOUT WRITING IS GETTING YOUR THOUGHTS ORGANIZED AND GETTING

STARTED. KNOWING THE EMOTIONS THAT YOU WOULD LIKE FOR YOUR READERS TO EXPERIENCE IS

OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE.

BRAD BRADFORD

IMAGES April 25, 2013 • The Flor-Ala4A

DROPPINʼ A LINE WITH THE OACCan we talk about this weather for

a second? Its beautiful. All I want to do is be outside. Forget class! Forget work! Th is is all too easy to do when you are graduating in a matter of days...

But thankfully my offi ce lately has been outdoors.

Th e slack lining event hosted by the Outdoor Adventure Center last week was perfect for my spring fever. So many students were out enjoy-ing the weather in shorts and sandals and there were even people sweating. Sweating! Its hot enough for that now.

I shot this event for Th e Diorama (have you picked up your copy yet?) and ended up staying the rest of the day just to hang out and learn from the pro slack-liners. And I left with more photos than I knew what to do with. It really was a fantastic event.

Th is event also made me wish I had utilized the OAC more throughout my college career. Th ey host some of the coolest events on campus in my opin-ion and they loan out their equipment to students like me who don't have money for their own kayak or climbing gear. Its a really useful and educational organization.

As the weather gets even warmer, I urge students to run by their facility and check out what the OAC has to of-fer for your outdoor needs. I know I'll be running by there soon to rent a few things before I lose this privilege when I graduate.

Anyone down for a Cypress trip this weekend?

By Chief Photographer Kayla Sloan

NEWSApril 25, 2013 • The Flor-Ala 5A

UNA head football coach Bobby Wallace started his fourth season with the Lions this year.Wallace came back to UNA after a dynamite run of national championships in the 90s. He offi cially

announced his return Jan. 2, 2012. He ended the 2012 season with the Lions with a 5-5 record overall and 3-2 record in the Gulf South Conference.

5. Bobbyʼs back for fourth seasonUNA trustee Harvey Robbins died Jan. 30.Robbins, 80, served on the Board of Trustees since February

of 2004 throughout his service to the university.Robbins recently started a $1 million endowment to fund

scholarships of his alma mater, Deshler High School.

7. Harvey Robbins dies at 80

One of the top-read and most controversial stories printed this year explored whether or not students thought bad sex was enough reason to leave an otherwise good relationship (and vice-versa).

The story received several tweets and Facebook comments, letters to the editor and sparked debate on campus.

8. Letʼs talk about sex, baby

6. Division I transition pushed back additional year The trustees passed a resolution in September that protects students from the Division I transition they

decided to enter the university into more than a year and a half ago.The resolution pushes back the transition by one year and will allow the university to better position

itself before moving out of the Gulf South Conference and into a D-I conference.

9. Freshman students to live on campus University offi cials announced in September that as a part of an initiative to boost student success dur-

ing the fi rst year of college, all incoming full-time, fi rst-time freshmen will be required to live on campus. The requirement will become effective during fall of 2014.

Offi cials fi nalized a list of sanctions that will also go into effect and prevent certain students from fall-ing under the requirement.

10. Coaches leave for USAGraham Winkworth, former head coach for the UNA soccer

team, announced in November his resignation and acceptance of the head coach position at the University of South Alabama.

In April, women’s basketball head coach Terry Fowler also announced his resignation and acceptance of the head coach po-sition at USA.

photos by KAYLA SLOAN, ALLI OWNBY and MICHAEL REDDING I Staff Photographers

The Black Student Alliance (BSA) at UNA hosted its seventh annual fashion show April 18 in the GUC Performance Center. BSA gives 25 percent of the pro-ceeds from the event each year to the Boys & Girls Club.

Models wore hand-crafted clothing, as well as clothing from local boutiques, Belk, Gap and Maurices.

Casting calls for the fashion show started in November, with three at the end of fall semester and one at the begin-ning of spring semester. Practices started between the third and fourth week of January.

“Prior to this year, every model that has come to the casting calls has been able to walk,” said Tyree Whitson, BSA vice president. “Next year, we will take stricter measures of who we let walk.”

Ward Modeling Troop from Alabama A&M and Vintage Dollz from Huntsville modeled in the show as well.

The fashion show opened with a voice-over of BSA President Alonzo Dukes welcoming the audience to the show. The event consisted of three cate-gories: Black and White, Urban and VIP.

Alvin Sawyer, MC of the show, gave away six gift cards during intermission to audience members who took their shot at modeling.

“The fashion show was a great suc-cess,” said Lauren Blue, BSA model. “Everyone came together to make the

show amazing. (Tyree Whitson) did a fabulous job with all the categories of the show. I hope that we can top it next year.”

“Every year, the fashion show has to be better than the previous ones,” Whit-son said. “I made a promise to the mod-els that it would be a show they wouldn’t forget. I had no idea that the fashion show would be as good as it was this year. The turnout from the audience was phenome-nal. To hear people say good things about the show and how well organized and put together it was means a lot.”

Feedback from students in the audi-ence was positive.

“The fashion show was much better than I expected it to be,” said Symone Edwards, UNA student. “It was a great show and I loved it. I think it was a good way to raise money for the Boys & Girls Club because it had a really good turn-out.”

“I thought the fashion show was great,” said UNA student Alexis Moore. “I really enjoyed the different catego-ries.”

NEWS April 25, 2013 • The Flor-Ala6A

Alternative BreaksAlternative Breaks Wants to congratulateWants to congratulate

For graduating UNAUNA this Spring 2013!

Al iesha Mor risAliesha Mor ris

and and

E r in Wal tonEr in Wal ton

EVENTS

BSA hosts 7th annual fashion show

photo by MICHAEL REDDING I Staff Photographer

Models walk down the runway at the BSA fashion show April 18 at the GUC Performance Center. The show raised money for the Boys & Girls Club.

TRISTA IRVIN

“In the year 2006 or so, we had a sig-nifi cant number of international students in the master’s program,” said Santanu Borah, professor of marketing and man-agement. “That number has dwindled.”

Borah said he believes the decline in international students within the program has impacted the number of business de-grees awarded at UNA.

He said he also thinks that online classes have a lot to do with the declining numbers.

“You get hired because of your skills,” said Greg Gaston, professor of geography. “You get promoted for your education.”

Gaston said geography graduates learn a skill set in demand. He said spa-tially-based information, such as location apps and GPS units, is in demand and is currently expanding.

“We have a tradition of working hard,” he said. “We have a tradition of pushing our kids hard. Partly, it’s about relation-ships. Partly, it’s about the fact that there’s a professional career out there.”

Geography is the only discipline at UNA to have an independent alumni as-sociation, Gaston said. He said the ge-ography alumni community is attractive to geography students because the com-munity hires many of UNA’s geography students for internships or for steady jobs.

“The (geography) teachers are willing to sacrifi ce their time and help their stu-dents in any way,” Clark said. “This de-partment is very active during all semes-ters doing research and presenting it in different conferences all over the United States.”

Th is issue of Th e Flor-Ala marks the last time I will be writing for the paper from an editorial position. As the say-ing goes, I’m sad to see it go but glad to watch it leave.

Because I haven’t been quite the overachiever during my time at UNA, next semes-ter will be my ninth and fi nal semester as an undergraduate.

I plan to use this summer and fall to focus on my capstone project, which I have to com-plete in order to graduate.

Th e capstone project is a requirement of the Honors Program and is meant to be something like a culmination of a student’s academic career. And so I am in the process of writing a short story collection that I intend to fi nish and turn in by December.

I didn’t set out to go to col-lege to be a journalist; journal-ism is only my minor. I’m an Option 1 English major, which includes a whole lot of litera-ture courses.

I came to college to train myself as a writer and started volunteering with Th e Flor-Ala

because I fi gured I should get some kind of experience in a writing fi eld, and getting a start in journalism seemed to work out all right for some of my lit-erary heroes, including Ernest Hemingway and James Joyce.

Th e fact that I won’t be on staff next semester doesn’t mean that I’m getting some kind of vacation; in fact, I fully intend to take the time and eff ort that I’ve had to allot to working for the newspaper and apply that same amount of dedication to my own writing work.

I feel that my experience working on this newspaper is defi nitely part of that culmina-tion and feel that job experi-ences and life experiences

should be considered this way. Everything you are a part of should help further you as a person and reach your goals. Even if you have the worst job in the world (which you prob-ably don’t, considering a global perspective), fi nd something positive in your work to focus on and build yourself and your world with it.

With all that said, I want to thank the university and Th e Flor-Ala for providing me op-portunities and experience that I will carry with me beyond graduation and into future careers and life.

VIEWPOINTSApril 25, 2013 • The Flor-Ala 7A

JOSH SKAGGS

EXECUTIVE EDITORALEX LINDLEY

NEWS/MANAGING EDITORANN HARKEYLIFE EDITOR

MALISA MCCLURE SPORTS EDITOR JARED MCCOY

COPY/OPINION EDITOR BLYTHE STEELMANONLINE EDITOR

LAURA IVIEBUSINESS MANAGER

CORTNEY OLIVERGRAPHIC DESIGNER

ALEX GOUINAD REPRESENTATIVEMATTHEW WILSON

CIRCULATION MANAGERKAYLA SLOAN

CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHERCHRISTINA COVINGTON

MICHAEL REDDINGALLI OWNBY

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERSREBECCA WALKER

ADVISER

The Flor-Ala welcomes and encour-ages Letters to the Editor.• The deadline for submitting let-ters is 10 a.m. Monday, the week of publication.• Letters must not exceed 400 words. • Letters must be accompanied by the writerʼs name, mailing address, phone number and email.• The Flor-Ala prefers to publish your letters exactly as written, but reserves the right to reject slanderous or libelous material.• The publication of any letter is left to the discretion of the Editorial Board.• Priority is given to letters critical of The Flor-Ala, or written in direct response to an editorial, a column, or a news story.• When the editors deem it neces-sary for ease of understanding or to clarify facts, an Editorʼs Note may accompany a letter.• Address correspondence to The Flor-Ala. UNA Box 5300, Florence, AL 35632.Email: florala@una.edu. • Phone: 256-765-4364

Letters Policy

Copyright © 2013The Flor-AlaAll rights reserved.First copy free.Additional copies $1 each.

STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF

NORTH ALABAMA

ʻItʼs been real, itʼs been funʼ

Wow. Th is year is really over. A year of stressing, slav-ing and dealing with craziness is over. For three years, Th e Flor-Ala has been my life, and the staff has served as my family.

It’s hard to believe that most of my staff and eerily enough me will be walking across the stage in Flowers Hall soon. It seems like yesterday we were all young and eager to be staff members for the paper.

Th is year, I have tried my best as executive editor to build Th e Flor-Ala into a newspa-per that students care about and a paper that holds people accountable for their actions. I feel like we have done that. My staff and I have served the campus community through countless hours of work, writ-ing and reporting.

As I look back on the year, we have won awards and been recognized by our peers and professional organizations. To me, that sounds like a good year. I was chosen for this posi-tion for my love of journalism, my vision and what I wanted the paper to become this year — I feel I have accomplished all of those things for the cam-pus community.

Th is job was defi nitely harder than I thought. But, one thing’s for sure, it’s been worth every angry phone call, nights without sleep and skipped class.

As a paper, we have stuck to our guns. I haven’t always been the most liked person on cam-pus, and I am sure some people are happy for me to leave. I have always tried to stand by my principles — to hold the powerful accountable, to be the attorney for the most defense-less among the UNA commu-nity and to cover the news that students care about.

For the most part, my experience at UNA has been a positive one, and I hope the administration, faculty and staff will continue in the posi-

tive direction the university is moving in. I hope the com-munity will build on what has happened this year and learn from the successes and mis-takes that have happened, too.

Although I may not always agree with what all our admin-istration, Board of Trustees and other leaders do, I know one thing is for sure — this is a great university. I am so happy and proud to be getting a degree from this awesome institution.

I would like to thank my staff who have all worked hard this year to produce an award-winning newspaper. You guys are the best friends I could ever ask for.

Additionally, I would like to thank the Student Media Board for the opportunity to work as editor this year and for their mentorship.

Th e person who deserves the most thanks is my adviser, Ms. Rebecca Walker. Th ank you for your endless advice, care, concern and friendship. It’s been three years of highs and lows, but it’s been a blast. I cannot thank you enough for teaching me everything I

know and making college the experience it has been. Th e friendship and advice you off er is unmatched. Th ere is no way I can repay you for everything you have done for me.

To my mentors in the en-tertainment department (they know who they are), thank you so much for being my biggest fans and allowing me to be the weird journalist in the room. I will miss my “parents” in the department and cannot wait to share my successes with you.

I wish the best to my suc-cessors, Corinne Beckinger and Blythe Steelman, as they take over as editor-in-chief and managing editor. Th ey are tough jobs but come with lots of benefi ts, so hang in there and remember one thing: your readers.

I would like fi nally to thank the readers of our paper. Without you, we would have nothing to work for.

With that being said, good luck to all of the graduating se-niors this semester and thanks for four amazing years, UNA.

Editor plans to utilize free time for future

JOSH SKAGGS

JARED MCCOY

WANT MORE?GO TO WWW.FLORALA.NET FOR VIDEOS, IMAGES AND ARTICLES DURING THE SUMMER.

NEWS April 25, 2013 • The Flor-Ala8ASTUDENT

Student nears running project completionJames Cochran, a senior at UNA, has

completed 953 of the 1,000 miles he plans to run in order to raise money to benefi t students of the UNA Honors Program.

1,000 Miles Away is the project Co-chran started to fund special scholar-ships for students entering the program, although the project’s goals and purposes have evolved, he said.

“I originally had a very humble goal of $1,200,” he said. “So far, the projec-tions for fi nal donations are topping just over $3,100. This includes fl at donations and also individuals who have pledged a fi xed amount per every mile I have run.”

He said the funds raised will be given to meet needs that have arisen within the Honors Program and will be overseen by Vince Brewton, director of the Honors Program. The process of raising funds has also changed, Cochran said.

“I originally had a fundraising cam-paign focusing on formal means of com-munication: newsletters, email cam-paigns, etc.,” he said. “Then I realized that a grassroots city such as Florence would be much more receptive to a col-lege student willing to shake some hands and physically interact with the com-munity. That’s how we have topped the $3,000 mark.”

In addition to the physical struggle of high-volume, long-distance running, keeping up with support efforts was also a challenge, he said.

“I began a blog to detail some of the lessons I have learned through the grit and grind of long-distance running, and I have also sent out email updates to do-nors and people who have offered prayer support,” he said. “The running hasn’t been too harsh on my body. I’ve lost some muscle mass in my upper body, as to be expected when not properly balanc-ing cardio with weight training, but my quads are pretty jacked now.”

Cochran cites Adam Goodman, an admissions counselor and adviser of La-Grange Society at UNA, as being his big-gest mentor on the project.

“1,000 Miles Away is defi nitely one of the most impressive projects I have known an undergraduate student to un-dertake,” Goodman said. “I have a great interest in the project and have tried to encourage James as much as possible. Running 1,000 miles in seven months is an impressive feat in and of itself, but the way James has used it to simultaneously raise funds for a UNA scholarship and conduct relevant research is incredible.”

Goodman said he has participated in projects similar to 1,000 Miles Away in the past and fi nds them fulfi lling

“At the same time, they require a great deal of sacrifi ce; there are many tough days of simply putting in the miles in the face of business and fatigue,” Goodman said. “Staying on task requires a relent-less internal drive and a clear vision of the reason why it is worth it all. In the midst of a busy senior year, James has displayed incredible dedication to the project and

has not wavered in his consistency.”Cochran said remaining consistent

has been a serious struggle for him dur-ing his senior year.

“As a graduating senior, I found my-self despairing at missing soon-to-end opportunities with friends and family when a workout was scheduled instead,” he said. “There were also times when I questioned if I was really making a differ-ence. Fortunately, my faith, friends and family were by my side and helped me out in those dark times.”

He said knowing that the purpose of the project is to support others and not himself has been the biggest motivator.

“The trial, hardship and inconve-nience it imposed on me forced me to hate it at times, but every step of the way taught me a lesson,” he said. “I learned that, similar to long-distance running, lifelong service is something you must fi rst build a foundation for. I realize now that’s the ultimate goal of service: to bet-ter the life of your fellow man, even if that means submitting yourself to tremendous sacrifi ce and hardship.”

PACE HOLDBROOKS

admissions offi ce requesting to have their fi rst choice in housing moved from Rivers Hall to LaGrange Hall. The ad-missions offi ce always sends letters to no-shows at the beginning of the semes-ter, inquiring if the students will be at-tending UNA in the future, she said.

“We could pick up some information from that, but I doubt it,” Mauldin said. “Right now (recent criminal activity has) created some questions and some con-cerns, but we have not felt any negative impact in terms of people calling and pulling their applications or letting us know they’re not coming because of that or because of recent crimes, not just on campus but in the Shoals area.”

Bob Pastula, chief of police at UNA, said he has not been approached directly by parents of incoming freshmen regard-ing campus safety or recent crimes.

“The crime rate on the campus is very low, compared to other campuses in the country, especially in the southeast,” he said. “Our efforts are going to remain the same. We still have the (security) volun-teers out there, along with the regular po-lice and reserve offi cers.”

Pastula said police efforts will not de-crease during the summer months.

“I think (recent crime has) heightened awareness for us, not only as a campus community but also for parents,” Mauld-in said. “We have to praise students for coming forth and reporting crime. You can’t respond and react by putting proce-dures in place if you don’t know what’s happening.”

”1,000 MILES AWAY IS DEFINITELY ONE OF THE MOST IMPRESSIVE PROJECTS I HAVE KNOWN AN

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT TO UNDERTAKE.

ADAM GOODMAN

SPORTS April 25, 2013• The Flor-Ala • Sports Editor: Malisa McClure 256-765-5098SECTION B

BASEBALL

Lions sweep CBU with sound pitchingThe Lions baseball team bounced

back from the April 17 loss to Monte-vallo by sweeping Christian Brothers University (CBU) in a three-game se-ries April 20 and 21.

Mike Keehn, head coach, said before the CBU series that the team has been struggling with offense on the road.

“We have played well on the road,

we are just not hitting as well as we do at home,” he said.

The offense scored 22 runs in the away series against CBU. The Lions’ pitchers only gave up 10 runs in the three-game series, something Keehn said the team has done well this season.

“Our pitching has been sound on the road all season,” he said.

The bullpen struggled against Mon-tevallo in the April 17 game.

“It has been a pattern for our mid-week games,” Keehn said.

Keehn said the performance of the

bullpen has surprised him this year.“Our bullpen was very good last

year, but it has not been this year,” he said.

Riley Anderson started the game for UNA and went four innings. He only allowed two runs in those four innings, but once the relief pitchers came in, it was downhill from there.

“We keep magnifying the problem,” Keehn said. “We make a mistake on de-fense and a couple of runs come in, it makes it tough for our offense to catch up.”

Keehn said he is looking forward to the last couple of games before the con-JAMES DUBUISSON

The Lions softball team swept Union in a two-game series April 20.

The games were the last two home games for the Lions and Summer Wilk-erson, the lone senior on the team.

In the fi rst game, Breanna Riley con-tinued her standout season as she pitched a complete game shutout to pick up the 6-0 victory, Riley’s 18th of the season.

“Bri pitched a great game,” said Jason Anderson, head softball coach. “Even though we only played two games and she only pitched one of them, she had another big weekend for us.”

Wilkerson went 3-4, scoring two times and driving in one RBI.

Callie Steadman went 2-3 with three of her four RBIs coming off a double in the fourth inning.

In the second game of the series, Haley Barnette also threw a complete game, allowing only two runs in the 5-2 Lions win.

Wilkerson went 1-2, with her one hit being a RBI double in the fi fth inning.

“She did really well for us,” Ander-son said. “She had two good games with her family there watching.”

The double put Wilkerson in a po-sition where Mallory Patterson could drive her in. Patterson delivered with a single toward the shortstop.

The four-run fi fth for the Lions al-lowed for Barnette to stay in the game and pick up her 11th win of the season.

The Lions will play West Alabama in a doubleheader in Livingston April 27 and will travel to play UA-Huntsville in another doubleheader April 28 that will end the regular season for UNA.

“These games are going to be the biggest games in recent history,” An-derson said. “As of last Wednesday, we were ranked fi rst in the South region, which means that we would host the

regional, which has never happened in UNA’s history.”

Anderson said that if the team can overcome a short-handed pitching staff, then they will have a chance to host.

“If we can maintain this success, we will have a chance to be successful,” he said.

Anderson said having the region-als at home would help the Lions in the tournament.

“I would think that it is a huge ad-vantage,” he said. “Our record says that we are 21-6 at home, but three or four of those came in our tournament earlier this season. So it is defi nitely an advan-tage.”

UNA is sitting in third place in the GSC, 1.5 games behind fi rst place UAH.

“Everybody’s good, and anybody can beat anybody in this conference,” Anderson said.

Anderson said the Lions cannot overlook anybody in the tournament and that performing well in all three aspects of the game is important for the success of the team.

“We are going to have to pitch, play defense and hit well to succeed,” he said. “But if we don’t do all three things, then anything can happen.”

UNA is ranked No. 11 in the country according to the NFCA standings and are 38-12 on the season. The Lions have played 50 games this season, the most in the GSC.

Haley Barnette delivers a pitch against Union April 20. The Lions swept the series.

photo by MICHAEL REDDING I Staff Photographer

JAMES DUBUISSON

Team shines in final home seriesSOFTBALL

NCAA DII SOUTH REGION STANDINGS

1) NORTH ALABAMA - 36-12 (30-9)2) VALDOSTA STATE - 30-8 (26-6)3) ALABAMA-HUNTSVILLE - 28-13 (27-10)PARENTHESIS REPRESENT RECORD IN REGION

UNA V. CBU• LIONS SCORED 22 RUNS

• PITCHERS ONLY GAVE UP TWO RUNS

April 25, 2013 • The Flor-Ala2B

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Thanks for an award-winning year!Go forth and do amazing things.

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Andy Thigpen

SPORTSApril 25, 2013 • The Flor-Ala 3Bference tournament and wants to see im-provement on the defensive side of the game.

“We need to pitch better and play de-fense better,” he said.

Keehn also said that the team needs it starters to be able to work further in the games.

“We need our starters to go as long they can so we can rest the relievers as much as possible,” he said.

As far as the GSC tournament is con-cerned, the Lions sit a half game behind West Florida for third place in the con-ference. They are also only a game and a half ahead of the sixth place West Geor-gia team. Keehn said that every team in the conference is at the same level and seeding does not matter all that much.

“I don’t think it matters what (seed) we get,” Keehn said. “I don’t know which team I would say I would rather play. It is pretty close throughout the conference.”

The Lions will play their fi nal three games in Carrolton, Ga., against West Georgia in a series that could determine seeding in the GSC tournament.

GSC TOURNAMENT• MAY 3-6• UNA CURRENTLY NO. 4 IN

CONFERENCE STANDINGS

• LIONS ARE A HALF GAME BEHIND WEST FLORIDA FOR THIRD PLACE IN CONFERNECE, A GAME AND A HALF AHEAD OF WEST GEORGIA

Teams compete in GSC tournaments

TENNISThe tennis teams’ seasons came to an

end in the GSC Tournament. The men’s team lost to West Alabama in the open-ing round and the women’s team made it to the semifi nals but could not get past Valdosta State.

The men’s team took a 2-1 lead af-ter doubles play against West Alabama. They were unable to continue that suc-cess in the singles matches as they lost all four matches.

The women’s team defeated Delta State 5-0 in the fi rst round. Mackenzie Bishop and Natalia Barragan continued their doubles success with the 8-1 vic-tory in the number 1 doubles spot. Bruna Vieira and Madison Patey won the only other doubles match 8-2.

DSU was forced to forfeit the third doubles match because they only brought four players.

The Lions lost their semifi nal round matchup against Valdosta State 5-1.

The one point came off of a doubles victory by Bishop and Barragan.

GOLFThe golf team fi nished second in the

GSC Tournament on April 22-23 at Tu-

nica National golf course in Tunica, MS.The Lions fi nished the tournament

with rounds of 306,287 and 298 for a to-tal of 891. UNA came in fi ve strokes be-hind the GSC Champions West Florida.

Paul McClure won the individual

GSC conference championship with rounds of 75, 67 and 74.

Blake Wilson fi nished fi fth with rounds of 74, 73 and 75, which was enough for all-conference honors.

UPDATES

JAMES DUBUISSON

Natalia Barragan plays in a match during the Spring 2012 season. Barragan and Mackenzie Bishop saw success today in doubles and were the only play-ers to score for the women’s team.

photo courtesy of Sports Information

April 25, 2013 • The Flor-Ala4B

LIFEApril 25, 2013 • The Flor-Ala • Life Editor: Ann Harkey 256-765-5233 5BTELEVISION

photo courtesy of TV Land

(Left to Right) Jane Leeves and Betty White perform a scene discussing pregnancy on TV Land’s “Hot in Cleveland.”

Many television fans will be happy to hear that two hit shows will be mak-ing comebacks soon. The teen drama “Veronica Mars” and the improvisation comedy “Whose Line is it Anyway?” are set to return to the public eye.

“(‘Veronica Mars’) is about a high school private investigator,” said Cyn-thia Burkhead, assistant professor of English. “Her father was a private in-vestigator and in high school it was just she and her father and so she helped him out on cases and things. The fasci-nating thing right now is that they be-gan a Kickstarter campaign to fi nance a ‘Veronica Mars’ movie.”

Kickstarter.com is a website where fi lmmakers, musicians, artists, and de-signers propose different projects in order to gain funding from supporters. According to CBSnews.com, the ‘Ve-ronica Mars’ project received $2 mil-lion dollars within the fi rst 12 hours and $5.7 million by the end of the cam-paign. The movie is set for release in 2014.

“I’m excited to see it come back,” Burkhead said. “She was another ex-ample of a good, strong, young female character, and the more of those, the better.”

Many of those who are more inter-ested in comedy will be excited to see “Whose Line is it Anyway?” return to television. The show featured four co-medians who would act out scenes and play games without scripts and with random suggestions from audience members. The show will air on The CW this summer with the original cast including Wayne Brady, Colin Moch-rie and Ryan Stiles. Original host Drew Carey will not be returning and will be replaced with The Talk’s Aisha Tyler. Many are excited about the show’s re-turn.

“I feel like it’s great,” said Jeffrey Allen, a UNA student. “(With) all (of) the things nowadays, there’s really not improvisation such as ‘Whose Line is it Anyway?’, especially with Wayne Brady. (The comedians) just have a gift.”

So is fan hype the reason for this show’s revival like it is with “Veronica Mars”?

“I wouldn’t say it’s the fan hype (that is bringing it back),” said Kate Partain, a UNA student. “I would say that we’re looking for more new com-edy shows; we’re looking for more revivals. Obviously, you see this with ‘Monsters University’ and ‘Finding Dory’. There are so many things right now that are bringing up stuff from the past that was a brilliant movie or dif-ferent show, and I think ‘Whose Line’ is one of those things.”

Betty White and Jane Leeves, the stars of TV Land’s original comedy sit-com “Hot in Cleveland,” are old stars in the comedy biz. They discuss the show, their relationship and what’s important to comedy.How do you stay hip and relevant for a modern audience?

Betty White: I think it’s the stuff that we often don’t say (on the show) that the audience picks up on. I think generation after generation can enjoy that.

What is the greatest lesson that you

have both learned while being in the business?

Jane Leeves: I have to say I have learned a great deal just by being around Betty, just in terms of being professional. Knowing your stuff. Showing up and knowing what you are doing.

Betty: You’re in the funny business but you also have to be professional.

“Hot in Cleveland” is TV Land’s fi rst original series and now they are on season 4.

How do you feel about being TV Land’s pioneers on original comedy?

Jane:

I think it’s great. “Hot in Cleveland” has done for TV Land what “Mad Men” did for AMC. It branded the network. It feels great to keep this genre alive that both Betty and me are experienced in.

What is your favorite memory on set?

Jane: There is one in the making right

now. We are very fortunate to have the beautiful wonderful, talented, extraor-dinary ladies of the Mary Tyler Moore Show. Valerie Harper, Cloris Leach-man, Mary Tyler Moore, Georgia Engel and Betty all in one room. We are all just standing back in awe. I don’t think any of us will forget this week.

ANN HARKEY

An increased number of couples hoping to test their relationships do so by moving in together, though the out-come is not always as promising as they initially hope.

According to the US Census Bu-reau, from 1960 to 2000 the number of unmarried couples living together in-creased ten-fold. Some students believe that cohabitation is potentially justifi -able.

“On the whole, it depends on the couple,” said freshman Alex Hughes. “For some people, if they don’t live together then they don’t know what they’re getting into it. Instead they will just rush into it, which leads to divorce anyway.”

Other students have decided against

cohabitation from personal experience.“It screws everything up,” said

sophomore Anna Barrera. “My reli-gious beliefs are that you should wait until marriage to do that, but my friends have done it and it just never ends well.”

While some students weigh in from a religious standpoint, they also accept the economics of the situation and offer ways to get around it.

“It’s unbiblical,” said freshman Cory Moss. “There’s no reason that

you have to live together, especially be-cause it will increase the likelihood of having sex. If fi nances are the excuse, you could fi nd someone of the same gender to live with you to fi x that.”

Sociology professor Amber Paulk attended the Committee on Family Re-search’s most recent conference where the primary agenda pushed was against cohabitation.

“It has nothing to do with religion or morality,” Paulk said. “Rather it under-mines commitment and makes divorce much likely. Many people think it’s a test, but the results are counter-intuitive - it should help, but it doesn’t.”

The two primary reasons cohabi-tation is unsuccessful can best be de-scribed as “inertia” and “sliding, not deciding.”

Inertia, as described in Newtonian

KALI DANIEL

Betty White, Jane Leeves discuss ʻHot In Clevelandʼ

Cohabitation before marriage ʻunsuccessfulʼ

Hit series making returns

KAITLYN TEW

LIVING

White Hot

”MANY PEOPLE THINK ITʼS A TEST, BUT THE RESULTS ARE COUNTER-INTUITIVE - IT

SHOULD HELP, BUT IT DOESNʼT.

AMBER PAULK

LIFE April 25, 2013 • The Flor-Ala6B

UNPACK THE PRIDE!

August 16th: Welcome The Class Of 2017! August 17th: Welcome Our Returning Students!

RREGISTER TO VOLUNTEER! www.una.edu/reslife

physics, is “a tendency to do nothing or remain unchanged.”

“Couples cohabitate as a test, but refuse to break up when the test fails,” Paulk said. “When you’re sharing a home, fi nances or even a child, you be-come less likely to leave.”

In contrast, the “sliding” idea con-veys that a couple becomes so fi xed in a position of comfortability that they take on roles they are unprepared for.

“Instead of actually making the de-cision to get married, couples slide into this thinking that they’ve been together for three years and they’re out of col-lege,” Paulk said. “In reality, it’s not their choice.”

Giving up isn’t an option when liv-

ing together. “When the going gets tough, they

give up,” Paulk said. “They think ‘well, I already live with you and share a space so a piece of paper won’t really change anything.’ But suddenly you can’t go out with your buddies because there’s a hidden expectation that you’re a hus-band now.”

Some students wonder how they can test their relationship if moving in to-gether will only lead them down a path of separation and frustration.

“Testing a relationship is much bet-ter served through such classes as pre-marital counseling or a marriage and family course,” Paulk said. “If you do decide to move in, you have to be will-ing to break up if it’s not right and you have to understand how different it’s go-ing to be.”

Betty: How do you know that we weren’t standing back and aweing at you?

What is your favorite show on any channel that you love watching, that you get material from, that just cracks you up?

Betty: I sound like such a staller and I am ashamed to say it, I watch the news and I don’t turn my set on because I am try-ing to play catch up. I’m 91 and It’s the busiest I’ve ever been in my life. I don’t really get a chance to get into anything.

Jane:

I am currently just crazy about “Down-ton Abbey.”

“Hot in Cleveland” has been TV Land’s highest rated show and now the show has picked up for another season. What’s it like to perform live?

Jane: I am just so excited about doing a live show. I love doing live shows, I love the-atre and I am just going to treat it like a live theatrical performance. I think the success of the show is due to the chem-istry between the four of us. Valerie, Wendy, Betty and I, we all just adore each other.

Betty: Absolutely. You hear these horror stories about cast members that don’t speak un-til the script. How do you do comedy if you don’t like each other? The live show is so exciting.

LIFEApril 25, 2013 • The Flor-Ala 7B

Please join us for theThird Annual UNA Front Porch

Storytelling Festival!

Free Workshops for K-12 TeachersStoryteller Dolores Hydock and UNA Professor Bill Huddleston

Wednesday, May 15, 2013Details and tickets available online; visit our website!

Friday and Saturday, May 17-18, 2013

Performance Center (daytime)Memorial Amphitheatre (evening)

Visit our website, www.una.edu/story-

telling, for more details or to buy tickets.

Student Admission: $5 per day!

RESTAURANT REVIEW

River Bottom Grille provides dinner with sceneryStanfi eld’s River Bottom Grille has

been serving up seafood on the marina, neighbor to McFarland Park and a stone’s throw from Miami Ice, since its April 2 grand opening.

The space was previously The Barge Inn and made for itself many a college-aged fan, including myself. The management change isn’t apparent from the exterior. By day or night, fi shermen and boaters still come and go in and out of the marina, and the same lights still glimmer on the surface of the water after the sun has gone down ... then you step inside.

The new management obviously decided to lay to rest the honky-tonk, sports bar atmosphere. Now it’s more like my uncle and a Pinterest-savvy gal-pal butted heads over the inte-rior decorating. It’s charming — in a nautical, baby’s breath arrangements in burlap-tied Mason jars, draped lights sort of way.

I’ve been twice since the grand opening. The second time, I went for lunch with three friends, and we were seated almost immediately in the spa-cious downstairs dining area.

After a casual greeting from the waitress, I grappled with cravings for hand-tossed pizza — a signature dish of the Barge Inn — that has come to be a part of my times at the fl oating restau-

rant. Instead, I directed these cravings to the River Bottom Burger. Sounds like an unimaginative selection but (assumedly) good enough to be named after its own restaurant. Almost 25 minutes later, I was introduced to an impressive-sized burger stacked with your classic let-tuce, tomato, pepper jack and “tobacco onions” (I didn’t know what tobacco onions are, and neither did my server, but came to fi nd out they are thin-sliced, battered and fried and actually have nothing to do with tobacco) in a toasted bun, all sided with a sweet potato in place of fries.

Here’s something I don’t say often: it was more food than I could fi nish, not to say I didn’t want to.

The burger didn’t knock me out of my chair, but whoever was at the grill was defi nitely on his or her game. That beef patty was a perfect, juicy medium.

The menu is a chasm for the indeci-sive, with appetizers like pickle chips, half-shell oysters and popcorn shrimp, and entrees including steak and ribs, seafood, fl ats, sandwiches, burgers, soups, salads, pasta and chicken.

Most of the seafood comes from Destin, Fla., with the exception of their mild white fi sh, which is pond-raised on a farm in Mississippi.

After the tip, my check was a little over $14 — a price that exceeded the meal’s worth, in my opinion, but I’d pay it again for the waterfront dining atmo-sphere. Excuse the nostalgia, but what better way to metabolize a belly full of

ELISE COFIELD

surf ‘n’ turf than a walk along the pier that juts out into the Tennessee River?

To get your money’s worth, I recom-mend upstairs balcony seating, wait or no wait. I would even venture to say the River Bottom experience is incomplete until you’ve sat around a table on the dimly lit, breezy balcony overlooking the water.

On weekdays from 10:30 a.m. until 2 p.m., $8 will get you lunch with a fountain drink, not including the tip. Happy hour is every weekday night from 2-5 p.m., with $2 pint drafts and $4 ap-

petizers. They also have live music every Friday and Saturday night.

A unique feature of the restaurant is a small enclave on the ground fl oor where you can peer over the edge into the murky river water and even watch fi sh swim past.

The real sinker is that River Bot-tom is now one of a handful of Florence eateries open Sunday. The restaurant is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday from 10:30 a.m. until 9 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 10:30 a.m. until 11 p.m.

photo by KAYLA SLOAN I Chief Photographer

Stanfi eld’s River Bottom Grille offers seafood from Destin, Fla., as well as a variety of classic favorites including sandwiches, hamburgers and pasta. The waterfront location provides a Tennessee River view with the meal.

EXTRA April 25, 2013 • The Flor-Ala8BTweets of the year DISCLAIMER: The tweets below are public tweets found on Twit-

ter by searching hashtags and keywords involving UNA, Flor-ence, Shoals and other university-related topics. For our fi nal

issue of the paper, we chose this year’s 14 top tweets.