Volume 81, Issue 18Jan. 31, 2013 www.FlorAla.net

INSIDEthis week’s paper

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

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

NEW COMEDIANS ANSWER QUESTIONS ... 4A

With a smile on her face, freshman Em-ily Winkler, of Dora, was crowned Miss

UNA 2013 during the university’s annual pageant Jan. 26.

Winkler is an elementary educa-tion major. She also represents the

university by being involved in the Pride of Dixie Marching Band as a majorette.

Winkler’s platform is Heart to Heart: Creating Awareness in My Community about Heart Disease. Winkler made this her

platform because of her father’s health conditions. She said she

has already begun work with her platform through other titles she had previously gained.

“I was featured on Coffee Time, which is a local TV show, and spoke about my platform,” she said.

During the pageant, Winkler chose to play a piece on the piano. She has been playing the piano since she was 10, and this art is something she is pas-sionate about.

As the winner of the Miss UNA Pageant, Winkler won several prizes in addition to her scholarship and books.

Winkler will now be able to own her custom designed ring from Creative Jewelers. Among the long list of prizes

Emily Winkler wins Miss UNA titleHALEY WRIGHT WINNERS

MISS UNA 2013 EMILY WINKLER

FIRST RUNNER-UP TERRI WRIGHT

SECOND RUNNER-UP ALLISON SHELTON

THIRD RUNNER-UP CHELSEA YARBER

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photo by JESSICA PAJARON I UNA Photographer

(Above) Miss UNA 2013 Emily Winkler hugs contestant Eboney Curtis after tak-ing her fi rst walk. (Left) Winkler hugs Miss UNA 2012 Anne-Marie Hall after hearing her name called as the new Miss UNA. photo by MICHAEL REDDING I Staff Photographer

ACADEMICS

Leaders say collaborative effort key to fixing retention issueAdministrators and leaders working

to improve the university’s below-aver-age retention numbers said they think a unifi ed front will fi x the problem.

A joint effort between the university divisions of student and academic affairs will better aid students in their success while at UNA, said Rob Koch, chair of the Student Success Advisory Commit-tee.

“We are losing about a third of every class,” Koch said. “A thousand students

come in, and 600 come back.”In 2011, 287 incoming freshmen left

the university after just two semesters, according to research done by offi cials. Just more than $1.7 million of poten-tial tuition and fees left the university’s pocketbook when those students left, of-fi cials said.

“It’s a lot of money, and if we can strengthen our University Success Cen-ter and our fi rst-year experience, we can probably make a dent in this,” Koch told a group of faculty, staff and a student in an open forum on campus Jan. 29.

JOSH SKAGGS

photo by ALLI OWNBY I Staff Photographer

Rob Koch, chair of the Student Success Advisory Committee, presents research regarding retention in an open forum Jan. 29.

PLAYER SPOTLIGHT:MAKENA RANDLE

SPORTS 2B

Student newspaper of the University of North Alabama

With recent weather and crime events in Florence, many UNA students ques-tion the effi ciency of the university’s current emergency information message system, Lion Alert.

“We are mandated by law to send out the LionAlerts,” said Bob Pastula, UNA police chief. “You can unsubscribe from the LionAlerts if they are a nuisance, but they are done for (the) students’ safety.”

Pastula said that anything that may put UNA’s campus or the community in danger would cause a Lion Alert.

“It goes through a company called SchoolCast, which we’re contracted with,” he said. “They are able to send out mass email and text messages.”

Pastula said texts used in Lion Alerts only allow 140 characters. If a message

is long or more information is released, multiple messages have to be sent out at one time.

“I think one Lion Alert is plenty, but they send us six or seven,” said Cat Price, a sophomore.

Some students said they fi nd the mes-sages to be numerous, uninformative or poorly timed. The most recent Lion Alert was a four-part message about an off-campus robbery at approximately 4 a.m. Jan. 26.

“They send them to you at strange and not always good hours,” said Alec Lewis, a senior.

UNA junior Kristen Billingsley said the alerts are helpful when they are rel-evant.

“I like it when I get (alerts) that per-tain to me,” she said. “(I like getting alerts about) school closings for storms or bomb threats or even crime directly on

campus; however, I do not like getting ‘junk mail’ about crime (that is) just in the Shoals area.”

Pastula said faculty have given the system mixed reviews because they, like students, don’t always want to get mes-sages while they are at home.

“The students seem to appreciate it, because they’re out at that time of the night,” Pastula said.

UNA senior Tori DePung said she is grateful for LionAlerts because they serve their purpose.

“Last year, when there was a bomb threat, it kept all of us aware and helped clear the campus,” DePung said. “It keeps students alert to what’s happening in the community so we can be aware of what’s going on, and it’s a good way to keep us out of a bubble. You can turn your phone on silent, so they don’t have to annoy you.”

NEWS Jan. 31, 2013 • The Flor-Ala2A

Members of Congress unanimously agreed Jan. 24 to receive no salary until a new budget could be passed. If Congress fails to make a decision within the next two months, automatic sequestration (or spending cuts) will be activated that will cause the federal work-study program to lose 8.2 percent of its budget.

Sequestration would result in auto-matic spending cuts that would cause many programs to lose money, including a total cut of $2.95 billion to the Depart-ment of Education.

Peter Williams, professor of econom-

ics and fi nance at UNA, said the auto-matic spending cuts serve as motiva-tion for Democrats and Republicans to work toward compromise, but the process is being stalled by both parties being unwilling to trust each other to be fair in writing new legislation.

“The threat of sequestration was put there to tell the public that (mem-bers of Congress are) going to work,” Williams said. “The way these cuts were designed was to hurt everybody, which is what you want when two parties don’t agree. This gave them an incentive to come to a solution.”

Williams said he has not seen any action that would lead him to believe

Congress will make an agreement by the deadline.

“This is an economy that has a lot of people suffering not only at the federal, but at the state level,” he said. “This is

CAMPUS JOBSNews Briefs

News Briefs are compiled by News/Managing Editor Alex Lindley. Email alindley@una.edu or call (256) 765-4296 to have your event featured in this section.

Big Band Valentineʼs Day Bash to support UNA bands

Th e UNA Studio Jazz Band and the Lyman Mitchell Big Band of the Shoals are gearing up for the Big Band Valen-tine’s Day Bash on Valentine’s Day at 7:30 p.m. in Norton Auditorium.

All proceeds from the event will go to UNA bands.

Th e night will feature Big Band hits and swing-era love songs. In addition to the two bands’ performances, solo artists will be featured throughout the night.

Th e event will include drawings for door prizes from local businesses and restaurants.

Tickets for general admission are $10 for the general public and $5 for UNA students.

HAVE AN EVENT?

College of Nursing accepting HRSA scholarships through March 1

Th e UNA College of Nursing and Al-lied Health is currently accepting appli-cations for Project OPEN scholarships through March 1.

Th e Project OPEN scholarships cover tuition and fees for UNA nursing students with fi nancial need.

Th e Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, funds the Project OPEN schol-arships with a $2.1 million grant. Next semester will be the second semester in a four-year period in which the HRSA grants will be awarded.

Applicants can contact the Project OPEN offi ce at 256-765-5228.

Cuts threaten campus jobsPACE HOLDBROOKS ”THIS IS AN ECONOMY THAT HAS A LOT OF

PEOPLE SUFFERING NOT ONLY AT THE FEDERAL, BUT AT THE STATE LEVEL.

PETER WILLIAMS

SAFETY

Students question Lion Alert efficiency

Recently, some students have said that too many Lion Alerts are sent out for the same security issues. UNA police Chief Bob Pastula said Lion Alert text messages can only be 140 characters, so several have to be sent to contain all the info.

photo illustration by KAYLA SLOAN I Chief Photographer

HAYDEN FLANDERS

Jan. 31, 2013 • The Flor-Ala 3ANEWS

Reelshow International online maga-zine ranked UNA ranked No. 1 on a list of the Top Ten Film Schools of 2012. This is UNA’s fi rst time on the list.

“We’ve started to have a presence out in the world that helps get people’s attention,” said Jason Flynn, UNA assis-tant professor of fi lm and digital media production. “I think when you see good work and it’s from a place you’ve never heard of, you pay attention to that.”

Flynn, who was named Reelshow’s Film Mentor of the Year in 2011, said student votes may have helped the fi lm program place on the list, but to reach No. 1 required support from students and fi lmmakers outside of UNA.

“We expect people to ask, ‘Who are these people? They’re from Alabama? That looks pretty good for Alabama!’” he said. “We maximize our project produc-

tion value with what we have. We don’t look at them as things that hinder us.”

Many fi lm students said they picked UNA’s program because of its hands-on nature and challenging curriculum.

“As soon as you start fi lm classes, you’re making movies,” said Robert Liv-ingston, a senior fi lm student. “I know some fi lm schools where you don’t even touch a camera until you are a senior. When students start making fi lms, they don’t get fl uff and praise. They get hard critique and ways that they can improve for next time.”

Livingston said the average student in the program makes approximately 20 fi lms during their coursework. This hands-on experience, along with the free-dom of creativity in the curriculum, is what makes the program unique, he said.

“The best part about this program is that Jason Flynn is amazing at showing us

PACE HOLDBROOKS

ʻFilm Mentor of the Yearʼ boosts program with hands-on learning

photo by MICHAEL REDDING I Staff Photographer

very unfortunate. It looks like a lot of people are cautious about the solution we are going to get and whether or not it will look good to students.”

UNA sophomore Jordan Hyche said he believes sequestration will affect ev-ery aspect of his college life. He said his biggest concern would be fi nding an off-campus job.

“I rely solely on my federal work-study job at UNA’s campus,” said Mad-eleine Frankford, a junior. “Without it, I would have to readjust and fi nd supple-mental ways of maintaining my (already college-student low) standard of living.”

Frankford said she is concerned that students with federal work-study jobs will have to take out more loans to pay for school, making them gain more stu-dent debt. She said she believes that any student, regardless of political affi liation, can relate to needing to make money to survive while trying to stay out of debt.

“While, yes, working on campus is my main source of income, to me it is more than that,” she said. “In a way, I have an upper hand to non-student work-ers because of the connections I get to make daily with the leaders of our uni-versity that are the ultimate link for me to be able to get where I want to go in life. I can replace an income, but I can’t replace the relationships I have built through my experiences working on campus.”

Olivia Jones, also a UNA junior with a work-study job, said she, too, would hate to lose what pay and connections she currently has in the event that se-questration affected jobs at UNA.

“I have no choice in the matter if the spending cut is probable, but it’s quite upsetting to know my $7.50 could be di-minished or decreased at any moment,” she said. “I don’t ask for much but for what any other white collar worker has, and that is to have an opportunity to work in something I love and get paid.”

photo by ALLI OWNBY I Staff Photographer

Caitlin Shelton works in the foreign language lab on campus. Many on-campus jobs like hers are being threatened by potential federal budget cuts.

IMAGES Jan. 31, 2013 • The Flor-Ala4A

EXPOSUREHave you ever seen motion in a picture?

Or the night turn into day? Or ever the most abstract of a photograph you wouldn’t be-lieve it was a cityscape? Well, this is why we have long exposure photography.

I’m a photography student so this stuff is interesting and amazing for me, so I thought I’d share what kind of work I’m doing and things I’m experiencing on my own with my camera and creating beautiful images.

I do a lot of light trails which is the most common long exposure photography that photographers do because of the straight or

construed lines traffi c can create. However, I have introduced some of my

work in long exposure with landscape such as a night time sky scape with a cloudy moon and with a cityscape from Atlanta, Ga.

After getting the hang of the long ex-posure process, which can take hours, it is really fun to work with and you can create a lot with it such as using glow sticks to draw or sparkles to write out names.

Enjoy the unseen things around you. Be creative!

by Staff Photographer Christina Covington

NEWSJan. 31, 2013 • The Flor-Ala 5A

are spa packages, tanning and gym memberships, travel expenses and much more.

Like any college student, Winkler appreciates free tuition, but she said the best part of her experience while com-peting for Miss UNA was the week prior to the pageant.

“I really got to know everyone dur-ing that week,” she said. “It was prob-ably the best part.”

She started competing in the Miss America Organization when she was 14. She said she started competing for scholarship opportunities and continued competing for the same reason.

“I really wanted this title for the tu-ition and books,” she said.

As Miss UNA, Winkler said she is most excited about representing the uni-versity during campus events like Step Sing, SOAR and helping to recruit peo-ple to UNA.

A freshman student has not won the Miss UNA Pageant for many years. Win-kler said she thinks it’s amazing to have won this pageant as a freshman because it’s usually higher classmen who win.

The Miss UNA Scholarship Pageant is an offi cial preliminary for the Miss Alabama and Miss America pageants, so Winkler will be moving on to compete in bigger events.

PAGEANT: Winkler to focus on heart disease as platform

photo by TATE HIPPS I UNA Photographer

Miss UNA 2013 Emily Winkler fi nishes her talent performance during the Miss UNA Pageant Jan. 26. Winkler performed a classical piano piece.

The forum was one of a few Koch and his committee have hosted in order to obtain feedback and to communicate their plan, which is in its early phases.

A proposed math tutoring center, the existing writing center, academic advis-ing and other academic centers will be housed under the Academic Success Center.

In addition to the Academic Suc-cess Center, the First-Year Experience Program will be implemented to add to the programs already in place. Existing programs include learning communities, the Writing Center and other tutoring programs.

Students do not typically leave the university after their fi rst year because of academic issues, said Kenda Rusev-lyan, an academic adviser in the Center for Academic Advising and Retention Services. Rusevlyan said students leave because “life got in the way”.

Students often leave the university in an academically unsound way, said Thomas Calhoun, vice president for en-

rollment management. Calhoun said a “solid” freshman year is a way the uni-versity can keep students from leaving.

One of the key concerns administra-tors have is where the resources to aid students come from, Calhoun and Koch said.

“The resources are going to be one of the things that we have to work out,” Koch said. “If we do not have those re-sources, what are we going to do to seek out these resources?”

The collaboration between the stu-dent and academic divisions at UNA is different from many institutions, said David Shields, vice president for student affairs.

“We want folks to look at UNA and say, ‘If you want student affairs and academic affairs to work right, look to UNA,’” he said.

Shields said his division and aca-demic affairs began discussions approxi-mately two years ago to join forces and aid students in their success.

“We start with the presumption that every student comes here … with the expectation of obtaining a degree,” Cal-houn said. “The reality is, three in 10 students get a degree.”

Faculty members present during the meeting raised questions about how the advising function would affect them.

“I think right now that the scope of advising is broken across the univer-sity,” said James Jerkins, instructor of computer science. “I think there are all of these different fragmented pieces of advising.”

Under the new success center model, the advising center would function as a pre-major advising service for students, Calhoun said. After a student enters into their major, a faculty member in the de-partment their major is housed in would potentially advise them.

In addition to the academic success center, the university will continue with programs that are currently being imple-mented in departments such as Resi-dence Life. Residence Life has worked to implement an advising and success function into their programming in the past few years.

“What we really want them to do is to come back to the university,” said Kevin Jacques, director of Residence Life. “We don’t necessarily want them to just come back to the residence halls.”

In addition to the counseling, advis-

ing and academic programs, Koch said fi nancial programs are in the works to help students make wiser fi scal deci-sions.

Many of the programs Koch pro-poses bringing together in the Academic Success Center will be housed on the upper fl oors of the Academic Commons Building being constructed on the south end of campus.

In addition to the Academic Suc-cess Center, student fi nancial services will be housed on the third fl oor of the Academic Commons Building to allow for a more “one-stop-shop” for students, Calhoun said.

RETENTION NUMBERS BY YEAR

• 2007- 63.3 PERCENT • 2008- 71 PERCENT

• 2009- 65.2 PERCENT

• 2010- 70.9 PERCENT*NUMBERS FROM OIRPA

WANT MORE? CHECK OUT WWW.FLORALA.NET. FOR MORE PHOTOS OF THE MISS UNA PAGEANT.

Although applying to UNA does not require applicants to write an entrance essay, many colleges across the coun-try require their applicants to write one. Some speculate that this essay require-ment could be causing applicant num-bers at certain universities to drop.

According to a recent article by The Chronicle of Higher Education, Boston College saw a signifi cant decrease in ap-plications this year. The drop came after an essay requirement was added to the college’s application process. The col-lege’s application submissions dropped by 26 percent from last year, a large number of applications for the large, pri-vate institution. According to the article, this drop is likely caused by the college’s 400-word essay requirement.

Some institutions have asked poten-tial students to do more, such as compile a supplemental essay, to help weed out the serious applicants from the not-so-serious, according to the article. The de-crease in application numbers has also helped to improve the quality of the ap-plicant pool.

“I would say most regional universi-ties in our area do not require an essay,” said UNA Admissions Counselor Julie Taylor. “It is a pretty demanding process to read essays that students have submit-ted for application purposes. We prob-ably don’t have the staff to facilitate an essay process (at UNA).”

UNA offers a long list of scholar-ships available to current and prospec-tive students. While other colleges may require students to provide an additional essay for general scholarship purposes, UNA does not require an essay for tu-ition scholarships based on ACT scores.

UNA Student Financial Services Scholarship Manager Jeremy Byers said there are not many UNA scholarship ap-plications with an essay requirement. There are a few English department scholarships that require an essay or ad-ditional assignments, he said.

“The endowed scholarship applica-tion does contain a mission statement requesting students to briefl y state their educational, career, and/or life goals,” Byers said.

UNA leadership scholarships do not contain an essay portion; however, they do require students to include a resume with their application.

“We want as many applications as we can get to choose from,” Byers said. “We typically get around 700 applica-tions for endowed scholarships. If your goal is to have a large number of appli-cants, an essay is not the way to go.”

While larger and private institutions may utilize the essay tool to thin out their application stacks, it doesn’t seem UNA will be adding an essay require-ment for future applicants anytime soon.

NEWS Jan. 31, 2013 • The Flor-Ala6A

Plans are underway to construct the Integrative Health Center at UNA.

UNA offi cials are partnering with Shenqi Ethnic Medicine College (SEMC) based out of Giuyang City, China, to build the state-of-the-art facility.

“The Integrative Health Center at UNA will offer unique learning and ca-reer opportunities to all students who choose to enroll in the new Integrative Health concentration of UNA’s existing Master of Science in Health and Human Performance,” said Chunsheng Zhang, vice provost for international affairs.

By fall 2014, UNA and Chinese of-fi cials hope to have 50 to 100 students enrolled in the program. By the time the program is fully installed, they hope to have 500 students enrolled.

“The Integrative Health program has been widely promoted at SEMC, UNA’s primary partner for this program,” Zhang said. “UNA administrators have made nu-merous visits to the college to meet with

the college offi cials and students to pro-mote the program and to anticipate spe-cial needs the students might have when they arrive at UNA.”

Offi cials are discussing the option of presenting a UNA English as a Second Language (ESL) program at the SEMC campus to better prepare the Chinese stu-dents before their arrival at UNA. Bridge courses to prepare the students for the graduate level coursework have already been identifi ed and discussed, Zhang said.

The Integrative Health Center will be open for enrollment for students of all nationalities but will greatly increase in-teraction among the Chinese, Shoals and UNA communities.

“One of the huge benefi ts for all stu-dents, Chinese, American and other na-tionalities alike, is to be engaged with each other and to share and learn multi-national cultural perspectives regarding integrative health and the best practices in staying healthy and productive,” Zhang said.

Zhang is hopeful the program will contribute to the Shoals economy as in-

coming students rent apartments and pur-chase vehicles from local business own-ers.

As construction of the Integrative Health Center begins, the UNA housing department is anticipating the infl ux of students with discussions concerning new residence halls and apartment complexes.

“The program sounds exciting,” said Kevin Jacques, director of housing. “It’s totally unique. I really think it can help the university.”

Housing experienced diffi culties in the fall 2012 semester when they ran out of male rooms, a fi rst in 10 years for the department.

“We’re trying to have open discussion in anticipation (of the center), but we need more concrete details,” Jacques said.

INTERNATIONAL

Officials expect international student influx with health center construction

photos courtesy of SHANNON WELLS I University Photographer

(From left to right) Shenqi Ethnic Medicine College Chair Zhang Zhiting, UNA Pres-ident Bill Cale and UNA Vice Provost for International Affairs Chunsheng Zhang speak last July when UNA hosted Zhiting to discuss the Integrative Health Center.

CORINNE BECKINGER

”WEʼRE TRYING TO HAVE OPEN DISCUSSION IN ANTICIPATION (OF THE CENTER), BUT WE NEED MORE

CONCRETE DETAILS.

KEVIN JACQUES

what we need and trying to get us to fi gure things out on our own,” said Britney Mc-Caig, senior fi lm student. “He works very hard at making the fi lm department be as good as it can. We all really respect his opinions and care about what he thinks. He’s commanded that, and it makes us strive to be better.”

Flynn, currently the only faculty member teaching in this degree concen-tration, said he hopes to see additional hirings so the program can continue to grow and succeed. He attributed the program’s current success to the help of Sue Jeffreys, the communication depart-ment’s former administrative assistant.

“She helped me adjust to UNA when I fi rst came here, so I could focus on build-ing this program,” Flynn said. “Without

her, I wouldn’t be where I am to get things done. The same goes for the support of the faculty and these students.”

Flynn said he intends to soon add a new class to the curriculum that will teach young fi lmmakers how to produce and distribute fi lms so more content can be released by the program. The end goal is to continue to grow the program into its own department, he said.

“I don’t have time to go to high schools and talk to people, so all of our growth has been by word of mouth,” he said. “I don’t want to say that the program has peaked; we defi nitely have room to grow. Faculty is a big need — we need more faculty because the more faculty we offer, the more classes we teach, and then the more students we can get in the de-partment.”

photo by MICHAEL REDDING I Staff Photographer

Jason Flynn, UNA fi lm and digital media production professor, adjusts a camera while teaching one of his fi lm production classes.

Few essays required

for college, scholarships

AMANDA ABERNATHY

Zhang Zhiting, of Shenqi Ethnic Medi-cine College, agrees to underwrite the cost of the Integrative Health Center.

ADMISSIONS

VIEWPOINTSJan. 31, 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 MANAGERMATTHEW 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

I learned the meaning of community this weekend in a worn-out former excelsior mill now known as The Mas-querade, a concert venue in Atlanta.

My wife Victoria, my brother, his friend and I went to see Underoath on their farewell tour with The Chariot and mewithoutYou.

I wasn’t actually there to see Underoath; I was there to see mewithoutYou. Their eclectic and experimental sound lines up more with my current tastes in music, while

Underoath and The Chariot are more of the noisy, cha-otic stuff that 14-year-old me listened to.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been near anything remotely close to a hardcore show, so this show served as a loud reminder of the experi-ence.

During The Chariot’s set, what had previously been a relatively calm and stable crowd turned into a gigantic, fl oor-wide mosh pit that lived and moved and breathed as one being.

Everyone pushed their way toward the stage in a combined frenzy that probably would have looked like a riot from an outsider’s viewpoint.

In fact, leaving a show like that with a few bruises and sore limbs is not all that uncommon.

It was in this stormy sea of people that Victoria acciden-tally stepped out of her shoe

while moving to a less chaotic part of the room. We pretty much assumed that the shoe was history but asked around the room for folks to look for it.

Well, those folks looked for it and asked others around them to look for it as well. Within fi ve to 10 minutes, a guy about 10 yards from us held up the shoe and was ask-ing whose it was.

Maybe it’s just an odd mo-ment of sentimentality from me, but I felt like this was a basically good model for how large groups of people should act. We weren’t all there to see the same band but did want to enjoy the music and have a good time.

Furthermore, I hon-estly felt like everyone there wanted everyone else to have the best possible time.

Why can’t everyday life be like this? Why can’t we be thrilled at the concept of

others succeeding and being happy and even encourage and help them reach their goals?

If someone’s a die-hard fan and knows the words by heart, we should recognize that passion, collectively pick that person up and crowd surf them to the front to scream the lyrics with the band.

Likewise, something as simple as losing a shoe can completely ruin someone’s day, and all it takes to fi x it is taking a moment to lend a helping hand instead of just as easily saying, “Not my shoe, not my problem.”

Sure, it’s a long and con-voluted metaphor, but if we all acted more like the hardcore scene and tried to be more supportive and encouraging, if we cared more about the people around us, wouldn’t life in our communities be just as crazy awesome?

Youʼre not hardcore unless you live hardcore

JARED MCCOY

The George Lindsay UNA Film Festival announced the fi nal-ist fi lms for

this year’s exhibitions, which will be held Feb. 28 through March 2.

Only one stu-dent attended the open forum with the UNA Stu-dent Success

Advisory Committee to discuss the University Suc-cess Center and First-Year Experience Program.

PAWS UP,

PAWS DOWN

Calling it like we see it

FOR THE RECORD...FOR THE RECORD...

• In the article in last weekʼs issue about the softball team, the headline should have read that the teamʼs last winning season was in 2008.

We strive to get it right the fi rst time, but when we donʼt, we are happy to set

the record straight.

College students across the nation continue to worry about rising tuition costs, special fees they are charged for classes and the amount they spend to cover textbook costs. Students are acquir-ing alarming amounts of debt when they graduate and many are left with the strug-gle of fi nding a job within their degrees in this economy.

In 2012, college seniors graduated with an average of $27,000 in student loan debt and 54 percent of Alabama col-lege graduates had loan debt, according to CCNMoney.com.

“I do worry about the amount of debt students take on in order to earn a degree, and I am concerned about the rising costs of textbooks,” said Pam Kingsbury, UNA English instructor.

Universities are beginning to lower tuition costs for students majoring in areas like science, technology, engineer-ing and mathematics (STEM) in order to entice students to study areas that are in high demand for jobs and to balance the cost of supplies to teach these courses.

By this perspective, an English major should pay more in tuition costs than a nursing major. Many students and faculty disagree with this line of thought. While tuition costs are on the rise and students are required to pay special fees in order to attend UNA, some on campus believe there are ways around these costs.

“Scholarship in all areas is what makes the world and human beings spe-cial,” said Marilyn Lee, UNA Depart-ment of Nursing chair.

By receiving scholarships, students of any major are able to take some, if not all, of the burden off of paying for tuition each semester and the risk of going into debt.

Some students believe that because of the special fees and technology to teach particular classes, some majors should be charged less in tuition compared to other majors.

“I was fortunate enough to receive a full-tuition scholarship, so I’ve never had the burden of fi guring out tuition money,” said UNA nursing student Miranda Eddy. “I know how much we have to pay with fees for the classes, clinical, equipment, uniforms and the exams we have to take. I do believe there is some inequality of costs among different majors.”

By lowering tuition for STEM ma-jors because of the special fees they are required to pay and the cost to teach these courses, more students may be inclined to study in these types of fi elds. With tuition costs continuing to rise and student debt accumulating, students may be interested in studying a STEM major to avoid going into debt.

NEWS Jan. 31, 2013 • The Flor-Ala8A

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STEM major tuition lowers, sparks debateTUITION

photo courtesy of SHANNON WELLS I University Photographer

Nursing students work with a medical dummy in their clinical class. Some students and offi cials have supported lowering tuition for STEM majors because of high job demand in those areas, while others think the tuition for STEM majors should be higher because they work with expensive equipment.

SIERRA KENNEDY ”SCHOLARSHIP IN ALL AREAS IS WHAT MAKES THE WORLD AND HUMAN BEINGS SPECIAL.

MARILYN LEE

The UNA men’s basketball team’s poor fi eld goal percentage did not cost them when they defeated West Alabama Tigers 74-70 Jan. 26.

“Our fi eld goal percentage — we have to shoot a lot better than what we are shooting,” said Bobby Champagne, head coach.

The game had eight lead changes and fi ve ties as neither team could pull away. The biggest lead of the game was by nine points for UWA with 12:23 left in the fi rst half.

“We knew it would be tough to re-bound, and they got their average 18 offensive rebounds,” Champagne said. “They do a great job of going to the

glass.”The Tigers out-rebounded UNA 51-

38 as the Lions struggled to control the glass.

A double-double by DeAndre Her-shey anchored the paint for UNA as he had 14 points, despite going 2-9 from the fi eld. He went 10-10 from the free-throw line and snatched 10 rebounds.

“He has played well the last couple of games and has been more consistent the last couple of games,” Champagne said. “He and Bruce Adams have been really

consistent the past couple of games.”Adams had a game high 21 points

and added a steal and six rebounds to his totals. He also went 7-9 from the free-throw line — success that was seen from the whole team against UWA.

“We did a really good job of getting to the free-throw line and making our free throws,” Champagne said. “And that was

SPORTS Jan. 31, 2013• The Flor-Ala • Sports Editor: Malisa McClure 256-765-5098SECTION B

Lions hit the court for 2013 seasonThe UNA tennis team will begin its

2013 spring season with the women’s team playing West Georgia Feb. 2 and the men’s team playing UT Chattanooga Feb. 3.

The teams will be playing West Flor-ida, ranked in the top fi ve of the Gulf South Conference, and Valdosta State, ranked in the top 10. The teams also have matches against seven Division I teams.

“I don’t like scheduling easy match-es,” said Brice Bishop, UNA tennis head coach. “They’re going to be tested.”

The team is looking for a record sea-son as well.

“We are all working very hard in practice and in conditioning to make sure we are all ready, both physically and mentally, for the long season ahead,” said Rob Whitsitt, junior tennis player.

The teams have fi nished strong in their GSC standings in the past two years. Both teams have several strong players returning with six out of the seven top men’s players and fi ve out of the seven top female players returning. Bishop said he has high expectations for the team.

“Tennis is a team sport played by in-dividuals,” he said. “You’re in charge of your own court.

“We are very optimistic that this will be a good year. They are a self-motivated team, and that is important.”

The team has been taking advantage of the warm winter weather for outdoor practice time.

“Normally in January we do a lot in-

doors, but we’ve really gotten some good work in outside,” Bishop said. “They’ve been practicing six days a week.”

He said the men’s team leaders are juniors Matt Feury, Aliaksei Kavalen-ka and Whitsitt.

Kavalenka fi nished the 2012 spring season with the most wins and Whit-sitt had a successful fall.

“(Whitsitt) has had the best fall of anybody,” Bishop said.

“I’m expecting a big year from him.”

The leaders on the women’s team are sophomore Natalia Barragan, junior Bruna Vieira and senior Mackenzie Bishop.

“We have fi ve of our top six girls from last year returning, so we’ll have a lot of experience that other teams won’t have,” Bishop said. “We’re also coming off of two extremely successful seasons. We know how to win; it’s just a matter of translating what we know into hard work on the court.”

The teams are hoping for good fan support this season.

“It is always easier to play well when you have people out supporting you

and cheering you on through

the tough match-es,” Whitsitt

said.

CORINNE BECKINGER

photo by KAYLA SLOAN I Chief Photographer

Hisato Wakaizumi works out during preseason practice on Jan. 27 at the UNA Tennis fi elds.

Lions triumph over UWA at homeMEN’S BASKETBALL

JAMES DUBUISSON

”WE ARE VERY OPTIMISTIC THAT THIS WILL BE A GOOD YEAR. THEY ARE A SELF-

MOTIVATED TEAM, AND THAT IS IMPORTANT.

BRICE BISHOP

FINAL SCOREUNA - 74UWA - 70

2013 TENNIS

KEY PLAYERS(MEN)

MATT FEUTY ALIAKSEI KAVELENKA

ROB WHITSITT

(WOMEN)NATALIA BARRAGAN

BRUNA VIEIRA

MACKENZIE BISHOP

IN THIS

SECTION

Player Spotlight

Mekena Randle

@FlorAlaSports2B Women’s Basketball

Lions bounce back3B

TENNIS

SPORTS Jan. 31, 2013 • The Flor-Ala2BPLAYER SPOTLIGHT

Randle leads Lions ʻon and off the floorʼOne of the questions surrounding the

UNA women’s basketball team this year was who would become a leader. Mek-ena Randle, a 5-foot-9-inch junior for-ward, has answered that question in her fi rst year with the team.

Randle, who transferred from Arkan-sas State, is averaging 13.1 points and 10.3 rebounds a game. She leads the team in points, rebounds, fi eld goal attempts, fi eld goals made and free throw attempts. Randle is originally from Madison and attended Bob Jones High School.

Randle said she believes the relation-ships formed with teammates were one of the things that drew her to basketball.

“The family you form with your teammates is one of the things I enjoy the most about basketball,” she said.

Since she came to UNA, Randle has provided a presence of a threat down low. She sees her play down low and re-bounding as her greatest strengths.

“She brings an inside threat down low as a player to the team,” said Rabun Wright, guard. “She also brings intensity as a player.”

Randle played basketball in high school and also participated in track and fi eld. However, since track was not as important to her as basketball, she knew basketball was going to be the path she would choose in the future.

“Track was something I just did to keep busy,” Randle said.

Basketball is a part of Randle’s fam-ily as well. Her dad, Terry Randle, is her role model for basketball. He took pride in the game and passed it on to her. He taught her that if she could make it in basketball, it would prepare her for life and teach her good work habits.

After leaving Arkansas State, it was an easy choice for Randle to come to UNA. She had been in contact with UNA and the coaching staff while in high school and felt comfortable with them. Another factor that made the decision to choose UNA easy was the culinary pro-gram, which would become her major.

“I wanted to come home and didn’t look anywhere else when deciding,” Randle said. “I also liked the coaches.”

Randle’s ability on the court is not

the only thing she brings to the team. Players and coaches said that her charac-ter adds to the team just as much as her basketball skills.

“Mekena is a great young lady, a quality person on and off the fl oor,” said

Terry Fowler head coach.Fowler said Randle has a great per-

sonality and a calming effect on the team. He also said she came in her fi rst year and fi t in well with the other team members.

Randle’s character and play on the court has helped the Lions to a 13-6, 6-3 Gulf South Conference record as of Jan. 26. She has been named GSC Women’s Player of the Week two times this season.

JOSH SCOTT

photo by MALISA MCCLURE I Sports Editor

Mekena Randle takes possession of the ball during the Jan. 19 game against UA-Huntsville at Spragins Hall. In the game, Randle had 19 points and 7 rebounds.

The UNA women’s basketball team had lost two straight games at Flowers and three out of the last four before de-feating West Alabama Jan. 26 in a thrill-ing 66-58 victory.

“It is one of those things where we need to take care of business at home,” said Terry Fowler, head coach.

The Lions’ Mekena Randle hit a la-yup to put the Lions up 6-4 with 17:11 left in the fi rst half. UNA did not score for six minutes as the Tigers jumped out to an 11-6 lead. The Tigers took a 30-28 lead heading into the break.

Randle was a catalyst for the Lions as she grabbed 17 of the team’s 41 re-bounds. She added 11 points to secure the double-double.

“We overall had a good effort on the boards, and that’s what Mekena does,” Fowler said.

Lauren Faris hit a three to put UNA up 37-35 with 15:41 left in the game. The Lions did not lose the lead for the rest of the game.

The Lions had a 60-55 lead with less than two minutes to go in the game when West Alabama’s Brittany Weathers hit a three that brought the Tigers within two points.

The student section then broke out into a rare “Let’s go, offense!” chant af-ter the three by Weathers.

“The fans were great,” Fowler said.The cheer seemed to help as UNA

sunk six straight free throws to secure the 66-58 victory.

“We knew they were in foul trouble, so we just wanted to get to the point where we were shooting one-for-ones to end the game,” Fowler said.

Nichele Fillmore had a career night for the Lions as she scored a career high of 23 points, along with fi ve rebounds.

“She was motivated and she was ready to play,” Fowler said. “If she could play with that type of aggression the rest of the way, we have a chance to have something special.”

The Lions (13-6, 6-3) will travel to Florida to play West Florida Jan. 31.

“We can’t look to Thursday (Jan. 31) today,” Fowler said. “We have to enjoy today, rest tomorrow, and then on Mon-day, it’s one day at a time.”

After their game with West Florida, UNA will travel to Valdosta State Feb. 2.

“It is a tough road trip,” Fowler said. “We just have to get into the mindset of, ‘We are getting better every day.’”

The Lions will have seven games left before the GSC tournament after their

two-game road trip.“Anybody can beat anybody in this

league — it’s tough,” Fowler said.The key to the end of the schedule is

hard work in Flowers Hall and consis-

tency on the road.“We defi nitely have to defend the

home court,” Fowler said. “And this group has been resilient on the road, and we just have to keep it up.”

SPORTSJan. 31, 2013 • The Flor-Ala 3B

UNA women bounce backWOMEN’S BASKETBALL

JAMES DUBUISSON

photo by ALLI OWNBY I Staff Photographer

Guard Jennifer Towne tries to get the ball from West Alabama’s Anna Dill during the Jan. 26 game at Flowers Hall.

FINAL SCOREUNA- 66

WEST ALABMA-58

”WE DEFINITELY HAVE TO DEFEND THE HOME COURT. AND THIS GROUP HAS BEEN RESILIENT ON

THE ROAD, AND WE JUST HAVE TO KEEP IT UP.

TERRY FOWLER

SPORTS Jan. 31, 2013 • The Flor-Ala4B

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a big difference. They went 14-22 and we went 29-35.”

The UNA bench scored 22 points against the Tigers, half by Wes Long. Long’s 11 points off the bench and his energy were very important to the vic-tory.

“You know he is going to shoot threes and make threes, but he has also rebounded the ball the last couple of games,” Champagne said.

Champagne said the noise from the student section during the whole game defi nitely helped the team.

“The student section is getting a lot better,” he said. “Whoever is organiz-ing those guys over there at the visi-tor’s bench, I hope they keep bringing friends. The crowds have been great. We have about four more games at home, so we‘ve got to make sure they keep com-ing.”

The Lions (14-3, 7-2) are preparing for their longest road trip of the season to play West Florida Jan. 31 and Valdosta State Feb. 2.

“That is going to be a tough road trip, but we have played well on the road,” Champagne said.

photo by ALLI OWNBY I Staff Photographer

Guard Marquel Darrington dribbles the ball down the court during the Jan. 26 game against West Alabama at Flowers Hall. UNA won the game 74-70.

The Beale Street Flippers from Memphis, Tenn., performed twice Jan. 26 at the UNA men’s and women’s basketball halftime shows against West Alabama.

The Flippers’ routine consists of members of the group doing fl ips and spins across the basketball court fl oor. During the women’s halftime show, a member of the group fl ipped over two UNA cheerleaders —and the rest of the group as they crouched to the ground near half court. Another set of fl ips included a member of the Flippers performing several running fl ips without placing his hands on the ground for support.

The Flippers performed at Phil-lips Arena in Atlanta Jan. 25 during halftime of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks-Boston Celtics game.

The group stopped by historic Flowers Hall on the way home to Memphis.

Tommie Bonds, member of the

Beale Street Flippers, said his brother started fl ipping one day in the middle of Beale Street, the historic street in Memphis known for the music it pro-duces.

The group grew from there and even performed on the NBC network’s “America’s Got Talent” in season 4.

“While music blares from the clubs all around them, the Beale Street Flip-pers astonish the crowds with feats of acrobatic prowess that are, honestly, unbelievable,” according to the Flip-pers’ website.

The Flippers will travel to Oklaho-ma City next to perform the halftime show for the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder.

JAMES DUBUISSON

FEATURE

Lions halftime show features group Beale Street Flippers

VISIT THE FLIPPERS AT BEALESTREETFLIPPERS.COM

WANT TO LEARN MORE?

NEW COMEDYLIFEJan. 31, 2013 • The Flor-Ala 5B

“Workaholics” has quickly become a widespread comedy hit, joining the ranks of Comedy Central goldmines such as “The Dai-ly Show with Jon Stewart” and “Tosh.0.” The show’s premise is based on three roommates — Adam, Derrs and Blake — as they work selling refrigerators and other random, point-less junk over the phone with TelAmeri Corp to fi nance their insane lifestyle of drinking and partying.

The life sounds pretty sweet, but the reality for them is as bitter as bad acid trips, constant berating from their boss Alice and no success scoring ladies. In fact, they live the lifestyle of delusional semi-adults who believe they are God’s gift to women, effi cient workers, catch-phrase pioneers and even professional body-builders. This lack of self-awareness provides the ground work for the asinine adventures the trio creates.

Adam DeVine, the actor who plays Adam (surprise!) as well as co-creator of the series along with Blake Anderson, Anders Holm and Kyle Newacheck. DeVine bases his character on (who else?) himself, which makes the se-ries hilarious and sadly relatable.

ANN HARKEY

DeVine talks new show, key players

Kroll looking to build success after ʻThe Leagueʼ“Kroll Show” premiered on Com-

edy Central Jan. 16, starring Nick Kroll as a variety of characters. The show satirizes the television-obsessed culture we live in, as well as the many fan bases surrounding reality televi-sion. Viewers will see established characters, like Bobby Bottleservice and Fabrice Fabrice, but will also see new characters and storylines throughout the season.

The show follows on the heels of Kroll’s success with other shows like “Community,” “Children’s Hospi-tal” and “Parks and Recreation.” His standout performance as Rodney Rux-in on the FX comedy “The League”

has been his most popular role to date, garnering an impressive fan base and following, according to Comedy Cen-tral.

Kroll executively produces and writes the show, in addition to trans-forming himself into many of the star characters. He has enlisted the help of a wide variety of guest stars, including Fred Armisen, Andy Milonakis and Jon Daly. More than just a sketch com-edy show, Kroll said the show allows his fans to see his take on relevant pop culture, sports news, nightclub culture and what defi nes “celebrity.”

I usually fi nd that sketch comedy has a tendency to shuffl e around a bit too much, but can we sort of expect more of the same series or a new line of similar

scripts on TV shows?

Yes, in general, a lot of the sto-rylines we establish with differ-ent characters and worlds start to recur and, invariably, a lot of the episodes start to take on a similar

sort of structure of a big storyline like PubLIZity and a slightly smaller stor-yline like ‘Wheels (Ontario)’ and then a runner, as well. So, it allows you to keep a nice pace of not ever sitting on something for too long, but also continuing to learn more about these characters and worlds.

I know ‘The League’ reaches a very large student audience. Were you trying for the same audience or a different audience with ‘Kroll Show?’

BLYTHE STEELMAN

Q

A

Will you have any new catchphrases this season?

You are going to have to watch. I’m not going to give away the gold right now. The thing is, we don’t just purposely go like, “We are going to make this a catchphrase.” We just write the show, do the show and do a lot of improv-ving. We never know what’s going to catch on.

Q

QAre there going to be any new charac-ters on the show, like how Jetset has become such a fan favorite?

AJetset actually has a pretty big role for the upcoming season. He passed away on our last day of fi lming, for those of you who don’t know. He was late for that day and we all become worried because he was always on time. It was, unfortunately, the worst thing that has happened to the show. I mean, every-thing that came out of that man’s mouth was comedy gold.

How essential is Kyle (the pot dealer to the trio) to the show? A lot of people don’t realize he is actually a co-creator.

Q

A

Q

photo courtesy of Comedy Central Networks

LIFE Jan. 31, 2013 • The Flor-Ala6B

UNA senior Kaitlin Ashley won fi rst place in the Education and Pedagogy category of the 47th Annual Conference of the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC).

Ashley’s re-search, titled “Integrating New Tech-nologies in K-1 Classrooms: iPads and Literacy Centers,” began during the spring of 2012. One of Ashley’s classes attended Kilby School twice a week, and

she said she spent a little extra time for her research, which included using in-class assessments and survey feedback to determine how well iPads help young students understand concepts and devel-op storytelling skills.

“I’m an honors student and we have to do a project,” she said.

When the research began, Ashley had no idea how grand it would be. While searching for a topic for her project, she found out about Dr. Katie Kinney’s ideas of a project with iPads in the classroom. She said she spoke with Kinney and they began planning soon after.

Ashley started this project before she even owned an iPad herself. In order to start this research, she took the initia-tive and emailed the president of Apple.

The president was so impressed with her email that he loaned her an iPad. A lot of people loaned their iPads or donated so the students would have them to use.

After the fi rst portion of research with the kindergarteners concluded, she moved on to fi rst grade with the same students.

“Since I have the same group of kids, I know them; it was fun,” she said.

When the research began with fi rst grade, she was back to square one with no iPads, so Ashley once again took the initiative to apply for a grant from the National Council of Teachers of Math-ematics (NCTM).

“It was a long process to get it, but we got a grant for six iPads and somehow wound up with two more,” she said.

When the time came to enter the competition, Ashley had to write a pro-posal and create a poster. At fi rst her pro-posal was declined, but she received an email the next day saying she had been declined on accident. To her relief she was off to Boston for the competition.

After the competition was over she found out via email that she had been chosen as the winner.

Ashley said she would like to use iPads in her own classroom when she be-comes an educator.

To her surprise the kindergarteners were eager to learn on the iPads. She said there were times when they wanted to play games, but they really enjoyed using the educational apps.

STUDENT PROFILE

Student wins first place at conference for iPad research

Take a moment and think back to the odd little child you once were. What habits did you do then that you wouldn’t dream of doing today? What habits did you do then that you do today even still?

As defi ned in the American Journal of Psychology, “A habit, from the stand-point of psychology, is a more or less fi xed way of thinking, willing, or feeling acquired through previous repetition of a

mental experience.”Throughout life people create and

recreate habits, but some habits remain secure since childhood. Most people do grow out of childhood habits such as sucking their thumb or dragging a particular stuffed animal around every-where they go, but less noticeable hab-its can continue. Because habits require very little thought, people may not even be aware of all the habits they have aquired.

Anastasia Conaty, UNA student, said

when she was a child she believed step-ping on cracks caused bad luck and death in the family. She still hates stepping on cracked ground today and avoids it when she is walking on the sidewalk to class.

“I don’t think I’ll stop because I have been doing it for a long time,” Conaty said. “I do want to stop, though, because I feel foolish doing it.”

Anna Kaufmann, UNA student, said one habit she has stuck with since child-hood is taking one-hour naps around 3 p.m. every day.

“I do it because I like my sleep,” Kaufmann said. “I used to feel guilty sometimes, but I’ve gotten over that because it works for me. I wake up re-freshed and do my homework. If I don’t take a nap then I’m more likely to pro-crastinate.”

Kaufmann will not stop taking naps unless she needs to in the future, and in that case she plans on rearranging her schedule in order to get more sleep at night or “drink 5-hour Energy shots.”

STUDENTS DISCUSS LINGERINGLINGERING CHILDHOOD HABITS

LYNN ECCLESTON

HALEY WRIGHT

photo illustration by KAYLA SLOAN I Chief PhotographerSome students say they still fi nd themselves with habits they had as a child, including taking naps and asking many questions.

ASHLEY

LIFEJan. 31, 2013 • The Flor-Ala 7B

night or “drink 5 Hour Energy shots.”The things people do often become

engraved in the neural pathways of the brain, so it is possible to form new hab-its by simply repeating until a habit is formed, according to an article in Psy-chology Today.

Dusty Talley, UNA student, has pret-ty recently overcome his habit of being late, which he has had since childhood.

He said the habit was due to various rea-sons, including poor time management and doing things right before he left. Tal-ley changed his habit by planning ahead and buying a watch.

Rhondy Boddie, UNA student, said that since childhood he has had a habit of exploring, which earned him the nick-name “Curious George.” He has scars from when he was a baby, and he is still accidently cutting himself up today.

Despite his injuries, Boddie does not want to quit his habit.

“I like to know how things work,” Boddie said. “Someday I might fi nd the cure to AIDS in a puddle.”

A. Kyle is a huge part of the pro-cess. Kyle, Blake and I are old room-mates for seven years. Kyle directs the majority of our season and is a big part of the writing process itself. If you like the look of the show, the overall direc-tion of the show — most of that stuff is up to him. He is just fantastic. He is just a really smart dude. It takes a lot on Kyle’s part to make the show looks the way it does with the small budget we

have.Q. What was the worst job you had

before “Workaholics?”A. I actually did telemarketing. I

was a telemarketer. I sold steaks, steak knives, vacation books and books.

Q. How closely do you and the oth-ers resemble the characters you play on the show?

A. I am actually dumber than the character in real life. I’m a total maniac. But no, we’re pretty close. The core of the person, I feel, is pretty close. I’m a little bit of a maniac, Blake is a little bit of a sweetheart and Derrs is uptight.

A. I mean, I think ‘The League’ ap-peals to a broader audience, because I mean, one, the way in is fantasy football and obviously football is so popular in the country. So, you know, I think that my show’s going to be very different than that. I hope a lot of the folks who like ‘The League’ will come by and check out ‘Kroll Show’. I don’t think we’ll keep all of them, because there will be people that come to ‘Kroll Show’ that don’t necessarily watch ‘The League.’ The shows can help one another build the audiences, though.

Q. I’ve seen your list of supporting roles and previous work you’ve done and things that were never truly your own thing, so what’s it like now that you write your own, star in your own and do all of

this for your own TV show?A. It’s interesting to me, because,

you know, you guest star on other peo-ple’s shows, and it’s really fun and you hopefully get to benefi t from the audi-ences that they’ve built, but two, you also get to see how other people run their shows and get a sense of the vibe on an-other show, to get to pick and choose the things that I really like. The key for me is collaborating with more and more peo-ple, those people you can work with, and that’s a huge part of it. All of these com-edy shows are dependent upon the en-sembles both in front of the camera and behind the camera. The comedy world is an incredibly collaborative world, and I think it’s a real model for how artists can create their own material and also par-ticipate in other people’s material. The water really rises.

Q. You talk a lot, on your personal blog, about masturbating in D.C., get-

ting crabs and countless other personal things. Where do you draw the line and how do you keep the paparazzi from run-ning with your disclosures?

A. You know, to me, all of those things are hopefully, but maybe not com-pletely or so clearly, a joke. The hope is that nobody would ever really think I got caught in front of the building of NPR masturbating. And to be honest, I’m not too worried about the paparazzi. They’re not really interested in me — I’m not handsome enough to be worried about. I don’t actually share that much real stuff, just to sort of maintain some level of san-ity.

Q. You’ve been on several TV shows and movies that many would consider excellent goals — do you have anything in the works now, for after ‘Kroll Show’?

A. You know, if you had asked me when I started doing comedy and if you had told me in college that years later

I would have two TV shows, one with my name on it, I’d be like, “Well, I did it…” And I’m particularly grateful at this moment to do exactly what I want to do, which is both do my own show and be able to be on someone else’s show as just an actor and get to have fun and do stand-up. I’ve got a few other things — I’m on season two of ‘Burning Love,’ which is a really funny web series that’s on Yahoo. It’s a spoof of ‘The Bachelor’ that Ken Marino writes and stars in. And I’m go-ing to be coming back on a few episodes of ‘Parks and Recreation;’ I’ll be starring as ‘The Douche,’ who’s the local radio DJ of Pawnee. And I have a couple of little movie things that I’m working on that are small or haven’t come to fruition yet. But honestly, if this is what the ca-reer is, I’d be over the moon about it. It’s a pretty rare position that I get to really love what I’m doing.

Spoken-word event hosts local stand-up comicsCULTURE

The End of Comedy, hosted by lo-cal spoken-word group Boxcar Voices, brought a new element of entertain-ment to the Shoals Jan. 24 at the end. theater on Pine Street. Comedians from Birmingham and the surrounding areas joined UNA student Jarrod Prestage, master of ceremonies for the night.

The lineup consisted of Ian Bondu-rant Olivia Cathcart, Scott Gordon, Rich-ard Lockhart, Tollie Jones, Nico Guyton, Jayson Wirth and Bo Guthrie. Prestage has been in the comedy scene for about nine months and has been working with the end. since August.

“I talked to Scott Long (owner of the theater) and asked if he was interested in introducing a new art form to the venue,” Prestage said. “Boxcar Voices gave us a spot, and everyone was really enthused about it.”

Andy Thigpen, organizer of Boxcar Voices, worked with Prestage to set up the event. Boxcar Voices is a spoken word event that welcomes the comedic art form, he said.

“The whole idea of Boxcar is oral tradition, but comedy is just as much of an art as poetry,” Thigpen said. “Com-edy is a story with a spin on it, and it opens the audience’s mind to what is be-ing told.”

Thigpen said he thinks bringing this type of event to the Shoals brings the en-tertainment scene back to life.

“I have long had the idea that we live in the history of this area,” he said.

“Now, we are bringing all kinds of mod-ern entertainment to Florence; we are making this event a literary experience versus a solely musical or visual art. This is oral art.”

The art of comedy isn’t an easy one, because failure is apparent in a dead si-lence, he said.

“The art of comedy is so hard to do, but it connects with people in the same way that a song, painting or poem can,”

he said. “This was the second comedy event to come to the end., both with a good turnout for a new entertainment style in Florence.”

Comedy is a rare form of entertain-ment in the Shoals, Prestage said.

“Comedy brings something different to the table, and people around here usu-ally haven’t attended a stand-up comedy show,” he said.

Audience members said they agreed.

“It’s something new to do instead of just going to the bar,” said Kelli Axley, a UNA alumna. “I want to be social and talk to people, and I think others are ex-cited about this kind of event.”

Stand-up comedy shows are a good outlet for students, said Atticus Wright, a UNA senior.

“As stressed as college students are, they need a place to relax, have a beer and laugh,” he said.

STEPHANIE FITZGERALD

photo by KAYLA SLOAN I Chief Photographer

Jarrod Prestage performs during The End of Comedy, hosted by Boxcar Voices, a local spoken-word group.

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