Volume 81, Issue 5Sept. 20, 2012 www.FlorAla.net Student newspaper of the University of North Alabama

New program approved, on track

officials say

FRESHMEN TO LIVE ON CAMPUS RESIDENCE LIFE

photo by ALLI OWNBY I Student Photographer

Freshman Courtney Watkins studies in her room. Freshman students predominantly live in Rivers Hall on campus. Rivers Hall is the home to a new freshman-focused success center to aid students with their academic studies.

University offi cials announced last week that fi rst-time, full-time freshmen would be required to live in an on-cam-pus residence hall for their fi rst year at UNA.

The requirement comes from univer-sity offi cials wanting students to be more successful in their fi rst year on campus, said Director of Residence Life Kevin

Jacques. “We want our students to graduate

from UNA, and that’s the whole thing behind this,” Jacques said.

Students typically are not as focused when they live in off-campus housing options because they are not connected and engaged in the university, he said. Jacques said the requirement would not only increase involvement, but it would help retention university-wide.

“The university is really focusing on

this, this is an issue and we need to ad-dress it,” Jacques said.

Officials plan to implement freshman live-on requirement in 2014 to improve retentionJOSH SKAGGS

INTEGRATIVE HEALTH

The Alabama Commission on High-er Education (ACHE) approved a new concentration in integrative health with-in the Master of Science in health and human performance degree Sept. 14 at its regular meeting in Montgomery, of-fi cials said.

The new concentration is slated to begin fall 2013, said John Thornell, UNA vice president of academic affairs and provost.

Thornell said university offi cials would now be taking different steps to fully incorporate the integrative health concentration.

“The next step will be for us to com-municate that we have offi cial approval to Chairman Zhang and begin seeking funding for land and a faculty search,” Thornell said.

AT A GLANCE• REQUIREMENT BEGINS 2014

• OFFICIALS WORKING ON EXCLUSIONS

BLYTHE STEELMAN

Lion Night organizers pleased with event, despite sparse crowdDOWNTOWN FLORENCE

The fi rst-ever Lion Night was held Sept. 13 in downtown Florence. Lion Night—a joint venture between SGA, UNA Athletics, the Division of Student Affairs and Florence Main Street—was created with the expressed purpose of starting a new tradition: a specifi c night for UNA students to enjoy and explore the downtown area, said SGA president Will Riley.

Riley said Lion Night was “defi nitely a success.”

“We don’t have the exact headcount, but I would say there were several hun-dred UNA students - as well as people from the community – there,” he said.

Lion Night was born out of an idea of Riley’s to create a “college night” for UNA students in the downtown area. When he mentioned it to Teryl Shields, executive director of Florence Main Street, she im-mediately voiced support for the idea.

RYAN PAINE

INSIDEthis week’s paper

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

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

IMAGES FROM UNA VS. KENTUCKY CHRISTIAN 4A

photo by CHRISTINA COVINGTON I Staff Photographer

Ivan Gonzalez and Lacey Smith per-form dur-ing SCM Electrix’s set at Lion Night last week.

SCHUSTER KICKS HIS WAY TO TIE A

GSC RECORDSPORTS 1B

Hendricks named VP for University

Advancement

ADVANCEMENT

President Bill Cale announced Sept. 18 that Dan Hendricks has been hired as UNA’s new vice president for uni-versity advance-ment. Hendricks will assume his new position Oct. 15.

Cale said in a press release that Hendricks has an outstanding track record with uni-versity advance-ment programs. He has worked in simi-lar positions at several universities.

Offi cials hosted Hendricks as a vice

ALEX LINDLEY & BLYTHE STEELMAN

HENDRICKS

NEWS Sept. 20, 2012 • The Flor-Ala2ANews Briefs

Student Wellness Council to recruit in GUC Sept. 25 - 26

The UNA Student Wellness Council will be recruiting new members in the GUC from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sept. 25 and 26.

The group will be handing out fl iers and taking names and emails of students interested in joining the group.

The Student Wellness Council is a stu-dent-led wellness initiative that promotes student health on campus.

The group previously operated under the name K4L but is offi cially changing its name in its fi rst meeting this year in early October. Student Wellness Council is a temporary name for the organization until members decide the offi cial name at the fi rst meeting.

News Briefs are compiled by News Editor Alex Lindley. Email

alindley@una.edu or tweet @TheFlorAlex to have your

event featured in this section.

HAVE AN EVENT?

Geography department to host 8th

Annual ConferenceThe UNA Geography Alumni Asso-

ciation is hosting its 8th Annual Confer-ence Sept. 27 and 28. The conference will feature several workshops, lectures and events, including keynote speaker Juan Valdez.

Valdez is the geographer and National Geographic maps’ director of editorial and research.

Conference organizers are searching for papers and nominations for the geog-rapher of the year award for the confer-ence.

The recipient of the award will be honored during the conference. For more information, email contact@unagaa.org.

Leo III,Una ranked No. 1 live college mascotsLeo III and Una got more attention

than normal last week when TotalProS-ports.com ranked them No. 1 in the 25 Best Real Mascots in College Football.

Of the 25 schools recognized on the list, UNA is the only school that is not Division I.

But UNA’s lions have been recog-nized before: Leo II was designated as the nation’s second best mascot by Sports Illustrated.

The 9-year-old sibling lions—who live on campus in the George H. Carroll lion habitat—represent a nearly 40-year history of UNA having the lion as its mascot. They are also the only live lion mascots in the country housed on a uni-versity campus.

Recently, rumors have been circulat-ing among math students that the math building has been a little more crowded than usual—with fl eas.

Megan Kingsley, UNA junior, said she walked to her math class the week before Labor Day in a state of bliss. Af-ter waiting outside her classroom fi ve minutes, she texted a friend.

“She told me that 10 minutes before class, the teacher told everyone class was cancelled because the room was in-fested with fl eas,” Kingsley said. “I was angered that there was no note on the door, and I didn’t like the idea of pos-sibly catching Lyme disease, but at the same time I was happy that class was cancelled. Class met the next day in the same room.”

Kingsley said she was shocked that there was no method of communicating with the mass of students attending math classes and “expected the school to send out a LionAlert, email or note on the door at the very least.”

Like Kingsley, sophomore Katie Goldsmith went to class only to discover

it had been moved to Bibb Graves. “It would have been good to be in-

formed by the administration rather than through word-of-mouth, but I do under-stand why they want to keep that kind of stuff secret,” Goldsmith said. “It’s simi-lar to a lice outbreak—you don’t want that information being spread around, but if the population could be affected by it, you need to let them know.”

Goldsmith said the second fl oor of Lafayette Hall had recently encountered an abundance of fl eas and could only as-sume they came from the math building.

“I didn’t even know about fl eas being in our building until my roommate told me they sprayed in our room and we had to wear shoes in our own room—again, it’s a matter of a lack of communication with the people directly affected,” Gold-smith said.

CAMPUS

FLEAS ON CAMPUS

photo by CHRISTINA COVINGTON I Staff Photographer

Despite administrative efforts to exterminate fl eas spotted in the math building, Room 4 still remains closed due to linger-ing fl ea problems. Offi cials said they hired exterminators quickly after the infestation was discovered.

Class cancelled, moved due to flea infestationKALI DANIEL

POLITICS

Politicians overlook young voters

According to a recent Gallup poll, only 56 percent of voters between the ages 18 and 29 said they defi nitely will vote in the upcoming national elections.

The poll also shows that only 60 per-cent of this voting group is registered to vote. Older age groups have higher per-centages of registered voters and those that said they will defi nitely vote in the upcoming elections.

Christopher Maynard, professor of political science at UNA, said that, his-

torically, the younger voters do not ac-tually vote and are often overlooked by major political parties.

“Because they don’t vote in large numbers, neither major political party really reaches out to the young voters,” Maynard said. “They focus on the issues and the voting groups that will get them re-elected.”

In the 2008 election, the 18- to 29-year-old voting bloc supported Barack Obama 2-1 over John McCain, but those voters might not show up to the polls this time, according to the Gallup poll.

“In the 2008 election things were dif-

ferent,” Maynard said. “At the time can-didate Obama was younger than recent candidates. He also popularized himself by talking about sports and pop culture. These things made him more attractive to young voters.”

Maynard said the spike in voting among younger voters in the 2008 elec-tion is not being seen this time, based on the Gallup polls.

“If younger voters showed up consis-tently to the polls and made themselves a known voting bloc that politicians could count on, then politicians would start ad-

MATT WILSON

”AGAIN, ITʼS A MATTER OF A LACK OF COMMUNICATION

WITH THE PEOPLE DIRECTLY AFFECTED.

KATIE GOLDSMITH

NEWSSept. 20, 2012 • The Flor-Ala 3A

While retention rates vary from school to school, numbers have jumped slightly within the past several years from 67.0 percent in 2003 to 70.9 percent in 2010, according to UNA’s website.

UNA’s reports record freshman classes having between 900 to 1,000 students or more. These reports, however, also cite that these numbers typically drop by about 200 to 300 students between freshman and sophomore years.

Assistant Director for Success Initia-tives Jennifer Ballard had much to say about these retention rates.

“The fi rst six weeks (of the freshman year) are the most critical,” Ballard said.

Residence Life’s goal is to build a foun-dation from which students can grow and succeed at UNA. Residence Life is do-ing more to keep students informed and involved through things such as Play Fair,

Pride Week and the FOCUS community located in Rivers Hall, Ballard said.

Play Fair was an event for freshmen their fi rst night on campus to help get ev-eryone acquainted with each other. Pride Week was fi lled with events for everyone, starting with ice cream socials and ending with Foamapalooza, a dance party back-grounded with foam.

Both of these events took place the fi rst week that freshmen were on campus.

Ballard said she feels that each event was very successful in involving the students and helping them to inform them on all of the different organizations on campus.

Though Residence Life is striving to enhance the fi rst-year experience, numbers still drop between freshmen and sopho-more years, Ballard said.

Ballard said she believes this is because many students do not often understand the demands of college work, or they come to UNA to knock out their core classes before transferring to other schools to pursue pro-fessional programs, such as medical, nurs-ing or law school.

According to UNA’s website, the latter reason seems to be the most common. Most students tend to transfer from UNA rather than just drop out of college altogether.

For those students who do not fully re-alize the demands of college academics, Residence Life has devised the FOCUS community in Rivers Hall. This program includes many perks such as study sessions and access to the writing center on Mon-days and Thursdays.

“The number one way to ensure your stay is to make a connection and stay in-volved,” Ballard said.

Whether that be through Greek life, ac-ademics, or RSOs, it is imperative to fi nd a niche within the college community, Bal-lard said.

All of these statistics can be found on the university website, www.una.edu.

KATIE LINDSAY

Res Life fights to keepstudents in school

STUDENT SUCCESS

Listerhill and UNA are partnering up to form the Center for Financial Lit-eracy. This partnership will assist stu-dents in understanding fi nancial issues such as budgeting, student loans, and checking and savings accounts.

The Center for Financial Literacy will be offering free student checking and savings accounts, free debit cards, online banking, mobile banking, and the “oops” refund feature that will re-fund overdraft fees for up to fi ve times in a year.

“The primary goal is to educate students when it comes to personal budgeting, spending wisely, borrowing responsibly, and learning to establish credit while encouraging them to save for the future,” said Heather Brown, director of the Center for Financial Lit-eracy.

The center will be located in the up-coming Academic Commons Building, Brown said. Upon visiting the center, a student can expect help with transacting business, withdrawing and depositing money and practical fi nancial advice.

The center will help students with any questions or concerns about bal-ancing their checkbooks, using online and mobile banking services, fi lling out student loan applications and managing any student loans, Brown said.

The center will teach students how to create and stick to a budget, how to manage their money and spend it wise-ly, how to make their own fi nancial de-

cisions and how to save for the future, she said.

Brown said that, usually, high school curriculums skip over personal

money management skills, leaving col-lege students unprepared to keep up with their spending and confused by complicated loan application processes. The main focus of the Center for Finan-cial Literacy is to prepare students with a fi nancial knowledge to be successful, she said.

Many students receive large lump sums of money in refund checks from the university and might have trouble managing the money, Brown said.

“The concentration of this partner-ship is to help students learn to make a budget now and how to be wise (with their money) in the future,” she said.

The average college student gradu-ates from a four-year university with a student loan debt ranging from $11,000 to $32,000, according to studies by The College Board Advocacy and Policy Center.

“We want to help students learn to manage that debt and not incur more,” Brown said.

Students who take advantage of these opportunities for assistance with money management and budgeting will benefi t from the services offered, she said.

Brown said the center will also provide several job opportunities for students; offi cials are working closely with Career Planning and Development through LionJobs to employ full-time UNA students.

BRITTANY BUCKNER

Listerhill, UNA form financial literacy center

FINANCE

photo by JOSH SKAGGS I Executive Editor

The Hill employee Amanda Bliss helps students set up accounts and provides access to Listerhill’s fi nancial resources.

Math Department Chair Cynthia Stenger described the removal of the math building fl eas, contrary to campus rumors.

“We were moving desks in the rooms when we found fl eas in Rooms 4 and 6, after which we promptly sent out emails to the teachers with attached fl iers to put on the doors as to their class relocations,” Stenger said. “We called the exterminator that day and had the

rooms shut and locked for at least 24 hours before any students were allowed back in.”

While Room 4 is still currently closed to students due to remaining fl ea problems, Kingsley said this issue is not about school hygiene or the fl eas themselves, rather an administrative shortcoming regarding the welfare of the students.

IMAGES Sept. 20, 2012 • The Flor-Ala4A

PLAYINʼ THE GAME

photos by CHRISTINA COVINGTON & MICHAEL REDDING I Student Media Photographers

“Downtown adds to what UNA has to offer,” Shields said. “There’s a lot down here for students - they just have to ex-plore.”

The night featured musical perfor-mances by Madeleine Frankford, SCM Electrix and the Gnarley Charlies and, ad-ditionally, provided students with an op-portunity to take advantage of discounts and extended business hours offered by downtown restaurants, clothing stores and boutiques exclusively for the event.

“I really love the music, it’s really awesome, but there could defi nitely be more people here.” said sophomore Jodi Kimbrough.

Kimbrough’s sentiment was not an uncommon one. Many attendees seemed to think the event’s attendance was sparse.

Junior Lindsey Hamlin said students could have been staying in, preparing for bed and Friday morning classes.

“I expected there to be a ton of people here, but there were only a few,” she said.

Riley said the event was, perhaps, “under-promoted,” but maintains the SGA did an “excellent” job, when tak-ing into account the short amount of time they had to publicize it.

To market the event, Riley and the SGA produced a YouTube video, created a Facebook group, sent out a campus-wide email, and painted a mural on the exterior of the GUC.

News of the event did not reach every-one, though.

“I didn’t hear about (Lion Night) un-til today, actually,” said sophomore Tara Phillips.

Both she and Hamlin urged organiz-ers to advertise more aggressively in the future and said they believe the event will attract more people in time.

Regardless, Riley said most feed-back directed to SGA has been positive and said he “absolutely” intended to push for another Lion Night in the near future, hoping to schedule one as soon as April 2013.

photo by CHRISTINA COVINGTON I Staff Photographer

Students listen to SCM Electrix, a band made up of three UNA students. Sparse crowds are not going to keep Lion Night organizers from planning more down-town-oriented student events, offi cials said.

FEATURESept. 20, 2012 • The Flor-Ala 5A

BACK TALKCHECK OUT BACK TALK,OUR BI-WEEKLY VIDEO FEATURE, AT WWW.FLORALA.NET.

Thornell said the university is not currently showing particular interest in any one specifi c property, but Chinese businessman and partner Zhiting Zhang will be here in November and will hope-fully fi nalize plans at that time.

“We presume that at that time, Chair-man Zhang will either buy land or make an offer of some sort,” Thornell said.

While the program will begin during fall 2013, any physical structures associ-ated with the program will not be in place until fall 2014, Thornell said.

“After the land is purchased, we will secure an architect for the 2013 and 2014 school year,” Thornell said. “We’ll then try to have buildings, such as the residence halls and instructional facility, constructed by fall 2014.”

The university will now proceed with a faculty search for someone qualifi ed to teach graduate level courses within the concentration, said Tom Coates, chair of the health, physical education and recre-ation (HPER) department.

“The next step is going to be hiring a faculty member, hopefully by the end of the academic year,” Coates said. “If not, we’ll continue our search during the 2013 to 2014 academic year, with some-one on board for fall 2014.”

The HPER department will also begin scheduling courses, as well as advertis-ing the program and recruiting students, Coates said.

Integrative health, versus other health programs, seeks to explore the overall health of a person, including mental, physical and spiritual health, offi cials said.

“Integrative health seeks to fi nd the best strategies to help someone be as

completely healthy as possible,” Coates said.

The new concentration is special because it’s not offered in a traditional manner, offi cials said.

“The uniqueness of our program is that we’re not a medical school,” said Chunsheng Zhang, UNA vice provost for international affairs. “We’re not prac-ticing medicine. It is a high quality, ap-plied interactive program. The goal is to bring a global perspective to integrative health.”

The proposal for the concentration has been in the works for just over three years, Zhang said.

“It began in late fall 2009,” Zhang said. “The entire concentration presents a very unique opportunity to create a pro-gram based on existing programs.”

University offi cials have been work-ing alongside Zhang and the Guizhou Shenqi Group, which researches and

produces herbal medicines, to establish the integrative health concentration for international students, Zhang said.

“In China, there is a need for integra-tive health,” Zhang said. “Better health begins with preventative choices.”

The majority of enrollment in the program will come from Chinese stu-dents, Thornell said.

“China is drastically underserved in the healthcare fi eld,” Thornell said. “The rural communities have nothing, and the model we hope to develop includes edu-cating students that can go back to China and serve those people.”

The program can also serve many do-mestic students, too, offi cials said.

“We’ve received a lot of questions and interest from the community about the program,” Coates said. “It’s going to be a good mix of international and do-mestic students.”

presidential candidate Aug. 24 to allow him to address the UNA community about his plans for the advancement division if chosen. He said he wants to promote the university’s mission and bring meaning to that mission for alumni and donors.

“If we’re lucky, alumni will remem-ber for a lifetime their love and loyalty to this institution,” he said. “Advance-ment works only as a derived function of the educational mission of the uni-versity.”

Hendricks said he has several im-mediate goals to meet after he gets to campus.

“I want to fi rst get to know the staff, confer carefully with President Cale and get to know what the objec-tives will be,” he said. “I’ll engage as many of the alumni and donors as possible and work closely with faculty and alumni to see where advancement needs to move.”

Hendricks, a DePauw University graduate and master’s degree holder from Duke University, said he and his wife, Barb, were impressed with the university, he said.

“We were impressed by the stu-dents, the charm of the area and the Shoals,” he said. “We were received so graciously at UNA and overwhelmed by the beauty of the university.”

Hendricks and his wife are moving from Saint John, Ind. He is currently transitioning out of his most recent po-sition as vice chancellor for advance-ment at Purdue University at Calumet.

”I WANT TO FIRST GET TO KNOW THE STAFF, CONFER WITH PRESIDENT CALE AND GET

TO KNOW WHAT THE OBJECTIVES WILL BE.

DANIEL HENDRICKS

Live-on requirement details in works

Schools across the state and in the Ohio Valley Conference, the Division I conference UNA is looking at joining, have live-on requirements, Jacques said.

UNA President Bill Cale said in a release that statistics show students that live on campus perform better academi-cally and have a more successful college experience.

“The freshman year is the most im-portant year of college,” said David Shields, UNA vice president for student affairs in a release. “It’s a major transi-tion in a student’s life, and it’s a diffi cult transition for many students.

“That’s why we’ve applied the new freshman programs and initiatives that we have, and it’s why we’re developing a live-on requirement for freshmen. We’re here to help these students become a real part of this campus community, because when they do, their college experience will be a greater success. And that, in turn, will set them on a better course for life.”

The potential of the residence halls becoming over crowded is an issue of-fi cials are already working on, Jacques said.

A group of university offi cials is scouting locations for potential residence halls to be located on and the possibility of repurposing land around campus for new halls. Jacques said the offi cials are working on exclusions to the require-ment based on marital status, whether or not a student has children or their homes’ proximity to campus.

“We would be able to accommodate them (for the fall of 2014) … we know that there would be a percentage that would be excluded (because of param-

eters not yet put in place),” he said. Students like freshman Entertain-

ment Industry major Brett Burcham said although he is successful by living on campus, forcing students to do so is counterproductive. Burcham said that despite the convenience of living on campus, there are still some downsides.

“Stuff that a lot of kids don’t like, like community bathrooms and small living space and having a roommate…the fact that they are requiring students to do that is unfair,” he said.

Burcham said students should have the opportunity to live wherever they want, and that is one of the reasons he chose to come to UNA.

“I think that’s a great option to have, to be able to live off campus or on,” he said.

photo by KAYLA SLOAN I Chief Photographer

Rivers Hall is the home of a freshman success center that is for the freshman stu-dents living in the hall. The center offers students academic help and counsel-ing.

ALABAMA SCHOOLS WITH LIVE-ON REQUIREMENTS

• UNIV. OF ALABAMA

• ALABAMA A&M• JACKSONVILLE STATE UNIV. • TROY UNIVERSITY

• TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY

• UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA HUNTSVILLE

• UNIVERSITY OF MONTEVALLO

• UNIVERSITY OF WEST ALABAMA*SOURCE DEPARTMENT RESIDENCE LIFE

WE WANT YOUR FEEDBACK! TWEET US YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE NEW REQUIREMENT.

Following the recent Harvard cheat-ing scandal, a survey was conducted of over 14,000 undergraduates regarding cheating and academic dishonesty. The survey found that two-thirds of under-graduates admitted to cheating, accord-ing to an interview with National Public Radio.

Academic dishonesty covers two cat-egories: cheating and plagiarism, accord-ing to the university code of conduct.

“The policies are across the board,” said Kim Greenway, director of student conduct. “But if you violate the policy, you violate the policy. It’s as simple as that.”

Greenway said the academic dishon-esty policy has been revised and perked over the years, and the most recent ad-justments were made within the last cou-ple of years.

“It was really just clarifi ed,” Green-way said. “We wanted to be sure to really cover cheating in any form, specifi cally plagiarism.”

Plagiarism includes, but is not lim-ited to, the use of paraphrasing or direct quotations of published or unpublished works of another individual without full and clear acknowledgement. Plagiarism also includes the unacknowledged use of materials produced by a different indi-

vidual or agency involved in the selling of term papers or other academic materi-als, according to the university code of conduct.

Jim Riser, professor of English, ad-vocated heavily for the English depart-ment to adopt a plagiarism policy and awareness form all students must sign before beginning coursework in English courses.

“We were beginning to see a lot of problems with intentional and unin-tentional plagiarism,” Riser said. “We wanted and needed to bring that under control.”

The English department has utilized the form for approximately four years, Riser said.

“Personally, I’ve seen fewer instanc-es of plagiarism since we adopted the form,” Riser said. “It tells students that we take it seriously in our department.”

The distance learning program also requires students to follow the academic honesty policy of the university, accord-ing to the distance learning website.

Students enrolled in distance learning courses and testing on campus will uti-

lize the Remote Proctor Now software, according to the distance learning web-site. RPNow requires students to show via webcam a photo ID to confi rm iden-tity, as well as the room they are in, as to prove that cheating is not taking place.

The number of academic dishonesty cases reported is different each semester, Greenway said.

“The numbers fl uctuate,” she said. “I don’t doubt that we meet the statistics, but it’s not a huge number.”

Greenway said the conduct process for students found in violation of the aca-demic dishonesty policy could be either informal or formal.

“There are a couple of different ways to handle academic dishonesty,” Green-way said. “Informally, a student would meet with the course instructor, and the instructor could choose to fail them for the assignment or the course, or they

could decide on a different plan of action.“Formally, the student would go in

front of a university student conduct board, consisting of one staff member, one academic instructor, and three stu-dents.”

Greenway said consequences can vary.

“Sanctions range from required edu-cational programs to suspension for varied amounts of time,” she said. “We handle it very seriously. Part of it is that academic dishonesty affects the integrity of the institution.”

NEWS Sept. 20. 2012 • The Flor-Ala6A

IF YOU BELIEVE THAT There is only one God

Religion comes from GodHumanity is one family

Women and men are equal in the sight of God

Prejudice is destructive and must be overcome

Science and religion must be in harmony

THEN YOU MIGHT WANT TO INVESTIGATE THE BAHA’I

FAITHShoals Baha’is

2037 Huntsville Rd.

CRACKING DOWN ON CHEATERSCLASS

photo illustration by CHRISTINA COVINGTON I Staff Photographer

According to a recent survey of 14,000 college students, two-thirds of students admit to cheating or academic dishonesty. Academic dishonesty covers everything from copying answers from another student to intentional or even unintentional plagiarism, offi cials say.

Students caught cheating could face class failure, student conduct boardBLYTHE STEELMAN

”BUT IF YOU VIOLATE THE POLICY, YOU VIOLATE THE POLICY.

ITʼS AS SIMPLE AS THAT.

KIM GREENWAY

AT A GLANCE• TWO-THIRDS OF UNDERGRADS

ADMIT TO CHEATING, ACCORDING TO RECENT SURVEY

L i o n s Kicker Mi-chael Schus-ter and De-fensive Back Jalen Reedus

earned Gulf South Confer-ence Player of the Week honors for their perfomanc-es in the Sept. 15 game against Kentucky Christian University. The 39-0 game was the Lions’ fi rst shutout since 2009.

U N A ’ s overall en-r o l l m e n t numbers are down this year despite freshman enrollment num-bers having gone up.

After los-ing to the University of West Florida Sept. 16, the UNA wom-

en’s soccer team dropped one rank from No. 21 to No. 22 in the NCAA Divi-sion II poll.

In a re-cent study by the Trust for Ameri-ca’s Health and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Alabama ranked fourth in obesity and diabetes, fi fth in physical inactivity and fi rst in hypertension.

I am going to start this off by saying I love writing. Writing is the way I express my mind, heart, soul, pancreas. You name it - writing expresses it. With my degree in journal-ism and my experience with the paper, I hope to make a nice career for myself writing.

However, I am a woman of many dreams. I have decided to dedicate one year of my life after I graduate in May to fulfi lling a dream many people have, few people pursue and even fewer people succeed in: I’m going to Hollywood.

Let’s start this story off

right. Ever since I was a young teen, I have loved anime and cartoons. Anyone who knows me well enough has seen the wall scrolls of my favorite shows plastered all over my bedroom or peeked at my Face-book albums to see me grinning with my favorite voice actors. I said it. I am going to California to pursue a career in voice act-ing for animation.

Why did I choose to take this big (probably stupid) leap? It all clicked this summer.

Neon Genesis Evangelion was the anime that brought my attention to voice acting. The lead female character, Asuka, was loud, fearless and amazing. I wanted to be her.

Obviously, I can’t be an animated character (that I am aware of), so I settled on the next best thing: becoming an animated character’s voice.

Her English voice actor, Tiffany Grant, became my obsession. I even emailed her to get tips on how to make it in the business.

I fi nally met her over the summer and squealed like a fangirl when she signed my DVDs. My mind was made up. I had to throw away my doubts and fears.

The thing about this busi-ness is raw talent is a must. Period. Training is always encouraged but the general consensus of all that I have researched is that you have to be brave enough to jump right into it.

I have the raw talent. I may not be a songbird, but I do practice every chance I get to hone in all the voices I can do (my poor fellow editors are sick of me at this point).

The reason I am writing this to you, my lovely readers, is that I am encouraging you to be fearless.

Those impossible dreams all locked in your head? Let them out.

Follow them all the way to the end. Let us not become the next generation of regret.

OPINIONSept. 20, 2012 • The Flor-Ala 7A

JOSH SKAGGS

EXECUTIVE EDITORALEX LINDLEY

MANAGING/NEWS 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 REDDINGCHRISTI BRITTEN

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: 256-765-4364Advertising: 256-765-4427

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ANN HARKEY

With this weekend’s big rivalry game at Delta State coming up, I’ve been hearing a lot of doubt coming from some UNA students and fans.

Of course, I can understand this lack of belief coming from some. With our passing game still lacking, and only one impressive overall game from the Lions’ defense, it seems our team may be shaping up to be the Tony Romo of Division II football – inconsistent from one game to the next.

From what we’ve seen in the fi rst three games, the Lions (like Romo) have gone from good enough for a one-point win in game one, to shutting down and getting whipped in game two, to a refreshingly ag-gressive defensive and overall satisfactory showing to win game three.

After spending some time pouring over both teams’ sea-sons thus far, I have one thing to say to all the non-believers (and believers) of 2012 Lion football:

If you aren’t planning on going to this weekend’s DSU game, you should – you should at least follow it on Twitter if travelling is not possible. I am

hoping I do not end up eating my next words, but I think this game has the potential to be a good contest between two fairly evenly matched teams.

Judging by the teams’ stats, the Lions and the Statesmen are not so different from each oth-er: both teams are struggling in third-down conversions (DSU 43 percent, UNA 42 percent), and the teams are almost even in touchdowns scored (UNA 8, DSU 7). Meanwhile the teams have lost almost the same amount of yardage to penalties (DSU had had 19 penalties for a loss of 138 yds, UNA 18 for 150).

Additionally, both teams are under the leadership of a new coach, lost a good deal of senior players from last season and have a new face at starting quarterback.

UNA has completed more offensive yards than DSU, hav-ing 1,119 on the season while the Statesmen have 803. UNA’s total offense comes mostly from rushing (830 yds), while DSU’s are evenly split with 397 rushing yards and 406 passing.

UNA has racked up more fi rst downs than DSU as well, with 64 as opposed to the Statesmen’s 43. However, DSU is performing better in the red zone, completing 67 percent of touchdown attempts in the red, while UNA is completing only 45 percent of such attempts.

While the Lions have made six interceptions for 130 yards, the Statesmen have only made two for 41 yards. However, UNA has lost fi ve of eight fumbles, where DSU has lost

only one of three.One of the biggest threats

the Statesmen pose to the Lions, in my opinion, is their ability to sack the quarterback. DSU has recorded four sacks against its fi rst two opponents, taking 25 yards from them. In the Lions’ second game against Harding, Chris Alexander was sacked four times for a loss of 26 yards total.

Another issue worth point-ing out is that the majority of the Lions’ impressive stats come from last week’s game against Kentucky Christian University. The Lions played quite well in that game, and as a Lions fan I can only hope to see them continue to step up their game in the coming weeks.

If, however, the Lions revert back to the play they showed against Harding, this season is going to be a rocky one. Of course, the team is young and - as Coach Wallace has said himself - needs time to grow and to learn.

So, I am not saying we are going to show up in Cleveland and kick some Statesmen tail, and I certainly do not expect the team to be perfect – but I think we can at least give Delta State a run for its money, if not a second loss on their currently 1-1 season.

With that said – fans, I hope you’ll show support for your Lions in whatever way you can Saturday. Players and coaches, I hope you guys will show up with your A-game and show us what Lion football has to offer this season.

Lions stand chance against DSU

MALISA MCCLURE

SHOUT-OUT!

Congrats to Kali Daniel for being named Writer of the

Week for The Flor-Ala.

NEWS Sept. 20, 2012 • The Flor-Ala8A

Student Rec. Center

Guillot Center

2975 Hough Rd.314.4370

320 S. Pine St. 766.7005

ATMs on Campus Branch Locations

A recent study by Georgetown Uni-versity shows the number of jobs requir-ing a bachelor’s degree has increased by 2.2 million, while jobs requiring only a high school diploma have decreased by 200,000.

“The high school diploma by itself is rapidly becoming a credential that gives you little entrance into the job world,” said Thomas Calhoun, UNA vice presi-dent of academic affairs. “It is increas-ingly important that some post-secondary work be pursued and achieved.”

Students recognize the importance of college when it comes to getting jobs.

“I think having a degree will show

that you can stick with something for so many years and it gives you experience with people, more knowledge of the fi eld you are working toward, shows initiative and usually increases pay,“ said Katelyn Johnson, a UNA junior.

Job competition creates a need for ap-plicants to stand out to employers, and degrees alone don’t always translate into jobs, Calhoun said.

He said students shouldn’t adhere only to their majors in the job search.

“My fi rst job with a college degree was in a saw shop, building prefabricated houses and cutting sheetrock for $1.80 an hour,” Calhoun said. “That’s not what I went to college for.”

Vagn Hansen, dean of the UNA Col-lege of Arts and Sciences, said he encour-ages students not to be picky.

“I think it’s sad when people don’t seek out jobs they think are beneath them,” he said.

Calhoun said he suggests using time in a guaranteed job to fi nd areas where college-acquired skills are useful.

Samantha Fotovich, a junior elemen-tary education major, said it is more im-prtant to gain skills than knowledge.

“We are not just sitting in a lecture hall taking notes all day,” she said. “We are required to spend over 200 hours in the elementary school classroom—both observing and teaching—prior to gradu-ation.”

Hansen said college students should look ahead and become aware of opening job markets.

“I think it’s very wise for students to work with Career Planning and Develop-

ment to understand what occupational fi elds will be expanding,” Hansen said.

Hansen said a creative approach is the best solution for job seekers.

“Very often you need to try to get noticed in some positive ways,” Hansen said. “Creative people fi nd ways to get themselves positively noticed.”

College more important than ever, study saysDEGREES

file photo by Malisa McClure I Sports Editor

UNA students prepare to graduate and receive their degrees. A recent study conducted by Georgetown University shows that these students will be much more likely than ever to get jobs than applicants with only high school diplomas.

JARED MCCOY

dressing more of the issues that they are concerned about,” Maynard said.

UNA freshman Paige Drouillard said she does not plan on voting because she does not follow many of the issues or the candidates.

“I don’t think I’ll vote because I don’t really know much about the candidates or the issues,” said Drouillard. “I think if I did know more about the issues, that would make me more likely to vote.”

UNA senior Matt Bruce said it is a little bit different for him.

“I keep up with most of the major is-sues and where the candidates stand, but I feel a real disconnect with Washing-ton (D.C.) and most of the politicians,” Bruce said. “I have no idea what it’s like to be them, and they have no idea what my life is like either.”

Maynard said getting younger candi-dates elected would help with younger voters being more engaged and their is-sues being addressed.

“If you keep electing people that don’t share your own values, then you can’t expect them to make decisions that you always agree with,” Maynard said.

SPORTS Sept. 20, 2012 • The Flor-Ala • Sports Editor: Malisa McClure 256-765-5098SECTION B

IN THIS

SECTION

@FlorAlaSports

UNA Volleyballʼs Jessica Ronyak leads the Lions this season

See page 3B

OnlineKeep up with the

Lionsʼ weekend games online at

www.fl orala.net.

See page 4B

Students enjoy skateboarding on

campus

Follow us onTwitter!

See page 2B

Intramural program led by

students this year

UNA 39, KCU 0UNA 39, KCU 0

Schuster ties GSC record, Lions shut out KCU

The Lions were clicking on all cylinders Sept. 15 as they shut out Kentucky Christian 39-0 in their fi rst home win of the sea-son. UNA will try to carry the momentum gained in this game into conference play when it plays Gulf South Conference foe Delta State.

“I just talked about Delta State in (the locker room) and you can tell it is kinda like, ‘the real season is here,” said Head

Coach Bobby Wallace.The Lions will travel to

Cleveland, Miss. Sept. 22 to face Delta State. The Statesmen, who have an overall record of 1-1, have recorded 803 yards of total offense this season, compared to the Lions’ 1,119. Both teams are struggling in third-down conver-sions; however, the Statesmen are performing better in the red zone, scoring touchdowns 67 percent of the time, while the Li-ons have scored touchdowns only 45 percent in the red zone.

Both teams are under the

leadership of a new coach and new starting quarterback.

In the Sept. 15 game, two Lions made exceptional perfor-mances and were honored with GSC Player of the Week hon-ors. Kicker Michael Schuster tied UNA and GSC records af-ter making fi ve fi eld goals out of six attempts; he was named GSC Special Teams Player of the week. Defensive back Rod Woodson was named GSC De-fensive Player of the Week.

The Lions defense Sept. 15 was led by Woodson, who had an

interception, a forced fumble and fi ve tackles.

True freshman Jalen Reedus was also impressive in his colle-giate debut as he forced three of UNA’s fi ve takeaways.

“I just want to go out here and help my team the best way I can,” Reedus said.

After giving up 81 points and an average of 462 yards in their fi rst two games of the season, the Lions shut down the Knight of-fense, only allowing 181 yards

JAMES DUBUISSON

Soccer takes first loss from West Florida

UNA wrapped up a week-end of home games with a win against West Alabama Sept. 14 night and a loss to West Florida Sept. 16.

The Sept. 15 game saw the Lions take care of West Alabama easily behind two goals from Chloe Richards and Chloe Rob-erts’ 84th career goal. Ellis Hill-man added a goal and an assist on the night as well, leading UNA to defeat West Alabama 4-0.

Sept. 16’s game matched the Lions, ranked 21st nationally, against West Florida, ranked sev-enth.

The Lions jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the sixth minute thanks to a goal from Nikki Brown. Rob-

erts whipped in a corner kick that found Jennifer Osmond in the box. Osmond fl icked a header to-ward the back post where Brown was waiting to knock it in.

West Florida pulled level just before halftime when a high lob into UNA’s box caused problems for the Lions’ defense before be-ing headed in by West Florida’s Shelby Bush. Bush ended the day with a hat trick for the Argonauts.

MATT WILSON

photo by COURTNEY JONES I Student Photographer

Eddrick Harris (#40) and fellow players Floyd Jones (#16) and Stephen Evans (#73) run onto the fi eld before the Sept. 15 game against Kentucky Christian University. The Lions won 39-0, recording UNA’s fi rst shutout since 2009.

FOOTBALL

SOCCER

photo by ALLI OWNBY I Student Photographer

”If we take care of this upcoming weekend, we still set ourselves up for a good

position in conference.

NIKKI BROWN

UWF’s Daniela Cruz sends the ball up the fi eld Sept. 16 with UNA’s Chloe Roberts right behind her.

SPORTS Sept. 20, 2012 • The Flor-Ala2BStudents take charge of intramural program this yearINTRAMURALS

With intramural sports sign-ups be-ginning soon, UNA students can expect some changes to the program this year. Students are going to have bigger roles in the organization and running of intra-mural sports.

Intramurals will essentially be put in the students’ hands to meet the stu-dents’ needs. Dexter Shorter, formerly in charge of intramural sports, is no longer employed by the UNA Student Recre-ation Center.

“Dexter Shorter accepted a position at Ohio State University as a coordinator of intramural sports,” said Jim Eubanks, the director of recreational sports and fi t-ness at UNA. “Intramural sports will be managed and operated by a group of stu-dents pursuing Collegiate Recreation as a major or career.”

Eubanks said Shorter’s position may be fi lled later, but for now intramural sporting events and organization will be operated by students. Eubanks will also be helping fi ll Shorter’s position until the students get in the swing of things.

Although the person over intramural sports is changing, the sporting events are not.

“Flag football and volleyball will be the main activities,” Eubanks said. “The activity offerings will be established by Sept.18 and then published thereafter.”

So far, no intramural sporting events

have happened because of all the differ-ent activities on campus, Eubanks said. After Greek recruitment takes place, teams will be divided and schedules will be made. Any student may start a team or join an existing team, if they have enough members.

UNA Fitness Coordinator Glenda Richey said a rough estimate of about 175 students participate in intramurals

each year, forming about 80 teams in all. Eubanks said he hopes to provide stu-

dents with individual and dual sporting activities in intramurals this year. Any student interested in signing up for intra-mural team sports can fi nd all the infor-mation they need at the SRC or on their UNAPortal account. There is also a rule-book for intramurals located on UNA’s website.

The intramural program is just one of many serivces the SRC provides to help students stay healthy. The promotion of healthy lifestyles is the center’s main goal, according to its mission statement.

The SRC is open for students daily. It offers basketball and volleyball courts, various exercise classes, and a World of Wings Cafe & Wingery.

BREKEN TERRY

Students participate in an intramural volleyball match in October 2011. This year, students will have a more active role in organizing intramurals.

file photo by MALISA MCCLURE I Sports Editor

This week on Twitter

Will the @Roarlionsvb_UNA (UNA Volleyball) team be able to pull it together at home this week and

improve its record?Tweet @FlorAlaSports@FlorAlaSports using the hashtag

#FAvballPoll#FAvballPoll with your answer and you could win a free Flor-Ala T-shirt!

Take our poll of the week!

Ladies - what are you wearing to the Sept. 29 @UNAfootball@UNAfootball homecoming game?

Tweet @FlorAlaSports@FlorAlaSports with your style ideas!

SPORTSSept. 20, 2012 • The Flor-Ala 3BLeading hitterLeading hitter

Radecki: Ronyak leads vocally, by example

VOLLEYBALL

Jessica Ann Ronyak, a junior psychol-ogy major, is a 5’10” offensive hitter for UNA volleyball who fi nished last season with a total of 244 kills and 256 digs.

Ronyak, who is this season’s team captain for the Lions, already has 45 kills and 51 digs on the 2012 season.

She is the daughter of David and Stephanie Ronyak. She was born Sept. 23, 1990. Ronyak has two brothers, Jason and Jerrod. The family is from Burton, Ohio.

Ronyak said she enjoys hanging out with her team. She said this year’s team has great chemistry and that the players are much like a family.

“I’ve always loved volleyball because it’s a team sport,” Ronyak said. “Every point scored is a team effort.”

Ronyak also played offensive hitter throughout high school at Berkshire High School in Ohio. She was a four-time all-conference selection and was awarded Chagrin Valley Conference MVP her junior and senior years (07-08). Ronyak was also selected as a second team All-State her senior year.

Head coach Stephanie Radecki com-plimented Ronyak’s character.

“She’s an extremely tough kid; she always works really hard,” Radecki said. “She is an excellent leader — not just vo-cally but also by example. She is always encouraging the team, no matter what.”

Ronyak played her 2010 season at NCAA Division I Kent State. There, she had 24 kills, 11 assists, eight service aces, 78 digs and 18 total blocks.

The UNA volleyball team has strug-gled as a whole this season, posting a re-cord of 1-6 as of Sept. 17. Ronyak said that even though the team is inexperi-enced right now, they are working out the kinks.

“We have some great hitters this year — Priscilla (Massengale) and Cara (Gregg) are really talented,” she said.

Ronyak also said she believes the Li-ons have a strong defense this year.

Radecki said her biggest goal for the girls right now is for them to improve. She said she feels this is a good area of strength for Ronyak.

“Jess was quickly known as a leader

and captain,” Radecki said. “She’s the fi rst kid I’ve ever named captain within two weeks. I expect a lot from my cap-tains.”

Radecki said Ronyak is great with go-

ing between the team.Ronyak said she feels confi dent in her

serve as well as her ability to make quick sets. Last season, she was selected for the second-team All-Gulf South Conference.

AUBREE WHITE

photo by CHRISTINA COVINGTON I Staff Photographer

Junior offensive hitter Jessica Ronyak is this year’s team captain for the Lions vol-leyball team. Head Coach Stephanie Radecki said Ronyak leads her team both by example and by being very vocal on the court.

Keepinʼ up with the

LionsThis weekʼs UNA scores, stats and

other tidbitsFOOTBALL (2-1)

UNA - 39KCU - 0

The Lions recorded their fi rst shutout since 2009 against Kentucky Christian University at Braly Stadium Sept. 15. Kicker Michael Schuster tied school and Gulf South Conference records, scoring fi ve fi eld goals out of six attempted. Defensive Back Rod Woodson recorded fi ve tackles, an interception, a forced fumble, tipped pass and a blocked punt. Both Schuster and Woodson earned GSC Player of the Week honors. The Lions play their fi rst GSC game of the season against rival Delta State in Cleveland, Miss., Sept. 22.

SOCCER (4-1, 1-1)

UWF- 4UNA- 1

After defeating the University of West Alabama Sept. 14 at home, the Lions lost their fi rst game of the season to GSC rival University of West Florida Sept. 16. The Lions play at Valdosta State Sept. 21 and the University of West Georgia Sept. 23.

VOLLEYBALL (1-7)

After losing to Rollins and Florida Southern in the 2012 Armstrong Atlantic Pirate Vol-leyball Classic Sept. 14, the Li-ons dropped their GSC opener at West Alabama Sept. 16. The Lions host GSC teams Valdosta State and West Florida Sept. 21 and Sept. 23 at Flowers Hall.

GOLF

The Lions held fi rst place in the Kiawah Island Invitational at the University of South Carolina Sept. 16 to 18. Ricky Stiments shot a six-under-par 66 in the opening round, and the Lions won the Invitational by one stroke. The team will compete in the AFLAC Intercollegiate at Columbus State University Oct. 1 and 2.

Head Coach Graham Winkworth said giving up the goal just before halftime changed things for his team.

“Allowing them to equalize before half changed our mindset, our body lan-guage,” Winkworth said. “We were con-fi dent and in control up until that point.”

The second half saw sweeping chang-es in momentum in both directions. West Florida picked up where they left off in the fi rst half and created scoring chances early and often in the second half. Bush scored the second of her three goals on a cross fi ve minutes after the restart.

It seemed as though UNA had been eclipsed by the momentum until around the hour mark when Roberts was brought down inside the West Florida box and awarded a penalty kick. UNA trailed 2-1 at the time and could have gone level with

a goal, but the West Florida goalkeeper came up with a big save on Roberts’ pen-alty kick and Brown’s ensuing rebound shot.

Winkworth said the missed penalty kick was evidence of the kind of day the Lions were having.

“If we (had made) that penalty kick and even(ed) the score, the result could have been much different,” Winkworth said.

West Florida scored again in the 67th and 72nd minutes, bringing the fi nal score to 4-1.

Julia Osmond said the defense needs to work on minimizing individual mis-takes.

“The defense has been playing solid as a unit this season — we just need to work on stopping making individual mis-

takes at the back,” she said.Brown said that after a tough loss, it is

time to wipe the slate clean.“The upper classmen have experi-

enced losing to West Florida before, so the team is feeling kind of down,” Brown said. “However, we know that we have to wipe the slate clean and focus on the next game as they come thick and fast during the season.

“If we take care of this upcoming weekend, we still set ourselves up for a good position in conference.”

The Lions travel to Valdosta State Sept. 21 and West Georgia Sept. 23 for two important conference games.

The Lions’ next home game will be homecoming weekend on Sept. 28 against Christian Brothers.

CROSS COUNTRY

After having a week off, the Lions will compete in the Falcon Classic in Montevallo Sept. 22.

SPORTS Sept. 20, 2012 • The Flor-Ala4BStudents, officials: skateboarding could be allowed on campusCAMPUS RECREATION

UNA’s campus is an enjoyable place to skateboard, according to some stu-dents. Campus police, however, main-tain that skateboarding is illegal on cam-pus, though future concessions could be made.

“The reason we don’t allow skate-boarding on campus is twofold: damages and the possibility of injury,” said Bob Pastula, UNA chief of police, “There is a possibility we could allow students to ride skateboards on campus if they are responsible. This would be a decision made by our executive board.”

Pastula said the damage done to cam-pus rails and sidewalks by skateboarders is the main reason for the current rules against skating.

“Another example is the fountain on campus,” Pastula said. “It is made of a soft composite material that could be chipped or broken off if someone was to jump or stand on it. That’s one of my main concerns about future damages.”

Pastula said he is aware of students using skateboards solely for commuting on campus.

“If the students wanted to take action to change the current rules, I’d have no problem with that,” Pastula said. “They would just need to show that they would comply with the new rules once the rules are in place.”

John Marquez, a freshman at UNA, said he enjoys doing tricks on campus but only does so at night.

“I usually go to the top of the parking deck to stay out of people’s way,” Mar-quez said. “It’s nice up there because it’s the least (monitored) area of campus.”

Marquez said students, including himself, like to skate on the main cam-pus because of the landscape.

“It lets me express myself on smooth pavement and has hills so you don’t have to walk everywhere,” Marquez said. “For a professional skate video, this would be the place.”

Marquez said he also skates down-

town and that there is a public skate park, located a few miles from campus.

“I know it’s illegal to skate on cam-pus,” Marquez said. “I’ve seen the sign and I get it. It wouldn’t be good to ruin any type of structures or go running into students. I think it’s completely under-standable.”

Clark Greer, a junior at UNA, said he frequently used his longboard for trans-portation while living on campus. Greer said he believes that using a longboard

to commute should be no different than riding a bike on campus.

“I’ve actually fallen off of a bike on this campus way more than I have fallen off of a longboard,” Greer said. “If you are responsible, you’re not going to get hurt.”

Greer said the campus terrain is great for longboarding and that it is not hard to be safe around other students.

“I don’t usually wear a helmet on campus because I’m not going to be do-ing anything crazy,” Greer said. “If they wanted to set that as a rule, I would com-ply.”

Greer said he is not sure that all stu-dents would comply with a new set of rules.

“I don’t think the guys who ride skateboards to do tricks would wear hel-mets or stop tricking on campus,” Greer said. “I think maybe if the trick skaters got a ticket or their name taken, then they would consider it.”

PACE HOLDBROOKS

Though signs posted throughout UNA’s campus prohibit skateboarding, many students think the activity should be allowed. And, according to UNA Police Chief Bob Pastula, concessions could be made to accomodate skateboarders.

”If the students wanted to take action to change the current rules,

Iʼd have no problem with that. They would just need to show that they would comply with the new rules

once the rules are in place.

BOB PASTULA

photo illustration by COURTNEY JONES I Student Photographer

the whole game. They also forced two safeties.

“They say that (our defense) was the weakest link, but we had to come out here and show that we are better than what we have been showing,” Reedus said.

“I thought the defense played out-standing,” Wallace said. “They turned the ball over to the offense, so they got the ball back for them.”

The Lions’ offense was led by the feet, not the arm, of quarterback Chris Alexander. Alexander rushed for 132 yards on 20 carries including a nine-yard touchdown in the fi rst quarter. He was 8-18 with 129 yards passing on the night. Chris Coffey also had a 100-yard rushing night, having 100 yards on eight carries. True freshman Diamond Simmons had an impressive debut as his second career carry was a 76-yard touchdown run that put the Lions up 32-0 with 3:32 left in the game.

“Offensively we moved the ball up and down the fi eld. Obviously the red zone offense was a struggle; we (have) got to come up with an answer for (what) they were doing to us down there,” Wal-

lace said. “The kicking game was phe-nomenal.”

Michael Schuster tied the school re-cord for fi eld goal makes in a game. He made fi ve fi eld goals and had two punts downed on the one yard line.

“I couldn’t have done anything with-out all of my teammates ... My snapper Josh Roberts and my holder Daniel Al-mon — without them I am nothing. They have to do their jobs, and I have to do mine for all of us to work,” Schuster said.

Schuster was named GSC Player of the Week for his performance in the game, which included a career long 50-yard fi eld goal. Coach Wallace said he believes Schuster has even more leg strength.

“If it is the last play of the game, I feel comfortable with him from 65 yards. I have no question that he can make a 65-yard fi eld goal,” Wallace said.

As for Delta State next week, Wallace and the Lions are looking to take the fi rst step toward their ultimate goal.

“We are getting into conference play and that is our fi rst goal: to try to win the conference,” Wallace said. “We got a

long way to go if we (are) going to do it, but we (are going) to make strides every week and see what happens.”

Delta State proved troublesome for the Lions last year as the Statesmen de-feated UNA twice. Once came in the reg-ular season, and the second time came in the second round of the NCAA Division II National Championship playoffs.

Can’t make it to the game? Make sure to follow @FlorAlaSports for live updates throughout the game.

True freshman Jalen Reedus picks off a pass during the Sept. 15 game against Kentucky Christian University. The Lions travel to Delta State Sept. 22.

photo by COURTNEY JONES I Student Photographer

photo by MICHAEL REDDING I Staff Photographer

Freshman running back Diamond Sim-mons (#32) celebrates a touchdown in the Sept. 15 game against Kentucky Christian University.

LIFESept. 20, 2012 • The Flor-Ala 5B

WHATʼS IT WORTH?

Tipping the server is often an afterthought of the dining pro-cess, and few can agree on the right way to do it, especially when college students are notorious for being cheap. To make tipping less of a nail-biting experience, UNA students offered helpful tips on tipping the server.

Most servers report work for less than minimum wages, com-monly $2.13 per hour, relying on tips for the rest of the wage they take home. According to Alabama law, the employer is required to compensate the server if he or she does not make it to the $7.25 per hour minimum wage mark.

UNA sophomore Bonita Hui-Hui serves at Stanfi eld’s Steak-house in Rogersville. Before that,

ELISE COFIELD

Boxcar Voices gives students a venue for expression

Grades. Family. Strip Clubs. Teach-ers. Sex. Regrets. Hope. This is only a small sample of topics that were brought up as UNA students took part in a poetry reading Sept. 13 at the end. theatre in Florence.

Boxcar Voices is a regular event that is gaining momentum here at UNA. The small theater located a few minutes from campus was fi lled with laughter and emo-tion throughout the event.

Andy Thigpen, a UNA student who helped formed Boxcar Voices in March 2011, said the event gives students a chance to be creative without being judged.

“Anyone who wants to participate can express themselves in an environ-ment where people are open and receiv-ing,” Thigpen said. “Here, people can say things they might be ashamed of in the real world.”

UNA graduate J. Scott Long is owner of the end. theatre. He opens his estab-lishment to the sounds of Boxcar Voices

as a way to help give back to the school and community he loves.

“It’s a great way to get your feet wet,” Long said. “Students have the op-portunity to enhance their resume cre-atively, put themselves in front of a dif-ferent audience and get involved with the community.”

The event is free to the public with small donations being accepted to help cover the costs of opening the theater.

“Any extra money will be used to help bring well-known poets and established writers into the event,” Thigpen said.

Boxcar Voices is open to everyone, not just English majors. Attendees are en-couraged to join in, but it is not required.

“For every person that reads, there are three or four that will not get up and read,” Thigpen said. “And that’s fi ne be-cause the audience is needed just as much

as the artists.” “This is a chance for UNA students to

see this whole other creative universe,” Long said. “We get students from all sorts of majors coming in here, and they all seem to really enjoy it a lot.”

Boxcar Voices is currently a poetry and storytelling event, but Thigpen said he plans to branch out in many ways over the course of this school year.

“This area has so much culture and history, especially musically,” Thigpen said. “Singer-songwriter nights, movie nights and the dramatic readings of books such as ‘The Great Gatsby’ will all be a part of Boxcar Voices in the future.”

Boxcar Voices will also be participat-ing in UNA’s Storytelling Festival this year.

“People will be competing for the best story, and the top three will go on to read in the festival,” Thigpen said.

Boxcar Voices had less of a competi-tive vibe and seemed more like an eclec-tic family reunion or party.

“It’s a breath of fresh air” said Jona-thon Dunlap, a UNA student who per-formed two poems at the event. “It’s good to see all this creative energy fl ow-ing through Florence.”

TAIMA NAGLE

photo illustration by ERIN SKIPPER I Student Photographer

”ITʼS GOOD TO SEE ALL THIS CREATIVE ENERGY FLOWING THROUGH FLORENCE.

JONATHON DUNLAP

In this section:

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check out our website!www.fl orala.net

See page 7BUNA student Loic Dimithe shares about his involvement on campus

See page 7BMediators on campus help stu-

dents resolve confl icts

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around UNA? Follow me!

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LIFE Sept. 20, 2012 • The Flor-Ala6B

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she held a job at Walmart, earning a set wage. She prefers working for tips and has become a favorite among her customers.

“It’s more about your personali-ty and how much you truly care for your customers,” she said. “If you don’t care for your customers, they kind of notice.”

Junior Stephanie Fitzgerald serves at Ruby Tuesday’s in Mus-cle Shoals. Last week, she served four pastors whose check totaled $83. After lingering past closing time, they left her a tip of 17 cents. Instances like these are fairly com-mon, she said.

“The fact that I work two jobs and go to school and served them as they treated me like a dog and talked about God’s grace at the same time was just too ironic,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s expected that you pay 15 percent for average ser-

vice and 20 for good service, and I guess they just didn’t realize that, or they were just too rude to care.”

Students are willing to tip serv-ers more with a better “attitude”.

“It starts with attitude,” said senior culinary major Tyler Layne, who works as sous chef at Sweet Magnolia Café.

“A lot of people don’t realize, in the service business, that your job there is to serve people. You’re not there to enjoy yourself—you’re there as a job. If they keep a good attitude and they’re happy to serve you, then I usually tip pretty well.”

Jonathan Oliphant, a junior at UNA, said the server’s personality is a far more important factor than service quality on the amount he tips.

“I’ve been to Legends a hand-ful of times, and every time I’ve felt like I had a relationship with the server,” Oliphant said. “I don’t know who they are, I’ve never met them before, but I feel like they’re my friends by the way they inter-

act. It’s like you’re being waited on by your friends.”

Fitzgerald said getting to know her guests and including that she is a student generally reaps better tips.

“The more that you can get people to relate to you, the more they’ll tip you,” Fitzgerald said. “If they don’t know anything about you, don’t know your name, in their mind, you’re not really a per-son. You’re just bringing them their food.”

Some students tip better when they fi nd their server attractive.

“It defi nitely doesn’t hurt if the waiter’s hot,” said sophomore Kai-tlyn Wilson.

Students often build relation-ships with servers they see often.

“I tip at places that I frequent a lot or for servers that I know well,” said freshman Ashlyn Brown, add-ing that her tip depends on service quality, food preparation time and attentiveness.

There are times where people do

not tip their server because they did not meet expectations.

“I once had a server who was a complete jerk to everybody in my group,” Layne said. “He was being really rude to us. So when I got the bill, I wrote ‘no tip’ on the ticket and felt pretty good about it.”

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LIFESept. 20, 2012 • The Flor-Ala 7BStudent seeks

to start an undergraduate

journalGIVE AND TAKE

Mediators on campus offer students conflict-resolution advice

photo illustration by ALLI OWNBY I Student Photographer

According to UNA offi cials, a mediator’s job is not to reconcile relationships, but to help the parties involved agree on an out-come.

Confl ict is something that almost every-one encounters at some point in their lives, and one way of dealing with confl ict is through mediation.

Confl ict mediation is a service avail-able for UNA students who are having prob-lems.

Kimberly Greenway, director of student conduct and student affairs assessment, said UNA mediates matters such as friendship or romantic situations, roommate misunder-standings or issues involving property, and students can come by or call their offi ce — which handles all conduct and complaints—if they need assistance.

Tammy Jacques, director of student en-gagement, said that when confl ict arises it is usually due to mix-ups or misperceptions between individuals.

“People act out, or they make statements or judgment calls based on misinformation, so it’s important to not make assumptions,” Jacques said.

Jacques said individuals should “sit down and try to understand one another” if there is a difference of opinions, and the me-diator needs to be a neutral third party.

A mediator’s goal is to enable the differ-ent parties to reach some sort of resolution to their dispute, Jacques said. She said the mediator should not dictate what the resolu-tion will be.

“The resolution of the confl ict needs to be owned by the parties involved,” she said.

Mediators do not fi x the problem—they

simply assist those involved in resolving their own issues, she said.

Greenway said mediating is “a pretty formal process so that you keep things civil.” Mediators are not trying to reconcile relationships—they are trying to help the parties involved to come up with and agree upon the outcome.

Greenway gave the example situation of a student borrowing another’s book, result-ing in both students claiming ownership. In this instance, the mediator could ask a ques-tion such as “Can you concede the book

once belonged to this person?” Questions can help people consider different angles and lead to an eventual agreement.

Jacques said a person trying to mediate a confl ict needs to “keep things in perspec-tive and not overdramatize issues” as well as remain neutral.

In Greenway’s department, informal me-diation occurs sometimes daily or weekly, but formal mediation usually does not occur more than two or three times a semester.

“(In a formal mediation) when they leave the room there is a written agreement,” Gre-enway said.

Jacques said student organizations rarely need mediation—maybe once a year. Green-way said mediation is probably used most

commonly in Residence Life. UNA student Travis Dykes said a media-

tor should try to get those involved in a con-fl ict to compromise.

“Both people have to lose something,” Dykes said. “Confl icts never resolve per-fectly.”

Dykes has successfully mediated con-fl ict in the past.

“First I see what each person has a prob-lem with in the confl ict,” he said. “Then I analyze it and see what each person could lose or gain, and try to fi gure out a compro-mise.”

Dykes said he normally does not have much confl ict in his life, but when a dispute does occur, “a lot of confl ict comes into play.”

UNA student Dalton Anderton said there are “minimal amounts” of confl ict in his life, and that he and his friends “refrain from ar-guing.”

Anderton said a mediator needs to be reasonable and should be able to read at least some body language.

“A mathematician should be a good me-diator because their focus is on solving prob-lems,” he said.

Dykes said one of the worst things a me-diator could do is to spread untruthful infor-mation about a person that could “infl ame the argument or confl ict.”

Anderton said a mediator should not add to the dispute by cheering on the confl icting opinions.

Greenway’s advice to students who are trying to mediate a confl ict is to make sure they are listening to both the perspectives and emotions that they are dealing with.

LYNN ECCLESTON

A senior majoring in eco-nomics and fi nance, Loic Dim-ithe is a member of several campus organizations, including honor societies such as Phi Eta Sigma, Alpha Lambda Delta, Delta Mu Delta and Phi Kappa Phi.

“My family and I are origi-nally from Cameroon, which is a country in central Africa,” Dim-ithe said. “We immigrated to this country when I was barely one. We moved to Michigan, which is where I grew up and spent most of my early childhood.”

Dimithe said his father’s work as an international econo-mist dictated that his family move often.

“ I lived in Florence when I was in m i d d l e s c h o o l , and I g r a d u -ated from high school in Cullman,” he said. “It seemed ideal for me to come back to this area. UNA’s tuition really at-tracted me, which is slowly los-ing its appeal.”

Dimithe said he plans to be-come an attorney after graduat-ing from UNA.

“It’s always been something that’s in the back of my mind – being an attorney,” he said. “I’m a member of the UNA mock tri-als team, which also helps me get courtroom practice. Cur-rently, I work as a legal clerk at Bunch & James law fi rm. I’ve been there for a year now. It’s been a great experience working in the legal profession and learn-ing from people who are actually practicing,” he said.

Over the summer, Dimithe attended the Phi Beta Lambda National Leadership Conference in San Antonio, Texas, and par-ticipated in a competition there.

“We compete in various cat-egories of business,” he said. “This summer, I competed in macroeconomics and business law. We compete at the state lev-el fi rst and at the national level if we qualify at state. At the na-tional level, I got second place in macroeconomics and third place in business law.”

Dimithe said he is currently trying to establish an academic journal at UNA.

“One thing I’m working on right now that I want people to be aware of is that I’m working on establishing an undergradu-ate journal in the College of Business,” he said.

LUKE SMITH

”BOTH PEOPLE HAVE TO LOSE SOMETHING.CONFLICTS NEVER RESOLVE PERFECTLY.

TRAVIS DYKES

DIMITHE

EXTRA Sept. 20, 2012 • The Flor-Ala8BTweets of the week DISCLAIMER: The tweets below are public tweets found on Twit-

ter by searching hashtags and keywords involving UNA, Florence, Shoals and other university-related topics. Want to see yours on

here? Be sure to hashtag UNA and Shoals in your tweets.