‘Tomb Raider’ makes return

Page 8

Trojans won’t dance

Page 10

Grad takes to inspiring others

Page 6

Volume LXXXV Number XI The University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Student Newspaper Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Visit us Online

ualr.edu/forum

News in a

FLASH

IndexOpinions NewsFeaturesEntertainmentSports

23-4

56-7

8

Winthrop Rockefeller Institute Film Forum artistic director Robert Walden, who was nominated for an Emmy in 1981 for his role as reporter Joe Rossi in TV series Lou Grant, is scheduled to be interviewed by Arkansas filmmaker Tim Jackson during a speaking event called “The Power of Film to Effect Change” [SIC] at the Clinton School of Public Service’s Sturgis Hall noon Friday, March 15.

The Arkansas Association for the Assessment of Collegiate Learning is scheduled to host its annual spring conference 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, March 27 in UALR’s Donaghey Student Center, during which Peter Ewell, vice president of the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, will deliver the keynote speech and a lecture on the basics of assessment.

The UALR Institute of Race and Ethnicity is scheduled to host the 10th annual Racial Attitudes in Pulaski County Conference Thursday, March 28 in the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall in the Fine Arts Building, during which findings of the UALR Institute of Government’s 2012-13 crime and punishment survey will be presented.

Charles Hathaway, chancellor emeritus and Donaghey Distinguished Professor, is scheduled to receive the Fribourgh Award during a reception at the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 4, for which tickets at $75 per person and will benefit the College of Science’s Leadership Endowed Scholarship Fund.

SOCIALizewith US!

The UALR Forum

@TheUALRForum

Breaking News

Photo Galleries

Trojan Sports

Jennifer EllisExecutive Editor

See GUNS, page 3

Students elect challenger in student government race

Howl no!

Members of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, who took home the trophy for most spirited student organization, cheer on the Trojans in a 78-71 victory over rival Arkansas State University at UALR’s homecoming game March 2. Don-ning the fraternity’s Trojan costume, James Bell won most spirited individual. Photo by Jennifer Ellis

Trojan spirit soars at Homecoming game, regatta

The Arkansas legislature re-cently voted to approve legis-lation that will permit trained and licensed faculty and staff to now carry concealed weapons at public educational institu-tions in the state.

House Bill 1243 was pro-posed last month by Republican Arkansas Rep. Charlie Collins of Fayetteville, who introduced the bill to for a third reading Feb. 25, noting that allowing concealed weapons would help deter crimes.

Following the reading, the bill cleared the House with a 70-11 vote and the Senate with a 31-4 vote.

Several measures were taken in crafting the bill to ap-pease those who were reluctant to accept the legislation. For ex-

Legislation to allow guns on campus, Chancellor opposedKenDrell Collins

Assistant Editorample, the presence of firearms on residential campus areas is prohibited. An opt-out provi-sion was also added to the bill for colleges that do not wish to participate. However, the deci-sion to decline the measure is only effective for one year; the gun ban must then be readopt-ed by the administration, if it chooses to do so.

“If the bill becomes law, we will consult our general coun-sel, the chair of our board of trustees and the leaders of the individual campuses before making a policy recommenda-tion to the board that considers all aspects of the law,” said Ben Beaumont, spokesman for the University of Arkansas System.

One such campus leader is UALR Chancellor Dr. Joel An-derson, who said that he is op-posed to allowing guns on the

Little Rock campus.

“I don’t think it would make the campus safer. As a matter of fact, I think it would in-crease the risk of inju-ry or death by firearm,” Anderson said.

The chancellor discussed the issue of putting faculty in a position to respond to situa-tions for which they are not ad-equately trained. “My concern is that people shoot the wrong person,” said the chancellor, adding that he has close friends that carry concealed weapons. Anderson said that, in his opin-ion, the short training that car-

riers receive does not prepare them to the extent that police officers are trained.

The chancellor is not alone in his opposition to the bill. Ev-ery chancellor and president in the state opposed the legisla-tion, particularly in its original form, he noted. "So I don’t think that anyone, any of the chancel-lors, will be for guns on their campus."

Anderson asserted that schools are among the safest places to be and that bringing guns on campus poses several problems. He quoted U.S. Jus-tice Antonin Scalia, known for his conservatism, who stated in 2008 in D.C. v. Heller, “Like most rights, the Second Amend-ment right is not unlimited.” In the same discussion, Scalia characterized schools as being

Anderson

All hail the queen

Bre’Anna Green, a senior journalism major sponsored by the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, was voted homecoming queen. Photo by Jennifer Ellis

Lauren McNeaill and “Trey” Joe Gibeault were elected Stu-dent Government Association president and vice president March 5, beating incumbents Rizan Mohsin and Ed Hernan-dez 172-145.

“I’m honestly just grateful,” McNeaill said. “I was out of state during both days of the elections, and I knew how im-portant it would be to have a dedicated team. Trey, Aaron [Cantu, the team’s campaign manager], and the rest of the crew took care of business and

now we’re just look-ing forward to bringing this campus to life.”

Andrew W i d e m a n and Aaron L a z e n b y were elect-ed Senators of the Col-

lege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences with 22 votes each. Caity Nguyen received 19 votes and Geoffrey Bara had 14 votes.

Jarques Smith, who was the

only candidate for the College of Business, received 23 votes.

In the College of Science, incumbent Brett Clark was re-elected with 31 votes and Brian Michael Rayburn got 30 votes, defeating Saad Azam and Win Lubana with 25 and 14 votes, respectively.

Natasha Jaffar of University College received the highest number of votes in a senate race with 69; and Sana Khan was also elected to represent the college with 48 votes.

There was a 2.58 percent voter turnout with 320 stu-dents voting out of the 12,427 total potential voters.

McNeaill

Jennifer EllisExecutive Editor

A Florida administrator and former UALR provost candi-date was appointed Feb. 28 by the University of Arkansas Sys-tem as next chancellor of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.

Laurence Alexander, 53, who currently serves as a pro-fessor and administrator at the University of Florida in Gainesville, was approved for the position in Pine Bluff by the UA board of trustees late last month after being nominated by UA System President Dr. Donald Bobbitt just days ear-lier.

Former provost candidate named UAPB chancellor

Cameron MoixNews Editor

Alexander is scheduled to assume the position July 1, ac-cording to a UA System release. He will succeed interim UAPB Chancellor Dr. Calvin Johnson, who has filled the position since the retirement of the historical-ly African-American school’s 21-year Chancellor Lawrence Davis Jr. in May 2011. He has worked as UFL’s associate graduate school dean since 2006, and also serves as director of the col-lege’s Office of Graduate Minor-ity Programs and a professor of journalism.

After a nearly two-year na-tional search for candidates, Al-

See UAPB, page 4

A week’s worth of Home-coming events concluded with the Trojans win against rival Arkansas State Univer-sity 78-71 in front of a pumped crowd of about 5,300 people at the Jack Stephens Center on March 2.

Painted chests and a relent-less Trojan spirit helped to once again secure Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity’s win for the most spirited student organi-zation.

At halftime, Bre’Anna Green, a senior journalism major sponsored by Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, was crowned queen.

Kappa Sigma fraternity paddled their way to victory for the second consecutive year March 1, in what has become one of the most an-ticipated events of the year, the third annual Homecom-ing Cardboard Boat Regatta in the Donaghey Student Center pool. Captain William Forten-berry, a sophomore interna-tional business major, and Cruz Eslick, a junior engineer-ing major, manned their raft, the S.S. Rider.

The Office of Campus Life’s boat Peace, Love and Home-coming won the Pride of the Regatta, which was for the most creative design and best use of corrugated cardboard. The Best Dressed Team went to Kappa Delta sorority. The Team Spirit Award went to the UALR Biology Club; and the Ti-tanic Award for the most spec-tacular sinking went the Chan-cellor’s Leadership Corps’ Raft of Servitude.

OpinionsWednesday, March 13, 2013

Entertainment EditorLiz Fox

Features EditorSarah De Clerk

News EditorCameron Moix

Advertising ManagerSteven Wells

Business Manager Holden Raines

Executive Editor Jennifer Ellis

AdviserSonny Rhodes

The Forum welcomes letters to the editor on any subject as well as comments on our news coverage and editorial position.

Letters must include the author’s name, classification, major or position and a contact telephone number for confirmation.

Letters are subject to editing to meet space limitations. Please limit letter to 500 words or less.

The staff will not alter the meaning of the letter, but will cor-rect spelling and punctuation and edit to conform to Associated Press and news style.

All letters are subject to publication. The editor has the right to reject any letter especially those letters that are libelous, obscene or incoherent.

Letters should be sent to editor@ualr.edu or

University of Arkansas at Little Rock201J Donaghey Student Center

2801 S. University Ave.Little Rock, AR 72204

Sports EditorJacob Ellerbee

Letters to the Editor

Staff Editorial

GEOFFREY BARA

Frankly, my dear

Illustration by Paige Mason

The Forum is the official student newspaper at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. The Forum is funded in part by the student activity fee; members of the UALR community are allowed one copy per edition. When available, additional copies may be purchased for $1.25 by contacting The Forum’s business manager. Newspaper theft is a crime. Anyone who violates the single copy rule may be subject to civil and/or criminal prosecution and/or university discipline. The opinions expressed in The Forum are those of the staff and contributing writers and do not represent the official views of UALR. Students enrolled in MCOM 3320 and other reporting classes sometimes serve as contributing writers for The Forum. Advertising inquiries should be referred to The Forum’s advertising office at 501-569-3319. The Forum is published 7 times in each of the fall and spring semesters, and once in the summer. The Forum’s executive editor can be reached at 501-569-3265. All material published in this newspaper is copyrighted.

The Forum

Attempt to police social media an archaic practiceThe Student Government Asso-

ciation presidential election has come and gone, however the elec-tion was met with a lot of head scratching and snickering.

The SGA Election Code says that its members and candidates cannot campaign off the premises of UALR. Page nine of the Election Code explicitly states: “The use of the Internet to campaign, with the exception of the one listed above (email), is prohibited. Candidates may not use Facebook, Twitter or any other media site to cam-paign.”

Students have to wonder, why would the SGA want to prohibit campaigning on social media? All of our heads are aimed at the

ground when we walk to class, aimlessly surfing the web, tweet-ing and responding to texts. So, why would the SGA restrict them-selves in its campaigning meth-ods?

The main problem with this philosophy is that the SGA has attempted to control what goes out on the web and social media sites. The SGA even penalizes can-didates if campaign material is found on the Internet.

A case in point: President-elect, Lauren McNeaill, was reprimand-ed for a photo someone posted on their personal Facebook account of a McNeaill flyer informing stu-dents the time and place in which they could vote.

McNeaill told The Forum in an email, “There was no way for me

to control the actions of others, es-pecially when I may not even be friends with them [on Facebook]. She [Chief Justice Aisha Siddiqui] said we were still responsible and that she would let us off with a warning.”

McNeaill has a great point. How can she, or anyone else for that matter, be in charge of min-ing the Internet to make sure no passersby take a quick photo of a flyer and post it on their various social media sites?

Another example: the SGA asked The Forum to remove our Facebook photos of the campaign materials we included in a series of photos documenting the elec-tion. We responded with an em-phatic “No.”

The Forum has every right to

post photos that were taken at a public place (UALR is a public in-stitution)- a right guaranteed by the first amendment of the United States Constitution-which super-sedes any rule or regulation cre-ated by the SGA.

If members of the SGA draft a resolution amending the fact that Internet campaign is prohib-ited, perhaps it would draw more eyeballs to the campaign material and increase chances of boosting voter turnout.

According to statistics provid-ed by the SGA, out of the 12,427 el-igible voters at UALR, 320 people cast a vote- a 2.58% voter turnout.

Members of the SGA need to dust off their book of codes, rules and regulations and step into the digital age.

There’s been a lot of talk lately about a paper released by, among others, Sherif Girgis. Girgis is an extremely accomplished scholar, having graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Princeton, only after winning prizes for best thesis in ethics and best thesis in philosophy for his senior thesis on sex eth-ics. After Princeton, he left the United States for Oxford, where he earned his master’s in moral, political, and legal philosophy as a Rhodes Scholar. He’s currently a student at both Princeton and Yale (so who the heck does he root for at football games?) work-ing toward his Ph.D. and JD, re-spectively.

The paper I speak of is called “What is Marriage?,” and it’s ad-mittedly the most intelligently worded defense of what most of America would call “traditional marriage”.

Much as I’d like to, I can’t call Girgis stupid, or poorly read, or even, if I were to resort to school-yard tactics, basically unattract-ive. This makes him, to my mind, the worst sort of opponent.

The very existence of a man

like him serves to prove a lesson we all should learn and remem-ber well: just because we disagree doesn’t mean one of us is stupid. There is right and wrong, certain-ly, though it’s not as easy to iden-tify in every argument, but some-one can be wrong and smart, and right and stupid. These terms are none of them mutually exclusive.

So, yes, while I will agree that Girgis is very intelligent and aca-demically skilled, in general, I have to say that while watching him on CNN, I was struck only by the hackneyed and trite nature of his arguments not just in favor of traditional marriage, but also against gay marriage.

There has yet to be a study produced that shows that chil-dren raised by same-sex parents do poorly in school, are unhappy, unhealthy, or in any other way diminished by the experience. In fact, most research seems to indicate the opposite. Girgis’ oft-touted assertion that the institu-tion of marriage is meant for re-production primarily is out-dated and ridiculous. As usual, the argument neglects to allow for barren heterosexuals to marry, a union that I have never heard decried as against God’s plan, de-spite the fact that this union, too, will be as fruitless as a same-sex union without scientific or social intervention.

I am reminded of Cate Blanchett’s inspired portrayal of Queen Elizabeth I in the film

Elizabeth. Before ascending to the throne, the then Princess Elizabeth is questioned regard-ing her Protestant leanings, and she responds with, “my lords, why must we tear ourselves apart over this small question of religion?” Her description of religion as small was not well-re-ceived by the bishops and clerics who were questioning her, but I thought her answer to be mar-velous. Marriage, like religion, is so personal, and really doesn’t affect anyone around you nega-tively or positively unless you wish it to.

The problem as I see it con-tinues to come down to separa-tion of church and state. These arguments exist only because people are unable to mind their own business, and are afraid of what they might see through my front door as I open it so they can better disturb my afternoon by proselytizing at me. I saw a won-derful quote by a fellow named Michael Shiller online the other day. It read: “Marriage equality threatens traditional marriage in the same way that abolishing slavery made freedom less enjoy-able for white people.” I don’t think I’ve ever heard to so won-derfully or dryly put.

If Girgis is allowed to use pa-tently obsolete cliche and argu-ment and still come off as a ge-nius, then I feel very comfortable closing with, “if you don’t want a gay marriage, don’t get one.”

A veto’s futilityDespite Gov. Beebe’s best ef-

forts, Arkansas now has the strict-est abortion ban in the United States. Beebe vetoed both the 20-week and 12-week abortion bans, and both times he was overruled. The democratic governor seems powerless to stop any decisions made by the republican-controlled Senate and House of Representa-tives.

I would like to state that I do not have a proverbial case of “sour grapes.” Although I doubt the constitutionality of the bills, I am conflicted over the ethical impli-cations of abortion. This is not a matter of morality, but of political process.

Is the governor’s veto an affec-tive check on the power of the gen-eral assembly?

Legislators turned a deaf ear to Beebe’s concerns about constitu-tionality and possible legal fallout from the bill. The same majority that voted in the bill also voted to override the veto. In fact, the Sen-ate overruled the veto on the 12-week ban without discussion.

Only a simple majority is need-ed to override the governor’s veto. A two-thirds majority is needed to override a presidential veto.

It occurs to me that stating my opinion about the checks and bal-ances system is like yelling at a wall; scream all you want, but it will not change. The impotence of Beebe’s veto, however, raises fur-ther questions about the implica-tions of a two-party system.

Because the general assem-bly is controlled by Republicans, who tend to be political conserva-tives, the Beebe’s veto is predict-ably pointless. Republicans vote pro-life and Democrats vote pro-choice. Although there are shades of gray, people often vote along party lines with little persuasion.

The seemingly continuous stalemate between President Obama and Congress is also ex-emplary of the stagnation that occurs when the conflicting par-ties attempt to work together. It often seems that the two oppose each other on principle, leading to pointless arguments, months of waiting and wasted tax dollars.

If third parties were more rel-evant to the U.S. political system, I believe politics would not be as oppositional and contrary. Con-stituents could vote for the people that they believe could best repre-sent them, not just those backed by their party. Legislators could vote for bills that they believe their constituents would agree with, not just those backed by their party.

I believe that this would renew people’s hope in the government. The political process seems to be breaking down. With political stalemates, powerless governors and legislators running roughshod (yes, that is a jab at Sen. Rapert) over Roe v. Wade, it seems like political alliances may take prece-dence over democracy.

I, however, do not believe that democracy is a pipe dream. A de-mocracy works for the people, not politicians and bureaucrats, and it is the people who must defend it. If neither side wants to grow up and compromise, that is fine; we do not have to vote for either.

The people are not forced to vote along party lines. We do not have to fall into the political di-chotomy. It may be that, in their feuding, the Democrats and Re-publicans will not see the third parties who are eager to take their place. With the way things are go-ing now, I think it is quite likely that we will see more of them next election.

SARAH DE CLERK

Strange girl, stranger world

Even bright foe clings to expired logic

Your support of raising the minimum wage is entirely predictable in a college news-paper. It is also totally wrong headed. Minimum wage leg-islation is, in fact, perverse because it disenfranchises the very people whom it purports to help: Entry level workers with marginal skills. It does so by pricing them out of the labor market, hardly a rational; to say nothing of a compassionate; action. It is entirely typical of the left-ist agenda which is to sub-stitute feelings for rational discourse. Like the rest of the leftist agenda it is ultimately bankrupt.

If we can create prosper-ity by legislative ukase, why then are we debating a $10 per hour minimum wage? Why not $50 or $100 per hour or: Fill in your own favorite number? Surely, by this per-verse logic we should all be rich as Croesus.

J. Fred Hart Jr.Graduate student

LEttER

EDItORto the

Police BeatNewsWednesday, March 13, 2013ualr.edu/forum 3

the night before. The man made a separate complaint days before when he found that the front grill from his vehicle was missing.

Student accused of trying to run over

classmateA 27-year-old student told police

Feb. 27 than his classmate, Dylan Noel Henry, 23, nearly ran over him while he was in a crosswalk.

The student told police Henry flipped him off as he drove by, and that he thought the incident was intentional. When the student con-fronted Henry in class, the argument became heated and classmates had to stop it from escalating to a physi-cal confrontation, according to de-partment of public safety reports.

Suspect threatens student over ride

home from barA 19-year-old student told police

Feb. 27 that a man he knew as Jer-emy had been asking him personal questions, and then threatened his mother.

The student ran into Jeremy at Fly-ing DDs, and said the suspect asked him for a ride home. The student said he left without him because he could not find him. Later on, Jeremy confronted the student, revealing that he knew the student’s birth-place, mother and sister’s names, and mother’s address. He threat-ened the student and his mother, department of public safety reports said. The two were ordered not to have contact with each other.

Replica gun causes scare in North Hall

Taron Donte Dunn, 21, and Basil Asim Rogers, 18, caused a distur-bance in North Hall Feb. 27 by play-ing with two Airsoft guns, according to the department of public safety reports.

A 20-year-old female resident said she saw one man in the hall-way, crouched down and holding what she thought was a real gun. Police searched the suspects and their room, finding alcohol- and fire alarm-related housing violations.

Dunn was taken in for questioning and later released. He told police he did not intend to harm anyone.

Suspect arrested after snooze in stall

Dean of Students Logan C. Hamp-ton found Darrell L. Moore, 24, sleep-ing in a DSC toilet stall at about 8:30 a.m. Feb. 21, according to depart-ment of public safety reports.

Only workers were allowed in the building until 10 a.m., due to incli-mate weeather. Moore told police he was a former student, did not know the building was closed and entered through an unlocked side door. Po-lice found the suspect to have an ac-tive warrant and called the Bryant Police Department to take him into custody.

Emblem and grill removed from BMW

On Feb. 24, a 19-year-old man told police the BMW emblem from the trunk of his car was missing. He said he knew the emblem was still there

among the “sensitive places” that prohibi-tions should not be questioned.

In response to the notion that guns will act as a deterrent, the chancellor dis-missed that claim as an “undocumented hypothesis.” Although Anderson did not reveal what decision he expected the board will make, he affirmed that UALR will comply with whatever conclusion is made. Nevertheless, the bill does have a section that allows schools to restrict guns on certain campus locations.

“I think that provision of the law was in part for UAMS; where, like in the hospital, they would want to forbid the presence of guns. I suppose that, at something like an athletic event, you probably would like to forbid guns, for the sake of the referees,” Anderson joked.

The Office of Campus Housing mailed a four-question survey to some residents on March 4 in order to find out the gener-al consensus of students on such a policy. The responses have not been published yet, but the chancellor stated he has an in-terest in seeing the results. But he said the survey alone would not sway him against

his current opinion.Anderson expressed his enthusiasm

for the recently launched Green Dot pro-gram: “The thing I like about the green dot program is that it is in a sense an effort at the grassroots where you get members of the community realizing that as they live here and as they move around and work here, they can make a difference. They can be more than just a bystander as they see a situation developing. I think that’s good, very good."

Other steps have been taken to insure campus safety, he says, noting that the UALR's Department of Public Safety has 25 officers who were trained at the Arkan-sas Law Enforcement Training Academy in Camden. Precautions such as increased lighting, gated entrances and enhanced alert systems are all part of insuring safe-ty.

As for the signing of the bill, it was sent to the Office of the Governor on Feb. 26 and became Act 226 March 1. Governor Mike Beebe has expressed his compli-ance, saying that he will likely sign it into law.

GUNS, continued from page 1

BIKINI READY? DEVLIN COSMETIC SURGERY CAN HELP!

Student Special*

20% O� Breast Augmentation

20% O� Liposuction

10801 Executive Center Drive Suite 303

Little Rock, AR 72211 501-227-8811

www.drdevlin.com

* Contact o�ce for details

BIKINI READY? DEVLIN COSMETIC SURGERY CAN HELP!

Student Special*

20% O� Breast Augmentation

20% O� Liposuction

10801 Executive Center Drive Suite 303

Little Rock, AR 72211 501-227-8811

www.drdevlin.com

* Contact o�ce for details

Regardless of individual political stanc-es, an audience of more than 200 people turned out for the lecture, “More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws” by Fox News Contributor John Lott.

The Clinton School of Public Service hosted Lott’s lecture, which outlined key points of his book, on Saturday, March 9 at noon in Sturgis Hall. This lecture occurs on the tails of recent Arkansas legislation, passed by both the House of Representa-tives and the Senate, which allows univer-sities to decide for themselves whether or not to allow concealed weapons on their campuses.

Lott’s lecture argues against gun control restrictions in America.

“All of these laws [dealing with univer-sal background checks] that we talk about have both costs and benefits. Often we hear about the benefits. I mean, everybody wants to keep criminals from getting guns,” said Lott. “I don’t think any of you would disagree with that. But these laws also have some costs too, and I think we need to talk about those a little.”

The speaker critiqued President Barack Obama’s January 2013 claim that, “it’s hard to enforce that law [concerning universal background checks] when as many as 40 percent of all gun purchases are conducted without a background check. That’s not safe. That’s not smart.”

Lott also mentioned Vice President Joe Biden’s issuing essentially the “same state-ment” as the president: “The consensus is that about 40 percent of the people who buy guns today do so outside the National Instant Criminal Background Check Sys-tem (NICS).”

“Well, unfortunately,” Lott said, “these statements are not quite right.” He attempt-ed to summarize his critique by citing a small study performed during the Clinton administration which revealed, he said, that 36 percent of gun transfers did not go through background checks systems.

“So what the president basically did, is he took the 36, rounded up to 40 percent…but that’s minor. The big thing was chang-ing the terms ‘transfers’ to ‘sales’,” main-tained Lott. “Because there a huge differ-ence when talking about transfers between individuals and sales. In fact, the vast ma-jority of transfers are within family gifts or inheritances.”

Alexis WilliamsAssistant Editor

‘More Guns, Less Crime’ lecture takes aim at President’s stats

News ualr.edu/forum4 Wednesday, March 13, 2013

The Student Government As-sociation hosted the Paint The Town Maroon initiative Satur-day, March 2, in which various student organizations volun-teered to paint the windows of nearby businesses, emblazon-ing them with symbols of Trojan pride.

SGA and its members pro-vided the student organizations with all the necessary supplies to participate in the event, in ad-dition to arranging the painting locations, all of which are on or near University Avenue.

President Rizan Mohsin said she thought this event would help bring these organizations together to work toward a com-mon goal.

“The whole point of this was to get the Student Government to get everyone together and have everyone on campus fo-cus on their similarities, rather than their differences,” Mohsin said. “We, as the SGA, wanted to give an activity that all student organizations could be a part of — not just SGA doing something, but working with all the students on campus. We’re representing them and we want them to be a part of what we do.”

Various leaders from each of the student organizations said the event was important to build and establish a relationship be-tween the Student Government, student organizations, the Uni-versity and members of the sur-rounding community.

“We really wanted this go well and to have everyone par-ticipate because we thought it’d really bring school pride and in-volve a lot people,” she said.

Sen. Trey Gibeault, a junior finance major and member of Pi Kappa Alpha — a fraternity better known on campus as “the Pikes” — said this will help spark a partnership between the com-munity and the capital city’s largest college.

“Mainly, the importance is

just kind of building that com-radery with the community,” Gibeault said. “We’ve got a lot of spirited students, student orga-nizations, faculty and staff, but we’re also trying to bring that spirit outside the campus to dif-ferent businesses around here. I think this is a great opportunity to be able to get them involved with the campus spirit.”

Gibeault and his group helped paint the nearby Popeyes Louisi-ana Kitchen. Caroline Goodger, sophomore and member of the Kappa Delta sorority, said the initiative will help younger pro-spective students to start think-ing about enrolling in and at-tending college.

“I think it’s inspiring for stu-dents to go to college,” Goodger said. “They see this and they want to get their friends together and come hang out and support our community.”

Goodger and her group painted the windows of nearby Subway delicatessen on Univer-

Jacob EllerbeeSports Editor

Student government, organizations paint to help generate school pride

Author and UALR gradu-ate Jason Irby is spearheading a campaign to honor long-ago Wabbaseka resident Willie K. Hocker, the woman who created the Arkansas state flag.

Irby is also from the small ru-ral town, which is located a few miles northeast of Pine Bluff, and attended some of the same Wabbaseka schools at which Hocker taught decades before. One such school, Willie K. Hock-er Elementary, is the flag-mak-er's namesake.

The School of Mass Com-munications alumnus said he hopes to generate publicity for the woman, as well as for Wab-baseka, on the flag’s 100th an-niversary. Because of the timing, Irby describes this as “a once in a lifetime opportunity.” Another reason behind the effort is Irby’s hometown pride, although he now lives in Little Rock: “That’s where I grew up, that’s my hometown."

Willie Hocker was born July 21, 1862 in Madison County, Kentucky. Her family moved to Arkansas in 1870 to the Dudely Lake Township near Wabbase-ka, where her father was a farm-er. After obtaining her teaching certificate in 1887, she began working in Jefferson County schools, becoming principal of First Ward in Pine Bluff in 1895. Two years later, she went back to working in schools near Wab-baseka and stressed Arkansas history throughout her teaching career, which lasted for 34 years.

Hocker was a member of an organization called the Daugh-ters of the American Revolu-tion, which was tasked with the creation of a state flag in 1912, upon finding that none existed. The discovery was made when then-new battleship USS Arkan-sas was to be commissioned with the Arkansas flag, only to discover that there was none. A committee formed to obtain design submissions then chose Hocker’s among 65 others.

Hocker’s design consisted of a simple red background with a large white diamond centered with a blue border around it. The 25 stars in the border repre-sent Arkansas as the 25th Union state. There were also three blue stars in the diamond itself, repre-senting the three countries that have flown flags over the state: France, Spain and the U.S. The Arkansas General Assembly ad-opted the design, to which they added the state's name, in 1913. After adoption, the flag remained unchanged until 1923 when a fourth star was added in the dia-mond for the Confederacy.

There is a small display about Hocker’s life and the story of her flag at the Jefferson County His-torical Museum in Pine Bluff, as well as a historical marker that was placed in front of the Wab-baseka United Methodist church where she was a Sunday school teacher and longtime patron. The marker was put in place in 2005 and notes the contribution of her flag design.

But that isn't enough for Irby, who has proposed creat-ing a monument to honor both Hocker and the USS Arkansas in the Wabbaseka city park, pledg-ing the first $500 to the project. He announced his donation on Jan. 1 when he revealed plans for 2013 events, the first of which was in the park Feb. 26. Irby said he wants his hometown to be re-membered and honored in the annals of Arkansas history.

There will be a public contest to design the monument incorpo-rating the state flag, Hocker and the USS Arkansas. Design ideas and donations can be submitted at lovewhithinlife-jasonirby.com and by email at jirby@aristotle.net. Plans for a dedication cere-mony later this year have not yet been made.

Hometown pride is something that Irby covers in his book, “Love Within Life,” in which he tells of his formative years in Wabbaseka.

“I walk, I write, I run in the footsteps of those who came be-fore me,” Irby said.

Alton YoungAssistant Editor

Alum plans to honor Arkansas flag creator

Applications may be picked up at the reception desk in Stabler 705, and should be returned no later than noon March 15.

An applicant for editor must:

Executive EditorApplications are now being accepted for the 2013-2014

• Have at least a 2.5 overall GPA.• Have completed the MCOM 2350 and MCOM 3320.• Be enrolled in at least nine hours of coursework during each semester as editor for an undergraduate or six hours for a graduate student.

exander was recommended for the posi-tion by Bobbitt during a special phone conference of the UA System Board of Trustees, according to the release.

“I’m pleased to nominate Dr. Lau-rence Alexander, who I believe has the right combination of experience and enthusiasm to help shape a positive, successful future for UAPB,” Bobbitt said in the release. “Dr. Alexander un-derstands the important role that UAPB plays in the higher education portfolio of our state and in the Pine Bluff com-munity. It’s a university that has grown and developed throughout the past two decades, and I am excited about the leadership Dr. Alexander will provide to help the campus and its students, facul-ty and staff achieve at the highest levels.

While we know there will be challenges ahead, I look forward to working with Dr. Alexander to ensure a successful fu-ture for UAPB.”

Alexander graduated with his bach-elor’s degree in drama and communi-cations from the University of New Or-leans, his hometown, received his juris doctor from Tulane University, also in New Orleans, and his Ph.D. in higher education from Florida State University.

“I bring a lot to the table,” Alexander told The Forum in January. “I bring a wealth of experience in higher ed and higher education administration; I bring experience at the graduate level; lots of experience with students and student af-fairs … externship programs … partner-ships … and the alumni board….”

sity Avenue. Members of the Chi Omega sorority helped staffers from The Forum paint the win-dows of Arabica Hookah Café in the adjacent shopping plaza.

Natasha Jaffar, a freshman, said the initiative may be able to establish a tradition that people can look forward to each year.

“I think it brings together the entire community of UALR to actually be a family and sup-port everything that we are all about,” Jaffar said. “Our school is so untraditional, but we can have traditions like this and make it traditional in that sense and we can kind of just make it family-like.”

Corrigan Revels, a sophomore with the Brother’s Keeper orga-nization, said “Paint The Town Maroon” is all about building a family-like atmoshpere for the students at UALR.

“It will build on the campus atmosphere and build a whole family atmosphere among the students,” Revels said.

Members of Brother’s Keeper, an African-American male initiative student organization, were among a number of students who helped paint local businesses windows with Trojan spirited designs in a student government lead effort to bring unity to the campus community. Photo by Jacob Ellerbee

“To get an idea of how large it was, it took us 20 minutes to cross the start line to get going,” said Andrew Hall, a senior student at UALR majoring in mass communications, and a competi-tor in the 2013 Little Rock Marathon.

Hall was one of more than about 10,000 people participating in either the marathon, half marathon or 10 kilometer run March 3 in downtown Little Rock.

“It was almost 8:21 [a.m.] whenever we passed the start line. So there were 20 minutes of people standing to go be-fore we even got to the start,” Hall said.

Hall said his family members en-couraged him to participate in the annual event in which thousands of runners from all 50 states and several different countries around the world descend on Little Rock to compete in the 26.2 mile run.

“I have three older sisters,” Hall said. “They are all avid runners and they kind of urged me to do it.”

Hall said this was his first marathon run, but he’s had some experience running in the form of 5k (3.1 miles) races before deciding to run in the marathon.

“I had done little 5k’s here and there, but nothing as serious as a mar-athon,” he said. “But then, I discovered that endurance sports are kind of what I enjoy and like to do.”

Hall said the atmosphere was unlike

anything he’s ever experienced before.“The spectators were great. You

would go 200 feet before you’d see someone else clapping or yelling for you. It was super supportive.”

“Everyone was there, you know, just encouraging and it was a really good time.”

Hall ran in what is classified as the open corral, a slot reserved for run-ners expecting to finish the race in four hours or lon-ger.

“I really didn’t have a goal in mind for time, I just wanted to finish because I had- never before that- never really ran for more than like 11 or 12 miles at a time,” he said.

Hall crossed the finish line after five hours, 19 minutes and 57 seconds- good enough for a 1600th-place finish. The overall winner of the marathon was Mark Chepses, a native of Kenya, who finished the marathon in two hours, 19 minutes and 45 seconds.

“This year I kind of put running to the wayside because I’m an avid cy-clist, so I didn’t run as much as I should have,” he said.

Hall said he intends to train harder for next year and go for a faster time. He said he’s also looking forward to getting back to cycling regularly and will explore competing in a triathlon.

Jacob EllerbeeSports Editor

Student crosses finish line at Little Rock Marathon

Hall

UAPB, continued from page 1

Campus LifeWednesday, March 13, 2013ualr.edu/forum 5

HomecomingWeek 2013

Photos by Jennifer Ellis

Features ualr.edu/forum6 Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Life is a universal journey. Al-though all people approach life dif-ferently, no one is alone. With sup-port from fellow travelers, people can chose to live their life in a way that is most fulfilling to them.

That is the mentality that led to the name of The Uplifting Journey, a nonprofit organization founded in 2011 by UALR graduate Christopher D. Smith. Its mission, he said, is to help people develop a more optimis-tic view of life.

Smith graduated from UALR in 2010 with a bachelor’s in political sci-ence. From 2009 to 2010, he served as president of the Student Government Association.

“I loved being SGA president,” Smith said. “I still love politics. I loved meeting people, talking to them and finding out what was important to students. Even if we couldn’t help, we were there to listen.”

Smith said he inherited his passion for service from his parents. “Grow-ing up in Hope, Ark., my parents were all about service and helping other people. That really took root as I grew older,” he said. Smith said that he never planned on being a motiva-tional speaker or starting a nonprofit; he just wanted to help people.

“We all need inspiration. We all need encouragement. I want to re-ally make sure I do my part to change someone’s life for the better,” he said.

The Uplifting Journey aims at building people’s self-esteem and self-confidence, so that they can bet-ter their lives and those of the people around them.

“The biggest thing we bring across is no matter who you are – young, old, male, female, where you’re born – we all have an identity about ourselves. Self-esteem depends on the value we attach to that identity,” Smith said. “If you feel like you’re not appreciated, your identity is not strong, which can lead, potentially, to not reaching your full potential.”

People with high self-esteem have

The Uplifting Journey aims at improving livesSarah De Clerk

Features Editora more cheerful attitude, he said. Be-ing happy with oneself can be a chal-lenge, however. The media, among other things, tells people who they should be, how they should dress and what kind of music to listen to, he said.

“Various entities are pushing and pulling us, and it takes a strong in-dividual to say ‘This is who I want to be,’” he said.

Life itself can be a challenge, Smith said. Unfortunate things happen to people; everyone has bad days.

“You can’t control what happens day to day, but you can control your response to it,” Smith said. “If we weren’t meant to win in life and equipped with the strategies to make it though the hard times, life wouldn’t deal us the blows that it does.”

Thinking positively about life and oneself can help people meet their goals and keep a bad situation from ruining their entire day, or life. “If you are positive, I believe that makes different things work out; if you are negative or down-and-out, don’t be surprised if life gives back bad situa-tions,” Smith said.

Thinking positively is not enough to create change, however; you have to want it, he said. The hardest part of transforming one’s life is making the decision to change, he said, because people are afraid they might fail.

After making that decision, the process of change is much easier,

Smith said. “You commit to change, put forth the right action and remove yourself from situations that are not positive to your life,” he said. Change cannot occur overnight, however; people must progress one day at a time, he said.

The process is continual, Smith said, because people are constantly facing new challenges and learning new lessons. “You learn something new everyday and sometimes you learn something new about your-self,” he said.

The Uplifting Journey is not just about building oneself, it is also about helping other people, Smith said. “When you feel good about yourself, you want other people to feel the same thing. It’s all about pay-ing it forward,” he said.

“We are all connected in one way or another,” he said. “Finding that relatable thread is what makes this project so much fun.”

Fun or not, members of The Up-lifting Journey stay busy. Smith said that the members of the organization work “nonstop” and constantly mul-titask.

The Uplifting Journey periodically hosts family days, he said, in which families can get together for games, music, dancing and food. The pur-pose is to have fun and focus on the family, Smith said.

“That’s what adds to love in life – simple things. Sometimes, we over-look what’s most important.”

Smith said that The Uplifting Jour-ney also partners with other orga-nizations to participate in volunteer work. Working with Susan G. Komen for the Cure, they have spoken with people who have dealt with breast cancer, and cheered on participants at Race for the Cure, he said.

In September, Hunger Action Month, they organize a food drive, the donations from which go to the Arkansas Food Bank, he said. Dur-ing November and December, he said they organize a clothing drive to sup-port One, Inc., an organization that serves the homeless community.

“Really making a difference and putting forth action to help those in need builds up optimism,” Smith said.

One of the group’s largest projects is ReDEFINE Me: Youth Initiative, which began in October 2012. The program helps teenagers identify and eliminate stereotypes, Smith said. Smith defined stereotyping as believ-ing that you know all about a person just by looking at them.

“Stereotypes are a serious thing, particularly in today’s day and age. If individuals aren’t careful, they could hurt someone,” he said.

ReDEFINE Me tours schools, churches and youth centers and talks with young people, parents and coun-selors about the issues they face, he said.

“Each time we visit with the kids, they reveal something different that surprises us,” he said. “We reach young people where they’re at, talk with them and identify the true champion within them. We want to be seen as a big brother or sister that they can go to and talk about things with.”

Smith said that the group has also dealt with self-image and bullying. They do different exercises, one of which is “Lies versus Truth,” in which they have participants write negative things about themselves on a piece of paper, then have their peers write positive truths to contradict the nega-tive statements. Then they throw the lies away and keep the truths for later reflection.

“It helps the kids plant seeds of hope and positivity in each other without even knowing it,” Smith said.

The group also does role-playing games, which opens up a dialogue about stereotypes, but also instills in participants the confidence that they can speak in front of a group, he said.

“We work to plant that seed of positivity in their mind that will help them focus in school so they can grow up to be great leaders,” he said. “We can’t be with them every step of the way, and that’s where the communi-ty and positive role models come in. They can push and drive them in the right direction so they will see other individuals care and want to see them progress.”

Smith also had some advice for col-lege students.

“I believe in you,” he said. “Never give up. Take it one day at a time and before you know it, you’ll have a col-lege degree and can move on to big-ger and better things.”

“Be bold,” he added, “because we need more individuals that are strong and brave and willing to go into the world and find the cure for the latest disease or create a new vehicle.”

Smith said he has a few dreams for The Uplifting Journey. He said he would like to host a conference in which he would bring in people from across the country to talk about the importance of building the best pos-sible life, and strategies to help peo-ple do so. He added that it would be great to have an event at the univer-sity, where they could “help create a community of great future leaders.”

Immediately, Smith said he would like to see the organization grow. At present, there are 40 people involved in the organization, he said. But they also have supporters in other states who send donations and encouraging words.

“We are looking to spread the mes-sage and grow our numbers, so that we can make a greater input,” he said. “We’re here to help. Everyone who wants to help is welcome.”

More information about The Up-lifting Journey can be found on its website, TheUpliftingJourney.org.

“We all need inspiration. We all need encouragement. I want to really make sure I do my part to change someone’s life for the better.”

- Christopher D. Smith

“We are all connected in one way or another. Finding that relatable thread is what makes this project so much fun.”

- Christopher D. Smith

Visit us online.

ualr.edu/forum

Illustration by Byron Busling

FeaturesWednesday, March 13, 2013ualr.edu/forum 7

Spring’s warm weather is known for bringing forth chirping birds, blooming flowers and violent tornadoes.

“More do occur in spring,” said Tom-my Jackson, pubic information officer for the Arkansas Department of Emer-gency Management. “Tornadoes used to be considered a springtime phenom-enon,” he said, “but you’re susceptible to them all months of the year.”

Tornadoes happen when cold and warm air clash, causing violent wind, he said.

“It’s a very frightening thing when they do occur,” he said, “they are unbe-lievably powerful.”

The worst tornado Jackson experi-enced happened in 2008, he said. At 5 p.m. Feb. 5, a tornado killed three peo-ple in Atkins before its 122-mile trek across the state, causing 13 total fatali-ties, the National Weather Service’s as-

Sarah De ClerkFeatures Editor

sessment said.The Super Tuesday Tornado Out-

break, as it became known, included 87 tornadoes in nine states, it said. Half the people interviewed for the report said that they underestimated the storm be-cause it was outside the perceived tor-nado season.

Students can minimize their risks in a tornado by planning ahead, Jackson said.

“One of the best things students can do is prepare by gathering enough emergency supplies,” Jackson said, in-cluding food, water, toiletries and medi-cine. He recommended students have enough supplies to live for 72 hours, in case first responders cannot reach them.

Keeping important documents in a secure, waterproof area can protect them during a tornado, he added.

“When a tornado does approach, anyone in its path should seek shelter indoors,” Jackson said. Basements and

interior, ground-floor rooms away from windows are the safest places, he said, and added that sheltering under heavy furniture or mattresses provides extra protection.

Tornadoes can suck up cars and mo-bile homes and toss them through the air, Jackson said. It is best to leave them if they are in a tornado’s path. If there is no shelter available, people should lie flat in a ditch or depression, cover their heads, and wait for the storm to pass, he said.

It is a good idea to have a tornado plan ahead of time, Jackson said. Stu-dents should know where to go in a tornado. They should also decide on a meeting place, in case they are sepa-rated from their friends and family, he said.

“So many of us tend to panic when a storm hits and forget everything,” he said. “The people who plan ahead are the people who are most likely to sur-vive.”

DAvID ELLIS

ThatdamnedEllis kid

The ghost of Old Lady Armstrong

In 1985, after years of fist fights, class disruptions, poor grades, visits to the principle’s office and conferences with teachers who simply refused to deal with me anymore, my parents decided it was time to take a differ-ent approach to my schooling.

Taking a sug-gestion from the principle, my parents decided that I would at-tend a boarding school. It was believed that a more structured and disciplined en-vironment was what I needed. I can say now, looking back, that it worked; for the most part, my grades and attitude did improve. Still, I cannot say that I didn’t occasionally get into a bit of trouble.

Morris School for Boys was a Catho-lic boarding school nine miles west of Searcy. It was run by Franciscan monks at the behest of the Diocese of Little Rock. It was founded in 1921 by then-Bishop John B. Morris, hence its name.

Like most old school campuses, Mor-ris had its share of stories and legends about the people who owned the land before it was a school. As it turns out, Morris school sat on the site of what was once a health resort called Armstrong Springs, named after its owner and founder.

The resort operated during the 1880’s and was run much like the other resorts of Hot Springs. People would travel to the resort to consume or bathe in the wa-ters of the springs, which were believed by the local Native American tribes to have healing properties.

One of the legends of the school cen-tered around Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong, whose graves were said to be under-neath the dining hall floor. The Arm-strong’s ghosts were said to haunt the campus.

Reports of sightings dated back to the beginning of the school. These tales were passed down by word of mouth through each generation of students and grew more exaggerated with each tell-ing. As a twelve-year-old boy, I was both fascinated and frightened by these tales, and so was my friend Tomain.

If there was one thing a student at Morris could never complain of, it was boredom. The campus was equipped with sports fields, a tennis court and a gymnasium which boasted its own video arcade, canteen with vending machines and television room, but the coolest thing it had was an indoor pool.

Like most swimming pools, this one had rules. Coach Max enforced the rules. Coach was burly man with a cop mus-tache, and often with a surly disposition. One of the coach’s unwritten rules was that the last two boys dressing after leav-ing the pool had to take all the day’s wet towels across campus, in the dark, to the laundry room.

Did I mention it was dark? The cam-pus had outdoor lights, but they were spread out, leaving some parts unlit. When you are out in the country, miles away civilization, let me tell you it can get pretty dark.

It was December and Tomain and I were the last two boys dressing one night after swimming, so we got stuck with towel duty.

Making our way across campus, we began to converse on the subject of the ghost of Old Lady Armstrong. I don’t know exactly what happened, but I re-member a moaning noise. I took it to be the wind, but it caused Tomain to look over his right shoulder. He screamed an expletive, dropped his side of the baskets and began to run, which startled me.

I dropped the baskets and ran like hell. I didn’t even look back to see what we were running from. If it was bad enough to scare Tomain, I sure as hell wasn’t sticking around to find out what it was.

The next day, we were confronted by an angry Coach Max. Not only did he not buy our ghost story; he also made us recover the frozen towels and help the laundry staff unthaw and wash them.

We caught all kinds of flack from the other guys about being afraid of the dark and leaving the towels out to freeze. It was a running joke for a long time. Af-ter that, Coach Max made us drop off the towels every night for the rest of the school year, whether we were swim-ming or not.

I learned a couple of things from that incident. One, don’t be the last guy dress-ing after leaving the pool. Two, you have to be careful about following other peo-ple, no matter how convincing they are. You have to check things out for yourself or you might end up not only catching a lot of flack for being stupid, but with the proverbial “towel duty” as well.

TwisterTips

to keep students safe

Math made easier: advice from expertsHillary Perkins

Staff Writer

Math can be a joy for some students and a headache for others.

Many students struggle with various kinds of math, including positive and negative number signs, fractions, fac-toring, graphing and word problems, instructors in the department of math-ematics and statistics said.

In fall 2011, the success rate for col-lege algebra, a core math course, was 59 percent, said Mellisa Hardeman, senior instructor in the department. The suc-cess rate dropped anther percentage point the following year, she said.

In fall 2012, 50 to 60 percent of pre-core math students had difficulties solving math problems, said Denise Le-Grand, director of the Mac I math lab.

Ike McPhearson, math tutor, ex-plained why students may have trouble comprehending math. One reason is that students may come from a home where education is not valued, he said.

A bad experience with an instruc-tor can also change students' attitudes about math.

“You can’t take yourself too seriously as a teacher,” said Hardeman. Instruc-tors can never give a student too much help passing math, she said.

Students who took a math course in high school before going to college are less likely to struggle with math, Harde-man said. Some students go to college years after graduating high school, how-ever, and may forget everything they learned in their math classes.

Fortunately, there are a number of strategies that can help students over-come these challenges and develop a better understanding of math.

“In order to make math easy for stu-dents, show different ways of how to understand it,” said McPherson, who has tutored high school and college stu-dents. Another way of making math fun for students is to create different games, he said.

According to LeGrand, the most im-portant way to become better at math is to practice math exercises for 20 to 30 minutes.

“They won't see the results right away,” said LeGrand, " but if they go to class and focus on work required, they will be successful and they will build confidence."

In addition, students can get help from tutors at the math lab. Each semes-ter, the lab hires 12 tutors, LeGrand said.

For the math-impaired, there is a new math course called Quantita-tive and Mathematical Reasoning. The course was designed for students who are not science, technology, engineering or mathematics majors. It focuses on practical math, for example, currency exchange rates. The course fulfills the core math requirement, in place of col-lege algebra.

Pre-core math courses, developmen-tal math courses students take if they do not have the prerequisites for college math classes, are becoming more suc-cessful, said Tracy Watson, coordinator for pre-core math. The success rate for those courses rose to 77 percent in fall 2012, she said. Previously, the success rate was 37 percent for a 4-year period, she said.

This semester, there are 80 math ma-jors at the university.

“We all like how math works because it all fits together,” Watson said.

“Students who major in math devel-op a sense of thinking and solving prob-lems,” said Thomas McMillan, depart-ment chair.

Once students better understand math, they will have the confidence to solve not only math problems, but prob-lems in everyday life as well.

What inspires you?

“Music.”

Michael Bell

junior huMan resource ManageMent Major

“My grandma.”

ericka caldwell

sophoMore speech pathology Major

“My mom.”

JaMie gardner

freshMan Biology Major

Illustration by Byron Busling

“My family.”

krishondra watson

freshMan cheMistry Major

Entertainment ualr.edu/forum8 Wednesday, March 13, 2013

MOVIE REVIEW

0 1 2 3 4 5Horrible Excellent

In what can be described as the big-gest video game release of the year thus far, “Tomb Raider” brings the world’s most famous fictional archae-ologist back into the spotlight after a five-year hiatus from gaming con-soles.

It’s not often a video game features a female lead character, but “Tomb Raider” is noteworthy for this and a host of other reasons. The gaming experience, technique, musical score and cut scenes remind me of recent blockbuster hits such as those from the “Uncharted” series and the lat-est “Batman” saga. It has a very cin-emati feel to it and utilizes theatrical sequences to drive the plot and create emotional ties between Croft and the player.

Like other installments in the se-ries, the “Tomb Raider” reboot follows the story of Lara Croft (voiced by Ca-milla Luddington) and her search for finding the lost Japanese city of Yama-tai. The game also explores the emo-tional struggles Croft faces in tran-sitioning from a scared damsel to an independent, fierce fighter.

The game starts off at sea, where the ship carrying Croft and her crew is sinking during a torrential storm.

The crew is later dispersed and Croft finds her way to the shoreline, but she is suddenly blindsided after someone strikes the back of her head.

Many hours later, she wakes up in a cave, suspended in the air and wrapped in a cocoon-like structure. It is at this point when players final-ly take control of the character, with Croft swinging from side-to-side in or-der to ignite herself by way of a nearby cauldron. After successfully breaking free, she falls to the ground and later finds a set of tools -- as well as shelter -- at an abandoned campsite.

After Croft finds a bow attached to a nearby corpse, it’s apparent she strug-gles with the reality of death and how she could end up just like said person. But now that she wields a weapon (al-beit a primitive one), she can hunt for food. The player later takes control, attempting to shoot a deer. It’s not long until the two-way radio begins to sound and Croft is able to rejoin her crew, but the task of finding help off the island and finding the under-ground city still take priority.

“Tomb Raider,” an action-adven-ture thriller, is a game that gives fans the opportunity to become immersed in the game’s nearly 15-hour solo cam-paign and emotionally invested into the bond established between players and the game’s protagonist.

Jacob EllerbeeSports Editor

‘Tomb Raider’ revisits story of veteran video game vixen

Science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke once said, “Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the uni-verse or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.” It is this quote that opens the new sci-fi/horror film “Dark Skies,” a tale of a suburban family who suddenly experiences a series of disturbing events that escalate and lead to the discovery that they’ve been abducted by aliens.

“Dark Skies” was written and di-rected by Scott Stewart, who boasts five similar titles including “Priest” and 2010’s “Legion.” The film, which had particular styles of camera angles, lighting, and editing deliver the spook factor. The director knew just how to combine all those elements to height-en the suspense. There is a particu-larly disturbing scene in which Lacy Barrett, the family’s matriarch, wakes to find her husband in the backyard with his face frozen, his mouth agape in a look of terror. Still unresponsive, he walked into the house, finally wak-ing to ask why he was in the kitchen. These small parts were elements that easily delivered on the scares.

The film was also well-assembled because of its use of the movie-mak-ing process in driving the drama. But the one place it came up short was in the visual effects department, which

is surprising since Stewart is known for just that. The aliens in this movie were cartoonish, poorly designed and only seen in full toward the end. With a budget of only $3.5 million -- as op-posed to $50 million -- one can see that sacrifices had to be made.

Taken as a whole, “Skies” was a good movie. It was well acted, with Keri Russell and Josh Hamilton de-livering excellent performances as the Barretts. Dakota Goyo and Kadan Rockett gave very believable perfor-mances as the Barrett children, and J.K. Simmons was excellent in his mi-nor roll as alien abduction expert Ed-win Pollard.

More importantly, the film brought the alien abduction phenomenon to suburban America, which is a scary notion. Regardless of one’s position on the existence of extraterrestrial beings or the alien abduction phe-nomenon, “Skies” was a good story of how a family can draw together in the face of overwhelming odds.

David EllisStaff Writer

The History Channel briefly steps away from its reality-based documenta-ry programming with its newest drama series, “Vikings.” The series, which is produced by MGM television, was cre-ated by writer/producer Michael Hirst, whose credits include HBO’s “The Tu-dors” and the historical drama “Eliza-beth.”

The show’s plot is based on the saga of King Ragnar Lodbrok, a popu-lar Norse hero rumored to be a direct descendant of the Norse god Odin. Lodbrok was a legendary commander who sailed southward from Scandina-via in 845 CE and led many raids into France and England -- so many raids, in fact, that he became known as the “Scourge of France and England.”

The series is shot on location in Ire-land and its cast is made up of relatively unknown actors (aside from Gabriel Byrne, who plays Lord Jarl Haraldson). But the status of the actors’ notoriety doesn’t affect the drama of “Vikings,” especially since they do an amazing job of bringing the saga to life. The show is also shot in a visceral style that draws the viewer into the story, the locations and scenes creating a genuine experi-ence of legendary events.

“Vikings” is provocative, gritty and

interesting with the right amount of vio-lence and gore. Each episode is 45 min-utes long, leaving the viewer craving more. Many critics are already pour-ing on the praise, with International Business Times stating that many al-ready see “Vikings” as “ the next “Game Of Thrones.” The Hollywood Reporter also says the program lives up to lofty expectations, and The Washington Post proclaims it to be “an adroit and even elegant surprise.”

The series may play loosely with the facts, but it certainly delivers on en-tertainment. This program could eas-ily mark a turning point in the History Channel’s programming, changing the way people look at the network. and securing the long-covered male demo-graphic since it represents a welcome break in style. It has all the right ele-ments: a good story, strong acting, and excellent cinematography. All in all, “Vi-kings” is television drama at its best.

TV SERIESREVIEW

Horrible Excellent

0 1 2 3 4 5

David EllisStaff Writer

History Channel pillages, plunders and perplexes with new miniseries

History Channel’s “Vikings,” which centers on legendary Scandanivian figure Ragner Lodbrok, proves to be a tour-de-force in the middle of reality television programming. Photo courtesy of History Channel

‘Vikings’ offers gritty, provocative take on legendary historical conquest with great effects and casting

Famous fictional archaeologist Lara Croft makes a triumphant return in this year’s reboot of the acclaimed “Tomb Raider” series. Photo courtesy of fanpop.com

Archaeological explorer Lara Croft emerges with new garb, backstory in refreshing saga reboot

Alien abduction strikes suburbia in new thrillerMinimal production and excellent casting make up for minor disappointments in ‘Dark Skies’

“Sound City,” a documentary by famed musician Dave Grohl, was a project taken on after purchasing the studio’s famed console soundboard -- the same console he and Nirvana band mates Kurt Co-bain and Krist Novoselic recorded their groundbreaking album, “Nevermind.” But as the film implies, “Nevermind” may not even be the most famous album that was recorded there.

Throughout its existence, Sound City Studios welcomed a slew of musical acts through its doors. Among them are Neil Young, Fleetwood Mac, the Grateful Dead, Johnny Cash and industrial out-fit Nine Inch Nails. Throughout “Sound City,” Grohl uses interviews with musi-cians who have recorded at Sound City Studios, archival footage and a selective soundtrack to transport the viewer into a time when recording took place without the use of autotune and similar techno-logical methods. He goes on to explain that being perfect is not the most impor-tant part of making music. At one point, he says people should encourage kids to go D.I.Y. by purchasing a guitar, meeting up with their neighbor and jamming in a garage.

This is why Grohl and his contempo-raries get together in the studio to prove to viewers that you can make great, quality music with analog equipment. The drum-mer and his bandmates assemble in their recording studio, Studio 606, with the newly-acquired Neve console to record original material with some of the finest musicians to ever walk the halls of Sound City Studios. The result is an album of 11 original songs recorded on the old Neve 8028, serving as the last hoorah for a con-

sole that has been in existence since 1972.The music created from these sessions

includes curious and historic parings, and they all seem to work. The documentary, released Feb. 1 to video-on-demand ser-vices, features the recording process and how some of the original music was con-ceived.

“Sound City: Real to Reel,” the name given to the album of the music created by Grohl and his Sound City Studio al-ums, was released March 12. Perhaps the most noteworthy is a track called “Cut Me Some Slack,” which features the surviv-ing members of Nirvana (Grohl, Novoselic and Pat Smear, a touring guitarist) and Sir Paul McCartney. The part in the film when Nirvana inserts McCartney as their front-man is a historic moment, as Nirvana has never played together since Kurt Cobain’s suicide in 1994. This moment alone, if nothing else, is worthy of seeing the film.

Grohl and McCartney really lock in as they go to work on the song. The group reportedly started from scratch and got all the way to a finished recording in about three hours. During the making of the song, Grohl looks to McCartney, smiles and says, “Why can’t it always be this easy?” McCartney shrugs slightly and deadpans- “It is.”

Without intent, Grohl, who most agree appeals to a Generation Y demographic and modern rock music enthusiasts, has introduced a variety of veteran musicians to a group of young people that may not have had the opportunity to discover when they were growing up.

This is a must-see film for anyone that appreciates music beyond a surface level. It explores the deep emotional attach-ment that music creates between people and how keeping that feeling alive in the recording studio is important.

Jacob EllerbeeSports Editor

‘Sound City’ documentary revisits analog recording

EntertainmentWednesday, March 13, 2013ualr.edu/forum 9

Across1- Cossack chief7- Adult male10- Trading center14- Rebuke15- Land in la mer16- Skunk’s defense17- Photographic device18- Blink of an eye19- Swing around 20- Capital of Utah 23- Wagons26- TKO caller27- Judges’ garments 28- Culture medium29- Barrett of Pink Floyd 30- Fiddle stick 31- Before 33- Auction action34- VCR button37- Some MIT grads 38- It’s bottled in Cannes 39- Hot time in Paris40- Highest mountain in Crete41- “Michael Collins” actor42- PC monitor43- Hopelessness45- Humble dwelling

46- Delivery room docs47- ___’acte (intermission)48- Take the role of51- French vineyard52- Fidgety 53- Given to gossiping56- Receptacle for holy water57- Man-mouse connector58- Lubricant62- Actress Russo63- Not emp.64- Hamper65- Idyllic place66- Fury67- Bristly

Down1- 1970 Jackson 5 hit2- Beverage commonly drunk in England 3- Human limb4- Conductor5- Gillette razors6- Oscar winner Patricia7- Misguided8- Shake like ___9- Bottle part10- Capital of Russia

Crossword

Puzzle courtesy of bestcrosswords.com

11- Go off-script12- Path13- Low cards21- Audition22- Wears away23- Escapade24- Concur25- Mikhail’s wife29- Begin30- Seizes with teeth32- Reject33- It bites you in your sleep34- Laughing35- Prepares for publication36- Transport44- Overhanging45- Hurry46- Elaborately adorned48- Actress Woodard49- Whispered sweet nothings50- 1,000 kilograms51- Kitchen gadget52- Lofty nest54- Singer Amos55- Sounds of disgust59- Ruckus60- Paris possessive61- Before, once view solution at ualr.edu/forum

By Taylor Hoffard

HoroscopesYou naturally trust your instincts, Pisces. Keep this up

and you will find new friends.

Feb. 19 - March 20Pisces

By Paige MasonUALR’s Girl

By Byron BusligDollar Bin Bargain

You are the only one who knows how you feel, Aries. Express your feelings in healthy

ways to get your anger out. Keeping things bottled up isn’t good.

March 21 - April 20Aries

When something good happens this week, don’t let it go to your head, Taurus. You

are worthy of praise, but you aren’t worthy of worship.

April 21 -May 21Taurus

If you are wondering why you are the one cleaning up after others, Gemini, it’s because

you have more integrity than others. Keep it up.

May 22 - June 21Gemini

You may be worried that sometimes your best isn’t good enough, Cancer. Get out of this

mindset and those As will be easier to earn.

June 22 - July 22Cancer

Does love really exist? You find yourself asking, and sometimes answering this

question, Leo. Decide who is worth your devotion before pursuing love.

July 23 - Aug. 22Leo

A mistake you made has been holding you back, Virgo. Move

on, and learn from it.

Aug. 23 - Sept. 22Virgo

Don’t concern yourself with the odds of something

happening, Libra. You control what happens in your life.

Sept. 23 - Oct. 22Libra

You may be feeling anti-social today, Scorpio, and

that’s okay. Everyone is entitled to their days.

Oct. 23 - Nov. 21Scorpio

You can’t tolerate liars, Sagittarius. Yet you keep them in your life. Call people out on

their fabrications, and you will find more honest people coming your way.

Nov. 22 - Dec. 21Sagittarius

You are very head strong and determined, Capricorn. Take

time to analyze what you are determined to do this week, and the answer will be more apparent.

Dec. 22 - Jan. 19Capricorn

Relationships are tough, Aquarius. If you feel like your

relationship is dull now that Valentine’s Day is over, try finding a way to bring the spice back for a long term stay.

Jan. 20 - Feb. 18Aquarius

Can you

FIND the

DIFFERENCES?

Find the answers at ualr.edu/forum under the Puzzle Solutions link

By Sarah Melero

Sports ualr.edu/forum10 Wednesday, March 13, 2013

The UALR men’s basketball team could not contain Florida Internation-al’s Malik Smith and his near-historic night during the Saturday, March 9 game of the Sun Belt Conference Tour-nament on the Convention Center Court.

Smith hit eight of 10 three-point shots against UALR, ending with a game-high 25 points by the time the final buzzer sounded.

The last time a player in the men’s tournament hit that many three pointers was during the 1997 tourna-ment when John Knox of Jacksonville University hit nine three-point shots against Arkansas State University.

The Trojans had split the season series against FIU, but nothing can be predicted or anticipated when it comes to the conference tournament.

FIU got off to a hot start and began playing full-court man-to-man defense to rattle UALR and make it difficult for the youthful team to get into an offen-sive set.

“It’s relentless,” freshman John Gil-lon said of the FIU full-court press. “It doesn’t stop. Event after a timeout, af-ter a made shot, they were still back in their press.”

FIU found multiple ways to get Smith the ball to fire away from the three-point line. FIU brought Smith off of staggered screens, pick-and-roll options and even passing him the ball to shoot a three pointer off of a fast break. Through the first eight minutes of play he was 3 of 4 from behind the arc.

With just under 4 minutes remain-ing in the first half, FIU had extended its lead to 16 points; however, UALR began to chip away at the score by go-ing on a scoring frenzy.

UALR held FIU scoreless for the fi-nal two minutes of the half as they racked up enough points to cut FIU’s lead to 8.

Going into the locker room, it was FIU 34, UALR 26. The Trojans enjoyed the 11-point spark that freshman John Gillon provided off the bench during the half.

The Trojans were able to stay with-in striking distance for most of the second half; however, FIU was able to answer UALR on nearly every made

Jacob EllerbeeSports Editor

basket, which made it difficult for the Trojans to get momentum and take control of the game.

FIU’s Smith made three more three-point shots during the second half. Each made three seemed to correlate with a deflation in UALR’s confidence to get back into the game. At one point during the second half, FIU extended its lead to 20 points over the Trojans.

“They played consistently hard throughout the whole game and we didn’t match it,” Gillon said.

Steve Shields, the head coach for UALR, conceded the defeat and said FIU was just the better team on March 9.

“We faced a better prepared team, a better coached team tonight and a team that played harder and played with more toughness and more pas-sion tonight,” the coach said.

“When people get up in us, [that] is when we struggle. We’ve got to be-come a tougher-minded team where we handle pressure better,” Shields said.

The Trojans finished the season with a record of 17 wins and 15 losses. This was the final game of the season for senior Ted Crass, who logged one minute of play against FIU.

Three point barrage snuffs out men in SBC tournament

The UALR women’s bas-ketball team could not make shots down the stretch against Middle Tennessee State Uni-versity in the championship game of the Sun Belt Confer-ence tournament. MTSU be-gan to chip away at UALR’s seven point lead with just un-der 12 minutes remaining in the game. At that point, MTSU went on a scoring barrage and ended the game on a 20-8 scoring run.

The Trojans hit a dry spell, knocking down only seven shots in the second half. UALR scored near the 10 minute mark of the second half , but would not score an-other field goal until about the three minute mark of the game.

The scoring run by the Blue Raiders, paired with the shooting dry spell, proved to be too much for the Trojans to take on. The final score from Summit Arena in Hot Springs was 53-48, giving UALR its

first loss since Jan. 19 when the team played at Western Kentucky.

“Both teams played ex-tremely hard,” head coach Joe Foley said. “It came down to being able to get it inside and draw more fouls. They beat us at the free throw line.”

The numbers Foley is re-ferring to would be the 20 personal fouls that were called against UALR. Five of them going against junior Taylor Ford, who fouled out of the game before the final buzzer sounded. Addition-ally, MTSU was able to get to

Trojans find heartache in Hot SpringsJacob Ellerbee

Sports Editor

the free throw line 25 times, knocking down 17 of them. UALR went to the line just seven times for the entire game.

“We just let it slip away,” freshman Shanity James said. “They hit some major free throws. We had some fouls that we didn’t need.”

MTSU’s Ebony Rowe gave a rousing performance in the title game, finishing with 20 points-12 of which came off of made free throws- and 13 rebounds. Additionally, MTSU’s Kortni Jones, the Sun Belt Tournament MVP, scored 15 points and dished out four assists in the victory.

UALR had its fair share of premier performers, as sophomore Taylor Gault and teammate James were named to the All-Tournament team.

Gault provided 13 points (on 6 of 23 shooting) and three assists for UALR.

After the game, Gault ac-knowledge her shooting struggles. “I couldn’t get the ball, I couldn’t see anything,” she said. Gault said MTSU’s Jones and Janay Brinkley were shutting her down on defense. “I told my team-mates to step it up and make some shots, because I can’t see anything.”

Gault found help in the form of sophomore Kiera Clark and James as well.

James totaled 14 points

“Both teams played extremely hard. It came down to being able to get it inside and draw more fouls. They beat us at the free throw line.”

- Head coach Joe Foley

and pulled down seven re-bound, while Clark finished the game by earning her first career double double. Her 17 rebounds nearly comprised half of the team’s 39 total re-bounds. She also chipped in 11 points.

After the game, Foley said he’s looking forward to get-ting his young team back on the court to get more expe-rience under its belt. Foley anticipates an invite to the National Invitation Tourna-ment, which features 64 of the best teams not invited to the NCAA Tournament.

The Trojans will learn if and who they will play Mon-day, March 18.

This was the final Sun Belt Conference game for UALR senior Janette Merriex. The team ends its season with a record of 24-8, with hopes of playing at least one more game in the NIT Tournament.

“We just let it slip away. They hit some major free throws. We had some fouls that we didn’t need.”

- Freshman Shanity James

The UALR women’s basketball team was left scrambling after its 53-48 loss in the championship game of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament against Middle Tennessee on Monday March 11. Photo by Jacob Ellerbee

Freshman Carolee Dillard loses track of the ball during the championship game against Middle Tennessee. Dillard finished the game with four points, two steals and two blocks in 18 minutes of play. Photo by Jacob Ellerbee

Freshman Josh Hagins looks to set up a play during the second half of a loss to Florida International University at the Sun Belt Con-ference Tournament. Photo by Jacob Ellerbee