www.ulmhawkeyeonline.comVOLUME 85 ISSUE 15 January 30, 2012

THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA AT MONROE

Monroe native Rodney Ray decided he want-ed to make movies. From pre-production, film-ing and all the way down to final editing, Ray wanted to do it all. But for Ray, realizing his dreams of making movie magic didn’t mean he had to chase them to Southern California.

“I’m committed to showcasing the talent and the beauty of our community through film,” Ray said. “I intend to always be based in Monroe.”

Ray is not the only one who’s decided to make movies in Louisiana.

His film company, R-Squared Productions,

is just one of many that have opened in Loui-siana, which has been named by film insiders as the best place in the nation to make movies and has affectionately received the title “Holly-wood South.”

In 2002, Louisiana began offering tax incen-tives to moviemakers who come to make their films in the state. Ironically, Hurricane Katrina brought even more business to the Bayou State as Hollywood wanted to send money and sup-port to devastated New Orleans.

Louisiana offers many incentives that make filming in the state attractive to people in the

film industry. Louisiana is a right to work state, which means producers can pay less than the union standard. Producers also get a five per-cent tax credit for using locals. Practical aspects such as long periods of warm, sunny weather and picturesque landscapes also make the state an ideal location for movies.

While most of the state’s film industry is fo-cused New Orleans, many in North Louisiana are ready to get in on the action.

“When you talk about Northeast Louisiana, we’re way behind the curve, but these other

SGA passes bills to raise student fees

Tennis looks to start strong

YMCA reopens natatorium

P 9 P 2 P 7

Monroe region looks to capitalize on state’s thriving film industryby Cole Avery

See MOVIES, p 6

P 12

P 3

Chinese students ring in new year

Percussion show begins Black History Month

photomontage by Srdjan Marjanovic

Stubbs 131700 University Avenue

Monroe, LA 71209Editor in chief - Cole Avery

Co-managing editor news - Lauren CreekmoreCo-managing editor design - Srdjan Marjanovic

Sports editor - DeRon TalleyFreestyle editor - Eddie Ray Fountain

Photo editor - Robert BrownCopy editor - Stormy Knight

Multimedia editor - Srdjan MarjanovicAdvertising Ad director Thomas Seth Pryor

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The opinions expressed in personal columns are the opinions of the author and not necessarily the opin-ions of the editors, staff, advisor or the University. Un-signed editorials represent the collective opinion of The Hawkeye’s editorial board, but not necessarily the opinions of the adviser or the University.The Hawkeye (USPS #440-700) is published weekly

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THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA AT MONROE January 30, 2012PAGE 2

NEWS

The heat turned up Tuesday during the Student Government Association meeting as members passed three referendums to raise student fees.

The fees include a natatorium ren-ovation fee of $25, a Bayou Park Rec-reational fee of $65, which would be used to pay for an outdoor pool in the park, and a re-institution of a $95 fee for student support.

SGA President Brooke Dugas called the student life referendum “absolutely vital” for student life to continue as it is now.

All SGA members, except for Sen. Theo Shaw, voted in favor of the ref-erendums, saying senators needed more time to review and consider the proposals.

“Myself and a couple more of the voting senators haven’t had the opportunity and time to review this informa-tion,” said Shaw, a senior political science major, who once served on the Louisiana Council of Stu-dent Body Pres-idents.

SGA leadership said it was impor-tant the referendums be passed that night or else the University of Louisi-ana system wouldn’t have time to ap-prove them.

Shaw’s opposition to the bill sparked a debate over the referen-dums between himself and Sophie Barksdale, who serves as assistant to Pres. Dugas.

“I was a little confused about the votes tonight, because I think we should always give our students the chance to say what they want and don’t want. We shouldn’t just auto-matically assume what they want,” said Barksdale, a senior history ma-jor.

Barksdale voted in favor of both referendums.

The referendums were sent to Ba-ton Rouge for approval by the Uni-versity of Louisiana System. If ap-proved, the referendums will return to ULM for the student body to vote on them in the spring election.

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — Busi-ness and social media leaders are teaming up to tackle the transmis-sion of HIV from mothers to babies, saying the medicine and the money are largely in place and with the right organization they can eliminate HIV-infected births by 2015.

Apax Partners U.S. CEO John Me-grue will chair the business group to coordinate work already being done by governments and international donors. He says almost 400,000 ba-bies are born with HIV each year.

Randi Zuckerberg, who founded RtoZ Studios, will use social media to increase awareness by pulling in-fluential Twitter and Facebook users.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Nearly 70 years after he earned it, Aaron Narvol has his Purple Heart.

Wounded in the Battle of Okinawa, Narvol had long deserved the honor but only received it Thursday, on his 93rd birthday.

“I never thought I’d get it,” Narvol said of the medal he now refuses to take off. “That there is here to stay.”

Narvol had tried several times to petition for the medal for the bullet wound he received while trying to save a fallen fellow soldier.

“He was in the jungle for three and a half years,” said Narvol’s son, Todd. “It was a big part of his life and had a profound impact on it.”

Social media, business team against HIV

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A pastor at a New Orleans church after Hurri-cane Katrina has plead guilty to steal-ing nearly $1 million in disaster loans meant to rebuild the church.

Federal prosecutors said 40-year-old Toris Young used the loan award-ed to Bible Way Baptist Church to pay for personal expenses, including jew-elry, vehicles and clothes.

Young faces a maximum of 10 years in prison following his guilty plea Thursday to theft of government funds and mail fraud.

The church property was vacant when the Small Business Adminisra-tion checked to see how he spent the money.

WWII veteranhonored with Purple Heart

Church pastor pleads guilty to Katrina fraud

STATENATIONWORLD QUOTE

London D. Rupert, 23, of Stewart Road, Macon, Miss., was ar-rested Thursday on charges of possession of marijuana with intent to sell, drug paraphernalia, resisting by flight, driving under suspension, no vehicle insurance, open container and improper lane usage.

ULMPD reported that officers observed a white car drifting back and forth between lanes. When officers initiated the traffic stop, Ru-pert abandoned the vehicle on foot and threw several objects.

Rupert was apprehended . Officers searched for Rupert’s discard-ed items and found 22 bags of suspected marijuana.

ULMPD also found an open bottle of beer in Rupert’s console, which he admitted to drinking prior to being stopped.

CAMPUS CRIME BRIEFS

Half-time Entertainment

by Garrett Boyte

photo by Srdjan Marjanovic

contact Garrett Boyte atboytejg@warhawks.ulm.edu

During half-time of Saturday’s women’s basketball team, children put their ball handling skills to work as they performed for the Warhawk crowd in the Fant-Ewing Colliseum.

Patrick D. Burton, 20, of South 2nd Street, Monroe, was arrest-ed Jan. 22 on charges of underage DWI first offense and improper lane usage.

Police said in a report Burton hit the inside fog line of the turning lane with both driver’s side tires. Officers observed the truck swerve hard to the right, causing it to cross over into the right lane of travel before drifting back into the left lane.

Officers reported smelling alcohol on Burton’s breath. Burton ad-mitted to drinking a small cup of cranberry and vodka earlier that night. Officers administered a breath test and Burton was booked in the Ouachita Correctional Center.

Student government passes referendums to increase fees

Barksdale

“Myself and a couple more of

the votingsenators haven’t had the opportu-

nity and timeto review this information.”

Theo Shaw,

SGA senator

“Acting isn’t something you do.

Instead of doing it, it occurs. If you’re going to start with logic,

you might as well give up.”

Marilyn Monroe,

1950s movie star

view the referendums at:www.ulmhawkeyeonline.com

THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA AT MONROE PAGE 3January 30, 2012

NEWS

ULM hosted a ribbon cutting cere-mony Monday to commemorate the reopened Lake C. Oxford Natatori-um. University officials, YMCA repre-sentatives and elected officials from the Monroe area spoke to the stand-ing room only crowd that gathered to see the embattled building open its doors once again.

“The partnership shows that peo-ple can get together for a common good,” said University Pres. Nick Bru-no. “This will help students to decide rather they want to continue renova-tions of the natatorium or to go in a different direction.”

The natatorium’s future had been in question since it was shut down last summer, reopened for the fall se-mester, shut down again in Decem-ber, and reopened again thanks to a partnership between the University

and the YMCA.Chris Pealer, executive director of

the YMCA, encouraged community members and students to sign up for classes and memberships the YMCA

is offering through the natatorium. “I have intentions of planning different games and activities as well as com-petitions between fraternities such as aquatic obstacle course and boat rac-

es, although these are kind of expen-sive ideas,” said Pealer.

Five water aerobics classes will also be offered to students and the general public. In addition, swim les-sons will be offered for all ages and triathlon training will also be avail-able, according to YMCA officials.

Pealer said, “I hope to try and find some new innovative ways to appeal to the student body...”

Last semester’s plans to add more dining area to the SUB are no lon-ger on the table, according to Robert Hoag, director of food services. “We haven’t even talked about it since then,” said Hoag.

Although the original plans for renovations are dead, Director of Media Rela-tions Laura Wo-odard said plac-ing more tables in the existing dining room has solved the problem.

Students may not agree on how the problem with crowding in the SUB should be addressed, but most agree it still gets crowded at times.

John Gorman, a commuter stu-dent who uses the SUB said expand-ing the SUB would be best for the long-term future of the SUB.

Left to right; Sen. Francis Thompson, Chris Pealer, Sen. Mike Walsworth, Brooke Dugas and Nick Bruno officially reopen the nat a cutting a ribbon.

photo by Lane Davis

by Brandon Tate

by Scott Simoneaux

contact Brandon Tate attatebl@warhawks.ulm.edu

contact Scott Simoneaux atsimonesa@warhawks.ulm.edu

Hoag

Melinda Dewberry, a ULM master’s can-didate in history and an intern at the Bieden-harn Museum and Gardens in Monroe, re-cently set up an exhibit featuring ancient ar-tifacts of the Dumas Collection of Mediterra-nean antiquities.

This long-term exhibit includes 10 ancient oil lamps used in the ancient Mediterranean over many centuries.

Monica Bontty of the ULM History Depart-ment wrote an introduction to the lamp cata-log and edited it with help from Bryan Butler, Karen Niemla and Keli Jacobi.

The exhibit and the Biedenharn Museum and Gardens may be visited from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. The cost is $4 for children 11 and younger and a $6 charge for people 12 and older.

The ULM Bry Art Gallery is featuring a two-person exhibition of the works of artists Jay Gould and Jes Schrom.

Schrom is displaying an installation of pig-mented ink prints and looped video from her “Reconstructive Memory” series. Gould will is displaying archival inkjet prints from his project titled “Investigations in the 4th Dimension.”The exhibit will remain on display until Feb. 1.

The gallery is free and open to the public. Normal gallery hours are from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday and from 8 a.m. to noon on Friday.

More information on these artists through their websites: Jes Schrom at http://www.jschrom.com/ and Jay Gould at http://jgould.net/.

Grad student curates exhibit at Biedenharn

Bry displays art gallery through Wednesday

25Average number of students that use the nat per week, according to ULM study.

Natatorium reopens under YMCA

Delays in cable upgrades are caus-ing some students to become impa-tient with the process.

The upgrade with Comcast was to begin Tuesday, Jan. 17 and was ex-pected to end Wednesday, Jan. 24. During this time, students’ cable was expected to be limited and eventually students were left with only the basic channels. While some housing units, such as the Bayou Village Apartments and Masur, were suc-cessfully upgrad-ed by Jan. 24 oth-ers are still with-out cable and may be without it for up to 10 addi-tional days.

“I’m not very happy about it. Even though we’re getting extra channels I’m still mad I’ve missed ‘Pretty Little Liars,’” said Kylie Stracener, a junior mass communication major from Calhoun and a Commons I resident.

While the upgrade may be tak-ing longer than expected, it has had some perks. Not only are students not being charged extra, the upgrade

comes with a Comcast converter box, a remote and it even includes TiVo. Channels now range from four to 847, and channels that were not available before have been included with the upgrade. Some of these channels in-clude the Hallmark Movie Channel, Cartoon Network, Music Choice and more.

Baneita Smith, junior manage-ment major from Shreveport and Commons II resident, said, “Well, I’ve seen the upgrades in other rooms, and I appreciate the fact that we’re getting more channels.” A downfall she believes, however, is their pro-cess. “Well, I don’t like the fact that everyone had to lose their cable while they worked on one building at a time,” said Smith.

“Well, I don’t like the fact that

everyone had to lose their cable

while they worked on one building

at a time.”Baneita Smith,

junior management major

by Jaclyn Jones

contact Jaclyn Jones atjones2@warhawks.ulm.edu

Residents becoming frustrated without all their channels

Stracener

Cable upgrades delayed 10 days

SUB cancels dining room expansion

ULM’s Office of Greek Life recently released the fall 2011 grade point av-erage results for ULM’s Greek organi-zations.

The combined Greek GPA for the semester was 3.044.

The all-sorority average was 3.163, while the all-fraternity average was 2.909.

“Earning the best grades pos-sible has be-come a real point of pride for many of the Greek organiza-tions here,” said Keith Hembree, coordinator of Greek Life at ULM.

Kappa Delta Sorority holds the top Greek GPA with a 3.219 overall aver-age.

“Good grades are one of our high-est priorities as Kappa Deltas,” said Brooke Mohon, a Kappa Delta mem-ber. “I am very happy to know that all of our hard work is paying off. I couldn’t be more proud of my sis-ters.”

Kappa Sigma had an overall av-erage of 2.828 which fell lower than most of the other fraternities and so-rorities.

“Our overall GPA is probably low-er than others because, as a whole, we put more of our efforts into phi-

lanthropy events, social events, fund-raisers and recruiting,” said Derek Jones, a Kappa Sigma member.

Each organization does have min-imum GPA requirements they are ex-pected to meet, and they stress the importance of maing academics a priority every semester.

by Kristin Nieman

contact Kristin Nieman atniemankd@warhawks.ulm.edu

Greek life releases fall semester GPAs

Mohon

BRIEFS TOP GPAs

3.050Kappa Alpha

Order

Delta SigmaTheta

Kappa Delta

3.219

3.035

learn more about Greek life atwww.ulmgreeks.com

THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA AT MONROE January 30, 2012PAGE 4

You know what ruffles my feathers: annoying people at the store.

When I run to Wal-Mart to try to quickly get a single item, it never fails that all the lines are packed! I under-stand you all think your buggy full of junk is more impor-tant, but please do not go to the self check out. Seriously, if you have an entire shopping cart full, just go to a cashier. It will save you the hassle and save me time.

It is also my luck to have to watch as people try to fig-ure out how to scan an item. I am no rocket scientist, but I

think the bar code has to go over the scanner. I get the ma-chines make you put the item in the bagging area, but is that really so hard? By the time a person has to come help you, I could have been at home already.

The last thing that just gets me is coupons. I know you all think you’re the thrifty shopper, but stop imitating “Ex-treme Couponing.” Nothing is more aggravating than hearing someone stop the line I am in because they need 20 different transactions to use all their coupons. Really? In all likelihood you can do it all in one transaction. Did you bother to ask? No. Instead, you’ve wasted my time, as well as the 10 others in the line behind me, because you think you are the only person in the universe.

So in the end, please think before acting. That may be hard for some of you, but it would seriously save a lot of people time and anger. Rule of thumb: if you hate it when people in front of you do it, more than likely you’re doing the same thing that makes those behind you angry, as well Just a thought.

OPINION

Key elements of ULM’s upcoming marketing plan are increas-ing enrollment and spreading the ULM brand in places outside of Northeast Louisiana. To get these people, the University will need to promote the things that make ULM unique, and the new multi-me-dia performance concentration of the communication studies de-gree is a perfect program to highlight.

Louisiana’s film industry is booming. Business will continue to come into the state to do business for the movie and television in-dustries. This means that employers are going to need to hire people who already know what they are doing to fill that demand.

Because of the state’s right-to-work laws, locals will rise to the top of the list of prospective employees, so long as those locals are trained properly.

The multi-media performance concentration will train people specifically to take advantage of the jobs that will continue to flow into the state. ULM graduates in this field can go straight to work, an admirable quality in this job-focused educational climate created by Baton Rouge lawmakers.

Why should this matter so much to ULM? The degree concentra-tion is uniquely ours, and we should own it. The University can tell high school students throughout all of the regional recruiting zones, “Hey, if you want a legitimate shot of working in the movie industry on the first day after your graduation, come to ULM. We can hook you up.”

What better way to increase enrollment at the University while pleasing the Board of Regents at the same time? High numbers of job-ready completers who can immediately go to work – without leaving the state, by the way – is exactly the type of degree the Board of Regents goes nuts for.

The degree concentration will also help ULM get in on the ground floor of the “small frame media” industry that will only grow. This in-dustry’s focus is on making more effective use of blogs and YouTube. Rarely does ULM get the chance to break major ground in an emerg-ing industry; here’s that chance.

Putting focus on this degree can only mean more students, more graduates and more people ready to enter a workforce hungry to hire people. It only makes sense for the University to highlight such a per-fect formula for success anytime it has the chance.

HAWKEYE P.O.V.

ULM should prioritize media, theater degree

Referendum season is here again. For the past couple of springs, the new semester brings with it the pos-sibility of fees increasing, and this se-mester is no different.

Student sovernment leaders have passed the referendum to increase student fees to pay for the new Bayou Park outdoor pool.

SGA should be careful, though, be-cause this bill could already be dead in the water.

Remember last year’s failed pro-posal to pump $1 million into the smallest athletic budget in division one sports? Seems like a good enough reason to increase fees, right?

In another time, maybe. But when money is tight for everyone, students don’t want to pay more money than they already pay. That feeling like-ly has not changed as the fog of eco-

nomic uncertainty still lingers thick-ly in the air.

As such, the Bayou Park referen-dum is already in jeopardy, and the straw poll results shouldn’t bring a sense of encouragement to anyone wanting to see an outdoor pool.

Forty-six percent said they prefer an outdoor pool to the natatorium. But that also means that 54 percent did not want a pool in Bayou Park, ei-ther favoring to renovate the nat or do nothing.

Couple that percentage with the low voter turn out, and the referen-dum’s chances look even bleaker than the NLU swim team’s chances of returning.

People who didn’t care one way or the other simply didn’t vote in the straw poll. That means they don’t care about the Bayou Park plan. And that means they aren’t going to pay for it.

While those students may have stayed silent for the straw poll, they are probably going to rush to the polls to vote down a referendum that adds nearly $100 to their fees be-cause, again, why would they want to pay for something they don’t want built? If they were motivated enough by the idea of the Bayou Park outdoor

pool, they would have voted for it the first time.

Don’t despair Bayou Park pool fans. You havent lost yet, but you are going to have to overcome a lot of ground in a few short months.

The University and SGA need to start wooing students now if they want to see the project come to life.

Otherwise, the referendum will fail and the pool will not be built. Then all we’ll have left is a dilapidated build-ing and a whole lot of ill will from an-gry swimmers in the community.

That’s not going to be good for any-body.

ULM’s best bet may actually be to go with the natatorium because supporting the natatorium means making the community happy. That in turn means the influential and wealthy people supporting the nata-torium may open their checkbooks to the University’s fundraising cam-paign.

But if Bayou Park is what leaders feel would be best for the students, they should go for it because they are there for the students and no one else. But they need to sell it and sell it hard.

Inconsiderate shoppers

contact Cole Avery ataveryrc@warhawks.ulm.edu

contact John Sanders atsanderj2@warhawks.ulm.edu

illustration by Kelsey Hargrove

Bayou Park pool may be dead in the water

JOHN SANDERS

COLE AVERY

What ruffles my feathers?

THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA AT MONROEJanuary 30, 2012 PAGE 5

Do you ever stop to consider just how much you use your cell phone? I mean, truly think about it. Even the least tech-y people of mod-ern society rely on their cell phone. But I think as a college student, we are even more depen-dant on ours.

I don’t know many people from our genera-tion who have home phones, and I am no ex-ception. For me, my phone is my connection to family and friends. If it isn’t via Facebook or my cell phone, you’d be hard-pressed to get in touch with me because between school and work, I’m rarely ever in one place for very long.

So last week, when I dropped my phone and rendered it useless, I finally understood the term “First World Problem.”

Suddenly, my brain was flooded with all sorts of imaginary scenarios. What if I slipped in the shower and broke something? Or what if my temperamental vehicle decided it didn’t want to start for the seemingly billionth time? Or what if some sort of medical emergency was taking place within my family, and I had no idea?

My overactive imagination was frantic with doomsday scenarios.

In the five days that followed in which I was awaiting a replacement phone, I couldn’t help but reflect on just how much modern soci-ety has come to rely on technology, and from a personal standpoint, it was frustrating. Why did I feel so off-balance? Why had I let myself become so dependent on a single device to help keep my life on track?

I suppose it’s an issue of convenience. By having our ability to communicate, find, share and save information all wrapped into one de-vice, our natural preference for ease and con-venience has caused our society to slowly, but surely, adopt cell phones as a staple part of how we accomplish small tasks on a daily basis.

All in all, I think it was a frustrating yet eye-opening experience. I realized I have let conve-nience rule my life, and perhaps I need to take more time to rely upon my wits and ingenuity.

I’d like to say I intend to turn my phone off on the weekends and instead focus on life around me, but the worry-wart in me says, “Don’t kid yourself, Morgan. The minute you powered it down, you’d suddenly wonder if one of your friends is stranded on the side of the road, needing a ride home.” I can, however, vow that I plan on taking more time to put my electronic lifeline on its charger, and instead focus more on living LIFE in its simplest form. Wait, we can count laptops as “simple,” right?

College students too reliant on technology

According to the By-Laws of the ULM SGA, Article IV Section 1 and 2, it explicitly states that meeting’s format shall be taken from Rob-ert’s Rules of Order and that only voting mem-bers of the Senate shall have debate privileg-es. however, from my mere presence at a SGA meeting, one could quickly discern that mem-bers of this particular organization are not fol-lowing true to what they have on paper.

At this meeting, an executive officer was ad-dressing and engaging in the debate with my-self over a proposal regarding the student body. Another executive officer took thte liber-ty of telling Senators to call a motion and then asking for a secod to the motion. According to SGA’s own rules, this is highly unconstitution-al. But there was little objection and order be-ing followed.

I am not a Psychology major, and I do not as-pire to be. However, I do understand that some SGA members are psychologically conditioned to think the same way. These members are en-

gaged in a process of groupthink because they are in the same fraternity/sorority. I respect what students choose to do in their social life; however, what I do oppose is bigotry. I refuse to sit back and watch members of a highly re-spected student organization disrespect stu-dents by governing from within and not being engaged in critical debate over important stu-dent issues.

I refuse to turn an eye on such an essential subject. The SGA has a responsibility to hear student’s suggestions and concerns and then address them properly. I call upon every mem-ber of the SGA to stop the insular in his or her thinking. You all were elected to represent ev-ery student, even if these students are not apart of your Greek organization. Stop the impedi-ments to student issues and return to or start following what you all put on paper in the Con-stitution and By-Laws.

Theo Shaw SGA Senator

Let’s look at Bobby Jindal’s education re-form for what it really is: teacher bashing. I’m not saying teachers aren’t to blame; I’m saying they’re not the only ones to blame. What Jindal is trying to do, by the privatization of public ed-ucation, will undoubtedly strangle our current education system and replace it with a volatile mixture of private and charter schools.

Jindals education reform basically will:• offer vouchers for low income families to

send their children to private schools if they at-tend a low performance school;

• propose to end regular annual pay increase for teachers;

• require that teachers lose their certification after three years of ineffective ratings.

While these plans look excellent on the sur-face, if one digs a little deeper into the issue one would find that education is a multifaceted sub-ject. Think about private and charter schools that have selective admissions. They will not admit poorly performing students because it will cause their scores to go down. Therefore, while these students may have vouchers, they may not be able to get in.

Ending regular annual pay increases for teachers may seem fine and dandy, but there’s nothing stopping these new teachers from go-ing to Texas or Mississippi where teachers get regular increases and are paid up to 20 per-cent more. This will leave Louisiana with more poorly paid teachers, who won’t have the moti-vation to perform.

The real problem here is the way teachers are rated. The state uses standardized tests to generate School Performance Scores. Public schools don’t have the option of selective ad-mission; they have to take every student that comes in the door. Including the ones that are only there because the law requires it. Natu-rally, these students are not going to perform well because they don’t want to perform well. When these low-performing students take the standardized tests, they hurt a school’s score. So even if you have a hard-working teacher, they will be misjudged due to the inaccuracy of standardized tests.

I’m not sure what the perfect cure for the education system is, but I do know that the best medicine for it is teachers, students, par-

ents and administrators who care. Education should work like fire. There are three elements needed to make fire: fuel, oxygen and ignition. If just one of these things is missing, then there can’t be fire. Education should operate the same way with everyone working together to teach the children of this state and nation.

If we could all work together to strengthen the children of this nation, then we could tru-ly live up to the dreams that the founders of this nation held. Because it’s the children who will carry on the torch of liberty, allowing it to shine into the darkest places of this world.

OPINION

contact Garrett Boyte atboytejg@warhawks.ulm.edu

illustration by Kelsey Hargrove

contact Morgan Witt atsanderj2@warhawks.ulm.edu

Jindal education reform based in failed scoring system, teacher bashing

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

SGA members put selves over students

GARRETT BOYTE

MORGAN WITT

sound off on this and any column atwww.ulmhawkeyeonline.com

THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA AT MONROE January 30, 2012PAGE 6

parts of the state aren’t going to give it to us. We’re going to have to earn it,” Ray said.

Other critics contend it’s going to take much more than that for the re-gion to grow movie stars.

Kyle Zimmerman, assistant profes-sor of acting and directing, said Lou-isiana’s “booming” film industry is a bit of a façade, saying most of the high paying jobs still rest in Califor-nia.

“ E v e r y o n e says Louisiana is a great place to do acting, but it’s just not,” Zim-merman said. “They’re do-ing a lot of films, but that doesn’t mean a lot of work.”

Zimmerman said there may be a lot of work for extras, but to really get going in the industry, people are still going to have to move to become a star. He said even moving up to small speaking roles could present a prob-lem with the career.

According to Zimmerman, the best way to get jobs is through good agents. To get a good agent, a per-son needs to have done enough work to join the union. But after an actor working mainly in Louisiana joins the union, he or she is subject to union rates, so producers may move on to another beginning actor who

will accept less money.Zimmerman also said a lot of the

editing and post-production still takes place in California.

Still, Ray contends the future is bright in Louisiana, but it’s going to take some work.

Ray said con-tinuing educa-tion in the art of filmmaking will produce a stron-ger workforce of job-ready people who don’t need on-site train-ing and can go straight to work. More highly trained people will mean a higher likelihood of people staying in the region to complete entire films, including pre-production, production and post-production work.

ULM is in a prime position to churn out that workforce.

The University just approved a new communication studies con-centration called Multi-Media Per-formance. The concentration mix-es theater, communication studies and mass communication classes to train people specifically for the film industry. The degree concentration is unique to ULM in that no other col-lege in the state offers anything like it.

Majors following the degree path can still get the beginning experience in the industry by following what movies are being made and what film companies need. Ray said R-Squared Productions also offers internships and practical work experience that could give students a foot in the door

to the industry.Ray said it’s going to take a com-

mitment from the community to want to invest in the industry and graduates to remain in the region to work.

“We believe in the community and our investment back into it because when you support R-squared Pro-ductions you’re investing back into the lives of people who live in our community,” Ray said.

Zimmerman said Louisiana will never be another Hollywood, but the state certainly has room to grow.

“What we could hope to become is like an Atlanta or Nashville. That would be more realistic,” Zimmer-man said.

Zimmerman, who will be teaching

some of the classes of the new con-centration, said Louisiana could be a pioneer of a new industry he calls “small frame media.”

Zimmerman explains small frame media is the emerging uses of blog sites and sites like YouTube. He com-pares it to the beginning of film when directors filmed a play, but then real-ized the camera could move with the actors. Small frame media, he said, is in the same place in its evolution.

“If Louisiana can take what films are doing and apply that to small for-mat, then we can get in on the ground floor of some cutting edge stuff,” Zim-merman said.

NEWS

by Cole Avery

contact Cole Avery ataveryrc@warhawks.ulm.educontact Cole Avery at

averyrc@warhawks.ulm.edu

Zimmerman

Ray

“They’re doing a lot of films, but

that doesn’t mean a lot of work.”

Kyle Zimmerman,

theater professor

5%Discount movie producers get when they hireLouisiana people

ULM has approved a new concentration that will merge theater and communication studies to train people for jobs in the film in-dustry.

The new concentration is called Multi-Me-dia Performance and is part of the communi-cation studies curriculum. Students can enroll in the concentration now.

“Theater students don’t have a major, and this gives them a major,” said Carl Thameling, head of the Communications Department and author of the concentration.

Students following the concentration will take core communication studies courses. Additional courses in theater and mass com-munication will also be required.

Some courses required include public speaking, media writing, advanced acting, video production and performance studies, to name a few.

Students in this curriculum will also be able to take advantage of the cutting-edge production equipment housed in the Mass Communication Department.

Kyle Zimmerman, assistant professor of acting and directing, said he was looking for-ward to learning more about what he calls “small frame media,” which includes things like YouTube and blogs.

Zimmerman said Louisiana, and particu-larly the ULM/Monroe region, could take ad-vantage of this emerging industry, an indus-try Zimmerman said is no where near realiz-ing it’s full potential.

“What gives a site an advantage is what it has over another site,” Zimmerman said. “The people who owned [companies that produced this media] would be here, where-as we will always be getting the leftovers of TV and film from Hollywood.”

Thameling echoed Zimmerman’s desire to get in on the ground floor of the small me-dia industry.

“The digital market can be a paradise or a paradise lost. We’re hoping it will be a para-dise,” Thameling said.

Specifics of the course will not be pub-lished until the 2012-2013 catalog, but the Communication Department has specifics.

Concentration mixes media, theater classesMOVIES

continued from p.1DID YOU KNOW?

There are more than 18 major films and televi-sion series in pre-production or currently filming in Louisiana. One film, “Django Unchained,” fea-tures prominent actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Samu-el L. Jackson, Jaime Foxx and Joseph Gordon-Lev-itt. The film is still in pre-production.

THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA AT MONROEJanuary 30, 2012 PAGE 7

ULM’s Risk Management and In-surance program recently launched the Small Business Risk Manage-ment Institute to conduct research and provide guidance for small busi-nesses.

The institute took three years to de-velop. Students enrolled in Insurance 3008 in fall 2011 surveyed over 280 small businesses throughout Louisi-ana, according to Christine Berry, di-rector of insurance studies. The busi-nesses analyzed included oil and gas industries, retail stores, financial ser-vice businesses, restaurants and con-struction companies. Students also trained these small business owners during their studies.

“Students collected data through their coursework such as demo-graphics, business characteristics, risk management and insurance,” said Berry.

Berry said plans are being made to branch out to other states. Research gathered by students is currently be-ing applied to small business educa-tion workshops Berry is conducting in south Louisiana.

Beaux Duhe, a senior major-ing in risk management and insur-ance from Houma, conducted sur-veys last fall mainly in the southern part of Louisiana. The survey top-ics explored common types of small business insurance coverage such as flood, wind and liability insurance.

“[Students] surveyed to get an idea of what businesses are not taking advantage of, what they are lacking or what they are not aware of,” said Duhe.

ULM’s Small Business Risk Man-agement Institute uses resources pertaining to risks and damages that are usually designed for large corpo-rations; therefore, they are not perti-nent to small businesses.

“[The institute] allows small busi-nesses to think outside of the box and to consider what if something happened,” said Duhe, “they would then be able to keep running and not go under.”

Risk management and insurance students continue to research to be integrated into small business edu-cation and training efforts.

Political science professors John Sutherlin and Josh Stockley recent-ly presented a paper at the Southern Political Science Association annu-al conference. In the paper, Suther-lin and Stockley explain the differ-ences within the Republican Party as caused by the geographic location of party members within the state.

The paper presented by Stockley and Sutherlin will be used in a Lou-isiana Political Science textbook. Stockley says that there hasn’t been a textbook like this one since the 1970s. The two professors received general-ly good reviews from the attendees of the conference on their paper, and they hope this textbook will help put ULM on the map.

People know there’s some people cooking up some things [in Monroe],” Stockley said about the conference. He said that people have heard of the things being done at Tulane and LSU, but this gives ULM a chance to have

its name heard. Stockley believes it is impressive to other political scien-tists that the two of them, who have different concentrations in political science, can work together and pro-duce such an interesting find.

Sutherlin said that the paper cov-ers the types the differences one would see within the state Republi-can Party. He said it would vary de-pending on in which part of the state a person was. For instance, Repub-licans in Shreveport may be more concentrated on militarist subjects while those in Baton Rouge would focus more on the healthcare as-pect.

The Southern Political Science As-sociation Conference is one of the largest conferences in the nation re-garding political science. Accord-ing to Stockley, it is regional in name only and may be attended by politi-cal scientists from Maine to Califor-nia.

Nicholas Sparks, author best known for his book “The Notebook,” is this year’s ULM Lyceum Series speaker. “An Evening with Nicholas Sparks” will be 7 p.m. Thursday at the Monroe Civic Center’s W. C. “Jack” Howard Theatre. There will be a book signing immediately following the speech.

Sparks, a New York Times best sell-ing author, is also known for writ-ing: “Message in a Bottle,” “A Walk to Remember,” “Nights in Rodanthe,” “Dear John” and “The Last Song.” All of those books have been adapted into movies and have become icon-ic romantic feature films. His books have sold almost 80 million copies worldwide.

The venue was moved last week from Brown Auditorium because of the overwhelming interest in the event. The Civic Center location holds almost 1,500 people, double the size of Brown.

Nathan Hall, assistant dean of Stu-dent Life and Leadership said Sparks has gotten the most interest of any speaker so far on the Presidential Ly-ceum series.

Students can receive a free tick-et by going to www.ulmtickets.com. Tickets cost $10 for faculty and staff, $25 for general admission and $50 for patron tickets, which are also avail-able at www.ulmtickets.com.

If students need a ride to the event they can contact Nathan Hall at na-hall@ulm.edu. Monroe City will pro-vide buses for the students who need a ride.

Sparks will also speak to a class at 3 p.m. in CNSB 100. There is limited seating for this class, but seats are still available. Students interested in at-tending the class need to contact Hall at nahall@ulm.edu.

Emily Plunkett, a senior commu-nication studies major from Chou-drant, has had her ticket since they

were available in December. “I have read all of his books and

seen all of the movies. His stories do have heartbreak, but it always works out for the best in the end,” Plunkett said.

Hunter Har-ris, an English graduate student from Jackson, Miss., said he’s not invested in Sparks’ work, but he said he did enjoy the mov-ie adaptation of “The Notebook.”

“Nicholas Sparks knows how to ap-peal to the part of my brain that loves sappiness, and the movie just works,” Harris said.

Ben Stokes, a sophomore histo-ry major from Monroe, said he never had any interest in Sparks’ books be-cause they seem repetitive.

“Two people fall in love, then one or both of them die tragically or by some illness,” Stokes said.

“His stories do have heartbreak,

but it always works out for the best in the end.”

Emily Plunkett,

senior comm. studies major

NEWS

Bestselling author will be creating sparks during 2012 Lyceum Seriesby Emma Herrock

contact Emma Herrock atherroceg@warhawks.ulm.edu

contact Garrett Boyte atboytejg@warhawks.ulm.edu

Stokes

contact Lesley Engolia atengolila@warhawks.ulm.edu

Political science profs speak at conference, published in text book

Small business institute opens

by Lesley Engolia

ULM business student analyze insurance, risk in La. companies

“[The institute] allows small busi-ness to think out-side of the box...”

Beaux Duhe,

senior risk managment major

by Garrett Boyte

THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA AT MONROE January 30, 2012PAGE 8

Each semester, students from around the world come to ULM to ex-perience life in America while getting an education. However, when these students learn English at home, they learn a very proper version of English that we do not normally speak.

This makes studying here difficult for students who do not know slang and oth-er vocabulary. That is where a “Conversation Partner” comes in to play. The job of a conversation partner is to meet with their partner for an hour a week and “build inter-national bridges and have interest-ing conversations,” says Mara Loeb, the coordinator of the program. Each pair decides how and when they will

interact after an initial meeting. This not only teaches students how

we live as Americans, but also boosts their confidence in speaking a for-eign language. With the record num-ber of international students, it is even more important that they have the full experience of American life.

Students who are interested in learning about a new culture and sharing their own should contact Mara Loeb by Valentine’s Day at loeb@ulm.edu.

On Jan. 23, China, which is known for being one of the largest countries in the world with the fastest econom-ic growth rate, celebrated its New Year with excitement.

“Spring Festival” is the tradition-al name of this important celebration for the Chinese. It represents the end of the winter season and the begin-ning of a new spring.

According to the Chinese calendar, this year will be the “Year of the Drag-on.” Dragons are considered a pos-itive symbol in China; therefore, the Chinese believe this year will be suc-cessful and promising.

With 1.3 billion people in China, it is certain that each family has its own “Spring Festival” traditions. Yun Liu, a 21-year-old biology major from Bei-jing, said that traditionally his fam-ily members get together for dinner and share a nice meal of fish, rice and vegetables.

This tradition is said to bring well-

being between family members and is a perfect way to start a new year.

Liu said that while wait-ing for the bell to sound at midnight, his family shares experi-ences of the past year.

Once midnight arrives, “We normally eat pork dumplings, and I finally get together with my friends and go watch the fireworks,” said Liu.

Liu’s favorite New Year’s tradition is the tradi-tion where once the children tell their par-ents, “Happy New Year,” the parents are supposed to give their children a little red bag with money inside.

FREESTYLE

by Bibiana Almeida

Loeb

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Ringing in China’s Year of the Dragon

contact Bibiana Almeida atalmeidbf@warhawks.ulm.edu

Americans urged to teach internationals slang, make friendsby Hope Barton

contact Hope Barton atbartonha@warhawks.ulm.edu

231internationalstudents are

enrolled at ULM this spring

THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA AT MONROEJanuary 30, 2012 PAGE 9

Residential Life hosted Dance Central Wednesday night in Ma-sur Lobby. The event, open to all on-campus students, was filled with peo-ple dancing and having fun. “I am re-ally enjoying myself, and I am enjoy-ing this free food,” says senior mass communication major, Joe Lewis.

R e s i d e n t i a l Life hosts sev-eral events like this throughout the year in an at-tempt to give the students a break from school and the chance to meet new peo-ple.

The Residential Assistants (RAs) are required to throw at least two

events each semester before finals week.

Many RAs enjoy giving students something fun to go to. Hall director, Heather Wardlaw, enjoys helping put on the events and believes it helps many freshmen make new friends. “When you knock on the doors and

make people come down, they don’t have a choice but to talk to each oth-er,” Wardlaw said about her experi-ence hosting events.

Students spent the night showing off their dancing skills and enjoying free food. Events like Dance Central offer a great way to escape the stress-es of school and meet new friends.

Music and celebration are on their way

as ULM faculty and special guest artists

get ready to take center stage. Students

will have the opportunity to attend two

different events: the Implosion Percus-

sion concert on Jan. 31 and the “African-

Americans in the Arts” concert on Feb. 3.

Both concerts will be held at 7:30 p.m. in

the Emy-Lou Biedenharn Recital Hall.

This will be the Implosion Percussion

Group’s first big concert of the year. The

group is compiled mostly of ULM faculty

and alumni from the music division.

“The concert will feature an extremely

exciting mix of music,” said Mel Mobley,

ULM music professor, in an email.

The “African-Americans in the Arts”

concert is making its second appearance

this year.

The stage will be graced with the pres-

ence of ULM graduate, Leon Turner, who

has traveled the world as a professional

singer and is still performing around the

country today. Professional singer/so-

prano Brenda Wimberly is also set to per-

form.

Stafford, senior speech pathology ma-

jor of Alexandria, was all smiles when giv-

ing details about the upcoming event.

“I’m most excited that we’re able to

have both of these professional singers

come perform at our school,” said Staf-

ford.

Nearly all parts of VAPA will be repre-

sented. Tina Mullone, ULM dance profes-

sor, will be performing an excerpt from

“Two Solos.”

Loris Beckles, dance partner of the

piece’s original choreographer, asked Mu-

lone to perform the show.

“I actually saw this solo performed

when I was in college and reacted to how

powerful it was. I am extremely hon-

ored and humbled Mr. Beckles asked me

to perform this work,” said Mullone in an

email interview.

Both concerts are free and open to the

public.

FREESTYLE

Don’t stress out...DANCE!

It seems that “The Hangover” will follow in the footsteps of many other movies and con-tinue on with a third installment.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis are negotiating to each get $15 million to make part three of the series, which is 10 million more than they received for the second installment.

The movie is scheduled to start filming this summer with Todd Phillips returning to direct, and it’s aimed to be released Memorial Day 2013.

HANGOVER PART 3?

contact Catherine Morrisonatmorriscl@warhawks.ulm.edu

by Jarred Keller

by Catherine Morrison

contact Jarred Keller atkellerjdn@warhawks.ulm.edu

Wardlaw

Grace Reynolds shows off her moves at Dance Central in Masur Lobby.

photo by Robert Brown

illustration by Srdjan Marjanovic

Residential life throws dance party for students needing break from studies

ULM hosts showsin celebration ofBlack History Month

“I am really enjoying myself,

and I am enjoying this food.”

Joe Lewis, senior mass comm. major

“The concert will feature an

extremely exciting mix of music.”

Mel Mobley,music professor

THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA AT MONROE January 30, 2012PAGE 10

GAMES

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did you know?

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today in history

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1948

Archduke CrownPrince Rudolf ofAustria, heir to thecrown,isfounddeadwithhismistressn.

Indian leader Mo-hatmasGhandiisas-sassinated by a Hin-duextremist.

previous pollHow do you feel about the nat being reopened?

68.97% (20 votes)

17.24% (5 votes)

13.79% (4 votes) Total Votes: 29

I’m glad it’s reopened

Didn’t vote to close it?

Indifferent

ACROSS1 “__: Miami”4 Host of “The Price Is

Right”9 “Cat on a __ Tin Roof”12 “Rumor __ It...”; movie

for Jennifer Aniston13 “__ of Two Cities”14 Goof15 Oahu or Maui: abbr.16 Excessive enthusiasm17 Actor Vigoda18 “Evening __”20 Fasten again, as one’s

shoelaces22 “__ Talent”26 “The __ Burnett

Show”27 Switch positions28 Coach __ Parseghian29 Alien visitor of old sit-

com32 Uptight35 “60 Minutes” longtime

correspondent39 Main character in “The

Sound of Music”40 House for Nanook of

the North42 Traveler’s overnight

stop43 Up to the time that47 Monogram for Coret-

ta’s late civil rights husband

48 Lemony drink49 Late actor Christopher50 Building wing51 Scandinavian airline52 __ up; totaled53 Actor Stephen

DOWN1 Actor McBride and

others2 White House resident3 Main religion of Indo-

nesia4 “Candid __”5 “One Day __ Time”6 Raced7 Actor __ Marienthal8 “The Wonder __”9 Patricia of “The Mid-

dle”10 Planetary paths

11 “One __ Hill”19 Twelfth month: abbr.21 Sense of self-esteem23 Hot under the collar24 Feldman or Haim25 Rachins and Thicke29 Actress Peet30 Greene of “Bonanza”

and others31 Night that we watch

“CSI: NY”: abbr.33 Went by ship34 ABCD followers36 Mary’s sister on “Little

House on the Prairie”37 __ Fudd; nemesis of

Bugs Bunny38 Esther of “Good

Times”39 Farrow and Kirshner41 “The Sooner State”:

abbr.44 “__ and Stacey”45 Georgette’s hubby on

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46 “__ Got a Se-cret”

THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA AT MONROEJanuary 30, 2012 PAGE 11

The soccer team named Roberto Mazza as the new head coach in De-cember.

Mazza brings a new standard of ex-cellence to the women’s soccer team.

“He has very high expectations, but I think he’s reasonable as far as where our expectations are in the off-sea-son compared to where we should be when we come back for the fall sea-son,” goalkeeper Alex Holland said.

Last season Mazza finished with a 16-5-1 re-cord at the Uni-versity of Arkan-sas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) as head coach and a trip to the NCAA Tournament .

He took over the program at UAPB in 2007, which usually finished in the bottom of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), and in just his third year, Mazza brought the team to the NCAA tournament.

Holland said, “He’s a good moti-vator and positive, and I think that’s what we needed.”

Mazza was also named SWAC coach of the year in 2008.

His successes as a coach are not

only shown on the field, however. His UAPB team had an average GPA of 3.42.

Mazza said, “That’s one of my main points, especially when involved with recruiting, is that you are a student first, then an athlete.”

He said, “And I think that it is very important that academics come first because at the end of the day, you’re going to graduate with a degree and be a professional somewhere else. For me, it’s very important that the academic standard stays high.”

In addition to his athletes’ ac-complishments, Mazza just recent-ly earned his Master’s Degree in both business administration and physical education.

Mazza has already made some changes in the training program, in-cluding 5 a.m. weight workouts.

He said, “That’s what comes with the territory when you are a Division One athlete, and that’s why not ev-eryone can be a Division One athlete. We are obviously focused on making players more complete and getting them to buy into the system I want to teach here.”

Junior Haleigh Harrel said, “I think coach Mazza is creating a foundation for what will be a successful program in the future.”

She said, “I think we’re going to do well next season and that we’re going to make the conference tournament, which is something we’ve never done before.”

The football team is holding a meeting for walk-on tryouts on Tues-day at 5 p.m. for the upcoming sea-son. The team is giving students an opportunity to compete for a posi-tion on the team and potentially a scholarship. Students must first at-tend this meeting to get a chance to make it to the physical try-outs.

“We are looking for football play-ers,” assistant coach Bryan Apple-White said.

There are requirements that inqui-ries must fulfill. One must be a full-time ULM student, have a 2.5 grade point average or better, must have played high school football and must bring proof of insurance.

Apple-White said, “Every once in

a while we find that diamond in the rough. Some guy that may not have wanted to play football, but sudden-ly gets that itch again.”

The team requires high school football experience because they only have so much time to teach players the basics of the game.

Apple-White said, “It’s almost like taking pre-calculus without ever learning to count. And that is impos-sible.”

Students who advance through the preliminary meeting will have physi-cal try-outs on Feb. 7.

The team will notify the stu-dent whether or not to attend. For more questions call Vince Logan at (919) 215-1209.

SPORTS

by DeRon Talley

by Christopher Boyle

contact Christopher Boyle atboylecw@warhawks.ulm.edu

contact DeRon Talley attalleydl@warhawks.ulm.edu

Women’s soccer names Mazza new head coach

Warhawk football to hold walk-on tryouts

photo by Srdjan Marjanovic

Coaches will be watching closely Tuesday as prospective walk-ons tryout for the Warhawk football team.

Joe Paterno passed away after a battle with lung cancer. Thursday night, the college football legend and former coach of the Penn State Nitta-ny Lions was laid to rest.

Only time will tell how people will remember the coach once affec-tionately known as JoePa, but any-one that respects the game shouldn’t dwell upon the scandal that cost him his job, but honor him as the greatest college football coach ever.

Indeed Paterno made a mistake, but it was just a mistake.

He was fired for essentially not making a phone call to police, and most of the fingers should have been pointed at the university instead. He didn’t turn a blind eye to the allega-tions nor was he involved in an elab-orate cover-up.

He told campus officials what Mike McQueary saw, and the university took no further action. Paterno had integrity and his teams played like the coach they admired. Yes, Pater-no could have and should have done more, but one lapse in judgment

should not tarnish an entire legacy. Mighty Joe made Penn State foot-

ball his passion. He never intended to be a foot-

ball coach, but fate intervened when Penn State coach Rip Engle asked him to join the staff in 1950. From that point on, football would be the focus of his life.

Paterno became head coach and won two national championships to go along with 24 bowl victories.

He, along with former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, fought neck and neck to see who could win more games before retirement, and Joe ul-timately prevailed.

He won 406 games and became the greatest college football coach in his-tory. That’s something that will not and should not be forgotten.

Paterno was loyal to his campus and fans. Despite all of his offers to coach numerous NFL teams, Joe made Penn State his home.

Many coaches today like Nick Sa-ban treat their coaching positions as more of a launching pad to the NFL rather than a chance to build a pro-gram. Because of this, the feat of win-ning that many games may never be matched again, and he deserves to be remembered for it.

Paterno was the Penn State cam-pus hero and legend, and he de-serves to be remembered that way.

Remember Paterno as coach, not scandal

contact Anthony Drummer atdrummeac@warhawks.ulm.edu

photo by Srdjan Marjanovic

Roberto Mazza, the new coach for the women’s soccer team.

Harrel

“I think Coach Mazza is creating a

foundation for what will be a

successful program in the

future.”Haleigh Harrel,

junior defender

Former UAPB coach hired to turn losing program around

ANTHONY DRUMMER

THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA AT MONROE January 30, 2012PAGE 12

SPORTS

MARDI GRASThursday February 16thSUB Ballroom 9pm -1 am

COURT AND ROYALTYPRESENTATION 9:00pm

BUFFET Open till 11pmMusic till 1:00 AMCASH BAR PROVIDED

Presented by SGA

Tickets available in the SGA office!

Free !! !(for students and faculty/staff)

Attendee Ticket Pricing Student Guests $5Faculty/staff Guests $10

The women’s tennis team began its spring season Saturday with home matches at Heard Stadium.

“I think we have a good team at-mosphere this year,” head coach Ter-rence De Jongh said.

In the fall season, senior Vivian Po-lak played well enough to become nationally ranked at number 88. She still holds that spot as the spring sea-son opens and with a few wins she will lower it.

De Jongh said, “She’s working hard, and hopefully she can take the experience she has and let it carry over into the spring.”

Also, sophomore Isabelle Rocher played well in the fall, and De Jongh said since spring started she came in “hungrier.”

“It’s a competition now to make the lineup because we have more girls on the team, and competition is a good thing,” De Jongh said. “All the girls seem hungrier.”

In the fall season, the team had only four athletes on the roster to compete. Now, they have seven, which motivates each athlete to work harder to compete for the team be-cause only six are allowed to compete per duo match.

Polak said, “We are stronger than last year because we have some good new girls for the upper lineup.”

A new face to the program is fresh-man Silvia Tumova from Slovakia. Tumova is in her first semester with the team but said, “We are a very good team, and I like it.”

Tumova said, “The people here are really friendly and try to help each other.”

De Jongh said the team doesn’t have a vocal leader on the court yet, and assistant coach R.J. Nagel said that is very important to a teams’ suc-cess

“It’s everything. We need that lead-ership. We need that person saying, ‘Come on girls, we need that ring this year.’” Nagel said, “If that voice comes along, this could be our year.”

When asked who could fill that role she replied, “I guess me or Mo (Mon-ica Winkel) have to step up in that area.”

New team members bring competition in practice; players fight for time on courts

Women’s tennis hungry, confident about season

contact DeRon Talley attalleydl@warhawks.ulm.edu

by DeRon Talley

(top) Sophmore Medy Blankvoort hits a backhand return following a serve. (bottom) Senior Monica Winkel serves during her women’s doubles opening against McNeese State at Heard Stadium.

photo by Srdjan Marjanovic

“It’s a competition now to make the

lineup because we have more girls

on the team, and competion is a

good thing.”Terrence De Jongh,

head coach