AAUW flaunts fashion for a good cause

By Heather Buckner

The American Association of University Women hosted a fashion show on Thursday to raise money for women’s scholarships and adult literacy.

“It’s an effort to help young people have all the educational opportunities that are possible for them,” said AAUW co-president Sandra Lott. “And this is a lot of fun! It’s a way to celebrate the people in our community who work so hard to give opportunities to young people.”

According to Lott, the event, “Springtime Celebration,” has been held annually for twenty years. This year the goal was to raise $4,000.

Women from the community and university modeled Belk clothing for an audience of about 150, while university professor Ed Robertson provided live music. In addition to a catwalk, this year the John Stewart Student Retreat center contained a silent auction as well, featuring arts, crafts, potted plants and books. 

The array of fashion models is what most guests cited as their favorite part of the show. Participants ranged from students to dogs to grandmothers and granddaughters. 

Reece Payne, the show’s youngest model, said she got to pick out the outfits she wore. They let her keep her favorite one. 

“My favorite color is pink,” she said.” “That’s why I like it so much.”

Her grandmother, Tracy Payne-Rocko participated because she supports the work AAUW does with young women.

“Students that I know that have come and been a part of AAUW as student affiliates have had great opportunities to go to conferences and come to their meetings — I think the mentoring aspect is very important,” said Rocko.

Reece thought she could sum up the day pretty well: “It was fun, and it was fantastic.”

Spring Break is Here!

By Chloe Allen

It is officially Spring!! Which means that students around the country are getting ready for Spring Break!
After what seemed like an eternal winter, students are digging out their bathing suits and shorts in hopes of warmer weather.

Spring Break Advertisment

University of Montevallo students are also gearing up for a full week of no school and relaxation.
I caught up with some some students and asked what their plans were for the break and the majority said they were heading home to catch up on much needed sleep, hang out with friends, or working. Others will be beach bound with roommates and friends or taking road trips.
Whether they are living it up down at the beach or just relaxing from the comfort of their back yard, students can agree that the break is much needed.

Spring at Montevallo

                                                             
The University of Montevallo's schedule of for Spring Break can be found here

How the Pokémon cult formed.

By James Crim

The Pokémon games have always followed a simple premise. Gotta catch 'em all. That all changed when an anonymous Australian programmer decided to perform a social experiment. He wanted to see if people could work together to accomplish a goal in an environment that wasn't made to accommodate multiple people.

The programmer used the website twitch.tv which is a video game live streaming service to see if a large amount of people could play through the first Pokémon game by having everyone play the same game at the same time.This was accomplished by writing a program that would read the chat that exists on twitch.tv and having it look for commands to input into the game. The result was pure chaos.

One hundred thousand voices fight for control.

What would happen is that the character inside the game would constantly turn and spin, sort through his backpack and walk into walls. It looked as if progress was just a distant dream. But slowly by small degrees progress was made.

Sometimes progress would happen in spurts while at other times the simplest of obstacles proved to be monumental events that would take many hours to bypass.

Six hours of beating around the bush.

One such occasion involved a small bush that was in the path that needed to be cut down. It took the stream six hours before they accomplished a task that should have only taken six seconds. It was from this unpredictability that the community started to try to find some semblance of logic in such a illogical world.

The moment that started the stream on the road to becoming a religion was at a point in the early part of the game where the player has a choice of a fossil to take with them. One fossil is called the dome fossil and the other is the helix fossil. Each fossil can eventually be resurrected to become a living species of an extinct Pokémon. The stream picked the helix fossil and quickly realized that the Pokémon that the helix turns into shares similar characteristics to the H.P. Lovecraft elder god named Cthulhu.

The dark god slumbers. His whispers call out to you.

From that moment forward a narrative started to be constructed by people from all across the internet. The story then became of a child compelled by voices from a stone fossil speaking of anarchy and coming destruction if the dome fossil led him astray.

The Pokémon Pidgey became known as the prophet of Helix due to it being the strongest team member that conquered all challengers.

The rest of the grueling tale can be found in the bible The Book of Helix  which recounts the entire journey that was taken. There is triumph and much tragedy but eventually Helix prevailed and was restored to godhood and entered into the Pokémon hall of fame.

Once the game concluded the stream played throught he second Pokémon game and the story changed from religious victory to religious persecution. The gods and kings from the first game caused terrible events to happen in the second such as ethnic cleansing, child murder and anti-theism. A lot of serious and dramatic material came from the community trying to make sense of playing Pokémon with thousands of others. The stream continues even now with the goal of playing every Pokémon game in the series. May Helix be with us.

"The Alabamian" Brings the News to Montevallo

By Devan Cooley

The Alabamian is a student-run newspaper on the campus of the University of Montevallo. The newspaper is published every two weeks, and features articles on local news, reviews, recipes, and more. Students work to write, edit, organize, and publish the paper.

Finished papers ready to be read!

Reed Strength, Managing Editor for The Alabamian, says that what he likes best about working on the paper is helping with the stories. "I'd say my favorite thing is sort of being able to work with the staff on all of their story ideas and creating a paper that I think reflects several different points of view on campus."

Each edition of the paper requires around 12 students to create the finished product. These students work hard to produce a professional newspaper.

Copy editor Joe Tutwiler says that he believes the purpose of The Alabamian is to inform students on local events. "We mainly focus on stuff that is happening around here. We're mainly a university-focused paper. We try to bring news and events to campus."

The staff meets each week at the Student Publications Office in Farmer Hall to organize and edit the newspaper. Most of the students are Mass Communications Journalism majors, but any student with an interest in journalism is welcome.

Mini Masters of Chess Gather in the Biggest Tournament in the State

By Jacob Bobst

Rainbow Elementary Chess Club accepting an award

Fierce battles of the mind clashed last week, at the Individual Scholastic Champions chess tournament, located within Montevallo's very own Comer Hall. The tournament, which allowed everyone from Kindergartners to High School Seniors compete. It was hosted by the Alabama Chess Federation and Montevallo's very own Chess Master and Math Professor Dr. Scott Varagona.

The tournament went on for two days, with the first day focusing on individual competition, and the second day focusing on team competition. The competition had winners both new and old, including reigning High School champion Stephen Adams, who managed to maintain his status as State Champion. He will move on to the Denker Tournament of High School Champions, in which he will represent the state of Alabama.

The Individual Scholastic Champions tournament is a yearly competition that takes place in a different region of the state each time it is held. Dr. Varagona had wanted to host a tournament in Montevallo ever since he became a professor, and saw this as his opportunity to do so. He has been preparing for the tournament for over a year. He said that he is looking forward to using Spring Break as a chance to finally relax after a year of stress.


See the results here:

	Individual Competition Results
	Champion	2nd	Third
High School (K-12)	Stephen W. Adams	Jonathan Rasberry, Varun Yarramsetti	-
Jr. High (K-8)	Arden Markin, Samson Sands	-	Logan Mercer, Cesar Juarez, Jr.
Elementary	David Xu Luo	Michael Guthrie, Rahul Boddupalli, Labdhi Mehta, Sijing Wu, Vishay Ram
Elementary (under 600 rating)	Willam Bao, Zachary Snow	-	Anton Timares, Max Rogers, Tyler McWilliams, Jonathan Parris
Primary	Siddharth Doppalapudi, Sarvagna Velidandla	-	Andrew Robertson Markin, Constance Wang, Rochelle Wu, Hudson Markin, Vinay Yerramsetti, Eshika Kudaravalli, Sherwood Dong

                             

Team Competition Results

Grade	School
Open	Bayside Academy, UMS-Wright A; Club: CaesarChess
Jr. High	Bumpus Middle School; Club: Chess Kids Nation
Elementary	Rainbow Elementary; Club: Madison City League, Freedom Chess Academy
Primary	Vestavia East; Club: Magic City U

Charts Courtesy Alabama Chess Federation

Dr. Patton Goes in for Round 2

by John Albea

MHO's Flier for the Event

The Montevallo Honors Organization hosted the second edition of Dr. Patton vs. The World Tuesday, March 18^th. Dr. Patton's brawl is MHO's fundraiser event, in which students and teachers alike come together to try and best philosophy professor Dr. Michael Patton's expert knowledge of trivia. This event had only been held once before, and Dr. Patton won that time.

The game consisted of ten rounds in which teams answered questions ranging from 1990's childhood to food origins. After the first round Dr. Patton was confident that he had not done well, thinking he had gotten "less than half the possible points." But, as they announced the scores, Dr. Patton came out on top.

Creator and past winner of the Life Raft Debate Dr. Michael Patton

A few more rounds, and more categories, and the game came to a three-way tie in the final round. The judges opted to ask a tie breaker question: Who did the Montevallo men's basketball team play that night? Less than minute later, Dr. Patton announced he had the winning card, and sure enough, he kept his crown as the king of trivia. Afterwards he announced in a taunting but good natured tone "Suck it world!"

Spring (Break) Comes To Montevallo

By Brett Bell

Spring break is upon us and UM students are ready. The weather has been very inconsistent this semester with extremes ranging from snow days to extremely hot days. Many Montevallo students are ready for spring break to get here. Some will go to the beach while others are opting to stay home for the break.

Possible sign of spring outside of Farmer Hall

As far as the weather is concerned there are many opinions. "It's been pretty bizarre" is what student Solomon Vann says in regard to the weather we've experienced throughout the semester. UM student, Rochelle Brace, says that she wishes the weather would level out and be more consistent.

Whatever the case may be, the weather we've experienced, along with the off days will not affect the schedule as far as spring break is concerned. "It seems really early, but I think it's because we're getting out earlier than usual," was Brace's thoughts in regards to the coming break. Vann said that he appreciates the university keeping spring break where it originally was on the schedule.

However the weather may be in the coming weeks, UM students will be getting a well deserved break. The University of Montevallo's spring break takes place from March 24 to March 28.

The "Doctor" is In

By Haley Myers

A madman with a box has taken the hearts of viewers not only in England, but in America as well. Who is this "Doctor," and how did his resurface capture the hearts of young audiences?

Doctor Who is the oncoming storm, which is something that the Doctor has been known to refer to himself, of the 21st century.  He and his companions travel through space and time in his time machine, the TARDIS, which stands for time-and-relative-dimension-in-space. 

With the help from friends he makes along the way, and his trusty screwdriver, the Doctor saves not only planet Earth, but other planets and galaxies across the universe.


The Doctor Who fandom is continuing to grow since its re-launch back in the early 2000's. 

Likewise, Montevallo's Whovian Society was founded just last year, and is continuing to grow.  "That's what I like the most," says Victoria Houston, president of the club, "not the people within the show, but outside the show... the fandom that is Doctor Who."

 Each week they watch a Doctor Who episode, ranging from season to season, and even came up with a game they like to call Doctors vs. Angels.  It's basically like freeze/flashlight tag, but with a whovian twist, which they play on Main Quad. 

The club meets every Wednesday night in Comer 205 from 8-9 pm, and you can find out the latest events happening with the club on their Facebook page.

"Taylor" Made

By: Kayla Hackett

Many are saying Birmingham's music scene is transforming into the new Nashville. From Blues, to Country, and even Folk, the talent is extraordinary in each genre. Birmingham's own singer/songwriter Taylor Hunnicutt, is a perfect example of what is being brought to the table. Playing in many different venues throughout the Magic City, she is making herself known one note at a time.

Singer/Songwriter, Taylor Hunnicutt

Taylor Hunnicutt, born in Demopolis Alabama, has been singing since she could speak. She received a music scholarship from the University of Montevallo, and attended there for 2 years. She left to pursue her dream of becoming more than just another pretty voice. Last year she tried out for American Idol, and came close to making it to Hollywood, but the Idol judges told her to build her confidence and come back when she had more experience. Not caring whether she becomes the next big thing, she just wants to tour the country and meet new people, and says "I want to give people hope, and when they hear my voice, maybe they will know someone understands how they feel." For Taylor, music is a way to cope with her emotions, and though people may not see it, she pours her heart out on stage.

Taylor Hunnicutt, and Matt Willis

Taylor performs with many different bands/singers in Birmingham, one of them being the talented Matt Willis. They make a great duo, and rock out several times a week at different stages throughout the Birmingham area. If you're interested in checking them out, here are a few venues: Blackwell's Pub in Cahaba Heights, The Tavern of ST. Clair, Champy's of Alabaster, City Vineyard on 280, Lights House Bar of Jasper, Iron City of Birmingham, Iron Horse Cafe, and many more. The links are attached, and lead to dates and showtimes.

 

UM students share a bond centered around The Doctor

By: Mandy Steadman

University of Montevallo students gathered on Wednesday night with a common interest in the hit BBC show, "Dr. Who." The Whovian Society has been on campus for two years and is still growing.

The show, "Dr. Who," is about a man who travels in a tardis, or time machine, back and forth throughout the space time continuum. He has 13 regenerations, which is where his body and personality changes almost completely. The show is currently on its 13th regeneration.

Diana Douglas, the secretary/treasurer/vice-vice president says the group has really bonded over this common interest in "Dr. Who."

Diana Douglas and Victoria Houston prepare for meeting

"We are a family in a way. We have a common interest, but we can also can come together and just help each other. And we are not the crazy cult that people think 'Dr. Who' is. We're fun and we have an interest that we like that we can share," said Douglas.




The society's main goals are to bring people together with this common interest and to help some of the students, like incoming freshmen, find friends whom they can rely on.

Victoria Houston, the president of the society, said her favorite part about being in the group is the games. One in particular is a game they created called, "Angels vs. Doctors." She described it as a version of freeze tag.

If you have an interest in "Dr. Who," want to find out what the heck a tardis is or just wanna make new friends then check out the Whovian Society every Wednesday evening at 8:00 p.m. in Comer 205.

Flex Points Come Downtown

by: Jordan Wales

A student walks into Eclipse and orders a milkshake before handing over a little plastic card. Their method of payment? Flex points off their Montevallo student I.D. What has long been a part of larger universities, such as Alabama or Auburn, is finally coming to grace the doors of the University of Montevallo this spring- the ability to pay with flex points at restaurants on Main Street.

Montevallo Main Street Courtesy-Martin J. Reed

Deanna Smith, vice president of Business Affairs, said that this has been in the works for a while for the university and when the dining provider changed to Chartwells, they included a provision to bring the software necessary to do “Downtown Dining” in the contract.

Local restaurants will be given the opportunity to enroll in the program and the university expects the system to be functional before this semester ends. For senior Julia Erwin, that means more options than just Moe's and the ability to support the local businesses.

"I'm very excited that we're going to have flex points on Main Street because I feel like it is a much better and effective use of our flex dollars, especially for some people that don't like to eat in the caf a lot. And I think it's going to be a much better bridge to connect the gap between the university and the town of Montevallo itself," Erwin said.

UMOM Courtesy-Frank Couch

   When a student swipes their I.D card at a participating merchant the points will come off the card just like at Moe’s. However, there are some restrictions. When the meal plan is purchased, the money put on the card becomes labeled as state funding. This means that no alcohol or tobacco products will be allowed to be purchased with the flex points.

           The college hopes to eventually have a one card system, where vending machines, groceries, and services, such as haircuts, will be available for purchase with flex points.
          For more information on where and how flex points can be used and the "Downtown Dining" program, contact the Business Affairs office at (205) 665-6012.

Rallying For Higher Ground

Story by: Amos Hollinhead

Have you ever heard the phrase "A mind is terrible thing to waste"? This is a phrase that students across the state of Alabama believe to be true. Last Thursday, students from the University of Montevallo joined other college students in Alabama to support Higher Education Day.

Other universities such as Troy, Alabama, and Auburn all joined together to rally for the state funding for education. After walking three blocks, more than 500 students gathered in front of the Alabama State House in Montgomery to make their voices heard. 

Governor Bentley addressing the rallying students

Students were greeted with a loud roar fitting for a rally in Higher Education Executive Director Gordon Stone. He encouraged students to be as loud as they could so the Senate could hear their demands for the future.

Governor Robert Bentley believes higher education was not only an important part for students seeking jobs, but also for the future of Alabama as a profound state for students to seek careers. College students are the future of Alabama.

Speakers and representatives also came out to address the students to keep rallying for the cause. As Executive Director Stone shouted, "We need our one-third! We have to have our one-third in order to make a difference in Alabama!" If the Senate did not hear Gordon Stone or the college students, they heard the music coming from the bands of Jacksonville State and Alabama State universities.

Abigail Bradley leading the UM students 

Montevallo students were right in the cross hairs, holding the purple and gold UM banner proudly. Students looked forward to being out of school for a great cause. Montevallo Higher Ed Coordinator Abigail Bradley says the process was well worth seeing the success.

"This year, a fellow SGA member and I went down to Montgomery a month prior to Higher Ed Day and had a legislative round table with other coordinators. We discussed some ideas and came back to Montevallo, putting up flyers, sending out emails, and getting students to sign up. We had 139 students sign up and our goal was 150, so I was very proud."

If you would like to read more about the goals for educational funding or more about the Higher Education Day rally, go to www.higheredpartners.org and support the educational future for the universities in Alabama. 

Apple Security Patch

By: Kayla Guillot

Apple announced earlier last week they had a security patch update for their users. With various other companies coming out and saying they have had similar issues in the past few months, students should be especially cautious when using the internet.

iPhone and iPad mini included in security patch 

Many think they have nothing to worry about when it comes to their security. However, thousands have reported their debit cards have been compromised.

University of Montevallo student Lyndsay Lowery said she only uses her card at the register and pays with PayPal online. "I rarely shop there [Michaels and Target] so I'm not worried about using my card at other places," said Lowery.

However Chancellor Crawford says he felt anxious about using his card everywhere and is online shopping has taken a backseat. "I only use my card at places like McDonalds other than that I try to stay away from it," says Crawford.

Security Patch released by Apple

There are a few tips to make sure you are safe when on your Apple devices. Avoid unsecured wifi networks, they make it easier to access your information, install all the updates offered on your devices, don't click on any links that may look out of the ordinary even if it is from a friend, and also never take your security for granted.

These tips aren't guaranteed to make sure you are safe on your devices but it always helps to be safe rather than sorry.

Wide Open Mic Night at Eclipse Coffee

By John Engle

Montevallo is a unique place, filled with rich history and kindred spirits that make the town the place that it is. A lot of the grassroots charm is found in the local music scene where art and collaboration help tell the story of the individuals that carry a passion for their craft.

Wooden Eclipse sign made by local artist Andy Cummings

Anyone who has lived in the area or visited at any point has more than likely experienced the friendly and laid back environment of local hotspot, Eclipse Coffee & Books. 

It serves as a down home place to relax for stressed students, native 'townies', and anyone just passing the time. Once night falls, the music rises, and students flock to come support local artists and spend time with friends.

Wide Open Mic Night sign in Eclipse Coffee & Books

Wide Open Mic Night is an event that brings people together through the power of music. A night where one can face their fears and spread their sound.

The Event Coordinator, Trent Jones, stated that it, "provides an artist with an opportunity to transition from playing in the house…to being in front of people without the obligation of being in a band."

The crowd is usually filled with familiar faces and the diversity of the performers is very representative of the diversity in the town. The feedback is crucial for the serious musician trying to get their name out and the experience is wonderful for the person trying something new.

University students cheering on performing friends.

Fiji founding fathers experience victory and opposition

Heather Buckner

Phi Gamma Delta delegates arrived to Montevallo's campus February 11 and have been busy building a brotherhood ever since.

“We have seven guys who have joined,” said field secretary Josh Wiseman. “We’re looking to have a couple more within the next few weeks. We have about three more weeks left on campus.”

Men interested in joining their ranks are welcome to stop by Student Life, where Wiseman and fellow secretary Adam Wagner set up office—every day from around 8:30 a.m. until about 5 p.m. 

Wiseman says the majority their day is spent
filling out paperwork for other chapters.

Wiseman admitted that, while they do have a lot of work to do, eight hours in that room can be a bit much. So what do they do when they aren’t rushing potential members?

“We do take some time for ourselves. Maybe watch a bit of Netflix. I’ve gotten really big into Parks and Rec lately,” said Wiseman, laughing. 

But they have been busy since arriving, even having the opportunity to share in Fiji’s first unofficial win—Alpha Gamma Delta’s He’s a Lady pageant.

“We brought out all the guys who had been going through the process to support him, and he did a phenomenal job. There’s a picture of Adam and I along with Kevin and two other guys who had accepted bids at that point,” said Wiseman. “That’s going to be the first picture that goes down as the first picture of Fiji at Montevallo—him dressed in his red wig and blue dress.”

Wagner tells the founding fathers they are
"always wearing their letters" now.

But it hasn’t all been smooth sailing for the new Fijis.

“There are people I have been friends with for years who, at an intramural game this week, wouldn’t even so much as talk to me,” said one new member. “But if that happens to you, brush it off. That’s what we’re here for.”

Another newly pledged brother shared a similar experience: “I was made fun of very vividly on a public platform by one of the other fraternities.”

Wagner however, ended their first official meeting in a fitting way—explaining to the young men that they were now pledge brothers and would be together to support each other as brothers, in his words, “from now until…forever.”