UM Basketball Madness

Story by: Brianna Rose

UM Women's Basketball Scrimmage

McChesney Student Activity Center

The University of Montevallo's Athletic Department helped UM's Men and Women's basketball team kick-off their season the right way with Basketball Madness on Tuesday night at the Student Activity Center.

Both teams were able to be formally introduced to the student body as well as interact with them.

Students got to participate in contests, raffles and even got a sneak peak of what to expect from both teams this season.

Some of the team members' families, as well as other members of the Montevallo community, came to show their support and some even got in on the fun.

One 7-year-old boy hit the court and showed the "older kids" how it was done in the three-point shootout.

The crowd booed the student contender that eventually gave the kid a run for his money and put him out of the game, but others applauded the possible Future Falcon for a job well done.

For more information about the basketball teams
or other UM sports be sure to follow FalconFever on Facebook and Twitter or just visit the MontevalloFalcons website.

Pumpkin Fest/Trunk or Treat

            Benjamin Smith

This past Saturday, University of Montevallo greek chapters Lamda Chi and ADPi put on a fall festival by combining two charity events.

Alpha Delta Pi had their 'Trunk or treat' in the parking lot beside the river that runs through Orr park. They raised donations for their philanthropy "Ronald Mcdonald House". 

This charity provides families that have children in the hospital with a cheaper alternative than paying for an expensive hotel. The girls decorated their trunks like various monsters and spooky places so that trick or treaters would come visit to get some candy.

Lamda Chi had their annual pumpkin fest just across the river. There were piles of pumpkin remains after many many people swung baseball bats at the orange targets. Dakota Patrick, Lamda Chi's vice chair organized the event and was pleased with the turn out.

"Its been a really good turn out we got more people out here than we were anticipated, which is good.” Their philanthropy was for "feeding America". By collecting dry foods and canned goods the fraternity was able to help out the community even farther than letting them relieve stress by smashing some pumpkins.     

For more information on Ronald Mcdonald House and Feeding America visit their websites.

University of Montevallo's SGA Strives for Students

Story by Jordan Ashley Fore


The Student Government Association (SGA) seems to stay behind the scenes, and perhaps a bit too far back.


The reality is that SGA is a constant force that never stops moving, and it is moving for students. This organization is responsible for most of the change and improvements around campus. SGA is persistently communicating between students and faculty.

Problems can be exposed purposefully, when a student comes and discusses it officially, or be uncovered by accident, when the SGA happens to fall into something that needs change.

SGA is always seeking for higher education opportunity.

From carnivals to campus wide cleanup days, SGA is always trying to come up with weekend events to keep students here on campus and entertained.

Carnival for a Cure flyer

SGA does not only want to alter facilities within the campus. There is a huge push for building a higher education.

For more information on Facebook, click here!

UM Basketball Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser

On Monday both the Montevallo men and women basketball teams hosted a Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser. The event was held at local Montevallo restaurant "Main Street Tavern." Full moon BBQ catered the food for the event. The men and women of the basketball teams were the servers for the night.
The event had two goals says men coach Danny Young " Good opportunity to get out with the community and raise some money for the teams" and women's coach Gary Van Atta " This being my first year back I'm able to get out and meet people and make connections. It's just a great opportunity for the community to get to know us and us to get to know the community.

Seniors on the Men's team Talan Whitaker and Tyler Brough says this event gets this pumped for the season. "I'm excited man. Getting to see all these people come out and support tonight gets me hype for November" says Whitaker. " It's an event like this that makes the season feel so close and I can't wait" added Brough.

Over 300 people came out to support the teams, each of them receiving a ticket to any non-conference home game this season. They were also entered in a raffle to win a pair of season tickets.

Coach Young says this is something he will continue next year. "Great turnout this year hopefully we can do this each year and build off of it."

Shelby County Gives Back

Story By: Hope Finley

The Ferris Wheel at the Shelby County Fair

The County Fair is a staple in many small towns like Columbiana. People come from all over the county to eat fair food and ride fun rides.

The 67th Annual Shelby County Fair wrapped up about two weeks ago.
And while the fair is known for its fun and games, many don't know the impact it truly has on the community.

A Blue Ribbon from one of the Winners
of the arts and crafts exhibit

Each year students and members of the community are offered a variety of events and competitions hosted by the fair.

High School Choir performances, talent shows, cattle shows, musical performances and so much more take place each night for the short week the fair is in town.

There is also canned and dried foods, fresh produce, baked goods, crafts, art and photography, sewing and horticulture exhibits that are offered and judged.

The Shelby County Fair offers many different creative outlets to show off the talents of the community,  and also supports education.

The Kiwanis Club of Shelby County hosts the fair each year, and donates all of the proceeds to various educational and youth programs throughout the county.

Columbiana Kiwanis Club President Sid Wheeler

Kiwanis Club President Sid Wheeler said, "The purpose of the fair is to promote rural lifestyles and educate a lot of the youth on how things were done in the past and expose them to those things."

Each year around December or January the Kiwanis Club hosts a dinner where they invite representatives from each school in Shelby County to come. At the dinner each school is presented with a check from the Kiwanis Club with a donation to help fund student led organizations. 

For more information on how you can get involved with a Kiwanis Club near you, click here. 
For more information on the Shelby County Fair click here.

Braves Play Last Game at Turner Field

Story By: Cory Graffeo

Turner Field, Atlanta Georgia

The Atlanta Braves played their last game at Turner Field on October second. It was bittersweet for Braves fans but, it also brings excitement for what's to come.

The team will start playing at a brand new stadium next spring. SunTrust Park is the name of the new field. It is located in Cobb County, Georgia which, is twelve miles away from Turner Field.

SunTrust Park will offer more to fans than just a place to watch the Braves play. It will also have a hotel, restaurants and shopping.

Braves fan, Ryan Veasey, is excited for the move to the new field. He says, "Hopefully we can start winning more games and start the next season off on the right foot."

Braves legends taking down final game number

Turner Field went out with a bang with surprise appearances from legends Bobby Cox, Chipper Jones and many more. Retired players took the final game number off the field for the final time.

To make the final game even better, the Tomahawks came up victorious. The Detroit Tigers fell with a score of one to zero.

The Atlanta Braves will kick off their season against the Mets in Spring of 2017. There will also be preseason games held at the new stadium.

To get ticket information or the calendar for the upcoming season click here.

UM Students Caught Reading Banned Books

By Danielle Stallworth

National Banned Books Week took place from September 25^th to October 1^st, and two UM campus organizations celebrated in a unique way: by hosting a mugshot photo booth where students could come and get their photo taken with books that have been either banned or challenged in schools and libraries throughout the country.

Secular Student Alliance (SSA) and The Tower collaborated to make this event come to life. Leslie Smith, who is both the president of SSA and the editor-in-chief of The Tower, says that the act of banning books affects both of the organizations: SSA because it is a violation of first amendment rights, and The Tower because any form of creative writing should be free to the public.

"I would say that The Tower and SSA are both really concerned with keeping the rights of the individual safe," Smith said. "We support the first amendment and the rights that we have with it: freedom of speech and freedom of the press."

Throughout the two-day event, students were eager to step up and have their photo taken with some of their favorite books. The book that got the most reactions was none other than the Junie B. Jones series, which has been banned in some schools for depicting bratty behavior. 

In total, about 220 people participated in the photobooth over the course of two days. Not only were students present and ready to smile for the camera, but a few professors and UM staff members chose to have their mugshot taken as well.

SSA and The Tower also accepted donations which would go toward purchasing books from the 2015 banned list for Carmichael Library. 

You can find all of the mugshot photos on SSA's Facebook page.