Mold Found in Montevallo's Hanson Hall

by Hannah Bell

Sydney Fields found black mold beside her bed

If there’s one thing in common between residents assistant Olivia Ricks and Hanson resident Sydney Fields, it’s that they love the historic residence hall where they live. Fields says Hanson feels homey and loves the hardwood floors and central location. Ricks loves the history of the building, but history can come with a price.

Because the building is very dated, sometimes wear shows. In Fields’ room, a small hole in the wall allowed enough room for moisture to come through, soaking the edge of her bed sheets. Discovering the damp sheets led to a more pressing issue. Fields followed the trail of moisture to find a patch of black mold that was growing by the head of her bed in the corner of her room.

Fields did not hesitate to submit a work order to the physical plant. She included pictures of the damage. Employees of the physical plant arrived the next morning to clean the area and repair the hole. They also replaced filters in the air conditioning unit where more mold had grown.

“They painted my air conditioner with mold killing paint,” Fields says. “Then they came back two days later and painted it the normal color.”

Ricks says she has had several residents voice concerns about mold in their rooms.
“Last semester some girls reported that they had found mold in their room,” she says. “And within the next couple of days they were moved to a new room.” The physical plant can determine whether the problem can be fixed or whether the residents should move rooms.

Although Fields did not experience any noticeable health problems from the mold in her room, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says symptoms such as wheezing, shortness of breath, and irritated skin or eyes can occur.

Sunday Alcohol Sales, Shelby County Votes Yes

By: Courtney Boyd

Super Tuesday brought many things to the state of Alabama and Sunday alcohol sales for Shelby County was one of them. Shelby County has been a dry county for as long as residents can remember.

The law went into effect this past Sunday. Residents and local businesses are excited for this extra day of sales. Until now restaurants and bars have been able to sell alcohol on Sundays by being classified as a private club.

Lucky's Foodland

The problem with some restaurants and bars that are new in Shelby County is they have struggled with becoming private clubs. The Alcohol Beverage Control Board stopped issuing private club licenses years ago so new businesses have had trouble with the Sunday Sales Law that was in place.

The Greater Shelby County Chamber of Commerce did a study on how Sunday Sales with impact the county. They learned that almost $2.2 million in earnings will be brought to the county, along with around 171 newly created jobs.

Some students on campus think this is a great idea and it will benefit our county but others do not agree. A student at Montevallo, Lexi Womack, believes that alcohol should not be sold on Sunday because it is an important day for her Religious views.

Assorted Alcohol

With Shelby County being one of the last dry counties to vote yes for Sunday Sales, most of Alabama is now selling alcohol seven days a week. The law does come with one stipulation, alcohol cannot be sold before 12pm on Sundays.

For more information about Shelby County and what is happening, click here. To read more about residents voting yes to Sunday Sales on alcohol, click here.

Montevallo Students Respond to AL Primary Results

By Kiera Hood

There has been much controversy surrounding this year's presidential election. With Alabama being a part of the 12 states participating in the 2016 Super Tuesday primary, many students felt the need to get out and make their voices heard.

Democratic Presidential Candidate Hilary Clinton

One student in particular, Xavier Scruggs, believes that it is very crucial for students to go to the polls. He says that all students need to pay more attention to the election especially this year.

He stated that this is something not be taken lightly. "I take this very seriously" he said as he referred to his future being at stake.

As the day came to close on Tuesday all of the other candidates were outvoted by republican front runner Donald Trump and democratic front runner Hilary Clinton in the state of Alabama.

Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump

Although many other candidates came out on top in the 2016 Super Tuesday primary results.

Lanie Bell was not shocked at all by the results from the Republican votes. "Donald Trump is a wrench in the political system, not necessarily good or bad" she added.

In the end, political science major Hunter Huie believes that America will make the best decision and in the general election we will have the best candidate leading the country.

Highlighting Montevallo's McNair Scholars

By: Anleia Nance

The word "research" is probably not the best thing that a student wants to hear. However, that is not the case for students that are members of the McNair Scholars Program. The federally funded program, found in honor of Ronald E. McNair, allows the group to dedicate their time and effort conducting their own studies.

With the help of a faculty mentor, each of them are able to brainstorm over a research topic that they are interested in, and investigate it over the course of the summer I term. At the end of the term, they are given multiple opportunities to present their findings either here on campus or out of state conferences.


The program was designed to help underrepresented undergraduates with low income or those who are first generation college students, and prepare them for graduate school.

 Dr. Leichnitz Helps With Grad School Applications

As of now, over a 100 students have been through the program and have obtained their masters or doctoral degrees.

Director  of the program, Dr. Roberta Leichnitz, enjoys assisting the students with their goals of furthering their education. "It is exciting to see them grow and set off to graduate programs," said Dr. Leichnitz. "I know that they can be successful in this."

Bria Hines Assists New McNair Schola

Besides the staff, members like McNair Scholar Bria Hines, assists many with their research and encourages them to apply for graduate school. " We're all in it together and we're all looking for a goal," said Hines. " We're all pushing each other to get there."

Along with getting the opportunity to present and display their research, the students receives a stipend up to $2,500, three credit hours, and free room and board during the summer.

To see more on what the TRIO program is up to click here.

Birmingham gets Ready for Hillary

By Austin Crafton

There's no doubt that Alabama is one of the "reddest" states in the country, but that didn't stop over 150 Birmingham residents from stepping out and showing their support for their candidate, Hillary Clinton. The conversation and the friendship flowed through Chez Lulu in Cahaba Heights while everyone talked about the issues and had good fun while they did it.

Josh Coleman, Birmingham Volunteer Coordinator for the Clinton Campaign and General Manager of Chez Lulu planned the party and put the word out over Facebook. "We reached out solely over Facebook. We planned a big night for all involved and we intend to all work together to achieve our goal - Getting Hillary Clinton elected."

Among those in attendance were several familiar faces on the Alabama political scene - Including State Senator Rodger Smitherman, State Representative Patricia Todd and President of the Alabama High School Democrats Association, Emma Turner. All three brought their own experiences and sensibilities to their speeches and the room reacted warmly every time.

Chez Lulu offered a one-time-only food and beverage menu to commemorate the night. You could find such items like the "Madam President", "Pennsylvania Avenue" and "The Democrat" all over the party.

Supporters went all-out on showing their support for Clinton. 

Some attendees were no strangers to getting involved in politics, while others were just now dipping their toe in the water of making their voice heard. The Human Rights Campaign, who has already endorsed Clinton -  Sent three representatives to the party to distribute materials and to lend their support.

The party may have evidently left a big enough mark on Alabama. Hillary Clinton herself just announced yesterday she will be visiting the Magic City Saturday afternoon. If you would like more information on the campaign or her visit, click here.

Vegetarian Options at The University of Montevallo

Story By: Courtney Boyd

Students have a lot of choices they can make on campus. A group of students feel like their options for vegetarian-friendly food are slim. There are places on campus such as Moe's and Einstein's Bagels where students can eat meat-free food.

Black Bean Burger & Assorted Veggies

Freshman, Baylee Shackelford, prepares her breakfast, lunch, and dinner almost everyday in her dorm room or in the kitchen of Brooke Hall. Because she lives on campus, Baylee is required to purchase a meal plan.

Head Chef, Jason Quarles, says the cafeteria has a rotating menu, so vegetarian options are not offered everyday.

Baylee barely eats in the cafeteria because of this. She buys about $50-70 worth of groceries every week to prepare her meals.

Quarles says he wishes he could dedicate a specific space for vegetarian-friendly foods. Unfortunately the cafeteria does not have the space to add another station.

UM Cafeteria & Head Chef Jason Quarles

Some things you can do to help the cafeteria change up what they do is by giving feedback.

You can click here to give feedback to the cafeteria about what they are doing and how they can change things up and/or do things better.

For more information about where to eat on campus and what options you have click here.

Montevallo Students React to Apple's Potential "Back Door" iOS Software

By Hannah Bell

In a letter recently released to all its customers, Apple explains why it will resist attempts made by the FBI to create an iOS update that would allow access past iPhones’ security features. The FBI is asking Apple to create the update and apply it to the one iPhone they have belonging to Syed Farook, a shooter in the San Bernardino terrorist shooting in December. Apple is concerned that once a software is created with the ability to bypass passwords, anyone with advanced computer knowledge could access private information stored on iPhones.

Students at the University of Montevallo shared similar concerns with Apple. Katherine Nally is concerned that her bank account and Amazon passwords could be accessed. “Certain websites such as Amazon save your credit card information, so once it could get into it, who knows what kind of information it could get that is stored on the phone,” she says.

Christen Oswald checks her bank statements using her iPhone.

Christen Oswald fears that if someone were to break into her phone, her family’s privacy could be at risk. “That’s too much of my personal information,” Oswald says. Her phone not only contains her personal bank information, but information about loans which her parents and siblings cosigned. “All that information is on my phone. I wouldn’t want that to affect everyone else that my information is also connected to.”


Some students do see where the update could be helpful to the FBI’s investigation in the San Bernardino shooting case. Jane Goodman says she thinks Apple customers should have the option to download an application that could bypass certain features. “Obviously someone thinks this is a good idea,” she says. “So if someone thinks it’s a good idea, somebody else thinks it’s a good idea, so I think it should be an option for people who do want it.”