University of North Alabama - Diorama Yearbook (Florence, AL)

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I FLACiS OF THE WORLD. International students show their true colors in the parade by carrying the flags of their native countries. Photo by Shannon Wells. MR. AND MS. UNIVERSITY. Wednesday night ' s competition resulted in the following winners: Brent Collins, Suzanne Yeager, Toby Eveland, Kcllee Reed, Kat Davis, Wade Watkins, Mr. University; DeAnna Simnis, Mo. University; .leremy Baham, Beth Glass, and Brandon Johnson. t»i,rOi: . . . 10 Homecoming IL« ' '

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DAY OF DKPARTl RK. )l( (i.llllCS Ml I It ' SS STACiINc; A I ' RKSS CONFERKNCE. Spoil- Inriillllillidll IllKM llil Icfl llilllUcs MT C(I ;ls Wlllli I ' lcss ( liicl ol Ihc volli ' vliall sili ' iit llii ' Iflilli Siiiiiiiici Olyillpio I ' liDli) i(iiii1( ' s 1)1 .Icir IIihIki ' S liking twenty lionrs a day, vvasliing clotlic ' s at 2:00 a.m., f Wf spcndiiifi five weeks away from W W your ianiily, and coordinating a press aiva of over 8(M).j()unuilists for the cen- lennial Olympic games in Atlanta. (Jtvtigia, werejn.st a poilion of the wild schedule that was kept by four peoi)le. Sounds hectic? You l)et, hut for fotu nunuhers of the I ' NA com- munity, it was an opi)oi1unity to exp( rience the Olympics. This golden opportunity was ■ieized hy .Jeff Hodges, Don McHrayer. .Vsliley [?alch, and Stacy Hair Spoils Information I )ii( cto! -leff Hodges l)egan working with the Olympics in 1!IS7 at the Olympic Festival in Noith ( arolina. During this tV stival, Hodges woiked on press releases, gathered statistics and gained iii alual)le expeiience that he would us( in the ye.us to ( onu- at future 01ym|)i( s In !5M»:!. Hodges worked again m the same •apacit.v for the ( »lympi( Festival which was lield in San Antonio. Texas It was in late UHt.5 when Hodges re( eived he phon( call wlii( li would give him an iinhehexahle oppoHunilv Hodges said. 1 got 1 phone all wliii h asked me to come to Soivvay Ibi th( month of Fehmai-v iwhere the HKH Winter Olympics would take place] md I was asked to he the press offi -er for ihe e ( ' Mts ot the hialhlon and i los-; (ounl|-y ■ikiing I also would coordinate inlei iews lot the I S athletes This oppoHunily was loo great to pa.ss up. ■;o Hodges took the job While he was in ( iA ,iv M)ikmg for Ihe I ' S ( )|ympic nam. lie h ' -lpeil roordinate press ( onfeiciK es foi sui h athletes as ancv Keingan and Dan (anssen This cxpenence IS whai l ' d lloilees to (he |olior eiiiie Press Chief () ei (lie ■, ollevjiall site of the UtiUiSumnir As Venue Press l i ' f iVUHIfPI ' ' ' tVir the Atlanta Committee for the Olymjiic (iames which meant lu had even more re.sponsibility than in his previous jobs. In order to prepare for this Job, Hodges attend- ed training sessions for a year, and he spent five weeks in Atlanta for the actual Olympic games. Hodgt ' s put in twenty-hour days at the Omni where he set uj) and ojierated the press area where membei-s of the prt ss from ;m)uiid the world gathered to cover seventy- two volleyball matches. Hodges .said, 1 went in at ():00 a.m. eveiy day iuid got back to my room at p]mory I ' nivcMsity at 2:00 a.m. It was then that Hodgc s found Ihe time to wash his clolht s. I would throw my clothes in a washer at 2:00 a.m. and hope that no one would want to steal them because 1 was going to sleep ' Although this was a dilTicult schedule to mainlaln. it was made easier by ha ing fri(Mids there. Hodges recriiit( d Don MiBiayei, assistant professor of physical education and health, and Stacy Hair and Ashley Balch. who worked for Hodges as student workers in the university ' s Sports Infonnation office. These three lucky peop l sened as volunteers under Hodges but also held e(|ually d( manding .jobs McHiayer was th( intervi( w ro(jm manager at the Omm which meant he coordinated the press who waited for inteiviews while a.ssisting in mov ing the volleyball playeis and coaches in and out ol this area. .Slacy Hair, a senior majoring in marketing and public relations, worki ' l as iiUa « 1 9 9 6 .4(lan Atlanta 1 9 9 ■ Atlaui Senior Ashley Balch acted as Pre.ss Tribune Manager by coordinating the- press seating which was beside the volleyball courts Balch was respon.sible for checking televi- sions, phones, and assigning seats to over SOO niembei-s of the pr( ss. Hodges feels that he was lucky to liav( had these three jieojile working for him. I had sev( nty two people working for me. Sixty-six of them w( re volunteers. Some of these volunteeis had no experience because their real-life Jobs were anything from house- wife to bank president It was great to have people like Don, , ' Vshlev, and Stacy, because they had experience in sports media and they were tnistwoilhy. 1 knew they weren ' t going to (|uit even though the houis were dif ficull, and Ihe work was hard Of course, there were other concerns toi the group besides their jobs There was Ihe poteiillal for bomb Ihreals at Ihe 01ymi)i( s. but luckily Ihe group workt-d ,il the well guarded Omm Balch s.iid. We were m one security was even when as the militaiA lieadiniai to ov« ' i iOO broadcasters, and she coordinal ed other volunteers to make the copit-s and give Ihe infonnation out as fast as possible Overall the Olympic experieni e was won deifiil for eveiyone involv( d. but Hodges i(lmitled, It was exciting, but it was Hat out work ' Di ' spiir iln loiio huurs and heavv workload (liev would all do it again, il given Ihe oppoiiiinilv Hodges sai l ■The Olvmpics was a Mni(|Hc espcrieiK r (or all of us, and il was well orlh the loss of sli ' ep to pailici pale in an cvcnl vlii li v as ,eri imimd ihe

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By Allison Stack and Lacey Howard Homecoming provides an exciting week () V TO MAKE A SlCCESSFrL IIOMECOMINfi WEEK: Take one part Mr. and Ms. University, combine with a terrific Step Show. Then, acid a (lash creativity with window painting and mix with F un PTicks in the »rniversity Center. Stir in a i)eaiitiful afternoon for a parade, and blend witli a gi,eat Pep Rally. Top it off with a victoi-y over Delta State and serve. Although there was no real recipe for the university ' s Homecoming, it seems that all of the ingredients were there for a week that would be remembered by stu- dents for many years to come. This year ' s theme was Our True Colors Shining Through. On Monday, October 14, student organizations began showing their spirit for the Lions by painting the windows at the I ' niversity Center. The groups were judged on artistic appeal, use of theme, and on creati ity. Wednesday marked a day of laughs for the campus with Fun Flicks which was set up in the atrium of the llniversity Center. This event offered something for everyone to enjoy. Fun Flicks allowed students who wanted to make a video for a song of their choice to show off their talents in front of many spectators from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Students presented their amusing inteipretations of songs like Vanilla Ice ' s Ice, Ice, Baby. and Toni Basil ' s Mickey. The videos were judged, and the winners were Phi Mu, Residence Hall Association, and Sigma Chi. (Co)iliniH ' (l on fxif r !£) AN EXCEPTIONAL MOMENT. Homecoming Queen Jamie Sisk steps out to accept her crown and llowers as tier escort Sam Evers loolcs on. IMioto l).v Shannon Wells. BRIGHTENING THE CAMPUS. Students painted windows on the University Center on Monday to earn points for their organization for the Homecoming Spirit Challenge. Photo by Shannon Wells. SHOWING THEIR LION PRIDE. Zeta Tau Alpha members display their school spirit by their gold and purple face paint at the pep rally on Friday night. Photi by Shannon Wells. Homecoming 1 1