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

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First Blast of MAKING US LAUGH. Barry Williams who is also known as Greg Brady of the Brady Bunch enter- tained a large audience in the Performance Center with his lecture Growing Up Brady Photo By Clancy Ratliff. LAUGHING OUT LOUD. Christa Higgins and friends enjoy Tom DeLuca ' s hypnotism presentation which was held in the Performance Center. Photo by Christopher Rohling. IT ' S NOT AS EASY AS IT LOOKS. The sisters of Alpha Delta Pi found that out while waiting for the human trolley race to begin on the Intramural Field during The Games. Photo by Clancy Ratliff 18 Spring Fling

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iliILDING AMERICA ' S BRIDGE. President Bill iiiilon caine through Alabama and visited iriuinghani-Soulhern College where 5(),()0() people alhered to hear the President ' s ideas for America. Although Clinton was reelected, the m.-yority of votes in the Stale of Alabama went to Republican candidate Bob Dole. Photo by Christopher Rohling. ANSWERING TOUGH QUESTIONS. Governor Fob .lames held a town hall meeting with students and the public on September 20 in the Performance Center in the University Center. The meeting gave people the opportunity to que.stion .lames on many Lssues. Photo by Shaimon Wells. his election, Perot received only 6% of the pop- ilar vote. The major issiie,s of this election were taxes, (lucatioii. crime, health care, and in a bit of a urprise, the toliacco indiistr ' . After supporting the tobacco industry in his 9!)2 campaign. President Clinton spent the last wo years attacking the tobacco industry, calling or tougher regulation on cigarette sales to ninors. (Clinton also agreed with the Food and )rug administration that nicotine was an addic- ive dnig and should he regulated in some fash- on, [{epublican Bob Dole, on the other hand, tipporled the tobacco industry of America, cit- ng the crop ' s economic importance to those tales which grow it. Dole also encouraged ■oung people to just say no to tobacco in an itlempt to keep criticism about his support of ti( tobacco industry to a miitimum. Alabamians also had a special inten st in the ;ongressioi al elections this time. Democrat lowell Heflin. .Alabama ' s senior Congressman, ( ' tired leaving his sijot in the Senate open. In vhat was described as one of the most bitter aces in the nation by CNN ' s Wolf Blitzer, Uabama Attorney (Icneral and Republican .Jeff sessions defeated Democrat Roger Bedford. Sessions made a stop in F ' lorence on a cam- )aign bus tour and was interviewed by TIte Flor- la. the intervi( w, Sessions spoke out on the issues of higher education, jobs for Alabamians, the fight to keep N.ASA and TVA in the Northwest Alabama area and most of all, crime. S( ssions concluded that tougher penalties for criminals was the best deterrent for crime that he had seen in all his yeai s of practicing law. The House of Representative 5th Congressional District election brought about a rematch of sorts between incumbent Democrat Bud Cramer and Republican challenger Wayne Pai ' ker. In 1992, Parker lost to Cramer by only a few hundred votes. The rematch however saw Cramer soundly defeat Parker and the victory made Cramer Alabama ' s most senior (!;ongressit an. Cramer said in answering a questionnaire from The Fiur-Ala, that he wanted to insure young people that they would have the same opportunity for a job when they graduated from cfjllege as he had when he graduated. The Flor-Ala also sent (]opy Editor .Jennifer Wright and Sports Editor Tyler Greer to Bii-mingham-South( rn College to hear President Clinton speak at a rally on his campaign tour. M the rall.y, (Hinton told students that he wants to make college tuition tax deductible for up to $10,0()() a year. Around .50,000 people were on hand for the rally. On a campus level, the Yoiuig Democrats organization participated in the election by set- ON THE ROAD AGAIN. Flor-Ala associate editor Jay Skipworth got the chance to interview Republican senatorial candidate Jeff Sessions in October. Skipworth conducted the interview on Sessions ' cam- paign bus. Photo by Christopher Rohling. ting up a booth in the University Center where students were able to register to vote. The Young Republicans got involved in the election by passing out information about their candi- dates to students. Overall. Cam|)aign ' 9f) produced little change as far as the political make-up of this countr ' is concerned. After the election both parties came out and said that their main concern for the next four years would be finding ways to work togeth- er to make .America an even better place than it alread. ' is. Elections 17

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spring By Allison Stack Students enjoy Spring Fling Every April, something bizarre happens on this campus. This most interesting phenomenon occurs as the days become warmer and students begin to forget their winter blues. Right now, you may be asking yourself, And what could this phenomenon possibly be? The answer to this question is Spring Fling. This annual event gives students the opportunity to forget their classes for a little while and enjoy the important things in life like spitting watermelon seeds or diving face first into a plate of jello. Sounds like fun, huh? Spring Fling was sponsored by the UPC and lasted for four wild days from April 15 to April 18. Blast to the Past was the theme of Spring Fling 1996. Teams from organi- zations competed in this fun-filled competition to earn points for a chance at the cov- eted Spring Fling Trophy. Creativity was a must for students on Monday at 8:00 a.m. as the Chalk Art Competition, the first event of Spring Fling, began. Students were asked to design a drawing on the sidewalk in front of the Guillot Center which represented the Blast to the Past theme. During the afternoon, the most primitive events of the week took place which were the Watermelon Seed Spitting Contest and the Jello Eating Contest. At 7:00 p.m., Habitat for Humanity had an auction to benefit their organization. Donated gifts from area businesses and services offered by students like yard work were auctioned off at the event. Kappa Sigma Fraternity sponsored the Penny Drop on Monday and Tuesday in the University Center. The Penny Drop served the dual purpose of raising money for Kappa Sigma ' s philanthropy, and it decided the King and Queen of Spring Fling. The King was Wade Watkins of Sigma Chi and the Queen was Kellee Reed of Zeta Tau Alpha. The theme of Blast to the Past was proven true on Tuesday evening when Barry Williams better known as Greg Brady of The Brady Bunch, made an appearance in the Performance Center of the University Center. Williams gave an amusing lecture on Growing Up Brady: 1 Was a Teenage Greg, which was complete with video clips and little known facts about the Bradys. He also gave some free dance lessons of some clas- sic Brady moves to a few lucky members of the audience. The lecture was free to stu- dents and community members, and it provided an entertaining evening for all who attended. Students were treated to a round of Laser Tag which was set up in the courtyard of the Fine Arts Complex on Wednesday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. There was also a free Jazz Jam, in the GUC atrium at 4:00 p.m. On Thursday, the organizations divided up into teams and prepared for battle in the Spring Fling Games which were held on the Intranmral Field. The teams played Leap Frog, Egg Toss, Tug of War and Dizzie Izzie, and they had eight man trolley races. The groups also participated in Jax State Style Football. Due to rain, the afternoon of activities ended with a cook-in which was held in the University Center. At 7:00 p.m., Tom DeLuca, the NACA 1996 Campus Entertainer of the Year, appeared in the Performance Center to amaze the audience with his skills of hypnosis. DeLuca invited students to join him on stage so that he could hypnotize these willing subjects into doing crazy things like swapping shoes with each other, pretending to be body builders, and dancing at a disco. DeLuca ' s performance was a verj ' successful event. The winners of the events of Spring Fling were announced after DeLuca ' s show. Spring Fling ' s blast to the past was over for the campus, but the memories of fun would live on forever. SPRING FLING QUEEN Kellee Reed works on a chalk art drawing which represents the theme of Spring Fling, Blast to the Past. Photo by Christopher Rohling. Spring Fling 19