Rivertown Sound Slides

Rivertown Coffee Shop is a downtown coffee house in Florence, Alabama that caters to the community and the university. It is a quaint, unique place to eat, drink, study, and socialize.

The Late Jackson Road Bridge

Pace Holdbrooks, a writer for the Flor-Ala gives his perspective on the destruction of "Ghost Bridge" in Florence, Alabama and what it means for other historical landmarks in the area.

Andrew Calvert, Culinary Leader

My soundslide is about Andrew Calvert, Culinary Manager at Ruby Tuesday in Cullman. Calvert explains what he is responsible for and what he enjoys about his management position. 

Daycare Dreams

This is a soundslide for our Media Convergence class! I chose to do a story on my aunt, Kristi McCauley, and her daycare, La Petite Academy in Huntsville, AL. In this video, she explains the daily routine of a daycare and what it takes to run one. She was a teacher and now she is the director!


Jasmine Redus

The Beauty Behind the Music: Alexis Cote

Media:

Alexis Cote is a junior music performance major at UNA. She has been been a premier soloist with the Shoals Symphony and, most recently, placed first at the Alabama Federation Music Clubs' collegiate auditions Robin Runcie Award. Her aim is to inspire others with her performances and encourage young children to learn how to play a musical instrument.
-Corinne Beckinger

Anne Howard-Lion Keeper

For over 10 years, Anne Howard has taken care of Leo and Una, the University of North Alabama's live lions. The video above is taken from Anne's point of view and explains her daily struggles of caring for two live lions on UNA's campus.

Grade Lawsuit

The Huffington Post recently posted an article about a former graduate student of Lehigh University who sued over a course grade of a C-plus, claiming that the grade prevented her from becoming a licensed therapist. The student, Megan Thode, sought $1.3 million in damages (the amount of money that not being a therapist would cost her during her career) and for her grade to be changed to a B. The judge ruled against Thode in the case.

Thode’s C was the result of her being awarded zero out of 25 participation points in the class—a grade she said was given to her because she supports gay marriage. However, her teacher said the grade was because of Thode’s classroom behavior.

Frankie Luna - Small Town, Big Dreams

Frankie Luna is a singer-songwriter from Lawrenceburg, TN. He's working on his own to record and release his own records. He has very little means, big goals, and a whole world of opportunity. Check out his story.

     ~Special thanks to Mr. Frankie Luna for his participation in this SoundSlides project for UNA's     COM 317 class.

Starring Samuel L. Jackson..

It seems there are three big stories that have everyone tweeting, lately: the Valentine’s Day tragedy of Oscar Pistorius, the Russian meteor, and the constantly developing story of Christopher Dorner. While I would like to talk about a story that puts all other bad Valentine’s Day stories to shame or a YouTube video that isn’t the (still confusing) “Harlem Shake,” I can’t seem to get away from Christopher Dorner.


I have a professor who talked about how people in Hollywood are jumping at the rights to produce a movie that covers this story. I laughed in my typical “good one, professor” tone but the more I think about it, the more I enjoy the idea of this movie. This could be the perfect “hero turned villain through an obsession over self-pride” story, which happens to be my favorite genre.

A Thin Line Between Social Media & Love

With Valentine's Day right around the corner, what better subject to blog about than that about LOVE! The rapid growth of technology and our generation is almost a deadly combination. Especially when it comes to trying to form a long term relationship.

 The University of Notre Dame's football linebacker, Manti Te'o was a big buzz on the news a couple weeks ago when he found out that the girl he had been dating was actually a hoax.

TV shows like 'Catfish' also let us know that Manti isn't the only one living a lie. This makes one kind of wonder though. Where are we headed with the relationships they we try to make work? It's a little scary to know that when our children ask how their parents met, Twitter and Facebook will be the most common answers.

Is social media going a little too far? I believe that we definitely abuse it. Although there is nothing completely wrong with meeting someone on the internet, it is something that everyone should take precaution to.

Situations like Manti Te'o and other people on 'Catfish' will make it harder to trust any prospective partners in the future. I admit that I have found someone on a social network, and we dated for two years! However, I think I will use a little more precaution before I take that next step with online dating.

--*Jasmine Redus

MVP Shoals

In order to strengthen the already strong service-oriented community of the Shoals area, UNA alum and employee Bethany Oliver has created an organization to help people help people. 

MVP (Mission Vision Purpose) Shoals is a management services organization (MSO) that is designed to help nonprofit organizations be successful. There are MSOs across Alabama, but none in the Shoals. 

“I always wanted to do the whole change the world thing,” said Oliver. “My passion changed to help nonprofits be successful so they can go change the world.”

Oliver is enrolled in the nonprofit leadership program at Belmont University, where she sparked the idea to create an MSO for the Shoals. 

“People don’t want to have to go to Birmingham for help and this will be in the Shoals’ backyard,” Oliver said. 

MVP Shoals will offer training for nonprofits in social media, charity trackers, and ways to improve the organization overall. Experts in grant writing and other areas will be training the organizations as well. 

“I am from the area and I now work in the area and I have seen so many unorganized nonprofits that make it hard for the community to find volunteer opportunities,” Oliver said. 

MVP will be a central hub for nonprofits and will include an online calendar, an online directory, a list of internships, and links to the organizations’ websites. 

“The community will be able to go one place to find out who needs volunteers in the Shoals,” Oliver said. “MVP will connect the community to the organizations.”

MVP’s first meeting will be Feb. 19 at 5:30 P.M. at Indie Spaces located in downtown Florence. Nonprofits are encouraged to send one representative to the meeting.

The long term goal for MVP is to have an office space and a staff. Oliver also wants to start a nonprofit program at UNA. 

Jessie Rodgers Intro.

Hello everyone! My name is Jessie Rodgers. I'm a student at UNA majoring in Journalism. I'm also working on a minor in Professional Writing. I'm a server at Ruby Tuesday in Cullman, Alabama. I'm easy to get along with and I love to have fun.