The Crimson White Print Edition - March 28, 2024

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4B Rachel Seale Staff Writer Tuscaloosa will host the 15th annual Druid City Arts Festival from April 5-6 at Government Plaza. The festival will feature artists’ work, food trucks, live music and a kids zone with activities for the whole family. Admission is free to the public. The two-day festival will take place downtown at Government Plaza from 5-9 p.m. on Friday, April 5, and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturday, April 6. The festival will feature artists who use multiple mediums, including twodimensional art, candle making, photography, jewelry, clay and glass. Nicole Moreno-Lacalle, special events operations manager for the city of Tuscaloosa, said the music and art festival is hosted by the city and sponsored by Cadence Bank. She said there will be 81 artists set up around the plaza selling their pieces. “We have artists that come from Louisiana, Georgia, you know, all over the southeast region, so it’s just a great, free, familyfriendly community event,” Moreno-Lacalle said. There will also be live music during the festival, with seven different acts performing various musical genres, including bluegrass, rock and country. Moreno-Lacalle said there will be hands-on activities in the kids zone, including face painting, balloon animals and free shirts to tie-dye while supplies last. Adults can also purchase a shirt to tie-dye. She said the festival was started in 2010 by UA students. “I think from then, every year, it’s just continued to grow and become kind of a staple for the community,” Moreno-Lacalle said. Pam Weaver, creator and owner of Buttnaked Candles, wrote in an email that she loves coming to the Tuscaloosa festival and will be back this year. culture Tuscaloosa to host 15th annual Druid City Arts Festival Druid City Arts Fest logo. Courtesy of Nicole Moreno-Lacalle “The park is the perfect setting, the group of people that manage the festival are so friendly and helpful, and the supporters that come to shop feel like old friends!” Weaver wrote. Weaver created her hand-poured soy candles to help soothe her dry skin since she suffers from eczema. She wrote that her candles can be melted and used as a head-to-toe body lotion. “These fragrant soy candles combine the soothing scent of a spa candle with the comfort of an oil massage,” Weaver wrote. Kathy Garrett, owner of Crocheted Cre8tions by Kathy, is a fiber artist who will be attending the Druid City Arts Festival for the first time. Garrett wrote in an email that she is excited to attend the festival since it’s close to The University of Alabama. She wrote that her designs are geared toward younger audiences, or audiences that are young at heart. “I am trying to change people’s idea of crocheting,” Garrett wrote. “It is not just for grandmas and I don’t make blankets.” Garrett crochets and knits fiber wall-art pieces, including dream catchers. She also creates hats, bandanas, ponchos, and stuffed characters from anime and comic series. “I enjoy meeting people and seeing the excitement on a customer's face when they see something they have not seen anywhere else,” Garrett said. Cassey Harrell, owner of Cassey Harrell Jewelry, wrote in an email that she has also attended this particular festival before and enjoys the hometown feel it gives her, especially since she’s originally from Tuscaloosa. Harrell, who now lives in Huntsville, wrote that she will be selling her jewelry pieces, which she describes as “artisan and minimal designed,” made from silver, precious metals and semiprecious stones. Attendees browse the art on display at Druid City Arts Festival. Courtesy of Dan Naman She wrote that her designs focus on organic shapes and textures to allow the wearer to create their own self-expression. “Art has always been about conversation, expression and togetherness,” Harrell wrote. She added that festivals bring people together and introduce them “to art in its many forms while also injecting money into the local economy.” Harrell wrote that she hopes people will be inspired to create their own works of art after being able to engage and ask artisans questions at the festival. “I absolutely love it when people engage in curiosity about my techniques or designs,” Harrell said. “I love to be able to help people see that art has many different forms and that the act of creating is an act of playing or exploration.” Take classes at Shelton State as a Transient Student. Visit sheltonstate.edu to to register for summer classes! It is the policy of the Alabama Community College System Board of Trustees and Shelton State Community College, a postsecondary institution under its control, that no person shall, on the grounds of race, color, national origin, religion, marital status, disability, gender, age, or any other protected class as defined by federal and state law, be excluded from participation, denied benefits, or subjected to discrimination under any program, activity, or employment.
opinion Stop exploiting student-athletes. Let them unionize Alex Jobin Staff Columnist Earlier this month, the Dartmouth men’s basketball team made history by becoming the first college sports team to unionize, voting to join the Service Employees International Union Local 560. With the university refusing to acknowledge the union, a case may soon reach federal court, implicating the future of collective action for college athletes across the country. I mean, unionize it. Make [it] like the NFL. ... I think that's better than what we have now. Nick Saban Former Alabama Football Coach If such a case is brought to court, the ruling will hopefully fall on the side of athlete unionization. Dartmouth argues that athletes are not employees, but this is blatantly inaccurate, and especially inaccurate in the case of prominent Division I programs like those at The University of Alabama. The fact of the matter is that college sports rake in substantial dollars for universities like Alabama, or even Dartmouth. Alabama athletics generated nearly $200 million last year, excluding $14.3 million in gifts. The Crimson Tide football team alone brought in nearly $130 million. These are dollars that athletes generate through hard work and are more than entitled to. Arguments to the contrary have been largely squashed by the name, image and likeness revolution that has universally recognized college athletes as workers deserving of receiving compensation for the use of their name, image and likeness. It seems only obvious that they deserve pay for the profits they generate as well. The National Labor Relations Board appears to tentatively agree, as a regional NLRB director has ruled in favor of the Dartmouth team, indicating that they are indeed employees. Dartmouth is now pressing the full NLRB to reverse this decision on the grounds that it is a “legal error.” However, the simple truth is that Dartmouth, and likely most universities, does not want to pay its athletes. It currently makes profit hand over fist from the labor put in by its student athletes on the court and the field while only paying the salaries of official staff and coaches. Why would the administration want that to change? If you were running a business based on unpaid labor, you might very well do the same. Alabama guard Mark Sears (#1) dribbles the ball down the court against Florida in the SEC tournament on March 15 in Nashville, Tennessee. CW / Riley Thompson In the case of Alabama, our athletes have an even stronger case for unionization rights and fair pay. Not only do these athletes generate hundreds of millions of dollars in direct revenue, they are also indirectly responsible for making the University a household name, helping to attract prospective students and bring in more money through tuition. It is hardly unreasonable to assume that the University would be far less prominent on the national stage if not for the success of its athletic programs and the studentathletes who contribute to that success. Student-athletes go above and beyond to represent their institutions, putting their valuable time, effort and health on the line to do so. In no other circumstance would someone be expected to do so much without even having the ability to bargain for adequate pay. Even our beloved former coach Nick Saban agrees. In May of 2023, Saban suggested unionization as a way to counteract the recruiting imbalance fostered by NIL alone, saying, “I mean, unionize it. Make [it] like the NFL. ... I think that’s better than what we have now.” Beyond negotiating for fair wages, professional sports unions like the NFL Players Association help athletes achieve success off the field. No athlete’s time in the spotlight is guaranteed, and just one injury can spell the end to an entire career. Unions provide stability and a network that athletes can rely on if and when they need to pursue something outside of playing. 5B This is arguably even more important for college athletes, whose careers can be cut short before they ever even start. It would benefit every college athlete – especially those looking to go pro – to have an organization that will be there to help them get back on their feet should the worst-case scenario happen. Student-athletes across the nation should look to Dartmouth men’s basketball as an example and continue the push for unionization. The time for adequate compensation and effective organization for college athletes is long overdue. It is time for universities to stop being exploiters and start being employers. The Northport water park deal is too good for the city’s politicians Chance Phillips Opinions Editor Let me be clear: I want the Northport water park project to succeed. I even think it’s got a decent chance, despite the developer’s troubling history of unfinished projects. But Northport’s elected officials seem like they have been doing everything possible to make the project fail, to make Northport residents hopping mad, and to hide in the shadows a deal that could have been done in the full light of day. First, the City Council signed nondisclosure agreements that prevented members from discussing the project right up until it was about to be voted on. Then, on Feb. 19, with just the legal minimum of notice given, Northport City Council overwhelmingly approved a partnership with University Beach LLC, a company set up by Texan developers, to help them build a $350 million, almost 100-acre resort property in Northport. But for years prior, then-City Council President Jeff Hogg had been describing the project as a small water park around a tenth of the size and a tiny fraction of the cost. Even fans of the water park plans at the public comment session were skeptical of this sudden, drastic expansion. “I am very pro-water park because I have two young children and we want to do this as a family. Like, we want to be able to have things in Tuscaloosa County that we can enjoy,” said Misty Caddell, one Northport resident. But, she continued, “At 30 to 35 dollars a person for entry, that is not very feasible for a lot of your middle-class residents of Northport.” Many residents at the meeting were far more critical. Another Northport resident, Linda Davis, stated simply that “You don’t put a water park in the middle of a residential area. It’s just wrong.” After the council approved the partnership, a GoFundMe campaign was even created by concerned citizens to raise money for a lawsuit meant to “slow things down and allow for meaningful public input.” So far, it’s raised just under $4,000 of a $100,000 goal. Despite the sheer number of Northport residents who showed up to speak against the water park project, Northport’s city councilors have been ... let’s say less than genial. First the City Council cut the total time each Northport resident was given for their comments from three minutes to just one. After the partnership was approved, Hogg liked and commented on a Facebook post from a Northport City Hall parody page announcing that Northport would soon be hiring “Pool Cleaners, Life Guards and Tear Wipers,” saying that it “Looks like tear wipers will be working over time.” The parody page had previously posted several racist memes, like advertising a showing of the James Cameron movie “Titanic” “in honor of Black History Month.” Another post congratulated former Northport Mayor Bobby Herndon for bringing 300 migrants in a U-Haul to the “Northport Community Center now known as the Mariachi Band school and Roofing institute.” Less than a month after Hogg commented that “tear wipers will be working over time,” on March 7, he suddenly announced that he was resigning as City Council president. After weeks of posts almost every other day, the latest thing to be posted to the parody page is a March 8 post congratulating Hogg for his service. Hogg was replaced as City Council president by Councilperson Christy Bobo. In a statement to WBRC, Bobo signaled that she would continue supporting the water park public-private partnership. After all, the water park resort is hardly the first public-private partnership the Northport City Council has approved in recent years. On March 4, the council approved a partnership with Northport Sports Complex Development LLC to build nine baseball and softball fields and a hotel. The certification of formation for Northport Sports Complex Development LLC was filed with the Alabama state government on March 14, 10 days after the company was awarded a multimilliondollar contract. Back in February, the Northport City Council even approved $275,000 worth of incentives attempting to get a Dunkin’ Donuts to set up shop within the city limits. So why does Northport give so much public money to private businesses? Well, it’s not exactly a rare or new phenomenon. City governments have been subsidizing private enterprises since much of America was getting its first railroads. Today, cities bid for the opportunity to have major companies like Amazon build their headquarters there. Stadiums for professional sports receive much the same treatment. I am very pro-water park because I have two young children and we want to do this as a family. Like, we want to be able to have things in Tuscaloosa County that we can enjoy. At 30 to 35 dollars a person for entry, that is not very feasible for a lot of your middle-class residents of Northport. Misty Caddell Northport Resident But why? In 2021, Hogg sent an email to his fellow councilors telling them to “follow the money. These individuals don’t donate to anyone's campaign or hold signs. But guess who does? Developers and Builders!” I totally agree. I’ve written in the past about how small donations for local campaigns are overwhelmingly swamped by wealthy donors, developers and real estate companies, and shadowy PACs. Ryan Phillips of Tuscaloosa Patch has even put together a pretty thorough accounting of which developers and PACs are buying Northport elections. However, even if it’s campaign donations that made Northport’s city councilors decide to sign off on University Beach’s plans, they still got a pretty good deal. The only immediate cost to Northport is the 11.73 acres that the city has already deeded to University Beach. The rest of the subsidies will only ever be disbursed if University Beach actually breaks ground. The $20 million for improvements? Only gets paid if University Beach actually spends on public improvements. The massive discount on sales and lodging tax? Only matters if the resort is actually selling stuff and booking people. The absolute worst-case scenario is that University Beach uses all $20 million of the subsidies for public improvements and then never follows through and builds the resort. In that case, the city could just buy the land, perhaps using eminent domain, and take advantage of the public improvements, including the 25% paid for by the developers and not covered by the subsidies. Northport could really benefit from a water park. It could even use a $350 million water park, and the deal that Northport City Council has approved isn’t too bad once everything is accounted for. But between signing NDAs, trying to hide the deal from voters until the last possible second and then mocking voters on Facebook, it sure looks like the City Council thought it was a bad deal. If you act as if you’re doing something wrong, openly antagonize and mock the people whose support you desperately need, and try to spring your plans on everyone, you shouldn’t be surprised when everyone starts bringing out the torches and pitchforks.
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Page 3 and 4: news 3A UA organizations celebrate
Page 5 and 6: sports 5A Women’s basketball draw
Page 7 and 8: sports + culture Lilly Hudson: A Co
Page 9: culture 3B Autherine Lucy Hall Auth

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