Thanks for being part of our newspaper this semester. It was our biggest and best semester yet. More than 9,000 of you made 16,500 visits to our site and viewed more than 68,000 pages during the past 13 weeks. And, the Society of Professional Journalist named us one of the 12 best independent online newspapers in the nation.

We don't want you to leave disappointed so here's our favorite webcast from the semester. It's an amazing act of courage and fortitude by the world-famous host of our webcasts, Crosby Dunn.

Warning: It's not suitable for people with delicate sensibilities.

The eighth annual UCA Film Festival begins at 5:30 p.m. tomorrow in Reynolds Performance Hall. It is immediately followed by an awards ceremony, which is hosted by the film fraternity Psi Delta Kappa. Both the festival and the awards ceremony are free and open to everyone.

This year’s lineup includes seven narrative short films, two documentary shorts and two music videos. The films range from just under five minutes to about 20 minutes. The films are chosen from a number of submissions by several faculty members in the film department.

Kim Risi, president of PDK, said that the audience will be “pleasantly surprised” by this year’s films.

“Every year the submissions are getting better,” she said. “[This year] is the best one yet.”

Here’s the lineup: 

• Dinner – Lyle Arnett Jr.
• Sky Begins to Storm - (documentary) – Ron Walter
• Death of a Superhero - Brandon Bristol
• Underdog: Above the Law - Hunter Moore
• Who Will Help the Widow’s Son? - (music video) – Karmichael Jones
• Running the Distance - (documentary) - Davian Engle
• The Man in the Moon - Kim Risi
• Greed - Trenton Mynatt
• Hue - (music video) - Michael Crawford
• Foot Trackers – Brandon Bogard
• The Register - Kaitlyn Dela Cruz

There will also be a competition for 90-second short films as part of the festival. The shorts will be shown between the main films and audience members will vote for their favorite. The winner will receive an award.

The other awards include Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Actress. This year, the five judges include Arkansas filmmakers Joshua and Miles Miller, and Jim Miller, assistant director of the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival. In addition, the faculty will present a few student awards including Most Outstanding Student and MVP.

The awards ceremony will take place at the Ford Theater downtown. There will be free food and a cash bar. Directions to the theater will be provided in the festival programs.

Here’s a preview of what you’ll see tomorrow night:

April 13:

• Students Samuel Valosek, 21, Landon Friend, 19, Amy Hufstedler, 19, Carrin Wagoner, 19, and non-student Sara Rowell, 19, were caught with alcohol in State Hall at 2:31 a.m. Police told them that alcohol was prohibited on campus and destroyed the alcohol. No charges were filed but officers said they would report the incident to the Judicial Board.
• A 24-year-old staff member was injured at 2:41 p.m. after he was knocked from the back of a pickup truck while loading barricades into the truck at the Physical Plant. Police said one of the barricades fell on the employee as another employee was loading the barricade with a Bobcat tractor. The injured employee was taken to Conway Regional Medical Center.
• Student Laura Hudson, 21, reported at 8:07 p.m. that the back window of her car was broken by a baseball while the car was parked at the Farris Center lot. Police determined the car was damaged by a foul ball hit during baseball practice.

 April 14:

• Student Joshua Owen, 19, of El Dorado, was arrested for public intoxication at 12:20 a.m. Officers questioned Owen after they saw another student attempting to help Owen walk along Western Avenue. When the officers asked Owen for his identification, he dropped it and fell trying to pick it up. Police said Owen couldn't stand without help. He was taken to jail.
• Student Lakyn Bailey, 18, reported at 6:22 p.m. that her 2011 Camaro was vandalized while parked in the lot near Hughes Hall. Bailey said someone scratched the car with a key and left a rude note.

Pitcher Kelsie Armstrong

Armstrong finished with 11 strikeouts during the game, giving her 225 on the season which broke the record of 223 that she compiled a year ago. Armstrong now holds the top two strikeouts season totals in UCA history.

Armstrong (21-10) collected her 21^st victory and 25^th complete game of the season and did it in convincing fashion. She powered the Bears to a 2-0 win during the first game.  Right fielder Kasey Britt  and catcher Melanie Bryant each recorded an RBI in the second inning, giving the Bears a comfortable lead throughout.

The Mavericks' Teri Lyles (7-11) was handed the loss, allowing two runs and four hits in six innings while striking out two and walking one.

The Bears' other ace, Cami Newsome, started the final game as UCA cruised to a 5-2 win. She threw three innings, allowing two runs and five hits while striking out five. Armstrong (22-10) picked up her second win of the day, throwing the final four innings in relief. She fanned six Mavericks and didn't allow a run while allowing three hits.

UCA plays host to to No. 7 Oklahoma at 1 p.m. Saturday to end the home season.

The Bears travel to Lake Charles, La., the next weekend to close out the regular season.

The Grappling Club meets in the gym on the third floor of Meadors Hall from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The club teaches the art of Jiu-Jitsu. Members of the club said there a variety of reason to practice the martial art. According to Dustin Davis, co-leader of the Grappling Club, it provides a physical and mental workout and teaches you how to defend yourself from attackers.

The club was formed about three years ago and is open to all students. There are no dues but you have to buy some basic equipment. You need a mouthguard, gym clothes and, for men, an athletic cup. You also have to sign a waiver of liability to participate but nobody has been seriously injured yet.

If the Grappling Club interests you, contact them at UCABJJ@gmail.com.

Want to see what a Jiu-Jitsu match looks like? Here's a video of two club members sparring:

SGA Executive President Austin Hall reminded the senators that SGA by-laws prevent them voting if they are part of the program or have any connections to it. SGA had to rescind a vote two weeks ago because eight senators connected with Sigma Phi Epsilon voted to use student fees to help pay for the fraternity's annual charity concert.

The money for  i.d.e.a.l. will come from the SGA reserve account, according to Becca Moye, SGA's vice president of operations. Moye said giving money to the program complied with SGA by-laws. She said SGA gave i.d.e.a.l. money last year to help the organization move its office to the Student Health Center and to purchase office supplies.

John Fincher, a primary advisor for i.d.e.a.l., told SGA that the organization "went through the budget advisory process" but has no guarantee of funding for next year.

SGA also unanimously approved junior Jesse Chambliss as i.d.e.a.l.'s new student director.

In other business, SGA :

• Announced that the UCA Board of Trustees is considering a 2.06 percent tuition increase.
• Said 1,366 UCA students, which is 14 percent of the student population, voted in the SGA elections last week.

Feltner worked as a producer for "Just Like Us," which was directed by actor Ahmed Ahmed. Following the screening, Feltner will answer questions from the audience. The screening is free and open to everyone. 

"Just Like Us" features Ahmed and other well-known international stand-up comedians in their "goal of reintroducing socially relevant issues to the world in an effort to build cultural bridges," according to the film's website. The story involves the culture of different countries in the Middle East, where stand-up comedy is relatively new.

Feltner is originally from Russellville, where he attended high school. He then went to Florida State University where he earned a BFA in film and a BA in religion.

Bruce Hutchinson, associate professor of digital filmmaking, said Feltner's experience offers a different perspective for student filmmakers. He said that film program usually brings in directors, who talk to students about the creative aspects of filmmaking.

"We don't often have someone come in to talk about [things like] raising money or getting into festivals," Hutchinson said. "[This is] stuff that our students have to know."

Feltner will also show a trailer for "Leave Me Like You Found Me," a feature film he produced that was screened at the 2012 SXSW Film Festival in March. In addition to the screening, he will be on campus today to speak with some of the film classes and offer feedback on student films. His visit to UCA is sponsored by the Little Rock Film Festival.

He will also show "Just Like Us" at the Argenta Community Theater in North Little Rock tomorrow night as part of the Argenta Film Series.

Here's the trailer for "Just Like Us."

With this being the final week of school before summer break, I was hoping you could give me a bit of last-minute advice. Last summer, a guy from my hometown and I got really close. We spent almost every day together and on my last night of the break, before coming back to school, we hooked up. We messaged a little as I was moving into my dorm, but nothing after that. When I go home this summer, how do I approach him? I wouldn't mind picking up where we left off, but how do I do it?

-Nervous Natalie

Dear Nervous Natalie,

First off, don’t assume that he will be single. So, do not get your hopes up. It would be very disappointing to arrive home, hoping to rekindle a relationship, and then realize that he is taken. Play it cool. When you arrive back home, spend time with your family and try to find out what he’s been up to. This will give you an idea about what to expect.

After a few days have gone by, shoot him a text. If he replies, make casual conversation. Propose a hangout and see what he says. If he is into it, then you may have the green light, considering the fact that if he had a girlfriend he may have denied your request. If he refuses the offer, then realize that a whole year has gone by and he has moved on. Don’t feel offended, just accept his answer and make plans with friends.

If he agrees to hangout, try to keep it friendly and unintrusive. You have to build back up to where you left off. It won’t just happen. This could take a while or not long at all, depending on the two of you. The best relationships come from good friendships, so attack the conversations with nothing more than a friendship in mind. Don’t show a more-than-friends interest until outer clues have made it clear that he is interested.

If you hangout and no sparks fly, don’t be disappointed. Accept the friend zone and make some new memories together. If you feel like you can’t do this because of the past, don’t abruptly stop talking but slowly begin to phase him out.

-Megan

Readers: Thank you for reading my column this semester. I will be back in the fall semester with all new advice and maybe a new twist or two.

April 11:

• Student Marie Smallwood, 28, had her car towed from a reserved parking space at 9:03 a.m.
• A storm drainage cover in the parking lot near Reynolds Performance Hall was damaged after it was run over by a car. Police estimated the damage at $500.
• Student Ismail Abdullah Al-Tisan, 20, reported that his PlayStation 3 was stolen from his apartment at Bear Village while he was asleep.  Ismail said he went to sleep about 1 a.m. and was awakened about 9 a.m. by his roommate who said the front door was open. Ismail looked around the apartment and noticed his game console was missing.

April 12:

• Nonstudent Dannell Spencer, 22, of Conway, was arrested for domestic battery, disorderly conduct, public intoxication and was banned from campus after police saw him carrying a bleeding woman through the parking lot at the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity house at 2:40 a.m. Officers said they heard a woman screaming in the parking lot and found Spencer carrying her. The woman, Brittany Chrobak, 22, of Jacksonville, was bleeding profusely from a gash on her forehead and she was coughing up blood. Chrobak told police that Spencer was her boyfriend and that he had headbutted her in the face during an argument. Both were taken by ambulance to Conway Regional Medical Center. Spencer was taken to jail. Chrobak was picked up by her grandfather.

The Scroll yearbook won the most with nine awards. The Vortex literary magazine won eight, The Echo newspaper won eight and News6 television won two.

The ACMA awards recognize student work at Arkansas colleges and universities. Ten schools competed for this year's awards.

The Vortex won the Magazine of the Year general excellence award, the top prize in its category. The magazine also won the top award for cover design, fiction writing, illustrative narrative, artwork and typography. It won second place for poetry and third place for fiction writing.

The Scroll won first place for its student life layout and typography presentation. It got second place for endsheets and cover design and third place for feature layout, academic layout, sports layout and student life layout. The yearbook got an honorable mention for the Yearbook of the Year general excellence award.

The Echo won first place awards for its editorial cartoon, cartoon strip and editorial page layout. It also claimed second place awards for editorial cartoons and editorial page layout. The Echo placed third in feature writing. It was given an honorable mention for the Newspaper of the Year general excellence award.

News6 won the only two awards given for television news. Raven Ambers won first place for television news reporting and Virginia Buff won second place. There was no third place or honorable mention awarded in the category. No winner was named for the Television Outlet of the Year general excellence award.

Here are the details:

The Echo -

First Place:

• Alan Masingill - Editorial cartoon
• Brad Smith - Editorial page layout
• Lance Coleman - Comic strip

Second Place:

• Echo Staff - Editorial writing
• Allen McMillan - Editorial cartoon
• Brad Smith - Editorial page layout

Third Place:

• Mary DeLoney - Feature writing
• Matt Williams - Advertising

Honorable Mention:

• Jeanette Anderton and Zachary O’Neal - Meeting/Speech coverage writing
• Libin Qin - Feature photo
• Ian Caple - Sports photo
• Lee Hogan - Sports story writing, sports column writing, sports page layout
• Mary DeLoney - Front page layout
• General excellence

The Scroll -

First Place:

• Kale Green - Student life layout
• Davion Dotson - Typographic presentation

Second Place:

• Scroll Staff - Endsheets
• Scroll Staff - Cover

Third Place:

• Davion Dotson - Feature layout
• Kale Green - Feature layout, student life layout
• Davion Dotson and Courtney Hopper - Academic layout
• Emily Avery - Sports layout

Honorable Mention:

• Scroll Staff - Divider
• Kale Green - Feature layout
• Davion Dotson - Academic layout, sports layout
• Tara Anglin - Student life layout
• James Austin - Sports photo
• General excellence

The Vortex -

First Place:

• Vortex Staff - General Excellence
• Vortex Staff - Cover Design, artwork
• Emily Powell - Typography
• Gustav Carlson - Fiction writing, illustrative narrative

Second Place:

• Megan Riley - Poetry

Third Place:

• Cassey E. Misee - Fiction writing

News6 -

First Place:

• Raven Ambers - Television news reporting

Second Place:

• Virginia Buff - Television news reporting