News
The Wichitan April 29, 2009
5
Fraternity team one step up on the competition Julia Graham For the Wichitan
University’s Chapter of Omega Delta Phi Fraternity step team is headed to its second national television performance in just two months. The Merciless Mu Steppers will be heading to New York City May 27 for a live performance and competition on Black Entertainment Television. The road to the Big Apple started with the team submitting a team video to BET’s production department in response to an open casting call for the best of the best in Greek step teams. Only two weeks before the competition, an email confirmed an invitation in April to perform in Palm Beach, Florida during BET’s Spring Bling celebration. The ODPHI Mu Chapter was one of just five male step teams to be chosen to perform in Palm Beach for the Get To Steppin’ competition. If you are wondering what “stepping” is, there is no set definition in the Webster’s Dictionary. “Stepping is an exhibition of the passion of ODPhi. It is more than making a beat with our hands and feet”, said Nelson Ehirim, who has been Chair of the fraternity for the past two years. “Stepping showcases the intensity and the fire inside all of
ciless Mu Step Team. After rubbing arms backstage with such celebrities as Slim Thug, Bobby Valentino, Young Joc and FloRida, the team pulled out an intense performance. “Step shows are a different way to express ourselves. It’s a physical way to display what our fraternity means to us,” said team member Maurice Williams. “This time it was just on a much bigger stage.” The nerves of a national audience didn’t seem to get to the team too much as they finished with a First Round Runner-Up placing in the Spring Bling competition. “We were the only non-black fraternity step team in the competition. It felt good to be multicultural and still dominate,” said Ehirim. “In today’s world, you have to break the mold sometimes.” Videos and pictures of the ODPHI Mu Chapter Steppers Palm Beach performance are Photo Courtesy featured on the BET Spring Omega Delta Phi fraternity step team performs in Palm Beach, Florida during BET’s spring Bling website at http://www.bet. break celebration. com/specials/springbling09. After such an impressive us. It (step-shows) is what you a full month practicing to perfect Ehirim. “If we weren’t out in showing in March, BET prosweat for, break fingers for. It their routine for the Palm Beach the yard practicing at 6 a.m., we ducer Pat Charles contacted the is the culmination of everything competition. were out in the yard from 10 at fraternity and asked for a return so that everyone gets to see who “It’s hard to get everyone to- night to 2 in the morning.” visit for another step competiyou are and what you got.” gether to practice because of The long hours and hard work tion. This time, however, it will The steppers of ODPHI spent all the different schedules” said paid off for the guys of the Mer- be a live show in which viewers
STIPANIC......................................................................................................continued from pg. 1 He first saw MSU on the internet and later talked with Coach Wiggins on the phone. Once he was offered a full scholarship he decided he would take it. So in January he moved to MSU to begin his experience in the U.S. “The U.S. is different, but the people are kind,” he said. Stipanic didn’t know what to expect when he first started school at MSU, so he decided to take only 12 hours in his first semester. After his first semester, it was obvious from his 4.0 GPA that school in the U.S. was not nearly as difficult as he was accustomed to. “I’m not trying to be rude, but college there was much more difficult. You can’t compare it,” he said. The only struggles Stipanic had during his first semester was dealing with the wind while
playing tennis. “The biggest problem is the wind. It is different with the wind,” he said. “I’m not playing bad, but not as well as expected.” Starting this semester, Stipanic thought he was comfortable enough with the school to take on more of a challenge. He enrolled in seven classes, totaling up to almost $7,800 in tuition: $5,500 paid by his tennis scholarship, $500 paid by an engineering scholarship, and the remaining $1,800 he and his parents had to pay for. His 24 semester hours consist of general chemistry with a one hour lab, survey of American history since 1865, calculus I, engineering graphics, mechanics wave motion and heat, American government, and fundamentals of speech communication. He also has at least two hours
of tennis practice everyday and weight lifting with the team two times a week from 6:15-7:30 a.m. In the fall semester, the tennis team doesn’t play in nearly as many tournaments, so he has only had two matches thus far but still keeps a very busy schedule. “The first three days a week are tough because of evening classes, but when I reach Thursday it’s easy,” he said. Stipanic spends an average of two hours everyday studying, and on Thursdays he usually spends about three or four hours because he has more free time. When he has spare time he also enjoys watching movies and playing basketball on campus. To Stipanic, his tough schedule isn’t any type of burden. Even though it is overwhelming at times, he still feels he was
prepared enough to do it and just enjoys still being able to play tennis while attending college. “Back home when I was at a university, I just had to study, study, study,” he said. “Here when I go play tennis it’s like a relief. It’s not any type of obligation. It’s just what I like.” With more tennis to play in the spring semester, Stipanic says he plans on only taking 20 hours but still hopes to keep his 4.0 GPA. By continuing to take as many hours as he can handle and possibly some summer classes as well, he hopes to graduate by at least the fall semester of 2010. As for playing tennis, he just wants to continue playing through college and then looks forward to beginning his career as an engineer.
throat. Carmichael, losing strength from blood loss, struggled to keep Welsh subdued. Welsh wriggled out of the hold and took the housekeeper’s phone away before she could get through to police. Unarmed, Welsh ran into the master bedroom. The housekeeper followed the assailant into the room, pleading for her phone. She found it in pieces on the floor. She grabbed another phone from the bedroom and tried to call police again. Welsh knew where the guns were located in the home. She saw him bring a loaded .22 revolver out from the master bathroom and point it at her. “He pushed me down, put the gun to my head and told me I wasnít calling 9-1-1,” she said. By this time, Carmichael had run into the hallway to help the housekeeper. He saw his own neck in the mirror, split from ear to ear. He tied a shirt around the wound to slow the bleeding. He entered the room from the hallway and tried to convince
Welsh not to harm the housekeeper. With Welsh distracted, she tried to escape through the garage. Welsh headed her off, pointing the gun at her and telling her she wasnít going anywhere. “Cody, don’t do this,” the housekeeper said. “Don’t shoot me. You donít know what you’re doing.” After hearing this, the housekeeper said Welsh put a hand on his forehead and said, “What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing?” He lowered the handgun for a second, allowing the housekeeper to run into the bathroom and lock the door behind her. She waited there for what felt like forever, she said. “I kept thinking I needed to get out and help Caleb,” she said. She left the bathroom, grabbed her purse and drove to the post office where she flagged down police. She didn’t know anything about the condition of either of the men at that time. At the house, Carmichael was trying to talk Welsh down from suicide, all the while bleeding
profusely from his neck. Welsh was holding the revolver to his own head, telling Carmichael he was going to kill himself. He urged Carmichael to call 9-1-1, but to no avail. “I’m not going to call 9-1-1 until you drop the gun,” Carmichael said. “I’m not going to let you kill yourself. So you’re going to have to kill me too.” Welsh dropped the gun and entered the foyer when he saw police outside and heard sirens. He picked the gun back up and locked himself in one of the house’s bathrooms. According to a probable cause affidavit, police entered the home at about 10:30 a.m. and found Carmichael lying in the entryway, covered in a large quantity of his own blood. Officials roused Carmichael from the floor. Walking shakily, he told them Welsh had cut his throat and that he had a gun. Carmichael was rushed to United Regional Health Care System for medical attention. After a few more tense moments, Welsh gave himself up
to police without incident. When police questioned him, he told them he didn’t know why he had attacked Carmichael, and that he loved his friend. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to do it,” Welsh told police. Carmichael is in good condition. He’ll be able to return home Wednesday. His major jugulars were exposed but not severed. If they had been cut, doctors said, he would have died in about two minutes. “The doctors told me I got really lucky,” Carmichael said. Physicians said he wouldn’t be able to turn his head for a few weeks and that he would have to go to therapy to re-strengthen the muscles. “It was shocking,” Carmichael said. “He was one of my really good friends. This is very surreal.” “I don’t think he had any clue what he was doing,” Carmichael said. “He needs to get help before he needs to go to jail. He used to be a good kid.” “God was watching over me,” he added.
be updated as well. “When I’ve studied with my friends, the rooms we go to are pretty cramped and we have tried to get Internet in there but we can’t. If they could get some technology in there it would help us,” Powell said.
Latham also mentioned adding a more elaborate media department with a theater room instead of just the plasma screen they have now. “We would like to expand that out into more of a high production and viewing room,” she said.
Another thing high on Latham’s list was the installation of a coffee bar in the library. “Having a coffee bar gives them (the students) a place to relax and enjoy their time at the library in addition together in groups,” Latham said. “(Libraries)
who have done this kind of revision with the coffee bar, the traffic their building has like quadrupled. They become more of a place to go. Latham said adding these improvements would also help create more student jobs. She currently
ASSAULT......................................................................................................continued from pg. 1
will call in to vote for the winners and will be in the networks prime studio production. BET’s 106 & Park, which according to their website is “the leading music video countdown show on television”, will host the competition on Wild Out Wednesday, May 27 at 5 p.m. “The only way we can win the show is if we spread the word and get everyone to watch it live and vote that day”, said Ehirim. The funding for the trip to NYC is something the members are working hard on. The team plans on holding a fundraiser closer to trip time to help cover the expenses. And, the team will always “step to raise money”, something Ehirim wanted to remind anyone who might be interested in having the group perform for any event. “I’m just really starstruck about the whole experience,” said Williams. “To be on national television twice is just unbelievable. All of the hard work has definitely paid off.” Anyone interested in more information about the ODPHI Mu Chapter Step Team and their upcoming performances and fundraisers can go to the chapter’s website at http://www.hypestknights.com/index.html or search Omega Delta Phi through the MSU homepage.
Campus briefs Wednesday • Distance Education Instructional Brown Bag Lunch in dillard 189 at noon
Thursday • Museum Screening: ‘Tornado Aftermath’ at the Wichita Falls Museum of Art at MSU at 5 p.m. • Distance Education Instructional Brown Bag Lunch in dillard 189 at noon • Music: Symphonic Band Concert in Akin at 7:30 p.m.
Friday • Priority Deadline for admission application Summer I • Student Leadership Banquet in CSC Comanche at 6:30 p.m. • Theatre: Festival of One-Act Plays in the Fine Arts Center Bea Wood Theatre at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday • Theatre: Festival of One-Act Plays in the Fine Arts Center Bea Wood Theatre at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday • Music: Chamber Orchestra Concert in Akin at 3 p.m.
Monday • Music: Didzun Honors Recital in Akin at 7:30 p.m.
RENOVATIONS..........................................................................................................................................................................continued from pg. 1 has about 25 students working in the library and thinks by adding a better media department and coffee bar she would need more student workers. University administrators have talked about upgrading the library for about five years, according to
Latham, but she said in the last year it has become a top priority. Latham said that an architect should be coming in soon and she is hopeful the rebuilding or remodeling will begin within the next year.