Nov 15, 2006 by The Wichitan

THE WICHITAN The Student Voice of Midwestern State University

Wednesday Nov. 15, 2006

Distance ed makes you feel at home TIFFANY MERCER STAFF REPORTER

ADRIAN MCCANDLESS | The Wichitan

Terrorism in the classroom Professor gives students a glimpse into the mindset of extremists CHRISTIAN MCPHATE OPINIONS EDITOR efore Sept. 11, 2001 only a few people were studying terrorism.

Dr. Nathan Moran was one of them. He was immersing himself in

the topic at Sam Houston University, gaining insight into the mind of a terrorist. Today, Moran occupies a front row seat in the war on terror, ﬁrst as an MSU professor who teaches a course on terrorism and also as a consultant on terrorism for the U.S. State Department.

The boyish-looking terrorism expert, who also chairs the Criminal Justice Department, said his fascination with terrorism began about two years before the attack on the World Trade Center. Back then, “it was a Middle Eastern issue not a U.S. issue,” Moran explained.

Since that time, Moran has done training for the government in the areas of counter-terrorism, intelligence, and counter-intelligence. He worked with the Department of Homeland Security, advising them on counter-terrorism procedures, issues related to terrorism invesSee Expert page 6

The distance education program at MSU continues to grow in popularity. Pam Morgan, director of distance education, gave a brief overview of the status of the program to The Wichitan. Approximately 25 percent of the student population is involved in distance education. This number includes students enrolled in Internet courses, telecourses, off-campus instruction (non-concurrent) and interactive television. For Fall 2006, 1,318 students are taking at least one Internet course. The number of students using WebCT in some form, either fullInternet courses or supplement to a traditional on-campus course, is 3,578. This number has increased by 448 students since Fall 2005, representing nearly 60 percent of the student body. Morgan said that all of the colleges are involved, and distance education courses follow the university calendar. She said most full-time Internet students take a bigger course load than full-time students on campus. “The success rate of students in distance education courses roughly mirrors that of students at the university,” Morgan said. To address the questions of the quality of these courses, she said that 90 percent of the courses are taught by full-time faculty. Those courses that arenʼt taught by full-time faculty do undergo a rigorous check. Morgan said it is because of the rigor of the distance education courses that they are not offered for concurrent enrollment students. She encourages more professors to participate in distance education and has offered to train any professor interested in using distance learning, such as WebCT.

ʻWatchʼ helps troubled students cope RANDALL MOBLEY FOR THE WICHITAN

INSIDE

The pressures of college life can sometimes push a student to his or her breaking point. Stress about school, work and life in general can overwhelm many minds. Some students, though, entertain thoughts of suicide as an escape. Many universities, including MSU, have a policy in place to deal with troubled students. A “Suicide Watch” is a guiding procedure in which colleges take on the task of helping the students work through their problems. “Attempted suicide watch is a more flexible policy than others here at MSU,” said Keith Lamb, associate vice president for student affairs. According to Lamb, he and Dail Neely, dean of students, find out about suicidal students many different ways. “Sometimes the student will confide in the faculty. On other occasions, friends of the student will show concern and report the behavior to the faculty,” Lamb said. Five incidents of attempted sui-

cide have already been reported this year, according to Lamb. If the suicidal student is involved in any type of counseling, information on the student is limited because of confidentiality laws. Regardless of how the college finds out the information, the same steps are taken every time a suicide attempt is reported. Lamb said that the first step is calling 9-1-1. As soon as paramedics are notified, the local hospital psychiatric staff is contacted. The housing staff at MSU is advised about the incident as well as the counseling center. University police are contacted for protection of the student. The family of the student is also notified. The office of public information is put in the loop as well and a committee meeting is held within 24 hours to determine follow-up care at MSU. According to Lamb, counseling is determined case by case. There are no set number of visits or appointments that have to be made, but counseling is recommended in every case. Professors at MSU are usually not contacted, Lamb said. In the case they are, they are asked to watch for

Rock class of 2002 Four rock bands are still kicking after being out of the main spotlight for a few years. pages 4

changes in the studentʼs behavior or continual patterns of behavior in the student. Dr. Pam Midgett, director of the MSU counseling center, said that many things can contribute to a person wanting to take his or her own life. “When a person attempts to kill themselves, they are usually very desperate,” Midgett said. Bad news about a death, a breakup with a boyfriend or girlfriend, or even an upcoming test could all be factors that push people over the edge, according to Midgett. “People who are depressed donʼt usually think about solving the problem. The problem overwhelms them,” Midgett said. Other signs that a person might be suicidal are that they may give away special possessions, isolate themselves from family and friends or say things like, “I just need to sleep for a long time,” according to Midgett. Midgett said the counseling center isnʼt a discipline ofﬁce, but rather a place where one can go for help with whatever one is struggling with. Itʼs also a place to ﬁnd support and encouragement.

“The number one issue that we care about is the studentʼs health. The secondary issue is the surrounding community at MSU,” Lamb said. Lamb acknowledged that MSU reserves the right to remove a student from housing if they pose a threat to other students or staff or have a repeated pattern of suicidal behavior. However, Lamb also stated that MSU does not remove the student from school. “Never, as long as Iʼve been here, have we removed a student from school because they were suicidal.” According to Lamb, if a student leaves the university because of a suicidal incident, MSU does not follow up on the student. Colleges face legal liability in dealing with suicidal students, Lamb said. Colleges can potentially get sued no matter what they do, according to Lamb. Many colleges have been charged with neglect of a student if the family feels that the college didnʼt take proper steps to help. Some colleges have also been sued because of expelling the suicidal student from school.

‘Stranger than Fiction’ The new Will Ferrell ﬁlm has some unlikeable characters with a good story. page 5

SUNKYU YOO-NORRIS | The Wichitan

Mustangs not ﬂoating in the stars The Oklahoma City University Stars defeat the Mustangs 75-68. page 7

Sweepstakes Winner 2006 Texas Intercollegiate Press Association

THE WICHITAN

VIEWPOINTS

Finalist 2004 Associated Collegiate Press Pacemaker Award

Nov. 15, 2006

Staff Editorial

Child Protection? The State of Texas Family Code Subtitle E. Protection of the Child states the definition of abuse include the following acts or omissions: • Mental or emotional injury to a child that results in an observable and material impairment in the child’s growth, development or psychological functioning. • Causing or permitting the child to be in a situation in which the child sustains a mental or emotional injury that results in an observable and material impairment in the child’s growth, development or psychological functioning. • Failure to make a reasonable effort to prevent an action by another person that results in physical injury that results in substantial harm to the child. And yet each year more than 3 million children go through the careless fingers of the Child Protection Agency (CPS) that in turn harvests the children out to overcrowded foster homes or ignores the reported abuses until the negligence becomes fatal because of understaffed, underpaid and overworked case workers: • In Hays County, Texas, 3-year-old Angel was placed in the foster care of Cesar Mojica, 22, and Sara Amaya, 21, where she was tortured and starved. Law enforcement officials described her condition as “skeletal-like.” • In Corsicana, Texas, 16-month-old Christian Nieto died after sustaining injuries to his head. His foster mother is in jail on a capital murder charge while his brother is back in the care of their reformed heroin addict parents who placed him in the predicament in the first place. • In Bowie, Texas, CPS authorities removed sevenyear-old Dena Johnston from her negligent meth-addicted mother and handed her over to her grandmother. After several meetings with a child psychologist, It was revealed that the mother’s junkie friends had sexually molested the young child. With the report of the abuse in hand, CPS returned the child to the mother after she passed a drug test. With the recent tragedies in the foster care system and the bumbling incompetence of the CPS department, as well as the “oil/democratization of the Middle East/building a Berlin Wall to keep illegals out/do I have enough hair spray on my hair” junkie politicians, child advocates are worried and alarmed by the system entrusted with more than 30,000 Texas children. The CPS overhaul by governor Rick Perry has created even more problems with the system, overloading the foster care environment as the year-old state effort to hire more investigators has swelled the number of children removed from unsafe homes, yet with no place to put the neglected children. It is Republican incompetence at its finest.

3410 Taft Blvd. Box 14 • Wichita Falls, Texas 76308 News Desk (940) 397-4704 • Advertising Desk (940) 397-4705 Fax (940) 397-4025 • E-mail WICHITAN@mwsu.edu Web site: http://www.mwsu.edu/~wichitan Copyright © 2006. The Wichitan is a member of the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association. The Wichitan reserves the right to edit any material submitted for publication. Opinions expressed in The Wichitan do not necessarily reﬂect those of the students, staff, faculty, administration or Board of Regents of Midwestern State University. First copy of the paper is free of charge; additional copies are $1. The Wichitan welcomes letters of opinion from students, faculty and staff submitted by the Friday before intended publication. Letters should be brief and without abusive language or personal attacks. Letters must be typed and signed by the writer and include a telephone number and address for veriﬁcation purposes. The editor retains the right to edit letters.

Wings and shots not a good combination It’s a shame what the world has come to these days. O u r excuse for every unacceptable action is “it’s TIFFANY MERCER just this day STAFF REPORTER and age.” A couple of weeks ago I joined a group of friends and my boyfriend at Buffalo Wild Wings on a Thursday night. We wanted to watch the Spurs vs. Mavericks game. We ate dinner, nibbled on some wings, had a few drinks and argued back and forth about which was the better team. Then about four hours later when the game was over, two more friends joined us: one male and one female. They ordered their ﬁrst drinks. Our male friend took a shot of Patron, but it didn’t go down so well, which only gives it one place to go. Yes, he puked it back up. Now, I’m sure at this time he was embarrassed enough, but then a waitress came over and had to de-

grade him. She TOLD him he was going to clean his mess up. OK, we thought. She must be kidding right? WRONG! A few minutes went by when she came back to our table and threw cleaning supplies in his face. She honestly expected him to get down on his hands and knees and scrub the ﬂoor. Our friend replied back, telling the waitress he shouldn’t have to clean it up. She then cursed him out, and put her hand in my boyfriend’s face, pushing him back while shouting curse words in his direction also. As she walked away, she took his beer away from him, which he had already paid for. I was in total shock. We all were in total shock. Then the manager came over to our table. I thought he could deﬁnitely get this mess cleared up. I couldn’t have been more wrong. This so-called professional cursed us out too. He told us we should have to clean it up because he shouldn’t have to. And that was the PG version of what he actually said.

When my boyfriend told the manager that his waitress touched him, he told him he deserved it. Again, I left a few of his words out. We were all embarrassed and outraged, so we left, leaving full, paid-for drinks behind. “I can’t believe this just happened,” I kept saying over and over. We weren’t being loud or obnoxious. We were just sitting in a table against the fall, being college students and having a good time. Our bill totaled up to almost $300. There is no way being treated this way is okay. I have worked in restaurants for more than ﬁve years. First, you cannot force someone to clean up their own vomit. Why would you even want someone to do that? Next mistake, you don’t curse or violently touch customers. And most importantly, a manager needs to act in a professional manner at all times. He or she represents the company and from our ridiculous experience, I can honestly say that I will never go back there again. The morning after the incident, I emailed the corporate ofﬁce. There

was no way I was letting this go so easily. I never got an e-mail reply, but they did call my boyfriend. The same manager from the previous night called to apologize for everything that happened. It was obvious he had been coached on what to say. And then he offered us a free dinner. Does he really think dinner is going to fix what happened? I don’t want a free dinner. It almost offends me that BWW’s thinks it can fix what happened with a meal. It’s sad really. BWWs used to be my favorite place to go. We’ve never had any problems there before. Now, I have to find a new favorite place to watch my games and drink my frozen screwdrivers just because two people decided to have an ugly attitude. Are we losing all respect for our fellow human beings? What happened that Thursday night is not okay. And there is nothing we can do about it. And worst of all, these two employees still have a job, and probably see nothing wrong with what they did. But hey, it’s just this day and age, right?

N e x t week is Thanksgiving and the best way of knowing that the holiday season is in full swing JASON KIMBRO ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR is outside of the metamorphic garden center at Wal-Mart and the half-a-dozen holiday festivals that have already taken place. Most of us forget what Thanksgiving is all about, the pilgrims ability to exploit natives and their shout out to God for making it easy beyond the plentiful local diseases and harsh weather conditions. Well, in the original spirit of the holiday, I would like to take some time to give thanks for several things not only in my life, but in all of our lives, with a few of my own selﬁsh desires that have somehow been fulﬁlled. First of all I am thankful for Toby’s. This local establishment has

provided many an excursion for me and my pals during days of drudgery, that were oddly enough caused by the same spirits that were purchased there. Now that they have some of the best food in town and have been able to keep high quality staff like Augie around, this place has become my regular home on Friday nights, whether my friends show up or not. The next item I am thankful for is my freedom to vote. Although I didn’t get all of my favorite candidates into ofﬁce, it’s nice to know that there may actually be some changes for the better in the future, including an expansion on stem cell research, a hike in the minimum wage, and possibly a chance to get our soldiers home for future holidays. I am especially thankful for the birth of Jesus Christ. If it weren’t for him, there would have been so much less sacrilegious humor donning our tables at Toby’s and we would have had to stick to the incessantly annoying gay jokes that some have preferred to hold onto all those

years, and Jesus Christ knows, I have a lot of gay friends. I am thankful for my large family. I have three older brothers and one younger sister. They have been the backbone for what had become a fairly stable social life. Especially the nights my brothers Jackie and Jody dragged me out to Graham Central Station so that I could make out with a few yaks while Jackie broke up a few fights. I am further thankful for my newly created current family. A “wife” and a few kids was just the thing to finally end that so-called “stable social life.” I would like to give thanks to the pioneers in gastrointestinal surgery. Not only have you helped to make a lot of overweight people thin, but also you have shown us the true asses they would have been if they were thin all along. I am also thankful for flip-flops. They are the answer to the question “What are happening to all the missing socks?” And that answer is “Who the hell cares?” Flip-flops, sandals, thongs (the foot type people) are God’s greatest gift, besides

toilet paper, condoms and vanilla flavored toothpaste. Speaking of condoms, I am thankful for those as well. Not only if I had the mindset to use them, then I would be able to shut down that baby factory I have going back at home. On that note, I am thankful for vasectomies. I planned on getting snipped sometime next fall. Does this make me less of a man? I don’t think so. I’m not completely removing the production of my little guys... I’m just knocking out their freeway and taking away their map. Finally I want to express my thanks for all of you out there. The half-dozen of you who actually read my columns and movie reviews are truly hard-core fans of poor writing, and I thank you for it. I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving and I hope you get the kind of potato salad, stuffing and turkey you like. God knows, I can’t seem to find my Czech potato salad, five-cheese stuffing or turkey deep-fried with a cornmeal coating. I’m sick. Adios!

Giving thanks for Christ and vasectomies

THE WICHITAN Editorial Board

Editor-in-Chief Carrie Sullivan Managing Editor Krystle Carey Entertainment Editor Jason Kimbro Sports Editor Josh Mujica Opinions Editor Christian McPhate Photo Editor Adrian McCandless

Reporters

Matt Hulme Richard Carter Robert Fox LaTia Banks Tiffany Mercer

Photographers Hershel Self Andrew Fosha

Graphic Artist

SunKyu Yoo-Norris

Advertising Manager Josh Leal

Adviser

Randy Pruitt

THE WICHITAN

OP-ED

Indians persevere, no thanks to us

Thanksgiving is a time of family gathering where an obese thanks is given to the God or CHRISTIAN MCPHATE gods for the mulOPINIONS EDITOR titude of gains, the football games and Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. The day of turkey slaughter is a time of celebration for the retail giants of this nation, for the start of the capitalistic season of Christmas begins that weekend. Thanksgiving was ﬁrst declared a national holiday by President Abraham Lincoln who stated that he was going to “set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneﬁcent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.” In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt wanted to change Thanksgiving to the next-to-last Thursday of November in hopes that this would bring aid to the country coming out of the Depression. In 1941, the U.S. Congress split the difference and declared that Thanksgiving would occur annually on the fourth Thursday of November, which was sometimes the last Thursday of the month as well as the next to last. Yet, the history behind this holiday of gluttony is one of misconception and incompetence. Historians agree that a meeting did take place in the fall of 1621 where 90 Wampanoag Indians and 52 pilgrims gathered for a three-day harvest feast. However, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, turkeys and

pumpkin pies were not on the list of food for the “celebration,” for the Pilgrims could barely stay alive let alone come up with a recipe for piecrust and creamy gravy. According to my mother’s people, the Creek or Muscogee, when the pilgrims came to the rock of Plymouth, they were starving and rifled with disease. A young Wampanoag Indian, Squanto, had happened across the poor, starving white people and felt sorry for them. He was a speaker of the English language, for he had been a slave in Europe before escaping and traveling the countryside as an “exotic exhibit.” Squanto convinced his tribe to take pity on the strangers because the people were more civilized than the foreigners believed, and the natives commenced to teach the Europeans the proper way to survive in an unknown land. The natives’ trust and belief was their downfall and ultimately led to the destruction of their “Garden of Eden” way of life. Flying Eagle, Chief of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, stated that in the early 1600s, his tribe signed a treaty with the Pilgrims granting them the right to the land at Plymouth. What did the Indians get in return? Within 20 years of the first “Thanksgiving,” smallpox, a European disease propagated by the domestication of animals, spread through the gifts of infected blankets and uncovered coughs, killed almost 90 percent of the native communities. In 1623, Mather the elder, a Pilgrim leader, gave thanks to the Christian god for destroying the savages and making way “for a better growth.” Three hundred and fifty years af-

ter the coming of the white man, the Indians have faced genocide, poverty, wars and racism, ranging from the massacre of Wounded Knee to the raping of native lands, beliefs and the forced conformity of Christianity. The once great nation of warriors were conﬁned to their reservation lands, a prison of poverty, which have become their last claim to native sovereignty, and forced to survive off government subsidiaries and their addictions to the white man’s vices of gambling, alcoholism and drug addiction. The once proud spiritual people have become a shadow of their former selves— all because of that fateful day on the rock of Plymouth. Of course, when the “Christian” missionaries, who were funded and supported by the federal government, barged into the native’s homes and stole their children, whisking them off to boarding “schools” where they were forced to sallow the righteousness of the white man’s beliefs and lose the pride of their culture identities, what does one expect? The natives had become our ﬁrst welfare case by the capitalistic and conforministic designs of the government’s own making. In the Dakotas legends, a person of evil always keeps his heart hidden in a secret place away from his body and a hero must rise up, discover the hidden treasure and destroy the heart to stop the spread of evil. On Nov. 23, when the rest of America celebrates that day of Thanksgiving, the native peoples will be honoring their version called “The National Day of Mourning” and praying for the hero who will destroy the heart of evil, bringing healing to the Indian nation.

Admit it. You are addicted to your cell phone. It doesn’t matter what provider you use. You may have Cingular or VeCARRIE SULLIVAN rizon or U.S. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Cellular, or maybe something else. But the fact still remains that you are addicted to it. But you aren’t the only one. People everywhere have adopted the I-can’t-live-without-it mentality concerning the electronic leashes, even to the point that they leave their phones on during meals, family time, dates, class, movies, sex and sleep. Forget privacy. Forget your life. You are addicted to your cell phone. Over two billion cell phones are in use today. That’s a considerably large portion of the human pie. A survey conducted by advertising agency BBDO Worldwide concluded that 75 percent of all cell phone owners have their phones on and within reaching distance during the day. Fifty-nine percent wouldn’t loan their cells to a friend for a day. And 26 percent believe it more important to drive home to retrieve their forgotten phones than to get their wallets. Obsessed. I was having dinner with a friend the other night when I noticed a table of eight men, and more than half of them were on a cell phone. How could these guys connect with each

other and enjoy any sort of friendly atmosphere when they were focused on the voice coming out of their cells? Tonight I walked into a restaurant with my father and noticed a man and a woman, apparently married or dating, sitting at a table. The man was on his cell phone while the woman sat there with her chin in her hands, obviously irritated. Gentlemen, this is not a good way to impress a woman. And ladies, you can be just as bad sometimes. At the end of my meal, I noticed a woman trying to talk on her cell phone while wrangling her children and paying the check. Equally unimpressive are people whose cell phones ring during movies, plays or class lectures. As a former theatre major, I can honestly say that when a cell phone rings during a play, the actors want nothing more than to crucify you. It’s a live performance for heaven’s sake! Classroom lectures are also live, and I’ve known a number of professors who throw students out of class if their cell phones ring. Ah, sweet justice. Still, it’s not enough to get people to turn the things off. How did people ever get through life when phones were restricted to their homes? How did they ever make it without phones at all? Because people weren’t obsessed back then. Now they are. Now you are. Unless I’m expecting a very important phone call, I generally turn my cell phone off during a meal or a movie or class. Or I at least put it on silent. I prefer to focus on the person I am with rather than the buddy I can chat with later. But let’s say that you aren’t spending quality time with anyone. Let’s say you’re simply out shopping. Go into any Wal-Mart, grocery store or mall, and you will see people holding cell phones to their ears. I’d be willing to bet that you can’t go to any of these places with-

out seeing people on their phones. At some point, you were probably one of them, and no, you weren’t talking about what you were buying either. You were just talking. And you say you aren’t obsessed. I’ll admit it, when I first got my cell phone (which is a fossil, as it is thick, doesn’t have a camera and doesn’t have special ring tones) I kept it by my side day and night. I hesitated turning if off out of fear that someone might need to get in contact with me. But now I find it more of a nuisance because deep down, I value my privacy. Sometimes I do turn mine off. You should, too. It’s not a sin. People won’t burn you at the stake. They may get the hint to turn theirs off for a while, too. All joking aside, I think that people have gotten a little more than co-dependent on their cell phones. I’d be willing to bet that you can’t go a single day without yours. Go on. Prove me wrong. I dare you. I bet you won’t be able to do it. You might feel too much freedom. Maybe you don’t realize the depths of your obsession, but if you think about it, your reliance on a cell phone stems from a much deeper psychological problem than Verizon would have you know. By needing your cell, you’re telling the world that you constantly must have someone speaking in your ear. You don’t have confidence going places alone because you feel you need to be connected to someone, anyone, at all times. You don’t like being alone. You don’t like yourself. You aren’t brave enough to have a conversation with the store clerk or the person in the elevator. You don’t want to have to interact with the world around you because your self-esteem never got a chance to grow. You had a way out. You hid behind your blasted cell phone. And the most important thing of all is you—hang on, my cell phone’s ringing. Sorry, I need to take this call.

Nov. 15, 2006

Campus Voices

Q: How well do you think America has handled the ‘War on Terror’?

“I think it’s spiraled a little more out of control than we expected, but I think it is still something that has to be done. You can’t let people just come over here and do whatever they want and not retaliate at some point. We just didn’t expect it to go this far I guess.” – Samantha Holmes, 19, sophomore, accounting and math major

“I think they’re over there just to get oil and that’s why they were sent over there and I think 9/11 was just an excuse to go over there and I do believe it’s time for them to come home because it’s a little overdue and this war is a little drug out.” – Gaby Ezell, 18, freshman, music major

Cell phones, the newest addiction

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“It’s hard to say how America’s really handling the war on terrorism. I believe America is doing a great job in setting an example that it’s not good to murder or go out and just take out other people in the name of your religion. We’re doing a great job by setting an example for other countries to follow.” – Michael McGee, 21, sophomore, business major

“Honestly, I think we are doing the best that we can. It’s just something we’ve never dealt with before, so it’s not always easy to know what’s the right thing to do. I think Saddam needed to be dealt with, but it is turning into a Vietnam quagmire.” – David Roach, 24, senior, kinesiology major

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Entertainment

Across Campus

Garage Sale Kappa Delta Pi will be holding a garage sale on Nov. 17 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Arrowhead Lounge of the Clark Student Center. Some items that will be available are electronics, clothes, books and housewares. The proceeds of the garage sale will go to help beneﬁt future teachers to attend professional conferences.

An Evening of Spanish Song The music department presents An Evening of Spanish Guitar and Song at 7 p.m. Nov. 19 in Akin Auditorium. Dr. Linda Hollabaugh (voice), associate professor of Spanish, and Bruce Canafax (guitar), adjunct instructor of guitar, will be performing. For more information, call 397-4267.

My only issue with “Stranger Than Fiction” would have to be the complete lack of likeable characters. Even our main character, Harold Crick (played well by Will Ferrell) is quite a bore and has just the right amount of social ineptitude to make him annoying. But beyond this one little ﬂaw, “Stranger than Fiction” makes for quite an entertaining ﬁlm, bringing together a few laughs, a poignant story, and just enough care to keep you hoping for a happy ending. Hereʼs the gist:

Harold Crick wakes up and does the exact same routine everyday. We are told what he does through a typical story narration that most films undergo to get character development out of the way, but one day Harold begins to hear his narrator. At first he obviously thinks he is going crazy but the narrartor knows of things that havenʼt even happened yet, so he truly believes that this has nothing to do with being schizo and definitely has more to do with something strange and unusual happening in his life. On the other side of this storyʼs coin is famed novelist Kay Eiffel (Emma Thompson in another great performance) who is having a nasty bit of writerʼs block. She needs to find the perfect death for her newest bookʼs hero, Harold Crick. Well, as you have been able to tell from the trailers, there is a real Harold Crick out there and for some unexplained reason, Kay is writing his life. While fiddling with his watch, somewhat getting used to his newly narrated life, Harold hears his narrator speak of his imminent death. Now something must be done. After talking to a quirky psychiatrist, he is recommended to literary

genius Professor Jules Hilbert (the always amazing Dustin Hoffman). An abundance of theory is discussed as Hilbert seems to play along with the seemingly delusional Crick. Now the clock is racing as Harold must find the author behind the latest events of his life and convince her to spare his sordid existence. The question of importance between life and art is the apparent philosophical point of this melodrama. This film was very entertaining, although not quite as funny as we expect from Ferrell, as he attempts to take on a more dramatic role. We, nonetheless, are glued to our seats till the end. A lovely aura of hope despite disappointment fills the screen and the theater as we watch this film from modern master filmmaker Marc Forster, the same genius behind “Finding Neverland.” Performances were beyond wonderful with an outstanding cast which includes Queen Latifah and Maggie Gyllenhaal. This is a wonderful story that somehow makes us care for unlike able characters. For some reason we do want Harold to hook up with the annoying activist, we do want

RICHARD CARTER WICHITAN DANCE CRITIC Solo albums from members of big-time bands are seldom worth noting. For Godʼs sake, thereʼs no such thing as a good Keith Richards or Mick Jagger solo record. The music of a good band is usually a collaborative effort. Thereʼs a certain vibe that occurs between key members, or the whole group, that brings the music together. When a member of a band makes

er because Radiohead is a classic example of a group that thrives on its band vibe. Less a rock band really, than a collective, each of the ﬁve members apparently has an equal say in how songs come together and are played. That extended group effort probably explains why their last album, “Hail to the Thief,” is over three years old, and the bandʼs much talked about new CD is still said to be a year or more off. (That time gap probably explains Yorkeʼs new solo

induced beats, keyboard washes, glitches, vocals, sometimes doubletracked sung choruses and occasional guitar and bass lines. For listeners not used to laptoporiented music, I suspect most of the melodies and sounds will initially run together. Itʼs only with repeated listens to the record, that some sense of the dynamics in his songs becomes apparent. That said, Yorke doesnʼt really distinguish himself as a particularly avant-garde composer or player with

JASON KIMBRO ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Entertainment Value: A Artistic Crap: A Plot/Script: A Performances: A Overall GPA: 4.0 SunKyu Yoo-Norris

ʻMuch Ado About Nothingʼ The theatre department presents Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 30 in the Fain Fine Arts Center Theatre. In this sometimes sunny, sometimes dark comedy, Shakespeare hands us two contrasting male-female relationships. For ticket information, call 397-4393 or 397-4399.

Dustin Hoffman and Will Ferrell engage in a game of slaps.

Eiffel to ﬁnish her book, and we do want Crick to live. This is an enjoyable ﬁlm

with an enjoyable cast. I hope everyone is able to get the same degree of ﬁber out of it as I was.

regard to these new songs. I suspect thatʼs where having contributions from the band might have made a difference. Still, Yorke doesnʼt embarrass himself. I imagine several of the songs will make it into live Radiohead shows with more complex arrangements. Because these tunes are more minimal than Yorkeʼs Radiohead work, the album also tends to place a little more emphasis on his voice. Yorke can be an amazing singer.

For example, listen to “Fake Plastic Trees” on “The Bends.” But his voice can also be whiney to the point of distraction. Most of “The Eraser” is not heavy but also avoids the whiney. My favorite songs on “The Eraser” come together with well-written melodies, singing and lyrics such as “The Eraser,” “Analyze” and “And It Rained All Night.” Still, as worthwhile as Yorkeʼs new album can be at times, itʼs a wonder why he decided to make it.

Yorkeʼs ﬁrst solo attempt lacks that Radiohead luster

NOW MONEY FOR COLLEGE

Artist-Lecture Series The Artist-Lecture Series presents Dr. John T. Spike, internationally respected curator, critic and art historian, at 7 p.m. on Nov. 20 in the Akin Auditorium. Spikeʼs writings are divided between international contemporary art and Italian Renaissance painters. He has organized art exhibitions and lectured at some of the worldʼs most prominent museums. He serves as a consultant and guest curator for museums in Italy, Germany, Austria and the United States. Among his projects is a major biography of Michelangelo. Spike received his doctorate in art history from Harvard University. For ticket information, call 397-4291.

Nov. 15, 2006

Seek a whole new hope with ʻStrangerʼ

Thanksgiving Break All classes are cancelled on Nov. 22 through Nov. 26 for Thanksgiving break. Classes will resume on Monday, Nov. 27. The next and ﬁnal issue of The Wichitan for this year will be Dec. 6.

THE WICHITAN

Thom Yorke prays to his bewildered God for future success.

a good solo record, it usually means his or her tenure with the group is nearing the end, and he or she is focusing on a fresh start with their best new material. Perhaps, with some tunes burning a hole in his pocket, Thom Yorke, vocalist and primary spokesman for Radiohead, released his ﬁrst solo album titled “The Eraser” last week. The CD is a collection of nine stripped down electronica tunes that sound very much like they were composed and played on a laptop. Itʼs an unusual move for the sing-

album). A hit for the last 15 years or so, Radiohead might be regarded as the Led Zeppelin of our time. But itʼs possible that Yorkeʼs new Radiohead-lite record could erase a little of that unabashed love. Itʼs the singerʼs voice on the album all right, and thereʼs a lot of déjà vu in the melodies, but itʼs hard to listen to his new songs without expecting the band to come in with some cool guitars and keyboard parts. Rather, “The Eraser” is laptop

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THE WICHITAN Nov. 15, 2006

News

Expert___________________________________________continued from page 1 becoming religious fanatics. “Ultimately, what’s going to be needed to reduce global terrorism is a further globalization and capitalization of many places that are just now experiencing what capitalism and democracy have to offer,” Moran said. “When people get more money, more education, and more options in life, they start worrying more about their bank accounts than how many rounds they have in their AK-47.” Moran believes it is going to take a long time to accomplish this goal. “The sad thing is that we will never hear about the successes of our government stopping terrorist attacks because of the classification level. All we hear about are our failures, but there is a reason for it—we do not give away our strategy.” The U.S. government has compiled a book on international terrorists organizations that lists more than 1,200 extremist groups broken down by region. Most are rather small in number – usually less than 40 members. Moran said Osama bin Laden took his family inheritance and lived in the Afghanistan desert where he raised flowers to sale at the market. In the process, he became secluded to the world and more religiously extreme. He could not find anyone who shared his beliefs, so he recruited his own followers with his money. “Planting flowers allowed him the time to come up with Al Qaida,” Moran said. “He is very logical and very persuasive. He was in Afghanistan spending his money on the country and building up his power base.” He began building hospitals and roads, Moran said. He preached that America and capitalism were bad. Osama blamed “evil” habits on American and western influences – globalization. Another strange thing happened to him in the desert, Moran explained. Osama began experimenting with plants, studying the genetics of their physiology, which became a key factor in

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his creation and implementation of Al Quada. “He became the father of terrorist cells,” he said. Moran said these cells are impossible to inﬁltrate because most of them are related. The men of the family are involved in the terrorist cells while the women act as a support group. Many of the cells are religiously extreme and if one member becomes more religious, he will split off and form his own group, becoming a “splinter cell.” Today, some cells are as small as three people. “It only takes one person to hijack a plane,” he said. “If you can disable the autopilot and turn off the transponder, you are good to go.” On 9-11, Al Quadea needed only three people to hijack a plane of 300 occupants. Moran believes that terrorist suspects should have public trials but they should be in a military tribunal because the suspects were not caught under U.S. jurisdiction. He does not believe that the Geneva Convention was written with terrorists in mind, but it should apply to them. “In international relations, it takes one generation for your friend to become your enemy and your enemy to become your friend,” he said. Moran said he believes another branch of the International Court of Justice needs to be created to help try terrorist suspects. In his class, Moran teaches that extremists and terrorists should not be treated badly. “We are the United States. We should hold the moral high ground on these things,” he said. “We shouldn’t abide by the rationale that terrorists will torture our people, so it’s okay that we torture yours.” Those who were arrested mistakenly, even if they were moderates or somewhat positive about the U.S., are likely to change their opinions of the U.S., he said. Moran said he is thinking about offering a one- or twoday conference on terrorism this spring, which will be open to all students.

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Price and participation may vary.

T: 20 in

tigations, interrogation procedures and the use and development of relational databases for terrorism investigations. His campus office is filled with memorabilia from foreign lands. Against the back wall hangs a Chinese police uniform, a red star glistening against its dark green fabric. Counterfeit work cards, adorned with the faces of members of Middle Eastern extremists group, are fanned out across a corner table. “You end up seeing some cool stuff,” Moran said. Moran cites a definition of terrorism used by the State Department: “It’s the use of violence by non-government actors against civilian populations and is done so for political objectives.” The U.S. venture into Iraq has fueled the fires of terrorism, he said. “But we are in too deep to back out,” Moran said. “That’s the damned if you do, damned if you don’t. We are just in this dilemma and we’ve been in it ever since we set foot in Iraq.” Moran said the only way to keep terrorist groups from becoming a political force in the Afghan or Iraq governments is for the current Middle Eastern administrations and its citizens to shout out in one voice and make up their minds to excommunicate the extremists groups out of their countries and their lives. “If you give people hopes and dreams, a lot of people will steer clear of extremism,” he said. “If you take away hopes and dreams that allows radicals to come in and recruit.” However, many people lived good lives under the radical terrorist groups’ rule, he pointed out. They had relative peace and many of those people want that type of relative peace back. Moran said he does not see it as a religious combat issue. “America and the United Nations coalition cannot stop people from becoming religious fanatics. There is no law that can be implemented which will keep people from

T: 5 in

Rugby falls

Recreational

JAMES PIERCE

Sports

The MSU Rugby Team had a rough weekend in Nacogdoches, as it dropped three straight games on Saturday. The first, which was a conference cup match, was lost in a shutout to the University of North Texas 25-0. MSU was missing five starters and had to play a lot of inexperienced players in the scrums. UNT took advantage of this and controlled the tempo of the game and made it difficult for MSU to advance the ball with their backfield. Their next contest was a tournament match against Division I powerhouse Sam Houston State. They were trampled by SHSU in a blowout in which they were clearly overmatched. The loss put them in the loser’s bracket where they had to play the University of Houston. MSU was blanked for the third time of the day, losing 21-0. Houston’s eight-man dominated as he broke for numerous 40 and 50 meter runs. But the defense stiffened to only allow three tries and three conversions when it could have been much worse. MSU has a must win game Saturday, December 2, at home against Baylor. If MSU wins they will have a good chance of making the 8-team playoff which begins late February.

Women’s Basketball

STAFF REPORTER

Texas Woes MCCLATCHY TRIBUNE With the 323 yards passing given up by Texas in a 45-42 upset loss Saturday at Kansas State, the Longhorns have set a school record for most passing yards allowed in a season (2,739). That replaces the previous record of 2,552 in 2004. The Horns are giving up 249 yards passing per game, on pace to break the school record of 227.7 set in 1988. Texas, which is ranked No. 2 nationally in rush defense (42 yards per game), is ranked 108th of 119 teams in pass defense. A veteran secondary (three seniors and a junior) has struggled with injuries all season but played its best game of the year two weeks ago in a 36-10 win over Oklahoma State. The Cowboys’ offense, one of the most explosive in the country, gained just 80 yards rushing and 123 yards passing. So the Longhorns giving up 323 yards through the air, 239 of them on 10 passes, is even more puzzling. Four of K-State’s touchdowns came on what Texas coaches call “explosive plays,” passes of 16 yards or more (36, 32, 18 and 30). Cornerback Aaron Ross, who has been the best player in the secondary all season, was lit up repeatedly by K-State wide receiver Yamon Figurs.

Nov. 6 Karris’s Tema Def. Da Champs 24-20 Karrisa’s Tema Def. Ron Burgandys 50-28 Nov. 7 Chi Omega Def. Alpha Phi 42-15 Gamma Phi Beta Def. Kappa Delta Chi 52-17

Men’s Volleyball Team Kaneki Def. Michael Mills Team

Sports

MSU whips ACU FOR THE WICHITAN

The 22nd ranked Midwestern State University Mustangs grabbed the lead in the ﬁrst quarter and never trailed as they rolled to a 46-30 victory over the No. 18 Abilene Christian University Wildcats Saturday afternoon at Shotwell Stadium. MSU closed the regular season at 9-2 overall, 7-2 in all Lone Star Conference games and 4-2 in the LSC South, tied for second in the conference and the South Division. ACU falls to 9-2, 7-2 in the LSC and 4-2 in the LSC South. Midwestern State posted another strong offensive showing. The second ranked team in total offense in NCAA Division II rolled up 470 yards against ACU, while holding the Wildcats, who were ﬁfth nationally in total offense, to 393 yards. Senior running back Ulysses Odoms led the way for MSU with 16 carries for 155 yards and two touchdowns, while junior quarterback Daniel Polk completed 12-of-21 passes for 205 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 19 yards. ACU was paced by quarterback Billy Malone who hit 25-of47 passes for 263 yards with three

20-17, 20-11 Figurs set career highs for catches (six) and yards (123), including TD grabs of 36 and 30 yards. With the score 7-7, Ross also dropped an interception that probably would have been a walk-in touchdown. Coach Mack Brown was asked if QB Jevan Snead should have played more against Baylor and Oklahoma State. Snead came into the game moments after freshman Colt McCoy was injured on a goalline quarterback sneak. “(Offensive coordinator) Greg Davis has worked Jevan with the No. 1 offense and No. 1 center every practice,” Brown said. “We feel like Jevan was not a difference in that ballgame Saturday night.” Brieﬂy: UT’s loss to K-State was the ﬁrst vs. an unranked opponent since Nov. 16, 2002, at Texas Tech (42-38). Texas was ranked No. 4 in that game, just as it was Saturday night. Texas, now No. 11, outrushed KState, 143-23. In Brown’s nine years as coach, the Longhorns are 79-2 when outrushing the opponent. The other loss was against Ohio State earlier this year (172-79).

Nov. 15, 2006

Running Back Ross Harrison broke Dominic Rhodes record of 27 touchdowns last Saturday against Abilene Christian University. Harrison also tied the overall Record of touchdowns set by Rhodes with 29 career touchdowns.

ADRIAN MCCANDLESS | THE WICHITAN

down this season to lead MSU and rank third for a single-season at MSU. Midwestern got touchdown receptions from Mookie Davis and DelJuan Lee. The Midwestern State defense kept frustrating ACU’s Malone the

entire game, before knocking him out of the contest in the fourth quarter. MSU will now take on Missouri Western State University 12 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium in the NCAA Division II Football Championship ﬁrst round game.

Mustangs blinded by Stars FOR THE WICHITAN

20-15, 20-15 Sigma Nu Def. Kappa Alpha

touchdowns and an interception. Both teams traded possession, when MSU got on the board first. After holding ACU on downs at its own 43, the Mustangs went on a five-play drive that was capped by a nine-yard power run by Odoms. On the Mustangs next possession, Polk found Andy Tanner open for a 29-yard touchdown reception and MSU never trailed by less than 10 the rest of the afternoon. After ACU added a 49-yard Matt Adams field goal, MSU moved the ball to the Abilene 40 before they called on Odoms again. He broke free from the line, then outraced the secondary for a 40yard touchdown run. Odoms’ 155 yards rushing gave him his third 100-plus rushing game of the season and 736 yards for the season. Senior running back Ross Harrison posted 13 carries for 49 yards, including a four-yard touchdown run. It was the 28th rushing touchdown of his career to break the tie he had with current Indianapolis Colts running back Dominic Rhodes. It was his 29th career touchdown to tie Rhodes total career touchdowns scored as well. Odoms rolled up his 15th touch-

7 Crushed Record THE WICHITAN

The Oklahoma City University Stars went on a 10-0 run in a twominute period starting early in the second half then held on to defeat the Midwestern State University Mustangs 75-68 in an exhibition men’s basketball contest Thursday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum/Gerald Stockton Court. MSU did not trail in the ﬁrst half, and held a nine-point lead with 1:38 to go in the opening frame, only to see OCU go on an 8-0 run to end the half to leave MSU up 28-27. The teams traded the lead early in the second half, when a dunk by MSU’s Eric Dawson gave the Mustangs a three-point lead with 15:48 to play. That’s when the OCU barrage started, as Willie Irick nailed a topof-the-key three at 15:17 that started the 10-0 run. MSU battled back, tying the game twice in the last ﬁve minutes. When Mustang senior Chad Rickett

rolled in a layup with 3:25 to play, the score was knotted at 61-all. But it was again Irick, who buried another the last of his three treys in the game, that gave OCU the lead for good. It started a 9-2 run that did in the Mustangs. Irick led the Stars, the preseason number two team in the NAIA, with 19 points, while B.J. Walker added 14 points and 10 rebounds. Nick Covington chipped in 11 points, with Kameron Gray adding 10. MSU got 21 points from Rickett, while senior Drew Coffman buried three treys on the way to 20 points. Dawson had 10 points, seven rebounds and one blocked shot. The contest ended the exhibition season for MSU. The Mustangs will open the season on the road at Oklahoma Panhandle State next Thursday night. MSU’s ﬁrst home game is set for 7 p.m Saturday against Dallas Christian. All coaches and staff encourge students to attend and show support for the team.

Cartoonist Needed! If you think you are funny and you have drawing abilities that no one has ever seen before, then please call The Wichitan at 397-4704. HERSHEL SELF | THE WICHITAN MSU’s Christopher Reay, 40, goes for a lay-up against two Oklahoma City opponents in an exhibition last Thursday night in D.L. Ligon Coliseum. The Stars won 75-68. The Mustangs will begin their regualr season in Goodwell, Okla. this Thursday as they take on Oklahoma Panhandle State at 8 p.m.

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THE WICHITAN Nov. 15, 2006

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