The Cameron University Collegian: December 6, 2004

COLLEGIAN THE CA M ERON U N I V ER SIT Y

Monday, December 6, 2004

News

Informing the Cameron Family Since 1926

Volume 78 Issue 12

CETES submits proposal for graduate program

By Anna Politano Managing Editor

CCM and Cameron to honor the works of Dr. Martin Luther King in January.

PLEASE SEE PAGE 8

Photo by Scott Pratt

Practicing her trade: Dr. Ann Nalley works on separating carbohydrates on the new High Performance Liquid Chromatigraph (HPLC) in one of the physical science department labs.

Nalley, in her new role as president of the ACS, will represent the society worldwide.

PLEASE SEE PAGE 12

Sports

Men’s basketball coach offers more than just a direction in which to shoot.

PLEASE SEE PAGE 14

Voices

ra p

G

sy

te

ur

Co

‘Alexander’ not so great after all, according to Editor.

hi

c

A&E

As construction phases advance for the Center for Emerging Technology and Entrepreneurial Studies (CETES), so do the educational opportunities that will surface as a result of the CETES founding at Cameron.

According to Shawn Carraher, director of CETES and Brewczynski endowed chair, a Master of Science degree in entrepreneurial studies might be another option for graduate students at Cameron.

Carraher has designed and developed a proposal for the new degree, and the Cameron Graduate Council is currently discussing and analyzing his proposal. If approved by the Graduate Council, the proposal will be forwarded to the Oklahoma State Board of Regents.

Subsequently, with the Board of Regents’ approval, the degree should be implemented in the fall of 2005.

According to Carraher, it should take a full-time graduate student around a year and a half to two years to complete the degree. He added, however, that any MBA student could finish it quicker since MBA credits can be easily transferred to the entrepreneurial degree. The 11 classes comprising the program will be fully online oriented. He believes a wide range of students will be reached with an online program, and Cameron will also be at an advantage when comparing to other universities that offer similar courses.

“If anyone from Fort Sill starts this degree but has to be transferred to Germany or Korea, they would be capable of continuing their degree anywhere in the world because it is all online,” Carraher said. “We don’t have any competition in this area. The closest universities that have this program are Western Carolina University and the University of Arizona, but they don’t have a fully online program.”

Student interest and enrollment from other universities and other states confirm Carraher’s beliefs that the newly sought degree is unique and is in demand. In fact, this spring Cameron is offering for the first time a course on entrepreneurial studies, which is the graduate

Please see CETES, Page 5

Nalley named president of the American Chemical Society

By Angela Gradoz Features Editor On the afternoon of Nov. 15, Cameron University’s Professor of Physical Sciences Ann Nalley received a phone call indicating that she was elected to be the next president of the American Chemical Society (ACS), one of the largest chemistry-based scientific societies in the world with 160,000 members and 80 student chapters.

While Nalley ran for president during the last nomination a few years ago and lost, she was speechless and emotional once informed of the results.

“I was pretty excited,” she said. “You know what I did? I cried. I just could not believe that it had actually happened. It was like being in Alice in Wonderland. I was not sure if the news was real.”

Chemistry junior Briana O’Malley believes that Nalley deserves the position because of Nalley’s dedication to her students and the chemistry field.

“She really deserved it because she puts in of countless hours,” she said. “In the classroom, she tries to find many perspectives until the material clicks for the students, and she makes sure her

students understand the material.”

Nalley’s affiliation with ACS extends back 32 years to 1972, and she is one of five women in ACS’s 128-year history to be elected to the presidential position. In addition, Nalley is the first Oklahoman and first person elected from a fouryear regionally supported university.

In order to be considered for the position, Nalley submitted a VITAE and wrote several statements indicating her goals if she were nominated.

“My biggest goal for the society is to involve more members and more activities and make it a more of a member-oriented society,” Nalley said.

“I would also like to see the society improve the professional image of the chemist.”

In addition, Nalley would like to see more women and minorities in the field.

“I want to work very hard to make the society more inclusive,” she said. “In our society we have surpassed the goal of having 50 percent

Please see NALLEY, Page 5

Funeral home employee finds humor in everyday tasks Collegian staff urges families to spend quality time together for the holidays.

PLEASE SEE PAGE 2 Please note: This is the final issue of The Collegian for the semester. We will resume publication Jan. 17.

Office: Nance Boyer 2060 Phone: 580•581•2261 E-mail us at : collegian@cameron.edu First Copy Free - $.25 for each additional copy Contents © The Collegian 2004

By Jennie Hanna News Editor John Hagee sees dead people.

Literally.

The criminal justice senior is not clairvoyant, nor is he a character from an M. Night Shyamalan film. Hagee has been an employee of the Becker Funeral Home located on the corner of Ft. Sill Boulevard and Cache Road for over a year and a half.

Since his is not an average after-school job for a college student, Hagee has received his fair share of awkward glances and eyes that dart to the other side of the room when he reveals where he works.

“When people ask where

I work and I tell them, there is usually a moment of silence followed by a ‘Oh…what’s that like?’” Hagee said. “I’m used to it by now.”

Hagee explained that he ended up getting into this profession merely by chance.

“It is actually an interesting story,” he said. “I was with a group of friends and someone pointed out that I needed a job and somebody else said, ‘You should call Becker,’ so I did.”

A large part of his duties include routine cleaning of the staterooms and the vehicles, and mowing the lawn during the warmer months. When he is on call and a person dies, he will go to the morgue with a funeral director to pick up the body

and bring it back to prepare it for embalming. He also sets up a stateroom so that family and friends may come and visit.

Hagee’s hours are also quite different than a normal college job. His schedule changes each semester and he is on call twice a week and works every other weekend.

“We have to have someone available around the clock since, as my boss puts it, people don’t die from 9 to 5,” Hagee said.

Hagee, one of the youngest employees of the funeral home, is also the only college student.

He finds that his job evokes the

Please see HUMOR, Page 7

Keep your wits about you: John Hagee, criminal justice senior, finds that his job helps him garner a new perspective on life and also gives him a sense of humor about it.

Photo by Jennie Hanna

Voices

2

Happ y Holidays

It’s Christmas time again, and a new year is already coming into view. With the holiday season so quickly approaching, many cannot wait to just get a few extra hours of sleep. Others cannot wait to have fun, work on projects or attend different events that a busy daily schedule does not permit them to do.

When making a to-do list or an agenda of goals to be accomplished during the break, we sometimes fail to set time apart to be spent with loved ones.

Unfortunately, people tend to be so caught up with various tasks that quality family time is almost becoming extinct in our work-driven, task-oriented society.

While certain things do need to get done while a break is at hand, family time should rule. Although some family members may not get along with each other or may have differing interests, an effort should be made for a few hours of true family fellowship time.

For instance, you can spend a couple of hours with your brother playing video games, spend an afternoon shopping with your sister or take your mother to lunch. You can take your dad to the movies or simply play a match of dominos with him. Your grandmother would probably be very pleased with an afternoon visit and a gift of candy or roses. Sometimes it is a sacrifice that has to be made, but it is certainly worth it.

At The Collegian, our editors are conscious that family time must be a priority this holiday season. Don’t let other things have priority over your family. Remember that jobs and tasks will go away, but the family

Finding employment rough for communication senior As graduation approaches, I wonder if spending the past four and a half years in pursuit of a degree was worth my time.

For about the past month, I have been browsing through the local classifieds and there are absolutely no jobs in Lawton or Wichita Falls pertaining to my communication degree. Even if job opportunities arise, it seems it’s whom you know not what you know that gets you the job.

While there are more opportunities in metropolitan areas, I have no interest in moving. I am an Army brat. I have seen the world and have no desire to move to a big city and start over for the 10th time. Although the pay and job opportunities are more abundant in a larger city, that also means the cost of living is higher.

So why make the transition to a bigger city when there is a possibility I could be in the same predicament staying in Lawton, where I have family and friends?

In addition, one of my friends, who graduated from Cameron in May with the same degree as I, began writing for a newspaper outside of Lawton making $8 an hour.

If you think that is bad, she then moved to Cleveland in August. She just found a job – a parttime job – with a weekly newspaper making $9 an hour. She spent five years to get a bachelor’s degree and makes $9 an hour.

Who can survive on a wage

THE CAMERON UNIVERSITY

COLLEGIAN Founded in 1926 veritas sempiterna

like that in a big city?

She could have stayed in Lawton, applied at a bank and made just as much. am not complaining Angela Gradoz about the education I am receiving at Cameron.

I am just upset with Lawton’s current economic issues. Employers in this town do not care about degree holders, and you are lucky to find something full-time that offers benefits like sick leave, vacation time and insurance.

I am not here to moan and groan. But I think that students need to be aware that landing a job right after graduation could be somewhat difficult, especially if you are not willing to move.

Looking back on my educational career, I probably would have never attended a university.

I would have gone to a vocational school and enrolled in classes where I could get certified in something.

It seems that learning a trade is what pays in this state, and at least I would be receiving earnings above the poverty level.

Angela is a journalism senior from Lawton. She is also the Features Editor of The Collegian.

Editorial Board Managing Editor - Anna Politano News Editor - Jennie Hanna Copy Editor - Lisa Snider A&E Editor - Angela Sanders Sports Editor - Joshua Rouse Features Editor - Angela Gradoz Graphic Artist - Leah Hicks Newsroom Staff Business Manager - Rosana Navas Financial Officer - Susan Hill Cartoonist - Thomas Pruitt Webmaster - Ian Mitchell Staff Writers Laura Brady, Christina Frye, Petulah Olibert, Scott Pratt Faculty Adviser Christopher Keller

What traditions does your family have at Christmas?

Joe Gomba Political Science senior “We always pray the twoweek rosary.”

Graphic by Leah Hicks

remains. This holiday season, we encourage you to make a difference in your family members’ lives. Enjoy and treasure them.

—The Editorial Board

www.cameron.edu/collegian

Our Voice Family to be a priority during holiday season

December 6, 2004

Eldwyn Mathieu Comp. Sci. sophomore “We always open up one gift on Christmas Eve.”

Taran Turner Business sophomore “We open presents on Christmas Eve at my grandmaʼs house, and we open stockings in the morning.”

KRT Campus

Editors’ Christ mas Traditions “I give my sons a new Christmas ornament every year to add to their collections.”

Lisa Snider, Copy Editor “My grandmother makes the best cherry cream pie. I get one all to myself and have to avoid my cousins so they won’t steal it.”

Scott Pratt, Photographer “We usually have a small, quiet celebration. Just me and my grandfather.”

Josh Rouse, Sports Editor

Brett Carden Chiropractor sophomore “We have family come down for a week, and we just socialize.”

“We celebrate Christmas Eve at my grandma’s and Christmas day at my house.”

Angela Sanders, A&E Editor

Correction: On the Voices Page of the Nov. 22 issue of The Collegian we made a mistake on the “Ask the Aggies” section. The last student to the right is Steve Ellis, accounting senior, not Barry Hanza, business mgmt. junior. We apologize for the mistake.

Newswriting Students Emily Archer, Jillian Bassett, Sharicka Brackens, Kelli Colbenson, Krystal Deak, Daniel Evans, Cara Garza, Aaron M. Gilbee, Ekeama S.Goddard, Jennifer Hardy, Teri Hillier, Dawn Holt, Kathleen Kelly, Jessica P. Lane, Kari Lewis, Justin Liszeski, Ian Mitchell, Danielle Murphree, Sonya Ray, Ekayah Rosete, Lauren Slate, Tiffany Soto, Tauren Thompson, Bonnie Tomahsah, Sarah Warren About Us The official student newspaper of Cameron University, The Cameron University Collegian is available each Monday during the year. It is printed by the Times Record News in Wichita Falls, Texas.

Letters Policy Letters to the editor will be printed in the order in which they are received and on a space available basis.

The Collegian reserves the right to edit all letters for content and length. Letters should be no more than 250 words.

Letters from individual authors will be published only once every four weeks.

All letters from students should include first and last names, classification and major. No nicknames will be used.

Letters from people outside the Cameron community should include name, address and phone number for verification.

Letters can be sent via mail or e-mail, or they may be dropped off at our office.

Trae Lister Business sophomore “Waking up early and opening presents.”

Our Views The opinions expressed in The Collegian pages or personal columns are those of the signed author.

The unsigned editorial under the heading “Our Voice” represents the opinion of the majority of the editorial board.

The opinions expressed in The Collegian do not necessarily represent those of Cameron University or the state of Oklahoma.

News

December 6, 2004

3

Dean makes debut in training DVD

By Sonya Ray

ment board is responsible for approximately 26 million dollars in Newswriting Student endowment funds.

Sylvia Burgess, dean of the “The national president knew Cameron University School of me because of my service on the Business, was featured in an officer board,” she said. “He asked me if training DVD for Phi Kappa Phi. I would assist in developing the Phi Kappa Phi is a national DVD with four other individuals. interdisciplinary honor society for We had our national investments professors and college students. meeting this past summer in Las Burgess has been a member of Vegas. I stayed an extra day to help Phi Kappa Phi since 1978. She was put together this DVD.” first inducted as an undergraduate The DVD is called “Focus on student at Cameron University.

Success: Chapter Operations and “When I Memorable was a senior, Initiation.” It I applied for was created to “The purpose of the fellowship of aid the chapter DVD is to talk about graduate study officers of Phi memorable initiations. It’s Kappa Phi in and received honorable increasing ackind of a recruiting tool mention at ceptance rates, and a help to incoming the national conducting presidents of different level,” she said, meaningful inichapters around the “which was a tiation ceremobig honor.” nies and mancountry.”

Burgess is a aging successful lifetime mem—Sylvia Burgess, Dean chapters. ber as a result “The purof the School of Business of her fellowpose of the ship. Several DVD is to talk years ago, she about memobecame active with the local chaprable initiations,” she said. “It’s ter on campus, Chi Eta Sigma. kind of a recruiting tool and a help She has held the position of vice to incoming presidents of different president and last year served as chapters around the country.” president.

According to Burgess, Cameron In 2002, CU Associate ProUniversity has two initiations: fessor Dr. James Heflin, who is one in the fall, which includes a involved with Phi Kappa Phi at ceremony and reception; the other the regional level, nominated Burin the spring, which includes a gess to serve as a member of the banquet. national investment board for the “I talked about the importance organization. The national investof making it an elegant event, very

KRT Campus

Technology abounds: Ray Stetson, Port Canaveral Security Supervisor, demonstrates the new identity system. Stetson holds the identification badge in front of the security device, and then places his finger on a reader that can read his fingerprint.

Port workers’ eyes, fingers, hands linked to new security IDs

By Erin Ailworth KRT Newswire CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At first glance, it looks like an average work identification card with a digital photo, but the white plastic card that national transportation officials unveiled last week is the newest weapon in the battle to protect the country from terrorists.

In addition to multiple bar codes, a personal identification number and holographic overlays, the card, called the Transportation Worker Identity Credential, is encoded with information that links it to its owner via scans of that person’s eyes, fingers and hands.

“Right now [...] facilities are tracking plastic (cards), not the person,” said Iola “Lolie” Kull, the card’s program director for the Transportation Security Administration. This card “binds” a person to it.

Workers at Port Canaveral, Fla., will be among the first in the country to use the cards, which are on a seven-month trial run in six states.

Eventually, the cards will be used to recognize and verify the

identity of millions of workers entering seaports, airports and other high-security transportation areas.

The goal is “to enhance security and to promote commerce and at the same time protect an individual’s right to privacy” by streamlining the process of getting credentials and reducing the number of ID cards a worker needs to access sites nationwide, said Carol DiBattiste, the deputy administrator for TSA. Currently, transportation workers, including dock workers, truck drivers and airline and railway employees, need a different ID for each facility they enter, DiBattiste said.

Florida ports were tapped as test sites because of the amount of traffic going through them, DiBattiste said. Port Canaveral, Port Everglades and Port of Miami have been listed in past years as the world’s three busiest cruise ports.

If the card program is expanded nationally, transportation workers might be charged a fee to obtain them, DiBattiste said.

The TSA has spent $50 million in the past two years to implement the prototype.

Photo by Scott Pratt

Leader of the pack: Sylvia Burgess, dean of the School of Business, looks over some paperwork with Longnicue ‘Emmanual’ Yed, an MBA student. Burgess has worked at Cameron for over nine years. high scale, very special for the students,” she said. “Being invited into membership into the honor society is important because of the grade point average required and the recognition of excellence.”

She feels that the spring ceremony is special because the fall initiates and their families are also invited and able to participate in the event. She believes that the students who work hard for their grades should have excellent recognition.

“The spring ceremony is the most special. We also invite the fall initiates to come to the banquet. They do not get re-inducted, but they are able to participate,” she said. “This year we had the ceremony in the band room, and

we had the strings group play, and it was beautiful. It makes the students feel honored, and their parents often attend.”

Phi Kappa Phi was founded in 1897 at the University of Maine.

It is the nation’s oldest and most selective interdisciplinary honor society. Each year, approximately 34,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni are initiated into the society. The chapters are on nearly 300 campuses in the United States, Puerto Rico and the Philippines.

“What we have heard from other groups around the country is that some of them do very simple little ceremonies, and they are not well attended,” Burgess said. “We

heard from other presidents that they think if they can improve the quality of the ceremony, then they can help make their initiates feel important and included.”

Burgess holds a bachelor’s degree in speech from Cameron University, a juris doctorate from the University of Oklahoma School of Law and an LL.M in tax law from Southern Methodist University.

She has been a member of the CU faculty since 1995. She has taught tax planning, criminal law and business communication. She currently teaches business law.

She is also involved in Students of Free Enterprise. Burgess and Dr. Suzanne Clinton are the faculty advisers for the program.

4

News

December 6, 2004

Agency provides joyful employment to worker

By Lisa Snider Copy Editor How many people can describe the everyday work they do in their jobs as “a joy?”

Addam Chenault can, and he does.

Working as a general utility employee in the Davis Student Union, Chenault, a Lawton High School graduate, has met and influenced many people, not the least of whom is John Nickel, general manager of food services at Cameron.

“There are many people out there in the workforce who do not enjoy their jobs,” Nickel said. “But Addam is not one of them. He is a constant reminder of how pleasant somebody can be to work with.”

Chenault came to the CU food services position by way of the employment specialist company, Apex, Inc., based in Anadarko. Apex works in conjunction with, and by way of referral from, the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitative Services (DRS).

The DRS Web site, www.okrehab.org, offers valuable information regarding the many programs and services available to individuals with disabilities, enabling them to lead productive and more independent lives. The division of DRS known as Vocational Rehabilitation provides employment services to eligible individuals, called consumers because they are involved in making choices about programs and services they will use. They receive counseling , career planning guidance and other employment-related services such as job search, placement and follow-up.

Some of the services are contracted to agencies, which provide supported employment services to individuals with severe disabilities, and there are dozens of such Oklahoma agencies listed on the site. One of those is Apex.

Apex Employment Training Specialist Suda Summers works directly with consumers, helping them with vocational planning, job assessments and choices.

“Individuals can work no matter what their limitations might be,” Summers said.

Summers explained that when someone is referred through Vocational Rehabilitation, the counselor determines which program or combination of programs is appropriate and then helps the individual determine what his or her skills and interests are.

“The thought is to try and find something that they’re going to be interested in, something they want to stay at,” Summers said.

That interest helps with job retention. Apex counselors work with consumers in a multi-county region, and there is no list of specific employers with which they work.

The task of job developing begins with the interests of the consumer. The specialist approaches the potential employer with the possibility of working with a Vocational Rehabilitation client. Employers are sometimes receptive, but often not, according to Summers. Still, she stressed that the public should be aware that the programs exist and that many businesses are supportive.

“We have good employers who are willing to help out [and] give them the opportunity, which might take a little more training,” Summers said.

Though the training of these employees may take a bit more time and patience, Summers explained that often the result is the type of worker that will stay for a long period and will not get bored and tired of the job.

The employee is likely to take satisfaction in what he or she does and will therefore take ownership of the job.

“That’s what’s important – that they’ll stay and be a long-term employee,” she said.

And for the employee, Summers explained, one of the biggest motivators is being with other adults.

“The job gives them an opportunity to be in the community and have fellowship with co-workers that they would not receive if they were at home doing nothing,” she said.

This type of fellowship seems to be one of the things Chenault enjoys most about his job. Co-worker Vanessa Harris, who is a marine biology/archaeology sophomore, smiled as she spoke of Chenault.

“He’s always greeting customers as well as other co-workers,” she said. “And if he sees something that needs to be done, he gets it done before anybody else.

He’s always looking for something else to do.”

Chenault isn’t all work and no play, though. According to Harris, he loves basketball. The television in the Student Union is usually kept at a low volume. But if there’s a basketball game on, he’ll turn up the volume and listen while he works.

At home, Chenault likes to listen to music and hopes to one day attend a Janet Jackson concert.

In the meantime, Chenault will take joy in working and being around people every day.

And they will take joy in being around him.

“The kid is such a bright spot,” Nickel said. “It’s amazing.”

‘Tis the season to eat

By Howard Cohen

KRT Campus

stomach. You won’t be inclined to indulge as much,’’ suggests Ruth Marcus, a registered dietitian with Hollywood Medical Center. Snacks could include cheese, yogurt, veggies, fruits, nuts.

OUTSMART THE BUFFET Hold your drink in your dominant hand so you rely on your less-coordinated hand to gather the food.

(You’ll keep from over-piling.)

Skip things you can always have, like chips and dips, and choose foods you only get once a year.

FORGET TRADITION When making gravy let the fat harden first, scoop it out and then heat. That saves a whopping 56 grams of fat a cup, Marcus says.

Lighten up the green bean casserole by replacing the high sodium cream soup with chunks of potato or use low-sodium soup. For the crunchy top use almonds instead of fried onion rings.

GET RID OF THE GUILT ``Get over feeling guilty because you’ve eaten something you think is bad,’’ Marcus insists. ``If you do eat one meal that’s not `good’ that’s not going to be the thing to destroy all the good things you’ve done before.’’

Just get back on track.

Helen Holliday scholarships now available to CU students for Spring 2005 semester Collegian Staff Applications are now being accepted for the Helen Holliday Foundation Scholarships. The Helen Holliday Foundation has presented Cameron University with additional funds for the current academic year.

The funds will be used to award scholarships to 10 students for the Spring 2005 semester.

Students interested in the scholarship may pick an application from Cameron’s Financial Assistance office, located in North Shepler 301. Students should apply immediately.

The university’s scholarship committee will select recipients based on scholastic ability, leadership and determination to successfully complete academic work.

The scholarships are awarded to Cameron students

Taking pride in his work: Addam Chenault, a utility worker in the Davis Student Union, smiles as he refills the chip display before the rush at lunch. Chenault, who has worked at Cameron for about a month, helps to inspire his fellow staff members to keep a positive outlook on life.

SGA Notes The last SGA meeting of the fall semester is today.

KRT Newswire Santa and crowded malls aren’t the only holiday traditions.

So is weight gain.

Parties. Holiday meals. Wine and spirits.

Americans gain about a pound during the winter holiday season, according to a 2000 study by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

One pound doesn’t sound like much but that extra bit tends to accumulate over the years, says Alicia Guerra, a registered dietitian and diabetes educator for Baptist Health Systems in Kendall, Fla. “One day is not going to cause any problems,’’ Guerra says. ``The problem is that most people don’t go back to healthy eating and watching themselves.’’

Here, then, are strategies for reducing holiday-induced flab.

FOCUS ON ONE THING Barb and Joe spent the day slaving in the kitchen browning the bird, stuffing it with bread crumbs and cushioning it on a bed of buttery mashed potatoes.

You’re invited to partake of this feast because you’re dating their daughter. Tell Barb how wonderful her stuffing is and make sure she sees you happily spooning some onto your plate. Then go light on everything else.

FILL ‘ER UP “Make sure you don’t go to a party on an empty

Photo by Scott Pratt

without regard to race, creed, nationality or need.

For new freshmen entering Cameron in the spring, selection will be based on ACT/SAT scores and will be restricted to students who rank in the upper half of their graduating class. Upper-classmen applying for the scholarship must have at least a 3.00 grade point average and be enrolled in a minimum of 12 hours.

The scholarship is a memorial to Helen Holliday, who wished to provide assistance to students who are conscientious in their educational pursuits, particularly those from middle-income families.

Each student who is awarded a scholarship will receive a $600 stipend per semester, with the money being used for fees, tuition and books. The scholarships can be re-awarded yearly until the student has reached 128 hours. Recipients must maintain a minimum 3.00 GPA.

There will be discussion of the OSGA Fee Proposal, recommendations and a final vote.

Bill 304008 by Vice Presi-

dent Myers to include the CU-Duncan branch as an entity of the CUSGA body will have a second reading.

The first meeting for the spring semester is Jan. 17, 2005.

To submit legislative ideas or questions, e-mail cusga@cameron.edu or call 581.2444.

Campus Round-up ‘Tis the season for festive music The Cameron University Concert Band will have a performance at 8 p.m Thursday in University Theatre. General admission for the event is $6, with senior citizen, military and non-Cameron students paying $4. As always, Cameron students get in free with their CU ID. Sustenance offered for finals week Students may fill up on food during a break in studying during finals week at the Finals Breakfast from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. Dec. 15 in the Shepler dining facility. This buffet, served by professors and President Ross, is free with CU ID to all campus residents and students.

Library ours extended for Finals Week In order to accommodate the many students in need of extra study time for finals, the library will be extending their normal business hours. The library will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. today through Thursday.

Bookstore offers fall buy-back Times and dates for book buy-back are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Dec. 13 to Dec. 16 and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 17, 20 and 21 in the CU Bookstore.

Fitness Center holiday hours The fitness center will be open from 9 a.m to 6 p.m. Dec 20-22 and will be closed Dec. 23 to Jan. 2. It will reopen Jan. 3 with the same holiday hours of 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

News

December 6, 2004

5

Truth is, everyone lies; professor delves into the world of deception

By Elaine D’Aurizio KRT Newswire HACKENSACK, N.J. – Pride yourself on being an honest person?

Well, Julian Keenan would like you to try not to lie for a month.

“Try telling a cop who pulls you over what you really think or a hostess what you think of her food,” said Keenan, a Montclair State University professor. “You’ll see how difficult it is and how much a part of your life lying is.”

According to Keenan, who has been researching the world of deception for 10 years, everybody lies.

“The average person tells at least one lie per day,” said Keenan, who admits he is not the greatest at spotting fibbers.

What surprised him the most in his studies of hundreds of Montclair State students is how prevalent lying is, how bad people are at detecting it and how different the genders are at lying.

Women, for example, tend to lie about their age, weight and looks; makeup, plastic surgery, clothes that enhance or manipulate the body.

“Men exaggerate how much they make and their job title or grade point average,” said Keenan, 34. “They tend to lie about wanting to get married and saying they want to have children.”

But why lie at all? There are some good reasons that probably go back 5 million years, said Keenan, director of the university’s Cognitive Neuroimaging Laboratory.

“Lying has played a key role in our evolution, in making humans, human,” he said. “It’s one of the

KRT Campus

Searching for the truth: Dr. Julian Keenan and his research assistant Kevin Guise watch the readings from brain wave measurements and eye tracker goggles on Kayleigh Cesare, of Sayreville, at their research laboratory in Dixon Hall at Montclair State University, Nov. 11. According to Keenan, who has been researching the world of deception for 10 years, everybody lies. most amazing, sophisticated, advanced cognitive abilities we have.

All evidence indicates that we are genetically programmed to lie. The liar has such an advantage over you. So the gene is passed on.”

Keenan points to the recent presidential election. “The party that lied better had an advantage and won,” he said.

It is a lesson learned early. About 95 percent of children lie, Keenan said, and they start the practice

Honoring an Alumnus

Courtesy Photo

President Cindy Ross and LTC Jeff Finley, chair of Cameron’s Department of Military Science, place an arrangement in honor and memory of Cameron Alumnus Brigadier General Charles Allen. Allen was killed Nov. 29 in a helicopter crash south of Waco, Texas. Allen graduated from Cameron in 1977 with a bachelor’s degree in history. He finished CU’s Reserve Officer Training Corps program and was commissioned as an officer.

early, at the tender age of two.

“We find it is a sign in children of high intelligence,” he said. “They have to be able to understand that you have thoughts. They need to hide the cookie from you, not themselves. Very few animals lie, except maybe a few apes. It’s one of the hallmarks of humans.”

It could also be why we find pets so endearing. But Keenan’s studies involve humans, his decade-long research done with

student surveys, videotapes and audiotapes. His findings have been published in top scientific journals.

Keenan, who has lectured internationally, included his studies on deception in a book published last year called “The Face in the Mirror: The Search for the Origins of Consciousness.” Co-authored by Keenan, Dean Falk and Gordon Gallup, it explores why some species develop self-awareness and others do not, and when and how we become aware

of our presence and thoughts.

Of course, some people are better at the game than others, regardless of age. What makes a good liar is the ability to read the other person’s mind. Con artists are terrific at it.

“If you can get into someone’s mind, you’ll have a real advantage,” Keenan said. “The key to being a really good con artist is being a really good mind-reader, telling someone what they want to hear.”

Getting into someone’s mind is also what dating is about, Keenan said. “Men want to find out what women want to hear and women want to know what men want to hear.”

Advantage or not, lying ultimately carries a big price tag: loss of credibility.

“The worst thing that can happen to you in this society is to be labeled a liar. You can’t have a society based on lies,” said Keenan. “We also all have an innate feeling of fairness. And lying isn’t playing fair.”

He points to the recent flip-flop tag that dogged Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and how difficult it was for the presidential hopeful to shed it.

Currently, Keenan is conducting research with an electrode cap that is put on a student’s head to register brain waves. Polygraph tests are mainly physiological, he said, and register heart rate, sweating, etc.

“We would like to come up with a neuro-polygraph test,” he said.

“By monitoring brain activity, we’re trying to see if the brain is doing certain things while someone is lying. I’m trying to find the area of the brain responsible for deception.”

According to Carraher, business owners can gain several benefits by conducting international trade and visiting other nations.

Continued from Page 1 “When you have clients all over the world and you travel to different places, you get new experiences and Seminar: Entrepreneurship, BUS 5963. According to new ideas for certain products,” Carraher said. “You Carraher, students from other states and universities can also have foreign clients but still remain in Southhave enrolled in the course. west Oklahoma.”

The degree will encompass three main segments: The possibility for an undergraduate degree in entechnical entrepreneurship, general entrepreneurship, and trepreneurial studies is also on the horizon. Both the international/global entrepreneurship. Carraher believes School of Business and the Cameron administration the Lawton/Fort Sill community is a fitting environment have been considering the possibility. Carraher said that for an emphasis on global entrepreneurial issues. nothing has been concluded and no formal decision has “Since Lawton has so much exposure to international been made. If it becomes a reality, issues and cultures, I think this will Carraher envisions the availability work well in this area,” he said. of the undergraduate degree by “CETES has a very bright With a deep interest in other 2007 or 2008. He said the demand cultures and having visited several future. And this university for an undergraduate degree is not nations himself, Carraher plans to as high as it is for a master’s degree. has a lot of promise. “ establish relationships with several “I think it would take a while foreign academic institutions to for the demand to grow. Most —Shawn Carraher, provide educational opportunities students don’t Director of CETES undergraduate for Cameron entrepreneurial stuleave college wanting to open up dents on almost every continent. their own businesses.” Carraher “I am seeking to develop relaexplained. tionships in other countries such as Ukraine, Latvia, Within the master’s degree program, students will and Mexico,” he said. “Also, we plan to expand this to be required to help the small business incubators that Germany in Lawton’s sister city, and to Ireland and the CETES will house. Dr. Abramo, executive director of United Kingdom along with Taiwan, China and maybe CETES, believes such interaction with small businessThailand.” es will be beneficial to Cameron students by providing Carraher added that he is going to visit Finland over them with hands-on experience. spring break and plans to discuss possibilities for Cam“We are helping them to apply what they are learneron students to study entrepreneurship there. He also ing while they are learning,” Abramo said. “They (the mentioned that Cameron has several Indian professors students) will not only learn, but they will also conwho might aid in an effort for Cameron students to visit tribute. It’s one thing when you just read about someIndia and acquire entrepreneurial experience in a whole thing, and it’s another when you do it.” new culture. With Cameron’s centennial anniversary Carraher feels Cameron and CETES have a promapproaching, Carraher aims to see these possibilities of ising future. He praises the Cameron administration studying abroad become a reality by 2008. and faculty for their leadership on campus.

“I would like to see students sent abroad by the time “CETES has a very bright future. And this univerwe celebrate the centennial of the university. I believe sity has a lot of promise. Thanks to President Ross, going to another country is an eye-opening experience Dean Burgess and Dr. Buckley,” Carraher said. “They to many Americans,” he said. are the power behind CETES.”

CETES

NALLEY

Continued from Page 1 women receiving B.S. degrees in chemistry, but we still have a long way to go in terms of minorities like African Americans and Native Americans.”

During her three-year term, which begins in January 2005, Nalley will first serve as president-elect;

then national president for the second term and past president during her final year.

According to Nalley, she will receive a budget of $40,000 during her first and last terms and $120,000 during her second. The funds will be used to hold three or four big-goal program meetings.

In addition, when Nalley is the national president in 2006, she will be the official voice of ACS. She

will represent the society before U.S. Congress and during conferences held nationally and statewide.

Because Nalley will do most of her traveling during the second term, she hopes to take a sabbatical from CU, then come back and continue teaching during her final year in office with ACS. “I love my classes and students,” she said. “But this is a great opportunity that I can’t pass up.”

News

6

December 6, 2004

Rainy day blues not just an expre expression

By Lauren Slate Newswriting Student The persistent rainy weather that has been gracing Lawton lately may be causing some students to feel a little down or moody. That will probably subside once the clouds clear, but people who experience this effect longterm may have a seasonal mood disorder called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

SAD is a description of a set of symptoms caused by a biochemical imbalance in the hypothalamus due to the shortening of daylight hours and the lack of sunlight in winter, records England’s SAD Association. The symptoms can be related to major depression and can be treated by light therapy, dawn simulation and antidepressant drugs. The publication of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSMIV) has called attention to the authority of SAD as a diagnosis.

According to Dr. John Batka, an assistant professor of master level courses in Psychology and Human Ecology at Cameron, SAD is not a medical diagnosis.

Under the diagnosis of major

depression in the DSM-IV, there is a subtype of major depression that follows a seasonal pattern.

“The proper diagnosis for [the disorder] is a major depressive disorder with a seasonal pattern,” Batka said.

The “winter blues” is a subclinical form of depression that sets in when the colder, darker seasons arrive, but the symptoms are similar to those of major depression.

The SAD Association states that SAD symptoms usually occur regularly every winter, starting between September and November and continuing through March or April. The symptoms include problems sleeping, lethargy, overeating, depression (misery, guilt, loss of self-esteem, despair or apathy), social problems (irritability and desire to avoid social contact), anxiety and mood changes. It occurs throughout the northern and southern hemispheres (more prevalent the farther north) but is extremely rare in those living within 30 degrees of the equator, where daylight hours are long, constant and extremely bright. Batka says that life situations can also influence one’s susceptibility to these symptoms.

Walking the tightrope: Season Affective Disorder (SAD), affects people during the colder months, causing bouts of depression and moodiness.

Students may experience the symptoms of SAD because stress has played a factor in an adjustment disorder relating to school. Like the adjustment disorder, SAD symptoms can also be signs of a major depression.

According to Batka, spring does not mean that the depression will go away. The symptoms might not follow a seasonal pattern and must be taken seriously.

“You can have double or even triple depression,” he said, “If you have one type of depression or major depression, the season can intensify this and cause double depression.”

SAD can be treated with the same methods used for most types of depression. Patients can see a psychiatrist or counselor for therapy sessions and take doctor-prescribed antidepressants. To reverse the effects of sunlight deprivation,

dawn simulation and light therapy can also be administered.

According to the Internet Mental Health Web site, www.mentalhealth. com, dawn simulation uses a device that gradually increases illumination exposure, while the patient is sleeping, to simulate a summer dawn during the winter.

Light therapy works similarly.

Like the sun, it gives full spectrum lighting through a special bulb or lamp when shined on a patient.

Batka says that light therapy does work for some people, but data shows that it does not work for masses. Its effectiveness is not known for sure. There may not be an immediate cure for these “winter blues,” but help can be found and CU professors are willing to provide it.

Professors can refer their students to psychology professors if they notice any symptoms, who in turn refer the students to resources in the community.

According to Batka, there are at least four licensed mental health professionals working full-time at Cameron as instructors. Although presently, CU does not offer mental health services, if students wish to confide in a professional about their symptioms or issues, they may contact the Psychology and Human Ecology Department for referral information.

Graphic by KRT Campus

Gifts under $20 available at discount stores, on the Web vendor recently advertised turquoise earrings from the 1950s for $18.

KRT Newswire And don’t overlook eBay (www.ebay.com). There With all the presents that come due each Decemare literally thousands of inexpensive items to choose ber, no one’s going to complain if you set an upper from — not all of them used — and plenty of people limit of $20 for certain gifts. swear by the site.

Well, not to your face, anyway.

With cell phones that snap photos all the rage, InAnd with some serious sleuthing at great discount ternet companies that develop film will also reproduce stores like Loehmann’s, Marshalls and Ross, it’s not your favorite photo on a growing number of objects. likely they’ll be able to tell the difference. Add to that One, Snapfish, (www.snapfish.com) will reproduce a the abundance of Internet options, and finding quality photo on a puzzle ($13.99), baby bib ($9.99) or even a gifts at low prices is perfectly feasible. dog collar ($14.99).

What’s more, you’ll have lots of company. AccordDog owners might also want a water bowl for the ing to the New York City-based customer loyalty reholidays whose lights blink when it needs to be replensearch firm Brand Keys, about 75 percent of shoppers ished. The ThirstAlert! bowl is $19.95 (www.gojobasurveyed will at least partly rely on discount departnanas.com), or $14.95 each if you buy three. ment stores like Kmart and Target for holiday shopBedtime clothing is another category to explore. ping.

Wal-Mart has some festive flannel pants for men that ``What we’ve found in the past couple years is that will set you back only $7.74. JC Penney has quirky ... folks want to be seen as being smart about where fleece slippers for $9.99. they shop,’’ said president Robert Passikoff. ``It’s the Tree ornaments also tend to be affordable and, hey, Wise Shopper syndrome.’’ they’ll keep paying off in years to come. Hallmark ofWhen buying gifts for women this year, confers a tiny circular shoe rack laden with Barbie shoes sider vintage and hand-crafted jewelry. The for $19.99 and a collection of three tiny dresses on online company Ruby Lane (www.rubylane. wire busts for the same amount at certain stores and com) sells jewelry from vendors and artithrough their Web site (www.hallmark.com). sans who use fixed prices or bids.

And if you’re shopping for someone with a sense Since most of humor as well as style, try the Miss Army Kit items cost more (www.missarmy.com) in hot than $20, you pink. For $19.99, the little must comb guy includes a flashlight, through the key chain, knife, offers to find mirror, nail file, perthe right pricfume bottle, bottle Photo by es, but a little KRT Campus opener, corkscrew, hunting can safety pin, tweezers, go a long scissors and needle way. One and thread.

How often do you crave caffeine at the office? There are numerous inexpensive cofDeck the halls: Dangle these fee machines tiny dresses from your Christmas that fit tree. Hallmark offers three nicely ornaments for $19.99. on a desk. For a twist, Bed, Bath & Beyond has a Salton Iced Tea and Coffee Maker for $19.95 that can brew two liters.

And remember: Don’t bother dropping three bucks on a card they’re only going to throw away.

Buy some festive stationery in bulk instead.

Even better, get out the magic markers and make your own. It’ll certainly be more valuable to the recipient than a generic card.

By Kathryn Wexler

Photo by KRT Campus

Regrouping: Maj. Gen. John R.S. Batiste, Alpha Company, 1st Infantry Division commanding officer, left, speaks with a solider following a battle with insurgents for control of the city of Fallujah, Iraq.

U.S. to boost troop strength in Iraq

By Drew Brown KRT Newswire WASHINGTON — The United States plans to increase its military force in Iraq by 12,000 soldiers and Marines, bringing combat strength to the highest level since the invasion in 2003.

Officials who announced the plan Wednesday said it was designed to step up pressure on insurgents, who’ve been locked in fierce battles with U.S. and allied Iraqi forces for the past month, and to improve overall security in advance of Iraq’s Jan. 30 election.

“It’s mainly to provide security for the elections, but it’s also to keep up pressure on the insurgency after the Fallujah operation,” said Army Brig. Gen. David Rodriguez, deputy director of regional operations, who briefed reporters on the plan.

U.S. and Iraqi forces troops launched a massive, two-pronged offensive last month designed to sweep Iraqi and foreign guerillas from Fallujah and other strongholds in Anbar province west of Baghdad and from a vast area south of the capital. More than 130 U.S. soldiers died in November, making it the deadliest month for American forces since the war began.

The Pentagon plans to find the extra forces for Iraq by extending combat tours of approximately 10,400 soldiers. In addition, Marines already there will have their tours upped by as much as two

months and an additional 1,500 fresh soldiers will join the battle.

The troops whose tours have been extended include: 4,400 soldiers from the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; 3,500 soldiers from the 1st Brigade, 1st Calvary Division, Fort Hood, Texas; and 2,300 Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, Okinawa, Japan.

An additional 160 soldiers from the 66th Transportation Company, based in Germany, also have been told they will not be returning home for another two months.

In addition, 1,500 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division out of Ft. Bragg, N.C., received notice Tuesday that they will be sent to Iraq for as long as 120 days.

They will replace soldiers with the 1st Calvary Division, currently assigned to Baghdad, freeing those troops up to join the offensive outside the Iraqi capital.

Rodriguez and other officials said Army Gen. George Casey, commander of multinational forces in Iraq, requested the extension because he wanted experienced and battle-hardened soldiers to keep pressure on the insurgents.

Combat tours in Iraq are generally limited to 12 months. Under the plan, those currently in Iraq would remain up to 14 months.

The increase would bring the total number of U.S. forces in Iraq to just below 150,000, approximately the same number that took part in the 2003 invasion.

News

December 6, 2004

7

Some organizations struggle to send packages overseas

By Darryl Enriquez KRT Newswire MILWAUKEE – As kindhearted and patriotic supporters of U.S. troops are learning, generosity has its price. The cost is about a buck a pound.

Business firms, hospitals, schools and police are among those who have experienced the sticker shock of sending packages to soldiers overseas.

And, as in any mission, those who plan ahead tend to suffer the fewest casualties.

Campaigns that have worked hard for cash donations to ship the gathered goods are reaching their goals, while others that lack money have become bogged down, with donated supplies sitting in storage.

Dennis Mehring, public information officer for the 440th Airlift Wing in Milwaukee, said he gets at least two calls daily from groups that have collected goods and want to know if the unit’s cargo planes can haul their packages to the troops for free.

The Airlift Wing transports troops and supplies to bases throughout the world, including the Arabian war zones.

“There’s not a lot we can do for

them,” he said. “Federal law does not allow us to take these goods overseas.

It’s considered unfair competition with civilian carriers. And we simply don’t have the room in our planes.”

One effort that’s managed to stay on top of its shipping costs is Marshall Towne Millwork of Brookfield, Wis., a maker of kitchen, bathroom and storage cabinets.

“If you’re going to do a big drive, you’d better get cooperation from local businesses to handle shipping costs,” said Victor Aiello, the firm’s area sales manager. “There’s a lot of support in the communities for troops, and when word gets out about a drive, people are giving.

“However, the postage is significant; about a buck a pound. If organizers on the front end ask for cash for shipping, I’m confident there’d be a willing response,” he said.

Aiello said the firm has already shipped thousands of pounds for goods to the war zones and recently participated in a large drive for postage.

Marshall Towne also helped Burlington High School in Racine County, Wis., with the expense of shipping donations to the war zones.

One effort in need of shipping help is the Treats for Troops Cam-

KRT Campus

All I want for Christmas: Waukesha Alderman Randy Radish sifts through boxes of food and personal items that will be shipped to Waukesha-based troops deployed overseas this holiday season. He has gathered nearly 500 pounds of items and is hoping to get financial donations for shipping costs. paign organized by Waukesha, Wis., Alderman Randy Radish.

During the past few weeks, the campaign has collected nearly 500 pounds of food, toiletries, medicine and clothing from the three barrels it has out, but donors have given only $50 for shipping.

“It’s become a concern about raising enough money to send this stuff,” he said.

Radish and helpers intend to ask those attending the Waukesha Christmas Parade for money and

Professor Don Aguilar guides students, builds lasting relationships Aguilar said. “I try to make sure we are producing students with actual skills, not just knowledge.”

Staff Writer According to multimedia design major Michael Selke, Aguilar “knows his stuff. I would say he is an The statement, “it is a proven fact that college SME (subject matter expert) because he has been dograduates will only remember around five percent of ing this before it was even done.” the things they were taught in college” is often heard Most multimedia students are in agreement that in the multimedia classrooms located in Howell Hall.

Aguilar is a very knowledgeable, intuitive and encourWho is the person giving students this insightful aging professor. information? Well, that would be the chair of the mul“His calmness is his best characteristic because he timedia department, Professor Don Aguilar. never appears flustered in times of pressure,” David Aguilar grew up with two brothers and two sisters Newman, a multimedia major, said. on a farm called Natalie, located in a town outside of Being a professor at CU can include many rewardSan Antonio, Texas. ing perks if observed in the correct Aguilar served in the U.S. manner. Aguilar loves being in the Army for 19 years. Then he moved classroom, teaching students and on to become an Instructional “I try to make sure we even learning from students.

Technologist before coming to CU “[I love] seeing the light bulb go in August of 1998. are producing students on.

When a student gets excited “I worked in the private induswith actual skills, not just about something I am teaching, try, and we found that we were knowledge.” it makes me get excited,” Aguilar hiring people who said they knew said. the industry,” Aguilar said. “But Most students say they enjoy we found that they didn’t know — Don Aguilar, Aguilar being their professor. They how to teach. So, I found a proAssociate Professor of agree that he doesn’t just teach. He gram made by the people who Multimedia Design encourages, mentors and guides. made Designers Edge (an instrucStudents enjoy taking advantage of tional program) and presented it Aguilar’s knowledge so much that to Cameron. They thought about they often keep in contact with it for a while and accepted the him after graduation. program. Then I thought it would be cool to work for “People who are the farthest away keep in contact Cameron, so I submitted my resume, and they offered the best. I have had people from Germany where they me the chair position”. went with their spouses keep in contact. I hear from Being the chair of a department at CU requires people that are still in state once in a while, but they Aguilar to have a lot of responsibilities. Aside from take it for granted,” Aguilar said. “In fact, each spring, teaching classes like Production I & II, Instructional we send an e-mail out to students to see what they are Design and Production Techniques, he also tries to doing after graduation.” “keep [everyone] in focus of what When Aguilar teaches, he puts things we are supposed to be doing. I into real-world situations preparing the coordinate with people outside students for success and providing guidof CU, usually locally, but ocance for when a real job is obtained. casionally at the national level,” Students say they soak up and retain the advice they receive from Aguilar because they know he does not want his students to fail in life and that he has had a vast amount of experience in the type of jobs multimedia majors will be trying to acquire.

Most of his students agree that Aguilar is a helpful and active professor who appears to genuinely care for each and every student he teaches.

By Laura

additional goods. The packages would go to the two Waukeshabased units now in the Middle East.

“I have no idea what to expect the day of the parade, but I’ll take whatever we can get,” he said.

Another charity package effort was put on hold because of a lack of sponsors for shipping costs.

Elmbrook Memorial Hospital in Brookfield will not launch its campaign until a partner, possibly a veterans group or business, can be found to help pay for shipping,

Sue Juntunen, a hospital spokeswoman, said.

The Brookfield Police Department has periodically shipped packages to overseas troops this year, and it tries to be cautious in the amount it collects to prevent the packages from outpacing the money it has for shipping.

“Shipping is costly, but we’re fortunate that we have veterans groups and business and city employees giving what they can,” police Capt. Phil Horter said.

HUMOR

Continued from Page 1 worst possible jokes from his close friends at college.

“There are a lot of bad puns related to my job, like, ‘So, how was it at work today? Pretty dead?’ and other horrible excuses for humor,” Hagee said.

Hagee went to school in Elgin, which is where his father, a professor in the Agriculture Department at Cameron and his mother, who is attending seminary in Oklahoma City, both currently live. His parents are both supportive of his job, despite its unusualness.

“My mom will periodically call me when somebody, who I should know, had a cousin whose friend died and is at our funeral home,” Hagee said.

“Like, I should know who every dead person is just because I work with them.”

According to Hagee, one of the best aspects of his job is the people he works with.

“The guys that I work with are interesting characters,” he said. “I guess with the close proximity to death, a person generally develops a pretty strange sense of humor.”

Graduating in May of 2005, Hagee is looking to join the Peace Corps.

There are many wilderness conservations in the northern United States at which he would like to work.

One thing that Hagee had to learn upon entering the funeral business is the level of political correctness that one must have in this profession.

“My boss is adamant that we call it a casket and not a coffin, since a coffin has six sides and is what Dracula lives in, whereas a casket is more box shaped,” Hagee said. “Also, we do not call them hearses anymore. They are funeral coaches.”

One major thing that this job has changed for Hagee is his opinion of zombie movies.

“When I see a movie and the guy is all falling apart, I can’t help but think, ‘That is what a three-week-old dead person looks like, not a threeday-old one,” Hagee said. “They just haven’t gotten it right yet.”

When asked what the worst part of his job is, he responded with the most obvious of answers: dressing the dead people.

“The only thing worse than a naked old person is a dead naked old person.”

Photo by Scott Pratt

Offering a tip: Professor Aguilar offers guidance to Chris Bergluno, multimedia design freshman. Aguilar has been at Cameron for a little over six years.

Comments? collegian@cameron.edu

8

News

By Scott Pratt

and as a Washington correspondent. He has an ability to bring history and politics together to produce a message people can understand. He is currently a senior correspondent for NPR’s “Morning Edition” and is the host of “America’s Black Forum” which is a weekly syndicated program.

The banquet costs $20 per person or $14 for any students who wish to attend. The Lawton High School Choir will perform at the banquet, along with students who will recite speeches from the civil rights movement.

This is the first year that Cameron University has co-sponsored the event. Rev. McPherson said he is grateful to CU for becoming more involved with the celebration.

Pastor Gary E. Bender of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Lawton said, “Dr. Ross has increased support for the celebration” since she has been at Cameron. He also said the university involvement will help bridge the gap between older members of the community who lived through the civil rights movement and the youth who are now experiencing the benefits.

Pastor Bender has been involved with the event for nine years, and he is excited about the celebration.

“We want to keep the dream alive, to show the progress of humanity and to show how far we

December 6, 2004

CCM to honor civil rights leader Staff Writer Sometimes speeches make people famous.

Sometimes people just make famous speeches.

Sometimes the speeches people make have no bearing on fame or fortune. Rather they are used to give reason to a cause too big for one person to wrap up in a set of words.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of those people who realized the civil rights movement could never be contained by one speech or one march. Cameron Campus Ministries (CCM) and Cameron University are working together to celebrate Dr. King this January by holding an annual celebration of his life and legacy.

A panel discussion will be held from 2-4 p.m. January 17, 2005 in the University Theatre. The panel will consist of Dr. Sarah Janda, professor of history and government, Dr. Ramona Hall, professor of education, and Juan Williams, who is a senior correspondent for National Public Radio.

According to Rev. Patrick McPherson, campus minister, panelists will discuss civil rights issues as they pertain to their specific field of study, giving different perspectives on how history and education have shaped the past and continue to shape the future.

KRT Campus

There will be a question and answer session as well. The panel discussion is free and open to all who wish to come and participate.

The theme for the celebration will be “Civil Rights: Living the Promise in a Divided America.”

McPherson said the “Promise” of civil rights is that civil rights try to create equal opportunities for everyone.

Juan Williams will be the banquet keynote speaker at 6:30 p.m. the same evening at Centenary United Methodist Church. Williams has written three books and has worked at the Washington Post for 21 years as a political analyst

have come and how far we have to go,” Bender said. “That is why we bring in speakers who have walked in the civil rights movement.”

According to McPherson, the celebration has brought in quality speakers to the event, and that allows the celebration to show how important Dr. King was to the movement along with showing people now what must continue in

order to achieve all of the goals of the civil rights movement.

McPherson echoed Pastor Bender by saying: “We hope the celebration will make students aware of his life. The things Dr. King did shape our lives today as the struggle for civil rights continues around the world.”

Simpson thrives on working with students

By Ian Mitchell

ments in faculty, staff and the quality of education.

Newswriting Student “I think the students and facWhen President Cindy Ross ulty are more diverse and mature,” took office at Cameron, she said he said. “The educational product that the quality and experience has gotten much better than it was of the faculty was one of the most 30 years ago.” attractive features of this school.

Political science has been SimpEvidence of that feature can be son’s passion. He sees government found in Political Science Profesas a major factor in human exissor Dr. Phillip Simpson. tence and something that is imSimpson, 61, was born in Desportant for students in developing ert, Texas, a rural area southeast their careers and life patterns. By of Sherman. He grew up in North teaching political science, Simpson Central Texas in Collin County believes he can positively guide this where he spent the early part of his development. life on a cotton farm.

“I feel like I can have an impact on After finishing high school in the intellectual and other kinds of 1961, Simpson attended the Unigrowth of young people by teaching versity of North Texas, then called political science,” he explained.

North Texas State College, where According to Simpson, this he earned a B.A. in Integrated Sofield deals with the major moral, cial Science in 1965, and an M.A. political and social issues facing in Political Science and Economics America and the rest of the world, in 1966. He then moved to Tuscon and teaching this subject allows where he attained a Ph.D in Political him to be a part of discussing these Science from the University of Ariissues. He said this allows him to zona in 1971. have an impact Simpson on developing came to CU a better com“I feel like I have an later that year munity. impact on the intellectual after leaving a Simpson has position at the also had politiand other kinds of University of cal aspirations growth of young people Wisconsin. At beyond teachby teaching political that time, he ing. Earlier in science.” wanted to work his career, he at a smaller uniseriously con—Dr. Phil Simpson, sidered running versity a little closer to home, Prof. of Political Science for governor of so he applied Oklahoma, if for the Camonly to bring eron position. out his views on Simpson political, social said that he is impressed with the and economic reform. changes that are taking place at Cam“I wanted to do it not so much to eron. He complimented President win the office, but to spew my ideas Ross on her role in these changes, about political, economic and social and the positive impact they will have reform into the political stream and on the future of the university and the media,” he said. “I wanted to get the regional economy. the other candidates to think about “I think Cindy Ross is doing a ways to positively affect the growth very good job,” he said. “It’s a posiand development of Oklahoma, partive thing that we are now buildticularly as it impacts young people.” ing on campus and I look forward However, his professorship at to seeing Cameron prosper and Cameron prohibits him from purbecome a bigger factor in the ecosuing this sort of candidacy. nomic development of Southwest “Given my position as a profesOklahoma.” sor, there’s really not much I can According to Simpson, this do about it,” Simpson said. campus is very different than it Simpson advises political sciwas 30 years ago. He sees improveence majors to remain resolute

regarding their studies and develop strong relationships with their professors. He said they should also develop strong communication and reasoning skills, to better assess and debate the socio-political choices they will face in their personal and professional lives, Simpson advises these students to learn to view these choices objectively and critically.

“Learn to have a critical but not a cynical frame of mind in order to hack through the propaganda and the huge amount of material that people have to decipher to make political judgments these days,” Simpson said.

He believes also that political science is a good career base for launching into government, law and teaching careers.

Being with and impacting young people is a major driving force in Simpson’s life. He believes he has had an impact in Lawton by connecting his students with the political issues facing the local community and the state of Oklahoma.

He says he derives a sense of purpose from positively impacting his students.

Photo by Ian Mitchell

A quick chat: Simpson has been a part of the Cameron faculty since 1971. He found his calling in life by teaching college students and providing them with knowledge in the political science realm.

“I want to help students deal with life’s difficulties by being a mentor and someone they can interact with to develop a better life,” Simpson said. “I want to help them get an education to protect themselves and their families.”

According to Simpson, success in his role would be for his students to be able to participate in an

open, democratic process as free, growing and fulfilled individuals.

After Simpson retires, he plans to continue with his own physical and intellectual development.

“I plan to travel and perhaps make the art scene, do some reading and even a bit of writing,” Simpson said. “I also plan to diet and exercise and work on my health.”

Department experiences multiple changes

By Emily Archer Newswriting Student An established department is enjoying a revamp this year.

The Political Science Department has a new home, a new professor and has restarted a forgotten club.

The Political Science Department’s staff was uprooted three years ago when West Hall was found to be unfit for occupants. A new home was found in May on the sixth floor of South Shepler and a new zest has filled the department.

“Its nice having everyone back together again,” Lee Wait, the department secretary of three years said.

“Now I don’t have to run around campus finding everyone.”

Along with a new home, there has been another addition to the department. Assistant Professor Jeffery Johnson joined the team and there is another position open.

The Law and Politics club, which fell by the wayside over the years, was reopened for business this fall. The club, along with the political science honor society, Pi

Sigma Alpha, meets in the lounge of the Political Science Department.

“We have a great new home,” Wait said. “We have couches; we have TVs; we have chairs.”

The new additions to the department are a facelift to an old tradition of excellence. The department prepares Cameron graduates for graduate and law schools such as Oklahoma University, Texas Tech University, University of Iowa University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas.

Those who have graduated from Cameron with a Political Science major have gone on to receive jobs in a variety of fields such as journalism, business and government. Employers of CU graduates include the Oklahoma District Attorney’s office, Xerox Corporation and Lawton Public schools.

Maintaining this department are three full-time professors. Dr. Phillip Simpson is the senior, having been at Cameron since 1971, and is joined by Associate Professor Thomas Davis and Assistant Professor Jeffery Johnson.

“The professors do a lot of workshops and are in the public eye because of their knowledge,” Wait said. “They are very dedicated.”

News

December 6, 2004

9

Proper investing taught through School of Business coursework

By Sonya Ray Newswriting Student The theme could have been “show me the money” at the Cameron University School of Business semi-annual Portfolio Management Banquet held Tuesday. Business students and faculty were dressed to impress. The room and each table were decorated with play money and dollar signs, and business students disclosed how they netted a profit of $20,000 for CU with their investment venture.

Dr. T.K. Bhattacharya, CU business professor, was responsible for the event. He has taught portfolio management I and II since 1991.

The course is offered through the School of Business in conjunction with BancFirst. The class allows students to use real money and learn how to manage investment portfolios. The bond portfolio is funded through BancFirst with a $1 million line of credit. The stock portfolio is funded from profits generated by the bond.

According to Bhattacharya, the purpose of the course is to teach students how to invest and gain real life experience.

“Students are exposed to real life situations,” he said. “It has been a learning experience for me as well. You do not learn this information when you get your Ph.D. I had to learn it on my own and develop this course from what I learned.”

At the banquet, six students from the Portfolio Management II course presented the portfolio. Each student in the group played a role in the presentation of the material. The group discussed two endowed scholarships that will be available as a result of the investment.

The scholarships will be awarded to one undergraduate student and one graduate student.

Recipients of the scholarship must meet four guidelines: They must be a business student, provide two references, be a sophomore or above and maintain a GPA of 3.0 as an undergraduate or a 3.5 as a graduate.

Thomas Heller, finance senior, was one of the members who presented part of the portfolio. He credits his enjoyment in the course to Bhattacharya.

“The portfolio class would not be the same without Dr. T.K. because he presents it in a way for you to understand it,” he said.

“He makes it simple. He is a really great teacher.”

While participating in the class, students met in different subcommittees where they formed recommendations, assembled as a board and voted on which government or corporate bonds and common stocks to purchase.

Finance senior Jennifer Hosey participated in the Portfolio Management I course. She feels the experience was amazing and that she was able to gain useful information.

Photo by Sonya Ray

Presenting the award: Doug Meier, president of BancFirst, presents a $20,000 check on behalf of the Cameron University School of Business to Todd Bridges, president and chairman of the Cameron University Foundation. The check will be used to set up an endowed scholarship fund for future business students.

“I have never had a class with this much hands-on learning,” she said. “It makes you learn a lot. I’ve enrolled in Portfolio Management II for next semester.”

After the students’ presentation, Bhattacharya presented the $20,000 check to the Cameron Foundation. The money will be placed in an endowment fund where the interest accrued will be used for scholarship purposes.

How fast the interest on the account accrues will determine when the scholarship funding will be

available.

The keynote speaker of the banquet was Thompson “Tom” S. Phillips Jr., president of TS Phillips Investments. His topic of discussion was why diversifying your portfolio is important. He also stressed how important it was for young people to invest early.

Closing remarks came from Doug Meier of BancFirst and Dr. Gary Buckley, vice-president of academic affairs. Students received input from local investors who were also present at the banquet.

The portfolio classes began at Cameron in 1988. Students have made a profit of $247,000 since then. A positive return on investments has been made 15 out of the 16 years since the program began. The cumulative distribution to the CU Foundation has been $139,350.

With the profits increasing and the positive returns being made, it seems that the portfolio management course really does know how to “show CU the money.”

Chi Alpha Club provides guidance for the weary

By Bonnie Tomahsah Newswriting Student Very often students find themselves swamped with homework, studying late at night, missing home or just being overwhelmed with responsibility. The Chi Alpha Club is a Christian Fellowship that lends an encouraging hand and helps students adapt to campus life.

The faculty adviser for the club is Clinton Bryan. He reminisced about the first time he heard of the Chi Alpha Fellowship.

“When I was a freshman here at Cameron, the faculty adviser for the group was Librarian Mary Stokes. She introduced me to the club. They encouraged me to be positive, optimistic and to stay in college,” he said. “It prevented me from dropping out; I had no more culture shock.”

He said the fellowship has changed in the past 10 years.

When Chi Alpha first began it was faculty-lead bible studies. After a while the group would arrange for musicians and have worship services. Today Chi Alpha is a Community of Prayer. They hold

scheduled Bible studies and open their club to everyone.

According to Bryan, this chapter has been inter-denominational and gained a good reputation of being encouraging and inspirational.

“The students are trying not to be business or ceremonial, but meet needs where the student has needs,” he said. “We’ve been embracing, motivated, not boring. We will be respectful of folks.”

The Chi Alpha Fellowship president is Matt Chambers. He has been a member of the fellowship for three years and heard about it through youth groups.

He said that the main focus of the fellowship is to love and befriend everyone.

“We want to reach out to everyone equally, the students from out of town, the international students, even locally. We want to show people they can achieve what they want,” he said.

Chambers looks at his presidential position as an awesome opportunity to help out students. The fellowship has been taking part in activities since the summer.

“In June five members went to

Courtesy Photo

Enjoying each other’s company: Members of the Chi Alpha spent their Thanksgiving afternoon with friends. The club accepts all denominations to join their group.

Springfield, Mo., for the National According to Bryan the coffee Leadership Training, Reach the U house is something new for the Institute.” fellowship and they would like it Also, in September the felto expand. It is held at 7 p.m. on lowship parTuesdays in ticipated in the main dinthe National ing room of “When I was a freshman Day of Prayer. the Student here at Cameron, ... they “See you at Union. encouraged me to be the Pole” was “We would positive, optimistic and to like to start 100 percent student-lead. having readstay in college.”

Bryan said it ings of poetry, was the big— Clinton Bryan, short stories gest and the Associate Professor of and essays,” best yet in the Bryan said. “In Physical Sciences addition [we history of the organization. would like to In January, have] singing, Chi Alpha instrumental will be going to Student Activist and Christian comedy, but audiLeadership Training (SALT), tions will be necessary for approthe regional conference in Dallas. priateness.”

They have had representation there The atmosphere is very relaxed; since 1994. everyone can enjoy the food, sit and The group is also very active study or visit with one another. here on campus. They have already “We have free smoothies and held two hotdog picnics, two volcoffee and also free snacks,” Chamleyball match/tailgate parties and bers said. a steakhouse dinner. They went as The organization has been very a group to Eisenhower games and busy, but has many plans that they began having a coffee house. would like to put into action.

“In the future we would like to have a Jeremy Camp Concert, Christian Alternative here in Lawton. We will also go skating in Norman with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA),” Chambers said.

A new member to the fellowship is JaNena Milburn, who is from Carney, Okla., and a new student to Cameron.

“On the day I was moving into the dorms, they were helping people move in,” Milburn said.

She said the group provided great social interaction for students.

“Chi Alpha is a good place to meet people, with the coffee house environment, live music, aroma candles, it was a true college activity,” she said.

Both Bryan and Chambers mentioned Chi Alpha is a fellowship that is dedicated to students and their needs. Helping students to reach their goals and achieve the highest standards, being respectful to all people and allowing all denominations into the club is the main focus of Chi Alpha.

“We have the freedom to choose the depth of involvement in Chi Alpha,” Milburn said. “It is a very accepting environment.”

The student motto is, “Chi Alphas are real people that have a real Jesus that are active in real lives,” Bryan said.

The men and women hold Bible studies in their dorms for prayer, personal level communication and time together. The women hold their Bible study at 10:30 p.m.

Monday on the 10th floor of their dorm. The men’s will be at 8 p.m.

Thursday on the 10th floor of their dorm.

Chi Alpha is very accepting of all denominations to come and join their fellowship.

“We want students to know we are here for them. This organization has shown me how to have leadership skills, be an influential person and touch people’s lives,” Chambers said.

“We respect everyone.”

A&E

10

December 6, 2004

Holiday treat reunites old friends

Photo by Aaron Gilbee

Get ready to chow down: Baklava is a dessert that has become a tradition for many families around the holidays.

By Aaron Gilbee Newswriting Student This Christmas, sophomore Heather Lazaroff will return to Ohio and continue a two-year-old tradition of making baklava with her best friend in Ohio. Before she leaves, Lazaroff wanted to share with The Collegian how the tradition started and her recipe for the rich dessert.

Lazaroff and her best friend Lindsey attended different high schools in 2002 and competed against each other’s speech and debate teams. According to Lazaroff, their high schools had strong rivalries, and their teams were both highly competitive. Outside of competition however, Lazaroff and Lindsey were best friends.

Their friendship eventually brought their opposing high school teams together when Lazaroff and Lindsey were charged to organize their respective teams’ holiday party.

“We were both officers for our teams,” Lazaroff said. “We decided to combine our budgets and efforts in order to have a holiday celebration better than what we could have had by ourselves.”

Lazaroff and Lindsey decided that the team members should

bring their own home cooked foods to the party. The best friends, however, had no idea what food they could bake that would be different from their teammates according to Lazaroff.

“We talked during a tournament about what to cook. Since our heritages and families meshed, and since we knew no one would make it, we decided to bake baklava,” she said.

Whenever Lindsey and Lazaroff were younger, both observed and helped their grandmothers cook baklava.

Since neither of them knew how to bake the dish, they held a sleepover in order to have time to get the recipe correct.

On the Friday before the party, they started to cook their first batch of baklava without their grandmothers’ guidance. They gathered the ingredients and tested their memories.

First, they pulled out frozen Fillo Dough, and then started to separate its individual layers.

According to Lazaroff, the Fillo Dough ripped and tore into pieces because it had no pliability.

Then the girls made the syrup.

Instead of keeping the fruit in

proper proportions, they dropped whole fruits into the pot.

Three hours later, they finished and tasted their first batch of baklava.

Lazaroff said: “It was terrible.

The dogs in the house wouldn’t touch it because it was so bad. The fruit made it too acidic, and we burned its edges.”

Several hours later, according to Lazaroff, they killed two more batches until their fourth attempt tasted right.

At the party, Lazaroff and Lindsey placed their baklava with the other desserts.

“It was good, and it was the first thing to be gone. Everybody loved it,” Lazaroff said. “Since then, during every break and celebration, we reunite to make baklava.”

According to Lazaroff, the time spent cooking allows her catch up on Lindsey’s current life. Lazaroff ’s baklava takes about an hour to cook and serve. It consists of 49 layers, and if made correctly, its sweetness will melt in your mouth.

Gather the following ingredients: 1 lb. thawed Fillo Dough 1/2 stick melted butter For the mix: 1/2 lb. finely chopped walnuts 1 Tbsp. cinnamon 6 Tbsp. brown sugar 6 Tbsp. white sugar For the syrup 4 cups water 3 cups sugar 1/2 cup liquid honey 1 sliced lemon juice from half of a lemon peel from 1 slice of lemon Once your ingredients are gathered, follow these steps: 1. Combine the ingredients for the mix together.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees 3. Lightly butter the base of a

Web site provides listeners with Christmas music, lyrics

half inch deep baking dish.

4. Separate a layer of Fillo Dough, and place it in the bottom of the baking dish.

5. Brush the melted butter over this layer.

6. Add seven layers of Fillo Dough into the baking dish, and brush melted butter over each layer as you go.

7. Spread the mix from step 1 onto the Fillo Dough.

8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 until the Fillo Dough runs out.

9. Place the baking dish into your oven for 45 minutes.

For the syrup: 10. Combine syrup ingredients in a pot and boil. Make certain

to stir the syrup regularly.

11. Once the syrup comes to a boil, lower the stove temperature to a simmer. Let the syrup simmer for 45 minutes.

12. Pull out the baklava from the oven.

13. Cut the baklava into two-inch squares, and then cut diago nally.

14. Remove the syrup from the heat.

15. Strain out the fruit from the syrup.

16. Pour the syrup over the bak lava.

17. Place the baklava into the oven for an three more minutes.

18. Remove the baklava from the oven, and let it cool.

Living Christmas Tree brings songs to life for 24th year

By Petulah Olibert Staff Writer The thought of a living Christmas tree might seem quite astounding — the reality is nothing less.

Every year’s end, in keeping with yuletide, the First Baptist Church of Lawton presents their popular living Christmas tree.

According to Brenda Bell of the First Baptist Church, the living Christmas tree has been an ongoing tradition of 23 years. This year is the 24th. The idea was the brainchild of Tom Willoughby, First Baptist’s music minister who thought it would be fun to have humans make up a lighted, singing tree for the pleasure of an audience.

But just how is it done?

“The tree is made of a metal frame fitted with lights and greenery,” Bell explained. “It looks like a Christmas tree, although it’s artificial. Viewing it from the outside, it looks complete, even without the

singers. The tree is 60 feet tall and stands in our sanctuary. At performance time, the singers climb stairs on the inside of the tree dressed in red and white, and fill in the small gaps in the tree. It completes the entire effect and it is just beautiful.”

Members of First Baptist Church’s choir, which boasts a count of over 100 members, fill the tree. The choir starts practicing their drill as early as September.

Along with traditional Christmas songs, the choir will be performing contemporary Christian music.

The tree presentation, is held for one weekend each December.

Last Friday, First Baptist Church extended invitations to Cameron students to attend their presentation. Dinner was provided for the students before the 8 p.m. show. Two successive shows were held on Saturday and Sunday.

The tree is still on display, albeit without its singers.

Photo by Scott Pratt

By Angela Sanders A&E Editor The airwaves are alive with the sound of music.

KCCU’s 15th annual “Christmas Music Festival” is set to begin Dec. 13. Instrumental versions of the most popular holiday songs are aired from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1-4 p.m. Monday through Friday two weeks prior to Christmas.

“We play everything from “Santa, Baby” to “Silent Night,” said Mike Leal, program director of KCCU. This year since Christmas falls on a Saturday, the station will also air the festive tunes all day Christmas Eve through 9 a.m.

Christmas morning.

And if you don’t know the lyrics to your favorite Christmas song, pay a visit to the lyrics home page, put together by Leal and his family.

The web site began in 1997 when Leal and his family were

Courtesy Graphic

trying to find lyrics to albums in their house. When they could not find a good web page for this purpose, they began to put together their own.

The site now has the lyrics to a little more than 100 popular Christmas songs, and has been visited by more than 1 million people from around the world since its inception. This November, there have been more hits on the site than ever before, and during some days in December, the numbers have been as high as 10,000 in one day.

Visitors of the page are

encouraged to e-mail their thoughts and any disputes they may have over the posted lyrics.

Leal and the rest of the KCCU staff put their heads together to respond to the three or four disputes that they receive per day.

“It is interesting to see how some lyrics are changed from generation to generation,” Leal said.

The lyrics home page, which also includes a link to KCCU’s live audio stream, can be accessed through www.kccu.org.

“This is our gift to everyone,” Leal said.

Do you need additional copies of The Collegian? Call 581.2261 or stop by NB 2060

A&E

December 6, 2004

11

Writer offers perspective on reality

By Phoebe Flowers KRT Newswire Recently, I was sitting in a friend’s living room on a Wednesday night, sometime between 8 and 9 p.m. EST. We were watching, as one does during this time slot, the new, increasingly awesome J.J. Abrams TV show “Lost.” Because this friend and I have a relationship marked by mutual hectoring and random cruelty, at some point she asked me, with semi-mock irritation, “Why are you here, anyway?”

My reply was greeted with predictable scorn and taunting.

The reason I was there was that I have a first-generation TiVo, incapable of recording one show while letting you watch another.

And that night, like every other Wednesday night for the past month, my TiVo was extremely busy recording “America’s Next Top Model.”

There is a certain segment of the population convinced that any American who can enjoy a reality show must therefore be a slackjawed, semi-literate moron who frequently forgets to wear shoes in public. This belief also is held by many embittered critics.

But in the case of the general public, most TV watchers who disdain reality shows have never actually watched one. They cannot accept that “The Amazing

Race” won an Emmy for a reason, or that it bears nothing in common with gross-out exploitation like “Fear Factor.”

They have no idea that MTV’s aged “The Real World,” which these days casts only whiny, spoiled, pretty kids with no real-world obligations and has them get drunk together for four months, makes “Big Brother” look like an articulate expression of sociological principles.

They cannot see the distinction between TLC’s engaging “Body Work,” which follows the partners at Miami Plastic Surgery and its frequently sympathetic patients, and Fox’s breathtakingly offensive extreme-makeover show “The Swan.” And they certainly have no idea that “America’s Next Top Model” is a seriously excellent show.

This kind of snobbery is all the more galling because of its assumption that scripted television is inherently superior.

Few people are raked over the coals by their friends when they express an affinity for mysteriously beloved sitcoms like “Everybody Loves Raymond,” or entertaining but dumb-as-paint dramas like the gaggle of “CSI” shows. But suggest that the allstar edition of “Survivor” is can’tmiss TV, or that the relationship between Flavor Flav and Brigitte Nielsen on VH1’s “The Surreal Life” is flat-out hilarious, and

suddenly you’re rocking an IQ of 80 and subsisting on a diet of Cheetos and Pabst.

There isn’t much in the `90s movie “Reality Bites” that has stood the test of time, but one scene still rings true. Janeane Garofalo is confiding her fears about HIV to roommate Winona Ryder; Garofalo bitterly says she sees herself as a character on “Melrose Place,” with everyone showing up at her funeral “wearing halter tops and chokers.”

Ryder kindly consoles her friend, and then pauses and concludes with deep sincerity, “And `Melrose Place’ is a really good show.”

The thing is, “Melrose Place” actually WAS a really good show: It was fully aware of its goal to sizzle with high-drama camp, and succeeded in that goal marvelously. Likewise, “America’s Next Top Model,” with its fantastic casting and fabulous sense of absurdity – and even Tyra Banks’ syntactically questionable “You’re still in the running towards becoming America’s next top model” – is, in its third season, the best thing UPN has had on the air since the penultimate season of “Buff y the Vampire Slayer.”

(It’s also worth noting that the same friend who derides me for watching reality shows gets awfully furious when people dismiss “Buff y,” sight unseen, as

Courtesy Graphic

teen-driven junk.)

When it comes right down to it, nobody likes a snob.

Assuming that any unscripted show is inherently stupid and unwatchable is as foolish as believing TV as a whole is without any artistic merit — and as a result never seeing peerless

work like “Twin Peaks,” or “Angels in America,” or “The Shield,” or even “The Amazing Race.”

Its sixth season, by the way, debuts Nov. 16 on CBS. If you’re going to insist on hating it, you might as well watch it once to figure out why.

Book presents another side of ‘Wizard of Oz’ story

By Kathy Kelly

very eve of her birth an unNewswriting Student popular sermon pertaining to Published in 1900, L. Frank the dangers Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of of a licentious Oz brought to life characters that show involvhave become a cherished part of ing a particular American culture. Who doesn’t dragon clock know the story of Dorothy’s desire making the to explore the world beyond the rounds through rainbow and her adventures with the small vilthe Scarecrow, Tinman, Cowardly Courtesy Photo lages and towns Lion and her faithful dog, Toto?

Looking in: The wicked witch spies on Dorothy of the countryIs there anyone who didn’t cheer and the group heading down the yellow brick road. side. Wherever when the Wicked Witch of the the clock went, West met her demise at Dorothy’s trouble followed. beautiful, though born armless. hand? Could there possibly be Elphaba’s emergence into the Also unlike her sister, Nessarose more to the story? world was from within the bowels was extremely devout. The relaYes, a great deal more. of that very same clock.

Th e clock, tionship between the two sisters, In Wicked: The Life and Times hidden in a graveyard by its dwarfcomplicated by Nessarose’s inability of the Wicked Witch of the West, owner for safekeeping after the to care for herself and their father’s first published in 1995, author show, was stumbled upon by the obvious preference for Nessarose, Gregory Maguire has crafted the women aiding Melena with the is a reflection of the times. Nessacomplex story of a woman coping birth of her first child. They knew rose personifies religious devotion, with a life fraught with disappointfear of the graveyard would keep which develops into fanaticism as ment and tragedy. It is the story of the enraged townspeople away, she matures. Elphaba, at the other the rise of the Wizard, his efforts and provide safety for mother and extreme, describes herself as “an to unite the lands of Oz and the child. The women were shocked atheist and an aspiritualist.” She systematic elimination of the Aniby the appearance of the newborn; does pick up some magic skills mals. (As Dr. Dillamond, a goat, Elphaba looked, as her Nanny realong the way, including riding a explains, Animals, unlike “animarked later on, like a vegetable. broomstick, but she never becomes mals,” have a spirit.) Even more, it She was born with green skin and a proficient at magic. is an examination of the concepts mouthful of sharp teeth.

The sisters are eventually sent of “good” and “evil” and how preAt age three Elphaba was away to boarding school. There conceived ideas joined by a sister, Nessarose. they meet Galinda, later known may play a Nessarose’s birth took place large role at Colwen Grounds, in definMelena’s ancestral ing what is home. Her birth labeled good was not without and what is incident; the labeled evil. area had suffered a The story begins with Courtesy Graphic severe drought for some the Yellow Brick Road. time, so the local townsThe Wicked Witch is people were engaged seeking Dorothy in order to retrieve in pagan dances, culminating in the ruby slippers. An impending human sacrifice - the sacrifice of storm forces the Witch into hiding. a close family friend. The death It is at this point that Maguire takes of Turtle Heart was almost more the reader down another path, relatthan Elphaba’s family could bear. ing the story of the life and times They left Munchkinland, not to of Elphaba Frex, later known as the return for many years.

Wicked Witch of the West.

A brother, Shell, was born Elphaba Frex was born the five years later. Melena died givdaughter of a minister, Frexspar ing birth to Shell, so the children the Godly, and his wife, Melena. were cared for by Nanny and their Her parents were Munchkinlandfather, living in Quadling, moving ers. Elphaba’s birth was marked from settlement to settlement. by her father’s absence. He was Unlike her sister, Nessarose was in hiding, having delivered on the

as “Glinda, the Good Witch.” In addition to Glinda, the reader will encounter many other familiar characters. Dorothy and her companions, the Wizard and the Winged Monkeys all have a part to play in the unfolding of the drama.

New characters are introduced as well, among them Lűr, Elphaba’s unacknowledged son, the result of a long-term relationship with a married man.

The masterful unfolding of the story, the recasting of familiar characters into three-dimensional complex beings with whom we may empathize or for whom we may feel revulsion, the examination of good and evil and the inevitable tragic resolution of the conflict between Dorothy and the Wicked Witch all combine to make this book well worth reading, not just once, but again and again.

Maguire, on his Web site, wrote that two events triggered the writing of this novel. The first was the war in Iraq in the 1990s. A headline in London newspaper comparing Saddam Hussein to Hitler evoked in him the feeling that, yes, Hussein should be eliminated. His own strong and immediate reaction to the word “Hitler” caused him to stop and think about the power of words. The second event was

months later, when several young boys in England kidnapped and killed a toddler. Maguire became interested in the concept of evil, and whether someone could be “born bad.” He chose the Wicked Witch of the West as his subject on the basis that she was “the second most evil character in our collective American subconscious.”

“Wicked” has been made into a musical which opened on Broadway in Oct. 2003. If it makes its way to Oklahoma City, it will be a “must see.” In the meantime, read, or re-read, the book. It will be time well spent.

Courtesy Photo

I’ll get you my pretty: The Wicked Witch of the West threatens Dorothy.

A&E

12

December 6, 2004

Alexander falls short of expectation

By Josh Rouse Sports Editor Alexander the Great, possibly the greatest general/ commander/king ever to be alive, was passed over by a treasure hunt at the box office.

The world’s greatest tactician was finally brought back to the silver screen by one of the world’s greatest directors, Oliver Stone.

Stone has been involved with movies like Platoon, the Vietnam war movie that made Willem Dafoe a star; JFK, the shocking behind-the-scenes story of the Warren Commission; and Born on the Fourth of July, the graphic and raw movie centering around two Vietnam vets coming back from the war.

Oliver Stone has delivered on every movie he has been associated with, and Alexander is no different. Alexander is fi lled with enough stars to rival the Milky Way Galaxy. Oscar winner Sir Anthony Hopkins plays Alexander’s aged general Ptolemy. Angelina Jolie plays Alexander’s mother Queen Olympia alongside a rough looking Val Kilmer as King

Philip of his private Macedonia. bisexual Alexander is moments. Yes, played by the Alexander Irish-born was bisexual star Colin and had Farrell. intimate Alexander relations the Great with his was king of close friend, Macedonia Hephaistion.

356 B.C. He This was led a long shown and bloody throughout conquest of the movie. the known The world bisexual amassing nature of a kingdom certain covering sections of Persia, the the movie, no Courtesy Graphic Middle doubt, led to Cooling off: Colin Farrell stars as Alexander in this epic film released East and as its fall in box last month throughout the United States. Some theaters have opted far south office sales. out of showing the fi lm due to controversial sexual themes. as Egypt.

It debuted in He died sixth place mysteriously in 323 B.C. at 33. at the box office with only $13 ground.

Soon after his death, his empire million. To be fair, Alexander Originally, he had wanted began to collapse, which paved was released in only 2,445 Tom Cruise to play the role of the way for Romans to begin theaters.

Alexander. But Cruise has aged their quest across the world.

Many religious communities and that fact opened the doors Oliver Stone pursued blocked its release due to for the young Collin Farrell to Alexander like a boy with a new the bisexual elements. Many take the part. Farrell delivers toy. For the past 10 years, he has historians have also fired angry a stunning performance as tried getting the project off the words at Oliver Stone and struck the great conqueror, even in

out against the fi lm saying it is historically inaccurate.

Actually, Alexander had well documented relations with Hephastian. In those days, bisexual acts were common and not frowned upon as they are now. It may ease the minds of his female fans to know that he did not take too kindly to doing those scenes.

Alexander’s weak box office performance was a shock to Oliver Stone who had originally estimated it to rival the epic Troy from earlier this year. He called it “solid” but it did need improvement. It was beat out by the Nicolas Cage treasure hunt, National Treasure, which pulled in another solid $32 million for the weekend. National Treasure just goes to prove unfavorable critical opinion does not always lead to bad totals.

Perhaps in the coming weeks many more theaters will open their doors to Alexander. The nearest competition comes out Dec. 8 when the Wesley Snipes vampire trilogy comes to an end with Blade: Trinity. WWE wrestling fans should look closely: One vampire is actually superstar HHH.

Primetime brings Christmas shows, movies, concerts

By Marissa Guthrie KRT Newswire It’s that time of year — lots of shopping, cooking and wrapping to keep us busy. And it’s a busy season on television as well.

But none of it requires spending wads of money, lifting a finger (just a thumb on the remote) or leaving the cozy confines of the couch.

Here are some of the highlights of the holiday programming onslaught: • NBC’s “Fear Factor” has a special holiday episode, Dec. 6 at 8 p.m., in which contestants step into Santa’s boots and try to deliver presents despite the presence of vicious guard dogs.

• “Groundhog Day” meets “A Christmas Carol” in USA’s “12 Days of Christmas Eve,” Dec. 7 at 8 p.m. Steven Weber plays a highpowered, self-centered corporate raider and 21st-century Scrooge who is forced to relive Christmas Eve until he learns the true meaning of the holiday. Molly Shannon co-stars.

• The Fab 5 morph into Santa’s little helpers for “A Very Queer Eye Christmas,” Dec. 7 at 10 p.m. on Bravo, taking on one family’s bad decorations, holiday cliches and gifting needs.

• “A Clay Aiken Christmas,” Dec. 8 at 8 p.m. on NBC, includes the “American Idol” runner up performing favorite holiday songs with Barry Manilow and gospel singer Yolanda Adams. “Will & Grace’s” Megan Mullally also stops by for a solo.

• The weather outside is rarely frightful in “The O.C.,” but things inside the annual Winter Ball could be when Marissa (Mischa Barton) uses the event to publicly acknowledge her relationship with handyman D.J. (Nicholas Gonzalez), Dec. 9 at 8 p.m. on Fox. • Ben Stiller, Co u r tes y Hugh Grant, Grap h ic Britney Spears, Jim Belushi, Brad Garrett, Leah Remini, Jerry Stiller and James Woods bring to life the animated tale of “Robbie the Reindeer: Hooves of Fire,” Dec. 11 at 8 p.m. on CBS. Robbie (voiced by Ben Stiller) must train to compete in the Reindeer races against black sheep reindeer Blitzen (Grant) for a spot on Santa’s sleigh team.

• George Lopez brings his comedy to the ABC movie “Naughty or Nice,” Dec. 11 at 8 p.m. Lopez

plays a sports radio jock who changes his stripes at the earnest entreaty of a young boy with a life-threatening illness. Once Lopez starts being nice, funny things start to happen, the boys health improves and so do the home teams’ scores.

• The wacky Wiggles — the sensations of the preschool set — gear up for the holidays with a little help from rocker John Fogerty, “Brady Bunch” alum Barry Williams and a big guy in a red suit. “Santa’s Rockin’,” Dec. 6 at 10 a.m. on the Disney Channel, features 12 classic and new Christmas songs, including “Silent Night” performed in Spanish and English.

• Pop-culture magazine Entertainment Weekly recaps the year’s trends in “The Biggest Little Things of 2004,” Dec. 16 at 9 p.m. on Bra-

vo. The special examines the “iPod craze,” post-Janet Jackson “censorship mania” and the “Perversion of the Family” epitomized by shows like “Desperate Housewives,” “Wife Swap” and “Family Bonds.”

• “Karroll’s Christmas,” Dec. 14 at 8 p.m. on A&E, is another take on the Dickens classic. Tom Everett Scott stars as a young greetingcard executive visited by the ghost of a Marley (more Bob than Jacob), as well as the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future. Verne (Mini-Me) Troyer plays the Ghost of Christmas Future and Sha Na Na is featured on the soundtrack.

• Dr. Phil and his wife are back for TNT’s annual “Christmas in Washington” concert with such acts as JoJo, Michael McDonald,

LeAnn Rimes, Ruben Studdard and Vanessa Williams, Dec. 15 at 8 p.m.

• CBS’ “Home for the Holidays 2004,” Dec. 22 at 8 p.m., attempts to raise awareness of adoption via inspirational stories. Jamie Foxx, who was adopted, hosts the special, which includes performances

by Black Eyed Peas and Ashlee Simpson.

• “A Christmas Story,” Jean Shepherd’s classic tale about a boy who wants a BB gun from Santa, gets a 24-hour run on TBS starting at 8 p.m. on Dec. 24.

• Regis Philbin and Kelly Rippa head to sunny Florida to host ABC’s coverage of “The Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade,” Dec. 25 at 11 a.m.

Sports

December 6, 2004

13

Men’s basketball plays big at Drury Thanksgiving Classic tournament

By Scott Pratt Staff Writer Thanksgiving brought good news for the Aggies Basketball team at the Drury Thanksgiving Classic. The Aggies increased their perfect record to 5-0 over the break by knocking off Drury and Evangel.

The Aggies had a 74-69 win over the Evangel Crusaders. The teams traded leads throughout the first half. The Crusaders, who were ranked no. 23 in the NAIA Division II preseason poll, pulled away with a double-digit lead in the second half. The Aggies came together and pulled off the last six points of the game getting the win and the opportunity to play host Drury University.

Senior Marcus Girtmon shot 5-10 from the floor with four

three-pointers. Accompanying him was junior Arthur Trousdell, who shot 6-9 from the floor hitting four out of seven threepoint shots and four out of five free throws.

Girtmon and Trousdell were also awarded All-Tournament honors for their play. They were both named to the Drury/Pizza Hut Thanksgiving Classic All Tournament team. Trousdell also took home the tournament Most Valuable Player honor.

Trousdell averaged 18 points per game, shooting 70 percent from the field. He had five assists, seven blocks and two steals during the two games.

Girtmon added to his start this season by posting more impressive stats. He had an average of 12 points per game and shot back-to-back three-pointers

Graphic by Leah Hicks

in the Drury game to delete the 4-0 deficit and gave the Aggies the lead for the rest of the game.

The Aggies went on an 11-0 run before halftime.

The second half opened with

another jumper by Girtmon giving Cameron a 40-29 lead. The Drury Panthers tried to make a quick comeback using a 12-4 run, only to be dismantled by a Cameron 7-0 answer to seal the

victory.

Trousdell had a game-high 20 points to add to the Aggies’ success. He had 16 of them in the first half when Cameron led by nine.

Willingham offers no excuses, says he came up short at Notre Dame

By Avani Patel KRT Newswire Seven Notre Dame power brokers met Monday night to discuss the future of the Irish football program. By the time they talked again Tuesday morning, they had decided that future no longer would rest in the hands of coach Tyrone Willingham. The group that made the decision to fire Willingham included two members of the Notre Dame board of trustees: chairman Patrick McCartan, and Philip Purcell, the chairman of the board’s athletics committee.

They were joined by current Notre Dame President Rev. Edward A. Malloy; incoming President Rev. John I. Jenkins, who will replace Malloy in June 2005; Provost Nathan Hatch; Executive Vice President John AffleckGraves; and Athletic Director Kevin White.

“Well, I became aware there

season, in the Dec. 28 Insight were some discussions starting Bowl in Phoenix, as originally Monday afternoon,” Willingham planned. said at a news conference WednesThere had been speculation day. “Yes, I was surprised.”

Willingham might have been able Willingham, making his first to retain his job if he had agreed to public appearance since the andismiss some of his assistants. nouncement of his dismissal, Willingham did not deny accepted responsibility that, saying simply, “I for a 21-15 record don’t think that needs over three seasons to be discussed.” that led to his firing.

He also, at least “I understand indirectly, indicated that I didn’t meet he did not implithe expectations or cate White in his standards that I set for dismissal. myself in this program, “Kevin and I have and when you don’t always been very close meet your own expecand Kevin has always tations, you won’t meet kept me informed the expectations of othabout everything about ers,” Willingham said.

KRT Campus our program as I have Asked if there was kept him informed anything he might have done about everything about our prodifferently, Willingham said, gram,” Willingham said.

“There’s only one thing. Win.” When he was hired three seaNotre Dame’s football players sons ago, Willingham became the said late Wednesday they would first black head coach in any sport try to do that one more time this

Artest fight debate continues weeks after incident ended

By Greg Cote KRT Newswire The punishment was harsh, yes. Very.

The punishment was something else. Appropriate.

It was appropriate both as a penalty for what Ron Artest did, and as a clear deterrent to make certain the NBA is never embarrassed like this again.

For sure there is ample blame for lots of people to share in the matter of last week’s shameful melee involving players and fans at the Pacers-Pistons game in Detroit. Piston Ben Wallace tipped the first domino with his hard foul on Artest, whose response – a hard shove to the upper chest – was extreme. After that too many Detroit fans began behaving in a way that shamed them, and their city.

Clearly, though, the ugliness escalated into uncharted territory when (and only when) Artest bounded angrily into the stands and began pummeling a spectator.

The mayhem that ensued likely never would have happened had a visiting player not crossed an unmistakable boundary and turned an agitated crowd into an angry mob.

If Artest didn’t do what he did, maybe there’s a minute or two of booing, a fan or two escorted out of the arena for throwing a popcorn box, and then the game continues.

Instead all hell broke loose.

Because a professional athlete, in uniform, during a game, had attacked a fan.

There was no excuse for that, as commissioner David Stern said loudly in suspending Artest for the remainder of the season.

There may, in Artest’s mind, have been a reason, a provocation. A fan threw a drink at him. Yes. But nothing mitigates the utter, shocking lack of control that saw Artest suddenly in the stands, behaving as if

he were a mugger in an alley. There is simply no good excuse for that.

It wasn’t a big surprise that Artest might be the athlete to cross this line, given his background as a punk and thug. Nor is it surprising that Le Batard, professional KRT Campus apologist The fight is on: Ron Artest for athlete punches a fellow player in the misbehavior, face. The fight he started lead aligns here in to his suspension for the rest of defense of Artest. the year as well as suspensions What’s for many other players. undeniable is that one athlete’s egregious behavior created this mess, and that the NBA was justified to take serious steps to prevent this ever happening again.

“The line is drawn,” as Stern put it, “and my guess is that it won’t happen again, certainly not by anyone who wants to be associated with our league.”

In all, nine players received suspensions totaling 143 games, but it was fitting Artest’s penalty was the most severe to arise from this mess.

He started it. Trot out any excuse you wish. Talk about fans having no right to throw things at players.

Whatever. The bottom line doesn’t go away. The onus of responsibility is clear.

Ron Artest is the one who crossed the line.

He started it.

at Notre Dame. His dismissal leaves only two black head coaches among the 117 Division I-A football programs.

Did Willingham have any feelings on that? “Plenty, but none of them will be expressed now,” he said.

Quarterback Brady Quinn said the team was sent an e-mail early Tuesday morning indicating its scheduled 5 p.m. meeting, at which the players were going to discuss details about travel to the Insight Bowl, had been moved up.

“Literally my mouth dropped when Dr. White mentioned coach Willingham wasn’t going to be coaching here anymore,” Quinn said.

What will Quinn, one of the players who will serve as a liaison with the administration during the hiring process, tell the decision makers about the type of coach the Irish need?

“I think for me, someone like coach Willingham,” Quinn said.

“It’s almost like, maybe he has a twin out there that he doesn’t know about.”

Willingham confirmed the University of Washington had contacted him two weeks ago about its head-coaching vacancy. At the time, he told the Huskies he had a job and was not interested.

He seemed confident he would coach again soon, but said he was disappointed at not finishing the job in South Bend.

“When you think that you aren’t successful, it’s like a part of you is ripped out,” Willingham said.

That the university, which recently always had given coaches at least five years before making a change, truncated his tenure was not necessarily surprising, Willingham said.

“Forgive me, but as a football coach, I think I said this at some point, there is no security,” he said.

“It doesn’t exist. It’s not there.”

Check out The Collegian online at http://www.cameron.edu/collegian

Sports

14

December 6, 2004

NASCAR changes not good for fans of sport Ever since Nextel took over NASCAR they have been blitzing the airwaves with ads saying they are for the Josh Rouse fans. Could somebody point out one part in the entire season where they did what the fans wanted? It seems Mike Helton, president of NASCAR, needs to rethink many of his decisions before NASCAR sinks to the depths of the NHL in fan loyalty.

Just ask Major League Baseball what happens when the league does not do what the fans want.

Baseball is still struggling to regain its fans back from the 1994 strike which nearly ruined the great American game. There would not have been any “take me out to the ball game” if some level-headed players and commissioners had not stepped in. But it seems there are not any of these in NASCAR. It is still unclear why NASCAR ever abandoned the fundamentals which had made it the fastest growing spectator sport in the world. With stars like Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, Rusty Wallace, Mark Martin and others, NASCAR rivaled football on Sundays. And now it is merely a stepping stone for football. And who do we have to blame? The buck has to stop somewhere, let it stop at Mike Helton’s desk.

The idea of a “chase for the championship” was surreal to begin with. And its operation was that much worse. In the eyes of NASCAR, the chase was the most thrilling idea ever come up with.

Perhaps they need to step away from their thousand-dollar-a day sky boxes and mingle with the people and get their ideas on what is best for the sport. The chase did nothing but penalize those drivers who had done so well throughout the year.

NASCAR wanted to stop runaways like in 2003 when Matt Kenseth won the championship by only winning one race. This year was completely different. The top drivers going into the chase were Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson who had won

Graphic by Joshua Rouse

Flying high now: A tribute to the late great Dale Earnhardt. The Intimidator died in a one car wreck at the Daytona 500 in 2001. at least five races each. Kurt Busch had only won three, and somehow he managed to weasel his way back up to the top. It was only after Junior had his slip of the tongue after his win at Talladega that they started putting delays on their broadcasting thanks to NASCAR trying to cover its own tracks after the Janet Jackson fiasco. Once again, NASCAR slips up.

The fans want action and speed.

That is why they go to NASCAR versus basketball or baseball. But NASCAR had too many races this year finish under cautions. That is not how fans want to end a race.

The most famous of these was at the Talladega race during the spring when Jeff Gordon supposedly edged out Dale Jr. during a wreck and won. The fans voiced their opinions by throwing trash onto the track and at Gordon.

A lot of officials condemned the acts, but one has to look at it this

way: NASCAR is obviously not listening to what the fans say. So it took them throwing trash onto the track to get their point across.

Why not? The call was obviously wrong and it should have ended in a green, white, checker (one lap finish).

The only other way for NASCAR to finally listen is a complete boycott of the sport. It made the MLB listen in ’94. For as long as NASCAR has been around there has always been a race known as the “Southern 500” in Darlington, S.C. NASCAR once again exploiting its unrivaled wisdom, ended that tradition this year. This year, the final Southern 500 was run in Darlington. Could somebody explain why they are doing this? NASCAR does not even know except they want to move away from the old ways and pioneer their own ways.

There’s an old adage: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” NASCAR was

not broken. The championship points system needed some tweaking but that was all. Instead, Nextel comes in and begins changing things. Now, NASCAR is more commercialized than anything, literally. There are more commercials now than there were a year ago when it was under Winston. The only thing Nextel is wanting out of this deal is to sell phones. And that is what they need to go back to. Get out of the motor sports industry and leave it to the professionals who know what to do.

Fans wonder why names like Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace and Terry Labonte are retiring in the next year. They are the old dogs around NASCAR, the veterans of the sport. They were rookies in the days of Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough and Dale Earnhardt.

And now, there is no tradition left in the sport. It is all about selling cell phones.

Nextel has said they will be making some minor changes to the format for the 20005 season. Let us hope this is not as devistating as the 2004 season changes.

NASCAR and Nextel are going to have to do something as many of the biggest stars are leaving and the rookies will have to step up.

Dale Earnhardt’s legend lives again through Barry Pepper and the new biopic 3. It will air on ESPN on Dec. 11 and will have frequent encores. It is a definite must see for any fan of the late Intimidator. With the great migration from the NASCAR tradition, it is good to see the heroes of the past are still remembered with class and respect. Dale Earnhardt would be proud.

Josh is a journalism major from Duncan. He is also the Sports Editor of The Collegian. Send comments to collegian@cameron.edu

Aggie basketball Coach Mantle experiences success in basketball, personal accomplishments

By Teri Hillier Newswriting Student Cameron University’s basketball Coach Garrette Mantle not only shines through his players, but through his own accomplishments and background.

Coach Mantle’s family is experienced in the sports world, including his father, who is a football coach.

“My family is very athletic,” Mantle said.

As a teenager growing up in an athletic family, Mantle experienced every sport at Cordell High School. Mantle participated in basketball state tournaments and was recognized as the Region Four Scholar Athlete of the Year, Tulsa World All-State Football Team, and State Champion of 800 meter run in track.

After graduating from high school with a 4.07 GPA, Mantle received a scholarship to play basketball at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. While playing college basketball he was recog-

nized as a national collegiate bas“I enjoy teaching the game of ketball academic All-American. basketball, and baseball always Mantle not only played ball, seemed too slow to me,” Mantle but was also involved in Blue Key said. “But don’t tell my uncle that.”

National Honor Society, Alpha Mantle’s uncle, Mickey Mantle, Chi National Honor society, and is the well-known baseball player.

Who’s Who Among Universities Beyond college, Mantle became and Colleges. assistant basGraduating ketball coach sixth out of a at Southeast“I think I have more imclass of 208 ern Oklahoma pact on students’ everystudents, State UniverMantle earned sity and head day lives than I did when his bachelor’s softball coach.

I coached high school degree in SoHe also was students.” cial Science/ involved in the Education and part — Garrette Mantle, academic his master’s of the specAggie Men’s trum by being degree in Education with a Basketball Coach an instructor in specialization the Health and in Physical Physical EduEducation. cation DepartHis personal accomplishments ment. His accomplishment as a did not stop in college, but procoach at SEOSU ranged from receeded into his career. cruitment of the top players in the Mantle explains why he chose to state at the time to being involved coach basketball instead of basein the District 9 play-offs. ball.

After coaching at SEOSU,

Mantle coached at Lawton High School and then became head coach at Edmond North High School. While Coaching at Edmond, Mantle received Coach of the Year, Region 8 Coach of Year, Big All-City All-Star Coach, Faith 7 Coach Nominee, and OBCA 1998 Fall Clinic Speaker.

Along with his other accomplishments , Mantle took his team to the play-offs to participate in the state semi-finals in 1997-1998.

Mantle has been a coach here at CU since 1999. Since his arrival on campus, he has helped the program raise thousands of dollars for the community with activities such as the Coaches verses Cancer Foundation. He also has motivated his past team to have the highest semester GPA. Mantle enjoys coaching college ball more than high school ball because he has more of an influence on his students’ lives.

“I think I have more impact on students’ everyday lives than I did when I coached high school,”

Courtesy Photo

Mantle said. “College students seem as if they’re on an island by themselves.”

Mantle teaches sports medicine and history of weight training and is gearing his team up for the season. He feels positive about his team this year.

“I have high hopes for the group and an athletic team that’s getting stronger,” Mantle said.

And stronger they are, the basketbll team still remains undefeated.

Sports

December 6, 2004

15

BCS making more enemies than friends

By Mark Whicker KRT Newswire How ridiculous is the BCS this season? Consider: A year ago, LSU moved into the national championship game by virtue of winning the SEC championship game. But Auburn won’t be able to do so this year if it wins the SEC championship next weekend over a ranked Tennessee team.

(How is it that an undefeated team from the SEC, perennially one of the two or three toughest football conferences in the country, can’t get a crack at the national title? The SEC ought to sue. But it can’t because it signed off on this BCS foolishness years ago.)

USC, however, will get to defend its co-national championship from a season ago despite playing in a conference, the Pac-10, that doesn’t use a conference title game to crown its champion. That was the way it played itself into last season’s national title, too.

Yet, it was long thought that this BCS system rewarded teams that played and won an extra game called a conference championship.

It did last season. But it won’t this season.

That is how busted the BCS is this go-round. It gets more absurd every season.

Meanwhile, undefeated Utah remained stuck behind oncebeaten California and Texas in the BCS rankings. And Texas coach Mack Brown spent last weekend crying about his team’s ranking and how it was getting the pointy end of the BCS screw.

I’d rather listen to Utah’s coach Urban Meyer. He has a legitimate beef if his team is left out of a BCS game. The Longhorns don’t.

They surrendered their right to complain when, as if on cue, they fell again to Oklahoma.

But Brown’s frustration is understandable. Why should his once-scathed Longhorns be ranked behind once-scathed California?

KRT Campus

We are the champions: Louisiana State University coach Nick Saban and his players celebrate winning the national championship over the Oklahoma Sooners at the Nokia Sugar Bowl. The USC Trojans claimed victory in the AP Coaches Poll causing controversy.

Because they lost to the secondranked team and Cal lost to the top-ranked team?

So now the BCS has created controversy not only in the championship game, but also in its other bowls below the title game.

Is that great or what? It has spread like some horrible disease to infect everything that comes in contact with it. Will someone please cure us all of this dreadful disorder?

The BCS just flat out stinks. It isn’t fair. The Ukraine election was probably more just.

In fact, the BCS this time is suffering from that very process, an election. USC and Oklahoma were tabbed the two best teams in the nation before the first kickoff.

And since they haven’t lost, no other teams had a chance to wiggle

into the first or second spot.

As a result, watching the BCS this year is kind of like watching an Formula One race, the mostfraudulent form of car racing in the world. Win the pole and win the race. It’s just about that simple.

Competition may as well be a foreign word.

About the only thing worse in college sports now than the way the BCS goes about crowning the so-called national football champion is how the folks who run the Dallas-based Doak Walker Award go about handing out their trophy to whom they think is the best running back in the land.

The group changed its rules at the last second, opening up to freshmen, in order to cash in on freshman and Texas native Adrian

Lady Aggies basketball has strong showing at PowerAde Classic Tournament against Oklahoma Panhandle State

By Christina Frye Staff Writer The CU women’s basketball team participated in the PowerAde Classic tournament Nov. 26 and 27 at the Aggie Gym. The Aggies had a tough game against Oklahoma City University, with a final score of 55-82. But they turned everything around when they attacked Oklahoma Panhandle State University for the win 80-57.

The first battle for CU was against the OCU Stars. The Aggies fought hard, but the CU defense just couldn’t stop the Stars from putting points on the board, and the Aggies’ shooting percentages were not where they needed to be for a win.

However, the Aggies reversed everything when they played the OPSU Lady Aggies. It was the Aggies vs. the Aggies, and CU came out on top. With the win, CU broke a three-game losing streak and pulled the team together.

Led by Brittany Cooksey, a 5foot-10 junior from Bristow, the Aggies got off to a quick start, Cooksey scoring eight of the first 12 Aggie points. Cooksey ended the game with a game-high of 19 points, hitting 3 shots from the three-point range. Chelsea

Photo by Christina Frye

The best offense is a good defense: Players of the Lady Aggie basketball team on defense against Oklahoma Panhandle State at the PowerAde Classic held Nov. 26-27.

Turner, a 5-foot-11 sophomore from Norman, contributed to the score by adding 13 points. Turner had five offensive rebounds and three assists, which allowed the Aggies to put more shots up. And with her defensive attacks under the basket, she pulled down four defensive rebounds.

Joneatta Brown, a 6-foot4 junior from Conroe, Texas, contributed 13 points to the CU win, along with pulling down 10 rebounds and three blocked shots. Brown played at the center position and posted up throughout the game, which allowed the guards to pass the ball inside, and

was the key to the CU win.

“We all came together as a team,” Brown said. “We really wanted to win, especially after last night. And we did it as a team.”

Christina Buben, a 6-foot senior from Duncan, added 11 points, hitting one from the three-point range, and crashed the boards with 14 rebounds. Leading the assists for the Aggies was Linda Brown, a 5foot-11 junior from Conroe, Texas.

“Last night we rushed and didn’t take our time,” she said. “But tonight we looked for our posts and our defense was determined to win tonight. Our chemistry was a lot better this game.”

Peterson’s success at Oklahoma.

But it didn’t even name the leading rusher in the country – in the country! – another freshman and Texas native, Jamario Thomas of North Texas. Thomas only broke freshman rushing records that belonged to Herschel Walker and Ron Dayne, both of whom went on to win Heismans. As a result, the Doak is nothing more now than a sham of an award, a plugged nickel, and a joke.

But I digress. Who cares about the Doak? We do care about the national champion of college football and why it is the only major college sport champion crowned without benefit of a legitimate playoff. There is absolutely no sane reason why USC, Oklahoma, Auburn, Utah

and Boise State, if all remain unbeaten, shouldn’t have a chance to play for the national crown.

(Utah and Boise State are done, too) None, none, none. There was absolutely no sane reason why USC and LSU should’ve split last season’s national championship.

None, none, none.

If the BCS were some foreign country’s means of selecting a president, election observers would reject it as unfair and refuse to recognize the winner legitimate.

The BCS once again is proving to be anything but a democratic system.

The only thing more unsettling about it is that, unless we rise up in arms against it, we’re stuck with it, according to the contract, at least through 2007.

Follow all the Aggies sports action at http://goaggies.cameron.edu

The Back Page

16

December 6, 2004

As digital cameras replace film, some people still cling to the `wet’ technology

By Valerie Takahama KRT Newswire SANTA ANA, Calif.

— Maybe it’s the womb-like seclusion of the darkroom or the briny smell of the chemicals, but few photographers ever forget the thrill they felt when they developed their first photo.

“I can still see the picture. My mother had a coat with a raccoon collar. `Gee, that’s my mother,’” says Eugene Lally, 70, of Mission Viejo, Calif.

Mark Angus, 51, of Laguna Beach, Calif., remembers a similar moment during a photo class at Orange Coast College.

“You look at a piece of paper in this soup, and all of a sudden, this image magically appears. It’s very cool,” he says.

Lally and Angus are serious amateur photographers a generation apart who got hooked on the possibilities of the medium in that moment. But with the popularity of digital cameras and computer programs like Adobe Photoshop, today’s photographers will experience a different sort of aha! moment.

“When you can turn something into a posterization or make it look like a watercolor, it’s a tremendous lift,” says Chauncey Bayes, an art director and photographer who teaches at OCC. “It’s exciting.

They almost become snake-bit.”

Last year, digital cameras outsold traditional cameras for the first time, and more than 40 percent of U.S. households are expected to own digital cameras by the end of this year.

One more clear sign of film’s

ACROSS 1 Doorway element 5 Seeps 10 Tater 14 Met highlight 15 Plants of a region 16 Jason’s ship 17 Ultimate test 19 Bagel center 20 Cost to participate 21 Medicinal plants 22 Love of golf 23 King in “The Tempest” 25 Swiss river 26 Edit again 32 Too 35 Rye grass 36 Genetic info carrier 37 Words of denial 39 Bell and Barker 40 Blotch 42 Punter’s digit 43 Rises 46 __ and crafts 47 Prints incantations 50 Stretches the truth 51 Passageways 55 Dupes 57 Low cards 60 In the style of 61 Woodwind instrument 62 Lawyer’s practice 64 Jet black 65 Bizarre 66 Singer James 67 Tillis and Torme 68 Intended 69 __-in-the-wool DOWN 1 Tel Aviv-__ 2 Disney’s mermaid 3 “Rebel Without a Cause” co-star 4 Ovine comment 5 Remove cargo 6 Miscellany

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 18 22 24 25 27 28 29

Distinct region Periods First name of 3D Largest desert Dry food Wrinkled fruit Accomplishes Secure with a cord Arlene and Roald Sgts., e.g.

Poker bullet Designates Get a hold on Follow

demise: Eastman Kodak stopped making the slide projector altogether this year. Soon, only purists and artists will use the old technology.

“I’m sure there will be people who hang onto traditional, wet photography for quite a while, but I think if you were to survey universities and colleges, fewer and fewer are putting an emphasis on wet photography and more on digital,” says Steve Thomas, curator of collections at the UCR/California Museum of Photography.

“Look, Kodak is no longer producing black-and-white paper,” he says. “Those photographers who are still doing black and white have to give up the `big yellow god.’

The whole industry is shifting that way, much to the dismay of the disgruntled traditionalist.”

Until digital cameras dominate the market in the same way that CDs overtook record albums, there’s bound to be a period of turbulence in the collective cultural consciousness.

Surely, as more and more digital images are sent as e-mails, people miss flipping through a photo album with a friend. And as fewer photos are printed, stored in their envelopes in a shoebox, there’s less chance of coming across them serendipitously and reliving forgotten moments of that trip to Italy or that family celebration.

Perhaps the slow fade-toblack of the old technology has registered most strongly among photographers themselves.

Lally, a retired aeronautics engineer at the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, Calif., started taking pictures more than 50 years

30 31 32 33 34 38 41

Minute pest Corn units Picnic problem Circle Scouring aid Leers at Religious gathering

44 CIA forerunner 45 Short theatrical offering 48 Tablecloths and sheets 49 Inventory 52 Nonclerics 53 Fill with high

KRT Campus

Ain’t nothing like the old way of doing things: A sheet of slides taken by Eugene Lally of Mission Viejo, California. Lally is an accomplished photographer and uses film rather than digital. ago when his grandmother gave him a Brownie Box camera. He’s an accomplished photographer specializing in landscapes and American Indian subjects. He stands by film. In his opinion, film is not only technical superior — it offers better color, especially the red tones, higher resolution and no capture-delay problems — but it’s unsurpassed in abstract ways, as well.

“The thing I like about slides, there’s a certain romance to them,” says Lally, whose work has been exhibited at Soka University in Aliso Viejo and elsewhere, and whose articles on photography are published in academic journals on archaeology.

spirits 54 Vegetable concoction 55 Nursery rhyme or sonnet 56 Notre Dame cleric 57 False alternative

58 Rudner or Moreno 59 Work for 62 Smothers or Kite 63 Buttons of Hollywood

“This slide I took in December 1971. This piece of film was in my camera when I took this picture, and the color is still terrific. I can hold it. These slides mean even more now than they ever did.”

The slides are not only more concrete than digital images, they’re less hassle to manage, he says. As proof, he recounts photo excursions with fellow photographers, about half of whom use digital cameras.

“At night, when the shooting is done,” he says, “I come back and I have loads of film. I put it away. I say, let’s go walk around. They say, no, we’re going back to the motel, and we’re downloading our images onto our laptop. I’m out there

communing with nature and these guys are playing with zeroes and ones.”

John Hesketh, a photographer who teaches at OCC, embraces new technology as a liberating force.

“Photography as we know it is dead,” he says. “Almost same way that the 500-year tradition of painting became a dead issue in 1836 when photography was invented.

“The ability to show realism and that truth was handed to photography, and painting had to reinvent itself. If it wasn’t for the camera, the Impressionists, the Cubists, the Abstract Expressionists wouldn’t exist.”