The Cameron University Collegian: November 17, 2008

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

Monday, November 17, 2008

News

Informing the Cameron Family Since 1926

Volume 83 Issue 11

Kearney brings inspiration to CU

By Joshua Rouse Collegian Staff

Program gives students an option to lock tuiton.

SEE PAGE 2

A&E

Stand up comedian/actor B.J. Novak will be on campus Tuesday.

SEE PAGE 3

Sports

Beverley Kearney’s life is the definition of overcoming the odds. After the seven-time national championship winning track coach was involved in a serious accident in 2002, most people didn’t think she would ever walk again.

Some did not even think she would live through her injuries. However, after defying the odds, Kearny came to Cameron to speak about her experiences.

“I never thought the accident was serious,” Kearney said. “I heard President Bush refer to me as a hero when I had the opportunity to go to the White House, but I never saw it that way. I never took the circumstances as a tragedy.”

Kearney, known as Coach Kearney to dozens of runners on the track team at the University of Texas, spoke on Nov. 11 to a crowded Photo by Bennet Dewan auditorium. She spoke on politics, the culture Definition of overcoming odds: Beverley Kearney has experienced many struggles in her and growing older and wiser. life but has pulled through all of them and led a very successful life. Kearney was on campus on “Sometimes you reach a certain age and you Nov. 11. The importance of never giving up was one of the topics of her speech. want to say ‘game over,’” Kearney said. “I’m at around me said.” half-time in my life right now. But I still have a going to win the championship that year.

Kearney began coaching from her hospital long way to go and I’m not planning on saying “I looked back at that and I cringed every bed at one point. She spent more than three ‘game over’ any time soon.” time the interview aired because I couldn’t months confined to a bed with only the Kearney’s 2002 accident took away her believe I said that,” Kearney said. “I’m an oncompany of the nurses who came to roll her ability to walk for many months, but the edge kind of person so I say a lot of things like over every couple of hours during the day. She prospect of throwing in the towel on life never that. We had such a great team the year before said she wasn’t going to stop occurred to her. She didn’t and we fell apart. Most of our top runners had doing her job just because she think twice about the graduated or moved on, so no one really gave was in the hospital. accident after it happened. us a chance. And we won it that year. That “People didn’t think I was “When I started coaching in championship will always be the one that sticks She said it was more of going to live and people the emergency room, I think an inconvenience; it was a in my mind.” people thought I was crazy,” hitch that was preventing Kearney has won numerous championships, didn’t think I was going Kearney said.

“I coached from her from getting back to awards and accolades. While she considered to walk again. But those my hospital bed in Texas for business she had to take them f lattering, she admitted she couldn’t find were thoughts that didn’t three months.” care of. the majority of them. Her main passion has occur to me.”

After finally getting out of “People didn’t think I always been education and she saw her position the hospital, Kearney appeared as head coach of the track team as a way to help was going to live and people didn’t think I was going to — Beverly Kearney on HBO in an interview about teach her runners. walk again,” Kearney said.

University of Texas her accident and the upcoming championship “But those were thoughts Women’s Track Coach national See KEARNEY competition. She declared to that didn’t occur to me. the world that her team was That was what people Page 6

Student Counseling: Here for the students

By Alexis Del Ciello/Solitaire Merrill Collegian Staff, Newswriting Student

CU basketball takes it to OU. SEE PAGE 6

Voices

After Cameron’s new student counseling office opened in September, counselor Deanice Shegog scheduled a slate of weekly seminars to educate interested students and faculty and raise awareness of the new counseling program.

“I decided to provide weekly seminars for two reasons,” Shegog said. “One: to educate the public about mental disorders in order to decrease the negative stigma associated with mental illness.

Two: to aid students in identifying symptoms that they may be experiencing and connect them with resources they may need.”

Bipolarism and Eating Disorders seminars are scheduled for the remaining weeks of the fall 2008 semester in the Shepler Center Centennial Room. The Bipolarism seminar will be offered at 1 p.m. on Nov. 18 and 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 19. The Eating Disorders seminar is offered at 1 p.m. on

Dec. 2 and 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 3.

Not only are the counseling center’s seminars scheduled to educate the CU community, but they are also offered to help change mental illness stigmas.

Shegog wants to halt misconceptions that many students have about seeking counseling.

Some students have voiced concerns that any mental health records will follow them after they leave Cameron. Even though this is a service provided through the University, nothing about the counseling will appear on student transcripts.

Others worry that professors that refer students to mental health services will be able to get information that is disclosed as a result of the service, but Shegog said that this was not the case.

See COUNSELING Page 2

CU Herbarium gets permanent loan from Witchitas

By Anna Hataway Newswriting Student

The future looks grim for the big three car manufacturers.

SEE PAGE 5

MCT Campus

MCT Campus

The Cameron Herbarium, located in the Science Complex, is growing thanks to a permanent loan of plants from the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge and dedicated students.

Two thousand plants were donated by the Refuge and then put into a computer database.

A grant awarded to the CU Herbarium made this possible. The grant allowed for the purchase of two new herbarium cabinets, a computer to store each plant’s identity and new plant folders to hold the plants.

The Cameron Herbarium currently houses 10,000 plants. The 2,000 plants received from the Refuge are anywhere from 38- to 85-years-old. The other 8,000 plants began their accumulation in Cameron’s Herbarium many years ago.

Dr. James “Mickey” Cooper established the Cameron Herbarium in the 1960s. Now, it is

taken care of by Associate Professor of Biology Dr. Michael Dunn and some of his students. The grant made it possible for students to work in the Herbarium. Keith Carter, one of the student workers at the Herbarium, said he worked long hours all summer.

“During the summer we worked full time, eight to five,” Carter said. “Myself and Pablo [Rodriguez], who assisted, and Dr. Dunn as well.”

Carter said the workers’ summer was spent identifying, making necessary repairs to equipment and then inputting the plants’ information into the database.

The database saves the time and trouble of looking for a plant in the many herbarium cabinets. The plants are taped to a piece of paper, put into a folder and then stacked on each other.

See HERBARIUM Page 2

News 2 Legislation allows incoming freshmen to lock tuition November 17, 2008

By Brooke Whiteley Newswriting Student The motivation to stay in school may increase as Cameron University freshmen get “locked in.”

In 2007, legislators passed the Guaranteed Tuition Rate Program created by the passage of House Bill 2103 with authorization MCT Campus by Governor Brad Henry. Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management Jamie Glover said this program’s purpose is to lock freshmen tuition for four years.

“The Guaranteed Tuition Rate Program directs Oklahoma colleges and universities to offer all Oklahoma residents who are [college] freshmen the option to lock their tuition. That will

remain stable for four years,” Glover said.

Cameron’s 2008 freshman class is the first to participate in the program. Glover said there are a few key elements the program requires.

“Students must be a first time freshman. They must enroll full-time with 12 credit hours for fall and spring and must be Oklahoma residents,” Glover said.

Glover mentioned that students have the choice to participate, but they have to decide at the time of enrollment.

Students only get one chance to lock and there will not be another opportunity after the deadline.

The state of Oklahoma mandated in 2008 that all of Oklahoma bachelors degreegranting and state-funded intuitions follow the Guaranteed Tuition Rate Program. Glover mentioned that there are a few exceptions, such as twoyear colleges and community colleges, that are not required to contribute.

There are ways students can lose the locked tuition rate. Glover said it is vital that freshmen carry 12 hours.

“They have to be full-time students all through their four years at Cameron. If a student drops below 12 hours at any time, he or she will lose the lock and won’t be allowed back in,” Glover said.

Glover added that this program allows students to foresee and accurately budget what their tuition is going to cost.

She said that this could be a good or bad thing.

“Students have to make a decision if the lock would financially benefit them or go with the non-guaranteed tuition rate,” Glover said.

Glover said that Cameron will provide students a historical view of how much tuition has increased over the last four years.

Cameron also gives an average percentage rate that details how much tuition would have to increase over a four-year period to save students money.

Sophomores, juniors and seniors do not have an option to be in the program. Glover said the upper-classmen should not worry.

“If a freshman comes in and locks their tuition, the rate is

going to be $107 per credit hour.

For seniors who do not have the option to lock their tuition, the rate is $93 per credit hour. The tuition lock is higher, but they’re guaranteed that rate,” Glover said.

The rate lock price will change each year that legislation mandates Cameron continue

the program. The Guaranteed Tuition Rate Program only applies to tuition. It does not apply to university fees, campus housing or books.

Students who have any questions or need additional information should contact the Office of Admissions in 227 North Shepler or call 581.2289.

HERBARIUM continued from page 1 “Working in the herbarium gave me experience doing research, writing a paper and then presenting it.”

— Keith Carter Herbarium Student Worker

“The database cuts out a lot of back-time,” Carter said.

After starting in the middle of May, the research was completed on Oct. 15. Carter, Dr. Dunn and Rodriguez wrote a 24-page

paper about the research done at the Herbarium.

Carter presented the research at the Annual Oklahoma Section for Range Management. He stood before wildlife officials and reported what

his team did with the plants it received.

Carter informed the officials that the plants had been found all over the Wichita Mountain Refuge, including a buffalo wallow.

Carter said the 30-minute drive from the Refuge makes the Herbarium easily accessible for wildlife officials wanting to study the plants.

Carter is a Biology major with a minor in Chemistry. When he graduates, he plans to pursue a career in Plant Pathology. Carter said he gained knowledge from working in the herbarium that will help him in the future.

“Working in the Herbarium gave me experience doing research, writing a paper and then presenting it,” Carter said.

This is the first research project he has completed at Cameron. He is currently working on a project studying a fungus that grows inside the leaves of plants.

MCT Campus

COUNSELING continued from page 1

See page 3 for solutions.

“A professor can refer a student, but nothing else will be discussed beyond the actual referral,” Shegog said.

Shegog added that each seminar is designed with specific purposes in mind.

“Each seminar is designed to educate students and faculty about the different types of mental disorders, including symptoms and current treatments,” Shegog said. “The seminars are designed to present information about the disorders and how they affect the sufferer. Hopefully, this information can help decrease the negative stigma associated with psychological disorders and encourage people to seek help.”

Though seminars are open to both students and faculty, CU students must be enrolled in at least six hours to attend a seminar or request counseling.

Spring 2009 seminars will include: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Violence and the Psyche, Dementia and Substance Abuse.

Students and faculty interested in specific topics are encouraged to contact Shegog.

Throughout January 2009, seminars will be offered at 1 p.m. and again on a different day at 5:30 p.m. The ADHD seminar will be offered Jan. 6 and 7, Violence and Psyche on Jan. 13 and 14, Dementia on Jan. 20 and 21, and Substance Abuse on Jan. 27 and 28.

After requested seminars are considered, a schedule for February and March 2009 will be released the first week of classes in January.

For information on these seminars or any other mental health topics, or to schedule an appointment, students can call Student Services at 581.2244. All counseling sessions are confidential. Students can even make an appointment without leaving their name. If you or a friend suffers from these symptoms or has any other mental health concerns, please seek help. It is free, easily accessible, private and no one will be turned away for any reason.

A&E

November 17, 2008

3

B.J. Novak to visit Cameron University

By Amanda Herrera Guest Writer As NBC’s Emmy Awardwinning comedy series, “The Office,” heats up deep into its fi fth season, local

fans have more to be excited about than Dwight and Angela’s secret rendezvous’ or a possible reunion between Michael and Holly—B.J. Novak is making a special appearance at Cameron University.

Known best to “The Office” fans as Ryan, the temp, Novak is also Co-Executive Producer of the series and has written episodes including “Diversity Day,” “Sexual Harassment,” “The Fire,” “Boys and Girls,” “Initiation” and “Local Ad.” Novak will visit campus as part of the university’s continuing Centennial Celebration at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18 in the Aggie Gym. “I have been so excited since I found out that BJ Novak would be visiting Cameron,” said Kerry Myers, a senior majoring

in Public Relations and selfproclaimed “Office” junkie.

“It is rare that we have someone as original as Novak to come to campus and I think that it is a wonderful promotion tool for the university,” Myers said. “It shows that whoever is planning these events knows what students at Cameron want to see.”

Novak, a graduate of Harvard University with a degree in English and Spanish Literature, was first discovered as a standup comedian. He transitioned into acting and has since appeared in “Reign Over Me,” starring Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle, and “Knocked Up,” directed by Judd Apatow. Novak has also improvised performances on the MTV show “Punk’d.”

“The Office” is a weekly mockumentary about a group of employees coexisting at a failing

paper company called Dunder Miffl in located in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The show is an adaptation of a British comedy and has acquired a cult following across the nation.

Ryan, Novak’s character on the show, began working at Dunder Miffl in Paper Company through a temp agency. Ryan became central to the storyline in season four as he made his way up the corporate ladder by taking a position that trumped his boss Michael Scott, played by Steve Carell. Ryan got into legal trouble during the climax of season four and his whirlwind career moves left fans wondering throughout the offseason if Ryan would return to Dunder Miffl in.

At the start of season five, Ryan returned to his roots at the paper company, receiving a drastic demotion and taking the position

of temporary receptionist at the Scranton branch.

Local “Office” fans hope Novak will speak about how he conjures his humor weekly during his visit to campus.

“If I could ask BJ Novak anything, I would ask him how they are able to come up with such an amazing storyline week after week,” Myers said. “Each show is one punch-line after another, and I cannot imagine the creativity that goes into making each show.”

This event is open to the public at no charge; however, a ticket is required for admission. Free tickets are available on campus at the Student Activities Building, the One-Stop Shop located in the Shepler Towers, and the Cashier’s office and the Office of Community Relations, both located in the Administration Building.

Photo courtesy of Community Relations

‘World of Warcraft’ expansion released to faithful fanbase

By Katie Batule Collegian Staff It’s November, and role-playing gamers worldwide welcomed the release of an icy addition to the “World of Warcraft.”

At 12:01 a.m. on Thursday morning, select stores in Lawton began selling the immensely successful game’s second expansion, “The Wrath of the Lich King.”

Blizzard Entertainment, the creator of “World of Warcraft,” has unleashed it’s second expansion, a follow up to the immensely popular “The Burning Crusade.” “The Burning Crusade” was released in January of 2007 and just three months after the plans for the second expansion were confirmed.

Gamers lined up at local Wal-Mart, Hastings and GameStop stores to pick up their copies of the expansion. Diehard players, such as Lawton resident Mark Webb, waited in line with his fiancée, anxiously awaiting the release.

Webb said that he and his fiancée had already made plans for their new characters.

“We’ve named some of our characters so people can’t take the names we want,” Webb said.

The expansion release party at GameStop united gamers from all different backgrounds including Cameron students, war veterans and stay-at-home moms. The MMORPG (massively multi-player online role playing game) has created a network for gamers from all walks of life.

When most people think of gamers they

envision college age kids, but “World of Warcraft” even reached out to Harry, one of the gamers who did not fit this mold. The gaming grandfather, who preferred to keep his last name private, knows first-hand the dangers of the habit-forming qualities of this online experience.

“It can be addictive. I’ve known people who have sat and played it for two or three days before they passed out,” Harry said.

The first expansion introduced a slew of new areas, mounts and additions to character abilities, and this second expansion won’t let gamers down. The new land introduced is Northrend, home of the game’s most powerful villain, the Lich King.

Gamers can now play a new class, the Death Knight, and level up to 80.

Previously, the maximum level was 70.

The highly anticipated expansion includes a new battle between players and the Lich King at his icy fortress, the Frozen Throne, and many other new items, quests, dungeons, creatures, spells and weapons. For players who enjoy the PvP (player versus player) aspect of the game, there are new siege weapons and a revolutionary new outdoor PvP zone.

In the game, players can pick up professions to earn online cash to fund their adventures. The expansion’s addition to the profession list is Inscription, which entails creating powerful glyphs to boost the effectiveness of player

MCT Campus

Welcome to the Grizzly Hills: Players in the massively-popular ‘World of Warcraft’ get to explore new lands and do battle against the Lich King with the latest expansion of Blizzard Entertainmen’ts MMO. abilities.

This expansion, of course, offers brilliantly improved graphics, shading, and flame, water and spell-casting effects.

MCT Campus

With the April announcement that “World of Warcraft” had reached a record-shattering 11 million active subscribers, it’s no surprise that Wrath of the Lich King is one of this year’s most talked about releases.

Improving upon an already wildly popular

game, “Wrath of the Lich King’s” improved features and continued story line should keep avid fans of the franchise happy for quite a while.

A&E

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November 17, 2008

Japanese puppetry brings ancient culture to CU Theatre

By Joshua Rouse Collegian Staff Cameron University got a taste of Japanese culture thanks to the Bunraku Bay Puppet Troupe.

Bunraku Bay, which was directed by J. Martin Holman, is the only troupe in the world to be lead by a non-Japanese person.

The troupe performed three shows of traditional Japanese Bunraku puppetry in front of a live audience at the Cameron University Theatre on Nov. 7.

Dr. Von Underwood, the Dean of Liberal Arts, stepped on stage around 8:20 p.m. to introduce Holman. His troupe is based out of the University of Missouri in Columbus and is the only puppet troupe of its kind in the United States.

Holman began the night by introducing himself and telling the audience about his puppet troupe. He then moved into the first performance of the night from “Kotobuki Shiki Sanbaso.”

“Sanbaso will come out and

Live long and prosper: Sanbaso distributes good luck to the audience.

purify the performing area,” Holman said. “Thanks to his purification, there won’t be any unfortunate fires during our performance tonight.”

Sanbaso, like the other puppets during the evening, was operated by three puppeteers.

The operators, who were cloaked in black garb and hoods, held the puppet and operated its arms and head as they walked around the auditorium and purified it and the attendants.

The purification ceremony lasted around 10 minutes and received much applause and laughter from the audience.

“You are all certainly now a lot luckier than your neighbors who decided to stay home,” Holman said.

After Sanbaso’s purification, the show moved to a demonstration performance of the Solo Samisen. Holman said the instrument is what a banjo would look like had it been created in Japan.

Afterwards, the puppets returned in the story of “Yaoya Oshichi,” a young woman who was in love with a samurai who was condemned to die because he failed to find a lost sword.

Oshichi found the sword and had to decide whether she wanted to

risk her own death to return it to him or let him die.

“Oshichi’s story is one of those original stories about a distraught lover,” Holman said. “She has to return the sword across the city by dawn, but the gates to the city have been closed. So the only way she can make it across is to ring a fire bell, which could result in her death.”

The final performance was called “Hidakagawa Iriaizakura” and it involved two puppets instead of just one like the previous performances.

A young woman was madly in love with another man, who didn’t like her. The man leaves in the middle of the night and pays the boatman not to ferry the woman across the river “If people are tired of romance stories, this one has a little twist,” Holman said. “She’s so madly in love with him and then becomes so jilted by him that her emotions transform her.”

The ending of the story wasn’t fully disclosed by Holman because children were in the audience. He promised to reveal it after the ending of the show, but never did.

The entire evening lasted for

more than hour. After the show ended, the attendants filed out into the Theatre lobby where the puppeteers fielded questions from their audience.

Jennifer Howard didn’t think she would enjoy the show, but left the Theatre surprisingly happy.

“When the first performance started, I thought it Running for the towers: Yaoya Oshichi tries was going to to save her samurai lover by ringing a fire bell. be horrible,” she said. “You could see the people holding and The Bunraku Bay Puppet moving the puppet. How corny Troupe closed Cameron’s Liberal could you get? But it got better.”

Arts week, which was part of Howard heard about the the centennial year celebration. puppet show from a friend of hers Holman closed the show by who was attending Cameron. thanking the audience and said he She said she was dragged along, planned to return to Oklahoma in but admired the time and work the future. that went into Bunraku.

“There were three people moving one puppet and I couldn’t help but expect them to trip over themselves at some point during the night,” she said.

Photos by Bennett Dewan

Fiction reading serves literary knowledge

By Kerry Myers Collegian Staff Rilla Askew, an Oklahoman Author, visited Cameron University Friday Nov. 7 for a fiction reading at the Centennial Ballroom as part of the University’s centennial celebration.

Askew grew up in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. She moved to New York as an aspiring young actress and it was there that she began writing. She is known for the formal complexity of her work, and she evokes essential humanity in all of her characters. She tells the story from each character’s perspective, making sure that the story is told accurately and from different points of view.

Askew’s novels revolve around

Oklahoman and American history.

Askew says that she sees herself not as a teller of tales but a re-teller, telling the story of how Oklahomans came here and what they have been through as a people. “Oklahoma is the very source that I write from,” Askew said.

“I’m writing about America’s story.”

Askew’s short fiction stories have been featured in a variety of literary magazines. Her short story “The Killing Blanket” received the O’Henry Award in 1993. Her first novel, The Mercy Seat, received the Oklahoma Book Award and the Western Heritage award in 1998, and was a Boston Globe Notable Book.

Her second novel, Fire in Beulah, which is based on the events that occurred during the Tulsa Race Riot earned the American Book Award

and the Myers Book Award from the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights.

Askew’s latest novel, Harpsong, is set in Oklahoma during the Great Depression. It is the story of a fictional harmonica playing folk hero and his story of migration in and out of Oklahoma, and the important relationships that he builds along the way. The characters of Harpsong are the one’s that Stienbeck’s characters left behind.

Askew says that she wishes the world would realize the beauty of Oklahoma.

“I was speaking in China recently speaking about being from Oklahoma,” she said. “Oklahomans have hearts looking backward and eyes looking forward, and this is the very substance of the American story.”

Many of Askew’s novels are loosely based around things that happened to her own family or families that

she has known. She studies the myth of the migration of the late 1800’s, and the politics of the state. She said that growing up here, she didn’t have a sense of who Oklahomans were as people. She didn’t travel, no one that she knew traveled, so there was a sense of isolation.

“We had a television and a window to the outside world, but no real life experience,”Askew said.

She stated that some of the things that she would like to write about are the Green Corn Rebellion and the WWII era, and she would eventually write about the Oklahoma City Bombing, believing that Oklahoma’s history is part and parcel of America’s past. “Oklahoma’s story is a microcosm of the American story,” Askew said.

Photo by Bennett Dewan

Reading away: Askew reads pieces of her work to attendees.

Voices

November 17, 2008

5

What happened to American motors?

Big three manufacturers could be left in the dust There was once a time in history prices climb to well over four dollars. beginning to come down, a hurry. Yes the credit crunch was when the Detroit auto makers were I was working at a service station massive credit crunch an unforeseeable event, but the bread and butter and remember struck consumers continuing to make gasof the auto industry. putting up $4.24. and businesses a guzzling vehicles From the time Henry The outrage was like. and ignoring Ford created the first evident by the Faced fuel efficiency Photo of Model T all the way first disgruntled with the is not excusable. through the early customer that came double Management was Kyle Luetters 90s, The Big Three in ten minutes after whammy of unwilling to adapt to come (General Motors, Ford I had changed it. high gas prices and got outpaced Thursday and Chrysler,) stamped Many Americans and the credit by competition that out vehicles by the had bought up crunch, the big incorporates change millions and provided these large vehicles three were literally into its business plan.

Americans across the and now, with caught with their Supporting MCT Campus country with jobs. gas prices high as pants down. None these companies is As foreign auto well as the cost of of the three had anything that could key however. Millions of jobs makers began to living on its way up, come close to competing with the are at stake. Should GM declare infiltrate the small car scene, many have vowed to stop driving as Prius on fuel economy. Price has also bankruptcy, it would lay off millions outselling the Big Three in many much. Studies from the Department been a factor, with Chrysler releasing of people right here in America. cases, Detroit looked to the of Transportation show that the a version of its Dodge Ram pickup The shockwave would be felt up exploding SUV and pickup market. number of miles Americans traveled that can be priced at $50,000. and down Wall Street as well. I For several years, this segment in the past year is down sharply from We read reports daily of how remember what a high school history of the market was dominated by numbers of just a few years ago. badly all three are doing. GM stock teacher once told the class I was contractors and businesses needing So, one may ask, shouldn’t this is at its lowest levels since the 1940s. in. “When the construction and the vehicles for crude transportation have affected all of the auto makers Ford has mortgaged everything, automotive business is booming, and their ability transport cargo and not just the big three? Well, including the iconic blue oval logo. so is the country. When they are cheaply. Suddenly, people began to while the big Chrysler is being shopped hurting, we hurt as well.” This is very shift from the small cars and urban three were around to every true. Look at it. Both the housing settings to SUVs and pickups and making other auto and automotive industries have the outdoor scene. Campers, boats huge manufacturer been severely crippled by the credit and other types of recreational profits like a redcrunch. What was the response? vehicles populated America’s off the headed The Dow Jones Industrial average highways. People were having sales of stepchild. GM and the rest of the stock market have MCT Campus fun, gas was cheap, and three-day large trucks and has released a report been bleeding from the throat since weekends were a great time for a SUVs, foreign auto makers such as that said it would reach the bare September. family camping trip out at the lake.

Toyota, Honda and Nissan were minimum level of cash it needs to While I’m not totally in support This tranquility lasted until pushing small, efficient models. Sure, operate in early 2009. America’s car of bailing out white-collars who have 2003. After several years of sub a car company can make way more companies are hurting, and they’re led some of the greatest of American two-dollar gas prices, the cost of a on the sale of truck than it can a car, hurting badly companies into the ground, I am gallon breached the mark. Many but when gas is at $4 a gallon the car The democrats in congress have willing to support it because of the quietly grumbled but still were looks way more attractive. pushed to make loans to the ailing potential effects it could have on our happy to fill the large vehicles that High gas prices drove people auto makers in return for partial country as a whole. Detroit used to they had bought. Hurricane Katrina away from the large vehicles into the government ownership of these be the pride and joy of America. It brought the country its small cars. Toyota still has companies. I will say I am in favor used to be that an American car was first glimpse of backlogged of this. It’s risky doing so because the standard-bearer and everyone three dollar a orders for why would anyone want to support was proud to own one. I used to be gallon. The its award companies that are floundering one of these people. I was very proud summer winning and have no one to blame but the of the fact that I owned a vehicle of 2008 Prius Hybrid. managers. Poor management is that came from an American car MCT Campus saw gas Just as gas was one thing can kill companies in a company. However, when I went to

Kyle Luetters

With party in shambles, Republicans should look to themselves for answers MCT Campus Elections have consequences.

Republicans can choose theirs.

They can make excuses. They can blame outsiders: the “liberal media,” duped youths or identity politics.

They can continue the fratricide that boiled up as the diminishing McCain campaign ran out of straws to grasp.

Or, they can stand up and be the adults they always insist they are and take a hard look at themselves. What they see should not please them, but it could encourage them.

If polls are to be believed, Republicans still live in a center-right nation, with far more Americans self-identifying as moderate or conservative than liberal. If the election results are to be believed, fewer Americans in fewer states believe Republican candidates offer real answers to real problems.

A two-party nation with dozens of strains of political philosophy naturally necessitates coalition parties that make room for dissenting views while organizing around a set of core beliefs. In happier times, Republicans understood that. They roared back from far bleaker days to regain the White House and Congress.

Each time they then lost their way.

They allowed the exercise of power to exceed their reliance on the principles that got them there. When they asked voters for one more chance, they were given President-elect Barack Obama and stronger Democratic majorities in Congress.

If they use their heads, this could be the best thing to happen to them. They have an opportunity to regroup as the loyal opposition to a Democratic Party in charge of every lever of elected federal government.

Now’s the time to reorganize around

the key principles of fiscal discipline, personal responsibility, “conservation” in environmentalism, frugality over flamboyance and a strong but pragmatic national defense.

Every policy they propose, every stand they take, should grow naturally out of these principles. They even have an example in the United Kingdom, where David Cameron and the Tories, after years in the wilderness, are one election from regaining power.

There is a difference between conservative and Republican, as Republicans have made abundantly clear. The latter is only the application of the former, and the former is where this political party can rediscover itself.

purchase my last vehicle, I found out just how far the big three had fallen.

Foreign auto makers have outpaced their American counterparts in style, substance and quality and are doing so for a cheaper price. It deeply saddened me to purchase a foreign truck but as a consumer, why buy an inferior product for more money?

So here’s my message to the auto makers of Detroit. Start making a great product to beat the competition in every way, do so cheaper and, above all, make Americans proud to own an American car once again.

THE CAMERON UNIVERSITY

COLLEGIAN Founded in 1926 veritas sempiterna

Editorial Board Editor-in-Chief - Joshua Rouse News Editor - Jim Horinek A&E Editor - Bira Vidal Sports Editor - Bennett Dewan Copy Editor - John Robertson Video Editor - Kyle Luetters

Newsroom Staff Ads Manager - Kerry Myers Financial Officer - Susan Hill Staff Writers - Alexis Del Ciello, Raven Weiss, Valerie Pennington, Monica Garner

Faculty Adviser Dr. Christopher Keller

Newswriting Students Brooke Adams, Aduke Adesida, Kathryn Batule, Brandy Belew, Lauren Bennett, Greg Boxell, Taylor Brunwald, Justin Cliburn, Jeramy Eidson, Monica Garner, Anna Hataway, Kyle Luetters, Megan Mefford, Solitaire Merrill, Jorie Palmer, Nicole Roames, Chelsea Robertson, Melissa Rodgers, Saman Samii, Meagan Searcy, Rashmi Thapaliya, Raven Weiss, Brooke Whiteley, Nikki Yowell

About Us The official student newspaper of Cameron University, The Cameron Collegian is available each Monday during the year. It is printed by the Times Record News in Wichita Falls, Texas.

Letters Policy

MCT Campus

My friends: Former Republican presidential candidate John McCain gives his concession speech in front of a large gathering of supporters.

McCain’s defeat should serve as a beacon of change for the Republican party.

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.

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Letters can be sent by regular mail or e-mail to collegian@cameron.edu, or they may be dropped off at our office - Nance Boyer 2060.

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

Our student media are designated public forums, and free from censorship and advance approval of content.

Because content and funding are unrelated, and because the role of adviser does not include advance review of content, student media are free to develop editorial policies and news coverage with the understanding that students and student organizations speak only for themselves. Administrators, faculty, staff or other agents shall not consider the student media’s content when making decisions regarding the media’s funding or faculty adviser.

Sports

6

November 17, 2008

CU basketball given shot at big time

By Kyle Luetters/Joshua Rouse Collegian Staff

Photos by Bennett Dewan

Never starstruck: Greg Morgan (top) uses his crossover to break down the OU defense. Jamaar Burke (bottom) soars for a tomahawk jam during the exhibition. Although OU came into the game as the no. 12 ranked team in the nation in NCAA Division 1 basketball, the Aggies never backed down from their competition.

The Aggie Men’s basketball team saw its first competition on Nov. 8 against the No. 12 ranked Oklahoma Sooners.

The game was an exhibition contest before the season begins, so there was nothing to lose with a defeat against a formidable Division I team. Head Coach Wade Alexander, who joined the team this year, said the Aggies didn’t have a lot of time to get ready for the game, but the team went to the Lloyd Noble Center as best prepared as they could be.

“We’ve just been practicing, due to NCAA rules, since Oct. 15,” Alexander said. “We weren’t ready for some of the things they did. Even if we were ready, they played at a high level and they were pretty good.”

The Aggies lost the game by a score of 94 to 39.

The team started off slow and didn’t score within the first eight minutes of the game. Alexander said one of the team’s goals entering the game was a powerful offense.

“We needed to execute on offense better,” Alexander said. “But overall, we executed our offense decently and we never gave up during the entire game.”

Cameron rallied back to score 13 points to Oklahoma’s 51 points by the end of the first period.

The second half was more of the same with the Sooners ultimately coming out on top, though Alexander said the final score didn’t tell the whole tale of the game.

“One of the things we did best was our defense,” he said. “I know it doesn’t show up in the score. We really defended them well. But they would continue to shoot until they made it because they were getting the rebounds off us.”

Offensively, Alexander said Junior Dylan Gillam

gave the team a spark coming off the bench and helped score an additional 10 points. Dave Smith, a senior guard, lead the team with 11 points. Alexander also said Kallan Glasgow was a defensive standout and rebounded the ball well throughout the game.

Ultimately, Alexander said picking the battles during the game was what the Aggies did best.

“I thought we played good defense and we had their shots contested for the most part,” he said. “We just didn’t rebound the ball as good as we could have.”

Many people would wonder why a Division II team like the Cameron Aggies would want to take on a nationally ranked team. Alexander said the experience the players receive and the atmosphere of the game goes beyond what happens on the court and what is posted in the record books at the end of the day.

“A lot of our players wanted to go to Division I and now this is an opportunity for them to play these guys and see how they match up,” he said. “This is something they will remember for the rest of their lives. They won’t remember the score in five years. But they will see the players in the pros and they can say they played against them.”

Playing against a Division I team is a goal that many smaller colleges aspire to. Alexander said preparations for these exhibition games start up to a year in advance.

The Division I teams use the competition as warm up games and the smaller colleges get a chance to play against the best of the best.

“The game doesn’t count on the record, it’s an exhibition. So the teams don’t have to worry about that,” Alexander said. “But it gives us a huge boost in recruiting. A lot of people want to give that a shot and play against these big teams, although you don’t always have a good chance of beating them. It has a lot of benefits other than just the game itself.”

Burke, Glasgow bring hang time to CU basketball

By Joshua Rouse By the power of Grayskull: Kallan Glasgow (left) soars through the air for a left handed slam during the meet the Aggies event spearheaded

by Asst. Coach Nate Gamet.

Glasgow went on to win the event.

Style points: Jamaar Burke (bottom right) performs a between-thelegs dunk that shows off his incredible vertical and creativity with the ball.

Collegian Staff Two of Cameron’s bright basketball stars shed their black and gold jerseys and competed against each other in a friendly dunk contest last month.

The Cameron Athletics Department organized “Meet the Aggies” on Oct. 29 to let the fans meet the players on the men’s and women’s basketball teams before the official season began. Kallan Glasgow, a junior guard, and Jamaar Burke, a junior forward, faced off to see who was the dunking master.

“It was something for the fans, it was a competition but it was a friendly competition,” Burke said. “We were out there having fun out there, doing it for the fans.”

Glasgow won the contest over the heavily favored Burke after he missed a 360 windmill. Even though Burke was favored, Glasgow never doubted he would have a chance to win the contest in the end.

“We were talking trash during the week, but it was all in fun,” he said. “I told him it was coming, I said I would get him.”

Burke conceded the victory and congratulated his teammate, though he did want a second shot.

“I definitely want a rematch,” Burke said. “I let him off the hook with that one. I know if I would have made the last one I would have won, but he did some really good stuff out there; he deserved it.”

While the pair was in direct competition at the Meet the Aggies event, they stand together on the court against any team that wants to come to the Aggie Gym. With a new coaching staff and a new direction, both players look forward to a winning season for the men’s basketball team.

“The guys are working a lot harder (this year) and it seems like it’s going to be a really good season,” Glasgow said.

This is the second year Glasgow has been on the team while Burke joined in the off-season. Glasgow joined the Aggies as a walk-on. And since he played high school basketball in Apache, he kind of knew what to expect “I went to school here for two years and some friends convinced me to try out for the team,” Glasgow said. “I tried out and I walked on last year.”

While Glasgow grew up in the area, Burke’s journey to Cameron took a little longer. He grew up and played high school basketball in Toronto.

Burke attended a junior college in Wyoming and heard about Cameron through a teammate there. He said Cameron sounded interesting and now he’s playing for the team as a forward.

“One of my teammates, who was supposed to come to Cameron, told me about the school,” Burke said. “He went to Florida and I came here.”

Entering the beginning of the season, the Aggies lost to the Oklahoma Sooners in exhibition play.

The game didn’t count in any record books and both Burke and Glasgow saw it as a great

opportunity to play against a potential NBA hopeful.

“Not everyone gets the chance to play a future NBA player, this is a great opportunity,” Glasgow said.

Both players have goals set for the regular season. Glasgow said he wants to average a double-double, ten-point-ten rebounds, which would help the team on the scoreboard and in the locker room. Burke isn’t setting personal stats goals, he just wants to help the team win. And both players want to hoist the conference trophy at the end of the season. “ If I am playing I want to help the team win,” Burke said. “If I don’t play, I want to support the team from the bench, cheer them on. I just want to win as many championships as we can.”

Photos by Bennett Dewan

Sports

November 17, 2008

7

Volleyball seniors look back on final hurrah

By Bennett Dewan Collegian Staff

Photos by Bennett Dewan

With no regard for human life: Haley Hatch, a senior Libero, makes a tremendous save during an Aggie home game. Hatch’s play was often characterized by her unrelenting will to win and her acrobatic plays on defense in her career at Cameron.

Back in black: Veronica Reeks, wearing the Libero specified black jersey, dives for a one handed set. Reeks, a defensive minded senior, was defined by her tough and physical play in her four years as a CU Aggie.

As the old sporting quote goes, “offense sells tickets, defense wins championships.” Cameron University Volleyball seniors Haley Hatch and Veronica Reeks embody the will to win through gritty and often underappreciated efforts on the defensive end of the court.

Hatch, a 5’7” Libero, is known for her high intensity play characterized by her willingness to go diving all over the court to prevent opponents from scoring.

“People often don’t recognize a good defensive play, the fans like to see the spikes,” Hatch said.

However unrecognized that aspect of the game may be, it is the center of what the Aggies and fellow Libero Reeks focus on during a match.

“Defense is our teams greatest attribute,” Reeks said.

The Aggies stellar defense has been an overall team effort spearheaded by the solid play of the seniors. The extraordinary efforts of Hatch and Reeks were not lost on first year Coach Brianne Smedley.

“The thing that is evident in them both is there will to win,” Smedley said. “We are going to miss their great play and their leadership both on the court and off the court. Their intensity will be missed. There was never a ball near them that they didn’t go after.”

The two defensive stalwarts intensity and will to win has never been slowed by the physical

demands of a full collegiate volleyball season.

“The one hip I always fall on has broken all of its blood vessels, so it doesn’t even bruise anymore,” Reeks said.

The bumps and bruises are not mutually exclusive to Reeks.

“I don’t get bruises on my knees,” said Hatch, “they’re pretty worn in.

Now I just get floor burns, or lose skin” Most casual volleyball fans do not consider the sport incredibly physically taxing because there is limited contact between players, but the injuries and wear and tear on the bodies of the participants tell a different tale.

“The girls in the front are constantly leaping and landing in strange positions, which causes stress on the knees, ankles and shin splints, but they are tough,” Reeks said. “The girls on defense run the risk of slamming into one another going for the ball.”

Each player is outfitted with kneepads to try and quell the repeated knocks to the body, but it does not eliminate demand on the player’s frame.

“The kneepads are supposed to absorb some shock help us slide but they don’t take away all of the discomfort of hitting the floor,” Hatch said.

There is no questioning the dedication, toughness and heart of the Hatch and Reeks, and the selfless way in which they have sacrificed for the good of the group this season.

To most the physical grind

would seem like an unfair expectation to have of these girls, but they are quick to point out that they give their efforts out of a love for the game and their teammates.

“Volleyball is a part of me; I wouldn’t want to let it go, I couldn’t let it go,” Reeks said.

“Getting out there on the floor and seeing the fans and getting a chance to compete in what we love makes everything, all the practices, worth it,” Hatch said. “We make life long friendships, we meet people everywhere we go and play, we meet good people.”

The college experience has been centered around four years of volleyball for Reeks, and she hopes she can pass some of the things that she has learned during her journey at CU on to the younger girls of the team and to all of the Aggie student body.

“Your senior year goes by really fast so you need to do everything now, because time runs out,” Reeks said.

Although the Aggies are graduating two key defensive players in Liberos Hatch and Reeks as well as standout Middle Blocker Whitney Long, the players leave knowing that the team has the leadership in place to foster continued success in the future.

“Coach Smedley is great,” Reeks said. “I wish I would have had her for all four years; she is incredibly knowledgeable about the game. She goes to a lot of games of the other teams in the conference and prints out scouting reports so the team is always well prepared.”

KEARNEY continued from page 1

“If I didn’t have a passion that went beyond winning or losing, I don’t think I would have lasted this long,” Kearney said. “I’ve always been an educationfirst person.”

Kearney sees athletics as a magnification of life.

People are given tasks to complete by bosses in life in the same way athletes are given assignments by coaches on the field or court. She said the only difference between the two is that there is not always someone looking over the person’s shoulder checking on them.

“I think a lot of these students who were involved in athletics are even more prepared to enter corporate America than they would have been,” Kearney said. “ They’re used to having goals they have to meet and being under pressure to meet them. They just don’t have a coach yelling at them all the time.”

Kearney’s life could be seen as the poster-child for determination. She credits that drive and passion to her childhood. She was born into a poor military family and started working at young age in a laundromat and cleaning houses for clients. Moving around a lot, she never had the chance to make a lot of friends or set roots down in one particular community. But looking back on it, Kearney said the diversity of her childhood has helped her in the long run.

“Just as I’ve come from a very diverse background in terms of regions, I’ve lived a very diverse background in terms of how I grew up,” she said. “Adversity is part of the experience that helps us evolve

into the people we are later in life. I always knew there was more to life than what I had. Education has been a life-saver for me and it’s been a component where I’ve really been able to go back and do some great things in my community.”

Kearney’s 50-minute long speech drew applause and laughter throughout the evening. She joked about how it took two Democrat presidential candidates to represent her. And even though the country is in a hardship at the moment, she said there would be change.

“We’re here to talk about [the] historical excellence of this university,” she said. “I look around this room and I see the faces of potential future presidents. And if you don’t believe me, who would have thought a little black girl from the backwoods of Mississippi would be eating Christmas dinner at the White House?”

Throughout her speech, Kearney continued to reiterate that people should never give up, no matter how bad things get. She’s experienced triumph and tragedy with the death of her mother in high school and the 2002 accident that nearly cost her life. Kearney lives by the mantra of “believe it, speak it, do it.”

“A lot of times we’ll believe something, but then we talk ourselves out of it or someone will talk us out of it,” she said. “You have a president [Dr. Cindy Ross], who is as crazy as me, who said she was going to raise $8 million and no one thought she could do it. And she reached that goal and decided to go further.”

Photos by Bennett Dewan

Speaking from the heart: Beverly Kearney, head track coach at the University of Texas and seven time collegiate national championship winner, speaks about her life experiences with the Cameron athletes.

8

Variety

November 17, 2008

Review by Joshua Rouse Fall 2006 saw the launch of what could possibly be a generation-defining game.

“Gears of War” had drawn a lavish amount of praise ever since its debut in 2005 during the Xbox 360’s debut on MTV. The game’s graphics showed what the so-called “next generation” of consoles could do with the added horsepower under the hood.

Two years after the third-person shooter debuted to stellar sales and reviews, its sequel, the aptly named “Gears of War 2,” launched on the Xbox 360 on Nov. 7. The sequel is more of an evolution rather than an evolution like its predecessor.

While it wasn’t the first game to implement a cover system, with games like “G.R.A.W.” already doing so, “Gears” refined the cover system and added a fluidity and smoothness that had never been seen before. For the first time, players could transition from cover to cover, moving seamlessly through the battlefield while still managing to shoot their weapons and kill the enemy.

The main complaint about the first game’s cover system was the hardship that it could cause in intense combat.

Moving from cover to cover, sliding into cover, combat rolls and sprinting were all mapped to a single button.

Players hoping to spring away from an enemy might find themselves latched onto a wall and getting killed.

While the control system remains unchanged from the first game, “Gears of War 2” refined the cover system so that the player doesn’t stick to every rock and ledge that is presented on the battlefield. In the end, the game is even more fluid with less frustrating moments.

“Gears” was also knocked for its shallow, or non-existent, depending on your point of view, story. The game took a minimalist approach to story telling. The player took the role of Marcus Fenix, a disgraced soldier who’s broken out of jail by his friend Dom to help fight against the invading locust horde, a coalition of creatures from under the planet’s surface.

The specifics behind Fenix’s imprisonment remain unclear, even through the second game, but there are hints through the extended fiction that on Emergence Day, the day the locust horde presented itself, Fenix

abandoned his post to save his father.

The second game takes six ESRB rating: M for Mature months after the events of the first.

PLAY TIME: 10-12 hours A light mass bomb (think of a massive NO. OF PLAYERS: 1-10 nuclear explosive) was deployed at SYSTEMS: Xbox 360 Standard Edition the end of the first ($59.99) and Limited Edition $69.99 game, but failed to kill the locusts.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Gears of War 2 takes This time, they’re the greatest pieces of the original game and back with a new improves on them ten-fold. It’s the premier title weapon that can for the Xbox 360 with an engaging campaign sink entire cities. and an unrivaled multiplayer suite. Pure The story has gameplay doesn’t get much better than this. been fleshed out a lot more than the original with a will char everything to a crisp. You will new sub-plot that centers around Dom love the smell of burning locust in the trying to find his missing wife, Maria. morning.

Part of the game will be spent listening Any time you attach a chainsaw to to a seven-foot man with arms that are a gun and give the player the option the size of pythons sobbing about his to cut enemies in half, there will be missing wife while the remaining Delta lots and lots of blood. Needless to squad members laugh. It’s hard to say say “Gears of War 2” does not skimp whether the storyline is necessary or on the violence and gore. In fact, not, but it does add some emotional it’s so over-the-top that it’s almost depth to a very shallow game, not that laughable. Enemies will explode into there’s anything wrong with shallow. a mass of mush and blood with a well “Gears of War 2” is the pinnacle of placed shotgun blast. Aim steady and “summer blockbuster” for the video fire accurately, heads will pop like game industry. Combine the action watermelons with a sound effect like of “Die Hard,” “Independence Day” someone assaulted a balloon with a and “Transformers” and you will get thumbtack. It’s a bloody satisfying a fraction of what “Gears of War 2” affair that will have you laughing at the has to offer. There are events through carnage you can cause. the campaign that will make your The main characters from the jaw drop to the floor and will leave original game are back including the you shaking your head at the sheer annoying Augustus Cole “Train” absurdity of it. After all, you literally and Baird. Cole is a stereotypical get trapped in a monster’s stomach and loudmouth who screams and cusses have to chainsaw its heart. Yes, I said as he destroys the locust. Baird is chainsaw. rather snide and sarcastic and loves to Since “Gears of War 2” takes complain a lot. The banter between the place on an alien planet, Epic, the four Delta squad members is funny developers behind the game have and is a slight relief from the constantly plenty of room to make the guns depressing story. Though, there is a absurd and downright gratifying. The rising speech at the beginning that Lancer, the standard-issue weapon, will get your blood pumping. Think of has a chainsaw bayonet attached to the “Independence Day” speech only it. You can use it to cut enemies from cornier. the neck down or from the crotch The art style of “Gears of War 2” up. The Hammerburst, the locust has improved as much as the graphics grunt weapon, has been improved have. Instead of the drab brown and with a slower rate of fire but has better gray color scheme of the original accuracy. A massive chaingun has been game, there are vibrant colors and added alongside a flamethrower that even a bright rainbow.

Gears of War 2

MCT Campus

Beat them while they’re down: A new execution move in ‘Gears of War 2’ allows the player to pummel a downed enemy with their fists. Many weapons, including the torque bow, offer brutal execution moves of their own.

The Delta squad members fight through everything from bright snowcapped mountains to exotic underground caverns with glowing blue plants to lush forests and the occasional ruined city.

The horriblybaked lighting from the original game has been replaced with some impressive highdynamic-range lighting.

It’s not as impressive as the lighting found in “Halo 3,” but there are moments that will make you go “wow,” like a gunfight in a dark tunnel with only the muzzle flashes to light

up the area.

Most of the textures have been overhauled and look slightly sharper than the previous game, but the big improvements are the huge numbers of enemies you will get to fight at a time and how the framerate holds strong even in the middle of heavy action.

Remember that time at the end of Act 4 in “Gears of War” where the Brumack showed up but was only in a cutscene? After all, it had been the most publicized creature of the game since it was announced. Well, you will get to fight it, and its brother and a distant third cousin and a friend of the family. Brumacks appear like cockroaches through the game. They’re tough as nails and are downright scary to look at, but there is a sense of accomplishment when you take one down.

Also returning is the eight-legged Corpser. The Corpser battle in “Gears of War” was disappointing to say the least, but these are more dynamic and are even scarier than their predecessors. It’s as if they got uglier, and that’s not even possible.

There are times when you will fight 30 to 40 enemies on a screen as they pour out of holes. The average encounter features 10 to 12 grunts and the occasional tougher enemies like Kantus, which will revive the dead.

Yes, not only are you fighting monsters from under the surface, but they will turn into zombies.

The only frustrating aspect of the “Gears of War 2” campaign is the new enemy, the Ticker, which acts like the luminescent wrenches of the first game. It will explode when it nears you and could kill you in one hit.

These can become quite a pain in the cumbersome close areas.

The entire campaign will last around 10 to 12 hours, substantially longer than the original game and, like the original, it can be played completely through with a buddy over Xbox LIVE or local split-screen.

After you’ve bored yourself to death destroying locusts and saving the planet, you can take the fight to Xbox LIVE in up to 10-player matches. The online system has been completely revamped with a “Halo 3” style matchmaking system. Up to five players can join a party together and compete against other similarly skilled opponents in numerous gametypes.

The favorites from the original game are back like Execution and Warzone.

Annex, a late addition to the original game, returns alongside Meatflag, a variant of capture the flag; Wingman, a game with five teams of two players and Guardian, a variant of the original’s Assassination where you have to protect a leader on your team.

The netcode has been completely revamped and improved from the original game. There is still a slight hint of bullet lag, but you won’t be able to tell most of the time. Shotgun duels are now a thing of the past. The Lancer has been tweaked

and made more powerful with the addition of stopping power.

In the first game, players could just charge each other with shotguns and see who would randomly win the duel but not any longer. Any line of fire will slow down a charging enemy and stop them in their tracks. Cover and tactics are the name of the game now, and the game plays out how it was meant to be.

Chainsaw attacks have been tweaked as well. Instead of having two people charge each other and one player randomly chainsawing the other, there is now a new duel feature implemented. Two players will have to press a button as fast as they can in a given period of time. Whoever wins gets to chainsaw the other player in a bloody mess.

The defining feature of the “Gears of War 2” multiplayer suite is the Horde mode. Up to five players spawn on one of the 12 multiplayer maps and fight against hordes of locust enemies from the campaign. There are up to 50 waves and they will test even the best “Gears of War” players.

Five multiplayer maps from the original game are free for download with all new copies of the game. The maps haven’t been officially released on the marketplace for a cost yet. They’re available in all new copies of “Gears of War 2” as an attempt to stem the sale of used copies. The maps have all received face lifts and slight balancing tweaks for the new gameplay.

It’s hard to say whether “Gears of War 2” will be the generation-defining game that its predecessor set out to be. Everything about it is bigger and badder than the original, but it’s still just a refinement of the original. There are no significant gameplay additions.

“Gears of War 2” could be described as the first game with a new coat of paint and new weapons and locales, but isn’t that what we want in a successful sequel?

“Gears of War 2” takes everything the first game did and cranks the intensity up to 12. Even the most exciting encounter in “Gears of War” is eclipsed by an average fight in the sequel.

The sequel doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it doesn’t set out to. It’s an intense shooter with plenty of thrills, excitement and blood. Plus, you have a chainsaw on your gun. How much better can you get than that?