Oct. 14, 2009

The student voice of Midwestern State University

The Wichitan page 7 Pom-pom Fever

page 8 Mustangs stumble

CMT’s show ‘Making the Team’ demonstrates what it takes to be a Cowboys’s cheerleader.

Women’s soccer suffers a heartbreaking loss

WEDNESDAY, October 14, 2009

Lights, camera, theater festival Lauren Wood Entertainment Editor

Students dedicate their summers to performing labor of love Chris Collins

Managing Editor How do you enjoy spending your vacation time?

Some students go to the beach, or to Vegas. Others tackle home projects they didn’t have time to complete during the semester.

Others just sleep and chill.

But Phillip Ray and Staci Byrd, both MSU seniors, have others plans for their time off: mission trips.

Fun to these two is traveling to a far away, underprivileged country

to perform free labor. Labor that they pay to do.

Knowing that they’ve helped other people and proselytized on Christianity’s behalf is all they need, they both said.

In the summer of 2008, Byrd traveled to Moldova, a poor European country tucked between Romania and the Ukraine. Her mission: to talk to and care for the kids at an orphanage.

Byrd enlisted for mission work through the GoNOW organization, part of MSU’s Baptist Student Ministry.

A straight eight-hour flight from Houston to Germany, a 12hour layover and another two-

See MISSION page 4

MSU student Phillip Ray helps dig a water well in Guatemala during a mission trip.

Photo Courtesy

MSU will play host to the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) Thursday through Saturday, which invites other colleges to attend acting classes, receive critiques on their work and learn from some of the best in the business.

The three-day festival includes workshops, critiques, forums and productions, all in hopes of

improving the quality of college theater.

The MSU Theater Department usually tries to attend the festival at the other schools every other year, or at least once every four years, but this year they volunteered to be a host.

“The festival usually consists of many schools, but this year I think the economy has kept some schools from participating,” Brandon Smith, theater technical assistant/adjunct faculSee THEATERpage 4

Policies tweaked for H1N1 outbreak Donace Wilkinson For the Wichitan

Due to H1N1, some Midwestern State University professors have relaxed their attendance policies this semester while others see no need to do so.

According to Assistant Professor of Education and Reading Dr. John Schreiber, in the last two weeks he has had at least one student missing per session because of flu symptoms.

Schreiber said he rarely ever has students not show up.

“Once they say fever, I say stay home,” Schreiber said. “I have adjusted my attendance policy. I do not count for flu ab-

sences.”

Assistant Professor of Education and Reading Dr. Gayle Mullen said attendance in her classes has been off this semester; six students were absent Monday.

“I’m hoping it’s illness,” Mullen said.

She said she has thought about changing her attendance policy.

Assistant Professor of Education Dr. SuHua Huang said attendance in her early classes has been worse.

“Students cannot get up on time,” Huang said.

She did say, however, that absences have increased due to the flu, because students or their See ATTENDANCE page 4

Faculty gets advice from student panel

Chris Collins Managing Editor

The Teaching and Learning Resource Center hosted a panel discussion Thursday for students to express what they want and what they expect from faculty.

Seven students, one from each academic discipline and two from mass communication, served as the panel. Faculty from various disciplines attended to answer questions and listen to concerns.

Dr. Jim Sernoe, chair of mass communication, presided.

Some of the main topics discussed were qualities of good

teachers, handing back assignments on time, clarity, communication and fairness. Teacher evaluations were also discussed in some detail.

“I need to get assignments back in a timely manner,” Julia Graham, senior mass communication major said. “It drives me insane when it takes like a month to get it back, because I’m dying to know.

“Communication is key,” she continued. “It’s frustrating when you have that one professor who seems unwilling to give explanation about something.”

“My problem is teachers who See PANELpage 4

Due to disappointing response rate, evaluations back on paper Abbie Scott Hunt For the Wichitan

Students will soon see a familiar packet appearing on their professors’ desks as the last week of the semester approaches, because MSU is reverting back to paper evaluations after the online system failed to produce satisfactory results.

Dr. Russell Long, Interim Pro-

vost for Midwestern State University who has been interim provost for the past two months, said that the university is planning to reinstate the in-class teacher evaluations, “because there was such a low response rate from students online.”

The response rate was a whopping 10 percent – a disappointing turnout. Long said it’s hard to get any kind of accurate reading of a professor’s performance from such a small sample.

“(You can get) no meaningful data from a sample size that small,” Long said.

Every department on campus used the online evaluation system, but Long said no one department stood out for having more feedback than another.

“It varied a little but to be honest, I don’t remember which department was best and which was worst,” Long said.

Long was unsure of the number of years MSU has had the

online evaluation system in place, or whether or not it was part of an eco-friendly campus effort, but said he thought the reasoning behind its inception was to get more instantaneous feedback.

“I don¹t know that it had anything to do with (green-ing) the campus,” Long said. “I think it was done because it was seen as a more efficient, immediate kind of evaluation.”

Evaluations are important be-

cause they play a role in the tenure and promotion process.

“Certainly part of the tenure and promotion process is evaluation of teaching effectiveness and student evaluations can be an important part of that process,” Long said. “I taught for several years and I found that the comments were the single most important thing to me as an instructor.”

He clarified that the most significant comments were made

by students who put thought and effort into what they wrote rather than just making a generic statement of like or dislike.

The cost of this venture?

Long said, “It will not be a secret,” but that it’s “too early to tell” what the changeover will cost, if anything.

We may already have the equipment in place that can “read” the evaluations, Long said. “People in IT are

See EVALUATIONS page 4

Staff Editorial

Response times may vary Feedback is critical when knowing how to best serve students at MSU. Surveys and evaluations are an effective way of obtaining that feedback.

From venting hidden rage of a professor to praising a teaching style, surveys have long been the go-to method for colleges and universities nation-wide to learn how to educate better and experience college as a whole.

A few years ago, in an effort to conform to the technological aspect of college life, MSU decided to switch from paper evaluations to online evaluations. Students had the option of filling out these evaluations in the comforts of their own dorms or apartments.

However, despite our university’s attempt to web-ify these evaluations, students have neglected the chance to speak up.

In response to the lack of, well, response, MSU faculty members have decided to return to their evaluation roots: paper copies in class.

Sure, the convenience might be gone.

But, let’ s be honest... If you can put anything off in college, you’re going to.

There’s no doubt about it. And, with tests and projects and papers, evaluations are the last thing on the list of important things to do.

We sure will miss those extra credit points some profs offered, though.

With paper copies, professors take five minutes from their lecture and allow every student a chance to respond.

And, with a wider margin of response, more effective steps toward improvement can be made.

Plus, who can argue with five fewer minutes of lecture time? Any break is a welcome break.

By going a bit old fashioned, MSU has made a stride in the direction of improvement. Kudos, MSU. You win this week.

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Copyright © 2007. The Wichitan is a member of the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association. The Wichitan reserves the right to edit any material submitted for publication.

Opinions expressed in The Wichitan do not necessarily reflect those of the students, staff, faculty, administration or Board of Regents of Midwestern State University. First copy of the paper is free of charge; additional copies are $1. The Wichitan welcomes letters of opinion from students, faculty and staff submitted by the Friday before intended publication. Letters should be brief and without abusive language or personal attacks. Letters must be typed and signed by the writer and include a telephone number and address for verification purposes. The editor retains the right to edit letters.

The truth and lies about zombies

Josh Hoggard Zombie Expert

There is a dangerous time creeping around the corner.

It isn’t often talked about, and is brushed under the table like some sort of folklore.

Since people pass this looming tragedy off as myth, they will find themselves unprepared on that fateful day.

I’m talking, of course, about the zombie apocalypse.

First in a series

Don’t let anyone fool you.

Zombies are real. Many of you reading this have been lied to. Zombies are not fictional monsters.

Zombies do exist.

Sadly, many zombie researchers and experts believe that this “zombie invasion” is closer than we think.

The ancient Egyptian calendar has predicted every large scale zombie invasion accurately to the day so far in our world’s history.

And, according to said calendar, this Halloween, the entire world is in for a rude awakening, as the largest zombie attack in human history will begin.

As a well-versed zombie expert, I feel it necessary to raise awareness of this unfortunate, yet inevitable day approaching, as well as inform the public of survival strategy and tactics.

So, over the next three weeks, I will impart as much knowledge as I can to you faithful readers to help you

last through the zombie apocalypse until the glorious day if or when a cure is found.

I have found, in my years of research and field experience, that awareness of the virus which causes humans to turn into flesh eating zombies, or the Z Virus, as we’ll call it, is surprisingly low.

With such low awareness, it is highly unlikely much is known about the true nature of both zombies and the Z Virus.

So, with that in mind, I would like to clear up some of the common myths about the zombie plague.

In order to understand what a zombie is, it is important to know what it’s originator, the Z Virus, actually does.

When the Z Virus enters the blood stream, it heads straight for the hosts’ brain. Once in the brain, it causes all normal bodily function to stop.

The virus takes over the host’s brain, and causes all normal humanity and life in that host to cease.

Then, for a reason still unknown to scientists, after death, the Z Virus causes the body to be reanimated as a zombie.

While the rest of the body is still dead, amazingly, the brain is still functioning, but, not as a normal brain should.

All the brain wants is living human flesh.

So, in essence, this Z Virus kills the body of its’ hosts, and then becomes its puppet master, rather than bringing it back to life.

With the onset of the Z Vi-

The Wichitan Editorial Board

rus, all complex thought and abstract processes of the brain are halted, and only the most primitive brain functions, such as senses and simple motor processes, are ceased.

Memories are erased, emotions are lost, and all that is human that remains about a zombie is it’s brain.

With this knowledge, a few common zombie misconceptions must be set right.

First of all, this virus is spread directly through bodily fluid contact (blood-to-blood or saliva-to-blood). One cannot contract the virus simply by getting infected blood on their skin.

If blood or saliva gets in your eyes or mouth, however, that is an entirely different story.

Refrain from making out with zombies at all costs.

And, as tasty as they might appear, try not to lick a zombie either.

Once the virus infects the host, it is 100 percent fatal.

Until a cure is found, anyone bitten by a zombie will become a zombie.

It is also worth noting that, since a zombie is, in all possible ways, a walking dead body, the natural decomposition which occurs with death still apply to zombies.

Reeger mortis still sets in.

Muscles still decompose. The process might be slowed, true, but a zombie is dead!

So, the crazy, blood-thirsty rabid zombies one would see in movies such as 28 Days Later do not accurately portray true zombies. Think more

Reporters Richard Carter

Advertising Manager Jamie Monroe

Managing Editor Chris Collins

Photographers Loren Eggenschwiler

Adviser Randy Pruitt

Op-Ed Editor Josh Hoggard

Copy Editor Lauren Wood Jamie Monroe

Editor-in-Chief Brittany Norman Entertainment Editor Lauren Wood Sports Editor Kaitlin Morrison Photo Editor Julia Raymond

along the lines of Shaun of the Dead.

Although Hollywood has exaggerated the true nature of zombies, one fact has remained constant throughout zombie’s rise in the film industry: The only way to stop a zombie is by removing the head or destroying the brain.

Since the virus feeds off and controls the brain, this fact becomes common sense.

Looks like headshot kings will come in handy after all.

With the light of truth shining on the three biggest zombie myths, here are a few things to keep in mind.

• With the onset of Z Virus, emotions and memories die. All of the things that made the infected individual themselves is now vanished. Kill all of your infected friends with a smile on your face.

• Do not eat the delicious flesh of a zombie. As attractive as it may appear, it is quite toxic to humans, and leads in immediate death.

• Keep yourself entertained.

If you don’t you’ll end up going crazy. Zombie Kill of the Week is an effective coping mechanism.

• Zombies make terrible pets.

Trust me. I’ve tried it.

Keeping these truths in mind, next week, we will discuss some basic survival tactics and strategies.

Until then, review the facts about zombies and the virus.

Survive until next week...

Op-Ed

Crisis of Faith:

The Wichitan October 14, 2009

3

Reppin’ Religion - Searching for the original ‘G’

Chris Collins Managing Editor

Is there a God?

People have pondered this question since the dawn of human civilization. Every culture has come up with a different conclusion, some reasonable, others outlandish.

The ancient Greeks believed the gods were personification of humankind: powerful, but petty and cruel. The Aztecs, along with other Mexican cultures, worshipped sun gods.

First in a series American Indians hold that nature is lord, holding it as dear to their hearts as their own families, while many South American religions hinge on the holiness of animal life.

But which religion is right?

Which is wrong?

It can’t be true that God is the sun, nature, an animal and a superpissed humanoid all at once.

So who’s the freakin’ liar?

Call me analytical. Or investigative. Or nosey, maybe. But sometimes it really bugs me when I can’t figure something out, no matter how hard I think about it. But I’m turning my frustration into motivation – I’m going to try to figure out if there is a god, or if there is not.

I need to figure out, ‘Who my real daddy is,’ as it were.

Throughout this new series, which I’m tentatively naming Crisis of Faith, I’ll be exploring various religious texts, publications on spirituality, video games, TV, movies and real-life scenarios that might hold the key to my research.

I’ll try to keep the mytho-lingo hip so all of you college brahs and hoes can read along even if you aren’t tenured professors. I’ll also try to relate the material in a con-

temporary way, with references to pop culture and current events and even some dirty words.

I’m not implying I know more than anyone else, that I have the answers or that there’s even any point in running a column like this. But I know I have some questions, and I think they ought to be asked. I think that’s significant in itself.

Some people have a 24/7 connection to God. They feel like they know God and that they are truly, spiritually connected to divinity.

To those people, kudos.

But other people, people like me, feel like God is the guy who shows up to the party but doesn’t ever return your texts.

It’s not that we feel abandoned

by God – at least I don’t – but we feel like there’s a secret to discover, a puzzle to solve.

And who doesn’t like a good mystery?

I know what some of you are

thinking. Who honestly gives a shit?

Look, I’m not some religiofreakbag trying to get you to drink arsenic out of a Dixie cup.

I party. I go to class. I chill with my friends.

I’m just a regular bro going, “So God… wtf?”

As with any good experiment (and yes, I do see this working out as some sort of a spiritual experiment) I have a guideline and a hypothesis. As Scooby Doo’s favorite ascot-sporting Aryan would say, “Gang, I’ve got a plan.”

Here it is arranged in a neat, bulleted list: • Explain why it’s important to be aware of other culture’s mythologies and belief systems, and why it’s relevant to present-day life.

• Propose that there’s an interconnectedness between various world religions, that metaphor

and symbology play a role in the interpretation of myth.

• Compare similar archetypal scenarios of popular mythic stories, finding the contrasts, but more importantly, the likenesses.

• Critique the media’s portrayal of contemporary religion.

• Use mythology as a tool to evaluate life and cope with a brutal but redeeming world.

• Refute claims that spiritual enterprises are less important than monetary or intellectual enterprises.

• Relate the importance of being spiritually educated and bemoan curriculums that don’t rate philosophical education a high priority.

• Finally, make some people rofl.

Understand that I don’t expect this to be an easy task – I’m not a professor, scholar or theologian.

I’m a college student with a back-

ground in journalism who does his homework.

Keeping this is mind, I’ll be writing from my own personal experience and perspective. I’ll try to be as objective as possible and do my best not to bash any religion.

That said, scientology does sound a little gay.

This series is meant to be partly informative and partly entertaining, split right down the middle. What does this mean? It means please don’t come into the Wichitan office with a bomb strapped to your chest if you read something that pisses you off in this column.

That’s what the Letter to the Editor section is for.

Now you’ve been warned. Your eyes signed the waiver when they danced over this paragraph.

Sucker!

Now I’m as free as Kanye to say what I want.

Until next week.

by it. I’ve learned that I can be proud of my school and feel like it’s a great place to be a student without expecting everyone else to agree with me, because face it, they won’t.

There are going to be the diehard Texas Tech fans who feel that just because their football team is ranked whatever in Division 1 means their education is better than yours.

There are also the private school attendees who have to be proud of their colleges, or else they would cry because of the $40,000 a year they’re shelling out for their ‘superior learning institutions.’

I can handle these snide comments from parents of friends, friends, various assorted extended family members, and random strangers on the street.

I can’t, however, understand why a faculty member at Midwestern State University would be the one

spouting off negativity.

In the elevator in Dillard two weeks ago, a professor and another student joined me for the ride down to the first floor from the third.

I came in halfway through the conversation, obviously, but what was said still definitely rubbed me the wrong way.

To paraphrase, this faculty member believed that MSU should not even be a real university, but a community college. Part of his reasoning rested upon students taking around six years to graduate.

Last I checked, the national average for graduation jumped above four years a long time ago, not just at Midwestern.

That’s not even taking into account the high proportion of nontraditional students we have.

You know, those students who have to work full-time because mommy and daddy aren’t paying for school? The ones who have families

to raise and other responsibilities?

Or are those students only suited to community colleges as well?

My question to this faculty member: do you consider yourself a real professor? Do you belong on the payroll at a subpar university? Because you’ve been at this school for awhile, and if you were really that unhappy, your protest really should have gone beyond just words by now.

If you feel the need to insult the school paying your paycheck, why don’t you stop taking the paycheck?

Find another job if you’re too good for us.

I’m sure we’ll find another amazing professor to replace you with, maybe even one with a positive attitude who is focused on supporting and improving the university rather than putting it down.

Go teach at UT or Tech or some fancy private university up in the northeast. No one will miss you too

much, I’m sure. We’ve got a strong student population and an even stronger faculty who can fill the enormous hole I’m sure you believe you’d leave behind. We really have no need for a naysayer taking up a salary that could be given to someone who cares about making this school a better place.

Our administration, faculty, and student body are all amazing, and your using the university as a punching bag to vent whatever frustrations you have only serves to hurt its image more when we have so many people working tirelessly in the opposite direction.

We have a president, Dr. Jesse Rogers, who maintains open discourse with the entire university community and actually listens to our concerns.

We have Dr. Farrell, the Vice President of University Advancement and Student Affairs, constantly brimming with positivity about

the school and students that he obviously cares so much about.

We have dozens and dozens of other administrators and members of the campus community working to raise our admissions standards, give us access new facilities and new technology, creating new programs and majors and improving the ones we have and generally doing everything they can to make MSU a place people want to attend, to prove it’s not the fallback school that naysayers claim it is.

Those of us who love our university see all of this hard work and appreciate it. Dr. Farrell and Dr. Rogers We chose this school, just like you did, professor. The only difference is instead of bashing it, we’re doing what we can to make it an even better place than it already is.

If you feel as though you’re too good for us, you should feel free to leave.

Unnecessary negativity brings us and our university down Brittany Norman Editor In Chief

We hear it all the time, people either intentionally or inadvertently insulting our school.

“You go to MSU? Where’s that?”

“Oh. You just stayed in town then?”

“So you couldn’t get in anywhere else?” or “But why, you graduated in the top of your class?”

“I know you’re getting A’s, but it’s MSU. At insert name-brand school here, such as the almighty UT, an A means a lot more. (this one means that the person doing the insulting has either failed or nearly-failed all of their finals and/or midterms and has to explain away your passing grades in front of their friends/families/his or her own failing self-confidence).

It’s actually pretty funny, once you stop getting your feelings hurt

the

Monday, October 19 8 a.m.................T-shirt Exchange Begins • Student Development & Orientation (CSC) 194 3 p.m. ...............Equality in Higher Education Tree Dedication • McCoy Engineering Hall 8 p.m. ...............Homecoming Lip Sync’ Competition • CSC Comanche Suites Tuesday, October 20 4 p.m. ...............Dedication, Bruce & Graciela Redwine Student Wellness Center and Vinson Health Center • Wellness Center 8 p.m. ...............Comedian: Tracey Ashley • CSC Comanche Suites Wednesday, October 21 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. All-School Picnic/Maverick’s 3rd Birthday Party ($2 per person unless on meal plan) • Sunwatcher Plaza 4 p.m. ...............Banner Competition and Judging • Clark Student Center Atrium 7 p.m. ...............Jazz Pianist Pearl Thuston • Akin Auditorium 8 p.m. ...............Psychic Entertainers: The Evasons • CSC Comanche Suites Thursday, October 22 11 a.m...............Homecoming Photo Booth • CSC Atrium 12 p.m. .............Homecoming Golf Tournament • Champions Course at Weeks Park Shotgun start at 1 p.m. Four-person scramble, $75/person includes green fee, golf cart, and food 5 p.m. ...............T-shirt Exchange Closes • Student Development & Orientation CSC 194 9 p.m. ...............Torchlight Parade • Begins at Killingsworth Hall 9:15 p.m. ..........Homecoming Bonre • Nocona Trail South Parking Lot Friday, October 23 1 – 3 p.m. .........Sorority Open House • Fain Hall 5 – 7 p.m. .........Fish Fry • Sikes Lake Center Fish, hamburgers, and trimmings, $8 per person (children under 6 free) 6 p.m. ...............MSU Cardboard Boat Race – Music, Fun, and Prizes • Sikes Lake 7 p.m. ...............Dessert Social – Honoring Class of 1959 • Alumni House 8 p.m. ...............Minority Alumni Mixer • Sunwatcher Village Clubhouse 9 p.m.-12 a.m. ..Homecoming Pirate Party • Don Flatt Gym 101 Saturday, October 24 7 a.m. ...............Morning Coffee • Clark Student Center Arrowhead Lounge 7:30 a.m. ..........Maroon & Gold Club Breakfast (buffet, pay at the door) • CSC Mesquite Dining Room 10-11:30 a.m. ...Homecoming Brunch & Alumni Awards Ceremony • CSC Comanche Suites 11:45 a.m. ........Homecoming Parade • MSU Campus – Judging in Quadrangle 1 p.m. ...............Minority Alumni Business Meeting • CSC Wichita I & II 5:30 p.m. ..........Tailgate Party and Competition • Memorial Stadium Entertainment by Rodney Parker and the 50 Peso Reward 7 p.m. ...............MSU Mustangs vs. Central Oklahoma • Memorial Stadium Tickets: For tickets to all events please call (940) 397-4121.

Homecoming T-shirts: Purchase your 2009 Homecoming T-shirt from the Ofce of Student Development & Orientation or the MSU Bookstore. Hurry in because supplies are limited.

T-shirts will be available beginning Tuesday, Oct. 20.

Spotlight COMING SOON TO A CAMPUS NEAR YOU… October 9-20

T-shirt Exchange: Bring a T-shirt from another university to CSC 194 and exchange it for a new Mustangs T-shirt. T-shirts collected from other universities will be appropriately disposed of at the Homecoming Bonre.

All Day, Clark Student Center

MSU Bookstore Homecoming 2009 hours: 7:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Monday, Thursday & Friday 7:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday and Wednesday 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Saturday

7:00pm, CSC Kiowa

Alumni Discount: MSU Alumni will receive a 10% discount on all imprinted items at the MSU Bookstore with a current Alumni Association card.

Wednesday, October 14

The Human Race Machine

We are all one race… the human race!

Mexican Americans: Past, Present & Future

7:00pm, CSC Shawnee

Thursday, October 15 Friday, October 16

Sept. 15 - Oct. 15 is Hispanic Heritage Month.

Salsa Dance Lessons Sept. 15 - Oct. 15 is Hispanic Heritage Month.

Domestic Violence the Musical

8:00pm, CSC Comanche

Tuesday, October 20

Free student tickets at the CSC Info Desk.

Student Government Association Meeting

7:00pm, Bolin 100

Tuesday, October 27

Open to all MSU students.

University Programming Board (UPB) Meeting

5:00pm, CSC Shawnee

Thursday, October 29

Help plan events for all MSU students.

UPB Haunted House

8-10pm, CSC Wichita I & II

FREE! Get ready for the spirit of Halloween.

Calling All Student Organizations!

The Spotlight is brought to you by

Homecoming 2009 is just around the corner. Be sure your organization signs up for all of the exciting competitions this year. Events include the Banner Competition, Lip Sync’, Cardboard Boat Race, Tailgate, and Parade. The winning organizations will receive additional funding for their organization.

Sign up or receive more information for all events in the Student Development and Orientation Office (CSC 194).

The Office of Student Development & Orientation Endless Opportunities. Lifelong Connections.

Clark Student Center, Room 194 (940) 397-4500 http://activities.mwsu.edu

Look for the next Spotlight on Wednesday, October 28, 2009!

4

News

The Wichitan October 14, 2009

MISSION..................................................................................................................................................................................continued from page 1 hour flight led Byrd to the thirdworld country.

“Everything was literally foreign,” Byrd said. “Some things look familiar because you’re not on another planet, but structure of the cites is very different.”

She said agricultural land and the towns were like polar opposites, going from moderately rich to dirt poor.

“It’s like cities where’s there’s wealth, to nothing where it’s completely poor,” Byrd said.

The group worked at an orphanage about three hours from where they stayed. They also did children’s activities and hosted a vacation Bible school in the town. The kids they interacted with ranged in age from three to 17.

The locals spoke Romanian and Russian, she said. Some of them knew conversational English, however.

“They learn English in school there, but a lot of them weren’t school-aged yet,” Byrd said.

“Since most of them came from poor families, their parents wouldn’t know English either.”

They had about four inter-

preters, who were members of the Moldovan community, in their group. Byrd said most of these people were college-aged, so it was refreshing to interact with similar people.

“It’s a third world country, but you really saw that when you were in the small villages,” Byrd said. “In the orphanage they only had one station of running water, so they had a sink in the kitchen. Their bathrooms were a hole in the ground because they didn’t have plumbing.”

The psychology major said the children in the orphanage were possessive and generally unhappy with their lives.

“Anything they had, it was theirs,” Byrd said. “They got angry a lot easier. They didn’t have a lot of relationships and they didn’t experience love at all in the orphanage. It was more like, ‘you’re here because your parents didn’t want you,’ or ‘they remarried and got rid of you because you weren’t part of their new family.’ A lot of them were angry and hurting.”

Byrd said there was a contrast

with the neighborhood kids.

They were actually capable of having fun.

“Those kids had the attitude that they were happy and that they enjoyed life,” Byrd said.

“When you walk through town, the people can tell that you’re American because of the way you dress and the way you carry yourself. I think the main difference is that we were happy – we just were.

“We had attention drawn to us just by walking down the street,” she said. “People would stare at us, scoff at us. The way they live there is based on survival, really. It seems like there’s not much they do just for fun. They don’t do to school because that’s what you do after high school. They go to school because if you have the money, that’s the way out.

Byrd said the trip was more than worth it because she got to make a difference in children’s lives. She raised $1,200 so she could help out in Moldova, she said.

She also took a mission trip to San Diego this summer,

where she helps found and run a church for 10 weeks.

Instead of going west, 21-year-old Phillip Ray went straight south for his mission trip. His destination was Guatemala City, a bustling city that boasts a population of over seven million.

Ray got interested in digging water wells when he attended a missionary conference in November last year. The LeadNOW assembly in Ft. Worth saw many Christian pastors speaking on the importance of Christ and missionary work, he said.

The project fit into his interest because he’s an engineering major, he said.

“I got some information and started looking around for a group to go with,” Ray said.

The Baptist Student Ministries also helped him join a group of 13 people that was leaving for Guatemala. Most of the group members were from Texas, though a few were from Missouri.

Ray was the only MSU student on the trip, he said.

He said he was a little startled when he viewed the relative poverty of the area.

“It was kind of a shock at first,” Ray said. “I had never been out of the country in a place like that. But then you adapt to it.”

Ray said the Guatemalan people don’t utilize sewers, but instead have pipes underground that carry and hold waste.

“You can’t throw your toilet paper in the toilet because it will clog it up,” he said. “It’s definitely not as advanced as our systems.”

Ray said the first day of the trip they drove to Nueva Granada, a small village on the Pacific coast with few luxuries of civilization like electricity and running water.

This is one of the reasons Ray and his group were helping to dig the well.

“You’re in the forest where it rains all the time, but you still don’t have running water of any sort,” he said.

Ray’s crew drove a threecar convoy with all the drilling equipment to get to the work

site. It was a six-hour drive from Antiqua to the drill site, but it probably should have taken about 3 hours, Ray said. The narrow, two-lane roads were packed with slow-moving traffic.

This is the second well that has been dug in the small village, Ray said. The first was built at the town school.

Ray and his group started digging the water hole on a hill where flooding is bad. That way, he said, the town will have drinkable water every time the area floods.

“They’re much more thankful for everything they have than we are here,” Ray said.

“Even though we have all this stuff, we still don’t appreciate everything we have.”

Ray said his most rewarding experience in Guatemala was telling a little local girl who only knew Spanish about Jesus for the first time. “The translator would write something down that I said about Jesus and show it to the girl,” Ray said. “She was learning about Jesus and English at the same time.

THEATER................................................................................................................................................................................continued from page 1 ulty member, said. “We only MSU has participated in the ogy,” Smith said. “They get Came to Mayfield” Thursday the critiques of other directors two visiting colleges, MSU have two colleges coming here festival since the 1980s, tak- to be professionals for a few at 11a.m., Wharton County and actors.” students and faculty as well as this year.” ing their shows on the road. days, not just students.”

Junior College will present “A The festival brings in profes- the general public can attend According to Smith, the last Last year the department trav- Local high schools including Gentleman from Wharton” at sors from larger universities the performances. time MSU hosted this event eled with their production of Rider High School and Hirschi 7:30 that evening, and Gray- and industry professionals, The general public tickets cost was in the 1980s or 1990s.

“Doubt.”

High School will also attend son County Junior College including Erich Friend, a top $5 each and MSU employees “I’m not sure exactly how long MSU theater majors will the event, taking part in some will show their production of theater safety expert in the and students get in free with ago it was, but I know it has also assist in the festival, help- of the workshops, as well as “The Illiad, The Odyssey, and region. The three-day festivalid MSU IDs. been quite some time,” Smith ing the other colleges with the watching the productions put All Greek Mythology in 99 val also consists of directors/ said. “We have received a lot technical parts of their shows, on by MSU, Wharton County Minutes or Less” Friday at 11 designers forum and response “This is great for our students,” Smith said. “We are of support from the university assisting them with the boards Junior College and Grayson a.m. sessions for each college. and many of the departments and technology.

County Junior College.

“It is good for students to see Despite the festival workshops very excited about the festival and professors have been very “Our students get to walk MSU will perform their pro- the work of other colleges,” and forums being limited to and all it will bring.” accommodating.” people through our technol- duction of “And the Rain Smith said. “As well as hear just theater majors and the ATTENDANCE.....................................................continued from page 1

EVALUATIONS....................................................continued from page 1

children are falling ill.

Huang’s attendance policy states that students will lose five final grade points after one unexcused absence, a letter grade for each time after that.

Students get an ‘F’ after four unexcused absences. Huang said she needs to “get a new attendance policy. This one is too easy on students.”

working on it right now and hope to have some hard numbers shortly.”

The way it will work: Professors would each get a packet in the department mailbox, labeled with the class and number section of the class, with evaluation sheets for each student to fill out.

Professors would each decide on a day to have their classes fill out the evaluations.

About five minutes before the

Professor of Education and Reading Dr. Margaret Hammer said she has not adjusted her policy. Attendance has been “pretty good.” In her classes, students can accumulate a possible 400 points. Students lose 15 points for every absence, Hammer said.

Assistant Professor of Kinesiology Dr. Julie Wood said

attendance in her classes has been better this semester. Her sessions have moved from D.L. Ligon Coliseum to Ferguson Building.

“Classrooms are more conducive to learning,” Woods said.Wood does not have an attendance policy. She expects students to be in class, she said.

end of the class period on that day, the professor would distribute the evaluations, leaving a colleague or student to monitor the class while the evaluations were completed.

The colleague or student would collect the completed evaluation sheets, place them all back into the packet and seal it.

From there, the packets would go to each department¹s main office and then on to the IT people.

The IT department would be responsible for the scanning and compilation of data from the evaluations.

After the final grades have been released for the semester, professors would get an analysis report from the IT people for each of their classes, which would include the original evaluation sheets with students’ handwritten comments.

PANEL.....................................................................................................................................................................................continued from page 1 are close-minded,” Vickie Starr, English major said. “They say you have to read this book and interpret it the way they say, and there’s no other way. They need to be open to new possibilities and new options.”

“And this is a small thing that’s a big deal: you need to let students go on time,” Starr said. “If you have back-to-back classes and you’re in Dillard hall, and you have to go all the way over, and use the bathroom also, you have to make a choice.

Are you going to be rude to the professor in the class you’re in by getting up and leaving, or are you going to be rude to the other by being late? It’s not that I mind staying over, but if

I have another class, it’s not an option” Thomas Arballo, mass communication major, said he was fortunate enough not to have many complaints about his instructors.

“I know y’all are busy,” Arballo said. “Everyone is. Where I sit is that if we have to take the time to sit down and do the assignment right, and get the best grade we can. Really the only homework I see for y’all is grading our stuff. So if our homework has to be turned in on time, I would hope that your homework would be to get it back on time.”

“Another thing is,” Starr interjected, “that if you’re failing

a class, you want to know like right now, not two months or a month down the road.”

“With how fast college is going we don’t really have too many assignments,” Arballo said. “The ones that you do turn in, it’s kind of a big deal to know how we’re going. It could be another month before we get another assignment.”

“We just did our senior evaluations, which are different from the online ones,” Graham said.

“It was more like what would improve this more, where you could actually write what you thought. With the course evaluations it’s more generic, like ‘I kind of agree,’ or ‘I kind of whatever…’ That’s what I put

on most of them.”

“It’s also about trend,” one instructor said. “If a lot of respondents thought you didn’t give assignments back on time, you probably have to own up to that. At least that’s what I thought about it.”

“I wanted to ask you guys a question,” Arballo said. “Whenever we did evaluations, I was like this is just like high school, nobody looks at these. But when you guys look at these, do you really care?”

“I still remember one from 30 years ago!” one instructor said.

Most of the faculty present clamored about how they really do care about evaluations.

“When I look at them, I try

to figure out how I can improve my teaching and my student’s learning,” one professor in education said. “Granted, the problem is if there’s something I’ve looked at and improved, this group of students has already moved on, and they won’t see the improvements that I’ve made in my course.

“I think we do take it seriously,” he continued. “Obviously, or we wouldn’t be here. It may be part of tenure, but I look at it past that. Because I want my course to be the best that it can be.”

“I think another point that Thomas brings up here is that we do a really terrible job of communicating to students

Something to say?

how seriously we take these evaluations,” another instructor chimed in. “A lot of us don’t take the time to say, ‘this is how it’s going to be used, this is why we think they’re important, here are the things I’ve changed in my class based on previous evaluations. I think that if you don’t understand how we use them, you should. Somebody said we cry over them, and they stick with you, they really do.

Course evaluations have recently been changed from their online format back to paper evaluations, though it was not a result of this panel.

The Wichitan is seeking guest columnists. If you have something you’d like to write about, email us an opinion piece to wichitan@mwsu.edu. We welcome opinions from students, faculty and staff.

Use your voice!

CELL THEORY Tim Barker MCT

With so much attention focused on the dangers of texting while driving, you’d have to say that Noah Lander was ahead of the times when he told his employees five years ago to put down their cell phones and watch the road.

Lander, who owns a 1-800-GOTJUNK franchise in University City, Mo., decided it wasn’t worth the potential hit to his insurance rates to allow workers to talk or text while driving.

“The second time one of our drivers rear-ended somebody while talking on the phone, I put the kibosh on that,” said Lander, who has eight trucks roaming the city on the typical day.

Lander is hardly alone in his conviction that texting and driving don’t mix.

Research, including a recent study the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, suggests the practice can be as risky as drinking while driving. There’s talk in Congress about withholding federal highway funding from states that don’t outlaw it. And late last week, President Barack Obama signed an executive order that could have major implications for the future of mobile texting.

For starters, it banned all federal employees - that’s about 4.5 million people, including the military - from texting and driving while doing government business or using government phones. The order defines texting to include sending or reading messages, as well as things like typing an address into a GPS device.

But the order also instructs government agencies to “encourage” contractors and subcontractors to follow the government’s lead.

“We’ll see the trickle-down effect after those agencies start to put that into their contracts,” said Suzanne Alumbaugh Bowling, a human resources expert with Employer Ad-

vantage, a Joplin-based firm that provides business services to a wide range of companies.

Already there has been a significant movement locally and nationally by companies that essentially have decided lawmakers haven’t done enough to curtail what studies have shown to be a hazardous activity. And it’s a problem that’s not likely to go away on its own, considering the surging popularity of text messaging: Some 4 billion messages were sent daily during the first half of 2009 - nearly double the rate in 2008 - according to The Wireless Association, a trade group.

Thus far, 18 states have banned texting by all drivers, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. An additional nine states have banned texting by novice drivers _ typically defined as drivers under the age of 18, though Missouri set the bar at 21.

With so many other states taking a hands-off approach, businesses large and small are being forced to consider internal policies to protect themselves - should any of their employees be involved in a textingrelated accident.

“It really is a public safety issue rather than a corporate safety issue,” said Doug Winter, an attorney with Bryan Cave in Washington. “But if the government doesn’t step up, they have to fear the possibility of lawsuits.”

Last week, AT&T announced it was launching a national public service campaign aimed curtailing texting in cars. As part of that initiative, the carrier also told its 290,000 employees that they can’t do it either.

“We wanted to lead by example,” said Kerry Hibbs, a spokesman for the company. “It wouldn’t make sense for our employees to be driving and texting when we’re asking other people not to do it.”

It’s something that many companies have done, or are considering doing, for a couple of reasons. The obvious one is the protection from lawsuits.

News Campus briefs Wednesday •The Human Race Machine in the CSC through Oct. 20 • Imagine Graduation in the CSC Atrium at 11 a.m.

• Mexican Americans: Past, Present, Future

Thursday • American College Theatre Festival in the Fain Fine Arts Theatre • Writing Proficiency Exam in Bolin 127 at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.

• Employee Service Pen Lunch Award in the CSC Comanche at noon • Tobacco Cessation Course in Bridwell 109 at 4:30 • Salsa Lessons by the Spanish Club in CSC Kiowa at 7 p.m.

Friday • American College Theatre Festival in the Fain Fine Arts Theatre • Teaching and Learning Resource Center Brown Bag Lunch in CSC Wichita at noon

The Wichitan October 14, 2009

5

Saturday • American College Theatre Festival in the Fain Fine Arts Theatre.

• Writing Proficiency Exam in Bolin 127 at 10 a.m.

Monday • Homecoming week • Last day for drop with ‘W’ • Student T-Shirt Exchange in the CSC 194 at 8 a.m.

• Lip Sync Competition in CSC Comanche at 8 p.m.

Tuesday • Dedication of Health and Wellness Center at 2 p.m.

• Student T-Shirt Exchange in the CSC 194 at 8 a.m.

• Tobacco Cessation Course in Bridwell 109 at 4:30 • Comedian Tracey Ashley in the CSC Comanche at 8 p.m.

• Classic Film Series: The Bad Seed in the Wichita Falls Museum of Art at 7 p.m.

6

The Wichitan October 14, 2009

Entertainment

‘Couples Retreat’ not a getaway for viewers Lauren Wood Entertainment Editor

“Couples Retreat” is definitely not a haven.

I was actually really disappointed when I saw “Couples Retreat” this weekend. Unfortunately, it is one of those movies that the previews are better than the actual film.

“Couples Retreat” is about four couples, all friends of course, who attempt to heal their spousal relationships at a New Age therapeutic resort.

Three of the couples think they are in happy, healthy relationships, but their friends Jason (Jason Bateman) and Cynthia (Kristen Bell) beg them to join them for a week at the resort, which is devoted to healing relationships. (And conveniently if all four couples go, it’s half price.)

Let’s start with everyone’s problems: u Jason and Cynthia are trying to have a child but are having difficulties, therefore are considering a divorce. u Dave (Vince Vaughn) and Ronnie (Malin Akerman) are having trouble with the romance in their relationship due to parenting duties. u Joey (Jon Favreau) and Lucy (Kristin Davis) have a cheating problem. They both have wandering eyes. u Shane (Faizon Love) has split from his wife and is dating a 20-year-old bimbo, Trudy (Kali Hawk).

There is an average amount of chemistry between the actors and it is believable they could all be friends. Hawk does a good job at holding her own amongst the seasoned cast.

However, she is the most annoying of the bunch and several times you find yourself wishing she would get voted off the island.

In the film, the couples fly to the Eden resort and are immediately amazed by the “screensaver-like” landscape. Everything seems to be going good until dinner when the couples find out they all have to go through couples strength building classes.

Jason and Cynthia are excited and ready, however the other three couples have their doubts about couples therapy, but agree to do it.

The next morning in their first activity, the couples are asked to strip down to their underwear and comment on their spouse’s body.

But there is a problem; Shane doesn’t have any drawers on.

As Vaughan puts it in the film, “Now it’s a party.” And the activities escalate from there.

The couples must also swim in shark infested waters, talk about their problems to their therapists, which turns pretty ugly for some, and attempt couples yoga in which a very sexual and buff instructor gets a little too encouraging.

The men don’t really bond in the movie, despite their wives

“Couples Retreat” opened in theaters Oct. 9.

turning against them. They just stand together trying to outtalk one another, which occasionally contains bonding dialogue.

Vaughan definitely holds the movie with his usual wittiness and diplomatic acting skills. (He must use them often when the couples start bickering.)

Favreau spends the majority of his time trying to get to East Eden, the singles resort. It is a party scene every night and where his resort focuses on reconnecting with your partner, the other focuses on sex.

Vaughn does a good job at playing a self-absorbed man in an “average” relationship and Love’s wild relationship is in good contrast to the other cookie-cutter couples in the film.

The plot in the film is very cliché and not really exciting. The

‘Scars’ leaves its mark on fans Devan Gill For the Wichitan

There’s no need to mince words regarding Basement Jaxx’s fifth studio album--it’s a terrific listen.

Fun, sexy, melancholy and eccentric all at once, “Scars” is more than just a return to form for Basement Jaxx.

Many of the innovative ideas and catchy beats that elevated the Brixton, London duo from the deep house scene to mainstream popularity are back in full force, albeit sharper and more focused than they’ve ever been.

Dance records, particularly from veteran acts like The Crystal Method or The Chemical Brothers, are usually exciting but flawed affairs in some form or another.

Surprisingly, this is not the case with “Scars.”

Every song is enthralling in its own way, from the dark hip-hop schizophrenics of the title track to the urgent romanticism of “A Possibility.”

it would be a shame if listeners didn’t experience this album through headphones at least once.

“Feeling’s Gone,” while bouncy and exhilarating, could be best appreciated while sitting down, and “Day of the Sunflowers” (which Yoko Ono guests on) is pure art pop all the way.

Even “She’s No Good” challenges Photo Courtesy Basement Jaxx’s newest album, listeners to pick apart “Scars,” is now available in stores. all of its little nuisances as it gets the Granted, this album doesn’t body moving. boast the same degree of conFor the most part, “Scars” is sistency as its predecessors, but more introspective and multiit manages to hold the listener’s layered than its contemporaries, attention all the way through but it guarantees satisfaction in (something that every other every way, whether you’re lookBasement Jaxx album post- ing for a good time on the dance “Rooty” has failed to do). floor or in a more intimate setEven though songs like “Rain- ting. In that regard, “Scars” is drops” and “Twerk” are tailored recommended listening, espespecifically for the dance floor, cially on a Saturday night.

Photo Courtesy

funny scenes also come in waves and are not too frequent, which was very unsatisfactory.

“Couples Retreat” is rated PG-13 for sexual content and language.

But if you’ve seen the preview, you’ve pretty much seen the movie. I would wait till it comes to DVD; it’s not worth the full price.

Photo Courtesy Malin Akerman and Vince Vaughn star as a couple trying to find the lost romance in their marriage.

‘SNL’: Sorry, nobody’s laughing Jamie Monroe Advertising Manager

Oh, “Saturday Night Live.”

People aren’t really talking about you these days. What are they saying? Things like, “SNL sure hasn’t been funny lately. You know, it hasn’t been funny since Will Farrell left.”

For the record, Will Farrell didn’t leave “lately.” Will Farell left “SNL” as a fulltime performer in 2002.

Seven years ago.

And no, “SNL” hasn’t been funny since.

To be fair, it’s had its moments. There were a few gems among the election season, and Tina Fey’s version of Sarah Palin far surpassed the actual governor in terms of recognition and popularity. And who could forget Justin Timberlake in a black leotard, immortalizing Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” in the pop culture lexicon?

But when it comes to the normal, week to week, average Saturday show, the sketches as a whole have been pretty lackluster; especially this season’s.

It’s not really for lack of talent. There are a lot of funny people on “SNL”’s current roster of comedians. But you can’t put a funny person in an unfunny sketch and hope the result is something humorous.

That’s kind of like marrying

Ryan Reynolds hosted the only funny show of the season, mostly because he wasn’t playing Ryan Reynolds in a bunch of moderately humorous sketches. Unfortunately, I don’t really remember any of the sketches he was in.

Which really speaks to the nature of “SNL”’s predicament. When sketches funny, they’re Photo Courtesy aren’t downright awful. When “Saturday Night Live” airs every Saturday night on NBC. they’re funny, they’re forgettable at best. an ugly person and a beautiful “SNL” isn’t in the news person and hoping that their kid for doing something groundgets all the good features. It just breaking, artistic, or culturdoesn’t work that way. ally shocking. It’s in the news For instance, Drew Barry- because a newbie dropped the more, last week’s host, is very f-bomb on live TV (during funny. She’s a brilliant director a particularly not-hilarious and a very likable actress. How- sketch) or because Lady Gaga ever, skit after skit featuring a sang the line, “dancing to that bubbly, obnoxiously perky Drew shit on the radio” uncensored.

Barrymore? Not funny. Even So what steps should “SNL” in “Cooking Al Fresco,” last take, before people turn it off week’s sketch about a cooking and switch to “South Park” reshow on a roof that gets attacked runs? by birds, Barrymore couldn’t be One, stop writing bad funny. sketches. Two, utilize the talWhy? Because it was a stupid ent of the actors that come idea. to host. Three, don’t let U2 Or take Megan Fox, a very come on and play such crappy beautiful, moderately talented, songs. often-ogled young woman. She And four? Never air a sketch spent every sketch of the season featuring the word “weiner” premiere playing a very beauti- 32 times. People only laughed ful, moderately talented, often- after the first one, and halfogled young woman. Oh, and a heartedly at that. hooker.

Entertainment

The Wichitan October 14, 2009

7

DALLAS COWBOYS

Cheerleaders

‘Making the Team’ makes its way into hearts Cora Kuykendall For the Wichitan

Do you love the Dallas Cowboys? Well, it’s time to find out whose hard work and determination paid off and put them on the team.

And no, I’m not talking about the football team; I’m talking about the cheerleading squad: the members of the Dallas Cowboys family who never let you down, always provide entertainment and look good while doing it. “DCC Making the Team� takes the audience behind-the-scenes of the grueling four-month process they must go through before the chosen ones get to put on the popular white and blue starred uniforms.

For six weeks, you will relive every moment of the four-month long competition, which started in May and ended in August.

The show shines its spotlight on about twelve girls, some veterans hoping to reclaim their spot, and other new hopefuls.

Last Saturday, we were introduced to some of the girls the show will primarily focus on during this season, including two sisters from Louisiana who will both be appearing in next

The Dream

Photo Courtesy The hopefuls dream of putting on the famous blue and white uniform and doing the jump splits on the field.

week’s episode.

Unfortunately, it’s not the same story for the two Texas sisters. One had to say goodbye to her sister in last week’s episode before she continued on to the next round of tryouts. This year, we get a little more personal with the girls, making it seem like we are in their shoes.

Later in the season, we will pick our favorites and cry with them when they get cut, and become ecstatic when they make it to training camp.

We will also see what the candidates have to endure throughout the audition process. They

must excel in categories such as: knowledge about football and the Cowboys, personality and pizzazz, dancing, the physical strength to do the kicks and tricks and maintain their perfect, size two bodies.

The CMT show takes you behind the pom-poms and pretty smiles and really proves that it takes more to being a cheerleader than standing there and looking pretty.

This show has many appeals.

It’s family friendly, unlike other reality TV shows that are aired on cable, “DCC Making the Team� has no foul language, sex

or alcohol and drug use. Which brings in the younger viewers (pre-teen girls) who want to become cheerleaders themselves one day.

But, it still has the dramatic appeal thanks to Kelli Finglass, Judy Trammel and Jay Johnson, the decision makers of the squad.

Kelli Finglass, who used to be a DCC herself, keeps the competition going and knows exactly what to do to get the inner DCC out of all of the candidates.

Judy Trammell, the DCC choreographer, has certain challenges that make it easy to spot whether or not the judges have potential DCC material on their hands.

Drama alert: her daughter, Cassie, is a veteran and is fighting to keep her spot on the team.

Lastly, Jay Johnson, former Army drill sergeant, provides entertainment with his army-intense conditioning, strength and attitude boot camp.

These three judges shatter hearts and make dreams come true, starting with the 1,000 girls in May, cut down to the 45 who make it to training camp, then

Photo Courtesy The girls auditioning must perform for the judges, showing off their dance talents and personalities.

Photo Courtesy The hopefuls sit eagerly, waiting to hear their number called to advance to the next round of tryouts.

the final 36 who actually make the team and get to cheer on the sidelines. “DCC Making the Team� airs

at 8 every Saturday night on CMT.

‘Deflorate’ falls short of killer expectations Chris Collins Managing Editor

The Black Dahlia Murder.

There’s a lot of ways to describe the music they play. Some people call it melodic death metal, others call it technical black metal, others say it’s a genre of its own.

But the five-piece from Detroit (which sounds like it should be from Norway), haven’t changed their sound much since they produced “Unhallowed� in 2003.

A few lineup changes have occurred since, like this year’s replacement of lead player John Kempainen for Arsis guitarist Ryan Knight.

The band’s newest release, September’s “Deflorate,� doesn’t change the normal Black Dahlia formula much. This is both a good thing and a bad thing.

Though the group thrives from the technical, classical style, one has to wonder when they will get tired of doing basically the same thing.

Don’t get me wrong – “Deflorate,� weighing in at 10 tracks and 34 minutes – is a sick beast of an album. It’s just that besides newbie Knight’s contribution, it’s mostly just the same old thing.

You decide if that’s good or bad for yourself.

The CD kicks off with a no-

Photo Courtesy The Black Dahlia Murder consists of five members from Detroit.

holds-barred harmonized riff in typical rhythm player Eschbaum fashion. As far as song patterning is concerned, the band’s sound has stayed pretty much the same.

Rhythm guitar work is still very upbeat heavy, and most song structure is still in “classic rock� format (intro – verse – chorus – verse – bridge – chorus, etc).

Regardless, the band has tried – though maybe not quite hard enough – to spice up their recipe for structured slaying.

Vocalist Trevor Strnad’s lyrics are predictably morbid and bleak in the recent release, alluding to

Photo Courtesy The Black Dahlia Murder released their fourth album, “Deflorate,� in Sept.

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fictional wars, the apocolypse, and even a deformed scientific experiment gone awry on “A Selection Unnatural.�

But he shows his poetic, metaphysical side on “Death Panorama,� one of the album’s fastest, least compromises offers. “All pieces are key to the sum of the being,� Strnad sings on the track. “A strobe of emotion,

vivid, extreme/ What kind of man does the assembled puzzle read?/ Soul spread open, I contemplate my destiny.�

The vocalist’s approach has stayed much the same since the band’s first release, switching schizophrenically from shrieking highs to bruising lows. The all-world bellower throws some mid-ranges into the mix (usually as a quick change-up from his tell-tale highs), but these sound a little forced. Honestly, none of the vocal parts sound quite as good as they did in 2007’s “Noctural.�

But you can’t sing death metal for over 10 years and expect it not to take a toll on your vocal chords.

Drummer Shannon Lucas, formerly of All That Remains, accents Strnad’s vocals with near-triplet crashes that he seems to sneak in at the very end of some measures. This is one facet of his unique style – one that won’t interfere with his blistering blastbeats and machine gun double-bass hits. He, along with bassist Bart Williams lay down a respectably sick low end for the CDs duration.

No doubt listeners were expecting something a little bit different from BDM’s fourth release. “Nocturnal� saw them

mastering the art of structured, melodic death metal. But some fans – including myself – wish they had tried to expound on their tried and true formula a bit more than they did.

Lead player Ryan Knight’s solos may be the highlight of the album; they breathe new life into the band’s riffing and solo sections. He explores some new fret territory that former lead player Kempainen did not.

The only problem is that the solos are too short, and at times seem to be a little bit contrived.

Not that they lack creativity – it sounds like some quick tapping and arpeggio work is being used here very cleverly, like in the blazing 32nd note runs in “Necropolis.�

New and old BDM fans alike are going to dig the new guitar flavor. It gives character and definition to the sometimes blurred, monotonous chug-tremolo trade-off approach Eschbaum is known for.

And this is a real travesty, too; Eschbaum’s fingers can solo for days, but he’s confined to four or eight bars when his sections could be twice as long. It might do the band well to try to accent Knight’s solos with vocals and drums, too.

This is a great CD, but it could have been a lot better. Hopefully next time the band will thing more outside the box, while still staying true to their original sound.

8

The Wichitan October 14, 2009

Sports

Women’s Soccer suffers first loss of the season against ECU Kaitlin Morrison Sports Editor

Kelsey Hill placed two of her five shots on goal in Sunday’s 1-0 loss to ECU.(Photo

by Patrick Johnston)

No. 10 Midwestern State looked to continue their unbeaten streak last weekend against Norttheaster State and East Central.

Friday afternoon they took on the RiverHawks at the MSU Socer Field and won the battle 3-1, pushing their regular season unbeaten streak to 18 matches and home field winning streak to 12 while improving to 9-0-2 on the season and 3-0 in Lone Star Conference play.

In the first half, the Mustangs started off slow and sluggish while Northeastern State controlled possession and dictated the tempo.

“I was concerned with the lack of intensity and work rate in

the first half,” MSU head coach Jeff Trimble said. “Northeastern played with aggression and worked hard. We really didn’t match that. We lost our composure and made some bad decisions.”

MSU took the lead into the break when Kari Bristow converted a penalty kick which resulted in after sophomore Kelsey Hill was taken down trying to make a move in the center of the box in the 22nd minute.

The Mustangs, however, never lost the lead mainly in part to an offsides call after the RiverHawks appeared to score the first goal in nearly a month against the MSU defense.

Jordan Smith added to the lead when she shot a laser from the top of the box in the 60th minute.

The RiverHawks managed to end the MSU scoreless streak when Rachel Sodahl pushed a ball through MSU goalkeeper Ashley Meek’s glove in the 71st minute to cut the lead in half.

The Mustangs had gone over 723 minutes of clock time without allowing a goal. MSU had not permitted a goal since earning a 1-1 draw with Newman (Kan.) back on Sept. 11.

Lindsay Pritchard dropped a shot in over Northeastern goalkeeper P.J. Davis to clinch the win for the Mustangs in the 86th minute.

On Sunday, MSU lost a heartbreaker and suffered their first loss of the season.

In the 88th minute, Juliana Cantu’s crossing pass slipped through the hands of Midwestern State goalkeeper Ashley

Meed and was redirected into the goal to provide the difference and upset the 10th ranked Mustangs 1-0.

“We’ve played around a lot with 1-0 games this year,” MSU coach Jeff Trimble said. “We created a lot of chances, but just couldn’t score.”

Midwestern State outworked the Tigers through much of the match and outshot ECU 17-7 with of a 7-2 edge on shots on goal.

MSU junior midfielder/defender Kendra Clemons created opportunities for the Mustangs early and often. She played a hand in pair of counter attacks in the 13th and 16th minutes, which created one-on-one opportunities for Kelsey Hill and Brittany Subia, but didn’t result in shots on frame.

East Central had the best chance of the opening half when Carla Rodriguez collected a clear by MSU’s Kat Bernick in the 42nd minute at the top of the 18-yard box and lofted a shot over Meek, but it glanced off of the crossbar to preserve a scoreless match into intermission.

That was ECU’s lone shot on goal, until the game wining goal in the 88th minute.

The Mustangs’ last effort to send the game into overtime was rejected by Tiger goalkeeper Natalie Wilson on consecutive point blank saves of shots by Hill and Lindsey Pritchard in the 89th minute.

MiSU hits the road for a pair of LSC contests next weekend as they battle Eastern New Mexico Friday at 3:30 p.m. and West Texas Sunday at 1 p.m.

Volleyball splits matches on the road, beat Tarleton and lost to TAMUK Kaitlin Morrison Sports Editor

Midwestern State gave its best hitting performance of the season last Thursday when they faced Tarleton State at Wisdom Gym. The Mustangs picked up the win to improve their Lone Star Conference record to 4-0 with the 25-20, 25-28, 25-13 victory over the TexAnns.

With the win, the Mustangs kept pace with West Texas A&M, who improved their LSC record to 5-0 when they picked up a win with the sweep of Southwestern Oklahoma Thursday in Canyon.

Sophomore outside hitter Miranda Byrd led the Mustangs with her second double-double of the season with 13 kills and 17 digs.

Sophomore Hillary White was errorless in the contest as she added 10 kills, 14 digs and tied a career-high with four total blocks.

Junior right-side hitter Kari Damjanovic hit .529 and a career-high 10 kills, committing just one error.

The setting duo of Dimery Michaels and Kimberly Jeffrey directed the Mustangs to a .342 team hitting percentage.

Michaels finished with 21 assists, while Jeffrey added 17 assists.

Middle blocker Lauren Bayer gave a strong performance at the net with six total blocks, while limiting Tarleton State to a .119 team attack percentage.

Libero Kiara Jordan returned from a four-match absence to record 10 digs.

The win improved MSU to 8-16 on the season.

The Mustangs continued their road trip and headed south to Kingsville to take on the Javelinas.

Adina Gray and Kristin Chancellor proved to be too much for Midwestern to handle as TAMUK handed them their first Lone Star Conference loss in four sets- 23-25, 25-20, 25-20, 25-22.

Gray, a 5-8 senior outside hitter, had a match-high18 kills, while Chancellor added 13 kills and was errorless in 22 attacks for a .591 attack percentage.

The Mustangs, who held leads in three of the four sets, enjoyed double-double performances from three different players.

Miranda Byrd finished with 17 kills and 15 digs, Hillary White

had 10 kills and 17 digs and Kimberly Jeffrey added 13 digs to go along with 24 set assists.

Libero Kiara Jordan led the back row effort with 20 digs.

Lauren Bayer and Tiana Bond finished with a team-high four total blocks each, while Byrd contributed three more.

Midwestern State plays host to Eastern New Mexico Thursday night at 7 p.m. in D.L. Ligon Coliseum before taking on LSCleading No. 6 West Texas A&M Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.

Midwestern State will play six more conference game before they will find out if they will be heading to the Lone Star Conference Tournament.

Right now, the Mustangs sit in third place, with a record of 4-1, behind ACU and West Texas.

Women’s golf stays strong in first season Places sixth at Oklahoma Collegiate

MSUMustangs.com For The Wichitan

Freshman Kendra Whittley carded a pair of 76s to finish a season-best fourth place individually in the Oklahoma Invitational played at the Par-72, 5,885-yard golf course at The Territory.

Her performance helped the Mustangs to their third-straight sixth-place team finish with a 36-hole total of 636 (+60).

“Kendra played a very consistent tournament,” MSU coach Jeff Ray said. “We need to be-

come more consistent as a team.

The girls had some good rounds working today. We just couldn’t finish them. That comes from inexperience, but there’s a lot of talent here and I’m very proud of the girls on a very successful fall.”

Midwestern finished sixth out 16 teams at the Lady Buff Stampede two weeks ago and fared sixth out of 18 squads at the Cheddar’s UCO Classic last week before placing sixth out of 13 in this week’s Oklahoma Invitational.

Junior Kyla Whittley, who

transferred from North Texas and is the older sister of Kendra, carded rounds of 77 and 81 to finish 15th with a total of 158 (+14), while freshman Taylor Klutts was 31st with scores of 82 and 81 for a total of 163 (+19).

Freshmen Lindsay Burkhart and Megan Richardson matched two-round totals of 167 (+23) to tied for 48th.

Freshman Lauren Romines and sophomore Kari Goen competed as individual medalists and finished 58th and 73rd with totals of 172 (+28) and 191 (+47), respectively.

In their opening tournament of their inagural season, the Mustangs finished sixth at the Lady buff Stampede on September 29. Kendra Whittley fired steady rounds of 81 and 82 to close as MSU’s top individual finisher with a 21-over total of 163 to close 17th, while sister Kyl Whittley completed rounds of 77 and 88 for a total of 165 (+23) to finish 20th.

In their second tournament, MSU had another sixth place finish, this time at the Cheddar’s UCO Classic on October 6.

$385

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Percentage of full-time students, 4,358, enrolled for the fall 2009 semester.

* Free Wi-Fi

Setter Kimberly Jeffrey finished with 17 assists in Thursday’s win over Tarleton State at Wisdom Gym. (Photo by Patrick Johnston

Tennis sweeps singles MSUMustangs.com For The Wichitan

Midwestern State collected 10 league championships including clean sweep in men’s singles Saturday at the Lone Star Conference Individual and Doubles Tennis Championships held at the Hamilton Park and Midwestern State tennis centers.

Vjekoslav Stipanic claimed the No. 1 title with straight-set wins over East Central’s Andres Nunez and Cameron’s Thomas Peixoto, while Carlos Bataller, Daniel McMullan, Luke Joyce and Octavian Dinuta claimed a pair of straight-set victories on their way to championships in the Nos. 2, 4, 5 and 6 flights.

MSU’s Bo Ziputovic recovered from a 2-6, 6-3, 12-10 defeat at the hands of Cameron’s Jorge Gerosi to defeat East Centrals’ Dai Edwardes-Evans 6-3, 6-1 and claim the No. 3 championship with a 3-2 advantage in

set victories over Gerosi.

Chad Meeks and Luke Joyce combined for MSU’s lone doubles’ title by claiming straightset wins in the No. 3 flight.

Midwestern State battled for three women’s singles championships Saturday afternoon at Hamilton Park and came away with two championships.

Monica Graf defeated Cameron’s Shaneka Knight 6-1, 6-4 to take the No. 4 flight title, while former Rider standout Lindsey Holcomb survived Tarleton State’s Evgeniya Prokofeva by a 10-3 score in the super tiebreaker after the pair split sets 7-6 (2) and 3-6.

Holly Gunderson fell to Tarleton’s Mariana Freitas in the No. 6 finals, 6-1, 6-2.

Holcomb and Graf also combined for a No. 2 doubles’ flight title, taking a 7-5, 6-4 win over Prokofeva and Jade Charlot of Tarleton State.

Sports

The Wichitan October 14, 2009

9

Football loses another heartbreaker against Tarleton State MSUMustangs.com For The Wichitan

Midwestern State junior quarterback Zack Eskridge passed for four touchdowns in Saturday’s 31-28 loss at Tarleton State. (Photo by Patrick Johnston)

Garrett Lindholm’s schoolrecord 55-yard field goal as time expired capped an 11-point fourth-quarter rally to lift No. 15 Tarleton State to a 31-28 win over No. 18 Midwestern State Saturday night at Memorial Stadium.

Tarleton quarterback Scott Grantham capped a 10-play, 91-yard to pull the Texans to within 28-25 with 10:54 to go, and then used a series of turnovers in the final five minutes to turn the tables on the Mustangs, who constructed a 21-3 lead midway through the second quarter.

Tarleton’s Brandon Johnson intercepted Zack Eskridge’s pass in the end zone to give the Texans’ possession at their own 3-yard line with 5:01 remaining.

CC 2nd at Naimadu Pre-Regional Ready for LSC meet this weekend MSUMustangs.com For the Wichitan Midwestern State’s Sydnee Cole closed the gap on Dallas Baptist’s Hannah Steffan and Laura Mucho Saturday at the Naimadu Pre-Regional Collegiate Classic at Nelson Park.

The rest of the Mustangs narrowed the gap on Cole for a second-place overall team finish with 51 points.

“This is the best we’ve all year,” MSU coach Koby Styles said. “With conference and regionals coming up, we’re moving in the right direction.”

Midwestern will enjoy a week off before competing in the Lone Star Conference Championships on Oct. 24 in Canyon.

The NCAA Division II Regionals are set for the following weekend at Nelson Park.

Cole, a three-time LSC Runner of the Week, finished third in the 4K event with a schoolrecord time of 14:56.64 and was 16 seconds off the pace of Steffan and a second behind Mucho - an improvement from the Missouri Southern Stampede where Cole trailed the DBU duo more

than 30 seconds.

No. 15-ranked Dallas Baptist, however, placed five finishers in the top seven to claim the team championship with a score 18.

“They are probably a Top 10 in the country and are very deep,” Styles said.

Freshman Heather Owens was the Mustangs’ No. 2 runner finishing 12th with a time of 15:45.94 followed closely by sophomore Kayla Hendrix, who was 13th with a time of 15:53.29.

Freshman Cynthia Carillo and sophomore Lindsey Pate closed out the Mustangs’ counters with times of 16:03.49 and 16:14.36 to finish 17th and 19th respectively to cut MSU’s gap time distance between top runner and last counter - to 1:18.

“We really closed out the last 1,000 meters very well. We ran really well and really smart,” Styles said. “It was a good effort today. I think we’ll be ready for conference.”

The Mustangs finished ahead of conference foes West Texas A&M (65 points), Abilene Christian (93) and Tarleton State (98).

Other MSU runners in-

cluded: junior Hassie Sutton (16:42.58/28th), junior Bailey Dulaney (16:43.88/29th), freshman Clara Poston (16:53.32/32nd), freshman Melody Caldwell (17:07.58/36th) and redshirt freshman Julie Bell (17:51.58/39th).

Even after the nice finish, Midwestern State maintained its No. 8 holding in the latest NCAA Division II South Central Region rankings as released Tuesday by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches’ Association.

The Mustangs finished second of five teams at the Naimadu Collegiate Classic Saturday in Abilene. The race featured a large portion of the course which will be utilized for the South Central Regional meet set for Nov. 7 at Nelson Park.

MSU junior Sydnee Cole improved her school-record 4K time by 28 seconds as she took a third-place finish.

The Mustangs are idle this weekend in preparation for the Lone Star Conference Championship meet on Oct. 24 in Canyon, Texas.

The defense limited the RiverHawks to just two shots all night.

Northeastern slipped to 6-4 on the season and 0-1 in conference play.

This was goalkeeper Raul Herrera’s eighth shutout of te season.

“The defense played really well,” Elder said. “It was a really big win on the road as we try to stay in control of our own playoff destiny.”

Midwestern State moved to 9-1-2 on the season and 2-0-1 in Lone Star Conference play.

The Mustangs are now unbeaten it their last 11 matches after suffering a 1-0 setback to Incarnate Word in the season opener.

This is the 30th time these two teams have met. MSU owns a 22-5-1 edge over the RiverHawks and have won the last five meetings.

NSU’s last win against Midwestern came by a 3-2 margin on Sep.10, 2006 in Wichita Falls.

Midwestern State returns to the MSU Soccer Field on Sunday to play host to St. Mary’s.

Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.

With the win, the Mustangs jumped ahead one spot to No. 18 in the NSCAA/adidas National Poll.

Midwestern State is one of five teams in the South Central/ Midwest Region to receive a national ranking joining No. 6 Fort Lewis (Colo.), No. 8 Truman (Mo.), No. 11 West Texas A&M and No. 14 Colorado Mines.

Lees McRae (N.C.) is ranked No. 1 with a record of 10-0-0.

They moved from second to first after Cal-State Los Angeles dropped to No. 13.

Tampa (Fla.) is sitting at a No. 2 spot with a record of 9-0-1.

Millersville (Pa.) is ranked third with a record of 11-1-0.

The Mustangs have carried a ranking in the last 40 national polls dating back to the 2006 season.

Midwestern State remained at No. 3 in the South Central Tuesday night when the NCAA Division II Men’s Soccer Committee released its weekly rankings.

Top-ranked teams advance to the NCAA Division II postseason when the final regular season rankings are published Nov. 3.

Championship selection is set for Monday, Nov. 10 at 6 p.m. on NCAA.com.

The top two teams from the South Central Region and top two sides from the Central Region will meet at the site of the Central Region’s top team on the

Tarleton, which amassed 509 yards of total offense, converted a pair of fourth downs to extend the ensuing drive.

Grantham, who completed 27-of-47 passes for 353 yards and a touchdown, connected with Arthur Buckingham on a 42-yard strike on fourth-and-6 from the TSU 6-yard line to push the ball out to midfield.

The pair connected again on fourth-and-5 from the MSU 46 on a 27-yard line to push the ball into the red zone.

The Mustangs held to force Lindholm into a 36-yard game tying field goal with 12 seconds remaining.

MSU’s Brandon Williams was stripped on the ensuing kickoff and Tarleton’s Nate Stringfellow came up with the ball at the MSU 38-yard line.

Grantham was unable to connect with Devin Guinn on a out-

route to move the ball closer for Lindholm, but the senior kicker split the uprights as time expired as the Mustangs fell for the second time this season on a gameending kick.

Eskridge helped the Mustangs out of the gate quickly connecting with Andy Tanner for one score and hitting Sheldon Galloway on two TD tosses as MSU built a 21-3 lead with 6:40 to go in the first half.

Eskridge, who completed 21-of-28 passes for 245 yards and four touchdowns, hit Tanner for a second score to give the Mustangs a 28-17 on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Sophomore wideout David Little paced all MSU receivers with 105 yards on five receptions, while Tanner had eight catches for 77 yards and Galloway finished with 58 yards on six catches.

Buckingham paces the Texans with 104 yards on five catches, while Roderick Smith rushed for 91 yards on 11 carries.

Midwestern State, which dropped to 5-2 on the season and 1-2 in the LSC South, plays host to Texas A&M-Kingsville Saturday night at Memorial Stadium.

Kickoff is set for 8 p.m.

Tarleton State improved to 6-1 and 1-1.

With the loss, Midwestern State dropped out of the Super Regional Four Rankings after holding the number nine spot last week.

The rankings determine what teams make it to the postseason.

Only the top six teams in each of the super regions advance to the NCAA Division II Postseason.

The Mustangs also moved to No. 23 in the AFCA Division II poll after holding the No. 18 spot last week.

Golf wraps up fall season in sixth MSUMustangs.com For the Wichitan Midwestern State finished off its fall season with a consistent 36 holes to finish sixth with a 14-over 590 at the Par-72, 6,848yard TPC Sawgrass Pete Dye’s Valley Course.

“It was a very good field,” MSU coach Jeff Ray said. “It’s the kind of tournament we need to play to get recognized nationally. The guys went out and played well.”

The field of 89 individuals included 17 teams of which three carried national rankings including No. 6 Florida Southern, No. 21 Lander and No. 22 Belmont Abbey.

The Mustangs finished ahead of two of the squads and Florida Southern fired a second-round best even-Par round of 280 to move ahead of MSU to a runnerup finish behind Barton (N.C.) which recorded a two-round total of 576 (Even).

Sophomore Chad Bryant notched second top-10 finish of the season with rounds of 73 and 71 for two-round even-Par total of 144. He finished in a four-way tie for eighth and four strokes

back of top individual medalist Matt Stauch (140, -4) of Florida Southern.

Freshman Raine Copeland was a stroke behind Bryant with rounds of 73 and 72 to place 12th with a total of 145 (+1), while junior Travis Klutts carded scores of 75 and 73 for a 26th-place total of 148 (+4).

Senior Mitch Molen, who has recorded countable scores in all but one of eight rounds this season, finished 45th with tallies of 75 and 78 for a total of 153 (+9).

Senior Jay Weaver finished 85th with scores of 84 and 82 for a total of 166 (+22).

Midwestern State closed the fall portion of the schedule with finishes in the top half of three of four events.

At their previous tournament Travis Klutts and Mitch Molen logged top 10 finishes in the Texoma Championships finished Tuesday afternoon at the Par-72, 7,085-yard Chickasaw Pointe Golf Resort.

Klutts, a junior from Lake Kiowa, recorded consistent rounds of 73, 75 and 74 for a total of 222 (+6) to finish fifth individual, while Molen, a senior from

Fort Erie, Ontario, logged scores of 77, 74 and 75 for a total of 226 (+10) to finish ninth.

The duo helped the Mustangs to team logs of 312, 305 and 310 for a 63-over total of 927 to finish behind tournament champion Northwood (Texas) (892, +28), Cameron (899, +35), Central Oklahoma (910, +46), Southeastern Oklahoma (916, +52) and West Texas A&M (920, +56).

Sophomore Chad Bryant finished 30th after logging rounds of 78, 80 and 80 for a total of 238 (+22), while sophomore Trevor Arianna carded scores of 84, 76 and 85 for a three-round total of 245 (+29).

Senior Jay Weaver struggled to rounds of 87, 87 and 81 on the soggy course for a total of 255 (+39) to finish 52nd.

Freshman Raine Copeland and senior Eric Thompson delivered stellar performance while competing as individual medalists.

Copeland, a Carrollton native, finished 12th after firing rounds of 74, 76 and 78 for a total of 228 (+12), while Thompson, a Jacksboro product, finished 30th with scores of 79, 77 and 82 for a total of 238 (+22).

Men’s Soccer blanks Northeastern State, moves to No. 18 Kaitlin Morrison Sports Editor

Midwestern State traveled to Talequah, Okla. to take on Northeastern State Friday, but after six inches of rain had fallen in the area the game was moved to the field turf of Doc Wadley Stadium.

“We adjusted well and played to our potential,” MSU coach Doug Elder said. “There weren’t many opportunities because the field was so narrow.”

The teams used the football lines, which forced a constant battle in the middle of the field for each team during the entire 90 minutes of play.

The Mustangs were able to capitalize on opportunities and come away with a 2-0 victory.

Junior midfielder Landon Fruge’ scored the first goal in the 38th minute off a cleared corner kick and lasered a shot off the defender’s head to help lead the Mustangs into the intermission with the 1-0 lead.

Sophomore Craig Sutherland, playing in only his second game after suffering a high ankle sprain, broke free on the left wing to serve the oncoming Nick Auditore who scored his seventh goal of the season.

weekend of Nov. 13.

The winner will then advance to the NCAA II national quarterfinals the following weekend against the West Region winner for the right to compete in the Final Four.

The Mustangs (9-1-2), who are currently riding an 11-match unbeaten streak, remain on the outside looking in.

MSU trails top-ranked West Texas A&M (10-1-1) and No. 2 Truman (Mo.) (9-1-1) while Incarnate Word is fourth at 5-3-3.

Fort Lewis (Colo.) (11-1-0) tops the Central Region followed by Colorado Mines (101-3), Metro State (Colo.) (7-4-2) and Regis (Colo.) (5-3-4).

The West Region is led by Sonoma State (Calif.) (11-1-2) followed by Cal State-Los Angeles (11-2-1), Seattle Pacific (Wash.) (8-1-3), Cal State-San Bernardino (10-3-0), Grand Canyon (Ariz.) (10-1-1) and Montana State-Billings (8-2-2).

Midwestern State has five more games before the postseason begins.

They will face St. Mary’s, Eastern New Mexico, West Texas A&M, St. Thomas (Texas) and will face Northeastern State at home on Nov. 1 for Senior Day.

Craig Sutherland had an assist to Nick Auditore in Friday night’s 2-0 victory over Northeastern State at Doc Wadley Stadium. (Picture by Patrick Johnston)

10

The Wichitan October 14, 2009

On Deck this week...

Thursday October 15 Volleyball

Tuesday

vs. Eastern New Mexico 7 p.m.

Friday October 16 Women’s Soccer @ Eastern New Mexico 3:3- p.m.

Saturday October 17 Cross Country @Lone Star Conference Championships (Canyon, TX) Volleyball vs. West Texas A&M 2 p.m.

Football vs. Texas A&M Kingsville 8 p.m.

Sunday October 18 Men’s Soccer vs.St. Mary’s 1 p.m.

Women’s Soccer @ West Texas A&M 1 p.m.

Home Events are bolded

Sports

Men’s basketball excited for upcoming season Kaitlin Morrison Sports Editor

This year’s upcoming men’s basketball season looks to be a promising one.

The 2009 Lone Star Conference Champions return under new leadership this season.

Coach Grant McCasland was the named the new Midwestern State head coach. He comes from Midland College where he posted a record if 143-32 record and lead his team to the 2007 National Junior College Athletic Association championship and was named the runner-up earlier this spring.

He chose former Baylor standout Nelson Haggerty to be the assistant coach. He is a former

coach of MIAA powerhouses Pittsburg State and Central Missouri.

While attending games at D.L. Ligon Coliseum, you will see some new faces on the court for the Mustangs, along with some familiar ones.

“We’ve added a group that will make a significant impact,” McCasland said. “As a group, all of them have played at winning programs and will add depth to a strong core of returning players.”

The class consists of four guards and a forward, including three with NCAA Division I experience.

Chris Hagan is a junior transfer from Blinn College. He began his career at Rice University,

where he played in 32 games and started 17 as a true freshman, before suffering a knee injury early in his sophomore year. At Blinn he averaged 12.9 points and 5.1 assists last season.

Senior Jason Ebie, a 6-1 point guard, competed in 83 games and started 39 contests at TCU. He had 206 assists, while boasting an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2-to-1.

Another senior, Rashad Austin, is a 6-7 forward who will return to the court after sitting out last season. He played 29 games and made four starts at Bradley University during the 2007-2008 season after enjoying a stellar two-year stint at Northeastern (Colo.) JC. Adrian “Scooby” Van Buren

a 6-2 junior guard, has made the move with Coach McCasland from Midland College where he served as a defensive stopper.

Antonio Jones, a 6-4 guard, comes to Midwestern from Coffeyville Community College.

He averaged 11.5 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists. He connected 46 percent of his shots from the field, including a 37 percent effort from the threepoint line.

The Mustangs return five seniors, two juniors and one sophomore from last year’s team.

Chris Williams, Michael Godwin, Anthony Moore, Craig Green and Aboubakar Wandji are the seniors. Jon Trilli and Charlie Logan are the juniors and Melvin Clark is the lone

sophomore.

“What excites me most about the coming season is the quality of players and people on this team,” McCasland said. “This team will be a fun group because of their maturity. They are all in it for the team and wanting to win championships. That’s their prospective.”

The Mustangs claimed their second Lone Star Conference championship in the last three years last season and advanced to the NCAA Division II South Central Regionals for the fourth time in school history.

Midwestern State starts the 2009-2010 season on Nov. 15 when it plays host to Wayland Baptist in an exhibition game.

Tip off is set for 7 p.m.

Mustangs to watch...

Cross Country Midwestern State maintained its No. 8 holding in the latest NCAA Division II South Central Region rankings as released Tuesday by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches’ Association.

The Mustangs finished second of five teams at the Naimadu Collegiate Classic Saturday in Abilene.

The race featured a large portion of the course which will be utilized for the South Central Regional meet set for Nov. 7 at Nelson Park.

They will compete this Saturday for the Lone Star Conference Championship in Canyon, Texas.

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Football Midwestern State dropped five spots to No. 23 in the latest American Football Coaches’ Association Division II Poll released Monday morning.

The Mustangs dropped a heartbreaker when Tarleton State’s Garrett Lindholm booted a school-record 55-yard field goal as time expired to help the Texans erase an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit and claim their seventh-straight win over MSU 31-28 Saturday night in Stephenville.

The Mustangs look to get back on track when they face the No. 7 ranked Texas A&M Kingsville this Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

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