Nov. 10, 2016

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Nov. 10, 2016

Warrior’s Homecoming

Telling TAMUC’s Story

Prosthetics for Pets

Hanging in the Balance

As Veterans Day approaches, Sports Editor Ricky Moser describes his experiences as a soldier who’s returned to civilan life PAGE 2

ETSU Alum & former reporter for NBC Noah Nelson takes the reins as VP of Media relations/Community Development PAGE 4

Art students get their paws on some practical design experience by helping dogs and cats with mobility issues PAGE 5

Lion Volleyball to face off against UT Permian Basin and West Texas A&M as third in the Lone Star Conference PAGE 8

Forging Ahead Through Peaks & Valleys Alissa Silva Managing Editor

Well known on Twitter and Facebook, journalist and activist Shaun King comes to Commerce to spread awareness.

“I’m going to start this by making everyone uncomfortable.”

Social justice activist and senior justice writer at New York Daily News Shaun King started off his presentation by grabbing the audience’s attention with this anticipation-filled remark.

With his reputation of confronting tough issues, the audience was prepared for anything. King instantly settled the audience’s curiosity when asking everyone to move closer to the stage and following with “today this is the type of conversation where it matters if we’re close.”

Believing students are always on the front line of change in this country, King’s main goal with this presentation was to “share one large lesson and give [the audience] a new lens to see the country.”

As a teenager, King was a victim of a hate crime committed by Caucasian students permitting him from attending high school for two years due to spinal injuries. The detective covering the case identified the incident as minor and gave misleading information such as it being non-race affiliated.

Majoring in history at Whitehouse College, King then worked as a high school civics teacher, a motivation speaker at prisons, and also a pastor for 15 years. Shortly after, King found his calling as a social activist that educates the nation on social equality, police brutality, current civil rights movement, race relations, social justice, and prison industrial complex.

While standing next to a slide picturing an old white man with a bushy beard, King explained, “It’s incredibly difficult to know a moment in history to know what moment of history you are in when you are in it. Like today, most of you are concerned with college issues, and it’s hard to discern where you are in the scheme of history.”

He then explained how people use Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr first acts as a bookmark to the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement even though there had been acts made before.

“They didn’t call it that in 1956, at first they didn’t even call it the Montgomery Bus Boycott. They were just everyday people that were tired of being humiliated on public transportation and who took a stand against it,” King said.

“It was only history that later gave it a title, gave it perspective.”

Another example King used was Jesus Christ and his last name. King pointed out nobody truthfully knows his last name and it was imposed on him 100s of years later through history.

“History tends to romanticize who people are, and tends to give moments very different perspective,” King said. “I think a lot of us are trying to understand where we are right now in history and that’s what I’m going to teach you today.”

Bringing the audience’s attention to the slide next to him, King explained the bearded man on the slide was Leopold von Ranke and was the first man to establish history during the mid 1800s.

“He was confused because even then and even now, and this gets to the heart of my presentation,

there was this thought that human beings were steadily getting better. When he laid out this chronological timeline, he was deeply perplexed. Yes, people get better and improved but when he really studied it, it didn’t look like this. Humanity wasn’t steadily getting better. Sometimes human beings are amazing, but sometimes human beings just really suck. Most human beings think we’re steadily getting better. But what Ranke said, what he realized was people were confusing the steady improvement of technology with the steady improvement of humanity.”

In the midst of Ranke’s research, there was a rapid improvement in medicine, surgery, preservation and refrigeration of food, transportation and the technology behind the modern wheel was rapidly enhancing,” King explained. “Ranke went as far back as he could and discovered human beings will continue to evolve with their technology, machinery, inventions, creations, but the quality of the humanity was not the same steady incline.”

King clicked to the next slide revealing a diagram of human beings shoved into a PHOTO COURTESY/BRANDON PALMORE 1700s boat to be taken from one area to “First of all, it was great to finally see the face and hear the voice of somebody I consider an idol from social another to be sold into slavery. media, being a social justice activist, not just black lives but all lives in general,” Junior Trey-Cean Allen said. “So “By the time this happened, human it was really great to hear him speak and hear his contextual topics that he was talking about, so it was really good beings had been around for thousands of to hear his perspective on things because you read articles and see things on the internet, but its different when years. If humans are steadily getting better, it’s in your face and there’s a diagram and points beyond it.” how do we explain this?” King asked before skipping to the next slide of a black man deeply discouraging. It’s not true.

“There are more African Americans in prison, with a severe scarred back from being whipped.

“This is true,” he continued. “Sometimes you than South Africa had in the height of apartheid.

“This is a man who survived slavery and this have Abraham Lincoln and sometimes you have Most of us look at the part time and say wow that’s is his body. If human beings are steadily getting Donald Trump. Sometimes you have Teddy ugly, but currently, we have a higher percentage better, if this is the quality of humanity and people Roosevelt and sometimes you have Hillary Clinton. of people in our prison then a part time did at it’s are getting better. And people are just so awesome Sometimes you have John F. Kennedy and then worst,” King said. and so amazing, then how do we explain this?” you get Richard Nixon. That humanity, history, US has 698 per 100,000 people while Germany, The next slide included images of Holocaust does not bear out that we are just getting better and for example, has 78 per 100,000 people. King then victims and a large pile of shoes taken from the better. Sometimes we’re great and sometimes we’re ties this point in with the belief that humanity stays victims. “How do we understand the 1900s, not.” getting better. where people were taken from their homes and King then remarked he wanted to get more “I don’t believe this, I don’t believe it’s true,” King killed? What about the Rwandan Genocide where personal. declared emphatically. “Sometimes humans are millions people were hacked to death by machetes “A huge part we’ve tried to show in the Black doing better, and sometime they’re getting worse. It for 90 days?

Lives Matter Movement over these past two years is caused me to look at our problems differently and “There’s something in us that really wants us to show America where we are right now, to awaken you will find people who say often, wow, I thought to believe we’re doing life better than the people the country to the reality of the justice,” King said. we were getting better. Many of us, with good who came before us. And what Ranke says is, ‘I Another slide displayed the number 102 in intentions, assume that the election of president understand your belief, it’s a bitter pill to swallow bold letters. The number represented the number Obama was the precursor to a new post racial, that maybe one generation is getting it different of unarmed black men, women, and children only to find out, and every study shows it, that the murdered in this country last year. number of hate groups increase every year since he’s The next slide presented a picture of been in office.” the United States’ 25th president William “But what all of us found…whatever you think McKinley. “We would have to go back about politics and whatever you’ve grown to think to 1902 when President McKinley was about Obama, politics aside, there was sometime of president of this country to find a single peak that was an improvement, but now we have year in this country where more than 102 slid back down,” King said.

African Americans were lynched in this King then explained position he believes the country,” King said. country is in.

102 people killed during Charleston “I think we’re in a dip right now, in the quality were only a sliver of the record high for of our humanity,” he said. “What worries me about last years police kills of 1,207 people. the dip we’re in is dips can last a year, but in the case “We’d have to go back 104 years to of something like the transatlantic slave trade , dips find a single year in the country where that many can last not just decades...but for hundreds of years. than another’,” King said. “But what he said was people were lynched. This is to give you context of When you are in a dip, you do not automatically the facts do not bear out that humans are steadily where we are,” King said. “That the deadliest hate find your way out of it. Our country did not just evolving, because if they were we’d be so amazing, crime against African Americans in this country in magically end slavery as we knew it. and there are very few days where most of us feel the past 75 years did not take place in the 40s-60s, “If we are in this dip, there are two things that human beings are just so amazing.” but took place last year in Charleston.” inspire me right now,” King said. “One, if you King then explained how there are people out The next slide consisted prison statistics of each believe we’re in it, and I’ve tried to press the case there who encourage and inspire him in amazing country per 100,000 people. that we are…every time we have found ourselves ways, but neither current presidential candidate “The US has the most populated prisons then here, we always work our way out and I’m inspired does so. any other country, even though it’s no where near by that possibility.

“If humanity is steadily progressing, how do we the largest country in the world,” King explained. “I “Secondly, I’m equally inspired by this; most of explain Donald Trump?” King asked rhetorically. need you to understand, that we have more people the prob¬lems that ailed our country, and while I’ve “If he is the human evolution for our greatness, if in prison than in any country in the history of the talked a lot about police brutality and what that this is true that we have gotten so great - that is world right now and it’s an old world. means, there are many Continued on pg. 3...

“A huge part we’ve tried to show in the Black Lives Matter Movement over these past two years is to show America where we are right now, to awaken the country to the reality of the justice,” King said.

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Ricky Moser Sports Editor

Opinion

Returning Rigors

As we celebrate another Veteran’s Day this month, many may not understand the challenges veterans face when they return to school and readjust to civilian life.

Although I am the sports editor for the paper, I also happen to be a specialist in the U.S. Army and know firsthand some of the challenges that come with returning to the life I had before enlisting in the military.

I have been in the Army for over two years now, with almost half that time being active duty. The Army has afforded me the great opportunity to meet lifelong friends, travel to faraway places, and share in some amazing experiences that I will never forget and hold forever. I neither deployed nor had to face the challenges of returning from overseas, and I will not pretend like I have, but there are still some arduous challenges in the transition from military to civilian life.

The time passed, and on Oct. 26 of last year I flew back to Texas knowing that I would be starting a new life. What I did not know was how drastic the changes would be.

I woke up on Oct. 27 and I still remember it well. It was a Tuesday. I got out of bed at around 4:50 a.m., as I had done so many times before and that is when I got my first taste of this ‘new’ life.

My body was so accustomed to waking up early that I didn’t even need an alarm for the most part. Of course I was the first one in my family to be up that morning and that was the trend, a time of firsts. It was the first time I slept in my own bed. It was the first time where I woke up and did not have someone telling me what to do. No longer did I have to make my bed, or workout, or rush to get myself ready in the morning- although I still do these things today.

The world around you changes and it seems to do so at an even quicker pace when you are gone. The house had new décor, we were getting new neighbors, my sister was getting ready to go away to college, and we had a new dog. All meager adjustments, yes, but it seems to come at you all at once.

People do not realize that all this is new, uncharted and unknown territory; it is only human nature to fear the unknown.

Then it was time to return to school and despite having three semesters under my belt before I left, coming back to Texas A&M University-Commerce was perhaps the biggest hurdle of all.

No longer were all of my friends there. Some had graduated and others transferred without me being afforded the opportunity to say goodbye in person one last time. So I made plenty of new friends and I have been grateful for that.

When I returned to A&M-Commerce, most people though I was a first year student at the school. Although I do have a baby-face for my age, I understood the point. I had been gone for two whole semesters spanning over the course of two separate school years. In essence, I was a first year student all over again.

Yet, there was still some major adjusting to be had.

I was finally able to once again choose my schedule and be free to plan my day out the way I wanted. What was I going to do with my free time?

My time away also allowed me to become more experienced and gain a different outlook on life. I feel like I have matured in a way that I would not have been able to without the military. I realize why things work the way they do and I feel like I “get it.”

Not a day goes by since Oct. 26 where I do not think about what life would be like if I was still on active duty but at the same time I think about what it would be like if my life has not played out the way it has.

NOV. 10, 2016 You have an opinion. Voice it.

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Thanksgiving given no thanks

Isabella Garcia Staff Reporter Stuck in between Halloween and Christmas, Thanksgiving is another holiday often pushed aside and forgotten about. It’s not Black Friday.

Every year during this seasonal time, Thanksgiving is treated like the middle child, who never gets as much attention as its wondrous siblings.

Thanksgiving is a holiday meant to be shared with families and loved ones, to come together and give thanks for all the blessings throughout the year while it is acceptable to indulge in more than enough of the most delicious foods ever prepared. Now, it just feels like the Thursday before crowds rush to malls in order to get their holiday

shopping done.

Despite how often society overlooks Thanksgiving, people are always passionate about getting their full-time off. Today, it is common to only receive three days off for Thanksgiving when most people can remember when it was a week.

Institutes and businesses have not helped to increase awareness in the uniqueness of Thanksgiving because it is not held to the same importance as other holidays.

Unlike any other holiday in which everyone is welcome to celebrate, Thanksgiving is not tied to a certain religion nor originated from a negative point in history. Centered on cultural harmony, Thanksgiving was a simple feast between the pilgrims and Native Americans to praise the

successful harvests of the year. On the other hand, during the holidays people can celebrate anything from Hanukkah, to Ramadan, to Kwanzaa, to Christmas.

It doesn’t help that it seems as if malls are waiting for the minute that Halloween is over so they can begin to blast Mariah Carey in every store and all the families on every block start stringing up fairy lights outside their house. Although, it seems as though it is difficult to celebrate Thanksgiving without any catchy carols or specific decorations to stay in the festive spirit. There was about 72,000,000 results that came up when searching for thanksgiving decorations.

Some people even choose to skip out on the traditional turkey dinner Continued on page 3...

Reconnecting to old memories Danny Alonso Staff Reporter The night had begun, and I was in my apartment debating on wearing a CD Celaya soccer jersey, an RCD Espanyol de Barcelona soccer jersey, or one of my prowrestling t-shirts. After looking through my collection, I grabbed the 2000-2001 CD Celaya home soccer jersey, as a shout out to my Mexican father, and started walking towards the amphitheater.

As I was making my way down the steps, I saw colorful Mexican decorations hanging from both sides of the railing that helped pave the way for what I would see once I finished my trek, which was a large, diverse crowd underneath a couple of tents and bright lights.

After entering the tents, I looked around to observe everything around me. Little children were sitting still in chairs as they got their faces painted. Students and members of the community comprised a long line that waited to serve themselves tacos, marshmallows and candy skulls. Those who had already served themselves sat in one of the nearby tables or in the grass.

On the other hand, several students took selfies or videos of themselves enjoying this particular event with their friends. Once the long line disappeared and the Spanish version of “Achy Breaky Heart” by Caballo Dorado blasted through the speakers, several students gathered to line-dance to that song and to “Payaso de Rodeo” as well. Songs from other popular Latin genres followed and the dancing progressed. All of those things, as well as the beautiful altar that was on display, helped those gathered at the amphitheater celebrate what is known as Dia de los Muertos.

Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a holiday that coincides with another holiday known as Dia de todos los Santos (All Saints Day). While both holidays coincide with each other, they are different. For example, Dia de todos los Santos is observed in Spain, while Dia de los Muertos is observed in Mexico. Those who

partake in Dia de todos los Santos gather to clean and leave flowers on the graves of their deceased loved ones.

While those who observe Dia de los Muertos decorate the graves of their deceased loved ones and create altars at home in remembrance. For many students, like those in attendance, it is a deeply personal time of the year.

Nayla Gomez, a member of the Hispanic Student Association, celebrated Dia de los Muertos event at Texas A&M-Commerce in honor of two people who made a tremendous impact on her life, her grandparents.

On the other hand, Manuel Pasillas, member of the Omega Delta Phi fraternity, observed tonight’s event in honor of his cousins. “The one person in particular that I had on my mind and in my heart is my cousin, whom I lost when I was younger.” Pasillas said, while the passing of his cousin at a young age took a toll on him and his family, he is happy that his cousin was involved in his life and that he has memories that bring him happiness. “I still love him and will always remember him”.

For Julian Sanchez, Coordinator of Hispanic Outreach and Retention, celebrating Dia de los Muertos meant celebrating the life of his father who passed away from cancer last year.

Maria Garza, Pastor of the First Christian Church in Commerce, Texas recalled the life and teachings of her great-grandfather, who was a priest. Her husband, Jose Garza, joyfully shared some of the many the memories and talks he had with his father, as that helped shape that he is in the ministry.

As for me, someone of mixed heritage, the Dia de los Muertos event at Texas A&M Commerce helped me remember the lives, and all the love; my father’s parents gave me during our short time together. I can’t forget about them spoiling me with candy either!

When I left, I ran into a girl from the Gamma Phi Beta sorority, I told her that this event, like the Hispanic Heritage Month events that occurred in September, helped me reconnect and grow in my Mexican heritage.

Campus Comment: How do you prepare for Thanksgiving?

“My preparation is more mental than anything. I know I’m going to go home and see my family, so I prepare to go home to a warm atmosphere.”

-Orville Tucker

“I tell my family that I am going to come home for Thanksgiving. It’s very exciting because it’s a break and a time to spend with family. ” -Viktoria Tabeleva

The East Texan Staff

Editor Managing Editor Sports Editor Opinion Editor Entertainment Editor Web Editor Lead Reporter Staff Reporter Staff Reporter Staff Reporter Staff Reporter Photographer/Reporter Photographer Distribution Assistant Faculty Adviser Phone E-mail

Travis Hairgrove Alissa Silva Ricky Moser Kerry Wilson Imogené Wofford Todd Kleiboer Brenda Perez Alex Medrano Christian Aleman Evangelina Morales Isabella Garcia Gwion Jason Nam Kristen Taylor Michelle Whitehead Fred Stewart 903-886-5985 theeasttexan@gmail.com

“I drink a lot of wine when I get ready for Thanksgiving gatherings. Me and my family don’t agree on a lot, so I have to be relaxed.”

-Kyle Hall

The East Texan, official student newspaper of Texas A&M University-Commerce, is published 11 times per semester during the Fall and Spring by students including journalism students in reporting classes. Content is solely the responsibility of the student staff and writers. The comments and views expressed in The East Texan, in print or online, do not necessarily reflect the beliefs of other students, staff, faculty, administration, or the Board of Trustees. The East Texan is located in Room113 of the Journalism Building. Single copies of The East Texan are free, additional copies are available in The East Texan offices for an additional 25 cents each.

“We go to my family’s hosue a couple of days beforehand and help make tamales. We basically help cook everything together.”

-Alex Medrano

Letters to the Texan Letters to the Texan are welcome and should be limited to 350 words. They may be edited for spelling, grammar and libelous and malicious statements. The East Texan reserves the right to refuse publication. Letters should be typed or emailed, must include a valid signature and contact information, and can be sent to theeasttexan@gmail.com or PO Box 4104, Texas A&M University-Commerce, Commerce, TX 75428.

News Free Thanksgiving Dinner Counseling Corner for the Community Attitude of Gratitude

Page 3

NOV. 10, 2016

Editor’s Note: This is a press release issued by the First United Methodist Church of Commerce.

The First United Methodist Church of Commerce invites the community to a free Thanksgiving dinner on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the church located at 1709 Highway 24 across from Texas A&M University - Commerce. Everyone is invited to attend; those who are lonely, hungry, or just don’t want to bother with the mess and the stress. Come eat and fellowship with your neighbors!

The First United Methodist Church is working with the Commerce faith community, including Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, in hosting the Thanksgiving dinner.

The traditional dinner will include turkey, dressing, green beans, homemade sweet potatoes and pie. The turkey is prepared by Brookshires deli and the dressing is made by Sodexo.

Both are provided at a discount and we are thankful for these partners.

Transportation and delivery are available. Volunteers are ready to provide rides to and from the church. Those unable to travel may have a meal delivered. For a ride or delivery, please

Caleb Barnet, M.S.

call the Methodist church office at 903.886.3220 by noon on Tuesday, November 24.

Area churches and community organizations are encouraged to get involved. Anyone who would like to volunteer is welcome and may call the Methodist church office (903.886.3220) for more information.

Continued from Page 1.

Social justice activist Shaun King thinks “we’re in a dip right now, in the quality of humanity.” other problems and issues. We have barely scratched the surface of those deeply troubling problematic times,’ and that really with quality solutions to those problems. I say that because, I awakened me because I felt like that. And, many of you feel would be deeply discouraged if we had tried every-thing we like that, and that’s been the source of so much aches, protests, knew to try, and failed and still found our way here, but that’s and frustration because many of you are living out the very not the re¬ality. We’ve hardly scratched the surface of the solu- thing that they described that we are in one of those times. tions that we need,” King said.

“The only way we can find our way is through tremen¬dous One of the last effort, hard work, and finding things King tied into creative ways to come togethhis presentation was er,” King explained. “We’re the significance of not on our way up right now.

At-lantic magazine’s I don’t feel love, I don’t feel enen¬dorsement of Hilergy, I see some creativity, but lary Clinton three the magazine is right, I don’t weeks ago. Since startknow what’s go¬ing to haping production in 1856, pen in 5 days. A new president the magazine has only will be elected and I believe the endorsed two people next day, whoever is not elected before this: Abraham and whoever is elected, there is Lincoln in 1964 and still going to be max frustraLyndon Johnson in tion and problems.

1964. Taking a stand “Our country decides to do against slavery, the very little about the problems magazine endorsed that we have in our economic Lincoln because they challenges, immigration form, believed the country police brutality, whatever it is, would split into two. but I am hopeful we will be After endorsing Lynable to find our way out of this don, the Civil Rights dip because we always do. And Movement was voted ev¬ery time we have, college on and passed. students and young people and PHOTO COURTESY/BRANDON PALMORE “What shook me al¬ways played an essential role about the endorsement King standing before a slide featuring German historian Leopold in leading its self out of holes it is not what they said von Ranke as he discusses human “progress.” finds its way in. about Hillary Clinton, “It will have to be you, and if but that they believe we are in one of those times. There is a you’re waiting for someone else to do it, that’s not how it works.

Civil War, then there’s the Civil Rights Movement, then three I hope you understand better where we are as a country, that weeks ago,” King said. “Their editorialist said ‘When we take we’re not steadily improving. That we sometimes get better and a deep step back, and look at history, we believe we are in one sometimes we get worse.”

Continued from Page 2.

Thanksgiving is more than just the day before Black Friday and give up the comfort of their homes for the inside of a mall. Every year, store prices get cheaper (or so they say), doors open sooner, and the lines get longer as more people prefer 50 percent off electronics. Black Friday has grown into ridiculous proportions as news reports of security guards being trampled and death fights over plasma screen TVs, pop up in the news as a usual occurrence. It is ironic how this day precedes Thanksgiving, the poster holiday for giving blessings instead of asking and receiving.

Regardless, society should take a step back to show appreciation for Thanksgiving as it deserves it’s time in the spotlight. With Thanksgiving comes a heavy history and marvelous scenery that only comes once a year. It is important to not get too caught up in the future and forget about the present, because presents will soon come to those who wait.

PHOTO COURTESY/MICHAEL STYNE VIA FLICKR CREATIVE COMMONS

Fostering an attitude of Gratitude can be tricky business. I cannot tell you how often I begin to emphasize the power of gratitude when I am interrupted and informed by others of their negative and dire experiences. It would seem that as soon as I begin to touch on the potential of their situation, others realize what I am trying to do and seek to stop me in my tracks and remind me of the horrors that they have lived or experienced.

Again, gratitude is no easy concept to grasp, much less practice. With this article I do not wish to undermine your experiences or deny the reality that you face. Instead, I hope to set clear that you cannot have gratitude unless you are acutely aware of the injustice, wrong, or terrible nature of what you have endured.

Gratitude is a choice and it is not blind. If you practice gratitude and yet you have never suffered or gone without, then what you experienced is not gratitude. Gratitude is a lifestyle choice as well as a mindset choice. Gratitude is not blind or oblivious; it is an awareness of pain, suffering, and a scarcity of the good.

I am sure many equate gratitude to the Thanksgiving holiday. However, I have reason to believe that gratitude existed well before pilgrims and Native Americans split bread. The eminence of this holiday is not born from the overwhelming excess of food and resources that were shared between Native American hosts and pilgrim immigrants. Rather, Gratitude took place with a full understanding and awareness of the pilgrim difficulty adapting to a foreign land, the deaths, illnesses, trials, tribulations, and the scarcity of food that ensued.

Gratitude therefore is an awareness of what is lacking, however, gratitude is also the ability to appreciate your condition and foresee how you benefit from the experience and continue to near yourself to your goals.

I do not think it is a coincidence that Thanksgiving takes place around food. There is something very powerful about being able to appreciate your dire situation for what it is (bad) while also transforming it into a positive force. Our bodies do something similar in the digestive process. When we eat, we are able to consume something (sometimes of a horrendous appearance) but convert it into energy and nourishment moving forward.

It is my challenge to you, what would it take to be fully aware of your dire, bad situation, or hardship and yet transform it into a piece of food; a piece of food that—once consumed—serves as nurturance and puts you closer to your goals. In order to find your attitude of gratitude, acknowledge one hardship and think of one way in which you have taken your situation and yet moved closer to your goal(s). Who is one person whose friendship you owe to your hardship?

If you feel like you could use an extra support or need help finding your attitude of gratitude, please come and see a professional at the Counseling Center.

At the very least, know that you are not alone and that a resource is available to you should you need it. The Counseling Center will be hosting an outreach event on 11/16/16 named Attitude of Gratitude. Come and join us at the Student Rayburn center 10am-2pm.

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Campus Noah Nelson Promoted VP of Media Relations

PAGE 4

NOV. 10, 2016

Dallas area and the country,” Nelson said. “Often perceived as being far in proximity to Dallas is a challenge for the university. Vying for attention from other schools in the state is different than it was compared to 30 years ago.”

As his department tackles that issue, his position requires several responsibilities that vary everyday from meetings, travelling to Dallas for fundraising, creating contacts and media interviews.

As Nelson helps the university’s recruitment efforts he notes what makes A&M-Commerce stand out, “Students I interview mention the unique interaction they have with faculty here.

We have a school where students get a sense that faculty and staff care, whereas at a larger university they may get that same interaction.”

The sudden passing of President Dan Jones this year, of couse, affected Nelson.

“It was a difficult time for the university,” he said. “I lost my friend and president but this is a resilient campus.”

Vice President Nelson also makes it clear where the university stands as it addresses mental health.

“We’re saying if you need help get it,” Nelson said. “We have counseling services on campus and we’re here to accommodate students PHOTO COURTESY/ JASMINE BAKER needs,”Nelson said.

Jasmine Baker Staff Reporer

Interim President Ray M. Keck announced last month that Noah Lord Nelson was named Vice President for Media Relations/Community Engagement at Texas A&M University-Commerce.

Nelson, a 1973 journalism graduate of the university, is the first African American vice president in the history of the institution. A communications strategist, voiceover talent and former network correspondent for NBC News, Nelson has been at the university since 2012.

During his 30-year career in broadcast news, Nelson was the winner of numerous awards, including gold and silver medallions from the New York International Film Festival for “Best News Series” and two News Emmys for his work at NBC. His responsibilities as Vice President of Media Relations/ Community Engagement will include overseeing university marketing and communications and KETR, a National Public Radio station on the university campus. As head of the Office of Community Engagement, Nelson will be responsible for building stronger relationships between the university and regional civic, educational and governmental organizations.

Growth at the university has exceeded well over 13,000 students; his department is ready. “As the university grows so does my department. My office is responsible for publicizing the great things, our programs and students, that we’re doing Noah Nelson at A&M-Commerce in order to gain more visibility in the

International Education Week

Gwiwon Jason Nam Staff Reporter

Texas A&M University – Commerce will celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide through International Education Week (IEW) Nov. 14-18, with a series of activities planned.

“Office of International Student & Scholar Services (ISSS) will host different IEW events to celebrate international education and our different global cultures represented at A&M-Commerce,” Director of International Student & Scholar Services John Mark Jones said.

During the week, each day has events and schedules for students and faculty/staff.

“On Monday, we are planning to host Coffee hour with Indian, Korean, and Nepalese Student Associations,” International Student Coordinator Ginger Gonzalez said.“The purpose of the coffee hour is to give lion cousins getting together. Also, students can take a break and hang out with their friends. We invite students to serve coffee, tea, and other beverages as well as sweets and treats,” she added.

ISSS will host a IEW Cultural/Diversity luncheon on Tuesday to Wednesday. This is the new event for this year. This series of luncheon is for faculty and staff partnered with Training Development Affect.

On Tuesday, Korean Student Association (K.S.A) will have the presentation and luncheon 11:30 to 1:00 at the BA Building Room 343.

“Come learn useful language phrases and basic cultural practices of Korea to enrich your understanding of International diversity,” the president of K.S.A Young In Kim said.“We will prepare our cultural food and present ethics, new year celebration, and traditional games.”

Caribbean Student Association will host the IEW Luncheon event on Wednesday at the same time in the Alumni Center.

“We will inform participants by playing a few trivia games to educate about our culture. We also plan to give them a taste of our culture by serving unique and tasty Caribbean cuisine,” president of the Caribbean Student Association Mesiyah Carpenter said.“We will entertain them by dancing and showcasing some of the best Caribbean attires.”

ISSS director Jones explains the purpose of this new IEW Cultural/Diversity luncheon event.

According to John Jones, the purpose of this event is to allow an international student organization or group of students an opportunity to share their country and culture with a group of university faculty and staff, it is around 30 registered attendees by hosting a traditional meal and providing an organized, fun, interactive, and informative session about their culture.

ISSS plans to host another luncheon event on Spring 2017. The Muslim Student Association and students from Nigeria and Ghana plan on hosting each luncheon event in 2017.

The ISSS will also be hosting a traditional Thanksgiving meal for all international students and the university administration on November 17 from 11:30am-1pm in the RSC Conference Rooms.

On the menu will be roasted Turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, and green beans along with some surprises.

“Come learn about the American Thanksgiving holiday and traditions, and share this special meal with friends. We will talk about the tradition of Thanksgiving and will do kind traditional activities that most American families do at the Thanksgiving dinner table,” Gonzalez said.

“Reservations are required. There is a minimal cost for the luncheon. It’s $4.00. Seating is limited,” she said.

Anyone who has interest in detail of IEW events can contact to the ISSS. They are located in Halladay Buidling room 104, email address is Intl.Stu@tamuc.edu.

“We are making photographs to understand what our lives mean to us.”

— Ralph Hattersley

Faculty Online Training Targets “Intellectual Diversity” Alex Medrano Staff Reporter Texas A&M University- Commerce is presenting a faculty-only seminar, Collaborative Intelligence: Thinking With People Who Think Differently.

This is a prerecorded seminar from last year that is going to be focused around one of the authors of the book Collaborative Intelligence: Thinking With People Who Think Differently, Angie McArthur. The book and the authors press that “we are accustomed to considering diversity through the lens of race, gender, and culture, but most of us are unaware that there is also a range of differences in how we think.”

The Center for Teaching with Technology is putting on the seminar for faculty only on Nov. 16.

The event is going to be in the CFEI Conference Room, Library Suite 172 or online from 2:30-3:30 p.m. The seminar is going to speak about understanding “intellectual diversity”.

The book “Collaborative Intelligence: Thinking With People Who Think Differently” is written by

Dawna Markova and Angie McArthur who draw on their experience from working with some of the top business people to “getting brilliant yet difficult people to think together”.

It breaks down what is your “collaborative-intelligence quotient, is a measure of your ability to think with others on behalf of what matters to us all”.

The book and the seminars goals are to create a thought process that promotes “to either stand on our own feet as individuals to make a mark and achieve recognition or sacrifice our uniqueness and perspective in order to accommodate a larger whole – a company, a family, a community”.

The methods have also been used in determine, “How Collaboration Intelligence Can Tell You Who’s Going To Quit” in an article for Forbes and is commonly used in the workplace.

The seminar can be seen either online or in Library Suite 172 for faculty only. For more information over, the event e-mail CFEI.FacultyDev@ tamuc.edu or call 903-886-5511.

“Being an international student, it’s so different here. We all wouldn’t have known each other if we didn’t come to Commerce.”

Ushasri M., Ramya D., & Sri R.

Humans of Commerce Computer Science

-Student stories, student lives-

N . 10, 2016 Features Man’s Best Friend, Man-made Legs

PAGE 5

OV

Acacia Munoz Staff Reporter Texas A&M University-Commerce Department of Art gives students credit towards their degree while building prosthetic legs – in the form of wheel carts - for handicapped animals.

Josephine Durkin, Associate Professor of Art, has developed a new class, course number ART 497, called E.A.S.T. Studio: Prosthetics for Handicapped Dogs. E.A.S.T. stands for Empathy Art Science and Technology and is being taught for the first time this semester. She teaches the class each fall, and it is open to all majors. Durkin, who regularly teaches 3D design, sculpture and graduate courses, developed the class as a way to teach empathy and kindness towards animals, while simultaneously teaching design, engineering and woodshop skills. In this course, students learn technical and real-world problem-solving skills, while greatly improving the quality of life for disabled animals.

Students design and construct wheel carts to enable cats and dogs to become comfortably, and safely mobile – so they can fully enjoy their life despite their physical challenges.

A couple semesters ago, Durkin started to incorporate projects in her 3D Design class that fueled animal kindness through technical skill building. Students were very engaged in these projects, and so she wanted to create an entire course dedicated to teaching empathy through art and design. She realized that, between classes, jobs, homework and other activities, students have schedules that make it difficult for them to volunteer, and apply their conceptual and technical skills to help tackle and solve real-world problems. E.A.S.T. classes focus on creative problem solving, as they apply to real-world problems, for the purpose of positive change.

Students learn to shop, design, and obtain engineering skills while building rolling carts for disabled dogs and cats.

A wheel cart purchased online can cost hundreds of dollars, but Durkin’s goal is to make them for $60 or less.

“We want to make them function for the animals, but also draw attention to encourage awareness and kindness,” Durkin said. “The more care we put into these carts, the more others will care about disabled animals.

Students are engineering these vehicles to help animals, but they are also creating vehicles for positive, social, real-world change.”

The class is currently working in three different groups where each is building a wheel cart for a disabled animal. Every student takes part in this project. They use their research skills to learn more about the disability of the animal they are helping so that the wheel cart is best suited for their needs.

One of these animals is Callalily, nicknamed Cally. She suffers from wobbly kitten syndrome, a disorder where the cerebellum of the brain has not fully formed, which causes her not to walk properly. Her group recently tested their second wheel cart prototype and the entire class saw Callalily walk on her own.

“She is doing very well,” Durkin said. “Compared to the first prot-

type test, this one is much better.”

Merissa Balak, who takes part in Callalily’s group, immediately began to make improvements on the harness that fastens Callalily to the cart.

“I’m a pre-vet so I have a love for animals,” Balak said.

Roger, a 13-year-old German shepherd, suffers from old age, severe arthritis, as well as degenerative myelopathy, which causes him a lot of pain, making it difficult for him to walk.

“His right front leg is the only leg working for him,” Durkin said. “He is currently taking anti-pain medication, but the wheel cart is very helpful.”

He also had the chance to test out his prototype. Everything was going well until his group witnesses him fall to the side. Now they are determined to make new improvements to help Roger become mobile.

“Even though the back legs touch the cart, it needs to be elevated and widened,” Durkin said.

Lucy, a mixed German Shepherd and Golden Lab, is the third disabled animal being helped by the class. She lost her front left leg after being hit by a car last FebruStudents take animals for walks on their prosthetic legs. ary.

“We looked up wheel carts for dogs online to get an idea of what it should look like but couldn’t find any with front wheels since Lucy is missing her left front leg,” Amy Faith, who takes part of Lucy’s group said.

“Josephine then gave us some really helpful information that helped us get started.”

Faith gives her teammate, Dereck Walker, credit for the design but he claims everyone in the group helped.

“We had a few problems getting the wheels to run in the beginning but we made some adjustments and got it to work,” Faith said. “We tried to think of every possible thing to help her.”

Durkin wants these wheel carts to be a work of art so they can be interesting, and show love to the animals.

She expects the final designs of each team wheel cart to incorporate color and make use of smart, appealing design.

“The key is to create a moving sculpture,” Durkin said. “Be inspired by whatever…to have the most desirable cart out there but most importantly have fun. We can make a wheel cart better than the ones online. Art, science, and technology can be used for solving realworld problems.”

The class’ wheel carts will make their debut in Dallas on December 3rd, as part of a group show at Gray MatPHOTOS COURTESY/ ACACIA MUNOZ ters Gallery called Altered Works.

MISTAKEN IDENTIDY Todd Kleiboer Web Editor The presence of weapons during crimes does in fact interfere with eyewitness identification during lineups at times, found Dr. Curt Carlson, Associate Professor of the Psychology, Counseling, and Special Education Department in his research presented at the Brownbag Series last Friday.

“347 individuals have been exonerated based on DNA evidence, and about 70 percent of these cases, or at least the initial convictions, are due at least in part to mistaken eyewitness identification, so it’s the largest cause by far,” he said.

When a weapon, in particular a firearm, is used in a crime in front of witnesses, those witnesses tend to focus on the weapon, and that effect was thereby dubbed the weapon focus effect (WFE). Research had been done over this effect, but according to Carlson, they lacked a large sample, had a limited research design, and had confusing methods of measurement.

“This is something that has been known since about the mid-80’s or so,” Dr. Carlson explained. “When there is a weapon present during a crime, intuitively people seem to understand this idea that eyewitnesses get distracted by the weapon. So, if you’re looking at the weapon a lot, then you’re probably not forming as good as a memory of the details.”

Perpetrators were picked from a lineup of six mugshots given to the subject all at once, and the weapon focus effect negatively influenced the subject’s memory of the crime unless the weapon was concealed, the crime was quick.

Interestingly, a combination of a unique facial feature and a weapon sharpened the subject’s recollection.

“Also, as I look across our studies and other

people who do these weapon focus studies, it seems-now, no one has looked at this directly with an experiment although we have one planned- but if the perp is more than about two meters away, you don’t always have weapon focus effect there either. Maybe it’s something about distance,” he speculated.

In his experiment, Dr. Carlson measured the accuracy of the subject (the victim) in picking the perpetrator and the confidence directly after they made their lineup choice. His measure of confidence differed from precedent research because others measured confidence at the trial after possibly weeks or months have passed.

“For decades, a lot of eyewitness researchers have been in the courtroom saying ‘Confidence is bad. Don’t pay attention to eyewitness confidence’,” he said. “They’re still right here, but the only difference is that they were always talking about confidence during the trial, and sure enough, when an eyewitness gets to the trial, their confidence has been influenced by all sorts of things. It’s that confidence, counterintuitively, that you don’t want a jury paying attention to.”

This backlash against a subject’s confidence was unneeded because Dr. Carlson found that confidence is positively tied to accuracy. In other words, the more confident a subject felt about his or her pick, the more accurate it was likely to be.

“If they say they’re 90 to 100 percent confident, they’re almost 100 percent accurate, regardless of weapon presence,” he asserted. “We think that’s important. You might look [at the less confident subjects] and say, ‘well, do you want to throw these all people out [of a court case]?’, but if you focus in on their confidence, you can maybe include these people who were 90 to 100 percent confident.”

PHOTOS COURTESY/ ACACIA MUNOZ

German Club Brings Diversity to Commerce Gwiwon Jason Nam Staff Reporter A flyer for “The Stammtisch Club” has been posted around campus this semester, promoting a new student organization for The German Student Association, which has brought more diversity to Texas A&M University – Commerce. ”The German Club is an initiative to promote German language and culture,” the president of German club and Ph.D. student in Applied Linguistics Nabiha El Khatib said. “The purpose of this club is to introduce people to the German culture. We do not only focus on the language, even though the language is very important, but we also like to speak about the country, its capital, historical significance, festivals, traditions, etc.”

For this semester, Dr. Christian F. Hempelmann, who was born in Germany and is an Assistant Professor of Computational Linguistics in the Department of Literature and Languages, gives lectures to members such as how Germany is divided into states and how these states have their capitals.

The organization started meeting in Fall 2013 and became an official student organization in Spring 2015. They now have 10 active members. ”We always welcome new members who are interested in our club. Our group meets every other week at the Hall of Languages. We practice grammar, watch German movies, talk about German culture and enjoy German food,” Nabi-

ha El Khatib said.

Also, they are looking for new places related in Germany around Commerce. Recently, they attended at the Oktoberfest in Paris, Texas.

“We like to explore places that are related to Germany, for example, going to restaurants that serve German food. We also organize activities that allow us to explore the German culture and language,” Nabiha El Khatib said.

The president of The Stammtisch Club explained the benefits members of this organization have.

“This organization gives you the chance to learn about a European country and its significant impact on other countries in the world. For example, Germany has played an important role in other languages mainly English.”

The organization name Stammtisch is German. The word Stammtisch is a table in a bar or restaurant which is served for the same quests at the same time every day or every week.

“It is not easily translated into English but it means something like ‘regular’s table’ or ‘regular get-together,’” Nabiha El Khatib said.

According to the members of the club, any potential members do not need to be German or speak German. Anyone who wants to learn a new culture and language could be a member of this organization.

“I hope that one day the members of the German Club get the chance to go and visit this beautiful country,” Nabiha El Khatib said.

PAGE 6

Entertainment

NOV. 10, 2016

Looking Good Lions

Unity Through Hip Hop Kerry Wilson Opinion Editor

Texas A&M University-Commerce is welcoming Hip Hop Congress, a student organization whose core principles are hiphop, self-expression and community service.

Hip Hop Congress began in New York and is now internationally recognized in the United States, Africa, and England. The formation of Hip Hop Congress at A&MCommerce makes it the second chapter of the organization in Texas, the first chapter being at Texas State University.

“Hip Hop Congress is a community service based organization that strives to unite cultures through the art of hip-hop by encouraging creativity, cultural expression and social activism,” Tommy Aguilar, founder and co-adviser of Hip Hop Congress said. “It utilizes the four elements of hip-hop which are MC, DJ, graffiti and dance. We are bringing this organization on campus because this is something that we know is perfect in timing, especially with where the demographic of A&MCommerce is now going.”

Part of what Hip Hop Congress strives to do is engage students. Aguilar mentioned that meetings will include showcasing student talents and challenging them through various exercises to help them reach their potential in whichever form of art they are interested in.

“We’re going to have discussion, interaction, and performances,” Aguilar said.

“We’re going to have thought processing to where you’re going to have to think on your feet and a sound scan where you have people who want to showcase their talent in the middle of the meetings. We want to be real innovative with this organization being here on campus. It speaks to a higher calling of a certain demographic of students who have no voice or who never thought about being active with an organization because they didn’t think it was their calling or who didn’t look into greek life because it wasn’t their calling.”

Aguilar pointed out that the A&MCommerce chapter reflects the demographic of students who never looked into organizations prior to Hip Hop Congress.

“It’s a nine member board,” Aguilar said.

“Six of the nine were never really active with any other organizations or even looked into greek life, so within the representation of the executive board, it’s already showing that it’s attracting people who want to come out of their shells. That alone is already speaking volumes for them to already be a founding board member of a student organization that’s going to hopefully have the potential to have a founding impact on this campus.”

Reaching out to students who feel they do not have a voice is part of the organization’s goal of providing a haven for everyone.

“We want to provide a safe place for everyone to express themselves freely, get positive feedback, positive reactions and just be able to feel safe and promote themselves in a way that they feel safe doing so,” Brittany Beans, vice president of public relations said.

President of Hip Hop Congress Dacia McDuffie stressed that Hip Hop Congress is for students who are interested in all forms of art, not just hip-hop.

“Hip Hop Congress isn’t just about hiphop. It’s about freedom of expression. Basically, it doesn’t matter what genre of music you’re interested in. This organization is going to help you to get out of the shell that you’re in. If you like country music or rock music, then come join,” McDuffee said.

Hip Hop Congress is helping Executive Board member Myles Simmons express his love for drawing and community service.

“I joined because I like to draw, even though I took a break from it since middle school. But, my main reason for joining was really to be able to help out and give back, especially because I love kids.”

Simmons’ love for kids and giving back to the community is consistent with Congress Kids, a program Aguilar and cofounder and adviser Dai’Jah Williams hope to start at the A&M-Commerce chapter.

“We want to implement what we call Congress Kids,” Aguilar said. “In Congress Kids we go to the local elementary schools, YMCAs and Boys and Girls clubs. We talk to them about drug awareness, bullying, pretty much what the awareness is at an elementary level, but we throw in our hip-

hop aspect of it. We also show them, ‘Hey, there’s another way to handle the situation you’re going through to get through your adolescent years and go into high school.’”

Education and empowerment is something Simmons feels is necessary for the youth of today.

“Doing Congress Kids will help give me a better understanding of working with kids,” he said. “Kids are the future, and we have to teach them what’s right and what’s wrong, because nowadays it’s not what it used to be. We have to really show them what hip-hop truly stands for and not what it’s being portrayed as today.”

Staying true to what hip-hop started as is important to founders Aguilar and Williams. Williams said her major influences in hip-hop are Tupac and Common.

“My two favorite people that influenced my love for hip-hop would be Tupac, because he was revolutionary,” she said. “But, his origins were from poetry. I definitely resonate with that because I write myself.

He made music in every sense that he believed in. Whenever it was time for him to stand up for something, he had those political type of songs you could listen to in the car and still vibe to. Then, I would say Common, who at the time was going by Common Sense. The very first song I heard from him and fell in love with was ‘I used to love her.’”

Like Williams, Aguilar also included Tupac as a musical influence in his life but said he was most influenced by the era in which hip-hop was split into the East and West Coast.

“I would say my biggest influence from the ‘90s would have to possibly be from the West Coast era, which was Ice Cube, Tupac and Dre. My very first album I actually bought, I was eleven years old. It was with my own money that I saved up. It was Puff Daddy’s “All in the Family” album. I was heavily influenced by that East Coast West Coast era.”

Hip Hop Congress meetings are held on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. in the Rayburn Student Center, room Ambition A. For more information about Hip Hop Congress, contact Tommy Aguilar and Dai’Jah Williams in the One Stop Shop.

What is Love?: Costly

Autumn brings a harvest of fashion. Hello cardigans, sweaters, boots; and all around beautiful people dressed to impress.

#LionsFashion Fall fashion is upon us and The East Texan examines various outfits around campus that inspire students everyday to dress well.

See the full color feature on our website at tamuctheeasttexan. com E AST TEXAN PHOTOS/GWIWON JASON NAM

Libro de Vida

Manuel Ramirez Staff Writer

Alissa Silva Managing Editor African Student Association and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. have come together for their first collaborated event “Love Does Kost A Ting” on Nov. 16. It will be free admission in the Rayburn Student Center Club from 7p.m. to 9p.m.

The event is an auction where the audience bids on either 15 of the men or the 15 women candidates for a date. Anyone interested in participating in the auction can apply by Nov. 11 online at https://form.jotform.com/62970624857164.

“I think it’s going to be a great event,” President of ASA Isaac Ogunniran said. “People are going to meet and have a good time.

After the auction, we’re going to have something to make sure ev-

COURTESY/TWITTER.COM eryone goes on their date unless they plan something themselves.”

Revenue raised throughout the auction will be split between ASA and the Kappas for their chosen respected charity.

“I personally think this is going to be our biggest event of the fall,” Ogunniran said. “It’s great collaborating with the Kappas, they bring a crowd and that’s what gets these events kind of going.”

Kappa member Johnathon Fields will be hosting the event while Kappa member DJ Sammy spins.

“Things are going great, we just filled up our executive positions so we have new people in charge of new things,” Ogunniran said.

“It’s going beyond well and can’t wait to see what the rest of the year brings.”

ASA is still accepting members and holds their meetings every Tuesday at 7p.m. in the BA building room 109.

How does one describe The Book of Life? It’s Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, given the Pixar animation upgrade with a pinch of DreamWorks humor. Coincidentally the focus of both The Book of Life and Corpse Bride involve a love triangle and unexpected trip into the afterlife.

We follow childhood friends Manolo (Diego Luna), Joaquin (Channing Tatum) and Maria (Zoe Saldana). Manolo is a bullfighter-in-training with dreams of being a musician; Joaquin is a pompous but courageous soldier and hero of the town.

Friends turned rivals, Manolo and Joaquin compete for the love of Maria and seek her hand in marriage, unaware they are part of a bet made by two deities of the dead. La Muerte (Kate Del Castillo) who rules the heavenly afterlife called the Land of the Remembered and Xibalba (Ron Perlman), who rules the desolate wasteland known as the Land of the Forgotten.

Director Jorge R. Gutierrez and producer Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth and the Hellboy movies) craft a gorgeous movie and incorporate the Mexican holiday of El Dia de los Muertos, with themes of life after death, and remembering loved ones who have passed. It’s a sight to behold with its kaleidoscope visuals and colors along with some memorable and funny characters, each given their moment to shine.

The look of the film called to mind Gutierrez’s short lived cartoon on Nickelodeon, El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera, sharing a similar animation style. Much of the cast consists of Hispanic voice work from comedians Gabriel Iglesias, Cheech Marin, action star Danny Trejo, voice actor Carlos Alazraqui and Mexican celebrity Eugenio Derbez, who Spanish speaking audiences will recognize as the voice of Donkey in the Spanish dub of Shrek. The deities steal the show especially Perlman’s Xibalba who brought a level of charisma both comedic and villainous that James Woods brought with his voice role of Hades in Disney’s Hercules.

The plot is at times predictable and cliché from the trope of the disappointed father found in Happy Feet and How to Train Your Dragon, a couple of childish jokes and cringe worthy dialogue but it never got to the point where it ruined the movie.

Depending on your taste of music, the movie contains covers of popular songs that you’ll either love or hate but there are a couple of original songs that makes the soundtrack fare better.

Funny, touching, action-packed, and epic; whether you speak Spanish or not, The Book of Life is movie one can enjoy.

NOV. 10, 2016

PAGE 7

finalscore

hotshot

21-16

6

Another come-from-behind win for Midwestern State as RB Adrian Seales runs in a touchdown in the last minute to surge past Tarleton State at home Saturday.

Number of game-winning goals scored by Angelo State’s Demi Tsambasis. Angelo State was unfortunately knocked by A&M-Commerce in the LSC Championships.

2016football Men’s & Women’s Cross Country Football Athletes punch national tickets Kincade honored by LSC in 32:12 as the Buffs had two All-Region honorees for the second consecutive year.

Senior Blake Whalen was the third runner for the Buffs as he finished 33rd in a time of 32:12 followed by Tyson Wieland in 39th in 32:57.

Michael Barnett was the key fifth man for WT finishing 101st running 34:46 followed closely by Reid Splawn (103rd, 34:57) and Darin Allen (116th, 35:13).

On the women’s side, Eastern New Mexico’s Mercy Rotich claimed the regional title clocking a 6K time of 21:47 to advance to nationals as an individual.

Midwestern State placed ninth (279) and ENMU was 10th (315). The Mustangs and Greyhounds finished behind Adams State (43), Western State (71), Colorado-Colorado (125), Colorado PHOTO COURTESY/L ONESTARCONFERENCE .ORG Springs Mines (159), Colorado StateThe West Texas A&M men’s and Adams State finished atop cross country finished fifth at the standings with 36 points Pueblo (179), Dallas Baptist the NCAA Division II South with Orediggers winning the (200), Fort Lewis (230) and Central Region Championships tiebreaker while CSU-Pueblo Colorado Mesa (269).

The Buffs and Rotich will held at Washington Park on was third (105) followed by Saturday afternoon punching Western State (126). ASU’s turn their focus to the NCAA their ticket to the national meet Sidney Gidabuday was the Division II Cross Country for the fourth straight year. individual winner covering the Championships hosted by Saint Leo University in Saint Juniors Geoffrey Kipchumba 10,000-meter course in 31:28. and Owen Hind went 1-2 for the Kipchumba has earned All- Leo, Fla. on Nov. 19. WT Buffs as they both earned All- Region honors three times in finished 18th at last year’s Region honors after finishing his career as he finished ninth championships held in Joplin, in the top 25 individually. after racing in the front pack Mo. where Kipchumba became The Buffs finished fifth for most of the race. He covered the first All-American in with 197 points, edging Black the 10k course in a time of program history.

Hills State. Colorado Mines 31:46 followed by Hind in 17th

Team Conf. Overall Midwestern State 7-1 8-1 A&M-Commerce 7-1 8-1 A&M-Kingsville 5-3 7-3 East. New Mexico 5-3 6-4 Tarleton State 5-3 5-5 West. Texas A&M 4-4 5-5 Angelo State 3-5 4-6 West New Mexico 3-5 3-7 O.K. Panhandle 1-7 2-8 UT-Permian Basin 0-8 2-8

Schedule October 29nd O.K. Panhandle AT East. New Mexico Angelo State AT West Texas A&M A&M-Commerce AT UT-PB West. New Mexico AT A&M-Kingsville Midwestern AT Tarleton State

2016volleyball

PHOTO COURTESY/LIONATHLETICS.ORG

Texas A&M UniversityCommerce’s Reggie Kincade has been named the Lone Star Conference Special Teams Player of the Week Monday.

Kincade – a sophomore from Everman - was all over the field on special teams in the Lions’ 58-21 rout of UTPB with two key recoveries. In the first quarter, he recovered a fumble on a kickoff return and gave the Lions the ball at the Falcon 14. On the next drive, Kincade recovered a blocked punt and returned it for a touchdown to put the Lions up 21-0.

Kincade’s honor continues a run for the Lions, who have had

six LSC Special Teams Players of the Week in nine available weeks. Kincade joins teammates Hector Dominguez, Kristov Martinez, Shawn Hooks and Ovie Urevbu as LSC Special Teams Players of the Week this season.

The Lions go home this weekend for the final regular season game of the year, hosting Tarleton State for a 4 p.m. kickoff on Saturday. Tickets are available to purchase prior to the game by calling the box office at (903) 468-8756 or visiting www.

WeAreLionsTix.com. Ticket windows at Memorial Stadium will open at 2:30 p.m.

Lone Star Conference Players of the Week Two receive awards for athletic feats

Ashley Exford, Angelo State University, SR, Defender, Fort Worth, Texas, Keller Fossil Ridge HS Exford led the Belle defense to another strong showing in two matches against opponents. The Pioneers got off five on Friday and the back line of Angelo State held the Lions to four shots on Sunday.

Savannah Grasser, Texas A&M University - Commerce, SR, F, Mabank, Texas, Mabank HS Grasser scored a hat trick in the Lions 7-1 win over UT Permian Basin Friday. The hat trick is the only three-goal performance in the LSC this season. She ends the season as the LSC leader in goals (14) and points (30).

Players perform well, claim honors OFFENSIVE

SPECIAL TEAMS

Adrian Seales, Midwestern State University, SO, RB, Stafford, Texas, Stafford HS Seales ran for 138 yards lifting Midwestern State to a 21-16 win with a 13-yard run with 52 seconds to play Saturday night in Stephenville. It was his third career 100-yard performance and second of the season. Seales ranks second on the team with 398 rushing yards for 79.6 per game.

Justin Jackson, Angelo State University, SO, LB, Missouri City, Texas, Fort Bend Ridge Point Jackson was a crucial player in the Rams limiting West Texas A&M to just 137 total yards. The sophomore made nine total tackles of which seven were solo. He also added an interception and recovered a fumble. He made 1.5 tackles for loss from his linebacker position.

Trio picked for excellent athleticism

DEFENSIVE

Mallory Davidson, Angelo State University, SO, Austin, Texas, McNeil HS Davidson played a huge role for the Belles’ defense this week as she assisted in holding opponents to a combined hitting percentage of .083. The sophomore recorded a career high 33 digs against the Lady Buffs last Friday and recorded a team high total of 69 digs for the week. This week she took over first place on the team with 295 total digs in the 2016 season. The Austin, Texas native also co-led the squad from the service line with three aces on the week.

SET TER

Meghan Parker, Angelo State University, FR, San Antonio, Texas, Johnson HS Parker continued to play a key role in the ASU offense during this week’s three victories. She averaged 11.90 assists per set and is hovering at a LSC leading 11.65 assists per set for 2016. Also turning in a stellar defensive performance this week, she recorded her seventh double-double against West Texas A&M as she turned in 14 digs accompanied by 50 assists for the night. Parker completed her defensive stats for the week by adding five total blocks.

Score Recap

53-10 28-6 28-13 58-21 21-16

Women’s Volleyball: Italics denote winner November 4th St. Edward’s AT West Texas A&M 3-0 West. New Mexico AT A&M-Commerce 3-1 Midwestern AT Tarleton State 3-0 East. New Mexico AT Texas Woman’s 3-1 Cameron AT Angelo State 3-0 A&M-Kingsville AT West Texas A&M 3-1 November 5th Cameron AT Tarleton State 3-0

Midwestern AT Angelo State East. New Mexico AT A&M-Commerce West. New Mexico AT Texas Woman’s A&M-Kingsville AT UT-PB

14-4

A&M-Kingsville

12-6

23-5

A&M-Commerce

12-6

18-11

East. New Mexico 11-6

16-11

West. Texas A&M

27-2 22-5

9-8

15-13

West. New Mexico 8-9

16-12

Midwestern State

5-13

11-19

Texas Woman’s

5-13

9-18

UT-Permian Basin 3-14

7-20

Cameron

3-24

1-17

Schedule

October 28th West. New Mexico AT Cameron East. New Mexico AT Midwestern UT-PB AT Tarleton State West Texas A&M AT Angelo State A&M-Commerce AT A&M-Kingsville October 29th Texas Woman’s AT A&M-Kingsville West. New Mexico AT Midwestern West Texas A&M AT Tarleton State UT-PB AT Angelo State East. New Mexico AT Cameron Southern Nazarene AT Midwestern November 1st UT-PB AT East. New Mexico West Texas AT West. New Mexico A&M-Commerce AT Cameron

Men’s BB 2016 November 11th UC-Colorado Springs vs. UT-PB O.K. Christian vs. A&M-Commerce Fort Lewis vs. West Texas A&M Arkansas-FS vs. Midwestern Newman vs. Cameron Adams State vs. Tarleton State Black Hills State vs.A&M-Kingsville N.M. Highlands vs. East New Mexico O.K. Panhandle vs. West. New Mexico November 12th Newman vs. A&M-Commerce O.K. Christian vs. Cameron Adams State vs. UT-PB Midwestern vs. Rogers State S.D Mines vs. A&M-Kingsville UC-Colorado Springs vs. Tarleton State N.M. Highlands vs. West Texas A&M Fort Lewis vs. East. New Mexico O.K. Panandle vs. West New Mexico November 14th Adams State vs. Midwestern

Schedule

Lauren Frye, Eastern New Mexico University, SR, Amissville, Va., Highland HS Frye recorded the third-highest kills (23) in a three-set match in school history in the win over Cameron on Saturday. The 23 kills ties for the third most in Division II in a three-set match this season. Frye added 16 kills in the sweep of Midwestern State to average 6.50 kills per set. The senior from Amissville, Va., recorded a .500 swing percentage after hitting .483 and .514 against MSU and CU, respectively.

Men’s & Women’s Hoops Italics denote winner November 4th Azusa Pacific AT West Texas A&M (M) 86-72 Uni. of Mary AT West Texas A&M (W) 51-42 November 5th St. Cloud AT West Texas A&M (M) 83-70 Cali. Baptist AT West Texas A&M (W) 76-66 November 6th Arkansas-FS AT West Texas A&M (M) 94-86 Augustana AT West Texas A&M (W) 65-57

17-1

Tarleton State

Women’s BB 2016

OFFENSIVE

Football: Italics denote winner November 5th O.K. Panhandle AT East. New Mexico Angelo State AT West Texas A&M West. New Mexico AT A&M-Kingsville A&M-Commerce AT UT-PB Midwestern State AT Tarleton State

Conf. Overall

Angelo State

Schedule

DEFENSIVE

OFFENSIVE

Team

3-0 3-0 3-1 3-0

November 11th Fort Lewis vs. UT-PB St. Mary’s vs. Cameron East Central vs. A&M-Kingsville S.D. Mines vs. East New Mexico O.K. Panhandle vs. West. New Mexico Missouri S&T vs. Tarleton State A&M-Int. vs. Texas Woman’s CS-Pueblo vs. A&M-Commerce Adams State vs. Midwestern November 12th S.D. Mines vs. UT-PB Missouri S&T vs. Cameron Fort Lewis vs. East. New Mexico St. Mary’s vs. Tarleton State Rogers State vs. West. New Mexico Adams State vs. Texas Woman’s A&M-Commerce vs. MSU-Denver A&M Int. vs. Midwestern November 13 Tampa vs. A&M-Kingsville November 14 A&M-Kingsville vs. St. Mary’s Fort Lewis vs. West. New Mexico

Page 8

Nov. 10, 2016

Sports

Game schedule

Nov. 1 1 : Vol l eyb a ll @ U .T. P erm i an Bas i n ( 7 p . m. )

N o v. 12: Vo l l e y ba l l @ We s t Te x a s A & M ( 2 p .m.)

Nov. 1 2 : F o ot b a ll v s. Tarl e to n S ta te (4 p . m . )

N o v. 13: Socc er v s. ( St. Edward s/ M i dwe ste rn) ( 2 p.m .)

Rodeo: A Sport Different From Any Other

Spencer Nelson Staff Reporter

The Texas A&M University-Commerce rodeo team is competing at Sam Houston this upcoming weekend.

The A&M-Commerce rodeo team is rising up from its golden days in the mid-1980s. Sam Houston brings high hopes and promise to all those competing this weekend at the final rodeo of the semester.

The teams place at the rodeo on average.

Since it was stated back up four years ago, they have made it to the finals in Casper, Wyoming each year.

The Rodeo team has won several events and

placed in the top ten for every event except for Bull Riding and Bronco Riding.

“Rodeo is a different sport from any other sport, that you can think of where you can just go out and practice your offense, your defense, your plays, stuff like that,” said Coach Dameon White. “And then plus you have an animal involved that does his job.”

White has been the coach for the team since 2012. Since then, he has brought the team back from where they were back in the ‘80s.

Rodeo team member Kelsey Burris said that she is very confident with her team and that they will do their best to represent their school by doing what they do best.

Burris, a freshman at A&M-Commerce, is a

four-time reserve champion goat tier. Goat tying is an event in which the tier rides his or her horse to the goat that is tied to a rope at the other end of the arena, steps off the horse, and ties three of the goat’s legs. The goat needs to be tied for at least six seconds to receive time. Burris holds a record of 8.1 seconds in this event.

The horse that she uses is her own 11-year-old quarter horse.

“I have owned her for about 2 years now,” said Burris. “My relationship with her is pretty cool.

She’s an awesome horse, but she has her moods, which sometimes conflict with mine. We find a way to get past it and do our job.”

On Friday Nov.11, the rodeo team will be traveling to Conroe, Texas to compete in the final

rodeo for the fall semester with several coming up in the spring. December is the halfway point in the season with June being the end of the yearlong rodeo season.

The men’s team is currently in fifth place in the southern region, with the women team standing in sixth place. Mitchell Coleton is No. 1 in the Southern region for team Roping Header with Shan McCall in second. Team Roping Heeler Carson Hicks is in the lead with 252.0 points and Eric Williams is second in the region with 204.5 points In Breakaway Roping. Shelby Dominque is No. 5 in the region. Hannah Williams is holding the No. 7 spot in Goat Tying.

Pivotal Weekend Ahead for Lion Volleyball

Kerry Wilson Opinion Editor

After spending a weekend at home, the Lions volleyball team is preparing to hit the road again to play The University of Texas of the Permian Basin Nov. 11 and West Texas A&M University Nov. 12.

As the Lions stand tall at No. 3, their position in the Lone Star Conference is heavily dependent on the upcoming games.

“This upcoming weekend is a big weekend for us. It’s the last weekend of conference play,” said head volleyball coach Craig Case. “This weekend is going to determine where we finish the season in terms of conference standing. We could be anywhere from second to seventh based on how we play this weekend.”

To snatch a good ranking in Lone Star Conference standings,

Evan Luecke Staff Writer

Case said the objective for this weekend is to focus.

“If we go in and play our best, I think we’re going to end up with a favorable ranking,” he said. “Then that just puts you in a spot getting ready for the conference tournament. We’re really just focused on taking one match at a time and making sure that we don’t trip up here at the end of the season.”

Staying focused helped the Lions beat Western New Mexico University and Eastern New Mexico University Nov. 4 and Nov. 5.

The Lions began the battle against Western New Mexico by falling behind in the first set (17-25). However, A&M-Commerce came back in the next three sets to win the game with scores of 25-18, 25-15, and 25-21. Team leaders were Layne Little with 14 kills; Taryn Driver with 13 kills; and Jaryn Wacker with 12 kills.

The Lions swept Eastern New Mexico University on Senior Day

Cross Country Team Looks Forward to Promising Track & Field Season

Denver, Co. – The Texas A&M University-Commerce Lions cross country team finished up the season by flying out to Denver, Colorado for the NCAA Division II South Central Regional meet at Washington Park.

The Lions finished 20th in the region, with the women finishing 26th.

The Regional race for the men was a competitive 10,000-meter (10k) race. The course was mostly flat with two small incline hills. There were four laps, one 1k loop and three 3k loops. For the women, it was a 6,000-meter (6k) race. The course layout was the same for the women, but it was a two 3k lap course.

Evan Luecke, who was the top finisher for the Lions, came in 96th place with a 34:38 time. Abubeker Mohammed came

in second on the team with a time of 35:10 for 114th place. Behind him was freshman Edwin Aparicio in 122nd place at 35:19.

Turner Pool was 126th at 35:22, and Trevor Montgomery finished the teams score with 132nd place at 35:36.

Senior Terra Truitt was the top Lion for the women finishing 80th place with a time of 24:47, followed by freshmen Brandi Stadler and Jasmine Amo. Stadler finished 126th with an even 26:00 and Amo followed in 136th with a time of 26:15. Maiya Collins finished 165th with a time of 27:42, and Briana Castaneda rounded the top at 168th with a time of 27:57.

Junior Leader Turner Pool talked about his season.

“Overall I accomplished what I set out to do,” Pool said. “My goal was to get top five in Conference and that is exactly what I did.”

The Lions have had a lot of personal records (Pr) this season. The Lions had goals of finishing second at conference for the men’s team and finishing in the top ten at regionals. They accomplished one of the two major goals for this season and were disappointed after not finishing in the top ten in the region.

“Overall, the Lions cross country team had a very successful season,” Pool added.

The Lions now are looking to start training for this year’s indoor track season.

Lions cross country coach Jake Krolick stated, “Our results at the Chile Pepper meet show great promises moving into 2017. We now set our focus to the track season.”

With the team being so young, there is going to be a lot of room for growth.

The Lions are looking forward to this upcoming track season and are anxious.

Soccer goes into Second Round with a Win and a Tie

Imogene Wofford Entertainment Editor

On Nov. 4, Texas A&M University-Commerce’s Lions soccer team played Angelo State University’s Rambelles for a chance to advance to the LSC Championship Finals.

Going into the match A&M-Commerce was ranked no. 1, while the Rambelles were no. 4.

Within the first eight minutes the Lions had two corner kicks; during the 16th minute, Lions’ defender Anitra Wright took a long-range shot. Throughout the match the Lions took every chance at scoring a goal.

The Lions took more shots over the Rambelles with 14-10.

Sophomore Caitlin Duty had three saves and picked up her 10th shutout of the season.

Lions’ Defender Delaney Bunselmeyer, sophomore, put the Lions on the scoreboard during the 37th minute of the game, and this is her third goal of the year. Senior forward, Vicky Beck, flew in a left side corner kick and Bunselmeyer took it to the goal. This was the game’s only goal and one of two shots Bunselmeyer took during the game.

With the win, the Lions were able to advance to the finals that were played Nov. 6 against the third seed, Midwestern State University Mustangs. This was A&M-Commerce’s third consecutive appearance in the LSC Tournament finals.

Midwestern State University took 13 shots to the Lions’ 12

with 3 straight set wins (25-22, 25-19, 25-19). Neka Nelson and Taryn driver led the team with nine kills each. Ashley Mireles had 10 digs. Rylie Fuentes kept the pace with 10 digs and 26 assists.

Case mentioned that while the team did well, there is room for improvement before the games this weekend.

“I thought it was pretty good,” he said. “I thought we played consistent. That’s what you want to be doing at this time of the year. We probably weren’t as efficient as we needed to be, but I thought we were pretty consistent. The good news is we’re doing some things that are difficult for other people. But, at the same time we’ve got a lot of things we need to work on. I think that puts us in a good spot moving forward, provided we’re willing to work on the things we’re not doing well.”

Lions Charge Into Final Game of the Ricky Moser Regular Season Sports Editor

Texas A&M University-Commerce headed to Odessa over the weekend and defeated UT- Permian Basin 58-21 to win their fourth straight game and stay perfect on the road.

The crowd of 7,000 had to stay late in order to see the final play of the game. The game kicked off at 7 p.m. but did not wrap up until 12:42 a.m. due to a couple of weather delays throughout the night.

A&M-Commerce lead the entire night, getting off to a 37-0 lead before halftime thanks to their high-octane offense.

The team played three separate quarterbacks against the Falcons and also had five different receivers catch a touchdown pass. A&MCommerce continues to boast the highest scoring offence in the Lone Star Conference as they average 42.3 points per game this season.

The Lions also continued their impressive streak of scoring a non-offensive touchdown thanks to sophomore Reggie Kincade, who had a 15-yard punt return for a score around halfway through the first quarter.

With the win, the Lions are now ranked No. 8 in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) poll.

The next game on the schedule for A&M-Commerce (7-1 LSC, 9-1 overall) is at home against Tarleton State (5-3, 5-5). This matchup with the Texans is the last game of the regular season.

The Texans are coming off a recent loss but both teams still rank in the top half of the LSC rankings thus far.

Kickoff is set for Saturday at 4 p.m.

and Duty, the goalkeeper, had five saves.

During the fourth minute of the game, senior forward Savannah Grasser raced through the left field, and passed a low cross to Wright who was waiting in the box to score and put the Lions in the lead of 1-0.

In the 21st minute the Mustangs came back to tie the game by Destinee Williamson and Nicole Coetzer, who got downfield, passed the Lions’ defense with Williamson scoring.

Even though the game was tied, neither team was able to add points to the scoreboard for the remainder of the first half.

The Lions came within a hair of scoring again in the 52st minute, a corner kick was slung down to the six-yard box where freshman Kasey Sorbers struck the ball with her head, but it bounced off the crossbar.

The game went into two overtimes. In the first, freshman Jessika Coronado attempted a header that was knocked away just before the clock ran out. During the second overtime the Lions had a better opportunity to score, but the Mustangs’ goalkeeper, Courtney Burnettte, blocked a close-range shot attempted by Grasser.

Since the game was still tied after both overtimes it was time to go into the shootout, where the Mustangs took the win, and the tournament title, with five penalty shots over the Lions’ four.

Lions are now 14-5-1 overall for the season.

Photo Courtesy/Lion Athletics