I n d ep en d en t
Issue no.
S t u de nt
V o ic e
o f
B o is e
S tat e
Sin ce
1933
16
October 2012
Volume 25
w w w.arbiteronline.com
Boise, Idaho
8
First issue free
Top Stories
Bronco win
Boise State flies over Southern Miss 40-14 in Hattiesberg, Miss.
page
10
Breakdance
“Try it with Tabby” busts a move with the Breakdance Club.
page
6
Sold for sex
CODY FINNEY/THE ARBITER
ROTC members recently worked at Gowen Field with helicopter and weapon simulation.
Boise State: military friendly Victory Media lists campus among the top 15 percent nationwide Staff Writer
People are bought and sold every day, even here in Boise.
page
8
Weather Today
Sunny
66º high
0%
chance of precipitation
Tuesday
Sunny
70º high
0%
chance of precipitation
Wednesday
Sunny
72º high
0%
chance of precipitation
What’s Inside News Briefs News Opinion Sports The Arbiter
2 page 3 page 9 page 10 page
Boise State has been named a “Military Friendly School” for the fourth consecutive time by Victory Media, a media outlet providing content to the military community, a fact largely unknown on campus. This achievement signifies the university is in the top 15 percent of schools nationwide for delivering the best experience for military students. According to Victory Media, the list is compiled through extensive research and a datadriven survey of more than 12,000 schools in the United States. "The most positive thing I can say is that it’s so nice, you don’t even have to think about it. You take everything for granted. You’re not going to have any problems. It’s super easy to use the GI Bill or voc rehab,” Joshua Barnes, a veteran now in his senior year of health sciences said. “You just go in not expecting to have any issues and there aren’t ever any issues. And if there are (issues), R.K. is awesome.”
Barnes also addressed the new program brought to Boi- rior Foundation, a nonprofit difference he has experienced se State, one of only 24 uni- organization supported by between the level of atten- versities to have this program private donations, now only tion he receives at Boise State, across the country, through present on the campuses of compared to his experience at the collaboration with the CWI and Boise State. a university in North Dakota. U.S. Department of Veterans’ “We are an organization He spoke highly of the staff Affairs (VA). that provides mentorship and at the Veterans’ Center, how “We support veterans go- support for severely woundknowledgeable they are and ing to school,” Sean Burlile, ed, injured and/or ill veterans. how easy they make it to use Ph.D., VetSuccess on Campus The biggest piece of our orthe benefits. Counselor said. The VA pays ganization is the mentorship, This is especially pertinent for tuition, provides a living and we call it 360 degree supbecause “evport for e r y b o d y ’s the wargot their own riors that situation are in the We support veterans going to school, anywhich makes program. thing to help the veteran be successful. it difficult Each one —Sean Burlile sometimes, of them is I think, to assigned figure out a squad. where you are in that whole allowance, medical care, men- They have three students and sort of stream,” Barnes said. tal health services and coun- one local mentor assigned to Inside the walls of the Vet- seling, "anything to help the each individual warrior. The erans’ Center, there are three veteran be successful," Burlile intent for those squads and different organizations avail- said. the local mentor is to establish able and ready to assist stuHaving the resources right a support structure that the dents. on campus and in the same warriors feel comfortable with They include Veterans’ space as other veteran ser- and can share things with and Services, which provides ac- vices makes finding the right can get advice from,” said Tom cess to educational benefits to assistance that much more Byrns, Director of Scholarship veterans, and two new organi- convenient for students when and Education. zations, VetSuccess on Cam- they do turn to the Veterans’ The Foundation also propus and the Wyakin Warrior Center for support. vides professional developFoundation. Boise State has also part- ment seminars and focuses on VetSuccess on Campus is a nered with the Wyakin War- how to help veterans transi-
“
Sanja Lazic
“
tion and be productive in their careers. According to Byrns, 14 students have applied to the program for next spring, and as there are currently only 11 students participating, the size of the program will soon more than double. Barnes is one of the first members of the Wyakin Warrior Foundation and said it is "another facet” of why the assistance available to veterans here on campus is “awesome.” “Everybody is prior military, and helping you use the skills that you learned in this one sort of specific aspect and sort of translating those into business,” Barnes said in reference to the Foundation. When asked whether he agrees with Boise State being named one of the top military friendly school, Barnes said, “Totally founded. For sure.” The well-established working relationship within the Veterans’ Center is an invaluable resource to student veterans here and as one of every 12 students is eligible for veteran benefits, it is critical that this support structure exist and function as well as it does.
Steven Pinker speaks on decreased violence Danielle Davidson Staff Writer
Abraham Lincoln was the president who kept our nation from splitting in half indefinitely during the Civil War. “We are not enemies, but friends," Lincoln said. "We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic cords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature." The last portion of Lincoln's speech “by the better angels of our nature” was used by cognitive scientist Steven Pinker in titling his most recent book "The Better Angels of our Nature: Why Violence has Declined." Pinker said the
better angels of our nature to be self-control, empathy, moral sense and reasoning. “Over history one can see the circle of empathy expanding,” Pinker said during his Oct. 4 speech at The Morrison Center for The Performing Arts. Pinker’s book was the main topic of the lecture he gave to a full-house for the fall installment of the Distinguished Lecture Series. He also cited books, movies, etc. allowing people to enter different mindsets and gain empathy for people of different cultures, classes and race. Students who attended the lecture said Pinker brought up points they had not thought of before. “I really like how he pointed out that in the 20th century that there wasn’t actu-
ally more deaths just because we saw a higher number of deaths, because he looked at it in relation to the increase in population as well,” said Cassandra Sullivan, junior economics major. “So when we look at that ratio between population and the amount of people that died, it’s actually a lesser percentage dying. So I thought that was a really good argument that I hadn’t thought of before to justify an increase in death, but there’s more people, so it actually doesn’t mean there’s more violence.” Pinker focused on bringing evidence for his claim to his audience. A lot of it was in the form of charts, graphs, other visuals and straight facts. “I thought he was wellspoken and made some really interesting points,” said Kevin
Colwell, junior math major. “I didn’t know what to expect but I’m very pleased that I got to see him speak. I thought his data was very well collected and very diverse in the sources, and he looked at it from a lot of different angles. I just think that the number of different things that he was looking at, including rape, civil war, interstate war, methods of war, they all went together and made his point very clear.” After the lecture there was a short question and answer session and Pinker stopped by the side of the stage to sign autographs and answer more questions. “It’s a privilege to have to have all of these notable people come to Boise State and talk to us about their field. (It’s) really interesting, really enlightening,” said
Max Chambers, junior math major. The Distinguished Lecture Series comes to Boise State once a semester and presents people who are at the top of their given field.
ONLINE To read more about the Distinguished Lecture Series, visit arbiter online.com
arbiteronline.com