Today’s Weekly FoRecAsT WeaTher Wednesday
Thursday
630/340
ParTly Cloudy
450/230
630/490
Friday
750/450
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
770/440
850/510
830/520
WTAMU ranked number 72 U
B.J. Brittain reporter
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Students react to Boston, West Texas tragedies.
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April 23, 2013 • Vol. 95, No. 25
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.S. News recently released their rankings of colleges in the United States and WTAMU ranked number 72 out of 100 on the list of Regional Colleges in the West. The schools that made the list were graded on their academics, community, athletics, and other factors that potential students look for in a potential college choice. “It’s great news anytime we’re on a top 100 list,” Dr. Neal Weaver, vice president for Institutional Development, said. “It sounds like a good list to be on, so certainly we’re going to be excited about that.” WT scored high in many of the criteria used by U.S. News to decide these rankings including tuition rates, selective enrollment and academic programs. One of the best rankings for the school was the faculty and staff. The faculty and staff at WT are both experts in their fields as well as interested in the success of their students. “I attribute a lot of that success to the passion of the WT faculty,” Kyler Steger, a senior Accounting major, said. “I think this emphasis
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Last minute win for the Amarillo Venom.
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feaTure
Watergate reporter visits WT campus.
PaGe 10 Chris BroCkman/The Prairie WTAMU was ranked number 72 out of 100 best regional colleges in the western United States.
on the relationship between the professors and their students has contributed to WT’s success. However, it is not just the professors that should be commended, but the deans, assistant deans and department heads as well.” The intimate community the University boasts was also given credit for the ranking.
“I think we are in the top 100 because of the superior community at WTAMU,” Evan Gamble, a sophomore Psychology major, said. “The professors are high quality and genuinely care for their students and it really creates a great educational setting. On top of that, the community outside of the classroom is very personable and homey. WT is a family, of
thousands.” Over the past few years, the school has been working to improve the campus in many different ways.
WT Nursing students will distribute hygiene products to the homeless on Wed., April 24, from 8 a.m. to noon at the Guyon Saunders Resource Center in Amarillo.
All University Honors Banquet will be Friday, April 26, in the JBK Legacy Hall at 7 p.m.
WTAMU blood drive will be held in the JBK Legacy Hall from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 24.
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PaGe 11 J. Evetts Haley Sr., Cody Myers and Ed Wright receive WT’s Distinguished Alumnus Awards.
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SSA dispels myths on Ask an Atheist Day WT to host student research conference S L Brooke Self reporter
ast Thursday members of WTAMU’s Secular Student Alliance (SSA) gathered in the Jack B. Kelley Student Services Center (JBK) from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for Ask an Atheist day to answer questions from other students. Several members were present, and students who were mostly unaware that the group even existed until the protest that occurred on campus two weeks ago were encouraged to ask them anything they wanted to ask. The idea of Ask an Atheist day is to educate people on what exactly Atheism is. “Ask an Atheist day is something that Atheists internationally have decided to do because there are a lot of myths and misunderstandings about what Atheism really is,” Ashley Farren, senior Environmental Science and Geology major and member of SSA, said. “One of the common things that we get is the thought that if you’re an Atheist, you can’t possibly have morals.” Ashley Farren said Ask an Atheist day is a way for them to allow people who may have questions about what Atheism really is to just ask. When people are encouraged to ask questions, it tends to be less threatening. Founder and president of SSA, Bradon Cohorn, said Ask an Atheist day is important because many people, especially in the area
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of the Bible belt, don’t understand what it means to be anything besides a Protestant Christian. “Another reason we are doing this is to build exposure,” Cohorn said. “With the protests that happened last week, that was great exposure and at our next meeting after that, we had five or six new people show up.” Cohorn said most students don’t even know SSA exists and they want to get the word out to students who may have different beliefs than many of their peers and don’t feel like they have a group to belong to. “Right off the bat this morning we had a young lady show up that said, ‘I didn’t even know y’all existed. I’m an Atheist and I’ve been an Atheist for a while and I didn’t even know that there was a group like this on this campus,’” Cohorn said. All of the SSA members present agreed that it can be difficult coming out as an Atheist for some people, especially if admitting to being an Atheist could harm family relationships. According to Cohorn, there are actually members of SSA that haven’t come out as an Atheist to their family because they fear the consequences. SSA wants those people to know there is a place on campus they can go to get a sense of belonging. Cohorn also said through no specific fault of anyone, SSA messages tend to be removed or hidden before many people get a chance to
even see it. “A lot of times our signs and posters will get removed because people find it offensive,” Cohorn said. “How a flyer that says ‘You can be good without God’ is offensive is beyond my understanding.” Ashley’s husband, Jamie Farren, is also a member of SSA, even though he is currently a student at Amarillo College who plans to transfer to WT soon. He is also co-founder and president of Freethought Oasis, which is a non-profit organization in Amarillo, that, according to Jamie, does pretty much the same thing as the SSA does, but for the community. “Ask an Atheist day has become, in the Atheist community, somewhat of a holiday,” Jamie Farren said. “It’s kind of a reminder that we need to be talking to people who aren’t just Atheists. What it’s really about is an educational process.” Although some students may disagree with some of the messages that SSA promotes and some find SSA in itself offensive, other students think that educating people is always a positive thing. “I think it’s really important for people to be informed,” Miranda Parman, junior Spanish major, said. “Even if you don’t agree with something, you need to understand why you don’t agree with it. People shouldn’t just decide that something is wrong and say it’s wrong,
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but then not have anything to back it up. That’s just being completely uneducated.” Parman said she walked by the protests that occurred two weeks ago and was appalled to find out what it was all about. “If I were to label myself, I would say that I am a Christian and I think that those people are exactly what Christians are not supposed to be,” Parman said. “The word Christian is from a Greek word that means ‘little Christ’ and if we’re being ‘lit-
tle Christs,’ Christ wasn’t an [exple- Hunter FitHen tive]. He wasn’t a jerk and those reporter tudents from across the people had no kindness in them.” country will be presenting According to members of SSA, their research projects at the Ask an Atheist day was a success, as they were able to inform many peo-nineteenth Annual Student Research ple on both the existence of SSA andConference on Friday, April 26, at the truth about Atheism. CohornWTAMU. The conference will be encourages anyone who is curiousheld from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the about SSA to visit their Facebookthird floor of the Classroom Center page at https://www.facebook.and the first floor of the Jack B. Kelley Student Center. Students will com/SecularStudents.at.WT. compete in a variety of categories and mediums. Students can present a paper, take part in a poster session, submit a completed paper, showcase a performance or submit a digital media entry. “We will showcase student oral presentations, formal posters, and a variety of fine arts,” Dr. Bonnie Roos, research conference chair, said. “The visual materials will be on display in the JBK Legacy Hall.
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The Prairie is a student-operated newspaper at West Texas A&M University. It functions to inform, educate and entertain readers accurately and responsibly. It does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the administration, faculty or staff. The Prairie verifies the legitimacy of the advertising appearing in The Prairie, but cannot be held liable for any advertising claim made in this publication. The Prairie has a circulation of 1,500 and is printed by the Amarillo Globe-News. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. -- First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The oral presentations will be in one of the many associated conference rooms. All of the events are open to the public, and there are schedules available to anyone at the welcome desk, in the lobby outside Legacy Hall.” Roos also encourages students not in the research conference to come out and support their friends. “If you have friends involved in the conference, or if you’re curious about presenting next year, you should come by and cheer our students on, and ask them some questions about their work,” Roos said. “Even if you’re just having lunch, you should drop in to see what other students in your field are doing. The work that goes into these projects is really impressive.” The conference is sponsored by The Department of Graduate School and Research, and will close with an awards reception. Winners will
receive plaques and cash prizes totaling $2,000. “I am very anxious, particularly as I’ve seen the abstracts,” Roos said. “The student work that’s being completed at WT this year is very inspiring.” Other WT employees are interested in the multiple ways that the conference will be beneficial to students. “I think the conference will help give students broader views, and will benefit people in two ways,” Martha Allred, Cornette reference librarian, said. “One, the students presenting will be able to learn from each other’s presentations, and two, students presenting will be able to share their ideas and research with other students. It sounds like a great opportunity to come together and learn. I think that research also helps students to prepare for additional studies and future projects. People
will surely benefit by learning, and getting some good ideas.” Some students look forward to the way the research from other students will benefit the faculty member and other students research in the future. “I think it will be a good opportunity for students to benefit from each other’s research, and maybe learn more about each other’s projects if they’re interested,” junior Criminal Justice Policing major Rafee Almas said. “I think it’s also a good way for students doing research to show people what they’ve learned.” The conference will also provide students a chance to show off their research and meet people that could become potential connections in the business world. “I think it is important for students to learn to express their ideas professionally, no matter what they choose to do with their lives,”
Roos said. “This conference gives them this opportunity.” For Roos, the conference not only gives students a chance to showcase their research, but also serves as a reminder of how much talent WT holds among the student body. “Sometimes both teachers and students underestimate the high quality of research done here at WT,” Roos said. “Every year I work on this conference, I am reminded of how intelligent, articulate, and talented our students really are. Finally, this conference offers a venue for students serious about their future careers and graduate schools to develop their résumés. Every presentation and poster is a line that sets you apart from other candidates, demonstrates your commitment to a field and makes you more competitive in national markets and graduate schools.”
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April 23, 2013 | theprairienews.com
Students react to Boston, West tragedies alex Gonzalez RepoRteR
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merica has seen more than her share of tragedy this past week as two separate explosions rocked the lives of both the Boston community of Massachusetts and the West community in Texas. These explosions also registered in the hearts of many Americans across the country. It was a Monday afternoon on April 15 during the Boston Marathon. As runners finally made their way to the end of the race, a bomb exploded yards from the finish line, killing three people and injuring more than 140. “The tragedy at the Boston
Marathon was a big shock to me,” said Carly Durham, freshman Sports and Exercise major, who ran her first marathon last March in Dallas. “As a runner and an American I am devastated by what happened.” Three days after the bombing, footage was released of the alleged suspects, two brothers. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26 years old, was killed and 19 year old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured after an intense confrontation on a boat in Watertown, Mass. the next day and taken into custody. Nearly 2,000 miles south of Boston, on Wednesday, April 17, 9-1-1 operators responded to a fire at the West Fertilizer Co. near Waco, Texas. First responders showed up
and quickly tried to extinguish the fire, when all of a sudden the plant exploded into a blast of power and destruction. The explosion heavily damaged or destroyed buildings and homes within a five mile radius. The blast killed at least 14 and injured more than 200. WTAMU students, staff and faculty members have come together to give aid to the victims of the plant explosion. WT Student Government has teamed up with Texas A&M AgrilLife in Amarillo for a West Texas helping West, Texas campaign. “Many students and the community are all making donations and working with Texas A&M Extension office in Amarillo,”
WTAMU Advertising team wins first place in district Chelsea Chavez RepoRteR
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TAMU Buffalo Advertising team received first place and the title of Best Media Plan at the 2013 Tenth District National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC) in Tulsa, Okla., April 10-12. This is the first time in the University’s history the Advertising team has receive first place, which advances the team on to the national NSAC competition June 5-8 in Phoenix, Ariz. “As a returner to this year’s team I can say I am by far proud of the team as a whole,” Julia Grief senior Advertising and Public Relations major, said. “Every team member brought all that they could to the table. These past nine months consisted of nothing but research, which brought us together. All of this provided the team with such a success.” The NSAC competition is the largest of its kind and provides college and university advertising teams a chance to demonstrate their creative talents in correlation with
the advertising field. Student teams create a comprehensive campaign for a NSAC sponsor that is assigned as the contest’s case study. More than 150 college and universities participate in the NSAC challenge each year on a national level. This year’s case study and NSAC sponsor was Glidden Paint and challenged students to increase consideration and awareness of the Brilliance Line within Walmart Supercenters. The Buffalo Advertising team, which consists of 21 members, went through nine months of conducting research over their case study. Throughout their examinations, they began conducting a professional plans book and a 20 minute live presentation that consists of a response strategy plan. Both the plans book and presentation were presented to judges that are professionals within the communications industry. “The whole team has put so much into this campaign,” Megg Dunlap, senior Advertising and Public Relations major, said. “How
many college kids do you know that would give up their entire spring break for school? Winning district made all of the hard work and frustrations completely worth it. “ Lori Westermann, Buffalo Advertising Advisor and Instructor of Communication said that seeing her students accomplish such a goal after their hard work was the most rewarding for her. “Seeing students rise above and beyond what they thought was impossible in the beginning is what means the most to me,” Westermann, said. The team will make their way to Phoenix, Ariz. on June 5-8 to compete in the national advertising competition. “This is truly a group effort,” Westermann said in a press release on WT’s website. “From WT administration and colleagues to our local Amarillo Advertising Federation, we enjoy the most unbelievable support for this competitive effort. You can’t help but be motivated when you’ve got that kind of backing.”
Kim Coe, student government secretary, said. Hygiene products, clothes, diapers, cases of water bottles and an array of other products lay neatly stacked in the office of Student Affairs. These products will soon be sent to West, Texas, to help the victims as they face a devastating time. “It’s a huge effort,” Student Body President Nick Geottsche said. “We’re receiving everything from clothes to even lumber and building supplies.” The program has secured FedEx trucks to come and haul the products to West, Texas, for free. Local United Market stores are also asking if customers would like
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WT RANKED from page 1
“The institution has been doing a lot of things over the last five to six years to move us in this direction,” Weaver said. “When you to donate bottled water when they think of things like the way the campus looks, the Pedestrian Mall, checkout and the Wal-Mart from the new Residential Living buildings, and the Buffalo Sports Park, Borger has also brought in a large there are a lot of things that have been done to the aesthetics of the supply of donations to ship as well. campus and to the quality of life of the campus, like the expansion of In a Huffington Post article, the Activity Center, all to make this a more comfortable place to be.” according to the Texas Commission Although there has been quite a bit of work done on the appearon Environmental Quality (TCEQ), ance of the campus, this is not the only way that the school has imthe plant had not been inspected proved. since 2006. That incidence was a “Academically, we have aggressively gone after accreditation of result of a complaint of a “strong every program that we can get accreditation in,” Weaver said. “We ammonia smell.” A fine was later have increased the number of endowed faculty positions, we have issued for permit reasons. Also in grown scholarship support, we have grown our ability to attract the Huffington Post, according to and keep the very best faculty we can find.” WFAA-TV Dallas, the Environmental With retention rates lower than the administration would like Protection Agency (EPA) fined the to see, and the growth rate slower than desired, there is hope that plant $2,300 for “failing to have making it into the top 100 West Regional Colleges is a step in the a risk management plan that met right direction. federal standards.” “We have, for lack of a better term, attacked this issue on a number of different fronts,” Weaver said. “It’s really great to see that it’s being noticed and that we’re being recognized for some of the changes and advancements that we’ve made.”
WTAMU Buffs Go Green W Sarah Jo Miller reporter
TAMU has been recycling pounds and pounds of products like plastic bottles and aluminum cans since 2010. “I think it’s a good thing for the school to do because aside from the obvious benefits of helping the environment, it gives the school a better image and has the potential to draw in more potential students as well as outside funding from groups that advocate that green image,” senior Animal Science major Brody Russell said. The school most definitely has that good recycling image as freshman special education major Alex Smith said. “I think it is great that WT is helping to better our environment,” she said. “Go Green!”
According to the Go Green part of the About WTAMU page on the website, it is shown that the school has recycled 208,613 pounds of paper, 5,434 pounds of plastic bottles, 78,775 pounds of cardboard, and 1,138 pounds of aluminum cans, as well as other products. “Since WT has recycled hundreds of thousands of pounds of paper, thousands of pounds of plastic bottles, cardboard, and cans, as well as motor oil, tires, antifreeze, metal and toner, I would believe you could say WT has been pretty successful so far,” Smith said. Even before WT began recycling, Russell said he has done his share of recycling. “I always recycle my old motor oil and whatever trash I have in my pick-
up gets put into the recycling bins at my job,” Russell said. Smith said the campaign is a reminder for her to keep recycling what she always has. “I have always tried to recycle,” Smith said. “I usually keep all my water bottles together and recycle them. If I have any cans, I’ll recycle them, too, but I mostly have plastic bottles.” Junior Agricultural Education major Matt Mills said his main interests in recycling lie somewhere besides bottles and can. “I’m definitely for the slowing down the use for water on certain things that don’t necessarily need it,” Mills said. “But we still have to use a necessary amount of water for food. I just think water’s taken for granted too much.”
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Boston Stronger: Renewing the Legacy WTAMU Softball wins three of four games Keltin Wiens KWts sports Director
I
t’s been a tough week for all of us. At around 2:50 p.m. Eastern Standard Time last Monday, two explosions rattled the Boston Marathon, injuring more than 170 spectators and killing three people. The youngest of the victims was eight year-old Martin Richard. The blast shook the city of Boston as the attack took place on a special day for New Englanders: Patriots’ Day. The holiday is meant to celebrate the anniversary of the first battles of the American Revolution at Lexington and Concord. The Red Sox have played early in the day since 1968 while the Boston Marathon is going on. It was supposed to be a great day, celebrating one of the most pure forms of sport in this country: running and the marathon. After the attack, the Boston Bruins game for that evening was canceled and the Boston Celtics game against the Indiana Pacers game for Tuesday night was scrubbed. The bombings have led to an outpouring of sympathy and support from every corner of our country and throughout the world. But when sports returned to the city on Wednesday, Bean Town gave us quite the show, reminding us why Boston is one of our most patriotic cities. When the Bruins took the ice that night, it wasn’t just any other hockey game. The 17,565 fans in attendance that night gave the Bruins a standing ovation just for making their presence known to the arena. Then, like every other professional and amateur sporting event in the country, the Star Spangled Banner was performed. In Boston’s case, the National Anthem was performed by local icon Rene Rancourt. The singer began to sing the National Anthem and then he motioned for the crowd to sing it, and they did. Just about every fan in the arena was belting out the National Anthem, with such gusto,
passion and patriotism, that it gives you goose bumps to see it. It almost brought a tear to my eye because it was so blatantly cool. Following the Anthem, the fans began to cheer, “USA, USA, USA,” a chant that has become familiar in many sporting venues. This sight was a wonderful treasure and it is a moment that will live on in history, but what does it actually mean? We all know the situation with the marathon, the tragedy and the rebirth of sports into the city, but there, in that moment, what did it actually mean? Before we answer that, let’s step back a bit. The Boston Marathon is our country’s most prized race. For the last 117 years, the Marathon has been run with both professionals and amateur runners competing in it. For the 116 previous Boston Marathons, it was sport in its purest form. The objective of the race isn’t to win it; out of the thousands of competitors, there is only a small percentage of runners who actually have a chance to win the race. The point of the Boston Marathon is to do it. It’s all about making yourself better and proving that yes, you can run in one of the world’s most prestigious sporting events. There’s just as much pride in the race in coming in last as there is in coming in first because at least you finished. That’s what is so American about the race; you gave it your best shot and you didn’t let anybody hold you back. You accomplished your dream. And that’s what America is about, isn’t it? The Boston Marathon, accompanied with the surge of patriotism around Patriots’ Day, brings the city of Boston together to enjoy the majesty and innocence of the sport and creates a sense of community. Monday’s attack violated both of those ideas. Put it this way: at 2:49 p.m. ET, the legacy of the Marathon was the same that it had always been, doing the race and finishing it. By 2:51 p.m. ET, the 116-year legacy of the race could be entirely rewritten from the ground
up. So what are we writing the new legacy to be? I’ll bet that the new legacy of the Boston Marathon will be something along the lines of rising, like a phoenix, from the ashes, no matter how high the flames may be. The Marathon will return next year and the year after that and the year after that and it will be bigger, better and stronger for all time. So, what does the Marathon have to do with the National Anthem at the Bruins game? Well, there’s one more thing that the attack on the Marathon did: it brought life into the sport. We had always used sports to get away from real life, from the things that trouble us in the world. Sports served as a place where we didn’t have to think about wars or attacks. But now nothing, not even the purest form of sport, is sacred. Now, sports are real life. They too have tragedy in them and there’s almost no escape from the hardship. But what that National A n t h e m showed us on We d n e s d ay night was that Americans, starting in Boston, are willing to take a step to a brand new identity. Singing our n a t i o n ’ s anthem at a hockey game was a turning point in how we will perceive ourselves. If our refuges from the troubles in the world are being taken away, then what are we
going to use to escape? Nothing. The Bruins game served to galvanize Americans and their relationship to sports. It was a time when the fans were saying, “Yes, we are Americans and we love our teams. But this is who we are. If life isn’t staying out of sports, then sports are simply
our lives now.” This change in identity is the new American Revolution. We will do all things with an increased passion and fervor because, sadly enough, we don’t know when it could be taken away from us by some form of unspeakable evil.
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T
he number five Lady Buffs of WTAMU won three of four games played, including a three-game sweep against the Aggies of Cameron on April 19-20. The Lady Buffs then fell to the Rattlers of St. Mary’s on April 21, 4-2. “One thing I like about this team, we don’t get caught up in the emotions of the game,” Head Coach Kevin Blaskowski said. “That’s a great trait and one of the reasons we’re having the kind of year we’re having. That’s critical, because you can get caught up in the emotion, and we did a really good job of keeping our composure.” In game one of their three game series against Cameron, WT dominated in a 14-2 victory in five innings. The Lady Buffs jumped ahead 2-0 in the first inning thanks to an illegal pitch and an RBI single by sophomore Allie Cranfill.
After a solo home run by senior Mercedes Garcia put WT up 3-0 in the second inning, the Lady Buffs poured it on in the third, plating eight runs to take an 11-0 lead. Sophomore Renee Erwin hit a tworun homer in the third, her teamtying eleventh of the season. Freshman Brittany Gehle added a two-run triple in the fourth inning to put WT up 14-2. Freshman pitcher Hannah Newcomb went four innings, giving up two runs on four hits to improve her record to 14-4 on the season. Things didn’t go so easy for the Lady Buffs in game two on Saturday, the first game of a double header. WT found themselves in unfamiliar territory when they came up to bat in the bottom of the fourth inning, trailing 6-0. It didn’t take the Lady Buffs long to get right back in the game however, as senior Meghan Slattery started the comeback in the fourth with a two-run homer, followed by
an Erwin two-run triple and an RBI ground-out by junior Jessica Sipe to cut the lead down to one, at 6-5. The Lady Buffs would have another big inning just one inning later, as they would score six more runs to take an 11-6 lead. WT had the bases loaded with no outs, when Slattery had an RBI single and junior Alyssa Lemos had an two-run double. Gehle followed it up with a two-run single and Cranfill had a sacrafice fly to extend the Lady Buffs’ lead to five. The Aggies would make a comeback of their own, but the Lady Buffs would hang on for an 11-10 victory. Freshman Lauren Heinrich picked up the win, her tenth of the season, and Newcomb finished off the game in the circle for WT, picking up her second save of the year. “I think we’re very confident,” Blaskowski said. “We dug an early hole, but I’ve got complete confidence in our offense and if our pitchers just give us a chance, our
offense will create some scoring opportunities.” Game three was much more comfortable for the Lady Buffs, as they scored five runs on three home runs in the first inning en route to a 7-2 victory. Erwin started things off with a two-run moonshot to left field for her twelfth homer of the year, followed by a Lemos two-run homer to center field and solo home run by senior Lacey Seidl to put WT up 5-0. Seidl would go yard again in the third inning, a solo shot that put the Lady Buffs up, 6-1. Newcomb picked up her second win of the series and 15th of the season, going the distance in a complete game, giving up just two runs on eight hits. WT hosted a single game against St. Mary’s on April 21 for Senior Day at Schaeffer Park. Lemos led off the game with a triple to right-center field and ended up scoring on a Rattler throwing
error. St. Mary’s would score three runs in the third inning, however. The Rattlers tied the game up with an RBI single by senior Shelly Lee Zawadzki, followed by a two-run homer by senior Christina Rodriguez to take a 3-1 lead. Slattery pulled the Lady Buffs to within two with an RBI single, but WT could not push any more runs across, as St. Mary’s was able to get out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the seventh inning to hold on for a 4-2 victory. Senior Adriana Garcia was charged with her first loss of the season, as she pitched a complete game, giving up four runs on ten hits with eight strikeouts. The Lady Buffs’ record now stands at 39-8 overall and 18-5 in Lone Star Conference play. WT will head to Portales, New Mexico, for one game against the Zias of Eastern New Mexico on April 23 at 5 p.m.
sessions into points behind starting quarterback Justin Johnson. This prompted the Venom to turn to backup quarterback Kevin Lauchland to keep the Venom within reach. However, the Rattlesnakes maintained a 34-24 lead going into the half. Once both squads returned to the field, Laredo kept a steady balance as the Venom trailed by as many as 17 points late in the third quarter. “I was only as good as everyone else was around me,” Lauchland said, who was 13-19 and passed for four touchdowns while rushing for three. “I just got the ball in my playmaker’s hands and I was never touched. This was one of more exciting games in my football career and I have played a lot of football.” In the fourth game the Venom defense slowly tightened its grip on Randall and his Laredo receiving corps. This defensive stand forced the Rattlesnakes to muster only three points during the final stretch, as Lauchland scampered
into the end zone on two occasions to cut the Laredo lead down to three with only 14 seconds remaining. On the ensuing kickoff, Amarillo receiver Raymond Johnson broke free to place the Venom at the Laredo one yard line, causing the Venom faithful at the Amarillo Civic Center to erupt. The next play would prove to be the game winner as Lauchland handed the ball off to receiver Doug Williams, as Williams sprinted left into the end zone for the go-ahead score. “I love pressure,” Johnson said, who helped the Venom with his late kickoff return. “I have ice water in my veins. I don’t think about stuff, I just try to score.” With the victory, Amarillo improves to a 3-1 tally in the Lone
Star Football League as Laredo tumbles to .500 with a 2-2 record in the LSFL. The Venom will also welcome back star quarterback Nate Davis, who returned to the team after coming to terms on his release with the San Antonio Talons of the Arena Football League. Amarillo
will proceed to take the upcoming weekend off, only to come back to the Amarillo Civic Center on May 4 as they host the Abilene Bombers in a battle for LSFL supremacy at 7 p.m.
Amarillo Venom grab last minute victory
tyler anderson sports reporter
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n their return home from a two game road stretch, the Venom snatched a victory from the maw of defeat in the closing minutes by defeating the Laredo Rattlesnakes 62-58 at the Amarillo Civic Center on April 20. In the comeback win, Amarillo continues to hold command of the Lone Star Football League with a tiebreaker over league rival Abilene. “We started off a little slow, and they did everything that we thought they were going to do,” Venom coach Julian Reese said. “They were a well coached team. We challenged our guys. In the game of football, you have to play together. You can’t play separate and you can’t do your own thing. It’s like a pyramid, if you take one piece off, it’s going to fall.” Falling behind early due to the potent passing attack by Laredo quarterback Bryan Randall, the Venom failed to convert pos-
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8
ENTERTAINMENT
April 23, 2013 | theprairienews.com
@WTcrushes shut downs Twitter feed Preston thomas & megan moore rePorter & Contributing rePorter
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nfamous Twitter account @ WTCrushes disappeared from the Internet last week on the same day The Prairie’s story on the account. Rumors began to grow among students concerning the demise of the account, ranging from parents complaining to the University to threats of a lawsuit. Ann Underwood, director of communication and marketing, spoke with reporter Megan Moore to clear up the circumstances surrounding the account’s closure and present the University’s stance on the issue. “We did send a message to the account owner to cease and desist using our official trademarked logo,” Underwood, said. “We did
not ask them to take [the account] down. We just asked them to stop using our logo. We really go back to what our legal rights are. My job is to uphold our image so I have to decide if it is a positive thing for our image.” Dr. Trudy Hanson, head of the Communication Department, expressed concerns not only of the potential harm accounts like WT Crushes could have on the image of WT, but also on the well being of its students. “If we read this and see ourselves mentioned in these posts it may have a harmful effect on our psyche,” Hanson said. “If you think you’re anonymous and even if you think there’s no harm being done, another person reading that post may read more into it than perhaps you intended.”
Even though the page claimed it was not affiliated with the University in any way, Hanson said the connection between the University and the Twitter page was still there. “Even though [the Twitter page] is not official, the public doesn’t see it that way. They don’t separate it,” Hanson said. “Even though these postings are anonymous, if the logo has been used it will be associated with the university.” “The thing about our trademark logo is that we have the right to cease and desist if we feel like the use of our logo is harming our image,” Underwood said. There’s a team of us and we will get the business office involved and make sure that we have the right to take down the logo and then there’s discussion among administration
hunter, this film focuses on Lincoln trying to pass the Thirteenth Amendment through the United States House of Representatives. Lincoln wants to pass the Thirteenth Amendment through the House before the war ends so the already freed slaves won’t go back to slavery. Even if the Republican Party all voted to pass the amendment, Lincoln’s cabinet still would need votes from the Democratic Party. Most of the movie follows his cabinet trying to vie for votes, but as they do so, multiple events take place to prevent this from happening. Since some of the Democrats lost their re-election when Lincoln was elected for a second term, he decides to use this to his advantage. Seeing as they will need jobs, why not give them a job in return for votes in favor for the Thirteenth Amendment? Lincoln befriends the Republican Party Founder Francis Preston Blair and relies on his influence toward other members of the party in hopes that he can sway them toward voting the amendment through.
The movie continues with the Confederates wanting to meet with the president, but are kept out of Washington due to the amendment wanting to be passed. Although the confederates only wanted peace, it would persuade both the Democratic and Republican parties to postpone the voting on the Thirteenth Amendment. Eventually the amendment will be passed and the movie shifts to the battle at Petersburg, Virginia. Shortly after, General Grant receives General Lee’s surrender. This marks the end of the war. Sadly, the movie ends with the revealing news that President Lincoln has been shot. Overall the movie was a touching and real experience that connected the audience with a part of their nation’s history. The actors delivered their parts to where it was not only believable, but well worthy of their Oscar win. You don’t have to be a history buff to connect with this film; anyone can watch it and be touched by this compelling story.
for what avenue we should take. If someone is using it as a social media profile picture we wanted to remove our image from the conversation.“ To prevent future incidents, Underwood cautioned using official logos and people’s first and last names on social media, as the owners of either one could have a claim for legal action. “If you are going to use someone’s logo you need to ask permission,” Underwood said. “Secondly, be careful naming people. We don’t have any legal right to do anything about that, but the individual could have some grounds to move forward with legal action if there was any slander or defamation of character happening within the post. I know it was all in good fun, but I think they just need
to be careful. Those are people who have reputations and images themselves that they would like to maintain.” Denese Skinner, interim vice president of student affairs, put forward an official statement while the account was still active. “The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gives the individuals the freedom to write what they are posting, even when the writers are using questionable judgment in the content. The anonymity of some of the posts emboldens the writer to say things that they would not say if others knew who they were. I am disappointed that the posts are of the nature we see on WT Crushes,” Skinner said.
Can YOU finish first?
Movie Review: Lincoln Check out our newest vlog & podcast series! “ Phoebe sinClair rePorter
Lincoln,” a film directed by the critically acclaimed Steven Spielberg documents President Lincoln’s last months in office. During this time, Lincoln tries to unite the country while ending the war and abolishing slavery. The film stars Daniel Day-Lewis, who plays Lincoln himself, Sally Field, who plays his wife Mary Todd Lincoln, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who plays Lincoln’s first born son. Lewis plays a heart-wrenching honest portrayal of the president. Throughout the movie he is mostly quiet, yet when the moment calls he is wrapped up in a whirlwind of exciting monologues that grasp the audience’s attention. In one of the scenes, Lincoln is sitting with his cabinet listening to them argue whether or not to try and pass the Thirteenth Amendment. He sits there quietly until he speaks, boldly interrupting the men. His powerful, commanding voice demands attention and convinces his fellow cabinet members to vote his way. Unlike Lincoln being a vampire
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GAMES
April 23, 2013 | theprairienews.com
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Last Week’s ansWers
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10 FEATURE
April 23, 2013 | theprairienews.com
opinion 11
April 23, 2013 | theprairienews.com
Bob Woodward serves as guest lecturer Online sexual harassment on the rise B A Megan Moore reporter
fter sixteen best seller books, twelve number one national non-fiction best seller books, years of groundbreaking investigative reporting, two Pulitzer Prizes and now an associate editor of The Washington Post, Bob Woodward served as the lecturer for the Distinguished Lecture Series on Monday night at The First United Bank Center. Woodward began reporting for The Washington Post in 1971 and a year later found himself in an unstoppable reporting duo with Carl Bernstein. These two worked together to uncover the Watergate scandal. “We wrote these stories and the conventional wisdom was
that Nixon was a conservative Republican law and order president and it was preposterous that we would say that there was this criminal conspiracy to steal the election in 1972,” Woodward said. “We wrote about money and illegal money and money in hundreds of thousands of dollars in safes going to sabotage and spy on Democrats. People did not believe it.” He spoke to the audience about his experiences with the men in the White House and gave reporting advice as well. He pressed the idea of untraditional sources and going to the scene. “This is the great reporting lesson of human nature, you have to push people,” Woodward said. Woodward gathered with students earlier in the afternoon and discussed not only reporting
advice and his journalistic experiences but social media as well. “What do you think the biggest, most important thing going on in American journalism right now is? It’s Twitter,” Woodward said. He spent roughly an hour with the students having a question and answer session with them and counseling them on the real world of journalism. “I took away some great advice as he is an amazing writer. He reiterated everything and gave more advice about fact checking and truth telling,” Julia Greif, senior Mass Communication major,said. “I walked out of his lecture thinking his advice was priceless.” Students from media writing classes and from the student newspaper were in attendance and
WT Buff Olympics abigail grace Miller reporter
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n Saturday, April 20, the Agriculture Department held its first annual Buffalo Olympics. All the organizations within the department got together to create an event where all majors could come together to play games, eat and dance one last time before the semester ends. “I wanted to have an event in which all the students could come together and just have fun hanging out and letting loose,” Lauren Christy, senior Agricultural Business and Economics major, said. “I got the idea from the cook-off that took place a few years ago.” The organizations that participated in Buffalo Olympics were the Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT), Block and Bridle, Horsemen’s, Collegiate FFA, Pre-Vet, Farm and Ranch Club and the Agribusiness Club. “I am glad Horsemen’s was invited to participate with Buffalo Olympics,” Kayla Reeves, junior animal science major, said. “We had a great time mingling with the other clubs.” The various games played at Buffalo Olympics were barnyard olympics, relay races, minute-to-win-it, horseshoes, egg
toss, redneck golf and washers. “Although Buffalo Olympics was a competition, our team wasn’t interested in winning,” Ryan Heinrich, junior Plant, Soil and Environmental Science major, said. “We were excited and thrilled to get to know each other better and have fun in the process. It was also good to unite all the other organizations within the department together in a fun-filled, family atmosphere.” One of the reasons behind the event was to get the various organizations together. With school, work and personal lives, there is rarely enough time to get together and become familiar with one another. “The importance of Buffalo Olympics is to foster relationships and networking,” Dr. Lance Kieth, professor of Agricultural Education, said. “These people are the people that you will be working with for the rest of your lives. This event is happening at a good time when school projects are finishing up and the semester is coming to a close.” Various local businesses donated toward the event, including Cliff Land Brokers, King and Rotary, Block and Bridle, Chisum Ranches, Gypsy Jangle and Verizon. “I hope there will be many more Buffalo Olympics to come in the future,” Christy said.
received original advice from a professional. “What I took away was that hard work really does pay off. There is no such thing as being too thorough in journalism,” C o u r t n e y Anderson, General studies with an emphasis in Broadcast Journalism major, said. “He has a lot of experience that I can learn from.”
ullying is a topic that is discussed regularly in America. Anti-bullying campaigns are storming the nation. WTAMU Advertising and Public Relations students even conducted an anti-bullying campaign throughout the month of February With the new bullying campaigns comes much information regarding the new epidemic of online bullying in relation to bullying via social media. However, there is one form of bullying that has been coming up more and more in recent months: online sexual harassment. Last October, 15-year-old Audrie Pott committed suicide eight days after allegedly being sexually assaulted at a party where she had been drinking and had possibly passed out. Photos of the attack Photo Courtesy of Wt CommuniCations were shown on Facebook. Before Bob Woodward visited WT.
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she took her life, Potts had posted things on Facebook that hinted at her plan. “Everyone knows about that night” and “I’m in hell” were only a few of the things Potts had posted on her Facebook in the last moments of her young life. Earlier this month, 17-year-old Rehtaeh Parsons from Nova Scotia, Can., took her life as well. Parsons’ story is nearly identical to Potts’. Parsons had been allegedly gangraped by four boys at her high school approximately a year and a half earlier and photos of the attack, which were first shared through text messaging, quickly went viral. The bullying regarding the incident continued throughout the next year and a half. Parsons was taken off life support on April 7, three days after she tried to hang herself, causing
injuries. We cannot be sure if it is the fact that an incident of rape can be more publicized with the freedoms of social media, or just that teen rape is happening more often, but one thing is for sure, this type of online harassment is grotesque and is causing more suicides among teenage girls. As if committing rape isn’t horrible enough, now the rapist has the upper hand by being able to make their victim relive the terrifying event daily. The most sickening thing about it all is the fact that this is actually becoming an epidemic and it continues to happen. The boys that are committing these horrendous acts are not even worried about the consequences, almost as if it’s okay to completely ruin someone’s life and as if it’s a
joke. Where is the sense of right and wrong? What is happening in our country? Even many of the worst of the worst prisoners on death row will have it out for another inmate who has committed rape. So what’s going on? The problem is this; a bully is a bully no matter what, and those who relish in extreme bullying now have a way to take it to a whole other level (i.e. terrorizing the victim via social media). Anyone who can do something like this has a slim chance at becoming a decent human being. Every single one of these suspects in these cases should be tried as adults because the only way they may have any kind of chance at being a decent person is with several years of reflection on the pain they have caused.
Another thing that can be taken away from this is the idea that maybe we should pay more attention and realize what a cry for help looks like. Although, yes, there are a ton of people who are over-dramatic in their social media posts, there have also been many examples of people crying out for help in the days before they decide they can’t take it anymore and, without an answer to their cry, they decide to take their own lives. So next time you see a post that seems a little fishy or out of the ordinary for that particular person, take the time to just check in and see if they need someone to talk to and maybe you will end up saving a life.
QuesTion of The Week
“Was it a good idea for @WTCrushes shut down its Twitter feed?” The Prairie will be asking a Question of the Week every Tuesday through Facebook and Twitter. Reply to our Question of the Week post on Facebook or use the hashtag #ThePrairieAsks on Twitter to respond. Student responses will be printed in the next edition of The Prairie.
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PHOTOS
April 23, 2013 | theprairienews.com
WTAMU opens Legally Blonde The Musical Photos Courtesy of shawn D. IrIsh assIstant Professor of theatre
Elle asks Emmett to “Take It Like A Man.”
The cast of Legally Blonde the Musical gets “Whipped Into Shape” with an aerobic jumprope dance number.
Junior Josiah Robinson (Emmett Forrest) and Senior Julia Rucker (Elle Woods) sing “Chip on my Shoulder.”
Elle Woods visits The Hair Affair where she meets Paulette.
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Junior Caleb Brink (Warner Huntington III) gets “Serious” with Senior Julia Rucker (Elle Woods).
“Omigod You Guys”, the girls of Delta Nu cheer on Elle Woods.