Vol 97, No.1

ThePRAIRIE

April 1, 2015

Vol. 97 Iss. 23

Fulbright scholar from

visits WT Read more on page 3 Design by: Megan Moore

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Shuttle system extends hours

Domestic abuse survior speaks to campus

Forensics team wins second internationally

WT Softball to play six consecutive home games

WT Equestrian team season ends at Zone

2 NEWS NEWS

Buff News Briefs

Staff EDITOR Megan Moore ASSOCIATE EDITOR Alyssa Bonner ADVISER Dr. Butler Cain AD MANAGER Alyssa Bonner LAYOUT DESIGNERS Alyssa Bonner Megan Moore Russell Sanderson

Photographers Natalia Molina

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.

College of Business recieves scholarship

University to offer new Social Justice course

he College of Business at West Texas A&M University is the recipient of a $750,000 gift for the establishment of the Bill and Betty Semmelbeck Business Scholarship. This endowed scholarship is the largest ever established in the College of Business. It will provide at least five annual scholarships at a minimum of $7,000 each. To be a recipient of the scholarship, a student must have majors in management, marketing, or general business or finance. Selection for this scholarship will be bases primarily on need. The first named recipients will be for the fall 2015 semester. The Semmelbecks are current members of the Old Main Society and were recipients of the 2014 College of Business Legacy Award. The couple recieved the Gaurdian Award from the university in 2008.

est Texas A&M University will offer a new course in the Fall titled “Social Justice: Change the World.” This course will focus on Grassroots activism to raise awareness and create solutions. The course will be taught

by Dr. Lisa Garza, associate professor of Sociology. It will be a Monday and Wednesday class from 3 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. Garza will introduce case studies from the 1950s through the 1970s. A course based on social movements, topics will range from the Civil Rights movement to the Anti-War movement. Students will also explore current events and issues while learning about solutions and mobilizations. No prerequisites are required for the course.

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Rikel named VP for Business and Finance

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andy Rikel will return to West Texas A&M University as the new vice president for business and finance.

Rikel begins his new role at WT on May 1. Rikel who graduate from the university He is returning to his alma mater to fill a position vacated in January by the departure of Sherri A. Bays.

Mark Hiner, assistant vice president for business and finance, will continue to serve as the interim until Rikel’s arrival. Rikel will oversee the University’s budgeting and contract management.

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Correction: School of Music to become “All Steinway School”

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he Prairie is clarifying a few items on last week’s report on the School of Music’s All Steinway initiative.

The department currently has 80 pianos in total. They have not acquired 80 new pianos.

The hope is that the pianos in poor condition will be replaced with better ones.

Music majors are required to take between two and six semesters of piano lessons which contains a mixture of piano class and private lessons.

The Prairie apologizes for the mistakes and is happy to make corrections.

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April 1, 2015

It’s A Buffs Life

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3 NEWS NEWS

Japanese Fulbright scholar visits the WT campus Audrey Roberson Reporter

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apanese Fulbright Scholar Jin Nishikawa will give two lectures during the week of March 30 about his research on Nuclear Waste Management at the Amarillo College Washington Campus and the other on Nuclear Accident and Science Reporting at the Jack B. Kelly Thunder Room at 4 p.m. center at West Texas A&M University.

He is a science and medical writer for the Ashai Sinbum and is a current resident at Harvard.

Assistant Professor of Mass Communication, Butler Cain and Coordinator of Nationally Competitive Scholarships Laura Seals chose Nishikawa out of 800 Fulbright Scholars to come

to the Panhandle area to do further research and present these public lectures.

“Laura Seals and I wanted to find a Fulbright Scholar who would have broad interest among members of our campus,” Cain said. “Mr. Nishikawa is a journalist, so our Mass Communication students are interested in meeting with him.

Because he is from Japan, he has been invited to speak with students who are studying Japanese this semester. He also researches energy issues, and that is an important topic here in the Texas Panhandle.”

Cain said he has an interest for the Asian culture and how journalism is practiced in those regions. He is taking a travel writing class to South Korea in

May and Nishikawa will be visiting the Travel Writing class on April 2.

Jin Nishikawa’s visit to WT is a real privilege for all students,” Laura Dangerfield, senior Advertising and Public Relations major said. “His knowledge of reporting on the traumatic Fukushima Nuclear accident can teach students how to communicate effectively during times of crisis. I’m looking forward to learning more about crisis communication and reporting from Mr. Nishikawa when he speaks during my travel writing class.” but he wanted to share his interests with the students on campus as well. Seals used the Outreach Lecture Fund to finance Nishikawa and his family’s travels to Canyon.

“I think WT needs to become more globally involved,” Seals said. “I did the leg work to ensure that Mr. Nishikawa would make it to Canyon but I need faculty and student support. If we’re going to bring someone all the way from Harvard, that person needs to be a good fit for our students on campus and their education needs.”

Although Nishikawa will be educating students on his research, Cain and Seals hope he will be visiting the Panhandle to learn as well.

“I hope Mr. Nishikawa enjoys seeing another part of our country, and I hope the experience is

culturally significant for him,” Cain said. “It’s a wonderful opportunity when foreign visitors get to see parts of America other than the coastal regions or major cities.”

Cain and Seals also hope that once students are able to interact with Nishikawa, they will have an interest in the Fulbright Program. Cain also said he encourages students to visit our Office of Nationally Competitive Scholarships to get more information about future Fulbright possibilities.

“It’s a global world,” Seals said. “Every field has international implications.”

JOIN US

for a public meeting.

You are invited to attend a public meeting for the Speech-Language Pathology graduate program.

• Thursday, April 2, 2015 • 4:30 to 5 p.m.

• Alumni Banquet Hall, Buffalo Room The Prairie Jin Nishikawa, Japanese Fulbright Scholar, will be speaking to the Travel Writing class featured above on Thursday, April 2. He will also be speaking at 4 p.m. April 2 in the Thunder Room of the Jack B. Kelley Student Center.

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April 1, 2015

University shuttle system implements new hours Amberly Hildebrandt Reporter

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ith West Texas A&M University’s campus growing by the year,parking is getting more congested. WT’s shuttle service offers a way of transportation across campus.

“The service was designed and intended to benefit the students of WT by providing transportation from the satellite lots to the core of campus,” Elise Herring, Manager of Parking Services, said. “By doing so, we have successfully encouraged students to park off campus relieving some of the pressure on the main campus while still allowing to reach their destination in a reasonable time.”

There are three drivers in the morning and three in the afternoon. Along with those six drivers, there are relief drivers who fill in when another driver cannot make it to work. If all drivers are present, the relief drivers will help break up the shifts.

“We get a really nice group of people who come on board,” Elaine Brown, WT shuttle driver, said. “You see some of the same people, but not all the time, and every time I come around you see something different while I get to practice my right turns.”

Shuttle bus rides offer faculty and students the opportunity to converse with bus drivers.

“I like the convenience of the shuttle and meeting new people while talking to the drivers,” Kaleb Winningham, freshman student, said. “You learn a lot about the drivers’ lives, it’s pretty interesting.”

Each driver keeps track of how many people are picked up at each stop. The busiest pick up stops are at the Jack B. Kelly Student Center and the First United Bank Center. There is also a shuttle tracker to help riders see where the shuttle is to plan their trip. The tracker is available at wtamu.edu and on the WTMobile App. “When people discover [the shuttle] they find it doesn’t take as long,” Brown said.

The shuttle provides security on campus and provides safe transportation. The service has recently extended their hours in the evening to accommodate those who have to walk or drive

across campus after dark.

“Since we have begun the evening shuttle, we now can offer a ride after dark to those who need it to prevent them from having to walk to or from the Event Center in the dark,” Herring said. “The drivers also provide additional eyes and ears to UPD by being constantly mobile and aware of the campus. They have reported suspicious persons and dangerous situations on several occasions, thereby adding to the overall safety of campus.”

The shuttle has five main stops is currently operating Monday-Thursday 7 a.m. – 10 p.m. and Friday 7 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Screenshot of the shuttle bus tracker on the WTAMU website.

There are four shuttle buses in the transportation service, and they make stops at the First United Bank Center, Agriculture and Science building, Jack B. Kelley Student Center, Fine Arts Complex and the Virgil Henson Activities Center.

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5 NEWS NEWS

Assault survivor shares story with WT, community Kaley Green Reporter

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elly Sundberg visited West Texas A&M University for a presentation about domestic violence and sexual assault on Thursday, March 12. Sundberg is a teacher, PhD student, managing editor of Brevity magazine and a published author working on her memoir. She acquired an agent when her writing went viral, and she is a survivor of domestic violence.

Sundberg is now divorced, but it wasn’t always easy for her to know she was in danger.

She was in love with her abuser.

He was her husband, and they have a son together. He was nice, handsome and seemingly the perfect man for her, but she noticed that she had to act around him.

He liked that she was sweet and expected that from her at all times. Their relationship

accelerated more quickly than a healthy relationship. After their first two years of marriage, he physically intimidated her.

He followed a common pattern of abusers by moving her to another state where she had no friends or family, and the hitting began.

“The first time he ever hit me, I was relieved,” Sundberg said. “It had been building up for so long that when he hit me, I thought, ‘Thank goodness he’s finally hit me. Now he’s going to realize what he’s been doing and he will change.’”

It took many years and a few serious injuries for Kelly to believe she was being abused.

She finally left him and found peace and is sure that she made the right decision.

After telling her story, she shared others about domestic violence and sexual assault, experiences with the justice system and victim blaming.

“I believe in the power

of storytelling as a way of combating violence in our culture,” Sundberg said. “One in six women will be the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime. One in four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime. In a domestic violence situation, it usually takes 7 attempts to leave before a victim is successful.”

Sundberg said domestic violence charges are the most dropped charges in America.

Only three out of 32 reported rapes are referred to prosecutors, and only two reported rapes will receive a felony charge.

“Of these 32 reported rapes, two rapists will spend a day in jail,” Sundberg said.

Victim blaming occurs when the victim is made to look responsible for receiving abuse or assault.

“We don’t need to be telling women, ‘Don’t drink too much.

You might get raped.’ We need to be telling men, ‘Don’t rape.

If a woman is drunk and cannot consent, you cannot have sex with her,’” Sundberg said.

Meri Lyn Odell, Victim Assistance Coordinator at WTAMU in coordination with the Clery Act, is in charge of writing the reports and emails sent to students regarding sexual assaults. These include safety tips for preventing such crimes. She has been challenged for victim blaming, although by law she is required to add these safety tips.

“I’ve tried to do more research and consider my wording. I try to be really careful and think from the perspective that it needs to be a safety tip, but I also need to be careful not to say something that puts blame on the victim and sort of re-victimizes them,” Odell said.

Megan Moore, senior Broadcast Journalism and English major and editor of The Prairie, said the goal of bringing Sundberg to campus was to

bring awareness to the subject and help those who face similar situations.

“We as a news organization had talked about addressing sexual assault on campus and decided to do a series on it,” Moore said. “I read Kelly’s essay, ‘Apology Not Accepted,’ and was absolutely moved by her writing and story. Audience members cried and were thanking her. I think just that fact made it all worthwhile.”

Sundberg said people sometimes act like it is a privilege to be abused, speaking on her recent success.

“It’s important for women to tell their stories,” she said. “A lot of stories are not being told by news media. Media makes outliers the majority. No one wants to be raped or abused. It is not a privilege.”

For more information about Kelly Sundberg and her writing, visit her blog at letterofapology. blogspot.com.

WT Forensics takes second place international win Jasmin Ruiz Reporter

West Texas A&M University’s Forensics Team competed in the International Forensics Association Competition in Barcelona, Spain after meeting their fundraising goal for travel.

The team came in second place overall in the competition.

“Most of the money was through private donations,” Connie McKee, Instructor of Speech Communication and Director of Forensics, said. “And hosting and judging of area

speech tournaments.”

This is the first time the team has traveled internationally.

McKee compared the competitions to a track meet.

There are different events that each student can enter individually, but they are all counted into a team total.

“It was the most amazing experience,” Heather Goheen, senior Communication Studies major, said.

“Culturally, educationally and personally.”

Goheen won in the Persuasive Speaking event, while another WT student placed fourth in

the same category. Goheen’s persuasive speech was about disability rights in America.

She was happy to be able to get her message across to people internationally.

She chose this particular topic because her grandfather is disabled, and when she found out about a law in the U.S. that allows companies not to pay minimum wage to disabled citizens, it angered her. She felt that it was her duty to get the word out about such a law in hopes of making a change.

“You have to be passionate

about what you do, and if you’re not passionate about it, then why do it,” Goheen said.

Goheen also placed sixth in Communication Analysis and fifth in Prose.

“WT really made their presence known,” Eric Hernandez, senior General Studies major, said. “It was our first time at this competition, and people didn’t really know what to expect from us. I think they were pleasantly surprised.”

Hernandez placed third in Prose and, like Goheen, was passionate about competing in

Prose because it is what he feels he is best at. In his competition, he talked about his grandparents due to his close relationship with his grandmother.

Wes Alexander was a semifinalist in Prose, Kimberly Garcia placed fourth in Persuasive and Chey Shifflett placed first in Programmed Oral Interpretation and was semi-finalist in Prose. the team will travel to Portland, Ore. for the American Forensics Association National Individual Events tournament this month.

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WT Lady Buffs prepare for six-game home stand Russell Sanderson Reporter

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he Lady Buffs, ranked second in the nation, will return to Schaeffer Park for a doubleheader on March 31 and a pair of doubleheaders on April 3 and April 4. The Lady Buffs have been dominant this season at Schaeffer Park, compiling a home record of 16-2.

Since the opening of Schaeffer Park prior to the 2011 season, WT has gone 124-21 at home.

The success at home for the Lady Buffs bodes well for them as they start the final stretch of games before the start of the conference tournament on May 1. Out of the Lady Buffs last 18 games, 14 of those are home games.

“The great thing right now, other than next week, is that everything’s at home,” Softball head coach Kevin Blaskowski said. “We have 18 games left and four of them are on the road and 14 at home, so we have a chance to really get on a roll now and start gearing ourselves up for the postseason.”

The Lady Buffs also come into the home stand on top of the conference after taking their series with #25 Cameron this past week, three games to one.

The Lady Buffs, who seem to be hitting their offensive stride at the right time of year, hit nine homeruns in the last two games of the four game series, with senior outfielder Renee Erwin contributing to that number with four homeruns of her own.

“We had a talk on Friday night with the coaches and the team, and we decided we just needed to make some changes

at the plate,” Erwin said. “I just went in a little more relaxed on Saturday and I guess it just kind of happened.”

The Lady Buffs, after dropping out of the top spot in the rankings for the first time in a record 56 weeks, will now try to hit their stride and regain that top spot in the rankings. Coach Blaskowski feels as if the team still has a target on their back.

“I think we’re understanding that concept that every time we go out there we’ve got to be at

our best, because we know we’re getting the best from our opponents,” Blaskowski said. “You know, it was that atmosphere this weekend where Cameron was one up on us in the conference and had a lot of energy, and a lot of media there, and a good size crowd, and I thought we did a good job of taking that out of the issue on Saturday, and I think it’s to the point now where we understand that people are going to give us their best shot.”

The players for the Lady Buffs

also believe they are hitting their stride at the right time going into the final stretch of the season.

“I think after this weekend and after Friday when we had our little talk, we woke up on Saturday,” Erwin said. “Some of us were saying that we had this gut feeling that something was going to happen that would give us that spark. I think after this weekend and the fact that we control our destiny, we’re going to be just fine.”

Freshman pitcher Kilee Halbert also believes the team is coming together, though they hit a tough stretch.

“I think we’re really coming

together better. We had a rough spot, but now we’re doing better,” Halbert said.

The Lady Buffs start their home stand with a doubleheader against Lubbock Christian on March 31, a team that the Lady Buffs split a doubleheader with just last week in Lubbock.

“I think Lubbock Christian is a very good ball club. They always have been. They’re very offensice,” Blaskowski said. “I think it’ll be a great challenge for us. We’ll use our whole pitching staff.”

The Lady Buffs play the Javelinas from TAMUK also in a four game LSC series on April 3 and April 4.

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Matthew Donaghy/Eternal Flame The team waits at home plate after a Lady Buff homerun.

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7 SPORTS SPORTS

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Equestrian team season ends Mary Cage Reporter

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s a result of their success at the Hunt Seat Regional Championship in early March, two West Texas A&M University equestrian team members, Cana Fitzgerald and Ada Berg, qualified to travel to Madison, Wis. this past weekend to compete in the Zone Championship.

Crowned as Region Champion Individual and Reserve Region Champion Individual, respectively, Fitzgerald and Berg represented WT in two separate individual classes. Fitzgerald placed third in Beginner WalkTrot Equitation while Berg was fifth in Novice Equitation Over Fences.

“It was an amazing experience to make it all the way to the zone championship,” Ada Berg, sophomore Pre-Nursing major, said. “Cana Fitzgerald

and I are very proud of our rides and couldn’t have put out better ones if we tried. We were among some great competition this weekend.”

Two riders from each region within the zone competed in each individual class to make up classes in which ten riders went head-to-head, leaving Fitzgerald and Berg to each compete against nine other individuals within their classes. Although both WT equestrians placed well, only the top two individuals from each class advance to the IHSA National Championships. As a result, the girls’ season has come to an end.

“I felt so blessed to compete with other riders who share the same passion for riding, and I’m so excited for the girls who qualified for Nationals,” Cana Fitzgerald, sophomore Equine Industry and Business major, said. “It’s been an amazing journey and I’m still trying to soak

it all in.”

Coach Amanda Love has been along the journey with these equestrians, pushing them to be the best riders that they can be.

As a result, she witnessed firsthand their hard work.

“We were extremely proud of our performances this weekend,” Love said. “Paired against great competition, the ladies definitely held their mental game, rode to the best of their abilities, made great choices in the pen, and that’s all we can ask for. It’s unfortunate we’re not advancing to the National Championships, but they definitely made championship-type rounds, so we are very proud of their performances.”

However, the WT western team, as well as several individual members of that team, has qualified for the National Championships, which will take place April 30 through May 3 in West Springfield, Mass.

Mary Cage/The Prairie Sophomore Ada Berg practices at the WT Horse Center. Berg placed fifth in Novice Equitation Over Fences at the IHSA Zone Championship.

8 ARTS LEISURE ARTS& & LEISURE

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April 1, 2015

‘Fate/Stay Night’ visual novel now in movie form Gabriel Silvas Reporter

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hirou Emiya’s life could not get any weirder or more horrific. Already orphaned by a horrific fire that happened a decade ago, his adoptive father, who outright said that he was a mage of all things, died five years later, and now, he was about to get killed a second time tonight by some guy in blue tights with a demonic spear because he didn’t get that people die when they are killed. He certainly didn’t expect the appearance of a beautiful swordswoman with an invisible blade would be the thing that saved him. With the threat pushed back, she turns to Shirou and says these now iconic words: “I ask of you, are you my Master?”

Thus begins Fate/Stay Night, Type-Moon and Kinoko Nasu’s most iconic visual novel and the next entry of the “Nasuverse,” a series of collected works that are connected and take place within the same world, courtesy of Nasu, who is the scenario creator of the company.

Type-Moon’s previous release in 2000, Tsukihime, was a massive success and helped pave the way for Fate/Stay Night, which was released in 2002.

The story takes place in the fictional Japanese city of Fuyuki which was inspired by the real city of Kobe. There, an ancient ritual/tournament known as the “Hoy Grail War” is held in secret from the eyes of the public by a series of mages who wish to bring forth the Holy Grail to fulfill one of their wishes.

To do battle, the seven mages selected by the Grail summon

phantasmal beings called “Servants,” the spirits of ancient and mythological heroes brought back into the world and given form and a class name that they correspond with: Saber, Archer, Lancer, Caster, Rider, Assassin and Berserker.

Shirou Emiya is the main character of the visual novel.

Dragged into the Fifth Holy Grail War, the idealistic young man participates in order to prevent the Grail from falling into the hands of someone else who would use it for their own selfish and destructive desires.

As is the case with a number of VNs, there are different routes for the player to go through that centers around Shirou and his relationship with one of the three main heroines. The first route, Fate, focuses on Shirou’s Servant, Saber, who is a calm and chivalrous knight with a seemingly infinite appetite. The second route, Unlimited Blade Works, focuses on Rin Tohsaka, Shirou’s fellow classmate, Holy Grail participant, and Tsundere extraordinaire, and her Servant, Archer, an aloof, snarky, an amnesiac hero who has a major grudge against Shirou for some reason. The third and final route, Heaven’s Feel, focuses on Sakura Matou, Shirou’s shy childhood friend with a verydark secret, and goes further into the bloody history of the Holy Grail War. As is the visual novel way, the player reads and follows along with the story, making choices on what Shirou should do next to advance the story, learn information, or get horribly killed if you make the wrong choice.

Even with just three routes,

Fate/Stay Night will take a while to get all the way through if you want to get every ending and Bad End. There are a lot of Bad Ends, with forty ways for Shirou to be horribly killed in most of them, but if you want to get 100% completion, you have to get all of them and you might need a guide for a few.

Like many things from Japan, the original visual novel never made it to the west, but the fans, like in the case of Touhou, managed to make the game available to download with an English patch to translate the text. In addition to that, the team at Mirror-Moon, the guys who helped translate the VN to begin with, later added a patch that put in content that was for the PS2 expansion of the game, subtitled Réalta Nua, which includes updated and new music, new CG screens, and voice acting.

One thing that should be stressed is that Fate/Stay Night was originally an eroge visual novel. This means it had sex scenes present throughout the routes and screens to go along with them. Needless to say, it’s NSFW, so read at your own discretion. To be honest, the scenes are not even that well written to begin with, but that’s a subject for another time. These scenes were censored and changed, as well as the design of the Crest Worms, in the Réalta Nua versions on the PS2 and PS Vita releases.

Fate/Stay Night, easily being the most popular of TypeMoon’s works, has gained a number of adaptations and spin-offs and was the first property to gain an anime. Studio

Deen adapted the Fate route in 2006 with their animated version to mixed reception. There were a number of off-modeling issues, but it did a good enough job. They later adapted Unlimited Blade Works into a movie that focuses a bit more on the action of the route, so the story isn’t that in-depth and people who didn’t play the visual novel will easily be lost, though the animation is ten-times more fluid than the previous anima-

tion. A light novel prequel to the story, titled Fate/Zero, was written by Gen Urobuchi of Puella Magi Madoka Magica fame and released in 2006, later getting an animated adaptation by Studio UFOtable in 2011 that is easily one of the most gorgeous and solid anime in recent years.

UFOtable has recently returned to adapt Unlimited Blade Works as an anime and plans to finally adapt Heaven’s Feel into a movie or series of movies.

Photo available for download at Fate/Stay Night USA official Facebook.

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ARTS LEISURE 9 ARTS& & LEISURE

10 COMMENTARY COMMENTARY

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April 1, 2015

Developing the discipline to accept fewer choices

Jenna Harrison Guest columnist Eternal Flame Editor

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he sat on her bed, surrounded by clothes, possessions and things that she probably wouldn’t even notice if they were gone. She was finally noticing for the first time that she was comfortable. Now, to most people that may seem like a good thing, but for her, knowing this made her feel sick inside. How could she be comfortable with all the need in the world around her? How could she be ignorant of people starving and in need of a voice? How could she sit there, on her bed, content with the lost and hurting in the world and not do anything about it?

This was me about a month ago. Growing up in a middleclass American household, I never had to wonder if there was going to be food on the table.

My dad worked hard for what we had. I was a normal kid, running through our average-size house, doing average choirs and buying average things. Sometimes, I would get frustrated with my parents when I saw my friends had some new toy and we couldn’t get it. I thought it was awful that I couldn’t have what my friends had; I thought I was suffering in some way. As I got older, I became more aware of the world around me. Yet, I was still selfish when my friends were given their own cars when they turned 16, and I still got mad when my mom wouldn’t let me get that shirt in the mall.

My parents raised my brothers and I on Christian morals and values. Yet, somehow I failed

to fully understand the life that God has called us to as followers of Him. This semester I have been able to co-lead an upper-classman girls bible study. We decided to do this study called, The Seven Experiment: Staging Your Own Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker. The study lasts for nine weeks, the first week being the introduction, the next seven weeks dealing with the challenges and the last week being the conclusion. It is based off a fast Jen and her family decided to partake in when an occurrence in their family’s life made her realize they needed to reevaluate how they were living.

The seven weeks of challenges or fasts consists of food, clothing, possessions, media, waste, spending and stress. I did not begin to realize the problems in my life and how much I would feel convicted to change.

The first week was fasting from food. Let me start by saying I love food. I look forward to my meals each day, and sometimes that is the only thing that keeps me going. I realized through this particular week that it is not something to be proud of. I learned the reality of what I had been told growing up, that my body is a temple and I need to take special care of it. I knew going in to this week it was going to be one of the toughest for me. I chose to eat only seven foods the entire week and drink only water. The food consisted of whole wheat, broccoli, fish, chicken, apples, potatoes and eggs. Eating healthy is not just some obsession that our culture has gotten into, it is something that for me is biblical and eat-

ing and living simply is what we are to do in order to live a life of service and bring glory to God. Clothing was also a tough week for me. I chose seven articles of clothing to wear throughout the week including two shirts, two pairs of pants, two pairs of shoes and a jacket. Because of this, I began to think of appearances as something deeper going on in society. People, specifically women, find a need to look good and be noticed.

Clothing and makeup does that for many women. Sometimes as I’m getting ready in the morning I hope that I will be noticed.

I have also found that we want to be noticed by men but even more than that, we want to be noticed, accepted and complimented by other women. During this week I broke through the wall of these lies and realized that I don’t want people to see me for the makeup and the clothes, but I want people to see my joy because of my Savior. I want people to see that I care, and I am kind because of the hope that I have. I want people to see that there is more to me than just this life.

The next week was fasting from possessions. I gave away a few bags of clothes and possessions. Having all the possessions and money in the world will not make me happy or fully satisfy me. Generosity, living below my means, giving, intentional restraint, battling poverty, simplicity, sharing, communal responsibility and humility, as listed in The Seven Experiment, are all things that cause happiness as well and with my experience this happiness is lasting.

The next week was dealing

with media. Media is something that has really taken over our culture, containing both positive and negative things. As a younger generation, we are constantly stimulated by not just one but many different sources of media including television, Facebook, Netflix, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest. These things can be a huge distraction and can take away time and energy that could be put into other more lasting things. So, during this week I toned down my social media and television activ-

ity. It is crazy how much more time I had for things I can actually invest in long term.

The other challenges that I actually am in the process of or will face include waste, spending and stress. These weeks will be full of trial and error, and I’m sure I will learn a lot about myself. That is the point of this whole study though, learning through facing reality and truth, and I can’t believe the revelation that I have had during this semester while being a part of this study.

Photo courtesy of Jenna Harrison Jenna Harrison, senior Broadcast Journalism and Advertising Public Relations major, helps lead an upperclassman girls bible study about facing excess in life.

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11 OPINION OPINION

Understanding free press issues beyond America

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o picture this, it’s a beautiful day for Boston given the circumstances of this winter. The snow had stopped, thankfully, and the excitement that moisture was not falling from the sky lifted the spirits of almost everyone who was attending The Power of Narrative Conference at Boston University. Journalists hovered around the free breakfast and lined up to anxiously get their morning fix of coffee. It was five minutes until nine and sessions were soon to start. Classrooms were overflown with journalist’s eager to suck up all the knowledge, advice and stories centered on narrative writing, but only nine sat in room 209.

This session did not have a snazzy title that included words like pervs and outcasts, because these words were showcased in other titles, but it did include one word that should have

drawn more attention; freedom.

There’s a stigma that comes with the word freedom. It means war and death and destruction.

It seems so far away, this fight for freedom, which sometimes means it sits on the back burner. In this case, the fight for freedom is in regards to the media; free speech, free press, just uncensored news worldwide. But only nine journalists out of the hundreds that flooded BU were interested in this fight. Why is that? Were the other sessions more appealing? There’s not a solid answer to this. It can only be speculated that people just weren’t interested. But that’s the baffling part. Journalists should care.

It was when only a few journalists showed up to learn about press freedom and to hear stories that focused on what journalists are struggling with worldwide when it comes to

press freedom, that a realization was made. In this instance, the journalists not present were nothing but self-serving. There were sessions at the same scheduled time that talked about reporting on war and finding your own voice that ultimately would further careers more than analyzing press freedom by taking a look at other countries.

This is completely understandable. The point of going to this conference is to learn something that will impact narrative writing. There are highly successful professionals from the field that are there to teach.

Why wouldn’t someone skip talks about freedom if it means better understanding how to report on terrorism? Journalists spend the majority of their professional day finding stories and sources and contacts that will ultimately produce stories that aim to serve the public.

But what about telling our own story? What about telling the stories of those fighting for free press?

As students in the Communication Department at West Texas A&M University, we are taught the importance of what gives us the freedom to practice free speech and embrace free press. Students are required to memorize the First Amendment in more than one class. It’s featured in large black print on the newsroom wall. We know what protects us and what rights we have. But there’s one thing that is commonly under addressed and that’s the fact that other media outlets and other journalists are still working to obtain these rights.

Again, this idea seems so far away. It’s something that doesn’t directly affect us. It doesn’t directly impact the ability to do our jobs or our professional

goals. But it should. We, as students, should not be oblivious to the fights happening across the world. In fact, these talks should often be parts of discussions not only in the classroom but in the newsroom as well.

These discussions shouldn’t just be happening with individuals who are interested in international journalism, but instead with the core of journalism and media students.

So, while there’s understanding on why long time professionals would chose to dismiss talks of the free press in a conference setting, it’s important to note that upcoming journalists should not be dismissing these things. They should be learning what struggles are happening worldwide because it ultimately helps in the understanding of our own free press and can ultimately make for some really powerful narrative writing.

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, U.S. Constitution @The_Prairie

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April 1, 2015

Dance Marathon

SAGE sponsored a 12-hour Dance Marathon to raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

Children were there to give their testimonies. The Dance Marathon raised $15,297.13.

Crist went on a mission trip to Hawaii. “Not only e made it amazing, but being with the soft and kind d people in Hilo. There are no words for how amazing this trip was.”

Marinna Hernandez visited Ciudad Juarez with WT’s HSA and delivered toys to children and spent her free time getting to know them. “I was happy to have brought a smile to their faces.”

Brittany Milam went to Monarch, Colorado to ski first time with her best friends. She had an amazin but fell several times. “It hurts, but it’s worth i