ThePRAIRIE
April 29, 2015
Vol. 97 Iss. 27
WHAT BURDENS DO YOU HOLD? Read more about Rock the Real on page 10
Photo by Matthew Donaghy
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Faces of Feminism sparks discussion
Buffalo Advertising team wins first place
Lady Buffs take LSC after TWU series
The Drowsy Chaperone concludes performances
Photos from Wine to Water tournament
2 NEWS NEWS
Buff News Briefs
Storytelling festival hosts Bill Harley
Staff EDITOR Megan Moore ASSOCIATE EDITOR Alyssa Bonner ADVISER Dr. Butler Cain AD MANAGER Alyssa Bonner LAYOUT DESIGNERS Alyssa Bonner Megan Moore Russell Sanderson
Photographer 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.
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his year’s Panhandle Storytelling Guild’s annual festival will feature professional teller and author Bill Harley on Friday, May 8 at West Texas A&M University. Harley is a critically acclaimed singersongwriter, author, musician and monologist. He is considered to be one of the best storytellers in the country for his celebrations of commonality and humanity through comic narrative songs and confessional spoken works. The focus of the festival will be “Lost and Found.”
One Sessions Deep Diver wins awards
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est Texas A&M University’s One Sessions with Deep Diver won second place in the Studio Category out of more than 75 entries worldwide at the recent Broadcast Education Association (BEA) Convention. One Sessions with Deep Diver also won a both a silver Telly and seven bronze Tellys at the 36 Annual Telly Awards. One Sessions with Deep Diver’s silver Telly, the Telly Award’s highest honor, was in the Online Video Category— Entertainment. The seven bronze Tellys included two in the Online Video Category— Music and Videography. The other five bronze Tellys were in the Production Category— Entertainment, Music/ Concert, Student, Lighting and Videography. One Sessions is a student-run production under the supervision of the mass communication faculty.
Haley Scholars named for the 2015 year
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wo West Texas A&M University students have been named Haley Scholars through the University’s Haley Family Western Heritage Program. Erin Webster, junior English major, has been selected for the $5,000 Haley Undergraduate Scholarship and Robin Boedeker, graduate student in History, has been selected as the Haley Graduate Fellow. Boedeker will join continuing Haley Fellow Dollie Lookingbill, graduate student in English. The Haley Undergraduate Scholarship is for students majoring in History with an interest in Western History studies or an English major with an emphasis in western literature studies. As a recipient, Webster will support the Haley Professor and the Haley Graduate Fellows in research and publication. Beodeker can hold the graduate position for no more than two years with a funding of $10,000 per year. The new Fellow will conduct research at the Haley Memorial Library and submit her work for publication.
Executive order from student body president
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tudent body president, Edward Akinyemi, has placed an executive order stating that May 4, 2015 be recognized as Student Senator Appreciation Day. This day is dedicated to the appreciation of all student senators at West Texas A&M University. For more information about the day contact Akinyemi at oaakinyemi1@buffs.wtamu. edu or 806-651-2386.
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April 29, 2015
It’s A Buffs Life
April 29, 2015
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3 NEWS NEWS
Panel discussion addresses concepts of feminism Alyssa Bonner Associate Editor
The West Texas A&M University Gender Studies Certificate Program hosted their second Faces of Feminism discussion of the year. The panel discussion was held on Thursday, April 23, in the Recital Hall of the Sybil B. Fine Arts Complex. The featured panelists were Dr. Sarah Vartabedian, assistant professor of Communication; Dr. Amy Von Lintel, assistant professor of Art, Theatre and Dance; and Dr. Matthew Reardon, assistant professor of History. The event was part of an ongoing initiative to highlight women’s and gender studies at WT. The faculty members featured on the panel incorporate these concepts into their courses. Alice MillerMacPhee moderated the discussion, during which the panel discussed their background with feminism and how feminism came to affect their lives. MillerMacPhee believes it is important to discuss feminism to establish more of a sense of equality on campus and to break down some of the common misconceptions about feminism. “I think [feminism] has become such a polarizing term, and having a very frank and honest discussion about what feminism is and what it means to faculty, students and staff is really important for understanding how we can have a more equitable campus,” MillerMacPhee said. “How do we create greater equality both in our personal lives and on cam-
pus as a general campus community?” She said the goal and importance of the discussion was creating open and honest dialogue that will ultimately create a culture of equality. MillerMacPhee discussed some of the common misconceptions about feminism and what it is. She said that perhaps the most common is the idea that you have to be anti-male and bash men. “All of the panelists on this panel and on the panel in November talked about this idea of
equality,” MillerMacPhee said. “So it’s not anti- any person or any group. It’s advocating equality for everyone.” During the discussion, Reardon talked about feminism from the male perspective. He said it is important for men to talk about these issues because they need to be aware of why men historically have dominated women. “[We need to know] why, as men, we feel like dominating women is part of what it means to be man,” Reardon said. “Until we have those discussions,
I don’t think anything fundamental is going to change.” Reardon said men cannot be on the outside looking in, but they must be part of the change. He touched on some of the objections he thinks men currently have against the concept of feminism. “Some people have said, ‘Oh, we’re already there. Women have reached a sense of equality in society,’” he said. “A lot of men just want to go, ‘It’s done. We’ve reached it. [Women] have gotten the right to vote, and [women] have gotten the right
“All of the panelists talked about this idea of equality. So it’s not anti- any person or any group. It’s advocating equality for everyone.” -Alice MillerMacPhee
Alyssa Bonner/The Prairie Dr. Amy Von Lintel, Dr. Matthew Reardon and Dr. Sarah Vartabedian engage with an audience at the Faces of Feminism panel discussion hosted by the Gender Studies program.
to work. Why are we still having this discussion?’ I think a lot of it is men just feel threatened because they’ve been taught to not be dominated by anyone, much less a woman.” Reardon said objections to feminism are often about power, and anytime the power dynamic seems to have skewed in favor of women over men, men feel threatened. He said it is common for men to think their role is to rule the family, and until that mentality is effaced, men will continue to feel threatened every time a woman is in a position of authority. An audience member presented the panelist with a question about compliance with feminist concepts and values in a group setting. The question asked how to get others to comply with the feminist values. Reardon gave the advice of asking those who are not compliant why they are not. He said without discussion, nothing will change. Vartabedian said people often aren’t compliant because they have been able to get by with an uncritical stance in their life and they haven’t questioned it. “You may not gain compliance,” Vartabedian responded. “If they can’t articulate why it is they are unwilling to have this conversation, they need to figure out where that comes from. They haven’t questioned it because that’s the whole point of privilege, right? Why question the status quo?” For more information about the Certificate in Gender Studies at WT, visit www.wtamu. edu/genderstudies.
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April 29, 2015
WT advertising team brings home first place win Kimberly Hancock Reporter
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he West Texas A&M University Buffalo Advertising team took home first place over all with best media plan and best promotion in the District 10 competition in Dallas, Texas. Each year the WT Buffalo Advising team partners with a major corporation client and comes up with a marketing campaign for them. “Every year AAF selects a new client for the competition,” Cecy Borunda, Creative Director/Presenter for NSAC, said. “The Client is announced at the beginning of the fall semester and schools have both fall and half of spring semester to create a campaign that fits the needs of the client. This year our client was Pizza Hut.” The team’s competition included school from Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Northwest Louisiana. “Before the competition we have to create a campaign and submit a plans book,” Amanda Koontz, NSAC member, said. “After that at the NSAC competition, the teams pitch their campaign to the client, which in this case is a panel of advertising professional judges. Then following that we have to do a 20 minute presentation of our campaign and go through a 10 minute Q&A immediately following the presentation.” Students on the team said that working on projects like this and competing is not only the most emotional and challenge thing for them, but it is also one of the most positive and the closest real world expe-
rience they can get. “Besides having some incredible work to have on your resume and portfolio what you get out of NSAC is the real world experience that just sitting through a lecture or doing a project could never do,” Borunda said. “Before NSAC I honestly didn’t feel ready to graduate and start working but after going through this experience I’ve never felt more ready for anything in my life.” “This project has been very satisfying because I have been able to work with my colleagues that are my friends and fellow students,” Koontz said. “NSAC teaches me so many skills
through the process and opens doors for us.” Now back from district, the team is getting ready for the regional competition at the AAF headquarters that is located in Washington, DC. “Seeing this group put in so much effort and rising above and beyond is the best thing I get to see from them,” Lori Westerman, NSAC advisor, said. “We enjoy all the support from our colleagues and the community. It keeps us motivated throughout the semesters. If we can make it past regionals then our next stop after that will be Las Vegas which we are hoping for.”
Photo courtesy of Amanda Kootnz The Buffalo Advertising team poses with trophies at the Sheraton hotel after the win was announced. The team will have a competition conference call with the judges next week.
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5 NEWS NEWS
Student veterans honored as “Heroes of the Herd” Mary Cage Reporter
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n April 24, West Texas A&M University students gathered at the Old Main flag pole to recognize and honor veterans from WT and the Canyon area for their service and sacrifice for an event organized by the Rogers LEAD WT Program in conjunction with the WT Veterans Network. This event was called Heroes of the Herd. LEAD WT is a leadership program for WT students that
is dedicated to building leaders who will serve the community. Acting as a service learning project for these students, Heroes of the Herd honors local veterans through a ceremony that recognizes those living and fallen. After a flag-raising ceremony and a brunch, three WT veterans were recognized with plaques as “Heroes of the Herd.” To conclude the event, a WT student who lost their life in battle was honored with the a planting of a tree and memorial flag. “We wanted our service
learning project to be something that gives back to the community and to help the veterans on campus,” Chase Fulton, junior Agricultural Education major and a LEAD WT student, said. “I have a brother in the Army, so doing something like this really hit home for me. We just wanted to bring recognition.” In addition to honoring veterans from WT, Heroes of the Herd brought appreciation for the Veterans Network, a campus program dedicated to serving to approximately 600 students who are veterans
or veterans’ dependents. The group offers many services to these individuals, including various academic programs, scholarships, peer counseling, and group meetings. “Events like these bring in more veteran students and gets the name of the Veterans Network out there,” Kristen Randl, senior Health Sciences major, said. The Veterans Network is thankful for groups like LEAD WT that assist in organizing events like Heroes of the Herd that honor veterans.
“I think that putting Heroes of the Herd on is a really cool thing because none of them are veterans, none of them really know what these men and women gave,” Laura Schulze, president of the WTAMU Veterans Network, said. “For them to step up and to honor the veterans of this school is really, really phenomenal to me. They do Heroes of the Herd to make sure that people are aware of what these veterans give and what they’ve done in the past to ensure freedom.”
Phone, money scammers target WTAMU students Sam Grum Reporter
Scamming is no small issue. We have all been warned about the seriousness of giving out personal information to companies or people that we are not familiar with. If not informed, it is very easy to be scammed out of thousands of dollars. Recently, West Texas A&M students have fallen victim to phone scams. Phone scams usually peak during tax filing season as people are preparing tax returns. The scammers try to con money out of those they call. They pose as IRS agents and may attempt to make small talk in an effort to appear genuine. Phone scamming is a crime and has collectively cost victims over 14 million dollars. An email was sent warning WT students about the scams. According to Dan D. García, Vice President for Enrollment
Management, “The caller tells the victim they owe taxes to the IRS related to their student financial aid; then demands that the victim pay the money immediately with a pre-loaded debit card or wire transfer.” The callers are reported as being aggressive when asking for money. The IRS does not contact people by phone about unpaid taxes, they will first make contact via mail. They will also not request funds in the ways that the scammers are reported to be asking. With this knowledge, it is easy to spot a phone scammer. A few students reported that they were offered money for being a “good student” or a “good citizen,” but in order to receive it, they had to first wire fees to the caller. Scammers have the ability to alter caller ID and make it appear that they are from the IRS. They are known to target vulnerable people, likely those who they believe to be
uniformed. The email sent out to WT students also said the IRS will never ask for credit card information over the phone. In a press release addressing these issues, IRS commissioner John Koskinen warns, “These criminals try to scare and shock you into providing personal financial information on the spot. Don’t be taken in and don’t engage these people over the phone.” Although tax season is over, scammers will still be on the prowl. They are constantly changing tactics, so it is important to stay informed and to be conscious when giving out any type of personal information. Dan Garcia suggests calling the IRS directly if you have questions about unpaid taxes. If you have received this or any other type of IRS phone scam, it is important to call and report it at (800) 366-4484.
Screenshot of an email sent to WT students warning them of phone scams.
6 SPORTS SPORTS
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theprairienews.com April 29, 2015
Sigma Nu Golf Classic raises money for St. Jude’s Amberly Hildebrandt Reporter
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he Sigma Nu Fraternity at West Texas A&M University held their annual golf tournament on April 26. The tournament started at 8:00 a.m. at Comanche Trails Golf Course in Amarillo, Texas. Sigma Nu’s tournament was held in support for their philanthropy, St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. The men of Sigma Nu had a successful tournament with many sponsorships and teams. The tournament consisted of thirteen different teams composed of four players per team. The teams competed for prizes. The teams competed for the first place price which was a $600 gift certificate to Comanche Trails pro shop, the second place prize was a $400 gift certificate to the shop and the third
place prize was a $200 gift certificate to the shop. “The golf tournament is a great opportunity for members in our community to join together in supporting a great cause like St. Judes,” Aaron Martin, senior in Sigma Nu, said. Throughout the weeks leading up to the tournament, the members worked hard to get as many sponsors and teams as possible. On Sunday morning, the members were ready to start the tournament that they had been working to put together. “The morning of the tournament when all of the deadlines have passed, everything is beyond our control,” Hayden Walsh, golf committee chairman, said. “Knowing that all of our hard work is about to blossom into a successful event that will raise a lot of money for charity is the best feeling in the world.”
The tournament was a success for Sigma Nu, golfers and St. Jude Children’s Hospital. The members all worked hard and put on a successful event that was enjoyed by all. “Being able to give back the such a great organization and the people of St Jude’s is always heartwarming to me,” Cullan Howe, candidate marshal, said.
“Knowing that all of our hard work is about to blossom into a successful event that will raise a lot of money for charity is the best feeling in the world.” -Hayden Walsh Sigma Nu plans to host another golf classic next spring to support St. Jude Children’s Hospital.
Amberly Hildebrandt/The Prairie Sigma Nu members Kaleb Willingham and Bryce Smith helping with the Sigma Nu Golf Classic.
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April 29, 2015 theprairienews.com
7 SPORTS SPORTS
Lady Buffs clinch regular season conference title Russell Sanderson Reporter
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he Lady Buffs dropped three out of four games against the Pioneers from Texas Women’s University this past weekend, but since they pulled out at least one game in the series, they successfully won the regular season conference title and will host the conference tournament. The Lady Buffs will look to win the conference tournament for a chance to host the NCAA Regional Tournament. The Lady Buffs pitching took a hit this past weekend, giving up 13 runs in the first game and 11 runs in the last. Also, the Lady Buffs bats were quiet in most of game two and game three. Though game two was a slow day for the Lady Buffs, the team won on a walk off grand slam from senior Allie Cranfill, who also set the NCAA Division II record for grand slams with seven. “I was just trying to make contact,” Cranfill said. “There was one out so I could get a sac fly or something. I just wanted to get contact to score the runner at third. I fouled off like six pitches then I finally got the one and drove it. It was really crazy. Everybody was loud and the team jumped out. It was an awesome feeling.” The Lady Buffs had a rough two outings in game three and four of the series, losing both games. Though the Lady Buffs didn’t pull out a win in either one of the games, freshman outfielder Ashley Hardin had a career day, hitting four homeruns over the span of the two games.
Head coach Kevin Blaskowski said he wasn’t surprised by Hardin’s play at the plate. “Ashley Hardin’s a great player,” Blaskowski said. “We knew that coming in. We knew she had the capability to be a big time power threat at the plate, and she’s doing an outstanding job at that. She’s playing the position we recruited her to play right now. She’s getting comfortable out there and hopefully looking forward to a big career out there for us. She’s been outstanding this month and I think she’s hit 10 homeruns in the month of April, so she’s doing a great job.” The Lady Buffs pitching was the weak point of the team this week. The team, who going into the series with TWU had only given up one run in the four games prior to the weekend series, got walloped in the first game of the series, giving up 13 runs. The Lady Buffs gave up 33 runs in total throughout the series. Blaskowski said the team just didn’t play very well. “We didn’t play very well,” Blaskowski said. “We knew coming into the weekend we had a lot of distractions. We knew we had to pitch well, we had to hit well, and we had to play defense, and the only thing we did well was play defense. We were behind most of the weekend. We went into the seventh inning of every game behind. We didn’t have a lot of quality at bats. The last game we scored a lot of runs, but we didn’t have timely hits, and obviously we didn’t pitch well. I didn’t feel like our pitchers went out and controlled the game at any point, and when that hap-
pens you’re not going to be very successful.” With winning at least one game in the series with TWU, the Lady Buffs will now host the LSC tournament. Blaskowski said he wasn’t worried about making the LSC tournament, but about the Lady Buffs spot in the region. “I’m not really worried about the LSC tournament,” said Blaskowski. “We don’t start the season to get to the LSC tournament. Our goal is to get to the NCAA postseason and host the NCAA postseason. Contrary
to popular belief, hosting the LSC tournament was not our goal this weekend. We wanted to win so we could hold the top spot in our region. That’s my major concern. We’re going to have to win this tournament to host the postseason all the way through. We know what we have to do. Now it’s just a matter of some of these kids dialing in on their priorities and keep softball where it matters right now and make sure we’re better this weekend.” Blaskowski also expanded on the problem of pitching, saying
Nicole Richardson/Eternal Flame Senior pitcher Rita Hokianga prepares to deliver a pitch. Hokianga went four and a third innnings, giving up eight runs.
that the players know they have to get better. “Well, I checked the waiver wire this morning, there wasn’t anyone available, so we’re going to go with what we have,” Blaskowski said. “Honestly though, our pitchers know they have to get better. They didn’t throw the ball very well this weekend, and that’s going to kind of be our challenge. We’ve kind of pitched by committee all year long to keep everybody fresh, but we threw like we had tired arms this weekend. I’m not quite sure what our mindset will be, but I know we’re going to be working on that over the next three to four days.” The Lady Buffs are still currently ranked first in the regional rankings, but that could be in jeopardy after this past weekend. They now have the same regional record as St. Mary’s (TX) who is also going into their conference tournament this weekend. Blaskowski said he was concerned about potentially falling out of the first place in the regional ranking. “I’m always concerned about that,” Blaskowski said. “Our goal is to win every game. I had somebody tell me yesterday that those games didn’t matter. Well, those games matter. Every time we take the field it matters. We’re trying to be one of the best teams in the country and when you’re playing at that level, you have to go out with the mindset that you have to win every game.” The Lady Buffs will host the LSC tournament on May 1-2. They will play the winner of Cameron and San Angelo in the semi-finals.
8 ARTS LEISURE ARTS& & LEISURE
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April 29, 2015
“The Drowsy Chaperone” gives laughs and music Dallas Harbor Amberly Hildebrandt
In recent weeks, the Branding Iron Theatre hosted the final WT student theatrical play for the semester, “The Drowsy Chaperone”. A popular play notably performed on Broadway, director and Assistant Professor of Musical Theatre Andrew Lewis has worked vigorously the past few months to bring an equally entertaining adaptation to West Texas A&M. “This is a fairly new musical that has a very classic feel to it. This allows the students to work on a piece that is not too far removed from Broadway, but also gives them a taste of classic musical theatre,” Lewis said. The Drowsy Chaperone is a musical comedy of a play within a play paying homage to the Jazzy Age of American history. This concept of a play within a play can be described as a character in a chair on stage, which is played by sophomore Dakota Brown, playing one of his favorite records, “The Drowsy Chaperone”, meanwhile addressing the audience through monologue and his own opinions. In turn audience is watching this play because it’s this character’s favorite record and he wanted the audience to enjoy it with him. “My favorite part of the production is having the opportunity to play a character who gets to speak directly to the audience,” Brown said. Lewis also said he enjoyed the part of “The Man in the Chair” because of the interactivity between the character and the audience.
“I love the things [The Man in the Chair] has to say and his opinion of the show,” Lewis said. “It adds so much humor to the show as well as gives the audience an inside look.” The play supplies countless laughs by using this play-ina-play concept. The character who is presenting this record for us would play with the record player by pausing and rewinding the play. At one point, the record actually “skips” leaving the musical repeating the same dialogue and dance moves. The play portrays a story about a broadway actress, named Janet Van De Graaff, who is quitting the show busi-
ness to marry a man named Robert Martin. Her producer, Mr. Feldzieg, is trying to get the wedding called off so she will continue her career rather than running away with her lover. The producer goes to extents of partnering up with a foreign man, named Adolpho, who was played by Mateus Sobral Barbosa Da Silva, in hopes of spoiling the wedding. This play focuses on comedy immensely and gives audiences a fun and enjoyable ride. Auditions for the production were held back at the beginning of the semester, a task that Lewis said was difficult due to the great turnout of talent.
“We held auditions at the beginning of the semester and our students really showed their stuff. After initial auditions, we hold callbacks where students sang specific songs from the show. During those callbacks, I simply tried to find the person that fit each role the best,” Lewis said. “For most roles, there were several students who could have played them wonderfully. That makes decisions really hard.” Going into the show, the cast had no shortage of experience. Most had several years of experiences, with senior Katie Ratliff saying she had been performing in theatre since childhood. “I have been doing theatre
since elementary school,” Ratliff said. “I was in little school plays and things like that. It wasn’t until high school that I really fell in love with it.” Brown also has several years of theatre experience, but says he’s been doing something at least acting related his entire life. “I have been doing theatre for six years, unless you count pretending to cry and mimicking cartoon voices, in which case if you do, I have been doing theatre my entire life,” Brown said. The Drowsy Chaperone was held last week. It was held April 16-18 at 7:30, April 18-19 at 2:30 and April 22-25 at 7:30.
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A flyer for “The Drowsy Chaperone” theatre production. The WT production concluded on April 25.
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ARTS LEISURE 9 ARTS& & LEISURE
10 FEATURE FEATURE
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April 29, 2015
Rock the Real demonstration eliminates burdens
Megan Moore Editor
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isses, canines, rocks and pillow fights. These objects seem like everyday items with no connection to each other, but for the Aesthetics of Gender and Identity class at West Texas A&M University, these objects hold the very essence of what the support of diversity and difference looks like in art form. “We all come from different backgrounds, but we all wind up in the same place,” Ryan Turner, senior Studio Art major, said. “Hopefully there’s a sense of community. Everyone at some point goes through a struggle where they feel as if they don’t fit in.” It was this sense of community and identity that led the class to transform their essay assignment into an interactive demonstration of public art. It’s entitled Rock the Real and has a goal of not only highlighting diversity, but also empowering people to have confidence in themselves and tolerance towards others. “We were going to do an essay, boring writing, then they did this show-and-tell project where each of them stood up and talked about an aspect of identity that they chose,” Dr. Amy Von Lintel, assistant professor of Art, Theatre and Dance, said. “They each found a voice through that and then the students corresponded through that and asked good questions. We talked about activism as identity politics, whether it was feminist activism or we looked at other LGBTQ artists that are
being active in gay rights, so then we were like, ‘What can we do?’” The class, which includes more than 20 people, began the project by brainstorming ideas and figuring out which ones they wanted to showcase. Members of the class are from all areas of study and are not necessarily all art majors. “We have to be a community. We have to be collaborative and a collective of thoughts,” Von Lintel said. “Everybody got to voice their identity. Everybody got to voice their opinion and we had to agree. It was hard. This many voices is hard.” Ultimately, they split the project into five stations: Come Unburden Yourself and Get a Kiss, Wash Away What Weighs You Down, Rock the Real Because Being Real Rocks, Burden Me No More and Talk the Real. Each station featured different aspects of diversity and identity in an engaging way while evoking thoughts of self-discovery. “College is a very transitional time for people where they find themselves and they try to figure out who they are, and so I think in the midst of that there could be a lot of people out there not necessarily judgmental of others, but judgmental of themselves, so just showing them it’s okay to be who you are,” Elena Flores, sophomore Graphic Design major, said. “College is a place where you find yourself. Don’t be ashamed to grow into the person you’re supposed to be.” The class was able to discuss their personal views on identity before the project started and gage what they hoped others
would take away from the demonstration. “There’s a lot of aspects with identity that can be seen as negative,” Flores said. “I think not only acceptance from people who may be unfamiliar with another type of identity, acceptance for each other, but also acceptance for the self. Not seeing it as a negative identity, embracing one’s own identity and being proud of who they are and also accepting other people for who they are.” The class hoped the diversity of WT would be represented through their demonstration and the symbolism of the population would be evident through the objects they chose to use, specifically the rocks. “Our rocks kind of symbolized [diversity]. They are all different colors, textures or
weight but they’re all rocks and they are all going to have words on them,” Von Lintel said. “It’s sort of a unifying acceptance of everyone’s got a burden that might feel different than someone else’s, but it’s still a burden. We all have those things we have to carry around.” Attendees of the event were able to express their own personal identity in the last station. They could share their experiences and perspectives of the event with the class members. The goal of this station was to help students overcome some of their burdens, to let them know they are not alone, and to pay it forward in their own way. “An anecdote is a really powerful thing. You tell your story or you tell someone else’s that you know personally and that can convey to other people but
at the same time you have to get beyond that one single story and think about how it impacts society,” Von Lintel said. The class chose the Pedestrian Mall as the site for their project in efforts to engage the public in their demonstration. As a group, the class visited the site to ensure that it would work with the stations they had planned. “I really view the site as being important, so we as a class walked out there and looked around,” Von Lintel said. “You can have all these great plans, but until you get out there and walk it, it’s not going to come out.” Aesthetics of Gender and Identity is a pilot class as part of the gender studies certificate. Von Lintel hopes to teach another course in this manner.
Matthew Donaghy/The Prairie Elena Flores, featured above with a station sign, said that this event has opened her mind and made her apply herself.
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11 OPINION OPINION
Senior portfolio classes prove useful for students
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s the semester winds down and classes begin to wrap up many students are forced to reflect on the value of courses as a whole by student evaluations. Senior students breeze through these evaluations having filled out so many before. But there are certain classes that many seniors often take for granted, portfolio classes being one of them. For many majors across campus these portfolio classes are required to be taken in the last semester of the undergraduate degree. It requires students to either compile work done over the course of undergraduate studies or do a final project or paper that will benefit a student after graduation. These courses are designed to help students prepare for graduation and become job market or graduate school ready.
Often times these classes can be seen as a hassle or a waste of time. But in the ending weeks of school and having to reflect on courses by way of student evaluations, the importance of these types of classes has been made clear. The professors at West Texas A&M University are truly invested in the success of seniors and want to help them with more than just a decent resume and cover letter. They want to spark thought on things that some seniors might not have considered before or pushed aside as an unimportant topic. It is often asked of seniors to explain what they took away from their time at WT or what advice they would offer underclassman, and an answer heard repeatedly is the importance of working with professors. Underclassman can sometimes be wary of visiting
with professors or swinging by their office at office hours. Students find the value of this in their upperclassmen years and learn that working with and getting to know professors is actually beneficial to the success of undergraduate studies. These professors are more willing to write letters of recommendations or help with resumes and cover letters for students they know well. Professors that teach these classes know what students need to start thinking about even if they don’t want to or think it’s a pointless thing to address. By bringing topics like budgeting, interview tips and how to complete a successful job application to the forefront of a class makes students start planning for the future and can breeze through these applications because they are prepared and have all required
material readily available. Learning how to budget money is something that many students are already doing, but not necessarily in a long form way. It’s these types of classes that make students reevaluate methods they are already doing and approach them in a way that is more beneficial for life after graduation. Professors have also been through many job interviews and graduate school applications. They’ve been there and they want to offer advice and help. They know how to handle issues such as asking about the salary at a certain job or what to think about when considering taking a job that requires a move. There are a lot of expenses that are unforeseen when planning for a move and these professors know how to ask for a larger salary or paid moving expenses to be able to accept job offers
that require moving. Some portfolio classes cause grumbles among senior students because they feel like they aren’t learning any new material. They have already been preparing mentally for graduation and know what kinds of jobs they want to apply for. But these classes aren’t designed for learning new material. It may take students an entire semester to recognize why they are required to take such courses, but they truly are beneficial for those graduating. They prepare students for life after graduation week by week. Assignments may become inconvenient for students juggling their last load of classes, but filling out applications becomes a lot easier when you have been required to revamp or create materials required. Even practice interviews go a long way in job preparation.
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April 29, 2015
Wine to Water Volleyball Tournament
WT Wine to Water hosted their first annual sand volleyball tournament. With the help of several organizations and students, they were able to raise $400 to go toward funding a well in Honduras. The team “Kitten Slayers” won the mystery basket and t-shirts.
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.”
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
Natalia Molina/The Prairie