The Signpost Friday December 7 2018 Volume 89 Issue 36.pdf

Friday | December 07, 2018 | Volume 89 | Issue 36

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HISTORY MADE

2 | MyWeberMedia.com | December 7, 2018

b. A movie-poster style image of himself with the line “Sanctions are Coming.

November 5.” c. A political cartoon of a nuclear weapon with the line, “No more bombs.

November 5.”

By NIC MURANAKA News Editor

1. On July 6, President Donald Trump levied a 25 percent tax on imported Chinese products, mostly machinery.

China retaliated by levying tariffs of their own against imported American products, kicking off an ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China. What did China place the highest tax on?

4. In mid-October, an investigation was launched into the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul. At the time, Riyadh released a statement claiming Khashoggi was killed in a fight. What did Turkey have to say about that claim? a. Milk b. Calling the police to request the a. They corroborated Riyadh’s claim, b. Soybeans student be arrested agreeing that Khashoggi was killed in a c. Industrial parts c. Punching the student in the face fight. b. They denied Riyadh’s claim, stating 2. In early November at Maywood 3. Sanctions against Iran’s banking, that Khashoggi was the target of a planned High School in Los Angeles, a student energy and shipping industries went hit. yelled racial slurs at a black music into effect Nov. 5. President Donald Trump c. They denied Riyadh’s claim but made teacher and threw a basketball at him, tweeted what image that was quickly no counter claim of their own. which prompted the teacher to respond. In removed? what way did he respond? a. A political cartoon of the American 5. Who is Weber State University’s a. Referring the student to the principal’s flag with the line, “God Bless the U.S.A. new president? office and the discipline officer Sanctions November 5.”

Find out on page 4.

ANSWERS AND EXPLANATIONS ON PAGE 20

l o r a C s a m t s hri

C

n I g Sin

Traditional, familiar carols sung by the audience

Sunday, December 16, 2018 at 7 pm

Ogden Tabernacle, 21st Street & Washington Blvd.

FREE admission. All invited.

Dr. Karen Bruestle WSU, Guest Conductor

Lowell Marriott Harrop Pipe Organist

MyWeberMedia.com | December 7, 2018 | 3

INSIDE THE NUMBERS: FCS QUARTERFINALS

By JOE TRAUB

Assistant Sports Editor

For the second straight year, the Weber State University football team will compete in the FCS Quarterfinals. Last season, the Wildcats traveled to Virginia for an epic battle with James Madison University. This year, WSU will play at home.

PASSING Having received the second seed in the QB: JAKE CONSTANTINE #8 playoffs, Weber State will take on the UniverCOMPLETED 184 OF 289 FOR 1,933 sity of Maine Black Bears at Stewart Stadium YARDS AND 16 TDS Dec. 7 at 6 p.m.

“The second seed was so important to us,” head coach Jay Hill said after practice on Dec. RUSHING 4. “We have home field advantage throughRB: JOSH DAVIS #28 out, and we have to keep taking advantage of 239 CARRIES FOR 1,398 it.”

YARDS AND 9 TDS Both teams have played in the cold the last few weeks, but Ogden is 4,000 feet higher RB: TRESHAWN GARRETT #26 than Orono, Maine, in elevation.

78 CARRIES FOR 353 The Wildcats opened their playoff run YARDS AND 3 TDS against Southeast Missouri State in the second round last week after a first-round bye.

RECEIVING WSU showed no signs of postseason nerves WR: RASHID SHAHEED #22 as they cruised to a 48–23 victory over the Redhawks.

36 RECEPTIONS FOR 423 Weber State enters the the Friday night YARDS AND 5 TDS matchup having won their last seven games WR: DARRYL DENBY #3 and the last nine contests at Stewart Stadium.

31 RECEPTIONS FOR 387 The Black Bears are also coming into OgYARDS AND 6 TDS den on a hot streak, having won five straight games after a dominant 55–27 win over JackKICKING sonville State in their second round match-up.

Maine competes in the Colonial Athletic AsK: TREY TUTTLE #47 sociation and finished 7–1 in conference play, 17 OF 26 FIELD GOALS AND 9–3 overall. It was their first conference title 37 OF 37 PATS since 2013 and the first time James Madison P: DOUG LLOYD #60 didn’t win the CAA title since 2015.

AVG. 40 YARDS PER PUNT “They are very good,” Hill said, “winner AND 24 INSIDE THE of the Colonial Conference, which is one of 20 YARD LINE the better conferences in the country. They 1 TD are solid on both sides of the ball and really thrive defensively.”

The two teams have never met before, but DEFENSE the Wildcats are looking for their first win over 17 INTERCEPTIONS a CAA team. They lost to JMU in the quarterfiALLOWING 322 YARDS nals last year, and were routed by William and

PER GAME

Mary in the 2009 playoffs.

Maine is led by sophomore quarterback Chris Ferguson, who was named FCS Performer of the Week for the second round of the playoffs.

Ferguson leads a balanced offensive attack, throwing for 1,877 yards and 19 touchdowns, but has thrown eight interceptions on the year.

PASSING Freshman running back Ramon Jefferson QB: CHRIS FERGUSON #14 leads the Black Bears rushing attack, averCOMPLETED 166 OF 227 FOR 1,877 aging 88.4 yards per game, and has seven YARDS AND 19 TDS touchdowns on the year.

“They got a good quarterback and good RUSHING offensive line,” senior linebacker LeGrand Toia said. “Their receivers are a force to be RB: RAMON JEFFERSON #8 reckoned with, but our defense should hold 156 CARRIES FOR 941 strong.”

YARDS AND 7 TDS Like the Wildcats, the Black Bears’ defense RB: JOE FITZPATRICK #27 is where they excel. Maine holds opponents’ 108 CARRIES FOR 470 rushing attack to just 74.5 yards a game. With YARDS AND 3 TDS the Wildcats averaging 152 yards per game, it is sure to be a battle in the trenches.

Sophomore quarterback Jake Constantine RECEIVING will to keep the offense rolling after their best WR: EARNEST showing this season.

EDWARDS #81 “There is nothing better,” Constantine said.

46 RECEPTIONS FOR 722 “The expectations are high, and this is what YARDS AND 9 TDS you look forward to as an athlete, these big games you get to play in, and it’s what we WR: JAQUAN train for in the offseason.”

EDWARDS #11 Freshman running back Josh Davis has 37 RECEPTIONS FOR 492 racked up 1,350 yards on the ground for the YARDS AND 9 TDS Wildcats this season, and senior Treshawn Garrett returned to pick up some of the slack KICKING against SEMO. Garrett led the Wildcats last week rushK: KENNY DOAK #31 ing for 137 yards and was the 10th ’Cat to 19 OF 15 FIELD GOALS enter the 2,000 yard club. Garrett is currentP: DAVID GELB #19 ly ninth in Weber State history with 2,123 AVG. 36 YARDS PER PUNT career yards.

AND 10 INSIDE THE “When you’re the team that travels, you 20 YARD LINE have one less day to prepare,” Toia said. “It all comes down to how you prepare, and we are DEFENSE happy we are the home team and have one extra day.”

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ALLOWING 295 YARDS PER GAME

4 | MyWeberMedia.com | December 7, 2018

HARRISON EPSTEIN | The Signpost

Weber State University president Brad Mortensen with his wife Camille and Waldo at his presidential introduction on Dec. 6, 2018.

WEBER STATE NAMES BRAD MORTENSEN NEXT PRESIDENT

By JENNIFER GREENLEE Assistant News Editor

The search for Weber State University’s new president has come to a close. Dr. Brad Mortensen was selected as the 13th president of WSU by the Utah State Board of Regents and was announced the evening of Dec. 6.

After being introduced by Harris H. Simmons, the char of the Utah Board of Regents, Mortensen was joined on stage by his wife Camille Mortensen. The two gave short speeches before the congregation of students and faculty. During his speech, Mortensen became emotional discussing what Weber State meant to him.

The initial search was completed by a 21-person Presidential Search Committee composed of faculty and students who waded through a significant number of applications and narrowed the field down to four named candidates.

Mortensen started at Weber State

in 2004 as Associate Vice President for Support and Government Relations until 2006 and has served as the Vice President of University Advancement for past 11 years.

Mortensen earned his Bachelor’s Degree from Utah State University, his Master’s at Syracuse University and his doctoral degree from the University of Utah.

He is filling the opening that was vacated by former president Charles Wight in May of 2018.

Over the past week, Mortensen has been interviewed by students, faculty and members of the community.

“I grew up in a rural area in Idaho, my nearest neighbor was a mile away. My dad had a small farm there. We raised cattle and grew crops and he had about a 300-acre ranch . . .He had never had the chance to college,” Mortensen said in an open interview. “He encouraged myself and my brothers to take advantage of the opportunity to get an education. I value that so much. From that I have realized

such a rich life and I know those same opportunities are here for our students.”

Mortensen highlighted how much a higher education can mean to students, especially first-generation students. One of Mortensen’s goals and passions he touched on frequently during these interviews is that he wants continue to provide students with these opportunities for growth and education.

“There’s a lot of negative narratives out there about higher education. There’s concerns that it costs too much that it’s not need, because there’s so many other ways to acquire learning in this world . . . there’s concern that degrees are not worth the price that it costs for students,” he said.

“That is what we can do at Weber State. We can make innovations, whether that’s technology, whether that’s the convenience of being able to register and attend and find class, whether that’s through new types of learning in our curriculum. That will help us stay on the

leading edge of higher education. It will make it valuable for people to come and have a personal learning experience on campus.”

Whether it was access or education, Mortensen talked about what he could do for students and how the university can improve the success of the students and keep its strong ties to the community.

“The first thing we need to do is be louder and prouder about the great work that is happening there. We spend a lot of our time doing our job and doing it dang well and being satisfied with that and being satisfied with the impact it has on our students. The world is a noisy place. We have to get our message out to be successful in any area. The president can’t do that alone. The president needs the support of the faculty, the staff, the students and our surrounding community to be sure we have the message heard.”

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KELLY WATKINS | The Signpost

WHERE DO YOU GO,

I WANNA KNOW

By DEBORAH WILBER News Reporter

The International Student and Scholar Center continues to defend their actions in placing student accounts on hold. Currently, international students provide financial documentation to show they can afford $26,480 annually to study as an undergraduate at Weber State University.

This value includes medical insurance; however, international students say they were never told they would have to pay so far in advance. This semester, holds were placed on international students’ accounts if they hadn’t purchased medical insurance for Spring 2019 by Nov. 2 this year.

“I wouldn’t say we are forcing them,” Director of the ISSC Mary Machira said.

International students have requested complete anonymity, and they will not be mentioned by name in this article.

Vice President of Student Affairs Brett Perozzi maintains he is not hearing a cogent argument from students as to why paying for medical insurance immediately versus in a few weeks is such a hardship that it can’t be done.

“They got the problem wrong,” an international student who requested anonymity said.

The problem is requiring international students to come up with $480 on such short notice.

Perozzi believes students would have

the same amount of money available that they would have in five weeks.

“Maybe the five weeks makes a difference for some,” Perozzi said.

Several students who did not have immediate access to pay for Spring 2019 enrollment had holds placed on their accounts Nov. 2, three days before the start of Spring registration.

“I can’t pick money off of a tree,” another international student said.

One international student had paid the Fall 2018 medical insurance with WSU’s contracted company, GeoBlue, before he left his home in Ecuador. His account has been placed on hold since the beginning of November. He has also had difficulty dealing with the ISSC staff.

“They are insincere, unprofessional and rude,” he said.

The first set of emails reminding students to purchase insurance were sent out

by ISSC staff on Aug. 31. The emails did not state any specific semester; therefore, students who had already purchased medical coverage for Fall 2018 disregarded the emails urging them to purchase insurance.

According to Perozzi, there are valid reasons for placing holds: the more students who sign up during an enrollment period, the lower the rate. It also provides ISSC staff with leverage to ensure students are insured.

Four international students openly expressed their issues with the ISSC in the

Nov. 12 Weber State University Student Association Senate meeting.

In a presentation to the senate, an international student quoted ISSC Administrative Assistant Tiana Witkamp as saying, “Well, in your financial settlement, you said that you can cover $26,480 a year, so if you want to register for classes, you can either wait until 2019, or you can stop complaining and pay for the insurance, dude.”

Witkamp was not available for comment.

An international senior who had paid for medical coverage and was set to graduate in December 2018 had a hold put on his account for failing to purchase medical insurance for Spring 2019. The hold has since been lifted after the student confronted ISSC staff over the error.

This international student engaged in a verbal confrontation with Witkamp when he felt she was implementing her own policy. Machira overheard the conflict and resolved the situation.

Machira said she does not recall the incident and did not want to comment on a situation like that.

One international junior expressed his love for WSU and everything about it, with the exception of the ISSC, and he is not alone. Several international students do not feel safe or welcome in the very place they are supposed to receive support and assistance.

Perozzi is saddened to hear students feel this way and has begun to investigate con-

frontations that have taken place between ISSC staff and students.

These instances had apparently gone unreported as Perozzi was unaware of any issues.

Perozzi is troubled by international students requesting anonymity for fear of retribution from the ISSC or WSU as a whole.

“It’s unacceptable that they feel this way,” he said.

According to international transfers from Snow College, there were never any problems. Students who had attended Snow paid $430 per semester for their medical insurance, which was included in their tuition and fees.

International students spoke of the care and concern they received from staff while attending Snow.

“You have to be human sometimes,” a senior international student said, “and they did that.”

International students are aware that having medical insurance is a good thing.

They proposed a solution: include medical insurance in the tuition and fees for the semester.

Doing so would not only aid ISSC staff to keep track of students with or without medical insurance, but it would also prevent international student accounts from being placed on hold in the future.

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FORTNITE GAMERS:

ADOLESCENTS OR

ADDICTS?

By JAKE MCMAHON Investigative Reporter

Since its initial launch in July 2017, “Fortnite” has attracted over 125 million players across multiple platforms including Xbox, Playstation and, as recently as October, the mobile Android platform as well. As the Epic Games brainchild has grown in both popularity and notoriety, so too has the speculation that gaming too often can cause adverse side effects.

This is not the first time that video games have faced scrutiny since their inception, but in this modern world of online purchases, live online communication/interaction and Twitch gameplay streaming, many contend it’s worth re-examining.

Arguably one of the most legitimate contenders in this debate is the World Health Organization, who deemed “gaming disorder” as an official disease as of September 2018. Their definition lists impaired control over gaming, inability to prioritize more important aspects of life over gaming on a consistent basis, as well as continuation despite “negative consequences.”

Combine this with the fact that current psychological research suggests that loneliness, depression and even anxiety can be associated with “pathological gaming,” and it can be argued that “gaming addiction” is worth investigating.

However, research has gone into proving the positive effects of video games as well. UNLV Psychology professor Amanda Pasinski has spent time in her career look-

ing at the positives of video games, as well as how they can actually benefit gamers rather than providing a detriment.

“Action games specifically seem to be really good at benefiting visual processing, something called the ‘Useful Field of View’, which is basically just how much

video games and technology continue their natural progression.

It’s clear to see that video games can be damaging and detrimental in abundance for certain individuals, while they can actually provide improvements and enjoyment to one’s life as well.

of what you perceive in your environment around you while living your life,” Pasinski said.

According to Pasinksi, action games facilitate improved periphery vision, which is a strong benefit.

Both the positive and negative sides will continue to be prominent as long as

However, another potentially-negative aspect of video games is the “loot box” phenomenon and its similarities to gambling.

As video games have continued to evolve, many now have a loot box marketplace where real money can be exchanged for randomized digital goods.

In other words, children and teenagers are now often being enticed to spend their own or their parents’ money in the pursuit of “legendary,” “epic” or “exotic” skins, weapons and other cosmetic accoutrements.

The disclaimer accompanying games with loot boxes often reads similar to “This game contains a gambling-like mechanism that may promote the development of a gaming disorder that increases the risk of harmful mental or physical health effects, and may expose the user to significant financial risk.”

Pasinski specified that the United States generally uses the Diagnostic Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM) rather than the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) generally used by the World Health Organization, as their stance on “substance abuse” differs.

The DSM recently included substance abuse as an addiction, which also includes gambling as a sub-section. Coincidentally, the ICR model used by the World Health Organization does not group gambling with chemical dependency.

Belgium and Netherlands have already outlawed loot boxes as they are too similar to gambling, with many other countries showing support in following suit.

Regardless of the differences in the DSM and the ICR on substance abuse and whether it should include gambling, Pasinski maintained that a behavioral addiction could have similarities with substance addiction.

60% of all Fortnite players are between the ages of 18 and 24.

MyWeberMedia.com | December 7, 2018 | 7

The loot box system may stem from developmental decisions. After years in computer science and aiding in Coding & Creativity bootcamps for interested coders/game developers, WSU professor Dr. Richard Fry spoke to the real premise of creating games.

“The whole idea of game design is to make it “fun” – balancing risks and rewards and motivating the user to move forward and push themselves with new challenges. Adding rewards and incentives at the right point in the game, may keep the player wanting more,” Fry said.

“That’s why video gambling is so appealing (dare I say addictive) as well.”

Fry also brought up the World Health Organization’s disorder classification, but also cited studies from the American Pediatrics Association including diminishing social skills and studies showing

increased aggression.

The aggression aspect can seem ironic when specifically focusing on “Fortnite,” as the game itself shows no actual blood or gore. The characters within the game even seem more cartoon-like and not as “human” as you’d see on other popular games such as Call of Duty and PlayerUnknown Battleground (PUBG).

In the official “parental guidance” provided for “Fortnite,” the description is quick to highlight the altruistic aspects of the game such as building forts, collecting supplies as well as working as a team.

However, they do mention the weapons and violence used within the game such as guns, grenades and swords. Players can also set “fatal” traps to eliminate other users while competing as well.

College professors and experts in the industry are quick to suggest reasons for

NONTRADITIONAL STUDENT CENTER

gamers to return to playing so frequently, but James Brooks, commented on his own reasoning for returning to the game.

Brooks, a married gamer in his early thirties, said, “When I started playing ‘Fortnite,’ not everyone was playing it. I started playing because I’ve been a gamer my whole life and enjoy trying new games, especially free to play games!”

Brooks was quick to highlight “Battle Royale” as the most popular aspect of the game, as it is a free to play and hyper-competitive style of play.

“Battle Royale is a 100 PvP (player VS player) mode that is a free roam map. You can choose many different game types from; free for all, 50v50 teams, teams of 5, etc.,” Brooks said. “And it’s pretty simple to play considering some other games out right now.”

He argued that younger demographics

may be more susceptible to addiction or negative aspects due to the youth generation’s constant contact with media avenues.

As research continues and game developers continue to find creative ways to make their creations more appealing, it’s important to not forget the value of faceto-face interaction, non-electronically provided life experiences and exercise.

It’s also important to remember that with anything creating a dopamine spike, moderation is key.

“Obviously not everything you enjoy becomes addictive,” Pasinski said. “However, everything that becomes addictive also involves that pathway for the things you enjoy.”

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JOSHUA WINEHOLT | The Signpost

KELLY WATKINS | The Signpost

JOSHUA WINEHOLT | The Signpost

WILDCATS END 15 YEAR DROUGHT AGAINST BYU

By JAPHETH PLEASANT Sports Reporter

Just hours after the football team advanced to the third round of the FCS playoffs, the Weber State men’s basketball team sent in-state rival BYU back to Provo defeated 113–103. The victory snapped the Cougars’ 15-game winning streak over the Wildcats.

“It was good to end that drought, and it was a fun game to play,” Wildcat junior guard Jerrick Harding said.

BYU came into Ogden with a 5–3 record after losing their previous two games. For the Wildcats, this win improves their record to 5-2 in the early season.

The first half consisted of Weber State versus BYU’s leading scorer and rebounder, Yoeli Childs. He led all scorers with 16

at the half, but no Cougar team scored in double figures.

In opposition to Childs’ one-man wrecking crew, the Wildcats had three scorers in double figures leading to a one-point lead on a buzzer-beater to end the half by junior guard Cody John.

Weber State kept themselves in the game with their three-point shooting, going 6 of 16, while the Cougars only made one three-pointer the entire half.

Harding netted 12 points in 12 minutes in the first half, ultimately finishing the game with a team-high 30 on 11–17 shooting from the field.

“We tried almost every guy we had on him. Luckily, he got in foul trouble in the first half, or he would have scored 50,” BYU coach Dave Rose said.

Once the second half started, the momentum shifted to Weber State, who

got out to an 11-point lead with 13:35 left to play.

BYU guard Jahshire Hardnett and Childs did all they could to keep the Cougars in the game after trailing 15 at one point. However, winning is an uphill battle when only two players score over 8 points the entire game.

Hardnett finished with a career high of 24 points. Childs led all scorers with 31 points, adding seven rebounds. The Cougars second leading scorer on the season, TJ Haws was held to 8 points.

It was also the Ogden return for BYU guard McKay Cannon, who played with the Wildcats from 2015–17. Cannon finished with seven points.

BYU, electing to play the foul game in the fourth quarter, cut the lead down to 8 with two minutes left in the game.

The veteran leadership of the Wildcats

helped weather the storm and come out with the victory. The backcourt of Harding and John led Weber State in scoring, combining for 52 points.

“I feel being the veterans we have to step up in big moments, and I feel like we’ve been doing that so far this season, and we have to keep it going,” Harding said.

The Wildcats head to Fresno Wednesday to take on Fresno State before returning to face Utah State in the Beehive Classic in Salt Lake on Dec. 8 at 2:30 p.m.

“We’re very thankful for all of our fans, and it’s so fun playing in an environment like that, so hopefully we can get that same support all season,” said John.

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MyWeberMedia.com| December 7, 2018 | 9

KELLY WATKINS | The Signpost

JOSHUA WINEHOLT | The Signpost

JOSHUA WINEHOLT | The Signpost

KELLY WATKINS | The Signpost

MyWeberMedia.com| December 7, 2018 | 11

10 | MyWeberMedia.com| December 7, 2018

By RAYMOND LUCAS Sports Reporter

In the second round of the FCS playoffs, the Weber State University Wildcats welcomed the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks to Stewart Stadium on Dec. 1. The Wildcats started slow but torched the Redhawks to a tune of 48–23 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the FCS Playoffs.

Head coach Jay Hill said, “It was an awesome team win. I liked the intensity of the crowd and the way the players handled it.”

Sophomore All-American kicker Trey Tuttle kicked the ball deep and the battle between the Redhawks and the Wildcats was underway. From the moment this game kicked off, it was visible that this was going to be a game with hard hits, trash talk and lots of emotion.

Both teams had players getting into the face of their counterparts and hits after the whistle. The defenses both came out to play in the first quarter, both offenses couldn’t get anything going.

The Redhawks struck first in the big play category as their punt returner evaded tacklers and took it down inside the 20-yard line before being forced out of bounds.

After forcing a long third down, the Redhawks found wide receiver Colby Cornett open inside the five-yard line and would eventually run into the endzone to take a 7–0 lead with 25 seconds left in the opening quarter.

After the touchdown, SEMO decided they would rather kick it short and give the Wildcats decent field position rather than kick it deep to sophomore Rashid Shaheed. Sha-

heed has two kickoff return touchdowns on the season and Hill has dubbed him as the best returner in college football.

The Wildcats responded to the Redhawk touchdown with a score of their own. The Wildcats drove down the field after being given the good field position and sophomore Jake Constantine hooked up from 10 yards out with Shaheed knotting the game at 7–7 with 10:00 mins left in the half.

The Wildcats defense came out and quickly forced a Redhawks punt, and Shaheed showed off why he’s one of the most explosive players, taking it to the house for another WSU touchdown. Unfortunately, as the ’Cats celebrated the ref’s called back the touchdown citing an illegal block.

WSU wasn’t able to to convert their possession to any points after Tuttle missed a long field goal.

Senior cornerback Keilan Benjamin intercepted his fifth pass of the season to give the WSU offense the ball in great field position.

Constantine again found the end zone, this one going to freshman wide receiver Devon Cooley. WSU came out in the swinging gate formation but failed the two-point conversion giving the Wildcats a 13–7 lead.

With the defense remaining strong, WSU got the ball back and converted on a fake punt. After converting the fourth down, Constantine threw his third touchdown of the game to sophomore Isiah Jackson, giving the Wildcats a two-possession lead at 20–7.

Senior safety Jordan Preator picked off the Redhawks quarterback on the very next possession and returned it 17 yards inside SEMO’s territory.

Constantine maintained dominance throwing his fourth touchdown in the sec-

ond quarter and his second to Jackson. The Wildcats took a 27–7 lead into halftime behind a standing ovation from the Weber State faithful.

Constantine went 17 for 25, throwing for 191 yards and four touchdowns to spark the Wildcat offense while the defense only allowed a single touchdown.

“I think it was just me getting more and more comfortable with myself and the offense, and ever since that, we’ve been rolling,” Constantine said.

The second half kicked off and four minutes later, Constantine was diving into the end-zone for his fifth touchdown of the day. Constantine scrambled and decided to tuck it and run to push the WSU lead to 34-7. The Wildcats defense would then continue to dominate the Redhawk offense as senior linebacker Landon Stice came up with an interception to kill a promising Redhawks drive.

SEMO finally found a rhythm on a drive, and with 5:32 left in the 3rd quarter, punched in a touchdown down by the goal line to cut the Wildcat lead to 34-14. Two minutes into the fourth quarter, SEMO added more points on the board after nailing a 45-yard field goal to trim the lead to 34-17 with much more confidence than the previous three quarters. As the Redhawks began to gain momentum and to search for another big play, their defense was crossing the goal line a few players later off of a fumble and the lead was now 34–23 with 12:41 left on the clock.

It was time for a big Weber State drive and a big drive was delivered. After getting down inside the 10-yard line, The Wildcats brought the field goal unit out to kick but instead, the

Wildcats ran another trick play, which resulted in a touchdown run from junior punter Doug Lloyd. Lloyd was set to hold the ball and let Tuttle kick it but instead, the Wildcats caught SEMO off guard and had Lloyd pick it up and run it into the endzone. The Weber State lead was now 41–23.

With SEMO looking to score and try to gain their momentum back, Preator decided that one interception was not enough for him and picked off another pass, this one he took back to the house for a 52-yard pick-six.

The ’Cats took a 48–23 lead that would hold up for the remainder of the game and groups fans wearing both purple and red began to head to the exits.

Not to be forgotten was senior Treshawn Garrett who rushed for 134 yards and helped set the tone for the Wildcats.

Preator spoke on the defense’s effort after the Wildcats secured four interceptions, saying “Coach Hill told us that they were primed for a big turnover game and they’d give us chances. We just had to capitalize on them and I think we went out and did exactly that.”

SEMO Head Coach Tom Matukewicz spoke highly of the Wildcats saying, “Give credit to Weber State. This is the type of program we want to be.”

All week, Jay Hill asked fans “Why wouldn’t you want to be here?”. Tonight he showed why you should be here.

Weber State will take on the University of Maine Black Bears on the night of Dec. 7 at 6 p.m. at Stewart Stadium in the Quarterfinals of the FCS Playoffs.

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JOSHUA WINEHOLT | The Signpost

Wide reciever Rashid Shaheed brings in a touchdown over a pair of SEMO defenders in the second quarter of the Dec. 1 victory.

12 | MyWeberMedia.com| December 7, 2018

BRYAN BUTTERFIELD | The Signpost

Wildcat point guard Damian Lillard, pictured in 2011

By JAPHETH PLEASANT Investigative Reporter

With NCAA revenue increasing yearly, student-athletes still struggle with everyday life. Although athletes receive scholarships each semester, the money goes to school and housing, leaving athletes with virtually no money to buy food, clothing and live everyday lives.

“For someone who is on their own, it can be really tough. When I stayed at school over the summer while everyone went home, those were the hardest times,” said NBA point guard and Weber State legend Damian Lillard in a phone interview.

Not all scholarships are full rides, four years or for every athlete. Scholarships are renewed every year. If a coach feels like a players value to his/her team has waned, then the scholarship can simply be taken away, even though that athlete was promised a “full 4-year scholarship.”

Unfortunately, when athletes lose their athletic scholarships, they then have to figure out how they are going to pay for their education. In many cases, student-athletes will be forced to go back home and begin working while going to a two-year junior college.

Weber State’s freshman running back David Jones explained that some weeks he barely has enough money to get McChicken’s from McDonalds for dinner.

After paying for rent, clothing and food, athletes can struggle to make ends meet.

On top of that, since they are forced to take 12-15 credits, they don’t have time to get a job on the side.

“I only got $370 a month. In season, it was enough because we would get expensed for food while we were on road trips,” former basketball player Zharia Hale said. “Sometimes our road trips would last four days if we have multiple away games that week. Off season is a different story.

I feel bad for the football players that get around the same money and have to eat Sodexo in the cafeteria after practice every day, just to save money.”

Over the past few years, the NCAA has been knee deep in lawsuits due to the issue of student-athletes not feeling like they are compensated fairly.

In the case of Jason White v. National Collegiate Athletic Association in 2008, multiple players argued that the scholarships did not cover enough of the fees that they have to pay in order to remain enrolled in a university (tuition, books, housing and meals). The decision ultimately ruled in the athletes favor, ensuring that on top of the amenities that scholarships can cover and giving athletes

health insurance.

In 2006, USC star running back Reggie Bush was stripped of his Heisman Trophy due to receiving gifts and benefits while he was a student-athlete. USC was also forced to vacate all wins between 2004 and 2005, including a BCS National Championship, and placed on four-year probation period.

In another case, six payers on the Ohio State football team were suspended for the 2011 season for exchanging championship apparel for tattoos. The NCAA suspended the six athletes for the first five games, including standout Terrelle Pryor, who has played for several NFL teams and is currently a free agent.

Former Weber State student-athlete Devin Pugh’s case was similar in that he was also arguing for more security from a financial standpoint. Pugh argued for multiyear scholarships that all included benefits. Now, Division 1 schools are allowed to offer multi-year scholarships. However, it is rare, due to the risk of wasting a scholarship.

The common theme in all of these cases is that the NCAA is violating federal antitrust laws. Concerns raised include if the NCAA agreed to extend scholarship funding to include medical benefits, what and how long would it take before they start giving all athletes fair compensation for their labor, not just the star players?

MyWeberMedia.com | December 7, 2018 | 13

KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR

As many know, this is not just a recent issue in the NCAA. This has been going on for decades upon decades.

“It was frustrating to win championship after championship every year, hear thousands chant my name, and then go to my bedroom to count my change so I coul buy a burger,” said Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in an article he wrote for The Please see ATHLETES, 14

Sophomore running back David Jones

BELLA TORRES | The Signpost

14 | MyWeberMedia.com | December 7, 2018

Damian Lillard was a four-year starter at WSU

BRYAN BUTTERFIELD | The Signpost

ATHLETES

››continued from page # 13

Guardian.

The same Abdul-Jabbar who won three National Championships at UCLA, three National College Player of the Year awards, had his number retired by the University and was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1969 NBA draft.

The only question now is, when will these issues come to an end?

While researching, one idea found in New York Magazine, offered that all athletes should be paid like their sport is a regular hourly job. These athletes put in 40+ hour weeks and still have to maintain an above average grade point average, with some setting the bar at a 2.8 or higher. The amount of revenue that the sport

brings in should have no bearing on how much money they get.

For example, the women’s and men’s basketball teams should receive the same salary, because they both put in the same amount of work and have the same requirements. This goes for cheerleaders and band members as well, since they too put in tons of hours to aid in entertaining fans every week.

“With the amount of money the NCAA makes from sports, the compensation should be much more than just a scholarship. Life off campus should be comfortable and less stressful so student-athletes can be as productive as possible in their classroom and also in their sport,” Lillard explained.

The NCAA has begun moving in the right direction with their recent rule changes.

“Under the new rule, effective August 2019, Division I colleges and universities must pay for tuition, fees and books for basketball players, both men and women, who leave an institution and come back within a decade. Players must have been on scholarship and enrolled at the institution for at least two years and must have ‘exhausted all other funding options’ to be eligible,” the NCAA said. “They must also meet all NCAA academic requirements,” Jeremy Bauer-Wolf, a reporter for Inside Higher Ed, said.

The rule that states that only prospective tennis athletes can get up to $10,000 aside from a scholarship in a particular year. It is concering that they single out certain sports with these rules, instead of making it omnipresent in athletics.

The average scholarship for a Division

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1 athlete is around $10,400 and only six sports offer full rides: football, men’s and women’s basketball, women’s volleyball, gymnastics and tennis. Excluding football and men’s basketball, the average scholarship drops to around $8,700.

After dicing and distributing the funds in the scholarships to benefit the program, some student-athletes are left with minimal returns for their hard work. The question remains. When will the student-athletes climb the priority ladder in the NCAA? “Even though we didn’t have the burden of paying tuition, books, etc. our cost of living was still more than what is being offered by stipend and scholarship checks,” Lillard concluded.

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MENTAL ILLNESS ISN’T INVISIBLE,

MyWeberMedia.com | December 7, 2018 | 15

IT JUST TAKES A HARDER LOOK

MIRANDA SPAULDING Columnist

Mental illness is often referred to as an invisible illness. Many of the people who call mental illness invisible do so from a place of caring and an aim to spread awareness. Emily Torchiana, founder of mental health awareness organization The Invisible Illnesses, commented on her reasoning for the organization.

“Just because symptoms aren’t physically there when looking at a person struggling does not mean they are not struggling internally. I wish people understood that there’s more to a person than what you see physically,” Torchiana told Talkspace.

Though the term is frequently used to advocate for a respect of mental illness as a disease, it perpetuates the fallacy that mental illness is indeed invisible.

While the intentions behind this term are typically good, they are completely false. You can see the symptoms and causes of mental illness, just as clearly as you can see the symptoms and causes of a cold or the flu.

For many, describing those with mental illnesses as sick or impaired can feel discriminatory. While it’s true that we shouldn’t judge people for hav-

ing mental illnesses, just like we don’t judge cancer patients for having cancer, it is still an illness, and something has gone wrong to cause it. A lot of what causes mental illness can be found in the brain, either through the release of neurotransmitters or through deformed brain structures.

Brain scans can find easily identifiable differences between brains with a mental illness and healthy brains. For example, those with PTSD have a considerably smaller hippocampus due to neuronal cell death. Patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) were found to have thinner cortical gray matter than controls in the orbitofrontal cortex, anterior and posterior cingulate, insula and temporal lobes. Studies between pairs of twins where only one twin was diagnosed with schizophrenia have found small anterior hippocampi and enlarged lateral and third ventricles in the schizophrenia diagnosed twin.

Neurotransmitters are also a major contributor to an unhealthy brain.

Neurotransmitters are the chemicals that your brain releases. They can affect anything from emotion and behavior to sensing cold and hunger. The neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine are often associated with MDD, with many patients seeming to lack dopamine levels or needing an increase of SSRIs. Neurotransmitters aren’t always that simple, however, and in patients with Huntington’s disease, their illness could be due to reductions in the neurotransmitters GABA and glutamate, but could also be caused by a gradient of

amino acid loss. It is hypothesized that those with Alzheimer’s could be suffering from a deficit in excitatory amino acid neurotransmission, and it is possible that a way to delay symptoms could stem from cholinesterase inhibitors.

There are also symptoms that can be seen without the use of brain scans and MRIs. Many people with anxiety feel heartburn, have trouble breathing, or get dizzy. Those with depression often experience insomnia, hypersomnia or get frequent migraines. Those with PTSD can experience hypoxia and heart attacks. Those with ADD or ADHD can experience insomnia and sensitivity to light and sound.

There are not any cures for mental illness, but medication can help in the same way that there are not any cures for HIV or AIDS, in which we have advanced medication enough to delay symptoms or force the virus into remission. While not everything that can be found in brain scans and through measuring neurotransmitters is 100 percent proven, it can be very reassuring to those with mental illness to know that anything at all can be measured.

I grew up hearing that mental illness was invisible, so I wasn’t looking for symptoms because all I had been told was that mental illness can only be found in my head. I also wasn’t seeking diagnoses because I was told there isn’t a definitive test for mental illness.

I was completely against taking medication because I was worried that the drugs would harm me if I didn’t really have a mental illness like I thought I

Wikimeda

did. These reasons are probably why I didn’t go to therapy until I was 19 years old despite symptoms starting when I was 13.

To me, it seemed pointless to receive help for something that couldn’t even be proven that I had. I have always believed in things that can be seen. I’ve always been fascinated by psychology and hated philosophy. It was after I started my interest in bio-psychology and neuroscience that I started going to therapy because I knew there was actually something medically wrong with me and that it could be measured, calculated and possibly remedied.

I am diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and mild depression.

This could be due to an excess of cortisol causing neuronal cell death in my hippocampus, or due to the inability of my hippocampus to inhibit CRH release.

I’m a very logical person, and I’ve always wanted to know why things are the way they are. I grew up believing there were no answers for the way I was and that my illness was invisible and, therefore, could just be me overreacting.

Knowing that my illness isn’t invisible has helped me know I can overcome it because now I can see the problem. Demons are a lot easier to fight if you can see them. I hope those of you who fight mental illness know that your problems are not invisible. You don’t have to get a brain scan to prove that you have them, but just knowing that you can is half the battle.

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16 | MyWeberMedia.com | December 7, 2018

JUSTINE GIFFORD

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: SURVIVING GAME DEVELOPMENT

By CAMERON GIFFORD Investigative Reporter

It’s hard to be a video game developer, especially in Utah.

Even someone relatively familiar with the game industry could be forgiven for not realizing development happens in Utah at all. Most of the development for what are considered triple-A games — “Red Dead Redemption 2,” “Fortnite,” “Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey” — takes place elsewhere: New York, North Carolina, Montreal, and of course, California.

The numbers, however, show that the video game industry has a real presence in Utah — a presence not deterred by triple-A publishers or an often volatile culture. This presence generated $71 million in revenue and supported more than 1,200 jobs in Utah in 2017, according to a 2017 Entertainment Software Association report.

The ESA site also lists 43 companies, developers and publishers, operating in Utah — this number up from 27 companies in a 2015 ESA report.

One of the largest — and only triple-A —

game companies in Utah in recent memory, EA Salt Lake, shut down in 2017.

Executive Producer Vance Cook, who left the company seven years before it was closed down by EA’s main headquarters, said his studio was a 25-year success. In fact, Cook not only created one of the first major golf titles but developed the genre as a whole over the better part of three decades.

Cook’s involvement with the video game industry started in 1987 with Access Software, where he finished work on a golf game called “Links 386 Pro.”

Five years later, Cook founded Headgate Studios based largely off the royalties from “Links.”

Cook said even in 1992, Utah didn’t present any unique challenges to opening up a game studio specifically. State and regional factors came later.

“At that time, I was creating my own product,” Cook said. “It was just challenging funding it, bringing people in and overcoming the engineering and financial problems you would get in starting any business.”

At the time, Cook and his team were

MyWeberMedia.com | December 7, 2018 | 17

“THE VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY HAS A REAL PRESENCE IN UTAH — A PRESENCE NOT DETERRED

BY TRIPLE-A PUBLISHERS OR AN OFTEN VOLATILE CULTURE.”

developing a top-of-the-line, next-generation golf game. Cook quickly received an offer he couldn’t refuse to buy his company from another publisher called Sierra. Rebranding shortly thereafter, Sierra Sports bought the rights to what would soon be known as “PGA Championship Golf.”

“At the time they bought me and in subsequent years, they were the No. 1 publisher in the world on PC,” Cook said of Sierra. “It turns out, though, you wanted to be the No. 1 publisher on consoles.

They were out of position, and they were hemorrhaging money.”

This unabated loss of funds ultimately led Sierra to offer Cook an opportunity to buy back his company for, according to Cook, pennies on the dollar. Cook put the decision to a vote, and his employees unanimously agreed to continue working with him.

Cook soon entered business dealings with EA to pair his product — a next-gen, best-in-the-market golf simulator — with the legendary Tiger Woods license, which EA already owned. Cook maintained a publisher-contractor relationship with EA for several years afterward. He finally sold the rights to his company to EA in 2006, moving the studio to Salt Lake City.

The move to Salt Lake was precipitated

by an economic climate where Utah was a considerably cheaper place to operate.

“Our average cost per employee was around $11,000 per month, fully loaded: salary, benefits, etc.,” Cook said. “But in Redwood Shores, at headquarters, it was double that.”

According to Cook, as a cost-saving measure, EA issued a company directive: the California-based headquarters would remain relatively small, and development would be distributed to low-cost cities around the world.

“Salt Lake City was one of those places that identified as a good talent base at moderate cost,” Cook said.

Montreal was similarly identified as an ideal location for game development because, according to Cook, Canada offered extremely beneficial tax incentives. Cook tried working to establish similar incentives for his company, but Utah doesn’t offer any tax incentives specific to the video game industry, according to the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development.

Cook said Utah certainly tried to help where they could, but financial difficulties aren’t the only reason game companies have trouble thriving in Utah and elsewhere. The long-distance relation-

ship between publishers and satellite offices creates an environment of disposability. “(EA) never really saw my studio as an independent place that could stand 100 percent on its own legs and always had the ‘talented and smart’ people in California,” Cook said. “A lot of people fully respected the talent and abilities that Utah had to offer, but not everyone did. Eventually, if things don’t align, it’s more expendable than making choices in California.”

More than 40 other Utah-based developers are currently registered through the ESA. None of these companies are triple-A developers, however; they’re all small, independent developers — developers struggling to be heard amidst the roar of triple-A engines.

Brent Fox is one of those independent developers. He’s an art director/partner of Wahoo Studios/Ninjabee.

After his first post-graduate employer experienced significant financial turbulence, Fox and a few of his colleagues left to start their own studio and team up with Wahoo around 2002.

“At that time, you couldn’t do independent stuff. There was no such thing,” Fox said. “Games were sold through retail stores, so as a small developer, you couldn’t even get Wal-Mart to talk to you. It was either big publishers or

nothing. Then, all of a sudden, people started saying ‘Hey, you can start selling games through the internet,’ and we went, ‘Really?’”

Fox’s team was approached by Microsoft before the release of the Xbox 360.

According to Fox, Microsoft told them they were going to increase focus on selling digital games through an on-console marketplace.

“Outpost Kaloki X,” the game made by Fox’s team, was one of the first six titles launched on the Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) through the 360.

For several years, Fox and his team alternated between working on independent projects and working for big publishers like Microsoft.

“We’d do about 50 percent our own independent stuff and 50 percent work-forhire for large publishers,” Fox said.

Eventually, Fox said Wahoo went through a period where they didn’t have a lot of work and shut down their offices. Since then, he and eight others have been doing contract work without an office.

“We have a big contract with Microsoft right now,” Fox said. “We now have a distributed model where we all work remotely, and in lots of ways, there are cool advantages to that.”

Fox said most modern independent Please see GAME DEVELOPMENT, 18

18 | MyWeberMedia.com | December 7, 2018

GAME DEVELOPMENT ››continued from page # 17

delopers likely operate in relatively small groups, usually working remotely and only meeting occasionally. Most communication takes place via conference calls, and work comes in the form of contracts for projects from major publishers or in-studio, independent work.

The problem, Fox said, is getting noticed. The novelty of smaller, bite-sized games in the XBLA format has worn off, and people are more commonly playing free-to-play mobile or console games.

According to Fox, though these games are free-to-play, they have triple-A development effort behind them, and it’s hard to compete as a smaller developer.

“You’re competing against people’s time. As people play games, they’re going to be playing with their friends on the top five high-quality games,” Fox said. “(Players) don’t have time to look at a ton of other things because they spend so much time playing ‘Fortnite’ or their favorite triple-A game. Even if you create just as good of a game, you don’t get noticed. I think that’s the bigger problem as a developer — not creating a good game, it’s just getting attention.”

Fox said the market, and the industry overall, has changed drastically from the XBLA days. According to Fox, major publishers put more effort and funds into developing games closer to triple-A titles than independent ones for a larger profit. Smaller games just don’t typically receive the same funding.

“Of course, there are exceptions, but they’re kind of small. If you looked at the number of exceptions that make lots of money each year, there are probably 20,” Fox said. “But there are thousands

of developers trying to be those 20.”

According to Fox, even programs like ID@Xbox, a recent effort by Microsoft to bring more independent titles to the Xbox One, only provide a platform for those independent titles. Microsoft doesn’t necessarily provide any funding during development. If those games made more money, Microsoft might fund more of them. It’s no fault of Microsoft or any other major publisher, according to Fox. It’s just the nature of a business: a business has to make money.

Fox believes the biggest influence on the game industry in Utah isn’t financial.

Rather, it’s an industry constantly in flux.

To make it in this industry, a developer has to create something uniquely theirs.

“When you say there are developers that are making money and you can’t find their website, that’s probably because it’s one or two people who have found a way to make a living; they can make their house payments,” Fox said.

“It’s a little niche they’ve carved out, which is great, but they’re not going to expand any time soon. Their niche isn’t big enough to cover any kind of expansion.”

There’s always the chance a studio in Utah could be the developer of the next “Fortnite.” However, according to Fox, it’s more likely a small developer will have to find a different niche in the constantly evolving industry of technology.

Even a developer with a niche, however, must handle the larger systemic differences between the gaming culture at large and the culture of their own community. For Utah, that conflict seems to be the choice between game development or family.

Avalanche Software was a company,

like EA Salt Lake, that operated and subsequently became defunct in Utah. Blake Wilks, a former artist for Avalanche Software, believes the major shortcomings of the video game industry lie in the culture surrounding game development itself.

During Wilks’ time at the company, Avalanche was a game studio primarily focused on animated movie tie-ins.

According to him, the problem with trying to remain in the game industry was the level of time commitment required during surges of work colloquially referred to as “crunch periods.”

“We had ‘Code Red,’ which was mandatory 60 hours plus and at least one weekend, or one day in the weekend,” Wilks said. “We knew it was coming. It’s part of the deal you sign up for. Some companies are better than others about giving you free time off afterward. You’re just burned out and frazzled.”

After major crunch periods, studios like Avalanche would have down time before development on the next project began in earnest.

Crunch periods have experienced increased exposure in recent months after an interview from a major Rockstar Games developer and co-founder Dan Houser.

Houser claimed some of his employees were working 100-hour weeks during key development times throughout 2018. Initial reports from this interview sparked renewed outrage in the gaming community at large, according to a report from Kotaku’s Jason Schreier.

In his statement, Houser claimed the 100-hour weeks were necessary to finish the 300,000 animations, 500,000 lines of dialogue and countless lines of code for “Red Dead Redemption 2.”

Houser later clarified his statement in an update to the Kotaku report.

“We obviously don’t expect anyone else to work this way,” the update reads.

“Across the whole company, we have some senior people who work very hard purely because they’re passionate about a project … But that additional effort is a choice, and we don’t ask or expect anyone to work anything like this.”

A report from the International Game Developers Association stated crunch time is relatively common in the game industry. According to the report, 51 percent said their jobs involve crunch and another 44 percent reported working long or extended hours they don’t refer to as “crunch.” Forty-three percent said they experienced crunch more than twice in the last two years, and 53 percent said crunch was expected at their workplace.

The report also showed of those employees working crunch, 37 percent reported working between 50-59 hours, 29 percent reported working between 60-69 hours and 14 percent reported working more than 70 hours a week in a given crunch period.

Wilks said crunch periods at Avalanche could last as long as six months.

As Wilks got older and had greater commitments to his family and his children, those crunch periods became harder and harder.

“When I first started, I had younger kids, and it was okay to work all night if we needed to,” Wilks said. “But it starts to wear on you.”

The wear, Wilks said, was often for work that would end up being completely thrown out. According to Wilks, some of the senior members in the company would grow tired of a project or portion of a project, and they’d scrap it entirely for something new.

Wilks was one of the artists who worked on the Playstation exclusive

MyWeberMedia.com | December 7, 2018 | 19

“WE THREW AWAY SO MUCH WORK; WE HAD AN ENTIRE GAME THAT WE PRETTY MUCH THREW AWAY, A WHOLE STORY MODE.” BLAKE WILKS Former Artist for Avalanche Software

“Warhawk.”

The game launched as a multiplayer-only title, but that hadn’t always been the case.

“We threw away so much work; we had an entire game that we pretty much threw away, a whole story mode,” Wilks said. “(Sony) had cutscenes made, they had voice acting done — they had this whole score with the Polish orchestra.

Finally, Sony just said ‘Pull the plug, we’re just going to do a straight multiplayer game.’ At that point, we pushed the game out in three months.”

Wilks was laid off just before the company began development on “Disney Infinity.” When he finally left Avalanche, Wilks decided he was through with game development.

“It was either move to Finland, Sweden, Washington or California at that point, and I didn’t want to do that,” Wilks said. “I was done chasing games.”

For many developers, artists, writers and coders, this is the reality. There’s a passion for the craft and for the industry, but that passion only goes so far. For some, that passion leads to a 25-year success story and the shaping of an en-

tire genre. For others, it becomes a matter of making a choice between the industry and a family.

Their passion continues to burn in the face of overwhelming adversity.

“In general, I think it’s a tough industry right now,” Fox said. “If you look at game industry numbers, they’re up. They’re doing well, and they’re making lots of money. But if you look at the charts, it’s all about huge hits.

The amount of money the huge hits individually make has skyrocketed, but that means the money’s not spread out. I’m hoping we can find ways to make it because I love (game development), and I want to do more, but it’s tough.”

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meta-chart.com

GRAPHS BY: MONIKA CLARKE The Signpost

20 | MyWeberMedia.com| December 7, 2018

1. b. The Los Angeles Times reported that China levied the highest tax on soy beans coming from the U.S. In addition to soy beans, China targeted agricultural products, largely produced in states that support Trump or GOP lawmakers.

Ultimately, the tariffs on both sides totaled a $17 billion penalty in trading. After the 2018 G20 summit from Nov. 30 to Dec. 1, Trump and Chinese president Xi Jingping agreed to halt new tariff increases for 90 days.

2. c. Teacher Marston Riley punched the student across the face, which led to a brawl between the two, according to the Los Angeles Times and Independent. The two fought for several seconds before finally

QUIZ ANSWERS FROM PAGE 2 being separated. The child was taken to a hospital and treated for minor injuries, and Riley was arrested and then released after posting $50,000 in bail. On Nov. 30, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office released that Riley was charged with one misdemeanor count of corporal injury to a child.

3. c. Trump’s tweet featured a movie-poster image of himself with the text, “Sanctions are Coming,” echoing the phrase “Winter is coming,” from the popular HBO show Game of Thrones. The image used similar design features to the series’ branding. According to Bloomberg News, HBO quickly responded, tweeting, “How do you say trademark

misuse in Dothraki?” HBO then told CNBC they “would rather their trademark not be misappropriated for political purposes.”

4. b. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a statement saying Khashoggi’s death was the result of a planned plot, according to Bloomberg News. Erdogan claimed to have strong evidence the murder was not accidental and that there were potential collaborators. On Dec. 4, Republican senators said they wholly believed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman ordered Khashoggi’s murder.

Tribune News Service

Turkey’s ruling party Leader and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers his weekly speech to members of the parliaComment on this story at ment Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2018 in Ankara, Turkey. During the speech, Erdogan claimed Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi signpost.mywebermedia.com was murdered in a “ferocious manner.”