Friday, March 5, 2010
News Briefs
Campus News
page 3
Faculty-led foreign conversations Informal conversations in French, German, Russian and Spanish, held by the Department of Modern Language, will take place in Room 110/111 of the Houston Harte University Center. Conversations are open and free to the public. French conversations meet Mondays from 5- 6 p.m. Russian on Mondays from 8:30 - 9:30 a.m. German on Thursdays from 12:30 - 1:30 Spanish on Tuesdays from 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. ASU English Student to Present Paper at National Conference Erin Whitford, English student, will present a paper April 3 at the Popular Culture Association and American Culture Association’s Southern Literature and Popular Culture Conference in April in St. Louis. Whitford, a first-year graduate student and graduate assistant, will present her paper, “An Addition to the Legacy: Joyce Carol Oates as the Successor to Carson McCullers and Flannery O’Connor’s Feminine Grotesque,” on a panel with three others. The four were grouped because their papers have relevant overlaps. For more information, call the ASU Department of English at 942-2268.
Spring Health Fair Next Week
Photo by Tim Lester
Former ambassador Charles Ford visited Dr. June Smith’s Interviewing class Monday to talk about his career and ways that students could enter in a foreign services career. Ford also spoke Tuesday night on trade agreements with South America.
Former US ambassador speaks on foreign service (created by students for students) When: Tuesday, March 9 10 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Where: University Center Spine Great tips to stay healthy & cool this spring break Sponsored by JAMP! ASU’s Joint Admission Medical Program Giveaways and door prizes available.
Senate Briefs
By Jessica Shepard Staff Writer
Student Body Vice President Stephanie Williams announced all positions on the Senate are open for election and students can pick up applications at the SGA office in the UC. “So far, we have three pairs of teams who signed up and turned in their applications to run for election as president and vice president of the 81st Senate,” Williams said. Requirements to hold a seat on SGA include maintaining at least a 2.0 GPA, be enrolled in and maintain at least 12 semester hours and attendance at all weekly Senate meetings on Monday nights. Williams requested that applicants turn in a picture of themselves. “It’s easier that way because some people might not know your name, but they can recognize your face,” Williams said. Applications need to be turned in to Student Life and Student Services Executive Director Nolan Mears’ office at the Center for Student Involvement in UC 112. Williams reminded senators that the Rammy’s are April 8. “Student organizations can come by the SGA office to get an information packet to apply for all the different awards at the Rammy’s,” Williams said. The nominees for professor of the year were decided and announced by each college during Monday’s meeting. The College of Education nominated Drs. Leeann Moore, Christine Purkiss and Allyn Byars. The College of Liberal and Fine Art nominated Drs. Leah Mangrum, Kraig Schell, and John Glassford. The College of Sciences nominated Drs. Tim Roden, David Bixler and Micheal Salisbury. The College of Business nominated Drs. Bill Randall, Sharynn Tomlin, and Ms. Whitney Ruiz. Nominees for the College of Nursing and Allied Health are Ms. Maria Solano, Dr. Patricia Hutchinson and Mr. Paul Osmanski. Discussions about possibly including Blackboard training as part of professors’ tenure were tabled until the next meeting. “We’re trying to get in contact with ACU and find out how their professors viewed it, felt about it and what they’re doing in general,” said Senator Travis Barnett, Academic Affairs Committee chair.
By Jessica Shepard Staff Writer Former ambassador Charles Ford presented his views Tuesday on trade agreements and developmental assistance for South America. “I’ve had a lot of fun these past two days meeting students and learning more about Angelo State University,” Ford said. “It helped me reflect on what I learned as a student in the late 1960s.” Ford visited multiple government, international business and communication classes Monday to share his experiences as a U.S. diplomat. “I remember my first experience living with a family in Spain,” Ford said. “It was the first time I spoke a language I’d been learning for six years. “It’s always been rather disappointing to me how we talk about the ‘Americas,’ last.” Ford said. “Unless there is an unfortunate tragedy like in Chile and a short time ago in Haiti.” Ford said once those issues go away, we turn our attention elsewhere. Ford spoke about trade agreements and developmental assistance
in the Americas, citing three main factors that are needed first. “You have to have education, health and infrastructure to make a sustainable government,” Ford said. “Without a sustainable government, it’s not possible to have a trade agreement.” Ford said thirty-three percent of the South American region is in poverty. “That shouldn’t be happening,” Ford said. “It’s time for us to think of our shared interests in this area.” Ford said trade is a major engine for growth. “We need to evaluate the Americas seriously,” Ford said. “I don’t see any way we are going to be able to grow or move forward in the economic area without trade.” Ford, in his presentation, touched on the subject of drugs and trafficking. “What I remember during my time in Honduras was not about the drugs being used in South America but just flowing through to the U.S.,” Ford said. “The one problem that sticks out in my mind was that the traffickers weren’t paid in money, but in the drug itself.” Ford said he has not heard any talks in Washington about legalizing
drugs. The ambassador not only spent time in Central and South America, but also in the European Union in Belgium and Spain. He served as the United States ambassador in Honduras from 2005 to 2008. Ford has been a member of the United States Foreign Service since 1982 and recently retired in 2008. He received the President’s Distinguished Service Award in 2008 and has been honored with the Department of Commerce silver and gold medals in distinguished achievement in federal service. “Ambassador Ford is here due, in large part, to the James Holland-Roy A. Harrell Jr. Foreign Affairs Speakers Program,” said Dr. Roberto Garza, government professor, “as well as through ASU faculty and students and the community.” The James Holland-Roy A. Harrell Jr. Foreign Affairs Speakers Program was founded over 80 years ago. The College of Liberal and Fine Arts, the University Center Program Council (UCPC) and the Center for International Studies are co-sponsors of the program.
Panel answers campus’ questions By Morgan McMillan Staff Writer The Rampage staff formed a panel discussion Feb. 24 to answer questions about the previous week’s newspaper regarding a story on the KKK. The administration was not able to make the discussion due to their attendance at the Texas Tech Board meeting. Audience members were given the chance to send in written questions that they wanted the panel to answer. Marissa Williams, Black Student Alliance president, asked the panel, “What message were you
intending on sending your readers through the publication of this article? Why do you think your message was misconstrued?” Managing Editor Scott Dykowski said the intentional message was to expose the hypocrisy of the KKK that was active in Abilene this month. “The writer was trying to show the triumph of the African-American people and how far they have come,” Dykowski said. “The writer was trying to make people aware of an issue that they don’t hear a lot about today. I think we encoded a certain message and then afterwards realized people were decoding
another. This was a monumental learning experience for us all as students and we can say with certainty this won’t happen again.” Editor-in-chief Leah Waters said “a series of very unfortunate events” led to the story being published.” “We received this page less than an hour before we had to send it to press, which is a very unusual occurrence for us. And because of that, the page received little editing. Therefore, we didn’t have enough time to scrutinize every element of the page. The placement and design of the story was never intended to offend
anyone or suggest people join KKK.” Waters also said that the student who wrote the article and designed the page is no longer on staff. The d i s c u s s i on l a s t e d f or a n h ou r a n d 15 minutes. “We have definitely learned from our mistake,” Dykowski said. “And unfortunately, we make our mistakes in public while most other students can learn theirs in private.” The panel consisted of Waters, Dykowski, Tim Lester, photo editor, Derek Smith, staff photographer, Jim Waters, circulation manager and Jessica Shepard, staff writer.