thewichitanyour university n your voiceWednesday n January 26. 2011

Brittany NormanEditor in ChiEf

DVD PROMISES THRILLS, LAUGHS: ‘RED,’ an action comedy starring Bruce Willis, hits store shelves with dynamic explosives and subtle humor.

nPAGE 5

State budget cuts could force tough decisionsPresident Dr. Jesse Rogers was

braced for at least a 10 percent cut from MSU’s state appropria-tions for the next biennium.

The Legislative Budget Board’s initial plan to offset up to $27 billion in projected rev-enue shortfalls predicts deeper cuts than Rogers anticipated.

Rogers said the base budget released by the Texas House of Representatives last week would

slash state university funding by about 15 percent.

“That is on top of the 5 per-cent cut we’ve already made in this biennium,” Rogers said. “A 20 percent cut over a three-year period is beyond anything that I or any of the administration has had to deal with (in the past).”

The budget proposal calls for approximately $6 million in cuts from the 2011-2012 MSU bud-get. When combined with the 5 percent already pulled from the university’s current budget, the

cuts amount to $7.7 million. “This is a very serious reduc-

tion for higher education in Tex-as,” Rogers said.

Rogers said he understands that the state must reign in its budget. He said the current deficit projection is an estimate of the debt the state will incur if Texas maintained its current level of services.

“However, college presidents have pointed out that thus far, the cuts that have been made in state appropriations – everything

from public schools to higher education, social services, prisons and highways – higher education has absorbed 40 to 41 percent of those cuts,” Rogers said.

Higher education comprises only 12.5 percent of the total state budget.

Rogers said that as the state’s share of funding the university drops, MSU must make up the difference.

“If we want to maintain cur-rent services, we have to find some way – either through cuts

or income – to get back up to the level we’re operating at to-day,” Rogers said. “I don’t think we can do that.”

Rogers said the goal is to maintain services to students and ensure they can take the courses they need to graduate, but stu-dents might see larger classes or have fewer sections of the same subject to choose from.

“It is also my hope that we’re not yet in a situation to furlough or lay off staff and faculty,” Rog-ers said. “We are not overstaffed.

Our initial planning indicates that we might be able to make it without doing harm to the uni-versity in that way.”

The university must also gen-erate revenue to offset the bud-get cuts.

“We have not had an increase in state general revenue funding since 1998,” Rogers said. “That’s the reason tuition has gone up as much as it has. There are other, smaller sources of revenue that we have – yield in investments,

Mosab Hassan Yousef spoke at MSU Monday evening as part of the Artist Lecture Series. (Photo by Brittany Norman)

‘Son of Hamas’ turns toward peace

No Subtitles Necessary depicts the journey of legendary Holly-wood cinematographers Laszio Ovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond. The Emmy nominated docu-mentary will be screened Thurs-day night at the Wichita Falls Museum of Art at MSU.

Director James Chressanthis will be on hand at the event to speak to the audience about his time making this film and the inspiration he found in Laszio and Vilmmos.

“There were times during the making of this film where I thought I would never be able to finish it,” Chressanthis said. “But with a lot of help and the inspi-ration from Laszlo and Vilmos themselves I realized that dreams do come true, though not in the way you expect.”

Chressanthis explains the film has themes of war, love, loyalty, revolution and two immigrate filmmakers changing world of

cinema while living the Ameri-can dream.

“Their amazing story was ‘world famous’ in Hollywood,” Chressanthis said. “I felt I had to

MSU student Donnie Arm-strong was arrested in early De-cember after using credit cards stolen from an office in Bolin Hall.

The victim, Sanjeev Maha-bir, is a teaching assistant in the building. He also reported his tennis shoes stolen along with his billfold.

“It was determined that the

stolen credit cards had been used at Walgreens and Circle Liquor Store in Wichita Falls within a short time after being stolen,” police wrote in the case report.

Armstrong was identified through a photo lineup and video camera surveillance. He was arrested after police saw him driving a vehicle on Kemp.

Armstrong was charged with credit/debit card abuse, a state jail felony. His bond was set at $5,000.

Student faces chargesfor credit card abuse

Chris CollinsManaging Editor

Visiting artist, directorto screen film at MSU

Brittney CottinghamfEaturEs Editor

See SCREENING on page 4

Chris CollinsManaging Editor

The United Way is seeking volunteers with a knack for ac-counting to help area families and individuals file their taxes.

Americorps VISTA, a nation-al service organization focused on fighting poverty, has teamed up with the United Way to offer the Volunteer Income Tax Assis-tance (VITA) program.

Through VITA, working in-dividuals and families who make less than $49,000 a year can re-ceive assistance preparing and filing basic federal income tax returns.

MSU students are eligible to volunteer.

“There are no (previous expe-rience) requirements for volun-teers,” said Susan Ward of Ame-ricorps VISTA.

She said training will be pro-vided for anyone interested in volunteering as a tax preparer. The program is also seeking Spanish-speaking individuals to act as interpreters and greeters, who will welcome clients and check their paperwork.

Ward said volunteers will work four hour shifts at various VITA locations between now and April 14.

“Volunteering is a good ex-perience,” Ward said. “You learn more about taxes and how the

See BUDGET on page 3

Sticker shock

English: $72.00Geology: $192.66Sociology: $144.85Math: $180.00History: $125.20The look on freshman’s Josh Levine’s

face when he saw his $700 bill from the MSU bookstore: priceless.

Every year students around the country dish out the big bucks to their bookstores to purchase textbooks for classes. Some are ditching their textbooks in favor of E-books but the hurt to students’ wallets remains.

“I thought what I paid was a reason-able price for all of my books,” Levine said. “The people at our bookstore were extremely nice in helping me not only get my books that were required for the class but ones that were recommended. That was until I had conversations with other students.”

Levine said he got an eye opener when he spoke to his friends who spent under $200 on the same number of books.

“When I told them I bought my books at our bookstore, they laughed at me,” Levine said. “They said it was a freshman mistake. My friends then schooled me on what I should’ve done. So the next day, I returned all of my books that I bought and rented my books from an online site. ”

After saving $300 online, Levine strongly believes that the bookstore ripped him off.

MSU bookstore manager Jenny Den-ning admits there’s no way the bookstore can compete with Internet prices.

“What we do offer is excellent custom-er serives and refunds done immediately,

(Photo by: Hannah Hofmann)

Brittney CottinghamfEaturEs Editor

Students shop around to save on pricey textbooks

n Artist and di-rector James Chressanthis will screen his

Emmy-nominated film, No Subtitles

Necessary, as part of the Center for

Continuing Educa-tion’s Speakers &

Issues series.The screening will

be held Thurs-day at 7 p.m. in

the Wichita Falls Museum of Art at

MSU.

United Way programoffers help filing taxes

See TAXES on page 4

Mosab Hassan Yousef is an ex-Islamic terrorist, New York Times Bestseller, public speaker and man on the run. He used to be a real-life double agent, the kind of guy some people think only exist in James Bond flicks.

Now the converted Christian lives in California and hopes to bring peace his country with a message of love.

The 32-year-old recounted his harrowing tale of espionage and self-discovery to a diverse, eager audience at Akin Auditorium Monday as part of the Artist Lecture Series.

“I am young, but I have a rich experience to the deepest level one individual can go,” Yousef said. “I’ve seen things that many people live and die before they see. Things maybe people only see in the movies. I have been re-

jected and I’m considered a trai-tor. I’m a fugitive. I’m a stranger in a foreign place, living every month in a different city.”

Yousef (synonymous with Jo-

seph in other faiths) is named after an Islamic ambassador who left everything he knew to deliv-er the message of Mohammed, the speaker said.

His father, who is now impris-oned, is a founder of Hamas, an internationally known Islamic terrorist organization. Yousef described Hamas as an Islamic resistance force bent on destroy-ing the Israelites.

“It’s not a fight over land or property here and there,” Yousef said. “It’s a holy war. You could say the fight isn’t between two nations – it’s between two gods.”

Throughout his talk Yousef emphasized how destructive the religion of Islam has been to his country of Palestine: that it es-pouses a message of hate.

“I have a big, big problem with Islam,” he said. “I praise a differ-ent God and I have a different message.”

Yousef ’s family lived near a cemetery in Palestine when he was a boy. He said he would see three or four dead bodies buried

See YOUSEF on page 4

See TEXTBOOKS on page 3

Brittany NormanEditor in ChiEf

BREAKING EVEN: Mustangs outpace ENMU Greyhounds at home but fall to Incarnate Word on the road in San Antonio.

nPAGE 8

campusvoice2 n The Wichitan January 26, 2011

Learning responsibility from TucsonTheir sights have been set on the

crosshairs. In the wake of the tragic and horrendous shootings in Tucson earlier this month, many people in the media, in government, and every nonrelevant industry have blamed the heated political rhetoric of our time on the murder of six civilians and the attempted assassination of a Congresswoman.

Even Tucson’s own sheriff has blamed the tragedy in Tucson on the toxic political atmosphere, par-ticularly Sarah Palin.

In 2010 Palin placed crosshairs over politicians who were politcally vulnerable by voting for the new healthcare law, which she borrowed from Democratic campaigners from 2004. ‘Crosshairs’ has now become a four letter word, with John King of

CNN even apologizing on air when a guest used the term.

They’re trying to move away from language like that. While the em-ployment of Orwell’s “newspeak” it-self is nauseating, it is the reaction to language and the blame following the murders that is most troubling.

Mere hours after six people were killed, everyone but the gunman was being blamed.

Our society has so greatly ceded moral responsibility it has trouble placing blame on those who deserve it.

A progressive ideology that be-lieves peoples’ moral fabric can be perfected by society will inevitably blame society when a person does wrong. No one can deny that people are impacted by their environment,

but not acknowledging free- will means that people are ultimately not responsible for what they do.

In contrast to Jared Loughner, Mosab Hassan Yousef, who spoke in Akin Monday night, grew up in Palestine watching some of the most deadly violence in the world has be-come an advocate for peace and res-olution while remaining in the face of constant attack and being villified by his family and homeland.

Yousef knows that it is the indi-vidual that is responsible for how they turn out – not their culture.

He is a living example of that. Our society would do well to learn from him and place blame and responsi-bility where it is due – on those who take action.

nour view thewichitan3410 Taft Blvd. Box 14 n Wichita Falls, Texas 76308News Desk: (940) 397-4704 n Ads: (940) 397-4705

Fax (940) 397-4025 n E-mail WICHITAN@mwsu.edu

editorial boardnEdiTor in ChiEf: Brittany normannManaging EdiTor: Chris Collins

n fEaTUrES/ a&E EdiTor: Brittney Cottinghamnop-Ed EdiTor: Cameron ShaffernSporTS EdiTor: andre gonzalesnphoTo EdiTor: hannah hofmann

nadvErTiSing ManagEr: rachel BinghamnCopy EdiTor: alyssa Johnston

nadviSEr: randy pruittnrEporTErS: orlando flores, Caitlin ruthnphoTographErS: Kassie Bruton,

damian atamenwan

Copyright © 2011. The Wichitan is a member of the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association. The Wichitan reserves the right to edit any material submitted for publication. Opinions expressed in The Wichitan do not necessarily reflect those of the students, staff, fac-ulty, administration or Board of Regents of Midwest-ern State University. The Wichitan welcomes letters of opinion from students, faculty and staff submitted by the Friday before intended publication. Letters should be brief (350 words or less) and without abusive lan-guage or personal attacks. Letters must be typed and signed by the writer and include a telephone number

and address for verification purposes. The editor retains the right to edit letters.

Over the past several years, the Midwestern State Univer-sity administration and Board of Regents have strategically pur-chased properties contiguous to the MSU campus. This action has been a part of the univer-sity’s campus master plan filed each year with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board since at least 1995, and perhaps earlier. During this time, uni-versity funds have been spent on maintaining and renovating these properties, including the home on Hamilton Boulevard that was a gift to the university from the Frank Harvey family. The university’s intent has been to ensure the physical integrity and usefulness of the properties, to maintain or increase their val-ues, and to benefit the university over time. In the instance of the Harvey home, contributions from private sources allowed the university to purchase furnish-ings and accessories. On occa-sions such as this, we utilize the services of qualified interior de-sign professionals.

Spending money to maintain or improve property use and value is an important principle of responsible ownership. In the case of the Harvey home, a major portion of the expenses reported by The Wichitan were for routine maintenance and cleaning, necessary components of assuming ownership of the property. No matter what else the university would have done or not done to maintain and en-hance the property’s value, these expenses were unavoidable.

Yes, the funds expended repre-sented a considerable investment, but they were expenses associ-ated with accepting a valuable gift. When considered in the context of an annual university budget of $92 million and reck-oned against the gains that they have produced, the expenditures can be understood more fully. The actions were supported by the Board of Regents, just as we support other projects in a wide range of categories that enhance the value of university property. These general improvements have created interest among sev-eral individuals to acquire the property. The Board of Regents voted to place the property for sale during our quarterly board meeting in November, and we are proceeding with those plans.

In reviewing expenditures on

the Taft Street property, the pres-ident and the vice president for administration and finance have noted several instances in which paperwork was not sent up the chain of command for approval. Already steps are being taken to guard against a similar situation arising in the future, and a full review of related operating pro-cedures has been undertaken in accordance with good steward-ship and sound operating prac-tices.

Dr. Jesse Rogers’ leadership as president has been crucial to the advancements seen at Midwest-ern State over the past nine years, and it will continue to be crucial in pursuing its immediate and long-term well-being. He has performed his duties with dedi-cation and caring that are the hallmarks of a great leader. His 44 years of experience in higher education at MSU – the 12 that he served as the chairman of the MSU Chemistry Depart-ment and the 23 as the univer-sity’s chief academic officer (vice president for academic affairs), including several months as in-terim president in 1980 – have proven invaluable to his success as president.

The university benefits from Dr. Rogers’ thorough knowledge of the school’s academic pro-gramming and of its $92 mil-lion budget and his keen abil-ity to plan and problem solve. The university benefits from his standing among legislators and leaders in Texas higher education and from his years of experience testifying on education policy, practices, and budget matters before the House and Senate Committees on Higher Educa-tion, the Governor’s Office of Budget and Planning and Leg-islative Budget Board, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and others. The univer-sity benefits from his experience during previous periods in which the state economy was weak, and this experience and past success will benefit the university in the challenging budget deliberations of the 82nd Legislature that be-gins in Austin in January, 2011.

The university also benefits from Dr. Rogers’ relationships with individuals most able to lend their financial support to MSU. During the nine years under his leadership, the univer-sity has received more than $61 million in private gifts. Both di-rectly and indirectly, these funds have contributed significantly to the quality of the university’s academic programs, the beauty

and functionality of the campus, and its buildings and infrastruc-ture. Of course, this has been a team effort, but it is the presi-dent who has successfully led the university in this direction. The level of private gifts to the university is unparalleled in the school’s 88-year history. Plans are underway that will lead to the announcement of two addi-tional major gifts sometime over the next year. In both instances, the donors have said they wish to contribute to the university because of Dr. Rogers’ strong academic background and the confidence and trust they have in him for “always doing what he says he will do.”

Part of the university’s mission is to expand or initiate academic programs, improve residential housing, refit classrooms and laboratories to accommodate changes in the curriculum, and recruit top administrators and faculty. And, yes, from time to time it is also part of our mission to rehabilitate university facilities and properties, such as the board room, the presidential suite of offices, and the university presi-dent’s residence, or to maintain the grounds, including replac-ing swimming pool plumbing and 50-year-old tile decking. It is also important to note that all university-owned residences are just that – university owned – and are university assets that must be maintained regardless of who lives in them. Some of the renovations are made possible by private gifts, some through state maintenance formulas and other university funds, and, more and more, through a combination of these. I believe fulfilling this part of our mission does not make us spendthrifts, but, rather, respon-sible caretakers of the univer-sity’s future, its property, and its institutional mission.

In the nine years that Dr. Rogers has served as president, a number of noteworthy develop-ments have taken place. As you read over a partial listing of these (see below), please consider the words that an MSU graduate re-cently wrote: “Anyone who steps back and looks at all that he has accomplished will know that these achievements could not have been made under a leader who was in any way wasteful and reckless.”

The true measure of the worth of Dr. Jesse Rogers to MSU is what he has accomplished as president. You may not agree with every decision or the cost of every line item or service

that is engaged, but if you con-sider what good has been ac-complished over the past nine years, the positive direction in which the university has moved under his leadership is clear and compelling. We are fortunate to have kept him at MSU all these years and fortunate to have him as president at a time in which

so much will depend upon his wisdom, experience, and stand-ing in Austin and upon the trust and confidence that benefactors have in his leadership and in his stewardship of the university’s resources.

Now, we, as a university and a community, must turn our atten-tion to our most important mis-

sion – that of providing a quality and affordable education to the students who pass through our doors. We at Midwestern State University are working hard to meet this responsibility and are laying the groundwork for the future through the decisions we make today.

A decade of accomplishmentsunder President Jesse Rogers

• Addition of 80 full-time faculty and 19 new faculty positions• Establishment of a mechanical engineering degree program• Admission standards raised twice• Record enrollment with students from 26 states (including Texas) and 52 foreign countries• The rise of a university that is as attractive to students from all across Texas as it is to students of North Texas - the growing geographical diversity of the student body is especially important to off-set continuing declines in the number of college-going students in the North Texas region.• Highly successful athletic programs – MSU was recently announced as the top Texas institution in the first fall Division II Learfield Sports Director’s Cup Standings, ranking 15th in the nation.• Addition of women’s cross country, women’s softball, and men’s and women’s golf to the intercollegiate sports offerings• Private gifts in excess of $61 million• Increased annual contributions to the President’s Excellence Circle, from $180,000 to over $400,000 (a 120% increase)• Numerous new or renovated academic buildings, offices, or laboratories, including o Dillard College of Business Administration building (new structure) o Fain Instrumental Music Hall (new structure) o McCoy Hall (total redesign and renovation of Fowler Hall to serve as home of the McCoy School of Engineering) o D. L. Ligon Coliseum (first complete renovation of the building since its opening in 1968) o McCullough Hall (renovated former engineering building to serve as the new home of the Academic Support Center, where academic advising and related instructional services are provided) o Hardin Administration Building · Honors Program offices · International Student Services offices · Institutional Research, Planning, and Assessment offices · Graduate School office suite · Presidential office suite · University board room o Wichita Falls Museum of Art at Midwestern State University - this facility has dual clas sification as an auxiliary enterprise and an academic building. The gift of the museum to t the university represents the single largest gift in the history of the university, and included a $2.3 million endowment fund to support the museum operation. It is an important resource for MSU students and the City of Wichita Falls, and it stands as the only art mu seum in this region of the state. The museum is the site of many events hosted by various di visions of the university and by civic groups and private persons. The renovation marks the first such work on the building since it opened in 1967.• New buildings or renovation of existing buildings operated as auxiliary enterprises (operation of these facilities is funded by income generated by the enterprise itself or by student fees as prescribed by law) o Sunwatcher Village (new student apartments) o Sundance Court (new student apartments) o Redwine Student Wellness Center (new) o Vinson Health Clinic (new) o Pierce Hall (renovated residence hall) o Killingsworth Hall (renovated residence hall)• New endowments for academic programs o Dillard College of Business Administration o College of Science and Mathematics o Harvey School of Visual Arts o Wilson School of Nursing

Regent recognizes president’s lifetime of leadershipnGueST CoLuMN

Carol Carlson gunnChair, MSU Board

of regentS

See aCCoMpLiShMEnTS on page 3

newsThe Wichitan n 3January 26, 2011

BUDGET......................................................................................................................................continued from page 1 campus briefsn ToDay:

Student OrganizatiOn Fair: in CSC Atrium At noonSpring COmmunity ServiCe prOjeCt: WiChita FallS area FOOd Bank: in CSC CAddo At 9 A.m.vOlunteer Fair: in CSC ComAnChe At noon

n THURSDay:OperatiOn heartS and mindS: in CSC Atrium At 11 A.m.SpeakerS and iSSueS SerieS: nO SuBtitleS neCeSSary: At the WiChitA FAllS muSeum oF Art At mSu At 7 p.m.

n FRIDay:Open reCeptiOn: JAmeS ChreSSAnthiS And robin beCker in the JuAnitA hArvey Art GAllery At 6 p.m.

n TUESDay:athletiC lunCheOn: At the WiChitA muSeum oF Art At mSu At noonFaCulty FOrum SerieS: dr. Salim azzOuz: in CSC ShAWnee At 7 p.m.

Baja-Style Mexican Food

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• Beautification and enhancement of the campus o Mustangs bronzes along Midwestern Parkway, created by regional artist Jack Stevens (private gift) o Refurbishing and expansion of the Redwine Carillon in the Hardin Admin- istration Building bell tower (private gift) o Lighted brick and stone entrance mark- ers bearing the name and seal of the university at various locations around campus (private gift) o Liberty Bell on front lawn of the Har- din Administration Building – a replica of the bell displayed in Freedom Square in Philadelphia (private gift)• Purchase of property contiguous to campus o Christ Academy (formerly the Episco pal School, on Louis J. Rodriguez Drive) o Several homes along Hampstead Lane and one at the intersection of Taft Blvd. and Hampstead Lane o Land along Sikes Lake south of the museum (purchased by the MSU Foun- dation through contributions from a number of donors responding to Dr. Rogers’ initiative)• Purchase of non-contiguous property o Surgi-Center property and facility at Midwestern Parkway and Henry Grace Freeway – to serve as the new home of the Simulation Center used in clinical training of students earning degrees in the College of Health Sciences and Human Services.• Acquisition of property – gifts o Land in the Trans-Pecos region of Texas, a gift from Rose Carpenter Dal-

quest to add to the previous gift from Dr. Walter Dalquest. The entire Trans-Pecos property serves as a natural research laboratory for students and faculty of the College of Science and Mathematics and researchers from The University of Texas at Austin and Sam Houston State University. o Home and property at 2709 Hamilton Boulevard, a gift from the family of Mrs. Nancy Dillard Harvey.• Milestones in accreditation of academic programs and elite designations o Accreditation of the Dillard College of Business Administration by the Association for the Advancement of Colleges and Schools of Business- International (less than 5% of business colleges worldwide hold AACSB-I accreditation) o Accreditation of the McCoy School of Engineering by the Accrediting Board for Engineering and Technology o Named the Best Value among public colleges and universities by Consumers Digest magazine o Identified as a public liberal arts university in the state through action by the Texas Legislature o Accepted to membership in the Coun- cil of Public Liberal Arts Colleges (COPLAC), the only Texas institution so recognized (COPLAC institutions are distinguished by their commitment to superior education, small classes, oppor- tunities for research, and beautiful campuses)

aCCoMPLISHMENTS.................................................continued from page 2

vending machines and other small items – but the largest thing we have to create our own income is student tuition and fees.”

But students will not be expected to bear the entire weight of the bud-get reduction.

“We will not ask students to pay enough increased costs to bring us back to our current level of ser-vices,” he said. “We’re committed to the MSU Promise (which prevents tuition and fee hikes in excess of 5 percent per year) this year, and I think we will be for the long term. Students and parents can’t stand in-creases larger than 5 percent.”

Rogers said streamlining opera-tions is necessary in order to meet the new budget requirements.

He said any nonessential faculty and staff positions will likely be left unfilled, but that a complete hiring freeze is “totally inconceivable.”

He said the plan is to hold off on issuing new contracts or mak-ing commitments until the budget is

squared away. Searches for open po-sitions will continue.

“There’s no doubt we’re going to leave some empty positions unfilled,” Rogers said. “I’d rather do that than dismiss (anyone).”

Rogers said he also “does not pre-fer” the prospect of across-the-board salary cuts for faculty and staff.

He said the university’s three cost-cutting committees are also looking at maintenance and operations, travel and academic departmental budgets.

“We have already started studying the level of funding in individual de-partments,” Rogers said. “There are a few that are really under-budgeted. We might go ahead and add some money to those before we go in and take 10 percent from everyone. We have to take a hard look at budgeting to make sure it’s nearly equitable.”

Since every college on campus is different, Rogers said the deans and department heads will be making de-cisions on how to cut costs in their own areas.

“As painful as this is, it’s our inten-tion to let them make the decision on how to do it when we get down to the amounts that need to be cut,” he said. “They will certainly make fewer mistakes than we would if we just broadly changed policy that would affect them.”

Rogers said many programs, ser-vices and perks currently offered will have to be put in priority order.

Under the House’s budget pro-posal, students will have to bear the cost of higher education with fewer opportunities for state financial aid.

The Texas Grant Program provid-ed need-based financial aid to 86,830 college students for the current aca-demic year. By 2013, only 27,135 stu-dents would benefit from the state’s main form of financial aid. Current recipients would continue to receive aid, but students entering college would be ineligible.

For 2010-2011, the state allocat-ed just over $1 billion for financial aid. Under the House proposal, that

amount would decline by $431 mil-lion.

Rogers called the cuts to financial aid “awful.”

“We always have more students eligible for the Texas Grant than we have money for,” he said. “It is one of the best financial aid packages we have. That’s one thing I’m going to testify to in Austin. We need more people to go to college. We need to help students more than ever because of increasing costs.”

Rogers said once these cuts are made, they will likely be long-stand-ing.

“We’ve never seen a time in which budgets have been cut where the state has been able to come back and say, ‘The economy is better and we’re go-ing to bump you back to where you were,’” Rogers said. “Once that cut is made, it will take years to grow out of it.

“It’s going to change this university, and it’s going to change higher educa-tion.”

rather than waiting for weeks to get your money back, if that is even an option.”

“I couldn’t believe how much money I could’ve wasted,” Levine said. “I wish our bookstore had a rental program. That would’ve made my first purchase of col-lege textbooks so much easier.”

Denning has no official count but noticed E-books are selling more this spring semester than ever.

Vice President Corporate Communications for Nebraska Book Company, Sue Riedman, explains the price increase on textbooks have been due to pub-lisher merchandising tactics such as reducing the length between new editions and adding bun-

dles.Nebraska Book Company

works with more than 450 book-stores including the local Col-lege Store near campus. Junior Nicole Barron purchased $1,000 worth of textbooks from the Col-lege Store on four books but she wishes she had known about the rental programs.

Barron said even though she spent over a thousand dollars on book, she still got a better deal than she would’ve gotten at the MSU bookstore.

“Students continue to spend about $300 each term on text-books, which has remained fairly constant over the years,” Ried-man said.

For Christmas, junior Sam

Shelton got an Apple iPad to use solely for textbooks. What he en-joys most about his iPad is that he its able to manage his time, and it has made his classes more interesting.

“It is really cool to use it in class,” Shelton said. “It is an added bonus to not have to car-ry around heavy textbooks from class to class.”

Shelton was shocked his first day in class when he saw he was the only student without a physi-cal textbook.

“In 2011, I would think stu-dents and professors would be more hip toward technology,” Shelton said. “But I guess with every new thing, it will take a while to catch on.”

Many students have turned to online sources to rent textbooks including freshmen Tiffany Ris-ner who saved over $200 this se-mester by renting her textbooks instead of buying them at the MSU bookstore.

“Our bookstore has a tendency to make students buy more than they should with the required books and recommended books,” Risner said. “I guess they will do anything to make a profit.”

Risner bought her books on-line through Chegg, which is one of the top online textbook rental outlets. Communications man-ager, Angela Ponarolo, explains that students who rent their books from the website can save, on average $500 a year.

“Students are always look-ing for ways to make their education more a f f o r d a b l e , ” Ponarolo said. “Textbooks are the third high-est educational expense after tuition, room and board. Stu-dents spend on average almost $1,000 a year for their books.”

In many ways, the textbook industry has not changed because students have continued to pay the same amount, Riedman said.

“I spent my entire winter break

working my butt off to pay for textbooks,” junior Lauren Mur-ray said. “Our bookstores prices are ridiculous. You would think our own university would want to give their students a better deal but they just want our money.”

TExTBookS................................................................................................................................continued from page 1

news4 n The Wichitan January 26, 2011

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every day there – in the place he considered his playground.

“My playground turned into a place of bloodshed for the entire city,” he said. “Palestin-ian men came and buried men there. They wanted to bury them before Israeli men came and took the bodies.”

Yousef was nine years old when Israelis arrested him for the first time.

“I have spent more than 29 months in Israeli prisons for the cause of Islam!” he shouted.

To date, Israeli forces have arrested Yousef ’s father 16 times. He said this fueled his hatred for Israelis early in life.

At age 18, Yousef tried using guns to kill his Israeli enemies.

“I wanted to pay back the Is-raelis for killing our people, for arresting me, for arresting my father,” he said.

Turns out the guns he bought didn’t work.

Yousef said that even though his dad was a leader of Hamas, he didn’t want his son involved in the political or militaristic side of the operation.

“He wanted me to take care of my mother when he’s gone and take care of my school-work.”

But it was too late – Yousef was captured by Israeli forces during an attack.

“I wanted to be a hero and I didn’t want to listen (to my fa-ther). So I was captured and I was tortured.

This time it was by the mon-sters I had in my mind – the Israelis,” he said.

He was held captive in an underground facility for about a year and a half with other members of the Hamas orga-nization.

“I was tortured there. They beat me almost to death,” he said. “Three months I didn’t see the sun. I forgot what I looked like. I forgot what my mother looked like. It was a night-mare.”

After hours of interrogation Yousef agreed to work with the

Shin Bet, an Israeli intelligence service. They asked him to give them inside information on the inner workings of Hamas.

He was told that he would have to remain in prison to avoid alerting suspicion.

Shortly after agreeing to work for the Israeli intelligence agency, Hamas took over the compound where Yousef was being held.

Instead of freeing their Is-lamic brethren, members of the organization began to torture them.

They had been told a traitor was in their midst.

“They inserted needles under their fingernails,” Yousef said. “I witnessed that. I’ve seen the inhuman side of us. I’ve seen bad things done by people who call themselves civilized.

He told the audience that he

wondered if his fellow Hamas members would begin to tor-ture him if they found out he was working for the enemy.

He said leaders questioned him to discover if he was in-volved with the Shin Bet.

“I lived the rest of my im-prisonment in fear,” he said. “Some of the people there were tortured to death.”

Yousef said he couldn’t quit

thinking about the tortured screams of his people, even af-ter being released from prison.

He swore to himself that he wouldn’t ever again partake in violence for the sake or reli-gion.

“I will not take part in any-thing like that – no Hamas, no Israel, no Palestine. That’s it. I’m done,” he told himself.

Yousef said the Israelis be-

gan to educate him about the violent nature of his society and religion. It made him very curious.

Though he wouldn’t resort to violence, he agreed again to help the intelligence agency.

This relationship lasted from 1997 to 2007 and revealed sensitive information about Hamas.

“They told me about my fa-ther’s movement and all the realities we choose not to face,” he said. “Nobody wants to take responsibility for their mis-takes. They blame them on re-ligion. They blame them on the West. I hated that. Now I know we all responsible for our prob-lems.”

At one point, Yousef said he was even charged with the dire responsibility of saving the lives of five Hamas suicide bombers, all the while remaining loyal to the Shin Bet.

Though he knew the location of the bombers, he wouldn’t let the Israelis kill them, claiming they were just misguided kids.

His reasoning: he had con-verted to Christianity, and he needed to save lives.

“It was at this point I was convicted by Jesus Christ’s teachings and it changed my life forever,” he said. “I couldn’t find a verse to condone killing

even a terrorist.”Akin Auditorium erupted in

applause at this remark.“The truth will set people

free,” Yousef said.He admits that no matter

what side of the war a person is on, everybody has faults. That includes the Christians, Mus-lims and Jews.

“There is no perfect person.”Yousef said he felt like he was

living a triple life – hanging out with his Christian friends, pre-tending to be a member of a terrorist organization and act-ing as an informant for the Is-raeli Shin Bet.

“I was being paid by every-body. To live this type of life was really hard on my soul.”

Yousef told audience mem-bers he felt guilty about betray-ing his father’s confidence to the Israelis.

“There was only one person my father trusted with his loca-tion at all times,” he said. “That person was me.”

Yousef said he believes his father is a good man – he just wishes he would open his eyes to what Islam is doing to the Middle East.

“Somebody has to tell the truth. Otherwise humanity will keep paying a very high price.”

take away those quotation marks and share the lives of these re-markable artists with the whole- wide world.

Chressanthis and his wife, Robin Becker, will display their exhibit, Shadows and Light, at the Juanita Harvey Art Gallery during the British Studies pho-tography exhibit.

“We (my wife and I) met in the photo darkroom and though we share interest, we have con-tinued to pursue our own paths in pushing the limits of photog-

raphy,” Chressanthis said.Becker and Chressanthis will

also be doing a workshop and demonstration on Wednesday and Thursday in photography, graphic design and design class-es.

The Center of Continuing Education presents their Speak-ers & Issues Series with Chres-santhis at 7 p.m. The opening reception for Chressanthis and Becker will be a 6 p.m. Friday.

system works, and you can really help some families out.”

VITA sites open Saturday, so potential volunteers should con-tact the United Way as soon as possible.

Eligible students can also seek assistance filing their tax returns through VITA, Ward said.

Volunteers will be set up at Sikes Center Mall every Satur-day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and at other sites in the area through-out the week. Those seeking as-sistance can dial 211 to schedule

an appointment at the mall or any other location.

“It’s completely free,” Ward said. “People preparing the taxes are IRS certified. Financial edu-cation is a big part of what we emphasize. We’re helping peo-ple become aware of the credits they’re eligible for and getting more money back into the com-munity to stimulate the Wichita Falls economy.”

Those interested in volunteer-ing should call (940) 322-8638 and ask for Susanna.

TAXES................................continued from page 1

ScrEEning......................continued from page 1

Mosab Hassan Yousef (Photo by Brittany Norman)

Tag, you’re infected!MSU students are waging a

war between the living and the undead this week.

The game is called ‘humans vs zombies,’ and it’s become increas-ingly popular on college campus-es, said Cammie Dean, assistant director of student development and organization.

The hunt of flesh officially be-gan Thursday morning.

“Students seem to be having a great time with it,” Dean said. “We’re always looking for new, fun things to do. I think it’ll be a lot of fun.”

Here’s how it works: players sign up with the Office of Student Development and Orientation to play in the game. One player is designated the “original zombie.” That player finds other players to tag – students wearing a bandana around their arms or legs are fair game.

The infection spreads from there.

Once tagged by a zombie, a player will have to move his or her bandanna from the arm to the neck. After an hour has passed, the transformation is complete!

A new zombie will have joined the ranks of the undead.

“They then pursue their own human victims to tag,” Dean said.

Human players can defend themselves against the onslaught, though – a well-placed sock can stun zombies and allow a human enough time to make a quick get-away.

“On other campuses they have used Nerf guns,” Dean said. “We opted out of that because of cam-pus violence concerns and being sensitive to that sort of thing. So we’re using socks. That’s really the only concern I heard from admin-istration. But that’s a wise thing for them to be concerned about student safety.”

A zombie must “feed” every 48 hours or risk being disqualified

(read: dying from starvation.) If all zombies are disqualified the humans win. The undead horde wins if all the human players have been transformed into zombies.

Orignially Dean had intended for players to post player “kills” to an open source Website, but she ran into technical problems on-line. She’s now counting kills the old-fashioned way – by hand.

Each player is supposed to carry an index card with his or her per-sonal human identification num-ber written on it. Once tagged, the player has to give the card up to the zombie attacker. Zombies then take the cards of their vic-tims to be recorded by Dean.

Dean hopes that, in time, the game can be played once a semes-ter. It all depends on the partici-pation and enthusiasm, she said.

“It’s a good way to get to know people. For folks who don’t know a lot of people it’s a good chance to get to know someone.

YOUSEF.........................................................................................................................................................................................................continued from page 1

Humans vs. Zombies (Photo by Hannah Hofmann)

Zombies, humans fight for control of campuschris collins

Managing Editor

I will not take part in anything like that – no Hamas, no Israel, no Palestine. That’s it. I’m done.

-Mosab Hassan Yousef

“ ”

It can be tough to look cute in class – especially when you have to be there at 8 a.m. Getting back into the groove of things can be a challenge, but learning tips to do fast, stunning eye makeup can make it a lot easier.

Start out by using an eye shad-ow primer to keep your color in place. For a little shimmer, Ur-ban Decay Eye Shadow Primer Potion - Sin ($18 at Ulta) is a great lightweight option. It goes on smoothly, dries quickly, and gives a nice champagne tint to your lids.

Using your ring finger or a cream shadow brush, sweep the base color across the lid, slightly above the crease. Bobbi Brown Metallic Long-Wear Cream Shad-ow - Goldstone ($22 at sephora.com) is a fantastic choice. It gives you that glitter you can’t get with a regular powder eye shadow, and dries in an adequate amount of time for you to play with it. A less expensive option would be Sonia Kashuk Eye Shadow Quad – Showstoppers, gold and brown tones ($9.89 at Target). This op-tion is best applied with a wet

shadow brush or your finger.Add some depth by blending

in a corner color. This color can be interchangeable with the gold lid color. Base it on what you’re wearing! Mary Kay Mineral Eye Color - Copper Glow ($6.50 at marykay.com) is a fantastic shade! It gives you that bronze copper color that is so hot right now, while blending into other eye shadows beautifully. This eye shadow is a must-have for any makeup bag!

Define your eyes by lining the bottom lashes with the color of your choice. If you choose to go with MK Copper Glow, Urban

Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil -1999 ($17 at Ulta) gives your eyes a smoky effect, while still blending with your palette. An-other route would be to line your bottom lashes with Sephora Nano Eyeliner – 10 Kaki Green ($5 at sephora.com). Continue by lin-ing your top lashes with liquid eye liner. Ulta Precision Liquid Eyeliner - Carbon Black ($5 at Ulta) is awesome! While using liquid eyeliner is an artform it-self, it gets easier with practice. And the end result is gorgeous!

Now its time to make your eyes pop. Maybelline The Falsies Volum’ Express Mascara ($4.53 at Target) pumps up your lashes and gives you that finishing glam touch. It doesn’t truly look as full as false lashes, but it works very well for an inexpensive mascara.

Finally, brighten up your eyes. Use your ring finger to apply Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Powder ($22 at sephora.com). This will especially help with those 8 a.m. classes!

What beauty tips would you like to hear about? E-mail ideas to wichitan@mwsu.edu

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New on DVD: ‘Red’DVD released: January 25, 2011Genres: Action, Comedy and CrimeStarring: Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, Mary Louis Parker and Helen MirrenRating: PG-13 for intense sequences of action violence and brief strong languageEstimated Box Office: 90 millionRunning Time: 1 hour 51 minutesAward(s): Golden Globe nominee for Best Picture (Musical or Comedy)

Directed by Robert Sch-wentke (The Time Traveler’s Wife), “Red” is an action-comedy loosely based by a comic book series of the same name. Red meaning “retired, extremely dangerous.”

Frank (Willis), Joe (Free-man), Marvin (Malkovich), and Victoria (Mirren) are former CIA agents now liv-ing seemly normal life’s until the Agency they once worked for are now conspiring to kill them. To stop the operation, the team is back together using their lifetime of ex-perience and teamwork on this cross country mission to break into CIA headquarters, where they will uncover one of the biggest conspiracies and cover-ups in government history.

The DVD includes:- Ten deleted and ex-

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with retired CIA field officer Robert Baer

Bruce Willis and Mary Louis Parker in “Red.” (Photo Courtesy)

Jan. 21 was a night to re-member for guests at the Iron Horse Pub.

After a 26-year hiatus, local rockers Fury were back onstage, and they did not disappoint.

Fury formed in 1978, when disco was in full force, and its founding members were mere freshmen in high school.

They wanted to play music with a heavier, more obscure sound, and found themselves influenced by KISS and Euro-pean metal bands.

Today, Fury features the tal-ents of Orlando Arredondo on vocals; Kenny Nordman on guitar; Kenny Ochoa on drums; and Doug Boyd, the newest ad-dition to the group, on bass.

“They found me lying in an alley,” joked Boyd about his in-duction to the band.

Despite their lineup chang-ing slightly over the years, they have chosen to retain their original sound.

“Music is a lot different to-day than it was back then,” said Ochoa. “It was more raw then. We wanted to stick to what we grew up with.”

It was around 1985 when Fury originally split, following guitarist Nordman’s departure to Austin.

When he moved back to

Wichita Falls, the band decid-ed to reunite.

Although it was my first time to see Fury perform, it was as if the band had never broken up. There was an undeniable chem-istry radiating from the stage; they wanted to be there.

“We were maybe a little ap-prehensive at first, because you’re not sure what it’ll sound like (live),” said Ochoa. “But we had a really good sound check, which kind of put us at ease.”

The men played a dynamic one-hour set, with sounds akin to that of a Van Halen/Guns N’ Roses mash-up. Their set included both originals (“An-geline,” “Nightcrawler,” “Cryin’ Like a Bitch”) and a few covers, which were both well-received by the enthusiastic crowd.

“The adrenaline was just pumping!” said Arredondo, fol-lowing their performance. “It went great—for the first gig after 26 years, it definitely went

great.” Fury has some crisp plans for

the future, including a few out-door shows this Spring.

Additionally, they have spoken to a few club owners around the Falls, and have been relayed word of some venues in Lawton that would love to have them.

“We have to get a demo made,” said Nordman. “It will open up a lot of doors.”

Caitlin RuthFor The WichiTan

Local band returns after 26-year breakc

Rachel BinghamadverTising Manager

Peace, Love & LiPGLossFive minute easy, stunning eyes

(Photo Courtesy)

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the feedThe best way to discover what’s new in music.

The Decemberists The King is Dead

The Decemberists return with their signature storytelling, ditching the theatrics of The Hazards of love for something reminiscent of earlier work. The Verdict: 3/4 – Deserves a Listen

Talib Kweli Gutter Rainbows

One of hip-hop’s last remaining real emcees releases a hard-hitting album full of the raw and conscious lyrics that gained him notoriety. The Verdict: 3.5/4 – Don’t Sleep on This One

Smith Westerns Dye it Blonde

This band of young Chicagoans crafts an album that’s catchy, melodic and accessible for their second effort and gives hope for indie’s future.The Verdict: 3/4 – Deserves a Listen

(Photo Courtesy)

Orlando Flores, JrFor the Wichitan

Tennis Camp Dory

Soft vocals and melodic instrumental abound in this married duo from Denver’s debut album about their life sailing the Eastern Seaboard.The Verdict: 3.5/4 – Don’t Sleep on This One

White Lies Ritual

White Lies continue to channel their inner Joy Division with their sophomore effort and create an album as enjoyable as To Lose My Life.The Verdict: 3/4 – Deserves a Listen

For decades, ink virgins have gone under the needle for astro-logical markings, twelve seem-ingly stable symbols to pinpoint their places in the stars. But a Minnesota astronomy professor created social media buzz this week after explaining that the Earth’s wobbly orbit means it’s no longer aligned to the stars in the same way as when the signs of the zodiac were first con-ceived.

The age of Aquarius sud-denly became Capricorn. A 13th symbol, Ophiuchus, the snake charmer, was added to the mix. To some, the universe seemed off kilter.

While some may laugh-off the professor’s assertion, others be-lieve the cosmic confusion could bring business to tattoo artists, capable of fixing the now-flawed brandings.

“There are people who get those done because they feel they have to for some reason,” said Tom Keller, owner of Val-

iant Custom Tattoos in West Manchester Township. “They want something little, so they come up with that . . . I guess it’s not so safe anymore.”

Len Rineholt disagrees. He has two crabs neatly tattooed on his body. Despite new re-ports, which label him a Gemini, Rineholt is a Cancer. He plans to keep it that way.

“I wouldn’t recommend any-body panic over it,” he added. “I think it’s all kind of bullcrap if you ask me.”

He’s chiseled zodiac signs on many clients at his shop, Flesh Expressions Tattoos and Body Piercing in Dover Township.”It’s something someone relates to personally,” he said.

That’s why Robby Miller, for-mer Capricorn, had a baseball-sized goat tattooed to his fore-arm. He isn’t sure what to think about his new Sagittarius des-ignation, but clients in his tat-too shop Friday, he said, seemed “pretty upset” about news reports surrounding the changes.

“People aren’t going to walk around with something that has nothing to do with them,” said

Miller, tattoo artist at Built To Last Tattooing and Body Pierc-ing in Springettsbury Township.

At least once a month, a client will ask for a zodiac symbol, said Ken Kile, another artist at Built To Last. “If I had one and then it changed, I’d just keep it,” he added. “I think tattoos represent a time in someone’s life. Maybe it’s wrong now, but when I got it had some meaning to me.”

Bill Trivett’s phone was ring-ing all Friday morning.

A 25-year veteran astrologer and co-owner of New Visions Books and Gifts in Spring Gar-den Township advised clients that their signs haven’t changed.

“Who’s the authority to change it anyway?” he said. “That’s my question. Astrology has been around for thousands of years.”

This same discussion, he said, has been occurring for decades at conferences he’s attended.

“It’s something to talk and giggle about right now,” he said. “It’s not the first time it’s been in the news, and it’s not the last time.”

Baby, what’s your sign?

In 1965, Bob Dylan took a bold step forward with his mu-sic by electrifying it – literally. When Dylan released Bring-ing It All Back Home, it was met with a backlash of criticism. People began to believe him to

be a fraud – that he wasn’t the great poet and leader of the folk movement he had started a few years earlier. Instead he was a sell out for going electric. That year, Dylan was asked to play at the Newport Folk Festival. As the name suggests, the event only consists of folk artists playing folk music. Being true to him-

self, Dylan did things his way and played an entirely electric set that was bombarded with boos and dissent.

Looking back on this monumental mo-ment in rock history, one can see that al-though at the time of its release Dylan going electric was an unpop-ular move but it paid off in the long run. Bringing It All Back Home has gone on to

be hailed as one of the most in-fluential rock albums of all time, and an important piece of the Dylan catalogue. Now in 2011, another folk hero is making a similar move.

Sam Beam is no Bob Dylan, and Iron and Wine by no means have ever or will ever play a vi-tal part in rock-and-roll history (most likely). This aside, it’s hard not to see similarities in these two musical artists. Beam has become some sort of a folk hero for the 21st century with the hushed vocals, acoustic guitar and relaxed demeanor consis-tently found in his music – and he has in fact been a frequent performer at the Newport Folk Festival, which continues to be held annually to this day.

Now, with the release of his latest album Kiss Each Other Clean, Beam has made a Dylan-esque move and gone electric…

and electronic and even soulful. Kiss Each Other Clean definitely has Beam stepping out of his comfort zone and experiment-ing with new sounds and tech-niques. The album no longer has Beam whispering quietly in the breeze, but boldly shouting into the howling winds. We finally hear his voice at full force and it is as beautiful as the lyrics he sings. The music itself is louder and much livelier than anything else he has produced. The re-laxed acoustic guitars are almost nowhere to be found and are re-placed with lush electric guitars and elements of smooth jazz and rhythm and blues that give off a more melodic vibe. Beam’s lyrics are just as elaborate and complex as ever, though. Listeners who long for more songs such as “The Trapeze Swinger” or “Naked as We Came” will not be disap-pointed.

However, it is somewhat odd to see, or rather hear, this side of Beam. The last place you’d expect to hear saxophone solos and jazz horn sections are on any Iron and Wine album. Surpris-ingly, all of this melds together quite well and it almost seems as if making music of this caliber is nothing new for Beam. In fact, he almost seems more confident and comfortable doing it.

There are plenty of album highlights to be enjoyed here. The first single, “Walking Far From Home,” is a great opening and really sets the tone for the rest of the album. Tracks such as “Me and Lazarus,” “Mon-keys Uptown” and “Big Burned Hand” display Beam’s new sound in glorifying fashion, while “Half Moon” is an enjoyable new take on the classic song formula that made Iron and Wine popular with fans and critics alike. And

of course, what would a Iron and Wine album be without some epic, elongated jam to finish the album off strong – which is what Beam offers with the jazz-in-fused “Your Fake Name is Good Enough for Me.”

All in all, Kiss Each Other Clean will most likely not sit well with veteran fans of Sam Beam’s lo-fidelity acoustic folk music, but that does not take away from the impressive piece of work he has crafted with this album. This is by no means Beam’s master-piece (2007’s The Shepherd’s Dog fulfilled that), but it is nonethe-less important to his catalogue as evidence of his depth as a musician. It will be interesting to see if he’s asked to play at the Newport Folk Festival this year, and if so, what songs he selects to play. Maybe history really is cyclical after all.

Iron & Wine’s new disc draws Bob Dylan comparisonsOrlando Flores, Jr

For the Wichitan

(Photo Courtesy)

Lauren BoyerMct

YOUR REAL HOROSCOPE:Astrology buffs should be using these dates, reflecting where the stars currently are aligned: --Capricorn: Jan. 20-Feb. 16; --Aquarius: Feb. 16-March 11; --Pisces: March 11-April 18; --Aries: April 18-May 13; --Taurus: May 13-June 21; --Gemini: June 21-July 20; --Cancer: July 20-Aug. 10; --Leo: Aug. 10-Sept. 16; --Virgo: Sept. 16-Oct. 30; --Libra: Oct. 30-Nov. 23; --Scorpio: Nov. 23-29; --Ophiuchus: Nov. 29-Dec. 17; --Sagittarius: Dec. 17-Jan. 20.

Coming back from winter break, the first week of rugby practice is always a mystery.

MSU graduated a few starters and some players will be missed because of injury.

The first week showed the core of the team in full force – a player came back to school and two new players with ex-tensive rugby experience joined the team from Zimbabwe.

The MSU rugby team started the se-mester with two weekday training ses-sions and a Saturday afternoon inter-squad scrimmage in preparation for a competitive period of the season.

The purpose of the training was to

get the team back in rugby form as well as strengthen interaction amongst players on the field.

The scrimmage was aimed at improv-ing the squad’s strategy on game scenar-ios as well as examining the team’s weak points, defensively and offensively.

Fitness and team chemistry will be the focus of training leading up to MSU’s first cup match against North Texas.

The team looked to be somewhat fit, but not rugby fit, yet.

MSU needs to win their next two matches (UNT and Texas) to get the No. 2 seed in the Texas Division III.

The focus for next weeks’ training is to get the chemistry and technical aspects tuned in for the matches that count as well as recruiting more players to add depth to the team roster.

sportsThe Wichitan n 7January 26, 2011

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I will be in my fourth cage fight Saturday, Jan. 29, in Law-ton.

The event will take place at the Great Plains Coliseum. There will be about 10 fights. The cost for general admission is $20. If you’ve never been to a cage fight-ing event, let me tell you, it’s an interesting and entertaining ex-perience. The number to call for tickets is 800-883-4897.

I’ll be fighting Alfred Walker. His record is 2-2. He’s had two wins by submission and two losses by submission.

I assume he’s going to try to take the fight to the ground. I’m comfortable on the ground, but I’d like to take him out of his ele-

ment, so I’m going to try to keep it standing.

Ultimately I’ll work with whatever he gives me.

Walker is a member of the Match Maker’s gym, and the match maker’s wife will be one of the commissioners at the event. A commissioner is a person au-thorized under state law to regu-late boxing and cage matches.

Walker’s got a lot of influence on his side.

This means I can not let this fight go to a decision, I have to finish it. I musn’t leave it in the hands of the judges.

Normally, I wouldn’t take such a fight, but I’m really feeling my-self right now. I’ve been train-ing pretty hard for the last few months.

I’ve been in the gym almost everyday working on my strik-ing, grappling, cardio, endurance, etc.

I’m ready to get the job done. I’d like to finish this in the first

round like my last fight.I plan on setting the pace and

dictating where the fight goes. I envision being in control of

this during the fight, “imposing my will on my opponent”, as Randy Couture said.

A win on Saturday will give me an MMA record of 4-0.

Tolu AgunbidaeFor the Wichitan

MSU Rugby team recruits

MSu rugby recovers from the winter break and prepares for what the Spring semester holds. (Photo by Imonitie Atamenwan)

Like Sports?!Like Writing?!

Want to make extra cash?!If you’re interested, contact Sports Editor Andre

Gonzalez at 397-4704. Or email us here: wichitan@mwsu.edu

The Midwestern State Uni-versity Mustangs extended their home court winning streak to 38 last Wednesday after defeating the Greyhounds of Eastern New Mexico University with a score of 89-69.

The game marked their eighth consecutive win over ENMU.

“I thought we played well, it was great to be back home,” as-sistant coach Nelson Haggerty said. “Our guys always play good at home, but we still have a long way to go before we reach our full potential.”

The Greyhounds were on a winning streak and had four vic-tories until falling to MSU and then to Tarleton State the fol-lowing Saturday, putting their record at 7-9 and 2-2 in Lone Star Conference South Division Play.

Junior guard Melvin Clark felt his team put forth a well-played game.

“Our coach wasn’t too happy with us at half time, because we should’ve been beating them by a lot more than we were,” Clark said. “We also had some men-tal mistakes, but we ended up beating them pretty bad, like we should have.”

Senior guard Chris Hagan led the scoreboard with a total of

22 points. The Houston native claimed a

trio of three pointers and went 5-5 on the free throw line.

“Eastern New Mexico’s pretty great. We still have a long way to go as far as reaching our po-tential as a team,” Haggerty said. “Everybody’s focusing on doing that.”

Hagan also claimed three re-bounds along with three assists.

“It was a pretty solid game, but we haven’t really played to our potential defensively,” Hagan said.

Junior forward David Terrell punched in 16 points for MSU along with 10 total rebounds and two steals.

Coming in behind him was junior forward Darrick Thomas who had a batch of 15 points, three rebounds and a single steal.

Juniors Thomas Colbert and Michael Loyd both ringed in 10 points each.

Colbert grabbed five rebounds, while Loyd dished out four as-sists and three steals.

In his 18 minutes of play, senior forward Charlie Logan pitched in six points, 10 rebounds and a double dose of steals.

The Mustangs fell to Incar-nate Word in San Antonio the following Saturday to the tune of 90-83. The double overtime battle pushed their record to

14-4 and 2-2 in LSC South.“We had our chances to win

the game, I felt like we played well enough to win,” Head Coach Grant McCasland said. “It came down to a few plays down the stretch and we just didn’t make them.”

MSU led the game at the end of the first half by five points with the score at 39-34, due to a jump shot by Hagan that beat the buzzer.

The Mustangs were well on their way to ward off the ninth ranked Cardinals until six min-utes into the second half when Hagan was ejected due to an in-jury.

Stepping up was Thomas and junior guard Deuce Nichols who both combined for a total of 40 points, 20 each.

Nichols hit a trio of three pointers, and landed seven free throws midway through the sec-ond half.

Both teams were back and forth on the scoreboard all the way to the end of the game where they both tied at 67-67.

“Overtime is something you can’t control,” Hagan said.

MSU was ahead 77-74 thanks to a pair of shots by junior guard Kevin Loyd with six seconds re-maining, but UIW’s Eric Stewart pushed the game into a second overtime as he sent in a success-ful three pointer.

“I think we did 99 percent of the things we needed to do to win that game,” Hagan said.

“What it came down to was a play here, a play there. We really didn’t put ourselves in a position to win, but a lot of guys stepped up this game, hopefully we can get some momentum off that.”

The Cardinals claimed the victory after outscoring MSU 13-6.

They improved to 14-6 on their season and 3-1 in LSC South.

“I think we played well, but we didn’t know they were going to come out that strong defen-sively,” Clark said.

Today, MSU will travel to the Steinke Center to battle against Texas A&M-Kingsville.

Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. Then The Mustangs return

home this Saturday to play West Texas A&M.

That game will begin at 7 p.m.

sports8 n The Wichitan January 26, 2011

Super Bowl XLV will be much more than a matchup of the NFL’s best two teams. It will also serve as a history lesson.

No sporting event on the planet is hyped as much as the Super Bowl. So in the next 13 days, there won’t be an angle overlooked.

We’ll learn more than we need to know about the modern-day Packers and Steelers.

We’ll also get a refresher course on the place these two small-market franchises have in NFL history.

That only adds to what has the makings of a terrific finale to the

football season.To be sure, the Packers and

Steelers are worthy Super Bowl participants. Each has rosters full of star players.

Six Packers were chosen for the Pro Bowl. The Steelers have four Pro Bowlers. Neither of their quarterbacks were named to the league’s all-star game. But Ben Roethlisberger is a rare breed who’s playing in the Super Bowl for the third time in six seasons. And Aaron Rogers, the man who replaced Brett Favre in Green Bay, has been nothing short of sensational in the play-offs.

Defensively, no one was as stingy as the Steelers and Pack-ers, who ranked first and sec-

ond in fewest points and fewest touchdowns allowed during the regular season.

Historically, the Steelers and Packers are legendary franchises that have contributed so much to professional football.

Founded in 1919 when the team got a donation from the Indian Packing Company, the Packers are the only non-profit, community-owned pro sports team in the United States.

They’ve produced 21 Hall of Famers including legends like Curly Lambeau, Don Huston, Bart Starr and Ray Nitschke.

The Steelers were founded in 1933 by Art Rooney, whose fam-ily stills runs the team. Eighteen players who spent most of their

careers with the Steelers are in the Hall of Fame.

In the 1960s, Green Bay was called Titletown USA because the Packers won five NFL cham-pionships under legendary coach Vince Lombardi. They also won the first two Super Bowls.

Pittsburgh isn’t called Title-town, but it easily could be. The Steelers lead all NFL franchises with six Super Bowl wins.

And don’t forget, these two teams have proud and distinctive fan bases.

Green Bay has the Cheeseh-eads. Pittsburgh has a legion on fanatics who wave the Terrible Towel.

Mike BiresMCT

Packers, Steelers face off in Superbowl XLV

Packers or Steelers?Who are YOU rooting for?

E-mail your predictions: wichitan@mwsu.edu

Andre GonzalezSportS Editor

Mustangs break even for the week

Senior guard Chris Hagan pushes past an Eastern New Mexico defender last Wednes-day night where MSU pulled an 89-69 victory against the Greyhounds. Hagan was later injured in their game against Incarnate Word where the Mustangs lost 90-83 to the Cardinals. (Photo by Andre Gonzalez)

Women’s Basketball Results:Win against Eastern New Mexico 74-62•Loss against Incarnate Word 60-51•

“The girls played real hard. I’m proud of these young ladies.”

-- Head Coach Noel Johnson

Photos by MCT