The East Texan: November 3, 2010
10
The East Tex an The East Tex an STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY-COMMERCE SINCE 1915 Perry returns for third term JAMES BRIGHT EDITOR Governor Rick Perry re- tained his position after a race filled with negative advertising from both sides. The race was called only an hour and a half after the polls closed. Perry gave his acceptance speech shortly after 10:00 p.m. after being introduced by his wife Anita. “Folks, Texas has spoken,” he said. “Texans are optimistic, they believe Texas is heading in the right direction.” Perry said although times have changed, what Americans want has stayed the same. “Freedom still matters greatly to people all across the country,” he said. “Our citizens are tired of the government killing jobs. The people are fed up.” As a Republican, Perry said he does not think he will be alone in his victory tonight. “When the outcomes of this election are certified, we will see a substantial conser- vative presence in both the Texas House and Senate,” he said. “We are one day closer to seeing the changes we want in Washington.” Protecting the people’s money is an area Perry prom- ised he would work on in his next term. “We need to be ready to See GOP page 4 GOP dominates Hunt County XCV, No. 9, 10 pages www.theeasttexan.com Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2010 PAGE 4 and 5 Full recap of the Hunt County elections Athletic cuts open more student services fees State House Representative Dan Flynn (R) ran unopposed in the Nov. 2 elections. Flynn said he thought these elections would be the calmest Hunt County elections in recent memory. There were only three contested races in Hunt County. For a full election recap, turn to pages four and five. KAT HUFFINES / THE EAST TEXAN Thursday H: 65 L: 38 Friday H: 61 L: 35 Saturday H: 65 L: 38 Sound off Which departments should get more money? Sound offs updated Friday night Online Poll Did you vote? Polls updated Wednesday night Weather The East Texan is pleased to bring you its first election coverage issue. We worked to put together all the information you need concern- ing who your representatives are at the county, state and federal level after the elections on Nov. 2. We would like to thank all those who stayed up late with us election night, getting up-to-date information from our live blog at theeasttexan.com ADAM TROXTELL SPORTS EDITOR Approximately $1,064,810 was made available in Student Service Fees (SSF) due to cuts in the amount of money the Ath- letics Department received in the 2011 fiscal year, which began at the beginning of this semes- ter, according to documents obtained from the office of Vice President of Business and Ad- ministration Bob Brown. Associate Vice President and Director of Financial Services Alicia Currin is also a faculty representative in the SSF Com- mittee, which is mostly com- prised of students who decide how much money campus orga- nizations receive from Student Services. She said the commit- tee allocated money with the athletic fee in mind. “When that fee was passed, the students were promised there would be more money put into this pool,” Currin said. “So, we pulled about $800 thousand out of athletics, so that was $800 thousand more that the students had. Plus, there was some one- time money of around $129 thou- sand.” The Athletic Department saw a complete cut of money they received from SSF for scholarships, down from $805 thousand in the 2010 fiscal year, and an $82,813 decrease in the amount of op- erational money. Now, the athlet- ics department only receives $502,705 from SSF for operational purposes. The decrease comes after the Athletics De- partment actually requested more money from SSF, more than $1.6 million for scholar- ships and more than $1.1 million for operations. Athletic Director Carlton Cooper said the requests were made because there was no way of telling how much money the department would receive from the athletic fee. “You don’t know exactly what you’re getting; it’s a guess- timate of what you’re going to get from the athletic fee,” Coo- per said. “At that time [when the referendum passed], you still cannot budget on something you don’t know you’ll have. So, during that time the Student Service Fee Committee met in the spring, and they met after the athletic fee had passed. When they met, we still had an opportunity, just like any other entity on campus, to ask for funds, so that’s what we did.” Cooper said the athletic fee was to help the department become fully funded, in addi- tion to making more SSF funds available. “The purpose of it was to get an athletic fee so we could get fully funded,” he said. “By get- ting the support from the stu- dents, it would free up money to See FEE page 3 FREE! TAKE ONE ADDITIONAL COPIES 25 CENTS GRAPHIC CREATED BY KAT HUFFINES
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The East Texan: November 3, 2010
Transcript of The East Texan: November 3, 2010
The East TexanThe East TexanSTUDENT NEWSPAPER OF TEXAS A&M UNIVERSIT Y- COMMERCE SINCE 1915
Perry returns for third termJames bright
editor
Governor rick Perry re-tained his position after a race filled with negative advertising from both sides.
the race was called only an hour and a half after the polls closed.
Perry gave his acceptance
speech shortly after 10:00 p.m. after being introduced by his wife Anita.
“Folks, texas has spoken,” he said. “texans are optimistic, they believe texas is heading in the right direction.”
Perry said although times have changed, what Americans want has stayed the same.
“Freedom still matters
greatly to people all across the country,” he said. “our citizens are tired of the government killing jobs. the people are fed up.”
As a republican, Perry said he does not think he will be alone in his victory tonight.
“When the outcomes of this election are certified, we will see a substantial conser-
vative presence in both the texas House and Senate,” he said. “We are one day closer to seeing the changes we want in Washington.”
Protecting the people’s money is an area Perry prom-ised he would work on in his next term.
“We need to be ready to See GOP page 4
GOP dominates Hunt County
XCV, No. 9, 10 pages www.theeasttexan.com Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2010PAGE 4 and 5
Full recap of the Hunt
County elections
Athletic cuts open more student services fees
State House Representative Dan Flynn (R) ran unopposed in the Nov. 2 elections. Flynn said he thought these elections would be the calmest Hunt County elections in recent memory. There were only three contested races in Hunt County. For a full election recap, turn to pages four and five.
KAT HUFFINES / THE EAST TEXAN
ThursdayH: 65L: 38
FridayH: 61L: 35
SaturdayH: 65L: 38
Sound off
Which departments should get
more money?
Sound offs updated
Friday night
Online Poll
Did you vote?
Polls updated Wednesday
night
Weather
The East Texan is pleased to bring
you its first election coverage issue. We worked to put together all
the information you need concern-
ing who your representatives
are at the county, state and
federal level after the elections on
Nov. 2. We would like to thank all
those who stayed up late with us election night,
getting up-to-date information from our live blog at
theeasttexan.com
adam troxtellSPortS editor
Approximately $1,064,810 was made available in Student Service Fees (SSF) due to cuts in the amount of money the Ath-letics department received in the 2011 fiscal year, which began at the beginning of this semes-ter, according to documents obtained from the office of Vice President of Business and Ad-ministration Bob Brown.
Associate Vice President and director of Financial Services Alicia Currin is also a faculty representative in the SSF Com-mittee, which is mostly com-prised of students who decide how much money campus orga-nizations receive from Student Services. She said the commit-tee allocated money with the athletic fee in mind.
“When that fee was passed, the students were promised there would be more money put into this pool,” Currin said. “So, we pulled about $800 thousand out of athletics, so that was $800 thousand more that the students had. Plus, there was some one-time money of
around $129 thou-sand.”
the Athletic department saw a complete cut of money they received from SSF for scholarships, down from $805 thousand in the 2010 fiscal year, and an $82,813 decrease in the amount of op-erational money. Now, the athlet-ics department only receives $502,705 from SSF for operational purposes.
the decrease comes after the Athletics de-partment actually requested more money from SSF, more than $1.6 million for scholar-ships and more than $1.1 million for operations. Athletic director Carlton Cooper said the requests were made because there was no way of telling how much money the department would receive from the athletic fee.
“You don’t know exactly
what you’re getting; it’s a guess-timate of what you’re going to get from the athletic fee,” Coo-per said. “At that time [when the referendum passed], you still cannot budget on something you don’t know you’ll have. So, during that time the Student Service Fee Committee met in the spring, and they met after the athletic fee had passed. When they met, we still had an opportunity, just like any other
entity on campus, to ask for funds, so that’s what we did.”
Cooper said the athletic fee was to help the department become fully funded, in addi-tion to making more SSF funds available.
“the purpose of it was to get an athletic fee so we could get fully funded,” he said. “By get-ting the support from the stu-dents, it would free up money to
See FEE page 3
FREE! TAKE ONEADDITIONAL COPIES
25 CENTS
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ARIELLE MCMAHON STAFF CARTOONIST
OPINIONOPINION www.theeasttexan.comWednesday, Nov. 03, 2010Page 2
The East Texan, official student newspaper of Texas A&M University-Commerce, is published 12 times per semester during the Fall and Spring by students in reporting and editing classes. Content is solely the responsibility of the student editors and writers. The comments and views expressed in The East Texan do not necessarily reflect the beliefs of other students, staff, faculty, administration, or the Board of Trustees. The East Texan is located inside the Journalism building on the east side of campus in room 113. Single copies are available in Journalism 113 for an additional 25 cents.
Letters to the Editor are welcome and should be limited to 250 words. They will not be edited for spelling, grammar and libelous or malicious statements. We reserve the right to refuse publication. Letters should be typed or e-mailed and must include a signature, classification (grade level) and telephone number. Mailing address is The East Texan, P.O. Box 4011 Commerce, Texas 75428.
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Last Week’s Solved Puzzle:
CALEB SLINKARDMANAGING EDITOR
The lack of school spirit on this campus has been cause for concern ever since I began attend-ing in 2008, especially when it comes to as A&M-Commerce attempts to at-tract and retain more and more students each year. This year’s Homecoming festivities were par-ticularly disappointing, although this had nothing to do with student spirit or participation.
The university has been hit or miss in suc-cessfully marketing its events to students in recent years. A great example is the recent football game between A&M-Commerce and Tarleton State, which was broadcast live on TXA 21. The first televised game in school history had less than 2,000 students, alumni and visitors at-tend. I am almost always disappointed by student attendance and participa-tion in most university-sponsored events.
That’s why I was particularly frustrated with a set of Homecom-ing videos that were recently produced by A&M-Commerce. It is not that these videos were poorly made. In fact, the quality and shooting of these videos was impres-sive. It was the content, or lack thereof, that left me wondering why we spent time, money and effort in creating these short clips.
In case you don’t know what I’m talking about, then my point is made. If you didn’t see these videos, then how effective were they, re-ally? If you haven’t seen the videos, then let me break them down for you. There are five “Spirit” videos on the Lions Media YouTube channel, one of which was featured on the front page of the A&M-Commerce website for a few days leading up to Homecoming. The videos are between 15 and 31
seconds long and feature A&M-Commerce students and the A&M-Commerce mascot, Lucky the Lion.
The first video, titled “Psycho Spirit,” shows an A&M-Commerce female student in the shower being startled by and subsequently dancing with Lucky. The scene is a reference to a very famous scene from Alfred Hitch-cock’s “Psycho.”
“Situation Spirit,” the second video, consists of Lucky pumping his fist for a few seconds before lifting up his shirt to reveal a well-toned stomach, paying homage to the popular MTV show “Jersey Shore.”
The third video, “Raw Spirit,” is a sweeping shot of three students eating raw vegetables and Lucky sitting in front of a huge piece of raw meat.
“Wild Spirit” depicts A&M-Commerce Student Government Association President Taylor Fore giv-ing a speech before being tackled by Lucky.
The final and most ridiculous one is “Big Spirit.” This video shows Lucky walking into a figure drawing class on campus and exposing himself amid “oohs” and “aahs” from the class.
Now whether or not you find these videos humorous or appropriate is a matter of preference. Personally, I thought that they were a relatively irrelevant combination of pop-culture references. But let’s look at the pur-pose of the spirit videos and see if they were able to accomplish it.
Obviously, these videos were intended to increase school spirit for Homecoming. How ex-actly, I have no idea. None of these videos encour-aged students to attend specific Homecoming events or provided rel-evant information about Homecoming. Just a short clip, a “spirit” reference, the date of Homecom-ing and a website. None of these videos made me want to attend a Home-coming event. I wasn’t entertained or informed.
If the university really wants better attendance at A&M-Commerce events, then maybe they should work at actually advertis-ing these events instead of simply demonstrating their aptitude for shooting and editing short video clips together.
Writer criticizes Homecoming ads
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JARED WATSONDIGITAL MEDIA EDITOR
Not too long ago, the store manager of the retail outlet that I work at came running giddily up to me, uncontrollably excited at a piece of news she had just received.
“Guess what we just got?” she asked.
“It’s not what I think it is, is it?” I responded.
“Yep! Reservation barcodes for ‘Twilight: Eclipse!’”
That’s right, she was super excited about giving customers the chance just to pre-order the third in-stallment of this wretched cinematic crap-sterpiece. The details are fuzzy now, but I seem to remember her jumping up and down and giggling.
I make it no secret that I think the “Twilight Saga,” as it is now pretentiously called, is a blight on the Earth. It takes four novels and God knows how many pages to tell a story I can explain in one sentence: A girl falls in love with a vampire, who she eventu-ally ends up with forever. That’s it. Story over.
Never mind the fact that Stephenie Meyer writes with a nauseat-ingly flamboyant style like she’s Jane Austen’s second cousin, and seems to use a thesaurus to replace every word she writes in an enterprise to resemble a
personage of elevated bril-liance. I mean an attempt to seem like someone much smarter.
But the real crime in all this “Twilight” hysteria is the innumerable number of copycat works it has spawned in its wake. The Sookie Stackhouse novel series (which inspired the HBO show “True Blood”), the “House of Night” series, “The Vampire’s Assistant,” “The Vam-pire Diaries,” and “My Stepmother’s Next-Door Neighbor is a Vampire” are all flying off the shelves of bookstores around the world. And I only made one of those titles up.
And it’s no coincidence that zombie movies have
made a huge resurgence as a result of this non-sense. After all, if one set of bloodthirsty ravenous killing machines can be rebranded into fantasy love interests for hope-lessly lonely middle-aged women, I mean teenagers, why can’t another? I mean, for God’s sakes, there is a movie called “The Pen-guins of Madagascar: I Was a Penguin Zombie.” I’m being completely serious.
It can’t be long before someone writes an entire series of novels about a sparkly zombie who is irresistible to a vapid woman who nobody really understands. Maybe they’ll be played by Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez in the
movie adaptation.But after my store
manager made her exciting announcement, she asked me “So, what question are you going to ask every person that comes in your checkout line?”
“Who do you like in the World Series, the Rangers or the Giants?”
“No, ‘Would you like to reserve your copy of ‘Eclipse’ today?’” she said.
“To me, that’s like ask-ing if they’d like to reserve poison. The substance or the band.”
And I absolutely meant it. I’d rather force people to listen to “Talk Dirty to Me” until the end of time than make them pay for “Eclipse” once.
Vampires need to just go away
Vampires have had their time in the spotlight and now is the time for them to finally die, writes Jared Watson.
This letter is a response to “Yard show starts off spirit week” printed in the Oct. 28 edition of the East Texan. The letter is unedited.
Dear Editor.
I was reading the paper after some of my peers pointed out the grammatical errors and fic-tional facts, and I came across the statement about the police intervention. Now, when first reading this my mind flows back to understand the motive behind the “fact”, I didn’t find one so I called the paper and I asked about the statement and an edi-tor informed me about previous incident with the police for this event and that the writer may have gotten that info from the police. I have been in attendance at this school for three years, going on my fourth. I cannot recall a time where for a STRUT-OFF that police was called out. Now if the writer wants to comment on the police coming to a tradi-tionally African American event, he needs to state the purpose behind the comment. When reading the comment it
seemed bias to me that of all the events, that I have gone to the article written did not include police intervention remarks. Don’t say certain events need police and some don’t without proving what you say. How about adding that police wasn’t needed in every event, instead of singling this event out (because that’s what you re doing, in a sort of nice way). The question still remains the impor-tance of acknowledging the police coming? What is meant by that comment? What are you try ing to say? Along with the writer’s need for exploitation of the” good behavior” of the event , his run on sentences, he also completely misrepresented Kappa Delta Chi sorority, inc. on its status as a Hispanic Greek organiza-tion. This sorority has Hispanic Founders, but doesn’t discrimi-nate any other race. KD Chi is a multicultural sorority that has majority Hispanic members in this chap-ter, but like I said they are a diverse group of LADIES. That statement can deter future prospects into believing that stereotype that was previously
published. In the end, I did find that remark and others offensive and I think that it would be best to send people who are not for-eign to NPHC and IFC and its audiences.
Sincerely, Commerce Students: Brittany Edwards & Veronica Luciano
Editors’ Response: After talking with Kappa Delta Chi President Carla Montaneras, the East Texan would like to acknowledge the following cor-rections: Kappa Delta Chi is a Latina-founded multi-cultural sorority and not a Hispanic sorority as described in the arti-cle. This was the second time Kappa Delta Chi competed in the Yard Show, not the first. The writer’s comment regard-ing police involvement was done in poor taste, but was not in anyway racially motivated.
Antonio Wright was co-direc-tor of Patsy Cline, not director as written in the article “Wright utilizes creative, artistic nature” printed in the Oct. 21 issue of the East Texan
Retractions
EDWARDSGOLDENEYES.COM
staff reports
The Texas A&M University-Commerce flag was at half-staff Thursday, in memory of 24-year-old Kayla Rob-erts, who was the victim of a shooting that oc-curred Monday in Lamar County.
Funeral Services for Roberts, a resident of Paris, were conducted Wednesday. She had previously attended Paris Junior College and was scheduled to graduate from A&M-Commerce this December.
On Monday, Roberts was at the home of Eddie Young in the commu-nity of Powderly, when Young’s estranged wife, Salida Young, is said to have approached the two and fired several shots, striking and killing Roberts.
Salida Young then returned home where she
had just shot her 9-year-old son Dalton, and took her own life.
Dalton remained on a ventilator and in critical condition as of Wednes-day at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas.
Monday’s incident is alleged to have been brought about by a heated divorce case and upcoming child custody hearing between Salida and Eddie Young.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
help other areas on campus for students, and that’s what I think it’s doing.”
He also said it was normal for the Athletics Department to request as much as it did.
“We’ve pretty much asked somewhere in the same neighborhood every year I’ve been here,” he said. “I want-ed students and the people in the committee to really know what it costs to run athletics. We didn’t get most of it, we didn’t get it in the athletic fee either, but you have to ask.”
The Athletics Department is not in any financial dan-ger after not receiving the desired funds, according to Cooper.
However, he did say the department would be asking for more money from SSF in the future.
“Basically, we were asking for what we felt we needed to fully fund a proper Division II program,” he said.
“I wouldn’t be a very good athletic director if there was an opportunity for money and I didn’t ask for it. If there’s an opportunity for money out there, and it’s good, I’m going to ask for it.”
Dean of Campus Life and Student Development and Chairman of the SSF Com-mittee Brian Nichols would not elaborate on why the committee decreased the amount the Athletics Depart-ment received, but he did say what the committee was looking to do.
“One of the things I’ve asked the students to do as
chair of the committee has been to look at those things that are going to have a direct impact on the lives of students,” Nichols said. “I’ve set that same tone every year. As you review a proposal, while they all have merit, you have to ask will students see a benefit from the money they’re paying back into the services they are receiving.”
Among the main beneficia-ries of the extra money avail-able was the Morris Recre-ation Center, which received a $30,892 increase.
Director of Campus Rec-reation Jorge Juarez said the majority of that increase went to the hiring of one person.
“This person is in charge of keeping up all the mainte-nance, grass fields, turf, and the picnic area,” Juarez said. “We have the ropes course, they have to maintain that. They probably have about of 170 acres of land they need to cover.”
The Children’s Learn-ing Center also received an increase, up $67,600 from last year. Nichols said there was a
valid reason behind this increase.
“The majority of users of the Children’s Learning Center are students, par-ents who are students here,” Nichols said. “It makes it possible for many of them to go to the university. Without that childcare, a university degree wouldn’t be within their reach. They’re on a bud-get that has started the year for a very long time where we were funding them at a level below which they could break even at the end of the
year.”Nichols said this was a
milestone year for SSF, and allows for more growth at A&M-Commerce.
“What this year did was to really put us over the top,” he said. “Now we have the money to create the cam-pus life that students have asked us to create. You have enrollment going up, you have facilities going up, and now you have the financial resources to compliment the first two. That’s what we needed to have happen.”
newsnewswww.theeasttexan.com Wednesday, Nov. 03, 2010 Page 3
...fee opens up finances for university groups
Eleven arrested over three days in Walmart theft ring
verdantpanda.com
Seven of the women arrested in the Walmart thefts were students at A&M-Commerce. All 11 women posted bond and are awaiting trial.
James brightEDITOR
Eleven women were arrested for theft over a 48-hour period between Oct. 21 and Oct. 23. Seven are A&M-Commerce students.
According to a press release from the Commerce Police Depart-ment, the cases were all reported at the Walmart store located on Highway 24/50. Commerce po-lice officers took the 11 women into custody after Walmart’s loss prevention team detained them on charges of theft.
“They have a good LP team there, so thieves beware when you go into Walmart,” Public Informa-tion Officer for the Commerce Po-lice Department Alex Suarez said.
Calls to Walmart’s loss preven-
tion department were not returned as of press time.
Six of the students were identi-fied as Laquishia Johnson, Jasmine Malone, Traquella Gentry, Brittany Johnson, Elexus Alen, and Lantisha Blizzard. All will face a state jail felony, according to Suarez. He said the six of them walked into the store together planning to commit acts of theft, which is considered organized crime.
“When there are more than three people involved, it’s considered or-ganized criminal activity,” he said.
The seventh A&M-Commerce student, Alissa Taylor, will not face charges for organized criminal activity. The other women were identified as Commerce residents Patricia Dreas, Shasha Brown, Tangelia Brown and a 17-year-old Farmersville resident whose name
was withheld.In all cases, the women were
taken to the Commerce Police Department for booking and sub-sequently transferred to the Hunt County Jail for arraignment. All of the women were out of jail on bond as of press time.
The release closed with a state-ment regarding theft and its poten-tial consequences.
“The main focus that we at the Commerce Police Department would like to remind people is that shoplifting does not pay,” the re-lease said. “All of these women face criminal charges as well as civil litigation and a criminal record that will follow them around for the rest of their lives.”
The case has been turned over to the Hunt County Prosecutor’s office.
A&M-Commerce suffers tragic loss of student
KAYLA ROBERTS
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JAMES BRIGHT EDITOR
This column was written well before the results of the 2010 gubernatorial race were published. But that doesn’t really matter.
Regardless of what happened Nov. 2, the result was pre-deter-mined, and that’s why we are screwed.
Four years ago, Texans were presented with a veritable cornu-copia of voting options. Granted, some were a bit odd, but they certainly seemed better than our current governor. From the char-ismatic Friedman to the Austin-shaking Strayhorn, voters only had themselves to blame for allowing Heir Perry another four years in office.
Things are a little bit different this year. The great dictator of the Texas GOP has returned, but his
one and only opponent is equally off putting. Former Houston mayor Bill White lacks the confidence Perry exudes so easily. Considering the fact that Perry seems to think he has the office of governor locked up for as long as he wants, it would be difficult to match his swagger, but White doesn’t even come close. He looks downright terrified competing at this level.
Still, appearances can be deceiv-ing; it’s what these two gentlemen have done while in office that really solidifies them as terrible options.
Let’s start with the incumbent. I have amassed a laundry list of complaints with this man. After all, he has given me a decade to gather material for this column. But in the interest of time, let’s look at his greatest shortcoming – advocating the Trans Texas Corridor. This little doosie was the Texas leg of the
River Trade Corridor, a toll road that would give easy entrance to the United States from Mexico with-out those pesky custom people to deal with.
I don’t think it’s necessary to state the obvious flaws with
this plan. After all, the whole idea was canned, but why would any-one, not to mention a Republican Governor, advocate this idea? It’s dangerous, reckless and downright pointless. All this road would have done was create potential security risks and add to the ever-increasing drug problem in the states.
Sadly, it doesn’t appear the candidate from the left side of the world is much better. White’s big-gest concern is clean energy.
He cut his teeth working with Congressman Bob Krueger devel-oping energy policy. I’m not saying this kind of work isn’t important, but it lacks vitality for the gover-nor’s office. The drug war that has spread all over Texas’ southern border should be the primary con-cern of both candidates.
White has no experience in this area. He was not a mayor who attacked drugs in Houston. He was a mayor who reduced litter and traffic. Crime reduction was not an area he excelled in as mayor, so why would he as governor?
The weird irony is that it seems the problem is that a candidate with too much experience is up against one with too little. There is no middle ground. On top of that, so much nonsense has been slung around this year that it’s hard to know who’s a worthwhile candi-date and who isn’t. A successful campaign cannot be built on the grounds of vote for me over the other guy. That mentality has lead the way in not only the gubernato-rial race, but all races this year.
Electionselections www.theeasttexan.comWednesday, Nov. 03 , 2010Page 4
CALEB SLINKARDMANAGING EDITOR
State Senator Dr. Bob Deuell defeated Kathleen M. Shaw by a margin of 13,653 votes to 3,891. The East Texan called Dr. Deuell’s victory shortly after 9:30 p.m.
Dr. Deuell, the Republican can-didate, has served District 2 since his first election in 2003. The sen-ator took his victory as a stamp of approval from the voters.
“It’s gratifying in the sense that having been a senator for eight years, that the people in the dis-trict still want me back,” he said. “They’re sort of telling me I’ve done a good job and that they
want me to continue.”His impressive victory margin
was expected from his constituents.
“I am as confident in [Deuell’s] election as I am in the sun coming up tomorrow,” Don Forse, Dr. Deuell’s chief of staff, said.
Deuell already has plans for his next term as senator.
“It’s my hope that we can write a budget that’s fair to all the peo-ple of Texas for the services we provide and how much or how little we tax them,” he said.
Deuell was particularly critical of the U.S. government’s health-care bill.
“We have to sort out the healthcare that’s being thrust
down our throats by the Federal government,” he said. “That may change somewhat now. The Obama healthcare plan is man-dating some things for us to do, so as a physician, I would hope to help with that. “
Texas’ education system is one of the senator’s major priorities.
“Whatever we have to do to do it in the best way possible to protect the taxpayers and do the right thing for the people of Texas,” Deuell said. “Education is a big priority of mine with 80,000 new kids a year in Texas public schools, so hopefully we can fund public and higher education in the way that we need to.”
make tough decisions without raising taxes,” he said.
Perry’s opponent, former Houston Mayor Bill White, con-ceded the race at nine p.m.
He congratulated his oppo-nent and although he said he expected the margin of defeat would narrow throughout the evening, he did not think it was small enough for him to over-come.
He said he was thrilled with
the work of his staff.“I appreciate all the tens of
thousands of Texans who sup-ported this camp,” he said. “I hope this campaign has been worthy and I thank you all for your support. They’re the most remarkable group of people we’ve ever worked with.”
White said the work done by his supporters created a new coalition of Texans.
“You’ve created a bi-partisan
movement that wants Texas to move forward,” he said.
White reserved his greatest praise for his constituents.
“We cannot express the honor my family and I have felt from the confidence you’ve had in us,” he said.
This race was considered by many as a test for Perry, who may be gearing up to run for president in 2012.
...GOP takes top seat
Texas State Senator Robert Deuell (left) and David Bench check results at the Republican watch party in Greenville. Bench is the father of
County Court Judge Andrew Bench.
JAMES BRIGHTEDITOR
The hotly contested Precinct 4 County Commissioner race ended Nov. 2 with incumbent Jim Latham (D) retaining his position. The race was neck-and-neck throughout most of the evening, with Latham taking the lead and winning the race by 400 points when the final results came out. “I’m very tired,” Latham said. “This was a long and hard cam-paign.” Latham’s opponent, Frank Janda (R), said the voters got what they wanted tonight. “A 400 point victory says it all,” he said. Janda said there was only one thing he could have done differently to win the race. “I could have changed to the Democratic party,” he said. Latham said he plans to continue his work along the same path he has during the last four years. “We are going to continue the same pro-grams we have,” he said. “We are up to the
challenge.” Janda said he thinks Hunt County is a Democratic Party stronghold, which also contributed to his loss. “The Democratic Party stood up and spoke tonight,” he said. This race – like many this year – was littered with negative com-ments, most of which came from Janda. Latham said he thinks that is the big-gest lesson that can be learned from this year’s elections. “I don’t run cam-paigns like that and the people responded,” he said. “I hope this a lesson to anyone who runs, period.” Janda said he plans to return to taking care of his family and his busi-ness, but said he does not know if he will run again in four years. “It just depends on how I feel in four years,” he said. Latham said after he gets some rest, he has a pretty specific plan on how he will get back into the swing of every-day work. “First thing is to get all my signs back, and then it’s back to busi-ness as usual,” he said.
State Senator Deuell retains position
KAT HUFFINES / THE EAST TEXAN
Latham one of only two democrats to win in Hunt County
Gubernatorial elections offer no good options
KAT HUFFINES / THE EAST TEXAN
Several children showed up to the Republican watch party in
Greenville to support Judge Steve Tittle, who won his race.
Watch Parties
MEGAN CAREY / THE EAST TEXAN
Several former inmates who were exonerated thanks to DNA test-
ing attended the Democratic watch party. They spoke on behalf of
Craig Watkins, whose race for Dallas DA ran down to the wire.
Electionswww.theeasttexan.com Wednesday, Nov. 03, 2010 Page 5ELECTIONS
Watkins retains DA position
Graphic created by Kat Huffines
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ADAM TROXTELLSPORTS EDITOR
In the race for District Attorney for Dallas County, incumbent Craig Watkins (D) won over Danny Clancy (R).
The race went right up to the final ballots, as Watkins ran out with just 51 percent of the vote with 208,222 total votes com-pared to Clancy’s 202,974 votes for 49 percent of the total count.
“I’m not the DA for South Dallas, I’m the DA for Dallas County,” Watkins said in a speech to the Dallas Democratic watch party in the early hours of Wednesday morning. “So let’s move forward hand in hand to make sure we put politics and procedures in place so that Dallas County will lead the nation in what it means to put adequate public safety in place. Thank you for your vote.”
The race between Clancy and Watkins was a heated one, with both camps calling the other out on their respective pasts. After winning, Watkins advocated a bi-partisan approach.
“Let’s put aside the Democratic or Republican hat that we may wear during the campaign and say that after the elec-tions, come tomorrow, we’re going to govern the citizens of Dallas County and do what’s in their best interests,” Watkins said.
One of Watkins’ major platforms involves DNA testing for those convicted of past murders to prove if they are really guilty. Many of those exonerated, including Watkins cam-paign volunteer Johnnie Lindsey, were present for Watkins’ appearance at the watch party.
Lindsey said he felt his opposition throughout the campaign often misrepre-sented Watkins.
“I believe he has been treated unfairly,” he said. “Number one, they have made false allegations about him, they have made false allegations about his staff. This is the nastiest race that I’ve witnessed, and I’ve been around awhile.”
Watkins said he was happy with the setup of Dallas County and thinks it can work out for the best.
“The last four years, I’ve been advocating for the resources necessary to make sure we have adequate public safety in Dallas County,” he said. “The voters have spoken, and now we have a com-missioner’s court to ensure the District Attorney, the highest law enforcement official in Dallas County, will have the resources necessary to make sure the citizens of Dallas County are protected.”
He said he has used the past four years to learn more about what it takes to be a Dallas public official and plans to use that experience in his next term.
“I appreciate the chal-lenges I’ve had over the last four years, because I’ve learned a lot,” he said. “I’ve learned how to maneuver and to do things in a certain way to make sure that, at the end of the day, we are governing for the citizens and not for any political gain. So, as we go forward with the new elected officials in Dallas County, I challenge you to do what’s in the best interests of the citizens who elected you. This is an opportunity to set an example.”
KAT HUFFINES / THE EAST TEXAN
The crowd at the Republican watch party in Greenville awaits the returns of the Nov. 2 elections. Several Hunt County politicians showed up to wait with their constitutants for the results.
Watch Parties
KAT HUFFINES / THE EAST TEXAN
Right to Left : volunteer for Robert Deuell, Nathan Derr Jr., Nicolas Bahm, 9, and Deuell’s Campaign Manager Trey Bahm. Trey Bahm said, “Senator Deuell should be fine in this election. He is seeking his third term. He wants to continue to serve the people.”
Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins managed to hold on to his position despite a heated election in which Watkins’ morals and qualifications as a prosecutor were called into question.
JUSTIN CHEATHAM / THE EAST TEXAN
Winners denoted by *
Campus LifeCampus Life www.theeasttexan.comPage 6 Wednesday, Nov. 03, 2010
STEPHANIE NORMANCAMPUS LIFE EDITOR
A&M-Commerce’s 2010 Veterans Vigil will take place Nov. 3 through Nov. 6. A&M-Commerce hosts this annual vigil to honor men and women who have served in the U.S. military. The committee of vol-unteers organizing the program includes com-munity leaders, faculty and staff, and students of A&M-Commerce. “It’s an honor to help set up this program,” Veterans and Military Specialist Jessica Gossett said. “It’s a way we can give back to our veterans on campus and give back to our community. I can’t think of a better way to honor those men in my family than to serve on the Veterans Vigil committee.” Events will begin
Wednesday in the Sam Rayburn Student Center (SRSC) with a discussion on Diversity in Dialogue with Robert Dotson in the Traditions room from noon to 1:30 p.m. The opening ceremony is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 4, in the Conference Room of the SRSC with Major General (Ret.) Christopher S. Adams as the keynote speaker. Following the ceremo-ny, the vigil flame will be lit and burn continuously until 3:00 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 6, when it will be extinguished. The Vigil site will be in front of the SRSC on the walking mall. Gossett said the com-munity and all students are encouraged and welcome to attend all scheduled events for the Veterans Vigil. A Veterans Vigil Youth Program for sixth grad-
ers from surrounding area school districts is to be held from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Friday, Nov. 5, in rooms A, B and C of the SRSC. Then from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Career Development will host a Veterans Appreciation reception in the SRSC foyer. At 6:00 p.m., the AFROTC Reunion will take place upstairs in the SRSC. Saturday, Nov. 6, the Vigil will continue with campus tours from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and a luncheon at 11:30 a.m. with Major General John M. Speigel as the guest speaker. Closing ceremonies will begin at 2:00 p.m. with the extinguishing of the Vigil Flame and a military flyover between the Science Building and the SRSC. Paige Bussell is serving as the chairperson for the
Veterans Vigil Committee. It is her first year on the committee, but she has worked at the university for 15 years. “I look forward to chairing this committee and honoring those who have served our country,” she said. The posting of a guard on the Vigil site is an important aspect of the ceremony. Volunteers typically dedicate one hour of their time guarding the flame. There are 50 volunteer positions, but fewer than 10 remain. The campus bookstore is giving a 10 percent discount on all clothing, supplies and gifts in con-junction with the Veterans Vigil Nov. 4 through Nov. 6. Individuals interested in volunteering may contact the Veterans and Military Services Office at 903-886-5123.
A&M-Commerce to host annual Veterans Vigil this week
Veterans Vigil Schedule
• Opening Ceremony Nov. 4, 11:00 a.m. SRSC
• Lighting of the Vigil Flame Nov. 4, 12:20 p.m.
• Veterans Vigil Youth ProgramNov. 5, 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. SRSC rooms A, B and C.
• Veterans AppreciationNov. 5, 10:00 a.m to 2:00 p.m. SRSC Foyer
• AFROTC Reunion ReceptionNov. 5, 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. SRSC rooms A, B and C
• AFROTC Decade Reunions and Campus ToursNov. 6, 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
• AFROTC Reunion Luncheon Nov. 6, 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. SRSC rooms A, B and C
• Closing CeremoniesNov. 6, 2:00 p.m. Between SRSC and Science Building
Every year A&M-Commerce hosts the Veterans Vigil, an event designed to honor men and women who have served in the United States military. This year the Veterans Vigil will feature an opening ceremony, lighting of the Vigil Flame, a military flyover and numerous receptions.
NATHAN HARNESSSPECIAL CONTRIBUTOR
As director of the financial planning certificate program at A&M-Commerce, I am often asked questions such as: What is the best stock or where should I be putting all my money right now? What is interesting is that these ques-tions most often come from males. Females are much more likely to ask me questions such as: How much should I be sav-ing or what kind of portfolio makes sense? As a college student, most readers are probably quite aware of the obvious differenc-es between males and females. This Mars-verses-Venus divide can be even stronger in the financial realm and can create numerous money pitfalls. In the subsequent text, I want to address a few of the common financial mistakes that males and females are prone to commit. As a college student, I remember the concept of hav-ing a portfolio as seeming rather foreign when one of my more difficult daily financial decisions was whether to pur-
chase ramen noodles or micro-wave burritos, but the more informed you are now, the bet-ter decisions you can make in the future. In a shortened format, it is near impossible to address all of the reasons behind these dif-ferences for male and female financial decisions. I want to quickly tackle two such issues: overconfidence and risk tolerance. Overconfidence is an inac-curate assumption of your abil-ity and is one of the most det-rimental behaviors to financial planning. Research shows that males (as compared to females) are much more likely to over-trade their portfolios and assume their level of financial sophistication is greater than reality. This can result in as much as a 3 percent loss in portfolio returns every year for overcon-fident males. Females, on the other hand, tend to gravitate toward lower risk investments. While this may seem like good financial behavior, it can result in much lower levels of wealth over time and oftentimes an under-allocation to stock-based assets, which are important in a portfolio for long-term wealth.
What are the implications for these gender biases? Well, males must be aware of their innate predisposition toward overconfidence in their ability to make financial decisions. As a male graduate entering the workforce, you will face many complex financial deci-sions regarding your benefits, compensation and even the cost of living. It is very appropriate to assume you are not an expert at understanding all of these financial components and should spend time research-ing or asking others for help in making these types of decisions. As a female graduate, spend time educating yourself on the advantages of a diversified portfolio containing risky assets. When taking that first job understand your limitations, but don’t limit the universe of financial opportunity. If you are interested in learning more about personal finance and gender financial issues, consider taking an elec-tive in personal finance from the College of Business and Technology.
Balancing the BooksGender and Money
CAMPUS LIFECAMPUS LIFEwww.theeasttexan.com Wednesday, Nov. 03, 2010 Page 7
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Though Assistant Professor of Acting and Directing Dr. Carrie Klypchak is most visible as a part of the University Playhouse, most recently as director of "Iphigenia," it is not her main focus at A&M-Commerce. "I consider myself a teacher first and everything else second," she said. Even when she is directing shows for the Playhouse, she always has education in mind, and that goal influences the types of plays she selects for her students. "When I am directing a show, it's not only important for me to put up a quality product at the end," she said. "It's important to me that all my students learn throughout the process and that I choose shows that feel like they will offer educational opportuni-ties and growth for my students; shows that will challenge my students so they can grow as actors and designers." Department of Mass Media, Communication & Theatre Professor Dr. John Hanners thinks this focus is one of Klypchak's biggest strengths. "She always chooses something challenging, both for the students and the audience," he said. "And there's an educational reason behind every play." So, when Klypchak was searching for her sixth play to direct at A&M-Commerce, Don Nigro's "Iphigenia" seemed like a natural fit. "I found the play online and really loved it because I felt like it
really provided a lot of challenges, both for the students and the audience," she said. "In theater, I think it's really important to do different types of theater for our com-munity, because one of the reasons people go to the theater is to be challenged to think in different ways. And because of the complexity of the show, I thought that it provided good challenges for our students, so I really loved it." Klypchak said she was surprised to learn that the play had never been performed before, and used a 21st-century method to try to bring the play to A&M-Commerce. "I Facebook friended Don Nigro and thought he would never get back to me," she said. "But he did, almost immediately. So we had a conversation via Facebook and e-mail, and he told me to contact [his publishing company] to see if I could get the rights to do the world premiere." Klypchack's first love was not the classroom, however, it was the stage. "I think I was in my first show when I was four," she said. "I think maybe I was a Martian or something. I loved it." Her interest in theater grew stronger and more serious in high school, so much so that after graduation, she decided to pursue it full-time, far away from home. "I left and went to New York when I was 18," she said. "I just went off and did it." While in New York, Klypchak attended professional acting
school, study-ing under renowned teachers such as Randolph Pearson, Larry Arancio and the late Allyn Winslow. Though she was a success-ful working actor, she soon felt another calling. "I loved living in New York," she said, "but I knew my passion was to teach." She then left the stage for the university, receiving her Master's degree from Southwest Texas State University, and her Ph.D. from Bowling Green. She has now been a professor at A&M-Commerce for five years. Klypchak still performs in the professional acting world, however, as she is the literary manager and a core collaborative artistic member of the Capital T Theatre company, which is based in Austin. "I've been with them since almost since the inception of the company," she said. "I'd worked with the artistic director (Mark Pickell) in the past, and he approached me to get involved. It's a little complicated since I'm so far away from Austin, so a lot of my practical work has to take place during the summer, which is why wI don't teach during the summer here a lot of the time." Klypchak said keeping one foot in the professional world is a vital component to keeping her teaching relevant.
"It's important for me to stay involved with my professional theater company because it offers me different perspectives that I can offer my students about working in professional theater," she said. "Everything I'm doing professionally feeds the work that I end up teaching my students here." Hanners also thinks it to be a tremendous advantage. "She is a professional working artist," he said. "So students learn the latest techniques from the professional stage." Klypchak said that the answer to the question, "What is your favorite play?" is one that changes with each new production. "Two months ago, my answer would have been ‘The Bird and the Bee,' because that was the last thing I did with my students," she said. "Now, it would be ‘Iphigenia.' Part of it is that I put so much of myself and my heart into what it is that's going up there that I truly fall in love with the work and with the script. Whatever is the most recent becomes my favorite."
JARED WATSONDIGITAL-MEDIA EDITOR
Students win awards
A&M-Commerce sent two charter buses full of undergraduate and graduate students to the eighth annual Texas A&M System Pathways Student Research Symposium Oct. 22-23. While there, the students displayed posters and conducted oral presentations on their various research projects. “The Pathways Research Symposium is now in its eighth year and is designed to give students from across the [A&M-]System universities the opportunity to present their research results,” Dr. Allan Headley, dean of graduate studies and research, said. “But, more importantly, to encourage them to continue their education through to the doctoral degree. The Pathways to the Doctorate is a program dedicated to increasing the number, quality, and diversity of Master’s and doctoral graduates across all disciplines within the Texas A&M University System.” Five A&M-Commerce students who attended the contest won awards for their presentations: Mathematics – Overall: Venkata Nagendra Raja Jadandhyam, 2nd Place, Master’s Level;Discipline Winner: Venkata Nagendra Raja Jadandhyam, 1st Place; Agriculture – Discipline Winner: Kali Gates, 3rd Place, Master’s Level; Computer Science – Discipline Winner: Surendra Chakrader, 2nd Place, Master’s Level; Physical Science – Discipline Winner: Jeffrey Sun, 2nd Place, Undergraduate Level. “I was really surprised to actually
win something,” Sun, a junior chemistry and biology major in the Honors College, said. “I didn’t know we were being judged until I got to the conference. It definitely served as a good motivation to go and attend more conferences, and present my research.” Headley was impressed by the A&M-Commerce contest award winners. “Gaining five awards says a lot about the quality of our presen-tation because there were approximately 400 poster presentations in various categories,” he said. The symposium was not simply for science majors, however. Senior sociology major and Honors College student Evan Carpenter found the conference a useful experience. “If you’re going to go to graduate school, you’ll need experience presenting,” he said. “It’s a great place for people who are in the beginning stages of their research to gain important feedback and new insight on their projects.” Headley is confident in the benefit available to A&M-Commerce students who attend Pathways and various other conferences throughout the year. “I would definitely encourage our students to participate in upcoming symposia, not only the Pathways, but regional and nation-al conferences,” he said. “The experience gained by the student in organizing their research results and most important communicating these results about their discipline is a tremen-dous experience and benefit to each student.”
CALEB SLINKARDMANAGING EDITOR
PHOTO COURTESY MATT PLUMMER
Art SceneArt Scene www.theeasttexan.com
Despite improvements “Force Unleashed” video game falls short by ending too soon
The sequel to the popular “Star Wars: The Force Unleashed” video game features an engrossing plotline and satisfying action, but its disap-pointingly short game time is a frustration, especially for gamers who spent $60 for it.
pcgamer.com
insidepulse.com
Fromage du Jour
“Mutant Vampire Zombies” proves movie titles are not everything
A weekly look at film cheese
Wednesday, Nov. 03, 2010
Next week:“Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl”
Verdict: One Shatner
JORDAN WRIGHTSTAFF WRITER
Imagine sitting down to watch the most satisfy-ing action film that you have ever seen in your life, only to have the film cut off half way by somebody stealing $30 from your wallet.
Once the situation is taken care of, you return to finish watching your movie, only to discover that it was never inter-rupted, but was actually finished.
These feelings of sur-prise, disappointed antici-pation and anger at the loss of precious money, essentially summarize my experience with “Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2,” the biggest Star Wars disappoint-ment to come along since Episode 1: “The Phantom Menace” hit theaters.
Set several months after the Light Side ending to “The Force Unleashed,” TFU2 opens up with a clone of Starkiller, the Jedi protagonist of the previ-ous game who sacrificed
himself to save the Rebel Alliance, being told by Darth Vader that he is a failure like all of the clones before him, and will be executed as such.
Refusing to accept such a fate, the Starkiller clone escapes the facility and seeks out the Rebel Alliance, attracted to them by the original Starkiller’s memories.
As engrossing as the story is and grows as it goes along, it is undercut by the brevity of the game.
In terms of game play, TFU2 is a vast improve-ment over its predeces-sor. This time around, Starkiller uses two light-sabers, which allow for customization of individ-ual sabers to boost attack, increase healing and uti-lize a variety of other dif-ferent effects.
The combat itself is much smoother and more fluid than the original, making every combat engagement fast and satisfying.
Even cooler than the lightsabers combat, are the Force powers, ranging from awe-inspiring to con-
sistently amusing. Powers like Push and Lightning make the player feel like a demigod, but the little things like the Mind Trick are what I fell in love with.
The joy of hypnotiz-ing an entire squadron of Storm Troopers into kill-ing each other under the idea that everybody sur-rounding them is a spy, is something that I will never get sick of.
With the exception of a few frame-rate stutters, TFU2 is one of the most satisfying action game experiences I have had in years.
Every possible praise that I can heap upon the game, however, becomes almost moot by the unac-ceptably short length of the game.
At eight missions total, the game is over after a mere five hours of play. It would be different if the experience was brought full circle by the end, but the game closes so abrupt-ly that almost everything suffers because of it.
To say that the story ends on a cliffhanger would be to imply that
there was actually an end-ing to begin with. The game doesn’t properly end, it simply stops.
Just as the plot was taking shape, and right when the clone Starkiller’s character arc was truly beginning, the credits roll at what feels more like a halfway point than the conclusion of a building storyline.
Worst of all, at a price of $60, the investment becomes instantly ques-tionable once you realize that you plowed through the bulk of the game in an afternoon.
I fail to understand why this has come to be. I would have gladly waited a year, even a year and a half, for a campaign two times longer than this.
Had such a thing hap-pened, I would have gladly dropped $60 for a nearly perfect action game, as well as the best piece of Star Wars lore in recent history.
As it is however, “Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2” is a solid weekend rental, but noth-ing more.
The East Texan
Editors’Picks
“This movie ended about thirty minutes before it should have, but Rifftrax made it bearable.”
- Jared Watson
impawards.comtheringmastersrealm.blogspot.com
MEGAN CAREYART SCENE EDITOR
On Halloween weekend this year, I had very mixed feelings and I believe anyone in my position would feel the same way. Who wouldn’t feel a little appre-hensive at the prospect of watching the gore-fest that is the “Saw” fran-chise in 3-D? Then again, who wouldn’t do a little jig of happiness as they glimpse the bright light at the end of the tunnel that could potentially mean the end of the “Saw” franchise? I’m more than a little tired of the annual “Saw” release, which, up until this point, seemed to have reached a perennial status. The 3-D aspect, which is new to the “Saw” movies, seemed to have attracted audiences to win “Saw 3D” the number one gross-ing movie over weekend with $24.2 million, but in my opinion, it was the attached statement “The Final Chapter” that really cinched the viewers. As sad as it may be, it’s human nature to watch destruction, pain and horror. Case in point: the site of a car wreck where traffic is at a standstill so people can gawk and rubberneck.
It’s hard to rationalize paying money to see a movie that epito-mizes human torture and is stock full of grotesque images every single year. Audiences probably coughed up the $12.50 to go see “Saw 3D” because, hey, it’s going to be the last one. Why not? “Saw 3D” presents nothing new to those who are familiar with the previous “Saw” films. There is a flimsy plot with reoccurring charac-ters you think will never die, plenty of over-the-top blood and gore scenes you want to look away from, but just can’t. Last, but not least, there are numerous gruesome traps. Director Kevin Greutert, who directed last year’s “Saw VI”, was brought back to direct this film, which would actually be the sev-enth “Saw” film. This was surprising considering “Saw VI” boasted the least impres-sive turnout of any of the preceding “Saw” films. Greutert definitely knows how to scare since he also directed “The Strangers” (2008), which really freaked me out. Now, I don’t know if it was Greutert’s doing, but some very excellent plot decisions were made as well as an inclusion of a charac-ter we haven’t encountered for, let’s see, five “Saw” films. Dr. Lawrence Gordon, the survi-
vor from the first film, who ended up sawing his own foot off, makes an effective cameo with fake leg and all. He is also tied in to the uni-versal “Saw” franchise plot, but it’s too complicated to even begin to explain. As with most “Saw” films, there is a main torture plot. Sometimes this plot includes one person and their mistakes they must pay. As in “Saw V,” it is a group of seemingly unconnected people who must fight for survival. In “Saw 3D,” the torture plot revolves around Bobby Dagen, a faux-survivor who lies about sur-viving a jigsaw trap in order to make money and achieve fame. Needless to say, he pays the price for his lies in a painful way. I hope it’s true. I hope this is the last “Saw,” because I don’t think I could sit through another constant stream of brutality that has me intermittingly flinching and gig-gling in surprise at the awfulness of the film, as well as its insistence of including shots of people’s innards splayed on the floor. Having said that, this was one of the more enjoyable “Saw” films, so for those who enjoy a good hour and a half of wanting to throw up, but knowing you won’t, knock yourself out.
“Saw 3D” provides same gruesome thrill ride
“While George A. Romero’s depic-tion of zombies may have scared people in the 60’s, I just found it funny.”
- Caleb Slinkard
JARED WATSONDIGITAL MEDIA EDITOR
I’ve explained my method for finding these movies in the past, but most of the time, just the title is enough to make me think it’s perfect for this series.
So it is with “Mutant Vampire Zombies from the ‘Hood!” the 2008 horror film that was released on DVD on May 18 this year. With a title that bombastic, the film begged to be seen, which makes my utter disappointment in all aspects of the film that much more tragic.
The film starts out as a gritty cop drama until a solar flare blasts out from the sun and hits the Earth, turn-ing everyone not in conveniently-placed bomb shelters into what one of the hip-hop cliché gangsters calls “Vampires! Bloodsuckers! Nosferatu! Dracula, baby!”
Except they’re really not. That is the biggest flaw of the film: at no point do any of the monsters do anything vampire-like.
They’re not mutants either. They’re just zombies. Plain old zombies. And that’s fine, but the movie tries to sell us that they’re something more com-plicated than that just by throwing a couple of random lines in here and there about muta-tions and bloodsucking, and, sorry movie, I’m not buying it.
Plus, the movie makes no bones about the fact that it intends to be a black racist
stereotype. The logo to the film is written in the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” font, and the tagline is, “It’s the end of the world, yo!” It’s only fitting then that the only recognizable actor in the film is C. Thomas Howell, who starred in the 1986 comedy “Soul Man,” in which he spends the majority of the movie in blackface.
“Mutant Vampire Zombies from the ‘Hood!” manages to be even less subtle. One of the characters even recites Samuel L. Jackson’s immortal line from “Snakes on a Plane,” substituting “zombies” for snakes, but leaving all the f-bombs intact.
Gore in zombie mov-ies is a given nowa-days, but this movie is needlessly and explic-itly graphic in several scenes.
There are depictions of zombies doing sex acts numerous times, and it never fails to be cringe-inducing with-out ever advancing the story at all.
And for all the nudity and blood and guts, “Mutant Vampire Zombies from the ‘Hood!” is incred-ibly boring. Basically, nothing happens for minutes at a time, and then it’s punctuated by two seconds of over-the-top sex, violence, or sex and violence. It certainly shocks, but not in any kind of way that draws the viewer in. If you want to have a reaction akin to “Eww! Gross! Why am I watching this?” 10 to 15 times in 90 minutes, this is your film.
“Mutant Vampire Zombies from the ‘Hood!” seems to be a clever title that someone thought they could turn into a movie without having to write a script, or hire actors, or do any production work whatso-ever. They thought they could simply put guys in zombie makeup, throw in stereotypical thugs spouting hip-hop lingo, two tablespoons of nudity, two cups of gore, throw it all in a blender, hit “liquefy,” and end up with a movie. Well, they thought wrong.
- Jared WatsonDigital Media Editor
“Mutant Vampire Zombues from the ‘Hood!” never makes an attempt to move beyond a clever name.
SPORTSSPORTSwww.theeasttexan.com Wednesday, Nov. 03, 2010 Page 9
JON MCDANIELSTAFF WRITER
Since coming to play women’s soccer at A&M-Commerce in 2008, junior Evan Stanberry has become a standout defender.
“She is a vital com-ponent of our team,” sophomore teammate Katelyn Ross said. “She doesn’t ever quit, and she is tough to beat as a defender. She might be small, but she’s feisty and you won’t get past her without a fight.”
Stanberry said she was not always this way as a player.
“I’ve been playing for about 17 years,” she said. “In the beginning, when I was a little kid, I would always be the one goof-ing around and climbing
all over the goals. When it became competitive and I joined select, I really was influenced by the many coaches who helped me and coached me along the way. My own competitive nature is the reason I’m the player I am.”
After playing and grad-uating from Wakeland High School in Frisco, Texas, Stanberry had to adjust to the college style of play.
“It’s different play-ing in college because you don’t have practice throughout the summer and everything, so you have to hold yourself accountable and push yourself so you are ready for the season,” Stanberry said. “Soccer is demand-ing and by being a stu-dent athlete, you have to
manage your schedule a lot. Sometimes it may feel like a job because you’re tired or stressed from class, but pushing through it and working hard is the life of a stu-dent athlete.”
Despite being second on her high school team with eight goals as a senior, Stanberry has fit in perfectly as a defender for the Lions.
“Evan is a crucial part of our defense,” junior midfielder Jordan McCarty said. “She is a very consistent player, who always works hard and gives 110 percent. She is one of the best one-on-one defenders in our conference and her hard work pays off. She is an incredibly valued mem-ber of our team and a sig-nificant contribution.”
Stanberry and her teammates have different practice routines depend-ing on whom they play.
“Our practice regiment depends on what type of team we’re going up against,” she said. “We’ll work on our defense depending on if the team likes to play the ball in the air or if they play mostly on the ground. Right before games, we’ll put on our warm-up album, which is mainly rap music. By 3:00 p.m. I’m just sitting around wishing the game would start.”
Stanberry said this year has stood out because of the amount of first-year players coming in and immediately having to see regular game time.
“This season has been different from the past
seasons because we knew it was going to be a learn-ing process and building year,” Stanberry said. “We had to have new people really step up because we had a lot of strong leaders and players graduate.”
With the Lions’ record currently at 7-5-3, and the last three matches result-ing in ties, Stanberry said she thinks the team’s record is not an accurate representation of their effort.
“I believe we should be seated higher,” Stanberry said. “A lot of the scores don’t reflect how we played, but we will work through one game at a time with our coach pre-paring us.”
In their time off from practice and games, Stanberry said the team
enjoys spending time together off the field.
“We have potluck once a month and some of the players left early,” Stanberry said. “We decided to pull a prank on them. We texted them and told them they had to go get their uniforms from the locker room at night, when it’s pretty creepy in there. We jumped out and scared them, which was a lot of fun.”
After Stanberry finishes playing soccer and grad-uates, she said she hopes to continue her education in psychology.
“I plan to get my Master’s in clinical psy-chology,” Stanberry said. “I enjoy talking to people and helping them work out whatever problem they may have.”
Spirit, dedication mark Stanberry’s style of play
SPORTS INFORMATION
The Texas A&M University-Commerce football team ran out the final 1:26 after a missed extra-point attempt by host Central Oklahoma to snap a three-game losing streak and pull out a 31-30 win on Saturday afternoon in Edmond, Oklahoma.
A&M-Commerce (3-6, 2-3 LSC North) senior quarterback Adam Farkes (pictured) completed 22 of 38 passes for 278 yards and two touchdowns. Sophomore running back London Hamilton had his best day as a Lion, running the ball 23 times for 90 yards and two more touchdowns.
Central Oklahoma (2-7, 1-4 LSC North) was
held to a season-low 260 yards in the loss. Josh Birmingham was held to a season-low 55 yards on 19 carries and backup quarterback Landon Greve completed 16 of 22 passes for 177 yards, a touch-down and an interception.
The Lions scored on their first two possessions to build an early 10-point lead in the game. Central Oklahoma recovered a fumble in the end zone to cut the lead to 10-7 until the Lions came back with a touchdown of their own on a nine-yard touchdown run by Hamilton.
With a 17-7 lead, UCO rallied to tie the game on a 25-yard field goal by Chris Robbs and a 14-yard touchdown pass from Greve to Bryce Davis.
A&M-Commerce took the momentum into the half-time break with a 40-yard touchdown pass from Farkes to Adam Jones on the final play of the half.
The momentum quickly shifted back to UCO when the host Bronchos took the open-ing kickoff back to the Lions 3. On the next play, Birmingham scored the first of his two touch-downs to tie the game at 24.
Neither team managed to do anything until A&M-Commerce took advantage of a short field, late in the third quarter. With the ball at their own 49, facing 3rd and 4, Farkes found an open Taylor Fore who took the ball down to the UCO 16. The Lions
went to Hamilton, who broke through three plays later for the go-ahead touchdown to put A&M-Commerce in front, 31-24.
With 5:30 left in the game, a punt by the Lions Cameron Frosch was downed at the UCO 1. Greve and the Bronchos moved down the field and went 99 yards on 4-for-4 passing and the running game of Birmingham, culminating in the two-yard touch-down run with 1:26 to go. However, it was the extra point attempt that proved to be the difference.
Up next for the Lions is the final home game, Saturday, Nov. 6 at Memorial Stadium at 6:00 p.m. when they host East Central.
continued from page 10
from the near post in only the 7th minute of play. After a period of back and forth soccer, MSU began to pile on the pressure again and nearly got another goal before halftime. Senior Kendra Clemons saw her long-range effort palmed up and off the crossbar by Hafele. Freshman Mickey Brown’s follow up attempt was saved from point blank range by the Lions’ junior shot-stopper. A&M-Commerce began the second half with per-haps their best chance of the match. After failing to clear their lines, MSU gave the ball up to Haight who had to stretch to get a shot off. Mustangs soph-omore goalkeeper Mallory Whitworth stretched out to get one of her seven saves on the afternoon and preserve the shutout. Later in the half, some-thing not usually seen in soccer occurred. After Whitworth settled a ball down in the penalty area with her feet, Piper instructed his team to not challenge and make the goalkeeper pick up the ball. This resulted in two or three minutes of noth-ing before regular play resumed. “They play with eight subs and we play with one,” Piper said. “It was halfway through, so I wanted to give our girls a five minute break so we could have a go at them
for the last 20 minutes. I thought that was a smart thing to do.”In the 66th minute of the game, senior midfielder Brittany Subia gave MSU a two goal advantage. After building up around the A&M-Commerce pen-alty area, Subia sent a shot from about 16 yards out sailing to the left of Hafele and into the corner of the net for her first goal of the season. Haight was sent off for the Lions on 82 min-utes after getting her second yellow card of the match. After that, A&M-Commerce could not manage to make any real goal scoring chances. “They weren’t good enough,” Piper said about his team after the loss. “We got beat at our own game and beat by a better team today. Our first half was a joke.” Piper admitted his tactics for the latter part of the match were to pre-serve a low score-line, as goal differential was a factor in the Lions’ LSC tournament hopes. “As a coach, it’s not always as simple as win-ning and losing,” he said. “If we lost this game 1-0, we’re in the confer-ence tournament, which was our goal. Our goal was to win the game, but the way we were play-ing I thought we could get beat by five. It was a definite worry, so we had to change tactically to not give up five goals.”
...soccer team finishesseason with MSU losss
A&M-Commerce snaps 3 game loss streak
A&M-Commerce junior soccer player Evan Stanberry (right) concentrates while sitting next to former teammate Lindsey Durham during a halftime team talk at the A&M-Commerce Soccer Field in the 2009 season.
Senior quarterback Adam Farkes gets set to hike the ball during the A&M-Commerce Homecoming game against Southwestern Oklahoma.
sportssports www.theeasttexan.comWednesday, Nov. 03, 2010Page 10
Listen to From the Bench Friday nights from 6 to 6:30 p.m. on your station 88.9 KETR
with Jared Watson and Caleb Slinkard
FridayNov. 5
Lions Sports Week
v. East Central6 p.m.
v. AngeloStateNoonLSC
Tourney
v. IncarnateWord2 p.m.
v. A&M-Kingsville
7 p.m.
SaturdayNov. 6
SundayNov. 7
MondayNov. 8
TuesdayNov. 9
Wed.Nov. 10
Thurs.Nov. 4
LSC Volleyball Scores:
Oct. 30
ACU 3, Incarnate Word 1Texas Woman’s 3, ECU 0UCO 1, Midwestern 3ASU 3, A&M-Kingsville 0SW Okla. 0, Cameron 3A&M-Commerce 0, SE Okla. 3Eastern NM 1, Tarleton State 3
Nov. 2
Midwestern 3, Cameron 1St. Edward’s 3, Incarnate 0NM-Highlands 1, Eastern NM 3
Standings
1) ACU, 24-3 (12-0)2) West Texas A&M, 22-8 (12-0)3) Angelo State, 16-10 (11-1)4) Tarleton State, 21-8 (7-5)5) Midwestern, 14-13 (8-5)6) Central Okla., 18-10 (6-6)7) Texas Woman’s, 9-17 (6-6)8) Incarnate Word, 8-13 (5-7)9) SE Oklahoma, 9-14 (5-7)10) Eastern NM, 13-14 (4-8)11) A&M-Kingsville, 10-14 (4-8)12) Cameron, 9-17 (4-9)13)A&M-Commerce, 12-14 (3-9)14) SW Oklahoma, 9-20 (2-10)15) East Central, 4-15 (2-10)
LSC Football Scores:West Texas A&M, 49Incarnate Word, 10
Angelot State, 20Abilene Christian, 33
A&M-Commerce, 31Central Oklahoma, 30
Northeastern State, 21East Central, 48
A&M-Kingsville, 56Southwestern Oklahoma, 17
Southeastern Oklahoma, 20Eastern New Mexico, 55
Tarleton State, 26Midwestern State, 31
StandingsNorth Division1) N’eastern State, 5-4 (4-1)2) East Central, 4-5 (4-1)3) Eastern NM, 4-5 (2-3)4) SE Oklahoma, 3-6 (2-4)5) A&M-Commerce, 3-6 (2-3)6) SW Oklahoma, 2-7 (2-3)7) Central Oklahoma, 2-7 (1-4)
South Division1) Abilene Christian, 9-0 (5-0)2) A&M-Kingsville, 8-1 (4-1)3) West Texas A&M, 7-2 (4-1)4) Midwestern State, 7-2 (3-2)5) Angelo State, 3-5 (1-5)6) Tarleton State, 2-7 (1-4)7) Incarnate Word, 2-7 (0-5)
LSC Women’s Soccer Scores:
Oct. 29Angelo State 3, East Central 2Eastern NM 2, SW Oklahoma 0W.T. A&M 1, Central Okla. 2Midwestern 3, Texas Woman’s 0ACU 0, A&M-Commerce 1Incarnate Word 1, NE State 2Oct. 17Incarnate Word 3, East Central 2Eastern NM 0, Central Okla. 3W.T. A&M 3, SW Oklahoma 0Midwestern 2, A&M-Commerce 0ACU 3, Texas Woman’s 2Angelo State 1, NE State 0
Standings
1) *Midwestern, 15-2 (10-1)2) *Abilene Christian, 14-3 (9-2)3) *Angelo State, 12-5-1 (9-2-0)4) *Incarnate Word, 9-4-1 (6-1-0)5) *Central Okla., 10-7-1 (6-4-1)6) *A&M-Commerce, 8-6-3 (4-4-3)7) W. Texas A&M, 8-7-3 (4-6-1)8) N’eastern State, 7-6-5 (3-5-3)9) SW Oklahoma, 7-10-1 (3-7-1)10) Texas Woman’s, 4-12-2 (2-7-2)11) Eastern NM, 5-13 (2-9)12) East Central, 5-11-2 (1-9-1)* = Qualify for LSC tournament
LSC Champs.
Meet
Abilene, Texas
Women’s soccer grabs last tourney spotADAM TROXTELL
SPORTS EDITOR
A crucial weekend ended with the A&M-Commerce women’s soccer team barely clinch-ing the final Lone Star Conference tournament spot on Sunday.
The previous Friday, a wonder goal from mid-field by senior defender Megan Monroe gave the Lions a 1-0 win over the then table-topping Abilene Christian University. That result helped A&M-Commerce’s Sunday opponent, Midwestern State University, clinch an LSC regular season title with a 2-0 win over the Lions.
The game against ACU began with both teams getting solid chances. Just over 10 minutes in, the Wildcats had a chance to score off a corner kick, but Lions junior goal-keeper Ranid Hafele, who had eight saves on the night, was quick to get a glove up and keep the score level. Later, A&M-Commerce freshman Brittni Ong, in her first start as a Lion, played a
pass through for senior Chelsey Haight. ACU goalkeeper Elliott London quickly came out to chal-lenge and got a piece of both Haight and the ball. Haight tried another shot off the rebound, but London was quick to get back and put the ball out for a corner kick.
When the Lions got a free kick at midfield in the 35th minute of the game, Monroe stepped up to launch the ball into the ACU goal area. This time, the ball carried a bit further than usual. Junior Devon Herrman jumped up to challenge London for the ball, but needed no help as it sailed over the goalkeeper’s head and into the net. The goal is Monroe’s first ever in a Lions shirt in her four years playing.
“I really didn’t care who scored it,” Monroe said. “I didn’t even know I had scored it. I really thought it had hit Devon [Herrman]’s head, and then everyone started running toward me and I was like, ‘I got it! I got my first goal.’ It feels good just to have one under my
belt before I leave.”The Wildcats imme-
diately went to work searching for an equalizer. Freshman and top goal-scorer Andrea Carpenter had a curling shot saved by Hafele, and that was followed by a strike from Ashley Simon going just wide of the net.
Keeping that goal advantage proved more and more difficult as the second half went on, but with the shots falling just in favor of ACU 15-13, A&M-Commerce did not go without its own scor-ing chances. A free kick from just outside the box by Herrman sailed a few feet over the cross bar.
One of the best chances for ACU came when one of sophomore Julie Coppedge’s three shots on goal was saved by a sprawled out Hafele. The game became more tense in the dying moments, as Abilene Christian junior Ashley Holton, sopho-more Lexi Stirling, and senior Kendall Cooper all received yellow cards in the final 15 minutes of play. A&M-Commerce freshman Taylor Hunt
also received a caution from referee Phil Oschner.
“The game was no different than eight oth-ers we’ve played in the conference, and we just happened to win that one,” Lions Head Coach Neil Piper said about the win. “The girls worked hard and I thought they deserved a win. I just thought it was very similar to the other games we’ve played.”
Piper also praised the defensive efforts of his team.
“Those guys [ACU] score a lot of goals, and I thought they had three or four really good chances to score, and that’s all we held them to,” Piper said. “It was a good win.”
The Lions could not produce the same kind of fortune in their next encounter, losing 2-0 to a dominant Midwestern State team. A&M-Commerce was out-shot 23-9, and Hafele had 14 saves on the night.MSU began their scor-ing early on, when senior Brandy O’Neal turned in a corner kick
see Soccer page 9
A triple-double by Texas A&M University-Commerce freshman Kayla Bond was not enough as the Lions dropped a 27-25, 25-11, 25-22 decision to Southeastern Oklahoma State on Saturday after-noon in Durant.
The freshman from Denton had 11 kills, 11 assists and 12 digs in the loss for the Lions, who fall to 12-14 overall and 3-9 in the Lone Star Conference. Sophomore Rachel Robertson added eight kills and senior Rachael Shelton tallied a team-high 16 assists.
Southeastern Oklahoma State (9-14, 5-7 LSC) uti-lized a balanced attack including a double-dou-ble by Lunden Azuara with 14 digs and 10 kills in the win. The Savage Storm out hit the Lions by a .258 to .081 margin in the win.
The two teams battled back and forth through-
out the first set, tying the contest on 10 occa-sions. Facing set point, the Lions scored the next three points to tie the set at 24. The two teams exchanged side outs until a service ace and a kill by Azuara led the home team to the first set.
In the second and third sets, the Savage Storm led from start to finish. In the second set, Southeastern Oklahoma out hit the Lions by a .429 to a -.094 margin. While in the third set, A&M-Commerce had six blocks and a balanced attack for the Savage Storm, which included six different players.
The Lions will wrap up the regular season with three matches in four days at the A&M-Commerce Field House, starting on Wednesday, Nov. 3 against Texas A&M-International at 7:00 p.m.
Storm defeat Lionsas Bond leads team
LSC Women’s Soccer Tournament
Schedule
*Games to be hosted byMidwestern State University
Thursday, Nov. 4
A&M-Commerce v.Angelo State, Noon
Central Oklahoma v. Incarnate Word, 2:30 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 5
Winner of noon match v.Abilene Christian, 5 p.m.
Winner of 2:30 p.m. match v.Midwestern State
Sunday, Nov. 7
LSC Tournament Final
NCAA Tournament Games run from Nov. 12 to thenational final on Dec. 5 inLouisville, Ky.
LSC Tourney
Semifinals
LSC Tourney
Semifinals
Lions sophomore Rachel Robertson goes up to spike the ball.
A&M-Commerce senior Chelsey Haight tries to run with the ball away from a defender during their final home match last Sunday afternoon.
