Podcast

News p. 2 Features p. 4 Opinion p. 5This

WeekHolocaust victims to share their stories

Pop music alternative class for basic

performing arts credit

Editorial: Is it really cheaper for

students to rent?

Rambelles Track No. 1 in nation

theRAMPAGE

Sports p. 6

Weekend WeatherMix of partly cloudy and sunny for weekendFri. Hi 75, Lo 50Sat. Hi 79, Lo 57Sun. Hi 77, Lo 58

April 1-19, 2010 Holocaust Remembrance Art Exhibition in the UC Art Gallery from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday. Presented by the UCPC Art Committee

Photo Contest

Students vote for health fee increase, results showBy Leah Waters

Editor-in-Chief

Candidates for Student Body president and vice president will compete in a run-off election Tuesday and Wednesday after the e-mail ballots revealed no candidate won a majority of the votes.

Results from this week’s elections showed Travis Barnett and Mary Halcomb won 38.9 percent of the vote, and current president Jeff Harris and Justin Till 36.9 percent. Miguel Gomez and Cody Welch earned 22.1 percent of the vote with 2 percent going to write-in candidates.

Gomez and Welch con-ceded after hearing the re-sults. Harris and Till chose not to concede and are plan-ning to take on their oppo-nents in the run-off with the hopes of gaining the third-party votes.

“I think it’s a great demon-stration of all who came out to vote for the elections,” Bar-nett said.

Barnett said he is afraid many voters will not want to vote a second time.

“I’m encouraging every-one to vote again to have a say in the direction SGA takes,” Barnett said.

Harris said if not elected, he still plans to participate in student senate and stay involved in campus affairs.

“It could go either way,” Harris said. “It’s going to be an interesting race.”

Six-hundred and sixty-nine students voted for president and vice-presi-dent, which is about 10 percent of the student pop-ulation.

The ballots also re-vealed students support the $15 dollar Health Ser-vices Fee increase.

Fifty-five percent of students voted for the in-

crease and 45 percent voted against it.

If passed by the Board of

Regents at the May meeting, the fee will go into effect Fall 2010.

By Jessica ShepardStaff Writer

Students can rent textbooks beginning Fall 2010 from the cam-pus bookstore with a new program started by Follett Higher Education Group.

Currently, students only have two in-store options: buying a new or a used textbook.

The Rent-A-Text program is re-sponding to a growing need to ad-dress the rising cost of textbooks, especially in a down economy, said Greg Pecina, executive director of Business Services.

“With this new option,” Pecina said, “students will have a viable way of economizing on many of their book costs while still receiv-ing the support they rely on from the ASU Bookstore.”

The new rental program stipu-lates certain requirements for stu-dents:

Students must have a valid driver’s license for identification and provide collateral in the form of a credit card number to the bookstore.

Participants must have an e-mail or cell phone electronic mes-sage address so they can be re-minded when to return the book.

Participants must be 18 years old in order to sign a rental agree-ment or have their parents sign it.

Only certain textbooks are avail-able for the rental program.

“Not all courses and required texts will fit within the parameters of the program, but we will work with faculty to make certain as

many texts as possible will be avail-able for rental,” Pecina said, “Spe-cifically programs like science and health care where texts are pro-duced more frequently to maintain the timeliness of the information.”

Once the textbook is rented, students may write or highlight in them like a regularly purchased book.

Textbook rental fees are 50 per-cent the cost of the book, if it was purchased.

That 50 percent fee is based on the new or used condition of the purchased book.

For example, if a brand new gov-

ernment textbook costs $137.25 to buy, then to rent it would cost about $68.

However, Chegg.com, a book renting Web site, lists their book rental price for the same book at $42.23.

“The new book rental system doesn’t matter to me,” sophomore Erin Huffman said. “It’s still cheaper on Chegg.com and they plant trees to help the green movement.”

To date, Chegg.com has planted over 4,000 acres of trees.

With the Rent-A-Text program, if a student wants to keep the book they rented, a refund is issued for the rental fee and then the student will be charged the retail price of the book based on whether it was new or used at the time they rented it.

All rented books must be re-turned within seven working days after finals, or the rental is con-verted to a sale and charged to the student’s account.

Bookstore to offer rental program

Photo by Derek SmithFreshman Jessi England competed Wednesday night with her original song “Push” in UCPC’s annual talent show.

Contest Entry Name: __________________________________

Classifi cation: ___________________________

E-mail: _________________________________

Phone Number: __________________________

Name/Title of Photo/Illustration:_________________________________________

Circle One:

Campus Life Nature/Architecture Artistic Illustration Study Abroad

Each submission needs its own entry form. The deadline to submit an entry is Wednesday, April 21 at 5 p.m.Turn in with entry to the Ram Page offi ce, B324 on the third fl oor of the library

Life: In Focus

The Ram Page welcomes sub-missions for the LIFE: IN FOCUS PHOTO CONTEST from ASU students, faculty and staff.

The top two photographs in each category, which will be chosen by the staff judges, will be published Friday, April 30, in the final issue of the semester.

CATEGORIES:CAMPUS LIFE: Capture an image

of students, faculty or staff that illustrates some aspect of univer-sity life. The photo should not be staged or altered digitally with im-aging software.

NATURE/ARCHITECTURE: Capture an image of animals, plant life, scenery or architecture either on campus or in the San Angelo community.

ARTISTIC ILLUSTRATION: Create a graphic using digital editing soft-ware, or create an image of origi-nal work by hand. This includes a sketch drawing, painting, or any other form of artistic media.

STUDY ABROAD: Submit an image you have taken from an ASU study abroad program. Include the place and semester.

There is not a limit on how many submissions or categories a partici-pant can enter.

Three ways to submit an entry:1) E-mail to rampage@angelo.

edu2) Hand-deliver to the Ram Page

office B324 on the third floor of the library.

3) Mail entry to ASU Station #10895, San Angelo, TX 76909, Attn: Ram Page Newspaper.

New students coast in on Carr

Rallo , Page 3

Photo by Tim LesterTravis Barnett learened at 4:45 Wednesday that he and Mary Hal-comb reieved the most votes in the SGA elections, but would have to run-off due to no present majority.

Campus called to polls again

“With this new option, students will have a viable way of economiz-ing on many of their book costs while still receiving the support they rely on from the ASU Bookstore.”

—Greg Pecina, executive director of Business Services

By Jessica ShepardStaff Writer

Administrators met Monday with staff and faculty members to discuss current objectives, such as the Carr Scholarship changes and fu-ture goals for Angelo State.

“This presentation is about growth,” Dr. Limbaugh said. “How we can attain and main-tain growth and what that means for Angelo State.”

Carr ScholarshipVice President of Enrollment Management

Steven Klein explained the re-tooling of the Carr scholarships.

“We’ve done away with application dead-lines and multiple forms,” Kelin said. “We’ve also lowered the cap on the Carr scholarship.”

The Carr Academic scholarship tops out at $6,000 starting this fall instead of $10,000 like previous years.

There also is a “new” scholarship available to students: the Carr Merit scholarship.

Editorial: Is it really cheaper for

students to rent?

Rambelles Track No. 1 in nation

Friday, April 9, 2010 • Vol. 76 No. 24 • ASURAMPAGE.COM

The deadline to submit an entry is Wednesday, April 21 at 5 p.m.

Marcus Jordan won the Talent Show Wednesday night, taking home $500.

America’s Next Great Star

Page 3

Campus News Friday, April 9, 2010page 2

2 KNOW... if you’re pregnant... your options...without anyoneelse knowing

Freedom - Empowerment - Knowlegde

(325) 944-1515

Pregnancy Help Center4202 Sherwood Way

By Shamarian McCuen Contributing Writer

The 3rd annual Holocaust Remem-brance Week, lasting until April 19, will feature talks by descendents of Holocaust survivors, a photo exhibit of haunting images from the period and a special presentation of Steven Spielberg’s 1993 Oscar-winning movie “Schindler’s List.”

“Lives Remembered: Photographs of a Small Town in Poland, 1890- 1936,” a traveling exhibit of the Hous-ton Holocaust Museum, will be dis-played until April 19 in the gallery of the Houston Harte University Center.

Zalman Kaplan, a victim of the Holocaust, photographed the display that shows the haunting images of a Polish Community on the verge of an-nihilation.

The gallery will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The formal opening of the exhibit is from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., April 12, fol-lowed by Mike H. Marvins , the grand-son of Zalman Kaplan, speaking about his grandfather’s work at 6 p.m., in the West Texas Collection Gallery, on the second floor of the University Center.

“Mike and his dad, [Kaye Marvins], put [the exhibit] together to honor his grandfather,” Head of the West Texas Collection Suzanne Campbell said.

A free showing of “Schindler’s List” in UC 110/111, Wednesday, April 14, at 6 p.m., is based on the true story of World War II business man Oskar Schindler, who becomes an unlikely humanitarian amid the Nazi barba-rism by turning his factory into a ref-uge for Jews.

Dr. Al Goldfarb, the president of Western Illinois University and a lead-ing authority on the theatre of the Holocaust, is the son of a Holocaust

survivor and will speak Friday, April 16, in the C.J. Davidson Center at 5:30 p.m.

Goldfarb will talk on the horrors of the Holocaust and how they affected the offspring in the next generation.

He will speak to ASU history and drama classes, Honors students and students planning to study abroad in Germany.

“I am interested in seeing what [Goldfarb] says about the theatre,” Campbell said.

The Holocaust Remembrance is jointly sponsored by the Multicultural Center, West Texas Collection, Univer-sity Center Program Council and the Honors Program.

“I have not been to any of the ac-tivities in the past, but I will definitely check it out this year,” senior Vincent Perez said.

All activities are free and open to the public.

Images of a past Poland

Photo by xxx xxxCaption

By Travis LisleContributing Writer

The Center for Security Stud-ies, a new center on campus, will soon offer a Bachelor of Arts in International Cultural Fluency.

The degree will be available to non-military and military stu-dents alike, with a focus on the language, culture and traditions of the Middle East, Europe, Af-rica and China.

“The beauty of this program is that it is not classified,” Presi-dent Dr. Joseph C. Rallo said. “Four to 5 years from now, when this program is up and running, you’ll have a 19-year-old stu-dent sitting next to people who

have spent the last year in Af-ghanistan, so it’s a great thing, and they can benefit from each other.”

The CSS funding will be used to prepare offices and class-rooms in the Hardeman build-ing, as well as for technological improvements all over campus.

One of the improvements will be a massive upgrade to the planetarium in August.

“I wanted to have a ‘wow fac-tor’ when you come to campus, in terms of recruiting,” Rallo said. “We have a wonderful plan-etarium but the technology is re-ally outdated.”

A full overhaul of the plan-etarium will take place, and of-

fer IMAX-like features that can focus around any area of study, from Nursing to Geology.

Other improvements to the infrastructure are expected to follow or be completed in the

near future. Rallo hired ASU alumni Su-

san J. Williams March 26 as the Deputy Director of Security Studies.

“ASU graduates have to be prepared to compete and suc-ceed in a challenging global en-vironment,” Williams said. “No matter what students study, this environment is the most globalized to date.”

Williams, previously with Goodfellow Air Force Base, has received multiple awards for her past work including Air Edu-cation and Training Command’s Outstanding Intelligence, Con-tributor of the Year in 2003 and Surveillance and Reconnaissance

Civilian Contributor of the Year in 2007.

“I was looking for someone who had knowledge and intimate details, and demonstrated expe-rience in the intelligence world as far as building curriculum, understanding how the federal government works, understand-ing Goodfellow, working with faculty - and she’s been doing that for well over 10 years now,” Rallo said. “She was the perfect person for the job.”

Currently, the Hardeman Administration Building is un-dergoing the last of renovations that include creating offices for the CSS. The temporary CSS of-fices are at UC 106.

Center for Security Studies Funding

1) In November 2008, Pen-tagon officials awarded a $2.4 million Department of Defense grant to help fund the CSS.

2) President Rallo said that another $5 million will be re-ceived to aid CSS and technolog-ical programming each year.

Center to offer new cultural fluency degree

Changes on rise as university seeks more construction

By Jessica ShepardStaff Writer

John Russell, Director of Facilities Planning and Construction will host a series of forums about fu-ture university construction projects.

“All of the construction projects are based on the campus Master Plan of 2020,” Russell said.

There will be a brief discussion on the Mixed-Use Land Development project, Russell said.

According to Russell, it is important for stu-dents to attend the forums.

“They will learn what is happening on campus and what is coming up,” Russell said. “Some of the projects will not start until the summer, but will have an impact on the campus when the students return in the fall.”

One of these impacts will be the change of traf-fic flow.

“All of this will be discussed during the fo-rums,” Russell said.

Both forums take place on April 13 in the Hon-ors Lounge of the Junell Center.

The campus forum will start at 3 p.m. followed by a 7 p.m. community forum.

Photo by Tim LesterThe Holocaust Remembrance photo exhibit in the UC Art Gallery displays the lives and stories of hundreds of citizens from Poland. This traveling photo exhibit features the photo’s of Zalman Kaplan, a victim of the holocaust.

Campus NewsFriday, April 9, 2010 page 3

Go to www.angelo.edu/gradschool

Why Not

Grad School?

ASUCollege of

GRADUATE STUDIES

ASU

Apply Now!(It’s not too late)

Graduation?

Have any plans after

If you’re graduating in May, August, or December...

Continued from Page 1

“The Carr Merit scholarship replaces the Special Academic scholarship,” Klein said, “and is available to more students.”

The Carr Merit Scholarship can be awarded without the Carr Academic scholarship and all disciplines are eligible for it.

FundsCurrently, there is $4 million

in a total deficit of the ASU fund balance.

Vice President Sharon Meyer presented an outline to solve the deficit problem for the next two years.

“All of this is based on growth,” Meyer said. “If we don’t grow, we can’t change the prob-lem.”

Information Technology ex-penses will be re-allocated from the fund balance to a separate

account based off of federal funding.

“We are also looking at one-time fixes like re-directing funds from an endowment account and taking the rest of this year’s fund balance and applying it to the deficit,” Meyer said. “Keep in mind, these are one-time fixes and once we do them, they can’t be done again.”

President Dr. Joseph C. Rallo discussed two main sources of obtaining funds.

“For every 500 new students

we get, ASU earns $5.2 mil-lion and since we instituted the structural enhancement or SCH fee, we earn $1.8 million,” Rallo said.

RetentionRallo is predicting 6,800 stu-

dents for Fall 2010 semester. He gave an overview of the

two “Rs” that sparked the dis-cussion about growth.

“The two ‘Rs’ are Recruitment and Retention,” Rallo said, “and some of the things we are doing

now will get us to where we need to go—our goal of 10,000 stu-dents by 2020.”

The president pointed out that ASU has three programs of distinction.

“We have three areas of edu-cation where we can compete with any one of our peers,” Rallo said. “Agriculture, Nursing and Educator preparation.”

But, that isn’t enough, Rallo said, adding that demographics in West Texas are against ASU and the university needs to re-cruit other students.

Cohn and Wolfe, a firm in Austin, were commissioned to find out a new way to market ASU.

“What we need is name rec-ognition in larger population centers,” Rallo said. “Places like Dallas, San Antonio, Houston and Austin.”

Rallo said that the new

mixed-use development land lease, construction projects and the Center for Security Studies “should” help draw students in as well.

“The land on Knickerbocker will be like a portal to ASU, as well as generate some revenue for us, and help us move further towards our goal of being a resi-dential campus,” Rallo said.

Current objectives for the 2010-2011 year include recog-nition as a Hispanic Serving In-stitute, facilities construction, academic advising and tutoring centers, the Center for Security studies and change in recruit-ing.

“We need to focus on stu-dents in high school with an ACT between 21-24 or in the top 15-25 percent of their class,” Rallo said. “These will ratchet up the overall quality of our students as a whole.”

Rallo predicts 6,800 for 2010 Fall semester

Rammy’s awards Organization AwardsDelta Zeta won the Dr. E. James Hindman AwardAlpha Phi Omega won the Outstanding Community Service AwardLambda Chi Alpha won the Most Spirited Organization AwardDelta Zeta won Outstanding Leadership on Campus AwardCircle K won the Rising Ram AwardASA won the Outstanding Multicultural Award

Organization of the Year by Category AwardsRams for Christ won the Religious Organization of the YearDelta Zeta won the Greek Social Organization of the YearBass Anglers won the Special Interest Organization of the YearTri Beta won the Academic Organization of the Year

Individual AwardsIsabell Carillo of AMAS won the Promising Leader of the Year Roselee Wilson of AMAS won Quiet Influence Dr. Mark Crouch won the Advisor of the Year

America’s Next Great Star

Eleven contestants competed Wednesday to be America’s Next Great Star . Marcus Jordan won first place, which included $500 and a video of his performance sent to talent scouts around the country. Second place went to Alicia Powell, who received $200; third place went to Starla Early, who received $100.

Photo By Tim Lester

Several student organizations and individuals received awards at the Rammy’s Thursday night. The winners follow.

“For every 500 new students we get, ASU earns $5.2 million and since we instituted the structural enhancement or SCH fee, we earn $1.8 million.”

—President Joseph C. Rallo

Have complaints, criticism or comments?

Comment online at asurampage.com OR send a Letter to the Editor at rampage.angelo.edu.

Features Friday, April 9, 2010page 4

By Leah WatersEditor-in-Chief

Students looking to fulfill their visual and performing arts credit can learn about

American Popular Music for a three-hour, mini-mester class May 14-28.

The class takes an in-depth look at popular music at different time periods in American history, such as the waltzes of the late 1800s to the rock’n’roll of the 1980s.

“It’s a popular subject that people are in-terested in taking,” said Dr. John Irish, assis-tant professor of Music. “When we get into the last few chapters, we get into music and artists they enjoy.”

Irish has taught the class for seven years and said this is a good chance for students to get the credits they need in a short amount of time.

“They [students] do pretty well in this class,” Irish said. “The grades in this class al-ways come out pretty successful.”

Kristin Stanley, lecturer in the Department of Communication, Mass Media and Theatre, audited the class last year and said she enjoyed learning so much in just two weeks.

“I can’t say enough about how wonderful and meaningful the class was to do it justice,” Stanley said. “John is such an amazing and talented teacher, and I learned so much from the class.”

Students should expect a lot of read-ing and listening to music, Irish said, as the textbook comes with a three CDs of pop hits.

“I gained a new understanding and appre-ciation of how music shaped American culture and how American culture shaped music,” Stanley said.

The students will also get to hear either a jazz combo or big band performance one day during the course.

“It gives them a chance to see and hear the things we talk about in class,” Irish said.

Irish said students will also study the so-cial, cultural and political changes during spe-cific times.

“That all affects music,” Irish said. “It’s all intertwined.”

Students will also research and write a paper over a group or artist and present their findings on the last day of class.

“If you can hang in 11 days, you really do learn a lot and cover a lot of ground,” Irish said.

Mini-mester explores American pop music

“I gained a new understanding and appreciation of how music shaped American culture and how American culture shaped music.”

—Kristin StanleyLecturer who took the class

Photo courtesy of Dr. John IrishProfessor of Music Dr. John Irish, who has taught the American Popular Music class for seven years, said students generally do very well in this 11-day, intensive course.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

In the wake of a tragic accident, Sean Carter

has become a true Texas phenomenon. He

and his mother, Jenny, have a powerful and

frank message about the circumstances and

choices Sean made that placed him in a

wheelchair, unable to walk or talk.

But, their story does not stop there. They share

the life they lead now, and share the faith and

purpose that have allowed them to move from

victims to victors!

“Our goal is to touch lives with encouragement

that you can overcome obstacles with faith and

perseverance; to talk to people about living

with the consequences of your actions; to

share our story of the effects of alcohol and

driving; and to address (and overcome)

obstacles to living in a wheelchair when

you can’t talk!”

College of Nursingand Allied Health

A-B Distributing Co.

Intensive Spanish I and IITaught by David A. FaughtJune 1-July 1Monday - Friday8 a.m.-11:45 a.m.

Public SpeakingTaught by Dr. Shawn WahlJune 1-July 1Monday - Friday10 a.m.-11:45 a.m.Half online/Half face-to-face

Acting ITaught by Dr. William M. DollJune 1-July 1Monday- FridayNoon-1:45 p.m.

Readings in World LiteratureTaught by Dr. Chris ElleryJune 1-July 1Monday - Friday10 a.m.-11:45 a.m.

History of the United States to 1865Taught by Dr. John KlingemannJune 1-July 1Monday - FridayNoon-1:45 p.m.

College AlgebraTaught by Dr. John “Trey” SmithJune 1-July 1Monday - Friday8 a.m. -9:45 a.m.

Some Summer I classes offered:

Log-on to your RamPort to access all the course listings for summer and fall.

Opinions Friday, April 9, 2010page 5

R A M P A G EStaff

2009-2010A n g e l o S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y

Editor: Leah WatersManaging Editor: Scott DykowskiCopy Editor: Amanda RazaniSports Editor: Michael Whitson Photo Editor: Tim Lester Photographer: Derek Smith Online Editor: Jessica Limbaugh Cartoonist: Jeremy JonesStaff Writer: Jessica ShepardCirculation Manager: Jim WatersAdvertising Manager: Grant Hill Adviser: Dr. Cathy Johnson

Ram PageASU Station #10895San Angelo, Texas

76909-0895 Editor: rampage@angelo.edu

Managing Editor: rampagenews@angelo.eduFeatures Editor: rampagefeatures@angelo.edu

Advertising: rampageads@angelo.edu

Editor: (325) 942-2323Newsroom: (325) 942-2134Advertising: (325) 942-2040

Fax: (325) 942-2551

Member ofThe Texas Tech University System

Associated Collegiate PressTexas Intercollegiate Press Association

PUBLISHING POLICYPublished every Friday and available to students, one copy per student, the student newspaper of Angelo State University is a public forum, with its student editorial board making all deci-sions concerning its contents. Unsigned editorials express the views of the majority of the editorial board.Ram Page welcomes all letters. Please include your name, classification/position and a phone number and/or e-mail ad-dress for verification purposes. Letters must be signed and be no more than 350 words. The paper reserves the right to edit letters for grammar and clarity, and all letters are subject to laws governing obscenity, libel and privacy. Deadline is 5 p.m., Mon-day. Submission does not guarantee publication. Letters may be mailed, e-mailed or submitted at the newspaper’s office, Room 324 on the third floor of the Porter Henderson Library. Opinions in letters are not necessarily those of the staff, nor should any opinion expressed in a public forum be construed as the opinion or policy of the administration, unless so attributed.

Sidewalk Survey

?campusontalk the

What’s Comment with your thoughts on the SGA elections &

other issues at www.asurampage.com

A Bowlful of CollegeBy Jeremy Jones

F

“Don’t wash money down the drain.”

JOIN THE CONVERSATION,

ASURAMPAGE.COM GIVE YOUR OPINION AT

cheaperreally

Is it

iPad camera conondrumNaomi Knudsen

By Anthony ValvaContributing Writer

Well it is finally here. No, not “Hel-lo Kitty: Island Adventure” for the PSP. It’s the iPad. Some people are going in-sane over it. Others think it’s a waste of money. I think it’s cool. Next week I’ll be writing a formal review of the iPad. All the ins and outs and my bottom line ver-dict of the machine. This week I want to talk about a problem that everyone has with the iPad: the lack of a camera. The iPhone and practically every cell phone on the market now has a camera, so why does one of the cutting edge tech prod-ucts on the market lack one?

Well have no fear because one of the cool features of the iPad is tethering it to your iPhone via Bluetooth. Tethering is when you connect your iPhone to your iPad wirelessly to achieve one goal. So I ran across this app on the App Store that can fix our camera problem. All you need to do is download the “Camera A” and “Camera B” apps to your iPad and

iPhone, re-spectively. Let it be known that the “Cam-era A” app will cost you a buck but the “Camera B” app is free. Another thing is this will only work on

the iPhone 3GS. Once you downloaded the apps, enable Bluetooth on both de-vices and, ta-da.

You can now use your iPhone as a wireless camera for your iPad.

You can take pictures and save them to the internal memory of the iPad by simply tapping the camera icon on the bottom of the iPad.

But how does this work? Well basi-cally the iPad app is mirroring your iPhone’s display. So, in an ironic twist, you are basically turning your iPad into a giant iPhone. Oh the chuckles to be had.

inally the school has given stu-dents another option for getting textbooks at an affordable price. The new Rent-a-Text program through the bookstore will allow students to rent their books for

about 50 percent of the cost. But is this really saving the students the

most money? We think not, for a couple of reasons.

We believe students can find the cheap-est deals for textbooks using online resources like Amazon, Half.com, Ebay and Chegg.com.

If students take the initiative early and order from the Internet, they could potential-ly pay hundreds of dollars less than if they bought or rented through the bookstore.

The bookstore also follows a policy to buy back books, but for less than the price stu-dents initially pay.

Selling books back online remains an op-tion for any student, no matter what option they choose – and allows them to sell it for the price of their choice.

Logically, students spend less money, or possibly even make money, if they buy online,

and then sell online. We are glad the university is providing

other options for students, especially those who don’t want to buy.

But it comes right down to who offers the lowest price—and Rent-A-Text program can’t compete with the online prices.?

What do you think about the services at the Health Center?

“I’ve never been, so I can’t say. But I like having the option.”

Carly Woodwardfreshman

“Been there once, and I would say they did an excel-lent job.”Nathan Burdittsenior

“It’s a good source to use when you need a refill on medication.”Caleb Hudspethsophomore

“I’ve never been there.”

Soyun Choifreshman

OPINION BY RAM PAGE STAFF PHOTO BY TIM LESTER

68%

21%

11%

68% Overall, I am not happy with the bill and what it does for me.21% Overall, I am pleased with the bill and what it does for me.11% I agree with some parts of the bill and disagree on other points.

How do you feel about the Health Care Bill?

Examples of price listingsEnvironment (Biology 1411) New: $137.75 Used: $103.50 New Rental: $68.88 Used Rental: $51.75 Amazon: $52 Chegg: $44.92

American Government (2301) New: $137.25 New Rental: $68.63 Amazon: $85.90 Chegg: $36.71

for studentsto rent

*used option not listed

Sports Friday, April 9, 2010page 6

By Michael WhitsonSports Editor

The Angelo State track and field teams dominate the first national poll of the season an-nounced on Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Assosciation.

Debuting at No.1, the Ram-belles have powered their way to being a favorite for the Na-tional Championship, with seven of the top marks in the country this year.

“I think we are all really ex-cited about it,” senior Andria Nussey said. “Its something we have all been working on since September.

“After last year’s excitement at the end of the season, its real-ly nice to be up there again with another chance to come through and maybe be national champi-ons.”

Senior Aisha Adams has the top marks in the heptathlon, long jump and high jump.

Senior Celethia Byrd leads the 200 and 400 meters, as well as being a member of the 4x400 meter relay squad that owns the fastest time in NCAA Division II this season.

Another member of that squad and fellow senior Nussey is the top performer in the 800 meters, after setting a new school record with a time of 2:09.51.

“I wasn’t expecting to shave that much time off of it,” Nussey said, turning in a time almost five seconds faster than her for-mer personal best of 2:13. “All I can say is the conditions were perfect and I have been work-ing for something like this for the past four years. Right place, right time.”

The ’Belles are not the only Angelo State squad making noise in the nation this season.

The Rams are the No.5-ranked team in the country, based on performances they have turned in to this point in the year.

“Its exciting to see the men up there at fifth,” head coach James Reid said. “I think any-time any of our teams can get up in the national poll, that’s good exposure for the university and the community.”

The Rams are the top Lone Star Conference team appearing in the poll, with Abilene Chris-tian at No. 9, Tarleton State No. 14 and No. 25 Texas A&M-Kings-ville.

Junior Tyler Orlando and the 4x400 meter relay team have al-

ready automatically qualified for the national meet this season.

The Rams have seven other provisional qualifying times.

Both teams will be in action at the 38th Annual David Noble / ASU Relays being held at the Le-Grand Sports Complex through Saturday.

“I think we will see several of the conference teams here,” Reid said of the Noble Relays. “It tra-ditionally is a really good meet.”

Nussey, who will be compet-ing in her fourth Noble Relays, is excited heading into the event.

“I’m pretty sure we will be seeing some qualifying marks for the meet,” Nussey said.

Track teams top national poll

Photo by Kimberley ParkerThe Rambelles debuted at No. 1 in the first NCAA Division II National Team Rankings released on Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Last season the ’Belles narrowly missed a National Championship, finishing as the runner-up at the National Meet.

Courtesy of ASU Sportsand Information

The No. 8-ranked Angelo State softball team (31-6, 6-2 LSC South) wrapped up its weekend series with West Texas A&M Sat-urday with a 5-0 loss at the ASU Softball Complex.

Freshman Kacie Easley got the Ram-belle’s first hit of the game with one out in the first frame, but WTAMU’s Marci Womack then retired 12 straight Ram-belles before ASU got a second base run-ner in the fifth inning. Freshman Chelsey Walters became the second ASU hitter to reach base thanks to an error by the Lady Buffs, but ASU was able to take advantage of the miscue.

The Lady Buffs (30-13, 6-3 LSC South) tallied the first run of the game in the top of the sixth inning when Kim LeComte had a one-out triple to right field and later scored on a bloop-single by Kristina Myles three batters later to give WTAMU a 1-0 lead.

The Lady Buffs added four runs on four hits and a sacrifice fly to lead off the top of the seventh to pull away for their second win over ASU in three days.

ASU loaded bases with one out in the bottom of the seventh as the Rambelles at-tempted to rally, but a double play ended the game and handed ASU its first shutout loss of the season.

Senior right-hander Chelsea Nelson (17-4) was handed her second loss of the weekend as she gave up five earned runs on 10 hits in 6.1 innings of work.

Nelson recorded four strikeouts and issued two walks in her third start of the series.

Senior right-hander April Haywood re-corded final two outs of the seventh with a strikeout and a walk. Easley, along with four teammates, went 1-for-3 in the loss.

Womack (11-6) picked up her second win of the weekend as she scattered five hits and struck out three Rambelles with-out issuing a walk in a complete-game out-ing.

The Rambelles split a double-header Wednesday with St. Edwards; they meet up Friday with Abilene Christian for an LSC showdown.

Rambelles drop WT series

Angelo State 31-6 6-2West Texas A&M 32-13 6-3

Texas A&M – Kingsville 18-16 6-3

Texas Woman’s 26-13 4-2

Tarleton State 18-17 3-3

Abilene Christian 16-23 1-5

Eastern New Mexico 10-30 0-8

Lone Star ConferenceSouth Division Standings

Overall Conf.

By Michael WhitsonSports Editor

The Angelo State Rams baseball team has won five out of their last six games as they gain ground in the Lone Star Con-ference post-season race.

“It definitely feels good to get back on track,” senior Chris Adamson said. “It was just little things we were doing wrong at the first of the year, not execut-ing like we’re capable of.”

With the top six teams in the LSC advancing to the LSC Tournament, the Rams have positioned themselves into fourth place during the stretch.

Adamson and his teammates have scored 70 runs in their last six, averag-ing over 11 runs per contest.

“To be honest, you want to be peak-ing in the back half of the year and I think that is what we are doing,” Adam-son said. “We still just have to take it one game at a time and get to that confer-ence tournament.

“There is no doubt in my mind we’re going to run through it and win that and go from there. I’m looking forward to it.”

The Rams swept Southeastern Okla-homa April 16-17, collecting their first four-game sweep of the season.

Head coach Kevin Brooks is pleased with the recent results.

“We’re finally playing hard,” Brooks said. “There are still a lot of things we need to get better at, but we’re playing hard. That’s the big thing.”

Adamson feels the biggest factor as the Rams head towards the post-season has been a surge in the team’s confi-dence.

“You obviously learn from mistakes and I think earlier in the year we weren’t doing that so well,” Adamson said. “If we fall behind now, we believe in ourselves more, that we have the ability to come from behind and overcome anything that gets thrown at us.”

Friday the Rams open a four-game se-ries with East Central at Foster Field.

The series is a very important one for Brooks and the Rams as they look to continue their rise in the standings and solidify a tournament berth.

Holding a one-game advantage over Texas A&M-Kingsville and Eastern New Mexico, and just two games ahead of Tarleton State, the Rams can separate themselves from the pack with a good showing in the series.

With little room remaining for error, the Rams have picked up the intensity that lacked in the first half of the sea-son.

Brooks, who had remained confident in his team’s ability, is glad to see it.

“I think that has been the missing in-gredient. They definitely didn’t play with a sense of urgency during the first half of the year. I think now they realize this is the time.”

“They’re good,” Brooks said. “If you’re good you know it, if you’re not good you know that too. Deep down they know they’re good.”

Abilene Christian 34-8 21-7

Cameron 23-12 21-9

Southeastern Okla 25-15 20-10

Angelo State 24-19 17-15 Texas A&M - Kingsville 20-21 16-16

Eastern New Mexico 18-20 16-16

Tarleton State 18-20 15-17

Southwestern Okla 19-20 13-16

Northeastern State 15-24 13-19

West Texas A&M 15-16 9-16

East Central 9-20 8-16

Central Oklahoma 11-21 8-20

Overall Conf.

Lone Star Conference

Rams gain ground in LSC race

Photo by Kimberley ParkerSenior Chris Adamson and the Rams charge ahead in their quest for the LSC tournament.

By Austin MillerContributing Writer

The Rambelle golf team finished in first place in the Pepsi Lion Invitational held March 15-16 at Tanglewood Resort in Pottsboro.

In less than two years after its forma-tion, the ‘Belles have molded themselves into one of the top teams in the nation.

The ‘Belles, currently ranked 18th in the nation, are 2nd in the NCAA DII West region rankings.

The top nine teams from the region qualify for the regional tournament.

While the ‘Belles are sitting safely at the top now, they know their work is not done yet.

The ‘Belles will compete in the Coca-Cola Invitational hosted April 12-13 by Tarleton State.

“We have to do good there to get a re-gional bid,” sophomore Megan Cisneroz said.

Tarleton State, currently ranked 5th in the nation and 1st in the West Region, will be looking for revenge at their home

course this time around as they were beaten by ASU when the ‘Belles played host back in October.

“Tarleton is our biggest competitor,” Cisneroz said.

With the growth of the program comes change.

Throughout the previous two seasons, the ‘Belles have been coached by volun-teers Jason Hase and Jimmy Tidwell.

Both are PGA golf pros and helpful in bringing the team to national promi-nence in such a short time.

After this year, the ‘Belles head coach will be Dr. Kathleen Price. Price, an avid golfer, will be able to support the ‘Belles academically, as well as on the links.

Hase and Tidwell will continue to help Rambelle golfers on a daily basis but will be greatly aided in recruiting, as Price will be able to make more recruiting trips than were possible before.

The ‘Belles will be traveling to Gran-bury April 12-13 for the Coca Cola Invi-tational, their last tournament before the Lone Star Conference Championships on April 18-20 in Thackerville, Oklahoma.

Photo courtesy ASU Sports and InformationSophomore Megan Cisneroz tees off at the ASU Make Up. The team placed first in the event.

No 18 ’Belles prepare for LSC Championships

RUNNING PRELIMS12:30:100 meter hurdles (w)110 meter hurdles (m)1500 meters400 meters (w/m)100 meters (w/m)400 meter hurdles (w/m)200 meters (w/m)800 meters RUNNING

FINALS5:10: 400 meter relay (w/m) 5:25: 3000 meter steeple-chase (m)5:45: 1500 meter run (w/m)6:05: 100 meter hurdles (w)6:15: 110 meter hurdles (m)6:25: 3000 meter steeple-chase (w)6:45: 400 meters (w/m)6:55: 100 meters (w/m)

7:05:800 meters (w/m)7:20: 400 meter hurdles (w/m)7:35: 200 meters (w/m)7:50: 5000 meters (w)8:15: 5000 meters (m)8:35: 1600 me-ter relay (w/m) FIELD EVENTS12:30: Ham-mer (w)Long Jump (w)1:00:Javelin (w)

2:00: Pole Vault (w)Hammer (m) 2:30: Long Jump (m)3:00:Javelin (m)3:30: Shot Put (w)4:00: Discus (m) (w)High Jump (w)Pole Vault (m)Triple Jump (w)5:30: Shot Put (m)6:30: Triple Jump (m)7:00: High Jump (m)