The Wichitan - Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls Texas

MIDWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY | November, 10, 2004

NEWS

Whizzes Compete in Sport of Minds
Paige Dickerson | News Editor

Ron Bailey, last year’s top scorer at the regional tournament, took first place at the College Bowl tournament Sunday with an average of 70.6 points per game and 235 more points than the second place scorer, Britton Sauerbrei who had an average of 41.3 points per game.
Bailey played on the English Club team who took first place in the tournament. Humanists took second place with Sauerbrei on the team. Third place player went to Dustin Wyatt, from the Litwrites’s team. with 210 points and an average of 26.3 points per game.
Sauerbrei and Bailey are the only two returning players to the varsity College Bowl team.
“We only have the two returning players this year, but there were several guys we saw this year that would really round out the team,” Farris said.
The regional tournament will take place Feb. 19 at Texas A&M University. At last year’s tournament MSU competed against Baylor, University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and Louisiana State University in the playoffs.
“There are typically around 15 schools there. We have been doing pretty well the past couple years. Last year we made the top four play off,” Farris said.
Although MSU did not advance past the regional tournament, Bailey snagged the top player of the tournament.
“Ron pretty much lives this stuff,” Farris said.
Players who were in the top 10 or 12 at MSU’s College Bowl will fill the other three spots.
“A lot of it will depend on who is available to go out of town that weekend,” Farris said.
Farris said some of the weaknesses of the team could be in sports and science trivia. He will finish choosing the team sometime around the end of the semester, he said.
As a practice round for the students selected for the varsity college bowl team, a competition will be held shortly before the regional tournament where the students will compete against professors.
“We normally do that about a week before the tournament so it will be sometime around Valentines Day. It really just depends on when
people are free,” Farris said.

Raising Money for Annual Find tests students' Phone Skills
Kelen Tubbs | For the Wichitan

It’s 5 p.m. on a Tuesday afternoon and several students sit in the library with books sprawled out along the tables, frantically searching for the information they need to finish tomorrow’s five-page term paper or to get a head start on next week’s advanced calculus exam.
Any way you look at it, they all came to work.
Making the rounds through the dully-lit floors of the library reveals more groups of students. The guy in the corner has fallen asleep from exhaustion while trying unsuccessfully to read Goeffrey Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales.” And a group of girls in their second year sit at the table to the right of the children’s literature section. Instead of getting their voice and diction assignment done, they’re catching up on today’s juicy gossip about how Justin caught Lisa making out with Brian while her boyfriend Heath sat in his Ancient Greece and Rome history class.
Any way you look at it, they too, all came to work.
Nestled in the back hallway of the third floor, however, is a completely different group of students who came to work. And they, unlike the rest, are getting paid to be there.
Their room is filled with vibrant-colored posters and fluorescent lighting.   Eight phones sit at two tables waiting to be put to use. Four clocks hang on the wall farthest from the door, each a different U.S. time zone. This enables the callers to know the time of the person they are calling. They are told not to call after 9 p.m. in each time zone.
Seven students eagerly await instruction from Kristal Amador, director of the MSU Annual Fund.
The mission: start by calling the parents of beginning freshman and ask for donations to one of the many designations of the annual fund.
Tonight is junior T.J. Brown’s first night. He begins with a little one-on-one instruction from Amador and then begins to “role play” with senior Jennifer Rye. He calls, and Rye pretends to be a parent. Brown slowly goes through the several steps he has read about on the brightly colored sheet that lays in front of him. The “parent” reacts just as one is expected to. She asks many questions and allows Brown to get a feel for what he is supposed to say and just exactly how to say it. Then he drops the bombshell.
“Would you like to donate $500 to the MSU annual fund?” he asks. Rye replies that she can’t afford that much while footing the bill for her daughter’s tuition. Brown retrenches by lowering the donation and telling her about the monthly payment plan.
While this is happening, sophomore TaRhanda Harper rolls her eyes while on the phone with a parent.
“She wanted more to talk than to listen to what I had to say. It was basically concerns about financial aid,” Harper said. The woman on the other end of the line began crying. “She was saying that her son they needed $1,000 or something like that and she had five kids, and was living paycheck to paycheck.” She directed the worried mother to financial aid and told her that her son might be eligible for grants or some form of assistance.
Harper had gotten more than she bargained for, but was able to stay calm and help the mom. She went beyond the duties of her assigned job.
Sitting at the table directly behind Harper are freshmen Valerie Mason and Darla Gulley and junior Jenna Henley.    Mason recalls being nervous during her first call. She is still nervous but she has learned to quickly disregard her feelings and make the calls.
“I’m nervous, just not as much as I was on the first night,” she said. “No one has hung up on me yet. I’ve just gotten a lot of no’s.”
Hearing the word “hangup,” Harper quickly chimes in with her two cents. “Hangup’s are the worst kind of rejection you can probably get,” she says.
The others agree and soon get back to two-inch thick stack of parents’ information sheets they will try to work through before the night is over.
Amador says that those people who do hang up get shuffled back into the pile and will likely be called once again in the spring.
The students finish their shift and leave the brightly hued room, only to return to the darkness of the rest of the library at 10 p.m. The crowds who were there when they arrived have dwindled. They are now replaced with a few stragglers who came to the refuge of the library to cram for their 8 a.m. test or to check out the book they have read for their 9 a.m. Shakespeare class. These students came to do a rushed rendition of work.
The students of the phone-a-thon however, are done with work and are ready for a little play or bed.

Board of Regents hear Proposals for Greek Housing
Carolyn Knothe | Staff Reporter

If proposals made at last week's Board of Regents meeting come to pass, the housing landscape at MSU may soon be changing.
The Board agreed to let the planning and development of new Greek housing on campus began, as well as a walking bridge and new apartments on the south side of campus.
"There's a lot involved with design and planning," Danny Reddick, MSU Director of Housing and Residence Life, said. "So we were given the go-ahead to do the planning."
Although much is still up in the air, Reddick said apartments on the south side of campus, across Midwestern Parkway, were probably going to be constructed.
"We have to let Pierce (Hall) open up and look at the numbers, look at demand," he said. "But they'll probably be much like Sunwatcher."
The Housing Office and Student Development, who has paired with Housing for the project, must first evaluate how many students want on-campus housing to be certain that the new housing will be filled. Numbers will be provided to the Board of Regents to chart how quickly Pierce and Killingsworth Halls fill up.
"Our goal is to give housing to every student that wants housing," said Matt Park, Assistant Director of Housing. "We hope to bring the brand-new buildings at only a 3 percent increase in cost, which is very affordable compared to other state schools. But the rooms must be full to meet the cost of rent."
Reddick said Housing doesn't receive any state funding and is self-sustaining. The office meets its monetary requirements with the room and board it collects. Therefore, the prospective construction will not have any affect on university tuition.
"Funding will come from privatized housing," Reddick said.
Also proposed at the meeting was a walking bridge from the main campus to the area where the Outdoor Recreation building now stands. If all goes as planned, the new apartments and recreation center will be built in that area.
"We started talking about a walking bridge when we started talking about developing South Campus," Reddick said. "It's a safety concern because of the amount of traffic on Midwestern Parkway."
Safety was also a reason for the proposed Greek housing on campus. Currently, the Greek organizations that own houses are off-campus in neighborhoods that are not as safe as campus.
"It's a major concern for the university," said Reddick. "We are able to provide better security on campus."
Reddick said that although the buildings have not yet been designed, other schools' Greek houses have been examined.
"Probably what fits our system the best is a town home system; each one a separate home or each one connected by a stairwell or something similar," he said. "The chapter room usually is on the first floor, with however many upper floors that are needed having separate rooms."
These projects will open, at the earliest, in time for the Fall 2006 semester. Construction is tentatively scheduled to start in August 2005.
Although those dates seem far-off, one construction project has already begun and should wrap-up in less than a year.
Pierce Hall, which is undergoing renovations, is scheduled to re-open for the Fall 2005 semester. Park said students should expect major changes.
"It will have private community baths, when before it was big community bathrooms, because students want more privacy," he said. "It's identical to Killingsworth in room shape-kind of like a Z and gives residents what we call 'separation of space.' They can put dividers up between sleeping areas for extra privacy."
Pierce will become more handicap-accessible, with wider doorways, level floors and specially-equipped restrooms. Although it doesn't have an elevator, the necessary facilities like bathrooms and kitchens will be on the first floor.
It was also designed, as Park said, "with freshmen men in mind." A second-floor lounge is planned to have a pool table, foosball table and possibly even air hockey.
"We made Killlingsworth more visually appealing," Park said. "But Pierce is guys-they don't need knickknacks."

Author Speaks to Students about Alcohol
Tawana Prevost | For The Wichitan

Alcohol impairs men’s ability to have erections and women’s ability to have orgasms.
If you didn’t know this, you should have come to the presentation “Beer, Booze and Books” at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in Comanche Suites.
Jim Matthews, author of “Beer, Booze and Books,” began by assuring students he would not be judgmental. He would instead “inform and entertain.”
The first slide of his presentation read: “We learn about drinking at an early age.” Matthews illustrated this with laughter-provoking clips from Walt Disney’s “Sleeping Beauty” and “Beauty and the Beast.”
He then showed classic and never-before-seen Budweiser frog commercials, to call attention to how entertaining advertisements make alcohol seem.
He explained that many teenagers and young adults drink to appear older and more attractive. According to his research, 10 percent of eighth graders, 20 percent of tenth graders and 31 percent of twelfth graders get drunk at least once a month.
Most of the guys in the room were shocked to learn that wine coolers, the ladies’ drink of choice, have higher alcohol content than the average beer.
“A six pack of beer is equivalent to a four pack of wine coolers,” Matthews said.
He also jokingly referred to fortified wines as the “good shit.”
Students were just as surprised to hear that carbonated alcoholic drinks like champagne “go to your head faster” than non-carbonated alcohol.
He continued by describing the negative consequences of alcohol abuse including sexual assault, alcohol poisoning, blackouts and hangovers.
He ended the presentation on a positive note.
“Many people say they drink because there is nothing else to do,” Matthews said. But instead of drinking, he encouraged students to help out others and to volunteer.
And as the lights came on the last screen flashed: “College is the best time of your life—don’t let it ruin the rest of your life.”

25 Districts Participate in Education Job Fair
Jo Ann L. Nance | For the Wichitan

More than 25 Texas school districts were represented from around the state at MSU’s semi-annual Education Career Fair.
In addition to Texas districts there was also a representative from Chickasha, Okla. in attendance. The fair was held last Thursday and was deemed a success by students and employers alike.
“The employers were very pleased to see not only the graduating seniors, but also the students who will be coming up in the spring and next year as well,” said Stephanie Sullivan, college coordinator at the Career Management Center.
     Education career fairs are particularly beneficial in helping students locate jobs throughout the state of Texas. Recruiters at the fair competed for the students’ attention by posting salary and benefit information. Information on mentor and induction programs the districts offer was also available and is considered by most recruiters to be the key component in keeping teachers on the job.
     “Before the MSU/WF ISD Mentoring Project our retention rate was around 80 percent, but now it is in the upper nineties,” Sherri Lane, teacher mentor coordinator said.     The Wichita Falls ISD participates this mentoring program which is 75 percent funded by a grant from the West Foundation. The program pairs first and second-year teachers with experienced teachers. The mentor teachers are there to support the new teachers and help ensure a successful transition into the classroom. “We monitor second-year novices to make sure they are growing professionally and developing skills in the classroom,” Lane said.
     The program is in its third year and 175 mentor teachers have been trained. Currently there are 63 mentor teachers working in a one-on-one basis with first-year teachers in the Wichita Falls ISD, according to Lane.
     Districts at the fair posting offerings of more competitive salary and benefits packages drew longer lines of students than the lower paying districts. The Mesquite ISD, which offers a starting salary of $37,100 for a teacher with a bachelor’s degree, had a steady stream of future teachers all day. The district, which is located on the eastern edge of the Dallas/Fort Worth area, offers additional benefits to its staff including a stipend of $5000 for teachers to obtain their master’s degree. According to Mary Randall, director of personnel services, the Mesquite ISD requires all of their teachers to have their master’s by the end of 10 years, so they offer to help pay for it. A Mesquite ISD teacher with a master’s degree is paid $1,500 per year more than a teacher with a bachelor’s degree. In addition, they offer professional development courses on-site in the evenings and during the summer, and pay the staff $7 per hour to attend.
     The Mesquite ISD is seeing teacher shortages in the areas of foreign language and bilingual education. Bilingual education helps students with a limited proficiency in English master the state curriculum by teaching in both Spanish and English.
     “Bilingual students are on the rise in our district,” Randal said. The Mesquite ISD pays a $3,000 stipend to any certified bilingual teacher to help recruit more professionals into this growing field.
     The Hurst-Euless-Bedford (HEB) ISD also offers an attractive salary and benefits package. The HEB ISD is a suburban district on the outskirts of Fort Worth. The recruiter from this district claims that the HEB ISD is not suffering from the current teacher-shortage crisis in Texas.
     “To tell you the truth, where you see the shortages in Texas is in the rural and larger urban area schools,” said Mark White, coordinator of personnel services. “We offer $40,000 a year to start in our district and we don’t seem to have any problems filling our vacancies.”
     According to the HEB ISD their starting salary is more than $15,000 over the state average starting salary of $24,240. The HEB ISD also offers tuition reimbursement with the added convenience of being able to obtain your master’s degree on-site. “We give you your master’s degree and pay you for getting it,” White said. The HEB ISD offers two master’s degrees, one for gifted and talented education and another in administration. The district also pays an extra $1,500 per year to teachers with their master’s. Almost 40 percent of their personnel have master’s degrees.
     The Birdville ISD table, a suburban district located on the outskirts of Fort Worth, had a steady flow of interested education students. This district offers a competitive salary and benefits package along with an established mentor program.
     Suzy Compton, coordinator of personnel services, feels that the Birdville ISD does not suffer from the teacher-shortage crisis the way that large urban and small rural districts suffer.
     “Last year we had 3,000 applicants and we hired 285 teachers,” Compton said.
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The Decatur ISD is located in a fast-growing area midway between Wichita Falls and Fort Worth on Highway 287. The Decatur ISD is still considered a rural school district and does not offer the high salary of some of the suburban districts. A first-year teacher starts out at $30,000, although it’s higher than the state’s average, it cannot compete with the suburban districts for the attention of new teachers.
     The district is excited about the growth of the area, but recognizes that it creates new problems. The district’s limited financial resources do not meet demands caused by higher student enrollment. Gary Micinski, assistant superintendent for financial services feels the state of Texas is not doing enough for the school districts. According to the Decatur ISD, the state’s current financial contribution to education is the lowest it has been since World War II and has declined 41 percent.
     Rural school districts like Decatur are taking the hardest hit in the current teacher shortage crisis according to the State Board of Educator Certification (SBEC). Balancing the growth with the limited financial resources is a continuing challenge for Decatur ISD and other rural districts.

Works Cited
Stephanie Sullivan—Career Management Center—397-4432. Interviewed by phone on Monday, Nov. 08.
Sherry Lane and Maureen Steed—Wichita Falls ISD—720-3101. Interviewed by phone on Monday, Nov. 8.
Mary Randall—Mesquite ISD—972-882-7473. Interviewed on Thursday, Nov. 4 and by phone on Monday, Nov. 8.
Mark White, Ph.D.—HEB ISD—817-283-4461. Interviewed on Thursday, Nov. 4 and by phone on Monday, Nov. 8.
Suzy Compton—Birdville ISD—817-547-5709. Interviewed on Thursday, Nov. 4 and by phone on Monday, Nov. 8.
David Mosley—Decatur ISD—940-627-3215. Interviewed on Thursday, Nov. 4.

Explain Liberal Thinking
Abigail Carter | Managing Editor

“lib*er*al adj. Not limited to or by established, traditional, orthodox, or authoritarian attitudes, views, or dogmas; free from bigotry. Favoring proposals for reform, open to new ideas for progress, and tolerant of the ideas and behavior of others; broad-minded.” (source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary)
By this definition, Jesus Christ, Mahatma Ghandi and Buddha were all liberals, as were Martin Luther, Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman and Malcolm X. Yet these days, conservatives spit out the word “liberal” like it’s some type of curse. I am proud to be a liberal. Thank God liberals exist, or women and minorities would still be property and as such, possess no civil rights.
Conservatives want to make abortion illegal. I disagree with them. I believe any woman who chooses to have sex knowingly puts herself at risk of becoming pregnant. If the woman does end up with child, she should give birth to that child and keep it or put it up for adoption. However, abortion should continue to be legal in extreme cases.
Here’s a hypothetical (but sadly, not unrealistic) situation for you: an 11-year-old virgin girl has her first period. A month later, her father comes into her room and rapes her. She doesn’t tell anyone. A few weeks later she starts feeling sick and asks her mother to take her to the doctor. The doctor tells her she’s pregnant.
According to the conservatives, that girl should have to carry her brother-son/sister-daughter to term and give birth to it. That girl, who hasn’t even graduated middle school, has to deal with the psychological torture that comes with giving birth to a child of rape and incest. She has to become a mother to a child she loves because it’s a part of her, and hates because it’s a product of rape. Then that girl has to deal with giving up the child for adoption, something that many grown women cannot bring themselves to do. Were conservatives to get their way, that would be the girl’s only option. That, or suicide. Which would she choose?
As for stem-cell research, the blood from infants’ umbilical cords is a prime source of stem cells and wouldn’t harm a soul. I know every mother doesn’t keep her child’s cord. There are thousands of children born every day, and those children’s cords are just trashed without a second thought when they could be recycled for life-changing purpose.
During the past week, both presidential candidates spoke of reuniting the country. But, if Bush truly wants to reunite us, I challenge him to practice what he preaches.
Bush proclaims we have a Christian government. But the definition of Christian is “a follower of Christ.” By hanging our flag under a Christian banner, Bush is effectively excommunicating all citizens who do not believe in Jesus Christ. That includes all Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Native Americans, along with who knows how many other religious dominations. But, even though they’ve been told to their face only one religion matters and it’s not theirs, there are still Muslims and Jews and Native Americans fighting and dying for their country in Iraq right now.
I have enjoyed reading mythology throughout my life. However, what is myth to me, such as Native American lore and the stories associated with Buddhism, is to others, the word of God. I am a Christian and as such, believe in the Bible. But to the hundreds of thousands of people who immigrate to the U.S. each year, the Bible is nothing more than a storybook.
Who are we to say our god must be their god? I believe there will be Muslims, Jews, Christians and Buddhists in the same heaven, whether they like it or not. It is not for us to decide. Just because the first few thousand white people to invade and take over America were Christians, doesn’t mean every other person who immigrated or was born into the United States over the past several hundred years is a Christian, too. It isn’t right to say we have a Christian government, because we aren’t all Christians.
Our President thinks it’s OK to murder thousands of Islamic children from far away, but couldn’t face the close-to-home death of that 11-year-old’s incestuous offspring. What he preaches is bigotry and separatism, and despite the crowing of my peers, not everyone agrees with him.
According to the Drudge Report, following the announcement of Bush’s reelection, Canada’s immigration website received its highest number of hits yet, including more than 115,000 from U.S. citizens. Typically, their website averages approximately 20,000 hits from the U.S. on a daily basis. In Seattle, more than 500 protestors took to the streets in opposition to Bush. In Colorado, a group of high school students took over their school, staging a sit-in to protest Bush’s reelection and in defiance of a reinstitution of the draft.
In the "Back Page" of the Oct. 25 issue of the “New Yorker,” written by Marjane Satrapi, were listed statements from Iranian-Americans. The first, a man, said, "I'm an Iranian Jew. Economically, I'm a Republican, but this Bush is too religious-too Christian. Someday he'll turn against the Jews. He has too much Jesus in his head."
A second man said: "'Axis of evil!' Why do they use the same language as Iranian fanatics who used to call America the nest of Satan! Axis of evil? They have no shame!"
A third person, a female, said, "I escaped Iran for political reasons and came to the U.S. for its freedom. Today I'm an American citizen, but every time I travel anywhere I live in airport hell because I was born in Iran. I seem to be a citizen of nowhere."
The final voice was female, too. "I live in New York. I SAW the Republican convention. The propaganda reminded me of the Iranian government-the same fundamentalism. The only difference is that the Republicans had balloons."
In the Nov. 1 issue of the “New Yorker” is a photo of Rajinder Singh Khalsa; Sikh priest; limousine driver, included in a photographic portfolio by Richard Avedon. The caption beneath his photo read: “American resident for more than a decade. Queens, New York. On July 11th, he was beaten and left unconscious by a group of men who mocked his turban and told him to go back to his own country.“ What Bush professes is no different than what the fundamentalist Muslims preach.
It’s pretty arrogant, close-minded, mean and inconsiderate of us to say everyone has to pledge to our God in order to pledge to our flag, when it may not be their God, but it is definitely their flag. A pagan can just as easily die fighting for this country as a Christian can.
Taking God out of the pledge does not take Him out of the hearts of those who love Him. Whatever happened to “separation of church and state?” We are not the United States of Christ. I have become completely disillusioned with most organized religions, which seem concerned more with their own political and personal agendas than spreading the glory of God. Church is in your heart, God is inside of you; you don’t have to force your religious beliefs on others to get into heaven. If you do, I don’t want to go there.

Schields Extends Middle Finger
Wayne Schields | For the Wichitan

Now that the longest and nastiest presidential campaign in modern history has come to an end, words of unity have begun to drip from the mouths of the losers as they try to reconcile with their lack of relevance.
The electorate has spoken and even though John Kerry and his throng of supporters are no doubt licking their wounds, they should hold their heads up high and understand that their disappointment will eventually fade away and 2008 will be here before we realize it.
America is a great country and the 115 million Americans that stood in line to cast their votes proved to the rest of the world that terrorism, or the threat thereof, would not deter us from exercising the most cherished of our rights.
Democrats have rightfully exclaimed in the last few days that our president must somehow use his given mandate to unify and strengthen our country. Indeed, the harsh rhetoric of the last four years has caused a great chasm to develop between families, neighbors and friends.
But, before we try to bring the “divided” country together, there are some things that need to be said. Just as the accused is awarded the right to confront his accuser in a court of law, so shall the ridiculed be awarded the right to address their ridiculers. So, …
To the mainstream media for treating forged documents as the gospel, for ignoring the Swift Boat Vets while simultaneously giving airtime to those that denounced them, and for constantly referring to George W. Bush as a “right-wing Conservative” but never Kerry as a “left-wing Liberal,” …I gently extend my middle finger to you.
To Ted Kennedy, Al Gore, and Al Sharpton who made such seditious claims that Bush “made up” the war for political gain, “betrayed our country,” and was “a gangster,” …with love in my heart, I extend to you my middle finger.
To San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsome and the Massachusetts Supreme Court, who decided that changing public opinion through the courts is much more democratic than changing it in the hearts and minds of the American voters, …I emphatically extend to you my middle finger.
To that little emasculated young man that approached me on 6th Street in Austin wanting me to register to vote for John Kerry and to “get rid of the Halliburton agenda,” …I extend both middle fingers to you.
To the thing from Mozambique, who referred to Conservatives as “scumbags,” anyone that disagreed with her husband’s proposals as “idiots,” and who insinuated that stay-at-home moms don’t really work, …I extend to you, in seven different languages, my middle finger.
To Russell Simmons who referred to the 59 million Americans who voted for Bush as “white, trailer park trash,” and P. Diddy who asked America’s youth to “Vote or Die,” …I, in gang sign form, extend my mizzle fizzle.
To Cameron Diaz who said, “if you want rape to be legal, then don’t vote,” and for Oprah Winfrey who didn’t smack her upside the head for saying that, …I extend my middle finger to you.
To the “tolerant” Liberals that describe married, heterosexual, Christian, gun-owning, Bible-reading, pro-life conservatives as Neanderthals and hate-filled extremists that produce hatred akin to the Ku Klux Klan and al-Qaeda, …I extend, with much love, my middle finger to you.
To the aging, has-been musicians such as Bruce Springsteen and Moby who believed that their “art” would rally the American youth to vote against Bush, …I extend my “Born in the USA” middle finger to you.
To the anti-war activists who used their enormous brain power to come up with such memorable slogans as “Bush Lied, Kids Died,” “No War For Oil,” and “We Support Our Troops: When They Shoot Their Officers,” …I proudly present to you my middle finger.
And finally, to the walking blob of cholesterol, the nauseous can of fish grease, the large barrel of pus, the oily, boil infested propagandist known as Michael Moore, who made it his life mission to destroy the morale of our president and the troops overseas, I proudly join 59 million of my American friends in giving you the middle finger salute.

Now, let the unity begin.