NEWS

Students Learn Rights at Profiling Workshop
Camron Rushin | Editor-In-Chief

In Wichita Falls, blacks are 2.1 times, and Hispanics are 1.8 times more likely to be searched when pulled over by the police.
The student chapter of the NAACP wants to put an end to this discrimination.
“It’s called DWB, driving while black or brown,” Elizabeth Washington, outreach coordinator for the Texas NAACP said last Wednesday at a racial profiling workshop.
The workshop was designed to show students what rights they have when they are pulled over by the police.
Washington goes around the state educating people on racial profiling and what they should do when they get pulled over.
“Our main goal is to make consent searches illegal.” Washington said.
Consent searches are when an officer asks permission to search a vehicle without probable cause.
Washington stressed the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth amendments to the Constitution.
These prevent you from being unreasonably searched, incriminating yourself and giving you the rights to an attorney.
“If a cop sees that you know these rights they are less likely to be violated,” Washington said.
Local attorney Rickey Bunch gave a question and answer session for students who had questions about their rights.
“There are only two things you have to do when being pulled over,” Bunch said. “That is show proof of insurance and a driver’s license.”
Bunch said police will try to bully people and lie to them to take advantage.
“Chances are when you start resisting you’re going to jail,” Bunch said. “And that’s when you call me.”
He said he earned $250,000 just last month from four Wichita County lawsuits filed against the same “cowboy” police officer in Electra.
Bunch told black students they need to be especially careful in the smaller towns around Wichita Falls.
“If you look like a gangster, they’re going to profile you,” he said.
Bunch explained that searches can only be conducted if an officer has probable cause.
Probable cause if when an officer believes a crime has been or will be committed, or if weapons or drugs are in plain view.  Bunch said to keep your glove box and trunk locked and those things shouldn’t be searched.
One student told of an instance when an officer searched his vehicle and took everything out of it, found nothing and then left leaving all his belongings in the street.
“Your rights were violated,” Bunch said.
To win a case like that in civil court, Bunch said you need to have three things: liability, guilty party and damages.
Washington, who gathers racial profiling information, sent out two requests to the MSU Police that were never answered.
Police Chief Michael Hagy said he didn’t know about the requests and would get in contact with Washington.
According to a 2001 senate bill, all police departments must collect racial profiling information and have that information on file.



Students seek Jobs at Fairs
Rachael Jacobs | Staff Reporter

Jobs, the most wanted thing among college students but where do you begin to look?
The Career Management Center hosts six career fairs each year. The Health Sciences and Human Services, College of Business Administration (COBA) and Criminal Justice and Social Work Career Fairs are being held in the Comanche Suites this week.
According to Dirk Welch, director of the Career Management Center, it cost between $1,500 and $2,500 to host a career fair, and about 250 students attend each fair.
All classifications and majors can benefit from any of the career fairs. Freshmen and sophomores can learn how to network and start meeting employers and many of the companies have internships and career offers for juniors and seniors, Welch said.
"I look forward to communicating on a professional level with someone I don't know," senior management major Tyson Williams said.
"Many employers at the COBA Career Fair are not specifically looking at business majors. They are looking more for a certain type of student," Welch said.
He also stresses that your appearance is very important at the career fairs.
"One reason we moved some of the career fairs to the afternoon was so students would not have to go to class dressed up," Welch said. "The nicer you dress, the sharper you look, the better impression you make."
Many of the employers do take resumes, contact students, and set up interviews. They are specifically looking at MSU students and following up with them, he continued.
"I hope to make connections I can draw back on when I graduate," senior marketing major Andre Kelsick said.
For times or employer guides to the career fairs this week, contact the Career Management Center at 397-4215.



Greeks Organize to Raise funds for Tsunami Victims
Iogy Cruz | Staff Reporter

Images of communities torn apart and families left desperate by the Dec. 26 Tsunami disaster have become too much for MSU organizations to bear.
So, they’re doing something about it. 
Several MSU Greek organizations united Tuesday in Clark Student Center to kick off a weeklong event benefiting the 11 countries affected by the Tsunami.
Greek Relief Week, Mar.1-5, is a 5-day project of fundraising events to aid disaster relief in Southeast Asia, while promoting teamwork and unity among Greeks at MSU.  
“It says that we’re coming together, coming to do something good,” said Sigma Nu member Eric Birgham-Rankin. “We are very fortunate right now and they are not.”
Birgham-Rankin pointed out that this project is different from any other fundraisers done by student organizations because it involves many groups and comes over the course of five days.
Participating sororities include Alpha Kappa Alpha, Alpha Phi, Chi Omega, Gamma Phi Beta, Sigma Kappa, and Sigma Lambda Alpha. 
Fraternities represented are Kappa Alpha, Phi Sigma Kappa, Omega Delta Phi, Sigma Nu, and Tau Kappa Epsilon.
The idea of Greek Relief Week had been a buzzing topic between two MSU organizations since early February. The plan soon changed from a dual effort into an 11-group project. The two original organizations asked not to be given credit for forming the event, noting that the project is a group effort and that one group shouldn’t receive more attention than another, but that all participating organizations should receive equal recognition.  
Greeks raised about $200 Tuesday morning selling sweets such as cheesecake, brownies, cookies, and Rice Crispy Treats in the Clark Student Center. The effort left little doubt in Greeks’ minds that if Tuesday’s performance is replicated, the goal to collect a minimum of $1,000 will be accomplished by the week’s end.
David O’Dell, a freshman business entrepreneur major, is a Greek contributing his time to the project.
“It’s a recent disaster that’s happened. It’s a world crisis right now,” O’Dell said. “If we can reach  $1,000, that’s $1,000 they don’t have. Every little bit helps.”
Thursday, a BBQ cookout will be held from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. in Sunwatcher Plaza. Each organization voted on a minimum amount of money to contribute to purchase the meat. Most of the organizations will donate any excess money to the Tsunami relief. Food plates will run $3, and 25-cent drinks will be offered.
The headliner will be a social event at the OEC Friday night. A disc jockey will be present to spin urban and hip-hop music. All MSU students are encouraged to attend. Admission will be $3, and refreshments will be provided. No alcohol will be allowed the premises. 
Finally, a carwash on Saturday will cap off Greek Relief Week. At the moment, no location for the carwash has been confirmed, but the location will most likely be along Kemp Street.
All proceeds from the events will go to victims of the Tsunami.
O’Dell believes that, after Greek Relief Week is said and done, many will have a new perception of Greeks at MSU.
“Hopefully it will say that Greeks are not just about partying. There is a different side to it: a business side,” he said.
All students are encouraged to help during the relief week. O’Dell said a little now can mean a whole lot later.
Greeks will be on the corner of Taft and Midwestern Parkway today accepting donations from 3 -10 p.m.



Professor Directs Pilots on Stage
Paige Dickerson | Managing Editor

For the 17th year Arvilla Taylor, professor of English, is organizing a play for the Euro Nato Joint Jet Pilot Training players at Sheppard Air Force Base.
Everyone involved in the play is a volunteer from the ENJJPT program.
“This is mainly for the ENJJPT and their spouses and sometimes their children,” Taylor said.
Volunteers from four countries – Turkey, Germany, Canada and the United States – are involved this year.
“Most years we have people from seven or eight nationalities, but this year we have four,” Taylor said.
The ENJJPT players are in charge of every aspect of the show.
“They build their own sets and make their own costumes. They are a creative bunch,” Taylor said. “They can build any set you need.”
Originally, Taylor got involved with the Air Force base teaching English as a second language.
“I have a lot to do with the base. Quite a few go riding horses with us. I got started and just kept going,” Taylor said.
She can’t imagine what her life would be like without participation in base activities.
“My social life would collapse if Sheppard collapsed,” Taylor said.
An on-base producer helps her keep everything organized before opening night.
“I try to have a producer on base to make all the arrangements,” Taylor said.
This year’s play is “Hide and Seek” (no relation to the recent movie) and is about a young couple who moves to the countryside near Dallas. Suddenly, “strange things begin to happen,” Taylor said. “It had a very long popular run on Broadway. It is classified as a ‘drama of suspense.’”
Anyone involved in the program can audition for the play, Taylor said.
“It is like a community theater. We do have a couple of others from the base, but mostly they are ENJJPT players.”
Through the years, the play has changed locations several times. It began at the Backdoor Theatre and then moved to the Women’s Forum until the Community Center was built on base.
The plays are held at the Community Center. Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. performance on Thursday are $10, and tickets for the Friday and Saturday 7:30 p.m. performances are $15.
The plays are performed in a dinner theater atmosphere. Sodas and snacks are served on Thursday, and wine or beer and a buffet are served on Friday and Saturday.
Tickets are available at the Union Square Credit Union. A ticket and driver’s license will get you on base.




Costuming part of Prof's Life
Paige Dickerson | Managing Editor

Whether it’s answering questions about stage blood or feeding starving college students, theater professor Elizabeth Lewandowski is always ready to be of service to her students.
Lewandowski heads to the office every day at about 6:30 a.m. so she can get things ready before anyone else arrives. After teaching until noon every day, she catches up on e-mail before going to the studio, where the theater department prepares for the next show or strikes the sets on the most recent show.
She became involved in costume design in college, when she was an opera major.
“The first show I did, it was because I was literally the only one who knew how to sew,” Lewandowski said.
As her graduation approached, she discussed professions with her adviser who said she could have a career in opera but would be singing chorus until the age of 35 because of the type of voice she had.
“So I thought about what I could do that I was passionate about until then, and I thought of costume design. And I’ve never looked back,” she said.
The tough part of designing varies with each show. With the most recent show, “The Cripple of Inishmann,” the challenge came with finding photographic documentation of clothing in the 1930s Irish Isles.
“Then with something like ‘Macbeth,’ which we did several years ago, the challenge was in the sheer number of costumes. It really varies whether the challenge is in the realization or the research process,” Lewandowski said.
After teaching at West Texas A&M for several years, she heard about the job at MSU and applied because of the theater facilities.
“I was thinking I would stay here three or four years, and I’ve been here 15. I really like MSU,” she said. “We are very lucky to have the theater facilities we have and an administration that supports the arts. It is such a rarity in higher education.”
After spending the day at MSU, Lewandowski heads home at about 7 p.m. to spend time with her husband and work on side projects, like making clothes for babies whose families can’t afford them.
Although Lewandowski and her husband don’t have any children, she often tells people, “I’m child-free, but I have 40 theater majors.”
Her favorite part of the job is seeing “the lights go off” above students’ heads. The small atmosphere of MSU allows her to have more personal contact with the students and give individual aid if necessary.
“I think about a class like makeup with 27 students, which is pretty large for a hands-on class, but even in there, I’ll have my home phone number on the syllabus,” Lewandowski said. “The students know I’m always available. Sometimes they’ll come over for dinner if they are out of food, and they know there is always something in my office if they need it.”
She does what she can to look after the students throughout their college careers.
“I’m sort of the mom around here, I guess,” she said. “But that’s a good thing.”