FEATURES

Ben Stein speaks with University Students
Abigail Carter | Managing Editor

The soldiers are the real stars. Not the people who make $20 million for saying lines in front of a camera. And those stars in Iraq and Afghanistan, “shine far brighter than the whining brats who said they were going to leave when the election didn’t come out the way they wanted,” Stein said passionately, leaning into the podium which tilted toward the crowd.
The most recent of the Artist Lecture Series was a speech and Q and A with Ben Stein Monday evening in Akin Auditorium. After an opening round of politically-skewed jokes, Stein spoke passionately of the difference in realities in our society. Most of the pictures and stories the media brings into our homes are bad: soldiers killing children, protests against America. It gives us the impression that our country isn’t a good one. But in actuality our country is full of heroes and wonderful people who do wonderful things which we rarely read or hear about. “This is a nation of heroes,” Stein said.
The TV news gives us the impression we will inevitably lose the war. While Stein agrees that Iraq shouldn’t have happened, he said the media never “gets it right.” The news tell you that big business and capitalism are destroying America and a few minutes later a commercial tells you that life is wonderful.
  “What if the news media had been reporting minute-by-minute during World War Two?” he asked. People would have been thinking we were evil; killing innocents. “If we believed in ourselves, people would believe in us,” Stein said.
Whenever he is not traveling, Stein visits the Veterans’ Hospital in West Palm, California every few days. He has befriended Vietnam veterans there who never receive visitors or phone calls. If it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t be free, yet not many take the time to appreciate them. He spoke with a man who had liberated two concentration camps. Stein believes in these people, the men and women in uniform, who are willing to lay down their life for their country. He is thankful for his freedom; and he is thanking those people who died so that we could live freely. As he said, he didn’t die at Auschwitz. He has never had to worry about that possibility.
During a visit, a veteran told Stein, “We hate war. We’re the ones who get killed. Our friends get killed.” Stein asked him why he chose to fight when he hated it. “So you don’t have to,” the veteran answered. “These guys, both men and women, live by a simple creed: Duty, Honor, Country,” Stein said. “God’s work is your work.” To all soldiers and veterans he sent this message, we thank you and are humbled by you.
“We are the freest, most prosperous, kindest nation in the world,” Stein said. “People in the media don’t see the goodness.” America takes in more immigrants every year than the rest of the world.
Stein also spoke of the “genuinely-astounding hypocrisy” of the left. He told a story about four businessmen who had organized a get-together to discuss imposing limits on Americans’ use of fossil fuels, yet each of them has oil-guzzling private jets. The left, Stein said, want to feel that they are rebels, are competitive with other sectors of society, and are used to getting their own way. He explained that ego=actor and one doesn’t set out to become an actor if they don’t also want to be a “star.”
Stein also touched on some problems in our country, like the giant deficit, the lack of adequate health care, retirement planning, and the uncertainty of our future.

Editor chronicles Favorite Web Sites
Abigail Carter | Managing Editor

The Web site t-shirthell.com sells t-shirts, tank tops, baby clothes, underwear, and gift wrap bearing some of the most offensive slogans ever read.
This site is not for those who are easily offended. It pushes the limits in all directions. Some samples of slogans available on T-shirt Hell products include: “Arrest black babies before they become criminals,” “Rape is no laughing matter (on front) unless you’re raping a clown (on back),” “I bought Christopher Reeves’ wheelchair on Ebay,” “God is giving us more dead soldiers for Christmas,” “Yes, I have plenty of change, you homeless piece of sh*t, thanks for asking,” “Native Americans: Should have fought harder, you pussies,” “What about all the good things Hitler did?” and a parody on the “I heart NY” t-shirts sold in the Big Apple which has, instead of a red heart, a red plane in between the I and the NY.
The Web site’s creator, Gary Cohen, delights in the angry e-mails he receives concerning his offensive designs. If you join the T-shirt Hell mailing list, you can read some of the angriest, most insulting samples of Cohen’s hate mail, which he includes in his monthly newsletter to Hell’s fans.


Getting to know a little about the man behind the Monotone
Abigail Carter | Managing Editor

Ben Stein–actor, Presidential speech–writer, professor, and commentator–walked into the Student Affairs office wearing a dark suit with a pale, pink shirt, a brilliant green tie, and sneakers.
“Could we get something to drink in here?” he asked our host, before seating himself across the table from me. After the initial introductions, Stein told me about the projects he’s currently working on.
“I’m working on everything right now,” Stein said. He has ten more speeches between now and the end of March and will soon “test the waters before the U.S. Senate” and the Veterans’ Affairs Committee about federal benefits for the widows and widowers of men and women killed in Iraq. Stein is also working on a book about retirement planning, and a book aimed at teenagers and college kids; telling their parents how to talk to them about money and success. 
“I thought about it because my son, who is 17 and a half, so badly needs instruction about it, and I wanted to be able to give him some instruction,” Stein said. He is about to do another commercial for Clear Eyes, does a commentary on CBS Sunday morning news every few weeks, and, when he’s not out–of–town, he does a commentary on the stock market for the Fox channel on Saturday mornings.
To get a little insight into the man behind the monotone, I asked Stein what some of his favorite past times and authors were. “My favorite past time is just spending time with my wife, I have an extremely wonderful wife. I‘m very, very blessed to have her. She is a wonderful, wonderful woman and I love being with her,” Stein said.  “I love being with my dogs, we have two wonderful dogs,” speaking of his half–Dalmatian, half–Whippet mutt and his German short–haired pointer. “I love being with my son but he’s a surly teenager, so he doesn’t really like to spend much time with me. We have a beautiful house-at least, I think it’s beautiful, maybe nobody else would-in Malibu and I love lying out on the deck of the house looking at the ocean. We have a very beautiful room, a large, large studio sort of room at our house in Beverly Hills, and I like to lie in bed there with my wife and the dog, listen to music and sleep.”
A great Civil War buff, Stein is currently reading articles about the battles and campaigns of the war, as well as a biography of Samuel Johnson, a great English essayist who, according to Stein, is considered the greatest essayist of all time.
Recently, he has read Bob Dylan’s autobiography, “Chronicles,” and a book by a man named Twitchell about the history of advertising.  “I guess my very favorite author is Fitzgerald,” Stein said.  “Because even though it’s a cliché and everybody else likes him too, I love ‘The Great Gatsby’ beyond reason.”
When questioned about being a part of Hollywood, Stein said, “I love being recognized because it makes the whole world a small town for me, and everyone knows me, and I like that very much. I like very much getting celebrity treatment when I go places.”  However, he said he doesn’t believe the people in Hollywood are really stars. “I don’t think that it really takes much to be in front of a camera reading lines,” Stein said. “I think what is really important is a guy who will pick up and leave a small town in north Texas and volunteer to lay down his life for total strangers in Iraq and Afghanistan in the cause of freedom and those people are the real stars. I wish Hollywood were more respectful and honored that more.”
“I do think in the final analysis we could get along pretty well without Hollywood, but we could not get along at all without the people who are fighting for us and keeping us free. I wish that were better understood,” Stein said. “The people in Hollywood are pretty unimportant compared with the people in the military. Hollywood is flashy, it’s glamorous, it’s well-paid; but it’s not life or death. People in the military are life or death for the survival of freedom.
When he was asked why he agreed to speak at MSU, his answer was an interesting one. “I was very excited, actually, when I was asked to speak here because I know that Wichita Falls is very near Archer City because of ‘The Last Picture Show.’ I’m a huge fan of that movie and found that movie to be one of the most compelling movies about American life I’ve ever seen,” Stein said. “Just love it, love it, love it to pieces. I can’t even count how many times I’ve seen it. I was just thrilled at the thought that I’d be near it and be able to soak up the atmosphere of this part of Texoma. I spent a good part of the day in Archer City.”
My final question for Stein was a simple one. I asked him if he was happy. “I am incredibly happy considering all the things that could have gone wrong in my life. I wake up every morning, I’m in America, I’m in a state of freedom, I’m in a state of protection by the law. I am not being chased by the Gestapo, nobody’s rounding me up and sending me off in a cattle car to be gassed at Auschwitz, I have plenty to eat, I have a wonderful wife, I have a surly but wonderful son, two beautiful dogs, four sweet little kitties. I have a very interesting career, several lovely houses. I’m just blessed beyond words. I’m just blessed beyond words,” Stein said. “I took a nap after we got back from Archer City and I woke up from my nap and I was just lying on my bed at the Radisson. I was thinking, ‘I’m in heaven.’ I’m here in the heart of America, safe, peaceful, about to speak to some really nice people and I’m just blessed. I sometimes feel as if in an earlier life I might have been a concentration camp victim and I awakened to be in heaven and heaven is being in the heartland of America.” 



Digging his own Grave: How much did Moon cost the University?
Camron Rushin | Editor-In-Chief

 As MSU finally washed its hands of ousted President Henry Moon by paying him a $200,000 settlement, students unfamiliar with the Moon era may ask “Who was Henry Moon?” and “What did he do to the university?”
 The shear mention of Moon’s name  on campus leads to an array of either giggles, groans or sighs.
 Moon was hired in 2000 to replace retiring President Louis J. Rodriguez. 
It was the turn of the century and the school wanted some “new blood” to lead the way.
It is joked that Moon’s first item of business was to change the janitor’s uniforms because he didn’t like the way they looked.
“We thought we had made the right choice [in choosing a president],” said Mac Cannedy, Board of Regents’ chairman.  “But we didn’t.”
One thing Moon did was change the names of buildings. He wanted MSU to be inline with Northeastern  universities by calling all the buildings halls. The traditional Hardin Administration Building was changed to Hardin Hall. The Outdoor Education Center was changed to Sikes Lake Center among others. Last semester, the BOR passed a motion to change many of the names back to their traditional names.
Moon also threw himself an inauguration which cost the university $98,000. The inauguration  lasted a whole week including speakers and events. MSU spent $790 for a medallion for him to wear during the ceremony.
President Jesse Rogers recalls that the events were “reasonably” attended.
“It’s difficult to give up a week, and that had not been our tradition,” he said.
One thing Moon did that directly affected students was changing the honor’s program. 
The program before Moon required that honor’s students take four honors-designated classes for honors students only before they could begin receiving a scholarship.
Moon also eased the program requirements and began handing  out $500 scholarships as soon as students began the program.
 “This more than doubled the size of the program,”said Mark Farris, honor’s director .
Now students could designate any class they were taking as an honor’s class.
“There was a two-year period when it wasn’t clear what was an honor’s class,” Farris said.
Moon’s new program also made students meet  certain requirements outside of class. This caused many older students, who were grandfathered into the new program,  to drop because they didn’t have the time to meet  new requirements.
Farris, who became director last semester , is starting to bring the program back to the way it was by offering honor’s classes that only honor’s students may attend.
Because of Moon’s influence, the McMurtry Center Summer Workshop decided to move its business off campus. The center had been part of the university since 1994. The workshop brought together  area students with an interest in writing and broadcasting. The students went through two weeks of classes and spent a day with Larry McMurtry.
The Center was completely funded by donors and grants leaving little or no cost to the university. In turn,  many students  who went through the program would  choose  to continue their education at MSU.
“Before Dr. Moon it seemed to me we were interested in creating pockets of excellence and having a Nobel Prize author as a part of that experience was invaluable,” said Carla Bolin, mass communication professor and instructor for the McMurtry program.
Moon questioned policies of the McMurtry Center and felt that he should be more connected with the program.
“It seemed to me as if Moon had ego issues with the program and McMurtry,” Bolin said.
McMurtry and some of the donors didn’t want Moon over-involved and moved the program off campus.
“I think on a small scale it hurt liberal and fine arts because we haven’t replace it with anything,” Bolin said. “Moon thought it could be replaced in a heartbeat.”
Rogers said he was “devastated” at the loss of the McMurtry Center.
By August of 2001 accusations made against Moon by the faculty and staff were made public in an audit by MSU Internal Auditor Paula Allard.
The audit alleged that Moon misused taxpayer funds, bypassed the BOR by having things he approved taken off the meeting reports, gave the BOR false or misleading information,and abused staff verbally or with e-mails.
During BOR meetings drinks are served to the guest and board members. Moon would not allow anyone other than the board members to get a drink.
“He said that wasn’t professional and I should be serving as gatekeeper,” Director of Public Information and Marketing Janus Buss said. “I was there for every committee meeting which would last several hours and he wouldn’t let me drink at the meeting.”
Buss along with others in the administration and faculty had interviewed off campus.
“Everyone was insecure in whatever position they were in. We all knew what was going on but no one would speak out,” Buss said.
The audit also found a confidential draft of a partnership between MSU and the Dallas Cowboys which would bring a stadium to campus. Also included were fourteen documented accounts of Moons spending university funds for personal use.
After only one year as president the Board decided not to renew Moon’s contract.
“His management style didn’t fit the university,” Cannedy said.
”I felt as if he’d read a lot of management books  and that was it,” said Bolin who served on several committees with Moon. “He knew nothing about building team psychology.”
In response to many accusations made against him Moon ran an ad in the Aug. 12, 2001 Times Record News asking the administrators 26 questions he felt should be answered.
In the Sept. 10, 2001 issue all the questions were answered and the lead said that it took “no sleuthing” to answer the 26 questions.
Many of the questions dealt with the McMurtry Center, outreach, business practices and technology. The article was short-lived and overlooked because the next day was Sept. 11, 2001.
Now that the Moon saga is over many administrators and board members can sigh in relief.
“We’re relieved and now we can concentrate on more important things,” Cannedy said.
Moon’s year on campus can best be described by Roger’s assessment of the campus morale at the time.
“It’s been four years and I have put this behind me. It is extremely difficult to feel the environment at this time,” Rogers said.
Apparently it didn’t go down smoothly.