FEATURES

Award-winning Student Author to Speak at MSU
Raphael Jacobs | Staff Reporter

He played Buakei, in “Amistad,” a Steven Spielberg film. He has just released a debut CD and completed his first non-fiction book. He is founder and CEO of ASAFO productions and is currently in the process of obtaining his doctorate degree from Harvard University, all of this and only 29-years-old.
Derrick Ashong, part of MSU’s Artist Lecture Series, will speak in the Akin Auditorium Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. on “The Pan-African Renaissance.”
“He is a very dynamic speaker who has spoken across the nation and in West Africa and the Caribbean,” Associate Vice President for Student Affairs Keith Lamb said.
Ashong was born in Ghana, West Africa and grew up in Saudi Arabia and New Jersey. He has also spent a lot of time in the Caribbean.
It cost $3,500 to bring Ashong here which Lamb said, “is an incredibly good price for a lecturer, especially for someone as diverse as he is.”
Students were attracted to Ashong for his diverse background, his commitment to education, and his appearance in a feature film, said Lamb.
Ashong has founded organizations such as, the Harvard Entertainment Club and the Fannie Lou Hamer Project.
He is not a stranger to awards, receiving top honors at Harvard with the John Temple Hoopes prize for outstanding undergraduate thesis and being named a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellow.
“I think as an institute of higher education, we must introduce students to a variety of things they would not normally be exposed to,” Lamb said.
For more information contact the Office of Student Affairs at 397-4291.


Campus Renovation ongoing to Improve Handicapped Access
Abigail Carter | Managing Editor

Redesigning areas of campus to improve handicapped accessibility is contingent on how important an issue both students and faculty believe it is; the Student Service Allocation Committee, comprised of student, faculty, and staff representatives, provides the Disability Services’ yearly budget, said Director of Counseling and Disabled Services Debra Higginbottham.
The amount of money budgeted to Disability Services has increased in the past four years, said Higginbottham. “The students have been fairly generous,” she said. However, Student Service money is allocated to a number of organizations, including The Wichitan, the cycling club, athletics, Vinson Health center, the counseling center, the cheerleaders, and the University Programming Board.
“It’s apples and oranges. These students have to allocate what’s gonna benefit our biggest number of students,” Higginbottham said. “Where do they want their money to go?” As of the time of the interview, she said, there were 117 disabled students registered with her office. In a previous feature, university administration was blamed for the lack of handicapped accessibility on campus. It seems faculty, staff, and students are to blame as well.
“Going through the campus and making modifications or adjustments is an ongoing process,” Higginbottham said. “A lot of times it just may be that you find something that maybe you weren’t aware of before.” Sometimes there just may be money left over due to over-estimates on other projects, she said. At the end of last year, there was money left in the budget, which went toward new automatic doors at the Bridwell building. The recent addition of a new ramp at the Fain Fine Arts building was not on any certain agenda. But one of the most prominent forces in renovation efforts is the allocation committee. “So many times, things change when the student government decides it is a priority for the students,” Higginbotham said.
As for what takes priority in renovation plans, “We meet ADA; (Americans with Disabilities Act) if it doesn’t meet ADA compliance, it’s a priority and will get done immediately. ADA does not say every building has to have automatic doors. As long as your doors have a certain poundage of pressure on it, I think it’s five to seven pounds of pressure, you’re ADA compliant,” Higginbotham said. “The law states get them into the buildings first, then look at the classrooms, then look at the bathrooms. They give us a standard to say ‘go from here, to here, to here.’”
Additionally, priority is determined by who utilizes the building. A maintenance building used primarily by staff, such as the Daniel building, would be far down on the list of priorities, she said, but a heavy-traffic building like Bolin Science Hall would be high priority.
Many people don’t understand what it costs to undertake renovation. The installation of an additional automatic entry on the Clark Student Center would cost $11,000. In the past, after the installation of an automatic entry, the building still did not meet ADA. compliance because of a lack of leeway space around the door. To remedy the problem, it doubled the cost.
Much of Higginbotham’s budget goes toward operation and maintenance of the office, including software programs, building upgrades, and sign-language interpreters, who earn anywhere from $35 to $60 per hour depending on the state in which they work.
Our university has a contract with a sign-language interpreter because state law requires the school to provide for deaf students an in-class interpreter. That interpreter’s high-dollar salary comes from the Disabled Services’ funding. That is why, Higginbottham said, she has always wanted a sign-language class at MSU. It would be wonderful for students as well as increase the supply of interpreters, she said.
As far as wages go, none are paid from the Disabled Services’ budget. All Disabled Services’ funding goes directly toward improving the campus for disabled students. The two employees of Disabled Services, Higginbottham and her secretary, are paid from counseling funds.
For 20 years, Higginbotham has worked at the counseling center. She took over management of Disability Services in 1990. It has grown so much, she said, in the time she’s been here. The first incarnation of the ADA law offered no guidance, just regulations.
“They just said, ‘this is what you’re going to do,’” and there was a long time of trying to figure out just exactly what that meant,” Higginbotham said. “Literally, we thought of accessibility and disability services as being sure you had a ramp on every building and parking, and that was basically all you looked at. Since the ‘90s, we’re really looking at disability services in totally different ways.”
It is now required of the state that each employee go through sensitivity training every couple of years which covers disability, sexual harassment, racial discrimination, and a number of different things, she said. Being left-handed is not a disability, though morbid obesity is. Higginbotham also wants to work on an overall better understanding on campus for students with learning disabilities.
Our nation’s universities have an organization called A.H.E.A.D., the Association of Higher Education and Disabilities. The Texas division if A.H.E.A.D. is extremely strong, said Higginbotham.
“When a student transfers from university to university, if they have a disability, most of the time I know who’s in charge in their Disability Services, getting documentation, verifying, finding out what we need to know, is very easy now among universities in Texas,” she said.
When asked about penalties regarding able-bodied students parking in handicapped spaces, Higginbottham said, “I know that Chief Hagy went up on that, and I can’t give you a dollar amount right now, but I know we finally put some bite in it. There for awhile, it was not any more than if you parked in a reserved parking place.” Disabled students may park in any space, student, handicapped, or faculty reserved, she said, as long as they have their disabled placard and student ID.
Unfortunately, bringing the handicapped accessibility of campus up to par seems like it’s going to take a very long time. It must be a priority for both the students and the faculty in order to effect any significant changes. When the SGA puts their mind to something, we hear about it all over campus. Heck, look at the way the Wellness Center advertisements have been plastered everywhere. Sadly, handicapped accessibility does not seem to be high on their priorities list. Our disabled brethren will just have to learn to be patient with their classmates and bide their time until they, too, are treated as equal members of campus life. The persecuted few among the many have always had to fight for their rights. Black History Month is a poignant reminder of that fact. Those few just have to learn to see the little progresses in the larger stagnancy.
As the great Helen Keller said, “When one door is closed, another is opened. Unfortunately, some people spend too much time looking at that closed door.”



Ebay: A common Web Site for Student Shopping
Marianne Lechuga | Staff Reporter

Where else would you be able to buy hard-to-find collectibles or off-the-wall items such as the gum Britney Spears chewed (supposedly anyway) and set the price you want to buy for those items? On eBay, of course.
eBay, “The World’s Online Marketplace,” allows buyers to trade millions of items daily on a local, national, and international basis.  These items vary from collectibles like antiques, toys, trading cards, to practical items like clothing, electronics, and even used cars.  A search of the site finds an authentic brand new Louis Vuitton purse for $51; three New Kids on the Block fashion dolls for $6; new Juicy Couture jeans from a “smoke-free, pet-free home” for $34.99; and a yellow 2005 Hummer: H2 SUT for $57,100.
Through payment agreements made with the seller, either through PayPal, check, or money order, any item can be yours if your bid is high enough.
Founded in September 1995 by a programmer named Pierre M. Omidyar, eBay has become the Web’s most powerful corporate enterprise worth more than $70 billion, according to a December article in Business Week. The eBay Web site claims more than 100 million registered members from around the globe. How many are MSU students and what are they looking to buy?
Senior English major Joel Onley  has been a user for five years and buys a wide range of items. At times he has bought 20 items over one month. “There’s never been a six-month period where I haven’t bought anything over eBay,” Onley said. A peak time to purchase on eBay is at the beginning of the semester when he receives his school money, Onley said. “I squander some of that money on needless things. eBay is not a matter of  need but of want.” A wide range of items have been wanted and bought by Onley. “The stuff I’ve bought covers the spectrum. I’ve bought books, DVDs, video games, a car,” Onley said.
The car, a 1995 Mazda MX6, was his biggest splurge at $3,000. Onley paid no shipping because he made the trip to Houston to pick it up. “It was a good price because it had low miles,” Onley said. However, it may not have been the best deal, because the seller left out a detail. There was a crack that went four inches from the bottom and stretched all the way across the front windshield. “But I let it go because it didn’t really obstruct the view,” Onley said.
Considered a minor problem to Onley, he never got the windshield fixed during the two years he owned the car. However, there were other problems with the Mazda. “He had completely detailed the car and waxed it so well that I couldn’t see the start of oxidation of the paint,” Onley said. The oxidation would become very clear over the next couple of months. After a month of owning the car, the starter also went out. For Onley, it was not the cost of replacing a starter but the principle of getting the starter fixed so soon after purchasing the car. “I was mad because I felt he misrepresented it and was not willing to stand by his sale,” Onley said. “He had no customer service.”
Onley was asked if he would recommend the man in Houston to another buyer who was interested in buying a vehicle and Onley told him it would not be worth it. “I told him if it was me, knowing the guy now, I wouldn’t do it,” Onley said.
Not to say that Onley wouldn’t buy a car through eBay in the future. As Onley pointed out, on ebay one could find the exact model and color of car they would like, but it could be thousands of miles away. “I would probably do it again but I would do more research,” Onley said.
Freshman mechanical engineering major Andy Policky got into eBay while searching for a classic Mustang. Though he didn’t find one online, he does browse for parts for the 1968 Mustang. His best buy was on some tickets to a truck race at Texas Motor Speedway. “I spent $60 on four really good seats and a VIP parking ticket. The face value for one ticket is $50,” Policky said.
Collectable toys are another one of eBay’s top searches. “A lot of the things my husband and I purchase is toys,” senior English major Terra Martinez said. Over the summer, they purchased an original Lucky Care Bear stuffed animal that Martinez had been searching for. “They don’t have original Care Bears at any store and the newer ones look nothing alike,” Martinez said. Along with Care Bears, Martinez and her husband search for hard-to-find Super Nintendo games and old editions of books, especially the first edition of The Lord of the Rings. “We only go on there for things we really want and can’t find,” Martinez said of their purchases.
Freshman business major Cherita Lewis was unable to find the yellow “LIVE STRONG” bracelets in town because they were all sold out. She turned to eBay and bought one. She’s been a frequent browser for the past six months. “It’s great because it provides people with different things that could possibly be cheaper then what it would be in stores,” Lewis said.
Some MSU students are not only buying on eBay, but making a personal profit by selling items. Senior marketing major Erik Walker has been dealing on eBay for four years as both a seller and buyer. However, he sells more than he buys. A few years back, Walker played online games called “Everquest” and “Dark Age of Camelot.” The game is played with thousands of other people on the web and the object of the game is to level up a character and build his skills, Walker explained. “What I did was level up these characters and sell the accounts over eBay to other people that either don’t have the time or don’t want to spend the time leveling up their own characters,” Walker said. He made a good amount of money selling online accounts. “I sold four or five accounts each between $350-550. If you add that up, I
made around $1,500,” Walker said.
Senior education major Darline Frazier has been auctioning items for the past two years for profit. She got into the business because of the number of friends she knew who were doing it. “I knew a friend who bought a Mercedes with the money she made from eBay,” Frazier said. After quitting her job in order to concentrate on school, Frazier began selling for some extra money. She sells mostly clothes and buys the items from garage sales and second-hand shops.
“Anything I buy from garage sales I buy in mint condition. I just try to
buy at the lowest price to make a bigger profit,” Frazier said. She normally wouldn’t pay more than $1 for an item, but made an exception when she purchased some buttons from the 1920s for $5 at a garage sale. She ended up making an even bigger profit on eBay.
“I sold them for $150. Who knew there were button collectors out there?” Frazier asked with a laugh. “I can take a dollar investment and turn that dollar into a $25 investment.” Frazier said she goes to garage sales and thinks about what people would want when she decides what to buy in order to sell. “I have five big boxes of stuff at home just waiting for me to find the time to put it on eBay,” Frazier said.
Some tips Frazier gives to people who would like to start selling online is to know when the timing is good for certain items. Clothing sells best from about March to September and big–ticket items sell well between February-April because of income tax returns. She also stresses good customer service. “Customer service is everything. You have to supply a quality product as well as fast shipment,” Frazier said. It’s important as a seller not to keep the customer waiting, Frazier said. She sends everything by express mail with the exception of heavy items. “If anybody is thinking about doing any selling, the one thing that will make them successful is customer service, customer service, customer service,” Frazier stressed.
All these students agree that eBay becomes somewhat of a habit and an addiction. The satisfaction of winning an auction on a hard-to-find item or making money off of their junk is what keeps them coming back for more.