6
News Opinions Features Diversions Sports 2 3 4 5 6 Index Oracle The MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012 HENDERSON STATE UNIVERSITY VOLUME 105, ISSUE 04 Police issue citations, arrest former professor Photos by Ryan Klare BAD BREATH Students were surprised by the appearance of police during a party Thursday night. Many students were given breatha- lizer and field sobriety tests, leading to the writing of several tickets. Subsequently, Dr. John Crawford, retired Henderson faculty member, was arrested. Crawford owns the former fraternity house of the local Phi Sigma Kappa chapter where the party was taking place. Minors in Arkansas may now face losing their licenses for be- ing intoxicated, according to a bill passed by the Arkansas House of Representatives in late July. This bill will not only cost mi- nors driving privileges for six months, but will also require offenders to pay a $365 fine and appear before a court. Last year, Arkansas declared that minors with alcohol in their system must face charges of minor in possession, which is no different from this change in legislation. The addition to this law not only calls for harsher punish- ment among violators, but also gives officers more grounds to further investigate these inci- dents. The amendment states that driving privileges will be re- voked for the accused if a sworn report from a law enforcement officer states that he or she had reasonable grounds to believe that the arrested person was under 21 and purchased or was in possession of intoxicating li- quor, wine or beer. This means an officer need only suspect underage drinking to pursue the matter. Once an individual is under suspicion of committing the crime, the officer will then con- tinue to investigate by admin- istering a field sobriety and/ or breathalyzer test. If an indi- vidual fails, the officer will write a citation to the minor requiring a mandatory court appearance along with the fine. The officer will also relieve the intoxicated person of their driving credentials at the scene and write a temporary identifi- cation to be used until the court date where all driving privileg- es may be revoked. If the situation includes an underage and intoxicated driver, the consequences com- pound substantially. The most crucial phrase in the law is reasonable grounds to believe. This can include having the odor of beer or al- cohol on ones person or being clearly underage and blatantly intoxicated, such as stumbling while walking or slurring of speech. Physical cues consist of glazed eyes, droopy eyelids or a flushed, red face. The law is not limited to pub- lic intoxication either. If an of- ficer pulls over a sober driver who has three drunken pas- sengers with whiskey on their breath and a childish gleam in their eye, he has reasonable grounds to believe the individu- als are intoxicated, and may issue three citations and take three driver’s licenses. Johnny Campbell, Chief of Police at Henderson, plans to enforce this amendment when- ever necessary. Trying to control under- age drinking can prove to be a daunting task for legislators and for local law enforcement. Upperclassmen might re- member a time, years ago, when minors possessed, and the intoxicated were in public along fraternity row just off of campus. Since then, lessons have been learned and order restored on ‘thirsty’ Thursday nights to pre- vent danger for inexperienced freshmen in unfamiliar places. Campbell recognizes the increased availability of in- toxicants since Clark County voted to go wet just a few short months ago, but calls for a mea- sure of control and safety to be observed. Adults over the age of 21 are within every legal parameter to partake in alcoholic beverages, but as a word of caution, police urge responsible habits to en- sure private and public safety. Zach Dutton Staff Writer New law gives law enforcement added power The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Acts, also known as FERPA, is a federal law in the United States. The law was created in 1974. It allows students to access, change and have control over the disclosure of information from their education records. Without the student agreeing to the disclosure, it cannot hap- pen. If a student is under the age of 18, a parent will have to pro- vide written permission stat- ing that the school can reveal the student’s grades and other school related records. The only time a student can be un- der the age of 18 is if he or she graduates from high school. Once this happens, they will be classified as “eligible students.” Executive Director of the Stu- dent Press Law Center, Frank D. LoMonte, explained that FERPA goes into effect for stu- dents as the student is admitted to college. “Some may say that you are admitted when they offer you [a scholarship] or [when] you pay tuition. But if you apply and are turned down, it will not be FERPA record,” LoMonte said. LoMonte believes technol- ogy is causing anxiety because of information sharing. “Schools are concerned about sharing school work on- line,” LoMonte said. “Georgia Tech students built a Wiki plac- ing school work online.” LoMonte does not believe students should be able to do this because incoming students can find previous work from a class on a particular Wiki. Do paper documents and electronic documents have the same guidelines? “Yes,” LoMonte said. “Col- leges may not have certain in- formation on paper, but maybe a scan of the document.” In an incident involving Ohio State, the courts cited FERPA, supporting the college’s view to keep the documents confiden- tial. FERPA is intended to keep education records of a student confidential, and criminal al- legations are not supposed to be seen as education records. Education records are seen as a student’s written documents, microfilm, and any kind of mul- timedia, film or photos. Information that contains anything personal regarding the student is classified as a FERPA educational record. However, students’ notes of faculty members that are not kept in advising folders or med- ical and campus police records, and statistical data complaints that do not personally identify the student, are not considered educational records. All students should be able to get any information about FERPA from the Registrar. If the Registrar cannot help, the school legal office will be able to help since they are trained on the law. Eligible students who need assistance or want to file a complaint involving FERPA can contact the Family Policy Compliance Office at 1-800-872- 5327. Taylor Smith Staff Writer Family protection laws on the books for student rights TEHRAN, Iran (AP) Egyptian President Moham- med Morsi’s visit to Iran last month is still stirring debate in the Iranian parliament. Lawmaker Ali Mohammad Bozorgvari lashed out at Mor- si on Sunday for failing to meet with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during his August visit. At the time, Morsi attended the meeting of 120-nation Nonaligned Move- ment in Tehran but stayed in Iran only for a few hours. Bozorgvari told lawmakers that during a Muslim lead- ers’ summit in Saudi Arabia earlier in August, Morsi met the Saudi king but didn’t meet Khamenei while in Iran. The lawmaker called the Saudi monarch a “dirty and (pro-) American” ruler. Morsi’s Iran visit was the first by an Egyptian president in decades. In a speech in Tehran, he attacked Iran’s key ally, Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime and called it “oppressive.” The Egyptian Islamist leader also said Assad has lost legiti- macy as president amid the civil war, which activists say has left more than 23,000 peo- ple dead in Syria, and should step down. Also Sunday, foreign min- istry official Hossein Amir Abdollahian said Iran would welcome Morsi’s proposal on a four-nation contact group that would spearhead a new peace initiative for Syria’s conflict, re- ported the semi-official ISNA news agency. Morsi’s proposal — which named Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran as the four na- tions to lead the push — was dismissed by Syrian rebels as a dead end because of Iran’s inclusion. But Amir Abdollahian also criticized Morsi for his anti- Assad remarks, saying the Egyptian president should have a “realistic attitude” to- ward developments in Syria. Syria has come under deep international isolation because of its escalating civil war al- though it still has the iron support — including weapons shipments — from allies in Russia and Iran. Iran has re- peatedly denied any military support to Syria. Wire Report Associated Press Egypt leader visits Iran

09/10/12 Issue

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Page 1: 09/10/12 Issue

News

Opinions

Features

Diversions

Sports

2

3

4

5

6

Inde

x

OracleThe

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012 HENDERSON STATE UNIVERSITY VOLUME 105, ISSUE 04

Police issue citations, arrest former professor

Photos by Ryan Klare

BAD BREATH Students were surprised by the appearance of police during a party Thursday night. Many students were given breatha-lizer and field sobriety tests, leading to the writing of several tickets. Subsequently, Dr. John Crawford, retired Henderson faculty member, was arrested. Crawford owns the former fraternity house of the local Phi Sigma Kappa chapter where the party was taking place.

Minors in Arkansas may now face losing their licenses for be-ing intoxicated, according to a bill passed by the Arkansas House of Representatives in late July.

This bill will not only cost mi-nors driving privileges for six months, but will also require offenders to pay a $365 fine and appear before a court.

Last year, Arkansas declared that minors with alcohol in their system must face charges of minor in possession, which is no different from this change in legislation.

The addition to this law not only calls for harsher punish-ment among violators, but also

gives officers more grounds to further investigate these inci-dents.

The amendment states that driving privileges will be re-voked for the accused if a sworn report from a law enforcement officer states that he or she had reasonable grounds to believe that the arrested person was under 21 and purchased or was in possession of intoxicating li-quor, wine or beer.

This means an officer need only suspect underage drinking to pursue the matter.

Once an individual is under suspicion of committing the crime, the officer will then con-tinue to investigate by admin-istering a field sobriety and/or breathalyzer test. If an indi-vidual fails, the officer will write

a citation to the minor requiring a mandatory court appearance along with the fine.

The officer will also relieve the intoxicated person of their driving credentials at the scene and write a temporary identifi-cation to be used until the court date where all driving privileg-es may be revoked.

If the situation includes an underage and intoxicated driver, the consequences com-pound substantially.

The most crucial phrase in the law is reasonable grounds to believe. This can include having the odor of beer or al-cohol on ones person or being clearly underage and blatantly intoxicated, such as stumbling while walking or slurring of speech.

Physical cues consist of glazed eyes, droopy eyelids or a flushed, red face.

The law is not limited to pub-lic intoxication either. If an of-ficer pulls over a sober driver who has three drunken pas-sengers with whiskey on their breath and a childish gleam in their eye, he has reasonable grounds to believe the individu-als are intoxicated, and may issue three citations and take three driver’s licenses.

Johnny Campbell, Chief of Police at Henderson, plans to enforce this amendment when-ever necessary.

Trying to control under-age drinking can prove to be a daunting task for legislators and for local law enforcement.

Upperclassmen might re-

member a time, years ago, when minors possessed, and the intoxicated were in public along fraternity row just off of campus.

Since then, lessons have been learned and order restored on ‘thirsty’ Thursday nights to pre-vent danger for inexperienced freshmen in unfamiliar places.

Campbell recognizes the increased availability of in-toxicants since Clark County voted to go wet just a few short months ago, but calls for a mea-sure of control and safety to be observed.

Adults over the age of 21 are within every legal parameter to partake in alcoholic beverages, but as a word of caution, police urge responsible habits to en-sure private and public safety.

Zach DuttonStaff Writer

New law gives law enforcement added power

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Acts, also known as FERPA, is a federal law in the United States.

The law was created in 1974. It allows students to access, change and have control over the disclosure of information from their education records. Without the student agreeing to the disclosure, it cannot hap-pen.

If a student is under the age of 18, a parent will have to pro-vide written permission stat-ing that the school can reveal the student’s grades and other school related records. The only time a student can be un-der the age of 18 is if he or she graduates from high school. Once this happens, they will be classified as “eligible students.”

Executive Director of the Stu-dent Press Law Center, Frank D. LoMonte, explained that FERPA goes into effect for stu-dents as the student is admitted to college.

“Some may say that you are admitted when they offer you [a scholarship] or [when] you pay tuition. But if you apply and are turned down, it will not be FERPA record,” LoMonte said.

LoMonte believes technol-ogy is causing anxiety because of information sharing.

“Schools are concerned about sharing school work on-line,” LoMonte said. “Georgia Tech students built a Wiki plac-ing school work online.”

LoMonte does not believe students should be able to do this because incoming students can find previous work from a class on a particular Wiki.

Do paper documents and electronic documents have the same guidelines?

“Yes,” LoMonte said. “Col-leges may not have certain in-formation on paper, but maybe a scan of the document.”

In an incident involving Ohio State, the courts cited FERPA, supporting the college’s view to keep the documents confiden-tial. FERPA is intended to keep education records of a student

confidential, and criminal al-legations are not supposed to be seen as education records. Education records are seen as a student’s written documents, microfilm, and any kind of mul-timedia, film or photos.

Information that contains anything personal regarding the student is classified as a FERPA educational record.

However, students’ notes of faculty members that are not kept in advising folders or med-ical and campus police records, and statistical data complaints that do not personally identify the student, are not considered educational records.

All students should be able to get any information about FERPA from the Registrar. If the Registrar cannot help, the school legal office will be able to help since they are trained on the law.

Eligible students who need assistance or want to file a complaint involving FERPA can contact the Family Policy Compliance Office at 1-800-872-5327.

Taylor SmithStaff Writer

Family protection laws on the books for student rights

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Egyptian President Moham-med Morsi’s visit to Iran last month is still stirring debate in the Iranian parliament.

Lawmaker Ali Mohammad Bozorgvari lashed out at Mor-si on Sunday for failing to meet with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during his August visit. At the time, Morsi attended the meeting of 120-nation Nonaligned Move-ment in Tehran but stayed in Iran only for a few hours.

Bozorgvari told lawmakers that during a Muslim lead-ers’ summit in Saudi Arabia earlier in August, Morsi met the Saudi king but didn’t meet Khamenei while in Iran. The lawmaker called the Saudi monarch a “dirty and (pro-) American” ruler.

Morsi’s Iran visit was the first by an Egyptian president in decades. In a speech in Tehran, he attacked Iran’s key ally, Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime and called it “oppressive.”

The Egyptian Islamist leader also said Assad has lost legiti-

macy as president amid the civil war, which activists say has left more than 23,000 peo-ple dead in Syria, and should step down.

Also Sunday, foreign min-istry official Hossein Amir Abdollahian said Iran would welcome Morsi’s proposal on a four-nation contact group that would spearhead a new peace initiative for Syria’s conflict, re-ported the semi-official ISNA news agency.

Morsi’s proposal — which named Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran as the four na-tions to lead the push — was dismissed by Syrian rebels as a dead end because of Iran’s inclusion.

But Amir Abdollahian also criticized Morsi for his anti-Assad remarks, saying the Egyptian president should have a “realistic attitude” to-ward developments in Syria.

Syria has come under deep international isolation because of its escalating civil war al-though it still has the iron support — including weapons shipments — from allies in Russia and Iran. Iran has re-peatedly denied any military support to Syria.

Wire ReportAssociated Press

Egypt leader visits Iran

Page 2: 09/10/12 Issue

The annual Lady Reddie mixer took place at Wells Gym on Tuesday and played host to a number of Lady Reddie ath-letes.

This event is intended to bring female student athletes and trainers together and give them a time to fellowship as well as an opportunity to report on the developments of each team for the upcoming year.

Every head coach had a chance to introduce the team as well as recognize the senior members playing this semes-ter.

It was instantly clear how close the volleyball team is when two teammates, as well as roommates, introduced their team.

The weekend before, the la-dies started the season with a win at their home tournament and hoped to keep it up in their upcoming games in Huntsville Thursday and Friday.

“We’re really excited,” Sarah Williams, sophomore outside hitter, said. “They are one of the tougher teams in the con-ference. We are getting men-tally ready.”

“And physically,” Cheyenne Derr, junior outside hitter, add-ed.

In Huntsville on Thursday the ladies played “top notch,” Williams said.

On Friday, in the games against the University of West Georgia, Jessica Moss, sopho-more middle blocker, racked up 15 blocks and tied the Hen-derson record.

In their last set of games against Union University, the Lady Reddies won three out of four.

“It was a good way to end the

tournament,” Williams said. “Tournaments we have been in have been a good learning experience. It’s good to go in Tuesday with a win. We are going into the conference con-fidently.”

The cross-country team was also excited for their meet at OBU that took place Saturday morning. An OBU meet is as close as it gets to a home track for the Lady Reddies.

Stacy Emmerling, freshman, finished in second place in front of her teammate, Char-lotte Wetzlar, who finished third. Both ladies improved their times from last week’s meet and forged the way for the Lady Reddies to place sec-ond overall.

The tennis team has a nine-woman roster with six new members. This fresh meat does not have head coach Bren-da Joiner worried, however.

“These new girls are on the

court, on their own, every night, practicing,” Joiner said. Joiner noted that her athletes had a dedication to the sport. They shared in her excitement and were eager to get started this week.

This year’s roster for the soft-ball team is a bit longer than usual, including four senior team members, bringing the roster to 31.

The Lady Red Wave swim team finished off the presenta-tions with an invitation to their first meet on Oct. 19 against OBU.

“We are really confident,” Melissa Ralston, senior market-ing major, said.

Kale Gober, head athletic di-rector, opened the event with a few statements about the pro-gram and the importance of Lady Reddie sports. The goal behind this event was to not only introduce the teams to the fans and the Henderson family,

but to also encourage a network of athletes supporting athletes.

Last year the Henderson athletic department students boasted a cumulative GPA greater than a 3.0 with more than 150 student athletes, ac-cording to Gober.

This mixer made it clear that the Lady Reddie athletes are a close-knit family

After the informational por-tion of the mixer, the mixing began, and refreshments and cookies were served. Teams met teams and former players got a chance to meet this year’s crew.

A number of women from the community made it out to hear about the exciting athletic year ahead for the Lady Reddie ath-letic department.

Make sure to join the Lady Reddie athletes in supporting your volleyball team at their next home game this Thursday against Harding at 7 p.m.

Mixer pumps up Lady Reddies PAGE 2 SEMPTEMBER 10, 2012News

News BriefsHunting season is com-

ing up quick. Henderson is offering a hunter education course free of charge for any students that have already signed up. The first class will be today from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Ross Room, whic is located on the second floor of the Garrison Center.

There is a diabetes infor-

mational tomorrow begin-ning at 9 a.m. in the Garrison. This is an open informational for any students who wish to attend. If you or someone you know is suffering, this is a great place to learn how to live with diabetes and better understand what diabetes re-ally is.

There will be a graduate council meeting Tuesday, Sept. 11. This meeting will be taking place in the Daw-son room on the second floor of the Garrison beginning at 12:30 p.m.

Once again it is the time of year for the student orga-nization fair. Beginning at 12:30 p.m. head down to the hallway in Garrison and see all the organizations for stu-dents that Henderson has to offer.

Also on Tuesday, there will be a bike maintainance work-shop. Bring your bike to the Dunn Recreation center at 4 p.m. to learn how to keep your bike riding smoothly.

Thursday, Sept. 13, is known as Constitution Day. The Social Sciences depart-ment will be holding a Con-stitution Day Celebration in the Garrison Lecture Hall from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. The celebration is open to all stu-dents. Judge Robert McCal-lum will be the event’s guest speaker.

Drinking and driving are never a good mix. Mark Sterner will be visiting the campus on Thursday, Sept. 13, to speak to the students about DUI’s and what can come of them. Come out to Arkansas Hall at 12:30 p.m. and support him.

Thursday evening at 7 p.m., there will be a show-ing in the planetarium about Saturn and its rings. There will also be more indepth in-formation about the moons that orbit the planet. The pro-gram is open to both Hender-son and OBU students, cost-ing only $1 with a student ID. Without your student ID, it is $3. There will be no late en-try, so be punctual.

Friday is Bid Day for Greek Life. This will be tak-ing place on the Quad. Talk to the leaders of your specific organization to learn more details regarding your indi-vidual times.

SAB will be playing a mov-ie in the Lecture Hall of the Garrison Center this Friday at 7:30 p.m. This week’s fea-ture will be “Madagascar 3.” Whether you are on a date or with a group of friends, head over to the Garrison to sup-port SAB.

Just in case you happen to miss Friday’s feature, there will also be a Sunday matinee showing of “Madagascar 3.” Bring all your friends to the Lecture Hall and enjoy the show.

There will be an away game for the Reddie football team this Saturday, Sept. 15. The Reddies will be taking on McKendree University at 1:30 p.m. Head out to Mcken-dree to support your team.

Photo Courtesy of Jami Smith

Zach DuttonStaff Writer

LADY REDDIES KICK OFF Along with Kale Gober (above, middle), all of Henderson’s Lady Reddie athletes gathered together for a quick photo during their mixer last Tuesday. The mixer was to help unite all female Henderson ath-letes. Among the attendees were ladies from the volleyball, cross country, tennis, softball and swimming teams. The female athletic trainers were also in attendance.

One major stress point for students right now isn’t homework; It’s finding a parking spot.

A big change on campus this semester is the lack of parking spaces. Due to the construction for the new dining hall, the university lost 85 parking spaces.

Parking has become extremely difficult, especially for commuting students.

“It’s terrible,” Heather Lowe, a sopho-more English major, said. “I have to park like 600 miles away from campus and pow-er walk like one of those ladies you see in the mall just to get to class on time.”

The worst part for many students is sim-ply finding a spot.

“I usually have to drive around for at least 10 minutes,” Lowe said. “They should build a parking deck, maybe behind Smith or Arkansas Hall.”

There have been a few additional lots built for students. Most of them are made of gravel.

One is located north of the International House, creating 40 spaces. The other is between Newberry and Caplinger, making 68 spaces. Together these parking lots cre-ate a net gain of 23 parking spaces.

Another new development to campus is the fact that there are no designated park-ing lots for commuters and resident stu-dents. With the exception of faculty-staff parking areas, students can park anywhere as long as they have a parking pass.

One hard part for many students is being forced to change their morning routines in order to compensate for the change.

“I have to get up at least 30 minutes ear-lier,” Mackenzie Moore, sophomore gen-eral studies major, said. “It’s horrible. I commute, and it is so hard to find a parking spot in the mornings. We need a lot more space.”

“I have to wake up earlier, and I’m not a morning person,” Lowe said.

Parking is not just rough on the commut-ers, however. Students who live in the resi-dence halls are feeling the pain, too.

“I usually have to park a long ways from my dorm,” Haley Best, senior psychology

major, said. “Most of the time I’m in the back lot of Smith, and I live in West. It’s the worst in the morning and late at night. I don’t feel safe walking from my car to my room a lot of times.”

Even the faculty and staff are having dif-ficulty finding places to park.

“If I look for a close space it takes about 10 to 15 minutes but if I go to my usual spot I can find one sooner,” said Angelina Cole-man, assistant director for Residence Life.

Some students have not felt as much strain as others.

“I don’t have much trouble finding a parking spot because I’m usually on cam-pus before 8 a.m.,” Matthew James, a se-nior sociology major, said. “It’s a good way to get a little exercise anyway. People don’t realize that there is actually a lot of parking available, they just don’t want to take the time to walk long distances. It’s laziness.”

Once the new dining hall construction is finished the school should regain 60 of the 85 spaces lost.

“It’s just a needed change,” Coleman said. “We all have to adjust and be patient during this wonderful growth period.”

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Clint Eastwood said the idea to use an empty seat as a prop at the Republican National Conven-tion was a spur-of-the-moment decision when someone back-stage asked if he wanted to sit down.

In his first interview since his Aug. 30 appearance at the convention to pledge support for GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, Eastwood told the Carmel Pine Cone that his speech was not only unscript-ed, it was pretty much sponta-neous.

“There was a stool there, and some fella kept asking me if I wanted to sit down,” Eastwood told the weekly newspaper in the small California city where he once was mayor. “When I saw the stool sitting there, it gave me the idea. I’ll just put the stool out there and I’ll talk to Mr. Obama and ask him why he didn’t keep all of the prom-

ises he made to everybody.”Eastwood’s peculiar, some-

times rambling conversation with an imaginary President Barack Obama in an empty chair set the blogosphere and social media ablaze. Reaction to his appearance generally has split along party lines, with Republicans raving about his stinging rebuke of Obama and Democrats ridiculing him as old, angry and out of touch.

The 82-year-old Eastwood said he set out to make three points and he achieved his goal.

“That not everybody in Holly-wood is on the left, that Obama has broken a lot of the promises he made when he took office, and that the people should feel free to get rid of any politician who’s not doing a good job,” Eastwood said in the interview, which was conducted Tuesday but not published until Friday. “But I didn’t make up my mind exactly what I was going to say until I said it.”

Political conventions nor-mally are tightly scripted and

Romney’s campaign aides had wanted details about what East-wood planned to say.

“They vet most of the people, but I told them, ‘You can’t do that with me, because I don’t know what I’m going to say,’” Eastwood said.

Eastwood acknowledged his presentation was “very unorth-odox” but said he knew that would be the case.

“They’ve got this crazy actor who’s 82 years old up there in a suit,” he said. “I was a mayor, and they’re probably thinking I know how to give a speech, but even when I was mayor I never gave speeches. I gave talks.”

Eastwood said he was told to speak for five minutes but he said it was difficult to gauge time and there weren’t any sig-nals or cues telling him to wrap up. He ended up speaking for about 12 minutes.

Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan, later came backstage to thank him.

“They were very enthusias-tic, and we were all laughing,”

Eastwood said.Eastwood, who stars in the

upcoming movie “Trouble with the Curve,” maintains Obama doesn’t deserve a second term as president.

“President Obama is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people,” East-wood said. “Romney and Ryan would do a much better job running the country, and that’s what everybody needs to know. I may have irritated a lot of the lefties, but I was aiming for peo-ple in the middle.”

Despite all the attention he received, Eastwood hadn’t granted any interviews since his speech. Even his longtime manager, Leonard Hirshan, told The Associated Press he was unaware Eastwood had spoken to the newspaper.

“You’re telling me something for the first time,” Hirshan said.

Hirshan stressed that as a manager, he wouldn’t necessar-ily know about Eastwood’s deal-ings with the media. The actor has no publicist.

Eastwood explains on the spot convention performance

Student parking poses major problem

Matthew DalyAssociated Press

Katie BlairStaff Writer

Page 3: 09/10/12 Issue

Y OURH O N E S T OPINION

What are You Going To Do With Your Refund

Check?

Kimberly Hamiltonfreshmannursing

“I would pledge to a sorority with it.”

April Walkerjunior

dental hygiene“Shopping. Buy

clothes and probably save the rest for emer-

gencies.”

Marland Johnsonsenior

sociology“Books. Money is tight

so a check will help pay for class stuff.”

Heather Lowesophomore

English“In all honesty, pay my

car payment.”

Fear of pseudo: A perspective of life

SEPTEMBER 10, 2012 PAGE 3 Opinions

Chase Leejunior

art education“My tire popped the

first night of school, so I’ll probably fix that, then save the rest.”

I hope that at some point in ev-eryone’s lives, they ask themselves what life means to them. I had a cri-sis over this question during the hot summer months, and experienced some of the worst anxiety I’ve ever felt in my life.

When faced with inevitabilities, the fleeting nature of life can seem overwhelming. If you think about it, I mean, really think, it is a scary thing to be confronted with. The question eats at you. The despair sinks into your bones, takes hold, and it doesn’t let go until it has been pacified somehow with an answer.

The more I thought about how much I wanted to accomplish, the shorter life seemed, and the more I thought about how little of it I had accomplished so far, the more des-perate I became.

On Friday, I went to Gallery Walk in Hot Springs with the Art Club, a once-a-month event where admis-sion to all the art galleries in the town is free. After our last gallery, when we were the greatest distance from the parking garage, we got caught in one of the heaviest, most torrential downpours I’ve ever expe-rienced.

We ran down the sidewalk, all eleven of us, fighting violent wind

and rain. Squinting through my glasses to read neon signs and fol-low the feet of those ahead through flooded sidewalks, I felt alive and happy.

On the ride home, cold and com-pletely drenched, I started thinking about the art I’d seen and the cama-raderie I felt with these new friends I’d made.

Fog drifted across serpentine roads while lightening lit up the gray sky from behind the black sil-houettes of mountains, a sight so beautiful and simple that I felt like I was careening through another gal-lery.

Introspection in the midst of a storm is probably the most success-ful introspection a person can have. Nature is at odds with you, but finds a way to be graceful and enlighten-ing.

Something about that moment changed me. Ruminating on the events of the day, having seen beautiful and great works of art in the midst of a warm evening that suddenly turned into a violent rain storm, the uncertainty of life be-came both evident and welcomed.

In that moment, I knew what the meaning of life was for me, the pur-pose of it all from my perspective. I want to learn all I can and be happy.

Those things that haunted me throughout the summer were shed,

and I felt new in the baptism of the rain.

It seems simple enough, and I wonder now why it took me so long to think of this answer. Life had got-ten in the way somehow, and had kept me from seeing.

I realize that many people may not ask themselves these questions be-cause it is a hard one, or maybe they simply haven’t thought of them yet.

Set those goals for yourself that will make you feel fulfilled and like your life has been worth something more. Never let a day go by that you haven’t felt successful or significant in some way.

Life will be disappointing at times, and it does not take on meaning on its own. Your life’s meaning comes from a sense of perspective and ex-perience. It requires thought and struggle, but hopefully ends in a broader sense of self.

It’s a challenge to think about, es-pecially when we are lost so often in the stresses of life or the technology and media that steal away our con-centration so often.

It might be easier to keep up with the Kardashians than to contem-plate your own existence and the true nature of mortality, but it is bet-ter to think on it now than to realize you should have when it is too late.

What does life mean to you? What is the point of it all?

Don’t feed the trolls:Leave my snakes alone

Ashley LoftinGuest Columnist

There are a few things people across different de-mographics can agree to hate; politicians, lawyers and Arkansas-born LSU fans, just to name a few.

Many of these are rooted within some sort of under-standable logic. Lawyers are all about lying to get money, politicians lie about how they are spending your money and Arkansan LSU fans are just frustrating paradoxes of reason. I can understand these ways of thinking.

What I can’t understand is the absolute hatred for snakes everyone seems to have.

Every spring, Facebook becomes a bulletin board for snake corpses and every collection of country folk is a pissing contest of who killed the biggest rattlesnake.

It’s sad, really, to see an entire species show com-plete ignorance about an animal as useful as snakes.

The standard response is, “Aw, nahl. I don’t need no snakes around. I got kids.”

So did my parents. You having spawned likely equally as ignorant children is no reason to have a shoot on sight policy on a part of your ecosystem.

There are more nonven-omous species than there are venomous, so most of the time there is no danger whatsoever. That is, unless you are like my mother

who has a completely self-induced mental reaction bordering on anaphylaxis. Just mention a garter snake and her skin starts tingling and a look of panic crosses her face.

There are only seven ven-omous species in the state: the copperhead, cotton-mouth, timber rattlesnake, western diamondback rat-tlesnake, pygmy rattlesnake and coral snake.

When you see a snake, if you don’t know what it is and feel threatened, just leave it alone.

Any time you are outside, there are snakes within eye-shot of you. I guarantee it. They are not trying to kill you, they are just trying to do what any of us on the planet are trying to do: eat, sleep and mate.

So much ignorance on a subject makes for almost comically ignorant state-ments. I‘ll clear some of these up.

There are no copperhead, cottonmouth or rattlesnake eggs. They all give live birth. You did not find a rat-tlesnake that was twelve feet long. You just didn’t.

No matter what you say, I will not believe that a snake chased you to your door and waited there for you.

These are just a few of the nuggets of knowledge I’ve come across through the years.

The craziest had to have been the lady who told me there is a such thing as a “hoop snake” which waits at

the top of a hill for an unsus-pecting victim, bites its tail and rolls down the hill at a high speed, releasing its tail only to deliver the devastat-ing bite it is known for. This woman, who was pregnant as hell, more than likely im-parted this moronic untruth to the neonate nincompoop even after I stopped look-ing at her in horror and told her that is the goofiest thing anyone has ever told me.

I’ve been bitten by a majority of the species of nonvenomous snake in the state, and I will still tell you that they are not the crea-tures of terror most people believe they are. I have never received a bite that I didn’t deserve.

It always happens when I grab them to move them off a road or relocate them, which is understandable.

If something so stagger-ingly bigger than me just suddenly grabbed me, you better believe I would do anything in my power to fight him. You can’t blame the snake because biting is all it’s got.

When we have something as destructive as feral cats in the wild, it’s terrible that so much glory is given to someone killing a gorgeous rattlesnake.

Some small towns put someone on the front page of the newspaper for killing a snake.

The fact is people are able to hate a snake because it’s different. It’s a dry, scaly, slithering creature.

If everyone would under-stand that these alien-like animals control pests and keep ecosystems in check, they may think twice be-fore taking a shovel to their heads.

Meanwhile, cats are eat-ing every nesting game bird and songbird they can find but get a free pass because they are sort of cute.

Even the cuteness doesn’t go far when you find an an-gry cat in a live trap you’ve set to see what has been killing your chickens. A screaming ball of feline fury with sharp claws and teeth shouldn’t be considered anything worth staying an informed hand of justice.

All this is to say, “Live and let live.”

Stop killing our snakes for no reason. I would much rather have a few more freaked out old ladies than more mice everywhere.

Think about it: More snakes, which you probably won’t encounter, or a higher cap on how much rat feces the FDA allows in our pro-cessed food.

You be the judge.

Ryan KlareColumnist

The Oracle is produced by and for Henderson State University students. Opinions expressed in personal columns do not reflect the opinions of the staff as a whole or of the university.

The editorial staff reserves the right to arbitrarily select articles, letters and ads to be published. In addition, the Oracle reserves the right to edit all letters for space, style and libel as per the Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual.

The Oracle, as a forum for public opinion, welcomes all signed letters. Unsigned letters cannot be published. Letters must bear the writer’s name, class standing, major and phone number.

The deadline for letters and for advertising is noon Thursday for inclusion in the following week’s publication.

The Oracle is published in Garrison L113 and printed by GateHouse Media in Hope, Ark. Two copies per student are provided free of charge. Additional copies can be purchased for 50 cents each.

Editor-in-Chief: Morgan Acuff [email protected] Faculty Adviser: Mike Taylor [email protected] Editor: Stephanie Hartman [email protected] Sports Editor: Kaitlyn Kitchens [email protected]

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HSU Box 7693 Editorial Staff: Advertising Arkadelphia, AR 71999-0001 (870) 230-5221 / [email protected] (870) 230-5288 / [email protected]

Columnists:

“Don’t Feed the Trolls” Ryan Klare [email protected]

Staff Writers

Zach DuttonMalorie KelleyNeal StewartReaves Alewine Katie BlairKaitlyn TollesonColbie McCloud

Krissica HarperChris IngramTyler PriddyKenneth IbarraZachary ZdanowiczJeffery GilmoreJ.D. Roberts

Page 4: 09/10/12 Issue

The Donald W. Reynolds Science Center hosted a new video of the planet Sat-urn this Thursday for a full house show at the planetar-ium.

The viewing of the movie, “Saturn: Jewel of the Heav-ens,” presented the idea of how the planet itself was cre-ated, what the atmosphere is like and how the below 300 degree temperature forms its legendary ice rings.

The planetarium is located in the lobby of the Reynolds Science Center. The theater is a hemispherical dome ceiling in which the movie is shown.

The dome theater also fea-tures a Digitalis Gamma dig-ital projection system and modern sound technology, which bring planets, com-ets, constellations and more to life. This theater creates a learning experience to each student viewing the presen-tations.

“Saturn: Jewel of the Heavens” was one of the new shows that are to be presented this month at the planetarium.

The half-hour produc-tion demonstrates how the mighty planet was formed, and its history going all the way back to where it got its name from the Roman god of agriculture, liberation and time.

The video showed that Saturn is the only planet that has moons with an atmo-sphere somewhat close to what scientists believe the atmosphere of early earth was like. Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, has an atmo-sphere that is composed of nitrogen.

The weather is very much

like Jupiter, where repeated hurricanes occur at the north and south poles, with winds gusting up to 350 mph. Some hurricanes are so large they could com-pletely swallow earth.

The Cassini Project was launched in 1997 and fea-tured the first robot space-craft to land on Saturn.

The robot showed that the icy rings surrounding the planet are actually magnetic bands of large amounts of rocks and ice debris, some small as pebbles and some large as giant icebergs.

Saturn makes its full rota-tion in only 10 hours, which keeps the debris traveling fast enough to break and make more debris.

The Society of Physics Students operates these monthly presentations in the planetarium.

“We usually show two shows a month,” Nate John-son, physics major, said. “All are educational and public viewings are available.”

The shows are $1 with a student ID, and $3 without an ID. The monthly plan-etarium shows are a great way to gain an entertaining learning experience.

The next presentation will be shown Sept. 19, featuring the film “Stars of the Pha-raohs,” at 7:30 p.m.

PAGE 4 SEPTEMBER 10, 2012Features‘Cosmopolis’ is confusingly stunning

Planetarium details Saturn

There seems to be a growing popularity in movies that don’t receive mainstream attention. More and more theaters are opening up to movies that don’t make as much money as sum-mer blockbusters and franchise tent poles.

So it’s no surprise that David Cronenberg’s latest creation, “Cosmopolis,” has made its way to a few local theaters.

The adaptation of Don DeL-illo’s novel follows billionaire Eric Packer, played by Robert Pattinson of “Twilight,” as he makes his way across town for a haircut.

Packer spends most of his time in his high-tech limo, which, at one time or another, serves as an office, a check-up room and, most importantly, a barrier from the real world.

He is as cold and calculating as the machine he rides in, and his only interactions come from brief encounters with worried employees and his distant wife.

As the story progresses, Packer learns two crucial things.

Firstly, he is quickly losing his money, and secondly, some-one is trying to kill him. This sends him on a path of self-re-flection and self-destruction.

His journey will take him to places he has never been and help answer questions he has about himself. Before it is over he will experience loss, humiliation, pain and above all what it is like to be human as he gradually comes out of his limo-shaped box.

“Cosmopolis” has some amazing aspects worth men-tioning.

First of all, the acting is fan-tastic. The movie relies on the actors because a lot of the

movie is comprised of conver-sations.

Pattinson gives an eerie per-formance that at times seems robotic, which fits the charac-ter. It seems like he has been trying to distance himself from the “Twilight” movies for a while, and this is what does it for him.

Paul Giamatti, from “Shoot ‘Em Up,” does so much with his short time on screen. When he is with Pattinson he makes the scene suspenseful and un-settling. The two really compli-ment each other as they play two characters who couldn’t be more different.

The strongest facet of the movie is the cinematography and camera work. It is interest-

ing to see that kind of camera work in movies.

Cronenberg turns to Peter Suschitzky, who worked with Cronenberg on “A History of Violence” and “A Dangerous Method” for his expertise in the field.

The duo uses shots and fram-ing that aren’t typically used in movies today. One memorable moment is a point-of-view shot of Packer walking through a bookstore. It seemed natural and really stuck out. Cronen-berg always tries to find a new way to shoot inside of the car and present it in a new way.

Less mainstream movies are known for great acting and camera work, but nowadays many of them grab the audi-

ence’s attention in some way and connect with them. They are accessible to the average moviegoer.

“Cosmopolis” isn’t like that.Cronenberg has never been

the most accessible director, but this takes it to a whole new level. Even the most avid movie buff may find themselves lost in the wordy adaptation.

He ties to create all these metaphors, and while some work, most just fall flat and be-come lost to the viewers.

Another downfall of the mov-ie was the growing suspense that builds the entire movie and never goes anywhere. By the time Packer makes any kind of self-discovery the audience has lost interest. It’s anti-climatic

and leaves the audience want-ing more.

Packer’s journey is long, but the viewer’s journey is even longer because the movie doesn’t go anywhere that it hasn’t gone before. There are a few moments where it seems like it could be leading to some-thing, but it never does.

This movie is definitely not for everyone. It is a beautifully made movie with great acting but that doesn’t make up for the fact that it goes nowhere.

It’s sad to say that Cronen-berg falls short with “Cosmop-olis.”

Hopefully this is just a minor bump in the road and Cronen-berg will be back with another great film in the near future.

J.D. RobertsStaff Writer

BULLET REVOLUTION Eric Packer (Robert Pattinson) and Benno Levin (Paul Giamatti) in a charged scene from the new movie by David Cronenberg based on the book of the same name by Don DeLillo.

Tyler PriddyStaff Writer

Photo courtesy of Entertainment One

Page 5: 09/10/12 Issue

Create a Diversion! Submit your short stories, poetry, essays and other creative writing, and they could be featured on this page.

Send an email to [email protected] with the word “creative” in the subject line. Include your name, classification and major.

SEPTEMBER 10, 2012 PAGE 5Diversions

Page 6: 09/10/12 Issue

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — The question about Arkan-sas without Bobby Petrino was how would it handle the dif-ficult times without its former coach.

The Razorbacks found out Saturday night, when they blew a 21-point second-half lead in a shocking 34-31 overtime loss to Louisiana-Monroe. And there could be more hardship ahead after quarterback Tyler Wilson and a host of other players went down with injuries.

Coach John L. Smith an-nounced Sunday that Wilson stayed in Little Rock follow-ing the loss, the result of a hit to the head in the first half. Smith said Wilson’s prognosis for this week’s matchup with No. 1 Alabama is good, but the Razorbacks must first deal with the fallout from their stunning collapse.

Without Petrino, who was fired in April following his well-publicized off-the-field transgressions, Arkansas was unable to hold on after building a 28-7 lead midway through the

third quarter. Its defense was embarrassed and thoroughly outmatched by Warhawks quarterback Kolton Browning, who accounted for 481 yards of total offense and four touch-downs.

“I am shocked, and I am mad at the same time,” Arkansas middle linebacker Tenarius Wright said. “I don’t want to show anger. I want to be strong for my team, and our team has to come together and stay to-gether as a family and get ready for next week.”

And if losing to a team from the Sun Belt Conference wasn’t harsh enough, Arkansas (1-1) now faces the prospect of a visit from the defending national champion Crimson Tide. The game was circled on the Razor-backs’ calendar throughout the offseason, but that anticipation suffered a blow with Saturday’s loss.

All in all, it’s hard to imagine that the season could have tak-en such a turn so quickly after only two games under Smith. The Razorbacks struggled at times in a season-opening 49-24 win over FCS Jacksonville State, but few could have pre-

dicted those problems would be exposed so convincingly by the Warhawks (1-0).

What remains to be seen now is how Arkansas rebounds. The school fell from No. 8 in last week’s AP college football poll to unranked this week, the second-largest fall out of the poll ever.

Even if Wilson does return against Alabama, the Razor-backs have to wonder how far their free-fall might go after becoming the first top-10 team to lose to a team from the Sun Belt. After the visit by the Crim-son Tide, they host Rutgers be-fore road games at Texas A&M and Auburn.

“We have to pull together, and we all contributed to the loss. I don’t want to see any of this and this,” Smith said, pointing his finger at each other. “Which is naturally what you get, because that’s an easy thing to do and that’s what losers do, they point fingers.

“(We need to) wrap our arms around each other, come to work, get better and get ready for Alabama. Those guys came in here and beat us ‚Äî there’s no reason for us not to get

ready to beat Alabama.”In order to compete with the

Crimson Tide, much less win, the Razorbacks must improve on defense after allowing an average of 436 total yards the first two weeks. That task was made more difficult Saturday by a couple of injuries in the secondary, which allowed a career-high 412 yards passing by Browning.

The performance also raised the inevitable questions about how the chaotic spring follow-ing Petrino’s firing truly affect-ed Arkansas. The Razorbacks were 21-5 the last two sea-sons under Petrino, with their only losses coming to schools ranked ahead of them.

“They certainly have rallied around each other and over-come significant obstacles and significant difficulties,” Louisiana-Monroe coach Todd Berry said. “As I told (Smith) before the game, I applaud him for how he’s handled a lot of things.

“I recognize how difficult all that stuff can be, and what a dis-traction it is.”

Starting Arkansas corner-back Tevin Mitchel was taken

off the field on a stretcher in the fourth quarter with what the school called “an injury above the shoulders.” The other starting corner, senior Kaelon Kelleybrew, was in and out of Saturday’s game with an arm injury, but Smith said he’s expected to play against Ala-bama.

One player who is out for sure is backup running back Kody Walker, who was likely lost for the season with a lower leg injury against Louisiana-Monroe. Walker started at full-back Saturday after the team’s usual starting fullback, Kiero Small, had surgery for a foot injury late last week.

Regardless of who plays and who doesn’t this week, Arkan-sas is doing its best to continue looking forward ‚Äî not back.

“We’re not going to let any-one slack, not going to let anyone make any complaints, no excuses,” Wright said. “Ev-eryone contributed to the loss that we took, so it’s up to us to contribute to getting better and put more numbers in the win column.”

Copyright 2012 The Associ-ated Press.

Henderson came back from a rocky start, winning 47-24 in their second game of the year against McKendree Univer-sity on Saturday afternoon at Leemon Field in Lebanon, Ill.

After three turnovers in the first quarter of the game by McKendree with the Reddies down 10-0, the Bearcats ex-tended their lead to 17-7.

Henderson’s offense turned the game around with 40 points by the end of the game, only letting the Bearcats score one more time in the fourth quar-ter.

The Reddies starting quar-terback, Kevin Rodgers, tossed a career-high of 442 yards and seven touchdowns.

His impressive skill in the game with seven scores sets a new Henderson record.

The previous record was six scores by Chris Reil in 2000 against Arkansas Tech.

Rodgers was also selected to be put in the Great American Conference record book for passing the previous record of five touchdown passes.

“It feels good to accomplish something like being recog-nized in the GAC record book,” Rodgers said. “I could not have done it without the receivers making great runs throughout the game and the offensive line giving me enough time to run the ball.”

Rodgers made the first touchdown throw in the second quarter of the game to Israel Valentine for 7 yards to put the Reddies on the scoreboard,

making the score 10-7.Following the Reddies’ touch-

down, Rodgers was picked off and McKendree scored again to gain a 10-point lead of 17-7.

Only two minutes later in the first half, Rodgers made a complete pass to Darius Davis

for 8 yards with 5:53 remaining in the half, Henderson now fall-ing only 17-13.

With only 1:17 in the second quarter, Rodgers made a com-plete pass to Elliot Hebert for 17 yards and a touchdown to take the lead of the game at the

end of the first half and bring-ing the score to 20-17.

At the start of the third quar-ter, Rodgers made a complete pass to Robert Jordan for 47 yards for a first down and a touchdown with 13:01 remain-ing in the third quarter.

Rodgers continued to im-press by gaining two more touchdowns. One of these touchdowns was a complete pass to Davis for a 60-yard touchdown.

By the end of the third quarter, the score was 40-17, Reddies in the lead with only one more quarter to give the Bearcats a chance.

The Reddies would not disap-point with a complete pass to Kevin Nichols for a 7-yard rush to a touchdown bringing the Reddies to a 47-17 lead.

McKendree came back with one touchdown by the end of the game making the final score 47-24, and the Reddies re-ceived their second victory.

Maxie Graham and Keaton Stigger were the most active defensive players as each made numerous tackles.

Graham had 12 stops while Stigger had 11.

The Reddies totaled over 500 yards for the offense and a total of 520 yards.

Jordan received nine catches with a total of 108 yards. Hebert received six grabs and gained 93 yards.

“I give glory to God for all of my success and giving this team an opportunity,” Rodgers said. “The team is really com-ing together, and I find every-one and the players maturing together as a team.”

Henderson will play out of town again next week in Rus-sellville to face Arkansas Tech University.

Kickoff is set at Buerkle Field at 6 p.m.

Additional reporting by Troy Mitchell.

PAGE 6 SEPTEMBER 10, 2012Sports Reddies win second game of the year

Photo by Ryan Klare/Oracle

Kaitlyn KitchensSports Editor

Kurt VoigtAssociated Press

Arkansas tries to regroup following shocking loss

REFUSE TO LOSE Quarterback Kevin Rodgers shows his skills in a hand-off last week against Southern Nazarene University. This week he took to the air against McKendree University, setting a new Henderson record for the most touchdown passes, with seven, contributing to a 47-24 win for the Reddies.