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University President Dan Jones opens up about the next big campus addition, the relationship between the city and the university, and his love for Outlaw Country music.

State of the University

EAST TEXAN PHOTO/JOSEPH ALDERMAN

Andrew BurnesEditor

Last week I sat down with President Jones in his spacious o>ce overlooking the campus for the ?rst time to discuss the State of the Uni-versity, where we are, where he wants us to be, and what’s next as we look ahead to the next 125 years. We discussed everything from the importance of diversity to the university to how he feels about President Obama’s proposal to al-low students to attend community colleges for two years for free to how he really feels about the city’s decision to go through with a botched multi-year road construction deal. Here’s what he had to say.

!e "rst thing I wanted to talk about is the Master Plan. I think it’s something everyone is in-terested in. I’m curious to know if we’re keeping pace and what’s next.

Jones: @e Master Plan is less than a year old at this point; we just started a new one. So, we’re not behind yet. It goes out in 5-year incre-ments up to the year 2032 or ‘35, something like that. It doesn’t lay it out month by month; it lays it out in 5-year periods. @e Master Plan basically lays out the vision for the university in the various phases of its evolution. But funding for projects comes along at its own pace. En-rollment can go up or down. We may see the

need to develop new programs. @ere’s lots of external inAuencers on the way the thing will develop.

First up on @e Master Plan is the nursing building. @at’s our highest priority; that’s our highest agenda item in terms of our legislative appropriation requests, and that one will prob-ably go where @e Master Plan has it situated which will be west of the science building. You know, behind the science building there’s a parking lot. It’ll probably go on the other end of that parking lot; it’ll probably take out a couple of rows of spaces and then there’s some green space there where it would go, as well. So with the legislature, you never know how that’s go-ing to go, but we’re very hopeful that will be the next one.

@e one that we’ve been asking for ten years is a new library. @e original Master Plan didn’t have a nursing building at all because we didn’t have the program. Now that we have the nurs-ing program and see the potential, the nursing building kind of bumped the library as the ?rst priority. @e library is still on the list, but the odds that we’d get funding for two $60 million buildings are, I’d say, pretty remote.

Yeah, the nursing program has kind of explod-ed, hasn’t it?

You know, you can enroll in whatever you want when you show up on campus. We have

1,200 students that have self-identi?es as pre-nursing and we have 80 students enrolled in the program and that’s capacity given the size of our building and given the size of our faculty. @at’s it; that’s all we can admit.

Remind me, how old is the nursing program?We began oBering it a year ago, January ’14,

under our own authority. For the previous two years, we had been teaching Nurisng courses under the authority of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi because we didn’t have our own pro-gram. It’s a lengthy petition process.

!ose were the two big ones that I’ d heard of coming in. Now is the new library going to go in where the Journalism building is?

@at’s how it goes on the Master Plan. Now if, for some reason, we got funding for the li-brary and not the Nursing building, we’re not ready to tear down the Journalism building yet. @at’s where you’ve got to do a lot of that midcourse correcting and stuB like that. @e awkward thing there is the Journalism building probably needs to come down because of, well, a variety of issues. It wasn’t built for the way we’re using it today. If we could tear that down, put in the new library and then renovate the current library to where it’s a general classroom building, that’d be ?ne.

When it ?rst went on the plan 10 years ago,

it was just another library. But libraries keep changing. We want it to be not only a place for students but a place for faculty innovation, as well. It’d probably be a four-story building and the Center for Faculty Excellence and Innova-tion.

Shifting gears a little bit, I’ve read that your goal for student enrollment is 20,000 by 2020.

Yeah, that was the previous goal; we’ve kind of had to rethink that. In 2010, we hit 10,000 students for the ?rst time. In 2011, we hit 11,000 for the ?rst time. It took us until 2013 to get 12,000, and then in ’14 we had not a signi?cant but a slight decline. We’re back in a growth mode now, but in order to get 20,000 students by 2020, we would’ve had to add 1,000 students a year. And realistically, we were grow-ing at that pace for two-and-a-half years, but it just wasn’t sustainable. We had some programs that had great potential and fed us students, and then didn’t. Anyway, we’ve re?gured and we’ve calibrated about a 5.5 percent growth rate compounded for the next six years. By 2019, that would put us at about 16,000. So prob-ably by 2020, that would put us about 16.8. I think that’s achievable. And then we’ll take these numbers back, we’ll disaggregate them, and then we’ll give each program its own en-rollment targets.

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Jones hires consultant to assess city of Commerce, suggest improvementsJoseph AldermanNews Editor

Campus and community leaders in Com-merce are currently working toward a new goal of solidifying the Texas A&M University – Commerce brand and drawing more residents to the city.

Dr. Dan Jones, president of A&M – Com-merce, and several other members from he uni-versity and city met with members of the Dal-las based advertising agency Imaginuity earlier this semester to discuss how the university can stand out in the market, and how the city re-lates to these goals.

“@ey are a like a marketing ?rm, and they’re helping us to essentially de?ne our brand as an institution,” Jones said. “What is it that makes A&M – Commerce unique, special, what have you. What makes a student choose A&M – Commerce over UNT, or conversely, why would someone considering Tarelton and A&M – Commerce, why would they go to Tar-leton? What’s the diBerence here, what distin-guishes us as an institution?”

To this end, Imaginuity has started their work by simply meeting with students, faculty, staB and community members in order to get their impressions of Commerce and the Univer-sity.

“So they did a lot of focus groups, they talked to students, they talked to staB, they talked to members of the community, and they’re kind of in the early stages of their project, still kind of gathering information,” Jones said. “And we’re going to be working with them for several more months.”

As for the questions asked, Imaginuity pri-marily focused on impressions of the area and ideas of what the community is lacking to draw more residents. Marc Clayton, city manager of Commerce, was also involved in the meetings with the agency.

“I spent about an hour with ‘em, myself and Paul Voss, the chamber of commerce execu-tive director; the mayor, John Ballotti; and also our Commerce economic development direc-tor Bonnie Hunter,” Clayton said. “Basically, I guess all of our goals here in town, whether it’s university or city, is not only to make people want to come to our city, stay in our city, study in our city, live in our city, but also do things on the weekend in our city, and that’s something we struggle with. Not just students, but stu-dents are a big part of that, to keep ‘em here on the weekend instead of everybody disappearing and it become a ghost town.”

@e relationship between the university and city was a primary concern for Imaginu-ity, as well as everyone on campus and in the

city. Jones stressed the importance of relating the city and campus, and what that means to prospective students.

“One of the question that they were explor-ing was what does it mean for A&M – Com-merce to be in the city of Commerce?” Jones said. “What does it mean for Texas State to be in San Marcus? Well, San Marcus is really pretty, it’s got a river, there are a lot of really great recreational op-portunities nearby, so in that case San Marcus is a real plus. I mean, that can be part of the university’s brand, which, quite frankly, is not true of Commerce. Commerce is not something that, it doesn’t necessarily detract from our brand, but it doesn’t necessar-ily enhance it either. Which is not to say that for some stu-dents it’s not also an induce-ment. One thing they heard from students is ‘yeah, I didn’t know what it was going to be like to live in Commerce, but it turns out I really like it. It’s quiet, no distractions, and I re-ally think it’s helping me focus

on my studies,’ so there is that kind of positive spillover. What there isn’t is a lot of nightlife, plays, professional sports, that kind of stuB.”

A signi?cant aspect of the university and Imaginuity’s plan is to attempt to bring in some more entertainment-oriented businesses

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The once bustling downtown area of Commerce (left) has been left nearly empty (right) as the years have progressed and the economy has shifted.

PHOTO COURTESY/COMMERCE/CHAMBER.COM

T!" E#$% T"&#' S%#((Editor Managing Editor Sports EditorNews EditorSenior ReportersFaculty AdviserPhoneEmailThe Special MagazineEast Texan WebsiteEast Texan Print Issue Online

Andrew BurnesPatricia Dillon

Ryan ScottJoseph Alderman

Alissa Silva, Ismael IsakFred Stewart

903-886-5985theeasttexan@gmail.com

www.issuu.com/thespecialtamuceasttexan.com

http://issuu.com/tamuc.easttexan

The East Texan, official student newspaper of Texas A&M University-Commerce, is pub-lished 11 times per semester during the Fall and Spring by students including journal-ism students in reporting classes. Content is solely the responsibility of the student staff and writers. The comments and views expressed in The East Texan, in print or on-line, do not necessarily reflect the beliefs of other students, staff, faculty, administration, or the Board of Trustees. The East Texan is located in Room113 of the Journalism Build-ing. Single copies of The East Texan are free, additional copies are available in The East Texan offices for an additional 25 cents each.

Letters to the Texan are welcome and should be limited to 350 words. They may be edited for spelling, grammar and libelous and malicious statements. The East Texan reserves the right to refuse publication. Letters should be typed or emailed, must include a valid signature and contact information, and can be sent to theeast-texan@gmail.com or PO Box 4104, Texas A&M University-Commerce, Commerce, TX 75428.

Letters to the Texan

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men

t What is your opinion on the legalization of marijuana in Texas?

“If high schoolers were to do it, they would take advantage of it.

So it’s not a good idea.”-Kymber Murphy

“I personally don’t do it, but people will do it anyway so taking the criminal part away

would be good for jobs.”-Caleb Reyna

“I’m For it. It should have some restrictions to it. But I don’t see why it shouldn’t be legalized.”

-Alejandra Garcia

“I wouldn’t mind if they were to legalized it. Like alcohol, people aren’t stopped form doing it. It can help the economy from taxes. I dont see it being harmful

if we do.”-Laura Escobedo

Ever since former doctor Andrew Wake)eld co-authored a 1998 paper claiming a connection between MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccinations and autism, there has been an ever-growing movement of people opposing the practice. Despite the fact that Wake)eld has now been publicly revealed as a fraud for this work and stripped of his medical license, his paper is still the primary document in the anti-vaccination argument. Now, 17 years later, we’re still seeing the consequences of Wake)eld’s now-debunked paper, with a measles outbreak in Disneyland now working its way across the country and public o*cials politicizing the issue of vaccinations.

In the last week, two potential candidates for the 2016 presidential election have made statement supporting a parent’s choice in vaccinating, New Jersey governor Chris Christie and Kentucky senator Rand Paul. Typically, I am in support of freedom of choice, but we absolutely should not be supporting peoples’ decisions to endanger the lives of themselves, their children and everyone around them. +ese vaccines have over 50 years of safe, recorded use behind them that we’re suddenly throwing out the window because a fraud doctor and a c-list celebrity from the ‘90s (Jenny McCarthy) convinced enough

uneducated people they were responsible for an epidemic that didn’t actually exist.

+e general scienti)c consensus is that the increase in autism diagnoses in the last few decades can largely be blamed on changes to the diagnostic criteria of autism, not necessarily an increasing prevalence in the condition. What increase can’t be explained by this is being well researched, and none have found any link connecting vaccines to autism. +erefore, anti-vaccinationists (not sure if that’s a word) are resurrecting near-extinct diseases for absolutely no real reason. Politicians shouldn’t be catering to this dangerous mindset for the sake of winning a few votes or earning a few thousand dollars from interest groups.

I’m sure most of the people who read this are vaccinated and have every intention to do so with their own children. Currently, with the exception of those who refuse to do so for religious purposes, almost all of us should have been required to vaccinate for spinal meningitis simply to be here. Personally, I feel that even if there were more of a known risk involved with vaccinating, the ends still justify the means. +ere are whole generations still alive who live with the consequences of diseases like measles, such as permanent loss of hearing or nervous system diseases, not to mention lost loved ones. In 2000, the CDC declared measles eliminated in the United States. Yet here we are, with one con)rmed case of measles in our state and dozens more across the country, waiting to strike at every poor fool who let it happen. As for me, there is one major immunization I don’t have due to an allergy, so if you are anti-vaccine, stay the hell away.

Sweeping the Vacci-NationJoseph Alderman+e East Texan

CARTOON COURTESY OF JOSEPH ALDERMAN

Retirement community vs. the college life

Patricia DillonManaging Editor

If you click on the “Retire in Commerce Texas” tab on the commercetx.org website, you’ll be directed to an exagerrated idea of what the small town of Commerce, Texas is. +e city is advertising itself as a perfect place for retirement when the majority of the population, nine months out of the year, is comprised of college students.

“If you are looking to retire in a location that o,ers you fun and convenient opportunities at an a,ordable cost, consider Commerce, Texas,” the website states. “In the university community of Commerce, you gain access to a wide variety of cultural activities in the areas of arts, sporting events, music, theatre and much more. Historical sites and museums are located in every direction. Festivals and events are hosted throughout the year in nearly every nearby community.”

Without the Texas A&M University-Commerce, much of what the website is advertising would not exist. Most of the “cultural activites” occur on campus, such as the plays put on by the theatre depatment and the Pow Wow that the university hosted back in October. Many of the festivals in Commerce, too, would not exist or at least have as large of an attendance without students who participate as vendors or contribute their time as volunteers.

+e main problem is that there is a disconnect between the city and the university. During the week the city is full of students going to classes and the few restaurants that exist, but on the weekends there is nothing to keep the students in town. Many of them return home or go to other cities where there are more activites than what Commerce provides, virtually leaving Commerce a ghost town.

Based on this, let me o,er a scenario. If the university were not located in Commerce, the population would drastically decrease. Restaurants and small shops would slowly run out of business because the community did not have enough customers to supply the money for the upkeep. Wal-Mart might even close down, leaving Commerrce as nothing more than a small rural counrty town. People would have to drive to Greenville or elsewhere for their major grocery shopping and other necessities. Have you ever heard of Bogata, Texas? Most likely not unless you’re from that particular area. Commerce would fall into that same boat as Bogata without the university and its students keeping it alive.

+e city needs to wake up and realize that it is a college town, not a place for retirement. However, it is not entirely the city’s fault. If students want more restaurants and shops, a movie theatre or a skating park, more places to hang out and things to do, then they need to become proactive. Students need to request that whatever items and projects they want the city of Commerce to undertake be put on the ballot during voting season. +en go vote! +ousands of students attend Texas A&M University-Commerce. If they want to see the city change, they need to go out and be the change.

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Movie theatre, restaurants among

suggested additions to Commerce

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to Commerce, a move which would hopefully increase en-rollment and new residents.

“*ey were just trying to pick out brains a bit and see what we hear that people would like to have that we don’t have,” Clayton said. “And basically it comes down to retail businesses, commercial entertainment venues, we talked about the need for a movie theater, we talked about a need for a bowling alley, y’know, the topic of sports bars came up a lot, being a college town. So that was kind of the theme of the meeting was pick-ing our brains a little bit, being part of the city and part of the picture, what do we here? And most of what I hear is everybody would like some big box shopping, more commercial retail, but I hear the entertainment a lot. And even though there’s a nice theater in Greenville, some of us think that Commerce, with the university, could support our own theater here.”

Another aspect Clayton wished to draw more attention to is the things we currently have for entertainment in Commerce, which may be underutilized.

“I know the rec center is a big draw, especially for the college students, the planetarium, the new music building,” Clayton said. “One thing we talked about, too, I don’t think enough people know about that kind of stu+. I don’t think we get the word out good enough about what’s going on at the music building or these shows at the planetarium. We’ve got state of the art facilities here, and a lot of people don’t know it. *ere’s a lot of people working on that, I think over a period of time people will realize in the surrounding areas that you don’t have to go to the metroplex to see high quality performances, you can see them right here in Commerce.”

Imaginuity’s work is far from complete. *e $40,000 con-tract the university signed with the agency calls for them to make regular visits to the community in order to continue ask-ing questions and gathering information throughout the semes-ter. Once this is complete, a formal recommendation will be given which Clayton believes the city or university that can then use when attempting to entice businesses or investors to the area. As for the university, Jones is excited about what their work could do.

“As this project unfolds, they’ll help guide us through the development of a kind of comprehensive strategic position-ing-slash-branding-slash-marketing program,” Jones said. “…Everybody at this institution is very passionate about students and admission and the great work we do, but sometimes we go o+ on our own directions and we de,ne what those terms mean in terms of our own frame of reference. So they’re helping us to think more as a university, what does it mean to be part of A&M – Commerce? And then that’ll translate into helping us attract and retain students, but also just helping us sharpen our focus on our mission.”

“I don’t think we get the word out good enough about what’s going on at the music building or these shows at the planetarium.”

- Marc Clayton, Commerce City Manager on how to increase Commerce

recrea on

Record-se!ing demolition process to bring down 88

buildings around CommerceJoseph AldermanNews Editor

While Commerce may be no stranger to construction, this year has marked an increased focus on demolishing the run-down houses and buildings that litter the city.

Since the beginning of the year, sever-al old and decrepit houses around Com-merce have been torn down as the city re-solves to clean up the area and make way for new properties. City Manager Marc Clayton said this has been a known issue for some time, but only recently has the city been able to move ahead on it.

“*e need for a program was identi-,ed years ago here in Commerce,” Clay-ton said. “I know when our current may-or, Dr. Ballotti, when he was in his ,rst term, one of the very ,rst things he did is he and his council went to a workshop in Sulfur Springs that talked about what you need to do to clean up your city, and obviously some of it is tearing down the substandard structures that are not safe to live in or are not healthy.”

While the issue may have been clear for some time, the city lacked the means to execute any plan.

“It’s not an easy process to do that, be-cause there’s a lot of legalities involves, or property owners who maybe don’t want their property torn down,” Clayton said. “And at the time, when they came back from the workshop, everybody wanted us to move forward with the program, but we didn’t really have the manpower to do it. Since then, we’ve hired an individual who has a lot of experience with that, Chip Matthews. He’s been with us for about a year, and since he came on board he brought with him the knowledge and expertise of how to do the proper steps to do that, and that’s the reason why you’re seeing a lot of activity now.”

Recently, the city council elected to al-low the funds for more work to be done, speeding up the city’s cleanup processes considerably over the handful per year they were able to accomplish in the past.

“We’ve always had done demolitions of four, ,ve, six properties in a year, that’s about what we have budget for, but to take it to a broader scope it required more investment from the city council, not just in manpower but also committing more funds to it, and that’s what they’ve done this year,” Clayton said. “Just about ev-ery one you see that’s been taken down

in the last three or four months are what we call ‘consent,’ the property owner has come to us and said ‘you take down the property, and we’ll pay for it.’ So the city does the actual labor at a very fair price, and we don’t have to take the legal step to do it.”

*e city is working with residents to attempt to make the demolition process as smooth as possible, working on pay-ment plans for those who consent to the demolition that lack the ,nancial means to immediately reimburse the city for the cost. While the process is currently mov-ing at a fair clip, it is expected for issues to rise in the future that may slow prog-ress over the course of the 88 properties currently listed to require destruction. Clayton, as well as university President Dr. Dan Jones, both expect this beauti-,cation e+ort to yield positive results to the city and campus.

“*e university’s a big supporter of this right now, because the appearance of your city has a lot to do with new stu-dents and new families wanting to come to your town,” Clayton said. “*e univer-sity, as we are, are concerned about a few areas in town that have been neglected for some time.”

EAST TEXAN PHOTO/JOSEPH ALDERMAN

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C!"#$% FEB. 12, 2015PAGE 4

Rebecca RobinsonSpecial Contributor

“Practice Random Acts of Kindness, and senseless acts of beauty.” – Ann Herbert, writer.

International Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) week is February 9-15, 2015. !is is a time when we are called on to be kind and thoughtful to people without an underlying reason and without the expectation of that kindness being returned to us. What should this mean to the students, educators and sta" at A&M-Commerce?

Research on RAK shows that it should mean a lot! Studies are revealing that simply witnessing an act of kindness can create a “warm, elevated feeling” and a renewed faith in the goodness of human nature. (Steve Taylor, PhD).

Try to recall the last time you saw someone go out of their way to be kind or helpful to someone they didn’t know. Did you see a shopper spontaneously o"er to help an older person carry their parcels to the car? Or a passer-by stop to help someone rescue a wayward pet from the road? Or perhaps you saw someone o"er a kind word to a stranger who appeared to be sad or uncertain. Recall how it a"ected you. Maybe it made you smile, feel happier, or even inspired you to do something similar at the next opportunity. !is is just one of the bene#ts to our community of practicing RAK.

Other bene#ts include relieving stress, cultivating an atmosphere of compassion, and changing the way that you think about your daily interactions with others. !e Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at the Waisman Center of the University of Wisconsin-Madison reported that when we train ourselves to be more compassionate, our brain registers changes on an MRI machine that indicate a greater tendency to respond to others with caring and concern.

So, what now? If you are convinced that you would like to participate in helping our community become even more of a kind and compassionate place, what can you do?

While there are many ways to practice RAK, I found some ideas to get you started. Perhaps one of these will strike up your interest or will be a cue to an idea of your own:

1. Share a music playlist with a friend.2. O"er a few hours of free babysitting to someone

who needs the break.3. Pay for the co"ee of the person in line behind you.4. Send a note of appreciation to someone. 5. Hold the door for someone.6. Pat someone on the back for a job well done.7. Take time to speak to someone newIn whatever way you choose, being kind, going out of

your way for someone, or just sharing a smile or a kind word can make someone’s day, improve how you feel, and help to create a positive, compassionate environment for the entire community.

Ideas or questions for the Counseling Corner? Call (903) 886-5145 or stop by the Counseling Center in Halladay Student Services Bldg, Rm #204. Previous articles can be found on the Counseling Center website.

Counseling CornerRandom Acts of

Kindess

Taelor DuckworthEast Texan Contributer

Texas A&M University-Commerce held the opening of Patrick Dougherty’s most recent sculpture on February 5. Students, faculty, sta" and friends of the university gathered at the sculpture site to celebrate the distinct occasion.

“It is a special event and a special day in the life of the university,” said President Dan Jones. “As you know, we are observing a very special milestone this year, and that’s the 125th anniversary of our founding in 1889. Now we didn’t get to be 125 years old by doing the same thing over and over again. We got to be 125 years old by doing new stu" for the #rst time. !at was what Professor Mayo did in 1889. !e idea of starting a teachers’ college in this part

of the world was, well, an untested and revolutionary concept. And, you see what great things have come from that vision. !at’s what I see in this piece of art. It’s a one of a kind sculpture. It’s the #rst time that this university, or really this entire region, has launched out on something so creative and so innovative. So, I really think that it captures the spirit of this institution in a very special way.”

Dougherty spent the two and a half weeks prior to the opening visiting the campus, collecting materials and building his sculpture. With hard work and help from students, faculty, sta" and community members, the sculpture slowly but surely came to fruition on the south side of the James G. Gee Library.

“!e people who helped with this project; these are some hardcore people,” said

Dougherty. “!ey came out here rain or shine. !ey really helped with the process. I really appreciate being able to be here. I know a lot more about Commerce and a lot more about the university than I did before, and I’m very impressed. I’m impressed with your students, and I’m impressed with the master of art program because I’ve gotten to know a lot of these students through our work.”

One of the students who worked on the piece, Ashley, named the sculpture Deep in the Heart. Dougherty said that he didn’t feel that it had to be named, but he needed to know if a good name came up. His sculpture is about Texas, nature, the relationship of the two trees and the relationships that were formed during this process from start to #nish. After hearing Ashley’s idea, he felt that this title #t what was built.

PHOTO COURTESY / JARED HORN

Doughrty art project comes to a close with opening ceremony

Jones sounds o! on Commerce’s impact on the university

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We’ve got some popular programs; we expect them to remain popular. We’re also looking to develop some programs; we’re interested at looking into electrical engineering. Dietitian or nutritionist is also a very in-demand program. !at would go nicely with the nursing program.

Does the location hurt us?Well it doesn’t help us, I’ll put it that way. When

we do these student focus groups, especially with the students who live on campus, it’s interesting the feedback that you get. A lot of them say ‘the fact that this campus is pretty quiet is actually a good thing for me as a student.’ !ere’s not a party going on every night… actually there is. !ere’s not 100 parties going on every night.

You mentioned students living on campus. One thing I’ve noticed on this university and others as well is this push to have as many students living on campus as possible. I’m kind of curious as to why that is.

Well there’s a couple of reasons for it. One is it just creates a better academic environment for everybody. When the bulk of your students come in, take their classes, and immediately leave, there’s not an opportunity for them to meet before class and after class or to have dinner together and just kind of decompress and discuss what happened in their Psychology class, that kind of thing. !is is backed by research both here and in multiple studies done on a national scale: student success is very closely related to student engagement. And one of the strongest elements of student engagement is living on campus. If you’re already

here, it’s more likely that you’re going to go to a play or football game or a softball game now. So all of that stu" encourages student success. And it helps the town, quite frankly. !e more students living here means more customers.

You’d think that the town would like having us here, but sometimes I think students don’t always feel like that’s the case. Do we have a good relationship with the city?

Yeah. We have a very cordial relationship with

the city. !ere’s no animosity. !ere’s been a lot of change over the years. I’ve only been here for 6-and-a-half to 7 years, so I haven’t seen a marked di"erence, but I’m told is that downtown was actually a lively place.

We’ve got Latson’s down there.Yeah, but Latson’s kind of serves the whole

area. He’s got a store in Sulpher Springs. He probably couldn’t get by just on his Commerce customers. !ere’s a couple of restaurants now. I

hope they last; they tend to come and go.

I wonder if some of the older residents blame the university for the downturn in the downtown area.

I don’t know. I know that a lot of them can remember when it used to be a more happening place. !is is a fact: most of our employees don’t live in Commerce any more. And there’s various reasons for that. A lot of it has to do with the

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PHOTO COURTESY/TAMUC.EDU

Members of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity with the winner of the Miss Black and Gold pageant. It’s groups like this that President Jones credits with the success of the black demographic at A&M-Commerce.

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TexanTimehop

Released December 18, 1915, the oldest known issue of *e East Texan has recently been discovered and donated to the Texas A&M University - Com-merce special collections, where countless other artifacts of the last hundred years of *e East Texan are housed.

*roughout this semester, look to this feature for more artifacts and images as we celebrate 100 years of service from *e East Texan newspaper!

Jones explains his optimism for the conversation surrounding higher education

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‘60s and ‘70s; the faculty member was typi-cally the family breadwinner and then you had the trailing spouse. Most families are now two-career families and there just aren’t two career opportunities for a married couple in Commerce if you’re a faculty member. So it’s much more common to live in Rockwall where one commutes this way and one commutes the other way.

I feel like sometimes the students resent some of the decisions the city makes. Most recently, the deal with the road situation, of course. Sometimes they complain about that. I can see how that would create a sort of marketing is-sue.

Yeah. It kind of looks like the city that just can’t get its act straight. *e roads, that was very unfortunate the way that played out.

I think they knew going in that it was going to be a 3-year deal, they just didn’t communicate that e!ectively.

No. And, in fact, it turned out to be longer than that.

Especially since they’re going to do Lee Street again. How do you feel about that?

Well they better redo it; they didn’t get it right the +rst time. Knock on wood, it shouldn’t be as unpleasant as the +rst time because initially

they had to take all of the pavement o, and then they had to do all of the infrastructure. While the street was up they put in new sewer lines and put in a new conduit and all of that; they don’t have to do any of that again. It’ll take probably 10 days when they come back. I hope.

Hopefully, yeah. "ey’re pushing it back to May right? Because of you.

Yeah. I told the contractor to do it when it would create the least inconvenience, and since you can drive over there and not get stuck now I +gured why not wait until graduation when

there’s less tra-c?

One thing that a lot of people are very com-plimentative about this university is the fact that it’s pretty diverse. How important is that to you, having a diverse campus?

Well it’s very important. *is is a diverse re-gion; it’s a diverse state; it’s a diverse country. It’s very important to me that this university respond to the need of its service area, the com-munities that it serves. Let’s look at diversity the way it’s most commonly used which is with race and ethnicity. We need to get this uni-versity on balance with the ethnic diversity of the region. We’re making progress there. Our African American population, actually, is very well-established here and very successful. Of course, this is the +ftieth anniversary of deseg-regation on this campus, so we’ve been talking a lot about that. And we’re about 19 to 20 per-cent African American. *at’s been steady as a rock for years. *e African American students have the most active student organizations on campus, highest rate of residential occupancy in the dorms. I was speaking to the Omega Psi Phi which was and is again a black fraternity on campus; it was gone away for a while and now it’s back. I was doing that on Saturday. *ere were a lot of the original members there. *ey were describing a very di,erent university than what it is now. You know, it’s really because of groups like that that formed and were deter-mined to succeed that that part of the equation

has been successful. Not that there’s not more we could be doing and are doing, but where we’re coming up short but are making real progress is in the Hispanic demographic. We’re at about 14, 15 percent. We need to be about 35, 40 percent, quite honestly. We need to be at least 25 percent because that’s the distinction, the point at which we become designated as a Hispanic serving institution. Now that 15 per-cent is about twice what we were six years ago.

Do you market to them di!erently?Yeah, it’s a di,erent process. We send out

bilingual recruiters and place a much greater

“I think there is a growing recognition of the importance to the state of Texas of having a very strong system of higher education.”

emphasis on the family aspect.

Are the dorms a part of that? I spoke to Dean Kaul-fus a couple of weeks ago and he mentioned that he thought another new residence hall was on the way. Is that the case?

Well we’ve got Pride Rock and Phase II. *e Master Plan calls for four phases. So basically, we’re halfway built out with our residential village in that area. So Phase III would basically be a mir-ror image of Phase II and then Phase IV would be the same for Pride Rock. So once we’re built out, we’ll have four quadrangle buildings in the center and all of the West Halls would be gone by then.

So we’re probably about 3 to +ve years away from actually initiating the project on Phase III.

"ere’s a couple of things going on as far as the wid-er world that interest me a little bit. At the faculty meeting, one of the things that you talked about was that you were optimistic about the conversation sur-rounding higher education in this country. Tell me a little bit about that.

I think at the state level, with the change of ex-ecutive administration with the governor and the new leadership, there’s a di,erent tone in Austin. I think there is a growing recognition of the impor-tance to the state of Texas of having a very strong system of higher education. Governor Abbott has talked about the fact that none of the 10 top re-search institutions in the nation are in Texas as being a problem. We have great research institu-tions but the Top 10 are in New York, Califor-nia, Pennsylvania. *e fact that our college-going rate is healthy but it needs to be better, college completion rate needs to be better. And I think that the governor’s higher education agenda, wo-ven into that agenda, is the recognition that stu, costs money. So I think there is an awareness that higher education is a good pubic investment. We’ll see how that plays out in terms of actual policies.

It’s too early to know. Texas is pretty weak in edu-cation isn’t it? It’s not last place but…

No, fourty-ninth in terms of per-capita spend-ing on education. Yeah, we’re down there with Mississippi and Louisiana.

A big problem in the country is student debt. Ev-erybody has an idea about what can be done, but do you think that side of it hurts the optimism?

Well yeah it’s a serious issue and it absolutely has to be addressed. I graduated with no student debt; I took out a loan and paid it o, before I +nished graduate school. *e average A&M-Commerce graduate has about $26,000 in student debt. I think where the conversation needs to shift is the responsibility for this issue needs to be broader than just universities, the institutions of higher education. Because this is really a social problem and there’s a lot of dimensions to it. Student debt is growing, in part, because the tuition cost

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PHOTO COURTESY/GALUMSERMUFAKTA.COM

Newly elected governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, has left President Jones with a feeling of optimism after discussing the issues the state faces regarding education. The state currently sits in fourty-ninth place on per-capita spending on higher education.

Soundtrack

Burnes’ TurnsJerry Herman and Michael Crawford“It Only Takes a Moment”

Sam Cooke“A Change is Gonna Come”

Seether“Hang on”

Taylor Swift“Blank Space”

Guns N’ Roses“Estranged”

EditorAndrew Burnes

Ah, the Grammys. Remember when that “magical” night when all of the A-list artists would come together to celebrate how important music is in our lives was culturally significant? Neither do I.

Not that Grammy night is a complete waste of time; it serves its purposes. It provides solid evidence about who sucks live and who can rise to the occas-sion (good for you, Mr. Sheeran). It suggests who the musical bourgiouse thinks we, as the prole-tariat society, should be listening to (though it is sweet how Stevie Won-der blindly follows along year-after-year, still more talented than near-ly all of the nominees put together and by far the best nominee intro-ducer even without the use of a teleprompter). Best of all, it presents us with a unique opportu-nity to see somebody do something stupid, the essence of what makes American reality televi-sion the force that it is (Kanye West never gets old, does he?)

The main problem with the instiutional idea of giving gold-plated awards to select artists every year is the fact that the National Academy of Performing

Artis and Sciences takes itself so damn seriously. I’m all for Beck win-ning Album of the Year considering his rather lacking competition, but did he really have the best album of the year? I highly doubt it. Kanye does, too, though his in-sistence for sticking up for the supremely un-derwhelming and over-rated Beyonce is beyond me (I still shudder when I think about “Can you eat my skittles/It’s the sweetest in the middle/Pink is the f lavor/Solve the riddle.” I guess it’s more clever than “Single Ladies,” but that’s not saying much, is it?).

Naturally, Mr. West would’ve stolen the show even without his hilari-ous jab at Beck’s victory (after posing for a snap with the always glorious Taylor Swift earlier in the night, no less). How could he not with two show-stopping perfor-mances cleverly spaced out by the television masterminds at CBS? And oh yeah, that Paul McCartney dude still rules the world, too.

re the Grammys a complete waste of time? No way! But winning one is a far cry from the massive importance the NARAS places upon them. Even Prince couldn’t make it through his little monologue with a straight face. Who can blame him?

!e Grammys:

Why so Serious?

FEB. 12, 2015PAGE 6 E!"#$"%&!'#!"

#TBT: Guns N’ Roses New ReleasesWild Tales

A story about love deception, the return of the past, a tragedy, or even the violence contained in an everyday detail.

Source: IMDb

A larger than life scandal will rock her world entirely.

Source: IMDb

Gloria

34 !ghters - the largest roster in the infamous franchise’s history.

Source: Metacritic

Dead or Alive 5: Last Round

A unique vision of Victorian-Era Lon-don in which Man battles a powerful and ancient enemy.

Source: Metacritic

!e Order: 1886

Smoke and Mirrors

Surprise Pop su-perstars Imagine Dragons release their second LP on Feb. 17, even as their !rst remains in the Top 40.

Vestiges and Claws

Jose Gonzalez’s third album in a 12-year career. Fingerpicking backs up soft vocals.

Source: Rolling Stone

Often, when looking back on the greatest Rock & Roll bands, Guns N’ Roses doesn’t get a fair shake. But a detailed rundown of their recording legacy reveals that not only were Axl, Slash, Du", Izzy, and Adler (and later Matt Sorum) out of their minds, they were con-sistently creating some of the greatest music of all time. Everyone knows Appetite rocked, but fewer are familiar with the quiet desparation locked away inside “Es-tranged,” the rolicking masterpiece that was !e Spa-ghetti Incident?, the quivering anger in “Perfect Crime,” or the loving angst in the most underrated ballad of all time, “So Fine.” Axl’s “madness” sometimes detracts from the group’s history in the eyes of some, but when he resurfaced with Chinese Democracy in 2008, he proved that he’s one of the ultimate mad scientists in Rock history. Sure “Scraped” isn’t for everyone, but I challenge anyone to listen to “#ere Was a Time” and say it isn’t perfect.

PHOTO COURTESY/NRJ.NO

Jones talks Guy Clark, ‘Outlaw Country’

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of going to college has risen much faster than the in$ation rate. Now why is that? It’s not because the cost of operating a university has gone up that much, but our funding streams have changed dramatical-ly over the last twelve years. State revenues have declined by about a third and student tuition revenue has gone up by, what, 50 percent or so. At this institution it’s gone up about 43 or 44 percent; we’re one of the lowest in the state. So the conversation needs to be enlarged.

!at’s fair. What about President Obama’s new plan to allow students to go to commu-nity college for a couple of years for free? How do you feel about that?

Well, mixed, quite honestly. I certain-ly support the idea of universal access to higher education. I think everyone who is quali!ed to attend college should have the opportunity to attend college if that’s what they want. Cost should never be a fac-tor. In that sense, I’m very pleased by the plan because it acknowledges the fact that higher education is a broad social good. I think it can get problematic in a couple of ways. One is how are you going to pay for it? #at’s the !rst big question. #e federal government would pay for 75 percent and the states would pay for 25 percent. So in order for this plan to work there’s got to be a broad coalition of 50 state governors to go along with it. And history would indicate that that’s unlikely to happen. –laughs-

Another issue with it, and I think this

one’s a little bit more complex, but I think probably more profound is that one of the reasons that student debt has gotten out of hand is that so many students come to institutions like A&M-Commerce having gone !rst to community colleges where they have spent three or four years and earned sometimes 100 or more hours. Well we can only use 60 of those. So they come here, they’ve taken more than half as many courses as they need which will not apply to their degree program, but the whole time they’ve been doing that the !nancial aid clock has been ticking and the cost has been going up. So essentially what happens is they get here when their !nancial aid is about to run out but they’re still two years away from a degree. Now to come from a community college at around nothing, then that’s problem solved. However, the other problem is not solved and that is they may not be spending their own money, but they’re still spending their own time. So my concern is the time for degree, which needs to be shortened, will go the other direction. And that’s not going to be an e%cient use of public resources.

Do you think it would be better if it was an initiative to send them to a regular uni-versity, like a four year institution, and then giving them a couple of years?

Well I think that, essentially, you’d run into some of the same problems. #e system of student !nancial aid that we’re got now is not great, but it’s pretty good. I think we could make some real improvements that would support the students now that would

have a better impact in the direction that we want. One other concern, and I need to just get this one on the table, has to do with the fact that community colleges would now be competing with universities for quali-!ed faculty. Because community colleges, obviously, would grow under this model. So they’re going to be wanting to snatch up faculty to be teaching their courses. And, essentially, that would put us in a bind in universities in high demand areas like nurs-ing and the specialized career track !elds where faculty are already pretty scarce.

Would it create a demand for those fac-ulty?

Oh yeah. Absolutely.

And maybe put more students in the sys-tem, but I see both sides of the argument. It’ ll be interesting to see what happens.

One more thing before we go. We’ve talked about it today and it’s something that’s re-ally interesting to everybody I’ve talked to. And that’s who your favorite musical artist or band is.

Oh boy. –sighs- Well, I listen to a lot of Country music, but it’s not the Top 40 Country music. It’s older, but it’s more like that kind of Outlaw Country edge of the spectrum. I’m a huge fan of Guy Clark, but a Texas band that I have followed since they !rst formed, in fact I !rst saw them perform in Austin when they were !rst coming together 40-something years ago, is Asleep at the Wheel. Ray Benson. So Western Swing, Outlaw Country, is my kind of thing.

PHOTO COURTESY/BLOGS.TENNESSEAN.COM

Guy Clark, the outlaw in high rotation on President Jones’ playlist. “It’s more like that outlaw edge of the spectrum,” Jones said.

Ryan ScottSports Editor

With a four-game sweep of the inaugural Lion Classic Tourna-ment, the Texas A&M University – Commerce softball team is making a push for recognition as a top-!ight team and one to be a serious contender for post season play.

"e four –team tournament, which featured teams from Tar-leton State, Southern Nazarene, and NortheasternState, had the Lions playing four games in two days.

On Day One, the Lions came roaring out of the gate in their

game against the Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm, scoring in every inning, including a monster 11-run fourth, which led them to an 18-0 lead and the game being called after the top of the #fth due to the de#cit.

Starting pitcher Selena Rima threw a 3-hit shutout in the win, striking out four and keeping her record perfect at 2-0. "e Lion o$ense had home runs crushed by Luci Ponce, Aundria Romero, Johnna Sturm and Magen Lynch, and were walked 11 times during the game, while four di$erent Lions had three RBIs. Over-all, the Lions had 11 hits for the game.

"e Lions were also dominant and dangerous on the bases with Tyler Oppenheim and Monica Cherry steal-ing two each and Kylene Hatton, Romero and Sturm recording one each.

In Game Two against Northeastern State, the Lions were poised and ready to run away with another game as they jumped to an early 4-0 lead and #nished with the 11-9 win.

"e Riverhawks came within a run in the top of the fourth before the Lions unleashed another explosion of o$ense in the bottom of the fourth, scoring six runs in the frame to jump to a 10-3 lead. After some back and forth scoring, the Lions went into the top of the seventh with a 11-5 lead. "e Riverhawks would not go quietly

into the night, as they came out swinging, slamming a two-run home run to cut the lead to four. After a strikeout, the Riverhawks scored again on another two-run shot to cut the once comfortable six-run lead down to just two.

"e Lions, however, were #nally able to put out the #re with two !youts to escape with the win. Pitcher Aundria Romero se-cured the win with six innings pitched and giving up six earned runs to remain perfect on the season at 2-0.

"e second day of tournament play saw the Lions squaring o$ against the Crimson Storm once again, albeit with a decidedly dif-

ferent start, with SNU gaining a two-run lead in the #rst inning. "e Lion o$ense was sti!ed through the #rst three innings, but started to come alive in the fourth. Down 2-1, the Lions roared into the lead with a two-run inning. After grabbing the lead, the Lions never looked back, scoring in every inning after that, while shutting out the Crimson Storm for the rest of the game and a 6-2 win.

Romero (3-0) garnered the win on six innings of work, giving up nine hits and two unearned runs. Rima collected the #rst save in Lions softball history, pitching a scoreless seventh with two run-ners on base. Cherry continued her dominant performance in the tournament by adding a home run to her credit, and Oppenheim stole three bases in the game.

Game two showcased a brilliant pitching performance by Rima, who racked up 11 strikeouts in in seven innings of work. Ponce was 4-4 with three RBIs as the Lions came away with a 7-0 win.

After all was said and done, the Lions #nished with four wins, improving their still-unblemished record to 6-0. "e Lions are led o$ensively by Ponce and Cherry, as both are hitting at or above .500. Both Ponce and Cherry are also tied for the team lead in runs and RBIs, with Cherry leading in walks with nine.

With their perfect record on the line, the Lions will be heading to Durant, Okla. to play in the Southeastern Regional Invitational. "e Lions will be playing #ve games spread out over three days on Feb. 13, 14 and 15. "is schedule will feature two games against nationally ranked teams, including No. 16 St. Mary’s on Feb. 13, and No. 4 Southeastern Oklahoma State on Feb. 15. Southeast-ern #nished last season making it to the semi#nal round of the NCAA championship, just missing out on playing for the national title. "e Lions will also play games against Newman University, Southwestern Oklahoma State, and Washburn University.

"e next home contest for the Lions is against Texas A&M In-ternational University on Feb. 17. "ey will then turn around and head to San Antonio for another tournament hosted by St. Mary’s starting Feb. 20

P%&' (F'). *+, +,*- S!"#$%

Ryan ScottSports Editor

"e Texas A&M University-Commerce women’s basketball team su$ered their second defeat in as many games with an 87-69 loss to Midwestern State, marking only the third home loss of the sea-son for the Lions.

"e game began to get out of hand early, as the Lions trailed for almost the entirety of the game. After scoring #rst, the Lions lost the lead less than two minutes in and never regained it, being down by as many as 22 points until they went to the locker room down 49-30 at the half.

"e Lions picked up their play in the second half, outscoring the Mustangs by a point in the second half, but could not recover

all that ground and were saddled with the loss.Senior forward Abigail Leaupepe-Tele led all scorers in the game

with 18 points, just two away from her career high. Artaejah Gay got her #rst start of the season, and contributed six points and tied for the team lead in rebounds with Kiana Evans, both with #ve.

With the loss, the Lions fall to 11-9, with an even 5-5 record in the Lone Star Conference, with the Lions holding on to fourth place in the conference.

"e Lions will look to get back on track with only six games remaining in the regular season. "e Lions’ next contests are at home against the su$ering Texas A&M University-Kingsville Jav-elinas then on the road against the Angelo State Rams.

"e Javelinas are winless on the season at 0-20 while the Rams are 6-14. Both teams occupy the bottom two spots in the confer-

ence standings were defeated by the Lions in previous matchups this season.

TAMUK currently has only one player, Micah Weaver, averag-ing more than 10 points per game., averaging 11.3 points with Lauren Jay leading the defense with 6.3 rebounds per game.

Angelo State has fared better statistically this season, with three players averaging more than 10 points per game, led by Jasmine Caston with 12.9. "e Rams are a strong rebounding team, with three players averaging more than #ve a game, with Jackie Patter-son leading all teammates with 5.8.

"e next Lion home game will be against the Texas A&M Uni-versity – Kingsville Javelinas on "ursday, Feb. 12 at 5:30 p.m. at the Field House.

Lions fall to Mustangs, suffer second straight loss

EAST TEXAN PHOTO / KRISTEN TAYLOR

EAST TEXAN PHOTO / KRISTEN TAYLOR

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Lions sweep Classic to keep perfect record

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Ryan ScottSports Editor

After a strong run in the closing min-utes to send the game into overtime, the Texas A&M University-Commerce men’s basketball team could not seal the deal in the extra frame, su*ering an 85-83 loss to Midwestern State.

Despite a strong 23 point perfor-mance from conference leading scorer Darrell Williams, the Lions lost their third game in their last four contests, and their third in a row against a ranked opponent. +e Lions were also outrebounded 46-33.

+is loss marks the fourth Lone Star Conference loss in which the Lions have been out rebounded. Also, despite outshooting the Mustangs 47 percent to 43 percent, the Lions only shot nine percent from beyond the arc, to MSU’s 35 percent.

+e game was tightly contested for most of the way, with the ,rst half end-ing in a 33-33 stalemate. +e Lions controlled much of the ,rst half, lead-ing by as much as nine at one point. +e largest lead for Midwestern came in the closing minutes of the second half, which saw the Mustangs up by seven with just 2:37 remaining.

However, the Lions were not about to give up, and ended the game on a 9-2 run to force the extra period. +e Lions came out strong in overtime, battling back and forth with the Mus-tangs, leaving the game tied at 81 with 1:30 remaining.

After a Mustang free throw, the Li-ons bounded down the court for a score to give them a one point lead with 23 seconds on the clock. After a lay in by the Mustangs, the Lions looked to re-gain the lead, but a Lion turnover gave MSU the ball, and after a converted

free throw attempt, the Lions were un-able to get the buzzer-beater to fall for them.

With the loss, the Lions slip to 16-6 on the season (5-4 LSC), and still retain the fourth spot in the conference. +e Lions only have six games remaining in the regular season, and their next home game is against Texas A&M University – Kingsville on Feb. 12.

+e Lions will look to get back into winning form against the Javeli-nas, whom they defeated in their ,rst meeting of the season. +e Javelinas are currently 7-14 and are at seventh in the conference. +e Javs are led in scor-ing by Troy Jones, who averages 13.6 points per game. Jones is also shooting 65 percent from the -oor, and leads the team in rebounding as well, averaging 6.5 a game.

After the contest against TAMUK, the Lions will stay at home for a game against the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. SD Mines is a newer member to NCAA Division II, recently coming from the NAIA, and they are a new member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. +e Hardrockers are currently 8-15, and have played games against Lone Star Conference members Tarleton State, Eastern New Mexico, and Midwestern State this season.

+e Hardrockers are led by stout o*ensive and defensive play by Konor Kulas, who leads the team in both scor-ing and rebounding, averaging 15.5 and 8.4 per game, respectively. Brian Orr has been on ,re from beyond the arc, shooting 41 percent from three.

+e Lions will host the Javelinas at 7:30 p.m. on +ursday, Feb. 12, and the Hardrockers at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 14. Both games will be held at the Field House.

Lions reeling after tough

overtime loss