ICHITANWHET WednesdayFeb. 28, 2007

The Student Voice of Midwestern State University

INS

IDE ‘The Number 23’

It’s hard to take Jim Carrey seriously in this seriously unsuspenseful thriller.

page 5

MSU rolls SWOSU

The Mustangs beat South-western Oklahoma State 90-67 and are advancing to the LSC Semifinals. page 8

‘Babel’

This gem about inter-connected strangers was snubbed at the Oscars. page 4

ASHLEY JACKSON

FOR THE WICHITAN

The MSU English department is inaugurating a new annual lecture series this year. The Bourland-Hawley Lectures in Comparative Literature and My-thology is scheduled to begin March 7 at 3 p.m. in the Prothro-Yeager Liberal Arts building. A reception will follow at 4 p.m. Dr. Lansing Smith, of the MSU English program, said in the 17 years he has been here, he has nev-er seen a literary critic or literary scholar give a lecture. According to Smith, the time has come for an MSU lecture series in-volving literature. “This lecture series fills a gap in our program, especially since we have a graduate program,” Smith said. Dr. Steven Weisenburger, Moss-iker chair of humanities and chair of the English Department at Southern Methodist University, will be the first speaker. He will lecture about the novels of Thomas Pynchon. Pynchon, an American writer based in New York City, is regarded by many critics as one of the finest

contemporary authors. Weisenburgerʼs lecture will focus on politics in “Gravityʼs Rainbow,” Pynchonʼs most celebrated novel about post-World War II Europe. The book won the 1974 National Book Award for fiction and was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. The book also won the William Dean Howells Medal of the Ameri-can Academy of Arts and Letters, although Pynchon declined the award. Weisenburger specializes in American literary and cultural his-tory. His prominent study is in the cultural history of race from 1800 to the present. He also has written a readerʼs guide to “Gravityʼs Rainbow” called “A Gravityʼs Rainbow Com-panion.” The series is being funded by John and Elizabeth Hawley. Eliza-beth Hawley has been a student in the MSU English program for sev-eral years and is actively involved in the MSU Literary Society as well as the publication of Voices, a stu-dent-governed publication that in-cludes photographs, poetry, fiction, essays and art.

Prominent litcritʼs coming

ROBERT FOX

FOR THE WICHITAN

Follow the yellow laminated signs to the far hallway on the first floor of OʼDonohoe to the psychol-ogy clinic. The signs lead to the clinic sec-retaryʼs door. The windowless door just right of the secretaryʼs door opens into a small waiting room. Graduate students working to earn their first set of practicum hours escort their clients from the waiting room to one of the therapy rooms. Therapy generally consists of discussing and reacting to per-sonal problems. Some of the more common initial reasons students go to the clinic are test anxiety, depression from any of several causes and couples counsel-ing. Depression and couples ̓issues are also common initial complaints among non-students. But the com-munity members who use the clinic

also have post-divorce and midlife issues, as well as bipolar disorder. The secretary, the clinic office, the windowless waiting room, the furniture and the audio visual re-cording room are all relatively new. The clinic received a facelift in 1999 and finally moved to its pres-ent place in 2001. “Iʼve only known the new clinic,” said Dr. Michael Vandehey, director of clinical training. Its location and face may be new, but the clinic itself is much older. In fact, Vandehey said the clinic pre-dates Dr. George M. Diekhoff, chair of the psychology department, who has been teaching at MSU since 1977. The new clinic also has a control room capable of monitoring and re-cording all five therapy rooms. This control room is vital to the clinic be-cause the graduate students who are the clinicians must record their ses-sions for review with instructors.

Right now three clinicians see three or four clients per week. Van-dehey said this situation is ideal in that there are enough clinicians that they can and still do take on new cli-ents. He said the current staff could handle as many as 15 clients. “We donʼt want to go to six to eight (clients) per person. We want people getting good experience and not feeling like theyʼre being stretched in multiple directions,” he said. Vandehey said the training clin-icʼs mission is to provide the first clinical training experience. “Itʼs really nice that we have this local (on campus) facility because it makes it easier for the clinical faculty to monitor performance and to train and shape our students,” he said. Vandehey said community mem-bers without insurance covering mental health services pay $5 per session. Currently, the majority of

the cliental comes from the commu-nity. Students and faculty, on the oth-er hand, may use the faculty at no cost. “If youʼre associated with the university you can come for free,” he said. The clinic cannot handle people who are actively threatening sui-cide, actively psychotic (hallucina-tions/delusions) or are a threat to others. Local facilities with 24-hour phone monitoring and staff are bet-ter suited to deal with those prob-lems. “We have nothing to do with medication,” Vandehey said. “Weʼre trying to help people think and feel differently so that they see improve-ment in their lives.” He said for many people, simply talking about the problem presents ideas of solvable steps to overcome it.

OʼDonohoe clinic gets patients psyched

IGGY CRUZ

FOR THE WICHITAN

Three years ago after high school grad-uation in Vernon, Texas, a confused Eric Mujica made a decision that would for-ever impact his life. He enlisted in the Marine reserves. Today, the confident 21-year-old lance

corporal is using military discipline and applying it toward his late-night study sessions as a freshman business major at MSU. Mujica said college never really en-tered his mind until he visited with his recruiter.

“I never looked at a man from head to toe until I saw my recruiter in his deco-

rated uniform,” Mujica said. “He told me the reserves would pay for my col-lege and I would get a chance to see the world at the same time. It got me going because I was getting the chance to bet-ter myself with a free education.”

Being a reservist, Mujica is prop-erty of the Marines for six years and is required to check in with them in Fort Worth for one weekend each month, every month, and two weeks a month during the summer.

Mujica recalls the day he was in-formed of his departure to Iraq, only because it was summed up in a few words.

“I got a call from Corporal Bonds and all he said was, ʻHey, Mujica, youʼre going. ̓ End of conversation,” Mujica said.

Mujica said his heart dropped.“But it was something you expect to

hear,” he said. “I didnʼt tell my parents until two days later. They knew some-thing was wrong because I kept to my-self during that time.”

Mujica said he spent as much time as possible with his family before deploy-ment. He knew in the end the outcome of this experience would greatly benefit him mentally and financially.

Mujica took an 18-hour flight from the Dallas/Fort Worth area to Iraq as he chartered foreign territory for the first time in his life. Already jet-lagged, Mujica said reality slapped him as soon as he stepped off the plane. Mujica and several other reserves then took C-130s, a military cargo, from Camp Victory in Kuwait to Camp Blue Diamond in Ar-ramadi, Iraq. Images and video he had seen of war were right in front of him.

“Itʼs like all the stuff you see on tele-vision about war and people dying,” he said. “I started wondering what I got myself into.”

Once at Blue Diamond, Mujica said fellow soldiers gathered to inform new-bieʼs of unsafe areas around the camp. He said he was shocked to learn many restaurants and hangouts were getting bombed frequently by terrorists.

“When they got us there, they were like, ʻDonʼt go here because itʼs been bombed the last two days,ʼ” he said. “It was shocking to me.”

At Blue Diamond, Mujica was re-sponsible for setting up satellite and radio equipment for communication and security. One of his duties was to establish entry control points (ECG) to

provide safety of incoming citizens. At these control points, marines check iden-tification of people entering the area, do a retina eye scan and enter personal in-formation into a government database for future reference. Mujica said life on base was good for some and bad for others. He noted that many had enlisted as a way of a fresh be-ginning in life, while others were there

SUNKYU YOO-NORRIS | THE WICHITAN

Local artist tapped to make Mustangs

The university has commis-sioned local sculptor Jack Stevens to create a 3-mustang sculpture and several smaller tabletop statues that will go on display in two years.

According to Dr. Howard Far-rell, vice president of university advancement and student affairs, the university did not use tuition or state money to fund the project.

An anonymous donor is pri-vately funding the $300,000 for the project honoring the new school mascot.

“There are some individuals who feel closer to art or objects that cre-ate beauty,” Farrell said, speaking of the contributor. “They feel it is part of the quality of life of a cam-pus.”

The expectations are that the statue will be one and one-eighth times the size of real life, he said.

Stevens created a wax model of

the mascot that sat on display in the boardroom for a couple of days.

The wax piece is rich in detail that is typical of the artistʼs work, Farrell said.

Stevens created many of the sculptures around campus, includ-ing the Sun Watcher, Hotter ̓ N Hell Hundred Bicycle and the Wee-Chi-Tah near the Wichita River.

Stevens ̓ working-class cowboy background gives his sculptures a unique, life-like design so one “can feel the dust and sense the smell of horses in the air.”

University officials have not decided on a specific location, but some officials suggested placing the statue in front of Hardin while others mentioned a more visible spot near the corner of Taft Boule-vard and Midwestern Parkway.

“We want it very visible,” Presi-dent Jesse Rogers said. “We think it will add dramatically to the other types of art across the campus.”

See Critic page 6

the fewand the proudOne MSU student s̓ story of service in Iraq

ADRIAN MCCANDLESS | THE WICHITAN

See Marines page 6

CHRISTIAN MCPHATE

STAFF REPORTER

Someone doesnʼt want Midwestern State University students to eat or drink in classrooms. They went so far as to put up signs next to each classroom. Some students may view the polite use of “please” on some of the signs as a request and not a rule. The posting of signs means it is a rule, not a suggestion and not a request. Yet, MSU students are bringing breakfast, chips, candy and snacks into classrooms. They are toting steaming Starbucks ̓cups, bottled water and canned soda into the classrooms. Besides being rude, this is a blatant violation of the rules. The sign says “No food or drink in the classrooms.” This applies to everyone entering the room. It means do not bring food or drink into the classroom. Why are adults still bringing breakfast sandwiches, candy bars and sodas into the classrooms? Do they believe the signs are a joke? Do they think rules are only for other people? When each professor reads his or her syllabus and reiterates the rule, it is difficult to believe that violators donʼt understand it. Students are required to sign the syllabus and return it to the instructors. The acknowledgement of this rule is on record. Some professors reprimand violators. Some professors turn blind eyes to soda cans and croissant sandwiches. Some professors are the violators. MSU has easy access to food and drink for students and faculty. The Clark Student Center offers The Mesquite Café and the Sundance Food Court as well as a commuter lounge with vending machines. The new Dillard Building hosts the Corner Perk Café featuring Starbucks Coffee. Vending machines can be found in each building. A vast number of trash receptacles are situated at strategic places around campus. Students and faculty can have their snack and their drink, and dump the trash without entering classrooms. If a traffic sign says ʻone way, ̓anyone caught going the other way is subject to a fine. Should the ʻno food, no drink ̓violators be subjected to fines? Thatʼs one possibility. Maybe the professor should kick them out of class. Another possibility would be to just grow up and heed the signs.

VIEWPOINTS Feb. 28, 2007

THE WICHITAN Finalist2004 Associated Collegiate Press

Pacemaker AwardSweepstakes Winner 2006 Texas Intercollegiate

Press Association

THE WICHITAN Editorial Board

Editor-in-Chief Carrie Sullivan Managing Editor Krystle Carey Entertainment Editor Jason Kimbro Sports Editor Josh Mujica Photo Editor Adrian McCandless

ReportersMatt HulmeRichard CarterChristian McPhateLaTia Banks

PhotographersHershel SelfLauren Miller

Graphic ArtistSunKyu Yoo-Norris

Advertising ManagerChristian McPhate

Copy EditorKonnie Sewell

AdviserRandy Pruitt

Staff Editorial

Copyright © 2007. The Wichitan is a member of the Texas Intercollegiate Press Asso-ciation. The Wichitan reserves the right to edit any material submitted for publication. Opinions expressed in The Wichitan do not necessarily reflect those of the students, staff, faculty, administration or Board of Regents of Midwestern State University. First copy of the paper is free of charge; additional copies are $1. The Wichitan welcomes letters of opinion from students, faculty and staff submitted by the Friday before in-tended publication. Letters should be brief and without abusive language or personal attacks. Letters must be typed and signed by the writer and include a telephone number and address for verification purposes. The editor retains the right to edit letters.

3410 Taft Blvd. Box 14 • Wichita Falls, Texas 76308News Desk (940) 397-4704 • Advertising Desk (940) 397-4705

Fax (940) 397-4025 • E-mail WICHITAN@mwsu.eduWeb site: http://www.mwsu.edu/~wichitan

Heed the signs!

Wine: High-class redneckʼs essential My fam-

ily is Irish. My fam-

ily drinks. A lot. Alcohol is one thing we all have in common. We en-joy nothing more than k i c k i n g back with a

whiskey and coke or a glass of wine and catching up. Whether it sounds bad or not, drinking is a bonding experience for my relatives. So, upon arriving at my Gran-nyʼs house for Thanksgiving (on Sunday, of course, since my fam-ily never seems to do anything on time), I was greeted with the usual: “There is beer in the cooler out-side, whiskey in the kitchen and two boxes of wine in the fridge.” And yes, I said boxes of wine. The high-class redneck essential, no doubt. And for the first time in years, I did the unthinkable.

I drank water. I drank sweet tea. I did not drink alcohol. Ordinarily, this lack of consump-tion would not occur. I am usually the first one to pop a top, or to loos-en the nozzle on the boxed white zinfandel. However, I was scheduled to be at work that evening, and if being comatose from all the turkey wasnʼt going to be bad enough, adding even one adult beverage to the mix could have been devastating to both me and my customers. So, there I was, watching my family drink and laugh and talk ... I admit, not much was different at first. Due to the red plastic cups (an-other high-class redneck essential), at first glance no one could have guessed that I wasnʼt joining the rest of the adults in the fun. That is until the first box of wine landed in the trash can and the sec-ond 12-pack of beer was opened. Then it became obvious. I was the outsider. Granny began telling her jokes. My aunt began to laugh that “half snorting, half giggling” laugh she

has become famous for. One cousin began talking more than usual. The other cousin began stepping outside for ʻa smoke ̓every 10 min-utes ... they were feeling the booze. I was not. Being the optimist that I try to be, I took this time to sit back and really look at my family ... no al-tered judgment involved. I watched the women, laughing and talking about their latest body flaw. I noticed how none of them seemed to be complaining and fish-ing for reassurance. They were hon-est, and laughing about it. “The hell with worrying,” my Granny even said when love han-dles were mentioned. “Weʼve still got good wine!” I watched the men, standing around the food, talking less than their female counterparts but still somehow saying all they needed to. A nod here, a couple hand ges-tures there and several chuckles and head shakes at the ladies. They all seemed so confident, so content.

And so happy that the Sooners made it to the Big XII Champion-ship that nothing could ruin their day. I watched the children, running and playing football in the unsea-sonably warm sun. With not a care in the world, my little cousins chased the dogs and collected leaves. They rolled in the grass with reckless abandon. Up and down the stairs, banging on the piano, slamming the screen door with each entrance and exit, they are truly the heart of our fam-ily, and they donʼt let us forget it. They are far too noisy to forget about. So, I didnʼt partake in the family tradition. I didnʼt join in with the glass clinking and joke telling. I watched. And I learned something about my family. It isnʼt the alcohol that has bond-ed us all these years. Itʼs the pride and love for each other and the appreciation for tradi-tions, whatever they may be. And the fact that we are all high-class rednecks, no doubt.

JESSICA COODY

FOR THE WICHITAN

Unborn daughter sparks protective nature My life

has always been in a p e r p e t u -ally pell-mell state.

O n e minute Iʼm living the life of your t y p i c a l , debauch-ery-driven bachelor,

and the next Iʼm changing diapers on a regular basis. One minute Iʼm pretty much a drunk 24/7, and the next I am clean and sober ... well, at least six days out of the week. Something wholly different is about to happen to me again and though I have had nearly nine months to prepare for this, it is coming out of the left-est of fields. I am about to be the proud father of a baby girl. Some of my guy friends are call-ing it karma in its most vengeful of states. They seem to think I have been a manipulator of women all my life, which in actuality couldnʼt be fur-

ther from the truth. I just allowed so many of them to manipulate me. And now I must be a father to one of them, and Iʼm afraid that this little girl will have the easiest time with the manipulation of one Jason Alvie Kimbro. So what can I do to prepare for the next 18 years and beyond? Do I become a sharp, scornful father with an overprotective sense of “knowing what is best for my daughter?” Do I pull a Herbert Hoover and take a laissez faire approach to par-enting my daughter and just pray she doesnʼt end up with vaginal cauliflower before Guardasil is available to her? How about I tread somewhere in the middle and portray a comedic sense of being a protective father, scaring the hell out of each boy when they first come in and then become their best friend? I like to call it the Cosby Show Approach. It is much more complicated than that. My mother has a large number of grandchildren. She has yet to have a biological granddaughter.

Having somewhere in the neigh-borhood of 12 grandsons and yearn-ing for years to have a little girl to spoil, this places another grand di-lemma upon my table. The significance of this childʼs sex goes beyond my motherʼs ex-citement. The entire family seems to either be excited for me or hate me with envious reproach, if that type of feeling can even exist. So now I must find ways to bal-ance the plane between my daugh-ter and my two sons, the biological one and the chosen one. (I call him this because I feel I actually got to choose him as my son instead of relying on the mys-teries behind birth.) I will not tolerate any favoring between my children. I donʼt even want to hear any sort of nonsense about how some individual in my family may love them both the same, but he or she just likes the other one better right now. Having another child is going to be rough, but now that I know the child is a girl (I know they tell you at the sonogram that the likelihood is only about 75 percent but let me

tell you, it was very obvious), I am more scared than ever. Iʼm going to have to ward off boys like me. Iʼm going to have to make sure my two boys donʼt become little pervs if she has a sleepover in the next 13-18 years. Iʼm going to have to be ready to show her how to use certain feminine hygiene products in case mommy isnʼt around when she has her first “womanʼs day” (thatʼs the Cosby Show Approach again). Iʼm going to have to be ready for any kind of torture that will most definitely be thrown my way: Harder diaper changes, little pink dresses, uncomfortable bath-ings in the 5- to 7-year-old range, training bras, tampons or pads, safe sex practices, pushy boyfriends, questions of approval from boys (if Iʼm lucky), walking her down the aisle unable to control the flow of tears and the hell of having to let her go. When it all comes down to it, I wouldnʼt miss any of it for the world. Now to get a few things snipped here and there before God really decides to play a joke on us with twins.

JASON KIMBRO

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

THE WICHITANFeb. 28, 2007 3OP-ED

Rabbit foot no longer for luck I was

p l a y i n g g u i t a r the other n i g h t , s i n g i n g about a b u n n y n a m e d “Incom-petence.”

I ncom-p e t e n c e

was a lonely little bunny, so cute, and so fuzzy with long ears and a little white tail. The “wascilly wabbit” loved to bounce around the offices of the federal and state governments, thumping the heads of congressio-nal leaders with his large feet of stu-pidity. It was a pretty good song. And while picking out an ex-tremely difficult 3-chord pattern on the acoustic, my mind began to wonder on the different foreheads the bunny of incompetence had vis-ited while hopping through the halls of Congress and the administration. I was not so surprised to see that the bunny has made frequent visits to the administration, for how else could one explain the incompetent decision of firing not one but seven president-appointed US attorneys in the past several months. This compared to the three forced out by previous administra-tions over the past 25 years. Former US attorney for San Di-ego Carol Lam obtained a guilty plea from Rep. Randy Cunningham

and sent him to prison for more than eight years on bribery charges involving defense contractors. And she indicted former No. 3 CIA official Kyle Dustin two weeks ago in the defense-contracting scan-dal that could still reveal more cor-rupt politicians. Too bad the Bush Justice Depart-ment fired the appointed attorney. Thank you, bunny of incompe-tence. Both parties of donkeys and ele-phants respected H.E. Cummins III, former US attorney, for his distin-guished record, but he was pushed out to allow the election of former Karl Rove deputy J. Timothy Grif-fin. The problem? Griffin had little legal experi-ence and only qualified for the job because of work he did for the Re-publican National Committee, ac-cording to a report in The New York Times. The reason? Incompetence did one too many thumps on the foreheads of the pup-pet masters behind the Republican Party. Thank you, bunny of incompe-tence. In fact, Incompetenceʼs large feet of stupidity have thumped a major-ity of our congressional leaders on the forehead. Recently, I visited the congres-sional directory on Yahoo and found that out of 100 senators and 438 representatives, only five senators and 27 representatives answered the what-religion-do-they-follow

question correctly with Christian as the stated religion. Eighty-two senators and 368 representatives answered with the church they attend on Sundays, in-cluding the President who stated his religion as Methodist. In addition, 13 of the senators were Jewish and 43 representatives were a majority Catholic with two Buddhists and one Muslim. Thank you, bunny of incompe-tence. The sad reality is that the bunny of incompetence has visited all fac-ets of our society, hopping from town-to-town, city-to-city and state-to-state, thumping the foreheads of many of our leaders. With the disaster in New Orleans, the bunny did a triple thump on fed-eral, state and local governments. On the cracking down of oilmon-gers, warmongers, moneymongers, Incompetence has done a quadruple thump and is still going. And with global warming, the bunny of incompetence has done a long history of thumping, begin-ning during the Industrial Age and continuing right on through the In-formation Age. Throughout our history, the in-competence bunny has left his large footprints of stupidity across the minds of many men and women like Jesus in the poem “Footprints in the Sand” only instead of carry-ing one when times are tough, the damn bunny thumps on oneʼs fore-head a few more times. Will someone just shoot the damn bunny already!

CHRISTIAN MCPHATE

STAFF REPORTER

Geraldo brings shame to journalists Just who

does Ger-aldo Ri-vera think he is?

T h i s man is a joke. How dare he call himself a journalist. R i v e r a is shame-

less and an insult to real journal-ists — and real journalism students — everywhere. I feel sick just imaging anyone thinking of him as the best our field has to offer. Who hired this douchebag? Oh, that s̓ right. Faux News did. Never mind. River s̓ been tarnishing the pro-fession of Woodstein, Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite for years. I donʼt think anyone who used to host a trashy talk show can really call themselves a serious reporter later in life. It s̓ like if Jerry Springer tried reporting during Hurricane Ka-trina. The man has no integrity. Good investigative reporters are supposed to remain anonymous. Their stories are never about them-selves. That s̓ why this profession exists: So that other people can have their stories told. But Rivera continually ignores this rule. He likes to make every-thing about himself. He likes to place himself in the story. He s̓ noth-ing but an attention seeker. He s̓ had plastic surgery on TV and he s̓ been very public about his sexual liaisons. He made a huge deal about shav-ing off his moustache if Michael Jackson was found guilty and then gloated about the verdict for ages. Attention-seekers make the worst

journalists because they canʼt get over how “great” and “brilliant” they are. Theyʼre not so great. Just obvious and egotistical. Geraldo Rivera is an entertainer. He doesnʼt care so much about getting his facts straight as he does giving the people what he thinks they want. He once reported he was in the middle of a friendly firing zone in Afghanistan, when in reality he was some 300 miles away from the zone. He also claimed to have been at the scene of the deaths of American soldiers, but this later turned out to be false. Has the man (or his superiors) never heard of accountability? Real reporters know that the sto-ries theyʼre going to tell might not always be the most exciting, but they have to be told because people need to know about them. Real reporters know they have to get their facts straight, and real reporters know this could mean double-checking several times. Real reporters know if they make a mis-take, they have to order up a slice of humble pie and apologize for it. They donʼt just shrug and say, “Whoops. But, anyway, check out my badass moustache! It always stays put, even during the rain and the wind!” Rivera is so full of himself he wonʼt bother to check his facts, or let journalistic ethics and profes-sionalism keep him in check. Why did he draw that map in the sand when he was in Afghanistan in 2003? Because he thought he was just one of the guys, I suppose. Hey, me and my moustache are cool with you guys, right? This put the military s̓ operation and even the soldiers themselves at risk.

If Rivera believes he s̓ well-in-tentioned, then he s̓ stupider than I thought. He puts real war correspon-dents to shame. More recently, Rivera s̓ had a field day with the death of Anna Ni-cole Smith. On TV he s̓ referred to her as being talentless and a floozy. He s̓ called her a whore and has basical-ly disgraced himself with his ugly speech. Let s̓ not forget that she was a human being who had faced many hardships during her lifetime. Let s̓ not forget that she s̓ deceased and that there s̓ a fine line between pok-ing fun and just being mean-spir-ited. No one s̓ perfect. And if Rivera is going to call someone out for their moral behavior, let s̓ not forget that his current wife is his fifth one. Perhaps worst of all, he s̓ outlined how he thinks Howard K. Stern is responsible for Smith s̓ death and the death of her son Daniel last Sep-tember. Iʼll agree that it s̓ highly suspi-cious how Stern claims to be the fa-ther of Smith s̓ baby girl but refuses to take a DNA test, but Rivera gave no solid evidence for his reasoning. Journalists are not conspiracy theo-rists. He s̓ blasted Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert for “amounting to nothing.” How ironic, considering those two men actually make the country think. We can hardly say the same for dear Geraldo. This man thinks he s̓ breaking the next Watergate every single day and he also believes he s̓ God s̓ gift to you and me. Hey, pissants, me and my s̓tache are on TV! What have YOU done with YOUR worthless lives lately? It s̓ time someone woke up and fired Rivera. When you get right down to it, he sucks not just at his job, but at life.

KONNIE SEWELL

COPY EDITOR

Campus VoicesQ: Would you use the psychology clinic on campus?

“I probably wouldnʼt go because I commute. I only come to school for class.”

– Angela Fortin, 19, junior, undecided

Letter to the EditorHi, Iʼm responding to a letter sent to the editor in your last edition of The Wichitan on Feb. 14, 2007 I would like to know what exactly the reader was referring to as a “slave auction.” If this is what I think it is, how has MSU allowed this? Secondly, I would like to know what is done about Sofia Rodriguezʼs actions or should I say

“non-actions” For the record, I like going to this school but the segregation is really obvious and baffling to me, especially since in my country we donʼt have this issue

Thank you,

Michelle Watson

“I have no need to visit it. Iʼm perfectly sane.”

– Melissa Baleisis, 24, senior, elementary education major

“I wouldnʼt go. I tend to stay away from people like that. Theyʼre crazy. Iʼd take counseling from anyone else. Those people have more problems than the people they treat.”

– Shivel Brunett, 22, sophomore, radiology major

“I donʼt think Iʼd go because Iʼm a stable person.”

– Alonzo Galan, 20, sophomore, undecided

“Iʼd go because itʼs free.”

– Paul McBroom, 19, sophomore, mathematics major

“It depends on what the problem is. I probably would go if the problem was bad enough.”

– Dominic Cobb, 20, freshman, mathematics major

EntertainmentTHE WICHITANFeb. 28, 20074

ʻWhoʼs Afraid of Virginia

Woolf?ʼ MSU Theatre presents “Whoʼs Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” The play is a dis-section of an American mar-riage gone sour - a marriage tainted by delusions and dis-illusionment. The play depicts sexual situations and contains pro-fanity and is not recom-mended for junior high or younger students. For high school students, parental knowledge and consent is recommended. “Whoʼs Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” will take place in MSUʼs Bea Wood Studio Theatre on Thursday, March 29 through Saturday, March 31 at 7:30 p.m. and on Sun-day, April 1 at 2:30 p.m. Admission is free with MSU ID. For more information call 397-4399.

Foreign Film Series

Continuing Education and Richard Carter present the 1966 film “Masculin Femi-nin” at 7 p.m. March 1 in the Kemp Center for the Arts at 1300 Lamar St.

Jean-Luc Godard presents a candid and wildly funny free-form examination of youth culture in 1960s Paris.

Admission is free and do-nations are welcome.

For more information, call ext. 4756.

ʻA Wednesday with Matisseʼ

The Wichita Falls Museum of Art at MSU and The Kemp Center for the Arts will spon-sor “A Wednesday with Ma-tisse” bus trip to Dallas on March 7.

The group will leave from the WFMA, #2 Eureka Cir-cle, at 8:30 a.m. and be treat-ed to a continental breakfast and Matisse art orientation with Cathey Drennan.

The day includes tours of the Matisse Exhibit at DMA and the Nasher, lunch of your choosing at DMA Atrium Cafe or Seventeen by Wolf-gang Puck and free time to either tour Fast Forward: Contemporary Collections for the DMA or spend more time with Matisse.

The bus leaves Dallas at 3:30 p.m. with complimen-tary wine and cheese.

Seating is limited and the price is $45, which includes the bus ride, museum admis-sion, breakfast and refresh-ments.

For reservations and more information, call 767-2787 or 692-0923.

Across Campus

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We Welcome OurNew Neighbors

Mexican director Alejandro Gon-zalez Inarrituʼs newest film, “Ba-bel,” got robbed the other night at the Oscars.

It was painful to watch, and it just goes to show that awards are no indicator of art. (Please see the Grammys.)

Anywho, Inarrituʼs newest film is about stories. Like his earlier “21 Grams” and “Amores Perros,” he tells them in fragments, effectively jumping back and forth between the tales and the perspectives of indi-vidual characters.

On a worldwide canvas, “Babel” takes viewers through a world of heartbreak, fate and injustice with brief moments of humor.

Several heart-wrenching mo-ments will cut through viewers.

Recently released on DVD, it also conveys messages on a global and personal scale that will stay with audiences.

It will make viewers think about what is right and what is wrong, but more importantly, how those abso-lute terms are rarely applicable in real life.

In addition to its ideas, the film features excellent performances by a largely unknown international cast.

The settings are also no less than impressive. From the desolate mountains of Morocco to the dy-namic cityscapes of Tokyo to the ru-ral colors of Tijuana, the landscapes are also pleasing to the eye.

The camera work alone - of many disparate scenes and lights and col-ors - is enough to recommend this DVD.

For example, in one scene, a young Japanese student named Chieko (Rinko Kikuchi) attends a rave.

The deaf-mute girl is rebelling against her businessman father and is on drugs at a pretty wild club.

We see her enveloped in a scene of blaring rave music, lasers, flash-

ing lights and masses of people. But like the strobe light that

quickly goes off and on, we inter-mittently see the more lonely and scary perspective of that scene, without the music.

Throughout the movie, scenes jump around the world from a small dark room in a Moroccan village to the neighboring mountains to gor-geously modern Tokyo and a fes-tive small Mexican marriage scene in Tijuana.

As these scenes play out, the

drama ratchets up in the separate stories toward a realization of how the stories come together. There is no huge finale.

Like the name of the film sug-gests, audiences are left with the idea of how cultural and social fac-tors make communication impos-sible or exceedingly difficult.

“Babel” begins with two mar-ried American tourists on a bus trip in Morocco. Richard (Brad Pitt) and Susan (Cate Blanchett) are at-tempting to reconnect after losing a

child. The second story revolves

around a Moroccan goat herder who purchases a rifle for his two young songs and instructs them to shoot jackals. Unfortunately for the poor family, boys will be boys.

The third story features a Mexi-can maid named Amelia (Adriana Barraza) who is looking after two children. The day of her sonʼs mar-riage, she takes the kids with her and her irresponsible nephew (Gael Garcia Bernal) to Tijuana.

The last story looks at Chieko and her attempts to deal with her lost mother and her inability to con-nect with young men because of her hearing problems.

“Babel” was my favorite movie of last year because of its cinema-tography, ideas, storylines and per-formances. It may not be for every-one, but for viewers who enjoyed the directorʼs last two films or any form of cinema that creatively en-gages with form and storytelling, “Babel” is a mindful treat.

Pitt’s disappointment shows as he realizes “Babel” didn’t take home the Best Picture Oscar.

RICHARD CARTER

FOR THE WICHITAN

I was initially drawn to Katharine McMahon s̓ novel “The Alchemist s̓ Daughter” for two old-fashioned reasons.

First, the heroine promised to be smart, and I like smart heroines. Too many heroines today are annoyingly perfect and obnoxiously beautiful Mary-Sues.

Where are the real heroines, the heroines who are more than just their looks or family or wealth?

Second, the plot seemed promis-ing. From the dust jacket we learn the bare facts of the story: 19-year-old Emilie Selden is the daughter of an Age-of-Reason alchemist who worships Sir Isaac Newton.

An only child, Emilie s̓ mother

died during childbirth and her father has done his best to make sure he s̓ taught her everything she needs to know about the world.

Unfortunately, he views the world only through scientific glasses and Emilie s̓ emotional development is somewhat stifled, though she s̓ got some Romantic rebellion in her. Enter a handsome, dashing stranger with a silver tongue and youʼve got the beginning of something scandal-ous.

Woe was me, then, because this book hardly delivered. There are small glimmers of something pos-sibly enjoyable, but ultimately McMahon s̓ major fault is that she doesnʼt know what to do with her sorrowfully two-dimensional char-acters.

Emilie isnʼt the smart heroine I was looking forward to. When I say smart I donʼt necessarily mean book smart. I just want my heroine to be interesting, to have a working mind of her own. I want her to make good

decisions (even if, unbeknownst to her at the time, they really arenʼt) and skewer suitors with her wit. I want a heroine that will see past the charms of the phonies and appreci-ate what she s̓ got.

But, no. Not Emilie. Emilie is a little too willing to let other people live her life for her. She s̓ weak and insipid and self-centered. It s̓ too bad she narrates the novel — we have to be inside her head the whole time. McMahon tries to show how Emilie suffers when she leaves the only home she s̓ ever know and enters London with the man who seduced her and thrust her into the ton, but it s̓ completely unbeliev-able. Louisa from Charles Dickens ̓“Hard Times” she s̓ not.

The man who steals Emilie away is one Robert Aislabie, a no-account dandy who claims to be a merchant. Every single reader out there will know he s̓ bad business from the start, so it s̓ hard to see why Emi-lie would let herself be enamored

of him. (It s̓ hard to feel any sympathy for her when he gets her pregnant.)

Aislabie s̓ foil is clergyman Thomas Shales, who shares Emilie s̓ love of nat-ural philosophy and dabbles in botany (could the man be any safer?).

He s̓ introduced on page 20 and it s̓ at that moment we realize who Emilie s̓ meant to be with.

But Shales is a quiet man with a tragic past he canʼt quiet seem to get over. How he ever falls in love with a girl like Emilie, who — curiously — hates him, is beyond me. But he makes a quietly stalwart ef-fort to win her over through friend-ship and kindness, and eventually she comes to depend on him.

However, there s̓ no real payoff at the end of the novel regarding their relationship. To have all that buildup and then nothing but a fizzle is just flat-out disappointing.

The only other character in the novel worth caring about is Emilie s̓ father, who — surprise, surprise! — has kept a secret from Emilie since the day she was born. There s̓ a poignant scene near the end of the novel where Emilie realizes who she really is and what she really meant to her father.

But to be honest, every charac-ter in this book is just following the set path that has been laid down for them from the very beginning of storytelling.

The plot is just like any other be-cause the characters are just like any other. And who wants to spend time reading something that s̓ recyclable, something that will pop up yet again in a few years with a different cov-er?

McMahon has no real gift with prose. Her style doesnʼt probe into the depths of logic or emotion de-spite the fact she s̓ given so many opportunities. Emilie, for instance, is the only woman in attendance at Newton s̓ funeral, but this scene is wasted.

The characters act just like theyʼre supposed to, and the plot goes exact-ly where it s̓ supposed to. So, gentle reader, do exactly what youʼre sup-posed to do when presented with “The Alchemist s̓ Daughter”: Pass it over.

KONNIE SEWELL

COPY EDITOR

ʻAlchemistʼs Daughter ̓is pure disappointment

ʻBabel ̓fails to receive its just rewards

Entertainment THE WICHITANFeb. 28, 2007 5

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Carrey s̓ latest dramatic foray sucks in 23 ways

Entertainment Value: FArtistic Crap: BPlot/Script: FPerformances: COverall GPA: 1.25

SunKyu Yoo-Norris

Many actors have tried crossing over from the typical film we all grow to love (or hate) them in into genres that seem to be polar oppo-sites.

Jim Carrey has attempted this before with the sappy flop of a film “The Majestic.” Closer attempts at non-mainstream comedies have been somewhat successful criti-

cally, but one thing this critic has learned is that Carrey was not cut out for horror or suspense.

Not since “Batman Forever” has Carrey been this scary, and that in itself is a comedic proposition on its own. So perhaps this was a comedy after all, just in every unintentional way possible. But believe me when I say this is not a film worth laugh-ing at.

Hereʼs the gist:Carrey plays Walter Sparrow, an

animal control specialist (or dog catcher) who truly loves his job. Throughout this film, Walter nar-rates what is happening on screen and within his mind, discussing matters of fate and destiny.

After a failed attempt at catching a scavenging dog behind an Asian eatery, Walter-come-lately meets up with his wife Agatha (Virginia Madsen) at a used book store.

Agatha is thumbing through the pages of a strange, self-published book called “The Number 23.” Just for kicks she decides to buy it for Walter, as a birthday gift.

Yay! A used book is what I wish I would get for my birthday!

As Walter starts reading through the pages of the book he begins to notice some eerie similarities be-tween the main character, Finger-ling, and himself.

Fingerling is a character obsessed with the number 23 and fairly soon after Walter becomes obsessed with the number as well.

Walter is able to connect the book with a murder and attempts to use the facts behind the case to find out exactly what the deal is with the number 23 and why the book is so closely related to his own life.

The paranoia becomes psychot-ic and some stretches are made to make this conspicuous number have significance in his life.

Some of the ideas behind this film are somewhat ridiculous and the attempts to make this number significant and evil are either wrong or laughable.

For instance, they attempt to ex-press the evil intentions of the num-ber by explaining that two divided by three equals .666.

This is false. The actual answer is an infinite number of sixes past the decimal point and if one was to round it to the nearest thousandth then the rules of math would make that number be .667, not .666.

The rest of the plot and story are somewhat bland and lack any real excitement. The twist was un-expected but boring as well, fall-ing far short of the mind-blowing amazement we got from films like “Fight Club” and “The Prestige.”

The dialogue was somewhat un-realistic as well, with some obvious bits of Carrey improv thrown in here and there.

Then thereʼs this dog, this an-noying representation of fate that

keeps popping up in the film, ap-parently portraying Walterʼs bane of existence as well, acting as some sort of nemesis to the dog-catching character Carrey portrays.

It is almost like a darkly unfunny cartoon.

The involvement of his son is weak as well within a whole cast of characters who are better left for a bad episode of “The Twilight Zone.”

Performances seemed to fizzle as well. Carrey tries his hardest to be a paranoid scary guy but ends up being nothing short of what could have been a failed character from “In Living Color.”

Madsen is able to hold her own but she really has nothing to worry about here. It is like sheʼs a beauty queen in a room full of wingmen.

The movie had some decent at-tempts at atmosphere with the fore-boding shadows and grainy textures of the bookʼs portrayals.

All in all the movie just wasnʼt any fun. It was a dozy snoozer which leaves the viewer running for Starbucks with extra money for the extra shots.

The only bit of fun is trying to find out how many references to the number 23 slopmeister director Joel Shumacher tries to throw at you through the entirety of the film.

Twists are hard to come by these days, but true geniuses in movie-making are still able to make our jaws drop and our minds mangle up in knots. Unfortunately they are just too few and far between.

“The Number 23” is 190 proof slop pouring itself down a toilet af-ter a night of bad appetizers from a now-closed Mexican restaurant. And this is being terribly nice.

Stay at home this week and hope that next week holds a little some-thing better for our cinematic needs. Or go buy “The Departed” or “The Prestige.” They will at the very least keep your eyes open.

JASON KIMBRO

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Jim Carrey shows he can be punky, sexy and even saxophoney in “The Number 23.”

THE WICHITANFeb. 28, 20076 News

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Frat gets MADDKONNIE SEWELL

COPY EDITOR

Omega Delta Phi, in association with MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) and TABC (Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission), will hold an alcohol awareness seminar Friday at 8 p.m. in Wichita 1 and 2. The event is free to everyone and refresh-ments will be served. A major theme of the sem-inar will be how alcohol affects everyone and the only way to be safe is to be aware. Guillermo Herrera, a 22-year-old respiratory care major, helped organize the event. “We only really started preparing about two or three weeks ago for this,” he said, “but we re-ally wanted to get this seminar out there before spring break and not during midterms.” Herrera said Omega Delta Phi has contact with the national MADD group, from whom they get much support. He went to a conference where he was pre-sented with the idea of a seminar. Omega Delta Phi, he said, is a fraternity that values service over enrollment.

“Itʼs something we hope to instill in all or-ganizations on campus, all fraternities and all sororities,” he said. During the seminar, information will focus on how the brain develops, how various levels of partying affect the brain and state laws. “Some people are so ignorant of Texas laws regarding alcohol,” Herrera said. “People donʼt know whatʼs legal and whatʼs not.” Though Omega Delta Phi has a strong rela-tionship with MADD and is dedicated to ser-vice, this is the fraternityʼs first alcohol semi-nar. Herrera said it wouldnʼt be the last. “Weʼre hoping to do this seminar every se-mester,” he said. “The information will change each time itʼs presented. Thereʼll always be something new to learn.” Also, Herrera noted how he and his brothers hope alcohol awareness doesnʼt stop with just this seminar. “We want it to be a full week of alcohol awareness,” he said. “Weʼre going to be posting flyers and putting red ribbons on cars in all the parking lots.”

RACHEL TOMPKINS

FOR THE WICHITAN On Thursday, they built a bridge

on campus. It was a class act.The feat was accomplished by

students in Suguru Hiraideʼs sculp-ture class. Hiraide and visiting artist William Cannings showed students how to fire up their actylene torches that morning and fuse pieced of metal together. By 2 p.m. they were working in three separate groups. The students had to complete the project using no more than 30 feet of cold, rolled steel. The idea of the project was to create the structure

that could support the weight of each group member.

It did. In three and a half hours, the 36-inch long structure was placed across the span of two tables. Members of each group had to walk across the bridge-like structure to demonstrate that their weld was strong enough to hold the weight of their group. At some point, as many as three people stood on their new creation.

Cannings, an associate profes-sor of art for Texas Tech University, brought examples of the project with him. Cannings said he usually gives his students a week to com-

plete the project. Canning also gave safety tips on the handling of oxy-gen and acetylene gas.

“If a neck breaks off a full bottle youʼve pretty much got a missile, and theyʼll go through several con-crete block walls if left unattended.” Cannings warned.

The artist held a PowerPoint pre-sentation of his work in C111 of the Fain Fine Arts Center.

Cannings and his wife exhibited “Under Pressure” in the main gal-lery until Friday. The exhibit con-sisted of his many sculptures and numerous pieces created by his wife, Shannon.

Visiting prof fuses students to learning

ADRIAN MCCANDLESS | THE WICHITAN

Guillermo Herrera, 22, provides information about alcohol awareness.

According to Smith, Mr. and Mrs. Hawley have also provided substantial patronage for scholar-ships to the MSU English program. Smith hopes that the lecture se-ries will provoke MSU students ̓interest in literature. “This lecture series will affect the English program by contributing to awareness of literary scholarship,” Smith said. “It also opens commu-

nication lines to national contacts, and that will particularly impact our graduate program.” Smith said a classroom for the lecture has not been selected. The reception will probably take place in the foyer on the second floor of the building, he said. The event is free and open to MSU students and the general pub-lic. No tickets are required.

Smith wishes to begin the lecture series with one speaker per year and add more speakers as the program grows. Smith anticipates that the new series will affect everyone at MSU, not just students. “This lecture series is a very pos-itive addition to academics at MSU. It will enrich the life of the whole university,” Smith said.

just because no other options were available to them. He said that situ-ation caused some people to be grumpy on base, while others en-joyed their stay. Mujica recalled a story of one homesick Marine who took his own life after his arrival. He said a gun-shot late one night woke everyone. Mujica said the person had been de-pressed since his arrival in Iraq and took his life inside a bathroom on base. Mujicaʼs own life was endan-gered one afternoon as he was do-ing guard work on a tower with a friend. “I was working the tower and I grabbed my bag of Gummy Bears to snack on. Right when I opened the bag I heard a loud whistle com-ing at me and two rockets flew over the tower,” he said. Mujica jokingly said he was very fortunate the guys launching the rockets at them were bad shooters.

Mujica then left to Fallujah for his next mission and said he did not have any problems during his time there. He said the children there were special and it changed his own stereotypes of every Iraq native. “For the most part, they are hard-working citizens trying to make a living,” he said. Mujica now has a sense of appre-ciation for the cultures he witnessed during his 7-month stay. He said it has helped him think of others ̓beliefs before making quick judgments. It also gave him a different out-look on life itself. “I now think of the worst that can happen to better prepare myself. It works for some and not for others,” he said. “I now have come to peace with dying someday.” As far as the future and war in Iraq goes, Mujica believes blood-shed and violence will always be there.

“Thereʼs over 150 tribes and beliefs there, so to have everyone there under one democracy is very difficult,” he said. “The good is we ended a violent regime, but the bad is the lives that were lost.” The possibility that Mujica could go back still exists, but it is some-thing he would comply with excit-edly. He said the positive experiences outweigh the bad, so a return would be second nature to him. Mujica now has his sights set on another phase in his life with educa-tion. He is currently enrolled in 14 hours of school while managing a job on the side. The discipline gained from basic training to his time in Iraq have all fused together to give him a dream that was not available to family members in the past: An opportu-nity to attend college.

Critic____________________________________________continued from page 1

Marines_________________________________________continued from page 1

Bathroom to Boardroom

LAUREN MILLER | THE WICHITAN

Eddie Douglas, 22, struts his stuff at the Bathroom to Boardroom fashion show. The program demonstrated to students how to dress profession-ally for occasions such as job inter-views.

Thanks for reading

The Wichitan.

Sports THE WICHITANFeb. 28, 2007 7

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3908 Kell Blvd.

The MSU softball team traveled to Kingsville this past weekend to compete in the Javelina Classic hosted by Texas A&M-Kingsville.

Along with the Lady Mustangs the two day tournament also includ-

ed TAMUK and St. Edwardʼs.On Sunday afternoon MSU (13-

5) handled St. Edwards, 2-1 to com-plete the tournament with a 3-1 re-cord.

St. Edwards got on the board first in the 5th inning as Melissa Mc-Sheffery stole homebase on an error at third.

The Lady Mustangs rebounded in

the 6th as Lindsey Voigt and Kristen Stonecipher scored off a double to left field by Kelli Shaw.

Freshman pitcher Katie Peterson earned the win as she improved to 7-5 on the season with a 0.98 earned run average. She stuck out 16 bat-ters during the tournament.

Earlier in the day MSU took on TAMUK.

The Lady Mustangs wasted no time as they scored two runs in the 1st inning.

Jessica Rodriguez scored on an unearned run and Stonecipher scored on a throwing error by TAMUKʼs Sally Lozano.

MSU added two more scores and TAMUK was unable to catch up as the Lady Mustangs took a 4-3 win.

Pitcher Ashley Kuchenski stayed perfect on the year as she pushed her record to 6-0. She posts a 1.71 ERA and struck out 14 batters this weekend.

On Saturday the Lady Mustangs split games.

Midwestern beat SEU in 10 in-nings, 2-1 and fell to TAMUK, 3-2 later in the day.

Along with Stonecipher and Shaw first baseman Amanda Hill was cited for performing well in the tournament with a .357 batting av-erage with five hits, one double and two RBIs.

MSU travels to Edmond, OK to-night to take on Central Oklahoma in a doubleheader. The first game is set for 1 p.m.

JOSH MUJICASPORTS EDITOR

Midwestern goes 3-1 in softball tournament

2007 Softball Team

Please Recycle This Paper

THE WICHITANFeb. 28, 20078 Sports

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The No. 7 West Texas A&M Lady Buffaloes opened the game on an 11-0 run Saturday night and never looked back, rolling the Lady Mustangs 73-55 at the First United Bank Center in Canyon. Sophomore Courtney Lee col-lected her first double-double of the season for the Lady Buffs (24-3, 14-0), finishing the night with 15 points and 11 rebounds, while lead-ing scorer Emily Brister added 15 points. WTAMU will ride a 12-game

winning-streak to the Lone Star Conference Tournament next week as top seed in the south division. Kaylon Hodge led MSU (12-14, 5-9) with 17 points and three as-sists, while senior Sonya Calhoun-Courtney ended her Mustang career with 16 points and five rebounds. Stacy Staten also chipped in 16 points. MSU missed their first eight at-tempts from the floor, before get-ting back into the game with a 22-11 run to tie the contest up at 22. But WTAMU responded with a 21-7 run to close the half and take a commanding 43-29 lead at inter-

mission. The Lady Mustangs shot 33 percent in the first and went 0-for-7 from beyond the arc, while the Lady Buffs connected on 46 per-cent of their baskets. The second half did not fare much better for MSU as the Lady Buffs jumped out to 10-1 run in the opening minutes and lead by as many as 26 points. The Lady Mustangs were never able to recover. WTAMU outrebounded MSU 54-23 as the Lady Mustangs fin-ished the night shooting a low 32 percent from the field.

IGGY CRUZSTAFF REPORTER

Lady Buffs out-hustle Mustangs The MSU rugby team played a hard physical game against the Uni-versity of Dallas Groundhogs on Saturday but were undone by a seri-ous breakdown of discipline result-ing in a 37-0 loss. MSU was hurt by many penalties and UD went up 17-0 at halftime. MSU had the wind to its back in the second half back but were unable to secure the ball in the lineouts. UD took advantage and seized

the ball and put it along their back-line, scoring numerous tries. Unable to get any continuity in their game, MSU gifted valuable possession and territory to UD. By contrast UD had a running game that sliced apart the MSU s̓ defense. UD eventually extended their lead beyond the reach of MSU. MSU will continue their season with a friendly on Saturday against the Dallas Reds Old Boys. Kickoff will be 2 p.m. in Dallas.

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Groundhogs overshadow MSUFOR THE WICHITAN

Anyone who knows me knows that I have no deep and passionate love for any spe-cific sports team. I love the Dallas Mavericks and the UT Longhorns. But I donʼt like to watch the games all the time. There are people who are hard-core fans. They live to watch the games and wear their teamʼs logos. The team is the essence of their being. My roommateʼs boyfriend is one of those people. If the Mavericks are losing by a lot then he canʼt watch the game be-cause it hurts him too much to see his team lose. I have heard endless amounts of stories from another friend of mine about his love for the New Orleans Saints. When all the other children were outside playing, he was inside watching the Saints. These are the people who own hats, bumper stickers, t-shirts and engraved logo traveling mugs with their initials and special quotes.

These are the people that I envy. Year after year, I watch these people cheer on their teams and get all excited and pumped up because their team, the team that is the un-derdog, is finally getting justice and is making the playoffs. Or they are once again dominat-ing on the court. My grandfather is such a die-hard Longhorns fan that if they lose, I donʼt call him because I donʼt want to be in his line of fire. There are these people, and then there are the people who could care less about anything that have to do with physical activity. Then there are people like me. I am the person who claims to love the Mavericks and the Long-horns (which I really do) but I canʼt make myself sit down and watch the whole season. I will watch bits and pieces of games here and there while I am flipping channels. Or if the game happens to be on while I am enjoying a nice bever-age at Buffalo Wild Wings or Texas Roadhouse, then I will become rath-er stuck on the game. But just to sit down and watch the game for fun in my apartment? That doesnʼt happen. I am the person who doesnʼt get into the spirit of things until the playoff games have rolled around, until it is down to the wire.

I will watch the last two or three games. I wonʼt even watch the whole game, though. I just watch the last 20 or 30 min-utes.Iʼve discovered that this is the time of the game when itʼs the most in-teresting. Picture this: Itʼs the last 10 min-utes of the Mavericks vs. Spurs game. The score is 81-83. Itʼs just a matter of who can stay ahead long enough to make it to the final buzzer. Whatʼs more exciting than that? Who cares how they get to that point as long as they are at that point and are going to win. I wish I could have the dedica-tion and passion that so many other people have when it comes to pick-ing a team and watching them and cheering them on all season, but I just donʼt. I love my teams ... but it is just impossible for me to stay focused long enough to watch them all sea-son. I have sports ADD. And for this there is no cure. Go, Mavs, go!

Fan wishes to become more hardcore

Midwestern State tennis sent Colin County Community College packing yesterday afternoon, secur-ing another victory for the menʼs and womenʼs teams. The men dominated the Cougars from Plano with a 5-3 win. They started slowly, falling be-hind 2-1 with junior Zachary Dil-lard and senior Brett Emerson win-ning at number one doubles. Fortunately, it was all uphill from there on as the men dropped only one more point in the singles rounds. Both Emerson, at number one singles, and senior Charles van Swelm, at number three singles, came back to win their third set super tie-break after dropping their

first set. Sophomore Stefan McKinney and freshman Fernando Villarrealʼs straight set singles victories secured the teamʼs overall win. “I am very pleased with our win today and I hope we continue in this spirit throughout the season,” van Swelm said. On the womenʼs side, sopho-more Brynne Chappell and fresh-man Ann-Sophie Indeherberge delivered a devastating 8-0 win at number one doubles. Seniors Cilia Muller and Mi-chelle Watson followed suit with an 8-1 blowout at number three, leav-ing the Lady Mustangs up 2-1 after the doubles round. “The girls were pretty rude, which made the win especially sweet. Itʼs funny when they scream that you suck, but the scoreboard says youʼre up 6-0,” noted Chap-pell.

In singles, the ladies grabbed four of their six matches, securing a 6-3 win over the Lady Cougars. Sophomore Faye dʼHamecourt played number three, junior Melis-sa dos Prazeres-Silva played num-ber four, freshman Collean Kinser played number five and senior Wat-son played number six. The girls were optimistic about such a decisive win at their first home match. “This was the first home game of my college career, and it felt good! I think we have a shot at going all the way [to nationals] this year,” Kinser enthused. Both teams will be in competi-tion on Friday and Saturday. The menʼs tennis team will now travel to Lawton to compete in the Cameron Quadrangular. The women will road trip to Por-tales, N.M., to partake in the East-ern New Mexico Quadrangular.

MELISSA DOS PRAZERES-SILVA

STAFF REPORTER

MSU tennis teams dominate courts

ADRIAN MCCANDLESS | THE WICHITAN

MSU’s Drew Coffman, 5, drives the ball up the court against SWOSU’s Marcus Milleder last night in D.L. Ligon Coliseum. Coffman had 22 points. The Mustangs won 90-67.

Mustangs route SWOSU

The 24th-ranked Mustangs rolled Southwestern Oklahoma State 90-67 in front of 3,417 rowdy fans Tuesday night in Gerald Stockton Court, advancing to the Lone Star Conference Semifinals Friday night against Central Oklahoma. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. in D.L. Ligon Coliseum. Four Mustangs scored in double-figures, led by the senior trio of All-LSC selections Drew Coffman, Chad Rickett, and Eric Dawson. Coffman, the divisionʼs new-comer of the year, had a game-high 22 points, while LSC South Player of the Week Dawson muscled his way to 16 points, 12 boards and six swats. Rickett added 17 points and five assists followed by 16 points from Chris Davis. MSU (21-6) opened up the first half with runs of 7-2 and 7-0 before the Bulldogs (17-10) slashed the

Mustang lead to 22-18 at the 10:32 mark. Three points would be the clos-est SWOSU would get to the Mus-tangs all-night long as MSU wore down the Bulldogs, pulling a late 19-5 run to take a 45-28 advantage at halftime. “We knew they were an up and down tempo team, so we just stuck to them and came out with the win,” Rickett said. “We stepped it up a notch when they ran out of en-ergy.” MSU shot 53 percent for the game while having their way inside the paint against the Bulldogs, out-scoring SWOSU 42-22. The Mustangs tight defense also forced a total of 15 turnovers while racking up seven steals, two of which were picked off by Rickett. “I had to step up my game to give us a chance to win,” Rickett said. “Chris Davis challenged me to play defense.” Head Coach Jeff Ray said it was an overall team effort and credited

players like freshman forward Mi-chael Godwin for giving the team momentum throughout the game with his gritty play. “Michael Godwin came in and gave us a spark off the bench,” Ray said. “He has a bright future.” Dawson opened the second half by scoring the first seven Mustang points, including a big two-handed jam that brought the crowd to its feet and a three-point play, opening a 52-33 lead. The Bulldogs responded with a 20-9 run to cut the Mustang lead to 63-59 at the 10 minute mark but had no answer for the plethora of MSUʼs firepower. The Mustangs rallied and never looked back, closing the game on a 20-4 run while holding SWOSU scoreless in five of the final six minutes of regulation. The 67 points were the low-est season output for SWOSU as Clarke Hale led the Bulldogs with 17 points, while Michael Sampson added 13 and nine rebounds.

IGGY CRUZSTAFF REPORTER

CARLY BURRES

STAFF REPORTER

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