Texas A&M University-KingsvilleTuesday February 9, 2010 www.tamuk.edu/southtexan VOLUME 84, Issue 19

The South Texan

The Texas A&M University-Kingsville Athletic Department wasawarded the NCAA Division II GameEnvironment Award of Excellence lastweek.The Athletic Department won the

award based on its “Javelina TailgateExtravaganza” this past football sea-son.“We were not doing one weekend

or one tailgate,” Associate Athletic Di-rector of External Advancement JoeBiedron said. “It was one event.”The Athletic Department was rec-

ognized for presenting seven individ-ual themes for every home footballgame including Gene Upshaw Day,Armed Forces Day and CommunityAppreciation Day.

“It got the community engaged oncampus,” Biedron said.The recognition of the 1959, 1969

and 1979 NAIA national champi-onship teams also contributed to theaward.“It’s important to bring back

alumni,” Biedron said. “Some of thesealumni hadn’t seen the campus inover 50 years. It’s good to bring peopleback and see the changes on campus.”Biedron was also quick to point out

that the award belonged to the entireuniversity and not just the AthleticDepartment.“Everything we do is a compliment

to the university,” Biedron said. “It’s agreat honor for the university, not justathletics.”Biedron said it took faculty, staff

and students participating in the tail-

gates and other pregame festivitiesthat made it all work.“Everybody played a great role. So

many people were involved,” Biedronsaid. “It was a campus award.”A&M-Kingsville was one of 20

winners of the award around thecountry and was also named the 2009Lone Star Conference winner of thegame-environment award.The athletic department presented

their ideas to the NCAA encouragingpregame family-oriented fun, enter-tainment and a positive game that in-cluded community involvement andengagement.“It was a great way to get the com-

munity engaged,” Biedron said.“That’s what this award is about.Everybody on campus should takepride.”

JavelinaSpirit

Energetic, humorous characters make theatre production enjoyable for kids, adults

The cast and crew of the Communica-tions and Theatre Arts Department over-came a series of setbacks to present animpressive performance of “The GreatCross-Country Race” in Jones Auditorium.

Based on the old fable of “The Tortoiseand The Hare,” the play came together inspite of many obstacles the cast had to over-come. The play runs through Friday, Feb. 12for elementary school children only.

Two cast members caught bronchitis andthere were last minute costume disastersthat could have stymied the performance.In the end, the cast put it all together to en-tertain audiences ranging from children toadults.

The cast used a charismatic humor andstrong interaction with their target audienceof children to really bring the story alive.

Characters not only used the stage butthe whole auditorium. They ran throughoutthe auditorium in an attempt to illustratethe race.

Normally, this would be a distraction,but the characters managed rather wellwith the challenges of audience interaction.

Heraclio Gonzalez, playing the wise tor-toise, Mr. Sloe, even gives high-fives to kidswhile doing the slow turtle run down theaisle. Gonzales says he loves doing showsand feeds from the energy they give off.

Cassandra Clarke played as the scatter-brained hare, Mrs. Fleet and kept up withthe movable character well. Despite thecharacter’s physical challenges of runningaround much of the play, Clarke pulls off astrong energy to the audience through outthe play.

The cast and crew worked two and halfhours a day, six days a week, said GeneClayborne, who played the spunky dog,

Mr. Basket.Clayborne played to the crowed as well

with and energetic charisma that spread allthe way into the audience.

The rest of the woodland creaturebrought showed a great diversity of person-alities.

Even Christian Acevedo, who playedMrs. Bush (the squirrel) and Myles Mar-tinez, who played Mr. Paddle (the river rat),kept their characters’ dynamics, in spite ofthe fact both were sick with bronchitis.

In the final analysis, a wonderful presen-tation by the Communications and TheatreArts Department to start the semester.

By Allen FisherThe South Texan

By Jaime GonzalezThe South Texan

Popular dating gamecomes to TAMUK

Students show their school spirit at a Javelina football game.Amanda Marcum/The South Texan

TAMUK AthleticDepartment receives

NCAA Division IIGame

Environment Awardof Excellence

Cross countrycasting crew raceto overcomeminor setbacks

See page 6

TOP STORY

University enrollmentincrease provides opportunity, growth

Students at Texas A&M University- Kingsville willhave the opportunity to have a more relaxed diningexperience with the opening of the new dining hall bySpring 2011.According to Terisa Remelius, vice president for

student affairs, the purpose behindopening the dining hall is to providea more modern, comfortable dininghall for students as a destination forsocializing and dining.“The new dining hall has not been

named yet, but it is slated to seat ap-proximately 330 students at onetime,” Remelius said. “It will be two-stories with two banquet rooms up-stairs and a beautiful outdoor terrace

for dining.”The building will be located on the south east cor-

ner of the block where University Village is located,but it will not be connected to the residence hall.“If all goes well we will have a groundbreaking cer-

emony soon, and the building will open in January2011,” Remelius said.In addition, the new dining hall will be an all-you-

can-eat cafe.“We are in the process of reviewing proposals from

three food service vendors, so until we choose one it istough to say what types of foods will be available,”Remelius said.Two students on the dining committee have helped

to choose the basic furniture and design of the newdining hall.Engineering Avenue in front of Martin Hall will be

closed for construction of the new dining hall. Duringthis time, there will be no available parking in thatarea, with or without the barricades. Upon construction completion, the university police

department will send out a notifi cation when thestreet reopens.

By Amanda MarcumThe South Texan

New dining hall scheduledto open Spring 2011

Enrollment for the Spring 2010 semester at TexasA&M University-Kingsville has increased by atleast two percent and there is an opportunity foreven more growth, Manuel Lujan, vice presidentfor enrollment management, said.Enrollment after the 13th day of classes, one of

the official reporting dates for colleges and univer-sities in Texas, stood at 5,483 compared to 5,188during Spring 2009. Lujan said enrollment can grow by as much as

four percent by the final count, the 20th day ofclasses. "When we get the official enrollment, we should

be up to four percent increase, or 200 students, andit could possibly go higher," Lujan said.All of the university's colleges experienced an

increase, but the main increase came from the Col-lege of Arts & Sciences and the College of Educa-tion, which saw enrollment increase 14 and 20percent, respectively."It's a continuation of what occurred during the

fall semester. In the fall, we had a 3.7 increase, and,fortunately, our spring semester applications keptup," Lujan said.Lujan also gave credit to the college's new mar-

keting campaign including the highway billboards,radio TV ads, and the addition of new recruiters."We just recently added recruiters to cover the

San Antonio and Houston area, and those are twovery large areas," said Lujan.The final enrollment count will be revealed next

week and will be able to be viewed at:www.tamuk.edu/southtexan.

By Michael BolmanThe South Texan

The Great Cross Country Race cast performs ascene in which they discuss the race.

Allen Fisher/The South Texan

TAMUK up 6 percent

TThheeaattrree RReevviieeww:: FFeebb.. 77ALL YOU CAN EAT

Remelius

Mrs. Fleet (Hare) - Cassandra ClarkeMrs. Warren (Rabbit) – Betsy WallekMrs. Dark (Rook) – Michelle FloresMr. Sloe (Tortoise) – Heraclio Gonzales. Jr.Mr. Basket (Dog) – Gene ClayborneMrs. Bush (Squirrel) – Christian AcevedoMr. Bett (Badger) – Marcus PerezMr. Paddle (Water Rat) – Myles MartinezMrs. Spiney (Hedgehog) – Amanda

SotoMaude & Mrs. Notcouth - Kayla LealGeorge & Mr. Notcouth – William MartwickBrandon Notcouth – David LangschiedJackie (Young Girl) - Heidi LangschiedRobin (Young Girl) – Andrea FowleFisherman & Farmer Black – Ruben HerreraSophie Notcouth – Caitlyn HornsbyMrs. Stainer – Katie Deleon

CAST

January 27Car burglaries continue

near campusAnother vehicle was broken into near

campus, this time onAvenue B. The sidepassenger windowwas shattered inorder to gain entry and more than $300in items were taken from the vehicle. Noarrests have been made. This is the sec-ond burglary of a vehicle in the past twoweeks.

January 29Keys from Rhode Hall go missingApolice report was made regarding

somemissing keys to several offices inRhode Hall. The keys open several class-rooms along with the outside doors toenter Rhode Hall. The keys also open thedoors to the political science departmentoffice. The keys have a small LED lightattached to them.

January 30Reports of Marijuana Surface

Two separate incidents regarding thepossession of marijuana occurred lastweek. An officer noticed several studentssmoking on the west side of Martin Halland citations were given. In another reportthat same night, officers were dispatched toUniversity Village in regard to the odor ofmarijuana coming from a dorm room.Ar-rests were made.

January 30-31Burglaries at University Village

University police were dispatched to Uni-versity Village for two separate incidents ofburglary. Two televisions, both valued be-tween $300 and $325, were taken from twoseparate dorm rooms between the hours of12 a.m. and 8 a.m. Officers attempted to re-trieve the surveillance recordings, but theywere out of order at the time. No arrestshave been made.

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Green Tipof theWeek

Go green with chocolatecovered strawberries

Editor’s Note: Everyweek The SouthTexan will share a“green” tip of theweek to help studentsidentify easy ways tohelp protect theworld around us.Send your sugges-tions to thesouth-texan@yahoo.com

By Sabrina Salinas

The South Texan

This week’s green tip is dedicated to all those outthere who consider candy a special part of this Valen-tine’s Day. This week’s green tip of love is chocolate covered

strawberries with a heart poster setting. For this greentip you will need a poster (color of your choice, but keepin mind that it is Valentine’s Day), hardening dippingchocolate, scissors, markers, strawberries(or any fruit,nut, or favorite candy), sauce pan, cooking pan, spoon,corn skewer and access to a stove.First, you will need to cut out a heart shape out of your

poster board. Next, write a personal message in the cen-ter of the heart. Fill a sauce pan with 3-4 cups of water. Boil water for

10 minutes. While water is boiling set cooking pan in astable table and prepare strawberries for dipping. After water has finished boiling, empty out into cook-

ing pan. Then place sauce pan in the water filled cook-ing pan. Next place some of the hardening dippingchocolate in the sauce pan and mix until melted. After chocolate is melted, place a strawberry on a

skewer and dip carefully in chocolate. When you are sat-isfied with the dipping, place gently into the corners ofthe poster board heart. Repeat this for as many strawberries as you will like.

Make sure to chill for about five minutes to let chocolatecompletely harden. How does this help the environment? This helps re-

duce the use of paper in cards, materials used in candypackaging, the use of automotive deliveries of similarproducts and the excess amount of candy that will be in-evitably disposed. So be a green valentine and Happy Valentine’s Day.

Tweet of theweek

The tweet of the week is compiled by SouthTexan staff reporter Claudia Garcia. Follow TheSouth Texan at www.twitter.com/thesouthtexan.

“Everybody rememberthat the Po-po is onthe prowl, and theyare handing out greet-ing cards.”- Michael D. Bolman

The South Texan Staff

Please send letters or inquiries toThe South Texan

MSUB 212, Texas A&M University-KingsvilleKingsville, Texas 78363-Ph: 593-3700

Editors Amanda Marcum, Editor in ChiefJaime Gonzalez, Managing EditorClaudia Garcia, Associate EditorNndy Oheri, Editorial/Opinions EditorMark Molina, Sports EditorEdwin Vasquez, Spanish Editor

PhotographersArtie Leal

ContributorsColton WilliamsAllen FisherCrystal GuerraKatherine RobinetteRaymond CleboskiAdolf Castillo

The South Texan uses student fees in part to publish.

Digital Media StaffMichael Bolman, Online EditorPaul Camarillo, Online Sports Editor

Lab DirectorAngela J. Palacios

AdvisersDr. Manuel Flores, Don M. Fisher

Advertising ManagerJennifer Garcia

CartoonistsSabrina SalinasDavid SalazarErnest PalaciosVideo Team

Sabrina Reyna, Video EditorNoe Longoria, Associate Video Editor

2

By the DayWednesday, February 10

EVOLUTION OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN MEDIAIMAGES is a Brown Bag Lecture presented by Drs. Vin-cent Louis and Donald Daughtry, faculty in the psychol-ogy/sociology department. It will be held at noon in theAlumni Room of the Memorial Student Union Building.This is a Black Heritage event. For more information, call361-593-2760.

Thursday, February 11WIND SYMPHONYwill perform at 2 p.m. in the San

Antonio Convention Center as part of the Texas MusicEducators Association conference. Brian Shelton directsthe wind symphony. Admission is free. For more infor-mation, call 361-593-2803.

Friday, February 12 BASEBALL against Southwestern Oklahoma with

games at 3 and 6 p.m. at Nolan Ryan Field. Tickets are $3for adults, $2 for public school students and free forA&M-Kingsville students with a valid identificationcard. For more information, call 361-593-4030.

Saturday, February 13 BASEBALL against Southwestern Oklahoma with

games at 1 and 4 p.m. at Nolan Ryan Field. Tickets are $3for adults, $2 for public school students and free forA&M-Kingsville students with a valid identificationcard. For more information, call 361-593-4030.

Monday, February 15 COASTAL BEND BLOOD CENTERwill have their

bloodmobile on campus from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Uni-versity Boulevard across from the University Bookstore.Donors will receive a t-shirt and Whataburger coupon.For more information, call 361-855-4943.

FocusOn Us

Raymond Vela purchased chipsand a drink from Adrian Arellanoand Ramiro Garcia of the OmegaDelta Phi fraternity booth in theMemorial Student Union Build-ing. All proceeds went to the RedCross Haiti relief fund.

The weekly police blotter iscompiled by The South Texan

staff reporter Raymond Cleboski.

Reports are gathered fromthe incidents documented bythe Texas A&M-Kingsville’s

University Police Department.

From the Files of UPD

Sabrina Reyna / The South Texan

The TAMUK Roundhouse Movie Club are featuringaction movie showings for the month of February.

Feb 11: 4:30 p.m. Lantana Room, Memorial StudentUnion Building. Far Cry and Postal (double feature)

Far Cry:A former member of the German SpecialForces and a newspaper reporter journey to a secretisland to uncover a classified genetic weapons pro-gram.

Postal: A working class stiff tries to get his life backon track in the midst of the chaos created by terror-ists and a doomsday cult.

Feb 18: 4:30 p.m. 319 Rhode Hall. Southland Tales

Southland Tales:The future ofmankind in adystopian futureworld is placed onthe shoulders of anaction movie actorsuffering from amne-sia and an ex-pornstar.

Feb 25th: 4:30 p.m.Lantana Room, Me-morial StudentUnion Building. Psy-cho Sheep of Butte

and Black Sheep (double feature)

Psycho Sheep of Butte:A taxidermist deliveringhis wares stumbles upon an alien invasion of crazedman-eating sheep.

Black Sheep:A small farm in New Zealand is ter-rorized by a horde of bloodthirsty genetically modi-fied man-eating sheep.

Roundhouse movie club schedule

Courtesy of Google Images

Courtesy of Google Images Southland Tales

Far Cry will be showing Thursday in the Lan-tana Room at 4:30 p.m.

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Texas A&M University Kingsville(TAMUK) will be treated to the artistic tal-ent of local artist Betty Houston throughFeb. 12.TAMUK’s Black Heritage Awareness

Celebration Committee has organized theart display in the first floor lobby of theJernigan Library as a part of Black HistoryMonth.“It will be valuable for students to be-

come familiar with different types of art,”said Crispin Treviño, associate director ofthe Memorial Student Union Building andchair of the Black Heritage Committee.“The committee feels that programs suchas these are an important part of a collegestudent’s educational development.”

Originally from Orange Grove, Houstonspecializes in portraits.“The face is the pathway to the soul,”

Houston saidHouston has a bachelor’s degree in psy-

chology/sociology and her elementary ed-ucation certification from Texas A&IUniversity and her master’s in art fromTAMUK.Houston has three children and cur-

rently works for the Kingsville Independ-ent School District.“We are lucky to have Betty, who spe-

cializes in portraits and is an alumnusfrom this university, to come to our cam-pus to display her art,” Treviño said.For more information concerning all

Black History events, contact Treviño at361-593-4036.

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3First President’s Round Table

The first meeting of the semesterwill be held on Wednesday, Feb. 10at 1:30 p.m. in Room 219 of the Memorial Student Union Building

PICTURE PERFECT

Betty Houston art to be displayed as a part of Black History Month

Dr. VincentLouis, assistantprofessor, and

Dr. Don Daughtry, asso-ciate professor from theDepartment of Psychol-ogy and Sociology willpresent “Evolution ofAfrican-American Media

Images,” a Brown BagLecture, at noon,Wednesday, Feb. 10.The lecture will take

place in the AlumniRoom of Honor in theMemorial Student UnionBuilding as a part ofBlack History Month.Attendees are encour-

aged to bring their ownlunch.

Drinks will be pro-vided. The lecture will ad-

dress the evolution of thepresentation of African-Americans in the media,including entertainmentand news outlets. “This program offers

the public an opportu-nity to learn about mediaand its influence on our

perceptions about differ-ent things, in this caseAfrican-American his-tory and culture,”Crispin Treviño, associ-ate director of the Memo-rial Student UnionBuilding and chair of theBlack Heritage Commit-tee, said. The lecture will also

include the impact of

these perceptions on cul-ture today. “In today’s society, we

are bombarded with somany different media –that we may be unawareof how it can influenceon us,” Treviño said.“Hopefully it raisesawareness of different is-sues, serves to informour students about dif-

ferent cultures and givesthem the opportunity toparticipate in a learningexperience outside theclassroom.”For more information

concerning all Black His-tory events, contact Tre-viño at 361-593-4036 orvisit the student newspa-per website attamuk.edu/southtexan.

Professors present Evolution of African American Media ImagesBrown Bag lecture part of Black History Month

Sabrina Reyna/The South TexanHouston’s art will be displayed at Jernigan Library through Feb. 12.

By Adolf CastilloThe South Texan

By Adolf CastilloThe South Texan

The Texas A&M University-Kingsville Wind Symphony will tour

South Texas, perform-ing between Feb. 9-11and playing at theTexas Music EducatorsAssociation Conferencein San Antonio. Feb 11.The TAMUK Wind

Symphony tour in-cludes stops in RioHondo, McAllen, Edin-

burg, Laredo, Crystal City and San An-tonio at the TMEAC. The symphony will perform in front

of hundreds of high school studentsand music educators."This tour is a great recruiting vehi-

cle for the university, so the studentsare promoting the university on thesetrips,”said Brian Shelton, the TAMUKwind symphony director.The bands pay for all of the ex-

penses including food and hotel. “We will play for hundreds of high

school students, and with our perform-ance at the TMEAC on Thursday, Feb.

11, we could potentially reach hun-dreds more," Shelton said.The Wind Symphony has been doing

the annual tour for the past six yearsand four years with Shelton.This year, 57 students are playing

for the symphony."All of the members auditioned for

the ensemble in the Fall 2009 semes-ter," Shelton said. "It was a competitive audition, and

the 57 members of the band were se-lected based on their abilities and tal-ents. It was a blind audition, so we didnot see who was playing.

With the group playing at TMEACwe wanted to make it as fair as possi-ble."Shelton said the tour is very special

for him and the Wind Symphony stu-dents. "Only a few groups are chosen to

play at the TMEA conference and it is abig honor (for TAMUK to be invited,"Shelton said.For more information about this and

other TAMUK band performances, con-tact Shelton at (361) 593-2160, or emailat brian.shelton@tamuk.edu.

Stops include Rio Hondo, McAllen, Edinburg, Laredo, Crystal City, San Antonio

TAMUK wind symphony to tour South Texas

By Michael BolmanThe South Texan

Shelton

TAMUK professor publishes bookSchmidt presents his lifetime work toTAMUK students, faculty

Maurice Schmidt, Texas A&M University pro-fessor emeritus of art, presented his lifetime workFriday in the publication of his latest book, “TheTabernacle of Exodus As A Work of Art: An Aes-thetic of Monotheism.”Schmidt presented his work to TAMUK stu-

dents and family friends at noon last week in theAlumni Room of Honor located in the MemorialStudent Union Building on the Texas A&M Uni-versity Kingsville campus. He later had a booksigning a hour later in the University bookstore.“If I had to categorize this book, it would one

of art history,” said Schmidt, adding that his bookalso appeals to historians, artists, art students, ar-chitects, clergies of all faith and anyone with in-terest in how symbols express ideas.This book is the first published work to estab-

lish the ancient Israelite Tabernacle as a work ofart. The book explains how the colorful tabernaclebrings together the geometric, biblical shapes andsymbolism into the effects of everyday life,Schmidt said.It might have taken Schmidt more than 30 or

35 years to write his book, completing his book inNovember of 2009, but he said he has been inter-ested in the “Tabernacle of Exodus” since boy-hood, “I knew I was going to be an artist when Iwas 14,” Schmidt said. “It was the only thing inthe Jewish bible that has to do with art or crafts-manship, but they don’t call it art because theydon’t deal with aesthetics; its just a scribe like youwould give to contractors… but it is art.”Schmidt, although done with teaching, still

works daily on artistic projects and has com-pleted over 1000 paintings, prints, drawings, andsculptures and says these ancient shapes affect usall.“We are in a world surround in these shapes…

and the square is the basis of thecode.”The Tabernacle was a structure

built by the children of Israelunder the supervision of Mosesaround 1450 B.C. The layout ofthe Tabernacle and the materialsof its construction we revealed ingreat detail to Moses at MountSinai, after the children of Israelwere freed from hundreds ofyears of slavery in Egypt (or Exo-dus).

The Tabernacle was a portable construct mademy many skillful workmen and transported by atribe known as the Levites through 40 years in thedesert wilderness and on into the land of Canaan.“The point I want to get across is to show how

these shapes are metaphors for even religiouslaws and ideas,” Schmidt said. “In the ancientworld, most people didn’t get their knowledgefrom books and reading like we do today, butthey got it from walking around in their cities andtheir surrounds; their architecture the paintingsand sculpture, that was their schooling and theirbeliefs.”Schmidt will continue his work and said he

still has ideas he wishes he had put in his book. Since this is Maurice Schmidt’s third book and

“The Tabernacle of Exodus As A Work of Art: AnAesthetic of Monotheism” only started out as ansmall article, Schmidt implied his work may notbe done yet.

By Allen FisherThe South Texan

Allen Fisher/The South Texan

Schmidt held a book signing in the Uni-versity bookstore.

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4“How can it possibly be good for TAMUK

to send its best students away to becomealumni of another college? ”

-- Dick Watsonletter to the editor

A recent news release bythe TAMUK administrationstates that they have signedonto a five-year pilot pro-gram to encourage TAMUKstudents to transfer to A&M-College Station if they have aGPA of 3.0 or higher. How can it possibly be

good for TAMUK to send itsbest students away to becomealumni of another college? We can see how it benefits

A&M-College Station, butwhen did it become part ofour mission as a University to

sabotage our own interestsfor the benefit of the CollegeStation branch? Such anagreement could only worsenour al-readypoorretention and graduationrates. We fail to see the Institu-

tional Advancement in thatstrategy.If this were an isolated in-

cident, it might not be so im-portant. But in the last couple of

years alone, the A&M SystemChancellor Mike McKinneyhas absolutely stolen ourPharmacy School (and 250

doctoral stu-dents andthe several

million dollar budget thatgoes with it), set up a new en-gineering program in Corpusto undermine our own, andyanked the rug out fromunder us by robbing the SanAntonio campus and 1400students from our budget.A&M Chancellor McKin-

ney himself stated in 2008,“We did Texas A&I no favorwhen we changed yourname”. He was right. And they have not done

us any favors since. What a benevolent force

the System has been inour slow spiral into becomingthe remedial campus of theSystem! Not only do we need our

name back, we need our au-tonomy back by escaping thisSystem which has done

us nothing but harm. We hope the students and

faculty of TAMUK realizethat our funding for this cam-pus comes from the State ofTexas and your own tuition &fees. The A&M System does not

provide any funding whatso-ever. The new buildings and im-

provements on campus arebeing paid for by your tuitiondollars and HEAF funds fromthe State.If you believe, as we do,

that we would be better off asa proud and independentUniversity, rather than an un-wanted step-child of theA&M System...we invite youto join us at texasaandiuniver-sity.com and sign our onlinepetition to restore our Univer-sity to its rightful place ofleadership in South Texas.

Sincerely,

Dick Watson, Class of ‘61Texas A&I Alumni Association

Letter to the Editor

A&M system undermining A&M-KingsvilleAlumni group feels disrespected by recent administrative decisions

Haiti— the first black republicto revolt against its Caucasiancolonial masters and claim its ownindependence. Haiti’s struggle created a model

that served as an inspiration to its

ancestral African motherland andits various nations that were underthe same colonial imprisonment. So much historical relevance

and depth was established on thattiny Caribbean island that shares aborder with its Siamese twin sisternation, the Dominican Republic. One would assume that with so

much time passing since its glori-ous independence day in 1804,Haiti would have by now risen toreclaim its destiny as a prosperousautonomous Nubian nation.Unfortunately, Haiti is currently

considered one of the poorestcountries on Earth. Poverty in Haiti is so drastic

that some of its citizens have hadto resort to eating and selling mud

cookies for profit. Yes, you heard right—mud

cookies made from mud, soil, dirt,or whichever term you prefer, intheir own version of cookie dough. This imagery is heartbreaking

enough, but nothing compared tothe 7.0 earthquake that recentlyfractured the island, devastatingthe entire region and setting off anemergency siren signal heardround the world. An estimated 200,000 people

were killed in the inevitable col-lapse of several edifices, injuringhundreds of thousands and leav-ing many more homeless. But the real heartbreak came

when watching the televised im-ages and stories of the orphanedchildren of Haiti, a generation leftfacing a very uncertain future. Fortunately for the Haitians, the

world decided to answer their callfor help and almost immediatelyrallied together to extend a verygenerous healing hand. Millions of dollars have already

been donated to the country in aneffort to stabilize what was beenderailed. Even corrupt governments from

nations as poor as Haiti have of-

fered some form of aid. For the first time in what

seemed like ages, the world wasworking in unison to help its fel-low man.But the full workload ahead is

anything but one-sided. The Haitian government shares

a common trait with many Africannations in that it operates under aninsensitive rule. Lies, corruption, and imperial

influence ravage its public policyand debilitate its citizens. Several celebrities, such as ex-

NBA player Paul Shirley, have re-cently made uncaring statementsabout the French-speaking country,claiming to have not donated a sin-gle cent because the Haitians werepoor, excessive breeders, and obsti-nate to change; therefore beyondhelp—harsh words for someoneliving the easy, often-luxuriousAmerican life. But how can anyone paint the

newly orphaned Haitian childrenas deserving of the fatal effects theearthquake had on their families? The general Haitian public is

not at fault for the corruption oftheir leaders. Does anyone actually believe

that they revel in their poor condi-tion? Regardless of the incompetence

of their government, the Haitiansare undeserving of such cruel,alienating criticism. But while Haiti may currently

be on the receiving end of an over-abundance of sympathy, all toosoon the tiny country in need of somuch help will fade from theheadlines, its plight all but forgot-ten. Haiti should take advantage of

the help they’re receiving now bysobering up and rebuilding theirfallen nation with the aid theyhave already collected.The world is too occupied with

its own problems to hold Haiti’shand all the way down the road torecovery. A sense of responsibility is

needed to guide old and new lead-ership to ensure that a truly newHaiti is rebuilt, void of the corrup-tion that crippled the nation for solong. A 7.0 earthquake could not have

occurred at worse a time for Haiti,but for those more optimistic thanothers, it can easily be seen as ablessing beyond the tragedy.

Nndy OheriColumnist

The South Texan

Commentary

Haiti will still need help longafter earthquake relief ends

Campusgroupsstep upfor HaitiBake sales, hotdog fundraisersmaking impact

In the first weeks of the semes-ter that coincided with the na-tional efforts of fundraising for thevictims of the Haiti earthquake, itwas noted that few student organ-izations were getting involved inthe fundraising efforts.Since then, several student or-

ganizations have stepped up ef-forts to raise money in Haiti reliefefforts.Omega Delta Phi held a hot dog

cook off Feb. 1 and Feb. 2 with allproceeds donated to the Red CrossHaiti relief effort.

"We prideourselves to bethe best and we

want to give back to our commu-nity," E.J. Saavedra, member ofOmega Delta Phi, said. "All of the proceeds go to the

American Red Cross Haiti Relieffund and any unsold hot dogs goto the Mother Teresa HomelessShelter in Corpus Christi."That effort was followed by

Delta Sigma Pi holding a bake salein the Memorial Student UnionBuilding Feb. 4 which raised over$200.In the Jan. 26 editorial of The

South Texan, it was said that Javeli-nas could definitely do more forHaiti relief and these two organi-zations stepped up and took thatchallenge.Helping out those hit by unfor-

tunate circumstances should notstop with Haiti or just whenpressed into duty.If every organization does a

fundraiser like the two mentioned,the philanthropic efforts of theuniversity, which are already at ahigh level, could reach entirelynew levels of success. All it takes is a few days every

month of sacrifice.

Editorial

Cartoon by David Salazar / the South Texan

John Randle will become thethird Texas A&M University-Kingsville Javelina football playerto be inducted into the Pro Foot-ball Hall of Fame.Voting on induction was held

over Super Bowl weekend inMiami.Randle will join fellow Javelinas

Gene Upshaw and Darrell Greenin the Canton, Ohio hall of fame.Signed by the Vikings in 1990 as an undrafted rookie

free agent out of Texas A&I, Randle played 14 seasons (13as a starter) and became the NFL’s all-time sack leaderamong defensive tackles.His 137.5 sacks rank is tied for sixth among all players

in league history.He had 114 as a member of the Vikings, third most in

team history.Making this is more impressive is that he played defen-

sive tackle, a position that usually does not feature highsack totals.Randle played during the 1988 and 1989 seasons for the

Javelinas.earning first teamAll-America and Lone StarConference “Lineman of the Year” honors, twice.Randle had a school record 22 sacks in 1988 and 14

sacks in 1989.His 36 sacks are also a school record.Randle was named All-Pro six times with seven Pro

Bowl appearances.He was a member of the the NFL’s All-Decade Team of

the 1990s.“We are extremely proud today that John has been se-

lected as a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Classof 2010,” Vikings Owner and Chairman Zygi Wilf said in astatement. “As an undrafted rookie free agent, John’s hardwork and perseverance paid off as he became one of thegreatest defensive linemen to play the game. We look for-ward to having John enshrined in Canton, and we aregrateful for his part in Minnesota Vikings history.”Joining Randle were Seniors Committee nominees Dick

LeBeau and Floyd Little, and modern-era candidates RussGrimm, Rickey Jackson, Rice and Smith.

SSppoorrttssTThhee SSoouutthh TTeexxaann --FFeebbrruuaarryy 99,, 22001100

Be sure to visit us on our website at

www.tamuk.edu/southtexan

for stories, pictures,videos and live streaming for allyour campus news and live Javelina sports updates5

Staff ReportsThe South Texan

Hogs too much for Jaguars in season openerTAMUK sweeps UH-V in opening day double-header

By Mark MolinaThe South Texan

College baseball season is alive andwell in South Texas as the Texas A&MUniversity-Kingsville Javelinaskicked-off opening day at home as theHogs defeated The University ofHouston- Victoria Jaguars in a double-header sweep, 8-2 and 10-0, FridayFeb. 5.Former Javelina’s Pitcher and cur-

rent San Diego Padres pitcher MikeAdams threw out the first pitch infront of an eager crowd.The Hogs looked to start off the

season with a win after having a goodseason last year finishing the season20-35 (15-29 conf.)The Javelinas unleashed on the

Jaguars in game one. Senior centerfielder Clifton

Thomas tied a school record with fourstolen bases in the game as he went 3-for-5 at the plate with a run and twoRBI’s. He jump started the offense in the

third inning when he reached via buntsingle, stole second, stole third andscored the first run of the season.

The Javelinas scored three runs inthe third inning and three more runsin the fourth inning. In addition to Thomas, junior right

fielder Will Mettlach cracked a two-run triple in the third and junior sec-ond baseman Jerry Rodriguez strokeda run-scoring double in the fourth in-ning.The Hoggies took advantage of

three Jaguar errors to score five un-earned runs in the game. Eight of the nine starters in the

game had a base hit and freshmanshortstop Richard Arroyo went 2-for-4with a run. The team finished with 11 hits in

the game en route to an 8-2 win.In the second game, Thomas

reached base in the first inning, stoletwo bases and scored the first run ofthe game on a ground ball by Bran-don Rohr. The Hoggies scored twicein the first inning and added anotherrun in the third to take a 3-0 leadheading into the bottom of the fifth.David de Leon made his first start

as a Javelina going 4.0 innings allow-ing four hits, three walks and no runswhile striking out four to earn thewin. Freshman Clay Stephens cameon and struck out five batters in 2.0innings without allowing a hit. TaylorTaska closed out the game with a per-fect inning of relief and guard ashutout 10-0 win.The Hogs look to keep up the mo-

mentum as they play Tuesday, Feb. 9at Incarnate word at 2 p.m.

By Mark MolinaThe South Texan

The Texas A&M University-Kingsville men’s basketballteam came into Saturday’s game with the Abilene Chris-tian Wildcats having lost eight of their last nine games in-cluding one defeat to the Wildcats four days earlier on theroad.Their luck would change as they defeated the Wildcats

76-65 to get a mark in the win column for the first time in awhile.The victory would be their first win since hosting An-

gelo State in a 97-91 overtime thriller at Hampton-InnCourt back on January 20th. Ironically the Hogs get the win heading into a game at

Angelo State this week in a Lone Star Conference re-matchless than a month later. The Angelo State Rams (4-2)(13-8) are no easy out. They

are coming off a 92-39 thrashing of Arlington Baptist.In addition to the victory came news about the regional

rankings in which the Rams were ranked along with threeother LSC teams. Midwestern State is the No. 3-ranked team in the poll

followed by Central Oklahoma at No. 5, Tarleton State atNo. 7 and Northeastern State at No. 9. ASU has wins thisseason over Midwestern State and Northeastern State with

losses to UCO and TSU. The Wildcats jumped out to a 7-0 lead early before the

Javelinas gained their footing. The Hoggies finally got going quickly to tie the game at

11-11 on a Naqwan Lee jumper.After a slow second half following the Hogs half-time

the Javelinas pulled away during final nine minutes of thegame, scoring 28 points to defeat the Wildcats 76-65 in amuch welcomed win for the Hoggies. The Javelinas shot 41.7 percent as they went 4-for-19

from three-point range along with 22-for-31 shooting fromthe foul line. Naqwan Lee led the team with a career high 24 points

and eight rebounds. Lee was 6-for-12 from the field and made 10-of-12 from

the foul line. Royce Gaye had 15 points and six rebounds. Milam had nine points, five assists, five steals and two

blocks.The Wildcats shot 39.3 percent from the field, made 4-of-

21 three-point attempts and were 13-for-15 from the foulline. Eddie Thompson led the team with 13 points and three

assists. Giordan Cole posted a double-double with 11 points

and 11 rebounds. The Hogs will be in action Wednesday on the road

against Angelo State on the road.

Lone Star Conference Standings

Men’s Basketball

South Division Division Overall1. Midwestern State 6-1 21-12. Tarleton State 5-2 17-53. Angelo State 4-2 13-84. West Texas A&M 3-4 12-104. Eastern New Mexico 3-4 8-136. Texas A&M Kingsville 2-5 12-107. Abilene Christian 1-6 8-14

Women’s Basketball

South Division Division Overall1. West Texas A&M 6-1 22-22. Tarleton State 5-2 18-43. Texas A&M-Kingsville 5-2 17-54. Abilene Christian 4-3 14-85. Angelo State 3-3 10-106. Eastern New Mexico 1-6 6-167. Midwestern State 0-7 6-14

Jav-A-Stats

Men’s basketball ends skid with home victory over ACU

Player of theweek

Clifton Thomas shown stealing second during their 8-2game one victory over The University of Houston-Victoria.

Clifton ThomasJavelina Senior Centerfielder

This week, Thomas helped propelthe Javelinas to their first two victoriesof the season. Thomas put on an im-pressive showing to open up his sen-ior season. In addition to going 3-for-5at the plate with a run and two RBI’ ingame one, Thomas also stole fourbases to tie the school record for stealsset in 2003 by Jonathon Forte againstSt. Mary’s. In the second gameThomas would steal two more basesas the Hogs took down University ofHouston-Victoria Jaguars (8-2)(10-0).The Hogs are in action Tuesday at In-carnate Word at 2 p.m.

John Randle third Javelina to enter Hall of Fame

Randle

Arturo Leal / The South Texan

Royce Gay shoots as the Hogs get a much neededwin against the ACU Wildcats.

Photo courtesy of Sports Information

Defensive lineman will join Upshaw, Green in hall

FFeeaattuurreessTThhee SSoouutthh TTeexxaann --FFeebbrruuaarryy 99,, 22001100

A young woman coyly asks questions of agroup of men, eliminating those who do not matchher opinion of good answers.

Her back is to them, so she knows not what theylook like.

They are all contestants on the dating show "Sin-gled Out."

Only, this is not 1996 and Jenny McCarthy is nothosting.

For the second year in a row, the Texas A&MUniversity-Kingsville’s Campus Activities Board(CAB) is adapting its own version of the popularMTV show for the Memorial Student Union Build-ing Ballroom stage on Feb. 9.

"We had 20 guys sign up the first day. That was agreat turnout compared to last year when we strug-gled to get contestants," sophomore English majorand CAB novelties chair Jeremy Rodriguez said.

"Singled Out" was a show that ran from 1995through 1998 on MTV.

Con-testants werepicked from a dating poolof either 50 males or 50 females.

When the group had dwindled to one man andone woman, Jenny McCarthy would put themback-to-back.

What followed was the “big reveal.” The couplewould run off into the sunset and live happily everafter. Well, at least until the end of spring break.

CAB hosted this event last year and decided tobring it back this year, just in time for Valentine'sDay.

"I loved watching that show as a kid, so I'll defi-nitely be there to watch it in person," said senior

mathematicsmajor Erica Hernan-

dez.The last day to sign up was Fri-

day, but being a spectator may be just asentertaining.

Two women have been selected, with35 gentlemen vying for their affections.

CAB's decision to have male contestantscompete for the attention of two females was a bitcontroversial.

"In the end, we decided to do a repeat of last yearand have a dating pool of guys, with the girls as se-lectors," Rodriguez said.

Festivities begin at 7 p.m. in Ballroom A in theMSUB, with the music of local band Cloudchase.

After the couples have been matched, a dinnerwill be provided by Chili's.

What two guys will be chosen and on their wayto having a date on Valentine's Day? Watch it allhappen live on Tuesday.

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By Mary Beth CleavelinThe South Texan

TAMUK adapts MTV’s‘Singled out’ to university stage

Texas A&M University-Kingsville will host an early Valentine's Day featuring a threecourse meal and comedian on Feb. 13 at 6:30 p.m at the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Cen-ter. Event tickets are $80 per couple and attendance is limited to the first 75 couples.

Schedule of EventsOpen Bar: 6:30-7 p.m.; Cash Bar after 7 p.m.Dinner: 7 p.m.Comedian Taylor Williamson: 7:45 p.m.

Attire is semi-formal and valet parking will be available. For more information, call 361-593-2692.

Dinner and a show for Valentine’s Day

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