The East TexanThe East TexanSTUDENT NEWSPAPER OF TEXAS A&M UNIVERSIT Y- COMMERCE SINCE 1915

XCV, No. 23, 8 pages www.theeasttexan.com Thursday, April 14 , 2011

This week’s poll:

Are you more likely to take class surveys if they are put online?

Vote online at theeasttexan.com.

This week in The East Texan

Commerce comes together for ‘Big Event’ADAM TROXTELL

MANAGING EDITOR

On Saturday, April 9, one of the biggest cleanup projects in the county, known as the Big Event, brought peo-ple from the university and the com-munity together for a day of charity. County Commissioner Jim Latham said the event, which he helped start 13 years ago, has gradually become more successful with each edition. “It keeps getting bigger and better every year,” he said. “They keep getting more and more projects, more and more people involved, and it just keeps growing; kind of like a snowball.” The event is orga-nized by the Chamber of Commerce. Project appli-cations are accepted in the days leading up, to the event and volunteers are placed into groups that go out and dedicate the morning to chores such as pick-ing up trash, painting houses and yard work. “If there’s a house that needs paint-ing, and they can’t afford to paint it, we’ll try to find some businesses

to donate the house paint and we’ll provide the labor for it,” Latham said. “We’ve had a house painted this year.” The day began around 8 a.m., and culminated to a luncheon at City Park at noon. Executive Director for the Chamber of Commerce Doug Rohrabaugh said volunteers were

working at many locations across the city. “There was lots of work at the com-munity garden as far as spreading mulch, building a worm bed,” he said. “We had high school students cleaning

up behind the library, that was really good. And we had a group of uni-versity athletes cleaning up Author’s Park, trimming back rose bushes and staining the gazebo there.” Many university organizations were involved in the cleanup, with the Caribbean Students Association clean-ing along highway 71 and members of

the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and the Commerce Skatepark Project painting benches at Centennial Park, which is the future site of a city skate park. Adjunct professor in the polit-ical science department Barbara Lennington, who is one of the lead voices in bringing a skate park to the city, said the univer-sity and community working together is critical. “I had four ex-students that are Pike’s now that were out painting benches,” she said. “It’s important, everybody’s got to work together. There’s little work that can be accomplished when small groups try to do something big, but when you get a lot of little groups joined

together, then you can accomplish great things.” Former Head of the A&M-Commerce Psychology Department and professor Dr. Paul Zelhart said

CITY-WIDE Page 3

Would you marry Jennifer Garner for $950 million? We wouldn’t either. ‘Arthur’ review-Page 6

CALEB SLINKARD

ADAM TROXTELL

EAST TEXAN EDITORS

At 3:36 p.m. last Tuesday afternoon, 18-year-old A&M-Commerce student Sravan Vemuri showed a plastic pel-let gun in the Sam Rayburn Student Center cafeteria, according to UPD Crime Information Officer Jason Bone. The University Police Department entered the cafeteria a minute later and shut down the student center. No shots were fired and no one was injured. According to Bone, Vemuri was charged with disorderly conduct and has been released by UPD. Vemuri is

on a Canadian visa. Friend of the suspect, A&M-Commerce student Allen Duong said the suspect showed his weapon after he discovered his phone was missing and suspected it had been stolen.“Apparently, [the suspect] had lost his phone,” Duong said. “In his blind supidness [sic], he flashed a BB gun. Someone saw it and called police.” Students that were in the SRSC caf-eteria said police officers entered the cafeteria quietly, and were carrying large guns. “I saw a police officer with a big gun,” freshman Dwayne Chandler said. “They put this guy in handcuffs, then

told us to get out.” Freshman Shane Tolliver said he barely noticed the officers until they were up on the suspect. “I looked up and saw two police officers with guns behind their back sneaking up,” he said. “I thought it was a joke, that’s how discrete it was.” The shutdown also interrupted a meeting between President Dr. Dan Jones, Provost Dr. Larry Lemanski and other university officials being held upstairs. According to Bone, no PAWS alert was sent because UPD discovered the nature of the threat and neutralized it almost immediately.

SRSC shut down due to gun scare

Highlights

UPD shut down the

SRSC for one hour

because of a reported

gun

The student revealed

a pellet gun as a joke

UPD did not send out

an alert because the

threat was quickly

neutralized

Students wait outside of the Sam Rayburn Student Center after the University Police Department shut it down because of a reported gun in the cafeteria. UPD responded to the call within one minute and discovered that the reported gun was only a plastic pellet gun. The owner of the pellet gun, Sravan Vemuri, was charged with disorderly conduct.

Univeristy confirms case of tuberculosis

CALEB SLINKARD

EDITOR

A Texas A&M University-Commerce student has been diagnosed with tuberculosis, accord-ing to the head university physician Dr. Tom Selvaggi. The student, who is no longer enrolled at the university, was diagnosed by the Dallas Health Department. “Today we received a phone call [from the Dallas Health Department] about a positive tuberculosis case,” Selvaggi said. “The initial skin test was negative, but the patient was symp-tomatic. Then they went ahead and did a chest x-ray and it was positive and they did cultures and they were positive. We have to be prudent and screen everyone who was in a class with the student.” Students who were in classes with the

TB Page 3

CaribSA corners market on culture in Commerce during Caribbean night. We feel like we should get a free t-shirt for this teaser- Page 5

Dr. Tom Selvaggi discusses the A&M-Commerce student who

tested positive for tuberculosis.

Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Brad Davis entertains volun-

teers during a stew luncheon at City Park following the ‘Big Event.’

ARIELLE MCMAHON STAFF CARTOONIST

OPINIONOPINION www.theeasttexan.comThursday, April 14, 2011Page 2

The East Texan,

The East TexanThe East Texan

The East Texan,

Established 1915

The East TexanThe East Texan

JUSTIN CHEATHAMSPORTS EDITOR

CALEB SLINKARD EDITOR

CHANCELLOR MILLSOPINION EDITOR

903-886-5985 www.theeasttexan.com

theeasttexan@gmail.com

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CONTACT

FRED STEWARTFACULTY ADVISER

fred_stewart@tamu-commerce.edu

JAMES BRIGHTART SCENE EDITOR

JESSICA MARTINGRAPHICS EDITOR

SAVANNAH CHRISTIANCAMPUS LIFE EDITOR

THIS WEEK’S ‘PLAN B’by Arielle McMahon and Brad Ray

-sus of The East Texan editorial board.

ADAM TROXTELL MANAGING EDITOR

CALEB SLINKARD

BRAD RAY STAFF CARTOONIST

Editorial: Pellet gun incident strengthens arguments for conceal-carry opponents

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Opinion: Classes are no place for children

Chancellor Mills’ Information for Life:Lesson 9: preparing next year’s ‘Day Without Shoes’

CHANCELLOR MILLS

Columnist Chancellor Mills continues his series of “how to” columns by attempting to help readers

prepare for the painful task of participating in next year’s TOMS “Day Without Shoes” event.

CHANCELLOR MILLS/THE EAST TEXAN

While parents and non-traditional students are to be commended for

attending college, classrooms are not daycares, Caleb Slinkard writes.

Continued from Page 1

one of the reasons he and Latham decided to suggest the event was to get the university and the community working together. “We were interested in having more students at the univer-sity, and the notion was that a better rela-t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n town and g o w n r e q u i r e d the stu-dents have an identity with the communi-ty,” Zelhart said. “We t h o u g h t a day in w h i c h there was a joint effort, a cleanup of the com-m u n i t y , would be a good idea.” While the Big Event projects differ each year, Latham said some places, like Author’s Park, have always been a staple for volunteer workers. “Author’s Park was one of our original projects,” he said. “It’s been maintained every year through Big Event. It was originally just an old building that had a lot of needles and drug activity in it. We tore it down

and made a park out of it.” Now the park hosts a Walk of Fame, in which four writers and an artist were inducted the following Sunday. Authors of literature, poetry and academic works; painters, sculptors, and composers are all eli-gible to be entered, according to Zelhart.

“The only rule is it has to be s o m e b o d y that has had some kind of identity with Commerce,” he said. “ A n y o n e who nomi-nates an art-ists is obliged to donate $100 to the library.”Zelhart also said one way to judge how this year’s event com-pares to pre-vious ones is in the amount of garbage collected.“As one index of success, we’ve col-

lected more trash today than ever before,” he said. “I think it’s a good thing for the community, good for the university. Everybody who proposes a project, they’ve funded themselves. So there’s no city money, there’s no perishable university money; it’s all coming out of the community. I think it’s just something university towns ought to do.”

JAMES BRIGHT

ART SCENE EDITOR

Individual departmet-ns will have the option to move their class sur-veys online this semester, according to Executive Assistant to the Provost Greta Spradling. “We’ve learned from other colleges (in the A&M system) that if students have one evaluation to complete and if they are online, the chances of stu-dents completing the eval-uation goes up,” she said. “We are trying to improve efficiency.” The surveys will consist of a three part question-naire that will include a core question set that is standard in all classes, a set that is particular to each department and a block related to faculty excellence awards if the professor for the class is participating in the teaching excellence competitions. Spradling said students will have the option to take a survey for each class which they are enrolled. There will be a benefit for students who choose to participate, although no decision has been made on what that will entail. “[One option is] those who take the surveys will be able to see their grades a week early,” she said. Deans, department

heads and faculty mem-bers will be able to log on to MyLeo once the sur-veys are posted and see the results. President Dan Jones said the new system will create more consistent data and will reduce errors in tabulation. “It will be less resource intensive and a lot easier to sort, tabulate and report,” he said. The system will also add to the university’s ability to comply with State House Bill 2504. “The electronic evalua-tions will facilitate report-ing requirements for the bill,” he said. Student Government Association President Taylor Fore said a panel of four students was arranged to gain student feedback about the surveys. He said the one change that needs to be made to the online surveys is the addition of open ended questions but liked the administration’s efforts toward change. “It’s already kind of a corrupt system,” he said. “I don’t blame them for trying something different.” In addition to creating a more efficient system, Spradling said this meth-odology will help the uni-versity when it reapplies for SACS accreditation in 2014.

newsnewswww.theeasttexan.com Thursday, April 14 2011 Page 3

Continued from Page 1...

individual must be tested by the Hunt County Health Department. The free screenings are available on Tuesday, April 19 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Student Health Services. The screenings are mandatory for stu-dents in Integrated Sciences 351 and 352, Reading 360 and 370 “One thing to keep in mind is that this is not optional, this is mandatory,” Selvaggi said. “It is a pub-lic health concern. If they don’t come in they will be chased down.” While A&M-Commerce is taking the necessary steps to deal with the situation, tuberculosis is not uncommon in the United States. “One of the things is to keep this in perspective,” Selvaggi said. “Tuberculosis is endemic in the United States. It’s truly a universal problem. We’re all exposed to it. I bet you could go to a ball game in Dallas and you wouldn’t know if anyone there had it. Not to create mass hysteria, but it’s everywhere and people have prob-ably been around it and they probably don’t know it.” While the students in the classes need to be screened, nothing needs to be done to the classrooms according to PA Maxine Mendoza-Welch of A&M-Commerce Student Health Services. “We are going to identify all of the students and the faculty and staff who were in classes with the student,” she said. “We don’t have a number yet, we’re getting that from the President’s office.” According to Mendoza-Welch, the student’s informa-tion cannot be released because of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA). Symptoms of active tuberculosis (TB) include: ongo-ing cough that brings up thick, cloudy and sometimes bloody mucus from the lungs; fatigue and weight loss; night sweats and fever; rapid heartbeat; swelling in the neck (when lymph nodes in the neck are infected; or shortness of breath and chest pain (in rare cases). If individuals experience any TB symptoms, they are encouraged to call their personal doctor or a physi-cian at the Health Center. Questions can be directed to Student Health Services at 903-886-5853 or to the Hunt County Health Department at 903-455-4433.

TB case reported

CALEB SLINKARD

EDITOR

The split of the College of Arts and Sciences approved by the Texas A&M Board of Regents on Feb. 4 is effective as of April 4, according to a press release from Provost Dr. Larry Lemanski. Interim deans cur-rently head the two new colleges, the College of Science, Engineering and Agriculture (CSEA) and the College of Humanities, Social Sciences and Arts (CHSSA), while the university conducts a national search for permanent deans. The two search commit-tees, chaired by Dean Dr. Hal Langford and Dean Dr. Brent Mangus, are being formed. “The new structure enhances the university’s ability to effectively deliv-er on its mission of trans-forming lives through higher education,” A&M-Commerce President Dr. Dan Jones said. “The unqualified endorse-

ments of the Board of Regents and Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board clearly indicate that the time was right for this change to occur.” Former Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Dr. Salvatore Attardo will serve as inter-im dean for the College of Humanities, Social Sciences and Arts while Dr. Jerry Parish will serve as inter-im dean for the College of Sciences, Engineering and Agriculture. “Dr. Attardo and Dr. Parish will bring the expertise, experience and leadership needed for the transition of these two new colleges to indepen-dent status,” Lemanski said. “Please join with me in congratulating our Interim Deans.” According to the release, the new colleges will begin to function sep-arately on June 1 and will have separate budgets as of Sept. 1. No timetable was men-tioned for the committees to select new deans.

Split of colleges to take effect in June

Dr. Salvatore Attardo will serve as interim dean for the College of

Humanities, Social Sciences and Arts.

Surveys could go online as soon as this Spring

CALEB SLINKARD

EDITOR

The narrowly averted government shutdown last week revealed the potential crisis’s impact on the A&M-Commerce community. Senior English major and East Texan staff writ-er Clay Dyess is an HM3 in the Navy Reserves, and receives compensation for drilling. “As a reservist, we are not considered essential military personnel,” he said. “So when something like this occurs, especially on a drill weekend like the one coming up, if an agreement is not reached [in time] we won’t have drill.” Without the ability to serve, Dyess wouldn’t receive his usual pay. “For kids like me and my wife who are in school, $200 to $300 can go a long way to pay bills,” he said. Even though the shutdown will person-ally affect Dyess and his wife, others involved in the military will suffer much more. “I’m actually one of the fortunate ones,” he said. “I still have my VA check that shouldn’t be affected [by a government shut-down], just like IRS or social security. But I have a friend who has gone into the Army and he’s in Afghanistan. He has

a baby, a seven year old and a wife at home, and if the government shuts down, he’ll get half his normal pay.” While the government would compensate those on half-pay retroactively once it begins running again, that doesn’t real-ly help when you have a mortgage and bills to pay, Dyess said. “[The shutdown] is completely partisan,” he said. “The entire shutdown is over one to two percent of the budget. It comes down to Republicans tak-ing a hard line on cer-tain issues to perpetuate their agenda.” Military reservists would not have been the only students affected by the shutdown. According to the Dallas Morning News, a shut-down would keep the U.S. Department of Education from processing new financial aid applications. “It’s going to end up prolonging the process and affecting students from all different areas,” A&M-Commerce Student Government Association President Taylor Fore told the Dallas Morning News last week. Students who are unsure if or when they’re going to get Federal finan-cial aid money will hurt universities’ attempts to attract and recruit stu-dents, Fore said.

Potential shutdownwould affect A&M-Commerce students

City-wide clean up heralded as success

Members of the Commerce Skate Park Project and Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity enjoy the stew luncheon

following the ‘Big Event.’ The two groups painted park benches at Bicentennial Park.

Starting this spring, departments will have the option to move all class

surveys, usually administered in class, online.

Dr. Selvaggi discusses the reported tuberculosis case during a press

conference Monday afternoon. The student is no longer on campus.

www.theeasttexan.comThursday, April 14, 2011Page 4 Campus LifeCampus Life

ADAM TROXTELL

MANAGING EDITOR

It has been one year since A&M-Commerce student Malorie Bullock was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident, but her memory and impact on the lives of people around her still exists.

The Malorie Bullock Bracelet Fundraiser has been the most prevalent at A&M-Commerce, with the Xi Upsilon Chapter of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity and the Student Honors Council helping to sell the bracelets, which have the words “Dance Love Sing Live MEB” on them, for two dollars each. Senior Andy Kroll, who is a month away from obtain-ing a management infor-mation systems degree, came up with the idea.

“I just saw a lot of peo-ple wearing those kind of bracelets, and thought it would be a good idea to do it,” he said. “The money I raised, I could donate it to the scholarship set up for Tom Bean students. They were pretty much all sold out within two and a half months.”

Kroll, a close friend of Malorie, said he ordered 1,200 bracelets, and at two

dollars each, plus $200 of donated money, the cam-paign raised $2,600 alone for the scholarship fund.

“Whenever I was doing it, I really had no idea how it was going to go,” Kroll said. “I think it’s impor-tant we keep remember-ing her, because she was a great individual.”

All of the proceeds go toward the Malorie Bullock Scholarship Fund, which will be available for graduating Tom Bean High School students. Malorie’s mother, Melissa Bullock, said currently the scholarship fund has reached over $10,000 and she is hopeful with pro-ceeds from t-shirt sales coming in that the amount will go even higher.

“Malorie is still touch-ing so many lives every-day,” Melissa said. “We tell our story and so many people are touched and are amazed by her and the love that is still pouring out to us and her.”

Another thing Melissa and her husband, Rick, have been working on is Malorie’s Law, which would require motor-cycle riders and passen-gers to obtain a permit before carrying someone or riding on the back of

the vehicle. Riders would have to be experienced and pass a written and rider’s skill test. Melissa said the bill is in the first stages in a state legislature sub-committee.

When Malorie had her high school softball jer-sey and number retired by Tom Bean ISD last month, Melissa said the scholarship would help a student do something that was very important to Malorie: attend college. She said another important aspect of Malorie’s life, her Christian faith, was also continuing to show through after a year.

“I know that her death has helped many people make decisions about their faith and also about how they approach life,” Melissa said. “Malorie is so missed by us, and her light will never go out as the smiles that I see in her pictures and the sto-ries that I hear from her friends keep making that beautiful light continue to shine.”

English major Kaitlyn Shaw was also a close friend of Malorie’s and is currently working on a way to keep her influ-ence on campus for years to come.

“We have been approved to place a tree and a plaque on campus in memory of Malorie,” Shaw said. “Since last spring, we have been working to figure out the best way to honor who she was when she passed away: a beautiful, smart, vibrant student at A&M commerce. It was very important to me that we recognize that part of who she was, to remember that she was an important indi-vidual on this campus.”

Shaw said the tree would be a weeping cher-ry blossom, and there was a specific reason behind this selection.

“I wanted the memo-rial to be something living that would change with the seasons and remain standing long after those of us who knew her move on from Commerce,” she said. “I think it’s appro-priate considering it’s purpose. Its branches have a weeping shape, and it blossoms in the early spring. The variety we chose has pink blooms. It will be a beautiful tree for a beautiful girl.”

The tree will hopeful-ly be planted on campus by the end of the year, Shaw said.

Bullock’s influence lasts year after tragedy

The pink, purple and white bracelets were sold in the months after Malorie Bullock’s tragic death to raise money for a scholarship fund. According

to Malorie’s mother, Melissa Bullock, the fund has exceeded $10,000, which will go toward a Tom Bean High School graduate’s education.

SPECIAL CONTRIBUTOR

The 2011 Run for the Nations was a huge suc-cess! We had 96 participants pre-register, 23 on-site reg-istrations, with 105 runners check-in on the day of the event. We were able to raise $3,500 toward our cause, and are already lookin for-ward to the 2012 Run for the Nations.

We have received many compliments from sea-soned marathon runners about how well organized the event was, and how well the course was laid out. Our team is grateful for the support given by our home church and fam-ily, Commerce Community Church as well as Sgt Dan

Cooper and the Greenville Police Department and Citizens on Patrol, Brett Quarles and the Greenville Park & Rec, as well as Ridgecrest Baptist Church for their help with volunteers.

A special thanks to North Texas Dental, Amplitude Media, United Rentals, A d B e a t B u y e r s G u i d e .com, Lone Star Eatery Bar and Grill, Gene Moore & Son Painting, Jeff Jones Insurance, www.TylerTyndell.com, Reno Self Storage, Jones Masonry, ABC Insurance Agency, and Texas A&M University - Commerce for all of their contributions to make this event such a success.

PHOTO COURTESY: MALORIE BULLOCK BRACELET FUNDRAISER

Charity run raises thousands for trip

First annual Run for the Nations 5kOver 100 runners partici-pated in the first edition of the Run for the Nations 5k at Greenville Sports Park on April 2. The race was held to help raise money for students tak-ing a trip overseas this summer for charity work. The organizers of the run are partnering with iGo Global, which sponsors students that do charity work abroad.

PHOTO COURTESY: TYLER TYNDELL

PHOTO COURTESY: TYLER TYNDELL

Volunteers and organiz-ers of the marathon described it as a “great success”, with thousands of dollars raised for charity work. The race included categories for men, women, Under-18s, 18-29s, and over 30s. The winner, Eric Manskey, completed the run in just under eighteen minutes.

CLAY DYESS

STAFF WRITER

Texas A&M University-Commerce has begun taking steps to bring an accredited nursing curric-ulum to the university.

“The short and long term goal of bringing a highly respected and accredited nursing pro-gram to Texas A&M University-Commerce is to meet the pressing needs of the area and region in providing qualified nurses, nursing teachers and nursing administra-tors,” Assistant Vice-President of Marketing Communications Randy Jolly said.

According to Jolly, the new program would allow for students to complete a nursing degree in a vari-ety of ways, which would include a “2+2” method that would have students utilize community college first for two years before completing their degree at A&M-Commerce. There would also be a four-year program completely offered by the university.

The reasons for incor-porating a nursing cur-riculum at the university are varied, but are moti-vated by trends at the state and national levels that show nursing to be a highly desired field as well as an understaffed one. Jolly states that A&M-Commerce is perfectly fitted to fill this void in many ways.

“The closest baccalaure-ate nursing education pro-grams are 108 miles to the northeast in Texarkana, 85 miles to the south in Tyler, or 60 miles to the west in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex,” he said. “Only two associate degree pro-grams in the area; Paris Junior College at 30 miles and Trinity Valley, located 60 miles away in Kaufman. Both of these nursing programs are at capacity with waiting lists. A&M-Commerce is uniquely sit-uated in a rural area where first generation students can receive their nursing

degrees and stay home and take care of the aging populace or have the flex-ibility to move to Dallas and be part of one of the fastest growing business and health-related centers in the nation.”

Some signs of the proj-ect are already visible, as A&M-Commerce has purchased property just south of the Sam Rayburn Student Center — the for-mer Episcopal Church and its adjoining build-ing, Channon Hall — for use with the project. Jolly said that the church will be moved to make room for a new parking area and that the adjoining building, already being renovated by university staff, would be used for multiple purposes.

“The 1,800 square foot Channon Hall will be con-verted to an administra-tive/teaching/lab facil-ity,” Jolly said. “Extensive renovations will be con-ducted to upgrade the facility to accommodate very sophisticated simu-lation lab units, support equipment and task train-ers, and video recording and monitor equipment. Other facilities in the Science Building, the infir-mary and other classrooms will also be used.”

Jolly said that the nurs-ing program would offer East Texas its first and only baccalaureate nurs-ing program capable of meeting the region’s healthcare needs.

“Teaching nurses to teach is in critical demand and A&M-Commerce has a 121-year history of high-ly qualified teachers,” he said. “¬Producing highly qualified nurses that can teach nurses fits perfectly with who we are.”

There is no word yet on how soon the nurs-ing curriculum will begin, but Jolly said that A&M-Commerce plans to partner with area community col-leges, health care providers and high schools, “creat-ing a pipeline of applicants that are highly motivated and desirous of a well-re-spected nursing degree.”

University prepares for nursing program

A&M-Commerce has purchased Channon Hall (pictured above) to be

used in the nursing program.

SAVANNAH CHRISTIANCAMPUS LIFE EDITOR

As an effort to reach students on a more personal level, President of Texas A&M University-Commerce Dr. Dan Jones and first lady Jalinna Jones, welcome student organizations to their home throughout the year. This practice has not only been an interest of Dr. Jones, but is a continuation of an idea that was carried out by A&M-Commerce presidents of the past. “This is actually a tradition I picked

up from the previous president, Dr. Keith McFarland,” Jones said. Jones said he only hopes to expand the custom in the outdoor setting he has been provided by the university. “The house is surrounded on three sides by the university farm,” he said. “We are only one hour away from Dallas, but we have this environment of rural country. It really is the best of both worlds.” Jones said he enjoys having events outside, but in the winter activity slows because the weather is not conducive. However, the outdoor facility is put to

use during the other seasons of the year. “The pavilion was a recommendation of the people who work in facilities,” he said. “We had already been entertain-ing in the back yard, but it seemed like we were having to cancel or relocate one-third of the events due to weath-er. The pavilion has been a wonderful addition.” Jones said the pavilion pro-vides comfortable shade for guests to congregate in while eating. The open field is still easily accessible to people and has been the site of flag foot-ball and Frisbee games.

“Different departments and organiza-tions can reserve the pavilion,” he said. “Just call the president’s office and talk to Linda King.” Junior political science and govern-ment major Jordan McCarty plays soc-cer and is also a member of the Honors College and has been out to President Jones’ home with both organizations. “I have been out to the President’s house three times,” McCarty said. “I really enjoy the outside pavilion area. It creates a great atmosphere to interact with one another.” Mrs. Jones also enjoys getting involved in planning and attending the various events that take place at the estate. “She is really the ‘social secretary’ I guess you could say,” Jones said. “She loves to have people out to the house and enjoys interacting with the students. She also works closely with Sodexo and is very involved.” In previous years, groups such as the Student Government Association, Golden Leos, Honors College, A&M-Commerce athletes and cheerleaders, internation-al students, marching band, Regents Scholars and First Year Leadership have been invited to the president’s home. However, Jones made it clear that this list is not limited to only these students. “This list can expand, but I don’t think it will retract,” he said. “We always take suggestions from faculty and advisors.” According to Jones, A&M-Commerce is an adequate size to be able to host events such as these. “The university is just the right size,” he said. “It’s not too small and not too big. We have an active student body, but it is small enough to do these kinds of things. This is my opportunity to inter-act with students because I’m not in the classroom anymore.” The dinners are a way to honor stu-dents who are integral to the campus spirit and collegiate experience. “These students are really tied in to the life of the university,” he said. “I am just grateful to have a nice place to do this.”

www.theeasttexan.com Thursday, April 14, 2011 Page 5Campus Life

JUSTIN CHEATHAMSPORTS EDITOR

Caribbean Night was one of the most upbeat, popular events hosted in the Morris Recreation Center this year. The music was loud and the food was good, but what really set this celebration apart was the Caribbean Student Organization’s (Caribsa) strive to make all cultures feel welcome. “It’s an event to celebrate our culture,” junior Ryan Maycock, the president of Caribsa, said. “The Caribbean culture has a diverse back-ground. Our motto is ‘Divided by water, united by culture’ so we don’t just have Caribbean students as part of the orga-nization, we have American students and students from different countries as well. We have some Asian students and Indian students as well, so tonight was just a celebration of our culture and everybody coming together celebrating diversity. We wanted to show people a different side of things, in the past the Indian students have had their fes-tival and also the cricket tournament so we wanted to show our spirit and what the

Caribbean is all about and allow people to embrace our culture and be a part of it.” Caribbean Night, hosted by the recreation center and Caribsa, featured fun and games in addition to tradi-tional foods and music. “We have some tradi-tional food,” Maycock said. “We have jerk chicken, meat patties, rice and peas, and island punch which is like fruit punch; it went pretty quickly. We have some tra-ditional Caribbean games; one is called the Chinese skip actually but we renamed it Caribsa skip tonight because we do it a lot in the Caribbean. We have some face painting going on and hair braiding, which in the Caribbean is a big money maker for people who cannot find work in a normal work setting. We have the coconut toss for fun and a DJ from Houston who is Jamaican. Some students from Midwestern States Caribbean student organization came down to show their support as well. So it’s about cele-bration, we are about to do the fashion show and then end the night with the festi-val of colors parade of flags. Basically, showing people a

different side of Caribsa and having fun.” Students of many nation-alities and cultures helped Caribsa with the event and seemed to be enjoying them-selves in the process. “It’s very interesting, I went to the one last year and they did not do all of this so I am glad to be a part of this the one this year,” sophomore Gabrielle Camp said. “Even though the food was late I think we had a really good turnout. I did face painting as well and we had a lot of people for it and they real-ly liked our artwork. I have never done it before and they were really happy with me.” The experience opened many students’ eyes to the vast cultural bank the Caribbean encompassed. “The music is pretty awe-some, and I like all the up beat stuff and everyone was just kind of getting into it,” freshmen Zach Rice said. “The food was a little weird and kind of had a weird smell but overall anything with meat that’s deep fried is good. The dancing was crazy with all the head dresses and everything; I didn’t really realize that they did all that stuff.”

Culture shared at Caribbean NightStudents partake in face painting during the festivities of Caribbean Night at the Morris Recreation Center on April 5.

Guests interact with one another on the front lawn of the A&M-Commerce President’s home. The house sits on a plot of farmland south of the university.

President Jones seeks connection with students

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ADAM TROXTELLMANAGING EDITOR

As a soccer enthusiast, I am always a bit nervous when any-one at the university decides to hold any tournament involving the beautiful game. Sometimes, it leads to some weird version of the game as a result of new rules to keep the contest fair; like two points when a woman scores in co-ed, or no offside rule. But, with the FIFA 2011 Tournament held at the Morris Recreation Center on Wednesday, April 6, I had high hopes. It’s FIFA; either you play it, or you don’t. If you love the vid-eogame, as everyone that came to this event appeared to, then it is a level playing field. However, there are still many ways to structure a tourna-ment such as this. For instance, how the bracket and games are devised. Looking at the world of soccer, there are many different styles used to decide competition winners. The European Champions League uses a 32-team group stage and knockout style con-test, much like the World Cup. This, however, would take up too much time in a college student’s life. So, sticking to the single-elim-ination bracket was a good move by tournament organizers. Even so, students might feel a bit short-changed if they only play one game, happen to lose and then go home. This was easily fixed by a best two out of three style round. This way, both players are kept in check. Sure, someone could tear you apart with a fast winger in the first game. But, make the right adjustments, and the second match is a different story. This keeps the tactical side of the game important. Often in FIFA videogames, tac-tics are still forced to the back-

ground behind raw talent. This was evident in the teams used by most competitors. Many play-ers used Real Madrid, with the famous Cristiano Ronaldo as their not-so-secret weapon. There is almost nothing an opponent can do to stop this talented player in the game, and multiple players used that to their advantage. Spanish champions Barcelona and champions of Europe, Inter Milan, were two other commonly selected teams, showing that the majority of the players present were a little more than casual videogame fans. This made the tournament more enjoyable, as most present were enjoying the sport they truly love. But, there is one thing about this tournament that I still cannot smile about. I hope other campus organizations take their cues from this crucial aspect: charity. It wasn’t just any charity, either; it was Unicef, the United Nations Children’s Fund, which provides aid to millions of pov-erty stricken or deprived chil-dren throughout the world. All proceeds from the night went to Unicef, and that makes me proud to have competed. Sure, I lost in the first round, but at least my loss can translate to another person’s gain. Unicef helps chil-dren that go through life without many things we in the United State take for granted, like water, food or the freedom to just be a kid. I hope other campus organi-zations that hold similar tourna-ments in the future will look into promoting a charity, because it makes everything better. Even for those who lose, they still win by knowing their time, effort and money have gone to something bigger than them-selves. This fact alone made the FIFA ’11 tournament a huge success.

A tournament featuring FIFA 2011 held last Wednesday provided competitors the oppor-tunity to contribute to the United Nations Children’s Fund.

Unicef real winner of FIFA tournament

Art SceneArt Scene www.theeasttexan.comPage 6 Thursday, April 14, 2011

CHANCELLOR MILLSOPINION EDITOR

Unlike some of my peers, I have always been a fan of Russell Brand and his work. I think he is a won-derfully over-the-top comedian and actor. So, as you can imagine, from the moment I saw the hilarious trail-er for the new remake “Arthur,” star-ring Brand as an eccentric millionaire with an affinity for all things child-ish, I screamed and giggled like a little girl. I was, however, concerned that, since the trailer was so funny, the movie itself might not compare. But now, I am pleased to announce this was not the case at all.

The main premise of “Arthur” is that, in an attempt to reign in the behavior of her son Arthur, Vivienne Bach decides to give him an ultima-tum: either he marries the authori-tative and power-seeking Susan Johnson (Jennifer Garner) or he will be cut off from his inheritance.

This may seem a bit dubious or drastic, but, even from the first two minutes, it’s understandable why Vivienne would want to tame her rowdy progeny. It’s certainly not a mystery how dressing up as

Schumacher-era Batman – complete with rubber nipples – and leading police on a Bat Mobile car chase could shake investor confidence in Bach Worldwide.

After he is strong-armed into agree-ing to enter into a loveless marriage with Susan, Arthur randomly meets a strange, quirky New Yorker named Naomi (played by the relatively unknown Greta Gerwig) and imme-diately falls head over heels in love with her. This “love” triangle is where the central conflict of “Arthur” arises.

I fell in love with “Arthur” from the very beginning for one, simple reason: Brand shows me exactly what I would be like if I were that rich; buying movie cars and other memorabilia by day, and partying it up by night. Also, being the romantic that I am, it makes me think that, if money were no object, I would plan crazy, outrageous dates much like the one that Arthur plans for his first date with Naomi.

While I would have still enjoyed this film if it had just revolved around the main triangle plot and the players involved, I did enjoy the performances of some of the supporting cast. I really liked the interaction between Arthur

and his nanny, Hobson (played by fel-low Brit Helen Mirren). It was inter-esting to watch Mirren be so versatile in her acting and be able to so eas-ily wrap up the personalities of lov-ing mother, stern nanny and loving friend, and combine them into the character of Hobson.

As I said, I would have still prob-ably enjoyed “Arthur” without the supporting cast, but Mirren’s pres-ence in the film was not only excel-lent, but it also facilitated Brand bringing something to the film that I don’t believe I’ve ever seen from him before. When Hobson falls ill late into the movie, it affords Brand an opportunity to show off some nice, dramatic acting chops.

There is so much more I want to say about this movie – like how I am now in love with Greta Gerwig, how Nick Nolte plays his token crazy old man role as Jennifer Garner’s father, and how funny it was to see Evander Holyfield shake in his boots when Helen Mirren threatens to bite his other ear off – but there is just not enough ink on the planet. What I will say is, if you are a romantic, child-at-heart type of person, then go see “Arthur.”

Childish ‘Arthur’ takes Brand to new level

CALEB SLINKARDEDITOR

As far as popular music genres go, Christian progressive death metal is a red-headed stepchild. While many people can’t take the repetitive pounding associated with death metal, equally off-put-ting is the fact that Christian death metal removes one of the genre’s many staples: demonic imagery. These two factors have combined to keep Becoming the Archetype out of most people’s iPods, which is unfortunate, because these guys are good.

BTA broke into the death metal scene in 2005 with “Terminate Damnation” after they were dis-covered by fellow metal heads Demon Hunter. While their debut album was full of promise, par-ticularly their 12-minute epoch “Elegy,” which demonstrated their ability to deftly switch from pure aggression to soul-lifting melody, it was also inconsistent and failed to stand out from the legions of

similar bands. BTA took a step backwards with “The Physics of Fire” and progressed surely but slowly with their 2008 release of “Dichotomy.” Despite some pretty significant lineup changes through-out their seven-year career, the band released their fourth studio album “Celestial Completion” last week.

Early into the album, it’s easy to tell that BTA has kicked their game up a few notches after “Dichotomy.” The intro track is haunting and sets the tone for the rest of the album. “The Magnetic Sky” is the first of it’s kind for BTA — both melodic and heavy at the same time — while “Internal Illumination” grinds to an ear-aching crawl before tran-sitioning into another new vari-ant on BTA’s sound “Path of the Beam.” The three part “Requiem Aeternam” begins softly with a piano solo, continues with a foot-tapping riff and ends in an epic prophesy of mankind’s imminent doom. “Invisible Creature” and “Cardiac Rebellion” exhibit BTA’s

desire to experiment, the latter track combining jazz and heavy metal in an altogether confusing but not unappealing mix. “Reflect/Refract” continues the precedent set by the first nine tracks, and “Breathing Light” tops off the experience with a solid, if unspectacular, finish.

BTA overcomes some of the pit-falls of the death metal genre by mixing in various melodic intros and outros and by incorporating orchestral movements, choirs and non-traditional instruments into the album. That being said, “Celestial Completion” is still somewhat overwhelming and repetitive.

As encouraging as BTA’s evolu-tion is, “Celestial Completion” will probably not entice any new fans to the death metal side. However, the album is unique and solid enough to please both old and new fans. BTA still has steps to make before becoming an industry lead-er, and time will tell if “Celestial Completion” is a sign of things to come or merely a moment of inspiration.

Archetype gets original with new release

In the new movie “Arthur,” comedian Russell Brand contiues his fairly young cinematic career performing alongside the well established

Helen Mirren. The pair have a fantastic interaction that helps complete an enjoyable movie experience, Chance Mills writes.

Becoming the Archetype’s new album “Celestial Completion” brings the band’s talents to a new level with more up tempo songs and music

that integrates their classic progressive death metal style with ska and jazz.

STOCK PHOTO: THMAG.US

STOCK PHOTO: PAJIBA.COM

Fromage du Jour

Monster film is terrifying large disapointment

A weekly look at film cheese

Verdict: One Shatner

JORDAN WRIGHTSTAFF WRITER

When browsing the video store for a cheesy weekend rental, you would think that a giant monster movie starring Steve Urkel as a military lieutenant would be the ideal choice. Indeed, from the very moment I laid my eyes upon the box of “Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus” starring Jaleel White, I fell in love with what surely had to be the greatest B-movie of all time.

Special effects less advanced than Sega Dreamcast graphics ren-dering to giant savage beasts trying to kill each other while the actor that has played the biggest geek on the face of the planet tries to stop them using military hardware; what could possibly go wrong?

Unfortunately, for all the potential it had, it ultimately proved to be a rather shallow experi-ence, leaving me with a slightly disappointing weekend night.

Following the lesser produced yet more enter-taining “Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus,” the movie is set an unspeci-fied amount of time after the titular fight of the previous film. Lt. Terry McCormick, played by Jaleel White, is the only survivor of an attack by a giant shark, called the Megalodon by the military, on the USS Gibson. While on board the Gibson, McCormick was using sonar technol-ogy to track and insure that the Megalodon was destroyed.

Meanwhile, a hunter of indecipherable Caucasian descent named Nigel Putnam, played by Gary Stretch, finds a giant Crocodile seeking to destroy the Megalodon in order to defend its eggs. McCormick and Putnam must join forces in order to protect the human lives destined to be caught in the crossfire.

Alright, let me back off for a minute and say that for all of the negative feedback that I have been giving so far, I have to admit that I don’t regret watching this film for Jaleel White’s

performance.. Now don’t get me

wrong, by no means do I believe in type casting; if an actor wishes to try to broaden his work or separate himself from his stereotypical image, who am I to judge them for wanting to do more with themselves. With this in mind, I hold no malice toward White for tak-ing a role as far from his iconic 90s nerd character as possible.

Unfortunately for him however, the result is one of the most unin-tentionally hilarious performances that I have seen in recent history. He covers a rather sizable spectrum of archetypes while playing out his role, ranging from an everyman, to a nerd, to essentially giving a Jeff Goldblum impression. However, never once did I by him as a soldier.

I spend so much time talking about White because this film was truly one of those moments in which the biggest name of the movie is actually its big-gest strength.

The supporting cast is filled with several no name actors that are so bland and emotionless that they suck the life out of every scene that they’re involved in.

Gary Stretch is worth noting only because he never seems to decide which accent to use throughout the movie, resulting in him sounding Australian, American, and even at times, British.

Unlike most Asylum films however, the ter-rible CGI isn’t even laughably bad enough to save it.

It looks horrendous, no doubts there but unlike the lower end produc-tion values that made its predecessor look cheaper than adobe flash at times, the lack of bottom of the barrel effects make the whole affair just feel bland.

I giggled at the giant croc’s first appearance but the battles eventually just become dull after a while. This is a movie that takes itself way too seriously and ultimately comes out boring.

Jaleel White, known for his rendition of Steve Urkel

plays an unrealistic scientist in this film.

AUTOMOTIVEwww.theeasttexan.com Thursday, April 14, 2011 Page 7AUTOMOTIVE

JUSTIN CHEATHAM / THE EAST TEXAN

JUSTIN CHEATHAM

SPORTS EDITOR

The Texas truck market has

always been extremely important for

the major domestic manufacturers,

so it is no surprise that Dodge reveals

new trucks in Dallas at the Auto

Show and state fair. This year was

no exception as the Ram division of

Dodge unveiled the 1500 Express on

April 7.

“I want you to know that our Ram

truck team has been working hard to

ensure that our customers and our

dealers have the absolute best truck

line-up in the history of our com-

pany,” Ram CEO Fred Diaz said via

video press conference. “The proof

is in the recent product announce-

ments including the Ram outdoors-

man, the Ram Laramie longhorn

which was unveiled here at the state

fair of Texas last September, the Ram

tradesman, and the Cummins high-

output engine.”

With Ram marketing several differ-

ent models of the tried and true Ram

truck at every price point, the Express

sets the standard for entry level trucks

for young and frugal buyers.

“This truck is specifically designed

for the young or first time truck

buyer in mind,” Diaz said. “A first

time truck buyer gets the perfor-

mance of the hemi engine while also

not sacrificing fuel economy because

you get 20 miles to the gallon in this

baby. And also a great entry-level

price, there is absolutely nothing in

the market like this.”

Coming with a standard hemi

V-8, fog lights, and 20-inch alumi-

num wheels with locking lug nuts,

this entry level truck is set to start at

around $23,000 and include a 5 year

100,000 mile powertrain warranty.

“The Ram 1500 Express is

designed for a customer who is look-

ing for style and performance that

they can make their own,” head of

the Ram truck brand David Sowers

said. “It comes standard with a 5.7

liter hemi V-8 with 390 horsepower

and 20 miles per gallon; all for the

same price of the competitors entry

level V-6.”

Chrysler seems to be catching on

to what Ford has known for years;

entry level work trucks with stan-

dard power and features matched

with Mopar’s ease of customization,

of which they already have hundreds

of items, will lead to higher numbers

of truck buyers.

“We knew people would like a

simple yet refined hard working

truck with a base V-8 and trailer

tow capabilities, we just underes-

timated how popular that would

be,” Sowers said. “The positive

response we got to Tradesman

caused us to pull ahead a second

truck that was using the same theory

of an entry level V-8 but was tar-

geted toward a younger performance

oriented buyer.”

Ram unveiled the new Ram 1500 Express at the Dallas Auto Show April 7, filling a void in their lineup and creating an entry-level competitor.

Ram unveils new truck, Express to be a quick hit

“The Ram 1500

Express is designed

for a customer who

is looking for style

and performance

that they can make

their own.”

New Ram Express hits market ready for customization

Mopar already has over 300 parts and accessories ready for the new truck. The one above features a customized Texas decal.

JUSTIN CHEATHAM

SPORTS EDITOR

With the unveiling of

the Ram 1500 Express,

Ram has targeted a

younger more customi-

zation friendly genera-

tion. Mopar has already

announced over 300 parts

and accessories for the

new truck that range from

performance enhancing

parts to purely aesthetic

decals to show owners’

personality.

The Express comes in

an array of colors from the

factory that include bright

silver metallic, bright

white, brilliant black crys-

tal pearl, deep cherry red

crystal pearl, deep water

blue pearl, flame red,

hunter green pearl and

mineral gray metallic.

Ram also embraced

technology with this

truck, offering custom

upgrades on their voice

command system called

Uconnect with Bluetooth.

Remote USB port offers

buyers more control also.

Other upgrades offered

by Ram include such ame-

nities as cruise control, a

class IV receiver hitch,

rear-view auto-dim mirror

and an instrument cluster

with vehicle information

center display screen.

With the base price

starting at $23,830 (includ-

ing $975 destination

charge) the Express sets

itself up for the young

and new truck buyers to

customize the truck with

their favorite accessories

and parts and still beat

the competitors.

Save time for a little fun this summer!

Register now! Summer sessions begin May 13, June 6 and July 12.

In 5 weeks you can:

www.dcccd.edu/summer11

Jaguar was one of the few car companies to bring a fully loaded car directed at the speed enthusiast.

sportssports www.theeasttexan.comThursday, April 14, 2011Page 8

COLTON BLACKSTAFF WRITER

The Morris Recreation Center hosted the Wallyball 4 on 4 tourna-ment Thursday, April 7 as part of its Spring 2011 “Individual and Dual” intramural sports sched-ule. Wallyball combines the rules of volleyball with the ability to hit the ball off of the wall, the winner being decided by the best of 3 games to 15 points. The brackets were split into women’s, men’s, and co-ed competitors with only 8 teams participating all together. Sophomore

Ryan Woodward partici-pated in one of the two competing co-ed teams, winning the bracket in two games. “Fraternities are usually at the individual intramu-ral sports and our team is normally the only unaf-filiated one at the smaller competitions,” Woodward said, “I do it for fun and to win free t-shirts.” Most teams at the event played merely for the fun of it, lacking the seri-ousness found in other intramural sports such as basketball. “We’re just a lot of good people having a good time,” Woodward said.

SPORTS INFORMATION

PHOENIX, Ariz. -- Texas A&M-Commerce shaved 25 strokes off its open-ing round total, posting a 32-over 320 over the final round of the Grand Canyon Women’s Invitational at the Palm Valley Golf Club in Phoenix. The Lions close out the 36-hole event with a combined 89-over 665, finishing 16th out of the 18-team field. Chantry McMahan came on strong over the final 18 holes for A&M-Commerce, posting a 2-over 74 to vault from third to first on the Lion scorecard with a 36-hole total of 17-over 161. Haley Green, who began the day tied for first among the A&M-Commerce com-petitors, posted a career-best 6-over 78 over the final round, finishing with a 19-over 163, the lowest tournament total of her Lion career. The remaining three A&M-Commerce competitors matched each other shot-for-shot, finishing withing two strokes of each other. Megan Benites posted a 28-over 172, followed by Sara Diaz’s 29-over 173 and Chelsea McCoy’s 30-over

174. McCoy’s 11-over 83 proved to be the third-best round of the day for the Lions. A&M-Commerce finished 18 shots back of 15th-place Hawaii-Hilo (71-over, 665), but held a comfortable advantage on 17th-place St. Mary’s (117-over, 693), defeating the Lady Rattlers by 28 shots while finishing 33 strokes better than 18th-place Montana State (122-over, 698). Cal State-Monterey Bay held on to defeat a surging Grand Canyon by one stroke, posting a 28-over 604 to hold off the host Antelopes. Lone Star Conference oppo-nent Tarleton State (32-over, 608) finished third, seven shots better than fourth-place St. Edward’s (39-over, 615). Western Washington and Northeastern State tied for fifth with a 41-over 617. With the Kickingbird Classic wrapped up, A&M-Commerce has also wrapped up its 2010-11 regular season tourna-ment schedule. The Lions now turn their sights to the 2011 Lone Star Conference Championships, which will be held at the Republic Golf Course in San Antonio April 18-21.

SPORTS INFORMATION

ABILENE, Texas -- Two Lions and the 4x400 meter relay team combined for four first-place finishes at the McMurray Invitational, hosted by Abilene Christian. Whitney Hargraves led A&M-Commerce, finishing first in both the long jump (5.50 meters) and triple jump (11.35 meters). Hargraves’ efforts high-lighted what was a strong performance by the Lady Lions’ field team, which also saw Kylee Cockrell

place first in the second flight of the discus with a throw of 37.46 meters, edg-ing out teammate Abigail Leaupepe-Tele, who fin-ished third along with a fourth-place showing in the shot put (12.11 meters). Cockrell also placed second in her flight of the javelin (25.84 meters) and third in her flight of the shot put (9.74 meters). On the track, the 4x400 meter relay team, com-prised of K’Nycha Johnson, Makesha Brewer, Charnita Hollands and Katherine

Beach, posted the top time of the meet with a 3:57.96, besting second-place Tarleton State by nearly two seconds. Jakesia King posted the Lions’ best times of the night in both the 100 meter dash (12.62) and the 200 meter dash (26.38), finishing third and second respectively in her flight for those events. Hollands and Beach finished fifth and sixth in the 100 meter dash while Brewer was three-tenths of a second behind King in the 200.

SPORTS INFORMATION

ABILENE, Texas -- Led by Brandon Womack’s first-place finish in the men’s 1,500 meter run, Texas A&M-Commerce wrapped up competition at the McMurray Invitational in Abilene with three first-place flight finishes on the day. Womack had the fast-est run of the day at the 1,500 meter, posting a time of 4:00.74 and finishing first among 30 competitors in the event. In the sprints, Cody

Bolton posted the fastest time among the 100 meter dash, finishing with a time of 11.30, just ahead of Albert Sinegal’s 11.42 and Barrick Ellis’ 11.43. Freshman Hank Smith was the top finisher for A&M-Commerce in the 200 meter, posting a time of 22.94 with Joel Day fin-ishing second among the Lions at 23.06. Adrian Dabrio highlight-ed the 400 meter dash for A&M-Commerce, posting a time of 50.84 to finish third in his flight, with Chayce Franklin notching a time of

52.02 to finish third in his fight as well. That led into the 4x400 relay where the Lions also placed third with a time of 3:20.58 on the team comprised of Austin Kvapil, Joel Day, Akeem Jackson and Albert Sinegal. In the throws, Marquis Stimpson placed third in the discus with a 48.46 meter showing, with Daniel Dia placing seventh (43.59 meters). Dia would go on to place sixth in the hammer throw (27.67 meters) while Stimpson placed ninth in the shot put (14.26 meters).

Womens team stumbles at Grand Canyon Invitational

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Brandon Womack finished first in the mens 1,500 meter run at the McMurray invitational to lead the

A&M-Commerce mens track and field to three first place finishes.

Track and field makes A&M-Commerce happy and proud

Abigail Leaupepe-Tele finished third in discus throw and fourth place in shot put competition in Abilene, Tx.

Women’s track and field team finishes strong in McMurray

JUSTIN CHEATHAM SPORTS EDITOR

The void left by the departed Sports Information Director Danny Kambel has been filled by the A&M-Commerce Athletics Department. Rand Champion comes to A&M-Commerce with a wealth of experience from larger institutions. “I grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah and spent most of my life there,” Champion said. “I graduated from BYU in 2002 with a broadcast journalism major because I wanted to do the tradi-tional sports anchor, and actually right out of school I took a job in Corpus Cristi working for a T.V. station.” Champion spent three years at CBS affiliate KZTV-10, working as a reporter during the week and anchoring on the weekends. He said one day, his news direc-tor explained to him the future of the profession looked fairly bleak, so Champion began to consider an alternative career. “With ESPN and with every-thing else that’s going on, you look at local sports broadcasting now and they are thirty seconds long and it’s nothing but national highlights,” Champion said. “So, I thought about it and I talked to a lot of good friends that are sports information directors and I have always been someone who has liked doing visual things, liked design and, of course, I have always liked sports and been kind of a numbers geek and doing stats.” This lead him to go back to college at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., to get a mas-ter’s in sports administration. Champion said this “was probably one of the best decisions I have ever made,” because of the experience he obtained. “The best part about it was I got to do internships with the Titans while I was there,” he said. “I got to do internships with Vanderbilt, got to continue to do the play-by-play, which I wanted to do, and I did the internship with Tennessee State and did the play-by-play for their women’s basketball team, so it was really cool.” Gaining this experience did not come without a price, as Champion had to work his way through the year- long program. “It was the hardest year of my life but I loved it, loved Nashville,” he said. “I was working at Sears, the worst job I have ever had. I was doing that in the morn-ing from seven to four, and then I would come home, grab dinner real quick and turn around and go to class every night.” Champion got his first experience in media relations in an internship with Vanderbilt University, and he was actively pursuing a permanent job in the field.

After asking around for any job openings, he found a spot at North Dakota State University where he stayed for seven months. The next stop for Champion was Northwestern University in Illinois, where he served as an assis-tant director of athletic communication and worked with the five-time NCAA champion women’s lacrosse team. “I had actually applied for a job at Northwestern when I was getting ready to be done with grad school and the position got filled,” he said. “Then another per-

son in their department left and so they started shuffling things around and they needed some-one to do lacrosse and I had done that at Vanderbilt. One day in December, I got a phone call from Northwestern that said ‘Hey are you still interested’ and I was definitely still interested.” The deciding factor that enticed Champion to A&M-Commerce was the future the athletics admin-istration sees for the department. “I had lived here before and we had always loved Texas,” Champion said. “And we had always wanted to come back so I was looking around one day and saw that there was an opening here and figured ‘what the heck lets go for it.’ I came down here and saw Carlton [Cooper]’s vision of what he wants to turn this into, and he is a great salesman. He got me hooked so we decided to take it. I have been here a month now and it’s awesome so far.” Champion arrived just as bas-ketball was ending, and is now dealing with the golf and track and field teams as they continue their spring schedules. While he

admits this is a bit of a “slow time”, he is eager to enter the fall. “I’m sure come October I’ll be stressed out and sec-ond thinking my decision, but I’m really enjoying it,” he said. “Obviously we are a division two school but that doesn’t mean we can’t conduct our program the same way a division one program does. There are a lot of things that they did well here before and hope-fully a couple of the background and things that I have done can come in here and take A&M-Commerce a little further.” Rand said while he loves the fact that he can work in sports, it is the people on the teams and behind the scenes that make his job worthwhile. “I think the thing I love about this the most is just getting out and being able to meet the student athletes and coaches,” he said. “I always kid people that I hope I don’t ever lose this job because then I would have to find a real job for a living. You get to cover football, basketball, volleyball and soccer; that’s your job and that’s what people do when they get off work saying ‘I want to go to the football game,’ well that is my job.”

Athletic department welcomes new SIDIntramural sports fun for everyone

New A&M-Commerce SID Rand Champion comes to the school from Northwestern University.

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