Issue 22 vol 92

ARKATECH THE OFFICIAL STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1923

THE

A R K A N S A S T E C H U N I V E R S I T Y / / T H U R S D A Y, A P R I L 2 1 , 2 0 1 6 • V O L . 9 2 N O . 2 2

News briefs

IMSSO- Experience

another culture with free food and entertainment at Light the Night. The event is from 7:30-10 p.m.

Friday, April 22 at the Hindsman Tower.

Campus Recreation

-Beginning at 10 a.m.

Monday, April 25 equipment checkout from camps recreation will cease until classes resume.

Music Department

-The music department will host a Music Theatre Workshop Spring Dessert Cabaret Monday, April 25.

Seating will begin at 6:45 p.m. and desserts will be served following the performance.

Tickets are $25 per person.

To make reservations, call (479) 968-0473 or send an e-mail to ktfutterer@ atu.edu.

From 2:30-4 p.m.

Sunday, April 24 the music department will host a Symphonic Wind Ensemble Concert in Witherspoon Auditorium.

SIERRA MURPHY/THE ARKA TECH

Brown Building officially open

SIERRA MURPHY News Writer

prospective and returning students alike.

On Saturday, April 16, several members of the Arkansas Tech University family gathered in the lobby of Brown for the official building dedication ceremony. The building is named after 11th president of Tech Dr. Robert Charles Brown and his wife Jill Lestage Brown.

“Today is a very special day in the life of ATU,” Dr. Robin Bowen, university president, began.

Construction on Brown finished last month; the building took almost a year and a half to complete. As the brother building to Rothwell, it will sit as the face of the university, welcoming

Those classrooms have been named after prominent donors to the building, some of which include Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Bowen said the building is a “build upon that legacy” Brown and his wife left behind. The building “will provide Tech with what it needs: classroom space.”

Donors

aren’t

the

only

reported to have helped the university add to its growing campus. Arkansan senators and representatives have been working with the university and its “funding differential with the state,” and began with a $4.4 million general improvement fund, which was used to help build Brown.

Tech is a state-aided university, not a state funded university, a problem that has been resurfacing with Tech’s steady 17 years of record-breaking enrollment.

Thomas Pennington, university counsel at law and associate vice

ones

(see BROWN page 4)

Light the Night kicks off fifth year

CLAUDIA YOUNG Editor-in-Chief

The fifth annual Light the Night will set the Hindsman Bell Tower aglow on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Light the Night, hosted by the International Multicultural Student Services Office, earned its name by the string lights that line the sidewalks.

Light the Night is a fair that educates students about cultures unlike their own, said Sabrina Anwar, international student services specialist. It aims to celebrate diverse cultures with food, activities, music and dancing.

"Every time I learn something different because they're not showing the same thing every year,” Anwar said. “I'm learning as I’m trying out all the food."

Every year, over 300 students and people from the community will come out to celebrate one of the most popular events IMSSO hosts.

"It lights up the whole night,” Anwar said. “It lights up your inside; it's inspiring."

This year’s celebration will consist of eight booths, including China, Southeast Asia, Saudi Arabia and the United States.

Booths compete for first, second and third place. The booths are judged by how accurate the representation of the country is.

This motivates students to give it their all, Anwar said.

Students are responsible for their own booths. They cook food from their home country, have activities, decorations and presentations.

Lindsey Ingmire, international student advisor, said that students enjoy sharing their culture with campus and the community.

“It’s exciting to see this take place and to see the reaction from my students,” Lindsey Ingmire, international student advisor, said. “I can see them light up as they share a piece of themselves with us.”

JENN TERRELL/THE ARKA TECH In the past, guests voted for the winner. Anwar said that it was unfair because some years there were more people of the same nationality attending who would vote for their culture’s booth.

The judges of the booths are not affiliated with the department so that there is no bias, Anwar said.

Binh Tran, student worker and multimedia specialist for IMSSO, will be participating in the Southeast Asia booth this year. She said she feels a lot of pressure to be cooking for hundreds of people, but she hopes that her booth’s hard work will pay off.

(see LIGHT page 4)

Maggie Hand elected president of SGA

AI OZEKI

Contributing Writer Tech students elected seven new executive members and 21 new senators for Student Government Association during the fall 2016 academic year through elections, which were held April 11 to 13.

The following students will represent the voice of the student body and begin their terms of service: Voting station for the elections was sponsored by SGA at the Chambers Cafeteria, and the elections were conducted electronically through SGA’s

website on theLink, which is the online portal to all of Tech’s Registered Student Organizations, according to Tech’s website.

The voting for the elections was open to Tech students who have registered on theLink and become part of SGA page.

“We are here for the students and listen to what they want done,” said Bethany Skaggs, senior double major in economics and finance and management and marketing from Greenwood who serves as the SGA president for the spring 2016 semester, in an e-mail.

SGA serves as the official student voice to

the administration at Tech, and its mission is to genuinely represent the interests of students and enhance the students’ decision-making process to improve campus life, according to the SGA executive board election application and guidelines.

Total vote counts will be posted on the door of the SGA Office on the second floor of Doc Bryan Student Service Center.

For more information about the elections for SGA, visit its website on theLink: https://thelink. atu.edu/organization/SGA

(results on SGA election page 4)

PAGE 2 | Opinion

MAN ON THE STREET How do you feel about graduation?

LINKEDIN.COM

Editorial: ed·i·to·ri·al

[ed-i-tawr-ee-uhl, -tohr-] noun: An article that represents the official viewpoint of a newspaper on a topic of public interest.

As journalists, we are always thinking in advance. We look forward to the next football game we get to photograph; we look forward to the next feature story we get to write; we’re always looking forward.

That being said, we’re already looking toward next semester and what changes the summer will bring. In fact, we would like to request some changes of our own.

Graduation Regalia Per current Tech restrictions, graduates are not allowed to wear chords, stoles, pins or the like to represent organizations or causes they dedicated parts of their college career to. I personally have dedicated my entire college career to this paper and three years of it to the organization Society of Professional Journalists.

Other Arka Tech staff members have been involved with choir, Residence Life and campus religious centers for the same amount of time.

We feel as if we should be able to represent the organizations that we found and fell in love with come graduation. We came to Tech because of Tech, but fell in love with what we found along the way.

So, administration, do we have hope of representing causes near and dear to our hearts at graduation in the coming years?

Leveling sidewalks We praise our facilities and maintenance department for keeping our campus looking so beautiful and clean. We understand a campus of our size with several thousand students passing

through it every day can be difficult to work around.

However, we would like to see leveled sidewalks as you get into the middle of campus, specifically around Baz Tech and McEver. On rainy days we have noticed there are dips in the sidewalk that can have you wading through shin-deep water. In other areas, the sidewalks are off so slightly they provide the prime opportunity for tripping students walking or riding skateboards.

FAMA? Do you have any plans we can be on the lookout for?

Communicating grades to students The advising center is a valuable resource to incoming students, specifically in communicating things like graduation requirements and midterm grades. Not only are students sometimes called in to discuss grades, grades are posted to OneTech. However, we’ve noticed that juniors and seniors don’t receive that mid-semester check in.

We ask that efforts be made to implement that kind of treatment to every student, no matter their classification. We feel that if anything, juniors and seniors need that kind of reinforcement to make sure they are successfully completing what they need to complete as they near graduation.

We would like to be clear: we don’t want hand holding. We would like mid-semester grades posted to OneTech and Blackboard for every student, no matter their classification.

Tech parking: ideas for improvement JOLI DUPY Contributing Writer We all know that parking, no matter the location, can be a challenge. Trying to find the closest parking spot and getting to it before anyone else does is like an adult version of musical chairs, but it’s not fun and no one is laughing.

Parking on Tech campus has its fair share of challenges, including figuring out what color lot you’re in so you don’t get a ticket, and of course there is avoiding those who can’t park to save their lives.

Reading a map has never been my strong suit and attempting to navigate campus from the map on the Parking Map & Traffic Regulations pamphlet makes that feat no easier. These challenges and the complaints about them will never subside, but what if we try to simplify the problem.

Tech offers a multitude of parking lots and passes; red passes for faculty and staff only; green for students in the University Commons, Jones and Roush only; orange for students in Brown, Critz, Hughes, M Street, Nutt, Paine, Tucker, Turner, and Wilson Hall only; brown for students in Caraway only; dark blue for students in suites or Baswell Hall; yellow

for commuting students only; and black and yellow stripes for Vista Place and South Hall. As a commuting student, I have parked in the wrong zone many times due to lack of signs and simply not knowing that some lots are split between parking colors. Many of these lots have shared colors, a problem I ran into early this semester.

It was Time out for Tech, which I attended. Once it was over, I made the awful mistake of moving my car only to be pushed to the edge of campus into a far off red zone. The only reason I had any clue I was in a red zone was thanks to the terribly placed sign I passed as a sprinted to class.

As Tech prepares for the semester to come to a close and for campus to be less populated for the summer, they have begun repainting worn away parking spots. When I spoke with Officer Wineland from Public Safety, he said a big concern for repainting was cost and the inconvenience to staff and students. He explained that “repainting would cost ten times as much.”

Since summer is probably the best timing and they have been repainting anyway, why not implement a plan to help simplify parking for everyone. A change in some of the lot colors

THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2016

could help to reinforce that red means no parking and yellow is for loading zones. Say the faculty and staff parking was changed to a black pass, commuter parking could be changed to dark blue and students residing on campus could be simplified down to three colors. Green passes for students in University Commons, Jones, Roush and add Caraway; orange would remain for students in Brown, Critz, Hughes, M Street, Nutt, Paine, Tucker, Turner and Wilson Hall; and finally purple passes would be for students living in Stadium suites, Baswell Hall, Vista Place and South Hall.

In addition to these changes in color passes, painting the lines in each lot to match the pass color would give no doubt as to where to park and what color lot one is in. To avoid the one percent chance of snow covering the colored lines in each lot, better placed color coordinated signs would also help to counteract incorrect parking.

Understanding the concerns of funding and convenience, I am also a college student and a broke one at that. This plan, if followed, could help to alleviate frustration between students and Public Safety, and help students to have less stress and less parking tickets.

“I’m the first person in my family to graduate from college with a four year degree, so it’s a really big deal to my family. I’m very proud of myself and I’m very excited.”

Suede Graham Senior Music Clarksville

“I think I’m excited to see where my life goes. Once you’re not held down by school you have a lot more freedom to see what you’re going to do with your life. So I’m excited.”

Amber Smith Senior Psychology Hector

“I’ll be happy when it’s here. It’ll be good to be out in the real world and be an adult and finally start my life and start moving forward.”

Kiefer Johnson Senior Vocal Music Education Beebe

“Right now I feel very nostalgic. I’m just trying to soak in the last couple weeks of college.”

Kaylee Clark Senior Psychology Van Buren

“I’m excited because my parents are coming from 2000 miles away and I haven’t seen them in 3 years.

And my 2 friends from Montana are coming.”

Jamie Randall Senior Biology Columbia Falls, Montana

“For our entire lives we have listened to our mentors preach on how we need to prepare ourselves to be the next leaders of our generation. I am ecstatic to find out what my life’s new adventures has in store. My journey has just begun.”

Zach Plumlee Senior Emergency Management Little Rock

Entertainment | PAGE 3

STURGILLSIMPSONART.COM

A sailor's guide to Earth review

RYAN HARMON Entertainment Writer

Rising country artist, Sturgill Simpson, has made quite the impact since his first two releases, "High Top Mountain" and "Metamodern Sounds In Country Music." Now, Simpson returns with his long-awaited follow-up; "A Sailor's Guide To Earth."

The album, which Simpson made for his son, has an interesting and exciting change of direction from his previous efforts. The album features a horn section on select songs and has an overall southern-soul feel that few new artists are able to achieve.

pleasantly surprised.

A big part of the first two albums was Cobb's great production, but this album wasn't meant to sound the same. It's not a straight-ahead country album.

In a recent interview with Joe Rogan, Simpson said he wanted this record to play as one track rather than separate tracks, but that didn't happen. Although a couple of singles have been released online, the album is really experienced best as a whole. This is not an album where you skip around.

This album is also Simpson's first selfproduced release, showing yet another side of his creativity.

"Keep It Between The Lines" brings back familiar elements of Simpson's sound while still mixing in his newer edge. The song's chorus warns "stay in school, stay off the hard stuff, and keep it between the lines."

I was interested to hear what this album sounded like, in comparison to Simpson's other work, which was produced by Dave Cobb. I was

This advice is a little strange, when compared to "Metamodern," which was full of druginspired songs. In the lyrics, however, Simpson

points out "it don't have to be like father, like son."

Simpson branches out with a Nirvana cover "In Bloom." Nirvana fans won't recognize the song until the lyrics start, which is just as it should be. This isn't Simpson's first time with unexpected covers. "Metamodern" featured a brilliant cover of When In Rome's "The Promise." Simpson makes it his own.

The album closes with the rocking "Call To Arms." The song's lyrics serve as an anti-war cry and an observation of society. With Simpson being a Navy veteran, it's obvious this song came from the heart, and Simpson's delivery gets the point across perfectly.

This record will please all fans of Sturgill Simpson. The band is better than ever, the sound is fresh, and Sturgill is still a true artist.

For more information, sturgillsimpson.com

visit

www.

Russellville rocks through summer

RYAN HARMON Entertainment Writer

The semester is winding down but the fun is just beginning. Event promoter Rodney Williams has made sure that the city of Russellville has plenty to do this summer.

It all starts with Russellville's annual balloon festival, now known as "BalloonDayz," will be held at the Pope County Fairgrounds May 1315. The event will feature live entertainment, a "Bluegrass Battle of the Bands," balloon rides (hot air or tethered), monster truck rides and more.

August 13 and 14, the Valley Music Fest will be held at the Pope County Fairgrounds. The event will feature 22 bands over the two-day period, with southern rock legends The Marshall Tucker Band and The Kentucky Headhunters closing the festival.

A "Battle of the Bands" competition will also be held at the event. Bands will compete to win $5,000 and a chance to open for the headliners.

Lastly is the Craig Morgan concert on September 30, where Morgan and his band will be performing all of their radio hits, plus songs from Morgan's upcoming album. Tickets are still available, and Tech students can get $10 off tickets by using promo code "ATU" at checkout.

For more information about these events or to purchase tickets, visit www. balloonfestivalnetwork.thundertix.com

COMMONS.WIKIMEDIA.COM

THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2016

PAGE 4 | News

SGA RESULTS

BROWN

Maggie Hand, President

president, commented on the current funding situation by comparing other universities’ aide to Tech’s.

from page 1

from page 1

Matthew Smith, Vice President Katie Tran, Secretary of Finance and Administration Sidney Burgess, Secretary of Internal Affairs

University of Central Arkansas received $26 million more than Tech did last year, he said.

University of Arkansas at Little Rock received $30 million more.

Haley Owen, Secretary of Student Development Jayson Simmons, Secretary of Public Relations KJ Thompson, Secretary of Diversity and Inclusion Katherine Nunez, Senator College of Arts and Humanities Gavin Dundee, Senator College of Engineering and Applied Sciences Brooks Ann Laffoon, Senator College of Natural and Health Sciences Jasdeep Grewal, Senator College of Education Maro Croff, Senior Senator

“With that, we could build two Brown halls each year every year,” Pennington said.

He too thanked Arkansan senators and representatives for their assisting Tech.

The focus of the day, however, was former President Brown’s assisting Tech. Under his 11year presidency, Rothwell, Doc Bryan, Norman, Ross Pendergraft Library, Baz Tech and many other buildings were added to campus.

Brown also oversaw countless renovations, chief among them being the extensive renovations to Chamber’s cafeteria. In sum, Brown is accredited with having presided over “the addition of $260 million in new facilities.”

Karie Freeman, Senior Senator Michael Harris, Senior Senator Haley Fossitt, Junior Senator Blake Hurley, Junior Senator Seth McCammon, Junior Senator Maria Marasco, Sophomore Senator Abigali Moore, Sophomore Senator Mitchell Williams, Sophomore Senator Blake Baker, Senator at Large

According to the dedication ceremony pamphlet, “among all the degrees that Arkansas Tech

Jordan Barnes, Senator at Large Connor Eason, Senator at Large

awarded during its first 105 years, more than 60 percent were earned during Dr. Brown’s tenure as president.”

Pennington said Tech now has the second highest graduation rate of public universities, and attributes that success to Brown.

The Brown building is now home to the following offices; Admissions, first floor; Financial Aid, Student Accounts, Card Office, second floor; Registrar, Student Support Services, Upward Bound, Veteran’s Services, third floor; Budget, Employee Benefit Services, Human Resources, Payroll, fourth floor. Also dispersed among the floors are classrooms.

The offices moved from Doc Bryan, but no information has been communicated as to what departments will fill Doc Bryan offices.

Tech Student Government Association representative Zach Schwartz spoke about the future of the Brown building and the students that will pass through it.

They will come here for their Tech IDs and to hug Jerry the bull dog, he said. Brown will be the building they go to for all their student needs.

“Brown Hall will be the beating heart of our university.”

Madeline Harshaw, Senator at Large Eli Mason, Senator at Large Blair Miller, Senator at Large Colton Watson, Senator at Large Elizabeth Weaver, Senator at Large

The Arka Tech

GENERAL POLICY

News stories printed in The Arka Tech must be accurate, fair and as unbiased as possible. Any mistakes in fact found in an issue of The Arka Tech will be corrected in the first possible issue. Opinions expressed in The Arka Tech are not necessarily the opinions of Arkansas Tech University or its students. Individual copies of The Arka Tech are free to members of the Tech community.

Contact the adviser for pricing of multiple copies.

CONTACT US Office: Energy Center 138 General email: arkatech@atu.edu

Editor-in-Chief: CLAUDIA YOUNG cyoung38@atu.edu

LIGHT

Managing Editors: JENN TERRELL jterrell6@atu.edu

from page 1

AMBER QUAID aquaid@atu.edu News Writer: SIERRA MURPHY smurphy7@atu.edu

Anwar said a lot of student workers help by buying food and decorating. Without the student workers, Light the Night would not be successful.

Entertainment Writer: RYAN HARMON rharmon7@atu.edu

Student workers have an inside view of how Light the Night benefits campus.

Web Editor: SAM HOISINGTON shoisington@atu.edu Sports Writer: MATTHEW EMERY memery3@atu.edu

Ads email: arkatech.ads@atu.edu

Advertising Manager: MICHAEL HARRIS mharris30@atu.edu

Faculty Advisor: TOMMY MUMERT

Staff Writer: ASHLEY PEARSON apearson5@atu.edu

tmumert@atu.edu

JENN TERRELL/THE ARKA TECH

e

Russellvill

Thursday May 12 In partnership with

Arkansas Tech University | Doc Bryan Student Services Building Multipurpose Room 242 | Russellville

Insta

THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2016

“It provides American students and the community a chance to explore the world inside Tech,” Xintong Ren, senior computer science and mathematics major from China, said.

Anwar hopes this year’s celebration will bring in more of the community.

For more information contact Sabrina Anwar at sanwar@atu.edu.

THE

ARKATECH

Feature | PAGE 5

Living the dream: "All I ever wanted to do was read and write.”

-Paul Lake

Retirement required AMBER QUAID Managing Editor

Filling out social security, Medicare and pension paperwork has accompanied grading student work, teaching classes and writing poetry for Paul Lake who will be retiring this year after 35 years of teaching at Arkansas Tech University.

Lake has been trying to balance teaching, writing, poetry, editing, filling out paperwork for retirement, getting ready to move and supporting his family.

After graduating from Edgewood High School, he spent two years at Harford Community College and then transferred to Towson University in 1975 where he graduated magna cum laude with a degree in English education.

He then applied to Stanford University for graduate school and received the Wallace Stegner Fellowship, a fellowship that paid for tuition, health insurance and gave the recipient a living stipend or money to live off of like an allowance.

Retirement means he gets to stop doing one of these.

He graduated from Stanford in 1979, having earned a master’s degree in English and creative writing.

“I have pages and pages of stuff on my resume and I feel I have done enough teaching so while I am still alive and young and capable of doing this I want to write more stuff,” Lake said.

Lake spent two years as an adjunct English instructor at the University of Santa Clara in California. In 1981 he applied to and was hired as an English professor at Tech.

Lake said he started writing when he was in the fifth grade because he was trying to figure out what he wanted to be when he grew up.

“I was a kid who wouldn’t do homework, ever,” Lake said. “All I ever wanted to do was read and write.”

When he reached the high school level of his life he won an award for his writing and he remembers thinking “hey I’m pretty good at this.” That is when Lake decided to go to college for writing.

“After 24, 25 rejections I got the job here because being a poet it’s hard to get a job, and I have loved it,” Lake said.

Since 1981 Lake has taught numerous classes both for undergraduate and graduate level courses.

But teaching is not all Lake has done in the last 35 years.

Lake wrote and published poems and essays throughout his academic and professional career.

"Paul Lake's poetry reflects a blending of artful language with imaginative expression to present a lucid, articulate imagery that is as impressive as it is memorable."

He has published three books of poetry: “Another Kind of Travel” (1988), “Walking Backward” (1999) and “The Republic of Virtue” (2013), as well as two poetry chapter books. Lake also published two novels: “Among the Immortals” (1994), and “Cry Wolf: A Political Fable” (2008).

“Paul is a very positive person, very upbeat, a dedicated poet. He has worked as hard at his craft as any writer possible could,” said Stanley Lombardo, professor of English.

Retirement from Tech means that Lake can write more and spend more time with his family.

Lake won’t talk about how many books or what type of poetry he plans to write during his retirement, but he said he does want to finish writing a sci-fi trilogy he started years ago but has not had the time to pick back up.

Thirty-five years of teaching has made him happy, but now he must do what his heart has been craving more of. Through retirement he plans to achieve this.

“Despite his stature as an important contemporary American poet, Professor Lake remained dedicated to Tech students,” said Carl Brucker, head of the Department of English and World Languages.

“I hope Paul and his family will enjoy retirement.”

"Paul Lakes gift for language and imagery, character and plot are superlative!"

—Midwest Book Review

—Midwest Book Review

"There are bright signs that poetry is making a comeback, in form and content, at least.

Paul Lake's Another Kind of Travel is a refreshing case in point."

"Paul Lake writes with wit, precision, and sometimes cutting honesty."

—Rachel Hadas

"The inner logic of Cry Wolf is just right. Cleverly devised and well developed."

—Chronicles magazine

—Arkansas Times

THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2016

PAGE 6 | Sports

RICCI LOGAN/THE ARKA TECH Bryson Fletcher was honored with the first Pat Dudeck Memorial Award. Dudeck’s former teammates said Fletcher “represented everything the award meant: consummate teammate, high personal character, academic emphasis, respectful and strong work ethic.”

From walk-on to Pat Dudeck Award winner RICCI LOGAN Contributing Writer

Some people look at athletes like they have everything handed to them, but they don’t think about the hard work that has gotten them to that point.

Through hard work, Bryson Fletcher, a senior from Camden, has put himself into good positions to succeed in life. For Fletcher, basketball is no different. Hard work has paid off for him on the court.

Fletcher started playing basketball by himself when he was around five years old because his brother did not let him play with him. From there he started playing basketball at the Boys and Girls Club and then AAU. Fletcher attended Camden Fairview High School. He said he developed a love for the game of basketball, growing up watching NBA greats like Allen Iverson and LeBron James.

Fletcher would play basketball in his backyard with friends around the neighborhood.

“We would play until after the street light came on. The neighbors would hear me at night bouncing the ball.

They didn’t care because they knew I loved the game,” he said.

When Fletcher first arrived at Tech in 2010, Doug Karleskint was the coach. He told Fletcher that the team was full. That didn’t discourage Fletcher, though. Instead it ignited a fire within him to join the team.

“I used to watch the team practice every day from the stands. I would ask the coach ‘What time is practice?’ and I wasn’t even on the team.”

After one of the players almost died on the court at the time, the coach called and asked Fletcher if he still wanted to play. Of course he did not pass up the opportunity after being on the junior varsity team. On Fletcher’s first day in practice, he already knew how to run every drill because he had watched from the stands. He also knew the plays and what he was supposed to do.

Getting on the team was not the only obstacle he faced. Soon after making the team he dislocated his knee and chipped a bone. He would have to sit out the rest of his freshman year because of the injury.

He came back his sophomore year in the fall and dislocated his knee a second time. Fletcher could not walk for almost five months, and he had lost all of his muscle definition and tone in his leg. He decided he would sit out and wait until he fully recovered.

Fletcher said he felt frustrated, giving it his all at practice and being told by his coach at times to slow down. He especially felt the pressure of trying to comeback as a walk-on from a serious injury. The doctor added that he was not sure if Fletcher would ever reach his full potential again.

Fletcher was told that he might never be as fast or explosive as he was.

The doctor also told him he probably should not play basketball again because of the high risk that his knee would pop out again.

“It was frustrating, but I did not want to quit because I might not get the opportunity again,” Fletcher said.

“I had no problem leaving it all out there even in practice. I just had a love for the game. Even if I had to sit on

the bench and cheer every game, I was going to do it.”

Even though he was frustrated at times, he said he never felt that his hard work was going unnoticed. He underwent rehab and was determined to come back. Fletcher even attended a speed school to recover his quickness.

“I knew my coaches were watching me, but my game was not where it need to be at the time, but I knew my coach was confident in me,” he said.

The December of his sophomore year after being hurt, his coach called and asked if he still wanted to play.

Fletcher was finally healthy and was ready. Although he did not see a lot of action his sophomore year, he proved himself in a game that would stand out in his mind forever.

“One game I got my chance to play,” Fletcher said. “The game was really close. We were playing against Midwestern State University. They were ranked nationally. We played them at home. I came in the second half and I scored the next 14 points to win the game.”

From his sophomore season on, Fletcher would turn into a special player for the Wonder Boys.

He would turn into one of the team’s best defensive player, guarding the opponents’ best player in the Wonder Boys’ 2-3 zone defense. His junior season, he would finish third on the team in steals with 27 while shooting 50.0 percent from 3-point range and shooting 45.7 percent from the field.

His junior season he shot 44.4 percent from the field and had 19 steals.

Fletcher is known as an unselfish

player who likes to get his teammates going. He does not like to consider himself a scorer.

“When I first come into the game, I like to make a layup before I shoot a 3-pointer to get into the flow of the game,” he said.

“Sometimes coach wanted me take more shots, but I like to get my teammates involved in the game. We have scorers on the team so I like to get them going. Then when the defense is focused on them I will look to score more.”

His junior year he was put on scholarship after all of his hard work.

This past season, his senior year, he was honored with the first Pat Dudeck Memorial Award on senior night. Pat Dudeck, whom the award was named after, was a former three-year letterman in basketball at Tech.

Dudeck passed away Jan. 16, 2016.

He was well respected and had a great influence in his community. Having no idea he would receive such an award, Fletcher was complimented by Dudeck’s former teammates who were at senior night.

During the presentation, Dudeck’s former teammates said Fletcher “represented everything the award meant: consummate teammate, high personal character, academic emphasis, respectful and strong work ethic.”

Fletcher is not ready to be finished with basketball yet. He says if he gets a call to further his basketball career, he will take it. If that does not work out, Coach Chad Kline has offered him a position on the staff and he will go back to school to earn his master’s degree.

This is the LAST paper until the fall. In the meantime visit us at www.arkatechnews.com THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2016

Sports | PAGE 7

Golden Suns aim to break program's season wins record MATTHEW EMERY Sports Writer

This weekend the Wonder Boys will return to Tech Field for the final time in the 2016 regular season as they take on Southwestern Oklahoma.

The Wonder Boys will have their work cut out for them as Southwestern Oklahoma currently stands at third place in the Great American Conference, with a 23-12 record.

The series will be the conclusion of a back to back weekend series against top ranked conference opponents. Last weekend, the Wonder Boys traveled to Magnolia to take on Southern Arkansas in a threegame series.

Despite being 13-1 at home, the Wonder Boys managed to overcome Southern Arkansas and hand them their second home loss of the season on Friday, with a final of 4-2.

Zach Skelton, a senior from Amorel, led the Wonder Boys to victory in the contest, as he pitched a complete games, allowing only two runs on five hits and striking out 10. Skelton found his groove as the game progressed and sent down the final 11 batters of the game.

Collin O’Neil, a senior from Phoenix, Arizona, came through in the eighth inning with a single that plated a run to give the Wonder Boys the 3-2 lead.

The Wonder Boys would add to that lead in the top of the ninth and sealing the game.

MATTHEW EMERY/THE ARKA TECH This weekend the Wonder Boys will return to Tech Field for the final time in the 2016 regular season as they take on Southwestern Oklahoma.

Unfortunately for the Wonder Boys, the big win on Friday did not translate into Saturday, as they were swept in the double header.

Game two of the doubleheader was a much closer affair, but had the same outcome, as the Wonder Boys once again fell, 6-4.

Game one of the doubleheader saw Southern Arkansas score in each of the first four innings, making the score 11-0 before the Wonder Boys were able to answer back. Southern Arkansas continued to pour it on before reaching the final of 17-3.

Starting pitching was again the issue for the Wonder Boys as Trent Armstrong, a junior from Waxahachie, Texas, was handed the loss.

Ethan Taylor, a senior from Arlington, Tennessee, was handed the loss, as he went 1.1 inning, giving up three runs.

Armstrong went four innings, allowing four runs on seven hits. Following the final home stand of the season, the Wonder Boys will wrap up the regular season against Northwestern Oklahoma and Harding.

Bulldogs sweep Wonder Boys

MATTHEW EMERY Sports Writer

The Wonder Boys will travel to Alva, Oklahoma, this weekend as they kick off a road trip that will see them face Northwestern Oklahoma and Harding to end the regular season.

The Wonder Boys dismal season continued as they were swept in three games against Southwestern Oklahoma last weekend.

Southwestern Oklahoma outscored the Wonder Boys 24-8, as they won 5-1, 14-3 and 5-4.

The loss pushes Arkansas Tech's conference record to 9-18, with an overall record of 17-26.

The closest contest of the weekend came during the nightcap of the double header on Saturday where the Wonder Boys fell, 5-4.

Trent Armstrong, a junior from Waxahachie, Texas, threw a complete game, giving up four earned runs on seven hits, while striking out eight.

Armstrong started the game strong, allowing no hits and only one hit during the first three innings and struck out the side in the

third inning.

The Wonder Boys jumped to a 4-1 lead in the fourth inning, thanks to an RBI single by Dylan McDearmon, a freshman from Greenbrier.

However, Southwestern Oklahoma would answer back, scoring four unanswered runs, including the game winner in the final inning.

Game one of the doubleheader was not as close.

The Wonder Boys were able to jump to a 2-0 lead in the first inning thanks to a bases-loaded walk

followed by an RBI single by Collin O'Neil, a senior from Phoenix, Arizona. O'Neil had himself a game, going 3-3 with an RBI and run scored.

The O'Neil single and an RBI single in the fourth inning by Seth Wheeler, a freshman from Ozark, Missouri, who went 2-3, would be all the Wonder Boys would get going offensively and Southwestern Oklahoma would answer right back.

The Great American Conference Baseball Championship begins on May 6. The location has yet to be determined.

It’s that time of year again: Stanley Cup JOLI DUPY Contributing Writer

It is officially Stanley Cup PlayOff season! Get your team gear out and cheer on your favorite hockey team! Of course like any true sports fan, I’m bias; LET’S GO, BLUES! The first games of playoff season began April 13 and will continue through April 27 when the last game is played.

This year’s bracket is set as follows*; New York Islanders (1) vs.

Florida Panthers (WC1), Tampa Bay Lightning (2) vs. Detroit Red Wings (3), Washington Capitals (1) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (WC2), Pittsburgh Penguins (2) vs. New York Rangers (3), Dallas Stars (1) vs. Minnesota Wild (WC2), St. Louis Blues (2) vs. Chicago Blackhawks (3), Anaheim Ducks (1) vs. Nashville Predators (WC1), and Los Angeles Kings (2) vs. San Jose Sharks (3). *Each number or letter combination next to the team name is the ranking of respective team upon entering the playoffs according to the official NHL website.

The Stanley Cup has always been the ultimate hockey prize, awarded to the best playing team each year. With eight teams in each conference, East and West Coast, the teams are then split into two brackets that consist of the top three divisional qualifiers and one of the wild cards. The Wild Cards are two additional teams for each conference that also qualify for the playoffs due to their high point totals. The Cup playoffs consist of four rounds of a best of seven series. The winner of each Quarterfinal go on to play in the Semifinals; the resulting winners of the Semifinals then go on to the Finals where the two teams play for The Cup.

In 1920, the ownership of the Stanley Cup was shared between the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) which proved to be conflicting in that the NHL allowed five skaters and the PCHA allowed six skaters during a game. In 1926, the NHL took control of the Stanley Cup after the collapse of the PCHA and West Coast Hockey League (WCHL) merger the preceding year. Divided into Canadian and American divisions until 1928, the NHL changed the playoff format

so that teams with identical division ranking would face each other, thus the first series was a best of five.

Many aspects of the sport are always changing such as rules and regulations. Up until 1979, helmets were not a mandatory safety measure until John Ziegler, then the president of the NHL, decided they would be an “additional safety factor.” Players like Tony Twist, reputed to be the heaviest puncher of his time, is a perfect example of why players need helmets for protection.

Twist was an enforcer for the STL Blues from 1994-1999 and ranked No. 2 in an article of “Top 5 All Time Blues Enforcers” by Mike Poepping of The Hockey Writers.

Known for fighting and getting kicked out of games, Twist is the epitome of the word enforcer.

Brett Hull on the other hand, a right winger or forward for the STL Blues from 1988-1998, is known for his kind and caring personality, but also for the numerous awards he won while a member of the STL Blues.

His primary role during each game was to “wreak havoc in front of the other teams net and to outsmart the other teams

defensemen on both ends of the rink,” said Coach Jeremy according to howtohockey.com.

He was awarded the Ted Lindsay Award for most outstanding player in 1991, the Hart Memorial Trophy for being the most valuable to his team also in 1991 and in 1989 was awarded “the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for exhibiting the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability”, according to nhl.com.

Hockey players are the perfect combination of vicious animal on the rink and humane men off the rink. Each NHL team is involved in a lengthy plethora of charity work and organizations where they are able to share their hearts and help those in need.

Hockey is by far my favorite sport to watch on TV and especially in person. The chill in the air, the electricity radiating from the audience and the thrill of watching a live-game is enough to amp anyone up and fill them with enough energy to last a week.

Who are you rooting for?!

THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2016

PAGE 8 | Campus Photos

Photos by Jenn Terrell Members of the Arkansas Tech University community and beyond raised more than $17,000 to support suicide prevention by participating in the 2016 Out of the Darkness Campus Walk on the Russellville campus on Saturday.

Sarah Ramey's team holds a poster board plastered with photos of their relative and friend, Sarah who lost her life to suicide.

Dr. Robin E. Bowen and Mr. Doug Bowen show their support at the third annual Out of the Darkness Walk.

Kevin Hemphill and Tyler Vaughn, Sigma Pi fraternity brothers of the late Jake Caviness, speak to participants about struggling with the lost of their brother. “We don’t walk for just today,” said Hemphill.

“We must walk together all of our lives. By doing so, we can walk together out of the darkness and into the light.”

Tyler West, of the Arkansas chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, introduces the event and speaks about suicide from experience with the loss of his grandmother.

THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2016

Stephanie Schumacher is one of several participants wearing a t-shirt in memory of Joseph Sutliff, a soldier who lost his life to suicide.

Shoes were collected at the walk for a meeting at the Arkansas’ Legislators on April 20. 516 pairs of shoes will be displayed on the steps of the Capitol to represent the number of lives lost to suicide in 2014.