Cheer tryouts PAGE 3
Mobile App continued PAGE 2
Greek Life photos PAGE 2
Angelo State University’s student-run newspaper since 1936
Ram Friday, January 29, 2016
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www.asurampage.com
Volume 82, Issue 15
Graduate programs ranked top of the class Nursing and Education excel in U.S. News and World Report
Alana Edgin Managing Editor Among the many highly ranked programs at ASU, the online nursing and education programs have joined the ranks.
“I’ve worked in several nurse practitioner programs throughout the course of my career and hands down, as far as the resources, ASU has been top notch,” Dr. Avis JohnsonSmith, clinical professor for the nursing department said. “With an online environment you really have to know how to connect with your students and I think our faculty is really good at knowing how to make the students feel included in the dialog.”
Dr. Molly Walker, a professor for the online graduate program, believes that despite being physically distant from students, the instructors actually learn more about them. She has never been in one of her online discussion boards where she didn’t learn something from her students. “Our success has been largely due to a lot of professional nurses wanting to improve their career paths,”
Walker said. “Our students have this collaboration with students all across the state. We may have people in the big medical centers like Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio and they’re talking with people in Sonora, Big Lake, Abilene and smaller communities so everyone gets a rich combination of culture and economics.” Faculty, student surveys, tuition costs, tech support and more go into the ranking
systems. ASU’s Nursing Department was ranked 39 out of 147 colleges that offer online graduate nursing programs. The Education Department managed to beat out 230 online graduate education programs to rank 37. “We are very pleased to be named again this year as one of the top graduate programs in the country by the prestigious U.S. News and World Report,”
See GRAD page 2
Andrew Shulz talks Guy Code
Photos by Summer Almaguer Comedian Andrew Shulz from MTV’s “Guy Code” uses audience participation and his dry witty humor to entertain the crowded CJ Davidson Center. Shulz touched on a number of controversial topics but kept the mood light and the audience roaring with laughter.
Sports go live with Ram TV Ram TV airs live sporting events for the first time Chris Cole Staff Writer Launched just last semester, Ram TV is still in its first steps of providing live sports broadcasts for the San Angelo community. Many students have difficulty plugging into the campus community. Either they can’t make it to sporting events, they don’t know what events are happening on campus or they have trouble finding their Ram or Rambelle Pride. Photo by Summer Almaguer This semester Ram TV started to broadcast all of the Don Plachno, Ram TV producer and Mass Media Instructor, and Logan Reynolds ASU sporting events live and manage the live stream of the game from the control room of the Junell Center. have since grown to broadcast more. From sporting events to TV live airing project, which Mass Media and works with the week,” Howard said. lectures and music recitals to airs on channel six with all Ram TV. His job involves “Sometimes we show coaches student-created public service basic cable packages, to create editing and putting together and athletic interviews, or announcements, Ram TV is a medium for students to a weekly show called Ram we’ll have a focus piece on a working further on expanding connect with their school Center. player.” Ram TV broadcasts its content. spirit. “This show has sport See RAMTV page 4 Mass Media professor Leah Russ Howard is a junior in highlights from throughout Mangrum launched the Ram
ASU Mobile revamped The application team unveils a redesigned ASU Mobile Hanna Schindler Editor A new and improved ASU Mobile, the university’s application for smart devices, was launched at the beginning of the spring term with new key features and services. Information Technology and Communications and Marketing teamed up with a mobile app provider to create an app that has the ability to provide different content to different kinds of users. “Users are asked to choose a role when they first open the app and can switch roles at any time. They then see only the content and services that are relevant to them,” Jon Wilcox, Senior Web & User Experience Developer, said. Wilcox explained that with this improved organization, the application is more fluid
See APP page 2
NEWS
Page 2 Continued from APP page 1 in design and functionality. “The new app is really easy to use and seems to be capable of a lot more than the old app,” senior Josh Sefcik said. “I especially like that it has a section for campus life and social media so you can keep up with what’s happening on campus.” When redesigning the app, one of the team’s main goals was to make users wants and needs a top priority. “We worked with staff from multiple departments across campus as well as student groups, including representatives from the Student Government Association, to test and validate key features of the app before we released it,” Elaine Beach, Director of Customer Support and Multimedia Services, said.
The app redesign was necessary after the old app began falling short of the needs of ASU’s rapidly growing student body and faculty. “Students have been asking for the ability to do more things from mobile devices that have traditionally been available only through RamPort. Our old app was not capable of delivering these types of services so we began looking at other options that would allow us to do so,” Wilcox said. “A major capability our new app provides is integration with Banner, our student information system. This allows students to view class schedules, add and drop classes and view and pay their bills,” Wilcox said. This makes use of
technology more accessible for students who don’t always have access to a computer. The app also allows students to view holds on their accounts and gives them access to important contacts and hours for on-campus services. “I like that the new app has your class schedule easily accessible and that it has a satellite map of the whole campus,” freshman Dalton Holcomb said. “It makes finding the right buildings so much easier.” Of course with new applications and services come unexpected quirks and bugs to be fixed. “We are constantly working with our mobile app provider to improve the app,” Wilcox said. “We will release new versions periodically
that will include bug fixes and new functionality. We already have some great new features
planned, so keep an eye out for updates.”
Photo by Summer Almaguer
Events Calendar
Continued from GRAD page 1 Department Chair of Curriculum and Instruction Dr. James Summerlin said. “The faculty and staff of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction have worked diligently to continuously to improve our course offerings, our students’ satisfaction, and most importantly postgraduation employment.” Both of these programs, and their departments, were included in the U.S. News and World Report for its 2016 edition of “Best Online Programs.” Texas Intuitions also have a “Best Online Programs” list of their own
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where the graduate education program earned a solid 4th vplace and the nursing program ranked 6th. The online graduate nursing program has gone through a lot of revision over the last five years, according to Walker. They conformed to the new nursing essential standards for graduates and standardized all their classes, so students won’t have to learn about each professor’s style. “Online, you have to be more creative than in the classroom because the person isn’t sitting there and
you’re not engaging them,” Johnson-Smith said. “That’s one of the things I think we do well is engaging our students creatively.” As for the future, Summerlin expects the excellence to continue. “We believe it is the combination of our online courses in theory and the real world on-the-job field experiences that make the program such a success,” Summerlin said. “We will strive again in 2016 to improve our programs and to be ranked even higher.”
Rush week in full swing
Saturday 1/30
Wednesday 2/3
Women’s Basketball vs Texas A&M University Kingsville 2:00p.m. - 5:00p.m. San Angelo, TX Men’s Basketball vs Texas A&M University Kingsville 4:00p.m. - 7:00p.m. San Angelo,TX
Monday 2/1 Holland-Harrell Foreign Affairs Speakers Program 7:30p.m. C.J. Davidson Conference Center, Houston Harte University Center
Tuseday 2/2
Blackboard Collaborate Ultra Training 10:00a.m. - 11:00a.m. Mathematics-Computer Science Building Room 106
Resources and Connections Meeting 4:00p.m. - 5:00p.m. Weekly (to Mar 2) Houston Harte University Center, Room 202
Thursday2/4 Art Gallery: Paintings and Ceramics 9:00a.m. - 5:00p.m. M-F (to Feb 12) Gallery 193, Carr Education-Fine Arts Building Planetarium: Solar Superstorms 7:00p.m. Weekly (to Mar 3) Vincent Nursing-Physical Science Building
Photos by Summer Almaguer Above: Members of Kappa Delta Rho hang out and enjoy their food by the ASU Pa vilion. The meet and greet was the first recruiting event of the week for fraternitites. Left: Tanner Novak, sophomore, and Ryan Burge, junior, grill hotdogs for the Meet and Greet BBQ. TKE was originally founded in 1899 at Illinois Wesleyan University.
SAN ANGELO WEEKEND WEATHER FORECAST Friday, Jan. 29:
Saturday, Jan. 30:
H: 74°F L: 43°F
H: 80°F L: 50°F
Sunday, JAN. 31:
Monday, FEB. 1:
H: 81°F L: 46°F
H: 78°F L: 40°F
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FEATURES
Page 3
Legends New vision and new challenges Intramural take championship Dr. Alex Mejia added to the growing civil engineering department
IM Legends wins big at the NIRSA Luis Montoya Staff Writer
Miguel Luna Staff Writer
T
he Civil Engineering Department, ASU’s newest program, shows growth at the start of the spring semester with the addition of a new faculty member Dr. Alex Mejia. The department, which was inaugurated this past fall, recently hired Mejia after he ended his time at the West Virginia University as assitant professor. The department currently consists of the Department Chair Dr. William Kitch, and members Debbie Brown and Andrea Robledo. As a West Texas native, Mejia saw the opportunity to be closer to home and liked that ASU is a Hispanic Serving Institute (HIS) working with Latinos that come from low socioeconomic backgrounds. “I wanted to give back and come to a community where I could have an impact as a professor,” Mejia said. “The goal of the department is to become accredited and have students graduate with a bachelor’s that will prepare them to become part of the Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) workforce.” Although the department has only introduced civil engineering Mejia hopes for mechanical and electrical engineering as well. “I’m thrilled to have Dr. Mejia here,” Kitch said. “His Ph.D work is in engineering education and his research involves Hispanic pathways to engineering, a key part of our program.” Kitch, who taught at the California State Polytechnic
O
ne of ASU’s Intramural Flag Football team, IM Legends, claimed the 2015 co-rec Division National Championship at the National Intramural-Recreation Sports Association (NIRSA) National Campus Championship Series on Jan. 4 at the University of West Florida, Pensacola. The team defeated the defending national champion P-Rex team from Valdosta State University, 23-9. “The team started traveling on Dec. 31 but the tournament didn’t start until Jan. 2 and the championship game wasn’t until Jan. 4,” Reid Jackson, ASU Manager of Intramural Sports and Camps said. “IM Legends’ team effort was what made them win the championship. Everyone did amazing.” With this championship Photos by Josh Lopez Dr. Mejia who is new to the ASU family, stops for a pho- won, IM Legends have also won the American Collegiate to before getting back to work. Intramural Sports (ACIS) University-Pomona, could resource, environmental, national championship in not pass up the opportunity to geotechnical, transportation, 2010 and 2015. At the national start a program from scratch. or constructional areas of championship, Team Captain Devon Wilde was named “It is essential to hire the engineering. right people,” Kitch said. “I “Engineers create stuff to Female Most Valuable Player hope to have two more by the solve the world’s problems,” and Chase Churchwell won the Male MVP. beginning of the summer and Kitch said. The team was formed this two to three more by 2017.” Mejia believes this is what year and won the co-rec The search committee in drove him to a career in division at ASU and went charge of helping with the engineering. selection process includes “I grew up on a farm and on to win at the regionals faculty members from a I was always working with tournament in Texas A&M diverse group of departments. my hands,” Mejia said. “I was back in November, which “Their perspective is constantly trying to solve important because they problems in different ways.” 2100 W. Beauregard understand Angelo State,” As well as preparing Kitch said. students for the workforce 325-942-1647 Civil engineering is and providing more support very broad in regards to for the department and employment, students will university, Mejia hopes to have the opportunity to work bring underrepresented from a city’s infrastructure minorities into STEM. to public agencies. Civil “I’m really excited and I’m Open 7 days engineers can be employed sure we’re going to do really a week in structural, water great things,” Mejia said.
was what gave them the opportunity to go on to the National Championship Series. The co-rec team is made out of 16 players from all different classifications, but only 14 traveled to the championship game. The team doesn’t necessarily have tryouts but is mostly made of athletes from other sports teams. ASU’s flag football season started in September and ended at the National Championship. The team has a lot of time to practice and get ready for next season, Jackson said. “The game was great and intense but if there was one major highlight, was Drey Sander’s one-hand catch,” Valerie Villalva, graduate student and one of the quarterbacks of team IM Legends, said. “That play put us on a lead.” “Drey Sanders, one of the youngest players in the team had two wonderful interceptions, one of them being in the end zone,” Jackson said. “One of the quarterbacks Chase Churchwell had had a touchdown pass to Devon Wilde and one to Sanders. Cooper Jackson, junior and intramural supervisor, also had a touchdown catch. Valerie Villalva also had great plays. The defense was incredible.” “I look forward for next season,” freshman Drey Sanders said. “I look forward to sweeping the whole thing and to bring home 3 nattys, the men’s, co-Rec and the women’s.”
6 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Ready to cheer, ready to fly Rambelle athletes old and new tested their strength at cheerleading tryouts Miguel Luna Staff Writer
T
he ASU Cheerleading Team on Jan. 23 and 24 held spring tryouts in the Ben Kelley Center for Human Performance, adding five new members. Lacey Voth, a sophomore who tried out and was accepted in the fall of 2015, tried out against approximately 30 women, while Natasha Ogeden tried out this past weekend and only went up against four other women. Ogden along with the other four women all made the team. “It was intimidating because you’re coming into an already established team,” Ogden said.“But everyone was so welcoming and super excited to have us on the team.” Voth explained at the tryout each woman would
receive a number, then they would throw their tumbling pass and perform the jumps the judges asked for, as well as the fight song and their stunts if they had prepared a stunt group. After the addition of the five women the team now carries 14 members. As of now cheerleading is still not considered an official sport, but both women strongly disagree. “It’s tough,” Voth said. “It is not just a flash of your pompoms. There’s a lot more technique than that.” This past year cheerleading was listed as one of the most dangerous activities, all the coaches were called back to learn new drills for safety and those were taught to the cheerleaders, Voth said. Recently, Ogden almost severely injured her hamstring and hip flexor performing simple cheer routines. “We’re throwing girls 10 to 15 feet in the air hoping we’ll catch them,” Ogden said. “When we do catch them they hit our forearms.” “Some people do not
understand the skill that goes into the stunts,” Chelsea Marra, student cheer assistant, said. “It takes a lot of mental skill to say, ‘I can do this’ and overcome that fear,” Voth said. Cheerleading helps build the crowd’s excitement and encourages the team at football, basketball, volleyball and occasionally soccer games. The team is also encouraged to attend baseball games and track meets. “We don’t get an off-season, we keep going,” Voth said. Along with cheering at games the cheerleaders also get involved with community service to represent the university in a positive way. “There is a lot of talent among the women that one would not expect and I’m excited to show it off,” Ogden said. “I’m really excited for this semester,” Voth said. “I think this team is definitely going to shine, and we’ve got a lot to bring.”
Photo by Summer Almaguer Lacy Voth encourages and warms up with students trying out for the cheerleading squad.
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FEATURES
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Continued from RAMTV page 1 new episodes of Ram Center Mondays at 2 p.m. and airs reruns Tuesday through Friday at the same time. “As of now there is no ‘on demand’ but we rebroadcast games and specials periodically. Using Twitter, students can follow the Ram TV account and find out what’s playing and when,” Howard said. “We want to be able to cover away-games and we’re working on opening up our bandwidth and gaining an HD channel,” Donald Plachno, an instructor in the Communications and Mass Media department who works closely with the Ram TV crew said. “We’ d like more student content to fill our air time.” “Ram TV is very studentcentric, almost everything is done by students.” Plachno said. “Lots of our content comes from students in classes and our paid
student-workers. We also have project-hours worked into this. We’re now able to program Ram TV just like a regular television station and that’s very exciting.” One of the original difficulties Ram TV overcame was dead-air time. During time-outs in sporting events, for instance, where commercials would usually play, there was nothing to put up on screen. “So we sat down with the guys at Athletic Communications and came up with some 5, 10, 30, 60, and 90 second Public Service Announcement spots. They’re like commercials, but they’re not true commercials,” Howard said. This gives Ram TV an opportunity to offer Registered Student Organizations spots to air flyers or schedules or to make PSA videos to air between
content. “We need content and we’d like our RSO’s to become more involved with us here at the station. I think this could really catch on,” Plachno said.
Locate on the third-floor of the Porter Henderson Library,the Ram TV channel six crew can be reached through their T w i t t e r account @RAMTV6, or visited in person.
Photo by Summer Almaguer An ASU Events employee help Ram TV by controlling the cameras on the court during basketball games.
Review: Undertale, unique to games What lies beneath the surface Dustin Dodson Copy Editor
I
n a year headlined with incomplete games and disappointments, it comes as a pleasant surprise that a $10 indie game stayed at the forefront of my mind for the latter half of the 2015. Undertale is a 2D role playing game inspired by RPGs of old, the Mother series on the Nintendo consoles being the most obvious comparison. Made virtually by one developer, Undertale crafts a heavy hearted tale about humans, monsters, love and determination. You haven’t played a game quite like this before. At first glance one may turn their head in disgust over the graphics presented in Undertale. To be frank, it looks like a majority of the game’s assets were constructed in Microsoft Paint, however, its Undertale’s simplicity that can catch you off guard once you venture into the meat of the story. You play as an androgynous child who has fallen down a hole into a world of monsters who were banished by humans after a long war. Your goal is to
journey through this happy and cheerful land to reach your world again, but under the delightful music and colorful cast of monsters, lies some disturbing secrets that are hidden at first glance. Undertale completely differentiates itself from its spiritual predecessors with its battle mechanics. In a typical RPG you face off against an enemy to defeat it. You take turns taking hits at one another until one falls; hopefully the enemy. Undertale flips the script by always keeping the player on their toes. Instead of cycling through menus, looking for the best attack and staring blankly at the screen waiting for your attack to go through, you are forced to go through a bullet hell inspired minigame every time an enemy attacks. Each enemy has their own different flow and speed to how their projectiles fire towards you and you have to dodge unless you want your health to drop. Depending on how you play, you can either show “mercy” on an enemy or kill them. Saving them puts you on the Pacifist route of the story and destroying them puts you on the Genocide route. Based on your choices, each route gives you a different ending. I recommend playing the Genocide route first if
you don’t want your heart to break as you erase all of your previous friendships in coldblooded fashion after playing the Pacifist route. Where Undertale truly shines is in its writing. While sometimes guilty of trying too hard to elicit an emotional response, from top to bottom Undertale’s story is a strong one, and it’s its characters that are at the forefront. Every monster in this game is intelligent and has a unique personality. This is how Undertale snags you. You grow to care about these characters despite their over-the-top goofiness and simplicity. They seem as if they convey a range of emotions and tribulations that can’t even be found in some of today’s full motion captured video games. Failing to mention the music composed in this game would be like failing to mention Wes Anderson’s cinematography in film or Stephen King’s literary prowess in readings. Sound design is perhaps a director’s greatest weapon and the music presented in this game helps back that argument. It ties itself wonderfully to the script and works in tandem to help create a memorable experience that you can hum along to long after the credits roll. Every character has their own separate theme that helps
to build on their personality in a way where words can’t. Some of my favorite moments was when character themes started to blend their way into one another. For example, there are two brothers, Sans and Papyrus, who have different themes, but listening closely to either one, you can begin to hear pieces of the other brothers theme being intertwined. One of the downsides of Undertale is its length. For a $10 game it might not seem that bad that an average playthrough can last under 5 hours, but I think the game could have benefited with one more area to explore. If you want more Undertale,
4/5
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you can always play the game twice with its separate endings which can double the playing time to around 10 hours if you explore every nook and cranny. Undertale threw a bag of emotions on to my lap that I haven’t felt in a game since playing Japanese RPGs on the original PlayStation as a child. From start to finish the game hooked me with its strong narrative, excellent characters and provoking music. If you have a weekend to spare and want to scratch that role playing itch, or want to play one of the best games of this generation, look no further than Undertale.
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OPINIONS
Page 5
X-Files resurrected
Hanna Schindler Editor
I
n this day and age I think many people struggle with accepting the notion “enough is enough”. Everyone wants more and unlimited. And I’ll admit I am the first in line for more and unlimited. Wi t h tele v is i on s t r e a m i n g services like Netflix and Hulu more and unlimited combine to forge the most wonderfully addictive way to watch a television series. It’s easy to binge watch and fall in love with shows from episode one, even if that episode is over a decade old.
Once you watch your way through the usually lengthy season archive, you realize how many hours you have spent with your eyes glued to your television. You have a moment remembering the show and this is then proceeded with a postshow depression, filled with Google searches similar to “Is Friends coming back 2016?” Thankfully we have television networks that will do anything for a buzz and are willing to bring back shows for a nostalgic and demanding fan base. With that being said I am more than thrilled to have seen the two-part premier of the new six episode miniseries of “The X-Files”, one of the longestrunning science fiction series in TV history. After a 13-year hiatus Mulder and Scully returned to Fox this week, picking up right where they left off. Not only am I a “X-Files” junkie
I am also obsessed with the bringing back of old television series. Hello Twin Peaks, Full House, Arrested Development and now Gilmore Girls; so this was a must see. I like the idea of actors returning to the characters we love with a couple of wrinkles and higher definition. Mulder and Scully look older and they are older but somehow, it is the same. The rush to find information and uncover secrets, the dark and twisted governmental involvement with the x-files and the undeniably strong on-screen chemistry between Mulder and Scully remain. Parts one and two of the premiere had more than a few goose bump worthy moments and action is already underway. Without spoiling anything for readers, I will say that this mini-series is promising and I am hoping we all get the answers we are looking for. The truth is out there!
14 states will raise their minimum wage this month; do you think Texas should raise their minium wage?
“Yes. I feel like they should raise the minimum wage to fit the cost of living because it is really hard to make a living off of $7.25 an hour.”
Kyle Wianecki Senior “I don’t think so, but that’s just my opinion.”
Maria Garcia
Freshman
“No because I feel like if you raise minimum wage everything else increases as well. Look at California or other states. If you raise up minimum wage, the prices for everything else just increases, so it’s really just obsolete. It really doesn’t make sense.” Andrew Martinez Freshman
Kylie Jenner Lip Kit or bust
Summer Almaguer Photo Editor
J
ust like any other girl obsessed with makeup, I have been waiting for the next release of the Lip Kit by Kylie Jenner. On Nov. 30, 2015, my mom and I waited on our phones for the first release of the Lip Kit online. By the time we added our kits to our baskets, put in our mailing address, and credit card information, the products were sold out! Needless to say, we were very disappointed. On Dec. 15, 2015, the second release of the Lip Kit rolled around. I thought I was more prepared than before with my card in hand and ready to go. But again, I was disappointed because the product was sold out within a few minutes. Since these very disappointing days,
I have been stalking the Kardashian Klan’s Instagram pages, including the Lip Kit by Kylie’s page. I have also been envying YouTube makeup gurus and Instagram beauty pages who somehow got a hold of the lip kit. Kylie Jenner has been teasing her fans with in her snapchat stories. She has announced that the amount of her products will be increased and that the super moisturizing formula has been perfected. The Lip Kit includes a pencil lip liner, a tube of the liquid lipstick and the instant feel of being as cool as Kylie. The product is currently available in three different colors: Kandy K, Dolce K, and True Brown. Kylie has announced via Instagram that the new addition to the trio will be Posie K, which is a bright pink shade. Considering that the product comes with the lip liner and the lipstick, $29 is not a bad deal. If you don’t want to go through the hassle of ordering Kylie’s Lip Kit, or if you don’t want to fork up the $29 for the product, I have a couple
suggestions of long wear liquid lipsticks that may suit your needs. I found that both Too Faced’s Melted collection ($21) and LASplash’s Smitten Liptint Mousse collection ($14) were great products that cost less than Kylie’s Lip Kit. Both products last for several hours without retouching. The lipsticks even wore throughout meals and conquered a kiss test. If you were to try either of these products, I would suggest blotting off any excess lipstick with a tissue because it will smear and get on your teeth if you have on too much. Also I did not use lip liner while trying these products, but I think that wearing a lip liner will make the look a lot more neat and clean. Lastly, the LASplash liptint is water proof, so I suggest having a good makeup remover or makeup on hand for the end of the day. Until Kylie comes through with her Lip Kit, I will continue my hunt for amazing lipsticks and further prepare myself for the third release of the Lip Kit by Kylie Jenner. Third time is the charm, right?
“No. Texas is a conservative state, so if anything we would probably be the last ones to do it. If inflation goes up, you have to pay more for everything, so I don’t think we should do it.” Brandon Santana Freshman
“They shouldn’t raise minimum wage if they are going to raise prices of everything else.”
Genesis Holmes Sophomore
“Yes because you can’t live off of minimum wage currently. A lot of us are living poor, and people just can’t raise their families off of minimum wage.” Tramayne Bennett Freshman
Ram Page Staff Spring 2016 Angelo State University
Editor: Hanna Schindler Managing Editor: Alana Edgin Copy Editor: Dustin Dodson Online Editor: Chris Cole Layout Editor: Charlotte Lin Photo Editor: Summer Almaguer Photographer: Josh Lopez Advertising Manager: Mckena Peregrino Cartoonist: Johnny Le Staff Writer: Miguel Luna Staff Writer: Chris Cole Staff Writer: Luis Montoya Circulation Manager: Matthew Cummings Advisor: Dr. Cathy Johnson Ram Page ASU Station #10895 San Angelo, Texas 76909-0895
Editor: rampage@angelo.edu Advertising: rampageads@angelo.edu Newsroom:(325) 942-2323 Advertising: (325) 942-2040 Fax: (325) 942-2551 Member of The Texas Tech University System Associated Collegiate Press Texas Intercollegiate Press Asscoiation
PUBLISHING POLICY
Published every Friday and available to students, one copy per student, the student newspaper of Angelo State University is a public forum, with its student editorial board making all decisions concerning its contents. Unsigned editorials express the views of the majority of the editorial board. Ram Page welcomes all letters. Please include your name, classification/position and a phone number and/or e-mail address for verification purposes. Letters must be signed and be no more than 350 words. The paper reserves the right to edit letters for grammar and clarity, and all letters are subject to laws governing obscenity, libel and privacy. Deadline is 5 p.m., Monday. Submission does not guarantee publication. Letters may be mailed, e-mailed or submitted at the newspaper’s office, Room 324 on the third floor of the Porter Henderson Library. Opinions in letters are not necessarily those of the staff, nor should any opinion expressed in a public forum be construed as the opinion or policy of the administration, unless so attributed.
SPORTS Rams predict return to
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Page 6
World Series Baseball discusses new players, new field and more Alana Edgin Managing Editor With a new stadium, new players and a desire to surpass their previous season finale at the World Series, Ram baseball is ready to take on the 2016 season. “Fans may not think we are going to be as good as we were last year,” Paxton DeLaGarza, senior infielder and pitcher, said. “We lost a lot of good players last year but I think fans will be surprised that we filled those holes pretty good this year. I think they will be really excited to come out and watch us play.” In last year’s 2016 NCAA Division II World Series, the Rams took on the Henderson State Reddies and lost the first game 0-4. They went into the second game to redeem themselves against
the Wilmington University Wildcats, winning by 5-0. For their next and final game, it was a rematch against the Reddies. The Rams finished the season with a hard fought loss against the Reddies with a score of 1-4. “After we got our rings this year I think everyone wants another one and we want to go back to the World Series,” DeLaGarza said. “[Fans] are going to come out and see that we are even better than we were last year and we are going to have a good run this year.” Among the team’s returners are DeLaGarza and senior pitcher Bryce Zak, who were recently recognized as Lone Star Conference Preseason Player of the Year and LSC Preseason Co-Pitcher of the Year, respectively. They also have a few new players, one of which is Joey Wise, a junior left handed pitcher from Arizona. Despite some important players graduating. and losing three to the Major League draft, Head Coach Kevin Brooks has faith in the team. “I feel like we’ve gotten a
little bit better every day since we started so that’s something we will have to continue to do,” Brooks said. “It’s been a little inconsistent but the good thing is I do feel like we are making strides and improving. It helps, having such a beautiful place to come to. The feel, the attitude, the atmosphere is definitely better than the old one.” This beautiful place Brooks is referring to is the new Foster Field. The old grass field has been replaced by turf, new stands and has made a definite impact on the team, according to DeLaGarza. “We are really blessed to have people that care about the baseball program and having File photos by Marsalis Mahome one of the nicest fields in Pitcher Bryce Zak launches the ball in hopes of a strike. Division II is a good blessing He was awarded LSC second team for 2015. for us,” DeLaGarza said. “I think when you have a brand his goal and the team’s goal are be really good.” new field you go out there to see the team go farther than The Rams’ first game and have more fun knowing last year. will be on Feb. 2 in Laredo, there’s people around you “Hopefully we will play hard Texas against Texas A&M that care about you and want and well,” Brooks said. “The International. They will to have nice facilities for you definite thing is that [fans] continue their road trip until and that makes it more fun for will have a great place to come coming home on March 11 to everybody.” watch games. If we can play as play Texas A&M UniversityDeLaGarza also said that good as the place we play we’ll Kingsville.
Softball aims for home run season Coach Scott talks strategy for upcoming game
Alana Edgin Managing Editor Softball is not a soft sport, and this season the Rambelle softball team intends to prove that statement. Last season the Belles went to the NCAA Division II South Central Tournament and finished their season with a 6-7 loss against West Texas A&M University. Their overall win/loss/tie record was 3317-1, but the Belles plan on bettering themselves both as a team and individuals. “It’s going to be exciting to watch them play, win or lose their going to give it everything they got,” Head Coach Travis Scott said. “Their team chemistry right now is amazing.” The Belles had a majority
Photo by Summer Almaguer Left: Pitcher Kenedy Urbany pitches the ball to her opponent. Right: Rambelle runner gets prepared to run while at first base. of their players return and recruited a few players to fill those empty spots. Returning junior catcher and infielder Katlyn Herzog has faith that the Belles will do well this season. “I am looking forward
to us winning a conference tournament and winning the conference,” Herzog said. Scott is also ready for the upcoming George McCorkle Challenge on Feb. 5. “We are excited about hosting the George McCorkle
Challenge again,” Scott said. “We have three other teams coming in that we feel are going to make it a quality tournament.” Texas A&M International, Adams State University and Northwestern Oklahoma
State University will be traveling to ASU to face the Belles on their home field in the first official tournament of the 2016 season. None of these teams are in the same conference and Scott anticipates some good games. “We know that we have our work cut out for us from game one,” Scott said. “I think [fans] are going to see a team that’s going to come out and play hard every day.” The first game in the George McCorkle Challenge will be the Belles against Texas A&M International at 12:45 p.m. At 3:15 p.m. on Feb. 5, the Belles will also take on Northwestern Oklahoma State University. Lone Star Conference games will start on Feb. 26 against the Texas A&MKingsville University Javelinas. The Belles have 21 days from their first game to prepare for conference play.
Basketball season updates Rams
Rams v.s. Cameron on Jan. 20 @ Lawton, OK Rams v.s. Midwestern State on Jan. 23 @ home
79 : 80 L 91 : 83 W
Rambelles
Rambelles v.s. Midwestern State on Jan. 23 @ home Rambelles v.s. Texas Woman’s on Jan. 24 @ home
Photos by Summer Almaguer Left: Junior guard Prince Foster guards his opponent. Foster was one of the four game stat leaders in free throws. Right: The Rambelles watch their fellow teammates from the sideline during the game against Midwestern University.
85 : 68 W 91 : 78 W