EST. 1936
ASURamPage.com
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2019
VOL. 86 ISSUE 08
ASU celebrates LGBTQ+ community MSAP hosts pride event in the UC
What’s in store! -Night with Chris Beard Page 2
-Sports Update Page 2
-Iron Ram Triathlon Page 2
-Sidewalk Survey Page 3 Students on Oct. 17 cele- supportive notes for others and tak- celebration is good be-Sophia’s column brated LGBTQ+ History Month ing photos with friends. cause these people exist Page 3 in the lobby of the Houston Harte Senior Dacie Taylor said in our society and they -Response column University Center. she attended the celebration for her deserve to be loved. Page 3 Cody Vasquez, student ac- LGBTQ literature class. Events like this are good tivities manager for the Multicul- “I had to do a visual project because they help people -Cross Country Page 4 tural Center, said this celebration for my class, so I came to see how embrace it.” is held to promote diversity, edu- it looked,” Taylor said. “I think this cate people about the LGBTQ+ community and make students feel welcome. “It can be kind of a sensitive subject, but ASU is pretty welcoming of the LGBTQ+,” Vasquez said. “We choose to embrace every single type of category that’s out there.” Chartwells provided rainbow pancakes for those in attendance and the Porter Henderson Library contributed posters defining different terms relating to the LGBTQ+ community. Some of the activities attendees participated in included the creation of custom buttons, writing Photo by Cora Bishoppetty: LGBTQ+ History Month Celebration was held in the University Center Lobby for
anyone to join the festivities. October was selected for the history month since schools are in session and traditions such as Coming Out Day occur within the month.
Mad skills displayed at midnight Midnight Madness event garners support for ASU Basketball Ashley Rodriguez, staff writer The Belles and Rams basketball teams, UCPC and Concho Education Federal Credit Union on Oct. 14 hosted the Midnight Madness event to kick off the basketball season. Students who attended the event had the opportunity to receive a free t-shirt, meet the players and sign up for different contests. Some of the contests included lip syncing, an HEB grocery toss, a blindfolded layup relay, a dance contest and a dunk contest. One fan also had the chance to win $50,000 if they could sink a layup, free throw, 3-pointer and half-court shot in 15 seconds. “I thought it was a fun event to see the starting lineup for the Belles and Rams basketball teams,” Destiny Brown, junior, said. “I liked how they had many opportunities for students to participate.”
The lineups for both basketball teams debuted at the event, which gave the players a chance to interact with the community and engage in friendly competition. “It’s a big-time event for us,” senior Perrine Manoury said. “It’s an opportunity to introduce ourselves to the community; to show people that they need to come support us at every home game this season…we won the conference last year and we are trying to go back. I hope we will accomplish big things.”
Photo by Cora Bishoppetty: Midnight Madness is hosted by ASU Athletics in the Junell Center once a year for everyone to join.
10.25.2019
TTU head coach raises funds for ASU
Texas Tech head basketball coach shares stories along with ASU figures Ashley Rodriguez, staff writer Former Rams head basketball coach Chris Beard on Oct. 20 returned to ASU for a fundraiser dinner and silent auction to help raise funds for the men’s basketball team. Guests who attended the event had the opportunity to hear personal stories from Dr. Brian May, ASU president, current Rams head basketball coach Cinco Boone and Abilene Christian University head basketball coach Joe Golding. “This is an incredible honor for me to be able to have one of my best friends, a mentor, to come back and help us raise some money,” Boone said. “This guy has been a good friend of mine since 2007. We came down here together, in year two of being here we set a school record for the most wins in school history [with] 28.” Photo by Ian Saint: Former ASU coach Chris Beard spoke about his experiences at ASU and Texas Tech. Beard lead his men’s basketball team to the final 4 during the 2019 season.
Beard played a role in organizing the event and said the money raised would ensure the best year possible for the ASU basketball team. He also reminisced on his time at ASU. “I can’t tell you what an honor it is to be here tonight,” Beard said. “I have not been back to San Angelo as much as I would like over the past few years. Just coming in today brought back so many memories and this is a place I am very proud of.” Beard also recounted and his experience with the NCAA Final Four basketball tournament and gave recognition to May for the impact he had on his life. “This guy really changed my life,” he said. “I learned so much from Dr. May.” Freshman Andre Nunley attended the event and enjoyed Beard’s speech. “I felt the event was a great experience for me [to] actually get the chance to find out what kind of guy coach Beard is,” Nunley said. “Coach Beard’s appearance [at] the event was my favorite part…I left happy to have shown up to the event.” David Lewis, associate head basketball coach, said the event provided a great opportunity to give back to the community and for members of the community to enjoy a night of stories from the three coaches. “The best part was watching Joe get up there and kind of emcee Cinco and Chris Beard and listen to some stories from all of them,” Lewis said. “We know how good of friends all three of them are, and they obviously had a good time together in their past years, so it’s fun to hear them talk about it.”
Sports Update
BELLE ! YEAH
Valentina Gonzalez and Ena Ovcina represented women’s tennis in the semifinals of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Oracle Cup. They fought a tough battle, but fell short against Nova Southeastern University.
The Rams on Oct. 19 defeated West Texas A&M 17-14, improving their overall season to 6-1 and 4-1 in the Lone Star Conference.
Belles soccer on Oct. 17 fell to West Texas A&M 4-1, but came back and on Oct. 19 beat Eastern New Mexico University 1-0.
Belles Volleyball continued their streak on Oct. 17 defeating Western New Mexico University and on Oct. 19 University of Texas Permian Basin. The Belles now have an overall record of 19-1 and a conference record of 11-0.
Triathletes take on Iron Ram challenge Students and faculty compete in weeklong triathlon
Jeremiah Devereaux, staff writer ASU from Oct. 14-18 held the Iron Ram Triathlon at the Ben Kelly Center for Human Performance. The participants of the triathlon had one week to complete three tasks: a 750-meter swim, a 12.5-mile bike ride and a 3.1-mile run. “It was wasn't an easy task, but a lot of people were killing it,” said Jodi Jackson, assistant director of fitness for UREC. “Since it’s a competition, or preferably at your own pace, I think it gets a lot of people in our facility working out, going to the pool and doing things they normally don't do on a daily basis. It’s definitely a challenge and people have just been blowing it out of the water.” Students like junior Luther Harris dove directly into the challenge. “I thought it was a really cool experience,” Harris said. “I got to participate in swimming, biking and running and it put into perspective what it takes to participate
in those events. Many people specialize in these three sports…doing it all at once showed me how difficult it can be. I felt sore afterwards…but I feel pretty refreshed knowing I accomplished all three tasks at once.” The top three contenders for the men were Brodey Yates in first with a time of 1 hour and 17 minutes, Micah Allenbaugh in second with a time of 1 hour 31 minutes and Dason Tucker with a time of 1 hour 32 minutes and 58 seconds. For the women, Izzy Bluso finished first with a time of 2 hours and 12 minutes, Zoe Bahi finished second with 2 hours and 15 minutes and Isabel Villasuna finished with a time of 2 hours and 19 minutes. All winners were awarded prizes inside of gift bags and participants received ASU T-shirts.
Photo by Cora Bishoppetty: Wyatt Paul and Nicole Harper, freshman, conclude the triathlon with a celebratory shirt. Paul and Harper both appreciated the triathlon because it brought the competitiveness out of each other.
Sidewalk Survey
10.25.2019
What is your favorite thing about fall?
“My favorite part about fall is wearing sweaters.” -Sergio Carmines, freshman
Pet stores
“My favorite thing about “My favorite thing about fall is getting to wear the season is the smell of fall.” jackets and sweaters.” -Demi Weaver, junior -Mallorie Nelson, junior
Unrecognized Isolation: A New Perspective
Sophia Gravatt, staff writer
I love going to pet stores. Looking at all of the animals makes me so happy, however, I will never buy a pet from a pet store again. It’s pretty obvious that most big-name pet stores are just trying to make a sale. They don’t really care about the health of the animals at all. First of all, the animals come from pet mills. This means the pets came from over-crowded factories where they were kept in too-small enclosures and put through miserable conditions. Their life at the store isn’t much better. They’re crammed into tiny tanks with two or three other cage mates with basically nothing to keep them entertained. While this may be a temporary environment for them, it could still cause issues such as boredom, fighting with their cage mates, sickness and
“I get to wear hoodies and sweaters. I love the cold because where I’m from, it is hot.” - Drew Castillo, freshman
even death. This brings me to my second point. The majority of cages, accessories and sometimes even food options found in typical pet stores are usually unsuitable and even unsafe for the animals. These products should not be sold at all. I have two guinea pigs and when I first got them, I bought a cage that was four square feet, which is way too small, but that’s what was recommended to me and I didn’t know any better. After doing my research, I realized my mistake and immediately bought a larger cage. However, I couldn’t help but feel guilty for all of my past pets and their unsuitable living conditions that I put them in. So, why are these stores selling supplies that could be a threat to your pet’s health? Again, it’s because they just want to make a sale. Next time you want to buy a pet, make sure you do two things: try to find a place you can adopt from instead of supporting pet stores, and research everything about that animal so you can buy the correct supplies to offer them a safe, healthy and happy life. Your pet will appreciate it.
Christine Foley Last week, the Ram Page published an article titled “Unrecognized isolation,” which described San Angelo’s sentiments towards religious diversity as rather shallow and old-fashioned. While our city may not match Dallas, Houston or Austin in terms of religious variety, my experience in moving here has been spiritually uplifting and incredibly fruitful, which is not something I anticipated. Home for me is the suburbs of Dallas. There, my friends from high school came from different countries, practiced different religions and spoke different languages. Leaving all that behind to venture off into West Texas had me thinking everyone may indeed think the same and be a bit shallow. Instead, I was met with people of faith with deep convictions but sharp minds. The atmosphere and culture of San Angelo is actually part of what set the precedent for my recent conversion to Roman Catholicism. While I happened to know a few Catholics at ASU, many people I had encountered here were areligious or devout Protestants. I had even met a few folks with a Jewish background, which I had not encountered in DFW. Nonetheless, each of them encouraged me to ask questions and follow my convictions, speaking from a place of friendliness and love. This led me to speaking to Father Francis Onyekozuru, a Catholic priest and head of the Newman Center at ASU. Father Francis is from Nigeria and had a magnificently rich perspective on both earthly and divine aspects of life. He invested time and energy into answering my questions and helping me look at faith objectively, which led
Editor: RamPage@angelo.edu Newsroom: (325) 942-2323
Ram Page ASU Station #10895 San Angelo, Texas 76909
Copy Editor Travis Hunter Staff Writers Sophia Gravatt Ashley Rodriguez Jeremiah Devereaux
to me joining the Catholic Church with the bishop of our diocese serving as the celebrant. I cherished the support and respect of friends from a multitude of backgrounds. These experiences may indeed be anecdotal, but through an objective lens, San Angelo has a surprising amount of religious depth for a city of barely 100,000 people. We are home to Assumption of the Virgin Mary Orthodox Church, the only one of its kind between Abilene and El Paso. We regularly encounter missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on campus and engage them in dialogue. We are home to a 90-year-old Jewish synagogue. We hear a rich multitude of perspectives from our professors who subscribe to their own unique sets of beliefs. While it is indeed shameful that some people feel the need to use their faith to exclude and belittle others, it is unfair to categorize San Angelo as a town that lacks the breadth and depth necessary to discuss religion respectfully. Additionally, exclusive behavior is not unique to San Angelo. By learning the history of our town and getting to know the people in it, we might learn that there is indeed embraced diversity here. If you are a person of faith, perhaps challenge yourself to use it to include and inspire others. If you have no religious preference, consider ways to respectfully learn about the beliefs of your peers if you see fit. Should we somehow cultivate respectful religious dialogue, perhaps a more unified world where people feel free to express themselves does indeed await.
Member of The Texas Tech University System Texas Intercollegiate Press Association Editor-in-Chief Axel Marcenaro Photographer Cora Bishoppetty
Circulation Manager Jeremiah Devereaux
PUBLISHING POLICY
Photo Editor Ian Saint Designer Dominic Rodriguez Faculty Adviser Dr. Ellada Gamreklidze
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 content. Unsigned editorials express the views of the majority of the editorial board. The Ram Page welcomes all letters. Please include your name, classification/position, phone number and/or e-mail address for verification. Letters must be signed and be no more than 350 words. The paper reserves the right to edit letters for grammar and clarity. 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 Ram Page office, Room 324 in Porter Henderson Library third floor. Opinions in letters are not necessarily those of the staff. Opinion expressed in a public forum should not be construed as the opinion or policy of the administration, unless so attributed.
Cross-country runs home
10.25.2019
Belles and Rams achieve two top 10 runners
Jeremiah Devereaux, staff writer
ASU on Oct. 15 hosted the annual Blue and Gold Classic cross-country meet at the ASU Intramural Complex. The Belles competed first in a 6K race. Junior Bridgett Cadenhead was the first to cross the line for the Belles and placed 10th overall for her first top 10 finish in the season. Cadenhead finished with a time of 25:05.31, setting the pace for the Belles. Freshman Raeana Mayo finished second for the Belles with a time of 26:54.85 and Brielle Collett came out as third for ASU with a time of 31:50.14. In the men’s 8K race, Matthew Brooks was the first to finish for the Rams, sixth overall, with a time of 26:50.07. Senior Preston
Brooks finished second with a time of 25:15.04. Freshman Seth Blanco finished third for ASU with a time of 28:59.47, and freshman Jacob Krupa finished behind him with a time of 29:45.14. The next competition for ASU’s cross-country team will be the Lone Star Conference meet on Oct. 26 in Silver City, New Mexico. Photo by Ian Saint: “On your mark... set... bang!” The starting gun goes off with a crack sending the men’s cross-country team down their home course.
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Events Calendar
Friday 10/25 Angelo State University Mission Statement
Mission Statement Angelo State University, a member of the Texas Tech University System, delivers undergraduate and graduate programs in the liberal arts, sciences, and professional disciplines. In a learning-centered environment distinguished by its integration of teaching, research, creative endeavor, service, and cocurricular experiences, ASU prepares students to be responsible citizens and to have productive careers.
Vision Statement ASU strives for excellence by fostering an innovative, collaborative, and supportive learning environment that enables a diverse student body to achieve success as citizens and professionals. Values Opportunity - Innovation - Engagement
-Connecting Community 2019 Symposium (ALL DAY) *LeGrand Alumni & Visitors Center -Senior Recital ft. Sara Baxter 7:00pm *Eldon Black Recital Hall
Sunday 10/27 -N/A
Tuesday 10/29 -Grad Fair - Fall 2019 11:00am5:00pm *CJ Davidson Conference center - Kickball and Ultimate Frisbee Registration Meeting
Saturday 10/26 -Pro-Am College Day with Belle Tennis 10:00am *Bentwood Country Club -Student Junior Recital ft. Jane Bacon 2:00pm *Eldon Black Recital Hall -ASU Soccer vs UT at Tyler 1:00pm-3:00pm *ASU Soccer Field -ASU Football vs Texas-Permian Basin 4:00pm-7:00pm *LeGrand Stadium
Monday 10/28
-Census day for the 2nd 8-Week session of the Fall 2019 semester
Wednesday 10/30 -Ofrenda (All day until Nov. 4th) *Houston Harte University Center -Boots to Buisness: 2 Day Series 8:00am-5:00pm (to Oct. 31st) -Senior Visit Day 10:45 am -Student Junior Recital ft. Luis Gomez & Riley Jarabek