Cameron Collegian Issue #3 Fall 2024

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ATHLETES' ACADEMIC SUCCESS

ATHLETES' ACADEMIC SUCCESS ATHLETES' ACADEMIC SUCCESS

For two of Cameron University’s standout softball players, balancing the demands of competitive sports and rigorous academics is no easy feat, yet Kelsye Loughman and Presleigh Payne have each found ways to excel on and off the field.

Loughman, who is in her final year of a master’s in business, and Payne, a senior with a perfect 4.0 GPA majoring in sports and exercise science, are not only leaders on the softball diamond but also models of academic discipline. Each athlete’s journey highlights the challenges and rewards of balancing the dual roles of student and athlete, offering inspiration for both their teammates and younger students hoping to follow in their footsteps.

Payne, a Grapevine, Texas native, has had a softball in her hand since she could walk.

“My mom wanted me to do it ’cause she played in college too," Payne said.

Payne's drive doesn’t stop at the field; she manages to thrive in the classroom while navigating the demands of her senior year. After graduation, she plans to pursue a master’s degree in athletic training at Texas Tech University, with the goal of eventually working in professional sports.

Payne knows her success is no accident — it’s a result of careful time management and an unwavering commitment to excellence. She has found the library to be a haven for focused study time. Whether working solo or studying alongside teammates, she recognizes the importance of discipline in maintaining her high academic standards. She explained that traveling is often the hardest part of maintaining balance due to missed classes, requiring a high level of self-discipline to keep up with her studies.

Payne’s discipline is rooted in the lessons she’s learned from softball.

“Softball has definitely taught me that in like — not even the classroom but everything else,” Payne said. “Just making sure that, like, you have the basics down so that you can handle the bigger things when they come.”

For young athletes who are struggling to find balance, Payne has simple but reassuring advice: You’re not alone. She has learned that preparation is key to managing both games and exams. Her gameday routines — such as laying out her uniform the night before and enjoying a breakfast from Chick-fil-A — mirror how she preps for exams. For every test, she uses a pink pencil, and her batting gloves go on in a specific order: right hand first, then left.

As Payne nears the end of her time at Cameron University, she reflects on what she will miss most — her teammates.

Loughman is preparing to move back to her hometown after graduation to pursue a career in marketing or brand development. Like Payne, Loughman has had to strike a balance between her athletic commitments and her academic responsibilities.

For Loughman, the journey through college softball has been one of perseverance and growth. From her beginnings in t-ball, the Fort Worth, Texas, native has developed into a leader both on the field and in the classroom.

She credits much of her success to her support system, including her teammates and the older players who helped guide her when she was just starting out.

“There are always those older girls, like whenever I was younger they were like, ‘Oh, I can help you, I can help you,’” Loughman said. “And it was so nice knowing that somebody else has kind of gone through the same thing."

Loughman’s approach to academics is disciplined and structured. She often studies with her roommate, who also happens to be her teammate, and takes advantage of study hall hours to stay on top of her workload.

One of the people who made a lasting impact on Loughman’s academic career was Dr. Syed Ahmed, a former professor in Cameron University’s business department.

“Dr. Ahmed, who just passed away, he was my favorite teacher because I would show up to his class every day,” Loughman said. “He knew that I was in there and he knew that I wanted to, like, get a good grade and that I wanted to be there."

Despite her success, Loughman admits that the challenges of her final year have not been easy. After all, this is her third time being a senior — first as a high school senior, then as an undergraduate and now as a master’s student.

Both Payne and Loughman are examples of the hard work, dedication and discipline it takes to succeed as student-athletes at the collegiate level. For Payne, the dream of working in professional sports is well within reach as she prepares to embark on her next academic challenge. For Loughman, the world of marketing and brand development awaits, but not before she reflects on the mentorship and camaraderie that shaped her college experience.

Their advice to younger athletes rings clear: prioritize studies, seek help when needed and remember that the lessons learned on the field often carry over into the classroom — and beyond.

As these two athletes prepare for their next steps, they leave behind a legacy of not only athletic prowess but also academic excellence, proving that success is possible when discipline, focus and passion come together.

MUSIC RECITAL REVIEW

On Sept. 13, Cameron University’s music department held its first recital of the fall semester, separated into a piano and voice performance, and then general instruments concert, including brass, percussion, strings and woodwinds.

The general instruments concert, included three pieces, the "Three Romances, Op. 94" by Robert Schumann played by Matthew Hogg on flute with Yiuka Little on piano. "Vessels" by Ivan Trevino performed by Darnell Collins on the marimba followed by, "Divertimento No. 1" by Mozart performed by Bellamarie Saucedo on clarinet and Lillie Hodgson on piano.

Hogg performed the first two pieces of the "Three Romances" last semester, rounding it out at this recital with "Nicht Schnell" — meaning not fast, which he

played beautifully and confidently, with amazing breath control on the flute. Little played the piano powerfully yet graceful during the performance as well.

"Vessels", performed by Collins was my favorite piece, because the marimba is an interesting and beautiful-sounding instrument. Collins played with four mallets, two in each hand, displaying great control by narrowing and widening the space when needed. This piece was euphoric, softened by the marimba, then becoming thunderous at times, creating a memorable experience.

There was a slight intermission after Collins performed, so I took the opportunity to check on the voice and piano recital, meaning I missed the last performance of the general instruments.

There was a total of ten pieces played at this recital including, "The Gift to Sing" by Marques Garrett, performed by Shayson Lenee (mezzo-soprano) and

Greg Hoepfner on piano. "Norwegian Dances" by Edvard Grieg performed a piano duet by Hodgson and Chelsea Mitchell. "Suite de Danzas Criollas" by Alberto Ginastera was a total of five pieces performed by Hodgson on piano. Davina D'Haiti (soprano) and Greg Hoepfner performed "Va Godendo" by George Frideric Handel and finally, Arath Javierperformed "Sinfonia No. 15" by I.S Bach.

I was only able to watch the final two performances; however, I’m glad I caught what I did, because D'Haiti had a beautiful operatic-like voice that was so graceful, and Arath’s piece was mesmerizing.

Music students hold concerts and recitals at 11 a.m. every Friday, each with different performers, genres and organizational style. The next recital, on Sept. 20 will be all instruments and voices together. I highly encourage everyone to check out these performances if you have a chance.

Hannah Owens Managing Editor
Graphic by Hannah Owens

CU Memorial Stair Climb

At 6 a.m. on Sept. 11, Cameron University

ROTC held their annual Patriot’s Day Memorial Stair Climb, to honor fallen first responders and victims of the terrorist attacks America experienced twenty-three years ago, on this day.

The tragedy caused the deaths of 2,977 Americans — 441 of those were first responders who arrived on scene with the courage to run toward danger when it mattered the most. 9/11 is etched in

memories and shrouded in heartbreak because of those who woke that morning preparing for a normal day, only to take a catastrophic turn within hours.

Cameron ROTC Cadet Byron Farnsworth was the event’s logistic coordinator and invited the youth soccer teams that he coaches to participate in the stair climb.

“I know it’s not necessarily a part of what they grew up with,” Farnsworth said. “I can remember where I was at, sitting in school when 9/11 happened.

History has a tragic way of repeating itself, so remembering it and being a part of something bigger than yourself, is selfless and extremely important to being an outstanding young man or woman growing up.”

After opening statements and a brief invocation by an Army Chaplain, the memorial event officially kicked off with the loud explosion from Big Ollie, Cameron’s ROTC cannon, and Fire Engine — Squad Four out of Station Four on Cache Road — sounded the sirens and lit up the sky

with red and white lights. Participants began filing into either the East or West stairs of Cameron’s stadium in two groups, as directed by Cadet Farnsworth. Most were running and some walked hundreds of concrete stairs, up and down each section, then across the field to the opposite side, continuing on their physical journey of paying respect.

Deputy Fire Marshall Anthony Garibay stopped his run to share the importance of representing for the 3-4-3.

“The 343 firefighters

that gave their life on this day, we’re here to honor them and so much more, whether it’s the PD, EMS, we are here to honor them today.”

Cameron athletes participated alongside our local first responders, including members of softball, volleyball, men’s golf, track and field and cross country. The cheer squad and spirit team were present as mandated by their head coach Jaemyn Quinn

“I kind of touched on it, I said ‘it’s about 9/11, we all know what it’s about.” Quinn said. “I told them to come in

with good attitudes, and they didn’t have to put their most athletic foot forward, but you can put your most mental foot, and just coming out here, having fun and supporting Cameron.”

The outpour of support and contribution from so many across campus and the Lawton community shows that even more than two decades later, the events on that tragic day are far from forgotten. The memories of those lost souls will be preserved in history and live on with each passing year and commemorative event to come.

Kappa Sigma ends Fall Rush

Cameron University’s Kappa Sigma fraternity made history this fall by welcoming over 20 new recruits, marking the largest pledge class the chapter has seen in years. The nationally chartered fraternity hosted a series of engaging and creative events that drew in potential new members while emphasizing the value of brotherhood.

Rush week was aimed at giving prospective members a true sense of what Kappa Sigma represents. One of the most talked-about events was their Hot Ones trivia night, where attendees competed by answering questions while working their way through a series of progressively spicier chicken wings, mimicking the popular YouTube series.

Kappa Sigma also hosted a small indie concert that showcased local talent, providing a more laid-back vibe for attendees to enjoy. Several organized sports events rounded out the week including volleyball and soccer games, allowing potential new members to bond through friendly competition.

Rush coordinator Dominic Mann emphasized that these moments allowed potential members to see the fraternity’s commitment to building lasting relationships.

“I’d say after the events — like obviously the events were a lot of fun, but afterward like getting real with them,” Mann said.

“Getting out to-go food, chilling in the lounge or you know, just doing whatever, that’s usually like the most fun part.”

New pledge Aiden Chambers, spoke passionately about what brotherhood means to him and encouraged students considering fraternity life to look past the negative stereotypes that often surround Greek organizations.

“You know, we’re a family in a way and yeah — we’re just gonna stick up for one another, hold each other accountable and get stuff done,” Chambers said.

Kappa Sigma’s dedication to maintaining their national charter status has driven them to uphold high standards, both in recruitment and their on campus activities.

Mann acknowledged the misconceptions that some students may have about fraternities but invited them to explore Kappa Sigma with an open mind.

“I’d say definitely give it a shot, there’s a lot of negative-like stereotypes,” Mann said.

“And it doesn’t really apply to us. We take it pretty serious. We, you know, we try to be respectful and better men.”

Kappa Sigma continues to grow and remains committed to fostering a supportive and accountable brotherhood, proving that fraternity life at Cameron University can be both fun and meaningful.

Photos by Amanda Purser
Photos by Ramona Villegas

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BIBLE MANDATE Necessary or Not?

In June 2024 state Superintendent Ryan Walters announced the controversial rule requiring educators across the state of Oklahoma to teach the Bible in their classrooms. This mandate raised concerns among Oklahoma teachers and parents alike with some questioning the constitutionality of the decision.

Abington v. Schempp declared school-sponsored Bible reading and prayer unconstitutional in 1963, and freedom of religion is guaranteed in the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution — also, the Bible was already allowed to be taught in schools prior to this mandate.

Lawton Public School

(LPS) Transportation employee and parent Martina Zilles spoke out against the mandate.

“I’m not a fan of it because it seems against our Constitution,” Zilles said. “We’re supposed to have freedom of religion. This mandate goes against that. I want my kids and other kids to make up their own choice of religion.”

Zilles added that there are more pressing issues to consider, such as bullying and teaching kids empathy.

“I’d rather the schools keep the Pledge of Allegiance and teach students the proper respect and behavior for the National Anthem,” Zilles said, “to teach empathy and understanding that people live their lives differently and to not bully anybody unless they’ve endured the same hardships.”

The necessity of the mandate seems questionable, and Zilles’

sentiment was shared by a mother and LPS Child Nutrition employee who wished to remain anonymous.

“My main issue from a child nutrition standpoint is that religious dietary restrictions aren’t really a priority,” the source said, “and the kids who need options aren’t always given them or informed what they could eat as an alternative. I think that should be the school board and state’s first priority over allowing Bible education.”

She also believes that other religions should be considered when it comes to education and spoke about the lack of options for students from different religious backgrounds.

“We used to have turkey sausage, but they went back to pork and chicken,” she said, “I think that they should have turkey sausage options or just offer

more vegetarian options daily to accommodate religious dietary restrictions.”

It’s unknown if the mandate has affected the LPS district yet or if it ever will, despite Walters stating he expected “immediate and strict compliance” in a memo sent to school superintendents across the state.

Walters told NBC News that teachers who didn’t comply with the mandate could lose their teaching license; however, that claim has been proven mostly false.

State law gives local school districts the power to determine what will be in the curriculum,

though teaching licenses could be revoked for breaking state or federal law. It’s still unclear how

Photo
Ciera Terry
Walters’ mandate will affect Oklahoma families and schools; however, these changes appear to be minimal for now.
Courtesy Photo

“K aos”: GREEK MYTHOLOGY REIMAGINED

This review may contain minor spoilers (I tried to make it spoiler free, but hey, I’m only human–that’ll make sense later).

Trigger warning: some of the themes in this show and themes I will touch on in this review may be upsetting to some reading.

Narrated by the god Prometheus, “Kaos” is a new Netflix show that follows three humans and Zeus as they all come to terms with life-changing prophecies.

As a Greek mythology lover, I think this show did not disappoint.

Though Netflix marketed the show as a dark comedy, there are little to no funny or humorous aspects to this series.

In other words, if gore is not your thing, this show is not for you.

Besides that, “Kaos” was a very worthy and entertaining Greek retelling with a bomb soundtrack.

Many well-known Greek mythology figures are present in the show like Zeus, Hera, Medusa, Orpheus, Eurydice, Dionysus, Hades and Persephone.

Jeff Goldblum plays Zeus and though beloved by everyone in the world including me, he plays such a fantastic villain. So much so that there were points in the show where I found myself unable to look at him because of the absolutely horrible things he had done and the way he was treating literally all of the other characters.

Because of this, his Zeus had the honor of recieving the award for my least favorite character in the show.

The show features the very famous and iconic story of Orpheus and Eurydice and a new take on the story of Hades and Persephone and Dionysus’ character itself.

Most retellings depict Persephone as someone forced to go to the underworld and submit to Hades’ will, but not this retelling.

Persephone is a strong female character who says that she genuinely loves Hades and there are many scenes throughout the show’s eight episodes where Persephone is even helping Hades lead in the Underworld.

If you know anything about Greek mythology, you know that Dionysus is always depicted as being a drunkard who is always just kind of there and does not really contribute to any important aspect of the story.

“Kaos” depicts Dionysus as a young man who largely spends his time among the humans in Krete, and he has grown very fond of them.

He advocates for humans to the other gods every chance he gets, even if they don’t listen or take him seriously.

Arguably, he is one of the most, if not the most, important character in the entire show and my favorite character out of everyone in the entire series.

Another character change were the Furies.

The Furies are a huge part of the story,

and they are depicted as gruff biker chicks which I really enjoyed, and it added way more believability as to why all of these humans were afraid of them.

The stylistic choice to differentiate each setting in the show added to its fantasy appeal.

There were three main settings: Mount Olympus, Earth and the Underworld.

Mount Olympus is shown as always sunny and bright. The gods’ estate is here and everything is green with a magnificent garden and mansion sitting right in the middle of it. No one resides here except some of the gods and a few ball boys that Zeus takes every opportunity to kill.

Earth or, more specifically, Krete (based on the real city of Crete, Greece) is a colorful oceanside city that is home to two of our super important humans: Eurydice or “Riddy” and Ariadne “Ari”. Everything about Earth and its people is beautifully flawed and as one can imagine, Zeus is always subjecting humans to horrible things.

The Underworld is the third and final setting of the series. Just like in traditional Greek mythology, the Underworld is where Hades, Persephone and the dead reside. Every scene in the Underworld is grayscale this way audiences have a clear sign telling them when the story has switched over.

This effect is the only thing about the Underworld that gives off any ominous or “otherworldly” vibes because the rest of it is pretty tame compared to the original

mythology.

Combining these three very diverse settings together makes a visually entertaining and easy to follow narrative.

The soundtrack for this series was impeccable and featured songs like “Escape (The Pina Colada Song)” by Rupert Holmes, “The Man Who Sold the World” by David Bowie and “Gimme Gimme Gimme” by ABBA.

More than once, I found myself moving and grooving to the music despite the horribleness that might have been happening on onscreen.

This series has so much going for it already, but the biggest thing that I loved about this show was the theme that kept coming up over and over again throughout all eight episodes: humans are capable of so much good.

The show stresses that ALL humans have an internal desire to be good and do good and, therefore, humans are better and more powerful than the gods have ever dreamed about being.

The gods are always looking out for themselves and are never willing to work together to accomplish literally anything whereas the humans are hardwired for community and when they work together, they can take down even those that are as powerful as the infamous Greek gods.

I have been recommending this show to literally everyone, but seriously, if you are not a fan of gore or mentions of suicide, please do not watch it. No piece of media is worth risking your peace.

A very solid 8.5/10.

THE UNENDING RISE OF A MIDWEST PRINCESS

Serenity Clark

Show”, as well as at MTV’s Video Music Awards. She received four VMA nominations: Push Performance, Trending Video, Song of the Summer (“Good Luck, Babe!”) and Best New Artist.

explosion; according to Billboard, her “weekly streams are more than 20 times greater than they were at the start of the year.”

her in 2020; the trials and tribulations she underwent during that time in Los Angeles, trying to

survive as a starving artist and a newly-out queer woman, are what created “The Rise and Fall of a Missouri native and rising pop legend Chappell Roan released her first full length album on Sept. 22, 2023, titled “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess,” containing fourteen songs with a runtime of 49 minutes.

Loaded top to bottom with musical masterpieces, the album is heavily inspired by 80s synth-pop icons like Madonna and Cyndi Lauper, and early 2000s club classics like Lady Gaga. In the short and explosive year following the release of this album, Chappell Roan has catapulted from obscure artist with maybe thirty thousand monthly listeners to a global superstar on her way to become a household name and a legend in the world of pop music and culture.

She has graced numerous iconic festival stages like Boston Calling, Bonnaroo, Gov Ball, Coachella, and Lollapalooza – the latter of which, Chappell reportedly drew in the largest Lollapalooza crowd of all time, with over 110,000 people present during her set. Chappell was also invited to perform on Jimmy Fallon’s “Tonight

Big names like Tyla, Shaboozey and Gracie Abrams were also nominated for Best New Artist this year – and the Midwest Princess still came out on top, making Chappell Roan an awardwinning debut artist.

But back then, immediately following its release, the album received little fanfare outside of Chappell’s immediate and still relatively small fanbase. At this time according to Billboard, her “total on-demand official U.S. streams” sat at about two million.

She existed in a small yet very specific corner of the universe, not yet the superstar we see blazing across the global stage on a nearly weekly basis.

The true rise of this Midwest princess did not occur until April 5, following the release of hit single “Good Luck, Babe!”, which currently has nearly seven hundred million streams of its own on Spotify.

This single is the driving force behind her

Not to mention that there was a re-release of physical copies of the album to celebrate its anniversary, really helping to boost numbers, sales and charting. Last year the album debuted with approximately three thousand copies sold; that number has multiplied tenfold according to Billboard, with a new current total of fiftyfive thousand copies sold.

Chappell Roan is not someone who decided to release a song on TikTok six months ago and blew up by the grace of the algorithm–she has been releasing original music since 2016 and signed to her first label in 2017.

Atlantic Records moved her out to Los Angeles at the ripe age of eighteen and said good luck, babe! The label then dropped

Midwest Princess”.

This album lays out a beautiful, swirling story of discovery, empowerment, belonging, as well as betrayal, heartbreak and disappointment beyond anything we could imagine. But hardship after hardship, Chappell always gets back up again. What a beautiful thing it is to hear an album such as this, to listen to an artist yearn for home after realizing her dream wasn’t going to be how she hoped and then to finally witness her getting her flowers.

An album that came into the world with little announcement now sits at the top of numerous global charts. A queer woman from the Midwest carries the torch for pop music, creating a space for other creatives and members of the LGBTQ+ community to be truly themselves, free of expectations, restrictions, assumptions or any other kind of rules.

Roan is a true artist and icon, unwavering in her authenticity even in the face of massive fame. A true trailblazer.

Graphic by Kaley Muse
Photo Courtesy of Netflix

Every semester, Cameron University students pursue a variety of internships that offer real world professional experience. Two students, Shayson Hodges and Julian Asogwa, found internships directly in their fields of study and had the opportunity to travel out of state and gain work experience.

Last summer, Junior Computer Science major Julian Asogwa started an internship at Google at their main headquarters located in Mountain View, California.

After applying on their website in September 2023, Asogwa interviewed several times before he accepted an offer to intern.

As an international student from Nigeria, Asogwa needed the internship to count toward graduation; after he completed the internship, he received three upper division class credits.

The internship was for software engineering; as a software engineer, Asogwa coded new features at the company.

Asogwa obtained on-the-job

training.

“They teach you the things you actually need to know for the job, on the job,” Asogwa said.

At the internship, Asogwa had to find his own accommodations but did receive a housing stipend for the three months he would work.

He found housing in San Jose, a town 30 minutes away from the internship.

“The campus is huge … if I was going to describe it, I would say it was the ‘Corporate Utopia,’” Asogwa said.

Asogwa was most surprised about the many perks and accommodations the company offered, including sleeping pods, free meals and snacks, free transportation to and from the office, work lounges and more.

Asogwa said he enjoyed the experience and was thankful for the internship; he learned more about his skills and capabilities as a software engineer directly from professionals, .

Shayson Hodges is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre with concentrations in both performance and technical theatre.

Hodges accepted an internship from Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival,

a professional theatre company at Desales University in Center Valley, Pennsylvania.

Hodges trained in stage management, meaning they were helping the stage manager oversee the technical aspects of the productions, from rehearsals to the actual performances themselves. Hodges received pay along with accommodations at the university.

Hodges helped manage “The Play that Goes Wrong” and “The Color Purple”.

Being Earnest” in Fall 2022. During the internship, Hodges learned even more about stage management.

Placed in charge of stage right, Hodges had to handle everything that happened on her end of the stage. This includes an injury that occurred during a scene in “The Color Purple” in which a character points a knife at another character.

“They teach you the things you actually need to know for the job, on the job,”

The production company was also made up of more than 200 people.

Computer Science

Hodges was going to gain more hands-on experience with a bigger company than they had before.

“When it comes to technical theatre, stage management is definitely where my heart lies,” Hodges said.

Hodges has experience being stage manager for Cameron productions including the Student Play Festival in Spring 2024 and “The Importance of

like-minded individuals

At 5:15pm every other Wednesday in the science complex room 102, the Biology Club meets, and they’re ready to blitz into action with the new members who have joined this semester.

Like a diverse ecosystem springing to life, the influx of new participants means new ideas and enthusiasm for the remainder of the fall semester. Each person has unique reasons for wanting to join, like its community, networking or meeting like-minded individuals.

Biology major Aryanna Brodeur attended the semester’s initial meeting.

“I feel like it’d be fun to get to know more people and just socialize I guess,” Brodeur said, “I don’t really have any expectations other than hopefully everybody’s really nice and friendly.”

Psychology and Biology major Senior Monica Thompkins has been a member of the Biology Club for a year, and decided to step into a leadership role, securing the secretary position.

Thompkins responsibilities include taking notes during the meetings and jotting down any members’ ideas. She hopes to focus on recruitment this semester.

“We started dwindling last semester, towards the end,” Thompkins said, “and so we are hoping to gain more membership and create new opportunities for the upcoming freshman because

we know that it’s really important to kind of get ahead on like the volunteer hours and also just having that experience on their resumes early on.”

The Biology Club offers many resources for those interested in a variety of science applications and everyone is welcome to attend.

“I’d say just come on out to a meeting,” Thompkins said. “Meet us—I think we’re pretty cool people, and so you know, just come on out.”

Vice President James Hayes led the initial meeting in place of President James Ross who was at a presentation by evolutionary biologist, zoologist, science communicator, and author Richard Dawkins.

Last year, the club sold snake plants in front of the science complex as a fundraiser, and the plan is the same for either the fall or spring semester.

“This year, we got a lot more variety going on,” Hayes said. “There is a lot in the facility and more students participating in getting it propagated.”

Whether students are DNA enthusiasts, plant whisperers, or simply curious about what the biology club could offer, they would love to have more studentes become a member.

At 5 p.m. on Oct. 11 in the science complex, the Biology Club will host a potluck with other science-based organizations on campus.

For more information email the faculty advisor, Dr Cory Parks at cparks@cameron.edu.

“An actor moved a little too aggressively and ended up nicking another actor,” Hodges said. While it was a minor injury, Hodges had to maintain a calm demeanor while the actress was furious that she was injured.

After taking care of the situation, stage managers made sure actors rehearsed the scene more carefully

Cameron’s Summer Internships Biology CluB

Photo by Ramona Villegas

USA, this summer was one of golden glory. From the gymnastics floor to the Paralympic track, American athletes delivered historical performances, and we highlight some of the most remarkable moments.

After the women’s gymnastics team experienced the heartbreak of settling for silver in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, the USA women’s gymnastics team arrived in Paris on a mission to take back the gold medal. Led by Simone Biles, the team included, Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, and Hezly Rivera securing gold in the team final, reaffirming Team USA’s dominance on the world stage.

Biles believes that Team USA had something to prove after the 2020 Olympics.

“This is definitely our redemption tour,” Biles said. “I feel like we all have more to give, and our Tokyo performances weren’t the best.”

Biles showed up brightly, winning gold medals in the individual all-around and on vault, plus silver on floor, solidifying her place as one of the greatest gymnasts

seconds, barely beating Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson by 0.005 seconds, cementing Lyles as the fastest man in the world.

Team USA men’s basketball continued its Olympic dominance, claiming their fifth consecutive gold medal after a hardfought win over host nation France. The final score of 98-87 doesn’t express just how close the game was, as Team USA held a narrow lead coming down the stretch. It was the miraculous shooting of Steph Curry that turned the momentum in the game for Team USA, sinking four straight three-pointers in the closing moments, with the last shot being over two defenders from deep, Curry secured his first gold medal with a Team USA win in remarkable fashion.

In the pool, Katie Ledecky continued showing why she is one of the most dominant athletes in Olympic history.

Becoming the first woman to win four consecutive gold medals in the 800-meter freestyle, with a winning time of 8:11.04, Ledecky’s victory

Paralympics began right after the 2024 Olympics. Winning gold in the 100 T63 race and high jump T63, Ezra Frech emerged as one of Team USA’s breakout stars.

Frech’s victory in the 100 was a stunning surprise, as he came from behind to win in remarkable fashion.

“I expected to win the high jump. That was always something I expected to do,” Frech said. “But to win the 100 meter— totally shocked me. I was prepared that I could medal, I knew I could do that but it’s different when it happens in the moment.”

Matt Stutzman, known as the “Armless Archer,” has impressed audiences for over a decade with his unique technique—shooting arrows with his feet. Stutzman, in his final Paralympics, gave a memorable farewell performance as he won gold in men’s individual archery. Stutzman hit a perfect bullseye to win a one-arrow shootoff in the semifinals and went on to set a Paralympic record by scoring 149 out of 150 points in the final.

In one of the most inspirational stories of the Paralympics, Ali Truwit won two silver medals in para swimming just 16 months after losing her leg due to a shark attack. Competing in her very first Paralympics, Truwit took silver

backstroke S10 events. Her journey from a devastating injury to becoming a Paralympic medalist became one of the most encouraging stories of the Games.

After years of chasing gold, Hunter Woodhall finally stood atop the podium in Paris, winning the men’s 400 T62 final with a time of 46.36 seconds. As a three-time Paralympian, Woodhall had won four previous medals but never gold. What made the win sweeter was his wife, Tara Davis-Woodhall, cheering from the stands. Just a month earlier, she had won her first Olympic gold in the women’s long jump. Their shared victory became one of the most heartwarming moments of the Games, showcasing their love as two world-class athletes.

The 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Paris will be remembered for their record-breaking moments, thrilling races and stories of perseverance. Team USA’s athletes left their mark for the world to see, from Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky to Ezra Frech and Matt Stutzman. The performances we witnessed this summer are a testament to the power of dedication, strength and the human spirit. As the Olympic flame extinguished in Paris, the legacy of these 2024 Games will live on, inspiring future generations of athletes to push the

Photos by IOC Media

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