Daily Helmsman The
Tuesday, September 1, 2011
Tigers seeking an upset MSU visits the Liberty Bowl ranked 20th in the nation. Can the Tigers pull off the win?
Vol. 79 No. 5
Independent Student Newspaper of The University of Memphis
see page 8 www.dailyhelmsman.com
Raising the bar
UM Law ranked among top schools in nation for value
A faux businness card of At Stake: Vampire Solutions, from the mockumentary film that shares the title, rests on the desk of the fictional company. Production staff and cast members of the independent film include University of Memphis students and graduates.
Student satire sucks the life from traditional docs BY CHRISTOPHER WHITTEN News Reporter
ple and their fears, worries and struggles with vampires,” Craig said, which brings back the needed tension of the long-feared Some University of Memphis students big-screen monster. may not have heard about the police The satirical movie is about a college officer in Marianna, Ark. who killed a film student who shoots a documentary on 13-year-old girl that turned into a vampire how the economy has affected a Northern and killed her own family. Mississippi company that specializes in That’s because the hunting and it’s part of a recentextermination of ly completed movie he movie deals vampires. by Cellardoor “I have been with a more realisCinema. a fan for a while “At Stake: of the firsttic approach to deal- now Vampire Solutions” person footage ing with vampires as films that keep is a dark comedy written by Duane up, but opposed to movies like popping P. Craig, 35. there is a similar Craig was problem with a lot ‘Twilight.’” the winner of of them,” Craig Memphis-based said. “They most— Jimmy Patterson Cellardoor ly never give solid cast member, “At Stake: Cinema’s first reasoning why Vampire Solutions” feature-length someone seriously screenplay contest in 2010. The company kept a camera rolling for all of that time – is headed by U of M sophomore foreign the plausibility isn’t there.” language major Jim Weter, who returned Weter directed, edited and produced the to college after he earned a bachelor’s film between last October and March of this degree from The U of M in film and video year. He finished post-production in July. production in 2009. He said Cellardoor Cinema plans to Craig is best known for his spe- submit the movie to prominent film festicial effects work in the Memphis film vals including Sundance, Toronto, Cannes community. and Berlin. “I realized quickly that no one really “Our main goal is to get it sold,” Weter fears vampires anymore, so much as we said. “The film festivals are just to adverare made to like them or be like them. I tise the film.” took that away,” Craig said. Besides being extremely cold, the winTheater arts major Jimmy Patterson and ter production was fun, Kimble said. U of M graduate Jerry Kimble were cast “The sets were incredible. For it to be an in the film after taking a film class with independent film, it was extremely profesWeter. sional,” he said. “The movie deals with a more realisThe film took nearly a year to finish. tic approach to dealing with vampires Weter said the movie will be the first as opposed to movies like ‘Twilight,’” installment in a trilogy. The second film, Patterson said. also written by Craig, is set to begin proThe movie’s focus is on “everyday peo- duction in October.
“T
The Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at The University of Memphis was recently recognized as a “best value” law program for the fifth time in PreLaw Magazine, a national publication for law students. The list was created as a way to critique the nation’s “best value” programs among the 200 law programs across the nation. Each law program receives a grade after rigorous calculations on its program’s effectiveness in relation to cost, debt and employment. Jack Crittenden, founder and editor of PreLaw magazine, said the list offers his readers a list of quality education at an affordable price. To meet qualifications for the title, the law school had to surpass the state’s average bar passage rate of 83.16 percent. Additional requirements include alumni debt below $100,000 and a post-graduation employment rate of 85 percent. In July 2010, 90.36 percent of U of M law school students passed the bar
exam, the highest bar passage rate since the school’s opening in 1962. The employment rate for class of 2010 was 86 percent. In-state tuition for the program was $14,318, while average per-student debt was $67,074. Kevin Smith, dean of the U of M School of Law, said that the curriculum there is no different from any other law school. Smith said he believes the law school’s success stems from a combination of students and faculty yielding exceptional results. “Our program is comprised of vigorous education, high bar passage rates and respective amount of alumni and prestigious colleagues that recognize our track record,” Smith said Although the jury is still out on the official grade, this year will mark the fifth time the law school was recognized as one of 60 institutions competing for the highest grades for the final ranking. Grades are to be released on October 11. Despite the grade on the final rankings, Smith said he will remain proud of the faculty and hard-working students. “Just being on the list is recognition enough,” said Smith.
Dropping out? Better check the calendar, or it could cost you BY ERICA HORTON News Reporter University of Memphis students were alerted by email Aug. 12 of changes to the Return to Title IV, a process that returns unused federal financial aid to the government. In the past, The University did not have to file a Return to Title IV for students who received federal financial aid but did not meet the deadline to pay tuition and fees. Because of changes to the Return to Title IV, students who did not drop their classes by the fee payment deadline are considered enrolled as of the first day of classes and are therefore charged for the
amount of time they are enrolled at The U of M. “The change to the Return to Title IV says if a student is enrolled as of the start of the semester we have to make the Return to Title IV calculation starting at that date,” said Betty Huff, vice provost of enrollment services. “Before if they were purged, we didn’t have to do it. Now, it’s anyone registered as of the start of classes.” Huff said as of Aug. 12, approximately 6,500 applied to The University of Memphis as freshman for fall 2011. More than 4,000 were accepted and almost 70 percent receive federal financial aid. The revised article is not to be con-
see
Federal, page 6
photo illustration by Scott Carroll
courtesy of Tore Redford
BY HANNAH OWENGA News Reporter