11/16/15 Issue

@HSUORACLE www.hsuoracle.com

Henderson State University - Monday, November 16, 2015 - Volume 109, Issue 12

REDDIES RULE THE RAVINE HSU pulls the win over OBU 21-17 P.10

THE ORACLE

STUDENTS ARRESTED 4

Thirteen HSU students arrested for vandalism and drugs during BOTR week

THE ORACLE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF – Moe Skinner FACULTY ADVISER – Mike Taylor COPY EDITOR – Madison MacNew NEWS EDITOR – Carmin Wills SPORTS EDITOR – Katie Smith FEATURES EDITOR – Rickey Miller VIEWS EDITOR – Dax Guilliams PHOTO EDITOR – Joshua Bradley PAGE DESIGNER – Melanie Cole AD DESIGNER – Chris Sharp GRAPHIC DESIGNER – Jordan Jones ONLINE EDITOR – Ashley Smith

PHOTO BY SCOTT MCKINNON

8

ART EXHIBIT HSU Alumni show off their work

PHOTO BY KRISTINE MOORE

16

A SUMMER STORY Catch the play before it ends

BUSINESS MANAGER – Coley Henson

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Have an opinion on an issue or response to what we said? Just want to rant about something for a while? Write us at ORACLE@HSU.EDU. We want to hear what you think. Hell, if it doesn’t suck, we’ll publish it in next week’s issue. Try to keep it between 400 and 600 words. Just like your Tumblr, we ignore anonymous submissions.

COVER Christian Love refuses to let OBU get too far.

PHOTO BY SCOTT MCKINNON.

7

PHOTO BY DEE MCKISSICK

NOTHING BUT BUSINESS Students learn to follow through with their business plans

NOV. 16, 2015

PROFESSOR

FEATURES

VIEWS

SPA CITY

HUMOR

SPORTS

3

PUBLICATION New book released by professors STORY BY JAMES JACKSON Three comic nerds were sitting on a bench and said, “Hey, it would be really cool to teach a class on creating comics.”

Thus the idea of the class Nonfiction Comics was born.

“The idea was probably spontaneously generated when we were sitting on the bench chatting between sets of tennis,” Randy Duncan, professor of communications and theatre arts, said.

This class is going to be taught this spring by a combination of three teachers at the same time. Duncan, Michael Taylor, professor of communication, and David Stoddard, professor of art, are three teachers that have this unique task of combing their three different talents into one class.

“Nonfiction Comics will be like getting three classes for the price of one, because it is team taught by an artist, a journalist and a comics scholar,” Duncan said. “Students will learn skill sets from each of these areas, and they will learn how to integrate those skills in the creation of their comics.”

The class will cover credits in COM, MMC, and ART. This class will include an appearance from Andy Warner, a specialist in non-fiction and journalism style comics. He is also the creator of “Irene.” The students of this class will receive is a Skype tour of The Center for Cartoon Studies, which has a two-year master of fine arts degree program for people interested in the field.

You don’t have to be an artist or a journalist – you just need to have some interest in memoir, journalism, or documentary. The book “Creating Comics as Journalism Memoir and Nonfiction,” will be used for the class and was also created by the three professors.

The class will have all three professors present in class daily. This will help aid in one-on-one time from different prospective as students work on their comics.

“We all like reading nonfiction comics, but to make you need very different skills: reporting and writing; art and design; and an understanding of how comics work,” Taylor said.

It took two years of writing, rewriting, and editing, as each professor was responsible for different chapters in the book.

“Since it’s the first book of its kind, the publishers were eager to see it,” Taylor said.

The class will give students a unique means of storytelling for journalism, personal memoir, and even traditional nonfiction. This class will count toward the new coming Comic Studies minor that Henderson has begun offering. This minor will have classes ranging from English, mass media, communication, psychology, and art.

THREE AMIGOS — David Stoddard, Randy Duncan and Mike Taylor reveal their dedication to comic creations with their new book

PHOTO PROVIDED BY WILLIAM HARVEY FROM TRI-LAKES EDITION

For Rent: Pet Friendly Apts 1 block from campus Large 1BR1BA $425-$500 plus utilities www.aperfectplace.weebly.com 501-318-0170

4

FEATURES

VIEWS

SPA CITY

DO NOT PASS GO A week full of crime for HSU STORY BY MOE SKINNER

JAVEON MANOS

HUNTER DEVINE

KADE CLAYTON

NICHOLAS BROTHERS

ISAAC CONWAY

CAMRON WHITE

WOODSON LEATH

ADAM BIRDWELL

ANIKAE BROWN

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THV11 AND MOBILE PATROL

HUMOR

SPORTS

At least 13 Henderson students face a variety of criminal charges after BOTR week. What started out as traditional pranks and innocent fun between students from Henderson and OBU quickly escalated with violence and several acts of vandalism which led to multiple arrests.

Campus police responded Monday night to an alleged attack on campus against a student.

Johnny Campbell, chief of university police, said the student was walking from Newberry to Huie library and was attacked by the former Caddo dining services building. Campbell said they had a person of interest and were still investigating the incident.

“I expect an upcoming arrest soon,” Campbell said Friday afternoon.

Two OBU students reported trouble on their campus to the authorities by just after midnight Wednesday morning. According to an APD incident report filed by Cpl. Adam Taylor, four Henderson students, Ayanna Maria Willis, 20, Taylor Breonne Johnson, 19, Jason Lynn Deloach, 19, Jakel Satterwhite, 19, were accused of throwing eggs at a couple of cars in the OBU parking lot. The witnesses stated they got in their Jeep and chased them down and hollered for them to “get off the property.” A chase ensued after and the OBU students called 911 and began giving the dispatcher street-by-street direction of their locations.

“Two people in the back (seat) were leaning all the way out of the windows throwing eggs,” Witness one reported.

As dispatch called out the street locations for the officers, Cpl. Taylor damaged his patrol car while turning around in what appeared to be a “self-poured” concrete driveway.

Officer Shawn Johnson initiated the stop on the vehicle near the Henderson stadium. Taylor arrived at the traffic stop and observed the rear bumper on his patrol car had been damaged due to the driveway.

During the stop, officers located an empty egg carton a short distance from the stop location. Officers also found a cracked egg in the front passenger floor board, approximately seven rolls of toilet paper, one can of silly string, one roll of red tape and a receipt from Walmart that verified the purchase of all the items.

Officers cited all the students with second degree criminal mischief and the driver was also cited with careless and prohibited driving.

APD is requesting that the driver and all persons involved be responsible for payment of damages made to patrol unit #142 during the apprehension of suspected offenders.

In a separate incident early Wednesday morning, seven redshirts from the Reddie football team were arrested and booked into Clark County jail for first degree criminal mischief.

A redshirt means the player is part of the team but not necessarily listed on the team roster.

According to Clark County booking sheets, Woodson Leath, 19, Isaac Conway, 18, Nicholas Brothers, 18, Hunter Williams Devine, 18, Kade Michael Clayton, 18, Camron Qwondetric White, 18, were arrested and remained in jail until Thursday. Javeon Tremayne Manos, 19, was booked in and released on Thursday afternoon.

On Friday, Scott Maxfield, head football coach, stated in an email response, “They were squad members of the team but none had participated in any games.” Maxfield also stated, “They have all been suspended indefinitely.”

Later Wednesday afternoon, Drug Task Force contacted campus police and executed a search warrant at Ridge Point Apartment #132.

According to the incident report, a bag of marijuana valued at $20, a metal grinder and a digital scale were located inside the apartment. Jesse Criff, 24, was charged by campus police with possession of a controlled substance. Curtis Calvin, 19, was charged by DTF officers with possession of drug paraphernalia. Criff and Calvin were charged the next day with terroristic threatening against the arresting officers, Campbell said.

Adam Slade Birdwell, 18, was arrested on several charges Thursday. According to Clark County booking sheet, Birdwell was charged for distribution near certain facilities, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a schedule IV controlled substance, possession of marijuana with intent to deliver and possession of drugs and firearms.

Chief Campbell also confirmed an arrest on Friday at the corner of Eleventh and Henderson Street. Mekanikae Brown, 22, was charged with possession of controlled substance marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

“The students who were arrested will go through the campus judicial process, which is similar to the process they will go through for the charges they are accused of. They will have an opportunity to defend themselves against the charges and then will have a judgment handed down,” Tonya Oaks Smith, executive director of marketing and communications, stated in an email response. “There is a wide range of penalties that could be imposed - from community service to paying restitution to suspension.”

NOV. 16, 2015

FEATURES

VIEWS

SPA CITY

HUMOR

SPORTS

5

SIGNS OF CHANGING TIMES New proposal for control of an aging system STORY BY DOMINICK CELLA

GRAPHIC BY JORDAN JONES A new proposal for a Late Course Addition Policy is being submitted to the faulty senate. The senate met Nov. 4 at 3 p.m. and discussed several issues.

One of the issues that was brought up by Ingo Schranz, professor of chemistry and member of the Academics Committee, was the new draft of a Late Course Addition Policy proposal created by Elwyn Martin, registrar.

There are currently no concrete procedures or policies in place, other than the fact that students cannot add a class after the first two days of class. However this policy is often broken for any number of reasons by both students and faculty.

“In the first two days of school you can add a course in the advisors office or on myHenderson, if you’re not a freshman, as you please, after that you’re not supposed to,” Schranz said. “However, all it takes to add a course is for the instructor to write an email to the registrar and for the registrar to do that.”

The new proposal states, beginning Monday of the second week during fall and springs semesters and the third day of summer terms, late additions must be submitted by the student and approved by the instructor and college dean.

Starting Monday on the fourth week and the fifth day of summer terms classes can no longer be added.

This is a large improvement when compared to the current policy, which is not strict and has almost no regulation.

“The current system is not regulated at all and he has a problem with it,” said Schranz when speaking of Martin’s reasoning for creating the new draft. “This can go on for weeks two, three, four, even five and six.”

This new proposal was put together to grant better control of the system.

The current system in place allows for changes to be made to the schedule without student approval. This makes it possible for a student to be failing a class they didn’t know they were in, or to say that they didn’t know the professor requested for them to be added if they are failing.

The suggestion is that there should be a record or signature of some sort to avoid these types of mix-ups. This also creates a large volume of work to get done in just the first two days of classes for the registrar’s office to take care of. The draft suggests that during the first week of fall and spring semesters students may add a course online or in their advisors office in order to alleviate the workload of the administrators.

There is a proposed amendment to the draft stating that if a professor realizes a student should not be in the class at all and must be sent back into a remedial class or placed ahead into a higher level class, that there should be the ability to have a “course transfer” in week four and possibly week five. However, there still may not be a course added to the student’s schedule at this point.

“This is just a draft and there will be a better proposal with new amendments,” Schranz said.

This new proposal will help not only the faculty but the students as well, as it would allow for last minute changes and forgiveness for signing up for the wrong level of a class.

6

FEATURES

VIEWS

SPA CITY

HUMOR

SPORTS

A CHANCE TO CAPTURE HISTORY

A different style of class offered in the spring STORY BY CARMIN WILLS With a new semester just around the corner, students should begin thinking about what classes to take next semester.

Because this is the 125 year anniversary of Henderson, the history of this school is being, investigated, documented and archived. Next semester students will get the opportunity to help in this process.

Angela Boswell, professor of history, is offering a different kind of class. It is called special topics in oral history.

“We will first study the history of Henderson and the community,” Boswell said.

Students in this class will then study the skills and techniques of oral history, and go out in the community and use those techniques to gather information. This information will come in the form of people’s memories.

These memories can be about their lives or about a particular historical event.

Instead of reading documents the students that enroll in this class will be taking down memories, the memories of people. Armed with recording devices, students will be interviewing people, but interviewing in a special way.

“We have not taught the techniques or what is involved in doing oral history before,” Boswell said. “In oral history we are encouraging people to just ramble digging at their memories, their feelings and their understandings of the past.”

In this specialized history class, students will gain a deeper understanding of the past, and how the past affected the people of that time. This will give students a stronger understanding and sense of history.

“I am very excited about it,” Boswell said.

It will be good for many different majors such as journalism, communications, teachers, and of course

historians. Boswell feels there will be a lot of people interested in this course.

It will teach skills that students should develop and should enjoy developing and using in many different ways. It will be an important way of archiving information about the past.

“When you get into the details, that is the exciting part of history,” Boswell said.

Students that enroll in this class will be talking to former students, faculty members and members of the community to form a better understanding of the history of Henderson, the community and Arkansas.

The people that know the history of Henderson and the community will not be around forever, so it is important to collect this information before it is too late.

“We don’t want to lose this history,” Boswell said.

In this class, students will not only learn the skills and techniques of oral history but they will also be preserving the past and will be able to make a long standing concrete contribution to the history of Henderson and the community. By archiving the oral histories that students gather in the library these will be preserved for many years to come.

This class is available for both undergraduate and graduate students.

But there are only 22 seats available, and they will fill quickly. If students are interested in helping document the history of Henderson and having their recordings archived in the library they should secure a seat in this class.

Boswell said this will be a great opportunity for students to enjoy history and do something productive with it. They will have more special topics classes but none of them will be quite like this one.

“This is going to be a one shot deal,” Boswell said.

GRAPHIC BY JORDAN JONES

NOV. 16, 2015

FEATURES

VIEWS

SPA CITY

HUMOR

SPORTS

7

STRAIGHT OUTTA HENDERSON — From Left, Tiffany McNeil, Sheldon Lewallen, Shelby Dixon and are excited about the new t-shirts

GETTING DOWN TO BASICS Students try their hands at small business STORY AND PHOTO BY DEE MCKISSICK

A ribbon cutting was held to officially begin student-operated business sales last week. Students in the Intro to Business class held a grand opening for their own business ventures. During Wednesday’s noon hour, the first floor hallway of the Garrison was lined with different products, ideas, and advertisement gimmicks.

Eight groups of three were put together by the instructor. Each group member was responsible for putting $35 behind his or her business. Each business had to use the elements they had learned in class such as promotion, advertisement, product and profit.

After the ribbon cutting sales started the three of the frequently visited tables where JSS Apparel, Singin’ Sweets & Reddie Ade. Each had a different advertisement and different products.

Singin’ Sweets was a musical table that sold brownies and cookies. A laptop and speaker was set up to allow customers to choose a song and perform karaoke.

This table got the attention of Veronica Salazar, associate dean of students, who was passing by.

She joined in the action by performing a song by Selena.

JSS Apparel provided customers with afford-

able Reddie apparel. Two shirts were available for pre-order. One shirt was white with black block lettering with the words “straight out of Henderson” on the front. The other white shirt with “Henderson” printed through the middle of a red tribal designed heart.

The shirts sold for $10 and the group met its goal by being more affordable than the bookstore.

“Knowing that Battle of the Ravine was coming up, we knew that people would want shirts they could wear to the game,” Shelby Dixon, freshman accounting major, said.

“We made [the price] $10 because we were trying to be cheaper then the shirts in the bookstore,” Sheldon Lewallen, freshman business management major, said.

For a homemade drink, Reddie Ade was there.

This business idea was simple, a cup of lemonade sold for $1.

Reddie Ade’s promotion had their competitors wanting to try their skill. The deal was – after a finishing the cup of lemonade; the customer was given a ping-pong ball to shoot into the cup. If the ball was made in the cup, the customer won $2.

Paris Landers, junior chemistry major, was the first to make the shot, and everyone who had tried before him was shocked.

“I really didn’t think anybody would get the shot,” Dixon said after she had tried three times before Landers took his turn.

The purpose of the market grand opening was to give students a place to sale, and get a feel of running their business. Participants were given two months to work on their business plan, put together a product, promote their product and fulfill every task that needed to be done. They will be graded not based on sales numbers but overall experience.

“We wanted to give the student a venue to sell.

They don’t really have a place so this is serving as their space for now,” Lisa Hernandez, instructor of management, said. “We wanted to give them experience so we cannot grade them on how much they made — we will grade them on what they got out of it.”

Lisa Massey, instructor of accounting, was very pleased with the afternoon festivities. She walked around taking pictures and greeted each group with a smile and a few encouraging words.

“This is a great turnout and all the tables looked great. We hope to keep this going each semester,” Massey said.

8

NEWS

VIEWS

SPA CITY

HUMOR

SPORTS

125 YEARS OF ARTWORK

Distinguished alumni art exhibit STORY BY BRIANA CURRY

OBSERVING — Spectators admiring the art exhibits during the 125th Distinguished Alumni Art Exhibition Henderson’s 125th Anniversary Distinguished Alumni Exhibit opened Wednesday Nov. 4 in the Russell Fine Arts Gallery. The exhibit features Nicole Briscoe, Thomas Fernandez, Beverly Buys, Megan Hawkes, Jonathan Cromer, Carey Roberson, V.L. Cox, Crystal Seawood, David Dahlstedt, Lana Taliaferro and Sara Dismukes.

There are 20 pieces displayed in the gallery, all of which are unique. The design, the material, and the nature of the pieces differ in various ways. Each artist’s piece brought something different to the exhibit. The artists used a variety of materials to create their work, including the basic pencil, paper, and wood. This particular exhibit included metal, speakers, and coffee.

Lana Taliaferro, a 2009 studio art graduate, entered an untitled piece involving curtain rods, linen, and paper. Taliaferro teaches drawing, painting and design at National Park College in Hot Springs. She is also working to complete her MFA through Vermont College of Fine Arts.

Sara Dismukes, a 1996 studio arts graduate, entered Robinia Pseudocacia. Her works are centered in publishing with an emphasis on book design. She is now the associate professor of design at Troy University in Alabama.

Beverly Buys, a 1977 art education graduate, entered two pieces; In West Helena at Dusk and Sunrise in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Buys was a Henderson photography professor for almost twenty years, until she retired in the spring of 2014. She is currently working on the photographic project “The Delta in Blue.” Her work

PHOTOS BY SCOTT MCKINNON

has been shown at the Delta Cultural Center in Helena, the Delta Competitive Exhibition at the Arkansas Arts Center, and the Justus Gallery in Hot Springs.

David Dahlstedt, a 1977 studio arts graduate, entered a slab build stoneware vase and a thrown and carved stoneware platter. He and his wife produce a line or decorative and functional stoneware pottery.

Crystal Seawood, a 2008 digital arts and design graduate, entered two pieces, both entitled Kayo, 2014.

One of which is a quote by Kayo Pearson, “My father said, ‘Don’t just be labeled as a black man. Be more than that.’ Meaning don’t be in these streets – just go to school and get your education.” After graduating, Seawood worked as a graphic designer for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. in Bentonville, AR. She left Wal-Mart and later decided that she wanted to work for her hometown. She is now a first year English teacher at Forest City High School.

Thomas Fernandez, a 1999 studio art graduate, entered two pieces entitled Quiet and Fleeting. Fernandez is an instructor of art at ASU- Beebe. Through his art he focuses on commemorating family and friends through drawing and mixed media.

Carey Roberson, a 1995 studio arts graduate, That Moment in the Conversation and I Always Return to My Finest Defense; a piece that incorporated coffee as a material.

Roberson is currently an Associate Professor Art at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Roberson’s works have been exhibited at universities and galleries around the country, including Ithaca College in N.Y., The University of North Texas, Huntsville Museum of Art, the

Mobile Museum of Art, and the Arkansas Arts Center.

His works have been featured in the publications of New American Paintings and CMYK Magazine. He’s also won the Arkansas Arts Council Individual Fellowship Award.

Jonathon Cromer, a 2012 studio art graduate, entered a piece entitled Signal Interruption that incorporates wood, a speaker, and a sensor. He also enter another piece, Digital Campfire, this piece involves a video projector and plexi-glass. Cromer currently teaches foundation and beginning sculpture at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. He has served as director of the sUgAR gallery and participated in group shows.

V.L. Cox, a 1991 digital arts and design graduate, entered Americana and End Hate, a piece that is nationally recognized. Cox is a full time artist in North Little Rock. She has done large paintings and backdrops for various organizations, including Los Colinos Film Studios. After launching her National “End Hate” Installation the series went worldwide via social media and has been featured in numerous publications.

Nicole Briscoe, 1999 art education graduate, entered four pieces entitled Alpha and Omega, Suspended, Released 4:28am, and Underneath. Briscoe is a high school art educator and a director in the National Art Education Association. She views her discipline is academic, worldly, and valuable. This is the core or art and education for her.

The alumni exhibition is an event the Russell Fine Art Center holds annually to. The exhibit will be open until Thursday Dec. 3.

NOV. 16, 2015

NEWS

VIEWS

SPA CITY

HUMOR

SPORTS

9

WHAT I DID LAST SUMMER

Background on the recent theater production STORY BY DYLAN MCNIEL

PHOTO BY KRISTINE MOORE

A.R. Gurney’s play, “What I Did Last Summer” opened Thursday with a cast and crew packed full of Henderson theatre students.

It’s a very comical coming of age story about a boy named Charlie Higgins, played by Ben Perry. The setting was the summer of 1945 in a summer “colony” on the Canadian shore of Lake Erie, near Buffalo, N.Y. The production was directed by William Henshaw, professor of theatre arts. The play tells a story about Charlie, his family, and friends, during the summer of full of misadventures, learning, and growing that happens that summer.

Ted Moffett, played by Koty Mansfield, junior theatre major, is one of Charlie’s best friends who gets him into all sorts of things throughout the summer. Mansfield said he started doing theatre when he was seven. He started off doing school plays and church musicals. Then when he was around 11, he found The Royal Theatre in Benton, and he just fell in love. Mansfield has been performing ever since.

“Thankfully, when you get to the collegiate level, everyone seems to love what they do. And it shows. Everyone did their part and worked together as a unit, and it really makes a difference,” Mansfield said.

Grace Higgins, Charlie’s mother is played by Magee-Lee Preston, freshman theatre major is a stressed housewife with too much on her plate while her husband is away in the war. Preston said she started theatre in middle school, but took a break from it until he junior year of high school, when she fell back in love with theatre.

She said she couldn’t imagine herself doing anything else.

“The show is going great,” Preston said, “I’m really enjoying the audience being there because we definitely feed off of the audience’s energy” Emily McDow, senior theatre major, played the part of Elsie Higgins, Charlie’s older sister who seems to be only concerned about herself. Her character starts out as a young naïve girl at the beginning of the play who feels left out, but by the end of the show she realizes that she needs her family just as much as they need her.

“I think the show went great,” McDow said, “We couldn’t of gotten it don’t without such a wonderful cast and crew.”

If you missed the show this weekend there are more this week.

The cast will also be holding a talk back session where you can come and ask them anything Monday and Tuesday afternoon in the Arkansas Hall Theater.

The show is about two hours long with a 15 minute intermission. It’s a lighthearted show suitable for most audiences. If you haven’t seen it yet be sure to catch it before it is too late, you won’t regret it.

10

NEWS

FEATURES

SPA CITY

A LOOK INSIDE

HUMOR

SPORTS

THE BATTLE Football player shares his perspective on BOTR STORY BY ANTHONY BRISTER Saturdays are full of college football games. But this past Saturday was different.

It was the Battle of the Ravine. All Reddies know that this is always the biggest game of the year. This game was one that will be talked about for the entire year to come, or maybe much longer. It doesn’t matter who won the conference title in Arkadelphia. What matters is who won the Battle of the Ravine. We couldn’t lose to the school across the street, our biggest rival. This game determined if we have home field advantage in the playoffs. Losing was not an option.

Week of Preparation It might have been week 11 of the season, but everyone was fired up. “No matter the circumstances, it’s a game you always look forward to playing,” Kentrell Williams, senior defensive lineman, said. We started the week with a team meeting on Monday at 3 p.m. Players started showing up to the Formby Athletic Center between 2-2:30 p.m. to either get treatment or just hang around in the locker room. Everyone was ready to hear what Scott Maxfield, head football coach, had to say.

“Congratulations on the conference championship.”

All the players started clapping and cheering. He told us that the game was not a “life or death” game, but it was still the Battle of the Ravine. We would be fighting for the pride of Arkadelphia. He reminded us of how they came in last year and beat us at our house. He told us to remember that feeling.

“They don’t like us, we don’t like them,” Maxfield said. Everyone shook their heads in agreement. We broke up from the team meeting and went to our position meetings to watch film and go over what we would be doing for the week to come.

Each day we had position meetings at 3 p.m. and had to be on the field an hour later. We took practice just how we took it for any other team. We practiced to win.

Team Meeting After Friday’s walk through, we had a team meeting where we watched our highlight film. This was where Maxfield went over the game plan. All of the players were laughing and talking about the next day – game day.

Josh Jones, assistant coach-cornerbacks, walked up to the podium in the front of the room.

“Hey, be quiet. I’m going to call role.”

The other coaches walked into the room and sat in their normal spots in the front as Jones finished calling role. Maxfield walked in, and everyone immediately got quiet.

He made his way to the podium and started to go over the schedule for game day. He then went on to recap everything we had done and reminded us of how many players who started on the team did not make it to this point, including the freshmen that got arrested earlier that week.

“Only the strong survive,” he said.

He then went on to the game plan. Maxfield told us that we needed to have big plays on special teams and be able to move the ball on offense.

“Defense we can not allow them to run the football.”

When he was through going over the game plan, we started our highlight tape.

It started out with the head coach from OBU saying, “It feels good to go 10-0, it feels good to go to the playoffs, but it feels better to whip Henderson.” This was like pouring salt in our wound from last year.

Pregame After the offense and defense meetings, the players all piled into the room. We all took our usual seats on the old round tables, where we sit before every home game, and get ready for our usual fix. Maxfield walked in and a prayer was spoken. After the prayer, Maxfield signaled for the seniors to start fixing their plates.

Then juniors were called to eat, all the way down to freshmen. We stepped out into the hallway and waited to file into the meeting room. There was a long narrow table with a black tablecloth on it.

The food was set up buffet style with a worker at the end to give out pieces of grilled chicken. Every player grabbed one or two packs of ranch dressing; it would have to be used as seasoning later. The food looked good, but we knew looks could be deceiving. We all get our plates and grab a cup of extra-concentrated Gatorade.

Several players began soaking their plates with ranch, trying to add some flavor to their dishes.

When we were all finished eating, Jeff McInerney, co-defensive coordinator, came in the room and said, “Fire Up!” signifying that it was time to start our special teams meeting. The players seated on the sides of the room turned off the light. He went through every special team.

“We’ve got to make big plays today. Special teams are going to be the deciding factor.”

We ended the team meeting by breaking it down, “R-E-D-D-I-E-S.” Then it was time to get suited up. All of the players went into the locker room and got in a single file line to get their uniforms. Almost everyone had their headphones on listening to their pregame music to either get pumped up or calmed down.

Then the players who needed it, went and got taped in the training room. Each of them has a certain trainer they go to; it is almost like ritual.

The Reddie Walk We were all dressed and ready to go—shoulder pads and helmet in hand ready to go to war. We were all ready to make the walk across the street to take what is rightfully ours. We took the Reddie Walk at every home game, but this time it was different –we weren’t the home team. We walked across the highway, on our way to make up for last year, and win the Battle of the Ravine. Maxfield walked out of the field house and said, “Let’s go,” and took the lead walking towards the 89th meeting of HSU and OBU.

NOV. 16, 2015

NEWS

FEATURES

SPA CITY

HUMOR

VICTORY — Players and fans celebrate after defeating the neigboring Tigers We all fell in pairs to follow. Arkansas State Troopers stood in the middle of the highway, leaving traffic at a standstill as far as we could see, just to let us strut through. We walk into the fenced area by the OBU stadium and into the visitor dressing room.

Game Time It was nice and sunny – not too hot, not too cold – perfect football weather. We got to the field and started our pregame drills and stretch. The team ran out. Reddie fans all stood up and went crazy with cheer, silencing the OBU announcer.

The team captains walked on to the field for the coin toss. OBU got the ball first.

Players yelled, “Lets go D. You are up! Let’s go out there and make a stop.”

Kicker Houston Ray took the field with the kick off team. The packed crowd all stood up and cheered for the start of the game. The players on the sideline were all holding their hands up as and screaming as Ray kicked off the ball.

Defense took the field. We forced the Tigers to punt in their first possession.

We took the ball about 80 yards, where Ryan McDonald, tailback, got the first touchdown of the game. The sideline erupted with excitement.

OBU got the ball back and answered with a touchdown.

“Lets go! We are not intimidated,” Henry Davis, defensive lineman, said as he came off the field.

We scored again in the second quarter; when Quarterback Dallas Hardison hit Mark Czaus, wide receiver, for a touchdown.

The defense was able to hold them to a field goal just before halftime.

We got the ball back at halftime and Rodney Bryson, running back, scored.

On the last drive of the game everyone on the sideline was on their feet. We knew if we got a couple of first downs, we would win the game. On third down, Hardison rolled out of the pocket and threw to Joseph Snapp, wide receiver. The sideline was quiet. This play may have been the deciding factor. He caught it!

“On the play to Snapp, I just rolled out to the left and saw him get open. I threw it up hoping he could make the play. He made it, and I knew we had it in the bag,” Hardison said.

One minute one second left. All of the players started jumping up and down and yelling.

SPORTS

11

PHOTO BY SCOTT MCKINNON We knew that we were one snap away from winning. The offense lined up in victory formation and took a knee. We won the 89th Battle of the Ravine. The players rushed the field.

Post Game We shook hands with the OBU players and all huddled up on the 50-yard line.

We started jumping and chanting, “AYYY, AYYY, AYYY, AYYY, AYYY.” The OBU football players stood across from us trying to defend their field. The referees stood in between us. “Go that way,” the referee said, pointing toward the end zone. We heard Maxfield blow his whistle. We all ran to him like dogs, still screaming. He kept blowing his whistle as we jumped up and down.

He said, “Great Win.”

PLAYOFF GAME OPPONENT: Souix Falls WHEN: Noon

Saturday, November 21 WHERE: Carpenter Haygood Stadium GENERAL ADMISSION: $7 Student tickets may be picked up at ResLife with ID beginning Tuesday at 9 a.m.

12

NEWS

FEATURES

SPA CITY

HUMOR

SPORTS

THE WASTELAND CALLS OPINION BY DAX GUILLIAMS — PARODY IMAGE BY JORDAN JONES BASED ON AN IMAGE © BETHESDA SOFTWORKS I have been waiting for the release of “Fallout 4” ever since I finished playing the last game in the series. But now it has finally been released and I can finally say that a nuclear apocalypse looks great without people thinking I’m crazy.

The “Fallout” games are some of my favorite and it’s so great to see the games gaining more and more attention.

A big concern with “Fallout 4’s” release is that it wouldn’t live up to the hype, but I can confidently say that it does.

The opening to “Fallout 4” is the best opening of any game in the series so far.

The center of the story for Fallout is that humanity embraced the use of nuclear energy after World War II, leading to an age of clean, powerful atomic energy that caused technology to advance.

Unfortunately, the age ended when the United States and China waged nuclear war on each other, leading to total chaos. The world becomes an irradiated wasteland where mutated animals, super mutants and bandits roam about.

“Fallout 4’s” beginning takes place as the bombs drop and you, your spouse and your son, Shaun all take shelter in an underground shelter named Vault 111.

But as with most of Vault-Tec’s designs, Vault 111 was meant to experiment on people and the residents are frozen for 200 years, but only the player character lives while their son is taken by two unknown people.

From the start of the game, “Fallout 4” provides the same intense atmosphere that the series is known for. Traversing the ruins of Boston feels amazing and the updated visuals allow for an even better experience.

Granted, the graphics aren’t exceptional, but they still look very nice. A lot of people complained about the graphics, but I see no reason to complain with how nice the wasteland looks.

One of the new changes to “Fallout

4” is that the player character is voice acted. While the voice acting is nice for every character, it doesn’t really add to the experience very much, but it is a nice addition to have.

Speaking of characters talking, the new dialogue system is quite disappointing because the past games in the series have had such amazing dialogue from the player characters.

It doesn’t ruin the game, but only having a maximum of four dialogue choices at a time is a downgrade from how many choices you had in “Fallout 3” and “Fallout: New Vegas.”

A big complaint some people have had is that skills, such as Barter and Sneak, have been removed and are now governed by your “SPECIAL” stats and the perks you pick.

I actually like that a lot more. Skills were really just numbers that controlled how good certain actions were and what perks you could pick. Removing them just cuts out the middleman and makes building your character feel a bit easier.

With this new system in play, it actually makes all of the “SPECIAL” stats matter.

In previous games, Charisma was almost completely useless, but now that it governs your success with speech checks and has a few good perks, it’s worth putting points into.

Using firearms has also been dramatically improved. It’s much easier to aim with any gun and it doesn’t feel awful trying to aim your shots.

In previous games, I used to just use the games auto-targeting system to aim for me, but I find myself barely using it in “Fallout 4.”

The new crafting and settlement building systems are very good, but I haven’t used them that much. Yeah, it’s cool that I can build my own society, but I’d rather have the true wasteland experience and sleep on a mattress I find in the back

room of a grocery store.

Also, the new weapons that I’ve been able to find are very fun to use. I’m a big fan of the laser musket since you can add multiple charges to it and power the shot.

One of the things I’m looking forward to the most is that the PS4 and Xbox One will be able to receive mods like the PC version.

If I don’t have a mod that turns the power armor into an “Iron Man” suit by next week, I will be severely disappointed in the modding community.

And I know many of you won’t believe me, but out of all of Bethesda’s games, this one has the fewest bugs. I mean, there are still quite a bit, but nothing too bad.

My personal favorite bug that I dis-

covered was when I vaporized enemies with an energy weapon, their ashes would slowly rise into the sky before teleporting back to the ground.

But I know that most of you know this. I know how many of you have been playing this game because so many of you have been skipping class.

“Fallout” has taken over our lives and I for one accept our new Bethesda overlords.

Even if you’ve never played a “Fallout” game before, “Fallout 4” is a great one to start off with.

If you like shooting mutated scorpions with laser guns, robbing every man, woman and child you come across or drinking irradiated soda to heal your wounds, “Fallout 4” is the game for you.

NOV. 16, 2015

NEWS

FEATURES

VIEWS

HUMOR

SPORTS

13

HOT SPRINGS HAPPENINGS 2015 HOLIDAY LIGHTS AT GARVAN WOODLAND GARDENS Garvan Woodland Gardens, 550 Arkridge Rd. Saturday, Nov. 21 through Thursday, Dec. 31 5 to 9 p.m., closed Thanksgiving and Christmas days $15 for adults; $5 for ages 6-12, free for 5 and under

See over 4 million brilliant bulbs transform approximately 17 acres into a memorable animated holiday display in one of Arkansas’ most anticipated events. Complimentary hot chocolate. Image and description courtesy of Garvan Gardens

SPA RUNNING FESTIVAL Webb Community Center, 127 Pleasant St. Saturday, Nov. 21 with races beginning at 7 a.m.

Registration fees vary

The Spa Running Festival is a family-friendly event that has a race for everyone. Races include the Spa 10K, the 5K that is for both walkers and runners and the Squirt Race is for kids 2 - 10 years of age. This year will also feature the inaugural Half Marathon. If you enjoy the challenge of a 10K race over West Mountain, then you are going to really like the Half Marathon because you get to run West Mountain and to the top of the summit twice. For more information and registration, visit sparunningfestival.com.

Image and description courtesy of Spa Running Festival

13TH ANNUAL CHILI COOK-OFF AND LIGHT UP DOWNTOWN Exchange Street Parking Plaza, 128 Exchange St. Monday, Nov. 23 at 4 p.m. $5 for all you can eat chili The Chili Cook-off will be from 4-8 p.m. at the Exchange Street Parking Plaza and money raised by the Chili Cook-Off will be used to support the Downtown Association’s “Deck the Park Challenge,” for the holiday lighting display. Lights will be turned on after the event. The event will occur rain or shine.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia

14

NEWS

FEATURES

VIEWS

SPA CITY

SPORTS

NOV. 16, 2015

NEWS

FEATURES

VIEWS

SPA CITY

HUMOR

15

A HEARTBREAKING END

Lady Reddies lose in last home game of the season STORY BY MARIAH DELAVEGA

SCORE — Players clap hands after scoring in last week’s game.

The Lady Reddies fell short in their last home game in four sets against Arkansas Monticello on Tuesday evening at the Duke Wells Center.

In the first set, the Lady Reddies were down because of errors. Monticello had a big lead on them.

UAM scored the first two points because of two errors made by HSU 0-2.

Lani Kaiwi scored seven points for her team with her serves 3-14. Kaylie Pyles got a kill for her team, but Monticello got the ball back and scored three more points 4-16.

Jessie Jacoby put three points on the scoreboard. UAM got the ball back and scored three points by attack errors by HSU 7-20.

Monticello had a 13-point lead on the Lady Reddies. UAM ended up winning the first set 13-25.

Attack errors and bad sets costed the Lady Reddies the first set.

In the second set, the Lady Reddies didn’t let Monticello catch up to them.

The Lady Reddies scored the first three points. Brea May with a bad set got Monticello their first point. Jacoby got the ball back for her team with a kill 4-1.

Julianna Adams made two service aces and got her team two more points put on the scoreboard for HSU 6-1.

PHOTO BY JOSHUA BRADLEY The Lady Reddies stayed up the whole time and didn’t let Monticello get the lead.

HSU had a big lead on Monticello 19-10.

Aubrey Harrison scored five points for her team and caught them up to the Lady Reddies 19-15.

UAM tried to get the lead but the Lady Reddies stopped them and won the second set 25-22.

In the third set Monticello scored the first five points 0-5. The Lady Reddies were right behind them but they still didn’t get a lead on them. The Lady Reddies lost by five points in the third set 20-25.

In the last set of the game, Monticello came in strong. The score was close in the first half of the set 6-9. The Lady Reddies only needed three more points to catch up.

But Monticello scored eight points and got a strong lead 6-16.

The Lady Reddies had trouble coming back from that. Monticello took the win and won the game 14-25.

Jacoby finished the game with 20 kills, while May had 32 set assists. Sydney Skelton led HSU with 28 digs.

16

NEWS

FEATURES

VIEWS

SPA CITY

HUMOR

TEAM TOGETHER Basketball team gets excited about new coach and season

STORY BY CAYLA CHRISTIAN — PHOTOS COURTESY OF HSU SPORTS INFORMATION Jimmy Elgas, men’s basketball head coach, grew up in Crystal Lake Illinois and graduated from Illinois State University. Before Elgas became HSU’s basketball head coach he worked as an assistant coach at Illinois State University for two years, Lincoln College in Illinois for two years, Texas State University in San Marcos for five years, Kansas State in Manhattan for six years, the University of Utah in Salt Lake City for one year, and at the University of Evansville in Indiana for eight years.

While head coaching at HSU, Elgas is in charge of recruiting and helping athletes graduate successfully as well as coaching the team during games and overseeing practices.

He believes in and wants his team to stand for being hard workers and caring for others on and off the court, whether it’s in school, at church or with family.

“We’re very excited to represent Henderson State University and the community in a first class manner in everything we do. I anticipate the team playing well together and very hard,” Elgas said.

He also stated that the starting lineups would vary game to game this season, depending on the players’ performances in practices.

AARON COOPER, SENIOR, 4

“It’s my senior year and I’m with a group of guys that loves the game and is a family. Also I’m playing for a great coaching staff that cares about the players and wants to win more than anything. I expect this team to do very well this year. I expect us to win conference.

It’s like having an extended family that you share blood, sweat, and tears with everyday.”

KEVIN KOZAN, JUNIOR, 11

“I’m excited because of all the new faces and we play well together. My expectations are to win conference and to make it to the NCAA tournament. My favorite part about being on the team is everyone gets along and we all have good chemistry. When we need to be serious we are, but we are all good friends on and off the court.”

JORDAN VANCE, RS JUNIOR, 25

“[I’m excited about] getting the chance to play with my great teammates and prove people wrong by picking us tenth in the preseason polls. My expectation is to win on and off the court this season. My favorite part of being apart of this team is that as hard as we push each other on the court, we’re each other’s brothers off the court. Team Together.”

BEN MARELLO, FRESHMAN, 15

“I’m excited to show HSU and the rest of the country how hard we’ve been working as a team. I expect to win and get better and better as the season progresses. Being a part of the team has made me close with so many people. Your team becomes your family and it’s a good feeling knowing that they have your back.”

JACOB VANCE, RS JUNIOR, 20

“[I’m] excited about the new coaching style. I just feel like there’s a whole new energy around our program.

My previous three years have been an experience, but there’s a great feeling and energetic atmosphere around our program this year. It’s exciting and I’m anxious to see what our team can do this year. A lot of new faces and new coaching staff. It is going to be fun. My expectations [are] to win conference and cause some problems for teams. My favorite thing about being apart of this team is all the guys care and want to get better.

We all want to win and do it together. All the guys are buying into Coach Elgas’s style and ways of playing. We all believe, and our motto is ‘Team Together.’”