12/6/16 Issue

@HSUORACLE www.hsuoracle.com

Henderson State University — Tuesday, December 6, 2016 Volume 111, Issue 13

PIXEL PERFECT Sacha Martin creates vast works from one point. P. 5

THE ORACLE

THE ORACLE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF – Emily R. Bell FACULTY ADVISER – Mike Taylor NEWS EDITOR – Ashley Smith SPORTS/ONLINE EDITOR – Pete Tubbs OPINIONS EDITOR – Dax Guilliams PAGE DESIGNER – Angela Yang PHOTO EDITOR – Joshua Bradley STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER – Kristine Moore GRAPHIC DESIGNER – Natasha Cribbs BUSINESS MANAGER – Kansas Tye

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 Sacha Martin’s massive ceramic work features a color image made from carefully calculated pixel placement.

Photo by Emily R. Bell

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MUMP-DAY

A new strain of mumps has broken out in Arkansas, and made its way on campus

MAKE YOUR POINT

One art student makes a point to promote massive works from small fractions in her senior show

LET IT DAX

Whew! I think we got every issue to have some kind of pun involving our opinion editor’s name, go us

END OF THE SEASON Our sports editor covers this season’s sports wrap-up

ORACLE ONLINE Our online format has more stories and full galleries of the latest games, news, and events. Go hsuoracle.com and check out these latest stories:

• Check out the making-of timelapse of RFA’s new, student-made mural • What’s your favorite Christmas movie poll online HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE. We’re done for the semester. Pass your classes and get out of here. That’s what we’re trying to do.

COMIC ARTISTS Eager to share your skewed sense of humor with the rest of your peers? Email us your digital comic strips or scanned hardcopies to ORACLE@HSU. EDU. But first, check out our policies for comics online at hsuoracle.com.

ADS AND ADS

Got an event to spotlight or some biz to alert the masses? Email us at kt194294@reddies.hsu.edu to get in touch with our business and ads manager.

Dec. 6, 2016

REDDIE NEWS

Mumps outbreak in Arkansas trickles into student body Story by Francisco Ochoa, Student Reporter The Outbreak of mumps in northwestern Arkansas has now spread to the Southwestern part of the state making the number of suspected mumps cases growing.

Meg Mirivel is the public information officer at the Arkansas Department of Health.

“As of yesterday we have 1364 cases of the mumps in Arkansas,” Mirivel said. “Throughout the outbreak it has changed a little, but roughly it’s been two thirds of school aged children and about a third of adults.”

Although the cases have been primarily reported in the Northwestern region of Arkansas, Clark County and others in the central region are still contributing to the total. However, the reports of positive cases from Clark county have been low.

On Nov. 18, the Arkansas Department of Health has confirmed that one student at Henderson State University has tested positive with a case of the mumps, and recently a second student is awaiting test results for a potential case.

The university will notify students, faculty, and staff via email on the test results of the second possible case of mumps.

The university is not able to discuss the current health of the students, but the university and the students are following guidelines established by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Arkansas Department of Health.

The university has consulted with the Arkansas Department of Health on what the university should do if the number of mumps cases increases. The university is following their advice to share information about health practices to students, faculty and staff, and consult with them on a daily basis to find out more information about how the virus is progressing in the state.

Tonya Oaks Smith, Executive Director of Marketing and Communications at Henderson, sent out emails notifying the cases of mumps to

all faculty, staff and students.

“I believe that our university is working to help stop the spread of the virus on our campus. We are passing along information that is designed to help our community be as safe and healthy as possible,” Smith said. “We are working now to help avoid the virus spread. Our Aramark facilities services staff are working to ensure that high-touch surfaces like doorknobs, handrails, light switches, etc., are cleaned and disinfected more frequently.”

Mumps is no longer very common in the United States, but outbreaks can continue to occur.

Outbreaks have most usually occurred in places where people have had an extended close contact with a person who has mumps, such as attending the same class, playing on the same sports team, or living in the same dormitory.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, mumps is a contagious disease caused by a virus that can be transmitted by direct contact with respiratory droplets or saliva from an infected person.

It is best known for its painful, swollen salivary glands that show up as puffy cheeks and a swollen jaw. Typically, it starts with a few days of fever, headache, muscles aches, tiredness and loss of appetite.

If you have any of these symptoms call your doctor or contact the Clark County Health Center to arrange an appointment to be tested.

The best way to protect yourself and your family from getting infected these last weeks of the semester is by getting vaccinated with Measles-Mumps-Rubella vaccine (MMR). However, those who have received the MMR vaccination are not exactly off the radar for getting mumps.

According to the Arkansas Department of Health, currently two doses of the MMR vaccine are recommended.

About 90 to 95 percent of people who have

received two doses of the vaccine are protected from getting infected if exposed. Those who have only received one dose are estimated to be about 80 percent protected.

Arkansas state law states that students are required to either show proof that they have been immunized before they can attend or they must file for an exemption.

All students who have exemptions from the MMR vaccine have a greater risk of getting sick, and were sent home for 26 days.

However, if the second student tests positive, exempt students will have to remain home for another 26 days.

Mailin Gupta, a freshman majoring in criminal justice and a member of the women’s swim team, is a student who is exempt from the MMR vaccine and was sent home.

Gupta is exempt from the vaccine because her family’s medical history has an adverse reaction to vaccines. In addition to that, she has allergies that would make it potentially dangerous to be immunized with MMR. “I feel frustrated because it’s really close to finals week, and I also can’t train with the team which is irritating,” Gupta said. “I was supposed to be back in time for finals. The only reason I wouldn’t be back is if there is for sure a second case.”

Payton Jones, freshman from Cabot, Arkansas majoring in health and human performance, has received the MMR vaccine and is concerned not only for himself, but for his friends.

“I do feel worried about my wellbeing and for my friends during this time of the season where people have a tendency of getting sick.

Now with the case of mumps, we should be extra careful,” Jones said. “Even though there might be another case now, I feel that now our best interest is to try and prevent further breakouts.”

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REDDIE NEWS

Innovative Media class uses department’s drone for university promotional video Story by Leighton Hall, Student Reporter An innovative media class is learning how to use drones to create a new type of media, starting with filming a commercial for the university. This semester, students from the innovative media department sat down to learn about a new technology made available to them: drones.

Thanks to a partnership with the School of Business, this technology was made available this past April.

“This is the first full year of the innovative media program, and one of our cornerstones is experience,” said Michael Taylor, a professor of mass media.

This particular class is Innovative Media Practicum, and they pick a project each semester to create something. “This past spring semester, the class created a working app to fit the needs of the school of business.” Taylor goes on to explain how the class created a plan, learned app creation software, and how to design the whole application.

“This is the first full year of the innovative media program, and one of our cornerstones is experience.” —Mike Taylor, professor of communications This semester the class tackled aerial videography. During the first half of this semester, Taylor lead the class, with the help of Graduate Assistant Scott McKinnon and Aviation Director Troy Hogue, in all of the regulations that the Federal Aviation Administration had implemented earlier this year.

The second half of this semester was spent learning how drones could be used for creative videos. “I had the class sit down and come up with a promotional video that would use drone photography and a scripted story,” Taylor explained.

The class all pitched ideas and Aaron Charles, an innovative media student, gave an idea that can promote Henderson as a whole, along with specific departments or areas of campus. Overall, the videos hope to show that Henderson is a place that will help develop the person you are meant to be and give you the skills to achieve your dreams.

The first video tells the story of a school of business student who is also a football player.

A small child portrays his younger self as he bikes through a tough looking neighborhood headed towards his school football field. After he tosses the football around, the film cuts to his current self walking through campus making his way to the football field, where he finds

another small child. The film ends with him tossing the football to the child.

The group plans to pitch this series to the marketing department in hopes of using it on local television, social media, and even in local movie theaters around the state. Using it in these areas will help reach future and potential students when making a decision to come to Henderson.

Taylor explains that with each project this class starts at the beginning of every semester, the end goal is to “bring the students’ production skills into some aspect of the twenty first century media.”

“The end goal is to bring these students’ production skills into some aspect of twenty-first century media. —Mike Taylor, professor of communications

Check out Leighton’s footage and photos of the Innovative Media class working on the day of the shoots online (hsuoracle.com).

Also, keep an eye out for the class’s finished promotional videos for the university. You might see someone you know from school in them.

Innovative media will continue to contribute photography, film, and written projects to The Oracle online. To learn more about this new degree, email professor Mike Taylor (from this story) at taylorm@hsu.edu, or professor of digital art and design, David Stoddard at stoddads@hsu.edu.

—Emily R. Bell, editor in chief and innovative media junior

Dec. 6, 2016

ARTS&MUSIC

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Artistry point by point

Story and photos by Parker Hutson, Student Reporter When gathering inspiration for her art show, Sacha Martin thought of two passionate ideas that she had. One of the passionate ideas is the details in the bigger picture; how small objects can come together to create a big object. “I really focused on choices and how little choices can come together and make your life, so the small objects making bigger pictures kind of represents that,” said Sacha Martin, senior art education major.

Looking at the big picture, it was astounding how the eye makes the small objects together to show the bigger picture.

For example, in “14,076 Choices,” Martin’s self-portrait, she has taken 14,076 push pins and arranged them to make her portrait; from far away one could not tell that it was made from push pins, but up close the viewer can see every little push pin used in the portrait.

Most of the supplies that Martin used for the show were found in scrap yards or ordered, but Martin said that the school also supplied the materials for the ceramic tiles for “51,840 Choices.”

“I used screws, push pins, matches, and homemade ceramic tiles,” said Martin.

This detail can also be seen in 51,840 Choices where Martin has used small colored ceramic tiles to make a gigantic picture that tells a story of her immigration. Her immigration is Martin’s other passionate portrayal in her senior art exhibit. Standing and looking at the exhibit, I was pleased to see Martin’s mom there to support her daughter, and when speaking to Martin’s mom, she spoke of the process from living in the Netherlands, to coming to the United States.

“We had the picture made (the picture used for “51,840 Choices”) by the flag and

the sunset and for her it meant the ending with the sun going down in the Netherlands, and a new beginning in the United States with the sun coming up,” said Marcelle Canals, mother of the artist. “We immigrated up here seventeen years ago, when she (Martin) was nine.”

With such a unique mixed media art idea, I wondered where Martin looked to for inspiration and guidance. “I researched a lot on Richard Notkin,” said Martin. “I’m also inspired by John Close and an artist who uses push pins a lot (name for this artist was not given), and he inspired me a lot.”

In the exhibition, the titles of the art all included numbers followed by the word “choices.” Both the number and word point out how many of small objects made up the “big picture.” Amazingly, 51,840 pixels were used in one of her pieces over thousands of ceramic tiles.

After this school year and this exhibition, Martin’s intricate, complex self portrait of pixels involved a lot of Martin will be moving on from HSU to an- work and time, but paid off for her show by wowing gallery-goers. other school, to teach. “I want to be an art teacher. I will be certified for K-12 and will take on what I’m hired to do,” said Martin.

Up close, viewers could see the beauty in the smaller objects. However, when suggested to go to the third floor of the library, the entire portrait smoothed out. “ “51,840 Choices” is meant to be seen from high above to get the bigger picture outcome, but the entire exhibit seen from a distance, all the pieces in view, there was another “bigger picture” present.

This art show was not only beautiful and unique, but through her collective works, Martin succeeded in driving her theme 3,240 tiles, 51,840 pixels, and over 900 hours of work: those are home: everyone is made up of all of their the numbers that make up Martin’s biggest piece (in more than choices, and those choices makes us who one way), “51,840 Choices.” Martin poses with her mother, a proud we are.

supporter of her daughter’s work.

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OPINIONS

UNCLE DEATH’S RADICAL TOWER ADVENTURE Opinion by Dax Guilliams, Opinion Editor

One of my most anticipated games of the year was just released a few days ago.

“Let It Die” is a new free-to-play game for the PS4 created by Suda 51, one of my favorite developers.

I knew this was a game I was going to enjoy because it was both compared to “Dark Souls” and the trailer for the game featured a grim reaper riding on a skateboard.

Suda 51 is known for making games with abstract stories and “Let It Die” continues this tradition.

The opening cutscene reveals that in the year 2026, a massive earthquake destroyed most of the world and now people are killing each other to try to reach the top of a giant structure called the Tower of Barbs.

After your first death, which will happen as it is triggered by a cutscene, even more of the strange story opens up as it seems that you’re actually playing a video game within a video game.

The skateboarding grim reaper that’s featured on the title screen of the game is one of my favorite new characters yet.

The reaper, who calls himself “Uncle Death,” is one of the most enjoyable, goofy video game characters that Suda 51 has created and I absolutley love him and his scythe that’s also a golf club.

While I enjoy the gameplay, “Let It Die” is very difficult. Enemies deal a lot of damage and both your weapons and armor break very easily, sometimes leaving you with just your fists as weapons.

But this shouldn’t discourage people from trying the game out. Just like with the “Souls” games, you can easily bait enemies into attacking and so far, I’ve found plenty of healing items.

Plus, when you use stealth takedowns or finishing moves, they’re usually a sick wrestling move. It’s so satisfying to sneak up on an enemy and suplex them into oblivion.

Since the game is free-to-play, I had concerns that this game would be filled with tons of microtransactions, but that’s not actually the case.

The game is very generous with the amount of in-game money you get and the only things to buy with real money is more inventory space and the ability to keep your character after they die.

“Let It Die” is also a roguelike, so when you die, you lose your character.

However, you can use Death Metals to get your character back or find your old character and kill them to get all of your stuff back.

While the game doesn’t have multiplayer just yet, it is being added in at a later date. Until then, the most you get is being able to fight the dead characters of other players similar to your own dead characters.

As much as I’m enjoying “Let It Die,” the game still has some problems. The camera is really tough to control some times and fighting multiple enemies at once is a little frustrating depending on the equipment they have.

Even though the game is far from perfect, it’s still a lot of fun when you put the time into it and it gets better as you go along. Plus, it’s free to download so even if you don’t like it, you don’t lose any money just trying it out.

“Let It Die” is another great addition to the list of games developed by Suda 51 and Grasshopper Manufacturing. I really hope the game gets a large following.

Dec. 6, 2016

GAMES

7

Keep your mind sharp and19,your hours FOR RELEASE SEPTEMBER 2016 less numbing puzzle. Answers Los Angeles with Times this Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis in next week’s issue.

ACROSS 1 Dangerous wind for small boats 5 “You’re gonna need a bigger boat” movie 9 Barbecue rod 13 Actor Sharif 14 Verbal exams 16 Actress Lollobrigida 17 Ship-fouling organisms, on Talk Like a Pirate Day? 19 Lights-out tune 20 Horse hue 21 Spyglass component 23 With 48-Down, mediocre 24 “Alas ... ” 26 Cry of fright 27 Burning 29 Key lime __ 30 Pigpen 31 Story surprises 32 What kids ask on a long trip, on TLAP Day? 36 What George Washington could not tell, according to folklore 37 Oregon Trail wagon pullers 38 Ship’s right-front section, on TLAP Day? 43 Sends to the Hill 45 Agrees to 46 Wonderment 47 Wood-shaping tool 48 Urgent distress signal 49 When right turns are sometimes permitted 51 Tax agcy.

52 Dire fate 54 Two of a kind 55 The color of tropical seas 57 Cold northern region, on TLAP Day? 61 “The Sopranos” actress Falco 62 Human trunk 63 Ring of light 64 Flatfish sometimes served stuffed

By Grant Boroughs

65 Recipe amts.

66 Online auction site DOWN 1 Dollop 2 Doctors’ org.

3 Food storage area, on TLAP Day? 4 Swashbuckler Flynn 5 __ of 6-Down: French heroine 6 5-Down of __: French heroine 7 Minnesota’s state fish 8 Like a smoothsailing clipper ship 9 Rank above cpl.

10 One tickling the ivories 11 Sitting at the dock of the bay 12 Tries a bite of 15 Taxpayer ID 18 Dissenting vote 22 Fictional Tom or real-life Diane 24 Massage facility 25 Balloon filler 26 Old anesthetic 28 Wicked one 30 Mixes

9/19/16

Last week’s answers Saturday’s Puzzle Solved

©2016 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

31 __ Hold ’em 33 Enjoy, as television 34 Overjoyed 35 Chess castles 38 Shove off 39 Post-WWII babies 40 Bill for drinks, on TLAP Day? 41 Be indebted to 42 Married 43 Upper crust groups

9/19/16

44 Rio Grande city 48 See 23-Across 49 Rowboat propeller 50 Specialized market segment 53 Giants slugger Mel 54 All in favor 56 Director Ang __ 58 Deadly snake 59 Dockworkers’ org.

60 Playfully shy

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SPORTS

We playin’ basketball Story by Pete Tubbs, Sports Editor The men’s basketball team has already had a season filled with many ups and downs, and it has only just begun. The win/loss record so far stands at 5-3 with more than 30 games left, this is shaping up to be an epic season.

The opening game of the season took place on Nov. 5 and was played against Arkansas State University. The game, which was played at ASU, was lost by the Reddies at a score of 71-49.

The visitors made 32% of their field goals, while the home team made 48%. After this red hot loss, the Reddies were looking forward to traveling to Cedar Valley College in Texas.

Nov. 11 proved to be quite the lucky day for the Reddies, as they came away with a win after a score of 88-80. This was not the beginning of a win streak for the storied franchise, however.

The following day in the same town, the University of Nebraska at Kearney beat the spirit down with a nearly 20 point gap in the score which ended up being 85-66. A silver lining was definitely on the horizon for the Reddies as the following three games brought a surge of victory to the team’s still early season.

From Nov. 17 to Nov. 22, three games that were all played at home were wrought victorious by the Reddies. Although two of the games were tight,

Men’s Basketball Schedule Thru January 2017 Dallas Christian College Ecclesia College Southeast Missouri State Paul Quinn College Southwestern Oklahoma Northwestern Oklahoma Southern Arkansas U. UAM OBU Arkansas Tech Harding Oklahoma Baptist Southern Nazarene

Home Home Cape Girardeau, Mo. Home Durannt, Okla.

Home Home Home Arkadelphia Russellville Home Shawnee, Okla.

Bethany, Okla.

Dec. 10 Dec. 16 Dec. 29 Dec. 31 Jan. 05 Jan. 07 Jan. 12 Jan. 14 Jan. 16 Jan. 19 Jan. 21 Jan. 26 Jan. 28

the Reddies defeated Southern Nazarene University (76-72), Oklahoma Baptist University (80-71), and Baptist Bible College (a massive 99-42).

The beginning of December proved un-rewarding as a game against East Central University was lost by a mere five points. On Dec. 3, the team came back with a win over Southeastern Oklahoma State University at a score of 85-76. This was the first time since 2002 that the Reddies beat Southeastern Oklahoma State. Both Kaylon Tappin and Chris Hawkins brought 24 points to the game and ensured a win for the Reddie spirit. The Reddies also scored half of the field goals attempted witha count of 27-54.

Although the game count has yielded mixed results, the team is tied for second with three other teams in the GAC. In terms of GAC wins, Henderson, SAU, Harding, and Southern Nazarene all have three wins with one loss.

With four games left in 2016 and a whopping nine games to play in January, the Reddies will certainly be busy in the coming weeks. Below are charts detailing the current GAC standings as well as the schedule for the team thru January 2017. The Reddies’ next game is at home and is against Dallas Christian college.

GAC Standings as of December 5 UAM Harding Henderson State SAU Southern Naz. Arkansas Tech OBU East Central Oklahoma Baptist SWOSU SEOSU NWOSU

4 wins 0 losses 3 wins 1 loss 3 wins 1 loss 3 wins 1 loss 3 wins 1 loss 2 wins 2 losses 2 wins 2 losses 2 wins 2 losses 1 win 3 losses 1 win 3 losses 0 wins 4 losses 0 wins 4 losses

6-0 overall 5-2 overall 5-2 overall 5-3 overall 4-4 overall 3-2 overall 4-3 overall 4-4 overall 2-4 overall 1-6 overall 4-5 overall 2-5 overall