9/11/16 Issue

@HSUORACLE www.hsuoracle.com

Henderson State University – Monday, September 12, 2016 – Volume 111, Issue 4

VOLLEYBALL BUSTER Reddies split four games over the weekend P. 8

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

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 Leila Whaley serving a spike during Friday’s game. Photo by Pete Tubbs.

BLOGGERS UNITE!

Do you have an up-and-coming blog that you would like to share with your campus? Send us a link (ORACLE @HSU.EDU) to your latest blog so we can upload it to our website’s feed on hsuoracle.com.

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FACULTY SENATE MEETING Frustrated faculty members meet with the university president to discuss issues affecting the campus

POKEMON GO

We want Dragonites and Snorlax, but the campus is infested with Rattatas and Pidgeys... Ugh

VALIANT DAX

Our opinion editor reviews the publishing company that’s staked its claim in the comics world

VOLLEYBALL ON POINT Women’s Reddie volley ball team won half their games over the weekend

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:

• RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK’S ALCOHOL POLL • NEW COMICS BY SHAWN WOMACK • LINK TO EDITOR’S BLOG: FELL IN A HOLE

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.

CORRECTIONS That Arts&Music page layout was terrible, wasn’t it? I won’t do it again...Hopefully.

-Editor in Chief

Sept. 12, 2016

REDDIE NEWS

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Faculty senate struggles: president Jones joins faculty for discussion Story by Emily Bell, Editor in Chief This semester’s first faculty senate meeting was held Wednesday with the president and provost in attendance. The agenda included all the issues which faculty members discussed last semester regarding campus repairs, building temperatures and the dreaded, infamous mold problem.

Faculty had been trying all semester to discuss these issues with university president, Dr. Glendell Jones, but his tight schedule rendered his attempted visits canceled each time. Finally, both Jones and Steve Adkison, provost and vice president for academic affairs, were able to bring some clarity and show of effort to the mounting issues.

Throughout the meeting, Jones stressed the importance of creating an environment to help students prosper and grow. His main mission has been to increase student success, and has expressed his hope to focus more on helping students graduate and succeed after college.

“Don’t tell me who came in, tell me who went out the door,” Jones said.

Finally, Jones presented the current situation regarding the lack of attention to certain repairs, the mold and general cleanliness on campus.

“After talking to Aramark, I realized that they just didn’t get their jobs done,” Jones said. “They basically did nothing this summer, there was a lot left unfinished, and that wasn’t communicated to us.”

Jones said he was disappointed after seeing the campus issues firsthand during a walk-through with Adkison and Brett Powell, vice president of finance and administration. “We’ve successfully addressed these issues with Aramark and we’re moving forward.”

Faculty was still concerned about the issues in their departments.

Associate professor of history, Megan Hickerson, brought up issues she found involving unclean bathroom stalls in McBrien.

“If something that needs to be done is not happening, and you see it, communicate that directly to me and I will take care of it.” Jones said.

As other faculty members reported further issues in their offices and buildings, Adkison added to Jones’s statement. “If I don’t know about it, I can’t do anything about it. If we knew more about all these separate issues across campus, we could put together the bigger picture.”

Although faculty has been reporting their issues to their building managers, both Jones and Adkison stressed that the current proper channels of communication were them, not the janitors and managers.

“It feels like Henderson is this universe of mold and broken things,” Dr. Laura Storm, professor ofmusic and member of building and grounds committee, said.

Jones assured the faculty senate that he would do everything possible to make sure Aramark completes their jobs properly. “Their will may be strong, but I can promise you mine is stronger,” Jones said. “I ask all of you to hang in there with us a little while longer.”

In closing, Jones said that, “I can’t solve everyone’s problems one-on-one, but I can meet with this senate and better understand the problems faculty experience, and can then work to improve that.” Adkison remained for the meeting to work through the rest of the agenda.

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REDDIE NEWS

Pokemon Go getters: students gotta catch ‘em all Story by Lily Franklin, Student Reporter

Graphic by Natasha Cribbs, Graphic Designer

The Pokemon Go app was a hit when it came out this summer. It features the ability to catch Pokémon in augmented reality and uses real world locations as spots for Pokestops to collect items for the game. Players join one of the three teams, Instinct, Valor or Mystic and battle each other for control of gyms also based in real world locations.

“I originally wanted to be Instinct, but all my friends were pressuring me to be Mystic with them,” Dax Guilliams, senior mass media major, said. “I felt threatened.”

Despite the 500 million downloads Niantic, Nintendo and the Pokémon Company has boasted from the app, it’s not without its flaws.

Early server issues in the first month caused the app to have spotty playtime due to maintenance while Niantic worked on its worldwide release.

Due to the load on the servers, the earliest tracking system was scrapped though players didn’t see this as a problem.

The method for tracking had been inaccurate and third-party search sites like Pokevision began to appear, allowing users to locate Pokémon and the precise amount of time they would appear for.

Niantic said these programs negatively affected server load and were often associated with bots.

Many similar sites and apps were shut down by Niantic.

Students living in rural areas found catching any Pokémon at all was an issue due to how the game distributes them in more populated locations. While living on campus students found they can capture Pokémon from their dorms or apartments.

“Sometimes my roommates and I will be hanging out and one of us will find an Eevee in the living room,” Kansas Tye, junior pre-med major, said.

This uneven handling is still frustrating for those living outside of a Pokestop hotspot, but Niantic is working on a new form of tracking that might help users in sparse areas. User beta testing has shown a new system that combines the vague nearby list with one that lists Pokémon near Pokestops. Instead of having to wander around aimlessly, users can walk to the location of a Pokestop in hopes of encountering the creature listed there.

Niantic has recently released information on upcoming updates. It announced the addition of buddy Pokémon in the next update. This would allow users to select a Pokémon that they’ve caught to walk around with them. The full benefits of this position has not been revealed yet but Niantic did give some specifics on its website. Your buddy Pokémon would give resources for powering up your Pokémon while you walked with it and you could take them out at any time.

The game’s premise encouraged people to become more active but students have admitted they play it in flux. Rather than actively seeking out nearby Pokémon or walking in a circuit around campus, the most convenient spots are being staked out. Buildings like McBrien and the Garrison occasionally have lures placed on their Pokestops to encourage Pokémon to appear there.

This allows the player to sit and relax for 30 minutes, out of the late-summer heat.

“After classes I used to sit in my car, AC on, outside the Proctor gym to keep throwing my 1600cp Vaporeon in it,” Emily Bell, junior innovative media major, said. “Instinct is the supreme team, get wrecked Mystic and Valor.”

Some locations are better for this than others.

The Huie library is adjacent to two Pokestops that can be reached from inside the building while the area between the Harvey House and BCM can also be used to reach two.

Spa-Con is being hosted at the Hot Springs Convention Center from Friday, Sept. 23- Sunday, Sept. 25. The convention is hosting a Pokémon Go meet up that Saturday at 6 p.m. and again the next day at 3 p.m.

Sept. 12, 2016

ARTS&MUSIC

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Graphics edited by Natasha Cribbs, Graphic Designer

OPINIONS ONLY THE VALIANT Opinion by Dax Guilliams, Opinion Editor One of the most interesting things about comic books is that each comic publisher has many of their comics exist within the same universe. Marvel has their own universe, DC has their own universe, but nothing compares to the universe and characters of Valiant Comics.

To me, Valiant is the absolute best comic book publisher and they have the best characters and they get better with each year.

From “X-O Manowar,” a barbarian who stole an alien suit of armor and wound up in the modern age, to “Rai,” a samurai from the year 4000, Valiant has the most interesting characters all tied into a single universe.

That’s another thing that’s so amazing about Valiant is that all of their characters are in one universe and they don’t stray from that universe by having some comics that aren’t part of it.

One of the worst things about reading comics is not knowing where to start or what comics are part of the main universe. With Valiant, you start with “X-0 Manowar” and you just go from there.

Not only do the comics themselves explain where to go next, but you can also go to Valiant’s website and see what order you’re supposed to read them. Even if you end up hating one of their characters, which you shouldn’t because they’re all amazing, you can just skip their issues and go to the next one on the list.

The main thing to look out for with them besides the individual issues with certain characters are the events they release which get their own comics. Events such as “Book of the Dead” and “4001 AD” are some of the best story arcs I’ve ever read.

In a way, they’re also a new publisher. Valiant was around in the 90s, but they were bought by an awful company that went bankrupt. Thankfully, the licenses to most of their comics were purchased by a group of people who know what they’re doing and they brought back Valiant in 2005.

I don’t even have to tell you how great Valiant is even though I would enjoy doing so. The HUIE Library now has collected editions of “X-0 Manowar” and “Bloodshot.” I’ve been trying to get some of Valiant’s comics in there for so long and now they’re in there and you can determine for yourself on just how excellent Valiant is.

It’s not going to stop there. I won’t stop until that library is filled wall to wall with Valiant. I have a fever and the only cure is more comics

by Valiant.

If you do end up enjoying them, I would strongly recommend reading as much about “Bloodshot” and “Harbinger” as you can as Valiant has partnered with Sony to make six movies and the first of them will be over those two comics.

Also be sure to read “Harbinger Wars” because that is also getting a movie and it is also a great series.

Not only is Valiant getting a movie deal, but they’re also getting so many awards for doing what they do. Based on the amount of awards they are nominated for and winning, Valiant stands up to Marvel and DC. Personally, I think Valiant is so much better than Marvel and DC because they haven’t ruined their universe like they have. DC’s had to reboot their comic book universe almost every decade and Marvel’s universe is an absolute mess right now.

If the movies for “Bloodshot” and “Harbinger” are a success, they’re going to be a mainstream publisher and all of the other publishers are going to have a hard time competing with them.

Hopefully, other characters will get movies too. I would be so happy to see movies for characters like “Faith,” “Rai” and “Quantum and Woody.”

“Quantum and Woody” may be billed as “The World’s Worst Superhero Duo,” but that’s just a title they’ve been given because of how much trouble they get into.

If anything, they’re the world’s best superhero duo with “Archer & Armstrong” being a close second and they’re also owned by Valiant.

Last spring, I visited New York City and the good people at Valiant allowed me and a few others with me to take a tour of their offices and speak with them about the company.

Not only were they so nice as to let someone like me into their offices, but they were also nice enough to talk to me about the comics I obsess over. They made this sad nerd’s

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dream a reality.

I can only hope that Valiant does become a bigger name in comics.

While they’re getting more popular with each year, it would still be nice for them to draw in a bigger crowd.

Not only are they the kind of publisher that can do it, but they’re the kind of publisher that can do it while still keeping up the same amount of quality that they already have.

For a publisher to impress me as much as Valiant does makes me enjoy comic books so much more. To me, comic books are the greatest form of art and Valiant is the absolute best in the business.

Sept. 12, 2016

OPINIONS

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Keep your mind sharp and your hours less numbing with this puzzle. Answers in next week’s issue.

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SPORTS

Reddies volleyball has weekend of mixed results Story by Pete Tubbs, Sports Editor

Photo by Pete Tubbs, Sports Editor

Leila Whaley and Sariah Boney attempt to block a kill.

The Reddie volleyball season has been something of a mixed bag so far. However, with a winloss record of 5-4, it could be much worse.

Going in to the weekend, the women had won two games in a row, those being Franklin Pierce University (3-0) and Central Baptist College (3-0).

On Friday morning, they faced Missouri Southern State, and pulled out another win with a game count of 3-0.

The tides turned for the team that evening as the team faced Northern State University. The game was tight, and the Reddies won the first two matches. Northern State went on to win the second, third and fourth matches and defeat the home team.

The first and second matches were no doubt the most memorable of the day. Needless to say, with winning score counts of 28 for the first and 32 for the second, the games had the fans on the edge of their seats.

Courtney Bolf was one of the many standout players as she had 27 kills, 2 aces and 12 digs. Sharon Tukuaoga and Kamra Jackson were also definite standouts with 19 and 9 kills respectively.

The next game took place on Saturday morning, and the outcome was a bit more drastic. The Reddies left the game, which was against Drury University, with a match-win ratio of 0 to 3.

The Reddies came the closest to a match win in the first game, as the point count stood at Drury 25, Reddies 23. The second was the most devastating, as the home team lost by 10. The third match had a better score, only leaving the Reddies 3 points from victory at 25-22, but the game was still a big hit taken for the home team.

The overall point was 53 points for DU and 42 points for the home team. Some standout players were Courtney Bolf, Sariah Boney, and Adrianna Hartmann.

The Reddies hoped for a rebound with their afternoon match against Pittsburg State University, and that is exactly what they got. The game score count stood at 3-2, with the home team coming out on top.

The Reddies won the first two by 7 and 5 points, respectively, but suffered two losses by 3 and 2 points. It was close, but the home team prevailed and put down Pittsburg state with a 15-12 score.

Standout players for the Reddies included Courtney Bolf with 24 kills, Sharon Tukuaoga with 22 and Kamra Jackson with 9. The complete score count came to 82 points for the home team and 74 for PSU. This win was a breath of fresh air for Reddies fans after the two game losing streak. The women play Harding University at the Duke Wells center on Tuesday at 6 p.m..