University Press October 6, 2016

UNIVERSITY PRESS

The Newspaper of Lamar University

Vol. 93, No. 5 October 6, 2016

LU students attend RNC, DNC Tim Collins UP Managing Editor

Protestors picket the Trans-Pacific Partnership at the DNC in Philadelphia, Penn., July 27.

Courtesy photo

New virtual campus map app unveiled

Four students traveled to the Democratic and Republican national conventions in July, part of a program sponsored by the Washington Center, a non-profit organization which provides internships and academic seminars to universities around the world to study how political conventions work and how

top four students based on their applications, grade point average and interest in the program. They had to write personal statements, etc.

They don’t get to choose which convention they go to.”

Beaumont junior Tara Hoch, a political science major specializing in international relations, and Madison Marino, Vidor junior, atSee RNC/DNC page 5

Portrait of Inclusion LU vice president of diversity paints picture of global future Haley Bruyn UP Editor In the half of a semester he has been here, John BelloOgunu Sr. has already become a familiar face around the Lamar University campus. As vice president of diversity and inclusion, he is working to shape the campus into a multicultural community from which wellrounded graduates will venture into a workforce of diverse populations.

“What I’ve learned so far at Lamar has underscored my perception of the university, and especially what I believe to be the opportunities for any progressively-minded and competent diversity officer,” he said. “I’ve begun to see the many opportunities for creative and innovative leadership. I’m very excited, because you can see that there are a lot of opportunities for me to make a meaningful difference.”

Bello-Ogunu said that people should be treated as individuals and differences

Danielle Sonnier UP Contributor Computer science graduate students Ankur Shah and Chandrakant Rudami, along with department chair Stefan Andrei, will showcase the new virtual campus map app on the Eighth Floor of Gray Library, Oct. 28.

The app is a continuation of last year’s desktop version of the map.

The app, which will be available for Apple and Android products, will use an avatar to allow complete interaction with users.

“Our software team is now designing new features, such as letting the user select the desired avatar or choose the building they want to visit, showing the path to the desired building from the current point, and more,” Andrei said.

“The two major objectives of the app are to increase the visibility of Lamar University worldwide and to increase the number of students attending Lamar University,” according to the computer science web page.

“There are some universities in the world with similar contributions,” Andrei said. “They have ‘you-are-here’ maps where you can see your location. They can guide users to the building of interest, but they don’t show inside the offices and rooms, whereas our game actually lets you into the building.”

Students who use the app will be able to save time and be less dependent on help from students or staff while trying to find a building or room.

“The room numbers will be displayed in the app, but not the instructors’ names, since they will

students can get involved in the American political process.

The program was a collaborative effort between Terri Davis, chair of the department of political science, and Kevin Dodson, dean of the Reaud Honors College.

“It’s a huge program at our department,” Davis said. “The Washington Center requires these participants be members of the Honors College, and we selected the

‘Don’t use one brush to paint all members of a group.’

— John Bello-Ogunu Sr.

should be celebrated.

“That’s why I always said, ‘Don’t use one brush to paint all members of a group,’” he said. “I don’t care if it’s white, green, red or silver. You have to deal with individuals as individuals, believing that they are inherently distinct until you are proven wrong.”

Bello-Ogunu’s love of teaching led him to the administrative side of academia after a chance encounter at a national research conference.

“Someone told me that some of the research work that I had done would be helpful or beneficial to their university,” he said. They had just received a Lily Foundation grant to improve diversity on their campus and they were interested in creating an office of diversity.”

Bello-Ogunu beat out 200 applicants and created his first office of multicultural affairs and center for international programs in 1993. Since then, he has taught, researched and educated communities on the importance of understanding other cultures.

“It is true that every university is different, and in my experience in higher education, I have found that the ultimate educational goal of all these institutions — and indeed of any institution — has been the same,” he said. “That is, recruiting, retaining, educating and successfully graduating students who are holistically prepared to be able to function effectively, successfully and productively.”

Bello-Ogunu said he believes it is essential that graduates are truly global citizens who are able to function within the global village of interconnected and interdependent cultures and economies.

“Unless an institution is able to demonstrate that they have been successful in preparing students and readying them for that ever challenging and demanding world, then that institution cannot claim it has achieved its See INCLUSION page 3

See APP page 8

‘She Kills Monsters’ to open Oct. 14 Jackie Benavides UP Contributor

UP photo Jackie Benavides

Wyatt Curry, left, Jared Hinson and Mary Hooker will perform in BCP’s “She Kills Monsters.”

www.facebook.com/UPLamar

High school is a completely different world from adult reality, but “She Kills Monsters” takes that idea to a whole new level.

Through a “Dungeons & Dragons” lens on mid1990s teenage life, audiences will see how an adult comes to know her dead sister’s true self.

Beaumont Community Players and Ad Hoc Beaumont will present “She Kills Monsters,” beginning Oct. 14 and running through Oct. 29, at the Betty Greenburg Center for the Performing Arts.

The play, written by Qui Nguyen, is set in Ohio in 1995, so there are ’90s-specific music and references throughout. The story centers around Agnes, played

by Mary Hooker, whose

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parents and younger sister died in a car crash. Agnes was not close to Tilly, played by Wyatt Curry.

Tilly, who was 10 years younger than Agnes, was into D&D. “First off, it’s an action comedy,” director Michael Saar, associate professor in Gray Library said. “(Agnes) discovers one of Tilly’s modules in the D&D game, and decides to enter into that world to find out more about her sister. Through that, this fantasy world comes to life around her, with angry bugbears and crazy fairies and evil cheerleader demonesses.

“Tilly was bullied, partly for being into nerdy stuff like D&D, but also because she was a closeted lesbian.

Agnes discovers all this stuff and it brings them closer together. With all that, there’s a lot of really weird and

funny stuff that happens throughout the play. At its heart, it’s a comedy — a very weird funny comedy.”

Ad-Hoc creative director Michael Mason said there are points in the play that portray strong, relatable emotion.

“Honestly, like beautiful and heart-warming at the same time,” he said. “There can be extremely moving moments, and like every show that I am working on, I look for funny comedy — a little bit of Wow! and those moments of real humanity on stage.

“You see it right there and you can hear them breathing. You know, it’s just very cathartic and nice when that can happen.”

Hooker, LIT student, said no one will be disapSee MONSTERS page 2

www.twitter.com/UPLamar

INSIDE

Thursday, October 6, 2016 University Press

MONSTERS

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“If you’re quiet, you’re not living.

You’ve got to be noisy and colorful and lively.”

— Mel Brooks

Page 2

NOTICE

The University Press can be read online at www.lamaruniversitypress.com.

Advertising rates can be found on the site, along with practically all information that a person might be looking for.

from page 1

pointed by the show.

“I don’t think that there’s any one person who could come out of this saying, ‘I just did not enjoy it,’” she said.

“It’s described as a comedy, but there’s some really just deep heartfelt moments in this show.”

Mason said he hopes the play will tap into a young generation.

“Most people are watching Netflix, playing on their phones — I get it, I do it,” he said. “But there’s something different when you see a wellexecuted production that’s live in front of you. It can be a magical thing that you don’t get from just looking at a screen.”

Saar said the play challenges preconceived notions of what theater is.

“We certainly say, ‘Come check this out,’ because this will show you a different idea of what theater can be — it can be very exhilarating, very funny,” he said.

Saar said “She Kills Monsters” is an excellent vehicle for women.

“The women are not damsels in distress,” he said.

“They are the forefront of the story and of the action in it, and they really kick butt throughout the show. We’ve had several fight choreographers working with us to create these kind of dynamic fights.”

The play features a 19member cast and is rated PG13 for mild adult language.

“I think older audiences will get a kick out of the show, but at the same time, a middle-school kid can still have a really good time and enjoy the show,” Mason said.

Saar compared the play to the cartoon “Adventure Time.”

“That kind of weird, warped, funny world — that’s

CALENDAR

October 6

Judge Joe Fisher

Distinguished Lecture: Itzhak Perlman

Montagne Center 7:30 -8:30 p.m.

October 13

Cardinal Jazz

Orchestra Concert

Rothwell Recital Hall 7:30 -8:30 p.m

UP photo by Jackie Benavides

Haleigh Courts, left, and Taylor VanDevender play cheerleader demonesses opposite Wyatt Curry and Mary Hooker in “She Kills Monsters,” which opens Oct. 14 at Beaumont Community Players.

kind of what we are bringing to the stage here,” he said.

“It’s got kind of a dark comedy quality to it.”

Lamar student Anthony Gonzales, of Silsbee, plays Steve.

“In real life, he’s this very awkward very timid character,” he said. “He’s basically like a little freshman that doesn’t know his place in the world yet. I am a freshman at Lamar right now, so it definitely helps being put in that mindset, but I am a very outgoing person, so I am trying to shift that. I am actually using a couple of my friends as like a guide.

“On (Steve’s) alter ego, in the actual D&D universe that they’re in, he’s this very flamboyant, very over-exaggerated person, and I take what I do in normal acting and I just blow it out of proportion — I just try and have fun with it, honestly,” he said.

Lamar student Avery Smithhart, of Port Neches, plays Lilith.

“Lilith is the brawn of the group, which is very different from me as a person with my skinny spaghetti arms, but she is very aggressive,” she said. “We always joke she has a low intelligence score for talking about D&D terms, so she’s just all, like, ‘Let’s go fight something.’ The flip side of that is the character of Lily, who she is in the real world. She’s a senior in high school and I am a senior at Lamar, so there’s this nice little parallel there.

“Tilly is creating this world; she creates the perfect version of Lilith or who Lilith wants to be — confident and in control of herself. She’s a demon queen, so people always joke about how she’s dressed — imagine some kind of skanky barbarian, basically.”

Hooker said she is in almost every scene and almost every fight.

“I didn’t have any experience with any kind of fight choreography, or Jiu-Jitsu,

or any kind of experience like that,” she said. “Coming into this, it’s been learning a lot.”

Hooker said the cast is anxious for opening night.

“I’m really excited, I don’t think I have ever been as excited for an opening night as I am about this show,” she said. “This script is so good, and the actors are amazing, and Michael Saar has done an amazing job just putting it all together.

“I think even the person with the highest expectations of this show is still going to be blown away.”

The performances will be held in the Jerry L. McMillan Studio Theatre, 4155 Laurel Ave. in Beaumont.

Tickets are $18 for adults, $16 for seniors and students, and $10 for children 12 and under. Student rush tickets, sold 30 minutes before showtime when seats are available, are $10.

For tickets, call 833-4664, or visit beaumontcommuni typlayers.com.

October 14

She Kills Monsters

Betty Greenberg Center 7 p.m.

October 18

Distinguished Faculty Lecture:

Raiders of the Lost Art

University Theater 7:30 -9 p.m

October 18

Faculty Recital

Clark and Cho Piano Duet

Rothwell Recital Hall 7:30 p.m

October 21

‘My Music, My Love’

Staged-Play Reading

Rothwell Recital Hall 7:30 p.m

UNIVERSITY PRESS • Thursday, October 6, 2016

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INCLUSION from page 1 primary goal of preparing the students for life,” he said.

Bello-Ogunu said students will find they have to work with people who are unlike themselves, and they should understand and appreciate that the differences between them and their coworkers can be a helpful tool, which can enhance the performance and help the company achieve its goal.

“Having worked very hard in my own way to help contribute to the achievement of harmony and peace in my external communities, I can confidently say that I bring to the table a wealth of experiences and the passion — the commitment — to help the institution achieve one of its ultimate goals,” he said.

Bello-Ogunu said he wants Lamar students to be holistically prepared to become responsible and interculturally competent global ambassadors, who can help make the world a better place.

“I know that Rome was not built in a day,” he said. “It is going to be one step at a time. There has to be a campus culture of collective responsibility and accountability for improving or advancing diversity, inclusion and social justice around campus. Because no one individual, no one office, no one department can do it alone. It has to be our collective business.”

Bello-Ogunu’s passion for his work stems from his personal

journey.

“There have been experiences — very positive experiences, as well as negative ones — that propel my interest,” he said.

“I had the opportunity to visit various countries in the world when I was a young child as well as as an adult. And in those international experiences, I saw how different we are as humans, and yet similar in many respects — I was able to experience the beauty of multiculturalism in practice.

“I’ve seen the welcoming, the nurturing the supportive behaviors and attitudes of those that you and I might refer to as strangers, and that has taught me to remember that every human being — regardless of their sociocultural backgrounds — is, first and foremost, inherently distinct.”

Bello-Ogunu has experienced the darker side of people. He tells of the time he was searching for an apartment with his pregnant wife. A white woman told the black couple that the apartment she had recently said was available was suddenly off the market.

Bello-Ogunu said he did not suspect anything, but his friend, Doug, posed as a potential renter, and because he was white, she offered him the rental. Doug brought Bello-Ogunu and his wife back to the rental and chastised the woman for her actions.

“It was racist behavior on the

part of the woman, but here is Doug, my friend — a white man — who was bent on getting to the bottom of this because he suspected something was wrong, so we cannot go around saying, ‘All whites are racist,’ or ‘All blacks are this’ or ‘All Native Americans are this.’ You cannot. It is wrong.

It is unfair. It’s unjust,” he said.

“Sometimes, you have to see all of us as victims of a collective upbringing. That upbringing, not just by parents, but teachers, the mass media, the government, churches, peers and on and on — all of these formed our frames of references with which we view the world we live in. So yes, what she did was wrong, but she is not a neutral self. She is a product of the many things — many teachings — that she has been exposed to from the very beginning — all beyond her control, but nevertheless internalized. So it became who she is.”

Bello-Ogunu said human beings in general are quick to generalize, or to blame a group.

“We live in a very complex world, so we are always looking for help in navigating that complex world,” he said. “Every day we are exposed to yet another higher level of complexity — so many things coming at us.”

“Unfortunately we, humans, tend to fill in the blanks really quickly with whatever we can put in without checking them out.

‘’We must be willing to be a change agent… for making our world a better place.’

— John Bello-Ogunu Sr.

That is why we have stereotypes, that’s why we have prejudice — because we are not always willing and prepared to learn more about what we heard, what we’ve been told or what we’ve read before passing judgement. So we end up filling in the blanks with distorted, incomplete and sometimes unfair pieces of information. That usually leads to using one brush to color a different race, a particular religion, or so forth.”

Bello-Ogunu said he has had many other bad experiences he could talk about, but that he sees each of them as an opportunity to make a difference.

“As frustrating and sometimes painful as it may be, you must learn to use every encounter that you have with someone who is unlike you as an opportunity to educate, so that in the end, one drop at a time, one encounter at a

APP from page 1 change over time,” Andrei said.

Though the main goal of the app is to provide navigational guidance to students, the app is available for anyone. There is no security threat, Andrei said.

“Before I started implementing this project, I visited with the president,” Andrei said. “He said since it’s a game, a virtual reality, a user cannot enter offices or get enough detail for there to be security issues.”

The upcoming renovations to the campus will not be problematic to the accuracy of the app.

“We intend to apply a ‘maintenance’ service for the project,” Andrei said. “It will correctly reflect the new renovations on the campus.”

The showcase is open to the public.

For more information about the app, call 880-8776.

A frame from the virtual campus map app showing Morris Combs Dining Hall.

time, it can begin to help to change the world to become better,” he said.

“Whether it is you, whether it is me, whether it is any member of the campus community, I think we must be willing to be a change agent — a catalyst— for making our world a better place, one interpersonal relation at a time, or one campus community at a time, or one neighborhood at a time.”

Bello-Ogunu said that, ultimately, if we point fingers in blame, we must point the finger at ourselves.

“A community, whether it is campus community or a local community, does not exist in vacuum,” he said. “It is made up of people — you and I. “I believe we always have the collective ethical and moral responsibility to help make it better, no matter how small a contribution we are able to make.”

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Thursday, October 6, 2016 • UNIVERSITY PRESS

Beaumont Art League presents cultural exhibit Trevier Gonzalez UP Multimedia Editor

UP photos by Trevier Gonzalez

Ines Alvidres sets up a mural, above, for the exhibition “Celebración del arte Latino,” on display at the Beaumont Art League through Oct. 28. Alvidres prepares a mural she painted when she was in high school, below and right.

Members of the Beaumont Art League didn’t skip a beat while preparing for “Celebración del arte Latino,” an exhibition highlighting artists from the Latino community.

The show is on display through Oct. 28, with an reception set for 7 p.m., Saturday.

Chihuahua City, Mexico-native Ines Alvidres is one of the six featured artists in the show.

Alvidres will show a mural she painted in high school, as well as a mural she created with 50 local children. She said this exhibition is the beginning of growing the profile of local Latino artists and she is excited to see how the project can grow.

“This is just the first year,” she said. “Who knows, next year we could have four murals, and different parts of the community can work on them.”

In addition to the works of five featured Latino artists, culturally-related artwork from students from All Saints Episcopla School and Silsbee High School will also be featured.

Bridget Johnson, BAL board president, said the exhibit draws a similarity with their Black History Month show.

“The actual concept was for us to feature Latino artists in our community,” she said. “In my opinion, since I’ve been here, Beaumont has a very thriving Latino community.

Here at BAL, we actually want to have exhibits that reflect our diverse community.”

Alvidres, who characterizes the reception as a fiesta, said there’s more to take from the exhibit than simply seeing the culture within the artwork.

“It’s not just about showing Hispanic heritage and culture, but it’s to embrace each other,” she said. “So everyone that is gonna come out and show up at the door, it’s going to be to embrace each other.”

Johnson said the reception will incorporate a wide variety of artists.

“We have a really diverse group in a sense of age,” she said. “When you think about demographics, as far as where everyone’s from, you have representation from various Latin Americans and descendants from other countries, and so that’s what’s really cool about this exhibit.

“That’s why we wanted to make sure that this is an exhibit that, if we’re going to say it’s representative of the community, that means all artists.”

For more information, visit beaumontartleague.org.

UNIVERSITY PRESS • Thursday, October 6, 2016

RNC/DNC

Page 5

from page 1

tended the DNC, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Penn, July 25-28. The students were in Philadelphia for two weeks. The first week the students attended academic lectures at Temple University, and for the second week, Hoch was placed in an internship with a news organization covering the convention.

“I got placed with Voice of America News, which is like an international news service funded by Congress,” Hoch said. “One of the coolest things was I got to interview Daniel Nasaw, the Washington bureau chief at the Wall Street Journal.”

Hoch said that the atmosphere was cooperative, despite the fact that she was a student intern working alongside seasoned reporters with Reuters and the New York Times.

“Everybody there was really friendly and really open to the idea of interns being in their space,” she said. “You usually get the idea that people would be like, ‘Get out of our hair!’ but people really helped us.”

This air of helpfulness extended to VOA French-Africa asking her to shoot video content due to her small smattering of French.

“I was the Facebook Live camerawoman whenever people were warming up,” she said. “It was little me in this

sea of AP and New York Times reporters, like, ‘Excuse me.

Can I take a video?’”

Ryan Sherer, Nederland junior, and Victoria LaFleur, Port Neches junior, attended the RNC at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, July 18-21. After a week of lectures, the city was locked down due to security concerns. Sherer participated in the convention as an intern with the Texas state delegation.

“It was definitely a crazy experience, because while I was working we were able to get full access to the entire convention, all four days, along with passes to two delegate parties — which was very kind of the state delegation — and also allowed us to meet and talk with former Governor Rick Perry and Speaker Paul Ryan,” Sherer said.

Sherer said the 2016 RNC was tumultuous because of the dissent of Ted Cruz, who, after dropping out of the race, refused to endorse presumptive nominee Donald Trump and, instead, in a speech to the delegates, insisted that they vote their conscience.

“I met Rafael Cruz, Ted Cruz’s dad,” he said. “Naturally, I’m the person who gets picked to hand Ted Cruz’s dad a bag of Donald Trump merchandise. I scampered off, because of all the things I wanted to do at this convention, this was not one of them. He just plopped it in front of his aide.

He didn’t want to look at it.”

Hoch had a few encounters of her own at the DNC in Philadelphia, including wandering into a “Bernie or Bust” rally, and interviewing a former governor of Massachusetts who ran for president in 1988.

“Michael Dukakis just wandered into our VOA workspace one day and was like, ‘Do you guys want to talk to me?’ and he let us just interview him,” she said. “No big deal. Tim Supporters carried an inflatable Kaine was also there. He asked Bernie Sanders during a rally in us reporters to help him Philadelphia during the DNC. choose his tie and he ended up

wearing the tie we chose that night when he spoke — very important decision. I remember seeing the next day an article where somebody was like, ‘Tim Kaine chooses boldstriped tie!’ or something, and I was like, ‘I helped choose that.’”

Davis said that, despite the star-struck atmosphere, the experience is a learning tool for students and a chance for students to represent their school.

“A lot of times we think of the face of Lamar as one person or another, usually with a bunch of initials after their names, but the real face of Lamar is our students,” she said. “I keep telling my students, when you’re out there and you’re at these conventions and you’re working at the Texas legislature in the Texas Legislative Internship Program, you’re an ambassador for my department. You’re an ambassador of Lamar.”

Marino worked as an intern for CNN and said she spent two hours talking with Carl Bernstein, former Washington Post reporter who, with Bob Woodward, helped break the Watergate scandal that eventually caused President Richard Nixon to resign in 1974.

“He just said, ‘Don’t waste your time when you’re young and make sure that you are living a life to make an impact,’” she said. “This experience definitely made me realize that I’ve always wanted to be involved in politics. I’ve always been interested in our American political system, but being there, it made me realize how important it is as a Millennial to be involved. It made me realize that everything that they do, everything that our American political system represents, it really does involve us, and it involves us for years and decades to come, so don’t just wait until you’re older to think that you’ll get involved. It happens now. It starts now.

Things change with you.”

Courtesy photos by Ryan Sherer and Tara Hoch

Speaker Paul Ryan poses for a photo with Lamar’s Ryan Sherer at the RNC in Cleveland, above. Tara Hoch, below, poses with a statue of basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain outside the Comcast Arena in Philadelphia, site of the Democratic Convention.

Page 6

Thursday, October 6, 2016 • UNIVERSITY PRESS

Party For Pink

The Zeta Tau Alpha sorority raised money for Breast Cancer Awareness month on Saturday during the Lamar Cardinal’s “Pink Out” football tailgate.

Sorority members painted visitors’ faces pink and white like Lauren Rodgers and Madison Welch, far left. There were breast cancer-themed games, like “Bra-pong,” left.

Students like Cade Johnson, above, pledged to shaved his head once the sorority reached its donation goal.

UP photos by Elisabeth Tatum

7

SPORTS

UNIVERSITY PRESS October 6, 2016

Cards defeat Lions, 38-14

UP photos by Matt Beadle

Harrington scores 50th career touchdown as LU records first win Cade Smith UP Contributor

The Lamar football team, after taking a week off, defeated Southland Conference opponent Southeastern Louisiana University 38-14, Saturday, at Provost Umphrey Stadium.

“This was a good team win at a time when we needed it,” head coach Ray Woodard said. “I was encouraged by what took place tonight. I thought we looked like a team that had two weeks to prepare.”

Lamar had a strong first quarter on both sides of the ball, as the defense kept Southeastern Louisiana from scoring.

The offense started the game with a pair of touchdowns just over a minute from each other. After freshman running back Kendrick King ran for 6yards for a touchdown, and the Cardinal defense got Lamar running back Kade Harrington celebrates, above, scoring the ball back after forcing a his 50th-career touchdown in the third quarter, top, during Sat- three-and-out and a urday’s 38-14 win over Southeaster Louisiana in Provost blocked punt by sophomore Cardinal Zae Giles, Umphrey Stadium.

senior quarterback Carson Earp tacked on another touchdown with a 17-yard rush to the end zone after an incomplete pass, to make the score 14-0 with 2:13 left in the first quarter.

The second quarter left both teams scoreless until SLU scored a late touchdown with just over a minute left. LU answered the late touchdown with an end-of-quarter 38-yard field goal from senior kicker Alex Ball, making the score 17-7 at the half.

“Offensively, we had no turnovers, ran the ball well and we controlled the clock,” Woodard said. “Defensively, we forced a lot of turnovers.”

Lamar kept their momentum in the third quarter, when Earp ran the ball for 13-yards to the end zone for his second touchdown with 9:06 remaining in the third. Senior running back, Kade Harrington, tacked on a 15-yard run to make the score 31-7 with 2:09 left. It was Harrington’s 50th career

touchdown.

LU junior quarterback Andrew Allen replaced a cramping Earp at the beginning of the fourth quarter and scored a 6-yard rushing touchdown. SLU answered with a touchdown late in the fourth to make it a 24-point game but that was as close as they got.

Lamar finished the game with a total of 249rushing yards, 144 of which came from Harrington. Earp finished with 79rushing yards.

“I’m happy we were able to get a win tonight, it was definitely much needed — we’ve been working for two weeks to prepare for these guys,” Earp said.

The quarterback said he felt more confident than he had previously this season.

“I felt good, you just have to go out there, play, and believe in yourself and your teammates,” he said.

“Our offensive line played great tonight, and we were able to run the ball pretty well.”

Cardinal senior defen-

sive back Brendan Langley tied the single-game school record with three interceptions.

“It was a great team effort, the coaches had us in great position,” he said.

“We had two weeks to game plan. I feel like this was the most prepared we have been all year.”

On the negative side, the Cardinal defense lost key sophomore defensive backs Davon Jernigan and Rodney Randle to injury.

“Having both Rodney and Davon out are definitely big hits to our defense,” Langley said.

“Hopefully, they will get better and be ready to play this week.”

Woodard said the team should have plenty of momentum going into the game at Abilene Christian University, Saturday, and there is no reason that the team won’t keep that momentum.

Saturday’s Southland Conference matchup kicks off at 6 p.m. Radio coverage is on Newstalk 560 KLVI.

UPsports briefs VOLLEYBALL After tying a school record for the longest road swing to start the season, the Lamar University volleyball team returns to McDonald Gym when it hosts two Southland Conference matches, starting with Central Arkansas at 7 p.m. today.

Hosting the Sugar Bears will snap a road trip that lasted 15matches. After UCA, Big Red will turn around and host Northwestern State at 1 p.m., Saturday.

Lamar Athletics will hand out volleyball schedule T-shirts and posters, tonight, with free pizza for the first 100 students. Saturday will be Camper Reunion Day, and campers who attend the LU volleyball camps will get in free of charge if they wear the camp T-shirt. Coach Alan Edwards will have his “Chalk Talk” pregame at 12:15 p.m.

“McDonald Gym is a special place to play. I know the players are excited about it. Our team plays better in a closer environment,” Edwards said. “I’ve

talked to a few student athletes that say they are coming, and hopefully it’ll be McDonald at its finest."

Sitting at 2-1 during conference play, the Cardinals look to go 3-1 for the first time since 2010.

After Saturday’s match, the team will go on a brief twomatch road swing against Incarnate Word and San Antonio.

The Cardinals' next match at home will be against Abilene Christian, Oct. 18.

MEN’S GOLF Snow showers and cold temperatures were no match for the red-hot Zander Gous this week.

The Lamar University senior continued his torrid start to the fall season as he shared medalist honors to lead the Cardinals to the team title at the OGIO Utah Invitational, Tuesday, in Park City, Utah. Gous, the Southland Conference Golfer of the Month for September after winning the Jim Rivers Intercollegiate, fired a 3-under-par 68 on Tuesday on

the par-71, 7,129-yard layout at The Jeremy Ranch Golf and Country Club to finish in a tie with Boise State's Brian Humphreys at 3-under 139 for 36 holes in the weather-shortened event. The tournament was scheduled for 54 holes, but was shortened to 36 holes as weather affected play on Monday.

The Cardinals finished with a team total of 9-over 577, three strokes ahead of the host Utah Utes, to claim their first team crown of the fall. LU finished third in the team standings at the Jim Rivers Intercollegiate.

“That’s two wins in a row for Z,” LU coach Jessie Mudd said.

“I couldn't be happier for him.”

LU’s Mans Berglund finished alone in third place at 140, one stroke behind Gous and Humphreys, after a 2-under-par 69 in the second round.

“We had a good tournament under tough conditions,” Mudd said. “I'm proud of the whole team, especially Mans and Zander for showing senior leadership and having another good

tournament for us.”

The Cardinals return to action Monday when they participate in the Bayou City Collegiate Classic hosted by the University of Houston at the Golfcrest Country Club in Pearland.

“We are making strides in the right direction, and we’re going to keep improving,” Mudd said.

“We have a quick turnaround, and I’m excited to see what we can do at Golfcrest next week.”

BASKETBALL Lamar University basketball fans can dine with their favorite Cardinals at the LU Tip-Off Luncheon scheduled for 12:30 p.m., Oct. 22, in the Montagne Center.

The event features a deluxe lunch, silent and live auctions and season previews presented by men’s coach Tic Price and women’s coach Robin Harmony.

The LU women’s team, which has qualified for the Southland Conference Tournament for 11straight seasons, returns Kiara

Desamours, last season’s Southland Conference Freshman of the Year, along with Chastadie Barrs, who last season became the first freshman to be named the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year.

The men’s basketball team returns seven players from last season and will be a young team in 2016-17 with only two seniors among the group.

The LU women, who open their season at Final Four participant Oregon State, Nov. 11, play their home opener at 7 p.m.

Nov. 16 vs. St. Thomas.

The men’s team starts its season by hosting Howard Payne at 7 p.m., Nov. 11.

Tables for the luncheon range from $300 to $1,000. Individual tickets are $25 in advance, or $30 at the door. All proceeds benefit the men’s and women’s basketball programs by assisting with summer scholarships.

For tickets, contact Matthew Pace at 880-8250, or email matthew.pace@lamar.edu.

Page 8

Thursday, October 6, 2016 • UNIVERSITY PRESS

Language of Laughter Deaf Awareness Week ends on comical note Trevier Gonzalez UP Multimedia Editor

Kent Kennedy’s comedy routine doesn’t require any words.

Through American Sign Language, Groves-native Kennedy brings humor to the day-to-day problems the Deaf community faces.

He delivered many smiles during a performance at the Lumberton Performing Arts Center, Oct. 1.

The event was hosted by Lamar’s Signing Cardinals.

“It’s important to see them laugh,” Kennedy said. “It’s important stimulation. For a hearing person, a comedian helps them to laugh through their ears, but everything is visual for a deaf person.”

Marta Mentesana, Signing Cardinals president and a hearing student, said it’s not like a normal comedy show.

“You have a good time laughing at all the things like that, but you also get to experience that Deaf Culture,” she said. “(He shares) stories from their Deaf culture — situations that wouldn’t normally happen to hearing people.”

In a twist from the usual presentations, Kennedy used an interpreter for the hearing members of the audience.

Lolín Rodriguez, vice president of Signing Cardinals, said it was important to bring the Deaf and hearing communities together.

“We wanted to branch out and have hearing people come in and enjoy it,” she said. “I definitely think Deaf Awareness Week bridges everyone together — especially our helpful interpreters that come in and provide that language access so it can spark an interest in people.

“I know it sparked an interest in me, and that’s the reason I got into the field, but Deaf Awareness Week is all about letting people know that deaf people are out there, deaf people can do anything, and that’s really what we try to support this week.”

Although there were interpreters throughout his act, Mentesana said it wasn’t always necessary.

“There were parts of his stories that really didn’t need to voice anything,” she said. “It was all about the things that he was doing — it’s definitely on all levels of comedy.”

Kennedy’s said his routine reinforced the message that Deaf people have limitless potential.

“Often, Deaf people look at hearing stand-up comedians and think, ‘Well, deaf people can’t do that.’ When they see a deaf comedian, and they see that it’s pretty funny, and they have nice things to share — the stage isn’t that scary,” he said.

“That’s obviously great exposure for the Deaf community.”

Kennedy said interaction between the Deaf and hearing communities goes both ways.

“I socialize with hearing people often, and we gesture with one another,” he said. “So when a hearing person is involved in the Deaf world, they can belong to a Deaf world even though they don’t understand.”

Kennedy said, in comparison to past

performances, the staging was perfect.

“One time, I was performing on the floor, and it was more like an auditorium, and people couldn’t see me perform, so it was hard,” he said. “It’s a lot better and visually more accessible on a stage, so this was a great setup here.”

Mentesana said the perception towards the Deaf community has advanced over time.

“I think it’s changed a lot,” she said.

“The whole terminology from Deaf — it literally used to be ‘deaf and dumb,’ like, the school for the ‘deaf and the dumb,’ and that has completely changed over the years.

“I think the world is really becoming aware. Like, hey, this is not a disability, this is not an, ‘Aw, I can’t do it, I need help.’ — it’s just a different language.

“That’s the only difference, is the means of communication. I think that it has changed drastically, I think people are very aware that Deaf can do anything.”

For more information about Signing Cardinals, visit their Facebook page.

UP photos by Trevier Gonzalez

Comedian Kent Kennedy signs his comedy routine at the Lumberton Performing Arts Center, Oct. 1.