Oct. 7, 2022

During this midterm election year, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate will be contested.

Voting 101 for this year’s midterms

THE WICHITAN STAFF

General elections are just around the corner with elec tion day being on Nov. 8. This election is not for the next president of the United States but for members of the house of representatives, sen ators, and governors. Not all states will vote for all these categories in 2022, but Texas will. General elec tions usually don’t have a great voter

turnout when compared to presiden tial elections, but they are just as important.

To participate in this election you have to be registered to vote by Oct. 11. You can check your voter registra tion status by going to teamrv-mvp. sos.texas.gov . If you are not regis tered to vote but would like to, you can use the same link above to fill out the voter registration form, print

and mail it to the voter registrar in your county of residence. Once mailed you can check the status of your ballot using the same link.

If you can’t make it to the polls on Nov. 8, you can vote by mail or par ticipate in early voting. To vote by mail you will have to fill out an Ap plication for Ballot by Mail (ABBM) and send it to the early voting clerk in your county. Early voting begins

on Oct. 24 and ends on Nov. 4. Not all poll locations do early voting, make sure to call beforehand.

Before voting make sure you know where your poll location is, you have all materials needed and that you are well informed on the candidates that will appear on your ballot.

For more information, you can go to votetexas.gov or vote411.org.

BRIEFS

Campus police report sexual assault in Killingsworth

Via Postmaster, campus police informed students of a reported sexual assault that occurred in Killingsworth Hall on Sept. 29. A campus police officer was notified of the assault and the victim and suspect are both reported to be students and are reportedly known to each other.

Counselling Center hosts mental health workshops

The Counselling Center is hosting three workshops centered around mental health throughout October. The first one occurred on Monday while the other two will be on Oct. 11 and Oct. 18 in Legacy MPR.

The Office of Undergraduate Research announces open call for EURECA proposals

The official call for abstracts for the Fall 2022 Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities Forum was opened on Sept. 27. Students interested in making a submission can contact Julie Scales, the coordinator of undergraduate research.

GEO hosts international student forum

EN ESPAÑOL

Las

elecciones generales están a la vuelta de la esquina y el día de las elecciones será el 8 de noviembre. Esta elección no es para el próximo presidente de los Estados Unidos, sino para los miem bros de la cámara de representantes, senadores y gobernadores. No todos los estados votarán por todas estas categorías en 2022, pero Texas sí lo hará. Las elecciones generales gen eralmente no tienen una gran partic

ipación de votantes en comparación con las elecciones presidenciales, pero son igual de importantes.

Para participar en esta elección, debe estar registrado para votar an tes del 11 de octubre. Puede verificar el estado de su registro de votante en teamrv-mvp.sos.texas.gov. Si no está registrado para votar pero le gus taría hacerlo, puede usar el mismo enlace anterior para completar el formulario de registro de votante, imprimirlo y enviarlo por correo al

registrador de votantes de su con dado de residencia. Una vez enviada por correo, puede verificar el estado de su boleta utilizando el mismo en lace.

Si no puede ir a votar el 8 de noviembre, puede votar por correo o participar en la votación anticipada. Para votar por correo, deberá que completar una Solicitud de boleta por correo y enviarla al secretario de votación anticipada de su condado. La votación anticipada comienza

Editor in Chief: Stephanie Robledo

Managing Editor: Anne Akpabio

Design Editor: Omar Combie

Photography Editor: Colin Stevenson

Vol. 87 | No. 3

Midwestern State University

Fain Fine Arts Bldg., Room D201 3410 Taft Blvd. | Wichita Falls, Texas 76308 (940) 397-4704 wichitan@msutexas.edu | thewichitan.com

Spanish Editor: Lizbeth Jaimes

Section Editors: Cecil Witherspoon, Thalía Doe

Business Manager: Tiffany Haggard

Social Media Manager: Rebekah Gardner

el 24 de octubre y finaliza el 4 de noviembre. No todos los lugares de votación realizan la votación antici pada, asegúrese de llamar con an ticipación para averiguarlo.

Antes de votar, asegúrese de sa ber dónde está su lugar de votación, tiene todos los materiales necesarios y está bien informado sobre los can didatos que aparecerán en su boleta.

Para obtener más información, puede visitar votetexas.gov o vote411.org.

Copyright ©2022.

To update international students about resources available to them on campus, the Global Education office will be hosting an international student forum on Thursday, Oct. 13 at 3:30 p.m. in Bolin Hall R100.

2023-2024 FAFSA applications are open

In Texas, the deadline to apply for Free Application for Federal Student Aid is Jan. 15, 2023.

Issue Staff: Joey Arthur, A. Defore, Jessieña Pando, Gabriella

Pettijohn

Advisor: Jonathon Quam

First copy free. Additional copies $1.00 each.

The Wichitan is a member of the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association and the Associated Collegiate Press. The Wichitan reserves the right to edit any material submitted for publication.

Opinions expressed in The Wichitan do not necessarily reflect those of the students, staff, faculty, administration or Board of Regents of Midwestern State University.

The Wichitan welcomes letters of opinion from students, faculty and staff submitted by the Friday before intended publication. Letters should be brief (250 words or fewer) and without abusive language or personal attacks. Letters must be typed and signed by the writer and include a email address, telephone number and address.

PHOTO COURTESY OF PIXABAY

Growing up Latino in Wichita Falls: Marlem Martinez

After immi

grating to the U.S. in order to keep a family together.

like it’s so essential for me to be in volved in organizations that are tar geted to our people,” Martinez said.

Thalía

Doe

Jose Martinez from Zacatecas, Mexico, then 18-years-old, along with his wife; Monica Martinez from Guanajuato, Mexico await ing their first born, were wed in the church Our Lady of Guadalupe here in Wichita Falls, TX. That child would become a first-generation col lege student, studying Spanish and criminal justice in hopes to make an impact in the world around her. That child is Marlem Martinez.

“I grew up in the avenues in a dominantly Hispanic neighborhood, and with a lot of my family nearby. We had actually moved three times prior to growing up in the house in the avenues. When I was younger, I lived with my grandmother since my parents had me at such a young age. Carne asada’s were the usual weekends growing up with all my aunts and uncles and cousins. It was very influential and allowed me to grow up surrounded heavily in my culture. I am also the oldest child and a Hispanic woman, I grew up

very involved in helping my family. In elementary, I would come home from school and make the beds, sweep, taking out the trash, wash ing dishes etc. Once my younger sis ter was old enough, then we would split all those chores. I’ve taken my brother to football games, sister to doctor appointments, help them both with homework, I’ve picked my brother up from school as well and if I don’t, in the Hispanic community, it can be seen as not wanting to help your family out, so that can be con flicting at times because it’s not like that,” Martinez said.

Martinez attended a pre-domi nantly Hispanic elementary school. She remembers speaking to her grandmother only in Spanish grow ing up. Martinez says being placed in that environment made her feel safe being in her culture.

lot of us spoke Spanish; Spanish was actually my first language. I was even in English as a Second Lan guage (ESL) when I was younger. I remember my pre-school teacher said I didn’t even know how to ask to go to the bathroom in English. I loved ESL, I didn’t even want to get out of it. I was taken out of ESL go ing into middle school and I remem ber because I wasn’t with my friends anymore and I know usually people want to get out of those classes, but I wanted to stay because that’s where all my friends were. It made me feel safe and comfortable in elementary growing up in that environment be cause I was with people who were all just like me,” Martinez said.

since I am lighter skinned whereas for instance my dad, who is darker and has a notable accent, people treat him differently. However, even though I’ve never directly experi enced racism, I still in a way felt it. At one point I even wanted to be white. Sometimes even though peo ple may not say things, you can still feel it and it can cause a lot of inse curities within yourself like it did with me,” Martinez said.

In addition to being a Priddy scholar, Martinez has also served as the LatinX coordinator for MOSAIC, was involved in Cafe con Leche and is a member of OHS. Martinez says being a member of these organiza tions has allowed her to give back to the community and the people who shaped her.

“I love Mexico and I love being Mexican. I love our culture and traditions and language. My family comes from small ranchos. Going to Mexico is just so refreshing and the air there is just different. It also humbles me because it’s easy to take advantage of what we have. My fam ily is proud of me for getting an edu cation and graduating. I think my time here and being involved in so much made me able to give back to our community which is so impor tant for me because I would describe myself growing up here as growing up in a Hispanic-integrated fam ily and without my family and the community, I wouldn’t be who I am today and I am overall just blessed to have grown up the way I did, and create a space for others in this com munity,” Martinez said.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MARLEM MARTINEZ

Spanish and criminal justice senior Marlem Martinez is a first generation college student at MSU, 2022.

“Since the community I was raised in was mostly Hispanic, ma jority of the kids I went to school with were also my neighbors. On top of that, a lot of us also were raised in a Catholic household and attended Our Lady of Guadalupe. The church itself was a community. There were celebrations for Cinco de Mayo, Mexico’s independence day, we had an event called Jamaica that had all the booths, bailes, food, and it goes way back. That’s where my parents actually met, at that same event. A

Martinez was faced with a cul ture shock after being removed from ESL when entering middle school. She was faced with wanting to fit in and be accepted by peers.

“Transitioning from exiting ESL and being fully integrated into school was hard on me. I wasn’t with my friends anymore and my middle school wasn’t as heavily Hispanic dominant, so I felt a cultural gap and didn’t feel as comfortable in myself. I am glad to say that I never really experienced racism for being Hispanic, but the fact that I haven’t is also a problem. I look white and I don’t have an accent either. I defi nitely feel the privilege I’ve received

The struggles Martinez dealt with became part of the reason when coming into college, she knew she wanted to be involved in orga nizations that kept her surrounded in her culture and allowed her to have a safe place that she can always come back to.

“Being a first-generation Hispan ic woman is complicated. It was hon estly really shocking even being able to come here. Especially as, the old est, I literally had nobody to help me with the process of applying, doing my FAFSA application and looking for scholarships. Of course, my par ents were there for me but at the end of the day, I did it on my own. A lot of Hispanic students are first gener ation and regardless of my positive experiences, it’s not the same for a lot of Hispanics and I think the way I felt being in middle school, a lot may feel that way here and they need a space and a community, and so I feel

Marlem Martinez is picutured here as a young child. Martinez attended a pre-dominantly Hispanic elementary school which helped her feel safe in her culture.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MARLEM MARTINEZ

Marlem Martinez’s family comes from small ranchos and helped her become who she is now.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MARLEM MARTINEZ

German professor uncovers piece of Wichita Falls history

CECIL WITHERSPOON REPORTER

Asnippet of Wichita Falls his tory – one that was nearly lost forever – brought about a collaboration between MSU and the Wichita County Archives. The result fascinated both sides of the partner ship, shed light on a family history dating back to the 1800s and even showed what life was like for some in MSU’s founding year of 1922.

The dive into history started with the chance finding of an old wooden box at an estate sale. The seemingly innocuous box contained dozens of clearly aged letters. The finder of the box soon turned it over to the Wichita County Archives, and Bryce Blair, Wichita County archivist, said the letters likely would have been lost otherwise.

“It was actually probably going to be thrown away,” Blair said, “We just happened to luckily receive it.”

Instead, Archive members got the surprise of a treasure-trove of history. There was only one prob

lem; the letters, dating back to the late 1800s, were written in German and no translator was readily avail able.

Enter Kyung Lee Gagum, German professor at MSU. Becky Trammell, marker chair for the Wichita County Historical Commission, and Archive volunteer, reached out to Gagum to see if she would be able to help translate the letters. To the mutual delight of both parties, Gagum was.

Blair said working with Gagum was encouraging due to her enthu siasm.

“It makes our job here so fun to have someone come in, she was very excited,” Blair said, “She was geek ing out about all this, she loved the whole thing.”

Gagum’s initial foray into the work began with the first letter Trammell brought to her. Gagum was able to immediately pick out the phrase ‘Happy New Year 1922,’ which piqued her interest since 1922 was the year MSU began.

“I was like, ‘I want to translate

this particular letter,’ because, it’s kind of like that’s our year. 1922 is MSU, so it’s perfect,” Gagum said.

On the same day, a student brought Gagum a book that turned out to be an old German dictionary.

While Gagum said she initially struggled with the older-style hand writing of the letters, the dictionary provided the necessary help to deci pher the writing style. Coupled with online translation tools, Gagum had what she needed to begin, and said the project felt like it was meant to be.

“So just a really interesting fact and just the coincidence of all of this happening, I’m like ‘what are the odds?’ The day [Trammell] comes with this letter, and the whole no tion of 1922, and my student bring ing this old book that gave me the additional tools to decipher and transcribe the letter, so all-in-all it was just meant to be,” Gagum said.

One of the most difficult aspects of translating the letters turned out to the be the rare handwriting style they were penned in. Relying heav ily on the German dictionary her student found, Gagum was able to make progress.

“The translation was not a prob lem, like I said, I do translation work so that wasn’t a problem. It was just transcribing it,” Gagum said.

The letters told the now centuryold story of the Bauch family, Ger man immigrants who settled in Tex as. Karl Bauch owned a leather shop, and corresponded with his family in Germany frequently, discussing the events of the day, deaths and new additions to the family and things as simple as the cost of everyday neces sities.

With the translations now avail able as part of an exhibit at the Mu seum of North Texas History, Tram mell said the exhibit highlights the importance of the Wichita Falls community working together to pre serve history.

“We can’t do everything. We don’t know everything. And the fact that we can pull friends from the community, particularly Midwest ern – which we need to continue to work on our relationship with Mid western – the fact that we can pull those people in, it just augments us.

It makes us even better that we have friends like that out in the commu nity,” Trammell said.

Gagum proved to be the perfect example of that, translating a dif ficult writing style in 100+ year old letters that few others in the com munity could. In doing so, Trammell said Gagum confirmed what the Ar chive hoped: that the letters held a real piece of Wichita Falls history.

“We just saw ‘Look at this, there’s got to be something to this,’ and the fact that Dr. Gagum can come in and say ‘Yes, there is something to this!’ Plus the fact that we can make the Midwestern connection with the 1922, because there’s letters from 1922 that kind of give you an idea of the place and what was happening right then while Midwestern was coming up,” Trammell said, adding “These letters were written while Midwestern was being born.”

Only a handful of the dozens of letters have been translated, and Trammell said she looks forward to finding out what’s in the rest of them.

“It’s just an amazing story that’s still being written, we’re like at the first page of it right now,” Trammell said.

PHOTO COURTESY OF WICHITA COUNTY ARCHIVES German professor Kyung Lee Gagum examines documents found in the wooden box, 2022.

PHOTO COURTESY OF WICHITA COUNTY ARCHIVES

A photo

found

BetterMynd provides a digital means of meeting students’ mental health needs

ANNE AKPABIO MANAGING EDITOR

isfy the need for more diversity,” Pam Midgett, director of the counseling center, said.

BetterMynd

is a social impact start up that was founded in 2017 and currently caters to the mental health and wellbe ing of over half a million students located in over 50 campuses across the country through tele-therapy sessions with licensed profession als. BetterMynd positions itself as a platform that is interested in the success of students personally and academically and this aligns with MSU’s vision for it’s students

“As part of our mission to stay relevant to our modern students we’re looking at services all of the time that we feel could benefit our students in their wellness. This pursuit has led us to create relationships with lots of dif fering services. BetterMynd had a compelling student-centered pitch that matched a need we were foreseeing for expanded service delivery options for our students,” Zach Zoet, assistant director of the counseling center, said.

BetterMynd partners with higher educa tion institutions to provide counselors with diverse specialties and backgrounds to college students. This aides the counseling center in providing more diverse mental healthcare al ternatives to students in MSU.

“The second thing that we really wanted to provide for students was some diversity in the counselors that we had to offer to students. We do have diversity in some aspects in this center however we wanted more. BetterMynd specifi cally looks to employ counselors who will sat

BetterMynd provides expanded accessibil ity to mental healthcare outside the traditional 8am to 5pm time frame that the school’s coun seling center provides.

“At MSU Texas we have our counseling center which is great and they do a fantastic job but it is limited because we have a limited number of professional counselors who are operating through a Monday through Friday 8am through 5pm environment. In reality what occurs is that over the last several semes ters we have reached points during semesters that we have had our first available counsel ing appointment up to two weeks, sometimes three weeks into the future,” Matthew Park, associate vice president of student affairs and dean of students, said.

The BetterMynd platform serves as an ex tension of MSU’s mental health support servic es, the platform is custom designed to fit the needs of the MSU student body.

“We did some onboarding with BetterMynd, they spent a great deal of time with us, asking all sorts of questions so that the counselor that a student would be speaking with would feel as though they are speaking to someone who knows what goes on at MSU,” Midgett said.

BetterMynd is HIPPA and FERPA compli ant, this means that student information, treatment records and the information ob tained from student sessions are secure and confidential.

“The only thing that the counseling cen ter knows about is essentially they know this students who utilize or sign up for the service, how many sessions they utilize, and that’s ba sically about it. The students have to sign us a very specific release form with BetterMynd, in order for BetterMynd to share any information about what that student is experiencing back to the university,” Park said.

After registering for sessions on the plat form, students can access the virtual coun seling conference sessions from their smart phone or other electronic devices.

“I think some students will enjoy knowing that they’re still going to receive the support and assistance from a trained and licensed professional. There’s a competency clear but they may like knowing that they’re doing it from the comfort of their own room, their own home, their own bedroom, not having to walk into the counseling center on campus,” Park said.

BetterMynd provides five free tele-therapy sessions to all students who register to their online platform through their student email.

“The five session count is a default setting on the BetterMynd site. A lot of universities struggle with significant demand that out strips their ability to provide unlimited ser vices. Our counseling center adopts different strategies to control utilization other than ses sion limits,” Zoet said.

After the five free sessions offered, stu dents can still have access to free tele-therapy

sessions on the platform. Continued access to the platform would entail communication be tween the student and the counselor on their progress and if more sessions are needed by the student. The free sessions and the services provided by the BetterMynd platform are pro vided for by the grant awarded to MSU by the State of Texas and come at no cost to the stu dent body.

“We were able to extend this service through a grant available from the state of Texas - The Texas Higher Education Coordi nating Board. We are already seeing  positive results .....being able to provide a service like this without any implication for like raising tuition or fees or any direct cost to students,” Park said.

The diverse background and specialities of the counselors at BetterMynd allow them to help students of any demographic experienc ing mental health issues.

“Right now all of our professional counsel ors identify as white or Caucasian well what if there’s a student who is just not really com fortable with that setting and they may prefer to connect with the counselor who shares the same racial or ethnic identity as they do. The BetterMynd service gives us an opportunity to better connect or facilitate that match in order to benefit the student,” Park said.

The BetterMynd platform is now available for MSU students. Access to the platform can be found under the MSU Counseling Center’s page in the MSU website.

PHOTO

PHOTO COURTESY OF PIXABAY

BetterMynd expands accessibility to mental healthcare.

Student Government Association hosts forum

STEPHANIE ROBLEDO EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

As the midterm election nears, the Stu dent Government Association, the polit ical science department and the League of Women Voters hosted a candidate forum to inform the Wichita Falls community and regis ter them to vote.

“The SGA and League of Women Voters have been doing a great partnership to really work on helping to register students to vote and I know all the political science professors have tried to also make sure that all of our students know when the deadline is to register. It is Oct. 11 and we want everyone to know there is still time to register to vote if you haven’t done so. The best thing you could do if you want your voice heard on Nov. 8 is to vote,” Linda Veazey, chair and associate professor of political sci ence, said.

The event was a collaboration between the two organizations and the political science de partment. Veazey brought them together after speaking with the League of Women Voters who have held candidate forums in the past and for SGA who have been wanting to educate students on voting.

“It all started back in the summer, [SGA] got to meet with student governments from across Texas and the University of Houston was really wanting to encourage other Texas universi ties to take on voter registration, candidate fo rums, just to encourage students to vote. Other

student governments from Texas do this very commonly and MSU student government had never taken this on,” Zetta Cannedy, SGA vice president for external affairs and political sci ence senior, said “Following COVID we lost some of our political organizations like the MSU democrats, the MSU international [and the] young republicans of Texas, we have MSU democrats back this year but no one had really stepped up on that role yet. We saw that gap and SGA said this needs to be filled because it is important for students to vote and especial ly when we hold it on campus for students.”

This was the first time MSU has held a can didate forum. The event was open to students and the Wichita Falls community.

“There’s two reasons. First of all for stu dents to be able to see their local candidates and to meet them, I’ve got to bring them where the students are. The second part is to bring members of the community here, to meet our students of MSU, and to see MSU. MSU has been part of this community for a 100 years and one of the things we have is the ability to put on events, to bring our community to gether and show our students our great com munity as well,” Veazey said.

Local candidates attended the forum to introduce themselves and answer questions about issues affecting the Wichita Falls com munity. After the questions, the forum al lowed for those in attendance to speak with the candidates in an informal setting.

PHOTO BY COLIN STEVENSON | THE WICHITAN County judge candidate and democrat Janaye Evans talked alongside fellow candidate Jim Johnson, Oct. 3.

Moderators ask questions of the candidates to help the audience understand for

PHOTO BY COLIN STEVENSON | THE WICHITAN WFISD school board at large candidate Sandy Camp answered questions on her potential position, Oct. 3.

forum to connect students and local politicians

“It definitely makes it more accessible. A lot of MSU students aren’t from here, they’re not from Wichita Falls, they have no idea what’s going on in Wichita Falls but they register to vote here. A candidate forum specifically is really important for students to get out and learn about who they’re voting for,” Cannedy said. “[Wichita Falls Independent School Dis trict], the election here is pretty big as you can see with the signs around town but most students haven’t gone to WFISD school so they don’t understand what they’re voting for. The candidates being here I’m sure was immensely helpful to inform students that they do have an impact on Wichita County and that they should vote and be informed about what they are voting for.”

During the general election voters of Wich ita County will elect WFISD members of the school board for districts one, three and five and for the school board at large. Candidates that spoke at the forum were Sandy Camp, WFISD school board at large candidate, Jim Johnson, WFISD school board district five, Tom Bursey, WFISD school board district five, Janaye Evans, county judge candidate, Jim Johnson, county judge candidate, Michael Neumann, U.S. representative district 69 and Walter Coppage, U.S. representative district 69.

“I believe that local elections are critically important. They’re the ones that affect our daily lives here in the local community and

so having those conversations with elected officials and candidates at a local level are extremely important,” Eric Queller, SGA vice president of internal affairs and management senior, said.

The League of Women Voters had a table by the entrance to register people to vote or change their addresses. They also informed voters on how to vote and what is needed to vote.

“To be able to vote you do have to register with the secretary of state’s office so they do have to receive a formal application that you do want to vote without voter registration you are not eligible to vote in the state of Texas and you have to do that beforehand because there is no same-day voter registration” Cristin Martin, member of the League of Women Voters and political science senior, said.

The last day to register to vote is on Oct. 11. The League of Women Voters provided infor mation and resources for the different ways voters can vote such as vote by mail and early voting.

“It’s so important for college students to register to vote because our age group has the potential to be the largest voting block in the state of Texas. So being the largest voting block means we have the most political power within the state and then we will be the most influ ential to make decisions about what our Texas elected officials do,” Martin said.

PHOTO BY COLIN STEVENSON | THE WICHITAN

school board district

candidate Tom Bursey talked opposite fellow candidate Jim Johnson,

PHOTO BY COLIN STEVENSON | THE WICHITAN

they are potentially voting, Oct. 3.

PHOTO BY COLIN STEVENSON | THE WICHITAN

representative district 69 candidate Walter Coppage talked opposite fellow candidate Michael Neumann, Oct.

WFISD

Johnson

Bursey

WFISD

Camp

Stanley

La comedia romántica de terror: The Invitation

la nueva película, “The Invitation”, una mujer joven llamada Evie, inter pretada por Nathalie Emmanuel, conoce a su familia perdida por la primera vez, sólo para descubrir que guardan secretos oscuros. La película fue dirigida por Jessica M. Thompson y escrita por Blair Butler. Sigue a la protagonista Evie mien tras se hace un camino en su nueva familia y un posible interés amoroso Walter DeVille, interpretado por Thomas Doherty, que está basado en el personaje Drácula. A primera vista, esta película parece ser del gé nero de suspenso de terror; sin em bargo, en mi opinión, se transforma en una comedia romántica de terror a través de su uso de la química de los personajes y el ritmo cómico.

Gabriella Pettijohn

Encomo camarera. Ella decide usar una prueba de ADN para encontrar algún familiar que permanezca con ella pues recientemente se convirtió en huérfana. Poco después, Evie es contactada por su prima perdida y es invitada a una boda espléndida que la familia está organizando en Inglaterra. Ahí, Evie conoce al her moso Señor de la Mansión y comien za a experimentar con una serie de eventos extraños. Evie es recibida con entusiasmo en su nueva familia, pero casi es demasiado perfecta. Durante las ceremonias de la boda, ella encuentra que las sirvientas de la mansión están perdidas y las dos damas de honor principales están actuando muy extraño con ella. Fi nalmente, como ella comienza su nueva relación con Walter DeVille, ella descubre hechos perturbadores sobre él y la familia. Esto resulta en una gran otra vuelta de tuerca (que es notablemente predecible).

Con una trama similar a la pelícu la de 2015, Crimson Peak, explora a la protagonista Evie quién trabaja

La actriz principal, Nathalie Em manuel, mientras es relativamente nueva en la escena de actuación ta

FOTO CORTESÍA DE SCREEN GEMS.

La actriz Virág Bárány interpreta Emmaline, una antepasado de Evelyn, 2022.

quillera, retrató a su personaje como una que la audiencia podría apoyar

fácilmente por toda la película. Ella retrató bellamente el arquetipo de artista en apuros mientras se man tenía encantadora y fiel a sí misma.

En comparación, el actor principal masculino, Thomas Doherty, parecía intentar retratar a su personaje como un enigmático hombre mis terioso. Sin embargo, la caracter ización se sintió forzada debido a la predictibilidad de la trama. En gen eral, los actores principales fueron muy agradables para la audiencia general. Esto podría deberse prin cipalmente a que los protagonistas tenían una gran química juntos.

En cuanto a la totalidad de la película, algunos de los temas prin cipales parecen ser sobre estructu ras de poder, particularmente los pa peles de clase, género y personas de color. La película saca a la luz estos temas de varias maneras, pero no los aborda completamente en ningún momento. Para mí, los temas princi pales parecían ser cómo lidiar con la soledad puede llevar a una persona a un lugar oscuro y tomar malas de

cisiones. Aparte de eso, me pareció que este espectáculo se disfruta me jor cuando no se toma tan en serio y, en cambio, se considera puramente como entretenimiento.

Finalmente, aunque creo firme mente que esta película no fue la me jor, me gustó mucho como entreten imiento y la volvería a ver. Aunque esta película tenía una trama no table, también tenía múltiples agu jeros de trama que nunca se resolvi eron. No me considero un cinéfila, pero noté múltiples problemas con la película en su conjunto. Cuando vi la película en el cine, noté que dejó a muchos miembros de la audiencia con sentimientos, pero realmente disfruté el final y pensé que era di vertido. Dicho esto, si disfrutas de escenas de acción interesantes, el ementos sobrenaturales y algunas escenas de comedia involuntaria, entonces deberías disfrutar de esta película.

Para mí, la película “The Invita tion” tendría un 3 sobre 5.

Sarah Fidlar: Una pasión para ayudar a la gente

TRADUCIDO POR JESSIEÑA PANDO

Nativa

Thalía

Doe

de Wichita Falls, Sarah Fidlar, en Iowa de 1996 fue preguntada sí ella quiere enseñar clases de ejercicio. Ahí es donde aprendió cuanto disfruto estar cerca de la gente y esto la llevó a ser asistente coordinadora del centro de aprendizaje de toda la vida en Wichita Falls.

“Cuando nació mi segundo niño, me preguntaron si podía enseñar clases y aunque era una clase de ejercicio, yo sabia cuanto me gustaba estar cerca de la gente y ayudarlos con lo que podía. Para mucha gente, el ejercicio es muy importante. Fue muy divertido estar en un ambiente y planear con creatividad que quería hacer por cada clase. Mi parte favorita era la gente y conocer a mis clientes. Me enteré que yo era una persona social,” Dijo Fidlar.

Fidlar, quien regresó a Texas de Iowa para que sus hijos crecieran con su familia, dijo que ella podía hacer su propio horario y pasar el tiempo con sus hijos, mientras participaba en su trabajo que quería mucho. Fidlar fue una maestra de ejercicio por 26 años.

“Yo podría ir bien temprano en las mañanas y enseñar o en las tardes y

enseñar, mientras hacía este trabajo que era tan divertido para mi. Ni necesitaba poner a mis niños en la guardería. Yo podía dar educación en el hogar a mis dos hijos hasta que ellos pudieron continuar su educación en Midwestern State y se graduaron, con títulos de ingeniería,” Dijo Fidlar.

Fidlar fue una entrenadora personal y eso le dio más responsabilidad a los individuos que estaba entrenando. Dijo Fidlar que ella tenía una relación más fuerte e íntima con sus clientes.

“Después de ser entrenadora personal por un tiempo, me ofrecieron ser coordinadora del programa LIFT STRONG de la YMCA.. es un programa de sobrevivientes de cáncer. Es un programa por tres meses (12 semanas) este programa es gratis para ellos, y yo adoraba trabajar con esa población. Era divertido y gratificante y emocional general. Mucha de esta gente ha ido de el mas peor parte de sus vidas y salieron más fuertes y continuaron luchando, y yo amaba eso,” Dijo Fidlar.

Aunque amaba el programa y con la población Fidlar trabajaba con, durante el tiempo de coordinador, el padre de ella fue diagnosticado con cáncer y falleció.

“

de nosotros. Tenemos mucha gente que puede venir y platicar, y todos son voluntarios que son muy expertos. Nunca he estado decepcionada con ellos. Es por una oportunidad de recurso para esta población y ayudarlos con sus conocimientos.”

Dijo Fidler.

La misión del centro de aprendizaje de toda la vida es ser una comunidad de aprendices dedicadas por Inspiradora y enriquecedora los espíritu y mentes de Texomans de edad 50 y más.

Fidlar dice que el centro tiene todo de clases escribiendo canciones, profesores de las universidades y viaje de estudios en el verano.

“Nos vamos a Dallas, a Oklahoma City… es un viaje por el día que no está tan lejos pero tratamos de visitar museos y parques etc. Siempre es buen tiempo pero no he ido a un viaje por dos años pero en este verano si vamos a ir y no puedo esperar,” Dijo Fidlar.

Dice Fidlar lo que le pasa el día a son a la gente y las relaciones con ellos. Aunque tiene un tiempo corto en el centro, ya hizo fuertes lazos.

difícil mantener mi horario porque yo quería estar con él lo más posible. También era muy emocional porque estaba entrenando a sobrevivientes de cáncer y mi papá no iba a sobrevivir. Era difícil para mí, entonces decidí tomar tiempo de ese programa pero continúe dando clases de ejercicio.” Dijo Fidlar.

Fidlar consiguió su primer trabajo en Midwestern State en el MSU Unión de Crédito y trabajó ahí por dos años durante el principio de COVID-19. Fidlar era una cajera y otra vez, su parte favorita fue interactuar con estudiantes y personas que trabajaban en las instalaciones.

“Mientras trabajaba en la Unión de Crédito fue cuando mi amigo me dijo de toda la vida en el YMCA. Ella me dijo que debería hacer la entrevista y ver si quería tomar este trabajo.

También tenemos gente que están en sus 80s que vienen, también mi madre viene y ella tiene 91,” Dijo Fidlar.

Fidlar empezó trabajando en el centro de aprendizaje de toda la vida, el pasado septiembre de 2021, después de trabajar en el centro de bienestar enseñando una clase de HITand SPIN, dijo que no quería estar en ninguna otra parte.

“Mi deseo es que más gente supiera

“Las relación que tengo con él durante el tiempo corto aquí ha sido notable con gente que es amable ,desinteresada, y que quiere a su comunidad y al otro. Sus historias y vidas son increíbles. Todos los días, camino por dentro en paz porque mi trabajo es para estar aquí por la gente y esto es lo que adoro de esto. Mi esperanza es que la gente diga cuándo yo estaba aquí que ellos se sentían cálidos y alegres. Mi esperanza es que todos sienten que deben estar aquí y cómo es su casa,” Digo Fidlar.

Yo trabajé ahí por dos años. Era

Siento que el YMCA ha tomado todo lo que ha hecho y aprendido y lo puso en uno. Estando en un ambiente rodeado de gente que quiere mejorar y le gusta aprender. Yo creo que eso resuena conmigo y que disfruté de mi carrera de ejercicio; me encanta la gente que sigue luchando y no abandonan especialmente este grupo de esta edad. Todos nuestros clientes son personas mayores, de 50 y más….

FOTO POR COLIN STEVENSON | THE WICHITAN

Sarah Fidlar es nativa de Wichita Falls y está feliz ahora trabajando con personas donde se crió, el 31 de marzo.

FOTO CORTESIA DE SARAH FIDLAR

Sarah Fidlar trabajo como una instructora de fitness antes de regresar a MSU.

FOTO CORTESIA DE SARAH FIDLAR

Sarah Fidlar está con su familia para una fotografía de grupo.

DC is better than Marvel. Here’s why...

DC has a large cast of heroes, larger than Marvel’s.

Comic books and their characters have had a huge impact on my child hood and the child hood of so many peo ple across the world. From dressing up as Batman for Hal loween to the new “Black Panther” movie coming out this November, comics have and have had an influ ence on a lot of different aspects of not just individual lives but society as a whole. Comics tell stories and let us, the readers, experience the human imagination to the fullest, which no one in the business does better than DC Comics.

Joey Arthur

From a very young age and even till now, there have been debates on which comic franchise is better, DC or Marvel. I am here to tell why DC is far superior to Marvel. As a dis claimer, I am a fan of Marvel and all of their products, and I grew up on Marvel and DC comics, TV shows and series, animated series and movies and live-action movies - and I believe it is for that very reason I am enticed to write the opinion piece.

Comic books by their very nature are fictitious pieces of literature that tackle reality and real-world issues through superhero adventures and quirky comic relief. An example of this would be Marvel’s decision to use real cities like New York or Los Angeles as opposed to DC’s fictional cities like Gotham or Metropolis. Regardless, DC still manages to tell comic and inspiring stories while relating to real world problems which Marvel struggles at doing. An example would be the backstory of Bruce Wayne and how the death of loved ones can either send you down a dark path or a path of protection for others; or of Superman and how there are people in the world who will hate or fear you for just being different then they are -  regardless of how much good you put into the world; or the backstory of Jason Todd and how emotional hardship and the consistency of life can be overwhelming and exhausting. I am not saying Marvel doesn’t do that in their comics because they do (i.e., Spider-Man) but DC has been doing it since its very first comic publica tion and has been doing it really well.

Another factor to consider when talking about why DC is better than Marvel is popularity of characters. In 1946, Harry Donenfield consoli dated several comic book companies under one name: Detective Comics. Already featuring America’s most popular comic book character, Bat man, and upon release of Action Comics’ first ever issue, their lead ing character, Superman became America’s favorite superhero. DC’s character has always been the most popular comic book character in his tory. A good example is Namor and Aquaman. Over the years people have believed that Aquaman came before Namor and that Marvel cop ied the idea from DC, but in actual ity it’s the other way around. Namor was first introduced in 1939 and Aquaman was introduced in 1941 following the popularity of the At lantean. If asked to name first super heroes, for most people three out of five would be DC characters.

Another category to consider would be representation. Media representation is very important in society as it gives the young, under represented minds a figure to look up to, or  tries to explain real world

problems in its pages and DC has been a force in the comic book world for representation. From Saturn Girl being the first ever female leader of a team in comic history to Icon and Rocket, the first ever black duo in comic history. Although Marvel has good representation, it wasn’t till later in the game it started. Other examples of DC’s representation are Extraño, the first openly LGBTQIA+ comic book character, Midnighter and Apollo, the first queer comic

book relationship, Roy Harper, first ever comic book character to deal the dangers of drug abuse, Wonder Woman, first female comic book character to be in a team and so on. I could go on with so many rea sons why I believe DC is way better than Marvel because it is. Regard less of Marvel’s huge success in cre ating a cinematic universe, DC still beats Marvel in many other factors which is why DC is the superior com ic book franchise.

Marvel has a more successful cinematic universe, but can be lacking on the side of comics.

PHOTO COURTESY OF DC STUDIOS

PHOTO COURTESY OF MARVEL STUDIOS

Tems’ rendition of Bob Marley’s song, “No Woman, No Cry” could present Marvel with another Oscar

Inanticipation of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forev er,” and to get fans excited for the sequel, Marvel released a teaser trailer which featured a rendition of a popular reggae song “No Woman, No Cry.” The song was originally released by popular and deceased Jamai can  singer-songwriter Robert Nesta Marley OM - best known by his stage name, Bob Marley. The rendition in the trailer was sung by Nigerian singer Temilade Opey ini, more commonly known as Tems. A week after the trailer release, upon the request of fans, Marvel released a full studio single of the song with Tems on Apple Music and then on all streaming platforms. With the release of this rendition, Marvel should most likely pre pare for another Oscar or even a Grammy in their future.

Tems’ version of “No Woman, No Cry” is so similar and so different from Bob Marley’s. In

the original, Bob Marley uses a keyboard, elec tric guitars and backup from the Wailers while in Tems’ version she takes out the backup singers and keyboard and she replaces it with a piano and looped versions of herself singing to give the effect of backup singers. She also slows the tempo down and starts the song with an a cappella moment of her singing the words “No woman, no cry.”

The lyrics of the song remain the same, but Tems sings them differently than Bob Marley did. In the original, Bob Marley sings it in his Jamaican accent which made a lot of people believe that the words, “No Woman, No Cry” meant the absence of woman equates to the ab sence of tears of which was cleared up by the reggae artist as he explains that the meaning of “No Woman, No Cry” is that it is a comfort ing phrase. The song is a tale about celebrat ing a loved one who has passed away instead of crying. Tems sings the song in her natural Nigerian accent which gives it a west African feel rather than a Caribbean feel.

The decision to use the song for the upcom ing movie was an excellent decision. The song speaks to the loss of a loved one and the call to the mother or sisters of said loved ones to stop crying and start celebrating their life, which is the theme of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forev er.” It is a film about the death of King T’challa and how Shuri, Queen Ramonda and the na tion of Wakanda deal with and react to that. In addition, the song and the movie are a tribute from Marvel to the passing of Chadwick Bose man, and Tems’ rendition is a perfect portrayal of what King T’challa would say to the nation of Wakanda and what Chadwick Boseman would say to Marvel fans.

Tems has always been an amazing artist and “No Woman, No Cry” has always been an amazing song but when you cross amazing to gether you get phenomenal which is what her rendition is. It is a great song and I advise that you give it a listen.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MARVEL STUDIOS Nigerian singer Tems covers Bob Marley’s “No Woman, No Cry” in collaboration with Marvel to create hype for the upcoming Black Pather sequel, 2022.

Joey Arthur

What was, what is and what could be: Women’s Soccer

chance against them. We’ve gotten our groove back, I think coming off a win is going to set us up for a posi tive win. We tied them in the spring, and they’ve lost a couple of their re ally good girls to a D1 school, so I think we have a really good chance to pull a win out,” Marsolek said.

Beck put it much simpler.

“As long as we play together and stick together, I feel like we can beat any team that we play against,” Beck said.

What could be...

With six games remaining, the Mustangs will be fighting for a spot in a tough LSC tournament field. A win against DBU would provide a boost to the Mustangs not only in the standings, but also in morale.

Spence said he’s focused on keep ing the team competitive in a confer ence where any team can pull out a win any week.

“This conference has gotten even more competitive, good teams are losing to bad teams, bad teams are beating good teams in the middle,

and they’re all beating up on each other. I think the big thing here is just staying afloat and getting some points where we can,” Spence said.

Beck said she’s optimistic that the Mustangs can achieve their goal of not only staying afloat in the con ference, but also making a deep run in the conference tournament.

“I feel like making the confer ence tournament and getting out of the first round, because last year we were unable to get out of the first round. So if we’re able to get out of the first round, I feel like we’ll have the momentum to win the tourna ment and bring that into the NCAA tournament,” Beck said.

Marsolek echoed that the goal for the team is still postseason suc cess.

“The goal is always: win confer ence championship. We went to the NCAA tournament last year, so I think our goal is to go back and go further than we did last year,” Mar solek said.

CECIL WITHERSPOON SPORTS EDITOR

Fresh off a conference win, MSU women’s soccer is gearing up for a bout with top-ranked Dal las Baptist. The program is building off a successful season last year and has its eyes set on greater heights in 2022.

What was...

Last year was the most successful season for the women’s soccer team since 2016; the Mustangs finished with a final record of 12-5-3 in a sea son that culminated in a first-round loss in the NCAA DII playoffs.

Head coach Ryan Spence said last year’s success was critical for con tinuing to elevate the program.

“It’s huge to get back on the map, to get the girls back where they need to be and this is a winning program. Staying in that position is kind of vi tal for continuing to build things as it goes on,” Spence said.

Senior center back Nicole Mar solek said the success gave the team confidence, but may also have con tributed to a slower start this year.

“I think coming off of doing so well, we just assumed we were go ing to keep that momentum and just thought we were going to be like super good again. But with our con ference just changing and being as good as it is, it’s never going to be like that,” Marsolek said.

The 2022 Mustangs got off to a slower start than last year, sitting at 4-5-1 through 10 games.

Spence said one cause for the lessened success is a defense that isn’t playing as well as he would like.

“I think we’ve lost a little bit of that identity of being a stubborn de fense. We have the ability to do it, we just haven’t been as consistent from a whole team perspective, the mid fielders, defenders, all together. I think that’s the one thing that needs to solidify in order to kind of get back on track,” Spence said.

What is...

The defense allowed only one goal in MSU’s last game, a 3-1 win over UT Permian Basin that moved the ‘Stangs to their current record of 5-5-1.

Marsolek said she sees the win as something the team can build off of.

“We kind of got into a little bit of a drought after winning our first conference game, but we just won another one and we’re getting back into it and we’re getting our groove back,” Marsolek said.

Sophomore midfielder Lexi Beck said a big part of the team’s drive to return to the LSC and eventually NCAA tournaments is improving ev ery week in practice.

“I think we’re just working really hard and trying to get results, work ing hard at practice, working hard as a team, getting better, learning our position better. There’s still a lot of conference play to go, a lot at stake, and we can get up there to get a better spot in the tournament and make sure that we make the tourna ment too,” Beck said.

Now, the Mustangs will need to be at their best as they face the #1-ranked Huskies of Dallas Baptist University – a game that Marsolek said she believes the Mustangs are poised to win if they perform well.

“I think we have a pretty good

PHOTO BY COLIN STEVENSON | THE WICHITAN

Masters of clinical mental health senior and forward Jozy Bardsley winds up for a powerful kick to send the ball to the opposing TWU’s goal, Sept. 4.

PHOTO BY COLIN STEVENSON | THE WICHITAN Management sophomore and midfielder Lexi Beck dives to kick the ball before an opposing Texas Women’s player can reach it, Sept. 4.