Nov. 17, 2021 by The Wichitan and Wai Kun

Nov. 17, 2021 | thewichitan.com |Real Students. Real Stories. | Vol. 86 No. 6

CLIMATE CHANGE: Pg 4

We must properly name the scourge we’ve made.

TEXTBOOK PRICES: Pg 6-7

If knowledge is power, then $780.50 buys a lot of power. Or, at the campus bookstore, it buys the radiology bundle. Linda Treitler, assistant professor of nursing, said textbook prices are a problem.

SPORTS: Pg 12

Men’s soccer snatch the LSC championship.

NEWS: Pg 5

ENTERTAINMENT: Pg 10

Campus opens new social justice resource center.

“Eternals” is a great idea but not a great movie. Meet local duck-feeder Judy Smith.

@WichitanOnline

STANG STORIES: Pg 11

@wichitanonline

@TheWichitan

How to manage conflict

orking and interacting with others is an integral and undeniable part of college life. Whether it is disagreeing with members on group projects, fighting with a roommate or resolving grades disputes with professors, every student will have to deal with conflict at some point in their collegiate career. If dealt with incorrectly, conflicts can snowball and bring stress and anxiety to what is already a stressful semester. Here are a few tips on how to avoid and resolve conflict. Know your worth While it’s important to be empathetic and understanding of other people’s situations, It’s okay to tell people “No”. If they react negatively to you not wanting to be treated poorly or manipulated, it might be time for them to play a lesser role in your life. Speak your mind If you have a problem with how someone is acting, tell them. It can be incredibly uncomfortable to confront someone, but it can also prevent more uncomfortable situations in the future. Know when to walk away If you have refused to be taken advantage of, spoken your mind and the situation hasn’t improved, it’s probably time to walk away from that situation or person. There’s nothing wrong with cutting unhealthy people out of your life.

Vol. 86 | No. 6 Midwestern State University Fain Fine Arts Bldg., Room D201 3410 Taft Blvd. | Wichita Falls, Texas 76308 (940) 397-4704 wichitan@msutexas.edu | thewichitan.com @wichitanonline

Virginia is a bad omen but we can change that Columns are the opinions of only the authors and do not necesssarily reflect the views of The Wichitan as an organization.

wo weeks ago, the Democrats lost an easily winnable race in Virginia, a highly educated, racially diverse commonwealth that voted for Biden Joseph by more than ten points. Nelson Why’d they lose? The Republicans made the election about education and schools teaching critical race theory, and the Democrat, Terry McAuliffe, simply responded with a gaffe: “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.” This election in Virginia is a microcosm for how Republicans are going to win in 2022 and why Democrats are their own worst enemy. Democrats have become more synonymous with social issues like critical race theory, vaccine mandates, and “Abolish The Police” than their broadly effective and popular economic agenda. Don’t get me wrong, I am sympathetic to all of these issues, but it’s clear these issues are costing elections. It used to not be this way. Back in the 90s and 2000s, Democrats had no problem distancing themselves from the cultural left, which advocates for these unpopular movements. Now, that cultural left dominates social media and makes mainstream Democrats think Twitter is a prominent section of voters. In effect, some left-leaning politicians have danced around being against these far-left movements and have lost voters because of it. Why is it that in the 2020 election, when a Republican candidate told white supremacists to “stand back and stand by,” that same presidential candidate improved their popularity among African American and Latinx voters by 4% each? After a whole

summer of “Black Lives Matter” and “Abolish the Police,” a good number of minority voters flipped from Clinton in 2016 to Trump in 2020. Turns out “Abolish The Police” isn’t as digestible as youthful humanities majors would like to think. With Democrats losing minority voters but gaining young, socially liberal voters, are these voters even reliable? Nope. In Virginia, per exit polls, 18-29-yearolds represented only 10% of the Virginian electorate (a 10 point drop from 2020), and minority voters were even more Republican than in 2020. Because Democrats have become more socially liberal than fiscally liberal, they have replaced minority voters with unreliable voters, and (as Virginia shows us) these trends have progressed further.

“Turns out ‘Abolish The Police’ isn’t as digestible as youthful humanities majors would like to think.’” JOSEPHNELSON Entertainment Editor The Wichitan

Democrats don’t even have to explicitly endorse culturally left-wing positions to be labeled this way. In the 1988 election, Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis didn’t run a campaign on social issues, but he offered terrible rebuttals and noncommital answers to questions pertaining to those issues. How-

Editor in Chief: Amos Perkins Managing Editor: Stephanie Robledo Assistant Editor: Abigail Jones Design Editor: Omar Combie Photography Editor: Colin Stevenson Business Manager: Alexis Martin Issue Staff : Jaime Alemán, Emily Beaman, Edward Roberts, Thalia Doe, Bailey Graham, Joseph Nelson, Cecil Witherspoon Advisor: Jonathon Quam

ever, in 1992, Bill Clinton ran with a firm prodeath penalty, anti-gay marriage tone, and constantly deflected questions aimed at his social positions, preferring to talk about his left-leaning fixes to the economy. Bill Clinton won 1992 in a landslide. Here’s the wrinkle, though. Despite being anti-gay marriage, he put two justices on the Supreme Court that would eventually legalize gay marriage. Barack Obama did the same thing, running two presidential campaigns against gay marriage but being the first president to preside over marriage equality. Obama and Clinton could have tried to explain to a socially conservative country that gay marriage shows love just as powerful and legitimate as straight marriages. They would have been completely right, but they would have lost, preventing any progress or justice from being made in the first place. Democrats should avoid talking about their socially liberal positions and talk about their broadly effective and popular economic agenda. If you do want social progress to happen, stick to the playbook that’s worked: slipping in social progress while running campaigns on great economic fixes. So, this Thanksgiving, before you tell your socially conservative uncle he needs to understand “Abolish The Police” isn’t literal or vaccine mandates are in everyone’s best interest, please ask yourself: are these really discussions worth having? Do you really want your uncle, who may be sympathetic to taxing the rich or providing healthcare to all citizens, to think this is the alternative to Republicans? Do you want to be right or do you want to win?

Copyright ©2021. 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.

IS MSUTEXAS ACCESSIBLE FOR ALL? Columns are the opinions of only the authors and do not necesssarily reflect the views of The Wichitan as an organization.

PHOTO BY COLIN STEVENSON | THE WICHITAN

A ramp leads up to the main entrance of Pierce Hall, allowing easier access for those in wheechairs, Nov. 16.

s an ablebodied student, I do not come across many problems on MSU’s camEmily pus. However, a Beaman recent discussion in one of my classes about the barriers that students with disabilities face here has led me to question just how inclusive our campus truly is. I suppose that first I will discuss the physical aspects of campus since that is what most people first think of when considering disability barriers. While I have to give credit to the widened sidewalks and automatic doors, there are other areas that are lacking. In most of the buildings, I regularly go to on campus, I have noticed that there is only one elevator. While they are centrally located, there are often several obstacles (such as non-automatic doors or narrow halls) that lie between them and the doors into the building. One professor of mine even spoke about the difficulties of getting to their office for students with physical disabilities because of how narrow the hallways are, the objects on

the walls and on the floor that make it even narrower and the distance to her door from any stairwell or elevator. Then there are potential issues within the classrooms themselves. Some classrooms in Dillard and Bolin only have tiered seating, which can pose a problem for students that are unable to use stairs. Even when handicapped or inclusive desks are included in classrooms, there is usually only one provided. This only desk, upon what I have observed in classrooms, is often in a corner or on the side of the room, which could provide problems for students that require sitting in a certain area due to difficulties with sight or hearing. There are also students that have disabilities that are not able to be seen. I would argue that they have just as many barriers on campus because of this fact. There are fewer physical ways to implement inclusive strategies, which can often make it a difficult area to act in. For example, ensuring that faculty and staff, particularly professors, have inclusive teachings and modes of contact is vital. While there are certain technical or structural services, such as syl-

labi being set up for reading tools to properly scan the paper for those who are visually impaired, the content of the class being inclusive is just as important. Some courses include sensitive and potentially triggering content that is not always properly disclosed before the class and others have requirements that are more difficult for students with disabilities to complete that can’t always be accommodated. Professors having inclusive coursework is another area that is not as often thought of. Along with this, many students with “invisible” disabilities often reach out to the Counseling Center. During the discussion that sparked my questioning of this topic, multiple students admitted that locating the center is difficult, and most students, including myself, had no idea where it was. It is also extremely important for this to be a place for complete inclusivity for students to feel comfortable. Within this, the staff should be diverse enough for any student experiencing any difficulty to feel secure speaking to any person there. While I am not personally familiar with the staff, students that do attend the center have

told me that while they are warm and welcoming, there is little diversity. This is not to say that MSU has completely turned a blind eye to this issue. A Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force comprised of both students and faculty members regularly meets to discuss issues such as these in our campus community. Along with this group, the Disability Services office plays a large role in ensuring these problems are dealt with and create a personal connection with students that opt-in for the aid they offer. They can not tackle every single issue at once, and they attempt to make it as inclusive of a culture as possible. Once again, I am an able-bodied student that has not been diagnosed with any disabilities, so I do not face these issues or barriers on a daily basis. Because of this, I could be misjudging these issues and situations or leaving out an entire array of problems as well. This topic seems like an area that is under-discussed but pressing to a multitude of students and needs to be included in discussions as the university moves forward.

PHOTO BY COLIN STEVENSON | THE WICHITAN

A door-opening button intended for persons with a disability lies damaged at the east Clark Student Center entrance, Nov. 16.

NAMING THE SCOURGE WE MADE Columns are the opinions of only the authors and do not necesssarily reflect the views of The Wichitan as an organization. Edward Roberts, under the pseudonym “strannikov,” has written flash fiction since 2007 appearing online at DeliNO PHOTO cious Demon, Language AVAILABLE Is a Virus, Gone Lawn Edward Journal, Metazen, Dead Roberts Mule School of Southern Literature, Fictionaut, and The Miscreant. His verse (since 2016) has appeared at Fictionaut and Literati Magazine and in print at Chiron Review. ur planet’s climate over the coming decades may wind up posing far more disruption than anyone can now calculate or guess. Generations already born and those born over coming decades are likely among the first to witness these disruptions, no matter what interventions are promised by our classes of applied scientists and applied technologists to help us “cope.” The culprit has been offered many names: “climate change” and “global warming” seem the two preferred in media accounts, as inexact as each term is. “Climate change” fails as a nominative because of its bland selfevidence: our planet’s climate patterns change continuously. “Climate change” fails to specify a climatic and meteorological dynamic already prone to “natural” contributions without direct human participation (however natural humans may have remained). “Global warming” is flatly misleading, since climatic patterns now forming give us intensely hot summers (northern and southern hemispheres now both affected) but just as likely can continue to yield (seasonally) local conditions of intense cold, ice storms, snowfalls, et cetera. The term “global warming” may well name the overarching climatological mechanism, but pedestrian humanity can get confused when one consequence is a “normal” local lowering of temperatures spawning snowfalls and ice storms. “Global warming” can also fail to remind us properly of the dynamics distinguishing warming oceans from warming atmospheres. What term begins to name this global climatic phenomenon with its contributing meteorological phenomena? We can identify those natural mechanisms known to earth scientists: solar activity, geothermal ac-

tivity including volcanism, tectonic plate activity which can be associated with the former and vice versa, earthquakes, seaquakes, tsunamis, the conditions that result in drought and aridity, those that result in heavy precipitation events, monsoons and floods, those that lead to de-iced polar regions, thawing permafrost zones and melting glaciers, et cetera. What is coming our way has definite natural components. They are “purely natural” in the sense that their mechanisms operate regardless of human observations, measurements or interventions. It is the case, too, that human beings—each of us and all of us together—have helped foment the problems now confronting us all. We are the ones who mindlessly assumed that our modest contributions decade-in and decade-out hardly possessed the force to help disrupt or accelerate “purely natural” changes to climatic or meteorological processes. We are the ones who drove cars and trucks mindlessly, letting carbon spew without regard for cumulative global effects. We are the ones who helped trash the planet and its oceans with tons of discarded plastic. We are the ones who have uncritically plugged into every proffered device that caring manufacturers have thrown at us so that we can live pampered lives without counting costs: radios and television sets, electric appliances and electric lights, stereos and computers, mobile phones and air conditioners. The foregoing examples constitute only proximate contributions to changing climate. Scientists are hardly able to claim that any of these can justly be said to have uniquely “caused” changing climate: the mechanisms permitting human beings to contribute to climate change, the exact mechanisms for humans’ aggravation of natural climatic and meteorological processes, came from elsewhere. To give proper credit where due, one name suffices for what humanity likely will be dealing with for decades or centuries to come, and that name is “technogenic climate change”. The term “anthropogenic” has been modeled in some media accounts, but while suggesting accountability, it fails because this term would misallocate the agency

PHOTO COURTESY OF PIXABAY

According to gpm.nasa.gov, the term “global warming” was coined by geochemist Wallace Broecker of Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory and was popularized by NASA scientist James E. Hansen. that created the conditions for the advent of climate change. The conditions for the advent of technogenic climate change were not mindless natural processes suddenly running amok, nor did they result from the spontaneous pining of humanity for disruptions and dislocations to global climates—the conditions resulted from the advent of modern science and applied technology in the 17th and 18th centuries. Because generations of empirical and “rational” scientists in the interim failed to anticipate the outcomes that they and their processes were generating, our entire globe now faces the effects of technogenic climate change. Technogenic climate change was “invented”—however intentionally or inadvertently—by applied scientists and applied technologists beginning at least in the 18th century. It was unleashed with the advent of early modern industrial production, the refinement of engineering methods and processes for fabrication,

and deployments of industrial production capacity. It belched plumes and clouds of black smoke along rivers and across oceans as more and more steamships hauled goods and passengers. It roared up and down tracks upon which raced locomotives and coal-fired steam engines. It vomited untold tons of carbonized residue through multiple nineteenth century military conflicts and vomited untold more tons with the advent of motorized, oil-fueled transport: to say nothing of contributions posed by atmospheric and oceanic testing of atomic and nuclear weapons, to say nothing of ozone degradation resulting from the novelty of commercial flight, the glamour of international travel, and the glories of military aviation, to say nothing of consumer appliances and gadgetry requiring electric power generation and consumption. Faulting the planet for natural climate dynamism is no path to naming the actual culprit. Blaming poor human beings for our guilty parts col-

lectively only begins to account partially for human contributions. We have only aggravated atmospheric conditions with the processes gifted to us by our scientific and technological elites: it is applied science and applied technology and the industrial processes they facilitated that have brought to Planet Earth the scourge of Technogenic Climate Change. It remains important to recall just who to thank for this mess because the same classes of scientists and technologists already claim to be in position to help combat Technogenic Climate Change, to repair the ravages it already wreaks across our globe. Perhaps we poor human beings can greet our philanthopists’ and benefactors’ ambitions with the skepticism that might have been due in earlier centuries. The proper appellation “Technogenic Climate Change” can therefore remind us (and them) of how irrational our ambitions to impose rational solutions on inert matter can be.

MSU TEXAS OPENS DOOR TO CHARLYE O. FARRIS SOCIAL JUSTICE CENTER

THALIA DOE FEATURE/SPORTS EDITOR n Friday, Oct. 29, MSU held a ribbon cutting and open house event from 3:30-5 p.m. for the opening of the Charlye O. Farris Social Justice Resource Center. Located in Bea Wood 131 and under the direction of Cammie Dean, director of MOSAIC Cross Cultural Center, and now director of the SJRC. The purpose of the center is to serve as a hub of education and advocacy. The goal is to strive to build community connections around the issues of racial and social justice through activities encouraging reflection and dialogue. “It was serendipitous in many ways; the MOSAIC cross cultural center team started a tradition this past year of having an innovation day at the end of every semester. It’s a day where we aren’t allowed to work on any current projects but instead do research and map out ideas we may have to bring to the team, department and campus. One of the things that I had seen from other campuses that were working really well with equity and inclusion were social justice resource centers. By the end of the day the types of programming and services would benefit our

community and campus “ Dean said. In total, there are 802 civil rights and advocacy organizations in Texas. Dean says around the same time, MOSAIC was planning on moving locations from their previous location to now inside the Clark Student Center. The team noticed there would be a vacancy in that space and wondered what could be of great use. “So you have MOSAIC moving locations and then the team interested in incorporating diversity, equity and inclusion task force processes that elevate and amplify voices that haven’t been as strongly represented on our campus as in previous years. I wanted to name things after people of color. All of these things happened in a span of three weeks and I pitched the idea of having a social justice resource center, and that was that,” Dean said. Throughout Dean’s time here, there’s always been one person she’s admired. That person is Charlye O. Farris. Farris, who was the first African-American female in Texas to practice law. “She was the first Black lawyer in the county of Wichita, first Black judge in the south after reconstruction, she was someone who was elegant, funny, impressive; she was just a really

wonderful person to be around and to know and served on our Board of Regents prior to her death,” Dean said. Dean said Charlye seemed to be the right person at the right time to have something named after them here at MSU. Keith Lamb, vice president of student affairs had asked what could be named after a person of color and that’s when Dean handed him her eightpage proposal. “It was just really good timing that had all worked in everyone’s favor. The big thing about the justice center is it is externally focused. What we will do with programming, training opportunities, or the resources that we have available in the reading room, is indirectly going to benefit MSU but directly engage the Wichita Falls and surrounding communities,” Dean said. The aims of the SJRC are: their mission, their values at MSU Texas, their faculty and staff composition and academics and co-curricular for the students. Dean explains that the fifth goal is aimed toward the community. Dean says being in a community that is welcoming and open is important and will only support our on-

PHOTO BY COLIN STEVENSON | THE WICHITAN

campus efforts. “The biggest reason to have a community focused goal is to acknowledge that we can work on our campus climate, but if folks of color are not comfortable when they step off campus, that may be a reason why we are not retaining or having them fully engage with us, especially when we think about recruiting more faculty and staff of color, as well as lgbtq+, quality of life matters. We need partners in the community,” Dean said. Though the resource center celebrated it’s opening on Oct. 29, the doors officially opened Sept 1. Dean said that some of O. Farris’s family was able to be there. “What I am most proud of right now and most excited for is that the name Charlye O. Farris is being said a lot, it was wonderful when we had our ribbon cutting at the end of homecoming week and her son and best friend were there. Just to have people remember this important woman who had such an influence on this community, that’s really important to me. She is someone that we should not forget,” Dean said.

PHOTO BY COLIN STEVENSON | THE WICHITAN

The Charlye O. Farris Social Justice Resource Center resides in Bea Wood Hall room 131, accessible from the shown A new label marks the entrance to the Charlye O. outside entrance, Nov. 15. Farris Social Justice Resource Center, Nov. 15.

THE POWER AND PR

PHOTO BY COLIN STEVENSON | THE WICHITAN

Textbook pricing has made keeping up with classes difficult for some students, Nov 15. CECIL WITHERSPOON REPORTER f knowledge is power, then $780.50 buys a lot of power. Business advice books on Amazon.com can be had as inexpensively as $8, with dozens of options below $20. Books on survival check in from $12 on up. The first page of automobile repair books starts at $13 and climbs from there. $780.50 buys dozens of books, dozens of learnable skills and vast amounts of knowledge. Or, at the bookstore in Clark Student Center, it buys the radiology bundle. The books of the radiology bundle are far from the only expensive course requirements present in the bookstore. Clarkson’s Business Law is $418. Intermediate Financial Management runs $313.50. The Jensen Assessment 3E Coursepoint comes in at $297.25. The Aventuras loose-leaf for elementary Spanish is $251. While the price tags may fluctuate, the requirement of these books and resources is far from arbitrary. Professors select these textbooks or packages based on several criteria, including accessibility, resources available, ease of use, understandability and yes, price. The professors of some of the classes with the highest course requirement costs say they are aware of the

prices that textbooks can reach and have worked to ensure that their classes produce the most value for the money being spent on them. They balance the financial strain it places on students with the value that it provides them both in the class and in life.

THE PROBLEM

Linda Treitler, assistant professor of nursing, said textbook prices are a problem. She also added that she is most concerned for international students. “They don’t even have the authority to work outside of campus, so they’re always kind of restricted on their finances. I’ve had students who would register for classes and not be able to get their books and have to eventually drop out because they couldn’t keep up,” Treitler said. Treitler taught the Family Health Assessment course, which requires the $297 Jensen Assessment 3E Coursepoint, and now teaches pathophysiology. The Nursing Pharmacology textbook has an equal price tag of $297, and other books routinely run upwards of $100.

THE PROCESS

Across campus in Prothro-Yeager Hall, Sarah Butler, instructor of Spanish, teaches elementary Span-

ish using a $251 Aventuras loose-leaf and said textbook prices are an issue. She said that the Spanish department takes that into consideration when they adopt new textbooks. “Every professor has their own way of evaluating what type of book that they use,” Rodney Fisher, assistant professor of radiologic sciences, said. “There’s several different types of books out there that you can use for a given subject.” Fisher uses the $780 radiology bundle in his classes and explained that the bundle is composed of individual books selected by different professors. The process for choosing those books varies by department and even by professor. For Treitler, who has taught multiple nursing courses, she said it sometimes has come down to experimenting with what is the easiest for her students to use. “There have been times that I chose a textbook because I wanted to check out the resources that they had, how the electronic resources worked and if they

Assistant professor Linda Treitler expresse for international students since they can’t a

RICE OF TEXTBOOKS were really helpful for the students or not. But this semester, I chose a book that was readable,” Treitler said. The availability and usefulness of online resources for students have played a part in textbook selection for Treitler. Another factor that Treitler mentioned in choosing coursework with online components was how good the tech support is. She pointed to tech support as a reason she no longer uses Lippincott, an online nursing tool. “A lot of times students would have a problem with a module that they were doing late in the evening or on a weekend, and the tech desk was closed. There was nothing anyone could do for them. And I just hated that, so I don’t use Lippincott right now,” Treitler said. Readability and tech support are not the only factors that Treitler considers when choosing her course requirements. Treitler said the price has also been a factor in choosing a book before.

“[Price] played a part in my medical terminology text that I used. I didn’t buy any extra resources or ask them to buy any extra resources for that, for the medical terminology book, and that allows them to share their resources. More than one student can use the same book.” Treitler said. Both pricing and online resources have come into play for Butler and the Spanish department in choosing their textbooks. Butler said the Spanish department has been conscious of cost when considering course requirements, including whether or not the value the book provides matches the cost. “We truly do want to try to save them money and get them, I guess I should say, the best value for their money,” Butler said. “About every two to three years, we sit down and we review all of the different options that are available, and we try to choose something where they’re getting the best value for their money.” Butler also went a little deeper into the process of selection. Specifically what is taken into consideration. “The process is we try to avoid a high-priced textbook or textbook package,” Butler said. “We require the Vistas Aventuras 5th edition loose-leaf, but it’s also a package of online materials, so they’re getting more

than just a textbook.” Like Butler, Fisher said getting the best value for a textbook is important, even superseding cost as a factor. He then went in-depth on some of the things he looks for in a textbook. “So, what you’re looking for is not necessarily the best price, but the best value,” Fisher said. “You’re wanting a book that covers what it needs to cover, that has a good record of being accurate, that is as easy to understand as possible, especially for entry-level students, and that can give them as much utility as possible, as far as being able to be used for multiple classes.”

IN CONCLUSION

Fisher knows what $780 can mean, especially to a college student. In his constant evaluations, he is very conscious of the books he chooses, a common theme across all three professors. They make no random selections and weigh the student’s needs carefully, albeit sometimes on different scales. “It’s not arbitrary, and we do really care. This is a big outlay of money, college period. And then on top of that if you have an expensive textbook,” Butler said.

PHOTO BY COLIN STEVENSON | THE WICHITAN

es her concern about textbook expenses apply for jobs outside of campus, Nov. 15. Professors such as Sarah Butler consider pricing and online resources when choosing textbooks for their classes, Nov. 15.

PHOTO BY COLIN STEVENSON | THE WICHITAN

A Basket Full of Wichita

FUNDRAISER

Hi Mustangs! The Wichitan is raffling three baskets filled with prizes from various businesses in Wichita Falls. The raffle is from Wednesday, Nov. 17 to Friday, Dec. 3.

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“ETERNALS” PROVES GREAT IDEAS

DON’T MEAN A GREAT MOVIE

PHOTO COURTESY OF MARVEL STUDIOS

The Eternals assemble in Marvel Studios’ “Eternals”.

ontinuing a cinematic universe with a similarly obnoxious lifespan, “The Eternals” follows a group of god-like entities Joseph who protect humans Nelson from a dangerous life form known as the Deviants, but the movie itself can best be described like pie. In the outside layer, first impressions, “The Eternals” seems pretty cliché and just another Marvel movie involving some bad and good guys battling for some glowy thing, maybe shooting some lasers into the sky along the way. However, in the second layer, watching the movie, I found a very interesting plot between disparate characters that have different answers to a central moral dilemma. Like with pie, as one dives deeper into the film, the bottom layer is the same as the first. At the end of its runtime, “The Eternals” has the same tired Marvel tropes and aesthetics that turn characters into flimsy archetypes, romantic plotlines

superficial and imaginative scenic ideas into bland backdrops. If you’ve seen a Marvel movie before, you’ll know what this movie looks, sounds and feels like, with added problems with character development to boot. The movie follows a woman named Sersi who finds out that the Deviants have returned after 500 years of extinction, so she begins a quest to unite all the other Eternals to vanquish the threat again. Through a series of flashbacks, we get a sense of who each Eternal is and how they relate to the central question: should gods intervene in human affairs? The movie’s most positive aspect is seeing how each character comes to their own conclusions, some through conformity and others through reason, just like in real-life dilemmas. However, some characters, like Festus and Kingo, seem to be developed to have a certain position in this moral dilemma, but they have a completely different position for no reason except that the plot needs them to. The plot for this movie looks really good on paper, building up its

conflict well, throwing some twists and turns here and there, and leading to a grand conflict that pits many character dynamics against one another in a satisfying way. However, some characters were completely ir-

“‘The Eternals’ has pretty glaring problems with character motivation that had me rolling my eyes at moments that could have been emotionally impactful.” JOSEPHNELSON Entertainment Editor The Wichitan

relevant to the plot and could have been easily cut out of the movie, to focus more on the characters that do matter. For example, Angelina Jolie’s character offers a unique dimension of the world and conditions that the

Eternals are subject to, but her character really offers nothing to the plot, taking away screentime from far more interesting personalities. On the reverse side, the character Sprite actually offers a unique dimension of the world that IS relevant to the plot, and it’s only explored for a minute in the film’s final act, making her seem like an afterthought despite being one of the more interesting characters out of the team. Additionally, some of the dynamics between characters didn’t feel deserved. While Sprite’s relationship with Sersi is well developed, a romantic relationship plays through between Sersi and another character that feels undeserved and shallow. “The Eternals” is the first Marvel movie to feature a sex scene, and it’s wholly undeserved since I didn’t care about either of the characters in the romance. Sersi is the main character, and I genuinely can’t name any definitive character traits about her. Most other characters have well-developed reasons for how they answer the central moral dilemma. However, Sersi

really has no reason to land on the conclusion she does, except that the plot needs her to. Most Marvel movies, on the whole, lack originality and stick to a very predictable formula, but they don’t ever have major problems with character motivations and always offer a fun ride even if it’s rehashed material. “The Eternals” could have honestly been one of the greatest Marvel movies made, with its very strong plot outline and imaginative plays on the implications of deistic interference in human affairs. As it stands, though, “The Eternals” has pretty glaring problems with character motivation that had me rolling my eyes at moments that could have been emotionally impactful. “The Eternals” is surprisingly the worst Marvel movie I’ve seen.

Joseph’s Film Rating: 2/5

A DUCK-FEEDING MORNING

WIT H JUDY SMIT H & FRIENDS THALIA DOE FEATURE/SPORTS EDITOR udy Smith and her two friends, Pam Jackson and Marilyn Hardman, wake up each morning ready to feed the geese and ducks that live at the Sikes Lake Center. Smith says, Sikes, more than anything, is just a good place to walk. “I used to ride bikes around the lake but once my back started getting too bad, I couldn’t ride anymore. My only other option was at least to walk; I’ve always been active my entire life. My friends, Pam and Marilyn already walked out in Lake Wichita, and we all decided to start walking out here around Sikes because other than Lake Wichita, Sikes has bathroom facilities and there is a lot of light in case we come early in the morning. It was really just a good

place to walk,” Smith said. Smith says she slowly began to start feeding the ducks. Jackson, her friend, started feeding them shortly after. They have both become so familiar with them that Smith and Hardman have even named a few. “The geese will fly in and then come to where we are feeding them, I think a lot of times they’ll come from Lake Wichita. We have named a few of the ducks, there is one we call Peggy, we’ve been feeding her for roughly three years, and she still won’t let us get closer to her. The rest of them sometimes, even the wild ones, will eat out of our hands. We also have three Chinese geese, and we gave the nickname ‘the bro’s’ to them, even though one is a female. The ‘bro’s’ eat out of our hands, but they don’t

PHOTO BY THALIA DOE | THE WICHITAN

Ducks and geese enjoy corn left on the ground by Judy Smith at the shore of Sikes Lake, Nov. 12.

PHOTO BY THALIA DOE | THE WICHITAN

Judy Smith feeds ducks cracked corn at Sikes Lake in the morning, Nov. 12.

like when other ducks are around them, they always want to be the only ones getting fed,” Smith said. Smith says she grew up in the country and has been around animals her entire life. She says she used to have horses, cats and dogs. Because of her background with animals, Smith was happy once she finally got one to eat out of her hand. “It’s slowly progressed, and there’s become so many of them. We really do enjoy coming out here and feeding them. Since we are out here every morning, at least Monday through Friday, we get to see the same people that come and walk their dogs or ride their bikes, it’s a social thing and I get to see and spend time with my friend every day,” Smith said. Smith feeds the ducks with cracked corn from a bucket, and although she’s sure there are other food options for them, what she’s noticed is the ducks and geese like the corn the most. Smith and her friends walk around Sikes Lake four times with a goal of completing four miles. They continuously make stops along the way and feed the ducks until they no longer have any corn left in their bucket. “Much like the geese we’ve been feeding for three years, we’ve been feeding others since they’ve hatched. It’s a nice feeling to see them grow up…now they’re as big as their parents,” Smith said. Smith says the ducks and geese flap their wings every time they see them come around.

She believes they look forward to her feeding them each morning. “I really do think they look forward to being fed by us each morning. I know they have to have another supply of food unless they wouldn’t stay here, I’ve heard there are some fish here and I have to assume so. Sometimes I feel bad for them because when it rains all the trash and plastic runs into the water, but I’ve seen some kids take the time to pick up the trash in the lake and that relieves me. There are always workers around as well. This really is a safe area all around, definitely more pedestrian-friendly,” Smith said. Smith, a Wichita Falls native, moved between Wichita and Vernon. She retired just four years ago. “I retired about four years ago and so now I just get up and do this every day. I worked at the state hospital in the reimbursement department. I started at the one in Vernon then moved back to Wichita Falls because I am originally from Wichita…I’m now in the stage of ‘you work your whole life and now is when you get to enjoy it,’” Smith said. Smith says she’s seen a few younger kids join in on feeding the ducks. She said it’s nice to know that people will continue feeding them even when they may not be there. “As many of them as there is, what we feed them isn’t enough to sustain them but at least we are helping, and I truly feel like we are all helping,” Smith said.

LONE STAR CONFERENCE CHAMPS

Men’s soccer reflect on their journey to the LSC trophy and was forced into overtime. The Mustangs and the Chaps from Lubbock went into a penalty kick shootout to determine who would be the champion of the 2021 LSC Postseason Tournament. The Mustangs would depend on goalkeeper Marc-Antoine Huzen (No. 29), marketing senior, to save the team on the Sunday afternoon from defeat. “I told the guys he is the best goalkeeper on penalties,” Meachum said. “He is going to save one. All you guys need to do is your job.” James Doyle (No. 15), midfielder master’s of business administration senior, put the first PK for the Mustangs past the Chaps’ Braxton Thorne. Then, Huzen made a dive to his left for the save on RodriguezCabo on the second round of penalty kicks. Then it looked like a second save to his right on Pablo GalieteroDiez (No. 7) from LCU but was called that he stepped past the line early.

Next, was Flores who placed the ball successfully on the low left part of the goal. “The energy from the crowd got us going and energized to make the shot,” Flores said. “Throughout the game, the sun was a factor because it was shining in our eyes, but the PKs were facing the other direction so I was able to get it past the goalkeeper.” Next up was a successful conversion by Escobar to the low right corner, then Rory Doyle (No. 16), midfielder and exercise physiology sophomore, put one in the upperright of the net. Trevor Amann (No. 9), forward and mathematics senior, put the winning PK in the high middle portion of the goal. “We had tremendous support from the crowd today,” Meachum said. “You could have heard our fans from the other side of campus.”

PHOTO BY BAILEY GRAHAM | THE WICHITAN

Kinesiology senior and midfielder Carlos Flores holds up the Stangs’ trophy as he and his team celebrate their victory against Lubbock Christian University which made them champions of the regular season and Lone Star Conference Postseason Tournament, Nov. 14. JAIME ALEMÁN REPORTER en’s soccer won the Lone Star Conference Postseason Tournament Final in penalty kicks, 5-4, against Lubbock Christian University at Stang Park on Sunday, Nov. 14. As the regular season and LSC Tournament champions, the Mustangs reflected on their journey that brought them to the moment of raising the LSC trophy. “It’s awesome. It’s a good show of all the hard work from the players and the staff, and you know, the support from the university,” Michael Meachum, head’s men soccer coach, said. “Their dedication and their sacrifice shows every day. They put in the work every day and they put it in the summer, and, you know, they stayed around, came back early, all that kind of stuff. I mean, it’s just kind of their resilience to sacrifice their personal time for a collective goal.” The 2021 season for men’s soccer

finishes with a 16-2-1 record for the LSC Champions. The 2020 season was shortened due to restrictions from the coronavirus pandemic leaving the team with a 7-3-1 record. In 2019, the team had a 16-5-0 record and the club’s seventh-straight NCAA postseason appearance. Meachum consistently produces winning seasons for Men’s soccer, proving that hard work from his players pays off. “It’s been tough work,” Carlos Flores (No. 17), captain, midfielder and kinesiology senior, said. “Behind the scenes, we’re practicing dayin-day-out, and a lot of people don’t know but we’re putting everything we got into it. Fortunately, the results are showing. Hard work, dedication and I think the number one thing is we all believe in our team.” The chemistry for the Mustangs in 2021 was aligned to make the postseason and become champions. Coach Meachum built a team that is united and the result is being able to raise the trophy for MSU Texas.

“Hard work got us here. This year, I think we are more of a unit than last year,” Mere Escobar (No. 11), forward and business management sophomore, said. “We all get along and there is no little beef between the teammates. We are united as a team, so that lets us do things like winning the championship. I think all the hard work pays off on the field; we play together, we win together.” The Final for the LSC Tournament was played on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Stang Park. Coach Meachum prepared his team with what they always do and to create opportunities on the field. “We prepare basically the same way we always do,” Meachum said. “We focus mostly on ourselves and do a couple of tweaks. We change what we need to do from that point, and what we can do to create good opportunities for us to take away opportunities for them.” The game ended regulation 0-0

PHOTO BY BAILEY GRAHAM | THE WICHITAN

Marketing senior and goalkeeper Marc-Antoine Huzen holds a Most Valuable Player award after the Stangs’ game against Lubbock Christian University, Nov. 14.

Nov. 17, 2021

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