Nov. 11, 2009

The student voice of Midwestern State University

The Wichitan page 9 Killing time

page 10 LSC champions No. 9 Mustangs beat ACU 15-13 to reserve a spot in the NCAA Division II playoffs.

Survival guide for the living room mercenary teaches time management.

WEDNESDAY, November 11, 2009

Library rakes in big fines Student filmmakers discover that making a movie takes more than just guts (and blood) Brittany Norman Editor in Chief

There’s more to a zombie movie than blood and guts.

MSU’s Club Greenlight, a group of students with an interest in filmmaking, started rolling cameras on their humorous horror flick MSU: Midwestern Zombie University last week. The plan was to turn the campus into a post-zombie-apocalypse desert island of sorts where the few surviving students could try and claw their way out through the horde of the shambling undead.

Despite months of preparation, the film had to go back into pre-production status, according to Club Greenlight president See ZOMBIE page 7

Arron Littleton For the Wichitan

Moffett Library made $49,852.50 off of overdue materials during the 2008 calendar year, according to Jason Brezina, manager of the circulation department.

In 2007, the library collected $66,373.40 in fines.

MSU’s Moffett Library charges 25 cents per book per day late.

The maximum fine on overdue books is listed at $10 and the amount for a lost book is the cost of the book plus various processing fees. Fines for other overdue library materials vary and are listed on the library’s Web site.

Brezina said that late materials are a chronic problem but most materials are returned from

See LIBRARY page 7

Debbie does campus Lauren Wood Entertainment Editor

Photo and illustration by Brittany Norman MZU actor Justin Partridge is hungry for headlines. His makeup was done by Stephanie Burris.

Guitarist doesn’t fret over age, image Chris Collins Managing Editor

When Tony McManus was in elemen-

tary school he was a terrible violin player.

In college he was an aspiring mathematician.

Now he’s a globetrotting, world famous acoustic guitarist.

Who would have figured?

“I want to make the guitar sing in traditional music,” McManus said.

The legendary musician will play in Akin Auditorium Friday at 7 p.m. as part of the Artist Lecture Series.

McManus grew up in Paisley, Scotland, just outside of Glasgow. Paisley, in west Scotland, had a strong Irish influ-

ence. He said this multicultural atmosphere helped develop his special brand of strumming.

The picker started playing music when he was in elementary school, he said. Violin was his first instrument. It didn’t work out so well.

“I wasn’t very good,” he said. “We tried another vehicle.”

After bombing at violin, McManus’s father bought him a mandolin, which he taught himself to play, he said.

Though he continued to practice mandolin regularly, McManus said he was sidetracked by academia. He earned a master’s degree in pure mathematics in 1986. Though he worked on a doctoral degree in math from Exeter College from 1986 to 1991, he never finished

Debbie is making her debut in Wichita Falls.

A group of MSU students will show the pioneer pornographic film “Debbie Does Dallas” at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. The adult film will be shown in the Fain Fine Arts building in Room C111.

These students have gone through the necessary process to conduct the showing, including reading the Student Code of Conduct to make sure there was nothing preventing them from showing the film.

“We also had to get the rights to show the movie,” senior mass communication major Ama Baffoe-Bonnie s aid. “The movie is owned by VCX, which is a Canadian movie company. We See DEBBIE page 6

school.

He said he felt driven to play music and didn’t think school fitted him anymore.

“I was playing, just not playing in public,” McManus said. “The music and the guitar were my private obsessions.

I worked with these obsessions to bring them together.”

Most musicians start careers in their early 20s, not early 30s, McManus said.

“I started playing professionally quite late,” he said. “But I went after it with a vengeance.”

McManus was recognized by a BBC talent scout after he moved back to Scotland from his school in England. He was See GUITARIST page 6

Tony McManus (Photo courtesy)

Staff Editorial

Down, set, no Academics at a university are important, but let’s face it. Students flock to universities with a solid football program.

What good is a four-year degree if your team doesn’t make it to the playoffs?

Fortunately, this season, MSU students will get a chance to have both, as the Mustangs trampled Abilene Christian Saturday afternoon, clinching a playoff berth.

With the growing success of our football team, it would be expected to see a simultaneous growth of a loud, crazy, supportive student section.

Sadly, this is not the case.

Even with the allure of free admission to athletic events, a student body of over six thousand students musters little over a few full rows of students cheering on our Mustangs.

And, the students who do show up seem to lack camaraderie, ferocity, and passion.

Sure, students are expected to stand the whole game and clap after a touchdown, but anything more than that seems to be at odds with the general attitude of the student section all together.

Student sections around the country are famous for causing confusion, controversy, and cacophony, both for the opposing fans and the opposing offense.

Some go beyond that and unconditionally support their offense and consistently instill fear in the opponents while fueling their defenses passion to win.

While it is true that MSU is no D-1 school, it isn’t a lack of students that keeps our stands from shaking; it’s a lack of interest.

Our football team is in the playoffs! We have a great record and a chance to make it a few rounds deep!

So, start some ridiculous cheers, get involved in the game, support your team! Go crazy, paint up, make signs, DO SOMETHING! Let’s drop the apathy, rally behind our team, and be their support as they march into the postseason.

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Copyright © 2007. The Wichitan is a member of the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association. 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. First copy of the paper is free of charge; additional copies are $1. The Wichitan welcomes letters of opinion from students, faculty and staff submitted by the Friday before intended publication. Letters should be brief and without abusive language or personal attacks. Letters must be typed and signed by the writer and include a telephone number and address for verification purposes. The editor retains the right to edit letters.

Holy Humor!

Can Religion make you ROFL?

Chris Collins Managing Editor

So a rabbi, a priest and a monk walk into a bar…

Classic joke setup.

Have you heard it before? If not, you’ve probably heard something similar.

Though most of us probably outgrew this kind of humor in junior high, there are still people who thrive on telling jokes to friends and others.

Most of these people are nerdwads.

Still, our society is blessed with some funny-ass dudes, such as Zach Galifianakis and Aziz Ansari. We also have douchers like Dane Cook and that “Git ‘er Dun” guy to level out the playing field.

But whatever your comical taste, its roots are probably in sarcastic and ironic spiritual literature.

This week in Crisis of Faith we’ll explore the use of humor in contemporary religion and the history of comedy.

First let’s make a list of all the different joke categories: • Yo momma jokes • Racist jokes • Dead baby jokes Dr. Joseph Polimeni, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Manitoba, recently published an article in Evolutionary Psychology about the evolutionary history of humor. He thinks the first concept of humor may have been a monster we’re still infatuated with today: the zombie.

The idea could have been conceived as long as 35,000 years ago, he said.

“A zombie, a spiritual concept in many hunting and gathering societies, is a person who is dead,” Polimeni said. “Being both dead and an active person is a contradiction… a violation, a concept reflecting opposite positions.”

He even asserts that humor and spirituality evolved together, since both are methods of communication and stress relief.

“It is certainly possible that the cognitive processes that allow spirituality may have piggybacked on this humor cognitive substructure,” Polimeni said. “To my knowledge, no anthropologist has ever suggested he or she has visited a humorless society.”

Biblically there are instances of

God and his followers laughing, but I’m not sure it’s laughter that’s associated with the humor. I think God mostly laughs at sinners – a signal of derision, not mirth.

Take what Jesus says in Luke 6:21: “Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.

Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.”

Laughter here is like a release from sorrow, an affirmation instead of an amusement.

And this from Psalms 59:8: “But thou, O Yahweh, dost laugh at them. Thou dost hold in derision all nations.”

“You learn to cope by developing a sense of humor,” Rabbi Daniel Feldman said in an interview with yutorah.org in March.

“Humor helps you function at a pragmatic, life-saving level.”

Feldman uses an example from the Bible, where Moses’ followers have grown tense about living in the desert, and say something to the effect of, ‘Were there not enough graves in Egypt that we have to die out here?’

This kind of sarcastic humor could have operated as a kind of catharsis for the group in a perilous time in its history.

The Ioca Monachorum is a riddle-book composed by Christian monks in the eighth century.

These riddles may have laid the groundwork for the humor of today.

Riddles in the Ioca Monachorum • Who died but was never born?

(Adam) • Who was born but did not die?

(Elias and Enoch) • Who was the first woman to commit adultery? (Eve with the serpent) The first real joke book, however, was probably Philogelos, a Greek work dating to around the fourth or fifth century A.D. The jokes poke fun at misogynistic men, horny women and people with bad breath, among others.

Some of them are even pretty raunchy. Lolz.

Jokes from Philogelos, or Laughter-Lover • A young man said to his libidodriven wife: “What should we do, darling? Eat or have sex?” And she replied, “You can choose. But there’s not a crumb in the

The Wichitan Editorial Board

Editor-in-Chief Brittany Norman

house.”

• A friend said to an intellectual, “Congratulations! You have a baby boy!” The intellectual replied, “Yes, thanks to buddies like you!”

Since then comedy and humor have grown into an industry unto themselves. Nash Information Services estimates that comedy films have grossed over $73 billion since the 1960s.

Some Christians (and they aren’t the only ones) may feel like ideas concerning humor aren’t being fairly represented by the mainstream.

That’s why people like Bruce Ayres, a club owner in Birmingham, has adopted a ‘Christian Comedy Night’ every Monday.

He said he has seen massive ticket sales by locking up the liquor and hosting the ‘clean’ comedy sessions, which usually sell out the 400-seat theatre.

“I can’t remember an event that created so much buzz,” he said.

A club like this has the ability to cater to both believers and nonbelievers – that means twice the moolah, home bros.

It takes a special brand of comedian to entertain a Christian audience, but it isn’t really hard to find one. Clean comics are everywhere.

Kerri Pomarolli, a ‘God girl’ from the South (yeah, that’s what she calls herself), has been featured on Comedy Central, FOX and ABC Family, among others.

Her jokes are weak, but she’s pretty hot. See?

Kerri Pomarolli is a clean comic, but I wish she were dirty.

I think it’s important to take a second and define comedy.

Dictionary.com defines it as “popular entertainment composed of jokes, satire or humorous performance,” in one definition, and, “a humorous element in life or literature” in another.

I think the second denotation is especially important in realizing

the grandiose function of comedy: to objectively evaluate our existence by comparing or contrasting the conflicting elements of life.

Wtf does that mean, you say?

It means that humor is an equalizer; it is the antithesis of fairy-tale endings. It says, “Nope, shit gets way worse than that.”

That’s why I say that comedy is written in the language of realism.

The best humor forces a listener to look objectively at some aspect of his existence, and think, ‘Wow, I do act retarded sometiems, huh?’

We drive our cars, work at our jobs, spend time with our friends, battle passionately through failed romances, and ultimately, try to find some purpose in this life.

And I think it’s all very funny.

What a miracle it is that we could be living on this earth, on the only planet with sentient life, that we could fight through the tragedies of death and the decline of old age, and still have the courage to ask, ‘Who am I?’ What a miracle indeed. But for many of us, our greatest concern is if our outfit matches when we walk out the front door in the morning.

Jesus says in Matthew 6:28: “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow? They do not labor or spin. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, will he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?”

I think this essential absurdity of life is one of the points Campbell was trying to get across in the Power of Myth.

“There’s no meaning,” Campbell said. “What’s the meaning of a universe? What’s the meaning of a flea? It’s just there. That’s it.”

I don’t take this unabashedly existential remark as a message that we should quit trying to find purpose in our lives in the face of all this meaninglessness. Rather, I think Campbell is urging us to take a step back, be objective, and appraise our values.

“We’re so engaged in doing things to achieve purposes of outer value that we forget that the inner value, the rapture associated with being alive, is what it’s all about,” Campbell said.

Reporters Richard Carter

Managing Editor Chris Collins

Photographers Loren Eggenschwiler

Advertising Manager Jamie Monroe

Op-Ed Editor Josh Hoggard

Copy Editor Lauren Wood Jamie Monroe

Adviser Randy Pruitt

Entertainment Editor Lauren Wood Sports Editor Kaitlin Morrison Photo Editor Julia Raymond

Op-Ed

The Wichitan November11, 2009

3

MSU raises admission standards and lowers slacker population Josh Hoggard Op-Ed Editor

Have you ever been in a class

with a student who just isn’t ready for college?

I remember my sophomore year biology class. I was cruising by with a B, enjoying the class and nailing the tests.

I sat by a girl who was taking the class for the second time, on the verge of failing it again.

I’m not one to judge, but come on! It wasn’t A&P! This poor girl just wasn’t cut out for college yet.

Everyone’s had those classmates who just aren’t college material.

One can find themselves wondering, “How did this kid make it into a university?!”

MSU is attempting to answer that question.

Midwestern’s administration has decided to raise admission requirements for the upcoming Fall 2010 semester.

Previously, the minimum accepted SAT score was a 870, and the minimum ACT score was an 18.

Those minimum scores have jumped significantly.

In Fall 2010, the minimum accepted SAT score will be 990, and the minimum ACT score will be a 21.

This is a great move by the university. In case you forgot (because, after all, it has been a while since we took that awful SAT) an 870 is a pretty low score.

Last I heard, you get a 500 for putting your name on the stinkin’ test.

As brutal of a test as the SAT is, an 870 isn’t all that impressive.

A 990 is a 120 point jump (for all you non-math majors). That takes some work.

It’s not that everyone who doesn’t get accepted into a college is an idiot; some people just aren’t ready yet.

Nothing is scarier than the first day of college. The first day of high school, maybe, but college is a completely different world.

Some people who just aren’t ready for college now have a chance to improve themselves and become better equipped for the college experience.

And, some people just aren’t cut out for college.

American society has put so much emphasis on college that any other option seems like heresy. However, there are alternatives to college.

Trade schools, specialized certification courses, even simple part-time jobs with advancement opportunity... College is NOT the only answer.

Although, a degree does make life easier in some cases.

And, lets be honest. Some people just suck at college.

Imagine how nice it will be without all of those annoying “guaranteed admission” freshman in your group projects messin’ everything up, bless your heart.

Imagine a world without out of place questions, ridiculous excuses, and flat out ignorance.

Okay, even with higher admission standards, that’s not going to happen, but you can see where I’m going with this.

Upping the ante, so to speak, will help improve our universities’ credibility. A degree from a more competitive school means more than a degree from an average, no-standards’ school.

More competitive schools have a knack for drawing more competitive students.

With more competition to get into this school, a sense of prestige hangs over the school.

And, with as strong an academic program for its relatively low cost, its about time MSU got a little much overdue recognition.

But it’s not like they haven’t

gotten any credit - MSU was rated “Best Value” by Consumers Digest in Nov. 2007.

This award will pull a little more weight now, but the fact that MSU was given this recommendation may be the source of some of our problems.

Great values are often abused, though.

Since MSU is such a good value, some students that apply aren’t as dedicated as those that try to apply to larger schools.

Slacker’s can’t just coast by anymore. They’re going to have

to work for their admission into our university.

Degrees won’t be guaranteed to people who don’t deserve them anymore.

Speaking of a degree, a school with no admission requirements spit out meaningless degrees.

What credibility is a diploma from a college anyone and everyone can get in to?

This isn’t the first time that MSU has decided to make this wise move.

Previously, Midwestern has hiked its admission require-

ments. Unfortunately, the initial reaction was a drop in admitted students.

While the overall goal is to welcome more educated students to MSU, a decline in enrollment can be expected.

Higher standards work as a weed-out of sorts.

However, soon after the initial decline, admission began to rise.

Even recently, enrollment has increased. In little over a year, MSU’s freshman class as risen in enrollment by 33 students, its

sophomore class by 43 students, the junior class by 99, and the senior class by 72.

An initial dip may be cancelled out by our current trend of growth.

An all important statistic, the number of graduates, has risen by 21 students over the past year.

The best thing about raising admission standards is the potential difference in the number of dropouts and the potential number of graduates raising even more.

With more college-ready students attending our university, being admitted rather than “shoed-in”, and having to work for their degree, a sense of more dedication will be required.

And, only students who make the cut will even be accepted, making this university more of an earned thing rather than a handout.

With the potential of MSU quickly becoming a legitimately recognized school nationwide, raising our standards is a smart move.

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The Wichitan November 11, 2009

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Letters to the Editor

The Wichitan November 11, 2009

5

If you don’t like The Wichitan: Student voice of hate? it, don’t read it

I read a couple of letters to editor discussing Chris Collins’ articles and how he is “unprofessional” and “offensive.” It is all a matter of opinion.

If you disagree with his beliefs, then yes, it could possibly come off as offensive. However, not everybody believes the same.

We all have different opinions and we as a society have to respect that and coexist rather than become defensive and petition-

“

makes the article interesting. It sounds like the voice of a real person with organic ideas plain, cut-and-dry piece that lacks individuality. Anyone can read Collins’ work and distinguish it from other journalists’.

Having a unique and distinguishable voice is one of the components of the art of writing.

As I mentioned before, Chris’s sense of humor is what makes

Drawing up a petition to have a writer tossed off the newspaper is... dramatically selfish.

ing.

We are all entitled to express our own opinions. Chris Collins should have the right to voice his opinions in whichever way he chooses. Both you, he, and everyone else should be able to write what they believe and what they want to share with the public. Nobody should be muted because a few people disagree with what’s being said.

Drawing up a petition to have a writer tossed off the newspaper just because you do not like it is rather dramatically selfish.

If you don’t like Chris’s articles, don’t read them. Just because one person does not like broccoli does not mean we shouldn’t grow it. There are people who DO like broccoli!

I enjoy Chris’s articles.

They’re presented with a unique voice that brings character to the message. His colorful language and sense of humor are what

The Wichitan: The Voice of Midwestern State University?

I don’t think so.

First let me just say that I am an atheist. I do not believe that there is any kind of higher power at all.

There is no proof; there is nothing to say that there is “god”. Believing in a higher power, to me, is like adults believing in Santa Clause – it’s just not real.

However, I am disgusted with what my school newspaper is publishing.

The entire reason I would never put faith into a higher, more divine power is because of hate.

The war my younger brothers are fighting in is hateful, wrong,

disgusting, full of greed and distaste. Would a “god” really let that happen? NO. I run from hate, as should any man and woman.

Do you know what religion is good for? Hate. Christians, Jews, Muslims alike HATE other religions.

Want some proof? Look at 9/11. Look back in history at the Crusades. Man has been battling with religion vs. religion for thousands of years.

Chris, you are breeding hate.

Your distasteful language, your disgusting comments toward others, your evil remarks towards your fellow students is hate.

Obviously you need to dig deeper into yourself (and while

you’re at it, your writing skills) to see this.

Honestly, you’re making Midwestern State University look like shit.

Stop. Whoever put you in charge is regretting it. Hate comes from fear, and fear comes from the unknown.

You fear – therefore you hate – people who do not think like you, who do not act, or talk like you and BRA, you are defiantly showing that in your articles.

Chill the hell out and pick up a friggin’ book.

In conclusion, Chris, people like you start wars, murder, and hurt what they don’t understand – others; so, blow this e-mail off,

publish it with your next ridiculous article, bash me to pieces, I don’t care, but when you’re finished bashing, hating, and making your fellow students feel like dirt for something they feel in their heart is right, take a deeper look at what you believe and perfect it inside of yourself in a way you don’t create so much evil.

That’s the last thing this world needs is more evil.

To the faculty advisor(s): Are you kidding me? Of all the people, I would think YOU would have more sense in publishing hate towards the students you should be teaching.

I am thankful that I read the article which was published the fifth concerning copyrighted sermons and the pastors that use them. It caused me to look into my own life to find a problem that I otherwise would not have seen. Although I do not agree with your methods and tact, nor praise you for your irreverence, I must thank you for causing so many around you to hold tightly to God, His word, the bible, and faith. You have done something not many can do, and that is cause faithful people to study harder, look closer, and become better.

For many years now, I have been teaching the bible to those that will listen, introducing history to those that dont know it, and loving those who will let me through the use of pulpits around the United States. I began to ponder on what it would be like to touch even more people with

my story, my testimony, and my thoughts - so, I turned to the internet. After posting several of my (what you would call) sermons, I began to notice people reading them, using them, learning from them, refuting them, and otherwise working with them on just about every level I could imagine.

What a wonderful gift we have in information sharing! Then one day, I was sitting in a pew, in a church where I had never before been, and heard one of my own “sermons.” As you can imagine, the carnal-human side of me was greatly hurt when there was no credit given to me.

For a long time now, I have not placed my works on the internet, nor have I made them available for people to handle themselves.

I was wrong in so doing. I was wrong to be hurt by such a flattering gesture, and I was wrong to think that the “sermon” was

even mine in the beginning. I simply was expounding and giving of what God had given me.

How dare I claim it for myself.

Thank you for clearing that up for me.

I relate this level of teaching and ministering to that of a parent. An expected mother, many times, turns to published works to gain insight on raising their child, making the hard decisions, and dealing with the new avenues of life where they are currently weak. Any time a parent uses one of these tools which they have learned (not “come up with” on their own) they are not required to cite them. I agree that they should not take credit as though it is their own original work, but I believe that for a man to read something, be humbled by it, recognize the need for it within his own flock, and then be wise enough to project it for his people - is Godly. And any-

time something is that amazing, praise should be to God, not a scribe.

I will be the first to say this on behalf of all those who are trying to make a difference in the world through “the better way” (love), even though we may be in high places, or low, even though we be in front of thousands or few, even though we be speaking the oracles of God, or our own... we are still human, and thus, we are subject to flaw. “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone” Jesus.

This realization has now lead me to look over your article in a different light. Rather than chastise you for any errors in your writing, your skill, your tact, or any other weakness that you have exposed in your writing, I wanted to shed some love into your life, and others by a good example. BUZZZ -- Collin Pennington

” Thanks for sharing, spread some caring

his work enticing to read. For example, the Colbert Report is a news show addressing current events and issues. What makes the show such a success is the fact that he uses a great sense of humor. Just because he satirizes various subjects does not make his comments invalid or unprofessional.

There are a lot of people who enjoy Chris’s articles. The ridiculous act of petitioning against creativity in the Wichitan should be dropped. In the simplest terms, no one is making you read an article you don’t like. Instead of basing someone else’s ideas, make an effort to write your own. This way everyone can express their thoughts without oppressive intervention.

- Jessica Wilkins

P.S. Joseph Campbell wasn’t misquoted. It was straight out of the book - I checked myself.

COMING SOON TO A CAMPUS NEAR YOU… Friday, Nov. 13 11:00am-1:30pm, SW Plaza

- Jacob Light

MSU Football Pep Rally and Picnic Only $3 if not on a meal plan. Pep rally begins at 12pm.

Friday, Nov. 13 UPB Movie: Spaceballs 6pm & Midnight, CSC Shawnee Free popcorn during this popular Mel Brooks film.

the

Spotlight

Friday, Nov. 13 7:00pm, Akin Auditorium

Artist-Lecture Series: Tony McManus One of the greatest Celtic guitarists of all time.

Saturday, Nov. 14 9:30am, CSC Atrium

Greek Weekend: Everything but the Turkey Drive Helping families in Wichita Falls enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday.

Saturday, Nov. 14 12:00pm, Memorial Stadium

Maroon Stampede—MSU Football vs. Abilene Christian Watch the MSU Mustangs compete in NCAA Playoff action. Wear maroon!

Sunday, Nov. 15 3:15pm, CSC Shawnee

UPB Football Party—Dallas Cowboys vs. Green Bay Packers Watch the game on the BIG screen!

Tuesday, Nov. 17 11:00am, CSC Atrium

UPB Presents: Build-a-Bear Workshop Enjoy stuffing all your favorite loveable little critters.

Tuesday, Nov. 17 6:30pm, Sunwatcher Vilage

UPB Presents: Free Cooking Workshop Learn to cook a few dishes just like a master chef!

Tuesday, Nov. 17 7:00pm, Bolin 127

Student Government Association (SGA) Meeting Open to all MSU students.

Thursday, Nov. 19 3pm & 6:30pm, DB 101

Erin O. Patton—The 7 Ciphers of Multicultural Marketing An informative presentation from the founder of the Air Jordan brand.

Friday, Nov. 20 6:00pm, CSC Atrium

UPB Presents: The Virus—Music & Culture Live music and entertainment by your fellow Mustangs.

Monday, Nov. 23 1:30-3:00pm, CSC Atrium

UPB Presents: Craft Time!

Create your own crafts with University Programming Board.

Greek Weekend!

Maroon Stampede

Each fall, MSU Greeks come together for a weekend of service and unity. This year’s Greek Weekend events will include a philanthropy called “Up til’ Dawn” which supports St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital as well as an Everything but the Turkey food drive for Faith Mission and Tailgate before the MSU vs. ACU playoff game. Greek Weekend is coordinated by the Order of Omega national Greek honor society.

The nationally-ranked Midwestern State University football team will host Abilene Christian University in the first round of the NCAA playoffs. The game is Saturday, November 14 at 12:00pm at Memorial Stadium. Students can pick up a free ticket at the CSC Info Desk or Student Wellness Center. Be sure to attend the all-school Pep Rally at 12:00pm on Friday, November 13 in Sunwatcher Plaza. Wear maroon Go Mustangs!

A SPECIAL CONGRATULATIONS...

-To the ladies of Panhellenic Council for sponsoring a benefit drive for the Wichita County Humane Society -To men of Omega Delta Phi for coordinating a student mentoring program at Zundy Jr. High.

-To the MSU Cheerleaders for helping at the Coach Bill Maskill Radio Show at Buffalo Wild Wings every Wednesday night before home football games .

-To the members of Phi Sigma Kappa and Delta Sigma Pi for hosting a philanthropy to raise funds for Special Olympics.

-To the ladies of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority for providing free tutoring to students at AME Church every Saturday.

Up til’ Dawn

The Spotlight is brought to you by

On Friday, November 13 at part of Greek Weekend, the Order of Omega Greek honor society, UPB, Tau Kappa Epsilon, and some other student organizations are sponsoring an event to benefit St. Jude’s Children Research Hospital. The event is from 8pm-Midnight in the CSC Atrium and Comanche Suites. With a 70’s theme, Up til’ Dawn will feature live entertainment, free food, and fun. Stop by any time and bring the addresses of your friends and family to participate in the letter writing campaign.

The Office of Student Development & Orientation Endless Opportunities. Lifelong Connections.

Clark Student Center, Room 194 (940) 397-4500 http://activities.mwsu.edu

Look for the next Spotlight on Wednesday, December 2, 2009!

6

The Wichitan November 11, 2009

Campus briefs Wednesday

• MSU/ Sheppard Air Force Base Thanksgiving food drive ends today.

Drop food off at any residence hall.

• Texas Environmental Compliance Training ends Thursday.

Thursday

• Buy your playoffs T-Shirt in the CSC 194 • TLRC events for faculty/GTAs in Bolin 100 at 4:30 p.m.

Friday

• Priority Application Deadline for Spring • Buy your playoffs T-Shirt in CSC 194 • Pep Rally in Sunwatcher Plaza at 11 a.m.

• Artist Lecture Series: Tony McManus in Akin Auditorium at 7 p.m.

Saturday

• Graduate and Professional School Practice Exam Day for MSU Studnets/Alumni in Dillard 189.

• Body Paint in the Pierce Hall at 9:30 a.m.

• Tailgate Party at 10:30 a.m.

Tuesday

• SBDC and Lalani Center: i.d.e.a. WF meeting at 11:45 a.m.

• Classic film series: The Children’s Hour in the Wichita Falls Museum of Art at MSU at 7 p.m.

News

GUITARIST.................continued from page 1 asked to cut a few singles for company to broadcast. It gained him enough attention to jumpstart his career.

“I got lucky,” he said.

He said he made his first record, a self-titled album, in 1995.

McManus said he does a lot of work with other musicians.

He’s contributed to over 70 albums, though he only has four of his own.

He visited the U.S. for the first time in 1996. “I’d always wanted to come down here,” he said.

McManus played the Celtic Fiddle Festival with three touring fiddle players last time he was in the states. He said it was a great experience – that’s why he’s crossed the Atlantic multiple times every year since.

The virtuoso has since moved to the North American continent from Scotland. He now lives about an hour west of Toronto in Canada. He said his heart is still in Scotland, though his body is somewhere else.

“I love this music,” he said.

McManus describes Celtic

music as an amalgam of different cultures and music.

The Celts, he said, were a people that were driven to the western extremities of Europe, namely Whales, Ireland, Scotland, and Brittany. These locales are a harsh environment to subsist in, he said.

“There’s a lot of grit in Celtic music,” McManus said. “It’s not easy listening.

It’s a harder kind of music with a lot of substance.”

He said one of his most memorable experiences happened a few weeks ago when he played with Buddy Guy and Carlos Santana in Annapolis, MD. “I’ve met some incredible people,” he said.

Tony

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DEBBIE...............................................................................................continued from page contacted them and they emailed us written consent.”

The written consent allowed them to put their plan into action.

“We called around town, seeing what stores carried the film and it was actually kind of funny because some stores had collector editions and special DVDs, but we were just wanting the regular one,” Baffoe-Bonnie said.

“We just purchased it at the Adult Video store by the base.”

Since the film is X-rated, stu-

dents must be 18 or older to attend the viewing.

“We will be checking IDs at the door,” Baffoe-Bonnie said.

“So students need to make sure they bring their drivers licenses, not just their student IDs.” The group plans to serve free popcorn, drinks and candy at the viewing, to make it feel as comfortable as possible.

They also will host a discussion after the movie regarding how students feel about porno-

graphic films and if they should be protected under the First Amendment.

“We are hoping for a good crowd, but I’m not sure if people will feel comfortable watching this movie with strangers,” Baffoe-Bonnie. “We are trying to make it as comfortable as possible.”

In case students are curious, the film is about a woman named Debbie who is a bit strapped for cash.

1

Debbie gets a spot on the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleadering team, but she doesn’t have enough money to get to Dallas on her own. So her friends decide to get small jobs around town to help her raise money.

One day, Debbie’s boss approaches her and asks to do sexual favors with him for money.

Debbie then realizes that she can get more money by performing sexual acts. That’s when Debbie’s adventure begins.

News

The Wichitan November 11, 2009

Tax credit spurs some grads to buy, not rent Meredith Humphreys For the Wichitan

As MSU graduate student Cindy Grauerholz got ready on Aug. 6, she thought of all the things she had planned for the day and how they could change her life in a dramatic way.

First on her list was to present her file paper, a 50-page paper that determined whether or not she would graduate and get her master’s degree in business. The next thing she did was call her realtor and ask to see the house she had said was her favorite of all that she had seen, and walk through it one more time. After one final viewing of the house, she made an offer.

After leaving her realtor with the offer, she went to meet with the owners of a local accounting firm with whom she had worked part time, and had two interviews trying to become a full-time accountant. On her drive there, her mind filled with anxiety as she thought about the offer she had just made, without even having locked down a job.

With confidence, though, she knew it was the right house and the right time. Her meeting went well, and she signed her salary contract

right then.

When she got to the car in the parking lot of the accounting firm she had just signed with, her cell phone rang. On the other end of the line was her realtor, who told her that the sellers had accepted her offer and she needed to come sign her contract.

In one day, Grauerholz had completed graduate school, signed a salary agreement with her new job, and entered into a contract to buy her very own house.

“It kind of just all fell into place for me,” Grauerholz said.

What allowed Grauerholz to know that she could make an offer on her new home was the Federal Government’s First Time Home Buyer $8,000 tax credit, which is scheduled to end Nov. 30, 2009.

Hirschi Realtor Vivian Kirkpatrick said she has sold homes to five recent college graduates this year, and in all, 12 first time homebuyers.

Kirkpatrick worked with Grauerholz, and said she has seen an increase in first time homebuyers this year because everyone wants to get in on this tax credit.

“It allows people to either fix up a home, repair a home, have money to furnish a home or pay bills, and it

doesn’t have to be paid back,” Kirkpatrick said. “They still have to put 3.5 percent down on the house, but they will get the $8,000 later. And in all 12 of my cases, the seller paid all of the closing costs,” Kirkpatrick has recently been working with Kalynne Meurer, a May 2009 graduate of MSU. “Last week she showed me seven houses. I absolutely loved one of them, and I really liked a second one. The others weren’t for me,” Meurer said.

In order for first time homebuyers to qualify for the $8,000 tax credit, they must close on their new home

by Nov. 30, 2009. They can file their amended tax return after that date.

“I’m in a bit of a time crunch. I waited too long,” Meurer said.

Grauerholz closed on her house Sept. 10, and said now that she is moved in she is so happy with her decision to go ahead and buy rather than look for a place to rent.

“If you are going to stay in Wichita Falls or anywhere for at least three years, and you’re paying more than $600 in rent, then you need to be buying and investing in yourself rather than someone else,” Kirkpatrick said.

“My options were to continue to

rent and try to save $8,000 over the next year, or buy a house and get $8,000. I chose to buy. But I definitely couldn’t have done it when I did without that money,” Grauerholz said.

Meurer said she has been to the bank and everything has checked out as far as her finances go.

“I wasn’t sure if I’d even be able to do it, but everyone keeps telling me there’s no better time to buy a house because it’s a buyers market, but mainly because of the $8,000,” she said.

Kirkpatrick said if you are thinking of buying, that now is a good time.

“Now is a great time to buy because interest rates are low, the availability of the tax credit, although now it is set to close in November, prices are good, and the homes in our area have maintained their value,” she said.

As of right now, Congress is deciding on whether or not to extend the First Time Home Buyers Credit through April of 2010. It has passed in the Senate, but is still waiting verdict in the House of Representatives.

7

Image courtesy MCT

ZOMBIES.................................................................................................................................................................................continued from page 1 Jaleesa Bealom. After a regroup, the club plans to begin shooting again around December.

“The idea of MZU came about at one of our creative meetings,” Bealom said. “As a group we were sitting around brainstorming. I had mentioned what if the cafeteria food turned students into zombies.”

From there, she said fellow Club Greenlighter Derick Dotson came up with an outline for MZU. “As a group, all of our ideas were thrown into the script,” Bealom said.

The crew for the film consists of executive producers and local filmmakers Jesse Johnson and James Henry of Falls Media Productions, as well as Club Greenlight members Louis Ozuna, Carly Barat, Abigail Demery, Ian Ferrell, Derick Dotson, Jesse Blume, Abe Gomez, Jeremiah McBride, Britney Buell, Tim Folaranmi.

Makeup artist Stephanie Burris donated her horror and special effects makeup skills to the crew to make the movie’s extras look zombie-like.

The cast consisted of four main roles and about 20 extras.

“We found the actors and actresses from auditions we held,” Bealom said. “We had a really hard time finding our lead male, actually. It took about two weeks to find him. Thankfully we have such an amazing cast and the chemistry between them is really good.”

Justin Partridge and Lydia Weatherly play the leading male

and female parts of Jeremy and Sarah.

Their supporting cast consists of Michael (played by Rocky Turner), Kendra (played by Brittany Walsh) and Pearce (played

by Andre Gonzales).

Before the tape could roll, Club Greenlight had to find some equipment to film with.

“When we first started the process, we asked our ‘executive producers’ what they thought, and immediately they became interested,” Bealom said. “You would be surprised at how many local filmmakers in Wichita Falls are willing to work with students on projects like this. We’re an organization that wants to make films with no filming equipment, and they were nice enough to donate their equipment to us to help make our film.”

They also enlisted the help of others willing to donate their time and supplies to the filmmaking effort.

Unfortunately, excitement alone wasn’t enough to allow production to go off without a hitch.

“We ran into a lot of miscommunication and production issues,” Bealom said. “In order to create something you have to have a set vision and go forward with that vision. When you lack the tools to reach the end, you’re going to face a lot of problems.”

Due to the on-set upsets, Bealom said the film has gone back into pre-production status for the time being.

“To solve (the problems), we’re doing everything the right

way,” Bealom said. “We’re communicating better, having a storyboard, having an official set budget, everything it takes in Hollywood to make a blockbuster movie goes into effect for having an independent film.”

Bealom thinks that with the right attitude and more preparation, conflicts can be avoided in the future.

“I’m not going to say we were all angels on set, but when you work with people who are passionate about the same thing you are, there’s going to be conflict,” she said. “It’s a given. We’re so used to being friends or associates of one another, and now we’re thrown into a professional environment that we have to work with one another.

“I’m kind of surprised we all made it out alive. But at the end of the day, we’re not fighting with each other for the sake of it.

We’re fighting to create substantial art.”

As for the future of MZU, plans have been tentatively set for filming to take place over winter break.

“We’ve been talking about shooting some of the exterior shots in Dec., when the campus is completely dead,” Bealom said. “We can have that vacant feel that a zombie apocalypse has happened here. Hopefully we can pick up production in January again and go from there.”

And when it’s time for the cameras to roll once more, Club Greenlight will be seeking more zombies.

“We are definitely going to

need extras again,” Bealom said.

“We had about 20 zombies in the beginning, and depending on how everything turns out, we’d like to have more.”

She said the extras from Friday’s shoot were amazing, and were convincing enough zombies that the Wichita Falls Police Department showed up to save innocent bystanders.

“We were filming a ‘zombie run’ when they’re coming from one side of the building to another,” Bealom said. “We had already notified the campus police, but the city PD had no idea. It was great having them show up.

They took pictures with us and everything.”

Despite some unscripted offscreen drama, Club Greenlight has high hopes for MZU’s future.

“We hope to enter the film in festivals,” Bealom said. “A goal was to have a film festival very soon, next Nov. even, but we’ll see. There’s a lot of talent in this area that’s hidden and no one knows about.”

She hopes that maybe this flick about the shambling undead taking over the university will spur other local talent to try their hand at making movies as well.

“I know some students who are interested in film may think that in order for me to make a movie, I need to go to LA or New York, but it’s right under your nose,” Bealom said.

While Bealom doesn’t want to give too much away, she offered a teaser for MZU’s plot.

“Without completely giving it away, it’s about five students, Jeremy, Sarah, Kendra, Pearce and Michael quest to make it off campus after a zombie invasion has taken place,” she said. “Everyone is going to laugh pretty hard at how the zombies came to MZU.”

FINES................................................................continued from page 1 a few days to a week late.

Brezina said while Moffett makes so much money off of overdue materials, the library doesn’t get to keep a dime of the profits. All money made goes to the MSU General Fund and the library is forced to pay for lost or damaged books out of their own budget, which hasn’t increased in recent years.

“It’s really not very fair,” said Brezina. “We have to pay for all of the lost books out of our own budget. We’ll replace it if it’s a popular book, but we can’t replace everything.”

Regardless of where the money ends up, the majority of students interviewed said that the policy was reasonable.

Josh Jackson even went as far as to say that he believed that Moffett’s policy was “more than fair” and that the library was justified in charging students for

lost or overdue materials.

Jackson shares this opinion with much of the MSU student body. Many students echoed the same sentiments when asked what they thought of Moffett’s fine policy.

“I think the library’s fine policy is reasonable,” said another student. “It takes into account that sometimes things happen and sometimes you forget to turn in a certain material you have checked out. At just a quarter per day, I think they have given students a reasonable price that won’t break the bank.”

However, not all students think that the library is reasonable with their fine policy. Some students believe that the Moffett charges students too much for overdue materials.

Jacob Contreras believes that the library over charged him for some materials he checked out

several months ago.

“I checked out 2 DVDs from the library at the end of Spring Semester and when I came back two weeks later, I had a $70 fine,” Contreras said. “That’s more than they’re even worth!

I couldn’t even register for my classes the next semester because I had a library hold.”

According to Contreras, the problem has been somewhat resolved. He says that he turned the movies in but he still has a $20 fine on his record. He says that it’s not that big of a problem because he was allowed to register for his next semester’s classes and he insists that the library staff was courteous to him throughout the whole situation.

8

Entertainment

The Wichitan November 11, 2009

Steakhouse full of flavor, but dishes out bland service Lauren Wood Entertainment Editor

McBride’s Steakhouse is one of the many local establishments in Wichita Falls. It has a log cabin feel, with antlers covering the entrance and a dim light setting that makes you feel comfortably at home.

I had eaten there before and was impressed, however, after I was seated, my previous feelings of the restaurant changed.

The main problem was the service. The waitress was a little distracted and didn’t really pay attention to our table. She left us to look at the menu for about 15 minutes, never stopping by to see if we needed any help with it, or stopping by at all.

When she finally made her way over to us, I was the first to order.

Photo by Julia Raymond McBride’s Steakhouse offers a comfortable atmosphere and tasty dishes.

I ordered the barbeque chicken with a salad and baked potato.

However, when I asked her what was in the salad she brushed my question off with “what usually comes in salad.” Rude.

I was just asking to see if the salad had cheese in it. (It doesn’t, in case you were wondering.) But it was irritating that the waitress couldn’t just say what was in the salad.

After taking our order, the garlic sourdough bread was placed in front of us, which was delicious. It was soft and tender, with only a slight hint of the garlic. However, I noticed on the menu (in fine print) that each additional loaf order costs $.99, so be aware of how many loaves you devour.

We received our salads and then our food arrived at the table about 15 minutes later. We didn’t mind the wait because we were chatting, but if you are on a first date, I recommend you have conversation starters handy.

A couple of my friends ordered filets which came wrapped in a strip of bacon to add flavor to the meat. They both were satisfied with their steaks, however I was left a little disappointed in my chicken.

It was just a piece of chick-

en with some barbeque sauce slapped over it, topped with a pineapple slice. I wasn’t impressed. The side baked potato was tasty, however. It was loaded with butter, sour cream, cheese and bacon pieces, taking away any nutritional value from the spud.

Overall, it was an average meal, but nothing worth bragging about.

Again, the service was disappointing, ruining the dining ex-

perience at McBride’s.

Note, however, the meals are a little pricey, mainly because it is a steakhouse, but you do get nice sized portions.

I left with my stomach full and my wallet lighter, and I do recommend the restaurant to others, based on the food, not the service.

It is a great date place or a spot to take family, but hopefully you will get a better waitress.

Dining Details Restaurant: McBride’s Steakhouse Location: On Maplewood Ave., between Midwestern Pkwy and Southwest Pkwy Price: ranges from $10 to $25 per plate

New on DVD: ‘The Ugly Truth’

Photos by Julia Raymond Whatever your preference is, these shoes are common amongst college students.

Footwear Wars VS.

TOMS Shoes Price: $44-$70 women and men Pros: They go toward a good cause – every pair someone buys, a pair gets donated to children in need. They are cute and boho-casual. They can be thrown in the wash if they get dirty.

Cons: Some people just cannot pull them off. There is not much to them, but can cost a pretty penny.

Where can you get them: Some department stores in the metroplex, or online at tomsshoes.com

SPERRY Boat Shoes

Price: $75-$100 women and men Pros: You can wear them in the rain because they are boat shoes and you won’t slip and slide in the hallways. You can sport the cute, nautical look with these babies.

Cons: People will ask you if you own a boat since they are “boat shoes.” They are also hard to clean if you get them dirty.

Where can you get them: Usually, any department store or major shoe store, or online at sperrytopsider.com

In “The Ugly Truth” Katherine Heigl plays an uptight, obsessive compulsive television producer, who is having some trouble in the relationship department.

Gerard Butler portrays her chauvinistic correspondent who challenges her to try his theories on relationships, promising her it will help her find love.

His theories however, include Heigl lengthening her hair, wearing more revealing and tighter clothing and not being herself.

Butler’s clever ploys, however, lead to an unexpected result.

Wonder what it could be?

This film is clever and at times humorous, but is a predictable chick flick.

The chemistry between the two actors is genuine, but the story line is unoriginal and trite.

The one reason to purchase the film is to see Heigl handle

DVD released: Tuesday, Nov. 10 Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance Running Time: 1 hour 35 minutes Rating: R for sexual content and language Starring: Katherine Heigl, Gerard Butler

Photo Courtesy This comedy stars Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler.

an extremely awkward situation in a high-end restaurant. Two

words: vibrating panties.

‘Modern Warfare 2’ lives up to hype ed for the multiplayer mode that will really shock avid fans that have played “Modern Warfare” So here it is at last, the biggest religiously. game of 2009. The sequel to one A major change to the multiof the most successful first-per- player mode is the killstreak sysson shooter titles of all time and tem, which is an addition in both the most anticipated video game a good way, and a negative one. release of the year. I’m talking Killstreaks earn players everyabout “Call of Duty: Modern thing from supply drops, predaWarfare 2.” tor missiles, helicopters, UAV, The single-player story line AC-130 (basically airdrops on resumes five years later from enemies over and over), antiwhere the first installment left UAV and an air strike. A streak of off.

25 kills earns the teams a “nuke” The player starts out as sever- - an automatic game over. al members of Task Force 141, a Infinity Ward also increased squad of well-trained and heav- the online max level from 55 ily armed Rangers whose main to 70 and there is still Prestige goal is stopping a Russian ter- Mode. rorist named Makarov.

Another thing that has The game has an amazing A.I. changed in the multiplayer mode (artificial intelligence) for both is the add-ons players can have allies and enemies. on their guns and the secondary “Modern Warfare 2” takes the weapons they can own. player on a tour of the world, In the secondary weapons from from stealth sniper levels in “Modern Warfare” the players Kazakhstan, to running battles could only use pistols. In “Modthrough Brazilian Favelas and ern Warfare 2” players can use even into space. machine gun pistols, shotguns, The story line has a three-act double shotguns, pistols and of script similar to the first “Mod- course, rocket launchers. ern Warfare,” but is a bit shorter.

The add-ons they have can be But that’s not the only reason used on both Primary Weapons why people are purchasing this and Secondary Weapons and are game. pretty amazing. The players can It’s going to be all about the have their red dot, silencer, noob multiplayer mode and the Co- tube and ACOG scope like in the Op Special Ops mode. first game. But they also added Infinity Ward has upgraded a holographic red dot, a betits online multiplayer mechan- ter noob tube, and even a heatics considerably from “Modern seeking system, which shows Warfare” and “World at War.” the players where enemies are if Some amazing levels were add- they don’t have their map availBrad McCubbins For the Wichitan

able due to an Anti-UAV, or if you play hardcore.

Infinity Ward picked up on “Horde” mode in “Gears of War 2” and the “Firefight” mode in “Halo ODST” with its own installment called Special Ops. Special Ops mode pits players against various in-game situations, letting them choose any weapon for any mission, whether it’s surviving four rounds of troops coming at you, fighting their way to a destination or even racing down a mountain for fun.

They can play these on Regular mode, which rewards you one star, Hardened, two stars, and Veteran, three stars. The stars you earn can add up and players can unlock other missions and acts with the rewards. The five different acts to this Special Ops mode include Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, and Eco. Each act gets considerably harder and adds more depth to the missions.

In all, “Modern Warfare 2” is a must-have.

If offers an unmatched shooter experience, a compelling story mode, an amazing package of mini-missions and a multiplayer mode that will have you playing all night. It’s sure to satisfy the demands of its fan base, and anyone who considers him or herself a fan of shooters in general. “Modern Warfare 2” is the finest game in its genre and the best release of 2009.

Time to lock and load. Hoorah!

Entertainment

e v i v r Su

2

in your own living room

Chris Collins Managing Editor

Surviving in Borderlands is easy.

You’ve got big guns, grenades, souped-up cars and a don’t-give-a-damn-attitude to pull you through each level of the September release for Xbox 360 and the PS3.

The tricky part, actually, is learning to survive in a world where Borderlands – or the controller – is always at your fingertips.

This is not a guide for waging war in a video game. Rather, it’s a guide for waging war on your own free time. Without our advice, you’re as good as dead – or at least your social life is.

But if you’ve already started playing Borderlands, you’ve

1

Know Your Enemy

Borderlands is full of menacing enemies – giant worms, flying insects, roving bands of thugs and aliens are some of the game’s most frequent foes. But there are worse things out there than a level 25 Badass Fire Skag. Avoid these villains at all costs: n The boss – If you have a job, as many of us do, you probably have a boss. And he or she is probably a dick. Most of them won’t be cool with you camping out in your living room for days-on-end when you’re scheduled to work. Here are some strategies you can use to get the slave driver off your shit.

Be familiar with your workplace’s ‘call-in’ policy. See how many days you’re allowed to call into work without getting in trouble.

Does your job require that you bring a doctor’s note if you say you’re ill? Get graphic if you have to – hardly any bosses are going to grill you on symptoms for your explosive diarrhea. n The parents – Parents are funny. If you don’t live at home, parents might periodically call you and say crazy things like, ‘Let’s go out and eat,’ or ‘How was your day?’ or ‘We’re staging an intervention to break you of video game addiction.’

Whatever you do, do not pick up the phone. If your granny broke a hip or there was a death in the family, they’ll leave a voicemail. Right now you need to level up. What’s more important?

n The roommates – Unless you have more than one TV in your domicile, you and your roommates probably share one. This can create conflict tantamount to the Jews and Muslims sharing the Gaza Strip.

It’s almost a given that in your days-long purge of the skag nation your roommates will want to watch a movie, TV show or do something other than watch you wisely distribute your skill points.

This is not acceptable. If any of the people who live with you express – nay, if they even imply – that you should turn off the carnage for a few hours, here’s what you say: “If you exit out of my game and turn on “30 Rock,” I’ll show you that I’m an expert killer in video games and real life.”

Respect.

n Significant other – First off, if you’re a hardcore gamer and you still have a girlfriend, props. You’re either lucky or you have incredible game.

Since there’s no such thing as a girl gamer, this section is directed to players with a penis.

Life is just like Borderlands. There’s always a decision to make. Would you rather level up or lay pipe?

Be warned that your girlfriend will Kiss your gf goodbye.

OrBorderlands not. see as a challenge to her femininity. And so she should. The game doesn’t ever make you go out to eat. It hasn’t ever asked you to go watch the Twilight movie. And it’s never called you late at night, saying, “I’ve got feelings again.”

Just hire a receptionist already.

9

n Hire a bro secretary - You’ll probably need some help with all your finances, calendars and boring, “real life” stuff while you’re cramming bullets into baddies.

Get your bro a calculator and give him the password for your email. Let him answer your phone and deal with people who think they need to communicate with you. If you spent your last $60 on the game, say you’ll buy him a case of Natural Light after you beat it.

If your bros are at playing with you during your descent into Borderlands, they’re just as lost as you. But if you have friends who aren’t consumed by the game, you might live to text about it.

n Get inventive – You can create things using only objects from around the house to make your Borderlands trials more comfortable. But be careful: only invent under bro supervision – you don’t want to find yourself in a situation where your eyes have to leave the screen.

An idea I came up with is the ‘Energy Drink Bong,’ which can be created with only three household objects.

Photos by Chris Collins

derlands bug yet, this is for you.

Video game addiction is no laughing matter. We’re here to help – take our tips to heart before you do something drastic like turning off the TV. Shut the blinds and turn your phone to silent. Mission begin… now!

November 11, 2009

Utilize your bros

Borderlands 101

probably begun to abandon things you once found important: a good night’s sleep, cleanliness and a relationship with the opposite sex, for example.

You definitely won’t have time to read this article.

But if you’re a gamer who hasn’t been claimed by the Bor-

The Wichitan

3 Chug! Chug! Chug!

Forget your hobbies

Everybody has hobbies. But nobody who plays Borderlands does. A hobby is what you do in your free time, maybe if you’re bored. But neither of these ideas exists within the framework of the game.

Plus soldiers of fortune simply do not Facebook.

This is the issue that will separate hardcore fans from sissy boys who need to hold on to some remnant of their identities. Take a long, hard look at life before Borderlands and decide, is it all really worth it?

Here are some things I had to give up.

Horn Camping

4

Turn your living room into a bed and bath

Reading

n Build a fort – This is for players who feel so compelled to game that they can’t even sleep. Besides, most of the time bedrooms are precious feet away from the TV. The solution? Build a fort.

Most of us aren’t five anymore, but the formula for building a kick ass fort hasn’t changed much. Grab a table or a couple of chairs (I used bar stools). Drape a comforter over the base and lay down some pillow groundwork to sit on.

Adopting a ‘No girls allowed’ policy is up to you.

Forts aren’t just for little kids anymore.

n Have toiletries on hand – Going to the bathroom is a valuable waste of time and energy when you’re immersed in Borderlands. If you gotta go, there’s a simple solution: a plastic bottle for number one and a Wal-Mart sack for number two.

Tools of the trade: soap, toilet paper, beer.

$25.00 INSTANT CREDIT TO NEW MEMBERS

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The Wichitan November 11, 2009

Sports

Mustangs bring home first LSC football title

Top Left: MSU players and coaches celebrate football’s first Lone Star Conference title. Top Right: Fans cheered the Mustangs on as they picked up the win and a trip to the NCAA Division II Postseason. Bottom Right: Brandon Kelsey (12) and Jared Freeman (88) celebrate

MSU Mustangs.com For the Wichitan No. 9 Midwestern State erupted for 15 first-quarter points then held off No. 12 Abilene Christian 15-13 Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.

MSU quarterback Zack Eskridge, who passed for 199 of his 221 yards in the opening quarter, hit Jared Freeman for a 31-yard score with 7:18 to go in the first quarter then Jose Martinez connected on a 25-yard field goal before Lester Bush plunged in from 2 yards out just before

the end of the first quarter to give the Mustangs a 15-0 lead as Martinez missed both point-after attempts.

The Mustangs managed just 112 yards of total offense after the opening quarter.

Abilene Christian climbed with 15-7 on a Mitchell Gale-toTrey Simeone 3-yard pass midway through the second quarter and Morgan Lineberry boomed field goals from 56 and 51 yards out to pull the Wildcats within two points with 6:03 to go.

MSU senior wide receiver Andy Tanner finished with 95

yards on five receptions, while Lester Bush and Eskridge churned out 53 and 52 yards, respectively, to pace the rushing attack.

ACU running back Reggie Brown raced for 104 yards on 11 carries to lead the Wildcats, while Gale completed 18-of32 passes for 141 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Midwestern finishes the regular season with a 9-2 record, while the Wildcats finish at 8-3.

With the win MSU finishes in a three-way tie for the over-

Freeman’s touchdown reception. Bottom Center: MSU football will play ACU again in the opening round of the playoffs. Bottom Left: Cheerleaders and players sing the school song after beating ACU. (Photos by Patrick Johnston)

all conference championship with Texas A&M-Kingsville - a 35-32 winner over Angelo State Saturday night - and Tarleton State, which fell 49-25 to West Texas A&M. It is Midwestern’s sixth overall conference championship and first since 1994.

MSU’s last conference championship came in 1994 when it was also involved in a Texas Intercollegiate Athletics Association tri-championship with Hardin-Simmons and Howard Payne.

The Mustangs also finishes in a four-way tie with Tarleton State, Texas A&M-Kingsville and West Texas A&M for the South Division title.

MSU last claimed a South Division cup in 2004 after winning the LSC North in 2001.

MSU found out on Sunday that they would be facing Abilene Christian again in the opening round of the NCAA Division II playoffs.

The rematch will be played at Memorial Stadium on Saturday at noon.

The Mustangs go into the game as the No. 3 seed, while Abilene Christian (8-3) enters its fourth-straight playoff race at No. 6.

Tarleton State (9-2) travels

to Texas A&M-Kingsville (9-2) in the other first round matchup next week. The Hoggies defeated the Texans 34-20 on Oct. 3 at Javelina Stadium.

Central Washington (11-0) and Northwest Missouri (10-1) received first-round byes as the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds.

The MSU/ACU winner plays Northwest Missouri, while the Tarleton/TAMUK victor takes on Central Washington in the NCAA II South Central Region semifinals on Nov. 21.

Tickets can be bought in the MSU Athletic Office or by calling (940)-397-4779. The costs are $10 for reserve, $5 for general admission and $3 for students.

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Sports

The Wichitan November 11, 2009

11

Men’s basketball takes tough defeat from UT-San Antonio Alex Nixon For the Wichitan

The Midwestern State men’s basketball team went on the road and lost a tough exhibition game to the University of Texas-San Antonio Saturday night, 74-65.

The Mustangs battled the NCAA Division I Southland Conference opponent closely throughout much of the contest.

“We competed and played hard, but we just need more practice and time playing together,” MSU coach Grant McCasland said. “We got fatigued with our lack of depth at guard and with foul trouble.”

Led by junior transfer Adrian

Van Buren’s 14 first half points, the Mustangs got off to a great start leading 37-36 at the half on the Roadrunners.

However, UTSA came storming back in the second half led

by Terry Fields 12 second half points. The Roadrunners finished the contest with five players in double figures led by Devin Gibson and Chris Allen who each had 14 points.

MSU took its last lead when Austin hit a jumper in the paint go give the Mustangs a 48-47 advantage with 11:51 to go.

The Mustangs were led in scoring by Van Buren, and senior transfer Rashad Allen, who had 13 points to go with his sev-

en rebounds.

The Mustangs committed 32 fouls, while UTSA was whistled for just 13 and enjoyed 41-to-10 advantage in charity stripe attempts.

“It was a really gutsy effort

by Rashad,” McCasland said of Austin who hampered by a sore back.

“It was a good experience to play a long, athletic team on the road,” McCasland said. “It was a good test for prepare to get where we want to be.”

MSU opens the regular season Sunday against Trinity University. The game will be played at St. Edwards University in Austin, with tip time set for 3 p.m.

Park.

Missouri Southern and Dallas Baptist will represent the South Central Region in the NCAA Division II National Championships in two weeks in Indiana.

Junior Lone Star Conference champion Sydnee Cole did garner All-South Central Region honors by finishing 15th with a time of 22:34, but the finish wasn’t enough to earn her a berth in the 2009 NCAA Division II national championship meet as an individual.

“Sydnee wasn’t feeling her best today and didn’t run her best race,” Styles said. “We have four nationally ranked teams in the region, so you really have to bring your A game to earn special honors. I’m proud of her for fighting her way through it.

Freshman Heather Owens finished 52nd with a time of

23:37 followed by sophomore Kayla Hendrix (62nd/23:59) and freshman Cynthia Carillo (69th/24:11).

“It was a looped course, so we knew where we were on each lap,” Styles said. “Halfway through the second loop, we had Heather, Kayla and Cynthia stacked within a second of each other. We just ran out of gas.”

Junior Hassie Sutton accounted for the Mustangs’ last counter finishing 91st with a time of 24:45, while sophomore Lindsey Pate finished 99th with a time of 25:00 and redshirt-freshman Julie Bell closed 116th with a time of 25:42.

MSU loses only one senior off of this year’s team, Andrea Borgman.

Juniors Sydnee Cole, Bailey Dulaney and Hassie Sutton all return next season.

“This year I think he did something special,” Mariano Rivera said of Girardi. “He tried to put us together since the first three weeks of spring training and I think that helps a lot.”

Part of that was canceling one spring training workout in favor of a team-wide pool tournament. Natural personalities such as Nick Swisher, Burnett and Sabathia were allowed, and encouraged, to flourish.

Girardi also helped in the players’ presenting a united front Feb. 17 when Alex Rodriguez provided the season’s first cloud with a news conference he repeatedly has referred to as “embarrassing.”

And although A-Rod’s performance that day and during some of the days that followed caused plenty of eye-rolling, both inside and outside the clubhouse, there was no doubt the steroid admissions had humbled Rodriguez in a way no past postseason failure had.

“You have 25 guys that bought into Joe Girardi’s system and did a phenomenal job,” Rodriguez said early Thursday morning.

“We’re family. I wish we could come out tomorrow and play for no reason. Because we love it.

That’s how much we love each other.”

A-Rod made a memorable return to the lineup May 8 in Baltimore, hitting a three-run homer on the first pitch he saw. Beginning with the victory that night, the Yankees went a baseball-best 90-44 to end the regular season.

But again, citing A-Rod’s return date is overly simplistic in terms of evaluating the season.

Because that overshadows such details as Sabathia taking the mound with a 1-3 record that same night and pitching a shutout to send him on his way to a

19-8 season and true “ace” status, especially in the postseason.

Or that Teixeira’s early-season slump continued for a few days, reaching its nadir May 12 at .191 before he began his climb to MVP-like numbers. Or that a 4-3 loss in Boston June 11 dropped the Yankees to 0-8 against their blood rival (anyone remember that now?).

Anyone recall that as late as June 23, after a 4-0 loss to Atlanta, the Yankees (38-32) trailed Boston by five games?

Maybe the key date was June 8, when Phil Hughes made his first relief appearance. “We really had no idea what to expect,” Girardi said several times during the season as Hughes kept dominating.

Hughes’ postseason struggles aside, what the Yankees got was a lockdown setup man for Rivera, a setup man who had a 1.40 ERA in in 51 1/3 innings in which he allowed 31 hits and struck out 65.

And there was Rivera, who at 39 had one of his best seasons, saving 44 games in 46 opportunities with a 1.76 ERA, then being even more of a lockdown guarantee in the postseason. Afterward, he said he felt as if he could pitch five more years.

“I’m serious,” said Rivera, who has one year left on his contract.

“I forgot how good it felt,” Jeter said. “This is outstanding.

It’s a long year. Couldn’t ask for anything better.”

“We try to do it every year,” Hal Steinbrenner said on the field shortly after accepting the World Series trophy from commissioner Bud Selig. “We set out every year, that’s our goal and we don’t feel like we succeed unless we do it, and we did it.”

MSU track team places eighth MSUMustangs.com For The Wichitan

Senior middle blocker Sesley Graves had 13 kills and three blocks in Thursday night’s fiveset loss at Southwestern Oklahoma. (Photo by Patrick Johnston)

Volleyball loss drops championship standing Kaitlin Morrison Sports Editor

Midwestern State lost another heartbreaker in five games- 2514, 14-25, 15-25, 25-22, 2018- to Southwestern Oklahoma Thursday night at Rankin Williams Field House.

Sophomore outside hitter Miranda Byrd led the Mustangs with 15 kills, nine digs and four blocks, while senior middle blocker Sesley Graves added 13 kills and three blocks.

Sophomore libero Kiara Jordan paced the back row defense with 23 digs, while junior middle blocker Lauren Bayer had six blocks to lead the front row defense.

Walter and Naramore paced SWOSU with 15 kills each,

while Kayla Bader had 15 digs to lead the defensive effort.

The Bulldogs improved to 6-27 and 3-9.

Central Oklahoma’s Kristen Wilson and Morgan Roy combined for 33 kills to lead the Bronchos to a 25-15, 25-17, 1925, 25-14 Lone Star Conference win over Midwestern State in its regular season finale Saturday night at Hamilton Fieldhouse.

MSU qualified for its thirdstraight conference postseason tournament as the No. 8 seed.

Central Oklahoma, which opens LSC tournament as the No. 5 seed against Texas A&MCommerce, hit .256 as a team and made just 19 errors with Wilson and Roy notching 19 and 14 kills, respectively.

Sophomore outside hitter

Miranda Byrd led the Mustangs attack with 11 kills and added 15 digs and four blocks.

Senior middle blocker Sesley Graves and junior right-side hitter Kari Damjanovic added six kills each.

Junior middle blocker Lauren Bayer paced MSU at the met by finishing with six of Midwestern’s nine total blocks.

Sophomore Kiara Jordan led the Mustangs’ back row efforts with 21 digs.

With the loss, MSU fell to 1024 on the season and 6-7 in LSC play.

They will battle No. 1 seed West Texas A&M in the opening round of the LSC Championships Thursday night in Canyon.

First serve is set for 7:30 p.m.

Zack Eskridge nominated for Harlon Hill Trophy MSUMustangs.com For the Wichitan

Midwestern State’s Zack Eskridge was among the 24 candidates for the Harlon Hill Trophy Friday morning by the National Harlon Hill Award Committee.

Eskridge leads NCAA Division II with a 287.97 pass efficiency rating and is 15th in the nation in total offense at 285.7 yards per game.

The junior quarterback has passed for at least 200 yards in each of MSU’s 10 contests this season and has completed a touchdown pass in each of his last 14 games.

Eskridge is in the midst of rewriting MSU’s single-season record books as he either holds or is on pace to set program bests in completions (199), completion percentage (72.9), passing yards (2,776), passing touchdowns (27), passing yards per game (277.6), pass efficiency rating (287.97) and average yards per pass (10.2).

Players are nominated and voted on by sports information

directors at the 148 NCAA Division II football-playing institutions.

The 24 initial candidates will be placed on regional ballots and the top two players from each of the four NCAA regions will advance to the national ballot when regional voting concludes on Nov. 13.

The winner of the 2009 award, which is presented by the National Harlon Hill Award Committee, will be announced at the 24th annual Harlon Hill Trophy Presentation Banquet on Friday, Dec. 11 at the Florence Conference Center at 6:30 p.m.

There were 38 candidates initially nominated by the sports information directors at their respective schools. Those nominations were then reviewed by the Hill Regional Advisory Committees, which trimmed the list of candidates.

Other schools with nominees in MSU’s district include Northwest Missouri, Southwest Baptist, Texas A&M Kingsville, Eastern New Mexico, and Missouri Western.

Eskridge

awards and

Honors:

* Lone Star Conference South Division Offensive Player of the Week (Nov. 3, 2008) * Lone Star Conference South Division Offensive Player of the Week (Sep. 7, 2009) * D2Football.com National Offensive Player of the Week (Oct. 21, 2009) * 2009 ESPN The Magazine/ CoSIDA Academic All-District 6

Two years ago, an eighth place showing at the NCAA Division II South Central regional meet would have been earthshattering for the Midwestern State Cross Country program.

But after breaking through to the national championship meet in 2008, the result just doesn’t feel the same.

“We set the bar pretty high and we’re not happy until we reach our goals,” MSU coach Koby Styles said. “Two years ago, we would have been ecstatic about this result.”

The Mustangs finished eighth with 288 points well behind the trio of Missouri Southern (18 points), Dallas Baptist (84) and Truman (Mo.) (97) at the looped 6,000-meter course at Nelson

Yankees beat Phillies 7-3 Erik Boland MCT

A season that began under a cloud ended in a downpour of champagne.

As a brief synopsis of the 2009 Yankees, who won the franchise’s 27th world championship Wednesday night, that works as well as any, though it’s probably a bit simplistic.

And there was nothing simple about this season for the Yankees, regardless of their 103-59 regular-season record _ the best in baseball _ and 11-4 postseason record.

“It’s such a long season, I feel like it’s Christmas Day today,” Mark Teixeira said, speaking more of the time of year than anything. “But in the end we worked so hard all year. The joy, the satisfaction that we have with each other. The fun that we’re having right now ... it’s all worth it.”

Make no mistake, this was no rags-to-riches, underdog-takesit-all story. Not with a payroll that again topped $200 million and the nearly $425 million committed to free agents Teixeira, A.J. Burnett and CC Sabathia.

But money doesn’t mean things will be easy and certainly doesn’t ensure a world championship. Previous Yankees teams of this decade proved that.

What was different this year?

Many players point to Joe Girardi.

The ultra-intense second-year manager didn’t so much change from his first season as much as he recognized changes needed to be made, such as showing a more human side to his players.

Just as important, he brought to spring training the goal of engendering team bonding, something missing before.

12

The Wichitan November 11, 2009

On Deck this week...

Thursday November 12 Volleyball @ No. 6 West Texas A&M* 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday

Friday November 13 Men’s Soccer vs. No. 4 West Texas A&M Noon**

Saturday November 14 Football vs. No. 18 Abilene Christian Noon (NCAA Division II Playoffs)

Sunday November 15 Women’s Basketball vs. Harding 2 p.m.

Men’s Basketball vs. Trinity Christian (in Austin, TX) 3 p.m.

Home Events are bolded * LSC Volleyball Championships Canyon, Texas ** NCAA II Regionals in Durango, Colo.

Sports

Women’s soccer ends season, loses postseason bid Kaitlin Morrison Sports Editor Midwestern State took to The Pitch in Canyon for the opening game of the Lone Star Conference Tournament against Abilene Christian.

Senior midfielder Kari Bristow stepped up and notched her first two-goal performance of her career to lift the Mustangs to a dramatic 2-1 overtime win.

“I felt like we played a really good game today,” MSU coach Jeff Trimble said. “We worked hard and created a lot of good opportunities. It was really good to get goals like that in dramatic fashion.”

ACU took advantage of conditions to net a goal off of a re-

start as Lyndsey Womack drilled in Kendall Cooper’s throw-in in the 54th minute to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead.

“Our back played really well today, but the wind made everything really dangerous,” Trimble said.

Bristow converted a penalty kick in the 73rd minute after the Wildcats were whistled for a hand- ball in the box on a throwin from Jaime Pompey to tie it up.

“I felt like we came back and played with a lot of intensity and a lot of positive energy after they scored.”

The teams battled to a duel over the final 17 minutes before junior midfielder Brandy O’Neal worked down the right wing in

the fifth minute of the overtime period.

Bristow ran onto the cross and volleyed the goal to the lower left corner of the goal past diving ACU keeper Crissy Lawson.

With the win the Mustangs advance to play No. 7 West Texas A&M in the semi-final round.

But the Lady Buffs took advantage of a restart in the 72nd minute to put an end to MSU’s season.

“It was a very physical game and WT played very well,” Coach Trimble said.

The center referee, Aric Bonner, called a delay foul on junior midfielder Brandy O’Neal for an apparent slide tackle just past the midline in the Mustangs offensive zone.

O’Neal appeared to have made contact and gained control of the ball, but was whistled for the foul and was booked with a subsequent yellow card as West Texas A&M was given a free kick about 10 yards into the Lady Buffs offensive zone.

Samantha Garland drove a beautiful ball into the center of the box, which was headed into the goal by Melissa Carnero to give the Buffs all the would need to pick up the 1-0 win.

We did a good job of holding them off in the first half,” Trimble said. “Mallory (Whitworth) played outstanding.”

Whitworth, a freshman keeper from McKinney, made five saves to keep the Mustangs in the contest.

The Lady Buffs outshot MSU 12-3 and owned a 6-2 edge in shots on goal.

The Mustangs had to wait until Monday to hear the fate of their future, but they did not get the at large bid into the NCAA Division II postseason they were hoping for.

MSU finished the season at 13-5-2.

University of Central Oklahoma ended uo defeating West Texas A&M to win the Lone Str Conference Championship.

For seniors Ashley Meek, Brittany O’Neal, Megan Hanlon, Kari Bristow, Katy Lukert, Kat Bernick, Jaime Pompey and Amy Smith, this was their last game to play for Midwestern State.

Mustangs to watch...

Football Midwestern State’s Emmanuel Bagley garnered Lone Star Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors for the second time this season Monday afternoon when the league announced its weekly awards.

The senior linebacker from Dallas made 10 tackles including two for loss, a sack and recovered a fumble to lead a suffocating Mustangs’ defense which limited Abilene Christian to one touchdown and two long field goals as MSU claimed its first LSC championship with a 15-13 win Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.

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Men’s Soccer For the fourth straight season, the Midwestern State men’s soccer team is heading the NCAA division II national tournament.

The Mustangs (13-1-3) well head to Durango, Colorado for the south central regional tournament where they will face the heated rival, West Texas A&M. MSU and WT (14-1-2) played twice this season, with both times the game ending in a draw. The two teams also shared the Lone Star Conference title this season.

Kick off is set for noon on Friday, with the winner taking on the winner of the game between Colorado school of Mines, and host school Fort Lewis.

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