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FRIDAY
FEBRUARY 15, 2013 friday High 54, Low 35 saturday High 55, Low 39
VOLUME 98 ISSUE 58 FIRST COPY FREE, ADDITIONAL COPIES 50 CENTS
Pirates plunder Mustangs’ 10-game win streak Scott Sanford Staff Writer wsanford@smu.edu The Lady Mustangs’ historic winning-streak came to an end, losing to the East Carolina Pirates 63-47. The Mustangs saw their C-USA nine-game win streak go down in flames as they played one of their worst games of the season. Keena Mays, who had been the backbone since her return from injury, had only eight points on 3-15 shooting. Only one player, Destynee Hives-McCray scored in double-figures (17). The Pirates’ Celeste Stewart played out of this world, scoring 26 points on 11-19 shooting from the field. ECU also had two more players score in double-figures. In the first half, neither team shot the ball particularly well. SMU was 10-26 from the field (38.5 percent), while the Pirates shot only 9-29 from the field (31 percent). Both teams were also plagued by their turnovers. ECU had eight turnovers while SMU had a first-half season-high with 15 turnovers. Neither team had a player in double-figure points in the first half, although Hives-McCray led SMU with eight points in 11 minutes and Stewart led the Pirates with seven points in 15 minutes. The Mustangs’ second half wasn’t much better than the first.
SMU continued to struggle taking care of the ball and shooting, turning the ball over eight more times and only shooting 31 percent (9-29) from the field. The Lady Mustangs also gave up 26 points in the paint in the second half, which helped the Pirates shoot 53 percent in the second half. SMU hung tough, despite their poor play, for most of the second half. However, around the 11-minute mark the Pirates took control of the game, leading to their 15-4 run that sealed the deal for the mustangs first lost. The Mustangs will look to avenge their first loss in conference play when they take on Memphis Sunday. The Tigers, contrary to the Mustangs, have been an up and down team all year. Memphis had a four-game losing streak earlier this year, only to follow that up by winning the next six games. However, that win streak was halted promptly by a loss to Houston, 77-74, in their first league game of the season. The Tigers are only 4-5 in conference, just good enough for eighth place in C-USA. Although the Tigers have not had as good of luck as the Mustangs, they do have some players that can score the basketball at a high rate. At Memphis, the Mustangs will look to rebound from one
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Courtesy of SMU Athletics
Freshman guard Farrin Bell in the Dec. 17, 2012 victory over the University of Louisiana-Monroe. She scored nine points in the 76-56 win.
campus
Fraternity row faces parking limitations due to construction Natalie Yezbick Contributing Writer nyezbick@smu.edu The fraternity system at SMU has dealt with quite a few issues this year due to construction on the row, but an inconvenience once thought to be temporary is now permanent: the loss of all parking on SMU Boulevard. Before construction began, SMU Boulevard housed 55 resident permit spots on the north side in front of the fraternity houses and 42 all university parking permit spots on the south side next to the intramural fields and Moody Garage. Associate Vice President of the Office of Planning, Design and Construction Philip Jabour said the removal of the parking had been planned for quite some time as detailed in SMU’s master plan for construction.
NATALIE YEZBICK/The Daily Campus
These parking spots in front of the Kappa Alpha Order house have been a thing of the past since fall semester.
Facility Manager for Greek Houses Doug Wills had not been told that the university was removing the spaces on SMU Boulevard.
“They let us know when they let the rest of the university know,” Wills said. Wills serves as a liaison between the Office of Resident
Life and Student Housing and house managers of the individual fraternities. Kenny Finch, house manager for the Lambda Chi Alpha chapter,
was unaware of the parking change until he was questioned for this article. “Basically, I’ve heard nothing of their plans for parking around here,” Finch said. Finch is less than pleased that he and his brothers will have to vie with others for parking next to their fraternity house, located on Dyer Court. Mark Rhodes, the director of parking and ID card services, said that he did not know how the members of the fraternity houses were to receive this information and why Wills had not be briefed on the loss of parking. He said that there had been communication between the Dean of Students and the Planning, Design and Construction Office about changes on SMU Boulevard, but that information never reached Wills, and, in turn, the fraternities. There are signs that certain
groups on campus are aware of the parking issue, however. According to Rhodes, Don Donnally, an advisor for the Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter at SMU, contacted him with concerns about the parking. Rhodes said that he is prepared to go to each fraternity house and speak about the options for residents if need be. Rhodes asserted that fraternity members attending chapter on Monday nights would be able to park in the Lambda Chi/SAE parking lot, the spaces in the alley behind the fraternity houses, and Moody Garage, located just across the street from the chapter houses. He is aware that not everyone will take to parking in the garage. “People don’t like to park in structures,” said Rhodes. Eric Gates, a resident of the
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tech review
Blackboard update, app fail to satisfy student expectations Jamie Kopp Contributing Writer rjkopp@smu.edu Blackboard has become a staple in the lives of students and teachers alike. Both on the surface and underneath, Blackboard underwent quite a transformation last year. While most changes were for the better, some alienated its user base. Unlike many other class organization systems, Blackboard’s
learning curve is relatively short; most students are able to find their way about within their first few visits to the site. The student homepage remains the same. Its background can be changed if the user wants to customize the traditional landscape. With just a click of the mouse on “Personalize Page” the user already has many templates laid out before them. Removing the widgets from one’s homepage requires nothing more than a click in the upper
left hand corner of each box, reducing clutter. Most students fail to take advantage of the extra modules that can be added via a simple click to the upper left hand, selecting “Add Module.” From here students can enjoy even further customization and shortcuts such as linking to McGraw-Hill Connect. Blackboard’s redesign grants basic users an easy-to-use interface while allowing more experienced users to customize as they see fit. The “courses” module shines as
the star of the Blackboard system. Teachers allocate what items show up on the left navigation menu of their class. Blackboard’s engineers saw fit to simplify the process to avoid further confusing some of the less tech savvy teachers. Ability to access nearly every piece of class information from one’s browser gives students a leg up on class work, marrying both function and accessibility. The “My Grades” tab has proved itself to be a magnificent tool for students to keep track of
their own work as well as making the lives of teachers easier. Overall the “courses” module simplifies the lives of students and teachers alike. Simply put, this update didn’t change anything. Many problems that have hindered Blackboard from versions before Service Pack 10 have yet to be addressed. The smartphone app fares no better. While a desktop provides your Blackboard homepage with
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Screenshot by Christopher Saul