Lebron James vs. Michael Jordan
INSIDE
Get involved in fashion at SMU Summer movie superlatives Curiosity’s landing on Mars
PAGE 2
PAGE 6
PAGE 9 PAGE 10
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 15, 2012
WEDNESDAY High 96, Low 77 THURSDAY High 98, Low 77
VOLUME 98 ISSUE 3 FIRST COPY FREE, ADDITIONAL COPIES 50 CENTS
POLITICS
Associated Press SIDNEY HOLLINGSWORTH / The Daily Campus
SMU’s Chick-fil-A location, an ARAMARK operation, will be open to students and faculty alike at the start of the fall semester.
Campus Chick-fil-A not feeling the heat of debate TASHIKA VARMA Editor in Chief tvarma@smu.edu Dan Cathy, the president of Chick-fil-A, has been raising eyebrows with his recent statements on marriage equality. SMU students are now beginning to wonder if and how his statements will affect the on-campus Chick-fil-A. In one of his many anti-marriage equality statements, Cathy said, “we’re inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and say we know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage. And I pray God’s mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude that thinks we have the audacity to redefine what marriage is all about.”
The backlash is not just about his statements, but also the donations that followed. After Cathy spoke his mind, Chick-fil-A held a “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day.” Herman Cain told Fox News that all the profits from this day were donated to anti-gay organizations. “They are going do take a lot of the excess profits they got on that day and contribute it to the charitable organizations they support in even bigger numbers,” Cain said to Fox News. He also added that the sales figures from the appreciation day were over $30 million. Some colleges have responded by cutting ties with Chick-fil-A. At North Carolina’s Davidson College,
500 students signed a petition to stop serving Chick-fil-A at its monthly After Midnight events. Davidson College was the first college in a series that has decided to stop serving any Chick-fil-A items, in response to the petition. Some students are speaking out against there being a Chick-fil-A oncampus. Harvey Luna, co-president of SPECTRUM, sent over a statement about the issue of having a Chick-fil-A on-campus. “While we respect and value the First Amendment rights of every American, we must not lose sight of what this issue is really about,” Luna said. “Our concern with Chick-fil-A is not so much with Dan Cathy’s anti-marriage statement as with the
company’s continued effort in donating millions of dollars to organizations that are classified as hate-groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center, and that actively discriminate and dehumanize LGBT people.” “For a company that affirms the values of the organizations it financially supports — such as the criminalization of LGBT people and the abuse of young individuals with conversion therapy, a procedure classified as harmful by the American Psychological Association — shows nothing other than Chick-fil-A’s true values.” He concluded by adding that “the actions of this company are deplorable and does not reflect the values of SMU.
See FOOD page 3
SPACE
Paul Ryan speaks to constituents in Virginia after being introduced as Romney’s vice presidential pick.
Ryan excites Republicans RAHFIN FARUK Managing Editor rfaruk@smu.edu Mitt Romney selected Paul Ryan as his vice presidential running mate on Aug. 11. Ryan, a fiscal conservative and House Republican, has changed the dynamics of the presidential election. “Ryan has really energized the Republican base because they see him, unlike Romney, as one of them,” Matthew Wilson, SMU professor of political science, said. Ryan, the GOP’s fiscal policy and budget expert, has consolidated Romney’s message to one of entitlement reform, austerity and
tax reduction. His budget intends to distribute savings in Medicare to lessening the federal deficits. He also plans to cut taxes across many income spectrums. “He has been a warrior for smaller government and balanced budgets, and is able to talk about fiscal issues with real intelligence and deep knowledge,” Wilson said. Many — conservatives and liberals alike — have criticized Romney for his previously moderate stances on issues from abortion to gay marriage to healthcare. While the governor of Massachusetts, Romney often
See GOP page 3
TR ANSPORTATION
Car-less options grow abundant JAN ANDERSON Staff Writer janderson@smu.edu Associated Press
A NASA scientist presents a model of Curiosity to a room of reporters days before Curiosity reached Mars.
Tech-heavy Curiosity nails landing on Mars BRAD SCHMIDT Contributing Writer bschmidt@smu.edu At 12:31am on Aug. 6, while the rest of the world focused on the Olympics, space geeks jumped for joy. On Nov. 26, 2011, NASA’s new mobile laboratory, the Curiosity rover, left our planet; it travelled approximately 352 million miles (567 million kilometers) in about 252 Earth days with no issues. However, for the last 13.8 minutes of its journey (the time it takes to receive the data from Mars), many people crossed their fingers as a $2.5 billion dollar project gave a newly developed landing procedure its first test. NASA aptly describes the craft’s landing as “seven minutes of hell.” In this time, the craft had to go from its travelling speed of 13,200 mph (5600 meters/s) and decelerate
to a near stop to drop Curiosity inside the Gale Crater, at the base of Mount Sharp, on the surface of Mars. While the world was focused on the competitions in London, 154 million miles away, Curiosity stuck the landing after a new feat of robotic gymnastics. This new landing technique involves a massive S-turn that begins by diving into the atmosphere from an altitude of seventy-eight miles before curving up only seven miles above the surface. The friction generated in the 254 seconds process of this dive slows the craft to approximately 900 mph, where it deploys its parachute. Two miles closer to the ground and 24 seconds later, the heat shield comes off, the radar begins to gather data, and the craft travels only approximately 280 mph; a mile above ground. Six minutes from the time of entry, the back shell and parachute separate at approximately 180 mph.
Here, Curiosity’s last attachment (called the Sky Crane) begins to fire rockets and slow the nearly vertical descent. At about 66 feet above ground, the rockets nearly overcome the downward momentum of the landing and the rover is lowered by the Sky Crane, touching the ground at only about 1.7 mph. At about 416 seconds from entry, the cables detach from the grounded rover and the rockets, suddenly relieved of the additional weight, shoot the Sky Crane safely away from Curiosity. Previously, Mars rovers were slowed as much as possible and then essentially made into bouncy balls by deploying airbags around the craft; then they simply bounced to a stop. This technique limited the possible size and weight of the rovers and prevented landings in areas near
See NASA page 5
It is possible to never wander far from campus, but seeing the same scenery seven days a week for weeks on end, no matter how pretty, can get boring real quick. While owning a car is a great way to escape campus, the cost of parking one on campus, not to mention the cost of gas these days, can put the hurt on a student’s budget. Thankfully, there are other options. One way to get your feet wet exploring Dallas is to hop on SMU’s free 768 Mustang Express in front of the Cox School of Business. The 768 will take you to get nourished at the eateries and eatering holes across US 75 on SMU Boulevard, to pick up some munchies at Kroger, to do some shopping at Mockingbird Station, to catch a flick at the Angelika Mockingbird, to catch a DART train or bus at Mockingbird Station, to stock up on gourmet goodies at HEB’s Central Market, to do more shopping and eating at Old Town and to visit off campus friends living in the Village. The 768 runs Monday through Friday from around 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., with service three times an hour before 7 p.m. and twice an hour afterwards.
If you have a busy schedule and find it hard to squeeze in time to work out, a bicycle will give you a chance to work out on the go. And there are a number of places to go within a short ride of SMU. Go east on Mockingbird Lane to the oldest shopping center in the U.S., Highland Park Village or follow Airline south from between Ford Stadium and the bookstore a few blocks south to the north end of the Katy Trail. The Katy Trail follows an old railroad alignment and will take you to Knox-Henderson, West Village, Uptown and Victory Park, just north of Downtown Dallas. You should know that while wearing a helmet when cycling is always a good idea, in the city of Dallas it is also the law. To help keep you wheels in good shape, SMU provides a bicycle repair station on the southside of the Umphrey Lee Center and key card access indoor bicycle storage behind McElvaney Hall. Contact RLSH’s South Quad Desk in McElvaney for more info on reserving your twowheeled parking spot. Another way to get out and about is to stop by Park ‘N Pony and pick up your Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) pass. This heavily discounted annual pass is yours for a one time fee of $20.
And next year’s, available in December, is free. For less than the cost of a full tank of gas you can roam all semester long throughout DART’s system, from Plano to Glen Heights to DFW to Rowlett. If you get a hankering for Cow Town or a need to go tell those Horned Frogs how much better SMU is than TCU, you will need to pony up the cost of a regional day ticket to visit Fort Worth via the Trinity Railroad Express (TRE). Maps, schedules and trip planning assistance can be found at http://www.dart.org/ and on your phone at http://m. dart.org/. Both sites have links to TRE info. And if you simply must use a car, you do not necessarily need to own it. If you can not find some carowning friends to carpool with you can always call a cab or check out Zipcar, http://zipcar.com/, for information on those two shiny Zipcars have recently appeared in dedicated parking spaces behind Perkins Pool. Zipcar is a car-sharing plan that has been popping up in urban areas and college campuses around the country. Basically you join Zipcar, reserve a car online or through one of Zipcar’s free smart phone
SeeTRAVEL page 5