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VOLUME 97, ISSUE 8
WEDNESDAY High 103, Low 78 THURSDAY High 102, Low 80
A SIDE OF NEWS
Suicide attack in Chechnya On Tuesday, eight people were killed and 16 were injured in a suicide bombing in Chechnya during end-ofRamadan celebrations. A man allegedly detonated a bomb in Chechnya’s capital, Grozny while police tried to detain him. A second blast followed. Witnesses said they heard gunshots after the explosions. Despite Chechnya’s reputation as a home for Islamic insurgency, no Islamists leaders have claimed responsibility.
Exxon wins oil deal Exxon Mobil won the right to explore for oil in Russia’s portion of the Arctic Ocean. This agreement is part of an effort to diversity the petroleum industry in Russia. Exxon’s total investment could reach around $500 billion, helping to boost Russia’s economy. Around 60 percent of Russia’s export revenues come from petroleum.
Cold case murder solved Philander Hampton, 54, confessed to the killing of five boys in Newark in 1978. Five boys were allegedly brought into an abandoned house, which was then set on fire. Hampton plead guilty to five counts of felony murder at the Essex Country Courthouse in exchange for a plea agreement that he will testify at his cousin, Lee Evans’ trial. Hampton alleged that Evans planned the killings. Hampton and Evans were arrested in March 2010. Hampton will receive a 10year jail sentence, with parole eligibility after two years.
Snakes on a plane, live TSA apprehended a man at Miami International Airport who was trying to smuggle in an entire collection of snakes and turtles in his pants. Security agents find out the man had wrapped the snakes in women’s hosiery and hide them in his pants. TSA found the snakes while subjecting the man to image screening. He was arrested and charged for importing exotic animals illegally.
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SENATE
debt affects students, country By STEPHANIE COLLINS Executive Editor spcollins@smu.edu
With U.S. debt spiraling out of control and a bleak economic outlook for months to come, there has never been a time when the “youth are the future” cliché has held so true. Tuesday’s lecture with Founder and CEO of The Comeback America Initiative, David Walker, discussed the current state of the United States economy and what it means for today’s young people and college students. According to Walker, the median annual household income in this country is $50,000. If the United States were an average household it would be spending $82,000 per year, and would have $126,000 of current debt. This country’s financial mess is falling directly into the laps of today’s young people who will inherit these issues. “The real threat is what the future will be like if we don’t start putting the nation’s finances in order,” Walker said. The world for today’s young people is becoming increasingly competitive, according to Walker, and the focus needs to be on taking steps to impact how these issues are dealt with in the future. Walker advised college students to be “disproportionately active in representing your views to current and prospective elected officials” to ensure that these issues are addressed and dealt with in a manner that can help secure this generation’s future. When it comes to pointing the finger, however, Walker said no particular political party or figure is at fault. Government spending in
retiring faculty honored By PATRICIA BOH
Associate News Editor pboh@smu.edu
KARISSA JOBMAN/The Daily Campus
David M. Walker, CEO of the Comeback America Initiative, discusses the fiscal impact of raising the debt ceiling at the Dallas Business Club meeting in the Collins Executive Education Center on Tuesday.
2011 has amounted to $4 billion more than the country takes in for revenue each day, and this debt has amounted over several decades under the watch of several presidents. Now, the focus needs to be placed on action. Walker said that the U.S. is roughly two years away from where Greece was during its major financial collapse. “We have more time, but not unlimited time,” he said. This, according to Walker, is truly where young people come in. First year MBA student at the Cox School of Business, Lewis Wang, views the economic situation in the United States through a special lens being a young person from China. “As a foreign student and as a business student, this [information] gives me some idea about how to contribute to
the country’s economy in the future,” Wang said, “I think it is my responsibility.” Wang added that reversing the economic crisis in the United States would be mutually beneficial for China. One of the major economic issues facing today’s youth is federal spending in terms of health care. “We have way over promised in healthcare, and we are going to have to have an honest conversation with the American people at some point,” Walker said, who added that some day it will be today’s college students’ responsibility to have that conversation. These issues can be overwhelming to the college students faced with them upon graduation, but Walker advises students to keep an optimistic outlook.
“In America, if you have a solid education, a positive attitude, strong work ethic, and solid more and ethical values,” Walker said. “You have unlimited potential.” Recognizing this potential, according to Walker, is the key to young people changing these issues in the future, and subsequently changing the United States for the better. David Walker is one of 50 national founders of No Labels, a national organization that emphasizes the value of progress over partisanship in order to ensure a future better than the past.
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LECTURE
CAMPUS
Supreme Court Justice gives historical, humorous lecture By SARAH KRAMER Managing Editor skramer@smu.edu
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said that she probably would not have made it to the high court under the current climate claiming the confirmation process has become more partisan. “I wish we could have a magic wand and go back to those days when the process was truly bipartisan,” she said at the inaugural event of the Louise B. Raggio Endowed Lecture Series. Dean of the Dedman School of Law, John Attanasio, led a casual conversation with Ginsburg in front of a sold out audience in McFarlin Auditorium Monday night. Before Attanasio formerly introduced Ginsburg, she came on stage to give a few words about Raggio. After reading Raggio’s autobiography, “Texas Tornado,” Ginsburg said she was “captivated by her story.” “I wouldn’t call her a tornado, but instead, a bright star of Texas,” she said. Raggio, who graduated from SMU Dedman School of Law in 1952, was an advocate for women’s rights and the first woman to serve as an assistant district attorney in Dallas County. Similar to Raggio, Ginsburg was the second woman to be appointed to the nation’s highest legal court; and she, too, was a supporter of women’s rights. Instead of lecturing about civil and women’s rights, or her beliefs of the legal system, Attanasio held a question-and-
The 98th Student Senate met on Tuesday to ring in the 2011 fall semester President Austin Prentice proposed two bills, “A Resolution Honoring the Services of Clarence ‘Shorty’ Perkins and Alphonso ‘Buck’ Buchanan” and “A Resolution Honoring the Services of Fred and Judith Banes.” Fred and Judith Banes are longtime employees of SMU and the bill honoring the Banes’ years of service was unanimously passed. The first bill regarding Perkins and Buchanan, however was tabled. Sen. Christian Genco moved the table the bill until next week. Prentice also swore in Clint Adcox, James Mires, Jason Sansone, Laura Schur, and Jeff Wheelan. This marks the first inauguration of the fall semester. Student speakers included sophomore Ruby Kim on behalf of the Korean Students Association, SMU-TV News Director Andy Garcia on The Daily Campus/ Daily Mustang merger, and Shirin Tavakoli as part of Generation
KIM RITZENTHALER/The Daily Campus
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, addressed law students at SMU Monday during a visit to campus. Ginsburg will be the inaugural speaker for the university’s Raggio Endowed Lecture Series on Monday night.
answer session with Ginsburg asking her questions varying on how she balanced being a mother and law school, her experience clerking for Judge Learned Hand and what the toughest part of her career has been, which she said was working with death penalty cases. The questions started out informal with Ginsburg entertaining the audience with her humorous responses. She told the story of a time
when she was studying for her practice law exam at Harvard University when her 14-monthold daughter, Jane, walked into the dining room with moth balls shoved in her mouth. “I attribute my success to her,” she said, explaining that this situation added a new perspective to her career after spending the evening at the hospital. “My practice exam was not that
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alcohol floods freshmen By PATRICIA BOH
Associate News Editor pboh@smu.edu
Alcohol violations and underage drinking are college buzzwords that terrify parents, frustrate administrators and concern health officials alike. Colleges across the U.S. have noticed this. And, SMU is no exception. SMU Police Department records all crime and fire reports, which includes alcohol violations, and puts those statistics on their website, making them visible to the public. According to the 2009 police reports, there were 147 arrests and 298 referrals to the Conduct Officer relating to alcohol violations. In 2010, there were 44 arrests and 247 referrals. “We are very concerned with their safety on and off campus,” Detective Linda Korbelic-Perez said. “We want them to have a successful and enjoyable experience at SMU.” SMU’s Center for Alcohol and Drug Prevention provides students with a “confidential source of help” in order to deal with substance abuse problems and concerns. The Center also works to promote activities and programs in order educate the campus on the topic of alcohol and drug abuse. The Center employs counselors who provide assessments, interventions, referrals and short-term counseling, as well as ongoing support for recovering students. John Sanger, director for the Center for Alcohol and
Drug Prevention, feels the center is very important. “Each year, we have students who make very risky and dangerous choices around alcohol resulting in serious negative consequences,” he said. “[Our work] focuses on lowering risk and the resultant harm caused by the use of alcohol and other drugs.” Korbelic-Perez believes seeking help and advice relating to alcohol abuse are the best bet. It “does not mean you are weak,” she said. “It shows you are using coping skills to try and solve a problem or perhaps prevent a problem before it starts. Nobody has all of the answers.” The center, which is located on the second floor of the Memorial Health Center, recently joined the Learning Collaborative on HighRisk Drinking. This collaborative is part of the National College Health Improvement Project through the Dartmouth Institute. The Gordie Center for Substance Abuse Prevention at the University of Virginia provides SMU and other campuses with information about alcohol poisoning and prevention. Many students are familiar with the green “Gordie check” stickers in the residential halls, the HAZE film during Greek Recruitment and various information pamphlets that can be found throughout campus. According to their website the Gordie Center’s goal is to “work to promote peer intervention and challenge attitudes that allow hazing and alcohol poisoning.” “[We want] to promote healthy campus environments
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