A&E:
Opinion:
Movie review for ‘The Social Network’
Rick Perry loses a vote
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VOLUME 97, ISSUE 21 SMUDAILYCAMPUS.COM
Weather
DALLAS, TEXAS
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2010 FIRST COPY FREE, ADDITIONAL COPIES 50 CENTS
DALLAS
EVOLUTION
TODAY High 76, Low 56 TOMORROW High 83, Low 61
Speakers challenge Darwin’s theory
NEWS BRIEFS
The ‘good times rolled’ at the 35th talent show On Saturday, SMU students, faculty, friends and family gathered to watch the 35th annual talent show. Audience members witnessed 14 acts in McFarlin Auditorium, five of which were group acts and the remainder of which were individual and duos. A variety of talent was seen, ranging from musical numbers to a “glowing” dance. Alexa Engel, who sang “I Dreamed a Dream,” and Julian Spearman, who played keyboard over a background of mixed beats, tied for second runner-up in the individual category and earned a prize of $100. The first runner-up was David Cueva, who received $150 for his acoustic and vocal performance of “Crash into Me” by Dave Matthews Band and “Dynamite” by Taio Cruz. Matthew Bolanos was the $250 winner of the individual category for his performance entitled “Dance in the Dark.” Southern Gentlemen, an acapella group that sang “In the Still of the Night,” won $100 for second runner-up in the group category. The first runner-up, winning $150, was STUDY ABROAD, a band that played and sang “Jump” by Van Halen and “Are You Gonna Be my Girl” by Jet. Mustang Mavericks, the only country dance team at SMU, walked away with the first place prize of $250. By the end of the show, the crowd was on their feet and clapping, thanks to Daniel Shnider, a member of STUDY ABROAD.
Hyundai set to recall vehicles Hyundai will have to recall almost 140,000 Sonata sedans, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced on Sunday. The problem is rooted in the steering column components in certain 2011 Sonata Sedans. The components have the possibility of being improperly assembled or loose, causing drivers to experience trouble steering. The car was manufactured from Dec. 2009 to Sept. 2010.
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By BEN ATEKU Staff Writer bateku@smu.edu
MICHAEL DANSER/ The Daily Campus
The State Fair of Texas is open Sept. 24 - Oct.17 and is being held at Fair Park. Tickets are $15 at the gate.
Big Tex, fried indulgence returns By TAYLOR ADAMS News Editor tadams@smu.edu
The voice of Big Tex booms from the center of Fair Park. Mustard spreads on the sides of corndogs. Powdered sugar dusts the tops of funnel cakes. Rides throw their passengers upside down. And fried Frito pie makes its way to the mouths of fried-fare lovers. The Texas State Fair is here again this fall, continuing to bring in crowds just as it did in its first fair in 1886. Some rain dumped on the fair’s first Saturday, but crowds still made their way to Fair Park for their annual fried food decadence and oversized game prizes.
Down the Midway, signs on stands advertise their various fried items: oreos, butter, bacon and cheesecake—just to name a few. Aly Christensen, sophomore business major, made an effort to find the fried goods. “I wanted to make sure I tried as much of the fried food as I could since that’s one of the many reasons the fair is so popular to go in the first place,” she said. “However, among the things I tried, the fried pizza was the best.” Christensen even managed to try this year’s winner for best fried food: fried beer topped with cheese. “Among the many fried items I tried,
the fried beer was the most interesting,” she said. “It was one of the most interesting things I have ever tried, but it wasn’t a big hit amongst my family. They all thought it was heinously disgusting.” Looking even higher above these signs are dangling lifts, pulling passengers for a bird’s eye view of the park. Of course, whether it’s aglow at night or just turning its star in the afternoon, the Texas Star Ferris Wheel catches attendees’ eyes, cameras’ lenses and riders’ coupons. On the other side of the Midway,
See FAIR on page 3
The screening of “Darwin’s Dilemma” on Thursday evening in the Hughes-Trigg Theater generated a lively discussion on the Darwinian Evolutionary theory. The documentary film brought a large crowd to the student center. Charles Darwin, an English naturalist, published his theory of evolution in his 1859 book “Origin Species.” According to Darwin, human, animal and plant life descended from a common ancestor through a process called “natural selection.” Beneficial mutations were passed from generation to generation, known as survival of the fittest, resulting in entirely different creatures over time. The documentary shows the origin of life according to Darwin with a running commentary posing contrasting questions on this evolutionary process. While some who study geology believe in the Cambrian explosion, in which animals did not evolve from small organisms but were created by a 60-millionyear long explosion, Darwin
thought otherwise. The film cites the existence of the other animal types in the fossil record, dating back to the Pre-Cambrian period. The speakers stated that Darwin realized that the Pre-Cambrian fossil evidence did not support his theory of gradual, step-by-step evolutionary development but hoped that future generations of scientists would make the discoveries necessary to validate his ideas. Moderated by Stephen Meyer, author of “Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design,” renowned biologists Douglas Axe, Richard Sternberg, Jonathan Wells and Paul Nelson presented new evidence from molecular biology, genetics and related fields that challenged Darwin’s theory. They cited population genetics and combinatorial problems as some of the major developments negating Darwin’s theory. The speakers stated that PreCambrian fossil discoveries in the last century have continued to raise more questions than answers, noting that 90 percent of earth’s fossils date back to the Pre-Cambrian era— the period that Darwin’s step-by-step evolution
See DARWIN on page 3
FOOTBALL
TCU Horned Frogs leave SMU unfried By EJ HOLLAND
Associate Sports Editor eholland@smu.edu
The No. 4 ranked TCU Horned Frogs kept their undefeated streak alive after an early scare from rival SMU in the “Battle for the Iron Skillet” Friday night at the Gerald J. Ford Stadium in front of a record crowd of 35,481. “That was an emotional rivalry,” TCU head Coach Gary Patterson said. “We came here and took SMU’s best shots; we outscored them in the second half, and I’m very happy with my team.” SMU head Coach June Jones was proud of the support the Mustangs received from fans. A sea of red piled into the stadium to see one of SMU’s biggest games in recent history, which was nationally televised on ESPN. “It was fun to see the energy from the boosters and the fans in the stadium that hasn’t been here in a long time, and that was worth all of it,” he said. Unfortunately, the Mustangs came up short of pulling a monumental upset, but Jones felt his team played well. “I thought we did some good things, but they’re a very good team,” Jones said. “When you play against
that team, you have to make plays when you have chances to make plays. They kind of wore us down.” SMU quarterback Kyle Padron and wide receiver Aldrick Robinson picked up right where they left off last week. The dynamic duo connected on a 23-yard touchdown to give the Mustangs a shocking 7-0 lead over the Horned Frogs midway through the first quarter. SMU running back Zach Line was a real powerhouse on the 88-yard scoring drive, contributing two big runs of 15 and 21 yards. The Horned Frogs answered back with a first quarter touchdown of their own. Running back Matthew Tucker plunged in from two yards out to tie the game, 7-7. TCU quarterback Andy Dalton finally got into his rhythm after finding tight end Evan Frosch for a 31-yard pass play to get the drive started. Dalton also threw a 25-yard completion to wide receiver Jeremy Kerley to set TCU up for the score. Early in the second quarter, the stingy Horned Frog defense wreaked havoc when TCU defensive end Stansly Maponga injured Padron on a third-down sack. Padron appeared to have suffered a shoulder injury and
received immediate attention on the sideline. “[Padron] took a lot of hits tonight,” Jones said. “He showed his
toughness–he’s tough enough to play against the big boys.” The TCU offense returned the favor by taking nearly seven minutes off the
clock with a 70-yard touchdown drive that included two fourth down
See FOOTBALL on page 5
MICHAEL DANSER/ The Daily Campus
SMU kicker Matt Szymanski pursues TCU runningback Jeremy Kerley as Kerley returns Szymanski’s kickoff for 83 yards. TCU won the game 42-24.