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Theatre rocks into the holidays

Men’s Basketball beats Georgia Southern VOLUME 97, ISSUE 42

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A SIDE OF NEWS

Pakistan evicts U.S. troops

By STEPHANIE BROWN Staff Writer stephanieb@smu.edu

According to a declaration by Pakistan, the U.S. has 15 days to leave the Shamsi air base in response to a deadly NATO strike. The strike reportedly killed at least 24 Pakistani troops on Saturday. The base is a key launch pad for U.S. drone strikes. Pakistan has also cut off important supply routes for U.S. troops in Afghanistan. The U.S. denies blame for the strike, and the U.S. ambassador to Islamabad has pledged to “investigate this incident.”

one touchdown. Freshman Rishad Wimbley scored a 39-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. Wimbley completed the game with a total

We’re all familiar with the madness that is Black Friday where people push and shove to get the best bargains on the market. This year shoppers even used pepper spray to get past the crowds. This may not be a suitable environment for those shoppers who are still interested in a good deal but lack a competitive nature and dislike long lines. Never fear, Cyber Monday is the solution to finding discounted prices in the comfort of one’s home or perhaps in class. Black Friday 2011 generated $11.4 billion in revenue. This is an increase of more than 7 percent from last year’s sales. Consumer confidence is up from last year at 22 percent. Cyber Monday intends to

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JAN ANDERSON/The Daily Campus

SMU Seniors on the football team pose with Head Coach June Jones after the game against Rice, which was their last of the regular season.

Black Friday sales soar Early reports indicate that this Black Friday’s sales may be the strongest to date. ShopperTrak, which counts foot traffic at malls, estimated a 7 percent rise in sales this year. ShopperTrak founder Bill Martin warns, “It’s just one day. It remains to be seen whether consumers will sustain this behavior through the holiday shopping season.”

Prince rescues sailors Prince William co-piloted a helicopter that rescued two members of a Russian crew from a cargo ship that sunk in the Irish Sea off the coast of Wales on Sunday. One person died and five members of the crew are still missing. They were airlifted to safety, and the prince has since returned to his base in Wales. The Russian piloted Swanland ship was carrying 3,000 tons of limestone when it was battered by gale-force winds and sank.

Man arrested on Delta flight A passenger flying first class on a Delta flight from Salt Lake City to Boston was arrested for watching child pornography on Saturday. A fellow passenger saw what was on the 47-yearold man’s laptop, and alerted the flight crew. He was questioned and arrested when the plane landed for possessing child pornography. Police say additional charges could follow.

Senior players step off field By E’LYN TAYLOR Sports Editor ejtaylor@smu.edu

The Mustangs sealed their final win 27-24 Saturday afternoon against the Rice Owls at Ford Stadium.

Offensive duo J.J. McDermott started the first quarter off with a 45-yard pass to junior wide receiver Darius Johnson. The next generation of Mustang running backs made their statement against the

Owls with the absence of junior running back Zach Line. Freshman Jared Williams rushed for 52 yards in the second quarter. Williams finished the game with a total of 81 total yards and

dallas

Community helps refugees transition into society By LEXIE HAMMESFAHR, DANIELLE GERSH, SYDNEY HOWE Contributing Writers

When Abraham Amleke left his home country of Eritrea in 1984, Dallas was the last place he expected to call his future home. “I left for political reasons, just leave it at that,” Amleke, who prefers to go by his more casual nickname, Abe, said. Before Abe was able to seek asylum in Dallas, he was a refugee in Sudan for two years. Abe’s wife remained in Eritrea until they were reunited in Sudan a year later. During this time, the couple had their first child. Many years have past since Abe first began his journey to seek asylum in the United States. Abe feels that it is now the appropriate time for his youngest child to visit Eritrea for the first time. “I’m taking my youngest son back this summer,” he said excitedly. However, he admitted, “I might be arrested when I go back.” Abe’s story is not unlike those of many refugees and asylum seekers

who come to the U.S. each year. Both refugees and asylees are unable to return to their home countries due to persecution or fear of persecution regarding political opinion, race, religion, nationality or membership in a certain social group. One key difference distinguishes a refugee from an asylee—refugees typically apply for consideration for resettlement while they are still outside the U.S. while asylees are physically present within the U.S. borders during their time of application. After spending one year of continued presence in the U.S., refugees and asylees are eligible to apply for lawful permanent resident status.Since 1980, the U.S. has invited 1.8 million refugees to gain asylum through the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program. Once in the U.S., refugees and asylees are placed in the resettlement program, which has allowed between 70,000 and 91,000 refugees to enter the country throughout the past decade. In 2010 alone, over 73,000 refugees arrived in the U.S. through the resettlement program.

In Abe’s case, when he arrived in Sudan, he was considered an asylum seeker. However, when he came to the U.S. he was considered a refugee because his application process began prior to his arrival. Applying for refugee status is not a simple process. After submitting his application and a long waiting period, Abe recalled a process of three interviews before he was selected to come to the states. After arriving in the U.S., a refugee receives a medical examination and cultural orientation before being met at the airport by a staff member from a local refugee resettlement agency, who then takes him or her to a prepared apartment. Through the resettlement program, refugees are able to work closely with agencies that help manage their case while assisting them with finding a job and learning English. Upon Abe’s arrival in Dallas, he was mentored by the Catholic Charities of Dallas, along with his cousin, who had previously relocated to the U.S. However, unlike other refugees, Abe’s adjustment to American society did not include the

challenge of a language barrier. “It was not really difficult for me,” Abe, who studied English in Eretria until the sixth grade, said. “The reason is, I grew up in a very western society.” People like Aisha Pittman are one of the reasons refugees are able to smoothly transition to life in the United States. Pittman, volunteer coordinator for the Dallas branch of the International Rescue Committee, said her experiences with refugees began even before her career with the IRC. The IRC helps refugees survive and rebuild their lives through lifesaving care and assistance. “My stepmother and her family came to the U.S. as refugees during the Vietnam War,” she said. Stories from her father introduced her to a new culture and group of people that she had not previously been aware of. “I feel like with that knowledge comes responsibility, so I knew I had to get involved with this community,” Pittman said. With help from these community organizations, Abraham Amleke

Social media in Congress growing, yields limited results Contributing Writer blpowell@smu.edu

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was able to successfully meld into the melting pot of society in the U.S. Now a citizen, Abe thinks he has done a good job adjusting to the American culture. “I am always on time because time is something that I have found is very important in this country,” he points out. He jokes that his family is never on time and that they do not understand that they are no longer in Eretria. “They need to understand we are in the U.S,” Abe said.

Politics

By BROOKS POWELL

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Courtesy of the International Rescue Committee

Social media is a fixture in modern American life. It has effectively revolutionized personal communication, including interfaces between politicians and the electorate. In 2008, a detachment of more than 100 dedicated social media staffers harnessed the energy and financial backing of individual donors and supporters to propel Barack Obama to the Oval Office. Now, aware of the potential benefits, members of Congress want a piece of the action. Plagued by recordlow approval ratings and paralyzing partisanship, congressional leaders have come together to learn how to capitalize on social media. Nearly every representative and senator now has a Facebook page and a Twitter account, and many use YouTube and other social networks as well. But new data suggests a majority of Americans are not plugging in to social media sites to connect with the politicians they send to Washington. Moreover, an already overloaded

SPENCER J EGGERS/The Daily Campus

Pete Sessions is just one of many Congressmen utilizing Twitter and other social media tools.

communications apparatus in the nation’s capital may not be prepared to handle more demand, especially if members of Congress aren’t likely

to realize the benefits of using social media. A 2011 survey by Pew Reseearch Center and American Life project

found that 66 percent of adults use some sort of social media. But just a quarter of those users log on to connect with celebrities, athletes and

politicians. In addition, recent research by a pair of Harvard University students provides the first analysis of social media efficacy among politicians. Starting in the summer of 2009 and running through January 2011, the researchers extracted favorability data from CNN, Gallup and ABC News/Washington Post polls on nine politicians — all potential GOP presidential contenders. They compared those figures to the number of posts on the politicians’ Twitter feeds around the time when the surveys took place. They found no positive or negative correlation with public opinion. Early next month, members of Congress and social media giant Facebook will host a first-of-its-kind software development summit with tech designers and engineers to come up with new solutions to improve interactivity between members of Congress and their constituents. But Congress is already experiencing unprecedented traffic.

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Politics

• Monday, November 28, 2011

Is YouTube the new ‘tube’ for the 2012 election? By LEE GLEISER

Contributing Writer lgleiser@smu.edu

It’s free, it’s accessible, it’s effective: it’s YouTube. The 2012 political campaigns are using it more than ever before. But does the rise of YouTube mean the demise of political advertising on television? Magnolia Group Communications and Finance Coordinator Andrew Topa doesn’t think so. “It would be naïve to say political television ads are outdated. [YouTube and television] still both serve exclusive purposes and are aimed at different ages of voters especially in the primary election,” Topa said. In the primaries, candidates are trying to get their name and their message out. The traditional TV spot limits that message to 30 or 60 seconds and can cost thousands, even millions, of dollars. Meanwhile, a candidate can post a 15-minute video on YouTube for free. Once he or she does, it is accessible to the entire world. That accessibility was only enhanced when YouTube recently announced a brand new politics channel as well as channels for candidates. At youtube.com/politics viewers can find top hot political videos and candidate comparisons. Click on any candidate’s photo in the candidate comparison section to be directed to that candidate’s channel. A candidate’s channel showcases political ads, videos, his profile, a link to subscribe, an opportunity to donate, and a comments section. SMU’s Chair of Communication Studies Ben Voth believes the most important aspect of YouTube is its ability

Courtesy of the Herman Cain Campaign

A YouTube campaign advertisement featuring Herman Cain’s chief of staff Mark Block smoking a cigarette has become an Internet sensation.

to circumvent the gatekeeper. “Traditional media decides if they’ll cover you,” he said. “Classic establishment media has structures that make it hard for candidates to get that coverage.” YouTube provides a way for the candidate to cover himself. The ultimate goal is for a campaign to create a YouTube video that “goes viral.” If it does, traditional media picks it up and replays it over and over again on the news, talk shows and comedy programs. Now the candidate has gained national exposure without paying the cost. One example of this is the now famous Herman Cain campaign video featuring his chief of staff Mark Block. It was viewed 1.4 million times in less than two weeks on Youtube. It was also discussed and played over the national airwaves countless times, partly because it ended with Block smoking a cigarette. In addition to unprecedented exposure the video added to the Cain campaign

coffers. The campaign raised over $3 million in less than a month after the video was released. YouTube provides a forum. It’s one where the candidate has control of the content, but he has no control over the audience. Since most videos don’t go viral, viewers have to actively seek out a video on YouTube. Television ads are different. With television, a viewer doesn’t have to find the ad, the ad finds him. A recent study by the Pew Research Center revealed that 83 percent of Internet users between the ages of 18 to 29 use social networking sites like YouTube. However that number drops to 51 percent for those aged 50-64. Taylor Thornley, an SMU graduate who is former press assistant to Cindy McCain in the 2008 presidential election and current deputy director of communications for Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, believes TV ads are just as important as YouTube ads. “Traditional TV campaign ads

are equally important in that you are reaching the traditional voting audience, people 50 and over, which still relies on TV for news and information,” Thornley said. She further points out there are areas of the country that have little broadband width. There are also audiences that a campaign needs to reach but who might not be tech savvy. Then there is the strategic difference between the primary and the general election. “In the primary you are trying to define your candidate against a party opponent with the same ideology versus the general election where you are trying to tell the complete electorate your story.” In both cases you need to be able to target the reach of your message especially in swing states. This is something you can’t do with YouTube. Andrew Topa of the Dallasbased Magnolia agency agrees. “YouTube is better suited for attracting the new generation of primary voters but the old established voters are not connecting with YouTube so traditional TV is still the way.” In a recent LA Times article, media consultant Ken Goldstein said that political campaigns spent approximately $2.1 billion in 2008 on television advertising which was up 30 percent from 2004. In 2010 the spending increased to $2.4 billion for the midterm elections. Topa believes for the 2012 election that number can increase to as high as $3.6 billion. He points to the rise of the SuperPacs, 501C4s and 527 organizations. They can raise and spend unregulated amounts of money which means that the dollars spent on television political ads will be literally “out of control.”

The Daily Campus

CONGRESS: Social media not catching on Continued from Page 1

The Congressional Research Service reported that since the launch of congressional email service in 1997, total annual correspondence coming into Congress has increased by more than 16 times to roughly 500 million individual messages and letters each year. That does not include messages exchanged between Hill offices or via social media sites. Though Internet correspondence is growing in Washington, congressional offices continue to rely on traditional media for gauging public opinion and communicating with constituents. The Partnership for a More Perfect Union at the Congressional Management Foundation published a poll of Hill staffers that revealed conversations with voters at district events, as well as phone calls, letters, faxes and emails are still the most trusted means for understanding constituents’ views and opinions. New media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and blogs fell toward the bottom of the scale. “The only trouble with social media is that not everyone uses it,” Geoff Skelley, a scholar at the Univ. of Virginia’s Center for Politics, said. “Most of the people who follow members of Congress using social media tools are politically active individuals who do not exactly represent the typical voter.” Torrie Miller is an SMU alumna who serves as press secretary for Texas Congressman Pete Sessions. In her role, Miller is responsible for traditional media relations as well as social media sites. Congressman Sessions, whose district encompasses the Park Cities and SMU, maintains an active presence on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Flickr. “It basically puts the constituents up in D.C. with us,” Miller said. “[Social media sites] allow people to work in a medium

they feel comfortable in. People monitor what their friends and family are doing … so why not have your member of Congress readily available to communicate with them that way?” Miller said she spends roughly two to three hours each day on managing content for social media sites. Much of it takes place on nights and weekends since news can break at any time. It is that 24/7 pace that is taking a toll. Staff members are on perpetual alert for pressing business, even in the middle of the night. As the mainstream press increasingly scrutinizes politicians’ social media accounts for immediate responses, staffers feel pressure to coordinate and provide a response at a moment’s notice. There is also a degree of exposure and risk involved in social media. “Politicians are very concerned about controlling their image, and they are very afraid of making a mistake,” SMU professor and political communication expert Dan Schill said. Politicians were less guarded a few years ago with their social media use, Schill said. “But there has been a pullback. Increasingly, Facebook and Twitter sites are now run through the communications office of the senator or member of Congress,” Schill said. Instead of being an unfiltered, open line of communication with an elected official, social media sites have merely become another “managed communications channel.” As social media gains trust in Washington, CRS researcher Colleen Shogan imagines lawmakers may grow increasingly reliant upon instant feedback from their constituents before taking a vote, signaling the end of the trustee model of representation in government. But Congress may first want to address its own rules. Both houses of Congress still prohibit the use of laptops and cell phones inside the chamber.

November 28, 2011

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Arts & Entertainment

The Daily Campus

Monday, November 28, 2011 •

STAGE

Watertower Theatre rocks in the season By CHASE WADE A&E Editor cdwade@smu.edu

Continuing with Christmas tradition, Addison’s WaterTower Theatre opened its holiday themed show “Rockin’ Christmas Party” on Saturday, Nov. 26. The show puts together a cast of Dallas’ finest singers as they journey through the season by singing some of history’s wellknown songs. The show, which was started by WaterTower in 2000, is making its 11th return to the stage, and this time, it’s here to rock. The show’s relatively small cast consists of Gary Lynn Floyd, Denise Lee, Markus Lloyd, Sara Shelby-Martin, Amy Stevenson and Jenny Thurman. All six cast members are theater veterans with bios that are long and accomplished. “Rockin’ Christmas Party” opens with the upbeat and fitting “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” The show’s pace doesn’t let up as the singers melt into other popular songs like “Great Balls of Fire,” “I Feel Good” and “Rockin’ Robin.” The show’s plot, however little it may have, takes a turn when a giant snowball with a letter from Santa rolls onto the stage. The letter proclaims that five of the six cast members have been placed on the nice list and will get to live out their Christmas musicals fantasies, but Amy, the show’s usual brunt of the joke, is placed on the naughty list, no fantasy for her. With that new information, the show segues into the cast members different fantasies. Starting them off is Gary Lynn Floyd. Floyd had always admired the Christmas variety shows that came on television when he was a kid. The kind that featured personalities like Frank Sinatra

and Dean Martin. For his fantasy, Floyd dressed in a velvet coat and tries his best to emulate his childhood idols. Floyd’s fantasy is perhaps the most traditional of the night, as it features the talented singer belts out holiday tunes like “The Christmas Song” and “Happy Holidays.” Before one can blink, Floyd’s show is cut short by Sara ShelbyMartin’s fantasy. In a transition that was more jarring than it was pleasant, Shelby-Martin explains to the audience that as a kid, her parents never let her go to school dances, so naturally, her Christmas fantasy is to have a dance party of her own. Shelby-Martin proceeds to perform a dizzying amount of 70s karaoke music that includes titles like “Love Shack,” “Brickhouse” and “Play that Funky Music.” Credit is due to ShelbyMartin, who despite having a wealth of numbers to be in, maintains the same upbeat and fast-paced energy throughout the entire show. The first act of “Rockin’ Christms Party” concludes with Shelby-Martin singing “The Love You Save.” The show loses a bit of energy near the end of the first act, but it quickly regains steam with Denise Lee’s funky fantasy. Lee opens the second act in a larger than life headdress singing the classic “I Will Survive.” Lee’s vocal range is impressive while her voice is impeccable as she boogies her way through other singles like “I Love the Nightlife” and “Turn the Beat Around.” The show’s crowd participation level reaches it peaks as Gary Lynn Floyd and Markus Lloyd lead the crowd in a rowdy rendition of the “YMCA.” The show’s best moments come with the next fantasy, led by Jenny Thurman.

Mark Oristano

“Rockin’ Christmas Party’s” Amy Stevenson is one of the six cast members in WaterTower Theater’s show.

Thurman takes the audience back the country’s golden days with a “Grande Ole Opry Christmas Show.” Thurman breezes her way through country music classics like “Blue Christmas,” “End

of the World” and “Stand By Your Man.” Thurman, who won a Leon Rabin Award for his role as Patsy Cline in “Just a Closer Walk with Patsy Cline,” is a natural with the country twang.

Keeping with its quick transitions, “Rockin’ Christmas Party” fades from Thurman’s country fantasy to Markus Lloyd’s mo-town mashup. Lloyd’s fantasy gets lost in the show, but is highlighted by

performances like “Get Ready” and “Get Up Offa That Thing.” The mo-town meledy soon fades into something with more soul as the six-person cast sing their hearts out in “Try a Little Tenderness” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” The cast, which at this point of the show are in silver glittery robes, is phenomenal as they give the overall upbeat show a more sobering feel. A Christmas miracle occurs when Santa’s giant snowball rolls back onto the stage and finally grants Amy Stevenson the right to her own Christmas fantasy. Stevenson doesn’t let the opportunity pass her by as she produces her own Christmas fantasy that fades back to Floyd’s traditional Christmas show. Stevenson’s fantasy consists of classical Christmas songs like “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” and “Run Rudolph Run.” As a whole, “Rockin’ Christmas Party” is an entertaining hour and a half of catchy music and Christmas themes. Set designer, Michael Sullivan, did a great job of creating a maximum holiday feel at minimum production value. The oversized tree and the ornament painted backdrop complimented the holiday songs nicely. All six cast members did a great job of showcasing their vocal talents and range. However cast member Amy Stevenson did encounter a rough patch as her voice began to go out near the end of the show. In fact, at one point during the final numbers it felt as if the singer was just mouthing her words in place of singing. Despite a few missteps in choreography and harmonies, Watertower’s “Rockin’ Christmas Show” is a family friendly musical that any age could love.

Opinion

• Monday, November 28, 2011

The Daily Campus

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opinion

Thanksgiving: it’s still a holiday, right? I’ve always felt bad for Thanksgiving. It’s like the redheaded stepchild of holidays. Almost as soon as Halloween ends, retailers start putting out Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving has even happened. Not only that, but the holiday couldn’t be more awkwardly placed. For most of us college students, we go home for about three or four days to celebrate the holiday, then come right back to school so we can start stressing about final exams before returning Brandon Bub home once again a little over two weeks later. Thanksgiving just doesn’t get the love and attention it deserves, and I think that became especially apparent this year on Black Friday. The day after Thanksgiving is infamous for inciting millions to wake up at the crack of dawn and buy ridiculously unnecessary goods at marked down prices. It marks the beginning of the shopping season for Christmas, and it certainly begins things with a bang. In past years I’ve seen video footage of people being trampled as they run into stores because people were so intent on finding the best deals before anyone else gets to them. I usually try to ignore how antithetical such behavior is to the Christmas spirit, but this year I was shocked to find that a significant number of stores were foregoing the early bird specials and instead chose to open their doors to shoppers the midnight following Thanksgiving. This invasion of Thanksgiving’s sovereignty appalls me. If we’re just going to use Thanksgiving to start camping out for all the best deals, why even have the holiday in the first place? If retailers keep pushing back the beginning of the holiday shopping season at this rate, I fear we’ll end up on the verge of a perpetual Christmas season. I guess in some ways that wouldn’t be so bad; I find that a lot of people after all tend to enjoy Christmastime. But again, this is a season that’s supposed to be all about giving and appreciation of friends and family, and a lot of us seem to be forgetting this crucial point. Last week at a Wal-Mart in Southern California a woman allegedly doused her fellow shoppers with pepper spray so she could secure for herself a special Xbox bundle. As a gamer myself, normally I’d never be one to separate a person from their Xbox, but this sort of behavior is downright deplorable. I’m not sure how good of a deal this Xbox bundle was, but could it really have been worth using abusive riot control techniques like that to essentially torture fellow shoppers and keep them at bay? Even if all of the video game systems did sell out that day, I’m certain more would ship to the store by the end of the year. These aren’t defunct or rare brands that a lot of these shoppers are hunting for. They’re every-day products that one could easily find at slightly higher prices any other time of the year. I simply don’t understand what could compel a person to go out and attack fellow human beings like that. Both Thanksgiving and the holiday season in general encourage us to reflect upon our good fortunes and be grateful for what’s been given to us. Gift-giving can certainly be a great way to express how much you might care for another person, but when the obsession over finding all the flashiest presents at the best deals overshadows the desire to simply do something nice for someone in your life, then there’s definitely a problem here that needs to be addressed. A day of good Black Friday sales might indicate a stronger economy for us, but what does it say about our moral fiber? I urge everyone to consider why we celebrate these holidays in the first place; we glorify ourselves every other time of the year, so Thanksgiving and the holiday season make for a good time to think about the significance of our loved ones in our lives. Opinion Editor

Brandon Bub is a sophomore majoring in English and edits The Daily Campus opinion column. He can be reached for comment at bbub@smu.edu

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contributor

When typing “Why blacks still” into the Google search bar, the first prompt I was offered was “Why blacks Amie Kromis still support Obama.” With the new technology of search engine optimization, it is evident that many people are fervently asking why the black community continues to rave over President Barack Obama despite his lackluster presidency. In the 11th quarter, Obama’s approval rating reached an all time low of 42.5 percent, while his satisfaction with the black community rakes in at 86 percent. Obama’s black following is even more baffling when the black community has another African-American candidate to choose from, Herman Cain. Despite Cain’s upbringing during the Civil Rights era and being a graduate of the prominent and historically allblack male Morehouse College, Cain still doesn’t seem to have enough authenticity to be the quintessential black candidate for president. Brandon Monteith, an Atlanta native whose family knows Cain well, believes many Americans are highly disconnected from the political system and have preconceived notions of the candidate. “A Democratic president is right and a Republican candidate is wrong. Obama is a real black man and Cain is an Uncle Tom. That’s not how I see it, but I am the anomaly,” Monteith said. Cain isn’t helping his case with conflicting messages on the campaign trail. One

moment “The Cain Train” is having Iowans participate with him singing a Negro spiritual, and the next he is releasing an advertisement with country music in the background. With an inexplicable track record like that, it is understandable why black voters are reluctant to support Herman Cain. “Black people just aren’t trying to hear that,” Monteith, a junior at Wake Forest University, said. It also seems like black people aren’t perking their ears to hear Cain proclaim that he can snatch up a third of the black vote in the election. Many high profile black community leaders are questioning Cain’s motives in trying to be the black frontrunner in the Republican party. Mo’Kelly, an African-American political commentator, believes Cain doesn’t challenge historical Republican biases. “He offers a leather couch for Republicans to become more comfortable with them,” Monteith said. Cain makes that claim even more credible with his infamous “I don’t believe racism in this country today holds anybody back in a big way” statement. Such evidence demonstrates how Cain is blatantly ignoring not only the constant struggle of AfricanAmericans in the United States, but also the struggle of other ethnic minorities in America. Although Obama is of mixed ancestry, he won the White House in 2008 with the help of record high support and turnout from African-American voters (95 percent). Whereas Obama frequently mentioned his unconventional upbringing and inner conflict of racial double-consciousness throughout his 2008 campaign, Cain rarely mentions his

experiences in a highly segregated Southern city and at a historically black college. This exact reason is why Obama’s campaign resonates with African-Americans, because his story is told. Micaela Watkins, a recent graduate of Southern Methodist University, doesn’t correlate Cain with a compelling narrative or wanting to help people of his own race. “President Obama made many promises concerning the general welfare and existence of the middle class which a large portion of the black community is a part of. Based on Cain’s 9-9-9 plan, I don’t see that same concern,” Watkins, a former political science major, said. This lack of concern leads African-Americans to question Cain’s experience as a black man. If a student at a historically black college in the South during the times of “Bloody Sunday” has no recollection of nostalgic civil rights memories, then he most likely wasn’t doing anything to help advance the status of blacks in the South. Bill Henderson, a Morehouse classmate of Cain’s, was active during the civil rights movement. “There were so many people who wanted to do so much and to be part of it that you virtually had to look the other way if you didn’t want to be involved,” he said. Dr. Martin Luther King, an alum of Morehouse, had a line of Morehouse students who wanted to help his cause for the betterment of all minorities. To sit on the sidelines during such a historic time does not serve Cain’s image well in the black community. Not to say that Cain should go on the campaign trail yelling loud, “I’m black and I’m proud!”

Cartoon

but many African-Americans are hesitant to support a candidate who did so little for his people in such a time of peril. Now, the black community is beyond reluctant to hope that Cain can come through 50 years later, as a candidate of the Republican party. Another hurdle Cain must come to terms with is the simple fact that many African-Americans still have hope in Obama. Watkins knows that Obama isn’t perfect, but he deserves an ample amount of time to deliver. “I feel that he may have set the bar very high for himself with the changes he planned on implementing but all change takes time — especially considering our country’s state of disarray.” Watkins thoughts seem to be the general consensus of the African-American community and the driving force behind the consistent support for Obama. Questions have been raised as to whether blacks will turn out in numbers as high as 2008 when Obama had a chance to make history as the first president of African-American descent, but Obama has support. A telling sign is a T-shirt design that began circulating around Chicago’s South Side and has garnered much attention. The design includes a rear profile of Obama’s upper body with text above saying “I’ve got his back.” Since then, it has garnered much attention and has populated the Internet. This mini campaign is just one of many and lets Obama know that the black community won’t let him have all the weight on his shoulders. Amie Kromis is a junior majoring in religious studies and communications studies. She can be reached for comment at akromis@ smu.edu

Sports

The Daily Campus

Monday, November 28, 2011 •

SENIORS: Team looks to bowl game Continued from page 1

116 yards and two touchdowns. After the game Coach June Jones expressed how proud he was of Wimbley’s performance. “He’s a very good athlete and a very powerful guy,” Jones said. “Once he loses a little bit more weight where he can do a little bit more shake and bake light Zach can, I think we’ll be in good shape next year.” The Mustangs allowed Rice to

stay in the game until the last few seconds of the fourth quarter. SMU kicked an on-side kick, regaining possession of the ball. Down by only three points, Rice rallied to score but the SMU defense showed their talent tipping a ball on 4th down to regain possession and end the game. SMU finished the game with five turnovers keeping the offense from gaining momentum. After the game, the Mustangs

men’s basketball

bid fairwell to their senior players in a ceremony. Seniors were giving a rose and a picture while being escorted out by family. Even though it is still unknown which bowl game SMU will get an invite to, Coach Jones says his team will stay ready for the quest. “Well we’re just lifting and running, just trying to stay in shape and focus on our school work and just stay on top on our physical condition.”

VOLLEYBALL

Mustangs defeat Tulsa 3-2 in last game of season By CESAR RINCON Staff Writer crincon@smu.edu

The SMU volleyball team celebrated senior day with a victory against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane with a 3-2 score. The Mustangs gave Tulsa both of their conference losses for the season; the first one was on Oct. 5 and ended 3-1. Senior outside hitters Jessica Oliver and Dana Powell led SMU offensively with 17 kills from Oliver and 10 from Powell, all which led to a win in the first set with a 25-19 score. Tulsa responded by taking the second set, 25-20, and the third set, 25-11. SMU put up a fight and did not let the Golden Hurricane take the victory home. The Mustangs took an early 5-1

lead at the start of the fourth set. SMU went on to dominate the fourth set and won 25-8, forcing the match to a fifth set. SMU started off winning the set until Tulsa took the lead at 6-5. The Mustangs bounced right back to take the lead once more, prohibiting the Golden Hurricane from a holding a lead. Tulsa was tied the score four times, up until 12-12. Freshman outside hitter Caroline Young found the last point with a kill to end the set at 15-12, earning the Mustangs one last victory for the regular season. The Mustangs ended the season with an overall record of 15-17 and conference record at 11-9, while the Golden Hurricane dropped to an overall record of 27-6 and a conference record of 18-2.

SPENCER J EGGERS/The Daily Campus

Senior guard Aliaksei Patsevich looks for an opening during Sunday afternoon’s game against Georgia Southern University.

Mustangs record a 55-49 win against Georgia Southern By E’LYN TAYLOR Sport Editor ejtaylor@smu.edu

SPENCER J EGGERS/The Daily Campus

Junior libero Susan Lewis serves the ball during a match against Memphis in Moody Coliseum.

The SMU men’s basketball team defeated Georgia Southern 55-49 Sunday afternoon at Moody Coliseum. The Mustangs started the first half with a 7-0 lead. Georgia Southern caught up with the Mustang taking a 27-18 lead before halftime. The Mustangs opened up the second leading with 15 points. Sophomore guard Jeremiah Samarrippas scored a bucket that

advanced the mustang lead 42-27. Samarrippas finished the game with a season high of seven assists. Georgia Southern cut the Mustang’s lead to 51-49 after GSU’s Jelani Hewitt shot the ball within the three-point line. The Mustangs scored the final four points of the game to secure the 55-49 victory. Freshman center Cannen Cunningham let the Mustangs with 18 points, one assist, two blocks and one steal. Junior guard London Giles trailed with 14 point and four rebound. Giles has scored in double figures in every

game this season. Senior forward Robert Nyakundi finished with 11 points. Nyakundi marked his 1,000 career point and connected on his 200th three-point field goal during the contest. In all the Mustangs finished with a season-high rebound margin pulling down 36 boards to GSU’s 25 rebounds. The Mustangs advanced their season record 4-3 and perfected their 3-0 record at Moody Coliseum. The Mustangs travel to Little Rock, Ark Sunday to take on the Arkansas-Little rock at 2 p.m.

women’s basketball

Mustangs fall to Fresno State 88-67 in SMU Hoop For the Cure Championship game By NICK KARAGEORGE Staff Writer nkarageorge@smu.edu

The SMU women’s basketball team fell short to Fresno State 88-67 in the Championship game of the SMU Hoops for the Cure Tournament in Moody Coliseum. Early in the game, the Mustangs were forced to play catch-up as they went down 39-20 in the first half. The Bulldogs shot 51.7 percent from the field and 11 of 22 from

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Sudoku

beyond the arc. In the second quarter, the Mustangs did played catch up as they were only out scored by two points, 49-47. The Bulldogs were led by tournament MVP Ki-Ki Moore who finished with a tournament high 28 points three rebounds and five assists, she shot 10-13 from the field and a perfect 3-3 from the three point line. “What hurt us was defending one-on-one. Two of our biggest keys

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were first, defending one on one, and second, defending the three-ball,” SMU coach Rhonda Rompola said on SMUMustangs.com. The Mustangs made 25 of 62 shots, shooting an efficient 40.3 percent from the field. Unfortunately the Mustangs were unable to spread the floor only making one threepoint shot. Forward Akil Simpson stood out for the Mustangs, scoring a career high 22 point on eight of 11 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds.

ACROSS 1 Toad feature 5 Cravings 10 W.W. Jacobs short story “The Monkey’s __” 13 Etonic competitor 14 Hollandaise and barbecue 16 Genetic molecule: Abbr. 17 Music genre that evolved in the ’50s 19 “__ complicated” 20 Evil smile 21 Pac-10 hoops powerhouse 22 Cambridge sch. 23 Letter before kappa 26 Tranquil 28 How the wheels on the bus go 32 Possess 33 Italian “a” 34 Tide creations 37 Formally relinquish 39 Time off, briefly, and this puzzle’s theme 42 Winter fall 43 Hägar the Horrible’s dog 45 Zippy start? 46 Well-armed org. 47 “Old” nickname for Zachary Taylor 52 Nonsense 54 The ten in “hang ten” 55 Batter’s stat 56 Power co. product 58 Freeze, as a plane’s wings 62 + molecule, e.g. 63 Complain hysterically 66 Work unit 67 Like the night in a classic Van Gogh work 68 All done 69 Knox and McHenry: Abbr. 70 “Do the Right Thing” actor Davis 71 Wimpy

When commenting on Akil’s play coach Rompola said, “She is a gritty player, she got to play more today because she stayed out of foul trouble.” Samantha Mahnesmith added nine more points while Sabrina McKinney and Alisha Filmore each added eight points. Over the last two games McKinney averaged 10 points. The Mustangs travel to Kansas to take on the Jayhawks Dec. 1.

11/28/11

By Jeff Chen

DOWN 1 Serious conflicts 2 Cosmetic caller 3 Paddy grain 4 Adopt, as a puppy 5 “Top Gun” org. 6 “Groovy!” 7 Hindu religious instructor 8 Chevy Volt or Ford Fusion 9 Do business with 10 Temperamental diva, e.g. 11 Shenanigan 12 Trash 15 First-rate, in Rugby 18 Yankee with 613 career homers 24 Bull: Pref. 25 Oscar winner Paquin 27 Nephew of Cain 28 Big birds of lore 29 Wilson of “Marley & Me” 30 Subordinates 31 “Who’s the Boss?” star Tony 35 Manor master 36 Oscillate 38 Sock ending 40 Car scar

Monday’s Puzzle Solved

41 Overhaul, as a Web site 44 Workers with an ear for music? 48 Italian ice cream 49 “Laughing” critters 50 Longtime Nevada senator Harry 51 Money for taxes and insurance may be held in it 52 Lawyer’s filing 53 NASA “Stop!”

57 NBA’s Shaq and Yao, e.g. 59 A gutter is often under it 60 Eye part containing the iris 61 Exec’s extra 64 “Taking Heat” memoirist Fleischer 65 PBS science guy Bill

Can’t wait until tomorrow for Crossword solutions? For solutions to our Crossword puzzles now, checkout our website at www.smudailycampus.com.

News

• Monday, November 28, 2011

The Daily Campus

ONLINE: Sales expected to skyrocket

retail

Continued from page 1

compete with these numbers and hopes to drive more sales across the country and internationally. Cyber Monday, coined in 2005 by Shop.org, offers great deals at major retail stores. According to the International Business Times, Amazon.com, Walmart.com, BestBuy.com and ToysRUs.com are offering some of the hottest deals. Last year’s Cyber Monday generated 13.7 million sales for

JAN ANDERSON/The Daily Campus

Customers wait for the re-opening of the Knox-Henderson Apple Store on Black Friday.

Hundreds flock to Apple’s remodeled McKinney location By JAN ANDERSON Contributing Writer jnanderson@smu.edu

With the exception of a few eateries on Knox Street, most retail businesses were dark a quarter to eight in the morning on Nov. 25. There was one exception, though. The Knox-Henderson Apple Store chose Black Friday to reopen in their newly remodeled space, after months in a temporary space around the corner on McKinney Avenue. Red-shirted Apple Store employees clapped and cheered as close to 100 customers streamed into the newly redone store. Almost all had waited less than a few hours, but one customer had been in line much longer than that. Jason Wagoner got to the store around 8 p.m. Tuesday. He started waiting in front of the temporary store on McKinney and then moved

to the front of the new store after taking a short break Thanksgiving afternoon. He said the second person in line finally joined him about 4:30 a.m. Friday morning. Wagoner planned to purchase a gift for a friend’s upcoming birthday. Curtis Wilson is not just an admitted Apple fanboy. He’s also an Apple employee at the Stonebriar location. “The Knox Street store has always been my favorite store,” he said. Wilson added that he was at the old Knox-Henderson store when it closed and at the temporary store on McKinney when it opened. Even though he was scheduled to work at the Stonebriar Apple Store at 11 a.m. on Friday, Wilson said he took the time to come to the re-opening. “I love this store,” he said. Wilson was considering purchasing an iPad smart cover to add to his collection.

Blake Cecil, president of the Mustang Club and a 1993 graduate of Southern Methodist University, was not in line to purchase anything. Instead he was there to have his data transferred from his old PC to his new Macintosh desktop. “I got an iPhone, and we got iTunes,” Cecil said. “With all the compatibility, I thought it was a good move.” He also mentioned reliability issues with various PCs over the years and decided to change operating systems because of recommendations from friends. “Everybody swears by it,” Cecil said, speaking in regards to Mac’s reliability. To celebrate the store’s reopening, Apple planned to give the first 1,000 customers commemorative T-shirts. There were still about 900 left at 8:15 a.m., sixty hours after Jason Wagoner first got in line.

Amazon.com, which accounted for it’s highest day of sales all year. Amazon.com sold 158 items per second and intends to break this record this year. Another way to keep up with the best deals is RetailMeNot. com, a website that provides coupons and promotional codes. This website allows users to find some of the best deals from retailers such as JC Penny, Kohls, Lands’ End, Macy’s and others.

“I’m really excited for Cyber Monday,” Junior Ashley Tabil said. “I’ve been scanning the web for the latest deals and setting up all my tabs in my browser to be prepared.” The social networking sites are also joining in on the hype. To keep up with the sales of the day on Twitter, follow your favorite retail stores as well as use #cybermonday or #deals.