Tuesday, November 18, 2014
The Independent Student Newspaper of Sam Houston State University
What’s happening at Sam IN DEFENSE, P.2
FOOTBALL, P.3
OCTOGENARIAN, P.2
BASKETBALL, P.4
VOLLEYBALL, P.4
Read why all of Kim K.’s haters are wrong about her recent exposure
The Bearkats blew past the Huskies on Saturday in a 76-0 victory
Our staff columnist claims the U.S. would be better with socialized healthcare
The men’s team fell short against UNLV 57-59 in the second game of the season
The team is now the fourth seed in the SLC tournament after a loss
Volume 126 | Issue 24
THE HEA DL I N E S in br i e f
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Theatre to offer simultaneous plays
Manny Jawa
As the spring semester approaches, there will be a new office available in the Lowman Student Center for the Sam Houston State University Police Department. While this office will only be a sub-station, it will allow officers that are ‘mobile’ during the day, such as patrol officers and bike officers, to have a central location on campus and access to computers, according to Lt. Christopher Standerfer. This sub-station will be located on the first floor of the LSC in Paw Print.
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STATE OF EMERGENCY
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon activated the state’s National Guard ahead of the Grand Jury’s decision on whether Daren Wilson, a Ferguson police officer, shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown in August. Authorities in Ferguson and neighboring cities are also preparing for possible riots if Wilson is not indicted.
GAS LEAK
TWEETING REPUBLICANS
A CNN report released this weekend claims that Republicans used obscure Twitter accounts to share polling information during the 2014 midterm election. Coded tweets that could only be understood by those involved were reportedly sent out to coordinate with resources. The actions fall under a grey area for election law.
FREE WI-FI
Officials in New York City announced plans Monday to replace aging payphone kiosks with gigabit Wi-Fi access points and information hubs. The private-public partnership program, called LinkNYC, will bring as many as 10,000 hubs across the city. Each hub will serve as an access point for free Wi-Fi, let users charge mobile devices and make free calls. The first kiosks are predicted to be operational by the end of 2015.
OIL MERGER
Oil services company Halliburton, announced a $34.6 billion cash and stock deal with Baker Hughes that would combine the second and third largest oil companies. Halliburton will pay $78.62 per Baker Hughes share. Both Boards of Directors unanimously approved the deal, but stakeholders must also approve the deal. Halliburton also agreed to pay $3.5 billion to the Baker Hughes if regulators strike down the deal.
UPD opens LSC substation KIMBERLIN MOORE Staff Reporter
Compiled by
A team of experts from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board arrived in La Porte, TX Sunday to determine the cause of an accident Saturday that killed four workers and placed a fifth in the hospital at the DuPont chemical plant. According to reports, the four workers were exposed to methyl mercaptan, but it is unclear how they were overcome.
HoustonianOnline.com
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Catherine Stallard | The Houstonian
ADOLESCENCE. Sophomore theatre major Trey Brake and junior theatre major Anna Drake portray Peck and Caitlin in the SHSU department of theatre and musical theatre production of “A Storytelling Ability of a Boy.”
SHELBY ESCAMILLA Contributing Reporter The Sam Houston State University department of theatre and musical theatre will present two student-directed productions throughout the week. “God’s Man in Texas” “God’s Man in Texas,” led by first-time student director and senior musical theatre major Michael Mo-ra, tells the stories of three men and their relationships with the Houston Rock Baptist Church, a mega church with over 30,000 members, complete with bowling alley, gym, swimming pools, and a dinner theater. Senior theatre major Christopher Preslar plays Dr. Phillip Gottschall, the 81-year-old Pastor of Houston Rock Baptist. Junior mass communications and theatre Major Jacob Spadie, plays Dr. Jerry Mears, a middle-aged Pastor who begins to deliver guest sermons at the church under Gottschall’s watchful eye. Junior theatre major Swayde McGaughey plays Hugo Taney, the church’s audio and visual operator who was once a slave to alcohol and drugs saved by the church and his faith. In the show, Meers is set to become Gottschall’s successor as head pastor of the church as he is old and nearing the age of re-tirement. But as the show progresses, Gottschall’s grip tightens on his church as he realizes he is not quite ready to let go of the congregation he has built or his place at the pulpit. Although the play is centered around religion, Mora and the cast believe audience members will be able to pull their own con-
clusions from the production. “Ego and power play a lot in this script,” Mora said. “The main focus of this script is the fight for morals and what is right.” “This play is not meant to convert you”, Preslar said. “At the same time, this play is not meant to shat-ter what your beliefs are. It’s to see these lives, the lives of these men. No matter how well respected an individual is…all people are vulnerable. We all have our weak points, we all have our strong points…we are all human.” The actors agreed with Mora, in the sense that the play’s main focus is not on the church or religion, but rather, the journey these three characters go through and the relationships they make between each other. “This show is about a battle between three men,” McGaughey said. “The battle for power between three men and how they stay grounded using the other people.” “God’s Man In Texas” performances will be held in the University Theatre Center’s Showcase Theatre between Nov. 18 and 22. Evening performances begin at 8 p.m. with house opening at 7:30 p.m. A Saturday matinee will show November 22 at 2 p.m., with house opening at 1:30 pm.. Tickets are available at the University Theatre Center Box office or at 936-294-1339. “The Storytelling Ability of a Boy” “The Storytelling Ability of a Boy” written by Carter W. Lewis, will be this semester’s final production from Sam Houston State University’s department of theatre and musical theatre. The third student-directed pro-
duction of the semester will give the audience an in depth and dramatic look into the eyes of teenagers and the personal struggles and triumphs they experience while trying to make it out of high school and the painfully awkward adolescent years. Senior theatre major and “The Storytelling Ability of a Boy” director Lex Laas said preparation for the show required him to revisit memories from high school. “It definitely brought me back to high school,” Laas said. “I kind of had to revisit my high school self.” Unlike the run of the mill teenage melodrama that highlights the lives of the kids who seemingly have it easy in high school, this show spotlights the students who are a little more out there. Tanith Albright, freshman theatre major plays Dora, a sassy, goth-like outcast. Trey Brake, sophomore theatre major plays Peck, who is Dora’s best friend and a social outcast himself. AnJunior theatre ma-jor Anna Drake plays Caitlin, Dora and Peck’s teacher who is fighting a battle of her own. This show deals with particularly heavy themes that are dramatic and shocking, but still true to what happens in real life. Realistic to actual high school students, the show contains language, sexual situa-tions and references to violence with intensity that the actors said these themes taught them life les-sons. “These are three people who are on the periphery of life,” Drake said. “They’re not the center, they’re not the focus…in highschool you don’t really hear — THEATRE, page 4
Players of the Week
DONAVAN WILLIAMS, RUNNING BACK
Running back Donavan Williams led all Bearkats with three touchdowns in Sam Houston State’s 76-0 blowout over Houston Baptist. Williams rushed for 212 yards and three scores from distances of 80, 24 and 56 yards. Williams’ 12 rushes averaged 16.3 yards per carry and led the Bearkats with 222 allpurpose yards. The junior from Belton averages 51.7 yards a game and is third on the team in rushing yards and touchdowns.
SHERNISE ROBERTSON, GUARD
Guard Shernise Robertson dropped a game-high 21 points in Sam Houston State’s 71-45 loss to Louisiana State. Robertson shot 7-15 from the field, including 5-10 from behind the arc. Robertson also totaled four steals and a perfect 2-2 from the free throw line. The junior from Cypress was the only Bearkat to score double digits in the season opener.
UPD, page 4
Beto Building brings history TEDDI CLIETT Staff Reporter Mere blocks away from Huntsville’s Walls Unit sits the Sam Houston State University George J. Beto Criminal Justice Building, whose doors hundreds of Bearkats pass through every day. Although the most modern of information is shared within the red brick walls, the history of the building dates back more than 40 years. Construction on the CJ building began in the 1970s and was erected entirely by inmate labor, which reduced costs dramatically. According to buildingshsu.com, there is a display in the building honoring the inmates who helped with construction, highlighting the irony in the fact that convicted felons built a facility that would prepare future generations for careers in law enforcement. “They did an outstanding job,” criminal justice professor Larry Hoover said. “Rumors of deliberate sabotage and so forth were not true. The building was completed flawlessly, essentially, and has been a great aspect to the criminal justice center.” Inside of the display sits the hat of one of the inmates who assisted with the construction. Criminal justice professor Emeritus Charles Friel, Ph.D., predicts that the inmate was one of the last ones to work on the building and more than likely forgot his cap after a long day, which he found in one of the classrooms — BUILDING, page 4