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WHAT’S INSIDE? Department uses film for educational purposes Editorial: Online fee waviers are hypocritical Bearkat football struggling to the finish line
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Volume 124/ Issue 23
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Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Board of Regents establishes optional fixed tuition program CAMPUS
The Texas State University System Board of Regents met Nov. 9 to approve a new guaranteed price plan – or fixed tuition – program, which will take effect fall 2014 for incoming freshmen at Sam Houston State University. Fixed tuition price plans are financial programs that offer a set tuition for a student’s four years in college—a tuition calculated by anticipating future increases in the designated tuition of the university. The board, which governs SHSU, approved a fixed tuition rate of $172 per credit hour, according to its November board book. According to SHSU’s Vice President of Finance and Operations Al Hooten, students who elect to take part in the Guaranteed Price Plan will have a tuition rate roughly 12 percent
higher than that of students not on the plan. This number is based on the average general 3.95 percent increase SHSU experiences each year in designated tuition. Students currently pay $137 per credit hour. So if a student took 12 hours under current tuition and fee rates, he or she would pay $3,304, while a student selecting the fixed tuition plan would pay $3,724, which is about 12 percent more. “I think each student needs to sit down and look at their own particular circumstances—sit down with their parents,” Hooten said. “They can come in and pay 12 percent more, and then the next year when there’s a raise in designated tuition, theirs will stay the same and over time, it will even itself out.” Hooten said the program will cover only the essential fees all students must pay to attend SHSU and will exclude elective fees. “[The plan] covers mandatory fees—things like student center fees and health service fees, and
it does not cover non-mandatory fees—things like parking is not mandatory, so those things may rise in that amount of time for that student coming in,” Hooten said. In the spring, the 83rd regular session of Texas Legislature passed House Bill 29, which requires the governing boards of Texas universities to offer a fixed-tuition price plan for its students for all public Texas institutes of higher education.
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“I think each student needs to sit down and look at their own particular circumstances—sit down with their parents. - Al Hooten
Although the bill forced all public universities to implement a fixed tuition rate plan, the University of Texas at Dallas already has had a mandatory plan in place for the last several years. According to www.collegecalc. org, out of every public university
CHIRSTIAN VAZQUEZ Staff Reporter The latest development in the National Security Agency’s phone metadata collection practices places any possible resolution in the hands of Congress. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a lawsuit suit from Electronic Privacy Information Center on the phone metadata collection program that Edward Snowden disclosed in June, according to Wired. EPIC attempted to bring the issue directly to the U.S. Supreme Court to sue the NSA Monday. Two weeks ago, members in congress proposed bipartisan legislation that would stop the NSA’s phone data collection program. The legislation, dubbed the USA FREEDOM Act, has been gaining support from Republicans, Democrats, American Civil Liberties Union and the National Rifle Association. According to the government documents leaked to the press, the program that captures millions of Americans’ phone records has been happening since 2006, and it has been authorized by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court several times. “As of Oct. 1, 14 different judges of the FISC, on 34 separate occasions, have approved Section 1861 orders directing telecommunications service providers to produce records in connection with the Telephony Records Program,” Wired’s David Kravets said. According to Gregory Ferenstein from Techcrunch, there are many members of Congress who are proposing reforms to the bill. Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., is currently pushing a bill to limit the number officials who can question the currently collected data. According to Ferenstein, all of the proposals will have to wait until President Barack Obama’s NSA task force releases its recommendations. “Then, next year, in between budget negotiations, immigration reform and health care, a congress that hasn’t passed any major bills will have to tackle surveillance reform,” Ferenstein wrote. “This is going to take a while.” Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and former Republican congressman Ron Paul are completely against the bill and even want citizens to sue the NSA and allow more transparency to the public.
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in Texas, UTD has the most expensive in-state tuition of $10,666. This will be the first fixed rate tuition plan offered by SHSU. According to Hooten, the regents decided to make SHSU’s program elective to give students options. “It gives people options you know,” Hooten said. “Some individuals and some parents somewhere may be able to develop their family budget for a longer period of time, or if you are a parent and you have a young child coming along, you know you have to save ‘x’ amount of money— that’s the amount of money you need to have every year.” While the plan might be ideal for some students, for others it may not be the best option. “[The program] allows that individual to look at their own particular circumstances,” he said. “For example, since it’s 12 percent higher, if you’re looking to enroll here and then transfer somewhere else or if you’re going to drop out, it’s not worth it. If you intend to
stay however, it is worth it. So everyone needs to look at their own particular circumstances and the board wants to give everyone that option.” Designated tuition goes into things like new faculty positions, faculty salary increases and the funding of new programs—as Hooten put it, “it’s all a part of one big bucket.” Hooten said now that the plan is in place, the board and administration still have a lot of work to do to communicate with incoming freshmen and work out the details of the program. “It’s going to be interesting how many students are going to sign up—we just have no idea,” he said. “What we’ve got to do now is start advertising and getting information out to parents of incoming students and then they can make a decision on what they want to do. We’ve got to work out all the details of the whole thing, so we’ve got a lot of work yet to do.”
BUSINESS
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Supreme Court refuses involvement in NSA case
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HANNAH ZEDAKER Senior Reporter
UP IN SMOKE Local hookah bar closes after suffering from unstable economy Kassidy Turnpaugh | The Houstonian
GUNDY’S. Gundy’s patrons enjoyed their hookahs, board games and the social atmosphere of Huntsville’s only hookah bar Sunday after an unstable summer. Owner Taylor Gunderson said the business wasn’t completely dead, but he’d rather shut down before it does.
KASSIDY TURNPAUGH Staff Reporter Despite a short-lived stay, Gundy’s, a cafe and hookah bar in Huntsville, threw a celebratory goodbye Sunday as it closed its doors for good. After a grand opening Oct. 24, 2012, Gundy’s saw a flood of popularity and quickly became the talk of the town. A little over a year later patrons gathered for one last hurrah with the “Let’s Burn This Place to the Ground Party” and to bid Taylor “Gundy” Gunderson’s brain child a fond farewell. Many patrons expressed confusion and disappointment at the popular hot spot’s closure. Many likened the shop to a second home and a safe haven where their creativity and “weird-ness” could flourish. “It was quite devastating to hear it was shutting down,” Carl Durbin, a former regular at Gundy’s, said. “I was sad. I was pissed. I was mad. I didn’t quite understand what was going on.” Durbin is one of many patrons who made a home out of Gundy’s and could often be found outside of the doors with his signature pipe.
The pain of Gundy’s shut-down hit especially hard for the employees. “I cannot imagine working anywhere else,” said former Gundy’s employee, Diamantina Jenkins. “This has been one of the greatest experiences that I have had in a very long time. It just made me realize that there still are caring people in the world and I want to be one of them and if we have more places like this it generates a feeling of community and love between one another.” Amid the disappointment in Gundy’s closing was a bit of reflection in all those who had come to love the hookah bar. Durbin came here after Starbucks stopped allowing smoking outside. “I came across Gundy’s because, at first I was an avid Starbucks person for 10 years, then they stopped the smoking on the patio and I’m an avid smoker,” Durbin said. “I heard about this place walked around, looked at it and said, ‘This is my new home.’ They put up a little drawing of Jim Morrison I’d done and I said, ‘That’s it. I’m home.’” The sadness of such a place meeting its end was felt by almost all who entered and most who left did so while saying they were sad.
The fall of Gundy’s hit none as hard it did Gundy himself, though. Nonetheless Gundy has maintained a positive attitude throughout his endeavors. “I don’t regret anything I’ve done here,” Gunderson said. “I am happy with what I’ve done, and this won’t be the last Huntsville sees of me. It may be a year down the road or two years down the road, but I am going to open up something different and new. This time around I will be able to pay 100 percent attention to the business.” Like so many businesses before it, Gundy’s was a victim of the unstable economy that Huntsville faces in the summer months, according to Gunderson, as well as his inability to dedicate all of his attention to the business. “Summer was very hard for me.” Gunderson said. “The summer killed us, but we were able to tread with our head barely above water. Once we saw the school year start we were able to see that the business needs to grow a lot more and that it needs the full attention of an owner. That thought came in at about mid-October. I thought about it; —CLOSED, page 2
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News
Tuesday, November 19, 2013 houstonianonline.com/news
CAMPUS
Houston anchor gives life lessons, direction of news MOLLY WADDELL Associate Editor Dave Ward, Channel 13 KTRKTV news anchor, gave Sam Houston State University students career advice about how to make it big in the journalism world and life in general Thursday. Ward came to campus as a part of Mingling with the Media, an event put together each semester by Priority One, a student-run public relations firm on campus. Peter Roussel, SHSU’s Warner Endowed Chair of Journalism, interviewed Ward using his own and student-submitted questions. Ward led off with the story he reported that he would never forget, which was also the story of how news shifted from print to television: the John F. Kennedy assassination in November 1963. “I had to put that bulletin on the air,” Ward said. “The disk jockey across the glass from me, I will never forget the expression on his face. He wheeled to me, and this look of absolute horror and shock on his face. It’s a look I will never forget. And I interviewed him
about that day and he told me he will never forget what I looked like. He said, ‘Dave at that time I looked over there when you said that and you were white as a sheet, your eyes were full of shock and horror, too.’” Ward said that people don’t forget things like that. He also said that up until that day the mass majority of Americans were reading newspapers. “After Nov. 22, 1963, that role switched to television,” Ward said. “People started to rely on television for their daily news and that started the decline of the print newspaper.” Ward said that no matter the medium in which people receive news, the role of the news reporter will never change. “No matter where you get your information, somebody had to dig it up, somebody had to write it and report it,” Ward said. “That never changes; the job remains the same.” Ward began his career as disk jockey and as he noted, a horrible one. He then moved up to program director and eventually was offered a job at Channel 13
Molly Waddell | The Houstonian
ANCHOR. (left) Peter Roussel, Warner Endowed Chair, interviews Channel 13 KTRK-TV news anchor, Dave Ward during Mingling with the Media.
KTRK-TV news. According to Roussel, no one has been a local news anchor for the same station longer than Ward. Ward was born in Dallas, but raised in Huntsville. He moved to Houston in 1962 and has been
there ever since. Ward praised Walter Cronkite as his idol because of his objectivity. “Watching Walter Cronkite’s news cast, you would be hard pressed to label him left or right,” Ward said. “He really worked to be objective. I thought he realized the
importance of objectivity in news reporting.” Ward said news anchors must maintain objectivity, because the viewer can “read you like a book, and if are trying to slant something they will catch that so quick.”
CAMPUS
Foreign language now using film as educational tool ASHLEE SYMANK Contributing Reporter The foreign language department joined a newer trend in education by using film as a main tool in classes this semester. While most college classes use video clips and short educational documentaries as supplements to their lessons, the language department has begun implementing feature length films into several classes.
Full-length films are shown as visual aids because it’s a new and exciting way for students and teachers to engage in learning, according to professors from the foreign language department. They say it also has a greater impact on the student’s ability to grasp concepts taught in class. For Spanish American Culture and Civilization, Debra Andrist, Ph.D., chair of Foreign Languages Department, screens one film a week in addition to other traditional lectures and textbook
readings. Her class is designed mainly to develop general cultural competence and appreciation for the Spanish language countries in the Americas. “I find that [film] really enhances the learning experience,” Andrist said. “For all the students to have a visual, and it kind of breaks it up and gives them a different view.” Contemporary Arab World, a class taught by Samar Zahrawi, incorporates short and feature length Arab films as well as full-
length dramas, short stories and journalistic writings into the curriculum. Zahrawi’s class is focused on presenting an authentic image of the modern Arab world and breaking the stereotype connected to Arabs. According to Zahrawi, primarily speaking about Arab culture is not enough. The visual aid is more effective at giving the students a feel for the issues faced by the Arab people. “Conflict is shown very vividly in the film and students
understand more. Identifying with people is my goal,” said Zahrawi. “It’s better than just knowledge. It’s knowledge plus emotion and feelings.” A Survey of German Film, taught by James Frankki, is taught solely through full-length films. Frankki begins with the silent films of the 1920s and continues to present-day features. The department hopes to add more strictly film courses in German, Arabic and Chinese over the coming semesters.
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Board approves new building names, accepts online education JAY R. JORDAN Assistant News Editor The Texas State University System Board of Regents approved largely honorary name changes, and compliance with state legislation, at the most recent meeting last week. The board approved renaming the university police department building after retired UPD police chief and public safety director Charles W. Tackett. He served at SHSU for more than 50 years. Tackett fought in the late 1980s for university police departments in Texas to have jurisdiction in any county in which their respective universities own property. As a result, the Texas higher education code was altered after House Bill 391 was passed in 1987. Also approved was the naming of a proposed building to reflect SHSU donor and Therm-Omega-Tech, Inc. founder Frederick Pirkle. The alumnus donated $25 million to the university in 2011, according to Today@Sam. “Mr. Pirkle’s lifelong work ethic, his significant accomplishments, and his historic contribution of $25 million to SHSU to financially support industrial technology and the emergence of engineering technology make it exceedingly appropriate for the Technology Center to bear his name,” university president Dana Gibson said to the board. Part of Pirkle’s donation, $10 million will go toward the erecting of the Fred Pirkle Technology Center, which will hold classrooms and laboratories. If the university receives approval for a technological engineering program, the $20-million building will be named the Fred Pirkle Engineering Technology Center. In addition to the buildings’ name changes, professor of finance Bala Maniam, Ph.D., was recognized as a Regents’ Professor. Dean of the College of Business Administration Mitchell J. Muehsam, Ph.D., said that Maniam’s success in the
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whether this was the right decision and I got to a breaking point in my life trying to support this business and with that decision I said I that I didn’t want this business to suffer and to go downhill.” Gunderson decided to take his business out with a bang, instead
classroom lead to his recognition by the regents. “Dr. Maniam sets an extraordinarily high standard for his students and himself,” Muehsam said. “He demands that his students pursue knowledge, not grades, and does everything in his power to help his students help themselves.” The board also amended the TSUS Rules and Regulations, allowing students to store firearms inside vehicles on campus in cooperation with new legislation. Senate Bill 1907 passed in June 2013 and made having guns inside cars on university property legal. Student Body President Ramiro Jaime, Jr. and Student Body Vice President Kolby Flowers attended the TSUS Student Advisory Board meeting at the same time the Board of Regents met. Jaime spoke about the direction of online education at SHSU and the other TSUS universities in a report published to the BOR by the SAB. “Education is experiencing an increasing demand for online classes,” Jaime said. “Professors acquired their knowledge in a different time period and are now expected to instruct in a learning environment that has exponentially differed from their own.” The report outlined that while students pay online fees, the burden is passed onto them when they need help. One example Jaime gave was when students email professors, they are either ignored or directed to the tech support of the publisher of the curriculum. “Additional fees are incurred under the guise of convenience, technology or delivery equipment when online classes are taken,” Jaime said. “If students are paying these fees, universities should ensure that online classes are convenient for the students, not just the professors.” The report also outlined SAB’s issues with cooperation between student governments and administrations, the lack of space on campuses for student organizations and advocated for having a streamlined process for students’ grievances against professors.
of the fizzle most businesses decay with. “Instead of seeing this place deteriorate and go down in flames, I didn’t want that to happen,” Gunderson said. “And most businesses close over night without telling their customers and it’s a sad thing. It’s sad to see a business go like that. And I didn’t
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want that to happen, so that’s why I put on Facebook the ‘Let’s Burn This Place to the Ground Party.’ Because I didn’t want people to cry over this.” Though Gundy’s the hookah bar may be gone, there is still hope that Gundy’s will return in another form: A microbrewery. “Next I am going to concentrate
on my live production job and continue to save money,” he said. “The next idea is to create an atmosphere for Huntsville that has a craft beer and microbrewery type aspect.” In the meantime it can certainly be said that Gundy’s has changed Huntsville. “It’s just what humanity in
general needs and it’s nice when you can see it in such a small town that you would think would be so closed to new thoughts or trying to change,” Jenkins said. “A place like this generates change and that’s what Huntsville needs, and that is really why it is such a tragedy.”
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Viewpoints
Tuesday, November 19, 2013 houstonianonline.com/viewpoints
EDITORIAL
SHSU hypocritical with its online student-fee waivers
Kassidy Turnpaugh | The Houstonian
Texans’ gun-love could be example for US
ZACH COHEN Columnist In a state where firearms are considered loved ones, any talk of limiting ownership rights is constantly met with heavily armed opposition. Even in the past decade with the rise of horrific mass shootings across the country, Texas remains steadfast in its lax gun control statutes being among the most lenient in the nation. While the rest of the United States may look at the state as ignorant, there is something the other 49 states could learn from Texas. Texas ranks first in arms dealers, and lenient gun laws keep the exact number of firearms in the state unknown. Even with this, so-called “gun-crazy” Texas still ranked 23rd in gun related deaths per 100,000 people in 2011. I think Texans’ mindset factors into this low ranking. Texans promote a gun-safe culture that exhibits an understanding of firearms and the role
PAWS UP to bitcoins being declared legitimate by the Federal Exchange Commission. Netizens will be happy.
they play. Instead of being viewed as the feared harbingers of death like they are in so many other parts of the country, Texans have a responsible view of guns as a part of life. They understand that a gun alone has never taken the life of a human. It’s the one who pulls the trigger who is to blame. Texas isn’t alone when it comes to a high rate of gun ownership. In 2009 there was an estimated 310 million firearms across the country. That is almost as many guns as citizens and is by far the highest number of any country in the world. Historically high rates of guns in a country equate to a higher number of homicides. In 2011, the country’s gun homicide rate far outpaced all other industrialized countries. Italy is the closest, which the US more than quadrupled. This tells more about our country’s nature than the fact that we are armed to the teeth. Other countries such as Finland have shown guns don’t always equal death. While not having near the number of firearms as the U.S., they still rank relatively high with 69 guns per 100 people in 2010. That same year the country suffered from only 14 gun homicides. This can be accredited to stricter gun regulations and the lack of a law equaling our Second Amendment. Similar implementations to states in the U.S. that constantly rank among the top
in gun-related homicides could help to alleviate these numbers. However, both countries share a similar problem that still has yet to be answered. Why the recent rise in mass shootings over the past decade? The ownership of guns is clearly not to blame because the issue is too complex. These tragedies are nothing new to the United States as over the past 30 years there have been at least 67 mass shootings across the country. The vast majority of the time the firearms used in these incidents were obtained legally and out of the country’s 12 most deadly shootings, half have occurred since 2007. In these situations firearms have been made out as an easy target for citizens to use as a scapegoat. While Texas isn’t immune to these events, the state has definitely not suffered as much as many other parts of the country. An understanding of firearms and their proper role under the Second Amendment has kept the state relatively safe from these incidents. If the rest of the country wants to see less of these tragedies then there are two options: either adopt the mindset Texans have or follow Finland’s example of tighter regulations. Whatever happens, the U.S. needs to keep out of Texas gun laws and worry about the places where simply owning a firearm is seen as a problem.
PAWS UP to the “Legend of Korra” season finale. Kudos to an amazing end to an amazing show.
PAWS DOWN
PAWS DOWN to U.S. PAWS DOWN to Facebook filling up your wall with ads. programmers failing on the ACA The posts were messy enough website still a month later. We’re not seeing needed results. without corporations involved.
PAWS UP
Online-only students are facing the brunt of an unfair fee system that requires them to pay fees for things they might never use while having other fees waived that they should pay. The two fees we take issue with are the athletics fee and the student service fee, which online-only students are required to pay because the university says they may use the programs. Three other fees are waived because they aren’t expected to use them. But there’s really no difference. The student service fee supports the intramural program, student life support programs and extramural programs. It also provides admission and access to university facilities, programs and activities. The athletic fee, as the name would suggest, support athletics and subsidizes the free tickets student get for home games. The problem is that online-only students can’t be expected to use the services these fees pay for as much as other students. It seems that the athletic and student service fee are favored as they are likely not to be used any more than the three waived fees. The waiver document states that the Board of Regents has delegated the President of Sam Houston State University to establish waiver and exemption criteria. This means that which fees are waved and which are not is ultimately up to the President. SHSU president Dana Gibson, Ph.D., told the Houstonian that online only students may want to attend athletic events, so paying that fee would gain them entrance. “The services/facilities for Recreational Sports, the Health Center, and Lowman Student Center are all located on campus, and typically students who are taking 100 percent of their classes online do not utilize these services,” she said. “With payment of the athletic fee, students with a valid SHSU identification card have the opportunity to attend all regular-season athletic events free of an admission charge.” Fully online learners get three different fees waived: medical services, recreational sports and the student center fee, according to the Waivers and Exemptions Fall 2013 list. SHSU has 2,303 fully online students, and these students accumulated $696,025 in waived fees. There are two options that the university should take to make the system balanced: Either make online-only students pay for all the fees currently waived, or waive athletics and student service fees. Clearly there are pros and cons in both solutions and we aren’t necessarily advocating for one more than the other. According to Texas state statute 54.218, the governing board of an institution of higher education may waive a fee it is authorized to charge if the board determines that a student is 100 percent online, they can’t be expected to pay the fee and the waive of the fee will not hurt the ability of the program to continue. The university’s stance is clear that they expect online students to attend athletic events, which they don’t seem to feel the same way about the three waived fees that all exist on campus. The other thing is that students that live oncampus or in town but only take online classes are able to take advantage of supplies other students have paid for, which lets them use facilities and supplies they don’t fund. By forcing online only students to pay the three currently waived fees, it would net the school more money and balance out the fairness in students that use facilities that don’t pay for them. But it could reduce the number of online students SHSU gets. But as great as Bearkat athletics are, we doubt droves of online-only students are lining up to see them play. The university couldn’t rationally conclude, as they apparently do, that online students should be expected to go to athletic events or join a student organization. The logic of both Texas law and Gibson should lead us to believe that those students shouldn’t have to pay the fee. Although this would make an online degree cheaper and make it attractive, the school would probably make less money, and in the end student services and athletics would suffer, which isn’t any better either. Especially with the push to have more online students, the university administration needs to completely rework the way they set fee waivers for fully online students.
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EDITOR’S NOTE Articles, letters and cartoons by Houstonian staff members or others in this paper are their own and not the opinion of the Houstonian, unless it is noted as such. Submissions and letters to the editor are welcome. Please send submissions to viewpoints@houstonianonline.com. Articles may be edited for grammar and spelling at discretion of editor. Unsolicited oppinions should be 150 words or under. Please contact us if you wish to submit anything longer. Deadline for submission is by 5 p.m. on Mondays or Wednesdays.
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Stephen Green....................................................................................................................................936-294-1505 FACULTY ADVISER Robin Johnson..................................................................................................................................936-294-1499 STAFF Molly Waddell.............................................................................................................................Associate Editor Molly Shove.................................................................................................................................Viewpoints Editor Connor Hyde......................................................................................................................................Sports Editor Joseph Redd...........................................................................................................................Entertainment Editor Monty Sloan.............................................................................................................................................Web Editor Jay R. Jordan......................................................................................................................... Assistant News Editor Kizzie Frank..............................................................................................................Assistant Entertainment Editor Jeremy Villanueva.................................................................................................................Assistant Sports Editor Alexa Grigsby..............................................................................................................Assistant Viewpoints Editor Marissa Hill.....................................................................................................................................Sports Reporter Hannah Zedeker.............................................................................................................................Senior Reporter Miranda Landsman................................................................................................................Multimedia Reporter Samantha Zambrano.............................................................................................................................Layout Editor Kassidy Turnpaugh.....................................................................................................................Graphic Designer Staff Reporter.....................Dana Price, Christian Vazquez, Samantha Gallindo, Kaleigh Treiber, Kim Wroth, Alex Broussard
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Arts&Entertainment
Tuesday, November 19, 2013 houstonianonline.com/a-e
REVIEW
Lady Gaga remains Queen of Pop with new, hit album “ARTPOP” DHARMESH PATEL Contributing Reporter
Photo from Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga once again attempts to re-establish her brand and the pop music genre itself with her fourth studio album “ARTPOP.” The album is a brewing cauldron of so many conflicting elements including spacey synth beats, loud bass, and even a few rappers thrown in. At times it fails to bring these elements into a cohesive whole. Almost as if Gaga herself pulled our emotions with a string, ARTPOP evokes a clear black and white divide of “love it or hate it.” “I love everything Gaga and from what I’ve heard so far it’s amazing,” said sociology major Roxanne Gordon. It’s this double edged sword that Gaga thrives on to keep her in the forefront of innovation and controversy. “I want to like her music, but I just think she’s trying too hard,” said Parbattee Maharaj, a junior mass communication student. In a musical love letter to her fans “Dope,” Gaga cries, “I need
you more than dope.” She realizes that she would not have solidified her position in pop super stardom without them. But despite the love she displays for her “little monsters” – the term used for her die-hard fans – her album is random and all over the place. Lead single “Applause” garnered a mediocre response in comparison to her previous infectious hits. It only reached No. 4 on the U.S. charts and lacked in sales when compared to past releases such as “Bad Romance” and “Poker Face.” Not lacking, however, is her use of shock value to remain relevant and edgy. The production value of the album is present, but it’s the lyrics that will leave you scratching your head for all the wrong reasons. On the track “Mary Jane Holland,” her homage to marijuana, she sings, “I know mom and dad think I’m a mess. But it’s OK because I’m rich as piss.” In “Donatella” Gaga pays her respects to the House of Versace
with, “Walk down the runway but don’t puke, it’s OK. You just had a salad today, boulangerie. Just ask your gay friends their advice before you get a spray tan on holiday in Taipei.” Some tracks are outright terrible like her attempt to break into the hip-hop game with “Jewels N’ Drugs.” Rappers T.I., Too Short and Twista couldn’t save this sinking ship. Others such as “Do What U Want” featuring R. Kelly are instant hits with the song being featured in a Beats By Dr. Dre for Best Buy commercial. If you can get passed the bizarre and mindless lyrics, “ARTPOP” is everything you’d expect from classic Gaga. The music itself is fresh and the sound is new. For example, the track “G.U.Y.” has the potential to be the next “Just Dance” being both club ready and radio friendly. Regardless of being leaked onto the Internet almost a full week before its Nov. 11 release, “ARTPOP” will no doubt fair well on the charts.
CAMPUS
“Once Upon an Opera” blends fairy tails with genre
Photo courtesy COFAM
SAVANNAH WOODWORTH Contributing Reporter “Once Upon an Opera” is a series of songs from fairytalebased operas brought together for children that was the latest
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offering from the SHSU music department. The audience follows Little Red Riding Hood as she meets prominent characters from each story on her way to grandma’s house. The two-hour long performance on Friday and Saturday contained
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songs in English, Italian, French and German. The performance showcased a range of songs from classical composers such as Gioacchino Rossini to the more modern Richard Rogers of Rogers and Hammerstein. Little Red Riding Hood introduced each performance and encouraged audience participation. Her dialogue in between songs was often a conversation with the audience, asking questions and making jokes to bring them into the scene. “It was very interactive. It’s nice that you’re drawn in, you laugh with her,” said Jessica Nava, a Sam Houston State University student at the Friday night performance. Show director Rebecca Grimes, Ph.D., tried to update the opera to make it more appealing to any audiences. “For this performance, I tried to make the dialogue a little more sophisticated - something that would appeal to an older audience,” Grimes said. “I also had the students sing in the original languages and used supertitles. For the kid’s shows, the singers only sang in English translation.” A lot of work went into the preparations from the cast and crew leading up to the first night since the beginning of the semester or about two to three months,” said Rachel Rodriguez, who played Little Red Riding Hood in Friday’s performance. The adapted show played to
a sold out auditorium on both nights. A free live stream was set up in the concert hall for those who could not get a ticket but still wanted to see the performance. The performance contained facts about music and the composers in between songs so the characters educated the audience while entertaining. “The show was created as a fun way to introduce children to opera - by using stories that they already knew and could relate to,” Grimes said. It was such a hit that we had two different versions of the show that we would use.” The original concept of the show, written and produced by Grimes, was made for her own company years before.
“I wrote and produced a similar show for a small opera company in the Boston area called Opera del West, a company that I cofounded and directed with a pianist colleague in 2006,” she said. The show was created to be part of a children’s performance series at the theater where Grimes was in residence. Fairy tales are commonly found in Disney movies and used to teach children life lessons but in “Once Upon an Opera,” Grimes used her work to teach a love of music. “What better way to introduce new audiences to opera than through these beloved little tales?” Grimes asked.
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Sports
Tuesday, November 19, 2013 houstonianonline.com/sports
FOOTBALL
SHSU limping toward playoffs Lions claw Kats in second-half for win CONNOR HYDE Sports Editor Sam Houston State’s struggle on the road followed them to Hammond, La., as Southeastern Louisiana overtook the Bearkats in the second half for a 34-21 win and their first bid in the NCAA FCS Division I Playoffs. Quarterbacks Brian Bell and Brian Bennett sparked a first half shootout in which the Bearkats went into the locker room with a 21-17 lead. Yet, second half turnovers afflicted SHSU’s offense for Southeastern to clinch their first Southland Conference title. Although Bell complemented the Bearkats’ first half production with three passing touchdowns, SHSU head coach Willie Fritz said Saturday’s loss stems from Bearkats inability to close out the first half on defense. Trailing 21-10 in the closing minutes of the second quarter, Bennett, a former backup quarterback at Oregon University, strung together a series of completions to receiver Jeff Smiley to SHSU’s 7-yard line. With 15 seconds left on the clock, Bennett connected with Marquis Fruge in the end zone to narrow SHSU’s lead 21-17 at the end of the half. “That quarterback (Bennett) is really good. He gets the offense going,” Fritz said. “The big key of the game was that we didn’t close out the first half. We closed the first
half poorly and started the second half poorly.” Bennett and company’s opening drive to start the third quarter was short lived as Bennett sniffed out running back Xavier Roberson in open field for a 62-yard completion for their first lead of the game 24-21. However it wasn’t Bennett’s second half performance that troubled SHSU, Southeastern Louisiana’s defense headed by linebacker Isiah Corbett and defensive back Kevin Harmon bullied SHSU’s pass scheme. Bell struggled to rekindle his first half production in the air as three consecutive offensive drives closed with a punt. Southeastern countered SHSU’s stagnant offense with a touchdown drive at the end of the third quarter to take a 31-21 lead. Bell responded and carried the Bearkats into the red zone, targeting senior receiver Torrance Williams for 35-yards on the drive. Situated on the Lions’ 20-yard line, Bell dropped back for a screen pass intended for running back Timothy Flanders that was picked off by Corbett and returned for 61 yards to SHSU’s 19-yard line. “When you play a quality team like [Southeastern Louisiana] it comes down to who can make the least amount of mistakes and who makes the most big plays,” Fritz said. “They made less mistakes and made more big plays than we did.” SHSU’s defense stifled Roberson on Courtesy GoBearkats the ground to force a 31-yard field goal to extend Southeastern Louisiana’s lead 34-21. ROUGH ROAD GAME. Senior quarterback Brian Bell throws downfield against Southeastern SHSU’s following drive bulldozed into the Louisiana Saturday in Hammond, La. Bell totaled three touchdowns and 135 yards in the air, Lions’ red zone with Bell connecting with complemented by 112 yards on the ground. receivers Gerald Thomas and Williams, before ripping through Southeastern’s game with a shoulder injury, as sophomore game momentum following King’s second front seven for a 24-yard rush. Bell took a quarterback Don King III and freshman drive, yet SHSU’s offensive line couldn’t hold hit that removed him from the rest of the quarterback Jared Johnson interchanged off the Lions’ pass rush to give the freshman under center. quarterback time to work the pocket. Harmon picked off King for the SHSU’s playoff hopes hinge on Saturday’s Bearkats second turnover inside the matchup against Central Arkansas in red zone on a fly route to the corner Conway, Ark. Currently the Bearkats of the end zone for a touchback. are third in league standings behind “There’s a possibility of 14 points Southeastern Louisiana and McNeese State, there that could swing it the other with the Bears a game behind. way,” Fritz said. “Anytime you turn “We’re going to have to play our tails the ball over it’s not good but when off this week against Central Arkansas up you do it inside the red zone it’s really there,” Fritz said. “I feel like if we win that not good for you.” ballgame we get into playoffs.” Johnson stepped in to spark late
PLAYER OF THE WEEK JOHNSON
RECORDED
31
#3-JASMINE JOHNSON POINTS AGAINST THE
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE RAGIN’ CAJUNS FRIDAY AT JOHNSON COLISEUM. JOHNSON REPRESENTED SAM
HOUSTON STATE’S OFFENSIVE STRENGTH THROUGH
THE SECOND PERIOD TO HOLD OFF THE CAJUNS.
Total Points 31
3-Pointers 3-4
Free Throws 12-17
SENIOR GUARD
Bearkats earn first round rematch against Islanders MARISSA HILL Sports Reporter The Bearkats will walk into the Southland Conference tournament touting the fourth seed after wrapping up regular-season play finishing 1-1 against Houston Baptist and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. But as the Bearkats square off for a rematch against the Islanders in the first round of the tournament, senior setter Tayler Gray said she’s expecting a different outcome compared to Saturday’s loss. “We were up in all three games [against TAMU-CC],” she said. “Then we would spot them four or five points and we just can’t do that.” Although the Bearkats dominated the floor in three sets against HBU Thursday, they couldn’t carry their momentum as the Islanders won in three straight sets in Corpus Christi. Junior right side hitter Ashley Phelps dominated the Islanders offense, laying down 12 kills against the Bearkat defense. Yet SHSU maintained offensive pressure. Both ballclubs were aggressive early tied at 8-8 in the first set, trading points through the 11th point. TAMU-CC’s offense sparked on three consecutive kills from junior outside hitter Brianna Brink. SHSU retaliated behind the arms of outside hitter Lauren Bohlen and middle blocker Haley Neisler, setting the score at 16-17. Neisler said Saturday’s matchup allowed the Bearkats to study the Islanders tendencies to see where they were able to gain momentum. “We’re going to focus on the things that make us strong,” she said. “We’re looking forward to play [TAMU-CC] again right away because we know what
they are capable of.” After two more kills from Bohlen and Wells-Gibson, SHSU was up 21-20, but several errors committed by the Bearkats gave the Islanders the first set victory. TAMU-CC came out vicious in the second set, putting considerable distance between them and SHSU with a 15-5 score. Errors plagued the Bearkats for the next four points as they tried to get their offense rolling, but the Islanders came up with a big block against Bohlen, reducing the effort to a sputter. Momentum swung in SHSU’s favor after that as they went on a 12-4 run with the help of a big block from Gray, followed by one from freshman middle blocker Shelby Genung, and errors committed by the Islanders. SHSU pulled within seven points, 2417, but couldn’t hold TAMU-CC off long enough to steal the set. The third set was tight with the ballclubs being tied at 10-10 toward the middle of the third set. SHSU got some energy going as they pulled off four consecutive points – three of them coming from Wells-Gibson kills. The Islanders responded with their own four-point run, finally bringing the set to another tied score of 17-17. After trading points, the Bearkats were up on the Islanders 22-21. However, SHSU service and attack errors, along with two timely kills from the Islanders, ended the match for the Bearkats. With the Islanders rematch coming up Friday, Gray believes they’re ready to take on the challenge. “We dropped the ball Saturday,” she said. “But we’re already over it and can’t wait to take on the Islanders again.” The Bearkats’ first-round rematch against the Islanders kicks off the conference tournament Friday in Corpus Christi with the semifinals and finals Saturday and Sunday.
Page 6 Tuesday, November 19, 2013 houstonianonline.com/
BASKETBALL
SHSU records first season win against Cajuns CONNOR HYDE Sports Editor Sam Houston State recorded their first win on the season with senior guard Jasmine Johnson tallying 31 points against Louisiana-Lafayette for an 83-73 win. Following two road losses against the University of Arkansas and University of Arkansas-Little Rock, the Bearkats strengthened their approach to the free throw line to maintain a steady 10-point lead throughout second period against the Cajuns. “When you go on the road to start off with and you know they’re going to be tough knowing you’re going to take a hit here or there, coming home and getting a home win just sparks everybody and gets them motivated,” SHSU head coach Brenda Nichols said. “Against UALR we lost the game by four, just in the first half we missed seven [free throws] last week. They’re supposed to make 50 a day right now so they see how important it is.” Nichols started three post players against LouisianaLafayette with center Angela Beadle and forward Nyha Carter
controlling the boards throughout the first half. The Bearkats maintained a 5-point advantage through the first period with Beadle controlling paint, pulling down 9 boards and posting 8 points. SHSU began to pull away from Louisiana-Lafayette in the closing minutes of the first period with guards Amanda Barnes, Summer Fife and Tayler Dorsey controlling the clock and working the post for a 10-point, 43-33 lead, to close the first period. Nichols said she wants to continue to take advantage of SHSU’s size and maintain a big starting lineup to continue their strength on the boards. “I think our inside game is really dominating this year,” she said. “I mean we’re starting three post players, like a triple post, that’s very intimidating. It changed [Louisiana-Lafayette’s] lineup at the beginning because they knew we were starting big.” Fouls and questionable officiating slowed game play in the second period as emotions spilled onto the hardwood from Louisiana-Lafayette’s coaching staff. Fouls from both teams nearly
Connor Hyde | The Houstonian
DETERMINED. Sam Houston State guard Jasmine Johnson attacks the paint against Louisiana-Lafayette Friday at Johnson Coliseum. Johnson recorded 31 points, landing 12 of her 17 free throw attempts against the Ragin’ Cajuns.
tripled in the second period compared to the opening 20 minutes. Nichols said officiating crews stated before the season the months of November and December would be tightly officiated with high fouling games, a statement that led to Beadle fouling out in the final minutes on
a blocked shot. “Any other night that last call should have been a blocked shot,” Nichols said. Louisiana-Lafayette slowly picked away at SHSU’s lead throughout the second period. Guard Keke Veal managed the Cajun’s offense, working inside
the paint. Cajun head coach Garry Brodhead aggressively expressed his distaste for the officiating crew to slowly become a part of the game. Although the Cajuns couldn’t break SHSU’s hold on offense, fouls continued to ravage both offenses. In the final minutes of the match, Brodhead was ejected from the game due to his actions on the sideline. Brodhead’s ejection signified Louisiana-Lafayette’s last breath of momentum on offense as Johnson took control for SHSU to run out the clock. “When you go on the road to start off with and you know they’re going to be tough knowing you’re going to take a hit here or there,” Nichols said. “Coming home and getting a home win just sparks everybody and gets them motivated.” SHSU will get an early look at Southland Conference opponent Houston Baptist tomorrow at Johnson Coliseum. Nicholls said HBU will turn into an in-house rivalry with former SHSU assistant coach Lauren Tippet now a part of the Huskie organization. Tip-off is at 6:30 at Johnson Coliseum.
HEALTH
Several studies show chocolate, other food increase productivity DANA PRICE Staff Reporter Dark chocolate, citrus fruits, water and caffeine are quick ways to jump-start the brain into becoming more productive, according to a new study. According to the Telegraph, volunteers were given large amounts compounds in chocolate, called flavanols, in a hot cocoa drink.
Researchers say that chocolate can help with mentally challenging tasks. The flavanols boosts the blood flow to the brain. “For things that are difficult to do, mentally demanding things that maybe crop up in your work it could help,” David Kennedy, director of the brain, performance and nutrition research center at Northumbria University said. According to a nonprofit organization Citrus Australia’s website, eating citrus is not only
healthy, but it also can make people more productive. The website said that scientists showed that eating an orange in the morning or when feeling exhausted will boost energy. Marie Claire’s website said sniffing an orange, lemon or lime can cause the brain to become alert as well. Psychology Today said that staying hydrated is necessary for staying alert and productive. They suggest right after waking up to
have a glass of water. The website said that water keeps the body focused and helps with short term memory. The website also said that when a person is thirsty, it is hard to keep their attention focused on tasks. Caffeine is also a go-to when feeling fatigued, according to a study published on the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). The study showed that in moderation, coffee
and tea increase energy and can enhance short-term memory. “The ability of caffeine in coffee to improve physical performance during aerobic exercise and to restore mental performance, when it has been impaired by fatigue, deserves wider recognition,” John Stanley, expert and lecturer in biochemistry at Trinity College told the Express Tribune.
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