TODAY’S FORECAST HI: 69o LOW: 53o
Cheyenne Simpson | The Houstonian
WASH program students overtake the campus in their semesterly creations in the “Inflatopia’ group projects featuring everything from a turtle to beehives.
Chance of Rain:
0%
Huntsville under another burn ban, according to officials
Volume 122 / Issue 26
P2
SHSU to play Cal Poly in second round of FCS playoffs after bye
www.HoustonianOnline.com
P6 P5
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Body farm corpses spared from forest fire STAFF REPORT
A fire near the Sam Houston State University body decomposition facility, also known as the body farm, was contained on Wednesday, officials said. The fire was located on the east side of Harmon Creek on Fish Hatchery Road and spread to more than five acres at one time, according to Anthony Tryon,
Walker County communication supervisor. The location was in the Sam Houston National Forest and made it’s way near the edge of the body farm. Butch Davis, Walker County emergency management coordinator, said the fire has probably been burning since Sunday when a thunderstorm came through Huntsville. He said the fire was most likely caused by lightning and was slow burning.
“There was no major damage,” Davis said. “When you have a slow burning fire like this one it helps to get the underbrush out of [the forest], which helps growth.” Officials first received the call at 4:04 p.m. The U.S. Forest Service is also working with Walker County Emergency Management to keep the fire contained, Davis said. University Police Department officers and the Huntsville Fire Department were the first to arrive
on scene. The body farm, officials said, was not in danger because it would have had to cross Harmon Creek. By that time, officials had already put a containment line around the flames. Davis said little wind and high humidity helped keep the fire under control and was “a cake walk” compared to the forest fires last summer. The body farm is a research facility used by the College of
Criminal Justice to understand how different circumstances effect human decomposition. A news report on the facility shows The site is not open to the public for viewing. Davis said there were still workers on the scene when he left, but that officials from the U.S. Forest Service, which watches over the safety public forests, will return Thursday morning to inspect progress on putting out the fire.
Tree of Light gets students ready for holiday season MCKINZIE BROCAIL Senior Reporter Bearkats bundled up and brought donations to the 92 nd annual Tree of Light Ceremony in the Plaza on campus Tuesday night. With candles in hand, students and faculty braved 55-degree weather as they gathered around the 40-foot Christmas tree waiting for it to light up. For some students, the event served as relief before the stress of finals hits. “We’re all enjoying time before finals stress us out and it’s a good cause,” Stephanie Gomez, freshman history major, said while wrapped up in a blanket. “I came out, then went back [to my dorm] for my gloves and blanket.” Sam Houston State University’s Orange Pride Dance Team danced to Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” and the SHSU Choral and Jazz Combo caroled holiday songs like “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Silent Night.” “I was singing along to ‘Jingle Bells,’” Paul O. Ajibolade II, animation freshman, said. “This is my first Tree of Light ceremony. It was exciting, everyone was cheering for it to start.” Holiday cheer was everywhere in the Bearkat Plaza. Christmas tree cookies and red velvet cupcakes were washed down with hot chocolate and wassail provided by Student Activities. Homecoming King and Queen, Ashton Winfree and Ashley Baker, introduced administrators and then made a “call for ornaments” where different university organizations got to trim the tree with an ornament representing their group. President Dana Gibson gave a brief history of the tradition. “The Tree of Light Ceremony is the oldest tradition in our university,” Gibson said. “The original tree stands in the middle of the Evans Complex.” A new tradition was started last year when Gibson took out her cell phone to capture a photograph of all the students taking a photo of the tree as it lit up. This year she continued the ritual.
Students were encouraged to volunteer and to give back to the community. In the spirit of “Giving Tuesday,” Student Activities handed out 575 T-shirts in exchange for canned goods that will be donated to the Good Shepherd Mission. “One in five families in Walker County come to the Good Shepherd Mission at some point,” Director of the Good Shepherd Mission David Smith said. While they were not able to attend, distance education and Woodlands Center students could watch the ceremony online. Several administrators including Vice President of Student Services Frank Parker, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Jaimie Hebert, Vice President for Finance and Operations Alvin Hooten, and Vice President of Enrollment Management Heather Thielemann were also present at the ceremony.
Stephen Green, Connor Hyde, Samantha Villarreal | The Houstonian
Students gain free course lab Church to host AIDS vigil access after contract approval JAY R. JORDAN Staff Reporter
BRANDON SCOTT Staff Reporter The Board of Regents approved a contract extension between Sam Houston State University and Pearson Education that will give students free access to course labs and mastering programs. The contract runs from Jan. 1, 2013, through Aug. 31, 2016 at $3.5 million. “What we’re doing with this agreement is unique,” said DELTA Associate Vice President Bill Angrove. The deal provides students with personalized instruction that evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of the individual, according to Angrove. The program features 80 labs, but now they will come free to students, aside from the cost of the course that requires the
material. Faculty Senate voiced its There is also a 60 percent concerns with eCollege, which discount for students who is the server currently used purchase corresponding for online courses. Professors e-books with MyLabs, which complained as far back as 2010 could save students from that eCollege was unintuitive having to scatter around for and difficult to manage, costly textbooks. especially with much of the Angrove compared the staff using Blackboard for personalized instruction to face-to-face courses as well. gaming, with each student This fall, it was decided advancing to the next level at that all online courses would his own pace. be moved from eCollege “It’s used in the to Blackboard 9 beginning developmental math, writing, spring 2013. That meant there reading and first experience. would no longer be a use for Each student is given an the eCollege server, but as individual assessment and Provost and Vice President it tailors instruction to the of Academic Affairs Jaimie individual,” Angrove said. Hebert said in September, the “We’re calling it a student university is locked into the success initiative because we contract whether it used the want students to succeed.” server or not. The university began SHSU owes Pearson renegotiating its contract with Pearson earlier this year after — PEARSON, page 6
Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church will be hosting a vigil in recognition of World AIDS Day on Dec. 1 in Huntsville. The ceremony is in remembrance of those who have battled with AIDS, and seeks to raise awareness of the disease. Scott Antrip, Wesley Outreach Committee Chair, has helped set up the event which is having its fourth annual gathering in Huntsville on Saturday. “It got started because Wesley was trying to spend advent thinking about some of the world issues and how we can respond to those,” said Antrip. “This AIDS vigil started and has continued to be an effort to call attention to the brutal disease of HIV/ AIDS… and to also remember those who lived with it and lost that battle.” According to a report published by CNN, the CDC said that 60 percent of 13-24 year olds were not aware of the HIV positivity, and that 87 percent of high school students have never been
tested for the infection. “That’s stunning to me,” said Wesley Pastor Rev. Cheryl Smith. “That is enough to call attention to this disease, to take away some of the stigma. [The church] is willing to say that the education, prevention, and cure is something that is important to us. It belongs right in the middle of a faith community and we’re trying to raise awareness and be compassionate about it.” Marina Miller, sophomore dance major, is attending the event and urges the spreading of AIDS awareness. “I have a very close friend who just recently told me he had been infected with HIV and it was developing into AIDS,” said Miller. “… It’s something people should be aware of because it can happen to someone you really care about. My point being more people everyday are contracting the virus and we need to do all we do to stop it.” Walker County has seen 72 cases in which an individual was HIV —
VIGIL, page 6