2 4 14

WHAT’S INSIDE?

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P3 Bruno Mars rocks Super Bowl halftime act P4 Tennis sweeps Lions in opening tournament P5 Americana idol sells out in Super Bowl ad

TOMORROW’S FORECAST

HI: LOW:

‘Come back kids’ come up short

50 32o o

Alex Broussard | The Houstonian

Chance of Rain: www.HoustonianOnline.com

Volume 125/ Issue 6

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Tuesday, February 4, 2014

CAMPUS

KatSafe still work in progress

HANNAH ZEDAKER Senior Reporter

KatSafe, Sam Houston State University’s emergency alert system, lacks a defined protocol prior to sending out notifications, according to university officials.

Although the KatSafe system has improved over the years, utilizing an array of technological media as means of communication, according to SHSU’s public information officer Julia May, the people behind the decisions are in need of a defined reference point.

“Every single situation that we have on campus is different,” May said. “It would be wonderful and our jobs would be so much easier if we were to say that whenever we need to alert our students through KatSafe, we do ‘step A,’ ‘step B,’ ‘step C,’— but we can’t do that, because every situation is different.”

According to May, decisions made behind sending out KatSafe messages depend heavily on who the specific message needs to reach for that particular event.

May added KatSafe is meant to inform students and faculty about events that will have a big impact.

“We try to get the message out that impacts the most people at that time and that’s the way all of our KatSafe messages are designed to work and that’s how our decisions are made too— how many people are going to be impacted by whatever is going on, on campus, and then we make the decision,” May said.

Several offices at SHSU are a part of the KatSafe chain-ofcommand, according to May, and include University Police

Connor Hyde| The Houstonian

ALERT. Sam Houston State University students receive KatSafe alerts on their phone via text messages or phone calls, emails and can access them on SHSU’s Facebook page and website. SHSU officials said the emergency alert system lacks structure and can benefit from a stricter protocol when determining when to send on a campus wide message.

Department, Human Resources, Risk-Management, Insurance and Information Technology.

However, although many individuals are involved in the decision-making to send out a KatSafe alert, sometimes officials don’t have time to discuss and debate their options.

“We have some things that are pretty standard, we use common sense if we know that it is something very, very, very serious then there’s really no ‘well let’s sit around and talk about it and figure out which method to use,’” May said. “We know from experience we’ve got to notify as many people as possible in as short of a time as

possible, so that’s when we just go into action and get the message out.”

According to UPD Police Chief Kevin Morris, there are two broad categories through which KatSafeworthy events may fall: emergency and non-emergency.

“Before a KatSafe goes out, we follow a policy in which we either do a timely warning or an emergency warning,” Morris said.

“The mode of communication is defined by what type of incident or level of threat it presents to the university and that will determine how it is released to the public.”

In the past, the university has utilized KatSafe to inform

CAMPUS

2013 audits incomplete, deferred JAY R. JORDAN Associate Editor Some of Sam Houston State University’s internal audit plans for Fiscal Year 2013 fell through without explanation and are not scheduled to be made up, according to audit report documents.

Only six of 13 risked-based and required audits were performed

by SHSU auditors. Two of the 13 were deferred to the 2014 fiscal year, two were taken place by research performed by the State Auditing Office (SAO) and three weren’t performed at all and don’t appear on the agenda for 2014, according to SHSU’s 2013 annual audit report.

Director of SHSU’s Office of Audits and Analysis Kelly Bielamowicz refused to comment directly on the report after the Houstonian contacted her multiple times, including an office visit Monday.

Bielamowicz said any questions needed to go through Julia May, the associate director of communications at SHSU. However, May did not comment by press time. Written questions were sent to May late Friday afternoon.

An evaluation of the security of on-campus housing was one of the two audits that weren’t performed and were not planned for 2014, according to the audit report. The audit plan said it was to “evaluate the effectiveness of residential building security and access policies, procedures and security

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controls to prevent unauthorized access.”

The other audit that wasn’t performed was an assessment of the university’s compliance with policies and guidelines for faculty researchers after they receive their award moneys.

The explanation for the deferral of some of the audits to 2014 was that the office didn’t have the resources to handle all of them this year.

“The number of unplanned activities and projects, and the amount of resources necessary to address these, was more than anticipated,” the audit report stated. The statement didn’t provide a reason for the plans that weren’t performed at all but only excused those deferred to the 2014 fiscal year citing the heavy workload.

The Texas State Auditor’s Office is currently in its draft stage of auditing the Financial Aid Office for the 2013 fiscal year. This audit is taking the place of the one that was planned in SHSU’s audit plan in order to “avoid duplicative effort.”

In SAO’s 2009 fiscal year audit of the Financial Aid Office, the agency found that SHSU was only reporting estimated Pell Grant disbursement amounts and dates.

Universities must submit actual Pell Grant disbursement data to the Department of Education’s Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System every year to ensure compliance with the department’s standards, according to the Office of

Management and Budget Compliance Supplement A-133.

SAO tracked 18 students’ actual disbursements and how they were reported to COD and found the university reported all 18 students’ disbursement amounts and dates incorrectly. Four years after SAO originally reported the problem, SHSU fixed the data submission to reflect actual disbursement amounts and dates, according to the SAO. In a document published on SAO’s website, the university cited the process of consolidation as the origin of the problem.

“Sam Houston State University acknowledges the limitations of [the 2009 financial aid software] with regard to reporting the actual disbursement dates of Pell Grants,” the document stated. “The solution is the implementation of SunGard’s Banner Unified Digital Campus software which will provide integration between the campus business areas, including all departments involved in student account activity such as the offices of Undergraduate Admission, Graduate Admission, Registrar, Bursar and Financial Aid.” Included on 2014’s fiscal year audit plan are environmental compliance and Americans with Disabilities Act compliance evaluations.

Associate Vice President for Facilities Management Doug Greening refused to comment directly on the ADA audit in an over-the-phone interview Monday.

students and staff members regarding inmate escapes, sexual assaults and other crimes that have occurred both on campus and in the surrounding Huntsville area.

Recently, KatSafe has been used to inform students and staff about campus closures in January due to inclement weather as well as a fatal, on-campus car wreck in which three SHSU students died in December--a KatSafe alert that was later criticized by misidentifying one of the dead students.

May said she hopes they university will be able to develop a more refined protocol when

it comes to sending out KatSafe alerts in the future to help not only the students and staff members receiving the messages, but also those sending the messages.

“I think there will probably come a time when things are broken down, and there will become a standard with different levels of severities,” May said. “I think it will make people who are making those decisions much more comfortable because they will have precedence or an example to follow. I just think it will help the people making those decisions and it will cut the time and increase efficiency.”

SUPER BOWL

Kaleigh Treiber | The Houstonian

NO-SHOW. (Above) Students watch the NFL Super Bowl in the Lowman Student Center Kat Klub. (From left to right) Sophomore criminal justice major Saheed Okunnu, freshman nursing major Lauren Edison, freshman accounting major Caroline Arellano, freshman nursing major Makaela Lawson, freshman nursing major Brittney Jones, freshman nursing major Stephenie Parker and freshman human resource management major Ronesia Glover watched the Seattle Seahawks overtake the Denver Broncos 43-8 Sunday. (Below) Students partake in a Super Bowl watch party Sunday in the LSC.

Be sure to check out the Houstonian Orientation Guide located around campus and the City of Huntsville! Can’t find one? Let us know and we’ll get you a copy.

Page 2

News

Tuesday, February 4, 2014 houstonianonline.com/news

STATE

Texas’ party affiliation up for grabs in election BRYNN CASTRO Contributing Reporter With Texas primary elections just one month away and Republican incumbent Gov. Rick Perry stepping down, Texas will either remain a red state for the top executive post or for the first time in almost 20 years become blue.

Throughout Texas history, 46 individuals have been governor; 39 were Democrats. Only five have been Republican, including Perry.

Former President George W. Bush served for five years as governor. Perry, his successor, has held the position for 13 years, making the past two decades almost entirely ruled by Republicans.

Despite Democratic governor candidate Wendy Davis’s relative boost in campaign contributions since October, political science professor Robert Biles, Ph.D., said it could take somewhere between six to 16 years for Texas to become a blue state again.

“Demographers that look at population trends say that Texas is going to become majority Hispanic, the question is just when,” Biles said. “What will eventually make Texas competitive and then possibly a blue state would be the growth of the Hispanic population.”

According to both the Cook Political Report and Rothenberg Political Report, Texas will remain a Republican state in November.

Even though white voters are the minority in the state, they still hold two-thirds of the state’s votes, and most of those votes go to conservative candidates.

In an interview with Governing Magazine, Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer (D) said it will take a while for Texas to make such a big change.

“Texas didn’t become an allRepublican state overnight, and this change to being a Democratic state is not going to happen overnight,” Fischer says.

Biles said for either party to take office, they must capitalize on the candidate’s victory.

“I think the demonstration effect of ‘we won’ can have a good impact, but for that to have a big [enough] impact and for that to persist, you need people to go out and take advantage of it,” Biles said. “The Republicans, to avoid becoming the minority party need to find a better way to appeal to the Mexican-American voters.”

Texas primary voting will be held on March 4.

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CAMPUS

Recent study evaluates campus police CONNOR HYDE Editor-in-Chief National research has frequently concluded one in every four women will be sexually assaulted on college campuses.

In an attempt to understand the relationship between law enforcement and victims of sexual assault, Sam Houston State University researchers surveyed various campus law enforcers in Texas to gain insight to their perception and response techniques in cases of sexual assault. The results were published in a January newsletter.

SHSU criminal justice research associate Nicole Wilkes, associate professor Leana Bouffard, Ph.D., and graduate assistant Molly Smith conducted the research in conjunction with the Texas Association against Sexual Assault and the Crime Victim’s Institute.

Wilkes said the research was intended to highlight sexual assault from the responders’ point of view.

“There’s been very little research done with this population,” she

said.

In their findings, titled “Sexual Assault on College Campuses: Perceptions and Approaches of Campus Law Enforcement Officers,” respondents agreed sexual assault was a problem on Texas college and university campuses, but very few thought it was an issue on their campus – only 37.2 percent. However, most respondents believed their campus police agencies took “sexual assaults the most seriously.”

“Only one respondent believed that campus police departments failed to take sexual assaults seriously,” the report said.

Less than half of the surveyed officers – 45 percent – believed Texas colleges and universities have effective responses to campus sexual assault, an issue Wilkes ties to involvement with outside advocacy groups.

Wilkes said a highlight of the research findings was the lack of involvement respondents had with collaborative groups that are dedicated to preventing sexual assault.

“There are high rates of

victimization, but the past couple of years, campuses across the nation haven’t responded well,” she said. “I hope this [research] starts a dialogue of how we can do better as a campus.”

The report added 69 percent of respondents said Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE) are available at the majority of the department represented, 34.5 percent of respondents were not aware their university offered a student organization of counseling center dedicated to preventing sexual assault.

Although SHSU’s counseling center and health clinic assists sexual assault victims, there isn’t a SAN examiner on staff. However, the Huntsville Sexual Assault and Abuse Free Environment – SAAFE House – works with victims from SHSU and in the community as well as University Police Department.

The report stated campus law enforcement officers remain a key role in responding to sexual assault cases and to effectively combat sexual assault, more than one entity will need to work hand

in hand.

“Improving responses to college sexual assault will need to include multidisciplinary collaboration amongst campus authorities and community agencies, including law enforcement officers,” the report stated.

Since 2007, there have been 15 reported sexual assaults at SHSU. According to UPD Chief Kevin Morris, sexual assault is an underreported crime and doesn’t reflect what is happening at SHSU. UPD currently is working alongside the SAAFE House to strengthen victim protection in the case of a sexual assault case, Morris said.

According to the report, police officers who receive specialized sexual assault training are more aware of victimization occurring on campus as well as developing a different approach to responding to sexual assault cases.

“Does it happen on our campus?

Yes it does,” Morris said. “We don’t want this to happen. If you are victimized, I highly encourage you to report it.”

CAMPUS

Study shows students reluctant to vote KASSIDY TURNPAUGH Assistant News Editor The race for governor has students buzzing with talk of elections that may reflect in the voting polls come November.

The trends reflected in last year’s polls at the Huntsville City Council Ward 2 elections have shown a significantly lower number of voting students than the national average, according to voter registrar Kendall Scudder.

As of 2012, 45 percent of college-aged people actively voted in elections, according to the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE).

According Scudder, less than 10 percent of voters in the Ward 2 elections were college-aged.

“It is hard to determine an exact number because you can only go off of age,” Scudder said. “I’d estimate the number to be around … 10 percent or less.”

These numbers reflect a

deficit in young voters as Ward 2 primarily consists of college students from Sam Houston State University. Trends indicate that these numbers are continuing to fall, according to Scudder and voting trends gathered by CIRCLE. Despite making up 21 percent of the eligible voting population, according to Project Vote, voters between 18 and 29 only made up 17 percent of actual voters in 2008.

In addition, in 2012, 58 million millennials made up a quarter of the entire voting age population, according to the Huffington Post.

Yet, in that same year only an estimated 23 million, or 19 percent of the total voting population, voted.

“Part of the reason students don’t show up [to vote] is that they are treated like a blanket demographic,” Scudder said.

“Politicians want to look at students as group with no diversity or differences in ideology.”

The Associated Press

VOTING POWER. Voter registration deadline for the March primaries was Monday, but the deadline for this year’s election is Oct. 5. With the Texas Governor chair open, voters will flock to the polls to vote this November like this woman in Ohio.

With more and more students becoming disenchanted by the voting process, Scudder provided a few suggestions to regain their attention.

“One way to regain voters would be to stop gerrymandering them, so they will know where to go to vote,” Scudder said. “Another thing we could do is raise $2,500

to put a voting box in the Lowman Student Center.”

As turn out numbers continue to fall in Huntsville, Scudder pushed for students to remain active in their community and to make their voices heard.

Students can register to vote in Walker County at www.co.walker. tx.us.

CITY

Pending sexual assault case awaits trial KASSIDY TURNPAUGH Assistant News Editor A Walker County man has been indicted on charges of aggravated sexual assault on a child and currently awaits a psychological evaluation, according to court documents.

Ronald O’Neil Brown, 46, is accused of the alleged sexual assault a child in 2012 and was indicted on aggravated sexual assault on Sept. 7, 2012.

In this case, Director of the

Psychological Services Center and forensic psychologist Mary Conroy, Ph.D., will evaluate Brown to determine whether or not he is competent enough to stand trial.

Brown has been ordered to submit to evaluation by the 278th District Court of Texas, under article 46B.003 of the Texas state criminal code.

According to the aforementioned article, a person is deemed incompetent if they lack “sufficient, present ability to consult with [their] lawyer with

a reasonable degree of rational understanding” or “a rational [and] factual understanding of the proceedings.”

“The number one reason the courts ask [for an evaluation] is to find if [the defendant] is competent to stand trial,” Conroy said. “Do they suffer some mental defect that prevents them from having a rational and factual understanding of the charges against them.”

If Brown is found incompetent to stand trial, the trial will be postponed until he regains

competency.

“If you find that the person is not currently competent, and the court agrees with you, then they are probably going to be sent to a hospital for restoration of competence,” Conroy said.

Brown will be evaluated before Oct. 31, as ordered by the court.

Brown was scheduled to appear before a judge Monday, but the appearance was cancelled and is planned to be rescheduled next month.

Page 3

Viewpoints

Tuesday, February 4, 2014 houstonianonline.com/viewpoints

CAMPUS

Legislature hinders Master Plan

STEPHEN GREEN Web Editor There are many times where Sam Houston State University and I haven’t gotten along over the past three and a half years. The Master Plan – SHSU’s ideal schedule of where the school should be by 2020 - isn’t one of them, though.

The Houstonian recently published an article noting that this year should be the final year in Phase One, which started in 2008.

The problem is that we aren’t close to finishing. As Hannah Zedeker reported, the university has yet to complete nearly all of the planned buildings.

Lone Star Hall, Old Main Market, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences Building, The Woodlands Center, the Gaertner Performing Arts Center, and the demolition of Smith-Kirkley and King Halls have already been completed, but aren’t new to the Master Plan. They were a part of the 2008 plan before the 2012 revision.

The Student Health and Counseling Center is the only building being worked on. This leaves the Lowman Student

Center expansion, athletics event center and press box, nursing and biology building, agriculture and engineering building, new art building, south residential district, and dining facilities to be done.

Every fall semester SHSU breaks its previous enrollment record (albeit a lot of growth is online.) With more students comes the need for more space to teach those students. Although the university isn’t screaming to have more classroom space, they’ll eventually need it. The Master Plan future-proofs the campus and allows the administration to maintain its major selling point of having smaller classes.

Moreover, the campus desperately needs lab space.

Provost Jaimie Hebert said in an interview that campus science lab space is approaching maximum capacity. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has been pushing for more STEMfocused facilities, which SHSU has tried to accomplish.

Nursing chair Anne Stiles, Ph.D., said in a previous Houstonian article that the nursing department can’t accept more people into the program because of space – despite the waiting list. Agriculture chair Stanley Kelley, Ph.D., said they’ve been waiting through a “temporary” relocation period for 15 years that will inhibit any technology and engineering initiatives.

And, seriously? The art department facilities are a joke. I

walked around the facilities with art chair Michael Henderson, who could literally push on a wall that exposed the outside. There isn’t proper ventilation in some areas as well as a “photography classroom” that is literally a tiny room with blue chairs lining the wall.

The Master Plan fixes all of those issues and would tremendously improve student quality of life, but it does have its flaws. One of the major issues that should be tackled is parking. Now before you go saying that I’m beating a dead horse, the university says that we have enough parking and that they’re planning on opening more spaces in the future.

While this is true, the Master Plan shows 590 of those spaces wouldn’t be within a five-minute walking distance from the center of campus. In addition, the major parking expansions are parking garages that would add 1,500 spaces – which unless some policies change, students would likely be on the hook for increased parking fees. In order to build new buildings, they’d have to cut out existing parking and add more.

However, there are roughly 7,800 parking spaces now and about 8,600 in the final version of the plan. But because about 2,100 aren’t easily accessed with traditional parking passes or are far away, students will lose 300 spaces that are in place now. It also doesn’t address the issue of growing campus populations when we’ll need more parking.

But overall, the Master Plan

shows that the university is aware and attempts to be aggressive in combating the problems facing our academics. They should be commended for this.

Unfortunately the administration is hamstrung by the Texas Legislature, which denied all Texas public universities the money they needed to complete capital improvement projects.

They left the universities bent over a rail waiting for money to pop out of the ground. This gives schools two options for academic buildings: Increase tuition a drastic amount, or get donations.

Neither of these is a fiscally responsible choice.

Even if SHSU increased tuition, the increased revenue should be used to hire full-time, tenuretrack faculty instead of buildings.

It’s kind of a catch-22 because Texas effectively has no money to divvy out to almost anything because they have the lowest per-capita spending of any state.

Therefore the Legislature has to choose what’s important in that cycle. Opponents of the funding bill said institutions need to be “creative and proactive in funding capital projects,” according to the House Research Organization. As if schools like SHSU and others with explosive populations aren’t being creative trying to make it day to day.

Either the Legislature needs to approve revenue bonds for new buildings or give schools the magic-money-making-wand it thinks exists.

PAWS UP

PAWS UP to the Seattle Seahawks: Wow, that was easy.

PAWS UP to Arthur Chu: The current Jeopardy champ is utilizing game theory in his unconventional playing style and pissing off a bunch of nerds in the process.

PAWS UP to Coca-Cola: The multilingual Super Bowl ad was endearing, regardless of what your ultraconservative uncle said on Facebook.

PAWS DOWN

NATION

Bob Dylan sells out in Super Bowl ad

COLIN HARRIS Viewpoints Editor You might have missed it Sunday.

Sometime in between Denver’s myriad turnovers and Seattle’s endless end zone barrage, Bob Dylan sold out.

The iconic songwriter appeared in a Chrysler commercial with a vapidly nativist “Is there anything more American than America?” tagline, turning his career and image over to the crass consumerism of Super Bowl advertising.

This wasn’t Dylan’s first affront against his ‘60s counter-culture persona, but it was certainly the most grandiose and noteworthy.

He’s previously appeared in

Cadillac Escalade and Victoria’s Secret commercials and during the 2009 Super Bowl, a Pepsi ad featured a rendition of his song “Forever Young” as a sample for will.i.am sing-rapping a verse Dylan wrote.

The Pepsi commercial was more offensive to Dylan’s musical legacy, as will.i.am seemingly coopted Dylan’s classic ballad as a way to hock soda pop and also sophisticate his own vacuous, cellophane-wrapped oeuvre of hashtag-optimized singles and trite, starry-eyed lyricism.

Yet, the Chrysler commercial felt different.

Dylan starred in the two-minute spot, stoking nativist tension through a snide litany against German beer, Swiss watches and Asian cell phones. The Dylan of 50 years ago would have lampooned this form of naïve jingoism, and he did many times over before going electric, when his catalog featured primarily anti-war anthems.

The commercial went further though by flanking him with a montage of yonder year celebrities and symbols like James Dean,

Marilyn Monroe and Rosie the Riveter which signaled a retreat.

The lyrical voice of a generation is now just a vacant symbol of Americana, no different than the countless Audrey Hepburn posters adorning dorm rooms and apartments whose inhabitants believe Breakfast at Tiffany’s is no more than their Saturday morning plans.

As I mentioned before, Dylan is no stranger to selling his work for commercial use lately. There was actually a spot for Chobani yogurt, scored by Dylan’s syrupy tune “I Want You,” earlier in the Super Bowl. The Chrysler ad went further than repurposing Dylan’s lyrics to push product onto the American masses. It turned him into a spokesperson, a car salesman.

The man who wrote more Jimi Hendrix hits than anyone not named Hendrix looked like a shell of what he once was at the commercial’s close, bending over a pool table to deliver a spectral warning, lest any modern knownothing doubt that Chrysler manufactures its vehicles in the

USA - “we will build your car.”

Shortly after digesting the commercial, Dylan’s single, “Maggie’s Farm” came to mind.

Taken literally, the song reveals increasingly inhospitable working conditions at the eponymous Maggie’s farm. As allegory to Dylan’s life, the song is about his growing dissatisfaction with the folk music scene and its creative limitations. In its broadest sense, though, “Maggie’s Farm” is an attack on an impersonal, vicious commercialism that uses workers like machinery.

The critical line in the song comes at the end – “They say sing while you slave, and I just get bored. I ain’t gonna work on Maggie’s farm no more.” Dylan’s appearance in a commercial using overt jingoism to sell cars showed he’s more than willing to go work on Maggie’s farm again, if it means remaining in the public consciousness.

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PAWS DOWN to the Denver Broncos: The most important game of the season, and you made it borderline unwatchable.

Thanks, guys.

PAWS DOWN to Phillip Seymour Hoffman (1967-2014): RIP and perhaps we’ll see you again some time, Dude.

PAWS DOWN to Barnes & Noble: Don’t accept Bearkat Bucks eh? Remind me again why you guys occupy prime real estate on campus.

The Houstonian Editorial

The Houstonian was named in the top 100 college newspapers for journalism students by JournalismDegree.org. Members of Associated Collegiate Press and Texas Intercolligiate Press Association.

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 Connor Hyde ........................................................................................................................................936-294-1505 FACULTY ADVISER Robin Johnson..................................................................................................................................936-294-1499 STAFF Jay R. Jordan .................................................................................................................................Associate Editor Colin Harris...................................................................................................................................Viewpoints Editor Jeremy Villanueva..................................................................................................................................Sports Editor Kizzie Frank.............................................................................................................................Entertainment Editor Stephen Green...........................................................................................................................................Web Editor Kassidy Turnpaugh.............................................................................................................. Assistant News Editor Dharmesh Patel.........................................................................................................Assistant Entertainment Editor Marissa Hill........................................................................................................................................Sports Reporter Hannah Zedeker.................................................................................................................................Senior Reporter Steven Snook.............................................................................................................................Multimedia Reporter Samantha Zambrano.............................................................................................................................Layout Editor Lillie Muyskens..............................................................................................................................Graphic Designer Staff Reporter(s)..................................................................................................... Kaleigh Treiber, Alex Broussard

Advertising

BUSINESS MANAGER Paty Mason......................................................................................................................................936-294-1500 ADVERTISING MANAGER Stacy Hood.........................................................................................................................................936-294-1495 STAFF Cristina Tazado.............................................................................................................................Delivery Manager

Advertising Deadlines

Tuesday’s Issue............... Friday at 2:00 p.m.

Thursday’s Issue........... Tuesday at 2:00 p.m.

Call for pricing.

Page 4

Arts&Entertainment

Tuesday, February 4, 2014 houstonianonline.com/a-e

SUPER BOWL

Bruno Mars wows on Super Bowl stage PARBATTEE MAHARAJ Contributing Reporter For the first time in his career, Bruno Mars took the stage during the nationally televised Super Bowl XLVIII with special guests the Red Hot Chili Peppers at MetLife Stadium.

Despite the fact that Mars is the youngest person to perform at the Super Bowl, he performed like a veteran and surprised many football analysts.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Bruno is turning this out. I can’t believe how entertaining this is. This boy is talented,” ESPN NFL analyst Stephen A. Smith tweeted during the performance.

Mars opened with children’s choir in front of an American flag backdrop, singing the chorus of his song “Billionaire.” Lights shined upon Mars performing a drum solo followed by his hit “Locked out of Heaven.”

He originally seemed to be slightly off with his steps, but as his performance continued the dancing definitely became smoother. Mars continued his dancing and began singing his hit, “Treasure.”

Before RHCP hit the stage with Mars, he sang his own rendition of the Isley Brothers hit “Shout,” which then transitioned into his debut hit “Runaway Baby.”

During his performance, Mars gave tribute to funk legend James Brown with a signature dance that complemented his trendy metallic

jacket and narrow black tie.

Then enter stage right, the Red Hot Chili Peppers with “Give it Away.”

Although 90s kids were ecstatic about the return of the hit alternative group, the RHCP fell short with their own Ashley Simpson stunt.

Photos taken during the performance showed the RHCP’s bassist, Flea, performing without his bass guitar plugged in. My Social List, a New York based music website, tweeted the picture and said “basically all of that shirtless jumping around and slapping the bass was all for show.”

RHCP performed only one song as Mars maintained the spotlight.

Mars performed his recent hit single “Just the Way You Are” to honor United States veterans that was kicked off by the opening of President Barack Obama’s State of the Union and returning troops dedicating the song to their families.

The stadium remained dark, with only a spotlight on Mars and a circular platform. He closed with ‘Just the Way You Are’ while fireworks went off, adding a nice touch to end the Pepsi half-time show.

Bruno Mars did not manage to break the stadium electrical system like his predecessor, Beyoncé, but he managed to make a good impression as a half-time first timer. Despite having only took home one Grammy recently, Mars walked away a winner after his performance.

Associated Press

LOCKED IN HEAVEN. Bruno Mars sings during Super Bowl XVLIII Pepsi Half-Time Show in honor of fallen and returning veterans. His glittery ensemble and skinny tie are consitent with his James Brown inspired dance moves.

Mars paired with the Red Hot Chili Peppers during the performance for the 90’s hit “Give it Away.”

TELEVISION

Mixed reviews for ‘Good Luck Charlie’ LGBT couple DHARMESH PATEL Assistant A&E Editor The hit television show “Good Luck Charlie” broke barriers and caused an uproar Sunday by introducing a same sex couple on the children’s sitcom.

In the groundbreaking episode, Charlie Duncan (Mia Talerico) has a play date with her preschool friend who happens to have two lesbian moms. The Disney Channel announced the decision to feature a same-sex couple back in June 2013, and they finally delivered the message with their usual mix of light-hearted comedy.

The segment including the lesbian couple may have only lasted a little more than a minute, but it riled up viewers on both ends of the spectrum.

According to Talerico’s Instagram, which is maintained by her mother, the five-year-old star

received death threats from online trolls.

Some threats even warranted the toddler to “kill herself ” and to “die bitch,” according to the Huffington Post.

The Huffington Post reported that the Los Angeles Police Department’s Threat Management Department is looking into the messages in order to identify the source.

Another group that was upset over the introduction of a lesbian couple was One Million Moms, a conservative group of mothers that tries to make changes in family programing due to themes and messages they deem harmful to youth. The group released a statement on their website about “Good Luck Charlie” warning the Disney Channel that they will take action if they proceed to air the episode.

“If “Good Luck Charlie” goes through with introducing LGBT

content, then the floodgates will be opened for all programs on the Disney Channel - a trend that will be almost impossible to stop,” the statement said.

One Million Moms is the same group that unsuccessfully attempted to remove Ellen Degeneres as the spokeswomen for J.C. Penny after they declared her lesbian relationship with wife Portia de Rossi would corrupt children’s perspective of marriage.

Despite hateful messages, the controversial episode also brought much praise from critics and celebrities alike.

According to Digital Spy, the Disney Channel consulted with child development experts before shooting the episode. “[The show was] developed to be relevant to kids and families around the world. And to reflect themes of diversity and inclusiveness,” a Disney representative said.

Miley Cyrus, former child star of Disney Channel show “Hannah Montana” and an active supporter of equality, tweeted support for “Good Luck Charlie” and praised the network on breaking equality barriers.

“I commend Disney for making this step into the light of this generation. They control…so much of what kids think! Life isn’t bright sets & wardrobe & kids becoming superstars! This is INSPIRING,” Cyrus tweeted.

Ross Murphy, the director of news for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), expressed gratitude for Disney’s decision to “include all families in their programming.”

The William’s Institute published a study concluding that same-sex couples do not affect their children any differently than heterosexual couples. According to the study, about 22,000 same sex couples are raising 16,000

adoptive children in the United States, and they perform the same in education and emotional, mental and physical wellbeing as children raised by straight parents.

Sam Houston State University Biomedical Sciences major and Gamma Sigma Kappa President Cody Brennen said he is excited the Disney Channel aired the episode and claimed it is exposure that is “needed.”

“We are in a day and age where plenty of children are being raised by same-sex couples, and it’s beneficial for kids to see real life diversity because it helps them instill acceptance,” Brennen said.

“Good Luck Charlie” aired its pilot episode in April 2010 and is currently in its fourth and final season. The show will finish airing Feb. 16.

“Good Luck Charlie” airs Sundays at 7 pm.

MOVIES

‘That Awkward Moment’ debut falls short with the Broncos MARISSA NUEZ Contributing Reporter Despite a rough opening weekend, “That Awkward Moment” highlights awkward relationships with a price to pay for a predicable plotline.

As a modern interpretation of modern relationships, “That Awkward Moment,” directed by Tom Gormican, struggled to reel in the third spot in box office earnings, sitting behind Disney’s “Frozen” and Universal Picture’s “Ride Along.”

“High School Musical” veteran Zack Efron acts as the main character with Michael B. Jordan and Miles Teller in supporting roles. Set in New York City, the movie begins after Mikey’s (Jordan) wife leaves him for her lawyer. His two best friends,

Daniel (Teller) and Jason (Efron), make a pact to stay single to help him get over his breakup.

The three begin to unknowingly fall in love with the female protagonist and mutual friend portrayed by Imogen Poots.

With a love triangle between three best friends and one woman, the plot is tattered with good looks and no substance.

The plot is typical of most romantic comedies and lacks any type of unique or surprising factor to it.

Fortunately however, the script is filled with witty one-liners, somewhat funny jokes, and cringe-worthy moments.

Even with its weak and predictable storyline, “That Awkward Moment” succeeds in portraying an uneasy

moments many people try to avoid. Defining a relationship would not be so awkward if you truly care for someone.

According to Box Office Mojo, The Los Angeles Times

pre-released audience surveys projected more than what the movie earned.

Considering the small budget of $8 million, “That Awkward Moment” would have had to make

at least triple the amount in order to be considered a successful film, according to i09.

However, there are still more weeks to keep an eye on the film’s success in theaters.

Page 5

Sports

Tuesday, February 4, 2014 houstonianonline.com/sports

MEN’S BASKETBALL

SHSU completes conference sweep ROBERT SANDOVAL Contributing Reporter The brooms at Johnson Coliseum wiped the court Saturday as Sam Houston State’s men’s basketball team swept its weekend match-ups against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Houston Baptist University.

It was the Bearkats first series back at home after a four-game road trip.

SHSU squeaked out a 78-74 victory Thursday against Texas A&M – Corpus Christi after stopping a late surge by the Islanders.

SHSU started off the game slow getting in early foul trouble and committing mental mistakes that got them down early in the first half. Senior forward Terrance Motley made use of his time off the bench to provide a muchneeded offensive spark for the Bearkats to stay in the game.

The Bearkats struggled to hold off the Islanders’ fast break attack to close the opening half down 3127.

However, the game was a tale of two halves.

Head coach Jason Hooten said aggressiveness on the court would spark his squad over the Islanders’

lockdown floor defense. “[I told them] to continue to be the aggressor,” Hooten said. “Be the hunter and not the hunted.”

SHSU’s strong defense forced TAMU-CC to commit early mistakes and turnovers, which led to an early push by the Bearkats to gain a 16-point lead. Senior forward James Thomas led the way in the second half churning the offense with 17 points in his 32 minutes on the floor.

Yet late in the game the Islanders got the ball rolling and cut the 16-point deficit to put them within reach of stealing the win, but the defense led by Paul Baxter and Michael Holyfield was able to make some huge stops late to ice the game.

“It was a big win,” Hooten said.

As Houston Baptist rolled into Huntsville Saturday, the story remained the same for the Bearkats.

HBU never held a lead as SHSU finished the game led by their five starters. The quintet combined for 64 of SHSU’s 81 points. Jabari Peters, Holyfield and Thomas finished with 14 points each.

Baxter led the defense to playing stingy the entire second half and not letting HBU get in range of tying the game as the Bearkats took the match, 81-63.

Alex Broussard | The Houstonian

MOVING ON UP. Junior transfer guard Kaheem Ransom moves the ball into the paint, putting the ball up for a lay-up.

Ransom finished the game with 13 points and 7 rebounds against Houston Baptist at Johnson Coliseum.

“We did come out a little sluggish,” Peters said. “We just needed a little push from coach as usual. He told us to get focused and we did, and we came back out

and won it.”

The weekend sweep keeps SHSU second in the Southland Conference with an 8-2 record, still two games behind rival

Stephen F. Austin.

SHSU will be idle Thursday before facing Lamar University Saturday at Johnson Coliseum.

Tipoff is set for 3:45 p.m.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

‘Comeback kids’ lose magic at home MARISSA HILL Sports Reporter

There was a block party in Johnson Coliseum Thursday as Sam Houston State’s women’s basketball team edged out Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 79-76.

Junior post Angela Beadle brought the casserole by batting down three of the Islanders’ shot attempts in the closing minutes of the contest, helping lead the Bearkats to another Southland Conference victory.

Head coach Brenda Nichols said she didn’t expect anything less from Beadle.

“With Beadle’s size, skill, and experience she has to really contribute to this team,” she said. “When the going gets tough, she’s got to step up.”

In the first half, the Bearkats led up until a 3-2 score, just barely two minutes into the game. After that, SHSU was held back as they committed 10 turnovers in the first half.

SHSU’s fouls also gave TAMU-CC’s offense more ammo as they made 23 trips to the charity stripe in the first half alone.

SHSU was only present four times at the free throw line in the opening 20 minutes.

The biggest lead the Islanders held over the Bearkats was an 8-19, 11-point lead.

However, SHSU managed to whittle it down to close the half down 45-39.

By the second half, with 7:40 left on the clock, the Bearkats took a 61-58 lead with Amanda Barnes draining a 3-pointer. They continued to build on their momentum, leading by as many as nine points before the Islanders reignited their offense.

TAMU-CC cut the advantage to one point with 1:43 on the game clock, but two late Islander fouls sent senior guard Jasmine Johnson and Beadle to the free throw line.

Both Johnson and Beadle connected on their free throws, giving the Bearkats another last-minute, thrilling victory.

“We’ll get the name ‘the comeback kids’,” Johnson said.

However, SHSU couldn’t muster up their ‘comeback kid’ style of play as Houston Baptist stole the conference win 63-62 on Saturday.

The Bearkats ran the tables in the first 20 minutes while the Huskies struggled to

gain an advantage. Beadle was in full force against HBU as she tallied 20 points and 15 rebounds. SHSU shot nearly 40 percent during the first half, reaching a lead of nine points with 10:46 remaining in the first half.

The Huskies pulled together four straight easy lay-ups, quickly cutting the Bearkats lead to one late in the first. Split free throws gave the Bearkats a two-point advantage heading into the locker rooms leading 2927.

HBU turned the tables on SHSU in the second half.

The Huskie defense came out white-hot, holding the Bearkats to a 25 percent field goal percentage for the half. SHSU was rendered scoreless for eight minutes in the second half while HBU was building on an 11-point lead.

With 6:22 remaining in the contest, Beadle pulled in a three-point play on the foul to kick start the Bearkat offense.

With just over two minutes remaining, junior guard Summer Fife drained a momentous three-pointer, giving the Bearkats a slim one-point lead. HBU answered the SHSU play and snatched the lead back and held on to it for the next minute and a half.

With the seconds waning, Barnes sank a buzzer-beating shot several feet behind the three-point arch.

But it wasn’t enough to get the victory.

“We’ve got to take care of the little things,” Nichols said. “Some of the little things came back to bite us today.”

SHSU now sits 5-5 in Southland Conference play, and will return to the floor against Lamar on Saturday.

TENNIS

Tennis sweeps NCTC in opener AUSTIN SMITH Contributing Reporter Sam Houston State’s tennis team shutout North Central Texas College 7-0 Wednesday at the McAdams Tennis Center in its first regular season match.

SHSU swept across the board in doubles before splitting up to win each of their respective singles match.

Seniors Olivia Battye and Natalie Petaia teamed up for the first time to win 8-1 as the number one doubles spot in a very dominating performance.

“We kept playing our game and avoided playing their game,” Battye said.

After falling behind 0-3, sophomore Maddie Mortimore and senior Kayla Stevenson came back to win at the number two doubles spot in tiebreaker fashion. The duo finished the match on top 8-7 (7-4).

“We just made sure to trust in our game and relax and that’s what brought us through,” Mortimore said.

Freshman Isabella Costa and transfer sophomore Karen Martinez completed the doubles sweep with an 8-3 victory in the number three doubles spot after slipping behind early.

Sam Houston continued to dominate in the singles matches.

Playing in the top spot, Battye’s experience and intelligence of the game was the key to the match en route to a 6-1, 6-0 victory.

In the number two spot, Mortimore’s consistency from her doubles comeback led to several long rallies with her opponent, but - in the end - it was Mortimore’s strong backhand that helped her pull off a 6-1, 6-0 victory.

Stevenson, Petaia and Martinez, playing in the three, four and five spots respectively, each won in straight sets.

In the closest and most exciting singles match of the day, Costa used a powerful forehand to beat her opponent 6-4, 6-4 and help Sam Houston complete the sweep on NCTC. “Their intensity and focus when they were on the courts was exceptional,” head coach Jim Giachino said. “They were very nervous coming out, but once it started they calmed down and played really good tennis.”

The Bearkats match against McMurray on Sunday was rained out.

SHSU returns to action Friday at 10 a.m. as they play host to Southland Conference opponent Oral Roberts.

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