April 10, 2012

Vol 120 | Issue 22

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Publishing since 1913

Independent Student Newspaper of Sam Houston State University

Women’s Health Program takes state funding cut, pg. 3

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Friday, Apr. 13 HI: 82 LOW: 72

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Kendall Scudder writes letter to student body, pg. 2

INDEX Viewpoints ....... pg. 2 A&E ................... pg.4 News .................. pg. 3 Sports................. pg.5

Student, former-SGA senator announces city council run JESSICA LUNDSTROM Contributing Reporter One Sam Houston State University student plans on expanding his leadership past the university borders.

Kendall Scudder is a senior political s c i e n c e major here at Sam Houston S t a t e Un i v e r s i t y a n d a n n ou n c e d his candidacy for the Ward File photo. 2 seat on the Kendall Scudder Hu n t s v i l l e City Council currently held by Keith Olson.

“I plan to push for investment in Huntsville’s infrastructure, encourage economic development, and help channel the ingenuity of Huntsville’s diverse citizenry,” Scudder said. “It’s obvious when you look around campus and neighborhoods throughout Huntsville that our infrastructure just isn’t cutting it.”

One example, Scudder said, is the need for more sidewalks and updating water pipes.

“As for economic development, it’s time to begin recruiting technology parks to retain our graduates and increase the number of high paying jobs in our city,” Scudder said. “It’s also upsetting to me when I see such poor use of talents that we have in our community. I think that it would behoove us to utilize the diverse skills and knowledge that the lord has blessed our community with.”

Scudder said his main goal is to move Huntsville forward.

“A very positive aspect of our campaign is that I don’t have the political baggage that comes with Huntsville city politics,” Scudder said.

This, Scudder said, gives him a new perspective.

“The different perspective and the sheer willingness to work with citizens spanning all ideologies and talents will help to unite our city the way citizens have been have been wanting for years,” Scudder said.

The university Student

Government Association recently declared April 10 as “Kendall Scudder Day” around the university with the passing of the “Stellar Scudder Act” (SR-S12 07).

He stepped down from his senate seat on March 27and was then unanimously confirmed to the Student Supreme Court on the same day the namesake bill was passed.

As a member of the court, he will work with the other justices to ensure that SGA’s rules are correctly interpreted and obeyed.

“This resolution thanks Mr. Scudder for the countless hours of work and effort he has put in on behalf of the Student Body in the last several years,” rules and regulations chief Steven Perry said. “During his time in Student Government, Kendall has served in almost every executive office, including as the first Student Body Chief of Staff. He has also served as the chairman of the election commission, and as the Director of the 2012 Bearkat All Paws In program, where he —

SCUDDER, page 3

Saturday, Apr. 14 HI: 83 LOW: 73

Struggling TEXAS Grants may face changes soon STEPHEN GREEN Editor-In-Chief

Jessica Gomez | The Houstonian

Kat Chat explores university’s future Campus reps discuss parking, admissions

MOLLY WADDELL Associate News Editor Nine representatives of Sam Houston State University were present at the Kat Chat put on by the Student Government Association on April 5.

The speakers present where: Sarah Hanel, Director of Student Health Center; Andrew Miller, Ph.D., Executive Director of Counseling and Health Center; James Fitch, Deputy of the University Police Department; David Kapalko, Head of Parking and Transit; Mitchel Muehsam, Ph.D., Dean of College of Business; John Yarabeck, Dean of Students; Debbi Hatton, Chair of Faculty Senate; Rhonda Vickers Beassie, J.D., Director of Student Legal Services; and Dan McDaniels, Director of Student Center.

Hanel and Miller discussed the expansion of the Student Health Center, and possibly connecting the SHC with the Counseling and Health Center.

According to Miller this expansion might allow for 24 hours of operation, a drive through pharmacy, and a disability service area. Miller said the SHC would be unable to move towards the center of campus.

“Space is limited near the center of campus, so the likelihood of that is no,” Hanel said.

Fitch discussed what the UPD does around campus and that UPD is starting to put together their own six person SWAT team. Fitch also said that if the tobacco ban was implemented he is not exactly sure at this time how UPD would enforce it due to a low staff.

Fitch also commented on the failed wet petition for Huntsville. Fitch believes it could be brought back again before the vote in November, and he hopes that someone does. If someone did take on this task they would have to start over from the beginning.

“One of the main reasons it failed was because over 50 of the signatures were from voters who were not registered in Huntsville,” Fitch said.

Kapalko discussed parking availability on campus and the possibility of building more parking garages.

According to Kapalko the amount of sold parking permits has gone down, while the amount of people using the parking garage has gone up.

As students on a college campus, you are in the best Kapalko does not know if one of the parking environment that intramural fields you’re willing to pay for... could be paved as a

David Kapalko parking lot, he said the decision would have to be made higher up. Kapalko is unaware when the next parking garage will be built.

“As students on a college campus you are in the best parking environment that you’re willing to pay for,” Kapalko said.

Muehsam stressed that all of the colleges are there to help students help themselves.

Yarabeck described what he did as the dean of students and spoke of two new programs that have been created; Ravens Call and OMGProgram. The Ravens Call is a ceremony for all Bearkats that have passed away and will be held on April 20. The OMGProgram is Online Mentoring and Guidance

“

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“

Officials are looking for ways to react positively to decreases in funding for TEXAS Grants, according to a report by the Texas Tribune.

During the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board meeting today, members discussed how the program may change, especially with the increase in tuition and fees in most public universities.

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board experienced 20 percent cut in funding in the last state budget. The TEXAS Grant program had 10 percent cut in funding.

The TEXAS Grant was devised to help low-income and other need-based students get through college with fewer debt.

Texas Higher Education Commissioner Raymund Paredes said that a plan to make the best use of financial aid money is needed soon, especialy with more cuts to funding.

“We need to all work together to make sure we get it straight,” he said.

For now, students who receive the Grant can renew them, only if they keep their grades up, until they get their degree...or up to one year beyond the prescribed amount of time for their degree plan.

Sam Houston State University took 20 percent funding cut from the state.

CHATTY KATS. From left: Dan McDaniels, Rhonda Beassie, Debbi Hatton, John Yarabeck, Mitchell Muesham, David Kapalko, James Fitch, and Andrew Miller led a panel discussion on student concerns at the Kat Chat event.

CHAT, page 3

Faculty senate approves tenure, social media disclaimer MOLLY WADDELL Associate News Editor Twenty-eight faculty members received tenure with promotion and 14 were promoted to full professor at Thursday’s Faculty Senate meeting.

The majority of the meeting was dedicated to a presentation

by Provost Jaimie Hebert, Ph.D., who discussed the tenure and promotions policy at Sam Houston State University.

According to Debbi Hatton, chair of the Faculty Senate, this past spring 45 faculty members were evaluated for tenure and promotion.

Other items on the Senate’s agenda included discussion and vote to increase SHSU’s admission standards, vote for a recommendation from the Social Media committee, discussion about making SHSU a more family friendly environment, Blackboard upgrade, and discussion on identifying inefficacies on campus.

The current student standards allow automatic admissions for students graduating in the top 10 percent of their class.

Trevor Thorn, Director of the Admissions staff, sent the proposal to expand the automatic admission to the top 20 percent.

The senate voted unanimously to support this recommendation.

These are the standards as recommended by the senate: automatic acceptance for top 20 percent; 21-25 percent, ACT – 18 Composite, SAT – 880 (critical reading + math); 2 quartile, ACT – 20 Composite; SAT – 960 (critical reading + math); 3 quartile, ACT – 23 Composite, SAT – 1060 (critical reading + math); 4 quartile, review only; students from non-ranking high schools, a minimum of 21 on ACT Composite or 1010 on SAT I (critical reading + math).

According to Thorn, President Dana Gibson made a few changes to the proposal, but she was unable to be reached for comment.

The Social Media committee recommended establishing a standardized disclaimer for social media sites maintained by campus organizations.

The disclaimer says, “The views expressed on my personal site may not reflect those of the Sam Houston State University, The Texas State University System’s Board of Regents or the State of Texas.”

The senate voted unanimously on this disclaimer.

The Faculty Senate, Student Government Association and the Staff Council plan to work toward creating a campus policy on Family Friendly Work Life policy. This is due to concerns that the Senate has previously heard about the campus not being in accordance with the Fair Labor Standards Act because the campus does not provide adequate facilities for nursing mothers.

“It’s exciting to have small children around, we love small children and it will be exciting to have that,” Hatton said at the Kat Chat later Thursday night.

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FACULTY, page 3

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Viewpoints

Page 2 Tuesday, April 10, 2012

houstonianonline.com/viewpoints

Student stands up

Today in history:

April 9

Kendall Scudder wants students to be the first to know that he’s running for Huntsville City Council

To the baseball team for their 20/24 national rank.

To Hillary Adams & Anthony Azar for being named SLC “Hitter of the Week.”

To Britni Martin & Sequeena Thomas for being named to the Academic AllSLC Team for women’s basketball.

To the ranking committee of women’s bowling for our #9 ranking which prevented our team from competing in the post-season tournament. We all know they should have been ranked higher.

R e a l l y bookstore?

Who thought this image was appropriate?

I

was brought to Huntsville the same way hundreds of thousands of people have been since 1879, and like so many others, I just flat-out fell in love with her; the history, the culture, and mostly the people. But when I watch the toxic atmosphere that our city’s government exists in, I can’t help but cringe. Instead of the bickering and excessive distractions that we see infecting our headlines today, we should be embracing the diverse ingenuity of our citizenry, investing in our city’s infrastructure, and pushing forward with Huntsville’s growth and economic development.

It’s time to stop talking and start walking. This is why I’ve decided to seek At-Large Position 4 on Huntsville’s City Council in November.

Looking around the city of Huntsville, it’s clear to even the most untrained eye that it’s bursting with potential. It’s time to embrace the aspects of our city that make us unique, be it the university or the prisons, the west side or the east side, to unify our community and help evolve it into the bustling, businessfriendly community that so many of us want it to become. In order to effectively do this, there are several key aspects to our city’s growth that we should be focusing on.

First, Huntsville has been blessed with something that communities across this country would kill for: a large university. We should be taking advantage of the potential economic growth, the unique cultural qualities, and the manpower that the university can generate.

Unfortunately in Huntsville today, we find too many young people who have fallen in love with Huntsville but just can’t find the employment to stay.

We shouldn’t be bringing great minds from around the country to Huntsville only to educate them and send them on their ways. Our focus in our economic development efforts should be to start promoting the importation of technology parks and industry to help create jobs, retain graduates, and transform Huntsville

Kendall Scudder Recurring Columnist

into a place where students, graduates, and professors want to settle their roots. It’s time to embrace our university, begin restoring and generating a sound campus-area infrastructure, and take advantage of the economic impact these things have to offer.

Next, it’s time to move past the historic east versus west mentality that our community struggles with on a regular basis. I regularly joke that I am a “militant moderate,” who consistently strives to create partnerships and build a consensus.

Whether you supported or opposed the means by which Huntsville began to develop the west side of our community, it’s here and not going anywhere.

Let’s take advantage of our western-side tax incentives while we have them so that in 10 years, we’ll have a strong tax base in the west to help us provide essential services for our citizenry. When moving businesses into the west, let’s not forget about our small Ma and Pop businesses that could greatly benefit from tax relief. These small businesses are a part of what makes our community great and what help us maintain the atmosphere that helped to bring so many of us here. Alongside doing this, let’s promote our city having the highest

Misti Jones gives helpful hints on how to get fit and stay that way

e’re killing ourselves.

Literally. We consume pounds and pounds of sugar on a daily basis and never think twice about it.

Recent studies have shown that sugar consumption is leading to increases in heart disease, diabetes, obesity, childhood obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke and death.

Instead of drinking water, we drink beverages with about 40 grams of sugar per 12 ounces. We eat yogurt, popsicles, canned fruit, cookies, granola bars, artificial fruit snacks, ice cream and more, all filled with sugar or high-fructose corn syrup. Sugar is just empty calories, meaning it has no nutritional value.

A lot of times, sugar will turn to fat. And, more gross, this can cause fat build up in the blood causing clogged arteries.

The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends that men consume 36 grams or nine teaspoons of sugar daily. Women should consume 20 grams or five teaspoons, while children should intake 12 grams or three teaspoons everyday.

But it’s not just sugar that is causing obesity and heart disease rates to skyrocket, it’s also the amount of fat we’re consuming. It is suggested that adults intake less than 2,000 calories on a daily basis with less

Editorial Staff Robin Johnson Faculty Adviser 936-294-1499

Stephen Green E dito r-in-Chie f 936 -294-1505

Senior Reporter

than 60 grams of fat. However, many fast food chains and restaurants are putting items on their menus that exceed the daily required caloric and fat intake in one meal alone. I believe this is only encouraging Americans to eat poorly.

Food companies are fueling this epidemic by coming out with bellybuster hamburgers with bacon, cheese and mayo. They’ve created two-pound hot dogs, double XL or triple XL chalupas, all-you-caneat buffets and endless enchiladas.

It’s disgusting. Anything with ‘big’

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1865 – American Civil War: Robert E. Lee surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia (26,765 troops) to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, effectively ending the war.

1939 – Marian Anderson sings at the Lincoln Memorial, after being denied the right to sing at the Daughters of the American Revolution’s Constitution Hall.

1947 – The Journey of Reconciliation, the first interracial Freedom Ride begins through the upper South in violation of Jim Crow laws. The riders wanted enforcement of the United States Supreme Court’s 1946 Irene Morgan decision that banned racial segregation in interstate travel.

1959 – Project Mercury: NASA announces the selection of the United States’ first seven astronauts, whom the news media quickly dub the “Mercury Seven”.

2003 – 2003 invasion of Iraq: Baghdad falls to American forces;Saddam Hussein statue topples as Iraqis turn on symbols of their former leader, pulling down the statue and tearing it to pieces.

April 10

or ‘belly-buster’ or ‘extra large’ or ‘monster’ or ‘endless’ in the title should be avoided.

We need to learn what is enough.

No person was built to consume this much food with overloads of fat, sugar and calories. What is it going to take for us to finally realize when enough is enough?

I think what people need to keep in mind is that moderation is key. If you cut down on your sugar, fat and calorie intake, you could see a huge difference in your health. Drink water instead of soda and cut back on dessert. Many foods have added sugars and fat, so make sure you look at nutritional labels before you eat.

If you want to avoid overeating, drink eight ounces of water before eating. You’ll feel full quicker. Also, share a meal with someone when you go out to eat or take half of it home for another day. In addition, try to work out 3-5 times a week at a minimum of 30 minutes of cardio (i.e. running, jogging, aerobics) or weight training.

I know it’s cliché but diet and exercise are key in preventing harmful effects on your body.

And sure, I enjoy sugar and fat on occasion like a normal person, I’m just asking that we observe and take notice of what we’re putting into our bodies on a daily basis. We need to stop killing ourselves

Chelsea Boyd

Misti Jones

Vie w p o i nts Edito r

George Mattingly

mw ad d e l l @ho u s to ni anon lin e.c om

Misti Jones

Karmen King

s g re e n@ho u s to ni ano nl i ne.c om

Asso ciate Edito r 936-294-1502

For more information, please visit our website at www.KendallScudder. com.

Don’t just sit there

W Dear Sam Houston Students, Staff and Faculty and Alumni: The Houstonian would not survive were it not for the continued involvement and dedication of the SHSU student body. We welcome all column submissions and letters to the editor. If at any time you feel the need to express an opinion, please do not hesitate to email your thoughts or drop by our office in the Dan Rather communications building.

We look forward to hearing from you and thank you as always for your continued support of the Houstonian.

Karmen C. King, Viewpoints Editor, kking@ houstonianonline.com

possible level of transparency and accountability to ensure that our tax dollars are being well spent and that kickbacks are a thing of the past.

This will help us create another area of our community that we can all be proud of and that we can all work on together.

Finally, it’s time to restore areas of our community that need us most. It is flat-out unacceptable for a city as blessed as Huntsville to have even one road in our city limits unpaved. It is unacceptable to leave even one area of our city without access to city water services. It is unacceptable to treat a single citizen in our community, whether they live on Gospel Hill or in Elkins lake, University House or Forest Hills, as if they are unwelcome, unmerited, or unequipped for civil service on any level: be it voting, serving on city committees, or even something as simple as attending city functions.

Our government is in place to serve the citizens of Huntsville, whether they vote or not, to the best of our ability and it is time to live up to that challenge.

This road isn’t going to be easy; we’ll have our fair share of bumps along the way. Even with these hills that we see in front of us that might, at first, seem too high to climb, we can do it; we have to do it. The naysayers will tell us that our hopes are too high. They’ll tell us that our vision isn’t one that our city is ready for. But even with the attempts to stop our momentum, we still understand that Huntsville deserves better than what she’s been given.

Thank you for following the beginning of our campaign for Huntsville City Council Position 4, I look forward to working alongside and speaking to each of you in the weeks and months to come. With your help, Huntsville can be a better place to live, a better place to work, a better place to learn, a better place to worship, and a better place to raise our families. Will you join me?

1682 – Robert Cavelier de La Salle discovers the mouth of the Mississippi River, claims it for France and names it Louisiana.

1912 – The Titanic leaves port in Southampton, England for her first and only voyage.

1953 – Warner Brothers premieres the first 3-D film from a major American studio, entitled House of Wax. 1970 – Paul McCartney announces that he leaves The Beatles for personal and professional reasons.

1971 – Ping Pong Diplomacy: In an attempt to thaw relations with the United States, the People’s Republic of China hosts the U.S. table tennis team for a weeklong visit.

April 11 1961 - Bob Dylan plays his first major gig in New York City.

The individual opinions on the Viewpoints page are not necessarily affiliated with the view of The Houstonian or SHSU. The Houstonian is published semi-weekly on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It is a news publication of Sam Houston State University, a member of the Texas State University system, and is produced by students. It is self-supporting and welcomes all advertisers.

Those interested in placing ads or classifieds should call 936-2941495. The Houstonian is a member of the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association.

News

Page 3

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

houstonianonline.com/news

IT asks for more student input, outputs upgrades

MISTI JONES Senior Reporter

Student input is the key to making decisions when it comes to changing and improving technology on the Sam Houston State University campus, according to one member of the Student Government Association.

Joseph Le, SGA technology coordinator, wants to encourage students to voice their concerns and share their ideas about what they want to see for the university technology on campus.

“We’re just at the point where we want to do good,” Le said. “We want to improve the University.

We want to put student grievances in front of the administration, but if no one tells us about anything, we can’t do anything about it.”

Le and the SGA Technology Committee along with SGA University Affairs committee and IT@Sam want to obtain feedback from students through surveys, classroom discussions and social media contact to help improve student life on campus.

“We want them to inform us by saying, ‘we have a printer problem’ or ‘we have a Wi-Fi problem’ or ‘we can’t get access to our email’ or ‘we want bigger Wi-Fi access in the mall area,’” Le said. “Those issues need to be brought up to us before we can present it to administration.”

Le said there are many improvements his team would like to see done on campus: achieving Wifi access in all dorms, creating a direct link to OrgLink on the SHSU homepage, creating an SHSU Blackboard app and putting cell phone repeaters in the Lowman Student Center—and possibly the academic colleges— to increase cell phone signals.

Also the University is upgrading to Blackboard 9 over the summer, it is currently on Blackboard 7.

He would like to increase the SHSU email capacity or switch it to a university Hotmail account so students may keep their email address even after graduation.

Le said they are also pushing for a computer store on campus for students to purchase laptops and student discounted software, such as Windows 8.

“My way of improving the student life on campus is one small step at a time,” Le said.

“Seeing what students want and making sure that what they want is realistic and if the university can actually provide, is what I’m aiming for.”

SGA works with IT on many technology related issues to fulfill students’ wants and needs. Le said SHSU has one of the lowest technology fees for our system and for our area. He said IT has done a lot for the university with the budget they have, including

alleviating issues students were having with computer lab printers last year.

“I emailed IT and said, ‘These are the issues that students are having,’” Le said. “They did an investigation and spent the last year buying new printers and getting new contracts. Now every single printer in the IT-run lab is a brand-new one that is more efficient, prints double side faster and has a better service contract.

So if it’s down, it’s down for two days max.”

Another issue brought to SGA’s attention was the difficulty students were having logging onto SamNet Wi-Fi. SGA informed IT and the groups worked together over Spring Break to improve service quality and user capacity.

“We did research and we found out that our Wi-Fi SamNet was only set for 8,000 students,” Le said. “On Monday of Spring Break, SamNet was shut down. They increased it from 8,000 students to 65,000 students.”

Mark Adams, associate vice president for Information Resources, announced that IT has recently upgraded printers and computers in computer labs.

They upgraded the classroom instructional equipment and increased campus Internet bandwidth. He said SHSU mobile app enhancements are currently underway.

MISTI JONES Senior Reporter Program Council will be hosting the annual Sam Houston Challenge where student teams, who applied in advance, will participate in a two-day competition for cash prizes on April 20 and April 21.

This year’s theme is Dr. Seuess as eight student-formed groups and student organizations, consisting of four girls and four guys will compete against each other through a series of Seuessthemed challenges. @shsu_pc, Program Council’s

Twitter page, described the SH Challenge as “kind of like the ‘Amazing Race’ of SHSU.” Each student group or organization will collect points through intense relay races, campus-wide scavenger hunts, eating competitions, tugof-war, obstacle course, spirit competition and more. Teams with the least amount of points will be eliminated by day two in order to narrow down to the top five teams still in the running for cash prizes.

“Usually when teams get knocked out, they still stay and come support other teams,”

photo provided by Joseph Le

UPGRADE. Joseph Le is the SGA technology coordinator and he wants to better SHSU’s technology.

Adams said IT regularly meets and participates with SGA “to better understand student expectations, needs and to hear concerns.” He said students have asked for upgrades and additional printers in computer labs and want to do away with the required student login for SamNet. However, both Le and Adams agree that without student feedback to SGA and IT, improvements cannot be made or presented to the university.

“We appreciate people who bring us information because we can’t be everywhere,” Le said. “We can’t know exactly what students want, and until they tell us something, we can’t do anything

about it. We don’t want somebody to say, “Why didn’t you do this?’

Because our answer is, ‘Why didn’t you tell us?’”

University Affairs and Technology Committee meet on Thursdays at 5 p.m. in the LSC room 326. Their meetings are open to the public in order for students to have the opportunity to bring direct issues they’re having on campus.

In addition, students may contact the SGA about technology related questions, comments or concerns by visiting their Facebook or Twitter accounts.

Students can also email helpdesk@ shsu.edu or stop by IT service desk in Academic Building 1 for

Program Council challenges Sam students

provided by program council

AMAZING RACE. Program council puts on several events throughout the year for sam students to enjoy.

Olivia Milam, Program Council entertainment chair, said. “It really is fun to watch because they have them doing crazy things.”

The teams with the highest total combined points from day one and day two of events will be awarded cash prizes. The first place winning team will receive a $500 prize, second place team will receive $250 and third place team will receive $100. The money will either go to the student organizations that win or to the student-formed groups that may split the money amongst each other.

The competing teams will meet for indoor activities at Health and Kinesiology Center courts one and two on day one, April 20, at 5 p.m. They will meet for outdoor events on Intramural Field three on day two, April 21, at 2 p.m. All students are encouraged to come watch their peers in this fastpaced competition.

Milam said, “Come and support because more than likely, if you’re coming, you probably know somebody that’s in the team or in charge of the team. It’s just fun to come, interact, watch and cheer on people you’re rooting for.”

Medicaid Women’s Health Program loses funding from U.S government MOLLY WADDELL Associate News Editor The United States Department of Health and Human Services announced that it will cut off all Medicaid funding for family planning to the state of Texas due to a law that Governor Rick Perry (R) decided to implement that excludes any clinic that provides abortions from the Medicaid Women’s Health Program, according to the Huffington Post and USA Today.

According to Cindy Mann,

SCUDDER,

director of the Center for Medicaid and State Operations, HHS is cutting off funding because Texas broke Medicaid rules by discriminating against qualified family planning providers.

“We very much regret the state’s decision to implement this rule, which will prevent women enrolled in the program from receiving services from the trusted health care providers they have chosen and relied upon for their care,” Mann wrote in a letter to Texas health officials. “In light of Texas’ actions, CMS is not in a

page 1 the Student Organization

led his team to register over 800 student volunteers.”

Perry also said that Scudder has worked to improve student civic involvement and he has served as a mentor and a model of leadership to many members of the senate.

“The SGA felt that the dedication of a day for Mr. Scudder would be an appropriate representation of his many years of service to the students of Sam Houston,” Tyler Eberhart, SGA President said. “Kendall is responsible for a wide range of service initiatives to better our university and community.

The legislation, dedication a day in his honor, was passed by those who worked alongside him and knew firsthand how hard he has worked.”

Scudder currently serves as the Chairman of the City of Huntsville’s Youth Advisory Board, serves as a senior member of

Board, is a recurring contributor for The Houstonian, and is enrolled in the Huntsville Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Institute, Class 30.

“I’m honored that the student senate would acknowledge our accomplishments in this way and for putting up with me over the last four years,” Scudder said. “I hope that I’ll be able to continue following our University’s motto in every aspect of my life.”

Scudder launched his website www. kendallscudder.com to help his campaign.

The city council voting will take place during the general November election.

CHAT,

page 1

program that will start next fall and will help students without them having to coming into the building.

Hatton explained what the Faculty Senate did and

position to extend or renew the current [Medicaid contract].”

Perry wrote a strongly worded letter to President Barack Obama in reaction to the HHS’s ruling.

“Your administration’s attempt to violate states’ rights under the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by mandating which health providers the State of Texas must use is nothing more than an effort to continue to financially support abortion providers like Planned Parenthood and their affiliates,” Perry wrote.

In the letter Perry also

some of their upcoming plans. Hatton would like to align the Faculty and Student handbook so that the faculty knows what the students have as rules. She would also like to make it to where Sam students graduate at the same time as other universities so students can be able to get the same job opportunities.

Hatton also discussed an upgrade to Blackboard 9 which will occur this summer. SHSU is currently on Blackboard 7. According to Hatton anyone can attend the Faculty Senate meetings.

Beassie discussed her responsibilities which include helping students with all of their legal services, unless they are against the university and mediating between two parties. The SLS will not write contracts or other documents for students but they will help the students set them up and send them in the right direction.

Beassie was also excited to announce that this is the first year that SLS has a full

promised to find some way to continue paying for the program if the Obama administration, “made good on its threat to end health care to these 100,000- plus women.”

An HHS spokesperson told Huffington Post reporters that this was not Obama’s decision and that the administration’s hands were tied.

According to the New York Times, Wisconsin has withheld funding for family planning and breast cancer screenings, and this has not been challenged by any

time attorney on staff.

Dan McDaniel went over the same things he did with SGA at their meeting on Wednesday. This included the possible expansion of the Lowman Student Center. McDaniel said that a bowling alley is possible, but before they decide what will go into the new LSC they have to get information from the students.

“The information given to the students in attendance was very informative and a great start to what SGA hopes to be a successful program used in the future for the purpose of educating the students on matters being conducted throughout SHSU.” Shane Rankin, SGA senator and University Affairs Chief said.

Rankin would like to make the Kat Chat a monthly event.

FACULTY,

page 1

The Ad-hoc committee recommended that the campus move to Blackboard

court. Lawmakers in Indiana and Kansas and North Carolina have all tried to withhold funding from abortions but have been stopped by judges, according to USA Today.

The Texas Medicaid Women’s Health Program is a $40 million program that the federal government use to provide 90 percent of the funding for, according to USA Today.

It is still unclear as to how Perry’s administration will pay for the loss of funding from HHS.

9 for all face to face courses.

The campus is currently on Blackboard 7. Blackboard 9 will provide faculty with the ability to communicate with students through Facebook and Twitter. The Senate voted to accept this recommendation.

Blackboard 9 will be in place by fall 2012, with DELTA working through the summer to transition over.

The Institutional Research Board Chair Donna Desforge, announced to the Senate that since the current

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software isn’t adequate for the volume of research, that the campus will adopt new software over the summer.

Lastly the senate discussed a report over a report of what work being done by the ad-hoc committee that identifies inefficacies on campus.

They are currently going through responses they have received to identify cost saving measures.

The Faculty Senate meets every other Thursday, and the next meeting is April 19.

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Arts & Entertainment

Page 4 Tuesday, April 10, 2012

houstonianonline.com/a-e

Artists unleash ‘PlantBots’ on campus Exhibit combines art, electronics to shed light on food production to action I was,” Schmuki said.

“There is a huge portion of the population that is unaware of what Roaring and singing sounded is in their food and there needs to from several green plants as they be more transparency in our food wiggled around and followed production.”

Housed in a solar-powered students to class as they invaded campus last week a part of hybrid mobile lab complete with laptops, TVs and lights, the artists have art exhibit titled “Monsantra”.

The exhibit was a collaborative taken their unique experiment effort by visiting artists Wendy around the world to places like DesChene and Jeff Schmuki Korea, Rome, Paris, New Finland along with students from the and Canada as a way to encourage advanced sculpture course in the discussion about the food they eat art department at Sam Houston and self-sufficiency.

“We use humor as a way State University.

They worked together to bring to provide opportunity for plants to life in order to raise discussion,” Schmuki said. “Art questions about what is in the is neutral ground that serves as a safe place to food a person engage. We’re not eats and where it here to force people comes from.

We use humor as a way to do anything, The two-day to provide opportunity for just to provide process to create discussion. Art is a neutral information.” the living plants The living plants involved wiring ground that serves as a safe grabbed the attention a n i m a t r o n i c s place to engage. of spectators who from recycled midway toys and cars in -Jeff Schmuki, co-founder of stopped through their steps to plants, according PlantBot Genetics, Inc. interact with some of to DesChene. the humorous plants The results are unlike any other art exhibit and read about the exhibit.

“I thought it was a serious with such “species” like SuccaFernamongus Performada and science thing,” visitor Mary Myosotis Lagomorphia Forget- Dudley said. “The plants on Me-Hop, plants that sang and wheels made me smile and I danced at the press of buttonOther wanted to know more. [The robotic plants included grass exhibit] was definitely surprising; plants on wheels driven by a it makes you think differently.”

The experiment was also remote control, a small, barking a learning experience for the dog covered in leaves and Elmo.

“In our way, we can take Elmo’s students who worked on their own skin off and put plants on him,” robotic plants in order to see how DesChene said. “It’s friendly, art could be used as a catalyst for playful, funny, and interactive change. way to get people to talk about “It was interesting,” Melissa what’s in their food.”

“Monsantra” is named after the Wood, junior studio art major, Monsanto Corporation, one of the said. “I’ve never made interactive biggest producers of genetically art before. They [the artists] make things that are light hearted and modified organisms.

After Schmuki went undercover fun and people are attracted to as a farmer at the corporation, he that. It’s like a conversation.”

For more information about discovered “stretches of truth” and Plantbot about food production in the U.S. “Monsantra” “The more I read about our Genetics, visit their website at food production, the more called www.monsantra.com.

GEORGE MATTINGLY Arts & Entertainment Editor

“

“

Photos by George Mattingly| The Houstonian

PLANTING SEEDS FOR DISCUSSION: Students from the Advanced Sculpture course worked with artists and cofounders of PlantBot Genetics, Inc. to release several living plants last Thursday on wheels and others dancing and singing as an interactive way to engage students in discussion about what is in their food and where is comes from.

“Titanic” revivial sinks to bottom of 3D films SOFIA MEDRANO Contributing Reporter As April 2012 commemorates a century since the RMS Titanic’s sinking, the popular film directed

by James Cameron was recently was released in 3D. We all know the story line for the movie; an elderly woman recounts her journey of love and survival while sailing on the Titanic the night it sinks.

Now I know everyone is thinking the same thing: what difference does 3D make to a three hour love story loosely based on the actual events of the Titanic? I can tell you, not much.

The first twenty minutes of the movie started off promising as the underwater effects made it seem as if you were actually with the treasure hunters searching the sunken Titanic. Tiny particles of debris floated toward the screen and the ship jumped out of the screen clearly showing the improved 3D effects.

However, as soon as Rose, the elderly woman begins to tell her story, the movie no longer appears to be in 3D. In fact, the rest of the film looked like a regular 2D

Photo courtesy of Lap Fung Chan | Flickr.com

SMOOTH SAILING: The re-release of Titanic earned $61.2 million around the world with $17.4 million in domestic sales. The original film, released in 1997 earned a $1.8 billion in theaters and led box office charts for 15 weeks.

movie and it made me almost want to leave the theater for paying to see a rerun of a movie I could have watched on TV. The 3D effects made the movie worse because it left

me disappointed for expecting awesome special effects that never came.

The 3D effects caused certain scenes to look more computerized compared to the

2D version, making it even less believable than before. During the memorable scene where the Titanic breaks in half, the effects look extremely computerized and fake.

UPCOMING EVENTS

April 12 Clarinet Studio Recital 7:30 p.m.

April 13 & 14 April 13 University Percussion Ensemble Concert 7:30 p.m.

Fine Arts Festival 6:30 p.m.

The same thing occurred in the scene where Jack looks into the ocean and sees dolphins jumping in and out of the water. The dolphins looked fake and even though I knew neither of these scenes was actually real, I still wanted them to make me believe that it was really happening.

One thing the remake did get right was enhancing the colors and making everything seem more vivid, which differed from the original because it provided a much clearer picture that highlighted the beauty of the costumes and set designs.

Overall, I just don’t see the reason why they redid the movie in 3D and I think they could have done more to make it stand out from the original by adding more in-your-face effects.

These effects would have worked well in the multiple action scenes where the characters were running from the rushing water by making the waves seem like they were coming toward the audience.

For true fans of the film, the 3D release of Titanic is not worth paying an extra fee for the lack of effects.

Sports

Page 5 Tuesday, April 10, 2012 houstonianonline.com/sports

twitter.com/HoustonianSport

Bearkats knock off Demons

Baseball sweeps Northwestern State for 12th straight win CODY LEWIS Sports Reporter

After sweeping Northwestern State this past weekend, the Sam Houston State University baseball team jumped to number 20 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Poll.

The third consecutive sweep against Southland Conference opponents, gives the Bearkats a 12-game winning streak overall.

SHSU (23-9, 12-2 SLC) now holds first place in the Conference with a four-game lead over the Demons (12-17, 9-6 SLC).

On Thursday morning, first place in the conference was still up in the air. But after the Bearkats defeated the Demons of Northwestern 5-4 Thursday night, they had a little bit of breathing room for the rest of the threegame series.

After trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the second, Sam Houston scored five runs in response all in the second inning to give them all the offense they would need to win the game.

Designated hitter Anthony Azar went two for four from the plate to lead the Bearkats with two RBIs. Cody Dickson got the start for Sam Houston and lasted three and one third innings, giving up two runs off of three hits. Brandon Bergen picked up the win for the Bearkats, also giving up two runs off of three hits in four and two thirds innings pitched. Michael Burchett pitched a shutout ninth inning to get his third save of the season.

photo courtesy of gobearkats.com

TWELVE IN A ROW. Sam Houston State University senior pitcher Michael Oros (39) pitches in a game earlier this season. Sunday, Oros pitched in relief and picked up his second save of the season. The Bearkats swept Northwestern State Demons over the weekend, their third straight sweep of a Southland Conference opponent.

Sam Houston experienced another close game on Friday night as they beat the Devils 4-3 in 11 innings. First baseman Ryan O’Hearn hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the 11th to give the Bearkats a win and a three game lead in the conference.

The Bearkats were trailing 3-2 into the eighth inning after a two run home run by Anthony Azar, who went three for five, in the third inning until shortstop Corey Toups scored on a wild pitch to tie the game up.

The Demons had a good chance of scoring in the top on the ninth inning but a throw from center fielder Colt Atwood to home plate prevented it and saved the game.

Caleb Smith got the start for Sam Houston, lasting five and two thirds innings. He gave up three runs off of six hits.

Allen Scott pitched three and one third innings of shutout baseball in relief. Jordan Bunch pitched the last two innings and got the win.

“We brought everybody together and said that we’ve won games with a lot of runs and we’ve won games by scoring early.

Tonight we’ll score late and try to win it,“ SHSU head coach David Pierce said. “We only scored four runs. But that’s all we needed.”

The three-game series ended on Saturday afternoon with a 5-3 win over the Demons to give the

Bearkats their third conference sweep in a row.

Second baseman Jessie Plumlee hit a two run single in the fifth inning to put the Bearkats ahead for the rest of the game. Plumlee finished the day with two hits.

“I knew those runs were big,” Plumlee said. “I went up there looking for a pitch I could drive and I ended up getting a fast ball that I could turn on and put out there.”

Justin Jackson started for Sam Houston and pitched a solid seven innings, while giving up three runs off of three hits. Reliever Michael Oros came out to pitch the last two innings and got the job done, earning his second save

of the season.

“The streak and the sweeps are awesome but we just want to win,” left fielder Luke Plucheck said.

“We aren’t too focused on records.

We are set on a conference championship and that’s what we go out every day striving for.

We’ve been blessed so far this season and we want to keep it rolling.”

The Bearkats will kick off another three-game conference series this weekend in Beaumont against Lamar. First pitch on Friday is set for 6:30 p.m.

For more information about the team, including questions about scheduling, visit gobearkats.com.

Spirit Program seeks Sammy the Bearkat replacement MOLLY WADELL Associate News Editor Two graduating Sammys sat down with the Houstonian and gave advice to students trying out to be Sammy on April 23 at noon in Academic Building III Zane Thrift and Jackson Mayes are two of the five Sammy the Bearkats, and two of the three graduating this year. Thrift is the captain of the Mascots and is judging the tryouts along with Brian McCoplin, Spirit Program Coordinator.

“Confidence is key,” Thrift said. “Sammy is a confident, cocky, big guy.”

Thrift said his best advice for future Sammys is to look at his videos on YouTube and learn all of his mannerisms, this way they can see the transformation of Sammy as it happens.

“Anything you do is Sammy, when I tried out any movement I made I could see in the mirrors so all of my anxiety left me because I saw Sammy,” Mayes said.

To be Sammy you have to be big with everything; twice or three times as big so the

people in the c r o w d can see the movements, Thrift said.

“You also have to have lots of energy and be able to improvise,” Mayes said.

According to Thrift if a student plans to tryout to be Sammy they need to make sure that their schedule is free.

“Sammy is the face of the University, being a mascot always comes first,” Thrift said.

Any student can tryout, but they are looking for students anywhere between 5’ 8” and 6’ 3”.

The tryouts will

consist of a 60 to 90 second skit, prop work, game day scenarios and an interview.

Thrift and Mayes gave a breakdown of the tryouts. The skit needs to be something that shows character work and crowd involvement. Students trying out also need to show good work with a variety of props. In the game day scenario of the tryout, students will be given a scenario that has actually happened to one of the mascots and asked to show how they would handle the situation.

The tryout ends with an interview portion, where students will be asked questions by McCoplin, Thrift and other mascots.

“Once you get in Sammy, you are Sammy,” Thrift said.

Thrift couldn’t narrow down his favorite thing about being Sammy; he loved everything because everything

he did as Sammy was a fun experience.

“Being Sammy was the best experience in the world,” Thrift said.

For more information students can call Spirit Programs at 936-294-4239

INFORMATION DATE

April 23

TIME

12:00 P.M.

PLACE

AB III

TRYOUT

60-90 second skit, prop work, game day scenario, interview

More Info.

(936)-294-4239

SOUTHLAND STANDINGS Womens tennis team splits weekend BASEBALL slc

Teams

overall

SHSU Northwestern Southeastern La. Texas St. UT Arlington McNeese St.

13-2 9-6 8-7 8-7 8-7 8-7

23-9 12-17 22-11 20-11 20-12 12-17

Nicholls St. Central Ark. SFA TAMU-CC UTSA Lamar

7-8 7-8 6-9 6-9 5-10 5-10

18-14 13-15 13-18 13-18 13-19 12-18

SOFTBALL

Teams

slc

overall

McNeese St. Texas St. SHSU TAMU-CC UTSA Nicholls St.

7-1 10-2 7-3 8-4 6-4 4-4

23-10 24-14 15-16 12-14 16-20 8-23

Central Ark. Northwestern St. UT Arlington SFA Southeastern La.

5-7 4-8 2-6 2-8 1-9

27-17 15-23 12-18 9-25 7-28

series with Roadrunners, Islanders AMY TUREK Contributing Reporter The Sam Houston State tennis team split home conference matches on Friday and Saturday against the University of TexasSan Antonio and Texas A&M Corpus Christi.

Friday, the Bearkats came from behind to beat the UTSA Roadrunners 4-3. The Bearkats lost the doubles point, losing two of the three doubles matches.

Doubles No. 1 Nadia Dubyanskaya and Tatyana Postnikova lost 8-4 and doubles No. 3 Imke Jagau and Kayla Stevenson lost 8-5.

Doubles No. 2 Sheridan Currie and Natalie Petaia won 8-2.

In singles, No. 1 Jagau lost 6-4, 6-2 and No. 2 Currie lost 4-6, 6-1, 6-2. No. 4 Postnikova won 6-1, 6-2 and No. 6 Olivia Battye came from behind to win

4-6, 6-4, 6-1, bringing the match to 3-2 in UTSA’s favor. No. 5 Dubyanskaya battled to win 7-5, 7-5 and then No. 3 Petaia won her tight match 7-6, 2-6, 6-4.

“This was a grueling match on a hot day and the girls all fought hard,” Coach Jim Giachino said.

“The team earned this victory with some tough play.”

Saturday, the Bearkats were dropped 6-1 by the A&M Corpus Christi Islanders, winning just one match all day.

In doubles, Dubyanskaya and Postnikova lost 8-4, Currie and Petaia lost 8-7, and Jagau and Stevenson lost 8-3.

In singles, Jagau lost 7-6, 7-5; Currie lost 6-3, 6-3; Petaia lost 6-1, 6-2; Battye lost 6-0, 6-2; and Stevenson lost 6-3, 6-1. The lone victory of the day was secured by Postnikova who won 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.

“Even though the score against

Corpus was lopsided, it would not have taken a lot for us to turn it around,” Giachino said.

After the weekend results, the Bearkats are 11-6 on the season and 5-4 in conference play. They are in seventh place in conference standings.

They next face the No. 3 University of Texas-Arlington and No. 2 Texas State on Saturday and Sunday in the last regular season matches. They are both away matches.

“Next weekend we face two of the top teams in the conference.

It will be a good test to see where we are as we get ready for the conference tournament,” Giachino said.

The conference tournament begins Friday, April 27 in Nacogdoches.

For more information about the team, visit gobearkats.com.

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