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Volume 122 / Issue 8
Wynne Home hosts prison art show
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www.HoustonianOnline.com
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Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Campus News NATION & WORLD
Houston police kill amputee man in wheelchair
JASMINE BROWN Staff Reporter The Wynne Home Art and Visitor’s center featured Prison Art in its rotating gallery on Saturday, Sept. 22 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. The gallery was free and open to the public and was coordinated with the Wynne Home through Molly Campbell, a woman who taught art and dance in the male and female Huntsville Prison Units. She believes the art is important to the prisoners. “It gave them a sense of freedom, and some people discovered talents they didn’t know they had,” Campbell said. “You get a view of the inner spirit of the artists who created these pieces and see that there is a sense of humanity even in those who maybe got off to the wrong start in life.” Much of the displayed work was lent to the Wynne Home by prominent Huntsvillians, including Stephanie Smither, for this gallery. Friends of the Wynne also helped foot the cost of putting on this event. They are the reason many of the events held at the Wynne Home are free and open to the public. SHSU’s Junior Fellows volunteered at the event, doing everything from greeting, serving food and even explaining some of the art. Junior Fellows frequently volunteer and one of the places they continuously volunteer is the Wynne Home. When this gallery came about, it was no doubt that they would help out. Deanna Tyler, one of the Junior Fellows volunteers, was inspired by the prison art that she saw. “It’s definitely interesting and unique. There are pieces you couldn’t even imagine making,” Tyler said. “There’s a lamp made out of matchboxes. It just goes to show that there are some talented inmates.” Among the artists, the most famous were Frank Jones and Henry Ray Clark. Jones usually created works in blue and red because these were the only colors generally provided to him. He also had an affinity for drawing devilfish and many of them can be seen in his artworks. Clark, donned the “Magnificent Pretty Boy” in both art and personal circles, made many of the art pieces featured in the gallery show as well. His art featured many colors and geometrically intricate spectacles. Much of his art also had a religious theme. He was taught by Molly Campbell during her time teaching at the Huntsville Unit. Campbell recounts that Clark wanted her to teach him to draw faces and people. Campbell refused to do so saying “he would no longer be the talented individual that [he was] with [his] own original art.” Campbell may have made the right choice, as Clark went on to have art featured in the Smithsonian and in New York. Linda Pease, Cultural Service Coordinator for the City of Huntsville, said “No one was focused on folk art.” Even though that is not what the artists were focused on, almost all art done in prisons is “folk” or self-taught art. Pease said, “It’s a shame to see that people with this much talent are incarcerated.”
SHSU football gives up lead in fourth quarter against UCA
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Photo courtesy Meggan Thompson
SENIOR LEGACY. The 2013 Senior Class Legacy Committee includes (left to right) David Carraway, Melva Gomez, Amanda Koska, Mairead O’Hara, Brittiany Avery, Gabby Martin, Maria Hernandez, and Meredith Mohr.
SHSU seniors leave legacy for future classes via scholarship JAY JORDAN Staff Reporter A program at Sam Houston State University is looking to ease the financial burden for incoming students and encourage the benefit of giving back will kick off its annual campaign today. The Senior Class Legacy program was founded by Meggan Thompson of University Advancement, as a way for senior students to give back to future students in the form of a scholarship. The campaign for the class of 2013 will kick off today and will continue through April 2013. 100 percent of the donations collected will go toward the scholarship fund, which will be awarded the following year to a student at Sam Houston State University through
Scholar X. With the program, Thompson hopes to help pave the way for future students through the philanthropy of the senior class, an important lesson for students. “The Senior Class Legacy program started as a way to promote a culture of giving among students,” said Thompson, who started the program last year. “This allows for students to learn about giving back to SHSU before they graduate.” According to collegeportraits. org, 51 percent of 2011-12 fulltime undergraduates at Sam Houston State University received need-based grants or scholarships with an average award for the year at $6,286. With the amount of students receiving financial aid at SHSU,
the staff in the Annual Giving Department is making a conscious effort to give an SHSU student a chance at thwarting the financial foe. “We suggest a gift of $10 or more, but even a gift of $5 can help change the life of a current or future student,” Thompson said. Students and alumni can donate any amount to the fund either online or by visiting room 120 in the Bobby K. Marks Administration building. Students are encouraged to visit the Senior Class Legacy program at the Career Expo held in the Johnson Coliseum on Sept. 26 and the Senior Health Fair in the LSC mall area on Sept. 27. For more information or to donate, visit www.shsu.edu/~ua_ www/seniorgifts.html.
Campus News
New law creates standards for Texas college advisors SOPHIE NELSON Staff Reporter
The advising centers at every Texas state school will now be required to provide an assesment of the services they offer after the Texas Legislature passed a bill made effective Sep. 1. The assessment is not to be of the advisors themselves, but rather of the center’s program as a whole and how much students are learning from their visits to advising centers. According to the Texas Senate Bill No. 36, the means by which the centers are to acomplish the assessment are to use student surveys to determine where knowledge is lacking and to determine ways to measure the effectiveness the institution is having on the student population. Bill Fleming, Ph.D., executive director of the Student Advising & Mentoring Center (SAM Center) and one of the members on the state committee who helped devise the assessment plan, said that the bill came about because the legislators themselves were concerned their own children were not getting advised properly and wanted to remedy the problem. The concern over misadvising had also touched the SHSU campus as several students had tales of themselves or friends who experienced difficulties with the SAM Center. Grant Howarth, SHSU Junior and Music Therapy major, recounted that his experience with the SAM Center almost cost him a semester. Howarth said
Photo courtesy SHSU website
ADVISING RECOGNITION. Bill Fleming, Ph.D., was recognized for outstanding advising by the national advising organization.
that he was misadvised and had to be advised three times before connecting with the right advisor, which he was not able to do until the second week of classes. “It was frustrating because I hadn’t been here before as a freshman and I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be doing,” Howarth said. “I would have wasted an entire semester if I hadn’t called to see why my classes looked strange.” Fleming expects that the new assessment will be able to clear up some of the confusion and chaos that seems to permeate college advising, but says that there can
always be mistakes in the process, particularly in the few weeks before classes start. “We usually only see students once a semester, so it’s difficult to take enough time to explain everything properly in the amount of time we have,” Fleming said. “It gets even worse when everyone floods in the week before classes and we have to limit our time with the students.” Fleming is hopes the assessment will enable the SAM Center to learn new tips to help SHSU students become more familiar with their studies.
A Houston man was shot and killed by Houston police on Saturday at a group home for the mentally ill, officials said in a press release. Brian Claunch, an amputee diagnosed with schizophrenia, allegedly acted aggresively towards employees of the group home. “The Houston Police Department places teh highest value on human life and events like these are tragic and unfortunate for everyone involved,” police chief Charles McClelland said in a press release. “All Houston police officers receive mandatory crisis intervention training specifically dealing with persons with mental illness.” The police department is asking the FBI to aid in the investigation. Follow us today! @TheHoustonian
Ahmadinejad talks gay rights, anti-Islam film In an interview with CNN’s Piers Morgan, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke on the anti-Islam film that sparked outrage in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as, homosexuality. “Fundamentally, first of all, any action that is provocative, offends the religious thoughts and feelings of any people, we condemn,” he said. “Of course, what took place was ugly. Offending the Holy Prophet is quite ugly. This has very little or nothing to do with freedom and freedom of speech.” The Iranian leader said that he hopes politicians will view this as a “weakness” and “abuse of freedom.” Ahmadinejad also made an attack on homosexual lifestyles. “Homosexuality ceases procreation. Who has said that if you like or believe in doing something ugly, and others do not accept your behavior, that they’re denying your freedom?” he said.” He said that homosexuality must end and to do this proper education must be given. “The political system must be revamped. And these must be also reformed, revamped along the way. But if you, if a group recognizes an ugly behavior or ugly deed as legitimate, you must not expect other countries or other groups to give it the same recognition.” Visit our website! www.HoustonianOnline.com
VOTER REGISTRATION DRIVE Wednesday, Sept. 26 and Friday, Sept. 28 12:00 p.m. to 1 p.m. Locations at the LSC Mall Area, the Newton-Gresham Library, Lee Drain Building and CHSS Building.