Vol 116— Issue 28
Huntsville, Texas
The Houstonian Sports Show
Want more SHSU sports? Listen to our podcast: houstoniansport.podbean.com
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
FEATURE PRESENTATION
INDEX
Special...................page 4
Entertainment editor Thomas Merka reviews Kesha’s new album “Cannibal.”
Viewpoints................page 2
Entertainment........page 5
Campus................page 3
Sports....................page 6
University plans loud and clear
Administration makes progress in emergency notification system improvement
By Kolby Flowers
Senior Reporter
According to an email sent out by University President Dana Gibson last week, the university has made “significant progress” toward implementing tools it says are appropriate to communicate with students during an emergency. PUBLISHING INDUSTRY
Literary journal accepts submissions By Meagan Ellsworth Editor-in-chief
The Sam Houston State Review is now accepting fiction, poetry, essay and cover art submissions for its 2010-11 issue. Submissions will remain open through February 15, 2011. The Sam Houston State Review is a student-run literary journal that publishes the works of students, alumni, faculty and staff at SHSU. “Literary journals have a long and storied tradition,” Scott Kaukonen, Ph. D., faculty advisor said. “Authors like T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound and James Joyce first found publication in the ‘little magazines.’ Journals such as the Paris Review, McSweeney’s, Tin House, and A Public Space continue to play a vital role, both in print and online, in the support of writers and writing, especially writers who are in the early stages of their careers. Some of the journals, such as our own Texas Review and Sam Houston State Review, are supported by universities, while, independents depend upon the support of the people who love them. “The journals are most often mission-driven rather than commercial-driven, and so provide a space for literary works that might not necessarily have a massive audience, but work that the editors and publishers believe is vital, in some way, to our culture.”
Gibson announced the addition of more “real-time” communication tools to the SHSU website. The main site will be updated as emergencies unfold and the website will now include links to the university Facebook and Twitter page. The university's biggest change, however, will come in the Spring 2011 semester. Gibson plans to have loudspeakers installed through out the
campus enabling auditory messaging. “Its not just a PA system,” UPD Deputy Chief James Fitch said. “It will be a system of sirens that will alert students when there is an ongoing emergency on campus.” Fitch says the loudspeaker system's best asset is that it is instantaneous unlike the current KatSafe notification system. “With KatSafe there is lag time,”
Fitch said. “The system takes a while to roll out the notifications through texts, phone calls, and emails. We don’t have this problem with the loudspeaker system.” The idea of implementing loud speakers came after the university was locked down on October 22 during a gun scare on campus. — See LOUD, page 3
Sorority honors fallen sister A memorial service was held to reflect on the life of Rachel Pendray Friday at the clock tower. In 2006, the cheerleader was killed by a high school classmate, Jake Taylor, in her apartment. Every year, Zeta Tau Alpha sorority members reflects on the loss of their fallen sister with a memorial service (as seen below) (Right) a memorial bench built in memory of Pendray by the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority and the Sigma Chi fraternity. Photos by Jessica Gomez | The Houstonian
— See REVIEW, page 3 SPENDING SEASON
Center offers frugal ways to spend during holiday season By Stephen Green Senior Reporter
The number one issue college students have when it comes to holiday shopping is spending money they don’t have according to the Student Money Management Center. One way they say can make it easier when shopping for friends and family is to save a few dollars each week. Putting $10 every week into a bank account for a holiday fund will leave you with $520 when spending time arrives. To resist the urge to spend that money, students should set up their accounts in less liquidized forms so the money is harder to get to. In order to receive money from that ac-
count before the holidays, it would be penalized first. Most banks can set up these types of accounts for customers. This discourages spending until the holidays. Another way to save money is to not spend as much on the actual gifts. Sometimes homemade gifts are cheaper and better liked than expensive gifts. For example, taking a picture of the student and the recipient and framing it is an inexpensive way to make a thoughtful gift. Another way to save money would be to buy presents for only close family members and friends and buy cards for the rest. — See SPEND, page 3
Nation and World Obama Announces Tax-Cut Deal President Barack Obama announced a compromise to the highly debated issue of ending Bush-era tax cuts for those making under $250,000, and to increase jobless benefits according to CNN. The deal would see the tax cuts for two years and extend unemployment benefits for 13 months. It would also see payroll tax cut by two percent for a year. Edwards Ends Cancer Treatment Elizabeth Edwards, wife of two-time presidential candidate John Edwards, has chosen to end treatment for cancer after her doctors said continuing would be futile, according to a release on FoxNews. Her prognosis is now being described in terms of weeks rather than months. She made a statement on her Facebook page describing her recent feelings and state of mind. Report Declares AT&T Worst Phone Carrier A report by Consumer Reports on CNN shows that AT&T is the worst mobile phone carrier in the nation. In eight of nine categories, the phone company ranked as the worst. The categories included; overall value, voice service, data service, phone support, staff knowledge, and resolution of issues, among others. Supreme Court to Hear Wal-Mart Case The Supreme Court announced that they will be hearing a multi-billion dollar lawsuit against supermarket giant Wal-Mart, according to FoxNews. The case outlines that the company has discriminated against its million female workers, past and present. The suit claims that WalMart has prevented women from advancing beyond their position. ‘Dandy Don’ Meredith Dies at 72 Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and legendary Monday Night Football announcer Don Meredith, 72, died at his home in, Santa Fe, New Mexico, after suffering a brain hemorrhage according to the Associated Press. Meredith was one of the original Dallas Cowboys in the 1960s, signing on with the team six weeks before they became a franchise and signed with the NFL.