Issue 11/16/17

INDEX:

2|ENTERTAINMENT

3|CAMPUS

4|OPINION

5|SPORTS

6|AD

There will be no issue next week due to the Thanksgiving holiday Happy Thanksgiving, Javelinas!

Thursday November 16, 2017 Volume 92 Issue 11

Athletic fees increase referendum defeated The student body reject proposal, 110 to 70 votes

Dakota Roberts Editorial Editor The student body has voted and the athletic fees referendum has failed to pass.

Dr. Scott Gines, vice president of Intercollegiate Athletics and Campus Recreation, proposed an increase in athletic fees in October.

The vote failed to pass with 110 votes for “no” and 70 for “yes.” Leaving the voter turnout at 180 students.

Now, Gines asked the Student Government Association to hold the referendum vote for the student body.

That vote took place this week.

“The Student Government Association runs and administers all fee referendum voting. This voting will take place electronically, and

most likely over the span of two days in mid-November,” Dr. Gines said.

That voting took place this week; SGA members manned booths in the Student Union Building, handing out information and letting students vote on laptops.

Arielle Williams, SGA member and kinesiology major, described the referendum.“[the referendum] is for an athletic fee increase. We are currently paying $20 per semester hour and athletics is trying to increase it to $26 per semester hour,” Williams said.

Gines told SGA that the increase in fees will be used for staffing.

“This athletic fee increase is for staffing for trainers, like full-time staff because we are mostly using student work-

Graphic by America Quintero

ers,” Williams said. “We are trying to add more full-time staff and also strength and conditioning coaches. Also, any upkeep they need for athletics.”

Not everyone will be affected by the referendum passing, Student Government Member and Mechanical Engineering major Sheriff Oseni explained.

“[The vote] mainly affects incoming students; so, incoming freshmen, incoming transfer students, then graduate students, technically,” Oseni said. “If you are enrolled right now, if you have been enrolled prior to the Fall semester, prior to the next Fall semester, you are free from it.”

The Student Government Association handles all referendum voting that focuses on fee pricing. This will actually be the first referendum vote the student body has voted on since 2014.

The language read: “This Athletic Fee will increase by $6 per credit hour. The Athletic Fee is capped at 13 semester credit hours, for no more than a $78 increase per long semester. This fee promotes the phased growth of

certified strength and conditioning and athletic training personnel, as well as medical and facility support. Do you approve the $6 per credit hour, no more than $78 increase per long semester starting Fall 2018?”

The votes will be tallied and then released to the students by the end of the week.

The results will be posted on the Student Government Association Facebook page. “[Students] need to know what is happening,” Williams concluded.

“Most students are misled in just saying it is just a $6 increase or that it is not going to affect them. We are not saying what to vote or not, just that students need to be aware who this is going to affect and what this is going to affect if this passes.”

PRESIDENT ADDRESSES TAMUK ISSUES

Discussion of student, university problems reviewed by administration Crystal Zamarron Editor-in-Chief

University President Steven Tallant and administration tackled the issues that were on all faculty members’ and students’ minds at the President’s Roundtable Monday, Nov. 13, Held by the Student Government Association, the President’s Roundtable was presented in a packed Founder’s Room in Lewis Hall to faculty and students from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Bella Roma and Spice Station provided food for all those in attendance.

The President’s Roundtable was started by Tallant 10 years ago when he first became president of Texas A&M University-Kingsville. Initially, it was held every month for four years and then changed to once every semester.

“This is about the university, this is about the greater good of the student body and what we can do to make this a better place, and we’re always trying to improve that,” Tallant said.

ENROLLMENT Previously written in The South Texan, enrollment numbers have dropped 7.8 percent at TAMUK. The university lost 750 students, and 650 of them are international students, Tallant said at the roundtable. The bulk of loss came from the engineering department.

TAMUK has been heavily recruiting overseas.

“Last year in May we made our first trip to India and we went to China trying to actively recruit more students for A&M-Kingsville,” said Dr. George Allen Rasmussen, interim provost and vice president for academic affairs. “In the past, we have never actually gone out to do any recruiting or talking to any universities that our international students come from.”

Last spring semester, recruitment was expanded to eight international universities, and this semester they went back and took Ajinkya Pawar, 2016-2017 Homecoming King, to those universities to have him interact with potential international students.

Along with visiting 12 more universities, TAMUK is now working with six company agencies for recruitment. Additionally, Alumni Hog Call events are being held to recruit more international students.

HOUSING The Housing Rate freeze was reiterated during the event for those living on campus currently. These students will be paying the same amount for the next three years, and those incoming students will pay the same amount for the next four years as long as they live on camps for all four years. Additionally, there is now a one-semes-

ter housing scholarship available.

NEW DEGREES Digital Media, Visual in Performing Arts, Geography, Industrial Engineering, Computer Engineering and Environmental Science are the six undergraduate degrees the university is trying to get approved.

“They all have to go through various different approval processes,” Dr. Rasmussen said.

Additionally, there are nine master’s degrees up for approval. They are History, Bio-Medical Science, Construction Management, Pharmaceutical Science, Clinical Health and Counseling, Megatronics Software Engineering, Petrophysics, HR Management, and Environmental Management.

“We did have a couple ideas on the Ph.Ds but we’ve been told by our coordinating board that until we get and show success with the sustainable engineering programs and the current STEM Ph.D, they won’t allow us to consider a general engineering, bio-technology engineering degree or the two Ph.Ds,” Dr. Rasmussen said.

TUITION & FEES The Student Government Association Vice-President Ruben Martinez said students do not like paying for services they do not use such as Recreational Fees and more.

Tallant said exceptions

Photo by Adrianna Garza-Flores

The Founder’s Room was packed by faculty, staff and students in the Founders’ Room during the President’s Roundtable

cannot be made on fees.

“The answer is no, we’re a community, we’re not individuals,” Tallant said. “We can do away with services.

But the only way as a community we can ever have these and afford these services is if everyone puts it together.”

CLASSROOMS A couple of years ago TAMUK was given $2,000 a year for classroom furnishing and the university has a priority list of classrooms that need an upgrade. Nierman Hall Room 251 was re-furnished this past summer, which included the AV equipment, the projector, lighting and more.

“We are doing the same thing throughout the year, we are looking at classrooms and how we can make refreshers in those classrooms,” said Terisa Riley, senior vice president for Student Affairs, Enrollment Management, and University Administration. “I be-

Dia de los muertos Exhibit Camila Peña Reporter

The Fine Arts Department at Texas A&M-Kingsville is having quite a busy time this semester.

Students from Santa Barraza’s class were asked to participate in different events in which they had the opportunity to exhibit their work.

One of the events that students from the Fine Arts Department participated in was the Altar Decorating for Dia de Los Muertos, or Day of the Dead.

“This is all student work.

It’s not just my students, the ceramics belong to Mrs. Fulden Wissinger’s students,” said Barraza, art professor at TAMUK. The art-

work featured in this event was full of color, skulls and lots of vivid imagery.

There are three shows in which students in the Fine Arts department are participating. The Salazar Building in Kingsville is currently featuring their artwork for Day of the Dead. Students also participated in an exhibit at La Peña Art Gallery in Austin

lieve the next large classroom we are planning to refresh is in Kleberg Agriculture building. The large classrooms we are prioritizing because we understand that a lot of students use those rooms.”

CAMPUS SAFETY “One of the most important things from anyone in the university administration is that we would like to create a very safe campus, obviously learning is important on every campus and what makes us unique is our small community, and we want to make sure that it is the safest place for you to learn,” Dr. Riley said.

The majority of the emergency blue light phones were not working, and so the university made the decision to remove them all. Some had copper wire deteriorating in the ground. Also, there was a concern a student in an emergency would try to use a blue

light phone and it not work.

RavGuard was mentioned at the roundtable and Dr. Riley not the phone application provides features the blue light phones did not have.

The app features a timer and a guardian contact each individual can set up. It is also connected to the University Police Department at all times.

Currently, the campus is working with companies on a project to improve on-campus lighting and will be back after December with a contract and cost for approval. The idea is to replace all lighting with LED lighting. The money that comes from “going green” will allow for the addition of more light poles.

Last year, 500 cameras were installed around

Roundtable continued on Page 3

and even attended the opening ceremony. Along with this, the Fine Arts Department was asked to participate in the parade organized by the Mexic-Arte museum in Austin.

Exhibit continued on Page 2 Display of art

Photo by Camila Peña

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2017

Entertainment

Canvas Painting Event

Students Awaken The Spirit of Fall with Colors and Canvases America Quintero Reporter There is more than one way to take a picture. Aspiring painters say all you need is a paintbrush and a dash of creativity. Texas A&M University Kingsville hosted its first Canvas Painting Event on Nov. 8 at the Javelina Student Engagement Center.

With a mix of warm colors and dark hues, students portrayed the spirit of autumn on a canvas.

TAMUK students and staff were invited to attend either of the two sessions of the Canvas Painting Event.

Each session lasted an hour and 30 minutes and was open to 50 people per session. Prior to attending, students signed up for the event at the JSEC. Attendees did not have to pay or bring any painting supplies. The paint, canvasses and aprons were all provided by AMPED Events, an outside novelty company that specializes in promoting school spirit.

Photo By America Quintero

Canvas Painting setup before students arrive for event

The sessions were led by an instructor who guided students in a step-by-step tutorial process.

The event took inspiration from Painting with a Twist, a social event where people paint while drinking an alcoholic beverage.

However, the only twist to the Canvas Painting Event was that there was no alcohol. Instead, students were welcomed to an assortment of snacks and a hot chocolate bar.

Loreal Robertson, campus activities coordinator, explains that Painting with a Twist is an activity usually reserved for big cities.

The Campus Activity Board wanted to bring the painting experience to a local level.

“A lot of people think they’re not very artistic, but I think this [the Canvas Painting Event] gives people confidence to say ‘I can paint’ and experience things they haven’t done before. So that’s something we wanted to do in the university since we don’t have one in Kingsville. We thought it would be easier to bring a company here as opposed to trying to transport people to Corpus [Christi],” Robertson said.

The idea behind the Can-

Students holding finished project after painting event

vas Painting Event was first developed by the Campus Activity Board after members attended a National Association for Campus Activities Conference. It was there that they met the company AMPED Events. AMPED Events sent Tonika Brown to conduct the Canvas Painting Event sessions. Despite having all the students paint the same image of deer on an autumn landscape, each painting had unique artistic elements.

“I teach everything step by step, so we’ll walk through it beginning to end, but everyone is going to walk out with a masterpiece,” Brown said.

Although Brown has

been teaching painting sessions with AMPED Events for three years, it wasn’t until recently that she developed a deep appreciation for art.

“I think it’s really relaxing. It’s a good way to get things out without having to necessarily explain it to other people or tell anyone else what you’re feeling, because if it’s paint, it’s however you want it to feel,” Brown explained.

Members of the Campus Activity Board said they are very proud of the event’s turnout. They were happy to see many of the students having fun and taking pride in their artwork.

Darrell Sanchez, a medi-

Photo By America Quintero

cal science major and a member of the Campus Activity Board, thought Brown was a good session leader.

“I liked the step-by-step process, and having her as a demonstrator really helped out,” Sanchez said Kayla Carm, social work major and another member of the Campus Activity Board, said the event brought out the artists in everyone. She believes it allowed students to relax before the incoming weeks of finals.

“I think it was mostly a stress relief for the students on campus, especially since it’s the end of the semester, a lot of students are stressed, so this is a great stress reliev-

Jazz Band Hits Stage Survey Says: Greek Life Members of each sorority and at 34th Annual Event fraternity play Family Feud

Students join together for show Josue Villarreal Reporter Coming to the Jones Auditorium is the 34th Annual Jazz Bash at 7 p.m., Nov. 21, at which members of the many jazz groups on campus join together for one big super show that is open and free to all audiences.

“Our students work very hard. They’re very talented, all of our groups do very well and prepare well,” said Paul Hagemon, director of the

jazz program. He brimmed with confidence over the students both young and old.

“I’ve always done jazz events but this is now something I can do at the collegiate level,” excitedly stated Jesus Espinoza, music performance major and trumpet player.

Excited for new challenges and a passion for music runs through the veins of the students as a performance day inches closer and closer “The music that we have is very nostalgic, very fun,

very up-tempo,” said Ixchel Betancourt, saxophone player and music education major.

Featuring pieces from the likes of the Stan Kent band and the Maynard Ferguson band, the students are sure the night is going to be a fun one.

Putting in the practicing hours and preparations necessary for a good show, the students of the many Jazz bands of TAMUK hope you join them for one fun night of jazz.

Exhbit continued from Page 1 “Some students sold work in Austin, and it was bought by people that collect art,” Barraza said.

“My work is mostly on the emotional side, issues I have gone through in the past. For me, being able to display my work is telling a story,” said Fine Arts major Monica Avitua.

Avitua has been exhibiting her work for all events and says that Día de los Muertos is perhaps her favorite event of the year.

Joe Benavides is another one of Barraza’s students.

He participated in the events for Dia de los Muertos and said he began drawing when he was in junior high, and his skills have improved a lot since then.

“My painting started improving with professor Barraza; she’s taught me how to do my artwork a lot better,” said Benavides, who is majoring in Fine Arts.

Actively participating in exhibits and shows is

great for students to showcase their talents. Professor Barraza says it is not only a wonderful experience for the students, but it is actually very good for future references.

“It is always good to participate in community things because it looks good on your resume, and if you are ever looking for a job it looks good that you are beyond just a classroom situation,” Barraza said.

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Camila Pena Reporter Members of each sorority and fraternity attended Family Feud on Nov. 8 for the third day of Greek Week at Texas A&M-Kingsville.

The event took place in the second floor of the Main Student Union Building. The purpose of having events like these for the Greek community is to Photo By Camila Pena promote unity, teamwork, Family Feud introduction to Greek Life members and to interact with other individuals from different said Jessica Montenegro, four sororities on campus. chapters. graduate assistant for fra“What we do for the “Chapters do their ternity and sorority life. fifth fraternity is we pair own philanthropies and Greek Week is a four- them with an all-girls sothey do their own social day competition in which rority so there will be a events...it’s hard for them all Greek-life chapters par- member for each of the soto meet everybody in Greek ticipate. rorities on that team,” said life, so this is when they get Each sorority is teamed Director of Student Activito meet each chapter’s new up with a different frater- ties Erin McClure. members and their current nity every day. There are a Ken Duncan, member members and interact,” total of five fraternities and of the Omega Delta Phi chapter at TAMUK said that events like these are healthy and fun for each member.

“These events help us grow us stronger together as a Greek family in A&M Kingsville,” Duncan said.

Overall winners get bragging rights along with a plaque with the name of their chapter.

The outcome for this event was first place for Theta Phi Alpha and Delta Chi, second place for Delta Phi Epsilon and Omega Delta Phi and third place for Sigma Lambda Beta.

This places both sororities Delta Phi Epsilon and Theta Phi Alpha in 1st place with 27 points, and fraternity Sigma Lambda Beta in first place as well with 29 points.

Fraternity Member looking at game answers

Photo By Camila Pena

Campus

3

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2017

Seventh Annual Economic Forum

Local Businesses Gather to Look Back on the Past Seven Years C.R Neal Reporter

The local community of Kleberg County gathered together to take a look at the demographics and economic conditions in the area at the annual Economic Forum sponsored by the College of Business Administration Thursday, Nov. 9.

One of the main presenters was Steve Murdock, Ph.D. The other presenter at the economic forum was Thomas Krueger, DBA. Murdock currently serves as a professor of sociology at Rice University. Murdock was appointed as the first official State Demographer in Texas by Governor Rick Perry and served as the Director of the United States Bureau of the Census from 2007 to January 2009 under President

George W. Bush.

Murdock’s presentation focused on the population change in Texas and the U.S. as well as the need to spend more on education in Texas.

He pointed out the dramatic increase of the Hispanic population and that it will continue to grow.

“How well Hispanics will do is how well we all will do,” Murdock said.

Murdock spent a portion of his time talking about the importance of getting a good education.

“For every racial and ethnic group education pays, and it pays well,” Murdock said.

The President of Kleberg Bank, Joe Henkel, attended the forum.

“I think the big thing today… was from Dr. Murdock

Roundtable continued on Page 3

campus to ensure the protection of the students and university.

“Well over $1 million [for the cameras], we were asked by students and it was a great idea and the safety and lighting is important and we’ll continue to work on that,” Tallant said.

INTERNATIONAL Since international stu-

dents are not able to apply for on-campus jobs, the international students expressed concern and asked how the university can help.

“Jobs are based on the funding we have which means the funding may restrict to only U.S residents and sometimes to Texas residents. But when we look at the international students

when he said that we are under-spending on education in Texas,” Henkel said. “It’s pretty dramatic and we need to change that.”

Henkel is one of the individuals who has been there since the inception of the economic forum. “[Krueger] and I got together seven years ago [to create the economic forum] and we are very proud to continue to support it,” Henkel said. “I’m always concerned about the negatives, but if we don’t know, understand and face the brutal facts then it’s very difficult to implement change.”

Krueger serves as the Chair of the Department of Accounting and Finance and Endowed Professor of Business Education at Texas A&M University Kingsville (TAMUK).

“I think [Murdock] tried to get across the fact that it’s critical to get a higher education and that there are demographic or ethnic differences in who is getting certain degrees,” Krueger said.

In his presentation Krueger talked about Kleberg County’s economic growth from 2011 to 2017.

One of the hot topics in the U.S. is weekly wages compared to the rate of inflation. Krueger covered this issue with the statistic that there has been an average increase of 5 percent in weekly wages since 2011, while inflation has increased by 8.8 percent.

“If we look at the national issues [we see] that people are somewhat positive, but in personal issues they are gung-ho about their last five years,” Krueger said. “The

only concern might be support of local business and how we have to somehow drive that forward.

“Perhaps the university has to do a better job interact-

ing with the local community and businesses to support what they have to offer,” Krueger continued. “We need more cohesion across the groups.”

[the plan] is to increase our research and we’re increasing the activity of the faculty to bring in research grants,” Rasmussen said. “That is our strategy to get jobs for international students.”

The Indian Association is in contact with international alumni to help donate money that will go straight to international students. This can be in the form of jobs or scholarships.

DACA The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) students are able to apply to TAMUK and other universities with limited rules such as no criminal records, good academics, good citizens, having lived here for a certain amount of time, and more. Because of the political change, that is about to expire for all DACA students.

“We will never break the law,” Tallant said. “We will follow local, state and federal guidelines. I’m empathetic towards these students, I believe they have the right to be here and I believe they contribute to this country.”

The A&M System has come out with guidelines to provide legal help for DACA students if needed; the administration is able to guide them to that.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) protects all students, including DACA students, and so all information that the administration has, has no indication if a student is a citizen or not.

“I want these students here, but I will always follow the law and I think going out and stating that a university is a sanctuary city puts a spotlight on [the university] and probably endangers our students,” Tallant said.

CROSSWALKS Students should stop jay-

walking and could be held accountable, but more crosswalks would help. Even though the administration is always open to adding more crosswalks, some areas are not owned by the university but by the city, such as the crosswalks on Corral Avenue, Armstrong Avenue and Santa Gertrudis.

The university does repaint all crosswalks every year, besides those of the city.

However, the heat and sunlight causes the paint to fade away.

“We are working with the city on the new parking lot on Armstrong across the street of the President’s House, and they are allowing to have appropriate lighting as well as a crosswalk. That will be very helpful,” Riley said.

The administration encourages all students to wear reflective clothing on them or on their personal belongings.

PARKING “Having gone to three universities, we have a lot of parking here,” President Tallant said. “Now, I understand that no one likes to walk far but we’ve done studies and if you park at the new parking lots [by the Javelina Intramural Sports Complex] you’ll see about 400 empty parking slots and then do a 10-minute walk [to your destination].”

The talk about a parking garage is always ongoing; however; the expenses will

be a lot - more than what the students pay for a parking permit, which is $150. A minimum of 10,000 students would be needed to be able to afford a parking garage without everyone paying a large amount of money. The administration does not want that to happen until the amount of students is increased.

With regard to dips at the stops signs around campus, Tallant said, “Slow down, if you slow down you will not damage the undercarriage of your car.”

The dips were created for the purpose of transferring water when it rains through those dips because sewage drainage was not installed in 1925 when the university was created.

“Before the new parking lots were created [by Javelina Intramural Sports Complex], the university had 300 more parking slots than parking permits available this year,” Riley said.

The roundtable event ended with an open forum during which faculty and staff and students were able to ask the administration any questions they had.

The status of the possible merger between TAMUK and Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi was raised. Tallant said that is a dead issue, and no one has brought up the idea of the merger again.

PHOTO BY C.R NEAL

Out of state and local presenters at Economic Forum sponsored by the College of Business Administration

4

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2017

Opinion

Texas as a Turning Point Staff Reports

Violence and bloodshed are no strangers to Texas. On Aug. 1, 1966, Charles Whitman, a former Marine sharpshooter, opened fire on an observation deck tower at the University of Texas at Austin. For 96 minutes he was rampantly attacking any person surrounding the campus and streets. Seventeen people died from wounds and 31 people were injured. The attack is now ranked as the eighth deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

On Oct. 16, 1991, George Hennard, a former Merchant Marine, drove his pickup truck into a Luby’s Cafeteria and started firing.

He killed 23 people and injured 27 others. Police intervened and suc-

cessfully wounded Hennard before he retreated to a nearby restroom where he killed himself. This month, the incident was ranked as the sixth deadliest shooting in the U.S. by a single shooter.

So Texas has had its fair share of violence and massacres, but the question that remains is, “What does the biggest mass shooting in Texas mean to the people of Texas?”

On Nov. 5, Texas experienced the worst mass shooting in the state’s history. Devin Patrick Kelley, a 26-year-old former Kingsville resident and a former logistical readiness Airman, entered the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs wearing tactical gear. The church was holding its 11 a.m. worship service when the shooting started.

While the details of Kelley’s connection to the church—and his motive for killing 26 Sunday worshipers and injuring 20—is still unclear,

a few things have been established.

Kelley had previously been accused of physically abusing his former wife and child in 2012, thus leading to their divorce. Officials said there had been a “domestic situation” before the massacre between the shooter and his former motherin-law, who was a member of the First Baptist Church. Luckily, she was not in attendance on the day of the shooting. After opening fire, Kelley fled the church and was pursued by at least one armed citizen before crashing his car. When police arrived on scene, Kelley was dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Now while these shootings are tragic and caused by vile, sick people, it seems like America is already moving on. The same can be said for the Las Vegas shooting that happened in early October. Events involving violence and death usu-

Privacy Lost Dakota Roberts Editorial Manager

Sometimes it seems like the fight for privacy ended a long time ago.

That somewhere during sometime, someone decided that a right to privacy, the state or condition of being free from being observed, was no longer possible. I believe the source of this feeling is in the constant gnawing sensation that somehow, despite any efforts, there will always be an image left behind that can be found, analyzed and misconstrued. There’s a record of my activities hidden far out of my reach; collecting and evolving into the perfect, personal marketing plan.

This all sounds a little paranoid, but these days it is hard to determine what privacy actually consists of. Imagine looking up something on Google; it can be about anything, maybe you were looking for a restaurant. You search for places to eat until you realize that you want some pizza. Looking up the pizza places nearby you finally find a Pizza Hut and order it. During the order, you put in your credit card, your address, email, and sometimes a survey is given. In a period of ordering one product, you interacted with enough systems and gave enough information to affect your email near ad infinitum; forever and ever.

We live in a time where that process initiates a list of instructions for programs that stockpile, aggregate, and reuse every detail of that activity to track the trends and information of consumers. It’s not just

these processes that erode privacy either, but also the services we trust and apply to. Just a month ago the public found out that more than 3 billion Yahoo email accounts were compromised in 2013. The month before that one, it was 143 million Equifax credit reports that were leaked.

So, whether it be through the services I apply to or my online activity, there is a nasty rhetoric at play—one that surrounds the ever-circling ideas of being observed and being identified. With the onset of things like social media and video blogs, we as a society near always acquiesce to being observed; meaning the active acquisition of information. Anyone can go online and observe parts of my life, where I work, or my family; all with my consent. To be identified is different though, it leaves a nasty taste in our mouths. Identification is the use of information to directly reference the information’s source, that being us. Identification and observation, while once separate, have merged together in modern times. To be observed is to be identified for further use.

So, yeah, the fight for privacy seems lost in my book. We outweigh the need to combat identification because we see the benefits of being observed. The two have meshed too well to ever separate. However, maybe there is some good news for someone. The European Union created the General Data Protection Regulation, a purpose-setting regulation put upon data collecting. To gather information while still legal must come with a purpose; one that is regulated and decided upon.

The South Texan

The South Texan is a student publication

produced by Texas A&M UniversityKingsville students. The views, opinions and commentary do not necessarily reflect the views of the Texas A&M University system. The South Texan uses student fees in part to publish.

The South Texan is part of the Art, Communications, and Theatre Department (ACT), The Javelina Broadcast Network (JBN), and the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association (TIPA).

Staff:

Crystal Zamarron - Editor-in-Chief Darcy Ramirez - Managing Editor Kaitlin Ruiz - Copy Editor Briana Harris - Advertising Manager Plaserae Johnson - Online Editor Camila Peña - Entertainment Editor Dakota Roberts - Editorial Editor Josue Villarreal - Reporter Frankie Cardenas - Sports Editor America Quintero - Reporter C.R. Neal - Reporter Hector Andres Landin - Reporter Joshua Lin - Reporter Nicole Morris - Adviser Dr. Manuel Flores - Content Supervisor

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First Amendment Right

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for redress of grievances.

ally attract nationwide attention for a few days, a couple of weeks and maybe even a few months, but after that the United States moves on to the next event or latest gossip.

These violent outbursts seem to happen so often that they have become the norm, and so fellow citizens simply send their condolences to the affected families and gradually forget the tragedy. And Texas won’t be different. This event has caused talk of mild changes in policies and regulations, like bettering domestic-violence programs, and of course, the topic of gun control and gun violence has been mentioned.

But, nothing major will be altered.

Texas will move on from this, like other states have. Americans have a tendency to shrug off mass shootings, which is abnormal compared to international standards.

In 1996, a man in Australia walked into a café and shot and

killed 35 people. This led to the passing of a comprehensive set of gun restrictions. In Scotland, a gunman killed 16 children and their teachers which caused the UK to ban most types of handguns.

Now, making changes to the Second Amendment isn’t a solution we should immediately target, especially for the state of Texas, but changes do need to happen. Texans shouldn’t take this event so lightly, and neither should other states.

We need to address these tragedies and realize that the reason these shootings have become the norm is because no adjustments or changes come about afterwards. If we keep going down this road of moving on and forgetting, the catastrophes will only increase. We need to look at this shooting as the turning point so that critical and necessary changes occur.

TWITTER POLL THIS WEEK: In light of the two major mass

shootings in the last month, should the

United States impose universal backgound checks before buying any firearms?

NEXT WEEK:

Do you have traditional dishes for Thanksgiving or does your family mix it up?

Asking ‘Educated’ Questions Tommy Lerma Columnist Recently, I had an interesting discussion in my philosophy club that had the company of two Philosophy professors with Ph.Ds in the mix, with many other achieved individuals as well. What makes the attendees relevant was the topic at hand: What does it mean to be educated? I absorbed a great deal of information just from that hour-long discussion alone, but the important question is, did I get educated even in any way possible from that meeting? An even better question is can all that I absorbed be knowledge as well? A professor who attended brought up there is no working definition for knowledge, adding to the discussion, seeing as one would think knowledge would be a necessity for education. A solid example that one student seeking a master’s degree brought up is that despite all his years in school and his achievements in academia, he cannot perform the task of changing a tire, so can he really be called educated?

What I found even more interesting from that session was learning about the approaches to education in different countries. In Russian and German schools, children are taught more practical knowledge than theoretical knowledge, meaning they will take courses in things like plumbing, wiring and even

light carpentry. Another way this form of education differs from U.S. education is how they do not practice standardized testing, but rather just a single final. Should the student go all semester, and not pass the one final at the end - whether it be assembling a chair or fixing a socket - then they fail. Meanwhile in the U.S., we are given standardized testing, which I believe to be an extremely insufficient way of testing knowledge, as well.

To me, standardized testing comes off as an assortment of trivia. The student is given a handful of different subjects ranging from Math, English and History. Then, they are asked to solve each and every problem, which in and of itself is already a lacking approach to testing knowledge, but on top of that, the questions given are extremely low in difficulty and the questions one would see on these tests are never deeply explored within the actual courses, they are just common knowledge that was touched on once in class only to be left behind because of how simple it was. I feel that knowledge can be gaged differently within the same realm of standardized testing, personally. I believe there is a case for how knowledgeable a being is should not be judged by what they already know.

What I think is a better judge of how knowledgeable or educated someone is, may be how quickly they learn, not how much they learn. A test in mind would be: give

a problem to a student with the proper instructions on how to solve it, and proceed to show the different variables at which the problems solutions differ. Once the tutorial is over, then the student should be timed on how many questions they can answer in a specific subject, or just a similar approach being add a time limit to a select amount of questions instead.

Fortunately, I was able to get Dr. Emil Badici’s own thoughts on the topic as he was one of the attendants, and kind enough to elaborate more on it for me. Dr. Badici says, “If education is thought of as a learning process, an educated person is the end product of that process.”

With Dr. Badici’s thoughts in mind, anyone could see why the question even surfaced. What it means to be educated is a very compelling question, and I encourage anyone to thoroughly examine what education means to them, personally. As for my opinion, it may be a mix of essentially what makes a person competent. Whether a person’s competence can be found in skills of practical or theoretical knowledge should not matter in the grand scheme of how to define an educated individual. As long as an individual is able to be a functioning member of society filling a service or role within a line of work that requires any sort of knowledge, then they are at the very least, educated.

Sports

5

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2017

Javelina Volleyball looks to make statement Coach Allen and company head to Stephenville aiming to make history in Lone Star Conference Tournament Frankie Cardenas Sports Editor

With the Lone Star Conference tournament on the horizon, the Texas A&M University-Kingsville volleyball team will be looking to once again make history.

The tournament will take place in Stephenville, Texas, home of the TexAnns of Tarleton State, who finished first in the LSC standings this season.

The Javelinas will be on the court at 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 16.

Riding a four-game winning streak, the Hoggies ended their season on a high note and with plenty of momentum and excitement to lead them into the tournament.

Although the nerves are clearly present, head coach Tanya Allen says playing in the post-season sometimes provides a clean slate, and a fresh confidence like no other.

“Post season play natu-

rally stirs excitement,” coach Allen said.

“I think the four-match win streak helps [the team] to feel confident going into this match, but I think post-season play is exciting no matter what.”

The Javelinas, who last year won their first LSC tournament match since 1998, will be looking to repeat the process, earning the No. 4 seed in the tournament and once again facing No. 5 West Texas A&M in their first match-up for the second year in a row.

The season series was split down the middle during the regular season; both teams winning three sets to one on their own floor.

With a record of 6-1 on mutual courts, the Hoggies hold the advantage over the Lady Buffaloes and feel they can force history to repeat itself, and make a statement that can affect them as they work through the remainder of the tournament.

“I’m glad we will be facing West Texas on a neutral

floor,” Allen said on the tournament being in Stephenville.

“All the teams in the conference play much better on their home court, so it evens out the playing field on a neutral court.”

Looking at the brackets for the one-and-done tournament, the Javelinas have the potential of possibly running into two teams they have yet to defeat this season - Tarleton State and the Angelo State University RamBelles.

Keeping it short, sweet and simple, Allen believes it doesn’t matter who they face, given they survive game one, because in such a tough conference, anything can happen.

“We will face tough competition no matter who we face from here on out,” Coach Allen said on the field potentially following game one.

“In order to beat those teams, we are going to have to keep our side out percentage high. That’s a big key [to winning these games].”

No matter the outcome

Photo By: Frankie Cardenas

Javelina Head Volleyball Coach Tanya Allen, who will be leading the Hoggies to their fourth straight trip to the LSC Tournament.

of the Lone Star Conference tournament, the potential for bigger and better things is up on the mantel, especially with a potential NCAA Division-II National tournament bid in the distance.

Allen wants to instill in

her players and staff that there is much more to look forward to, regardless of the outcome.

“We want everyone on the team to understand that the program is on the rise,” Allen said. “And, we want to

continue to raise the bar. We never want to get complacent, regardless of how much we accomplish.”

Football wins in season finale, Women’s basketball gets knock off William Jewell in thriller first win over rival St. Mary’s Courtesy of Javelina Athletics

Jordan Thomas scored four total touchdowns, including the game-winner on a 34-yard touchdown pass from Cade Dyal with a minute to go to lead the Texas A&M-Kingsville football team to a 38-34 victory over the William Jewell Cardinals on Senior Night at Javelina Stadium in Kingsville, Texas on Saturday evening.

Thomas finished the day with five receptions for 95 yards, caught three touchdowns and also returned a kickoff 100 yards for score.

Dyal fired three TD passes and totaled 262 yards through the air while completing 25-of-35 passes.

On defense, Caleb Valentine piled up 11 tackles, including one-and-a-half sacks.

Trevor Moses contributed nine stops.

The first quarter was all Cardinals. On the second play from scrimmage, Brad Strauss found Trejuan Mask for a 54-yard touchdown and Dalton Dye’s PAT put the Cardinals ahead 7-0. Dye also made a 24-yard field goal with 8:54 on the clock and the quarter ended with William Jewell ahead 10-0.

The Javelinas settled in

on defense and kept the Cardinals’ offense under wraps for most of the period. After Dye made his second field goal, this one from 28, Thomas bolted down the sideline with the ensuing kickoff, putting the Javelinas on the board with 56 second remaining in the half. Unfortunately, the Cardinals drove down the field quickly and called on Dye for a 44-yard field goal which he made as time expired. The Javelinas went into the half down 16-7.

The first points of the second came from Julio De La Garza, who hit a field from 37 yard out. A drive later, Dyal tossed up a prayer and Nico Brown came down with it for a 37-yard gain, placing the Hogs in the red zone. A few plays later, Dyal tossed a seven-yard lob to Thomas who came down with it for his second score and the PAT gave the home team a onepoint edge.

On the last play of the third quarter, Brown caught a 40-yard pass to put the Hogs on the visitor’s 22 to begin the fourth quarter. After two penalties on the Cardinals bumped the Hogs to the fiveyard line, Dyal found No. 6 in the back of the end zone for the second time in the half. The TAMUK offense soon got the ball back and

moved to another TD. This time, they traveled 49 yards on four plays and Jeff Carr capped the march from five yards out, making the score 31-16.

A quick response by the Cardinals resulted in a 50yard sprint to paydirt by Strauss. A quick three-andout followed by the Javs and Strauss soon had his offense in rhythm in again, and moved within two when the quarterback connected with Mask for a 17-yard score.

Mask then crashed over for the two-point conversion and both teams were even at 31.

A fumble on the ensuing kickoff turned the ball over to William Jewell on their opponents 43 and, after they moved 15 yards, Dye booted through a 45-yard field goal for a 34-31 advantage with 1:56 to play.

After getting the ball on the TAMUK 31, Dyal quickly hit Kyle Plum for 11 and Devin Millburn for 14. He then completed passes to Aaron Dilworth and Plum to move the chains again and set up the game-winning connection. William Jewell’s last gasp saw them move into the red zone, but a sack by Valentine and an incompletion on the last play enabled the Hogs to hold on.

a dominant 71-53 win.

The Javelinas came right out of the gate from the beginning with a swarming defense, and jumped out to an early 10-point lead. Then, midway through the first half, Elton Dyer, a transfer from San Jacinto Junior College, threw down a vicious dunk on the fast-break for the blue and gold.

Due to the suffocating defense from the Javelinas, they continued to hold off the Hardrockers’ spurts, and took a 38-27 into the half that was led by 7 points from senior forward from Birmingham, Ala., Trey Sumpter.

At the half, the Javelinas were able to force the Hardrockers to 17 turnovers, which led to 18 points from the Javelinas while shooting a stellar 53 percent from the court in the first half.

To the start the second

half of the game, both the Javelinas and Hardrockers came out a little shaky to the start the half.

Although the Javelinas struggled from the court, they still managed to outscore the Hardrockers, 33-26 in the second half. But, as for the Javelinas, Robert Stevenson, a junior who was voted last year to the LSC All-Defensive Team, was dominant once again for the Hogs.

Stevenson was 4-6 from the field, for 11 points, with a team-high nine rebounds and four blocks in 22 minutes.

Christian Bambrook, in his first career start under Estelle, shot an outstanding 5-7 from the court for 12 points with four rebounds and three blocks.

Sumpter added nine points, and Derrick Byrd and Will West each added eight points in the home opening

SAN ANTONIO – Angelica Wilson hit the game-winning shot with 10 seconds to play and finished with a double-double, scoring 14 points and pulling down 11 rebounds, to lead the Texas A&M-Kingsville women’s basketball team (1-2) in a 48-46 nail-biter over the St. Mary’s Rattlers (0-3) on Tuesday night in San Antonio at Bill Greehey Arena.

Shaq DeBose also contributed nine points.

The Javelinas’ suffocating defense caused St. Mary’s to shoot just 30.9 percent from the field, including 4-of-22 from beyond the arc.

After the Javs scored the opening basket, courtesy of Emmeri Archer, the Rattlers got a bucket from Kealani Martinez and two free throws from Arysia Porter to take the lead.

Wilson then canned a jump shot to tie the game and Archer put her team back in front, but a 6-0 run by St. Mary’s put them ahead 10-6.

Brynae Thompson got TAMUK back in gear with two foul shots and Debose gave the visitors the lead with a three-point play that came with just over two minutes

remaining in the period. Jaiton Walls added a layup and Wade Scott’s team ended the first 10 minutes ahead, 13-11.

A Thompson triple pushed the Javs’ lead to five and, following a St. Mary’s free throw cut it to four, Wilson tossed in a pair from the charity stripe, making the score 18-12. The Rattlers picked up another point on a free throw, but consecutive two-pointers from Archer and Wilson stretched TAMUK’s advantage to nine.

After Hannah Wilson got the home team back on the board with 3:32 to go before halftime, Wilson added two more to her total and the Javelina defense limited their opponents to just a single point in the final three minutes of the quarter and, through 20 minutes, they led 24-16.

DeBose began the second half by sinking a pair of foul shots to move TAMUK in front by 10, but a three from Porter sliced that lead to seven. After the sides traded buckets, layups by McFarland and Wilson gave the Javs an 11-point cushion, their largest lead of the night. Following consecutive baskets by the Rattlers, McFarland pushed Kingsville’s lead back to nine, only to see St. Mary’s respond with a furious rally to end the quar-

victory.

A quick turnaround found the Javelinas in action once again on Saturday, Nov. 11, against another RMAC opponent, Chadron State.

The Javelinas came right out of the gate by opening up a double-digit lead, but the resilient Eagles fought back and took a 39-37 lead into the half against the Javelinas.

For the first six minutes of the second half, the Javelinas and Eagles went back and forth.

But at around the 13-minute mark of the second half, the Javelinas began to dominate by ending the game on a dominant run that was sparked by players off the bench.

The Javelinas went on to outscore the Eagles 58-24 in the second half, which resulted in a 95-63 destruction of the Eagles from Chadron

State.

But, most notably, the Javelinas’ bench outscored their opponent’s bench, 53-15 while shooting 60.6 percent from the court as a team in the second half.

Shooting 50 percent from the court, Jacolby Harris, a transfer from Butler Junior College, led the Javelinas with 16 points in his second career game under Estelle.

Also, another newly signed Javelina from Houston Baptist, Kyren Block, went a perfect 5-5 from the court with 13 points and six rebounds. Caelen Neal added 11 points, and West and Johnnathan Lindsey each added 10 points in the big win.

“Early chemistry is very difficult. I thought we had team effort,” Coach Estelle said.

“We tried to get guys in

Courtesy of Javelina Athletics

ter. Porter hit a three, Soteria Banks added a layup with a minute to go and Porter hit another layup to make it a two-point affair. The Rattlers were then able to secure a steal and Alexia Torres put in a jumper in the waning seconds of the quarter, sending the teams into the final 10 minutes all even at 34.

DeBose quickly got the Javelinas back in front with a bucket and later swished a jump shot to put the Hoggies up by four. McFarland upped that lead to six with a tip-in at the 5:35 mark.

The Javelina defense didn’t allow St. Mary’s on the scoreboard until there was just over four minutes to play, as Torres canned a jump shot and, soon after, Porter, who finished with a gamehigh 15, made the score 40-38 with two free throws.

Marquez gave the Rattlers the lead with a triple, but Victoria Salinas responded in kind, providing the Hogs with a two-point advantage.

With 2:13 to play, Hannah Wilson tied the game at 43 and each squad proceeded to sink a trey, setting up Angelica Wilson’s last-second heroics.

Hoggie Men’s hoops dominate in season opening weekend Hector Andres Landin Sports Reporter Javelina men’s basketball under head coach Johnny Estelle in his fourth season at the helm took part in a conference crossover with the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, which resulted in South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and Chadron State coming to Kingsville, to take on the Texas A&M University-Kingsville Javelinas to officially start the 2017-2018 season at the Gil E. Steinke Physical Education Center last weekend.

On Friday, Nov. 10, the Javelinas started the backto-back crossover weekend against the Hardrockers of South Dakota School of Mines and Technology with

and out. We are trying to put pressure constantly offensively and defensively. And, I think that is the formula to winning the league. A huge part of getting to the national tournament is scheduling.

Chadron State and South Dakota Mines are tough. This week is a huge week, and these games we have scheduled are division 2 and regional opponents.”

Christian Bambrook had his first start with the Javelinas in these two games.

“Emotions were the same.

It’s not about who starts and how you start,” he said of the season openers.

“It is about who finishes and how you finish. We most importantly got to get these three wins and they are all in region. Start off 5-0.”

6

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2017

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