INDEX:
2|ENTERTAINMENT
3|CAMPUS
4|OPINION
6|AD
5|SPORTS
Thursday November 9, 2017 Volume 92 Issue 10
TAMUK SEES 7.8 PERCENT DROP IN ENROLLMENT Kaitlin Ruiz Copy Editor
Percentages are partial pictures, pieces of a puzzle. There are narratives behind numbers—which, for Fall 2017, amount to a decrease of 728 students at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. This semester, enrollment at TAMUK shows a 7.8 percent decline. It’s a problem of numbers that requires the university to repackage its message to potential students. “Are we telling our story well enough to say, ‘This is what Kingsville will give you…and how can you chase your own dream?’” said Dr. Allen Rasmussen, interim provost.
On the 20th class day, 8,563 students were enrolled at TAMUK, according to the Office of Institutional Research. Last fall, overall enrollment rang in at 9,291. Enrollment is sliced-andstifled among two groups in particular: incoming freshmen and international grad-
uate students. This semester, the university has lost roughly $3 million in tuition and fees, connected to the drop in resident undergraduates and non-resident graduate students. Most enrollment loss is among international students seeking master’s degrees -
576, almost all in Engineering. In the past, “about 70 to 80 percent of our international students were [coming to TAMUK through] word-ofmouth,” Rasmussen said. However, applications, which began wavering last January, have continued to decline.
The political climate under the Trump administration has left some prospective students uncertain of their place in the United States. “Our international students are afraid to come to America,” President Steven Tallant said. “They’re afraid that if they come and have
to go back home, they won’t be able to get back in [the U.S.]. They’re afraid that if they come and get a degree, they won’t be able to stay and work.”
Enrollment continued on Page 3
A premature poof
Experiment goes wrong in Nierman Crystal Zamarron Editor-in-Chief
Photo by Crystal Zamarron
The air generators and hazard signs outside of Room 260 General Chemistry Lab due to the smoke
At about 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 7, Nierman Hall had to be evacuated because of a smoke bomb experiment gone wrong. No one was injured. On the 2nd floor in Room 260 General Chemistry Lab, a lab class was working on creating a smoke bomb as part of their assignment when it created heat and smoke instead of having the gold harden mold in the cup. “A red spark went off and then smoke was everywhere,” said Lindsey Angeli-
co, kinesiology major. There was no fire and nothing hazardous was released, said Officer Jesus Montes, University Police Department. Everyone was safe to go back inside after 30 minutes of safely securing the building by the UPD. “[A smoke bomb] got over-cooked in there which created smoke and everything caused the smoke alarms to go off,” Montes said. The students went back to class to continue their class time while air generators circulated the hallway. “We added sodium nitrate and [Juan Nava] stirred it. It was supposed to be cool, but
Program earns $5.2M Upward Bound targets area high schools Darcy Ramirez Managing Editor
Funding has arrived. Texas A&M University-Kingsville’s Upward Bound program has earned $5.2 million. The money received by the program will be divided and distributed into four different programs over five years. Each Upward Bound program provides high school students with academic tools like tutoring, advising, financial literacy, assistance in completing FAFSA, career explorations, cultural activities, campus visits, and guidance when applying for college. “The programs matricu-
Photo by Pablo Villanueva
University Police Department at the front of Nierman Hall responding to a smoke bomb experiment causing smoke throughout the building
he stirred it while it was hot. So it started to bubble and smoke,” said Kat Villarreal, environmental engineering major. Nava wasn’t too nervous about the experiment gone wrong. “It got really big and the
teaching assistant told me to get out of the way and it just blew up and smoke was everywhere,” said Nava, natural gas engineering major. “It was awesome.” Smoke was the ultimate outcome, just not indoors. “It was supposed to be a
normal mixture and after it cooled off we were supposed to take it outside and light it on fire out there, and the smoke was supposed to be a certain color,” Angelico said. “Reading directions is the key [to keep] in mind now.”
41st Annual Bilingual Conference
Building Cultural bridges through Bilingual Education C.R. Neal Reporter Courtesy photo
late students to higher education by bridging them at the university and fostering an institutional climate for success by preparing them from the ninth or tenth grade to recognize that college is for them and to provide rigorous curriculum that they commit to in the summer and provide experiences like dual enrollment,” Dr. Mary Gonzalez, associate vice president for the office of student access, stated in a press release. The money will fund two Upward Bound and two Upward Bound Math and Science programs. Each program will benefit 60 students who fit the program criteria. The students accepted into the programs must
be first-generation college students, come from low-income households or be at risk of dropping out. The Upward Bound program targets students who have or will face many obstacles in their life, and helps these struggling participants by creating an easier transition into a college-ready atmosphere. “I’m proud to be a product of Upward Bound. The program made such a huge impact in my life because of the academic and personal support I received from the UB Program Staff, teachers and mentors. The challenges
Upward Bound continued on Page 3
The Department of Teacher and Bilingual Education at Texas A&M University – Kingsville (TAMUK) held its 41st Annual Bilingual Conference from Nov. 2 – 4 at John E. Conner Museum and Kleberg Wildlife Center. The conference focused on building bridges of acceptance and inclusion through bilingual education. One of the presenters at the conference was Dr. Francisco Guajardo, a professor at the University of Texas – Rio Grande Valley and Founding Executive Director of the B3 Institute (Bilingual, Bicultural, Biliterate). Guajardo’s presentation was entitled: “From Taming a Wild Tongue to Building a Bilingual, Bicultural, and Biliterate University.”
“[To] build out coursework in Spanish or bilingual in culturally relevant ways,” Guajardo said was the message of his presentation. “My office created [House Bill 2678] to make the Rio Grande Valley a bilingual zone.” The bill would have made all public records in the Rio Grande Valley available in English and Spanish. The bill never made it out of committee. Dr. Ari Sherris, an associate professor in the Department of Teacher and Bilingual Education at TAMUK attended the conference. Sherris’s favorite moment at the conference was reading a quote by George L. Sanchez. “To treat a child to genteel segregation because he knows only Spanish is a frightening distortion of good intentions. Then, too, to attach the idea of deficien-
cy and handicap to so beautiful and valuable a language as Spanish hardly fits in with modern educational thought and national policy. For those well-intentioned souls who have endorsed these programs, one can only ask for forgiveness, for they know not what they do,” Sanchez wrote. The quote was written in 1959, but Sherris felt it could have been written yesterday because of its modern message. “[Bilingual students] are being measured against monolingual standards, as if the monolingual is some standard in the world,” Sherris said. “We have the technology to assess people in ways that take into account their individual linguistic
Bilingual continued on Page 3
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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2017
Entertainment
Day of the Dead
Dia de los Muertos celebration at TAMUK Camila Peña Reporter
Dia de los Muertos, one of the biggest festivities in Mexico, was celebrated at Texas A&M Kingsville on Thursday, Nov. 2. Dia de los Muertos or “day of the dead” is a very colorful festivity that dates back to the 15th century. It is a fusion of customs brought from the Europeans in their journey to the new world, and ingrained rituals of the ear-
Photo by Camila Peña
Students were able to participate in decorating sugar skulls
ly indigenous civilizations. Throughout the years, it has evolved to what it is today, a festivity that honors loved ones who passed away, and allows the living to feel spiritually closer to them. In this day, many make altars for their loved ones, decorating them with candles, pictures, the person’s favorite food, Cempasuchil flowers and much more. The Sigma Lambda Beta Chapter at TAMUK decided to celebrate this tradition. They hosted two events and welcomed all students to participate. “[Sigma Lambda Beta] are about helping and spreading the word about our culture,” said Vice President of Sigma Lambda Beta, Genaro Uriostegui. The event to kick off the celebration for Dia de los Muertos was skull decorating. This event took place in the Pavilion in front of the Main Student Union Building Thursday afternoon. Students who walked by could get a little hands-on by
decorating their own sugar skull with different colored icing. “[Day of the Dead] is a really good event because it’s not honoring just the people that are living, it’s honoring the people that are dead, and that can really touch the hearts of a lot of people,” said Chris Aguirre, president of Sigma Lambda Beta. “Everyone really loves their family and just remembering that loved one that passed away, it means something to people.” Gabriella Pacheco, a student majoring in Biomedical, was decorating her own sugar skull. For Pacheco, having events like these to promote the Hispanic culture not only maintains the tradition, but shares it among other people. “It’s important that we involve more people in this culture, so that they get to know more about it, what it is and where it came from,” Pacheco said. The second part of the Dia de los Muertos celebration at Texas A&M Kingsville was
Photo by Camila Peña
Sigma Lambda Beta participates in the celebration of Dia de los Muertos the Altar Decorating. This event took place in the second floor of the Memorial Student Building Thursday evening. At this event, students were welcomed to participate in a skull decorating competition, play bingo and help out decorating altars. “We wanted to promote the Latino culture which is celebrating Dia de los Muertos and trying to commemorate the people that have passed away in our lives,” said Mi-
guel Rodriguez, an Architectural Engineer major. The event also featured some unique artwork courtesy of the Fine Arts department that were filled with lots of skulls and colors. There was an altar placed in the center for everyone to see, filled with pictures, candles, sugar skulls and more. There was also a table full of shirts and baskets filled with goodies for those who won the skull decorating compe-
tition. This is the first year the Altar Decorating event took place. “Hopefully the following years we get more altars, more people to participate and honor their loved ones,” said Diego De Luna, treasurer of Sigma Lambda Beta. Luna encourages students to participate in this event next year, and become aware of what the celebration is really about.
TAMUK Theater earns recognition
Multiple honors earned through performances Dakota Roberts Editorial Editor
Texas A&M University— Kingsville’s theatre productions “The Nether” and “The Typist” were featured at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, at which the cast managed to secure a slew of acting awards. Members of the cast in both plays secured the Irene Ryan award; named after the American actress who found success in vaudeville, radio, film and Broadway. Ryan was most famous for playing Granny on “The Beverly Hillbillies.” The award also symbolizes a nomination for a chance at a theatre scholarship. The cast members of “The Nether” who were nominated were Dylan Mendoza, Laurie Guajardo and Alex Guerra. Members of “The Typist” were also awarded—the group consisted of Michaelina Gonzales, Lino Placencio
and Lexi LaCour. This is actually Gonzales’s third time winning the honor and going through the Irene Ryan award process. “We receive the award and then we have the opportunity to pick one person who will be our scene partner that goes and competes with us in San Angelo next semester,” Gonzales said. The two actors will perform two scenes that contrast each other, as well as performing a monologue. “If you are fortunate enough to get past that first round, the second round is you perform both of your scenes and your monologue as well, which cannot exceed more than six minutes,” Gonzales said. The process continues for about four to five rounds, all in the hopes of being nominated for the final competition at the Lincoln Center in Washington D.C. Cast members and communication majors Dylan Mendoza and Laurie Guajar-
Photo by Frankie Cardenas
From to left to right: Dario Coronado, Alex Guerra, Laurie Guajardo, Dylan Mendoza, Michaelina Gonzales, Lexi LaCour, Etta Enow, and Lino Placencio
do expressed what acting in “The Nether” and winning the awards meant to them. “Of course you are always grateful for getting [awarded] I guess as an individual actor you are always thinking about getting the best performance, capturing the best story,” Mendoza said. “It wasn’t so much a competition, like who is going to get the Irene Ryan; it is more
about you improving yourself as an actor and furthering your craft as much as you can.” Guajardo followed with, “Right now, we are doing an original writing with all of our students with a night of scenes. That is another production we are putting on to try and spotlight and showcase all the talent that we have here and our pleas and
our desperations to this university to put more money into this program and to get our [Bachelor’s of Fine Arts] back.” Mendoza encourages students to visit the theatre department and audition. “Come to auditions, do theatre, any type of theatre you can do,” Mendoza said. “It doesn’t have to be only acting. Everyone has a tal-
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During the last week of October, Gray Greenburg, Professor at Clarion University of Pennsylvania, and Tom Belden, from Arizona and retired Ceramic Professor, visited TAMUK to work and present to students in the making of the brick oven.
ent and I feel like anyone can showcase that in theater. Whether it is makeup, costuming, light design, sound design, acting. There is always something for you to do here.” The program will be holding “Night of Scenes” on Wednesday, Nov. 15. Also, the cast will be holding auditions for their next production, “Rumple.”
Campus
Enrollment continued from Page 1 In September, Rasmussen and representatives from TAMUK, including Ajinkya Pawar—graduate student and 2016 homecoming king—visited college fairs in the Indian states Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Rasmussen recalls sitting in his fourth-floor hotel room, looking out at a collection of billboards that advertised universities in Canada and Australia. “We still welcome you,” the signs proclaimed. For Rasmussen, the work is in letting students know that they are just as welcome in Kingsville, Texas. “I think the real issue we have to look at is, let’s make sure we accurately portray what A&M Kingsville’s like—and I did. [While in India] I said, ‘I really appreciate
the Indian students coming to Kingsville. It’s changed our culture as a campus,’” Rasmussen said. He plans to return to India early next year and meet with students for pre-admission. The university is also down 146 undergraduate students, as applications from incoming freshmen have stanched. While the cause for this decrease is not pinned down, Tallant identifies one possibility as past problems with the Office of Financial Aid. Since Nov. 1, the university has been awarding financial aid packages to freshmen and transfer students for Fall 2018. Tallant sees this as part of an effort to earn students’ confidence—in the Office of Financial Aid and the univer-
sity. That trust is integral to Tallant’s goal for enrollment: regaining enrollment numbers, bringing them back to their 2016 levels by next fall. This would be in time for a “counting year,” when enrollment figures into how much funding TAMUK receives in the Texas State Legislature’s budget. For now, the university is dealing with a loss of tuition and fees by dipping into reserves. At this time, no cuts to programs are planned. “The way to fix this problem is to grow, not to eliminate what we have,” Tallant said. Multiplication, rather than subtraction, is the solution.
Bilingual continued from Page 1 repertoire.” “Culture and language are fluid, dynamic and changing,” Sherris added. “A majority of the world’s children are bi- or multi-lingual. We have got to create eco-linguistic spaces where languages can exist side-byside. Where [languages] can be respected as well as the different cultures that are
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represented through those languages.” Associate Professor at TAMUK and conference chair Dr. Roberto Torres helped coordinate the bilingual conference. “Considering the political and social rhetoric of the time the idea is to see bilingual education as a means to build bridges between cultures,”
Torres said. The bilingual conference has become an annual tradition for the Department of Teacher and Bilingual Education at TAMUK. The conference brings together teachers and administrators from various school districts and universities to improve and evolve the way bilingual departments function.
College of Business Administration to hold Economic Forum Informing students of growing and expanding careers & fields C.R Neal Reporter Which career fields are growing? Which job markets are expanding? These questions lie in the minds and hearts of many people searching for their purpose. The economic forum the College of Business Administration at Texas A&M University – Kingsville (TAMUK) is hosting has the answers. The economic forum will take place Nov. 9 in the ballrooms of the Memorial Student Union at TAMUK from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Admission is $12. To reserve your seat at the economic forum, visit http://www.tamuk.edu/ cba/research/Economic_forum. html or call 361-593-3801. The economic forum has become an annual tradition for the business college as the forum reaches its seventh year of existence. Each year becomes more informative and detailed about the state of the economy. For the first time the forum will be looking back at the past five years to provide context for their projections. “This year we have the largest survey that we have ever had,” Dr. Thomas Krueger said. “Thanks to my
graduate assistant [Crystal Le].” Krueger is the chair and endowed professor in the Accounting and Finance department at TAMUK. He will be presenting his study entitled, Kleberg County’s Demography, Recent Economic Changes and Anticipated Future. “We primarily did our survey at Harrel’s Pharmacy,” Krueger said. “Virtually everybody comes through their lunchroom at some point.” One of the key components for conducting the research was Krueger’s graduate assistant Le. “[Le] was the lead [in this study] in terms of getting the information,” Krueger said. “When it comes to demography [we ask questions like]: What is the sub-prime lending rate,” Krueger said. “In Kleberg County [we stand] at 150 percent of what the national average is.” Sub-prime lending was a big factor in the 2008 housing crisis, which resulted in as many as 860,000 families losing their homes, according to CNN. “[That] might be worrisome, but are we down [five percent from 2011],” Krueger said. “We are going in the right direction.” “We are trying to give the
business managers, local residents and even students [an understanding] about where we [are] in terms of economic conditions,” Krueger said. “Where we are coming from and where we are going to.” Krueger said this forum will be as informative as it is important. “[The economic forum] will really help give you an idea of where you… should be looking for careers and employment,” Krueger said. “I think one thing that people will find is there [are] a lot of positive perceptions out there. That is perhaps the thing that surprised me the most,” Krueger said.“I thought with everything that was going wrong at the national level they were just going to denounce [President] Trump… yet people are fairly positive about the [United States] economy.” The keynote speaker will be Dr. Steve Murdock, former director of the United States Census Bureau, the State Demographer of Texas, holder of a Regents Chair at Texas A&M University, the Lutcher Brown Distinguished Chair in Demography and Organization Studies at University of Texas at San Antonio and a noted scholar with 14 books and more than 150 articles and analytical reports.
Upward Bound continued from Page 1 first generation students face are real. As much as my mother loved and supported me she couldn’t share any advice or provide me with any direction about college. She was a huge fan of Upward Bound because she knew they would take care of me and provided the guidance that she couldn’t,” said Martin Chapa, director of the Education Opportunity Center and an alum of the Upward Bound program. The program also helps the students apply to any college or university that interests them. There is no regulation mandating that the participant must attend TAMUK. Many of the students first attend nearby commu-
nity colleges, but the majority do eventually transfer to TAMUK and are overall successful during their time in college. The employees for the Upward Bound program want to ensure that their participants will have the best chance of obtaining a degree and persevere in life. “Through the Upward Bound program, students are offered the opportunity to enhance talents and skills related to their core curriculum, prepare for post-secondary education and prepare for college opportunities. All activities and services through the Upward Bound program ensure meeting the overall goal of preparing program participants for college,” said
Elvia Garcia, program director for Upward Bound. Two other programs that also received continuing funding were the Ronald McNair Program for $1.3 million, and another $1.2 million for the Educational Opportunity Center regular program for the next five years. The McNair Program is designed to prepare undergraduate students for graduate studies and the Educational Opportunity Center provides adults 19 years and older who have dropped out of school with information and services that will help the participant return to a secondary or post-secondary education.
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Opinion
Amazon and Anti-Trust Staff Reports
Ever since Amazon acquired Whole Foods in a deal that ended with the final price of roughly $13.7 billion, anti-trust probes have been investigating the e-commerce giant with the concern that Amazon is getting too big. The Yale Law Journal even released a large, comprehensive report that argues “that the current framework in antitrust— specifically its pegging competition to ‘consumer welfare,’ defined as short-term price effects—is unequipped to capture the architecture of market power in the modern economy. Now we have all known Amazon since their humble years of being “the largest bookstore in America.” Founded in 1994, Jeff Bezos, owner of the company, was able to acquire books at wholesale from Ingram Book (today called Ingram Content Group). In two months, Amazon was able to deliver to all 50 states and 45 other countries; making Bezos roughly $20,000 a week. Instantly, brick and mortar stores across the country were challenged with what was virtually a bookstore that could carry practically an unlimited catalog of selections. Readers fell in love. Why wouldn’t they, really? Soon after that, Amazon was challenged time and time again with lawsuits from bookstore giants like Barnes
and Nobles and retail stores like Wal-Mart. And time and time again, Amazon survived to search for the next thing, acquiring subsidiaries, companies whose voting stock is at least 50% controlled by a foreign company (the foreign company being played by Amazon). By 2016, Amazon provided an endless list of services to both consumers and companies alike: retail goods, electronics, digital content (both music and film), video games, an auction house for art galleries, cloud storage, web services, it’s a publishing company, now a grocer service, and a delivery business. Moving past its own online presence, Amazon is now working on plenty of brick and mortar projects, like opening physical stores that someone can see on the street and walk into. In fact, last year, Amazon opened its first physical bookstore, to the annoyance of all the book store owners that failed under the pressure of competition. While Amazon Go has been struggling with the come in and leave concept, Amazon has not slowed down on its front-line assault into the grocery market. Just look at Amazon in Great Britain. Back in 2016, Amazon made a deal with Morrisons, a well-known England supermarket, to provide grocers with food and frozen goods with the promise that it will arrive in one hour. In a market, already rife with ongoing price wars and people’s changing market habits, Amazon seeks to make a deal with
Fun and Games? David Earley Columnist Video games serve as one of the largest and fastest growing entertainment mediums, but as a young art form it is not well understood by the public. As entertainment it does not serve to give back some value other than the experiences that you have with them. The problem comes that as an entertainment medium video games have a quality that others don’t because they make you feel accomplished. Developers have designed a disturbing type of game that serves only to make you want to play it more. As I have moved into adulthood, these types of games have become glaringly apparent to me. Games have always had a bad representation as a waste of time in popular opinion, but the massive success of games that are
unconcerned with the well-being of the players only serves to hurt opinion more. These games are set apart from the rest in their design of incentivizing the player to keep playing out of obligation to do better. These games are built with timers and timed segments with rewards built in to make the player want to play on the game’s schedule, and designed to give less and less rewards as they continue to play. Eventually those that allow themselves to be sucked into the play habits no longer enjoy the game but feel the need to keep playing, and that is not what games should be. There is a popular saying, “Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time” and games can exist as proof of that saying as long as they are made for us to enjoy. Be careful about what you let consume your time, it’s worth more than you think.
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Ocado, an online service provider that Morrison’s outsources to, to use their warehouses to get a foot in the door. Market pattern experts even theorize that not only will the grocer market boom in the next two decades, but Amazon is laying the frameworks to provide pharmaceutical services as well. Now, is any of this bad? That is the question, right? Yeah, Amazon does provide all these services and, sure, they are aggressive in entering new markets, but who cares? This all seems like everyday business deals. That’s not wrong either. We have always had a vision of the future that is absolute convenience; anything is at the fingertips of the consumer. If comfort and convenience can be provided, let Bezos rest. This is the way of the market. Let’s think about it a second. So, a large internet company has moved from selling books to providing what is essentially any easy, delivery service from the food to car parts; a move that almost screams vertical integration. The company, according to both Bloomberg and the Yale Law Journal, controls 46% of internet sales, making it the largest e-commerce player in the world. Amazon and companies of the like are so large and have such a huge influence in so many other industries, that it can be difficult to say that any regulation on these companies is possible, and there is a chance they could be skating around these antitrust laws and supreme court decisions. Well let’s look at one.
In United States v. E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., the Supreme Court held that there is monopoly power “when a product is controlled by one interest, without substitutes available in the market.” Perhaps that is the thing. We are talking about the internet, the very thing that gave Amazon its power. There will always be a secondary market within the internet, no matter what industry you seem to be in. Now that doesn’t get rid of the fact that Amazon is a massive section of those sales, almost half, but it does not fit the bill of a monopoly; well an oligopoly really. The advantage that Amazon really has and the thing that really might raise flags on this kind of an issue is Amazon Prime, the entity that hasn’t been mentioned yet. Initiated in 2005, Amazon Prime began by offering consumers unlimited two-day shipping for $79.205. In the years since, Amazon has bundled in other deals and perks, like renting e-books and streaming music and video, as well as one-hour or same-day delivery. The program has arguably been the retailer’s single biggest driver of growth. Now the exact number of members is sort of disputed, Amazon hasn’t really released those estimates, but it is believed to have been 63 million in 2015 and most likely doubled by the end of this year. Although competition for online services may seem to be “just one click away,” research drawing on behavioral tendencies shows that
the “switching cost” of changing web services can, in fact, be quite high. Amazon actually increased the price of Amazon Prime a couple of times now, gaining the ire of consumers. Yet 95% of members still stay because no other option is available that can fulfill that twoday deal. In this instance, Amazon is able to practice predatory pricing without calling upon the scrutiny of predatory pricing laws. Now of course we can’t say that something like this kills small business really. In America, it is actually fairly hard to get a new business on track. In a sense, it can be these very same laws that get in the way. It is important to remember some things. Amazon is not evil, it never was. It is not malicious, its consumers aren’t cruel, and its tactics are fairly legal. What this is about is a gnawing feeling. A gnawing feeling that companies like this, huge monoliths of business, have a huge impact on what comes next. We cannot be sure that smaller companies will suffer under the pressure of this competition. Publishing companies are one of those industries. Ever since Amazon launched their publishing services, authors and publishers have had a difficult time keeping up. Things like grocery stores and advertising will change in the next few years under the massive might of a single company. The question really is, are we giving up something for the comfort of a box waiting for us at home?
Participate in our weekly Twitter poll where we want to hear from you. Follow @thesouthtexan to participate. Results are then shown here every issue. Q: In light of the two major mass shootings in the last month, should the United States impose universal background checks before buying any firearm?
Taking Time for Yourself Plaserae Johnson Online Editor I’m no expert. I don’t have a degree in counseling. I’m not a psychiatrist. However, I have always been told I am inspirational. Let this be a reassuring note for the future times when you’ll need it most. I hope you take this friendly advice. The hardest thing in life is deciding whether to try harder or walk away. Sometimes you feel like you have invested too much time into something or someone to just give up. Then that makes you feel like you should stay and try some more. You hate to let go, because you have put so much time and energy into it/them. I don’t know about you, but my time is everything to me. I am very selective about what/who deserves my time. I may sound stingy, but I want to spend as much time as I can improving my life. So,
maybe what you should ask yourself before giving up on something or someone or applying time or effort, is: Does this deserve me? If your answer is no then you should definitely walk away. Reason being that, it will take too much out of you and have you feeling empty when it is over. You could be spending time on something better for you. No one wants to put forth all this effort, and time and then receive nothing in return. I mean, in everything you do… you should be searching for productivity and progression. I am telling you to be careful. Everything you do today affects you tomorrow. Insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome. Why would you do that? Because you are scared. Or maybe because you don’t know any better. You fear change, being alone or missing out on a good thing if you walk away or give up on something/someone. Nothing is wrong
with being afraid, but sometimes you must walk into the lion’s den with courage. Change is a very positive thing, it will teach you something you don’t know and give you a different outlook on life and your future decisions. Being alone gives you independence. Get used to being by yourself, you might need it and there’s nothing wrong with that. Focus on you, get to know who you are, and do it without anyone’s help. You’re missing out on future growth and opportunity. Remember, if something is meant to be, then it will be. Do not try to force it. You cannot force something to work if it’s not supposed to work! So, tomorrow when you get up in the morning… Do something you haven’t done. Learn something, meet new people, experience something new, and think in another way. Then get up the next day and do it again. You as a person will progress.
Sports
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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2017
Hogs to face familiar foes on final weekend
Volleyball eyes top-three seeding in LSC Tourney with end of season in sight Frankie Cardenas Sports Editor The long season for the Texas A&M University-Kingsville Volleyball team (19-11, 11-7 LSC) will come to a close on Nov. 11 away from Javelina Nation, and the Hoggies will be facing familiar foes en route to the Lone Star Conference Tournament. After defeating Midwestern State University (13-15, 6-12 LSC) and Cameron University (7-20, 3-15 LSC) earlier in the season, both in straight sets (3-0), the Hogs will be looking to achieve the same this week although they have had trouble winning games on the road. The Javelinas currently sit with a road record of 3-8, and Head Coach Tanya Allen says that training the brain to be ready to play away from Hampton Inn court will be the biggest obstacle to overcome heading into the final stretch. “I think we have to be mentally tougher,” Coach Al-
len said. “Playing on the road is always difficult; it’s difficult for everybody in our conference. If you look at the home and away records, everybody’s home record is significantly better. It’s just a comfort thing.” With the pressure of the games being away also comes the emotional stampede that comes for the Javelina seniors Lexi Wick, Krystal Faison and Casey Klobedans, who will be itching to close out their final regular season games of their career, hopefully, with a win streak. “It’s an emotional roller coaster honestly,” Wick said. “But I am also really excited to get to these games. We have a great chance of getting everything together for the last few games and really play as best we can. As long as everyone’s on the same page, we can definitely knock these two teams out and officially get ourselves into the tournament. “But I am also really sad that these are my last few
games. It’s been a long journey and I’ve loved it; even the hard times. I can’t believe it’s already almost over,” Wick concluded on the end of the season. After all is said and done, the Javelinas will look towards the Lone Star Conference standings to determine what seed they will fall into come LSC tournament time. The Hoggies are currently tied for third in the LSC alongside Angelo State University and West Texas A&M. Angelo State controls the seeding, holding the edge over the other two in overall record (19-8). However, ASU and WTAMU are both facing opponents they have lost to earlier in the season, while the Javelinas don’t have the issue. Regardless of how the weekend plays out, the team feels it’s not going to matter who they play after the regular season concludes. They just need to keep on winning. “I’m more focused on us,” said Wick on the standings.
Photo By: Frankie Cardenas
Lexi Wick serving in the Steinke Physical Education Center. The senior will be playing her final regular-season game of her career on Nov. 11 in Lawton, Okla., against the Cameron Aggies.
“We can’t really control what [the other teams] are doing, but we can control ourselves. So that’s what we’re really trying to focus on is ourselves, and winning these two games. Whoever we end up playing, we need
to just go beat them and play as hard as we can.” Coach Allen agrees. “Honestly at this point, we’re just going to win as much as we can win and then see how the cards play,” Allen said. “There’s no way to
know what seed we’re going to get or who we’re going to see. We have some guesses, but at this point nothing’s for sure, except our two games against Cameron and Midwestern, and we have to get wins.”
Sumpter Spurs Javelinas Expectations high for senior point to Overtime Win Over Division I Islanders guard, teammates in new year
Byrd flies the Fastbreak after a historic 2016-17 campaign Hector Andres Landin Sports Reporter Derrick Bryd, a 5-feet 9-inches senior point guard from Atlanta, Ga., a junior college transfer from Butler Community College in El Dorado, Kan., had quite the first year with the Texas A&M University-Kingsville men’s basketball under head coach Johnny Estelle. As a junior for the Javelinas last season, Byrd started in 29 of the 30 Javelina games during which he averaged 20.8 minutes per game. Byrd averaged 6.7 points per game last season, and was a true floor general, leading the team with 89 assists on the year; the most by any player on the team. He also accumulated 19 steals and 6 blocks on defense. Byrd had several stellar performances last season, including game-winning free throws against Midwestern State University and a game-winning shot against Cameron University that put the Javelinas in good position in the Lone Star Conference standings. Byrd’s career-best scoring game, came along for the blue and gold against West Texas A&M University, scoring 21-points. As the starter and leader of the team, Byrd was able to put the Javelinas in positions they were never able to see as a program, by helping them win their first NCAA Division-II tournament game against the highly talented Lone Star Conference tournament champion, University of Texas - Permian Basin. As for Byrd, basketball is more than just a game for him. “I started playing when
Photo Courtesy: Javelina Athletics Courtesy Photo: Javelina Athletics
Point Guard Derrick Byrd dribbling up the court.
I was four in recreation [basketball],” Byrd said about his love for the game. “But, my brother passed away when I was a freshman in high school, and that’s when I took it very serious. Basketball is a thing I love to do. After my brother passed, and he played basketball as well and he was a point guard, I just feed off him every night whenever I am out there on the court and just try to fulfill his shoes.” As for how his love of the game landed him here? He has a current teammate to thank for his arrival in Javelina Nation. “It started with Caelen Neal (starting SG for the Javelinas),” Byrd said. “He came on a visit around April or May and he signed, and at the time, I didn’t have any offers. Coach Estelle came knocking on the door, and I just believed in him.” And after going dancing last season, Byrd hopes to be doing the same this season, and then some. “Winning the conference championship and making it all the way to big dance and winning it. Then again, it is your last season, and you got to put everything all in,” he
said. Recently-signed Javelina Jacolby Harris, who played with Byrd at Butler Community College in Kansas for two years, has high praise for his teammate. “He leads by his actions on the court, and doesn’t say much,” Harris said. “My first year at Butler, playing with Byrd, we went 29-4 as a team and that was my favorite memory with him.” Coach Estelle said Byrd is a strong leader. “Derrick is a quiet leader, his actions speak volumes,” Estelle said. “That value of his leadership is respected. In basketball, there are all kinds of leaders, and the results of the leaders is what matters. And his leadership has made a significant impact on our program.” Byrd and the Javelinas look to improve on last year and make even more history this year for the university. The Javelinas take the court in Kingsville at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 10, at the Steinke Physical Education Center against South Dakota Mines in their first regular season game.
Javelina Senior Trey Sumpter pumped after wild finish in OT thriller.
Courtesy of Javelina Athletics CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Trey Sumpter poured in 23 points and Derrick Byrd added 13 to propel the Texas A&M-Kingsville men’s basketball team to an 82-80 overtime victory over the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders last Thursday night at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi. It was Sumpter who forced the extra period with a corner three that he drained with five seconds to play to tie the scored at 65. The first points of overtime were score by Byrd on a layup, but one foul shot by Kareem South and two by Elijah Schmidt moved the home team ahead by one, only for another Sumpter triple to put the Hoggies in front by a pair, giving the visitors an edge they’d never lose. A trey by Caelen Neal increased the TAMUK lead to five and two foul shots by Byrd made the score 75-68. The Islanders tried to rally, but the Hogs continued to hit their foul shots , enabling them to hold off their hosts and emerge victorious. The Islanders seized the early momentum, tossing in the game’s first two buckets and adding three free throws for a 7-0 lead, but a 16-2 run by coach Johnny Estelle’s squad put the Hogs up by seven. After an exchange of buckets put the score at 23-19 with 8:37 to go before halftime, a three-pointer by Johnnathan Lindsley pushed the Javelinas back ahead by seven. The Islanders responded with nine straight points for a 28-26 edge. A triple by Harris put TAMUK in front by one and, after nearly two minutes of scoreless basketball, Will West converted a four-point
play to extend the Javelina lead to five with 2:47 to go before the half. In the final three minutes, however, TAMCC went on a 9-1 run. A three by Myles Smith with eight seconds on the clock allowed Corpus Christi to take a 3836 lead into the locker room. The second half began with almost two minutes of scoreless play before Byrd sunk a pair from the charity stripe to tie the score. A dunk by Perry Francois put the Isles back ahead, but two more free throws by Byrd evened things at 40. The squads then exchanged buckets from beyond the arc before Sumpter tossed in another triple, but a three-point-play by Kareem South and a layup by Kyle Brown put the home team ahead by two with 13:43 to play. A free throw by Kilgore put the Islanders up, 46-43, and they added to that advantage with a Sean Rhea jumper. After a trip to the foul line by each team yielded two points apiece, Sumpter hit from downtown for the third time to move TAMUK within two. A bucket by Kilgore increased Corpus Christi’s lead to four, but Elton Dyer sliced the deficit to one with another three. The Isles, edge eventually grew to four, but a Sumpter bucket knocked it down to two and Lindsey brought the score to 58-58 with two free throws. Following a foul shot by Brown, a reverse layup by Sumpter claimed the lead for the Javelinas for the first time in the second half with 2:11 to play. An Elijah Schmidt layup reclaimed the lead for the hosts and Kilgore soon added two more to make the score 63-60 with just over a minute to play. Each team then added two points, making the score 65-62 and setting the stage for Sumpter’s heroics.
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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2017
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