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TUESDAY, JAN. 29, 2013 VOLUME 87 ■ ISSUE 78

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Playing it Forward

Rural school officials: Give Texas teachers guns for safety AUSTIN (AP) — Superintendents of three small rural school districts that allow some teachers to carry guns told Texas lawmakers Monday that the practice provides a critical measure of safety for students in the event of a campus shooting, but a law enforcement expert said it also could put those teachers at “high risk” of being mistakenly shot by responding officers.

Lawmakers are grappling with the idea of allowing more non-law enforcement personnel to bring guns into classrooms in the wake of last month’s shootings at a Connecticut elementary school. The rural school officials testified during a joint hearing of the Senate education and agriculture, rural affairs and homeland security committees — the first such hearing to take public testimony on the matter.

David Thweatt, superintendent of Harrold Independent School District near the Oklahoma border, said some teachers and administrators who have concealed handgun licenses are allowed to bring their weapons to class. The goal, he said, is to minimize the damage a gunman can do inside a school in the time it takes police officers to arrive.

“If you can stop it in its inception, you have an obligation to do that,” Thweatt said.

The Van school district east of Dallas voted last week to allow concealed handguns in classrooms. Superintendent Don Dunn said it was in direct response to the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in which 26 people were killed, including 20 children.

Although each of the Van district elementary, middle and high school campuses are within 2 miles of the Van police department, officials calculated it would take at least five minutes for police to respond to an emergency call of a shooter on campus.

“We are completely defenseless during that five-minute gap. At least we have a chance to protect our kids,” Dunn said.

“We are not the police. We are not asking them to be the police. We are asking them

to fill that gap until the police get there.”

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is pushing a plan to provide state-paid special weapons, tactics and response training for teachers and administrators if school districts ask for it. That idea has been opposed by the Texas State Teachers Association. The state’s largest teachers group said educators should not be asked to double as a professional security force.

But lawmakers heard from another expert who argued teachers with guns drawn could find themselves the targets of police answering an emergency call.

“They are at high risk of being shot.

That’s the reality of the scenario and the danger police officers are in,” said Pete Blair, associate professor of criminal justice at Texas State University and researcher for the school’s Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training program.

Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw, while saying Texas should be proactive in trying to protect students, had a similar warning that armed teachers could find themselves being shot at by police. Officers are trained to “neutralize the threat,” McCraw said.

“Anytime you arrive on the scene and you as a police officer are, you are taught and trained to look for anybody with a weapon,” McCraw said.

Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, chairman of the Senate Committee on Education, which held the joint hearing with the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Rural Affairs and Homeland Security, suggested the teachers would likely be in a defensive position and not roaming the halls with a gun drawn to be mistakenly targeted by police.

The testimony Monday signaled a division between small, rural districts and larger urban ones on letting more guns in classrooms. Representatives from Dallas and Austin schools, which have their own police departments, said school safety should be left to school, city and county law enforcement.

Former Texas Tech student in county jail without bond A former Texas Tech student added bail jumping charges to her intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault charges when she failed to show for sentencing Jan. 7.

Jeena Roberts, who was a petroleum engineering major, is in the Lubbock County Jail after being arrested

by U.S. marshals on Jan. 21 in Harris County, said Tom Brummett, assistant district attorney.

Roberts was transported back to Lubbock, Brummett said, at approximately 7 p.m. Jan. 24.

A bail jumping charge, he said, was filed Jan. 8 after Roberts skipped her jail sentencing. Roberts is being held without bond.

Roberts pled guilty to two charges, intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault in November 2012, for an accident in which one woman was killed and another critically injured.

On Oct. 22, 2010, according to a Nov. 27 story in The Daily Toreador, Roberts was on a trip with the Bob L. Herd Department of Petroleum Engineering at Tech and was intoxicated when she left campus to drive home.

Roberts was driving home at a

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speed of about 80 or 90 mph, and at the intersection of Marsha Sharp Freeway and Avenue L, she ROBERTS collided into the back of another vehicle, causing the vehicle to flip onto its roof, according to The DT story.

Linda Smaltz, a passenger in the vehicle that flipped, was ejected and killed while another passenger in the vehicle was critically injured, according to The DT story.

The blood sample collected from Roberts, according to the story, showed her alcohol concentration to be .25, more than three times the legal limit.

Roberts received 15 years for an intoxication manslaughter charge and eight years for an intoxication assault charge.

The charges were to be served concurrently in the Texas State Penitentiary. ➤➤eduarte@dailytoreador.com

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DR. JIM GUTHEIL plays “Poeme” in F sharp major by Alexander Scriabin on piano during the Play it Forward charity recital Monday in Hemmle Recital Hall. The recital was presented by TTUHSC MusiCare as a benefit for the Lubbock Impact/TTUHSC Free Clinic and CASA of the South Plains.

HSC students, faculty play it forward to local organizations

By EMILY GARDNER STAFF WRITER

Instruments and voices sounded from Hemmle Recital Hall on Monday as Texas Tech Health Sciences Center students and faculty performed.

HSC MusiCare hosted a Play it Forward recital at 8 p.m. Monday to raise money for Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children of the South Plains and Lubbock Impact/TTUHSC Free Clinic.

By press time Monday, MusiCare raised $6,500 in donations, Andy Cruz, a secondyear medical student from Amarillo and president of MusiCare, said. “(MusiCare) provides a place for fellowship, for community service, and for performing opportunities,” he said.

Joanne Thanbuswany, a first-year medical student from Dallas, said she came to the recital to support her friends and the free clinic.

“The clinic serves so many underserved people,” she said, “and they need all the support they can get.”

The money raised will be split evenly between the two organizations, Cruz said.

Justin Berk, student liaison for the clinic, said the clinic receives all its funding from donations and grants.

“We’re extremely grateful, there is a lot of ways we’re going to be able to use the money, and it’s going to have an incredible impact on the clinic and the community,” Berk said.

Wednesday

The money will be used to expand the clinic, and help provide medication to the clinic, he said.

According to the program, 19 medical and nursing students and faculty participated in the performances.

This is the first year the program has been hosted, Cruz said.

“We thought this would be a unique way to give back to our community,” he said, “and also provide a night where people can go chill and listen to some really great music.”

Performances ranged from classical music such as Beethoven to Broadway songs from “Wicked” and “Les Miserables,” Cruz said.

The two organizations, he said, were chosen because they meant the most to the medical students.

“We had a list of other ones we were thinking about, but we picked those two because they were the closest ones to our heart,” Cruz said.

According to the program, CASA of the South Plains recruits, trains and supports a community of volunteers who advocate for the best interests of abused and neglected children in foster care.

The HSC Free Clinic is a studentrun clinic open Wednesday nights starting a 6 p.m., Berk said, a secondyear medical student in the MD/MBA program from Amarillo.

Medical students do the administrative work, general clinic operations and see patients, he said.

“They’re triaging them,” Berk said.

“They’re taking the vital signs. They’re doing the physical exam. They’re taking clinical history, and then they present to volunteer positions who then go in and also see the patient, and then come up with the diagnosis and provide treatment.”

The clinic has been open for three years, and sees between 25 and 30 patients a night, he said.

The clinic also offers an in-house pharmacy where pharmacists and pharmacy students volunteer. Social workers also are available to help connect patients to other community resources, Berk said.

“Our patients are the working poor,” he said. “They’re people that are in between jobs, that are struggling and are totally uninsured, so they have no access to care anywhere else, no other way of accessing health care.”

The goals for the clinic include expanding its impact, Berk said. Volunteers at the clinic also would like for the clinic to open another night during the week to see patients, and provide continuity of care.

“Even though it’s a free clinic, even though it’s a student-run clinic, we provide the same level of care that you’d be able to receive at any outpatient clinic, any hospital, any emergency room, any health care facility,” he said. “We really pride ourselves in making sure that there is no substandard of care, that all of our patients are treated with respect and the optimal standard of care.” ➤➤egardner@dailytoreador.com

Reynolds: Religious-based tax breaks will cost Texans tax dollars OPINIONS, Pg. 4 29

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Opinions

Religious-based tax breaks will cost Texans tax dollars A

bill filed last week in the Texas legislature will give a state tax break to religiously based businesses that will have to include contraception in their employee health insurance plans.

According to an article in the Texas Tribune, the author of HB 649, Rep. Jonathan Strickland, R-Bedford, stated, “When a (business) is being stressed nearly to the point of bankruptcy by punitive federal taxes, of course the state should give them relief.

Exempting them from state taxes is the least we can do to help them weather this storm.”

This response to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that passed in 2010 is interesting for several reasons.

First, the preventive health-

Jakob Reynolds care services and contraceptive drugs covered by the Affordable Care Act do not include drugs that cause abortions. This means that the “emergency contraceptions” (e.g. the morning-after pill or sometimes intrauterine devices mentioned in HB 649) are already excluded from the Affordable Care Act. Strickland either overlooked or conveniently forgot to mention this when he was writing his bill.

Moreover, HB 649 is interest-

ing because of the criteria for what qualifies as a religiously based business.

It merely states that any company that refuses to comply with the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that they cover emergency contraception “based solely on the religious convictions of the owners of the business” qualifies for the tax refund or credit.

How much of a refund does the bill offer for refusing to comply with the ACA? The penalty for refusing the federal mandate is $100 per employee denied coverage per day.

HB 649, if passed, states in no uncertain terms that the state of Texas will provide a tax refund for all fines paid by business owners for failing to comply with

the ACA. To be clear, what this means is that Republicans in the Texas House said that Texas didn’t have the money to fund public education or to fund Medicaid and make health care accessible to uninsured Texans. However, they are willing to give tax credits, not just to the mom and pop Christian who own the pet store on the corner, but to major corporations with religious CEO’s like Tyson, Wal-Mart, and Hobby Lobby who can easily afford to insure their female employees and already pay much less than their fair share in state taxes.

Strickland said in a statement about HB 649, “It is simply appalling that any business owner should have to choose between

violating their religious convictions and watching their business be strangled by the strong arm of federal mandates and taxation.”

It’s bad enough that the federal government should have to write laws forcing business owners provide health benefits to their female employees that ensure they live happy, healthy lives.

What is truly appalling is that conservatives in the Texas legislature are trying to find ways to allow business owners a way to impress their personal beliefs on employees who may not necessarily share their religious convictions.

Emergency contraception, which conservative Christians in the Texas House of Representatives and religious business

owners are so determined to keep out of the hands of women, is not even a concern when it comes to the Affordable Care Act. Moreover, giving tax refunds to businesses who refuse to comply with the ACA simply because they do not agree with its policies is going to cost Texans millions of dollars in desperately needed tax revenue and potentially cost Texan women their health.

HB 649 is nothing more than another attempt by the GOP in the Texas House to pander to businesses at the expense of women’s rights and Texans’ tax dollars.

Reynolds is a junior music major from Lubbock. ➤➤ jreynolds@dailytoreador.com

Wolverines men’s basketball team unfazed by potential No. 1 ranking

By STEVEN BRAID

MICHIGAN DAILY (U. MICHIGAN)

Forget about the No. 1 ranking for a second.

Forget about everything you think it means to be labeled as the top team in the nation during the middle of the college basketball season. Forget about all of the supposed glory and bragging rights that come with it for just one moment.

Because for all the hype and hoopla that will be made about the rankings following Michigan’s 74-60 victory against Illinois on Sunday — and there is a very good chance that the Wolverines will assume the No. 1 ranking when the polls are released Monday — what the Wolverines did Sunday is far more important than anything that will happen the next day.

What they did on Sunday was show growth and maturation.

They showed that they are a continually improving team, whether or not their ranking shows it.

Two weeks ago, Michigan couldn’t handle the pressure.

Then, the second-ranked Wolverines walked into Value City Arena in Columbus with that coveted top spot within reach.

On that Sunday, just three days after then-No. 1 Duke faltered against North Carolina State, they were almost assured of becoming the top-ranked team in the country with a victory.

But Michigan came out flat, lacking energy in the first half against the Buckeyes, fizzling under the pressure. The freshmen showed nerves and inexperience. The Wolverines tumbled their way to a 21-point deficit in

the early going of that contest, only to have a failed late-game comeback.

Fast-forward to two weeks later. After a quick re-scrambling of the top-ranked teams in the national polls, Michigan found itself in the same exact position on Sunday, trailing only Duke in the rankings. And with Duke’s loss earlier last week, the Wolverines were offered another opportunity to seize that desired top ranking.

Only Michigan did more than that with its victory. The Wolverines demonstrated that they could handle the hype, that the target on their back hadn’t gotten too big. They played like a much-improved team from two weeks ago.

Michigan came out with life on Sunday. The guards pushed the ball, and the bigs played

the aggressors on the glass. And most important of all, the freshmen rose to the occasion.

Swingman Nik Stauskas led the team with nine early points, and together with forwards Glenn Robinson III and Mitch McGary, the first-year players accounted for more than half of the team’s 35 first-half points.

The difference between two weeks ago and Sunday was apparent to sophomore guard Trey Burke.

“I think the freshmen did a good job of stepping up and not playing out of control,” Burke said. “They stayed poised.”

But that wasn’t all. When redshirt junior forward Jordan Morgan exited with a sprained ankle just minutes into the game, the reserve forwards came off the bench to play a huge role in his absence. McGary,

redshirt sophomore forward Jon Horford and redshirt freshman forward Max Bielfeldt combined for 17 points and 14 rebounds, including eight boards on the offensive end.

This should have been a tightly contested matchup, and yet, Michigan turned in another double-digit victory.

Sure, Illinois is no Ohio State (mind you, Illinois did beat the Buckeyes by 19 points three weeks ago), but a road win in the Big Ten is a road win in the Big Ten, especially when you have a large target on your back and a possible No. 1 ranking in your sights.

But to the Wolverines, it isn’t about the rankings. It’s not about where they stand now, but about where they’ll stand come March. It’s about winning on the road and growing as a team.

Beilein might have said that best following Sunday’s victory.

“It’s Jan. 27 and not one of you in here can remember who was No. 1 last Jan. (27),” he said.

“So to our team, that (ranking) really does not make a big difference. I’m sure to a lot of our fans at water coolers and in coffee shops, and to people who love Michigan and hate Michigan, it’s probably something that they hate or they love right now.”

Yes, it’s coach-speak, cliché to the max. But it’s true. The rankings mean nothing. The Wolverines showed they are continually improving, and that’s a scary thought for the rest of the country.

So don’t get hung up on that number, the new digit that will assuredly loom large likely positioned next to Michigan’s name come Monday.

After recurring failures, Ben Affleck finds redemption with recent film “Argo” Argo is a movie about three things. Argo is a movie about why we love movies. Argo is a movie about what movies are supposed to be. Argo is, lastly, a movie about the redemption of Ben Affleck.

Argo tells the story of a CIA rescue operation carried out during the Iran hostage crisis in which, to rescue six Americans who had found their way out of the burning embassy and were hiding in the house of the Canadian ambassador, the CIA created a fake movie agency and smuggled them outside of the country as foreign filmmakers.

Affleck plays the lead role, CIA extraction expert Tony Mendez, an affable character who expertly straddles the line between emotion and professionalism.

The audience is quickly introduced to Mendez in his office, where he is tasked with rescuing the agents and struggles to find an idea to do so.

The agency throws around cover stories—in one memora-

ble exchange, Mendez addresses a fellow official and asks him if he truly expects the hostages to bike hundreds of miles through the desert across the border to another country—but is stuck.

While home and talking to his child on the phone, Mendez is hit with a bolt of inspiration. Affleck gets the ear of his superior, played by Bryan Cranston, and begins describing the idea: using a fake movie production of a sci-fi script called Argo as cover to extract the hostages. After getting support—Cranston pitches it to the organization as “the best bad idea we’ve got”—Affleck goes to Hollywood and works with a Hollywood makeup artist (John Goodman) and longtime producer (Alan Arkin) to make the fake film.

The movie is a testament to the evolution of Ben Affleck as a director. A brilliantly directed opening sequence in Tehran, where quickly moving shots capture the raging incoherence of mob protest, conveys the dystopia faced by the fleeing diplomatic corps. Forced to be the faces of a President harboring

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the shah, a detested despot in Iran, the group of six is a picture of frayed nerves the entire time, fearing for their lives.

Chris Terrio’s brilliant script moves fluidly back across the Atlantic Ocean, first to Washington and then to California, where the Hollywood personas of Goodman and Arkin give the movie its true comedic delight.

Affleck and Terrio strike a balance between humor and gravity in the movie; the Arkin and Goodman characters provide a balance of levity and urgency in their approaches to the rescue.

As they sort through bad scripts, Arkin rejects idea after idea, asserting facetiously “if I make a fake movie, it’s going to be a fake hit!” In the town of Hollywood glitz and glamor, Arkin and Goodman introduce Mendez to how to get things done, a comedic process that involves preying on Arkin’s inside knowledge of everyone’s personal lives to coerce them into paying him back favor after favor.

The entire “this is so crazy is might work” motif hangs

EDITORIAL BOARD

By DAVID FREED

HARVARD POLITICAL REVIEW (HARVARD U.)

over the middle section of the film, as scrambling executives move to make the agency in less than a week to satisfy Mendez’s superiors back at the CIA, who threaten to “move ahead with the bikes” if the idea doesn’t work.

During this time, flashbacks t o Te h r a n k e e p t h e m o v i e grounded in reality and cuts to the embassy—where rebels are putting together images that had been put through the paper shredder in order to try and account for all the hostages— maintain a dramatic undertone to the oft-whimsical proceedings in California.

The voyage of Mendez to Tehran is the weakest part of the film. The drama is slightly overplayed, with the images of child workers putting together paper strips to identify the missing six slightly ridiculous.

When interviewed about the movie, Mendez mentioned that the airport extraction went without a hitch but, with the typical Hollywood flair that turns the mundane in each story into the dramatic, it is nearly a thirty minute process that cul-

minates with the plane taking off with Iranian security officials chasing it down the runway.

At its core, however, Argo’s distinguishing characteristic is its stark simplicity. Affleck makes no attempt to get the audience emotionally attached to any one character and leaves no onerous subplots to drag the film astray.

The movie attempts to do no more than tell a story and insofar as it achieves its goal, it is, perhaps, the best move of the year. Slight satirizing of Hollywood only brings to the forefront the idea of Argo as a throwback to previous, utopian cinematic times.

Nowhere do computer-generated images dominate action and reduce the onus on the human actors to, well, act. Nowhere are scantily clad women (or men, looking at you Steven Soderberg) used to attract denizens to the theater for their beauty instead of their performance.

The financial motives that form a significant motif in Arkin and Goodman’s interactions with Hollywood mainstays are as much an indicator as any about

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what moves images on scripts to the big screens now: profitability, not ingenuity. In the words of Katey Rich, “Argo is a spy thriller of a buttoned-up old school variety; we’re not given a lot of emotional attachments to these characters, and the reward for a job well done is a pay on the back, not an explosion of grateful tears.”

Argo is a movie that aims to entertain and use the cinema as a medium of storytelling instead of embellishment and creation.

The drama is rarely burdensome, the attention to detail in casting and costuming meticulous, and the emotion of the moment captured without being oversaturated.

There are no side plots, and the movie’s happy endings and overarching motifs (international cooperation and goodwill, the power of innovation, etc.) are benign without being intrusive (à la Tarantino’s attempts at forced catharsis). It is, inauspiciously, a movie that tries to be no more.

It is a throwback to the novel conception of movies and is in its simplicity, simply beautiful.

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