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Daily Toreador The

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 13, 2013 VOLUME 87 ■ ISSUE 89

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Serving the Texas Tech University community since 1925

Society hands out bananas to celebrate Darwin’s birthday A college-aged male in a monkey suit — a child’s monkey suit — braved the near-freezing weather to hand out bananas Tuesday. Tuesday marked Charles Darwin’s 204th birthday, and the Secular Student Society of Texas Tech wanted to celebrate in a unique way. Jason Landrum, a junior English major from Katy, was the chosen member to wear a monkey costume and pass out bananas in the Free Speech Area. BIRTHDAY continued on Page 2 ➤➤

N. Korea brandishing nukes to get US to talk peace SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The way North Korea sees it, only bigger weapons and more threatening provocations will force Washington to come to the table to discuss what Pyongyang says it really wants: peace. It’s no coincidence that North Korea’s third underground nuclear test — and by all indications so far its most powerful yet — took place Tuesday on the eve of President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address. As perplexing as the tactic may seem to the outside world, it serves as an attention-getting reminder to the world that North Korea may be poor but has the power to upset regional security and stability.

OPINIONS, Pg. 4

Orange: Students must utilize their voting rights

Obama delivers State of the Union address WASHINGTON (AP) — Uncompromising and politically emboldened, President Barack Obama urged a deeply divided Congress Tuesday night to embrace his plans to use government money to create jobs and strengthen the nation’s middle class. He declared Republican ideas for reducing the deficit “even worse” than the unpalatable deals Washington had to stomach during his first term. In his first State of the Union address since winning re-election, Obama conceded economic revival is an “unfinished task,” but he claimed clear progress and said he prepared to build on it as he embarks on four more years in office. “We have cleared away the rubble of crisis, and we can say with renewed confidence that the state of our union is strong,” Obama said in an hour-long address to a joint session of Congress and a television audience of millions. Yet with unemployment persistently high and consumer confidence falling, the economy

By NIKKI CULVER STAFF WRITER

Feathers, beads and masks were the key decorating tools Tuesday night as the Wall Gates complex council hosted their mask decorating pizza party to kick of the Mardi Gras celebration. “This event came to be because we made an executive decision to gather people around the campus and have a social gathering,” Tanner Morgan, Wall fifth floor representative said. Students from across the campus joined together in the study lounge to join in the celebration, including freshman Juanita Lopez. “I heard about this event from my C.A. and the signs that were posted in the lobby because I live in Gates,” Lopez said. “I’m making a mask right now. I put a lot of feathers on it.” Mardi Gras comes from the French terms meaning “Fat Tuesday,” a religious holiday marking the night before Ash Wednesday. Traditionally, it’s the last night of eating fatty foods before beginning the season of Lent. “People are eating lots of pizza, get-

Classifieds................9 Crossword..............6 Opinions.....................4 L a Vi d a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Sports........................6 Sudoku.......................2 EDITORIAL: 806-742-3393

to fix the nation’s roads and bridges, the first increase in the minimum wage in six years and expansion of early education to every American 4-year-old. Seeking to appeal for support from Republicans, he promised that none of his proposals would increase the deficit “by a single dime” although he didn’t explain how he would pay for his programs or how much they would cost. In the Republican response to Obama’s address, rising GOP star Marco Rubio of Florida came right back at the president, saying his solution “to virtually every problem we face is for Washington to tax more, borrow more and spend more.” Sen. Rubio, in prepared remarks, said presidents of both parties have recognized that the free enterprise system brings middle-class prosperity. “But President Obama?” Rubio said. “He believes it’s the cause of our problems.” Still, throughout the House chamber there

ting beads, making masks and celebrating Mardi Gras,” Morgan said. Mardi Gras is widely celebrated around the world, most notably in the form of the Brazilian Carnaval, a weeklong celebration including elaborate costumes, dancing and parties. The largest Mardi Gras celebration in the United States is in New Orleans, due to the large French presence. “It’s super fun,” Morgan said. “It’s really cool and I like socializing. I like meeting other people. I love pizza and making masks and crafts and stuff.” According to the Residence Hall Association’s website, each complex has a complex council, which is a branch of the RHA. They determine the rules for each individual residence hall and they have leaders who work in the dorms to assist the students living there. “I got involved because I realized people were making decisions about the complex I lived in and wanted to be involved in, so I just decided to come join and here I am,” Morgan said. According to their website, RHA invites any student interested in being involved in planning campus events to

were symbolic displays of bipartisanship. Rep. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., arrived early and sat with Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., just returned in January nearly a year after suffering a debilitating stroke. As a captain in the National Guard, Duckworth lost both her legs while serving in Iraq in 2004. A few aisles away, the top two tax writers in Congress, Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., and Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., sat together. But as a sign that divisions still remain, three of the most conservative Supreme Court justices skipped Obama’s speech. Six of the nine attended. Missing were Justices Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito. Jobs and growth dominated Obama’s address. Many elements of his economic blueprint were repacked proposals from his first term that failed to gain traction on Capitol Hill. ADDRESS continued on Page 2 ➤➤

PHOTO BY ISAAC VILLALOBOS/The Daily Toreador

TOBECHI OLERU, A freshman pre-physical therapy major from McKinney, reaches for various jewels to decorate his masquerade mask during a Mardi Gras party Tuesday inside the Wall Residence Hall study lounge.

attend their meetings. “I plan to get more involved and meet new people,” Lopez said. “I want to come to more events like these.” Upcoming events include the Marc Grecco Basketball Tournament, a drag show, a Wounded Warrior Project ben-

Student explains how Hope Chest program helped him STAFF WRITER

INDEX

remains a vulnerability for Obama and could disrupt his plans for pursuing a broader agenda, including immigration overhaul, stricter gun laws and climate change legislation. Obama also anOBAMA nounced new steps to reduce the U.S. military footprint abroad, with 34,000 American troops withdrawing from Afghanistan within a year. And he had a sharp rebuke for North Korea, which launched a nuclear test just hours before his remarks, saying, “Provocations of the sort we saw last night will only isolate them further.” In specific proposals for shoring up the economy in his second term, an assertive Obama called for increased federal spending

Mardi Gras feathers into Wall/Gates Residence Hall

By ASHLYN TUBBS

Tech looks to rebound from successive losses -- SPORTS, Page 7

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Ste’Vaughn Williams was adopted, but looked like the man he called father. This eventually became a problem. After his adoptive parents’ divorce when he was 5 years old, Williams’ mother began to change. “Slowly but surely,” Williams said, “she started taking it out on me.” On Jan. 1, 2007, this tension reached a peak. Shortly before he turned 17, Williams’ mother tried to drown him. “After that I went into (Child Protective Services) and stayed in an emergency shelter for two months before moving to an actual home,” he said. “After about eight months they finally relinquished her rights, and I technically became a ward of the state.” Williams did not let his troubles stop him from finishing his education, though. He moved in with a friend from high school and became part of his family. Now, he is a senior interdisciplinary studies major from Los Angeles, looking forward to his college graduation. “I’ve always wanted to go to college,” he said. “I’ve always been told, ‘You need to do better.’” ADVERTISING: 806-742-3384

College was not easy for Williams at first. He said he struggled. “It was just an adjustment coming from the situation I came from,” he said. “I had to sit out a year because of my grades.” With help from employees of Buckner Children & Family Services of Lubbock, Williams was able to get back on track again through a program titled Hope Chest. “I kind of lost that motivation, and they helped — basically they set me straight by sitting me down and telling me I was messing up a great opportunity I have,” Williams said. “It helped me turn everything around academically and what was going on with me psychologically and emotionally. I got everything back together with the support they offered, even when I didn’t want it.” Buckner International is a Dallasbased Christian ministry that is dedicated to strengthening at-risk children and families and has served Lubbock and surrounding counties since 1958. Its AfterCare program helps former foster youth, such as Williams, transition from the state’s care into self-sufficient adulthood. PROGRAM continued on Page 5 ➤➤

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efit concert and a drunken dodgeball tournament, according to the RHA calendar. RHA meets at 7 pm every Tuesday in the Leadership Development Center at Carpenter-Wells Complex. ➤➤nculver@dailytoreador.com

MAEDGEN MASTER

PHOTO BY EMILY MCCARTHY/The Daily Toreador

EMMETT BUHMANN, THE master electrician and set shop foreman, works on welding to create a dolly for a fog machine needed for the upcoming play “The Seagull” on Monday in the Charles E. Jr. Maedgen Theatre. “The Seagull” will be presented from Feb. 28 through March 3 in the Maedgen Theatre.

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