Fall Break Fashion Page 5
Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2012
“About You, For You”
University of Arkansas Student-Run Newspaper Since 1906
Vol. 107, No. 32
!"#$%&''$#%('#$ UA STUDENTS BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN TRADITIONAL AMERICAN AND HINDU PRACTICES
Former Football Player Released Kayli Farris Senior Staff Writer
Pay it Forward
The positive social movement can even be found on campus. Full Story, Page 5
UA Sophomore Creates Women’s Rugby Team
A profile on the student who organized the first Women’s Rugby Team on campus. Full Story, Page 5
Shelby Gill Asst. Companion Editor Members of Hindu Association of Northwest Arkansas touch holy water to their faces for physical and spiritual cleanliness after entering the temple in Bentonville, Ark.
Shelby Gill Asst. Companion Editor
Razorbacks Need to Fill Void, Look Forward to Kentucky
After an SEC win against Auburn Saturday, interim head coach John L. Smith is proud of his players. Full Story, Page 7
See More More Traveler Stories At UAtrav.com Today’s Forecast
As Hindus migrate to the West, traditional practices get diluted from one generation to the next. As a result, younger generations have woven aspects of American life into the nearly 4,000-year-old eastern religion, according to a recent Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life poll. “When I was growing up, Hinduism was something that was very distant, something that was handed down to me and I didn’t necessarily relate to it,” said Padma Mana, president of the UA Hindu Student Association. “When I came to college, I just looked into it more, and I realized that a lot of Hindu philosophy already meshed with what I already believed in.” Only 32 percent of Hin-
Engineering College Continues to Grow
Jannee Sullivan Senior Staff Writer
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dus in America view religion as an important aspect of their lives. In India, 69 percent of Hindus view religion as important, according to the 2012 Pew Forum, “A Mosaic of Faiths,” a project of the Pew Research Center. “People who have grown up here aren’t as immersed in Hinduism as people are in India,” said Nirupama Raghavan, president of the Hindu Association of Northwest Arkansas. “In India, it’s not only the main religion, but it’s part of the culture. People do stuff that’s related to Hinduism as part of the normal course of life; they don’t necessarily need to be taught things because it’s just part of their culture.” In the U.S., there’s more of a need for people to be taught Hinduism, Raghavan said. “I think that’s where it becomes tricky because people in India are just used to it be-
This is the third year in a row the UA College of Engineering has seen a higher percent increase in new freshman than the rest of the university, including a rise in both female and minority enrollment, officials said. Overall, the college saw a 17.9 percent increase in enrollment since last fall, according to the 11th Day Enrollment Report. Diversity within the engineering college is also growing at a higher rate. This year, enrollment of students from ethnic minorities increased about 40 percent, according to the Office of Institutional Research. Enrollment of women has also risen. Nationally, the average number of women enrolled in four-year engi-
neering programs is about 17 percent. At the UA, overall, the enrollment for women is 19 percent and new freshmen enrollment for women is 21 percent, said Bryan Hill, assistant dean of student recruitment and international programs for the College of Engineering. That is a 33 percent increase in new female enrollment, he said. The Engineering College has seen larger class sizes and has hired more faculty as a result of the growth, but they would like to see even more faculty in order to maintain research productivity and funding, Hill said. Faculty can not be overloaded with teaching classes, because they are also needed for research projects and grants, which allow them to maintain the graduate pro-
see ENGINEER page 3
ing part of everyday life when they come here; they don’t always have the tools and the experience on how to teach it to their kids,” Raghavan said. Hinduism is divided into four pillars: intellectual, worship, community service and meditation. The intellectual pillar includes reading scriptures and texts; the worship pillar includes attending temple, singing and praying; the community service pillar includes volunteering and the meditation pillar includes yoga, Mana said. Yoga is the best-known practice in Western culture, Mana said. Seventy-three percent of Asian-American Hindus view yoga as spiritual practice, according to the Pew Forum. “When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do is a small eight-minute prayer and meditate,” Mana said. “The meditation usually takes
about 20 minutes. So I brush my teeth, mediate, and I get ready for the day.” Mana finds it difficult to incorporate the intellectual pillar into her daily life, she said. “I’ve been trying to work reading more scripture into my schedule,” Mana said. “It’s kind of hard to work it in everyday though, but through HSA we’ve been doing discussions, where we read the scripture and then we discuss everything.” In Hinduism, the concept of non-violence, Ahimsa, often leads to the practice of vegetarianism, Mana said. “I went vegetarian a year and a half ago, and I didn’t realize how hard it would be to be vegetarian in America,” Mana said. “Luckily our campus is really good about that, and they provide a variety
see HINDU page 3
The former Razorback football player arrested on the charges of terroristic threatening has been released from Washington County Jail and, by a court order, he cannot return to campus, police said Monday. Bret Harris, who was released on a $20,000 bond, has returned to his hometown of Irving, Texas, UAPD spokesman Lt. Gary Crain, said. Because Harris exhibited behavior of a mentally unstable person, Crain said, he is banned from the UA and is required to wear an ankle bracelet to monitor his location. Harris was arrested Oct. 2 after using his Twitter account to threaten to kill UA head athletic trainer Matt Summers for placing him in Springwood Behavioral Health Center, police said. “Say Matt, remember I checked yo (expletive) for questioning me,” Harris tweeted. “You set me up to be placed in Springwood. I’m going to kill you.” Springwood is a behavioral health center specializing in acute psychiatric diagnoses and substance abuse, according to the website. Harris was ordered to Springwood after he exhibited strange behavior during the spring Razorback Red-White football game, officials said. He was sent to the behavioral health center for whatever issues he was having, Crain said, and at some point, medical officials determined he was fit to be released. His recent behavior showed that was not the case. Harris was acting strangely for a while, and he finally said something that got him in trouble, Crain said. It is unknown if Harris was sent to Springwood for substance abuse problems as well, Crain said. Harris is scheduled to appear Nov. 2 in the Washington County Circuit Court, according to the Washington County detainee intake report.
Students Work Better in Same-Gender Classes
Rebekah Harvey Staff Photographer Students discuss the lesson in an elementary French class at the UA Oct. 5.
For the Full Story, See SURVEY Page 3