March 26, 2012 - South Plains College

Plainsman Press
South Plains College
Vol. 54 • Issue 10 • March 26, 2012
1401 S. College Ave. • Levelland, Texas
Lex Cox, associate dean of the Resse
Center campus, set to retire in July.
Texans earn spot in NJCAA
National Tournament.
see page 8.
“Da Vinci: The Genius” traveling exhibit featured at the Science
Specturm in Lubbock.
see page 20.
see page 17.
Regents discuss expansion of nursing program
by LYNDA BRYANT WORK
news editor
Plans to expand enrollment in the nursing program,
the evaluation report of the
college, and the new SPARTAN
bus routes were among topics
discussed during the March
meeting of the South Plains
College Board of Regents.
Darrell Grimes, vice president for academic affairs introduced Sue Ann Lopez, dean of
health occupations, and Kara
Martinez, dean of the SPC Reese
Center campus, to the Board.
Lopez reported that plans
were being made to accept
more nursing applicants into
the LVN and ADN nursing programs once the allied health
department moves into the
new facility at Gentry Square,
which is scheduled for completion in early May.
“We are excited and very
grateful to have the new facility,”
said Lopez. “It is a new adventure for us all.”
Lopez said that for this
current semester, she had received applications from 18
LVNs studying to become RNs,
and 116 applications for new
students interested in joining
the allied health program, with
50 to 60 percent of those being
denied.
“Now we can admit a larger
majority of students applying,”
explained Lopez. “We plan to
increase our numbers in the
fall by one half. We will test the
waters [on space] in the fall, and
hopefully, double enrollment by
spring.”
Lopez said that the new
facility is “amazing,” and that it
will provide not only an opportunity to meet the needs of the
community, but will also offer
students an excellent training
experience.
“We want to accept a good
number of students,” said Dr.
Kelvin Sharp, president of South
Plains College, “but we also want
to graduate a good number.”
Dr. Sharp told the Board
that Jim McCutchin, owner
of McCutchin Construction in
Levelland, had informed him
that the project is very close to
completion, with most of the
walls painted and the ceiling
tiles being dropped. He said that
once the ceiling is finished, they
will be starting on the floors.
With furniture scheduled
to arrive in mid-May, the Allied
Health Department will begin
moving in shortly after, added
Dr. Sharp.
Dr. Sharp also reported
that they hope to have bids for
the remodeling of Gillespie Hall
next month, so that residential
hall would be completed by the
2012 Fall semester. Additionally,
he said that negotiations on the
property adjoining the new Allied Health Center are nearing
completion.
“The process of getting inspectors and surveyors is being
completed on the Gentry Square
properties,” said Dr. Sharp. “The
details are worked out, and a
contract will be signed. It is all
set.”
Martinez reported to the
Board that all classes at the
Reese Center campus are full
and that they are working with
the Reese Technological Center
for easier access to Building 8.
She also said that Building 6 is
considering the acquisition of
a wind turbine.
With a large number of
commuting students, Martinez
said that she was trying to facilitate ways to make them feel
more a part of the SPC student
community, particularly with
the large number of veterans
attending classes at the Reese
campus.
“We have 300 veterans on
campus,” said Martinez.
“With the opening of the
new Veteran’s Center, which has
veteran’s affairs and financial aid
counselors, we are able to help
those students with the different kinds of problems in education that vets encounter.”
Tuberculosis case confirmed on campus
by LYNDA BRYANT WORK
news editor
Administrators at South
Plains College recently were notified that an individual associated with the Levelland Campus
has been diagnosed with a case
of tuberculosis.
According to Cathy Mitchell,
vice president for student affairs
at SPC, the college received
confirmation from the Texas
Department of State Health
Services on March 19. She said
that individuals identified as being the highest risks have been
contacted, either in person or
through a letter mailed to them,
by SPC.
“We will follow protocol as
directed by the Texas Department of State Health Services
and the Centers for Disease
Control,” said Mitchell, explaining
how the college is dealing with
the issue.
According to Chris Van Deusen, assistant press officer for
the Texas Department of State
Health Services, there are about
1,500 cases of TB disease in Texas
diagnosed each year, with the
reported number decreasing
during the past several years. He
said the most recent data was
for 2010, when there were 1,385
reported cases.
Van Deusen said that state
health departments are typically notified of communicable
diseases by doctors or hospitals
treating a patient, or a lab that
does testing, adding that DSHS
follows the protocol set forth by
the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.
According to the CDC, TB, or
tuberculosis, is a disease caused
by bacteria called mycobacterium tuberculosis, and can
attack any part of the body, but
most commonly the lungs. TB is
spread through the air from one
person to another. The bacteria
are put into the air when a person with TB disease of the lungs
or throat coughs or sneezes.
People nearby may breathe in
these bacteria and become infected, and those people with TB
disease are most likely to spread
it to people with whom they
regularly spend time, stay within
a closed space, or who have a
weakened immune system.
Because TB is not easily
spread from one person to another, explained Van Deusen,
only people who have had
ongoing, close contact in a confined space with a person who
has, or is suspected of having,
active TB disease need to be
screened.
“In circumstances where
it’s not easy to differentiate between close contacts and more
casual contacts, we may screen
additional people,“ said Van
Deusen. “But if you’ve had only
limited contact with someone
who is sick, the risk is very low.”
According to the CDC, a TB
skin test is the only way to find
out if a person has TB infection. It may be obtained at the
local health department or at
a doctor’s office. SPC offered
confidential testing for specific
people on March 19 and March
21, with additional testing offered on March 26 and March 28,
on the Levelland campus.
“Only those who received a
letter, or were notified in person,
will be tested at the free clinic,”
Mitchell said.
Mitchell added that HIPPA
regulations limit the information
that can be disclosed, and in order to maintain confidentiality,
the names of those being tested
will not be released, and media
will not be allowed in the areas
where the screening is taking
place.
Information provided by
the CDC states that people who
are infected with TB may not feel
sick or have any symptoms, but
may develop TB disease at some
time in the future. People with
TB disease can be treated and
cured if they seek medical help,
although treatment may be
long. People who have TB infection but are not yet sick can take
medicine so that they will never
develop TB disease.
“Cases of active TB disease
are treated with a combination
of four antibiotics, usually over
the course of six months, though
treatment can take longer, depending on a doctor’s orders,”
said Van Deusen. “Remember
that a person isn’t infectious that
whole time. The length of treatment is to make sure the bacteria
are eliminated completely.”
People who have or are suspected of having active TB disease are generally excluded from
work or school until they are no
longer infectious, explained Van
Deusen, adding that it is usually
a few weeks after the beginning
of antibiotic therapy and is confirmed with laboratory testing.
Following that, he said that there
is no problem with someone going back to school or work and
otherwise carrying on with his
or her usual activities.
Van Deusen said that people who have latent TB infections
(those who have been exposed
to the bacteria but aren’t sick
and can’t spread the disease)
are strongly encouraged to
take a course of treatment that
consists of one antibiotic for nine
months.
“Most people with a latent
infection will never become sick,”
said Van Deusen. “But we recommend following through with
therapy in order to eliminate
the bacteria and the chance of
developing active TB disease in
the future.”
Mitchell said that the SPC
administration will rely on State
Health Services to determine
when the person in question
may return to campus, and reassured students, faculty, and
parents that the majority of the
college community is not at risk
of contracting the disease.
In other business, Cathy
Mitchell, vice president for student affairs, brought theBoard
up to date on the SPARTAN bus
routes.
Mitchell told the Board that
SPARTAN has received a threeyear grant, which began in
October 2011, to provide transportation for SPC students and
faculty. She said that SPARTAN
is currently providing a bus that
runs a part-time/call-in route
from Lubbock to the Levelland
and Reese campuses.
“While the bus route is parttime, SPARTAN has bought three
new buses and will establish
a regular route, “ said Mitchell.
The “SPC Express” will be working with students to find out
what their needs are. The buses
will be equipped with Wi-Fi, as a
convenience to students.”
Mitchell said that there will
be a cost for the transportation service, but that the exact
amount has not been established yet. There are plans to
build up the van service so that
it extends to other outlying communities such as Brownfield, she
added.
In other action, Tony Riley,
vice president for finance and
administration, reported to the
Board that, as of March 5, the
last day for people to apply to
run as a candidate for the Board
of Regents election, no one had
put in an application. He said
that he would be canceling the
election in April, since it was no
longer necessary.
See “REGENTS”on Page 2
The Texans celebrate an 84-74 victory against Howard College in the championship game of
the NJCAA Region V tournament on March 11, advancing to the national tournament held in
Hutchinson, Kansas.
GABBY PEREZ/ PLAINSMAN PRESS
Area counties wrestle with
high teen pregnancy rates
by LYNDA BRYANT WORK &
DEVIN HARGROVE/
PLAINSMAN PRESS
(Editor’s note: This story is
the first part of a multi-part
series examining teen pregnancy, “Teens With Tots,”
that begins in this issue and
will continue through Issue
#12. Several staff members
took it upon themselves to
inteview, take photographs
and conduct research. The
results of their combined
efforts follow.)
Every 10 minutes, a teenager in Texas gets pregnant.
According to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention,
the United States leads industrialized countries in teenage
pregnancy, with more than 450,
000 births per year. The figures
also rank Texas fourth in the U.S.
in teen pregnancy, with the Lone
Star State leading the nation in
repeat pregnancies among the
15-19-year-old age group.
A report from the CDC
showed that teen pregnancy
rates have declined as a whole
in the United States, yet 44,000
teen pregnancies occurred in
Texas in 2011, and 4.5 percent
of all teens in the state are
mothers.
Statistically, Lubbock County has the highest percentage of
unplanned teen births of all the
largest cities in Texas, according
to the Lubbock Family Council,
who reported that every 10
hours, a 14-year-old gets pregnant. Every three hours, a 15year-old gets pregnant, every
1.5 hours, a 16-year-old gets
pregnant, every 52 minutes,
a 17-year-old gets pregnant;
every 35 minutes, an 18-yearold gets pregnant, and every
28 minutes, a 19-year-old gets
pregnant.
“The data shows there is
room for improvement, and
we’re going to continue working toward that,” said Chris Van
Deusen, assistant press officer
at the Texas Department of
State Health Services. “DSHS
provides educational resources
to schools, parents, communities, businesses and non-profit
organizations. We also engage
in other prevention activities.
I think what we see is not any
single program that is helping
decrease teen births, but a combination of community-wide
involvement including parents,
school, church and community
groups in educating and supporting teens.”
The most recent data, according to Van Deusen, showed
approximately 304 births to
teen mothers under the age
of 13 to 17 years old had been
reported in Lubbock , with
Medicaid covering more than 63
percent for the medical costs for
births in that county.
Texas Department of State
Health Services statistics for
Hockley County indicated 44
births (11.9 percent) for adolescent pregnancies under the
age of 18, with 46 reported
pregnancies for the 13-to-17-
year-old age group (59 percent),
187 of the young mothers being
unmarried. Medicaid insurance
covered 72 percent, or 227,
of the births registered in the
county.
Multiple studies have shown
that the problem of teen pregnancy is both concrete and practical, with agencies reporting on
the numerous issues that bring
substantial social and economic
costs through immediate and
long-term consequences on
teen parents, their children, and
taxpayers.
The Guttmacher Institute
conducted a study and analysis
on the number of teen births,
abortions, and long-term effects
of teen pregnancy.
Rebecca Wind, senior communications associate at the
Guttmacher Institute, said that
the study indicated that pregnancy and birth are significant
contributors to high school
dropout rates, with only 50
percent of teen mothers earning their high school diplomas.
Additionally, most teen mothers are reported to be living in
poverty, with this trend carrying over to their children, who
are more likely to have lower
educational achievement and
experience cognitive problems.
These children also tend to have
more health problems, are more
likely to give birth as teenagers,
be incarcerated at some time
during adolescence (approximately 90 percent of the inmate
population at Attica State Prison
was born to teenage mothers)
, and face unemployment as
young adults.
See “TEEN” on Page 3
2
News
Plainsman Press
March 26, 2012
Photojournalism students earn top honors in national contest
by SAMANTHA RODRIGUEZ nalism major from Wolfforth,
were selected as finalists in the
editor-in-chief
competition. Both are students
Two students in the Com- of Charlie Ehrenfeld, assistant
munications Department at professor of journalism.
South Plains College recently
“Charlie gave me the entry
were notified that their pho- form and encouraged me to
tographs were selected for a enter the contest,” said Work,
national photography contest. whose photo earned Honorable
Photographer ’s Forum Mention recognition. “I have
magazine’s 32 nd Annual Col- him to thank for believing in my
lege and High School Photog- photography.”
raphy Contest, sponsored by
The photos by Work and
Nikon USA, included more than Gilliland will be published in
17,700 photographs entered by the book Best of College & High
student photographers from School Photography 2012 by
all over the U.S., Canada, and Serbin Communications.
around the world.
“For me, personally, it is of
Lynda Bryant Work, a soph- course an honor to have my
omore photojournalism major work recognized and published,
from Morton, and Rachel Gil- especially after competing with
liland, a freshman photojour- so many good photographers,”
added Work. “I looked through
the college finalist photos. There
are some talented photographers out there, and they do
wonderful work.”
Finalists were chosen by
Photographer’s Forum photo
editor, Nell Campbell, who selected the best photographs to
be judged by a panel to award
first through fourth-place winners, plus Honorable Mentions
winners.
“Charlie told me about the
competition, and ever since I
started photography, I’ve tried
to enter as many competitions
as possible,” said Gilliland, “just
to try my luck and see if others
like my work.”
The panel of judges included Dr. Janet Bonsall, University
of Central Missouri, Christopher
Broughton, Brooks Institute of
Photography; and Mark Takeuchi, Art Center College of Design.
“I was really excited after
finding out I had made the finalists and happy that my work is
being published,” said Gilliland,
“along with a lot of other great
photographers.”
To view both Work’s and
Gilliland’s photos, you can visit
the Winners gallery at www.
pfmagazine.com
Work and Gilliland are the
second and third of Ehrenfeld’s
students to have photos se-
lected for the contest in the past
two years.
“I’m so proud of Lynda and
Rachel for receiving this honor,”
Ehrenfeld said. “They are talented photographers, and I’m
happy they are recognized by
others besides me.”
Livestock Judging Team among top in state
by LYNDA BRYANT WORK
news editor
The South Plains College
Livestock Judging Team continues their drive to attain the
top ranking among community
college competitors.
At the San Antonio Livestock Show and Rodeo held on
Feb. 25, SPC placed second in
cattle, third in reasons, and fifth
and sixth place in hogs. With
a fourth overall placing at the
competition, the judging team
earned their place as the top
community college livestock
team in the state.
“The team members receive an individual score, which
is then added together to come
up with team standings in each
species of livestock, oral reasons,
and overall team category,” said
Cade Wilson, coach of the SPC
livestock judging team. “All
eight of our sophomores went
to San Antonio.”
Members of the SPC judging team are: Matt Savage from
Seminole; Matthew Gillispie
from Lubbock; Corey Sanchez
from Bangs; Cody Cross and
Jacob Laseman, both from New
Home;
Brennen Johnson from
Ropesville; Blake Petree from
Acuff; and Brandon Albus from
Littlefield.
Individual awards included
second place in cattle for Petree,
and ninth place in cattle, goats
and reasons for Gillispie. Cross
placed fifth in hogs, seventh in
reasons and sixth overall, while
Sanchez finished ninth in sheep
and fourth in reasons, and Laseman placed ninth overall. “Our
team had a really competitive
day judging [at San Antonio],”
said Wilson.
Wilson said that the students
have put in countless hours
during the past eight months
preparing for these contests,
with livestock judging consisting
of two primary components: the
placing of a group of animals,
and orally justifying the decision, or giving reasons. Each area
requires judging team members
to go through different steps
and processes to arrive at their
decisions.
“The students are expected
to know consumers preferences
and market standards of beef
cattle, market swine, market
lambs, and market goat,” explained Wilson. “They also have
to have a strong understanding
on the fundamentals and selection criteria for breeding cattle,
swine, lambs and goats.”
The judging contests are
extremely competitive. Wilson
pointed out that when the team
shows up to a contest, they are
competing against at least 30
of the top community college
agricultural schools in the country, and go believing that they
can win.
“We practice hard and remain committed to success with
the expectation of winning a
national contest,” said Wilson.
“This team has the motivation
and skill to be competitive, and
that’s what I ask of them. We will
continue to put ourselves in a
position to win, and when this
group performs at their potential, I believe it will happen.”
The team has competed
in many contests during the
2011-2012 season, according to
Wilson, including competitions
at Kansas City, Louisville, Denver,
Fort Worth and San Antonio. He
said that the team has placed in
the top 10 at four out of the five
contests, with a seventh-place
finish at Denver.
The judging team’s final
competition will be on March
14, when Wilson and his team
will be traveling to the Houston
Livestock Show and Rodeo.
“With one final contest on
the horizon, the prospects of another competitive day are bright,”
Wilson said. “A top-10 finish in
Houston would easily make this
the most decorated judging
team in the last 10 years.”
Photographer’s Forum contest finalists, Rachel Gilliland and Lynda Bryant Work.
GABBY PEREZ/ PLAINSMAN PRESS
Regents hear of nursing
program expansion plans
continued from Page 1
Mitchell said that there will
be a cost for the transportation service, but that the exact
amount has not been established yet. There are plans to
build up the van service so that
it extends to other outlying communities such as Brownfield, she
added.
In other action, Tony Riley,
vice president for finance and
administration, reported to the
Board that, as of March 5, the
last day for people to apply to
run as a candidate for the Board
of Regents election, no one had
put in an application. He said
that he would be canceling the
election in April, since it was no
longer necessary.
“There will be no changes
in the status of membership on
the Board,” said Riley, and the
current Board members will be
sworn in before the scheduled
May meeting.”
Charles Miller announced
his resignation to his fellow
Board members. Miller was first
appointed to the SPC Board of
Regents in February 1988, and
has been an intricate part of the
growth and expansion of the
college.
“My wife and I have decided
to downsize and move to Lubbock,” said Miller. “I am submitting my resignation to the Board.
I will miss everyone. It has been
a pleasure serving.”
Mike Box, chairman of the
SPC Board of Regents, said that
Miller’s many years of dedication
and service “had been a great
asset to both the Board and the
college.”
Stephen John, vice president for institutional advancement, presented the findings
of the Institutional Effectiveness Performance Report to
the Board. The framework was
developed by the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board,
in consultation with the state’s
community colleges, and the
Community College Accountability System, which reports
the performance of the state’s
51 community college districts.
SPC’s performance is compared
against the performance of all
Texas community colleges, as
well as a Large College Peer
Group that is based on enrollment, added John.
“The report is a way for SPC
to measure its performance
through an outcome-based
assessment process,” said John.
“The college has identified six
factors that are critical to its
success.”
John said the critical success
factors include: dynamic educational programs and quality instruction, educational program
outcomes, quality student and
support services, economic
development and community
involvement, effective leadership and management, and collaborative organization climate.
Overall, John said that SPC
scored well in most areas, and
as a result of the report, the college would be able to identify
where improvements should be
made that benefit the students
and their educational learning
experience.
PUBLICATION STATEMENT
The Plainsman Press is published
every two weeks during regular
semesters by journalism students at
South Plains College in Levelland,
Texas. Opinions herein are those of
the writer and not necessarily those
of the staff, the administration,
Board of Regents, advisor or
advertisers.
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EMAIL: ppress@southplainscollege.edu
Editorial Staff
Charlie Ehrenfeld / Advisor
Samantha Rodriguez / Editor-in-Chief
Tausha Rosen / Associate Editor
Gabby Perez / Photo Editor
Lynda Bryant Work /News Editor
Joshua Harris/ Opinion Editor
Gabriela Avila / Feature Editor
Jayme Wheeler / Entertainment Editor
Devin Hargrove / Editorial Assistant
Jasone Pearson / Sports Editor
Stuart Spikes / Editorial Assistant
Staff Writers & Photographers
Brandon Alvarado
Misty Browne
Timothy Burkett
Amber Ebenkamp
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Visit our website at www.southplainscollege.edu/ppress
3
News
Plainsman Press
March 26, 2012
Teen pregnancy rates prove problematic for area counties
continued from Page 1
Bill Albert, chief program
officer at the National Campaign
to Prevent Teen and Unplanned
Pregnancy, said the National
Campaign has a very specific
goal for the nation - a 20 percent
reduction in teen pregnancy by
2020.
According to Albert, teen
pregnancy is closely linked to
a host of other critical social
issues- poverty and income,
overall child well-being, out-ofwedlock births, irresponsible
fatherhood, health issues, education, child welfare, and other
risky behavior, adding that there
also are substantial public costs
associated with adolescent
childbearing.
“Teen pregnancy should be
viewed not only as a reproductive health issue, but as one that
works to improve all of these
measures,” said Albert. “Simply
put, if more children in this
country were born to parents
who are ready and able to care
for them, we would see a significant reduction in a host of social
problems afflicting children in
the United States, from school
failure and crime to child abuse
and neglect.”
Tara Haskell, CEO for Planned
Parenthood in Lubbock, said
that teens can face a multitude
of hardships, including negative
stigma, miscarriage, dropping
out of school, employment issues, childcare issues, medical
bills, and an unstable support
system.
The Medicaid Women’s
Health Program in Texas provides birth control and cancer
screenings to 120,000 low-income women in Texas. Planned
Parenthood provides care to
more than 40 percent of those
clients.
Planned Parenthood attempts to educate and counsel
young women on contraception
and pregnancy prevention, according to Haskell.
“We educate our patients
on all their options, such as
parenting, adoption, and abortion, and giving them as much
help as possible to facilitate any
decision they would make,” said
Haskell. “Lubbock does have an
abortion center. The problems
teens face with making this decision are the guilt, shame, and financial ramifications. This is not
a simple process for someone
to go through. We also refer to
adoption agencies such as Children’s Connection and Gladney
Center, to name a couple.”
Haskell says that education
about the “potential fallback” of
an STD and the ramification of
taking on the responsibility of a
child is important, adding that
teens need a safe environment
where they can get access to
prevention, considering their
limited financial means. She
explained that it is important
to teach teenage boys and girls
how to avoid pregnancy.
Wind said that given the
option and availability to contraception, teens would choose
to avoid an unplanned pregnancy.
“Teens appear to be making
the decision to be more effective
contraceptive users,” said Wind.
“Their actions are paying off
in lower pregnancy, birth and
abortion rates. In order to continue this positive trend, teens
need access to comprehensive
information on a wide range of
topics, including both how to
delay first sex and how to use
contraceptives, and they need
this information before they first
become sexually active.”
Renee Morales, program
director for Teen Parents of
Lubbock(TPOL), a satellite ministry of the Youth for Christ
regional office, says that when
she first arrived in Lubbock, she
felt compelled to help the young
moms and dads with little or
no support system, and began
researching statistics and information on Lubbock County’s
high teen pregnancy rate.
“While we believe abstinence is the best choice for
both protecting teens from
pregnancy and STDs, as well
as protecting their hearts from
the consequences of having
sex when many of them are not
ready,” said Morales, “we also believe in being open and honest
with teens about sex and birth
control so that if they do choose
to continue to be sexually active,
they have a better chance of
preventing future pregnancies
and STDs.”
Morales adds that they do
not spend a lot of time debating
the issues of abstinence-only
education versus sex education, because they are both “just
Band-Aids on a gaping wound.”
“Instead, we focus more on
getting to the root of at-risk behaviors,” said Morales. “Why are
so many teens engaging in risky
sexual behaviors? Why do they
seek out negative and unhealthy
relationships?
How can we fix those issues that are driving them to do
things they are not ready for that
often bring about consequences
they are not ready to handle? If
we can get to the root of these
issues, then we believe we can
prevent a lot of the negative
behaviors that lead to teen
pregnancy.”
Morales says that teen pregnancy often leads to many more
negative factors that affect not
only the parent, but the child
as well. In addition to dropping
out of school, teen parents are
more likely to: be in the welfare
system, often for the rest of their
lives; have more sexual partners
than their peers; have been
physically or sexually abused,
and experience abuse during
and after pregnancy; abuse or
neglect their own children; and
get pregnant again within 18
months of giving birth.
The goal of TPOLs, explains
Morales, is to support, encourage, and equip these young
parents with the life, relationship
and parenting skills they need.
“Our goal is to see these
young families become emotionally, mentally, physically, and
spiritually healthy,” said Morales.
“Our purpose is to see them
become successful, responsible
adults and life-long followers
of Jesus Christ. Teen Parents of
Lubbock involves resources of
the community to help young
parents build balanced lives. Basically, TPOL is a support group
and mentoring program for
pregnant and parenting teens.”
Morales says that there is a
weekly support group meeting
that is fun and interactive. It
also teaches parenting skills, life
skills, and spiritual applications.
She said that TPOL currently has
about 50 young parents attending regularly, and approximately
80-100 young parents coming to
meetings annually.
“TPOL is a place that young
parents can come and know
they will not be judged or looked
down on,” said Morales. “Instead,
they find other young parents
going through the same things
they are, a loving mentor, and
moms and dads who are there
to encourage and guide them
down the often challenging road
of parenting.”
Caitlyn Camacho, communications coordinator at the
American Academy of Child and
Adolescent Psychiatry, reports
that adolescents who become
pregnant may not seek proper
medical care during their pregnancy. Additionally, there are
increased risks for medical complications due to poor nutrition
and substance abuse that can
damage a developing fetus.
“Pregnant teens may have
many different emotional reactions, including not wanting
their babies, idealizing the idea
of a baby without understanding the serious responsibilities,
or keeping a baby to please
family members, said Camacho. “Also, it is possible that
pregnant teens experience
depression, guilt, anxiety and
fears about the future. Often,
babies born to teenagers are
at risk for neglect and abuse,
because teens are uncertain
about the mothering role.”
Camacho says that the
AACAP encourages teens to
seek information about pregnancy from adult parents or
counselors who can provide
information and guidance
about sexuality, contraception, and the risks and responsibilities of intimate relationships and pregnancy.
In addition, state statistics show that teen pregnancy
accounts for more than $9 billion per year to United States
taxpayers, with Texans paying
approximately $41 million
annually for the deliveries of
teen pregnancies, increased
health care and foster care,
increased incarceration rates
among children of teen parents, and lost tax revenue
due to lower educational attainment and income among
teen mothers.
“At TPOL, we want to
help these young families
succeed and overcome these
obstacles;” said Morales. “We
believe they don’t have to be
a statistic. Last year, we saw
55 percent of the young parents enrolled in our program
finish high school or receive
their GED. Eighty percent
of them did not have repeat
pregnancies.”
The CDC reports that 18
percent of U.S. women who
are obtaining abortions are
teenagers. Adolescents aged
15 to 19 account for 16.5
percent of all abortions, with
an abortion rate of 14.5 abor- Photo illustration by RACHEL GILLILAND/ PLAINSMAN PRESS
tions per 1,000 adolescents.
According to the CDC
facilities must report: the license As of Oct. 1, 2011, Texas state
Morbidity and Mortality
Weekly Report on state-specific status of the facility; a patient’s law requires all women, regardfigures, there were approximate- year of birth, race, marital status, less of age, who are seeking an
ly 10,500 women between the state and country of residence; abortion, to have at least two
ages of 15 and 19 who received type of abortion procedure; visits to the abortion facility,
abortions in Texas in 2007, with date abortion was performed; with one visit to include an ulTexas having 11 percent of abor- post-operative status of patient trasound at least 24 hours prior
tions reported nationally. Texas and cause of death when ap- to an abortion. The ultrasound is
had the 13th-highest rate of plicable; period of gestation required for the abortion pill or
women having the procedure at time of procedure; date of for in-clinic abortions.
The legal aspects of teens
that year. Of those women get- patient’s last menstrual cycle;
number
of
previous
live
births
experiencing
pregnancy or
ting abortions, 38 percent were
to
patient;
and
the
number
of
motherhood
go
deeper than
Hispanic, 34 percent were Cauprevious
abortions
performed
healthcare,
with
the
Texas State
casian, 23 percent were Black,
on
a
patient.
Family
Code
requiring
teen
and 80 percent were unmarried.
Additionally,
all
abortion
famothers
to
take
care
of
their
Of these, 42 percent reported
having incomes below 100 per- cilities not under the jurisdiction children. Yet, according to state
cent of the federal poverty level of the Texas Hospital Licensing law, until they are 18 years of
($10, 380 for a single woman Law or a physician’s office, must age, they cannot legally sign
be licensed. This includes physi- contracts, such as those for
with no children).
Wind said that the Guttm- cians’ offices, where 51 percent leasing an apartment to provide
acher survey reported that the or more of the patients receive shelter or purchasing a car in
order for travel to work.
reasons women give for having an abortion.
During
the
Texas
82nd
LegAlbert says that there are
an abortion underscore their
islative
session,
lawmakers
enseveral
things to help prevent
understanding of the responacted
House
Bill
15,
amending
teen
pregnancy,
including a
sibilities of parenthood and
the
Woman’s
Right
to
Know
Act.
growing
number
of
programs,
family life.
“Three-fourths of women
cite concern for or responsibility
to other individuals,” said Wind.
“Three-fourths say they cannot
afford a child; three-fourths
say that having a baby would
interfere with work or school,
and half say they do not want to
be a single parent or are having by LYNDA BRYANT WORK
convicted on the first offense,”
problems with their partner.”
said Gonzalez. “The penalty for
news editor
Additionally, Wind points
a second offense is a state jail
out that the data showed that
Drivers on Texas Highway felony, which includes both jail
8 percent of women who have 114 legally must stop for school time and a fine of up to $1000.”
abortions have never used a buses that are loading and unGonzalez said that if the
method of birth control, with loading children.
road is divided by a barrier or
nonuse being the highest
The Texas Department of median, the traffic going in the
among those who are young, Public Safety is reminding drivers same direction as the bus must
poor, black, Hispanic or less that they must stop for school stop, while the vehicles going
educated. Approximately half buses, as well as obey posted in the opposite direction do not
of the unintended pregnancies speed limits.
have to stop.
occurred among the 11 percent
Dane Kerns, superintendent
Following two accidents
who are at high risk but not us- that recently occurred and sev- of the Smyer Independent School
ing contraceptives.
eral near misses when drivers District, reported that there have
Should teens pursue the failed to stop despite flashing been a couple of accidents in
option of abortion in Texas, if reds lights on school buses, Smyer, where cars were legally
under-age, there is the necessity Corporal John Gonzalez of the stopped for loading or unloading
of obtaining parental consent, Texas Department of Public students from buses, and other
plus the challenge of navigating Safety warns that drivers can drivers crashed into the rear end
through Texas abortion laws.
face penalties for not following of the stopped cars.
The Texas Abortion Facil- the law.
“We just want to get the
ity Reporting and Licensing Act
“Drivers who fail to yield can word out to let drivers know
has stipulated that all abortion face fines from $200 to $1000 if that we are concerned about
interventions, and curricula
that have been shown through
careful evaluation research to
help teens delay sex, help sexually active teens better us contraception, and reduce teen
pregnancy.
“It is also the case that parents influence their teens’ decisions about sex more than
they think,” said Albert. “Good
social science research and teens
themselves consistently say it is
parents - not peers, not partners,
not popular culture - that most
influence their decisions about
sex.”
As a part of the National
Campaign, Albert said that a
new website - Bedsider.org - an
online birth control network for
women age 18-29, has recently
been launched as an important
tool to provide them with an
easily accessible source of information.
DPS reminds drivers of
rules regarding buses
the safety of our children,” said
Kerns. “Either some drivers don’t
understand the law, or they
are not paying attention, but
there have been too many accidents.”
According to state law, in
cases where the road is divided
only by a left-turning lane with
no physical barrier or median,
drivers on both sides of the road
must stop for school buses with
alternating red flashing lights.
Drivers should pay particular
attention when driving in neighborhoods, near schools, and at
bus stops.
Gonzalez added that drivers should not proceed until
the school bus resumes motion
and the alternating lights have
stopped, which signals the drivers that it is safe to proceed.
4
News
March 26, 2012
Plainsman Press
Austin guitarist highlights importance of hard work to SPC music students
by JAYME WHEELER
entertainment editor
Ringo Starr, the Dixie
Chicks, John Mellencamp, and
the Allman Brothers Band.
These are just a few of the
well-known artists who famed
Austin guitar player David Grissom has toured and recorded
with.
Grissom visited the Levelland campus of South Plains
College on March 7 and March 8
to speak to students and offer his
advice to aspiring musicians.
“If you have any way to get
out on an open mic, go do it,”
Grissom advised the students
about getting their music heard.
“Any opportunity you have to
play, take it. Your CD is your best
business card.”
Another piece of advice
Grissom told the students was
about timing.
“When people are packing
up their gear, it’s not the right
time to approach them,” warns
have the lyrics as an additional
element.”
Grissom also mentions how
he has gotten better at writing
instrumentals.
“Occasionally, I’ll write an
instrumental top to bottom with
just a guitar in hand,” says Grissom. “But lately I’ve been using
the computer, and the editing
capabilities of the computer,
to build them. I use a program
called Stylist to do a cool drum
loop.”
He says that the program
helped him with his solo releases, including “Way Down
Deep.”
“I’ll sit there for hours listening to different tempos, and that
might inspire me to come up
with a really cool riff,” explains
Grissom. “I may put that down
as a guide track, and I’m literally
building this on the computer.
To me, I found the computer is
valuable in that regard.”
The piece of advice that
Grissom felt was important
enough to mention several
times is simple, but it is quite
possibly the key to his highly
successful career.
“There are no shortcuts,”
he says.
Grissom. “When it happens to
me and I’m trying to get out
of the way for the next person,
I just tell them that it isn’t the
right time.”
“You need to be careful and
respectful on how you promote
yourself,” he adds.
Grissom also mentions that
it is extremely helpful to go back
and listen to genre roots to help
with the writing process.
“You need to go back to the
great songwriters of your genre,”
explains Grissom. “You want
to be a country guitar player?
Go back and listen to Merle
Haggard and Clarence White,
and figure out that you’ll have
to know how to play western
swing, pop ballads, everything.”
One reason Grissom says
that he has found success is
because of the different musical
influences he listened to growing up.
“I have a hybrid style that is
based around all the influences,
from bluegrass to jazz to rock to
country,” Grissom explains. “So I
try to incorporate that into writing instrumentals.”
He continues, “My experience is to write a good instrumental is harder than writing
a great vocal tune. You don’t
by JOSH HARRIS
opinion editor
are about to launch
“ W e
our website where
sold almost
people can buy it.
all of the
We’re about to start
artwork,
a Kickstarter, which
and we
is a website where
sold a fair
you get crowd fundnumber of
ing to do a project.
shirts,” said
So I think it looks
sophogood.”
more Lee
Henzler also
Carter.
says
that adding
“People
the
online
aspect
were inwill
broaden
the
terested in
clothing
line,
and
a
what we
lot
more
people
will
have to
have access to it.
do. Even if SPC design communication students unveil “Dead End Kid”
clothing
line.
Graffiti artist
they didn’t
TAUSHA
ROSEN/PLAINSMAN
PRESS
and
former SPC
buy somestudent
Joey Marthing, they
tinez
had
a booth
definitely
near
the
design
students
that
were asking questions. They pleased with the response to the
helped
draw
some
attention
to
were very supportive of the idea idea and the designs.”
their
booth.
that instead of doing some kind
The students plan on add“Joey has been part of this
of a fundraiser, or just asking for ing some new items to the clothprocess
from the beginning,”
donations, that we were actively ing line, but sticking to just shirts
Davidson
said. “I knew we needgiving them a product. ‘Hey take posters, and buttons.
ed
something
to keep people
this shirt and your payment that
“I think we have some other
around,
and
Joey
volunteered
you pay for that shirt helps us go designs that we haven’t released
his
talent.
Dead
End
Kids stuck
back to school.”
yet,” Carter said. “I think new
together.
”
Carter also said that they designs will start to pop up, esOverall, Davidson and his
wanted to know more informa- pecially as new students come
students
said that they though
tion, and that people liked it in and add their spin.”
the
Art
Trail
event went well,
better than just them just asking
Davidson says that the fuand
their
clothing
line has a big,
for handouts.
ture looks great for the clothing
bright
future.
“[The clothing line and art] line. The students also have an
“I think it was a great first
both did great,” said Paul David- eye toward the future.
test
to see the reaction of the
son, assistant professor of design
“Not to be cliché, but it
public,
” Davidson said.
communications at SPC. “I was looks bright,” Carter said. “We
Design students impress with
‘Dead End Kid’ clothing line
David Grissom performing at SPC on March 7.
JAYME WHEELER/PLAINSMAN PRESS
The “First Friday Art Trail”
is a monthly showcase for the
Lubbock art scene.
For a group of SPC design
communication students, they
got to experience it first hand.
The students unveiled their
new “Dead End Kid” clothing
line at the Art Trail held on
March 2, and it was a big success, both financially and as a
way of getting the word out
about the line.
“It went over really well,”
sophomore Kandyce Henzler
said. “People were really accepting of it, and I think that they
were really excited about it.”
The students ended up
making $470 from the sales of
their art and clothing line items
at the event.
Prospective students encouraged
to ‘Go For It’ during resource fair
by CHANCE WEBB
staff writer
People sometimes believe
that they lack the tools and resources available to attend college, such as money or time.
“GO FOR IT! How to Do
School” gathers representatives
from the community and South
Plains College to provide assistance to prospective students
on how to help them achieve a
college education.
South Plains College will
be hosting “GO FOR IT! How to
Do School” at the Byron Martin
Advanced Technology Center,
located at 3201 Avenue Q, on
April 12 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
“GO FOR IT! How to Do
School” is a free resource fair
hosted by the Special Services
office at South Plains College’s
Reese Center campus in Lubbock. The Special Services office organizes representatives
from departments within SPC,
along with people from agencies within the community, in
a resource fair similar to Senior
Sneak Peek hosted by South
Plains College’s Levelland campus. It focuses on technical programs, such as nursing and legal
assistant. Potential students and
their family members are able to
meet with these representatives
and ask questions about their
specific program and field of
study, as well as meet with SPC
offices such as Special Services,
Financial Aid, and Admissions
and Records.
The fair will be held at the
Byron Martin Advanced Technology Center, and each department or agency will have its own
table with representatives to
speak to prospective students.
They will be able to speak with
Admissions and Records office
members, and representatives
in the field of nursing, as well as
agencies within the community,
such as Child Care Services and
Catholic Charities. Potential
students are given a bag of pamphlets, forms, and giveaways
containing basic information
about attending South Plains
College, working as a directory
and allowing potential students
to contact the representatives
who will best answer their questions.
“The really big goal is to
make sure that by the time a
prospective student, or their
parents or family member, is
through with “GO FOR IT!” that
all their questions are answered,”
explains Lynn Gregory, First Step
counselor at SPC’s Reese Center
campus.
“GO FOR IT!” is geared primarily for prospective students
who have been out of school
for some time, and may not
have ever considered attending
college, because of childcare
constraints, financial problems,
or the lack of time or need to
attend college and get a degree
in the past. Gregory says that
the goal of the fair is to show
that it is possible to people who
thought it to be impossible in
the past, and for them to leave
believing in themselves and
their ability to attend college.
Gregory describes “GO FOR IT!”
as a “one-stop resource fair”
where someone can get all questions about college answered,
and leave feeling confident
about the decision to attend.
“This is for people who
really think, ‘that’s not for me’,”
explains Gregory.
The fair also hosts agencies
within the community that can
assist a prospective student’s
attendance at South Plains
College, including Child Care
Services which can assist in
helping with a childcare plan so
one or both parents can attend
college and make sure their child
has a place to be taken care of
while they’re in class, or Catholic Charities, which can assist in
providing textbooks and other
supplies to students who may be
struggling to acquire the tools
they need to attend school.
Gregory also says that the
there will be snacks and drinks
for those who attend, and usually a door prize will be awarded
through a random drawing of
those in attendance. The fair
is meant to be a relaxed atmosphere where people can have
their questions about college
answered, and get over whatever fear is preventing them
from attending.
Gregory stresses that everyone is welcome to attend
“GO FOR IT!” and that she wants
everyone to be comfortable and
sure that every question they
might have about any program
they may be interested in is
answered before they leave, as
well as any questions concerning the administration offices
and financial aid.
“It’s really rewarding to do,”
says Gregory about her experiences with the “GO FOR IT!”
event. “I love doing this every
year.”
“GO FOR IT!” is in its 19th
consecutive year hosted by
the Reese Center campus, and
Gregory says that the resource
fair has received overwhelmingly positive reviews in years
past. The fair strives to ensure
that potential students have any
and all obstacles removed from
their path to attending college,
and that any questions they
might have about programs of
study at SPC are answered.
“GO FOR IT!” is open to anyone who wishes to attend.
5
News
Plainsman Press
March 26, 2012
Information vaccination: Medication awareness critical to patient safety
by MISTY BROWNE
staff writer
Every day, someone falls
victim to a side effect of a medication that was prescribed by
his or her physician.
These side effects can range
from mild reactions such as
rashes, an upset stomach and
insomnia, to more serious outcomes such as stroke, heart
attack and even death.
Daytime TV is filled with ads
from lawyers promising to win
consumers financial gain from
damages incurred while taking
certain medications.
Every day, a new drug is
created to fight an illness. These
medications are required to go
through a rigorous series of tests
by the Food and Drug Administration, in a laboratory, as well
as numerous drug studies performed on actual human beings
who volunteer for them.
While the drug companies
are responsible for a large part of
damages occurring to the consumer while taking a medication
or long-term consequences that
may arise long after the medication has been stopped, patients
can be just as proactive in protecting themselves.
Signs line the walls of doctor’s offices asking patients to
bring all medications they are
taking to their next appointment. In a fast-paced society,
these requests are often over-
looked. Trying to recall what
medication was taken last, when
it was taken and why, can often
be difficult for the person who is
trying to cram a follow-up visit
to the doctor into a one-hour
lunch break.
The importance of
knowing what
prescriptions
have been
prescribed
and how often and the
dosage of the
m e d i c at i o n
is critical to
the physician
in helping
to give the
appropriate
medical care
to a patient.
More often than not, a person may be travelling and may
need to seek medical attention
in a different city, state or coun-
try. Knowing your medication
history is crucial at these times.
Keeping a list of your medication that contains the prescribed dosage, how often they
are taken and when the medica-
tion was last taken, is probably
the most important thing a
patient can do to help prevent
medical errors with their drugs.
Donatelli makes powerful statement
with exhibit of installation art
by TAUSHA ROSEN
associate editor
invited me to do it. I had a lot
of drawings that I had thought
about, and over Christmas break
Kara Donatelli always knew
I started working on the figures,
that she wanted to pursue a
and once I decided what I was
career in art.
going to do, it was just working
As a child, she said she even
long periods of time to get it
liked to tape fabric together to
finished.”
make dresses for dolls.
With a specialty and preferAfter growing up in Pennence in installation art, Donatelli
sylvania, and taking an interest
has displayed her work at the Art
in installation art, she applied to
Trail before, but this exhibit had
a certain feel to it. The set
was a large, dark room with
several hanging light bulbs
encased in a metal sphere
with stars cut out of them.
This projected star-shaped
light throughout the dim
room, giving it a somber
feel.
Also, a woven rope
made of maps draped from
the ceiling to the coiling
into a pile. Surrounding the
hanging lights and ropes
were 42 small clay figures, no
more than a foot tall, wearing dark-colored coats. The
figures with pale, white faces
looked up into the lights.
“I wanted to fill the
space, and I wanted the
viewer to walk in between
the figures, versus just
around them,” said Donatelli.
“ But it was this idea that all
these people who are closest
[to the lights] and they’re
looking up at the rope, or
looking down at the pile
[are] closest to whatever
they’re longing for, and the
people who are back in the
Kara Donateli, assistant professor of art at SPC, showed her
corners are working toward
TOSKA exhibit in installation art at the First Friday Art Trail in
their goal, or they’re just
Lubbock.
starting the journey.”
TAUSHA ROSEN/PLAINSMAN PRESS
schools that would further her
skill in that area. Fast forward a
few years, and she has become
an accomplished artist, not to
mention an assistant professor
of art at SPC for seven years.
At this month’s First Friday
Art Trail in Lubbock, Donatelli
premiered her “Toska” exhibit
on March 2.
“I knew about the exhibit
last May,” said Donatelli. “They
ʻTuesday Talksʼ offer students
life lessons during,after college
by KATI WALKER
staff writer
There are some lessons in
life that college, typically, cannot
prepare students for.
But, the new “Tuesday Talks”
series that began in March gives
students more information that
will help prepare them for real
life after school.
The events will be held
on the first and third Tuesdays
of each month at 6:30 p.m.
Students living on campus are
most encouraged to attend
the events, but all students are
welcome.
On April 3, Amber Dixon
will host “Prep for Success.” The
topics will be professionalism,
resume basics, internships and
volunteerism.
On April 17, Jason Morton
will host “Single Jingles.” The
topics will be testicular cancer,
but both males and females are
encouraged to attend.
On May 1, Jeremy Kelln will
host “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” The topics will include
debt, budgeting, saving, investing, credit, choosing a bank and
all the benefits of banking and
personal finance.
“Each talk is different, and
hopefully the students will get
information and resources to
use in and after college,” said
Urisonya Flunder, associate dean
of students. “These particular
topics hit on things that are very
relevant to students and are
things they should be thinking
about at this point in time.”
Every meeting will be held
at Nathan Tubb Hall, except for
“Single Jingles.” The location of
that talk is still to be decided.
“The talks were designed for
resident hall students, but any
SPC student or staff member is
welcome to attend the meeting
and gain the information and resources available,” Flunder said.
Students will also have a
chance to win gift cards and
prizes at the events.
“We usually have two drawings for a gift card, and one of
the talks will be sponsored by
Herring Bank, who donated $50
to be given away,” Flunder said.
“They’re just little things we give
out that students can use.”
For more information, contact Flunder at (806) 716-2381.
Donatelli’s message is all
about a desire to be somewhere,
or have something that he or she
did not currently possess.
“I’m trying to convey [a message], and I know that not everyone is going to get exactly what
I meant,” said Donatelli. “But I’m
hoping that they will get this
idea of looking for something,
and a little bit of that melancholy
when you don’t have it. I’m glad
that people take the time and
really look into it.”
Donatelli says that the idea
for the exhibit came to her from
her work in grad school, which
was about mental illness. The
figures’ coats even slightly resemble straight jackets.
The exhibit was on display
during the entire month of
March, and perhaps may show
up in another exhibit if she
doesn’t sell too many of the
figures.
Keep an eye out for Donatelli’s name if you visit Art Trails in
the future. Her art is definitely
something unique among all the
paintings and drawings.
Over-the-counter medications are just as important to
keep on the list as well.
There are hundreds of drugs
that consumers can purchase on
their own without needing a prescription.
But they
often are
u n aw a re
of the dangers these
d r u g s
pose when
t a k e n
with prescribed
medicine.
T h e
line isn’t
d raw n
there,
though.
Millions of
Americans have been turning to
alternative medicine as a means
to heal and ease afflictions.
Most anti-depressants interact severely with herbal pills,
teas and the plants. Foods play
an integral part in reactions to
consumers who take certain
medications as well.
For instance, those taking
the anti-coagulant, or “blood
thinner”, warfarin, better known
as Coumadin, are urged to not
eat leafy greens while taking this
medication because the greens
produce an effect thickening the
blood, which is the opposite of
what Coumadin is prescribed
for. For someone with a pace
maker, who relies on Coumadin,
this could very well be a lifethreatening drug reaction if the
blood is not kept thin enough.
Fortunately, blood tests are
done routinely while someone
is on this medication, making it
easier for a physician to monitor
the drugs effects.
Benzodiazepines are medications often prescribed for
anxiety management, social
situation phobias and alcohol
withdrawal symptoms. Such
medications may be known as
Klonopin, Xanax and Ativan. If
taken with fruit juices, the beneficial effects of these medications are not as strong as they
should be. While this may not be
thought of as a life or death situation, it still is a very important
issue to be aware of.
Reading the labels on prescription bottles, leaflets that
come with prescriptions and
even asking the pharmacist at
the drug store questions can
assist a consumer in being more
aware of how their medication
helps him or her, what it reacts
with and what side effects to
look for.
A common mistake many
patients make when prescribed
a new medication, is to Google
the drug and read up on it. Yes,
there is some very beneficial
information out there in cyberspace, but finding the correct
information is another matter.
Sites such as Wikipedia
should not be used as a reliable source of information,
due to the fact that anyone
can alter the site’s information
without censorship. There are
also thousands of chat rooms
and forums on medications with
other consumers posting their
experiences with a drug.
While there is nothing
wrong with sharing information with others who suffer from
the same illness and take the
same prescribed medication, it
is important to remember that
most forum posters are not
medical professionals or pharmacists. Many consumers post
about how they have stopped
taking a particular medication
due to a side effect it caused,
in turn placing ideas and questions into other people’s minds
about whether they should do
the same.
Rarely is it safe to stop taking a medication without first
consulting your physician. Stopping some medications, such as
drugs that bind to the neurons in
your brain to increase serotonin
and epinephrine re-uptake, can
actually cause serious complications, such as stroke, suicidal
ideation, major depression and
even death.
No one person ever asks to
be afflicted with an illness that
may require medication usage,
but he or she can be conscientious about the role they play
in his or her own health care
process.
(*Disclaimer: In no way is
the above information intended
to replace the advice of a medical professional or your primary
care physician. Always contact
your doctor before discontinuing or beginning a new medication.)
6
March 26, 2012
Opinion
Plainsman Press
Proposed budget cuts causing distress for military families
by LYNDA BRYANT WORK
news editor
The Obama administration
has called for budget cuts that
would involve military families
and retirees having to pay more
for their healthcare.
Most Americans recognize that these servicemen
are willing to give life and
limb to protect this country.
This idea that they should
pay for the privilege of serving their country is nothing
but a slap in the face to these
individuals.
Congress is more than
willing to give itself a pay
raise and enjoy the benefits
gained from those positions.
But the military rarely enjoys
such high-brow luxuries, as
anyone who has been in the
military can attest.
Our troops have two
families: the family they are
sworn into, and the family
they are born or married into.
Military families often live in
remote locations in housing
that is often 30 to 40 years
old and in need of repair. The
pay is enough to live on with
the benefits provided, though
lower-ranking personnel often struggle to make ends
meet.
As an ex-military wife with
three children who have all
served or are serving in the
military, I have a good fix on what
military life entails.
President Obama apparently
doesn’t appreciate the fact that
my daughter served three tours
of duty in Kuwait and Iraq, leaving her life in the states to live in
high-stress, less-than-desirable
circumstances. But she did what
she was told to do.
I remember talking to her on
Yahoo chat one morning, when
she suddenly announced that
she had to end our conversation because the military base
was under a mortar attack. This
was a regular occurrence. During
that period, several of her fellow
pilots were injured, including
Tammy Duckworth, a Blackhawk
Another pilot came close to having his arm blown off during an
attack on the base.
These individuals represent
the courageous fighting spirit
and bravery of the thousands in
the military who put their lives
on the line every day.
They are the ones who miss
out on birthdays, Christmas
with their children, and important moments in the lives of
their families. They do this for
America.
The federal government
doesn’t mind sending these
brave souls into war zones to
get shot at, wounded or killed.
But apparently they do mind
paying for the resulting casualties and wounded warriors who
have proudly altered their lives,
pilot whose helicopter was shot
down. Duckworth lost both legs.
the lives of their families, and
their futures.
you to judge what depression is
and what it isn’t?
In this day and age, there are
so many reasons for someone
to be depressed. For example,
depression can be caused by
a genetic factor. So how can
someone stop that? You can’t
pick your parents, and it’s not as
if your parents decided on their
own to be depressed.
So let’s say that you are
the first in your family to feel
depressed. It needs to be clear
that anyone who feels depressed
needs to know that it isn’t their
fault. No one asks to be depressed, despite reckless comments like the one above. It is
a mental illness that is just as
serious as any other illness. It
you can’t handle stress and tension as well as others, that can
lead to depression too. The environment factor also isn’t your
fault, because it’s already in your
head that you are doomed from
the start.
Wh a t c a n
you do? First,
you need to
realize your
symptoms before they lead to
drastic ways to
“heal” yourself,
such as drug
abuse or even
self-mutilation.
Once you realize them, go get
yourself help,
but professional help only.
Go to a doctor,
see a therapist
if necessar y.
Do whatever it
takes to stop
this as soon as
you can. Be cause, once depression hits, it
stays with you,
like a literal rain
cloud hanging
over your head,
as if it were
taunting you.
The last
time I checked,
there wasn’t a
single person
on this planet
asking to be depressed, but it
happens. Why
does it happen?
Because it’s a
REAL illness. I
can’t get that
point across any
clearer. People
don’t just commit suicide for
no reason. People don’t see
therapists for
Face the facts people – it is
both of the major parties who
allow this. One is as complicit
It is nothing short of insulting to make them shoulder
the brunt of an out-of-control
spending spree by corrupt government officials
who issue outrageous
defense contracts to their
cronies, not to mention
sending these contracts
to other countries to enrich their rich buddies
who have invested in
overseas companies. Yet
they are unwilling to bear
the responsibility of these
men and women.
The government is
not doing anything for
the American people except sending them down
the slippery slope toward
poverty and authoritarian control.
That alone
is enough to
question their integrity and sensibility. But to make the
soldiers and their
families the target
of their idiocy is
outrageous.
Shame on
them. Shame on
anyone who would
make it more difficult for these troops
and their families.
The politicians
are quick to bail out
bankers and companies without much
thought. CEOs are
paid huge bonuses
with bailout monies. The corruption
in government and
business is being
rewarded, while
Americans sit in
their living rooms
and tolerate it or
complain on Facebook –blaming
this party or that one.
as the other, with their porkspending, self-serving, lobbycatering political careers being
the priority.
I suggest that if the powers
that be want to cut the budget,
they start with themselves and
their own benefits. These selfrighteous boobs have really
crossed the line –or should I say
still yet another line – that should
never have been broached.
The battles that face all
Americans are dark clouds that
penetrate every household and
every individual in this country.
I can only hope that Americans get their heads out of the
sand as soon as possible and
speak up on an array of topics
before it is too late, just as those
participating in the Occupy Wall
Street Movement are doing. You
don’t have to like everything
these people have done. But
they at least have the guts to
challenge the system and the
corruption that is destroying
this country.
no reason. People don’t have
cuts or scars going up and down
their arms for no reason. It’s all
because of mental illnesses,
depression specifically.
Just because people joke
around or exaggerate about
hating their lives or wanting to
commit suicide because of petty
things, it doesn’t mean that the
actual depressed people out
there are joking too.
We have to shout from the
rooftops to stop the insanity that
is driving our country over the
cliff toward the
abyss.
We have
to stand by our
troops and the
wor k they do,
even if we don’t
agree with the decisions our government makes
to put them in
harm’s way. They
are the true patriots, and they
don’t deserve this
kind of treatment
or insult.
The president, the Senate
and House of
Representatives
all need to be
flooded with calls and letters.
It is time that all Americans let
them know – enough already.
Stop this insanity.
When the members of the
military are sworn in, they promise to protect the Constitution
of the United States of America…and they fulfill this duty
proudly. They earn every penny
and benefit that has been given
to them.
The Washington bureaucrats are sworn in in the same
manner – but they are failing in
their duty on every level.
Write a letter today, tomorrow, and the next. Make your
voice heard.
Stick up for the troops that
have paid the ultimate price,
and will continue to do so in
the future.
They deserve nothing less.
The time for the revival of
the spirit of our forefathers is at
hand. We must all be soldiers for
freedom and what is right – even
in our own country.
Stigma of depression leads to irresponsible remarks
by JAYME WHEELER
entertainment editor
Whenever you get sick,
the first instinct is to go to the
doctor.
If the problem is something
serious, what
does the doctor do? He or
she prescribes
you something
to help. And if
it’s something
that needs
more help
than that,
they mention
resources to
help you.
While this
applies to obvious illnesses,
such as a cold,
pneumonia,
or any other
physical illness, people
seem to keep
forgetting that there are mental
illnesses too.
I can’t stress this enough;
depression IS an illness.
Recently, I heard an acquaintance say one of the most ignorant things I have ever heard,
“Depression is a thought, and a
thought can be controlled.”
It’s thoughts such as these
that really irritate me, for several
reasons. But the main reason is
that I can’t stand it when people
say depression isn’t real. Who are
can lead to death, hospitalization, drug and alcohol abuse
and many other awful things. Oh,
what do you know? The consequences sound the same as “real”
illnesses. What a coincidence.
Another cause of depression is your environment. If you
are surrounded by negativity, or
grew up listening to negative
thoughts about you, then it is
common to doubt yourself. That
can easily lead to depression.
Also, if you’ve been abused, or if
As a great quote says, “Telling someone with depression to
cheer up is like telling someone
with cancer to cure themself.”
7
Opinion
Plainsman Press
March 26, 2012
Sleep cycle responsible for things that go ‘bump’ in night
by TAUSHA ROSEN
associate editor
I feel helpless. I feel scared.
I feel like these are the last moments of my life.
The door knob rattles relentlessly against the lock, and
I know the invisible hand of a
malicious force is moving it on
the other side. Someone, or
something, is trying to get into
my room. I look around to see
what I have for a weapon. My
decorative Samurai swords sit
atop a bookshelf full of DVDs in
my room. I grab one and clutch
it desperately to my chest.
That’s no good, I think to
myself. What’s a sword going to
do against an incorporeal being
that has been on the verge of
breaking into my room? A ghost
that haunts in the light.
As a second thought, I grab
a necklace - the charm of which
is a Star of David. It’s the only
religious item I still possess
as a reminder of my spiritual
journey.
I cry out in a prayer that
someone will hear me and come
to my aid. But I know my plea
falls on deaf ears.
I can hear the door cracking
now. The frail wood of an old
door in an old house won’t hold
for long.
The door bursts open. I
scream.
And then I wake up.
I’m sitting in my bed, and
the murmur of news people on
my television inform me that it’s
5:30 a.m. Thank goodness. It was
just a dream.
Dreams really can make or
break a person. Authors, artists,
and movie makers derive many
of their best ideas from their
experiences during their sleeping hours.
The brainwaves that occur in
the mind during sleep are very
similar to the waves that occur
in people who do hallucinogenic
drugs. It’s amazing what people
can do, say, and think in their
dreams. It definitely shows that
creativity stems from some of
the strangest things.
I’ve always been fascinated
with sleep and dreams, as I have
been the victim of many a nightmare during my life. I was even
that weird kid at summer camp
with no friends because I was a
sleep walker.
Ever since those years of
seemingly sleepless nights, I’ve
found that through my own
studies, scientists and doctors
actually don’t know a whole lot
about what goes on when a person goes to bed. They know that
brain waves have everything to
do with activity in the mind, and
all the regions of the brain determine what happens while you
sleep. It’s why many people have
sleep apnea, paralysis, or just really, really bad nightmares.
From what I understand,
beta waves occur in both waking
and sleeping hours. All day long,
when you are working, going
to school, eating, watching TV,
etc… beta waves are working
throughout your mind and allow you to perceive things the
way that most of the general
population does. If I see a red
apple, you see a red apple - that
kind of thing.
During Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, beta waves
flood the brain. It causes dreams
and allows your mind to extend
beyond what you see in everyday life. Have you ever had the
experience of dreaming about
going to the beach or some
other interesting location after
you see it on TV? That’s why.
It’s your subconscious making
a scenario based upon what
happened during those waking
beta-wave hours.
I find sleep to be an odd
thing. Of course, it’s the time
when the body heals itself,
rebuilds damaged tissue, and
recharges the batteries, so to
speak. But at the same time,
you might be dreaming about
racing through a jungle with Indiana Jones, or competing in the
Olympics, or even something
as mundane as going to work
and presenting an idea to your
boss…in your underwear. It’s an
oxymoron in and of itself.
A sleep cycle occurs about
every hour to an hour and a half,
and about 15 minutes of that
is REM sleep. So, after waking,
and it seems like all you’ve done
is dream - you feel exhausted
rather than rested - you’ve actually only been dreaming for a
quarter of an hour.
An interesting phenomenon that little to nothing is
known about is sleep paralysis.
This has happened to me only
once, and only occurs in about 3
percent of people in the world. It
is common in college students,
and people who are subject to a
lot of stress.
What happens is that the
body is in waking mode, but it
is experiencing remnants of REM
sleep. The body becomes completely paralyzed, and the vocal
chords are mostly disabled. It’s
an entire shutdown of the muscular system. The person might
feel as if pressure is on his or her
chest, and the sensation of being
held down is common.
Seemingly, it lasts for an
eternity, when maybe it was only
for 30 seconds. Even hallucina-
tions can occur. The visual of a
dark figure in the room is apparently common (which is what I
saw when it happened to me).
Many people mistake this
for an otherworldly experience
involving extraterrestrials or
ghosts.
But the good thing is that it
is all caused from an overactive
imagination, and probably a lot
of stress.
So, whether you sleep
through the night, or dream of
something extreme, just realize
that your mind wants to keep
you surprised. When you go to
bed, a lot of things can happen.
Becoming a master of your own
mind is something that people
have worked on for years.
I’m going to start writing
down my dreams. Perhaps one
day, my crazy mind just might
dig out a bestseller.
Pregnancy to keep relationship
strong fails to have lasting effect
by AMEE ODOM
staff writer
On a dinner date with your
best friends and the one topic
on your mind is how to keep
your man.
As the days go by, you
feel like you and your significant other are drifting further
apart than ever before. Your
girlfriends tell you their best advice on what they think
you should do in this
situation. Understanding that
your friends are
only from the
outside looking
in on the relationship you start
think for yourself
on what to do. I really
hope the last thing on your
mind ladies is getting pregnant to make him stay.
Why do some women
Man on the Street
think having a baby will keep
a man? It’s a popular tactic, but
often been proven to be unsuccessful for those who brave to try
it time and time again.
For instance, some women
believe that once the both of
them bring a baby into this
world he will be forced to love
them.
Little do we know, that when
the opposite sex thinks about
taking care of something other
than himself they freak!
When you get pregnant just
to get him to stay with you it
builds lies in a relationship that
later will be harmful to
the one you love.
Most people, even though
age says one thing, they are
not “mature” enough to raise
another human being. Even if
it feels like its right for your relationship raising a baby takes
a lot of financial need that most
people are unprepared for.
Having a baby in any relationship should always be
planned before hand and have
a way of support for this major
decision in two peoples lives.
Lets not be selfish and think
about other people rather than
yourself when bringing another
life into this world in a misfortunate way.
On the opposite, being tied
to a man by having his baby
forces you to watch the man
you love form new relationships with other women when
believing it should have been
you.
Good advice to consider
is to picture you in the
future as a single mother
with no support from the
father and ask if it was
really worth it.
I f yo u h ave e ve r
thought about doing this
or going to, keep in mind
the consequences that could
potentially happen if it ends up
not the way you had planned.
Better to let go and start a
new life, rather than bringing
life into a relationship that is
already dead!
compiled by Gabriela
Avila and Jayme Wheeler
What do you think about teen pregnancy and the shows that
influence it?
“Originally, it was a good
cause, because it showed
the stresses of it But now
it’s more glamorized than it
should be.”
Hope Carroll
Freshman
General Studies
Lubbock
“They are dumb, because they are talking about
teen girls getting pregnant.”
Jose Mendoza
Sophomore
Business
Friona
“It puts a bad stigma;
most of them are not married. I think it’s promoting a
bad lifestyle.”
Aaron Berginer
Sophomore
Business
Dallas
“In some ways it’s good,
because it shows the struggles and problems of what
they deal with. On the other
hand, I don’t like the fact that
it’s making them famous.
Diane Eagle
Assistant professor of
mathematics
“They do kind of portray
it accurately. But at the same
time, they don’t really get
every aspect of the whole
experience.”
Cruz Bernard
Freshman
Sports Broadcasting
Wolfforth
“It teaches young teen
girls and guys to be more
careful and pretty much
wait.”
Emmanuel Benson
Freshman
Civil Engineering
Long Beach, Calif.
Feature
8
March 26, 2012
Plainsman Press
Family ties made stronger by educational experience with grandmother
by GABRIELA AVILA
feature editor
Imagine walking on a college campus and suddenly seeing your grandmother. You wave
at her, and she waves back.
It’s a foreign concept to
most students. But for Miranda
Barrentine, Kendra Holland and
Norma Holland, it is part of their
daily routine.
Norma Holland, a Lubbock
native, got her GED in 1975. She
raised her family and pursued
careers. But one thing that had
never wavered was her hunger
to get back to school to further
her education.
"Learning is something that
no one can take away from you,"
said Norma Holland, a 70-yearold paralegal studies major at
South Plains College’s Reese
Center campus.
"I want to be a paralegal;
I’m going to be a paralegal,"
Norma Holland said. "The hardest course for me is not the law.
It’s the computer."
Her computer class seems
to be the hardest obstacle in
her way. Her two grandchildren
might not help her with it, but
she seems to be able to manage
it by taking tutoring classes.
And even though Norma
Holland describes herself as
"computer illiterate" with a smile
on her face, she is not deterred
by a silly ol' computer.
"My teacher bit off more
than he could chew when he got
me," Norma Holland says.
She credits Joseph Kline,
professor of paralegal studies,
with pushing her to continue
pursuing her education, even
when she thought that maybe
she was too "old" after her being challenged by the computer
class.
"I thought maybe I had
done wrong, on coming back
to school at my age," said Norma
Holland. "Professor Kline said, of having their grandmother have any classes together, Bar- children, 13 grandchildren and
“Norma, do not quit. The law is attending the same college on rentine and her sister do car nine great grandchildren. Kendnot your problem, and you have the same campus as "unusual." pool together on Tuesdays and ra Holland has one child, Codey,
a lot to offer. It’s the computer but Norma Holland called it an Thursdays. All three of the family and Barrentine has two children,
"inspiration."
that’s getting you."
members have classes all week. Kyler and Kayleigh.
"It’s kind of unusual, you Barretine and Norma Holland
One of Holland’s grandNot only has Norma Holdaughters, Barrentine graduated don’t see it very often," said Bar- have all of their classes at the land accomplished being a
from Shallowater High School rentine.
Reese Center campus, while homemaker, after high school,
in 2001. Barrentine and her
As for their grandmother, Kendra Holland has classes at she received her cosmetology
grandmother
enrolled at SPC
together in
2002. Barrentine was majoring in education, but after
a semester, she
realized that it
just wasn’t the
right field for
her.
Nor ma
Holland tried
to balance her
full-time job
with taking
care of her kids
when she was
at SPC in 2002.
But with such
a full plate, she
couldn’t do it.
She also had
to have a pacemaker implanted that year, so
her education
had to be put
on hold for a
moment.
K e n d r a Family members Norma Holland, Kendra Holland, and Miranda Barrentine attend SPC together.
Holland, the MIRANDA GONZALES / PLAINSMAN PRESS
other granddaughter and
sister of Barrentine, went
to Shallowater High School Norma Holland, she had nothing the Levelland and Reese Center license and began to use it on
but got her GED in 2010. She but excitement and adoration campuses.
people who were homebound.
enrolled in SPC three years ago, for her grandkids.
They still find time to have She never once worked in a
but this is her first time being
"I love it!” exclaimed Norma $1 lunch on Thursdays and salon.
on the same campus with her Holland. “They intrigue me. It’s maybe shoot each other a "hello"
She explained that she didn’t
grandmother.
so good to have them in educa- when they see each other on need to work at salon. She liked
Barrentine and Kendra Hol- tion.”
working with people who were
campus.
land describe the experience
Even though they don’t
Norma Holland has four homebound, adding that she
thought they also were entitled
to look and feel beautiful.
Norma Holland also took a
course on being a legal secretary. She remembered how she
used to do the cleaning around
the college and did the laundry
of the owner.
"I’ve always loved law," explained Norma Holland. "It’s
always been a desire of mine."
It seems that Norma Holland is a great inspiration for
her grandkids to continue their
education.
"I think my grandma is where
I got my passion for wanting to
be a labor and delivery nurse,"
said Barrentine.
Barrentine and Kendra Holland credit their grandmother for
showing them a strong female
role model. They see that no
matter your age, that it’s possible
to further your knowledge.
The sisters explained that
they find it much easier this time
around, as they are more mature
and wiser. They also are more
appreciative of the opportunity
that they have now.
While they each have their
own reason for pursuing an
education, one thing that they
all agree on is that they want to
be role models for their children
and grandchildren.
"That’s what I care about, for
him to look at his mom and see
that she went somewhere," said
Barrentine.
Kendra Holland is planning
on going on to earn a Bachelor
of Science degree in nursing.
Barretine hopes to become a
labor and delivery nurse.
As for Norma Holland, she
says that she plans on pursuing
a bachelor’s degree in paralegal
studies and represent people
who need assistance but cannot
afford it. She also wants to offer
legal aid for St. John’s Methodist
Church.
It’s very clear, however, that
Ramos does what he needs to
so that his students will be able
to get the information that they
need. He noticed the improvement by his students once he
incorporated slideshows with
his classroom lectures. He says
that he adjusts his lesson plans
and curriculum to meet his students’ needs, including posting
his Powerpoint slideshows on
Blackboard and emailing the
students when he needs to.
Recently, Ramos has also
started to share his desire to
educate with more than just SPC
students. He is broadening his
horizons to include the world,
if things turn out right. Ramos
and his colleague Carla Burrus
have started PEAK Global, with
PEAK being an acronym for
People Everywhere Accessing
Knowledge.
“We had a passion to help
others where there was a true
need,” says Ramos of how he and
Burrus started discussing the
idea for the project. “We started
talking about what we could do,
because we wanted to make a
difference. So we decided to
start libraries in countries that
didn’t have any.”
Ramos points out that residents in North America tend to
forget that some countries aren’t
as fortunate. Because of this,
Ramos and Burrus plan to take
PEAK Global all over the world,
beginning with Haiti in May.
While they are there, they
plan to do workshops for the
teachers, and Burrus’ daughter
will also be volunteering at an
orphanage. They will also be
looking for a place for the library,
along with looking for anything
else they need to help improve
education for teachers and students there.
“I want it to be something
from my heart and really make
a difference,” says Ramos.
They have already collected
11 boxes of books from the
Spanish Club at Lamesa High
School, along with donations
from SPC colleagues, and 1,100
books from Carla’s contacts as
well.
“Our long-term goal is to
provide libraries to other countries as well,” Ramos explains.
“We’re looking into Guatemala
next year.”
With Ramos’ desire and
dedication to his work, PEAK
Global will be a success.
If you would like to donate
to PEAK Global, please send
donations to P.O. Box 1565, Lubbock, Texas, 79408.
Ramos strives to take education beyond borders
by JAYME WHEELER
entertainment editor
went on to attend Lubbock
Christian and Texas Tech University. He originally started col-
lege in hopes of teaching both
English and History, but that
changed once he went to LCU.
Rob Ramos is much more
than an instructor
whose work
ends when he
leaves the office.
He has
spent his
teaching career being fully dedicated
to his job and
students, making the necessary changes
needed to
help his students excel.
“ I d o n’t
mind working after 5
p.m. when
I’ve been
here since
7:30 a.m.,” says
Ramos, who
teaches Spanish at Texas
Tech University for South
Plains College,
of the times
he adjusts his
schedule to
meet up with
students. “I
d o n’t m i n d
coming in
on Saturdays
when students need
my help; I’m
free.”
Ramos
was a student at South Rob Ramos teaches Spanish and English at Texas Tech University for South
Plains College Plains College
in 1994, and JAYME WHEELER / PLAINSMAN PRESS
“My advisor at LCU said,
‘Why don’t you go for Spanish
and English, that way you’ll
be more marketable,’” recalls
Ramos of what changed his
mind. “It worked; my first and
full-time position was teaching
Spanish.”
Ramos started working for
SPC in 2001 on the Levelland
campus, but later was reassigned to help teach Spanish for
SPC at the Tech campus.
“SPC and Tech are working together and needed two
Spanish professors to teach
on campus the courses that
Tech doesn’t offer,” says Ramos.
“There’s a great demand for
students who want to take
Spanish.”
Ramos also occasionally
brings his dedication to the
Upward Bound program at
the Tech campus. The Upward
Bound program is a collegeprep program that helps prepare high school students for
the changes that come with
college courses, which is especially helpful for first-generation
college students.
“I’m first-generation,” says
Ramos, “and I wish I had been
able to join the program. But
when I was a student, I didn’t
know anything about it.”
9
Feature
Plainsman Press
March 26, 2012
Occupy Wall Street volunteers provide firsthand account of protests
by LYNDA BRYANT WORK
news editor
The Occupy Wall Street
Movement is proving to be
a diverse group of dedicated
and organized activists who
are becoming a voice for the
underrepresented “99 percent”
of Americans.
As the OWS has stirred controversy throughout many of
the nation’s cities during the
fall, winter became a time of
analysis and planning for the
continued spring assault on
corruption in the United States,
as well as other areas of the
world, where the movement has
gained popularity.
The protest movement
began at Zuccotti Park,
located in the financial
district of New York City
, on Sept. 17, 2011. According to organizers, the
protests are against social
and economic inequality,
greed, corruption and
the undue influence of
corporations on government—particularly from
the financial services sector. Their slogan, “We are
the 99 percent” addresses
the growing income inequality and wealth distribution
in the United States, with the
wealthiest one percent controlling policy and financial institutions. The movement, which
originated in Canada, has spread
across the world.
According to OWS organizers, there is no one single leader
of the movement. The various
entities rely on volunteer activists to attend to organizational,
media, and legal aspects in cities
where the rallies are held.
Mark Bray, a graduate student from Riverdale, N.J., serves
as a volunteer media spokesman
for the organization. Bray has
been active in various protests
for more than 10 years, and politically speaking, he says that
he considers himself to be an
independent. He says that he
got the job by showing up and
asking if they needed people to
talk to the press.
“It’s easily the largest, most
dynamic American social movement in decades,” Bray said
recently in an interview with
the Plainsman Press. “There are
Occupy groups in hundreds of
cities around the country and
the world. Even beyond that,
the language and motifs of the
movement (such as “We are the
99 percent” and questions of inequality) have roots deep within
our national political discourse.”
Bray pointed
out that in a matter of months, “we
have gone from
being a small
group of demonstrators in a park
to the largest social movement
in decades.” He
said that he considers the rallies
and protests to
be very effective,
and added that
the organizers are
interested in hearing what people who are just getting involved
would like to see happen.
“Although the magazine
“Adbusters” put out the call for
people to occupy the Wall Street
area and bring tents, nothing
would have happened if a small
group of organizers hadn’t gotten together over the summer
in NYC to do the work,” said
Bray. “So it was that small core of
organizers that was responsible
for starting the movement. At
this point, however, most of
the most active participants
are people who got involved
subsequently.”
The idea is not to try to
impose a pre-packaged political
formula on people like political
parties try to do, explained Bray,
but rather to make Occupy an
open space for people to make
it what they will, with the main
focus on forming local connections and making the movement
a forum for all sorts of resistance
to oppression.
“There is always room for
improvement,” said Bray. “So
this winter, we have been working more at the local level to
consolidate the gains we have
made in terms of tangible outcomes regarding issues such as
police racial profiling, foreclosures, public school closures,
etc… I think, ultimately, the
movement will succeed or fail
based on its ability to translate
this political momentum into
local grassroots organizing that
empowers communities to take
up the Occupy ethos for their
own purposes.”
Bray explains that the
key to political power is getting financial institutions and
corporations “on your side,”
pointing out that when it
comes time for politicians to
regulate them, they are rarely
objective. He said that this results in the problems that led
to such crises as the financial
collapse of 2008.
“People know that they
work too hard on a regular basis to see their property vanish
because of the speculation of
someone sitting at a desk on
Wall Street,” said Bray, “speculators who won’t even face any repercussions from their actions.”
Bray explained that although there are a lot of issues
that people have incorporated
into the various branches of the
movement, the main goals have
always been economic justice
and participatory democracy.
“By economic justice, we
mean that we want to live in a
world that prioritizes the needs
of the 99 percent, such as basic
things like housing, healthcare,
education, jobs, over those of
the one percent which have a
vastly disproportionate influence on the direction of the
global economy and political sit-
uation,” said Bray. “ By participatory democracy, we mean that
we want to promote a culture
of civic participation that brings
people out into the streets when
they are upset with a political
decision, rather than being resigned to casting a ballot once
every four years. Given the fact
that to reach high political office
a candidate must obtain millions
of dollars in corporate campaign
contributions, we can’t assume
that our politicians, of either
party, are going to act in our
interests. Instead, we need to
actively participate in the making of our democracy.”
Bray said that the Citizens
United v. The Federal Election
Commission case is another
“egregious example” of the vast
power the big money has in
determining the direction of
our country.
“People may think that they
make their political decisions
in a vacuum where they aren’t
influenced too much by campaign ads,” Bray explained, “but
the statistics about the average
financial backing of victorious
candidates shows otherwise.”
Bray said that the he was
skeptical that those guilty of corrupt practices would be brought
to justice in any great number
until “we overhaul the organization of our society.”
“As long as those in positions of power have a vested
interest in the continuation of
our vast class stratification, then
we will continue to see more
peaceful Occupy
demonstrators
getting arrested
in public parks,”
points out Bray,
“rather than Wall
Street criminals
getting arrested
for destroying thousands
of lives.”
Bray is adamant about
his assertion that the only
way that the problems can
be solved is if people start
to organize in their communities and start to assert
their collective power.
“We need to show the
one percent and ourselves that
they control the country and
the world because we let them,”
said Bray. “But if we all decided
that things had to change, they
would. The only way to fight
against those with lots of money
is to bring out lots of people.”
Bray said that he believes
the movement is critical at this
juncture in time, and he says he
hopes that more citizens will
become active in influencing
change in the government and
how corporations are creating
the steady decline in lives of
citizens.
“It is important!” said Bray.
“Certainly, if we really want to
fundamentally change the fact
that our society currently prioritizes the interests of a small
few at the top over those of
the vast majority, then we
need to get as many people
on board as possible.”
Bray said that he foresees continued resistance
to the OWS movement by
cities where demonstrations
are scheduled to be held. But
concerned participants remain undaunted by attempts
to quell their efforts.
“Although it depends
on the region, in many cities, the local administrations
have been hostile to Occupy encampments,” Bray pointed out.
“Nevertheless, our organizing
continues, especially as we look
forward to May 1, which will be
an enormous national and international day of action. There
is a steady trickle of people who
are getting actively involved.
I think our public momentum
will pick back up again in the
spring when things are nicer and
more people want to spend an
afternoon outside at a rally or
demonstration.”
Bray said that there is a wide
variety of people involved in the
OWS movement, with people
from all walks of life, along with
educational, medical, and other
professional associations lending their support to the marches
and rallies.
“There are many students
and unemployed/underemployed young people,” said Bray.
“We also have returning veterans, teachers, lawyers, union organizers, former Wall Street and
financial workers, and retired
people, among many others.”
Since the demonstrations
began in New York’s Zuccotti
Park, several demographic surveys have been done which
contain the findings about the
makeup of the movement and
its supporters.
The first survey done on Oct.
5, 2011, the results of which appear in an academic paper written by Hector Codero-Guzman,
sociology professor at the City
University of New York, identified 70 percent of those participants as politically independent,
with ages varying (64.2 percent
were younger than 34, but one
in three was over 35, and one in
five was 45 or older). Of those
surveyed, 15.4 percent reported earning an annual household income
between
$50,000 and
$74,000,
while 13
percent
reported
earning over
$75,000,
and 2 percent said
they made more than $150,000
annually. Of those sampled, 91
percent reported that they had
either attended college, earned
a college degree, or a graduate
degree.
Guzman followed up with
another survey, to determine if
the dynamics and participants
were changing in the movement
and found that 32 percent of survey respondents are 45 or older,
up from 12.6 percent in round
one. There were also more female respondents in round two
than there were in round one.
The comparison of both rounds
indicates that the support base
is growing, with different groups
of individuals joining in OWS.
Participation in OWS protests
doubled between round one
and two, highlighting an active
and evolving support base.
In another demographic
survey of the movement done
on Oct. 10 and Oct. 11 in 2011,
an in-person questionnaire of
protesters in Zuccotti Square
was conducted by Fox News
analyst Douglas Schoen’s polling outfit.
Schoen’s survey found that
48 percent of the protest participants reported that it was their
“first time getting involved in a
protest/rally/march,” compared
to 52 percent who said they had
a “history of past participation.”
It also indicated that 49 percent
of protesters are under 30, more
than 28 percent are 40 or older,
and that the largest group of
respondents do not identify
with any political party, though
many indicated a tendency toward Tea Party-style populism.
The largest cohesive group of
those surveyed said that “both
parties” were to blame for the
failure to address problems in
the country.
Of those surveyed by the
Center for Electoral Politics and
Democracy at Fordham Univer-
Mark Bray, media spokesman
for OWS.
sity in New York, 68 percent of
the respondents were Caucasian, 10 percent were Black, 10
percent were Hispanic, and 7
percent were Asian. There was a
73-percent overall disapproval
of the way President Barack
Obama is handling his job, and a
97-percent disapproval rating of
Congress, with 42 percent saying
that they can never trust the federal government, and 52 percent
indicating that Washington can
only be
trusted
some of
the time.
OWS
has not
b e e n
without
l e g a l
teams,
with numerous
arrests
and conflicts with
local government and police officials being reported at multiple
marches and rallies.
The OWS Activist Legal
Working Group (OWSALWG) was
organized, according to Nathan
Tempey, communications coordinator for the National Lawyers
Guild, to “help keep people out
of jail, support those who do get
arrested, and ensure that arrestees have the best legal support
possible.”The group collaborates
with NLG lawyers who are willing to respect the politics and
autonomy of the activists.
“There are lawsuits underway on behalf of those who
have been wrongfully arrested
or attacked by the police,” said
Bray. “We are optimistic about
their outcome, given the blatant
illegality that the police have
often demonstrated.”
According to Tempey, they
hold and coordinate “know
your rights” and solidarity training for the OWSALWG, and are
organized into subgroups that
contend with various elements
of the legal system, including jail
support, anti-repression, training, and activist-lawyer liason.
What they do not do is make
legal decisions on behalf of OWS
without consensus from the
General Assembly or represent
OWS or individual occupiers, nor
do they give legal advice.
The National Lawyers Guild,
an organization known for conducting mass defense, has been
defending the rights of the OWS
demonstrations and occupiers
by providing legal observers
and other legal support where
needed. Its web site (http:/www.
nlg.org/news/occupy/) provides
play-by-play accounts of court
appearances or legal filings
for rally permits or restraining
orders needed for the organizers to proceed or protect OWS
participants. Also, phone numbers are provided for the NLG in
order to contact lawyers across
the country.
“Now in its 75th year, the
National Lawyers Guild is the
nation’s oldest and largest public
interest/human rights bar association,“ said Tempey. “From day
one of Occupy Wall Street, Guild
members have provided pro
bono legal support to the movement. This includes bringing
affirmative constitutional rights
challenges in civil court, providing legal observers to document
police misconduct, coordinating
criminal defense representation,
and often staffing hotlines to
provide around-the-clock legal
advice.”
Tempey said the NLG “legal observer” program is an
important part of a comprehensive system of legal support
designed to enable people to
express their political views
without unconstitutional disruption or interference by the police
and with the fewest possible
consequences from the criminal
justice systems. He adds that
legal observers are typically,
but not exclusively law students,
legal workers and lawyers who
are trained by Guild attorneys.
Karen Smith, a retired New York
Supreme Court judge, acted as a
legal observer at the night raid
on Occupy Wall Street, witnessing and reporting abuses by
police officials in interviews and
on national news.
Legal observers at the OWS
can be seen wearing bright
green hats and vests, along with
T-shirts identifying themselves
as such, so as not be mistaken
as protestors by law enforcement and not be drawn up into
a conflict.
“Whatever happens, there’s
a neutral witness,” explained
N.L.G. volunteer Moira MeltzerCohen, a law student at City
University of New York School
of Law. “We document it, but we
don’t get involved.”
Regarding the media, Bray
says that OWS has gotten a lot
of coverage, both positive and
negative, nationally and internationally.
“But often, the media reports on our events as if they
were traffic reports, giving details on the number of people
and where the march went
without talking at all about the
message and the reason why
so many people came out,” said
Bray. “Therefore, some people
watching will just think that
we are bored or want to cause
problems, whereas, in fact, these
large demonstrations of tens
of thousands of people reflect
genuine popular concerns about
the direction of our country.”
With the focus on rallies
and demonstrations set for
the spring, Bray says that the
OWS will continue its post-political movement that represents
something far greater than failed
politics.
“We are a movement of
people empowerment,” said
Bray, “a collective realization that
we ourselves have the power
to create change from the bottom-up.”
10
Feature
Plainsman Press
March 26, 2012
Crime thriller author Lescroart discusses rise to fame
by MISTY BROWNE
staff writer
If the names Dismas Hardy,
Abe Glitsky, Auguste Lupa, Gina
Roake or Wyatt Hunt sound
familiar, then you are a fan of
crime thriller novels.
More specifically you’re a
fan of John Lescroart. His books
have sold more than 10 million
copies and frequent the New
York Times best-seller list.
Lescroart was born in Houston, Texas, but moved West with
his family to San Mateo, Calif.,
shortly before high school. He
went on to earn a Bachelor of
Arts Degree at the University of
California at Berkeley in 1970.
Fame and acclamation were
not always a part of Lescroart’s
early writing life, though.
He attributes his first “wow”
moment in writing to his eighthgrade English teacher, Mrs.
Belew.
“She felt I had a real voice
and a real knack for writing, and
submitted several of my essays
to the local newspaper, who
in turn printed them,” explains
Lescroart. “That was cool to me,
because it wasn’t happening to
anyone else in my class.”
“I was a real literary brat,” he
added. “I loved reading Hemingway and all the literary greats.”
During his senior year at
Junipero Serra High School, a
Catholic college preparatory
school, Lescroart recalls another
mentor who helped him realize
that writing was what he really
wanted to do.
“Father Stadler was my literature teacher my senior year,”
Lescroart told the Plainsman
Press during a recent interview.
“He said anyone could get an
“A” on any paper in the class,
as long as they kept turning it
in until they got an “A“. My first
paper received a “C”. I turned
that paper in 11 times until I got
that “A”. That’s when I learned
the importance of re-reading,
editing and re-writing again and
again, until it was right.”
By the end of the year, he
had won the award for the best
English student in the school.
“It was really a
big deal, and it was
at that point that I
knew words were
going to be a part
of my life from then
on out,” explains
Lescroart. “I knew I
wanted to write and
somehow make that
work.”
Lescroart said
he didn’t want to
be a genre author
in the beginning.
He wanted to be a
literary writer. At the
age of 23, Lescroart
wrote a novel, titled
“Son of Holmes.”
“I really didn’t
do anything with it
for 14 years. It sat in
my desk and in the
meanwhile, I wrote
another book that
actually won a literary prize
called “Sunburn.” I went on to
write a couple of other stories
that were mainstream literary
and not mysteries at all, but I
couldn’t get them published.”
It was at this point that
Lescroart says he was very frus-
trated with his day job. He went
to his wife and told her that
he was quitting and wanted
to write full time. At the time,
he was a technical writer for a
consulting firm in Washington,
D.C., analyzing railroad data.
He gave himself one year, and
even though that meant a year
without any contribution to
the household monetarily, his
wife was very supportive of his
decision and suggested that he
jump start his new career path by
sending in the manuscript, “Son
of Holmes.”
“I’m not a mystery writer, I
explained to my wife, Lisa, I’m a
literary writer,” he explains.
She really liked it, though,
and finally convinced him to
send it in. To Lescroart’s amazement, six weeks later he received
two offers on the manuscript.
“After 14 years of that story
sitting in a drawer, the publisher
immediately asked me to write
a sequel, Lescroart says. “That’s
when I wrote “Rasputin’s Revenge.”
Even though he had finally
had his writing recognized and
published, Lescroart was still
convinced that mystery was not
his genre of writing. He went on
to write a stand-alone literary
work titled, “Dead Irish.” Once in
the hands of his publisher, it was
clear that mystery would eventually become what Lescroart
would end up writing.
“My publisher told me if I
would just change around a few
chapters, I’d have a crime thriller
on my hands,” says Lescroart.
“Dead Irish” became his first
Dismus Hardy story, which was
nominated for best mystery of
the year for a Shameless Award.
“Suddenly, here I was at the
age of 40, a mystery writer,” says
Lescroart.
Because he didn’t have an
agent until four books into his
career, it took Lescroart more
than five years to begin making
a substantial income with his
writing.
“Everything I did, I did it
wrong and I did it the hard
way,” explains Lescroart. “I had
a couple of lawyers that served
as my agents for the next few
books, and then I had a movie
agent who handled the next
one. The whole thing was really
tedious.”
Unlike some authors, Lescroart does not have an editor who
re-writes any part of his books, or
gives him ideas on the stories.
He adamantly explains, “In
the case of the book “A Certain
Justice,” my publisher edited it
very heavily, and I didn’t like his
edits. I threatened to sue him if
he didn’t publish the book exactly how I had written it.”
“A Certain Justice” went on
to win a star review in Publishers Weekly, Kurkus and Booklist.
Since then, he has been writing
a book a year. Each book has
made the New York Times bestseller list.
There are four series that
Lescroart currently has in print.
In addition to the series featuring Dismus Hardy and Abe
Glitsky, his heroine Gina Roake
has a book dedicated all to herself. Auguste Lupa has two, and
the character Wyatt Hutt stars in
three of his own.
“I plan on writing books
until they put me in the grave,”
says Lescroart. “So there will be
more.”
Lescroart says that he writes
every day, and puts in a full
seven hours or more.
“If you write one page a
day, which any writer can do,
you’ll have a book a year,” says
Lescroart.
When asked what advice he
has for writers who have a manuscript written but have not done
anything with it, he says, “Send
them out! Also keep writing
new books while you’re waiting
to hear back on the others. This
helps to figure
out what is working and what is
not in your writing. Always have
a book or two in
the works.”
For those
who have not yet
started a manuscript but badly
want to write
one, his advice
is, “Finish something. Get it out
there. Don’t be
afraid to put your
work out there
and have it read.”
Lescroart
currently lives in
San Mateo, Calif., with his wife.
They share two
children, a son
and a daughter,
who are both in
law school.
“My daughter is very prolific
and writes poetry
and songs, while
my son is interested in politics,”
says Lescroart.
Fo r m o re
information on
Lescroar t, you
can visit his website at www.johnlescroart.com.
by MIREYNA REYES
staff writer
and Special Services. “The rest
is history,” Cox says.
Cox says that he would like
the community to be aware of
the benefits that the SPC Reese
Center campus has to offer.
“Students can attend the
Reese Campus and complete
John Lescroart
Retiring associate dean reflects on exciting career
From being a military soldier, to traveling alongside the
president of the United States
to finally becoming an associate
dean at South Plains College, Lee
Cox has never had an ordinary
profession.
After a 14-year-long career
at SPC’s Reese Center campus,
Cox will retire on July 1.
Cox says that he first chose
to pursue a career at SPC due
to experience he had with the
college.
“Prior to coming to SPC,
I worked with a non-profit
organization that provided
funding for people to attend
school to acquire the skills
necessary to find employment
in the Lubbock area,” says Cox.
“One of the schools was South
Plains College, and I worked
closely with the technical programs located at the Lubbock
Campus.”
“As a result, I learned a
lot about the school and the
people who worked there,” he
added, “I thought it would be a
great place to work and a great
opportunity to improve the
lives of SPC students.”
Cox did not begin immediately at SPC as the associate
dean. He first served as a placement counselor in July 1994 at
the Lubbock Campus.
In July 1998, he was hired
to fill the position of the Associate Dean of Student Services
at the Lubbock Campus. At
that time, Cox was responsible
for the operations of Admissions and Records, Financial
Aid, the Counseling Center,
Testing and Learning Center,
“It has taught me to accept
people for who they are and for
what they bring to this special
place,” says Cox.
Cox says that he would like
to leave a lasting impact on
those he has met through SPC.
“I would hope that I have
his family moved around several times when he was younger.
While Cox was originally born
in Northeastern Oklahoma, his
family finally settled in New
Mexico. He would go on to receive his high school diploma in
Dexter, N.M.
While serving in the military, Cox attended classes
provided by Howard Payne
College at Goodfellow Air
Force Base in San Angelo,
Texas. He received college
credits from the University
of Maryland and Syracuse
University associated with
Russian language training.
He also earned a Bachelor
of Science Degree in Accounting and Management
at Arizona State University
in Tempe, Arizona in 1969.
While stationed on Crete,
he received a Master of Arts
Degree in Executive Development in Public Service
from Ball State University
in Muncie, Indiana.
Cox previously worked
at a non-profit organization in Lubbock for approximately three years.
Prior to that, he served
in the United States Air
Force for 32 ½ years and
was stationed overseas.
During his time in the Air
Force, Cox spent 12 ½ years
as a Russian linguist and
the remaining 20 years in
various areas of financial
management.
“My final assignment
was in Washington, D.C.,
After working 14 years as South Plains College as the Reese Center’s Associate
as the chief of the resource
Dean of Student Services, Lee Cox plans to retire this summer
management division for
BRANDON ALVARADO/PLAINSMAN PRESS
the White House Communications Agency, the
most of their general studies made a positive difference, not unit responsible for providing
requirements to transfer to a only in the lives of the students communications support to the
four-year university,” says Cox. I have encountered, but also in president wherever he was 24/7,”
“We have some of the greatest the lives of my co-workers – the says Cox.
faculty who take seriously their people who make it all happen
Cox met his wife, Ginny,
mission to teach students in at SPC,” says Cox.
during his time at Syracuse UniAlthough he is not certain a versity in 1963. They will have
their classes.”
SPC commencements have new associate dean will be hired, been married 47 years on April
been the best experience, thus Cox has advice for someone who 24, 2012. They have two chilfar, for Cox as associate dean may potentially fill his shoes.
dren, Stephen, who is 45 years
“The best thing I can offer is old, and Diane, who is 44 years
because he can see students
who he has had personal contact to let the people who work for old. Outside of work, Cox enjoys
with walk across the stage and you do their jobs and be there playing golf and traveling.
to help them when they need
receive their diplomas.
“My wife and I hope to travel
SPC has also made Cox more it,” Cox says. “Keep an open mind, more, spoil our grandkids, and
appreciative of the diversity and try to be flexible.”
work on my golf game,” says Cox
A military brat, Cox says that about life after retirement.
among the college community.
11
Feature
Plainsman Press
March 26, 2012
Levelland teen battles consequences after terminated pregnancy
according to Vanessa. She didn’t
realize, though, that her mom
had already made the decision
for her to get an abortion.
Once it was scheduled, Vanessa had to wait three weeks until she could have the procedure.
“Those were the longest three
weeks of my life,” she recalls,
by JAYME WHEELER
“because once I knew there
entertainment editor
was a baby there, I instantly got
(Editor’s note: This stoattached. I had no emotional
ry is the second part of a
support, because Alex wasn’t
multi-part series examining
talking to me, and my mom
teen pregnancy, “Teens
was still mad. I had no one. I felt
With Tots,” that begins in
alone, I felt scared, and I was
this issue and will continue
losing something that was a
through Issue #12. Several
part of me.”
staff members took it upon
Then the day came. While
themselves to inteview, take
this was an event that changed
photographs and conduct
Vanessa’s life forever, she says
research. The results of
that it’s all a big blur now.
their combined efforts fol“I don’t remember much
low.)
of it,” she says. “Just seeing that
everyone else waiting was older
Whenever a young girl disthan me, at least by 10 years
covers that she is pregnant,
or so, and that they (nurses)
there are choices that need to
asked me if I wanted to know
be made immediately.
the sex of the baby, and told me
The choices include what
how far along
path the motherI was. They
to-be will take. Of
discussed the
course, she can
risks, both
keep the baby
emotional
and attempt to
and physical,
finish school, put
and told me
the baby up for
that once I enadoption and try
ter that room,
to move on, or,
I can’t change
the more frowned
my mind.”
upon choice, she
S o m e
can have an aborof
the
bigtion.
ger
risks
inAs part of an
clude
death
in-depth look at
and infertilteen pregnanc y
ity, but these
by the Plainsman
that Vanessa
Press, a teenage girl
understood
came forward to
best were the
discuss her experiemotional
ence, and the rearisks.
sons she chose to
“I k new
have an abortion.
it
was
going
Vanessa,
t
o
d
e
stroy
whose name has
me
emotionbeen changed to
ally, and in
protect her anoturn, destroy
nymity, had just
me mentally,”
turned 15 when
says Vanessa.
she woke up one
“I kept telling
morning to her
myself that
mom asking her to
I’ll be better
take a pregnancy
off without
test because she
a baby. But
knew her daughter
deep down, I
was late. The Level- Photo illustration by JAYME WHEELER/PLAINSMAN
knew I would
land resident says PRESS
never be the
that once her mom
same, and
left the house to
always hate
purchase the test,
often.
I
wasn’t
expecting
him
to
myself
for
letting
it
happen.”
she began frantically searching
After
the
20-minute
procebe
happy
or
excited,
but
I
also
for a way to run away.
dure,
the
nurses
took
Vanessa
wasn’t
expecting
that.
”
“I waited until I heard the
She didn’t lie about who to a recovery room, where her
garage door close, and started
the
father
was, and this led to a bathroom usage had to be monicalling my friends that could
rift
between
her and Alex, who tored for some time. She also
drive,” she recalls. “I wasn’t even
she
also
mentions
was abusive was offered food and counseling
sure that I was pregnant. I just
during
the
majority
of their rela- if she needed it. But Vanessa says
knew that I needed to leave
tionship,
which
made
the preg- that she felt herself breaking
there before she came back.”
nancy
that
much
more
difficult, apart minute-by-minute in the
However, she was still at
home when her mother came
back, and the test was positive.
Of course, the initial reaction
from her mom as most would
expect: angry and disappointed.
But, according to Vanessa, it
wasn’t too long after that her
mom started asking questions
and demanding answers. One
of her questions was about the
identity of the father, Alex, who
was Vanessa’s boyfriend at the
time and who was also 15.
“I knew it was his,” says Vanessa. “We were each other’s
firsts.”
Unfortunately, Alex very
quickly changed his tune about
their relationship when he
learned of the pregnancy, and
changed from what she describes as her Prince Charming
to an everyday toad.
“He asked me to lie about
him being the dad,” Vanessa explains. “He knew that if his family found out, they would send
him away to a discipline school,
since he was getting in trouble
room, and started having panic
attacks.
“I felt disgusted with myself,” she recalls. “I wanted to run
to the bathroom and get sick,
because I thought that would
make me feel better, like maybe
my stomach hurt because we
weren’t allowed to eat before the
procedure. But the nurses would
knock at any sound, which made
me feel like my privacy was being invaded.”
Being with the other girls
didn’t help her feel any better,
as she recalls, because of the
way that the other girls in the
room acted.
“I’ll always remember one
girl who was laughing at text
messages, then called her friends
and asked what club they were
going to that night,” says Vanessa, her eyes filling with tears.
“I couldn’t understand why she
felt so calm about it all. I didn’t
think it was fair that she was so
calm and happy, but I was falling apart.”
During the next few weeks,
her boyfriend told her to quit
talking about it to him, because
he didn’t care. Vanessa tried to
be happy, but she realized that
she was faking it instead.
“I really wanted to pretend
that I was OK,” she says, “because
it didn’t matter to anyone that I
was hurt but me. It felt like I was
throwing myself one big pity
party.”
But now Vanessa looks back
and realizes that it was the best
choice for her, because she gets
to have what she describes as a
second chance. After continuing the tumultuous relationship
with Alex, he broke up with her,
and the two don’t have any contact anymore.
“If I would’ve had the baby,
I would’ve been stuck with him,”
says Vanessa, “and because I
know how angry and disturbed
he was toward me, it wouldn’t
have been the right environment for a baby.”
Vanessa says that she did
eventually have to see a therapist for her depression and
suicidal thoughts, and was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder, a mental disorder that
is caused by traumatic situations
and not being able to cope, most
commonly seen in people who
served in a war, according to the
National Center For Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
“It was hard at first, because
I would have nightmares and
flashbacks and wake up crying,”
Vanessa says of the two years
since then. “I would also distance
myself from family and friends at
random times, because I wanted
to be alone, which wasn’t healthy
either.”
To help her cope with the
disorder, she was prescribed an
antidepressant, and she says
that she’s feeling better. She
realizes that while she still has a
very long way to go until she can
feel fully secure in her choice,
she also has more support now
than what she believed she had
in the past.
“My family and I are closer
than before, and it’s not really
something we talk about often,”
Vanessa says. “But when we do,
I at least feel like I’m in a safe
environment to discuss my
feelings.”
For now, Vanessa is spending her time moving forward,
and getting her life and mental
health back on the right track.
Thrifty techniques taught by ‘Savvy Shopper’
by KAITLYN MCINTIRE
staff writer
In this day and age, people
are finding it harder and harder
to make ends meet.
Taxes are being increased
and wages are being decreased,
while the cost of living is skyrocketing.
Our culture is becoming
desperate for money-saving tips
and techniques. This epidemic
is being made very apparent
by the amount of crazy coupon
shows on television and get-rich
quick books flooding the shelves
of every book store.
It seems that The Lubbock
Avalanche-Journal has heard
the cries of desperation, and has
created a solution in the form
of savvy shoppers.” The Savvy
Shopper” is a section of the
Avalanche-Journal dedicated
to helping readers save major
money on everyday living and
trips to the store,” explains Sean
received a very high volume of
positive feedback from readers.
“From my understanding,”
says Fields, “the A-J saw an opportunity to enhance content
and increase leadership.”
And that is exactly what
Savvy Shoppers has done. What
started out as a feature that ran
every week on Wednesdays
and Sundays has turned into
a money-saving course and a
community.
“Absolutely anyone” is allowed to attend, Fields says.
Classes are not targeted toward anyone specific. College
students, single moms, single
dads, couples, moms sisters,
brothers and dads are all more
than welcome to go and see just
how rewarding saving money
can be.
All courses are announced
in the Avalanche-Journal, as well
as on the Savvy Shoppers Facebook page. In order to receive
Fields, Savvy Shopper writer for
the Avalanche-Journal.
One of the sister papers of
the Avalanche-Journal in Savannah, Georgia, began to publish
a Savvy Shopper column and
all of the savvy shopper tips
and class dates, go to Facebook.
com, then type Lubbock Savvy
Shoppers into the search box
and click the “like” button on
the top right corner of the page.
Once you find a class date you
can attend, all you have to do is
register online.
There are many scams out
there that try to make consumers spend money in order to save
money. This kind of defeats the
whole purpose. That is why all
of the Savvy Shopper classes
are free.
“When you get down to it,
saving money should interest
anyone,” says Fields.
Classes over topics such
as Savvy 101, the introductory
Savvy Shopper course, Drugstores, Grocery Stores, and Department Stores are held on a
monthly basis and are taught by
both of the Avalanche-Journal’s
Savvy Shoppers, Rachel Hardy
and Fields.
So far, all of the Savvy Shopper classes have been held at the
Garden and Arts Center at 47th
Street and University Avenue in
Lubbock. But the location could
change in the future.
Hardy and Fields encourage
readers, as well as fellow Savvy
Shoppers, to give feedback,
share success stories, and even
post deals that the shoppers
have found around town.
“If you read Savvy Shopper,
thanks for your support,” Fields
says. “If you do not, I feel bad for
you! You are missing some big
opportunities to improve your
economic lot. Of course, this
can be easily fixed by reading
the Lubbock A-J (online or hard
copy).”
The next Savvy Shopper
course will be held sometime
in late April, so keep an eye out
for the next one in the A-J or on
Facebook.
12
March 26, 2012
Entertainment
Plainsman Press
Dark side of big business brought to light in ‘Unequal Protection’
by LYNDA BRYANT WORK
news editor
Corporations can’t go to
jail - even when they commit
felonies.
Thom Hartmann, who is the
nation’s number one progressive radio talk show host, and
the New York Times bestselling,
four-time Project Censored winning author of 22 books in print
in 17 languages on five continents, has released his newest
book, “Unequal
Protection:
How Corporations Became
“People” and
How You Can
Fight Back.” In
it, he discusses the history
and evolution
of how these
business entities attained
the status of
“artificial persons,” and the
significance
this is having
on America
and democracy.
Few Americans know
that on Sept.
2, 2009, the
transnational
pharmaceutical giant Pfizer
pled guilty to
multiple criminal felonies that
involved marketing drugs in
a manner that
may well have
led physicians to prescribe pharmaceuticals in ways that were
not intended and may have led
to the deaths of many people.
Because Pfizer is a corporation, it was not sent to jail like an
individual who committed fraud
or murder would have been. Instead, the company paid a $1.2
billion criminal fine to the United States government, along
with $1 billion in civil penalties.
None of its executives, decisionmakers, stockholders, owners,
or employees saw the inside of
a police station or jail cell.
Corporations don’t go to
jail when they commit a crime
– even when they knowingly
contribute to the deaths of
people.
Hartman writes that during the past century, with the
incidences increasing during the
past 40 years, corporations have
asserted that they are a “person”
and thus eligible for the human
rights protections of the Bill of
Rights.
Hartman points out that
other cases prior to the Pfizer
case, such as the 2003 case that
went before the United States
Supreme Court in which Nike
claimed it has First Amendment
rights to lie in its corporate marketing, calling it free speech.
He states that corporations
have distorted virtually every
amendment that could be used
to further their interests.
The book has information
on cases such as involving a
chemical company was heard
by the U.S. Supreme Court, asserting its Fourth Amendment
“right to privacy” from the EPA
investigation into its alleged illegal chemical discharges. Other
corporations have asserted
Fifth Amendment rights against
self-incrimination,
as well as demandi n g Fo u r t e e n t h
Amendment rights
against “discrimination” by local communities that do
want them to build
a toxic waste incinerator, superstore,
or some other corporate facility that
would harm a community, the people
or the economy.
Har tman
points out that this
situation is the opposite of what the
founders of the nation and framers of
the U.S. Constitution had in mind
for America, saying
that they were sufficiently worried
about corporate
power enough to
exclude the word
corporation and
intended that corporate power be
held at bay.
The American
R e vo l u t i o n wa s
provoked by the misbehavior of
British corporations, according
to the book, and the nation was
founded in an anti-corporation
backlash.
Hartman describes how the
turning point came just after the
Civil War, resting on an amendment written and passed by the
Radical Republicans to abolish
slavery. He points out that the
Republican Party, since the era
of the Robber Baron in the late
Theatre students give comedic, improvised
performance in ‘Perils of Scaramouche’
by TIMOTHY BURKETT
staff writer
highest bidder. Scaramouche,
played by Max Duane, a traveler
searching for love, helps Leandro
“The Perils of Scaramouche” get the hand of Isabella.
The play followed the Comwas an enticingly funny, classic
media del Arte style that origilove story.
The play had everything nated in Italy during the Renaisfrom the pretty boy, Leandro, sance period. It is a style that is
played by Alex Vletas, to the known for its use of masks, immoney-hungry Ortinsia ,played provisation, and lazzi. The masks
by Kelley Knotts. The play was are significant because they tell
a comedy done completely in the audience a wide variety of
an improvisation style, which things. One example is the size
means that it was a preformed of the nose. The larger the nose,
a little differently
each night. The first
performance was
only slightly different from the second performance.
However, the slight
differences were
what made the
play exciting.
The Perils of
Scaramouche was
performed by the
students in the
South Plains College theater program on March
1- March 4 at the Helen Devitt the dumber the character. The
Jones Theatre in the Christine actors in this play worked with
Devitt Fine Arts Center on the improvisation, meaning, instead
of working with a script, they
Levelland campus.
The plot of the play con- worked with a scenario. The
sisted of Leandro being in love actors were able to meld lazzi
with Isabella, played by Brooke into the play as well. Lazzi is reEtheredge. However, the twist hearsed bits that are interjected
was that two other men, Panta- into the play at random that
lone, played by Coleman Scrog- are comedic. Lazzi are meant to
gins, and Capitano, played by add extra comedy to the play
Jake Quintanilla, were also in and keep you laughing and on
love with Isabella. Isabella’s dad, your toes.
The lazzis that were interDottore, played by Josh Walters,
was eager to give her up to the jected into the play were splen-
did. They took everything from
sports scores, to the latest movies coming out, and made fun
jokes out of them. The cast acted
out different scenes from hit
movies, such as “The Lorax,” “Titanic,” and other new movies.
The actors and actresses of
this play preformed splendidly.
They were able to make the
play flow without any hitches in
their performance. Every character was clearly defined and
played well. The cast spent a lot
of time practicing
and working on this
play, and it showed.
Every line was executed well.
The play was
concluded af ter
about an hour and
a half. However, by
the end of it, you
still wanted more.
This play kept the
audience constantly laughing. It had
comedy for not only
an older audience,
but also for a young audience. It
was delivered in a manner that
everyone could enjoy.
This play was very good,
and has to be added to my top
10 list. It is a style that could be
performed again and again, and
be different every time. The lack
of a script made this play a little
dangerous to try to perform,
because you never know the
outcome. However, these actors and actresses performed it
flawlessly. It definitely is a play
worth seeing.
1800s, has been the party of big
business and the very rich, a far
cry from the Republican Party
that began as a reform party
long before Abraham Lincoln,
who was anti-slavery and prolabor and the first president to
actually stop police and private
armies from killing and beating
strikers.
The Radical Republicans
were a splinter group that
emerged in a big way from the
Republican Party at its founding
in 1854, and eventually gained
a majority before the faction
disintegrated in the 1870s.
After Lincoln’s assassination,
the group had so much power in
the House that they were able to
push through the Civil Rights Act
of 1866 and override President
Andrew Johnson’s veto of it (and
a dozen other bills). They drove
the impeachment of Johnson
and missed by a single vote.
They also pushed through both
the Thirteenth and Fifteenth
Amendments.
But the Fourteenth Amendment has proved the most radical, Hartman writes, but not in
the way its authors intended.
The main goal of the Fourteenth
Amendment was to reverse the
1857 Dred Scott v. Sanford decision of the U.S. Supreme Court,
which had excluded African
Americans from access to the
protections of the Constitution
and the Bill of Rights.
Hartman points out that the
problem was with the particular
choice of words used in the Fourteenth Amendment, saying that
they created a loophole “that
corporations continue to exploit
to this day—to our collective
detriment as a democracy.”
The Fourteenth Amendment failed to draw a distinction
between “natural” and “artificial”
personhood, with “artificial” being grounded in British common
law which included governments, churches, and corporations, so that the law and taxes
could reach them. Twenty years
later, corporate lawyers would
begin manipulating the amendment to turn businesses into the
transnational “super-persons”
that they have become, with
the same rights as humans and
more. But, as Hartman says,
“they don’t have the same fragilities or responsibilities, under
both the law and the realities of
biology.”
During the first century,
American courts all the way up
to the Supreme Court repeatedly denied that corporations
had the same rights as humans,
because “every other institution created byhumans – from
governments to churches to corporations- only has privileges,
explicitly granted by government on behalf of the people
with the rights.”
Hartman points out that it
is fashionable in present-day
America for corporations to
equate unrestrained “free market” laissez faire capitalism with
democracy, going so far as to
suggest that democracy can’t
exist without unrestrained capitalism. But other countries do it
within a regulated marketplace
and a strong social safety net,
without sacrificing any of the
freedoms that are occurring in
America.
Hartman describes the dangers of the ultimate manifestation of corporate power and
corporate person-hood, the
ramifications of the Supreme
Court decision in Citizens United
and how that deluge of money
can be spent to influence our
elections, pick our candidates,
buy the media and eliminate any
opposition to complete corporate control of the United States,
telling the reader what must be
done to stop this de-generation
of democracy.
This book is a must-read for
concerned citizens, and even
unconcerned citizens who need
to know what is going on with
the corporate take-over of the
government. It will both frighten
and outrage anyone who values
democracy and the rights of
“real people.” It will hopefully stir
that “patriotic spirit” to take back
the rights reserved for living,
breathing human beings.
Shankar to bring eclectic styles
of traditional sitar to Hub City
by DEVIN HARGROVE
editorial assistant
World-renowned sitar player Anoushka Shankar will be
in the Hub City as part of the
Presidential Lecture and Performance Series hosted by Texas
Tech University.
The Presidential Lecture and
Performance Series is responsible for bringing to Lubbock
leaders in the field of arts and
academics, such as Billy Collins,
the Santa Fe Opera, and Ailey II.
The concert, which will be
held at the Allen Theater at Texas
Tech University on March 30, is
part of Shankar’s 2012 tour of the
United States and will be held
in conjunction with the release
of her new album, “Traveler”,
which was released nationally
on March 20.
Shankar is well known
worldwide for her avant-garde
style, which blends classical Indian music with genres such as
American jazz, electronica, and
Western classical music. An upbringing in Europe, America, and
India comes across in her music,
which combines genres from all
three countries flawlessly.
Anoushka Shankar is the
daughter of famous sitar player
Ravi Shankar and half sister of
famous American singer Norah
Jones. It is of no wonder then,
with such a musical background,
that she has been playing the
sitar since the age of 9.
Shankar’s achievements in
the field of World Music span
beyond her unique playing
style. She has been nominated
for two Grammy Awards in the
World Music category, as well as
holding the distinction of being
the first Indian performer to play
at the Grammy Awards. She was
the youngest nominee and first
woman to be nominated for a
Grammy in the World Music Category. She has been chosen by
the Asian Times as one of top 20
Asian heroes, and is the youngest and first woman to receive a
House of Commons Shield from
British Parliament.
‘”Traveler”, Shankars’s new-
est and 12 th studio album, is
the first album released under
her new label, Deutsche Grammophon Records, a prestigious
classical music label. The album
is a blend of classic Spanish
Flamenco style and classical
Indian music, with guest appearances from artists such as
Shubha Mudgal, Buika, and Pepe
Habichuela.
The Guardian has described Shankar’s live shows
as “mesmerizing
and enthralling,”
and Shankar has
been described
by BBC Music
Magazine as “a
star performer.”
With so
many factors in
her favor, this
should prove
to be an enjoyable show for all.
General admission tickets for
this event can be
purchased through Select-ASeat by calling (806) 770-2000,
online at www.ticketstage.com/
%5Flubbock/, or by visiting any
local Ralph’s Records or United
Supermarkets. Students of Texas
Tech University are eligible to
receive one free ticket with
presentation of ID at the SUB
info desk.
13
Entertainment
Plainsman Press
March 26, 2012
Sci-fi epic ‘Mass Effect 3’ delivers thrilling finish
by STUART SPIKES
editorial assistant
“Mass Effect 3’s” tone was
set before even being able to
get past the start menu.
Featuring Earth, with parts
of it erupting into mushroomshaped explosions, it was easy
to tell that this was going to
be a battle of the utmost epic
proportions. You know that the
quicker you got into the game,
the quicker you could save earth
from certain disaster.
For those of you who have
played “Mass Effect 2,” you know
that you are capable of taking
that character into the third
entry, giving you an experience
unlike any other game. You
will notice that there is a slight
change to this series, though,
that seems to cater to more than
just the classic role-play gamer.
This change is able to provide a more pleasant experience for those who are looking
to have a third-person action
game, as opposed to those who
want to be brought into the
deep story behind the trilogy. It
turns off all conversation queues
and allows you to watch all of
the cut-scenes without having
to take part in the decisions that
mold the game into your unique
story. But don’t worry, the other
option of taking control of all
situations and decisions is still
there. The deep story full of
decisions that shape the galaxy
around your Shepherd is there,
and better than ever.
“Mass Effect 3” begins with
the Normandy
flying into the
E a r t h’s a t m o sphere, only to
be portrayed as
a toy held by a
young human
child. He is playing in a small garden area, most
likely pretending
to blast away bad
aliens as he runs
around as happy as any child
should be. Little
does he know the
dangers of what
lie ahead.
Next, Admiral Anderson is
receiving reports
of a dark massive
force that is closing in from the
furthest reaches
of the galaxy, but he is unaware
of how close these forces are
actually. He understands and
immediately recognizes who
and what the threat is.
Without a second thought,
he sends someone to retrieve
the recently-released Commander Shepherd from his
room. This is the moment that
he had been warning the Galactic Council about, without
any success. None would listen
to him, and now it is too late. He
and Anderson both knew this to
be true.
Commander Shepherd was
briefed of the dangers and
meets with Anderson and the
Council on Earth in a room. They
have a live feed of the Lunar Base
on a large screen with a soldier
screaming and yelling about
these monstrosities that were
taking them out with little or no
effort. Suddenly, he is blown up,
and the live feed is cut off.
Fear stricken, the Council
ask Shepherd what it was they
were being attacked by. They receive a belittling statement that
shows that they know good and
well what the threat is, and that
they didn’t believe the threat to
be taken seriously this early. Oh
how there were wrong.
Within minutes of the live
feed being cut off, a gigantic squid-like machine simply
known as a Reaper lands in the
background with a giant red
laser shooting out of its one big
eye blowing up buildings. The
third strike done by the Reaper
is on the building that Shepherd,
Anderson, and the Council are
meeting in. Everyone in the room
but Shepherd and Anderson are
killed.
The room is on fire, and
everything is blown to bits.
Shepherd and Anderson now
must survive the invasion and
make it to a landing zone, where
they can hopefully escape to
further prepare the galaxy for
the Reaper invasion. However,
Anderson doesn’t leave with
Shepherd. Instead, he stays on
Earth, where he can lead the
people, keep them protected,
and keep morale high.
This is where the game begins. The theme and sense of
urgency has been set, and the
operation to save the galaxy
commences.
The purpose of “Mass Effect
3” is to bring together as many
different alien races as one can in
order to bring a combined effort
for stopping the Reapers from
wiping out all organic life in the
galaxy. There is an issue with this,
though. The Turian race brought
about a genophage among the
Krogan species, causing a select
few to be fertile and able to
reproduce. This brought about
an immense amount of hatred
between the two species, along
with a rivalry lasting decades.
Then, the Salarians decided
to help out the Turians, earning
them the same amount of hatred
when shooting through the
gaps in shields used as sights
for the enemy, as this is their
only weakness during a frontal
assault.
Game play isn’t the only
overbearing weight to carry,
and Shepherd’s shoulders seem
almost too heavy by the time the
game is completed.
---SPOILER ALERT--During the very last mission
assault, Shepherd and Anderson
finally make it aboard the Citadel, but they were beamed up
to different parts of it. They are
able to communicate through
a head piece that they have
be the Catalyst himself and lays
the ultimate decision upon your
shoulders.
First of all, you are more
than able to stop the Reapers,
but in one of two ways. One way
thing that has been improved
with this game, though. The
visuals are among the best of
any game. The later battles show
the massive scale so well that
you will get goose bumps and
feel like you are actually there,
fighting for the good of the
galaxy. Your heart will race and
the anticipation of the upcoming scenes will grow. It is nearly
of “Mass Effect 3,” a final assault
on the Citadel is made. You, Anderson, and a small group of soldiers are trying to reach a beam
that is supposed to teleport you
up to the Citadel, which by now
is known as the Catalyst, which
is the main part in a special
weapon that has been worked
on for more than 100,000 years
during different cycles and differ-
with the Krogans. These are three
of four of the main races that
Shepherd must bring together
with the fourth, and easiest race
being the Quarians. The Quarians
are a nomadic species of aliens
and don’t have many quarrels
within the galaxy, but they are
looked at as a strange and mysterious group.
Only after bringing these
groups together can they focus
on the task at hand, which is to
bring down the Reapers and
save all organic life from ultimate
destruction.
The game play of “Mass Effect 3” is everything you could
ever want. It is smooth, intuitive,
and has been improved upon
with slight upgrades to the
cover-and-shoot scheme of the
first two. Being able to roll and
sprint from cover to cover while
your squad-mates are smart
enough to help flank the harder,
more-armored enemies is a great
addition.
“Mass Effect 3” is also a lot
more gory and bloody than
the first two. When you nail a
headshot with a special ability
activated, such as your tactical
cloak or adrenaline rush, you
not only receive the damage
bonus, but you also witness a
chunky explosion that could only
be brain-matter and chunks of
bone. It’s even more satisfying
impossible to not feel like you
are actually doing something
important while playing this
game.
The sense of realism that
these cut scenes give you is truly
something amazing. But with
great visuals, you need great
voice-acting. The voice actors in
this game have had a lot of practice, as they are the same from
the first two games and have
done other work in the video
game world as well. You get a
great sense of emotion from
them. They are very good at
bringing you into the story and
making you feel a part of it.
You also get a good look
at the at the way that all of the
death and destruction, as well as
the decisions, have played into
Shepherds mental state.
After witnessing the death
of a young child that you tried to
save, he haunts your nightmares
and blames you for his death,
as well as for the destruction of
Earth. He says that you should
have tried harder, and that
you hadn’t done everything in
your power to stop them. The
crew of the Normandy can see
this eating at you and offer assistance, along with some of
your closer friends who have
been by your side since the
first game, assuming you were
able to keep them alive. It’s an
ent races in order to destroy the
Reapers. Only now is it known
that the Citadel is a huge part
in this.
Nearly dying during this final
and meet in the middle of the
station, where the Illusive Man
is waiting. This is the first time
that the Illusive Man is seen in
person, and you understand
now why he never comes out
of hiding.
He has been taken over by
the Reapers and is being controlled by them. He has nearly
been turned into a Husk, which
is an enemy controlled by the
Reapers and lives for nothing
but the destruction of their
enemies.
It is in the few moments
that you learn that everything
he was telling you was all
true. Controlling the Reapers
is more than possible, and it
could save the galaxy in many
ways.
After the Illusive Man
forces you to turn on Anderson via mind control, you
manage to get a half second
of control back, putting a bullet into the Illusive Man and
ending his life once and for
all, which is a great thing that
I know everyone was longing
to do.
With the Illusive Man out
of the way, it’s now up to you
to activate the Catalyst and
put the weapon into motion which, will destroy the
Reapers once and for all. When
activating it, an elevator takes
you up to the power supply,
where you come in contact with
a ghostly child who turns out to
is to replace the ghostly child,
become the Catalyst and take
control of the Reapers. You will
lose your life, but you will be
able to force them back into the
furthest reaches of the galaxy,
never to be heard from again.
The other way is to activate the
weapon which destroys all of the
Mass Relays, ridding the galaxy
of the Reapers, but also of Shepherd and the Mass Relays at the
same time.
After playing and finishing
“Mass Effect 3,” I have come to
the conclusion that this capped
off one of the best sci-fi stories
of all time, whether it’s a game,
movie, or television series. The
level of emotion and careful attention to detail and character
development is by far one of
the best works of fiction ever.
This game deserves credit for
trying to do something no other
game has ever done, and it does
it very well.
Any game player and fan
of sci-fi will take to this game
extremely well. If you are new
to either one, it’s a great game
to get you on your way to becoming a full-blown gamer and
sci-fi fan.
Every aspect of this game is
executed perfectly, and I must
give this game a perfect, 10/10.
Platform – X360, PS3, PC
MSRP – $59.99
ESRB – Mature
Rating – 10/10
Genre – TPS/RPG
14
Entertainment
Plainsman Press
March 26, 2012
Unique style, maturity resonate in new Say Anything album
by JAYME WHEELER
entertainment editor
One aspect of Say Anything’s
music that makes the band so
unique is
that they
can change
and experiment with
their music, but still
stay true to
their original core.
That
fact has
been proven even
more with
the release
of Say
Anything’s
fifth studio
album, “Anarchy, My Dear.”
The opening track, which
was also the first single released
on Jan. 10, is “Burn a Miracle.”
The song’s lyrics seem to be
mirroring the early life of lead
singer, Max Bemis. Regardless,
the person he is describing is
living a life that he doesn’t want
to live anymore, so he changes
it. It’s especially apparent when
he sings, “Now I’m coming alive,
like a weed through fields of
placid posies thrive.” The song
is also more upbeat than the
lyrics would seem, as the style
changes from heavy drums
during the verses to a guitardominated chorus.
The next track, released on
Feb. 4, was “Say Anything,” which
is one of the most awkwardly
romantic songs ever written.
The song starts off with acoustic
strings playing, and, as it slowly
leads in to electric guitar riffs,
Bemis describes what he would
do for love, which is anything
she wants, but almost anyone
won’t ask. This includes, “I’d
throw up every morning, pull
my nails out, take a wrench to all
my teeth to put a ring upon your
digit.” Again, this is awkward, but
you still feel the love if you know
Say Anything’s style.
When the track listing was
released, I noticed there was a
song titled, “Admit It, Again.” I
instantly went back to the song
“Admit It” from an earlier album. I
loved it because it was a very raw
look at Bemis’ feelings toward a
certain pretentious person in his
life as he berates him or her.
Much to my pleasure (and
other fans, I’m sure), “Admit It,
Again” is a follow-up to that
original song. One of the best
lines is “Your entire facade is a
line that you feed to anorexic actresses who would have laughed
at your jacked-up Navajo haircut,
less than a decade ago.” What
makes the harsh lyrics stand out
even more is the lack of music
in the background, letting the
lyrics truly stand alone.
Another love song on the
album is “So Good,” which is also
one of the softest songs on the
album. The lyrics start off with
Bemis describing his sketchy
past, but also saying “Yet, I have
shed my wings.” And,
much like every great
love story, he saw his
future wife and knew
that she would change
his life. There’s a single
lyric in this song, however, that makes you
feel the impact that
she had on him, and
it’s “If I’m to fall from
grace, then she’s my
christening.”
Yet, there’s always
heartbreak before the
happily-ever-after,
and that is what seems
to be behind “Sheep.”
The lyrics sound like
something everyone has experienced; you feel as though you
know someone, but they change
right before your eyes. The lyrics ultimately say, “Now you’ve
found your place amongst the
sheep. You’ve seemed to find
your place away from me.” And
while that type of betrayal can
keep someone down, Bemis
takes the high road and chooses
to move on, singing, “It’s my life,
and I’ll live it without you.”
“Peace Out” is definitely
different than the other songs
on the album, with a musical
styling that is very close to folk
music. The lyrics are much like
those in “Sheep,” but instead of
the song being dark and bitter,
the song is talking about how he
is better off without that person
in his life. It’s almost as if Bemis
is bragging about feeling better,
singing, “Oh, I’ll be fine. Sever
this for all time, and I’ll laugh it
off when it ends.” But, the best
part is the ending lyric, “You
were my crutch, but now I’ve
escaped your clutch. So what’s it
like from that worms-eye view?
I’ve grown two broad wings and
now I’m above you.”
Another great song is “Of
Steel,” which is a very fast-paced
song, considering how mellow
most of the album is. But, the
lyrics are the ultimate plea for
help disguised in witty remarks.
The one lyric that shows this the
most is, “Nice to meet you, I’m
cliché, I have this baggage, but
can you save me?” It’s definitely
one of the more powerful tracks
on the album.
The last track is, without
a doubt, the right ending for
this mixed album, “The Stephen
Hawking.” Bemis tries to explain
that it’s hard to watch someone
sell their soul, but also losing
control of that situation and
leading to a power battle. The
darkest lyric is also the simplest,
“You’ll bleed to feed the demon
in me; if you don’t change your
evil ways and end this peacefully.”
As a long-time fan of the
band, I think that this is one of
the greatest albums that Say
Anything has ever released.
Bemis does a remarkable job of
mixing together his experiences
in self-growth and bettering
himself, with the help of his wife,
but also showing that he’s grown
from the petty arguments he has
had with people from his past.
“Anarchy, My Dear” was
released on March 13. I think it’s
a great album that fans of the
band will enjoy. I give it 5 out
of 5 stars.
and he starts inviting everyone
at school, even with their “50people max” limitations.
Word of the party spreads
quickly, and the party gets
out of control. Along the way,
they come into possession of a
“quirky” gnome, drugs, a small
guy in the oven, exuberant
amounts of sex and alcohol, and
a continuous roll of fantastic music. The movie is only 88 minutes
long, with 90 percent of it being
the party scences.
“Project X” is the full-length
film-directing debut of Nima
Nourizadeh, who only previously directed a documentary
titled “A.”
The screenplay/story for
the movie was written by Michael Bacall. If you don’t know
the name, maybe you know
his work, which includes the
upcoming film “21 Jump Street,”
and more notably “Scott Pilgrim
vs. the World.”
Producer Todd Phillips is a
name that might ring a bell. He
produced and directed a couple
of small films, maybe you’ve
heard of them, “The Hangover:
parts I and II,” and “Due Date.” He
keeps to the his comedic party
theme in “Project X.”
Almost all the actors and
actresses in “Project X” are relatively new to the acting scene.
Lead actor Thomas is played by
Thomas Mann, whose only other
movie experience is in “It’s Kind
of a Funny Story” with Lauren
Graham, and Zach Galifianakis.
This is really the first big role
for Oliver Cooper (Costa), and
Jonathan Daniel Brown (JB). Dax
Flame (Dax) is a YouTube star,
so he is used to being behind
a camera.
The last thing I enjoyed
about the movie is that the
soundtrack has the ultimate
party music. I really don’t buy
movie soundtracks, but I’ll definitely be buying this one.
Overall, if you aren’t looking
for a plot-structured movie that
requires a lot of brain power, but
a great “hanging out with the
gang” kind of movie, “Project X”
is the one for you. I give “Project
X” 4 stars out of 5.
‘Project X’ portrays ultimate high school party
by JOSHUA HARRIS
opinion editor
You and your two high
school best friends are nobodies
just looking to get noticed.
This is the premise that
strikes a chord with many young
adults, and is what causes the
chaos that is “Project X” to ensue.
Thomas, JB and the ringleader Costa, are the best friends,
and Dax is the guy behind the
camera in this hard-core party
flick.
The story begins when Costa
decides that the group needs to
get noticed, and that they need
to use Thomas’s upcoming birthday to their advantage. The gang
sets out with Costa taking point,
15
Entertainment
Plainsman Press
March 26, 2012
‘Mario Party 9’ fails to live up to predecessors
by STUART SPIKES
editorial assistant
“Mario Party” has been
around for years and has
changed ever so slightly since
its original release on the Nintendo 64.
However, with the release
of “Mario Party 9,” the entirety
of the game has changed.
In the previous eight titles,
the game was set up like a board
game. You and three others,
whether it was your friends or
three AI’s, would each roll a dice,
and the players would go in order, from who rolled the highest
to the one who rolled the lowest.
Most of the time, each board
had several different routes to
be taken, as well as items that
you could stumble upon. These
two elements added a level of
strategy to go along with the
game’s prime attracting element
of luck.
The point of “Mario Party”
was to win mini-games, which
would earn you coins which
could be used to purchase stars.
The player at the end with the
most stars would be declared
the winner. But, like I said, the
game was so incredibly random
that even if a player was three
or four stars a head, during the
last five turns there would be a
chance time. During this time,
Bowser would be able to take all
of the stars from everyone, swap
them up, or make the players
play for them. He also had the
ability to make the player with
the most stars swap with the
player in last place, changing
the outcome of the game in the
blink of an eye.
Along with these random
events of luck that would take
place, there were also bonus
stars to be handed out at the end
of the game. These stars were
random, but many different categories were considered, such
as most spaces moved, most
coins earned during mini-games,
most items used, most red spots
landed on, and most event times
CROSSWORD
courtesy of Robert Sherman
www.quizland.com
ACROSS
1 Advanced degree
4 Book’s page size, abbr.
7 Anti-aircraft weapon
10 Convert hide to leather
11 Chairman
12 Golfer’s goal
13 Lacking professional skill
15 Exclamation of disgust
16 Enter the armed forces voluntarily
18 A French ecclesiastical figure
21 A long-haired dog
24 Ditches
26 Simultaneous discharge of firearms
27 Comes into accord
29 Commanded to turn right
30 Flowery
32 Two-hundred-fifty-two gallons
34 Warned
38 You _____ what you eat
39 Won _____
40 Ends a boxing match
41 Explosive
42 Large northern deer
43 Tee-_____
landed on. This added a higher
element of competition to the
game and provided, in most
cases, a very anxious ending to
close games.
Finally, though, with the
release of “Mario Party 9,” a lot
of these elements have been
changed.
My friends and I collectively
have all nine games in the series
and play them all regularly. So
when we put in “Mario Party 9,”
we were very excited for more of
the same, but also to see what
changes have been made.
However, we were all slightly
disappointed, to say the least.
The game starts off the
same, each player rolling a dice
to see who would go first. Instead of having the chance to roll
a 1-10 this time, they opted for
a six-sided die. Also, instead of
each player going separately, all
four players shared a vehicle that
traveled along a linear board
that had a mid-point as well as
an ending. It was very disappointing to see the creativity
of each board, which seemed
less interesting than any before.
It seemed to rid itself of the
strategy that the franchise had
been known for, as well as the
complete randomness for each
player, as all players were now
traveling in a group instead of
separately.
Furthermore, instead of entering a mini-game after all four
players took their turns, there
are either spaces you can land
on that will automatically enter
you in a mini-game, or landing
on the blue spaces gave you a
slight chance to be entered into
a mini-game.
They even got rid of the
items in this game and replaced
them with four different dice
blocks; a 0-2 sided block, 4-6,
a 1-10, and a slow-motion, 1-6sided block. These are easily the
least creative and most boring
“items” that the series has ever
introduced, with former items
capable of stealing stars, changing places, causing a pre-mature
Edited by TAUSHA ROSEN
associate editor
DOWN
1 Mothers, fathers, and educators
2 Noah’s second son
3 Used to prove paternity
4 Prophetic sign
5 Membranes
6 Opposed the Whigs
7 Sink a ship by making holes in its hull
8 Mo.
9 Common ratio of distance over time
14 Vacillate
17 Experienced person
18 Doctors’ group
19 Marsh
20 Ranks below a baron
22 The woman in Genesis 3:20
23 Hot _____
25 The upper house
28 White crystalline powder
31 Combat vehicle
32 Make handmade lace
33 Samovar
35 Cable network
36 _____ Out
37 John _____
Crossword Answers
chance time, coin stealing, and
invisibility.
Once the game got rolling,
while most things were awfully
disappointing, the mini-games
are some of the best that the
series has ever seen, with each
game being more exciting than
the last. There is even the inclusion of boss battles that pit
players against some of the best
known baddies from “Mario” in
general. These games took the
form in games of chance and
puzzle games that make you
think on your feet.
After my friends and I had
played each board at least once
and a couple of them twice, the
repetitiveness caught up with
us. The layouts were the same.
There was an obvious beginning, an obvious end, and one
or two spots you could land on
that would give you a chance
at some extra mini-stars. You
were always being chased by
something that was a little too
easy to outrun.
The excitement felt during
the entirety of the game was
lost, and we were forced to only
compete during the sparse minigame segments.
While the four of us at least
enjoyed the game, I can truthfully say that all eight of the
previous games will provide a
better all-around experience.
But if mini-games are what you
are looking for, there may be
none better than what you can
find in “Mario Party 9.”
Platform – Nintendo Wii
MSRP – $49.99
ESRB – E for everyone
Rating – 6/10
Genre – Party game
‘Silent House’
brings twist with
real time suspense
by JAYME WHEELER
entertainment editor
The tag line for “Silent
House” is, “Experience 88 minutes of real fear captured in real
time.”
Sounds promising, right?
However, after experiencing this
“real fear,” it seems the tag line
should have been “78 minutes
of suspense and 10 minutes of
confusion.”
Let me explain.
The film starts with Sarah
(Elizabeth Olsen), her dad, John
(Adam Trese), and her uncle
Peter (Eric Sheffer Stevens) as
they are remodeling their lakeside house and preparing it
for a sale. Sarah is wandering
around the house and turning
on lanterns, as the electricity
isn’t working. She hears a knock
at the door, finding a childhood
friend named Sophia (Julia
Taylor Ross), who starts talking
to Sarah about how they used
to play all the time and were
great friends. But Sarah has no
recollection about the girl and
is seemingly put off by her extremely friendly attitude.
Once Sophia leaves, Sarah
finds out that her dad and uncle
got into an argument, and Peter
drives to town to take a break.
Immediately after, Sarah hears a
noise upstairs and tells her dad,
who then takes her upstairs to
investigate. While checking one
of the rooms, John finds Polaroid
pictures on the pillow in his
room and tells Sarah that the
pictures are trash, as he seems
disturbed by them and hurriedly
puts them away.
Still upset, John tells Sarah
that she needs to pack up her
room and leaves her to do so.
While she is cleaning, she hears
footsteps, a loud bang, and then
silence. She starts to call her dad,
but gets no response. She starts
looking around the floor they
were on, but all that she finds
is his lantern. Scared, she runs
downstairs to leave, but finds
the key that unlocks the door is
gone. To make matters worse,
she starts seeing dark figures
following her around.
Before long, however, Sarah starts to realize that she is
trapped in the house and begins
to unravel mentally, as she discovers more of the secrets that
the house contains.
Despite negative reviews
from critics and audiences alike,
there are several reasons I found
this movie to be a surprising
thriller.
The first reason is the biggest strength behind the movie:
newcomer Elizabeth Olsen. In
this film, she continues to step
out of the shadows of her older
twin sisters, Mary Kate and Ashley, and makes a name for herself
as she shined in this film. Her
acting seems so genuine that it
benefited her character’s emotional transitions throughout the
film, making the
suspense feel real.
The next reason is how the film
is shot. It is a bold
move to shoot a
movie the way directors Chris Kentis
and Laura Lau did,
as it was shot in real
time. This means
that the second the
movie’s first scene
starts, it is a continuous film that
is seemingly unbroken. The camerawork is shaky
at times, yes, but
it makes the film
seem real.
The final reason is because
of my personal favorite plot twist
of all time. This is a plot twist
that is very similar to those seen
in any M. Night Shyamalan film,
which sometimes works and
sometimes doesn’t. But I feel that
this one worked.
Without giving too much
away, the twist allows answers
to almost every question asked
throughout the film. I will admit,
though, that it does make a plot
hole or two as well. However, the
twist was more beneficial than
harmful in this situation.
“Silent House” was released
on March 9, and I give it 3 out of
5 stars. Sure, this film wasn’t perfect, and it certainly wasn’t the
film it is being advertised as, but
it was still very good. With Olsen,
the unique shooting style, and
the plot twist, this is definitely
a film that will be talked about
for quite some time. It solidifies
Olsen as a rising star.
16
Entertainment
Plainsman Press
March 26, 2012
Lovato battles bulimia, bipolar disorder in ‘Stay Strong’
by JAYME WHEELER
entertainment editor
During the past few years,
celebrities have fallen victim to
the personal battles they fight
outside of the public eye.
From Heath Ledger to the
recent death of Whitney Houston, celebrities are choosing to
battle their problems as quietly
as possible, which can sometimes lead to the
battle being lost,
along with another celebrity’s life.
One celebrity
who chooses to
acknowledge and
seek treatment is
Demi Lovato. The
pop star has had
her life become an
open book lately,
as she has sought
help for several
problems, including bulimia and
self-injury.
B ecause of
her role model
status, Lovato felt
that she needed
to speak out about
her problems, recovery, and how she feels now
by filming a new documentary
called “Stay Strong.”
When the documentary
starts, Lovato is being prepped
for a show when she’s approached by a crew member
who asks if she is hungry. When
she says no, he begins to ask
more questions, such as when
she wants to eat, and if she has
enough in her to do the show.
She says yes, but a few minutes
later she’s approached again
by a woman confirming that
Lovato isn’t hungry and asks if
she would prefer that someone
go out to get her something.
This makes it immediately apparent that while Lovato is a
grown woman, she’s now being
watched more carefully because
of her problems.
Lovato then starts to explain
that working is what got her
problems out of hand. Because
she was constantly working,
whether it be on tour, on a TV
show, or on a movie, her problems would always take a backseat to her career. However, Lovato mentions that the last time
she was
supposed
to come
home after a tour,
her parents told
her that
there was
a plane
waiting to
take her
to a treatm e n t
facility if
she was
willing to
go, which
she did.
She
t h e n
starts to
go into details about why she needed help.
She mentions that she struggled
with the pressure society puts
on celebrities to look a certain
way, and that now she was strug-
gling with recovery and staying
thin at the same time. In one of
the more heartbreaking quotes
of the documentary, Lovato
also explains
why she hated
being a role
model.
“Everyone made me
a role model,
and I hated it,”
she says. “I was
self-medicating, and you
d o n’ t k n o w
what I’m dealing with; why
would you
want your kids
to be like me?”
Lov a to s ays
she would ask
herself.
This led to
a deeper depression for Lovato, because
she felt guilty
and ashamed.
The way she
dealt with that
was by starting to cut herself.
While in treatment, Lovato found
out that her depression, which
she says started at an early age,
was really a form of Bipolar Disorder. She says that she thought
it was normal to stay up all night,
or normal to write seven songs in
a night as well. She didn’t realize
that she was going through a
manic episode.
The documentary finishes
with Lovato being approached
by a fan who has cancer, who
tells her that she was inspired
by Lovato to go without wearing her wig. Another fan tells
her that she sought out treatment for an eating disorder as
well, because of the example
Lovato set.
During her treatment, Lovato’s fans would always tell her
to stay strong, which is partially
why she got the words
tattooed on her wrists,
and partially to hide old
scars.
Unfortunately, Lovato mentions that she
can’t say that she hasn’t
thrown up or cut herself
since treatment, but that
it is a daily battle and
she’s not perfect. However, for her to speak out
about her problems in
this form shows so much
strength. It also inspires
her fans and others who
struggle to admit they
have a problem in the
first place to seek help
for them.
Lovato shows unbelievable courage in
this documentary. “Stay
Strong” debuted on
March 6, and if you have
a chance to watch it,
please do. I recommend
it to not just fans of the singer,
but everyone because of the
importance of this documentary.
I feel it is very important for this
generation to see and could very
well help many to get the courage to seek help on their own.
: Page 9 delivers fresh sound, ‘Hunger Games’ soundtrack debuts
by JOSHUA HARRIS
opinion editor
Local music doesn’t have a
right to die.
For my initial “Forte” column, I feel that it is only right
to introduce one of my favorite
fairly unknown Texas bands,
Page 9.
Page 9 is a progressive poppunk band out of Dallas that has
sort of an alternative rock feel to
their music. The band consists of
lead singer Josh Roa-Martinez,
guitarist Kelsey Madden, bassist
and vocalist Lindan Scott, and
guitarist Nate Northcutt.
The band has a great sound
with good lyrics that, in turn,
create a catchy song that gets
stuck in your head. I happened
to stumble across them recently
while checking out some of the
bands that were in concert in
Lubbock.
Page 9 released their fulllength debut album, “Addiction
In Recovery,” in 2008. The album
consisted of eight songs. Notable tracks include “Getaway,”
“Won’t Pretend,” and “Where
are you?”
In April 2010, the band
released their EP, “Heartbeats
& Citystreets.” The album was
produced by John Naclerio, who
also has produced such bands as
“My Chemical Romance,”“Senses
Fail,” and “The Audition.” It was
quite successful, even landing
the band at the top of “Purevolume.com” & “Smartpunk.com”
charts.
I f
y o u
have a
chance,
y o u
should
definitely
check
them
o u t
live, or
pick up
one of
their albums.
The soundtrack for the new
movie “The Hunger Games” was
recently released. “The Hunger
Games: Songs from District 12
and Beyond” is a star-studded
blend of folk-rock, with some
country and hip-hop stars mixed
in. The album was produced by T
Bone Burnett, whose other work
includes albums by Counting
Crows, Spinal Tap, Roy Orbison,
Jeff Bridges, Elton John, and
Willie Nelson.
Bands and solo artists on the
soundtrack include Arcade Fire,
The Secret Sisters, Neko Case,
Taylor Swift, Kid Cudi, Punch
Brothers, The Decemberists, The
Carolina Chocolate Drops, The
Civil Wars, Glen Hansard, Maroon
5, Miranda Lambert, Jayme Dee,
The Low Anthem, and Birdy. The
Civil Wars are featured on the
track “Safe & Sound,” with Taylor
Swift, as is Rozzi Crane with Maroon 5 on the song “Come Away
To The Water.”
On track 12 titled “Run Daddy Run,”Pistol Annies are featured
with Miranda Lambert. The folk
feel compliments the movie and
should
b
e
bought
if you
have the
chance.
This
y e a r ’s
class
being
inducted into
R o c k
and Roll
Hall of
Fame
includes
Guns N’
Roses,
The Beastie Boys, Red Hot Chili
Peppers, Freddie King, Laura
Nyro, and Donovan, just to
mention a few. The inductors
participating are a little odd to
say the least, with comedian
Chris Rock honoring the Red Hot
Chili Peppers, and Public Enemy
frontman Chuck D inducting The
Beastie Boys. The ceremony will
take place on April 14.
Cash Money Records recently had a lawsuit filed against
them by EMI music, which is one
of the Big Four record companies. The reason given for the
lawsuit is late payments by Cash
Money Records for licensed
music on the Lil Wayne album,
“Tha Carter III.” The label owes
$392,940.93 out of a larger debt
that they had previously paid
off in 2010 because of another
lawsuit. The two groups are involved in talks to try and resolve
the situation “amicably.”
In local concert news, April
6 will be a fantastic night for the
rap scene in Lubbock. Aaron
Dontez Yates, better known as
Tech N9ne, will be performing
at Wreckers in Lubbock.
Yates has nine fairly successful studio albums under his belt,
with the most recent release
being the EP “Klusterfuk.” Tech
by DESI SANCHEZ
staff writer
Dr. Seuss is no stranger to
incorporating important messages into his stories, and “The
Lorax” does just that with a
fantastic story all ages can learn
from.
The modernized version of a
41-year-old classic begins with a
song about the town of Thneedville. What’s special about this
town is that it’s entirely made
of plastic, and the people don’t
care at all. Since the town does
not have any trees, and thus
has nothing to create oxygen,
they thrive on bottled air. The
bottled air is sold by a company
called O’Hare Air, ran by the very
wealthy and evil Mr. O’Hare (Rob
Riggle). This part of the movie is
not part of the book.
Then there is Ted (voiced by
Zac Efron), who, like many teenage boys, is just trying to win
the affections of a girl he likes,
Audrey (Taylor Swift). He finds
out that all she wants for her
birthday is a real tree. However,
Ted has no idea where he can get
such a thing.
Later that evening, at dinner, he asks his mother and
grandmother where he could
find a living tree. His grandmother (Betty White) tells him
to go see the
Once-ler (Ed
Helms) outside of town.
Te d m a k e s
the perilous
journey to see
the Once-Ler,
where he finds
out that the
land used to
be covered in
brightly-colored truffala
trees, streams
and lots of
animals.
T h e
Once-ler tells
Ted how he
came to the area, and how, after he cut down his first truffala
tree, the Lorax (Danny DeVito)
appeared on the stump of the
freshly cut tree. The Lorax proclaimed he was there to speak
for the trees. The Once-ler made
a deal with the Lorax not to cut
down anymore truffalas.
The Once-ler knits a thneed
from the tufts of truffala hair
from the tree he cuts down and
tries to sell it in the nearby town.
After being unsuccessful at first,
the trend finally catches on. The
Once-ler is overcome with greed
and begins cutting down the
rest of the trees, even though
he has promised The Lorax he
would not. The Once-ler cuts
down all the trees until there are
none, which not only ends his
thneed production, but it also
forces all the animal life out of
the area. The Lorax is saddened
by what has happened, and he
ascends into the clouds, leaving
behind a rock with the word UNLESS written on it.
Eventually, the Once-ler
has one last truffala seed, which
he gives to Ted. Ted decides to
plant the seed in the middle of
town so that everyone can see
how important trees really are.
Mr. O’Hare tries to stop him,
because he knows that if trees
start growing again, no one will
N9ne’s last Texas show will be
the Lubbock show on April 6,
before the tour moves to New
Mexico. The Lubbock show starts
at 7 p.m.
‘Lorax’ delivers important message
for all ages in classic Seuss style
want to pay for bottled oxygen
anymore.
The movie ends with a quote
by Dr. Seuss, “Unless someone
like you cares a whole awful lot,
nothing is going to get better. It’s
not.” To me, this message means
that unless we start caring more
about what happens around us,
things will only get worse. This
is a great message for younger
generations, who are more
likely to see this movie so that
they can create a better world
for their future. This film does a
great job of showing what greed
can do. When it gets to the point
of selling oxygen, which should
be free, then there is a really big
problem at hand.
Although this movie is marketed toward children, I think
that everyone can benefit from
seeing this film because the
message is timeless. Everyone
could stand to make a difference
in the world in order make it a
better place for us all. I personally would hate to live in a world
where we have to rely on bottled
air for oxygen.
I rate this movie 4 out of 5
stars, because not many movies
these days have such a great
message involved.
Sports
Plainsman Press
17
March 26, 2012
Texans win Region V championship, advance to National Tournament
by JASONE PEARSON
sports editor
sive game, going 8-10 from the
field and 4-4 from the free-throw
line to finish with 20 points.
Yanick Moreira also notched
20 points and four blocks, just
missing a triple-double with nine
rebounds. This set up the Region
V final against Howard College
on March 11.
In the toughest test this
season, the Hawks had the lead
early, until the Texans tied it up
contested dogfight, as each
team could not pull away. SPC
mustered only a five-point lead
The South Plains College
midway through the second half.
men’s basketball team finished
The Texans tried to pull away
off the season 29-0 and the
late in the second half, going up
number one seed in the NJCAA
74-65 with 4:32 to play, but the
Region V tournament. With
resilient Hawks would not go
teamwork and clutch play from
away, narrowing the gap to 74the bench, they advanced to the
73 with two minutes to go.
national tournament.
Then came maybe the bigThe Texans opened play
gest two plays of the year for
in the Region V tournathe Texans. Henderment with a 115-75
son came off a screen
victory against Temple
from Kidd and got his
College on March 8
three-point attempt
at Lubbock Christian
blocked. But HenderUniversity’s Rip Griffin
son grabbed the ball,
Center.
dribbled to the corner,
The quar ter final
shot over two defendgame was put out of
ers and netted the shot
reach in the first five
for three points. On
minutes. The Texans
the next possession
started the game with
on defense, sophoa 22-1 spurt and never
more and University of
looked back, blowing
Texas-Arlington recruit
out the Leopards.
Greg Gainey blocked
Marshall Henderson
a two-point attempt
scored 20 points for SPC,
by Coleman. Henderwhile going 5-10 from
son picked up the ball
the three-point stripe.
and took it down the
Derrell Edwards also
court, before pulling
scored 20 points, going
up and hitting a two5-6 from the three-point
point jumper to put
line. Stanton Kidd added
the game out of reach
19 points in the victory.
with the score at 79-73.
That set up a rematch
A series of fouls and
against the New Mexico
free-throw attempts
Junior College Thundermade the final score
birds in the semifinals.
84-74, crowning the
The Texans faced
Texans as the Region
off against NMJC for the Stanton Kidd goes up for a block against
V champions.
third time this season on Howard College on March 9.
The crowd of SPC
March 10. The game was photo by GABBY PEREZ/ PLAINSMAN
fans, faculty, and famvery close from the start, PRESS
ily stormed the court
as the T-Birds jumped
after the win. Henderout to a 17-10 lead with 12 minson had 32 points in the game,
at 12. Howard then went on an going 8-15 from the three-point
utes to play in the first half.
With the score tied at 22, 8-0 run to take a 20-12 lead with line. The unsung hero of the
the Texans went on a 9-0 run, 10 minutes to go in the first half. game was sophomore Deshaunt
and never trailed for the rest With the teams trading baskets Walker. Subbing in with 11 minof the game. SPC led 43-35 at and the lead, the Hawks tied utes to go in the first half, he
halftime, but the T-Birds tried the game up at 26 with 7:43 left scored 11 points for the Texans,
their best to stay in the game, in the first half. With less than going 3-4 from the three-point
cutting the lead to five points seven minutes remaining before line and opening up the lane
intermission, the Texans went on for Moreira, who had 12 points,
twice in the second half.
But as the Texans usually do, a 10-0 run, giving them the lead and Tymell Murphy, who also
they wore out their opponent at 36-26. The Hawks closed the chipped in 12 points.
late in the contest. SPC finished half on an 18-5 run, highlighted
“It means everything to me,
the game going 20-22 at the by a three-pointer by Shavon man,” said Gainey on winning
free-throw line, and shooting Coleman from half-court at the the Region V tournament and
34-38 from the foul line during buzzer to give Howard a 44-41 advancing to the national tourthe game, an 89.5 percent clip! lead.
nament. “I sacrificed minutes,
The second half was a hotly and playing time to get here. It
Kidd had another impres-
Photo highlights of the NJCAA Region V
Tournament Championship, won by the
Texans on March 11 at the Rip Griffin Center in
Lubbock.
photos by GABBY PEREZ and JASONE PEARSON/
PLAINSMAN PRESS
paid off, and there is no better
feeling in the world.”
Kidd added, “It means a lot.
I hated watching my team from
the bench in foul trouble, but my
team came through for me, and I
got a couple buckets to help out
at the end. It was a team win.”
Devonte Smith, a freshman
guard, said, “This means everything to me! For us to be going
to the tournament, it means a
whole lot to me.”
Sophomore Derrell Edwards
echoed these feelings as he
clutched the championship
plaque.
“To be here, holding this
plaque and to advance, I cannot
belive this,” he said. “It feels like
I am dreaming. This is a dream
come true.”
The Texans received more
good news on March 14, when
Henderson was named the WJCAC Player of the Year. Henderson averaged 19.4 points a game
this year, and went 115-269 from
three-point range, an average of
.428 this season, with most coming under pressure from two or
three defenders. Henderson has
committed to play at the University of Mississippi next year.
Coach Steve Green was also
named the WJCAC Coach of the
Year. Green guided his team
to a 32-0 record presently, and
their second NJCAA tournament
berth in four years.
Henderson, along with
Moreira and Kidd, was named
to the WJCAC All Conference first
team. Smith received honorable
mention for his efforts at the
point guard position.
Also, Henderson and Moreira
were named to the All-Region V
team.
The Texans were to face East
Mississippi Community College
in the first round of the NJCAA
tournament on March 20 in
Hutchinson, Kansas.
Extra Innings: Strong offense gives
stars potentially successful season
by NICHOLAS PARKIN
staff writer
Unlike their fellow Dallas
counterparts, including the
Cowboys and the Mavericks,
the Dallas Stars have being
flying below the radar of the
public eye.
Spanning back to their 3-2
victory in overtime against the
Calgary Flames on Feb. 16, the
Stars have produced an amazing
11-game stretch, which includes
eight wins and just three losses,
two of which came as the result
of overtime defeats.
The Stars have been rapidly climbing the standings, and
they currently hold first place in
the Pacific Division of the NHL’s
Western Conference Pacific division with a small advantage
over the second-place Phoenix
Coyotes.
Dallas recently swept
through a tough three-game
road series in Western Canada,
where hockey is king. The Stars
claimed all six possible points
on their trip.
With the unexpected win
on March 6 against the Vancouver Canucks, who are currently
in second place in the Western
Conference standings, the Stars
capped off an impressive threegame winning streak and managed to claim third place in the
Western Conference.
Forget about Jeremy Lin.
Dallas’ left wing, 22-year-old
Jamie Benn, has established
himself as an offensive threat,
playing at an elevated level
during the Stars’ dominant play
recently.
The youthful Benn has been
so effective with his play that
Stars coach Glen Gulutzan has
the option to play his young
left wing on nearly any line he
chooses.
For those of you unfamiliar
with hockey lingo, basically
Benn is so talented that he is
able to play with several different lineups at any given point of
the game and still produce goals
or assists, regardless of who he
is playing with.
Opposing teams have been
forced to decide whether to
send their toughest checking
line out while Benn is on the
ice, or if they should try to shut
down center Mike Ribeiro’s line
and take their chances with
Benn facing a weaker checking
line.
Ribeiro and Benn have established a dual threat for their
opponents, allowing the Stars to
play with much more depth on
the offensive end.
Despite Dallas’reemergence
on the ice, the Stars have seen
very little fan support. Players
seem to be reaching out to area
hockey fans, begging them to
join the fun and to give the Stars
a chance.
The Stanley Cup victory
of 1999 has come and gone.
Though they’ve lost longtime
Star, Mike Modano, the Stars
have apparently risen from the
ashes and are now fighting hard
to maintain their division lead.
With the playoffs steadily
approaching, the Stars need all
the support they can get. Who
knows? Maybe this is Dallas’
year. We’ll just have to tune in
to see.
18
Sports
Plainsman Press
March 26, 2012
Thomas speaks of overcoming past challenges to inspire youths
by JASONE PEARSON
sports editor
former alum Baron Batch, a set
of four press box tickets to see
Tech’s football team against West
Serving the kids who are
Virginia in the fall, and a customless fortunate can be a chalmade, double barrel shotgun,
lenging task, but that has been
which was sold to David Thomas,
what the Boys and Girls clubs of
for $6,000.
Lubbock have been doing for
After the awards were givLubbock and the surrounding
en
out,
Thomas delivered an
area since 1940.
inspiring speech
to the crowd of
more than 500
at the Lubbock
Memorial Civic
Center. Stressing
t h a t a ny t h i n g
was attainable
and nothing was
impossible, he
relived his days
as a youngster
learning to play
sports, and learning to never give
up or quit. His
first coach was
h i s d a d, J o h n
Thomas, former
superintendent
for the Frenship
Independent
School District
He remembered his dad
handing him
the ball off, letting him run 10
yards, and then
tackling him, play
after play. He said
his neighbors
thought it was almost child abuse,
David Thomas speaks to the Boys and Girls Club audience at the 16th annual considering how
many times he
Outback steak dinner on March 8 in Lubbock.
got hit in a row.
JASONE PEARSON/PLAINSMAN PRESS
The 29-year-old
Thomas said that
his
dad
taught
him many things
traded
to
the
New
Orleans
Saints
Every year, the kids get
that
stick
with
him
now even as a
for
a
seventh-round
draft
pick.
recognized, along with their
pro,
especially
sportsmanship.
Thomas
was
the
keynote
parents, and a guest speaker will
After a baseball game that
come to talk and uplift the kids’ speaker at the 16th annual OutThomas’
team lost, he threw his
back
Dinner,
sponsored
by
the
spirits, motivating them to be
helmet
in
frustration. He recalls
Lubbock
Boys
and
Girls
Club
the best that they can be.
that
his
dad
pulled him to the
and
ABC
Pro
Rodeo,
held
on
David Thomas is a tight end
side
and
told
him to be a leader.
March
8.
for the New Orleans Saints. He
A
lot
of
kids
do not have the
The
night
started
with
silent
was born in Plainview, Texas on
skills
and
the
ability
to get kids
auctions
of
memorabilia
such
July 5, 1983. He graduated from
to
follow
them,
and
it
was up to
as
a
Texas
Tech
jersey
signed
by
Frenship High School in Wolfforth in 2002. He was recruited to
the University of Texas in Austin
in 2002, helping the Longhorns
win a national championship
in 2006.
He was drafted by the New
England Patriots in the third
round in 2007. After playing two
years for the Patriots, he was
him to have them follow him in a
good or bad way, his father said.
Thomas said that he never forgot
that conversation.
He also recalled when he
was in his first training camp for
the New England Patriots in
2007 and Coach Bill Belichick told him to block the
middle linebacker
on the next play.
The play started,
and he noticed
t h e co r n e r b a c k
coming on a blitz to
his side. He went to go
block the cornerback and
the middle linebacker came on
a delayed blitz and sacked the
quarterback.
Thomas said Belichick
pulled him to the side and asked
him very quietly,”Do you trust
your teammates? And he replied, “Yes, sir.” Then Belichick
asked him, “Do you love your
teammates?” Thomas again
replied, “Yes, sir,” and after that
Belichick told him,“Well then
just do your job; everything
else will take care of itself. But
we need you to just do your
job.” Thomas said that he has
played football in that manner
ever since.
Thomas also recalled the
2010 Super Bowl-winning
year for the Saints, his first year
there as a tight end. He said
that he had taken his wife and
two kids to an amusement
park in San Francisco in the
summer of 2009, and he let his
son get on a train. His son fell
off the train, busted his nose
and had to get rushed to the
emergency room.
Thomas said he later received a private call while at
the hospital and told his wife,
“Honey, this might not be
good.” Stepping outside to
answer the call, he said it was
Belichick notifying him that he
had been traded to the Saints,
which proved what he wanted
the kids to know, to be ready
for anything in life, and make
the best of it.
During that season, the
Saints were 13-0 and played
the Cowboys on a Saturday
night. He said that they lost
that game, and his teammates
were mad. But since they were
undefeated, they just shrugged
it off as a hiccup. But after that
loss, they lost the next two
games, ending up 133 on the season, and
with more questions
than answers heading into the playoffs.
T h o m a s re c a l l e d
coming into the Saints
locker room the first day after
their third consecutive loss and
looking in his locker to find that
Coach Sean Payton had put a
poem in all of their lockers called
“The Looking Glass,” by Lewis
Carrol. That poem specified that
other people may believe what
you have done, or what you say,
but when it is all said and done,
you are going to have to look at
yourself in the mirror. If you have
not been true to yourself, you
will not be able to answer to the
man in the glass, yourself. The
Saints went on to win the Super
Bowl that year.
Thomas ended the night
by thanking the sponsors and
telling the kids to “always push
yourself to be the best you can
be, and if better is possible, good
is not enough.”
He said that message was
pushed to him by his former
football and track coach at Frenship, Don Black, who was in attendance.
Thomas said that Coach
Black “touched me in a way that
he probably doesn’t know. He
talked about the potential I had,
he saw the potential in me, he
saw things in me that I didn’t
see in myself, and I thank him
for that.”
Lady Texans fall in first round of Region V Tournament
Sophomore Ashley Roberts recovers a rebound in a game against
Weatherford in the first round of the NJCAA Region V tournament
on March 9 in Lubbock.
by AMEE ODOM
staff writer
GABBY PEREZ/PLAINSMAN PRESS
The South Plains College
women’s basketball team had
the season halted after running
into Weatherford College in the
opening round of the NJCAA Region V Tournament in Lubbock.
Weatherford used a highpowered offense to build a 22point halftime lead en route to
a 103-76 victory on March 9 at
Lubbock Christian University’s
Rip Griffin Center.
The Lady Texans ended the
season with a 9-20 record overall, the first time since the 2003-
2004 season that they did not
have a winning record.
The Lady Coyotes, who
tied with Hill College for the
North Texas Junior Athletic
Conference Championship,
jumped out to a
60-38 lead in the
first half. Weatherford outscored
SPC 43-38 in the
second half to seal
the deal.
Stopping
JohVonna Darrington proved
to be too tough
for the Lady Texans. Darrington
led all scores in
the contest with
29 points, while
Hannah Christian
added 20 points
for the Lady Coyotes.
Sophomore
Ashley Rober ts
led the Lady
Texans with 27
points in her final
game. Freshmen
Moneeka Carter
finished with 13
points, while sophomore Stephanie
Moore and freshmen Shea Myatt
chipped in 10
points each.
Sophomore
Raely Parada and
freshmen Sydney
Hearn and Kayla
Turner each finished with four
points.
Moneeka Carter goes to the air to take a shot over a Weatherford
College defender.
GABBY PEREZ/PLAINSMAN PRESS
19
Sports
Plainsman Press
March 26, 2012
Quest for well being mimics dedication of NBA greats
by NICHOLAS PARKIN
staff writer
I read a thought-provoking
article the other day that discussed the general misconception of happiness in the lives of
average Americans.
The author, Nancy Collier,
stated that, “In the online simulation game, ‘The Sims’, when an
avatar accomplishes all of her
lifetime aspirations, she achieves
‘Permanent Platinum’ status,
otherwise known as permanent
happiness. Once ‘Platinum’, her
mood bar cannot slip below a
certain level, and her environment no longer impacts her
happiness. She is frozen in happiness.”
Short-story short, the article
went on to hypothesize that
individuals generally perceive
happiness as a reward or trophy,
or something that is achieved
over time and is the result of
something.
However, Collier also stated,
“Happiness is not something
that arrives in a finished package, and certainly not something that we can hold on to on
a permanent basis.”
Reading this, my mind immediately floated toward sports,
and I found an interesting connection between the article’s
suggestion of “ ‘Permanent Platinum‘ “ and the All-Star players in
the NBA.
Given the above statement
to be true, most of us know that
happiness comes and goes at
different volumes and times.
When we are happy, it is only
temporary.
The real constant in life is
change, rather than happiness,
but we still continue to party
on and carry out our lives to the
best of our abilities.
Even though most individuals understand the brevity of
happiness, we often see ourselves as having come up short
because we’ve been feeling sad
or bored and haven’t been continuously happy.
If one applies these same
steep standards to the play of
the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe
Bryant, they are a bit unfair even
to him, a sure-to-be NBA Hall of
Fame inductee.
According to league statistics, Bryant is scoring just under
29 points a night in the abbreviated 2012 season.
So if he only manages to
score 15 points, like he did
against, say, the Dallas Mavericks
on Feb. 22, should he then be
classified as a failure because he
didn’t continue to play up to his
elevated scoring standard for a
brief stint?
The obvious answer is, no;
the NBA scoring leader board
will back that up. Proven players
with All-Star talent and standards are masters of leaving a
poor performance in the dust
of one city and connecting on a
miraculous performance a night
later in the next city.
The Miami Heat’s leading
scorer, Lebron James, abruptly
broke his streak of happiness
when he choked under pressure
on the big stage in the 2011 NBA
finals.
Still, he managed to shake
off the loss and return the following season a better player
than before. He even adjusted
his headband a tad higher since
the loss.
The article I read also suggests that happiness as a goal
for one’s life is not a wise path to
follow. Collier stated, “We need
to uncover a state of well-being,
deeper than happiness, a state
that can survive the swings of
circumstance, happiness and
unhappiness, gaining and losing
what we want and the feelings
that make up every human life.”
The state of well-being that
Collier discussed is something
completely internal and separate from external forces.
My thoughts are that in the
mind of every All-Star player
must be a unique fusion of heart,
drive and wit that create their
MVP aura, or as Collier called it,
their “well-being.”
In sports, and the NBA, in
particular, a player becomes
and can remain an All-Star by
constantly pursuing seemingly
unreachable goals on a nightly
basis, in front of thousands of
people, for years on end.
If a player possesses a competitive nature that allows him
to play at a higher level, on a
nightly basis, than most players, then he can have a career
intertwined with consistent play
and occasional failure.
Consistency, plus occasional
failure, generally results in a successful player, according to NBA
standards.
In the pursuit of well-being,
or becoming All-Star material,
“There is never a moment in life
when we can assume we simply
have it,” said Collier.
Life constantly hurls opportunities at us. Only by accepting
and embracing these moments
may we obtain a continued
sense of well-being.
“The substance of well-being is our own compassionate
presence -- a compassion for
what we are living now,” stated
Collier.
During his time in the
league, NBA legend Michael
Jordan competed to such an
extent that he never stopped to
observe any of his opportunities
pass by during his astonishing
career.
Jordan passionately pursued nearly every opportunity
thrown his way, cashing in on
six championships, five MVP
seasons, 14 All-Star game appearances and six finals MVP
awards.
The “Air Man” pursued goals
a bit too high to stop and look
down at the rest of the league.
MJ came back stronger in
every season that he participated. His drive to be great was
constantly flaring, with no re-
gard for whoever his opponent
may have been.
He never stopped playing
the game, even as a twice-retired
player. Jordan still competes to
the same extreme with his business ventures.
Though he doesn’t quite get
the same payoff or kick he did on
the hardwood, MJ is still striving
and making the most of his AllStar state of mind off the court.
With quite a booming Nike
franchise, partly due to his Air
Jordan sneakers, Jordan’s foot
literally remains on the pedal.
He’s continuing to make the
most of his quick ride on this
planet, embracing nearly all
possibilities along the way
and never letting up.
Getting second chance
to play their first love
by JASONE PEARSON
sports editor
Rarely do you get a second
chance to live out your dream.
For the players and coaches
of the Texas Tornados, they have
been granted that chance. Head
coach Victor Hatchett and various players do not receive any
pay for playing. They play just
as hard, because this was, and
will always be, their first love,
football.
The Tornados are 4-1on the
season, and ranked number 27
in the nation out of 300 minor
pro football teams. They have a
lot of players with college, and
NFL-worthy talent, but life took
them in other directions, or
mistakes cost them a chance to
play. There also are some players
who just want something to do
on the weekends, so why not
play football?
J.D. Valero said that he did
not see any drawbacks to being
a team owner.
“I had been coaching Y.F.L.
football in Lubbock for nine
years, says Valero, “So I gave this
a shot. I love football so much
that there was nothing bad to
think of, besides players having
their disagreements, and getting back on the same page.”
Valero added that there is
nothing more he would rather
be doing than watching his team
play ball.
One member of the team,
Damian Hall, says that he does not
mind playing for free.
“I love playing for this team,”
Hall said, “and I appreciate a second chance to play. I made a mistake in high school and messed
up an opportunity. So I am willing
to do anything, including playing
for free, so i can do what i love to
do, play football.”
Hatchett says that the Tornados have to play their games in
Slaton. He and Valero approached
the Lubbock City Council about
securing a field, and they were
turned down. It’s a very difficult
situation for a team in Lubbock to
have to play their home games 15
minutes away from their hometown, according to Hatchett.
A minor pro football team
also relies a lot on sponsors. Without sponsors, your equipment,
helmets, insurance and other
necessities may suffer. Players on
another Lubbock minor pro football team, the West Texas Outlaws,
do not have their names on the
back of their jerseys. They could
not secure a sponsor, so they
had to borrow the Lorenzo High
School football jerseys.
The Tornados are playing
great football, but the bad news is
that hardly anybody is watching.
Their quarterback, Corey White,
looks like Mike Vick in the pocket
and was named the M.P.F.L.
player of the week with his
four-touchdown performance
against the Outlaws on March
3.
With little or no television
coverage, it is hard for Hatchett
to get people to rally around
his team.
“I do a lot of networking, “
says Hatchett. “ I talk to many
people every day at my Lubbock barber shop, and put
flyers out to get the word out
about the Tornados everywhere I go.”
The players say that they
do not have a problem if anyone does not show up to watch,
because they are getting to
play the game they love again,
even though it is for free. They
also say that it is a little disheartening to go on the road
and see the support other
teams get that Lubbock does
not give them.
If the players and coaches
just keep winning, the city will
come around. As evidenced
by the teams’ final score being
mentioned on Fox34 and KLBK,
people are paying attention.
Now they just need to go see
this team live. It will make you
appreciate these guys and this
team more, knowing that every
player and coach is doing it
for free, because they love the
game.
Rodeo team enters spring
season with first rodeo
by SAMANTHA RODRIGUEZ
editor in chief
The South Plains College
women’s rodeo team began
the spring season with strong
performances.
The men’s and women’s
rodeo team traveled to Weatherford Rodeo, which was held
on March 1 – March 3. They
had 2 members compete in the
final round.
For the women’s team, freshman Sarah Walker competed in
the goat tying event and placed
fourth overall earning 70 points.
During the first round Walker was
tied for second with a time of 8.0
seconds, with a time of 9.5 seconds during the final round , she
tied for seventh. She had a total of
17.5 seconds in the event.
Freshman Keyla Kothman,
competed in the team roping
event, placing sixth overall. Kothman teamed up with Odessa’s
Asa Daughtery practices calf roping for an upcoming rodeo.
SAMANTHA RODRIGUEZ/PLAINSMAN PRESS
Landon Martin. During the finals, the duo had a time of 14.3
seconds, the ninth best time.
They later on placed a time of
11.7 seconds, placing fourth.
Both Kothman and Martin
added a time of 26 seconds.
The SPC rodeo teams traveled to Odessa to co-host and
compete in their second rodeo
of the semester on March 22.
Results were not available at
press time.
Four members of the Texas Tornados football team preparing for the game on March 3.
JASONE PEARSON/PLAINSMAN PRESS
Spotlight
20
March 26, 2012
Strokes of Genius...
Plainsman Press
Exhibit showcases substantial talents of Da Vinci
by GABRIELA AVILA
feature editor
The mere mention of the
name ignites conversation,
whether it’s in regard to the popular "Da Vinci Code" movie or the
beautiful
paintings that
he left
with the
world.
Lubb o c k
has the
privilege
to host
the “Da
Vinci: The
Genius”
traveling
exhibit
at the
Science
Spectrum
Museum
and Omni
Theater.
The traveling exhibit in
Lubbock was made possible by
The Helen Jones Foundation
Inc., and a grant from the City
of Lubbock recommended by
Civic Lubbock Inc.
A Renaissance Fair was held
in conjunction with the Da
Vinci exhibit, as James Nesmith,
administrative manager for the
Science Spectrum, said that the
exhibit served as a fundraiser for
the Science Spectrum.
The Da Vinci exhibit has
been attracting attention not
only from the Lubbock area residents, but there are signatures
in the guest book from other
regions in the country.
“We’re very fortunate that
this exhibit is in Lubbock,” said
Nesmith.
Many of the visitors of the
Da Vinci exhibit were surprised to find out that Da Vinci
was so much more than just
an artist.
The “Da Vinci: The Genius”
exhibit allows the public to
see inside a great mind that
exposed that he was the
contributor for some modern
technology that we use
now.
Nesmith said
that Da Vinci revolutionized
society
and
the
the favorite and well known
"The Last Supper" massively
displayed in 3D animated projection in a room alone where
people could sit down and see
the painting in a magnifying
opportunity.
It also had The Great Sforza
Horse sculpture in 3D animation, as well as the world famous Vitruvian Man image in
3D and the explanation of the
image.
One of the new additions is
the "Secrets of the Mona Lisa,"
with thorough analyses of the
iconic painting. It focused on
the 25 revelations of The Mona
Lisa. The revelations focused
on the discoveries of the Mona
Lisa’s eyelashes and eyebrows
debacle, and displayed the
painting as a 360-degree image.
Though his more famous
paintings were displayed, some
people were more curious
about his other paintings that
are not as well known by the
general public.
""Ugly men," his drawings
of those poor souls, is really one
of my favorite pieces,” said Holly
Decker, a Lubbock
resident. "Anyone can draw a
beautiful person, but it’s
drawing
the other
person,
which
is what
a better knowledge inside the
head of a genius. Alongside the
enlarged drawings, there were
side notes so that the audience
could gain better knowledge
of the thought process of Da
Vinci.
Such meticulous work
had to be
done to
recreate
the drawings that
were in Da
Vinci’s notebook, since
he left very
little behind,
and what he
did leave behind is cinched
away inside
high-security
museums.
The drawings weren’t just
the only thing people had
a chance to see. The exhibit had re-created lifesize machine inventions
and interactive pieces
that adults or children
could interact with.
While the
re p l i c a s we re
arranged
througho u t
the
exhib-
art
world
through
his many
talents that
he possessed.
The exhibit displayed numerous paintings that Da Vinci
was well known for, such as
makes it very interesting."
All of the art displayed in the exhibit is
to scale from Da Vinci’s
famous artwork. Not
only was Da Vinci a
painter, he was also an
inventor.
In the “Da Vinci:
The Genius” exhibit,
in addition to an impressive amount of
paintings, there were
drawings of Da Vinci's
creations that he conceptualized.
The drawings were blown
up so that the people could gain
it, those that generated more of
a crowd were the first concept
of a car, helicopter, parachute
and military tank. It was easily
apparent that the sheer amount
of work that Da Vinci had accomplished
was quite
impressive.
A l though
most of
the ideas
that Da
Vinci designed
n e v e r
were actually produced,
the exhibit created the
designs
that will
allow the
public to
understand the formation and allow
them to visually see the working
of the mechanics of the design.
Da Vinci was not just an
innovator for the public to gain
new ideas; he helped the military with creating ideas that
could help.
He had drawings of The
Battle of Anghiari, a drawing
of the structure of a gas mask
included in the exhibit. It even
had an emergency bridge that
would come out in the event of
trouble.
Da Vinci was a multi-tasker
at his best. He was an inventor,
artist, sculptor, anatomist, biologist, musician, ar-
chitect,
and philosopher.
" Tr u e
genius Da
Vinci was, rarely
someone masters so
many areas," said Nesmith.
The exhibit also delved into
Da Vinci’s personal life, covering
the life and times of Da Vinci, his
alphabet and writing technique,
as well as a documentary of
Da Vinci that the public could
enjoy.
"It’s an appreciation for
the Renaissance period," said
Nesmith.
Da Vinci was born in 1452
and died in 1519.The Renaissance period is well known in
the art community to be an era
of great painters. Critics and
analysts say that Da Vinci was
arguably one of the greatest
minds the world has ever had
the pleasure of knowing.
The “Da Vinci: The Genius”
exhibit is a well-known, welltraveled exhibit which was first
introduced in Australia in 2006.
It started out small with a few
replicas of some of Da Vinci's
inventions.
After awhile,
it became apparent that it generated a lot more
i n t e re s t t h a n
anybody had
anticipated. It
took 10 years
to add such
an array of inventions and
replicas that
could be as
close to the
real thing.
The founders wanted
the public
to understand
how complex
and ahead of
his time Da Vinci
was, and to understand what a
rarity it is to find
such a brilliant
man with so many
talents.
One of the
founders of the exhibit relocated to
Italy so that he could
work more closely to
the museum. He expanded the exhibit to
be a traveling exhibit
where they would set
up exhibits for a period
of time so the public
could easily access the
contribution that Da
Vinci made.
It may be hard for
many to believe that Da
Vinci had no formal training for any of his endeavors
that he accomplished throughout his life. He had no formal
education, which allowed all of
his accomplishments to be of his
own intellect and desire to show
the world new ideas.
While the exhibit is sizeable,
the visitor has the opportunity
to either read the information
that is located beside the replicas, or they hear it with audio.
The Da Vinci exhibit at the
Science Spectrum in Lubbock
opened in January and will
continue to April 15. Tickets
are $12 for adults and $9.50 for
children.
“It’s beautiful; it’s a oncein- a-lifetime thing,” said Theresa
Jeffries, a Lubbock native. “Everyone should come see it.”
The Science Spectrum has
hosted events with this caliber
before, including the Titanic
exhibit featuring ancient artifacts and secrets of the tragic
voyage.
There is a gift shop that includes miscellaneous things related to Da Vinci that one could
visit after touring the exhibit.
As Da Vinci said, “learning never
exhausts the mind.”
photos by GABBY PEREZ/
PLAINSMAN PRESS