March 10, 2010

thewichitanyour university n your voiceWednesday n March 10, 2010

Mustangs trounce Tarleton State to secure third LSCtitle in four years and secure home-court advantagefor NCAA Division II South Central tournament

npAge 8

Uncle Sam to fund student loans exclusively

Beginning this summer, members of the MSU community who are eligible for financial aid will owe student loan debts directly to the federal government rather than banks and other private lenders.

The MSU Financial Aid office is in

the process of transitioning from the Federal Family Education Loan Pro-gram (FFELP) to the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program.

According to the Financial Aid of-fice, new and current students who wish to borrow Subsidized, Unsubsidized and PLUS loans will do so through the Direct Loan program, which is serviced through the U.S. Department of Edu-

cation rather than private banks and credit unions.

The switch is in response to several factors, including the increasing un-certainty in private loan markets and Congressional movement toward a new nationwide financial aid policy.

Kathy Pennartz, director of financial aid at MSU, said the move to direct loans is an effort to ensure that students’

loan money is guaranteed despite any market woes.

“The short term (benefit of switching to direct loans) for our office is that we can ensure our students will have money on time,” she said.

Pennartz said that currently a bill is floating around Congress called the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, or SAFRA. SAFRA would effec-

tively eliminate the FFELP program and make it mandatory for all universi-ties to switch their loans over to a fed-eral direct system.

“It will eliminate the FFELP pro-gram effective July 1 if it passes,” Sue Nelson, associate director of financial aid, said.

MSU has had the option to switch

Effective this summer, MSU students will borrow money directly from the federal government

As Dr. Keith Williamson, Dr. Joey Greenwood, and SGA Senator Cameron Shaffer faced the audience in Shawnee Theatre Friday to discuss the current MSU tobacco policy, two of them were probably relieved.

One of them was probably dis-appointed.

It should have been apparent to Williamson, university physi-

cian, and Greenwood, director of the Wellness Center, both

writers of the policy, that

Jun tries to clarify concept of anarchy

When Dr. Nathan Jun spoke as part of the Faculty Forum series on last Tuesday, he sought to clarify some misconceptions about what is possibly the most misun-derstood philosophical movement: anarchism.

He began the presentation by quoting Franklin Del-ano Roosevelt: “The anarchist is the enemy of human-ity, the enemy of all mankind. His is a deeper degree of criminality than any other. Most of these are criminals whose perverted instincts led them to prefer confusion and chaos to the most beneficent form of social order,”

The anarchists were pursued mercilessly by the press, wantonly beaten by police and executed by the govern-

Program aims to improve studentwriting skills

English Chair Dr. David Rankin wants you to be a better writer.

That’s why he’s spearheading a movement at MSU called Writing Across the Curriculum. But he isn’t edu-cating students how to write better – he’s educating the educators.

Over the course of the semester, two faculty members from each department on campus (excluding English) will attend seminars hosted by Rankin that explain how to grade papers, what to assign and what’s really not a big deal.

This campus-wide process will increase the value of a degree from MSU, he said.

“We’re trying to set up a situation where the value

LSC CHAMPIONS... AGAIN

Quirky Carnage

Sloane Crosley once baked a cookie intended to resemble her neurotic, hypercritical boss… and gave the boss the cookie.

She didn’t ask for milk. In fact, Crosley told the audience at the fi-nal installment of this year’s Artist

Lecture Series that Ursula, her hor-rific bosslady reminiscent of the vit-riol-spewing editor from The Devil Wears Prada, fed the sugary treat to her daughter, who promptly vom-ited.

As far as “worst job” stories go, The Ursula Cookie, an essay from Cros-ley’s first book I Was Told There’d Be Cake, might not be the worst ever. It

might not even be the most memo-rable. But just like the rest of the personal stories Crosley pens, the event doesn’t have to be particularly significant.

Crosley said she didn’t grow up in an environment marked by war, famine, alcoholism or horrific lawn ornaments (though she does own a

Crosley owns up to humorous everyday mistakes in personal essays,warns lecturegoers of the dangers inherent to baking one’s boss in cookie-effigy

Tobacco bandebate keeps

smolderingChris Collins

Managing Editor

Brittany NormanEditor in ChiEf

See BAN on page 3

Chris CollinsManaging Editor

Brittany NormanEditor in ChiEf

See LOANS on page 5

The MSU rugby team beat San Antonio Men’s Colleges (SAMC) with a 17-0 semifinal shutout at the MSU Intramural Fields Saturday.

MSU will now advance to the Texas Collegiate Rugby Division 3 finals against Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches March 27.

The team got an extra adrenaline rush as the entire MSU football team turned out to cheer on the rugby team at the kick-off.

MSU kicked off to SAMC and set the pace of the game with a big hit by Bo Williams and Luis Banda.

MSU quickly regained possession of the ball and moved 30 yards down the field with their big forwards. Banda finished off the drive.

Aaron Alvarez kicked the conversion. With the

MSU football team still cheering from the sidelines, Banda scored again in similar fashion as MSU moved the ball outside to its backline then back inside where Luis scored his second try 15 minutes into the match.

SAMC adjusted and kept MSU from scoring again until half time, but MSU held onto 12-0 advantage. The match remained scoreless until late in the second half as MSU finally opened up its back line play with a kick by Aaron Alvarez that was touched down for a try by Imonitie “Damian” Atamenwan.

MSU squandered many scoring opportunities dur-ing the match but it did not matter. MSU had its sec-ond shutout in a row (24-0 vs. St Edward’s University last week) winning it big 17-0.

Man of the match went to Matt Cobb, MSU’s 2nd row player who has greatly contributed to the team in only his second full game.

Damien Atamenwanfor thE WiChitan

Hard-hitting style of play pays off on the pitch

See JUN on page 4

See CROSLeY on page 5 See WRITINg on page 4

MSU Rugby pulled out a 17-0 win against San Antonio Men’s Colleges on Saturday. (Photos by Kassie Bruton)

Chris CollinsManaging Editor

Sloane Crosley (Photo by Brittany Norman)

campusvoice2 n The Wichitan March 3, 2010

thewichitan3410 Taft Blvd. Box 14 n Wichita Falls, Texas 76308News Desk: (940) 397-4704 n Ads: (940) 397-4705

Fax (940) 397-4025 n E-mail [email protected] Editor’s E-mail [email protected]

editorial boardnEdiTor in ChiEf: Brittany normannManaging EdiTor: Chris Collins

nEnTErTainMEnT EdiTor: Lauren Woodnop-Ed EdiTor: position opennSporTS EdiTor: Josh hoggardnphoTo EdiTor: Julia raymond

nadvErTiSing ManagEr: Jamie MonroenCopy EdiTor: phoebe Kurmi

and amaka oguchinadviSEr: randy pruitt

nrEporTErS: Leah roberts, Jaleesa Bealom, ashley nesbitt, Matt Ledesma,

Loren Eggenschwiler

nphoTographErS: Loren Eggenschwiler,patrick Johnston, Kassie Bruton

Copyright © 2007. The Wichitan is a member of the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association. The Wichitan reserves the right to edit any material submitted for publication. Opinions expressed in The Wichitan do not necessarily reflect those of the students, staff, fac-ulty, administration or Board of Regents of Midwest-ern State University. First copy of the paper is free of charge; additional copies are $1. The Wichitan wel-comes letters of opinion from students, faculty and staff submitted by the Friday before intended publica-tion. Letters should be brief and without abusive lan-guage or personal attacks. Letters must be typed and signed by the writer and include a telephone number

and address for verification purposes. The editor retains the right to edit letters.

Until I sat down to take the Writing Profi-ciency Exam last Saturday, I held firmly to the belief that the test was a stupid, pointless necessity of earn-ing a degree from MSU. It ranked up there with the existence of Ki-nesiology Classes as part of the core curriculum, or the alcohol awareness program every new freshman has to at least pre-tend to sit through to maintain enrollment. It was, in my opinion, waste of time (and money) with no real determinate purpose.

Sitting in the Bolin lecture hall waiting for the proctor to distrib-ute the exams, a little bit of obser-vation proved that maybe I had passed judgment too hastily.

I put off taking the dreaded WPE until the looming threat of being forced via registration hold into ENGL 2113, otherwise known as Composition Skills (for those who have none).

Determined to avoid adding yet another English class to my already Lit-heavy plan for 2010-2011, I bit the Writing Proficien-cy bullet and obediently submit-ted the $25 fee necessary to have my rhetorical skills and punctua-tion aptitude judged by a faceless “secret grader” with an almighty pen capable of passing or failing students at the drop of a misused semicolon.

As requested, I arrived 15 min-utes early, proved I wasn’t paying off a graduate student to pass off their impeccable syntax as my own by flashing my student ID as I signed in, and settled among the hundreds of other unlucky Satur-day morning testtakers.

Admittedly, I started out the day irritated, but mostly with myself. See, my procrastination when it came to proving profi-ciency had necessitated my tak-ing the exam on Saturday, which preempted my previous test-ing plans for the morning. I was signed up for the free(!) practice LSAT, which would have been my last gratis benchmark before taking the real deal in June. In-stead, I was paying to prove I can write persuasively and utilize ba-sic functions required to compre-hensively express myself in the English language.

It seemed to me that students who have passed two semesters of Rhet-oric and Composi-tion, a course en-tirely dedicated to the development of writing skills, would be equipped with correspond-ingly passable apti-tude in the area of written communi-cation.

My theory was soon stunningly proven wrong.

I overheard (read: eavesdropped due to boredom) a pre-exam con-versation between two female students I had never met. For the purposes of this description, I will refer to them as Gertrude and Pe-nelope. Their gab session went a little something like this:

Gertrude: What’s this test for? (Warning! Ending a sentence with a preposition could be punishable by forced enrollment into Composition Skills!)

Penelope: (Smacks gum thoughtfully – something she continued to do throughout the entire exam – before answering) Dunno. Rhetoric and stuff.

Gertrude: Oh. Yeah. (Pause, wherein I can clearly hear her friend’s smacking) What’s rheto-ric again?

Penelope: (Smack smack) Dunno. I think something to do with manipulation.

Gertrude: Manipulation?Penelope: (smackity smack)

Yep. That’s what my professor said. Also I heard you should write this test thing like you’re an idiot, you know? Don’t do sentences that need commas and junk. Just write like… simple.

Gertrude: So… don’t use com-mas?

Penelope: (smack smackity) Uh huh. Just don’t write anything that needs a comma and you’re good.

My nonexistent psychic powers told me that both of these girls had some run-ons in their future, but I politely kept my mouth shut. But seriously, is writing at a level most closely comparable to middle school Intro to Spanish classes really the advised meth-od of ensuring a passing grade? Surely not, though I had heard that advice earlier in the week as well.

Then came the instructions. The proctor explained that we

would be writing a persuasive (not necessarily manipulative) essay. We would have two hours to write between 300-500 words in a manner that was at least somewhat organized into these creatures known as paragraphs. Upon pain of failure and a semes-terlong sentence to Composition Skills, we were told to underline our thesis sentence, which she de-fined as a sentence that states the argument you will defend in the rest of your paper.

Penelope: (smack smack) I was wondering what a thesis thingie was.

The instructions were solid, and so were the definitions, but it all just seemed like a waste of time. Take underlining the thesis sentence for example. Is it to force us to prove we know what one is? Perhaps composition prowess is directly related to an ability to follow directions of indetermi-nate purpose.

When the testing commenced, some of the students around me probably didn’t underline their thesis sentences. Others might have still had no idea what a the-sis sentence even was, and opted instead to underline something at random in hopes that luck would point their pen to the correct phrase.

I’m worried, though, that there were a lot of students in there like dear Gertrude and Penelope. There were probably several who tried to avoid commas at all costs because they never learned how to properly use one. Next fall, sit-ting in Composition Skills along with the people who fail due to technicalities, will be those who really didn’t have a clue to begin with.

And that shouldn’t happen. By the time MSU students reach 90 credit hours, regardless of what they’re majoring in or what their natural writing skill level is, they should have learned what a the-sis sentence is. They should know what it means to write persua-sively. They should be able to uti-lize basic grammatical functions without being prompted.

And if they can’t do those things, they should have never passed their freshman English classes.

Also, if it’s true that students fail the Writing Proficiency Exam for neglecting to underline their thesis sentence or circle their top-ic – really? Focus on the writing. Apparently, that’s the part we’re having real trouble with.

Writing skills: you’re on notice

The month of March and spring is in the air. The snowy winter that made a surprise visit to Wichita Falls this year is finally over and outside the sun is beginning to shine. Flowers are blooming (well, almost) and clothes are being peeled off, just yester-day I witnessed more than one person rocking the jean shorts! With the change in weather comes a lighter mood, an air of hope that has been in hiding since November. Coinci-dentally March is also national women’s month.

Each day is dedicated to the women that have suffered, in-vented; dedicated they have en-dured all things. These women are celebrated as the pioneers of our time, they are the lead-ers who have ensured that we move forward, together, as a sex-less nation. Gender is no longer the main issue that determines whether we succeed.

February was black history month and to some it was a month to celebrate their culture, heritage and history. For others it was a chance to learn about black history and to recognize that the people being celebrated helped to change the world for all of us regardless of our race, religion, gender and sexuality.

International women’s month should do much of the same. It is a time to come to-gether to mark the incredible strides that have been made all over the world by women. If you are celebrat-ing the life and works of Marie Curie or you are planning to throw a birthday bash for Barbie who turned 51 yesterday (she

looks good for her age, right?) International women’s month gives us all the opportunity to not only celebrate but to look deeper into the issues surround-ing women world wide today.

This year’s theme, as proposed by international women’s day or-ganization is equal rights, equal opportunities: progress for all. It follows a United Nation’s cam-paign that seeks to end violence against women worldwide by 2015, calling for all nations to implement strong laws and pre-ventetive measures.

With almost 1200 more fe-males enrolled on campus than males, the issue appears to be one of importance to the stu-dents at MSU. Alyssa Archer, a sophomore from Dallas said that it worries her that being fe-male will affect her career choice, she said, “being a girl definitely doesn’t help me after college. I make higher grades than most of the guys in my class but as a

business major I know that most of the companies are looking for men.” Sad, but true.

It has been a long time since women in the US have felt as oppressed as our counterparts in third world countries but preju-dice DOES still happen and this week as we celebrate Katherine Bigelow’s oscar win I find my-self asking the question: why did it take this long for a woman to win best director? And why is it such a big deal? Maybe it’s be-cause women don’t necessarily demand the respect that men do in Hollywood, I imagine it’s hard to compete with the likes of Steven Spielberg. But it saddens me to think that just because we are not politically oppressed or encountering violence that we consider this to be enough. In-ternational women’s month is a gateway to exploration; it allows us to explore not only ourselves but the women around us. It gives us the opportunity to cel-ebrate all the women around us that are making a difference daily.

With that in mind I believe that international women’s month is an important part of history for us all and the time has come for us to hail the wom-en of the past and present that have helped us on our way. You may not identify with all of the women through history that are being celebrated, but if all else fails talk to the women around you, your sisters, friends, your Mom and tell them how thank-ful you are for the great women in your life.

Women still overcoming obstacles

Leah robertsFor the Wichitan

Slammed by the Bellnour view

So there you are, careening through the parking lot attempting to make it to your 10 a.m. class, searching frantically for a spot to open up in an otherwise jam-packed lot.

When you finally manage to squeeze past another driver who has obviously been stalking the spot you eventually steal for about ten minutes, ignoring the customary middle finger pointed in your general direction, you take a mo-ment to thank God that your car didn’t get smashed in the mad dash for the already-claimed space.

Then, you look down at your phone to check the time (or watch, if you still have one of those archaic things).

It’s 10:05.Already five minutes late.Geez. By the time you get in your building,

through the door (which is now closed, if not locked), and plant your rear in a seat, it’s 10:10.

You walk into your class, ignoring your peers who are obnoxious enough to glare or remark at your tardiness.

Do they not know your alarm is bro-ken? Do they not know the parking lot is crammed like a tin of sardines? Do

they not get how hard you partied last weekend?

The answer: yeah, they probably do. Chances are they’ve been late before, too.

It’s something almost all of us have done at some point: showing up to class after the Hardin bell rings.

Walking into class late is disruptive and annoying to everyone who came on time, but most students probably don’t care that much.

It’s teachers that it really bothers.As far as instructors go, they all have

different methods for dealing with late attenders.

Some ignore it.Some make an example of kids who

are latently late.Some take the passive-aggressive

route and “forget” to mark you present on the role sheet.

Because whether you think your pro-fessor notices you’re late or not, he or she probably does.

They probably know that your life doesn’t revolve around historical geol-ogy.

They know that you care about you care about tectonic plates about as much

as you care about getting a root canal.But you have to at least act like you

care.And nothing says, ‘I’d rather be sleep-

ing in my bed,’ than showing up to class halfway through the period.

So have a little respect, huh?You don’t have to apologize to your

instructor if you’re a little late one day (although it might help your attendance grade).

But if you can never, ever, for the life of you make it to class on time, you had better hold a sidebar with the teach and plead your case.

Sometimes another professor is really to blame for your tardiness. We know that it happens – you have to ask your teacher something after class, and you had to wait for that person with a mil-lion questions to finally leave before you could get a word in edge-wise.

And then, you had to walk all the way from Dillard to Fain. In the rain!

It happens to the best of us. And teachers (since they’re usually pretty smart) know that stuff like that hap-pens.

Just don’t do it all the time, k?Some of are trying to learn here.

Brittany normanEditor in ChiEf

news/op-edThe Wichitan n 3March 10, 2010

Mornings are always the worst time of the day for me—especially when I am out of coffee—but I suffer through the migraine and grumpiness and dress for work. For several months now, I have been teaching at Midwestern State Uni-versity for several months as part of my graduate degree. I have re-ally enjoyed the experience, but I was more than a little apprehensive about teaching and attending class-es this spring term.

The new Non-smoking Ban was set to kick off this semester and since I was an on-again, off-again smoker, I was more than a little worried about working and attend-ing classes without taking a break from my sanity with a couple of puffs from a cigarette.

No longer would I be able to hang around the ashtrays that re-sembled a contaminated, metallic bird bath and chat with colleagues about the mysteries of the alche-mists while we burned away the precious cells of our lungs, remov-ing ourselves one step further away from the philosopher’s stone.

Although I am still relatively

new to the teaching field, I still feel an angry swarm of butterflies buzz-ing through my stomach like a nest of provoked hornets at the begin-ning of each semester.

How would I silence their wings without my precious cigarette smoke? How would I survive grad-ing mountains of students’ papers without my costly cancer sticks to help see me through my frustra-tions when students confuse the use of a colon with a semicolon?

I felt my world slowly collaps-ing as I followed a trail of cigarette butts toward the entrance of MSU. Do I dare share my feelings with the world? Do I dare speak out against the powers that be who have stripped away a simple freedom but still provide me with a paycheck?

What’s next? Will they ban stu-dents from parking their cars on campus because of oil stains, or will they ban students from eating food outside of the Clark Student Cen-ter because of trash littering the manicured laws of the new business building?

Doubtful, it is not PC enough. Now, don’t get me wrong. After all, smoking is bad. Experts say that smoking ciga-

rettes greatly increase the chance

for heart failure, low-birth weight and, of course, lung cancer. In fact, several advertisements stream across the television depicting a sickly old man with a breathing respirator strapped to his wrinkled mouth. He looks at the viewer, slowly re-moves the breathing apparatus and explains in a growling voice that a person could look like him if he or she dares to smoke.

Sadly, though, we will all look as bad as the raspy old man when we reach his age. Our bodies decay everyday— it’s the natural process of life.

Granted, we may not be bald or thin or wearing breathing respira-tors, but we will have something wrong with us: Alzheimer’s, Leu-kemia, Arthritis, colon cancer, MS, breast cancer, testicular cancer, high blood pressure, low blood pressure, diabetes and Lymph...

Well, you get the picture.So as I sneak around at night

with my fellow ninjas, searching for a place to inhale our toxins, without littering or offending the common man, I begin to horde fast food, candy bars and Coke products, for I have feeling that obesity is next on prohibition’s rather long list of limited freedoms.

they wouldn’t have to an-swer too many questions during the town hall dis-cussion.The bodies were there – a few important faculty members, a whole row of Pi Sigma Alphas right in front (they put the event on, so they had to come), and a rag-tag group of stu-dents showed up to butt heads over butts – but only a handful of them asked questions or voiced con-cerns. Shaffer, whose own con-cerns about the ban cul-minated in this discussion, wasn’t too bummed out that most of the student body did what it usually does when there’s a forum on tobacco use (which is to not come). “More students are in-terested in the debate and the administration is more open to talking since so many objections were raised,” he said. Another forum on smok-ing will probably be held following Spring Break. Greenwood and William-son, who answered many questions similarly that eve-ning, said the policy hinges on educating students about tobacco use. “We’re all educated enough to know tobacco use is not healthy,” Greenwood said. “The negative effects are very apparent. Secondhand smoke has negative effects on the body. Even if you have the right to smoke, what about the people who don’t smoke and have their rights infringed upon?” Greenwood said MSU would never have enough police to enforce Shaffer’s policy. “The police staff would be writ-ing tickets all day long. I think we could hire 10 or 15 more police officers and they would still be doing that all day long.” “It’s a drug that they’re addicted to and we’re telling them they can’t use that drug on this campus anymore,” Greenwood said. “That’s pretty abrasive already. But it’s our role in public educa-tion to teach about health topics.” One of Greenwood’s points was that parents visiting the campus for Family Day are reassured by the fact that MSU is a “tobacco-free” campus. “Parents love to talk about that because they know their student’s social smoking habit won’t turn into an addiction.” One student who gives campus tours to families of potential students said MSU’s tag as “tobacco-free” can actu-

ally be detrimental to its reputation. “If I tell a family, ‘Yes, we have a smoking-free campus,’ and they see the people smoking in front of the building, they say, ‘I thought you said this was a smoke-free campus,’” she said. “I don’t know what to tell them. When you see five or six people smoking outside of Prothro-Yeager it gives families the wrong picture.” “It is our goal to get the word out to students so we can decrease it after time. It would be very naïve to think that after Jan. 1 – and we’re well past it now – that we would never see another cigarette butt on campus,” Greenwood said. “Actually,” Shaffer said, “since Jan. 1 we’ve seen an increase in cigarette butts on campus because all the ashtrays have been removed and there’s no place to dispose of the discarded tobacco prod-ucts. The integrity of the university is being undermined when they say one thing is happening and another thing is actually happening.” “I think parents will realize that we’re dealing with a new policy and that there are people who will violate that policy,” Williamson said. “Just as when those same parents drove up here, I bet you

every car wasn’t doing the speed limit. That doesn’t undermine the authority of the state. They understand that. There’s always going to be people who try to push the limits.” One student raised concerns about why all tobacco products were banned and not just cigarettes, since only they reportedly harm others from second-hand use. “This is a two-fold policy,” Williamson said. “It’s aimed at both education and improving the health of the whole stu-dent body. We also wanted to produce a fair policy. I wasn’t willing to put up a policy with the creeping question of ‘what is appropriate use of tobacco. The policy is very clear and there is no con-fusion.” “There is a difference between educa-tion and dictation,” Shaffer said. “There’s a difference between telling someone that smoking is bad for you and telling them, ‘you’re not allowed to smoke.’ There’s a difference between teaching someone about government and telling them they need to participate and vote. This policy is not educational in nature but dictatorial. It’s a policy that dictates to students how healthy or well their

behavior is allowed to be.” Greenwood posited that the univer-sity’s tobacco cessation courses, coupled with information about the negative ef-fects of tobacco on the MSU Web site, fulfills the policy’s obligation to educa-tion. The same student noted that Budweis-er is a Homecoming sponsor for MSU. Tobacco companies, under the current policy, aren’t even allowed to advertise at MSU. Shaffer noted certain student groups are allowed to use alcohol during certain events and activities. “There are safe and healthy levels of alcohol consumption,” Williamson said. “It is not a class-A carcinogen like to-bacco, which has no safe level of con-sumption.” One student who smokes asked the panel why some instructors turn a blind eye to students chewing tobacco during class. “If this is supposed to be a tobacco-fee campus, why are our instructors – the ones with the PhD’s – ignoring all the chewing?” she said. “It’s disgusting to sit there and look at a water bottle, or what used to be one, that’s now full of spit.” “I think the professor’s role in class is

to get you educated,” William-son said. “He doesn’t want to take up class time policing a policy.” “Is that disgusting to see a bottle full of spit? Yes,” Green-wood said. “But if we can stop the behavior, especially before it hits the social level, that’s the goal of this policy.” Williamson said one of his concerns with the policy is that students might want to use it to single one another out. “I didn’t want it to be a club with which students were beating each other over the head with,” he said. “It should be used ultimately to educate and help our own commu-nity members improve their health.” Moderator Kathryn Wilson, teaching assistant, asked the panel if it thought the current policy could potentially result in retaliation if a student was turned in for smoking. “When we wrote the policy that was a grave concern,” Wil-liamson said. “And that’s part of why we proposed several different options when it came to enforcement.” He said Purdue uses a sys-tem of drop cards to tattle on tobacco users. “I didn’t feel like that would be sustainable or a humane ap-proach to the whole problem,” he said. “Right now the respon-sibility of the honor principle

is up to people with the right amount of tact and courage to say something.” “When we started with the policy there were people who wanted pub-lic hanging for people using tobacco,” Greenwood said. “There were others who said, ‘let’s just see how the policy works for a year. If it’s not being en-forced, let’s come back to it and find some other alternatives.’ “When people hear the word ‘peer-enforced’ they think ‘forceful,’ he con-tinued. “That was never our intent – to create a situation where one student is being combative towards another stu-dent.” “We have gotten to the point where smokers have started to retaliate against non-smokers who are asking them to stop,” Shaffer said. “Fortunately noth-ing drastic or violent has occurred yet, and I’m grateful for that. But there is lots of attention starting to build on campus about it. As far as the effec-tiveness of it – that’s iffy. As far as the ostracization of certain student groups – which is the definition of hazing, as far as the State of Texas is concerned – is absolutely occurring.”

Tobacco ban leaves grad assistant lacking outlet for frustrations

Keep Maverick realDear Editor,As a costume character performer myself, I am offended by the article pub-lished in The Wichitan entitled Maverick Unmasked. When dealing with cos-tume characters a person does not want to break the illusion that the character is real. Having a picture on the front cover of the newspaper with a character with its head off is breaking the illusion that Maverick is real. It might be childish to think that Maverick is real but as a character at the games he is. Students don’t go up to Maverick and say “Hey Laura,” because they know that when they see the mustang he is Maverick, not a person inside a suit. What if a small child was to see that article and see the picture of Maverick with his head off? The child would not look at costume characters the same any more.Thank you for taking the time to read this and thinking about keeping the il-lusion real of costume characters!

-Renee DuBois

nletters to the editor

Christian McPhateFor the Wichitan

nGuest Column

CORRECTION:No screenings of the movie “Precious” with panel discussions sponsored by the University were cancelled as last week’s column Come together (again) infers. The program canceled was sponsored by the campus chapter of the NAACP, a campus organization. All Black History Month programming sponsored by the university proceeded as planned.

He said/she said?To Whom it May Concern:In Josh’ Hoggard’s article on Wednesday March 3, he attributed the “Our great-

est fear” quotation to Nelson Mandela. This is a common misconception. It was not Mandela who originally said this but rather Marianne Williamson. I think Mandela was quoting Williamson when he said it. These things happen but lets double check these sort of things please.

-Tyler ShanickEditor’s Note: While you are right that Marianne Williamson first coined the quota-

tion in her book “Return to Love,” the misconception is so common because Mandela did say it in his 1994 inagural address, and has since been widely quoted quoting Williamson’s

words.

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Dr. Keith Williamson, Dr. Joey Greenwood and SGA Senator Cam-eron Shaffer acted as the panel in a town hall forum discussion about the university-wide tobacco ban instated Jan.1.

The panel fielded questions about the legitimacy of the policy, its effectiveness and Shaffer’s alternative plan. (Photo by: Julia Ray-mond)

news4 n The Wichitan March 10, 2010

campus briefsn Today:

ImagIne graduatIon In CSC ComaChe at 11 a.m.

Journey of hope grIef Support group In CSC apaChe at 3:30 p.m.

Before SprIng Break... In CSC Shawnee at 7 p.m.

n THURSday:playoff pep rally and pICnIC In SunwatCher at 11 a.m.

real women, real Beauty group In CSC apaChe at 3:30 p.m.

advISer traInIng workShop In CSC ComaChe at 5 p.m.

taCt: tenure and promotIon panel In CSC kIowa at 7:15 p.m.

n FRiday:yule Ball In CSC ComanChe at 7 p.m.

n SaTURday:SprIng Break!

ment, Jun said. When the Paris Commune

fell in 1871, 10,000 anarchists were reportedly murdered in France. Thousands were rounded up by secret Russian police un-der the czars. Thousands more were captured under the Soviets and worked to death in Siberian mines.

“The anarchist movement was a worldwide movement that en-compassed all races, all ethnici-ties, men and women,” Jun said. “It continues to be that way to this day.”

Anarchism is a political and philosophical movement that encourages a stateless society, but not one of chaos and crimi-nality, as many people perceive it to be. The different forms of anarchistic philosophy run the gamut from communistic and collective to individualistic to wholly pacifistic.

“Who were these people?” Jun asked. “What did they say or think to merit such brutal treatment? As it turns out, most of these “so-called” enemies of mankind were already oppressed and marginalized groups – im-migrants, exiles and refugees. Vagrants, beggars and wander-ers. Artists, dissidents and free t hinkers. Women, homosexuals, Jews and people of color.”

Jun said these people’s sole crime was criticizing the “most beneficent form of social order,” which was anything but.

“They struggled militantly against a system which, far from being beneficent, appeared fun-damentally opposed to the goals of freedom, equality and peace,” Jun said.

In the U.S., anarchists cam-paigned for the eight-hour workday, the abolition of child labor, the enactment of safety regulations in the workplace, the minimum wage and the right to unionize, he said.

They opposed America’s in-cursions into Latin America and its involvement in the first World War.

“They protested against ethnic and racial discrimination, cham-pioned the rights of women and promoted tolerance for gay peo-ple and other sexual non-con-formists long before the Civil Rights movement, the Women’s

movement and the Gay Rights movement,” Jun said.

He said anarchists get a bad rap because a few have resort-ed to murder and execution to achieve their political goals.

“Then as now, the bad apples not only spoil the bunch, but inevitably receive the most at-tention,” Jun said. “As a result, the anarchist of popular imagi-nation continues to be a fanatic, an extremist, a terrorist.”

Anarchism was historically been overlooked, understudied and misunderstood by histo-rians, he said. Most have paid scant attention to the move-ment, insofar as legitimate vein of philosophy.

But anarchistic philosophy is here – and it’s here to stay.

“It’s simply a way of talking about life,” Jun said. “Not bio-logical life, but rather the im-minent process of change and becoming, in terms of which all of these people were inclined to describe existence.”

Jun paraphrased The Beatles: “All you need is life.”

“If somebody says, ‘such and such is wrong,’ if you have the audacity and cheekiness to ask, ‘why?’ first they’ll say ‘stop being an asshole,’” Jun said. “And then they’ll say, ‘wait, you really want to know? It’s against human na-ture!’ That’s kind of the textbook answer.”

The anarchists would say the idea of human nature is one of the most oppressive concepts ever cooked up by anyone, Jun said.

The anarchists have been a great influence on the world of art as well as the world of phi-losophy.

“Anarchism has the unique distinction of being hands-down the most musical of the radical movements that came and went in the late-19th and early 20th centuries,” Jun said.

The Industrial Workers World, an anarchist labor move-ment, was possibly the most musical. “Their victories in the labor movement were fairly minimal, but their victories in the creative arts were outstand-ing,” Jun said. Many songs made famous by Woody Guthrie were first popularized in the labor movement.

a Midwestern degree goes up,” Rankin said. “If a student comes out of here a better writer and a better speaker, that student has a much better chance of landing a job.”

He said it’s common for a writing sample to be a required for a job application.

“If this catches on at Midwestern, I’m pretty sure the percentage of people passing the Writing Proficiency Exam will go up by quite a bit,” Rankin said.

He said the point of the project is to get teachers across campus to assign papers as part of their curriculum.

“The level of interest in this is rising,” Rankin said. “Writing can be incorporated into any discipline.”

Twelve faculty members have volunteered to attend workshops throughout the semes-ter addressing the topic.

“The workshop deal with everything from creating good writing assignments, to how to evaluate writing effectively and how to teach certain aspects of writing,” Rankin said.

The point is to make students in every major more comfortable with writing.

Rankin contributes the high failure rate for the Writing Proficiency Exam at MSU to student unfamiliarity with writing – most students take English their freshmen year, then don’t pick up a pen and paper for the rest of their college careers.

“Writing shouldn’t end with rhetoric and composition,” he said. “A lot of students and faculty feel that we shouldn’t require writing after the freshman level. As a result, some people just give multiple choice tests and don’t expect their students to write.”

He said writing is a skill you have to keep sharpening and reinforcing. Therefore, stu-dents should write in at least one course ev-ery semester.

“Another problem is many students who have trouble writing did not take rhetoric and comp here,” he said. “They transferred in

from another school and didn’t get the back-ground they might have gotten if they had taken the program here.”

Rankin said international students also might have difficulty with the exam because English is their second or third language.

“Midwestern has a high international population and they’re held to the same standard,” Rankin said.

He said Writing Across the Curriculum is an effort taking place at virtually every college in the country. In the last five years, many schools have been working hard to im-plement WAC policies on their campuses.

This isn’t a policy that’s centrally orga-nized. It’s just an idea – that all students, re-gardless of their disciplines, should be com-fortable with writing.

“We expect students to write well no mat-ter what their major is,” Rankin said. “That means you should be able to write no matter if you’re a business major, or health sciences or engineering. Engineers need to be able to write clearly and effectively, too.”

He said that every student from every major will have to do some writing as part of their job duties. It’s part of being an edu-cated person.

“What we’re hoping is that each semester we’ll get a dozen more faculty to participate,” he said. Hopefully two or three years from now we have 60 or 70 faculty members who are doing more with writing.”

At Rankin’s previous school, Winthrop University in South Carolina, he imple-mented a similar plan over seven years as the university’s writing director. The result: each semester 10 instructors participated in the program. Eventually, 140 teachers outside the English department had attended the workshops.

He said at Winthrop two intensive writ-ing courses were required for every major. Over time, each department had created its

own major-related writing classes for juniors and seniors.

“It worked beautifully,” Rankin said.“Winthrop is a school exactly like Mid-

western,” he said. The state school has about 5,000 students and 1,000 graduate students.

Rankin was hired as chair of the English department last semester. He said his plans at Winthrop, along with the school’s similar-ity to MSU, made him a shoe-in for the job.

“The key is having the administration be-hind it,” he said. “The provost and deans here are quite supportive. The problem is some faculty are just not as secure or comfortable about talking about writing. But I have had some say it’s improved their own writing.”

Part of what the seminars do is to clarify national grading guidelines: what to mark, what to ignore, and what’s just unforgive-able.

“The only punctuation errors that really matter are the ones that interfere with read-ability,” Rankin said. “You shouldn’t mark every little apostrophe and comma.”

He said punctuation and grammar are not being taught in the sessions. Rather, they’re discussing content, organization and struc-ture. They aim to cut out wordiness and help students write logically.

“These are the bigger concerns in writ-ing,” Rankin said. “Now, that doesn’t mean a student who graduates from MSU shouldn’t know how to punctuate and know grammar and things like that. But that shouldn’t take priority over wording and clear organiza-tion.”

He said the additional writing practice will primarily be constituted in out-of-class papers. Implementation will probably vary based on the subject.

“What somebody might do in a manage-ment course in the school of business might be different from what someone in the math department,” Rankin said.

These past four years of your life have been filled with late-night cram sessions, mid-term exams, research papers, science labs, and those dreaded finals, just to name a few. And all for what?

Your future.Now that you can finally see

the light at the end of the tun-nel, it’s time to get ready for your first job. But how?

The Career Management Center presented “From Sweats to Suits” Thursday night, to help tackle many questions for stu-dents who are about to embark on their adventure of finding that first job after graduation.

Bill Megason, Texoma Dis-trict Manager of Sherwin-Wil-liams, and Rosemary Nauman, Employment Coordinator for the City of Wichita Falls, in-formed students with the in-side scoop on what employers are looking for in a potential employee.

Megason informed those in attendance how they should best prepare for their career, discussing how to ‘sell’ yourself, do’s and don’ts of the career fair, preparing your resume, and how to land that interview.

Although not everyone in search of their first job is look-ing to go into sales, “When you go to that interview, you’re in sales,” said Megason. You’re selling yourself.

To sell yourself, first impres-sions are key. Megason said that within three minutes of an interview, the interviewer de-cides whether or not they want to continue. You can’t re-do a first impression, so make your first your best.

Megason also discussed some do’s and don’ts at career fairs.

Do: Bring plenty of resumes, Smile, Show enthusiasm and inter-

est, Maintain good eye contact, Keep your options open, Ask questions, andRelax and be yourself.Don’t:

Bring cell phones,Say: “I’m just looking for a

job,”Ask about pay,Chew gum,Wear too much perfume/co-

logne, orJust go for the freebies.Resumes are also an impor-

tant tool in the job-hunting process. Megason recom-mended to keep it to one page, omit unnecessary information, show individual style, and be qualitative and quantitative with information.

Megason also informed the attendants to be sure to update their contact information as well. With the use of e-mails and cell phones so popular today, if your e-mail account is from high school, such as hshottie_06, coyote-qb or an unprofessional voicemail mes-sage could definitely give a pro-spective employer the wrong impression.

Nauman continued the pre-sentation by speaking about interviewing skills and what employers look for in prospec-tive job candidates.

Nauman discussed the top qualities employers look for, which include:

Communication skills (ver-bal and written),

Strong work ethic,Teamwork skills,Motivation and initiative,Interpersonal skills,Problem-solving skills,Analytical skills,Flexibility and adaptability,Computer skills, andTechnical skills.However, Nauman also dis-

cussed the skills that most graduate students seem to lack. These include proper writing skills when preparing e-mails, professional face-to-face interaction, the ability to conduct oneself professionally, and relevant work experience. All of these skills can be eas-ily corrected with the proper education and practice, gained through course-work and in-ternships said Nauman.

Another topic discussed by Nauman was where to search for jobs. Many jobs are posted

online, either on the employ-ers’ website or in the classi-fieds. One way that most job openings are advertised is by word-of-mouth. Networking through your family, friends and professors can be a great resource when job hunting. Many jobs are obtained these days, not based on what you know, but whom you know.

Dressing for success is an-other important factor in ob-taining that first job. Nauman said that both men and women should keep it conservative. For women, a tailored suit, classic heel, neutral hose, simple jew-elry and minimal perfume and make-up is a nice, professional look.

As for men, a dark suit, white shirt, solid tie, shoes and a belt that match, and dark socks complete a nice, pulled-to-gether look. “I have seen Cu-rious George and Darth Vader on socks,” said Nauman. “We attribute that to your maturity level.”

Nauman closed her pre-sentation with what most job seekers are most worried about – the nerve-wrecking inter-view. Before the interview, she advised students that they should assess their skills, abili-ties, strengths and weaknesses. “Determine how you can pres-ent your weaknesses positively,” said Nauman.

Before the interview, re-search the organization. Be informed about what they do, who they are, and what they’re involved in. Also, Nauman advised future job seekers to practice with a mock interview, arrive 15 minutes early, and get a good night’s rest.

Interview essentials should include a smile, positive at-titude, firm handshake, and a professional folder or notebook with extra copies of your re-sume and a list of professional references said Nauman.

Nauman also shared some things not to do in an inter-view:

Doze off during the inter-view,

Refuse to sit down during the interview,

Bring a dog to the interview, or

Call your therapist for advice on how to answer a question during the interview.

All of these unprofessional examples come from Nauman’s personal experience from in-terviewing prospective candi-dates throughout her career. Needless to say, they didn’t get the job.

Senior mass communica-tions major Derrius Burks is concerned that he won’t ask the right questions or possibly stutter during the interview. However, Burks advises job seekers to “Be yourself and an-swer truthfully.”

Not only is the interview process just a time that the em-ployer asks the job seeker ques-tions, but vice versa.

When asking questions yourself, Nauman said that it is important to remember to con-centrate on developing intel-ligent, probing questions that will help you get information that you want. Examples might be to ask: “What do you most enjoy about working here?” or “What qualities are you look-ing for in a candidate to fill this position?”

Questions not to ask include: “Does your health insurance cover pets?” or “Would it be a problem if I’m angry most of the time?” said Nauman.

Nauman lastly discussed the importance of closing the deal. Determine when you will hear back, a firm handshake with eye contact, thank the interviewer for his or her time, and remem-ber to send a thank you card or e-mail after the interview.

With the economy in the poor state it’s in, as well as the high-percentage of unemploy-ment in the United States, the job outlook is quite grim. However, for those students who attended “From Sweats to Suits,” hopefully the job seek-ing jitters became a little calm-er, and with the knowledge and advice gained, will be successful in their job hunting and obtain their first job.

Job hunting: avoid common snafusCassie Straub

For the Wichitan

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newsThe Wichitan n 5March 10, 2010

lamp made from a lawn flamingo), but she has had her share of lapses in judgment.

“I would say my writing is about finding the humor in everyday minor tragedies,” Crosley said in an interview before she took the stage in Akin Auditorium Monday.

Growing up in a humorous family was the only true defining characteristic of Crosley’s childhood, and that sense of humor pays off now that she has put to paper foibles made by those close to her as well as the numerous missteps she has made in her lifetime.

Publishing I Was Told There’d Be Cake was not one of those mistakes. The book made the New York Times Bestseller List in 2008 and won a handful of awards. HBO also purchased the rights to the essay collection.

Some of the acclaim has made Crosley blush.“Somebody once compared me to Dorothy

Parker, which isn’t a perfect compliment because she tried to kill herself by swallowing a bottle of shoe polish, but I assume that wasn’t the compari-son,” Crosley said.

Crosley also wrote columns for various periodi-cals, including The Village Voice, in her native New York. Sometimes, she admits the criticism can cut deep.

“I wrote a column for awhile for The Village Voice and I did an article about white women with ample derrieres,” Crosley said. “It was a joke. Mostly it got really positive feedback, but this one woman wrote into The Voice and basically spent about two pages calling me a racist. That made me cry because I was raised to be almost psychotically liberal. The worst thing that somebody who’s crazy can be is articu-late, because then you think they’re right.”

Crosley said that was the last time she shed tears over a reader’s response to her work.

“You realize once you start writing stuff that’s personal about yourself that you have to control the level at which you let stuff in. The deal with that is you also cant let the good stuff in more than the bad stuff, because that’s cheating.”

Of course, there are the people who miss the point of her work. Crosley said there have been peo-ple who have mistakenly pigeon-holed her into the chick-lit, Car-rie Bradshaw, ‘woman braving the dating world in the big city’ genre despite the fact she cannot recall a single instance of going on a date recorded in her first book.

She admits to having read her own Amazon reviews on occa-sions, and people who come to her work expecting a David Sedaris (to whom Crosley has been com-pared) book with “more laughs per square inch” tend to come away feeling unfulfilled.

“If people want (Sedaris-style writing), they come to it and they’re disappointed. They’re like ‘This isn’t funny. I was told there’d be cake There’s no cake,’” Crosley said with a laugh. “I’m like, I’m sorry, I’ll bake one for you.”

The best critical reviews Crosley considers herself to have gotten haven’t come from book critics at all, nor have they been published in newspapers and magazines. They’ve come from strangers on

the subway.Crosley said she has found herself sitting or

standing across from strangers who happened to be reading her book several times during her pub-lic transportation commutes.

“It is the best thing ever. I don’t know what it’s like… I wish I knew if it made you giddy or if it was humbling or embarrassing, but your mind blanks out and it’s just the coolest thing,” Crosley said.

“Three of those times people have been either into it or laughing, which is great. It’s sort of icing on the cake, if you’ll pardon the wording.”

One was checking the spine of the book to see how many pages were left, but Crosley can look past that bad encounter and enjoy the good ones.

“I always get embarrassed, because I don’t want them to see me! But it’s still just… unadulteratedly wonderful.”

In I Was Told There’d Be Cake, Crosley said 12 of the 15 essays are completely and unabashedly self-deprecating, and “two of them, maybe 1.5. kind of go for peoples’ respective jugulars. None of (the people portrayed) reacted particularly well.”

While Crosley said her family has not gotten angry at her depiction of them, there have been arguments stemming from the validity of her ac-counts.

“If there’s an objection, where my father says, ‘Oh my god I never said that,’ I have the checks and balances system of my mother to say, ‘yes you did. I was there.’”

The details in Crosley’s work are given sparingly. Bits and pieces of incidences and cross-sections of personalities come together to form the stories. That lack of specificity is what she believes sepa-rates essays from blogs or diaries and what makes a personal story relevant to an outsider.

“You have to figure out what makes it entertain-ing without compromising it beyond recognition,” she said.

Crosley’s specific interest in becoming a pub-lished writer was paralleled with various creative and artistic ambitions.

“I was never going to be pre-med,” she said. Her college math credit even had an artistic tint to it.

“(My college math credit) was called ‘Math and the Arts,’” Crosley said, “and we had to keep a jour-nal of our feelings about math.”

She always enjoyed writing, but said that being a writer is something you have to “stumble back-wards into.”

“I think anyone who walks around saying ‘oh, I’m a writer ....’ I mean, I still hesitate to say it,” she said. “I think when you’re Phillip Roth you get to say that’s what you do for a living on the census. But I knew I wanted to do something with humor and creativity.”

As a writer, she faces a unique dichotomy. She holds down a career as a publicist for Vintage Books, a division of Random House, for a day job. She’s used to promoting other writers’ work, but when her first book was published she found her-self on the other side of the desk.

“When the book comes out, in terms of promot-ing it and talking about it, you have years of telling other people how to do this,” she said. “You feel at once incredibly prepared but oddly lonely.”

The road to her current comfortable spot as a publicist/writer was a rocky one. During her time at Connecticut College, which she called a “tiny little school,” she held down internships at vari-ous magazines. The throwaway nature of the final product in the magazine industry was disconcert-ing for Crosley, who began searching for a niche in book publishing. A stint as an assistant to a literary agent inspired the tale of the Ursula Cookie, and a piece of sage advice to any employed persons who happen to moonlight as bakers.

“Never, ever bake a cookie intended to resemble your boss… and then give it to her,” she said after reading an excerpt from the essay during her lec-ture.

In the same story, she also learned the conse-quences of killing off family members, even those who had already passed away, to formulate a valid excuse for skipping work. Sometimes, the newly deceased catch wind of their unfortunate fates and ring you up for an explanation. In Crosleys’ case, the dead man was her father (she had intended to kill an already-deceased aunt), and in the process of getting in contact with her, her dad had called every college friend he could think of until he fi-nally obtained the phone number of the pot dealer/paralegal who was her boyfriend at the time.

A college creative writing professor once called Crosley into her office, gave back a story she had handed in that focused on a “bloodbath.”

The professor said: “Somebody up there gave you something and you have no idea what to do with it.” And then, Crosley said she slid the piece of gory fiction across the table and said: “This isn’t it.”

The advice inspired her to keep writing, but shift gears. She has found her niche in humor.

In the end, Crosley is willing to risk varying lev-els of mortification in the name of telling a humor-ous story.

“The best humor, no matter what form it takes, whether it’s in stand-up, movies, satire or personal essays, is where you’re observing something that’s been there all along but nobody has put their fin-ger on it yet,” she said. “The humor of something being true is my favorite. When people see them-selves in it, that’s the best.”

CROSLEY......................................................................................................................................................................................................continued from page 1

a direct loan system in the past, but opted to stay with FFELP.

“Direct loans have been in existence for a number of years,” Pennartz said. “We’ve just never participated because we had an option. We stayed with FFELP because of the competition factor.”

Michelle Wells, also an assistant di-rector of financial aid, said MSU is effec-tively avoiding a messy switch by moving away from FFELP early.

“If this bill does get passed (and we hadn’t switched over), we would have to do some loans in summer as FFELP and anything (during the second summer se-mester) would have to be direct,” Wells said. “Instead of making students do two loans this summer, we decided to move to direct loans now. It will cut down on the confusion and the chance that loans won’t be ready in time for students.”

The government is also guarantee-ing that loan money will be available if promised. Pennartz said private lenders don’t always offer such certainty.

“Just last week we were dealing with

a bank that pulled out (of the FFELP program),” Pennartz said. “The lender list (for MSU students) has gone from 12 or 13 down to five that are still in the program.”

Wells said if MSU had stayed with FFELP, there would have been a dearth of lender choices. She said 890 students would have been borrowing from the bank that pulled out.

“Lenders have been dwindling for the past two years,” Wells said. “At the be-ginning of the fall, we had 33 students (whose lenders) pulled out two weeks before loans would be dispersed.”

In that situation, the Financial Aid of-fice had to call up each of the students, sit down with them and help them through the securing process a second time. Wells said securing loans directly through the federal government will ensure that the source of the money is reliable.

Students expressed concern that switching to government-only loans would result in higher interest rates due to a lack of competition. Wells said the

competition factor doesn’t really play in presently, either, because the government already regulates interest rates.

“Competition is more for customer service,” Wells said. “If a lender didn’t provide good customer service, we wouldn’t put them on our lender list.”

Also, Pennartz said it’s important for students to realize that whether they’re receiving FFELP or direct loans, they’re still utilizing a government loan pro-gram.

“With the FFELP using private lend-ers like Wells Fargo and American Na-tional, those banks serve as a middleman for the federal government. The gov-ernment is still setting the rules for the program. Now, you won’t have a middle-man.”

Wells said the Department of Educa-tion is launching a comprehensive stu-dent loan Web site on March 29, just in time for Midwestern’s official switch on March 30.

“It’ll be a one-stop shop for all student loans,” Wells said. “We will be e-mailing

and mailing out links to that site (to students who are receiving financial aid).

Students were notified that MSU would be switching from FFELP to a direct loan program with a mailout/e-mail sent by the

Financial Aid office on Feb. 26. “We just wanted to make sure they

were in the loop,” Pennartz said. “We gave them that Web site to do some re-search on direct loans.”

As for students who fear they might get ripped off by federal price gouging, Pennartz doesn’t see cause to worry.

“There are too many monitors in place. Congress (which controls the inter-est rates for student loans) is not going to let something like that happen,” she said. “I think the government is going to be on their best behavior, especially this year. They know they’re launching this initiative and they have to make sure their stuff is in place so they can get the money here.”

Expecting perfection, however, is something to be wary of.

“Are we going to have problems? I’m sure we will,” Pennartz said. “We have problems now with the FFELP pro-gram. We’re going to do everything we can to make sure kids will have their money on graduation day.”

By beating the potential government-mandated switch, the Financial Aid de-partment hopes to have plenty of time to make the change carefully. There is also the added benefit of the program taking effect the first time in a summer semester.

“Initially we thought we’d wait un-til Fall 2010,” Pennartz said. “Several things prompted us to move it up to Summer 2010. The summer semester will be a good little testing ground for

the switch with a smaller population of kids.”

Pennartz stressed that the summer enrollees will not be “guinea pigs.”

“Summer kids are not going to have any grief,” she said. “It’ll be a smooth transition. Anybody new who comes in the fall will move right into (the direct loan program). Brand new kids aren’t even going to know the difference.”

Students expecting to use financial aid should be on the lookout for infor-mation packets related to their packages this year. Pennartz said that while they will have to fill out a new Master Prom-issory Note (which is normally not re-quired on an annual basis), they will no longer be required to choose a bank to funnel their loans through.

Students with multiple lenders will also have the option to consolidate their debts into a single loan, cutting down on the number of payments they are re-sponsible for.

Pennartz urges any students who have questions or concerns to contact the Financial Aid office.

“None of us (in Financial Aid) see this as a negative move,” Pennartz said. “We want to make sure students per-ceive it as a positive thing for them. It’d be easy just to stay with FFELP and do what we’re doing. When it comes down to sitting on the fence and deciding do we (make the transition) or don’t we, we’re going to move forward because we don’t want to be without money in the summer.”

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a&e6 n The Wichitan March 10, 2010

Lauren WoodEntErtainmEnt Editor

Jamie MonroeadvErtising managEr

Lauren WoodEntErtainmEnt Editor

Adam Lambert competed in the last sea-son of “American Idol.” (Photo Courtesy)

2010 Oscars: A night of many firsts

Lambert album: Not ‘For Your Entertainment’

Beat Spring Break

Besides summer break, the best time of the year for most students is spring break. This is a week-long vacation where we can get away from all the hustle and bustle of schoolwork as well as the cold weather.

Some of you have big plans to visit beaches or snow slopes.

Others may plan to buckle down and study for that midterm their teacher conveniently scheduled for the Monday after break.

Some of you, however, don’t have any big plans at all. Spring break is usually filled with parties and beaches, but there are many other things you can do.

Take a road trip. You’d be surprised just how many college students take this alternative route for spring break fun. Grab a group of friends, a reliable ride, a map, and you’re good to go. Best of all with road trips, you can stop and stay with friends or relatives, take detours at the last minute,

and pile all your friends into a hotel room. Take back roads whenever possible to capture the scenic moments of your trip.

Camping is another great idea for the outdoorsy type. It’s a nice alternative for a rustic, down-to-earth time with your friends, and a campfire! Pitch a tent, or for a little more money rent a log cabin and remember your fishing rods. Many sites have water and an electric hookup. Also, a lot of campsites have planned activities and things for visitors to do.

Visit a new city. There are a lot more things to do you than you might think. State and city websites have lists of local activities and annual events. You can even just stay in Texas if you want. Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and Austin are just a few cities with endless sites both modern and historic and all have a great nightlife.

Volunteer! This is probably the cheapest, but perhaps not the most relaxing alternative for spring break. There are many options if you venture down this road that will allow you to visit places in need all

over the country. You may help rebuilding communities or working with individuals. Needless to say it’s a one of a kind, fulfilling experience.

But really, what is Spring Break all about? The beach party may

be lots of fun, but ultimately what you’re going to remember about Spring Break is memorable time spent with your friends (as opposed to strangers on the beach and memories too hazy to remember due to alcohol).

So be creative and think of some fun and memorable Spring Break ideas that don’t cost a fortune.

Artist: Adam LambertAlbum: For Your EntertainmentSounds like: Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the

Disco, Donny OsmondRecommended for: Hot Topic shoppers,

16-year old girls, fans of eyeliner.Synopsis: I downloaded this album because

I saw the video for Whatya Want From Me and was entranced by Lambert’s boyish good looks, perfect fauxhawk, and expert application of guyliner. Sure, there were handsome vocals behind his dewey cheekbones, but that’s not what drew me in.

Unfortunately, once you look past Lambert’s edgy, emo-rocker persona, there’s not a lot to the album. Lambert’s second single Whatya Want From Me is a lovely mid-tempo song that has a solid drive and nice pacing. It really shows off Lambert’s vocal talent and is by far my favorite song on the album. The title track, For Your Entertainment, is also quirky, a little kinky, and fun to listen to.

The rest of the album alternates between “meh” and “gross, turn it.” Beyond the two singles, there are probably one or two more songs worth a listen. The rest of the album is disjointed. Some songs have rock vibes that don’t quite cut it and others are painfully 80s. Nothing seems to fit together, and the lyrics range from “I’m angsty and depressed” to “Let’s get naked and do weird stuff together.”

Verdict: The final product seems gimmicky and insincere. I don’t buy into the non-conformist alt-rock vibe Lambert is trying to sell - which is a shame, because he really does have talent.

This year’s Academy Awards marked many firsts. It was the first time a female was named Best Director. It was the first time since 1943 that 10 movies were nominated for Best Picture. And it was the first time for many to receive an Oscar.

It was a magical night for some, but just an extremely long journey for us viewers.

The evening began early with its usual red carpet special. We saw A-list actors donned in gowns and tuxedos, making their way to the Kodak Theater.

This year the hosts were comedic actors Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin, who tried to liven up the event sporadically throughout the show. But first they were introduced by Neil Patrick Harris. And by introduced I mean Harris sang and danced his way across the stage singing No One Wants to Do it Alone.

I expected more from Martin and Baldwin. They started off good with jokes about actors and directors in the audience, but throughout the night they became more of a nuisance than a pleasure.

During the show, the Academy paid a special tribute to John Hughes, who passed away in August 2009. Actors Molly Ringwald, Matthew Broderick and Anthony Michael Hall spoke about Hughes, commemorating him on all of his achievements.

The League of Extraordinary Dancers also performed, which was a bit random.

They danced a choreographed piece to bits of sound bites from all of the Best Score nominees. It was intriguing, but just unlikely for the Oscars.

Constant jokes were made on Meryl Streep’s behalf, this being her 16th nomination for an Oscar, but she laughed along with everyone, including when Sandra Bullock made reference to

Streep being a good kisser. Many actors and actresses got to

present at the Oscars, including Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Tom Hanks and Sean Penn. Younger and newer actors got to present as well.

Zac Efron and Miley Cyrus graced us with their presence that evening, both of the first-timers showing signs of nervousness.

But as far as the Oscar winners, they all accepted theirs statue with poise, gratitude and emotion.

Christoph Waltz accepted the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds.

Mo’Nique collected her Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in Precious.

A stunned Kathryn Bigelow collected her Best Director Oscar for The Hurt Locker, presented by Barbra Streisand.

Jeff Bridges received his Best Actor Oscar for his role as an aging country music star in Crazy Heart. This was Bridges’s fifth nomination, but first win.

Michael Sheen, Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, Stanley Tucci and Peter Sarsgaard paid tribute to the Best Actress nominees. However, Sandra Bullock took home the Oscar for her role in The Blind Side.

Director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal accepted the Best Picture Oscar for The Hurt Locker. The film swept the evening with six wins.

If you are interested in seeing the complete list of winners, visit the official Academy Awards Web site.

Make this vacation memorable with these fun and new ideas

Jeff Bridges holds up his Oscar for Best Actor. (Photo by MCT)

Above: Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin hosted the Os-cars. Below: Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman director to win Best Director. (Photo by MCT)

S a n d r a Bullock took home an Oscar for Best Actress. (Photo by MCT)

The beach party may be lots of fun, but ultimately what

you’re going to remember about Spring Break is memorable

time spent with your friends.

Boredom

Oscar Tally:The Hurt Locker:

Avatar:

Disney/Pixar’s Up:

Precious:

Crazy Heart:

Inglourious Basterds:

The Blind Side:

sportsThe Wichitan n 7March 10, 2010

$385

* Free Wi-Fi

The master’s degree programin computer science supports the working

professional by offering most coursesin the evening.

On Deck This Week

n SaTurday, March 13 BaSKETBaLL

MEn @ ncaa diviSion ii SouTh cEnTraL rEgionaLS

d.L Ligon coLiSEuM 6 PM - incarnaTE Word

TEnniS MEn and WoMEn vS. WaShBurn 2 PM

SofTBaLL @ SouthweStern oklahoma 1 Pm & 3 Pm

n Sunday, March 14 BaSKETBaLL MEn @ ncaa diviSion ii SouTh

cEnTraL rEgionaLS d.L Ligon coLiSEuM

n Monday, March 15 BaSKETBaLL MEn @ ncaa diviSion ii SouTh


goLf women @ texaS a&m CommerCe tournament

SofTBaLL @ Central oklahoma 1 Pm & 3 Pm

n TuESday, March 16 BaSKETBaLL MEn @ ncaa diviSion ii SouTh


goLf women @ texaS a&m CommerCe tournament

SofTBaLL vS. cEnTraL oKLahoMa 1 PM & 3 PM

TEnniS men and women @ Colorado

n WEdnESday, March 17 TEnniS men and women @ Colorado

BoLd dEnoTES hoME gaME

The MSU cycling team made it’s way down to College Station Friday afternoon.

The 20 racers that attended began the weekend with a very rouged course on the country roads of Tunis near College Sta-tion.

The men’s A category began at 12:05 with 6 from MSU. Quickly after at 12:10 the men’s B catego-ry and women A raced together.

The course began on a rough paved road and quickly turned onto a hard rocky road with a pot hole or well every 2 feet.

After that the road turned to lots of rock and gravel, followed

by a few miles of sand, then more rocks and back onto a rough paved road with scattered gravel patches.

Within the first few miles men’s B racers Roy Bracey, Tyler Matthies, women’s A racer Claire Routledge and men’s A Todd Elenz and Alexi Martinez all got a flat tire.

It was a great chance to see MSU work as a team as riders switched out wheels to those who could manipulate around the crashes and rouged terrain.

Elenz took first for the men’s A with Jason Short sprinting for 2nd against an A&M opponent.

Jen Purcell took first for the women, and finished 2nd for the combined field after she was taken out 1 kilometer before the

finish. She was able to finish the race

only with a large tire burn on her forearm.

Routledge took 2nd, followed by Tiffany Stewart and Loren Eggenschwiler.

Bracey took 2nd for the men’s B category, right behind Purcell.

Matt Sauls finished 5th after trying to chase back to the lead group that Purcell was in.

The rough course and sunny weather changed for Sunday where there was a crit on a nicely paced road and scattered show-ers.

The women raced with the men B category again.

Bracey was quickly off the front in the beginning and stayed off the front for the win.

Sean Brown was in the chase group with two UT racers and one from A&M.

Brown was able to take the sprint for 2nd place.

The Top three women, Pur-cell, Natalie Klemko and Marilyn Cullinane finished with the mens field for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.

The MSU cycling team had another successful weekend at College Station.

They will be continuing confer-ence races in the DFW area this weekend March 13 and 14 before Spring break and will be at Texas State March 27 and 28.

MSU will be hosting a race here at MSU April 17 and 18. So mark your calendars to attend or help out!

Loren EggenschwilerFor The WichiTan

Midwestern cycling finds success in Aggieland

The Mustangs dominated the Teri Mathis Zenner Classic Tour-nament on Saturday and Sunday with a perfect 6-0 record.

The pitching trio of Brittney Tanner, Kristina Gutierrez and Ka-tie Peterson dominated the compe-tition on Saturday and each posted a shutout.

Tanner, a Burkburnett native, im-proved her record to 4-1 with a win over Pittsburg State and pitched her first shutout of the season. She had four strikeouts while only allowing four hits and one walk in the com-plete game victory.

Tanner also got the scoring start-ed when she scored an unearned run in the fourth off a sacrifice bunt by Elena Bennett.

Outfielder Nicki Duff ’s single to right field allowed Potysman and Mooney to score the only to two

runs in the fifth.Junior Kristina Gutierrez con-

tinued the trend against Missouri Southern as she delivered three strikeouts and only allowed seven hits in her first shutout of the sea-son.

The Mustangs jumped all over the Lions pitching with 14 hits. Centerfielder Bennett and second baseman Reynolds each had three hits in the 7-0 win.

Senior Pitcher Katie Peterson closed Saturdays games in dominat-ing fashion against Emporia State as she earned her second straight shutout and fourth of the season. Peterson had an impressive nine strikeouts and only allowed four hits in the 4-0 victory. Third base-man, Mallory Mooney delivered the offense with a one out double to left center that scored two runs.

The Mustangs returned Sunday to continue their winning ways with

victories over Nebraska-Omaha, Northwest Missouri and Missouri Western.

Peterson had another impressive showing against Nebraska-Omaho as she only allowed two hits and had 12 strikeouts making her the all-time leader in strike outs at MSU. She claimed her 700 career strike out in the 2-1 victory.

Peterson also got the scoring started when she drove in the first run of the game as she singled to right field allowing centerfielder Courtney Bingham to score from second.

Tanner pinch hit in the sixth to drive in the winning run as Mooney scored off of Tanners single to left field.

Peterson got her second win of the day as she relieved Gutierrez in fourth inning as the Mustangs came from behind to win 7-4 against Northwest Missouri.

Peterson had 10 strikeouts in the final 10 outs of the game.

The bats came to life as the Mus-tangs rallied for four runs off of four hits in the bottom of the sixth. Bingham got things started with a bases loaded single to left field that scored two runs then scored off and error.

Tanner delivered another strong performance to notch a 7-1 victory over Missouri Western in the final game. Tanner had 10 strikeouts while allowing eight hits and two walks.

Junior first baseman McKenzie Sickler put the nail in the coffin with a huge homerun to left center field that scored 3 runs.

The Mustangs supremacy over the tournament brings their record to 17-3 for the season. The Mus-tangs currently have won eight straight games and have won 15 of their last 16 games.

chad SteeleFor The WichiTan

Midwestern State opened Lone Star Conference North Di-vision play with a pair of wins over Southwestern Oklahoma yester-day at Mustangs Park.

MSU (19-2, 2-0) extended its win streak to 11 games with a 13-2 five inning victory in Game 1, followed by a 5-0 shutout win.

Brittany Tanner (6-1) threw a three-hitter to start the day off, striking out nine batters in the shortened game.

Teammate Kristina Gutierrez (5-0) went the distance in Game 2, striking out 11 batters without giving up a run.

The team showed off some of-fensive chops as well in the first matchup. Mallory Mooney, Lau-ren Craig, McKenzie Sickler and Natalie Rodriguez all hit home runs in a stellar day at the plate for MSU.

Sickler finished the game with

two hits and five RBIs, Craig went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and three RBIs and Mooney got a pair of hits and two RBIs.

MSU led 4-2 after the first in-ning, but then took all the drama out of the game early with an eight-run outing in the bottom of the second.

Things slowed down a bit in Game 2, but the result was same as Sickler once again led the of-fense with two hits.

Alyson Reynolds racked up a pair of RBIs on 2-for-3 batting, while Craig also knocked in a run.

MSU jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead after the first inning and never looked back, posting anoth-er run in the bottom of the fourth inning followed by two more in the next inning.

The Mustangs continue confer-ence play with a game at South-western Oklahoma on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.

hot pitches, hotter batsMatt Ledesma

For The WichiTan

laDy musTangs sOfTball blaze Winning Trail af-Ter 8 sTraighT vicTOries

Lady Mustangs gather and encourage each other after a sol-id inning of defense in their first game against Southwestern oklahoma Tuesday afternoon. (Photo by: Julia Raymond)

Mustangs dominate tournament

For the first time in over a decade, D.L. Ligon Colisuem will host the NCAA Di-vison II South Central Regional Tourna-ment.

MSU found out it would play host last Sunday night, after the No. 1 Mustangs (28-2) earned their second-straight LSC Championship with a 65-55 win over Tar-leton State in the title game a day earlier.

The regional tournament tips off with a slate of four games beginningon Saturday when Fort Hays State takes on Central Oklahoma at noon.Central Missouri will play Missouri Western at 2:30 p.m., before MSU takes the court with an opening-round game against Incarnate Word at 6 p.m.

Tarleton State and Nebraska-Omaha wrap up the night’s contests at 8:30p.m.

The winners of those match ups will continue play on Sunday until the regional championship is held Tuesday night.

The Mustangs look to keep their seven-game win streak going and can earn a berth into the Div. II elite eight tournament by winning the regional.

“I’m very proud for our fans, the admin-istration that has backed us and everyone who has supported Mustangs basketball this year,” MSU headcoach Grant McCa-sland said after Saturday’s win.

“I’m very proud of this team, but our de-meanor is that we have more to play for.”

MSU captured the LSC title in familiar style. Senior guard Jason Ebie continued to keep the offense running throughout the weekend, and for his efforts, was named tournament MVP.

He came up especially big for the Mus-tangs in their second-round game against

Northeastern State.MSU trailed by as much as 14 points in

the second half, but went on a 18-3 run in the final three and half minutes to rally for a 74-64 victory.

Ebie was the catalyst for the offensive outburst, scoring a career-high 22 points, including four 3-pointers.

“Some games I’m called to score, and some games I’m called upon to distribute and play defense,” Ebie said after the win.

“I got some open looks and thank the Lord I made them.”

Junior guard Chris Hagan added anoth-er 19 points while senior guard Anthony Moore recorded a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Moore and senior guard Craig Green were also selected to the all-tournament team. Junior forward Charlie Logan had a career night versus Tarleton the following day in the championship game, logging 19 points and 15 rebounds.

Behind that production, the Mustangs jumped out to lead by as much as 20 points after the first half.

But Tarleton still had some fight left in it, cutting the deficit to six with just a little less than a minute left in the game.

However, Hagan and Logan both hit a pair of free throws down the stretch as Tar-leton was forced to foul to stop the clock, securing MSU’s third tournament title in the last four years.

A couple of days earlier it was Green’s time to shine. He poured in a game-high 25 points, connecting an impressive six times from behind the arc, to lead the Mustangs over Southwestern Oklahoma 77-65 in the firstround of play.

Notes: South Central Regional Tourna-ment all-session tickets are available for presale at the following rates: Reserved ($36), End Zone Reserved ($28) and Gen-

eral Admission ($20).All tickets may be purchased at the

MSU Athletics Offices in Ligon Coliseum and general admission passes are available purchase at Jerry’s Sporting Goods or at the Multi-Purpose Events Center’s Box Office.

Single-session student passes are avail-able for $12 with a limited availability of 300 passes provided by MSU Student Af-fairs and University Advancement offices.

These tickets may be picked up at the in-formation desk in the Clark Student Cen-ter with the presentation of an active Mid-western State student ID.

As a reminder, the South Central Re-gional is an NCAA event, so Midwestern State parking and regular season passes will not be honored.

sports8 n The Wichitan march 10, 2010

SWEETER THE SECOND TIMEMSU to host NCAA South Central tournament

after clinching second-straight LSC title

ABOVE: Charlie Logan goes against An-gelo State this season. RIGHT: Jason Ebie goes up for a shot at D.L. Ligon Collesium. (Photos by: Patrick Johnston)

matt LedesmaFor The WichiTan

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March 10, 2010