The WichiTanpage 7

The sTudenT voice of MidwesTern sTaTe universiTy

WEDNESDAY SEptEmbEr 16, 2009

Bad Kanye!VMA awards full of drama, including West’s infamous jerk move against Taylor Swift.

page 9Rainy victoryMSU football team tramples Northeastern State 52-3 despite gloomy weather.

Vaccinations, hygiene are key for coping with H1N1 threatBrittany norman

Editor in ChiEf

H1N1, or swine flu, hasn’t had any reported cases at MSU yet, but the name of the game is still preven-tion.

Dr. Keith Williamson, the MSU campus physician, said that MSU has been preparing for the possibility of pandemic flu for awhile now.

“We initiated planning for flu pan-demics several years ago when ev-eryone was worried about the H5N1 ‘avian’ flu,” Williamson said. “The plans were dusted off for the swine flu last spring.”

The viruses are not the same, but many prevention methods work for both.

“We found that the flu we prepared

for was different from the flu we got; that is, avian flu was not very conta-gious but was severe, while swine flu is extremely contagious and about as serious as the familiar seasonal flu,” Williamson said. “We adapted the plans. We currently have weekly meetings of campus leadership to update on flu and flu planning. We have invited all concerned areas to the meeting, including housing, food services, athletics, and human re-sources.”

The hand sanitizer available around campus is a sign of the ef-forts being made to protect students and other members of the university community.

“We have invested lots of re-sources in making hand gel sanitiz-ers available almost everywhere you

look on campus,” he said. “We have recommended sick students go home to their parents if possible, and have placed information around campus on self care and care for others for those who cannot go home.”

Other universities have created quarantine areas for infected stu-dents to check themselves into until they’re fever-free and feeling better.

“The housing situation is too tight on Midwestern to designate quar-antine housing without significant disruption,” Williamson said. “If flu comes to the campus, Midwestern will respond as a community with staff, students, and faculty working together.”

The regular flu vaccine will be

Chris Collins

Managing Editor

Attention MSU students try-ing to maintain athletic or aca-demic eligibility: if you’re fail-ing a class, it might not be too late to save yourself. There’s hope in dual enroll-ment, the practice of attending MSU and another university simultaneously. MSU students who drop or are dropped from a class, even after the fourth day of a semester, are allowed to attend another institution as long as it is still allowing students to enroll, said April Taack, assistant to the registrar. This is even allowed mid-way through a semester. “It is correct that a student could get into a course and find

out that it didn’t count toward their degree, or it turns out to be too hard for them,” Taack said. “They could go to another insti-tution and pick a course up.” Students who need to stay eli-gible for a sport, club, scholar-ship, or financial aid are the ones who take the most advantage of little-known opportunity, she said. “A lot of times they can’t fit it into their schedule,” Taack said. “Let’s say a class is being offered but it’s not at the right time, so they may go to another school with it. Or maybe they get their audit back and they realize, ‘Oh my goodness, there’s another class that I need.’ So they go on-line and pick up the course.”

Flunking out? Never fear! Dual enrollment is here!

Fastest pencilin the west

Mechanical engineering program earns accreditationBrittany norman

Editor in ChiEf

The McCoy School of En-gineering has a new certi-fication to go with the new building.

The mechanical engineer-ing program has officially earned certification from the Accrediting Board for En-gineering and Technology (ABET), Dr. Betty Stewart, Dean of the College of Sci-ence and Mathematics

The accreditation comes at the end of a yearlong pro-cess consisting of multiple steps, including self-study by the department, a visit from the ABET team, and then the receipt of a formal letter from the board.

Once the McCoy School of Engineering responded to the formal letter, they re-ceived accreditation.

“This is important for four reasons,” Stewart said. “Ac-creditation helps students and parents choose quality college programs. It enables employers to recruit gradu-ates they know are well-pre-pared.

“It’s used by registration, licensing and certification boards to screen applica-tions,” she said. “And it gives colleges and universities a structured mechanism to as-sess, evaluate and improve the quality of their program.”

The accreditation will apply to the students who graduat-ed from the mechanical en-

gineering program last year as well.

“ABET accreditation is an assurance that a college or university program meets the quality standards established by the profession for which it prepares its students,” Stew-art said.

Achieving accreditation was a difficult and important process for the program.

“I’m very proud of our facul-ty for their hard work,” Stew-art said.

Students in the McCoy School of Engineering work

on projects in their new facilities. The program re-

cently gained accreditation. (photo by Julia Raymond)

See H1N1 page 5

See Dual page 4

Chris Collins

Managing Editor

Caricature artist Adam Pate has the fastest gun in the West. Or, rather, the fastest pencil. Clocking in at one caricature drawing per minute, Pate’s fine-ly tuned hand truly is the one of the fastest in the world. He showcased his full-tilt trade at MSU Monday morning. Only a few minutes after setting up in the Clark Student Center, Pate had a line of students wait-ing to be drawn. He would eventually draw about 150 students. A bead of sweat rolls down his face as his hand races across the paper. A timer, set for one min-ute, ticked steadily behind Pate as he adds the finishing touches to a drawing. “You can time me – I’m one of the fastest in the world!” the sign behind Pate reads.

He finishes the drawing with ten seconds to spare. He hands it to the student like a gift. She laughs – it’s the usual re-sponse to having your caricature drawn. Pate, a professional caricature

See Caricature page 4

Photo illustration by Brittany Norman

Staff Editorial

The WichiTan Editorial Board

Editor-in-Chief Brittany Norman Managing Editor Chris Collins Entertainment Editor Lauren Wood

Op-Ed Editor Josh Hoggard Sports Editor Kaitlin Morrison Photo Editor Julia Raymond

ReportersRichard Carter

PhotographersLoren Eggenschwiler

Copy EditorJamie Monroe

Advertising ManagerJamie Monroe

AdviserRandy Pruitt

Copyright © 2007. The Wichitan is a member of the Texas Intercollegiate Press Asso-ciation. 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, faculty, administration or Board of Regents of Midwestern State University. First copy of the paper is free of charge; additional copies are $1. The Wichitan welcomes letters of opinion from students, faculty and staff submitted by the Friday before in-tended publication. Letters should be brief and without abusive language 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.

3410 Taft Blvd. Box 14 • Wichita Falls, Texas 76308News Desk (940) 397-4704 • Advertising Desk (940) 397-4705

Fax (940) 397-4025 • E-mail WICHITAN@mwsu.eduWeb site: http://www.mwsu.edu/~wichitan

H1N1 hygeine With the news about H1N1 saying it’s not a matter of if but when, students and other university community members re-member a few simple points of hygeine. The first few really shouldn’t need re-peating, but after watching too many peo-ple cough or sneeze right onto a computer lab keyboard, it appears a refresher course is in order. Cover your mouth! Not with your hands, either! We don’t want everything you touch crawling with swine flu germs. Thanks to those people who still will re-fuse to cough or sneeze into their elbows, the rest of us have to practice good pre-vention. Wash your hands often and carry hand sanitizer. Use it often. It can’t hurt anything, and really doesn’t take too much effort. Get your flu shot early, and then get the swine flu vaccine, too. If a person becomes infected with the regular flu, their immune systems will be less equipped to fight off H1N1, and vice versa. When the H1N1 vaccine comes out, it’s important as well. If you fall ill - whether you think it’s the swine flu or not - please, STAY HOME! Keep your coughing, sneezing, influen-za, stomach bugs, colds and bronchitis at home! Even if it means getting a doctor’s note from Vinson, do it! E-mail your profes-sors, get your assignments, but please keep your germs to yourself! This is shaping up to be a rough flu-and-other-illness season, but there are mea-sures we can take to keep it from becom-ing worse than it has to be.

Something to say?The Wichitan is seeking guest columnists. If you have something you’d like to write

about, email us an opinion piece to wichitan@mwsu.edu. We welcome opinions from students, faculty and staff.

Use your voice!

Sometimes, I miss being a kid. I don’t know if your childhood was as radically awesome as mine was, but we all remember them. I get nostalgic looking back at how much of a dork I was, even at a young age. I didn’t stop watching Barney until I was 7, I ate Bagel Bites con-sistently until I was about 13, and I vividly remember get-ting my first Nintendo 64. There is a ton about my childhood that I miss. I’ll tell you what, though… I miss individuals the most. Back in the day, people used to have personalities. Do you remember that? We didn’t have some fashion magazine or pop-culture channel or dogmatic rulebook to tell us how to live. We ate dirt, peed our pants, and watched Barney, because it’s what we loved to do. Back in the day, we used to do whatever the heck we wanted. Well, to a certain ex-tent, but we were more free. Why? I think it’s because we

didn’t have social norms to live up to. I remember when I hit fifth grade and Pokemon had just left its ranking as the cool-est video game ever. No one played it anymore. No one, except me. I played every ver-sion of that game that came out. I brought my Game Boy Color to school and hid out in the jungle gym during PE and played it. Then, some kid kicked sand in my face and called me a dweeb because I wasn’t playing football with the other kids. The rest of my PE experi-ence involved me and another “dork” walking around, quot-ing Star Wars. My point is this: When did social norms cancel out per-sonalities? Why was doing something I enjoyed rather than what everyone else expected of me such a bad thing? Why should I have to give up something I love, just to make other people happy? Sad thing is, the pressure didn’t end in fifth grade. I see it every single day today. Call

it peer pressure, call it social norms, call it what you will, but individuality is dying. People listening to the same mindless, wretched “music” because someone says it’s cool, or because the video won a VMA… People wear-ing the most ridiculous clothes because some celebrity did it first… People throwing their money down the drain to buy friends… People believing what they believe because their parents beat it into them as a child… People giving up their dream jobs for some stupid career that brings in a better paycheck… What has happened to individuality? Its as if we’re being told, “Wear the right clothes, drive the right car, watch the right movies, drink the right amount, lose your virginity by this certain age, wear your hair this certain way, believe a certain way, fill in the blank with some other ridiculous requirement, and we can be friends.” We don’t openly acknowl-edge this as normal, but we do it every single day. We lower our standards for some

fake idea of what is cool or edgy or hip, just because we want to have “friends,” who, if their basis of friendship is something that superficial, aren’t really friends in the first place. Why give up your heaven in exchange for the hell you’ll suffer from someone telling you how to live your life? Stop chasing after things that are so shallow and su-perficial; they won’t even last through this fashion season! Life is a charade if you don’t live it to the fullest, and only you can decide what that looks like. Not your friends, not your “brothers or sisters,” not your parents. You! Individuality is what makes this world so beautiful, and each and every one of us is wonderfully made, and noth-ing on this Earth lasts forev-er. Don’t live a hollow, fake life chasing after nothing. Be yourself, even if that means some form of alienation. Like the old saying goes, “It’s bet-ter to be hated for who you are than loved for what you aren’t.”

Something I call personalityJosh hoggard

Op-ed ediTOr

Dear Al, I would like to take this op-portunity to welcome you to Midwestern State University! I just got the news that you will be speaking at our fine institu-tion sometime on September 30th and, well, you should draw quite a big crowd. I would also like to take this opportunity to explain why I will refer to you in this letter as simply “Al.” Like you, I am a Christian (a Baptist at that!), and as such, I have deep respect for those pastors and reverends that sacrifice their time and ef-forts to their respective flocks. However, since you don’t have an actual “church,” and to my knowledge you never have, I feel it a disservice to actual pastors and reverends to lump you in with them. So, Al, understand I do not mean this as a dis but simply a cordial attempt to keep things, for a lack of a better term, “real” As you will figure out, Mid-western State University is lo-cated smack dab in the middle of Bush Country. Our city, Wichita Falls, Texas, is very conservative and there are some that may not like the fact that our cash-strapped university is pay-ing you an estimated $40,000 to come speak for an hour about topics that are not simpatico with the natives. I fear that you will have the attitude that you can come to our great university and city and talk down to us poor, southern, igno-rant, country folk like we don’t have a clue about who you re-ally are and what you represent. Don’t misunderstand me, our community welcomes you and I would discourage any effort to prevent you from coming here. I may not particularly like your politics and social views but you are, for better or worse, a lightning rod for debate. I be-lieve our university had this idea

in mind when they extended the invitation and for that I applaud them. I only wish the university would extend such an offer to an Ann Coulter or David Horowitz in the future. But I digress. Without question you have done some good things with your life, Al, such as establish-ing the National Youth Move-ment in the early 1970s and how you used this organization to curb drug use and raise money for impoverished youth. But, Al, you have done a bunch of bad things too. I would like to review some of these things as it has appeared over the last few years that most Americans do not remember the hardship you

caused others. Also, Al, I believe this will benefit you as well! After all, the mind is a mysterious thing and can sometimes “blackout (or, whiteout)” unpleasant truths about one’s past deeds. First, in 1987, you thrust your-self into the national spotlight when you became the spokes-person for the Tawana Brawley incident. In case you forgot, the 15-year-old Ms. Brawley claimed that she had been kidnapped, raped, and that feces had been smeared all over her body by six white law enforcement officers. Show-ing that you do indeed fight to end racism, you attacked New

York’s law enforcement com-munity, including the wild claim that Duchess County assistant prosecutor Steve Pagones was one of the rapist kidnappers! You also made horrible anti-Semitic statements about New York State Attorney General Robert Abrams. As you recall (or not), you be-came a media darling, showing up on Nightline, Geraldo, and Donahue just to name a few. Here you realized that some-one like you, with only two years of college education (and no church) could somehow be-come the voice for all of black America. As you will also recall (or not), Ms. Brawley’s wild claim was deemed to be a hoax. Steve Pagones sued you for defamation and won. The court ordered you to pay Mr. Pagones $345,000. Over twenty years have passed and you still have not paid Mr. Pagones a dime. You have also not publicly apologized to him or even acknowledged what you did. Meanwhile, Mr. Pagones’ reputation was ruined and he received numerous death threats by many of your followers. Second, in 1991, after an out-of control car driven by a Has-sidic Jew struck and killed a black child, you invigorated a mob that had gathered with ra-cial hatred. The mob, shortly afterwards, killed an innocent rabbinical student, Yankel Rosenbaum. While addressing the murder-ous mob, you claimed that the accident that killed the child was actually “the social accident of apartheid.” You then challenged the Jew-ish community to “pin their yar-mulkes back and come over to my house.” You also called the Jewish business community “di-amond merchants.” Three nights of violence and rioting ensued as hundreds of

Crown Heights blacks took to the streets. Your response to this was to state that, “We must not reprimand our children for out-rage, when it is the outrage that was put in them by an oppres-sive system.” Almost twenty years have passed and you still have not owned up to the part you played in stirring a mob to murderous actions against Yankel Rosen-baum. Third, in 1995, you led your National Action Network in a boycott against Freddy’s Fash-ion Mart, which was a Jewish-owned business located in Har-lem. The owners of Freddy’s apparently offended you and your ilk because they no longer wanted to sublet part of their store to a black-owned record shop. “We will not stand by”, you said, “and allow them to move this brother so that some white interloper can expand his business.” Morris Powell, who headed your NAN’s “Buy Black” Com-mittee, repeatedly called the Jewish owners “crackers,” and said that the owner was “one of the greedy Jew bastards kill-ing our people.” The rhetoric reached such a level that one of the black protestors shot four whites that were shopping in Freddy’s. After opening fire, the shooter then set fire to the build-ing. Seven employees of Fred-dy’s lost their lives in the fire. Almost fifteen years have passed and you still have not owned up to your role in the deaths of seven innocent peo-ple. You will be happy to know that I will not waste any more space here and discuss how you are currently under FBI inves-tigation for campaign fraud. However, because I may not be able (or allowed) to ask you questions once you get here on campus, I would like to ask them here in this letter:

As mentioned earlier, the uni-versity is paying you an estimat-ed $40,000 to deliver a speech here. That’s a lot of money, es-pecially in these tough econom-ic times. Will you donate the money or create a scholarship here to pay for a local disadvan-taged black student? Your fee could basically allow up to 5-10 local youths to attend our school for an entire semes-ter. Will you do this? If not, will you write a check for $40,000 to Steve Pagones as a good faith gesture in acknowledgement of you destroying his life? You can even use my pen! Our University has a “Hu-man Dignity Statement” which states, in part, that “bigotry can-not be tolerated” and that “any expression of hatred or prejudice is inconsistent with the purposes of higher education in a free so-ciety.” How do you reconcile your past statements about Jews and whites with what this university deems as unacceptable behav-ior? In one speech, you declared: “White folks was in caves while we was building empires...We taught philosophy and astrol-ogy and mathematics before Socrates and them Greek homos ever got around to it.” Would you like to take the op-portunity when you are here and apologize to the white students that will be in attendance? Will you also apologize to the gay community here at our univer-sity? I will most likely think of a few other questions by the time your scheduled speech arrives here at Midwestern State Uni-versity. Until then, I will eagerly anticipate your responses to these questions. Thanks for your time and God bless, Reverend Rubicon

Op-Ed The WichiTanSeptember 16, 2009 3

Posted on WFISD’s website: “President Barack Obama de-livered a national address on Sep-tember 8th to students on the im-portance of education. Although the speech was shown “live” on the White House website and C-SPAN, it was not shown “live” in any Wichita Falls ISD class-rooms. Class schedules and lesson plans for the day did not change. The regular district and state curriculum was followed. “A district curriculum com-mittee comprised of the elemen-tary curriculum director, second-

ary curriculum director, social studies curriculum specialist and Assistant Superintendent of Cur-riculum and Instruction viewed the speech and read the text. The committee determined that the speech may be used very ap-propriately in the classroom set-ting. The President encouraged students to stay in school and set goals. “Teachers and staff may, but are not required, to incorpo-rate the speech in future lesson plans. Campuses will give par-ents prior notice of the date the recorded speech is to be used. Parents may ask that their stu-dents not participate in the lesson

or activity in which the speech is used. The speech was recorded by district staff. DVD copies of the speech will be distributed as requested by campuses. Distri-bution will occur on September 9.” It is horrifying that WFISD feels that it must review the President of the United States inspirational speech, to see if it is “appropriate” for students to hear. Huh? Throughout the history of presidential addresses, there has never been a blatant disregard of a presidential speech directed to-ward students… until now.

What did the school district think that our President – who the majority of the country over-whelming elected – would say to our students? Kill all the white people? For example, when the trage-dy of 9-11 occurred and the for-mer President Bush addressed the nation, did the administrators at WFISD review the text of his speech? No. The administrators allowed students the opportunity to view his message of hate and lies despite interrupting class time – even though the “Axis of Evil” had nothing to do with

the bombings; the terrorists were from our friendly oil partners in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia. A person has to wonder where the lines of education, censor-ship, brainwashing and racism begin to merge together in our school system. Though the administration is offering a link to the President’s speech online, many parents and students in the school district do not have access to a computer. And when the children are al-lowed computer time in the li-brary, do you really think that they are going to visit the link… or visit their MySpace and Face-book pages?

Furthermore, why is the school district going to “allow” teachers to incorporate the Pres-ident’s speech into their lesson plans, but then “require” them to send a letter home to parents so that they can decide if they want their child to participate? Does the school district re-quire a teacher to send notes home to parents each time he or she creates a lesson plan? Hmm, it sounds a little more like racism than concern. It would seem that the school administrators would think be-fore they react – especially after the recent TRN article on diver-sity in the school district.

Christian MCPhate

GuesT conTribuTor

Letter to the editor

Sharpton: Civil crusader or bandwagon bigot?

Racial inequality standard curriculum in schools

Rev. Al Sharpton

I want my country back. The one where a message of personal responsibility and the value of a good education is cel-ebrated, not denigrated with sus-picion and hostility. The one where the opportu-nity to hear from the president of the United States is seen as a once-in-a-lifetime event, not de-cried as propagandistic indoctri-nation. The one where public debate is engaged by reasonable people concerned with solving common problems, not radical voices making stuff up to misinform, inflame and divide. This country is called the “United” States for a reason.

It’s because once upon a time representatives of a motley col-lection of colonies considered it in their best interest -for the present and the future- to come together under a federal govern-ment that could serve their com-mon needs while letting them have a degree of autonomy. We aren’t the “Secessionist” States, the irresponsible pan-dering of our opportunist Texas governor notwithstanding. And despite the color-coding labels used by pundits and oth-ers who find it clever, we aren’t even the “Red-or-Blue-Choose-Only-One” States. Maybe I’m deluded, but I be-lieve that a majority of Ameri-cans still respect the office of the presidency and its occupant- whoever that might be- even if they consider some of his ac-

tions ill-conceived, disappoint-ing or wrongheaded. A majority believes that it doesn’t promote the general welfare to demonize our nation-al leaders as socialist or fascist, evil conspirators, lawbreakers or liars. A majority believes that no individual, political party or in-terest group has a monopoly on good ideas, and that we don’t progress by living in bubbles where we listen only to those who look and think like us. A majority believes that ex-tremists on the airwaves, the Internet and elsewhere do not contribute to domestic tranquil-ity by stirring fear, spreading malice and reaffirming our worst biases. If our leaders are misleading us, acting above the law, abus-

ing their office or otherwise breaking their commitment to those who elected them, then of course they should be called out and voted out. But seeing sinis-ter conspiracy behind every Web head is using free speech as a cudgel, not a tool for enlighten-ment. The vitriol aimed at President Barack Obama’s back-to-school address is emblematic of mind-less opposition. Culture conservatives are adamant about wanting public schools to teach kids values such as respect, hard work, personal responsibility and patriotism. But heaven forbid the president of the United States should talk to students about hard work, personal responsibility and dedi-cation to their goals and to their country.

That somehow smacks of in-doctrination. Because President George W. Bush took the country into war on false pretenses, disregarded the law on wiretapping and treat-ment of detainees, and damaged the Justice Department’s repu-tation for fairness, his most vo-ciferous critics wrongly insisted that he could do no right. Because President Obama hasn’t righted the economy, has called for health-care reform that could carry a mind-boggling price tag and advocates some ideas that challenge right-wing ideology, a relentless minority stubbornly- and wrongly- works to caricature him as a menace to America. Loyal opposition this isn’t, be-cause loyal opposition isn’t bent on destruction. It’s dedicated to

constructive criticism that leads to better laws, better policies, a better future. I believe mainstream Ameri-cans want solutions to a very real health-care crisis, not knock-down drag-outs at town hall meetings. They want ratio-nal discussion about improving the economy, putting people to work, making college afford-able, reducing the federal deficit, and enabling people to provide for their own and their families’ physical and emotional security. They’re worried about prob-lems that we can work with our government to fix. Now, if only cooler heads would prevail and stop getting sidetracked by phony controversies fanned by extreme voices who don’t speak for the majority of Americans.

Linda CaMPbeLL

McT

Fellow Americans: Can we please act like the United States?

NewsThe WichiTanSeptember 16, 20094

COMING SOON TO A CAMPUS NEAR YOU… Thursday, Sept. 17 Constitution Day Various Locations Celebrate the day the United States Constitution was signed.

September 17-18 MSU Cheerleaders Poster Sale All Day, CSC Arrowhead Get some cool new posters for your home or room.

Monday, Sept. 21 Acoustic Artist: Kailin Garrity 11:30pm, Mesquite Café Live music during the lunch hour brought to you by UPB.

Tuesday, Sept. 22 Student Government Association Meeting 7:00pm, Bolin 127 Open to all MSU students.

Thursday, Sept. 24 Artist Lecture Series: Beppe Gametta 7:00pm, Akin Auditorium Italian guitarist. Get your ticket at the CSC Info Desk.

Thursday, Sept. 24 Student Success Series: C.L. Lindsay 8:00pm, CSC Shawnee A great program on Alcohol, Parties, and the Law.

Wednesday, Sept. 30 Artist Lecture Series: Reverend Al Sharpton 7:00pm, Akin Auditorium Political activist. Get your ticket at the CSC Info Desk.

Saturday, Oct. 3 MSU Family Day 12-3pm, MSU Campus RSVP and view the full schedule online at http://activities.mwsu.edu.

Saturday, Oct. 3 Comedy Hypnotist: C.J. Johnson 2:00pm, Akin Auditorium Enjoy this family-oriented show from one of the best in the business.

Tuesday, Oct. 6 Student Success Series: Brett Sokolow 8:00pm, CSC Comanche What if the plane blew up? A program on bystander intervention.

Constitution Day 2009 On September 17, 1787, the U.S.

Constitution was signed by thirty-nine brave men who changed he course of

history. Now, Constitution Day is a time for us to continue their legacy,

develop habits of citizenship within a new generation, and recognize one of the most important events in American

history which established the many rights and freedoms “We the People”

enjoy today.

Family Day 2009

Midwestern State University is pleased to announce that Family Day 2009 will be held on Saturday, October 3. Tell your parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents, and the rest of the family and plan on a

day filled with great entertainment, exciting events, good food, and college sports. Check out the entire schedule and RSVP online to get free tickets at

http://mwsu.edu/familyday.

The Spotlight is brought to you by

The Office of Student Development & Orientation Endless Opportunities. Lifelong Connections.

Clark Student Center, Room 194 (940) 397-4500

http://activities.mwsu.edu

Look for the next Spotlight on Wednesday, September 30, 2009!

MSU-Burns Fantasy of Lights 2009-10 Work Days

Help re-furbish and paint thebeautiful holiday and Christmas light

displays seen on the east Hardin lawn during the holiday season.

There are both morning andafternoon shifts available on October

3 and 4. Lunch is provided for all volunteers. Sign up at the CSC Info Desk. Call 397-4782 for more info.

the Spotlight

A SPECIAL CONGRATULATIONS...

-To the young men and women who joined an MSU fraternity or sorority through the Fall 2009 Recruitment or Rush process.

-To the members of the MSU Lions Club forvolunteering at the Texhoma Fair.

-To the student volunteers who helped on Sept. 12 during the Sikes Lake Clean-Up.

Has your organization done something worthy of recognition in the Spotlight? (performed community service, presented a program, traveled to a conference, received an award, etc.) Let us know! Call 397-4500 so your organization can be featured in a future issue.

A student who wishes to dual-enroll must fill out a re-quest form, which requires the approval of his or her adviser, Taack said. This is to make sure the student takes a course that will actually fit his or her de-gree plan. Financial aid cannot be used at two colleges concurrently, she said. Also, an MSU student must take 24 of his or her last 30 hours on campus. “The worst thing ever is to see a student get ready for grad-uation after they took this class somewhere else,” Taack said. “They think it’s going to count toward their degree, but lo and behold, it didn’t.” She said eligibility require-ments for students vary. A stu-dent who transferred to MSU

from a two-year college could have different requirements than a student who transferred from a four-year college. Both could differ from those of a new student. “There are different rules you have to look at,” Taack said. “There is no cut-and dry situation for every single stu-dent. There are so many situa-tions that can come up: a family member passes away, an illness, or they physically could not get to class. We see so many dif-ferent things that could happen that it’s hard to say one way or the other if it is ethical or un-ethical. You never know the cir-cumstances.” Taack reminds students that a concurrently earned grade won’t count toward their GPA

if they are already enrolled at MSU. Concurrent scores are re-corded as passing or failing. “Students are the ones who will be penalized because they didn’t take that class at MSU,” Taack said. “They’re always going to have that ‘F.’” Last September, The Wichitan ran a story about MSU discour-aging dual enrollment. Former provost Frederike Wiedemann said the administration had a problem with concurrent enroll-ment, stating that MSU students should be only MSU students. “I don’t know if they (the administration) necessarily discourage concurrent enroll-ment,” Taack said. “It probably depends on what field you’re in. Like if you were majoring in mechanical engineering, which

is very specific, I wouldn’t think a student could take many class-es concurrently, unless they are core level classes.” Taack said MSU is required to accept transfer credits in core classes from other institutions, such as courses in English, math, science or history. “It has to be a course that’s on their degree plan,” said Kurt Portmann, executive associate athletic director. He said that although stu-dent-athletes are allowed to do this, it usually doesn’t hap-pen. Portmann, who has held his post for about eight years, can only recall three instances of athletes dually enrolling to save their eligibility. One student, a freshman football player, was dropped

from English 1013 during the semester. To make up the cred-it, he took an online Survey of U.S. History class at Barstow College in California, Port-mann said. Another football player, when dropped from an MSU English class, took an Internet course in health and wellness. In another instance, a senior soccer player was dropped from a mass communication class and enrolled in an Inter-net course at West Texas A & M to maintain eligibility. None of these student-ath-letes dual-enrolled more than once. Also, none of them made above a ‘C’ in the concurrent class. Portmann said this practice is okay at times. “It’s hard to

come up with one situation, but you have to take them as they come up,” he said. Portmann and Carl Nichols, assistant to compliance direct, act as the buffer between ath-letics and education. “We try to make sure at MSU that coaches aren’t talk-ing directly to the other de-partments,” Taack said. ““Kurt and Carl are there so we’re not pressured into doing something or giving them the answer that they want. Obviously a coach wants to know what their start-ing lineup is going to be, and they want to make sure those people stay eligible.”

artist, is a 20-year veteran of the trade. He said he always enjoys his job. “I have the best job in the world,” Pate said. He squirts a bottle of oil into his hand, possibly to prevent blisters. He resets the timer and picks up his metal binder full of black sheets of paper. Next. The artist started drawing caricatures when he was in high school. He said one day he was sent to the principal for draw-ing classmates and teachers in school. The principal, instead of getting mad, told him he could make a career out of it. Pate took the advice and ran with it. He said he started by doing caricatures at carnivals, fairs and bars. That’s the secret to his speed. Pate, a member of the Nation-

al Society of Caricature Artists, draws at about 100 college cam-puses a year. He said people’s usual re-sponse to his drawings is laugh-ter. No one has ever gotten mad about a caricature he’s done, he said. “I don’t judge people. I draw,” Pate said. “If they have a big nose, I draw a big nose. I try to be honest. About the only thing I don’t draw are the zits.” Pate can draw 200 caricatures in three hours. He said there are other people who can draw faster in five-minute competitions, but he calls these “chicken-scratch contests.” “I get to travel around, make people smile, and they pay for it,” Pate said. “I can’t think of a better job.”

DUAL.......................................................................................................................................................................................continued from page 1

CARICATURE..........................................................................................................................................................................continued from page 1

Photo by Julia RaymondTwo girls hold up their caricatures on Monday.

Photo by Julia RaymondCaricature artist Adam Pate sketches students in Clark Stu-dent Center on Monday.

News The WichiTanSeptember 16, 2009 5

available soon at MSU, possibly within a couple of weeks.

We are gearing up to deliver the seasonal flu shot early this year,” Williamson said.

As for the H1N1 vaccine, it hasn’t been released for public use yet, but when it is, MSU has made plans to make sure students can be immunized.

“The H1N1 flu vaccine is still in the production and testing stage, and the production levels are reportedly disappointing,” Wil-liamson said. “When available, the vaccine will be distributed through state health departments to providers who have applied for the vaccine. We have applied for enough vaccine for every stu-dent on campus; we await word on how much we will actually get. I don’t expect to really know how much H1N1 vaccine we will have on campus until mid to late October.”

So far, Williamson has not found any positive cases of influ-enza, either H1N1 or the seasonal flu virus.

“I haven’t seen any flu since last February,” Williamson said. “I have tested patients with up-per respiratory tract symptoms and fever all summer, and they have all been negative. I have tested a few patients this month, but no one was really suspicious for influenza. There have been no confirmed cases in town to my knowledge.”

But that doesn’t mean that Wichita Falls will remain a swine flu-free zone.

“We could very well have an outbreak at any time,” Wil-liamson said. “The initial out-break will be large, then recede, and then be followed by several smaller waves of flu; this is usu-ally how contagious flu acts.”

In June, according to the World Health Organization, H1N1 had spread into enough countries to

be called pandemic flu.“To be clear, this means that

because it is a new strain, it is a lot more contagious than the flu that has circulated for the last 40 years. The last time this hap-pened was in 1968; the 2009 pandemic is acting a lot like the 1968 ‘Hong Kong’ (H3N2) flu pandemic.”

“In 1968, the H3N2 Hong Kong flu was a brand new pan-demic strain just like the H1N1 swine flu is today,” Williamson said in an email sent to members of the university community. “A lot of people got sick, but as more and more people recovered and became immune, that strain stopped causing pandemic condi-tions. The same will happen with this flu, but meanwhile, we have to consider that a lot of people could get sick this year.”

Prevention, however, is not ex-pected to inhibit the normal pro-gression of classes and events on campus.

“Should any schedule changes need to be made because of the flu, the information will be com-municated from many sources, such as the campus web page, campus E-mail, and through su-pervisors and faculty. The MSU website will be the primary loca-tion for information. There is a remote possibility, if enough fac-ulty, staff, and students were sick with the flu, that the flu would disrupt campus operations. Key leaders on campus have been no-tified to make plans should a brief school closure become needed.”

The maintenance staff has also been doing their part to make sure that the campus is as germ-free as possible, but much of the respon-sibility for staying well still rests upon each person.

“Public places such as the well-ness center are cleaned and sani-tized on a schedule designed to reduce the possibility of contract-

ing an infection,” he said. “How-ever, after an area is cleaned, it only takes one person to re-con-taminate that area. Staying free of the flu is really up to the indi-vidual.”

The biggest part of staying well is practicing good personal hygiene.

“Personal risk reduction and controlling the spread of flu, is based in how well you fend for yourself,” Williamson said. “Good personal hygiene is the key. Avoid contact with those who are ill. Do not share personal items, such as eating utensils or grooming items. Wash your hands thoroughly and frequently, cover your cough by coughing into your sleeve at your elbow, use tissue paper once and discard, and make use of the disinfectant gel dispensers we have placed around the campus.”

The other step is to get vacci-nated as early as possible.

“Vaccination is the best pre-vention,” Williamson said. “This year, there will be one flu shot for seasonal flu, and another flu shot plus a booster shot for H1N1 flu. College students/adults under age 24 are designated as one of the priority groups for the H1N1 vaccine. This will lead to some complicated scheduling for both the health center and our patients, so watch closely for more infor-mation as plans are finalized.”

If you do begin to feel ill, there are certain signs to look for.

“Symptoms may be due to a flu-like illness or real influenza,” Williamson said. “An influenza like illness (ILI) is anything with a fever of over 100°F, and cough or sore throat.”

“Classic” flu symptoms, ac-cording to Williamson, include a high fever, dry cough, body aches and fatigue. The fever and worst part of the illness last five to sev-en days, but the cough could stick

around for a month or more.An infected person is no longer

contagious a day after the fever is gone.

The Centers for Disease Con-trol (CDC) has recommended self-isolation for those who do become ill.

“If you get sick, stay home to limit the spread of the virus,” Williamson said. “If possible, residential students should return to their parents’ home until they recover. Guides to self-care and care for others in the home have been placed around campus.”

Going to class should be a sec-ondary concern to getting better.

“Stay home until the fever has been gone for 24 hours without fever-reducing medicine,” Wil-liamson said. “Students who be-come ill should notify their pro-fessors that they will miss class.”

Going to see a doctor, however, is not always necessary with the flu, including H1N1, unless the infected person is at a higher risk for complications due to other medical problems or pregnancy.

A doctor should be consulted if any of these serious symptoms arise: trouble breathing, grayish skin color, dehydration, confu-sion, stupor, and loss of con-sciousness, Williamson said.

Even if a student misses class, however, it is not recommended that they rush to the clinic to pick up a doctor’s note.

“The CDC and other medical authorities observe that requiring a doctor’s note to return to work or school overburdens already busy offices, increases spread of the virus, and exposes patients sick with influenza to potential complicating infections,” Wil-liamson said. “During an out-break of influenza, do not go to your doctor’s office just for a note; in most instances neither employers nor faculty should re-quire a note.”

Campus briefsWednesday

• Constitution Day Events starting at

3 p.m. in the CSC

• Cheerleader Poster Sale at 9 a.m.

in the CSC Arrowhead

• Athletic Luncheon and Update at

noon in the Wichita Falls Museum of

Arts at MSU

• Afternoon Conversations: the Twi-

light of the German Left at 4 p.m. in

the Juanita Harvey Art Gallery

• WFMA Live @ the Lake at 5:30 p.m.

Thursday• Museum Screening: ‘Tornado After-

math’ at the Wichita Falls Museum of

Art at MSU at 5 p.m.

H1N1..........................................................................................................continued from page 1

The WichiTanSeptember 16, 20096

Entertainment The WichiTanSeptember 16, 2009 7

MTV Video Music AwArds 2009A night of awkward moments, crazy outfits and drunken outbursts

Lauren Wood

enTerTainmenT ediTor

Photo Courtesy(Above) Janet Jackson was amongst many of the performers at the MTV Video Music Awards in New York City.

After watching the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards Sunday night, only one question comes to mind: what in the world just happened? From Kanye West’s rude outburst to Lady Gaga’s awful outfits, the night was one wild ride.

Live from Radio City Music Hall in New York City, the show began with a Michael Jackson tribute. Madonna gave a speech praising the late singer and made the point that despite his imper-fections, Jackson was a human, as well as “a king.”

After her speech, dancers flooded the stage, all dressed in Jackson’s famous attire, and danced along with video clips of “Thriller,” “Bad,” “Smooth Criminal” and “Scream.” Janet

Jackson took to the stage after-ward, paying tribute to her late brother.

Shortly after the emotional opening, the host for the eve-ning, Russell Brand, made his way on stage.

The British comedian, don-ning a top hat and extremely tight pants, immediately went on his merry way of saying offen-sive and outrageous comments, including a rant on whether or not Lady Gaga was a hermaph-rodite.

Lady Gaga, who was strate-gically placed behind Beyonce, was sporting one of her usual shocking outfits that included a mask, feathers and sequins, only one of her many wild outfits of the night.

The first award of the night was given to Taylor Swift for Best Female Video for her song

“You Belong With Me.” But her moment of happiness was shat-tered when Kanye West stormed the stage, took the microphone from the country singer and said Beyonce, who was one of the nominees, had one of the best videos of all time. It made for an incredibly awkward moment for Swift and those on stage with her.

Later in the show, Swift per-formed “You Belong With Me” in a crowded subway car with teenage girls and boys singing along with the young star.

Green Day also took home three moonmen for their song “21 Guns,” including Best Rock Video, then later performed their

hit “East Jesus Nowhere,” bring-ing excited fans onto the stage with the band.

Britney Spears added to her collection of moonmen when she won Best Pop Video for her single “Womanizer.”

However since Spears is cur-rently on tour, she accepted her moonman via satellite. Beyonce was a winner as well, but Kanye was able to keep off the stage and avoid embarrassing himself again.

Lady Gaga walked away with three moonmen, including one

for Best New Artist, which she accepted gratefully behind a mask of red lace.

As if that wasn’t strange enough, she also concluded her acceptance speech by saying “this is for God and the gays.”

Other nominees for Best New Artist included Asher Roth, Drake, 3OH!3 and Kid Cudi.

Lady Gaga later had an un-forgettable performance of “Pa-parazzi” which started strange with a “Phantom of the Opera” scene, and ended completely bi-zarre with her covered in blood and hanging from a rope.

Beyonce walked away with three moonmen, including Video of the Year for her single “Sin-gle Ladies (Put A Ring On It)” and later performed the song in a rather revealing leotard with many other dancers, all wearing similar attire.

Beyonce was a class act when she accepted her award for Vid-eo of the Year. She called Taylor Swift back to the stage so the teen star could have her moment the right way. You go, girl.

Despite that he’s in jail, T.I. won Best Male Video for his song “Live Your Life.” Then lat-er, staying “within the family,” Eminem won Best Hip Hop Vid-eo for his hit, “We Made You.”

Toward the end of the show, Pink sang her hit single “Sober” while suspended over the stage performing acrobatic moves. And Pink wouldn’t be Pink if she wasn’t wearing a question-able purple and checkered uni-tard.

The last performance of the night was Beyonce’s hubby, Jay-Z, and Alicia Keys singing “Em-pire State of Mind” from his new album. Jay-Z arrived for the last 10 minutes or so of the awards show and walked straight from his vehicle to the stage, micro-phone in hand.

The VMAs included many special appearances includ-ing Megan Fox, Jimmy Fallon, Jennifer Lopez and Serena Wil-liams, to name a few.

The audience was also treated to exclusive first looks during the show of Michael Jackson’s “This Is It,” rehearsal footage from the King of Pop, and a new “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” trailer.

Despite the awkward mo-ments and crazy outfits, this year’s VMAs went relatively smooth. Well, as smooth as an MTV awards show can get.

Oh, Kanye. Kanye, Kanye, Kanye. Didn’t you learn any-thing from your last public scan-dal? You remember that whole, “Bush hates black people” bit? Hopefully, you would have gar-nered a little pearl of wisdom from that: there’s a time and a place for political statements. Generally, not live national TV.

Now, I know that was four years ago, and maybe you’ve forgotten. And to be technical, your latest scandal at the MTV Video Music Awards wasn’t a political statement. But it was a statement that should have been kept inside your head. Maybe you could have let it loose af-ter the show at an afterparty, or whispered it to the guy next to you if you were just bursting to let it out.

I’m not sure what compelled you to run up onstage, grab the mic, and tell Taylor Swift to her face that she sucked and Beyonce was better (not in so many words, but you get the drift). Blame it on the vodka, blame it on the Henny. Blame it on an excess of testosterone. Whatever it is, it doesn’t mat-ter.

The point is, you stole a mo-ment from a 19-year-old girl, who in her short career has achieved what most country artists dream of. Actually, what most music artists in general dream of. She won a moonman for Best Female Artist with a crossover country hit. That’s an achievement, that was her speech, and she’ll never get that moment back.

Now, I agree with you whole-heartedly that Beyonce’s “Sin-gle Ladies (Put a Ring On It)” video is unquestionably one of the greatest videos of all time. I mean, come on. Three boo-tylicious women in black leo-tards dancing in front of a white screen? Groundbreaking. And that part in the middle, where the white screen gradients into gray? If that’s not technologi-cally spectacular, I don’t know what is. Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” doesn’t even come close.

But the question isn’t of whether or not your opinion was right, or that you’re com-pletely entitled to it. The ques-tion is of whether or not you had the right to steal Taylor’s microphone and impose your

opinion while she was trying to thank her fans. You know, the ones that voted for her.

I think we both know the answer to that. Twitter and Fa-cebook both exploded Sunday night with posts unfit to reprint. Even the handful of sad peo-ple still on Xanga wrote angry blogs as if other people would actually read them. Then you apologized, people reposted it, and bashed you again.

No amount of apologizing is going to fix this. People are going to be mad for a while.

Mostly because Taylor is cute and bubbly and about as mean-spirited as a kitten.

Honestly, Kanye- if I can be frank: you just made a complete tool out of yourself. I don’t know if you saw it, because you

might have already have been escorted out of the building by then, but Beyonce won an even better VMA than Taylor did. At the end of the show, she won the Video of the Year Award. And the second her name was an-nounced, everyone collectively went: “Wow, Kanye, your pre-vious statement was completely unnecessary. What a douche.”

And as Jay Leno alluded to Monday night, acting like a tool in front of millions of people is not the way your mama raised you.

Jamie monroe

adverTising manager

Photo CourtesyBeyonce performed at the MTV VMAs in New York Sunday.

Photo CourtesyKanye suprised the audience with his drunken outburst.

Photo Courtesy(Above) Lady Gaga performed her hit, “Paparazzi” on stage at the 2009 MTV VMAs Sunday night.

Photo Courtesy(Left) British comedian, Russell Brand, hosted the 2009 MTV VMAs, his second time hosting this awards show.

Shame on you, Kanye

EntertainmentThe WichiTanSeptember 16, 20098

$300,000Amount of scholarships given directly to students by outside organizations, groups, or businesses.

$385

* Free Wi-Fi

Devan Gill

For The WichiTan

New Jay-Z album a must buyNearly twenty-four years into

his career, Jay-Z is as big a hip-hop powerhouse as he ever was. To coincide with the release of the third installment of his “Blue-print” trilogy, Jay-Z teamed up with MySpace and DJ Hero to deliver a surprise performance in Manhattan on Sept. 9, just two days shy of Sept. 11.

Is it any surprise then that “The Blueprint 3” is a meditation on how the world has changed since that fateful day eight years ago? “The Blueprint 3” is a confi-

dent step forward for Jay-Z, and he wears that confidence on his sleeve along with a multitude of guest musicians spanning the entire hip-hop/R&B landscape.

In addition to that, this al-bum boasts over ten produc-ers, including Kanye West and Timbaland. At the outset, an al-bum with so many cooks in the kitchen could be construed as a warning sign.

Fortunately, “The Blueprint 3” comes off as more of a cel-ebration of different tempos, production values and creative influences than an overproduced mess.

The album hits the ground

r u n n i n g with “What We Talking About”, and Jay-Z dem-o n s t r a t e s his mastery of the studio by break-ing through a wall of c l a u s t r o -p h o b i c synths with politically-charged lyr-ics leveled s q u a r e l y at Genera-tion Y.

“ E m -pire State of Mind,” a poppy love letter to New York, is undoubtedly the best track on the album because it utilizes Alicia Keys’ soaring vocals to excellent effect.

“On to the Next One” is a weird minimalist number; about as avant-garde as commercial hip-hop can get.

“Reminder” is a classic Jay-Z track and more than suitable for the nightclub sound system.

Granted, “The Blueprint 3” has its flaws. As with most hip-hop records, there tends to be a handful of tracks that go no-

RobeRt Kahn

McT

Swayze dies after battle with cancer

Patrick Swayze, the “Dirty Dancing” actor whose unapolo-getic virility set him apart from other leading men of his era, died Monday after a nearly two-year struggle with pancreatic cancer. He was 57.

Swayze died at his Califor-nia ranch, according to a state-ment from his publicist, Annett Wolf. Lisa Niemi, his childhood sweetheart and wife of 33 years, was at his bedside.As a popular culture figure, the 

actor’s high watermarks came in

CoRa KuyKenDall

For The WichiTan

First ‘Gossip’ episode raises questions

Monday night could not have come faster for all of the Upper East Side wanna-be’s.

Last season left all “Gossip Girl” fans with burning ques-tions:  will  Chuck  and  Blair  fi-nally make their relationship work? Who is this guy at the cof-fee shop? What’s going on with Serena?

But as usual, many questions were answered, and many still remain.

At the end of season two I was

so happy when Chuck and Blair finally  got  together,  so  you  can imagine my surprise when the season opened with Chuck hit-ting on and almost kissing a girl who wasn’t Blair.

You can also imagine my surprise when it turns out Blair chooses the girl Chuck hits on in their little game of “cheating

bastard.” Blair’s friend, Serena, re-

minds her of Chuck’s bad boy past and what might happen if Blair doesn’t stop this weird game. I personally find all of the role-playing a bit weird and not normal, but I remind myself that Chuck and Blair aren’t the tradi-tional couple in the first place.

The Humphreys spent the sum-mer adjusting to the luxurious lifestyle of the Van der Wood-sons. However, family friend Vanessa was shocked to see how fast it took her best friend Dan to change and start carrying around

designer wallets with hundred dollar bills and being escorted in limousines, a lifestyle that the Van der Woodsons, particularly Serena, are accustomed to.

Serena is especially used to the highlife after returning from a crazy European adventure.

Another twist added to Ser-ena’s life is Carter. I have a bad

Tonight, Steve Rice and sev-eral band members from No Jus-tice will be making a stop at Club Fuglies in Century Plaza before hitting the road again. With a re-cent number one hit on the Texas country charts and a new album on the way, the tour bus won’t be slowing down anytime soon.

“I’m not going to be home for three and a half weeks,” Rice, the front man of the Red Dirt band based in Stillwater, said.

The band has been working on its new studio album, their first in five years.

“Coming up, well be in the studio for about two weeks, and then we’ll be ready to send it off and get it mastered,” he said. “It’ll be about a month and a half of solid work.”

Rice said they will play sev-eral songs from the new album at their acoustic concert tonight.

“I’ll play a lot of them acous-tic,” Rice said. “Some of them aren’t totally worked up with the

band yet.”A new face will be on the

stage and in the studio with New Justice as well. The band’s new lead guitarist, Cody Patton, will possibly come out to perform

bRittany noRman

ediTor-in-cheiF

No Justice boasts justifiable talent

Photo CourtesyActor Patrick Swayze died at the age of 57 on Monday.

feeling about this guy. No one knows exactly who he is, and Serena claims he is stalking her. But it is pretty obvious she’s ly-ing, because Blair and Dan catch her in her lie after they put a restraining order on Carter, and Serena has to stop and tell them why they can’t do that.

I love Serena, but I don’t understand why she’s slipping back into her old habits of party-ing and lying. I understand she wants the attention, but do dad-dy problems really explain all of her wild behavior?

I can already tell that my fa-vorite storyline for the season will be what happens with Scott. Is he really Lily and Rufus’ child or just a stalker? Does he really have feelings for Vanessa or is he just using her? He seems to be giving off a creepy vibe, but I guess we will just have to wait to know the truth until later epi-sodes.

Nate has yet another new love story this season, this time the lucky girl is Bree, the daughter of a rival family of the Archiba-lds. Not much has been released about their story, but I’m think-ing Grandpa Archibald will help instigate the Romeo-and-Juliet-esque romance between the two lovebirds.

My predictions for this season are that Nate and Bree will be together secretly and then have to sneak around in order to keep their romance alive, and Chuck and Blair will probably disap-point us again somehow. Serena will get the truth and the lies all mixed together and will have a hard  time  finding  someone  to trust and an even harder time finding someone to trust her. 

Tune in next Monday at 8 p.m. on The CW for next week’s drama.

Photo Courtesy“Gossip Girls” airs every Monday night at 8 p.m. on The CW.

where musically or lyrically. The second half of the album

descends into filler territory, with “Hate” being the most pointless collaborative track in years, but it manages to yield several scat-tered gems, such as “Already Home,” in the process.

In retrospect, “The Blueprint 3”  fails  to  eclipse  Jay-Z’s  first “Blueprint” installment, but it warrants multiple listens just the same.

If you happen to be a Jay-Z fan, you probably own this al-ready. If not, what are you wait-ing for?

Photo Courtesy“The Blueprint 3” was released Sept. 8.

with Rice and fellow Red Dirt musician Charlie Shafter (minus his band The Gnomes).

“Cody’s from Stillwater as well,” Rice said. “We gave him three of our records and he learned everything in two weeks. He came out and nailed it. He’s a real good fit for the band.”

If Patton can’t make it to this show, fans will get a chance to hear him on the new album and see him on the rest of their tour stops.

They’ll be drifting farther

from home, though, in the com-ing months.

“We’ve got shows in Min-nesota, Illinois and Wisconsin,” Rice said. “We’ve got a big Hal-loween show coming up with Randy Rogers, and we’re spend-ing New Year’s Eve performing at the Wormy Dog (Saloon, in Oklahoma City).

“We get up in the Kansas/Nebraska/Nashville area, too. There’s a good following out there.”

He says even farther north,

there are fans who are easily drawn in by the sound of Red Dirt.Tonight won’t be the first time 

Charlie Shafter has played with No Justice, and Rice is looking forward to the show.

Rice says the album has a ten-tative expected release date of sometime in early January.

“I wouldn’t say (the new al-bum) is different,” Rice said. “It’s just more perfected. It’s more of our own sound.”

Photo CourtesyNo Justice will play at Fuglies, Wednesday night at 9 p.m.

films  such  as  “The  Outsiders,” “Dirty Dancing” and “Ghost.” He earned Golden Globe nomi-

nations for the latter two, along with the adulation of love-struck fans.

Sports The WichiTanSeptember 15, 2009 9

The 14th ranked Midwestern State women’s soccer team con-tinued their unbeaten streak on Friday, tying Newman College 1-1 with two overtimes.

Brandy O’Neal scored her first goal of the season off a de-flected pass in the box, to tie the game in the 88th minute. The goal came in just enough time in this defensive battle that saw a combined total from both teams of 13 shots on goal and 11 saves by the keepers.

Newman scored first, on a ball from Amanda Knape that got past a diving Ashley Meeks, eight minutes into the game.

The Mustangs, who outshot Newman 17-13 including a 9-5 edge in shots on goal, continued to press and appeared to notch the equalizer in the 83rd minute.

But Kelsey Hill was ruled

offside after receiving Kari Bris-tow’s serve off of a free kick and beating Newman keeper Chris-tina Farid.

It was all defense after that, until O’Neal made the goal in the 88th minute that clinched the tie.

MSU, 3-0-1, received a good game in between the pipes from both Meeks and Mallory Whitworth. The two keepers combined to save four of the five shots they faced on goal.

“The tie isn’t the greatest thing in the world,” MSU coach Jeff Trimble said. “But when you are staring a defeat in the face and respond with two minutes to play... I’m just happy to get out of here with a tie.”

The Mustangs, who are off to their best start since 2004, re-turn to the home pitch on Thurs-day, when they face Northwood at 7:00 p.m.

The Midwestern State volleyball team traveled to Kansas City, Mo. last weekend to compete in the Rockhurst Classic.On Friday afternoon, the Mus-tangs faced Washburn to open up the tournament. They played two close sets, but in the end fell to the no. 6 team in three sets, 25-21, 25-14, 25-2. Washburn, 9-0, completed its ninth straight sweep.Sophomore Hillary White went errorless in the game and fin-ished with seven kills, six digs and .412 attack percentage. Lau-ren Bayer, the reigning LSC De-fesive Player of the Week, and Miranda Byrd added seven kills each.Dimery Michaels and Kimberly Jeffrey split time at the setter position and had 14 assists each

while leading the Mustangs to a .149 team attack percentage against a Washburn squad that had limited the opposition to a .066 rate.Kiara Jordan led the defense with 13 digs, while Byrd added eight.Later in the afternoon, the Mus-tangs hoped to come back from the loss with a win over their next opponent, Missouri West-ern. After winning the first two sets, MSU couldn’t hold on and fell to the Griffons in five, 25-16, 25-20, 25-14, 25-23, 15-8, and fell to 1-10 on the season.But Missouri Western earned three-straight points and forced a fifth set when Zimmerman’s dump found the floor to give the Griffons a 25-22 set victory.Miranda Byrd led the Mustangs with 12 kills, while Graves and

White added nine and eight kills respectively.Kimberly Jeffrey had 23 assists and Dimery Michaels added 13 more as the Mustangs finished the match with a .104 team hit-ting percentage.Kiara Jordan had 22 digs to lead the back row, while White and Byrd contributed nine each.Junior middle blocker Lau-ren Bayer joined Graves with three total blocks while White, Byrd and Tiana Bond added two blocks each to account for the Mustangs’ seven total team blocks.On Saturday, the Mustangs re-turned to the court to take on Fort Hays on the final day of the Rockhurst Invitational. Midwestern State was led by Lauren Bayers and Shelbi Stew-art at the net. Each finished with one solo and five block assists.

Sesley Graves added four more block assists as a part of a 12 total team block effort for Mid-western as then went on to beat Fort Hays, 25-19, 25-16, 14-25, 25-20.MSU used a diverse attack to produce a team kill rate of .194 as four players finished with at least five kills. Graves paced the Mustangs with seven kills, while Bayer, Stew-art, and Hillary White each add-ed five. Sophomore libero Kiara Jordan led the back row effort with 10 digs, but had plenty of help from White with nine, Miranda Byrd with eight and Dimery Michaels with seven. The Mustangs forced and flus-tered the Tigers into 31 attack errors and a team attack percent-age of .110.The finale of the tournament

put the Mustangs up against the tournament host, Rockhurst, who helped the Mustangs to a season low .053 hitting percent-age and take the sweep, 25-12, 25-20, 25-16. Sophomore outside hitter Miran-da Byrd led the Mustangs’ attack with seven kills, and Hillary White added five more.Junior middle blocker Lauren Bayer led the Mustangs’ defen-sive effort at the net with four total blocks, while Tiana Bond had three more. The Mustangs finished with seven total team blocks.Kiara Jordan had nine digs to lead back row efforts, while Byrd and Dimery Michaels had seven digs each.Midwestern State, who dropped to 2-11, will face Cameron in the Red River Rivalry Thursday at D. L. Ligon Coliseum. First

serve is set for 7 p.m.

Lauren Bayer, the LSC Defensive Player of the Week, had eight solo blocks and contributed to 27 of the team blocks. (Photo by Patrick Johnston)

Volleyball goes 1-3 at Rockhurst Classic last weekend Kaitlin Morrison

SporTS ediTor

No. 14 Midwestern State got just what it needed in last week’s MSU Cross Country Stampede - a nice runner-up finish.

So the Mustangs made East Central pay at the Aggie Show-down Saturday in Lawton.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the way we turned it around in a week,” MSU coach Koby Styles said. “I think we needed a good, swift kick in the rear and I think we will be ready for next week.”

The Mustangs compete in the Missouri Southern Stampede - another 5K meet - next Saturday in Joplin, MO.

Junior transfer Sydnee Cole claimed an individual title for the second-straight week by fin-ishing the 5,000-meter course in 19:31.57, but got plenty of help from the underclassmen.

Freshmen Cynthia Carrillo

and Heather Owens finished third and fourth with times of 20:35.28 and 20:41.94, respec-tively.

“This freshman group is tough,” Styles said. “Being able to pull out the win while hold-ing out three of our top five run-ners say a lot about our team. We have a lot of heart and pride.”

MSU went without 2008 Lone Star Conference perform-ers Kayla Hendrix and Lindsey Pate along with much improved sophomore Julie Bell so they could rest.

Junior Hassie Sutton turned in a strong effort to finish sev-enth with a time of 20:49.46 followed by junior Bailey Du-laney (21:19.33 for ninth place) and freshman Melody Caldwell (22:16.23 for 13th).

The Mustangs outdued East Central 26 points to 29.

Brandy O’Neal scored the lone Mustang goal in Friday’s 1-1 tie with Newman University. (Photo by Patrick Johnston)

MsUMUstangs.coM

For The WichiTan

alex nixon

For The WichiTan

Mustangs keep the win streak alive

Zack Eskridge passed for 224 yards and four touchdowns to lead Midwestern State to a domi-nating 52-3 win over Northeastern State Satur-day night at Memorial Stadium.

The Mustangs defense intercepted River-Hawks quarterbacks three times and limited them to 208 yards. MSU has not allowed a touchdown in its first 12 quarters of the 2009 season.

Neal Carr paced the Mustangs’ rushing attack with 87 yards and two touchdowns, while fellow backfield mate converted each of his two recep-tions for 86 yards.

Northeastern State was led by running backs Prince McKinney and La’Ron Elmer who rushed for 74 and 68 yards respectively to account for nearly 80 percent of the RiverHawks’ offensive output.

Midwestern State improved 3-0 for the third-straight season, while the RiverHawks dipped to 0-3.

Midwestern State obliterates RiverHawks 52-3MsUMUstangs.coM

For The WichiTan

From top left to top right: (1)Quarterback Zach Eskridge threw for 224 yards during Saturday’s win. (2) Cheerleaders were all smiles despite the weather. (3) Senior Lee Scott kicks off. (4) Fans stand to cheer on the Mustangs in rain as they beat the RiverHawks 52-3 (4) Coach Richard Lage talks to Senior Stephen Turner. (5) Beeay Mathis and David Little celebrate a Mustang touchdown. (6) Mili-tary night at Memorial Stadium. (Photos by Patrick Johnston)

Brandy O’Neal scored a goal for the Mustangs in the 88th minute to tie the game against Newman Univeristy on Fri-day. (Photos by Patrick Johnston)

CC wins Showdown

SportsThe WichiTanSeptember 16, 200910

Tuesday

On Deck this

week...

ThursdaySeptember 17

Volleyball

vs. Cameron7 p.m.

Women’sSoccer

vs. Northwood7 p.m.

FridaySeptember 18

Men’s Soccer

vs. West Texas A&M

7 p.m.

SaturdaySeptember 19

Cross Country

@Missouri Southern Stampede

Football

@ IncarnateWord7 p.m.

SundaySeptember 20

Men’s Soccer

vs. Eastern New Mexico

1 p.m.

Men’s Golf

@ The Territory

Duncan, Okla.

Home Events are bolded

Mustangs to watch...

Football

Linebacker Emmanuel Bagley was named the Lone Star Conference

South Division Defensive Player of the Week

announced Monday by the league. The senior had a career-high 13

tackles in Saturday’s 52-3 win over Northeastern.

He made four solo stops, contributed with nine

other tackles and forced a fumble.

Volleyball

Middle blocker Lauren Bayer was named the Lone Star Conference Defensive

Player of the Week last week. She recorded eight

solo blocks and finished the week with 27 blocks.

Cross Country

Junior Sydnee Cole has earned top honors at both meets the Mustangs have competed in this season. She was named the Lone Star Conference Runner of the Week this week. Her time in the 5,000

meter race of 19:31.57 was enough to win her

top honors and help her

team win the meet.

Women’s Soccer

The Mustangs have moved up in the NSCAA/

adidas polls and now have a ranking of No.

14 in the country. MSU is 3-0-1 after escaping

Newman University with a 1-1 draw last Friday. MSU looks to keep their streak

alive when they face Northwood this Thirsday at the MSU Soccer Field.

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The No. 12 Midwestern State men’s soccer team picked up a pair of shutout wins on the road this past weekend, knocking off Texas A&M International, 1-0, and St. Mary’s, 2-0.

“It’s always tough to play on the road, so any time you can win two games its great,” said MSU Head Coach Doug Elder.

“When your ranked it puts kind of a bulls eye on your back, and most teams pick up their game when you come to town.”

In game one on Friday, junior Paulo Teixiera picked up his first goal of the season, off a free kick from about 23 yards out.

The Mustangs continued to put

the pressure on the Dustdevils in the opening half, but couldn’t convert on a pair of breakaway opportunities by forward Nick Auditore and Tex McCullough.

“They pressed us and it was a hard-fought game,” Elder said. “We just don’t match up real well with them and their South American style. We had to be patient and disciplined and I thought we were.”

MSU goal-keeper, Raul Her-nandez was outstanding in be-tween the pipes, saving nine shots and picking up his third shutout of the season.

MSU took the pitch again on Sunday and continued their ex-cellent defensive play, allowing no shots on goal, and just seven total shots from St. Mary’s.

The Mustangs pelted St.

Mary’s with 22 shots to earn a 3-0 shutout of St. Mary’s for their fifth-straight win.

“It was a tough, hard-fought game,” MSU coach Doug Elder said. “We were persistent and stuck with it and really overcame a ruggedly called game.”

Allen Thomson started the scoring off in the first half af-ter receiving a corner kick pass from Dean Lonegrove.

In the second half, the Mus-tangs got on the board again with a Tex McCullough goal, after he received a nice through ball from Nathan Fitzgerald, and then dribbled past the goalie for his second goal of the season.

The final goal of the match came from Nick Auditore, his third of the year, on the assist from Kyle Kemic.

With the win, goalkeeper Raul Hernandez notched his fourth shutout of the season.

Midwestern State improved to 5-1 with the win .

The Mustangs return home this weekend with two games at

the MSU Soccer Field. Friday at 7 p.m. they face their rival, #19 West Texas A&M, which Coach Elder calls their biggest game so far this season. Then Sunday at 1 p.m., MSU takes on Eastern New Mexico.

Men’s Soccer slams ahead with two more winsAlex NixoN

For The WichiTan

Sophomore forward Tex McCullough scored his second goal of the sea-son in the 73rd minutes of Sunday’s 3-0 win at St. Mary’s Field. (Photo by Patrick Johnston)