Vol. XXXV, Issue 5, February 14, 2012 www.richlandchronicle.com

Richland

RememberingDr.Paddock

Page 6 Page 7

LiteraryFestivalcelebrateswriters

CHRONICLE

PG 3

SHOOTING RAISES SAFETY CONCERNS

A Member of The Texas A&M University System

: Music Education

: Irving High School, Irving, Texas

: It’s a relatively small school, and has a fantastic music program.

: Piano

: Piano applies to real life. It teaches hand-eye coordination as well as how to think outside the box. This applies to my career as well because it teaches me how to read score, something I’ll need to know as a band director.

: Dr. Goranson. He motivates me to do well in everything I do. He will help you achieve your goals, as long as you are willing to try.

: I attend concerts and plays on campus. I also play the saxophone in the band. I want to join the Catholic Student Organization because they help you achieve your goals spiritually, and will not turn their back on anyone.

: I plan to continue pursuing music education, minor in computer science, and hopefully go to graduate school.

MEE

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about Franco and how Texas A&M University-Commerce can change your future by visiting:

Meet.taMu-coMMerce.edu

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News

Image courtesy livejournal.com

LAURA GARSEAEditor-in-Chief

Riding the DART bus or train is a common mode of transportation. However, recent violence has riders questioning their safety.

Riding the DART bus is routine for many students. It’s an inexpensive mode of transportation, and one that the school pro-motes.

However, last Tuesday’s shootout at the DART Arapaho Center Station on Highway 75 and Arapaho Road had students question-ing their safety.

Three people were shot, one bystander killed and the initial shooter killed after an argument between a pass holder and the bus driver.

According to FOX News, Corey Jones had an altercation with a bus driver regarding his bus pass. The bus driver then apparently got out of the bus to get help from the closest DART officer. When the officer began to approach Jones, witnesses said that is when Jones opened fire.

The DART officer was hit twice, once in the chest and once in the shoulder. Two bystanders were also shot. One of them was later pronounced dead. Jones then ran to a nearby warehouse with three DART officers following. Jones opened fire again, but one DART officer fired from more than 30 feet away, hitting Jones between the eyes.

Occurring only four miles from campus, the incident led to Richland heightening se-curity when the incident was announced.

According to Chief Baker, director of Col-lege Police, Richland Police were to be on lookout for the suspected gunman. Two po-lice officers were stationed on both sides of campus until they were “given the ok” by the Richardson Police department.

“I texted Ron Clark at 4:21 p.m. and told

him that the suspect has not been identified yet and that we had two officers stationed on both sides of the campus as a precaution. Ev-erything was clear by 6 p.m.,” Baker said.

According to Baker, this is normal prelimi-nary procedure whenever incidents of crime happen close to the campus, but the height-ened security will not be a rolling thing. Had the shooting occurred closer to Richland, the campus would have gone in lockdown mode. Students and faculty would not have been al-lowed to leave their classrooms until the sus-pect was captured.

After hearing of the shooting, many stu-dents said they wouldn’t feel comfortable riding the bus again while others said that al-though it’s scary, riding the bus is something they have to do – violence or not.

“That makes me extremely paranoid, but I don’t really have any other way to get home,” said Cortez Rahmaan, computer science ma-jor. “DART is known for violence and crazy things happening and I think it will just con-tinue to escalate from here. This is just get-ting out of hand. They need to up security or change the system.”

Students who are questioning whether it is safe to continue riding the bus are urged not to change their routine but to make sure they are aware of their surroundings.

“Individuals will have to make an in-formed decision about their safety while riding the rail,” Vice President of Business Services Ron Clark said. “I’m sure DART is concerned about the recent violence and will most likely increase police presence.”

DART has heightened bus security, but it is uncertain how long it will last. Security initiatives on DART’s website lists tips to identify potential criminals, as well as what they are doing to provide the safest experi-ence for riders.

Safety questioned after DART shooting

“I feel fairly safe but I think they should step up enforce-

ment and police because of the recent shootings. Hearing one

of the DART officers was shot worries me. Even when there’s

an officer there’s a chance someone can get hurt. That re-

ally puts things into perspective.”

Jonathan Nguyen, Electrical Engineering

“I’ve ridden the DART ever since I was a freshman in

high school. Basically things happen. Anything can hap-pen. Hopefully undercover

cops will make it more safe. I’ll keep riding the bus.”

Victor Okigbo, Basics

“That makes me extremely par-anoid. I don’t really have any

other way to get home. DART is known for violence and crazy

things happening and I think it will just continue to escalate from here. This is just getting

out of hand they need to up security or change the system.”

Cortez Rahmaan,

Computer Science

Images credit Julio Nieto

“Customer safety and security is our high-est priority. DART continues to work with local and federal agencies to maintain a high level of security for our public transit system and to strengthen our ability to respond to possible events,” DART.org’s safety initiative reads. “DART’s uniformed officers remain highly visible on DART buses and trains and

at DART facilities. DART also continues the use of plainclothes officers in vehicles and buildings.”

Richland’s business office offers students a monthly DART pass for $65.

Although with all of the recent violence, it is uncertain if sales will be affected.

Patricia Villacin contributed to this story.

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PREVIEW/REVIEW

Images courtesy The-numbers.com, movies.about.com, Beyondhollywood.com, Zimbo.comx, 20th Century Fox

Hollywood’s offering a lighter choice to films opening on Valentine’s Day with “This Means War.”

This one revolves around two CIA operatives who begin to let their friendship dwindle after they start accidentally dating the same woman.

It’s kind of a fun premise that appeals to both sexes. It’s got romance, action and tops it all off with a little bit of comedy.

Chris Pine (“Star Trek”) and Tom Hardy (“Warrior”) give acceptable performances here, but are obviously just around to look pretty for the camera. It seems like they aren’t going to offer anything besides that until about halfway through the movie.

At this point something kicks these two guys into gear and they decide to actually be funny instead of just act that way. It’s like everything begins to click and “This Means War” starts to live up to its fun premise.

Reese Witherspoon (“Legally Blonde”) stars as the two operatives’ love inter-est and surprisingly adds a lot to the film. I am not a fan of this actress’ work one bit and honestly find her to be pretty annoy-ing, but she does a good job in this one.

I can even say the same thing about her co-star Chelsea Lately, who actually stole the show. I have never found this terrible, terrible woman to be funny in the slight-est, but it’s like lightning must have struck and something special occurred. She sort of eases everyone into the feel of the film and the tone sounded like what director McG (“Terminator Salvation”) was gunning for.

Is “This Means War” worth your time? Most definitely it is, at a matinee. This is a fun little ride, but something is missing in the equation.

If you’re looking for something to take your date to for Valentine’s Day, then I can recom-mend it. The girl on your arm should enjoy the experience, seeing as love is in the air.

But that’s as far as I can go on this one.

SCOTT JACKSONStaff Writer

Two guys, one gal

I know the new installment of “Twisted Metal” isn’t exactly romantic for it to be re-leased on Valentine’s Day. But it is one of the most anticipated games since its showing at E3 last year. “Twisted Metal” returns once again assembled with Twisted Disciples for the ultimate challenge of competence and destruction. Contestants have been chosen to compete and if they win they will get whatever prize they desire.

With an extremely destructible world, four groups play as these Twisted Disciples and battle it out for

control to win the prize of one

wish that is

fulfilled by Calypso, the mastermind of this Twisted Metal tournament. The online sys-tem lets players fight through a varitey of new game modes and unleash destruction against up to 16 players.

“Twisted Metal” features a complete ar-senal of weapons that gives players creative methods of mass destruction. Also, you get to choose from a variety of Twisted Vehicles, each of them are equipped with unique weap-ons that will destroy opponents. You also get to take advantage of Twisted flight, the Talon, a helicopter armed with a minigun turret.

“Twisted Metal” is a perfect gift for your significant other, I mean come on, what guy doesn’t want something that involves cars, guns and mass destruction? Trust me, he will thank you for it.

“Twisted Metal” will be released today and will be available exclusively on the Playstation 3 platform.

MARY CHANNELLGaming Editor

Valentine

?

Images courtesy Clker.com, Techdeville.com, Ps3.mmgn.com, Kotaku.com, Iamgamerz.com

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PREVIEW/REVIEW

Images courtesy The-numbers.com, movies.about.com, Beyondhollywood.com, Zimbo.comx, 20th Century Fox

Hollywood’s offering a lighter choice to films opening on Valentine’s Day with “This Means War.”

This one revolves around two CIA operatives who begin to let their friendship dwindle after they start accidentally dating the same woman.

It’s kind of a fun premise that appeals to both sexes. It’s got romance, action and tops it all off with a little bit of comedy.

Chris Pine (“Star Trek”) and Tom Hardy (“Warrior”) give acceptable performances here, but are obviously just around to look pretty for the camera. It seems like they aren’t going to offer anything besides that until about halfway through the movie.

At this point something kicks these two guys into gear and they decide to actually be funny instead of just act that way. It’s like everything begins to click and “This Means War” starts to live up to its fun premise.

Reese Witherspoon (“Legally Blonde”) stars as the two operatives’ love inter-est and surprisingly adds a lot to the film. I am not a fan of this actress’ work one bit and honestly find her to be pretty annoy-ing, but she does a good job in this one.

I can even say the same thing about her co-star Chelsea Lately, who actually stole the show. I have never found this terrible, terrible woman to be funny in the slight-est, but it’s like lightning must have struck and something special occurred. She sort of eases everyone into the feel of the film and the tone sounded like what director McG (“Terminator Salvation”) was gunning for.

Is “This Means War” worth your time? Most definitely it is, at a matinee. This is a fun little ride, but something is missing in the equation.

If you’re looking for something to take your date to for Valentine’s Day, then I can recom-mend it. The girl on your arm should enjoy the experience, seeing as love is in the air.

But that’s as far as I can go on this one.

SCOTT JACKSONStaff Writer

Two guys, one gal

I know the new installment of “Twisted Metal” isn’t exactly romantic for it to be re-leased on Valentine’s Day. But it is one of the most anticipated games since its showing at E3 last year. “Twisted Metal” returns once again assembled with Twisted Disciples for the ultimate challenge of competence and destruction. Contestants have been chosen to compete and if they win they will get whatever prize they desire.

With an extremely destructible world, four groups play as these Twisted Disciples and battle it out for

control to win the prize of one

wish that is

fulfilled by Calypso, the mastermind of this Twisted Metal tournament. The online sys-tem lets players fight through a varitey of new game modes and unleash destruction against up to 16 players.

“Twisted Metal” features a complete ar-senal of weapons that gives players creative methods of mass destruction. Also, you get to choose from a variety of Twisted Vehicles, each of them are equipped with unique weap-ons that will destroy opponents. You also get to take advantage of Twisted flight, the Talon, a helicopter armed with a minigun turret.

“Twisted Metal” is a perfect gift for your significant other, I mean come on, what guy doesn’t want something that involves cars, guns and mass destruction? Trust me, he will thank you for it.

“Twisted Metal” will be released today and will be available exclusively on the Playstation 3 platform.

MARY CHANNELLGaming Editor

Valentine

?

Images courtesy Clker.com, Techdeville.com, Ps3.mmgn.com, Kotaku.com, Iamgamerz.com

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Images courtesy Judith Cline

Drumming Up Support

GET ON BOARD!!!

Looking For Steel Band PlayersMembers Wanted C.C. Island House is Seeking Talented Steel Band Members and Drummers.All Interested Candidates Please Contact Trini

Phone: 214-622-7819Email: gptrini5@gmail.com

Or mail resume to: 2205 Foreman St. Dallas, TX. 75210

Staff meetings: Monday and Wednesday 2 p.m. in E-020-------

Letter PolicyLetters to the editor may be edited for space. They will be edited for spelling, grammar and malicious or libelous state-ments. Letters must be the work of the writer and must be signed. For identification and verification purposes, letters also must include the writer’s classification (grade level), full name, address and telephone number, although address and telephone number will not be published.

Editorial PolicyThe Chronicle is the official student-produced newspaper of Richland College. Editorials, cartoons, columns and letters are the opinions of individual students and do not neces-sarily reflect the opinions of other individual student writers, editors, advisers or the college administration.

© Richland Chronicle 2011

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Richland Chronicle Editor-in-ChiefKDUX Web Radio Station Manager

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ON THE COVER

Esther ChoErica EdwardsJack Fletcher

David GoodloeTim Jones

January 17January 24January 31February 7February 14February 21February 28

Laura GarseaTBADacota TaylorAdrien MerlissTBATBACarla DavisTBAJulio NietoTBAJoyce JacksonTBATannia GarciaMary Channell

Fred Allen Rebecca Banks

Terry BlendMary ChannellTannia Garcia

Benjamin Guthrie

Scott Jackson Patricia VillacinJulio NietoRaymond PronkJohnny SmithJoe Stumpo

Steve NovielloJames RaglandLarry RatliffMarshall Siegel

March 6March 27April 10April 17April 24May 1May 8

Recent DART violence has security concerns rising.

Cover Page Design/IllustrationPhoto Credits

DARTDr. PaddockLiterary Fest

Julio Nieto

GaberlunzCourtesy Judith ClineFile photo

Professor one of Richland’s ‘treasures’

Dr. Paddock was an adjunct physics professor and also lectured through the emeritus program. He passed away on his 70th birthday.

Dr. Arnold “Arnie” Paddock had a lively personality, one that followed him every-where he went, including the classroom where he taught.

Paddock began teaching as an ad-junct physics pro-fessor in 1984.

He had a knack for connecting with his students in a unique and enter-taining way.

“I will always re-member Paddock’s high fives. He was a teacher who truly inspired me. I will miss him,” student Wendy Smith said.

Even though physics isn’t every student’s favorite topic, Paddock made his lectures in-teresting. He made interaction with his stu-dents a top priority, often cracking jokes to keep everyone awake and listening.

“Professor Paddock was such a great man and really got me excited for physics,” stu-dent Caroline Parker said. “He left an amaz-ing legacy.”

For at least six years, Paddock worked with Richland’s Emeritus program.

Paddock held volunteer lectures for the enrichment classes every semester.

“He was just adored everywhere he went

and the residents at the communities were crazy about him,” Emeritus director Mitzi Werther said. “We could always count on him if we ever had a cancellation from a lec-turer. We would always call Arnold and he always made it his business to pick up the pieces to keep us from getting in trouble.”

Before he went into teaching, Paddock was one of the first volunteers for the McKinney Avenue Transit Authority. He was inducted into the McKinney Avenue system’s hall of fame in 2002 and was re-cently elected to its board of direc-

tors.In an interview with the Dallas Morning

News, Paddock’s son commented on his fa-ther’s love of the trolleys and how he could speak with authority and confidence about the system.

Students and faculty stopped by the access office last week to sign a memory book in Paddock’s honor.

“Dr. Paddock made a tremendous impact on his student’s lives,” Mariam Kavack said. “His wealth of knowledge, sense of humor and humbleness made him one of a kind. He will always be remembered and missed.”

Due to his sudden passing, counselors are available for students and faculty who may

LAURA GARSEAEditor-in-Chief

“His zest for life was tremendous. He loved people, he loved living, he loved the trolley, and

he loved teaching.” - Mitzi Werther

need the service.“He was unique and there will never be

another one like him ever,” Werther said. “His zest for life was tremendous. He loved people, he loved living, he loved the trolley, and he loved teaching.”

Paddock passed away Saturday, Feb. 4, his 70th birthday.

Rebecca Banks contributed to this story.

Image courtesy lindadaugherty.com

Image credit Joyce Jackson

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CAMPUS

Playwright finds success with teen issuesJOYCE JACKSONStaff Writer

Playwright Linda Daugherty once set out for New York City to be an actress, but she discovered when she got there that it wasn’t what she thought. Daugherty experienced some fun and excitement but found it was a struggle trying to raise two small children even with a supportive husband.

So, she returned to Dallas and focused on a writing career.

Daugherty has since written more than 25 plays. Most of them have premiered at the Dallas Children’s Theater (DCT), which has been named one of the country’s top five children’s theaters by Time magazine. She is now playwright-in-residence there. National touring productions of her plays have been presented in more than 150 cities in 41 states, including the Kennedy Center and a large number of community theaters, colleges and schools.

Daugherty was on the Richland campus Jan. 27, along with drama department chair-man Andy Long, to discuss some of her most popular teen plays and to inspire student ac-tors. She told the audience that we all think we’re going to create something wonderful when we write, or have this great idea.

“Forget it,” Daugherty said. “The fun thing for art is to just look for the accidents that happen in life – the things that fall in front of you – the little ideas.”

That is exactly what happened to her while she was driving around in the parking garage at Presbyterian Hospital several years ago to visit a sick friend. She’d gotten her ticket to enter, but she was frustrated because she was unable to find a parking spot for almost 45 minutes. As she listened to the radio, the host was interviewing Rachel Simmons, who wrote a book titled “Odd Girl Out.”

“It was about girl bullying,” Daugherty said. The host said that “Girls use friendship as a weapon.”

Daugherty said she had never thought of

bullying that way before and thought it was unbelievably cruel.

“It’s one thing to come up and just slug someone because you don’t like the way they look,” she said. “We don’t like that, right? But if you think someone is your friend and they use that against you later, you know, that’s the kind of cruelty that can do some really bad damage.”

Daugherty immediately went to Borders, bought the book, read it and at the next DCT meeting suggested they do a play about bul-lying.

Thus, “The Secret Life of Girls” was born out of her experience in the parking lot, which happened by chance and gave her the idea which led to her writing the play. It was a huge success. It deals with middle school girls and the destructive effects of bullying by gossiping, name calling, rumors and cliques of teen girls.

A performance of “The Secret Life of Girls” led to an-other issue of teen girls when someone in the audience told her the play was great, but there wasn’t much about eating dis-orders in it.

“That’s been one of the hard-est things in writ-ing – just trying to listen. What is someone try-ing to tell me?” Daugherty said. “Criticism is hor-rible. I want ev-erybody to love me and think that everything I write is perfect and wonderful. That is just not the way it is in the arts. What’s wonderful is if you find people who really are on your

side to give you good advice.” Daugherty then went on to tackle another

teen problem with her play, “Eat (It’s Not About Food),” which examines the danger-ous and strange world of eating disorders and explores the influences of society and the media. It took the longest to write – about a year.

“I think this was the hardest play I ever had to write because it’s a very difficult subject. It took me months to really get it,” Daugherty said. “Why don’t they just eat? I didn’t think I knew anybody with an eating disorder. What’s their problem?”

Daugherty said she had people tell her their stories about their particular eating disorders. One man, she recalls, told her he wanted to be popular with girls but was always too heavy so he started eating lettuce and taking laxatives. As a result, he did get thin, but his digestion was ruined for the rest of his life.

The major eating disorders are bulimia, the most dan-gerous, anorexia and binge eating, Daugherty said.

“Thirty per-cent of the people who have an eat-ing disorder die from it,” Daugh-erty said. “Sixty-eight percent of third-grade girls would rather be in a wheelchair than be fat. Do you think there’s s o m e t h i n g wrong with our culture?”

Daugherty also became involved with a team of doctors called

Girls to Women Health and Wellness and Dr. Susan Sugerman, co-founder, who are dedicated to the physical and emotional well-

being of adolescent and young adult women. As a result, she then wrote “don’t you love me?” -- a play dealing with teen violence.

Another play Daugherty wrote concerns learning disabilities. Her play, “Bless Cricket, Crest Toothpaste & Tommy Tune” came out of a family experience with her little brother. She wrote a play about him and entered it in a playwriting contest.

“I wrote this play about a sister dealing with her brother with Down syndrome,” she said. “It was a wonderful experience for me, and I won. My little brother used to do a blessing at the dining table. He’d say, ‘Bless Linda, Crest toothpaste and President Ken-nedy.’ I translated that, plus I’ve always been a fan of Tommy Tune (a great musical the-ater actor from Dallas).”

Daugherty also wrote “hard 2 spel dad” (with Mary Rohde Scudday), another play about the struggle kids face with learning dis-abilities. A young man sinks into taking alco-hol and pills just to self-medicate his misery.

“The Secret Life of Girls” will run from Feb. 10-26 at the Rosewood Center for Family Arts on Skillman. The play explores the destructive world of girl bullying, with a dialogue following the performance. It’s recommended for those 12 and over. For more information call 214-740-0051 or go to www.DCT.org.

Graphic novelist Jason Shiga will be the keynote speaker at Richland’s 29th annual 2012 Literary Festival.

The event will take place from Feb. 20-23 in the Lago Vista Gallery located in the lower floor of the library.

Shiga, from Oakland, Calif., is perhaps best known for his graphic novel, “Mean-while,” a choose-your-own adventure story -- with 3,856 possible endings. His most recent novel is “Empire State: A Love Story (or not).”

English Professor Patrick Murphy said Shiga’s novel has been made into an app for iPhones and iPads and is defined as

interactive literature. Shiga will discuss the making of graphic novels and do a workshop about them.

Murphy, who is teaching one graphic novel class this semester, said the subject matter in his class is world leaders. His students read graphic novels from different parts of the world.

“A lot of students are really into that - it crosses over into video games,” Murphy said. “We talk about that a lot in class.”

The festival will include three other noted writers: mystery writer Reavis Wortham, novelist and critic, Dr. Clay Reynolds and playwright/storyteller Dr. Njoki McElroy. The four-day event will also include an Ernest Hemingway panel discussion and readings from the English faculty and Richland students.

Wortham, an award-winning writer, used

to hunt and fish in Chicota, Texas, and used that setting as the inspiration for the fictional setting of his novel, “The Rock Hole.” It’s a murder mystery that takes place in West Texas. Wortham attended Eastfield College and taught school in Garland for 10 years.

Reynolds is a native Texas novelist, scholar and critic. He’s the author of 14 books and nearly 1,000 other publications ranging from critical studies to short fiction and poems.

McElroy taught Performance Studies of Black Literature for 35 years at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., and is currently an adjunct professor at Southern Methodist University. Her best-known novel, “1012 Natchez,” tells of her life experiences in the Texas town of Sherman.

There will also be an Ernest Hemingway Panel Discussion composed of part-time and full-time faculty who will ask questions

and discuss Hemingway’s novels. Richland English faculty members will also share their original works of poetry and prose, along with student readings on one day of the festival at the Joe Stanco English faculty readings.

Murphy said Stanco was a Richland poet and administrator who died several years ago. He started the readings.

“We renamed the readings in his honor,” Patrick said.

Anyone interested in reading original poems or prose works should contact Rae Deshong as soon as possible at Rdeshong@dcccd.edu. Student readings will be held from 12:20 to 1:50 p.m. on Feb. 23 in the library. The deadline for submissions is Feb. 21.

For a schedule of events, go to the Office of Student Life in El Paso Hall, Room E-040 or call 972-238-6130. All events are free and open to the public.

Literary Festival presents distinguished writers JOYCE JACKSONStaff Writer

Linda Daugherty speaks about her plays concerning teenage issues.

“Eat (It’s Not About Food)” is a play that examines the dangers of eating disorders.

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