Making the‘A’ list Wednesday, april 23, 2008 The sTudenT voice of MidwesTern sTaTe universiTy Scottish actor James McAvoy goes from humble beginnings to big screen fame. With a second-game rout of NSU, the Lady Mustangs clinch spot in postseason tournament. See “Speaker” pg. 4 See “Exam” pg. 4 See “D-Rock” pg. 3 Photo by Herschel Self Student filmmakers Sandeepkumar Singh and John Dotson set up a shot for a collaborative work. See “Deep” pg. 3 See “Pizza” pg. 4
THE WICHITAN page 5 THE STUDENT VOICE OF MIDWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 2008 Making the‘A’ list Scottish actor James McAvoy goes from humble beginnings to big screen fame. page 7 Playoff Bound With a second-game rout of NSU, the Lady Mustangs clinch spot in postseason tournament. CHRIS COLLINS FOR THE WICHITAN Filmmaker Dr. Sandeepku- mar Singh has big plans. When the 27-year-old med- ical doctor left India three years ago to pursue a master’s degree in health administra- tion, he found something un- expected. He found art. He found pas- sion. He found purpose. Now the doctor who came to the U.S. to chase a career has stumbled upon something just as rewarding: a hobby. Singh, a graduate student at MSU, has produced, directed and co-written about six films since May 2006. He said he’s self-taught. “Making films relieves the pressure of work,” Singh said. “Movie-making just isn’t work to me.” Singh said it’s difficult for filmmakers with tight budgets and limited equipment to keep up with competition. “It’s tough for an inde- pendent filmmaker to do one thing,” Singh said. “You have to do everything. You should know how to do everything. We don’t have big cameras but we get it done right.” Singh, who’s nicknamed “Deep,” established Deep Entertainments in February 2006. The production com- pany is currently working on about three projects, including a documentary, a short film and a web series entitled Falls Town. Falls Town, a web series about a real con man in Wich- ita Falls, was written by Falls Media Production. They spe- cifically asked Singh to direct the project. He describes it as a “Western mafia” film. “I like twists. I want to surprise people. All my mov- ies, especially the short films, have twists. But I like it to be reality-based.” Dramas, westerns and real- ity-based films are Singh’s fa- vorites, he said. “ W h e n e v e r I first saw Western movies, I was like, ‘Wow, these guys have style!’” Dilemma, one of Singh’s short films, was accepted to the New York Student Film Festi- val. The film was also shown at the Independent Film Festi- val for Y’all in North Texas. “Film is my passion,” Singh said. “I love it. When I talk about it, I feel it.” Wichita Falls has been a huge influence in Singh’s films, he said. “I don’t want to go to Hol- lywood and make a movie,” Singh said. “If I’m going to make a movie, I want to make it here. This town has every- thing that Hollywood has.” John Dotson, an MSU soph- omore, said Singh encouraged him to start making movies. “Deep’s a great filmmaker. He pushed me to write my first screenplay,” Dotson said. Dot- son and Singh are currently working a short film entitled One Last Fight. “He’s a growing artist. I’m SEAN HASLING FOR THE WICHITAN He speeds down the hallways of the Clark Student Center at 20 miles an hour on his Quickie P222, a camera in his lap. Meet 22-year old John “D- Rock” Dotson, business market- ing major with ambitions to be- come a great film director. Dotson, better known to fellow students as “D-Rock,” was born with cerebral palsy. The condi- tion affects body movement and muscle coordination and is caused by abnormalities in the brain that control muscle movements. Dotson, a former student at The Art Institute of Dallas, was given no words of inspiration when he informed them of his dream. The faculty told him he had no chance, because he would not be able to properly operate cameras. Since that day, he’s come to use that negative attitude as inspiration for his writ- ing and production. “My handicap has also inspired future projects,” he said as student passed by saying “What’s’ up D- Rock?” “Just Rollin!” he responded. In April of 2007, Dotson had the chance to meet a film direc- tor, Wes Craven, who made an appearance at MSU for the Artists Lecture Series. “I got a chance to get his autograph on one of my scripts. I just talked to him for a second, but he wished me luck in the future.” In April of 2007, Dotson made ground on his first short film. “Pul- verize: the Kung Fu Catastrophe,” an action-comedy starring fellow MSU friends. The filming only took one day. After the final cut it was 12 minutes in length. action and Doctor dabbles in cinematography filmmaker finds inspiration in disability Free lunch? ‘Complimentary’ pizza offer comes with unexpected price Required exam tests writing skills LINDSAY LEMON FOR THE WICHITAN The MSU Writing Proficiency Exam (formerly the English Us- age Exam) has been moved from the English department to the Office of the Provost. According to WPE Coordi- nator, Dana Barnett, the test is now under the Provost’s office because it is a university policy rather than an English depart- ment policy. The WPE, according to the MSU Web site, is an essay exam that “tests the ability of juniors to write a college-level persua- sive essay.” Either the WPE or English 2113 is required for any student at MSU seeking a Bachelor’s Degree who has over 60 credit hours and who has passed both English 1113 and 1123. The WPE is an MSU policy that has been approved by the Board of Regents and has been in place since 1983. The WPE, as well as English 2113, are offered in every se- mester: fall, spring, summer I and summer II according to the WPE’s MSU Web site. According to Barnett topics for the exam are chosen at ran- dom. “We have a test bank of about 70 topics, and two are chosen at random for each test,” Barnett said. According to Barnett, the av- erage failure rate for the WPE is around 22 percent, though the number varies from semester to semester. The papers are graded by at least two full-time English fac- ulty members, according to the LAURA HULL PATRICK JOHNSTON FOR THE WICHITAN It was not the typical day at the local Domino’s Pizza on Maple- wood Avenue, as students from MSU lined up April 7, waiting for their “free pizza and drink,” the promise of a lime green flyer passed out around campus. But was it really as simple as showing up and getting free food? Many expected it to be that easy, with “no purchase nec- essary,” but they immediately learned that wasn’t the case. The students were promptly greeted by a representative from Cit- ibank asking for their MSU Stu- dent ID. A Citibank representative led them to a computer to begin the process of signing up for a credit card. The offer at this particular event was for a Citi mtvU Plati- num Select Visa Card, created specifically for college students. The students didn’t know it, but both Citibank and Domino’s violated MSU policy, according to Dail Neely, dean of students. There is a strict no solicitation policy on campus, especially with credit card companies, un- less it is approved by the Clark Student Center. “Until we can provide some programs so people understand how to financially manage them- selves, we just don’t want folks getting into trouble,” Neely said. “It is bad enough that students have to borrow a lot of money Population control crucial, expert says Photo by Herschel Self Student filmmakers Sandeepkumar Singh and John Dotson set up a shot for a collaborative work. See “Deep” pg. 3 See “D-Rock” pg. 3 Photo by Sandeepkumar Singh John ‘D-Rock’ Dotson poses with director Wes Craven. See “Pizza” pg. 4 See “Exam” pg. 4 See “Speaker” pg. 4 RYAN HATCHER FOR THE WICHITAN Mankind must learn to man- age world resources in order to cope with rising global popu- lation, an expert said Tuesday night. Werner Fornos, president for the Population Institute, and a former Maryland state legislator, spoke to MSU students, faculty and the Wichita Falls commu- nity. “I hope that our politicians come to grip with problems that are current, instead of dealing with issues like religious phe- nomenon and scientific discov- eries,” Fornos said. According to Fornos, the world overuses and abuses natu- ral resources in numerous ways. Within the last 10 years, more than 600,000 miles of tropical rainforest have been destroyed. “If you ever fly over the In- donesian Islands at night look- ing down looks like the islands are having a boy scout jamboree with the burning fires lighting the night,” he said. Fornos pointed out that one of the major problems is urbaniza- tion of lands rich in resources. “Rio de Janeiro and Copa- cabana has behind it a climbing region of vegetation. Because of marginal farming and urbaniza- tion when it rains now, a large portion of the life will wash away,” Fornos said. According to Fornos, 26,000 miles of topsoil were eradicated for urbanization last year. “Half of our world’s popula- tion live in urbanized cities, and
Transcript
The WichiTanpage 5
The sTudenT voice of MidwesTern sTaTe universiTy
Wednesday, april 23, 2008
Making the ‘A’ listScottish actor James McAvoy goes from humble beginnings to big screen fame.
page 7Playoff BoundWith a second-game rout of NSU, the Lady Mustangs clinch spot in postseason tournament.
Chris Collins
For the Wichitan Filmmaker Dr. Sandeepku-mar Singh has big plans. When the 27-year-old med-ical doctor left India three years ago to pursue a master’s degree in health administra-tion, he found something un-expected. He found art. He found pas-sion. He found purpose. Now the doctor who came to the U.S. to chase a career has stumbled upon something just as rewarding: a hobby. Singh, a graduate student at MSU, has produced, directed and co-written about six films since May 2006. He said he’s self-taught. “Making films relieves the pressure of work,” Singh said. “Movie-making just isn’t work to me.” Singh said it’s difficult for filmmakers with tight budgets and limited equipment to keep up with competition. “It’s tough for an inde-pendent filmmaker to do one thing,” Singh said. “You have to do everything. You should know how to do everything. We don’t have big cameras but we get it done right.” Singh, who’s nicknamed “Deep,” established Deep Entertainments in February 2006. The production com-pany is currently working on about three projects, including a documentary, a short film and a web series entitled Falls Town. Falls Town, a web series about a real con man in Wich-
ita Falls, was written by Falls Media Production. They spe-cifically asked Singh to direct the project. He describes it as a “Western mafia” film. “I like twists. I want to surprise people. All my mov-ies, especially the short films, have twists. But I like it to be reality-based.” Dramas, westerns and real-ity-based films are Singh’s fa-vorites, he said. “ W h e n e v e r I first saw Western movies, I was like, ‘Wow, these guys have style!’” Dilemma, one of Singh’s short films, was accepted to the New York Student Film Festi-val. The film was also shown at the Independent Film Festi-val for Y’all in North Texas. “Film is my passion,” Singh said. “I love it. When I talk about it, I feel it.” Wichita Falls has been a huge influence in Singh’s films, he said. “I don’t want to go to Hol-lywood and make a movie,” Singh said. “If I’m going to make a movie, I want to make it here. This town has every-thing that Hollywood has.” John Dotson, an MSU soph-omore, said Singh encouraged him to start making movies. “Deep’s a great filmmaker. He pushed me to write my first screenplay,” Dotson said. Dot-son and Singh are currently working a short film entitled One Last Fight. “He’s a growing artist. I’m
sean hasling
For the Wichitan
He speeds down the hallways of the Clark Student Center at 20 miles an hour on his Quickie P222, a camera in his lap. Meet 22-year old John “D-Rock” Dotson, business market-ing major with ambitions to be-come a great film director. Dotson, better known to fellow students as “D-Rock,” was born with cerebral palsy. The condi-tion affects body movement and muscle coordination and is caused by abnormalities in the brain that control muscle movements. Dotson, a former student at The Art Institute of Dallas, was given no words of inspiration when he informed them of his dream. The faculty told him he had no chance, because he would not be able to properly operate cameras. Since that day, he’s come to use that negative attitude as inspiration for his writ-
ing and production. “My handicap has also inspired future projects,” he said as student passed by saying “What’s’ up D-Rock?” “Just Rollin!” he responded. In April of 2007, Dotson had the chance to meet a film direc-tor, Wes Craven, who made an appearance at MSU for the Artists Lecture Series. “I got a chance to get his autograph on one of my scripts. I just talked to him for a second, but he wished me luck in the future.” In April of 2007, Dotson made ground on his first short film. “Pul-verize: the Kung Fu Catastrophe,” an action-comedy starring fellow
MSU friends. The filming only took one day. After the final cut it was 12 minutes in length.
action
an
d
Doctor dabbles in cinematography
filmmaker finds inspiration in disability
Free lunch?‘Complimentary’ pizza offercomes with unexpected price
Required examtests writing skills
lindsay lemon
For the Wichitan
The MSU Writing Proficiency Exam (formerly the English Us-age Exam) has been moved from the English department to the Office of the Provost.
According to WPE Coordi-nator, Dana Barnett, the test is now under the Provost’s office because it is a university policy rather than an English depart-ment policy.
The WPE, according to the MSU Web site, is an essay exam that “tests the ability of juniors to write a college-level persua-sive essay.”
Either the WPE or English 2113 is required for any student at MSU seeking a Bachelor’s Degree who has over 60 credit hours and who has passed both English 1113 and 1123.
The WPE is an MSU policy that has been approved by the Board of Regents and has been in place since 1983.
The WPE, as well as English 2113, are offered in every se-mester: fall, spring, summer I and summer II according to the WPE’s MSU Web site.
According to Barnett topics for the exam are chosen at ran-dom.
“We have a test bank of about 70 topics, and two are chosen at random for each test,” Barnett said.
According to Barnett, the av-erage failure rate for the WPE is around 22 percent, though the number varies from semester to semester.
The papers are graded by at least two full-time English fac-ulty members, according to the
laura hull
PatriCk Johnston
For the Wichitan
It was not the typical day at the local Domino’s Pizza on Maple-wood Avenue, as students from MSU lined up April 7, waiting for their “free pizza and drink,” the promise of a lime green flyer passed out around campus.
But was it really as simple as showing up and getting free food?
Many expected it to be that easy, with “no purchase nec-essary,” but they immediately learned that wasn’t the case. The students were promptly greeted by a representative from Cit-ibank asking for their MSU Stu-dent ID.
A Citibank representative led
them to a computer to begin the process of signing up for a credit card. The offer at this particular event was for a Citi mtvU Plati-num Select Visa Card, created specifically for college students.
The students didn’t know it, but both Citibank and Domino’s violated MSU policy, according to Dail Neely, dean of students. There is a strict no solicitation policy on campus, especially with credit card companies, un-less it is approved by the Clark Student Center.
“Until we can provide some programs so people understand how to financially manage them-selves, we just don’t want folks getting into trouble,” Neely said. “It is bad enough that students have to borrow a lot of money
Population controlcrucial, expert says
Photo by Herschel SelfStudent filmmakers Sandeepkumar Singh and John Dotson set up a shot for a collaborative work. See “Deep” pg. 3
See “D-Rock” pg. 3
Photo by Sandeepkumar SinghJohn ‘D-Rock’ Dotson poses with director Wes Craven.
See “Pizza” pg. 4
See “Exam” pg. 4
See “Speaker” pg. 4
ryan hatCher
For the Wichitan
Mankind must learn to man-age world resources in order to cope with rising global popu-lation, an expert said Tuesday night. Werner Fornos, president for the Population Institute, and a former Maryland state legislator, spoke to MSU students, faculty and the Wichita Falls commu-nity. “I hope that our politicians come to grip with problems that are current, instead of dealing with issues like religious phe-nomenon and scientific discov-eries,” Fornos said. According to Fornos, the world overuses and abuses natu-ral resources in numerous ways. Within the last 10 years, more
than 600,000 miles of tropical rainforest have been destroyed. “If you ever fly over the In-donesian Islands at night look-ing down looks like the islands are having a boy scout jamboree with the burning fires lighting the night,” he said. Fornos pointed out that one of the major problems is urbaniza-tion of lands rich in resources. “Rio de Janeiro and Copa-cabana has behind it a climbing region of vegetation. Because of marginal farming and urbaniza-tion when it rains now, a large portion of the life will wash away,” Fornos said. According to Fornos, 26,000 miles of topsoil were eradicated for urbanization last year. “Half of our world’s popula-tion live in urbanized cities, and
Managing Editor Chris Collins Entertainment Editor Courtney Foreman
Op-Ed Editor Position Open Sports Editor Bobby Morris
Photo Editor Patrick Johnston
ReportersRichard CarterJosh Mujica
PhotographersLoren Eggenschwiler
Advertising ManagerCorrelle Ferlance
Copy EditorMarissa Millender
AdviserRandy Pruitt
Scam awareness
Despite the school’s best efforts, somehow
businesses looking to exploit students manage to
find their ways onto campus.
Beyond the fact that solicitation on campus
is against university policy, campus police still
find themselves escorting tenacious salespeople
off of MSU property.
On April 7, students found fliers all over
campus, even slid beneath the doors of residence
hall rooms, advertising “free pizza” at Domino’s.
Students, expecting a no-strings-attached meal,
walked into the business only to be escorted to a
computer by a Citibank representative.
There was a catch to this free meal. You
had to sign up for a credit card first.
Free pizzas were handed out to about 300
students. This means that the same number of
credit card applications were completed.
Citibank, to promote their pizza scam,
managed to get around the rules, enlisting stu-
dents to hand out and post the fliers. With campus
canvassed, there was no way the advertisements
could be completely removed before students
caught sight.
A free meal is a tempting offer, especially
when so many students are strapped for cash. A
credit card can be equally tempting, especially
with offers such as rewards points and zero per-
cent APR sweetening the deal.
The problem is, these promotional offers
rarely last long. Then, the interest rates increase
and the spiral toward debt begins.
The school shouldn’t have to keep scam-
mers off campus. Businesses should be respon-
sible enough not to come in the first place.
When students find themselves in the
midst of a ruse like the recent free pizza fiasco,
they should realize that free food isn’t worth giv-
ing up important financial information for.
THINK GREEN:Please recycle The Wichitan
after reading.Bins are located in Clark Student Center and Bolin Hall
Every-one has a chore that they hate and avoid doing at all costs. I am so low main-t e n a n c e that, as dis-gusting as it sounds,
I can go weeks without doing laundry, vacuuming or doing dishes. However, I can’t avoid doing the chore that I loathe with my entire heart and soul, because doing so would deny the inevitable clockwork that is American routine. Once a week, sometimes more, I am dragged or forced to go to Wal-Mart. And I absolutely despise it.
Going to Wal-Mart for milk, socks, light bulbs, granola, tire gauges, shampoo or whatever will guarantee a bitter mood on my behalf. Perhaps you have seen me there. (I am now taking the opportunity to apologize, because in the off chance we made eye contact, I probably didn’t give you a very pretty look.) I was probably dragging my heels, sighing heavily and angrily mouthing words that shall not be repeated.
I am miserable the entire time, even if I get to ride in the basket.
Wal-Mart makes me angry for three reasons, mainly.
One, as Americans, even I can’t go without a trip to Wal-Mart. Somehow we have grown addicted to the conglomer-ate and we don’t know how to function if “gasp! this town doesn’t have a Wal-Mart! Now where are we supposed to get our economy sized elephant flea dip?”
Two, the entire population happens to do their shopping the exact same day that I do, de-spite frequent schedule changes or outrageously wee hours of the morning.
Finally, three, it seems no one manages to leave home without their list.
No, not shopping list. The list of things to do to an-
noy other people, mainly yours truly.
Apparently there is some sort of Wal-Mart cult following and the infamous list is their code. Legend has it, the list was first found among the ruins of their sacred forefathers.
It was silly of me to grow up thinking that anyone had to ca-pacity of being so annoying on their own. I wasn’t even aware of this “list” until someone that was a particularly large chafe in my butt happened to drop theirs. I’ve been wary of it ever since.
Now, I have never attended one of their sick rituals, but apparently the shopper with the list that has the most check marks earns some sort of cov-
eted warehouse-priced crown.Allow me to share with you
some of the highlights of the legendary scroll.
(Taken from “The Wal-Mart Commandments” checklist edi-tion, section one through fif-teen.)
–Thou shalt take up the whole aisle with your cart, grandmoth-er, grandfather, great-aunt, hus-band, seven children and your own large derrière.
–Thou shalt always al-low your children to climb all over everything. This includes shelves, carts, employees and other customers. Thou shalt not do anything to stop them.
–Thou shalt always try to run your cart into other people’s heels.
–With the cooperation of Wal-Mart employees, only three of the seven-hundred-and-eighty-one aisles shall be open.
–Thou shalt fill up two shop-ping carts with small items. (Double checks are awarded for three carts. Triple checks are awarded if you go through the express aisle.)
–Thou shalt take ten minutes to decide between generic or brand name saltine crackers. (Double checks are awarded to those who obliviously block the rest of the section from the other customers.)
–Thou shalt find at least one person you know and chat them up about the atrocity of last night’s American Idol elimina-
tion. (Loud enough for all to hear earns double. While taking up the entire lane earns triple.)
–Thou shalt walk painfully slow down the middle of a busy lane. (Note: be sure that those who are in a time crunch cannot maneuver around you.)
–Thou shalt drop and break things. (Economy size pickles or other smelly items earn dou-ble checks.)
–Do not bathe or have other offensive body odor.
–Thou shall back up the line at deli, pharmacy, photo lab etc., by asking particularly mo-ronic questions.
–Thou shall manhandle as many pieces of produce as hu-manly possible, without buying any of them.
–Thou shall attend regular shopping sessions with list in hand. (Note: if you happen to see a small brown-haired girl with leopard print glasses pop-ping Xanax in the store with you, exaggerate your list to the fullest extent possible for triple check marks. She goes by the name of Haley. To recognize and chat her up when she is ob-viously in a hurry will earn qua-druple check marks. )
–Finally, thou shall always remember our motto: Man-kind’s worst enemies are pain, boredom and ridiculously stu-pid people in department stores. Exaggerate all three to the full-est extent possible.
News The WichiTanApril 23, 2008 3
3114082
1908 9th Street www.dciplasma.com
Name: Kevin Lloyd Occupation: Student Hobbies: Playing music and surfing the
internet Why I donate plasma: Donating
plasma is a worthy cause.
Name: Lua Augustin Occupation: ISM lead at Sears
Hobbies: Reading and dancing Why I donate plasma: A simple way to contribute to
medical advances. My mother is a nurse and I always wanted to do something to help other people.
When You Donate Plasma You Help Create Life Saving Therapies for:
Newborns and their mothers
Children and adults with hemophila
Burn, shock, and trauma victims
Vaccine development • Surgical patients • Hepatitis patients
Bone-marrow transplant adult recipients
Immunedeficient children and adults
Research and development in medical testing
39348
�tness classes are o�ered each week on campus through the Wellness Center Program.
students and alumni attended the MSU Career Fair seeking employment. Employers at the event represented 102 businesses.
Deep..........................................................................................................continued from page 1looking forward to what he does in the future,” Dotson said. There isn’t much leisure time in India, Singh said. It wasn’t un-til he arrived in the United States that he truly discovered art. “India is basically work, work, work,” Singh said. “People are working toward education and once their education is done they work. They have literally no spare time.” While there’s a big emphasis on education in India, there isn’t an emphasis on fun, Singh said. “After coming here I started en-joying life. I feel like there is more to life than working.” Singh was born in the village of Kalyanpur, in the state of Ut-tarprdesh. The village wasn’t very supportive of artistic en-deavors, Singh said. “We didn’t have the mentality towards art, entertainment, that sort of stuff,” Singh said. “It’s there, but nobody focuses on that.” Finding a steady income and making money is India’s prime interest, according to Singh. Competition in the Indian job market is fierce. “There’s much more competi-tion,” Singh said. “You have to work harder than the other guy or else you’ll be gone. The other guy is qualified to pick up your job.” Singh earned a doctorate in medicine from the Rajiv Gandhi Mumbai University in Bombay in 2003. There were very few Indian schools that offered mas-ter’s degrees in health adminis-tration then, Singh said, so he enrolled at MSU. “It’s a good school,” Singh said of MSU. “They go out of their way to help people.” Singh will be able to practice
medicine in the U.S. legally in July. He’s required to pass a se-ries of exams for the Education Commission for Foreign Medi-cal Graduates certification class before he can practice. The doctor doesn’t yet know where he wants to practice in the States, but does look forward to starting. “I haven’t thought of anywhere at the moment,” Singh said, “but I have been all over America and it all looks good to me.” Singh also hopes to begin his own practice in India, using so-cialist medical concepts to treat international patients. Currently, Singh said, the U.S. medical sys-tem needs to be reworked. “It’s like a closed book. No one can
open it,” he said. Singh said his practice will rely mostly on U.S. citizens who can’t afford expensive treat-ments. “My whole target popula-tion will be Americans because they’re the ones who are suf-fering from high cost,” he said. “The problem is infrastructure. It’s a different kind of practice over here.” Singh said India’s socialized medical system hinges on free treatment from government hos-pitals that work in tandem with more expensive, corporate fa-cilities. “We are doing well when it comes to health,” Singh said of India. “We aren’t getting the best
quality of care, but most every-one is getting medicine.” Moving toward socialized medicine would be good for the U.S., Singh said. “Whenever we start talking about starting socialized medicine in Amer-ica, people directly relate that to communism. It’s weird,” he said. Singh said he has truly en-joyed his experience in Wichita Falls. He hopes to use all his new skills, both in health admin-istration and filmmaking, when he returns to India. “I learned so much living here,” he said. “America helped me know my potential. What I always had inside me came out.”
Filmmakers Sandeepkumar Singh and John Dodson shoot a film together. Photo Hershel Self
“D-Rock”...................................................................................................continued from page 1
Campus briefs• April 23 “Taking Care of
Business;” Streich lecture se-
ries; speaker Comptroller Su-
san Combs; Dillard, Bridwell
Hall; Wed. 3 p.m.
• April 24 Symphonic Band
and Wind Ensemble Concert;
Akin Auditorium; Thurs. 7:30
p.m.
• Visit from Dr. Carole Brandt,
SMU emeritus professor;
theatre students can talk about
MSU theatre program; Bea
Wood Studio Theatre; Thurs. 3:
45 p.m.
• First meeting of Club Green-
light, for aspiring filmmakers;
CSC Apache; Thurs. 7:30.
• April 25 One Act Festival;
Fain Fine Arts Theatre and Bea
Wood Studio; Fri. 7:30 p.m.
• April 26 One Act Festival;
Fain Fine Arts Theatre and Bea
Wood Studio; Sat. 7:30 p.m.
• Gilrose Studios Art Show
Rodeo; Gilrose Studios, 600 6th
Street; Sat 7 - 11 p.m.; refresh-
ments, alcohol will be served.
“I was satisfied with it and it was a good learning experience,” he said. Despite his handicap, Dotson became very involved in the camera process. “I chose all the camera angles and somebody else shot the film.” The film has not been released to the public yet. Dotson gathers inspiration from big directions including Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, Alfonso Cuaron and Martin Scorsese. His favorite movies are Fight Club, Gladiator
and Man on Fire. “I like movies that make me think,” Dotson said. “When I was growing up, I watched a lot of movies because I wasn’t able to go out and play outside as much. I learned story structure, characters and different camera angles.” Robert Rodriguez has been a big influence in Dotson’s directing goals as well. “In his movies he uses wheelchairs and camera dollies. That is one of the reasons I believe I can do it.”
One of Dotson’s favorite actors is the late Heath Ledger. “His commitment to the role of the Joker in the upcoming Batman film was intense; he stayed in solitude for six weeks getting into the mindset of a psychopathic, mass-murdering clown with no empathy. I would have been honored to meet him.” When Dotson isn’t filming he is writing scripts, usually several at the same time. Asked where he comes up
with ideas he said, “I’m not as cheesy as getting inspiration from a flower blooming, but when I get a concept, I build in it until I feel I have something solid.” Dotson has no upcoming auditions for his future projects but is looking to start film production in July. “It will be a mystery-thriller,” Dotson said. “My goal is to become a successful movie director and to own my own production company.”
His plan after graduating is to move to California or Amsterdam and try to make as many contacts as he can. He is
shooting for a 2010 graduation at MSU. Until then, he said, he will “Keep on rollin’…and shooting.”
WASHINGTON - Hillary Clinton won a hard-fought Pennsylvania primary Tuesday, beating rival Barack Obama in a scrappy victory that she hopes will keep her underdog cam-paign alive to fight another day. The New York senator was carried to victory by whites, women, the working class and the elderly - the third time she’s been rescued from the brink of political death after must-win victories in New Hampshire in January and Ohio in March. With 82 percent of the pre-cincts reporting, Clinton led by a margin of 55 percent to 45 percent. The television net-works and the Associated Press declared her the winner based on exit polls and early return trends. “Some counted me out and said to drop out,” Clinton told cheering supporters in Philadel-phia Tuesday evening. “But the American people don’t quit. And they deserve a president who doesn’t quit, ei-ther. “You listened and today you chose. Because of you, the tide is turning.” Noting that Obama outspent her 3-1 in the state, Clinton made a direct appeal for con-tributions to shore up her cash-starved campaign. “We can only keep winning if we can keep competing against an opponent who outspends us,”
she said. Clinton was desperate for a win, especially a big win, to jumpstart her campaign heading into the final stretch of prima-ries. She’s looking for a series of victories to convince pivotal superdelegates that she’s the strongest Democrat and that Obama is a flawed candidate who can’t win big states against
the Republicans this fall because he couldn’t beat her in them in the spring. “I think maybe the question ought to be: Why can’t he close the deal? With his extraordinary financial advantage, why can’t he win a state like this one, if that’s the way it turns out?” Clinton said earlier Tuesday. Obama turned his attention
quickly to the next round of votes, flying Tuesday evening to Evansville, Ind., site of the next primary showdown in two weeks. “There were a lot of folks who didn’t think we could make this a race when it started,” he said of the campaign in Pennsyl-vania. “They thought we were going to be blown out. But we
worked hard, and we traveled across the state to big cities and small towns, to factories and VFW halls. And now, six weeks later, we closed the gap.” He brushed aside as trivial much of the recent campaign, which seemed to have stalled his gains in Pennsylvania. “It’s easy to get caught up in the distractions and the silli-
ness and the tit-for-tat that con-sumes our politics, the bickering that none of us are entirely im-mune to, and that trivializes the profound issues _ two wars, an economy in recession, a planet in peril,” he said. “But that kind of politics is not why we are here tonight. It’s not why I’m here and it’s not why you’re here.”
Steven thomma
McT
Clinton takes win in Pennsylvania
NewsThe WichiTanApril 23, 20084
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just to go to school and they get in debt that way, and then they get into additional debt.”
Student reaction varied when they found out there was a catch to the “free pizza.”
“I wouldn’t do it. It’s just a trap to get in debt,” sophomore Michelle Payne said.
Michelle was with her twin sister, Megan, who chose to sign up for the credit card. Megan said that she wasn’t actually go-ing to go through with getting
the card but just wanted to get the free pizza.
A pamphlet was given to stu-dents after they signed up, dis-playing benefits such as no an-nual fee, a 0 percent APR for the first six months and the ability to receive reward points for aca-demic performance.
The points could be redeemed for airline tickets, VIP passes to mtvU’s Spring Break or tick-ets to the MTV Video Music Awards. If also offered 10 per-
cent off music, DVDs and elec-tronics on MTV’s website.
However, after the first six months, the APR shoots from 0 percent to 17.49 percent vari-able. For students who fail to make the minimum payments or go over the credit line, the APR rises to 31.49 percent.
The Citibank–Domino’s Pizza arrangement has been happening on campuses all across the U.S. over the last few weeks. Student
reaction has been similar. In Wichita Falls, 300 pizzas
were given away over a two-day period. Citibank footed the bill for the pizzas.
According to Mike Selby, manager of the Domino’s Pizza on Maplewood Avenue, Citibank paid a discounted $5 flat rate for each pizza. The normal cost for a single-topping medium pizza and drink is about $10.
“From a business aspect, its an opportunity for us to get on to
the campus and to get our name out,” Selby said.
Selby feels that students had the opportunity to walk away from the offer and forego the free pizza if they didn’t want to sign up for the credit card.
“When they got there, they had their choice,” he said. “They could either do it or leave. My mama always told me any-thing that’s been given away free, there’s always a catch. You know as a student you can’t re-
ally be that naïve.”Citibank is not the only credit
card company trying to get their card into students’ pockets.
“People come on campus with duffle bags with stuff in them like credit card apps and giveaways,” Neely said. “They will come in, find a lounge or something, un-zip (their bag), and start trying to get people to fill out credit card applications. We basically have to run them off.”
grading sheet that is available on the WPE web site.
According to Barnett’s assis-tant, Jennifer Marshall, the pa-pers are graded in a blind grade which means that the faculty members grading the exam do not know the student’s name, major, GPA, or any other infor-mation.
The WPE web site states that graders also do not see one an-other’s grading sheets and no
marks are placed on the actual exam.
If two faculty members do not agree on the grade, the exam will be sent to a final grader who follows the same rules as the previous two grad-ers
According to Barnett, the time it takes to grade all the WPEs varies by the number of students who take it each se-mester, but students are able to
see whether they have passed the exam within six weeks.
Students who fail the exam and wish to see their grade sheets for the WPE may make an appointment with the WPE office; however, grades may not be appealed.
According to Barnett and the WPE Web site, some of the main reasons that students fail the WPE are multiple mechanical errors, not writing on the topic,
lack organization or develop-ment, and lack of support for their thesis.
The $25 fee for each exam is put to use by the WPE office because it does not receive any budgeted money from MSU, ac-cording to Marshall.
“There is zero budgeted mon-ey from MSU,” Marshall said.
The fee pays for proctoring, running off exams, postage for the 1,400 to 1,800 reminder let-
ters per semester and the salary of the Writing Proficiency As-sistant.
According to Barnett, the fee is approved by the Board of Re-gents.
Students who live over 150 miles from MSU can take the exam via proctor at a testing or assessment center at a college/university in their area, accord-ing to the WPE Web site.
According to Barnett, some
graduate school students choose to take the English 2113 class as a writing refresher.
Any student who wishes to know more about the Writing Proficiency Exam or English 2113 is encouraged to call the Writing Proficiency office at 397-4131 or access the Writing Proficiency Web site at http://academics.mwsu.edu/wpr/.
by 2020 two-thirds of our popu-lation will live in cities,” Fornos said. Another problem is the issue of global warming. “ In the last 15 years, we have had 14 of the hottest years in recorded his-tory,” Fornos said. He said that global tempera-ture change has caused more intense storms in the past few years. He commended Califor-nia Gov. Arnold Schwarzeneg-ger and former Vice President Al Gore for their attempts at
making global warmth a serious issue. He said two of the most im-portant issues confronting the world are water crises and food crises. “Water will become our most precious commodity for Texans in the next five years,” Fornos said. He said 97 percent of the world’s water is salt water. Fornos said that the U.S. has been struggling to get bonds to pay for water purification plants.
“We can’t even get a school bond passed unless we attach the bond to building a new football stadium,” he said. The overuse of limited re-sources is where the overpopu-lation problem comes into play, he said. “We have a limited amount of resources, and now have over 7 billion people dibbing into them,” Fornos said. He said that by 2050 the world will have about nine billion, all looking for a livable lifestyle. Fornos said that there is still
hope for the children of the fu-ture. He said there are simple fixtures to this solution. “ We need to eradicate our fe-male illiteracy. Literate women have half as many kids as their illiterate counterparts,” Fornos said. Fornos said that countries should try reducing the infant
mortality rate. “ This does not defeat the purpose of trying to control populations, but families will achieve their desired family size quicker,” Fornos said. He said that a final solution to controlling the population is proper access to controlling family planning. “ I’m not talking about abor-
tions. Abortion, like war, is an attempt to correct a historical mistake,” Fornos said. Fornos said that 1 billion peo-ple in the world are less than 24 years of age, and counts on those who are coming into adulthood to help control population and preserve our natural resources.
Pizza........................................................................................................................................................................................continued from page 1
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Speaker...................................................................................................................................................................................continued from page 1
UPB hosts casino night
Patrick Johnston The WichiTan Left: Eric Rhodes thinks about his next move while Ben McNinch checks his cards. Above: Adam Milne plays with his poker chips while Daniel Harris tosses the dice in a game of craps.
Before up-and-comer James McAvoy hit the big screen and be-came the movie star he is today, the young actor started small. McAvoy was born in Glasgow, Scotland and lived with his maternal grandmoth-er at age seven.
The actor trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and drama before beginning work on the big screen. McAvoy met his wife on the set of a UK television series and they married in 2006.
Although we are just now seeing McAvoy on the bigscreen, he has
been in over 20 films has won five awards in numerous categories and been nominated for 17 total. Re-cently, McAvoy was ranked num-ber 18 on Entertainment Weekly’s “30 Under 30,” the Actors List in 2008, and chosen as one of People Magazine’s Sexiest Men Alive for 2007. But what film roles have tru-ly catapulted this actor onto the A list? Below is a list of the five most recent movies James McAvoy has been in that has truly impacted his career as an actor:
The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Ward-robe (2005)
James McAvoy played the friend-ly face of Sir Tumnus,
the Faun, in this summer block-
buster hit. McAvoy helped four unsuspecting kids travel through a wardrobe and enter the mystical world of Narnia.
Becoming Jane (2007)This biographical film paints a
picture of her romance with a young Irishman played by James McAvoy. This romance flick follows the life and death of the acclaimed writer Jane Austen and her one night en-gagement to Tom Lefroy.
Atonement (2007)The lives of Robbie Turner
(James McAvoy) and Cecilia Tallis (Keira Knightley) are changed for-ever when a young girl accuses her older sisters love of a crime he did not comit. This bittersweet romance movie is based on the British novel
written by Ian McEwan.Penelope (2008)This modern fairy tale follows the
life of a pig-faced girl and the Jour-ney she takes to find the true mean-ing of life. Max (James McAvoy) sweeps Penelope (Christina Ricci) off her feat when he proves to her that looks are only skin deep.
Wanted (set to release summer 2008)
James McAvoy teams up with Angelina Jolie and Morgan Free-man in this action-filled summer flick. McAvoy plays an indifferent nobody who is transformed by his union with a fraternity of assassins to become an enforcer of Justice.
Entertainment The WichiTanApril 23, 2008 5
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Instead of making the average reader search and study the latest movie reviews and comments, I have provided for you the alter-native. Below is a brief synopsis, what the critics rated it, and then an MSU student’s rating.
“The Forbidden Kingdom”Starring:Jackie Chan and Jet LiSynopsis:While shopping in a China-
town pawnshop, Jason (Michael Angarano) finds himself be-ing sent back in time to ancient China by grabbing the pawn-brokers (Jackie Chan) staff. There, Jason is given the task to free the legendary warrior, the Monkey King (Jet Li), who has been imprisoned by the evil Jade Warlord. Jason befriends a wise kung fu master (Jackie Chan, again) and a band of rebel war-riors including Silent Monk (Jet Li, again), to assist him with his challenging task. He must learn the art of kung fu in order for him to succeed, and to find a way back home.
Critics Rating:Matt Stevens of E! News gave
it a C. “This mishmash of other, better films boasts thrilling fight sequences, but the bland story and characters aren’t worthy of its international superstars.”
Student Rating:Misti Knowles, senior Educa-
tion major EC-4 gave it a B+. “It was an innocent throw back to old-school kung fu movies.”
“21”Starring:Kevin Spacey, Jim Sturgess,
Kate BosworthSynopsis:Based on the true story of the
brightest minds in the country and how they robbed Vegas of millions. Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) is a shy, genius M.I.T. student who finds himself need-ing money for his school tuition. He is recruited into a group of the school’s most talented stu-
dents by a crafty teacher, Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey) that heads to Vegas weekend to turn the tables in blackjack.
Critics Rating:Lou Lumenick of The New
York Post gave it a C. “The fas-cinating story of six college stu-dents who took Las Vegas for millions gets dealt a bad hand in “21,” which turns their true-life saga into a slick, shallow and thoroughly generic caper flick.”
Student Rating:
Eric Smith, freshmen Mass Communications major gave it an A-.
“I thought it was a great Vegas casino movie with a humorous ending.”
“Prom Night”Starring:Brittany Snow, Johnathon
Schaech, Idris ElbaSynopsis:After surviving a horrible
tragedy, Donna (Brittany Snow) finally moved on and is ready for
the night of her life - prom night. Except her dark secret comes back to haunt her and the night turns deadly. Donna and her friends must find a way to es-cape from the cruel rampage of an obsessed killer who escaped from his maximum-security asy-lum.
Critics Rating:Michael Rechtshaffen of Hol-
lywood Reporter gave it a D. “After significantly toning down the usual shock/camp value,
“Prom Night” cries out for the sort of lurking dread and pre-vailing off-kilter mood that are hallmarks of the more effective psychological thrillers.”
Student Rating:Torik Jiwks, senior Mass
Communications major gave it a B-
“It was a good movie, but pre-dictable. I have seen the plot be-fore but it was an decent movie to pass the time.”
Lauren Wood
For The WichiTan
Courtney Foreman
enTerTainmenT ediTor
Scotish native making his mark on the big screen
To paraphrase the popular old saying, you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting at least two good guitar players in Wichita Falls.
So, it’s no surprise that, like a number of promising or estab-lished Texas bands, Brazos Stone found its lead guitar player lo-cally.
Originally from Throckmor-ton, and now based out of Lub-bock, Brazos Stone formed over a year ago. But it wasn’t until they discovered area guitarist Colby Schwartz that their sound started to come together, said vocalist and rhythm guitarist Brady Ash
Now the band is getting regu-lar play for two singles on 94.9
The Outlaw. “There’s a lot of talent in
Wichita, you know,” Ash said.
“Colby is young, and he’s really a prodigy. He hasn’t even been playing that long. He just has a
knack for it. You can tell it comes naturally for him.”
Originally Ash put the band together to play for fun. But after Schwartz joined the band--after seeing them play an Iron Horse Pub show--the group is taking music a lot more seriously.
The band just completed a four-song demo and is getting radio play for “Beginning of the End” and “Brazos Breeze.” Bra-zos Stone plays pretty much ev-ery weekend from Wichita Falls to Lubbock to Graham and even Albany. They recently played Woodystock to very good re-views.
The band also features Bridget Briles on fiddle and harmony vo-cals,
Drew Moses on drums and Monty Scrogum on bass.
Like most bands lumped under the red dirt label, the mem-
bers of Brazos Stone are not sure what to call their music.
“It’s kind of hard to put a genre on it,” Ash said. “They say red dirt or southern rock or whatever, I mean, it’s hard for me to sum it up in a genre. We’re kind of just a rock and Texas country mix.”
The vocalist explained that the band’s sound comes from a pretty interesting and diverse blend of personalities and influences.
“Collectively as a band,” he said, “I would say Reckless Kelly is definitely an influence on our sound.”
But the vocalist said that lis-teners will also hear Schwartz’s love of Led Zeppelin and Metal-lica in his solos and guitar licks.
In contrast, Briles was classi-cally trained on the violin since the age of five. “She plays a real distinct, a different sounding fid-dle, than what you would hear in
regular country or swing. It’s not anything like that.”
A relatively young act ranging from age 22 to 25. Brazos Stone members are dedicated to pursu-ing music as more than a hobby.
“We’d like to do it as our oc-cupation,” Ash said.
Whenever the band plays, crowds should expect a lot of energy. “We are all pretty young and we actually pride ourselves on our live performances. We get the crowd into it.”
The band members have been putting back money from their shows to be able to return to the Lubbock studio where they re-corded their demo. They would like to get enough songs done to release an album.
At this point, Ash said, it’s a matter of getting dates reserved that all of the members can make.
Small-town country band makes major headway in TexasriChard Carter
For The WichiTan
Photo courtesyMembers of Brazos Stone.
Weekend box office hits and misses
James McAvoy
SportsThe WichiTanApril 23, 20086
Sports briefs• MSU will be hosting the Sixth Annual “Let It Fly” 7-on-7 Passing Champion-ship. The event will be held on Saturday June 14 at the MSU Practice Fields. Teams will be placed into groups in which they will play in a round-robin format. Accord-ing to records a single-elimi-nation tournament will be set up and begin at 3:30 p.m.
• Early registration costs $170 and has to be recieved by June 2. Any teams regis-tering after June 2 will need $220.
• The Lady Mustangs will be hosting open tryouts on Wednesday and Thursday, April 23rd and 24th. The tryout is open to graduat-ing high school seniors and junior college transfers. Any player under 18 will need to have a participation release signed by her parents, and a current physical is required for all participants (no more than six months old). Recruits may attend either or both practices. For more information please contact coach William Milton at (940) 631-2367.
GolfWomen’s Basketball
Athletics Department
• On Tuesday the Midwestern State athletic training pro-gram announced their annual awards going to the best athletic trainer and the best newcomer of the year. Senior Travis Gray was named the athletic trainer of the year, while first-year athletic train-ing student, Shalee Rater, was honored as the athletic training Newcomer of the Year.
Volleyball “Let it Fly”
• Travis Klutts led the way for the Mustangs golf program from his first day on campus last year. Klutts averaged 73.9 over 12 rounds with a season-best 67 at the Charles Coody Classic. Klutts was garnered with All-Lone Star Con-ference Freshman of the Year and second-team honors.
• Sophomore Mitch Molen also took home All-Lone Star Confer-ence honorable mention honors.
• Coach Venera Flores-Stafford announced the volleyball program’s fifth recruit in the 2008 class. Tiana Bond is a 6-foot out-side hitter from Mansfielld High School. Bond earned all-District 5-4A honors last year and should add length and athleticism to the outside for the Lady Mustangs as they look to grow on last year’s record-setting season.
The Championship window seems to slowly be closing for the Mavericks’ franchiseMAVS need a Jump Start
Package handlers needed. Great hours for college students. Tuition assistance.
Very fast paced job, loading and
scanning packages.Apply at:
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BoBBy Morris
SporTS ediTor
Saint Paul Missionary Baptist ChurchWhere Everybody is somebody
Last Friday, the Midwest-ern State Mustangs’ men soc-cer team took on the Division I juggernaut Southern Meth-odist Mustangs. Squaring off at Westcott Field, MSU gave SMU all they could handle, but
a penalty kick early in the first half proved to be the difference in the 1-0 loss. In their final exhibition game of the spring, MSU got an un-lucky break as a shot-on-goal in the box glanced off of Brian Martinez’s arm 16 minutes into the match. SMU capitalized on the op-
portunity going up 1-0 early and played keep-away for much of the afternoon. The SMU Mustangs con-trolled time of possession for most of the evening, especial-ly for the last thrity minutes, where they played man-up for the remainder of the match. Senior Kyle Kmiec proved
to have the only decent shot-on-goal in the opening minutes of the match. The shot clanged off of the crossbar and squan-dered one of the few scoring chances that SMU would offer for MSU. Both goalkeepers played well for Midwestern State. Transfer goalkeeper Matthew Markin-
son came in on relief for Shawn Carr and made several quality saves down the stretch. Even playing man-down for the last thirty minutes of the match proved no problem for MSU as they held SMU in check and made some nice plays. This was the last exhibition match of the season for the
MSU Mustangs as they now look forward until August and Fall training. The Mustangs will open next season on August 29 at St. Mary’s to try and return back to the NCAA Division II Final Four, as they did this past sea-son.
In her first signings of her new tenure, MSU women’s basket-ball head coach Noel Johnson, announced the signings of Sun-ny Satery and Cierra Thompson to National Letters of Intent last Wednesday, April 16. “I’m extremely excited they are going to be a part of Mus-tangs’ basketball,” Johnson said.
“They will be the first signees for me and that makes me very proud. The coaching staff has done a great job of getting them in and I’m extremely proud of that.” As a four-year varsity letter-man at Rockwall High School, 5-6 guard Satery was a huge contributor to a program that won 87 percent of their games (136-20) with her on the roster.
She was a first-team District 10-5A pick as a junior in a sea-son where she lead the Rockwall Yellowjackets to a 40-0 season and a state championship. Satery will graduate from RHS as the all-time assists leader with 641. However, she also had decent range knocking in 178 treys in her four-year ca-reer. Thompson, who actually
signed earlier in the recruiting process, was honored as the Dis-trict 25-3A MVP for the second-straight season while she led her Llano High School Yellowjack-ets to a regional finalist appear-ance this past season. Thompson was also recog-nized the past two seasons by the TABC and TGCA with all-state accolades. The Lady Mustangs coach-
ing staff are still continuously scouting and trying to fill their team around coach Johnson’s new coaching schemes. A lack of depth was a serious problem last year for the women’s bas-ketball program, so this should be a decent challenge for the first-time head coach. “We’re working diligently getting kids more familiar with Midwestern State,” Johnson
said. “We’re trying to get them on campus. Our No. 1 goal is for them to know what we’re about and what we want to achieve.”
Johnson announces first pair of recruit signees as head coach
Midwestern drops final exhibition match to SMU Mustangs 1-0BoBBy Morris
SporTS ediTor
February 19, 2008. It’s a day that Dallas Maver-icks fans will always remember, one way or the other. It all de-pends on the next few games. It was on that day that Mark Cuban made one of the boldest moves since taking over as own-er of the Mavericks franchise. Cuban shipped off young, in-experienced talent in return for a proven, playoff-tested all-star point guard. Over the past month and a half, every “expert” has been butchering Cuban and the Mav-ericks for making such a blatant blunder. Everyone was crucify-ing him for lack of judgement, but what if Cuban just saw the light of Championship opportu-nities dwindling before everyone else? The trade centered around point guards Jason Kidd from New Jersey and Devin Harris from Dallas. Cuban thought that the future was now, so sacrificing Harris’ potential, he shipped him along with Desagana Diop and Maurice Ager, two first-round
picks, and monetary compensa-tion. For all that came Kidd and the serviceable, yet bench-rid-den, Malik Allen. During the past month, it’s been an ugly mix for the Maver-icks. Kind of like putting a rock into a blender. The rock is good and the blender was running just fine until the rock was there. Then, nothing. Cuban didn’t make the move for the regular season, though. He made the move to get a Championship trophy into his case. Kidd is no stranger to the post-season. He led the New Jersey Nets into multiple playoffs, including two seperate NBA Finals runs where they were beat out by the superior Western Conference. So, was it worth it? Will the deal that caused so much noise and left many Mav-ericks fans hopefully wondering come to help them the most in the playoffs? It’s time to find out. Expectations are high in Dal-las nowadays. Not like they were over a decade and a half ago
when Kidd was drafted by Dal-las, initially. Heck, they made the playoffs by the skin of their teeth this year with 51 victories, while last year they were flirting with the 70-win plateau. I have to say that I was one of the many skeptics when I ini-tially heard the rumors that this blockbuster deal might actually go through. I grew to be a fan of quick Devin Harris and his developing jump shot. I was even a bigger fan of DeSagana Diop who I be-lieve was one of the main rea-sons for the exceptional season last year. But after looking the trade over, I have to say it made sense. Regrettably. Cuban wants a championship ring more than any owner in the league, and I don’t blame him for making the trade that increased the playoff experience and poise in the locker room. I just think that the timing of the trade might have been a month or so too late for this year’s squad. It’s hard, even for a group of all-stars like Jason Kidd, Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard to
fully mesh together in less than two months. Add to that the fact that Now-itzki missed more than three weeks due to a reoccuring left ankle sprain in between this “meshing” period and there’s ev-ery reason in the world why the Mavericks shouldn’t succeed. Except they have to. Now. Kidd isn’t getting any young-er. Nowitzki is mid-way through his four to five year prime in which Cuban has been waiting for. And Howard is quietly be-coming one of the most versatile and all-around small forwards in the game. This is it for the Mavericks, at least for now. All of the building of talent through the draft and free agen-cy, as well as all of the excess cap room as gone out the ever- closing window. Something needs to happen. I’m not for sure what, but there’s got to be a spark signifying that this team has come together. I fear that if it isn’t now and in this series against New Orleans’ Chris Pauls that this chamion-ship window might be closing sooner than anyone expected.
BoBBy Morris
SporTS ediTor
McTJason Kidd (2) drives past Utah Jazz guard Deron Wil-liams (8) in a late-season victory 97-94. The win was one of their first against a top Western team since Kidd’s arrival.
Take a look at what’s on tap for Mustang athletics this week and come support your Mustangs!
Softball - @ Angelo State University 4 p.m.
Women’s Tennis - @ LSC Championships
Men’s Tennis - @ LSC Championships
Cycling - SCCCC Road Championships @ MSU
The name Bert Bell doesn’t mean much to the top NFL pros-pects of today, and if the former head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles and NFL commissioner were alive today, he would be aghast at what has become of his creation. Bell and George Halas are credited with creating the draft in 1935, and the idea was born out of parity and fairness. What-ever team had the poorest record in the previous season “earned” the right to draft first before the start of the next season. It’s 73 years later, and teams with the worst records now act as if the top pick in the draft is a curse. As visionary as Bell and Halas were in the 1930s, they could not have conceived the problems that have arisen with their creation. “It’s unfortunate; it was cre-ated to get a shot at the best players, period,” Colts gen-eral manager Bill Polian said.
“Money never entered into their thinking. Now money and (draft) position have become an issue, and it shouldn’t be.” Shouldn’t, but now more than ever teams don’t want the pressure and financial respon-sibility of having the top pick. Most teams are content with a mid-first-round pick because they’ll likely get more bang for their buck. Never has that been more clear than this off-season. The NFL’s worst-kept secret is that the Miami Dolphins want to unload the No. 1 overall selec-tion in next weekend’s draft. Despite such top-rated play-ers as Jake Long of Michigan, Chris Long of Virginia, Matt Ryan of Boston College and Darren McFadden of Arkansas, teams are scared away. The guaranteed money that players selected in the top 10 receive terrifies owners and general managers. The top pick will receive about $30 million in guaranteed money, and the
figure steadily drops for the fol-lowing selections. If the player is productive, such as Peyton Manning, it’s worth it. If not, it can be a crushing blow to a franchise’s salary cap and long-
term health. “If not for the quarterback (position), using the picks and spending that kind of dol-lars that are up there, you have risk,” Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones said. “It’s 50-50 up there.” The top picks are no longer smart money. Is it smart money
to spend $30 million on a 50-50 proposition? That is what the Dolphins are facing. And no team wants to trade them mul-tiple picks to acquire No. 1. It’s not worth it. Last season’s No. 1 overall pick, LSU quarterback JaMa-rcus Russell, did not sign with the Oakland Raiders until after the regular season began. His six-year, $61 million contract - with about $29 million guaran-teed - was the richest ever for a rookie. He didn’t play much as a rookie, either. There are also issues of “signability,” and even though the percentages should favor higher picks, there is always the chance that they won’t pan out and a team could get stuck with another Ryan Leaf. When the Houston Texans had the top pick in the draft in 2006, general manager Char-lie Casserly sent out feelers to teams who wanted to trade up for the selection. No team was interested.
“When nobody wants it, there is no motivation to trade it,” Casserly said. “It’s an evolution the past X number of years. As the money has increased, people don’t want it. The talent level gets closer, and it’s not worth it.” Even though this is an issue teams want to change, Casserly doesn’t see alterations to the current system any time soon. Because rookie draft picks have their own salary cap, which is collectively bargained between the owners and the players’ union, there is no incentive for the players to lower the value of any contract. “It’s been talked about, but nothing ever changes,” Cas-serly said. “As the league goes forward, there are much bigger issues than this. This is seven to 10 draft picks, which is impor-tant, but there are bigger issues. So I don’t see it changing.” So as much as the Dolphins prefer not to hear this, they are on the clock.
No. 1 pick price tag beginning to burden some teamsMac EngEl
McT
Cycling - SCCCC Road Championships @ MSU
Women’s Tennis - @ LSC Championships
Men’s Tennis - @ LSC Championships
MustangsPlayerProfile
Travis Klutts
GolfFreshman
Hometown : Lake Kiowa, Tex.Major : Business
Marketing
Travis brings a lot of young talent to the MSU golf program. Relying on prep success and expe-rience, Klutts has as-
cended the charts at both MSU and the entire LSC. Garnering three top-10 finishes this season.
Did you know?!
Travis was recently hon-ored on the second-team All-LSC as well as named the LSC Freshman of the
Year.
Softball team rallies to punch their ticket into the postseason
The Lady Mustangs entered last Saturday’s tilt with the Northeastern State Riverhawks with their backs against the wall, as they needed a final victory to propel themselves into the playoffs. Riding one of the best performances of the season by senior pitcher Ashley Kuchen-ski, the Lady Mustangs rallied to decisively take the second game of the double-header and lock up an all-important spot in the LSC postseason tournament. The Riverhawks came out strong in the first game of the set and looked poised to spoil the Lady Mustangs’ chances at a late postseason run. Fueled by an outstanding per-formance by shortstop Aimee Bohannan, including a towering three-run homer in the second inning, the Riverhawks punished sophomore phenom Katie Peter-son early to take a lead and keep it for good, 4-2.
Peterson allowed four runs off of eight hits in the complete game loss, dropping her down to 21-7 on the season. Peterson walked first baseman Brooke Smith to force in the opening run in the first inning, before Bohannon’s bomb set the final score for the Riverhawks in just the second inning. That’s all the run support that NSU pitcher Lacee Craig need-ed as she improved to 13-8 on the season in the complete game victory. Craig was pitching a shutout into the fifth inning, when the Lady Mustangs look poised to make the game close. Opening the half-inning short-stop Amanda Potysman walked on four straight balls to get the leadoff runner on base. Then following a single into left field by Kuchenski, catcher Lindsey Voigt reached base on a fielder’s choice. After Voigt stole second base, leaving runner’s on second and third, center fielder Maranda Bishop stepped up to the plate
and drilled a double into right center field. Both Potysman and Voigt trot-ted home to score the first two runs of the inning for MSU. That would be all the offense the Lady Mustangs could muster though, as both first baseman Jessica Ro-driguez and third baseman Kris-ten Stonecipher would pop up to end the inning and the scoring threat. Feeling the pressure after the opening game defeat the Lady Mustangs had to circle the wag-ons and hope that their bats would come back alive like ear-lier in the season. Not only did their bats catch on fire, but so did Kuchenski who pitched her best game of the year in the most clutch outing. Having their fate in their own hands, MSU needed to get a vic-tory to secure a spot in the LSC postseason tournament without relying on other teams faltering. A nine run explosion in the sec-ond inning by MSU would seal the game away and punch their
ticket to Durant, Okla. to partici-pate in LSC postseason tourna-ment from May 1-3. The Lady Mustangs blasted four homeruns on their way to the 12-3 rout of the Riverhawks, including three shots over the wall in the second inning alone. Lauren Craig led off the sec-ond inning with a homer to left field to begin the onslaught of NSU pitcher Jessica Johnson. Solid hitting, excellent base running, and untimely errors by the Riverhawks led to twelve batsmen coming up to bat for the Lady Mustangs in the bot-tom half of the second. Stoneci-pher got in the mix by smashing a grand slam to left field before second baseman Tabitha Yan-netti hit her own solo homer to left field that ended the scoring.Kuchenski pitched all five in-nings in the run-ruled playoff-clinching victory. She gave up three earned runs on six hits, but struck out three Riverhawks to keep their potentially potent of-fense in check for most of the
outing. Northeastern State fell to 22-21 on the season and 7-13 in LSC North Division play, falling out of the potential fourth-and-final playoff spot with the de-feat. The Lady Mustangs, however improved their regular season re-cord to 31-23, improved to 12-12 in North Division competition, and secured at least a spot in the tournament next weekend.
The final twin bill of the sea-son for MSU is slated against Angelo State this Saturday at the ASU Softball field. The first pitch is set for 4 p.m.
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BY ALYSON WARD
MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS(MCT)
Lots of famous people are on MySpace. But a good number of them are long dead.
Every dead poet, philosopher, artist and past president you can think of has a MySpace page - and many are presented in the first person, as if Thomas Edison and Joan of Arc are lounging at home in their pajamas, post-ing pictures and updating their blogs.
Benjamin Franklin recom-mends that his visitors read a bio that’s posted on the site. “May-be,” he writes, “it will help peo-ple realize that flying a freakin’ kite wasn’t my greatest accom-plishment.”
Charles Darwin has gotten tired of people spamming his page. So he’ll be approving comments before they’re posted, thanks.
And George Washington asks us: “Who rocked the revolution? ... That’s right, I did.”
The Internet can bridge dis-tances, bringing people togeth-er across continents. But now - thanks to some creative souls with a lot of time on their hands - it can also bridge decades, even centuries.
Who thought Henry David Thoreau, who found such solace in solitude, would approve of a social networking site? Or that private Emily Dickinson would find the exhibitionism to blog? And who would have predicted that, in the Internet age, Abra-ham Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth would be friends?
They’ll add you as their
friends, too - after all, that’s what MySpace is all about. But the anachronism raises all kinds of etiquette questions. What do we say to our long-departed he-roes? Can we really talk banali-ties with poet Marianne Moore or Mary Todd Lincoln? Can we
tell Alexander the Great to have a great weekend, or urge Na-poleon to hang in there ‘cause Monday’s almost over? But, as with almost everything online, it’s best not to overthink things. After all, even the most articulate voices of history seem nearly il-
literate on MySpace. Mathema-tician Rene Descartes _-he who brought us “I think, therefore I am” - introduces himself this way: “Well, I’m a famous philo-spher, mathemitician, and scien-tist lol. I went to college when I was 8 because I am so smart rofl,
but later I learned how much of a noob I really was.”
And in another circle of MyS-pace friends, the Founding Fa-thers hash out some specifics of the Constitution by commenting on each other’s blog entries. “I think that’s probably a good idea,” says Washington about a hard-won compromise. “Let’s use that. WOOT.”
We couldn’t resist dropping in on the heroes of history, the fa-mous figures who have returned to us online for “networking and friends” (except for Pablo Picasso, who also signed on for “dating” and “serious relation-ships”). Here’s what we learned about how the famous faces of the past tend to mingle among the living online:
When you’re famous (and de-ceased), how do you introduce yourself?
Shakespeare: “It is correct. I am backeth! It was once that I had a flight of sleep, but I have arisen to reclaim my art in this new and bright millennium.”
Salvador Dali: “At the age of six I wanted to be a cook. At sev-en I wanted to be Napoleon. And my ambition has been growing steadily ever since.”
James Joyce: “I’ve put in so many enigmas and puzzles that it will keep the professors busy for centuries arguing over what I meant, and that’s the only way of insuring one’s immortality.”
Richard Nixon: “I welcome this kind of examination of my profile, because the MySpace us-ers have got to know whether or not their friend is a crook. Well, I am not a crook!”
Walt Whitman: “If you want purely biographical stuff, I un-
derstand there’s a really good ar-ticle about me on Wikipedia.”
Ernest Hemingway: “I would like to apologize for one thing. While writing Death in the Af-ternoon, I sounded like a total jerk, and I promise you, I’m not a jerk. I’m actually a pretty nice guy.”
Who’s in their Top 8:T.S. Eliot: Dorothy Parker,
D.H. Lawrence, Aldous Huxley, MySpace celeb Tila Tequila
Carl Jung: Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin, H.L. Mencken, Peter Gabriel Tribute Band
Cicero: Odysseus, Roman Emperors Caligula and Domi-tian, Cookie Monster
Albert Einstein: Isaac New-ton, William Shakespeare, Plato, Mister Rogers
Whom they’d like to meet:John Keats: “Poets, nightin-
gales, people who like my po-ems, perhaps a doctor to cure me once and for all of this debilitat-ing sickness.”
Martin Luther: “I’d also like to meet faithful ‘Lutherans’ (I TOLD THEM NOT TO NAME THE CHURCH AFTER ME!) and other Christians.”
William Shakespeare: “Ken-neth Branagh, Patrick Stewart, Marlon Brando (sadly, never will), Al Pacino, Emma Thomp-son, Mel Gibson (just to slap him).”
Ernest Hemingway: “I’d like to meet all my fans. I’m glad that you all enjoy reading my books. Some of you may not like my books, but hey, there are other authors to choose from aren’t there?”
Beethoven: “I am not what you call a people person.”
Whither Shakespeare? He’s backeth, baby!
How do you say, `Thanks for the
add’?
–Terry, to President Abraham Lincoln: “Thank you for the add. I’ve admired your courage and politics for quite awhile. I also think you were kinda hot when you were younger. ...”
–Annie, to poet Sylvia Plath: “HI, SYLVIA! I’M GLAD WE’RE FRIENDS. COME READ MY POETRY IN MY BLOG IF YOU HAVE THE TIME. I SHALL NOT CLAIM TO BE ON YOUR LEVEL, OF COURSE BUT I SING MY SONGS MAINLY FOR MY OWN AMUSEMENT, ANY-HOW! ;) BUT YOU MAY ENJOY THEM. LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK.”
–Nick, to writer Gertrude Stein: “Thanks, Gert.”
How do you thank your hero?
–TomO, to President Abraham Lincoln: “Abe, dude, that thing you are doing with trying to free the slaves? Awesome. You da man! You rock that hat like no one else!”
–Max X, to author George Or-well: “Good writing, loved Ani-mal Farm.”
–Nicole, to President George Washington: “Thanks for lead-ing our country even though by now ur probably a ba-jillion years old ... keep on wearin that wig.”
Familiar faces from the history, literature books live again on MySpace
Students get airbrush tattoos, enjoy activitiesduring UPB-sponsored Sadie Hawkins Social
PATRICK JOHNSTON THE WICHITAN(Left) Graduate student Sachin Yawalkar gets tribal emblem inked on his arm during the Sadie Hawkins Social last Friday night at the Clark Student Center. Other activities included Scene It? the DVD game, food, and dancing. (Above) Sophomore Gigi Mattar smiles while she watches the tattoo artist airbrush on a tempo-rary tattoo.
The softball team gathers to congratulate between innings during Jeff Williams Sports Saturday.
Patrick Johnston The WichiTan
The WichiTanApril 23, 20088
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