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For those walking into Barnes & NobleLouisiana Tech over the next few weeks,initial confusion may ensue, but hopefully,by Feb. 18 the long-overdue renovationswill be complete.
Bookstore manager Gerald Reevessaid the last time the bookstore was re-modeled was in 1987, and when the uni-versity and Barnes & Noble joined forces,it was understood that some upgradeswould be made.
After 20-something years, its time foran update, Reeves said.
When the transformation is complete,things will be in different places, butReeves said this is all meant to make thestore more open and accessible to cus-tomersand allowfor better flow from areato area.
Aside from tables and other itemsbeing scatteredaround the store, studentsare sure to notice the lack of backpackcubbyholes.
Customers will be able to carry theirpersonal belongings as they shop, andthecheckout will be consolidated into onearea at the front, he said. There will bemoreefficiency in utilizing the space moreeffectively.
Looking at the plans for the new store,the location of merchandise like hoodiesandT-shirts will switch placeswith schoolandart supplies, puttingthem on therightside of the store near the conveniencearea, which will include a coffee bar andadditional seating.
More seating will also be added to theexpanded general books section, includ-ing a few comfortable chairs along withthe bar-top tables and chairs.
Thetextbook section will remain in theback of the store but will be more organ-
ized and partitioned off by a pseudo-wallof merchandise.
Shelly Williams, a junior elementaryeducation major, shopped at the book-
store duringthe remodeling andsaid it al-ready looks a lot more open.I hadnt been here in a while, but its
always good to update, she said. It hasbeen kind of chaotic, but I am able to seestuff better. It was really crammed be-fore.
Reeves said they are working on there-model in sections in order to keep thestore functioning and accessible to stu-dents.
We worked Friday, Saturday and evenon Sunday until noon, he said. Con-struction doesnt alwaysget doneon time,but were working hard to meet the dead-line. It will be somethingnew, fresh,up-to-date, modern and more efficient.
E-mail comments to [email protected].
Amy Olita
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Bookstore begins transformation
Park Place may just be an ideal livingspaceon campus, butto judgesfor South Central Construction Magazines Best of 2010 competition, iis the recipient of the Award of Merit in the higher education/researchcatergory.
Mike Nichols, Park Place project designer from Ashe BroussarWeinzettle Architects, said Park Place is a prime example of how Techis dedicated to improving student living.
This award is especially meaningful because it is the direct result ofLouisiana Tech's commitment to innovative design, Nichols, a Techalumnus, said. The award recognizes design and construction excel-lence, and we consider the recognition a reflection of the collaborativeefforts of thedesign team, a joint venture of TiptonAssociatesand AsheBroussard Weinzettle Architects and the contractor, Lincoln Builders.
The award program voting was held Sept. 10, 2010, at the EmbassySuites Hotel in Baton Rouge where judges selected numerousprojects asLouisianas Best of 2010.
The judges based their decision on solutions to challenges, projecmanagement, construction innovation, client service and safety. On afive-point scale,ParkPlace, whose score averaged between 3.5to 4.0re-ceived the Award of Merit.
Ken Tipton of Tipton Associates said an influential part of the de-signing process was student input.
It was an intensely collaborative effort between the university anthe design team, Tipton said. There was a significant amount of col-laborationwith students alreadyliving on-campus and potential studentsto seewhatthey liked andwhatthey wouldliketo seeadded. They werevery instrumental to the project.
Sherelle Black
STAFF REPORTER
Park Place procuresprestigious prize
You dont love God!The shout was sent both ways
across barrier lines as studentsgathered around a free-speechzone outside TolliverHall through-out the past week to witness andcontest the gospel according tothe Mississippi-based ConsumingFire Fellowship.
Brother Matt Bourgalt camealone Feb. 2 and Monday, bravingthe bitterwinter weather to deliverscathing verbal attacks on whatthey calledstudents,preachingonthe wickedness of students livesand how they needed to turn toChrist to avoid being condemnedto hell.
From behind the safety ofropesdesignating his areato prac-
tice the First Amendment, hethumped on a Bible while a sand-wich boardlistedthe acts deemedto be among the most sinful, in-cluding atheists, child molestinghomos, money lovers and sportsnuts; on the back was a quotefrom John 3:18.
I am not preaching aboutGod, he shouted. I am preach-ing on the condition of man.
Although students were both-ered by Bourgalts message,Dickie Crawford,dean of StudentLife and Auxiliary Services, saidthe proper measures had beentaken by Britt Williams, pastor ofConsuming Fire,to meet thetime,place and manner restraints re-quired to arrange a free-speechzone.
The designated free-speecharea must be reserved ahead oftime, he said. We dont wantpeople hollering and followingpeople all over campus. We dontwant it to get violent.Ourjob istoprotect him and protect the stu-dents.
To emphasize his point, Bour-galt made exaggerated gesturesand mocked the crowd, declaring,Tech must have lowered its stan-dards.
According to the groups web-site, Consuming Fire wasfoundedin 1995 in Williams home with theintent tomake Christ knownby apure and accurate manifestationof His person.
David Kueker, a senioraviationmanagement major whoprotestedwith friends, said he wasthere the entire time every day,even helpingto create aposter onthe secondday declar-
ing puppylovers, col-lege stu-dents andXBOX players go to heaven.
We wanted to bring out posi-tivity, he said. Hes shoutingYoure going to hell! We weretelling everyone, Youre awesome.Youregoing to heaven, justtryingto get people to smile. If youspread that much negativity,whats the point of being a goodperson?
Kueker said he and somefriends had originally shoutedfrom the nearby red table beforemoving to the zone itself, whatthey were told by a police officer.However, Tech Police Chief Ran-dal Hermes refuted the claim.
This area is considered thefree-speech zone, hesaid.Itsforthose who want to spread theirviews and opinions. The studentshave every bit of free speech asthis guy.
Almost all in attendance hadno qualms about exercising their
right, ranging from wholesalemockery to heated argumentspointing out the holes in Bour-
galts often-contradictory mes-sage.On the walls behindBourgalt
wasgraffiti reading,This guy, goaway and I came, I saw, Iwalkedawaypissedoff.
Justin Blue,a senior chemicalengineering major whoprotested with Kueker, said hewas bothered by how Bourgaltattacked everyone elses sinswhile ignoring his own.
Its frustratingthat he claimshes sinless, butno one is sinless;theonlyperson like that is Jesus,he said.
B l u e ,who iden-tifies him-self as agay Chris-
tian, saidwhen hecame outto his fam-
ilyas a young teenager, theycon-demned him.
A sin isa sin isa sin, hesaid.Theyre allequal.If you repent,youre going to heaven.
He also said Bourgalt re-minded him of the WestboroBaptist Church protestors andthere was no way to change hismind.
Aaron Gootzeit, a seniorhealth and physical educationmajor, saidhe believed Bourgaltsgoal was notto enlighten, but tolead people to assault him so hecould sue the university.
Hes motivated by money,
he said. Hescalling people out,saying theyre going to hell. Whyelse would he behere?
Gootzeit also said whileBourgalt may be misguided inhis views, the reactions of thecrowd may also have a negativeimpact.
It gives him a false sense ofpower; its addingfuelto thefire,he said. Eighty percent takes i
as a joke while theother 20 takeit seriously and argue, and theyall make him look stupid. [How-ever], if there was nobody heretoegghimon,whowould hetalto?Hed just beshouting atpeo-ple walking by.
Tuesday sawa great increasein representation, with approxi-mately a dozen members hold-ing large signs quoting Biblepassages and shouting louenough to be heard across Cen-tennial Plaza. An extra line ofrope was added at least five feefrom the initial boundary line ian effort
A manwhoidentifiedhimselfas Brother Kevin saidthe groupsvisit was extended from theusual single day to four because
BrotherBritt loves the people somuch, he wants to continuesharing the gospel with them.
Tracy Bays, a self-describetraveling evangelist,also demon-strated andsaidthe group hopeto inspire Christian students tocontinue this work in their ab-sence.
In this dark time, there areonly a few that are willing, hesaid.
Bays also said he has helpedemonstrate not only at univer-sities, but was present at theSuper Bowl on Sunday.
Stephanie Pruett, a junior el-ementary education major, saiwhile she is not a Christian, sherespects peoplewho areand be-lieves people like Bourgalt do
not.If youre not like him, he
hates you and, apparently, Godoes too, she said. I believeeveryone deserves to be happy.
E-mail comments to [email protected] and [email protected].
Kelly Belton & Robert Wilson
NEWS EDITOR & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
Photo by Taylor Stephens
Consuming Fire Fellowship members protest from the free
peechzone in front of TolliverHall Tuesday. About100 stu-
ents populated the area throughout the day.
HOUSING 3
Photo by Karthik Gotrala
Park Place apartments make up a large portion of thestudent
housing on campus. It features single, double and four-oc-
cupancy rooms.
Lambright looking into dining options
All students have been given the chance to cast a vote for theood services that will be offered in the Maxie Lambright Intra-
mural Sports Center. Paulette Crawford, coordinator of Aquaticsnd Recreation, said she sent all students an e-mail with the sur-ey link Jan. 31 in hopes of getting feedback from the surveys.
There will be food services offered in the Lambright. It coulde Aramark that offers this or an outside business, Crawford said.
We are trying to get students input on what they want.Tony Tryon, director of building services, said this change in
ood services will be great for the students who come to the intra-ural center daily.
There are an average number of 1,500 people including stu-
ents and members that use our gym daily, he said.BobbyDowling, director of recreation, said he expects the dailyse of the intramural center to increase when food services areade available.
Angel May, Techalumna, said shehas hada membership to theym for three years and thinks putting food services there wouldo over greatly with members and students.
Itcould be a healthy alternative forstudents whowork outreg-larly, May said. Plus, it would be great for students who live in
the on-campus apartments that dont want to walk to the other
Dowling said he hopes to offer not only healthy choices butalso something for all students to enjoy.
Michael Wale, a freshman mechanical engineering major, saidhe works out at the intramural center almost every day.
I think it would be good to have healthier choices offered oncampus in Lambright, Wale said. If there were food services of-fered in Lambright, I would be more likely to eat here instead ofChick-fil-A.
Food services at the intramural center may benefit studentswho use the center regularly because of its location and availabil-ity.
SteveKoertgy, a freshman computer science major, said if foodwasoffered at theintramural center he wouldrather eattherethenwalk to Tolliver Hall.
It would be very convenient for me as a student who lives inthe on-campus apartments, Koertgy said. I think it would be
great if I had healthy eating choices of fered here since Im in theintramural center every day.Dowling said the survey is still available for students on the in-
tramural website andurges studentsto givefeedback on what theywould like offered.
My desire is that people will come here from the apartments,as well as the rest of campus, to see what we have to offer, Dowl-ing said. Im really excited about having food services here. Wewant healthy choices here available for everyone.
Mary Timmons
STAFF REPORTER
religious ranting riles tech students
5pageThe Super Bowl is not just a battle between football teamsbut also a contest among products. Turn to Page 5 to see
which commercials The Tech Talk staff found to be the best.
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The student voice of L
ouisiana Tech University
February 11, 2011
Volume 85 Number 15Talkwww.thetechtalk.org
Up to date on the revolution in Egypt and how it all
began? Turn to Page 7 to get all of the facts on
how Egypt is fighting for their freedom.
View video coverage of
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Photosby Karthik Gotrala
2 The Tech Talk Februray 11, 2011
Ruston regeneratescommunit
y recycling
Ruston will continue its paper-recycling efforts in the comingmonths. The city will accept
paper items for recycling from8:30-11:30 a.m. the second Sat-urday of each month at the Pub-lic Works Complex, located at701 E. Tennessee Ave.
Acceptable paper productsfor the recycling project includecardboard, newspapers, tele-phone books, etc.
The paper-recycling day heldeach month is in collaborationwith the monthly HouseholdHazardous Materials CollectionDay, where fluorescent lightbulbs, batteries, appliances andfurniture are accepted for dis-posal at the same location.
For more information contactRuston Public Works at 318- 251-8641 or 318-242-7703.
Registration duefor Ultimate Frisbee
The American Associationof Airport Executives and theLambda Sigma National HonorSociety will host an UltimateFrisbee Tournament beginningat 9:30 a.m. Saturday at theTech upper soccer field.
Participants needed to turnin registration forms by 5 p.m.last Thursday in the AAAE boxin the back of Tolliver Hall.
Money for registration is dueat 8 a.m. Feb. 12.
Teams are made up of sevenplayers; the cost will be $5 perplayer. Individuals and organi-
zations can sign up for the tour-nament.For more information contact
Brittany Norman, secretary ofLambda Sigma, at [email protected] or Casey Cascio, presi-dent of AAAE, at [email protected].
Weights for Warmthto help area children
Students are encouraged tohelp Ruston children by attend-ing Weights for Warmth at 10
a.m. Feb. 12 at the Maxie Lam-bright Intramural Sports Center.Kim Spangler will host the
one-hour class in the aerobicsroom at the intramural center.
The class will be a one-timeaerobic style weights class wherestudents will be able to get agood workout while helping witha good cause. Admission is free,
but students must donate mit-tens, gloves, a hat or a scarf to beable to attend the class.
These items will be donatedto Ruston Elementary School tohelp keep students warm.
For more information contactChad Spruell, Tech coordinatorof fitness and wellness, at 318-257-4634 or [email protected].
UB Asian Projectto host Def Jam Poet
Union Board will host its lastplanned event for the winterquarter, the Asian Project, at 7p.m. Tuesday in Tolliver Hall.
The Asian Project will featureDef Jam poet Asia, who has
been featured on Russell Sim-mons HBO series Def Poetryand Black Family ChannelsSpoken. In 2006, he wasnamed Performer of the Year bythe Association of the Promotionof Campus Activities and tookfirst place at the Southern FriedPoetry Slam Championship withhis MinoriTEAM. Asia has ap-
peared with such artists as MosDef, Jill Scott, DMX, KRS-Oneand Dead Prez.
For more information contactRyan Rodriguez, Union Boardpresident, at 318-257-4237 or [email protected].
BriefsC
ampus
Member of the Chinese Students andScholars Association embraced their cul-ture by kicking off the Chinese New Yearat 5 p.m. Feb. 5 in Tolliver Hall.
According to the Chicago Tribune web-site, the Chinese zodiac is based on a 12-
year lunar calendar where each year isrepresented by an animal, and 2011 has
been marked as the year of the Rabbit. TheNew Year officially began on Feb. 3 and cel-ebrations will last for 15 days.
Jin Zhang, president of the Chinese Stu-dents and Scholars Association, said ap-proximately 150 people attended theChinese New Year.
Chinese New Year is the celebration ofthe lunar New Year, Zhang, a senior ac-counting major, said. You share what hap-pened last year and your hopes for thecoming year. New Years night is the biggestparty for Chinese students to get together.
Dan Erickson, director of InternationalStudent Services, said there are approxi-mately 80 Chinese students who attend
Tech, not including others in the commu-nity and those who are here to learn Eng-lish.
Traditionally, Chinese New Year is avery important family-oriented event, Er-ickson said. They make gyoza, which aredumplings they make with pork filling andchopped veggies and boil. This is a familytradition in Chinese cultures. They encour-aged everyone who attended to participatein their traditions.
Zhang said the night is not only for in-
troducing others to the Chinese culture butalso for those from China who are not ableto celebrate at home with their families.
New Years night is a way to provide acommunication platform for students fromdifferent Chinese students feel at home andnot feel lonely, Zhang said. We are a fam-ily here, and every Chinese student is afamily member.
Erickson said the students from Chinawanted to share and celebrate their NewYear with everyone. Zhang said the eventgives students the opportunity to embracethe Chinese culture by inviting them to din-ner, performances and games to celebrateChinese New Year.
Our association prepared the food ma-terials in advance, Zhang said. We startwith wrapping and cooking dumplings,which is an interesting experience foreveryone to enjoy.
Erickson said along with makingdumplings as a group, the students engagedin other unique Chinese culture trends.
There is a national New Year televisionprogram that the students recorded andplayed to share with others, Erickson said.They watched the show together and
spent time with each other while makingthe dumplings. There was karaoke and co-medians as well. It was a nice way for stu-dents to socialize and meet others from adifferent culture.
Zhang said students who attended werenot just Chinese but were also from India,Japan, Korea, Nepal, Vietnam and Amer-ica.
Chinese culture is amazing and has along history, Zhang said. I think mostpeople who attended this event enjoyedsharing a different culture with studentsfrom different countries.
E-mail comments to [email protected].
Mary Timmons
STAFF REPORTER
Students ring in a new year
Tech students from China celebrated their new year by making gyoza
dumplings. Gu Yue (left) said it is customary for families to get to-gether and spend hours making tasty dumplings.
Chinese New Year was celebrated by mak-
ing dumplings at Tolliver Hall by Chinesefamilies in Ruston.
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Displaying the artwork ofmore than 40 students in theundergraduate and graduate
programs, the Student ArtShow openedFeb. 1 in theE.J.Bellocq and Main Gallery inthe Visual Arts Center.
The gallery, which displaysworks in several dif ferentmediums, wil l be open untilFeb. 15.
More than 70 submissionswere made to the show, butonly 43 students work made itto the gallery with six chosenas winners in each medium.
Ashley Matthews won Bestof Showwithher digital inkjetprint t it led Si las. All isonSmith took first in core,Cheyenne Morrow took first instudio, Mandi Zimmer tookfirst in photography, Caleb
Sylvest took first in communi-cat ion design and EdwardKersch took first for graduatestudents.
Morrow, a senior s tudioand communication designmajor, saidshe enjoyed havingher work in the gallery.
It s a lways good to hearfeedback on your work out-side of class, Morrow said.Theshow was justa goodex-cuse to be wi th friends andtalk about art.
She said she is also proudof herself and her fellow stu-dents for making it in theshow.
Theres a wide variety ofart and everyone did so well ,so I feel privileged to even get
in, Morrow said.Jes Schrom, an assistant
professor of photography,served as director of theshowandsaid sheis impressedwiththe quali ty of the s tudentswork in the show.
You can tell the studentsinvested a lot of time and
thought in what they enteredin the show, Schrom said.
She said the show also hasa wide variety of styles whichshe was glad to see from ateachers perspective.
As teachers,we dont wantour students being photocopiesof each other, Schromsaid. We want to teach themhow to make work that re-flects their interests and moti-vations, and I believe thisgallery shows that diversity ofstyles.
Ethan Anderson, a fresh-man communication designmajor, said he enjoyed seeingall the different sty les of thestudents in the show.
February 11, 2011 The Tech Talk 3
8:30 p.m. in thequad
APARTMENTrentals
1 & 2 BR/1 BA apts.
2br/2.5 ba Condos
W/D, wifi, sec. sys.
318-242-0003
State and university officials are reassuring students that theamount of cuts will be as minimal as possible after the LouisianaBoard of Regents named 46 programs possible for termination.
Of those 46 programs, 21 of them came from the College ofEducation.
David Gullatt, dean of the College of Education, said the collegeis watching the review process closely and will do what they can to
eep as many degrees as possible.We are closely monitor ing the low-completer review process,
Gullatt said. Our administrators are working to provide the max-imum number of degree options to our candidates.
Gullatt said if they decide to terminate any programs, it woulde after all other options have been examined.
If we do recommend to campus officials the end to some de-gree programs, then everyone should know that the decision wasone of last resort, and that the decision will be the one with mini-mal effect to our candidates and area school systems, Gullatt said.
Amber Peterson, a junior elementary and special education
(grades 1-5) major, said she was agonized when her major appearedon the list.
When I first saw the list, I was completely surprised, Petersonsaid. I was in shock with the amount of education majors that werelisted.
Peterson said that the university should fight for the special ed-ucation majors.
I think that the university should definitely consider keepingthese majors, Peterson said. There is a high need for special ed-ucation teachers all over the country. How do we fill this shortageif we do not have a major for it?
State representative Hollis Downs, R-Ruston, said this reviewprocess is not a new process.
It is not uncommon for the Board of Regents to review degreeprograms at Louisiana universities to determine if they remain rel-evant and represent a good value to both the students and the tax-payer, said Downs. No institution cooperates more fully duringthese reviews than Tech under the leadership of President Dan Re-neau.
Downs said if there is a need for certain majors, there will be anappeal to keep them.
If there remains real value in the offerings and they are needed,
a well -prepared case will be presented to keep them, said Downs.Often, if not always, the Regents respond favorably to the requestsof Tech.
Downs said as he heads down to the regular legislative session,he will support a funding formula that rewards excellence and re-sults based on a formula that sets academic priorities for Louisianapublic universities to help with the 1.6 billion shortfall facingLouisiana this year.
Downs said he does not believe that potential degree cutsshould change any potential students or current students thoughtsof coming to or leaving Tech.
If you are serious about your education and want a degree froa quality institution in the shortest period of time, with the leasamount of debt and with the opportunity to earn income on aver-age higher than from every other institution in this state, theclearly Tech is your best choice, Downs said.
As the colleges determine which degrees to keep and which tolet go, Gallutt said students should trust them.
Gallutt said, I believe they (students) trust us to make the deci-sions that have their best interests in mind.
E-mail comments to [email protected].
Zach Beaird
STAFF REPORTER
Hayden Haynes
STAFF REPORTER
CoE struggles to maintain programs
I like knowing that as I gothrough these art classes Istill going to be able to keep myown style, Anderson said. Ican tell that its encouraged tohave your own unique style bythe pieces in the show.
He said this was encourag-ing as a student who is still rel-atively new to the department.
I just started art classes thisquarter, and I was worried thathe teachers would want me tochange how I work and create,Anderson said. But, Im seeingnow that my teachers are really
just helping me to perfect mystyle, not learn theirs.
Anderson said, overall, hewas glad he went to the show
because it motivated and en-couraged him as a beginning arstudent.
The pieces in this show areso good it really has me want-ing to make art, Anderson said.The students in this show have
motivated me to get better, anmaybe next year Ill be in thegallery myself.
E-mail comments to [email protected].
School of Art shows
off students gallery
A federal judge in Florida struck down the en-tire new national health care law last week, mak-ing many wonder if the bill will survive to be fullyimplemented.
Senior District Judge Roger Vinson was the firstjudge to nullify the entire bill, though District JudgeHenry Hudson of Virginia struck down the man-date requiring all citizens to purchase health careearlier this month. Florida and 26 other states, in-cluding Louisiana, have filed suit against the healthcare legislation.
Lower courts have not settled the matter assome judges have upheld the law while othershave ruled it unconstitutional.
Jason Pigg, department head and associateprofessor of political science, said the Supreme
Court will probably take up the case.The Supreme Court likes to get involved whenyou have that conflict at the lower levels, especiallyfor something as important as the health care leg-islation, Pigg said. I think everyone expects theSupreme Court will decide this summer to hearthe case. They will probably have oral argumentsin the fall at some point.
He said the Court will be examining the PatientProtection and Affordable Care Act in relation tothe Commerce Clause of the Constitution.
What theyll look at primarily is the mandate,requiring that people purchase health care or haveinsurance through their job or they face a fine,Pigg said. The big question is whether or notthats within congress power under its ability toregulate interstate commerce.
Pigg said he would imagine the Court woulduphold the law.
If I were betting, I would bet that the SupremeCourt would uphold this because health care is
clearly economic activity, he said. It is somethingthat has a large impact on our national economy.Generally the court defers to Congress when reg-ulating economic activity and allows it to set upmany different requirements, many different obli-gations as part of that ability to regulate com-merce.
However, Pigg said the conservative nature ofthe Court could lead to the laws repeal.
This is by pretty much any measure the mostconservative Supreme Court since the 1920s orearly 1930s, he said. We havent had a Court thisconservative in 70 years, and that complicates pre-dictions for legislation like this, which is clearly
progressive, liberal legislation.Republicans are not only concerned over the
Constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Af-fordable Care Act, but they are also worried aboutthe cost.
The Congressional Budget Office estimatedthe health care law would ultimately reduce thedeficit over the next 10 years, but Alan Bennett, in-structor of economics, said this is not necessarilythe case.
The CBO, by all accounts, is very profession-ally run and filled with intelligent analysts, Ben-nett said. However, they are constrained toprovide estimates based on the facts as presented
by the legislators.He said one provision of the legislation would
cut Medicare spending by $500 billion, but it is un-likely to actually happen because Medicare reim-
bursements are already so low that further costsmight drive health care providers to stop seeing
Medicare patients.The bottom line is that you can't logically ex-pect to add 30 million people to health care cov-erage and cut costs, Bennett said. That simplydoesn't pass logical muster.
He said the health care law essentially turnshealth care into a subsidy that does not benefit cit-izens.
This is what economists refer to as the thirdparty payer problem. If you remove the personmost concerned about health care costs from theequation, the health care market gets all screwedup, Bennett said. There is no one who truly caresabout reining in costs except the person who paysthe bill out of their own pocket. Bureaucrats don'tcare because it's ultimately someone else'spocket.
Regardless of various viewpoints, SupremeCourt Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg told NPR ear-lier this month that the Supreme Court rarely ex-pedites cases before appellate courts have made
decisions. Even then, Pigg said the Court may stillrely on Congress interpretation of the CommerceClause in relation to the law.
This is an area where in the past the court hassaid Were not looking into the wisdom of the leg-islation, just whether or not Congress could havea rational belief that this is affecting the nationaleconomy and passed the legislation, he said.The recourse to that is if people disagree withthat, elect new members of Congress, use the po-litical process to change the legislation rather thanthe courts.
E-mail comments to [email protected].
Judge takes on health carelaw, causes potential repealKelly Belton
NEWS EDITOR
Construction workers tear down a building to make room
or the additions to Techs campus. The bulldozing took
lace in the afternoon Tuesday, and debris from the area
ill be removed throughout the week.
Photo by Ben Corda
Nichols said the features of the units ofPark Place were specifically catered to thewants of students.
The apartments are composed of fiveunique unit types to appeal to the variedneeds of both graduate and undergraduatestudents, Nichols said. The living rooms ofeach unit face the street and access private
balconies and the large windows let in naturallight.
Nichols also said the design team soughtto design Park Place to be more of a pedes-trian-driven apartment complex.
Ground level patios can be accessed fromthe sidewalks and private balconies overheadenliven the street edge and provide opportu-nities for the students to make connectionsthat add to an overall sense of community,Nichols said.
A university press release said in additionto meeting the housing needs of the institu-tion, the project also met the vision and ex-
pectations of the City of Ruston. Park Placerepresented the first significant project withinthe citys newly created Tech Village OverlayDistrict, according to the release.
This district encourages higher density,pedestrian friendly development within the
zone between the Louisiana Tech campus andthe historic downtown.According to the magazines website,
South Central Construction is a monthlymagazine providing local, in-depth and com-prehensive coverage on heavy engineering,highway, building and industrial constructionnews in the [states] of Alabama, Arkansas,Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and Ten-nessee.
Tipton said although it is an honor to beacknowledged, and knowing that his work is
being utilized is what really counts.He said, Its always nice for projects to get
recognition, but its more rewarding for the de-sign team to see the facility being enjoyed andput to use since day one.
E-mail comments to [email protected].
> HOUSING from page 1
The pieces in this show are so
good it really has me wanting
to make art. The students
motivated me to get better.
Et
h
an Ande
r
so
n
communication design major
8/7/2019 TT 02.11.11
4/7
Insight
After seeing the budget cuts
bleed out through themedia over the past few
weeks, I cannot help but feel re-lieved. My major departments es-caped the initial slaughter andnow have only to survive what-ever else might come.
Despite this good news, theeducation battle will forever showon myown transcript. As a roughscar looks misplaced oversmooth skin, my graduation datehas an odd appearance to me.Without dropping multipleclasses or failing, I have managedto acquire an extra fall quarter.
Sixhoursof classes necessaryfor meto graduate werecut fromthe rest of this year and wil l not
be offered again until fall 2011.Even after f inding this out , I
never thought of the extra timeand money at Tech as a badthing.
Trying to makethe most of it,I havebeen attempting a Spanishminor, but it seems that may nothappen either.
The next class in the serieswas offered at the beginning ofthis year and will not be offered,
again, until fall 2011. This may
not be the case for much longerthough.
Sadly, foreign languages maynot survive the statewide budgetcuts, and Spanish and Frenchma-
jors are being discussed for elim-ination at Tech. T he state islooking at consolidating the pro-grams and of fer ing majors ineach language only from specificuniversities.
This does not mean foreignlanguage will be completely cutfrom Techs program, as Techwould not be chosen to offer themajors here.
T he 100 and 200 level lan-guages will still be offered butin amore condensed or online for-mat . So for those who might becheer ing about not having to
meet the required two, three orfour language generals, it still ap-plies.
However, 400 level courseswould no longer be available.
Whispers around classroomsdiscuss bringing,Grambling StateUniversity, University of Louisiana Monroe and Tech to-gether and offering one programto allthree, or simplylettingall ofTechs foreign language staff go
and relying on Rosetta Stone,
whichwould not be horrible sincethere could be a possibi li ty formore options on which languageto study.
All of these alternatives arepossible, but nothing has beenconfirmed. Although from thesomber looks I have been seeingaround the foreign language de-partment, the odds are not look-ing great.
Its a shame that majors fromall areas of higher education are
being cut, and officials are giventhe task to decide the marchingorder.
Losing professors is probablythe worst part in my opinion. I t
just goes back to the idea thatteaching is one of the most im-portant professions and is highly
under-paid, under-appreciatedand under-estimated.
Whenever the budget cutscome up, the movie Mr. Hol-land s Opus gets stuck in myhead, the inevitable loss of thearts in order to keep the moreimportant subjects.
One thing we can take awayfrom that movie is that there isnot a happy ending and easy so-lution.
Today, students and faculty are
faced with the same reality.Theres no easy fix for thebudgetcut problem, and despite Gov.Bobby Jindals pledge to "protecthigher education" and his pro-posal for a budget that does notcutmorethan 10 percent of stategeneral funding for highereduca-tion," cuts are still happening.
The onlything I have toaskofour state government is ratherthanlosingsome of our bestpro-fessors and leaving them without
jobs, can we create a program toconsolidate them to a universityprogram?
That is probably the child inme asking to keep my favoriteteachers happy, but I cannotbearto see them so distressed. Hope-fully, the consolidation rumor that
is f loating around has someweight to it and GSU, ULM andTech will be able to come to-gether and keep our professors.
D
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4 The Tech Talk Februray 11, 2011
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ch T
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FROM THE EDITOR
Danielle Cintron
Foreign language cuts, consolidation
In Our Opinion
T
echs campus received a visit from membersof the radical religious group, Consuming
Fire Fellowship, Feb. 2, 8 and 9 to protest thelifestyles of students on campus.Brother Matt Bourgalt protested solo Feb. 2 and
8, but Tuesday he brought a little more than a dozenof his fellowship with him to preach the Bible asthey interpret it. Among these was the pastor ofConsuming Fire Fellowship Britt Williams
They showed up with signs that said things likeobey the Bible; tur n to Jesus from sin and sinner,
you deserve hell fire.It is no surprise that the group visited since it has
become a sort of annual occurence. However, thisis the first time that they have returned so manytimes in less than a week.
It is the opinion of T he Tech Talk staff that thefellowship is well within in their rights to speak whatthey believe in the public area.
Limiting their ability to speak limits everyonesability to speak.
The First Amendment is in place for a reason,and as long as the fellowship stayed within the ropesof the Constitution literally the staff supportstheir right to do so.
However, their words and judgments were mis-guided and ignorant. Calling a woman a whore,pointing fingers, yelling at onlookers and condemn-ing nearly everyone in the audience to Hell is noway to make people fall in love with the messagethey are trying to send. In fact, we believe their mes-sage did the opposite.
Williams gives a completely false view of trueChristiani ty. Instead of promot ing love, kindnessand grace, he uses hate speech and condemnation.Those that are not Christian would completely shunaway from a religion that included people like him.
The group was not the only one at fault though.They would have had no reason to return had stu-dents not fueled the fire that kept their messagealive. If you ignore an antagonizer, they wil l have noreason to continue antagonizing.
This is not to say students should have remainedsilent.
Silence in the burden of an unproud individual,and it was made obvious by the counter argumentsthat Techs student body is filled with proud indi-viduals who are unafraid to stand up for what they
believe in even in the face of adversity such as theConsuming Fire Fellowship.
Pride comes at a price for those embarassed oruncomfortable around this group. Students whowere not as proud or did not want to get involvedhad to grin and bear it around the protestorswhether they wanted to or not.
However, the campus would not be the samewithout them.
How can you replace entertainment like thecrazy preacher man?
Return of the Christians
TechTalkThe
Math in college was aproblem for me, likeSherman was a problem
for Lee, and baited hooks a prob-lem for fish.
But then, all college classeswere a problem for me until Istarted doing what I was told,and trying.
I had not wanted to go to col-lege. Too many books there, thekinds of books I didnt like. Toomuch structure. Too many grownpeople. Too much Stuff I DidntWant to Do.
And so, when the one singleperson spending the night inHutcheson Dorm that third weekof August, 1978, turned out to beme, no one was more surprisedthan I was.
Fortunately, Gene Watson waswith me.
For the great unwashed, letme tell you that Gene Watsonwas a big country music starthen. Not giant big, but prettyhandy. He folded his hair back onhis head like Conway Twitty andsang to sold-out crowds when he
wasnt up under a Pontiac orChevy following his first true loveand profession, which was mak-ing cars run.
About all I had with me thatnight was a toothbrush and aGene Watson record and myrecord player, back when therewere such things.
While Gene sang Pick theWildwood Flower and FarewellParty up and down the empty
second story halls, I wondered,with a bit of uncharacteristicdepth (for me), what I was doingand where I was going.
So even before I was officiallyenrolled as a Louisiana Tech stu-dent, that next morning andevery other day of my collegecareer I was obligated to some-
body at Tech for something,work-wise. Grown friends oncampus helped me get jobs offcampus, too. Glass plant. Roadcrew. Truck driver. Dirt hauler.
And I was good. Alwaysshowed up for work.
But not for class.The only time I ever got fired
was after my first spring as a stu-
dent. The pink slip came fromTech. Now instead of Gene Wat-son, my own school was singingFarewell Party -- to ME.
Hurt me.But I deserved it. My grade-
point average reflected few hitsand mostly misses. Like the 46 Imade on my Great Gatsby test.I asked my teacher why shedgiven me a 46.
Because thats what you
made, she said. Ill make a dealwith you: make a 96, and Ill giveyou that.
This proved to be a themeamong the higher-ups at Techand one of the best things toever happened to me.
Slow learner, but I caught onand was back in the fall, vowingto admissions dean Patsy Lewisthat I would follow her instruc-tions: sit on the front row in class,
be there every time, do what Iwas told.
Things improved. No RhodesScholar recruiters showed up, butneither did the ax man. When Igraduated in 1984 with a mas-ters, several people wanted to
see official transcripts, like a guyin the audience wants to see themagicians palm or up h is sleeveonce he makes the sparrow dis-appear.
Other people, the ones whodsacrificed burnt offerings on my
behalf, the ones whod encour-aged me, they werent as sur-prised. Theyd seen otherstudents learn to trust theprocess, start trying, do as they
were told for their own good.Id have gotten lost some-where else. But not at LouisianaTech. Tech wasnt going to letthat happen. Even when I wastrying only a little, Tech was try-ing to help me a lot.
Which is why today, Imthankful for Tech and I acceptTech, warts and all, because theuniversity accepted me the verysame way.
Te
ddy Al
len (Cl
as
s of 82 an
d84) i
s a c
o
lumni
st f
or Th
e Timesand Th
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-Sta
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or f
or Mar
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dPub
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ly Tow
er.
GUEST COLUMN
Teddy Allen
Gene Watson helped me graduate, sort of
You probably didnt knowthat the thirty-somethinglooking woman in your
Tuesday/Thursday class has threechildren at home, or that the olderwoman in one of your previousclasses was a teacher for 15 years
but wanted to get another degree.You also may not know that theguy from your freshman universityseminar class who looked like athird-year senior was a U.S. Marinewho served in Iraq. But, they arestudents, too.
One such student is AbigailBowman, a senior nursing studentand one of many non-traditionalstudents on Techs campus. She re-turned to Tech five years after orig-inally graduating with a degree in
business management and entre-preneurship in 2004 because shefelt like she was in a dead-end jobthat strained her family life due tolong work hours.
A publication released earlierthis month by the University ofLouisiana System revealed thatnon-traditional students make up34 percent of Techs student en-rollment, 3 percent more than five
years ago. Non-traditional studentsare those who have put higher ed-ucation on hold for a family or mil-itary service, have returned tocollege for an additional degree,
changed career paths or started adegree at another college or uni-versity.
Bowmans three children rangefrom age 2 to age 6. She said itsdifficult to break away from themto find time to study. Nursing isvery time consuming and de-manding, so I have to learn tomanage my time, Bowman said.I spend a lot of my days, if I donthave class, on campus trying tostudy so when I get home, I canfocus on family.
She added that its more diffi-cult to find time to study when herhusband works 24-hour shifts,which he does every third day, be-cause hes not at home to occupythe kids while she tries to study.Bowman also said her marriagehas struggled because of theamount of time shes had to putinto nursing school and lack ofquality time with her husband.
You might not think much ofthese people other than theyre notthe traditional norm of a collegestudent when you picture one, butthey make up a larger portion ofthe student population than youmight think. The proof is in thestatistic.While universities are try-ing to accommodate this growingnumbers needs, changes made inrecent years may or may not behelping these students.
Until about two years ago, Tech
offered married-student housingon South Campus, but the unitswere in need of much repair thatwould be too costly for a studentto live there once the repairs weremade, according to Melanie Peel,director of Residential Life.
Peel said students could proba-bly find a more affordable locationto live off campus because therenovations would need to practi-cally pay for themselvesleadingto a higher rent students wouldneed to pay, but the units servedfamilies and married couples formany years.
However, in 2008, Techlaunched Global_Campus, anelectronic learning platform thatoffers new educational opportuni-ties through online classes to meetthe needs of undergraduate, grad-uate and non-traditional studentsall over the world. It offers a varietyof degree and certificate programsas well as general educationcourses to students. This opportu-nity moves the university in a pos-itive direction to help meet theneeds of non-traditional studentsalong with other students.
Though it may not be obviousthat the university sees the non-traditional students, it in fact doessee them, even if other studentsdont, and is trying to further theireducations among the traditionalnorm of students. The system isnt
perfect by all means, and improve-ments could be made to help non-traditional students adjust tocollege life as well as the to otherstudents.
For example, day care could beavailable on campus for students(and faculty/staff) that have chil-dren, but that kind of facility costsmoney and involves a lot of logis-tics to run it. Also, public trans-portation would be a big help forthose students who live off cam-pus and may not have a vehicle.
Bowman agrees that theseservices would be very beneficialfor students, especially non-tradi-tional students. In addition, shethinks professors could be moreunderstanding in their expecta-tions of non-traditional studentsworkloads when they have chil-dren because its more difficult toget work done when their kids arevying for their attention and needto be taken care of.
We should all be aware of theneeds of others and issues oncampus, but there just isnt enoughtime, space and money to makeeveryone happy.
Amb
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IF ONLY
Amber GuyotteChanging the way we see non-traditional students
8/7/2019 TT 02.11.11
5/7
So in Love
Psychological thriller laughable
February 11, 2011 The Tech Talk 5
While this copycat film is en-tertaining, it is for all the wrongreasons. The Roommate, ad-vertised as a psychologicalthriller, should be included in aprestigious category, sharing
company with f ilms l ikeScream and I Still KnowWhat You Did Last Summer.
For those who have seen the1992 thriller Single White Fe-male, the plot is almost identi-cal, aside from the new collegesetting.
Des Moines-native SarahMatthews (Minka Kelly) t ravelsto the University of Los Ange-les to pursue her fashion designdreams and gets placed with
Amy Olita
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Screen Gems
The Roommate
##$$$
the overprotective, psychoroommate Rebecca (LeightoMeester).
While Kelly and Meester dotheir characters justice, thescript and plot are what failethis film. Rebecca jumps froone psychotic act to the next,attacking people in showers,getting people fired and staying
up all night waiting for heroommate to return home. Icould list them all, but thawould take away all the sur-prise and, subsequently, thelaughs.
Wait for this movie to hiNetflix or Redbox because ifnothing else, it will make for afun drinking game.
E-mail comments to [email protected].
Arts & Entertainment
Super Bowl XLV has come
and gone, but the commercialsare here to stay. Paying nearly$3 million for a 30 second spot,companies aim to get more
ang for their buck each year,ringing in big-name actors and
amateur videographers to en-hance their impact followingthe event through the multipleYouTube replays.
Like many Super Bowls be-fore it, this year did not disap-point and gave new meaning tothe fact that some things justcant be unseen.
Some of these were good,even cute, some were newtwists on old favorites andsome were just plain bad. Whilethere were some really great,
witty commercials, I was disap-pointed, overall, with the per-
formances.I was reassured of advertis-
ing hilarity by comeback artistssuch as Bud Light, Doritos andthe CarrerBuilder.com mon-
keys, and Volkswagen, Bridge-stone, Best Buy, Pepsi Max,Audi and even Teleflora pleas-antly surprised me. Snickers,however, had only one memo-rable ad featuring RoseanneBarr, and the majority of thevehicle commercials left muchto be desired.
For the Top Five, I wouldrate them as follows: 1-PepsiMax and the mechanical cooler,2-Volkswagens Darth Vaderkid, 3-the obsessed Doritos fan,4-the man taunting the pugwith Doritos and 5-the Bridge-stone beaver.
While the Ozzy Osbourne,Justin Bieber combination washilarious and the bears attack-
ing the car in order to rewardgood grades with McDonalds,
they only make it in the Top 10for me.
This year it seems therewere many more movie pre-views and local commercials
than I remember in the past,and the Fox promotional com-mercials were almost every
break, usually along with an adthat was in poor taste.
Joan Rivers in a skin-tighttank top and hot pants as a newGoDaddy.com spokeswomandoes not make for a good ad-vertisement, making this mychoice for the worst commer-cial for Super Bowl 2011. Inclose second is the ad for theMini Countryman portraying arather suggestive game show.
Others were just not memo-rable and lacked creativity, butat least they were more enter-taining than the half-time show.
E-mail comments to [email protected].
Amy Olita
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Super Bowl ads score few points
congratulations
- to our 2011 Orientation Student Leaders -
We are so proud of you!
Barbara Baldwin Mollie Catherine Smith Martha Claire Booth
Student Leader Student Leader Parent Leader
Rating###$$ Rating#####
So in Love Opera Workshop will con-tinue tonight through Saturday as studentsexhibit their musical talents in a selection ofworks at 7:30 p.m. in Stone Theatre.
Kenneth Robbins, director for the Schoolof Performing Arts, said opera workshop isthe name of a course and the show comesdirectly from the enrolled students produc-tivity.
Its drawing attention to Valentines Dayas a gift to the campus, he said. There area number of musicals and an opera con-nected by the idea of young love.
Robbins said an opera workshop is pre-sented every other year because of theamount of time it takes, with the year offused for the spring musical.
Casting was in September with rehearsallasting for the [fall] and present quarter, hesaid. We modified one to help students pre-pare for Fiddler on the Roof and it worked.
Lisa Maxedon, an assistant professor ofmusic, is serving as director for the show andsaid the workshop will feature a collection ofclassic love songs from West Side Story,Kiss Me Kate, Music Man and Camelotas well as the full-length opera Bastien andBastienna, written by Wolfgang AmadeusMozart as a pre-teen.
Featuring Andrew Coker as Bastien and
Emily Ledford as Bastienna, the one-actcomedy revolves around two lovers whoseemotions are toyed with by a false magician.
Maxedon said the 17-member cast hasbeen practicing twice a week since Octoberand have had nightly rehearsals during thelast week and a half.
Its been a group effort since the fall, shesaid. We did the music portion of it and thenadded the staging elements. This is sort of afinal exam for the course. They learn how toput together a production of this size; for ex-ample, they paint sets and do the choreogra-phy.
Maxedon said although the show is theend result of what they have learned in class,the students still learn by actually perform-ing.
Ryan Ferrebee, a first-year graduate stu-dent in theater, said he has a solo as well as a
couple of duets and believes the show is agood opportunity for students or communitymembers unfamiliar with opera.
Its a chance to do unique, fun things, hesaid. Its a laid-back atmosphere where theperformers get a chance to showcase theirtalents; some songs were actually added forthat. For an outside person, its an opportu-nity to see what the department can do. Its alighter way for people to experience opera.
E-mail comments to [email protected].
Robert WilsonENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
Opera Workshop honorsValentines Day on campus
FIve Romantic opera pieces1. PUCCINI: La Bohme: O soave fancul
la
2. MOZART: Le noz
ze di Figar
o: Deh vieni non tar
da
3. VER
DI: Aida: Ce
le
s
te Aida
4. BERLIOZ: La damnat
ion de Faust: D'Amour l'ardenteflamme
5. R STR
AUSS: Der Rosenkava
lier: Mir ist d
ie Ehre wiederfahren (Pre
sentat
ion of the S
ilver Rose)
Rating##### Rating####$
Rating###$$
Rating##$$$
Rating###$$
Rating##$$$
MOVIE REVIEW
8/7/2019 TT 02.11.11
6/7
February 11, 2011 The Tech Talk 7
More Talk
Civil unrest and political turmoil has all eyes onEgypt as the world watches the country fight for itsindependence from the tyrannical rule of Presi-
dent Hosni Mubarak.But before Egypt carried out their own successful
protests, BBC News in Africa said that Tunisia, the north-ernmost country of Africa just 700 miles from Egypt,
broke their silence on unemployment and corruption byrioting and protesting in the streets.
The riots started when Mohammed Bouaziz, 26, soldfruit and vegetables illegally in Sidi Bouzid because hecould not find a job. When police confiscated his standand refused his right to sell, he doused himself in gaso-line and set himself on fire in the center of the city.
This suicide protest caused Bouazizs brother to makea Facebook page, which showed his outrage of the gov-ernments iron fist that pushed his brother to his self-vi-olent protest.
After his brother rallied enough sup-port for an outrageous group, the
Tunisian government blocked all of thecountrys access to social networking,which created a portal for the protests toseep from the Internet onto the govern-ments front door.
Though people were already aware oftheir governments corruption andBouazizs demonstration pushed peopleover the edge, WikiLeaks, a cable-host-ing, whistle-blowing website, released acable from the U.S. Embassy in Tunisiathat read, President Ben Ali is aging, hisregime is sclerotic and there is no clearsuccessor. They posted another shortlyafter that read, persistent rumors of cor-ruption, coupled with rising inflation andcontinued unemployment, have helpedto fuel frustration with the [governmentof Tunisia] and have contributed to re-cent protests in southwestern Tunisia.WikiLeaks was blocked shortly thereafter
by the Tunisian government.BBC reported that Bouszizs death prompted unionofficial Kamel Laabidid to declare: Farewell, Mo-hammed, we will avenge you. We weep for you today;we will make those who caused your death weep.
Nazir Atassi, Tech assistant professor of history andnative of Syria, said the back-down of the Tunisian gov-ernment inspired more than just Egypt to act.
This gave hope to all of the countries of the MiddleEast as well as leading to the Egyptian revolution, Atassisaid. I agree with their revolution, but it is also scary atthe same time because of the barriers that have been
broken.Fast-forward to Jan. 25. Inspired by the success of the
Tunisian revolution, thousands of people take to thestreets of Egypt in Cairo, Alexandria and Suez. Theyprotest poverty, unemployment rates and the domineer-ing governance of Mubarak.
As a response to the protests, the Egyptian govern-ment blocked Twitter and Facebook, which was beingused to coordinate protests. However, this did not stop
the riots, rather it inflamed the Egyptian citizens moreand gave international attention to the uprising. The in-crease of uprisings caused the government to unleashthe riot police who took to the streets arresting and in-
juring hundreds with batons, tear gas and water cannons.According to CNN, Mubarak has since stated that he
will not run for re-election in September, rather he willend his 30-year rule; he has yet to step down from officedespite urging from his people and U.S. President Barack
Obama.Atassi said the revolutions have evoked a new idea,
not just among the Egyptian people, but also for otherswho come from dictator-led countries.
The question is now who will last longer in this po-litical game? he said. If the government gives in, itcould be forever severely damaged; if the people give in,all theyve worked for may be a waste.
According to FOX News, the Egyptian governmentpromised Monday to look into official corruption andelection fraud, but thousands of protestors swore not tomove from the heart of downtown Cairo until Mubaraksteps down.
Despite a range of government concessions, protest-ers remain dissatisfied, but the energy has changed froma warzone to a peaceful protest since the address.
The same article stated that the concessions include:the lifting of a 30-year-old set of emergency laws thatgave police far-reaching abilities for detention and sup-
pression of civil and human rights; the dis-sipation of government from the freedom
of press or interferance with text messag-ing or the Internet; judiciary and politicalfigures will meet to reform the constitu-tion to allow more candidates to run forpresident as well as impose term limits onthe president; the government will alsomake no recriminations against those par-ticipating in the anti-government protests.
Rami Ghoneim, an unemployed,Egyptian Internet activist, said the pro-testors are not in a hurry to leave untiltheir biggest demand was met. He saidthe longer they stay, the more concessionsthe government will offer.
"It is like a wound, the more you presson it the more blood gushes out. We willpress until we empty it," he said.
Atassi said the Egyptian citizens willnot be so quick to accept any conces-sions.
It is a possibility that all of their prom-
ises could be kept, but their new vice pres-ident has no credibility on the Egyptian street, he said.The Egyptian people are so used to promises being bro-ken that theyve started to believe they will never actuallyhappen.
Faris Dandeni, a freshman biomedical engineeringmajor and native of Saudi Arabia, said he has been inthe United States for less than a week, but he has still not
been able to contact his Egyptian friends since the rev-olution.
He said it upsets him to see people he considers fam-ily hurt.
I dont like seeing fellow Muslims and Arabic people being affected by this, Dandendi said. Even thoughthey are from a different country and speak a differentlanguage, we are still brothers.
He said he holds a heavy heart for those in Egypt dur-ing this time.
Ive been to Egypt six times; I cant imagine how theyfeel about this situation, Dandeni said. I stay in contactwith my friends and family through Skype about once a
week. It would sadden me if I was unable to contact myfamily like those in Egypt. My heart goes out to those inEgypt during this turmoil.
E-mail comments to [email protected] and [email protected].
Taylor Stephens & Mary Timmons
FEATURES EDITOR & STAFF REPORTER
Pagedesigned by Taylor Stephens
!
"!
!
If the government gives in, it
could be forever severely
damaged; if the people give in,
all theyve worked for may be
a waste.
Na
zir Atassi
associate professor of history
!!
$
!
$#$
Photos courtesy of Wikipedia
!###
#
8/7/2019 TT 02.11.11
7/7
t last weeks SigningDay Luncheon, aplethora of Tech fansgatheredaround, eager
to see who head coach SonnyDykes signed to his 2011 roster.
Dykes appeared confidentabout his recruits, as one recruitcaught everyones eye: NickIsham.
The California native has a
three-star rating on Rivals.com,received the 2010 Old Spice Na-tional High School Player of theYear (formerFlorida quarterbackTim Tebow is among previousrecipients)and was recruited byavariety of schools, includingmajor Ivy Leagues such as Har-vard and Cornell.
Isham played quarterback atWestlake High School and is ex-pected to graduate in May.
He completed 76 percent ofhis passes throughout his highschool career.
Isham has started the pastthree years and threw for over6,200 yards in his career.
Thispast season,Ishamthrewfor 2,990 yards, recorded 34touchdowns and averaged 213.6
passing yards per game.Isham led his 16th rankedteam to a California North Divi-sion Championship his senioryear.
A huge smile donned Dykesface as he discussed thepotentialIsham has for the Bulldogs.
An isolated applause rangthroughout the RustonCivicCenter, as those in attendanceapprovedof Dykes new quarter-back.
Techrecruiteda second quar-terback, Zach Griffithout of Full-terton, Calif.
Griffith graduated fromFoothill High School in 2009 andwas rated as a three-star athleteby Rivals.com.
He lettered in football, track
and basketball.Griffith passedfor 2,500 yardsduring hishigh school careerandled his team to an undefeatedseason his senior year.
He recorded 25 touchdownsand averaged 241 yards pergame while playing in highschool.
Dykes said both quarterbackswill be competing for the mainrole this fall.
I think we will have greatquarterbackcompetition over thefall and summer, Dykes said.Weve got five quarterbacksnow, and I am excited to seewhat they can do.
It will be interesting to seewhoDykes willname as quarter-back.E-mail comments to [email protected].
Anticipate a TAC White Out
After a 75-57 loss at Western Athletic Con-ference foe New Mexico State Monday night,the Bulldogs have hopes to defeat them at 3p.m. Saturday in the Thomas Assembly Center.
Saturdays basketball game is titled a WhiteOut, where those in attendance are encouragedto wear white.
Tickets are $5 to those wearing white, andthe first 500 fans will receive a free white T-shirt.
As with all Tech games, students get in free.Students who attend the game, wear white
and are fans of Tech Athletics on Facebookqualify for a $500 sweepstake.
Although the Bulldogs fell 11-14 after Mon-day nights loss in New Mexico, head coachKerry Rupp said his team has to be fully pre-pared for Saturday nights battle.
We came out flat, and it took us a while toget things started, Rupp said. At this level,you've got to be able to fight and play hard. Wehave them coming to our place on Saturday, andits going to be a battle. We are going to have toplay much harder and have better enthusiasm."
Rupps squad currently stands 2-9 in WACplay.
Junior guard DeAndre Brown led the Bull-dogs with 18 points in Mondays game.
Tech never took a lead in the game, as theAggies tacked on an 18-point win against theBulldogs.
Rupp and his team are hoping to return thefavor and take down the Aggies in the TAC Sat-
urday night.Bulldog faithful fans have high hopes that
Rupps team will tack on some more wins to theseason.
Tech has seven games left in the season, fourmore at home.
This weeks White Out theme is geared forfans to come out and help pack the TAC.
After the women hosted FAIRwell FresnoState, an event that packed over 7,000 fans inthe TAC, the Bulldogs are hoping to have an in-creased fan attendance Saturday afternoon.
Tech Athletics is challenging fans to comeout in full out white apparel and help make theTAC a true White Out game.
After hosting New Mexico State, the Bull-dogs will go out of conference play and play at
North Dakota at 7 p.m. Feb. 16.Saturdays battle against the Aggies can beheard on 97.7 FM, the LATech Sports Network.
The gametracker can be accessed on late-chsports.com.
E-mail comments to [email protected].
The Lady Techster basketball team willtravel to New Mexico State with an un-blemished record in Western Athletic Con-ference play at 8 p.m. Saturday.
Head coach Teresa Weatherspoon hasled her team to a 10-game winning streak,including nine straight conference victorieswithseven conference matchups lefton theseason.
The Techsters are coming off an im-pressive win over the Aggies of New Mex-ico State Monday night at the ThomasAssembly Center by a score of 85-65.
After successfully protecting their homecourt by defeating Fresno State and NewMexico State, the Techsters head on theroad with a two-game lead on first place inthe WAC.
Weatherspoon said playing the Aggieson the road will prove a little tougher thanthe double-digit win the Techstersrecorded earlier this week.
Its kind of tough but, not muchchanges in that time frame, she said. Wehave to go back and work on some ofthings we didnt do so well defensively andreally be able to execute some of our stuffoffensively to play a better basketballgame.
Senior forward Adrienne Johnson con-tinues to wow Techster fans while averag-ing 22.0 points per game and over ninerebounds followed closely behind by sen-ior guard Whitney Jones with 11.1 points agame.
Senior guard Jasmine Bendolph has
come on strong as of late scoring 38
points and 12 rebounds in her last twogames for the Techsters.
Bendolph said this late in the season,every team in the WAC is gunning for theTechsters as they strive for an undefeatedconference record.
I believe it harder to win becauseeverybodys coming against us, and wehave to keep the wins coming and try toget better every day, Bendolph said. Aslong as we come to practice every dayand do what were supposed to do, wecan keep that record.
Weatherspoon said Bendolphs suc-cess in recent weeks is a testament to thehardworkshe puts in during the week andher leadership skills on and off the court.
Everyday shes out there performingand playing as hard as she can, Weather-spoon said. Its really translating over tointo these four lines during game time.
The moment she gets everybody else in-volved, shes waiting for the game tocome to her. Shes taking full advantage ofit like a puppet on a string. Everyone isgetting the chance to see what shes allabout.
After facing off against the AggiesMonday night, the Lady Techsters will re-turn to Ruston for a two-game homestand againstHawaii Feb. 17 and San JoseState Feb. 19 in the TAC.
The game against the Aggies can beheard on the LATech Sports Network on97.7 FM,with the pregame starting at 6:30p.m. The gametracker will also be avail-able forTechster fans on latechsports.com
E-mail comments to [email protected].
The Lady Techsters softball team islooking for their fourth-straight winningseason after going 26-21 last year.
They will open their season this week-end at the LSU Tiger Classic in BatonRouge.
The Techsters are hoping to return tothe NCAA tournament as they did in2008, but head coach Sarah Dawsonknows it will be a tough season with ayoung squad.
We have a solid group of sophomoresand juniors who are excited and confidentthat they are ready to take on the largerroles that have been left by graduation,Dawson said. With just three seniors onthe squad and a smaller roster, it is evenmore imperative that everyone pull theirweight. The offense has shown it canscore runs in bunches, and with a deeppitching staff, I see us ready to take on thechallenging schedule we have ahead ofus.
Dawson knows the challenging sched-ule ahead as they will face tournaments atLSU, Texas A&M, Ole Miss and Missis-sippi State, but she remains optimisticabout her young team.
The 2011 season will be one of newfaces, Dawson said. We graduated four
game in their career and were pillars onour team. I am excited to see what thisnew generation of players has to offer.
She said fans will see a few new sur-prises with this young team.
Our strengths will be different thisyear, Dawson said. I think we will havemore of a consistent lineup one throughnine. We won't have a kid hitting .400 sur-rounded by kids hitting in the low 200s. Ithink it will be a lineup where we can hitfrom top to bottom, and we aren't hopingfor just three or four kids to carry us.
Pre-season polls have the Lady Tech-sters ranking fifth in the WAC with theleadership of senior pitcher MeghanKrieg.
Krieg, a native of Sonora, Texas, hasbeen named first team all-conference. Lastseason Krieg had an 18-16 record with a2.24 earned run average. She holds a newrecord after recording 260 strikeouts lastseason.
Meghan really proved she was one ofthe top pitchers in this conference last sea-son, Dawson said. We will look for herto carry the majority of the pitching re-sponsibilities again this year. It was great
to see her look even stronger this fall thanwhere she left off last season.The Lady Techsters will play against
Purdue, Bowling Green, and LSU thisweekend in the Tiger Classic beginningFriday.
8 The Tech Talk February 11, 2011
Sports Talk
A
FROM THESPORTSDESK
SARAH BROWN
Sarah Brown
SPORTS EDITOR
Hayden Haynes
SPORTS REPORTER
techsters fight for eleven
Photo by Jessica Wethington
Senior forward Adrienne Johnson attempts a basket during Monday
nights game against Fresno State in the TAC.
Senior guard DeAndre Brown attempts a play during the
Jan. 29 game against Boise State. The Bulldogs will hostNew Mexico State Saturday night at 7 p.m. in the TAC.
Sof
tball prepares for
weekend road series
nick isham: a
good recruit?
Dear Tech Fans,
Last week, I wrote a letter encouraging the LA Tech Nation tocome out and support us in our Western Athletic Conference show-down with Fresno State this past Saturday night.
I knew we needed everyones support in this game.Well, just like our basketball team, which won one of the most exciting games ever played
in the Thomas Assembly Center, YOU DELIVERED!Thank you, thank you, thank you for being our sixth man that night. More than 7,000 fansturned out to watch the game, the most in a decade.
The community and university came out in force to support our team -- YOUR team -- and ouryoung ladies fed off the incredible energy that filled the arena.
You guys were beautiful! You guys were electric! You guys were truly our sixth man.You helped us successfully PROTECT OUR HOUSE!I hope you truly understand what your presence means to our
young ladies as they take great pride in representing this communityand this great university.
As big of a win as it was for us, we still have plenty of work remain-ing, and we need your continued support this season.
We currently have a two-game lead in the Western Athletic Con-ference race with seven games remaining, including four more at home.We need you in the stands cheering us on the rest of the way as we
continue to work towards the WAC championship and a bid to the 2011 NCAA Tournament whichwill be hosted in Shreveport/Bossier City.
Please mark the following four dates on your calendars and make plans to come out to the TACand support us: Thursday, Feb. 17 vs. Hawaii; Saturday, Feb. 19 vs. San Jose State; Thursday, March 3vs. Boise State; and Saturday, March 5 vs. Idaho.
Our basketball team will continue to work and play hard regardless of how many people arein the stands, but as was proven this past Saturday night; YOU are a big key to our success.
Head coach Teresa WeatherspoonLady Techsters Basketball
Thanks again, and Go Tech!
A letter f
rom Teresa
Weat
herspoon
Anna Claire Thomas
ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR
ADVERTISMENT
Photo by Jessica Wethington
