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www.tamuceasttexan.com www.issuu.com/tamuc.easttexan

Duck and CoverThe Texas legislature has been debating for years over whether to allow concealed handguns on college campuses despite resistance from university administrators, police o!cers, faculty members and students. Burnes takes on the issue.

Page 2

A developing trend?New Taco vendors Dos Gringos Locos have made waves in the thriving Commerce taco industry from their fabulous location next to Cowboy Cleaners. While the food is great, the town’s newest brand of fast food may start a new trend in the areas surrounding the university.

Page 5

The streak is overIt was a turnaround week in the world of A&M-Commerce sports. A dominating week on the basketball court for both men and women got things shooting in a positive direction, even as the softball’s winning streak was broken. Ryan Scott takes us on the thrilling ride.

Pages 7 and 8

University o!ers free classes to graduate education studentsBrenda PerezSta> Writer

Texas A&M University- Commerce Graduate Services is o>ering teachers free courses in the graduate program.

Teachers eligible for free courses would be Texas in-ser-vice or pre-service teachers who have been accepted into the graduate program at A&M- Commerce. Requirements to be accepted into the program include a bachelor’s degree, $50 application fee, an essay and teaching certi?cate, which will replace the GRE test. A 3.0 GPA level is required to enter the program and must be maintained to remain in the program. However, there are no hour requirements.

“Most teachers can only take one class since they may be working,” Kimberly Stringer, graduate liaison said.

@e two programs that teachers seek most often are the masters in art of teaching and the masters in curriculum and instruction. Free bilingual, reading, curriculum and instruc-tion graduate courses are o>ered within the two programs.

“@e department is supporting both these programs by of-fering free courses in both,” Stringer said. “@e public school systems seem to need more teachers with degrees in these ar-eas.”

“@e graduate program supports teachers,” Stringer said. “Many teachers don’t realize how much ?nancial aid is avail-able for them.”

While the advisers for the graduate program encourage the teachers to seek a master’s degree, they may choose to only work on their hours for certi?cation in their desired ?eld. For pre-service teachers or for those who have not chosen the area they would like to earn their master’s degree, the non-degree seeking option is available.

“We do push them to choose a degree, but we also try to set them up happy, try to make it easy for the teachers,” Stringer said.

Graduate school recruiters, along with the workers in the graduate school, have worked to get the word out about these free courses; they have recruited teachers from regional schools.

Stringer hopes that more teachers will take advantage of these courses in the future whether they want to earn a mas-ter’s degree or simply earn enough for certi?cation to teach at a community college level.

Enrollment in these courses has grown since the spring of 2014 from an approximate 254 to an estimated 324 teachers enrolled in the spring of 2015. Winter mini courses are also o>ered, a full list of courses o>ered is available on the A&M-Commerce website.

PHOTO COURTESY/ WATSONSFREEDOMOFEXPRESSION.WEEBLY.COM

A famous depiction of Ruby Bridges attending an all-white school "anked by teachers and faculty members in 1960 by renowned painter Norman Rockwell. The image often #nds itself in elementary school textbooks, teaching the lesson of bravery and de#ance from a young girl who could barely tie her shoes. Her example was a leading factor in the civil rights movement that took place throughout the early to mid 1960s.

Historic civil rights !gure visits A&M-Commerce, spreads

message of love and toleranceJanelle TaylorSta> Writer

@e William L. Mayo Prestigious Speaker Series presented Ruby Bridges, civil rights activist and philanthropist, in commemora-tion of the 50th anniversary of integration at Texas A&M Uni-versity-Commerce.

Bridges, at age 6, was the ?rst African-American to attend an all-white school in the south. In 1954, the Supreme Court over-turned the Plessy vs. Ferguson separate but equal law in Louisi-ana, which allowed desegregation of schools. Louisiana state law-makers appealed to the Supreme Court but the ruling held and the Supreme Court ordered Louisiana to integrate with deliberate speed.

On Nov. 24, 1960, Bridges at-tended William Frantz Elemen-tary School among unrest in the community with four armed mar-shals escorting her to school.

“I can remember looking out the car as we pulled up to the Frantz school,” Bridges said. “@ere were barricades and people shouting and police-men everywhere.”

She said she prayed every morning in

the car on the way to school for herself and for the crowd of people yelling at her.

Many parents of white students pulled their children out of school because they

didn’t want them attending school with an African-American and sometimes, Bridges and her teacher would be the only ones in the classroom. Also for her own safety,

she could not attend recess or eat in the cafeteria.

Toward the end of the school year some of the parents allowed their children to

come back to school, and Bridges experienced her ?rst incident with racism when a little boy in

her class said he couldn’t play with her because she was black.

It wasn’t until four years later that East Texas State University admitted its ?rst black student, Henry Norris, after a mandate from the state required it. ET was one of the ?nal two institutions of higher education in the state to do so.

Judy Rudolph, a graduate stu-dent in 1964 at East Texas State (now Texas A&M University - Commerce), said, “I remember the president telling us we will deseg-regate the college completely in the dorms, classes, cafeteria and sports. I didn’t think it was a bad thing. I never encountered an incident on campus, but I do remember seeing my ?rst black student. I believe his name was Sam and I think he

played football. Times were di>erent then but I never witnessed any violence on cam-pus. It was peaceful but with underlying tension.”

“Times were di$erent then. It was peaceful but with underlying tension.”

- Judy Randolph, East Texas State University

student in 1964

T!" E#$% T"&#' S%#((Editor Managing Editor Sports EditorNews EditorSenior ReportersFaculty AdviserPhoneEmailThe Special MagazineEast Texan WebsiteEast Texan Print Issue Online

Andrew BurnesPatricia Dillon

Ryan ScottJoseph Alderman

Kristen Taylor and Aaron Hwang-Fred Stewart

903-886-5985theeasttexan@gmail.com

www.issuu.com/thespecialtamuceasttexan.com

http://issuu.com/tamuc.easttexan

The East Texan, official student newspaper of Texas A&M University-Commerce, is pub-lished 11 times per semester during the Fall and Spring by students including journal-ism students in reporting classes. Content is solely the responsibility of the student staff and writers. The comments and views expressed in The East Texan, in print or on-line, do not necessarily reflect the beliefs of other students, staff, faculty, administration, or the Board of Trustees. The East Texan is located in Room113 of the Journalism Build-ing. Single copies of The East Texan are free, additional copies are available in The East Texan offices for an additional 25 cents each.

Letters to the Texan are welcome and should be limited to 350 words. They may be edited for spelling, grammar and libelous and malicious statements. The East Texan reserves the right to refuse publication. Letters should be typed or emailed, must include a valid signature and contact information, and can be sent to theeast-texan@gmail.com or PO Box 4104, Texas A&M University-Commerce, Commerce, TX 75428.

Letters to the Texan

F!". #$, %&#'P()! 2 O!"#"$#

*ere’s and old song by ABBA that I really like, it’s called “Take a Chance on Me”. It basically tells about a person who is deeply in love with someone, and wishes that special someone would just “take a chance” on being with them. Taking chances is a big part of life that I think everyone should experience.

Out of the over 11,000 students enrolled at Texas A&M University – Commerce, there is a good chance that if you were to meet someone out of that group of students, you would come across someone who is a part of some Greek organization on campus.

*at’s not a farfetched idea. With so many of these organizations on campus, you would be hard pressed to not +nd a group to be a part of. Not just any old group mind you, but a Fraternity or Sorority.

Now, I know quite a few people who would look at these organizations and think, “Nah, there’s no way that this kind of thing is for me”. You know what? *at’s perfectly understandable. It is no secret that the Greek life does get a pretty bad rap from the media, t.v. and movies. While some of it is warrented, the truth is, a lot of these organizations aren’t as bad as you think.

For those who think these organizations aren’t right for them, trust me, I know how you feel. I went through my whole freshman year with that same mentality. I would think, “*at’s

not me, I wouldn’t be a part of something like that”. And for a while, that was true. But in the fall semester of my sophomore year, that all changed very quickly.

It was then that I realized that, maybe I would +t in with this kind of crowd. I was then, and still am, a member of the Choir here at A&M – Commerce, and just like there are Greek organizations all over campus, there are a few within the music building as well. It was at that point in my life that I found where I truly belong. So almost on a whim, I decided to go for it, and I rushed to be a member of the Mu Phi Epsilon Professional Music Fraternity, a co-ed Greek organization. I became a membership candidate, and then a full member by the end of the semester.

As I look back on that decision, I get nothing but happy memories coming back to me. *e friendships and the bonds I created while being a part of this group are ones that will stay with me for life.

I also look back on the part of me that didn’t think this kind of organization was right for me, and I realize a valuable lesson regarding Greek life: even if it may not seem right for you, there’s no harm in taking a chance with an organization on campus, because you just might +nd that it will change your life for the better.

I guess this advice is applicable to life in general. Just take chances, because if you let the chance slip away, you just might miss out on something. So go out there, take that chance, whether it’s with joining an organization, or anything else in life. I know I did, and will look back on that decision and say that I’m glad I took that chance.

Taking ChancesRyan Scott*e East Texan

CARTOON COURTESY OF JOSEPH ALDERMAN

InsanityAndrew BurnesEditor

“What about the logistics of of rounds ,ying in a 40x60 room? If I was in a situation in a classroom of 60 people and felt the need to return +re, I’d better be dang careful where I aim.” - Jason Bone, a police o-cer with half of a century’s worth of experience.

Welcome to Texas, a state that continually puts the toxic desires of those who probably will never have to deal with the consequences of their actions. Not that the national congress is doing anything to call home about, but now the Texas State Legislature has continued the downward spiral of democratic government in a state of paranormal insanity. *anks to the recently introduced Senate Bill 11 in the state, we may soon be walking down the street on our way to our Monday 9 a.m. passing that guy who never shuts up in class who now has a gun in his pocket.

How does this better the next generation of society? Well, not at all as a whole, but at least Rick can make sure he’s practicing his Second Amendment rights in alegbra!

I’ve never understood our state’s fascination with the 2nd amendment, myself. *en again, I’ve also never understood our blind faith in a select few old white men who happened to be in the right place at the right time in Philadelphia in 1776. We look back at them now, centuries later, like they’re some sort of upper class, male Gods.

Unfortunately, the founding fathers were not Gods. *ey weren’t all-seeing. Hell, they couldn’t even see outside their window as they sit in that sweltering building; they closed the windows so that none of the common folk (i.e. everyone reading this if you had been around back then) could see what they were talking about. *ey certainly couldn’t see into the future, with +rearms exploding the way they have, when they looked down at the aging mukets on their desks, +rearms about as accurate as the aim in the men’s bathroom.

So what exactly is the thinking behind this stupidity? According to newly elected senator Bob Hall who took his seat in the Senate after defeating Bob Duell last year (we can’t even get variety in the names, much less the ethnicities prevalent in our government), it’s because concealed handguns are ok to have on college campuses because you can’t see them. East Texan alum Joseph Hamrick wrote in a fascinating piece in the Commerce Journal a few weeks ago, “Hall dismissed the claim that the bill would lead to a handgun on every corner of campuses. *e bill would not allow people to open carry - carry semi-automatic ri,es or handguns in plain view - on campus. ‘*is is not turning the campus into cowboy land,’ Hall said.” *is, of course, comes after the argument that the bill would “hinder thieves who come to college campuses to ‘practice their trade.’”

What? Perhaps even more disturbing is the fact that in December of 2014 (before this bill was even introduced), the SGA at Texas A&M University passed a bill advocating for concealed carry., while our own President Jones doesn’t think it would be a big deal on our campus because “most of our students are under 21.” Right. I guess that explains why none of the underage students on our campus ever consume alcohol on a Friday night. If there’s even one person on this campus that would make you uncomfortable with a gun, then this probably isn’t the best idea. I can think of a few, myself.

Handgun

The Texas State legislature’s new bill, and its shocking acceptance by key members of the A&M system, could endanger us all

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Pride Shop reopens in new locationHunter KimbleSta+ Writer

,e Pride Shop is now located on the second -oor in Room 257 of the Rayburn Student Cen-ter and has made a series of business changes.

After last semester, the Pride Shop wants to focus more on promoting events and programs on campus. ,e room that they were occupying downstairs was too big, so they moved upstairs to a smaller and more convenient room.

“We decided to focus on event and program advertising for student organizations and depart-ments and felt the larger space wasn’t necessary,” Jonathan Albarado, coordinator of the Pride Shop, said.

Current services provided include the inten-tion to advertise for student organizations and departments, designing and printing marquees and ground stickers, designing digital images for the Info Screens around campus, the video wall in the RSC atrium, and Twitter and Facebook banners, and designing posters, T-shirt and logo

designs.,e Pride Shop also introduced a new poli-

cy for their services that states customers must submit an order form through their website, tamuc.edu/rsc/prideshop. ,is helps track the order, which will be processed once payment is received.

Prices for services are relatively the same, but new services such as digital packages are $20 per week. Also, the shop has created a new $25 rush fee if there is not a su.cient amount of time to complete a project by the desired deadline. Most of their projects require two weeks, so the rush fee only comes in if customers do not place their orders in a timely manner.

In addition to these new changes, the shop no longer provides print, copy, and fax services.

“,e university decided these services should be outsourced,” Albarado said.

,is decision has not a+ected the amount of clients the Pride Shop has had, but some clients still require the use of their print and copy ser-vices.

Rachel CohnSta+ Writer

With the Pride Shop no longer o+ering printing services, students and campus or-ganizations have to /nd new means to print assignments, projects, and -iers.

,e Gee Library has three printing sta-tions in its Nexus Computer Lab and o+ers printing at 10 cents per page in black and white and 25 cents per page in color.

According to the information handouts the library o+ers to students on the Nexus Computer Lab, in order to print, one has to

pay using Lion Cash on their Lion Card and enter their Campus Wide I.D. and password at one of these print stations.

To deposit Lion Cash onto a card, one cli-ents must utilize the Lion Card machine next to Print Lab 1 at the back of the computer lab and deposit either $1, $5, or $10 bills into the machine because it doesn’t accept change. An issue with the machine has been that it will not accept new $5 bills and students have to exchange them at the front library counter.

Some students have chosen to use their own printer because “they don’t want to pay 10 cents per page,” senior John Long said.

Library o$ers replacement printing services

‘Gonna’ Call the F.B.I.’Travis HairgroveSta+ Writer

,e FBI recently issued warnings con-cerning two cyber scams targeting univer-sities; one attempting to trick university employees into accidentally providing the scammer with access to their direct deposit information, and another with the aim of “hiring” students as (unknowing) accom-plices in the theft of paychecks.

,e scam directed toward employees of universities (as de-scribed by Special Agent Dar-rell Foxworth of the San Diego Division of the FBI in an o.cial warning posted on Jan. 14) is re-ported to be an email notifying the intended victim of a “change in their human resources status,” prompting them to login to their human resources page via an im-bedded link to review the sup-posed changes. ,e link is said to lead to a site that looks “very similar to the legitimate site,” but if the employee enters their login information, the scammer will have it and be able to log into the employee’s real account and change their direct deposit infor-mation, allowing the scammer to steal their paycheck.

“So far, no one on campus has reported actually receiving an email like that,” Barbara Cor-vey, human resources, said of the warning she forwarded to Texas A&M University-Commerce sta+ describing the “change in human resources status” cha-rade.

A possibly related cyber attack aimed at college students (FBI warning issued on Jan. 13) involves an email o+ering a work-

from-home “payroll” or “human resources” job with a /ctitious company. ,is “posi-tion” requires that the student supply the “company” with their bank account num-ber, allowing the scammer to make depos-its to the student’s account (via hacked di-rect deposit information) with instructions to transfer a portion of the funds to a dif-ferent bank account, thereby making the student a participant in the operation.

Agent Foxworth is referenced in the Jan.

20 issue of USA Today as stating that for a victim of the student-aimed scam to have federal fraud charges pressed against them, there needs to be evidence of “both knowl-

edge of the crime and intent to commit it.” However, even if a student were to accept the fraudulent “human resources job” and remain completely unaware of their role in the paycheck theft operation, there would likely be other consequences, “such as hav-ing their bank account closed or seeing a negative impact on their credit record.”

Both of these scams are examples of an insidious practice that has come to be known as “phishing,” which can be de-

/ned as the acquisition of pri-vate information including passwords, account numbers, credit card details, and other bits of personal identi/cation information such as mother’s maiden name, by posing as a legitimate entity through some method of online com-munication.

To illustrate just how ef-fective a tactic phishing can be, CEO of SecureMySocial, Joseph Steinberg wrote for Forbes magazine, “Phishing and other spam-related at-tacks, do not exploit technical vulnerabilities. ,ey leverage a technological medium to ex-ploit human weaknesses. ,e di+erence is signi/cant - and game changing. While tech-nical weaknesses can often be addressed with technical solutions, curbing phishing and related scams mandates addressing the underlying human problem at their cores - an issue has nothing to do with the digital age. Decep-

tive actors impersonating legitimate par-ties have been conning people since the dawn of civilization.”

New F.B.I. phishing scam targets university students and faculty

A new phishing scam, with cyber criminals posing as F.B.I. agants, has recently�  begun�  specifically�  targe ng�  college-­‐level�  students�  and�  faculty�  by sending laced emails to their university mailboxes.

PHOTO COURTESY/ WWW.ECOMPUTERBICHITRA.COM

Brenda PerezSta+ Writer

,e nursing program at Texas A&M University-Com-merce has o.cially received accreditation from the Com-mission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) after a thorough review of the program’s mission goals, expected outcomes and assessment of its overall performance.

,e CCNE, recognized by the US Department of Education, is currently the only nursing education ac-crediting agency dedicated exclusively to the accredita-tion of bachelor’s and graduate degree nursing education programs.

CCNE accreditation is based upon the idea that pro-grams will continue to self-assess and the quality within the program will continue to improve. ,e program re-quires continual self-review and periodical external re-view; this assures the public that the educational quality of programs o+ered by the university is current.

For students seeking /nancial aid to pursue nursing, accreditation by the CCNE, in many cases, can make a di+erence when applying and possibly qualifying for fed-eral and state /nancial aid. Accreditation can also a+ect those students who are in a tuition-reimbursement pro-gram o+ered by employers.

Graduating from a program that has been accredited will ensure that students who wish to transfer credits will have the ability to do so from institution to institution.

As part of the accreditation process, the university’s program will continue to receive ongoing counsel from the accreditation commission; ensuring students enrolled in the nursing program are being educated to the stan-dards set by the profession.

Nursing students looking to continue their education in advanced programs continue to look for universities whose programs are nationally accredited. A&M-Com-merce has already seen a growth in the number of stu-dents enrolled in the nursing program from 16 graduat-ing in the fall semester of 2014 to the 80 enrolled the in Spring 2015 semester.

Nursing Program accredidation contributes to

explosive growth

C!"#$% FEB. 19, 2015PAGE 4

Caleb BarnetSpecial Contributor

!e human body is a wonderful thing. It is capable of such fantastic feats as climbing the 45 ft. wall located at the Rec Center, retaining random information, regulating your temperature, converting non-sense into meaning, compensating for injury, and kicking your senses into over-drive; otherwise called the "ght, #ight, or freeze reaction. !e potential talent, uses, and energy located in your body is almost endless or at least too numerous to detail here. However, have you ever considered that perhaps you are short-changing your body? Whether you are aware of it or not, it is possible that you are not getting as much out of your body as you are capable.

If you feel like the statement above applies to you, consider what you are putting in your stomach. Are you feeding yourself premium octane or the extra-diluted stu$? What is more, are you giving your body any fuel at all? Or do you "nd yourself eating too much, too often?

!is year, February 22 to 28 is National Eating Disorders Awareness Week. !is week is intended to bring into awareness eating habits, especially those that are extra-harmful to your body, psyche, and wellbeing. Certain eating habits are so disruptive and dangerous that they are considered eating disorders. According to the National Eating Disorders Association, approximately 30 million people qualify for an eating disorder at some point during their life in the United States. Two eating disorders worth mentioning are Anorexia and Bulimia.

or withhold, limit, and rigidly control what he or she eats or drinks. While skipping a meal, limiting your portions, or controlling what you eat might not sound that scary or dangerous, when these choices become obsessions, they can become life-threatening.

sizeable portions of food, often in a very short amount of time. However, once the person has "nished the meal he or she will "nd ways to eliminate what was just consumed. Typical elimination strategies include vomiting or the use of laxatives or diuretics.

If you think you might have an eating disorder, you can take a con"dential and anonymous screening online at:

If the results indicate a need for help with an eating disorder, counseling is available at the Counseling Center, 204 Halladay Student Services, 903-886-5145.

If you simply feel like improving the relationship between your body and self-esteem, you are also welcome to see if counseling is a match for you.

On Wednesday, February 25th, the Counseling Center will host an in person screening event from 11-2 in the Atrium of the Student Center. You can enter into a ra%e to win a prize basket once you "ll out the screening form. You can also just take some time and write encouraging messages on a poster board for those struggling with their eating habits and their body image. Spread the word!

Counseling CornerWhat’s in your Stomach?

Dakota Brewer!e East Texan

Fans are keeping their "ngers “crossed” at

and special events with this tradition of more than 20 years that initially started as a joke.

During the school’s alma mater, students and alumni raise their hands to make the letter ‘L’ with the thumb and index !nger, while crossing the middle !nger over the index !nger. "e ‘L’ stands for Lions and the crossed !ngers are a symbol for the mascot “Lucky Lion.”

"is gesture began in the fall semester 1992, as a “joking matter,” according to Dianna Champion, a cheerleader at the time. During that year, East Texas State University (Texas A&M University-Commerce) won eight of 11 football games, adding to the school’s winning tradition.

Champion said she was on a bus with a 10-man and 10-woman member cheer team and the band, on their way to cheer against either Central Oklahoma, or Abilene Christian University. "ough she could not remember which game it was, she did remember the details on how the gesture came about.

Driving to the game, the cheer team discussed that “big schools have hand signs” and the Lions did not have one.

Champion said, after discussing the possibilities, her friend Jana Billeaudeaux raised up the index !nger and the thumb

creating an ‘L’ for Lions. "e team joked about it and said it stood for “losers,” and that it would not make for a good school spirit sign.

"is is when another one of the cheerleaders, who Champion believes was Kenni Dyes, said they should cross the middle !nger over the index !nger and make it the “Lucky Lions.” "ey used this gesture “jokingly” at the football game that night.

“It wasn’t a plan to use forever,” Champion said.

Champion said that a “couple people here and there,” used the hand sign but it “wasn’t taken seriously.” She said it

did not really get used consistently until the late 1990s.

But 23 years later, this “joking hand gesture” is now the permanent school hand gesture used for every sports game, pep rally, social media and anytime the alma mater is played.

In 1992, not only did East Texas State have a winning football season, but a tradition started that has been carried throughout the years and is now a major part of A&M-Commerce.

Champion said it is “surprising that something we started back then is still going on today.”

Once a Joke, the Lucky “L”Now a Sign of Campus Pride

Dajonay Stewart!e East Texan

!e English Language Institute is an academic program where high-scoring English pro"ciency exam international students teach required English to other international students.

!e three-year-old program has expanded with an o&ce opening in South Korea and a trip to Washington D.C. where university representatives presented the program to other institutions.

University-Commerce admission can register

!ursdays for 100 minutes each day for 16 weeks.

Upon application for the program, students are given a placement test that determines which level -beginning, intermediate, or advance classes - they will take. Once the students have been placed, classes are taught by quali"ed English Language Institute

instructors. Class sessions include reading, writing, and communications accompanied by skilled practice classes that meet two days a week for 60 minutes each day.

While the program is enriching the students in the English language, the students are also learning about the American culture and Commerce in particular.

!e institute’s assistant director Phebe Rutledge said, “!e students’ lives depend on the students.”

!e students are encouraged to branch out and meet other students and sta$ on campus. !ere have been cultural outings to the bowling alley and horseback riding at the Equine Center.

“Some of the students have never been to a bowling alley or ridden a horse,” Rutledge said.

!e international students are also given conversation partners who preferably speak only English and can teach the international students about the American culture.

!e international students are required to

have a required minimum $20,000 in their bank in order to come to the university and

funds cover the student’s tuition and fees but are given an option on where they choose to live while in the program.

Rutledge said,

apartments and bring over their families.”

Once the students complete the program, they are given a pro"ciency exam to determine their eligibility for admission

or any other university within the United States. !e application process for the English Language Institute

involves an online application with a small application fee due by the respective fall and summer deadline dates.

Lions fans showcase the Lucky L hand sign at a football game last semester.

EAST TEXAN PHOTO/KRISTEN TAYLOR

ELI Program o!ers opportunity for international students to achieve their higher education goals

Students within the ELI program on one of their group trips. Students within the group work a schedule similar to that of a college student so that they might one day be admitted into the institution fully.

PHOTO COURTESY/TAMUC.EDU

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TexanTimehop

Valentine’s Day has always been a popular celebration. Looking back at past issues, we discovered that +e East Texan sta, featured numerous stories and space devoted to this “special day.”

As seen in the accompanying photographs, +e East Texan dedicated the entire page of one Nsider issue to Valentine’s Day by featuring -rst-love stories from students. Students were given the opportunity to participate in the pro-duction of +e East Texan by sharing their very own special memories of their “-rst love”. In another Valentine’s Day issue, the sta, featured a themed word--nd in its entertainment section. We have included the original word--nd, see if you can -nd it yourself! Have fun!

And, be sure to check back each week for more “Texan Timehop” pictures and text from past Texan issues as the student newspaper approaches its 100th anniversary this fall.

Dos Gringos Locos Hopes to Make Waves with Mobile Eatery

“Truck hours are Monday - Thursday 7-4 p.m., Friday 7-6 p.m., Saturday 8-6 p.m. and closed Sunday.”

Janelle Taylor!e East Texan

New Commerce resident Chris Smith, along with his wife, hopes to start a culinary trend in Commerce that has already taken hold in many larger Texas cities: food trucks.

Smith, along with junior partner Joe Kelly, lived in San Antonio for 15 years where they trained managers for Yum Brands Company. However, it is Dos Gringos Locos, a Tex-Mex food truck, which is bringing new f lavors to Commerce.

“The inspiration behind the food truck is my wife and I missed the breakfast burritos and tacos we ate in San Antonio,” Smith said.

“I have a (local) family legacy of cooking and running a restaurant. My family owns Sweeties Donuts and I grew up learning the business.”

Smith gives his father and mother credit for his culinary skills, but he also credits his co-workers in San Antonio for teaching him spe-cific Tex-Mex recipes.

Dos Gringos Locos sits next door to Country Cleaners and across the street from Live Oak Professional Center on Live Oak Street, and of-fers food made fresh everyday with local ingre-dients plus a special on the menu that changes weekly.

“It’s a great location, not too much traffic but with easy access in and out,” local resident

Nancy Laws said. “I especially like their tacos and nacho salad. I also like that they take your order from the car sometimes when it’s not busy.”

The name of the truck is something that also attracts attention.

“Our co-workers in San Antonio would call us that and the name stuck with us here,” Smith said.

The menu consists of Tex-Mex favorites in-cluding breakfast tacos, tacos, tortas, enchila-das and nachos.

Smith and Kelly are open to traveling to oth-er areas with the food truck, having parked in Canton and at the race track in Blossom, and will also park downtown Commerce for late

night eaters later this month. Smith wants to start a trend with his food

truck and hopes that others will come and fol-low suit so that he could eventually start a food truck park in Commerce.

For anyone interested in starting a food truck business, Smith recommends saving at least six months of income, establishing a concept or style of food that will be featured, then buy a used truck that has everything needed.

Dos Gringos Locos can be followed on Face-book with updates and the daily special.

Truck hours are Monday - Thursday 7-4 p.m., Friday 7-6 p.m., Saturday 8-6 p.m. and closed Sunday.

Dakota Brewer!e East Texan

When coming to college, students may believe personal lockers are a thing of the past, but at Texas A&M University-Commerce lockers are readily available.

James Gee Library is home to 72 library lockers located on the second .oor that are free to students. Although lockers are given to stu-dents for a semester at a time, they are meant to be “temporary,” which means they are not meant to store loose-leaf papers, journals, or anything other than a textbook for extended periods of time.

According to the tamuc.edu/form/lock-er, a student must check out all materials stored in the lockers. +e student must be a candidate for a doctoral or master’s degree, or be an un-dergraduate. +e lockers are free, but must be renewed each semester.

To get a locker, students must complete an on-line application or go to the library’s front desk and -ll out an application.

Some students do not know about the availability of library lockers.

“I’m in the library at least once a day and I didn’t even know we had library lockers,” Kalle Riner said. “You would think they would adver-tise the lockers a little more.”

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EAST TEXAN PHOTO / JOSEPH ALDERMAN

Soundtrack

Burnes’ TurnsBruce Springsteen“Working on a Dream”

Marvin Gaye“Let’s Get it on”

Alvvays“Adult Diversion”

!e Cars“Drive”

Tony Bennett“Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words)”

EditorAndrew Burnes

In past Soundtrack articles, I’ve argued the idea that music often can serve as an identity to many of us. Odds are, there is nobody else of all the people in this world that has the exact same musical taste as you, a mirror image of your tracks on your Spo-tify playlists. This is true and connot be denied.

In the past, I’ve also introduced the idea that music also serves as a force that can bring us together when we meet others with mutual tastes that coincide with our own. This was the case with my friend Ismael and I, and to a lesser de-gree, my roommate Sean and I.

Speak of Sean, a cou-ple of weeks ago, I talk-ed about our late-night talks regarding our musical tastes and how much they differed de-spite having some simi-larities (how anyone can hate Joe Cocker’s gor-geous crooning on “You Are So Beautiful to Me” or prefer Judas Priest over Guns N’ Roses is beyond me).

However, I’ve come to a hypothesis as to how this phenominon occurs. How can someone like a band or a type of mu-sic that other absolutely deride? The answer, perhaps surprisingly, is not necessarily based on personal choice. Instead, it’s where our personal choices come from.

Odds are, we all re-member our first favor-ite band. For many of

us, even if that group isn’t necessarily our fa-vorite anymore, they have a special place in our hearts. Although they may change, mine never has. When I was growing up, I visited my biological father ev-ery other weekend. The rest of it, I was with my mother at home. Nei-ther of my parents ex-posed me to great mu-sic during my formative years. My mom’s tastes consisted of Christian music (bleh) and The Backstreet Boys (despite myself, I still kind of dig some of what those guys did). My dad listened to ‘90s and early ‘00s coun-try. I still know virtually every country song from that era and hate every last one of them. But one day, my dad put on something different. He had recently purchased a laptop and was mixing CDs, discovering new music. He took a liking to Aerosmith. I’ll never forget the first time he put “Girls of Summer” on in his big red, typi-cal country truck. It was like nothing I’d ever heard before and I was hooked. I think a large part of why I dug them, though, was because my dad loved them so much. He knew every song (of the 20 or so he listened to, anyway, and would sing so loud in the car and bang his steering wheel, it’s a wonder the thing held up. It brought him such joy.

I haven’t talked to my Dad in years, but to this day my favorite band has never changed. It never will.

!e ‘my "rst favorite band’ e#ect

FEB. 19, 2015PAGE 6 E!"#$"%&!'#!"

#TBT: Love Songs New Releases‘71

A young British soldier is accidentally abandoned by his unit following a riot on the deadly streets of Belfast in 1971.

Source: IMDb

A group of medical students discover a way to bring dead patients back to life.

Source: IMDb

!e Lazarus E"ect

Guide Kirby as he sets o! on grand adventures in a hand-sculpted clay world.

Source: Metacritic

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse

"e Mario vs. Donkey Kong series makes its way to Wii U

Source: Metacritic

Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping

Stars

First Kiss

"e ever-controversial Kid Rock’s next album, boosted by the critically acclaimed title track drops on Feb. 24

Dark Sky Paradise

Big Sean’s new album may make listeners su!er through another track featuring Drake, but it does have some killer art.

If there’s ever been anything more overplayed than red trucks and beer in country music and weed and ho’s (ain’t that right Seansational) in Rap, it’s the love song. Somehow, though, they still manage to maintain their allure. From the sappy (Aerosmith’s “Angel”) to the goosebump inducingly heartfelt (Tony Bennett’s superb “Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words)”) to the quivering (“You Are so Beautiful” by the late, great Joe Cocker), to the unconquerable (Curtis May#eld’s “So in Love”), no other form of songwriting has the consistent universal staying power. While the heart-breakers are often more realistic, often it’s the beauti-fully heartfelt that are the most painful of all.

PHOTO COURTESY/ FIREANDBRIMESTONE.WORDPRESS.COM

Pixar sticks to the script, continues to dominate the competition

Andrew BurnesEditor

Alright, so maybe I’m a little late to this $u!y little party. Hell, I probably wouldn’t have ever given this movie a chance on a nor-mal type of day. But dammnit, when a beau-tiful woman tells you to watch a movie, you do it (even if they don’t do anything YOU want them to do).

"at brings us to Big Hero 6. Being told going in that I’d cry six times (I think I welled up once) I had high expectations. Maybe a little too high. "at didn’t stop me from having a good time, by any means, but after revisiting Wall-E over the break (that thing doesn’t even remotely get the credit it

deserves), I was lookinig for a masterpiece rather than a gem. But hey, I’ll take what I can get (clearly).

Young genius Hiro has already graduated from high school at 14, but rather than us-ing his time wisely like my Mom was telling me to do at that age, he chooses to spend his time engaging in illegal robot battles (it’s the future, people) out in the urban streets after hours.

"ankfully his brother swoops in, gets him on the right track, introduces him to his college friends, and even manages to encour-age him to get into the di%cult science pro-gram, all before getting blown up about 20 minutes in. Yikes! "at escalated quickly.

Hiro spirals into depression, but his broth-

er thankfully left behind Baymax, a lovable “robot” (though he looks more the Michelin tire guy), that’s concerned only with improv-ing Hiro’s mood. Noble, but as it turns out, it’s a lot more work than he expected.

Long story short, the evil mastermind that engineered the explosion steals Hiro’s idea and uses it to endanger the world (or at least the city) and Hiro, his friends, and Baymax must stop him! A “twist” about as predictable as Sarah Palin speeches reveals itself midway, but it’s not hard to be ahead of the game. Even if, the material (apparently it’s an old Stan Lee comic or something. Bo-nus points for his cameo after the credits), doesn’t get to you, Baymax will. Oh yeah, he’s that good.

PHOTO COURTESY/ BLOG.XTRA-VISION.IE

Show-stealer Baymax (the pudgy one) may be the most lovable Disney character since Wall-E. His exploits alongisde main protagonist Hiro never disappoint, and often result in some hilarious moments, even if the movie itself is nothing particularly out of the ordinary.

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Ryan ScottSports Editor

After two straight losses, the Texas A&M University – Commerce women’s basketball team were able to right the ship with consecu-tive wins last week.

+e Lions were looking for wins to keep them in a good posi-tion in the conference standings with the tournament looming ahead, and that is exactly what they got, securing victories at home against Texas A&M University – Kingsville and on the road against Angelo State.

In the ,rst game against TAMUK, who came into the game winless on the season at 0-21, the Lions looked to secure another win against the Javelinas, who came close to defeating the Lions earlier this season, with A&M – Commerce holding on to a 68-65 victory.

+e ,rst half was tightly contested between the two teams, as no team seemed to gain a clear advantage over the other. After a hard fought half, the Lions went to the locker room with a slim 37-33 lead. After the half, the Lions took ,rm control of the game, outscoring the Javs 35-11 in the ,rst 13 minutes of the game, to jump to a 28 point lead. +e game was a forgone conclusion at

that point, as the Lions never looked back while cruising to a 74-57 win.

Gabby Scott had a game high 16 points, and Ashlee Johnson also broke double ,gures with 11 points of her own. La’Tisha Hearne was a strong presence in front of the net, tying TAMUK’s Lauren Jay with a game high eight rebounds.

+e star performance of the night was the Lion defense in the second half, who, when coupled with bad shooting by the Javali-nas, only allowed TAMUK to go 5-35 from the -oor in the sec-ond half. +e Javs ,nished the game shooting 26 percent from the -oor, as well as 11 percent from 3-point range.

After the emphatic win at home, the Lions travelled to San Angelo to take on the Rambelles. After a hotly contested battle throughout the game, the Lions were able to come away with a hard-earned win.

After a close 30-27 lead at the half, the Lions stepped on the gas, and were able to outgun the Rambelles in the second half, thanks in part to a 14-2 run halfway through the second half. +ings got dicey towards the end, with Angelo State coming with-in 1 with around four minutes remaining. After pull ahead by as many as six points, the Rambelles refused to go away, hitting a key three pointer to pull within three of the Lions with 12 seconds

left. However, the Lions were fouled on their next possession and Scott putt the game away with two good free throws to solidify a 67-62 win.

+e Lions were led by a youth movement, as freshmen Princess Davis and Artaejah Gay led the Lions in scoring with 16 and 13 points, respectively. Davis also had a game high four assists.

With the wins, the Lions climb to 13-9 on the season (7-5 LSC), and hold fourth place in the conference. +e Lions have four games remaining in the regular season, and will face their toughest challenge in their next home game on Feb. 21 against the 6th ranked West Texas A&M Lady Bu.s.

+e Lady Bu.s are currently 20-2 and are winners of 11 straight. +ey are led in scoring by Chontiquah White, who sits at second in the Conference with an average of 17.5 points per game. +is game will also pit the best rebounding team in the LSC, the Lions, with the best rebounding defense in the LSC, the Lady Bu.s. WT routed the Lions 73-100 in their previous matchup.

+e Texas A&M University – Commerce Lions women’s bas-ketball team will host the West Texas A&M Lady Bu.s on Satur-day, Feb. 21 at 4 p.m. at the Field House.

Ryan ScottSports Editor

+e Texas A&M University – Commerce Lions softball team went into Durant, Okla. with an undefeated record, and while coming out with three losses, were able to end in dramatic fashion.

+e Lions entered the tournament at a perfect 6-0, and headed into what many would think was their ,rst real challenge of the season against 16th ranked St. Mary’s. +ings did not go well for the Lions to start, as they gave up a ,ve-run ,rst inning, and never led during the game, taking a 13-3 loss.

+ings immediately seemed to look up during the second game of the tourney as the Lions were able to -y past the Newman Jets with a big eight-run 7th inning, winning 13-4.

+e second day of the tournament would turn out to be a tough one for the Lions, as they started o. with a heartbreaking loss to Southwest-ern Oklahoma. +e Lions were up by two in the top of the 7th, when a single and an error put two runners on base for pinch-hitter Ashley Jones, who hit a go ahead home run, which was followed by a solo shot by Molly Vivo, putting the Lions down by two in their ,nal frame.

+e Lions came close to mounting a game-winning comeback, with two runners on, and the winning run at the plate with two outs, but struck out to end the game.

+e next game against Washburn University was even harder to swallow, as the combined pitching e.orts of Cyanne Fernandez and Aundria Romero were not enough to outpitch Lauren +immesh, who only allowed three Lion hits and one run, as the Lions fell 2-1.

On the ,nal day of the tourney, the Lions were matched up against the preseason No. 4 ranked team in the country, Southeastern Okla-homa State. +e game was a hotly contested pitchers’ duel for the en-tirety of the match, with only a total of six combined hits for the game. Southeastern got ahead ,rst by pushing a run across in the bottom of the 4th, and the score stayed that way until the top of the 6th, where a bit of luck helped the Lions pull ahead.

With Luci Ponce and Monica Cherry on base, two consecutive errors by the Savage Storm allowed both runners to score, giving the Lions a 2-1 lead which they would not relinquish for the rest of the game.

+e Lions come away from the weekend holding an 8-3 record, good enough for fourth place in the Lone Star Conference in this young sea-son.

Next on the agenda is travelling to San Antonio to participate in the Rattler Invitational, hosted by St. Mary’s. +e weekend will follow the same format for the Lions, with the team playing ,ve games in three days - with two games against Texas A&M International University, and also against St. Mary’s, Oklahoma Christian, and the University of Central Oklahoma.

Conference play will ,nally begin after the tournament, with the ,rst conference games of the season being four games in two days against Cameron University at John Cain Family Field. +e Lions will play al-most exclusively within the conference for the remainder of the season.

Lions take two out�  of�  five�  in Durant

Lions break losing streak with consecutive wins

PHOTO COURTESY / LIONATHLETICS.COMLuci�  Ponce�  (24)�  is�  leading�  the�  Lions�  in�  hi ng�  with�  a�  .533�  ba ng�  average.

AFTER WINNING THEIR SECOND AND LAST GAME OF THE SOUTHEASTERN REGIONAL INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT THE LIONS’ RECORD STANDS AT 8-3 FOR THE SEASON

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More stories, photos, videos at tamuceasttexan.com

Ryan ScottSports Editor

After enduring what many would say was their roughest spot of the season, the Texas A&M University – Commerce men’s basketball team got back on track with two straight wins last week.

+e Lions started with a strong comeback win against the Texas A&M University – Kingsville Javalinas. After being down by nine at halftime, the Lions came out of the locker room ready to make a statement, roaring out with a 9-0 run to quickly tie the game. +e Lions soon gained the lead and were able to pull away with an 83-74 win. +e comeback was spurred on by 16 second-half points by Lone Star Conference leading scorer Darrell Williams, who ,nished with a game high 21 points. After shooting just 37 percent from the -oor in the ,rst half, the Lions shot 60 percent in the second half, and made four out of ,ve 3-pointers.

+e win helped propel the Lions toward their next meeting, against the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. +e Hardrockers are a relatively new team to NCAA Division II, and came in with a record of 8-16, and had played six games against LSC foes this season, winning only one of them.

+e game quickly got out of hand for the visiting team, as strong play both o.ensively and defensively gave the Lions a healthy 46-29 lead at the half. +e Lions shot better than 51 percent in the ,rst half and held SD Mines to just 41 percent.

+e second half went smoothly for the Lions as their large lead was never severely contested. +e Lions had a season low eight turnovers in the game. Williams had a stellar perfor-mance, scoring 27 points and grab-bing 13 rebounds, which marked his 15th double-double on

the season. Williams entered the game fourth in the country in that category. +e game also featured a career best night for senior guard Eddie Leal, who tallied a career high 16 points. Leal was also 4-5 from 3-point range.

+e wins brought the Lions to an 18-6 re-cord (6-4 LSC). +e Lions also retain their fourth place spot in the conference. +e Lions currently have just four games left in the regu-lar season, and the road to the tournament will not come easily, as the ,nal two games of the regular season will be against the current top-two teams in the LSC.

+e Lions next home contest will be on Sat-urday, Feb. 21, against the West Texas A&M Bu.aloes. +e Bu.aloes currently hold a 16-9 record and are situated right behind the Lions in the conference standings. +e Lions narrow-ly defeated the Bu.s in their previous meeting in Canyon by a score of 76-75.

+e Bu.aloes are led by the double threat scoring duo of Tez Dumars and David Chav-lovich, who both lead their team in scoring, averaging 15.8 points per game. WT is also a team who is not afraid to take the long shot, as they currently lead the conference in made 3-pointers with 233, 61 more than second place Tarleton State.

After the contest against WT, the Lions will have two games remaining until the Lone Star Conference Tournament, which begins on March 4.

+e Texas A&M University – Commerce Lions men’s basketball team will face the West Texas A&M Bu.aloes at 6 p.m. on Satur-day, Feb. 21 at the Field House.

Lions get back winning form

EAST TEXAN PHOTO / KRISTEN TAYLOR

EAST TEXAN PHOTO / KRISTEN TAYLOR

Everre �  Pleasant�  (5)�  scored�  7�  points�  in�  the�  game�  against�  Texas�  A&M�  University�  -­‐�  Kingsville.

Darrell�  Williams�  (25),�  Lone Star Conference leading scorer, made 21 points against TAMUK and 27 points against �  the�  South�  Dakota�  Mines.