The WichiTanpage 3

The sTudenT voice of MidwesTern sTaTe universiTy

WEDNESDAY SEptEmbEr 24, 2008

Reflections on a lifeMSU awards a posthumous degree to deceased student Marcus Robinson.

page 7Mustangs start 3-0The No. 21 Mustangs remain undefeated after whipping Newberry (S.C.), 24-10

Steve Hilton, the globetrotting as-sistant professor of ceramics, never stays in one place too long. The international man of pottery participated in residency programs in China and Thailand this summer. It was a great opportunity to learn and travel, Hilton said. ThiswasthefirsttimeHiltonhadparticipated in a residency program. Itwasasignificantstepinhisartca-reer, he said. “I’ve had a lot of work in other countries, but never a residency,” Hilton said. “I’ve had pseudo-resi-dencies here before, but nothing as formal as the one in Jingdezhen.” Hilton spent about a month teach-ing and making art at the Jingdezhen Ceramic Art Institute, which is lo-cated in the porcelain capital of the

See “HILTON” on pg. 3

Chris Collins

Managing Editor

The numbers are in. MSU en-rollmenttotalshaveofficiallybeentallied.The Fall 2008 number of under-graduate and graduate students is 6,137, an increase of 110 from Fall 2007. The total number of under-graduate students is 5,404. This time last year was 5,350. There are 733 graduate students enrolled this year. Last year there were 677. Seniors outnumber other classes at 1,693. There are 1,186 juniors, 1,213 sophomores and 1,312 fresh-men. Aside from seniors, all clas-sificationsareup from lastyear’stotals. There are 110 post bacca-

laureate students and 623 master’s candidates, both increasing from last year. Women are in the majority. A to-tal of 3,541 females to 2,596 males enrolled. This puts the female-to-male ratio a little less than 2:1. The youngest student is 14; the oldest 67. Last year it ranged from 15 to 75. Statistically, the aver-age age of MSU students is 25.2, slightly younger than last year. Some of the majors with the most students are nursing with 643, radiological sciences with 387 and early childhood education with 255. Some of the majors with the least students are physics with 10, humanities with 8 and reading edu-cation with 5.

Fall enrollment edges up by 110

Midwestern professors are concerned about the poor per-formance from online faculty evaluations now mandatory in all MSU colleges as of Spring 2007.

Low turnout by students, they say, makes any data unreliable. Such data cannot, they argued in a September Faculty Senate meeting, be used for tenure and promotion purposes. In the past, evaluations were conducted in the classrooms with a monitor present, assuring nearly 100-per-cent participation. Approximate-ly 25 percent of the student body responded with online evalua-tions last semester, prompting concern from professors.

Online faculty evaluations originated with the colleges of Education and Health Sciences and Social Services during the Fall 2006 semester. The Dillard College of Business and College of Fine Arts incrementally began to utilize the program followed by a campus-wide mandate dur-ing the Spring 2008 semester.

Online evaluations save the campus both money and time. With online evaluations the school saves an estimated $5,000 a semester in paper cost, handling, organizing, sorting pa-per evaluations, and time spent by the Information Systems de-partment.

Using online evaluations lim-its human error during the han-dling of the paper evaluations. Students can also do the evalua-tions on their own time. The or-ganizing of and structure of the evaluations are now more con-cise and can be maintained with strict digital oversight. There is less opportunity to lose or miss-shufflestacksofevaluations.

Despite the positives, profes-sors are weary because of the lack of involvement. The evalu-ations have developed into a pat-tern, leading professors to con-clude that students do not take them seriously.

“One way that we glean whether it’s a good teacher is through student evaluations,” said Provost Dr. Friederike Wie-demann.

At one point each professor must write a self-evaluation. It, along with the student evalua-tions and grade distributions are forwarded to the chair of the de-partment. The department chair evaluates the faculty member and this evaluation goes to the dean of the college.

Another purpose of the evalu-ations is for promotion and ten-ure of professors.

Members of the faculty sen-ate maintain that without proper involvement, online evaluations fall short and should not be used as a measurement in promotion or tenure.

“The idea seems like a good idea on the surface, but has some pretty serious flaws,” said Dr.Robert Redmon, faculty senator. “We all agree that it is the same instrument so there is no differ-ence in the validity of the instru-ment but there is a significantdifference in the reliability be-cause of the reduced return rate. I can think of one professor who was denied tenure completely upon poor student evaluations.”

Redmon said this illustrates how important it is to have re-liable data because it is used to make serious decisions.

Wiedemann as well as the Faculty Senate are looking for ways to encourage student par-ticipation. Meanwhile, online evaluations will continue.

russ lawrenz

For thE Wichitan

andrew weitener

For thE Wichitan

Profs slamWeb-based evaluations

Photos courtesy Alissa Donaldsonn (Clockwise from top) Steve Hilton and Alissa Donaldson stand on the Great Wall.n Steve Hilton throws a pot on a “2000 year old” potter’s wheeln Steve Hilton with a “bump on head” in Jing-dezhen, China

Staff Editorial

ViewpointsThe WichiTan

Finalist2004 Associated Collegiate Press

Pacemaker Award

Sweepstakes Winner 2006 Texas Intercollegiate

Press Association

The WichiTan

Copyright © 2007. The Wichitan is a member of the Texas Intercollegiate Press Asso-ciation. The Wichitan reserves the right to edit any material submitted for publication. Opinions expressed in The Wichitan do not necessarily reflect those of the students, staff, faculty, administration or Board of Regents of Midwestern State University. First copy of the paper is free of charge; additional copies are $1. The Wichitan welcomes letters of opinion from students, faculty and staff submitted by the Friday before in-tended publication. Letters should be brief and without abusive language or personal attacks. Letters must be typed and signed by the writer and include a telephone number and address for verification purposes. The editor retains the right to edit letters.

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

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

Editorial Board Editor-in-Chief Brittany Norman

Managing Editor Chris Collins Entertainment Editor Courtney Foreman

Op-Ed Editor Karrie Walker Sports Editor Bobby Morris

Photo Editor Patrick Johnston

ReportersRichard CarterJosh MujicaLauren Wood

PhotographersLoren Eggenschwiler

Advertising ManagerAyesha Dorsey

Copy EditorPatrick Johnston

AdviserRandy Pruitt

THINK GREEN:Please recycle The Wichitan

after reading.Bins are located in Clark Student Center and Bolin Hall

Evaluation fiascoWhoever came up with the concept of online faculty

evaluations must have thought that it sounded like a

good idea at the time.

Unfortunately, in practice, the system is proving it-

self to be seriously flawed. Too many students are sim-

ply not participating.

There would be benefits to completing the evalua-

tions on the Web if it actually worked. There would no

longer be thousands of sheets of paper for some un-

lucky soul to sort through at the end of every semester,

no need to type up all the responses to file them into a

report, and there would undoubtedly be a smaller mar-

gin of error in the tallying of results if the computer

could do it rather than a human.

From the perspective of a college student, however,

there are several problems.

First, if a professor hands out an evaluation sheet

before the beginning of class and tells the students to

fill it out before the lecture begins, the evaluations will

likely get done.

Telling them to go home and get on the Internet,

however, is a sure way to ensure a lack of results.

To most college students, going online means two

things: YouTube and Facebook. Signing on at the MSU

Web site to mark how interesting a professor is on a

scale of one to five is pretty low on the list of most

students’ Internet priorities.

Unfortunately for the professors those ratings are

important.

Faculty members can be granted or denied tenure

based upon those numbers assigned by their students.

Administrators are either going to have to go back

to the old method or convince students that filling the

evaluations out is worth their while.

In this case, perhaps the “old” way is better.

I’m a waitress, not a babysitter...

Something to say?The Wichitan is seeking guest

columnists. If you have something you’d like to

write about, e-mail an opinion piece to wichitan@

mwsu.edu. We welcome opinions from students,

faculty and staff.

Use your voice!

Karrie WalKer

OpiniOn ediTOr

Oh, the joys of waiting tables. A number of students have done it or will do it at some point dur-ing their college career.

Many hate it.I sympathize.I’m a waitress.Some people

are rude. Others are not only demanding but they bring their bratty children who are even more demanding.

Then there are the lousy tip-pers.

Some advice – when you know my name don’t call me, “Hey, you!” when you want something.

When the food comes out please realize that about 90 per-cent of problems with the meal are usually not the servers’ fault.

I promise that the difference be-tween rare and medium rare or the number of lemon wedges in your free water are not a matter of life or death.

Sometimes I just want to ask people if they’ve ever seen the movie Waiting and then say, “Hmm” and walk away.

I don’t understand why peo-ple would be so rude to the peo-ple who are handling their food. The options for us servers as we enter the kitchen are endless…

Let’s move on to some of my “favorite” types of people. People with kids. I rejoice on the rare occasion that I have a table with polite kids who don’t throw food, color the menus or table or spill their drink that has a lid on it.

Then there’s those customers who walk in five minutes before

closing and order an appetizer, well-done steaks and dessert.

Invariably, they sit there and take their time when they know they are the only thing holding you back from going home.

To compound your misery they leave you a two dollar tip.

Guess what else? No one ex-cept you and your family care one bit that it is your birthday. At least everyone knows the words.

Also, just because you went to church on Sunday morning and I’m serving you your lunch does not mean that I don’t be-lieve in God and that I’m going to hell. So, please don’t waste your time giving me an info booklet from your church to “help me find God.”

Our bulletin board in the back

is running out of room to put all of the church cards we accumu-late every Sunday.

My personal favorite is the booklet that looks like crum-pled up money on the outside and then explains on the inside that I’m a sinner for giving into material pleasures.

Are you aware that a waitper-son earns only $2.13 an hour?

I think everyone should expe-rience waiting tables for at least a year out of their life not only to see the crap we have to put up with, but to learn patience, respect, and financial responsi-bility.

It would not be so bad if peo-ple would be polite every once in awhile. Follow the golden rule, be nice, and tip well—that’s all I ask.

Circulation Manager needed:

When: Wednesday afternoons

What: Delivering The Wichitan to all campus buildings

Good pay

Contact Brittany Norman at (940) 704-6670or e-mail wichitan@mwsu.edu

The death of MSU senior Mar-cus Robinson in June cast a long shadow on many students and faculty. But the “quiet Kappa,” stand-ing at 5’8”, 145 lbs. has left some big shoes to fill. The MSU Academic Council agreed to recommend awarding a B.A. English degree to Robin-son during a September meeting. This motion was at the Robinson family’s request. The Board of Regents will vote on awarding the degree in November. “It’s not routine, but we have done it for students before,” said Dr. Friederike Weidemann, pro-vost. A senior who died in a mo-torcycle accident in 2002 is one such case where a posthumous degree was awarded, said Regis-trar Darla Inglish. Another instance was when Tenia Dawson, a nursing stu-dent who was battling cancer in her last semester at MSU. She was awarded a degree early and passed away shortly after walk-ing the stage, Inglish said. There is currently a scholar-ship fund in Dawson’s honor. “These degrees are awarded to give recognition that a student worked very hard for his degree and died very young,” Weide-mann said. Deciding factors in awarding a posthumous degree are credit hours and how close a student was to graduating, according to Weidemann. Robinson, an English major, had earned 104 credit hours at the time of his death. “This is to show a student is attached more closely to the uni-versity now,” Weidemann said.

“He’s more a part of the family.” Robinson suffered an acute asthma attack at his Brentwood Timberlane apartment June 22. Roommate Anthony Holmes, 24, discovered Robinson wasn’t breathing at about 3 p.m. He and another roommate immediately called for medical assistance and tried to help Robinson start breathing again. “We couldn’t believe it,” Hol-mes said. “You don’t think some-one you knew as a freshman in college could just die. Not like that.” Robinson still wasn’t breathing when paramedics arrived at the apartment. He was pronounced dead when he didn’t respond to CPR or a ventilator. Holmes and Robinson had been friends since they start-ing attending MSU in 2002. A fellow Kappa Alpha Psi frater-nity brother, Holmes was one of Robinson’s few close friends, he said. Robinson worked a late shift at the Holiday Inn the night before he died. “He just got up to take a nap,” Holmes said. “That was the last time we talked to him.” Holmes wasn’t aware Rob-

inson had an asthmatic his-tory. It just wasn’t pre-sented as a problem, he said. “He never told us,” Hol-mes said. “He didn’t make that a weak point about him-self.” Robinson was a writer and a deep thinker, Holmes said. His calm, controlled demeanor be-lied a very active mind. “Marcus was really analyti-cal,” Holmes said. “He was al-ways looking for the deeper meaning in things.” Robinson used his writing as a refuge from everyday stress, his roommate said. “Writing was his release,” Holmes said. “When he was stressed about work or his family he would pick up a pen.” Twin brother Jason said Rob-inson planned on teaching Eng-lish at O.D. Wyatt High School, his alma mater, after he gradu-ated from MSU. The brothers graduated from the high school

in May 2002. “He wanted to give back to young people,” Jason said. “He wanted to impart his love of writ-ing in the younger students.” Robinson’s first son, Xavier, was born in July 2004 to Nicole Rogers. Their second son, Jor-don, died because of complica-tions during birth in April. Robinson and Rogers had planned to marry in October, his brother said, but pushed the date back when they learned about the pregnancy. “That was his thing, taking care of Xavier,” Jason said. “He needed to make sure he grew up properly.” Robinson died less than a month before his son’s fourth birthday. Xavier is currently liv-ing with Rogers in the Ft. Worth area.

“He had an obligation to his family,” Holmes said. “He worked very hard for them.” Robinson pulled 40-hour work-weeks at the Holiday Inn while going to school to support the ones he loved, Holmes said. Jason still feels the aftershock of his twin’s death, he said. “It’s been a few months now, but it’s still weird,” Robinson said. “It was very surreal. It was like I was watching someone else go through it, like I was in a dream.” Adjusting to life without his brother has been very difficult, Robinson said. The twins gradu-ated from high school together, attended MSU and even worked at the Holiday Inn in tandem. “It’s hard to grasp at first,” Robinson said. “You have that initial shock, but then it seems

like you’re just going through the motions every day.” The hardest thing for Jason to face, though, is losing his life-time confidant and companion. “I lost my best friend,” he said. Robinson’s death has brought his family closer together, Jason said. His parents are dealing with the death in their own ways. “We’re a very spiritual fam-ily,” Robinson said. “God has a plan for everything. What it is I couldn’t tell you, but maybe I’ll know one day. That’s one of the things that keeps me upbeat about it. I can’t just think that he died in vain.” Robinson is survived by par-ents Henry and Pat Robinson; siblings Courtney, Sedrick, Kim-berly, Kimberly and Jason; and son Xavier.

News The WichiTanSept. 24, 2008 3

Campus briefs• Sept. 24 Texas Association

of College Teachers; Matthew Capps

will guide workshop; CSC Shawnee;

Wed. 12:15 - 2 p.m.

• Resumania; Hosted by Career Man-

agement Center; CSC Comanche;

Wed. 1:30 p.m.

• Sept. 25 Athletics luncheon;

Wichita Falls Museum of Art at MSU;

video replays, coach updates; Thurs.

12 p.m. to 1 p.m.; cost $6

• Sept. 26 Magi-

cian Tim Gabrielson;

CSC Shawnee; Friday,

7 p.m.; no cost

• John Kingerlee: A

Painter’s Passage

Exhibit; Wichita Falls

Museum of Art at

MSU; Sat. 10:30 a.m. -

5 p.m.

• Family Day activi-

ties; T-Shirts, face

painting; live music;

Sat. 11 p.m. - 7 p.m.

3114082

1908 9th Street www.dciplasma.com

Name: Kevin Lloyd Occupation: Student Hobbies: Playing music and surfing the

internet Why I donate plasma: Donating

plasma is a worthy cause.

Name: Lua Augustin Occupation: ISM lead at Sears

Hobbies: Reading and dancing Why I donate plasma: A simple way to contribute to

medical advances. My mother is a nurse and I always wanted to do something to help other people.

When You Donate Plasma You Help Create Life Saving Therapies for:

Newborns and their mothers

Children and adults with hemophila

Burn, shock, and trauma victims

Vaccine development Surgical patients Hepatitis patients

Bone-marrow transplant adult recipients

Immunedeficient children and adults

Research and development in medical testing

MSU awards degree after student’s death

$83,380120

Amount of scholarships distributed for study abroad programs in France, Mexico, Spain, and London during 2007-08.

Number of students in the largest class to graduate from the Wilson School of Nursing in May.

Photo by Chris CollinsMSU senior Jason Robinson contemplates the loss of his twin brother Marcus, who died in June.

“HILTON”..................................................................................................... continued from pg. 1world. An artist in a residency program generally gets a studio to work in and some materials, he said. “They give you room and board and you make art,” Hilton said. These residencies are especial-ly effective in ceramics, Hilton said, because his art form is one that requires cooperation for stu-dents. “Ceramics has a lot of physical labor involved,” Hilton said. Hilton and wife Alissa Don-aldson stayed in inexpensive ho-tels, youth hostels and university dorms during their time in the South Pacific, The two were fed and housed during their residen-cies, but didn’t spend the whole time in the university atmo-sphere. The two traveled extensively, Hilton said.

They took a tour up the Yang-tze River, saw the Three Gorges and the Terracotta Soldiers. Hil-ton marveled at Beijing, China’s capital city, mere weeks before the Olympic games were held. “It’s just amazing,” Hilton said. “There are hundreds of potteries there. It was pretty incredible.” Hilton’s spent his second resi-dency in Chaing Rai, Thailand, at Mai Fah Luang University. “I learned a lot about Chinese and Thai culture,” Hilton said. “I found that Thai and Chinese peo-ple handle ceramics differently than we do.” Easterners have a different way of creating pottery than Ameri-cans do, Hilton said. Much of our work is done in the “wet” state, before the work has been hard-ened by fire. The Chinese and Thai do most of their handling

when the pottery is dry. “It goes against everything we know and are taught in the U.S.,” Hilton said. Hilton recognizes a tendency in Chinese sculpture to mimics other world ceramics, he said. He attributes this to inexperience. “I don’t think lack of creativity is what’s going on,” Hilton said. “Contemporary Chinese sculpture just doesn’t seem as mature as sculpture here. They just haven’t been doing it as long.” The way pottery is viewed by the Chinese and Americans var-ies greatly, Hilton said. It’s taken much more seriously in the East. “The Chinese are so far beyond us in the value that they hold for ceramics,” Hilton said. “I mean, I’m a potter and I use Styrofoam cups. It’s terrible.” Some people, even those in the

academic community, consider ceramics to be a secondary art form, Hilton said. “We don’t that reverence for ceramics in the U.S.,” Hilton said. “In the art world it’s considering a fine craft instead of a fine art. There are very few ceramic artists who are selling work for painter prices.” Hilton said this viewpoint on ceramics doesn’t really bother him. “I just make what I make and people either like it or they don’t,” Hilton said. “I don’t have to sell my work as a professor. It’s nice when I do, though.” Hilton and Donaldson plan to return to Jingdezhen in 2010 and have already been invited to par-ticipate in two more residency programs in China. Next summer the couple plans to travel to Ecuador to study ce-ramics and hike in the jungle.

Off-scale beams, bowls, razors and plates,The scent of a dream that doesn’t escapeThe stench of fiends accepting their fates,The sound of sirens coming too late.Ambulances stop for those on the block,I took my dollar bills, they took hundreds off the top,The sirens beat the door like there was something they forgot.

Exerpted from “Sweet Opium”-Marcus Robinson

Chris Collins

Managing ediTor

This year’s 60th annual Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theater Sept. 21 was full of surprises, new records and some really dis-turbing outfits.

On the red carpet before the show, the sun was out and defi-nitely keeping the guests hot.

Tina Fey, America Ferrara and Debra Messing were all sizzling in their black dresses, but P. Did-dy had to be burning up in his untraditional suit of velvet. Eva Longoria Parker took the biggest risk this year with her extremely short dress consisting of fringe and a bow to top it off.

Oprah opened the show. It became awkward: the show was hosted by the five nominees for Outstanding Reality Host: Ryan Seacrest, Heidi Klum, Tom Bergerson, Jeff Probst and How-ie Mandel.

All of them were wearing tux-edos, but Klum didn’t stay like that for very long as William Shatner helped her out of her suit, revealing a black, glittery…thing.

The first acceptance speech was Jeremy Piven for his win in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series cat-egory.

Due to terrible time man-agement, major categories were rushed, but Jimmy Kim-mel dragged on the reality-host award, using the classic “wait till after the break to announce the winner” technique. Probst, host

of ‘Survivor,’ took the prize.Surprisingly, the AMC 60s-

era drama ‘Mad Men’ took the best drama prize, the first ever for a basic cable series.

‘Mad Men’ also won Out-standing Writing for a Drama Series.

HBO’s miniseries ‘John Ad-ams’ won 13 awards, the most ever won by a program in a single year. It won eight from the creative-arts awards a week earlier. Paul Giamatti won Out-standing Lead Actor in a Mini-series or Movie, Laura Linney shouted out to the community organizers that help form our

country as she took the lead ac-tress award. Tom Wilkinson ac-cepted the award for Outstand-ing Supporting Actor.

Brian Cranston was a surprise when he took home the award for Outstanding Lead Actor for ‘Breaking Bad,’ a series on AMC. Cranston is best known for his acting in comedy roles like the dad in ‘Malcolm in the Middle.’ Cranston was consid-ered an underdog in a strong field that included Jon Hamm of ‘Mad Men,’ Hugh Laurie of ‘House,’ who is amazingly is still empty handed, and ‘Dex-ter’s’ Michael C. Hall.

‘Damages,’ another basic cable drama, snagged two ma-jor acting awards with Glenn Close’s lead-actress win and Zeljko Ivanek winning support-ing actor over his co-star Ted Danson and Lost’s Michael Em-erson.

NBC’s ‘30 Rock’ was award-ed Outstanding Comedy Series for the second year in a row, with Alec Baldwin winning his first Emmy after seven nomi-nations. Co-star Tina Fey took home a statuette for her writing as well as her first for acting in a comedy series.

Don Rickles, an Emmy Award

winning comedian and actor joked along with Kathy Griffin, whose show Kathy Griffin: My ‘Life on the D-List,’ took home the award for the Outstanding Reality Program.

‘The Daily Show’ and ‘The Amazing Race’ both continue to dominate in their respective categories: Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series and Outstanding Reality/Competi-tion Program.

In Treatment’s Dianne West took the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, beating out ‘Grey’s Anat-omy’s’ Sandra Oh and Chandra

Wilson. While Jean Smart from ‘Samantha Who?’ accepted the award for Outstanding Support-ing Actress in a Comedy Series.

Fox’s ‘House,’ ABC’s ‘Push-ing Daisies’ as well as HBO’s Recount all received awards for Outstanding Directing.

The ceremony was also used for reminiscence with cast re-unions, classic-set recreations, a theme-song medley, and plenty of clips that reminded us of the past TV hits. However, this was nicely interrupted every time the five misbegotten hosts crowded the stage.

Maybe next year they will stick to one host and save the audience the agony of watching them butcher their lines.

EntertainmentThe WichiTanSept. 24, 20084

Emmy awards full of surprisesLauren Wood

For The WichiTan

(Above) Tina Fey accepts her awards. (Left) the cast of Desperate Housewives.

Family Day 2008: September 26-27th

Friday, September 26th

All Day:Family and Friends are invited to attend classwith their MSU student.Visit the Family Day website at http://mwsu.edu/familyday for a list of any closed classes.

7:00 PM:CSC Shawnee TheaterKeep It Funny with comic magician Tim GabrielsonFun for the whole family with this famous headlinerstraight from the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, NV.

10:00 PMCSC Shawnee TheaterMovie: Kung Fu PandaFeaturing the voices of Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman,Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, and Lucy Liu.

Saturday, September 27th

11:00 AM 3:00 PM:CSC AtriumFamily Day Registration and T shirt Sales

11:00 AM 3:00 PM:

Games, Novelties, and Inflateables

11:00 AM 3:00 PM:

Spirit Station with the MSU Cheerleaders

Pick up your FREE tickets to the MSU vs. Angelo Statefootball game!

Sunwatcher Plaza and CSC Atrium

Mechanical Bull, Big Red Chair Photos, Zero GravityChamber, First Down, and Band o Rama.

Sunwatcher Plaza

Get your picture taken with the cheerleaders, facepainting, and make your own spirit signs & noisemakers.

11:00 AM 3:00 PM:CSC Wichita I & IIKidz' KornerAmonitored playroom for the young ones while youattend the various Family Day events and enjoy the timewith your MSU student.

11:30 AM:CSC Shawnee TheaterMovie: Kung Fu PandaFeaturing the voices of Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman,Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, and Lucy Liu.

11:30 AM, 12:30 PM, 1:30 PM, 2:30 PMCSC AtriumGuided Campus ToursHosted by the MSU Student Ambassadors.

1:00 2:00 PM:CSC Comanche SuitesParents Only Reception with MSU Deans & FacultySponsored by the MSU Parents Club.

1:00 PM:Sunwatcher PlazaLive Music by Natalie Stovall

2:00 PM:CSC Shawnee TheaterMovie: Kung Fu PandaFeaturing the voices of Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman,Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, and Lucy Liu.

5:00 6:00 PM:Memorial StadiumWest Ticket EntranceFamily Day Registration and T shirt SalesPick up your FREE tickets to the MSU vs. Angelo Statefootball game!

5:00 6:45 PM:Memorial StadiumWest Parking LotMSU Tailgate Party!We provide the grill, you bring the food. Liveentertainment featuring the Bobby Duncan Band!

5:00 6:45 PM:Memorial StadiumWest EntranceGames and FunFeaturing numerous inflatable games for the kids (jumboslide, obstacle course, bouncer, boxing, etc). Free snowcones for everyone and free original fried pies for momand dad at the Parents Club tent.

7:00 PM:Memorial StadiumMSU Football vs. Angelo State University

Be sure to RSVP online at http://mwsu.edu/familyday. All events are FREE! Family Day is brought to you by theDivision of Student Affairs at Midwestern State University. For more information, call (940) 397 4500.

For years, Jacqueline Piona carried on a passionate love-affair with television, her heart steadfast and true

But then came the messy breakup.

Shortly after TV’s script writers went on strike last fall, the Benicia, Calif., resident watched in horror as her fa-vorite new series, “Pushing Daisies,” completely vanished from sight. As for “24,” her re-lied-upon adrenaline fix, well, Jack Bauer never showed up and didn’t even bother to call.

Feeling jilted, Piona bolted for the library and buried her-self in books.

“I’m a big reader, but not that big of one. I like my shows,” she says. “But now I’m not sure if I care anymore.”

She’s not the only one. As broadcasters kick off the bulk of their fall season next week, they know they must get the strike-hobbled industry back on its feet and mend their relation-ship with the fans.

“We have to step back and root for the industry,” says ABC entertainment chief Stephen McPherson. “It’s important for all the networks to get the viewers back, get them excited about the programs, get them back into the characters and sto-rylines and dynamics that they love.”

It won’t be easy. The labor strife not only played havoc with last season’s programming, but hampered the development process to the point where only 17 new scripted shows – half the usual count – appear on the fall lineup. Moreover, many of

them have yet to be delivered to critics, so advance buzz has been significantly curtailed.

And even before the strike, broadcast ratings were slipping as more viewers fled to cable, or alternative sources of con-sumption (DVRs, DVDs, on-line options), or something else entirely.

“I’ll give television another chance,” Piona says. “But they have to realize we have other things to do.”

So is it time to kiss and make up with TV? Maybe, maybe not. But here are a few factors that might prompt us to keep work-ing on the relationship:

A less-frenzied fallThe reduced crop of new

shows might actually be a good thing. Consider how, in past years, the networks have left us to drown in a flood of 30 or even more new fall offerings and how overwhelmed it made us feel.

Now it’s much easier to hone in on the shows that catch our eyes and to distinguish the best from the rest. Something tells us Fox’s rotten-to-the-core “Do Not Disturb” won’t make the cut.

Lovers of sci-fi and fan-tasy have plenty of reasons to get their geek on. For one, J.J. Abrams (“Lost”) has blessed us with “Fringe,” a creepy, freaky thriller that recalls “The X-Files.” Meanwhile, prolific producer Jerry Bruckheimer’s intriguing “Eleventh Hour” (CBS) takes the crime proce-dural and infuses it with fantas-tical, futuristic science.

And then there’s the return-ing shows, including, among others, “Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles” and “He-

roes.” The latter begins to atone for a lackluster second season with a turbo-charged two-hour premiere that might portend good things to come.

Several sophomore shows will feel new or practically new to many viewers because, thanks to the strike, they’ve been on ice since last December. The batch includes ABC’s “Pushing Daisies,” “Private Practice” and “Dirty Sexy Money,” along with NBC’s “Chuck” and Life.”

If you missed them the first time around, now’s the opportu-nity for a do-over. Our favorite among the bunch? We’ll push “Daisies,” a nothing-else-like-it show that blends romance, comedy, fantasy and mystery in one colorful package.

The bad news is that the sit-com genre continues to show very few signs of life as the major networks have produced only five new comedies this fall. The good news is that at least one of them – CBS’s “Worst Week” – is a laugh riot.

The show is pegged to a lov-able loser played by newcomer Kyle Bornheimer, who has the kind of endearing, Char-lie Brown-like appeal, gift for slapstick and comic timing that could make him one of season’s breakout stars. We’re rooting hard for him.

Several intriguing faces pop up on the tube this fall in recur-ring or guest roles. Laurence Fishburne, for example, plays a new forensics scientist on “CSI,” where in the ninth epi-sode he’ll step in for the depart-ing William Peterson.

Meanwhile, Christian Slater takes on his first television role in the NBC spy show “My Own Worst Enemy.” Harvey Keitel

is among the impressive cast of ABC’s “Life On Mars,” Angela Bassett joins “ER” for its final season and Jon Voight becomes a regular on “24” after appear-ing in the show’s TV film in November.

Among the notable guest appearances: Jennifer Aniston and Oprah on “30 Rock,” Ka-tie Holmes on “Eli Stone” and Mary Tyler Moore on “Lipstick Jungle.”

In this post-strike season, viewers figure to be more in-terested in the returning shows than the new ones and they’ll be eager to find out, among other things: Just who was it who shot Horatio Caine on “CSI: Miami”? Can Meredith and Derek really make it as a couple on “Grey’s Anatomy”? How will that stunning five-year flash-forward impact the ladies of “Desperate Housewives”? Is Stella the mother on “How I Met Your Mother”? Will Jim pop the question to Pam on “The Office.”

The paucity of fresh broad-cast fare has apparently em-boldened basic and premium pay cable outlets to bust out some new stuff in the fall, a pe-riod they’ve traditionally ceded to the networks. And cable, again, has some of the most dis-tinctive shows going, including “Sons of Anarchy” and “True Blood,” which launched on FX and HBO, respectively, earlier this month.

Arriving in the coming weeks will be “Dexter” and “Califor-nication” (Showtime, Sept. 28), “Sanctuary” (Sci Fi, Oct. 3), “The Starter Wife” (USA, Oct. 10) and a series based on the Oscar-winning film, “Crash” (Starz, Oct. 17).

Entertainment The WichiTanSept. 24, 2008 5

58613

1400 Borton LaneWichita Falls, TX 76305

Lively music anddown home

preaching andteachings.

Sunday School 9:30 A.M.Morning Worship 10:45 A.M.

Bible Study Wednesday Evening 7:00 P.M.

“A Church That Will MakeYou Feel at Home”

New Jerusalem Baptist ChurchRev. Angus Thompson,

Pastor

Come Worship With OtherMSU Students.

P/T Package Handler4am-8am, Tue-SatTuition assistance.Weekly paycheck.

Fast paced job,loading/scanning

packages.Apply in person.

208 Randy Dr.Wichita Falls, TX

EEO/AA

An angry, racist, crooked L.A.P.D. officer is the last per-son any of us want to share a fence with when we decide to get married and embark into the world of home ownership.

Some of us expect a quiet neighborhood, nestled in a friendly community, surround-ed by friendly people who pretty much keep to themselves and allow us to go on about our lives. If that’s our “American dream,” then we should defi-nitely shy away from the ex-clusive cul-de-sac community of Lakeview Terrace.

The movie is carried pri-marily by Samuel L. Jack-son’s superb acting ability. You’ve seen him at his best in Pulp Fiction, and possibly his worst in Snakes On A Plane

(although his signature “I’m sick of these snakes…” line is great every time). Let’s just say this movie falls more towards the Pulp Fiction end of his acting chops. He’s good, and with the help of his fellow talented cast- mates, the movie succeeds. You leave the theater thoroughly entertained and feel you got your $8 worth.

When Chris Mattson (Patrick Wilson) and his wife Lisa (Ker-ry Washington) move into their home in Lakeview Terrace, an overbearing, anti-white police

officer (Samuel L. Jackson) is the last person they expect to call “neighbor.” They just want a place to call “home.”

The film begins when Officer Abel Turner, played by Jack-son, notices that an interracial couple have moved in next door. At first, Turner, a wid-ower with two children, seems like the perfect neighbor. His house is well kept, his yard is mowed, he doesn’t make noise at all; he’s normal. It isn’t until later in the film that the viewer is exposed to Turner’s open ha-

tred for the white race; a hatred born from the death of his wife and unleashed on the neighbors next door.

Turner’s objection to his in-terracial neighbors starts as a grudge and culminates in all out warfare, leading to harass-ment, abuse, and several deaths. This urban drama begins with the innocent misplacement of a cigarette butt and quickly becomes a hotbed of racial un-dertones, ending in a bloody, old west-style shoot out. It’s a film that examines the modern world and asks whether we as a society have made progress in areas concerning race, or came to a standstill?

Lakeview Terrace is a para-digm where two worlds collide. Old-world bigotry meets new-world acceptance in this social-ly complex film. Although this movie won’t strike Oscar-gold, is does entertain, intrigue, and educate it’s intended audience.

ChuCk Barney

McT

ChanCe GiBBs

For The WichiTan

Writers strike still causing problems for TV networks

‘Lakeview Terrace’ worth visiting

Californication

Dexter

Pushing Daisies

Kerry Washington, Patrick Wilson and Samuel L. Jackson play out a bad neighbor horror story in ‘Lakeview Terrace.” The film takes a deep look into conflict between two fami-lies and what happens when the tensions escalate too far.

News The WichiTanSept. 24, 2008 6

F O L I O L I N E M c C l a t c h y - T r i b u n eF O L I O L I N E

VOTING (UPDATED — ORIGINALLY POSTED IN 2006)MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE

It’s easy to participate in this year’s election. Our guide breaks downthe voting process and offers tips to get you ready for Nov. 4.

WHO CAN VOTEYou must be a U.S. citizen, a resident of the state

in which you’re registering, 18 years old, not inprison (laws about people with criminal records varyby state) and not declared mentally insane. Manystates will allow 17-year-olds to register if they’ll be18 by Election Day.

It can take between 10 days and three weeks forthe local elections office to process your registrationapplication, at which point they’ll send you a voterregistration card. Remember to register as early aspossible to ensure that your application is processedbefore Election Day. Elections offices often getinundated with paperwork as the deadline approach-es.

Contact your secretary of state (www.fvap.gov)to learn more about the voting rules for your area.

WHERE TO REGISTEROnline registration is probably the easiest and

quickest way to register. Go to your state’s board ofelections Web site for more information about theirvoter registration policies. You also can find registra-tion information at the Federal ElectionCommission’s Web site (www.fec.gov) and theUnited States Election Assistance Commission’s site(www.eac.gov).

Often the department of motor vehicles, publiclibraries and college campuses have registrationinformation available.

ABSENTEE BALLOTSIf you’re not going to be present in your voting

precinct on Election Day, make sure to request anabsentee ballot.

Go to your state’s elections page to download anabsentee ballot or contact your county or city elec-tion official to request an absentee ballot. In somestates, when you register to vote you also canrequest an absentee ballot.

Be sure to mail in the application to the appropri-ate office, and be aware of deadlines and any restric-tions that apply specifically to your state.

For more information about states’ absentee vot-ing policies go to www.fvap.gov/shortcuts/get-registration-absentee-ballot-request-form/index.html.

DEADLINESMany states have a 30-

day registration deadlinebefore Election Day. If youare registering to vote inWyoming, Wisconsin,Idaho, New Hampshire,Minnesota or Maine you canregister the day of the elec-tion as long as you bring anID.

GETTINGINVOLVED

There are several ways to getinvolved with elections, especial-ly for young voters.

College students who want tovolunteer for a partisan campaigncan check out the CollegeRepublican National Committee(www.crnc.org or 888-765-3564)or the College Democrats (www.collegedems.com), a branch of theDemocratic National Committee.Both the CRNC and the CD havemany chapters on college campusesacross the country that can providemore information.

Other young adults can visit YoungRepublicans (www.yrnf.com) or YoungDemocrats (www.yda.org) for moreinformation about getting involved.

College students can contact their local stu-dent government group to get involved in nonpar-tisan efforts during the election season. CIRCLE'sWeb site (www.civicyouth.org) has organizationallinks to projects like Rock the Vote, as well as a list-ing of local youth-led projects.

You also can join nonpartisan groups like theRaise Your Voice Campaign to help generate youthcivic engagement and disseminate information aboutvoting in the elections. Visit www.actionforchange.org/getconnected/state formore information about the Raise Your VoiceCampaign in your state.

To volunteer as a poll worker on Election Day,visit the U.S. Election Assistance Commission’sWeb site (www.eac.gov) or call 866-747-1471 foryour state contact information.

VOTING TIMELINE1870: The 15th Amendment was added to the U.S.Constitution, prohibiting any state from refusingvoting rights to any man, regardless of “race, color,or previous condition of servitude.”1920: The 19th Amendment ensuring women’s rightto vote was ratified.1961: The 23rd Amendment allows the votes ofWashington, D.C., residents to count in the ElectoralCollege.1964: The 24th Amendment is ratified, disallowingthe use of poll taxes. Poll taxes were used as a ployto ensure that the poor black population could notvote even though they had been enfranchised almost100 years earlier.1971: The 26th Amendment lowered the voting agefrom 21 to 18.

TERMS TO KNOWAll the political jargon that you hear during elec-

tion season is enough to make you wish you hadpaid more attention in your high school governmentclass. Consider this your refresher course. Below aresome terms from PBS.org that will let you walkinto your voting site with confidence.

� Bicameral legislature: A legislature consist-ing of two separate chambers or houses. In the U.S.Congress, the lower house is the House ofRepresentatives, and the upper house is the Senate.

� Canvassing: A tactic to win votes by con-tacting voters directly, usually through door-to-door,telephone or Internet campaigning.

� Caucus: Meeting of party members to decidewhich delegates to send to a state or national nomi-nating convention.

� Gerrymander: To divide a voting area to giveone political party a majority in as many districts aspossible or weaken the voting strength of a specificpopulation, such as an ethnic group.

� National party convention: The officialgathering held by each of the major political partiesduring the summer before a presidential election tonominate the party’s presidential and vice-presiden-tial candidates, and announce the party’s platform.

� Plurality: The number of votes in an elec-tion that the leading candidate obtains

over the next highest candidate.� Primary election:

An election to select aparty’s candidates for pub-lic office, held some timebefore the general election.In a closed primary, votersmust declare a party affilia-tion and may vote only forcandidates of their party.

� Referendum: Putting aproposed law to a direct voteof the electorate. Referendumsare only used by state and localgovernments.

ONLINERESOURCES

It’s a lot of work to gather theinformation you need about candi-dates and issues. These Web sitesare a good place to start yourresearch.

� Project Vote Smart(www.vote-smart.org): Use thissite to find out more about your dis-trict’s candidates just by entering yourZIP code. You can look through theirbiographies, issue positions, votingrecords and campaign finances.

� League of Women Voters(www.lwv.org): On this site you canregister to vote, find important registra-

tion deadlines and get information about thecandidates in your area. � Congress.org (www.congress.org):

Interesting features on this site include the tip sheeton how to write to your senator and the Soapbox, aforum where visitors to the site can ask their fellowconstituents to contact their representative about cer-tain issues affecting their district.

� GovTrack.us (www.govtrack.us): This siteaims to make politics more personal. Say you’reinterested in energy. If you sign up on govtrack.us,you’ll get e-mail updates on energy legislation thatis introduced, voted on or passed. You also can getnews about your representatives and updates onindividual bills.

� Public Interest Research Groups(www.uspirg.org): Check out how your represen-tatives have been voting with this site’sCongressional Scorecard feature.

D A N H O N D A / C O N T R A COSTA T IMES

Citizens enter voting booths in Martinez,Calif., in November 2004.

L IBRARY OF CONGRESS

Women suffragists protest for the right tovote in this 1913 photo.

BY BRIANNA BOND, JAMIE LIVENGOOD AND CARRIE WELLS, MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE

nother presidential election is quickly approaching,and candidates are scrambling for votes.

Young voters may turn out to be a key segmenton Election Day. A record 6.5 million people

under age 30 voted in primaries and caucuses earlier thisyear, according to data from CIRCLE, The Center forInformation & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement.

If you’re new to voting, or haven’t done it in a while, it’stime to learn about the election process. To help you out,we offer information about registering to vote, gettinginvolved in campaigns, researching candidates and more.

Registration rates in 2006:Ages 18-24

Ages 25-34

Ages 35-44

Ages 45-54

Ages 55 and older

46% 60% 67% 72% 77%

Voting rates in 2006:Ages 18-24

Ages 25-34

Ages 35-44

Ages 45-54

Ages 55 and older

22% 34% 46% 54% 63%

SOURCES: WWW.FA IRVOTE.ORG, WWW.PBS.ORG, WWW.PEWTRUSTS.ORG, YOUNG VOTER STRATEGIES , C IRCLE

KURT STRAZDIN

S /MCT

Sports The WichiTanSept. 24, 2008 7

2731 Southwest Parkway

Wichita Falls, TX 76308

Corner of Kemp & Southwest ParkwayCorner of Kemp & Southwest ParkwayCorner of Kemp & Southwest ParkwayCorner of Kemp & Southwest ParkwayCorner of Kemp & Southwest Parkway

940-692-1002

Discount Specials posted

weekly on

www.localboysliquor.comwww.localboysliquor.comwww.localboysliquor.comwww.localboysliquor.comwww.localboysliquor.com

Catering for Hospitality Suites, Holiday ,Graduation and other Large Parties ATM on site!

GREAT SELECTION, GREAT PRICES

AND BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE

IN WICHITA FALLS!

No. 21 Mustangs stay undefeated against Newberry, 24-10Marcus Mathis paved the way

on the ground for the now No. 21 Mustangs as they capitalized on his career-best 140-yard rush-ing performance to claim the 24-10 victory over then No. 21 Newberry (S.C.) Saturday night at Memorial Stadium.

Marcus Mathis garnered LSC co-offensive player of the week honors after guiding the 3-0 Mustangs with 111 rushing yards and a touchdown in the second half alone.

Newberry got on the board first, getting out to a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter. After a 52-yard pass went for a touch-down on their first possession, Newberry place kicker Britt Blackmon knocked in a 33-yard field goal with 13:44 remaining in the half to extend the lead to 10.

But that was all the offense Newberry would have for the night as MSU dominated the last 40 minutes of play, scoring 24 unanswered points.

Jose Martinez kicked a 26-yard field goal late in the first half to shrink the lead to 10-3 for Newberry entering the half. In the second half, Marcus Mathis and the rest of the Mustangs of-fense looked like a new squad.

Quarterback Zack Eskridge found receiver J.J. Ford for a 7-yard touchdown on their first possession of the half to knot the score, 10-10.

Then, Marcus Mathis found paydirt on a 27-yard scamper late in the third quarter.

Fellow running back BeeJay Mathis closed out the scoring on a 30-yard touchdown run that capped a three-play, 73-yard drive late in the fourth quarter and gave the 24-10 final score.

Marcus and BeeJay combined

for 175 yards on the ground against a Newberry defense that was ranked ninth in NCAA Divi-sion II at stopping the run, giving up just 61.5 yards on the ground per game, entering Saturday’s match-up.

Defensively, the Mustangs secondary continued to shine.

Safety Herman Walker and cornerback Darius Bortters each made seven tackles, while Walk-er recorded an interception in his fourth-straight game.

Walker now leads the LSC with three interceptions on the season.

Redshirt freshman defensive-end Kevin Birdow also played well for the Mustangs, also re-cording seven tackles.

Junior defensive end Stephen Turner continued his assault on opposing quarterbacks, with one sack, one pass break-up and two quarterback hurries to extend on his exceptional play that started

last season.Turner leads the Mustangs

with 3.5 sacks this season. This marked the seventh time in eight games that he has recorded at least half of a sack, going back to last season.

The win vaulted MSU to No. 21 in the American Football Di-vision II Coaches’ Association Top 25 Poll, while dropping Newberry (1-2) completely out of the poll, in which they stood No. 21 last week.

This was the 13th-straight win for the Mustangs in the months of August and September. They will look to keep that streak go-ing Saturday night in their first game against LSC South Divi-sion competition.

The Mustangs are slated to host the Angelo State Rams at Memorial Stadium this Satur-day. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

BoBBy Morris

SporTS ediTor

624 Indiana • Suite 308www.inheritanceadoptions.org

Wichita Falls’Only

AdoptionAgency!

• Meet & Choose Adoptive Family• Visits & Contact With The Child• Assistance With Living Expenses & Medical Care• Free & Confidential Counseling

“Give TheGift Of Life”

1 (940) 32-ADOPT(940-322-3678)

Available 24 Hours

1 (800) 425-BABY (1-800-425-2229)

JOPLIN, Mo. – Freshman Kayla Hendrix led the Midwest-ern State cross country team to a fifth place finish on Saturday at the 20th annual Missouri Southern Stampede at Fred G. Hughes Stadium.

MSU head coach Koby Styles

was hoping to “shock people” after last week’s run at the East Central Tiger Chase and follow-ing a redletter day individually and for the team, they are sure to start opening some eyes na-tionally.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the girls,” Styles said. “We thought we had a good shot at the Top 10, but getting fifth

place is amazing. We beat some good teams, so now people will know who Midwestern State is.”

MSU came into the Stam-pede ranked ninth in the South Central Region according to the United States Track & Field Cross Country Coaches’ As-sociation but moved up dras-tically to No. 4 in the South

Central Region as they beat out three teams ranked significantly higher.

The Mustangs finished high-er than Southwest Baptist (Mo.) and Pittsburgh State (Kan.), which were both ranked in the top six of the South Central standings.

Two NCAA Division I schools, first-place Tulsa and

fourth-place Oklahoma, as well as host-team No. 9 Missouri Southern and No. 12 were the only schools to have better days than the Mustangs.

Hendrix led the attack, finish-ing 18th with a program-record time of 18:17.7.

Then, a minute lat-er, three more Mus-tangs crossed the fin-ish line. Katie Stepp, Lindsey Pate and Andrea Borgman fin-ished 38th, 50th and 54th, respectively.

Freshman Brittany Barrington finished in 82nd place with a time of 19:47.8 to close the scoring for the Mus-tangs and give them a team total of 225.

“Katie (Stepp) ran just two

days this week,” Styles said. “She’s been nursing a bad shin and had to really fight through the last half-mile. It really shows how great of a competi-tor she is.”

Hassie Sutton finished with a time of 20:05.4, while Malory Am-merman and Mindy Briones ran a 20:48.7 and 21:29.6, respec-tively, to finish out the day for MSU.

The Mustangs hope to continue their climb up the rank-ings as they compete at the NCAA Divi-sion II South Central

Regional Course next Saturday at the Incarnate Word Invita-tional.

BoBBy Morris

SporTS ediTor

Hendrix

Marcus Mathis (22) breaks one of his many long runs in the second half in MSU’s win over Newberry (S.C.), 24-10. Mathis ran for 140 yards in the game but 111 of those yards came in the second half, including his 30-yard, game-win-ning touchdown late in the third quarter.

Patrick Johnston The WichiTan

Cross country team gaining recognition with impressive start

The football game has come down to this.

Three seconds remain with the score tied at 14. The MSU quarterback drops back, says a quick prayer, and hurls the ball down field just before the de-fenders pile on him.

A Mustang receiver leaps into the air to snag it for the winning touchdown. The crowd erupts with excitement. However, five people on the sidelines look only somber.

They’re the athletic trainers.They’re watching the bodies

around the quarterback.If they’re lucky every player

gets to his feet without injury.But that’s not always the

case.“For all sports, our number

one priority is watching the athletes after every play, mak-ing sure they aren’t limping or bleeding,” Head Athletic Train-er Gary Diehm said.

Diehm is the head of the ath-letic training program at MSU. Part of his duties is training fu-

ture trainers.At any one time, the program

is treating 30 to 60 injured ath-letes, which doesn’t always occur Monday through Friday during normal hours. The stu-dents are required to stay till 7 p.m. with the practices and come in on weekends, as well as travel with the team they are assigned.

“When people come in from their high school programs, they think they will just have to tape a few ankles and fill a few water bottles to earn an easy de-gree,” trainer Shalee Rater, an MSU sophomore, said. “They don’t realize all the time and dedication it takes to be an ath-letic trainer or how much of it is memorization.”

Before school starts for most students, the trainers are already receiving real world experi-ence.

“During two-a-days, I was here for 53 hours per week,” trainer Tina Cerruti, an MSU sophomore, said. “Now that school has started, we are lim-ited to 24 hours per week.”

The trainers, armed with a

supply case that includes every-thing from tape to anti-diarrhea pills, are ready to respond to any injury that might happen on the field.

Trainer Kandis Snowden, an MSU senior, got her first taste of the trainer life while still in high school. A player had se-verely broken his arm.

“There was a junior varsity football player that had a com-pound fracture of his radius and ulna that tore through the skin,” Snowden recalled. “You could

hear a pop throughout the field. His arm was bent in the shape of a C and his hand was hanging in the other direction.”

While everyone else was shocked and speechless, Snowden summoned an ambu-lance. She immediately braced his arm to his chest and wrapped it to keep him from further in-juring himself.

“And not five or 10 minutes after we got him off to the side, another player screamed out in pain,” Snowden said. “Noth-

ing looked physically wrong. It turned out he also had a small fracture of his radius and ulna on the same arm.”

The students must learn to deal with bodily fluids as a part of their daily routine.

“After turning around all the time and seeing someone puke, nothing really bothers me anymore,” Rater said. “Now I just ask them what they had for lunch.”

Not all the injuries are purely physical though. The trainers must treat the mental scars that come from getting injured.

“I had a girl that was nine months post-ACL (surgery) and still wouldn’t put any weight on her knee,” trainer Danielle Alt-land, an MSU junior, said. “She was physically fine, but it was mental. It takes more than just treating them physically. We have to treat their whole bod-ies.”

Dealing with injuries doesn’t stop on the MSU fields. It can be an occupational hazard to just wear their athletic trainer shirts in public.

“I’ve had people at Wal-Mart

see my shirt and assume I’m a personal trainer,” Snowden said. “They start to ask me how to get fit and things.”

Their work, it turns out, is mostly a labor of love. Not only do they not get paid, but their odd hours keeps them from most other jobs.

“My car is a disaster. I practi-cally live out of it and only have a few changes of clothes,” Cer-ruti said. “My homework is ev-erywhere because you have to do it when you have time, but I still have lots of late nights and early mornings in order to get it all done.”

Their work does not go un-noticed or unappreciated. The program was awarded the Lone Star Conference South Division Staff of the Year for 2008. How-ever, injured players, not fame, remain the ocus of the program and its students.

“I’ve seen everything from broken bones poking out (of the skin) to athletes passing out,” Diehm said. “We are watching out and trying to be proactive rather than reactive.”

Athletic trainers bandage the bloody and broken

Patrick Johnston The WichiTanMSU athletic trainers assess Darius Bortters (4) injuries during the football game versus Newberry last Saturday.

Patrick Johnston

phoTo ediTor

Sports The WichiTanSept. 24, 2008 8

Activation fee/line: $35 ($25 for secondary Family SharePlan® lines w/ 2-yr. Agmts).

IMPORTANT CONSUMER INFORMATION: Subject to Customer Agmt, Calling Plan, rebate form & credit approval. Up to $175 early termination fee/line & other charges. Offers and coverage, varying by service, not available everywhere. Rhapsody and the Rhapsody logo are registered trademarks of RealNetworks, Inc. Device capabilities: Add’l charges & conditions apply. Rebate debit card takes up to 6 weeks & expires in 12 months. Limited-time offers. While supplies last. Network details, coverage maps & V CAST Music w/Rhapsody subscription details at verizonwireless.com. © 2008 Verizon Wireless. RDUNI

Samsung Glyde™THE BEST OF TOUCH AND QWERTY

$7999 $129.99 2-yr. price – $50 mail-in rebate debit card. With new 2-yr. activation on a Nationwide Calling Plan.

NEW Verizon Wireless Blitz™SLIM SLIDER PACKED WITH FUN

$4999 $99.99 2-yr. price – $50 mail-in rebate debit card. With new 2-yr. activation.

LG Dare™ALL TOUCH WITH INTEGRATED QWERTY

$19999 $249.99 2-yr. price – $50 mail-in rebate debit card. With new 2-yr. activation on a Nationwide Calling Plan.

Millions of songs. One little price. Introducing V CAST Music with Rhapsody,® a Verizon Wireless Exclusive. From top artists to hidden gems, get unlimited access to music for your phone and computer for one low monthly fee. $1499

monthly access

Switch to America’s Most Reliable Wireless Network.®

Call 1.888.640.8776 Click verizonwireless.com Visit any store

Rockin’ deals on thelatest music phones.Hi-tech phones are more entertaining on America’s largest 3G network.

WICHITA FALLS 3210 Midwestern Pkwy. 940-692-8080

VERIZON WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS STORES Open 7 days a week. Technicians available at select locations.

BUSINESS CUSTOMERS 1-800-899-4249

Visit the Verizon Wireless Store inside the area’s following Circuit City locationWichita Falls

MATRÍCULA CONSULAR

6 Tuesday

On Deck this week...

ThursdaySeptember 25

Volleyball

@ Cameron7 p.m.

FridaySeptember 26

Mens Soccer

@ Regis (Colo.)

Womens Soccer

@ Colorado Mines

SaturdaySeptember 27

Volleyball

@ Incarnate Word

Cross Country

@ Incarnate Word Invitational

Football

Angelo State7 p.m.

SundaySeptember 28

Mens Soccer

@ Metro State (Colo.)

Womens Soccer

@ Colorado Springs

Golf

@ St. Mary’s Intercollegiate

Mon.-Tues.Sept. 29 & 30

Golf

@ St. Mary’s Intercollegiate

Home Events are Bolded

Schreiber gets 5,000th assist as Mustangs roll to 16-0

The No. 23 Mustangs kept rolling this week as they passed more milestones in the record-breaking 2008 campaign.

The Mustangs beat three op-ponents this past week, improv-ing to 16-0 and matching the mark for program-best winning streak.

On the way, MSU crashed into the American Volleyball Coaches’ Association Top 25 for the second time in school his-tory and one of the program’s most decorated players passed a career milestone that only seven others have reached from the Lone Star Conference.

Senior LSC setter of the week Allison Schreiber finished Satur-

day’s match against Southwest-ern Oklahoma State with 41 as-sists, but it was a set to freshman Hillary White in the second set that gave her #5,000.

“There’s nothing left to say about Allison,” MSU head coach Venera Flores-Stafford said. “She did the same thing today that she’s done throughout her career. I’m very proud of her, but I wish I had another Allison.”

Schreiber finished Saturday’s match with nine digs and seven kills to compliment the record-setting assist as the Mustangs cruised to the 25-13, 25-11, 21-25, 25-15 victory over the SWOSU Bulldogs.

Senior libero Shay Velasquez continued to add to her program-best digs total, tallying 13 digs to lead the Mustangs defensive-

ly, gaining her LSC defensive player of the week honors.

Senior Jessica Ransom, for-mer Wichita Falls High School

standout, paced the offense with 12 kills while Whitney Maxwell claimed 10 kills of her own.

Last Thursday, the Mustangs were attacking on all cylin-ders as they blew out the Cen-

tral Oklahoma Bronchos 25-6, 25-13, 30-28 to open Lone Star Conference play.

The win snapped an 18-match losing streak to the Bronchos, giving them their first win over UCO since 1996.

Maxwell, Ransom and Alysha Pritt, all had double-digit kill counts to propel MSU to a .440 team hitting percentage.

While, Velasquez tallied 17 of the team’s 46 digs to hold the Bronchos to a measly .153 hit-ting percentage.

MSU took on Wayland Bap-tist on Monday.

While the Mustangs struggled on offense, combining for only a .177 hitting percentage, Ve-lazquez, Schreiber and the rest of the MSU back row provided strangling defense to take the

three-set sweep, 25-15, 27-25, 25-17.

Velazquez recorded 23 digs while Schreiber, Katie Guehler and Kiara Jordan had nine, eight and seven digs, respectively.

“We had to play defense be-cause they kept getting balls up,” Flores-Stafford said. “It’s the kind of defense we can play, but we just haven’t had to do it. They are savvy and the got their hands on a lot of stuff.

MSU is set to make school history for consecutive wins on Thursday when they travel to Lawton, Okla. to take on Cam-eron in a match slated to begin at 7 p.m.

MSU is also scheduled to travel to San Antonio to com-pete against Incarnate Word on Saturday.

BoBBy Morris

SporTS ediTor

Mustangs Conference Standings

Lone Star Conference

Football

NorthTexas A&M-Comm (2-2)SE Oklahoma (1-3)SW Oklahoma (1-3)Central Oklahoma (0-4)East Central (0-4)Northeastern State (0-4)

SouthTarleton State (4-0)West Texas A&M (4-0) Abilene Christian (3-0)Midwestern State (3-0)Texas A&M-Kingsville (3-1)Angelo State (2-2)Eastern New Mexico (1-3)

VolleyballW-L

MSU (16-0) 2-0Texas Woman’s (9-5) 2-0TAM-Comm (8-5) 2-0Abilene Christian (11-2) 1-1Angelo State (10-6) 1-1Tarleton State (9-6) 1-1Cameron (6-6) 1-1Central Okla (5-10) 1-1TAM-Kingsville (3-8) 1-1West Texas A&M (13-2) 0-0Eastern NM (4-11) 0-0SE Oklahoma (10-6) 0-2SW Oklahoma (5-9) 0-2East Central (4-9) 0-2

Southwest Soccer Conference

Men’s Soccer W-L-TWTAMU (5-1) 2-0Eastern NM (2-1-2) 1-0-1NE State (2-5) 1-2MO Southern (0-7-1) 0-2-1MSU (4-1) 0-0

Women’s Soccer W-LWTAMU (5-0-1) 1-0TAM-Comm (4-1-1) 0-0TWU (4-2) 0-0ACU (4-2-1) 0-0Central Okla (4-2-1) 0-0Angelo St (5-3-1) 0-0East Central (3-3-1) 0-0MSU (3-3) 0-0SW Oklahoma (2-5) 0-0NE State (1-4-1) 0-0Eastern NM (4-4) 0-1

Schreiber