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The student voice of Louisiana Tech University

TalkTechApril 26, 2012 www.thetechtalk.org

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Volume 86 Number 21

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GREEK WEEKSee what all happened and get the recap of the week.

Learn about Tech’s karate team’s winning streak at nationalsPAGE 5

Is the new movie as funny as the old series?

PAGE 7PAGE 9

HANNAH SCHILLINGStaff Reporter

Only 7 percent of the student body participated in SGA elec-tions April 18 and 19.

During these elections, the enhancement fee, renewing the $20 fee and adding on a new $30 fee to full-time students’ tuition, passed with 83 percent approval.

James King, vice president of student affairs, said the amount of voters that participated is a normal number.

“We historically have seen 10-12 percent even in the most hotly contested races,” he said. “Students need to be involved in governance.”

Taylor Michiels, a freshman accounting major, said he thinks more advertising would have helped.

“I understand the candidates were unopposed,” Michiels said, “but a couple of flyers here and there wouldn’t hurt.”

All candidates were unop-posed, and have been elected.

Scott Hunter, a sophomore architecture major, said he no-ticed this as he clicked on the bubbles beside the candidates’ names on election day.

“There weren’t many options to vote for,” Hunter said. “You could vote, or you couldn’t.”

Some students are not so happy about the fee and voted against it in the election.

“I didn’t vote for it because of things like the 3OH!3 and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus con-cert,” Hunter said. “I’m not sure how money is transferred around, but the concert cost $80,000, and only about 1,200 people went. They lost so much money.”

Kayla Johnson, a junior ki-nesiology major, said she ques-tions how money is transferred as well.

“I feel like they are always up-ping tuition,” she said. “So why do they need more money?”

Even though she had some questions, Johnson still voted for the fee.

“Expanding parking space for parking is needed, and im-provement on facilities is need-ed,” she said.

Michiels voted against the fee because the projects listed didn’t affect him.

“The new features would be nice,” Michiels said, “but I didn’t feel like they would affect me as much as I would like since I don’t do intramurals or have parking issues.”

According to King, the first project the fee will tackle is the demolition of Neilson Hall and Caruthers Hall, then new park-ing facilities will begin this sum-mer along with sidewalks and more lights down Tech Drive and Alabama.

Some of the improvements will be seen finished as early as Fall Quarter.

“I feel like I am aware of what’s going on around cam-pus,” Johnson said, “and I need to know what’s being brought to the table and how the campus will change.”

Email comments to [email protected].

MEAGAN LEEStaff Reporter

Prominent leaders in Ruston gathered at time date place to discuss Tech’s future with the growing City of Ruston.

“The Future of Ruston: The Progress and Development in Ruston and How it Will Impact the University” was hosted by the Tech University Senate.

Featured speakers of the fo-rum were Tech President Dan Reneau, Ruston Mayor Dan Hollingsworth, and Ruston-Lin-coln Chamber of Commerce Chairman Ryan Kilpatrick.

Many topics were covered in the two-hour forum including population trends, community demographics, accountabil-ity issues, new education man-dates, and how the community is preparing for the future.

Tech University Senate Pres-ident David Szymanski said, however, that although all of these topics were discussed, it was decided that the first forum should address the future of the City of Ruston and its relation-ship with Tech.

Both Reneau and Mayor Hollingsworth gave due credit to each other, mentioning how important the university and the city’s alliance is. Each group is crucial to the other.

Focus was put on Tech’s business incubators at Tech Pointe, perhaps one of the brightest spots for the future of the city and the university.

“These are the future of business for Ruston,” Kilpatrick said. “Since they are partnered through Tech, both the univer-sity and city will benefit from a successful operation.”

He went on to explain that Ruston will not only receive sales tax and other benefits from the success of these busi-nesses, but it will also start to grow because more businesses mean more jobs and more peo-ple.

“The education levels pro-vided by the school district and the two universities in the par-ish provide great learning op-portunities,” Bell said.

Love said the upgrades in the city will only continue to make things better.

The forum was followed by a question and answer session where faculty and staff could voice their questions and con-cerns to the city and university leaders as well as an informal reception.

“The university senate thought this would be a great opportunity to take a proactive approach to help current and potential faculty and staff learn more about the City of Ruston, its plans for future development and its school system,” Syz-manski explained.

The future of Ruston seems to be looking up for both the city and the university. Bright things lie ahead.

This can assuredly be seen to come from the teamwork of a community which is dedicat-ed to wanting the best.


AUSTIN VININGStaff Reporter

Twenty teams of five to seven players gathered April 21 to participate in the second annual Swamp Ball hosted by Greek Academy, a branch of the Interfraternity Council

Christian Scott, a sophomore biology major, said Swamp Ball is a mud volleyball tournament hosted by Greek Academy to raise money for different causes.

Med-Camps of Louisiana was chosen to be the recipient of the money raised this year, he said, which was more than $1,200. Med-Camps is a summer camp that focuses on cater-ing to the needs of children with disabilities.

Scott said he was pleased that the group was able to raise so much money for Med-Camps. “Some people don’t have the same opportunities as others, and being able to contribute to helping them out is great,” he said.

The first Swamp Ball was held April 15, 2011, and was at a location off campus. Greek Academy was very excited to be able to have the event on campus this year, Scott said.

“We paved the way for future years and found what works and doesn’t work, so I know it will only get better,” he said.

Greek Academy is a program designed to create future lead-ers within the fraternity system, Scott said.

“I joined to help better myself and get new ideas to bring back to my fraternity,” he said. “It’s given me experience as a leader, time management skills and a greater sense of what being a leader is.”

Christopher E. Rayner, a senior human resources and politi-cal science major, is the one who initially had the idea of Greek Academy.

“Mr. (Ron) Cathy, director of career services and Counsel-ing Services, and I began to cultivate the program in summer 2009,” he said, “The first program started fall 2009.”

The purpose of Greek Academy is to develop the character of young Greek men, Rayner said. He started the program be-cause he said he felt there was a lack of leadership and unity among young fraternity men, he said.

“The guys did an exceptional job,” Rayner said. “I believe the cause chosen was very admirable on the academy’s behalf.”

He said the number of members have grown due to the Swamp Ball project. Everything they learned during Greek Academy was projected in all aspects of the event, Rayner said.

Jayde Hughes, a junior speech pathology major, said a fellow Orientation Student Leader and past Greek Academy member, Nick Rangel, suggested they get a team together.

Photo by Shradha Sharma

At IFC’s second annual Swamp Ball tournament April 21, Union Board played against Landon’s Arms at the lower intramural field.

Second Swamp Ball successful

Student votersapprove SGA fee

Ruston’s leadersdiscussfuture

> see SWAMP page 3

REBECCA ALVAREZStaff Reporter

Many people would agree that opening a door with full hands is difficult, but to do the same from a wheelchair or with crutches, the task would seem nearly impos-sible.

Some buildings on campus have powered doors to give eas-ier access to those with disabili-ties, but there are a few buildings that are still missing the silver trigger button by the door. The Barnes and Noble Bookstore is one building that does not have power doors.

“Handicap doors are not re-quired to be power doors,” Sam Wallace, director of facility and support services, said. “They are only required to be accessible to people with disabilities.”

Wallace works with architects who design buildings and reno-vations to ensure each project is

in compliance with government laws and codes.

The building is leased to Barnes and Noble by Tech and has its own standards for how the store should be designed, but Wallace oversees that the designs adhere to codes and laws. He said the entrance meets state fire codes and the mandates of the Americans with Disabilities Act, but it is hard to disabled or handi-capped students.

Sophomore kinesiology major, Lauren Africa recalled struggling with the bookstore doors when she was using crutches during fall quarter.

“It was completely inacces-sible,” she said. “I couldn’t do it myself.”

Africa was using crutches af-ter having knee surgery and said besides having her hands full, the weight of the door did not al-

Photo by Sumeet Shrestha

The doors at the bookstore have not been converted to power doors and this has posed as a problem for many disabled and handicapped students.

Bookstore entrance presents problems

> see BOOKS page 8

THREE STOOGES

2 • The Tech Talk • April 26, 2012

Sigma Kappa hosts annual Kickin’ Grass

Sigma Kappa will host its an-nual Kickin’ Grass to Cure Al-zheimer’s Kickball tournament at 10 a.m. May 5 at the Rus-ton High School Girl’s Softball Fields.

There must be 10 players on a team. The cost is $12 per person and a commemorative T-shirt will be included. Team sign-up sheets are due Monday to any member of Sigma Kappa.

Pike Productions will be pro-viding music. There will be jam-balaya dishes on sale for $3.

For more information con-tact Jordan Toepfer, vice presi-dent of philanthropic services, at 337-853-6288 or [email protected].

BFA presents seniorphotography exhibit

The 2012 BFA Photography Exposition Reception will be held at 5 p.m. Friday at the En-terprise Center.

The exhibition, which will be open from April 27 until May 16, will feature the work of 11 senior photography majors. The theme for the exhibition is Fic-tional Truths. Fictional Truths addresses important issues like aging, faith and family.

For more information on the reception or exhibition contact Dorene Kordal at [email protected] or (318) 257-3890.

AIS to host 13thannual India Night

The Association of Indian Students will host its 13th annu-al India Night at 6 p.m. May 5 in the Student Center, Main Floor.

The event will feature a va-riety of Indian cultural shows and authentic foods. Admission is $12 for students and $15 for the public.

Tickets can be purchased at the International Student Office, located in Tolliver Hall, Room 229. Seating is limited. Reserv-ing tickets in advance is recom-mended.

For more information con-tact Purnima Kharidehal, gener-al secretary of AIS at 617-416-3033 or [email protected].

Typing for ten back at Tech’s campus

Typing for Ten is back and time is money.

Faculty, staff and students who participate will earn $10 cash up to two times. Tech ID is required.

The Center for Secure Cy-berspace invites you to come by any weekday until May 8 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. either in the Stu-dent Center or Tolliver Hall.

Contact Rachel Parks with questions or comments at 318-257-3475 or [email protected]

Gun and knife showopens Saturday

The Ruston Civic Center will host the event on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

More than 120 tables have been sold to vendors from at least four different states. There will be a wide variety of guns, ammunition, knives, coins, ar-chery items and security sys-tems available at the Gun and Knife show.

Those who attend will be able to buy, trade, or sell items at the show. Admission is $7 per person. The Civic Center is lo-cated at 401 N. Trenton St.

For more information call the Ruston-Lincoln Chamber of Commerce at 318-255-2031.

4th Annual SOCA 5Kto be held in Ruston

Tech’s School of Architec-ture is hosting its 4th annual 5K at 11 a.m. Saturday at Mays Chapel Church, 501 W. Line Ave.

The race is being held to im-prove the impoverished neigh-borhood of South of California Avenue (SOCA).

After the race ends a block party will be held at Duncan Park, 1311 Arlington Street.

Race day registration be-gins at 8:30 a.m. and only those wishing to run or walk the race may participate.

For more information con-tact Kevin Singh, Community Design Activism Center em-ployee, at 318-257-5267 or [email protected].

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GRACE MOOREStaff Reporter

Dawgs 4 Dogs was hosted by Tech students Wednesday where their canine friends wore neck bandanas that read, “Adopt me and I will love you forever.”

The Applied Organizational Communication class required its five students to choose a single topic, increase understanding for that issue and make a measurable impact.

“Our goals are to raise aware-ness for spaying and neutering cats and dogs, and the adoption of them,” said Bryan Babcock, a senior speech communication major. “Along with these efforts, we hope to establish a dog park in Ruston.”

In preparation for this event, the class contacted several busi-nesses for donations.

Ruston’s 4 PAWS organization offered seven dogs for adoption or foster care, as well as student coupons for discounted spaying and neutering.

Greco Pet Supplies of Baton Rouge and the Houston Hu-mane Society donated dog food, dog treats and toys to fill “doggy bags” for each new owner to get them started. In addition, the Ruston Sonic Drive-In restaurant donated hot dogs for the event’s attendees.

Babcock said the class also met with Ruston Mayor Dan Hol-lingsworth and Wes Barton, the director of Parks and Recreation in Ruston, to move closer toward its goal of implementing a public dog park. There was a petition at the event students could sign to support the cause.

Ashley Birch, a senior speech communication major, is of the five in charge of the event.

“We are just trying to make the city aware that this is a problem, and it needs to be addressed,” she said.

The class chose approximate-ly five potential locations for the park. Its initial idea was Cook-town Park, Babcock said, but the class is still exploring each option thoroughly.

“We are in the process right now of writing a proposal to get

the park established or get it in motion,” he said. “The Ruston community doesn’t really show awareness for animals in our area.”

Though the students primar-ily work as a group, Birch said each student was responsible for contacting certain organizations to make this event possible and progress further in establishing a park.

David Miller, a senior mechan-ical engineering major, said he thinks the City of Ruston is lack-ing in several areas, moreover for pet owners, which is reason to build a dog park.

“I think it doesn’t really feel welcoming for dog walkers,” he said.

Beyond the prospective dog park, Birch said the key issue remains the lack of spayed and neutered cats and dogs around Tech’s campus and in Ruston.

“Obviously the cat popula-tion at Tech is very large, so we encourage off-campus students to take in the animals on campus to give them shots and a good home,” Babcock said.

The local agency, 4 PAWS, is a non-profit organization that aims to limit the number of stray and mistreated dogs in the Lincoln Parish area, by rescuing and adopting them out to better homes.

Ruth Logan, a 4 PAWS board member and volunteer, said she has eight foster dogs and has been fostering dogs for approxi-mately four years.

She said too often animals are abused, neglected and thrown away.

“The most important thing is for people to be aware of the problem,” she said.

Without organizations like 4 PAWS, several dogs would be euthanized each year to control the growing population of strays, Birch said.

“I think pet owners need to understand the responsibilities of taking in an animal,” she said. “And if everything fully aligns, you should adopt or foster animals.”


AUSTIN VININGStaff Reporter

After Union Board’s spring concert, “Don’t Trust Me” resonated in many students’ minds as more than just the title of the second single re-leased by headlining band, 3OH!3.

Union Board budgeted $80,000 for its annual spring concert, which featured bands Shayliff, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus and 3OH!3. Union Board President Jeff Bou-dreaux estimated less than 7 percent of Tech’s student body was in attendance.

Jason Greer, a College of Business senator in the Stu-dent Government Associa-tion, said he is familiar with controlling student-allocated funds because SGA and Union Board use similar strat-egies.

“Every time we have a bill that comes to vote, we have to step back and attempt to justify if we can spend the students’ money flat out,” he said. “We have to decide if enough of the student body will benefit per dollar spent.”

An event such as the spring concert has the poten-tial to attract a much larger percentage of students, Greer said.

Greer said with an event of this stature, he does not quite understand where each portion of the budget went.

“I don’t believe Union Board can rationalize the large amount they spent on their biggest event, spring concert, in terms of atten-dance,” Greer said.

Bryan Babcock, a senior speech major, said he would like to see Union Board put forth more effort to find out what students want and what is going to benefit them.

“It’s a student-driven or-ganization, and they’re here to make decisions for the stu-dents,” he said.

Union Board does what they want as an organization and not necessarily what the students want, Babcock said.

“I would like to see Union

Board venture out from that and do a poll or maybe a survey to get what students would actually want to see,” he said.

Jeff Boudreaux, president of Union Board, said Union Board’s funding comes solely from a student assessment fee, which charges full-time undergraduate students $10 per quarter. Other students are charged an amount based on the number of hours they take.

Boudreaux said approxi-mately 1,200 people attended the concert with roughly two-thirds being Tech students.

Compared to other univer-sities like Louisiana State Uni-versity and the University of Louisiana at Monroe, Union Board’s budget is very lim-ited, he said.

“After speaking with the president of ULM’s CAB (Campus Activities Board), their organization has a bud-get of $400,000 each year,” Boudreaux said. “One can only imagine the budget of LSU’s related organization.”

Union Board is faced with the difficult task of provid-ing entertainment to a very diverse student body, he said.

“The quality and diversity of the programming that we sponsored this year has been collectively the best com-pared to that of recent years,” Boudreaux said.

In this manner, Union Board aims to appeal to the largest variety of students possible, he said.

“Our history of sponsor-ing diverse entertainment throughout the year in ad-dition to the fall and spring concerts creates an overall well-balanced collection of programming,” Boudreaux said.

As a result, he said, Union Board cycles through multiple genres in order to cater to the interests of most students.

“It is impossible,” Bou-dreaux said, “to please every student with one concert.”


Union Board Spring budget examined

Dawgs 4 Dogsdebuts at Tech

Photos by Jessica Van Alstyne

Above: Puppies at Dawgs 4 Dogs were dressed to impress the students.Below: Students were more than happy to pet puppies in between classes. The Dawgs for Dogs pet adoption opportunity was held Wednesday in the Quad.

April 26, 2012 • The Tech Talk • 3

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NSA unites students to address stutter

KALEB CAUSEYStaff Reporter

Klingons, cheering compe-titions, and Nirvana were not around in William Shakespeare’s time, but that’s what someone would have seen if they were at the Shakespeare Birthday Festi-val held on Tuesday.

Sigma Tau Delta, an English honor society, has put this event on for the past six years in the Shakespeare Garden in the cen-ter of George T. Madison Hall.

The theme for the sixth an-nual event was Shakespearit and featured fourteen performances by various students and faculty members. Missy Wallace, a sec-

ond year English graduate stu-dent, said Shakespearit was an expression of different spirits found in Shakespeare’s writings.

“The ghosts that appear in his plays, enthusiasm for the bard and his work, and the al-coholic beverages are appropri-ate aspects when considering Shakespearit,” Wallace said.

The festival featured events involving renaissance music, a rewriting of a popular Nirvana song to involve Shakespearit, puppeteers and presentations relating Shakespeare’s writings.

Dorothy Robbins, faculty ad-visor to Sigma Tau Delta, said the festival never has a dull mo-ment by having students and

faculty members read Shake-speare’s sonnet sequence in the breaks between performances.

“We welcome audience members to partake in the sonnet reading,” Robbins said. “There are times when we have 200 people crunched into the garden and other times where we only have a dozen.”

She also said that no mat-ter how big or small the crowd, people enjoy the opportunity to participate in the festival.

Matt Rich, vice-president of Sigma Tau Delta, said that his fa-vorite part is the sonnet reading.

“I enjoy listening to people read the sonnets, as well as reading them myself,” Rich said.

“It’s a way for academics to be more accessible and it’s a more conversational way of learning without lectures or a notebook.”

Wallace said that her favorite part was the faculty presenta-tions from English professors.

“The music and sword fight-ing are crowd pleasers,” Wallace said. “However, I love hearing the English professors talk about aspects of Shakespeare I never considered.”

Kenneth Robbins, director of the school of performing arts, was one of the speakers in Tues-day’s festival and gave a lecture titled “Zombies & Other Dead Things”.

“It was a fun piece to work on

and was most unusual,” K. Rob-bins said. “I had a lot of fun and I hope the audience did too.”

D. Robbins said the festival was started as a way to make Sigma Tau Delta more known on campus.

“We needed an identity on campus,” D. Robbins said. “So we thought, what better way than to honor an icon of Eng-lish.”

Larkin Culpepper, a junior speech pathology major, said her favorite event was the pup-pet show taken from “A Mid-summer Night’s Dream”.

“All of the English profes-sors did a great job of engaging the audience and keeping them

laughing,” Culpepper said.She also read one of Shake-

speare’s sonnets during the fes-tival.

“Reading a sonnet gave me more of perspective of how Shakespeare felt when he wrote and read his work,” Culpepper said.

D. Robbins said that the event could relate to anyone who stopped by for a performance or sonnet reading.

“There really is something that everyone can take away from the poems, music, and talks,” D. Robbins said.


CHAD MERRITTStaff Reporter

Though they were taking on the added adversary in a stom-ach bug, the Tech Debate Team still managed to do well in com-petition.

The International Public Debate Association’s National Tournament was held at Sam Houston State University April 12-15.

Tech competed against 71 universities from across the United States and four foreign countries’ teams.

Dr. Web Drake, the IPDA Governing Board Chair, said this tournament is the largest tour-nament of the year, and that

this tournament was the largest tournament in its history.

Trey Avant, a senior politi-cal science and sociology ma-jor, placed the highest among Tech’s debaters. Avant won the fifth top speaker in the nation for team debate, and placed in the top four in team debate.

“Being that I started on the debate team at the beginning of the year, now that I am one of the best debaters in the nation means a lot,” he said.

A wide range of topics were discussed at the tournament this year, ranging from issues like hydraulic fracturing meth-ods and US/Syrian relations to topics like sports and why the movie “Bridesmaids” should

have won more Oscars.David Hyde, a senior bio-

medical engineering major, says there is a topic for everyone.

“Many people think it’s a bunch of tough topics, but re-ally, the topics are broad enough for any interest,” Hyde said.

Hyde, who placed top six-teen in the nation, said debating the topic of whether herbivores or carnivores were right was his favorite topic during the tourna-ment.

“Yelling at someone because you think herbivores are better than carnivores is pretty awe-some,” Hyde said.

Members of Tech’s debate team ranked highly among oth-er schools, beating out schools

such as Tulane, Texas A&M and Rice.

Kristin Farquharson, a senior political science and sociology major, won fourth best speaker in the nation at the tournament.

She said the progress she has made since she joined the de-bate team makes her proud.

“It’s really cool to see that in a couple months Shane could make me the fourth best speak-er in the nation,” Farquharson said.

Shane Puckett, director of debate, said he is proud of how far Tech’s debate team has come.

“The team has accomplished so much in the past few years,” Puckett said. “The resources of

Tech’s students, from their criti-cal thinking skills to their inter-personal skills, makes them very well-rounded as competitors.”

Although the debate season just ended with the national tournament, Tech’s debate team is already beginning prep-arations for next season.

The debate team is open to any student willing to partici-pate, regardless of past partici-pation, knowledge or skill.

“I was pretty bad when I started debate at the beginning of the year,” Avant said. “And now I’m the forth best in the na-tion, which is really cool.”


“I thought it would be a good way to bond with everyone and plus it sounded fun,” she said.

Hughes said she had a great time, but she wanted to play more games after her team was eliminated from the bracket. She also said she par-ticipated because it was for a good cause.

“I think it showed that no matter our differences, we all care about helping others, and that’s all that truly matters,” Hughes said.

Lori McAfee, a senior business management major, was part of the winning team, “Sets on the beach.”

She said she decided to participate in swamp ball because of her success with the tournament last year.

“It always feels great to win,” McAfee said, “It feels even better to win Swamp Ball back to back.”

It was a great cause and there was a great turnout, she said. It was a re-ally good idea, and she was happy she was able to help raise money for philanthropy, she said.

“I’m glad it was earlier this year so we didn’t have to play in the dark,” McAfee said, “It was windy and cold in the morning, but other than that we enjoyed it.”


Sigma Tau Delta presents sixth annual Shakespearit

Debate team picks up individual wins

“The resources of Tech’s students, from their critical thinking skills to their inter-personal skills, makes them very well-round-ed as competitors.”

Shane Puckettprofessor of speech

GRACE MOOREStaff Reporter

For a stutterer, speaking is like a muscle. If they flex that muscle and speak more often, their speech will be strengthened.

In late March, a graduate student established a Tech chapter for the Na-tional Stuttering Association to unite those affected on common ground.

Adam Grzybowski, a speech pa-thology graduate student, said his ex-periences in another support group for stutterers prompted him to open a chapter at Tech.

“As a stutterer, I have insight that other stutterers may respond to a little bit more,” Grzybowski said. “I know what it’s like to know what I want to say and not being able to say it. It’s re-ally frustrating.”

He said the NSA group meetings are not a therapy session, but a com-fortable setting for stutterers to share experiences, explore coping strategies and improve self-esteem.

“By coming to a group with like-minded people, some social pressure is taken off,” said Christy Madix, the faculty adviser for the NSA.

She said stuttering is no more unique than someone wearing glasses or a hearing aid.

More than 3 million Americans stutter, according to stutteringhelp.org, which means more than 3 million individuals struggle with several daily activities.

“Stutterers struggle with things like public speaking, talking on the phone and ordering food,” Grzybowski said. “[Stutterers] also struggle meeting

people of the opposite sex, which is intimidating enough even if you don’t stutter.”

He said stutterers often feel like an invisible hand is grasping their esopha-gus.

“A guy back in Ohio took like eight minutes to tell us his name,” he said.

Bill Willoughby, associate dean of liberal arts, said he becomes frustrated when he has clear ideas formulated in his head, but when he speaks he can’t get the ideas in his head out of his mouth.

“Sometimes I will get stuck during a lecture, but students have told me, ‘your stuttering helps us listen to you,’” Willoughby said. “It’s a broken pattern, and that pattern helps.”

Unlike some, he said his stutter does not hold him back; it is not a disability.

Madix said she hopes a community support group at Tech will encourage individuals with a disfluency, an um-brella term under which stuttering is categorized, to abolish personal limita-tions stemmed from fear.

Stutters are extremely situational, Madix said. It can be caused in result of a traumatic event, neurological cri-ses like a stroke and most commonly through genetic links.

However, she said everyone is dis-fluent to a certain degree, but individu-als with a stuttering problem cope with it 365 days a year.

Whether a stutterer has a mild, moderate or severe case, every day is exhausting because of talking and thinking about speaking the entire day, Grzybowski said.

“I have trouble with R’s, W’s and S’s,” he said, “and I avoid the word

lemon.”Ordering lemonade from a restau-

rant is such a standard action, he said, but it may take him several extra sec-onds to put his request into words.

Willoughby said, in his lectures or when talking to a small group, his stut-ter is trivial, but when he is caught off-guard and asked to introduce himself, he has difficulties.

“One time, I was at a conference introducing myself, and I could not get my name out,” he said. “The man looked at me like I had a disease; it was horribly frustrating.”

Some loopholes do exist as a recess for stutterers. Oddly enough, there is no disfluency in singing, Madix said.

Additionally, Grzybowski said he can speak for hours on end with a for-eign accent without any stuttering.

“Honestly, for a kid who stutters, you would think I wouldn’t talk so much,” he said.

Willoughby said he often connects a stutterer’s speech to someone speak-ing in English with an accent.

Grzybowski said his central goal is to inspire at least one person to raise their hand in the classroom or ap-proach a stranger. He said, if that hap-pens, the group will be a success.

“Fear should not outweigh a per-son’s decision to make their life better,” Grzybowski said, “and this group it to help build confidence, one word at a time.”

The NSA Tech chapter will hold its third meeting May 3 in Robinson Hall Room 311.


Photo by Shradha Sharma

Union Board plays Landon’s Arms on Tech’s lower intramural fields.

>SWAMP from pg. 1

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IN OUR OPINION


FROM THE EDITORDolphins’ existence washing out

REBECCA SPENCEEditor-In-Chief

When “The Cove” was re-leased and won an Os-car for Best Documen-

tary in 2010, it shocked many by giving us an inside look into the world’s inhumane treatment of dolphins.

This was the documentary that opened eyes into how people operate and what some are will-ing to put at stake when it comes to making a profit.

For example, the inhabitants of Taijii, Japan, are killing thou-sands of dolphins in a hidden cove. They force these dolphins into a net by using harmful sonar sounds. The poachers then sell the collected dolphin meat as a falsely advertised fish meat. This meat is served in schools and contains high levels of toxic mer-cury. This practice is unlawful and potentially harmful to the citizens of Japan. The government pres-ents this as an OK practice for fisherman. They are thinking only

of profit, not of the well-being of harmless creatures or human be-ings.

The documentary, filmed by Ric O’Barry, the trainer of the well-known dolphin, Flipper, and his crew helped the world to see that something needed to be done in preserving one of the most harmless and man-friendly animals in the ocean.

According to CNN.com, ap-proximately 877 dolphins washed up on the northern coast of Peru this past year.

Peruvian Deputy Environment Minister Gabriel Quijandria said he believes the dolphins have died from an outbreak of Morbil-livirus or Brucella bacteria.

According to the Medical Dic-tionary, Morbillivirus is a form of highly contagious measles and Brucella is an infectious virus that causes brucellosis.

According to CNN, starvation or pesticide poisoning caused none of the deaths, but the de-composition state at which the dolphins were found made it dif-

ficult for marine biologists to get an accurate evaluation of most washed-up dolphins.

The Whale and Dolphin Con-servation Society has a different theory. Marine biologists associ-ated with the organization have found many instances of head trauma. The dolphins were not of a specific age or health, which according to Sue Rocca from the WDCS, usually has to do with a snapshot problem

These problems could have come from the amount of noise from boat traffic in the waters at one time, or the nearby oil drill-ing sonars. This type of noise is enough to knock out and kill dol-phins at any rate.

The WDCS is focusing on studying the effects of seismic tests on the ecosystems sur-rounding them. If this is an issue, a question of ethics arises for oil companies and geographers everywhere. Will they strive to switch the tests or continue to kill hundreds of harmless animals time after time again?

Until regulations are set, noth-ing will be changed. There has to be a penalty of some sort for companies to even consider changing their ways. Even with a fine or suspension, some com-panies will continue to use harm-ful practices in order to continue making a profit.

Whatever is killing these dol-phins needs to be stopped, if at all possible. According to the International Business Times, certain dolphin species will soon face extinction if suspicious or random shockwaves of dolphins continue to die in this fashion.

One thing the WDCS and the Peruvian Environmental Society have agreed on is the need for further investigation in this case and cases that arise like this in the future.

Rebecca Spence is a senior journal-ism and speech communication ma-jor from Cypress, Texas, who serves as editor-in-chief for The Tech Talk. Email comments to [email protected].

In September 2001, terrorists attacked American soil. According to The Washington Post, 72 days later, President George W. Bush directed Donald Rumsfeld, then Secretary of Defense, to begin plan-

ning for war with Iraq. In 2003 troops were finally sent for Iraq in retaliation to the Sept. 11 attacks on the Pen-tagon and the World Trade Centers.

The objective for this war was to send troops to the Middle East in order to protect these countries from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden.

More than a decade later, American soldiers remain on foreign soils and it seems the priorities are unclear and that the mission is failing.

Last week on CNN.com pictures of American sol-diers holding the mutilated bodies of Afghan soldiers and citizens could be seen.

Unfortunately, this is not the first of inhumane events that have occurred in the past year.

According to CNN, footage of U.S. soldiers urinat-ing on Afghan corpses emerged in January, and in Feb-ruary, Afghan riots broke out when Qurans had been burned at an air base in Afghanistan. Also, last month an Army sergeant went on a shooting rampage killing 17 Afghan civilians.

We are aware that measures are taken to hide such video footage and photographs from the public for a reason. We are also not naïve to the fact that there are numerous things hidden from the media for reasons. We do not always support those reasons, but we sup-port our troops.

We understand that things are hidden from the me-dia to protect the image we have of our troops because we don’t want to ever look poorly upon our soldiers. We, as average citizens, have no idea what our men and women fighting overseas have witnessed or survived.

Many soldiers return home with Post-traumatic stress disorder, paranoia, the inability to hold a regular job and sometimes a missing arm or leg.

Our soldiers often live in enemy territories and it seems some of the bad habits Afghan and Iraqi sol-diers are rubbing off on some of them. It appears we are playing by their rules now— desecrations and inhu-mane treatment.

In the beginning, American soldiers set out to pro-tect these countries. Today, after these recent events, how do you think Afghan civilians feel about having American soldiers in their country?

Our soldiers have performed some heinous acts that we would normally only expect from the enemy. Are we now our own worst enemies?

By 2014, President Obama has said American sol-diers will leave Afghanistan for good, ending the war on terror as we know it. However, 2014 is still two years away. How many more of these heinous acts will the American military tolerate from its soldiers? How long until they realize America is finished making its impact and the Middle East and their inhumane actions are the ones doing the influencing?

War, what is it good for? Absolutely

nothing

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WRITE TO US

SIE KONNEN CON CAPIREThere is a holiday for that, too

JUSTIN FORTManaging Editor

Holidays are pointless. Throughout the year

I take notice of certain holidays and I ask myself, “Why is there a day for this?”

Three different nationally rec-ognized holidays come to t he front of my mind.

However, I never thought some-thing was as undeserving of a day as 420–– a day for stoners, pot-heads, druggies and all the other terms that apply to a specific cat-egory of people who smoke some strain of marijuana.

There is no real answer to when or where this idea of getting higher than Wyly on April 20 became so popular, but many rumors have been voiced.

According to an article from The Huffington Post, some peo-ple say it is the number of active chemicals in marijuana, some say it is teatime in Holland and some even say it has something to do with Adolf Hitler’s birthday.

It is widely accepted that 420 began in San Rafael, Calif., when local police officers began identify-

ing smoking marijuana as a “420” in the early ‘70s.

The history is important, but what stands out to me is the con-tinuation of a day just for smoking marijuana.

It stands out for one large rea-son. Eighty percent of the people I know smoke some type of mari-juana and from what I have seen, they get no higher on 420 than they do any other day.

People who smoke marijuana will smoke marijuana. It is that simple. They like getting high, de-veloping their “creativity” and the taste of food. The last thing they need is another reason to get high-er than they already do.

I am not going to argue the benefits or risks of marijuana, but a day that is internationally recog-nized as a day to get high should not exist.

Valentine’s Day. Bad idea. A day for couples to finally love

each other like they should and sin-gle people to become more bitter than the chocolate they indulge in.

There is no reason for Valen-tine’s Day. Why should someone provide you a reason or reminder to love someone? If you need one,

use anniversaries and birthdays. Love is a relationship that is

worked on every day. If you are at the point in a relationship where you need a day to make you simu-late love for another person, you need to take that day and apply your ideas every day after that.

Giving someone flowers be-cause the world expects you to is not romantic. Personally I see it as an insult if someone shows me that I can only be special and worth re-warding one day a year.

The man who wrote his wife a letter before his death is a roman-tic. The guy who bought a $3 card from Hallmark is not.

St. Patrick’s Day. That’s another one.

The idea is solid. Celebrate a saint and his bringing Christianity to Ireland.However, I am not famil-iar with too many saints who would approve of binge drinking green beer to celebrate their spreading of Christianity.

Does anyone really think that is a true celebration? I hope not.

Now I recognize that these are not the top holidays in America and not cancelling school or rais-ing a flag does not overly condone

them, but they are supported by the availability of drugs, the judg-ment of men and restaurants’ willingness to purchase obscene amounts of green beer.

A friend of mine pointed out to me that I only have a problem with holidays that are not recognized to be Christian.

I thought about that for a sec-ond, and then I disproved it. I would not support those who cel-ebrate the life of Christ only one day a year anymore than I would support a husband loving his wife one day in February.

I would not support people drinking to celebrate the life of Christ. Before the argument is even planned, I know people always say Jesus drank wine. Well, Jesus drank wine, but he did not binge drink beer. Even your doctor recognizes a difference.

I see no point in setting aside days to do some obscure task. I just call those days.

Justin Fort is a senior journalism and political science major from Chou-drant who serves as managing editor for The Tech Talk. Email comments to [email protected].

THE REEL RUNNERSlapstick for a new generation

PATRICK BOYDEntertainment Editor

The other day, I went to go see the new “Three Stoog-es” film, and while ponder-

ing the aforementioned, I real-ized two things about the state of American cinema.

First of all, matinee showings have to be designed solely for grandparents to take children to. (I’m not sure why I was surprised as I was attending a showing at 4:45 on a Monday afternoon.)

As I was sitting in the theater by myself before the movie started, I was beginning to feel a lot like Tom Wingfield from “The Glass Menagerie,” when several grand-parents (or who I assume were grandparents) trickled in followed by their children (again assuming) like miniature sized groupies.

While I’m sure most of the grandparents in attendance are used to taking the children to see something like “Ice Age 9: I

Should Have Gone Straight to DVD,” it was a pleasant surprise to see a movie that actually con-tained some reasonable merit, but also something they could actu-ally relate to.

Slapstick comedy has flown the coop in our movies as the situational comedy setup has seeped in and left good ole’ poke ‘em films (no pun intended) by the wayside.

I know when I approach com-edy, and my personal preference is the situational comedy, I forget about slapstick and the magical attributes it holds.

Slapstick is like an externalized version of witty wordplay, using movement and the body to create concepts without even speaking a word.

As Mo, Larry and Curly hit each other with rubber hammers and poked each other in the eyes more times than even a math-ematics major could count, I re-alized that the way I was watch-

ing the movie was probably quite different from the reactions of my older counterparts in the room.

I was not particularly intrigued with going to see “The Three Stooges” as slapstick is not my preference when it comes to hu-mor (born and raised on “I Love Lucy” and “All in the Family.”)

I was pleasantly surprised though and forgot what can be done with slapstick humor.

When the Three Stooges came out in the thirties, they did not so much rely on a storyline, but in situational moments fragmented to create a whole.

There was very little contextu-alizing and the purpose of watch-ing it was for pure entertainment value, or so I can gather by watch-ing clips of it on YouTube.

The humor was conveyed in a way in which it was all about the moment, there was no manipula-tion behind it and seemed almost effortless unlike a lot of comedy today (anyone on Saturday Night

Live minus Kristen Wiig.)Growing up in a generation

where we want the screen to re-flect reality, it can be hard for this concept to transfer into our time.

We want our lives to be en-tertaining and glamorous, hence reality television and Snooki, and anything outside of this makes us consider its importance.

While we want escapism, we are very reliant on a storyline as well, preferably one with a happy ending.

The new Three Stooges movie blended these ideals and is like a post-modern version of slapstick, if that can even exist.

By combining slapstick and a situation, we get something unique that audiences of all ages can relate to.

Patrick Boyd is a senior journalism and English major from Choudrant who serves as entertainment editor for The Tech Talk. Email comments to [email protected].

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Nine student companies brought their innovations before a panel of judges for a chance to market their ideas to actual businesses in the 10th annual Top Dawg New Venture Cham-pionship.

The New Venture Champi-onship focuses on each com-pany’s presentation to market an innovative idea.

The companies that com-peted on April 17 were finalists from the Top Dawg Idea Pitch that was held last November.

“It’s a great opportunity to further market our idea,” said Sean Griffin, a senior marketing major.

Griffin and his company, Haptic Unlimited, won first place in the competition.

Haptic presented a handheld Bluetooth keyboard and mouse for computers and tablets called “Firebrand.” The idea earned the company a $4,000 prize.

Griffin said the money would be used to patent the idea and to tour and market it to actual businesses.

Though the invention sounds like the wireless keyboards and

mice that already exist, he said the difference is in the size and design. Firebrand’s design is much like a video-game con-

troller and is small enough to fit in anyone’s hands.

Griffin said texting inspired the functionality and efficiency

of the design. Typing on the handheld keyboard is like tex-ting on a cellphone, he said.

He said some research has

shown that most people can text faster than they can type, making his texting feature a more efficient way to work.

“People can work faster and get more done,” Griffin said. “They can do so much more and be comfortable.”

Haptic’s innovation did not only earn the top spot in the competition, but it also won first place at the El Dorado Gone in 60 Seconds Pitch on April 19.

A few of the ideas the Fire-brand was compared with were the use of algae as a biofuel production method, a magnetic outlet plug that does not pro-duce sparks and a wheelchair that is steered with brain signals.

“There were some awesome ideas and presentations out there today,” said Christopher Taylor, a senior computer sci-ence major and CEO of Bull-dog Entrepreneurs.

Taylor said he found the magnetic outlet plug interesting because the company found a way to eliminate the emission of sparks when the magnet was in contact with the outlet.

The plug is the same idea as the magnetic chargers on Mac-books, he said.

“It’s great to see everyone’s

hard work and developed ideas at the competition,” Taylor said.

Blue Green Innovations earned second place and $1,500 for their idea of using algae as an improvement in biofuel, and I-Chair was awarded third place and $500 for their brain-signal navigation wheelchair.

The funds for the awards were donated by local busi-nesses and members of the community willing to invest in the development of the ideas of the contestants.

The student companies had been developing their ideas since the fall quarter, and those who placed in the competition will use their awards to contin-ue their developments.

Taylor said Bulldog Entre-preneurs has started to recruit for next year’s competition and are encouraging students with innovative ideas to sign up next fall.

“The money came gener-ously from the Bulldog Entre-preneurs and the Innovation Enterprise Fund,” Griffin said. “Now we can use the award to talk to prospective investors.”



The Tech karate team has been under the radar in past years, gaining little attention around campus, but that has not held the team back from fighting their way to being one of the nation’s top programs.

The team recently traveled to Albuquerque, N.M., to com-pete in the 2012 National Kara-te Championships held March 29 through April 1.

“Preparation for a tourna-ment like this requires dedica-tion and effort,” said Loren Todd, president of the club team.

The team’s hard work paid off when all nine members placed in at least one of their events.

Each member competed in different divisions of each event based on the color of the belt he or she has earned.

Every event varied in the number of participants from as little as four to as many as 11.

With each member placing in at least one event, the team earned a total of 15 individual awards and four team awards.

Todd placed in three of her events as a brown belt, earning fifth in kata, or forms, fourth in weapons kata and second in team kumite, or sparring.

Among the awards were

four national titles in individual events and two national titles in team events.

JaVorius Canna, a senior business management and entrepreneurship major, won the national title in two of his events for the brown belt divi-sion: koshiki, or competition fighting, and kumite.

“Winning the national title was kind of surreal,” he said. “But going into the competition I knew I was prepared, and I knew I could win.”

Canna said he worked on techniques and combos leading up to the tournament to build his confidence.

He said the physical prepa-ration was intense, but the real challenge was staying mentally prepared.

“It was a battle to make sure I didn’t get over confident when I would win,” he said.

Canna will be tested to earn his black belt in December. He and the team continue a win-ning dynasty that began in the 1970s.

Todd said the team has trav-eled to the tournament every year since the 1970s and has consistently earned national champion titles.

In the last five years, Tech karate has earned the team of the year title three times. The program’s success can be cred-ited to each members efforts.

In order to qualify for the National Championships, each member had to place in the top four in his or her events at a state or regional tournament.

To produce the necessary results, the team had to commit to a continuous training sched-ule.

“We are constantly training,” Todd said. “We practice and compete in tournaments year- round — even in the summer.”

The team practices five times a week and is coached by Buster Cotten, a sixth-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. Two practices are offered through the Kinesiology department beginning karate course. The other more advanced practices are held in the evenings three times a week.

The next big tournament Tech karate will prepare for is the World Championships that will be held in July in Dallas.

This will be the second year Canna will compete in the World Championships.

He won a world title last year and said he is hoping to gain yet another title to bring back to Tech.

“Oh, World,” Canna said with a chuckle. “There’s going to be some tough competition, but I know we can win.”


Bluetooth idea named Top Dawg project

Tech karate team members win national title


Brandon Lawrence, a senior in business management and entrepreneurship, talks about his New Ven-ture Investment plan “Ruston Parking Solution.” New Venture Investment Deck is a set of Power Point slides with notes pages that startups use to get investors excited about their new venture concept.


Ross Todd, a senior history and English major, faces off against Thomas Faulkner, a junior BFA major, during their practing hours.

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NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — South Sudan’s president said Tuesday its northern neigh-bor has “declared war” on the world’s newest nation, just hours after Sudanese jets dropped eight bombs on his country.

President Salva Kiir’s com-ments, made during a trip to China, signal a rise in rhetoric between the rival nations, who spent decades at war with each other. Neither side has officially declared war.

The violence has drawn alarm and condemnation from the international community, in-cluding from President Obama.

South Sudan won indepen-dence from Sudan last year as part of a 2005 peace treaty that ended decades of war that killed 2 million people.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir gave a fiery speech last week in which he said there will be no negotiations with the “poisonous insects” who are challenging Sudan’s claim to disputed territory.

South Sudan’s military spokesman Col. Philip Aguer said that Sudanese Antonov

warplanes dropped eight bombs overnight in Panakuac, where he said there was ground fighting on Monday. Aguer said he did not know how many people were killed in the attack because of poor communica-tion links with the remote area.

On Monday, Sudanese war-planes bombed a market and an oil field in South Sudan, kill-ing at least two people, after Sudanese ground forces report-edly crossed into South Sudan with tanks and artillery.

Talks over oil revenue and the border issues broke down this month after violence flared. South Sudan invaded the oil-rich border town of Heglig, which Sudan claims it controls.

Landlocked South Sudan stopped pumping oil through Sudan in January, accusing the government in Khartoum of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars of oil revenue. Su-dan responded by bombing the South’s oil fields.

In Khartoum, the pro-gov-ernment Sudanese Media Cen-ter said that two of Sudan’s Darfur states began implement-ing a ban on shipping to South Sudan. The ban was imposed by Sudan’s parliament.

Officials in the Darfur states said they warned merchants that “stern measures will be tak-en against any person found to be smuggling food supplies and other commodities into South Sudan,” the SMC reported.

Its earlier condemnation of the Sudanese incursion called

for both sides to stop fighting and hold peace talks.

“Sudan must immediately halt the aerial and artillery bom-bardment against South Sudan by the Sudan armed forces,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said Tuesday to re-porters traveling with Obama to

North Carolina. “Both govern-ments must agree to an imme-diate unconditional cessation of hostilities and recommit to negotiations,”

He repeated Obama’s warn-ing to both sides that “there is no military solution” to their differences.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new case of mad cow disease has surfaced in a dairy cow in California, but the animal was not bound for the nation’s food supply, the Agriculture Depart-ment said Tuesday.

John Clifford, the depart-ment’s chief veterinary officer, said the cow from central Cali-fornia did not enter the human food chain and that U.S. meat and dairy supplies are safe. It’s the fourth such cow discovered in the United States since the government began inspecting for the disease.

“There is really no cause for alarm here with regard to this animal,” Clifford told reporters at a hasty press conference.

Clifford said the cow was at a rendering plant in Central Cali-fornia when the case was dis-

covered through regular USDA sample testing.

Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), can be fatal to humans who eat tainted beef.

The disease is always fatal in cattle. There have been three confirmed cases of BSE in the United states,.

The Agriculture Department is sharing its lab results with international animal health of-ficials in Canada and England, Clifford said. He said the Cali-fornia cow is an atypical case in that it didn’t get the disease from eating infected cattle feed.

Eating meat contaminated with BSE is linked to variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, a rare and deadly nerve disease. A massive outbreak of mad cow disease in the United Kingdom that peaked in 1993 was blamed for the deaths of 180,000 cattle and more than 150 people.

There have been a handful of cases of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease confirmed in people living in the United States, but those were linked to meat products in the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia, ac-cording to the Centers for Dis-ease Control and Prevention.

New case of mad cow disease resurfaces in Central California

South Sudan president declares war

Sudanese armed forces raise their weapons during a visit by President Omar al-Bashir in Heglig, Sudan, Monday. Sudanese warplanes bombed a market and an oil field in South Sudan, killing at least two people hours after Sudanese ground forces reportedly crossed into South Sudan with tanks and artillery, elevating the risk of all-out war between the two old enemies.

AP Photo

Social Security may deplete by 2033

WASHINGTON (AP) — Social Security is rushing even faster toward insolvency, driven by retiring baby boom-ers, a weak economy and politicians’ reluctance to take painful action to fix the huge retirement.

The trust funds that sup-port Social Security will run dry in 2033, the government said Monday.

Swiss scientists build new robot

SWITZERLAND (AP) — Swiss scientists demonstrat-ed how a partially paralyzed person can control a robot by thought, a step they hope will one day allow immobile people to interact with their surroundings through so-called avatars. Similar projects have been attempted in other countries but have not been successful.

Comedian jailed for offending Islam

CAIRO (AP) — An Egyp-tian court on Tuesday upheld a conviction against one of the Arab world’s most famous comedians, Adel Imam, sen-tencing him to jail for offend-ing Islam in popular films.

Man arrested in church burglaries

BOSSIER CITY (AP) — Bossier City police have ar-rested a 27-year-old man on burglary charges for breaking into at least five churches over the past several weeks. Some of the stolen items included computers, food, and tools.

Adoption bill for gay couples fails

BATON ROUGE (AP) — A proposal that would allow gay couples and other unmarried couples to adopt children to-gether in Louisiana has been defeated 9-2 by a House com-mittee Tuesday.

First arrest made in BP oil spill case

NEW ORLEANS (AP) —In the first criminal charges

related to the deadly explo-sion on the Deepwater Hori-zon rig in April 2010, the Jus-tice Department arrested Kurt Mix and charged him with two counts of obstruction of jus-tice for allegedly destroying evidence sought by federal authorities.

A BP engineer intentional-ly deleted more than 300 text messages that said that the amount of oil leaking was far more than what the company reported, the Justice Depart-ment said Tuesday.

“There is really no cause for alarm here with regard to this animal.”

John CliffordChief veterinary officer

ASSOCIATED PRESS

FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) — A military judge is poised to rule on a motion to dismiss all charges against an Army pri-vate accused in the biggest leak of government secrets in U.S. history.

Army Col. Denise Lind is presiding over a pretrial hearing at Fort Meade in the court-mar-tial of Pfc. Bradley Manning. She said Tuesday she would

rule Wednesday on a defense motion to dismiss Manning’s case.

The defense says prosecutors have been so slow in shar-ing required informa-tion that the only rem-edy is to throw out the charges.

Prosecutors say they are working dili-gently to meet their obligations.

They say it takes time to obtain documents from civilian agen-cies and search those records for relevant material.

Manning is ac-cused of sending hundreds of thou-sands of sensitive documents to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks while serv-

ing in the Army.

Judge to examine case of leaked military info by private first class

MANNING

Stooges proves more than just nostalgic PATRICK BOYDEntertainment Editor

Like a friend who only knows one joke, yet can’t help but tell it over and over, movies have reached an apex now where they are starting to repeat themselves more frequently.

After hitting the repeat but-ton again, we now have the lat-est offering in a slew of retro nostalgia pieces: the Farelly Brothers’ “The Three Stooges.”

With movies like Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo” and Michel Hazanavicius’ “The Artist” (which won the Oscar for Best Picture this year), both look back at silent films and the im-portance of film preservation—something that seems to have been forgotten in our time.

Even before these mov-ies came out, I would say that contemporary action films like “Transformers” are reflective of those spectacle films like “The Great Train Robbery” (1903) and other early American cine-ma film shorts that were viewed for the same reason someone gets on a rollercoaster: a thrill.

While the thought of The Three Stooges and slapstick may not sound like it can work in the movies of today, the Farelly Brothers have taken the Stooges’ slaps, kicks, eye-pokes and puns and provided a movie that is not only witty but neces-sary.

This type of humor has al-most ceased to exist in film

today, and proves that there is still a place for it among the situational comedies like “Bridesmaids,” “The Hangover” and any other popular comedy movie.

The film follows the classic Moe (Chris Diamantopoulos), Larry (Sean Hayes) and Curly (Will Sasso), the dimwitted sib-lings who show affection for one another by hitting each other in the head with a sledgehammer and pulling on armpit hair.

After being dropped off at an orphanage at birth, the three cause chaos for the nuns who run it (among them “Glee”’s Jane Lynch, soulstress Jennifer Hudson and Seinfeld creator Larry David).

Twenty-five years later, the orphanage is at risk of being

shut down, unless $830,000 is raised to save it.

Mo, Larry and Curly hop at the opportunity and travel to the city to raise the funds.

The situation gets even stick-ier whenever Sofia Vergara of “Modern Family” hires them to kill her husband.

Surprising to say that if I tell much more I would give away a lot of plot spoilers, and yes, “The Three Stooges” has plenty of twists and turns to go along with the jabs.

Speaking of jabs, there are many references to reality tele-vision, especially after Moe in-advertently lands a role on “Jer-sey Shore.”

What we consider enter-tainment and “comedy” these days are starkly contrasted with the type of humor “The Three Stooges” provided in the 1930s and ‘40s.

Not only were these scenes funny, but some were also slightly chilling, such as seeing Moe and Snooki side by side.

The brilliance of this movie is its ability to not remain a situ-ational comedy or just a routine comedy bits without a story line either.

I think the Farelly Brothers may have eluded pure nostalgia and have taken a look at what comedy can do by referencing the stooges and see the new territory that can be broken.


The Three StoogesHHHHI

Twentieth Century Fox

MOVIE REVIEW


Arts&Entertainment Classic musical ‘Pippin’ comes to Stone TheatreAPRIL KELLEYStaff Reporter

Louisiana Tech’s School of Performing Arts will perform the classic musical “Pippin” in Stone Theater for their spring production.

“Pippin” is directed by Paul B. Crook, associate professor of theatre, with musical direc-tion by Lisa Maxedon, assis-tant professor of music.

“It’s basically the story of Pippin, one of Charlemagne’s sons, but it’s told by a traveling theater troupe,” Maxedon said. “So, each night the idea is that they have a different Pippin.”

Maxedon said that while they don’t have a different Pip-pin every night, the premise of the show is that these charac-ters are telling the audience the story of Pippin.

“Pippin is in search of meaning in life, excitement, different pursuits, knowledge, war, love, things like that,” she said. “Basically, the idea is that these players are trying to get the person who is playing Pip-pin to decide that there is noth-ing worth living for,” Maxedon said.

Not only is “Pippin” a tradi-tional musical with songs, dia-logue and dance, but there are also some Cirque du Soleil ele-ments in Tech’s version as well.

“The director has put a sort of Cirque du Soleil concept to it, so it is disturbing under the surface,” Maxedon said. “It’s a little dark, it’s a little seedy. But the actual level that the audi-ence sees is playful at times, but then that seediness comes out every once in a while.”

Maxedon said she doesn’t think the audience will come away learning anything about the meaning of life, but that’s not really the point.

“It’s meant to be entertain-ing for them. They’ll see danc-

ing and singing and acting and tricks done on pieces of silk that are hanging and differ-ent circus-like tricks that go on during the show, so I think they’ll be entertained more than anything.”

Featuring a score by Ste-phen Schwartz and story by Bob Fosse, the directors and cast are just trying to bring this world-renowned play to life she said.

“People should see “Pippin” to expose themselves to some-thing different,” Maxedon said. “If they’ve never seen a musi-cal, they need to know what it is. It’s a very popular art form in the United States, and it’s something that originated in the United States. And this is a show, in particular, that was ground-breaking in the 1970s, and I think it would be worth the while to see what it is.”

Jake Guinn, a junior theater major, plays Lewis, Pippin’s younger brother, in the play.

“The story of Pippin in-volves Pippin trying to find his way in life, and Lewis is kind of his douchebag younger broth-er who kind of wants to over-throw him [Pippin] and take

over, except he’s too stupid to actually do anything. He’s kind of a meathead,” Guinn said.

Guinn describes the show as a good time.

“It’s just kind of a fun and silly show. It’s not necessarily going to change your perspec-tive on the world or anything but it’s definitely going to have people leaving having enjoyed themselves,” Guinn said.

Guinn further detailed dif-ferent elements in the musical.

“The show itself is a little weird and disturbing, so there’s no way you can’t engage that particularly when there’s such a legacy of Bob Fosse doing the choreography and it just being so strange and unique to his style and aesthetic that you can’t help but really work to-ward that,” Guinn said. “I mean we’re trying our best as much as we can and I think we’re do-ing a pretty good job. We can only emulate what he did and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

“Pippin” is playing in Stone Theater at 7:30 p.m. tonight through April 28 and May 2-5.


Submitted photo

DistractionsSUDOKUPUZZLE

Fill in the grid so that every row, every

column and every 3x3 grid contains the

digits 1 through 9.

Difficulty Very Hard

www.sudoku-puzzles.net

LAST EDITION’S SOLUTION

WEEKLYHOROSCOPE www.horoscopes.com.net

AriesMarch 21 – April 19Difficult as it may be for you to face all those projects you’ve left un-done, Aries, know that you’ll be free to move on once they’re complete. People from your past figure prominently now. Perhaps they come for-ward to repay an old debt or possibly claim repayment from you. Don’t abandon your dreams. Once you’ve cleared a path for them, they’re more likely to come true.

TaurusApr 20 - May 20You could have a “eureka!” moment today, Taurus, as events from your past unexpectedly bubble to the surface of your mind and crystallize in a surprising new way. Suddenly, you have a clear understanding of how these past events affect your present behavior. You can use this new knowledge to bring about change. There is clearly a situation at work or at home that is in need of transformation.

GeminiMay 21 - Jun 20Sometimes it’s easier to tend to life’s mundane details rather than lift your eyes and see the big picture, Gemini. For example, it’s likely that you’ve grown complacent at work. Could it be that you aren’t at the right job or in the right career after all? Busying yourself with trivia isn’t the way to avoid answering the question. It’s imperative that you face it head on and make the necessary changes.

CancerJun 21 - Jul 22Change is in the air, Cancer. Whether it’s a dramatic change of faith or a major shift in your life’s goals, prepare yourself for a profound transfor-mation. It’s likely due to the fact that you now have more freedom to do what you want, when you want. Perhaps a financial windfall has made this possible. Take care to choose your new path wisely. It doesn’t offer you the choice of returning to your old lifestyle.

LeoJul 23 - Aug 22It’s time to refill the well of your soul, Leo. You spend so much of your life in service to others that it’s only natural that you feel drained some-times. Rather than try to push past this feeling and go on as though nothing is the matter, consider it a sign that something is amiss. Admit if you’re feeling unappreciated. You’ve spent too much time putting the happiness of others before your own. It’s time to change your priorities.

VirgoAug 23 - Sep 22You would make an excellent judge, Virgo. You’re able to consider all aspects of a situation. This is a bit of a blessing and a curse, because it can make it difficult to come to a decision. Today you could face the challenge of reconsidering past decisions. Once-binding contracts need to be reviewed and new ones created. Prior commitments need reevalu-ation. This is tiring but necessary if you’re to move forward.

LibraSep 23 - Oct 22Just because one person is no longer a part of your life doesn’t mean that all people are unreliable. People change, as do situations. It’s possible that this person was no longer a healthy influence on you, in which case the departure is for the best. You’re going to have to become more adaptable, Libra, because there are more changes on the horizon, especially where your career is concerned.

ScorpioOct 23 - Nov 21It can be hard to release old habits and beliefs even as new, better ways of thinking struggle to gain a foothold. It’s time for you to do this, Scorpio. You might find it difficult to confide your feelings to another, but a frank conversation with close friends will do much to ease your mind. There’s no question that you’re changing. Your friends will show you that this transformation is positive.

SagittariusNov 22 - Dec 21You always suspected that your job was making you crazy, but it never occurred to you that it could make you sick, too. Is it really worth it, Sag-ittarius? You may be asking yourself this question today. Fortunately, your talents apply to several professions. Why not take a closer look at other fields? One way or another, it’s clear that change is coming. You might as well be the one who directs it.

CapricornDec 22 - Jan 19Just how long has it been since you indulged in a big helping of your favorite guilty pleasure, Capricorn? It’s time to let the youngster in you come out and play today. Eat that chocolate, read those mindless magazines, or skip down the sidewalk. You’ve been taking life much too seriously lately. Even grownups are entitled to indulge in the pleasures of youth from time to time.

AquariusJan 20 - Feb 18If you feel like you’re trying to push a square peg into a round hole, you’re probably right, Aquarius. Whether you’re having personal or professional difficulties, there are times when it just doesn’t pay to try so hard. In fact, it’s often a sign that there is something fundamentally wrong with the relationship. Try to take more of a philosophical attitude, Aquarius. If it’s meant to work, it will.

PiscesFeb 19 - Mar 20Things aren’t always as they first appear. People you thought you knew well and circumstances that you thought you understood thoroughly now seem anything but straightforward. Has the world really changed that much or has your perception altered somehow? It’s time to direct this “altered” vision inward. You’re ready for a change, Pisces. Perhaps it’s time to dust off that resume.

CROSSWORDPUZZLE www.sudoku-puzzles.net

DAILY U Email feedback to [email protected] WEEKLYWEATHER www.accuweather.com

TODAY

HIGH 85LOW 64

FRIDAY

HIGH 85LOW 66

SATURDAY

HIGH 85LOW 64

SUNDAY

HIGH 84LOW 62

HIGH 92LOW 66

MONDAY

HIGH 92LOW 67

TUESDAY

HIGH 92LOW 63

WEDNESDAY

Across 1. Angry with 6. Della’s creator 10. Crew needs 14. White poplar tree 15. Clairvoyant 16. Editor’s mark 17. Feudal estate 18. It may turn 19. VCR alternative 20. Engrossing 22. Conger catcher 23. Thin layer 24. Qualify 26. Monetary unit of Burma 29. Greek letters 31. Bran source 32. ___ Lingus 33. Queue after Q 34. Lines of descent 38. Hindu princess 40. Unit of energy 42. Fill to surfeit 43. Girl in a Beach Boys song 46. German Mrs 49. Campaigned 50. Yes, in Yokohama 51. Mongol tent 52. Cornerstone abbr. 53. Get as one’s own 57. Bluesy James 59. Crews 60. Ill-humored 65. This, in Tijuana 66. Yours, in Tours 67. Path 68. Ollie’s partner 69. “Jurassic Park” actress 70. Perfect places 71. Shipping deduction 72. Remnant 73. Strikes out Down 1. Baby’s cry 2. Simple rhyme scheme 3. Studies 4. Indifferent 5. Small dog 6. Guess 7. Bridle strap 8. Flat shelf 9. Afore 10. Inflammation of bone

11. Inclined 12. Make merry 13. Grocery, e.g. 21. Diner orders 22. Coup d’___ 25. Figs. 26. Henry VIII’s sixth 27. Casual assent 28. Florence’s river 30. Like breakers on the shore 35. Describes a gently cooked steak 36. School orgs. 37. Dispatched 39. Lacking humanity 41. Exhausting 44. Raised platform 45. Atmosphere 47. Commedia dell’___ 48. Spoke 53. Bikini blast 54. Jai alai basket 55. Emirate on the Persian Gulf 56. Aromatic compound

58. Battery terminal 61. Go (over) carefully 62. Combustible matter 63. Magazine founder Eric 64. Discounted by 66. Append

E1

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D6

P7

U8

T9

C10

A11

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T14

E E T E R E15

T S O16

V E RC17

A R O L E A18

T A R19

A R AR20

E G E21

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T I O NA23

S24

T25

I R C26

U R T27

E L I CR28

A I N A29

L T F30

O XL31

I N G A32

L A Y33

O N S34

I35

S36

E37

G G P38

O I E39

Y E A40

S PN41

A E P42

O R M43

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L L AT45

O N P46

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U S S EB53

E T W E E54

N T I M55

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T A N L57

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E60

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T A T E SO65

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A L E N T

Go back | Print | Help

BestCrosswords.com - Puzzle #1 for July 19, 2011

Across1- Rubbed out; 7- Place; 10- Alittle lower?; 14- Moveunsteadily; 15- Aliens, for short;16- Above; 17- King of pop; 18-Loss leader?; 19- ___ avis; 20-Spiritual rebirth; 23- Moving; 26-Cad or heel; 27- Tending to adefinite end; 28- Drops from thesky; 29- Cockpit abbr.; 30-Cunning person; 31- Bantulanguage; 33- Hither's partner;34- Bro's counterpart; 37- Earlybird?; 38- Hawaiian food; 39-Needle hole; 40- Horned viper;41- Not for a Scot; 42- ___ favor;43- Bone marrow; 45- Freightweight; 46- A pop; 47- Not e'enonce; 48- "Farewell!"; 51-Japanese honorific; 52- Charlotte___; 53- At intervals; 56- ___impasse; 57- My ___, Vietnam;58- Hardens; 62- Colombian city;63- Directional ending; 64-Declares; 65- Plains native; 66-Cry ___ River; 67- Aptitude; Down1- And so on; 2- Actor Stephen; 3- ___ Lingus; 4- Hoarding; 5- Conger catcher; 6- Remnant; 7-Goober; 8- Absolute; 9- Boris Godunov, for one; 10- Bark; 11- Benefit; 12- Vive ___!; 13- FormerFrench currency; 21- Cream cake; 22- Did penance; 23- Senator Specter; 24- Goatlike antelope;25- Shade; 29- Crazy as ___; 30- Lobby of a theater; 32- Place side by side; 33- Aden native; 34-Income source; 35- Cruise stops; 36- Surplus; 44- Uncommon; 45- College area resident; 46-Film on copper; 48- Bahamanian island; 49- Coup ___; 50- Author Calvino; 51- Animal trap; 52-Oscar de la ___; 54- K-6; 55- Atomizer output; 59- Hwy.; 60- Dusk, to Donne; 61- Concorde, e.g.;

LAST EDITION’S SOLUTION

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16

17 18 19

20 21 22

23 24 25

26 27 28 29 30 31

32 33 34 35 36 37

38 39 40 41 42

43 44 45 46 47 48 49

50 51 52

53 54 55 56 57 58

59 60 61 62 63 64

65 66 67

68 69 70

71 72 73

Go back | Print | Help

BestCrosswords.com - Puzzle #1 for July 20, 2011

Across1- Angry with; 6- Della's creator;10- Crew needs; 14- Whitepoplar tree; 15- Clairvoyant; 16-Editor's mark; 17- Feudal estate;18- It may turn; 19- VCRalternative; 20- Engrossing; 22-Conger catcher; 23- Thin layer;24- Qualify; 26- Monetary unit ofBurma; 29- Greek letters; 31-Bran source; 32- ___ Lingus; 33-Queue after Q; 34- Lines ofdescent; 38- Hindu princess; 40-Unit of energy; 42- Fill to surfeit;43- Girl in a Beach Boys song;46- German Mrs; 49-Campaigned; 50- Yes, inYokohama; 51- Mongol tent; 52-Cornerstone abbr.; 53- Get asone's own; 57- Bluesy James;59- Crews; 60- Ill-humored; 65-This, in Tijuana; 66- Yours, inTours; 67- Path; 68- Ollie'spartner; 69- "Jurassic Park"actress; 70- Perfect places; 71-Shipping deduction; 72-Remnant; 73- Strikes out; Down1- Baby's cry; 2- Simple rhyme scheme; 3- Studies; 4- Indifferent; 5- Small dog; 6- Guess; 7-Bridle strap; 8- Flat shelf; 9- Afore; 10- Inflammation of bone; 11- Inclined; 12- Make merry; 13-Grocery, e.g.; 21- Diner orders; 22- Coup d'___; 25- Figs.; 26- Henry VIII's sixth; 27- Casualassent; 28- Florence's river; 30- Like breakers on the shore; 35- Describes a gently cooked steak;36- School orgs.; 37- Dispatched; 39- Lacking humanity; 41- Exhausting; 44- Raised platform;45- Atmosphere; 47- Commedia dell'___; 48- Spoke; 53- Bikini blast; 54- Jai alai basket; 55-Emirate on the Persian Gulf; 56- Aromatic compound; 58- Battery terminal; 61- Go (over)carefully; 62- Combustible matter; 63- Magazine founder Eric; 64- Discounted by; 66- Append;


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low her to open the door wide enough.

She said she often need-ed help from others, and sometimes when there was no help available, she would struggle to get through the doors.

“One of those door but-tons would have been really helpful,” she said.

Katie Tuminello, a soph-omore architecture stu-dent, said she agrees power doors are necessary at the bookstore.

“There are plenty dis-

abled students who need help getting in,” she said. “It’d be a good investment because there won’t always be someone there.”

But Wallace and Linda Griffin, dean of student development, said power doors are not always help-ful and can be hazardous because the timing on the doors could be short and close on those who enter.

Griffin said help is al-ways available to those who need it and that pow-er doors are not a priority since there have not been any complaints about the accessibility of the book-store.

If there are any con-cerns or complaints, the issue will be investigated to see if any changes will be necessary, said Wallace.

While there will not be any changes made to the bookstore any time soon, Griffin said there will be power doors on new and renovated buildings

“We are confident about accessibility to the build-ing,” she said. “We are bound by federal mandates that require that our build-ings be accessible to all stu-dents.”


>BOOKS from pg. 1


More Talk

GreekWeek2012Greeks gain unity through competition

Photo by Cody Bryant

Above: Members of Pi Kappa Alpha, Phi Mu, Delta Chi and Alpha Kappa Alpha celebrate placing first in Greek Week’s Songfest. The four groups came together and performed a themed dance that not only won first but the Viewer’s Choice Award.

Photo by Cody Bryant

Above: A Sigma Kappa member, Chynah Benton (right) pours silver coins into Kappa Delta’s (left Kaylan Per-cival) bucket to counter the amount of money already raised.

Photo by Grace Moore

Above: Lori McAfee, a member of Phi Mu, leads her sorority to a victory in Greek Week’s volley-ball tournament.

Above: Blair Trah-an, a freshman busi-ness management major, cooks ham-burgers for Greek Week’s Wednesday event, Greek Chef.

Right: Christianna Potter, a junior bi-ology major, par-ticipates in Greek Week’s last event, Farm Games. Pot-ter competes in a sponge relay to try and gain points for Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.


NATALIE MCELWEEStaff Reporter

Greek Week, an annual event that takes place every spring quarter, is a time for all Greek organizations on campus to come to-gether, compete with one another and raise money for deserving causes.

The week’s competitive events kicked off around lunchtime April 16 in Centen-nial Plaza, as a mass of onlookers gathered around two tables of food. One man from each fraternity was to consume two and a half pounds of hamburger meat, two pounds of cheese fries and half a pound of bread, all provided by Dawg House. Although no one was able to complete the one-hour challenge, Sigma Nu came the closest to finishing and took home the points.

One member of each sorority sat in front of a pie at the eat-off and had eight minutes to devour the whipped cream and oreo-filled tray. After much cheering and close competi-tion, Sigma Kappa devoured the competition.

Ashley Vorenkamp, a Greek Week chair for Kappa Delta, said she was pleasantly sur-prised by the girls’ part in the eat-off this year.

“Last year, they had a hot dog eating com-petition for the girls,” she said. “I thought it was an awesome change to go from hot dog eating, which is kind of disgusting, to pie eat-ing. I was impressed they could consume that much pie in eight minutes.”

To conclude Monday’s festivities, Jack Lengyel, former head foot-ball coach of Marshall Uni-versity, spoke to the Greeks in Howard Auditorium Cen-ter for the Performing Arts. Lengyel spoke of the tragic plane crash which took the lives of 75 people on a foot-ball team from Huntington, W. Va. He then explained how he took the football program under his wing and how it is possible to over-come difficult circumstances in life.

Brooks Gray, Greek Week coordinator for Pi Kappa Phi, said the speaker was a good addition to Greek Week and a good way to motivate the student body.

“I thought the speaker was great,” he said. “He had tons of great advice for the Greeks here. Just the fact that he saw the tragedy and was part of the rebuilding of the foot-ball team shows everyone that difficult times don’t end everything. Things can always get better.”

A campus-wide scavenger hunt continued the events on Tuesday afternoon, resulting in a win by Delta Chi and Kappa Delta.

One of the most talked-about events of the week, Songfest, occurred Tuesday eve-ning.

For the first time, Greek Week held Song-fest, a competition where different fraternities and sororities paired up to perform skits and dances for an audience and judges.

Trevor Vicks, president of Omega Psi Phi, said Songfest was a step in the right direc-tion to unify all of the Greek organizations on campus.

“The good thing about this Greek Week is we are actually mandated to work together through the Songfest,” he said. “I think that’s the best part about it because we all have to come together to create something, and it’s been an experience working with the Greeks. It’s one thing to be amongst them, but it’s another thing to work with them and make something happen.”

Vicks said while Greek Week’s purpose is to bring unity to the Greeks, more needs to be done for that unity to be achieved.

“Throughout my years at Tech and my years being Greek, I do see an improvement in the black organizations to want to be in-volved,” he said. “I will say that we’re not

hands-on with the planning for Greek Week. We are informed once everything is set in stone. We should be involved.”

Vicks said he thinks the planning for Greek Week, as well as other Greek functions, should be a group effort.

“I do understand the more people you’re dealing with the harder it is to plan for some-thing,” he said. “I think there should be a council composed of the presidents where everybody has an equal input. When we all come together in the planning process, I feel like that’s when the barriers are broken. And that’s when we’re able to actively and realis-tically come together. It’s one thing to show up and another thing to actually be involved. That’s why I like the idea of Songfest.”

The group who took home the title of Songfest champions included Phi Mu, Pi Kap-pa Alpha, Alpha Kappa Alpha and Delta Chi.

Wednesday started out with a cook-off known to all as Greek Chef. At Greek Chef, people could sample entrees, such as alliga-tor balls, made by the members of the fra-ternities and desserts, such as cheesecake, courtesy of the sororities.

Phi Mu and Sigma Nu took home the prize for their cooked confections.

The culinary competition was followed by a fraternity flag football tournament and a so-rority water polo tournament.

Sigma Nu claimed the prize for flag foot-ball and Kappa Delta saw a victory in water polo.

Thursday began with Penny Wars, where Greeks competed to see who could collect the most pennies with the least amount of sil-ver coins or paper money.

Zandria Mims, a senior architecture major and Al-pha Kappa Alpha member, participated in Penny Wars and said she thinks it is a unique way of raising mon-ey for a good cause.

“I like Penny Wars,” she said. “It is a competitive way of raising and donating money to MedCamps.”

MedCamps of Louisiana is a non-profit organization which hosts a series of sum-mer camps free of charge

for children in Louisiana living with mental and physical disabilities.

Thursday closed with a volleyball tourna-ment hosted at the Delta Chi and Sigma Nu fraternity houses.

After a long afternoon of diving in the sand, Phi Mu and Sigma Nu took home the title of volleyball champions.

To kick off the last day of the week, stu-dents traveled to South Campus for a series of relays known as Farm Games.

Zach Pettis, president of Sigma Nu, said he enjoyed participating in the Farm Games and Greek Week as a whole but thinks some changes should take place in the future.

“I think there should be a leaderboard so we can see where each organization stands throughout the week,” he said.

The women of Kappa Delta and gentle-men of Sigma Nu saw victory at the farm that afternoon.

After a long day at the farm, the Greeks headed over to Argent Pavilion to find out the much-anticipated results of the week.

As the students gathered together for the last time that week, the results were revealed. Kappa Delta and Sigma Nu were named the champions.

“Greek Week gave me the opportu-nity to bond and build relationships with members of other sororities and fraterni-ties that I may not have had otherwise,” Mims said. “I look forward to maintaining those relationships outside of Greek Week.”

Email comments to [email protected] by Cody Bryant

“Greek Week gave me the opportunity to bond and build relationships with members of other sororities and fraterni-ties that I may not have had otherwise.”

Zandria Mimssenior architecture major andAlpha Kappa Alpha member


ANNA CLAIRE THOMASSports Editor

The Lady Techster softball team will need to be prepared to be battle-tested when it comes to this weekend’s home series.

With just six games remaining in Western Athletic Conference play, the Techsters have a tough task at hand with the upcoming series against the Wolf Pack.

The Techsters are sixth in the West-ern Athletic Conference standings and just one game back of the Nevada Wolf Pack with the critical three-game series set for 6 p.m. Friday and a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Saturday will also mark the Lady Techster Boys and Girls Club Gameday benefittting the Boys and Girls Club of America with promotions galore.

The promotions set for the 1 p.m. game Saturday include the chance for fans to win two free Kindle Fires with the purchase of a $1 raffle ticket and the return of Techster bingo with prizes ranging from signed Tech memorabilia to free Smoothie King coupons as priz-es.

Other promotions include an ap-pearance by Tech XX with the chance for fans and kids alike to get their pic-ture taken with the Bulldog mascot, face paint and a jumper for kids and hot dogs with donations benefitting the Boys and Girls Club of America.

After losing two of three games to Brigham Young University last week-end, Tech will return to their home field for the second consecutive weekend for the first time this season as Nevada will travel to face off against the Techsters this weekend.

With a 6-8 mark in conference play, Tech is in need of a good showing on the diamond this weekend in order to gain some momentum heading into the last half of the WAC schedule and into the conference tournament.

The Techsters will need a combina-tion and timely hitting and good pitch-ing in order to knock off the Wolf Pack in a game between two conference team’s vying for better positioning in conference play.

Tech’s team batting average is .238 with junior infielder Melanie Goff lead-ing the way with a .388 average on the year.

Junior pitcher Michelle Jones, who has a 12-11 record on the year with a 2.88 earned run average, will take to the mound for the Techsters.

All the festivities will begin at noon Saturday with the first game scheduled for 1 p.m. followed by the second game of the doubleheader.

Fans can follow all the action on Gametracker on latechsports.com or they can also watch to all the action on LATech All-Access.


Techsters look for sweep

Saints fans: biased or unwilling to accept

facts?

FROM THE SPORTS DESKFROM THE SPORTS DESKANNA CLAIRE THOMASwith

n my time as a student at Tech, I have been in the press box of almost every home game for every sport covering teams that I am

also interested in as a diehard supporter.

With that said, as a Tech stu-dent sitting in the Tech press box covering a Tech game, it’s hard to not let your emo-tions get involved when a team you’ve followed for so long wins reaches the peak of success in various sports, even at the pro-fessional level.

Because of this, I guess you could say I moonlight as a sports fan. Actually, it’s prob-ably the other way around if I’m being honest.

As a sports writer, the idea of being impartial or unbiased is a fine line that many walk, especially when you have seri-ous ties emotionally to certain teams or athletes for various reasons.

This has never been more evident than the recent scan-dals surrounding the New Or-leans Saints.

For a team that brought back so much hope to a city and state with their Super Bowl-winning season in 2009, a dark cloud now rests over the entire organization.

This is because of the boun-ty scandals surrounding the team, coaches and players after league officials found evidence supporting the notion that the Saints paid players to purpose-fully hurt the opposition.

Not to mention the recent allegations against General Manager Mickey Loomis claim-ing he participated in a Spy-Gate-like scandal in past years dealing with listening to the ra-dio call of the opposing teams.

I was a Saints fan long be-fore I was a writer so it’s hard to look at the controversy from an impartial viewpoint and point fingers when I truly want to be-lieve none of it is even remotely true even though evidence may prove it to be true.

It’s difficult to put your feel-ings as a fan on the backburner when you have a responsibil-ity as a journalist to report the facts and be unbiased.

As a sports writer and a fan, it’s a constant balancing act regarding your true feelings toward a situation, even if it is nice to sometimes forget about the facts for awhile, sit in the stands like the average Joe and scream obscenities to the op-posing team with the rest of the sport fanatics.

Anna Claire Thomas is a senior journalism major from Monroe who serves as sports editor. Email com-ments to [email protected].

Sports Talk

BULLDOG BASEBALLvs. Hawaii - 4/26 • 6 p.m.vs. Hawaii - 4/27 • 6 p.m.vs. Hawaii - 4/28 • 3 p.m.

LADY TECHSTER SOFTBALLvs. Nevada - 4/27 • 6 p.m.vs. Nevada - 4/28 • 1 p.m.vs. Nevada - 4/28 • 3 p.m.

LADY TECHSTER TRACK & FIELDat Golden Eagle Classic - 4/28 • All DayHattiesburg, Miss.

MEN’S GOLFWAC Championships - 4/30-5/2 • Henderson, Nev.

Promotions set for Techster, Wolf Pack showdown

Photo by Tiana Phillips

The Lady Techsters softball team will square off against the Wolf Pack of Nevada at 6 p.m. Friday with a doubleheader scheduled to start at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Lady Techster Softball Complex. I

ALWAYNE GREENNews Reporter

An athlete’s worst nightmare is to become injured. Not knowing whether you’ll be as good as you ever were or, in some extreme cases, if you will ever be able to compete again.

Nataliya Panova, a senior accounting major and vol-leyball player, said troubles with her injury started in her freshman season at the University of Houston.

“It was the very beginning of spring season, some-time in January,” Panova said. “We were lifting weights in the gym, and while pushing up the weights, my shoulder started burning a lot.”

Two months later she transferred to Tech where she played one season, but she said the pain in her shoulder be-came too unbearable. As a result she was administered a regular MRI, then a MRI with ink, which revealed she had a torn rotator cuff. Within a couple days she had a surgery.

“I never fully recovered after that surgery,” Panova said. “I didn’t start hitting the ball again until about 12-14 months later.”

During the rehabilitation phase, she said she didn’t get the kind of support she was expecting from her team-mates. However, she said she remained positive with the support of her coach and kept hoping the future things would be better. She said she soon had to accept the dreaded defeat.

“The worst for me was two years ago when I realized I could not be as good as I used to be,” she said. “It’s still hard even today, three to four months since my last season. Every day I think about it, wishing I could have one more season.”

Panova’s disappointment of being injured is some-thing Kevin Sherry, the head coach of the Tech women’s soccer team, said he shares with his athletes when they get hurt.

“It’s frustrating and it is something you have to live with,” Sherry said. “The coach is like a player; we feel almost the same emotions that the players feel.”

Sherry said it is really disheartening and difficult when star players get injured. He further explained that if an athlete can’t overcome injury problems at the college level, it’s simply time to move on.

“We had five strikers, and all five were injured last

year,” Sherry said. “It’s like American football, if they have four quarterbacks and all four are injured, they are screwed.”

He said one of the first questions a coach asks the trainer when an athlete gets hurt is, “How long will it take for them to recover?”

Sherry said he is limited with the number of athletes on his squad, and every time a player is out, it hurts the team. He also said as a coach there isn’t much he can do to help an athlete recover from an injury.

“I help by having them involved in the practice so they can be in daily communication with the players so

they won’t be looked on like strangers,” Sherry said. “And mentally it keeps them motivated to continue doing the rehab.”

Keith Bunch, head athletic trainer, agrees with Sherry and Panova that an athlete may recover physically, but there is usually a gap to be filled with mental rehabilitation. Bunch said his staff is not trained professionally to help athletes recover mentally but they do try to be as supportive as possible.

“I think the biggest thing in trying to deal with mental aspects is being encouraging to the student athlete and getting them to see the small things we see as progress,” Bunch said.

Another problem some athletes may face is cardiac-related illness. Bunch said each athlete at Tech is re-quired to have a medical checkup at spring physicals before they can start the season. He said regular check-ups throughout the season would be great but the practice is not popular within

the athletic community. “I think if you haven’t had a heart condition in the past

six months since you’ve had that physical, I don’t know if there is any research to support developing one within the last six months,” Bunch said.

Many people on the outside world of an athlete may never understand the life of an injured athlete. However, Bunch said he knows how an injured athlete feels from working with them.

“It is devastating mentally to an athlete to go from a state of being very physically active in a sport to being what they might consider completely debilitated and re-moved from that sport,” Bunch said.


Sports injuries becoming scary reality for more college athletes

Track & Field preps for Golden Eagle Classic SundayREINA KEMPTAssociate Sports Editor

As the conference championship is right around the corner, the Tech track and field squad will warm up at the Golden Eagle Classic Saturday at Southern Miss.

With a winning season coming to an end, sophomore sprinter Trey Hadnot said he is focusing on the Western Athletic Conference Championships and advancing on to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Hadnot is still an un-derclassman, but his results would not show it.

After suffering a mild pull on his hamstring, he will most likely have to rest his body for the important meets. Hadnot said he looks forward to seeing some of his teammates succeed at the Golden Eagle Classic and represent Tech.

“As of right now I’m suffering a hamstring injury, but my teammates are going to hold it down,” Hadnot said. “We’re all taking each tournament and preparing for the WAC.”

The Techsters came up big at the Southeast-ern Invitational last weekend. These ladies re-corded 18 top-five finishes and five event wins.

Senior Chelsea Hayes continued to impress as she won the long jump with a jump of 21-9 (6.63m).

The 4x400m relay team of sophomore Taneka Henderson, sophomore Aldresha Bai-ley, freshman Reyna Anderson and freshman Diamond Every also won in the event.

The men excelled as well, with freshman Joshua Cox winning the javelin and freshman Noah Riche placing third. Sophomore Kendall Hayes placed first in the hurdles and senior Alwayne Green won the 800m run with junior Jermaine Morris finishing second.

Hadnot did not compete last weekend in the LSU Alumni Gold meet, but said he had faith in his teammates to do their part.

“I tell my teammates to work hard in prac-tice and it will show on the track,” he said. “You have to take care of your body and you will per-form well.”

After a big showing, Tech is going into the weekend Classic with big expectations.


Photo courtesy of Media Relations

Junior pitcher Caleb Dudley is breaking records while making a name for himself on the diamond.

Dudley closing out record-breaking seasonDEREK J. AMAYA Sports Reporter

It is the bottom of the ninth under the Friday night lights and Tech is three outs away from winning the game.

Head coach Wade Simoneaux signals for his closer to come in and save the day. With fierce intimidation, junior closer Caleb Dudley enters.

Pitching coach Brian Rountree discovered the Texarkana, Texas, na-tive when he was playing in New Ibe-ria for his high school team.

“I got to see Caleb play for the first time while he was playing in a tournament there,” Rountree said. “Back then he played shortstop, and then I saw him come in and pitch. I said, ‘Man! This kid’s got a good arm; he’s really athletic and could fulfill this position. This guy’s future in col-lege is going to be on the mound.’”

Dudley’s parents and uncle set him up to play T-ball when he was 4 years old. Baseball became his pas-sion and he chose to continue with his career at Tech.

“I signed with a junior college out of high school,” Dudley said. “Coach Rountree started to recruit me. I came up and visited here and fell in love with the coaching staff and

school.”Dudley has gone on to make a

name for himself in the record books. He broke his previous record from last year with 12 saves in a single season and broke the career saves record with 20 and he has plenty of baseball left to be played. He is third in appearances with 74. When he’s made an appearance, Tech’s record is 45-31. He also has made 21 ap-pearances so far this season and his career earned run average is 4.56.

“It feels good,” he said. “You kind of feel in a sense that you’re leaving your mark. You always want to make an impact on a team and school. I’m proud to be in the position I am in.”

Head coach Wade Simoneaux knew he was getting talent when he recruited Dudley as a pitcher. Little did Simoneaux know Dudley would solidify his name in the record books.

“He deserves every record he’s broken,” Simoneaux said. “He’s a good kid in the classroom. He’s a good kid on and off the field. It couldn’t happen to a better guy. He’s going to get a couple more opportu-nities here down the stretch.”

Dudley still has one more year of eligibility left and looks to continue to solidify his numbers. However, he

has a nonchalant attitude about the records and just wants to finish his time as a Bulldog with a degree.

“I’d love to carry on a career in baseball,” Dudley said. “The odds of that happening are slim to none. It’s very rare. Plan A is to get my edu-cation and if baseball works out, it works out and I hope it does.”

He says having the pressure of being the closing pitcher does not faze him anymore and continues to motivate him to play with confi-dence with every appearance on the mound.

“After a few years you get used to it,” Dudley said. “There’s a lot of pressure in closing down games. You’ve got three outs until the end of the game. It’s nerve wrecking at times. But I love the pressure and adversity, and I think I strive in those situations.”

Dudley’s superstition is being clean cut before every game. He’s clean-shav-en tonight and seems luckier than ever. The first batter is out at first. A fly ball goes to the second hitter. Dudley strikes out the last batter. Another save earned by the closer.


“It is devastating men-tally to an athlete to go from a state of being very physically active in a sport to being what they might consider completely debilitated and removed from that sport.”

Keith Bunchhead athletic trainer

UPCOMING ATHLETICS

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