Friday, January 21, 2011

Vol. 77 No. 15 asurampage.com

Pg. 3 SGA Moving

Pg. 8 Basketball

Pg. 4 Campus Safety

Photo Illustration by Ashley Romo

Mark McDaniel StaffWriter

Police arrested a starter on the men’s basketball team last week for allegedly stealing an Xbox 360 from the Houston Harte Univer-sity Center and selling it at a local pawn shop.

Senior LaMarshall Avanti Cor-bett, 22, was charged with theftbetween $50 and $500, and was released from Tom Green County Jail later that day on a $1,500 bond, according to county records.

On Dec. 23, the University Centerfileda reportof a theftofan Xbox valued at $300, an Angelo State University police report said.Corbettsoldthestolenconsole

at EZ Pawn, 2018 S. Bryant Blvd, on Jan. 3, according to investigators.“I think it was only a matter

of time before somebody stole an Xbox out of there. I mean, they weren’t very heavily protected” sophomore Chase Carney said.

“Do I think it was wrong? Yes. But, do I think it was kind of funny? Ab-solutely.”

Corbett was a two-year start-er on the men’s basketball team, and has since been benched af-ter the incident.“LaMarshallCorbetthas been

suspended indefinitely for viola-tion of team rules,” Athletic Direc-torKathleenBrasfieldsaid.

Director of Athletic Communi-cations Kevin McCarty said in an article that coaches determine their own set of rules and consequences, and that coaches use discretion on a case-by-case basis.

The Athletic Department can-notofferanymorecommentstoprotect Corbett’s privacy, Bras-fieldsaid.

University Police recovered the Xbox and returned it to [spe-cial events], University Police Chief James Adams said.

The charge is a Class B Misde-meanor punishable by up to 180 days instate jailandafineofupto $2,000.Corbettcouldnotbefoundfor

a comment.

Xbox: Student arrestedfortheft

recovered

Mark McDaniel StaffWriter

Lastweekend,tattooenthu-siasts from San Angelo and sur-rounding areas gathered for the SecondAnnualWestTexasTat-too Convention at the McNease Convention Center downtown.

Many students also came to get a glimpse at the world ofinkandtherenownedtattooartists from places as far away as Hawaii.

Freshman Jarred Ross said hewenttogetatattoofromoneof over 50 booths.

“I got my initials, J.R.” Ross said. “I’ve been wanting to get a

tattooforawhile,sotodaywasthe day.”

Many students, on the other hand,foundthattattooswouldleave their wallets feeling much too light.

“I was planning on get-ting one today, but the prices were just too high,” sophomore DekkarWilliamssaid.

Alex Trufant, co-owner of Bulletproof Tattoo, a lo-cal tattoo parlor, and co-organizer of the convention, said that people came from alloverSanAngeloandWestTexas to the convention.

“There have been a ton of ASU students here, as well as military personnel [from Good-fellowAirForceBase]…We’vegot people from Abilene, Mid-land, Odessa, and there are

even people from Oklahoma that came out,” Trufant said.

There were over 50 studios represented at the convention from all parts of the country, all hand-selected by Trufant. The best tattoo artists from

New York, Los Angeles, Dal-las and other major areas were among those selected. “We started holding this

convention to show the public whatagoodtattoolookslike,”Trufant said. “I brought the best [tattoo artists] in the world toSan Angelo… so you can look with your own eyes and see whatagoodtattoois.”

The show is more about quality than quantity, said Bobby Lynn Shehorn, editor of TexasTattooMagazine.

inkedCollaboration: Top tattooartistsgathered

Photo by Ashley RomoSenior Malcom Curry, Jr. watches as the artist details his koi fish tattoo. Curry attended the West Texas Tattoo Convention Saturday at the McNease Convention Center.

Studentsget

Departments prioritized

Stolenand

see “Tattooing” pg. 3

Dana Choi Copy Editor

The university’s academic departments will have recom-mendations for Academic Af-fairs by May 1 regarding their programs.

The Program Prioritization Process is an initiative that Ac-ademic Affairs started in thefall semester, said Dr. Nancy Allen, vice provost for Aca-demicAffairs. The academicdepartments will provide in-formation on each of their pro-grams using set criteria.

“The intent is to look at the status of programs to the num-ber of majors [and] pro-duction of SCHs [semester credit hours],” Allen said, “sothatwemightbebetterinformed about all the pro-grams, and to use this as a foundation for decision-making and changes we might wish to implement.”

Possible results of the recommendations include expanding programs or modifying them in some way, she said.

There are nine criteria which consist of questions, all of which may not be relevant to the program, according to the guidelines.

The criteria include: exter-nal and internal demand for the program; quality of pro-gram inputs and processes; quality of program outcomes; size, scope and productivity; revenue and other resources generated by the program; costs and other expenses as-sociated with the program; impact, justificationandover-all essential nature of the pro-gram; and opportunity analy-sis of the program.

This particular process is not, and will not be, routine,

Allen said.“It’s simply a good thing to

do,” she said. “You don’t un-dertake an endeavor like this on an annual basis…because you don’t need [the status of academic programs] that fre-quently.”Academic Affairs has not

initiated this particular pro-cess in the 25 years she worked for the university, Allen said.

“But there’s been evalu-ation of different programswithin colleges [and] within departments,” she said.

Allen said faculty members are constantly evaluating and revising their programs and curriculum.

“In this particular process, all the programs are using pre-identifiedcriteria,”shesaid.

Because every campus is different, ASU is not usingcommon criteria, Allen said.

“You can’t just apply cri-teria across the board to any individual institution,” she said. “We’re all different. Sowe did our homework and came up with criteria that we thought suited ASU and what we wanted to find out aboutour programs.”

The department head will submit reports to the dean Feb. 18, according to the Pro-grams Prioritization Process 2010-2011 guidelines. Deans will submit prioritized fund-ing lists and reports to the pro-vost April 1, and the provost submits the recommendations to ASU President Dr. Joseph Rallo May 2.

Reviewed: Programs maybemodified

“You can’t just apply criteria across

the board to any individual institution. We’realldifferent.”

Dr. Nancy Allen, viceprovostforAcademicAffairs

Friday, January 21, 2011Page 2 Campus News

Next Monday, Jan. 24, see the video interview online at asurampage.com.

HSACoats

with

Phot

o by

Tim

Les

ter

Stephen Coats, President, Honors Student AssociationMajor: PsychologyClassification: JuniorMusic: CountryFrequented web site: www.gunbroker.com. “It’s like eBay for guns,” Coats said.Hobbies: Cello, welding, carpentry and firearms Restaurant: Charcoal House “They have great steak fingers,” Coats said.

Honors Student AssociationPurpose: Further the education of Honors studentsEvents: Meetings are held every other Monday, with two speaker meetings a semester. Community

opportunities are also available for Honors students to achieve their required community service hours.

Eligibility: A majority of members are selected before entering college and must maintain a 3.25 GPA, with some entering their sophomore year.Advice: “Pick your classes wisely and do what you love,” Coats said.

and

midnightrodeosanangelo.com

JOHNNY COOPER

FRIDAYJanuary 21st

FRIDAYJanuary 28th

$2.75 Coors Light & $3.25 Maker’s Mark

kyle park & NO JUSTICE$2.75 Coors Light & $3.25 Maker’s Mark

Love Where You Live!Kington Properties

9 floor plans to choose from!

Student Specials$75 Administration Fee with student ID

(normally $125)$25 Application Fee

Look and Lease $99 Total Move In

325-942-81981818 S. Lincoln St.

San Angelo, TX 76904directly across from ASU!

Scott Dykowski Editor-in-Chief

Students should expect to see more of the student senators this semester.

“The senate really wants to make [itself] more transparent to the student body,” Student Body President Austin Os-manski said.

One way he plans to accomplish this is placing pictures of each senator in their respective depart-ments, along with a dry-erase board for students to leave suggestions.

“There seems to be a barrier between the [stu-dent senators and stu-dents] so we’re going to try to eliminate that,” Os-manski said. “If we can get it pushed through, we’re going to have a bul-letin board where we can post what SGA is doing, as well as a small, little white board beside it where kids can write, ‘You need to fix parking’ or ‘Do something with the meal plan.’”

Freshman Aniece Futch wants to involve SGA with the students by helping them finish proj-ects, advertise, and invit-ing them to come check SGA out.

The senators also plan to meet with their respec-tive department head once a month to help with student-department rela-tions.

“They are there to take a load off of the depart-ment heads,” Osman-ski said. “They meet with them and say, ‘What do you need,’ and ‘OK, we’ll take care of that.’”

Other initiatives in-clude reviewing the stu-

dent handbook, traveling to Austin to meet with the Texas Legislature, expand-ing True Blue including the possibility of a spirit organization, presiden-tial tours on Fridays, and moving offices to the basement of the Univer-sity Center and expanding the Multicultural Center. Some senators want to see more scholarships and re-cycling.

Prompted by a student concern, Osmanski plans to find ways to improve the student handbook.

“Nobody has ever read that handbook, and no one even knows where it is,” Osmanski said. “I’ve per-sonally never read it. So, we’re going to go find it, we’re going to go nitpick through it and, if we think there should be changes in there, we’ll start bring-ing that to the administra-tion’s point of view.”

He also hopes to add student representatives to the student handbook committee.

“I think students should be part of the pro-cess – making the laws, rules and regulations of the things that govern,” Osmanski said.

Several senators plan Jan. 31 through Feb. 2 to ask the Texas Legislature to not cut ASU’s funding, despite the multi-billion dollar deficit the state is facing.

“They are trying to cut public and higher educa-tion, so we’re going to say, ‘That’s not a good idea, because taxpayers pay money back to the states,’” Osmanski said.

Travis Barnett, Morgan Ostwinkle, Tiffany Hamp-ton, Rex Johnson and Stu-dent Body Vice President Hector Romo will accom-pany Osmanski.

In an effort to expand the True Blue initiative, he

is pushing for a student organization, Ram Wran-glers, which is focused on spirit.

“Every university I know of has an organiza-tion that goes to football games and acts rowdy,” Osmanski said. “You got plowboys at Tarleton. We’re trying to create something like that.”

He said the True Blue initiative encompasses at-tending sporting events, retention, student pro-gramming and the com-munity.

“We kind of have our little finger in everything at the moment,” Osman-ski said.

The presidential tours, promised in Osmanski’s and Romo’s campaign, could start next week. Osmanski and Romo met Thursday with Megan Wheeler, Admissions in-terim director, to discuss the tour’s possibility.

“We’re going to have a meeting because our schedule is so busy,” Romo said. “We’re start-ing possibly next week, to give them [Admissions] time to advertise it.”

SGA plans to move to the basement of the Uni-versity Center in Febru-ary. Student Affairs and Enrollment Management will move into the current SGA office, found at the north entrance to the Uni-versity Center.

The pair also cam-paigned to expand the Multicultural Outreach Programs to more effec-tively accommodate inter-national students.

“I will set up a meeting this week with Adriana Balcorta [multicultural program specialist], to see how we can make it a little more welcoming to other students,” Romo said.

He said the expan-sions would encompass a

diverse group of nationali-ties.

“Many students think it’s going to be only for Hispanic students, and that is definitely not the case,” Romo said.

The duo said they hit a wall when they attempted to fulfill their campaign promise to obtain Greek housing.

“We got kind of shot down last semester,” Os-manski said.

He estimates that the university will not have Greek housing until 2015.

Romo said to help the university with retention, he has considered creating a Council of the Presidents of Fraternities and Sorori-ties, and include their re-cruitment chairs.

SGA plans to hold a town hall meeting in Feb-ruary for students to voice their opinions on how the student senate is perform-ing concerning current initiatives and what new projects the senate could consider.

“I’d like to see the meal plan a little more under-standing to students,” Futch said.

Sophomore Gabriela Ramires hopes to see cam-pus-wide weekly or daily recycling in the dorms, and for Financial Aid to create more scholarships for students.

“The Parking, Hous-ing, Food, and Technol-ogy committee will take another look at campus parking, and hopefully find a solution that will more efficiently utilize all the parking space avail-able to ASU,” senior Cody Welch said.

Osmanski and Romo plan to rerun for student body president and vice president when elections take place sometime in April.

SGA seeks transparencyPlans: Senators strive for a more spirited campus

Allison Duggan Senior Staff Writer

IT will perform a mass conversion of all student e-mail accounts to the new platform sometime in the future, following the successful soft launch of RamMail.

No announcement has been made yet as to when the conversion will occur, but IT contin-ues to promote RamMail to get students to switch over on their own.

They recently placed a RamMail icon next to the original e-mail icon in RamPort with an an-nouncement bubble above it. The bubble links directly to the Ram-Mail page on angelo.edu. There are several links for setting up mo-bile devices, importing calendars, video tutori-als and different ways to configure email.

Student survey groups chose RamMail, an ASU e-mail system backed by a Google en-gine, mostly because they want to sync e-mail and calendars onto their mobile devices.

“I think the RamMail initiative is going well,” Executive Director of IT Brian Braden said. “We have had positive re-sponse thus far from the students.”

Sophomore Megan Freeman said she likes the new set up.

“I always have my phone on me, so it’s nice to get e-mails right away,” Freeman said.

Several frequently asked questions are list-ed on the website.

One common ques-tion is whether or not RamMail users must create another e-mail ad-dress.

Students will not have to change their ASU e-mail address, but they will have to create a new password to access RamMail outside of a web browser. The web-site gives step-by-step instructions specified for different types of phones under the categories of Apple, Blackberry, An-droid, Windows and Other.

Students can for-ward all e-mails from RamMail to a separate account if they prefer. However, IT does not recommend doing so. This process could cause complications with other third-party Internet ser-vice providers.

Senior JD Bales said he’ll switch to RamMail, but will probably keep a separate e-mail account as well.

Faculty and staff will continue using Microsoft Exchange, but this will not affect the way they communicate with stu-dents through e-mail.

Campus transitions to new systemConversion:RamMail for all students

Stephen

Friday, January 21, 2011 Page 3Campus News

Go to www.angelo.edu/gradschool

Why Not

Grad School?

ASUCollege of

GRADUATE STUDIES

ASU

Apply Now!(It’s not too late)

Adventure?

Readyfor a

If you’re graduating in May, August, or December...

Lisa Dees Contributing Writer

United Campus Ministries will pres-ent the ninth annual Sweethearts and Jazz fundraiser with the band Jazz Con-cho on Feb. 17 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Sweethearts and Jazz will take place at The Longhorn on 212 S. Chadbourne St. Dessert, coffee, and door prizes will be offered. An Amazon kindle will be raffled off as well. Jazz Concho, featur-ing Dr. John Irish and several local musi-cians, will entertain guests.

All money raised from this fundraiser will support the UCM in its ministry of bringing the Christian faith to students, staff and faculty.

“Every year we struggle to have enough money to keep going, but some-how we always do,” President of the Board of Trustees and the Rev. Gary San-ford said.

Sweethearts and Jazz is an important fundraiser because it is the biggest one, Sanford said. Several churches support the benefit, including the United Meth-odist, Lutheran, and Episcopal churches.

The UCM’s Student Advisory Board and churches work hard to make this event successful, said Jennifer Lovett,

vice president of the Student Advisory Board and first year graduate student in counseling psychology.

Incorporated in 1968, the UCM is the only non-denominational campus minis-try, Sanford said.

“The UCM is a safe haven for those who aren’t sure about religion,” Lovett said.

The UCM offers a variety of activities including Movie Madness, Bible studies, Food 4 Thought, and worship services, Lovett said.

Tickets can be purchased at the UCM or at the door. Adult tickets cost $15 and Students and Military with identification cost $5.

Jazz-themed event hosted by ministryPrizes: Kindle to be raffled off at event

Continued from Page 1

“The quality of tattooists here is high,” Shehorn said. “It’s not a lot of thrills, no suspensions and no funny acts. It’s all about the art.”

Diversity was also a key part of the celebration. It was represented in all as-pects of the convention, from the music playing to the styles of tattoos offered by the artists.

“[Trufant] is using some of the local colors, and showing the different ethnic groups in town, [and also], because it is a small town and a small market, the people are really friendly and very nice,” Shehorn said.

The Trufant Brothers had a profes-sional mariachi band, as well as the Cen-tral High School mariachi band, play at the convention to give people from out of

state a taste of San Angelo Culture. “Everybody is here to celebrate,” said

Aubrey Trufant, co-owner of Bulletproof Tattoo and Alex Trufant’s brother. “It’s a celebration of tattooing.”

Alex Trufant said they plan to hold the convention every year.

“It is an annual event, so we will be holding another one around January or February of next year,” Trufant said.

Photo by Ashley RomoAaron Gette receives his second tattoo during the Second Annual West Texas Tattoo Conven-tion on Jan. 15.

Tattooing celebrated at annual event

Photo Illustration by Pam Belcher

Allison Duggan Senior Staff Writer

The Student Govern-ment Association is plan-ning to move in the next two weeks to make the Center for Student In-volvement its new home. Their current location is on the ground floor of the University Center.

Both SGA and CSI said they hope that the move will strengthen the com-munication between the various students and staff who work in student ac-tivities and allow for bet-ter flow of creative ideas.

The CSI, located on the garden level of the UC, houses the Universi-ty Center Program Coun-cil and staff who works with the many student

organizations.“Moving to their lo-

cation will only prove to be a convenience for us,” SGA Vice President Hec-tor Romo said.

Better communication with the student body is another advantage for SGA in moving. They will now have full time staff coverage during the week, along with addi-tional hours that CSI pro-vides after 5:00 p.m.

Director for Student Involvement Rick Greig said the ground floor is the ideal location for both groups, but that finances and the structural design of the building make that an impractical option.

“Collectively, we’ll try to combat that problem with better signage and an awareness campaign to let students know that willing, listening ears for their con-cerns are only a few foot-

steps away, and that we’re willing to go to them with programs and services.”

Senior Matt Edwards said although the garden level is not a very visible location, he thinks having both SGA and CSI in the same area is a good idea.

Greig said everyone worked through the op-tions of creating space until they found the most cost effective plan.

They used an already existing room in CSI, moved around old fix-tures and added walls to create new workstations and a waiting area.

“The paint scheme is be-ing designed to capture the ASU spirit – part of it will be True Blue,” Greig said.

The new Enrollment Management depart-ment will occupy SGA’s old office. Romo said this department will focus on student retention.

SGA finds new homeMoving: Improve communication

Mariah PowellFeatures Editor

The campus has call boxes along the walkway, but some students still believe some plac-es are not safe.

Many female students be-lieve that Vanderventer Av-enue is the least safe place to be on campus.

“It’s just hearsay, but I have heard of drug deals going on in those apartments and a lot of trouble going on over there and it’s usually really loud,” freshman Raelee Taylor said. “Other than that, I feel pretty safe on campus.”

Sophomore Angela Rodri-guez said she feels the least safe walking through the Vin-cent Nursing-Physical Science building parking lot, near the tennis courts on Vanderventer Avenue.

“It’s dark, no one’s ever there and I don’t see police cars in that area,” Rodriguez said. “When walking that way, it’s possible that someone could walk over there and snatch me.”

Some students fear any con-tact with the people who live on Vanderventer Avenue.

“I have gotten called over by people in those apartments, which made me walk a little faster,” freshman Lauren Land-on said. “That was enough to keep me from walking that street again.”

Rodriguez and Landon said they would feel more safe if the apartment complex was knocked down and more park-ing space was created.

“Vanderventer Avenue is much safer than it was five years ago,” Chief James Ad-ams of the ASU police de-partment said. “There was a time when a lot of criminal activity was occurring in those apartments. Since then, most of those apartments are

owned by new m a n a g e m e n t , so we have not had as many issues in that area as we have in the past.”

The interest-ing thing is not everyone who lives in those apartment is a student, and as with any college campus, there are people who are attracted to campuses that are predators, Adams said.

Junior Jime-na Lule said she feels least safe on campus at night when she has to park far from her dorm after work.

“I usually have to park across the street from Concho or in Mary Massie park-ing lot, because there aren’t any spaces, but I live in Vanderventer,” Lule said. “More parking spac-es will help me feel safe, and because they are opening an-other dorm in front of Vander-venter, there will probably be less parking.”

She said it is dark and scary by 9 p.m. and most of the park-ing spaces are already full.

Adams said Lule has made an excellent observation, but not much can be done until the construction project is com-plete. To avoid parking across the street, Adams suggested parking by Texan Hall, though there are no steady walk places with construction.

“When construction is fin-ished, there will be more side-walks and better lighting, giv-ing a greater sense of safety,” Adams said. “We have call boxes on that side of campus and we plan on adding addi-tional call boxes when Plaza Verde is complete.”

Adams said he is curious about how many students know where every campus callbox is.

The dark in general keeps some students on the edge.

“I feel least safe on the walk-way at night,” junior Hannah Hoots said. “When you have to go to late night meetings it’s dark and there is no one there.

You are just waiting on some-one to jump out of a tree.”

She was on her way to a meeting one night and a cat jumped out and scared her.

“It was just a cat, but it freaked me out because it could have been anything,” Hoot said.

“No matter where you are you need to be cautious and vigilant of your surroundings,” Adams said. “At night, if you are walking, you should know where every callbox is and keep note of how far away you are.”

Adams said, think like a criminal to be safe. His tips in-sist that students do not walk alone at night because crime is

less likely to happen with a group.

There are two key things to being safe, Adams said.

“No. 1 is to be aware of what’s around you and have a plan for if something happens,” Adams said. “A lot of people don’t think about how they would respond in certain situations until it hap-pens to them, and that’s not the best time to planning.

“No. 2, is trust your in-stincts. If something doesn’t look or feel right don’t dismiss it. Call the police and have them check it out.”

FeaturesFriday, January 21, 2011Page 4

Senior turns the world into ‘a playground’ over break: Heather Dills learns to ride a unicycle, changes her travel plans

Mariah PowellFeatures Editor

On campus, there is parking for four wheels and racks for two; but what hap-pens to those who choose to utilize one wheel?

Senior Heather Dills learned to ride a unicycle over the break and,

since then, has not put it down.“My professor, Trey

Smith, asked me if I knew how to ride a unicycle last semester,” Dills said. “I told him ‘no’ and he said ‘I was the type of person that should know how.’”

Smith brought a uni-cycle to class for Dills the Tuesday of finals week,

and that’s when her ad-venture began.

“Heather is really bright, but also really relentless,” said

Dr. Trey Smith, associate profes-

sor of Mathematics. “And a relentless nature is what it takes to ride a unicycle. I asked her about unicycles because she would be in class working on a problem and wouldn’t quit until it was complete.”

Smith has been riding for five or six years and felt that Dills should join.

Dills said it took her two weeks to get the hang of the unicycle, and then she was able to go places.

“I started with a walker to learn to get on, but the next day I started trying to get on without it and learned to free-mount,” Dills said.

She said it was very scary at first when she leaned forward to go, but falling off is very natural.

“You just step off or run a little bit, but falling isn’t hard so it’s not too scary,” Dills said.

“When she called and told me she had al-ready learned to mount the unicycle I could not believe it,” Smith said. “I certainly had not seen that before, but I had never even heard of that kind of timing. I know a lot of

unicyclists, and I have never known any that learned that quickly.”

Smith said they rode to the parking lot and Dills showed him that she was already working on tricks.

“For someone who had only been riding a month, I was very impressed with Dills,” Smith said.

Before her unicycle, Dills had always walked to class. Now she rides her unicycle and takes it to class with her.

Dill said she stands it up along the wall in the back, or side, of every classroom.

Sophomore Robert Williams had never seen a unicycle up close until he saw Dills’. In fact, he had never met Dills until her uni-cycle came along.

“It’s really awesome,” Williams said. “If I could do life over again, I would be an unicy-clist over anything else.”

Dills said she thought Smith riding it was pretty cool so her interest grew.

“Now that I ride, it’s probably the cool-est thing ever. It’s a constant challenge and it makes the world a playground,” Dills said.

Photo by Ashley RomoSenior Heather Dills.

Vanderventer Avenue frightens students most

Photo Illustration by Ashley Romo

MAKE MONEY & NEW FRIENDS while having FUN! FMI: Career Development (942-2255)

Summer Camp Job Fair

Camp Lonehollow

Camp Mitre Peak

Cross Trails Ministry

Hidden Falls Retreat

Highland Lakes Camp & Conference Center

Latham Springs Camp & Retreat Center

Riverbend Retreat CenterRiverbend Retreat Center

Stevens Ranch & Camp Timberlake

T Bar M Camps

Texas 4-H Conference Center

Texas Lions Camps

Vista Camps (Camp Rio Vista & Sierra Vista)

Wednesday, January 26th10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. University Center Spine

Features Friday, January 21, 2011 Page 5

Review of: The DilemmaStarring: Vince Vaughn,

Kevin James, Jennifer Connelly, Winona Ryder, Channing

Tatum, Queen LatifahI give “The Dilemma” two out of five

stars. It was a disappointment on many levels.

It’s about two men who have been best friends since college, Vince Vaughn (Ronny) and Kevin James (Nick). Nick is married, while Ronny is still dating at 40, but preparing to “pop the question”. They work together at an auto design firm, who is preparing to close a really big deal with Dodge. Ronny catches Nick’s wife cheat-ing and threatens to tell if she doesn’t. The movie goes on with him following the wife around and being anxious to tell his best friend, after confronting the wife. At the same time, Ronny does not want to tell his best friend while the company’s deal is being finalized, and he is trying to keep his relationship steady while being weighed down by the secret.

Fidelity has become a social topic among our culture, so the movie was timely and made sense, but it did not fit the genre of comedy. It was nowhere near as funny as I expected. It had an everyday setting and no overall signifi-cance to why the marriage was failing. It seemed as though the film was never

going to get to the point and that the secret would never be revealed. After a while you get tired of waiting and watch-ing unnecessary things be recorded, as though we cared for them. The director knows what the viewer is after and takes his time getting there.

I thought it would be hilarious with Kevin James and Queen Latifah in the same movie, but neither of them played a funny role. I feel that Kevin James is a fun-ny guy. Seeing that he starred in “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry,” “Grown Ups,” “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” and the tele-vision show “King of Queens,” things should have been better. His character was more of a serious man in this movie, which does not fit the Kevin James seen in other films. There were casual laughs in the theater, but not as much as there should have been. The jokes were not hard hitting. The other actors were set to be the funny people in this film, and maybe that was Director Ron Howard’s plan. However, I feel the classic funny people should have been kept with their funny roles. Because of this change, “The Dilemma” did not meet my standards of funny. It did not top Step Brothers, which has been holding the No. 1 spot on my comedy list since 2008.

-Mariah Powell Features Editor

$100 gift card for the most spirited fan at both games.

January 22, 2011 The Junell Center7:30 PM5:30 PM

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

Mariah PowellFeatures Editor

Learning how social media affects

politics and education was the goal of a symposium this year.

The James E. Holland Symposium takes place annually to enlighten the community on important events.

“It is probably one of the most significant academic events that we have,” said Dr. Randy Hall, associ-ate professor of Art. “We invite noted scholars and speakers to come to the university and do presentations on

topics that are related to American val-ues.”

This year the symposium topic was the role of social media in politics and education. Dr. James Katz, chair of the De-partment of Communication at Rutgers University, and Mr. Howard Rheingold, author and commentator (presently teach-ing at Stamford University), did presenta-tions on social networks.

“The presentations had to do with modern technology and the software that we use nowadays and how it has affected politics and education,” Hall said. “It was interesting because it was a very contem-porary topic.”

The symposium response contest was open to all ASU students. They were asked to come and make a creative, ex-pressive response, Hall said.

“This year we had 23 entries, which is the largest number we have ever had, and they were very accomplished en-tries,” Hall said.

There were entries in fine arts, digital design, essays, an original play, a music score and a DVD performance. The judg-es were Dr. John Irish, Peggy Nino and Kristin Stanley.

This year, two winners won for their expressive response pieces, seniors Vir-ginia Fernandez and Alisha Bailey.

Fernandez won first place for digital design while Bailey won first place for her DVD performance.

“It was an art opportunity for me to show my abilities,” said Fernandez, graphic design major. “It helped me gain confidence and the symposium spread the knowledge of what’s becom-ing of the world, where social media is taking us and how things are changing from even five years ago, which is a big technology change.”

Fernandez’s piece was “The Fruit of Knowledge.” It is very symbolic of the apple in Biblical terms and education, she said.

“Those combined gave me that idea,” Fernandez said. “Then I moved to the fu-ture and put it with all the social networks. One idea built on top of another is what put the image together.”

Fernandez said getting on the com-puter and making it a digital image was a process. She said it took her two weeks to produce her work.

“I started out with something totally different and then the idea of the apple came to me, and [I] produced this totally different thing,” Fernandez said. “I almost gave up on it because I couldn’t figure out how I was going to make it look three-di-mensional, then I just did it.”

Hall said what made this year’s contest so valuable was its variety.

“The quality of the entries was very strong,” Hall said. “I believe this is the first time we had a music major win first place.”

Senior Alisha Bailey, percussionist, is a music education major who shared first place with Fernandez.

“I saw that the symposium included music entries,” Bailey said. “I did not think there would be many, and I never did competitions, so I thought I would start with this one.”

Bailey said it was rewarding and she had to dig into her mind to figure out how to express the topic.

Her video showed her using the so-cial network to look up the Cello Suite No. 1 Prelude by Johann Sebastian Bach, which she was learning to play.

Bailey said she wanted the audience to see what she goes through each time she has to learn a new piece of music.

“I was actually surprised I had won because it was thrown together at the last minute,” Bailey said. “I’m a bad plan-ner, but the win was pretty satisfying and paid off. I’m thankful for the chance and the fact that the contest took music entries because it was a good learning ex-perience.”

Both winners received $250 in prize money.

Hall said he is seeking to secure more funding for the prize money so there can be $1,000 in prize money next time.

“The more money we have, the greater the inspiration to the students, and I would like to get more students involved,” Hall said. “It’s a great event for the community and faculty here at ASU, but the main point is to involve the students.”

The responses will be on display in the University Center’s exhibit room through Jan. 29.

2010 Symposium exhibits a media variety

Exercise your right

to free speech!

www.asurampage.comComment with your thoughts on

Photos by Ashley R

omo

2010 Holland Sym

posium entries w

ill be on display in the U

C Gallery through Jan. 29. A

n award cerem

ony took place Jan. 20 to acknow

ledge students, including winners:

seniors Alisha Bailey and Virginia Fernand, for their w

ork.

Friday, January 21, 2011Page 6

PUBLISHING POLICYPublished every Friday and available to students, one copy per student, the student newspaper of Angelo State University is a public forum, with its student editorial board making all deci-sions concerning its contents. Unsigned editorials express the views of the majority of the editorial board.Ram Page welcomes all letters. Please include your name, classification/position and a phone number and/or e-mail ad-dress for verification purposes. Letters must be signed and be no more than 350 words. The paper reserves the right to edit letters for grammar and clarity, and all letters are subject to laws governing obscenity, libel and privacy. Deadline is 5 p.m., Mon-day. Submission does not guarantee publication. Letters may be mailed, e-mailed or submitted at the newspaper’s office, Room 324 on the third floor of the Porter Henderson Library. Opinions in letters are not necessarily those of the staff, nor should any opinion expressed in a public forum be construed as the opinion or policy of the administration, unless so attributed.

Ram Page Staff

2010-2011A n g e l o S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y

Editor: Scott DykowskiManaging Editor: Tim LesterCopy Editor: Dana ChoiPhoto Editor: Ashley RomoSports Co-Editor: Andy AtterburySports Co-Editor: Lauren WildeFeatures Editor: Mariah PowellOnline Editor: Jason HelmsSenior Staff Writer: Allison DugganStaff Writer: Mark McDanielPhotographer: Pam BelcherCirculation Manager: Jamin Goecker Advertising Manager: Sara Beth Criner Adviser: Dr. Cathy Johnson

Ram PageASU Station #10895

San Angelo, Texas76909-0895

Editor: rampage@angelo.edu Managing Editor: rampagenews@angelo.edu Features Editor: rampagefeatures@angelo.edu Advertising: rampageads@angelo.edu

Editor: (325) 942-2323 Newsroom: (325) 942-2134 Advertising: (325) 942-2040 Fax: (325) 942-2551

Member of

The Texas Tech University SystemAssociated Collegiate Press

Texas Intercollegiate Press Association

“Yes, it’s my zodiac sign on the back of my neck.”

“I have a tattoo. One that shows my religious belief. It is the Ichthus (aka Jesus fish).”

“Yes, because there’s freedom to do whatever you want and it’s a form of art.”

“No, I would not get one because of personal preference.”

Do you have a tattoo? Why or why not?

“No, because they do not look appealing.”

SidewalkSurvey

What’s

Website aids in informed choices

Abba Ward,junior

Briana Morris,freshman

Lauren Landon,freshman

Daniel Portillo,freshman

Lorri Crum,junior

on ?mindComment with your thoughts

on the tattoo convention& other issues at

www.asurampage.com

Cont

ribut

e

news writingphotography

cartoonscolumn writing

Letter to the editorI don’t know about everyone

else, but I found it highly amus-ing that the issue of the Ram Page which discussed ASU’s sad financial state also featured arti-cles on the library and the CHP. Why it’s almost as if the events could be linked.

Regarding the library, I would like to congratulate the school for blowing 4.3 million dollars on IKEA, glass panels, and a Starbucks. Some may be excited by the novelty, dry-erase walls, which are certainly an amusing way to pass forty-five seconds, but perhaps people should take a hard look at what they are getting. The second floor and basement are still full of displaced books. Months of inconvenience and millions of dollars were wasted and all we have to show for it are more flat screen televisions that we don’t need. Laptop rentals is perhaps a bad idea that has seen its time, but why not rent them out of the MCS? The IT desk on the first floor is pointless, there is a perfectly good one on the third floor. The Starbucks is also un-necessary, there’s a larger one

fifty yards away.I have better hopes for the

CHP, but I can’t shake the feel-ing that this school is a sixteen-year-old that has found her fa-ther’s credit card.

If ASU wants to bring in more students in with a shiny new library, I’m sure it will work. But here’s a concept: Cheaper housing, a book store with competitive prices, side-walks that don’t flood.

Centennial is a nice place, but how many Conchos could be built on the same land at the same cost?

ASU isn’t a bad place, but we waste money we don’t have on things we don’t need and then people are surprised when it runs out. Madness. We are a small school and there’s nothing wrong with that, but if we keep spending like a large school we are going to IKEA our self into insolvency. We have real prob-lems. Let’s do something about them before we build a Star-bucks in Academic.

Kolby LaraContributing Writer

I walked out to my car in a slow pace that suggested I was deep in thought. Just moments ago I had been sitting in class, Intercultural Communications, to be exact, and now my mind was full of today’s lecture. My professor had asked the ques-tion, “Why does the current generation have trouble com-municating face-to-face?”

At first, most of the class looked around shyly, hoping somebody else would answer. Eventually, a few people of-fered some suggestions. Maybe it was because technology had advanced? Maybe people in general are shy? Maybe Amer-ica was changing and no longer needed polite conversation?

I listened to all the sugges-tions and processed them care-fully. In truth, I think it’s sad that very few people take the time to call someone and have a simple chat. Who has time to stop whatever they are do-ing and just talk to a friend? Isn’t the point of new technol-ogy to minimize the time spent on small tasks in order to fit in more time?

I remember a weekend I spent visiting my family. While in the car with my little sister, her cell phone went off. “Dude,

just text me,” my little sister said, “I’m busy.” I laughed and asked why someone calling an-noyed her. My little sister ex-plained, “Texting is just easier.”

I have to wonder if technol-ogy has really changed our abil-ity to communicate on a warm level that much. Since when did <3 replace the word love? When did OMG and ROFL become substitutes for actual phrases? Are we really that captivated by our iPhones, Droids, and Black-berries that we can’t tear our eyes away from the screen and say a simple thank you when a stranger holds the door open?

I would like to think that technology is here to better our society, not cripple our abilities to communicate. I think only time will tell if this generation, and the ones after it, will realize the value of the spoken word.

See this space?Fill it withyour

work.

Robert ThompsonCentennial Village

iPhonegot yourtongue?

We think that students should use Rate My Professors at www.ratemyprofessors.com to take fur-ther control over their academic ca-reers.

Students should take advan-tage of all resources made avail-able to them while in college. Tu-ition fees are not a trivial matter. A lot of money goes down the drain when an unknowing student ends up with a teacher whose class does not suit his or her learning style, whether the teacher gives tests on material that wasn’t covered suffi-ciently or is impossibly meticulous in grading papers.

Rate My Professors can be use-

ful to all students, especially for freshmen and sophomores, who generally do not know many teach-ers. It can also help to ease their nerves at the start of the semester if they know a few things about the teachers beforehand. While this website might not be as useful to students of higher classification, who do not have as many teachers to choose from, they can definitely provide some valuable insight on teachers for new students.

Most students seem to rely on word of mouth when deciding whose classes to take. This is not ef-fective enough, especially when the majority of students do not share common instructors. There is no way to tell that a class is not worth taking, unless you happen to know someone who has already taken it. We think this website is the most ef-fective way for students to spread the word.

We hope that if more people use this website, the more lackluster teachers will become more moti-vated to do their jobs. Most students should be happy to say positive things about good teachers, but not

so much about teachers who do not put effort into giving students what they paid for.

There is no reason not to start using the website—we find the site easy to navigate and use. Students rate the teachers on easiness, help-fulness, clarity, and rater interest. What is probably the most helpful is the comment section, in which stu-dents can specifically point out any-thing from the amount of assigned reading to a preview of what kind of tests to expect. The more students contribute, the more information they get in return.

For those with iPhones, the Rate My Professors application is free.

As with all things, students should exercise good judgment by putting aside personal differences and reflecting on their teachers and classes rationally. Any lazy or biased student can “blacklist” a teacher simply because he or she did not get the desired grade. Bitter comments and spiteful ratings do not help anyone. We trust that stu-dents will try to stay as objective as possible and give fair, justified rat-ings and comments.

LOL

OM

G

ROFL

IMO

CUL8R

<3

lmao

:)

ttyl

g2g

Friday, January 21, 2011 Page 7

Photo by Pam BelcherChris Brown, freshman, hits the book in the new library.

Sports

Friday, January 21, 2011Page 8 Sports

Men’s BasketballSchool Overall

Women’s Basketball

Standings

Tarleton St.Incarnate WordMidwestern St.Eastern NMAngelo StateWTAMUAbilene ChristianA&M- Kingsville

Tarleton St.WTAMU Angelo StateIncarnate WordMidwestern St.Abilene ChristianEastern NMA&M- Kingsville

School Overall

12-313-214-3 7-86-9

14-28-7

5-10

13-210-69-6

5-105-104-113-122-13

What to watch for:1-22: Women’s vs. WTAMU 5:30 p.m. Men’s vs. WTAMU 7:30 p.m.

Conf.

3-02-12-12-02-11-20-30-3

Conf.

3-03-02-11-21-21-21-20-3

Andy AtterburySports Co-Editor

The ‘Belles (8-6), (1-1) took on the Tar-leton basketball team Saturday, Jan. 15 and went down 47-65.

“We didn’t do the things we needed to well enough in order to get the win,” junior center Paige Weishuhn said. “We didn’t play tough, nor play like we know we are capable of.”

Weishuhn had five points and four re-bounds and senior guard Camille Perkins led the team 14 points and eight boards.

“Tarleton is a very good team and we let their physical defense get to us,” Head Coach

Sally Brooks said.Sophomore forward Lindsey Mahone

had 10 points off the bench and freshman forward Karli Kellermeier finished with nine points.

The girls made 26.1 percent of their field goals and were down 20-30 at the half against the TexAnns (12-2), (2-0).

“What hurt us the most was our lack of toughness and lack of good decision mak-ing,” Weishuhn said. “We gave up too many

boards and too many great scoring opportu-nities.”

There are 11 conference games left in the season and Coach Brooks said she thinks the team is still improving.

“I feel like we are continuing to get bet-ter,” Brooks said. “We are going to compete every time we step on the floor.

This years ‘Belle squad has a lot of poten-tial, Weishuhn said.

“We need to improve on both ends of the court,” Weishuhn said. “We are nowhere close to being as great as we know we can be. We have to improve mentally as well, such as [have] trust in and have confidence in each other like we have shown in previous games.”

The next home game for the ‘Belles is Saturday, Jan. 22 at 5:30 during the ASU True Blue Campaign.

Andy AtterburySports Co-Editor

The cheerleading team took eighth place at the Universal Cheerleaders Associ-ation Collegiate Nationals in Orlando, over the weekend of Jan. 14.

To make it to the finals, the cheerlead-ers had to send in a skills tape to the UCA as well as a crowd tape (a tape of the girls cheering at a live game), and that was be-fore they even got to cheer in Florida on Jan. 15.

“Saturday morning we woke up and competed,” sophomore cheer captain Ari Bizzell said. “From there we were placed

in the finals, and then competed again [that day].”

The team performed a two-and-a-half minute routine consisting of a cheer, a dance, stunts, and tumbling, freshman Averi Ruiz said.

Having to compete twice in the same day was hectic, but it also created an advan-tage to the younger girls, Ruiz said.

“We only have 10 minutes to warm up so it gets pretty stressful,” Ruiz said. “The first time me and the other rookies seemed really nervous, but the second time around we knew what to do so it made it easier.”

The girls beat out six other teams to se-cure a spot in the finals.

“I thought [the team’s performance] was really good,” Bizzell said. “We came together as a family and were able to [get out there] at nine in the morning give it ev-

erything.The squad has 10 rookies, but that

didn’t hinder their performance at all, Biz-zell said.

“A lot of our team hadn’t competed [nationally] before,” Bizzell said. “For over half of our team not competing [before], for us to go out there and trust each other with everything was awesome.”

Cheering on the big stage was a great experience, Ruiz said.

“It’s been my dream to compete at the college level since I was little,” Ruiz said. “So to get to finals was awesome.”

While in Florida the girls had the chance to go to Disney World, Bizzell said.

“I don’t know if everyone saw Mickey Mouse though,” Bizzell said. “Mickey Mouse is a hard guy to find.”

Andy AtterburySports Co-Editor

Ram basketball (5-9), (1-1) played Ste-phenville Saturday, Jan. 15 and lost 70-53.

“I think we played bad on the defensive end,” freshman guard Andre Adams said. “We gave them too many looks.”

Adams had nine points off of the bench. and Senior guard Rich Thomas led both teams with his 21-point effort and led the Rams with six rebounds.

“I thought Tarleton outplayed us,”

Head Coach Fred Rike said. “We got out-rebounded and gave up too many points in the paint.”

Senior guard Steven Moore had eight points and forwards junior LaDonn Huck-aby and senior Ridge McKeither both con-tributed four points to the Rams’ efforts against the Texans (11-3), (2-0).

Opposing teams scoring points in the paint is a major concern for the team, Ad-ams said.

“I think right now we need to focus on stopping people from getting in the paint,” Adams said. “Then we can focus on every-thing else.”

Even with Monday’s holiday, the team still practiced and plans to practice when

they arrived in Kingsville on Wednesday, Adams said.

“Our focus is defense,” Adams said. “We have a lot of weapons and we can score. We just need to focus on stopping teams.”

The Rams take on Texas A&M Kings-ville on Wednesday, Jan. 18.

“Kingsville is a totally different team,” Rike said. “They’ll play us totally different. They’ll probably play a lot of zone against us so we’ll try and prepare for that. Hope-fully [we’ll] do a better job of getting the ball inside.”

The Rams will play West Texas A&M Saturday in the Junell Center at 7:30 during ASU’s True Blue Campaign.

Andy AtterburySports Co-Editor

I feel bad for s o c c e r fans.

T h e y are some of the most pas-s i o n a t e s p o r t s

fans on planet Earth, but their sport hardly gets any love.

Somehow I stumbled upon the Major League Soccer 2011 SUPERDRAFT on ESPN 15 be-tween billiards and poker and I wasn’t sure what I was watching.

There were teams I’ve never heard of selecting players I’ve never heard of. This could just be my fault for being ignorant.

Most people don’t know of my rich soccer background. I played one season in the eighth grade on a recreational team. Mainly I was a defensive specialist, but the one game I played midfield, I shined. My lone career goal capped off our 11-nil victory in the last game of the season. I am still considered somewhat of a local hero in Cle-burne, TX, but this isn’t about me, it’s about futbol.

The average salary for an MLS footballer is around $100,000. That sounds pretty hefty to common folk like you and myself, but compared to any other sport, it’s chump change. The average NBA player earns around three million dollars. The same goes for the MLB, with an NFL or NHL player receiving close to two million.

Two hundred and fifty one thousand fans watch Major League Soccer games on average, according to www.sportsmedi-awatch.net. The Jersey Shore sea-son premiere raked in 8.45 MIL-LION viewers. The most popular sport in the world gets beat out by people going to the gym and tan-ning in America—makes sense.

So why hasn’t soccer or fút-bol ever caught on in America? David Beckham asks himself the same question every night before he goes to sleep, after he wonders about why his wife ever left the Spice Girls.

Maybe it’s more popular in Europe and other countries be-cause they don’t have American football, baseball, hockey, or bas-ketball for the most part. Maybe it’s because, unlike most of the world, kids aren’t raised playing soccer all day and night in the streets. I can’t answer on the be-half of the whole nation.

The good news is, once every four years everyone in the coun-try straps on their red, white, and blue and pretends to be a hooli-gan. And man, it sure is beautiful.

Jason HelmsContributing Writer

ASU’s Co-Rec intramural flag football team, IM Legends, won the American Col-legiate Intramural Sports National Cham-pionship that took place Dec. 29 through 31 at the University of New Orleans.

The IM Legends went undefeated in the five games they played in the tourna-ment and managed to outscore their op-ponents 226 to 34. This was ac-complished by a combination of great defense and a methodical offense, quarterback Reid Jack-son said.

“Our offense takes great pride in running [all] 34 plays in our playbook…and to have that kind of organization makes it easy for us to drive down the field on every possession,” Jackson said.

Jackson said that defense won champions for the IM Leg-ends. “We really like to brag about our defense,” he said.

The squad defeated Uni-versity of Nebraska (46-18) and University of Louisiana-Lafay-ette (35-0) in pool play, which earned them a spot in the play-offs.

In their first two playoff matches, the ASU representa-tives were matched up against teams from Georgia Southern University and University of Kentucky.

After the IM Legends routed both teams by scores of 32-0 and 61-0 respectively, the ASU squad advanced to the finals, where they played a team from Florida Gulf Coast University.

They continued their tournament dominance, defeating the FGCU squad 52-16, on New Year’s Eve Day, which earned the team the title of 2010 ACIS Co-Rec Flag Football Champions.

The team also earned the James L. “Jet” Smith Memorial Scholarship Award for winning their division.

Recognition did not stop there, as sev-eral IM Legends’ team members brought

home individual awards as well. This list includes Reid Jackson (Male

Offensive MVP), Danielle Walts (Female Offensive MVP), Jodie Jackson (Female Defensive MVP), and Trevor Brunet (Male Defensive MVP).

Team members Alysha Currie and Jer-rell Jones received All-Tournament honors.

“Our team is like a really close family, so to be able to accomplish the title of being National Champions with them is some-thing I will never forget,” Jackson said. “To be considered the best coed flag football team in the whole nation out of every uni-versity is very special to us.”

Rambelles receive tough loss from TexAnnsBasketball: Girls get down, unable to get back up

Co-rec team wins ACIS National ChampionshipIntramurals: ASU’s flag foot-ball team dominates at New Orleans tournament

Pro soccer deserves yearly column, at least

Come support your Angelo State University basketball teams while sporting your best blue ASU shirt for the True Blue Campaign!

ASU cheerleaders come in ateighth at Nationals in Orlando

ASU Rams fall to Texans’ big defenseBasketball: ‘We just need to focus on stopping teams’

Cheerleading: Girls perform, visit Walt Disney World

“We are nowhere close to being as great as we know we can be.”

-center Paige Weishuhn

Photo Courtesy of University RecreationCo-Rec intramural flag football team, IM Legends