Pg. 2 Trading CardsFriday, March 9, 2012

Vol. 78 No. 21www.asurampage.com

Pg. 4 Galaxy Express

Spring Break has arrived! News: Angelo Trading Card Club

Opinions: Hello from the past!

Sports: Interview with Austin Slone

pg. 2

pg. 5

pg. 6

2 a.m. Sunday, March 11Daylight Savings Time

The Ram Page staff wishes thecampus a safe and fun break!

March 12 through 16

Move your clocks ahead one hour

Campus ministry to help mend lives

Dillon BrollierStaff Writer

The Board of Regents of the Texas Tech Uni-versity System approved a 1.96 percent tuition increase on March 2 for the 2012-2013 academic year.

The tuition increase was made in response to the rising costs of running an institution, Vice President of Finance and Administration Mi-chael Reid said.

“The university made the request to the board and they approved it,” Reid said.

The school needs to generate approximately two to three million dollars for the next year in order to keep up with everything here on cam-pus, Reid said.

“The 1.96 percent increase will generate roughly $770,000,” Reid said. “School officials are currently looking at what else can be done to generate the rest of the revenue needed.”

One student said he recognizes the need for more funds, but is still disappointed with the in-crease.

“I’m leaving ASU next semester, so I won’t be affected by it directly, but it is unfortunate,” senior Scott Jarmon said. “It’s a shame because ASU was once known for the value and the great bang-for-the-buck, and that is slipping away more and more with each semester.”

Reid said that while any increase in tuition is disappointing, the most recent increase is the smallest increase on record since 2004.

Contribute: Students can help decrease or maintain rates

Tuition increase approved for next academic year

Photo by Pam BelcherBrian Bledsoe, Matt Larson, Allison Petty, Janet Heismann, Mike Cashin and Colby Medina are some of the students in Chi Alpha participating in “Surprise Home Makeover,” a spring break mission trip at Bastrop, Texas.

Photo by Pam BelcherJimmy (Roy Economides) and Staccato (Brian Nicholas Carter) brood over life’s harsh reali-ties.

Student agriculture group educates second graders

Adam WashingtonStaff Writer

Local second grade students experi-enced rural farm life Friday at the ASU Management Instruction and Research Center for Barnyard Day, hosted by Block and Bridle Club.

Block and Bridle Club annually hosts Barnyard Day, which provides a hands-on learning experience for Crockett Elemen-tary second graders.

Reporter for Block and Bridle Kelley Har-low said the children come out to learn about the byprod-ucts of sheep, where their clothes come from, where their food comes from and other topics.

“It exposes kids to a part of life they may not get at home,” Harlow said. “The kids who are raised within city limits don’t

get to see what agriculture is all about.”Barnyard Day allows the children to

get out of school for a day and get a differ-ent perspective on life, Harlow said.

Harbin taught the children where food comes from.

“These days, a lot of people think their meat just comes from H-E-B, and no one really knows where it comes from,” Har-bin said. “We bring the kids out to show that people actually raise cows, horses, goats and sheep.”

Although Barnyard Day is for second grade students, special edu-cation students got to enjoy the fun and edu-cational experience.

Kyla Stone, mem-ber of the Council for Exceptional Children helped supervise the special needs children while they learned about the animals.

“Even though we live in San Angelo and there is agriculture all

around us, a lot of the kids don’t under-stand its importance,” she said. “It’s an

Block and Bridle:Elementary students get‘different perspective on life’ at ASU ranch

Studentproductions

Just helping to take care of the campus helps with costs.

Michael ReidVP of Finance and Administration

pg. 4

Sawyer RicardStaff Writer

Chi Alpha plans March 6 to travel to Bastrop, Texas, over spring break to participate in projects to help the community.

The Christian fellowship will take part in a trip called “Surprise Home Makeover,” which consists of 25 proj-ects over a period of four days, to help improve the area they visit.

“Fifty people are expected to make the trip,” Campus Pastor Kasey Mur-phy said.

The projects will include cleaning up after wildfires and building wheel-chair ramps, Murphy said.

Chi Alpha started going on the trip four years ago, he said.

“We go every spring break,” he said. Murphy said, “We take the stu-

dents to an area that just needs labor-ers.”

The majority of the people who attend are students, though there are exceptions, senior Brian Bledsoe said.

“Some of the staff on Chi Alpha are going,” he said.

In the past, there have been many large projects the fellowship worked on while on this trip.

“Last year we worked on an or-phanage and remodeled several build-ings,” Bledsoe said.

He said the trip they took to re-model the orphanage is his favorite.

“I liked it because in the four days we were there we changed several kids’ lives,” he said.

While remodeling the orphanage,

the children were not there, he said. The children were surprised to find

that while they were gone the build-ings had been remodeled, Bledsoe said. This was a chance to help kids who had been through rough times, he said.

A year before that Chi Alpha fo-cused on the house of a widow.

“It needed a lot of refurbishing work and the wife didn’t know how to do it,” Murphy said. “We went and re-modeled the house completely.”

The trip itself is a way for people on campus to help others, he said.

“It’s an excellent opportunity to go serve people,” he said.

Murphy said he has attended the mission all four years since it started.

This year will not be his last, he said.

Chi Alpha: Annual spring break mission trip provides

See ASUpg. 3

Even though we live in San Angelo and there is agriculture

all around us, a lot of the kids don’t under-stand its importance.

Kyla StoneCouncil for Exceptional Children

See Studentspg. 3

See Dissentpg. 3

Friday, March 9Page 2 NEWS

Events CalendarGet involved on campus! Here’s what’s going on

this week.

Friday, March 9E. James Holland University Symposium Student Contest Exhibit from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Gallery 193

University Theatre production of: An Evening of Student Works at 8 p.m. in the Modu-lar Theater

Saturday, March 10UREC: OA Spring Break Back-packing Trip

Center for International Studies: Passport Fair from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the CIS Passport Office

University Theatre production of: An Evening of Student Works at 8 p.m. in the Modu-lar Theater

Sunday, March 11U.S. Field Army Band Perfor-mance from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the C.J. Davidson Center

Monday, March 12Spring Break

E. James Holland University Symposium Student Contest Exhibit from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Gallery 193

Cafe’ et Conversation from 5 to 6 p.m. in the University Center Room 110/111

Tuesday, March 13E. James Holland University Symposium Student Contest Exhibit from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Gallery 193

El Cafecito from 9 a.m. to noon at the Multicultural Center

Wednesday, March 14Business Plan I: Writing the Narrative from 2 to 4:30 p.m. in Rassman 100

Student Recital from 4 to 5 p.m. in the Carr Education-Fine Arts Building

Thursday, March 15Deadline: Textbook Adoption for Summer I & II

Notice: Textbook Adoption for Fall Semester due in 30 days

Priority Date for 2012 Ap-plications

International Graduate Ap-plications Due for Summer I & II Semesters

E. James Holland University Symposium Student Contest Exhibit from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Gallery 193

El Cafecito from 9 a.m. to noon at the Multicultural Center

Business Plan II: Financials from 2 to 4:30 p.m. in Rass-man 100

Submit event requests by 5 p.m. Tuesday for Friday publication to rampage@angelo.edu

$1.50DRAFT BEER Rich O’Toole

Friday • 3.23

Roger CreagerThurs. • 3.15

Jon WolfeTONIGHT!!

midnightrodeosanangelo.com

Committee searches for new vice president

Sawyer RicardStaff Writer

A special committee started searching Feb. 27 nationwide for a new vice president of Student Affairs and Enrollment Manage-ment.

The current vice president of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, Dr. Vance Valerio, will retire at the end of the semes-ter. He is heading the committee to search for a new vice president.

A separate committee will search for a new associate vice president of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management when the current Associate Vice Presi-dent Dr. Cindy Skaruppa leaves ASU in June and a new vice presi-dent has been found.

The committee to find a new vice president consists of eight representatives from administra-

tion, faculty, staff and students, Valerio said.

President Dr. Joseph C. Rallo appointed Valerio and Skaruppa to head the first committee, Di-rector of Human Resources Kur-tis Neal said.

Once a new vice president is chosen, he or she will lead a search committee to find the new associate vice president, Rallo said.

“We will allow the new vice president to hire his or her own associate vice president,” he said. “It’s not really appropriate to bring a brand new person in, and they have another new person as their second in command.”

According to the ASU web-site, candidates must have expe-rience in some of the fields over-seen by the position and 10 or more years of experience.

Five of these years must be in an administrative position, he said.

The candidates must also have hands-on service as a dean, assistant vice president or vice

president, and a doctorate in Col-lege Student Personnel Admin-istration, Higher Education or a related field.

The person selected will handle both current and future responsibilities as the now-per-manent job becomes a stronger part of campus, he said.

The position requires that several responsibilities be met.

“[The job is] related to the functions of student affairs, stu-dent development, enrollment services and the HSI (Hispanic Serving Institution).”

The committee hopes to have two or more finalists after con-ducting phone interviews with applicants, he said.

Valerio said the commit-tee plans to bring the finalists to campus for interviews in May and hire someone by summer.

The job itself is only two years old, he said.

“It was created in the 2009-2010 school year,” he said.

Rallo said that though ASU expected the job to become per-

manent, Valerio and Skaruppa’s employment would be tempo-rary.

“They were high-level people hired for a very short time,” he said.

They are hired “if you don’t know exactly what you want the position to be” or if a new division is created, he said.

Bringing in experienced peo-ple helped the school “find out what kind of person we want for the permanent position,” he said.

The associate vice president was hired to help with the enroll-ment management, Rallo said.

“The enrollment manage-ment really focuses on the admis-sion process,” he said. “Skaruppa’s primary responsibility is all of the admissions and interactions with the high schools that come here.”

The search committee for the new associate vice president is expected to start in May after the replacement vice president is found.

Business attire fashion to be held after break

Dillon BrollierStaff Writer

A business fraternity Tuesday, March 20, will present an interac-tive fashion show to enlighten the audience on dress styles that are appropriate for the work place.

Delta Sigma Pi is hosting the

Dress for Success Event from 7 to 9 p.m. March 20 at the University Center in the C.J. Davidson Cen-ter.

“The purpose of the event is to identify the different catego-ries of clothing that are appro-priate in the workplace and how to wear these styles and when to wear these styles,” Delta Sigma Pi member Erica Adkins said.

Students can ask questions about workplace-appropriate style and ask for tips about inter-views, Adkins said.

CEO of T h e i m a g e -dressforsuc-cess Bron Aus-tin Deal will be the keynote speaker at the event.

“I feel like no one is pro-fessionally de-veloping col-

lege students,” Deal said.The aim for this event is to

give back to college students and give them some kind of insight on not only the proper attire for the workplace, but also how they should carry themselves in differ-ent professional situations, Deal said.

Dr. June H. Smith, Profes-sor of Communications, said the fashion show is a great way for students to learn about work-place apparel.

Professional dress is different from “dressing up,” Smith said. A lot of people think that dressing up is for social events when they should be aiming for a profes-sional look.

Although the fashion show will focus on proper workplace dress, the show will also serve to help the community.

The show will collect food products to benefit the Concho Valley Food Bank, which is part-

nering with Delta Sigma Pi for the event.

“We also want students to learn how to present and pro-mote themselves as they search for their dream career,” Adkins said. “We hope to give back to the community in this way.”

ConocoPhillips, Texas State Bank, Oliver, Rainey, Wojtek and Suddenlink are all sponsoring the event, Adkins said.

“JC Penney will be providing the clothing for the catwalk,” Ad-kins said.

Models for this year’s event will come from different student organizations on campus so that the show might represent the diversity of students on campus, Adkins said.

Deal said that the models will represent professional, casual and smart casual attire.

This is Delta Sigma Pi’s sec-ond year hosting the event.

Photo Courtesy of Delta Sigma Pi

Potential group to gather trading card players

Dillon BrollierStaff Writer

The Student Government As-sociation voted to recommend a student group for official organi-zation status in their meeting last Monday.

As of Wednesday, the An-gelo Trading Card Club has not

achieved official organization status.

The ATCC aims to give stu-dents and fans of card games a place to trade, play and meet new players.

“I hope that it will gather a large crowd with a common in-terest so everyone can gather and have fun with each other,” poten-tial president of ATCC Tim Mad-dox said.

Potential vice president Dustin Dodson said he wants to bring players together.

“I see a lot of dif-ferent groups of peo-ple playing Magic and I would really like to bring all of those groups together,” Dod-son said.

Some people still have their Yu-Gi-Oh cards and some may even still have Poké-mon cards, Dodson said. The ATCC won’t ignore any game that people still play.

The ATCC would be ASU’s first official club that gears toward trading card games. It will be an original or-ganization started by Maddox and Dodson.

“It felt really good to get a unanimous decision from SGA,” Maddox said. “It was a nice added touch.”

Currently the ATCC has 34 members, but anyone who wants to play, learn or teach different games are welcome to join, Dod-son said.

“It is going to be something new and hopefully really enjoy-able,” sophomore Cameron James said.

Maddox and Dodson said

they are already lining up events for when the ATCC becomes of-ficial.

“We are going to have tourna-ments once a month and will give out various prizes,” Maddox said.

There will be two brackets: one for experienced players and the other for beginners, Maddox said.

The experienced players’ bracket will have a one-dollar en-try fee and prizes will be given out to the top three players, Maddox said.

The beginners’ bracket will not have an entry fee, but only the winner will get a prize, Mad-dox said.

“We want more people to move up to the experienced bracket, not only to get more people more experienced at the game, but also so we can gather a bit more revenue and have better prizes and help people start their own decks,” Maddox said.

“Magic the Gathering,” [the card game], is the focus,” Dodson said. “But we will welcome any game that anyone wants to play.”

The ATCC has a Facebook page to answer any questions or for anyone looking to join, Dod-son said.

Photo Illustration by Pam Belcher

Delta Sigma Pi: Event focuses on providingstudents insight onprofessional situations

ATCC: Unofficial student organization to focus on ‘Magic’ and aims to holdtournaments

Valerio: Current VP to retire by end of semester, heads search committee

Friday, March 9, 2012 Page 3NEWS

An unexpected pregnancy is a hard thing to face... The Pregnancy Help Center can help

We offer:

On staff medical professionalsAccurate InformationConfidential Support Pregnancy Testing

Verification by Ultrasound

All Services Offered Free of Charge

Pregnant?325-944-1515

www.pregnancyhelpcenter.net2525 Sherwood Way

“Even with the raise in tuition, the cost of at-tending ASU is not as bad when you compare it to bigger schools like UT and A&M,” senior Ryan Magness said.

Another student said he strongly dislikes any tuition increase.

“I can’t stand to see any kind of tuition in-crease when I see money being spent on the numerous beautification projects that are not necessary,” senior Candis Chastain said. “I am paying for an education, not a pretty campus.”

There are ways that students can help curb the costs of running an institution.

“Just helping to take care of the campus helps with costs,” Reid said.

Students living on campus can help by con-serving water, electricity and other utilities in their dorm rooms, Reid said.

“Last year during the water crisis we encour-aged anyone who saw any broken water sprin-klers to report them because that is one of the biggest costs to the school,” Reid said.

While tuition increases and budget cuts are common in budgeting, there are other ways to generate more revenue, Reid said.

The school could increase the number of students in each classroom, which would gener-ate more revenue for the university, Reid said.

“But, then, at what point are there too many students in the classroom?” Reid said.

Students to get a taste of missionary life over spring break

Photo by Pam BelcherSheep tend to their young at the ASU Ranch.

ASU students exposelocal children tofarm animal diversity

News BriefsStaff Reports

ASU’s Handball Club won the Division II team championship and placed 11th overall at the 60th USHA National Collegiate Championship Tournament Feb. 22-26 at Missouri State Univer-sity in Springfield, Mo.

With 2,179 points, the Handball Club smoked Southwestern University, the runner-up team that finished with 896 points.

ASU’s Tara Niemann won the Division 2A women’s Class “A” national championship and Morgan Solsberry won the Division 3 class “B” men’s national championship.

experience, and kids learn through experi-ence.”

It is imperative to get the kids out of the classroom and into a hands-on environment, Stone said.

Giving the students an opportunity to see and interact with the animals produces an op-portunity for higher-level thinking, she said.

Treasurer of Block and Bridle Corey Burson said the main things students learn are respon-sibility and the differences between the animals.

“The kids learn how to take care of a variety of animals they may have never seen,” Burson said.

She said the most rewarding part is listening to the children’s questions, realizing how much they didn’t know, and seeing what they have learned at the end of the day.

Second grade teacher of Crockett Elemen-tary Jennifer Timm said Barnyard Day is impor-tant because it relates to classroom curriculum.

Timm had just taught the children about natural resources such as animal resources and cotton.

The second graders learned the difference between man-made resources and natural re-sources, but most of them had no hands-on ex-perience.

“Letting the kids come out here and touch real wool on a live animal is pretty impressive; they won’t forget it,” Timm said.

Continued from Page 1

Photos by Pam Belcher

UCPC Tuesday hosted Spin Art Shutter Shades. The pro-cess consisted of dripping paint on glasses, secured to a spinning plate, to create a swirl effect. The event took place between the University Center and Porter Hender-son Library.

March is Women’s History Month, and ASU is celebrating this with award-winning films, music and refreshments.

The Gender Studies Program will show several screenings of recognized films, which bring to light women’s accomplishments and triumphs over discrimina-tion in the U.S. and across the globe.

Students, faculty and staff

can enjoy free popcorn, candy, water and soft drinks at the next screening, which is Friday, March 23 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Texan Hall Theater. The Gender Studies Program will also show a film on March 30.

The Multicultural Center will recognize the empowerment and education of women Thurs-day, March 22 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the University Center Lobby with music and refresh-ments.

Staff Reports

Increase meets mixed reactions from students

Shutter shades ‘spin’ students

“I love doing it,” he said. “I will do it every year that I can.”

Bledsoe said this is a great opportunity for attending students to learn a few lessons.

“It’s nice to get a perspective of what it’s like to be a servant,” he said.

Most children who haven’t been on a mis-sion trip don’t know what it’s like to serve some-one, he said.

“They may serve people in jobs but it isn’t the same,” he said.

Bledsoe said one cannot find the emotional or spiritual connection in those jobs as they can on a mission trip.

“I just hope the guys and gals going on the trip get a chance to feel what it’s like to make a difference in someone’s life,” he said.

The students going on the trip will leave March 14 and return March 17.

Continued from Page 1

Continued from Page 1

Lisa Dees Managing Editor

Adapting to a new life came with challenges, but a Vietnamese student kept an open mind when she transferred to ASU.

Junior Quynh Nguyen studied at Hue College for two years before transfer-ring last fall to complete her bachelor’s degree in English, she said.

“It was very hard for me to adapt at first, but being at a nice school like ASU has helped,” Nguyen said. “People are so helpful. I’ve made many friends. I thank God for letting me choose ASU.”

She said after high school graduation she ap-plied for several institutions in the U.S., but her parents felt she was too young to move across the world.

In her second year at Hue, she received news about a transfer opportu-nity at ASU, Nguyen said.

“ASU accepted me as a transfer student, and I was also offered a trans-fer scholarship,” she said. “Now, I just need to finish my required courses.”

The independent think-ing of Americans came as a culture shock, she said. Vietnamese are close to each other and Americans act more independently.

“I think independence is a good thing, but in rela-

tionships, I found it made it harder on me at first,” she said.

Despite their indepen-dence, Nguyen said she has found Americans to be friendly and easy to talk with.

Her host family, for example, has helped ease Nguyen into American cul-ture, she said.

“I have a great host fam-ily,” she said. “They are very warm. They are like my sec-ond family, and they made my transition so much smoother.”

She said her host fam-ily helped her settle in and buy books for classes, as well as show her how to use Amazon and other popular websites.

Nguyen said she plans to graduate in December 2013 and then earn her mas-ter’s degree.

Eventually, she hopes to be an English professor in Vietnam and share Ameri-can culture with her stu-dents, Nguyen said.

She said students who wish to study abroad must look at the opportunity with spirit.

“If you have a good spir-it for adapting and learning you’ll be fine,” Nguyen said. “You need an open mind. Don’t isolate yourself.”

She is grateful to ASU for making her study abroad dream possible, she said.

Vietnam

International Student Spotlight

Quynh Nguyen

Friday, March 9, 2012Page 4 FEATURES

Dana ChoiEditor-in-Chief

Wild, dirty and energetic are three words Galaxy Express used to describe its music.

During their USA tour, punk rock band Galaxy Express, hav-ing very recently flown back to Texas from South Korea, will per-form tomorrow, March 10, at The Deadhorse.

Originating in a country that more or less idolizes pop music, Galaxy Express is somewhat con-fined to the small, underground rock scene that is prevalent in Hongdae, a region located in the western part of Seoul.

“There aren’t many live mu-sic scenes,” vocalist and guitar-ist Jonghyun Park said, advising that people who want to check out Korean underground music should give Hongdae a visit.

Even though South Korea generally doesn't acknowledge rock musicians as much as they do more conventional pop groups such as Girls’ Generation and

2PM, Galaxy Express has gotten its recognition. The group’s 2008 26-track debut album, “Noise on Fire,” won “Best Rock Album” at the 2009 Korean Music Awards. Park, Juhyun Lee (bass/vocals) and Heekwon Kim (drums) then, in 30 days, wrote, recorded, and released “Wild Days,” which got Galaxy Express the “Musician of the Year” honor at the 2011 Ko-rean Music Awards.

This shouldn't reflect the country’s overall reception of rock music, however. Galaxy Ex-press, which formed in 2006, has not performed that much on TV, and their music seldom plays on the radio, Park said.

Park said that inciting more enthusiasm for rock in Korea is his and the band members’ goal 24/7, and they try to achieve this by touring more and making more music.

“Actually, it’s getting better,” he said, “but still, many Koreans are listening to K-pop (Korean pop), so we have to try hard.”

To those looking into Korean

rock, check out Crying Nut, Park said.

He said he got into the lesser known genre of rock in the late 1990s, when the influential punk band Crying Nut “blew up” and he saw them perform on TV. They performed crazily and in a very unfamiliar way, thrashing and rolling around, Park said.

“At the time, I was very shocked—‘That’s so cool!’” he said. “So I started playing the gui-tar and forming a band.”

Park said, even though the band is influenced mostly by other Korean rock bands, it also draws inspiration from Ameri-can bands and artists such as the Ramones, The Clash, the Sex Pis-tols, the Rolling Stones, The Bea-tles, The Who, and Jimi Hendrix.

This is not their first time playing in America; in fact, Gal-axy Express performed at the SFSX Music Festival in Austin last year, as well as in New York, Los Angeles and Toronto while on the Seoulsonic Tour. Kim said it was a great experience and everyone

they met was “really kind.”Park said, though he sees

some differences between Ameri-can audiences and Korean audi-ences, it doesn’t matter where the crowd is from.

“Different languages, but it doesn’t matter, really,” he said, “because the important thing is feeling the energy.”

Lee said he loves playing live; being onstage in front of an au-dience “makes [him] feel alive,” and it certainly shows in the en-ergy the group gives out during its shows.

Kim said Galaxy Express is playing more in Texas this time around. Among the stops Galaxy Express will make in March are Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio. Why San Angelo?

“First we are going to see cow-tipping...kidding,” Park said. “We’re just going to look around, make friends. We don’t know [what to expect], but we’re ready to experience anything.”

Page Design by Dana Choi

Galaxy Express to make stop in San Angelo

Phot

os C

ourt

esy

of G

alax

y Ex

pres

s

10 p.m. SaturdayThe Deadhorse

210 S. Chadbourne St.

Different languages,but it doesn’t

matter, really...the important thingis feeling the energy.

Jonghyun Parkguitar/vocals

Adam WashingtonStaff Editor

The Arts at ASU program will hold ‘An Eve-ning of Student Works’ featuring five-one act plays in the modular theater at 8 p.m. March 8 through 10.

The program held these performances March 1 through 4.

Each play was written by a student play-wright and performed by ASU students.

Playwright of ‘What r u thinking?’ Brian Carter came up with his play from personal ex-perience.

The play reveals the inner thoughts of a boy and a girl on a date, Carter said.

“I have been on a lot of dates and they have always been very awkward,” Carter said. “I have always wondered what they were thinking. I’m sure it’s likewise for others as well.”

Carter explained that while dating is excit-ing and fun, it is also scary and nauseating at the same time. He said his play puts that into perspective.

The students of the theater program start-ed preparing for the show on first week of the Spring 2012 semester.

Preparing for the show consists of audi-tions, casting, countless rehearsals, script-reading on stage, developing characters, and then performing live, actor Magdalena Hogan said.

“It’s a very hard process,” she said. “It’s not only here at the theater; you have to rehearse at home on your free time to develop your charac-ter, but it’s definitely worth it in the end.”

Lots of research goes into these plays, Ho-gan said.

“One of my characters is from the 1940s, so I had to research what kind of cars they drive, what kind of styles they had, how would they walk, how would they talk, and what would my character wear,” Hogan said.

Actor Martin Rodriguez agrees with Ho-gan.

“It’s tedious work,” Rodriguez said. “You

have to constantly develop your character while keeping in mind your directors’ notes and how they want the show to go.”

Leigha Murray, director of Psychodrama, Staccato Man and Flightless Fables, had a dif-ferent perspective on preparation for the plays.

“It was a little scary at first because the only directive experience I’ve had was taking the directing class,” Murray said. “Directing three shows was scary and hectic at the same time, but I have a really great cast for all of my shows.”

She said not having prior experience was tough at first, but in the end the cast came to-gether and everything turned out well.

Although directing is a time-consuming job, Murray was prepared and took a lighter course load for the Spring 2012 semester.

“It wasn’t about trying to find time, it was more about trying to find a balance between my courses and putting my best into directing,” Murray said.

Costumer and director Eldra Sanford said process of preparation is the same anywhere, but each experience is unique.

“There is no way to compare any acting ex-perience, any costuming experience or any di-recting experience,” Sanford said. “They’re all different. We could take this same script, take it to a different city, cast it with different people, and it would be a totally different experience.”

The writing, acting and directing experi-ence gives these students something for their resume.

Playwright of ‘Staccato Man’ Jacob Scott said he will add this experience to his portfolio and it will prepare him for his career.

“As a playwright, it was a great opportunity to express opinions I have about certain topics through writing,” Scott said. “As the assistant director, I helped all the directors formulate some things they may have missed on stage, things they may have overlooked. I can work with them and help perfect the plays.”

He said he has learned a lot from the direc-tors and will pursue directing as a career.

Students produceoriginal one-act plays

Photos by Pam Belcher(Left): Diana (Heather Walker) finds an engagement ring in her champagne on a first date. (Right): Diana and Roger (Brandon Jones) share a surprising kiss as the shocked waiter looks on during the play “What r u Thinking?” written by Brian Nicholas Carter.

Jimmy (RoyEconomides) andStaccato (Brian Nicholas Carter) have

a disagreement during

the play “Staccato Man,” written by Jacob

Scott.

Phot

os b

y Pa

m B

elch

er

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 address 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., Monday. Submission does not guarantee publi-cation. Letters may be mailed, e-mailed or submitted at the news-paper’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

2011-2012A n g e l o S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y

Editor: Dana ChoiManaging Editor: Lisa DeesPhoto Editor: Pamela BelcherSports Editor: Stephen CoganStaff Writer: Dillon BrollierStaff Writer: Adam WashingtonStaff Writer: Sawyer RicardPhotographer: Mark McDanielOnline Editor: Adam WashingtonCirculation Manager: Adam WashingtonAdvertising Manager: Sara Beth Terral 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 ofThe Texas Tech University System

Associated Collegiate PressTexas Intercollegiate Press Association

“I’m going to study really hard.”

Andy Taylor,junior

“I’m getting my wisdom teeth taken out.”

Nieman McGara, senior

What are your plans for spring break?

SidewalkSurvey

OPINIONS

“I plan on going home and sleeping.”

Kaitlyn Powell,freshman

“I’m going to Alabama to celebrate my boyfriend’s 21st birthday.”

Cassady Hossenlopp,junior

“I’m going to Austin, San Antonio and Houston with my Korean friends.”

Donghyun Nam,junior

Friday, March 9, 2012 Page 5

Straightfrom theWeb

www.asurampage.com

Poll results

This week’s poll

Are you staying on campus/in San Angelo for spring break?

No, I’m going back home

No, I’m going on a vacation

Yes

Sometimes I might hear a com-ment along the lines of “They’re so late—this event happened last week!” throughout the day, whether I’m in class or getting to my next destina-tion.

I realize this may represent the thoughts of some people who, taking a very short break from electronic me-dia, pick up a paper and are knocked back by the rush of nostalgia that comes from reading about things that happened more than five hours ago.

Ram Page is, after all, a weekly paper. As timely as we try to be, it is not possible to cover something on Thursday after it happens for Friday distribution. It is certainly not pos-sible to cover something that hap-pens on a Saturday in a paper that was distributed the day before. While we often preview events and programs, we often as not cover things after they happen.

Although this may not reach my intended audience, I hope at least a majority of the readers and those who occasionally pick up an issue will un-derstand this: If we were to cover only things (still on a weekly basis) that happened, or will happen, within a one- or two-day timeframe, we could probably produce two-and-a-half

pages’ worth of material on a regular news week.

The rapid, well-received rise of other, more “efficient” media seems to be rendering the newspaper an anachronistic vestige of times domi-nated by typewriters and cigar-smoking editors. Newspapers are of-ten referred to as a “dying industry,” a sentiment I’m not aiming to prove or dispel. Most people are well aware, and sometimes intolerant, of the fact that newspapers are not capable of the same things as their website coun-terparts. We are so used to hearing about things mere hours, minutes—seconds, even—after they happen, through media such as news websites and Twitter. The printed publication, Ram Page being an example, cannot deliver information quite as prompt-ly, although, giv-en our week-to-week schedule, we try to make our coverage as timely as pos-sible.

On a related note, I highly encourage read-ers to notify Ram Page (rampage@

angelo.edu) of any errors, whether they are actually errors or not. If needed, we will print a correction and update the website. About a year ago, I wrote a column directed toward those who complained amongst themselves and made no effort to communicate with those who could actually make changes. I still stand behind that, and I would now like to apply what I said then to those who find fault, whether it is a factual error or a typo. It is bet-ter to catch and correct errors than to let them remain as they are. It is often said that we learn from our mistakes, but we can’t learn from mistakes we don’t know we’ve made.

Dana ChoiEditor-in-Chief

How often do you participate in ASU events?

Sometimes78%

Always

22%

Vote at www.asurampage.com

Submit columns and letters to the editor to rampage@angelo.edu

Letter from the Editor

Share your thoughts onissues and let us know what’s

happening on campus.

columnsletters to the editor

commentswww.asurampage.comrampage@angelo.edu

HiringRam Page Spring 2012

Considering a career in themedia after graduation? Start with ASU’s student-runnewspaper. We are looking for students who can meet deadlines and deliver quality. Applications available at B324 (library, third floor)

FMI: rampage@angelo.edu942-2323

Features Editor

Copy Editor

ASUThe past looks a lot like the pres-

ent, and most likely the future, too. Thirty years ago in 1982, Ram Page wrote about obstacles and opportuni-ties similar to those that the univer-sity faces today. It seems safe to say that recessions still rear their ugly head and ASU will never cease to find new construction outlets. Say hello to 1982.

Thursday, Sept. 2, 1982

While most of the country is mired in recession and stagnation, ASU seems to be experiencing un-precedented growth and progress.

With most colleges seeing a de-cline in enrollment, this fall’s enroll-ment at ASU is at a record high. And it has been accomplished without lowering of academic standards. If anything, standards have been tight-ened.

A recent survey showed over 75 percent of all entering freshmen at

ASU were in the top half of their high school graduating classes.

The increased number of better students to ASU is accredited to the university’s outstanding scholarship fund, in particular the Carr scholar-ship Fund.

The average American College Test score for entering freshmen re-ceiving Carr Scholarships is 24.3. This standard is parallel with those at Rice University.

But it is not only the student body which is growing. The whole campus is expanding and improving.

The new women’s residence hall and the new Business building are only the first in a long list of expan-sions and renovations planned for the near future.

The university is currently await-ing the final go-ahead from the vot-ers in November to start construc-tion on the new Nursing-Physical Science building.

The campus is also waiting for legislative approval for funding on many campus-wide improvements,

such as adding a third floor to the li-brary, renovating the Administration building, converting the old Business Administration building into the Journalism department and admin-istrative offices, building a central plant for campus heating and cooling and the list goes on.

And anyone who has ever dealt with the current phone system will be glad to know a new telephone sys-tem is planned to be installed within the new year or so.

The students at ASU have every reason to be proud of their university and the growth it is experiencing.

And every member of the admin-istration, faculty and staff deserves a pat on the back and a word of thanks for their part in making this campus a dynamic and attractive atmosphere for beginning our journey through life.

In other words: you’ve come a long way, ASU, and the best is yet to come.

You’ve come a long way,

Lisa DeesManaging Editor

Friday, March 9, 2012Page 6 SPORTS

Stephen CoganSports Editor

It was a week of winning as ASU’s softball women won five straight games against Texas A&M-International and Lone Star Conference rival Cameron University.

The women won a double-header against Texas A&M-Inter-national on Thursday and then snatched three against Cameron over Friday and Saturday to make their record 19-3 overall and 3-0 in the LSC.

Highlights were abundant throughout the series from soph-omore Morgan Spearman mak-ing a sliding catch in left field in Saturday’s doubleheader to the combined 20 runs scored in the

first game against Texas A&M-International.

“We played really well, pitched really well—a great way to start the conference play,” head coach Travis Scott said.

The ‘Belles pitching and de-fense allowed a total of 11 runs and the majority came from the 20-run game where the ‘Belles won 13-7.

The reigning LSC Hitter of the Week DeeshanaLynn Tafiti blasted two more home runs in the last game to give her 10 on the year.

The senior second baseman leads the entire conference in home runs, RBIs (36), and slug-ging percentage (.899).

The softball season is five weeks old and the `Belles already have three players with LSC Hit-ter of the Week honors.

It started in week three ,when

Spearman blasted back-to-back, game-winning grand slams that earned her Hitter of the Week in week three of the season.

Then, Tafiti hit four home runs and 14 RBIs over a five-game stretch to earn her award.

Now, for her contributions, junior catcher Kacie Easley has been named the Co-Hitter of the Week opposite Tarleton State’s Arianna Rodriguez.

“Hitting seems to be conta-gious for us right now,” Easley said. “It’s fun to be a part of the offensive production, and we’re just trying to ride the wave.”

The ‘Belles offense through 22 games has sparked 180 runs and allowed 80.

That’s an average of 8.18 runs per game.

Sophomore pitcher Mary Kate McKay earned her first of two wins in the series by allowing

one run in a 7-1 victory against Texas A&M-International.

McKay scattered seven hits over 6.0 innings of work and struck out seven batters.

In her second start, McKay tossed a one-hit 9-0 shutout against Cameron for the team’s second Lone Star Conference win.

She struck out seven batters over 5.0 innings to improve her record to 9-1 on the season.

McKay’s 1.58 ERA is second in the entire conference and her 65 strikeouts are fifth.

Senior pitcher Claire Molina grabbed the other three wins to improve her record to 10-2.

The women are undefeated at home with an 8-0 record and coach Scott said that he feels they are well on their way to their goal, which is to win the confer-ence and continue into playoffs.

In the latest release of the National Fastpitch Coaches As-sociation Top-25 Poll, the ‘Belles are now ranked third in all Divi-sion II schools.

“Our pitching’s doing well,” junior first baseman April Bres-hears said. “Of course we’re hit-ting the ball, so I think we’ll be good to go.”

The ‘Belles lead the Lone Star Conference with their 19-3 record.

Scott said he was pleased that so many of the student body came out to watch the `Belles play and he hopes they contin-ue to come out and support the team.

ASU’s next opponent will be LSC rival Eastern New Mexico in Portales, N.M., on March 9, for a doubleheader scheduled to be-gin at 1 p.m.

Softball takes five, gives none at home to extend streak to eight

Stephen CoganSports Editor

Junior Austin Slone is a member of ASU’s track team that’s season started Feb. 24.

Even though Austin spends sev-eral hours training and studying for his classes, he was kind enough to meet with me and answer my ques-tions, starting with a very simple one.

SC: How many hours are you tak-ing?

AS: 12.SC: How do you balance track

with school?AS: Time management. That’s

what it all boils down to, time man-agement and discipline.

SC: What events do you partici-pate in?

AS: I’m a jumper. Long and triple mainly, but when conference rolls around, I’m probably going to add high jump to that as well.

SC: What was it about track that made you want to get into it?

AS: The thing with track is it’s pretty much based on your own tal-ent. In the triple jump, I don’t have to

rely on anyone. If I’m a quarterback, I have to rely

on my [offensive] line, my receivers and running backs. In basketball, you have all four of your teammates plus you, and you can’t play one-on-five.

In track, at the end of the day, the points are added up as a team, but in your personal event, it’s just you.

SC: If you had to pick one mo-ment in your track life that you felt was your greatest moment, what would it be?

AS: I have two of them actually.SC: Well, let’s hear them.AS: The first one was back in

high school. I made it to regionals for long jump and triple jump, and I had never done that before.

The icing on the cake was taking home first place in long and triple jump and got to state.

SC: So, you had never been to regionals, and when you finally got there, you won both events? Wow. So, what is your second memory?

AS: My second memory is last year as a sophomore among upper-classmen. I took away fifth [place] at nationals.

SC: What’s the team’s attitude coming into this season after falling short of nationals last year? Do you

get any feelings from the players that they might have chips on their shoul-ders or something?

AS: Well, we definitely have chips on our shoulders seeing how ACU (Abilene Christian University) pretty much has a dynasty going on. This is my third year, so losing conference two times in a row already and be-coming second only to Abilene…. Oh yeah, it definitely makes you want to go out there and try even more.

SC: How far do you think the team will go this year?

AS: Well, we always have na-tional qualifiers. There’ll be a hand-ful, but I think the way the team is looking this year, we shall have at least 10 people going to nationals. At nationals, if we perform the way we can, I do believe we can finish in the top five.

SC: Any chance you might win the whole thing and put a champi-onship banner in the Junell Center?

AS: Of course. If all of us do what we’re supposed to do, we can defi-nitely win it all.

ASU will be holding a meet of their own over spring break at the track field March 14 and 15 with times to be announced later.

Getting to know Austin Slone, the jumperTrack: Student athlete talks about why he loves the sport

Softball: Women now 19-3

Photo by Pam BelcherJunior Austin Slone does a broad jump before ASU prac-tices for track.

Photo by Pam BelcherJunior Lauren Smith (No.3) jogs home after hitting a home run against Cameron.