12/3/12 issue

4
Provost is a term foreign to most students. The position is a powerful one in the academia landscape. The number two person in the hierarchy of ad- ministration at Henderson, the provost, oversees academic, re- search and curricular areas of the university. The provost will have power in many levels of the organization and will likely have an impact on each and ev- ery student throughout their tenure. The provost and vice presi- dent of Academic Affairs search that has been ongoing since this summer has narrowed and the next provost will be one of five finalists. They will each host a forum, and three have already spoken. The finalists include Dr. Risa E. Dickson, Dr. Martin J. Eisen- berg, Dr. Georgia M. Hale, Dr. Brenda S. Nichols and Dr. Rob- ert F. Scott Jr. Dr. Georgia M. Hale was the first candidate to speak. She is the dean of the College of Ap- plied Science and Technology at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith. She believes that her experience in higher edu- cation has given her the tools necessary to effectively fill the provost position. She also believes that her ability to make productive hires contribute to her ability to lead the university. In her letter to president Glendell Jones, Hale believes that her values relating to high- er education match well with the values that the university seeks to represent. She was associate dean twice for the College of Business and interim dean for a year at the University of Arkansas Fort Smith. Hale was also assistant dean of the College of Educa- tion. Hale has multiple scholarly publications on business and leadership. She has also imple- mented new initiatives at the schools’ she has worked for. Included are being part of the organization of trips to places like Mexico and Austria, as well as producing publications. Also joining Henderson’s search for a new provost, Dr. Brenda S. Nichols has become a finalist for the position. Her current position is the dean of the College of Arts and Sci- ences at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. According to Nichols’ appli- cation, she received her associ- ate’s, baccalaureate’s and mas- ter’s degrees at the University of Evansville. At Indiana Uni- versity, she earned her doctoral degree in nursing in 1983. From 1984-1987, Nichols was the di- rector of nursing research at the University of Southern Mis- sissippi in Hattiesburg. Soon thereafter, she expanded her resume to include three years, from 1987-1990, as the dean of the College of Health Sciences at Southern Cross University in Australia. At three universities Nichols has progressed to a full profes- sor receiving tenure, and she continues to teach a course each year in graduate nursing. She also is very active in com- munity and professional ser- vice and continues to conduct research and scholarly activi- ties. Beyond her experience in nursing and instructing nursing educational programs, Nichols has received several accredita- tions in the United States and abroad. These accreditations are in other fields and include social work, computing, physi- cal therapy, occupational thera- py and nurse anesthesia. Nichols has participated in distance learning programs. She has experience with print- based, televised, web-assisted and web-based formats. “I lead by chocolate,” Nich- olls explained in an open fo- rum on campus Friday. She explained that she always has candy in her office, whether to celebrate when someone gets what they want, or to commis- erate whenever she turns down a proposal. Nichols has played a part in core curriculum assessment and also conducted research with a grant from Lamar Uni- versity to benefit the Texas School for the Deaf and the Alabama School for the Deaf. Nichols collaborated with a deaf education and a chemistry faculty member to improve 5th grade science scores. Dr. Martin J. Eisenberg’s ex- tensive resume has earned him a spot as one of the finalists for Henderson’s provost search. Since earning his Ph.D. in eco- nomics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1988, Eisen- berg has held a number of posi- tions at multiple schools. Eisenberg believes that a lib- eral arts education is the best way to prepare for a life outside the walls of an institution. He accepts that no one can learn everything they will need to know in their lifetime while in school. Students must there- fore learn “An excellent liberal arts edu- cation emphasizes the develop- ment of critical thinking and problem solving skills, the abil- ity to analyze and to commu- nicate effectively,” Eisenberg said. “It also helps students explore themselves by asking them who they are, how they fit into the world, what their val- ues are, what a good life is and what difference do they want to make in their lives and in the world.” Currently Eisenberg serves Truman State University in Kirksville, Mo., as the interim dean of the School of Arts and Letters, and since 2001 has been an associate provost for the school as well. For 11 years, Eisenberg has been assisting the provost in program reviews and coordi- nating assessments and institu- tional research as well as super- vising the first-year Academic Advising and Student Success Center. He even served the school as acting registrar. Eisenberg has lead and co- ordinated university retention efforts, which is one area Hen- derson has had some issues in recent years. From Sept. 1994 to June 2001, he was an associate professor of economics for the school while also performing his administra- tive duties. Eisenberg knows the educa- tional system from all points of view, be it student, teacher or administrator, and he knows what is to be expected from each. “Students need to see how their education relates to their lives,” Eisenberg said. “They need to learn how they can ap- ply their education to the con- temporary work world and to the communities in which they live. They also need to be able to secure jobs upon graduation, so they must be able to articu- late to employers what they’ve learned and explain what they can do.” Dr. Risa Dickerson, another finalist for Henderson’s pro- vost search, earned her Ph.D at University of Southern Cali- fornia in interpersonal and or- ganizational communication in 1991, according to her resume. She has served as associate provost for academic personnel at California State University, San Bernardino from 2010 un- til present. She also serves as a professor in the department of communication studies. Since August 2012 Dickerson has been attending the Becom- ing a Provost Academy, a pro- gram created with the purpose of preparing leaders for their potential positions of provost in colleges and universities. She will be a part of this program until June of 2013. Other qualities and skills Dickerson has had experience with in her career as associate provost for academic person- nel include personnel manage- ment, institutional research, re- tention, promotion and tenure processes, faculty recruiting and hiring processes, and many more, according to Dickerson’s resume. Also according to her re- sume, Dickerson believes a liberal arts education is a pow- erful tool, and this is why Hen- derson appeals to her. She is also accustomed to working in the midst of diversity, and wel- comes it as part of the college campus. A another finalist, Dr. Rob- ert F. Scott, Jr. from Fort Hays State University in Kansas, will have his open forum on campus Friday, Dec.7 at 3:30 p.m. According to Scott’s applica- tion submitted to Henderson, Scott has received three de- grees from three universities; a bachelor of arts from Brock University in 1987, master of science from the State Univer- sity of New York College in Buffalo in 1989 and doctor or philosophy from Sam Houston State University in 1993. He currently serves as the dean for the College of Educa- tion and Technology at Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kan. Scott received his new ti- tle at Fort Hays in 2010. While at Fort Hays, he has served as chair of the department of jus- tice studies from 2007-10, assis- tant provost from 2000-02 and director of the justice studies program from 1996-2000. Scott was the vice president for aca- demic affairs and dean of Key- stone College in La Plume, Pa. for two years. From 2002-05 he was the vice president of aca- demic affairs and dean of facul- ty at the University of Maine at Fort Kent in Fort Kent, Maine. Scott’s faculty rank has earned him five tenure posi- tions. His areas of professional specialization include the Academic Quality Improve- ment Project, assessment and management effectiveness, distance education strategic development, recruitment and retention and strategic plan- ning. Scott’s participation in college distance learning cours- es has helped universities part- ner with GoArmy, SOCCOAST, Navy programs and abroad colleges such as one in Derry, Ireland. Since 1999, Scott has been nominated for numerous awards and inducted into sev- eral different honor societies. From 1999 to 2003, Scott has been nominated twice for both Pilot Award and Mortar Board and Fort Hays. He was induct- ed into Phi Theta Kappa as an honorary member of the Inter- national Honor Society of the two-year college at Keystone College. In 2010, Scott was a nominated by the National So- ciety of Collegiate Scholars for the Inspire Integrity Award. Candidates who have already visited campus for campus- wide forums include Hale on Nov. 28 and Nichols on Nov. 29. Eisenberg’s forum is on Dec. 3, Dickson’s on Dec. 5, and Scott’s on Dec. 7. The forums will be- gin at 3:30 and locations will be announced closer to the date of forum. News Features Sports 2 3 4 Index Oracle The MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012 HENDERSON STATE UNIVERSITY VOLUME 105, ISSUE 14 68/39 66/32 68/48 70/50 Compiled by staff The Oracle Provost finalists chosen, hold forums on campus FIRST IMPRESSIONS Candidates hoping to fill the provost position visited campus last week and three more are scheduled for this week. The can- didates are (from left to right, top to bottom) Dr. Brenda S. Nichols, Dr. Georgia M. Hale, Dr. Risa Dickson, Dr. Martin J. Eisenberg and Dr. Robert F. Scott Jr. These finalists will be under scrutiny of a committee that will choose one to be the next provost of the university. Photo courtesy of Fabled Pictures ‘Come Morning’ director’s story on page 3... Photos courtesy of HSU.edu

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Page 1: 12/3/12 Issue

Provost is a term foreign to most students. The position is a powerful one in the academia landscape. The number two person in the hierarchy of ad-ministration at Henderson, the provost, oversees academic, re-search and curricular areas of the university. The provost will have power in many levels of the organization and will likely have an impact on each and ev-ery student throughout their tenure.

The provost and vice presi-dent of Academic Affairs search that has been ongoing since this summer has narrowed and the next provost will be one of five finalists. They will each host a forum, and three have already spoken.

The finalists include Dr. Risa E. Dickson, Dr. Martin J. Eisen-berg, Dr. Georgia M. Hale, Dr. Brenda S. Nichols and Dr. Rob-ert F. Scott Jr.

Dr. Georgia M. Hale was the first candidate to speak. She is the dean of the College of Ap-plied Science and Technology at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith. She believes that her experience in higher edu-cation has given her the tools necessary to effectively fill the provost position.

She also believes that her ability to make productive hires contribute to her ability to lead the university.

In her letter to president Glendell Jones, Hale believes that her values relating to high-er education match well with the values that the university seeks to represent.

She was associate dean twice for the College of Business and interim dean for a year at the University of Arkansas Fort Smith. Hale was also assistant dean of the College of Educa-tion.

Hale has multiple scholarly publications on business and leadership. She has also imple-mented new initiatives at the schools’ she has worked for. Included are being part of the organization of trips to places like Mexico and Austria, as well as producing publications.

Also joining Henderson’s search for a new provost, Dr. Brenda S. Nichols has become a finalist for the position. Her current position is the dean of the College of Arts and Sci-ences at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas.

According to Nichols’ appli-cation, she received her associ-ate’s, baccalaureate’s and mas-ter’s degrees at the University of Evansville. At Indiana Uni-versity, she earned her doctoral degree in nursing in 1983. From 1984-1987, Nichols was the di-rector of nursing research at the University of Southern Mis-sissippi in Hattiesburg. Soon thereafter, she expanded her resume to include three years, from 1987-1990, as the dean of the College of Health Sciences at Southern Cross University in Australia.

At three universities Nichols has progressed to a full profes-

sor receiving tenure, and she continues to teach a course each year in graduate nursing. She also is very active in com-munity and professional ser-vice and continues to conduct research and scholarly activi-ties.

Beyond her experience in nursing and instructing nursing educational programs, Nichols has received several accredita-tions in the United States and abroad. These accreditations are in other fields and include social work, computing, physi-cal therapy, occupational thera-py and nurse anesthesia.

Nichols has participated in distance learning programs. She has experience with print-based, televised, web-assisted and web-based formats.

“I lead by chocolate,” Nich-olls explained in an open fo-rum on campus Friday. She explained that she always has candy in her office, whether to celebrate when someone gets what they want, or to commis-erate whenever she turns down a proposal.

Nichols has played a part in core curriculum assessment and also conducted research with a grant from Lamar Uni-versity to benefit the Texas School for the Deaf and the Alabama School for the Deaf. Nichols collaborated with a deaf education and a chemistry faculty member to improve 5th grade science scores.

Dr. Martin J. Eisenberg’s ex-tensive resume has earned him a spot as one of the finalists for Henderson’s provost search. Since earning his Ph.D. in eco-nomics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1988, Eisen-

berg has held a number of posi-tions at multiple schools.

Eisenberg believes that a lib-eral arts education is the best way to prepare for a life outside the walls of an institution. He accepts that no one can learn everything they will need to know in their lifetime while in school. Students must there-fore learn

“An excellent liberal arts edu-cation emphasizes the develop-ment of critical thinking and problem solving skills, the abil-ity to analyze and to commu-nicate effectively,” Eisenberg said. “It also helps students explore themselves by asking them who they are, how they fit into the world, what their val-ues are, what a good life is and what difference do they want to make in their lives and in the world.”

Currently Eisenberg serves Truman State University in Kirksville, Mo., as the interim dean of the School of Arts and Letters, and since 2001 has been an associate provost for the school as well.

For 11 years, Eisenberg has been assisting the provost in program reviews and coordi-nating assessments and institu-tional research as well as super-vising the first-year Academic Advising and Student Success Center. He even served the school as acting registrar.

Eisenberg has lead and co-ordinated university retention efforts, which is one area Hen-derson has had some issues in recent years.

From Sept. 1994 to June 2001, he was an associate professor of economics for the school while also performing his administra-

tive duties.Eisenberg knows the educa-

tional system from all points of view, be it student, teacher or administrator, and he knows what is to be expected from each.

“Students need to see how their education relates to their lives,” Eisenberg said. “They need to learn how they can ap-ply their education to the con-temporary work world and to the communities in which they live. They also need to be able to secure jobs upon graduation, so they must be able to articu-late to employers what they’ve learned and explain what they can do.”

Dr. Risa Dickerson, another finalist for Henderson’s pro-vost search, earned her Ph.D at University of Southern Cali-fornia in interpersonal and or-ganizational communication in 1991, according to her resume.

She has served as associate provost for academic personnel at California State University, San Bernardino from 2010 un-til present. She also serves as a professor in the department of communication studies.

Since August 2012 Dickerson has been attending the Becom-ing a Provost Academy, a pro-gram created with the purpose of preparing leaders for their potential positions of provost in colleges and universities. She will be a part of this program until June of 2013.

Other qualities and skills Dickerson has had experience with in her career as associate provost for academic person-nel include personnel manage-ment, institutional research, re-tention, promotion and tenure

processes, faculty recruiting and hiring processes, and many more, according to Dickerson’s resume.

Also according to her re-sume, Dickerson believes a liberal arts education is a pow-erful tool, and this is why Hen-derson appeals to her. She is also accustomed to working in the midst of diversity, and wel-comes it as part of the college campus.

A another finalist, Dr. Rob-ert F. Scott, Jr. from Fort Hays State University in Kansas, will have his open forum on campus Friday, Dec.7 at 3:30 p.m.

According to Scott’s applica-tion submitted to Henderson, Scott has received three de-grees from three universities; a bachelor of arts from Brock University in 1987, master of science from the State Univer-sity of New York College in Buffalo in 1989 and doctor or philosophy from Sam Houston State University in 1993.

He currently serves as the dean for the College of Educa-tion and Technology at Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kan. Scott received his new ti-tle at Fort Hays in 2010. While at Fort Hays, he has served as chair of the department of jus-tice studies from 2007-10, assis-tant provost from 2000-02 and director of the justice studies program from 1996-2000. Scott was the vice president for aca-demic affairs and dean of Key-stone College in La Plume, Pa. for two years. From 2002-05 he was the vice president of aca-demic affairs and dean of facul-ty at the University of Maine at Fort Kent in Fort Kent, Maine.

Scott’s faculty rank has earned him five tenure posi-tions.

His areas of professional specialization include the Academic Quality Improve-ment Project, assessment and management effectiveness, distance education strategic development, recruitment and retention and strategic plan-ning. Scott’s participation in college distance learning cours-es has helped universities part-ner with GoArmy, SOCCOAST, Navy programs and abroad colleges such as one in Derry, Ireland.

Since 1999, Scott has been nominated for numerous awards and inducted into sev-eral different honor societies. From 1999 to 2003, Scott has been nominated twice for both Pilot Award and Mortar Board and Fort Hays. He was induct-ed into Phi Theta Kappa as an honorary member of the Inter-national Honor Society of the two-year college at Keystone College. In 2010, Scott was a nominated by the National So-ciety of Collegiate Scholars for the Inspire Integrity Award.

Candidates who have already visited campus for campus-wide forums include Hale on Nov. 28 and Nichols on Nov. 29. Eisenberg’s forum is on Dec. 3, Dickson’s on Dec. 5, and Scott’s on Dec. 7. The forums will be-gin at 3:30 and locations will be announced closer to the date of forum.

News

Features

Sports

2

3

4Inde

x

OracleThe

MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012 HENDERSON STATE UNIVERSITY VOLUME 105, ISSUE 14

68/39 66/32 68/48 70/50

Compiled by staffThe Oracle

Provost finalists chosen, hold forums on campus

FIRST IMPRESSIONS Candidates hoping to fill the provost position visited campus last week and three more are scheduled for this week. The can-didates are (from left to right, top to bottom) Dr. Brenda S. Nichols, Dr. Georgia M. Hale, Dr. Risa Dickson, Dr. Martin J. Eisenberg and Dr. Robert F. Scott Jr. These finalists will be under scrutiny of a committee that will choose one to be the next provost of the university.

Photo courtesy of Fabled Pictures

‘Come Morning’ director’s story on page 3...

Photos courtesy of HSU.edu

Page 2: 12/3/12 Issue

A northern Arkansas public school teacher wants to know why public school employees pay more than twice as much for insurance as state employ-ees and what state lawmakers plan to do about it.

The Arkansas Democrat-Ga-zette reported Shelley Brans-cum of Fox told members of the House and Senate education committees’ Joint Subcommit-tee on Public School Employ-ee Health Insurance that she learned how much less state employees pay while she inves-tigated a 20 percent increase in insurance premiums that is to go into effect Jan. 1. Public school employees, including teachers, cafeteriaworkers and

janitors, are considered em-ployees of the individual school districts, not state employees.

In 2013, a state employee with the best possible coverage and no dependents will pay $95.78 per month, while a public school employee with the same circumstance will pay $226.70, more than twice as much.

A state employee with family members in the top, or gold, plan will pay $419.62 a month. A public school employee in the same situation will pay $1,029.96 per month.

“That’s outrageous,” said Branscum, an art, Spanish and journalism teacher at the Fox Rural Special School in Stone County. “We can’t afford our

insurance and we really want something to be done about it.”

The state provides $390 a month for insurance for every state employee, compared with $131 a month for each school employee.

The $131 comes from the state’s funding plan, which in the 2012-13 school year pro-vides districts $6,267 per stu-dent.

The school districts are expected to add to that $131 minimum contribution paid by the state from their own funds. However, they aren’t required to do so and some use the re-mainder for other needs, Ar-kansas Education Association Executive Director Rich Nagel said.

Subcommittee Co-chairman Sen. Johnny Key, R-Mountain

Home, said the Legislature will likely address the issue in the 2013 session, but he doesn’t expect major changes to occur quickly.

“It’s just such a huge dol-lar amount to bring full equity, which is what a lot of the school employees are asking for, that could take a few years,” Key said. “But I do think we’ll take a step toward fixing it.”

Co-chairman Rep. Randy Stewart, D-Kirby, said lawmak-ers have agreed to increase the amount the state pays for state employees’ insurance each year without much discussion, but haven’t increased the share for public employees since 2004.

“We didn’t bat an eye at rais-ing the state employee health benefit by $3.5 million a year,” Stewart said. “Everything

seems to be going against the teachers, the school employ-ees.”

Branscum said she under-stands there are other areas of the state budget that need a funding increase this year and legislators may not be able to help public-school employees as much as they’d like.

“I do see them maybe phas-ing in some more funding to sort of try to equalize things over a period of time. I don’t think they’re going to be able to throw a big chunk of money at it,” Branscum said.

“I expect something to hap-pen, something immediate, but it will probably start small and incrementally increase.”

The subcommittee is study-ing the issue in advance of the 2013 legislative session.

On Nov. 15th, students were able to sample deserts baked by their favorite male profes-sors and vote for the winner as part of the Women’s History Organization (W.H.O.)’s annual Male Professor Bake-off. Male professors prepared desserts, and W.H.O. sold them to stu-dents.

“Our first male professor was in December of 2004,” said Samantha Cox, president of W.H.O. “Back then, the male professors actually served their own deserts in the sunroom.”

Dr. Drew Smith, Mr. Greg Gibson, Dr. Scott Carter and Dr. Marck Beggs were some of the professors who have been in the competition repeatedly.

“We had about 6 or 7 profes-sors this year,” Cox said. “We usually make quite a bit of profit, it’s very popular and a lot of people love to come vote for their professor.”

Dr. Beggs was this year’s win-ner of the contest, with what would be a familiar cookie reci-pe to some students.

“My minor in college was Women’s Studies and I have always strongly supported groups like the Women’s His-tory Organization,” said Beggs. “Although it was announced that my cookies were ‘organic,’ they were not.  Usually, I have used organic ingredients in the past, so it was a safe assump-tion.”

Beggs said that in past con-tests, his all-organic recipes were always second place win-

ners. “This year, I went for the

throat and baked traditional Toll House cookies that I grew up with,” Beggs said.

Beggs said that despite the processed sugars, flour, and real butter required to make the Toll House cookies, the eggs were range-free and pulled from his own chickens.

The bake-off serves as a fund-raiser for the W.H.O. to host several events in March. “I happen to think that the re-verse sexism of an all-male bake-off is hilarious,” Beggs said. “I have entered this bake-off since its inception.”

“Beggs’ students like to come vote for him,” Cox said. “There’s a big rivalry between Mr. Gibson and Dr. Beggs.”

March is also known as Wom-

en’s History Month, which is dedicated to contributions women have made to society and bringing awareness to so-cial issues women still face to-day.

Cox said that this was the rea-son the Women’s History Orga-nization was founded in 2002, before she was the president of the organization.

Since then, the organiza-tion has always participated in Women’s History Month, orga-nizing events and contributing to the cause by showing movies to raise awareness of issues.

“Our main goal is to bring light to women’s history, and that includes issues right now and issues in the past. We just focus in March,” Cox said.

“Last year, the theme was global women’s issues, so we

paired up with Dr. [Malcolm] Rigsby and Dr. [Drew] Smith for the global women’s panel,” Cox said. “We also have movie screenings in March which we serve refreshments for.”

Cox says the events put on by the W.H.O. during Women’s History Month are events that anyone can enjoy.

“We’re a relatively small group,” Cox said. “This year, we have myself and about five other members.”

The W.H.O. received a small handful of new members this year, and the new members took part in the bake-off for the first time.

“Did I mention that I took a Home Economics class in high school?  It has proven to be the most useful course I ever took, besides typing,” Beggs said.

PAGE 2 DECEMBER 3, 2012NewsFinal exams to begin next week, students prepare

Chris IngramStaff Writer

Male professor bake-off proves big hit on campus

Arkansas Democrat GazetteAssosiated Press

UCA changes plan on subsidizing coaches’ salaries

The end of the semester is right around the corner. Are you ready?

“When tired students start flying into the Java City Coffee Café, I know it’s close to the end of the semester and almost finals week,” said Tracy Duke, barista of four years, who has seen zombie like students fly-ing in for a caffeine kick after a long night of studying.

Don’t be stressed about finals. It’s just another test. Teachers went through finals too. They know they stress and agony of them.

“I was always stressed as a college student, especially if I didn’t know the material and wasn’t prepared,” Ms. Buys, photography and 3D design professor, said. “But I was also happy because I knew it was the end of the semester. It was a stressful happy, sad time.”

“I feel way more stressed since it’s the end of the semes-ter,” Olivia Park, freshman biol-ogy major, said. “I am extremely nervous because I know it’ll be really hard.”

She will be taking her first final as a college student this month.

Coming into college for the first time can be fun but also distracting to your schoolwork. Take the time to get your work done first then give yourself a

little time for fun once you’re finished with the work.

“Divide your school work in the beginning of the semester and you will be ok,” Glen Smith, senior English major, said. “Be-ing a freshman and away from home for the first time doesn’t mean it’s time to party. It’s time to be serious and get your school work done first.”

Waiting till the last minute, at the end of the semester, to get grades up and finish semester long projects seems to be a popular trend throughout most college students’ experiences. Even though some teachers did the same as a college stu-dent, they see the trend is still in full force.

“In my early college days, I did wait till the last minute to do my work and get my grades up,” Buys said. “But as I got older I learned how to manage my time throughout the semes-ter.”

“Being away as a freshman and away from home for the first time, I definitely find my-self waiting till the last minute to get my grades up,” Park said. ”But I will try harder next se-mester to stay more on top of my work.”

Finals are right around the corner, if you need a tutor or extra help with a class, go to the library and ask for a tutor.

Make sure you are prepared for finals this semester and the next semesters to come.

Malorie KelleyStaff Writer

CONWAY, Ark. (AP) The University of Central Arkansas plans to stop subsidizing coach-es’ salaries with money from its tutoring center and admissions office starting in the next aca-demic year.

Athletic director Brad Teague said a plan to get the subsidies down to zero is “definite,” the

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette re-ported Sunday.

The Academic Success Tu-toring Center and other non-athletic areas on campus have helped pay athletic salaries for years, according to a memo provided to a committee re-viewing athletic spending.

That memo also shows the

amount of the tutoring center’s money going to athletic salaries is more than had been previ-ously revealed.

The tutoring center’s budget for salaries is $217,525, $98,318 of which is for coaches. The Democrat-Gazette previously tracked more than $72,000 on coaches’ salaries.

“Three years ago, $500,000 was set aside by the University for the (tutoring center) to as-

sist with coaches’ salaries,” ad-ministrators wrote in the memo. “This fiscal year, that number is down to (about) $98,000. Next year, it will be zero.”

Officials said salary sub-sidies from admissions also will be moved to athletics in the next academic year. More than $50,000 currently goes to coaches’ salaries from that de-partment, administrators wrote in the memo.

The Democrat-Gazette re-ported in October that none of the four UCA football coaches whose salaries were being sub-sidized with tutoring-center funds this year was scheduled to work a single hour in the center this semester. Twelve other coaches were doing so.

The four coaches who didn’t work this semester will work there next semester, Teague told the newspaper.

Arkansas Democrat GazetteAssosiated Press

Ark. school teacher questions cost of insurance

Page 3: 12/3/12 Issue

Henderson alumnus writes, directs movie

Mass media majors may have a hard time convincing parents their chosen career field is best for their children. Parents wor-ry about the instability of the media industry. One Hender-son alumni shines as a beacon of hope for these students.

Since graduating from Hen-derson in 2007, Derrick Sims has made quite a name for himself in Hollywood. His most recent accomplishment is a feature film entitled “Come Morning.” The film debuted on Oct. 21 of this year, but still is not available to see anywhere other than film festivals across the country.

“Come Morning” was writ-ten, directed, produced, shot and edited by Sims. The movie is set in 1970 Kingsland, Ark., Sims’ hometown. Sims likes to write about what he knows and put himself into the script. What he knows and who he is always points back to Arkansas.

“As much as I do stuff here in Los Angeles, I still love Arkan-sas,” Sims said.

The movie follows the story of a boy and his grandfather, Frank. While on a hunt, the two shoot more than game animals, and are thrust into a situation that requires them to make some tough decisions about what the next step should be.

“With emotions on edge, Frank decides that the best thing to do is get rid of the body, and the movie unfolds over the next 12 hours as they try to cover up their tracks and keep their sanity,” Sims said in an interview with searktoday.com.

The film was shot over 12 days with only a $45,000 bud-get. Considering the length of the film and the number of

locations the crew shot at, this is a seemingly impossible task to most producers, but not to Sims. That budget may look like a lot, but more than half of that was spent on film equip-ment alone, said Sims. After in-corporating plane tickets, feed-ing the crew, hotel rooms and a laundry list of other expenses, that $45,000 went quick.

The film debuted at the Aus-tin Film Festival last month.

“Come Morning” was one of only eight narrative films that were shown in the festival. These final eight films were chosen as contenders for the best narrative film. Though Sims did not leave Texas with a trophy, he did receive a lot of positive feedback about the film.

Sims is currently waiting to hear from multiple other film festivals across the coun-try, including those in Florida and Mississippi, to see if his film will be shown. If the film makes it into the festival in Mis-

sissippi, that may be the clos-est showing for Arkansans, but Sims says that may not be the only option.

“Maybe we’ll do our own the-atrical release in Arkansas,” Sims said.

He is determined to show the film in his home state to his friends and family who are supporting him from across the country.

If the film does make it to Ar-kansas, this won’t be the first work that his friends and family see. While he was a student at Henderson, Sims worked on a number of projects, and these projects were not always in-class assignments.

“My three best projects in college I did were not assign-ments,” Sims said. “Outside of class I wrote my own scripts, borrowed a camera and made my own movies.”

Sims attributes this out-of-class success to his instructors, Mr. Paul Glover in particular, for allowing him to work on his

own projects with their help and support.

“I know I wasn’t the most cre-ative in my class, but I worked my ass off,” Sims said.

Sims may not have been the most creative, but he is in the running for most success-ful. Since graduating only five years ago, Sims has worked with a number of Henderson graduates. He had a Reddie who actually composed the music for the film and another Reddie who was the production designer.

Sims had no issue with giving up the reigns to these positions in his film because his passion is for behind the camera work.

“Mostly, I am a cinematogra-pher,” Sims said.

After beginning his own pro-duction company, Fabled Mo-tion Pictures, Sims has been de-ciding what he wants to do for work, and he usually decides to shoot. Just last week he fin-ished shooting a short film for a friend of his and this week he

has been asked to film a music video for another friend.

Even though he made it as far west as California, Sims still has a soft spot for his Arkansas home.

“South Arkansas is part of me,” Sims said in his seark-today.com interview. “It’s en-grained in me. And I’m so glad it is. It influences my writing, my lifestyle and my attitude.”

Students can show support for this alumnus by liking him and his movie on Facebook and following Sims on Twitter to find out about upcoming films and debuts.

Someday soon Henderson students will be able to see this film in their own backyard and maybe just one will be inspired to do just as Sims has done by working hard, moving to Cali-fornia and starting a produc-tion company. Even if Califor-nia and production is not in the master plan, students can take Sims’ advice and put in the hard work.

DECEMBER 3, 2012 PAGE 3Features

Zach DuttonStaff Writer

SHOTS FIRED Derrick Sims penned and directed his first feature film “Come Morning.” The film follows a young boy and his grandfather after a hunting accident leaves an enemy of the family dead (played by Thomas Moore, Henderson theatre student.) The pair decide to hide the body.

Photos courtesy of Fabled Pictures

Five movies to see during the holiday season

Winter is a big time for the movie industry.

This is the time of year when blockbusters and Oscar con-tenders collide and battle for the box office bucks.

The Oracle staff know how hard it can be to choose the right movies to see, so they have put together a list of the top five movies people should see this holiday season.

The Hobbit: An Unexpect-ed Journey:

Dec. 14, 2012Peter Jackson returns to the

Lord of the Rings universe in the first movie of the The Hob-bit trilogy. Bilbo Baggins ac-companies Gandalf and a group of dwarves to reclaim their kingdom from Smaug the drag-on. This journey will change is

life and all of Middle Earth. Ian McKellan reprises his role as the wizard and Marin Freeman replaces Ian Holmes as Bilbo.

The Lord of the Rings movies are great and hopefully Jackson recaptures the magic with this trilogy. It has the potential to be awesome but so did “Iron Man 2.”

Zero Dark Thirty:Dec. 19, 2012One of the biggest stories of

the last decade was the killing of Osama bin Laden. It was only a matter of time before some-one made a movie about.

Kathryn Bigelow, director of “The Hurt Locker,” steps up to the plate to retell the story of one of the biggest manhunts in history. Jessica Chastain, Joel Edgerton, Jason Clarke and Chris Pratt star in the film and it’s sure to get a lot of attention. Bigelow is a talented director

and while it maybe too soon for the big screen, she is sure to deliver a great movie.

This is 40:Dec. 21, 2012Most people will agree that

“Knocked Up” is a great movie. It proved that a movie could be raunchy and hilarious while be-ing heat felt.

One of the best parts of the movie is Pete and Debbie, payed by Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann. Now they are getting their own movie and it is well deserved. “This is 40” follows the two as they deal with life in their 40s and everything that comes with it.

Judd Apatow is a funny direc-tor that paints a fun and realis-tic picture of life that everyone (with the exception of minors) can appreciate.

Hopefully Apatow will con-tinue his streak of telling emo-

tionally moving and hysterical stories.

Django Unchained:Dec. 25, 2012“Inglorious Basterds” only

came out three years ago but Tarantino fans have been wait-ing for this movie for what seems like forever.

“Django Unchained” stars Jamie Foxx as the slave-turned-bounty hunter Django, who goes on a quest to find his wife. He finds his way to Calvin Candie, played by Leonardo Di-Caprio, a ferocious slaveowner standing between Django and his wife.

Tarantino is an awesome director who always finds the perfect balance between story and art.

There is no doubt that “Djan-go Unchained” will be the vio-lently beautiful film fans have been hoping for.

Les Misérables:Dec. 25, 2012Musical fans will become as

giddy and annoying as Twi-light fans when Tom Hooper’s adaptation of “Les Misérables” comes out on Christmas.

The musical is loved my many and there is no doubt that people will flock to the adapta-tion. It doesn’t hurt that Hoop-er won Best Director and Best Picture for “The King’s Speech” two years ago.

With an all star cast of Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen, “Les Mi-sérables” is sure to be a major contender at the box office and the Academy Awards.

Whatever movies you decide to see this break, remember to have fun and stay away from the Twilight movies.

J.D. RobertsStaff Writer

Page 4: 12/3/12 Issue

PAGE 4 DECEMBER 3, 2012SportsReddie basketball remains undefeated in season

UNDEFEATED Matt Nicholson jumps up to shoot the ball in the East Central game where the Reddies pulled out their second GAC win and their sixth overall season win.

Photo by Ryan Klare

Lady Reddies fall short in overtime

Taylor Smith Staff Writer

Daniel GallegosSports Information

The Lady Reddies took on the Lady Tigers of East Central University Saturday Afternoon in the Duke Wells Center in Arkadelphia Ark.

Unfortunately, after follow-ing a home win against South Eastern Oklahoma, the Lady Reddies could not get the win on this sunny Saturday.

They fell to the Lady Tigers, 63-60.

The Lady Reddies (3-2 over-all and 1-1 GAC) got out to a quick start, jumping out to a 19-5 lead on the Lady Tigers (4-2, 1-1 GAC), short-lived as they missed their next 17 shots from the field, allowing East Central to go on a 26 to four point scoring outburst to end the half with the score 31-23.

At the end of the first half, the Reddies only converted on 7-of-33 shots from the field with five of the field goals be-ing 3-point field goals, shooting 21.2 percent.

They shot 33 percent from the 3-point line, converting on five of their 15 three-point shots, and made four of their six free throws.

Senior guard Jill Temples led the way in the first half for the Lady Reddies with 10 points and three assists.

Fellow senior guard Sheay Longstaff was backing up Tem-ples with six points and three rebounds.

East Central converted on 10 of their 26 field goal attempts while shooting 38.5 percent from the field.

They also made six of their nine three-point baskets and all five of their free throw at-tempts.

The start of the second half, the Lady Reddies came out on the offensive with a 10-2 run, knotting the score at 33 a piece.

Throughout the entire half, both teams were going back and forth at each other.

The Lady Reddies could not take the lead from East Cen-tral.

East Central eventually pushed the lead up to nine points, leading the Lady Red-dies 50-41.

The Lady Reddies eventually tied the game up at 56 points.

Tough defense between the two teams was being displayed, and each team shot four free throws.

The game was again tied at 60.

After a pair of Reddie free throws, East Central’s Jourdan Clark took the ball coast-to-coast for a layup while being fouled.

She capitalized on the three-point play, giving East Central the lead and putting the game out of reach for the Lady Red-dies.

They had one last chance to send the game into overtime, but missed the full court heave.

At the end of the second half the Reddies converted on 12 of their 32 shots, shooting 37.5 percent and a total of 29.2 per-cent for the game.

They also ended up mak-ing 15 of their 24 free throws, shooting just 62.5 percent from the free throw line.

Jill Temples finished the game with 21 points and four assists, while Krystal Beachum finished as the second leading scorer with 17 points.

Destiny Smith grabbed a team and career high of 21 rebounds along with six addi-tional points.

Longstaff totaled nine points all from behind the three point field goal.

The Lady Reddies will travel to the University of Arkansas Monticello Thursday to take on the Cotton Blossoms with a 5:30 p.m. tip off.

In their second Great Ameri-can Conference game of the season, the Henderson State men’s basketball team got a strong test from visiting East Central University on Saturday afternoon in the Duke Wells Center.

Despite the test from East Central, the Reddies were able to pull away late and remain unbeaten by securing a 75-64 win.

 The Reddies (6-0, 2-0 GAC) took the game’s first lead on a made jumper by Melvin Haynes at the 19:32 mark.

They were able to maintain that lead until the middle of the first half when the Tigers (2-5, 0-2 GAC) momentarily grabbed a two-point lead, 16-14, with 8:51 remaining in the half.

Following the go-ahead score by ECU, the Reddies ripped off a quick 6-0 run to go back in front by four points, 20-16.

  ECU would weather that run by the Reddies and were able to keep the game close as the half dwindled away.

With 1:29 remaining the half, the lead would change hands four times as the teams traded buckets.

The final lead change of the first half went in favor of the Reddies as Andrew Ensley completed the back-half of an alley-oop dunk that was started by Jonathan Fitzgerald on an inbounds play.

The Ensley dunk, which came with 11 seconds left in the first half, gave the Reddies a one-point lead, 30-29, head-ing in to the locker room.

 Similar to the first half, the Reddies recorded the first bucket of the second half and

maintained a lead until the middle of the half when the Tigers momentarily grabbed a lead. This time, however, once the Reddies recaptured the lead, they would not relent on it the rest of the way out.

ECU was twice able to cut the Reddies’ lead to one-point, but each time the Reddies would go on a small run to re-establish their control in the game.

  In the final 24 seconds of the game, the Reddies were a perfect 4-of-4 from the char-ity stripe as they extend their lead to its largest of the game, 11 points. Four Reddies would end the game with double-fig-ures in scoring.

Ensley led all scorers with 24 points on 11-of-17 shooting from the floor. The senior also pulled down six rebounds and came away with four steals.

Haynes was second on the team in scoring with 15 points.

The junior guard was 3-of-8 from beyond the arch and 2-of-2 from the charity stripe.

Fitzgerald and Cory Hen-shall each ended with 10 points.

Henshall was a perfect 4-of-4 from the floor and led the team with seven rebounds, all com-ing off the bench.

Fitzgerald tied Ensley in

steals with four, but he also led the team in assists with six.

The Reddies will now take the road for a significant stretch as their next five games will take place away from the Duke Wells Center. The first of these road games will take place on Thursday, December 6th as the Reddies will take on the University of Arkansas-Monticello. Tip-off for the game is set for 7:30 pm.