THE WICHITANpage 5

THE STUDENT VOICE OF MIDWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2008

Historical Grammys Herbie Hancock takes Album of the Year, Amy Winehouse takes home landmark number of awards.

page 7Mustang upsetMens basketball defeats No. 12 Tar-leton State, 79-65, snapping Texans’ winning streak.

Home is where the heart is. When it comes to Valentine’s Day, so is the office for more than 25 couples at MSU.

That many husbands and wives work on campus. For them, every day is a particularly up close day but Valentine’s Day offers some-thing special. Many volunteered to share their thoughts, suggestions and advice on the occa-sion.

Elizabeth Yarosz-Ash and Richard Ash III, both professors of art, have spent 26 Valentine’s Days together. According to Ms. Yarosz-Ash, her most memorable Valentine’s Day was spending it with a group of couples where the men read poetry and cooked for the wives. It’s actually how she and her husband met. According to Ms. Yarosz-Ash, her future husband was the chair of the department when she first started teaching at Midwestern.

“He was the only one who didn’t want to

hire me,” she said with a laugh. “I wanted to quit the first year but by summertime he thought I was OK.”

Present at that same Valentine’s Party were James and Lynn Hoggard. Mr. Hoggard, Perkins-Prothro distinguished professor of English, and Dr. Hoggard, professor of Eng-lish and foreign languages, have shared 33 Valentine’s Days together. Mr. Hoggard was the one who chose the poetry for the men to read to their wives that night. The Hoggards both laughed when the evening was brought up. Many memories and jokes came out of that experience together, they said. Being a professional writer, Mr. Hoggard read his own poetry to his wife while suggesting the works of Shakespeare and ee cummings to the other men. Mr. Hoggard said the most memorable thing about Valentine’s Day is his wife. “Be-ing herself has given me a great deal of plea-sure,” he said.

Heidi Hakimi-Hood, college coordinator, and her husband Dr. Jeffrey Hood, assistant

professor of mathematics, have shared seven Valentine’s Days together. Hakimi-Hood’s fa-vorite treat on Valentine’s Day was Dr. Hood making her spaghetti and meatballs. Accord-ing to Hakimi-Hood, her favorite gift was the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice.

Marvin Hambrook, maintenance techni-cian, and his wife, Sue, secretary of respira-tory care, have seen 42 Valentine’s Days to-gether. 1996 was Ms. Hambrook’s favorite Valentine’s Day.

“My grandson, D.J., was born on Valen-tine’s Day so that was my most memorable,” she said.

Sue Nelson, associate director of financial aid, has a cookbook collection and enjoys sentimental cards and additions to her collec-tion from her husband L.O. Nelson, assistant director of the small business and develop-ment center. This year, though, was especially memorable, a combination early Valentine’s

Schoolhouse CrushesProfessors work with husbands, wives on campus, prove romance isn’t just for young

Construction of a new cam-pus residence hall is under con-sideration. The proposal to build a three-story, 264-bed structure will be presented to the MSU Board of Regents when it meets on cam-pus Thursday and Friday. The project, estimated to cost about $21 million, will be built in 2009 if approved by the Board. The facility will be con-structed on the corner of Louis J. Rodriguez and Midwestern Parkway, where the Mercantile Building currently stands. The dormitory will be self-funded, meaning that the mort-gage will be paid by residents, not student service fees. The residence hall will have all the amenities of Sunwatcher Village and will be modeled af-ter the popular upperclassmen apartments. Collegiate Devel-opment will be designing the structure and overseeing con-struction.

Kyle Owen, associate director of the physical plant, said 150 students were put on a waiting list to be placed in dorms last year. In past years, MSU has contracted with French Quar-ter and Colonial Heights apart-ments to handle the student overflow. “It’s imperative to give stu-dents the opportunity to live on campus,” said Dr. Howard Farrell, vice president of uni-versity advancement and stu-dent affairs. “Students who live on campus graduate faster and make better grades.” Administrators are also dis-cussing plans to build new fra-ternity and sorority housing to accommodate Greek students. “We’ve talked about putting in a Greek row,” Farrell said. “Some of them can afford it. Others can’t.” In other Board action, the possible purchase of property on Hampstead Boulevard will be discussed along with the in-stallation of new fiber optic ca-ble for the Clark Student Cen-ter.

MSU administrators will propose an increase in local tuition, course fees and the student service fee to combat the lack of state appropria-tions.

The recommendations will be made at the MSU Board of Regents meeting on Thursday and Friday.

If the measure passes, students taking 12 hours next fall would be paying $1,663.20, compared to $1,584 currently. Local tuition would be increased by $6.60 per credit hour (5 percent of total tu-ition).

The administration is also recom-mending raising the student service fee by $1.40, increasing it to $15.65 per credit hour ($250 maximum). This increase would raise the fee to $187.80 for a student taking 12 hours, compared to $171 currently.

The increased student service fee is in addition to the $10-per-credit-hour athletic fee ($120 maximum) that recently passed by student vote. The athletic fee is pending approval by the Board and the Texas Legis-lature and would go into affect Fall 2009.

Almost all course fees, with the exception of those raised in Fall 2007, were raised by $2 per credit hour for Spring 2008. Nursing, which was increased in Fall 2007, also increased by an additional $10 per credit hour.

The administration is proposing to increase course fees per credit hour in English from $5 to $6, ki-nesiology from $10 to $15, man-agement information systems from $7 to $15, and nursing from $25 to $30.

The sharp increase in course fees

for nursing is to help fund the Sim-ulation Center at United Regional Health Care Center, which lost a $325,000 grant.

According to Juan Sandoval, vice president for administration and finance, most public colleges and universities in Texas are facing increases in tuition and fees due to a lack of funding from the state gov-ernment.

MSU has received $5 million less in funding from the state gov-ernment in 2007 than it did in 2000. In addition, the school must deal with rising costs in everything from energy to supplies.

To help offset the $1 million in-crease in utilities between 2006 and 2007 alone, the university initiated an energy surcharge of $6.50 per credit hour in Spring 2008.

The university also had to use re-serves in order to satisfy the current budget. The reserves were nearly $15 million in 2006 but were de-pleted to $11.6 million in 2007.

Reserves are considered “rainy day” funds. The monies allow the university to run temporarily if the state government does not approve the budget before a school year be-gins.

According to Sandoval, it takes approximately $10 million to run the campus for a two-month pe-riod.

“There is a dependence on re-serves and the president (of MSU) is trying to end this,” Sandoval said. “Savings was not intended to be an operations budget. It is meant for an emergency.”

The Board of Regents meeting is open to the public and will be held Thursday at 1:30 p.m. and Friday at 9 a.m. in the Hardin Board Room next to the President’s Office.

State’s financial shortcomings may cost students

PATRICK JOHNSTON

PHOTO EDITOR

Midwestern State University will host a Career Exploration Day from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. in the Co-manche Suites in the Clark Student Center on Thursday, February 21. The career expo will be held for all MSU students looking for information on career opportuni-ties within their major once they graduate. According to Melissa Yip of the Career Management Center, ap-proximately 40 MSU alumni will be on hand to answer any ques-tions students have and offer ca-reer advice. Yip said, “All the speakers grad-

uated from MSU with either an un-dergraduate degree or higher.” Yip said the main reason for holding the conference is to show students the different possible ca-reer choices that are available for their degree. According to Dr. Pam Midgett of the MSU Counseling Center, the expo offers students informa-tion about possible future careers that is different from the Majors Fair. According to Yip, the expo is a come-and-go event where stu-dents come at their convenience and speak to MSU graduates who hold degrees and jobs within the students’ majors. The different speakers will have

their own tables set up so students can move through the Comanche Suites and find graduates with de-grees in their major. Dr. Midgett said students can speak to different people and match their major with a specific career. In addition to current MSU stu-dents, recent MSU graduates and local and area high school students are also expected to attend the expo. According to Dr. Midgett, stu-dents from Rider, Wichita Falls High School, Hirschi, Burkbur-nett, Iowa Park, Henrietta, and Ar-cher City have also been invited. Although high school students have been invited, Midgett said,

“The Career Management Center and the Counseling Center have MSU students at the heart of their mission.” Midgett and Yip both agree that making contacts with people in the workforce is always beneficial. “Every person you meet has the potential to influence your career down the line,” said Midgett. The expo is being co-sponsored by the MSU Career Management Center and the Counseling Center and this is the first year it is being held. For any additional information students are encouraged to call the Career Management Center at 397-HIRE or the Counseling Center at 397-4618.

New residence hallproposed for MSU

CHRIS COLLINS

MANAGING EDITOR

Job expo gives chance for networkingLINDSAY LEMON

FOR THE WICHITAN

ASHLEY CAMPANA

FOR THE WICHITAN

Students in love are easy to find on campus, but there are also more than 25 couples at MSU among the faculty.

Graphic by Brittany Norman, Photos by Patrick Johnston

See “Valentine’s” page 3

I once went for an eve-ning drive and spot-ted a tur-tle strug-g l i n g alongside the road.

T h e r e had been

a heavy rain recently, and it was common to see turtles on the road. Poor things, the rain had forced from their dens and they were just trying to find a new home.

I stopped, carefully picked up the turtle, and placed him on the opposite side of the road. I figured that is where he was ultimately headed, and I did not want him to be stuck in the middle of the road, where he would surely be struck by an oncoming car.

Without another thought, I got back in my car and continued on

my way.Country drives inspire me. I be-

gan thinking about the turtle, who I had comically dubbed “Fred.”

Fred was displaying very admi-rable behavior: perseverance and resolve. He had lost his home, he was solving his problem and he was going strong.

Do humans display this behav-ior? I thought of all those whose lives were unfortunately uprooted, those who lost jobs, or those who were going through personal trial and tribulation.

Some of those people are hum-ble and accept their duties and destiny. They carry on just like Fred the turtle: not speaking a word of complaint, not throwing in the towel and cursing God for this bad luck. Those are the people who rise above their adversity.

At the same time, there are those who complain about their misfortune. They grumble and gripe about changing plans, about

having a streak of hard luck, ca-lamity or hardship. Instead of accepting the fact that they must persevere, they only prolong their discomfort by complaining about it. They should learn a lesson from my newfound friend, Fred.

Fred the turtle was on his way to do something. Although it was laborious and stressful for him to go somewhere, he still persisted through the struggle. The heavy rain had sadly driven him from his comfort zone, and he was forced to find a new one. Although the journey would be risky and tire-some, onward he went.

I was now making a U-turn in my car, turning around to find Fred and maybe take him home as a pet. I had always wanted a pet turtle and this little guy had signif-icance to me now. Maybe I could give him a comfortable home and save him the trouble of searching for one.

When I returned to the spot

where I left him, he was not there. Instead, he was about one-hun-dred yards ahead of where I had first found him, on his original path. He had not let my interfer-ence change his course. He was one determined turtle. I decided to let him be.

People should stop and think: are things really as bad as they seem? There are those who face true hardships and still take it in stride. Then, there are those who overreact and complain, and get nowhere. Think your problems through. There is an answer to ev-erything, albeit an easy one, or no, all problems have a solution. Take the time and figure it out. Do not complain about your difficulties. Hardships are what make the hu-man spirit persevere.

Fred the turtle wasn’t complain-ing. He kept on trucking through that tall grass, carrying a heavy shell with tired legs; determined to take himself home.

I am a m a z e d and sad-dened by the crimes of human-ity that the forefathers of America c o m m i t -ted against

the Native Americans to forge this great democratic nation.

It is a crime that many people in this country will never fully un-derstand, even if the government actually forces them to give up their homes and land for the bet-terment of society.

The Native Americans moved their families to small sections of desolate land and then had to ac-cept handouts from the govern-ment because they were unable to feed their families with the limited opportunities for agriculture or hunting available in the forgotten

wastelands of America; the reser-vations.

Of course, it wasn’t just the loss of land and culture that conquered the Native Americans.

It was the breaking of their spir-its.

And sadly, it is something that our government excels at accom-plishing—even in the 21st cen-tury.

The beautiful ideas that the forefathers of America initiated when they first declared freedom from the British Crown were in-genious.

However, it was the way that they and future generations of Americans initiated the dream that makes a rationale person scratch their head.

It was hypocrisy of disillusion-ment, to say the least.

During my travels, I have seen that many of the surviving Indian nations seem to be doing quite well for themselves with their

enormous and extravagant casinos littering the outskirts of their res-ervation lands.

Although, it does help many of them place food on the table and forego some of the government handouts.

It is not a salvation or prosperity that my family’s ancestors would smile upon.

It is hypocrisy in its grandest form.

White men and corrupt mem-bers of the tribal councils control many of the casinos, and the enor-mous amounts of money garnered from the blackjack tables and slot machines are dividing the tribes with the constant bickering over how the money should be spent.

And, in most cases, many of the members of the tribal communities do not receive any money from the casinos that the partnerships of white men and tribal councils promised would help bring pros-perity to the “Rez.”

And, of course, all a person has to do is drive to the nearest res-ervation to see that nothing has changed.

Many of the communities still suffer from inadequate health care opportunities, poor education, drug abuse and violence.

The nations of one of the most spiritual people on Earth have fall-en under the sway of the demons of greed and capitalism, losing the path of enlightenment that our ancestors had followed for centu-ries—in part due to their broken spirits.

It is the greatest hypocrisy of our history, and it is something that sends shivers of regret and sadness through my soul as I pass by the blatant reminders of the sins of America’s ancestors, as I drive down the lonely highways of Oklahoma to go home and visit my family.

And it is something that is not likely to change in the near future.

Staff Editorial

Native Americans dealt a bad hand

Reptilian lesson in resilience

HALEY CUNNINGHAM

FOR THE WICHITAN

ViewpointsTHE WICHITAN

Finalist2004 Associated Collegiate Press

Pacemaker Award

Sweepstakes Winner 2006 Texas Intercollegiate

Press Association

THE WICHITAN

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

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

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

Editorial Board Editor-in-Chief Brittany Norman

Managing Editor Chris Collins Entertainment Editor Position Open

Op-Ed Editor Christian McPhate

Sports Editor Bobby Morris Photo Editor Patrick Johnston

ReportersRichard CarterCourtney ForemanJosh Mujica

PhotographersLoren Eggenschwiler

Graphic ArtistRobert Redmon

Advertising ManagerCorrelle Ferlance

Copy EditorKimberly Stiles

AdviserRandy Pruitt

Housing progress After years of overcrowded housing on the

MSU campus, the Board of Regents is finally taking a

vote to erect a new residence hall on campus. Unlike

some current construction projects, such as the well-

ness center, this is one undertaking that the campus

truly needs.

At the beginning of the fall semester, students

who couldn’t fit in regular university housing were

placed in off-campus apartments. Many of these stu-

dents were freshmen living away from home for the

first time. Parents and students count on the security

and community aspect of residence halls, to ease

students into living on their own. Even though MSU

took measures to ensure student safety in the apart-

ments, the environment is simply not the same.

Midwestern does a good job of maintain-

ing the residence halls that are available to students.

Compared to many other universities, the facilities are

cleaner and nicer. The problem is, there simply aren’t

enough rooms to accomodate the growing number of

students who want to live on campus. A new resi-

dence hall, even with the inevitable hike in tuition and

fees, is a necessity at this point.

As a student body, we’re already dropping

heavier and heavier checks to pay new fees every

semester. Why not put our money toward something

that would make a tangible difference? The apart-

ment-style residence hall that the Board of Regents

will discuss this week would also eliminate some of

the need for upperclassmen to find off-campus hous-

ing, when they’ve outgrown the desire to live in a

dorm and Sunwatcher is packed.

Those few students who bothered to vote

for the athletic fee were overwhelmingly in favor of

spending more money on sports. This time, let’s advo-

cate something that could benefit more of the campus

than just the athletes.

CHRISTIAN MCPHATE

OP-ED EDITOR

live in Indiana. This month her husband called her into the hall-way, saying a student needed as-sistance. When Ms. Nelson came out of her office, she was met by her sister and niece. “I’m a talker so everyone was taken back that I was speechless,” Ms. Nelson said. Naoma Clark, director of the Aca-demic Support Center, has spent 33 Valentine’s Days with her hus-band Dr. Robert Clark, vice presi-dent of Institutional Effectiveness and Enrollment Management. “I can’t separate one Valentine’s from another,” said Ms. Clark. “That one day isn’t what stands out, it’s all of the days.” Another campus couple went to the local symphony followed by a romantic dinner. Becky Green, English Instructor and her hus-band Daniel Green, an adjunct instructor of English shared that

evening one Valentine’s Day. “It was snowing and it was beauti-ful,” said Ms. Green. Dr. Grant Simpson, dean of the West College of Education and professor of Educational Leader-ship and Technology, and his wife, Karen, have been together 33 Val-entine’s Days. Dr. Simpson spoke of their Valentine’s tradition. “Karen has a firm tradition. Every holiday is a present for her...Eas-ter...it’s always a good reason,” Dr. Simpson said, laughing. Ac-cording to Dr. Simpson, there is a whole category of gifts a man shouldn’t buy. “Appliances are at the top of that list,” he said. The nine couples share 223 years of marriage combined. They freely gave their opinions on how to make a marriage work. Dr. Hoggard said she and her hus-band share Type A personalities.

According to Dr. Hoggard, they are “highly sensitive and deeply contemplative” so they are in their own worlds when they are work-ing on something. “It’s like nothing else exists,” Dr. Hoggard said. She said they have learned how to overcome that with time and patience. “Communica-tion and fundamental affirming of the realtionship,” are tools that Dr. Hoggard believes make a marriage successful. “When you’re both in language, dialogue is incredibly rich,” she said. Heidi Hakimi-Hood believes a relationship shouldn’t be rushed. “Find somebody you can live, love and laugh with,” she said. Sue Hambrook looks in retrospect. “I would give my life to have what my mom and dad had,” she said. According to Ms. Hambrook, they never once argued. “Your father and I are best friends. If anything

bothered me, he loved me enough to leave it alone,” her mother told her. Ms. Hambrook believes mak-ing your spouse your best friend is important. Carol Collins, assistant profes-sor in Wilson School of Nurs-ing, believes that “you have to be friends, communicate and know it’s a lot of work on both sides.” She and her husband Dr. Michael Collins, interim chair and regents professor, have been married for 34 years. Becky Green believes that Val-entine’s Day is super but “you shouldn’t put all of your eggs in one basket,” she said. “Except for childbirth and illness,” they set the time aside and date weekly, Mrs. Green said. Dr. Simpson said it is easy to give up when there are bumps in the road but it takes commitment.

News THE WICHITANFeb 13, 2008 3

A week after Super Tuesday, the Republican Party seems to have established a front-runner for their nomination. Sen. John McCain has received 812 delegates, more than double that of any other candidate. Despite opposition from conser-vative coalitions, he is well on his way to securing the necessary 1,191 delegates needed to win the nomi-nation. The Republican delegate count includes pledged delegates and un-pledged Republican National Com-mittee member delegates. However, the remaining Dem-ocratic candidates Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton continue to push through a competi-tive primary season. In order to win the Democratic nomination a candidate must re-ceive 2,025 delegates. Obama currently has 1,208 del-egates. Clinton is trailing slightly in the count, as she has acquired 1,185 delegates. The Democratic delegate totals include pledged delegates and super delegates. Engaged in a virtual delegate deadlock, both Obama and Clinton have remained confident in their ability to win the nomination this summer at the convention. However, overwhelming victo-ries for the Obama camp in Loui-siana, Nebraska, Washington, and Maine last weekend and sweeping wins in the Potomac primaries Tues-day may prove to be the momentum swing both campaigns were hoping to secure. “We have now won on the Atlantic coast, we’ve won in the Gulf Coast,

we won on the Pacific Coast and we won in between those coasts”, Obama told the excited crowd, Monday. Tuesday evening, Obama spoke to supporters as results of his over-whelming victories in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. were confirmed. “We won the state of Maryland. We won the Commonwealth of Vir-ginia. And we won in Washington, D.C., this movement won’t stop until there is change in Washing-ton D.C., and tonight we are on our way,” he said As the Obama campaign con-tinues to pick up speed post Super Tuesday, they have raised $7.2 mil-lion – on pace to maintain the re-cord breaking $32 million raised in January. Clinton has raised $6.4 million

since the Super Tuesday contests. Although, both Obama and Clin-ton have proven to be prolific fund-raisers – raising more than $100 million in 2007, recent reports sug-gest the Clinton campaign is strug-gling to keep pace with a flourish-ing Obama campaign. Sen. Hillary Clinton recently dis-closed that she contributed personal money to fund her campaign. Clinton lent her campaign $5 million to boost funds ahead of Su-per Tuesday. “We had a great month fundrais-ing in January – broke all records”, Clinton told reporters following the Super Tuesday contests. “But my opponent was able to raise more money, and we intended to be com-petitive, and we were, and I think the results prove the wisdom of my investment”, she said.

Senior staff mem-bers from a number of presidential campaigns have worked without pay, or reduced salary through the primary season, in order to save money. Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani’s senior campaign staff worked without pay for most of 2008. Reports also circulated from the McCain camp that staffers were working on reduced salaries, at various points in the campaign. The Clinton cam-paign machine has chosen to employ this penny-pinching tactic.

Senior campaign of-ficials agreed to forego pay through the month

of February, in an effort to focus funds on campaign related expens-es. Sunday, Clinton announced the resignation of her campaign man-ager Patti Solis Doyle. Clinton’s long time advisor Maggie Williams replaced Sollis Doyle. Williams was the Clinton’s chief of staff while she was first lady. She joined the campaign team after a disappointing finish in the Iowa caucus. Despite the recent loses and news of personnel and financial trouble within the campaign, Clinton re-mains focused on the March 4 pri-maries in what her campaign has call the “big states”. Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Vermont all hold their Democratic primaries on March 4.

Primary losses stall Clinton campaign

- Board of Regents vote on various

campus changes. First meeting

Thursday 1:30 p.m. in Hardin Ad-

ministrative Building; second meet-

ing Friday 9:00 a.m. (open meet-

ing).

- Athletics luncheon every Tuesday

and Thursday at Pelican’s on Mid-

western Parkway at noon; video

replays, coach updates; Cost $8.

- UPB presents open mic night;

Thursday, Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m. in

CSC Shawnee Theatre

- Thinkfast Interactive Audience-

Response trivia game; Wednesday,

8:00 p.m. in CSC Comanche

- Chi Omega and Sigma Nu can food

drive; donations go to Wichita Falls

Food Bank; collection box in CSC;

boxes picked up Saturday, Feb. 16

at 6 p.m.

Campus briefs KIMBERLY STILES

FOR THE WICHITAN

Republican frontrunner Sen. John McCain won primaries in Maryland, Virgina and District of Columbia Tuesday.

58613

1400 Borton LaneWichita Falls, TX 76305

Lively music anddown home

preaching andteachings.

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

Bible Study Wednesday Evening 7:00 P.M.

“The Church That Reminds You of Home”

New Jerusalem Baptist ChurchRev. Angus Thompson,

Pastor

We Welcome OurNew Neighbors

Valentine’s.....................................................................................................continued from p. 1

Nearly 300 MSU students have dropped out of school since the fall semester. A total of 6,021 students were enrolled during the fall semester. This spring 5,736 returned. Janus Buss, director of the office of public information and market-ing, said the decline in enrollment is typical. “Major enrollment is in the fall,” Buss said. “It’s a trend nation-wide to have lower enrollment in the spring.” The fall semester of 2003 was the last time MSU saw an increase

in enrollment. Since then it has been steadily waning. “Enrollment has leveled out,” Buss said. “MSU is getting more well-known.” She credits recruiters for the improvement in student popula-tion. People from the Dallas-Fort Worth area have been growing more interested in MSU because of its small-town atmosphere and affordable tuition. “They want to get out of town,” Buss said. “It’s just far enough away, but it’s also close to home.” Enrollment levels also tend to mimic the economy, she said. When the economy is doing well, people work. If the economy is

going down, people go to school. With the threats of an upcom-ing recession, an increase in en-rollment is expected in the com-ing years. The freshman dropout rate, however, continues to grow. While 1,309 freshmen stepped into classrooms last fall, only 974 – 75 percent – came back this se-mester. Buss doesn’t think that MSU leads the state in first-year drop-outs by any means, but she ex-pressed concerns for improving

the numbers. Is the small-town atmosphere to blame in this case? If a close friend can’t cut it come finals, another student may be more in-clined to give up too. “It’s the snowball effect,” Buss said. “One of the main reasons for coming to MSU is because of a friend or family member.” Despite any apprehension in administrators’ offices, the large pull from the Metroplex may be what MSU needs to boost its numbers next fall.

Enrollment down for second semesterAMANDA WARNER

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For Ryan Reynolds it’s a timing thing. With the starring role in three ma-jor films this year, including “Defi-nitely, Maybe” in theaters, Thursday. the 31-year-old Vancouver native says he’s happy to shift from playing

the quirky funny guy to being a lead-ing man. Not that he was in any sort of hur-ry for the change, mind you. Reynolds, relaxing over a bottled water in the bar inside San Francis-co’s Four Seasons hotel, insists he wasn’t rushing toward this particular marquee moment. “You see that happen to (some) guys–they wake up and one day they’re on the cover of GQ and then the expectations and the bar have been set so high,” Reynolds says. “I’m so glad this wasn’t an overnight success sort of thing.” Later this year, filmgoers will see Reynolds in “Chaos Theory” with Emily Mortimer and “Fireflies in the

Garden” with Julia Roberts. In 2009, he’ll star in “The Proposal” with Sandra Bullock. Although Reynolds has acted for nearly two decades, playing every-thing from an FBI agent (“Smokin’ Aces”) to a murderous, possessed dad (“Amityville Horror,”), the actor says he tried not to rely on his expe-rience for “Definitely, Maybe.”

Instead, he ex-plains, his character needed to be vulner-able and naive. “Definitely, May-be” is the story of Will, a 30something political consultant on the verge of a divorce, who tries to explain to his 10-year-old daughter Maya (Abigail Bre-slin) how he came to meet and marry her mother. Told mostly in flashback, the film becomes something of a romantic who-dunit as Maya tries to guess which of her father’s loves – played by Isla Fisher, Elizabeth

Banks and Rachel Weisz – ended up as his soon-to-be ex-wife. And because “romance is often a blood sport,” Reynolds decided to tap into his character’s youth and na-ivete. “I saw Will as someone who was genuinely open, vulnerable – quali-ties I thought were really beautiful,” he says. Still, Reynolds adds, the film’s ro-mantic storyline is just part of “Defi-nitely, Maybe’s” appeal. “It’s also this love letter to broken homes,” he says. “I was so moved by the journey Will takes with his daughter – not just to heal himself but to prepare for what’s going to be a pretty rough road ahead. It brought

me to tears when I was read-ing the script.” Digging into Will and his motivations proved to be challenging in ways Reyn-olds says he never even ex-pected. “I have a tendency to want to play around a lot – to spin a line or throw in a funny jab,” he says. “But if I start doing that then sud-denly (Will) seems incred-ibly knowing and sarcastic when he’s really supposed to be idealistic. “I really just had to bite my tongue and allow myself to rely on a time when I was that naive.” This exercise in restraint, he adds, allowed him to step out of the spotlight for the better of the film. “I’ll let the girls be fun-ny,” he says. “Isla Fisher is hilarious, (she) can steal the movie, I’m just here to tell the story.” Reynolds calls the Australian-born actress, best known as Vince Vaughn’s sex-crazed love interest in “Wedding Crashers” (and, perhaps, also as Sacha Baron Cohen’s real-life fiancee), “incredible” and a “joy to work with.” “People think of her as just being this wacky and insane comedian but she’s so touching and there’s a depth to her that’s bottomless,” he says. “I’d love to do every movie with her for the rest of my life; we just hit it off and it was like fireworks.” Reynolds calls such chemistry “impossible” to fake. Whatever hap-pens off screen carries over onto film, he says, and it’s better to work with it than against it. That same philosophy applied to his relationship with Breslin (“Little Miss Sunshine”). “I decided early on that whatever our dynamic was (off screen) would go into the film, even if that meant

she loathed me.” Luckily, Reynolds says, the pair got along just fine with a relationship built on a solid foundation of goofing off. “There was always a subtle com-petition. Abigail loves to compete to see who can tell the best joke or who could win in a dance competition. It’s just totally adorable.” Reynolds hopes to ignite onscreen chemistry in his upcoming films with Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock and Emily Mortimer.

Until then, he continues to wind through the movie publicity ma-chine, for “Definitely, Maybe.” It’s possible, Reynolds muses, that this Hollywood acting thing might finally stick, surely a relief after ear-lier, hardscrabble days when he lived in a cheap L.A. motel with a friend and drove his Jeep around town, doorless, after the car was stripped by thieves. The actor, who’s admitted to nearly quitting the business out of penniless frustration, says he’s con-

tent with his current spot in the Hol-lywood star system. “I feel like a newcomer again (but) it hit me the other day that I’ve been doing this for a long time,” he says. Ultimately, he says, it’s not so much about marquee value or box office sales. “I’m just ready for the challenge of taking on more dynamic roles,” he says. “If I surprise a viewer, fantas-tic. If I surprise myself, that’s even better.”

EntertainmentTHE WICHITANFeb. 13, 20084

Comedy actor takes dramaticturn

Ryan Reynolds abandons role of funny guy to play single dad in new release ‘Definitely, Maybe’BY RACHEL LEIBROCK

(MCT)

While reading through a Google list of reviews touting how absolutely awful the movie “Fools Gold” was, how absolutely un-thought-provok-ing, how unintelligent, the thought came to mind that somewhere along the line, reviewers are missing the point. “Fools Gold,” starring Kate Hudson and Mat-thew McConaughey, is a romantic comedy. Most viewers went into the theater with the expectation of viewing a treasure-hunting version of “How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days.” At least, that’s the impression the previews gave off. For the most part, it rang true. Some of the lines even sounded the same. Sure, the characters were different, at least marginally. McConaughey, playing Finn, isn’t portraying nearly as successful a person. Instead he’s playing a deadbeat treasure hunter and semi-successful con-man who has a knack for pissing off everyone he convinces to fund his operation. Kate Hudson’s character, Tess, married him “for the sex” and has decided she wants her life back. So after a fiasco of a divorce (which Finn is late for), she heads back out to sea as the steward-ess on a rich man’s yacht, thinking she can restart her life. Wrong. Finn shows up on said yacht after rescuing the rich man’s daughter’s hat. Long story short, he

gets in a lot of fights, gets a few black eyes, gets into all kinds of trouble, and walks around with his shirt off. A lot. Tess tries to ignore him, but their mutual pas-sion for hunting down sunken Spanish treasure ships (even though this does lead to about ten minutes of an extremely boring history lesson in the middle of the movie) as well as close quarters on the boat draw them closer. The film takes place at sea, against the beau-tiful backdrop of the Caribbean. The supporting cast includes such eccentric figures as the omi-nous villian, rabbit loving rapper “Bigg Bunny,” as well as the wealthy yacht owner’s daughter, Gemma, who is just so ridiculously blond that her brown hair must have been dyed that way. There’s also a healthy dose of James Bond-esque bad-ass moves, such as Finn hanging from the pontoon on an airborne sea plane, and Tess showing off underwater survival skills sans scuba tank. Not to mention the leaping from moving jet-skis and being blown out of the ocean by explo-sives, but that’s beside the point. In short, the movie might not have it all, but it has enough. It’s got a healthy dose of comedy, a little bit of romance, enough intelligence to keep the audience from losing brain cells at the very least, and enough action to keep the male half of the moviegoing population engaged. It’s not going to win any Academy Awards, but it is worth the price of a ticket and a tub of pop-corn. Just don’t expect too much.

BRITTANY NORMAN

EDITOR IN CHIEF

‘Fools Gold’ a gem, for what it’s worth

If viewers aren’t looking for cinematic treasure, romantic comedy doesn’t disappoint

Ryan Reynolds and Abigail Breslin star in ‘Definitely, Maybe.’ Breslin is best known for her role in “Little Miss Sunshine” and Reynolds has been in such movies as “Smokin’ Aces” and “Blade Trin-

It wasn’t unthinkable, given her recent well-publi-cized troubles, that Amy Winehouse would simply be shut out this year. But it was positively unimaginable that the British soul singer would make a clean sweep of the top cat-egories during the Grammy’s 50th anniversary Sunday

night at Staples Center in Los Angeles. In the end, she didn’t. The last award of the night, the coveted Grammy for album of the year, went to Herbie Hancock for his collaborative Joni Mitchell tribute, “River: The Joni Letters,” a somewhat safe but also legend-heavy choice for such a prestigious oc-casion. Yet Winehouse’s haul, including trophies for record and song of the year (both for her prescient smash “Rehab”) and best new artist, was an unexpected and encouraging show of support for the recovering per-former, who watched in astonishment via satellite from a London studio as her name was announced as winner of record of the year. What’s more, her two other prizes – for best female pop vocal performance and best pop vocal album, for “Back to Black” – added her to the list of women who share the record for most wins in a single night by a fe-male artist. Winehouse now keeps company with Lau-ryn Hill, Alicia Keys, Norah Jones and, if a trio may be counted, Dixie Chicks. Winehouse was a winner of few words, however, giving her all instead to a powerful, deliciously kit-tenish performance of the fitting “You Know I’m No Good” and her Grammy-grabbing hit. She thanked her record company, “my mum and dad ... for my (hus-band) Blake (Fielder-Civil), incarcerated. And for Lon-don – this is for London!” She wasn’t the only performer to make Grammy his-tory, though. Hancock’s album of the year win marks the first time the award has gone to a jazz performer since Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto’s classic “Getz/Gil-berto” took the trophy in 1964. “I’d like to thank the academy for courageously breaking the mold this time,” he said, his acceptance speech falling out of his jacket, “and in doing so honor the giants upon whose shoulders I stand, some of whom _ like Miles Davis, John Coltrane – unquestionably de-served this award in the past. But this is a new day that proves that the impossible can be made possible. “Yes we can, to coin a phrase!” The night’s other big winner, racking up another four statuettes, was Kanye West – who can’t have been pleased that Hancock took the top prize. It’s the third time in a row that Grammy voters have denied the hip-hop star an award in one of the top categories, relegating him to the rap field instead, where his nods included best rap solo performance and best rap song (both for “Stronger”), best rap performance by a duo or group (for “Southside,” with Common). West certainly thought it was his year to win, though. When his disc “Graduation” predictably won for best rap album, he was his typical immodest self. “Definitely feels good to be home, here at the Gram-mys,” said the dude dressed more than ever like Mi-chael Jackson circa “Thriller.” (His performance of “Stronger,” with a surprise appearance from Daft Punk, was another of many telecast highlights.) “We snuck in about four or five years ago, and now we basically made this our new place of residence.” Then came the swelling music, a cue to wrap it up. “Cmon, you gonna play music on me?” Then a wild boast: “For Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse, if I don’t get to get up here for album of

the year, you de-serve it as much as me. I deserve it, too.” Fellow nomi-nee Vince Gill had choice words in re-sponse to that when he took the stage to accept the award for best country album, for his four-disc set “These Days.” Ringo Starr announced his win. “I just had an award handed to me by a Bea-tle,” Gill said. “Have y o u had that happen yet, Kanye?” Bruce Springsteen, who wasn’t in attendance, took home three Grammys – best solo rock vocal perfor-mance and best rock song, both for “Radio Nowhere,” plus best rock instrumental performance, for his re-make of Ennio Morricone’s “Once Upon a Time in the West” theme. Hancock’s “River” also nabbed the prize for best con-temporary jazz album, which made him one of a hand-ful of acts to take home a pair of Grammys. Also in that group: Foo Fighters (best hard rock performance and best rock album), Alicia Keys (best R&B song and best female R&B vocal performance), Chaka Khan (best R&B album and best R&B vocal performance by a duo or group, with Mary J. Blige), Justin Timberlake (best pop male vocal performance and best dance record-ing), the White Stripes (best rock vocal performance by a duo or group and best alternative music album) and the soundtrack to Cirque du Soleil’s “LOVE” (best compilation soundtrack, best sur-round-sound recording). Other stars who scored a statuette: Carrie Underwood, Prince, Beastie Boys, the Chemical Brothers, Eric Clapton, Eagles, Maroon 5, Ne-Yo, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Keith Urban, Slayer, producer of the year Mark Ronson and, garnering his second Grammy, presidential hope-ful Barack Obama, who bested his opponent’s husband Bill Clinton for best spoken-word recording. Lifetime achievement awards were given to master songwriter Burt Bacharach, Americana pio-neers the Band, jazz drummer Max Roach, violin virtuoso Itzhak Perl-man, swing legend Cab Calloway, beloved entertainer Doris Day and banjo innovator Earl Scruggs. Yet, despite the evening’s history-making tallies and wins, Grammy’s golden anniversary will surely be re-membered more for its performanc-es, which, for a change, were almost

uniformly strong.

The standard was set high early on, after a virtual duet between Alicia Keys and Frank

Sinatra, some hearty belting from Underwood on “Be-fore He Cheats” and a lively pairing of Rihanna and the Time, who served up a medley of “Jungle Love” and “Umbrella.” The first hour alone, during which even Fergie sounded sharp, was enough to make this one of the better Grammy telecasts in many years. Beyonce’s sung introduction of Tina Turner was rather lame, as was the enervated start to the Hall of Famer’s three-song performance. But the duo turned the heat up with “Proud Mary” – and from then on out the star turns were increasingly memorable. Foo Fighters were stormy as usual, performing out-side on Chick Hearn Court, between Staples Center and Nokia Theatre. Feist was simply elegant singing “1234.” And Hancock and classical pianist Lang Lang wowed the crowd with a dueling-pianos rendition of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.”

Lorraine Pop is a woman driven by passion. Less than 10 years ago, she was a nurse. Helping people, she said, was rewarding, but it wasn’t her passion. Since then, Pop has used theater and music to affect social change at college campuses worldwide. The only problem is Pop’s passion alone wasn’t enough to drive the play home. Pop, using the stage name mZuri (pronounced “em-zoo-ree”), performed her original musical homage to Fan-nie Lou Hamer – a little-known Civil Rights activist – at MSU Monday eve-ning. The show was visceral and emotion-al, but most of the feeling was left on the stage. Disguised as Hamer, mZuri alter-nated between singing traditional songs like “Amazing Grace” and “We Shall Overcome” and giving an account of an impressive woman’s life. The play’s downfall, however, is the passion that created it. Pop’s acting is at times overdone and melodramatic. It made the retelling of Hamer’s life feel like just that – a re-telling. The emotion and fiery purpose Hamer exhib-ited was inexplicably lost in translation.

A crowd that should have been worked into a fervor was biting back yawns. The show, which would have thrived from student participation, disintegrated for lack of it. “I wanted more student participation, but col-lege is so quick in and out that it’s hard,” Pop said

after the performance. The play’s main weakness, however, may have been its transitions. Each facet of the show, music, monologue and commentary, was well researched and generally well implemented. Problems occurred mainly

when Pop moved from uplifting, tra-ditional songs directly to grisly nar-ratives about blood, torture and hu-man inequality. Without proper transition, the play lost its poignancy and believ-ability. The final impression was closer to Jekyll and Hyde than Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Problems also arose in Pop’s singing. Some high notes were off-key and overbearing, though the ma-jority of the tunes were impeccably sung. Pop, during the play, urged black students to “change the world.” She opened the show by asking the crowd to chant, “I’m sick and tired of be-ing sick and tired,” – the epitaph on Hamer’s grave. The audience, most of whom were black, responded docilely. The truth is this is not Hamer’s black com-munity of the 1960s. This group of students didn’t seem particularly op-pressed, discontented or disgruntled. They just seemed mildly interested. It’s disappointing that a play with such emotion and social significance was so tamely viewed. Pop appeared

to almost cry numerous times during the show, undoubtedly Hamer’s own tears. Like Hamer, Pop’s performance was emotional and passionate, but ultimately forgettable.

Entertainment THE WICHITANFeb. 13, 2008 5

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CHRIS COLLINS

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mZuri gave a passioned performance about the life of Fannie Lou Hamer on Monday. Photo by Patrick Johnston

Passion of Civil Rights hero lost in translationmZuri’s retelling of moments in black history proves to be emotionally disappointing

BY BEN WENER

THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER(MCT)

Grammy Awards make history on 50th anniversary

THE WICHITANFeb. 13, 20086 News

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

MCT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES ONEPAGEMCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE

From the debates to the TV ads, information about this year’s presidential candidates is coming from all sides. Wading through it all can be overwhelming.

Here we give you a quick snapshot of who the candidates — Democrat and Republican — are and what they’re about.

THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES

BIO

BOOKS THEY’VEWRITTEN

IRAQ WAR

HEALTH CARE

IMMIGRATION

TAXES

CLIMATE

LIKES TO SAY …

… BUT ONCLOSER

EXAMINATION

ENDORSEMENTSINCLUDE

Sen. Hillary Rodham ClintonNew York

Yale-educated lawyer, advisedChildren’s Defense Fund, formerfirst lady, U.S. senator from NewYork.

“Living History,” “It Takes AVillage,” “Dear Socks, DearBuddy”

Phased withdrawal within 60days of inauguration, aiming toremove most U.S. troops by2014. Would leave small force tosupport Iraqi government, deteraggression from neighbors andprotect Kurds.

Require all to get health insurance. Demand that largeemployers provide coverage orcontribute to the cost. Offer taxcredit to small firms and subsidies for low-income people.

Supports path to legalizationthat includes learning Englishand paying fines. Increasedpenalties for employers of illegalimmigrants. Opposes guest work-er programs.

Allow Bush tax cuts to expirefor those earning $250,000 ormore, use revenues to pay forhealth care. Reform AlternativeMinimum Tax, freeze estate tax at 2009 levels to pay for universal 401(k) plan.

Cap-and-trade program forcarbon emissions. Reduce electricity use 20 percent fromprojected levels by 2020.Increase auto mileage standardsto 55 mpg by 2030.

“The energy bill that passed in2005 was larded with all kinds ofspecial interest breaks ...I knewthat it was going to be anabsolute nightmare.”

The $2.6 billion in tax breaksfor oil companies was offset by$2.9 billion in tax increases. Thenet was a $300 million taxincrease over 11 years.

New York Times, JackNicholson, Pa. Gov. Ed Rendell,former Rep. Richard Gephardt,Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland

Sen. Barack ObamaIllinois

Lawyer, community organizer,former Illinois state senator,keynote speaker 2004Democratic National Convention,U.S. senator from Illinois.

“The Audacity of Hope,”“Dreams From My Father”

Pull out one to two brigadesper month in 16 months, leavingforces to protect U.S. Embassy,redeploy some troops toAfghanistan, aid Iraqi troopsonly after internal reconciliation.

Require that all children havehealth insurance and thatemployers offer coverage or contribute to the cost. Exemptsmall businesses. Create purchasing pool with choice ofcompeting private plans. ExpandMedicaid eligibility.

Supports path to legalizationthat includes learning Englishand paying fines. Increasedpenalties for employers of illegalimmigrants. Would create systemto verify worker eligibility.Supports guest worker programs.Voted for Mexican border fence.

Replace Bush tax cuts withnew breaks worth $500 to $1,500yearly for people making lessthan $50,000. Create $4,000annual college tuition tax credit.Raise taxes on dividends andcapital gains.

Cap-and-trade program toreduce carbon emissions to 80percent below 1990 levels by2050. Make energy companiespay for emissions.

“I do provide universal healthcare. ... (W)e’ve put forward aplan that makes sure that it isaffordable to get health care thatis as good as the health care thatI have as a member of Congress.”

His proposals only requirethat children have coverage andbe covered under their parents’insurance up to age 25. Of about46.5 million uninsured, most areadults. Details of his plan are notspecific enough to tell how manymight be left uninsured.

Baltimore Sun, OprahWinfrey, Sen. Edward Kennedy(Mass.), Sen. Patrick Leahy (Vt.),Wis. Gov. Jim Doyle

Mike HuckabeeFormer Ark. governor

Baptist pastor, president ofArkansas Baptist Convention, 10 years as Arkansas governor.

“Character Is the Issue,” “KidsWho Kill,” “Living Beyond YourLifetime,” “Quit Digging YourGrave With a Knife and Fork”

Opposes timetable for pull-outor withdrawing without endorse-ment of top U.S. military command. Says he is “focusedon winning.”

Looks to states as laboratoriesfor solutions, opposing mandatedcoverage for all. Invest in prevention to cut costs and relyon free-market, consumer-basedincentives.

Give illegal immigrants 120days to register and leave beforeapplying to return. Increaseskilled worker visas. Tougherpenalties for employers of illegalimmigrants. As governor, sup-ported in-state tuition for chil-dren of illegal immigrants.

End all federal income andpayroll taxes, to be replaced by“fair tax” — national sales tax.

Cites spiritual obligation assteward of the Earth. Supportssome environmental cap-and-trade policies.

“I did something that had notbeen done in my state in 160years. I cut taxes, with the legis-lature working with me, and wecontinued to do that 94 times.”

Actually, Bill Clinton also cut Arkansas taxes, just not asbroadly as Huckabee. Still,although Huckabee cut taxes 94times as governor, his term finished with a $500 million netincrease in taxes.

Dallas Morning News, JerryFalwell Jr., Chuck Norris, U.S.Rep. John Linder (Ga.), S.D.Gov. Mike Rounds

Sen. John McCainArizona

Former Navy pilot andVietnam-era prisoner of war,U.S. senator from Arizona.

“Character Is Destiny,” “Faithof My Fathers,” “Why CourageMatters”

Was early advocate of the warand of the 2006 of troop surge,although often criticized adminis-tration’s handling of the war.Wants troops to stay until Iraq isstable, secure.

Suggests $2,500-$5,000 taxcredit to make health insuranceaffordable. Opposes mandatedinsurance. Would expand healthsavings accounts.

Supports path to legalizationthat includes learning Englishand paying fines. Co-sponsored2006 bill calling for guest-workerprogram and setting up path tocitizenship for illegal immigrants.Supports Mexican border fence.

Extend Bush tax cuts.Simplify tax code. Reform Alternative Minimum Tax.

Supports cap-and-trade policyfor carbon emissions.

“The fact is the tax cuts havedramatically increased revenues.”

The Congressional BudgetOffice, Treasury and WhiteHouse’s Council of EconomicAdvisers agree that the tax cutslead to revenues that are lowerthan they otherwise would havebeen — even if they spurredsome economic growth.

The Kansas City Star, formerSen. Phil Gramm (Texas), SteveForbes, Sen. Sam Brownback(Kan.), Utah Gov. JohnHuntsman

Rep. Ron PaulTexas

Obstetrician-gynecologist,longtime U.S. representativefrom Texas, one-time LibertarianParty presidential nominee.

“The Case for Gold: AMinority Report of the U.S. GoldCommission”

Opposed invasion. Wouldimmediately withdraw all troopsfrom Iraq.

Opposes mandated coverage.Would make all medical expenses deductible and create$500-per-child tax credit for prescription drugs and costs notcovered by insurance.

No path to legalization.Supports Mexican border fence.Opposes government services,including hospitals and schools,for illegal immigrants. Endbirthright citizenship.

Eliminate income taxes and all taxes not “expresslyauthorized by the Constitution,”including payroll and estatetaxes.

Enforce private property rights to prohibit anyone frompolluting.

“Both the WTO and CAFTAcould force Americans to get adoctor’s prescription to takeherbs and vitamins. Alternativetreatments could be banned.”

Few legal scholars agree thatthe World Trade Organization orthe Central American Free TradeAgreement would give interna-tional groups any power toimpose such restrictions onAmericans.

American ConservativeMagazine, Arlo Guthrie, invest-ment advisor/financial commen-tator Don Luskin, former N.M.Gov. Gary Johnson

SOURCES: NEW YOR K T I MES, MCCLATCHY-TR IBUNE , FACTCHECK.ORG, CAMPAIGN WEB S ITES

Compiled by Scott Canon | The Kansas City Star

Sports THE WICHITANFeb. 13, 2008 7

BOBBY MORRIS

SPORTS EDITOR

Coming off of last weekend’s disappointing set of games MSU coach Brady Tigert led his team to Denton to compete in the Texas Women’s Tournament and hope-fully get the team back on the right track. Midwestern State’s experience in the lineup finally reared its head and showed why the Mustangs were picked to take the LSC North division championship, again. Seniors Kristen Stonecipher and Lindsey Voigt had a solid showing last weekend, but just didn’t sparkle like they did for most of last year in the batter’s box. Well, that was all forgotten this weekend as the duo combined to go 13-30 (.302) at the plate, score fourteen of the team’s 37 runs, drive in seventeen runs, and slam four combined homeruns, including an opening game grand slam from Stonecipher. The Mustangs opened up the TWU Tournament last Saturday looking to get back into the win column. Their opening game was against a young Henderson States squad, and they didn’t even look

like the same squad from last week. Stonecipher blasted her sec-ond career grand slam in as many weeks to highlight a six-run second inning that led to the 13-0 five-in-ning run-ruled game. Katie Peterson didn’t need near as much offense as the Mustangs put up, as she dominated the Red-dies only allowing three hits in the five-inning shutout win. Peterson struck out five batters while walk-ing only one for her first win of the young season. The offense continued its on-slaught in their second game against St. Edward’s. The Hilltop-pers weren’t going to get shutout like the Reddies, though, eventu-ally running up the score to hand MSU the loss, 11-7. Freshman starter, Brittany Tan-ner, didn’t get settled in until it was too late, giving up three runs on two hits, including a two-run hom-er in the first inning. Tanner settled in for the second inning, but got lit up again in the third inning, giving up five runs, including a three-run homerun to Hilltopper’s third base-man Melissa McSheffery. Peterson came in relief of Tan-

ner to start the fifth inning and provided enough stability to give MSU a comeback opportunity, but the Mustangs’ offense was held in check by the stellar relief pitching from St Edward’s freshman Diana Cezeaux. Cezeaux pitched the last four and one-third innings, record-ed six strikeouts, and allowed no runs on just two hits, to hold off the Mustangs in the waning innings. This would be the only loss of the tournament for the Mustangs as Stonecipher and Voigt led the way to three impressive wins to finish out the TWU Tournament. The Mustangs’ final game last Saturday pitted them against the host-team. Senior left hander Ashley Kuchenski led the way, pitching a complete-game gem, striking out one batter, and giving up only one earned run on eight hits. After spending much of the young season in a hitting slump, Voigt’s hot bat led the way to the 5-2 victory. Voigt connected on 3-of-4 at-bats, including a 2-2, two out solo homerun in the top of the fourth inning. Stonecipher, Maranda Bishop, and Jessica Rodriguez also

chipped in from the batter’s box for the Mustangs towards their third-consecutive double-digit hit game. In Midwestern State’s fourth game of the tourney, MSU took on the Central Missouri Jennies in a game that was decided more on er-rors than runs actually scored. Tanner got the start inside the circle and seemed to pitch much better than her earlier start in the tournament. She pitched four com-plete innings only giving up one earned run while striking out three batters. Peterson came in and dominated in three innings of hitless relief, striking out five batters, and claim-ing her second win of the season. It was tied 2-2 in the top of the sixth inning where things seemed to turn towards the Mustangs and the Jennies seemed to unravel. Stonecipher scored the final run of the game in the top of the sixth inning after UCM first base-man Whitney Sandberg dropped a throw from the shortstop and al-lowing Amanda Potysman to reach base safely. The Mustangs had their fate in their own hands entering the final game of the tournament at 2 p.m.

last Sunday. They had a one-game lead on Henderson State and St. Edward’s, and only had to win against archrival West Texas A&M to take the solo-first place finish. The Mustangs not only won their final game, they run-ruled the Lady Buffs riding the hot pitching of Peterson. Peterson got the start and pitched all five innings, and only allowed three base runners the entire con-test. Peterson struck out four bat-ters, while only walking one on her way to her third victory of the tour-nament and of the season. Voigt went up to bat three times in the game, reaching base each time. She was given a free pass on her first at-bat of the game, and then connected on her next two of-ferings for two hits. Voigt drove in a team-high three RBIs, while the Mustangs improved their record to 6-4 on the season and took the first-place prize at the TWU Tour-nament. The Mustangs will finally play their first home games this Satur-day afternoon against the Texas A&M-Kingsville Javelinas. First pitch of the double-header from Mustangs’ Park is slated for 1 p.m.

Softball team takes first place at tourneyMustangs

Player

Profile

Kristen Stonecipher

Softball I #5Senior - Third Baseman

Birthdate : May 3, 1986Hometown : Flower MoundMajor : Exercise Physiology

Kristen is arguably the most prolific hitter in MSU history.

Since the softball program has been revived Stonecipher has led the offensive attack for the

Mustangs, recording 60 multiple hit games, and a .371 career batting average. Kristen was

an all-state first baseman as a senior at Flower Mound HS, be-fore being named a third-team

All-American two years ago as a sophomore at MSU.

Did you know?! “Stoney”’s primary hobby is

sleeping.

JOSH MUJICA

SPORTS WRITER

The MSU women’s basketball team gave everything they had against Tarleton State on Saturday . It wasn’t good enough, as the Mus-tangs fell to the TexAnns, 77-66, at Wisdom Gym in Stephenville.

The Mustangs shot 1-of-11 from 3-point land in the first half com-piling a 35.5 percentage from the floor and giving the sharp-shoot-ing TexAnns a 41-27 lead going into intermission.

Brittni Morrison and Andrea Buben stepped up for the Mus-tangs in the second half as they combined for seven 3-pointers to cut an 18-point TexAnn lead to five points with four minutes left to play.

Tarleton State’s Sonya Sund-berg responded with a key 3-point basket that gave the TexAnn’s a 69-60 lead with 3:10 to go.

MSU countered with a 3-point shot but at the 1:44 mark, TSU’s D’Anna Dingler hit one of the most amazing shots the conference has ever seen to increase the lead to 73-63.

Dingler ran past her bench and launched a shot from over her head

as the shot clock was expiring that tickled the twine and brought the crowd to its feet. Momentum played a part and MSU was unable to catch up.

“They battled hard,” said MSU coach Shannon Burks, “Their ef-fort hasn’t been something I’ve had a problem with. They are making very fundamental mis-takes and that beat us tonight. You can’t make fundamental mistakes like that and expect to beat good people, especially on the road.”

Buben finished with fifteen points including 3-of-5 from be-hind the arc and Morrison posted all of her twelve points in the sec-ond half, shooting 4-of-4 from be-hind the 3-point line.

Rosy Ofoegbu and Tiffany Cook contributed twelve points each for the Mustangs.

TSU’s Krystal Cole and Sun-dberg tallied 21 points each and the TexAnns finished 7-of-17 as a team in the 3-point category.

Tarleton State improves to 15-6 overall and 6-1 in Lone Star Con-ference South competition. While, the Mustangs fell to 9-12 on the season and 3-5 in conference play.

MSU will host the West Texas A&M Lady Buffs tonight at D.L.

Ligon Coliseum.Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.

and will be broadcast live via 100.9 BOB FM, bobradio.fm and msumustangs.com. Preview of the game will begin at 5:45 p.m. and continue until following the men’s game.

JOSH MUJICA

SPORTS WRITER

After struggling early in the con-ference season, to a 2-4 conference record, the MSU Mustangs looked to come out of the gate on the right foot for the second half of Lone Star Conference South competi-tion, beginning last Saturday.

The men’s basketball team did just that as they defeated No. 12 Tarleton State, 79-65, at Wisdom Gym in Stephenville, snapping the Texans fourth longest win streak in school history and handing them their first in LSC South loss.

The Mustangs ended TSU’s 31-game win streak last year and it took a complete team effort to do it again.

Senior Jeremy Ford and Nolan Richardson IV controlled both

halves of the game as they both contributed eighteen points.

Richardson was the star of the first half as he netted 3-of-4 from behind the arc in the last five min-utes, before intermission to put the Mustangs up 33-23.

Ford earned LSC South Divi-sion Player of the Week honors af-ter his performance in the second half. Ford poured in fifteen points to propel the Mustangs to victory.

The 6-2 guard scored nine points in a MSU 11-3 run that pulled them away from TSU. The Texans cut the Mustangs ten-point halftime lead to a 3-point lead with 16:25 left in regulation.

Ford came through in the clutch situations, as he went 5-of-7 from the field in the second half includ-ing 4-of-4 from 3-point land.

Tarleton State had great play in-

side the paint as center, Terrence Gamble, posted fifteen points and twelve rebounds. Forward Eric Williams also threw in fourteen points, six rebounds and four as-sists.

Gamble, 6-11, and Williams, 6-6, gave the Mustangs problems in the post but Trajinski Grigsby and freshman Charlie Logan sacrificed their bodies to effectively slow the big men down just enough. Both Grigsby and Logan fouled out of the game after playing just seven-teen minutes.

“We knew going into the game that we were going to have to foul, “ MSU coach Jeff Ray said. “We wanted to be real physical and not give them any easy lay-ups.”

The win moves the Mustangs into a tie with Angelo State for fourth place in the LSC South with

a 3-4 record. The Mustangs also improve to 11-10 on the season.

Tarleton State fell to 6-1 in conference play and 19-3 overall.

The Mustangs return home to take on archrival West Texas A&M tonight under the dome of D.L. Ligon Coliseum. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m., or 25 minutes following the end of the women’s basketball game.

The game can be heard live on 100.9 BOB FM, bobradio.fm or msumustangs.com. The broadcast will begin at 5:45 p.m., with the women’s game preview followed directly by men’s coverage.

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Mustangs pull off major upset over No. 12 Texans 79-65

TexAnns pull away from Mustangs late 77-66

Patrick Johnston THE WICHITANLSC South Division Player of the Week Jeremy Ford shown here guarded the imbound pass from a UTPB player. Ford lit it up from behind the arc, eventually scoring eighteen points on the way to the upset victory.

Patrick Johnston THE WICHITANSophomore forward Andrea Buben (30) shown here going to the rack for a rebound against the Abilene Christian Wildcats. Buben finished last week’s game with fifteen points after leading a second half charge that came up just short against Tarleton State.

THE WICHITANFeb. 13, 20088 Sports