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Remembering Dr. Tom Cannon.
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SuNNy 800/530 September 18, 2012 • Vol. 95, No. 3
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Conflict continues in Middle East Katelyn Garrity reporter
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ivil war continues to rage in Syria, even after other countries such as Egypt and Tunisia have successfully overthrown dictators in last year’s Arab Spring movement. Dr. Dave Rausch, Teel Bivins Professor of Political Science, noted that Syria’s family dynasty government has been in power since the 1960s and that he’s surprised the public hadn’t tried to overthrow the government sooner. “I think in some cases it’s a long time coming, because the governments that are being overthrown had been in power for quite some time,” Rausch said. President Bashar al-Assad of Syria is being threatened by protests from rebel groups that feel it is time for a new form of government. In recent days, American embassies in Egypt, Yemen and Libya have been under attack by angry protesters due to an anti-Islamic video produced
sPOrts
Lady Buffs volleyball sweeps weekend matches.
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OPiniOn
The recent Middle East conflict may be attributed to culture differences.
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KrystinA MArtinEz/thE PrAiriE Innocence of Muslims is an anti-Muhammed film that incited rage in the Middle East last week.
in the U.S. During an attack on the embassy in Benghazi, Libya four U.S. citizens including Ambassador Chris Stevens were killed. President Barack Obama released a statement from the White House condemning the attack. “I have directed my Administration to provide all necessary resources to support
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the security of our personnel in Libya, and to increase security at our diplomatic posts around the globe,” Obama said. “While the United States rejects efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others, we must all unequivocally oppose the kind of senseless violence that took the lives of these public servants.”
Dr. Rausch said acts against U.S. embassies like those in Libya are failing to impact the people that angered the Muslim World in the first place.
Arab Spring on PAGE 3
fEAturE
The Wesley Foundation outgrows its facilities.
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NEWS
September 18, 2012 | theprairienews.com
Rain fails to curb spirits at AMA BBQ
Robin MosieR RepoRteR
Thursday Sept. 13. The event, closing down a four-block radius of downtown Amarillo for or the 17th consecutive two days, is an annual non-dues year, the Amarillo Chamfundraiser for the chamber. Acber of Commerce hosted cording to Amarillo Chamber the “Good Times” Barbeque Senior Director of Communications Penni Bentley, more than 5,000 people purchase a wristband every year and come out to eat an unlimited variety of barbeque and beverages provided by over 100 local businesses that sponsor the barbeque. Friends and family of the sponsoring teams who came out for a pre-event tasting the day before huddled under canopies away from the drizzle, heightening the anxiety for how the weather would affect the next day’s festivities. But despite the rainy roBin MoSiEr/thE PrAiriE weather condiBarbeque attendees meander through the four blocks of tions with tempera-
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downtown dedicated to the Amarillo Chamber cook-off.
STAFF Editor-in-ChiEf Krystina Martinez
ASSiStAnt Editor Ashley Hendrick
WEB Editor Daniela Fierro
Ad MAnAGEr Zivorad Filipovic
dESiGn Editor Kati Watson
CoPY EditorS
Elizabeth Humphrey Brooke Self
SPortS Editor Matt Watkins
tures dipping into the 50s, the Chamber breathed a sigh of relief as people of the Panhandle showed up with their appetites when the gates opened to the public at 5 p.m. “The weather couldn’t hurt [the barbeque],” Jeremy Herrera, Independent Equipment Manager of Coors, said. “If people have umbrellas, they will be out at the chamber barbeque. It’s too big for people to miss.” Coors, Arctic Glacier and Tyson were the three title sponsors for the event. Tyson donating between 16 and 19 thousand pounds of meat for competitors to slice, dice and spice any way of their choosing to serve the public. Cooking teams were only required to purchase meat for submission to the cook-off. “Donating the food is a great way for Tyson to give back and support the people of Amarillo,” Tyson Complex Secretary Sovaner Carter said. Supporting the people of Amarillo and getting to have fun are also why Marilyn Welborn, senior vice president of Amarillo Community Federal Credit
Photo Editor Alex Montoya
rEPortErS
Tyler Anderson Addie Davis Katelyn Garrity Alexander Gardner Alex Gonzalez John Lee
Union, said her company par- This is a great time of year for ticipates annually. individual businesses to just “[The barbeque] really come out and work together for brings out the competition in the good of the Chamber and people,” Welborn said. “This is the good of the community.” serious stuff. People really go to great lengths for the barbeque, sleeping outside overnight to watch their fires and start cooking at the right time, but it’s all in fun.” From participating in cooking teams or serving on the judging committee to choose the winners in each of the twelve categories, the avenues for community involvement are plentiful. “This is the only time of year you get to see a lot of people, it’s a great way to network,” Welborn said. “[The barbeque] is really named the right roBin MoSiEr/thE PrAiriE Education Credit Union Financial Educator and ECU thing –‘Good Times;’ it’s a celebration. team’s Head Cook Matt Morgan makes finishing touches to the team’s brisket entry before the 4 p.m. deadline .
Laci McGee Robin Mosier Katie Nichols Lauren O’Brien Juan Paiz Chelo Rivera Haley Sprague Rebekah St. Clair Rubi Valencia Keltin Wiens
Connor Woods
WEB ASSiStAntS Ernesto Arizpe Georgia Romig
AdViSEr
Dr. Butler Cain
The Prairie is a student-operated newspaper at West Texas A&M University. It functions to inform, educate and entertain readers accurately and responsibly. It does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the administration, faculty or staff. The Prairie verifies the legitimacy of the advertising appearing in The Prairie, but cannot be held liable for any advertising claim made in this publication. The Prairie has a circulation of 1,500 and is printed by the Amarillo Globe-News. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
September 18, 2012 | theprairienews.com
Arab Spring from PAGE 1 ”I always think it’s interesting that the folks who don’t like one particular person or one particular action in the United States go beat up a U.S. embassy,” Rausch said. “All you’re really doing is enflaming Americans; you’re not getting back at that one person.” Dr. Rausch said he sees ways the U.S. can respond to the embassy attacks. “I would not object to withdrawing any support that we currently offer [the] countries [that attacked our embassies],” Rausch said. The people of Syria could, however, receive aid from America through humanitarian efforts. “I would hope those other countries [near Syria] would give [Syrians] asylum,” Rausch said. “You don’t just send them back to Syria to be killed. That’s
one place we could help out by offering various types of aid to Turkey, Jordan [and] Lebanon. Dr. Rausch expects the Syrian government to leave office, but he questions where al-Assad would be able to find a safe place for exile because of all the uprisings that have affected countries in Africa. “I’m not entirely hopeful it will be a pleasant change or a positive change,” Rausch said. “We may be replacing one dictator with another dictator.”
To access more of President Obama’s statement go to:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2012/09/12/ president-obama-speaks-attackbenghazi#transcript
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NEWS
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NEWS
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NEWS
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Horse judging team hopes to win it all Dr. Tom Cannon: father, teacher, soldier Addie dAvis reporter
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t’s been several years since any senior college horse judging team has been able to snag the triple crown of collegiate horse judging. With determination and hard work, the WTAMU Horse Judging team hopes to snag the title away from the competition. “These students are extremely dedicated and hard working,” Dr. John Pipkin, equine program director and head coach of the WT Horse Judging team, said. “To become champions takes a great deal of effort and commitment, which they have definitely
demonstrated.” The three major judging competitions include the All American Quarter Horse Congress, the American Quarter Horse World Championship show and the National Reining Horse Championships. Teams must win all three in order to be dubbed Triple Crown winners. “Not only are they still responsible for being outstanding academically, they invest many hours in their preparation. I have the greatest respect and appreciation for those that have decided to work at becoming a champion.”
The WT team spends endless hours a week practicing, representing WT nationwide and bringing success year after year. “This is a full-time commitment,” Kayla Wells, junior Agriculture Communications major and last year’s World Champion Horse judger, said. “Each of us team members put in countless hours of practice because we believe in our success and we love this. We definitely want to win the three big contests this fall and I think with our work ethic and talent it’s a possibility. We will not be outworked that’s for sure.”
With a total of 34 world championships, 33 national championships and an expert coach this team has all of the tools necessary to win it all. “I am so excited for this years team,” Assistant Coach Christa Forsberg said. “They are an absolutely amazing group of girls that have the talent and potential to win all of the contests. They are dedicated and passionate and deserve only the best.” The team is made up of members from all over the country and with a variety of skill levels. According to Dr. John Pipkin, anyone interested and ready
Enviromental Science Society brings opportunities rebekAh st. ClAir reporter
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he Environmental Science Society (ESS) does more than recycling and planting trees. It gives opportunities to students who want to do something meaningful locally, nationally or internationally. The program involves undergraduate and graduate opportunities. Environmental science is innovative to solve problems. ESS is open to anyone who is interested in environmental science and hold bi-monthly meetings. Internationally, the group has worked in Ecuador, Columbia, Turkey and Russia. They are well associated with the World Bank and United Nations. “Locally, ESS fixed a dam for Mobeetie, Texas,” graduate student Josh Brownlow said.
The dam was leaking and no one had information on it. The society fixed the dam by digging a trench and filling it with high-density polyethylene to block the leak. The society also holds an event every year for Boy Scouts of America in the area. It provides an environmental science badge for those who attend and has 12 stations for the troops who attend to learn about what environmental science can do. For example, one of the stations teaches about hazardous waste, how to use the equipment to test for the toxicity and to dress in the hazardous waste protective suits. ESS builds résumés for anyone going into the environmental science field and the Environmental Science department has a 100 percent employment rate.
According to Dr. Jim Rogers the society is “on the science,” meaning they use science to solve every day problems and are approached by local, national and international organizations to help provide solutions. The ESS provides “handson experienced and already certified” individuals by the time they graduate and move into their careers, said Rogers. “This is one of the best [programs] in the USA. You take chemistry, microbiology and the environmental science classes are something special,” said Brownlow. The ESS also provides the cleanup standards for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). According to ESS President Will Mimbs, WT’s website will have a joint web page with TCEQ that
has a database that shows “how clean does ‘clean’ have to be.” The ESS often gets grants in order to do research. Last year, three of the members applied for the Killgore Research Grant and all three received it. The grants provide the students with hands on experience and give the students an edge when it comes to applying for jobs in their field. Mimbs said even if the student is not an environmental science major, “everyone has a role in environmental science.” Lawyers, writers, engineers and all of those who want to be part of something where they can see a direct result of their efforts has a place in the ESS.
Patrick cannon
to commit to a semester of ex- sPecial to the Prairie treme time management, hard lbuquerque – Tom work and devotion can be a part Cannon, 84, of of the horse judging team. Albuquerque, N.M. died “As a new judger on the team I’m looking forward to, and I’m Sunday, Sept. 9, 2012 at his excited, for the upcoming sea- home after a 4 ½ year battle son,” Lindsey McNeil, junior with cancer. Per his wishes, Equine Business major, said. “So there will be no memorial far it has been a great learning service. experience with a great team. Tom was born in 1928 We’re all ready to win the three in Ralls, Texas and spent big contests this year.” most of his adult life as an For their next competition, the team is preparing for the All educator and citizen soldier American Quarter Horse Con- in the Panhandle. He attended Oregon State University, the gress in Columbus, Ohio.
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University of Minnesota, the University of Utah, Baylor, and Texas Tech University
ultimately earning a Doctorate of Education in 1969 from Texas Tech. He enlisted in the Army at the age of 17 serving as an engineer in the 82nd Airborne Division. After leaving active service in 1947, he served another 40 years in the National Guard and Army Reserve. Tom retired from the Reserves as a Colonel in 1969 and proudly rejoined the Guard as a Sergeant First Class in the 2nd Battalion, 142nd Infantry Regiment of the 49th Armored Division in Amarillo where he served until he reached the age of 60.
During the 1950s and 1960s, he worked in Lubbock as a policeman, postal carrier, and Chief of the Juvenile P ro b a t i o n D e p a r t m e n t while he attended Texas Tech. From 1965 to1969, he served as Headmaster of St. Christopher’s School (now All Saints School) also in Lubbock. Upon earning his Doctorate degree, he became a professor of Psychology at West Texas State University (now West Texas A&M). He retired as a Full Professor in 1993 and was named Professor Emeritus in Psychology in 2011. After retiring fully in 1999 from his 30 year private practice as a Licensed Psychologist, he moved to Albuquerque where he enjoyed life and corresponding with family and friends via mail and email. Tom was a complex man with a great sense of humor who always looked out for and helped other people. He was particularly fond of suggesting ROTC as a way to get ahead to almost anyone he met under the age of 40. For this type of dedication to the military in general and the WT Department of Military Science in particular, he was awarded an Outstanding Civilian Service Medal in 1977. He is survived by his second wife, Patricia Althen Cannon of Albuquerque and his two sons and their Courtesy photo/patriCk Cannon families; Michael and Debbye
Cannon of South Jordan, Utah, their children Christopher and Natalie and Natalie’s family, husband David and Tom’s great grandchildren, Penny and Emmett; and Patrick and Donna Cannon of Albuquerque, New Mexico and their children, Dr. Elizabeth Hillman and her husband Paul and Daniel and his fiancé, Alyssa. Tom’s first wife is Mildred Holloway Cannon who currently resides in Canyon, Texas. He is also survived by his cousin, Jane Smith of Dallas, who was raised as his sister by his grandparents. In his final days he wrote, “Whatever you were planning to spend on cards, flowers, or contributions, I would appreciate it if you spent it on yourself instead.” Those
who knew him understand that remark is rooted in his hard-headed reluctance to graciously accept gifts as well as compliments. However, if you would prefer to do something to honor his memory or what he may have meant to you or someone you know, the family suggests that you consider a contribution to the Tom Cannon Student Service Scholarship at West Texas A&M University at https://mercury.wtamu. edu/wtfoundation/. You can select Tom’s scholarship in the “How my gift should be used” section of the page. You can also send in any contribution to the WTAMU Office of Development, Attention: Lance Ortiz, PO Box 60766, Canyon, TX 79016.
To find out more about Tom and see his selfauthored eulogy or leave a remembrance for others to find comfort in, you are welcome visit his Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/thomas.cannon.750.
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SportS
September 18, 2012 | theprairienews.com
Pick on someone your size KelTin Wiens KWTs sporTs direcTor
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here is a new fad diet among the elite teams in college football: cupcakes. No, these cupcakes are not the frosting-covered morsels of fat and sugar wrapped in wax paper that mom made. These cupcakes are actually obviously out-matched teams taking on a Top 25 team on the Division I gridiron. I love football. I love high school football, college and the NFL. If they play with a pigskin and helmets, I can’t get enough of it. I know I’m not the only one who enjoys America’s most popular sport. I, like so many other Americans love football when it is competitive, otherwise it’s just flat boring. Good, competitive football usually happens when the talent on
both sidelines is about the same. This happens the most in the NFL (probably why it’s the most popular professional sport) but not so much in Division I college football. There are two different divisions of Division I because the size of the schools is significantly different from the top level to the bottom. This leads to a drop off in talent from the upper tier to the lower one. Savannah State, who is in the Football Championship Series, the lower division, didn’t score a point in the first two weeks of the season. Their opponents over the last two weeks, No. 19 Oklahoma State and No. 6 Florida State, who are in the Football Bowl Subdivision, the upper level, scored 139 combined points against the Tigers. Both OSU and FSU played Savannah as “warm-up” games before getting into their conference schedules.
While playing this warm-up game can be good for smaller schools, with all the attention and notoriety, it hurts the sport at the upper level. There is no benefit of two schools with the average enrollment of over 28,000 playing a school that is one-seventh the size. Playing cupcakes is unnecessary. If a school wants to prove they are a football power, then they should play another football power. This isn’t just a problem with Florida State and Oklahoma State; this diet is affecting all of college football. In the first two weeks of the season, there were only three games between Top 25 teams. If teams want to play a warm up game as an exhibition match, fine. Just don’t waste my Saturday with terrible match-ups that will make me find out how good my recliner is for napping.
Soccer beats TWU
Tyler Anderson sporTs reporTer
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ady Buffs Soccer split a pair of weekend matches in their 2012 campaign with a loss against Texas A&M-Commerce Friday and a victory over Texas Woman’s University on Sunday. Along with a split, the Lady Buffs maintain an even record in both Lone Star Conference and overall play. Despite a consistent attack on the goal in both games, the Lady Buffs were only able to score three times throughout the weekend. Leslie Briggs knocked in a penalty kick against A&MCommerce, earning her ninth goal of the year before Jasmine Schultz and Lindsey McHorse recorded their first and second scores of the season respectively against the TWU
Pioneers. “While we attacked the goal and implemented the movements we wanted to make in each game, we didn’t come away with very many scores,” Coach Chad Webb said. As the Lady Buffs move forward with 3-3-1 overall record and 2-2 in LSC play, A&M-Commerce improved to 2-2 overall and 1-0 in the Lone Star Conference and TWU dropped to 2-3-1 overall and 1-1 in LSC action. The Lady Buffs will continue their campaign by traveling to LSC rivals Wichita Falls and Abilene Christian to take on Midwestern State Friday, Sept. 21 and Abilene Christian on Sunday, Sept. 23. The next home stand for the Lady Buffs begins Sept. 28, when Angelo State visits The Pitch.
WT Lady Buffs volleyball sweeps weekend matches John lee sporTs reporTer
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he Lady Buffs won three matches over the weekend against Southwestern Oklahoma State, Saint Edward’s and Lone Star Conference rival Abilene Christian University. The Lady Buffs scored their tenth consecutive win over the weekend. The Lady Buffs kicked off their busy weekend with a game against their Lone Star Conference Rival Abilene Christian University. It was close in each game of the match as the Lady Buffs held off the Wildcats 25-23, 25-23 and 25-21. Junior Outside Hitter Hallie Harton had 14 kills over the series while senior Setter Lacy Hayes had 37 assists. The win against Abilene Christian University gives the Lady Buffs their
first conference win of the season. “It’s important because it’s ACU,” Head Coach Jason Skoch said, “ACU is way better than their record shows.” The Lady Buffs had no problem scoring against Southwestern Oklahoma State as Harton nailed 21 kills in the match and had an attack efficiency of 47 percent. Harton didn’t do it by herself though as Hayes had 36 assists. In each of the games against Southwestern Oklahoma State the Lady Buffs had a double digit victory margin. “We came out efficient and it was an efficient win,” Senior Lauren Beville said. The Lady Buffs closed their weekend with a match against St. Edwards. The Lady Buffs won each game in that match as well,
with scores 25-14, 25-18 and 2513. Harton lead the team in 18 kills, but she wouldn’t be the only Lady Buff with double digit kills as Senior setter Kameryn Hayes would have 11 kills. It would be Senior setter Lacy Hayes that would star in this game though with a double-double of 24 assists and 11 digs. The Lady Buffs would advance to 10-1 over the weekend with the win in each of their matches. Although the Lady Buffs won the way they did, Skoch doesn’t want to take it for granted and said there is still work to do over the six-day break. “We are going to work a lot on blocking and transitional reset,” Skoch said. The Lady Buffs are going to need the six-day break as they
get back to Lone Star Conference Action against Texas A&M-Commerce in Commerce, Texas on Sept. 21. The Lady Buffs follow
7 Football wins big: Carthel is now all-time wins leader SPORTS
September 18, 2012 | theprairienews.com
Matt Watkins sports Editor
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he WTAMU Buffalo football team traveled to Arlington, Texas to play in the Lone Star Football Festival at Cowboys Stadium against the No. 14 ranked Texas A&M-Kingsville Javelinas. The Buffs exploded for 30 second half points en route to a 40-10 rout. WT’s head coach Don Carthel picked up his 69th win as the Buffs coach, passing Joe Kerbel (1960-1970) as the all-time winningest coach in WT history. Carthel has a 69-20
record in his eight years coaching the Buffs. “It was a very emotional day for me before, during and after the ball game,” Carthel said. WT got the scoring started when junior Dustin Vaughn threw a 13 yard touchdown pass to junior Trevor Hammargren to put the Buffs in front 7-0 with12:13 remaining in the first quarter. WT and Kingsville would trade field goals and go into the half with a 10-3 score in favor of WT. The Buffs would score twice in the third quarter on passes from Vaughn to junior Lance
Ratliff. The first was a 32-yard strike with seven minutes left in the third and the other, a 4-yard pass, with 2:19 to go in the third. The Javelinas would cut WT’s lead down to 24-10 with a touchdown pass by Nate Poppell to Sherman Batiste about five minutes into the fourth. The Buffs answered with a 7-yard run by senior Khiry Robinson, after a Vaughn touchdown pass to Hammargren was negated by an illegal formation penalty, making the score 3110 with 6:36 remaining in the game.
WT’s defense would get involved with the scoring when junior Chris Metcalf returned a fumble recovery 25-yards for a touchdown to extend WT’s lead to 38-10 and again when sophomore Shane Sobnosky finished the scoring with a safety, sacking TAMUK’s backup quarterback Bryan Ehrlich in the end zone with 1:24 left in the game. “The offensive line and receivers have stayed consistent through three games and the running game is better than it’s been in a long time,” Carthel said.
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Senior Lacy Hayes sets the ball for the play.
Vaughn finished the day with 19 completions out of 29 passes for 250 yards and three touchdowns. Ratliff led the Buffs receivers with three catches for 76 yards and two scores and Hammargren had four catches for 44 yards and one score. Robinson carried the ball 17 times for 110 yards and a touchdown. WT’s record so far is 2-1 overall and 1-0 in the Lone Star Conference. The Buffs’ next game will be in San Antonio, Texas on Sept. 22 against the Incarnate Word Cardinals at 7 p.m.
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ENTERTAINMENT
GAMES
September 18, 2012 | theprairienews.com September 18, 2012 | theprairienews.com
New ways to raise funds on the Internet Preston thomas rePorter
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he rise of the Internet and social media is causing an evolution in the way we do things as a society. Now instead of writing a letter, many people will just hop on Facebook and shoot their distant family a message that they can read in an instant. Websites like Yelp, which gives customers of restaurants a voice, are considered more reliable than advertisements. Instead of subscribing to a print newspaper, people are turning to online sources in increasing numbers. When a non-profit group in
New York needed to save the last laboratory of Nikola Tesla from being turned into a retail mall, they turned to the Internet. Kickstarter and Indiegogo have been making waves on the web by allowing artists, designers, filmmakers and game developers to quickly raise funds for their projects by opening themselves to the Internet. On both sites, a project creator has a set amount of time to meet their goal and encourage potential donators. They can give awards ranging from merchandising and special editions of a game at lower tiers to credits as a producer and a meeting with the creators at higher tiers. When
the land for famed scientist and inventor Nikola Tesla’s defunct laboratory, Wardenclyffe, was put up for auction in Shoreham, N.Y., a group known as the Friends of Science East took notice. Even with a promise from the state to match $850,000 in donations, the hefty price tag of $1.7 million posed a challenge to the small nonprofit. Partnering with Internet cartoonist and Tesla fanatic
Mathew Innman, a project was created on Indiegogo. Innman then began to promote the cause on his website, theoatmeal. com, and the money began to pour in. Within nine days, they had blown past their original goal and raised over a million dollars, with the average rate being $100 a minute. This success story is only one example of how crowdsourced funding is shattering existing ideas about fundraising. With
Album apps endanger the listener Connor Woods rePorter
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ady Gaga’s new album will not be a typical record. The pop star announced on her Little Monsters Blog that ARTPOP is more of a project. Gaga wrote that it will be released as a compatible application for the iPad, iPhone, mobile and computers. It will be interactive with chats, films for every song, extra music, Gagainspired games, fashion updates, magazines and more still in the works. The new application raises many ideas about what this means for the music industry. “When an artist is coming out with a new album, we usually hear a new song from the artist on the radio and you go download that song,” WTAMU Director of Broadcast Engineering Randy Ray said. “But instead of just downloading that song, you go download the app of the album.” When this is done, you get that
song plus a video of that song, maybe liner notes explaining why he or she wrote that song, even who played on that song, Ray said. “I love the idea of the app because it’s organic, dynamic and interactive,” Ray said. “I think that’s what a music product needs to be.” Professor of Mass Communications Dr. Leigh Browning said there are some issues that can’t be avoided. “The jury is still out on ARTPOP,” Browning said. “The problem is the saturated market of apps. “ Browning said the better way to approach this is to develop an app that allows us to see all albums from any artist we choose. “Again, it is about aggregating a massive amount of content,” Browning said. “Gaga is simply curating her own brand, and that is smart.” Browning said as a professor of mass communication, what this album means to the field is “that we all have to think outside the box.” Ray said the lack of change in the
music industry has caused issues. “For years, they did not evolve. They fought against change and that has been to their disadvantage,” he said. “Because they didn’t evolve, they got left behind and that is why the younger generations started doing other things like illegal downloading.” Ray said had the music industry been proactive with change, they would have been on board with the issues at hand. He believes “integration to social media is huge.” Assistant Professor of Music Theory and Composition, Benjamin J. Brooks, said it is about the experience and engaging in the music. “It does enhance the experience for a listener to be able to see the artist’s new music and prior music and also engage the music in different ways with interactive tools,” he said. Brooks said whether he would buy it or not depends on “if they could find a way to not clutter your phone or music listening device.”
Kickstarter, game developers and inventors alike can now pursue their dream projects. Artists, musicians and filmmakers can now secure the money they need to bring their vision to life. The ease of access and visibility that Kickstarter and Indiegogo grant to content creators has allowed many ideas to flourish that would have otherwise never been able to take flight and become a reality.
Courtesy photo/KiCKstarter
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10 FEATURE
September 18, 2012 | theprairienews.com
September 18, 2012 | theprairienews.com
WT Wesley Foundation expands rapidly A difference in culture Alex GonzAlez RepoRteR
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he WTAMU Wesley Foundation has been a haven for many students who have chosen to stick to their faith even after moving away from home. The Wesley Foundation has grown so much that they had to move their worship services to the Virgil Henson Activities Center ballroom. “About three years ago, I started collecting gear (sound gear, helpers etc.) as I saw the Wesley was growing,” Mikey Littau, director of the Wesley Foundation, said. The Wesley Foundation has worked to move
beyond the stereotypical bible study with their Tupos worship service and the Fifth Quarter, a postfootball game afterparty. “I wanted people to have fun, and enjoy themselves. I often have them coming up to me and asking me if this is a church,” said Littau. The Wesley staff’s main focus has been to build quality leaders out of students, who could then raise more leaders to spread the message of the Bible. Tyler Wingo, a junior Mechanical Engineering major, is a student leader at the Wesley Foundation. “A lot of planning went into the move to the AC,” Wingo said. “We even
had to buy trussing so we could hang up the lighting. [The service] got so packed back at the Wesley that people were leaving, so now we have an even bigger audience.” Wingo said that about 230 people have been showing up, which was more than any other year. “The move was a lot better than expected,” Hope Wentz, a junior Music Therapy major, said. “There are a lot of leaders here and they reached out to incoming freshman and everybody helped.” For now, the Wesley will be holding their worship services in the AC ballroom on Tuesdays at 8 p.m.
in room 316 of the Classroom Center from 4-5 p.m. The president of POEM, senior English major Halee Cross, said the new energy in POEM will give people a “chance to socialize outside of the class and explore creative media.” It has been a tradition of POEM’s to show different types of movies that are meant to inspire discussion. The first film of the fall semester is going to be Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris. It will be shown on Sept. 27 at 6 p.m. in CC 316. Haley Clevenger, a junior English major, said she is “excited that POEM is doing things again” and
is “looking forward to the workshops.” The POEM officers want WTAMU students to know this is an organization that is not just for English majors. “The three workshops were based on their value to students,” Shae Crawford, senior English major and secretary of POEM, said. Anyone who is interested in participating in any of the free workshops or movie nights can find more information on the English, Philosophy and Modern Language page on the WT website under upcoming events.
POEM is open to all majors lAci McGee RepoRteR
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he Professional Organization of English Majors (POEM) is one of the lesser-known organizations on campus. Although it was founded for English majors, they are open to students of all majors. In the past year, POEM has not had many events, but this fall they have gone in a new direction. They have six events planned for the fall semester. The first event, held on Sept. 18, is a writing workshop on how to do introductions and conclusions. It will be led by Dr. Jeffery Doty
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courtesy photo/the wesley foundation Students at the WT Wesley Foundation worshipping at Tupos in spring of 2012.
he storming of the U.S. embassies in Libya and Egypt and the death of four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens, on Sept. 11 has been a confusing issue, to say the least. So far, we know that there were several protests raging in Cairo and Benghazi over an anti-Muhammed movie trailer that was posted on Youtube. This has now spread to over 20 countries including Yemen, Tunisia and Sudan - and two more embassies have been breached, The New York Times reported. A major Hollywood studio did not produce the movie, titled Innocence of Muslims or The Life of Muhammed. In fact, searches conducted by news organizations cannot trace the movie’s supposed director, “Sam Bacile,” to any permit filed with the California Film Commission, where the movie’s filming took place. Actors and actresses in the movie said that their voices were dubbed over and the original story was supposed to be about Egypt 2,000 years ago. The trailer, which has now been blocked in Libya and Egypt, may not be what initially ticked off protestors. Don DeBar, a journalist and anti-war activist, told Russia Today in an interview on Sept. 13 that generally, people don’t get angry at a movie and bring weapons with them. He speculated that there were deeper issues that fueled the attacks. What are these issues? It may just be a difference in culture. Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton explained this at the U.S. – Morocco Strategic Dialogue on Sept. 13. She condemned the trailer as “disgust-
ing and reprehensible,” but also explained how the First Amendment works in the U.S. Citizens are allowed to express their views, even if they are controversial. Reporters Without Borders puts together their annual Press Freedom Index, which ranks countries around the world based on press freedom. Libya and Egypt, where the initial attacks occurred, were ranked 154 and 166, respectively. The United States is ranked 47th in press freedom. It may explain why protes-
tors reacted they way they did to the movie, which depicts Muhammed as a child molester and a thug. Such a film would never see the light of day in these countries, while parodies are common in the U.S. However, it does not excuse the fact the protestors attacked an embassy whose sole purpose is to improve diplomatic relations. It also does not excuse the attack on an American school in Tunisia, or any of the other attacks that have occurred in the aftermath.
opinion 11
Question of the Week “Are texting bans a good idea?”
“Yes, because people should be focusing on driving and not putting other people’s lives in danger just to send a text.” -- Romi Sanchez
Let your voice be heard! The Prairie will be asking a Question of the Week every Tuesday through Facebook and Twitter. Reply to our Question of the Week post on Facebook or use the hashtag #ThePrairieAsks on Twitter to respond. Student responses will be printed in the next edition of The Prairie.
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PHOTOS
September 18, 2012 | theprairienews.com
WT organizations recruit during iWeek Alex MontoyA Photo editor
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Gabriel Miranda (junior) talks to Panhandle Plains Historical Museum representative Han Hsu about volunteer opportunities.
Tori Sills (sophomore) and Whitney Moore (senior) give away sunglasses at the iSucceed fair.
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Alex Ceballos (freshman) and Chelsea Urbanczyk (freshman) look for volunteer opportunites with 211 Texas, represented by Danielle Crawford (right).
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