Year: 2013

Oh, Lorde!

In an age where every twerk seems calculated and every hit single seems to be the product of a meticulous marketing campaign, young Lorde (the “e” is silent) and her smash hit “Royals” (Lava/Republic) is a true surprise. The moody pop anthem _ which champions regular folks instead of the ultra-rich and powerful, while maintaining a cool, detached vibe—jumped from her native New Zealand to the United Kingdom and finally to the United States this summer, where it is currently challenging Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry for the top of the pop charts.

(“Royals” already rules the alternative charts, where it has been No. 1 for seven weeks, the longest reign ever for a woman on that chart, passing Alanis Morissette’s 1995 run with “You Oughta Know.”)

Texas country crooners Eli Young Band will be performing on the main stage Saturday at the annual Heart O’ Texas Fair & Rodeo. The Lariat had the chance to chat with drummer of the band, and discuss their future and passion for music.

Q: How has your career changed with the success of the “Life at Best” album?

A: Things have taken off in a good way. We’ve seen some of the biggest crowds we’ve seen, especially being on the Kenny Chesney Tour this year.
It’s been pretty incredible.

Every year, the U.S. Army provides hundreds of ROTC cadets with the opportunity to visit 40 different countries for three weeks. The cadets can immerse themselves in a foreign culture and learn a new language through the Cultural Understanding and Language Proficiency program, or CULP.

According to the U.S. Army’s Cadet Command website, CULP participants are exposed to everyday life in different cultures, which intensifies language studies. The Cadet Command states that the CULP program helps produce commissioned officers that possess the language and cultural skills required of an Army officer in the 21st century. Any Army ROTC cadets who wish to participate in CULP should contact their command for more information on the application process.

Thirty minutes a day could save your life.

“To stay healthy and fit you don’t need to run a marathon or even visit the gym,” said Van Davis, assistant director for fitness. “The key is to stay active.”

Starting Oct. 17, Baylor students will have a chance to do just that.

Neighborhoods without a source of healthy food deserve a second look.

That’s the thinking behind a research project Dr. Andy Hogue, director of civic education and community service program, is heading up with his African-American politics class and the Texas Hunger Initiative.

In August, the city of Waco bid adieu to two HEB grocery stores tucked in neighborhoods on either side of Interstate 35.

Five months after the West fertilizer plant explosion, the Long-Term Recovery Board has begun the distribution of funds for residents affected by the blast.

At a press conference Thursday in West, Ronnie Sykora, a Long-Term Recovery Center Board member, said the roughly $3.5 million collected from donations will be dispersed after petitioners are assigned caseworkers and necessary paperwork is filed, such as copies of medical bills, insurance claims and contractor estimates.

Sykora said West residents have an estimated $30 million in needs.

No. 22 Baylor will take a break from conference play with a match against the No. 20 BYU Cougars for the last nonconference game of the regular season at 7 p.m. tonight at Betty Lou Mays Soccer Field.

“BYU is a great team,” Baylor co-head coach Marci Jobson said. “They have a lot of great players. The remind me of West Virginia some, so we are going to have to really lock down.”

Kansas (2-1) vs. No. 20 Texas Tech (4-0)

Kansas head coach Charlie Weis has hardly anything to work with in Lawrence. Kansas may be 2-1, but two wins are against Louisiana Tech and FCS opponent South Dakota, both at home.

Texas Tech has been one of the more surprising teams so far this season. A rebuilding process was expected after former Tech quarterback Kliff Kingsbury took over as head coach in Lubbock. The Red Raiders rank third in the nation in passing yards with 408.5 a game.

No. 17 Baylor football opens up Big 12 Conference play against West Virginia in a Saturday night showdown at Floyd Casey Stadium. When these two teams last met, the Mountaineers pulled off a 70-63 shootout win in Morgantown in the first-ever matchup between these two teams. Last year’s game will be in the mind of Baylor as the team prepares for its Big 12 opener.

“You never want to think of football as a revenge type of game,” junior quarterback Bryce Petty said. “We are ready to go out there. Even though we did score 63 points last year, there were still points left out there. As a team, a couple things just didn’t go our way, but I thought we played really well being in that atmosphere. Opening up Big 12 at home against them, it needs to be a win for us for sure.”

Central Texas is in a drought, but when walking on Baylor’s campus, no one would know.

Campus is slowly turning into a swampland, lacking only the gators and Cajun food.

The squish of nearly every grassy patch on campus indicates the healthy dose of water that was administered overnight by way of sprinklers.

While Baylor’s campus has lush green grass, it’s coming at a price.

After two tough losses against top 25 teams, Baylor volleyball will look to rebound in a midday tilt against Kansas this Saturday. The Bears sit at 8-10, 0-2 in the Big 12. Kansas comes into the match with a record of 12-3 on an eight-match winning streak.

Baylor volleyball played a tough match against Texas on Wednesday night, losing 3-1. Baylor was not expected to win against the No. 4 defending national champions, but the Bears managed to win the first set that Texas has lost in all of Big 12 play in a thrilling third set, 25-23.

By Bradley Klapper and Laurie Kellman Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A woman driving a black Lexus tried to ram…

A police officer was reported injured after gunshots at the U.S. Capitol, police said Thursday while putting the entire complex on lockdown.

“There are reports of injuries,” said Terrance Gainer, the Senate’s Sergeant at Arms.

FBI agents were also headed to the scene.

A hidden website operated by a San Francisco man using an alias from “The Princess Bride” became a vast black market bazaar that brokered more than $1 billion in transactions for illegal drugs and services, according to court papers made public Wednesday.

A criminal complaint in New York accused Ross William Ulbricht of being the mastermind and charged him with narcotics trafficking, computer hacking and money laundering. A separate indictment in Maryland accused him in a failed murder-for-hire scheme.

Living-learning programs are proving to help students succeed academically in addition to providing them with a close-knit community,

“When you actually put like-minded people in the same place to live, chances are they’re going to strike a friendship and they’ll help each other succeed,” said Dr. Rizalia Klausmeyer, director of the Science and Health LLC. “That’s the hope that we have.”

The Baylor Division of Student Life is currently accepting applications for the Shepherd Internship Program at Washington and Lee University.

This is a summer internship offered to anyone interested in using what they have learned in the classroom to improve the lives of others.

The Shepherd Higher Education Consortium on Poverty, led by Washington and Lee, includes different universities from across the nation. The consortium’s efforts are focused on preparing students “for a lifetime of professional and civic efforts to diminish poverty and enhance human capability.”

President Barack Obama brought congressional leaders to the White House on Wednesday for the first time since a partial government shutdown began, but there was no sign of progress toward ending an impasse that has idled 800,000 federal workers and curbed services around the country.

The standoff continued after a White House summit with chief executives as financial leaders and Wall street urged a resolution before serious damage is done to the U.S. and world economy.

What you see isn’t always what you get when it comes to senior midfielder Kat Ludlow.

On the field she sets the tone of the game with her physical play, but in her free time, one can find her baking or crafting.

Baylor volleyball certainly did not lack heart in a hard-fought 3-1 loss against the No. 4 ranked defending national champion Texas Longhorns on Wednesday night in front of an all-time record crowd of 3,044 fans. Despite the loss, Baylor handed Texas their first set loss in Big 12 play by winning the third set in thrilling fashion.

“The crowd was incredible,” junior middle hitter Nicole Bardaji said. “We loved having all the fans.”

Baylor Theatre is thinking pink for its first main-stage production of the new school year with the popular musical comedy “Legally Blonde.” The play is proving to be a favorite with audiences and has sold out every performance. For one cast member in particular, this show is a big opportunity.

The iconic lead role Elle Woods, a bubbly, California sorority girl turned Harvard Law student, is played by Sarah Beard, a Gulf Breeze, Fla., senior and longtime participant in Baylor’s theater department.

Baylor students have the opportunity to immerse themselves in innovation and collaboration by working for the Launch program in the Baylor Research and Innovation Collaborative.

Dr. Greg Leman, the Hankamer School of Business chair in management and entrepreneurship, said the mission of the program is to assist existing businesses, researchers and entrepreneurs in accelerating sustainable economic growth through the commercialization of innovation.

The Parents’ First Call to Prayer is an opportunity for parents to gather and bless students.

The First Call to Prayer was started about a decade ago by the Baylor Parent’s Network. Parents come together in various groups across the nation to pray for Baylor’s faculty and the students.

Students have to balance a variety of schoolwork, jobs, as well as several extracurricular activities in any given week. As a result, many students have very little time to do anything other than their to-do lists, such as sleep or spend any time with their friends and maintain relationships.

To add to students’ already busy and unpredictable schedules, professors have been scheduling several out-of-class activities that students are unaware of when signing up for the class.

The U.S. government has shut down, yet the country largely continues to run as usual. The world didn’t end and the economy did not come to a crashing halt.

Americans need to realize that there is only one party that deserves the lion’s share of the blame for the shutdown: the Democrats.

This shutdown has been years in the making. Until March 23 of this year, the Democrat-controlled Senate failed to even vote on a budget for more than four years, and they have yet to send a budget to the White House as of this writing. That is gross negligence to do the job to which they were elected.

Quite often, I hear girls complain about not having a boyfriend and feeling lonely. Loneliness sucks, I get that. Whenever I feel lonely, I usually find solace in a pint of vegan ice cream, so I completely empathize with the desire for companionship. What I don’t understand is why the void created by loneliness has to be filled by a male presence. I would like to suggest an alternative solution to the problem: get a dog.

Don’t Feed The Bears – Going Beast Mode on Video from Baylor Lariat on Vimeo.

Greg and Daniel preview Baylor’s game against West Virginia, take a look at the Big 12 picture, recap Seattle’s game in Houston and take a look at how some Week 5 NFL action will play out. Follow the show on Twitter (@DFTBPodcast) and follow our hosts Greg (@GregDeVries3000) and Daniel (@D_Hill80).