Greg (@GregDeVries3000) and Daniel (@D_Hill80) give their Final Four picks and tell you what teams they expect to do well in the NCAA Tournament. Follow the show on Twitter (@DFTBPodcast) and like us on Facebook.
Pinkies up
Diane Gottsman will present a professional networking dinner at 6 p.m. March 25 in the Barfield Drawing Room of the Bill Daniel Student Center. Students will learn professional dining and etiquette skills and get the chance to network with recruiters. The registration fee is $5. For more information and to register, visit
www.hireabear.com.
BU unites to talk poverty in Africa
By Brooke Bailey
Reporter
Africa’s growing economic opportunities will be the center of discussion this week at the Global Business Forum. The activities throughout the week will provide students the opportunity to get involved in the discussion about Africa with experts from various fields.
Baylor and the McBride Center for International Business hold the annual forum every spring. This year, the forum is titled: “Emerging Africa: Poverty Reduction and Wealth Creation.”
Most people hear about trouble in Africa, said Dr. Steve Gardner, chairman of the economics department and director of the McBride Center for International Business.
Gardner said people need to know about the business opportunities and economic development that Africa has to offer.
“The purpose of the forum is to make Baylor students aware of what is going on in Africa,” he said.
It’s not a traditional academic conference, where presentations are solely aimed at people in a certain field, Gardner said. The presentations and lectures are designed for any Baylor students interested in Africa.
“Even though it’s organized by the business school, anyone who’s interested in doing something with Africa should come,” he said.
The forum started Monday with a film screening about 10 companies in Africa titled “Africa Open for Business.” Panel discussions, guest speakers, a dinner and a luncheon are in the line-up for the rest of the week.
The first panel discussion, titled “Business With a Mission in Africa,” will be held from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. today on the fifth floor of Cashion Academic Center. Associate professor of management and entrepreneurship Dr. Blaine McCormick, associate professor of marketing Dr. Jeff Tanner and associate dean for research and faculty development Dr. Cindy Riemenschneider will lead the conversation.
Stephen Hayes, of the Corporate Council on Africa, will speak at the opening dinner Wednesday night on the fifth floor of Cashion.
A series of lectures will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Thursday on the fifth floor of Cashion. Eleven guest speakers are participating in the lectures.
A free luncheon will also take place from 12:30 to 1:45 p.m. on Thursday. Vijay Mahajan, professor in the department of marketing administration at the University of Texas at Austin, will speak at the luncheon. Students planning to attend the luncheon must also register online.
Gardner said Thursday’s events line up with class blocks, so students can hopefully have the opportunity to attend when they don’t have class.
“If a student comes to the fifth floor of Cashion, something will be going on,” Gardener said of Thursday’s events.
The forum will end with a panel discussion titled “Baylor Students in Africa.” A group of Baylor alumni and current students will share stories about their experiences there.
The event is open to the public, although students in particular are encouraged to attend the discussion, which will take place from 2:30 to 4 p.m. Friday on the fifth floor of Cashion.
Students can register online at https://www.baylor.edu/business/globalbusinessforum/.
Future student rentals aim to inspire growth
Matt Hellman | Lariat Photo Editor
By Taylor Rexrode
Staff Writer
A Baylor graduate is opening a new student housing apartment community just off the south side of campus. When it opens during the fall of 2014, this complex will be near campus, with 718 beds and 257 apartment units.
The project was developed by 1985 Baylor alumnus Brad Copeland, founder and owner of Copeland Commercial, who said the project at his alma mater should inspire growth within the neighborhood.
The View, which will be built on the corner of Tenth Street and Speight Avenue, is a collaborative project between University Student Living, Limited Liability Company and Copeland Commercial, LLC.
“I think this project is going to really improve the neighborhood and hopefully provide a catalyst to the gentrification of the entire area,” Copeland said.
Vertical construction on The View will begin in April and leasing for fall 2014 occupancy will start in September 2013.
Students will have options for one-, two- and four-bedroom units. These units will be fully furnished with a bureau, desk and full-sized beds for each room, as well as a flat-screen television, a sofa, end tables and a coffee table in the living room. Each bedroom will have its own bathroom, and kitchens will include a refrigerator, oven, microwave and dishwasher. Other amenities include a washer and dryer in the units, a parking garage for tenants and guests, an approximately 1,800 square foot swimming pool with cabana lounges, outdoor barbecue areas, an Internet café, a comprehensive fitness center and tanning facilities.
Copeland said he is glad to be back in Waco engaging with Baylor.
“It’s been fun to re-engage with some of the faculty and administration at Baylor,” Copeland said. “Baylor has been great to work with through this entire development process. We wanted to make sure we had their full support, so I’ve kept them informed every step of the way.”
The rent price for the View was undetermined at the time of publication, but Copeland said rents will be “competitive with the market.”
Dale McCullough, director of marketing for University Student Living, said producing high-end student living with an awareness of cost is part of the company’s mission.
“Our mission is to provide exceptional student living at the best value we possibly can,” McCullough said. “We are well aware of concerns of the cost of education. We are sensitive to what the market is like and how much students are spending.”
University Student Living recently built two new apartment complexes similar to the one breaking ground near campus: The Vue in Fayetteville, Ark., and The Edge in Mobile, Ala.
The website for both apartment complexes showed rents for two-bedroom units between $550 and $650 per person. Utilities were accounted for in the rent prices.
McCullough sees the project as a way to enhance Baylor’s campus and surrounding areas.
“It’s going to be very unique from what is around campus right now,” McCullough said. “It will really enhance the campus. It’s a whole comprehensive lifestyle and will really add a lot more activity to the area.”
Joseph M. Coyle, president of University Student Living, said in a press release that the housing project should reflect well on the university.
“Our approach to the development of well-designed, purpose-built student living is that it should benefit the entire community,” Coyle said in the release. “Students have improved housing options, which reflects well on the university, and our commitment to quality ensures an attractive, sustainable asset that enhances the neighborhood.”
StuGov applications now available to BU students
By Phillip Ericksen
Reporter
Applications are now available to join student government elections. They can be found at www.Baylor.edu/sg and are due by 5 p.m. March 28. Applications are also available in the student government office in the first floor of the Student Union Building. Applications can be turned in to the student government office.
“It’s a great way to represent the students,” San Antonio junior senator Stephen Bell said. “It’s given me a great opportunity to represent my fellow classmen, as well as to work with administration to find common ground on issues pertaining to student needs.”
Student government also provides an opportunity for students to come together while serving the greater student body. All students are eligible to apply.
As stated in the Student Body Constitution, officer duties include acting as a spokesperson to students and helping plan projects.
“It’s given me a platform to voice my views and to voice my constituents’ views,” San Antonio junior senator Grant Senter said. “Student government gives you the chance to voice other students’ opinions to build a better Baylor and to build a better Waco.”
All student body, senate and class officer positions are open for applications. For more information on any of the positions, refer to the Student Body Constitution.
“I really encourage everyone to give it a try,” Bell said. “This is an exciting time for Baylor.”
NYC stop-and-frisk trial gets under way
By Colleen Long
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Many of the tens of thousands of New Yorkers stopped, questioned and sometimes frisked by police in the past decade were wrongly targeted because of their race, lawyers for four men who claim they were illegally stopped said Monday.
But New York Police Department lawyers countered that officers must go where the crime is — and the crime is overwhelmingly in minority neighborhoods.
A civil trial that began Monday in federal court in Manhattan will examine the police tactic that has become a city flashpoint, with mass demonstrations, City Council hearings and mayoral candidates calling for change. The lawsuit, now a class-action, seeks a court-appointed monitor to oversee changes to how the police make stops.
The courtroom and overflow rooms were packed Monday, and stop-and-frisk opponents held an afternoon rally outside the courthouse. The Rev. Jesse Jackson watched the opening statements, telling reporters outside court afterward: “I heard rationalization and justification rather than explanation from the city. They were not denying. They were justifying.”
The trial is expected to last more than a month.
The mayor and police commissioner say stop-and-frisk is a life-saving, crime-stopping tool that has helped drive crime down to record lows.
But Darius Charney, the lawyer for the four men who filed the suit in 2008, said the department is doing stops illegally and must make adjustments. He called many of the stops a “frightening and degrading experience” for “thousands if not millions” of New Yorkers.
Charney, of the Center for Constitutional Rights, called the stops “arbitrary, unnecessary and unconstitutional,” and promised that plaintiffs will show the judge “powerful testimonial and statistical evidence” that New Yorkers are routinely stopped without suspicion.
Police have made about five million stops in the past decade, of mostly black and Hispanic men. Two witnesses testified Monday, out of a dozen who say they were targeted because of their race.
One, Devin Almonor, the 16-year-old son of a police officer, said he was thrown against an unmarked car and handcuffed when he was 13 on his way home. The other, David Floyd, testified that he was wrongly stopped twice. Both said they were testifying because they didn’t want the same injustice to happen to other people. Floyd, 33, is now a medical school student.
City lawyers sought to discredit the witnesses by suggesting their stories had evolved over the years to become more dramatic.
Officers and criminologists who have studied the statistics on street stops are also slated to testify, and lawyers plan to play hours of audio tapes made by Adrian Schoolcraft, an officer who was hauled off to a psych ward against his will after he said he refused to fill illegal quotas.
U.S. District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin, who has said in earlier rulings that she is deeply concerned about stop-and-frisk, is not being asked to ban the tactic, since it has been found to be legal. But she does have the power to order reforms, which could mean major changes to the nation’s largest police force and other departments.
City lawyers said Monday the department already has many checks and balances, including an independent watchdog group that was recently given authority to prosecute some excessive force complaints against police. Officers have more than 23 million contacts with the public, make 4 million radio runs and issue more than 500,000 summonses every year.
Comparatively, 600,000 stops annually are not unreasonable, city attorneys said.
“The New York Police Department is fully committed to policing within the boundaries of the law,” said Heidi Grossman, an attorney for the city. “Crime is not distributed evenly across the city.”
The city lawyers said the expert testimony was flawed and evidence would show a correlation between the description of suspects and those stopped.
“Police are given an awesome responsibility, one of which is to bring crime down and keep people safe,” Grossman said.
Street stops have risen dramatically since the 1990s while overall crime dropped in a city that once had the highest murder rate in the nation. Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly say the stops are a deterrent that led to lower crime.
The city recorded 419 murders in 2012, down from more than 2,000 in the 1990s and the lowest since similar record-keeping began in the 1960s.
More than 531,000 people were stopped last year, more than five times the number when Bloomberg took office a decade ago. Fifty-one percent of those stopped were black, 32 percent Hispanic and 11 percent white. According to census figures, the city has 8.2 million people: 26 percent are black, 28 percent are Hispanic and 44 percent are white.
About half the people who are stopped are subject only to questioning. Others have their bag or backpack searched. And sometimes police conduct a full pat-down. Only 10 percent of all stops result in arrest, and a weapon is recovered a small fraction of the time.
Recent polls show a stark divide over how blacks and whites view the tactic, while among Hispanics, disapproval of the practice has grown.
Minn. woman who lost copyright case says she can’t pay $220,000
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota woman at the center of a long-running court fight over the unauthorized downloading of copyrighted music said there’s still no way she can pay record companies the $222,000 judgment she owes after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear her appeal Monday.
The justices did not comment on their decision. Attorneys for Jammie Thomas-Rasset, of Brainerd, argued the amount was excessive.
The music industry filed thousands of lawsuits in the early to mid-2000s against people it accused of downloading music without permission and without paying for it. Almost all the cases settled for about $3,500 apiece. Thomas-Rasset is one of only two defendants who refused to pay and went to trial. The other was former Boston University student Joel Tenenbaum, who also lost and was ordered to pay $675,000.
The industry initially sued Thomas-Rasset in 2006. Since then, her case has gone through three trials and several appeals. The industry presented evidence that Thomas-Rasset made available over 1,700 songs to other computer uses via the file-sharing service Kazaa, though the lawsuit targeted only 24 songs.
“I’m assuming that since they declined to hear the case it’s probably done at this point,” she said. But she also said she needed to consult with her attorneys to determine what happens next.
Thomas-Rasset, 35, who works for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe tribal government, maintained — as she has all along — that she can’t afford to pay.
“There’s no way that they can collect,” she said. “Right now, I get energy assistance because I have four kids. It’s just the one income. My husband isn’t working. It’s not possible for them to collect even if they wanted to. I have no assets.”
Thomas-Rasset added that she became a grandmother in June.
The Recording Industry Association of America offered to settle for $5,000 when it first sued, and offered to settle for a $25,000 donation to a charity for music industry people in need after her second trial. She refused both times.
“We appreciate the Court’s decision and are pleased that the legal case is finally over,” the trade group said in a statement. “We’ve been willing to settle this case from day one and remain willing to do so.”
Thomas-Rasset’s attorney, Kiwi Camara, of Houston, expressed disappointment in the outcome but hinted in an email that the legal options may not have run out. He noted that Tenenbaum’s case remains live before the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Tenenbaum is still challenging the size of the judgment against him. His attorneys, including Camara, argue that it’s “grossly disproportionate” to his offense.
The case is Thomas-Rasset v. Capitol Records, 12-715.
SEC gets only three bids to NCAA Tournament
By Steve Megargee
Associated Press
Frustrated Southeastern Conference coaches say their league is treated more like a mid-major rather than a BCS conference.
The coaches said Monday the perception all year has been that the SEC was having a down year. The NCAA tournament selection committee apparently felt it was more than perception.
Florida, Missouri and Mississippi earned the SEC’s only three NCAA berths, the fewest of any of the six major conferences. The SEC also ranked below the Atlantic 10 and Mountain West, which earned five bids each.
The SEC also sent only three teams to the tournament in 2009. Before then, the SEC hadn’t received as few as three bids since 1990.
One of the “things that hurt us was the impression the league’s down,” Kentucky head coach John Calipari said. “Everyone seems to say it. That’s why I tell the coaches we’ve got to brag about each other. We’ve got to set that straight.”
The three berths continue the SEC’s downward trend.
Kentucky, the defending national champion, tied for second place in the SEC with Alabama and Mississippi. Kentucky and Alabama still ended up in the NIT. Mississippi only got a No. 12 seed in the NCAA field after winning the SEC tournament.
Tennessee head coach Cuonzo Martin predicted two weeks ago that the SEC would earn six bids to the Tournament.
Martin said the SEC’s three bids were an “embarrassment” after the brackets were revealed, and he didn’t back down from those comments Monday. He said Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama are “NCAA tournament teams” that landed in the NIT.
“It’s almost like a mid-major mentality in this league, when you’ve got your second-place team that doesn’t get in the NCAA tournament,” Martin said. “This is a BCS league. It’s one of the best leagues in America. That shouldn’t happen.”
The SEC’s non-conference performance indicates it actually wasn’t one of the best leagues in the nation this season.
SEC schools went a combined 15-33 against the other five major conferences and had losing records against each of them: 3-6 against the Atlantic Coast Conference, 2-5 against the Big 12, 4-13 against the Big East, 2-4 against the Big Ten, 4-5 against the Pac-12.
More players were taken in the NBA draft from SEC schools than any other conference last year.
Tennessee forward Jeronne Maymon, one of only two returning all-SEC players from last season, missed the entire year with a knee injury.
Kentucky center Nerlens Noel was challenging for SEC player of the year honors before tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee last month. LSU, Mississippi State and South Carolina had new coaches.
“When you have coaching changes, when you have player turnover, when you have departures of really good players, it’s going to take some time,” Florida coach Billy Donovan said. “The unfortunate part with all those transitions going on is you really pay the price in November. … What happens is your league gets labeled in November and December.”
Donovan believes the league got better as the season wore on, but it couldn’t prove that because its members were facing one another.
But it’s tough for SEC teams to schedule non-conference foes later in the year, particularly now that it has adopted an 18-game league schedule.
If SEC teams don’t schedule quality non-conference foes later in the season, they must deliver better results against better teams early in the year.
Five of the SEC’s 14 teams ranked lower than 230th in non-conference strength of schedule. Not only did the SEC schedule weak teams, it occasionally lost to them.
Mississippi State fell to Alabama A&M, a Southwestern Athletic Conference team that finished 11-20. Vanderbilt lost to Marist, a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference program that went 10-21.
The importance of non-conference performance was apparent from the fact that Missouri earned a bid despite getting the No. 6 seed in the SEC tournament. Missouri beat NCAA tournament participants Illinois and VCU at neutral sites early in the season.
“What happens with mid-major teams is they schedule aggressively because they know the best-case scenario to get into the NCAA tournament is you’ve got to go play teams,” Martin said. “So maybe we need to schedule like mid-major teams.”
SEC coaches realize they must do something to stop the conference’s declining total of NCAA bids. Their futures could depend on it.
“At the rate we’re going, if we don’t get it corrected, in some way, shape or form, you’re looking at three different new (coaches) every year” in the conference , Martin said. “Something has to give.”
Rodeo impresses fans with music and cowboys
News Editor
The cowboy rode away all right. The “King” took with him the all-time paid attendance record for both the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and Reliant Stadium.
A record-breaking 80,020 concertgoers came from far and wide Sunday to see George Strait, along with Martina McBride and The Randy Rogers Band, in what was proclaimed as his final RodeoHouston performance. This record-shattering milestone marked his 21st appearance at the rodeo.
“George Strait is a country music legend,” said Leroy Schafer, chief operating officer of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, in a press release. “To include our show on his ‘The Cowboy Rides Away’ tour was truly special for our fans.
Before Sunday’s show, RodeoHouston announced that it would award an annual four-year college scholarship in Strait’s honor. The award is said to honor the legacy of Strait and his 30-year partnership and friendship with the show.
“The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is committed to benefiting the youth of Texas through scholarships and educational programming,” Schafer said. “What better way to help young Texans pursue their dreams and to honor a true legend.”
These are not the first milestones Strait has seen the rodeo through. He broke the record for all-time paid attendance at the final show performance in the Astrodome and performed on the opening night of the rodeo in Reliant Stadium.
“George has had a lot of special moments in the 30 years since he first appeared at the show,” Schafer said. “I remember the day we flew him in as a replacement act an hour before his performance. He took the stage and quickly stole the ears of our rodeo fans.”
Before Strait blew the top off of the paid-attendance record, Go Tejano Day broke the record on March 10, with 73,305 fans making the rainy trek to the rodeo. Go Tejano Day will still hold the show record for a rodeo and concert, because Strait’s performance was a concert-only day for the show.
Other performers that reeled in the crowds included country stars Toby Keith, Gary Allan, Alan Jackson, Zac Brown Band, Brantley Gilbert, Lady Antebellum, Dierks Bentley, Tim McGraw, Jason Aldean, Kenny Chesney, Jake Owen, Blake Shelton, Luke Bryan and The Band Perry; former Disney star Demi Lovato; R&B singer Mary J. Blige; YouTube star Austin Mahone; rock legend Styx; “Just the Way You Are” singer Bruno Mars; Hispanic sensations Julion Alvarez and Los Invasores de Nuevo Leon; and rapper Pitbull.
Bryan, Shelton, Pitbull and Mars all exceeded the 75,000 attendees mark.
All of these entertainers are a part of a bigger charitable endeavor on the part of RodeoHouston. The show was organized in 1932 for educational and scientific purposes to encourage and facilitate the relationship between students and the livestock industry.
All of the money that the show brings in, with the exception of funds used to meet necessary expenses of the show’s yearly upkeep, is devoted to scholarships and educational endowments.
Since its beginning, the show has contributed more than $330 million to students.
Cowboys not just in Texas, rodeo features best in nation
By Alexa Brackin
News Editor
RodeoHouston contestants in seven categories roped up $1.68 million in prize money in the BP Super Series of the 2013 show that took place from Feb. 25 to Saturday.
The infamous RodeoHouston BP Super Series is an invitation-only, international event that features the top 40 cowboys and cowgirls in seven events in five three-day series; tie-down roping, bareback riding, team roping, saddle bronc riding, steer wrestling, barrel racing and bull riding.
This rodeo is unlike most others because contestants do not pay entry fees; the purse is provided entirely by RodeoHouston. Along with a pretty paycheck of more than $50,000, all the winners walked away with a trophy saddle and a champion belt buckle. The rodeo also offered the RodeoHouston Super Shootout, on March 9, which is a one-day event that features only the champion athletes from 10 of the best rodeos in the United States and Canada. The event is the richest one-day rodeo in the world. With a total purse of $200,000, it sent each winner home with $25,000 and a champion buckle.
The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, which handed out more than $2 million in total winnings this year, is the final leg of the Texas rodeo trio that includes the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo and the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo.
‘39 Steps’ promises to delight with murder mystery
Monica Lake | Lariat Photographer
By Kate McGuire
Staff Writer
Murder, mystery, comedy: all the themes of the fast-paced mystery set in 1935 Britain comes to life in Jones Theatre beginning at 7:30 p.m. tonight.
Baylor’s theater department presents “The 39 Steps,” a multi-role murder mystery involving spies, romantic entanglements, murder, suspense and police.
The play is unique because two of the actors play more than 40 characters each.
The play will run at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday with matinées at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
The play is based on Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 movie of the same name. Hitchcock made the movie based on John Buchan’s 1915 novel, “The 39 Steps.”
Director of “The 39 Steps,” and chairman of Baylor’s theater department Stan Denman said, “It makes fun of all the conventions of the old spy thrillers, and suspense/murder mystery-type thing.”
Plano junior Patrick Herndon, plays the main character, Richard Hanney, a British man who is bored with his life. Hanney attends the theater one night and ends up taking home a woman who caused a disturbance there earlier.
The plot continues as Hanney finds out the woman was a spy. She mentions 39 steps but does not reveal what it means. The woman is then murdered in Hanney’s apartment, and he is quickly framed for the murder by the police.
With multiple characters on his tail, he tries run from the police, prove he is an innocent man and solve the mystery of the 39 steps.
Casting for the show began last November, and rehearsal has been a six-week process.
“It has been a really fun process,” said Haslet senior Shelby Lee, one of the actresses. “It’s a very collaborative show, and it’s also just a ton of fun.”
The cast list also includes Wichita Falls senior Rachael Montgomery, Flower Mound sophomore Chynna Walker, Lewisville senior Richard Ross and Grand Prairie senior Chris Ramirez. Ross and Ramirez will play over 40 parts each.
“The show is very funny and hilarious, and of course I wanted to be a part of it,” Herndon said.
Lee said she expects the audience to be laughing.
“It’s a very interactive show. It’s a lot of plays on plays on plays,” Lee said.
Baylor has its own twists on the show, as the actors are expected to interact with the audience and change what they say depending on the audience’s reaction, Denman said.
“There are lots of things that are particular to this Baylor production,” Denman said. “One of the things that the playwriting encourages you is to have fun with it, and keep a real sort of improvisational quality and to interact with the audience.”
Show rehearsals have been five to six nights a week from 7 to 11 p.m., but with spring break creating a gap between dress rehearsals, the production has had to bounce back from that delay.
“We have to get back and brush up on everything very quickly,” Denman said.
Tickets are available for $18 for general admission and $15 with a Baylor ID.
Lohan accepts plea deal that includes 90 days in rehab
By Derrik Lang
Associated Press Entertainment Writer
LOS ANGELES — Lindsay Lohan isn’t headed back to jail — but she won’t be free to party for a while either.
The troubled 26-year-old actress accepted a plea deal on Monday in a misdemeanor car crash case that includes 90 days in a locked-down rehabilitation facility that she won’t be able to leave.
Lohan, who has struggled for years with legal problems and been briefly jailed five times, pleaded no contest to reckless driving and lying to police who were investigating the accident involving the actress in June along Pacific Coast Highway.
A charge of obstructing an officer was dropped.
Lohan also was found in violation of her probation in a 2011 necklace theft and sentenced to 180 days in jail.
However, she can avoid jail time if she complies with the conditions of her plea deal, which also includes 30 days of community labor, 18 months of psychological therapy and an unspecified fine and restitution.
Lohan spoke little to Superior Court Judge James R. Dabney in court and said “yes” when asked if she accepted the plea deal. Before the “Mean Girls” actress left the courtroom, Dabney offered her a suggestion.
“Don’t drive,” he said.
Dabney did not set a date for Lohan to begin rehab. Instead he set another hearing for May 2, when the court must be given proof of enrollment in a treatment program.
The sentence extends Lohan’s probation for another two years. Dabney warned her that there won’t be any discussion about putting her back on probation if she doesn’t meet the conditions of the latest sentence.
Lohan arrived nearly an hour late for Monday’s proceedings and was showered with confetti as she passed through a barrage of media to enter the courthouse.
The “Freaky Friday” star reportedly missed her original Sunday night flight from New York to Los Angeles, instead traveling on a private plane provided by a Los Angeles-based energy drink company for which she has made promotional appearances.
“Thanks Mr. Pink for the private jet see you all in a few hours in LA,” she tweeted early Monday.
After entering the courtroom, Lohan sat for more than two hours as her New York-based attorney, Mark Jay Heller, and prosecutors ironed out a plea deal.
After a pair of arrests for driving under the influence in 2007, Lohan has resolved her numerous legal issues without going to trial.
Instead she has faced judges who have sentenced her to rehab and counseling, which even her current attorney acknowledges have not completely helped the troubled actress.
Lohan entered Monday’s hearing with a lawyer whose competence has been questioned by a judge. At one point during the proceedings, she told an incessant Heller not to “say anything else.” Lohan and Heller were joined by Long Beach-based attorney Anthony J. Falangetti.
Lohan’s longtime advocate, Shawn Holley, left the case earlier this year after keeping the actress out of jail for significant periods of time on probation violations and the allegation in 2011 that she took a $2,500 necklace without permission from an upscale jeweler.
After Lohan left the courthouse, her father, Michael Lohan, who brought his own legal team to the proceedings, confronted Heller and Falangetti.
Michael Lohan told reporters that Heller was being investigated for witness tampering in the case and was not being paid by his daughter. Instead, Lohan said the attorney took the case to gain media attention. Heller did not respond to the claim by Lohan at the courthouse. A call to his New York office was not immediately returned.
“Go home,” Michael Lohan called out to him. “You have done enough damage. Leave my daughter alone and stay out of the press. You’re a parasite.”
Lohan, who’s had a strained relationship with his daughter over the years, was restrained by his attorney and separated from Heller and Falangetti by a sheriff’s deputy.
Heller “is her official representative,” Falangetti told Lohan. “You are not.”
Lindsay Lohan has been a courthouse mainstay since 2010 when she failed to appear for a probation hearing because she claimed she lost her passport in France.
By that point, she had already been on probation for nearly three years on the pair of driving under the influence cases that took the former Disney star five years to resolve.
Lohan has been under some form of probation since her 2007 convictions and has been repeatedly sent to jail and rehab for violations ranging from failing to perform her community service to skipping counseling sessions.
All her jail stints have been short because she has only been convicted of misdemeanors and because of jail overcrowding.
Out of court, Lohan has struggled to regain her stature in Hollywood. She missed the premiere of “Machete” in 2010 because of her court troubles, and her acting return in 2012’s “Liz & Dick” was widely panned by critics and viewers.
Lohan relocated to New York after work on the movie was complete, but her return to her childhood home has had its share of drama. She has been arrested twice, though not charged, for late-night incidents in which she has been accused of hitting a man with her car and striking a woman at a Manhattan nightclub.
Prosecutors decided last year that Lohan would not face criminal charges and wouldn’t elaborate on their decision about the Sept. 21 episode involving Jose Rodriguez, 34, of Jersey City, N.J.
Police also had to be called to Lohan’s childhood home on Long Island after a report of a fight between her and her mother. An investigation revealed what authorities called “no criminality.”
New York plan: Keeping tobacco out of view
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Cigarettes would have to be kept out of sight in New York City stores under a first-in-the-nation plan unveiled by Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Monday, igniting complaints from tobacco companies and smokers who said they’ve had enough with the city’s crackdowns.
Shops from corner stores to supermarkets would have to keep tobacco products in cabinets, drawers, under the counter, behind a curtain or in other concealed spots.
Officials also want to stop shops from taking cigarette coupons and honoring discounts, and are proposing a minimum price for cigarettes, though it’s below what the going rate is in much of the city now.
Anti-smoking advocates and health experts hailed the proposals as a bold effort to take on a habit that remains the leading preventable cause of death in a city that already has helped impose the highest cigarette taxes in the country, barred smoking in restaurants, bars, parks and beaches and launched sometimes graphic advertising campaigns about the effects of smoking.
The ban on displaying cigarettes follows similar laws in Iceland, Canada, England and Ireland, but it would be the first such measure in the U.S.
It’s aimed at discouraging young people from smoking.
“Such displays suggest that smoking is a normal activity,” Bloomberg said. “And they invite young people to experiment with tobacco.”
But smokers and cigarette sellers said the measure was overreaching.
“I don’t disagree that smoking itself is risky, but it’s a legal product,” said Audrey Silk, who’s affiliated with a smokers-rights group that has sued the city over previous regulations. “Tobacco’s been normal for centuries. … It’s what he’s doing that’s not normal.”
Slated to be introduced to the City Council on Wednesday, the anti-smoking proposal was also a sign that a mayor who has built a reputation as a public health crusader isn’t backing off after a high-profile setback last week, when a judge struck down the city’s novel effort to ban supersized, sugary drinks. The city is appealing that decision.
“We’re doing these health things to save lives,” he said Monday.
Bloomberg, a billionaire who also has given $600 million of his own money to anti-smoking efforts around the world, began taking on tobacco use shortly after he became mayor in 2002.
Adult smoking rates have since fallen by nearly a third — from 21.5 percent in 2002 to 14.8 percent in 2011, Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley said.
But the youth rate has remained flat, at 8.5 percent, since 2007. Some 28,000 city public high school students tried smoking for the first time in 2011, city officials say.
Keeping cigarettes under wraps could help change that, anti-smoking advocates say, citing studies that link exposure to smoking with starting it.
While some of the research focuses on cigarette advertising, an English study of 11-to-15-year-olds published last month in the journal Tobacco Control found that simply noticing tobacco products on display every time a youth visited a shop raised the odds he or she would at least try smoking by threefold, compared to peers who never noticed the products.
“What’s exciting about this (New York City proposal) is that this is the most comprehensive set of tobacco-control regulations that affect stores or the retail outlets,” said Kurt Ribisi, a professor of public health and cancer prevention specialist at the University of North Carolina.
Moreover, cigarettes’ visibility can trigger impulse buys by smokers who are trying to quit, he and city officials say.
The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American Lung Association, other anti-smoking groups and several City Council members applauded Bloomberg’s announcement, made at a Queens hospital. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who largely controls what goes to a vote, said through her office that she “supports the goal of these bills” but noted they would get a full review.
Measures in other countries have been coupled with bars on in-store advertising, but those nations have different legal standards around advertising and free speech.
The New York proposal would still allow shops to display cigarette advertising and signs saying tobacco products were sold, raising the question of how effective it will be just to put the products under wraps.
But convenience store owners fear it could affect their business, by potentially leaving customers uncertain whether the shop carries their favorite brand and making them wait while a proprietor digs out a pack, said Jeff Lenard, a spokesman for the National Association of Convenience stores.
“It slows down the transaction, and our name is convenience stores,” he said.
Jay Kim, who owns a Manhattan deli on 34th Street, saw the proposal as a bid to net fines.
“I know the city wants to collect money,” he said at his store, where packs of cigarettes can be seen behind the counter, along with numerous signs warning of the dangers of smoking and prohibiting sales to minors.
Bloomberg, for his part, emphasized that collecting money was “not the reason.”
The displays would be checked as part of the shops’ normal city inspections; information on the potential penalties wasn’t immediately available Monday night. Repeated violations of some of the other provisions, including the minimum-price and coupon ban, could get a store shuttered.
Stores that make more than half their revenue from tobacco products would be exempt from the display ban.
Customers under 18, the legal age for buying cigarettes in New York, are barred from such stores without parents.
While the federal government regulates tobacco, states have some say in rules surrounding how it’s sold.
Several of New York City’s smoking regulations have survived court challenges. But a federal appeals court said last year that the city couldn’t force tobacco retailers to display gruesome images of diseased lungs and decaying teeth.
In that case, the court ruled that the federal government gets to decide how to warn people about the dangers of smoking.
The nation’s largest tobacco company said the latest proposal also was too much.
“To the extent that this proposed law would ban the display of products to adult tobacco consumers, we believe it goes too far,” said David Sutton, a spokesman for Richmond, Va.-based Altria Group Inc., parent company of Philip Morris USA, which makes the top-selling Marlboro brand.
The company supported federal legislation that in 2009 gave the Food and Drug Administration the power to regulate tobacco products, which includes various retail restrictions, Sutton noted.
New York City smokers already face some of the highest cigarette prices in the country.
With city and state taxes totaling $5.85 a pack, it’s not uncommon for a pack to cost $13 or more in Manhattan.
The proposed minimum price is $10.50, including taxes; city officials said it was aimed largely at clamping down on sales of smuggled and untaxed cigarettes.
Other public health measures Bloomberg has championed include pressuring restaurants to use less salt and add calorie counts to menus, and banning artificial trans fats from restaurant meals.
Jennifer Bailey, smoking as she waited for a bus on 34th Street, was no fan of the proposed tobacco restrictions or Bloomberg’s other public health initiatives.
“It’s like New York has become a … dictatorship,” she said.
UCF: Dead student planned larger attack
Associated Press
ORLANDO, Fla. — A University of Central Florida drop-out planned an attack on campus but committed suicide in a dorm before carrying it out, authorities said Monday.
Materials found in his dorm room made it appear that 30-year-old James Oliver Seevakumaran planned a wider attack, authorities said in a news conference.
Seevakumaran pulled a gun on another student, who then called police, said University of Central Florida Police Chief Richard Beary. He then killed himself with a shot to the head moments later as police officers were responding to the call.
“His time line got off,” Beary said. “We think the rapid response of law enforcement may have changed his ability to think quickly on his feet.”
UCF spokesman Grant Heston said the university was in the process of removing Seevakumaran from the dorm before Monday. Four makeshift explosive devices were found in a back pack, and Beary said he believes that Seevakumaran pulled a fire alarm in the dorm to get other students out in the open for an attack.
Seevakumaran’s roommates told detectives that he had shown anti-social behavior but had never expressed any violent tendencies, Beary said.
According to Florida records, his only adult arrest in the state was in 2006 for driving with a suspended license.
He pleaded no contest. He was fined $105 and assigned court costs of $223.
University police were called to the Tower I building around 12:20 a.m. after a fire alarm went off. Around the same time, the 911 call came in about a man with a gun.
Investigators said they discovered two guns and the makeshift explosives in the room where Seevakumaran was found dead.
About 500 students were evacuated from the building and morning classes were canceled.
Legislature looks to reform school-to-prison pipeline
Associated Press
AUSTIN — Arturo Alviter Balderrama lost his focus, his grade point average and eventually his freedom. But his troubles had deeper roots.
“At 13, I found myself using low-level drugs for fun,” Arturo, 17, told a legislative committee last month. “After about a year I had moved on to more serious drugs and found myself running with the wrong crowd.”
In Texas, lawmakers are at the center of a national movement to reform the discipline system known as the school-to-prison pipeline. The cause has drawn bipartisan support with tales of citations issued for truancy, gum-chewing and possession of scissors. The proposed reforms focus on removing criminal sanctions for youthful behavior.
For kids like Arturo, though, mental health plays a complex, important and largely overlooked role in the struggle to emerge from adolescence on a solid path. Following his brother’s example, Arturo said, he slipped into serious drug abuse. Before reaching 10th grade this year at Del Valle High School, he spent nearly a year in jail or on probation for burglary.
Among the 1,411 inmates in the custody of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, rates of diagnosed mental illness now exceed rates of gang membership, according to records obtained by The Associated Press through the state’s open records law. Nearly 1,100 cases involve substance abuse or dependence. Aside from that broad category, the most prevalent single diagnosis is conduct disorder, with 770 cases.
The agency declined to specify how many diagnoses overlap. But experts say the numbers underscore a problem beyond the criminalization of horseplay.
“So many instances of misbehavior in the schools are examples of kids with diagnosed or undiagnosed forms of mental illness,” said Michele Deitch, a senior lecturer on criminal justice policy at the University of Texas. “The misbehavior is oftentimes a symptom of the mental illness.”
Nationally, the campaign to reform school discipline has united such disparate groups as the American Civil Liberties Union and the conservative Americans for Tax Reform.
It gained momentum from a landmark 2011 study by the Council of State Governments.
The study, “Breaking Schools’ Rules,” focused on a million public school students in Texas, finding that a majority had been suspended or expelled at some point. Black students and students with disabilities were more likely to be removed from the classroom. And students who were expelled were more likely to end up in the criminal justice system, the study found.
While civil rights groups focused on the inequity, conservatives cast the issue as a matter of fiscal responsibility.
“Misbehavior that leads to disruption in the classroom does not warrant a $500 Class C misdemeanor ticket and subsequent trip to municipal court,” the conservative power broker Grover Norquist wrote in a letter to the Texas Legislature last week. “An after-school detention or two, for example, should do the trick just fine, without great cost to taxpayers or overburdening our courts.”
The state education commissioner, Michael Williams, has expressed support for the cause, seeking more authority to intervene in districts with high rates of suspensions and expulsions.
Much of the proposed legislation has derived from recommendations by the Texas Judicial Council, which sets policy for the state’s courts. Criminal justice reformers are tracking 18 different proposals to decriminalize classroom offenses, plus others that would address fines, record-keeping, pretrial detention periods and deferral of prosecution.
Sen. John Whitmire, chairman of the Committee on Criminal Justice, has filed a bill that would replace criminal penalties for truancy with progressive sanctions including warning letters, behavior contracts and school-based community service. Whitmire’s proposal has drawn opposition from education administrators, whose job performance ratings are increasingly connected to dropout rates and test scores.
“We want the students to be successful,” said Archie McAfee, executive director of the Texas Association of Secondary School Principals. “Sometimes students have to be put in situations where they know there’s a penalty if they miss school.”
But those who work closely with young offenders say the decriminalization movement fails to account for the full scope of the problem. In the confusion of adolescence, they say, signs of mental illness are easily overlooked or misinterpreted, even by well-intentioned parents and teachers.
“Substance abuse is a huge factor,” said Tricia Anglea, a UT researcher who works with teenage offenders at the Travis County Correctional Facility. “The problem is that in those beginning phases we are being punitive as opposed to being therapeutic. It’s really difficult when a child is sitting in front of you and swearing and cussing at you to remember that this is a child.”
State lawmaker issues public apology for late-night DWI arrest
Associated Press
AUSTIN — A Democratic state lawmaker arrested for drunken driving offered an emotional apology on the floor of the Texas House on Monday, drawing a standing ovation and flowers from her colleagues.
Naomi Gonzalez of El Paso crashed her BMW into another car, which then hit a bicyclist around 2 a.m. Thursday. Gonzalez, the other driver and the cyclist all went to the hospital with minor injuries. The 34-year-old was charged with driving while intoxicated.
Gonzalez sought special permission to address her colleagues and said she did so “with a heavy heart.” She explained that the crash occurred as she drove alone to her Austin apartment and, “I want to be clear about this: I made a mistake and I am deeply, deeply sorry for it.”
“I am sorry for the shame I have brought upon this House and my district,” Gonzalez said. She added that ongoing legal issues prevented her from saying much about the incident, but that she was glad no one was seriously injured.
“To them and to you, family, friends, colleagues and constituents, I ask for your understanding and I pledge that nothing like this will happen again,” Gonzalez said, her voice cracking. She also thanked constituents and lawmakers for their support and patience.
Lawmakers applauded loudly, eventually climbing to their feet. Some gave Gonzalez hugs and high-fives. Flowers were left on her desk in the chamber.
Gonzalez is not the first state lawmaker to face criminal charges while in office, though addressing the Legislature to apologize is less common.
Not everyone deemed the gesture appropriate. The Texas chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving lamented the appearance, saying it made someone charged with drunk driving and injuring others into a victim.
Bill Lewis, public policy liaison for Texas MADD, said he understood House members supporting Gonzalez and wouldn’t expect them to sit silent as she apologized.
“But cut out the flowers,” he said. “That’s over the top.”
Gonzalez, an attorney who formerly worked in the domestic violence unit of the El Paso County attorney’s office, was first elected in 2010 and serves on a House Ethics Committee. She had been seen as a rising Democratic star in the Texas House and was named freshman of the year by the Mexican-American Legislative Caucus last session.
In a statement Friday night — more than 24 hours after word of Gonzalez’s arrest first broke — the Texas House Democratic Caucus released a statement calling the incident “unfortunate” and asking that Gonzalez’s privacy and that of the other victims be respected.
Editorial: Students need syllabuses before registration
One of the most stressful parts of the semester is registering for classes.
Registering has several parts: first you meet with your adviser, or advisers if you’re in certain programs, then you must stalk Bearweb carefully to see what times and professors are available for the classes you need. Maybe you check out the reputation of your potential professors online at sites like ratemyprofessors.com.
Once you hammer out your perfect schedule and register, it should be smooth sailing from there, right?
Wrong.
Although brief descriptions are offered for classes prior to registration, students don’t have access to anything like a syllabus before the semester starts. There is nothing more frustrating than taking all this time to sift through the thousands of classes and sections of classes that Baylor offers only to get into class the first day and find out the class description you saw before you started class was severely misleading.
Instructors should post syllabuses for the sections and classes they’re teaching prior to the earliest registration date so that students know what they’re getting into before they commit. That way, once the first day rolls around, there are no incompatible expectations or surprise expenses.
Because every teacher is different, this means that even intro courses are going to be different from one another. A brief, one-size-fits-all-class description can’t possibly do any course justice.
Take a basic English class, for example. Some professors will focus more on writing and require lots of essays, while others will focus on reading and discussion. Depending on a student’s learning style, he or she could excel with one of these teaching styles and crash and burn with another. It would be greatly beneficial to students if some basic syllabus was offered with each course.
Futhermore, many courses at Baylor require outside activities that take up time that many students have already devoted to other things. Because many students already dedicate their out-of-class time to work, sports, volunteering, etc., it can be hard to rearrange schedules for last-minute class requirements. The best way to prepare students is to let them know ahead of time — before the start of the semester. That way, students can alter work schedules or avoid classes that require out-of-class commitments they can’t make. A syllabus for each course posted before the start of the semester will warn students before they commit and should contain the basic requirements.
It should also warn students of any expenses not covered in the list of required texts, art supplies, for example, which can be expensive. These expenses should not be sprung on students at the beginning of the semester — not after they’ve already taken out financial aid and may need to live on a tight budget.
Letting students know what they get into beforehand can only benefit students, professors and administrators. Fewer students will need to drop courses, having a good idea of the course requirements and costs upfront. Think about it, students: You won’t have to scramble to fill the necessary hours left by a dropped course.
So please, Baylor, reconsider your system of syllabuses.
Please offer students a detailed calendar and syllabus that tell us exactly what is required in the way of course materials, outside activities and class content before we commit to a class.
This will allow students to adequately prepare for the semester and not have to scramble at the last minute to figure out how to succeed in a course they weren’t equipped for.
Viewpoint: ESPN highlights unequally
Sports media is dominated by ESPN. Its round-the-clock coverage on Sportscenter, paired with its engaging talk shows, such as “First Take” and “Pardon the Interruption,” constantly serves multitudes of sports fans around the world.
Though ESPN has always been my go-to channel when turning on the TV, lately it’s been disappointing.
If one were to predict before this NBA season that the largest sports conglomerate in the world would consistently cover, analyze and debate an underachieving, below-.500 team, that person would sound ridiculous.
However, that indeed is what’s been happening for months now. The Los Angeles Lakers, usually a Western Conference contender, continue to struggle mightily due to injuries, lack of team chemistry and coaching issues.
ESPN continues to devote time on Sportscenter and its other shows to the Lakers. From press conferences to player tweets, every aspect of the team’s season is discussed on a daily basis.
To the average sports fan craving a wide variety of sports coverage, constant Lakers news gets a little old, especially when other teams around the NBA see great success.
The Spurs, for example, are continuing their dominance. The Thunder are shortly behind in second place. Even the Milwaukee Bucks have better playoff chances than the Lakers. In fact, more than half of the league has better playoff chances, yet none of these teams get the media attention they deserve.
This leads us to the obvious question: Why do the Lakers get so much attention?
Los Angeles is a big media market. It’s a hotbed of Hollywood celebrities and constant drama. The team is similar.
Kobe Bryant, easily one of the best basketball players of all time, provides flashy highlights and intense competitiveness. Metta World Peace, formerly Ron Artest, is an off-the-rails character who seems to always have suspension looming.
Dwight Howard and Steve Nash are also newcomers with successful pasts and high expectations that aren’t panning out.
Their former coach, former Cavaliers coach Mike Brown, was fired after only a few games and replaced by Mike D’Antoni, an offensive guru.
Though the storylines seem countless, any other struggling, small-town team would not be getting the attention. We’ve actually seen this before from ESPN.
The New York Jets finished this season 6-10, but gained arguably the most coverage of any other team.
As with the Lakers, the combination of big market (East Rutherford) and big names (Tim Tebow, Mark Sanchez, Rex Ryan) kept the Jets constantly in the news.
There’s no stopping this trend.
Maybe Americans just like to see teams with high expectations fail.
Maybe it’s an inherent trait to anticipate losses in situations like these, and we love to constantly hear about our correctness.
All in all, I’m sure the Spurs and Thunder prefer where they stand at the ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Conn.
They remain under the radar, quietly winning games and securing prime playoff positions.
And as of now, every Lakers fan would give up even a small amount of media attention for some wins.
Phillip Ericksen is a senior journalism major from San Antonio. He is a reporter for the Lariat.
Viewpoint: Combs envisions goal for government transparency
Government transparency may often seem to be an elusive ideal. Texas Comptroller Susan Combs, however, is leading the way toward achieving this goal with common-sense solutions and a bold vision.
I had an opportunity to interview Combs before she spoke on a panel at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) titled “Has Atlas Shrugged? Business in America.” “Atlas Shrugged,” a famous, influential book by philosopher Ayn Rand, describes the dangerous consequences in a society that demonizes business and financial success. John Galt, the hero, finally stands up to the oppression by starting a new society that values success and innovation.
According to Combs, while speaking on the panel, “John Galt lives in Texas.” The economic statistics certainly support her claim. Texas has cut spending, balanced the budget and still maintained a “rainy day fund” for use in critical situations.
“With what’s going on in this administration, I thought that it sounded an awful lot like the themes in ‘Atlas Shrugged,’” Combs told me. “This particular government seems to really have it in for business, seems to have it in for risk-takers, seems to have it in for people in the private sector.”
When government oppresses business and demands higher taxes, citizens have a very difficult time finding out where their money goes. Combs wants this to change.
She is fighting for a revolutionary program that will require local governments in Texas to post information online about how tax revenue is spent. Data regarding education spending, local debt obligations and public pensions will be available for all citizens to view and analyze. “My hope is that I’m going to try to raise the consciousness of every single Texan in the state to let them know that it’s your money,” she said.
This isn’t just talk. After only four days in office, Combs posted all of her own agency’s expenditures online, “down to the pencil level.” Within six months, she had done the same for all state agencies.
The first hearings on her new proposals, House Bill 14 and Senate Bill 14, took place yesterday. The leading opposition to the bills comes from local governments citing difficulties in posting the information. To dispel these criticisms, Combs is implementing innovative strategies. She incorporates the use of Facebook and offers free website design for any local government that needs help preparing the information. “It is inexcusable in 2013 that we cannot find out about every single tax dime,” she said.
With these transformative new programs, Combs hopes other states will soon follow Texas’ example. “We are leading the way in terms of transparency,” she told me. “We had 30 states contact us about how we put this up.”
Danny Huizinga is a sophomore Baylor Business Fellow from Chicago. He manages the political blog Consider Again and writes for The Washington Times Communities.
Lariat Letters: Internet piracy is unacceptable
If I correctly understood the intended message of the Lariat’s editorial — “Waging War Against Piracy is Useless” on March 8 — I must vehemently disagree. Piracy may be a bad and regrettable “fact of life” but so are many social ills.
Decorum prevents my mentioning all such “facts of life” but the list would include violent crimes, robbery, racism, identity theft, bullying, and so on. Are we to stop fighting those social ills because they are “facts of life”?
For reasons that escape me, theft of intangible assets seems more “acceptable” to many, than theft of tangible property, though the effort to create the two types need not differ at all.
Imagine spending hours, weeks or years (and your own money) to produce products for sale, only to have them all stolen from your home or place of business. Would you suggest to anyone that they should not call the police about the burglary – “burglary is just a fact of life”?
I would add that the excuse of “everyone does it” only works until one is caught. I believe it irresponsible for anyone to, in essence, advocate illegal and clearly immoral activity based to any extent on such a premise.
In private practice, I represent many whose livelihoods depend on the protection of their intellectual property. I provide many such services pro bono, because some cannot afford to pay my usual fees (in part, because of piracy). The victims of piracy are real human beings, and I wish all could see them as I do in real life, with real losses, real pain, and all-too-often real failure as otherwise successful artists, inventors and authors.
Think before you pirate.
David G. Henry, Sr. J.D is a lecturer in Baylor Law School / Hankamer School of Business.
Bears power through tough season, lean on one another for support
Matt Hellman | Lariat Photo Editor
Reporter
The 2012-13 season for the Baylor men’s basketball team was a rather rocky one. Baylor was able to win some highly impressive games this season but its inconsistency led it to lose some easier games on the schedule.
The Bears handed Kentucky its first home loss in 55 games, which was John Calipari’s first home loss as head coach of the Wildcats.
At the same time, the Bears had ugly home losses against College of Charleston and Northwestern.
To cap off a disappointing season, the Bears found out Sunday they did not make the NCAA Tournament. They lost nine out of their final 13 games and finished with an 18-14 record. Head coach Scott Drew said although they have lost many of these games, they had multiple opportunities to win them.
“I think, first of all, we played the tougher half of our schedule,” he said. “I think that’s indicative of the record and I think we lost some close games that could have gone either way. It’s a situation where we’ve got to close games. Give the other teams credit for making plays.”
Most of Baylor’s losses came in conference play, where they held a 9-9 record. These include an overtime loss to Oklahoma State, three-point and five-point losses to Oklahoma and Iowa State respectively, and a heartbreaking loss at the buzzer to Kansas State.
Senior guard Pierre Jackson, who had been the Bears’ leader and arguably their best player this season, said the team wasn’t ready to throw in the towel before they found out about their exclusion from the tournament.
“Nobody is hanging their heads,” he said. “We know we still got a lot of fight in us. We’re a really good team, we can compete with anybody. We all have to be focused.”
Jackson has been one of the most electrifying players in the nation ever since he transferred to Baylor last year. Jackson led the Big 12 in scoring and assists with averages of 19.8 and 6.5.
Jackson is the first player to lead a power-6 conference in both scoring and assists since Jason Terry did it in 1998-1999 for Arizona. Although these are highly impressive numbers, Jackson said he would sacrifice them if it meant putting the team in a better position in the conference.
“If I could trade all of that to be top two in the conference, I would do it in a heartbeat,” he said. “It’s a cool accomplishment but it’s not doing enough to help us win games. I’ve got to do more.”
Jackson is one of 12 finalists for the Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year award. Drew said his value to the team is priceless.
“We all realize just how valuable Pierre is,” he said. “I think Baylor Nation wouldn’t trade him for any other guard in the country, and neither would we.”
March 9 was senior night for Baylor, where three seniors played their last game in the Ferrell Center. Along with Jackson, guard A.J. Walton and forward Jacob Neubert played. The Bears hosted the Kansas Jayhawks, who were ranked fourth in the nation.
Before the game, Walton said he was excited and hoped to end his career at the Ferrell Center on top.
“I’m excited and ready for a big day,” he said. “It’s been a great journey, everybody who’s come here from freshman year through now. I love each and every one of them like brothers. We haven’t beaten Kansas here in conference since I’ve been here so that’ll be great for us and Baylor.”
Drew said he had a lot of respect for the Jayhawks, and although the Bears struggled to score, they played exceptional on the defensive end in their last meeting.
“Kansas has been a team that has played as well as anybody in the nation,” he said. “Last time we played them, defensively we did a very good job against them. Offensively, we weren’t as efficient as we would have liked to have been.”
The Bears played the Jayhawks in Lawrence, Kan. earlier this year, where they lost by 17 and scored a season-low 44 points.
This meeting was different for Baylor. The Bears were firedup from the tip and never took their foot off the pedal.
Jackson led the way with 28 points, 10 rebounds and six assists as the Bears handed the Jayhawks their fifth loss of the season. It was Baylor’s first win in the series since March of last year.
One of the primary issues with the Bears this season was closing out games. Jackson said, offensively, the Bears are fine, but it’s on the other end of the court where they need to improve.
“Defensively, we’ve got to get stops and communicate on defense,” he said. “That’s how you close games, on defense.”
The Bears still have some obstacles to overcome in the offseason. Jackson and Walton, who make up the starting backcourt, will both be gone next season.
It is unknown if freshman center Isaiah Austin will declare for the 2013-14 NBA Draft as well. Regardless, Baylor has a lot to work on for next season.
Bears miss out on NCAA tournament, to play in NIT
By Daniel Hill
Sports Writer
The Baylor Bears started the season ranked No. 19 in the preseason AP Top 25 poll.
The Bears went into the Big 12 Tournament as the No. 6 seed setting up a rematch with Oklahoma State. The Bears lost a heartbreaker to the Cowboys 74-72 in Kansas City at the Sprint Center. The Bears were down 42-24 at half and battled back in the second half to give Oklahoma State a run for their money. Senior point guard Pierre Jackson had a chance to win the game with a three at the buzzer but the shot deflected off the rim.
After a season that fell short of expectations, the Baylor Bears were denied a bid into the NCAA Tournament.
Rather than competing for a third Elite Eight appearance in four years, the Bears will be playing in the National Invitational Tournament this postseason.
“Nobody wants to finish playing,” Baylor head coach Scott Drew said. “To have an opportunity to play postseason means the seniors get a chance to put on that uniform one last time. And I know at the end of the year, there are only two happy teams — the one that wins the national championship in the NCAA and whoever wins the championship in the NIT. So the goal is to be one of those teams that win the last game.”
One positive aspect of being in the NIT is that Baylor will have the opportunity to host one game and possibly a second at the Ferrell Center.
At 8 p.m. Wednesday, the Bears will host Long Beach State at the Ferrell Center. The contest will be televised nationally on ESPN2.
The Bears were 18-14 overall this season and had a 9-9 record within the Big 12 Conference. The Bears’ season was filled with ups and downs.
The Bears started off the regular season with a 5-1 record before losing two of their next three in what would eventually end up being their two weakest losses of the season. The Bears lost to the College of Charleston 63-59 at home in the Ferrell Center. After the loss to Charleston, the Bears had one of their most notable wins of the season when they went into Rupp Arena and defeated the Kentucky Wildcats 64-55. Following the thrill of the Kentucky victory, the Bears lost again at the Ferrell Center when Northwestern toppled them 74-70.
Those two home losses would come back to haunt the Bears. If the Bears had won those two games, there’s a strong chance that their résumé would have qualified them for the NCAA Tournament.
Aside from the Kentucky win, the Bears’ other two wins were at home against Oklahoma State early in the Big 12 schedule and then at home again in the regular season finale against Kansas.
The highlight of the Bears’ season was beating No. 3 Kansas in the Ferrell Center by an astounding 23 points. After the Bears crushed Kansas, it seemed as if momentum was on their side and that they would make some noise in the Big 12 Conference.
Jackson, Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year, did not disappoint in his senior season for Baylor. The electrifying senior guard led the Big 12 in scoring and assists. Jackson is the first player to accomplish the feat since Jason Terry was at Arizona nearly two decades ago. Jackson is only the fifth player to ever lead a power conference in both scoring and assists.
Jackson was slighted in the opinion of many basketball fans in postseason awards. Jackson was named to the All-Big 12 second team by the coaches, and Jackson did earn First-Team All-Big 12 from the Associated Press.
Freshman center Isaiah Austin was named to the Big 12 All-Rookie team by the coaches. Austin was also named second team All-Big 12 by the media and third team All-Big 12 by the coaches. Austin averaged 13.2 points and 8.6 rebounds per game.
Junior forward Cory Jefferson had a breakout season for the Bears as he averaged 12.1 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. Jefferson was named All-Big 12 honorable mention by both the media and the coaches.
Junior guard Gary Franklin knew that the Bears season fell short of preseason expectations, but still felt that the Bears were good enough to make the NCAA Tournament.
“Absolutely, I mean I thought we did enough,” Franklin said. “Obviously, we didn’t have the season we wanted to have or expected to have but we thought we deserved to play in the NCAA Tournament so I think the only way to prove that is to win the whole thing [NIT].”
Despite the obvious disappointment of not being selected to the NCAA Tournament field of 68 teams, the Bears are relishing the opportunity to play in the NIT.
“The disappointment of not making the NCAA is always hard on everybody that’s playing in the NIT,” Drew said. “At the same time, now that you know who you’re playing and you know you do have postseason, the excitement kicks in. And everyone knows, you lose, it’s the last time you put on the jersey, so, there’s plenty of motivation and intensity, and everyone knows what’s going on.”
The NIT presents the Bears with a chance to play postseason basketball and have more home games at the Ferrell Center.
The NIT can also serve as a foundation to build toward next season’s success for Baylor and gives the squad a chance to play at the Mecca of basketball, Madison Square Garden in New York City.
“We’ve got a lot to prove still,” Jackson said. “We’ve still got five games to play and that’s a lot of basketball to show everybody that we’re good. I feel like we still belong in the big dance but it’s not about ifs and buts. I’ve never gotten a chance to play at Madison Square Garden in New York so that would be a good goal for the team.”
Destination: New Orleans Arena featuring Tourney Town
By Parmida Schahhosseini
Sports Writer
With March Madness upon us and spring break over, it is the time of year where everyone gets serious. Students make that final push academically for the perfect GPA before the semester ends, and basketball teams compete for the opportunity to play for a National Championship. This competition is reality for the No. 1 Lady Bears as they try to meet high expectations and advance to the Final Four round in New Orleans for a chance to win consecutive national titles.
The Final Four is April 7-9, in New Orleans Arena. New Orleans is a great location because it is a lively city with much to do. Starting April 6, there will be an event called Tourney TownTM, which is a free fan festival celebrating the best of the Final Four, located in downtown New Orleans (adjacent to New Orleans Arena). There will be a stage in the center with continuous events such as concerts by national recording artists, a talent show featuring local acts and celebrity judges, the AT&T Mascot challenge, fan contests for prizes, appearance and autograph sessions with sports celebrities, sponsor based entrainment and giveaways.
Some of the events in Tourney TownTM include the Capital One Cup Fan Zone, the AT&T Fan Zone, the Coke Zero Refreshment Court and the Allstate Good Hands Fan Zone. The Capital One Cup Fan Zone allows fans to compete in sports. The opportunity to win prizes increases the more one plays the games. On April 7, fans will also have a chance to meet Lisa Leslie, a former WNBA player and four-time Olympic gold medalist, for autographs. The AT&T Fan Zone allows people to pose for a photo with the Naismith Trophy, which is given to the best male and female players in the country. The Coke Zero Refreshment Court has sampling stations, the Coke Zero 3-point competition, temporary tattoos and the opportunity to pick up some Coke Zero mardi gras beads. The Allstate Good Hands Fan Zone has other activities including a competition to see who has the fastest 40-yard dash.
A visit to New Orleans doesn’t need to be limited to Tourney Town. New Orleans is a city with scenic charm. An obvious place to visit is the French Quarter, which is the cultural center of New Orleans. People can sight see, shop and dine. Jackson Square is also located inside the French Quarter as it is filled with the arts. Jugglers, musicians and artists fill the streets for constant entertainment as one explores the scenery around them. The St. Louis Cathedral is another major landmark that people can visit. The art and design is something that is worth seeing because it’s like no other. Bourbon Street has a great nightlife with jazz and country western songs that fill the air. People can shop and enjoy some Cajun food as well.
“New Orleans has cultural benefits to offer interested visitors that they will find nowhere else”, says Mark Romig, President and CEO of New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation.” In addition to some five dozen museums and house museums, you will find our culture in music clubs on Bourbon and Frenchman streets; in our artful and unique cuisine at both fine dining and neighborhood restaurants; and by riding through our city to look at the beautiful historic architecture.”
While it is not as well known, Frenchmen Street is for people who want to try something new. Frenchmen Street has colorful buildings and great jazz music, but it is less crowded than Bourbon Street. The great music is what Frenchmen Street is known for, but people come to enjoy great food and listen to the music in the moonlight.
While spending time in New Orleans it’s hard not to develop a sweet tooth. La Boulangerie is a French bakery, which offers authentic pastries and other treats. The place has character, making it memorable not just for the food, but for the environment as well.
“First and foremost I recommend the croissants and the French bread,” Kylee Countrymen a worker from La Boulangerie said. “Honestly everything is good including the pastries.”
However, people must be willing to deal with the long lines and limited parking before enjoying the pastry.
Other highly rated restaurants according to consumers on TripAdvisor include Zea Rotisserie & Grill, Verti Marte, The Joint and Louisiana Pizza Kitchen. Louisiana is known for its Cajun food, so here are some highly rated restaurants: Mr. B’s Bistro, Liuzza’s by the Track and Louisiana Bistro. Prices do vary depending on where one goes to eat.
While the most important event may be the Final Four, there is time for people to enjoy other aspects of New Orleans along the way.
Lady Bears head coach stresses academics on top of sports
By Greg DeVries and Larissa Campos
Sports Editor and Reporter
Compete is a word very familiar to head women’s basketball head coach Kim Mulkey. In high school, she led her Hammond High School basketball team to four consecutive state championships. She then went on to play point guard at Louisiana Tech University and won two National Championships, the AIAW title in 1981 and the inaugural NCAA title in 1982. When it came to sports, Mulkey knew how to compete.
But her competitive nature began off the basketball courts and ball fields. She discovered her intense desire to win and be the best in the classroom.
“Every test you take you want to make an A,” Mulkey said. “I knew that I wasn’t the smartest kid in the school or even in the classroom but I knew I could out study them.”
Mulkey’s will to compete in the classroom earned her a perfect 4.0 GPA and the honor to represent her class as valedictorian at Hammond High School.
Mulkey didn’t grow up in a home where she was pushed to succeed in academics. Her parents were high school graduates and worked hard to support their family. The will and determination to do well in school came completely from her desire to win and beat out her classmates.
“I graduated valedictorian and certainly was not the smartest kid in the school,” Mulkey said. “I probably had the worst ACT score out of anybody in the top ten but my competitiveness allowed me to surpass them when it came to taking tests.”
After high school, Mulkey continued these study habits in college at Louisiana Tech University while playing for the Lady Techsters.
As a player, Mulkey was an All-American point guard that helped her team earn two National Championships, one AIAW Championship in 1981 and one NCAA Championship in 1982. Two years later, Mulkey competed on the USA Women’s basketball team in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and helped the Americans win a gold medal.
As a student, she graduated Suma Cum Laude with a business degree and was on her way to conquering the corporate world after college.
Being a basketball coach wasn’t even a passing thought for Mulkey as she finished school. She always had plans to graduate and get into the business world right away. However, after participating in the Olympics she was given the opportunity to further her education at Louisiana Tech with a Masters in business degree.
“Back then the NCAA gave five female and five male basketball players a check to go work on their post graduate studies and I was one of those who was fortunate enough to get it,” said Mulkey.
Mulkey has used her competitiveness not only to win games and championships but also to make sure all her players get a college education.
“As a coach, she places a great importance on academics and makes it her personal goal to make sure all of her players graduate,” sophomore Mackenzie Robertson said. “She really wants us to become better people in life, not just basketball.”
Her future plans in the business world took a major turn one day when she was sitting in class. A group of police officers entered the classroom and asked the professor to have Kim Mulkey meet them outside after class was over.
“I was nervous because you start thinking there was a death in the family or there’s been a horrible accident, but what it was, the president of the university sent them.” Mulkey said. “The head women’s coach at the time was Sonja Hogg had retired and the president wanted me to be on the women’s basketball staff under the new head coach, Leon Barmore. I went up to his office and he convinced me to give it a shot.”
The decision to take this coaching position was one that would alter her life forever as she would go on to make history as a coach in women’s basketball throughout her career.
During her tenure as an assistant coach, Mulkey had head coaching offers from schools like Missouri, South Carolina and Texas A&M, but she wanted to stay loyal to Louisiana Tech.
After achieving the highest winning percentage in the history of women’s basketball, Barmore retired and left the program to Mulkey.
During contract negotiations, Mulkey had her heart set on a five-year deal. Louisiana Tech, however, had a shorter agreement in mind. Despite Mulkey’s begging and pleading, Tech would not budge, and Mulkey accepted Baylor’s five-year offer and moved to Waco.
Since then, Mulkey has coached her teams to five Big 12 Championships, including three in a row from 2009-2013, and two National Championships. She has been named the Big 12 Coach of the Year four times and has earned USBWA National Coach of the Year honors in both 2011 and 2012.
Mulkey is already a member of the National High School Hall of Fame, the Louisiana High School Hall of Fame, the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and the Louisiana Tech Athletics Hall of Fame.
Another national championship this year would add to the numerous successes and achievements that have helped cement her as one of the game’s all-time greats.
Lady Bears take home third consecutive Big 12 championship
Meagan Downing | Round Up Photo Editor
Sports Writer
The No. 1 Lady Bears put on a show on March 9-11, at the Big 12 Tournament as they became the only team in the Big 12 to win the championship for three consecutive years.
The Lady Bears displayed why they are the No. 1 team in the nation, whether it was by blowing a team out, making shots in the clutch or responding every time an opponent tried to come back into the game.
Three Baylor players were named to the Big 12 All-Tournament team: senior post Brittney Griner, senior forward Destiny Williams and junior guard Odyssey Sims. Griner was also named most outstanding player in the tournament.
Baylor defeated Kansas State in an 80-47 blowout in the quarterfinals. Baylor played Kansas State six days prior that match and it was a close game with Kansas State hitting 15 3-point jumpers to keep the game within reach. However, Baylor pulled away in the second half after making defensive adjustments.
The Lady Bears had that game in the back of their minds and it showed. Baylor jumped out to a 31-6 lead as it dominated both ends of the floor. Baylor put pressure on Kansas State by disrupting its offense and forcing it to hold on to the ball. Baylor’s defense disrupted Kansas State’s 3-point shooting by not allowing the Wildcats to setup any screens. Kansas State didn’t reach a double-digit score until the 5:37 mark as Baylor prevented the Wildcats from spreading the floor.
Kansas State did make halftime adjustments to get its offense going, such as taking higher percentage shots, but the gap was too much to overcome. Baylor continued to score because the Kansas State defense didn’t have any answers for the Lady Bears offense.
“I’m proud of how we competed in the second half,” Kansas State head coach Deb Patterson said. “I thought we continued to fight hard, just didn’t have enough play-making today to be able to get the job done.”
Kansas State guard Brittany Chambers was the only Kansas State player to score in double figures with 21, but there was a drop-off with the remaining players. Kansas State was held to 29.1 percent shooting.
“I thought we played with a lot of energy,” Williams said. “I thought we knocked down the shots that were given to us. I thought we played smart on offense and defense, looked for the open person.”
The semifinals were much more dramatic as Oklahoma State was looking to upset Baylor for a chance for the title. However, Baylor defeated Oklahoma State 77-69 after senior guard Jordan Madden hit a clutch 3-point shot after Oklahoma State cut Baylor’s lead to three.
“There are no moral victories,” head coach Kim Mulkey said. “You either won or you lost. We could have very easily lost today. Compliment Oklahoma State, but they still lost. Jim Littell is not going to come in here and be all excited. Those kids played hard for him today. They could have very easily won and we could have very easily lost.”
Baylor had a season-high 24 turnovers, including 18 in the second half. Oklahoma State not only managed a high number of steals, but it forced Baylor into some uncharacteristic passes.
Baylor played well during the first half as it continued to switch players around to confuse the Cowgirls leading to a shot clock violation. Griner followed with back-to-back blocks.
Baylor also went on two runs, responding each time Oklahoma State scored. However, during the second half, Oklahoma State let Baylor feel its presence. The Oklahoma State defense began to play in a two-three zone, giving Baylor trouble. The Cowgirls took Griner out of the game and the lack of ball movement by Baylor allowed Oklahoma State to cut into the lead. The Cowgirls took advantage of Baylor’s lack of defense and began clicking on offense. Three players finished in double figures because of this.
Oklahoma State outscored Baylor in fast break points and it also outscored Baylor in the second half, being the second team this season to do so. After Baylor committed four straight turnovers, Oklahoma State cut the lead to three, but Griner got a key steal that allowed Madden to make the clutch 3-point shot with less than two minutes remaining in the game.
The shot showed Baylor’s mental toughness as they pulled away with a win in the closing minutes of the game.
“I think it was good for us to a certain extent,” senior forward Brooklyn Pope said. “I don’t like close games. I like when we win by a large margin. I’m just happy we won. We’re going to work on some things. I just hope this helps us.”
After an uncharacteristic defensive performance, Baylor played with a chip on its shoulder, defeating No. 23 Iowa State 75-47 in the Big 12 Championship Game.
“Baylor played up to their No. 1 ranking,” Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly said. “When Odyssey Sims and Brittney Griner go 21-26, I don’t think the Mavs could have won tonight.”
Baylor tightened up its defense, forcing Iowa State to commit 20 turnovers as Baylor crowded the passing lanes and protected the paint. Similar to the game against Kansas State, Baylor got off to an early lead. Baylor went on an 18-0 run, sparked by back-to-back field goals from Griner, after Iowa State scored the first three points of the game.
Iowa State was left without a field goal for about eight minutes, until it responded with a layup from Iowa State guard Nikki Moody. Moody hit a 3-point jumper shortly after, but Baylor answered with a 17-2 run in the final nine minutes of the half.
“Today we worked on moving the ball, penetrating, opening up the zone so BG could get more shots,” Sims said.
Iowa State made adjustments at the half as it began to attack the paint and take better shots.
This freed up the middle, allowing the Cyclones to score more points, but Baylor kept responding on offense and defense, making the gap too much for the Cyclones to overcome.
Got game? Sims leads team on, off court
By Phillip Ericksen
Reporter
Compared to her teammates, junior guard Odyssey Sims is small, but that doesn’t mean her game is.
Standing at 5 feet 8 inches, the All-American has led the Lady Bears to another successful season. As the top-ranked team in the nation, the Lady Bears charge into the Big 12 and NCAA tournaments. Personal accolades are also on the way for her.
Sims is a finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award, which is given to the best point guard in the nation. She has averaged 12.2 points and 5.8 assists per game this season.
“It’s exciting,” Sims said. “I was nominated last year I think, so hopefully I’ll just keep playing and maybe I’ll win. That’s my biggest goal.”
A top high school recruit from MacArthur High School in Irving, Sims decided on a college career at Baylor because of its dominant program and proximity to home. The process was stressful for her, but she said she knows she made the right decision when she chose to play for head coach Kim Mulkey.
She plays on a team featuring one of the greatest women’s college basketball players of all time: senior center Brittney Griner. Sims embraces this opportunity of having such a resource at her availability on the court. “From the beginning of the season until now, their chemistry and trust in each other has continued to grow by a game-by-game basis,” associate head coach Bill Brock said. “They can read each other without looking at one another. Odyssey knows where Brittney wants the basketball, and Brittney can tell where Odyssey wants the outlet passes every time there’s a defensive rebound. They work so well together.”
Both players were named to the All-Big 12 First Team and the Big 12 All-Defensive Team.
“It’s just a joy to watch those two play together and show their skills on the floor,” Brock said.
Sims embraces her unique role on the team as a leader and role model for the other players as well.
Freshman guard Alexis Prince said she looks up to Sims and appreciates her guidance both on and off the court.
“She’s a good teammate,” Prince said. “Being the point guard, she’s a good leader. She helps you when you need help with anything.”
This translates into the Lady Bears’ offense, where distributing the ball through Sims is key to success.
“I take on a big role,” Sims said. “To lead the team, be the floor general on the court, and take control when Coach Mulkey can’t call plays when it’s down to the wire.”
The Lady Bears (29-1) seem to be constantly in rhythm while dominating at both ends of the court. The opportunity to complete their ultimate goal of winning another national championship looms as they are projected to be the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Sims maintains that the team is always trying to improve through drills and working on fundamentals in practice.
“We take it one day at a time,” Sims said. “We’re not focusing on staying perfect because you can’t be perfect.”
After a historic, undefeated season last year that ended in a national championship, the Lady Bears have continued their dominance since a two-point loss to Stanford early in the season. They quickly overcame that loss and continued on a 27-game win streak.
Sims said she has a wide range of emotions before a big game, especially one deep in the NCAA Tournament against a tough opponent such as Stanford or Connecticut.
Though she admits to being nervous before these games, her mindset is always focused, excited and hyped.
Sims said she gains this enthusiasm from a number of different inspirations.
“It’s a little bit of everyone I guess,” Sims said. “Some days it can be my coaches, some days it can be my momma, some days I can motivate myself.”
While Griner’s dominant plays make most of the headlines for Lady Bears basketball, Sims’ consistency on the court and willingness to accept the team’s philosophy of quickly moving the ball down the court is a huge factor in the team’s success, according to Brock.
“Odyssey Sims is the quarterback of our basketball team,” Brock said. “She is the one who directs traffic in all situations for us, whether it be in the fast break or the half-court set. We are always looking for the opportunity to run more and get more easy baskets in transition.”
As the postseason begins, Coach Brock said he realizes teams will be looking to slow the pace of the game. Fortunately, Sims can also run the Bears’ slower half-court offense with ease.
As six seniors leave the team at the conclusion of this season, an even bigger spotlight will be created for her during her senior season.
“With these six seniors leaving you will probably see us being able to run more scoring options for our perimeter players than we have in the past,” Brock said.
Moving forward into the postseason, the Lady Bears continue to feed off the energy and leadership of Sims and her chemistry with the rest of the team.
After all of the praise and accolades, Sims is confident in her answer of who can win a game of one-on-one between her and Griner.
“Me.”
Baylor must win
By Greg DeVries
Sports Editor
Anyone that has been to a Baylor Lady Bears basketball game has seen the video that plays before player introductions. Head coach Kim Mulkey stands before her players and talks about the expectation that this team will repeat as National Champions.
Those are some pretty lofty expectations, but that’s where this team is. If the Lady Bears don’t win the National Championship, then this season has been a failure. It may be harsh. It may even be unfair, but it only speaks to how much this team has accomplished and how talented it is. Big 12 regular-season championships and Big 12 Tournament championships are nice, but for Mulkey and the Lady Bears, those trophies may as well be paperweights when the real goal is a National Championship.
The senior class consisting of center Brittney Griner, guard Kimetria Hayden, guard Jordan Madden, forward Brooklyn Pope and forward Destiny Williams has earned this expectation. Back-to-back National Championships will be the best way to end the Griner Era in Lady Bears basketball history.
Over the last three seasons, the Lady Bears are 106-4. This run has included three Big 12 Championships, an Elite Eight appearance, and most importantly, a National Championship.
This recent success has put the Lady Bears in a select group of teams that have gone into seasons with championship-or-bust mentalities.
Going into the Women’s NCAA Tournament, there are five 30-win teams in the top 10: Baylor, Notre Dame, Connecticut, Stanford and Duke. While Duke has had seven consecutive 30-win seasons, the Blue Devils have yet to win it all. Stanford’s recent history is riddled with deep tournament runs, but its last National Championship came in the early 1990s. Notre Dame has had a lot of talent come through its program, but its last National Title was in 2001.
Baylor and UConn are set apart, however.
UConn has won six National Championships since the millennium, including five in a row from 2007-2011. The Huskies’ head coach, Geno Auriemma, has a winning percentage north of .860 and will go down as one of the best women’s basketball coaches of all time. Of the six women’s basketball players to win an NCAA Title, a WNBA title, a World Championship and an Olympic Gold Medal in women’s basketball, four are former Connecticut Huskies.
While Baylor doesn’t have the reign of dominance that UConn can claim, the Lady Bears do have Griner. Her size and skillset make her a transcendent figure that reaches beyond the realm of women’s basketball. UConn players like Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Kara Wolters and Diana Taurasi couldn’t reach this. In fact, only the most informed sports fans even know who these accomplished athletes are. If she is able to stay healthy throughout her career, Griner will be women’s basketball’s Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Babe Ruth, or Usain Bolt.
Griner is the reason that about 9,100 people show up to Baylor women’s basketball games. To put this in perspective, the men’s team only averages just more than 7,100 fans per game.
She is also the reason that the bar is set so high this year. Griner and the Lady Bears have pushed this program into elite company that expects National Championships, not tournament appearances.
The road to the Final Four starts with a first-round game against Prarie View, but Baylor fans know that the true obstacles are found in the later rounds. Stanford, the only team to beat the Lady Bears in the last two years, is a possible Final Four opponent for Baylor.
The Lady Bears lost to Stanford 71-69 in the third game of the season. Junior guard Odyssey Sims played just four minutes in the game before leaving with a strained hamstring.
Despite losing the first meeting, Baylor should still expect to win. This team plays on another level, and if the Lady Bears don’t hoist the National Championship trophy in New Orleans, then we will all be scratching our heads wondering what happened.
