Home Blog Page 859

Athlete-turned-educator shares wisdom, advice

Nick Berryman | Lariat Photographer
Dr. Ken Matthews spoke on leadership in schools Monday in Kayser Auditorium during the first of the Leadership Lecture Series this semester.

By Sobia Siddiqui
Reporter

As part of this semester’s leadership lecture series, a former Baylor football player-turned-principal counseled students to stand out by making a difference in their schools.

Dr. Ken Matthews, 1984 Baylor alumnus and superintendent of schools for the School of Excellence in Education, presented his lecture as a conversation with Ashley Weaver, the project coordinator for the Greater Waco Community Education Alliance and a Baylor alumna.

Ramona Curtis, the director for Leader Development and Civic Engagement and coordinator of this event, explained the purpose for the leadership series.

“The academy for civic engagement and leader development provides the format for any student here at Baylor to participate and hear from leaders who are making a difference in their world,” Curtis said. “And hopefully that will inspire leaders, our future leaders, our students to go out and change the world around them as well.”

Matthews encouraged students to reach out and help the children in their community.

He referenced what he has been able to accomplish with the School of Excellence in Education, an organization in Texas that focuses on helping students reach their full potential.

Weaver asked Matthews what advice he had for college students who wish to become leaders.

“There’s a lot of leadership styles out there. First of all, it has to match you and who you are,” Matthews said. “I go by the transformational leadership style, which is one that challenges the status quo.”

Weaver asked Matthews what advice he would give on how students can strategically impact and give to their school.

“You’re already making a difference just by being here and saying, ‘I’m one of those that cares enough to go out into the community and make a difference’,” Matthews said.

Matthews said when dealing with adults, adolescents and especially young children, educators have to be genuine.

“They can tell when I’m telling the truth; they can tell when I’m not telling the truth,” Matthews said. “They will be able to tell the difference with you.”

Matthews said his greatest accomplishment is impacting the lives of children.

“The greatest gift was to look at a little kid, to assist him or her, and see the smile on their face, and then they come back and ask for more,” Matthews said. “Then I knew that I’d arrived, because there’s somebody in the world who wanted to listen to me.”

The first question asked by the audience was how Matthews’ transformation from a football player to an educator occurred.

“I did not select education; education selected me,” Matthews said. “I think it was higher than that. I think God selected me. I think God was telling me I want you to do for others what others did for you.”

Matthews ended the interview with a word of advice to students.

“I’m hoping today, that as I’ve spoken to you, you were actually reading my heart,” Matthews said. “You listened to what I had to say, but you were also reading my heart.”

Crossword solution: 1/26/11

Crossword solution.

Sudoku solution: 1/26/11

Sudoku solution.

1/26/11: The Baylor Lariat

[issuu autoFlip=true width=640 height=560 embedBackground=%23005fbb shareMenuEnabled=false backgroundColor=%23222222 documentId=110126061547-1edd8032d2f14cb096ccb5e16fd1f885 name=110126pdf username=jonangel tag=news unit=px v=2 showhtmllink=false]

Diverse Greek groups kick off rush

By Sally Ann Moyer
Reporter

The Bill Daniel Student Center Den came alive Wednesday with the activity and enthusiasm of the racial and culturally diverse members of Multicultural Greek Council organizations at their annual Meet the Greeks event. Representatives from each of the member organizations manned booths and presented brief performances showcasing the character of their organization.

Rush events are occurring this week for most of the organizations, including informational sessions, dinners, service events, karaoke and mixers.

Each performance Wednesday began with a roll-call cheer from the present members followed by a step and hip-hop style dance.

The organizations within Multicultural Greek Council are different from other campus Greek societies because they each represent a specific cultural group.

Delta Epsilon Psi is a national South Asian service fraternity.

“We’re great to help you academically and to make you grow as a person,” said Houston sophomore Delta Epsilon Psi member Roshan Patel. “That’s basically all we’re for: to have an opportunity to succeed everywhere.”

Delta Epsilon Psi raises money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund. During the fall semester, Delta Epsilon Psi raised $5,000, mostly through sporting events, Patel said.

Delta Phi Omega is the largest and fastest-growing South Asian sorority in the nation, said Houston junior Delta Phi Omega member Jesley Joseph.

Delta Phi Omega hosts Literacy Through Unity week in March, including service at a local elementary school, small fundraising events and a benefit concert at Common Grounds. Everything raised goes directly to the philanthropy.

“Even though we’re small, the service we’ve been doing has impacted us,” said Katy junior Delta Phi Omega member Priyanka Mathews.

Dallas senior Isabel Teo is the current president of Alpha Kappa Delta Phi, the largest national Asian sorority in the nation.

“We really encourage sisterhood and friendship,” Teo said.

Alpha Kappa Delta Phi participates in Steppin’ Out, breast cancer awareness, fundraisers in October and events with their brother fraternity, Lambda Phi Epsilon.

The organization’s rush this semester has a princess theme, said Teo.

Omega Delta Phi is a national multicultural fraternity. Their national philanthropy is Court Appointed Special Advocates.

Kappa Phi Gamma was the first South Asian sorority at Baylor.

Houston senior and Kappa Phi Gamma member Ayman Rahman appreciates the small size of her sorority. She rushed because she “felt close to the girls.”

The organization’s largest fundraiser each year is Cancer Week in April, Rahman said.

Kappa Phi Gamma participates in social and service mixers with Multicultural Greek Council and performs and does events with Indian Subcontinent Student Association.

Sigma Iota Alpha Sorority is a service-based Latina sorority.

“We cherish our small number because of quality, not quantity,” Corpus Christi member Tara Molina said.

Sigma Iota Alpha sponsors a child from Chile through Children International, nationally supports Camp Heartland, a program for children with HIV/AIDS, and participates in different service events with other Multicultural Greek Council organizations.

The concepts of bonding and sisterhood attracted Carrollton senior Stephany Grullon to Gamma Alpha Omega.

Gamma Alpha Omega has a new philanthropy this year supporting youth and education. January is the organization’s philanthropy month, but it also participates in a variety of service opportunities throughout the year, including a soup kitchen, Salvation Army, mentoring kids and working with the Hispanic Student Association.

Kappa Delta Chi sorority is a “service and social [sorority] with an emphasis on service,” said Houston junior Kappa Delta Chi member and Multicultural Greek Council Internal Vice-President Brittany Thompson.

“All KDXs wherever are nice and just have a huge dedications to service,” said West Columbia sophomore Jedidah Guerra, Kappa Delta Chi recording secretary and sergeant-at-arms officer.

The sorority raises money for the American Cancer Society and its own KDChi Foundation.

2011 Attack of the Sweets: The year of tenacity?

Photo Illustration by Jed Dean

Resolved students find help in campus programs

By Molly Dunn
Reporter

Sticking to New Year’s resolutions is difficult for almost everyone, especially when the goal is to be healthier. Life gets in the way, old habits creep back and resolutions go unfulfilled. But there is hope.

Baylor offers many opportunities through programs, events, facilities and various activities for faculty and students to stay fit.

“Students need to define what their goals are,” Van Davis, assistant director for Fitness and Nutrition Education at Baylor, said. “The goals need to be specific, measurable; it needs to be something that is attainable, realistic and timely.”

When creating these goals, Davis believes the act of writing them down leads to successful results.

“One of the best things is to look and see where they are right now,” Davis said. “You need to know where you are before you can go somewhere.”

The McLane Student Life Center offers fitness assessments to measure body fat percentage, flexibility and blood pressure, helping faculty and students find out where they are right now. This makes charting progress easier, allowing students to achieve their resolution. In fact, from 3 to 5 p.m. today, the student life center is offering fitness assessments in front of the fitness center.

“We really focus on long-term and short-term goals and how important it is that you have short- term goals line up with your long-term goals so that you can eventually meet that long-term goal,” said Jennifer Spear, senior peer nutrition educator at the McLane Student Life Center.

The peer nutrition educators at the student life center offer guidance, advice and helpful tips for students who want to live a healthier life.

“We also help them modify their goals. That way they are attainable. Because one of the problems that people always have with their goals is that they set them way too high,” said Bekkah Limon, senior peer nutrition educator.

By creating short-term and long-term goals that are achievable, students can find themselves following their resolution and seeing successful results.

“A number is achievable. If you have a quantifiable amount, then you actually are able to achieve that and know that you achieved it,” Spear said.

Writing and planning fitness and nutrition goals is an important step in being successful, Davis said.

Students should use short term goals, such as spring break, to find motivation to workout, eat right and lead a healthy lifestyle. But repeating the same routine may cause the body to lose motivation and commitment, so Davis suggests that students find a variety of activities, especially with an “accountability partner” to help each other stay on track.

“Find two or three things that you enjoy doing and then spread it out across the week, because if all you do is get on the treadmill and run or walk, and that’s all you do, it gets boring,” Davis said.

At Baylor, students can participate in a multitude of activities through the 40 classes offered in bearobics, bearcycle classes, personal training and many other group or individual exercises.

This advice for fitness can also be applied to nutrition.

“You don’t have to take something completely out of your diet because it is more fattening,” Spear said. “It is all about customizing your diets so that you can live a healthier lifestyle that is tailored to your culture and your habits.”

Changing diet and workout routines does not have to be boring or a punishment. In fact, Davis said students should reward themselves after sticking with their goal for four weeks.

“Statistics show that if we set smart goals, and we keep that consistent for about four weeks, and if we have a reward system, people are a lot more successful,” Davis said.

For more information about personal training, programs at the McLane Student Life Center or about signing up for a free fitness orientation, contact Van Davis at van_davis@baylor.edu, or visit the Department of Wellness in room 305 of the student center for information on peer nutrition education.

Art scholarships, in short supply, get local boost

Nick Berryman | Lariat Photographer
Fernando Salas’ painting, which won third place in last year’s scholarship contest, hangs on the wall of the Studio Art Gallery.

By Ariadne Aberin
Staff Writer

There are many opportunities for academic and athletic scholarships. The Top Young Artists Scholarship Program began because there aren’t as many opportunities for academic advancement in the arts.

The Top Young Artists of the Year is a scholarship program open to juniors and seniors in high schools throughout the county, and it was started by Lance Magid, owner of Studio Art Gallery in Waco.

“This was an idea I had about four years ago,” Magid said. “My mission was to bridge the gap between academic and athletic scholarships. We are trying to keep art alive in Waco, because we believe that art preserves culture.”

To apply for the scholarship, students submit their artwork to their teachers, who then select the top three pieces from their respective schools. The pieces are then displayed at Studio Art Gallery for two weeks.

“At that time, if the students want to sell their art, they can,” Magid said.

If a student decides to sell his or her art, the student keeps 75 percent of the profit, while 25 percent goes toward the funds for next year’s scholarship.

The scholarship winners are chosen by a panel of judges who each have different points of view on art.

“The judges change every year,” Magid said. “During our first year, we had professional artists. We’ve had professors from Baylor, TSTC and MCC judge. We’ve also had local collectors who are great art enthusiasts. This year, we plan on having an interior designer join the ranks.”

Magid explained that the scholarship contestants were judged based on a set of three criteria: creativity and originality, craftsmanship and skill, and composition and design. Scholarship winners receive prizes ranging from $250 to $2,000.

“We want every participant to leave with something,” Magid said. “We have the art teachers put together goody bags for each student, and we give out the T-shirts, art supplies, portfolios and anything we can give to help them.”

The scholarship program became popular about two years ago, when Studio Art Gallery collaborated with the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce.

“The Chamber of Commerce has helped us out tremendously,” Magid said. “They really pushed this event, and we could not be happier with what the chamber has done to help us.”

Alexis Weaver, director of community affairs for the chamber, explained why the Chamber agreed to work with Studio Art Gallery:

“There have been a lot of funding cuts in the city lately,” said Weaver. “When it comes to students being gifted in the arts, not as much is available and that’s not really where a lot of students are encouraged, and those are the programs that get cut more often.”

Weaver added that Studio Art Gallery felt that the chamber would be a good partner because of its community development and connection to Waco ISD.

Through the help of the chamber, the scholarship program is now sponsored by companies such as Providence Healthcare and Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center. This year, Oak Farms Dairy in Waco is the main sponsor for the scholarship program.

“Our goal is to get this program as big and as best as we can do it,” Magid said.

At the end of the two week art exhibition, an awards ceremony is held at Art Center Waco.

“It’s nice because after the ceremony, the students can say that their art hung in an internationally recognized museum,” Weaver said.

Marc Arnold, director for Art Center Waco, said a representative from the chamber and several local business owners show up to the event.

According to Magid, the 2008 grand prize winner, Kelsey Truman, still comes back to work during the summer and breaks. Truman attends college at Georgetown, and the gallery has helped her get commission work. The 2008 third place winner, Fernando Salas, enlisted in the United States Marines two weeks before the scholarship competition started. Because the military would pay for his education, Salas donated his winnings to the program’s scholarship fund.

The students’ artwork goes on display at Studio Art Gallery on March 15. Studio Art Gallery is located at 4712 West Waco Drive. There is a wine-and-cheese preview the night before the first exhibition day, open to the public, and the awards ceremony is also open to the public. The awards ceremony will take place at 6:30 p.m. March 28 at Art Center Waco. For more information, contact Lance Magid at Studio Gallery, studiogallery@hotrr.com.

Reaction to climate ‘shocks’ studied

Courtesy Photo
Steve Cole, a graduate student at the University of Arizona, surveys a local Belizean while conducting field research in Belize.

By Jade Mardirosian
Staff Writer

A Baylor associate professor’s recent study in Belize examines how people and communities respond to climate change and natural disasters. Results from the study indicated that secure households are able to respond more effectively to climate change and disasters.

Dr. Sara Alexander, associate professor of anthropology at Baylor, conducted research in three coastal communities in Belize using a range of about 860 various households as test samples.

Alexander and her team focused on coastal communities with varying degrees of dependency on tourism, identified vulnerable households in these communities and tested how these households respond to a climate related event or shock.

“One of our hypotheses was that the more socially connected a household is to their local community, the less vulnerable they are in terms of these climate variables,” Alexander said.

Over the past year Alexander has been processing and analyzing the data and has found things in her preliminary results that indicate that 62 percent of households believe chronic weather conditions, such as increased temperatures and floods, are of higher concern than an isolated disaster, such as a hurricane.

“Their perception isn’t necessarily that this ‘one off’ disaster is more severe in terms of their lives,” Alexander said. “That was interesting because I really thought that in this area you have mostly tropical storms and hurricanes and mudslides, and I thought those sort of events would give people the perception that they were more serious than things like a drought.”

Further results indicated that many households have a strong perception of global climate change, with 57 percent of households believing that storms are currently harsher than they were 5 to 10 years ago.

The results will be published in the Climate Change and Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change.

The study was funded by way of a $235,000 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Dr. Susan Stonich, professor of anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, worked as co-investigator on the research. The research team also consisted of doctoral students from the University of California, Santa Barbara and the University of Arizona. Once in Belize, Alexander hired Belizean high school and college students to help with conducting surveys in the community.

Those that worked with Alexander on the research are currently conducting other research (not associated with the work done in Belize), out of the country and could not be reached for comment for this article.

Alexander is currently working on proposals for a stage two of research, studying the same factors, but expanding the locations to the Yucatan and the Northern coast of Honduras.

Dr. Joseph White, associate professor of biology, is currently working with Alexander on preliminary steps for this research. White says they are planning on developing a research grant for the National Science Foundation.

“Currently the idea is to leverage the work [Alexander has] accomplished in Belize,” White said. “This would be a follow up, at this point taking a look at the combination of how agriculture and coastal reef fisheries are connected due to climate and how people using farms or fisheries are perceiving changes in their food supply and their potential relationship to climate change as it has been occurring.”

White explained that he would be predicting future environmental changes based on computer modeling and Alexander would assess if humans are aware of changing conditions to the climate.

Men fall to 3-3 in Big 12

Nathaniel LaRue | Kansas State Collegian
No. 4 junior Quincy Acy passes to a teammate after diving for a loose ball in Monday’s game against Kansas State. The Bears lost, 69-61.

By Chris Derrett
Sports Editor

Baylor could not overcome a sloppy first half and dropped its Monday night matchup at Kansas State, 69-61. Junior Quincy Acy led the Bears with 14 points, and three others finished in double figures.

Baylor shot 56 percent in the second half and drained four 3-pointers in the period, but it was not enough to get a win on ESPN’s Big Monday.

“You need to do it for two halves, not one,” coach Scott Drew said.

A second half surge from the Wildcats (14-7, 2-4) erased a brief Baylor (13-6, 3-3) lead and created a deficit the Bears could not overcome.

After freshman Stargell Love hit a 3-pointer from the corner and put the Bears ahead 30-29, Rodney McGruder answered with his own three for a 32-30 Kansas State advantage. Love hit a free throw on the other end before three consecutive Wildcat buckets capped an 11-1 run.

The final basket of the run came after McGruder dashed in from the 3-point line to snag an offensive rebound from four Bears under the rim. McGruder kicked the ball outside the arc to Jacob Pullen, who drained a trey that sent the Manhattan, Kan., crowd into a frenzy and forced a Baylor timeout.

The offensive board was one of 16 from the Wildcats en route to beating Baylor 35-26 in the rebounding category.

“That area, the rebounding, really was the most disappointing on our coaching staff’s thoughts,” Drew said.

Love was among the double digit scorers, tallying 11 points in an unexpected 18 minutes of play. The Bears called on the backup point guard after sophomore A.J. Walton picked up his fourth foul four minutes into the second half. Walton reentered the game at the 9:59 mark but lasted only nine seconds before fouling out.

“I was pleased with how he [Love] performed and pleased with his effort,” Drew said.

Love’s 18 minutes are the most he has played since starting in place of Walton in Baylor’s Nov. 12 season opener against Grambling State. His 11 points set a new career high.

“It’s all because of the coaches. The coaches teach us, coming in [to the game] to be calm,” Love said.

Just before Walton picked up foul number four, he had hit back-to-back threes to tie the game at 27 with 17:56 to go in the game.

The Bears entered the locker room down 25-18 as neither team broke the 30 percent shooting barrier. While Baylor struggled to 6 of 24, Kansas State missed seven layups as part of a 9 of 28 half.

Foul trouble also hurt the Bears, as Drew started junior J’mison Morgan in place of junior Quincy Acy for Morgan’s defensive presence. The strategy was hindered with four fouls from Morgan before the halftime buzzer.

Senior LaceDarius Dunn also had a quiet game. Dunn scored 13, tying his Jan. 17 performance against Kansas for a season-low point total.

Freshman Perry Jones III strayed from his Big 12 average 19.8 points entering Monday night and notched just 11.

Lady Bears beat Tech, learn lessons

By Matt Larsen
Sports Writer

It was anything but pretty, but the No. 1 Lady Bears outlasted Texas Tech 64-51 Saturday night in a battle fought and won in the paint and on the boards.

“I’m most disappointed in the number of offensive boards we allowed Texas Tech to have,” head coach Kim Mulkey said. “That’s just pure grit.”

The Lady Raiders outrebounded the Lady Bears 36-32 overall, with 17-9 on the offensive side.

Tech began work down low early, pulling down six offensive rebounds before Brooklyn Pope hauled in her squad’s first offensive board with 11:53 left in the first half.

While her team held onto a lead the majority of the first half and virtually the entire second, Mulkey saw the youth in her team’s faces during a timeout.

“You would have thought that we were down,” she said, staring at daunted eyes. “Smile. Compete. This is what you get with that No. 1 on your chest.”

In addition to lacking their usual inside presence as they managed just three offensive boards in the first half, the Lady Bears missed a certain outside presence for most of the first half as well.

“Not having Odyssey [Sims] on the court, you try not to think about. You try to keep playing,” sophomore post Brittney Griner said. “But we all like her having that pressure out there on the ball.”

With two early fouls Sims went to the bench with over 15 minutes left in the first half.

While her team missed her on the defensive end, the scoreboard revealed that the Lady Bears also missed their second-leading scorer.

The team’s No. 1 scorer this season, Griner, went to the locker room with a typical 15 points.

Her team, however, still trailed 29-28.

It was the first time Baylor trailed at halftime since it played then-No. 1 Connecticut Nov. 16.

With Sims back on the floor to start the second half, the Lady Bears used a 9-3 run to take the lead.

Griner, sophomore Destiny Williams and sophomore Brooklyn Pope regained ground under the basket on their way to seven, eight and six rebounds respectively.

Griner led her team with 25 points on the night and a crucial pair of finishes in the paint that allowed her team to tie and then take the lead for the final time early in the second half.

Tech kept it close though, using an 8 point run just before the five minute mark to pull within seven and make it 53-46.

Senior Melissa Jones ended that streak with a couple of free throws and a few minutes later sank a three that stretched the lead to 60-51 with just over a minute to go, putting the game out of reach.

“Just scoring period at that point was big,” Mulkey said.

Jones tallied 13 points to finish behind Griner as the Lady Bears second-leading scorer.

“Between those two,” Tech head coach Kristy Curry said following the game. “They always seem to make a play when Baylor needs it most.”

New Baylor production brings both laughs and depth

Matt Hellman | Lariat Photographer
“The Skin of our Teeth” is performed by students of Baylor Theatre Monday in the Mabee Theatre.

By Bonnie Burger
Reporter

Audiences can expect laughs, engaging scenes and active participation from the Baylor Theatre’s newest production, “The Skin of Our Teeth,” opening at the Mabee Theatre at 7:30 p.m on Feb. 1.

Shelby Hibbs, a graduate student from North Little Rock, Ark., is directing the dramatic comedy depicting the bizarre adventures of the Antrobus family in the face of impending doom.

“Each act is its own little world,” Hibbs said. “It’s not a linear progression of events. Jumping from one act to the next, there are many stories being told.”

The story settings include the Ice Age, Great Flood and a throwback to the Roaring Twenties.

A mixture of humor and intensity, overshadowed with strong biblical themes, the play purposely draws in the audience.

Hibbs alluded to specific roles the audience plays, careful to leave hints of curiosity and ambiguity.

“Unlike other theater performances, you will use your cell phone,” she said.

The nature of the production calls patrons to action, at times drawing onlookers onstage with the actors.

“We want to see if we can build a community of people throughout the audience,” Hibbs said. “It’s rewarding to have the opportunity to take that risk. It’s also rewarding if that risk pays off.”

This risk also allows for every production to have an element of improvisation.

“Concerning audience participation, there’s an unknown of what’s going to happen, how that person is going to react or interact with you,” said Richard Ross, a Dallas sophomore playing the part of Mr. Antrobus. “This play is all about breaking boundaries between the audience, the performance and the actors.”

The play is part of Hibbs’ thesis for the Master of Fine Arts directing program. She first encountered “The Skin of Our Teeth” as an undergraduate student at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkansas.

During her thesis preparation, Hibbs returned to the script she found “hysterical and fascinating,” after reading more than 60 scripts.

“The play has more substance to it,” she said. “It portrays ideas of human community, spirit, myth, progress and defining what progress is.”

In addition to the play’s comedic element, patrons can expect depth to each character.

“It’s been fun to dissect [my] character,” Ross said. “Mr. Antrobus is a representation of man, an Adam figure, with this great flaw. He’s trying to cover this flaw by righting the world.”

Hibbs strove for a collective collaboration between herself and the actors, often drawing from their feedback and pursuing collaborative research together.

“Shelby has been a real creative and experimental leader with the production,” said dramaturg and theater historian Dr. DeAnna Toten Beard. “I think everybody is finding the work to be very rewarding.

Thornton Wilder wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, which opened on Broadway in 1942.

“[The audience] will find it to be unpredictable and not exactly what they’re used to, in a good way,” Toten Beard said. “I think they can expect to be surprised and to laugh a lot and to have their thinking really challenged in a positive way.”

“The Skin of Our Teeth” runs nightly through Feb. 5 at 7:30 p.m., with two matinee performances at 2 p.m. Feb. 5 and 6. Tickets are available at the Baylor Theatre Box Office for $15.

Tennis fights frost for the win

By Will Potter
Reporter

A frigid blast of winter weather chilled Central Texas, forcing the seventh-ranked Baylor men’s tennis team to move the match to Lion Tennis Center in Ennis last Thursday.

Neither the cold temperatures nor the change of venue could stop the Bears from dominating Louisiana-Lafayette from start to finish.

“The season is an adventure, and that was just another chapter in our adventure,” Matt Knoll, head coach, said about the match being moved. “Our guys did a great job of maintaining focus, poise and high intensity throughout the match.”

The Bears took control of the dual match early on by sweeping all three of the doubles matches versus the Ragin’ Cajuns.

Baylor’s fourth-ranked tandem of Roberto Maytin and John Peers methodically picked apart Yanick Mandl and Brandon Farine, taking No. 1 doubles by a score of 8-5. Julian Bley and Kike Grangeiro of Baylor defeated Oscar Pachon and Carl Alberton handily, 8-3.

At the No. 2 spot for Baylor, senior Sergio Ramirez teamed up with Jordan Rux to defeat Ted Nilsson and Carlin Murray from Lafayette in a nail-biter, 8-7.

Rux and Ramirez were down 7-6 with a match point when they broke Nilsson and Murray to tie the match at 7-7. That tie forced a tiebreaker that the Bears won 7-3 to sweep through doubles.

“Sergio and I each played well at different times during the match,” Rux said, “but when we went down match point we just synced up, made good returns and ended up pulling it out.”

After sweeping all of the doubles matches versus Louisiana-Lafayette, Baylor did not let up.

In singles play, Baylor dominated as Ramirez was first off the court with a 6-3, 6-2 win against Brandon Farine at the No. 3 spot. At the fourth spot, Maytin handily defeated Ted Nilsson 6-3, 6-1.

John Peers, ranked No. 22 in the nation, closed out the Ragin’ Cajuns with a hard-fought 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-1 victory over Carlin Murray ,securing the Bears’ win.

“Once we got on top of them we continued fighting hard and just finished off the match,” Peers said.

Baylor won both the final matches in dominating fashion when Julian Bley beat Minvielle 6-0, 6-2 and then Kike Grangeiro dismantled Oscar Pachon 6-1, 6-1.

Baylor now holds a seven-match winning streak over Louisiana-Lafayette and has the overall lead in the series, 8-5.

“It was a pretty good start even though we had to travel to Ennis,” Knoll said. “I think that we have an incredible amount of momentum for this time in the season.”

The No. 3 ranked women’s tennis team opened their first dual match action of the season with a 6-1 drubbing of the Houston Cougars.

Baylor took an early lead in doubles as Sona Novakova and Diana Nakic won 8-2 at the No. 1 spot. On court two, Jelena Stanivuk and Nina Secerbegovic dominated their match 8-1. The No. 3 tandem of Aya Bara and Abby Stainback lost 8-7 (8-6) after an arduous battle.

“I was really pleased with the way we played at one and two doubles,” Joey Scrivano, head coach, said. “Also, anytime you can get in a position where you have match point that is a good thing. Our No. 3 team just needed to finish it off.”

In singles action, the Lady Bears took care of business from top to bottom.

At the No.1 spot, Diana Nakic gave up only one game and won in straight sets over Dionne Sanders, 6-1, 6-0. Playing No. 2 for the Bears, the 19th nationally ranked Sona Novakova dismantled Bryony Hunter, 6-0, 6-2. Aya Bara beat Maja Kazimier 6-3, 6-0.

“We have a lot of collegiate tennis experience with our top four girls,” Scrivano said. “We were obviously the better team and when you’re the better team it is all about staying focused and finishing off your opponent.”

The Lady Bears had no problem finishing as Jelena Stanivuk easily won 6-1, 6-1 over Jo Garvey and 40th-ranked Nina Secerbegovic rolled in straight sets 6-0, 6-4, over Girogia Pozzan to secure the victory for the Lady Bears.

The Baylor women’s tennis team did not drop a set to the Houston Cougars in their victories and controlled this dual match from start to finish.

The Lady Bears take on Alabama at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Baylor Tennis Center.

Accused Arizona gunman pleads not guilty

By Jacques Billeaud

PHOENIX — The suspect in the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords smiled and nodded but didn’t speak as he appeared in court Monday and his lawyer provided the 22-year-old’s first response to the charges: a plea of not guilty.

In the two weeks since the deadly attack that killed six outside a Tucson grocery store, Jared Loughner’s hair — shaved in the mug shot that’s become an enduring image of the tragedy — has grown out slightly.

The Tucson resident wore an orange prison jumpsuit and glasses, and his wrists were cuffed to a chain around his waist as eight U.S. marshals kept watch in the packed Phoenix courtroom and gallery above.

Loughner faces federal charges of trying to assassinate Giffords and kill two of her aides. More charges are expected.

Investigators have said Loughner was mentally disturbed and acting increasingly erratic in the weeks leading up to the attack on Jan. 8 that wounded 13.

If Loughner’s attorney uses mental competency questions as a defense and is successful, Loughner could be sent to a mental health facility instead of being sentenced to prison or death.

Giffords was shot in the forehead and spent two weeks in a Tucson hospital before she was flown to Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center Hospital on Friday.

Shortly after her arrival, doctors said she had been given a tube to drain a buildup of brain fluid that has kept her in intensive care.

Loughner will likely face state charges in the attack, and also federal murder charges listed in an earlier criminal complaint for the deaths of Giffords aide Gabe Zimmerman and U.S. District Judge John Roll.

Those are potential death penalty charges, which require a more painstaking process under Justice Department rules.

Editorial: Manually updated system not enough for true campus safety

Baylor displayed a major flaw in its emergency alert system last Monday when 4,800 students did not receive a notification regarding the presence of two armed men on campus.

At 11:15 p.m., Baylor’s alert system was activated when two men being pursued by both Waco police and Beverly Hills police for the robbery of two cash stores near the Baylor campus.

The suspects ran from Casa Royale, on Speight Avenue, to the intersection of Eighth street and Speight Avenue, where they separated, one running toward I-35 and the other running toward La Salle.

The alert sent to Baylor students via text message, automated phone call and e-mail said: “Two black males, 1 wearing a black shirt and 1 wearing a white shirt, armed and thought to be on campus. Please remain inside until further notice.”

A file missing thousands of students’ names and emergency contact information in Baylor’s system served as the database for last Monday’s alert notification system. This was a grave error displayed in the Baylor alert system.

The swift action officials took in notifying the Baylor community was commendable. Waco and Baylor police worked together to quickly alert students, and had the system been completely accurate, it would have easily notified all students with impressive promptness.

There is an importance in pointing out how helpful the alert system was to many students that night. With incidents similar to last semester at University of Texas at Austin, where a lone gunman committed suicide on campus, or the tragedy at Virginia Tech that left 33, including the gunman, dead, it is of vital importance that college campuses have a timely and efficient method of alerting students.

Our university should not wait for a tragedy like the on-campus suicide in Austin before we improve our alert system.

A manually updated system is no longer effective for the times we are in and the move to a fully automatic, self-updating system is crucial.

While the incident that occurred last week was fortunately not an attack directed at students, it could easily have been, and the flaw in the alert system could have cost a number of lives. Beside the system improvement, the university should consider other avenues to increase our on-campus safety.

For instance, key-card swipes on the outside of buildings would have prevented the two men from entering a building, thereby protecting students and allowing police to narrow down the search area. Small but powerful changes such as this should be considered. The swipe of a card is an inconvenience we presume many would take on for increased safety.

Baylor must patch this hole in the system, and it appears the school has every intention to do just that. Much can be learned from this unfortunate situation that can ensure the safety of students in the future. Baylor reports progress, and the Lariat applauds the quick turnaround.

While tensions ran high, we were given the chance to truly test our system, and we should recognize last Monday’s manhunt as a blessing in disguise.

Point of View: U.S. world titles should include other countries

By Amanda Earp

I love football — specifically the NFL.

My team is the Indianapolis Colts. I have loved them since I watched my first Colts game in 2006 when they played the New York Giants.

It was Manning brother versus Manning brother and the first NFL game, beside different Super Bowls, I remember actually wanting to watch. I followed them the whole 2006 season and watched them win the Super Bowl; I was hooked on the Colts and the NFL in general.

Fast-forward to 2011 and I watch more football now than some of my guy friends. It is probably my favorite thing to watch on TV and anytime I can watch it, I will.

I was watching a Monday night game back in December when the New Orleans Saints played the Atlanta Falcons.

I’m going to digress before I get any further into this story and admit that, yes, I am still bitter about the Saints beating the Colts in the Super Bowl last year.

Extremely bitter.

For example, when I see someone wearing anything relating to the Saints I still get upset like the game happened last night.

As I was watching the Saints and Falcons game, the announcers kept calling the Saints the “world champion.”

This bothered me, not because I am an angry Colts fan — which, granted, I am —but because the Saints should not be considered the world champions.

They are champions, but they would be considered the national champions because the NFL is the National Football League. How can we consider a team to be the world champion if they only play teams in the United States?

The only team we should call the world champions in “football” would be Spain because they won the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

I could not figure out why an announcer would give them this title, so I texted a friend for his thoughts on the subject.

He replied that it was probably a marketing phrase used to make the game sound more important than it is and he, of course, followed with a joke about the Saints beating the Colts.

This got me thinking about other leagues in our country that have claim on world championships: baseball and the World Series to be particular.

The Giants would not be considered the world champion; South Korea would currently be the champion for winning the 2008 Summer Olympics.

I would be a little more lenient with this term being applied to baseball because of the Toronto Blue Jays, but I still do not think just including Canada is grounds to be called world champions.

My thoughts on this apply to basketball as well. The United States would be considered the basketball world champion for winning at the last summer Olympics, not the Los Angeles Lakers.

This title makes the United States sound arrogant by claiming when a team wins the national championship they are, in fact, world champions of the sport.

As someone who is going to make a career out of dealing with word choice, I find this extremely annoying.

Even when my beloved Colts win another Super Bowl, or so I hope they do, I will not refer to them as the “world champion.”

Amanda Earp is a graduate student from New Waverly and the copy desk chief for the Lariat.

Point of View: Netflix’s appeal diminishes as profit trumps all

A month into my college career, a professor began class by discussing Netflix. I knew about Netflix, of course, but I had never seriously considered becoming a member.

The more I thought about joining, the more it made sense. I could certainly afford $9 a month (which got me as many DVDs as I could watch and mail back, and unlimited streaming ability), I had plenty of free time and there were hundreds of movies I wanted to see. Plus, Netflix’s convenience and massive selection blew Blockbuster out of the water.

I pulled the trigger and signed up. More than three years later, I’m glad I did. As I prepare to graduate, Netflix has been one of the constants of my Baylor experience. It doesn’t matter if I’ve lived in Penland, North Village or an apartment– I’ve fetched those iconic red envelopes out of my mailbox every week.

I’ve rented 215 movies. Do the math and that comes to about $1.80 per movie. Not a bad deal. That doesn’t include all the value I’ve gotten out of Netflix’s instant streaming service. I’ve blitzed through entire seasons of “Lost,” “Dexter,” “The Office,” “Friday Night Lights” and more on my laptop, without being forced to watch annoying ads like on Hulu.

When I was a sophomore one of my assignments for speech class was to convince my classmates to invest in a company. I chose Netflix, not because I’m an expert on stocks, but because I wanted to research a company I actually liked and believed in. At the time, the Netflix stock was selling for about $46.

I hope my classmates were listening carefully. Recently heralded by Fortune Magazine as “the stock of the year,” Netflix’s stock has rocketed up more than 200 percent since last January.

Shares now sell for about $182. For all the company’s success, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings was named Businessperson of the Year by Fortune.

But this isn’t a love letter to Hastings and his company. As much as I like Netflix, recent moves by the company have me concerned.

A year ago Netflix began signing deals with major film studios, like Warner Bros. Entertainment, agreeing to delay the studios’ DVD and Blu-ray releases for 28 days to give the studios more time to sell before customers can rent the discs. In exchange, Netflix got access to more titles from Warner’s catalog for customers to view online.

This setback has proven to be incredibly annoying. Before the change, getting brand new DVDs in the mail on the day they were released was a thrill. Now, many of the most popular titles, like “The Social Network,” are withheld from customers for the first month of their release, which is exactly when most customers want to watch them.

What’s more, prices have been raised. My plan jumped a dollar to $10 a month, before tax. That’s not enough to make me cancel my subscription – yet – but it doesn’t bode well for the future.

Most recently, Netflix announced it was removing customers’ ability to manage their DVD queues on their digital devices, like iPhones. The logic behind the move? Netflix is trying to encourage customers to stream more content via its “watch instantly” feature – and rent fewer physical DVDs through the mail. That’s because Netflix knows that instant streaming is the future of movie and television viewing. In 20 years, everyone will be using the Internet to stream content directly to their televisions.

The catch is that Netflix’s library of films and TV shows available for instant streaming pales in comparison to its DVD library.

To be fair, the company has improved its instant streaming selection over the years, but not nearly enough to begin shifting its core business from physical DVDs.

I’m not alone in my frustration. Angry customers have stormed blogs and Netflix’s Facebook page to voice their displeasure.

Netflix may have enriched my college years and provided endless hours of entertainment and distraction, but if the company forgets what made it so popular in the first place – listening to customers – then it’s going to lose at least one subscriber: me.

James Byers is a senior business journalism major from Indianapolis. He is the news editor for the Lariat.

Crossword solution: 1/25/11

Crossword solution.

Sudoku solution: 1/25/11

Sudoku solution.

Health on the brain

Baylor Health Services is taking over Dr Pepper Hour at 3 p.m. today in the Barfield Drawing Room in the Bill Daniel Student Center. Come meet some of the providers and staff from the health center, counseling, pharmacy, physical therapy, wellness and members of the Student Health Advisory Committee.

Serve in the kitchen

Campus Kitchen cooking and delivery shifts start back up today. Show up in the Family and Consumer Sciences parking lots at 3 p.m. every week day to help out with dining hall pick-up and delivery, or come to the kitchen in the FCS building at 3 p.m. today or Thursday to help out with food preparation.

1/25/11: The Baylor Lariat

[issuu autoFlip=true width=640 height=560 embedBackground=%23005fbb shareMenuEnabled=false backgroundColor=%23222222 documentId=110125063941-449cfcbd362148c7a1b8aebbc2bf66d5 name=110125pdf username=jonangel tag=news unit=px v=2 showhtmllink=false]

Griner, Jones help secure 64-51 win over Lady Raiders

Associated Press
No. 42 sophomore Brittney Griner looks to shoot against Texas Tech's Kierra Mallard during the first half of the game in Waco.

By Matt Larsen
Sports writer

It was anything but pretty, but the No. 1 Lady Bears outlasted Texas Tech 64-51 Saturday night in a battle fought and won in the paint and on the boards.

“I’m most disappointed in the number of offensive boards we allowed Texas Tech to have,” head coach Kim Mulkey said. “That’s just pure grit.”

The Lady Raiders outrebounded the Lady Bears 36-32 overall, and 17-9 on the offensive side.

Tech began work down low early, pulling down six offensive rebounds before Brooklyn Pope hauled in her squad’s first offensive board with 11:53 left in the first half.

While her team held onto a lead the majority of the first half and virtually the entire second, Mulkey saw the youth in her team’s faces during a timeout.

“You would have thought that we were down,” she said, staring at daunted eyes. “Smile. Compete. This is what you get with that No. 1 on your chest.”

In addition to lacking their usual inside presence as they managed just three offensive boards in the first half, the Lady Bears missed a certain outside presence for most of the first half as well.

“Not having Odyssey [Sims] on the court, you try not to think about. You try to keep playing,” sophomore post Brittney Griner said. “But we all like her having that pressure out there on the ball.”

With two early fouls Sims went to the bench with over 15 minutes left in the first half.

While her team missed her on the defensive end, the scoreboard revealed that the Lady Bears also missed their second-leading scorer.

The team’s No. 1 scorer this season, Griner, went to the locker room with a typical 15 points.
Her team, however, still trailed 29-28.

It was the first time Baylor trailed at halftime since it played then No. 1 Connecticut Nov. 16.

With Sims back on the floor to start the second half, the Lady Bears used a 9-3 run to take the lead.

Griner, sophomore Destiny Williams and sophomore Brooklyn Pope regained ground under the basket on their way to seven, eight and six rebounds respectively.

Griner led her team with 25 points on the night and a crucial pair of finishes in the paint that allowed her team to tie and then take the lead for the final time early in the second half.

Tech kept it close though, using an 8 point run just before the five minute mark to pull within seven and make it 53-46.

Senior Melissa Jones ended that streak with a couple of free throws and a few minutes later sank a three that stretched the lead to 60-51 with just over a minute to go, putting the game out of reach.

“Just scoring period at that point was big,” Mulkey said.

Jones tallied 13 points to finish behind Griner as the Lady Bears second-leading scorer.

“Between those two,” Tech head coach Kristy Curry said following the game. “They always seem to make a play when Baylor needs it most.”

Jones III’s 24 points propel Bears past Cowboys

Rod Aydelotte | Associated Press/Waco Tribune Herald
Baylor's Perry Jones III, right, lets out a yell after scoring against Oklahoma State in the second half of a NCAA basketball game Saturday, Jan. 22, 2011 in Waco, Texas. Perry had game high 24 points. Looking on for Baylor is Quincy Acy, left. Baylor won 76-57.

By Chris Derrett
Sports Editor

With each strong performance, Perry Jones III is becoming less freshman and more phenom.

His latest feat, a 24-point, eight-rebound night against Oklahoma State, propelled Baylor past Oklahoma State in Saturday’s 76-57 contest at the Ferrell Center.

Jones III’s offensive work was finished midway through the second half, when his pair of free throws put the Bears ahead 54-41.

“I’m just doing what I do in practice every day, posting up hard, posting up strong” Jones III said. “[I’m] trying to get goals, trying to get fouls. I’m trying to do my best to help my team win.”

Jones III’s timing could not have been any better Saturday. He gave his team the lead for good with a pair of free throws late in the first half, the Cowboys’ 13th foul of the game. With a second left on the clock he leaned in for a shot near the paint and earned an and-1 opportunity in the process.

With the basket, Baylor entered the locker room up 36-27 on a 13-3 run.

“That’s how you want to finish a half. We’ve had some halves where we haven’t finished that way, and sometimes it carries over into the second,” coach Scott Drew said.

Early in the second half Jones III struck again following a missed Cowboys dunk on the other end. He caught sophomore A.J. Walton

Saturday was a complete change from the Bears’ defensive effort against Kansas. Oklahoma State finished 4 of 19 from beyond the arc and managed just five offensive rebounds. The final boards count favored Baylor, 40-19, the Bears’ largest margin against a Big 12 opponent this year.

Much of the rebounding came from the Cowboys’ early foul trouble. Starting forward Darrell Williams collected three fouls before the under-16 minute timeout, and his substitute, Roger Franklin, committed two fouls within two minutes of checking into the game.

“Foul trouble messed us up,” Williams said.

Rod Aydelotte | Associated Press/Waco Tribune Herald
No. 24 senior LaceDarius Dunn scores over Oklahoma State's Keiton Page, right, in the second half.

One of Baylor’s usual suspects on the front defensive line, however, did not make the start Saturday. Junior Quincy Acy came off the bench, reminiscent of his sixth-man role last season, and junior J’mison Morgan was instead in the starting lineup.

Morgan played just 13 minutes but was instrumental in containing Oklahoma State under the basket. Lacking the offensive game of Acy, Morgan did exactly what his team wanted.

“[Morgan] is big body inside. He makes player alter their shot, blocks shots, just does all the little things, senior LaceDarius Dunn said. “He’s not really looking to score the ball, just looking to give us what he does on defense.”

Dunn joined Acy and junior Anthony Jones as double figure scorers, Dunn with 16, Acy with 14 and Jones 13.

Baylor has little time to recover and review game film, as the team heads to Manhattan, Kan., for a matchup with Kansas State on ESPN’s Big Monday.

Get your Sing tickets

Tickets are on sale for All-University Sing at the Bill Daniel Student Center ticket office. Students must bring their student ID; limit four per student. Tickets go on sale to the public at 9 a.m. today. For additional information, call 254-710-3210 or visit www.baylor.edu/StudentProductions.

CFOs’ success began at Baylor

Weiss

By Molly Packer
Reporter

Out of 10 people named Dallas Business Journal’s “Best CFO of the Year,” two winners had one thing in common: a degree from Baylor.

Temple Weiss, a 1994 alumnus and chief financial officer of LaQuinta Inn and Suites, and Kellie Fischer, a 1995 alumna and chief financial officer of the Texas Rangers, both graduated with degrees in business. Weiss and Fischer credited their Baylor education for their success in the work force.

Although Weiss graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration, he did not start school on the business track.

“I started out studying piano and then realized that I needed a career option,” Weiss said. “Piano performance probably wasn’t it.” After settling on business, Weiss discovered where his future success would lie.

Weiss is credited with leading the team that fixed the business habits of LaQuinta Inn and Suites in order to keep the business afloat while other hotel chains failed to survive the recent economic turmoil. Weiss said the most important part of the process was identifying the needs of the company and rearranging employees’ positions to put the right people in the right spots. The team also set a new vision for future success for the company.

“We measured and monitored, measured and monitored, measured and monitored to make sure we were making progress,” he said.

Fischer didn’t start out studying business at Baylor, either.

“I started out as a pre-med major and switched my junior year,” she said. “I was taking business classes before my junior year, though.” Now Fischer is the CFO of an increasingly successful professional baseball team.

Fischer

Just a few years ago, Fischer was forced to sell the Texas Rangers and file the team for bankruptcy. Her job has certainly not been easy, but in a small period of time the Rangers have fully recovered and appeared in the 2010 World Series.

A part of the business school that both alumni agree was integral to their success is the stress placed on group work.

“Be as involved as you can with groups. The more skill you can pick up by working with groups the better off you are,” Weiss advises current students. “It only helps you to handle the real world that much better.” Working with a team helped Fischer heighten the success of the Texas Rangers and it also helped Weiss to recreate the fundamental ideals of LaQuinta to save the company during the economic recession.

Both Weiss’ and Fischer’s occupations require a great dependence on teamwork. Weiss appreciates the projects he did with other students while studying in the Hankamer School of Business.

“You don’t learn as much with studying facts as you do just with your peers,” Weiss said. “Take that and multiply it and it happens hundreds and thousands of times in the real world.”

When times were tough for the Rangers, Fischer insists she would not have been able to do what she did without the help of fellow team members.

“I didn’t do it alone,” she said.

In light of these alumni and their successes, Baylor’s Career Services encourages students to drop by the Career Services Office in the Sid Richardson building for help in finding success in their own futures.

“I think that in the economy we’re in, [finding a career] is still going to be different,” Christie Walker, secretary at the Baylor Career Services Office, said. “If you’re passionate about what you’re doing, you’ll be good at it.”

The Career Services Office offers many different resources for job and internship searches, including Hire A Bear, job postings, career fairs and counselors.

“We have a lot of information if people just come to us. If every student just did that they would be so prepared [for a career] by the time they were a senior,” Walker said.

Even though Weiss and Fischer have moved past the “Baylor bubble” and into the real world, their time in college will always be a part of who they are.

“I think the [business] ethics classes at Baylor were just phenomenal and it really prepared me for daily life,” Fischer said. “I give Baylor’s business school a lot of credit for what they do.”

Weiss has continued with his Baylor obsession since graduation. He has season tickets for football and basketball games and has traveled back to Waco to give guest lectures to students in the business school as recently as last semester.

“I love the university and what we stand for,” he said.

Top-ranked women to battle Raiders

Nick Berryman | Lariat Photographer
No. 1 sophomore Kimetria Hayden maintains control of the ball during the game against Oklahoma State University Saturday at the Ferrell Center. The Lady Bears overwhelmed the Cowgirls in a 70-39 rout.

By Matt Larsen
Sports Writer

After a 76-37 win over Kansas in which “dominance” just rolled off the tongue, the No. 1 Lady Bears look to carry over pretty much everything when they return home to face Texas Tech at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

“It was one of those nights where you want to bottle it up and hang on to it,” head coach Kim Mulkey said. “That basketball team that I got to coach [Wednesday] night was special.”

One of the aspects they will look to carry over will be rebounding. The Lady Bears outrebounded the Jayhawks 55-25 and sit atop the conference in rebound margin with a +11.5 mark.

The Red Raiders (16-2, 3-1) follow closely behind, however, outrebounding their opponents by an average of 10.1 a game. Baylor and Tech are the only two squads in the Big 12 that outrebound their opponents by double-digit margins.

Though the Red Raiders come off their first conference loss, falling 71-61 to Oklahoma in Norman, fifth-year head coach Kristy Curry has her squad off to its best start yet.

“Kristy has her own recruits in there now, and they’re becoming more comfortable with her,” Mulkey said. “She’s got some players that she didn’t have last year that are making her better.”

One of the newcomers and biggest contributors has been senior post Teena Wickett. Wickett transferred from Pepperdine and regained eligibility in time for her senior season.

“They’ll only have her for a year, but she’s an impact for them,” Mulkey said.

Wickett joins junior post Kierra Mallard to lead their team in points and rebounds. Mallard posts 13.7 points and eight boards a game while Wickett notches 10.4 points and seven boards.

Another transfer who has helped guide the Lady Raiders this season is sophomore guard Casey Morris. She adds 8.9 points a game and loves shooting the three.

Morris has taken 77 shots from behind the arc this season and hit on 33.8 of them.

Mulkey made note of Morris as a newcomer picking up big minutes, though she has cooled off recently. The guard has yet to hit a three in Big 12 play.

Wickett, Mallard and Morris lead the team statistically, the Red Raider player drawing the most attention coming into the matchup is junior forward Jordan Barncastle.

The last time the two teams met in March 2010, Barncastle and Baylor sophomore post Brittney Griner engaged in a skirmish that ended in Griner punching Barncastle in the face.

Now a co-captain, Griner and her fellow captain, senior guard Melissa Jones, believe the incident has been put behind them.

“No, you know, that was last year,” Griner said.

Jones hopes the fans, too, can put the incident in the past.

“I think this game will be talked about because it’s Barncastle and it’s Griner,” Jones said. “But again, that’s old news. That’s just something that was unfortunate. That’s not something that Brittney’s proud of, we’re proud of. The fans, I can’t control them all. If I did, I would tell them to appreciate the game. Don’t even think about that stuff.”

When it comes to the game, the Lady Bears will once again be focused on rebounding.

Junior transfer Destiny Williams joins Griner and redshirt sophomore Brooklyn Pope to form a formidable trio of post players that Mulkey believes will keep bringing down the boards.

Williams received the start at the four spot alongside Griner the past two games and Mulkey anticipates her continuing to get the start over Pope.

“I just think Brook can come into a game right now and be more relaxed instead of trying to make things happen,” Mulkey said. “And, you know, she’s so powerful, and when you can have a Destiny and a Brooklyn going in and out of the game, you just don’t lose anything.”

Men look to rebound vs. OSU

Makenzie Mason | Lariat Photographer
No. 41 junior Anthony Jones drives the ball around Kansas’ No. 15 Elijah Johnson during Monday’s game at the Ferrell Center. Baylor lost, 85-65.

By Chris Derrett
Sports Editor

A week after their blowout loss at home to Kansas, the Baylor men welcome Oklahoma State to the Ferrell Center at 3 p.m. Saturday.

The game gives the Bears a chance to rebound from back-to-back forgettable games, the latest being an 85-65 defeat to the Jayhawks.

Watching the scoreboard at halftime Monday night, showing a 20-point Jayhawk lead, was frustrating. Seeing it on film before a week of intense practice was even more difficult.

“It’s hard, just being an athlete [and] having that will to compete, just to see us not play how we know it can play,” sophomore point guard A.J. Walton said. “It hurts. We’re better than that.”

Head coach Scott Drew, who called a practice Tuesday instead of giving his squad the day off, said even the team’s mindset was not adequate Monday night.

“We didn’t meet [Kansas’] intensity level. They definitely were more intense than us, quicker to the ball, more physical than us. I think we all saw that watching film,” Drew said.

The message was sent loudly and clearly to Drew’s players.

“I liked it. It was one of the best practices we’ve had, [with] everyone just being more pumped up knowing we just got blasted by Kansas. And [we’re] taking it personally, coming to practice, going hard, willing to learn,” senior guard LaceDarius Dunn said.

A win Saturday would keep the Bears from dipping below .500 in conference play. To get it they must go through a Cowboys team bringing many familiar faces on the court.

Both guard Keiton Page and forward Marshall Moses were instrumental to Oklahoma State’s 2010 matchups with the Bears, and each returns posting similar numbers this season.

Page, a 5-foot-9 3-point specialist, is 36 percent behind the arc with 14.2 points per game. Moses does the inside work and scores 16.5 per game shooting 57 percent from the field.

Guard Ray Penn and forward Matt Pilgrim are also among the Cowboys returners, Penn a 3-point threat from the point guard position.

Junior college transfer Jean-Paul Olukemi scored 29 points in Oklahoma State’s 96-87 overtime win over Iowa State Wednesday.

“When we play Oklahoma State, they’re always a team of runs. Both teams like to get up and down the court, like to play fast. You usually get a good game and an exciting game for fans,” Drew said.

The Bears look to reestablish their offensive rhythm and put the ball in the hands of their scorers with high-percentage looks. Against the Jayhawks, Dunn was barely able to sustain his 31-game streak in which he has made at least one 3-pointer, netting a trey with 38 seconds left in the game.

“It was crazy. I felt caved in. They just did a great job, whatever their scheme in the game was, defending me, making me take tough shots,” Dunn said.

Freshman Perry Jones III pleased the NBA scouts in attendance with 20 points. Still the potential NBA lottery pick sees room for improvement.

“Definitely be more aggressive, and be more aggressive going to the glass. Single digit rebounds is not going to cut it in the Big 12. You have to get in there and battle,” Jones III said.

Jones III could find more trips to the rim and haul in more boards given the guard-oriented lineup of the Cowboys, though offensive cohesion could have less to do with the opponent and more with the Bears’ decisions.

“The big difference is our assist-to-turnover ratio. We don’t get as many shots as we got last year, and that’s something we’ve all got to get better at,” Drew said.

Baylor stands 11th in the conference with 0.81 assists per turnover on the season (214 to 265).

With each game the clock ticks closer to postseason play. In Saturday lies either a quality win on the Bears’ tournament resume or additional disappointment.

“We have to stay focused, not get too riled and not worry too much about the little things,” Dunn said.

Professor named to accounting editorial board

Mat Hellman | Lariat Photographer
Dr. Gia Chevis was named to the editorial board of Issues in Accounting Education, an international journal published by the American Accounting Association.

By Sara Tirrito
Staff Writer

Dr. Gia Chevis, Baylor assistant professor of accounting, was recently named to the editorial board of Issues in Accounting Education, joining two other Baylor professors who are currently on the board.

Issues in Accounting Education is an international journal published by the American Accounting Association and is considered the premier journal on accounting education.

Editorial board members review and provide feedback on multiple manuscripts each year that are submitted to the journal for possible publication.

Dr. Laurie Burney, Baylor associate professor of accounting, Dr. Brett Wilkinson, Baylor associate professor, and Roderick L. Holmes, chair of accountancy, are also members of the board.

Members are often chosen based on recommendations and typically need to meet two criteria: they need to have done research in accounting education and have shown a genuine interest in teaching, Dr. Bill Pasewark, editor of the journal, said.

“That’s why there’s a lot of Baylor people on there. [Baylor] has a demonstrated interest in teaching students,” Pasewark said. “It’s easy to find good teachers at Baylor as compared to other schools. There are plenty of other people at Baylor who would be qualified to do this too, but I found three good ones and I’m happy with them.”

Chevis said she was honored to be chosen to join the editorial board and to be able to help get new information out to other professors.

“There are two major parts to our job as professors: research and education, and research into education is an important way that we improve what we do, an important way that we improve how we interact with students and help students learn,” Chevis said. “And to be part of the premier journal in this country in playing a role in helping to get that information out to educators to help them do their job better is an honor for me.”

Giving others feedback could also help her in her own research and writing, Chevis said.

“This is the first opportunity I’ve had to really be on the reviewer side of it to see what people send in and to have to construct feedback that’s useful to that author,” Chevis said. “It’s my first time on that side of the desk, so I hope it will make me a better researcher, a better submitter of papers.”

Although the board members are not paid for their work, Burney said reviewing others’ research helps her to stay up-to-date on the latest ideas and approaches to teaching.

“For us, it’s service to the profession, but it’s also a way to stay current and exposed to new ideas in education,” Burney said.

Dr. Charles Davis, Baylor chair and Walter Plumhoff professor of accounting, said having Baylor professors on the board increases both their own academic reputations and the reputation of the university, and also allows them to see research before it becomes dated. Davis has also served on the Issues in Accounting Education editorial board in the past.

“Being on the review board and seeing these things as they’re coming out for review, you get to see the latest research before others are reading it,” Davis said. “So it sort of keeps you on your toes and keeps you up on what the latest thinking is in the area.”

Other members of the Baylor accounting department who serve on editorial review boards include Davis, who serves for Strategic Finance and Management Accounting Quarterly; Dr. Michael Robinson, professor of accounting, who serves for IMA Education Case Journal; and Dr. Marty Stuebs, assistant professor of accounting, who serves for Research on Professional Responsibility and Ethics in Accounting.

Dr. Bill Thomas, professor of accounting, works with Today’s CPA as the technical editor and accounting and auditing Editor.

2011 is likely to be the year of Michael Kors

McClatchy News Service
Michael Kors makes an appearance after his Fall 2007 runway show at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Feb. 7, 2007 in Manhattan, New York.

By Booth Moore
Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES – Having dinner with Michael Kors is like having dinner with Auntie Mame. When you sit down with him, you know nobody is going to be at a loss for words or laughs.

Over hamburgers and vodkas a few nights before his spring runway show last September, he was full of quotable quotes.

On his spring collection: “It’s all about the anti-stiletto and the anti-tight dress. I can’t stand to see one more warrior” woman.

His favorite getaway: “We’ve gone to Big Sur three times in the last year and a half. For as much of a city boy as I am, nothing beats nature and luxury combined. We get no reception!”

And his dream designer collaboration: “I want a deal with In-N-Out Burger – to do a special sauce or a wrapper. I’m horseradish-obsessed!”

It’s shaping up to be quite a year for Kors, who is celebrating the 30th anniversary of his business. Although the recession has caused many designers to scale back, Kors is in expansion mode. By the end of 2011, he expects to have 200 of his own boutiques worldwide, including his first in Paris, on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore, in addition to the 1,000 department and specialty stores that already sell his clothing and accessories. And his company is on track to hit $1 billion in sales.

Then there’s “Project Runway,” which will start shooting its ninth season soon.

The reality TV show has exposed Kors to a different kind of audience, and made him a household name thanks to his clever critiques of contestant designs.

Kors is the show’s pragmatist, concerned always with what real women will really wear. (The battle lines were drawn in the finale of Season 8 when he snubbed fan favorite Mondo Guerra in favor of Gretchen Jones and her more commercial look, leading to uproar on the Web.)

Kors’ clothes have a similar no-nonsense appeal: the thickest of cashmere sweaters, great-fitting tropical wool trousers, double-face wool shift dresses that skim but don’t cling. Even when his imagination takes him from the Upper East Side to Capri to Santa Fe, his designs never veer far off course.

It’s the designer’s ability to stay rooted in reality that has made him so successful, according to Ken Downing, the fashion director of Neiman Marcus, who calls Kors “the ultimate fashion maestro.”

“If you learn anything in life,” Kors says, “it’s what works. And I’ve been around long enough that I don’t feel totally obnoxious using myself as an adjective.”

So what is Michael Kors? “I like hot weather clothes mixed with cold weather clothes. A big camel turtleneck over shorts, beaded pants worn with a casual top and gold jewelry with a bathing suit,” he says. “It’s the balance of someone who is feminine but sporty, sexy but laid back – the diva next door.”

He might have gone into show business had he not been “the rare species of gay man who can’t sing and dance.”

Instead, he built a fashion business in the image of the moneyed set, from the Park Avenue princesses of the East Coast to the paparazzi princesses of the West Coast. Over dinner, he tells anecdotes about the Olsen twins, Nicole Richie, Blaine Trump and cosmetic executive Aerin Lauder. He’s dressed them all, and everyone who’s anyone, really, including the most wanted fashion celebrity in the universe, First Lady Michelle Obama – and not just once, but more than 30 times.

What he won’t do is pander to the awards show set, so don’t count on seeing Michael Kors on the red carpet at this year’s Golden Globes. “If it’s a client of ours, or someone I’m intrigued by, then collaboration is great. But we’re never going to have rolling racks with ball gowns all over town. That’s not who we are.”

These days, he’s just as happy to dress the women of Omaha and Indianapolis, and make them feel like celebrities in their own lives. Between the $18,000 lynx fur vest in his high-end runway collection, and the $130 faux-fur vest in his more affordable MICHAEL Michael Kors line, he’s got both jet set and coach class covered.

“Initially, my clothes couldn’t be expensive enough,” he says. That attitude began to change in the early 1990s when he licensed a collection called Kors, which was priced too high for what was supposed to be an affordable luxury line and ultimately was discontinued.

When he launched MICHAEL Michael Kors in 2004, the collection was under his control, instead of a licensee’s, with prices in the sweet spot between $79 and $800. It was the same year he debuted as a judge on “Project Runway.” The timing couldn’t have been better. Fashion became more accessible, and Kors became a financial success.

Editorial: A Step Backward For Free Speech

An article from Publisher’s Weekly reported earlier this month that a university professor and a book publisher have agreed to edit and print a revised version of Mark Twain’s classic novel, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”

Dr. Alan Gribben, a Twain scholar and head of the English department for Auburn University at Montgomery, has removed the n-word and “Injun” from the novel and replaced them with the words “slave” and “Indian.”

Gribben said general audiences and school age readers should be able to enjoy Huckleberry Finn without worrying about the barrier formed by racist language such as the n-word.

Gribben’s revision may be understood as a means of reintroducing one of America’s most frequently banned books into the school system, but the new edit alters the novel’s meaning and dilutes Twain’s intended lessons on equality.

“Huckleberry Finn,” set a few decades before the Civil War, is written as a narrative about the unusual adventures of a runaway boy and an escaped slave. The work includes both entertainment and humor, but Twain had an alternative and deeper meaning behind the Southern tale. “Huckleberry Finn” develops a friendship between two characters of differing races that are seen as unequals. Twain’s portrayal of inequality was heightened by the language of the era, including the use of the n-word.

The novel works to illustrate a friendship between boys of differing races.

Based on his literature and personal letters, Twain wasn’t a racist. It is important to recognize that Twain’s choice of language was a deliberate attempt to teach his readers the values of humanity. In the original novel, Twain’s strong language makes an immediate impact and shines an unforgiving light on the flaws of racism. Gribben’s edited version significantly diminishes Huckleberry Finn’s impact and reduces a carefully written classic to a simple adventure book.

Gribben does offer a positive change with his alternate version.

With the new edits Twain’s classic may be taken off the ban list and studied more widely among students, thereby exposing more people to the classics of American literature and the lessons that Twain was striving to teach.

While we understand the complexities of allowing students to read novels with racist language, it is still no excuse to change the original work.

Teachers looking to teach “Huckleberry Finn” should explain to students why Twain included hateful speech in his novel. Replacing the word does not — as many supporters of the censorship argue — help the students.

The only people who are helped by this degrading move are teachers looking for the easiest way to teach the novel.

The alteration blurs a part of American history that many consider shameful. Replacing a word in an attempt to shield younger generations from the hardened truth of history does not benefit our future but rather hinders it.

If we continue to censor, eventually the history that has shaped us disappears. If that happens, what will future generations have to ensure we do not repeat past mistakes? “Huckleberry Finn” presents a starting point for the progress of America’s acceptance of different cultures and individuals.

The edit obscures society’s significant progress into the modern age. Nevertheless, while the issue of “Huckleberry Finn” may simply seem to be passing news, the topic raises questions of censorship and how far some are willing to go in order to protect the public from controversial messages.

Although censorship is beneficial in matters of confidentiality and other special situations, it walks upon the fine line of the First Amendment and freedom of speech.

Gribben’s censorship of Twain’s work may be seen as a censorship of Twain himself, which infringes upon his rights of free speech — albeit many years after his death.

Gribben and publishing company, NewSouth Books, may fulfill their goal to introduce more young Americans to classic literature through this new addition to the literary world.

But the end may not be worth the means, as Twain’s vision for true equality will be indistinguishable from the simple demands of political correctness. Instead of fundamentally altering the classic, teachers should wait until students are at an appropriate age to learn, in its entirety, the true worth of Twain’s novel.