Henderson State University - Tuesday, February 10, 2015 - Volume 108, Issue 18

SET THE STAGENeil Simon’s “Proposals” kicks off theatre season P.10

@HSUORACLEwww.hsuoracle.com

THE ORACLE

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF – Scott McKinnon

FACULTY ADVISER – Mike Taylor

COPY EDITOR – Josh James

NEWS EDITOR – Moe Skinner

SPORTS EDITOR – Kaitlyn Kitchens

FEATURES EDITOR – Devin Anderson

VIEWS EDITOR – Dax Guilliams

PHOTO EDITOR – Chris Sharp

PAGE DESIGNER – Houston Fryer

GRAPHIC DESIGNER – Megan Snoddy

ONLINE EDITOR – Scott McKinnon

BUSINESS MANAGER – James T. Allen

DISTRIBUTION MANAGER – Carmin Wills

Have an opinion on an issue or re-sponse to what we said? Just want to rant about something for a while? Write us at ORACLE@HSU.EDU. We want to hear what you think. Hell, if it doesn’t suck, we’ll publish it in next week’s issue. Try to keep it between 400 and 600 words. Just like your Tumblr, we ignore anonymous submissions.

President’s Concert performers announced

Professor Bateman leads an expedition

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

7

4

PHOTO COURTESY OF MEDIA RELATIONS

IMAGE BY HOUSTON FRYERPHOTO BY MOE SKINNERPHOTO COURTESY OF TERRY BATEMAN

Good food, great mu-sic at the Mirage8 Dax talks about how

much he loves robots12

THE ORACLE

3FEBRUARY 10, 2015 FEATURES VIEWS SPA CITY HUMOR SPORTS

Last week the world lost someone who had made an impact on the lives of a lot of people. Callie Morris, junior

nursing major, was involved in a fatal one-ve-hicle accident on her way home to McAlester, Okla.

Morris had been missing since Thursday, Jan. 29. After an extensive search by land and air, Morris was found on Sunday, Feb. 1. Searchers found her car, a tan Ford Explorer, upside down and submerged under a bridge in Latimer County, Okla.

“You couldn’t know Callie and not like her,” Sara Watkins, senior math major, said. “She was a special person and will be missed.”

Morris was very special, indeed. She had attended the Texas State Southern Gospel Music School for nine years where she played piano and sang. Her two nephews played a big part in her life. Callie was attending Henderson

to earn a degree in nursing. Morris was also an active member at her church, Faith Missionary Baptist Church in Arkadelphia, and MBSF, a collegiate ministry home.

“She always looked for the bright spot in things,” Kelvin Richardson, director at MBSF, said. “She was always ahead of the game and jumped right in and got involved here.”

Morris attended events at MBSF including Encounter, the girls’ Bible study and Mid-Week, where the students gather at the MBSF house for fellowship on Wednesdays.

Everyone could see that Callie lived her life for God and would encourage others to do the same. “She wasn’t afraid to stand up for her faith. She lived her life in a way that was pleasing to God whether it seemed cool to others or not,” Watkins said. Callie Morris was a devout Christian. She knew the Bible well and was always excited to help out the church.

Callie had two church families, one back home in Oklahoma and the family at the church she attended while in school.

“She lived her life for God and inspired others to do the same,” Morris’ roommate Brittany Moore, junior nursing major, said.

“Callie was just an incredible person who had a heart for God and others like no one I have ever met,” Clayton Sorrells, junior nurs-ing major, said. “Callie will be missed because there’s not another one like her.”

Callie Morris was a most genuine and sweet person, and all of her friends and fam-ily agreed.

“She was so excited about becoming a nurse,” Watkins said.

All Callie wanted to do was to help peo-ple, and with her nursing degree, that is exactly what she could do. Not everyone chooses the perfect major for him or her, but nursing was a

perfect fit for Callie because of her eagerness to help people and be there for them.

“We know that if Callie had one wish, she would hope that her death would draw oth-ers closer to Him,” her family’s statement, released by KATV, stated. “She would want those that have not experienced Christ’s for-giveness to know how much God loves them.”

Everyone close to her agreed that Callie loved God, loved people and was an optimis-tic young soul. “Today we choose to praise God,” her family’s statement said. “We chose to thank Him for the time we had Callie here. We thank Him for knowing where she is.”

To remember Callie and begin the healing process for the students and friends who lost her in this community, Henderson will hold a memorial service for Callie on Monday, Feb. 16 in the Garrison Center Lecture Hall. The memorial service will begin at noon.

Services for nursing student set for early next week STORY BY ASHLEY SMITH — PHOTO COURTESY OF KRISTEN MACK

THE LIFE OF CALLIE MORRIS

4 FEATURES VIEWS SPA CITY HUMOR SPORTS

Chemistry students have trekked through desolate grounds of an abandoned town to hunt down a lit-

tle red mystery. Terry Bateman, associate pro-fessor of chemistry, and his curious students have continued to track the progress of their mission for more than two years.

Since 2012, the group of scientists has hiked across the terrain and through the wil-derness to gather water samples throughout Clark and Pike counties for the purposes of measuring mercury content.

Bateman said they have traveled to Grayso-nia, about an hour west of Arkadelphia, to ex-tract water samples.

The location was the former home to 265 mercury mines, until 1951, by that time, the mining industry had disintegrated. Bateman said he was particularly interested in this site because when the Antoine River is high, the water flows over several of the old shafts.

“We are interested in what the content is like,” Bateman said. “We want to see if any lingering runoff from that mercury is in the water supply.”

Bateman said they want to establish a base line for both counties in the region.

The chemistry department recently re-ceived a grant from the Henderson Founda-tion that allowed them to purchase a Buck Scientific cold vapor atomic absorption spec-trometer or mercury analyzer. They want to know how much, if any, influence the mercu-ry content has on the water supply. The spec-trometer measures well below the threshold of environmental mercury in the sample.

This is a long term project and the stud-ies will eventually be provided to the public in an online interactive map equipped with GPS coordinates and data for any specific sample.

Bateman and his students are following the Environmental Protection Agency’s guidelines

for collection methods and testing samples. Along with the Graysonian project, the

scientists also want to collect samples from the Ouachita River because “waste water” has been and is currently being reintroduced into the Ouachita River from Arkadelphia’s water treatment facility.

Bateman said they want to measure total organics, phosphates and nitrates in the water, up and downstream from the actual reintro-duction dumping site.

In another project still in its infancy, Bateman and his students want to take a look at the amount of pharmaceuticals that are reintroduced into the water supply. Bateman said the current water treatment methods were developed over 70 years ago and updated maybe 50 years ago. The traditional treatment process allows medicines like Prozac and es-trogen from “the pill” to escape filtration and mix back into the water supply.

“We want to know what the water looks like 100 yards downstream,” Bateman said. “Even five miles downstream.”

Hunter Wayland, senior chemistry major, said there are rules and regulations set forth on what you’re supposed to be able to dump in the water, and there are legitimate ways to reduce the impact of your farm, business or industrial plant.

“That costs money though,” Wayland said, “When there’s nobody holding you account-able for what you’re dumping in the water, intentionally or not, it’s pretty easy to turn a blind eye.”

Bateman’s student researchers are pumped up about the projects and will be presenting this research at The American Chemical Soci-ety National Meeting in Denver next month.

“Hands Down,” Wayland said, “The best part of being in the chemistry club is commu-nity outreach.”

WHAT’S IN THE WATER?Chemistry Students Take Water Samples From Old Mining Territory

STORY BY MOE SKINNER—GRAPHIC BY MEGAN SNODDY

MERCURY RISING — Student group begins to uncover possible county water contamination.

5FEBRUARY 10, 2015 FEATURES VIEWS SPA CITY HUMOR SPORTS

Nowadays, with the internet mak-ing everything easily accessible, it is crucial that there is some serious

thought before clicking the “post” button. As we’ve all heard, nothing is ever truly off

of the internet. A person’s mistakes on the in-ternet can prove to be permanent and affect his or her livelihood.

We‘ve seen many celebrities make the mistake of posting crude or potentially ca-reer-ending material without a second thought.

We have also seen this problem translate into the world of sports and athletics.

For example, many believed the Manti Te’o “catfishing” incident hurt his draft stock, not to mention, ruined his credibility.

Recently, many institutions have imple-mented new policies to help protect the integ-rity of student athletes.

Henderson has implemented a policy change for student athletes that athletic staff believes will make a difference in the personal lives of students.

Henderson has a new “Guide to Social Media” that athletes are encouraged to read.

“This handbook,” the guide states, “is to help you, as a student-athlete understand how to use social media to enhance your image in a positive manner.”

The guide also goes into topics that stu-dent-athletes should avoid to keep a low pro-file.

Topics include politics, religion, race, abor-tion, gay marriage and officiating during live games. There is also a section in which athletes are encouraged to own up to their mistakes to strengthen their credibility.

Along with this guide, student-athletes are required to sign a sheet agreeeing to abide by the new policy. Shawn Jones, athletic director, explained that before he arrived on campus, there was no social media policy in place.

“It [social media] is far too important in our daily lives to not provide best practices and guidelines for its use,” Jones said.

Jones said the purpose of the new policy is “to ensure our student-athletes are aware of

the power of what they type and send.” He said it’s important to hold the athletes

to a standard, citing that they represent the university and are seen as role models in the community.

Since they are seen as representatives, ath-letes are expected to depict the university, the team and themselves in the best possible way.

“It only works if you put in the effort to ensure everyone thinks of the consequences before hitting ‘send’ and understands the pow-er of a positive social media presence,” Jones said.

Along with Assistant Athletic Director Frank Keenan, Jones met with each team to discuss the new policy and answer any ques-tions that athletes had. Jones added that Keenan was especially adept at handling the situation concerning social media and student athletes.

“Our assistant athletic director, Frank Keenan, is widely respected in NCAA Divi-sion II for his understanding of social media,” Jones said.

“And he is a tremendous resource to our coaches and student-athletes on a daily basis.”

Infractions of the policy can result in a written warning for first offenders, a meeting with the athletic director and head coach for second offenders and the possibility of sus-pension from his or her respective team for repeat offenders.

Jones offers some simple tips that can help save athletes’ reputations and possibly their future careers:

“Set your security settings so that only friends can view your profile, do not post your email, home address, local address, phone number(s), or personal information, and be aware of who you add as a friend to your site,” Jones warned.

Jones said that not only athletes, but ev-eryone should remember, “social media is an open microphone, and what you send truly never goes away. It is your resume and your reputation. That provides a tremendous op-portunity if used properly.”

Cracking down on student athlete social media usage

STORY BY JORDAN JOHNSON — GRAPHIC BY MEGAN SNODDY

ATHLETE GAG ORDER

What do Batman, Buffy and Breaking Bad all have in common (besides being television shows whose titles

start with “B”)? They are the topic of one of several free

community classes in which anyone can join during the semester.

Maralyn Sommer, ret. provost and vice president of academic affairs, began the com-munity classes program when she was dean of Ellis College of Arts and Science.

Now, John Hardee, dean of Ellis College has resurrected the service.

“I want the classes to strengthen unity with external groups, better our relationship with the community members,” Hardee said.

In the earlier years (2010-2013) the class-es were held at 4:30 p.m., but now they are at 6p.m. to make them more available for people.

“I want to increase what the school can offer for the community,” Hardee said. “It’s a

great way to introduce faculty to the commu-nity.”

At first, there had only been four classes held each semester, but eight classes are of-fered this semester.

Brett Serviss, professor of biology, was the instructor at the semester’s first community class, Non- native and Invasive Plants in Ar-kansas: the State of the State, which was held Feb. 5 in Reynolds.

“The instructors are passionate about their area of expertise and want to share their knowledge,” said Hardee.

“The Community Classes offered through our Ellis College of Arts and Sciences are a sterling example of outreach and engagement, reflecting Henderson’s core value of collabo-ration and community,” said Stephen Adkison, provost and vice president for academic af-fairs. “I am deeply impressed by the range and depth of faculty expertise and experience that

these classes represent.”“I think that HSU’s community classes are

a great way to bring people onto our campus and share some of the cool research that we do with a broader audience,” Trubitt of Ar-

kansas Archeological Survey said. “We have many faculty here who are do-

ing interesting work, and this is a good way to showcase that work to people in Arkadelphia.”

All classes are held in Reynolds room 127.

Ellis College opens free classes to campus and community

STORY BY JARVIS WARREN— GRAPHIC COURTESY OF MEGAN SNODDY

COMMUNITY LEARNING6 FEATURES VIEWS SPA CITY HUMOR SPORTS

HEAD OF THE CLASS — Serviss, one of many professors offering free courses this semester.

Students prepare for university’s annual President’s ConcertSTORY BY CALEB WILLIAMS — PHOTO COURTESY OF OFFICE OF MARKETING AND COMMUNCATION

PRELUDE TO A PERFORMANCE7FEBRUARY 10, 2015 NEWS VIEWS SPA CITY HUMOR SPORTS

Students and people around Arkadelphia and the Tri-lakes area are aware that Henderson’s music department is rather

accomplished. The department is full of pas-sionate musicians who want to become edu-cators, composers or professional performers. The most prepared, talented and focused of them will be featured in the upcoming annual President’s Concert.

“The President’s Concert is a won-derful annual event that showcases Hender-son’s student musicians performing alongside members of the Arkansas Symphony Orches-tra,” Jennifer Boyett, vice president of uni-versity advancement, said. “For the students of Henderson it offers a unique opportunity to perform with some of the top orchestra

members of the state.”In November, 24 of Henderson’s most

talented competed for a chance to play with some of Arkansas’ most heralded musicians, but only six made it. Among the lucky mu-sic majors are Casey Williams, Bobby Hum-phries, Claire Howard, Elijah Sullivan, junior, Tiv Cumberbatch, Rafael Powell, and Orlan-do Riveros. Each of these talented individuals will perform one piece of their choosing ac-companied by many members of the Arkan-sas Symphony Orchestra.

“Performing this concert is an hon-or that you receive instead of something you choose to do,” Howard said. “You work so hard and put your heart into it, and the judges deem you worthy.”

The auditions created a competitive en-vironment. “We had to perform our pieces memorized in front of faculty that wasn’t Henderson’s,” Sullivan said. “On top of all that, the audition was open house. Anyone who wanted to watch or listen could come in and do so.”

Cumberbatch said, “All of us music majors love each other, and you want them to kill it, but you also want to do good if not better.”

“Competition was tough because of all the talent,” Howard said, “but the thing I love about Henderson State is the music de-partment is family.”

In addition to witnessing the talent of Henderson’s musicians, the concert is a cere-

mony of honor. “Since 2001, the President’s Concert

has been an opportunity for the campus to recognize individuals and organizations who mean so much to Henderson,” Boyett said. “This year our university will be honoring Charles and Anita Gabe. Their service, ded-ication and generosity to their alma mater is second to none. They demonstrate the Reddie spirit in every way.”

Many other incredible people have been honored at this concert over the years. Some of these nominee include Glen Jones, Maralyn Sommer, Bobby Jones, and many more. The concert will take place in the Rus-sell Fine Arts Harwood Recital Hall on at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 12.

BAM —Bobby Humphries, junior instrumental performance; Rafael Powell, senior instrumental performance; Tiv Cumberbatch, senior instrumental per-formance; Claire Howard, senior instrumental education; Elijah Sullivan, senior instrumental education; Orlando Riveros, senior keyboard performance major

8 NEWS VIEWS SPA CITY HUMOR SPORTS

Guests raise a toast and knock their glasses together sending a chime rippling across the dining room.

The clack of a cue ball connecting with the eight is barely audible over the chatter among drinking buddies and live music fans. The crowd of about 80 anxiously waited for the band Redd Tape to take the stage. Pool, live music and a full bar all in one place close

to campus, and yet most students don’t even know that the Mirage Sports Bar and Grill is even there.

The Mirage has been open for three years. “This place is a great way for students to en-joy themselves after a week of classes,” Cassie Rushing, bar manager, said. “We don’t get a lot of students at this time but would love to see more come in.

The way the economy is right now it is hard

for college students to have enough money to do anything.”

“I know college students stay broke,” Pat-rick Holysz, front of house manager, said. “The Mirage is trying to implement some dis-counts for college students to help ease the burden.”

The Mirage has a full menu, from appetiz-ers to steak, seafood and burgers. The bar and grill also hosts North America Pool League

(NAPA) pool tournaments every Monday and Wednesday, which costs $5 per hour.

On these nights the NAPA players have their own food and drink specials. It is easy to join the NAPA league, just ask the staff on the next visit.

Thursday is karaoke night. The Mirage’s digital song bank has more than 3,000 songs. They have a new state-of-the-art laser and lighting system. Karaoke starts at 9 p.m.

ROCKING MIRAGELive music, food and fun all in our backyard

STORY BY CARMIN WILLS — PHOTOS BY MOE SKINNER

9FEBRUARY 10, 2015 NEWS VIEWS SPA CITY HUMOR SPORTS

Friday and Saturday evenings The Mirage hosts live music and charge a cover of $5.

“I’ve drank in bars in 48 states, and now I’m drinking in this one,” Tom Dalton, long distance truck driver, said. He was excited to see the band. As he sat at the bar waiting, he ordered a steak and mashed potatoes.

“The steak is cooked exactly the way I wanted it,” Dalton said. He ate every bite and drank a few more beers while the band did their sound check.

Redd Tape took the stage at 9:30 p.m. The crowd sang along with the lyrics and danced to the music.

“It never fails we play a gig, there is always that one guy that screams ‘Free Bird’ every time after we play a song,” Chris Ingram, se-nior mass media major, said. “Doesn’t even matter what song it is.”

Ingram plays the bass guitar and has been with the band for almost two years now. They have played at the Mirage three times and said they enjoy the atmosphere. His parents even came out to watch him jam.

“They have a damn good sound,” David Watkins from Tennessee said. “I would have paid a hell of a lot more to see them.” He and his friend stopped in for dinner on their way to the Crater of Diamonds Park in Murfrees-boro, and decided to stay to see the band.

“We were excited to play several new cov-ers along with our new original for the audi-ence,” Megan Earnhart, singer for Redd Tape, said. “We are very grateful to be given the opportunity to perform at the Mirage.” Redd Tape doesn’t have another gig lined up right now, but the band is looking to expand to Hot Springs and Little Rock soon.

The Mirage Spors Bar and Grill is open Monday through Thursday from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. and on Sundays 11a.m. to 11 p.m.

Happy hour is 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. On Mon-day through Thursday during happy hour there is $2 off pitchers while domestic bottles are only $2.99.

Sunday is family day; customers can buy an adult entrée and get a kids meal free. The Mirage is located in Caddo Valley at 104 Mal-vern Rd.

ABOUT THE BAND — REDD TAPE

PAUL GLOVERLead Guitar

MEGAN EARNHARTLead Vocalist

CHRIS INGRAMBassist

10 NEWS VIEWS SPA CITY HUMOR SPORTS

Deep in the woods of the Pocono Mountains, a lone cabin sits forgot-ten. Paint is peeling off the support

beams and the battered porch. The cedar shingles are crooked like teeth in the mouth of a 13-year-old who needs braces. There is a stack of rusty chairs propped against the house. An old Adirondack chair sits off to the side, the paint worn off to let the original wood peek through. A window, almost half open, sits waiting for a gust of wind to come and breathe life through the place once again.

“Proposals” by Neil Simon is the story of the Hines family, who revisit their last trip to the abandoned cabin in the summer of 1953. It’s an afternoon no one in the family will soon

forget. Burt Hines, the father, tries not to get too anxious about seeing his former wife, as he is trying to recover from his second heart attack. Their daughter, Josie, has just had a breakup as well. And the housekeeper, Clem-ma, remembers her own complicated past.

LaDarius Jamerson, junior theatre major, is doing his third show as props master. He says the setting of this one is his baby, so to speak. The setting of a play sets the mood and tone for the whole show, so he knows his job is important. His handiwork also sets up the time period.“Things like rusty chairs enhance the show because it shows how long it’s been [since the family has been to the cabin],” Jam-erson said.

Although the setting of the play seems sad and dramatic, Claudia Beach, professor of theatre, says it is actually quite fun. She has read the script before and was no less enam-ored this time around. “I was again struck with what a good play it is, how well written it is and how smart Neil Simon is,” Beach says. “And he fills the play with people to care about.”

Madison Gallagher, senior theatre major, is the head costume designer for this produc-tion. She agrees that the show is “light-heart-ed and fun.”

However, she says the central themes of the play are more serious.

“It’s never too late to visit your memories

and embrace the nostalgia of the past,” Gal-lagher said.

Koty Mansfield, sophomore theatre ma-jor, echoes her thoughts. His character, Burt, is in poor health, suffering two heart attacks before the start of the action. Mansfield says throughout the play he is trying to tie up loose ends before he dies.

The production opens in Arkansas Hall on Feb. 12 and will run until Feb. 21. All shows will begin at 7:30 p.m.

There will be a reception opening night following the performance. Admission is free for Henderson students with a valid student ID. For all others, tickets will be available at the box office for $8.

DRAMEDY IN THE AFTERNOONNeil Simon’s famous play “Proposals” comes to Arkansas Hall Studio Theatre’s stage

STORY BY KATIE SMITH — PHOTOS BY SCOTT MCKINNON

ACTION! — Damien Freeman, freshman theatre major and Jacey Russell, junior theatre major onstage during the showCOVER —Jordan Sereal, junior theatre major and Savannah Reynolds, freshman theatre

11NEWS VIEWS SPA CITY HUMOR SPORTSFEBRUARY 10, 2015

Imagine a giant steel cage that contains two robots fighting in an intense battle. That’s the basis of BattleBots, and it’s one of the coolest things in history.

ABC has recently announced that they plan to revive the BattleBots tv show and I’m so excited to see it return. I grew up on Battle-Bots, and I hope many of the people reading this article have at least seen or heard of it.

On Aug. 30, 2000 Comedy Central aired the first episode of BattleBots and it was in-credible from the beginning. BattleBots was both the name of the show and the company that hosted the competitions.

The show was just so entertaining and it had everything a young man like me could hope for. Funny comedians, supermodels, science and robots fighting to the death for human entertainment.

When robots rise up against humanity for revenge, BattleBots will be the center of their hatred for organic lifeforms, and that makes me very happy.

BattleBots was hosted by comedian Bil Dwyer and a large list of now celebrities made several appearances. Comedians Randy and

Jason Sklar, also known as the Sklar Brothers, acted as correspondents along with Carmen Electra and Traci Bingham from Baywatch.

Bill Nye the Science Guy was the show’s technology expert and longtime boxing ring announcer Mark Beiro was the show’s match announcer for the original series.

Even some of the competitors are well-known today. Adam Savage, Jaime Hyneman and Grant Imahara from Mythbusters com-peted in several tournaments.

Imahara’s bot, Deadblow, was one of the highest ranked bots for a long time.

Creator of SimCity and many of the oth-er Sim series video games, Will Wright, also competed in many tournaments.

Even Jay Leno and Gary Coleman made appearances. BattleBots was a big deal that should have never went away.

But sadly, BattleBots was cancelled after five seasons. Thankfully, ABC is bringing the series back, and it’s looking good.

So it’s safe to say that I loved BattleBots as a kid. Honestly, I love BattleBots now.

After watching old tournaments, the show still holds up quite well.

Although it predates BattleBots, I didn’t care for Robot Wars. After some time, they started doing storylines between the competi-tors as if it were pro wrestling.

Just let the robots battle each other and call it a day. I also didn’t care for the announc-er, who I found a bit annoying.

I enjoy the concept of fighting robots so much that I saw the film Real Steel because it had just that. Real Steel was basically Battle-Bots but with bipedal robots that boxed in-stead of riding around on wheels and cutting their opponents with buzzsaws and pincers.

Why are you even still reading this? The mention of robots fighting with buzzsaws and pincers should have sent you looking for clips of the show.

And they’re out there. There are clips on Youtube from the original show.

I don’t care if you’ve never heard of Bat-tleBots before. Watch those clips and see for yourself what BattleBots really is.

If you watch just one battle and don’t find some enjoyment from it, you’re more emo-tionless than the robots fighting for you.

Many channels have talked about bringing

back BattleBots, but it hasn’t happened. So I have high hopes for the ABC series, but I do have some worries to go with them.

If it isn’t a little funny, that will take away from a lot of the charm. It would also be nice if it had a lot of supermodels on screen next to the robots.

Hopefully, they stick to their original for-mula as much as they can. I don’t want the competitors cutting promos like they’re Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Just because the bots have wrestling style names like Minion and Bad Attitude doesn’t mean they have to do weird storylines.

I would also love to see the crew of Myth-busters compete again. Now that they have more money and resources, I’d like to see what kind of robots they could create.

The person I’d like to see come back the most is Bill Nye. I don’t expect him to, but a fan can dream.

The new series has only been granted six episodes, so I hope they’re entertaining enough to allow the show to go on.

Don’t get me wrong, I have faith in the new series. I believe enough time has passed for competitive robot fighting to be back in style, especially since the technology has ad-vanced so much.

Over a decade has passed since the show was cancelled, so I’m expecting some amazing designs and weapons for the bots.

People have been joking that the compet-itors will be using drones with machine guns attached to them. I’d be fine with that.

That sounds intense and intense is what BattleBots is about. Just give it a tough name like Doom Patrol, and it’ll fit in just fine.

Everything about BattleBots interests me so much that if I were able to, I’d build my own robot and attempt to battle with the best of them.

I would have no shame giving my robot a cool name like Broadsword or Scarlet Sunrise.

Those are my names, so don’t even think about stealing them, readers.

ABC seems to be very enthusiastic about the new series, and I am too.

Along with many other fans of the old se-ries, I’ll be watching it the day it airs with as much enjoyment as I can allow.

If all goes well, I think it’ll be a great series that will be fun to watch. It may even bring in some new fans that will help the series last for as long as it can.

12 NEWS FEATURES SPA CITY HUMOR SPORTS

TIME TO KICK SOME BOT OPINION BY DAX GUILLIAMS — IMAGE BY HOUSTON FRYER

February, the shortest month of the year, has been dedicated to an eth-nic minority’s history, the dumbest

piece-of-shit idea since “Separate But Equal.”

Though it is an effort to recognize the achievements of a minority group, thinking that an annually allocated month could bolster a sense of unity and pride in the black community feels more like a consolation prize.

The biggest lie of all derived from Black History Month is that other people will celebrate great American inventors, poets and civil rights leaders just because they are black. What’s to be upset about? After all, isn’t that what any minority group wants, a little recognition? No. I’d argue most minorities would appreciate respect first, then recognition.

Call me paranoid; but, if I’m talking with a music professor I’d like to study under for grad school, and I hear the

phrase, “Impressive work, given your background…” creep up in conversation, I feel like my work is being “recognized” more than it is respected.

I’m tired of hearing sentences like, “Langston Hughes was an important black poet” in English classes. Yea he was black; who gives a rip?

He was a significant figure in twenti-eth century poetry. Sure, we can appreci-ate his ethnicity in a historical sense. He paved the way for other black poets who wished to receive recognition for their work. However, the man was more than his ethnicity. He strove for excellence and sought innovation and was at the heart of a cultural movement. Doesn’t that matter more than his race?

Isn’t there a genuine reason to recog-nize these individuals of merit? After all, like I said before, black people haven’t received much credit for their work his-torically.

I’m not saying that credit isn’t due. I’m saying that glorifying an individual like Hughes just because he was black dimin-ishes his work, just as if I were to glorify Herman Hesse because of his German ancestry. Black History Month tries to ac-complish two tasks. It tries to shine a pos-itive light on black historical figures that should have more recognition.

Secondly, it is an apology, a sloppy drunk apology written with emoji and cruel irony. It is just a Band-Aid for the Tuskegee Institute scandal and a dispro-

portionate response to Emmett Till.A better solution for promoting uni-

ty and pride in the black community is to provide media coverage of awesome achievers.

BET, also known as one of the worst television channels of the twenty-first century, perpetuates predictable stereo-types of black people today.

For the most part, the television pro-grams are low-brow, tasteless, and riddled with poor stereotypes that stifle intellec-tual growth.

Instead, a station with such influence like BET should include a nightly news-cast about black CEOs, engineers and doctors. If you really want to talk about the importance of achievement in a com-munity, you should talk about what is be-ing done outside of entertainment, like in science and academics. Moreover, the achievements should be emphasized rath-er than the color of the achiever’s skin.

13FEBRUARY 10, 2014 NEWS FEATURES SPA CITY HUMOR SPORTS

MORE THAN BLACKOPINION BY DEVIN ANDERSON — GRAPHIC BY MEGAN SNODDY

14 NEWS FEATURES VIEWS HUMOR SPORTS

3RD ANNUAL VAN DAVIS MEMORIAL 5K WALK/RUN

Maxine’s Live, 700 Central Ave.Friday, Feb. 20 at 9 p.m.$5 at door, 21+

The collaboration between Amy LaVere and John Paul Keith emulates the classic country du-ets of the 50s and 60s. From George Jones and Tammy Wynette to Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn, Motel Mirrors comes off sounding like a casual and soulful duo. The duo covers a few of the classic duets, along with playing their own original material.

Image courtesey of Archer Records

HOT SPRINGS HAPPENINGSWhittington ParkSaturday, Feb. 14 at 9 a.m.$25 registration fee

Honor the memory of Van Davis, who taught at National Park Community College for more than 30 years, and help raise money for the Van Davis Memorial Scholarship. Following the race, there will be an awesome beard contest.

Register online as a runner, walker or”virutal participant” at register.macsrts.com.

Image courtesy of National Park Community College

MOTEL MIRRORS

PRESIDENT’S DAY RACING AT OAKLAWNOaklawn Racing & Gaming, 2705 Central Ave.Monday, Feb. 16, post time at 1 p.m.$ 2 gate admission

Spend President’s Day weekend playing the ponies, including the $300,000 Southwest Stakes on Monday. Attendees will have a chance to win during the progressive cash giveaway all Pres-ident’s Day.

Image courtesy of Oaklawn

15FEBRUARY 10, 2014 NEWS FEATURES VIEWS SPA CITY SPORTS

The Lady Reddie softball team’s energy was out of the park during the Ronnie Haw-kins Invitational which took place from Friday until Sunday on the Dee White Field in Arka-delphia, Ark.

“When I walked up today and the team was about to start getting game ready, just the en-ergy they all had was up, pumped and ready,” Head Coach Beth Jackson said. “I had a feel-ing we were going to do great today.”

The Lady Reddies won five of six games in the Invitational falling only to Missouri West-ern State University on Saturday, 2-0.

The first day of the Invitational, the Hen-derson State softball team took a pair of wins over Missouri Western, 6-2 and Lincoln Uni-versity of Missouri, 14-2.

Throughout the games Lady Reddie pitch-ers only allowed nine hits and tallied 10 strike-outs.

In both games HSU totaled 20 hits.

Amy Halter, Ashlyn White and Taylor Daniels each had three hits for Henderson’s offense.

Missouri Western took a 2-0 lead during the first inning of the opening game before HSU scored a run in the third inning to make the score 2-1.

In the fourth inning, White and Daniels hit back-to-back singles followed by a smash by Alison Waggoner for the Lady Reddies to take the lead 4-2.

The next inning did not disappoint when they added a pair of runs with a triple by Hal-ter and a home run by Sarah Gibson to make the score 6-4, Henderson.

Freshman pitcher, Michelle Sorensen al-lowed three hits and struck out eight batters in the opening game.

In the game against Lincoln University of Missouri, the second inning was not disap-pointing as HSU scored seven runs.

In the top of the fourth inning, Lincoln returned with a two run homer.

The bottom of the fourth inning was a repeat of the second with seven more runs scored by HSU to make the score 14-2 and to end the game early in the fifth inning.

The Lady Reddies opened the second day of the Ronnie Hawkins Invitational with a 9-4 win over Christian Brothers University.

The game started with Christian Brothers taking the lead with a three-run homer.

In the bottom of the second, HSU got on the board when freshman Courtney Warren hit a sacrifice fly to left field allowing Daniels to score.

The Lady Reddies took the lead in the third inning with a home run to center field by White to make the score 4-3.

The Christian Brothers scored only one more time; a solo homerun in the seventh in-ning by Kylie Steagall.

The Lady Reddies held on to win 9-4. HSU faced Missouri Western for a second

time in the tournament, this time the outcome not so lucky.

There were only two runs scored in the game, and they were not in HSU’s favor.

The game ended with a 2-0 loss to the Missouri Western Griffons.

The third day of the Invitational began with the Lady Reddies facing Lincoln Univer-sity of Missouri for a second time, and like the previous game against the Blue Tigers, they did not disappoint.

In the first inning HSU put seven runs on the board.

In the second inning the Lady Reddies put two more runs on the board including a home run by sophomore from Gilmer, Tx., Keirsten Seahorn.

By the third inning the Lady Reddies were leading 14-0, but allowed Lincoln to get on the board with two runs.

HSU was able to get four more hits in the fourth inning to make the score 18-2, setting up to end the game early in the fifth inning for another Lady Reddie win.

HSU’s luck did not fail in the final game of the Invitational with the final score being 14-0.

The bottom of the third inning, the Lady Reddies put eight runs on the board to make the score 14-0.

The game ended in the fifth inning to close the Ronnie Hawkins Invitational.

“I knew from the get-go it was going to be a good day,” Jackson said. “I didn’t think it was going to be this good putting out that many hits in two games.”

Even when the going got tough, the team had each other’s backs the whole day.

“We continued to hit behind each other and if we didn’t get the job done, the next per-son did,” Jackson said.

Jackson said the team still needs to work on the small things during the game including bunting and working on staying ahead, staying sharp and never settling.

The Lady Reddies’ confidence was high during the last day of the Invitational and they were able to come out on top as a result of analyzing previous games played against the teams.

“I watched which hitters were bigger so I knew who to really go for,” Sorensen, pitcher from Sherwood, Ark. said.

The Lady Reddies will next compete in the UAM Classic in Bentonville, Ark. from Feb. 13 to Feb. 15.

16 NEWS FEATURES VIEWS SPA CITY HUMOR

THE HOSTESS WITH THE MOSTESSLady Reddie Softball team hosts Ronnie Hawkins Invitational where it won 5 of 6 games

STORY BY KAITLYN KITCHENS — PHOTO BY KRISTINE MOORE

SOFTBALL FEVER— Sophomore Katie McMullen pitches in the Ronnie Hawkins Invitational