www.aggiecentral.comMonday, September 8, 2014 Volume 91 Issue 1

The Cameron UniversiTy

Collegian

Another issue that Pinkston brought to light was the amount of money allocated to the athletics department.

“The university model for funding athletic scholarships and some of their operating expenses have always been to use SAFAC fees,” Pinkston said. “Some schools do that, other schools have a student athletic fee.

“In FY12, we capped the amount of SAFAC money that we would take for athletics. It hasn’t gone up since. Actually, in [2015] it went down a little bit. Since [2012] any increases in tuition and fees or operating expenses, the university is starting to fund. If you read the minutes, they really struggle with funding athletics.”

Committee members, according to Pinkston, made it clear that scholarships take no priority over other funding requests. Pinkston explained that what determines the amount awarded to organizations is how many people benefit from their funding.

“This year it was very clear in reading the minutes that the committee did not really want to fund a lot of scholarships. They basically thought that departments ought to seek

alternative funding sources for scholarships. They were particularly rigorous in looking at scholarships when they knew the organization requesting it might have the ability to either raise money or find an alternative source,” Pinkston said. “How many people are benefited by giving music scholarships? You could look at it that some number of students benefit, but you could also look at it that those scholarships go to students who in turn perform. How many people are benefited by the performance?”

For a full set of minutes during the SAFAC committee meetings, visit http://www.cameron.edu/student_services/archives/2013-2014.

Understanding SAFAC

Charlene BelewManaging Editor

@cbelew15

For a complete look at the SAFAC allocations and what the editor thinks, see Voices page 4

Organizations across campus have felt the effects of a campus-wide budget cut from the Student Activity Fee Allocation Committee (SAFAC) funds for fiscal year 2015.

According to Vice President of Finance and Business Glen Pinkston, SAFAC had $14,000 dollars less to disperse this year as compared to last year.

The SAFAC committee, which was comprised of 13 members and one attendee met four times during the spring semester to discuss and allocate SAFAC funds based on proposals submitted by organizations on March 7.

Pinkston said SAFAC funds come from student activity fees. Upon enrollment, students pay $10 per credit hour. SAFAC predetermines funds based on projected enrollment hours.

For the FY15, SAFAC received an estimate of 117,600 budgeted credit hours before their first meeting on March 25. Pinkston stated that real numbers don’t come into play until almost the end of the spring semester.

“They [SAFAC committee] work with that estimate,” he said. “We don’t really make a decision for the final hours we are going to use

until April or May. Sometimes it is after school, so their work is done by then.

“This year’s recommendation came by Vice President Holland to the President on April 23. So even after April 23, when the committee has met, deliberated, made the recommendations, the number of hours budgeted could still go up or down.”

Pinkston said the SAFAC committee has difficulty allocating funds for a few reasons. Along with the number of credit hours shifting, the committee must also take into consideration all the proposals that are submitted. In this year’s case, Pinkston said there were two new proposals. According to a SAFAC Budget Allocation table provided by Pinkston, new proposals came from the Department of Agriculture and the School of Business. When SAFAC receives new funding proposals the next step is to find what Pinkston calls “new money.”

“New money: that’s one of the things the committee has to deal with,” Pinkston said. “There’s less money, so you’re going to have to take money away from somebody to fund new proposals.”

Legalization: a controversy

VP Holland says goodbye to CUCharlene BelewManaging Editor

@cbelew15

See GOODBYE page 2

For one group of Communication students, the question of the summer was “To Be or Not to Be?”

The students enrolled in the “Producing the Documentary” summer course asked this question about marijuana legalization in Oklahoma in their film “To Be or Not To Be: Marijuana in Oklahoma,” which premiered at 7 p.m. on July 22 in the Cameron Theatre.

Dr. Matt Jenkins, Professor of Communication and Executive Producer for the film, said that the theatre was filled to capacity with a number of people from both sides of the issue.

“For me,” Jenkins said, “one of the greatest things was it got people in the same room that probably wouldn’t even look at each other on the street because they were so polar opposites on the subject.

“To have them sit in

the same room and listen to each other was a huge accomplishment for the students in this class.”

Producer Komantcia Jones, a communication major, expressed her elation

for the night, saying that the feeling of senators and other important people in attendance congratulating them all was surreal.

But the best feeling for her came right before the movie

opened; Jenkins disappeared unexpectedly, leaving Jones flustered until he made

A member of Cameron University for 18 years, former Vice President Jennifer Holland announced in mid-July that she was resigning from her position over Student Services.

While the announcement came as a shock to most during the summer holiday, it was clear to the campus that when Todd Holland, former CU baseball coach, announced his new job in Ft. Smith, Ark., that his wife, VP Holland, would be following.

“This is our home and this place has meant so much to

both of us,” she said. “This is where we met. This is where we started dating. It’s just bittersweet to think about starting a new chapter in our lives.”

Starting a new chapter in their lives does not mean that they will be stripping themselves of their Aggie pride. Holland, a CU alumna, has promised that the black and gold will run in her veins forever.

“I definitely will still be a proud wearer of black and gold,” she said. “I know that I’m going to keep up with what Cameron does, where Cameron goes and what happens on campus.

Jacob JardelAssistant Managing Editor

@JJardel_Writing

Courtesy of Matt Jenkins

See MARIJUANA page 2

The Center for Academic Success opens

its doors

Justin Jang placed 2nd at Firecracker

Open

When Hollywood

meets reality

PAC hosts giant

gameboard night

What’s inside

Page 3

Page 4

Page 5

Page 6

Committee members included:Dr. Ai Soylu, Dr. Ramona Hall, Dr. Chao Zhao, Colton Rancourt, Hannah Smart,

Kevin Stieb, Waheed Gbadamosi, Nikki Kirk, Rose Welch, Zeak Naifeh, Jennifer Holland,

Dominique Bahr, Sidney McCormack

News2 September 8, 2014www.aggiecentral.com

“Jennifer Holland’s impact on Cameron students during her tenure was significant, and we will search diligently

for the person best suited to act as Dean of Students,” President McArthur said. “Although we want to fill the

position in a timely manner, we will not rush the process. We will take as much time as we need to find the right person for the position.”

Three faculty members, three staff members

“We’ll always be Aggies and we’ll always be Cameron fans.”

Holland, who started as a student at CU, held the position over Student Services for about 8 1/2 years. Originally, the position was titled “Dean of Students.” After Holland’s departure, the position reverted to its original title.

Cameron University’s President John McArthur said the hiring committee are in no hurry to replace Holland.

Cameron hosts Lawton Business Women

Four Cameron alumni spoke at the biweekly Lawton Business Women’s (LBW) luncheon meeting, held for the first time at Cameron from 12-1 on Aug. 27 in the McCasland Ballroom.

One of the alumni was LBW President Elect Brandi Whatley, who graduated from Cameron in 1995 with a Bachelor of Accounting. Whatley is the vice president and assistant to the president/CEO at City National Bank and has been a member of the LBW for three years.

“For me, Lawton Business Women has been a way for me to connect with other business women in the community, not only for professional reasons but also personal reasons,” Whatley said.

Whatley said that through LBW she has gained networking opportunities and has learned through the different speakers they have at each meeting about opportunities for her to serve the community.

During Whatley’s speech she spoke how LBW and its members have benefited her during her high and low moments in life. Whatley

also talked about her time at Cameron and how she benefited from making connections in campus organizations her senior year.

“Our resources are very limited when first going into the job field,” Whatley said. “I personally found that many of times it’s who you know that will help you get an

early start on finding those opportunities.”

Along with presenting young women with career opportunities, the LBW hold two fundraisers a year that fund their scholarship program, which is awarded to students who graduate from any of the local high schools and plan to attend Cameron

University or Great Plains Technology Center.

One of the speakers was a recipient of the LBW scholarship, Johnna Holden, who was on the Cameron golf team and graduated this in 2014. The other speakers and alumni were Dianne Denham, Angela Ellis and Dr. Rose Lepien, President of LBW.

Amy Shelton, a senior Business major who joined LBW at the luncheon, had met LBW member Yvonne Moore through the Business organization Delta Sigma Pi who then introduced her to the organization.

Shelton said that Moore and Cameron Instructor of Business J. Beth Hinkle are

the ones who have talked about bringing LBW to Cameron.

According to Shelton, they wanted LBW on campus “to help facilitate relationships with faculty and students since a lot of the time they can’t get off campus to go to the meetings. We wanted to bring it to them.”

The LBW usually meets at the Lawton Country Club twice a month.

“We really wanted to get them [LBW] here on campus,” Shelton said. “Not only to show them the facilities, but to really get them mixed up with the students and faculty.”

Shelton said that LBW wanted to come to Cameron to introduce themselves and potentailly provide young women on campus with networking and mentorship opportunities.

“We have actually talked to Dr. Rose Lepien, the president of Lawton Business Women, about getting a Lawton Business Women’s student chapter here at Cameron,” Shelton said. “That is something that we’re going to look into and see if we can get that started this semester.”

LBW accepts anyone who wants to participate. Students are allowed to join and at a discounted membership rate.

Kaley PattersonCopy Editor

@KaleyKayPatt

Down to business: Dianne Denham, Brandi Whatley and Dr. Rose Lepien catch up after the Lawton Business Women’s luncheon, held from 12-1 p.m. on Aug. 27 in the McCasland Ballroom.

Photo by Kaley Paterson

Professors selected for lit publication

Jacob JardelAssistant Managing Editor

@JJardel_Writing

GOODBYE continued from page 1

and three students have established this hiring committee, complying with policies established by Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, to work through the hiring process. The committee is responsible for reviewing applications and qualifications and compiling a list of potential candidates to submit to President McArthur for consideration.

Holland was certain that her replacement would be the right fit for CU.

“You’re going to get someone amazing and they will be able to do wonderful things on our campus and create a vibrant campus environment,” Holland said.

“There are so many capable, talented people, even on our campus. Someone will do a wonderful job in picking up the ball and even changing direction in a few places. I’m really excited to see what might happen.”

Although Holland will be taking some time off to spend with her three children, she is almost certain that her future will lie in higher education.

“I have a hard time thinking that I will not work in higher ed,” Holland said. There is just something about the campus environment that I love. I’m pretty sure that’s where I’ll be but I’m going to take a little time to reevaluate what’s next.”

Two of Cameron’s own were selected for publication in the summer fiction edition of the literary magazine “This Land.”

Assistant Professor of English George McCormick and Associate Professor of English Bayard Godsave

were both featured in the Tulsa-based magazine focused on exhibiting Oklahoma authors writing about topics relevant to the state.

The publishers of “This Land” approached McCormick and asked if he had any pieces to submit for the publication. The request was a change of pace for him, considering the competition involved with

the submission process.“This one was really

satisfying because they asked me,” he said. “Usually, you have to send your work out and fight for publication.”

The piece he submitted was an excerpt from an upcoming novel set in Lawton titled “Inland Empire.”

McCormick felt this piece had enough strength in and of itself to be its own standalone piece, despite being a section from a larger story – a prospect he found promising for himself.

“It was self-contained enough that it felt like a story,” he said. “It’s exciting because I’ve never really published novel sections before. I’ve always really published short stories.

“I’m excited that, after five years of living in Oklahoma, I’m figuring out how to write about this place,” he said.

Godsave, who said he is used to publishing in university-based literary journals, also received an invite to publish in “This Land.” His story, “Snake Ball,” pertains to living with life-changing decisions.

“It’s about adolescence,” Godsave said. “About

initiating something that quickly becomes horrific, and not having the bravery to stop it. How that kind of thing can follow you around for the rest of your life.”

For Godsave and McCormick both, this opportunity was a good way to get through to a wider audience within the state, especially in a magazine formerly focused on the bigger cities.

“I thought we should represent Lawton,” McCormick said. “I thought it would be cool to have something that represents this part of the state, not just Tulsa and OKC.”

Godsave mentioned that the wide outreach of the magazine is good both for his writing and for Oklahoma writers in general.

“I’ve seen it for sale at grocery stores, and record stores, places you’d never see a literary journal,” he said. “I think it has the potential to reach more, different kinds of readers.

“It is limited to an Oklahoma audience,” Godsave said. “But as an Oklahoma writer, I’m glad to be able to reach so many readers in this state.”

a pre-show announcement with Anthony Foreman of the Trail Dance Film Festival, who presented the class with a submission fee waiver.

“It was a total surprise to all of us,” Jones said. “None of us knew. It was a great feeling. It’s cool to hear everyone say, ‘Good job.’ But to get a submission fee waiver from Anthony Foreman—that was a good feeling.”

For Director and Communication major Adrian Alexander, the best part of the night was the chance to finally bear witness to the product he and his colleagues made.

“Just to see it on screen and the feeling of either people watching the work – that was definitely the best,” he said.

For Alexander, Jones and the rest of the class, a lot of work went into the making of the movie. Though the premiere was successful, there were still roadblocks along the way.

“You’re going to have people that don’t return your phone calls or don’t

answer your phone calls when trying to set up interviews once they found out the topic,” Jones said. “But, as we went through, we noticed some people were much more receptive than what we were expecting them to be.”

Even with these obstacles and more arising throughout the production process, Alexander said there were many lessons learned in the process of making this documentary.

“Everyone has to do their assignment correctly, and people need to know that moving into the next project,” he said. “This is real hands-on experience – more so than anything I’ve done at Cameron.”

Both Alexander and Jones said that this experience left them prepared and eager to do more moviemaking in the future.

“I’ve had so much fun doing this,” Jones said. “All the stress of every single day, waking up and dealing with it – I would do it for the rest of my life to be able to go to premieres like that.”

MARIJUANA continued from page 1

CU Public Affairs

MCT Campus

Final product: CUTV Production Manager Jeff Larson reads through “This Land,” which features fiction works from two Cameron professors.

Photo by Jacob Jardel

Student Life 3September 8, 2014www.aggiecentral.com

but being able to read is not necessarily the same thing as being able to comprehend and understand to question, to move what you are

reading from short-term to long-term memory, to remembering what you read – all of the things you have to do as a student to really get an understanding of that material and be able to apply it and bring it back on a test.”

The purpose of the Center for Academic Success is to help students perform well in all courses. For example, students can learn tips on how to better study from a textbook.

In addition to general information, students receive subject-specific help.

“We do plan on adding

things were not aligning with the event.”After last year, they took into account

the size of the venue and the increasing number of people attending the event.

“The venue is a small venue,” Naifeh said. “With such great numbers of people, it’s hard for us to provide it as a safe environment. We just hit the point where that was no longer [possible]. It’s something we thought long and hard about to make the best decision for the students.”

Megan Canfield, PAC faculty adviser, corroborated this point.

“I think the students will be kind of upset,” she said. “But we think it’s in the best interest. We’ve outgrown the space. We want to make sure that safety is the top priority.”

However, Canfield said students have understood the rationale behind

the decision.“There’s been

kind of that ‘Oh, darn’ moment at the beginning,” she said. “I think they’re excited to see what else we’ll bring in the future.”

Canfield assured that there would still be outlets for those who used the Foam Dance as a venue to showcase

Additional tutoring services offered

Courtesy photo

The Foam Dance Party, a Cameron tradition for almost a decade, has been discontinued.

Since its establishment in 2005, the Foam Dance had been a staple of the fall semester, with students and guests dancing to popular music in a foam-filled Fine Arts Courtyard.

The decision to discontinue the Foam Dance was not a rash one. Zeak Naifeh, Director of Campus Life, said that the group who made the decision had been monitoring the dance and seeing how they could tweak it over the years.

“Our big things are a positive and safe environment,” he said, “and those two

their rhythmic abilities.“We still offer dances to students,” she

said. “In December, we’ll have the Winter Dance Social, and again at Homecoming we’ll have a dance.”

Canfield mentioned that the process to find a suitable substitute for the Foam Dance is still ongoing.

“We’re working on something to replace it that’s a little bigger. As of right now, there are no solid details on what that will be, but we do know there will be something this year and in the future to act as a substitution.”

Canfield also mentioned the number of smaller-scale annual activities occurring throughout the year as potential replacements. But with the magnitude of the Foam Dance, finding a substitute will be an ongoing and adaptive process.

“This was definitely on the larger scale,” she said of the Foam Dance. “It’ll just have to see how funding goes, how the students respond to the events and things like that.”

According to Naifeh, though, the discontinuation of the dance for this year does not mean permanent cancellation.

“I think there’s always a possibility,” he said. “We would really have to sit down and look at the way it has been and then what that will look like in the future.”

However, he also noted that a return would not happen in the near future.

“Is there a chance? Yes, there’s always a chance,” Naifeh said. “In the near future, probably not. We do have a lot of things that would have to come into play to make that happen.”

Bubbles burst on foam danceJacob Jardel

Assistant Managing Editor@JJardel_Writing

Casey BrownA&E Editor

@CaseyBrown_CU

On Aug. 11 the Center for Academic Success opened its doors for the first time. This new service is offered by the Office of Teaching and Learning and occupies the space where the Reading Lab once was in Nance-Boyer 1008.

Director of the Center for Academic Success, Jared Neumann, said that the new space absorbed the mission of the reading lab and expanded on it.

“We will help with reading skills, especially textbooks, and we will help with other study skills like how to keep up with a professor during a lecture,” Neumann said.

Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Margery Kingsley, said that the rebranding of the space provides students with a title that more aptly explains the services offered there.

“Certainly the reading lab was a great thing,” Kingsley said, “but I think sometimes the name of it didn’t really indicate what it was capable of doing . I think a lot of students saw reading lab and were like ‘I can read. I’m not going there.’

“The reality is, yeah our students are literate,

subject content – things that the math lab and the writing lab don’t offer. So if you need help with Biology or Physics, we will help with that,” Neumann said.

Just like the other tutoring services on campus, the Center for Academic Success is free to Cameron University students, teachers and staff.

Students can expect a personalized tutoring session from Neumann and the student tutors who work in the lab.

“I like to ask the students to sign in first, so that we get a sense of what kind of student traffic we are getting,” Neumann said. “Since this place is so young, we don’t really know what students want out of it, what they are coming in from.

“I then try and diagnose what problems they are actually having. A lot of students come in and they don’t actually know what kind of difficulties they are having. I sit down with them and ask them about how it is going in their classes, what kind of questions they are having.”

Kingsley said she hopes the Center for Academic Success and the other tutoring services on campus, in addition to the UNIV courses, give students the support they need during the transition from high school to college.

“There are a lot of things that students don’t expect, however well prepared they come out of high school,” Kingsley said. “Hopefully they are going to get a sense that those resources are there for them.”

Another new tutoring service offered to CU students is Tutor.com, which is an online tutoring service that is open 24/7.

The Office of Teaching and Learning also offers other tutoring services across campus including the Mathematics Lab located in Burch Hall 104, the Center for Writers in Nance-Boyer 2060 and the Academic Commons Tutoring Center in Academic Commons 138. For more information and hours go to www.cameron.edu/teaching_and_learning.

Success: Sophomore Vicky Smith looks over her homework with Assistant Director of the Center for Writers Ellis Hooley.

SGA weekly

Session began for the Cameron University Student Government Association began at 5:15 p.m. on Aug. 25 in the Cynthia S. Ross Hall Auditorium.

Each week the “Collegian” will be covering the weekly SGA meetings. All students are allowed to attend the meetings and some students may hold different positions within the organization – officers, senators, representatives and Supreme Court justices.

Last semester, the students of the university elected the officer positions for the 2014-2015 school year. Filing for senator positions closed Aug. 27 and voting was held on Sep. 2-3. Senators represent the various schools at the university. Representatives are selected by a student organization to represent them in the governing body. Students that are not a voting member of SGA are allowed to attend the meetings.

Sidney McCormack has been a member of SGA for four years. McCormack has held a senator position and the position of secretary. The first meeting of the semester was open to all students who were interested in getting involved, and McCormack has hopes for increased student participation.

“SGA is a really important organization on campus,” McCormack said. “It’s essential that we have students in Student Government that are able to talk to the other students in the student body and then bring their ideas back so we can really make Cameron University the best it can be.”

President: Sidney McCormack, Senior Psychology major

Vice President: Nikki Kirk, Junior Chemistry major

Treasurer: Casey Meeks, Junior Interdisciplinary Studies major

Secretary: Cole Hart, Senior Business Administration major

Kaley PattersonCopy Editor

@KaleyKayPatt

Photo by Krista Pylant

Roommate neededRoommate needed for two Cameron students.

College student preferred. No smokers. No pets. Lease ending in February 2015. Two miles from

campus. For more information contact: Rachel Totten918-440-7602

Voices4 September 8, 2014www.aggiecentral.com

COLLEGIANFounded in 1926

veritas sempiterna

THE CAMERON UNIVERSITYAbout UsThe official student newspaper of Cameron University, The Cameron

Collegian is available each Monday during the year. It is printed by the Lawton Constitution. The first issue is provided for free. Each subsequent

issue is $1.50.

Editorial StaffManaging Editor - Charlene Belew

Asst. Managing Editor - Jacob JardelA&E Editor - Casey Brown

Sports Editor - Krista PylantCopy Editor - Kaley Patterson

Aggie Central Editor- Jereme Cobb

Newsroom Staff Financial Officer - Susan Hill

Staff Writers - Marie Bagwell, Kristen Bass, Donnisa Hudson, Taylor Hutton,

Cheyenne Knox, Mason OrsoCirculation Manager - Charlene Belew

Advertising Managers - Kaylee Jones, Charlene Belew

Faculty Adviser - Mr. David Bublitz

Letters Policy

Letters to the editor will be printed in the order in which they are received and on a space available basis.

The Collegian reserves the right to edit all letters for content and length. Letters should be no more than 250 words. Letters from individual authors

will be published only once every four weeks.

All letters from students should include first and last names, classification and major. No nicknames will be used. Letters from people outside the

Cameron community should include name, address and phone number for verification.

Letters can be sent by regular mail, by e-mail to aggiecentral@cameron.edu or they may be dropped off at our office - Academic Commons 101 or

at www.aggiecentral.com.

Our Views The opinions expressed in The Collegian pages or personal columns are

those of the signed author. The unsigned editorial under the

heading “Voices” represents the opinion of the majority of the editorial board. The opinions expressed in The Collegian do not necessarily represent those

of Cameron University or the state of Oklahoma.

Our student media are designated public forums, and free from censorship and advance approval of content. Because content and

funding are unrelated, and because the role of adviser does not include advance review of content, student media are free to develop editorial policies and news coverage with the understanding that students and

student organizations speak only for themselves. Administrators, faculty, staff or other agents shall not consider the student media’s content when making decisions regarding the media’s funding or

faculty adviser.

Equality in student funds

Casey BrownA&E Editor

@CaseyBrown_CU

Depression: When Hollywood meets reality

Charlene BelewManaging Editor

@CBelew15

MCT Campus

This school year’s SAFAC allocation recommendations have started a controversy campus wide. Unfortunately, several discussion topics involving SAFAC haven’t been addressed.

It is imperative to realize that every student is responsible for paying the student activities fee. For every one credit hour, students pay $10. Keep in mind that your money is funding organizations across campus. Do all students on campus necessarily agree with the SAFAC members? How does SAFAC field what students think about the money allocation?

Calculations made based on the SAFAC allocations chart (provided to the right of this column) show that about 60 percent of the SAFAC fund

goes to athletic scholarships. About 77.5 percent of the entire SAFAC fund is dedicated to the athletic department alone.

While budgeted credit hours for FY15 were less than previous years, a quick look at the chart shows that a majority of organizations faced a cut in recommended funds. However, SAFAC recommended athletic scholarship funds stay consistent. Vice President of Business and Finance Glen Pinkston stated that a cap has been put in place for SAFAC funding that athletics is allowed to receive. Whatever expenses they have after these funds, the university pays for.

With over ¾ of the SAFAC funds pouring into athletics, is it really fair to cut funds from other organizations (especially the small ones)?

While the SAFAC committee takes into account how many students benefit from the allocation of these funds, SAFAC budget choices favor athletics.

Take, for example, Cameron student media. AggieCentral, The Cameron Collegian and CUTV News are free services to the Cameron and Lawton communities. The wide availability of CU student news says enough about how many people, on and off campus,

benefit from our products. And yet, “the committee felt that SAFAC funds should not pay for Coaxial Cable Drops and Television service for Campus as indicated.”

Based off the information given, free admission to basketball and other sporting events takes precedence over free student media. I’m sorry, come again?

Each year, the talk of potential budget cuts for many organizations has brought a passionate outcry from advisers who stand to defend their mission of educating Cameron students.

AggieCentral isn’t the only entity on campus looking at dwindling funds. A majority of campus organizations have been asked to seek or generate alternative funds for scholarships.

At what point will athletics be told to do the same? The Collegian has been asked to reduce publication size and hustle more on advertisements, a suggestion that borders dangerously on violating journalistic ethics through content control. Why not ask athletics to generate their own funds by providing a cheap charge at the gate for home games?

The bottom line is SAFAC needs to be more aggressive in soliciting student feedback. I was never asked what

organizations I participate in or what I think the most important aspect of student life is. I’m curious to find out how they determine what is money worthy.

Funds should be allocated

equally. I cannot stress this enough. At the very least, every organization on campus should be held to the same standards. If our staff is asked to generate more funds to supply scholarships and

to pay the bills and if other organizations are asked to generate their own funds for travel expenses, activity expenses and scholarships, the same idea should be proposed to the athletics department.

“Genie, you’re free,” tweeted The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Aug. 11, 2014, the day Robin Williams died.

Most people knew Williams for his legendary stand-up routines or his roles in movies like “Mrs. Doubtfire,” – my personal favorite – “Good Will Hunting” or “Dead Poets Society.” But not everyone knew that he was a recovering alcoholic, addict and had depression.

Exactly three weeks before the shock felt round the world, on July 21, I was committed to a psychiatric hospital for observation. Upon admission, I was diagnosed with suicidal ideations. I could just have easily been found alone in my apartment.

That morning, I woke up and knew something was wrong, but I refused to admit it and went about my day normally. I made it out into the world one forced step after another; I was determined to push my troubling thoughts to the side like I’ve done so many times before. However, only a couple of hours into the morning, I knew that this wasn’t just any other depressive episode. I called my counselor and booked an emergency appointment.

As I explained to her how I was feeling, she responded with her typical redirecting tactics. Thirty minutes into the session, I finally bowed my head and said, “You don’t understand.” At that moment, she knew something was wrong unlike it had ever been in any other emergency session before. Her response, “What do you think about going to Taliaferro and seeing what they have to say?”

When I got out of bed that morning, I think I knew where I was headed, and the voice in the back of my mind that for years had been wondering when I would end up in a psychiatric hospital

was saying, “Today is the day, Casey Girl.” Looking back, I’m thankful that I have a relationship with a

counselor who understands me well enough to know what certain body language and one sentence means. I have been seeing her for almost two years. I have a wonderful and huge support system full of people who understand that I am mentally ill and struggle with suicidal thoughts. I have a long, long list of fail-safes in place, as I’m sure Williams did. I refuse to consider what might have happened had I been without the many resources I have at my disposal. I am a member of the lucky minority of mentally ill who are willing to get help and that have found quality help. It has taken me years to find my help, but regardless, I have it.

Those people who may be wondering why Williams committed suicide, despite his fame and fortune, truly do not understand that depressive thinking does not follow logic. They certainly don’t understand that money and mental illness have no inherent relationship. Money can’t buy a cure for a chronic disease like depression. Money can’t buy us out of those times when we are huddled in our darkened bedrooms, hiding from the world we fear and our resources or safety nets, because those things, for no logical reason, are just as frightening as the alternative.

I checked myself into the hospital because I was tired of hiding my pain. It was a point of pride for me to finally be well enough to ask for help with the memories and emotions that lock me in my bedroom with my blankets fashioned into a cocoon that is never quite tight enough. I am not ashamed that I am mentally ill, as so many of us are conditioned to be.

The only logical thought that ran through my mind when my counselor mentioned Taliaferro was something I had once heard Dr. Drew Pinsky say on “Loveline” or on his podcast, “The Dr. Drew Show”: “Suicidality passes within three to five days.” He urged people with suicidal thoughts to check in to a hospital in order to get through those thoughts and then figure everything else out. I heard his voice and knew he was right.

For some reason I listened to that sound clip’s worth of advice. I say for some reason because I can understand that, if in the moments before he hanged himself, Williams might have considered what actions to actually take. I know for sure that many different possibilities played through his mind on repeat for countless hours before anything happened in the real world. He might have considered whether to check himself back into rehab – as he had done just a couple months before his death – go to the hospital, call a friend, or do something else. Maybe he had none of those thoughts and instead was singularly focused on his plan. I have been in both places before. Then again, he could have been thinking something else entirely.

Point being, I can understand if in those moments he was simply too tired to carry on. I can’t judge him or be angry for the decision he made. I’m certainly not condoning suicide; I am just saying that I’ve been pretty close to that precipice, and I understand what it takes to not only get there but also what it takes to get back. Perhaps our darling Robin fought his way back from the precipice too many times and simply didn’t have the strength to do it one more time.

I reposted The Academy’s tweet on Facebook the day it was sent and said: “This tweet opened up a flood of tears, but it sums up what I think when someone with depression commits suicide. Yes, a part of me is sad but another part of me is relieved to know a fellow suffering soul suffers no more.

“Good night, Robin. Thanks for helping me through some of my own dark times. I mean this from the bottom of my heart, brother: rest in peace.”

When I got home from the hospital, a friend and I had a great conversation about depression during which he told me about a sad man who went to the doctor for some advice: “A sad man goes to the doctor and says, ‘Doc, I’m depressed. What do I do?’ The doctor tells him, ‘The circus is in town, and they have a Great Clown. Go see the Great Clown; that will cheer you up.’ The sad man says, ‘But, Doc, I am the Great Clown.’”

Robin Williams was the greatest clown most of us have ever known, and I cannot imagine how humongous his demons were in order for that to be so.

Graphic by Collegian staff

A&E 5September 8, 2014www.aggiecentral.com

Cameron Gold Mine Hot off the press

Jumbo Jenga: Cameron students became their own game pieces during Giant Board Game Night at 7 p.m. on Aug. 26 in the McCasland Ballroom in the MCC. The PAC event featured foot-long Jenga blocks and Uncle Moneybags, who awarded money to students playing giant Monopoly. Across the Ballroom other students played life-sized Sorry. Regular-sized versions of games such as Uno and Life were available for those students who wanted a more traditional game experience.

Super-sized game nightPhotos by Jacob Jardel

Casey BrownA&E Editor

@CaseyBrown_CU

The International Film Society, in cooperation with Magic Lantern Film Society, Sigma Tau Delta and the French Government, presented the inaugural French Film Festival. International Film Club screened six films from the Tournees Festival at 7 p.m. from Aug. 21-Aug. 30 at the CU Theatre.

“The Artist,” “A Cat in Paris,” “Amour,” “L’Herrison,” “M Lazhar” and “The Intouchables” appeared on screen. Audiences viewed each film in French with English subtitles. All showings boasted high attendance.

According to Nicholas Brush, President of both the Magic Lantern Film Society and Sigma Tau Delta, the turnout was impressive.

“We’ve actually been very pleased by the turnout. The first night...when we showed “The

Artist” we had almost triple digits,” Brush said. Dr. Marie-Ginette Baillargeon, associate

professor of English and foreign languages and faculty adviser of the International Film Club, was also impressed with the turnout to the festival.

“It is hard to get numbers, but we have been averaging close to 100 people,” Baillargeon said. “We are actually delighted by this because this is Cameron University’s first French Film Festival.

The two most popular films were the first and last in the Festival: “The Artist” and “The Intouchables.” Brush said “The Artist” was his personal favorite.

“Hands down it was ‘The Artist,’ which was the first silent film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture since the very first Academy Awards, and it is a fantastic film. The lead actor, Jean Dujardin, is amazing, and it is absolutely hilarious – lots of symbolism, lots of history.”

“The Artist” is a 2011 film that tells the story of Hollywood actors who are working during the transition from silent films to “talkies.”

Dr. John Morris, professor of English and foreign languages, introduced the film. He said the film was a nod to the silent and black-and-white days of film.

“It is the kind of movie that Hollywood doesn’t make anymore,” Morris said. “It is a love story, but it is also a love poem, a Valentine, to silent movies and black-and-white movies also.”

Baillargeon said that while all of the films are “must sees” in their own ways, “The Intouchables,” which was released in 2011, is a crowd favorite.

“I’ve never met someone who didn’t like it,” Baillargeon said. “All of the films were liked unanimously when the students chose these films. ‘The Intouchables’ seems to be number one internationally and number one with our students as well.”

It took the students and other members of the International Film Club over a year to plan the French Film Festival.

“The idea was riding around for a long time,” Baillargeon said. “We actually started working on this in fall of 2013. I started my researching with Tournees Group and got their guidance as far as how to proceed, what people had done in the past, about film rights, where to go.

The response of the public and Cameron community has been positive, she said.

What has been really exciting about the festival has been the public’s response.”

“I’m getting so many students who have never seen a foreign film,” Baillargeon said, “and they are finding out that even if they are in French with English subtitles, the subject matter of these films is not foreign to them – they relate to them, they relate to the content of the film.”

Sustainability: Theatre Arts 2014 Season

Casey BrownA&E Editor

@CaseyBrown_CU

Issue Five of “The Gold Mine,” CU’s art and literary magazine, is now on stands.

The year long publication process recently reached its final stage. Over the course of the 2013-2014 academic year, students from the English and Art departments wrote and created art for the in-house publication.

The magazine includes poems, short stories, creative nonfiction essays, linocuts and photographs from several CU students from across campus.

In addition to general submissions “The Gold Mine” showcases the winners of three creative writing scholarship contests: the Leigh Holmes Creative Nonfiction Scholarship, the Matt P. Haag Scholarship and the John G. Morris Poetry Prize.

Issue Five features Rhiannon Poolaw’s winning creative nonfiction piece “Roots: Warrior Woven,” Kathleen Guill’s first-place fiction piece “Struggles of the Heart” and Rose Welch’s champion poem “Nightlife.”

Faculty Adviser and Associate Professor of English and Foreign Languages Dr. Hardy Jones said the publication was established as a platform for Cameron students to show off their creative works.

Jones was responsible for the genesis of “The Gold Mine” five years ago.

“We didn’t have any kind of art or literary journal,” Jones said. “So, I wanted a place where students could display their work but also get practice with doing layout and design and editing and being able to read through submissions to have to learn to [decide] ‘this one is good, and this is why’ or ‘this one isn’t, and this is why.’”

The skills the students develop while working on staff transition into their future careers as writers, artists or editors, Jones said.

“[Student editors] get to see behind the curtain and see what is really going on, so when they send stuff out, they kind of have an idea of what is going on when they send stuff out to a journal,” Jones said. “Hopefully it demystifies part of the experience.”

The publication process

takes at least seven months.Students can begin

submitting during the fall semester; the finished product hits stands late summer or early fall each year.

When the staff receives the submissions, they read each submission, choose which ones to include and finally organize and layout the journal, Jones said of the yearlong process.

“Generally we get in the neighborhood of 50 submissions between the art and the writing,” Jones said.

It is a yearly publication, and such magazines are fairly common at schools with strong undergraduate creative writing programs.

According to Jones, President John McArthur uses the publication to show prospective students what types of projects they can be involved with as Aggies.

“It isn’t just going to class and writing papers,” Jones said. “They can actually get hands-on experience doing something creative.”

Copies of “The Gold Mine” are available throughout Nance-Boyer and on “Cameron Collegian” news stands.

Ticket Prices:Free to CU Students with ID

Season Tickets Prices: $35 for adults and $30 for senior citizens, military, non-Cameron students and Cameron faculty and staff.

Box Office:580-581-2478202 University Theatre2800 W. Gore Blvd

Ken Ludwig’s Leading Ladies:

7:30 p.m. on Oct. 2-4 and 2 p.m. on Oct. 5

“The plot follows two English Shakespearean actors, Jack and Leo, who find themselves down on their luck.

When they hear that an old lady in York, Pa. is about to die and leave her fortune to her two long lost English nephews, they resolve to pass themselves off as her beloved relatives and get the cash.

The trouble is, when they get to York, they find out that the relatives aren’t nephews, but nieces!”

Martin Jones’s Dark River:

7:30 p.m. on Nov. 20-22 and 2 p.m. on Nov. 23

“The play concerns a failing family business that has inadvertently poisoned the waters. It transcends mere allegory.

Jones uses pollution as a metaphor for the sins of the fathers. It has been called an environmental version of

“Crime and Punishment.”Warning: This production

contains material that certain people may find objectionable.”

Fabulous turnout for first French Film Festival

Visit http://www.aggie-central.com for more Arts and Entertainment news and updates.

Sports6 September 8, 2014www.aggiecentral.com

Cameron University Athletics announced the hiring of two assistant basketball coaches for both the men’s and women’s teams over the summer.

Former Orlando Magic Assistant Coach Luke Stuckey begins his first season as the assistant coach of the Cameron Men’s basketball team.

Stuckey spent the past two seasons (2012-14) with the Orlando Magic as an assistant coach who specialized in player development. His responsibilities with the Magic included working with young players individually, scouting, game preparation and pre-game walk-throughs.

Before coaching at the professional level, Stuckey served as the varsity head coach at San Dieguito Academy in Encinitas, Calif., from 2008-12. Under his leadership, the Mustangs cruised to back-to-back playoff appearances in 2010-11 and 2011-12 for the first time in school history. He also served as an assistant basketball coach at La Jolla High School in San Diego.

Stuckey hails from Kankakee, Ill., and is a graduate of Bishop McNamara High School. After graduating high school, he played basketball for two years at Northland Community College in Minnesota.

Game in 2002 and 2004 and earned the honor of AVCA National Coach of the Year in 2002.

Now with the Aggies, Wang looks to repeat his coaching success in an effort to turn around the Cameron volleyball program.

Wang begins first season at CU

Krista PylantSports Editor

@KristaPylant8

After zero conference wins last season, Cameron University’s volleyball team is looking for a fresh start with new head coach Qi Wang.

Wang, who is no stranger to the Lone Star Conference, spent the last four seasons as an assistant coach at Angelo State where he helped the Rambelles achieve over 100 wins, a Lone Star Conference regular season title and three NCAA South-Central

Regional berths.Prior to his time at ASU,

Wang served in coaching positions at Florida Tech, Northern Michigan and Truman State.

While at TSU, Wang reached the NCAA Division II National Championship

He first met the team in early February, but he did not begin working with them until shortly after spring break for preseason practice.

Wang said that the Aggies’ effort is what first impressed him, but he noticed a need to improve the players’ overall skills and game mentality.

“I want our kids to have some kind of momentum,” Wang said. “Not like in the past when they played in the down style. I watched them play in the conference game, and I want them to have a successful feeling and exciting movement. That’s what I’m hoping and looking for.”

Wang is not the only new addition to the Aggie volleyball program. The 2014 recruiting class brought five new athletes to the team: juniors Ingrid Boatman and

Taylor Tepfer, and freshmen Jordan Escobar, Lindsey McCauley and Cristina Viera.

Setter Boatman played in 25 matches in two seasons at Paris Junior College where she recorded over 250 assists. She helped her team achieve

a 29-8 record in 2013 and fourth place in the Region XIV Tournament.

In 2013, the NJCAA named Tepfer Region V Libero of the Year during the season she played 131 sets and recorded 316 digs.

During her freshman season, she played in 37 matches, obtained 477 digs and played on the 2012 North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference Championship Team.

Wang said the new players add more depth to the roster and provide new drill options during practice.

“New kids keeps the bench more solid,” Wang said. “Especially in the setter position; in the past we only had one setter, right now we have two at least we can play in the six-on-six and on the defense we have more people, the more the merrier, basically.”

As for goals this season, Wang said he “ just wants to improve, play a better game and build a foundation for the future.”

The Aggies return to the court Sept. 5-6 for the MSU Tournament, and their home openers will take place the following week of Sept. 12-13 against Angelo State and Tarleton State.

Basketball adds two coaches to staff

Stuckey received his bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science from Iowa Wesleyan and Masters of Education degree in 2012.

What qualities attracted you to coach at Cameron University?

The family atmosphere and the commitment to seeing their athletic teams do well.

What are you hoping to contribute to the program?

Just new innovative ideas that I have learned at different levels and to see guys improve individually and improve as a team.

Emma Andrews joined the Cameron women’s basketball program as the new assistant coach after spending six seasons as a student-athlete (2007-11) and later as a graduate assistant coach (2012-14) at Fresno State.

During Andrews’ time with the Bulldogs, the program went 122-45, while capturing five conference titles, and made six NCAA Tournament appearances.

The former Bulldog guard scored a career-high of 23 points at Loyola Marymount on Dec. 5, 2009, and helped lead the team to four-straight WAC titles and four NCAA appearances.

Additionally, Andrews played in 86 games for Fresno State under former Aggie women’s basketball coach and Lawton native, Adrian Wiggins.

Andrews received her bachelor’s degree in 2011 and master’s degree in 2014 from Fresno State.

What qualities attracted you to coach at Cameron University?

It’s a really good school in terms of graduating its student athletes. It focuses on academics, and I really like the morals and values of Cameron. I want to be able to get the community more involved, that’s huge to me.

What are you hoping to contribute to the program?

A lot of energy and a lot of enthusiasm. I have a really young heart and young mind. I think that’s beneficial. I want to get involved and I want the girls to be involved as much as possible and I am eager and enthusiastic.

Drive: Cameron golfer Justin Jang drives a ball on the sixth hole at The Firecracker Open golf tournament hosted by The Lawton Country Club on Aug. 30-Sept. 1. Jang finished second in the tournament after shooting a 212. Another Aggie golfer, Zeb Littlefield, placed third after a final score of 212. The men’s golf team returns to the fairways beginning Sept. 15 for the Hawks Creek Invite in Fort Worth, TX.

Jang places second at Firecracker Open

Photo by Krista Pylant

Emma AndrewsAssistant Coach

Next in Aggie sports...Volleyball Women’s Golf

Men’s Golf

Sept. 12- vs Angelo State 7 p.m.Sept. 13- vs Tarleton State 2 p.m.Sept. 16- vs Southeastern Oklahoma 7 p.m.

Sept. 8 & 9- Hawks Creek Invite Fort Worth, TX

Sept. 15-16- Ryan Palmer Invite Amarillo, TX

Luke StuckeyAssistant Coach

Cross CountrySept. 27 OSU Cowboy Jamboree

Krista PylantSports Editor

@KristaPylant8

Taking the helm: Qi Wang, head coach of Cameron Volleyball, provides feedback to his players during practice. This season is Wang’s first with the Aggies.

Photo by Krista Pylant