Country singer Brantley Gilbert to perform in

Amarillo.

PAGE 2

The schedule of events for Oct. 12. COURTESY PHOTO/OFFICE OF STUDENT AFFAIRS

Daniela FierroWeb eDitor

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HOMECOMING on PAGE 3

From Oct. 8-13, students new and old will come to WTAMU to celebrate

Homecoming Week. Faculty and students are preparing to “Come Home” for the campus wide event.

“The Come Home theme was set by the Marketing and Communications office,” As-sociate Director of Student Ac-tivities Matt Maples said.

This year the pigskin and concert will be a combined event that will begin at 7 p.m. in the First United Bank Center.

“Pigskin is the campus pep rally followed by the concert that will feature Casey Berry & the Texas Mosquitoes,” Maples said. “There will also be light-ing element that has only been done in the U.S a few times so far.”

Since there is a county is-sued fire ban, Maples said there will be no bonfire this year.

“We are working to replace it with a very nice ceremonial component that will be during

the Friday night events,” Maples said.

Maples said that he thinks Homecoming is going to be fun and special time this year.

“We are excited about the events that we have planned,” Maples said. “Including many of the events from last year that were attended by hundreds of students.”

Many organizations are help-ing with Homecoming, includ-ing the Catholic Student Center, the Baptist Student Ministries, Student Government, Student Alumni Board and Greek chap-ters.

“We have kept many of the great events that have made homecoming so great through the years such as the tractor

pull, midnight weenie roast, pancake breakfast, free lunches and many others,” Student Body President Nicholas Goettsche said.

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Navy SEAL to speak at WT ConvocationHunter FitHen

reporter

Freshman Convocation is right around the corner and WTAMU students,

faculty and alumni are preparing for a night of opportunities and inspiration.

The event will take place Oct. 4 at the First United Bank Center at 5 p.m. According to

Kendra Campbell, director of First Year Experience at WT, this year’s guest speaker will be Eric Greitens, author of the 2012 WT Readership book “The Heart and The Fist.

Greitens is the founder and CEO of The Mission Continues, a program dedicated to getting veterans back into service by working and volunteering in their communities. Greitens was

a Rhodes Scholar who earned his Ph.D. at Oxford University, and deployed four times as a Navy SEAL and awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star.

“I think they will take away the opportunity to see an actual author that has done something that we all know about, becoming a Navy SEAL, and yet he has helped people in a way

that most of us take for granted,” Barbara Petty, assistant vice president for Academic Affairs, said.

The event will exhibit WT alumni in full graduation regalia.

“The reason we have convocation is because we want students to visualize what graduation will be like in four years,” Petty said. “It’s to give students the feeling of ‘I want

to be here in four years and graduate.’”

Some students also hope to take away from the convocation an inspiration and determination to endure through school until graduation.

“I think students will take away a pre-commitment to stick it through to graduation,” Daniel Bonds, sophomore Sports and Exercise Science major, said.

Brantley Gilbert to perform at Amarillo Civic Center

Brantley Gilbert and the Hell on Wheels Tour will be at the Amarillo Civic

Center Coliseum on Thursday, Oct. 18 at 7:30 p.m. This tour is Brantley Gilbert’s first-ever headline production.

Gilbert is an up-and-coming singer-songwriter of the American country rock genre. He has released two albums in his career. “Modern Day Prodigal Son” was released in 2009 and “Halfway to Heaven”

came out in 2011. “Country Must Be Country Wide” and “You Don’t Know Her Like I Do” are two of his top songs that are currently on the music charts.

“It’s going to be a fun night” said Glenn Smith, with Glenn Smith Presents, Inc.

Smith believes that Gilbert wants the tickets to be as low as possible. He has his fan-base built and doesn’t want to lose it due to cost.

“He really tries to take care of his fans” said Smith.

The ticket prices are as

follows: $24 for the back stands, $34 for reserved seats at the back of the floor and front stands, and $39 for stage front floor tickets. Smith encourages everyone to get their tickets as soon as possible.

“This is going to be an exciting show; a unique case with more than just one act” said Michael J. Thero, marketing administrator for the Amarillo Civic Center.

Not only will Brantley Gilbert be the headliner, but also Uncle Kracker, Greg Baits and Bryan Davis will accompany

him. Thero thinks that since two bigger artists are playing together in Amarillo, no one should miss this event. Though Gilbert has played shows in Amarillo before, Thero knows this will be his best show yet.

“I’m super pumped” said Felicia McKitterick, a senior Biology major at WTAMU.

After missing his last concert at Midnight Rodeo in Amarillo, she is very ready to see him at the Civic Center. All of her friends have been preparing her for this concert.

“I didn’t know who he was until I heard ‘Country Must Be Country Wide’ on the radio,” she said.

After researching him a little, she became a fan. She believes this will be a great night out with her friends and listening to great country music.

For questions, call the Amarillo Civic Center Box Office at (806)-378-3096. Office hours are Monday through Saturday 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Other information can be obtained at the Civic Center’s website.

Haley Sprague

reporter

3NEWSOctober 2, 2012 | theprairienews.com

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orcome by the Fine Arts Complex Room 268.

Goesttsche said he thinks the new students will be impressed by the amount of time and en-ergy all of the contestants put into making their floats in the parade.

“The main difference will be the torch proces-sion and pigskin revue on Friday night,” Goesttsche said. “We have changed the venue from the Box to the FUBC for Pigskin.”

Goesttsche said they did this because it allows students to have pigskin and the concert in the same area.

“This is beneficial be-cause we will lose fewer students between pigskin and the concert,” Goestt-sche said. “The second major change is the torch processional. We decided to do an Olympic style torch passing through campus all the way to the FUBC.”

Junior CORE consul-tant Brianna Moore said Homecoming is such a tradition and that she hopes that people take the time to join in every-thing they’re giving them.

“The big activities are

at night and we are hav-ing the religious allianc-es helping us out,” said Moore. “Some of them will be doing lunch for us on Tuesday and Wednes-day of Homecoming.”

Moore said this year there will be free Xylo-bands at Homecoming that have been used in Coldplay concerts.

“They’re neon bands that flash different colors to the beat of the music,” Moore said.

4 NEWS October 2, 2012 | theprairienews.com

CORRECTIONS:In the story “Rudy Giuliani coming to Amarillo” (Sept. 25), there were two dates stated for his appearance. The correct date is Oct. 16.

There were various misspelled words throughout the Sept. 25 print edition. We apologize for the oversight and we will work harder to prevent such mistakes from happening.

The Prairie welcomes letters to the editor.

All letters must have the writer’s name, department or major, and classification. Letters will be edited for length, grammar, clarity and content.

Letters may be delivered to: FAC 268 or e-mailed to:

theprairiewt@gmail.com

TEll uS whAT yOu ThINk!

University Police take you to your carRebekah St. ClaiR

RepoRteR

The University Police Department [UPD] not only patrols campus

grounds but also provides help for students. UPD is now escorting students to their cars. A person can call UPD after hours to get an escort to his or her vehicle or if the person is transferring money from building to building.

Dispatcher Christopher Tocci, a senior Music Business major, said most of the services are free to the public. The only service not provided outside of campus by UPD is police

escorts. “The police escort is free to

the public but is only used on campus,” said Tocci.

Unlocking cars for students who get locked out is another free service.

Andrew Alexander, a junior Mass Communication major, has called UPD twice to help him get into his car.

“The first time I got locked out, I was at a football game. I just forgot to grab my keys, said Alexander. “The second time, I shut the door to my truck and immediately realized I would have to call someone after I got out of band rehearsal.”

Although it took slightly

longer the second time, he called to get his vehicle unlocked; he said he would use the service again because the officers and dispatcher were kind and helped as quickly as they could.

“Locking your keys in your car isn’t an emergency, but call UPD’s non-emergency line and we can get you help as soon as we can,” said Tocci.

UPD responds not only to on-campus calls but also off-campus calls for locksmith duty. They can unlock dorm rooms if the night duty RA does not respond to a person’s call. They also help them get back on the road when there are

car problems. UPD can jump vehicles with a portable battery charger or take gas to a person who is stranded. The service itself is free but UPD “won’t foot the bill,” said Tocci. The vehicle jumps are completely free and open to the public.

Recently, UPD has revived the bicycle patrol.

“Bike patrol is assigned to do everything patrol cars can do except unlock or jump cars because we just don’t have a place to put the equipment,” Officer Corporal Paul Brown said.

The bicycle patrolling officers can escort people to or from buildings or vehicles and

can pull people over for traffic violations, as well as watch for those engaging in other crimes.

“Bicycle patrol has been used periodically for the past four years, but has recently been revitalized,” said Cpl. Brown.

A person with an emergency is asked to call 911. If the situation is not dire, call [806] 651-2300 and UPD will help or direct the person to the correct

UPD takes calls 24/7

[806] 651-2300

WTAMU hosts Society of Composers 5NEWSOctober 2, 2012 | theprairienews.com

Courtesy photo/College of eduCation and soCial sCienCes

Daniela Fierro

Web eDitor

For the first time at WTAMU, the School of Music will be hosting the Society of

Composers on Oct. 5-6.“It’s a national organization

that champions new music,” said B.J. Brooks, assistant professor of Music. “It’s divided regionally and we are part of region six.”

Region six includes Texas, Nebraska, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri.

“Every year there is a conference for each region where composers will submit

their work and the hosting organization will go through the entries,” he said.

This year, WT received over 500 entries and from those, about 80 works were selected to be performed over the course of 10 concerts.

“Dr. Carolyn Bremer, Associate Department Chair of [the Bob Cole Conservatory of] Music at California State University, is the guest composer,” Brooks said. “She will be giving a lecture on her music on Friday.”

He said there would also be WT performers, students and faculty, ensembles and guest

performers such as the Amarillo Master Chorale with Dr. Steven Webber.

“Oklahoma Panhandle State University will be associating with us to help perform some of the pieces,” said Brooks. “They’re bringing their choir and band to perform on campus on Saturday evening.”

Dr. Mark Bartley is thrilled that the WT School of Music is hosting the Society of Composers in its first year as a school.

“Its part of higher visibility in that designation that we will be hosting such a big event,” he

said. Bartley will be conducting

the WT orchestra. “Our concert has two parts,”

he said. “The first half will have three pieces by three different composers that will be in the conference and we will have a lecture recital [in the second half.]”

Bartley said they have been practicing at the beginning of the semester and there are around 50 students in the orchestra.

“We always have a lot of recitals going on in the School of Music,” he said, “but this will probably put it on overdrive.”

Bartley said there will a concert going one after the other and they are providing as much opportunity for the composers to have their own music performed by a live group.

“I looked over all the orchestral pieces,” he said, “and it was a massive task because there were 60 different scores that I had to look through based on different criteria.”

The conference’s concerts are free and open to the public. To see the itinerary for the conference go the theprairienews.com.

Download the WTAMU Directory App Now!

Seventh annual Chili Cook-Offalex Gonzales

reporter

College of Education and Social Sciences (COESS) Chili Cook-off has been

a popular event on campus for the past seven years. With the free chili, people come out to support local groups, students, organizations and staff at WTAMU who come to compete.

“It’s basically open to everyone, and there’s no fees, and they’re getting meat donated to them,” Dr. Robin Capt, the Associate Dean of Graduate School and host of the cook-off, said.

The Meat Lab is donating five pounds of meat to all the registered participates so everyone will have a chance to compete. The rules require that contestants must be associated with WT. Groups of up to five people can register.

There will be a live band, The Drew Bledsoe Band, providing entertainment at the cook-off. The competition has

been a bonding experience for some participants.

“My experience was good overall, I had a great time making the chili with my fraternity brothers,” Leif Kertis, senior Criminal Justice major and the President of Sigma Nu Fraternity, said.

Those who do not compete still enjoy the event.

“It’s good fun!” said Pam Miller, the administrative assistant at the Institutional Research. Miller attended the cook-off last year.

There are several winners chosen in the chili cook-off. The judges are usually Dr. Eddie Henderson, the Dean of the College of Education and Social Sciences, four to five faculty members and the student body president. The winners usually get certificates from the University Bookstore.

Categories in the competition include Best Table, Best Chili Name and Best Non-traditional Chili.

The Chili Cook-off will take place on Oct. 4 from 11:30 to 1:30 p.m. at the Pedestrian Mall.

6 SportS October 2, 2012 | theprairienews.com

Welcome back, refereesKeltin Wiens

KWts sports Director

Junior Halie Harton sets to strike the ball back across the net.

JOHN LEE/THE PRAIRIE

Luckily, the NFL referee lockout is now over. The “real” officials are back on

the field because a deal reached Wednesday between the NFL and the referee’s union, the NFLRA. We all owe Ed Hochuli, an NFL ref, for making sure that we didn’t see any more of the farce that was the NFL replacement refs.

On September 14, 2008, Hochuli was officiating a game between the Denver Broncos and the San Diego Chargers. With his team down by seven late, Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler dropped back and the ball slipped from his grasp and the Chargers recovered it. Hochuli ruled it an incomplete pass on the field. Upon further review, it was actually a fumble. Hochuli didn’t give possession to the Chargers because the play had been ruled dead when

Hochuli blew the whistle. This “inadvertent whistle” ruling gave the ball back to Denver and they scored a touchdown and two-point conversion to win.

The blown call unleashed a firestorm of personal attacks against Hochuli. The best NFL officials are the ones that fans don’t even notice. Hochuli’s missed call thrust him into the public spotlight and scrutiny.

Ed Hochuli has since redeemed himself. He saved America’s most popular sport by doing what he does best: make calls.

Hochuli is perhaps the most versed in the complicated NFL rulebook. His explanations of calls during games can sometimes resemble a State of the Union Address by the president, but Ed wanted to make sure the rest of the refs were just as knowledgeable about the rulings as he is.

Throughout the lockout, Hochuli put himself in charge

of preparing the referees for when they got their jobs back. According to Peter King of “Sports Illustrated,” Hochuli would have conference calls with the other officials every Tuesday night to discuss rules. He also gave each official a rules test every week and then would go over the results and answers during the Tuesday calls. This preparation in the lockout has allowed the regular officials to hit the ground running. Hochuli saved all of us from 1-3 miserable weeks of ref preparation after the lockout ended.

So thank you, Ed, for taking it upon yourself to bring order, control and the professional “zebras” back to Sunday afternoons. The stripes you wear are the ones we have been waiting to see the most. May I be one of the many to say, “Thank you, Mr. Hochuli, for saving the sanity of the NFL.”

Want constant sports updates?

Follow The Prairie on Twitter @The_Prairie

John lee

sports reporter

Lady Buffs volleyball rebounds to win on Saturday

After blowing a 2-0 lead Friday against Tarleton, the Lady Buffs took a 2-0

lead against No. 11 Angelo State and eventually took the win in a high scoring 3-2 match.

The Lady Buffs won the fifth set 15-13 off of a kill from sophomore Kameryn Hayes. The Lady Buffs had three players with double digit kills. Senior Erin Dougherty had 16 kills while senior Stormi Lancaster and sophomore Kameryn Hayes each had 19. Lancaster lead the team in hitting percentage at 41 percent.

“That felt good,” Lancaster said. “I haven’t hit like that in a while. It was nice to come out here and be able to be that go to player I used to be.”

The Lady Buffs and the Belles only had one set in which the margin of victory was a double digit number. The Lady Buffs won the first two sets 25-23 and 25-13. Angelo State won the next two sets 19-25 and 23-25 to force a nail biter in the fifth. While the Lady Buffs did not have a repeat of Friday night, where they lost in three straight sets to Tarleton, Head Coach Jason Skoch knows there’s work to be done.

“We’re going to work on

some hitting stuff,” Skoch said. “Then I want to make sure I don’t overcorrect. I don’t know if other coaches talk about this stuff but I think sometimes you can overcorrect.”

Despite falling behind by three or more points six times, it was the only contributing factor in one loss. Lancaster feels that coming from behind in the fashion they did speaks for the kind of team that they are.

“It’s a big confidence booster because the ball could have rolled just like it did last night with going to five sets and then losing,” Lancaster said. “I just think that we proved how much fighters that we really are.”

The Lady Buffs will be on the road starting Oct. 5 against Incarnate Word, but before then both Lancaster and Skoch believes that the emphasis should be on coming together as a team in big moments.

“What we’re going to stress is team,” Skoch said. “Even if you’re a starter or nonstarter, we’re going to sit there and if you don’t produce, the whole team is suffering and we’re going to make them talk to each other.”

After Incarnate Word, the Lady Buffs stay on the road on Oct. 6 against Texas A&M-Kingsville and Oct. 13 facing rival Abilene Christian University.

The Lady Buffs start their home stand against Eastern New Mexico on Oct. 16.

7SPORTSOctober 2, 2012 | theprairienews.com

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Football remains undefeated in LSC playMatt Watkins

sports Editor

The No. 23 WTAMU football team hosted the Tarleton State Texans on Sept. 29

at Kimborough Memorial Stadi-um in Canyon. The Buffs’ offense erupted after the first quarter in a 41-21 defeat of the Texans.

TSU scored first after a fum-ble by junior Torrance Allen on a touchdown run to make it 7-0 with 8:19 left in the first quar-ter. On the ensuing kickoff, red-shirt freshman Jarrian Rhone took the kick back 79 yards to

the Texans’ 18 yard line before junior Dustin Vaughn hit fellow junior Trevor Hammargren for a 15-yard score that tied the game at 7-7.

After TSU fumbled the ball on the WT 44, Vaughn found Allen for a 56 yard strike that put the Buffs on top 14-7 with 10:32 remaining in the first half. Then, after a WT field goal and a blocked Texans punt, Vaughn connected with senior running back Khiry Robinson for a 14-yard touchdown that gave the Buffs a 24-7 lead going into the half.

The Texans found the end zone just three minutes into the third and cut WT’s lead down to 24-14. Following a Buffs field goal, TSU quarterback Aaron Doyle ran it in from six yards out to bring the Texans within six, at 27-21.

WT would respond with a one yard touchdown run by red-shirt freshman Geremy Aldridge to make it 34-21. The Buffs fin-ished the scoring on a 35-yard touchdown pass from Vaughn to Allen.

“I saw two tough teams out there tonight,” Head Coach

Don Carthel said. “It was a very physical game and the Buffaloes came through.”

Robinson was the Buffs’ of-fensive star, carrying the ball 18 times for 125 yards but no touchdowns on the ground. He also had six catches for 90 yards and a score.

“Khiry’s a warrior,” Carthel said. “You better bring every-thing you got if you’re going to tackle him one-on-one.”

WT is now 4-1 on the season and 3-0 in Lone Star Conference action. The Buffs will travel to Angelo to play Angelo State on

Oct. 6 at 6 p.m. and return home to take on Abilene Christian for Homecoming on Oct. 13.

Alex MontoyA/the PrAirieMaroon Platoon charge the field with

flags as the football players enter.

8 ENTERTAINMENT October 2, 2012 | theprairienews.com

Collecting Art HistoryLaci McGee

RepoRteR

phoebe SincLaiR

RepoRteR

WT student joins cast on ALT mainstageRobin MoSieR

RepoRteR

Courtesy Photo/College of fine arts and humanities

“Collecting Art History: Taste on the Southern Plains” is a unique gallery that was

curated by WTAMU assistant professor of Art History Amy Von Lintel, Panhandle Plains Historical Museum Associate Director for Curatorial Affairs, Curator of Art Michael Grauer and PPHM Member Elly Mons.

“This gallery is western by collector rather than subject,” Von Lintel said.

West Texas ranchers donated each of the works in the gallery to the PPHM and all of the artwork shown is dated from 1880 to 1950.

“These collectors brought European culture to a new area” Von Lintel said.

The works in the gallery have ties to older art work in Europe. There are European designs that

are also on the porcelain works displayed in the gallery, such as miniature pictures of Napoleon, Marie Antoinette and the Virgin Mary. Yet, ranchers in West Texas collected this artwork.

“This gallery is a true broad picture,” Grauer said. He said it illustrates through the artwork how the collectors’ tastes changed as West Texas artists became more prominent.

Assistant Professor of English Bonnie Roos is teaching a modernism course this semester. She said she wants her students to understand “how it confirms and critiques the world we live in.”

“With the artwork in this gallery being in dialogue with European art, it is a chance for students to see how major artists influence Texas arts,” said Roos.

This gallery is open from September 15, 2012 until February 16, 2013.

The curtain pulled back and history was made at the Amarillo Little

Theatre Friday Sept. 20 as ALT kicked off opening night of their 85th anniversary Mainstage sea-son with the epic musical Les Miserables. According to ALT Academy Director Jason Crestin, ALT is the first community the-atre in Texas to obtain the rights from Music Theatre Interna-tional to produce Les Miserables. An internationally-renowned classic celebrating 25 years of existence, the over 35-member cast is the second largest in ALT history, and according to Crestin the honor of ALT producing Les

Miserables brought pressure for the theatre.

“There were definitely high expectations that came with this show as far as the level of talent that we needed,” Crestin said. “But we are lucky to have such talented actors in our commu-nity. [Director] Allen Shankles has done a fantastic job, he re-ally overcame any obstacles he thought he may have had.”

According to opening night attendee and ALT regular Matt Morgan, the cast was made up of the absolute best the Amarillo community has to offer.

“The talent that was in [Les Miserables], from the leads to the chorus, was probably the most talent that I’ve ever seen

on stage at one time at ALT,” Morgan said. “Even the sets were more intricate and the cos-tumes were amazing. I would say that it definitely looked like it took more work than anything I’ve ever seen there.”

Among the talent in Les Mis-erables is WTAMU senior sec-ondary education major Sam Smeaton in the role of Enjolras, head of the revolutionary effort in the show.

“I know this show by heart, and I have for years,” Smeaton said. “It’s a dream come true to be in [Les Miserables], specifi-cally playing the role I have. It’s something I’ve wanted to be in since I was ten years old.”

Given the historic merit and

clout Les Miserables has in the theatre community, Smeaton said the energy-opening week-end was incredible.

“After the show, one lady came up to me and said she was ready to jump out of her chair and join the revolution,” Smea-ton said.

The tangible energy was something Smeaton, Morgan and Crestin all attested to feel-ing from their various areas of the theater while the show was running.

“It’s a great time to be at the theatre,” Crestin said. “Before opening night, there was a defi-nite sense of excitement, it being a record-breaking show at ALT. The last couple of weeks have

been electric watching people who have followed [Les Misera-bles] for so long finally getting to be part of the show.”

Smeaton said being a part of the show was one of the most gratifying things he’s ever done.

“[Les Miserables] is arguably the most well-known musical in Broadway history,” Smeaton said. “It’s really emotionally in-tense. There’s romance, sacri-fice, death, comradery, people are teary-eyed by the end of it. It has a depth that a lot of people appreciate, it’s easily one of the best stories ever written.”

Les Miserables will end its three-week run on the ALT Mainstage with a final perfor-mance on Oct. 7.

The WTAMU Department of Theatre presents “The Elephant Man,” directed

by Royal Brantley. It will debut at the Happy State Bank The-ater on Oct. 4 at 7:30 p.m. The play is about a surgeon who rescues a man being ridiculed for his disfigured body.

Brantley said that WT’s in-terpretation of the play will not vary much from the original one.

“It is an intrinsic interpre-tation,” he said. “We wanted to honor the author [Bernard Pomerance], so the play is very much what the author intend-ed.”

WT students Zeke Lewis stars as John Merrick and Jo-siah Robinson plays Frederick Treves.

Brantley said that the audi-ence should expect a good in-

terpretation of “The Elephant Man.”

“You will experience three main things; really good acting, a wonderful visual setting and many thought-provoking ques-tions,” he said.

The main action of the play is the interaction between Treves and Merrick. Merrick, who is looking out for Frederick to receive information about his medical condition, begins to realize that underneath his de-formed exterior lies depth and sensitivity.

“It has always been one of my favorite plays,” Chance Au-try, junior Business Education major, said. “I was thrilled to find out WT will be performing it.”

Brantley said what inspired him to direct “The Elephant Man” was the script itself.

“It is one of the best plays;

extremely well written. It has inner strength and inner beau-ty. The play is full of messages.”

“The Elephant Man” is draw-ing an exciting response from students.

“Ever since I heard about the play I was genuinely ex-cited to see it,” Yesenia Castro, freshman Mathematics major, said.

“The Elephant Man” debuts

9GAMESOctober 2, 2012 | theprairienews.com

Can YOU finish first?

We are giving away $10 iTunes gift cards.

Finish the three puzzles with the correct answers

and turn it in at FAC room 103.

Last Week’s

ansWers

10 FEATURE October 2, 2012 | theprairienews.com

UK Debate Team to visit WTAMU again

Megan Moore

reporter

Legacy Open Mic Night

The UK Debaters are a group who come to America each year, visit-

ing certain universities and par-ticipating in debates with the students of those schools. They will be at WTAMU on Monday, October 8 at 6:00 p.m., debat-ing with two students from the Communications department. The event will take place in the Jack B. Kelly Student Center and all students are encouraged to attend.

“The event is beneficial to those participating and the ones who attend,” Keagan Folkerts, CORE student activities consul-tant, said. “People get to hear the opinions of people from

somewhere else. Their ways of thinking are different from ours and it’s really cool to hear them talk.”

The two UK debaters are Ettie Baily-King and Willard Foxton. The WT students who will participate in the debates are Bethany Beck, a graduate student in the Communication department and Chris Briden-baugh, a senior Corporate Com-munications major. Each de-bater will be paired up from a member of the opposite team to ensure fairness.

Beck, who is currently a graduate assistant for the WT Speech Team, said debate teach-es critical thinking and provides participants the confidence to

succeed in whatever field they choose to go into. She said she first became interested in de-bate in high school.

“I began competing in Lin-coln-Douglas Debate my fresh-man year of high school which was back in 2000,” Beck said. “From 2004 to 2008, I compet-ed in parliamentary debate for Cameron University. I love de-bate and think that it is a fantas-tic activity.”

Bridenbaugh said he started debating during his senior year of high school and has been in-volved with it in some version ever since.

”I was actually asked to par-ticipate in the debates my first year at WT, and they haven’t

been able to get rid of me since,” Bridenbaugh said.

The event is hosted by Lamb-da Phi Eta and paid for by the Distinguished Lecture group. It will be parliamentary style de-bate, which means the audience is encouraged to participate by choosing sides to support and agreeing and disagreeing with the debaters out loud. At the end, audience members will be able to vote and decide which team won the debate.

“They have been doing this for several years and it’s always a really great experience for ev-eryone who comes out,” Folk-erts said.

The debate is free and open to the public. According to Beck,

the debate will be a lot of fun.“The British debaters have a

history of being extremely fun,” Beck said. “They have always come to enjoy themselves and interact with American students in an enjoyable and entertaining way.”

Bridenbaugh said that even students who aren’t sure if de-bate is something they are inter-ested in, they should still check out the event.

“Even if you don’t like or understand debate, you can at least listen to some awesome British accents and if that isn’t enough a lot of professors are offering extra credit if you at-tend,” Bridenbaugh said.

Brooke Selfreporter

TOP LEFT: Amy McDivitt speaks at the Legacy Open Mic Night.

TOP RIGHT: Caley Compton junior Education major, poses after the event.

BOTTOM LEFT: The group listens to English major Trey Wallace.

Journalism ethics is difficult territory 11opinionOctober 2, 2012 | theprairienews.com

Question of the Week

The Prairie will be asking a Question of the Week every Tuesday through Facebook and Twitter. Reply to our Question of the Week post on Facebook or use the hashtag #thePrairieAsks on Twitter to respond. Student responses will be printed in the next edition of The Prairie.

“Do you trust politicians? Do you think they tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?”

“I think politicians reveal to the public, only that which will ultimately sway the public’s response. If that means leaving out some details then so be it.” -- Brandon Upton

“No, they just say what they believe we want to hear whether it is true or not.” -- Jilian Youree

Fox News landed in hot water Friday afternoon during the airing of

‘Studio B with Shepard Smith.’ The program was airing a live car chase out of Phoenix, which showed the car suspect

shoot himself after exiting his car. Most networks set up a five to 10-second delay for live coverage in case violence occurs. ‘Studio B’s’ control room could not cut away from the coverage in time.

This isn’t an argument about CNN versus Fox News versus MSNBC or liberal versus conservative media. The main issue here is the journalism ethics that was violated, whether or not it was intentional.

It may seem laughable to some that j o u r n a l i s m has a code of ethics given some of the tabloid fodder and punditry that circulates, but it’s true. J o u r n a l i s m ethics is so fluid and it changes as t e c h n o l o g y becomes more a d v a n c e d .

Some things always hold true: Don’t set up a fake shot for video or photos. Don’t plagiarize another’s work. Don’t show dead bodies.

If you ever look back at footage of violence on TV news, notice that you hear gunshots, but never see a body fall. News organizations have to make tough calls quickly on a daily basis. We constantly walk the tightrope of “right to know” versus “need to know” when it comes to tough stories. Unfortunately, we don’t always make the right choice.

BuzzFeed, a social news organization that specifically covers what citizens are talking about, posted the edited and unedited clip of the incident. BuzzFeed is also taking some heat for having both clips available to their audience.

To Fox News’ credit, after the commercial break, Smith immediately apologized to the audience and explained what happened.

A mark of a good news organization is one that is

willing to own up to its own mistakes. The New York Times does it. The Wall Street Journal does it. The Prairie even does it.

Some are questioning why Fox News aired a car chase in the first place (and to a lesser extent, BuzzFeed). Was it a slow news day? It’s understandable for local stations to cover it because citizens might get in harm’s way. With a few exceptions (such as O.J. Simpson), car chases do not serve a purpose for the general public, except for entertainment.

As mentioned earlier, news organizations have to make tough decisions about what they show to the public. Is this an issue that can be easily fixed? No. As long as there are humans running the control room and the editorial direction, mistakes happen. That doesn’t mean the public should distrust the media for it. If anything, distrust media organizations that don’t own up to their own mistakes. If they can’t own up to their own shortcomings, it’s fair game to assume they’re hiding other things.

Fox News anchor Shepard Smith after violent car chase footage hits the air.screenshot from YoUtUBe

12 PHOTOS October 2, 2012 | theprairienews.com

Band members Alexandra Brickel (junior), Jennie Witcher (junior) and Caressa Crawford (junior) pose before the half-time show on Sept. 29.

This Week in Photos: WT community gathers

@The_Prairiefacebook.com/theprairiewt

In memory of Shelbi McClure, a junior pre-nursing student who died last week in a train collision. A memorial was held for her on Sept. 25.

Junior Cristina Garcia gets crowd shots for the big screen at Saturday’s football game.

Alex MontoyA

Photo editor

WT’s Pom Squad gets the crowd pumped up at the football game on Sept. 29.