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Make You BetterOur journey to the Texas Intercollegiate Press Convention was an eventful multiple days for all involved, from receiving awards and accolades for various submissions from former issues to walking around the streets to San Antonio with a homeless man.

Coverage begins on Page 2

Smoke and MirrorsRecent research has raised the question as to whether e-cigarette “vapes” are really safer than their carcinogen-laden brethren. With the new trend continually on the rise we talked to everyone from A&M-Commerce students to experts in the !eld in an e"ort to settle the debate.

Page 4

Run so FarA&M-Commerce track and !eld atheletes continued their strong season last week with decathlon competitor Matt Rich winning the event and setting a new school record. Now he and the rest of his “running” mates prepare for a new athletic showcase... right in their own backyard.

Page 7

Mia JohnsonSta= Writer

An attempt by Texas lawmakers to limit public record-ing of police o>cers has been abandoned after receiving bilateral opposition.

?e Dallas Republicans’ bill, entitled House Bill 2918, stated that individuals within 25 feet of an arresting o>cer will be @ned and or arrested with the exception of media crews. Anyone carrying a concealed handgun would have to stay at least 100 feet away.

“I disagree with the whole 25 feet rule,” Lt. Jason Bone of A&M-Commerce Police said. “We @lm everything here so I see no problem with it unless obviously I’m on the scene and somebody walks up in between me and the person and sticks a camera in my face. People should be allowed to @lm the police, @remen, whoever it is. Just of course be re-spectful. It can be a safety issue if people start crossing over crime scene tape and restricting boundaries. A few years back a student went up to the back of the ambulance and took pictures through the windows. Just don’t do stu= like that, give some breathing room and stay respectful.”

According to the Dallas Morning News, State. Rep Ja-son Villalba said the bill was not meant to completely ban @lming and that he would @x the bill, which was improp-erly written by an outside police group. He states that 25 feet is normal police protocol and that police are here to keep us safe and thus should not be interfered with while working.

“Now 25 feet is just crazy,” Freshman Brittany Jones said. “I’m a criminal justice major and I can honestly say I’m glad this bill wasn’t passed. It’s your device and your right. As long as I’m not invading too much personal space I should be able to record.”

Police recordings have gone viral recently, with hun-dreds posted on YouTube each year. ?anks to advances in technology, people are able to @lm and put videos up in a matter of minutes. In 2013, a Dallas police o>cer was @lmed shooting a mentally ill man 52 times at a local ser-vice station. In early April, a Hunt County Sheri=s deputy was @lmed brutally punching a pregnant woman in front of her son, for which a protest is being held this week in front of the Hunt County Sherri= ’s o>ce.

“How do people really know how far 25 feet is, that’s the question,” Sophomore Crystal Johnson said. “Are of-@cers going to carry some measuring tape? I feel like this whole thing goes against the freedom of the press amend-ment.”

A Facebook page was created in backlash to Villalba and the bill. Citizens accuse Villalba of violating the @rst and second amendments in order to protect police. It is due to this extended public outcry, Villalba told Dallas Morning News, that the bill has now been entirely abandoned.

“I taught in Dallas ISD for over ten years and constant-ly got on students for having phones out,” Stephanie Wil-liams of Dallas said. “My point is, you never know who is recording. My thoughts on the bill is that if it goes through are not, people are gonna continue to record bad police activity and post it regardless.”

?e house bill continues to receive backlash from citi-zens.

“People are mad, they don’t like this,” Criminal Justice major Kevin Douglas said. “ Even the police record, so what’s the big deal? I really don’t see it.”

Controversial police !lming bill shot down

Earthshaking

PHOTO COURTESY/NBC.COM

Texas A&M-Commerce’s most wanted Psychology major has dominated the competition on NBC’s The Voice, wailing her way to the Top 12 of the live competitions where she performed Stevie Nicks’ “Edge of Seventeen.” “It’s really incredible to be in the Top 12,” Kirby said. “From the start, I didn’t know how far I was going to go just because it’s crazy to even be on this show in the !rst place. It’s not an opportunity that a lot of people are blessed to have the chance to do. It’s just totally crazy.”

T!" E#$% T"&#' S%#((Editor Managing Editor Sports EditorNews EditorSenior ReportersFaculty AdviserPhoneEmailThe Special MagazineEast Texan WebsiteEast Texan Print Issue Online

Andrew BurnesPatricia Dillon

Ryan ScottJoseph Alderman

Alissa Silva, Ismael IsakFred Stewart

903-886-5985theeasttexan@gmail.com

www.issuu.com/thespecialtamuceasttexan.com

http://issuu.com/tamuc.easttexan

The East Texan, official student newspaper of Texas A&M University-Commerce, is pub-lished 11 times per semester during the Fall and Spring by students including journal-ism students in reporting classes. Content is solely the responsibility of the student staff and writers. The comments and views expressed in The East Texan, in print or on-line, do not necessarily reflect the beliefs of other students, staff, faculty, administration, or the Board of Trustees. The East Texan is located in Room113 of the Journalism Build-ing. Single copies of The East Texan are free, additional copies are available in The East Texan offices for an additional 25 cents each.

Letters to the Texan are welcome and should be limited to 350 words. They may be edited for spelling, grammar and libelous and malicious statements. The East Texan reserves the right to refuse publication. Letters should be typed or emailed, must include a valid signature and contact information, and can be sent to theeast-texan@gmail.com or PO Box 4104, Texas A&M University-Commerce, Commerce, TX 75428.

Letters to the Texan

A!"#$ %&, '(%)P*+, 2 O!"#"$#

Based on a proposed ban in the Texas Senate on the sale of powdered alcohol, this cartoon won East Texan editor Joseph Alderman -rst place for editorial cartooning at the Texas Intercollegiate Press AssociationLe)ers to the Editor:

Late RegistrationThis week’s round of letters to the editor continue the debate over Kanye West’s interpretational brilliance, Bill Carr’s amazing life, and some ‘great news’ regarding A&M-Commerce’s teaching program from our nation’s capital

As a college student, you already know how much GPAs matter.

Your grade point average determines whether or not you keep your scholarships. It a.ects your chances of getting into grad school. It could be the tie-breaker when you’re competing for a job.

But grades also matter because they are supposed to re/ect what you know and can do.

While everyone wants good grades, it’s generally a bad sign when everyone gets them. If that’s happening, the bar for “excellence” is too low. Some people are getting high grades for doing less, cheapening the value of an A so that truly exceptional students don’t stand out.

A recent report, Easy A’s and What’s Behind 0em, by the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) looks at more than 500 colleges (including Texas A&M University - Commerce) and -nds that, on average, about 30 percent of all students at these schools graduate with grade-based honors.

What’s troubling for NCTQ,

a research organization that advocates for improving the instruction of K-12 students by improving the preparation of their teachers, is that Easy A’s also found that teacher candidates at the schools we reviewed are nearly 50 percent more likely than their peers across campus to graduate with honors.

At Texas A&M University - Commerce, however, there is no worrisome discrepancy between the proportion of teacher candidates who earn honors and other majors. Speci-cally, insert 27.22 percent of soon-to-be teachers at Texas A&M University - Commerce graduate with honors, which compares with 22.36 percent for all programs on campus.

We hope to see more institutions follow this example. For teacher candidates and all other students, if virtually everyone has stellar grades, an easy A doesn’t really help you get a job, and it de-nitely won’t help you keep it.

- Kate Walsh, Washington D.C.

I would lim to thank Michelle Dillon for writing a letter to 0e East Texan on April 2, 2015. It shows and proves that concerned citizens read this great newspaper online or in printed news form. We need more comments. I agree as a past graduate of this -ne university. I keep in touch as a graduate of the university that taught me to have a joyful, exciting life as a teacher (which is indeed its bloodline and initial purpose). My, how it has grown since 1962 when I graduated with my B.S. and later with my M.E.d.

However, I have a few controversities with Michelle. 0e writer agreed with her completely on “Kanye West’s social skills. 0e writer admitted that “Kanye, according to the critics, is abrasive and crass.” In my opinion only, I believe the black culture is more likely to “speak out” - say what they are thinking during a speech. 0is is good.

As a teacher, my black children, whom I loved dearly for their excitement and exuberance in the lesson were making what seemed to me a lot of noise. I asked them to be quitter “just as if you were in church,” and oh my goodness, they started shouting “Amen! Amen! You tell it teacher!” I realized that my church was quite solemn and quiet so I asked my pastor would he

prefer total silence or a few amens and he said he liked a few comments and amens because it proved they were not asleep and were indeed listening.

0e writer of the article did say that many in our “white” culture appreciated those who acted more like us “whites” (which, by the way, is quite a mixture). I especially liked his comparison to Jay-Z. I simply, as a woman of any race or culture, can’t abide listening to many rappers like him because as the writer said, they are clearly demeaning to women. “I thug ‘em, fuck ‘em, love ‘em, leave ‘em, ‘cause I don’t fuckin’ need ‘em.” While this is not the content of Kanye’s rap.

I appreciate him! Any woman in any sociological system can not truly like Jay-Z and others that degrade women. I know, because I am a woman. At the same time, because of my profession and love for children, I can appreciate loud feelings and interruptions if it is a part of your being, culture and love in the very moment you are living.

- Paula Raynes

P.S. As an old post-graduate, I love the new and improved layout of the front page.

LOVED the story on Bill Carr. Can you imagine playing behind Frank Sinatra? Or Jimi Hendix? Or just knowing all the people he has known? Incredible work he has done. My God what a life! And Travis Hairgrove told the story beautifully. Great piece of work.

- Jim Raynes

I was reading last week’s edition and read your article about the veterans’ project dinner. Noted that you were a native of Leonard. I am too. Graduated from LHS in 1969 and TAMU-C in 1972. I am on the University’s Foundation Board, am a past president of the Alumni Association and presently teach Federal Income Tax as an adjunct professor in the Accounting Department of the College of Business.

0e purpose of this letter is to just say how good it is to see a LHS alumnus taking a leadership role at our University. Keep up the great work.

- M.J. “Mick” Trusty

A Simple Twist of FateAndrew BurnesEditor

0e buildup to the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association was big for me. I was a year removed from my -rst outing, one that I had enjoyed thoroughly. It had been an eye-opening experience, however, it also made me realize that in the grand scheme of things, 0e East Texan was nothing but a pawn. And I’m not talking about that one special pawn that makes it to the other side of the board to become a queen. No, we were likely one of the -rst to be sacri-ced. I realized that if I was going to be a success, I needed to take my time as editor of my college newspaper a bit more seriously.

One year later, I felt as though I had. Whether you’re a fan of 0e East Texan, or you think it’s just a rag used primarily for laughs, there is no denying that we improved in great spades over the course of the past year. While this improvement can be attributed to each and every sta. member, photographer and other contributor (yes, even you Ismael, wherever you are), I took great pride in being a part of it. But as TIPA approached, the time was coming for my, and my paper’s, identity to be challenged.

But that was only a small part of what made this trip so big to me. You see, in addition to my hopes of proving my journalistic excellence, I aspired to -nd something more: companionship. 0ere was this particular girl I had been smitten with since I met her when she was in the basic reporting class last semester. It started o. small, but ended up being one of my mind’s dominating subjects of thought for months, even though I really only saw her when I was at work. But thanks to my pull as editor, her skills as a writer, and Fred’s signature on the dotted line, she was coming with us to San Antonio, a seemingly romantic land of scenic riverwalks and towering skyscrapers of opportunity. I couldn’t wait to take my chance.

While my -rst goal as a journalist was a great success (see page 3), my more omnipresent goal horribly underwhelmed expectations. 0e most time we spent alone was 10 minutes in my hotel room while Joseph was out talking to his girlfriend on the phone. Not exactly what I expected.

CONT. ON PAGE 6

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Mindfulness can save your life. Okay, maybe not really; but it certainly can show you how to live. Being mindful is about being present and in the moment. When we spend our time thinking about the future this can produce anxiety. When we f ind ourselves lingering in thoughts of the past, this can manifest into depression. Neither of these aforementioned op-tions allows you to enjoy the very moment that you could be experiencing. The past no longer exists and the future is merely an idea of what could be. The here and now is what living truly is. It is NOW and it tends to be the one we avoid the most.

Jon Kabat-Zinn, Professor of Medicine emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, a world-famous leader in mindfulness, and the founder of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program, offers the following def inition “Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way; on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.” Let’s break that down to gain a better understanding.

First, it’s important to note that being mindful and being aware are not the same things. You can be aware that you are feeling irritated with a friend. However, to be mindful would mean that you are pur-posely aware of every sensation that the senses are ex-periencing with the irritation, as well as the response to those sensations, such as your breathing. It would mean noticing what the mind wanders to without at-taching yourself to any of the thoughts.

To pay attention in the present moment is to recog-nize that that mind is designed to think and to be ac-cepting of the fact that it will wander. The point here is to simply notice what the mind is thinking about without following “the rabbit trail” of the thought and getting lost in it. Being present, in a mindful way, is to acknowledge the thought by recognizing what it is. It is to recognize that we’re thinking about the past or the future and to allow the thought to move about like a cloud drifting into and out of con-sciousness.

Mindfulness is a state of emotional non-reactivity. It is continuing to be aware, cognitively, of how we are experiencing things but to not attach any emotional value to it. It’s a process of letting go of evaluation such as identifying something as “good” or “bad”. It also includes any expectations of a mindfulness prac-tice. Sometimes we want to experience something in particular and/or decide that what we are currently experiencing isn’t acceptable, so we label it and judge it. It’s important to recognize that whatever the ex-perience is we are having, it is treated with equanim-ity. Whatever we observe, we simply notice it and nothing more.

Want to learn more about Mindfulness? Please consider joining the Mindful Mondays group: Mon-day’s, April 20th to May 4th, from 2-3PM. To learn more or sign up please contact: Shannon.Moseley@tamuc.edu or 903-886-5145.

Ideas or questions for the Counseling Corner? Call (903) 886-5145 or stop by the Counseling Center in Halladay Student Services Bldg, Rm #204. Previ-ous articles can be found on the Counseling Center website.

Counseling CornerA Mindful Lifesaver

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At last week’s Texas Intercollegiate Press Associa on�  conven on�  at�  the�  El�  Tropicano�  hotel�  in�  San�  Antonio,�  The East Texan took home�  second�  place�  in�  Overall�  Excellence�  in�  Division�  3,�  the�  most�  crowded�  division�  in�  the�  associa on.�  In�  addi on,�  Joseph�  Alderman�  (le ),�  The�  East�  Texan’s�  current�  News�  Edi-tor�  and�  editorial�  cartoonist,�  won�  first�  place�  at�  the�  live�  editorial�  cartoon�  compe on,�  bea ng�  out�  every�  other�  cartoonist�  in�  the�  state�  of�  Texas.�  The�  staff�  also�  won�  numerous�  awards�  for�  submissions�  from�  previous�  issues.�  Awards�  included�  1st�  place�  for�  Sports�  Ac on�  Photo�  to�  Kristen�  Taylor,�  3rd�  place�  for�  Sports�  Ac on�  Photo�  to�  Aaron�  Hwang,�  1st�  place�  to�  Patricia�  Dillon�  for�  Sports�  Page�  Design,�  2nd�  place�  to�  Patricia�  Dillon�  for�  Picture�  Story,�  2nd�  place�  to�  Kristen�  Taylor�  for�  Feature�  Photo,�  3rd�  place�  to�  Andrew�  Burnes�  for�  Feature�  Story,�  3rd�  place�  to�  Andrew�  Burnes�  for�  Feature�  Page�  Deisgn,�  3rd�  place�  to�  Joseph�  Alderman�  for�  News�  Story�  and�  1st�  place�  to�  Andrew�  Burnes�  for�  Cri cal�  Review�  among�  others.�  Individuals�  who�  a ended�  from�  A&M-­‐Commerce�  include�  Travis�  Hairgrove,�  Kristen�  Taylor,�  Alissa�  Silva,�  Andrew�  Burnes,�  Patricia�  Dillon,�  Joseph�  Alder-man,�  Kelly�  Fulton,�  Aaron�  Hwang�  and�  Ryan�  Sco �  (Top�  from�  le ).

C!"#$% APRIL 16, 2015PAGE 4

New and Old Options Available for Student Health Insurance

Dajonay StewartSta! Writer

New changes to the American healthcare system are leaving students unsure of what options they have available.

Student health plans have increasingly become a topic of discussion with the recent changes in the health care system. "e A!ordable Care Act reform has mandated that college students have some form of health insurance. "e insurance could be through the students’ school, parents, or on their own. If a student cannot a!ord a plan of any kind, they can apply for Medicaid.

A bene#t for most college students who choose to continue with their parents plan is the option of being covered until they are 26. If the student does not buy health insurance through their school or under their parents, then the student will have to look into the A!ordable Care Act plans or the healthcare marketplace.

"e healthcare marketplace is designed to have cheaper prices than other options for insurance. Based on the Healthcare.gov website, a person is covered if they have insurance through their Medicaid, CHIP, a self-bought plan, or through their jobs. Without coverage, a person may have to pay a penalty of approximately $325 a month.

"e ACA allows students a handful of options for their healthcare. Most colleges o!er student health plans through their system that can classify as a form of health insurance. On the campus of Texas A&M University – Commerce, students, faculty and sta! are eligible for health care through the A&M University system.

Academic Health Plans provides the health insurance for the university. Since there is not an o$ce for more information on the student health plans, a website is provided to those interested. By going to www.tamus.myahpcare.com, people seeking out plans can see the enrollment info, cost and more when selecting a plan that is a!ordable to them.

Some health care providers are suggesting that healthcare through the ACA may be cheaper than it is through the school system. A&M University – Commerce Human Resources Bene#ts Coordinator Cynthia Todhunter suggests that the health plan through the system may be cheaper than what a student could acquire independently.

“"at’s what we refer our students to. "ey can go out to the open marketplace that the A!ordable Healthcare Act has provided, but usually this plan is set up as a group plan for a better premium,” Todhunter said. “When they look at the package, the company looks at your policy as more of a group plan.”

Many students on campus may not know about the plans, and may go to Student Health Services for more information. "e Student Health Services Insurance Coordinator Stacy Compton says that, while they do not provide the plan, health services will #le the insurance for the student.

“It will cover everything they have done on campus. It can be used outside of campus at other doctor o$ces,” Compton said.

Based on the amount of students enrolled in the plan, roughly half of the university takes advantage of these bene#ts.

“I would say only about 50 percent of students have this plan. "e majority being international and athletes. International

students are required to have this plan,” Compton said.International students are required to have the Texas A&M

University System Student Health Insurance Plan, the premium charge for which being put onto their student fees. International Student Services Administrative Assistant Dawn McPherson says that, although it is a requirement, there are exceptions.

“"e international student has to have a graduate assistant position or have Blue Cross or Blue Shield through Human Resources for a waiver or partial refund,” McPherson said. “"ey have to have a health plan as long as they are on the Texas A&M University – Commerce campus.”

Former South Korean international student Jiyoon Chung rarely would use her card, but had a few words about the prices.

“I had to pay the insurance fee but never used the card,” Chung said. “I believe that it I paid around $600 but the insurance fee has increased every semester.”

Another international student, Caribbean native Dahlia Dupuis, wishes that she could get more out of the plan.

“I wish I could use it for my eye prescription or to get new glasses,” Dupuis said. “"e price is almost $700 this semester and it just keeps getting expensive.”

Despite the costs for some students and the requirement for others, the student health care plan and the A!ordable Care Act do provide ways to encourage students to receive a health care plan in case of emergencies. "ere are multiple ways to be able to a!ord a health care plan, but the student has to research and choose which plan is a!ordable to their needs.

"is last week, members of the Political Science department at Texas A&M University - Commerce held their Model Arab League. Assistant Secretary General Je! McCloud described the purpose of the event as “to teach students about the politics and history of the Arab world. Participants in the model must immerse themselves in the history, politics and society of the particular nation they will represent in said model in order to act as that nation would. "is gives the students an opportunity to learn about not just one nation, but the entire Middle East region as one nation’s history,politics and society exist in the context of interactions with their neighbors. It creates an opportunity for participants to become more tolerant of other people and their ways of life and, in short, makes the participants more global citizens.

At the model, students work together in various committees to draft and pass resolutions dealing with topics the actual League of Arab States deals with. In this way the students gain a more intimate knowledge of the inner-workings of the Arab League and politics in general.

Left to Right: Dr. Je!rey Herndon, Associate Professor of Law at the Texas A&M University School of Law Sahar Aziz, Secretary General David Gosbee, and National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations representative Nabil Sharaf

PHOTO COURTESY / JEFFREY MCCLOUD

Model Arab

League

EAST TEXAN PHOTOS / JOSEPH ALDERMAN

Janelle TaylorSta! Writer

College students are speaking out about the New England Journal of Medicine’s reported #nding of formaldehyde in the vapor of electronic cigarettes [e-cigarettes].

In “vaped” e-cigarettes, more than 2% of the total solvent molecules are reported to have converted to formaldehyde-releasing agents, reaching concentrations higher than those of nicotine. "is happens when propylene glycol and glycerol is heated in the presence of oxygen to temperatures reached by commercially available e-cigarettes operating at high [5.0] voltage, according to the journal.

Despite these #ndings, not all are quick to think all e-cigarettes are bad.

“"e evidence out there today suggests that they are a safer alternative to cigarettes,” senior environmental and biological science major Canaan Sutton said. “All studies conclude that they are biologically inert, and nicotine has negative health e!ects not directly linked to cancer.”

Vanessa Lyons and Sarah Cantu, both senior Physics majors, prefer regular cigarettes to e-cigarettes. Lyons said she tried to smoke the e-cigarette, but that the regular cigarette was more comfortable during breaks.

Cantu added to that, saying she had heard a little about the report but does not know enough details to comment, but that she prefers traditional cigarettes, as well.

"e biological and environmental sciences department head did not respond to questions about the use of formaldehyde in his department, but Sutton spoke of his encounter with it during class.

“My interaction with formaldehyde is mostly limited to sealed containers with preserved specimens, with no direct contact,” Sutton said. “I would follow standard laboratory safety protocol.”

"e Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] states formaldehyde is a colorless, %ammable gas at room temperature; it has a pungent, distinct odor and may cause a burning sensation to the eyes, nose, and lungs at high concentrations. Formaldehyde is found in everyday products like fertilizers, cosmetics, carpets, cleaning agents and preserved foods. "e substance is produced by both human activity and natural sources.

“E-cigarette sales have risen steadily, and the tobacco companies have taken notice,” manager of Chaney’s Tobacco Station Rebecca Sego said. “"e study has not decreased sales and there aren’t any special regulations yet, but we always only sell to 18 and over adults. Most of our electronic cigarettes sales are from nonsmokers.

According to Sutton, he has “quite a few friends who smoke e-cigarettes and have decreased there nicotine intake overtime.”

"e scientist that conducted the study does state that more research needs to be done into the e!ects e-cigarettes. "e complete e!ects cannot be fully known until the proper time for exposure to humans is successfully tested, typically over a period of 10 to 20 years.

College students not fazed by

e-cigare!e study

Rachel CohnWriter

Long gone are the days of seedy sailors and jack-booted bikers being the sole recipients of body art. Tattoos are everywhere, but some are concerned about how they’ll a!ect their future.

Tattoos have become increasingly popular among teenagers over the last several years, and with that a growing fear has emerged: young people people are concerned over the loss of job opportunities that may be available to them due to their body art. However, many feel that views of tattoos in the workplace have softened since the days of their almost exclusive association with thugs and the criminal element.

“Most employers say as long as the tattoo doesn’t

a!ect your job and customer interaction, then it’s okay. But you can’t have it all out when you go for interviews,” Melvin Nnabuife, senior at Texas A&M University – Commerce, said.

When asked, Ken Moyer, owner of the Lone Star Eatery Grill and Bar, said that he had no opinion when it came to workers having tattoos. Despite becoming more welcome in businesses where customer interaction is more prevalent, employers like CVS Pharmacy assistant manager Jennifer Pryor feel vulgarity would be the primary reason a tattooed individual might have issues in their employment.

“Well, me personally, I don’t have a problem with them unless they’re vulgar. If it was vulgar, I would have it covered up,” Pryor said.

Even though there is a welcoming change of

stance, advice is still given to cover up tattoos, re-gardless if they are considered vulgar or not.

“Most students who do have tattoos do try to cover them up with long sleeves and are doing re-ally well, but those students who don’t, it’s because they don’t know about professionalism,” Jennise Streaty of Career Development said.

"is advice is followed by many students, as well, even if they are told that it’s okay to have tat-toos and regardless of their rank or status in col-lege. Many students seem to agree that modesty is the best policy in regards to their ink.

“It actually hasn’t a!ected it that much because they’re hidden, or most of them are hidden,” Han-nah Kahn, freshman at A&M - Commerce, said.

“It hasn’t really a!ected me as long as I cover them up,” Trey Berry, a sophomore, said.

P#$% &A'()* +,, -.+& F!"#$%!&

Tattoo Trouble

Sophomore Robert Martin shows o! his tattoos, which he acquired while serving in the military. “I have a general rule for tattoos, it’s nothing that can’t be covered with a long sleeve shirt. It’s a rule I got while I was in the army; due to their regulations it can’t be seen in a class A uniform,” Martin said.

EAST TEXAN PHOTOS / JOSEPH ALDERMAN

One A&M - Commerce student, who chose not to be identi"ed, said she liked how easy her tattoo was to hide,

but could still be shown o! in a bikini or summer clothing.

Amanda He/inWriter

"ere is a chance that earth could become un-inhabitable for human beings in the coming decades, according to 18 researchers who pub-lished a paper in the journal Science, earth has surpassed four planetary boundaries.

“"e Planetary boundary approach aims to de0ne a safe operating space for human societ-ies” Will Ste!en and the 17 other researchers said in the paper “Planetary boundaries: Guid-ing human development on a changing planet” published in the journal of Science.

“"ere are certain things that if we change our environment and we change it too far, then it could cause catastrophic e!ects,” Dr. Kent Montgomery, Associate Professor at Texas A&M University – Commerce, said. “"at is where the idea came to set these boundaries.”

"e researchers set theoretical limits on the changes that are made to our environment, either by humans or caused naturally. It is thought that once we surpass the breaking point of the boundary, the damage is already done and we will not be able to 0x the problem at that point.

"e boundaries that have been surpassed include: extinction rate, deforestation, level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and the /ow of nitrogen and phosphorous, which is used in fertilizers that cause contaminated runo! wa-ter to /ow into the ocean.

A key player that is considered with prob-lems like this is climate change. Depending on

the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, it can cause a higher amount of radiation to reach earth, causing the average temperature to increase. “We get hit by so much radia-tion or solar /ux [that] if you increase that, the sun won’t increase, but the amount of radia-tion that then gets reradiated back into space, which helps balance us, gets stopped by the atmosphere, and then that causes long term global climate issues,” Montgomery said.

When climate issues arise, food for the world is the number one concern, as human life sub-sides o! agricultural for sustenance.

“What happens when you get global warm-ing is generally you don’t lose all of the cli-mate belts, but the climate belts will shift,” Dr. Hayden Fox, assistant dean of science and engineering at Texas A&M University – Com-merce, said. “Right now, so much of the food is raised in the latitudes with Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa. With a good shift in global tempera-tures, that agricultural belt may shift north-ward. Now Canada has a better climate for the bread basket then the US. Food production has kept ahead of world population; we’ve al-ways had enough food to feed the whole world. "e reason people starve to death is transpor-tation problems.”

With the increase of the extinction rate, there are many scenarios that could play out.

“A sixth mass extinction could be feasible,” Dr. Johanna Delgado-Acevedo, assistant pro-fessor for environmental science at Texas A&M University, said. “Species evolve, some are created and some are extinct. "e extinc-

tion rate has increase at an exponential rate in the past decades.”

But there are scienti0c achievements out there that can do some sort of reversal or help decrease the rate at which some of these limits are passed. One thing we have done in the past is the banning of CFCs, a chemi-cal agent that was causing the destruction of the ozone layer that pro-tects earth from harmful radia-tion from space and the sun.

“"ere are people out there doing stu! to save the world if something was to happen,” Adam Torres, sophomore said. “Colonizat ion of is looking more feasible with SpaceX [an indepen-dent program Founded by Elon Musk that sends supplies to the interna-

tional space station on a regular basis].” With all of the claims that this may cause

the end of the world, one thing to remember is that all of these are hypotheses. No one has proven that it is the end of the world, and I feel 0ne.

Bang or Whimper, !is is the Way the World Ends

PHOTO COURTESY/YOUTUBE.COM

Soundtrack

Burnes’ TurnsAvril Lavigne“Nobody’s Home”

Steven Tyler and Santana“Just Feel Better

Guns N’ Roses“Patience,” “It’s Alright,” “November Rain” - Live

Phoenix“Chloroform”

Slash with Adam Levine“Gotten”

Morcheeba“Diggin’ a Watery Grave”

!e Decemberists“Make You Better”

Aerosmith“We All Fall Down”

CONT. FROM PAGE 1

Naturally I spiraled into a deep sadness resulting in one of the worst nights of my life that compounded loud partiers, stumbling roommates, worried minds, hospital-rushed grand-fathers and freezing air conditioners. !e next day as I prepared to head downstairs, I recall telling Joseph “I just can’t wait for this to be over.” After being blown o" one too many times (and after conversing with my dear friend Keyania Campbell, whom some of you may remember as !e East Texan’s former editor) by phone, I took o" into the San Antonio afternoon with nothing on my mind but weathering the storm.

!ere were three things that helped me through this trying dozens of hours. One was the kinship I felt with the people we’d brought along. From newfound con#dant and very im-portant friend Aaron Hwang (hail-ing from South Korea), to the always steady Joseph Alderman, to the sweet-as-honeysuckle Kristen Taylor, to the goofy, yet lovable Travis Hairgrove, I was surrounded by good people who were able to help me take my mind o" of the pain and disappointment I was experiencing.

!e second literally came to me in a near-unbelievable twist of fate. As I walked out into humid downtown San Antonio, I came across a homeless man (one of many, unfortunately, in that city). Assuming I was a big par-tier based on my appearance, this man o"ered me the helpful advice that if I was looking to buy booze, I needed to do so before 9 p.m. as none of the liquor stores would remain open after that time. He then proceeded to try to hit me up for some money. Reach-ing for my wallet, I prepared to give him a couple of dollars, when I came up with an idea that would change my life forever.

In close proximity to !e Hard Rock cafe, I decided to o"er to take this man in with me for a meal. Natu-rally he happily obliged. We walked through the store as we waited for our table, perusing the various Rock & Roll memorabilia that littered the walls around the place and getting to know each other. I told him everything about who I was. How it was through an incredible set of coincidences and luckiness that I was able to secure my place at a good school with no need to worry about student debt, had become the editor of my school’s paper based on a combination of the generosity of my precursor and Fred (who hired me o" the street with no experience) and a shallow roster, and had developed deep feel-ings for a girl with absolutely no preconceptions or planning.

He listened to every word, congratulated me on my achieve-ments and gave me some of the most invaluable life advice that I’ve ever received. After walking around the streets for another couple of hours and returning to the ever-lovely El Tropicano

hotel to sit in the lobby for a brief rest, he walked our group down to the riverwalk one last time and set o" into the sunset after receiving a hug (and #ve bucks for laundry) from me. Luckily, !anh is able to use the San Antonio library to con-tinue to converse with me over e-mail. We’ve spoken every day since we’ve parted, not one of them passing that didn’t see me thank him for the life advice and friendship he’s given me.

!e third and #nal resource that helped make my seem-ingly doomed trip to TIPA a success was my music. From the hour-and-a-half concert I put on in my hotel room on a lonely !ursday night, to 12 hours in a stu"y van, the great-est playlist I’ve ever assembled not only provided me with an outlet for my emotions, it helped me to relate to others that have gone through far worse heartbreak and di$culties than I. Certainly Steven Tyler and Santana weren’t thinking about

a long-haired, eye-shaded dude from Commerce Texas when they wrote “Just Feel Better.” Neither were Slash, Axl, Du" and Izzy when they performed one hell of a medley back in the early ‘90s climaxing with a pow-erful rendition of “November Rain.” But you couldn’t tell me at the time.

But it wasn’t only the outlet that music provided me. If it wasn’t for my love of music (and my awesome, two-person set of Marshall headphones), Aaron and I never would’ve been able to bond over our shared love of !e Cars, Aerosmith and Tay-lor Swift (not Queen, though. Freddy Mercury sucked). If it wasn’t for my love of music, I probably wouldn’t have been on my way to the Hard Rock cafe to meet a new friend. If it wasn’t for my love of music, I wouldn’t have simultaneously brought home a gold and bronze medal (#guratively, unfortunately) for my critical reviews in the most stacked division for journal-ism in the state of Texas. Quite frankly, if it wasn’t for my love of music, my trip to TIPA wouldn’t be able to be classi#ed

as a success.Music is powerful. No matter what it is we’re doing, it has

the ability to completely change our outlook. No matter what we’re feeling, it has a way of enhancing our emotions. No mat-ter what we’re thinking, it has a way of speaking to us in ways that nothing and nobody else can. It gets us over the humps and emphasizes our triumphs. Like Nick O"erman says in !e Decemberists’ simultaneously funny and sobering music video for last year’s “Make You Better,” “!ere comes a time in life when the music makes sense.” After going through what was one heck of an emotional roller coaster last week, I couldn’t agree more.

!ere comes a time in life when the music makes sense

APRIL 16, 2015PAGE 6 E!"#$"%&!'#!"

EAST TEXAN PHOTO/ANDREW BURNES

Thanh and me after our meal together at the Hard Rock Cafe. We remain in daily correspondence via e-mail.

EAST TEXAN PHOTO/ANDREW BURNES

Me with East Texan photographer Aaron Hwang in a tattoo parlor in downtown San Antonio as loud punk music blared over the speakers rattling the walls along with Aaron’s teeth.

Andrew BurnesEditor

Nothing should work in Dreamworks’ (a studio that already echoes Bob Dylan’s “Not Dark Yet (but it’s getting there”) new-est animated attempt, Home. !e #rst 20 minutes absolutely de-stroys everything all of the fanboys hold dear about science #c-tion namestays like War of the Worlds, Star Wars and Star Trek as an alien species (ever-haunted by a bumbling fool accidentally named Oh due to the groans of disdain he is always greeted with by his fellow alien comrades) decides to swoop down to Earth, scoop up all of the world’s inhabitants, send them to Australia (what could be more evil?), and take over the rest of the world for themselves. As if this wasn’t ridiculous enough, in the most poorly thought out plot twist since the end of Mass E"ect 3, Oh decides to throw a housewarming party and accidentally invites his species’ sworn enemy race who immediately plan to make a bee-line for the already distraught planet and leave it in tatters in an act of anger-fueled rage. Whoops! Understandably pissed, Oh’s alien race then quickly sentences him to death, leading the befuddled alien to team up with precocious seventh-grader (and last remaining member of the human race on continental America) Tip (voiced by Rihanna? Oh, God). !e two then set o" to right Oh’s wrongs and #nd Rihanna’s long-lost mother Jennifer Lopez. Sigh.

An asinine script added to a plethora of questionable deci-sions almost dooms this one to Walmart bargain basket worth-lessness. Stupid, !ree Stooges-esque banter litters the movie, giving merit to the hypothesis that movies are destroying brain cells in our children faster than insecticide. Rihanna is ques-tionable at best as a grade-schooler, hitting the mark on occa-sion, but more often than not sounding as unnatural as WWE’s Roman Reigns talking to the Big Show about Jack and the Be-anstalk. Somehow, her uncertain delivery is seemingly conveyed through some strange facial animations as Tip speaks, creat-ing some uncomfortable acting scenes in a movie that shouldn’t have to worry about acting at all. Oh, and by the way, spending a few hours in a university Writing Center will give you the same amount of laughs at the repeated usage of incorrect subject-verb agreements. It gets annoying just as quickly there, too.

Somehow, though, director Tim Johnson is able to bring the storyline back home in the second half. Despite her awkward-ness, Tip is a likable protagonist, utilizing charm, wit and a nearly impossible goal to echo !e Walking Dead’s Clementine. Oh himself does occasionally bring on some genuine laughs, even though he spends the majority of the time making blunders like mistaking urine for lemonade (don’t ask). Not to mention, by the end of the picture, Johnson and his alien entourage tackle hard-hitting real-world issues like charismatic, yet disingenuous leaders, mob mentality, #nding an identity, companionship, for-giveness, love, sacri#ce, and most importantly, perspective (some not-so-subtle jabs at American foreign policy, yeah?). Kids will prefer the bathroom humor. But is there enough here to separate this would-be parent chore into a genuine, heartfelt, enjoyable a"air? Only if you stick around to the end.

Cringe, laugh and simmer,

Home is a grab bag of the great and the stupid

PHOTO COURTESY/PINTEREST.COM

Oh (voiced by Big Bang Theory’s Jim Parsons) and Tip (Rihanna) have a relationship that’s worth watching, even if you have to stomach some bathroom humor.

P!"# $A%&'( )*, +,)- S!"#$%

Ryan ScottSports Editor

With two meets in the books last weekend, the Texas A&M University – Commerce Lions track and .eld teams had strong showings in both Men’s and Women’s competitions.

/e .rst bit of action came in the multi-sport events portion of the David Noble Relays in San Angelo, Texas. Matt Rich was the only male Lion to make the journey, but he made his presence known by win-ning the decathlon with a personal best score of 7107, which broke the previous school record held by Ben Botello since 2002.

Rich’s performance currently stands as the second best mark in NCAA Division II, and becomes the third automatic quali.er for the Li-ons so far.

For the women, Ginnie Lee and Jessica Clay were called to the task of the Heptathlon. Lee had a proud showing in the events, .nishing with a sixth place score of 4538, which also stands as a personal best and a provisional quali.er. Clay .nished twelfth and barely missed attaining a qualifying mark.

/e rest of the Lions team would then head to Stephenville, Texas for their next meet, featuring Angelo State and Tarleton University, two Lone Star Conference powerhouses.

/e Lions faced tough competi-tion, with the men .nishing the day in second and the wowmen placing in third.

Tyler Rambo shone brightly on the day, marking the Lions only quali.er on the day. Rambo’s dis-tance of 17.12m in the shot put was enough to win the event, as well as an outdoor best for Rambo. Masoud Moghaddam once again got into his winning routine, leading the pack in a hammer throw event that saw the Lions place 1-2-3, with Chase

Graham barely missing a qualifying mark in second place.

Joseph Brown and Hendrik Nun-gess took the .rst two spots in the discus, and James Lundy and Kellen Dion followed suit with a 1-2 .nish in the javelin.

/e Lions blew by much of the pack on the track as well, with Luis Romero securing a .rst place .nish in the 800m, Soren Gnoss winning the 200m, and footballer Dionte Taylor making his .rst appearance with the Lion track team getting the win in the 100m with a time of 10.88.

For the women, Kamryn McKee had three separate personal bests, coming in the 100m, 200, and as a part of the 4x400m relay team along-side Ana Baleveicau, Tyler Cotting-ham and Ashley Bassett. /e relay team powered through for a personal best time of 3:49.21, .nishing second in the event.

Rebecca Mueller continued an impressive outdoor season with a sec-ond, third, and fourth place .nish in the discus, javelin, and hammer throw, respectively. Mueller’s ham-mer throw was also a personal best distance of 42.24m.

/e Lion women picked up two more victories, with Hailey Nelson garnering a win in the high jump, and Selasie Koto winning the triple jump.

/e Lions now have an extended stay at home, for their next meet will be held within the friendly con.nes of Memorial Stadium in Commerce. /e East Texas Invite will be the second meet held in Commerce this year. /e meet will be the second to last of the regular season, with the Lions heading to Houston the next week for the J. Fred Ducket Twilight hosted by Rice University.

/e Lions next track meet will be the East Texas Invite on Saturday, April 18 at Memorial Stadium in Commerce, Texas.

Track and Field continue strong season

Kamryn McKee had three separate personal bests, coming in the 100m, 200m, and as a part of the 4x400m relay team. The relay team also had a personal best of 3:49.21.

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PHOTO COURTESY / LIONATHLETICS.COM

PHOTO COURTESY / LIONATHLETICS.COM

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More stories, photos, videos at tamuceasttexan.com

Ryan ScottSports Editor

.e Texas A&M University – Commerce Lions Softball team got back into their winning ways last weekend, taking three out of four games against the Midwestern State Mustangs by a combined four runs.

Game one of the series did not begin well for the Lions, as they were being no hit by the Mus-tangs’ Erin Knox until the bottom of the fourth inning. Saddled with a 0-4 de/cit, Tyler Oppen-heim broke up the no hit bid, and was followed by a home run by December Rivers, cutting the

de/cit to just two runs with plenty of game re-maining.

.e teams traded runs in the /fth, and with the Lions still down, they entered the sixth in-ning looking to get ahead. .e Lions had the bases loaded with no outs, but were only able to push a single run across before being set down for the inning.

.e Lions were unable to make any noise in the seventh, ending with a 4-5 loss. Aundria Romero was credited with the loss after tossing a complete game, giving up /ve earned runs on /ve hits.

Game two was another closely fought battle

between the two foes, as both teams were tied at three after the third inning. .e pitching clamped down at that point and neither team could break through o0ensively, with the game needing extra innings to /nd a victor.

.e eighth inning proved to be a dramatic one, after MSU’s Taylor Bermudes reached on an error, and Katelyn Potts ended up on base after what seemed to be a force out of Bermudes was overturned by the umpires after an argument by the Mustangs coaching sta0. .e Lions were bit-ten hard by this turn of events, as Knox spanked a home run to give the Mustangs a 3-6 lead go-ing into the bottom of the eighth.

With the game on the line the Lions stepped up to the challenge. After a one out walk by Rivers, a /elder’s choice and a walk by Joanna Sturm, the Lions saw them-selves down to the /nal out with the tying run at the plate. Kylene Hatton would not go down quietly, smash-ing a 2-2 pitch out of the park for her /rst home run of the season, tying the game at 6-6.

After a scoreless ninth, the Lions threatened to put the game away in the bot-tom of the tenth after two walks and a double steal put runners on third and second with one out. .e Lions were next gifted a wild pitch that allowed Luci Ponce to score, capturing the /rst extra in-ning win in Lions history.

Courtney Moore got the win after pitching all 10 in-nings, allowing nine hits and six earned runs. She also struck out nine batters.

Day two would not see an end to late game drama. .e Lions scored /rst in game one on home runs by Rome-ro and Sturm, with MSU quickly answering with two runs to tie the game. .e Lions jumped ahead again in the bottom of the fourth with the 3-2 lead.

.e sixth inning saw the Mustangs attempt a come-

back with a leado0 homerun by Katy Vandewa-ter. In the bottom half, after a hit, /elder’s choice, and a walk, Monica Cherry stepped up to the plate to do some damage. .e shortstop smacked a base hit up the middle to drive in what would turn out to be the winning run, as the Lions dis-patched the Mustangs in the top of the seventh for the 4-3 win.

Cyanne Fernandez picked up the win, with Moore collecting her second save of the year.

Game two of the day saw the Lions jump out to an early 2-0 lead. .e Mustangs once again answered with runs in the second and third to tie the game at two.

.e game would end up going to the Lions, however, as Cherry would provide the winning o0ense for the second straight game with a solo home run to put the Lions ahead. After adding another run, the Lions would hold steady for a 4-2 win.

Selena Rima would be credited with the win, going 5 1/3rd innings giving up just two hits and two earned runs. Moore would get the save for the second time on that day.

With the series win, the Lions now own a 23-19 record (12-10 LSC). .e fourth place Lions will now head to San Angelo for their /nal con-ference series of the regular season.

.e Rambelles currently sit behind the Lions at /fth in the conference standings, even with their better overall record of 28-11-1. .e Ram-belles are also ranked #14 in the country at the time of this writing.

.e Rambelles do not feature much power in the lineup, but show a very balanced o0ense. ASU’s real strength lies in their pitching, which features the likes of freshman Brandy Marlett, who currently leads the LSC with a conference-low E.R.A. of 1.56. Marlett is also tied for the league lead in wins with 16.

After the series in San Angelo, the Lions will go back home for one last double header against Southern Arkansas University, who feature a 21-18 record. .e Lady Muleriders feature an im-pressive o0ensive combo consisting of Ashton Atwell and Maddie Dow, who both have 13 and 12 home runs, respectively.

.e Texas A&M University – Commerce Li-ons will play the Angelo State Rambelles on Fri-day, April 17 at 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and on Saturday April 18 at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. All games will be held in San Angelo, Texas. .e Lions will end the regular season with a doubleheader against the Southern Arkansas Lady Muleriders on Tuesday, April 21 at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. at the John Cain Family Field in Commerce, Texas.

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Kylene�  Ha on�  (4)�  smashed�  a�  2-­‐2�  pitch�  out�  of�  the�  park�  for�  her�  first�  home�  run�  of�  the�  season�  and�   ed�  the�  first�  game�  against�  the�  Midwestern�  State�  Mustangs�  at�  6-­‐6. PHOTO COURTESY / LIONATHLETICS.COM

PHOTO COURTESY / LIONATHLETICS.COM

Lions take series against Mustangs