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March on ‘Selma’As is the case with any Hollywood !lm with a historical "avor, last year’s ‘Selma’ has received criticism from both historians and journalists for the way it portrayed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and President Lyndon B. Johnson. Travis Hairgrove gives his take on the role of these !lms.

Page 2

A Global FootprintIt’s no secret that Texas A&M University-Commerce features lots of international students. But just how many countries our represented on the school’s grounds? Our two-page feature documents every country represented at the college, proving that A&M-Commerce is much more than its neighborhood.

Page 4 and 5

Signed, Sealed DeliveredTyler Oppenheim (second from left) was all smiles when she signed her contract to play for the inaugural A&M-Commerce softball team as her all-smiles family looked on. This week, she was the !rst in school history to receive the !rst A&M-Commerce weekly softball award.

Pages 7

New bus service in

trial periodHunter KimbleSta= Writer

>is semester, a shuttle bus service is cur-rently in the works at Texas A&M University – Commerce.

>e new service on campus was created by the Transportation Committee. >e Depart-ment of Safety and Risk Management helped out by providing the white vans. >e commit-tee wanted to provide a better method of trans-portation for students, especially those who do not have access to a vehicle.

“We have an obligation as a university to give out students the best means to an educa-tion. If that includes making their travels more comfortable, we should explore that option,” >e director of safety and risk Management, Derek Preas said.

>e service is in a trial period to obtain in-formation like mapping and scheduling out routes to take, and was supposed to be a secret. However, the bus occupants, Randy Jones, the driver, and James Armor, insurance specialist, began picking up random students and drop-ping them o= at their desired destination as a form of advertisement.

“>e way the students found out right now was a complete accident, but a wonderful ac-cident. >e o?cial advertising for the shuttle service is about to come out in the next week or two,” Preas said.

Preas would like to let it be known that Jones and Armor are kind and professional, although Jones owes him a hamburger, so stu-dents should not be afraid when they @ag them down.

“>ey’re both very pleasant to be around,” Preas said.

When the service is o?cially announced to the public, there will be certain destinations that will be taken. >e white van can be driven to the post o?ce, horse barn, blueberry farm, Walmart, Brookshire’s, and other frequent stops that students make. >ere will be at least ten predetermine stops that will be marked down, but as of now the stops are unknown.

“We don’t have an o?ce route yet. If they [students] happen to see the van stop at a corner picking up other students, and there around, then they are welcome to come along,” Preas said.

>is trial run will continue till the end of the spring semester. At that point all of the data gathered from the trial will determine whether or not the shuttle service will contin-ue in the future. So far, the service is showing some promises.

“It’s better than what I thought it was go-ing to be just in these last four days with zero advertising. We have a constant set of students wanting to use it. I think it is a success, so far, but it’s still too early in the game to Agure that out. We still have a lot of innings to play right now,” Preas said.

Bill Carr’s Musical Oddysey

Extraordinary

The East Texas War and Memory Project, a relatively new unertaking at A&M-Commerce by a group of history majors coordinated by Hayley Hasik (left) involving in-depth interviews with veterans whose stories would likely otherwise go unheard, invited many of the veterans to a formal dinner featuring four star general Douglas M. Fraser (right) as the keynote speaker.

MORE ON PAGE 3

EAST TEXAN PHOTO/KRISTEN TAYLOR

A Las Vegas Reuntion Hall of Famer on spending 30,000 hours on the strip, going on strike with Frank Sinatra, and coming back to Texas to start over

Travis HairgroveSta= Writer

Like a modern day Renaissance man, Bill Carr has performed as a working musician, is a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) with several songwriting credits to his name, has composed multiple rock operas and collaborated on chil-dren’s books. On top of all that, this Las Ve-gas Rock Reunion Hall of Fame inductee even squeezed in time for a successful career in real

estate development.What began as Carr simply obeying an un-

quenchable thirst for a deeper understanding of music grew into a 50-year-long creative ad-venture, one that eventually led him to where he is now, on the verge of completing a master’s degree in theatre at Texas A&M University-Commerce.

Carr’s lifelong relationship with music began one Christmas, when at the age of 14, he ac-quired his Arst acoustic guitar.

“I just started learning basic chords, folk

songs, and Bob Dylan songs…stu= like that,” Carr said of his earliest musical studies.

While folk rockers like Bob Dylan piqued young Carr’s interest early on, it wasn’t long be-fore the fabled British Invasion of the 60’s soon surged through America like a wildAre.

“I was very lucky. I turned 16 when the Beat-les came out and I got my Arst car. It had an AM radio…because FM wasn’t out yet, and it had one speaker in the dash that rattled.”

Not long after Arst hearing the electriAed JUMP TO PAGE 6

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!"#"$#‘Selma’ and

the sensitive relationship

between )lm and history

Travis HairgroveSta, Writer

Much of the impassioned debate over the accuracy of Ava DuVernay’s -lm, Selma (which graphically depicts the courageous Martin Luther King Jr-led marches on Montgomery, Alabama in 1965), stems from some viewers forgetting what all drama is about - humanity and con.ict.

By far, the most cited issue that critics of Selma are harping about is its characterization of 36th President, Lyndon Baines Johnson. Journalists, Jennifer Schuessler of /e New York Times and Bill Moyers have both expressed the opinion that Johnson is portrayed as being too reluctant to make a stand for black voting rights, and that DuVernay doesn’t give him enough credit.

/is argument, however, is missing the point of the -lm, which is to convey the immense amount of determination and bravery that black demonstrators, themselves, had to muster in order to nonviolently challenge institutionalized racism in the face of horrifyingly -erce resistance perpetrated by a white segregationist state government.

While Selma is a hotly disputed movie by the “historical accuracy police” at the moment, this is nothing new. It seems like every time a historical drama, such as Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln comes out, you can practically start a countdown and won’t have to wait very long at all for a historian to cry foul.

When a -lmmaker decides to create a historically-based movie, he or she, by necessity, must take artistic license with “historical facts.” One reason for this is a very practical one. /ey need to compress time. Something that took place over the course of several days, weeks, months or years has to be condensed into 120 or so minutes. What do you keep, and what do you scrap? /at depends on the tale you want to tell…and what the story is supposed to “do.” Is the chapter of history being depicted being used to warn, inspire, amuse, enlighten or sensitize? History has an amazing way of illuminating whatever’s going on in our own time.

/e decision to narrow the focus of Selma, by telling the story from a more or less -rst-person point of view from the vantage point of Dr. King and his supporters, quite frankly, does something comparable to what the original news broadcasts of the brutality of Bloody Sunday did in 1965. It gives the viewer a “front row seat” in the witnessing of shocking injustice and barbarism, making it harder to ignore.

/is brings us to another talking point about what makes DuVernay’s picture so powerful. Most mainstream movies dealing with racism or struggles for equality will include a major “white savior” or “white knight” character who stands with the oppressed. /is gives white audiences an “out” (so to speak), as it gives them a noble character through which to live vicariously. While Selma does acknowledge contributions and sacri-ces made by some white supporters of civil rights, such as the slain James Reeb, they’re not central to the -lm. By not including a “white liberal guilt bu,er,” DuVernay practically grabs the viewer by the collar and forces them to experience the evil that was Jim Crow-era South.

At the end of the day, though, -lms that reenact history or use a historical setting as a major ingredient in the storytelling are about allowing people to emotionally relate to the past rather than intellectually understand it. /at’s what history books and documentaries are for, and even though critics crawl out of the woodwork every time a historical epic or work of historical -ction is released to whine about any dramatic license taken, history-based movies continue to touch people. Over the last quarter century, -lms as diverse in tone and purpose as Schindler’s List, Forrest Gump, Braveheart, Titanic and 12 Years a Slave have received Academy Awards for Best Picture.

I would like to o,er a middle-aged, white, female response to your March 5th piece “In Defense of Kanye”. /e author writes, “When looking empirically at black people, isn’t it interesting that the ones our society tends to put on a pedestal are the ones who act the most white”. What exactly is “acting white”? Is being courteous and respectful to others, seeking and education or becoming an entrepreneur “acting white”? Can one only avoid the accusation of “acting white” by thinking, saying and doing what every other person of color thinks, says and does? If so, who determines what the group is to think, say and do?

/e opinion printed suggests Kanye’s actions are a re.ection of the fact that

he “simply doesn’t care what society thinks of him” and he is just “not being the good, submissive black person that society tells him that he should be”. Since when is respect for others a black or white thing? Is common courtesy or basic decency speci-c to a particular people group?

I submit Kanye West doesn’t care for polite society, period. In polite society, one can express opinions without the necessity of rudeness or condescension or self-indulgent rants.

/e opinion stated, “MLK was outspoken for black rights … So is Kanye”. How is interrupting an acceptance speech a stand for anyone’s rights? Such an act is only a re.ection of

Kanye West’s own self-importance. /e comment, “West isn’t an idiot

just because he isn’t a conformist” implies that respectful behavior is bad and that rude, self-indulgent behavior is to be accepted as a way of merely expressing a di,ering viewpoint. /e conclusion read, “To call Kanye West a talent-less thug or ‘the typical black man’ isn’t based on an accurate evaluation of his work It’s based, quite simply, on the color of his skin”. /e word idiot, de-ned in Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, is “a foolish, or stupid person”. So, if I call Kanye an idiot, it won‘t be because of his skin color, but because he acts like a fool.

Michelle Dillon

Le*er to the Editor:

Kanye West: ‘Murder to Excellence’Last month, we asked the question Kanye West: Fool or Genius? Not all agreed with editor Andrew Burnes’ leaning toward the latter.

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

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Greg FieldsSpecial Contributor

April 9th is National Alcohol Screening Day. If there are two things that go together in the minds of most people, it would be college students and drink-ing. Perhaps that is just a stereotype for some, but many current and past college students will tell you that their college years are when they drank the most. It’s easy to fall into that way of thinking and assume that no matter how much we drink, we are just be-ing “typical college students” and don’t have to worry about the amount we drink or how often. And for some, once they leave college and move on to work and family lives, their drinking does signif icantly decrease. However, for a signif icant number, that reduction in intake just doesn’t take place, and it be-comes clear that college was just the beginning of a life-long problem with alcohol use.

Information from the National Institute on Health reveals that 4 of every 5 college students drink alco-hol and half of those binge drinks. (Binge drinking is def ined as heavy drinking with the primary intent of becoming intoxicated, or drinking a lot of alcohol over a very short period of time.) The NIH went on to add that over 1800 students die yearly from alcohol-related injuries, over 690,000 students are assaulted each year by someone who has been drinking, and that more than 97,000 students are victims of alco-hol-related sexual assault and date rape yearly. These statistics clearly show that alcohol use on campus is an issue that impacts everyone, even those who do not drink. Signs of possible alcohol abuse include:

-its

worried about your drinking-

ter

while you were drinking

toDuring this day of focus on alcohol use, it might

be helpful to all of us to stop and give some thought to how we are affected by the misuse and abuse of alcohol. Taking a minute to thoughtfully evaluate our own drinking habits might provide an opportu-nity to make healthy changes. The Counseling Cen-ter will be offering confidential alcohol screenings on April 8th from 11 am to 2 pm in the Atrium of the Student Center. In addition to gaining valuable in-sight into your alcohol use, those who choose to get screened will also be entered into a drawing for a gift basket! Another way to take the screening is to log on to http://screening.mentalhealthscreening.org/TEX-

This on-line tool is also confidential. The Coun-seling Center also offers counseling at no cost to cur-rently enrolled students, and can help answer ques-tions and address issues related to alcohol use.

Here’s to healthy and safe use of alcohol.

Ideas or questions for the Counseling Corner? Call (903) 886-5145 or stop by the Counseling Center in

-ous articles can be found on the Counseling Center website.

Counseling CornerTaking a look at

our drinking habits

TexanTimehop

Greek life arrived at A&M-Commerce during the spring of 1959 when fraternities were allowed to start charters on cam-pus. -at December, sororities were o.cially recognized on the A&M-Commerce campus giving way to a total of eleven Greek organizations. In the late 1960’s, after A&M-Commerce was o.cially integrated, the /rst National Pan-Hellenic chapters began to petition to be on campus. In 1970, Omega Psi Psi and Alpha Phi Alpha were o.cially allowed on campus making Greek life even more diverse. By 1975, there were a total of 17 social Greek organizations that called A&M-Commerce their home. Currently, there are 18 social Greek organizations as well

as honors, academic and specialty Greek letter organizations lo-cated in di0erent departments on campus.

-e East Texan covered all aspects of Greek life from new o.cers to how they were doing in intramurals. -ey also pro-vided information about rush weeks and new members to stu-dents all across campus. -ough most of this information is now online, the vast history of Greek life can be found recorded in the pages of -e East Texan.

Be sure to check out the Texan Time Hop next week to learn more about -e East Texans amazing 100 year history!

ETWMP heralds ‘Ordinary people doing extraordinary things’

EAST TEXAN PHOTO/KRISTEN TAYLOR

Military spending and the importance of honor-ing veterans were chief among Gen. Fraser’s keynote�  speech.�  “The�  world�  is�  not�  ge ng�  any�  more secure. In fact, I would argue that it’s becoming less secure.”

Andrew BurnesEditor

When Kristen Taylor (East Texan photographer) and I got to the student center for the East Texas War and Mem-ory Project dinner, we were a bit out of our element. History majors surrounded us (dressed much more professionally than we were) and the room was /lled with people we’d never met before. But when we sat down at our place next to an elder veteran from the Vietnam war and his wife, we realized that we weren’t the only ones that felt that way.

“I don’t think we’re supposed to eat yet,” the vet’s wife said as he began to decorate his recently delivered salad with ranch dressing (though not before hand-ing o0 his cucumbers to his wife, an ac-tion I quickly replicated with Kristen). “And you’re supposed to put your napkin in your lap like so.”

“Is that what that’s for?” he asked half-jokingly with a smile.

Hailing from Bonham, Texas, this individual was one of the few men I’d ever met that had heard of my humble

-

ed about his history in the area, how he, himself, had graduated from East Texas State University long ago and had gone on to meet his /rst and only wife there. He beamed as Austin Baxley, one of the two interns that had interviewed him as a part of the War and Memory project passed by. He laughed and caught up with an old friend that also happened to be attending the dinner. But not once did he mention his history in the armed forces.

He didn’t need to. After all, thanks to the ETWMP, his memories have now been chronicled in the annals of history. Even so, his eyes couldn’t help but be /lled with pride when four young service members marched by with the American

discussed how important it is to honor our veterans in a nation that puts so much on their shoulders year after year.

Jackson Dailey says all of these veterans are “ordinary people who did extraordi-nary things.” But for one night, at least, those extraordinary actions were hon-ored with unbrideled appreciation.

C!"#$%PAGE 4

A Community of Nations

According to Dawn McPherson, administrative secretary and advisor to the International Student Services� Office,� Texas� A&M�

University - Commerce hosts students originating from at least 44 different countries. These� include:

ChinaIndia

South KoreaSaudi Arabia

CanadaTaiwan

JapanVietnam

MexicoTurkeyBrazil

GermanyNepal

Iran

C!"#$% APRIL 2, 2015

A Community of Nations

FranceHong KingIndonesiaNigeriaThialandMalaysiaColombiaVenezuelaKuwaitSpainBrazilBangladeshBahrainCambodia

DominicaGhana

GuatemalaLibya

MacedoniaPakistan

PhilippinesPeru

PanamaSenegal

SyriaUnited Kingdom

UzbekistanZambia

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

Forever YoungCONT. FROM PAGE 1

sounds of British rock bands like -e Beatles and Cream (guitar hero, Eric Clapton’s project at the time), Carr was bitten by the band bug and started playing bass with a few friends who at-tended the same high school, playing gigs at cof-fee houses around their home town of Warwick, Rhode Island.

“-e name of the band was -e Gentlemen. We got these little ru.e things like you get for a tuxedo, and we got these leather vests, but they weren’t leather. -ey were vinyl,” Carr said.

As indicated by their choice in stage attire, stage presence and presentation were things that Carr and his fellow Gentlemen took very seriously.

“For our very /rst gig, I was in charge of the clothes…because we gave everybody jobs so we wouldn’t forget anything. When we got there, we unpacked everything and everybody put their clothes on. We went to tune up, and I couldn’t /nd my bass, because I had left it at home. In all the panic and excitement, and making sure I didn’t forget the clothes, I forgot my bass on my very /rst gig.”

Several co0ee house gigs later, he /nished high school. -e post-graduation celebration was short lived, though, because the United States was still engaged in the Vietnam War and Carr was con-scripted into military service. He served for three years in the US Army.

After Carr’s stint in the army, his exploration of music began anew, with the help of his cousin, James Becker.

“He’s a classical violinist, and for two full years, we didn’t do anything but hang out on the beach and study music theory. We’d get up at about 1 in the afternoon, turn on the co0ee pot, get out the mu-sic paper and the pencils…and he taught me everything there is to know about music theory.”

In the summer of ’74, the rock musical, Hair (a controversial stage musical with themes related to hip-pie culture, the sexual revolution and anti-Vietnam War sentiment), was o0 Broadway and touring.

“By the time they came to Providence [RI], they had lost their guitar player. Somehow it got to me that they were holding auditions, so I went down there and auditioned. -ere were better players there than me, but they called me up the next day and asked me if I wanted the gig…because I could read [musical notation]. -at’s what it was. My cousin taught me how to read, and I knew all the advanced chords…all the jazz chords. We went on the road, up and down the east coast, and that’s how I got into theatre.”

Touring with a large-scale production like Hair whetted Carr’s appetite for performance with big shows. Before long, he made the deci-sion to uproot from Warwick, RI and moved to Las Vegas.

“Musicians were pouring into Las Vegas, be-cause it was the land of lounges. I hooked up with a dude named Larry Jenks, who played guitar like Jimi Hendrix and Clapton. I always favored the bass, so I played bass with him. We played every hotel in Las Vegas. We played over 30,000 hours together on the strip. We added it up one day.”

From the mid 70’s through the mid 80’s, Carr and his musical comrade, Jenks, kept a full cal-endar, backing several di0erent acts in Las Ve-gas, including the likes of Wayne Newton and legendary jazz crooner, Frank Sinatra. During the late 80’s, though, several venue owners in Las Vegas started opting to use prerecorded music to cut the cost of hiring bands, much to the dismay of the city’s working musicians. -is spurred the Las Vegas Musicians Union Strike of 1989.

Carr said of his participation in the strike, “Some dance shows click to the same beat every night. -ey can use a tape because you could time the show, and it’d probably be within /ve seconds every night…but the stars, like Frank

Sinatra…-ey wanted a live band because they’d be in the middle of a song and all of the sudden they’d start talking to the audience, and they’d need you to vamp.”

Despite the Musicians Union’s e0orts, the strike ended in favor of the venue owners.

“We lost the strike. I mean the original Rat Pack [represented by Sinatra and dancer/singer/celebrity impersonator, Sammy Davis Jr.] was there with us and everything, but we lost it be-cause the casinos had so much money. All the dance shows went to taped music, and that really narrowed down the amount of work that was available.”

As opportunities for gigs with big shows in Las Vegas grew fewer and fewer, Carr and Jenks re-focused onto their own act, a band they named Hi-Jinx.

“We had been playing for about ten years by then, and we were a good band…so we switched over, and started doing weddings, Christmas parties, and pool parties. We played whatever they wanted us to play. We al-ways played to the crowd. We could play over 200 songs from memory, so we could play for like four or /ve nights without ever repeating the same song. If there were a bunch of old people there, we’d play the Tennessee Waltz or some Hank Williams. If there were young kids there, we’d play some Beastie Boys and stu0 like that. If there was a middle-aged crowd, we’d play -e Beatles and -e Rolling Stones, and they loved us. I have an article somewhere written on the band, where they call us ‘the band that plays mu-sic from /ve generations.’”

In addition to playing for conventional events, like weddings and corporate parties, Hi-Jinx oc-casionally played for occasions of a more unique variety.

“Once, we played a grand opening for a prison in Gene, Nevada. It was crazy. It was fun.”

-roughout his years as a professional work-ing musician, Carr got involved with several

ambitious musical projects. “I wrote a children’s musical called, -e Saga of John Winston. It’s about a boy who lives in an orphanage in Eng-land, and he’s about to get sold into indentured servitude, so he runs away. -ere’s one song in it called ‘Lullaby Butter1y.’ -at lullaby is prob-ably the most beautiful song I ever wrote. It got made into a book. -e pictures were drawn by a guy named Rodney Strowd. He works for -e San Diego Tribune. His job is to read an article and draw a picture, so he was perfect. -e book came out cool as Hell.”

Like an epic lottery win, in 1990, Carr was ap-proached with another special side project.

“-is is mind blow-ing. My lawyer calls me up and says I gotta’ get on a plane to San Diego because some people had just came o0 the set of the Oli-ver Stone movie, -e Doors [a /lm about the iconic 60’s rock band of the same name], say-ing they were advisers. My lawyer then asked them if they knew Jim Morrison. It turned out they were Jim Mor-rison’s sister, brother-in-law and brother. -ey didn’t like the movie, because what was told was the story of the band, and they’d like to tell Jim’s story…about the inside Jim, but they didn’t know how to do it. My law-yer then suggested a stage musical, and they thought it’d be great, so he called me up. I 1ew down there, and spent

three days on the beach with Jim Morrison’s sis-ter, Anne, his brother-in-law and his brother…just hanging on the beach and asking them ques-tions. -en I went home and wrote it.”

Choosing an angle from which to approach the dramatizing of the inner con1icts of brood-ing rock poet Jim Morrison proved a daunting task in and of itself.

“It’s called the Lizard King. It’s about the con1ict between Jim Morrison’s father, [Rear Admiral George Stephen Morrison] who was the youngest admiral in the Navy ever. He was a genius and a driver, but he was completely in the di0erent direction than Jim, who was also a genius and a driver. In theatre you have to have con1ict to have drama. I could make it a uni-versal appeal to fathers and sons who clash all the time.”

Due to concerns over copyright and trademark ownership, however, -e Lizard King was never publicly performed. Despite this setback, the musical remains one of Carr’s proudest achieve-ments.

Even though Carr was working steadily as a musician and his reputation earned him several special side projects, he still had a family to sup-port, so he had a day job as well.

“I went into the real estate development busi-ness, working for this company that built golf communities, because 5,000-6,000 people were pouring into Vegas each year. -at’s what I did in the daytime, and I played music at night. Me and Larry tell everybody we didn’t sleep for 20 years.”

His people skills and business savvy served him well in his career as a real estate developer, and he climbed the ranks quickly. -is eventu-ally led to yet another big move for Carr.

“-e real estate company I was working for wanted development in Texas, and I got sent to Brownwood, TX. By then, I’m the executive vice president. I’m putting these places together. I’m 1ying all over the country.”

In 2008, though, the real estate market crash hit hard, and Carr decided to leave that venture. When a friend of his (who owns a cattle ranch in Greenville, TX) heard that Carr was considering going back to college, he recommended that he consider A&M-Commerce.

Once Carr found A&M-Commerce to his lik-ing, he was faced with yet another decision.

“I didn’t know if I was gonna’ go with the mu-sic department or the theatre. When I walked into the theatre [the Performing Arts Center] and saw the stage, I said, ‘Yeah. I’m home.’ I am more comfortable on stage than I am anywhere else. When I walk out on stage, all my nervous-ness, all my tension…everything just completely goes away. I’m at home.”

Due to his background as a professional mu-sician, the theatre department wasted no time putting Carr to work as a chief sound tech. -e A&M-Commerce productions of the musicals,

Breaking Up Is Hard to Do and God-spell also enlisted him as band leader.

“I really liked that. Breaking Up Is Hard To Do had 22 songs by Neil Sedaka. Neil Sedaka went to Juilliard, and even though it was all Rock and Roll, he used incredible chords. I put together a great band and I got to play my guitar.”

Carr said of his over 40 years of experience, backing large stage pro-ductions, “-eatre bands are great, because you gotta’ follow the actress. You’re over here on measure 17, the singer jumps from 17 to 28, and you gotta’ go with them. -eatre bands are a lot of fun, and I’ve had a ball do-ing that.”

While further developing his exper-tise in theatrical production, Carr was surprised when a voice from his days in Las Vegas unexpectedly beckoned.

“Two years ago, I got a call from Larry, telling me I gotta’ come to Vegas, because we [Hi-Jinx] were be-ing inducted into the Las Vegas Rock Reunion Hall of Fame. I said, ‘Yeah right...and pigs can 1y, too.’ -en I got an email from the Hall of Fame, saying we were being inducted and the whole nine yards, but I couldn’t make it. We were in the middle of a show, and that’s the one thing about theatre. When you commit to theatre,

you commit to theatre. -e show must go on. -e curtain must go up, so I didn’t get to make that…but it was a pretty great thing to happen.”

Upon receiving this accolade, Carr couldn’t help but be 1attered.

“I grew up in a small town in New England, in the woods. If someone graduates from college, it’s a big deal. People don’t come out of my little town and go and do things like this.”

Re1ecting on his long (and still continuing) journey in music and theatre, Carr said, “I’ve had a ball. I’m 66 years old. I graduate in May. -e Lord’s blessed me with good health, and all my grandparents lived to be in their 90’s. I can still jog and everything. I just have this feeling I’m not done yet…but now I’m dangerous, be-cause I have an education.”

Carr in the ‘80s, the decade that saw his involvement in the Las Vegas Musicians Strike of 1989 (Above). Now at 66 (Right). “I just have this feeling I’m not done yet…”

PHOTO COURTESY BILL CARR

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Ryan ScottSports Editor

-e Texas A&M University – Commerce Lion’s golf teams have been hard at work as the season be-gins to wind down.

In their most recent event of the season, the Lion men snagged their best result of the year, .nishing sec-ond out of eight teams in the 2015 Lions Classic. After a third place .nish on day one, the Lions man-aged to surge forward to end up in second place on day two.

-e jump in position was thanks in large part to senior Marcus San-na, who after being tied for 32nd overall on day one with a score of 80, shot the best round out of all participants on day two with a 66.

Sanna’s performance catapulted him through the standings, land-ing him with a sixth place overall .nish when all was said and done. Teammate Hagen Wood .nished not far behind in ninth.

Cameron University came away with the top spot in the tournament, beating the Lions by 20 strokes by a score of 573 to the Lions’ 593.

In women’s golf, the Lions end-ed the .rst day of competition with the lead in their sights. -e Lions ended the day in third place, just nine strokes behind the leading Midwestern State Mustangs. -e Lions featured strong performances from Emily Taylor, who sat tied for sixth place, as well as Zoey Danesh-far, Celeste Emeott, and Ali Leasor, who all tied for ninth.

-e second day saw the Lions lose a bit of steam and end up .n-ishing .fth overall. Leasor led the pack for the Lions, .nishing 13th overall, with Emeott and Taylor .nishing just behind her in 14th.

-e Lion men will now be head-ed to Irving for their next bit of ac-tion, while the women will be trek-king out to Arizona for their next contest.

-e Lions Men’s Golf Team will compete in the DBU Patriot Clas-sic being held at the Hackberry Creek Country Club in Irving starting Sunday, April 5. -e Lions Women’s Golf team will compete in the West Region Desert Shoot-out at the Palm Valley Golf Club in Goodyear, Ariz. starting on -urs-day, April 2.

Lion golf in full swing

Ryan ScottSports Editor

What has been an up and down inaugural season for the Lions’ softball team continues with the Lions taking two out of four against the Texas Woman’s University Pioneers last weekend.

-e Lions, who like other Texas teams, had their schedules hit hard with inclement weather at the start of conference play, have .nally been able to get some valuable conference play com-pleted in recent weeks. After securing a morale-boosting victory against then No. 1-ranked West Texas A&M last weekend, the Lions headed back to Commerce for a four-game series against the Pioneers.

-e .rst day saw the Lions pitching steal the show. In a 2-1 game one loss, it was a hard fought pitcher’s duel was waged between the Lions’ Courtney Moore and the Pioneer’s Tori Bice. Moore only gave up four hits and two runs in

a complete game of work, but her performance was not enough to get the job done, as the Li-ons managed .ve hits and were walked six times, but stranded 11 runners on base as a team, only pushing one run across.

After the defeat, the Lions’ pitching contin-ued a strong performance as Selena Rima pitched a complete game three-hitter, also giving up no runs. -e Lion o/ense awoke from their slumber, as the .rst three batters walked, which set up a golden opportunity for Aundria Romero, who slammed a pitch over the wall for the second grand slam in Lions history. -e Lions continued to push runs across throughout the match, which led to the game being called in the .fth inning due to the run rule and an 8-0 win.

On day two of the series, o/ense was in full swing, as the .rst game saw more runs scored than the previous two games combined. After going into the sixth inning down 5-8, the Lions bared their teeth and struck for an 11-run in-

ning, causing the game to be called due to the run rule for the second game in a row, giving the Lions a 16-8 victory.

Game two was a see-saw a/air as the Pioneers jumped to an early lead, only to see the Lions storm ahead. -e Pioneers regained the lead and held a .ve-run advantage going into the .nal in-ning. -e Lions were determined to come away with a win and began to mount a comeback. In an inning that saw the Pioneers make two errors, the Lions put four across the plate to come with-in one run of the lead. It was not to be, however, as the Lions were silenced and forced to take an 11-10 loss. -e Lions committed .ve errors in the contest.

With the series over, the Lions .nd themselves with a record of 18-16 on the season. -eir 7-7 record in the Lone Star Conference puts them in .fth place. Even with some recent troubles, the Lions have made a home out of John Cain Fam-ily Field, garnering a 13-5 home record.

Looking ahead, the Lions will now travel to square o/ against the Tarleton State Texanns. -e Texanns currently sit directly behind the Li-ons at sixth in the conference standings with an 18-14 overall record and a 5-5 conference record. -is will be the .rst meeting ever between the two teams, although Tarleton State did make an early season trip to Commerce to participate in the Lion Classic Tournament, but the two teams did not face each other.

-e Texanns are led by junior Katelyn Con-lee, who is currently hittig .380, as well as 34 RBI. Haley Freyman leads the pitching sta/ with a 14-8 record and an ERA of 2.80. She is also seventh in the league in strikeouts with 59.

-e Texas A&M University – Commerce Lions softball team will face the Tarleton State Texanns at the Tarleton State Softball Complex in Stephenville. Games will be held on Friday, April 3 at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., and on Saturday, April 4, at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

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PHOTO COURTESY / LIONATHLETICS.COM

PHOTOS COURTESY / LIONATHLETICS.COM

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Ryan ScottSports Editor

After a stellar indoor season, the Texas A&M University – Commerce Lion Men’s Track and Field team is continuing their dominating perfor-mance for the start of their outdoor campaign.

After four outdoor meets, the Lion men !nd themselves in unfamiliar territory, for as of this writing, they are currently ranked as the No. 3 program in NCAA Division II by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Associa-tion, a position that the Lions have never attained before in the history of the program.

"e Lion men, after winning their !rst ever Lone Star Conference Indoor Championship, as well as !nishing 12th in the NCAA Champion-ships, have not slowed their pace since shifting to outdoors. In just four outdoor meets, the Lion men have already secured eighth NCAA qualify-ing mark.

"eir most recent outing saw the team make a trip to Austin for the Nike Clyde Little!eld Tex-as Relays. During the event, which consisted of a slew of Division I opponents, the Lions showed

their strength in grand fashion. Possibly the big-gest highlight of the meet was from sophomore Hendrik Nungess, who turned plenty of heads in the javelin throw, with a toss of 73.24m. "is toss not only won the event by more than six meters, but now stands as the !fth best javelin throw in NCAA Division II history. Nungess was named as the Division II National Athlete of the Week (for March 30).

After being named the USTFCCCA Division II Men’s Athlete of the Week (for March 23), Masoud Moghaddam, who has dazzled all year in the weight throw, went up against 24 Divi-sion I opponents, and secured a !fth place !nish. Outstanding freshman DeVontae Steele earned a provisional qualifying mark in the triple jump, with a sixth place jump of 14.99m, the second best jump in Division II.

Another qualifying mark was snagged by the 4x400m relay team consisting of DJ Richard-son, John David Rollins, Ravi Dubose and Soren Gnoss. "e team !nished 23rd out of 46 teams with a time of 3:13.56.

Not to be outdone, the Lion women have had a very respectable season as well. "e women are

currently sitting at No. 64 in the latest UST-FCCCA poll. "e latest success for the women came in the Texas Relays, as a quarter-century-old school record fell on day one of the com-petition.

Sophomore Ashley Bassett competed in a tough !eld in the 400m hurdles. In a !eld packed with Division I talent, Bassett was able to secure a time of 1:01.95. "is time not only broke a 25-year-old record set by Jackie Alford, but is also gave the Lion women their !rst quali!er of the season, as well as being the fastest time in DII this season.

Both the Lion men and women will now look towards their next meet, the ASU David Noble Relays at LeGrand Stadium, taking place in San Angelo. "e meet is being hosted by powerhouse program Angelo State. "e Rams and Rambelles have both had strong seasons, with the Rams being ranked No. 6 in the latest poll, and the Rambelles ranked at No. 2.

"e Lions track and !eld team will compete in the ASU David Noble Relays at LeGrand Stadium in San Angelo beginning on "urs-day, April 2.

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More stories, photos, videos at tamuceasttexan.com

Track and Field continues to run on all cylinders

PHOTO COURTESY / LIONATHLETICS.COM

PHOTO COURTESY / LIONATHLETICS.COM

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