Category Archives: A&M

Onsite at Tarleton Pathways

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TAMUT students attended the Tarleton Pathway Symposium based on their class success and the ELC Showcase. The ELC was Texas A&M University-Texarkana Experiential Learning Course Showcase. The showcase allowed students to take what they learned in the classroom and apply it to research projects or in my case internships. The experiential learning took place with MCOM’s editing and design classes which turned into an internship with ALT magazine.

By winning second place at the ELC showcase, it opened the door to get invited to Tarleton where the experiential learning and was applied to research. Tarleton Pathway Symposium was a casual competition among many other competitors throughout the A&M University systems. The project did not exactly fit into the theme of the symposium. However, it was still a new and experience.

Entering the conference area, we noticed the abundance of the color purple. Purple is their school color, and Thursday is their spirit day where everyone wears purple. Lucky for us, the conference was on Thursday. We continued through to check-in where the students are given a name tag and gift bag. After check-in, the presentations begin almost immediately, with Sydney Steed starting in the first round as she presented her experiential learning in teaching. Lara Jolly and Alisa Robinson presented their examination of “the reproducibility of a shell-less culture vessel for chicken embryos.” They even had a video they played alongside the poster, which created some excitement with it. I missed attending Gabby Thompson presentation, but if you were not in the room when the presentation session started then you couldn’t enter until it ended, however, I heard she done exceptionally well. Jonathan Nonmacher presented his internship with Tri-State Iron and Metal in session 2.  Esther Pippins did her poster presentation when I was doing my oral presentation.  It was fun watching TAMUT students rally behind each other as their sessions came up. There were four sessions in total with Hollis Thompson and me being in session 4 of the oral presentation which ended up being on Friday.

Since I presented in the oral sessions, I created a Powerpoint to help me navigate my 12-minute presentation. I was nervous. After seeing all the other competitors, self-doubt was prevalent. I made it through the presentation feeling relieved that it was over. Hollis Thompson followed my presentation with a discussion about the four loves as told through Ouran Highschool Host Club. Our round ended, and we were later notified that Hollis Thompson and Jonathan Nonmacher both placed second in their sessions, so congratulations to them.  After the long two-day event we began the ride home. Tarleton A&M is about four and a half hours from Texarkana A&M. Although, I had never attended anything like this in my life and I found it thrilling.

Mad Science on Demand

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On Friday October 28, students performed stage plays and showed a short film for Mad Science on Demand. The shows were all written directed, and performed within 24 hours. Theatre on Demand had been an activity at the college for a few years and is open to all students who are interested. They got the topic at 8pm on Friday night and had to put together their shows by 8pm on Saturday. The theme for the productions was mad science, which falls under the PLACE theme for the year of science and technology.

The first production was a short film, Menopause in a Bottle, directed by Hollis Thompson. In the film, two students, Adam and Evelyn, meet with their professor to work on a project for extra credit. The professor traps Evelyn in a glass box and gives her hormones, causing her to have rapid and unpredictable mood swings. After the film, we all took seats in front of the stage in Eagle Hall to watch the stage productions.

The first stage play of the evening was The God Complex, written by Samantha Gallegos. In the play, Dr. Vir is responsible for ending humanity and her apprentice, Wanda, is seeking excitement. While running errands for Dr. Vir, she meets Victor, a young scientist who is afraid of science.

Rachel Mudd, director of The God Complex said her main responsibilities as a director were lighting, sound, and stage direction.

“I had to keep the actors focused and help them memorize their lines,” she said. She enjoyed the experience and sees herself participating next year as a director.

The second stage play was Promises Are for The Weak, written by Edwin Hinojos and directed by Allyson Couture. Professor Chase Morrison wants to get his hands on the youth serum created by his student, Patty Grambles. She insists it is not ready, but he does not listen to her.

The final stage play was Persistence of a Loveworst Mind. The great-granddaughter of Dr. Frankenstein kidnaps a student and replaces his brain with her deceased husband’s. Alex Eyespy goes to her lab to find out what happens to the student and discovers her experiment. Maggie Bunch directed the play and said putting together an entire production in 24 hours was challenging, but writer, Caleb D. Gammons did an amazing job with the script. With such a short time period, there was a question of what to do about props.

“We had to improvise with the props and used the university’s stools,” said Bunch.
David Zwirn has been acting since high school, but this is his first A&M production and Theatre on Demand. He played the comical role of Alex Eyespy. Prior to being in the production, he only knew a couple of people who were participating. The event allowed him to make new friends and meet other people who also shared his interests.

“It’s like Iron Chef, where you only get certain ingredients to work with,” said Zwirn. “We only had a certain amount of time to memorize lines and que. We rehearsed all day from 9am to showtime.”

Zwirn wants to be more involved in the theater program at A&M.

“Dr. Billings wants the program to grow and expand. The more talent we get, the better it will be.”

‘The Parable of the Madman’

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October 11th, 2017 – Students and Faculty alike packed into UC 217 to attend a PLACE lecture held by Dr. Doug Julien on Friedrich Nietzsche’s ‘The Parable of the Madman‘. As was written on the whiteboard and as Dr. Julien affirmed, “It’s a lot for 50 minutes.”

He wasn’t wrong. In that short timeframe, Dr. Julien guided the audience through this segment of Nietzsche’s The Gay Science, wherein a raving madman claims that ‘God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him.’. Dr. Julien spoke of the piece as a thought experiment, centered around two questions: Did we kill God and, if so, how did we do it?

As this piece is considered a thought experiment, a large part of the lecture focused on a thought experiment all its own – Time, illustrated best by a simple question: Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Dr. Julien points out that on the one hand, at a point in our history when Religion was the driving force of society and not Science, this question would be simple to answer. In the mind of Religion, God created the chicken and thus the chicken created the egg. In more modern times, however, there is the scientific concept of mutation and the proto-chicken. In the mind of Science, then, the egg was created first through some mutation in the ‘proto-chicken’, creating the chicken.

This age-old question, which of the two came first, illustrates how Time is a subjective concept. Think of Past, Present and Future. The Present is the ‘now’, the Past is everything before ‘now’ and the Future is everything to come. The point being, our perception of the world around us is constantly changing – in particular, to Religion or Science. “We believe Science but we do not trust Science.” Dr. Julien argued. “When everyone both believes and trusts Science, change occurs.”

Back to those two questions: Did we kill God? How did we kill him? The truth, much like whether you believe the chicken or the egg came first, is largely up to the observer – the individual. Do you believe God is dead? If so, how do you believe we killed him?

It bears repeating – “It’s a lot for 50 minutes.” Every member of the audience, myself included, very well got something different out of Dr. Julien’s lecture. In talking to him afterward, I believe this was the point. “Everyone will arrive to their own, individual Truth – and this Truth will, by nature, be flawed. Only by talking with one another can we arrive at the same conclusion.”, he told me.

It’s a dialectic – an integral process of any proper discourse – that answers these questions. Perhaps whatever time Dr. Julien didn’t have for this discussion, we now have in spades.

Future Teachers Association Masquerade Ball

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The Future Teachers Association’s masquerade ball was held on October 7th, 2017 in Eagle Hall. This is the organization’s first major fundraising even in their efforts to attend of teacher conference in Boston, Massachusetts in the spring of 2018. It was a night of dancing, laughing, and revel. Eagle Hall was blacked out with the sparkling lights adorning tables and the stage area to offer a tone appropriate for the occasion- the romantic and mysterious lure of a masquerade ball.

Black, white, and gold streamers fell to the floor as you entered Eagle Hall. Plenty of tables with Pinterest worthy center pieces with dimly lit candle pieces, black bejeweled trees, and sparkles covering the tables, revealed the hard work put into this affair.

The dessert bar had fudge, cake pops adorned with tiny masquerade masks and sprayed painted gold, a variety of cookies, and fruit. The main attraction of this dessert selection was, of course, the cotton candy machine. The younger guest took advantage of this feature!

The girls worked through Friday night in order to prepare Eagle Hall. Everything was color coordinated, organized, and presented in a fashion that could only be done by the coordination of teachers. Everyone joined in on the dancing, even the professors who came to show support. The turnout was successful for the organization’s first major fundraising event at the college.

Their silent auction had many bidding wars occurring on popular items such as the metal crafted sign, movie baskets, and sunglasses donated from Texarkana Eye Associates. Everything was sold and the organization appropriately gave kudos to their donators, even having water bottles labeled with a thanks to their sponsors.

This was an event that will hopefully happen again next year. If it does, be sure to go support the Future Teachers Association that work hard to bring events like this to our campus.

Come Home to A&M-Texarkana!

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October 9-14 Texas A&M-Texarkana Eagles gear up for Homecoming 2017! There will be plenty events for students, faculty, and community members to take part in.

Preliminary voting for Homecoming Court opens Monday, so be ready to cast a vote for your favorite nominee! Our 2016-2017 Homecoming King Brian Huynh described opportunities he had during his reign by quoting Michael Jackson’s famous lyrics, “I’m gonna make a change, for once in my life. It’s gonna feel real good, gonna make a difference…” Throughout the year he was presented with different opportunities to represent our university in positive light. He ended the statement with “Go vote for Homecoming Court!”

Tuesday there will be a Homecoming Spirit Banner Competition. This event is an opportunity for organizations on campus to show their school spirit. Banners will be judged based on creativity, originality, appearance, and relation to soccer and homecoming.  The organization that wins will be awarded a pizza party during one of their meetings. Judging is at 12:00 p.m., so get your creative juices rolling!

Wednesday will consist of “Rally on the Lawn” and “Chalk the Walk” from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. on the University Center Lawn. Come hungry, because there will be Chick-Fil-A! Wax hands, air brush tattoos, and bubble soccer will also be open to students. Organizations and individuals can compete in chalk the walk, and all materials will be provided. During the rally, your 2017-2018 Homecoming Court will be announced.

On Thursday, Homecoming King and Queen voting will open. That evening, we will also welcome back Eagle Alumni to our University at the “Eagle Round Up Distinguished Alumni and Faculty Celebration.” Wear your jeans and cowboy boots, and be sure to brush up on your two stepping! We will feature a live band and BBQ. At 8:00 that night, our seniors will have their bonfire and torchlight parade.

Friday night, Invisible Man will be showing at 6:00 p.m. in the U.C. Lounge, and there will be a Homecoming Glow Run at 8:00 p.m. beginning on the U.C. Lawn. Don’t worry, you don’t have to run it if you don’t want to. Wear as much white as possible, because you will be sprayed with color throughout the course.

Saturday wraps up the fun-filled week of events with a chili cook off beginning at 9:00 a.m. The women’s soccer game begins at 3:00 p.m. and the men play at 5:00 p.m. Between games, your new homecoming king and queen will be crowned.

Don’t miss out on these festivities! Student Life Coordinator Michael Stephenson says, “We have had an increase with participation in the banner competition and I hope this is foreshadowing for the upcoming week. This is a great opportunity for us to come together and celebrate the Eagle family and rally up to support our soccer team.” Check your ace mail for more information on how to register for events.

Masquerade Ball

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The Future Teachers’ Association will be holding a Masquerade Ball on October 7th, 2017 at 6:30pm-10:00pm in Eagle Hall. Tickets will be $15 per person/$25 per couple, and all are welcome. Formal dress attire is encouraged. There will be a silent auction featuring items such as jewelry from Micah’s, Racquet and Jog merchandise, and local gym memberships.

In addition, there will be a buffet of light refreshments, including a dessert bar. Come dance and get a photo from the photo booth for a selfie! It is the perfect place to take a date or meet new people. This is a major fundraising event for the Future Teachers Association; they have had various fundraisers throughout the year to raise money for a teacher’s conference taking place in Boston, Massachusetts on February 2018. The funds raised will go to registration and travel expenses.

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Unsung

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Leira Moore

Have you ever noticed how clean the rooms look as you enter them for class or how pristine the bathrooms and halls are? If you have then thank a custodian, because they pick up after you when you accidentally leave trash or paper lying around. When I first came here to study I was actually rather surprised at how friendly the custodian staff is. It’s not just one particular person but the group, overrall, are great people, and I guess you have to be when you find empty cups laying everywhere, including bathrooms.

Major props to the cafeteria staff as well. They make your food! They put in the hard work to feed an army of students and staff everyday! Some workers are up here really early and others really late. They take the time to prepare for an event that the school is hosting, all while the food is delicious. So remember to thank the staff for cooking you a meal so you weren’t left hungry.

Other very important people include ground workers, security, book store, library, and advising staff, and tutors, for they give students everything they need to make their time at the campus easier and more successful. They take their time to help you with your needs and often enough if they can’t help you they give you other ways or options to help yourself. They are knowledgable in what they do and one cannot forget to thank them either.

Ultimately I just wanted to bring light to all the people who come together to make the experience here pleasant and rewarding. I wanted to remind people to be thankful and polite to everyone no matter who they are. So, as the semester comes to a close I would like to wish the students good luck on finals while wishing everyone to have fun and a safe summer break.

TAMUT Hosts Casino Night in Eagle Hall

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Andy Verke Jr.

On Sunday, April 24th Eagle Hall, on the campus of Texas A&M University-Texarkana, turned into “little Las Vegas”. The room was full of blackjack tables, roulette, a craps table, and a bunch of eager students/faculty earning chips to put towards a raffle drawing.

Each person was given a cup full of colored chips and could earn black chips while playing different games. For every five regular chips, a person was given one raffle ticket. For every black chip, a person was given four raffle tickets. The casino opened up at 6p.m. and students/faculty could play until 8:30p.m. before they had to put their raffle tickets in which ever gifts they were trying to win. Some of the prizes that were available included: 20 oz. Yeti Bottle, 30 oz. Yeti Bottle, $50 gift card to Bass Pro Shops, and a $50 gift card to Texas Roadhouse.

Just as in Las Vegas, not everyone came out with a prize but everyone had a great time. There were small competitions for “table pride” between each table on which table could win the most prizes. Although there was no announced winner, every dealer at every table was proud that at least one person from their table took home a prize.

TAMUT Shows Greek Pride

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Leslie Arietta

It was a long week full of activities from trivia to bubble soccer. Texas A&M University-Texarkana had another successful Greek Week filled with fun and a little bit of competition. The activities went from Monday, April 4th to Saturday, April 9th. The participants of this years Greek Week consisted of Phi Lambda Chi fraternity and two Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority and Omega Delta Chi sorority.

Greek week began with Family Feud on Monday night. This game of family feud was very competitive. Alpha Sigma Alpha was in the lead with majority of the answers, but unfortunately for those that know how Family Feud works, it is easy to steal points just with one answer. Phi Lambda Chi got together and strategically stole the points away for the night with the win in Family Feud.

Tuesday was filled with fun community service events. Each Greek organizations collected as many cans as possible that were donated, but the challenge was to create a miniature golf course with the cans they collected. Time was crunching down and everyone was getting creative. The results of the miniature golf courses were; 1st place Phi Lambda Chi, 2nd place Alpha Sigma Alpha, and 3rd place Omega Delta Chi. The easy part was making the golf course, but the challenging part was getting through the golf course the results ended in Phi Lambda Chi 1st place, Omega Delta Chi 2nd place, and Alpha Sigma Alpha 3rd place. Putting aside all the competition at the end of the day the organizations came together and built picnic tables for the university.

Water Wednesday came around and the games were on. Water Wednesday consisted of water balloon dodgeball and slip n slide kickball. Unfortunately canoe racing got cancelled due to the windy weather, but the water activities still continued. Water balloon dodgeball was all fun and games with Phi Lambda Chi taking the win in both dodgeball and kickball.

Taking it back Thursday was filled with yard games. The activities started off with an egg toss that was a close game with Alpha Sigma Alpha taking the win. Next was life size Tic-tac-toe each organizations using their brains not to get cats game. Following tic-tac-toe was minute to win it relay which consisted of eating Oreos, stacking cups, emptying Kleenex boxes and shaking your tail feather. The last event of the day was bubble soccer which was an activity to remember and fun to play.

Friday was the beauty pageant for each organization. Each organization chose one person to participate and others to be back-up dancers. The boys had to dress like a girl and the girls had to dress like a boy. It was all fun filled with singing and different talents. Alpha Sigma Alpha took the win for the pageant show.

The last event was on Saturday to show support of the baseball team. Each organization put together a tail-gating party and showed up with the most spirit. They also had creative signs to support the baseball players during the game. Greek Week was filled with fun activities and competition.

 

Outstanding Young Men Celebrated

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Christopher Hart

Not coming from Texarkana I had my mind on other things and moving here wasn’t the first thing on my agenda. Moving here my sophomore year of high school made me extremely angry, with a terrible perspective of living in a smaller city filled with anger, love and racism. Yes, racism. I have received it more here than any other city I have lived in. Now I am possibly one of the nicest people anymore could meet, but some things just do not change in life, until I received a letter in the mail to invite me to an organizational ball to recognize my fellow outstanding young men of Texarkana.

I received the letter, and I really didn’t know what it meant.  Honestly, my first mind wanted to throw it away, because I just did not want to be here. I was wrong. Meeting my peers who were invited were friends of mine from school and the basketball team. The Texarkana Alumni Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority celebrates this every year around the end of January.  The chapter recognized 28 exceptional high school seniors for their academic achievements, leadership abilities, involvement in the community and commitment to excellence, giving back to the kids, showing us elegance, stability, and brotherhood amongst each other.

Having us donate and have a fundraiser to earn scholarship money for college was a great investment. When I was in it in was 2013, three years ago, but t the event is so private and beautiful it makes you feel really special about yourself. Wearing a black suit and white gloves, giving a speech in front of our parents and fellow peers and their parents showed me that we all can get along and have a good time. We all can turn a bad situation into a good one just by following our hearts. The women and men over the organization did a fantastic job with us, feeding us, taking care of us and helping get our names out in the world at such a young age. Being a part of the event and the outstanding young men around this town should carry a lot of weight for whoever gets the chance to experience this type of celebration.

Only 28 people are selected. That means someone is always watching, and someone can introduce us to new heights if we let them.  The event is always held at the Pleasant Grove High School Performing Arts Center, giving us a great venue to showcase our people skills amongst each other. The most recent event was January 31st 2016 and it was nice seeing new faces chosen now to be the outstanding young men of Texarkana. As an alumni, it made me  proud to see what I was a part of in high school, and I greatly appreciate them for taking me in and making us all brothers. Hopefully these events keep going through the town so it gives more black American men an opportunity in this world unlike the others. With me saying the others that’s for who ever is not with the OYM organization. The OYM organization should meet greater heights over the next few years and I hope Texarkana will open its eyes and see the great mark its making on these kids lives.