Crimson Tide Hands LSU Tigers 1st Season Loss

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Percy Davis

Alabama's Derrick Henry runs through LSU defender.

Alabama’s Derrick Henry runs through LSU defender. Photo credited to Dave Ozment.

November 7, 2015 was the day many LSU and Alabama fans were awaiting. This rivalry has been going on since 1865 with LSU getting the first victory over Alabama. Although LSU won the first game, Alabama has won 50 of the 80 games played since, with LSU winning 25 and the other 5 draws.

Saturday with the Alabama Crimson Tide hosting, they beat the LSU Tigers 30 – 16, giving the Tigers their first lost of the season. Coming into the game LSU had the upper hand with the top leading rusher Leonard Fournette. He has rushed for 1,383 yards with 16 touchdowns through only 8 games.

Fournette was smothered by Alabama’s defense led by coach Nick Saban, rushing for only 31 yards on 19 attempts. Before this game his lowest yard total was 154 yards against Western Kentucky.

Alabama’s Derrick Henry on the other hand rushed for 210 yards with three touchdowns on 38 carries. Alabama’s quarterback Jake Coker played well passing for 184 yards and completing 18 of his 24 passes thrown.

The first quarter of football was a defensive game with neither team scoring. In the second quarter the Crimson Tide got on the board first with a 22-yard field goal by Adam Griffith. The Tigers then turned the ball over on downs and the Crimson Tide went down and scored a 2-yd rushing touchdown by Derrick Henry.

With the score 10-0 at this point the Tigers knew they needed to put some points on the board before the game got out of reach. The Tigers quarterback Brandon Harris went down and threw a 40-yd touchdown to wide receiver Travin Dural making the score 10-7.

Alabama got the ball back and turned it over on downs and the Tigers marched down the field and settled for a 39-yard field goal by Trent Dominque. The score was now tied at 10-10 and the LSU Tigers started to regain their confidence from being down 10-0. Alabama, not wanting to lose the momentum, marched down the field with time running out and kicked a 55-yard field with only 14 seconds left on the clock. Going into halftime the score was 13-10 Alabama’s way and most people would have thought we had a good game on our hands.

In the third quarter the Crimson Tide was rolling! With the Tigers getting the ball at halftime, Brandon Harris came out and threw an interception on the first play of the half. This was Harris’s first interception on the season and it was definitely a game changer. Alabama scored 14 points in the third quarter to LSU’s 0 points making the score 27-10 entering the fourth quarter.

The Tigers scored one touchdown in the fourth quarter and Crimson Tide added a field goal to their score. Ending the game at 30-16 with Alabama Crimson Tide coming out on top giving the LSU Tigers their first loss of the season.

Eagles Soccer Advances to A.I.I. Tournament

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Andy Verke Jr. 

On Monday, November 2, the Texas A&M University-Texarkana Eagles soccer team received the news that they will be making an appearance in their first ever post season tournament. The team set off for Lawrenceville, GA this week to the Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.) Women’s Soccer Conference tournament. The TAMUT Eagles team drew the number five spot in the tournament.

The Eagles made school history by advancing to the A.I.I. Women’s Soccer Conference Tournament in only its second year of existence. Last season, the Eagles were not postseason eligible as it was their first season with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The Eagles finished the 2015 season with a record of 9-5-1.

TAMUT Eagles will play their first game on November 11 against Fisher College at 3:50pm EST. All games will be live streamed through the Georgia Gwinnett athletics page.

All games will be played at the Grizzly Sports Complex on the campus of Georgia Gwinnett in Lawrenceville, Georgia.

TAMUT Eagles Soccer head off the Lawrenceville, GA.

TAMUT Eagles soccer heads to Lawrenceville, GA

 

High School District Champs

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Alyssa Bertrand

Becoming district champs is a good feeling to have for the local high school, Liberty-Eylau. Friday night, November 6, 2015, LE took on the Princeton football team and won the title district champs as well as having the honor of carrying the traveling trophy for the city.

This last Friday night, LE hosted Princeton at Harris field. For the first half, the crowd was afraid the leopards were going to lose the title, but maybe they realized what was at stake and the team put themselves into overdrive, and pull through and able to take the win. On one of the last plays, a leopard runs the ball all the way to the end zone and flips to make the last touchdown good.

LE is one of the local high schools that have had a rough time over the years to gain the respect of rest of the town. Lately, the community has come together to support one of the local high schools.

After a big win for a school district, everyone says that is takes a good five years to build the team back up to where they are a good solid group. I believe that this is their year. The players work as a team and the coaches are guiding them to victory.

The LE leopards will be traveling to Pine Tree to battle Van for the next stop in playoffs. All local schools are actually made it to the first round of the playoffs this year.

If you can, make your way to Pine Tree to support a local school fighting to make it to the next round.

STEM: A Blossoming Section of the University

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Garrett Griffin

The STEM section of Texas A&M Texarkana is housed in the building on the left.

The STEM section of Texas A&M Texarkana resides in the building on the left.

The largest growing sector in industry and jobs continues to be in the areas of science and engineering. As a result of foresight and good planning, the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics -STEM- College has been an integral part of Texas A&M University at Texarkana since .

Developing connections with external organizations and industries, the university has developed partnerships that could result in grants and research opportunities at the university in the future.

One of the newest additions to the university has been Dr. Donald Peterson, the Dean of the STEM College at Texas A&M University at Texarkana. Since Dr. Peterson has had many different experiences and connections with industries developed over his many years as a distinguished professor and researcher, Dr. Peterson has become a great asset to the university. Such connections have spawned partnerships such as the university’s relationship with NASA.

Dr. Donald Peterson - The Dean of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics College at Texas A&M University - Texarkana.

Dr. Donald Peterson – The Dean of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics College at Texas A&M University – Texarkana. Image Courtesy of Texas A&M University – Texarkana

Dr. Peterson’s connections with NASA include his work on the Mach 5 spacesuit that was in development for future missions to Mars. His work made use of his background in biomedical engineering to develop better mobility in the arm joint-connections on the space suit, which until then had remained one of the most restricting aspects of a spacesuit.

Although the plans for a mission to Mars that required the research into the suit were dumped due to a reassignment of funding and cuts to government monies, the experience Dr. Peterson received have been valuable to the university and its interests in growing connections with external entities.

In addition to that, he also helped develop tools used in space by researching and engineering them with a focus on improving the ergonomics of the implements.

The University has started a partnership with NASA. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)

The University has started a partnership with NASA. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)

Dr. Peterson has had many years experience in the field of biomedical engineering, a field of engineering not too familiar to students attending college in the local area.  This is something that he hopes to change in the future. When asked about why he, Dr. Peterson, came to this university after many years of work in the Northeast, he had one thing to say: “Potential.”

The way Dr. Peterson sees it, the area of northeast Texas is prime for the development of medical research facilities and other biomedical and medical-related industries. This is due in part to its proximity to other hotspots of similar activity and a lack of other competing industries. It also helps that the potential exists for numerous interstates being developed in the area.

Looking to the future, and at the bigger picture, Dr. Peterson sees the potential for the university if it were to expand its areas of studies in the medical and biomedical fields. He expresses the hope for this expansion but has not set it as a goal because of the size of the prospect.

In his own experience, Dr. Peterson has seen the potential that a person who has knowledge in both engineering and medical science offers to the workplace since many industries put great importance on people with that  specific skill set. Dr. Peterson sees the future being in multi-disciplinary students who have superior abilities to innovate and solve problems across science, not just in one specific area. He said it himself, “it’s the wave of the future.”

Inside the STEM Innovations Lab at Texas A&M University - Texarkana. Image Courtesy of the Texarkana Gazette.

Inside the STEM Innovations Lab at Texas A&M University – Texarkana.
Image Courtesy of the Texarkana Gazette.

One way by which Dr. Peterson has aided in this evolutionary process of curricula is by adding the STEM Innovations Lab. This cross-disciplinary establishment fosters innovation. The lab is open to anyone, from people who want to enrich their studies and college experience to those who just want to have fun building and creating things.

The lab recently acquired two plastic 3-D printers through a grant that are able to print parts on demand from online databases or from files designed and engineered by students or professors.

There are also prototyping facilities for electrical engineers including bread-boards and computer-based sensing technologies. The computer interfaces for the electrical prototyping also leads into opportunities for computer science majors and their code-writing skills.

Another section of the lab is devoted to biomedical engineering research into the ergonomics of surgical instrumentation and tools. By utilizing a Microsoft Xbox Kinect, along with special software, the shape of a surgeon’s hands can be converted into a three-dimensional file which is analyzed to produce adapters for tools to provide a better fit for their hand.

The many aspects of the STEM College and its contributions the university are an under-appreciated section of the university. By increasing the program’s visibility, Dr. Peterson hopes to make the University, and STEM sections in particular, more appealing to both the public and prospective students. By focusing on STEM, the university is making an investment in not just the University, but the area of greater Texarkana. What the future holds for the Texarkana area and its locations of higher learning, who knows?

NBA Opening Night 2015-16

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Anthony Hamilton

When I was younger, basketball was life for me, and despite playing in high school and college, the NBA season was, and still is my favorite time of year as far as sports are concerned; that’s when I get to watch my lifelong favorites; The Chicago Bulls as they begin their quest for the championship against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

I have also been a big fan of sports bars since my active duty Navy days, when we had the Super 8 Sports Bars on many of our bases. Opening Night was always a major draw for them. This time, my opening night would be spent at Buffalo Wild Wings, with an old friend from Rayville, Louisiana, who happened to be in town doing some contract work at the Texas Walmart Super center.

I was surprised that there weren’t more people at Buffalo Wild Wings on opening night, but for me, the lure of watching the game on the huge televisions while working on a plate of wings and fries was, as the old saying goes, an offer I couldn’t refuse.

The major story lines pregame were that LeBron James had missed a major portion of the preseason to rest a back injury, and hometown hero Derrick Rose, was also injured, having suffered a fractured eye socket in the Bulls’ first practice, courtesy of an accidental elbow from a teammate, however, both vowed to be ready, and both played. There was also a very distinguished visitor at courtside, as President Obama returned to Chicago to watch the game.

The game was a normal opening night game. The teams are usually not sharp, and in the Bulls case, a new head-coach and coaching staff, and a new philosophy of playing the game is a recipe for sloppy play. For those of us who follow the Bulls, it was very evident that they are still learning the new offense. They weren’t very good offensively  at all.

The game did end up being very competitive, and in the end, the trademark defense saved the day as Pau Gasol blocked a layup attempt by James to preserve a 97-95 win over the defending Eastern Conference Champions. It’s only one game, but there is a sense of excitement about the forthcoming season. Here’s to hoping that the tradition of good, entertaining basketball continues this season.

From Studio to Center Stage

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Laney Davis

What’s the buzz on Chris Stapleton? After going through my Facebook Newsfeed and watching the 49th Annual Country Music Awards, the new up and coming star Chris Stapleton is all the rage.

Stapleton started his career over 15 years ago on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee. Since he began his career he has not only focused on singing, but he has written songs for other artists as well. He has written 5 number one hits for well known Nashville Country Stars such as: George Strait and Luke Bryan. Stapleton has also aided in songwriting with Adele and Jason Aldean.

Stapleton graced the country music industry with his voice in 2013 and signed with a record company called Mercury Nashville. He came out with his 2015 Album “Traveler” in May. This album lead him to “Album of the Year”, “New Artist of the Year”, and “Male Vocalist of the Year” this year at the CMA Awards held on November 4, 2015.

Chris Stapleton’s performance of the country classic “Tennessee Whiskey” along side pop artist Justin Timberlake wowed the audience. Stapleton’s deep, raspy voice empowers the viewers with qualities much like Hank Williams Jr. and Jamey Johnson. Many country music listeners view Stapleton’s voice as a change for Country Music.

Chris Stapleton and Justin Timberlake perform Tennessee Whiskey

24 Hours…A Look Back

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Anthony Hamilton

The fun is over, and it was a really big night for those of us who participated in A&M’s Got Talent. The show was well thought out, and it was a first-class production all the way around. This story is about my 24 hours leading up to and performing in the talent show.
I must make light of the fact that being chosen 1 of the 10 was a very big deal for me. I’ve been involved with music for decades, singing, rapping, playing instruments, and writing songs. The opportunity to perform for an audience is a joy to me, and something that I’ve always been very serious about, and our talent show was no different.

My 24 hours obviously started with rehearsal the night before the talent show. I enjoyed the opportunity to meet some students that I didn’t know, and hang out and have fun with them. The rehearsal was the opportunity to do our sound checks, and “tweak” our performances so that on Friday we would be as professional as possible.

During the course of rehearsal everyone got a bird’s eye view of their competition. I (personally) ran into trouble as a result of my work-ethic, as I worked a tad bit too hard in rehearsal, and ultimately I would pay for it during the show. I became hoarse right after rehearsal, and the big thing after rehearsal was getting home, and getting a steady diet of hot tea, honey and lemon, in an attempt to clear my voice up.

After a good night of sleep, the next morning, it was more hot tea and lemon, the a couple of light rehearsals to ensure I remembered the lyrics to my song, before stepping out to take care of errands that I’ve heard many professional singers speak of on the day of their big shows. I know from experience that a major part of any performance is appearance. Many artists don’t get the full support of record labels because their appearance is not deemed profitable. My first stop was the barber shop, followed by a pre-show meal at KFC and a trip to the cleaners to pick up my outfit.

Upon returning home, another light rehearsal before heading to school, and going to the fourth floor to unwind a bit and reflect. Now I would be lying if I said I didn’t hope to win, but anytime I participate in a show, my first order of business is giving my best. Since I was closing the show, I had a lot of time to think about my performance. The audience was lively, and our Masters of Ceremonies were very entertaining. I enjoyed every minute of the show up to my time to go on stage.

When I began my performance, I ran into the trouble I spoke of earlier. I went hoarse upon singing my first line. I tried to be a trooper about it, but I was so disappointed because of all the hard work preparing, but in reflection, it was still a lot of fun.

In closing, I want to congratulate 3rd place winner Alana Briley, 2nd place winner Shalese Mitchell, both very talented singers, and 1st place winner Malik Tucker with his dance tribute to Michael Jackson. They brought the house down! I personally am proud of all our contestants. It takes a lot of courage to stand on that stage and perform in front of a large audience. I am hoping next year will be just as much fun.

Eat.Sleep.Soccer

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Leslie Arietta

“It’s about pride; in ourselves, in our school. It’s about our love and passion for the game. And when it’s all over; when we walk off that court or field for the last time, our hearts crumble. Those tears are real. But deep down inside, we are very proud of ourselves. We will forever be what few can call ourselves…. Student Athletes.” – Quotesgram.

Being a student athlete is a life challenge. You have to be willing to stay self-disciplined and spend majority of your summer preparing for preseason not just for yourself, but for your team. You might just regret it if you are not in shape before preseason. My sport is soccer, which is during the fall so you have to be prepared to arrive two weeks early before the fall semester begins for preseason or “hell week” as athletes like to call it. During preseason my life is eat, sleep, and soccer. Sometimes I forget what a social life is during the time because my life is revolved around soccer for those two weeks until school is in session.

There is more to a student athlete than just winning the championship game or going professional. We are students before we are athletes. We choose to go to college because we want a degree. We want to be prepared for the future and learn how to excel on the field and in the classroom. We could never be athletes if we did not succeed in the classroom. We are no different than any student — we are all here for the same reason, but we have a passion for the sport we play and cannot let go of it yet. Sometimes being an athlete is our motivation for being a student. Without the grades we could not even step foot on the field or the court. Some people believe we get it easy in the classroom and get excused for missed assignments or tests, but in reality we have to work for our grades just like everyone else attending the university.

Five tips that have made me a successful student athlete many should follow: 1.) Introduce yourself to the professor at the beginning of the semester. 2.) Always sit in the first two rows of the classroom so you do not get distracted. 3.) Notify your teachers ahead of time when you will be away so you can complete any assignments you will be missing. 4.) Attend your study hours. 5.) Remember that being a student always comes before being an athlete.

Student athletes spend the majority of their time on the bus traveling. Sometimes the bus is our classroom, bedroom, and sometimes film room.  The bus is an athlete’s mobile home because we travel with our school work and bring our pillows and blanket for the long ride. If athletes are not studying on the bus we are usually sleeping or getting prepared for our game. We spend late nights on the bus and sometimes multiple days to get to our destination.

There are benefits of being a student athlete, but we are never handed anything without working for it. We earn our success on the field and in the classroom but there is always room for improvement. Being a student athlete has been a challenge, but at the end of the day we do it for the life lessons, the experience, and for our fans. We focus in the classrooms to get our degrees and we focus on the field to get our championship. This is what it takes to be a student-athlete and at the end of the day, it is all worth it.

CNNMoney Journalist Visits TAMU-T

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Jamie Williamson

Tami Luhby 

http://money.cnn.com/author/tami-luhby/

Income inequality can seem like a daunting and overwhelming topic, but it is something that is affecting America today. CNNMoney senior writer Tami Luhby traveled all the way from New York to Texarkana to give a talk about income inequality on Tuesday November 3, 2015.

Mrs. Luhby was kind enough to stop by my Advanced News Writing Class to talk with us about what it’s like to be a journalist. She talked to our class about what it takes to write for CNNMoney. She also gave us an understanding of how CNNMoney runs their website and how they track what stories are doing well. I gained a lot of insight about the dedication it takes to be a full-time journalist. I really enjoyed everything she had to say to our class and learned some valuable information that could come in handy in the future if I decide to pursue journalism as a career.

Next up for Mrs. Luhby was a lunch where anyone could come eat and talk with her and ask different questions. The lunch proved to be a success, with many professors getting the chance to talk with Mrs. Luhby. Students were encouraged to stop by and meet the guest speaker before the big lecture event held later that night.

The main event that Tami Luhby participated in was her lecture on income inequality. PLACE, the Program for Learning and Community Engagement, put on the event. PLACE is a program at Texas A&M University-Texarkana that helps promote learning in the community. This year’s theme is economic opportunity. Tami Luhby’s talk about income inequality fit nicely into this year’s theme. It gave the community a look at how income inequality is impacting America.

I found her speech on income inequality very eye-opening. I didn’t know that the United States was one of the leaders in income inequality between the top 1% and the other 99%. The information Mrs. Luhby presented provided an in-depth look at how income inequality is affecting the poverty line and the standard of living. I also found her lecture to be very interesting when she was talking about the housing market crash and how it led into the recession of 2005. This talk was very informative and conducted in such a way that was easy to understand and relate to.

Politicians and Musicians Do Not Harmonize

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Stephen Jones

On September 9th, Donald Trump drew a livid reaction from R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe, when the presidential hopeful used the band’s song “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” at a Tea Party rally protesting President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran. In an email to the Daily Beast, Stipe, clearly upset with Trump, stating “Go f— yourselves, you sad, attention-grabbing, power-hungry, little men. Do not use our music or my voice for your moronic charade of a campaign.” Trump’s clash with R.E.M. is just the most recent incident in a long and troubled history between politicians (mostly Republicans) and musicians.

During the 2008 presidential season, Sen. John McCain received disapproval from three seperate artists, including: the Foo Fighters, John Mellencamp, and Jackson Browne. McCain continued this losing streak with musicians when his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin, was sent a cease-and-desist letter from Heart guitarist Nancy Wilson, after using their famous song, “Barracuda,” at the Republican National Convention. Wilson’s letter fiercely, “I think it’s completely unfair to be so misrepresented. I feel completely f***ed over.”

Most of these altercations between politicians and musicians mostly occur due to the stark contrasts in personal beliefs. Many of the jilted Republican politicians have strongly conservative values, while the objecting musicians have usually been associated with the rock genre, a genre known for its progressive past, e.g., Woodstock and Vietnam War protests. This history can be seen as far back as Ronald Reagan’s 1984 presidential campaign, where he wanted to use Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” Reagan did not understand the lyrics where about a man struggling in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, a war Reagan was known to support. However, in the rare case of a musician denying a Democratic politician song rights, the letters have had a more cordial tone. For instance, Barack Obama was asked to stop using songs during both of his presidential campaigns; however, these rejections were not due to political beliefs, but rather the fact his campaign did not ask for permission. Perhaps if politicians asked the artists for song usage in advance, they might be spared the embarrassment of being publicy rejected.

Sources:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/01/27/1360245/-When-politicians-use-music-without-asking-permission#

http://www.buzzfeed.com/perpetua/12-songs-republicans-used-without-permission#.ffgVjEryVD