Vol. XXXIV, Issue 14, November 15, 2011 www.richlandchronicle.com

CHRONICLERichland

RememberingRooney

Page 3 Page 11

ChancellordiscussesDCCCDissues

Meet Pat the Human pg. 4pages 6 & 7

WWW.TAMU-COMMERCE.EDU 903.886.5000 or 888.868.2682

A Member of The Texas A&M University System

LEARn MORE about Mary and how Texas A&M University-Commerce can change your future by visiting:

MEET.TAMU-COMMERCE.EDU

Mary, an Honors College student studying biology, came to Texas A&M University-Commerce to take advantage of the Honors

College full-ride scholarship and to pursue her dream of becoming a neuroscientist.

For Mary, the Honors College presents many great opportunities that can help her as she strives toward her goals. Because she plans to attend medical school after graduation, she is especially interested in writing the required Honors College thesis to add to her résumé.

Along with the academic benefits, Mary enjoys being part of the close-knit A&M-Commerce community and getting to know her professors on a personal level.

“Both the Commerce community and the university are relatively small,” Mary said. “And the small class sizes allow students an opportunity to develop close student/teacher relationships.”

“My first semester I was only taking plant biology, so I didn’t have a strong vocabulary in genetics and neurology,” Mary said. “In genetics specifically, gel electrophoresis, separating DNA genes based upon their sizes, is extremely important. Here at A&M-Commerce, it was one of the first things I got to do.”

Mary is positive that A&M-Commerce is a great starting point for a career in science and medicine, and is grateful for the knowledge she has obtained at the university.

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NEWS

LADISE PEREZContributing Writer

WWW.TAMU-COMMERCE.EDU 903.886.5000 or 888.868.2682

A Member of The Texas A&M University System

LEARn MORE about Mary and how Texas A&M University-Commerce can change your future by visiting:

MEET.TAMU-COMMERCE.EDU

Mary, an Honors College student studying biology, came to Texas A&M University-Commerce to take advantage of the Honors

College full-ride scholarship and to pursue her dream of becoming a neuroscientist.

For Mary, the Honors College presents many great opportunities that can help her as she strives toward her goals. Because she plans to attend medical school after graduation, she is especially interested in writing the required Honors College thesis to add to her résumé.

Along with the academic benefits, Mary enjoys being part of the close-knit A&M-Commerce community and getting to know her professors on a personal level.

“Both the Commerce community and the university are relatively small,” Mary said. “And the small class sizes allow students an opportunity to develop close student/teacher relationships.”

“My first semester I was only taking plant biology, so I didn’t have a strong vocabulary in genetics and neurology,” Mary said. “In genetics specifically, gel electrophoresis, separating DNA genes based upon their sizes, is extremely important. Here at A&M-Commerce, it was one of the first things I got to do.”

Mary is positive that A&M-Commerce is a great starting point for a career in science and medicine, and is grateful for the knowledge she has obtained at the university.

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JOYCE JACKSONCopy Editor

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Fall 2011 has been a tough semester for financial aid.

“We really apologize to our students that have had such a very frustrating experience this semester with our financial aid process,” said Dr. Sharon Blackman, senior associate V.C.E.A. chief workforce and retention of-ficer. “Our efforts have been to reorganize the Financial Aid’s entire operations and we have a great foundation.”

Dallas County Community College Dis-trict (DCCCD) Chancellor Dr. Wright Las-siter, along with many of the district’s cam-pus presidents, including Richland’s Dr. Kay Eggleston, met Nov. 7 with student reporters to talk about issues concerning the DCCCD. The financial aid challenge was one of the main topics discussed.

Blackman said that implementation of financial aid changes started in November 2010. They were supposed to go through June of this year, but, due to numerous roadblocks associated with the complete re-structuring of the Financial Aid Department, several key positions remained unfilled and caused major delays in students’ financial aid

awards. “When things go wrong, everything seems

to go wrong,” Blackman said. Due to federal regulations, Blackman said

there was a lot of programming and repro-gramming to do in the software.

“And that is one of the reasons why we were delayed,” she said. “Even though our objec-tive was to start in the summer for the awarding process, we did not award un-til almost two weeks prior to the first day of classes.”

Blackman said they have been working on all of those processes. Because of the chal-lenges, the deadline was extended to Oct. 31. Meanwhile, the district is still continuing to process those loan applications.

With training of new staff, a much smooth-er process is expected for the spring semes-ter, Blackman added.

On a related note, a new policy regarding Student Academic Progress (SAP) has meant significant changes for financial aid.

According to the DCCCD website, “The colleges of DCCCD are required by law to formulate standards to measure a student’s progress toward completion of a program of study while receiving financial assistance

through federal, state or institutional stu-dent aid programs by applying both quali-tative and quantita-tive measurements to academic work.

To be in compli-ance with federal laws, financial aid will be based on academic progress. Blackman said students must

now receive a 2.0 grade-point average or bet-ter to receive financial aid.

If students do not achieve a minimum 2.0 average for the semester, they are put in what is called “financial aid warning.” During the warning period, students are still eligible for financial aid but must bring their average up to a 2.0 by the end of the semester to be eli-gible for financial aid in the spring.

If students do not meet the criteria, they will be placed in a status of financial aid suspension. Under the new regulation, if students are in financial aid suspension and enroll in a DCCCD class, they must pay out-of-pocket for tuition.

The district said that students are able to

Chancellor luncheon focuses on financial aid

remove their suspensions after meeting SAP requirements. Students who meet SAP re-quirements will be able to see their awards by the beginning of January.

Budgets and possible cuts also remain high on the presidents’ minds.

Among all DCCCD campuses, Richland had to make the largest cuts during the last cycle.

Last year, $4.3 million was cut out of the operating budget.

Eggleston said one of the ways Richland has lessened the impact of the cuts is by of-fering faculty members the volunteer retire-ment packages.

“At this point, we have authorized replace-ment of 17 of those old-time faculty posi-tions,” Eggleston said. “We are still working hard to identify opportunities to save money and reallocate funds for faculty hiring. This is one of the significant challenges that we con-tinue to work on from the financial stand-point.”

In addition, many of the DCCCD cam-puses are hitting their 40-year mark.

The severe drought conditions in the area are greatly affecting the foundations, pipe-lines, trees and other shrubs in many of the campuses.

Important maintenance will be difficult to do without the necessary funds.

“We are keeping our fingers crossed that we don’t get hit with another cut,” said Las-siter.

Effective for the Spring 2012 semester, Texas will require immunizations for menin-gitis if you are enrolling as a student for the first time or if you are returning after a se-mester break in enrollment.

Proof of vaccine or booster within the last five years or proof of vaccination is due 10 days before the first day of the first semester you enroll.

Exemptions from the state law include: those who are 30 or older, those enrolled in totally online or distance learning classes or those who submit an affidavit declining the vaccination for reasons of conscience, including a religious belief. Students must submit the exemption form from the Texas

Meningitis vaccine required in 2012

“We really apologize to our students that have had such a very frustrat-ing experience this se-mester with our financial aid process.”

- Dr. Sharon Blackman

Department of State Health Services if claim-ing religious grounds.

Image courtesy meningitis101.com

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LAURA GARSEAEditor-in-Chief

campus

Staff meetings: Monday and Wednesday 2 p.m. in E-020-------

Letter PolicyLetters to the editor may be edited for space. They will be edited for spelling, grammar and malicious or libelous state-ments. Letters must be the work of the writer and must be signed. For identification and verification purposes, letters also must include the writer’s classification (grade level), full name, address and telephone number, although address and telephone number will not be published.

Editorial PolicyThe Chronicle is the official student-produced newspaper of Richland College. Editorials, cartoons, columns and letters are the opinions of individual students and do not neces-sarily reflect the opinions of other individual student writers, editors, advisers or the college administration.

© Richland Chronicle 2011

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El Paso Hall, Room E-020, 12800 Abrams Rd. Dallas, 75243Newsroom: 972-238-6079 E-mail: chronicle@dcccd.eduAdvertising: 972-238-6068 E-mail: advertise@dcccd.edu

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August 16August 23August 30September 6September 13September 20September 27 October 4 October 11

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Happy Thanksgiving from the Richland Chronicle!Page 5 advertisement placed at advertisers request.

Rooney

Tuesdays: The Richland Chronicle hits cam-pus newsstands, except for Nov. 22.

Music Events:Each Tuesday, the Music Department of

the School of the Division of Humanities, Fine and Performing Arts presents its Recital Series. All performances are free and open to the general public. For information, contact Dr. Michael Crawford, associate dean of per-forming arts, at 972-238-6284.

Tuesday, Nov. 15: 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Performance Hall, Room 108The Richland College Jazz Ensembles will

perform.

Wednesday, Nov. 16: Noon to 1 p.m.Cafeteria stage, El Paso HallSteel Band performance

Thursday, Nov. 17: Noon to 1 p.m. Annual Faculty Art Show - Brazos GalleryThe exhibition will be on display from Nov.

17 to Nov. 23.

Thursday, Nov. 17: Last day to withdraw from a class with a “W.”

Thursday through Sunday, Nov. 24-27 Thanksgiving holiday - no classes

Every Thursday: 4:40 p.m. to 6 p.m. El Paso Hall, Room E-076The Yoga Club offers free classes for the

Richland community. Members offer the following reasons for taking yoga: Increase mental power for more effective study, in-crease health longevity and resistance to sick-ness, attain inner happiness for a stress-free environment, restore emotional harmony and increase creativity and problem-solving capac-ity. For more information, call 972-238-6367.

Registration for Spring: 2012Registration for returning students begins

Nov. 22. Regular registration begins after the Thanksgiving holiday Nov. 29. Wintermester classes go from Dec. 19-22 and Jan. 3-13, 2012.

Upcoming Events

Free of pot holes, spaces in the freshly paved and painted parking lots are now avail-able for the taking.

Last Wednesday afternoon, parking lots A and B reopened. A week ahead of schedule, the opening of the lots frees up approximate-

Parking lots reopen early

ly 1,000 parking spaces. The good news is that Richland doesn’t

have to apologize for its “Thunderdust” any longer. The bad news is that students will no longer have the luxury of the shuttle service.

While it can’t be said that all parking prob-lems will be alleviated, students shouldn’t have to deal with overcrowding issues that they have had to deal with for the past month.

According to Eddie Hueston, director of

facilities, the goal of the parking lot construc-tion was to completely renovate the lots.

The $360,000 project was funded by Rich-land’s Fund Balance.

During construction, students struggled more than usual to find an open parking space.

While severe parking issues are resolved for now, it is still advised that students arrive at least 15 minutes early for class.

Image credit Julio Nieto

After a resurfacing and repainting makeover that snarled campus traffic, parking lots A and B reopened a week early.

Gavel File Photo

campus

Images credit Julio Nieto

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Stop before you dropIf a class is stressful, the course work is

difficult or a student is not meeting the stan-dards to pass a course, many students choose to drop a class.

Thursday (Nov. 17) is the last day a student can withdraw from a Fall 2011 class.

“Withdrawal should be the last alternative. Students should first talk to their instructor and their adviser to see if any other options are available to help the student pass the course,” said Cindy Berry, director of aca-demic advising.

A student who receives a withdrawal mark on his or her transcript may have a difficult time if they plan on majoring in the competi-

tive medical or legal fields. Even as a transfer, uni-versities will take into ac-count students who have a “W” on their academic re-cord when determin ing acceptance.

Each stu-dent is allowed six withdraw-als for their entire academic career and may not exceed that amount. If a student receives an associ-

REBECCA BANKSStaff Writer

Cindy Berry is the director of academic advising.

Image credit Rebecca Banks

ate or bachelor’s degree and wishes to obtain a master’s degree, the student is still allowed only a total of six.

Individuals who are receiving financial aid will be given specific procedures to follow be-cause withdrawals are not taken lightly.

“It’s important that students obtain a disci-plinary habit for their course work and limits when taking classes,” said Berry.

Students should contact an adviser who can help them select courses and consult throughout the semester. Richland offers various free tutoring and educational services that are beneficial to any student who wants to succeed.

Further information about withdrawal and advising information can be found at www.richlandcollege.edu/admissions/.

You can drop or withdraw from classes in three ways:

1. In personVisit your college Admissions/Registrar’s Office and complete a drop/withdrawal form.

2. OnlineDrop classes online through eConnect. You must be eligible for online registration to drop or withdraw online (login required).

3. By mail or faxPrint the form from eConnect, fill it out and mail or fax it to the Admissions/Registrar’s

Office. You must give at least one reason why you are dropping for each class. Forms that are mailed or faxed must be postmarked or date-stamped on a date prior to or on the last day to drop the class. Be sure to include a legible copy of a photo ID with your form.

It’s the time of year when social service agencies are calling on the public for help in giving to the needy. Richland’s Office of Stu-dent Life (OSL) has partnered with the Salva-tion Army Corporate Angel Tree Program to help with that cause.

Bobbie Harrison, director of the OSL, said Richland has been offering the Angel Tree program at least 15 years. This year the OSL has limited the angels in need to 100.

“We are trying to get a manageable num-ber,” Harrison said. “I’m looking at the times and given the economy, we only picked up 100.”

Last year the OSL had more than 100, but some weren’t adopted.

Harrison said this year they have three categories on the Angel Tree from which to choose: Precious Angels – for youth up to 14; Precious Seniors and Elderberries – both for senior citizens 65 and over.

The difference between the Precious Se-niors and the Elderberries, Harrison said, is that the Precious Seniors have a preference as to what gift they would like. The Elderberry tags come from nursing homes and assisted living, so those institutions turn in a generic list.

“It’s the first year we’ve had the Precious Seniors,” Harrison said.

If faculty, staff or students would like to pick an Angel off the tree, the process is

simple: Pick a tag off the tree. It will include a first name, age, gender and code number, which are critical to ensure the gift will be suitable for the Angel. Some tags will include a need a wish suggestion or specific sizes.

Buy a gift but don’t wrap it. Just bring it to the OSL in El Paso Hall, Room E-040. The gift will go into a plastic bag and be taken to a Salvation Army Christmas Distribution Center where they will be distributed to the families in need.

Harrison said out of the 100 tags they start-ed with, about half have already been picked. The deadline for bringing in gifts is Dec. 5. For more information call the OSL at 972-238-6130.

Angel Tree branches out for gift-givingJOYCE JACKSONCopy Editor

With the Salvation Army Corporate Angel Tree, students are allowed to pick an Angel and buy a gift for someone in need.

REBECCA BANKSStaff Writer

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feature

Thanksgiving is a holiday shared among family and friends with an abundant feast that turns into an all-day eating affair. People practice their own traditions, whether it is watching football games or Macy’s Thanks-giving Day Parade.

Bill Neal is inviting any student or faculty member at Richland to his Lazy Gator Ranch for a Thanksgiving celebration. Any person who doesn’t have any plans or is alone for the holiday is welcome to attend.

“I have spent Thanksgiving by myself and it’s not a good feeling. I have had three prop-erties and it just makes sense to share with those that don’t have plans for the holiday,” Neal said.

Neal is a fitness instructor for the Emeri-tus Program and received a certificate for his 38 years of service last year.

Thanksgiving invitation to Lazy Gator Ranch

He has hosted this Thanksgiving event for 17 years. Neal said he enjoys sharing his country property, animals, home and family with attendees.

In past years, he has hosted up to 26 peo-ple at a time including international students,

faculty and local stu-dents who wanted to enjoy heartwarming company and delight-ful traditional turkey-day cuisine.

Students and facul-ty members interest-ed in attending need to speak to Neal by Monday (Nov. 21). His office is located in Guadalupe Hall, Room G-122.

“We provide food and drinks for every-one and they are wel-come to walk around to see the cows, hors-es, donkeys, dogs and cats,” said Neal.

Neal and his wife invite anyone interested in a festive holiday to come to their Lazy

Gator Ranch in Canton around noon on Thanksgiving Day.

Images courtesy Bill Neal

Places to go for a Thanksgiving meal Many students and faculty aren’t able to

afford a trip home or are tied down in town with jobs and other responsibilities. Others just don’t have the time or energy to cook. Luckily, there are local restaurants serving up Thanksgiving meals just like mom used to make at a reasonable price.

Check your local location for times and prices.

Black-Eyed PeaThe restaurant known for home-style

cooking typically offers three choices to hungry patrons, including a Roasted Turkey Breast Dinner, a Slow-Cooked Pot Roast dinner and a Hickory Smoked Pit Ham din-ner. Each entree includes a choice of two sig-nature vegetables.

Luby’s CafeteriaLuby’s offers a traditional meal for under

10 bucks. But be warned, the lines build up fast, so make sure to get there early.

Boston MarketBoston Market is offering Thanksgiving

meals for one person or the whole family. The complete meal includes a cooked tur-key, side dishes, rolls and two pies. While the Thanksgiving dinners to-go are pre-cooked, Boston Market advises taking two hours to heat them up on the big day.

Things to do on Thanksgiving Watch the Dallas CowboysA tradition here in Dallas is to watch the

Dallas Cowboys football game. This year, they will be taking on the Miami Dolphins at 3:15 p.m. on CBS.

Run or walk the Turkey TrotThe 44th annual YMCA Turkey Trot is

held in Downtown Dallas at City Hall Plaza. You can run or walk the race, and for those who are not so athletically inclined, there are also clowns, pony rides, bounce houses and live entertainment. More information and sign-up forms can be found at www.thetrot.org.

Watch the Macy’s Day ParadeThe 85th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

will air live at 9 a.m. on NBC. The parade will feature clowns, musical guests, floats and performance groups.

Watch the National Dog ShowPresented by Purina, the National Dog

Show features the best of the breeds. Hosted by John O’Hurley, gather the family and cast your vote for the cutest pooch. The show airs on NBC at noon.

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Bill Neal hosts Thanksgiving at his ranch that is open to everyone.

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Images credit Dacota Taylor

Crowds pack like sardines into a department store on Black Friday.

Pow Wow celebrates Native American Month

Head Man Dancer Andrew Cordova dances to a traditional Native American song. He made his wardrobe of feathers and beads by hand.

The Bear Claw Singers beat the drum and sing as the dancers perform. MC Lance Tahchawwickah tells the heritage of Native American tribes including Navaho and Cherokee at the The 13th annual Richland College Native American Pow Wow.

Head Lady Dancer Priscilla Villanueva bows her head during a traditional dance.

LAURA GARSEAEditor-in-chief

Many people use Black Friday as an op-portunity to get the best deals on the hottest items. But is all the fuss really worth it?

In simplest terms, no. At least not where big retailers are concerned.

Sure, the advertisements make it look like you are going to save tons of money, but honestly, my time and sanity are worth much more.

Forget the 4 a.m. early bird sales. This year, retailers like Target and Best Buy are plan-ning to open at midnight.

Really? Can it get more ridiculous?Oh yes it can.Wal-Mart is planning to open at 10 p.m.

Thanksgiving to offer customers the best op-portunity to snag the deals.

My heart goes out to all of the poor sales associates who will have to cut their Thanks-giving traditions short.

From a business standpoint, I understand trying to make as much money as possible. But a line has to be drawn somewhere when it comes to the well-being of employees, and

Wal-Mart has definitely crossed that line.Every year media outlets report major inju-

ries due to mobs stampeding over each other for the flat screen television or the off-brand

microwave. I’ve even heard of people being trampled to death.

I think I will pass on these Black Friday ventures.

Avoid Black Friday crazinessIf you really want to go out and experience

Black Friday in a more fun and less danger-ous way, there are certainly ways to do so.

I’ll share my secret place with you.Every Black Friday I make it a point to go

to Half Price Books. I get there around 6 a.m. and there’s typically little to no line (sorry, I won’t share my location). The line starts building around 6:30 a.m. and Half Price Books employees distribute hot chocolate and coffee through the line.

At 7 a.m. they open their doors and hand out a gift bag to the first 100 people in line. The bag typically includes a book, a $5 gift card (one lucky shopper gets a $100 gift card), and other Half Price Books paraphernalia.

By the time I’ve finished wandering the store and gathering goodies, it’s late enough in the morning that the major retailers have started clearing out.

While Target may be sold out of the hottest electronics, they usually still have a bunch of $2 DVDs and other advertised specials left over from the hectic morning.

My advice if you plan on Black Friday shopping, don’t try to beat the crowds. Chances are you’ll just wind up making a big crowd larger.

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REVIEWS

Ubisoft has done it again when it comes to “Assassin’s Creed: Revelations.”

This incarnation introduces players to a new expansive world with the continuation of master assassin Ezio Auditore’s quest to discovery and revelation.

Ezio’s journey is dangerous and takes place in Constantinople, heart of the Ot-toman Empire, where the Templars army is expanding to weaken the region.

Ezio is deadlier than ever with new arsenal weapons and abilities such as customization of bomb crafting, heightened Eagle Vision, enhanced free-running and the hook blade combat to defeat enemies.

“Revelations” includes revolutionary gameplay, letting players manipulate the structure of Desmond’s memories and the Animus (which is a machine to view genetic memories encoded into their DNA allow-ing the user a degree of interaction with the environment they’re viewing) to understand the mysteries of his past and awareness of the future.

The online multiplayer experience from “Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood” returns once again refined and expanded with more modes, maps, characters and infinite replay value that puts gamers’ skills to the test against other worthy opponents all over the world.

Is there an assassin in you? Then you should check out “Assassin’s Creed: Revela-tions” today. It’s available for the Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC, iPhone, Android and Win-Phone platforms.

MARY CHANNELLGaming Editor

Prev iewImages courtesy Ubisoft, www.rambiden.info

Taking place in modern day, “11-11-11” is the latest from “Saw” veteran Darren Lynn Bousman. The film centers around a trou-bled writer, Joseph Crone (Timothy Gibbs) who goes to visit his dying father in Barce-lona.

Soon after arriving, he begins to be haunt-ed by the numbers 11-11. Tragedy continu-ally strikes and the eerie numbers seem to always be around, including his child’s death, which was legally at the time 11:11. Crone becomes intrigued with the numbers and be-gins to believe they will lead to his brother’s death on 11-11-11.

The horror genre these days seems to be plagued with failure. I believed this could be one of the better ones before its release, but I’m quite baffled with this “11-11-11.” Its

premise is great and the cast isn’t riddled with a bunch of big-name actors. Looking at the history of actors in this genre, I know they can act, but something is just wrong with “11-11-11.”

First of all, nearly the entire movie feels like it was made for television. There’s this look that those kinds of movies bring to the table and usually it’s a little disgusting. It feels kind of like watching a movie shot for 3-D, but in 2-D on the big screen.

Secondly, it feels as if the actors aren’t even in the same room with each other. The acting isn’t terrible, but there’s zero chemis-try among the cast.

I was ready to give up on “11-11-11” until its final act when my interest was sparked. I felt like I was finally watching the movie that I was originally expecting. I even found myself getting a little spooked at times. Not until the final act can you tell that Bousman is a legitimate director.

The movie finally starts to get its act together, but this is when you can tell where the money was spent. Its ending is very “Saw” inspired, but what can you expect from a guy who did three of those films?

At the end of the day “11-11-11” saves itself from being a train wreck, but it still isn’t easy to get through. Maybe if some-one had put more faith (aka “money” in Hol-lywood jargon), then it would have gotten the chance it deserved. The movie is in limited release as of last Friday, 11-11-11.

SCOTT JACKSONStaff Writer

11-11-11is it more than just a date?

I s there an assass in in you?

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A&E/REVIEWS

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JOYCE JACKSONCopy Editor

‘Waving Goodbye’ examines love, loss and change

Imagine what it would be like to lose a father, in a tragic accident, when you’re a teenager. You’re torn between your father’s memory and your mother, who abandoned you when you were a child – but with whom you must now live.

This is the dilemma that plagues 17-year-old Lily Blue as she deals with her frustra-tions in love, loss and change in Richland’s production of “Waving Goodbye,” a con-temporary drama by Jamie Pachino.

Director Nic McMinn said he chose the play because it’s very powerful.

“It’s age-appropriate for our young actors, meaning they aren’t playing 80-year-olds,” McMinn said. “It’s a really good opportunity for them to expand their skills.”

McMinn said, the playwright, Jamie Pachi-no, is a fantastic writer and one of the best modern writers he knows.

“She blends current time with memory,” he said. “When people are talking in the present moment and then start remembering something, it works very well. Jamie uses a whole lot of symbolism, but it’s not heavy-handed.”

McMinn said “Waving” is not a memory play, but it’s the story of many important events that have taken place in Lily’s past. Her father has died in a mountain climbing accident five months before the play starts.

“The main story is about what’s happen-ing to these people in the present,” McMinn said. “That’s different from a memory play. To me, a memory play takes place entirely in the past. The plot of ‘Waving’ is about com-ing to grips with hard realities and creating

new relationships that come out on the other side of tragic events.”

McMinn said this play will appeal to Rich-land students because it’s about the struggles Lily faces with her parents. It’s a topic that young people deal with and it concerns find-ing new love and repairing broken relation-ships.

For student actors, McMinn said, this is a very difficult and advanced play. It isn’t usu-ally a play that one would take at a two-year college, but rehearsals are going well and the actors are handling it well.

Aileen Donahue, 18, plays the lead role as a photographer, Lily Blue. Donahue said it’s her first play she has been in and her first speaking role. Donahue attended Rowlett High School before entering the Richland Collegiate High School Program.

Donahue said the play is very symbolic in that at first, the characters and relationships seem pretty straightforward, but there are a lot of layers you have to dig through. She de-scribes her role of Lily as “challenging.”

“Lily is very emotionally mature,” Dona-hue said. “Throughout the play, it’s been dif-ficult for me to figure out the real reasons behind some of her actions and how those have impacted her emotional state.”

Donahue describes one phone scene as “heart wrenching,” because Lily imagines speaking with her father as he is dying on a mountain.

“I think it’s the most important scene not only because it basically starts her whole journey to get over her grief,” Donahue said. “Also, it establishes just how important her relationship with her father was and what it meant to her.”

Donahue wants to major in drama and is taking an acting class to improve her com-

Image credit Joyce Jackson

Sculptured hands, created by Jennifer Rose, reflect the importance of art in Jamie Pachino’s “Waving Goodbye.”

munication skills to become a lawyer some day.

While “Waving” is a moving drama about the relationship between a daughter and her mother, how they use art to communicate with each other is also an important aspect of this play. The drama department is collabo-rating with the art department which is sup-plying some art pieces to enhance the plot.

“I’ve created some ceramic sculptures that I’ll hang on the wall,” Jennifer Rose, instruc-tional specialist III, said. Rose hopes to cast some molds of the lead actors’ arms for a

plaster replica of the father’s arms. “I’m really intrigued by just working with

the theater department,” Rose said. “The arms will be made of plaster. It’s only dif-ficult because we’re using a live person and using their exact arm.”

“Waving Goodbye” is free and open to the public and will run at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday nights, Nov. 16-19, in the Arena Theater in the Fannin Performance Hall, Room F-108. No reservations are nec-essary, but for further information, call 972-238-6256.

After years of commonly being grouped with similar bands like Coldplay and U2, Snow Patrol tries to create new sounds for itself with the ambitious new album, “Fallen Empires.”

The band had moderate success in Ameri-ca until its 2006 single, “Chasing Cars,” rock-eted it to worldwide fame. From what I’ve heard on this album, I don’t think it has quite the same potential as its multi-platinum pre-

decessors. That’s not to say this album doesn’t have

its own laudable features. The first couple tracks start this album off right. “I’ll Never Let Go” leans heavily on distorted, electro-guitar riffs. The first single, “Called Out In the Dark,” continues this style and incorpo-rates more pop and electro influences than the rest of the album.

Most of the songs have a relatively solemn feel to them, but there are exceptions. Tracks like “In the End” are the stadium-sized pieces that support the latter part of this al-bum. “New York” is another fitting example

of this with good pacing that builds up to a moving crescendo at the end.

Overall, this album creates its own sound and stands apart from the band’s previous works, but retains a similar experience to what Snow Patrol has been delivering for years now.

Snow Patrol has a dedicated fan base, so this album is sure to sell well. This is espe-cially true in the UK, where the band will also start a tour soon. No word yet if this tour will come stateside next year, but for the time being “Fallen Empires” in album form is a great musical experience.

TIMOTHY POTTERStaff Writer

Snow Patro l has h igh expectat ions wi th ‘Fal len Empires ’

Image courtesty Interscope Records

is it more than just a date?

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Tannia GarciaFor thanksgiving my family and I enjoy

relaxing at home and at night we like to visit friends and relatives to have dinner so we won’t have to cook!

Adam CrouchThanksgiving is about two things and

two things only: pumpkin pie and Cow-boys football. I eat, I sit, I watch. Then I eat again.

Mary Jane Higginbotham1) Thanksgiving tree: Mom made a bare

tree out of brown butcher paper and at-tached it to the wall in our kitchen. Then, either she would use or make a stack of tree leaves in fall colors for each fam-ily member to write down one thing that they were grateful for. By Thanksgiving Day [week], we essentially had a reverse Christmas wish list. Instead of thinking of what we don’t have and/or want, we re-corded things we already had (and often took for granted).

2) Thanksgiving dinner is almost al-ways exactly the same spread. It includes, a smoked turkey, game (venison, dove, smoked goose, etc), my mom’s tamale dressing, green vegetables, a seasoned

Staff Thanksgiving traditionssweet potato dish (with or without marsh-mallows on top), canned cranberry sauce, and various pies. The family favorite is my uncle’s homemade pecan pie.

Rebecca BanksMy family and I watch the Macy’s Thanks-

giving Day Parade and football games. I love spending time with my family and the large assortment of food. Every year I look for-ward to my mom’s pumpkin pie.

Joyce JacksonWhen my parents were alive and my hus-

band’s parents, we would all meet at my in-laws for a huge feast for Thanksgiving be-cause his family is much larger than mine and I’m not from Texas. But now that our par-ents are gone, my sister-in-law and her grown kids usually just invite us over to their house, so I don’t cook. They have a huge family and a houseful of people with plenty to eat so the mood of Thanksgiving is prominent.

Mary ChannellMy thanksgiving tradition is watching the

Thanksgiving parade, having Thanksgiving dinner, which must include green bean casa-role! Also visiting family and watching mov-ies for the rest of the day!

A Simply Perfect Roast TurkeyIngredients

* 1 (18 pound) whole turkey * 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened * salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste * 1 1/2 quarts turkey stock * 8 cups prepared stuffing 1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165

degrees C). Place rack in the lowest position of the oven.

2. Remove the turkey neck and giblets, rinse the turkey, and pat dry with paper tow-els. Place the turkey, breast side up, on a rack in the roasting pan. Loosely fill the body cav-ity with stuffing. Rub the skin with the soft-ened butter, and season with salt and pep-per. Position an aluminum foil tent over the turkey.

3. Place turkey in the oven, and pour 2 cups turkey stock into the bottom of the roasting pan. Baste all over every 30 minutes with the juices on the bottom of the pan. Whenever the drippings evaporate, add stock to moisten them, about 1 to 2 cups at a time. Remove aluminum foil after 2 1/2 hours. Roast until a meat thermometer inserted in the meaty part of the thigh reads 180 degrees F (80 degrees C), about 4 hours.

4. Transfer the turkey to a large serving platter, and let it stand for at least 20 to 30 minutes before carving.

For the one that didn’t get pardoned...

Recipe courtesy allrecipes.com

Illustration credit Glen Sovian

JOE STUMPOColumnist

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I never watched “60 Minutes” on a weekly basis. But on the Sundays I did, I always made sure to tune in during the last 15 minutes to see what Andy Rooney had to gripe about.

In a tribute that aired Oct. 2 honoring Rooney for over 30 years of in-sightful com-mentaries, “60 Minutes” corre-spondent Morley Safer declared him “America’s favorite grouch-in-chief.”

Rooney was extremely popu-lar with viewers because they could identify with practically all the topics he talked about.

“I obviously have a knack for getting on paper what a lot of people have thought and didn’t realize they thought,” Rooney was quoted saying in a Nov. 5 article by The As-sociated Press. “And they say, ‘Hey, yeah!’

And they like that.”When Rooney died Nov. 4 at the age of

92 as a result of complications following mi-nor surgery and after delivering his final es-say Oct. 2 on “60 Minutes,” I immediately searched the Internet, [youtube.com] and [cb-snews.com] for a few of those “Hey, yeah!” moments that struck a few chords with me over the years.

R o o n e y ’ s Feb. 29, 2004 c o m m e n t a r y about the num-ber of movie trailers and needless adver-tising audiences are inundated with before the film ever starts was one seg-ment I identi-

fied with. “Now, movie theaters have started doing

something even worse to delay the start of the picture you just paid to see: They show actual commercials,” Rooney said. “Don’t they understand that’s what we go to a movie to get away from – commercials?”

How true. Today the notion that a movie will actually start at 11:10 a.m. is like saying your doctor will see you at exactly the time of your scheduled appointment.

An 11:10 a.m. showing of “Paranormal Activity 3” at a theater, for example, actually means 11:30 after my time has been wasted sitting through trailers I had already seen on the Internet and commercial advertising of upcoming television shows I have no inter-est in.

By comparison, an 8 a.m. doctor’s appoint-ment means I am sitting in the examination room for 15 minutes or longer before my doctor actually sees me.

I couldn’t tell if Rooney was more annoyed with British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen or “Ali G,” the character Cohen played in a segment of “Da Ali G Show” in 2004 as the commentator corrected the entertainer’s grammar.

“It’s English,” Rooney told him. “The English language would say, “Do you think the media has changed, not ‘Does you think the media has changed.’ I have 50 books on the English language, if you’d like to borrow one.”

I could go on and on about many of the subjects I agreed with him like his Feb. 26, 2006 commentary on Man’s Best Friend, for example.

“I think dogs are more dependable. They make better friends than people make. Dogs don’t disappoint you the way your people friends do.”

Every now and then Rooney had reason to be serious, if not celebrate, as when U.S.

Farewell to ‘America’s favorite grouch-in-chief’

Navy Seals killed Osama bin Laden on May 2.

“There have only been a few times in my life when someone’s death has been the oc-casion for rejoicing,” he said in his May 8 commentary. “The demise of Adolf Hitler was a good day for the world and a good day for me. The death of Osama bin Laden this week was that kind of day for the world.”

Rooney signed off “60 Minutes” last month with his final essay, which was No. 1,097. It would have been great if he had left us with a nice even number of 1,100.

I assumed despite his age that a year from now he would return with a brief commen-tary.

Perhaps this one would be about “retire-ment” speaking from behind that walnut desk Rooney personally built himself and had placed in his CBS office which he spoke about in a Dec. 6, 2005 piece called “Andy’s Favorite Place.”

He did later tell viewers he wasn’t retiring.“Writers don’t retire and I’ll always be a

writer,” Rooney said.His passing may well be the moment view-

ers and colleagues have dreaded. Rooney’s final request to his television au-

dience before signing off was “If you do see me in a restaurant, please, just let me eat my dinner.”

Somewhere in heaven, Andy Rooney is doing just that -- having dinner with his best friend, Walter Cronkite.

I suspect, for all eternity, he probably won’t ever have to worry about anyone inter-rupting his meal, except maybe God.

In this August 1978 file photo, CBS News producer and correspondent Andrew Rooney poses for photos in his New York office. The former “60 Minutes” commentator died Nov. 4 at 92.

Image courtesy AP Photo/Carlos Rene Perez, File

“I obviously have a knack for getting on pa-per what a lot of people have thought and didn’t realize they thought.”

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