Dr. Ballard lectures about Titanic and other discoveries

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Lisa Hellier

Dr. Robert Ballard lectured at Mary Moody Northen Hall on April 23 as part of the WTAMU Distinguished Lecture Series. Ballard is known for his deep-sea exploration and, more specifically, his discovery of the remains of the E.M.S Titanic. His lecture focused on where his love of sea exploration came from and the discoveries and accomplishments he has made since then.

“It wasn’t quite what I expected, but I really liked it,” Lacey Hamilton, sophomore Accounting major, said. “I thought it was kind of better than what I expected.”

Ballard was born in Wichita Falls, Kansas and became interested in sea exploration after reading 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne. When his parents asked him what he wanted to be, he would say Captain Nemo. Ballard said he became fixated with the fact that the ocean had a bottom because he had always just thought of it as a big bucket of water. Later, he would also realize that ocean has the largest mountain ranges on the planet.

“I think of the earth as a creature, a living organism,” Ballard said. “We are lucky to live here.”

Continue reading →

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Listen Up! Former President Bill Clinton Speaks at WT

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Maria Molina

Poster for the Distinguished Lecture Series, featuring Former President Bill Clinton.

Get your headphones on and listen up to our latest episode. This one is about Former President Bill Clinton’s speech at WTAMU. The transcript for this episode can be found below.

Transcript

Maria: On April 24, former President Bill Clinton spoke at West Texas A&M University, an event that captured the attention of students, faculty and community members.

Brandy Roberts, student body president says the Distinguished Lecture Series donated $100,000 to the Flight 93 memorial on behalf of WTAMU.

Roberts: This donation will aid in finishing the memorial and once completed the West Texas A&M University student body will be honored with a plaque on the memorial visitor’s center. In response to this generous donation Bill Clinton has volunteered his time to be with us today.

Maria: Dr. James Calvi, chair of the Distinguished Lecture Committee introduced Clinton and explained his initiative to raise money for the Flight 93 memorial.

Calvi: Last year along with former president George W. Bush and current speaker of the house John Boehner, President Clinton teamed up to raise money for a memorial for the heroes of United flight 93 which crashed in Shanksville Pennsylvania on Sept 11. 2001.

Maria: Clinton compared what happened in Flight 93, to the Alamo and the battle for Texas independence.

Clinton: It was one of those relatively rare examples in human history when the people that gave you the state that you now treasure made a deliberate collective decision to give their lives for a larger objective. Everybody that goes to battle risks their life, but they knew in advance they were going to perish.

Maria: Flight 93 was targeted to hit the Capitol, which Clinton says is the symbol of the United States freedom and history. He says the difference between the battle for Texas Independence and Flight 93 is that the people on Flight 93 were just ordinary men and women that didn’t sign on for battle.

Clinton: They didn’t know in advance that on that day it might be their last day. And they had to decide in an instant whether they were going to derail that plane knowing that the chances were more than 90 percent that the plane will crash and they will be killed.

Maria: However, he says these people made the same decisions than the Texans in the Alamo.

Clinton: They weren’t professional soldiers and they didn’t have any time to think about it. They instinctively knew this is what they had to do. I don’t know about you, but I think that deserves a National Memorial.

Maria: During his speech, Clinton announced the National Park Foundation matched the $100,000 dollars donated by WTAMU. Clinton also spoke about the current issues the U.S. is facing.

Clinton: I personally think we also are on an unsustainable development track because of the way we produce and consume energy and local resources cannot be sustained.

Maria: He says climate change is real and unavoidable and that the U. S needs to change the way it consumes energy.

Clinton: For 15 years I have been saying this is the best way to create a good economy and create new jobs if you do it in a smart way.

Maria: He says Texas has been a leader in wind energy development, an area that needs further exploration.

Clinton: Number one is free once you pay for the windmill, and number two it is clean. Oh and there is the matter of the third: For every billion dollars you spend on a coal fire plant you get 870 jobs, for every billion dollars you spend on wind energy, if the windmills and the blades are made in America you get 3,300 jobs.

Maria: Clinton says the U.S is a rich country with huge assets.

Clinton: Don’t let people tell you America’s best days are behind. Every single challenge we have is fixable, but requires reform.

Maria: For The Prairie, I am Maria Molina.

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“There will always be something to argue about.” Former president speaks on the importance of cooperation

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Krystina Martinez

Former President Bill Clinton spoke at the First United Bank Center on April 24. The former president attracted people young and old, who listened to his remarks on the Flight 93 Memorial, his time as president and the current issues in America and abroad.

“The most interesting thing to me, today is what I think is a disconnect in what works in America in real life and what works in America in politics,” Clinton said. “In politics, what works is division and argument…what works in real life is when we have networks of cooperation with people who know different things, have different skills, and look at problems in different ways.”

Clinton pointed to successful areas of the country, such as Silicon Valley and the rise of computer simulation technology in Florida, but also brought attention to problems such as rising childhood obesity, the energy crisis, and healthcare. Continue reading →

Student Memorial Service: This Week in Photos

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Jessica Chandos

Check out the photos we got of the Student Memorial Service!

Amarillo-based group performs after WT softball game

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Daniela Fierro

(L to R) Lead guitar player Ben Cargo, drummer Jordan McClain, bass player Steven Ronk and AJ Swope performing in the Lady Buffs Sports Yard. Photo by Daniela Fierro.

Web Editor’s Note: For more pics of the band, click here!

AJ Swope and the Last Train Home performed 14 songs after the Lady Buffs’ softball game on April 17.

The four-piece Americana group was sponsored by Blu Energy to perform.

Alumni student AJ Swope said he likes to write lyrics that are like history, much like their song that is also named after their début album, Hotel St. James.

“Hotel St. James is supposed to be one of the most haunted hotels in New Mexico,” Swope said. “There just stories I like to come up with and I put them into music.” Continue reading →

WT’s Women soccer team prepares for next season

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Melissa Bauer-Herzog

Yvette Bedoy stops the ball by the goal. Photo by Melissa Bauer-Herzog.

Web Editor’s Note: For more photos of the Lady Buffs vs. Amarillo Lightning, click here!

The women’s soccer team returned to the Pitch on April 19 for an impromptu preseason game against the Amarillo Lightning Soccer Club. The team has spent the last month traveling and preparing for next season, when they will make another run for the playoffs.

Men’s soccer defeats West Texas Sockers 2-1

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Melissa Bauer-Herzog

Mikey Williams sends the ball down the field. Photo by Melissa Bauer-Herzog.

Web Editor’s Note: For more photos of Buffs Soccer, click here!

The men’s soccer team played their last home game of the preseason on April 22 at The Pitch. The Buffaloes took on the West Texas Sockers, a professional developmental league team, from Midland during the afternoon match and scored two goals in the second half to defeat the Sockers 2-1.

AJ Swope & The Last Train: This Week in Photos

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Daniela Fierro

Check out these pics we got of AJ Swope & The Last Train’s performance at the latest Lady Buffs softball game! To read about the event, click here.

Students shack up to raise money and awareness

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Jacob Cain

Participants gather together for a group picture. Photo by Jacob Cain.

Web Editor’s Note: For more Shack-A-Thon/Give-A-Goat pictures, click here!

The WT Alliance hosted Shack-A-Thon/Give-A-Goat on April 18 to fight poverty in Africa.

This time, the money raised was sent to buy goats in the Turkana region of Kenya where “it hasn’t rained for five years, and the people have to take a 24-hour trip to get water, and that water has typhoid,” Milton Jones, president of the Christian Relief Fund, said.

Over the past years, the events have raised a total of over $62,787 to buy 867 goats for Africans in need.

“[The event] was a great success,” Kent Mereness, director of the Church of Christ Bible Chair, said. “It amazes me how the selfless actions of WT students are impacting people for good on the other side of the globe.” Continue reading →

Honors Banquet will honor outstanding students

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Ashley Hendrick

WTAMU’s 33^rd annual University Honors Banquet will take place in the Alumni Banquet Hall April 27 at 7 p.m. The banquet will recognize outstanding students and organizations that have exhibited leadership and dedication throughout the year at WT.

“To get this kind of recognition is really important,” Dr. Don Albrecht, vice president of Student Affairs and chairman of the honors committee, said. “We give the biggest awards a student can get.”

These awards range from various scholarships to outstanding organization, outstanding president of an organization and outstanding advisor.

“It is the only university honors banquet to honor students and it varies,” Engineering major and President of the Leadership Board Valeria Swope said. “Students within organizations on campus like sororities and fraternities and the service organizations, just all the different organizations that we have on campus [participate in the banquet].”

Director of Student Activities Skip Chisum said since other departments on campus – such as the Athletic department – have their own awards banquets, this one will recognize the works of students and organizations that don’t fall under a particular college or department.

“We really try to pick up students and awards and scholarships that may not fall in any other category,“ Chisum said. “The banquet is a vehicle to show the rest of the campus community, ‘this is what we do’ and other people don’t always get to see.”

Some of the University’s highest awards will be given out at the banquet, including Man and Woman of the Year, which honors one male and one female student out of the entire WT student body for their accomplishments.

“It’s really based on their entire career at WT and all the wonderful things they’ve done,” Albrecht said. “They’re strong academically, they’re strong campus leaders and they’re strong volunteers.”

WT President Patrick O’Brien will also give out his own Silver Buffalo Award which, in the past, has been received by students and entire organizations.

“We don’t know what he chooses to give,” Albrecht said. “It’s whatever he decides he wants to do. If he wants to recognize a team or a person, and he’s done both, those will be awarded as well.”

The theme for this year’s banquet, according to Swope, is Derby.

“We want all the women to wear their nice fancy hats and the men to be nicely dressed and everything,” she said.

Over 200 guests are expected at the banquet this year, but it is open to any guest who wishes to attend. Tickets are $15 and includes both dinner and banquet activities for the evening. Tickets are available through April 25 and can be obtained at the Student Information Center in the JBK.

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