The J-TAC (Stephenville, Tex.), Vol. 195, No. 21, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 7, 2011 Page: 2 of 8
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_News
THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011
*
‘2640 meters closer to Heaven’
By JOHN McGEE
Staff Writer
On Thursday, Adolfo Bena-
vides, dean of the college of business
administration, gave a brown bag lunch
presentation on the culture and politics
of Colombia in the Dick Smith Library.
He began his presen-
tation with a pre-test
to ascertain how
much the audience
knew about his native
country of Colombia.
Questions ranged from
what the capital of
Colombia was to Co-
lombia's gross domes-
tic product, in order
to ascertain the large
crowd's knowledge of
Colombia.
Benavides
began to describe the
ethnic population of
Colombia, and how
it was populated by
58% Mestizos, a mix
of Spaniard and the
people indigenous to
Colombia, 20% Cau-
casians, 14% Africans
and 8% Mulattos, a
mix between Africans
and the indigenous
people of Colombia.
After describing the ethnic
population, Benavides moved on to
describe the economic situation in Co-
lombia. He explained that Colombia had
the fourth largest gross domestic prod-
uct in Latin America at approximately
$430 billion. He also told the audience
that, like America, Colombia has a very
unequal distribution of wealth, which
has worsened over the last 14 years. He
noted that 5% of Colombia's population
is very wealthy, 30-40% made up the
middle class, and that 60% were very
poor. This was made even clearer when
he explained that 45% of the population
of Colombia lives under the poverty line.
Benavides then went on to
one of the most commonly thought of
problems when one thinks of Colombia:
cocaine. He explained that due to its
climate, Colombia is ideal for growing
coca leaves necessary for the manufac-
ture of cocaine, although the Colombian
government has done a great deal to
lessen the amount grown. Benavides
added that drug cartel related violence
in Colombia had lessened within recent
years, and praised the Colombian police
as "the best police in the non-industrial-
ized world."
He then went on to describe
his hometown of Bogota. He began by
describing the people of Bogota as very
religious and predominately Roman-
Catholic. He added that they were avid
exercise enthusiasts, and that on Sat-
urdays, Sundays and holidays all of the
streets of Bogota are closed to vehicular
traffic until noon strictly for cyclists and
pedestrians. He referred to Bogota as
being "2640 meters closer to heaven,"
as Benavides is an avid cycling enthusi-
ast.
Benavides said that, "Colombi-
ans are among the happiest people in
the world." He added that they express
their happiness through dancing, and
began to describe the two primary types
of music from Colombia; the cumbia
and the vallenato. He played samples of
each type of music, the peppy upbeat
cumbia and the more bass heavy val-
lenato.
Benavides ended his presenta-
tion with a description of Colombians
love of sports. He explained that the
two largest sports in the nation were
cycling and soccer. He stated that the
entire country stood united behind it's
soccer team and that large celebrations
were held after victories.
The presentation was quite suc-
cessful in giving a packed room a small
insight into life in Colombia.
John McGee/TheJ-TAC
Adolfo Benavides educates his audience on the culture of Columbia.
Voting results
By LANDON HASTON & KENNETH AARON BRISENDINE
Tarleton students were given the opportunity to vote for Mr.
and Ms. TSU nominations, their opinion on the Concealed Handgun
Referendum, as well as SGA Constitutional changes between 9 a.m. on
April 4, and 4 p.m. on April 6, on the Tarleton website.
The general consensus of students on campus on the Handgun
Referendum was against allowing handguns on campus. This voting
will be taken into consideration when Executive Team members give
Tarleton's position on the bill. Texas state law currently allows for
concealed carry in most public places. This bill, however, would allow
for college buildings to be included in allowing concealed carry. The
purpose of having students take part in this survey, was to determine
the opinion of students on the issue, as many other universities around
Texas are doing as well.
The revised SGA Constitution was passed by student body
voting, and SGA will begin to work on by-laws in the coming weeks. To
view the revised constitution, visit www.tarleton.edu/sga and click on
the 'Constitution' link under the 'Spotlight' section.
Street closures will begin on June 1, students will not be able
to drive across campus. From the entrance to the Bender dormitory
parking to the Student Center will be closed. In addition the road in ’
front of the police station will be closed.
Mr. and Ms. TSU Nominations coming soon. Log onto www.
thejtac.com to keep up to date with more information.
Dpeii Pamir for
shoes and souls
By LANDON HASTON
Staff Writer
On Thursday, April 7, 2011, from 11:45
a.m. until 2 p.m., Sigma Phi Lambda is hosting
their annual Open Party.
Open Party is an event Sigma Phi Lambda
host that is open to all of Tarleton's students and
will be hosted in the Amphitheatre outside the
Barry B. Thompson Student Center. There will be
free food available at the event.
Hannah Roberts, treasurer for Sigma Phi
Lambda, is excited about this year's Open Party.
"This year's Open Party will consist of
a charitable event sponsoring Shoes for Orphan
Souls, I'm very excited about the opportunity to
reach out to children around the world," Roberts
said.
Shoes for Orphan Souls is part of Buck-
ner International. The purpose of the program
is to provide shoes to needy children, as well as
children in orphanages in over 68 countries. Vol-
unteers for Shoes for Orphan Souls travel to the
countries and are able to minister to the children
while putting shoes on their feet.
Sigma Phi Lambda will be accepting
monetary donations as well as donations in the
form of new shoes, socks or shoelaces to be de-
livered to Shoes for Orphan Souls.
Kara Wilcox, pledge trainer for the orga-
nization, is hoping for a good turnout. "I hope
the Lord lays it on students hearts' to show up to
the event. It is a charitable event that will help
many children, and I think our students need to
get involved," Wilcox said.
Fantastic Field Day
provides outdoor fun for
kids with special needs
MEDIA RELATIONS
Laughter and music filled the air at Tarleton's Memori-
al Stadium Wednesday while 250 student volunteers provided
encouragement, pats on the back and high-fives to children
with disabilities during the university's 18th annual Fantastic
Field Day.
Specifically designed to accommodate children with
handicaps ranging from autism to visual impairments, students
within Tarleton's Department of Kinesiology welcomed more
than 300 area schoolchildren and special education teachers
to enjoy games developed as a means of providing physi-
cal education opportunities. The field day also served as an
educational tool to promote real-world learning experiences
for students majoring in kinesiology and for those studying
to pursue careers in special education and adaptive physical
education.
Following a military theme, camouflage-clad volun-
teers from Tarleton and the Stephenville community escorted
participants through various stations such as "Sink the Battle-
ship," "Save the Soldier" and "Bay of Pigskins." Each station
was developed by teams of Tarleton students who modified
the games so all school-age children, regardless of disability,
could fully participate.
"The primary purpose of Fantastic Field Day is to be
a service-learning project for our students so they may apply
what they've learned in adaptive physical education courses,"
said Assistant Professor of Kinesiology Dr. Kayla Peak. "All of
the activities are designed by kinesiology students and built
and manned by the students."
Dr. Peak said students were tasked with developing
activities to accommodate children with varying degrees of
disabilities and ages, ranging from three to 22 years old. Par-
ticipants at Wednesday's field day had a multitude of disabili-
ties including amputations, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome,
growth disorders or other intellectual and learning disabili-
ties, said Dr. Peak. Twenty school districts were represented
at Wednesday's event that also included approximately 130
student-teachers from Tarleton's College of Education.
For the children who participate in Fantastic Field Day,
the benefits are tremendous and relate directly to Eff&brh's tax-
onomy of learning, which consists of several domains including
cognitive, psychomotor and affective, said Dr. Peak. "Specifi-
cally, benefits are holistic in nature and involve a combination
of the mind, body and spirit," she said.
Featuring a festive atmosphere where limitations
are overlooked, both Tarleton students and participants were
all smiles on Fantastic Field Day, including senior kinesiology
student Levi Hardcastle. "It's amazing the way the participants
get out here and enjoy themselves. It's like they're regular kids
who have no disabilities or limitations."
Wendy Edmond, a special education teacher who ac-
companied 14 students from Clifton Elementary School, said
this was her second year to attend Fantastic Field Day. "Our
students really love the event and have so much fun," she said.
"The music, atmosphere and the Tarleton students are really
helpful and make for an enjoyable day. There are not many
events for special needs students and this field day is perfect
because there's definitely something for everyone, whether
they're in a wheelchair or have other handicaps."
Also attending Fantastic Field Day for the 10th
consecutive year was Heather Tomlinson-Goode, a Life Skills
teacher from Comanche High School. "This event caters to our
students' needs and skill levels, plus it allows them to socialize
because many of my students are similar in age to Tarleton's
student volunteers," she said. "I also think Fantastic Field Day
is a great opportunity for Tarleton students to get an idea
about a career working with students with disabilities. It ben-
efits both our students and the college students."
Dr. Peak said for those who volunteer to make the
event a success, the benefits are unique to each individual.
"For the special needs participants, this is their day because
there's nothing like it for them to have fun," she said. "Fan-
tastic Field Day is a student-driven initiative and is completely
free to the area school districts. It has no budget and I think
it's amazing we can have this event for nearly 300 kids and we
don't have to spend a dime."
A companion to Fantastic Field Day is the annual fall
event, Rock the Gym. Dr. Peak said the dance-oriented event
held in Wisdom Gym is also designed for children with special
needs. Last October, Tarleton's Department of Kinesiology
hosted their third annual Rock the Gym and attracted more
than 160 participants.
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The J-TAC (Stephenville, Tex.), Vol. 195, No. 21, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 7, 2011, newspaper, April 7, 2011; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth591226/m1/2/?q=music: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Tarleton State University.