2A
NEWS
March 22, 2013 Vol. 88 No. 14
OPINIONS . . . .
3&4A
SPORTS
1&2B
FEATURES
3B
CAMPUS LIFE
4B
thelink.harding.edu
Opinions: SEE Page 3a
Claxton recalls this season’s last home basketball game and what it means to be a Rhodes Rowdy.
Features:
The first installment in a series
SEE Page 2b
SEE Page 3b
about Dr. Burks’ time as president.
SEE Page 2a
A new Arkansas law gives universities the choice of letting faculty and staff carry concealed guns, bringing
the gun control debate to a college campus near you
The U.S. has experienced at least school shooting tragedies
130
since the
High
SCHOOL
by LEXI STUTZMAN news editor
SHOOTING in 1999.
On March 1, Gov. Mike Beebe signed a bill into law allowing college staff and faculty to carry concealed handguns, placing Arkansas among the ranks of 28 other states now permitting concealed weapons on college campuses.
Under the legislation, each individual school’s board of trustees will have the annual option to opt in or out of allowing faculty with their concealed carry license to bring their weapons onto school grounds. Dr. John Simmons, chairman of Harding’s board of trustees, said a decision has not been made on whether Harding will allow concealed weapons on the university’s campus. Dr. Bruce McLarty, who will succeed Dr. David Burks as president in the fall, said the Newtown shooting has created a flurry of legislation in states all over the U.S., and passions are running high over the issue everywhere. “On one side, you have people who contend that universities are creating ‘unsafe zones’ by forbidding students to carry guns to defend themselves,” McLarty said. “At the same time, campus security officers are very concerned about possible scenarios where
PART TWO: STUDENT PERSPECTIVE
they might be called into a scene with an active shooter where they would be unable to determine which person with a gun was the actual shooter.” Dr. BJ Houston, director of Harding’s criminal justice program, said she would be hesitant to allow faculty or staff to carry weapons on campus. Houston said while the idea of having an armed faculty to make students feel safer sounds nice, in reality it could be more of a danger than a help. SEE “GUNS,” PAGE 2A
Do you think Harding should choose to allow guns on campus? Cast your vote in the poll on the Link’s Facebook page.
Documentary seeks answers in murder case Produced by HU professor, ‘Missing Micah’ explores scenario surrounding ‘06 alumna Micah Rine Pate’s death by BETHANY NICHOLSON student writer
photo by ASHEL PARSONS | Student Publications Senior Shelby Babcock, junior Emily Davis, senior Matt Mead and junior Amanda Carroll gather around a Duck Commander employee during a January trip to West Monroe, La.
Duck and Buck Commander, HU business partnership provides real-world experiences by LYNDSEY RUBLE editor-in-chief
As part of an independent research business class, 15 Harding students are working with the Duck Commander and Buck Commander businesses. The students, all selected by professors and department heads, are working with Harding faculty, two board of trustees members and alumni in order to best serve the businesses behind the TV show “Duck Dynasty.” The students are divided into teams in order to brainstorm and compile strategies and ideas to pitch to Duck Commander and Buck Commander. At first, all teams were working on a branding strategy for the businesses. Now, each team is broken up into different areas of specialty. Teams are working on product development, a business plan and warehouse development systems. Matt Mead, a senior marketing and finance major, said his team meets 2-3 times per week, but never in a traditional classroom setting. One of the main projects his team is working on is planning a festival in West Monroe, La., centered on the Duck Commander and Buck Commander brands. Mead said working on real projects for real companies “is a good mix of having the confidence to know you can do something while having the humility to know there’s still lots you don’t know.” To answer questions and provide advice, several alumni and faculty volunteered to assist the students. Senior marketing major Shelby Babcock said having these mentors to go to for advice has been very beneficial to the students. Mead said the class, which emphasizes real-world knowledge and experience, has taught him a lot about
It’s a good mix of having the confidence to know you can do something while having the humility to know there’s still lots you don’t know. -Matt Mead, senior, marketing and finance professionalism and the importance of quality as well as the relevance of material he learned in previous marketing classes. “It makes you a better student because you get more motivation,” Mead said. “There’s always stuff to learn so the more exposure you get … on the job makes you more committed in your classes to try to be the best that you can be.” Since students are working with a real business, Mead said the class is constantly changing. Without a syllabus or a traditional class structure, Babcock said the class has helped the students develop a sense of confidence in dealing with a real-world business situation. “There (are) so many opportunities at hand with alumni, with Duck Commander, with the teachers,” Babcock said. “There are opportunities with the experience of learning to work with a company. My goal for this is just learning to take advantage of the hundreds of opportunities that are here within one class while still doing a good job for the company.” Students will work with the Duck Commander and Buck Commander businesses for the remainder of the semester. The faculty advisor for the project and professor of accounting Dr. Phil Brown, said he hopes other independent research classes can do more projects like this in the future.
“ Missing Micah,” a documentary based upon the disappearance and death of 26-year-old Micah Pate, and produced by mass communication instructor Ginger Blackstone, highlights Micah Pate’s life and ponders the underlying causes of her death. Micah Pate, a 2006 graduate of the College of Nursing at Harding University, was killed on April 30, 2009 near her home in Bartlett, Tenn. Her husband, Thomas Pate, pled guilty to her death, saying it was an accident. Lou Butterfield, retired Harding professor and executive producer of the “Missing Micah” documentary, runs a nonprofit organization for Christian Broadcasting and his latest series dealt with pornography addictions. Butterfield said his desire to produce “Missing Micah” began with Micah Pate’s father, Dennis Rine, a Harding Academy teacher, telling him to read her prayer journal. Butterfield said that inside of the prayer journal she mentioned her husband’s pornography addiction around 8–10 times. “When I saw that, I wondered how much that addiction and his drinking played into her death,” Butterfield said. “So, I suggested to the Rines that we make a documentary on the life and death of Micah. My interest was especially from the addiction standpoint.” In addition to pornography, Butterfield said they found in Micah Pate’s journal mention of Thomas Pate’s other love interest. Telephone records show that Thomas Pate contacted this woman numerous times the week of Micah Pate’s death, and his last call to her was on his way to the police station. Butterfield said they plan to show evidence from the case and want to be fair to both sides. “We play to the drama, because it was dramatic,” Butterfield said. “We want it to be interesting, but we are not fabricating any evidence. We did not go into this to prove that Thomas killed Micah, but we went into it to find out what effects his addictions had in him killing her, accidental or on purpose.” According to Blackstone, they are letting interviews from friends, family members of both sides, the authorities and even Thomas Pate himself tell the story. Blackstone will be using Micah Pate’s prayer journal entries to piece together the rest. “There are so many layers to this,” Blackstone said. “There is redemption, but then there is also ‘What went wrong?’ Something obviously went wrong, but what was it?” Blackstone said, accident or not, lessons can be learned from Micah Pate’s death and she plans on portraying those lessons in the documentary. “If it was an accident, what can we as Christians take away from this? What can we learn?” Blackstone said. “Sadly though, it is a mystery and we may never really know what happened.” “Missing Micah” will premiere at Harding Academy on April 27. On April 29, the documentary will be shown again on the Malco stage theater in Bartlett, Tenn. Admission will be free of charge, but donations are welcome. For more information on the premieres visit www.facebook. com/MissingMicah.