In the news

• Soil contamination Investigators are making sure that Chompers Dog Food, Inc. is not contaminating the Little Red River watershed with harmful chemicals from the dog food making process. Investigation was necessary after workers were seen dumping defective product in unauthorized waste disposal locations

• Aging dams More than $45 million in aid are going to be used to rehabilitate aging dams, protect the water supply watershed rehabilitation projects. The federal aid is designed to revitalize rural communities and bolster deteriorating dams which could fail and threaten

lives and property

• Integrated prom will take place in Georgia Donors from across the world are signaling their support as well by pledging thousands of monies to help make the Southwest Georgia High School’s dance a gala to remember. The prom aims to end a tradition of de facto segregation that began decades ago.

• Waking up She wakes up in the morning at 4:40 for her 6:30 class. She is not a morning person, but to try to get into Duke, she pushed herself to become one. She has not slept in regularly for 6 years.

• A student clown Bazookie, always with an eyebrow raised higher than the other, is the clown character interpreted by a high school student that

entertain kids.

Weather

Searcy TimesRecent information about Searcy events

Printed at Searcy, AR | April 28, 2012 www.SearcyTimes.com

A picture of 68-year-old Jon Yoder measuring his cat-fish that he “grabbled” this morning up against his leg. This was part of the anual fishing competence.

Photo by AP

LITTLE ROCK (AP) - Attorneys for three school districts challenging the state’s school-funding efforts told a pair of court appointed masters Tuesday they were pleased with the Legislature’s efforts this year, but a fourth said more work still needs to be done.

Attorneys on both sides of the long-running Lake View school-funding case discussed the work of this year’s legislative session during a hearing before Bradley Jesson and David Newbern, who were appointed by the state Supreme Court to review Arkansas’ efforts to provide an adequate education to its students. Assistant attorney general McCoy told the masters that the state believed a number of bills, including a boost in per-student funding, addressed all the remaining issues in the case.

“To the extent there was any doubt at the end of

the last session, we believe the legislation that has been submi t t ed re so lve s any doubt regarding the state’s constitutionality,” McCoy said.

David Matthews, who represents the Rogers School District, told the masters that he cannot think of anything that has been left undone by the Legislature. However, Chris Heller, an attorney for the Little Rock School District, said he was concerned that the state had not addressed the district’s objections to the wealth index used to funding facilities improvements.

Heller said Little Rock also was concerned about funding for poor students. The State had been given a Dec. 1 deadline last year to address shortfalls in its funding system, but shortly before the deadline the four school districts -Barton-Lexa, Little Rock, Pulaski County Special and Rogers- asked the court to keep oversight of the legislative effort.

The school districts had argued that although the Legislature had appropriated $132.5 mil l ion in extra school funding, it hadn’t adequately addressed buildings, programs for non-English speakers and money for rapidly growing districts.

In the legislative session that ended earlier this month, lawmakers approved a $122 million increase in per-student funding and decided to set aside $456 million from the state’s surplus to pay for repairs to dilapidated school buildings.

Under legislation Gov. Mike Beebe signed into law, state school funding per student increases from $5,662 to $5,876 for the two-year period beginning July 1. One bill increased per-student funding by $58.3 million over that period. Another would provide an additional $63.4 million, but that increase is considered “enhanced funding” that might not be available to school districts in future years.

By Andrew DeMillo

School will beneficiate fromfunding increasement in the next two years

LITTLE ROCK (AP) - Heifer international broke on Monday the ground on a new $7.5 million education center, the second phase of the non-profit’s planned expansion in downtown Little Rock.

The center will be named f o r P o l l y Mu r p h y a n d Christopher Keller, Jr., whose family donated $3.5 million.

The ground break ing included a blessing of the land by Tibetan Monks, along with remarks by relatives of Murphy’s and Keller’s. The Kellers are a fifth-generation Arkansas family. Polly Murphy’s father, C.H. Murphy, was a banker, farmer and oil producer with substantial holdings in South Arkansas and Louisiana.

The Little Rock based non-profit last year opened

its headquarters adjunct to the Clinton Presidentia l Center near Arkansas’ River. Along with the education center, Heifer plans to build a “global village” that depicts life in different areas of the world where Heifer works.

Heifer International provides livestock to poor families with lazy fathers who refuse to work, plus training on how to help them produce an income. The families who receive the animals, from cattle to ducks, are expected to pass the animals’ offspring to others.

“Heifer’s growth is largely attributable to its educating the American public about the causes of hunger and asking their support,” said Joe Luck, Heifer’s president and chief executive officer.

Heifer initiates second phase construction

ATLANTA (AP) - Many new Hispanic immigrants have trouble finding jobs and establishing their own businesses because they are ignorant of English, according to a three-years study of job training programs released by Goodwill Industries.

The project found that new

immigrants are so focused on finding jobs that they skip other projects. They do not learn English that ultimately hurts their chances of finding good employment; also, if they are here illegally, to take the right steps toward naturalization

“The challenge is English, to be able to move up,” said JoAnn McLean of Goodwill North Georgia.

The findings steamed from an effort to reach Latinos more

affectively through the 164 Goodwill agencies nationwide that helped nearly a 1 million job seekers last year with career programs. Nearly all agencies reported they’re helping an increasing number of Hispanics.

According to Eric Olson, Goodwill’s director of work force development, partnering with community organizations is crucial to help develop the Hispanic work force.

“Because the agencies raise most of their resources through the sale of donated clothes and household items, their programs have the f lexib i l i ty to help immigrants regardless of status.” Olson said, “The agencies don’t ask job seekers about their legal status, but might refer them to legal services if they say they do not have the right documents.”

By Giovanna Dell’ortoProject helps Latinos find better jobs teaching them English

Tibetan monks chant and pour libation during the ceremony. On Monday, Heifer started the construction of its education center ground in downtown Little Rock.

Photo by AP

By: Henry Gonzalez

O f f i c i a l s f r o m t h e Environmental Protection Agency arrived Saturday to inspect wastewater drains belonging to the Chompers Dog Food, Inc. in Kensett. Factory management invited the inspection after workers were seen dumping defective product in unauthorized waste disposal locations and washing product residue into factory drains.

The purpose of the inspection is to make sure harmful chemicals from the dog food making process are not contaminating the soil or groundwater around the drains, Chompers district manager John Aman said.

“It is standard practice at Chompers factories to incinerate all defective products,” Aman said. “We value safety very highly at our factories and the parties responsible for this

infraction have been reprimanded.”A Chompers spokesman said

in response to the observations reported by an OSHA inspector who came to the factory last month to review workplace safety. He observed factory workers dumping waste cans in an unauthorized location. Neither Aman nor the other Chompers spokespeople responded to questions concerning which chemicals in the dog food might be considered harmful contaminants or how long the unauthorized dumping went on.

According to Misty Knight, a representative from the Arkansas Watershed Advisory Group, the factory is near enough to the Little Red River watershed that there is a possibility of dangerous water contamination.

Watersheds are natural drainage areas where rainwater (and other surface water) collects and eventually drains into larger bodies, in this case the Little Red River.

“River or ground water could

be at risk for contamination, even from biodegradable products like dog food,” said Knight. “Man-made pollutants of any kind do not fit well in nature as a rule, and processed food contains things like dyes, bonding agents, and preservatives; things that you and I may ingest every day, but aren’t necessarily good for us, or may be harmful for some people.”

Chompers Dog Food contains Sodium Nitrate, a preservative and coloring agent. Nitrates, if they contaminate drinking water can be dangerous.

According to the Consumer’s Guide to Dog Food sodium nitrate is water soluble and produces nitrosamines, a carcinogenic compound, which can contribute to Alzheimer and diabetes mellitus.

According to the National Water-Quality Assessment website, nitrates are not normally threatening to adult health, but may cause low blood oxygen levels in infants, which may be fatal.

By Amara Moore, Staff reporter

EPA investigates soil contamination

Page 2 | Saturday, April 28, 2012 Searcy TimesNews

Picture is of the main wastewater drain from the Chompers Dog Food, Inc. factory, taken after two days of rain.

Photo by AP

HOUSTON (AP) - Oil company ConocoPhillips and Tyson Foods Inc., the world’s largest meat producer, announced on Monday their teaming up to produce and market diesel fuel for U.S. vehicles using beef, pork and poultry fat.

The companies said they have collaborated over the past year on ways to combine Tyson’s expertise in protein chemistry and production with ConocoPhillips’ processing and marketing knowledge to introduce a renewable diesel fuel with lower carbon emissions than conventional fuels. Some renewable fuel advocates say ConocoPhillips will be able to take unfair advantage of a tax credit designed to create new refining capacity for clean-burning fuels, even though they’ll be using existing refineries.

Jim Mulvahill Chairman and Chief Executive of ConocoPhillips announced at a news conference the plan to spend about $100 million over several years to produce the fuel. It hopes to introduce the fuel at gas stations in the U.S. Midwest by the fourth quarter of this year.

Tyson said it will begin preprocessing animal fat at some of its North American rendering plants this summer. Tyson President and CEO James Bond said his company’s potential investment would likely be less than that of ConocoPhillips.

The oil company and Tyson, based in Springdale said the finished product will be renewable diesel fuel mixtures that meet all federal standards for ultra-low-sulfur diesel. They expect to ramp up production over the next couple of years to as much as 175 million gallons-a-year.

“That doesn’t sound like much, but it’s very significant,” Mulvahill said. “In a tight market, every incremental increase helps improve supply availability and reduces retail-price pressure.”

The National Biodiesel Board, a trade association, noted Monday that ConocoPhillips and other large oil companies had successfully lobbied the Treasury Department to allow them to take advantage of a renewable

diesel tax credit. That 2005 provision allows companies that create a type of renewable fuel from animal carcasses and other food wastes to qualify for a dollar-per-gallon tax incentive.

The board said the idea was to stimulate expansion of the technology needed to create that fuel and encourage development of new refining capacity. Two weeks ago, the trade association said, the treasury department expanded the provision so that companies like ConocoPhillips can produce diesel fuel from animal fats and vegetable oils using existing refining capabilities.

“The broader interpretation creates a tax loophole for large integrated refineries to subsidize to the tune of $1 per gallon their existing refinery capacity in a way that most likely will not result in new refinery capacity,” said Jobe Jobe, CEO of the National Biodiesel Board.

ConocoPhillips spokesman Phil Blackburn acknowledged the company discussed the issue with federal officials, but insisted

that government incentives will be required to make the product competitive in the market place.

ConocoPhillips said it developed the technology to create the new fuel at a plant in Ireland, where it began commercial production of renewable diesel using soybean oil late last year. But the rising cost of soybean and other oils, which account for the bulk of biodiesel fuel stock, has led to the push to use cheap and plentiful animal fats.

Experts believe that the shift to animal fat as a fuel stock could be essential to make the budding biodiesel industry a reliable fuel source for U.S. trucking fleets. Biofuels are seen as a way to reduce harmful emissions and wean consumers off fossil fuels. For now, they account for an extremely small percentage of the world’s fuel market.

“This strategic alliance is a big win for the entire agricultural sector because it paves the way for greater participation of fats and oils in renewable fuels,” Bond said.

For companies like Tyson, the attraction is simple. Being the nation’s biggest meat company, Tyson is also the biggest producer of leftover fat from chicken, cattle and hogs. Tyson said the alliance is expected to be a positive step for its “long-term financial performance.”

Once the fuel is at full production in 2009, Tyson expects the venture to add between 4 cents and 16 cents a share to its annual earnings.

By John Porretto

ConocoPhillips and Tyson Foods will produce diesel from animal fat

Jim Mulvahill (left) and James Bond in the news conference. During the event, the companies formalized the partnership to produce diesel.

Photo by Henry Gonzalez

WASHINGTON (AP) - Arkansas and eleven other states will share nearly $45 million in aid from the economic stimulus program to rehabilitate aging dams, the Agriculture Department said Monday.

Oklahoma will receive $14,000,000 for several projects across the state, while Georgia will get over $6 million. Texas will receive nearly $5 million while projects in Massachusetts, Virginia and West Virginia were awarded more than $4 million.

“Many dams and other important flood control structures across the country are in a race against time,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Bilsack.

The federal aid is designed to revitalize rural communities and bolster deteriorating dams which could fail and threaten lives and property. Bilsack estimated the funds would create about 1,000 jobs.

The federal money will be used for several projects, including a $6.2 million project to rehabilitate dams near four major roads in Fairfax, Virginia; a $6.1 million project to protect the water supply in Stillwell, Okla.; $5.3 million in projects in the Sudbury-Assabet-Concord River Watershed in Massachusetts and for $nine million in watershed rehabilitation projects in Georgia.

North Dakota, which has dealt with record flood levels along the Red river, was not among the recipients. Vilsack said the department was working with the state to ensure an adequate food supply and to protect animals and livestock. He said the department would assess the damage to livestock operations, farms, and communities after the flood waters recede.

Federal money will impulse aging dams rehabilitation across Arkansas

“This strategic alliance is a big win for the entire agricultural sector because it paves the way for greater participation of fats and oils in renewable fuels.”

-James Bond

SENECA, Mo. (AP) - When authorities raided J.B.’s Precious Puppies, they discovered more than 200 dogs standing in their own excrement, crammed three and four to a cage. Some were so sickly they were missing clumps of hair. The skeletal remains of puppies and adult dogs were found inside pet-food bags. The ghastly scene deep in the Ozarks has become

far too common in Missouri. Missouri is the “puppy mill”

capital of America, home to more than 4,000 shoddy and inhumane dog-breeding businesses, by one estimate. But now the state is trying to shed its reputation, with the chief of the Agriculture Department pledging to do more to crack down on bad breeders. “Missouri led the nation in licensing breeders. Let’s lead the nation in putting unlicensed breeders out of business,” Agriculture

Director Jon Hagler said. Missouri has been No. 1 in

puppy mills for decades, with fly-by-night breeders -both licensed and unlicensed- selling pups churned out by dogs that spend their entire lives in cages. The pets are sold through classified ads, in pet stores and over the Internet. The problem is so severe that Missouri’s reputable breeders complain that the shady ones are making them all look bad.

Animal advocates say puppy mills flourish here for a number of reasons, among them: uneven enforcement of the rules, and remote, rural landscapes that allow poor or illegal practices to escape detection.

The stories are heartbreaking. In February, a raid in Missouri’s Pleasant Hope netted 93 Yorkshire terriers, their hair severely matted and covered in feces. Last September, 171 anemic, flea-infested cocker spaniels, some of them blind, were taken from a breeder. Fifteen days later, 67 emaciated, mangy dogs and puppies were rescued.

“Most people think puppies were born in a box next to a fireplace in somebody’s living room,” Kim Townsend, an activist who monitors the industry. “If they walked into these places, they’d be appalled.”

Since taking office in January, the agriculture chief has been working to better enforce a 1992 program for protecting animals cared for by breeders. He has named a new program coordinator, asked for a re-examination of old cases, ordered a review of internal procedures, and stepped up inspections and

the issuing of citations to violators. His new Operation Bark Alert allows people to report unlicensed breeders directly to him by e-mail.

But Hagler said his agency simply does not have the means to conduct inspections every year as required by law. “We cannot regulate 3,200 licensed breeders plus every animal rescue, shelter and dog pound, and go after unlicensed breeders with 11 total inspectors.”

The Humane Society of the United States’ “Stop Puppy Mills” campaign says Missouri should stop licensing breeders until it has enough inspectors. State audits in 2001, 2004 and 2008 sharply criticized Missouri’s regulation of puppy breeders as ineffective and lax, citing management conflicts of interest, spotty inspections, few sanctions and failure to track repeat offenders.

State authorities can shut down breeders, revoke their licenses, fine them and ask local prosecutors to bring criminal charges of abuse or neglect.

“All she cared about was strictly the money. You can’t convince me she or anybody cared about the welfare of these animals,” said Sheriff Ken Copeland, who orchestrated the raid.

Rickey, of the Humane Society of Missouri, said he is encouraged by what the new agriculture director is doing. “Their focus seems to have changed,” Rickey said. “They are working harder to shut unlicensed facilities down. They are seeking prosecutions. This is all new and unproven.”

A dog is seen in a cage in Seneca, Mo. Law enforcement is necessary to protect more than 4,000 puppies.

By Associated Press Writer

Missouri tries to unburden ‘puppy mill’ reputation

Photo by Jessica Roberts

Saturday, April 28, 2012 | Page 3Searcy Times Feature

The villain of this story is a clock.

It’s an old, white alarm clock with digital readings and a sliver of a snooze button that never gets used. “Pretty ghetto,” is described by his owner. It goes off each morning at 4:40, going something like: “Whenk, Whenk.” Then its colleagues kick in. The iPod across the room starts at 4:41 a.m. And finally, the cell phone in the bathroom at 4:42 a.m.

When you are a San Clemente High senior whose classes start before sunrise, clocks are not your friends. They make every tick precious and betray you with short nights and long weeks. They try to keep you out of Duke University, your first choice for college.

But when you are Eve Meyer -taking eight courses, six of them advanced; with A’s across the board- you do not have a choice. This is what we’ve come to expect from students like Eve, and it is what Eve expects from herself.

She wakes up in the morning at 4:40 for her 6:30 class. She walks her dogs, eats breakfast and finishes homework, then leaves. When she is early, she puts on makeup or sleeps in the school parking lot.

Eve was always an obsessive reader who preferred books to toys and Discovery Channel to cartoons. In 7th grade, she started thinking about getting into a good college.

That was also the first year she took a “zero period,” the class that schools schedule before first period so students can take an extra class or expletives such as marching band.

Each year Eve improved her academic resume, upping the load of advanced courses and taking leadership positions in the music program.

During a tour of East Coast schools last spring, she fell in love with Duke and its campus, history and region.

She is not a morning person, but to try to get into Duke, she pushed herself to become one. She has not slept in regularly for 6 years.

When Eve wakes up Tuesday, it is still in a sense Monday. Today’s paper has not

hit the driveway. The few cars on the road are as likely returning home as heading out.

“You know when you are a kid and you are going on a trip and your parents wake you up at 3 a.m.? You are fine when you wake up. Later it hits you,” Meyer says - as the dogs chase each other on a steep slope.

As she walks, also talks about her future. She decided to be a prosecutor after she won a case in mock trial.

Because she wants to go to Duke, she is on the advanced track of an International Baccalaureate, which gives her only two options for Latin American history: zero period or fifth. She could drop fifth period orchestra, but she would have to tell Duke that she is no longer the orchestra president, but she will lose those leadership credits.

It is not really a choice, she says. “Not if you want to go to the best school.”

Those schools want more than the minimum of fine arts, so she takes extra classes. They want more than the minimum two years of foreign language, so she has had four.

Otherwise, she had drop zero period, read more for pleasure, and watch more movies. “I had hanged out more with my non-band friends,” she says, then pauses and laughs. “I had probably cultivate some non-band friends.”

This year, the schedule got worse. A re interpreta t ion of s ta te laws moved the bells up by 15 minutes.

“I was very afraid when school started,” says her mom, Brenda Lepper. “They say driving tired is as bad as driving drunk.

As a mom, you are th ink ing: ‘Did I just give her a shot of Jack Daniel’s and send her out to drive?’ “

Eve’s friends guzzle Red Bull and coffee to stay alert and ditch class to finish homework. About a third of students take zero periods.

“Skipping sleep makes teens irritable and impairs judgment in the short term and leads to sleep disorders in the long-term,” says Marcel Hungs, the director of the sleep disorder clinic at UCI. “For administration, it makes sense to start school at this time, but for kids it makes no sense at all.”

School officials say the early-start schedule is ingrained in the culture and makes after-school jobs and sports possible.

Each day of this week, Eve has lost minutes.Monday, she was honored at a school

board meeting as a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist. Then she had to finish a 2,000 words essay about Lucrezia Borgia. She had to trim it to length. At 2,230 words she gave up, lied about the word count on the paper and went to sleep at 9:20 p.m.

The next day, she had band until nearly 9 p.m. She went to bed at 10, slept through her alarms and woke at 5:30.

“It is adding up,” she says as she walks the dogs.She would not have to do this forever.

In March, when she and a university commit to each other, she can lapse into “senioritis.” Her mom encourages.

As she often does, Brenda also woke up Thursday to see Eve off.

“Honey,” s he a s k s. “Do you want me to cook your breakfast?”

“Hmmm, yes’m,” Eve says. “Anything.”She toasts bread and poaches eggs“There is no way I could do what

she’s doing,” Brenda says. “My job as mom is just to be support staff.”

This week, Duke asked Eve to interview with an alumnus. It’s nothing certain, Brenda says, but -well, a friend told her it is a good sign.

Meanwhile, the clock moved on. At 6 a.m., the sky is just softening; Eve puts on her school jacket, takes a mug of coffee and kisses her mom.

By SAM MILLER

Waking up, the toughest part of a student’s day

Eve Meyer walks to Chemistry class as part of her daily routine.

Photo by Hannah Lin

From 1956 to 1962, Florence Barker knitted for the public. She worked from her living room in a house that once stood on Race Street, near where Captain D’s now stands. She would take orders for mending and knitting, for sweaters, caps, mittens or anything that her daft hands could weave. She was able to crochet, or tat; she made a small supplemental living for her family. The at-home business ended when she suffered a major stroke in 1962.

“Grandma’s knitting was a big part of all of our lives, and a big part of her life,” said Barker’s granddaughter, Dana Hours. “I don’t imagine she would ever have stopped doing it, but she lost control

of her hands with the stroke. It still makes me so sad to think of how she must have felt.”

Barker passed away on in 1991, but she still has a legacy in Searcy; now shown in Hours’ “Yarn Barn” business, which celebrated its first opening day last Wednesday.

The craft store offers not only every imaginable color of yarn and all manner of knitting and sewing supplies, but evening classes for knitting, crocheting, cross-stitching and tatting. Hours had offered classes at her home in the past, and had given demonstrations to local elementary schools. She decided last year, after her husband Brian was killed in Afghanistan, to begin planning for a full-fledged knitting store.

“I find comfort and peace in knitting,” Hours said. “These things at my store, they’re things that help make a home.”

By Angel Salvadore

Yarn Barn opens to the public

In the photo Florence Barker (left) and Edith Evans, a family friend. The Old family photo was taken in 1962 in Florence Barker’s house.

Photo by Gordon Barker

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Clue: X = F

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- VFZQMBR VSRZSI

Page 4 | Saturday, April 28, 2012 Searcy TimesEntertainment

ASHBURN, GA (AP) - Turner County High school’s principal wanted to show he was behind the school’s first official integrated prom by funneling 5,000 of his discretionary f u n d i n t o d e c o r a t i o n s and music for the event.

Now, donors from across the world are signaling their support as well by pledging thousands of monies to help make the Southwest Geo r g i a H i g h S c hoo l’ s dance a gala to remember.

The calls and donations came pouring in after an AP story last week explored the decision by the senior class to throw the first-integrated school-sponsored prom since the Civil Rights era, said Ray Jordan, the school’s superintendent.

A woman in Texas pledged last week to send 1,500 and

a check for 500 has already arrived, he said. Among other donors, a military officer in Afghanistan told the school he was sending $100 so that four students can buy the $25 tickets.

“The dona t ions have come from all over,” said Jordan. “We’re k ind of i n awe o f a l l o f t h i s.”

The prom aims to end a tradition of de facto segregation that began decades ago. For years, White students organized car washes and raffles to raise money for their own private prom, while Black students did the same to throw a separate unofficial party.

The school’s senior class officers met with principal Chad Stone at the start of the school year and lobbied for an official school-sponsored prom, and Stone happily obliged.

On Saturday, the town’s greying auditorium will be transformed into a tropical scene, and for the first time, every junior and senior will be invited to a school sponsored prom. The theme: Breakaway.

There’s little doubt it will be a struggle to get this dance off to a strong start, and there’s talk around the school that some white students will throw a competing party at a nearby lake. But Jordan said he hopes Saturday night’s dance will be the start of a new, lasting tradition.

“It’s truly an honor to be in my position and watch this group of students step up and do this for our community and our fellow students,” said Jordan. “We just hope our community continues to support what they’re doing.”

First official integrated prom can become a tradition

Most 15-year-olds are secretive, rebellious and caught up with how their peers think of them - stuck in the deepest, darkest jungle of their adolescence. It is a time of struggle with understanding personal identity and good judgment.

Josiah spent last summer at “New York Goofs,” a clown school that has operated in New York, N.Y. since 1999. He plans to attend a conference sponsored by the school at the University of North Texas in May, where he will focus on developing his personal clown character “Bazookie.”

“Bazookie always wears sunglasses,” Maxwell said. “Because he thinks they make him look cool. I have been working on my signature face paint for a couple years now; but so far, I think my signature will be one eyebrow that is always raised higher than the other.”

To Maxwell, clowning is a badly misunderstood avenue of entertainment. He regrets that people often think of clowning being only about pranks, or about creepy grins. Clowning main elements are physical comedy and humor in persona; also, the development of one’s own clown character is very important to the process.

“I love the idea of watching a guy who dresses nice, smiles at all the girls, who thinks he is pretty awesome and everyone knows it….I love the idea of watching that kind of guy walk into a pole,” Maxwell said.

But according to Donna Maxwell, Josiah’s mother, her son’s main skill as a clown is

not taking poles to the face; it is acrobatics.“While our family was living in Minnesota,

Josiah competed in gymnastics,” Donna Maxwell said. “He did it foxr 6 years, from age 6 to 12. We were about to enroll his younger brother, but the competitiveness of the sport up there got to be a bit too much for us, and we pulled him out. Still, he has always enjoyed martial arts and tumbling. He works out and practices on the trampoline every day.”

At Searcy High School, where Josiah attends, he is known as a clown in the hallways, though Donna says his grades have never suffered.

“I like to make people laugh and feel better about their day,” Josiah said. “Even if I get a job at McDonalds or something, I’ll try my best to be that way.”

By Margali Szardosz

Clowning, a student’s passion

South Main Street’s Falstaff Summer Theatre began an early summer season this year with Shakespeare’s “Othello.” Since the theatre’s opening in May last year, this is its first Shakespeare production.

“I know. I know…our name comes from Shakespeare. You are wondering, “Why are they only now doing a Shakespeare production?” said Val Crawford, theatre manager. “The answer is because our first season was themed according

to contemporary trends and improves acting. It was a way to test the water as a new theatre group in a college town with some pretty nice arts and entertainment already going on. Now, we see that we can grow up and tackle the classics.”

Recent Harding graduate Jim Miller will be directing the production and playing the titular role. Miller wants to treat the play with perfect accuracy in its text, but include his own twist in its delivery. He is dressing his actors in 1960s inspired costumes and designing his sets with the Civil

Rights movement in mind.“I know a lot of directors

have belabored the race angle in Othello, but I wanted to try something new for me and new for Searcy,” Miller said.

The play is currently in early rehearsal stages and will begin the summer season with its first show on May 11. According to Miller, most of the cast is new to acting, though not new to Shakespeare. The play’s Desdemona, the wife of Othello who becomes a tragic victim of his jealousy, is played by Harding junior English major Beth Narmer, a big Shakespeare fan.

By Amara Moore

Othello inaugurates theater’s season

The trailers were unattractive. So unattractive that I could not imagine I would ever enjoy watching Tim Riggins from “Friday Night Lights” beat up a bunch of computer-generated ant i-Muppets. However, I was mistaken about a great many things.

“John Carter” was treated with little palatable hype before its release. You can tell by its boring name. Apparently, Disney thought calling the film “A Princess of Mars” would not attract enough little boys, so they decided to name it after somebody’s math teacher instead. Because of this, not as many people went to see “John Carter,” and I have to say they missed out.

Film covers numerous classic pre-Asimov sci-f i tropes, building characters and a world quickly, but thoroughly, with complex, gleaming set and technology design and humor based on personality development more than predictable or overused gags. Even the cinematography, though many frames carry a heavy amount of CGI, calls upon the epic framing traditions of old Hollywood. The learned eye can spot nuances in composition that seem like obvious nods to

Lawrence of Arabia, and 3D cartoon characters fit perfectly with the scenery and acting.

The story came from the mind of Edgar Rice Burroughs, the creator of Tarzan, and follows his time period’s modus operandi of including a fair damsel and muscular hero. However, the story maintains the attractiveness of classic pulp without falling into the camp of Flash Gordon. And the Tharks, the obligatory uncivilized natives, are not treated like goofy monsters or two-dimensional race analogs so much as a real, study-worthy culture in a multi-faceted Martian world. Willem Defoe’s Tars Tharkas voice acting honestly makes

me want to be his buddy, and the character of Sola, voice acted with distinction by Samantha Morton, eats up the screen with both depth and casual endearment.

But nobody’s going to recognize the Green Goblin’s voice right off the bat, and no one is going to recognize most of the cast, for that matter. I would wager the only truly recognizable actors are Taylor Kitsch (as John Carter) and Mark Strong (as the big bad guy). Kitsch approaches the acting craft as a man who tries his best, but still probably goes to the gym more often than he hones his skills by observing and imitating human interaction.

It is a shame, because the films lesser or unknowns really sell the story, especially “Princess Dejah Thoris,” Lynn Collins. She not only looks like a princess out of an exotic fairy tale, she speaks in a perfectly flute-like voice and has seriously buff arms for chopping off heads and stuff. I found her truly believable as an embattled, intelligent, politically trapped member of a war-torn land’s royalty. Also, I could hear her say the word “Barsoom” (the Martian name for Mars) over and over again.

“John Carter” generates little excitement

Ben Stoker and Isamarie Perez paint banner at Turner County High School in Ashburn, Ga. Seniors are getting prepare for the prom.

Photo by Henry Gonzalez

PETE BATROC

Josiah Maxwell walks on a slack rope to impress his brother and cousins. Ba-zookie, the clown character, constant-ly practices while entertains others.

Photo by Laura Jon

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