The career type fair was aimed toward promoting networking between local businesses and Texas Tech students, said assistant director for the university career services Stephanie West.

“It’s an opportunity for students looking for full-time, part-time and internships that would like to stay in the Lubbock area to network with our local employers,” West said.

Megan Robare, a senior public relations major, said she enjoyed the event because of the specific types of employers who were at the event.

“I’m graduating in May and I’m looking to stay in this area,” Robare said. ”Or fairly close.”

The goal of Career Connection was to give local businesses an advantage they would not normally have at large career fairs, said Hannah Smith a student ambassador for the UCS.

“With big career fairs sometimes the big companies that fly in from places kind of overshadow what the Lubbock employers are here for too,” Smith said. “And sometimes Lubbock employers like to group together and have their own networking event so that they can have people that want internships over the summer and full-time and part-time as well.”

About 50 or 60 employers and over 50 fifty students showed up for the event, Smith said.

“We actually have more employers than we did last year,” Smith said. “This event goes on every semester, and I think it has been an improvement.”

Brandi Schreiber, a representative for the Volunteer Center of Lubbock, said she particularly enjoys the Career Connection.

“I feel like it’s one of the better career type fairs that I’ve been to because the students take it so seriously,” Schreiber said. “They bring resumes, and they have to strike up conversations with people. Sometimes that’s not always possible when you’re at a career fair behind a booth.”

Senior James Bearden, majoring in biology, said the career fair is particularly important at this point in his college career.  “I’m about to graduate after this semester’s over, and finding a job would be really nice,” Bearden said.

It was suprising to see that even though it is not geared toward biology majors, employers are still interested, Bearden said.

“Right now I’d like to find a full-time job because I’m thinking about going to get my master’s and it would really help to have some money to do that with,” Bearden said.

With unemployment in the United States higher than it has been in years, students graduating from college with no experience feel the pressure to find a job.

“Yeah, I’m actively looking for a job right now,” Sergio Leyva said. “It’s surprisingly competitive actually.  So it’s kind hard for students.”

Leyva said as a graduate student he feels the same amount of pressure and hopes he will be able to find a job.

John Styers, senior business management major, said he hoped to find a good fit at the career fair, but has found it even more competitive lately.

“Everybody’s cutting back, especially with this new health care bill, so it definitely seems like it’s a lot harder,” Styers said.

Competition and tuition loans on the back of his mind, Styers said he will use all he has to set himself apart from other candidates.

“Hopefully it’s my GPA, and my personality hopefully will come out,” Styers said. “Because that’s really all that can differentiate me right now with the other candidates.”

Director of the UCS, David Kraus, said the students can develop from learning how to mingle how to network with professionals in various career fields in the Lubbock area.

“The advice we give students is: we want students to use every resource they can, and we want to be able to provide them a number of opportunities to do that,” Kraus said. “This is certainly one, it’s not the only one by any means. “

West said overall the event was deemed a success.

“I talked to many employers who were happy to be at the event,” West said. “They all talked to qualified candidates that they feel like will be good for the positions that they have available.”

Head shops around the nation are carrying herbal blends such as K2, Damiana, and Salvia.

The substances are completely legal and claim to give consumers a high similar to that of the chemical THC found in marijuana.

Bryce Allen*, manager at a Dallas based head shop, said over half of the establishment’s sales come from legal herb purchases.

“This is probably one of the most booming industries at the moment,” said Allen.

He said several of the herbs are sold as incense and disclaimers on the products warn customers against consumption.

“[Some herbs] are not legally to be smoked,” said Allen. “But the only way to really get in trouble is to be caught in the act of smoking [them].”

K2 is an herb sold as incense because it contains a chemical called JWH-018, which, according to government officials, is 3 to 28 times stronger than THC.

“Its basically a loophole,” explained Allen. “Its’ not testable, [and] it’s not illegal yet only because [government officials] don’t know how to make it illegal.”

The resins the herbs leave behind in a pipe simply test as tobacco.

Dr. John Huffman, a professor of organic chemistry at Clemson University, is given credit for the creation of JWH-018.

Huffman said the chemical is one of the more potent compounds he has created and is surprised it didn’t catch on sooner.

A legally consumable herb called Damiana has mild effects and was used in ancient cultures as an aphrodisiac.

Chinese-herbs.org, a nutritional supplement Web site, says Damiana’s popularity is largely based on its calming effects.

Allen added that Damiana is popular amongst people who need a physical replacement for marijuana. He said some people are unable to smoke marijuana due to jobs, probation, personal reasons, etc.

“They can have their blunt or their bowl in a water pipe if they so choose,” he said. “They wont feel many effects but it’s the physical addiction that they solve.”

Salvia, an extremely potent herb, which produces psychedelic qualities when smoked, is a popular product amongst customers curious of its effects.

Samantha Barnett, a Texas Tech student, said she Salvia once simply because she was curious.

“I tried it once with my friends and I literally would never do it again,” said Barnett. “It was a horrible and I don’t understand how [salvia] is legal and weed isn’t.”

Allen shared a similar experience with Salvia.

“I know when I personally bought it at a shop years ago they told me to put it in a water pipe and use a flame torch, you know, a real heavy lighter,” said Allen. “And I did it and it was horrible. It was the worst experience ever.”

According to Allen, marijuana poses much less of a risk than some of the legal herbs that are out now. He said the government hoped herbs laced with chemicals that mimic THC’s effect wouldn’t become popular or widespread.

The sale of synthetic marijuana is banned in Britain, Germany, Poland, France, South Korea and Russia and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) lists K2 as a drug of concern.

*Name has been changed to protect the identity of the source

It was literally in the last millennium when Lubbockites looking for a laugh could hit Froggy Bottoms.

After changing locations for the third time, Froggy Bottoms found itself tucked away from the highly visible spots it once occupied. Lack of visibility, the beginnings of a revitalized Depot District, and management fatigue led to the shuttering of Lubbock’s only comedy club in 1998.

A couple from Idalou purchased the club a few years later, expecting to parlay their knowledge of running a Dixie Dog stand into a successful comedy club. To their detriment, they shied away from controversial comedy and the club closed its doors forever.

Joel Rando is very familiar with Froggy Bottoms, having cut his teeth there before moving to New York City to pursue a career in stand-up. He says he wants to bring comedy back to the South Plains — and he has a very steep climb ahead of him.

Most noticeably, Rando’s club is missing its clubhouse. Four to five nights a week, Joel’s Comedy Club is more a state of mind than anything else. He’s been forced from an ideal location off Buddy Holly and 22nd Street to a small, community theatre on 34th Street and University.

Rando says he isn’t afraid of the challenges a comedy club faces without a permanent home.

“People nowadays don’t have faith in themselves. They don’t think they can do stuff. They don’t think they can go anywhere,” he said. ”I’m not like that. I just go for it. Whether you fail or make it, that doesn’t matter. Just go after your dream. Whatever happens happens — and most of the time, good things happen.”

Despite the club’s humble beginnings, Joel’s Comedy Club attracts a crowd. Most of the people who fill Cats Theatre’s few dozen seats are themselves prospective comedians, many of whom are first-timers.

“There’s nothing like this in Lubbock, and that’s why I think it’s going to work,” Rando said. “It’s going to succeed.”

There’s a nervous energy in the room Saturday night. Todd Eldridge is the first of Lubbock comedian to arrive.

Eldridge is no stranger the stage. He says he began acting in small church plays at the age of 5 and, over time, moved into dramatic rolls. Eldridge’s acting roles cover a wide span—from a troll in The Hobbit to a part in the dramatic play Secret Garden.

Much of his comedy experience in Lubbock has been limited to open-mic nights at various venues.

“Doing open-mic nights is really hard to convince people to pay attention to you on stage — it’s really hard to grab their attention,” said Eldridge. “Once you’ve got them, you’re pretty much in.”

One of the common themes among Saturday night’s hopefuls is the shared goal of turning their avocation into their vocation—from hobby to career, Eldridge said.

“Instead of making people laugh at parties, I want to make them laugh at auditoriums,” he said. “We’ll start with small theaters first and then, hopefully, branch out to large auditoriums.”

For some of the hopefuls, comedy means much more than making people laugh.

Al Perez is an Iraq veteran. While serving, he sustained a disabling injury in combat, leaving him unable to work. For him, he says, laughter truly proved to be the best medicine.

“When you make somebody laugh, it makes you feel good inside,” said Perez. “I think it makes you live longer. I’d rather be around happy people than begrudging, angry, or upset people.”

Like Eldridge, Perez says he wants to make the leap from comedy-as-hobby to comedy-as-career.  He’s tapped a handful of big-name comics like Gabriel Iglesias and George Lopez for advice via their MySpace and Facebook pages but, he says, hasn’t received much in response.

“I’m trying to get into the Improv in Adison and Arlington and see what their open mic night is like,” he said, “and hopefully get somebody’s attention to hopefully make it. “

Saturday night was Perez’s first time to get on stage. He said his goal was simple.

“I want to put on a good performance; I want to make people laugh,” he said. “I’ve been wanting to do this and wanting to do this, but there’s no comedy clubs in Lubbock. It makes it hard.”

Joel Rando has few barriers for guests and aspiring comics. He says he doesn’t charge cover and the only cost is a one-drink minimum. The drinks at Joel’s Comedy Club aren’t the typical $7 mixed drinks or $5 beers, but $1 softdrinks.

For guests who take advantage of Joel’s Comedy Club’s BYOB policy, he asks for a $5 setup fee, which is still far lower than what guests would pay at a bar on a Saturday night, he says.

Joel’s Comedy Club is open Friday and Saturday evenings. The action, Rando says, typically begins around 10 p.m. For updates on showtimes, visit the club’s Web site.

“I think it’s still fairly new,” he said. “I think maybe our community has not been exposed to it as much as maybe others. It was becoming more prevalent during that time. It was shitting to the national media. I think the local media picked up on that, as well as the school, parents and thus the forum to talk about ways to address it.”

Finding ways to address sexting is something educators, school administrators and parents have growing concern over.

Sexting is a colloquial term that refers to the sending or receiving of sexual suggestive text messages or pictures through cell phones. The Web site www.urbandictionary.com  defines it as the act of text messaging someone in the hopes of having a sexual encounter with them later.

But sexting has often been associated with teenagers or even young adults, leaving it as an issue parents and school administrators believe they have to deal with.

With sexting showing up in the local news and still prevalent in the national media, Young said there have been forums and the Lubbock Independent School District has hosted roundtable discussions on the topic.

He said everyone is aware of sexting and the implications it could have. He also said technology’s rapid growth should not be blamed for sexting and the issues that may come with it.

“Obviously, technology can be used however the user intends to use. What’s more surprising to me is the use for that purpose,” Young said. “Why would somebody want to send a picture of themselves to boyfriend, girlfriend or something like that? That to me is a bigger issue.”

Sexting can have many negative implications. Young pointed out how sending inappropriate messages to others renders the sender powerless to control where it ends ups.

It’s more than those messages or images ending up in another person’s hands. Young said he has heard of instances at other schools where sexting turns into an issue for law enforcement to deal with. He said sending inappropriate pictures can be considered transportation of child pornography, which could lead to fines or a 5-to 20-year prison sentence, according to the U.S. Code, Title 18, Part 1, Chapter 110, § 2252.

It all starts with parents educating their children for Karen Griffith Gryga, CEO of Lipstick Wisdom, a Web site geared toward helping mothers by posting informative stories and content. One of those informative stories last April was focused on sexting.

Although sexting definitely has its negative aspects, Gryga said there are positive aspects to it as well. But if parents do not do their part in educating their children, Gryga said it can take a turn for the worst.

“Once it’s out there, it’s out there,” she said. “When you’re young, you don’t really think about the implications of things. As you’ve probably seen in the news, there’s some kids that have been seriously hurt by the fact that they sent something to a boyfriend or a friend, thinking that’s where things end and it ends up out on the web. I’ve seen cases where kids have committed suicide over that.”

Sexting has become relevant to the point where there are campaigns to warn students and young adults about the dangers that come along with it. There are Web sites such as A Thin Line, which is dedicated to providing facts and stories about sexting.

Kim Spicer, principal at Frenship High School, said sexting is not a huge problem with her students, but it is still an important topic for parents and administrators to talk about.

Spicer said text messaging can aid more than just sexting. Parents have to keep cyber bullying and threatening text messages in mind as well.

As a result, Spicer said all students at Frenship High School are required to take the class Business Communication Information Systems, or BCIS, which focuses on warning students about inappropriate text messaging and cyber bullying.

But in both instances, Spicer said it comes down to what students already know before they come to school.

“What is amazing to me, that when you call a parent in, is that they are not monitoring this on their own,” she said. “I don’t know why as a parent, you wouldn’t do that.”

Head shops around the nation are carrying herbal blends such as K2, Damiana, and Salvia.

The substances are completely legal and claim to give consumers a high similar to that of the chemical THC found in marijuana.

Bryce Allen*, manager at a Dallas based head shop, said over half of the establishment’s sales come from legal herb purchases.

“This is probably one of the most booming industries at the moment,” said Allen.

He said several of the herbs are sold as incense and disclaimers on the products warn customers against consumption.

“[Some herbs] are not legally to be smoked,” said Allen. “But the only way to really get in trouble is to be caught in the act of smoking [them].”

K2 is an herb sold as incense because it contains a chemical called JWH-018, which, according to government officials, is 3 to 28 times stronger than THC.

“Its basically a loophole,” explained Allen. “Its’ not testable, [and] it’s not illegal yet only because [government officials] don’t know how to make it illegal.”

The resins the herbs leave behind in a pipe simply test as tobacco.

Dr. John Huffman, a professor of organic chemistry at Clemson University, is given credit for the creation of JWH-018.

Huffman said the chemical is one of the more potent compounds he has created and is surprised it didn’t catch on sooner.

A legally consumable herb called Damiana has mild effects and was used in ancient cultures as an aphrodisiac.

Chinese-herbs.org, a nutritional supplement Web site, says Damiana’s popularity is largely based on its calming effects.

Allen added that Damiana is popular amongst people who need a physical replacement for marijuana. He said some people are unable to smoke marijuana due to jobs, probation, personal reasons, etc.

“They can have their blunt or their bowl in a water pipe if they so choose,” he said. “They wont feel many effects but it’s the physical addiction that they solve.”

Salvia, an extremely potent herb, which produces psychedelic qualities when smoked, is a popular product amongst customers curious of its effects.

Samantha Barnett, a Texas Tech student, said she Salvia once simply because she was curious.

“I tried it once with my friends and I literally would never do it again,” said Barnett. “It was a horrible and I don’t understand how [salvia] is legal and weed isn’t.”

Allen shared a similar experience with Salvia.

“I know when I personally bought it at a shop years ago they told me to put it in a water pipe and use a flame torch, you know, a real heavy lighter,” said Allen. “And I did it and it was horrible. It was the worst experience ever.”

According to Allen, marijuana poses much less of a risk than some of the legal herbs that are out now. He said the government hoped herbs laced with chemicals that mimic THC’s effect wouldn’t become popular or widespread.

The sale of synthetic marijuana is banned in Britain, Germany, Poland, France, South Korea and Russia and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) lists K2 as a drug of concern.

*Name has been changed to protect the identity of the source

The Innocence Project of Texas is a non-profit organization located in Lubbock focused to help those who have been wrongly accused of a serious crime.

“We only work on cases of actual innocence and basically we define actual innocence to mean that the person is claiming to be convicted of a crime that never happened or they were convicted of a crime that they had nothing to do with,” Natalie Roetzel, executive director of the Innocence Project of Texas, said.

Inmates hear about the Innocence Project of Texas by word of mouth and write letters to the project, lawyers, law schools and others to reach out for help to prove their innocence.

Roetzel says they receive between 150 and 200 letters a week from inmates, families, and others who want to fight against their sentence. A rigorous screening process takes place when The Innocence Project of Texas is reviewing the letter.  The process looks at if there was an actual crime committed and whether or not the person was actually involved in the crime.

“We work to weed through those cases and claims of innocence to figure out which ones are most likely true and viable but also the ones we actually have a chance in winning,” Roetzel said.

As of now, Roetzel says they have 2,000 cases on the wait list to receive help.

Most of the cases they see are rape and murder cases because of DNA testing. But, some of the cases they get are older cases, and Roetzel says these are harder to prove because there usually isn’t DNA to test and prove innocence.

When they began in November 2006, The Innocence Project of Texas joined with Texas Tech University Law School Criminal Justice Clinic to help with the research and investigation.  Patrick Metze, the Director of the Criminal Justice Clinic, said…

“Quote” Metze said.

Roetzel said inmates find out about The Innocence Project of Texas from other inmates who know about it.

“Most of it is word of mouth. Whenever we are successful at winning an exoneration we tend to see more letters coming in that following week,” Roetzel said. “I think it has to do with the fact that people will see our name in the paper or hear about us on the radio or television and will realize that they know someone in prison and will have them write us.”

Roetzel also said the organization is hoping to be included in the prisoner’s handbook by this summer so inmates will know The Innocence Project of Texas exists and that they can get help from them.

Tanning beds have continued to develop over the years, making it easier for teens and adults to have a summer tan year-round. Indoor and outdoor tanning may be different alternatives for darker skin, but they can have the same affects on the body.

Magen Murchison, SunRayz Tan manager, said tanning can be healthy, and some people have been recommended to tan by their physicians for the health benefits.

“There are health benefits for tanning as opposed to just all negative and the news really just portrays that it’s all bad, but there’s some good parts to it,” said Murchison.

Murchison said dermatologist have recommend patients with acne and psoriasis to go to the tanning beds, because the UV rays dry out the skin as well as help provide Vitamin D for the body.

Dermatologist Michael Lehman said skin cancer has always been one of the largest diagnosed cancers, but with the increased use in tanning beds, the number of people with this cancer has increased over the years.

“In 1990 the instance of the most severe skin cancer, melanoma, was about two in every 250 people. Today it’s one in about every 40 to 50,” Lehman said.

The Food and Drug Administration Advisory Panel is considering implementing a new law that will ban teens under the age of 18 from having access to tanning beds. Lehman said if the law gets passed he still doesn’t think it will have much impact in decreasing the number of men and women diagnosed with skin cancer.

“Sun exposure is cumulative and so the typical thing is people will say ‘I haven’t been out in the sun all summer.’ Yeah, but the last 20 to 30 years you have been and just walking into a grocery store, taking a walk around the block, whatever, sun exposure is cumulative and it stores in the body and it eventually surfaces somewhere,” Lehman said.

Murchison said most SunRayz Tan clients are above the age of 18 and if the law passes she doesn’t think it will have much effect on their cliental. She said they do have a spray-on tan without UV rays for those who don’t want to use a tanning bed, and still want a little color in the winter.

“Our mystic defiantly gives us a whole lot of business, and we all really like it, because it’s less damaging on your skin and everything,” said Murchison.

Like most things tanning is safe in moderation, but if someone is going to tan they need to be educated. Tanners need to know how to check for cancer, what sunscreens to use, and remember to moisturize the skin afterwards in order to prevent aging from dehydration.

“Sun exposure is healthy for the body, we need sun, it’s just common sense is the key role,” Lehman said.

Raider Park will house 1,500 parking spaces at $500 each, and permit holders will have exclusive access to the sports bar and lounge on game days.

Clayton Isom, CEO of TAO Development company group, said even with the wintry weather construction is well under way.

Bill Dean, vice-president of the Alumni Association, said he hopes Raider Park will alleviate some of the issues students have with parking on campus.

“It’s secured parking and it guarantees you a spot,” he said.

Dean said the new garage will be a great advantage for students who park in the north commuter parking lot because it will be in close proximity to the new business administration building.

“We feel like this will be a big advantage to students once the new BA building is constructed because it will be fairly close at hand,” he said.

Students are also looking forward to the new addition, which has a price tag above $20 million.

“It’s probably gonna be more convenient to purchase a parking permit at the new garage than to vie for parking around campus,” said Gabriel Gonzales, a junior advertising major at Tech.

He said he also likes how a former Tech student came up with the idea for the garage.

“I guess it was pretty cool how he put forth his ideas of how he had a tough time finding parking on campus and he decided to do something about it. I think more people should do that.”

Nonnie Ouch, GSA public relations officer, said the event is very important for the university since Tech is trying to increase enrollment, and this is a major way to bring diversity to the community.

“Project Champs is a local AIDS/HIV Program and recently their budget was cut from the state,” Ouch said. “So they came to us and offered to co-host a drag show to help them raise money.”

Ouch said she hopes people will leave the show with more understanding about Project Champs and drag culture because AIDS numbers have risen in Lubbock about 300 percent since 2008.

“We will have 12 performers, five amateurs and seven professionals, all from the Lubbock area,” Ouch said.

Although the drag show was supported from various organizations, some faculty members expressed negative comments toward it since Tech had never hosted one before.

“We have taken precaution if anything happens,” Ouch said. “An undercover police officer will be here. I hope this will be an annual event.”

Residence hall’s association president Jesse Saldivar said that for his New Year’s resolution he decided to be more supportive of his gay community, and more homosexuals should be more accepted in this area.

“I decided it was the best way to incorporate education and entertainment in the same format and location, so everyone will have a good time and learn something,” Saldivar said.

Professional drag queen Latoya Vancartie said she still gets nervous before a performance but once the lights are on, all the jitters go away.

“Some people are scared of drag queens and are like, ‘Oh my god, is that a man?’ I just want everyone to have a great time, sit back and enjoy,” Vancartie said.

Vancartie Numerades, the current Miss West Texas, said the change of venue is surprising because she mostly performs at nightclubs, and the drag show will be an experience for a lot of people.

According to the mission statement of the Innocence Project, it is a national litigation and public policy dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people through DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice.

Chief Counsel of the Innocence Project of Texas, Jeff Blackburn, said he believes the legal system in Texas estimates that 170,000 people are convicted in the state of Texas, and six percent of those convictions are innocent people. If these calculations are correct, this leaves taxpayers to pay for more than 10,200 innocent inmates.

Texas Tech law students get course credit for volunteering. Their responsibilities include reading plea letters, reviewing transcripts and looking at DNA evidence. Volunteer Stephen Baker said working on cases creates camaraderie amongst his fellow students.

“We all spend time together every week. We put effort into same project, and we bond,” Baker said. “Sometimes, to relieve stress, we all go grab a beer or something.”

The year-long commitment allows students to have a major role in exonerations.  Baker said he is connected to cases and sees the opportunity as a way to gain relevant job experience.

“We are actually doing real work, and a lot of us in the clinic want to be defense attorneys,” said Baker, who worked as a journalist for four years before attending law school. “We learn the job here and see what it will be like when we actually practice law.”

Students meet once a week to discuss their cases with Blackburn. They listen to his input and share their research. However, Blackburn said while he teaches the students, they also teach him, and their dedication is uplifting.

“These kids have forced me never to write off the legal profession,” Blackburn said. “They make me believe in what my profession can do, and ought to do, more than I have believed my entire life.”