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Show W E B E R S T A T E U N I V E R S I T Y . • « : J* \ Women's soccer moves \y to No. 2 spot in Big Sky seepage 5 Signpost FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2005 Witchy women Modeling career in video games see page 6 wsusignpost.com VOLUME 68 ISSUE 32 WEBER PHOTO BY TRICIA CERRARD | THE SIGNPOST Stephen S. Francis, WSU Department of History assistant professor, addresses students Wednesday. Lecturer said fictional witches can shed light on current perceptions of women By Anita Zampedri correspondent | The Signpost Looking at the ways movies portray witches can give insight into the ways women are viewed today and in previous decades, a Weber State University history professor said Tuesday. Stephen S. Francis, WSU Department of History assistant professor, told a large group of students and faculty Tuesday at a lecture in Social Science Building Room 119 titled "Bewitching Hollywood: Witchcraft and the Image of Women since World War II." For hundreds of years, witches have been seen as single, unconventional women who have fallen out of normalcy and male control, Francis said. Witchcraft was seen to give these women power, but when they found love in their lives, they lost that power by giving up witchcraft for love and a domestic lifestyle, he said. Francis said watching "Bewitched" first sparked his interest in witchcraft. During graduate school, he did a project on witchcraft to look at the way witchcraft was seen during the Renaissance and compared that to the way people view witchcraft today. "The constructs of witchcraft from the early modern period are still being placed on women and witches today in modern culture," Francis said. "That, in a nutshell, is my argument." In his presentation, Francis talked about numerous movies that depict witches. The earliest was made in 1942, called "I Married a Witch." Other movies he looked at included "Bedknobs and Broomsticks," "Rosemary's Baby," "Practical Magic" and others. After the women's rights movement in the 1970s, movies portraying witches seem to focus more on the power of unity between women than the earlier films, Francis said. Many times the bond came from a mutual hatred of men, he said, but whatever the reason, the message was that women needed to bond together to have power, "At the end of the movie, Purple and White game previews Wildcat basketball Top: Brett Cox dribbles the ball upcourt during Wednesday's Purple and White game. The annual game pits WSU basketball players against each other to showcase the upcoming season's talents. Cox's white team won the 20-minute game 30-28 against the purple team. Bottom: Chauncey Shelton throws in the ball. Shelton plays forward for WSU's men's basketball team. The women's basketball team also played a Purple and White game in which the women's white team, led by center Janie Rayback, won by 18-10 during the 10-minute game. The men will play an exhibition game against the Canadian University Team at the Dee Events Center on Nov. 5. The women's team will play an exhibition game against Northwestern Sports on Nov. 9. See Witchy page 3 WSU seeks fall commencement speaker News Briefs English professor hospitalized with brain aneurism Professor Susan McKay of the Weber State University English department was diagnosed with a brain aneurism over the weekend while attending the annual Rocky Mountain Modem Language Association conference. McKay, an executive member and presenter at the RMMLA conference in Cour d'Aiene, Idaho, was taken to a local hospital in Cour d'Aiene, but the facility did not have the right equipment, according to Sally Shigley, WSU English professor. She was flown to Harberview Medical Center in Seattle, Wash, and is in the neurological intensive care unit. Doctors have been unable to locate the source of the bleeding. She will undergo another angiogram Saturday. McKay noticed the problem when she developed a headache and nausea while on a bus trip in association with the conference. She is in stable condition but has to remain lying flat. The English department has rallied behind her by covering her classes and plans on opening an account for donations to help pay for her medical expenses. Those interested in donating can bring money to Kim Webb in the Social Science Building, Room 314. Don't forget to fall back1 for daylight-saving time Sunday Utah will join the observation of daylight-saving time Sunday when time will "fall back" an hour. The change officially occurs at 2 a.m. Sunday morning. Residents are reminded to make the change before going to sleep Saturday night. It is rumored that Benjamin Franklin first proposed daylight-saving time in a letter he wrote to the editor of the "Journal of Paris" in 1784. Actually, Franklin was being humorous, suggesting people should go to, and arise from, bed earlier. William Willett was the first to seriously propose daylight-saving time in 1907, but the British government did not adopt the practice at that time. In 1916, the German government began practicing daylight-saving time, followed later that year by the United Kingdom. The United States had difficulty getting the idea to stick. On March 19, 1918, the U.S. Congress formerly established the time zones and made daylight-saving time official only to repeal it later due to unpopularity of the idea. It was reinstated in 1942, but federal law did not yet address the issue until 1966 in the U.S. Federal Uniform Time Act. The act mandated states to observe daylightsaving time. The law was amended in 1972 to allow states straddling time zones to opt out of daylight-saving time. Some proponents of daylight-saving time believe its observation helps conserve energy. The California Energy Commission found that when daylightsaving time was extended in 1974 10,000 barrels of oil a day were saved. Opponents of the practice note the disruption of sleeping patterns is not worth changing the clocks. By Jennifer Andrews corrrsponcfenl | The Signpost lecture series, "The Inside Story." Stewart wrote the recently released book "Disney War: The Battle for the Magic Kingdom." The book tells of the controversy behind the scenes that eventually led to the resignation of Disney CEO Michael Eisner. Stewart won a Pulitzer Prize for his best-selling book, "Den of Thieves," in 1994, detailing insider-trading scandals on Wall Street in the 1980s. He is a Columbia School of Journalism professor Fall graduation commencement is just around the corner and Weber State University is now looking for a student speaker. Any student graduating this fall is eligible to speak at the commencement ceremony- Any student who is interested in this opportunity will have to audition and speak in front of a committee. The committee includes the dean of students, the student involvement and leadership director, the community service programs coordinator and two graduating students who represent the voice of the WSU student body. A student applying for this will need to submit copies of their speech, a resume and a statement of future goals. The committee doesn't require a specific theme. Students may speak about what best represents the class or their WSU experiences. Or they may choose specific people to thank. The speaker must be upbeat and positive. "We don't look at a student's GPA, unlike1 high schools that look at a student's academic GPA to choose their valedii torian," said Jeffrey J. Hurst, WSU dean of students. Timing is very important; the speaker will have only four minutes to speak. The speaker is usually an accomplished public speaker or student with a variety of speaking skills. Speakers in the past See Disney page 3 See Speaker page 3 James B. Stewart addresses students Wednesday about the ongoing controversy behind the scenes at the Walt Disney Corp. Investigative reporter delves 1 deep into'Disney War By Wendy Wilson correspondent | The Signpost One look beyond those two black mouse ears is enough to make a person question whether Disneyland really fits its hype as the "happiest place on earth." About 70 people listened as the true story behind the Walt Disney Corp., as told by investigative reporter James B. Stewart, unfolded Wednesday in the Weber State University Shepherd Union Wildcat Theater as part of the Convocation's i |