Officials at Missouri Western say they are set to make additional budget adjustments as needed following an agreement between Missouri’s four-year colleges and universities and Gov. Jay Nixon to freeze tuition costs for students during the 2010 to 2011 school year.

This will be the second year in a row that tuition has been frozen at Western and other colleges in the state. The latest tuition freeze was agreed to by colleges in exchange for the state cutting higher education funding by no more than approximately 5 percent for the next school year.

As reported earlier, Western officials have already anticipated budget shortfalls and have decided on a number of measures that include suspending sabbaticals and by suspending awards for faculty, staff and administrators to help make up for around $2 million less in the budget for the coming school year.

Missouri Western President Robert Vartabedian said that he and other campus officials are now beginning to make decisions on some additional ways to save money. “Another thing we’re looking at right now is summer school compensation. We’re looking at a different way of funding summer school for our faculty,” Vartabedian said.

Vartabedian says that summer school compensation, normally figured at a percentage of a faculty member’s base salary, could be changed to a flat amount in the future to cut costs. That option is something that Vartabedian said campus officials would make a decision on shortly.

A hiring freeze is another step that may be taken in the future. “We’ll be looking at positions that are definitely needed versus those positions which we can hold off on until after we’ve rode out this financial crisis,” Vartabedian said. “And if you put enough of those sorts of things together, at least you’re making a dent on those $2 million in cuts.”

Western’s Vice President for financial planning and administration MelKlinkner says the campus is also looking at reducing payroll expenditures by having volunteers teach some classes instead of adjunct staff. “How that would work is we may have some classes taught by an administrator such as myself that has expertise in the subject,” Klinkner said.

Klinkner also named the downtown campus as another area they would look at. “We would continue to try to do everything we’re doing downtown, it just may be at a different location. Like in the past, our law enforcement academy was located on-campus, so moving locations may be an option, but we have made no decisions on downtown yet,” Klinkner said.

The first tuition freeze did not allow colleges to raise tuition more than the cost of living in return for no cuts in state funding. This time, Nixon says the agreement goes further. “Next year, for the second year in a row, Missouri students at our public four-year colleges and universities won’t see an increase in their tuition or academic fees—not one penny, period,” Nixon said.

The governor’s latest freeze agreement will mean no tuition increases from Missouri colleges and universities. In exchange, the state will cut funding no more than 5.2 percent. During the freeze, however, schools are allowed to increase tuition and book costs for out-of-state students.

Nixon will be the guest speaker at Western’s winter commencement Saturday, Dec. 12 at 4 p.m. in the M.O. Looney Complex Arena.
Prior to becoming governor, Nixon was elected to a record four terms as Missouri’s Attorney General, beginning in 1992. He also served six years in the Missouri Senate, beginning in 1986.

Nixon is a native of De Soto, Mo. He and his wife Georganne Wheeler Nixon have two sons, Jeremiah and Wilson.
Health gone in a puff

Penny Vanooteghem used to puff away on her cigarette without a care as she folded laundry. Even with two children in the house, she was unaware of the effects smoking had on them. Penny’s children went to school smelling like smoke. Penny also had no idea that living with a smoker increases your chance of getting lung cancer by 20-30 percent.

Penny’s smoking habit came to an abrupt halt four years ago after a cancer scare. Penny had just had a minor surgery and they had earlier been testing for breast cancer when Penny got sick and gave up smoking.

“I was so sick from the anesthetic and I didn’t smoke for four days,” Vanooteghem said. “That was a second chance for me.”

Once those four days had gone by, Penny realized how easy it would be to give up smoking altogether. Penny is now an advocate for non-smokers and really wants to see that the smokers on campus have designated smoking areas away from the doors.

“I don’t like smokers being right outside the doors,” Vanooteghem said “When I smoked, I didn’t realize I smelled like an ashtray. Now it is the last thing you smell before going inside.”

In the fall of 2008, a group called STAND or Students Together Addressing Nicotine Dependence, was created on campus at Missouri Western. Member Mary Beth Reid feels that cigarettes are hazardous and not even worth lighting.

“The CDC says there is no safe level of second hand smoke,” Reid said. “There are over 4,000 carcinogens in one cigarette.”

STAND members educate the public about the dangers of smoking and using tobacco products.

Informational brochures and other literature on how to give up tobacco are provided by STAND. STAND members also work with other peer groups to provide awareness, working at health fairs and other community activities. Members are available to speak at any organization as long as they have a two week notice.

In late September, some of the non-traditional students and even their spouses and children got together on campus and picked up cigarette butts. According to the students, some of the people helping wanted to make the campus a better place and show the non smokers that some people had the manners to use ashtrays provided instead of throwing butts on the ground.

The city of St. Joseph has also jumped on the smoke-free bandwagon with the current decision to accept grant money which will create four new positions in the city for anti-smoking education officials. The CDC is offering the money to provide education for people who want to quit smoking. City Manager Vince Capell assured the public that this money was not part of any plan to push a smoking ban in St. Joseph.

Saint Joseph has a smoke free organization as well called Clean Air St. Joe which has been around since the spring of 1994. According to their Website, 23.6 percent of people who work inside are exposed to second hand smoke. They also show that 30 minutes of second hand smoke exposure has the same effect on heart health as a habitual smoker.

Clean Air St. Joe meets at 5:30 p.m. on the fourth Thursday of every month in the Leah Spratt building room 208. The public is invited to attend although a RSVP is required. There is ample parking in lot C and a meal is provided.

For more information, or to RSVP for a meeting, you can contact STAND or Clean Air Saint Joe through the website casemo.org

As well as being dangerous, cigarettes are getting more expensive. As of April 1, 2009, cigarette taxes jumped from 39 cents to $1.01 in Missouri, giving smokers another reason to quit smoking. Despite the dangers and expense, many people still smoke. Teresa Cooperider has been smoking for the last 23 years and does not foresee quitting anytime soon.

“I enjoy it too much,” Cooperider said. “When I try to quit, I get the shakes. I become a real bitch.”

Penny has been smoke-free for the last four years and she is thrilled with all the money she has saved especially now that cigarettes are so expensive. She has also apologized to the children she once let go to school smelling like chimneys.