Western may add an Engineering Technology Management option and a Teachers of English to Speakers of other Languages option, in which students can earn English Language Learners (ELL) certification.

“It has not been passed yet,” said Kay Dickerson, part of the ESL/TESOL program. “(But) it does have the Missouri ESOL certification. It is also available in the undergraduate level.”

The purpose of the TESOL option is to prepare individuals “to teach, support and otherwise assist English Language learners or those for whom English is not their native language,” according to the brochure. “It is designed for teachers of all levels and all disciplines. It also serves professionals who work with organizations whose mission includes assessing and improving English skills among non-native speakers.”

TESOL option core courses include Methods of Teaching Second Language Students, Second Language Acquisition, Materials and Assessment for TESOL, Language and Culture and Research in ELL. Each of these is available online.

The TESOL certification courses include Second Language Acquisition, Methods of Teaching Second Language Students, Materials and Assessment for TESOL, Language and Culture, Research in ELL, Linguistics and ELL Practicum, which add up to the required total of 21 credit hours. Each of these courses—except for the practicum—is available online.

Students with additional questions about this program can contact Stacy Turner at 816-271-4109 or turner@missouriwestern.edu.
The degree in Engineering Technology Management is also pending approval from the Department of Higher Education.

“The proposal has been approved by the Graduate Council at MWSU,” said George Yang, professor and chair for the department of Engineering Technology. “It is now pending approval at DHE.”

He said this degree option should start this fall, and will hopefully be approved by the end of this month.
“(The option) consists of 33 graduate credit hours. Eighteen are so-called ‘management’ core. Fifteen are graduate core,” Yang said.
According to the proposal, graduates of this option in the MAS program are expected to fill positions such as assembly line supervisor, job supervisor, shift supervisor, maintenance manager, shop manager, plant manager, group leader and project leader.
Major courses related to management in ET undergraduate programs consist of CET 360, construction management and EGT 370, financial aspects of engineering projects.
“This is an enhancement of the Engineering Technology undergraduate programs. Our undergraduate students have the pre-exposure to some management courses, for an example, in MET 112 we talk about shop-floor management, and inventory control,” stated the proposal compiled by Dr. Yang.

Dozens of employers surrounded the Fulkerson Center in hopes to recruit future employees, interns, or even just to provide more information about existing job opportunities.

The career fair is held as a part of Criminal Justice Week every year.

Sophomore Melissa Brundige, a nursing major, was browsing through the Fulkerson Center Thursday afternoon.

“Seeing what kinds of different jobs are hiring,” Brundige said. “I know that the Missouri Department of Corrections are hiring, I looked at that.”

Priscilla Mulak, a CS Specialist with the State of Missouri Department of Social Services Children’s Division, said the department hoped to provide more information for students about this particular field and was interested in recruiting interns.

She said they would accept psychology majors, students interested in social work, or any type of therapy degree.

“We do take education, also,” Mulak said.

Not only were businesses present at the fair, but colleges as well.

Brieanne Billie, the admissions and recruitment coordinator for UMKC, was looking for students interested in going to law school after graduation. Several students stopped by the booth to grab a pamphlet and talk to her about the possibility of attending.

“There have been a lot of students interested in law school,” Billie said.

Billie offered advice to students who are interested in attending.

“Study hard for the LSAT. Work hard to get good grades in a major that you really love,” she said.

Freshmen Kelly Armstrong and Kari Rapp decided to get a head start on their search for jobs by visiting Thursday’s career fair.

Armstrong, a nursing major, said she found several interesting booths.

Rapp—a Biology major—was surprised about the number of employers looking to hire.

“(And that) there’s this many businesses that are interested in finding college students,” she said.

Julie Case, an employment specialist at Heartland Health, offered positive feedback about the job outlook at Heartland.

“We generally always have several job openings available,” Case said. “These range from support services on up to higher level positions.”

Case said applicants are directed to Heartland’s website.

“We’ve had some interested parties, and we’re always happy to meet the students at Missouri Western.”

The spring career fair in the Fulkerson Center would be a great opportunity for those students to ease that concern and see what is out there.

The fair will take place March 4 from 1 to 3:30 p.m. in the Fulkerson Center and will feature businesses and employers such as AFLAC Benefits Coordinator, Altec Industries, Inc., Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc., Heartland Regional Medical Center, the Buchanan County Sheriff’s Dept., Worlds of Fun and several others.

Career Services Director Linda Garlinger encourages students students of all ages to attend.

“This is an excellent way to find out about companies, especially ones that are unfamiliar to you,” Garlinger said.

Kathy Kountz, the administrative assistant in the career development office, made the point that looking for jobs should not be a last-minute task, and that Thursday’s fair is for any and all students at Western—not just seniors who are suddenly concerned about their chances of finding a job.

“A lot of students wait until they graduate and then try to find a job,” Kountz said. “They should start early.”

The fair will provide opportunities for multiple situations.

“We hope they can look for part-time and full time—even summer—positions,” Kountz said. “Even just to go and network with employers just to get that experience.”
Students might even want to intern during the summer at World of Fun for HR, Marketing, PR, Security, Finance or Food Operations.

Garlinger provided some tips for those who are attending the fair: make a good impression; dress professionally, immediately make eye contact when introducing yourself to employers, be polite, enthusiastic and smile, communicate effectively with employers and different booths; listen carefully, show confidence, market yourself and bring a resume, and explore all career options; speak with employers you might not have considered before and gather and much information as possible about each field.

Garlinger added that prior to the career fair, it is a good idea to check the list of employers who will have booths set up Thursday, and research the ones they are interested in. This way, students can prepare a list of any questions they have about a potentially interesting employer.

“It’s a job to find a job, really,” Kountz said.

Western is now the third university in Missouri to become an All-Steinway school.

The ceremony began with a showing of a documentary called “Note by Note,” which showed the process in which a Steinway concert grand—#L1037—was created and assembled. The actual piano was unveiled on stage afterwards, and played by pianist Robert McDonald—a faculty member of Juilliard in New York City—later in the evening.

Jim Hoover, district sales manager for Steinway & Sons, answered questions from audience members. Subjects ranged from basic piano care to how humidity affects the instruments.

“When you have a cold room and a cold instrument, you can feel and hear the results,” Hoover said. “If you’re comfortable as a person, the piano is comfortable.”

He offered a special thanks to music professors in the audience.

“You are the ones who inspired me,” Hoover said.

From left to Right: Mathew Edwards, associate professor and director of keyboard studies, Matt Gilmour, professor and chair of the music department and Nathanael May, assistant professor, accept the All-Steinway certification. Photo by Matt Fowler

“No matter how well you play, you become an extension of it, and it becomes an extension of you,” Hoover said. “I think the world would be in much better shape if we had more musicians.”

A special video acknowledgment from Sally Coveleskie, National Director of Institutional Sales for Steinway & Sons, was shown shortly after Hoover made his closing remarks. She was not able to be there in person, but wanted to recognize the students and faculty of Missouri Western.

“Missouri Western has provided (its students and faculty) with the best instruments possible for the study of music,” Coveleskie said.
President Vartabedian shared a few words as well.

“It’s been an eight-year institutional goal of ours (to become an All-Steinway school),” Vartabedian said. He believes this upgrade will help the university to grow.

“I think we will really be able to recruit and attract students we wouldn’t normally get,” Vartabedian said. “Art may be our only, truly universal language.”

Dr. F.M. Gilmour, chairperson in the music department, noted that all music faculty members were involved in the decision. He thanked the major contributors with a token gift from the university as a whole.

“Here’s a little bit of Missouri Western to take home with you,” he said.

Students were impressed with the upgrade on campus. Caitlyn Carter, a junior at Missouri Western, attended the ceremony and was pleased with Western’s decision to become an All-Steinway university. She is not a music major, but believes this will make Western look more prestigious.

“It kinda shows that Missouri Western is improving,” Carter said.

McGarrell, a cataloging librarian at Missouri Western for 22 years, lost his only sibling—Flores McGarrell—in the Haitian earthquake on Jan. 12. Thirty-five-year-old “Flo” was born female, but was transgender.

On Wednesday, Jan. 13, the McGarrell family learned that Flo was trapped in a building. He had been having drinks at the Peace of Mind hotel with a friend when the quake hit. Thursday morning, his family received news that his friend had survived, but Flo did not. The McGarrells visited Baltimore last weekend for his memorial service.

His brother, Andrew McGarrell, cataloging librarian at MWSU, honors his brother in a remembrance blog he started after Flo’s passing. Photo by Sara Baum

Flo began working in Haiti in 2008 for a year and a half, directing a non-profit art center for local artists to collaborate and learn from each other. Andrew started a blog shortly after his brother’s passing, in order to share a little about Flo’s history, education, work and travels. (http://andrewmtrav.blogspot.com/2010/01/in-memoriam-my-brother-flo.html)

“Flo had a longtime fascination with Haiti, making some visits and conducting workshops at the FOSAJ (Fanal Otantik Sant D’a Jakmel) arts center in Jacmel,” Andrew wrote. “He decided to fully commit to that, and learn the Kreyol language.”

Kreyol—formally known as Creole—is the dialect of French that is spoken in Haiti.

Flo’s passion for and interest in Haiti revolved around a combination of things.

“He really wanted to let Haitian people (know how to) conserve their (resources) and learn things like composting, but he also made artwork that demonstrated those things,” Andrew said.

Some samples of his work can be viewed at http://blog.art21.org/2009/08/28/inside-the-artists-studio-flo-mcgarrell/.

Kiku Langford, the exhibition coordinator at the Alliance for Visual Arts Gallery and Art Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, became friends with Flo through their experience working together at AVA.

She laughed as she shared a about how serious he was about his work.

“His exhibition actually included a lot of plants on hangers, and he was worried about them getting watered,” Langford said. “He would drive down to water them (even though it was several miles away).”

She said he would also create inflatable sculptures, and described one particular incident.

“Somehow, whatever they were using to inflate it, they used flammable gas and not air,” Langford said. “It kind of seemed like he was always flirting with disaster.”

One particularly fascinating aspect of his work was the fact that he did not spend any money on his materials.

“It was all items he would go dumpster diving for,” Langford said. “His goal, I think, in what he seemed to do, was to make his life kind of an art project.”

As an artist, he was a risk-taker, but as a person, he made people feel safe.

“He was just the kind of person that made you think you’ve known them forever. I remember immediately feeling totally comfortable with him,” Langford said.

Born in Rome, Italy, Flo could speak Italian even before he picked up the Kreyol language later in Haiti.

The McGarrell family moved to St. Louis after its full-time residency in Italy when Flo was 8 years old. The move seemed to bring out Flo’s true character.

“Flo’s fearlessness came into evidence: my mother remembers picking (him) up at school with darkened, ominous skies; while other students were huddled inside, Flo was out dancing in the rain,” Andrew wrote in his blog.

Andrew recently learned of a collective blog dedicated to Flo, which includes input from several close friends and people who worked with him.[

Sandy Rogers, co-adviser of WAC, said the committee is far enough into the process that they have been conversing with the middle agent, but have not found an entertainer just yet.

“The ones we’ve talked about are either out of our price range or unavailable for the date we need,” Rogers said.

She said that she, Don Willis—the student engagement director—and the rest of WAC, have been working on the project since October or November. As far as money goes, WAC is not looking to spend any certain amount.

“We have a figure that we can’t go beyond,” Rogers said. “We have a ceiling that we can’t exceed.”

An announcement date cannot be predicted, but this is not necessarily bad news.

“It will depend on how quickly things move; it could be two weeks from now … It could be in March,” Rogers said.

“We wish we could say the minute (an artist is decided).”

However, nothing can be announced until contracts are signed and the details are worked out.

This year’s rotation of genres is rock.

“We have looked at a lot. We’ve had students giving us suggestions. The students have been very involved—which is how it should be,” Rogers said.

She added that even more suggestions were made by students over Christmas break, which WAC is taking into consideration.

“The last rock (performer) we had was ‘Switchfoot.’ They were really popular,” Rogers said.

Students are excited for this year’s concert, whether they are incoming freshman or seniors.

Freshmen Heather Martin and Erin Jackson said they will most likely attend.

“We like going to concerts,” Martin said.

Jackson was glad to hear that this year’s performer will be of the ‘rock’ genre.

“That’s the kind of music we listen to,” Jackson said.

Seniors Kelsey Wear and Stacy Saythany are excited about this year’s genre rotation as well.

“We went to ‘Switchfoot’ freshman year. It was fun. If it could be anybody (this year), I think it would be cool if we could get ‘Muse’, but it’s pretty much impossible,” Wear said, making the point that it would be pretty expensive.Last year’s concert performer was Blake Shelton.

“That was our most successful concert to date. So, we’ll try to get this year to top it,” Rogers said.

A committee comprised of students, faculty and staff met recently to discuss the two bid proposals made by Aramark and Sodexo Education.

The Board of Governors approved Aramark’s bid proposal. Aramark will provide almost $3.5 million to Western over the next eight years in projected commission revenue, capital investment, scholarships and other financial considerations.

Mel Klinkner, vice president of financial planning and administration, explained that both proposals were promising, but that Aramark was more ambitious than Sodexo.
“Aramark had more of a capital investment into improvements than Sodexo Education did,” Klinkner said. “Aramark had $100,000 in their plan to renovate the dining hall. They just seemed to be a little more visionary on the things that they were doing and willing to do, investment-wise.”

Klinkner explained another reason why Aramark seemed to be the better choice in Western’s favor.

“Another thing was that their projected commission revenues were higher,” Klinkner said.

A wide variety of Western minds joined together to provide their input on this important campus decision.

Director of Residential Life Michael Speros, a member of the Food Service Bid Selection Committee, said members felt good about the decision to choose Aramark.
“It was a difficult decision,” Speros said. “But once we sifted through everything, we were pleased with Aramark’s bid.”

Duane Bruce, the associate dean for student development, enjoyed the opportunity to be a part of this decision.

“It was a great experience serving on the committee,” Bruce said. “The process took several months and in the end the decision was made in the best interest of the students and the university as a whole.”

Klinkner said there are plans to do a lot of capital investments.

He would like to establish two committees – one consisting primarily of students to focus on looking at the dining experience for students. The second committee would deal with the catering side of what Aramark does for the University. This way, this group could possibly meet every month with Aramark and provide feedback about any areas of concern.

“It would become more of a question on what we can do together to make improvements,” Klinkner said.

Other members of the Food Service Bid Selection Committee consisted of Richard Gilmore; associate vice president of financial planning, Carey McMillian; chief accountant/director of purchasing, Kendall Bell; residence council representative, David Schutt; SGA representative, Gregory Harris; a student at large, Diane Pace; a non-traditional student, Amanda Daly; another non-traditional student, Evelyn Brooks; a faculty member, Karen Elifrits; executive administrative assistant to the president, Patty Kuechler; director of special programs, Patsy Smith; associate director of athletics and Kim Weddle; executive administrative assistant to the vice president of advancement.

Klinker made the point that board rates will most likely jump next year.

This is because past rate increases have not kept up with the rising cost of food. The committee will negotiate with Aramark to get the most positive and preferred board rate possible.

Klinkner wants the board to be aware that when they come back with a proposed rate in the next month or so, there will probably be a larger increase.

The student body can anticipate seeing country music star Blake Shelton and his opening act, Joey and Rory, at the Civic Arena at 8 p.m. on April 9 for the 2009 WAC spring concert.

Director of Student Engagement Don Willis was pleased to receive this news.
“Blake Shelton is an established star, and Joey & Rory are rising stars with a local tie,” Willis said. “We think our students and the community will be excited about this show.”

Sandy Rogers, student development program coordinator, was excited to hear students in the CSE buzzing about the newly announced country stars.

“Students who are country fans seem excited about Blake Shelton – they know his songs,” Rogers said. “Several of the students who are in CSE and are WAC members seemed really excited.”

Keisha Caldwell, vice president and president elect of WAC, was excited about the news. It had been a long, and, at times, frustrating process, and she is glad to finally have this settled.

“I’m happy that by mid-February we actually got the artist,” Caldwell said. “I came into the office this morning and what do you know – Tuesday morning we got a concert.”

Caldwell said that when searching for country singers to perform for this year’s concert, she talked with some of her friends and co-workers in the CSE to get ideas about who was popular in the country music industry among students.

“Actually, I didn’t know too much about country,” Caldwell said. “When I talked to them, they kind of helped us figure out who was popular.”

When he first stepped into the music industry in 2001, Shelton spent five weeks at Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. His song, “Austin,” produced two more top 20 hits. Shelton has since then charted 14 singles on the country charts. His most recent song, released in 2009, is probably “She Wouldn’t Be Gone.”

American country music duo Joey & Rory – consisting of husband and wife Rory Lee Feek and Joey Martin Feek – are most famous for their album’s lead-off single “Cheater, Cheater.” This song entered the Top 40 on the Billboard country charts. Joey is the lead vocalist while Rory is the guitarist who sings background vocals.

Each Plunger could raise a minimum of $50 to go towards supporting year-round sports training and athletic competition for Special Olympics athletes.

Comprised of new and old members, the sorority was both nervous and excited to make contact with the frigid lake water.

Freshman Carli Wright had never participated in this well-known event, and was concerned about the cold temperature and dirtiness of the water. After jumping in, however, she felt relieved and actually had fun.

“It wasn’t really as cold as I thought it would be,” Wright said.

Nicole Shiflett, an older member, was soaked from head to toe after jumping. She appreciated the 60-degree weather this year’s event brought.

“It was not as cold as last year,” Shiflett said.

For the past couple of years, The Polar Bear Plunge had taken place at Missouri Western. This year, organizers felt it was time for a change. Lake Contrary actually made for a bigger turnout.

Melody Prawitz, the Northwest area director, believes a few factors may have played a part in bringing the 163 registered participants to this event.

“We did a lot more marketing this year, and we changed the location, which is a bigger, nicer location,” Prawitz said.

Participants had the chance to sign up online or the day of the event.
“The cut-off time was right up until 2 p.m.,” Prawitz said.

Another difference between this year and previous years was the amount of group costumes seen. Plungers are encouraged each year to dress up in costumes and they have the opportunity to win prizes for them at the end of the day.

“The costumes are really taking off,” Prawitz said.

All participants dressed in creative costumes in hopes of winning the Golden Plunger Award. Those who were not dressed up and competing still got a kick out of watching their friends, co-workers or family members plunge into the water.

Though temperatures have been colder in the past, Prawitz assured that no one has ever gotten sick or injured.

“We’ve never heard of anybody getting sick, and no one’s ever gotten hurt,” she said. “They don’t have to submerge or anything like that.”

The Polar Bear Plunge is hosted by St. Joseph Police Department and is a project of the Law Enforcement Torch Run.

Plungers will continue to raise funds even after the event has passed. Those interested in making a donation can visit www.somo.org/plunge. There are 13 Plunges throughout Missouri this year.

A new Master’s program in written communications has been implemented.

Dr. Kaye Adkins, associate professor of English/technical communication, said this degree has two options.

The first option is in writing studies, and is designed for high school teachers wanting to improve their understanding of writing pedagogy and those who may be interested in teaching writing at the post-secondary level as instructors of composition.

This option also includes a factor for students who might someday pursue a PhD in composition and rhetoric with an interest in becoming a writing program administrator.

The second option is in technical communication, building on the already successful undergraduate program in this area of study.

This is designed for professionals in a variety of settings and industries who would like to improve their writing skills, prepare to manage writing projects and teams and learn about the field of technical communication of the past, present and future.

This program includes courses from graduate programs that have been acquired outside of the English department.

ENG 520 History and Theory of Rhetoric and EPR 620 Proposal and Grant Writing are two new courses that have been added, and they are the key courses of this program.

The Writing Studies option consists of three new courses: ENG 601 Practicum in the Teaching of College Writing, ENG 640 Writing for Management and Supervision and ENG 664 Composition Theory and Pedagogy.

Several other courses which were developed as part of the Graduate Certificate in the Teaching of Writing will be included also.

“Quite a few students have already begun working on the Certificate in the Teaching of Writing that was the forerunner to the Writing Studies option,” Adkins said. “We have received about a dozen inquiries about both options, and last year, when we surveyed area professionals about interest in a graduate program in technical communication, we received a positive response and several inquiries about when the program would come on line.”

The Technical Communication option will include three new courses consisting of the following: ETC 600 Graduate Studies in Technical Communication, ETC 616 Internship in Technical Communication and ETC 520 Publications Management.

Adkins verified whether or not new faculty will be hired to teach the courses in this program.

“We have kept the MAA in written communication as we have made recent hires,” Adkins said.

Faculty in the English department who may teach courses in this MAA consist of Adkins, herself, Dr. Robert Bergland, Dr. Michael Cadden, Dr. Michael Charlton, Dr. Patricia Donaher, Dr. Jane Frick, Dr. Cynthia Jeney, Dr. Kenneth Rosenauer, Dr. Kay Siebler and Dr. Ann Thorne.

Adkins provided insight as to what students can do with this degree after graduation.

“Middle and high school teachers will be able to use this graduate degree to improve their teaching of writing,” Adkins said. “This degree will meet the requirements for Master’s degrees that many school districts expect of their teachers.”

Nontraditional student Annie Allen is a little frustrated by this.

“I would like a shuttle (to get to class),” Allen said.

Allen tends to park near Murphy and Eder, and she has noticed an abundance of people who park in this area as well.

“I wonder if we just congregate to this area more,” Allen said.

Student Dawn Pokora, who also has most of her classes in Murphy and Eder, said it is hard to find a convenient parking spot even at 8:30 a.m., because the lots are so crowded.

“It seems like it’s a little worse this year than it was last year,” Pokora said.

Pokora does not remember these lots being so crowded around 8:00 a.m. last year.

Jacob Lutes, a junior, thinks there are other reasons for the lack of convenient parking spaces.

“It’s all the damn motorcyclists and scooters,” Lutes said.

He believes that more than one motorcycle should be grouped together in one spot, and that motorcycles should not take up the closer parking spots.

Lutes believes that the construction has affected parking as well.

“It seems like the barricades are a little bit of a hassle,” Lutes said.

He provided a simple solution for students who are constantly late to class, as he has started to do this.
“Come to class early to figure out what classes get out before yours,” Lutes said.

He happens to live along Faraon, so he has the convenience of timing it just right so that he knows when classes are getting out and parking spots will be available.

Dean of Student Affairs Judy Grimes, on the other hand, has not recently confronted any issues with student parking.

“People always complain about parking, but I haven’t heard any unusual complaints,” Grimes said.

The debate began with the Western Activities Council presidential and vice presidential candidates.

Presidential candidate China Thomas spoke first, rating WAC’s performance over the last year and explaining what she would improve if she were elected.

“In the past year WAC’s performance has went down,” Thomas said. “I’ve only been here for a year and a half, but I heard in the past that it was better. So, our plan is to get more surveys out and see what the students want to see, and make it better.”

Presidential candidate Keisha Caldwell said that if she could rate WAC’s performance on a scale of 1 to 5, she would give it a three.

“I think for WAC to get better with our attendance and with our programming is first diversify our events,” Caldwell said.

Caldwell wants to take WAC to the next level, and for it to become the best it can be.

“I feel that me and Dana, we can do that for WAC,” Caldwell said.

Thomas feels that her observance of past WAC presidents has given her the knowledge and understanding of how things should be done.

“I feel I would be a powerful leader,” Thomas said. “I will campaign better.”

The SGA presidential and vice presidential candidates continued the second half of the debate.

Presidential candidate Josh Todd spoke first.

“We went to every organization…organizations altogether want to be represented,” Todd said.

Todd’s running mate, vice presidential candidate Ernest Chamblee, added an important point.

“We need to inform students where their money is going,” Chamblee said.

Todd’s opponent, Logan Parker, has dealt with all types of organizations outside of SGA.

“What SGA needs to do is get out to the students,” Parker said.

His running mate, Brock Schmutzler, explained how to do this.

“We need to create a common link between students and SGA,” Schmutzler said.

Todd believes SGA should get students interested in what’s going on.

“People don’t know what’s going on,” Todd said. “Student knowledge about SGA is at a low.”

Parker and Schmutzler plan on getting students involved with the school by offering them incentives to come to SGA meetings.

“When something isn’t working, you need to look at new opportunities,” Schmutzler said.

This is opposite from what Todd and Chamblee believe.

“If you have pride, money shouldn’t have to be involved,” Chamblee said. “We want to encourage you to want to come, not pay you.”

Schmutzler is pleased with the events SGA has held, but believes they are poorly attended.

“The events are there. The students, however, are not,” Schmutzler said. “They don’t have the reason, they don’t have the drive right now.”

Logan Parker shared his experience with his transition to getting involved.

“I had to work at every little thing in high school,” Parker said.

The more he got involved with, however, the more he accomplished, which gave him confidence.

“We (he and Schmutzler) have bigger ideas and goals for the University,” Parker said. “Brock and I cannot do this alone. It is a campus-wide effort.”

Chamblee agreed.

“I want you to get involved ASAP,” Chamblee said.

Aside from the group of protestors standing outside with signs, people did not seem disappointed after Biden’s intense and inspirational speech.

When the intro music started, audience members gradually clapped along, eventually yelling, “Go, Joe!”

During the high points of his speech, people rose from their seats to clap and cheer with escalating enthusiasm.

Erika Baker, a freshman at Northwest Missouri State University, has watched Biden’s speeches on television, but never in person.

“I really, really enjoyed it,” Baker said. “I think that Joe Biden is a great speaker.”

This was the first time Baker has been to a political rally.

“I thought it was a whole new experience to be that close; I was right on the aisle – two rows back,” Baker said. “I shook his hand and everything afterwards, so it was exciting.”

Nathan Bowman, also a student at Northwest, was amazed by Biden’s tone.

“My basic thoughts were that Senator Biden did a terrific job getting people going,” Bowman said. “You could tell he was very passionate.”

Bowman believes Biden really projected towards the climax of his speech.

Heather Fields, a Western student, actually got a picture taken with Obama’s vice presidential candidate.

“I was more excited than I expected to be,” Fields said.

Janie Bland, who traveled from Spickard, MO, has been campaigning for Barack Obama, and thoroughly enjoyed the speech as well.

“That was a wonderful speech and he really spoke to the middle class people,” Bland said.

The opinion of Western student Andrew Trautmon, who is a Republican, differed slightly. He is not a huge fan of Obama or McCain.

“I went in with an independent mind,” Trautmon said. “Really, I’m not leaning with either one.”

Trautmon was not as impressed with Biden’s speech as others were.

“I was a little bit upset with Biden… the first part of his speech seemed like an attack against McCain,” Trautmon said.

The waiting list for housing was, at one point, up to 90 students, the classrooms are crowded and hallways are becoming almost claustrophobic… This can only mean one thing: Western is experiencing a record number of enrollment for the fall semester of 2008.

A total of 5,470 undergraduates are currently enrolled at Western this semester, which sets a record for the fourth fall term in a row.

Institutional Research Analyst Judy Fields explained why and when enrollment is apt to increase.

“When employment goes down, our enrollment tends to go up,” Fields said. “We have to adjust classes about every year to accommodate [the students].”

Jeanne Daffron, associate vice president of academic and student affairs, said that faculty and administration had monitored enrollment all summer.

“We try to always kind of look forward to it, so it doesn’t catch us off guard,” Daffron said. “We did add seats and courses and sections.”

The number of full-time students is 3,825, which is a 5.5 percent increase from last year.

A total of 63,032 credit hours – a 4% increase from last fall as well as a record – are being taken by the undergraduates.

The headcount for first-time full-time freshmen is 949.

Western has 1,606 full-time males and 2,219 full-time females this semester, meaning 662 males and 983 females are enrolled as part-time students.

The number of graduate students has grown as well. The number has increased to 65 students from 41 since last fall, which was the first year graduate programs were offered at Western. This amounts to a 59% increase.
Among all the positive outcomes of a university with high enrollment numbers, Daffron said the money issue is one of them.

“Of course that’s one source of revenue for us,” Daffron said.

Though, she modified the fact that Western is not just in the money-making business; it is important, for our region, to have well-educated citizens ready to go out in the job market.

“It’s important for the economic development for our region,” Daffron said. “We’ve called ourselves an emerging University.”

 

Lately, a number of students and faculty have been having difficulty logging in to their e-mail or accessing the P and O-Drives.

Frequent and extreme activity on one of the Novell servers has been causing it to crash, making the network drives inaccessible until the server reboots.

Library Director Julia Schneider explained some inconveniences of the outages.

“It has affected my staff and some of the technical operations they have to do,” Schneider said. “And, of course, students are affected by it.”

It is during peak usage times that Information Technology Services (ITS) has been experiencing these server outages.

The outages seem to transpire from noon to 1 p.m. and 4 to 7 p.m., the busiest periods of the day, though outages have occurred during other times as well.

Schneider has even noticed outages early in the morning.

“In fact, I think it was yesterday at 8 a.m. that I couldn’t log in,” Schneider said Tuesday.

Network-based drives such as P:, O:, N:, and individual department drives have been affected.
The main indicator of an outage is when network-based drives become inaccessible.
Jason Michael, a student technician who works the night help desk, said ITS has been getting a lot of calls regarding this issue.

“It causes a panic; if a professor has a power point prepared, it affects the class because they can’t get to their data,” Michael said.

Right now, computers are having to support both the Novell and Microsoft Client environments, though ITS is working on switching over to the Windows Client.

“The server has to work extra hard to support both of those,” Michael said.

Amanda Hash, a technician in Lab 2 of the English, Foreign Languages and Journalism department, is frustrated by these outages.

“The P-drive being down and the P-drive server being down is the biggest issue because students can’t get to their homework,” Hash said.

She said this tends to be an issue in most Technical Communication classes.

Schneider made the point that students and faculty are used to fast Internet, so when a page doesn’t come up, people tend to get impatient.

“None of the outages have been super long,” Schneider said. “We’re just so used to having [pages] come up in two seconds. It is aggravating.” Nonetheless, ITS is taking steps to fix the problem.
A Microsoft server and desktop client environment will replace that of the inconsistent and difficult Novell server and desktop. The Microsoft desktop client exchange began last January, and additional disk drives are being purchased to increase the obtainable shared disk drive space. Originally, this project was scheduled to be completed during the upcoming Winter Break, but because of such a regularity of outages, the ITS staff is working diligently to complete this project right away.

This particular award singles out effective teaching and advising, service to the university, commitment to high standards of excellence and success in playing a role in the success of students.

Dr. Cadden has exemplified all of these traits and more.

“Typically, this award is given to those who have received the Board of Governors’ Distinguished Faculty Award, The Jesse Lee Myers Excellence in Teaching Award and the Dr. James Victor Mehl Outstanding Faculty Scholarship Award,” Cadden said.

Jennie McDonald, executive administrative associate of academic and student affairs, said candidates are chosen from those who have received these awards within the past three years (2005, 2006 and 2007).

Those in charge of the selection process are the Provost (Joseph Bragin), the academic deans and the president of faculty senate.

Only one faculty member from each public and private college or university in Missouri will receive this award  each year.

Last year, it was Journalism professor Ann Thorne who won this award.

She was chosen from the group of Western faculty members who received the awards Cadden has received.
Along with keeping busy chairing the English, Foreign Languages and Journalism department, Cadden teaches children’s and young adult literature, as well as other literature courses and freshman composition.
He received the Dr. James Victor Mehl Outstanding Faculty Scholarship Award due to the successful year in which his research was published, and his growing reputation as a scholar in the field of children’s literature.

The Governors’ Distinguished Professor Award, in which he also received, acknowledged faculty with excellent records in teaching, scholarship/creative activity and professional service.

Cadden has recently written a book on Ursula K. Le Guin, an author first published in the 1960’s who has written novels, poetry, children’s books, essays and short stories – all of the fantasy and science fiction genre. One of her most current publications is a book called “The Lathe of Heaven,” a psychological thriller revolving around a character whose dreams alter reality. It won the Locus Poll Award for best novel in 1972, and was eventually made into two television films. 

Aside from writing about this particular author, Cadden is now editing a collection of essays on children’s literature for the University of Nebraska Press.

He also regularly reviews children’s literature in professional journals.

Several systems were looked at and the university ultimately chose this one.

“This system will allow for a more timely notice to the campus community in the event of an emergency that might impact the community,” Kelley said.

Griffon Alert is designed to send urgent messages to the cell phones and e-mail addresses of students, faculty and staff members who wish to sign up for the service.

Situations in which a message will be sent include:

-Ongoing safety threats in which an armed or dangerous criminal is on campus
 
-Major facility emergencies or evacuations such as fires or gas leaks

-Severe weather or illness

-Timely notification of crime
On account of the limitations of text messaging, these messages will be brief and contain only vital information.
It requires no fees—only the regular charges made by each individual’s mobile phone provider for text messaging.
“We are hopeful that all campus community members will take advantage of the texting/e-mailing notification option,” Kelley said.

Dean of Student Services, Judith Grimes, said it is very critical to let students and faculty know that the service is there for them.

“The challenge with Griffon Alert is to get people to sign up for it,” Grimes said.

She encourages any students to make suggestions to help publicize this.

Students and employees are free to sign up at any time.

Those interested may visit www.missouriwestern.edu/griffonalert and follow the instructions for creating an account.
Each individual’s Western e-mail user name and password should be used.

After registering, a verification text message will be sent to each phone.

Signing up for e-mail alerts is an option, and one may choose to only sign up for an e-mail alert. Users are allowed to list up to two cell phone numbers and two e-mail addresses on their Griffon Alert account. The discussion about having something like this on campus started quite a few years ago, according to Grimes.

“It’s a huge monetary investment,” Grimes said.

“It shows the commitment of the institution.” In the future, some added element to the Griffon Alert emergency notification system may consist of indoor emergency beacons with audio and visual alarms, LCD text displays and text-to-voice enunciators.

There will also be various options for students with disabilities such as blindness or hearing loss.

For example, there may be flashing lights to alert students unable to hear a fire alarm.

The text/e-mail aspect of Griffon Alert is a big deal, but, “it’s just part of the bigger puzzle,” Grimes said.

This program originally consisted of a series of registration activities extended over a period of two days.

Now known as “New Student Registration,” this program will give students the same opportunity to learn about Western over a shortened one-day session lasting from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Acting new student registration director Kristen Neeley explained their new slogan.

“We’re trying to promote the ‘three R’s’ (get ready, get registered and get rockin’), which we just made up,” Neeley said.
Neeley believes students will appreciate the changes made to the program.

“I think that it’ll be a lot better in the fact that parents [won’t] have to take off as much time from work, and they can kind of get a good feel for the campus,” Neeley said. “They won’t be as tired and they’ll feel like their time is worthwhile.”

Neeley said activities during the day will be geared more towards registration, and sessions in which students listen to various speakers will be shorter.

“It’s gonna be much different, just for the simple fact that I know a person’s attention span is usually about 20-30 minutes when it comes to speakers, so we’re gonna try to have shorter sessions,” Neeley said.

Registration and Griffon Edge Intern Luke Akers expressed the same concern.

“I think it got too lengthy for people,” Akers said.

One student who felt this way was Freshman Shaina Kotwani.

“I thought a lot of the stuff was pointless and boring, honestly,” Kotwani said. “One day is a better idea.”

 Equivalent to previous years, students will be split up into groups based on their major. Approximately 20 student leaders will be divided among 12 or 13 groups.

Group leaders will follow their students around most of the day, attending speaker presentations and joining them for lunch.

Group members will have 30-minute sessions with their leaders and parents will have the opportunity to go to special parent sessions.

The day’s events will consist of the usual speaker presentations that teach newcomers about opportunities on campus, as well as informational sessions about billing, financial aid and meeting with their advisors.

The option for students to stay overnight is still available – they must RSVP online for this.

“We want a lot of student interaction,” Neeley said. “We want students to feel comfortable with their group and their group [to] be able to ask [leaders] questions anytime they want.”

Akers said that the leaders recently attended the NODA (National Orientation Director’s Association) Conference in Fayetteville at the University of Arkansas, which presented them with several new ideas from registration programs of other colleges.

“I know we’re going to have an awesome group,” Akers said.

However, it takes a lot of preparation for leaders to get to that point.

According to Neeley, leaders must go through an intense six-week training course every Wednesday for 2.5 hours from March to April.

A lot of work goes into this for the student’s benefit.

“Basically we’re just trying to make it [Registration] really fun for the students; fun and exciting so they can feel really comfortable and good about the day,” Neeley said.”

Mike Voltz, president of the Wildlife Society, said that traditionally, a certificate is presented to the representatives of the student chapter at the North Central Section of the Wildlife Society business meeting, which took place this year in Madison, Wis.

“Winners also receive up to $1,000 for travel to the business meeting,” Voltz said.

This award required several standards that Western’s student chapter met exclusively.

There were five goals, according to the application, that each group was required to meet. These goals were: to develop and maintain professional standards for wildlife research and management, enhance knowledge and technical capabilities of wildlife students, advance professional stewardship of wildlife resources and their habitats, advocate use of sound, biological information for wildlife policy and management decisions and increase public awareness and appreciation of wildlife management.

Examples of accomplishing these goals included efforts such as increasing membership participation in student chapter activities and meetings, involving wildlife students in professional activities, conducting and participating in workshops, symposia, conferences and conclaves; developing and sponsoring public awareness materials and participating in habitat management and resource con­servation projects.

A reception was held in their honor on Wednesday, March 19, in the conference room of the Missouri Dept. of Conservation building, where the chapter gave a short presentation on their various activities.

These activities included:
• Dove Wing Survey at Pony Express Conservation area working with the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC)
• Prairie Restoration work day at Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge (SCNWR) working with The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)
• Deer Population Survey at SCNWR working with the FWS
• Deer Aging Survey with MDC
• Invasive Species removal work days at SCNWR working with FWS
• Hunter Education Instructor Training with MDC
• Federal Wildland Fire Training with the Burrow of Indian Affairs
• Chainsaw and Brush cutter workshop with FWS
• Missouri Western Campus Dump sites location
• Entering into Grants with SCNWR for work on invasive species
Voltz was very pleased to receive such an award, and was glad to see that all of their hard work paid off.
“To have received two in the last three times that we have applied is such an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment,” Voltz said. “This accomplishment truly shows that our young student chapter of The Wildlife Society is headed in the right direction as a society.”

Approximately 100 more students than last spring reside on Western’s campus.

According to Michael Speros, director of residential life, very few students move off campus from fall to spring.

“99 percent of residents usually fill out a yearly contract, therefore they are bound by the terms and conditions of the contract,” Speros said. “We do have a number of students who don’t return from fall to spring based on graduation, financial reasons, transferring, etc., but very few move off campus.”

Speros said there are currently 930 students living on campus. In the fall of 2006, Western had approximately 945 residents, and in the fall of 2007, there were 1,064.

 Therefore, there has been an increase of 119 residents since last year during the fall semester.

Last spring, approximately 835 students inhabited Western’s campus – this year, in 2008, there are 930 residents.

Consequently, there has been an increase of 95 residents since last year during the spring semester.

According to Speros, several matters are responsible for this increase. First of all, any student receiving over $2,500 in Western scholarships is required to live on campus.

 This is the case with sophomore Jason Barnett, who has lived on campus since his freshman year. “I currently am receiveing the Golden Griffon, which requires that I stay on campus,” Barnett said.

 Along with scholarship issues, Speros believes the recent building renovations may have played a part in the increase.“We have created super singles and some private baths in the halls thus enticing upper class students to remain living on campus,” Speros said. “We have an upper class area just for juniors and seniors (Beshears).”Another issue that may have played a part in the increase of residents is the fact that Western has worked with ARAMARK to form a number of meal plans that students favor more based on their flexibility. For student convenience, a computer lab has been added to each building, whereas it used to be that Vaselakos was the only building that had one.

 A bigger issue is the fact that Western has made security changes to its buildings is the fact that Westernhas made security changes to its buildings by adding cameras and a night security program, and keeping the outside doors locked.
 Speros thinks that overall, studentsenjoy Western’s campus life. “I believe many students enjoy the convenience of staying on campus,”

Speros said. “We have made a number of changes that have increased student satisfaction.”

     At the end of January, Western will say goodbye to its dean of the Western Institute, Christopher Shove.

Shove will be resigning, as he has been given the great opportunity to serve as vice provost of Alfaisal University, a brand new school of research located in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Dr. Shove said he was contacted by a national search firm, and he gladly accepted the offer, as it was his previous boss who offered him the position.

     “It’s an exciting opportunity for me,” Shove said.

Shove will have the chance to play a part in the modernization of higher education in Saudi Arabia.

   “The university is an American-style university on purpose,” Shove said.

     Shove’s absence will mean that Joseph Bragin, provost and vice president for academic and student affairs, will be filling in for him in the meantime.

Bragin would like to find someone to replace Shove before the end of the spring semester.

  “The best time to start looking is in the fall, so we’re at a disadvantage because we didn’t know he was leaving,” Bragin said.

He thinks Western will ultimately find someone creative enough and effective enough to take Shove’s place and they will keep looking until they do, which shouldn’t take long.

     “He [Shove] has been very effective in the position,” Bragin said. “We’re not about to hire just anybody to fill the position right away.”

In Saudi Arabia, Shove’s new job will be relatively similar to his old one.

  “It will be much broader in scope,” Shove said.

     The University he will be working at is a brand new research University, and because of its novelty, his duties will consist of a little bit of everything.

Shove recently visited the school for the first time in November of 2007, where he got a taste of what his new working life would be like.

     With a science building of two million square feet, Alfaisal University will be the first co-ed university in Saudi Arabia.

   Shove’s journey in participating in the modernization of higher education will begin soon, as he leaves Friday, February 1.

He has made numerous contributions to Western since he started in 2004.

While he has been here, the Western Institute received regional and state recognition for its programs in adult and continuing education.

13-year-old Dekoda Neill was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis when he was born.  Doctors at St. Louis Children’s Mercy Hospital in Missouri recommended this lung transplant which would save his life.

An estimated $65,000 is currently being raised by St. Joseph volunteers to make sure Dekoda can follow through with this operation.

The transplant arrangements have been made by the Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA) which is a national charity dedicated to organizing and guiding communities in raising funds for transplant-needy parents.

Phi Delta Theta, among others in the Greek community, will be holding a raffle in which students could win one of five 32 inch LCD flat screen TV’s.
Each ticket is only $1 and all money raised will go towards Dekoda’s double-lung transplant.

Tickets can be purchased from any Phi Delta member and most other members of the Greek community in Popplewell Hall, Murphy Hall and the Blum Student Union, where several tables are set up.

Zach Slater, public relations chair and treasurer of Phi Delta Theta, said the idea to raise money for Neill emerged this summer when Timothy Lawrence, an alumnus of Missouri Western who raises money for various causes in St. Joe, informed him and other Phi Delta members of the boy’s dilemma.
“He told us about this and we decided to help him out,” Slater said.

Lawrence contacted this fraternity first, considering he was a former Phi Delta Theta member.

“I started out on this journey with getting doors slammed in my face, people not taking calls, people breaking promises and simply people not hearing me,” Lawrence said. “I decided to go back to what I know and I figured the best bet is to go back to my roots – I got the people that I knew had motivation under them and I came back as an Alum to my fraternity and asked my brothers to help me.”

He appreciates the work that all the Greek organizations are doing.

“It goes to show that the Greek Community is amazing regardless of what others say about them,” Lawrence said. “If it wasn’t for The Greek System at MWSU this project of attempting to raise $65,000 for his transplant and expenses would never have gotten off the ground. I thank them all for that and so does Dekoda’s family.”
Lawrence said tickets will presumably be sold after Christmas and into February.

Slater said anyone can participate and they can even contact members of Greek organizations to help sell tickets on their own, outside of school.
“So far we’ve had a lot of support from the whole community – people want to donate,” Slater said.

Lawrence said two possible scenarios have been proposed for announcing the winners of the raffle – a charity dinner, or an MWSU basketball game.
“I am hoping for announcing the winners at a crowded field house at one of the basketball games on a Saturday night in the first of February or the end of January,” Lawrence said.”

For now, maybe.

One of Western’s fraternities on campus, Alpha Sigma Phi, has announced it’s inactive status, which will begin next semester.
Student Engagement Director Don Willis said the fraternity is not in trouble, but they just don’t have the time to keep going.
“I know that they didn’t take in any new members this year,” Willis said.

The issue is not that they are on probation or causing problems – they just have the highest standards of all the fraternities and sororities on campus, and they have not been able to recruit any members who meet these standards completely.

This fraternity has the highest GPA requirement of all fraternities on campus, which is a 2.5 to pledge, while the group has to keep a cumulative GPA of 3.0.

Even freshman are required to have at least a 2.8 GPA, and must be willing to commit themselves and constantly maintain good grades.
It is a common belief that if students do not have that basic foundation, they won’t be able to take responsibility for anything else.
Students wanting to become involved with this fraternity are also required to be part of at least two other organizations on campus.
Membership has been getting lower each semester as the standards are raised each year.

President Sean Pruitt, who is the scholarship chair and in charge of recruitment, said there are plenty of people interested in joining their fraternity.

However, either their GPA is not high enough, or they are just not ready for the responsibilities of being an Alpha Sigma Phi member.
He does not want to lower their standards just to get more members.

“We [Alpha Sigma Phi] really value what we stand for,” Pruitt said. “We were active, we did everything we could to break the mold and the stereotype.”

He would rather the fraternity become inactive while things are going well for them, and while they are living up to every one of their expectations, than watch everything they have worked for go downhill.

He also believes Missouri Western has a hard time getting members involved the right way.

There was the minor possibility that the fraternity could stay open next semester, but it was unanimously decided among members that it would not be a very good idea.

With nine members, it would be hard to get recruitment.

Also, two members will be graduating, and two are moving out of town for internship opportunities.

Pruitt believes everyone in the group is basically satisfied with the decision.

“Everyone has kind of come to terms with this,” Pruitt said.

A couple members were hesitant to begin with, but after several long, serious discussions about shutting the fraternity down for a while, the decision was made with everyone’s approval.

Luke Herrington, treasurer, was a little hesitant about shutting the fraternity down at first.

“It seemed to be the easy way out,” Herrington said.

He eventually realized, however, that this would be the best decision for the group.

Trevor Kincaid, another Alpha Sigma Phi member, shared Herrington’s initial thoughts, but also changed his mind in the end and believed it wouldn’t be the best idea to keep going at this point in time.

“With all the responsibilities, it would just be really hard,” Kincaid said.

Alpha Sigma Phi could still be reactivated again someday.

Ironically, the official symbol of the fraternity is the Phoenix, the mythological bird that rises from its ashes.

Herrington believes this is fitting for what they are currently going through.

“Like the Phoenix, we can always rise back up,” Herrington said.

Pruitt also said he would like to come back in five years and see that the fraternity is up and running again, still meeting all the expectations and continuing in the direction they left off.

This motion was passed at the Board of Governors meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 25 in Blum 220.

Torn between both sides, some board members could not decide if giving officers access to firearms would actually make a difference, or if it would in fact make students and faculty feel safer on campus.

Patt Lilly, vice chair of the Board of Governors, expressed his concerns about giving officers immediate access to firearms.

“I think we are putting the cart before the horse,” Lilly said.

He would like to see all business matters taken care of first, rather than everyone jumping into this too quickly.

He said everyone is saying officers should be armed, but the “housekeeping” matters are not actually being taken care of.

He would feel better if we weren’t rushing into it.

Other Task Force members believe this is a good idea; arming officers right away should not be a problem.

One concern with the board was that cross cultural communication would be challenging, and members wondered if arming DPS officers would inhibit this further.

Beth Wheeler, director of external relations, said this has been taken into consideration.
“Officers have done some cross-cultural training,” Wheeler said.

She said they have started attending student events such as SGA meetings and NAACP meetings to get more engaged on that level with students.

Western is considering changing the title of DPS officers from “Public Safety” to “University Police.”

One MWSU public safety department officer qualification is that all Western DPS officers are P.O.S.T certified Police Officers commissioned by the state of Missouri.

SGA President Natalie Bailey stressed that officers are experienced enough and capable of handling weapons, and that they never go without training.

“They [public safety officers] still have to practice every year, even if they’ve already been working on campus,” Bailey said.

A few concerns regarding the arming of officers were that it might increase the perception of officers seeming to be oppressive and there would be consequences and liability for accidental or improper use.

However, arming officers would provide the tools needed to respond to a threat, the response time to situations would be quicker without having to await the St. Joseph Police Department’s arrival and it would reduce liability by being able to provide adequate protection to the community.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice Findings (1995), 81 percent of the public campuses in the U.S. have armed police officers.

All public universities in Missouri with commissioned police officers have armed officers, except for Western.

Essentially, the issue with arming officers offered more opportunities than concerns.

Western students have never had an opportunity quite like this in the past.
Western will be offering the Master of Applied Science (MAS) in Assessment and the Master of Applied Arts (MAA), which were recently approved by The Missouri Coordinating Board for Higher Education.

These degree programs consist of two options.

The MAA program options will be integrated media and convergent media.

The purpose of the MAA program is to prepare students for jobs in the Internet design and development industry, which is rapidly growing, and the changing world of journalism.

Dr. Kenneth Rosenauer, journalism professor and former chair, is aware of the tremendous power of the World Wide Web and how it is increasingly becoming the preferred medium for audiences.
“I see no end in sight for it,” Dr. Rosenauer said.

The options for the MAS Assessment will be learning improvement and writing.

These options will give teachers and literacy professionals the tools to assess student learning.

Dr. Jeanne Daffron, Assistant VP of Academic and Student Affairs, said that as programs like these two are developed, the school is responding to regional and national assessments.

“It always takes a while to develop a program,” Daffron said. “They had to do a lot of work considering what courses would be appropriate for this degree.”

The school evaluates where their strength lies and what needs are not being met, as well as the interests of students.

According to the proposal prepared by Western faculty, the MAA degree program is interdisciplinary and it is uniquely designed because it will emphasize applied learning in an integrated environment while providing opportunities for an internship and service-learning.
Teachers are very excited about the chance for faculty and students to interact in different disciplines to create digital media.

Dr. Kenneth Rosenauer is particularly enthused about this collaboration.

“Having more than one teacher will bring different perspectives and we [faculty] think that will be exciting as well,” Dr. Rosenauer said.

He believes this collaboration of faculty and students of different areas of discipline will cause people to be pushed out of their comfort zone, and when this happens, students will have a chance to grow.

“We [faculty] fully believe six years out from now, we’ll be graduating some of the best students in the Midwest in these areas,” Rosenauer said.

The show traditionally takes place in the gym, the Looney Complex, but this year it was moved to Potter Hall.
There were eight vocal performances and four non­vocal performances.

The winners of the vocal performances consisted of Seth Logston, coming in first, David Jolley, coming in second, and Katie Penland, coming in third.

The non-vocal winner was the dance group called “Versatile.”

Third place winner Katie Penland said this was her second year singing in the talent show.

“I guess I wanted to perform again this year, because it was a good experience last year, and it’s also great practice to get up in front of a large crowd and sing,” Penland said. “I always get very nervous, but the more you just push yourself to get up and sing your heart out, the more rewarding it is in the end.”

This event conventionally takes place during Homecoming week, and it is usually hosted by a come­dian to make it even more amusing.

WAC President Janell Banks was especially excited about this year’s comedian.

“She is very funny, and she always gets her point across,” Banks said.

Some students may have already been familiar with Jen Kober, but some may have seen her perform for the first time Tuesday night.

For those who missed out and have no idea who she is, Kober currently resides in Los Angeles, California, and she has just recently become recognized nationally.

She has brought her rock-n-roll style of stand-up comedy to colleges, casinos and comedy clubs across the country.
Kober has performed with Dave Atell, Dane Cook, George Lopez, Chris Tucker, Wayne Brady, Kevin Nealon, Kevin Pollak, Dana Carvey and many others you might be familiar with.

But it was not merely the comedian who brought stu­dents to the talent show, because Banks believes the show in and of itself is always entertaining.

“It is always packed beyond capacity – we never have trouble with this event,” Banks said. “We have so much talent housed on our campus.”

The talent show had been planned since last semes­ter, but Mercedes Hyman, director of major attractions, recently took over the chair.

“I personally started working on the talent show since Sept. 19, because that is when I took over the chair to do so,” Hyman said. “I know they had already been working on it for about a week or so before I did.”

She was in charge of setting up auditions and making decisions as to who was going to perform.

The vocal performances were as follows:

• 1 Accord – “reflections”

• Jamal Graham – “stupid things”

• Lisa Crawford -“Inside You Heaven” origi­nally by Carrie Underwood

• BreAunnia Morrow -“When I See You” by Fantasia

• Patrick Banks -“Where I Wanna Be” by Donnell Jones

• David Jolly – untitled piece

• Katie Penland – “Hero” by Mariah Carey

• Seth Logston – “Me & Mrs. Jones”.
The non-vocal performances consisted of:

• Darrell Dixon – “symphony”

• Ricky Wander – untitled piece

• Chris Bates – untitled piece

• Versatile – “Musikality”.

A three-judge panel which consisted of Lisa White Hardwick, James M. Smart and Platte County Associate Circuit Judge Gary D. Witt heard oral arguments in three cases.

These cases were actually appeals from previ­ously held trials in area circuit courts. 

The attorneys argued whether the trials had errors that would cause them to be retried, or the trial court’s judgement inverted.

The judges read written arguments and occa­sionally interrupted the attorneys’ arguments to ask questions.

The Missouri Appellate Court is not required to travel around to hear these cases.

Criminal Justice Professor Larry D. Andrews explained how nice it is for the Court to travel to Western’s campus every year to do this.

“It is a gracious act for them to come and won­derful for students,” Andrews said. “10 percent of the whole student body (500 students) shows up, so its kind of a big deal.”

He believes the opportunity to attend this yearly event is a wonderful experience for everyone, but especially for students studying Criminal Justice or Journalism.

Andrews said the Court of Appeals enjoys travel­ing around – it’s more of a public relations thing.

It was Judge Hardwick who presided over the trial, and in 2001 she was appointed to the Western District.

She formerly served as a trial judge in Jackson County and practiced law for 14 years in Kansas City.

In 1991, Judge Smart was allotted to the Western District, having previously served as an assistant prosecuting attorney in Jackson County.
 
Judge Witt has been an associate circuit judge in Platte County every since he was appointed in 1998.

Most students seemed to be concerned about the policy on parking in the Blum Union, due to the number of tickets given out.

According to Jon Kelley, Director of Public Safety, for the period of August 1, 2007 to September 12, 2007, there were 1,353 campus parking citations issued, which is a slight decrease for the same time period last year.

The controversial rule is that motorists are only allowed to park in the Blum Union until midnight, any time after that will warrant a ticket.

Many people do not seem to be fond of this rule, as it proves to be a major inconvenience for those who use the library until 2:00 a.m.

SGA Vice President Luke Herrington feels it is only fair for parking in the Blum Union to be restricted after the computer lab is closed.

“I think it is unreasonable to request that students park across campus to access a building with a wide open lot,” Herrington said.  “The reason they ticket people for parking there is to make money.”

Kelley said the money from parking tickets goes to the Traffic Fines Revenue Account.

SGA President Natalie Bailey has decided to take matters into her own hands.

“I have contacted Public Safety because the computer lab is open until 2 a.m. in the Union and we are trying to find a compromise,” Bailey said.

Another concern was whether or not DPS officers should be armed.

Some say they need continued training if they are going to decide to start carrying weapons.
SGA Adviser Dr. Cynthia Heider expressed how she felt about DPS officers’ duties.

“When they feel they are in a dangerous situation, they automatically call the St. Joe Police Department for backup,” Heider said.

Students moved on to express their concerns about the cleanliness of the food court.

The tables always seem to be dirty, and it was requested for them to be kept cleaner.

Apparently, tables are currently only cleaned at night because of the time allotted when no one is occupying them.

Beth Wheeler, director of external relations, said that in 2006 an ad hoc committee presented a campus-wide paper-recycling proposal to Missouri Western’s President, Dr. James Scanlon.

Scanlon provided money to purchase supplies needed to start the program.

The SGA supported this proposal and contributed some funds as well, so that containers could be purchased for gathering areas around campus.

They also made a request for University funding to start and expand the program.

“After good work by Craig Darrough and Lonnie Johnson working with the Fire Marshal to assure safety and purchasing appropriate containers, the campus-wide program began in July 2007,” Wheeler said.

The program is in its infant stages now but Director of Facilities, Lonnie Johnson, has further plans for the recycling program.

“At this time we are collecting only office-type paper, but we are looking to expand this program to include newspapers and magazines in the near future,” Johnson said.

As of right now, items such as white and colored copier paper, post-it notes, envelopes without windows, computer paper, stationary, manila and colored file folders without labels, notebook paper, forms that use non-carbon, reply paper, and heavier papers such as card stock are encouraged to be put in the blue bins.

Just in case there is any confusion, items such as hanging file folders, newspapers, shredded paper, magazines and catalogs, food contaminated paper, candy wrappers, corrugated cardboard, metal, plastic, Styrofoam, photographs, and other non-paper items are not currently accepted in the bins.

However, newspapers and shredded paper may be introduced later.

It is Western’s custodial staff who currently empties the bins.
 
“We plan to eventually use work study students to run the collection program after it is completely established,” Johnson said.

The recycling program is slowly expanding to ensure the continuation of these efforts, and it will presumably become larger and more complete.

Custodial Services will be distributing blue recycling containers to every department and computer lab on campus.

Custodial staff will empty the bins every Thursday into specific dumpsters for the program. Anyone who needs additional containers can contact their custodian or Physical Plant at 271-4417.