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Resident faces felony charges in marijuana bust
Last Updated on Monday, 23 February 2009 09:16 Written by Gerri Tracy Thursday, 5 February 2009 02:55
St. Joseph Police officer Herrera was working an off-duty job at East Hills Mall on Jan. 29, 2009 when he arrested Western student Steven C. Jones for stealing from a shop in the mall. Upon searching Jones at the time of arrest, the officer discovered two baggies containing green plant material known to be marijuana, empty baggies and over $200 cash.
All of the evidence was seized and the arresting officer alerted the K-9 unit to Jones’ campus address where the drug-sniffing dog indicated at Jones’ door that there was in fact drugs’ in the dorm room.
Officers then obtained a search warrant based on the dog’s reaction and found in Jones’ room one bag of marijuana and a second bag containing 14 individually packaged baggies that contained marijuana. Jones was later charged with a felony possession with intent to distribute marijuana on a college property. Jones’ arraignment is scheduled for Feb. 6.
Information contained in the statement of probable cause signed by Steve McClintick, an officer with the SJPD, indicates that Jones will be expelled from Western. Michael Speros, Assistant Dean of Residential Life, and Duane Bruce, Associate Dean of Student Development, both declined to comment on the status of Jones’enrollment citing regulations from the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
According to the student handbook, “It is the responsibility of the Associate Dean of Student Development…to implement through an informal disposition the judicial sanction of immediate temporary dismissal from the university.” That means that Bruce should have dismissed Jones, temporarily, immediately upon learning of the crimes Jones’ was arrested for.
Reports of Jones’ alleged crimes come only a week after Kenisha Jenkins, another Western student, was charged with felony stealing, when she alleged that she had been robbed of three bank bags belonging to her employer, Kentucky Fried Chicken. Police found no evidence of the robbery in surveillance footage of the area. Jenkins was charged with stealing after the money was recovered in her home.
Drug crimes in residence halls have decreased overall since 2005 when five people were arrested, six arrests in 2006, and one in 2007. Although drug crimes on the entire campus spiked in 2006 at 13, then dropped back down to three in 2007.
Burglary remains the number one crime committed on campus and almost doubled from 21 in 2005 to 41 in 2007. Liquor law violations places second on the crime list. In 2005, 17 arrests were made on campus involving alcohol. That number rose to 28 in 2006, then reduced by one in 2007 to 27.
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Western prepares for large possible cut in higher education funding
Last Updated on Friday, 23 January 2009 01:07 Written by Gerri Tracy Thursday, 15 January 2009 05:33
Missouri Western is bracing for possible cuts in state appropriations that could amount to roughly $7.9 million. If the funding is cut by 25 percent, which is a possibility, the amount received from the state in fiscal year 2010 would drop from $25.5 million to $17.6 million.
The $25.5 million would have been the result of an 8.5 percent increase Western was anticipating from the current fiscal year’s appropriation of $23.5 million. The increase was proposed to be 5.5 percent as part of a three year increase totaling 15 percent and the additional three percent was recommended by the Coordinating Board of Higher Education to compensate for the equity factors involved in state funding.
Read more: Western prepares for large possible cut in higher education funding
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Western anticipates $2 million budget increase
Last Updated on Sunday, 4 January 2009 03:30 Written by Gerri Tracy Thursday, 4 December 2008 03:24
Western could receive an additional three percent in appropriations next year from state funding. Western’s funding will increase 5.5 percent as part of a three year program; the additional 3 percent would be a result of a recommendation by the Coordinating Board of Higher Education (CBHE). The 8.5 percent increase would bring state appropriations for fiscal year 2010 to roughly $25.5 million, up from the fiscal year 2009 amount of $23.5 million.
Deputy Director of the CBHE, Paul Wagner, understands the need for more funding.
“We here at the coordinating board are card carrying members of the real world,” Wagner said. “There are a lot of legitimate needs that are brought forward, so we’re going to push as hard as we can for the additional three percent.”
While the extra funds are needed, they are not guaranteed. Director of external relations, Beth Wheeler, is hopeful, but not spending yet.
“I’m guardedly optimistic,” Wheeler said. “This will get us back where we were in 2002.”
Western’s president, Robert Vartabedian, is also hopeful.
“We’re not counting on extra money, but we’re certainly hoping for extra money,” Vartabedian said. “We have a long list of things already in line to do with that extra money.” One of the things on the list would ease the stress of parking on campus.
“I hate to admit this to students, but I think we definitely have a parking problem and a traffic flow problem,” Vartabedian said.
Even with the additional funding, Western is still next to last in Missouri as far as per full-time equivalent (FTE) student funding.
This is called equity. The average for FTE funding is $6,029, Western falls $519 below the average with $5,510. Missouri Southern State University is the only public institution in Missouri to receive less FTE funding than Western, they are $640 below the average with $5,389.
“We would like to get even more money in terms of equity factors,” Vartabedian said.
Vice President of financial planning, Mel Klinkner, is concerned with the equity issue.
“Like everybody else, our costs are rising, so additional funding is needed just to keep pace with where we are today,” Klinkner said. “Additional resources are needed to accommodate the growing number of students on campus.”
Western has record-breaking enrollment this year, making our equity even less. The high enrollment has created over-crowded classrooms, a problem that, according to Wheeler, needs to be addressed.
“We have a really high student-faculty ration and student-staff ratio,” Wheeler said.
Vartabedian is committed to convincing the state that Western requires more funding. “Impressing on legislators that we’ve had four consecutive years of growth, when we’re behind the curve in the first place, that our needs may be more than they’re aware of will certainly be a goal of mine,” Vartabedian said. He would like to get students involved in convincing legislators.
“Part of my goal will be to make them (students) interested to be a player in this process,” Vartebedian said. “If we could mobilize the forces, they can be a very, very effective tool for us. It’s hard for legislators to turn away from that.”
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Good manners are more than just ettiquete, they should be law
Last Updated on Thursday, 23 April 2009 07:42 Written by Gerri Tracy Thursday, 23 April 2009 07:42
Good table manners will never go out of style. What happened to the kind of manners I grew up with? They have all but disappeared.
I learned old fashioned table manners mostly at Granny’s table. She would react so quickly to a display of poor manners; you would wonder how you got to the living room, without your dinner, in such a flash.
Granny was serious, we had strict rules to adhere to, or we would be excused from the table. It wasn’t just my family either; almost everyone I knew had the same etiquette instilled from early childhood. I should probably mention that this was in the sixties and seventies, a generation ago.
Children of my generation learned proper table behavior at home and at school. Teachers ate with their classes and students displaying poor manners were sent to eat alone.
While the methods of teaching have changed over the decades, some things have been completely lost. Elementary schools should still teach proper etiquette and junior and high schools should enforce some mealtime rules of etiquette.
People today seem to have forgotten basic table manners. Go to any restaurant at dinner time and you too can be disgusted by the lack of respect some people have.
I do not understand why a person thinks everyone else wants to see their food while they’re chewing it. Listening to someone chew is just as gross. I don’t want to hear it or see it. Granny would have approached the disrespectful diners and explained how she would be ashamed if someone at her table were to eat like that.
Some of Granny’s rules are better left forgotten. Like making sure we separated the gristle from the end of the chicken legs and thighs for Jr., the Siamese cat. Jr. had better table manners than some people I see eating in public places, where other people eat.
Parents should go back to Granny’s way of teaching manners, because whatever method being used now is not working.
My grandchildren may not have great manners elsewhere, but at my table, they are polite, respectful and pleasant. Be it at my house or in a public restaurant, or even at family get-togethers.
Whenever anyone eats with even one other person, he or she should remember being at Granny’s table and behave as if they are. What is the golden rule of table manners?
Never eat in a way that might turn someone else’s stomach.
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