If you could only remember one thing about Dr. King, remember that he gave his life to obtain justice for others. His reasoning for enduring assault, arrests and disrespect came from his determination to develop a better future for a more united society where character and personality are more important then color and race. As Dr. King became successful for serving others with peace and respect, certainly we can do the same with our campus and our peers.

Missouri Western students should first be proud of the service and unity established on our campus. Not every school is like our school. From our standing section at every football, basketball and baseball game to our diverse campus organizations that have created a well mixed blend of unity among campus life, our school has created an amazing place for students to feel comfortable, united and respected. Dr. King would be very proud.

Yet, there is more work to be done. This work can and should be done by each and every student. This work involves helping each other out in our classes. Think about how many times you were confused on an assignment or had to miss a few classes. Now think about how many times you needed help to finish an assignment, catch up on work or needed help understanding something. Truth is we have all been there and we all should thank those helpful peers that helped us pass a class which made us another small step closer to graduation. If we continue to help each other out in our classes and academics, we would all be more successful.

Service equals success and success equals service. No one maintains success without knowing how to help others out. Spend just a little more time being useful and available to help others. The reward in return is something better than any ‘A’ you could receive on any exam or paper. Having the feeling that you helped someone become successful assures that you have been an impact to a person’s life. Remember that society remembers greatness not by what a person has done on paper but by how many people a person has touched. Dr. Martin Luther King was an author, activist, global leader and Noble Peace Prize winner. Yet, we don’t remember him for that. We remember him by the millions of people he reached in just one word, sentence or speech. His memory lives on because his words live on and these words motivate us to create a “beautiful symphony of brotherhood” in our school just as he did with our nation. Long live the king.

Although Phi Beta Sigma has over 150,000 men in over 650 chapters in the U.S., Europe, Asia and the Caribbean, President Arion Duncan and member Niyaa Daniels are trying to stay focused on increasing their membership on campus

Phi Beta Sigma adviser Ronald Cohen wanted to reactivate the Alpha Beta Nu chapter because he felt there was a need for students to have more opportunities on campus.

“I have a passion for student success, most specifically students of color and their advancement,” Cohen said. “I know a lot of times that students of color on this campus don’t get presented with a lot of opportunities, so they don’t take them. For me that was really important to get more people involved in Greek life.”

Phi Beta Sigma is among the few black Greek letter fraternities and sororities who are struggling on the Missouri Western campus to increase their membership. For any organization to be recognized on campus, they have to have at least five members, where as Phi Beta Sigma only has two.

Phi Beta Sigma member Daniels is staying optimistic and believes they can use what they were taught to keep their chapter alive.

 “Seeing that we just crossed, it’s only us two,” Daniels said. “It’s tough because we don’t have any experience in running an organization, and we’re basically going off what we were taught.”

Duncan said that they are getting a lot of support from different institutions such as University of Missouri-Kansas City, Northwest Missouri State University and Kansas University to help them run their organization.

Duncan and Daniels aren’t taking the opportunity they were giving lightly, because they know that they must increase in number by next fall or their chapter will be deactivated.

Phi Beta Sigma is planning new programs to get their name out on campus. They participated in Pink Week and have upcoming events such as PBS Jeopardy and a panel discussion on issues students often face the most in college.

Duncan thought a program that went really well was the Sigma trash pickup.

“We thought it would be a good idea to take out the residence trash because they get to see us, and we are also doing service, which is very important,” Duncan said.

Cohen encourages any student that is interested in any Greek fraternity to know that they’re always being observed once they show that they may be interested.

“It’s always important that you can present a strong forefront to make people interested in you,” Cohen said. “One of my favorite quotes is ‘character is doing the right thing when no one is watching you’.” 

Cohen said the most important thing is making sure that they are academically ready to become a part of an organization.

Nationally, Phi Beta Sigma requires its members to be men who attend a four year college or university on a semester system, have a minimum of 12 credit hours and a minimum GPA of 2.5.

Duncan knew Phi Beta was something he wanted to be a part of after doing his research.

“I chose Phi Beta Sigma because I did my research on the rest of the fraternities of the Divine Nine,” Duncan said. “They somehow had a stereotype, and you had to change your personality to fit theirs, and that’s not what I was all about.”

Duncan valued this aspect of Phi Beta Sigma because he knew he could be himself.

“Phi Beta Sigma is willing to accept anyone who is willing to do the work,” Duncan said. “You have to be able to bring something to Phi Beta Sigma; they’re not here to change you whatever qualities you have. They’re there to enhance them, not change them.”

Since the arrival of Esther Peralez as Western’s vice president for Student Affairs, several staff veterans have left the employ of Western. There’s no beating around the bush, these people were valuable assets to Western and students loved them. Talk to some students and they might tell you they needed them.

Ellen Kisker, Don Willis and Huey Shi Chew are just three of the people that come to mind. Even though these people worked with different groups of students they all have one thing in common, they worked with them individually and relentlessly.

While the plan to move Student Affairs to a more broad perspective of student development and focus on theories and professional competencies may benefit students, it’s hurting them at the same time. Whether it was helping out with visas, finding non-trads scholarships or staying up late to help set up a concert, these staff members were role models of work ethic.

Every employee at Western is here to make a difference in students’ lives. Whether they are a staff member or a professor, they’re here to mentor and teach in some capacity. The question that needs to be answered is that would Student Affairs rather make a large impact in a few students’ lives or a small impact in a lot of students’ lives?

Sure, it’s important to include everyone, but it’s not like people are getting turned away. Stacey Hersh, a non-trad that worked with Kisker, said that she didn’t just work with non-trads. Any student could use the lounge for support.

It’s understandable that Western doesn’t have the budget to hire someone to focus on all of the individual groups of students, but it’s also a matter of priorities. There are more international students on our campus than there ever has been and maybe they need someone whose sole responsibility is integrating them into American culture. Hands down, non-traditional students are the busiest students on campus. Fifteen credit hours, 20 or 40 hour work week, kids, family, job, house payment—maybe they need someone to cut a little leg work out of the equation for them.

Let’s face it, Western isn’t like any other school in Missouri. Besides the low tuition, our open enrollment policy makes us diverse. Whether you’re coming back to school to retrain your skill sets or Western just happens to be the cheapest 4-year university, you’re here to get a degree, find a job and move on.

For some of us that’s enough, and Student Affairs should respect that. At the same time, students should seize opportunities that Student Affairs offers. While Ellen Kisker was here, she was a resource for non-trads. There are many people like her still here. Need a job; see Mathew Greg. Curious about the different cultures and sub-cultures; see Tay Triggs. Having trouble with stress; visit a counselor.

If the direction that Student Affairs is going is making valuable personnel jump ship, maybe that direction should be reassessed.

On-campus organizations are in full support of Griffon Football. Earlier this week, the Student Government Association bought 300 tickets for students to claim for free. This generous gesture will draw more people to the game against Northwest Missouri State. Because of community support from organizations like SGA, Northwest will most likely face another defeat.

Residential Life is also doing their part in supporting Griffon football. Normally, residents are required to move out on the Friday before Thanksgiving. This year Residential Life has been gracious enough to let resident stays an extra day to support the Griffons in their battle against their rival, the Northwest Bearcats.

Even with a win against Northwest under their belt from two weeks ago, the Griffons still need their fan base to come out and support them. Considering Western has never hosted a playoff game, this gives students an opportunity to see something phenomenal.

With that said, Western has also never won a playoff game. With three chances in the past, last year Western lost to rival Northwest. It won’t take a miracle for the Griffons to beat the Bearcats; they’ve already done it this year. What it will take, though, is community support from students, Western Alum and citizens of St. Joseph.

College students, including some Western students, are participating in the Occupy Wall Street movement. With as much as is going on in their lives, how can these students juggle it all?

We are not unemployed. Any traditional college student has a job: getting an education. They are not part of the 99 percent.

The traditional college student has their way paved: parents pay for health insurance, car insurance, gas and sometimes even food. If you want to discuss financial inequality, maybe you should pay for some things, too.

Now, this isn’t the boat that every traditional college student is in or every person in generation Y. There are people in the 18-25 year-old-bracket that do pay their own way, but not all do.

Fortunate students should not waste their time occupying Wall Street, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Mo., or St. Joseph. Your job is to learn and find your place in society.
As Thomas Friedman said at September’s Convocation, Americans must have the work ethic of an immigrant. While protesting or demonstrating has always been branded as an automatic honorable act, in some cases it should be perceived as nothing but laziness.

You want a job when you graduate? Work three internships. You want to enjoy your work? Do something you love. You want to have family security? Start saving for your retirement and children’s college educations now.

College students aren’t lazy, they are just confused. Real laziness gets you kicked out of school. Traditional students just lack an understanding of how the real world operates. Regardless of an education or a diploma, the ideal job may not be waiting for you six months or two years after you graduate.

Have you ever played the board game Life? Did you ever rip up the board when you got a bad roll? Did you steal the other player’s money when they got ahead? No, that’s against the rules. Life is a game about you, not the other players. You can’t change the decisions other people will make, only your own. Why would you want to change their decisions? You’re not learning anything from it and neither are they.

If you want to make change, start with you. Standing outside city halls and financial centers, waving signs about things you don’t fully comprehend doesn’t get you anywhere. What are you achieving from it? There might be some satisfaction that you belong to a group philosophy, but the point of humanity is supposed to be about the individual’s thought. Expand your self, not the herd.

In a city where Missouri Western is such an integral part of the community, it’s no surprise that Western athletes are constantly under the spotlight. On or off the field, these individuals’ actions represent Western in ways that other students’ actions don’t. Then again, this should not be a surprise.

In our culture, all athletes are considered role models. Who they are isn’t limited to how many yards they rush or how many goals they score: Athletes represent who they play for.

When it was discovered that Michael Phelps was using illicit drugs — marijuana — it wasn’t just a matter of drug use. An American gold medalist, someone who represents all of us, was discovered to be disobeying the law. One of America’s finest swimmers and Olympians was a criminal.

Western isn’t a Division I school. The Griffons’ fan-base is students and alum. Our football games aren’t broadcast over national television every week. Regardless, our athletes are still pillars of our community. Thousands of people attend each football game and even more read, watch and cheer. You couldn’t drive anywhere in St. Joseph without seeing Griffon pride somewhere.

In a city where the university plays an integral part in the economy and overall attitude of the community, certain people are closely watched in that community. When these people are responsible for great deeds, ask for no compensation but just ask for them to attend the Griffon football game, that’s a heartwarming story. When Griffon representatives do the opposite and embarrass Western, it is concerning.

Not every athlete should be expected to save babies, but abiding by the rules of the community is a simple request. There are no laws preventing people from embarrassing themselves on social media. On the streets, on the net and on the field, Western athletes are representatives of the black and gold that is on their uniforms. Even when they are not in uniform, they are still Griffons and still athletes.

Take caution, athletes, in everything you do. You aren’t just a student. You aren’t just an athlete. You are a Griffon athlete; take all of your actions into consideration because they don’t just reflect who you are, but who we are.

Western may have found one in Kurt McGuffin.

McGuffin was the first of the four finalists to present his case as to why he should control all operations in the department. He expressed interest to come here as he stated throughout the presentation he likes the area and wants his family to live here.

With that said, Western needed to make him their decision.

This campus has grown immensely over the past decade. The change in Western has run parallel with the change of athletic directors. Since 1999, the Griffons have had seven directors of athletics take charge. That’s an average of less than two years per director. Why?

We understand that some circumstances Western can’t control. Having one director in trouble with the law while another succumbs to cancer are two of them, so hiring a strong candidate, one like McGuffin, is smart for Western.

One thing stuck out in the two-week long candidate presentations, and it was in McGuffin’s speech.

He said that he wanted Western to be St. Joseph’s team, not just Western’s. Though each candidate stated their own bold statement, McGuffin was most trusted to produce. He should help promote Western by doing this.

When he was announced as the new AD, McGuffin cited new upgrades in Looney, such as locker rooms, would be a targeted fix. But nothing put McGuffin over the other candidates than his fundraising skills.

McGuffin held a position at Kansas State for more than 10 years. One major part of his success was that the Wichita State graduate did stay at Kansas State that long.

Whoever questions his ability to stay at one job, although they may be right, have to understand each time McGuffin held a different position at Kansas State, he was promoted.

In 2000, McGuffin served under the athletic development program in Manhattan, Kan. He then was promoted in 2005 to the associate director of athletics.

Three years later, he was the senior associate athletic director for external operations. All of those jobs were an upgrade, which proves that the man has not only performed well, but has done an exceptional job and is good enough to have more duties signed to him.

McGuffin has spent the past two years at Colorado, where he implemented a new annual giving program, which produced a $15 million practice facility.

Bill Snyder, head football coach at Kansas State, was born and raised here in St. Joseph, Mo. He submitted his own beliefs about McGuffin. He said that McGuffin is an exceptional man, and that he will do his best to help Western.

Remember, there is no bigger income in college than athletics. Perhaps now, with a great choice in McGuffin, we will be able to see the income flow in on our way to winning championships. Because that was what this was all about; and if it wasn’t, what was the point of the search?

In the past seven years, Western has increased its enrollment by 27 percent. We are a growing and diverse university. Most Western administrators would attribute this to the harsh economy. Layoffs give people the opportunity to retrain or finish their education.

If the economy were the only cause, then why has Western seen a sustained increase? Western’s success has little to do with the economy and more to do with its unspoken mission: the success of the individual student.

The largest classes at Western are never over 200 students. Professors constantly make themselves available to students and are always willing to help. If a student needs personalized attention, there are literally a dozen places they can go. Western is the students’ university.

Sure, many of Western’s students are looking for a second chance. They may be retraining for a new job market or are attempting to get their education despite a rough first try, and Western is a right fit for these students. Coupled with a low tuition, personalized attention is what “second-chance” students need.

Western mimics an American philosophy. For nearly 200 years, America has been a second-chance country. Immigrants from abroad would look for jobs and opportunities in America and, to this day, still do. While the Clock Tower is no Statue of Liberty, and students probably don’t look at it as some sign of independence or freedom, the pride is still there.

Western isn’t a Division 1, big school. You won’t find Western athletic merchandise outside of St. Joseph. As a matter of fact, most people outside of Missouri have probably never heard of Western. It is, by definition, a small school.

Nonetheless, the education its students get is all the same as a big school, if not better. That extra 27 percent of students chose the other black and gold because they wanted a hands-on education. They knew that at the Steven L. Craig School of Business wasn’t just about tests and textbooks; it is about experience in the field. Students who graduate from Western leave with more than degrees. They leave with lines on their resumes.

Sure, the majority of students attend Western because it’s cheap. Western is the one of the cheapest universities in the state, but these penny-saving students didn’t have to go to college at all. They chose Western because someone told them the facts. Western has small, personalized classes. The professors are here to teach you, not to dole out work to teaching assistants. If you want more out of your education, the opportunities are at Western.

So, why are you at Western? Is it because your high school counselor told you that if you have a college degree that you’d make more money or it would be easier to get a job? While that is true, that doesn’t explain why in the last seven years Western’s enrollment has increased substantially. Western students choose Western for one reason: to take control of their education.

If your cheeks just blushed, then they rightly should have. If you laughed or scoffed, perhaps you should reassess you college career. See, the point of Friedman’s speech was that this type of behavior is over. Do you honestly think that Japanese and Chinese students even think about falling asleep during lectures or speeches? Currently, there are more honor students in China and India than there are students in America.

For those of you who didn’t fall asleep during Friedman’s speech, my apologies for the recap, but the sleeping beauties in row 17 obviously didn’t get the memo. It’s over. Americans can no longer ride on the financial backs of past generations. America’s golden era of economic strength and foreign policy power is collapsing. To even make a living in America, you have to shine, not sleep.

It’s not enough to get a degree any more. It’s not enough to work a job any more. It’s not enough to be an American anymore. We have to participate in America. This is the country that invented the Internet. This is the country that invented the microchip. This is the country that invented individual sovereignty. Why would you squander all of that, that which all those that have come before us have given, on an extra 40 minutes of sleep during a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner’s speech?

That power nap you took wasn’t just a slap in the face of our university, but a slap in the face to our country and its history. Do you think that Irish immigrants were able to power nap when they came to America? Do you think German Jewish immigrants attempted to escape Nazi persecution for an extra 40 minutes of sleep? These immigrants worked and preserved with a relentlessness that Friedman believes can revitalize our country.

As citizens of America we are lucky that we don’t have to worry about the basic necessities of life. In parts of the world, people of our generation aren’t staying up all night and enjoying the luxuries of life, they are staying up from hunger or fear. No one should feel guilty for being an American, but instead seize the opportunity and not waste it.

America is an exceptional country, but not when its best and brightest are sleeping on the bleachers of its universities. As students, we can do better. As citizens, we owe it to those who came before us to not waste the dawn of such of young country. An American has the most freedom out of any citizen of any nation in the world; undisputed. But, what’s the point if we’re asleep?

The student claimed that MWSU received budget cuts because of hard economic times and that the cut shouldn’t be shrugged off onto the students. He preferred we look at cutting things like beautification projects.

For the sake of students feeling better, the author suggested that the increase in tuition be counterbalanced with cuts to administration salaries.

Finally, the student made this statement, “It is time our student representatives and SGA leadership stop behaving like toadies for the administration and defend our interest.”

In responding, for the record, you should know I am not and never have been a student representative or part of SGA leadership. I can, though, understand the need for a tuition increase, and I don’t feel it makes me a “toady” for the administration.

MWSU has increased its enrollment by 18 percent over the past three years, which is higher than all of the other four-year universities in the state. Interestingly enough, MWSU accomplishes this while receiving less state aid per student than all of the other four-year universities in the state.

A much improved, more beautiful, campus likely attracted a few of those new students. Thank you community members, because through your itemized donations we have been able to accomplish most of the beautification projects seen on campus. A thank you is also due to the MWSU administration, because they didn’t take a pay raise over the course of the past three years either.

Now, lets review the reason MWSU received budget cuts. Each year the governor hammers out a budget that he sends to the state legislature, which then goes through a legislative process filled with committee hearings, expert testimony, debate, and, of course, voting from the state legislature.

In the event of a major natural disaster the governor can choose to make certain funding withholdings from almost any government entity receiving state funding. These withholdings forego the legislative process; requiring no hearings, no expert testimony, no debate, and definitely no votes from the state legislature.

A state Representative from Joplin, Bill White, was quoted in the St. Louis Post Dispatch on Aug. 27 saying, “This is why we have a rainy day fund; higher education shouldn’t have to pay for debris removal in Joplin. We have other money for that.”

It should also be noted that the governor’s withholdings closely resemble his own budget that he issued to the state legislature earlier in the year. That budget went through the above process, and came out with MWSU receiving its adequate share of funding. Interestingly enough, the governor chose to sign the budget that went through the legislature instead of augmenting it with his power of a line-item veto. Using the line-item veto would’ve allowed him to set the funding level for MWSU, but he would have also been the only person to blame for the change.

SGA, if you’re now considering the proposed way of dealing with tuition increases by cutting administration salaries by the same percent of increase that the students are facing… please don’t do this.

I’ll admit I’m not a math major, but if this policy were to be put into place we would end up with a very poor administration and eventually none at all. For example, with a policy like this, if tuition were to increase with an average rate of inflation (say three percent annually) then within a decade the administration would have a pay cut of 30 percent. Within two decades 60 percent, three decades 90 percent, and 40 years from now the administration would have to pay to work at MWSU.

Sincerly,

Patrick Graham

Thank you for printing my letter in your paper.  I have been happy with the feedback I have received from many students both agreeing and disagreeing with myself.  There is one area of my letter, however, I would like to clarify for any who found my point vague.

The idea that the proposal I voiced was a “political stunt,” as some have suggested, goes to the heart of the intent of my criticism.  This proposal was not meant as a catch all solution to our budgetary woes, in which case it would indeed be a “political stunt.”  Asking the administration to help bear the burden of a tuition hike by the means suggested would be a symbolic gesture that would help us students swallow the pill of increased tuition.  I see no reason why or student representatives could not be in favor of such a condition on our approval.

Furthermore, SGA’s act of unanimously supporting this tuition hike in a symbolic vote is itself a “political stunt,” the problem being it is a stunt with the administration’s interests in mind, not ours.  By failing to promote student interests and allowing its actions to become talking points for the administration SGA has failed to represent its constituents.  It isn’t the system that the students, myself included, disapprove of; it is the abuse and neglect of the system.

There is no one-stop solution to budget problems, and I am not suggesting that tuition increases are out of the question.  If they are employed, however, they should come only after the students have seen evidence of budgetary cuts that do not hinder the quality of our education and only if they are not unilaterally placed on students.  We want to know the powers that be, specifically those responsible for raising tuition, are sharing the burden.  And we see our student representatives as being responsible for ensuring this.  Perhaps there was an administrative hand behind SGA’s tuition vote and perhaps not.  Either way, we students understand it to be a major missed opportunity.  Because our representatives failed to attach conditions to a bill vital to our interests, symbolic or not, they gave our voices up to the administration’s agenda.

I would like to stress that this is not intended as an attack on any individual’s character or integrity.  Respect is due to all persons willing to make an informed judgment on these issues, whether it is the same as mine or not.  Hopefully this dialogue will continue to provoke MWSU students to engage in thoughtful discussion on the issues we face, both as students and as a university.

Respectfully,

Gary Weidemann

You would think that the increase in revenue from the Spring Sports Complex along with a higher increase in students bring in more money, yet Western’s growth in size has not led to a further growth in money. Since 1999, Missouri Western has increased from 5,000 students to over 6,000. Our growing rate is the highest among the public universities. Yet, Missouri as a state has been cut 12.2% in education.

Also, Missouri does not increase money for having more students. But, Western wants to continuing striving for a larger size, a more convenient campus, and easier accessibility for students, yet must ask for more dollars to make the vision of better success come true.

It’s as simple as this. If you want better, you pay for it: If you want a steak dinner with all the trimmings, cooked properly in all the right places, you would not go skipping to IHOP. For Western to have the best, it must ask for students to jump on board and bring their wallets with them.
Students should understand that Western is not simply asking for dollars for no reason. It is to keep Western up to date, and a valuable university. A valuable university means a valuable degree from the university, which leads to a valuable career from that degree. Vartabedian even went to student leaders and asked them how they would feel about tuition increase. All of these students agreed to fork over the dollars.

The tuition increase will be $17.61 for credit hour. So for 15 credit hours, the increase will be $264.15. Though the dollar amount is clear, what must be crystal clear is where the exact increase in tuition is going. To make our campus better, and provide a quality university really doesn’t clarify any specifics.
For the Board of Governors to really encourage students to pay these amounts, they are going to have to give up the details. Students understand that Missouri as a state is receiving cuts. Students further understand that costs of growing and expenses are becoming steadily harder for the university to pay. But what’s not understood is where the money is going to due and what the increase will be used for.

We should stand by Western and accept the future burdens being placed on our accounts, even though we know it doesn’t make life any easier. Yet, college is an investment. So, we should just deem this increase as an investment change and hope that somewhere down the line, the pockets getting looser will one day be fatter.

I do think there are certain times when there should absolutely be no cell phones allowed out; like on the day of a test. But on a daily basis when there is only lecturing going on, it doesn’t seem like that big of a deal to me. I can think of several things that are more disrespectful and disruptive to the professor and the rest of the students in the classroom. For example people chomping their gum, clicking their pens, and here’s a big one: listening to their iPod’s in class. Texting seems like such a big deal but I think someone who has an ear bud in one ear with the volume on their iPod high enough that it can be heard by the person 5 seats away seems more disruptive.

If your professor has a problem with you texting in class, listen to them and put your phone away. If you really need to check your phone then simply walk into the hallway for a moment. As of right now this is still just a debate and you should respect your professor’s wishes. Yet until a professor makes it clear that they feel texting is extremely destructive, then I say text away. Obviously the conversation is worth the words missed during lecture.

I first want to say thank you for voting for myself, Alison Norris, and Jacob Scott as your new SGA President and Vice President. We are honored to be serving you. I realize that we were the only candidates on the ballot this year, but I assure you that we will do the best job possible and with our experience and good work ethic, we are the best candidates for the job.

Allison Norris is a Convergent Media Major. She will be graduating in the Spring of 2012. She has played numerous roles at Western such as Lifestyles Editor and Editor-in-Cheif for the Griffon News and Communication Director of SGA.

Throughout our campaign we met with many organizations and student groups that gave us many great suggestions of things they want done. We have kept this list of suggestions and will be using those to determine what we will be doing next year. We are already formulating our plan for next year, but we will continue to listen to your suggestions throughout our term and continue to get your feedback.

Our administration will not just work for the students fall and spring semester, but throughout the summer and winter breaks because Student Government requires year-round vigilance.

I will be emailing applications for new SGA Director positions soon. The positions that will be open are: Director of Communications, Director of Student Relations, and Director of Finance. We will be hiring dedicated students that are leaders on campus and off campus. I encourage all students to apply. Our Directors will be held at a high standard and we will hold ourselves and our directors accountable.

I am excited for the changes and challenges of next year and I am ready to serve the students. My office will always be open to all students and I would like to encourage all of you to bring any issues, concerns or suggestions to me because I will always be happy to listen.

Sincerely,
Alison Norris
Incoming SGA President

Starting the Fall 2011 semester, attendance policies will strictly be a professor’s personal decision. This means that every Missouri Western educator will have to personally develop an attendance policy that they feel is reasonable for students. Though this gives educators more freedom, it can also become problematic. A professor could require students to miss no classes without a valid medical excuse, or simply fail the course. Then students that have a busy schedule, or that work, or that have children will have an extremely difficult time abiding to this policy.

This new policy also means that a student must pay very close attention to the course syllabus. This will now be the only way a student will know how many classes they can miss before he or she actually begins missing them. Students will have to make sure they are printing off their syllabi because professors have stopped printing them off for us. Students will definitely need to think twice before missing the first day of classes. This might only be absence they have; or at least one of the few.

Though Missouri Western have taken a firm step in the right direction involving attendance, professors should take an even bigger step by eliminating their policies. Professors should not be forced to hold students accountable for being in class. Instead of professors holding students accountable, students need to hold themselves accountable. Then, when students graduate and go into the work force, they will understand what self-accountability truly means.

Checking attendance also takes a huge amount of time from class work, especially with courses that have around 50 to 70 students in them. So with a 50 minute class and 10 minute time to take attendance, students are really only getting 40 minutes of actual useful class time.

If any student thinks they could miss numerous classes and still pass, then let them. Ultimately, it will be nobody’s fault but his or her own. Professors have enough responsibility involving class work, lecture, and creating, checking and grading tests and quizzes. Why don’t we take a little stress off of the many things they have to do on a day-to-day basis? Frankly, no student deserves to be at Missouri Western if he or she can’t be in class in a proper manner. We don’t need any professor to tell us that.

Western’s Griffon Gateway program has helped students integrate into the university courses. Students who had struggled before and would have been turned away at other institutions are given a chance through the Griffon Gateway program. Now this program is expanding.

This expansion now includes more students and is changing the name of the program. Any student without a high school GPA of 3.5 or and ACT score of 21 will be placed in the new Admissions with Conditions program. These conditions include only being allowed to take 11 credit hours and student are required to take Griffon Edge. This program only applies to first semester incoming freshman though.
Considering a 21 ACT is a cutoff point for various universities, this number spears to be very high. It is also out of proportion to the even higher 3.5 GPA. Any student with a GPA that high would surely be able to score above a 21 ACT score. Both of these numbers lack any sort of logic as far as requirements.

Also, up to 11 credit hours is a difficult number to achieve when enrolling, especially when one credit hour must be toward the Griffon Edge course. Trying to fill 10 credit hours means taking only 3-4 real classes.
This number could also affect the amount of financial aid these students will be able to receive. The majority of federal and state aid requires the students to take at least 12 hours to qualify for their aid. Without this aid, new students may seriously consider the alternative, Community College.

A community college would allow the student to take more credit hours and take more relevant classes. The student can transfer in with those hours and circumvent the requirements.
The changes to Griffon Gateway will indeed help students achieve if they even decide to enroll at Missouri Western. Because of this, the new program may harm Western’s enrollment figures and thus hurt the amount of financial aid the university receives.

No doubt, this program was designed to help students but the goal of the program isn’t the problem. The logistics of program may cause Western to lose students and eventually lose touch with its mission of being an open admissions school.

Due to the lack of a majority of senators, Senate did not vote on the budget during the April 26 meeting. During the summer, Student Affairs—which receives 20 percent of the SGA budget—likely got nervous and induced a vote, which was held via e-mail. There are three problems with this.
• SGA bylaws provide no precedent or provision concerning electronic votes or meetings.
• This meeting was not in accordance with Robert’s Rules of Order.
• The vote was not ratified as required by Robert’s Rules of Order.

Now, this is not just nitpicking. We’re talking about $400,000. This is more than some small towns in the United States get for a total budget.

Also, the question remains, was the budget properly discussed?

With a budget this large, the deliberations should not be taken so lightly as to have final discussion through e-mail. Furthermore, e-mail deliberation doesn’t allow students to attend the ‘e-meeting’ and listen or voice their concerns about how the money should have been used.

The fact is, the budget SGA is currently working with was improperly passed and is null and void. It would seem pointless to discuss any business at a meeting where the majority of the voting body isn’t present. It is also seems suspiciously convenient that when the closed session occurs, SGA all of a sudden had a quorum.

The SGA constitution outlines that the last meetings of the spring semester are some of the most important meetings of the year. If the budget doesn’t get passed in the last meeting, the constitution states it’s should be passed at the next meeting.

But this amount of roll over shouldn’t have been necessary. Since the April 12 and 19 meetings also lacked quorum, SGA should have been able to alert enough senators by April 26 to be able to hold a quorum. Even then, the last day of classes fell on a Monday, May 3, allowing SGA to hold their “emergency meeting” in the public and in accordance to their constitution as well as Robert’s Rules of Order.

Still, much of the blame lies in the SGA senators and this entire situation should also impress upon the current Senators the important role they play. Showing up to Senate meetings is absolutely vital to the operation of the legislative body. Without a majority, the meeting becomes informal, and at anytime during the meeting a quorum is not held business form that point on becomes null and void.

SGA’s current attendance policy seems to have alleviated this problem but still, quorum was achieved later in the Oct. 25 Senate meeting rather than at the beginning.

But how many students understand the tradition that homecoming is founded in? How well do students remember the, “reason for the season” so to speak?

Commemorating homecoming is about more than updating Facebook albums and having new T-shirts made. Often the deeper meaning of the event is lost in the midst of the homecoming revelry.

Homecoming is about tradition. Once a year the students of past and present converge to “come home” and return to their roots. Alumni return to their Alma Mater to witness what improvements and changes have occurred in the years since their own graduation and matriculation.

Truly, we should all consider Western home. This is the place where we work for our educations and earn our degrees.

Remember the things that make Western home to you.

It’s the fog coming off the fly-fishing pond as you race in the back entrance for your 8 am class. Sometimes it is the soft strains of the theme song to Flash Dance marking the passing hours reminds you that you’re home.

Today’s current students should consider the legacy that they intend to leave to their MWSU successors. Each year we should strive to make this school better than it was the year before. We must maintain high stands, and hold ourselves to them as the standards rise.

With record-high enrollment this year, Western is visibly growing. As the size of the Western family continues to grow concurrently, each student bound together by our ties to our university.

As enrollment increases, the need for on-campus housing has also risen. Western has answered calls for those needs by building more dorms. Looking forward to the future, the SGA and the Greek community have often voiced desires to see a move toward the development of Greek housing on campus. This kind of forward thinking and ambition makes Western your home. Commit yourself to being a Griffon and bleeding black and gold collegiate pride. Experience the things that are not outlined in our general education like friends, memories, traditions and values we hold dear to our hearts.

The real question is though, where is all this money going to?

There are certain fees that must be allocated toward certain expenses, such as the Max Experience, but even this money may not be used properly. At a Student Government Association meeting last month, it was discussed on the floor that hot dogs and sodas are not being served at all the home sporting events.

Also in relation to SGA, it seems that some of their budget, which is generated by the SGA fee, is missing. After several years of student body growth, the SGA budget hasn’t seen any growth in three years. Where has this money gone?

After yet another year of rising fees, The Griffon News demands better communication concerning student money. This money is, for all intents and purposes, student money. Fees, whether enacted by the student body or by Western administration, are allocated from their inception for certain expenses or additions.

Reasons for recent fees enacted this semester have yet to be communicated to students, nor have students seen any actual additions to computer labs. It appears that this fee was enacted only to maintain current technology levels. While this will benefit students, shouldn’t this be something that tuition takes care of?

The fact that The Griffon News is even asking these questions shows that the communication to students about administrative decisions is almost non-existent. An e-mail sent out prior to fall class registration is not considered a channel, it actually more resembles a warning. What’s the point of even sending out an e-mail to students when you’re going to disregard their voice, as demonstrated by overstepping the student body’s vote on the technology and recycling fee.

Fees are very different than tuition. Students expect this money to be used for specific things, rather than them being thrown into a budget to be absorbed by other institutional entities. The Griffon News, on behalf of the student body requests a report, to be distributed to students, of the fees students pay and what they have been used for in the past three years.

No student at Western can leave without incurring a fee for various things. Whether a student is a business, art or psychology major they pay a fee that has potential benefits, but at this point is Western’s history, students are losing track of what fees go toward what additions and expenses. At this point, it is quite possible that Western’s fees could get as confusing as the US tax code in the future.

It’s understandable that after losing their director, Ellen Kisker, the students who make use of the Non-Traditional Student Center would naturally be afraid for the future of their center, but when they voiced these concerns, no one responded.

It was only until the group began to organize, with letter writing campaigns, petitions, and peaceful assemblies, that administrators decided to open their ears. Covered in this issue of The Griffon News, President Robert Vartabedian and Chair of the Board of Governors Kylee Strough sat down with Non-trad leadership to finally listen, but that’s not who should be listening.

Mentioned at the meeting, it seems Dean of Student Affairs Esther Paralez has had little communication with the Non-Traditional Student Association, despite the fact that she has the non-trad ListServ, the list containing all the non-trads Western e-mail addresses. Also, it seems that Paralez has yet to visit and take a tour of the non-trad student center since reorganizing their director to manage several student organizations.

What does it say about the future of Student Affairs if other administrators have had to intervene to open communication channels between non-trad leadership and Student Affairs? What other changes is the department planning to make without listening to students and considering all the possible consequences?

No doubt, Western’s Student Affairs was in need of reorganizing, but perhaps the wrong approach is being taken in regards to this situation. Instead of pulling directors away, for reasons yet to be communicated properly to the students directly, why doesn’t Student Affairs assess a situation before making decisions? Had Paralez actually visited the non-trad student center and met with non-trad leadership to further understand the role Kisker played in their lives, maybe this mess wouldn’t be so sticky.

For example, the changes made are supposed to help integrate non-traditional students into student life more, according to administrators. First off, how can 1200 students not be integrated into student life? Yes, there are some non-trads who wish to come to class then go home, but this is obviously because they have responsibilities outside of their academic careers. With such a large population on the student body, how can they not make an impact on Western?

Non-traditional students make Western a special place for many traditional students. They add diversity to the college experience, a diversity that not many other universities have. With such a large population, Western should do as much as possible to accommodate these students, because a large population means a lot of tuition, and seeing as the state is going to further cut Western, it looks as though the university is going to need all the money it can get.

We have to show up for class at least 30 minutes early if we wish to have any hope of finding a parking space.

There are 2,357 general, 113 accessible, and 30 time restricted spaces on campus.

There are more parking passes issued than there are spaces on campus.

You should be able to find a space though according to the logic that students are continuously coming and going.

It is hard to find a parking space on campus but it is possible if you are content with walking for 15 minutes.

Our main concern isn’t the parking spaces on campus; it’s the traffic that surrounds us.

Graphic | Brooke Carter

This money goes to the parking security services department.

We don’t understand why this service needs so much money. Where does it go? What is it used for?

This doesn’t include the money issued by the university.

This money could be used to repair streets or to even extend Mitchell into a three-lane highway or at least to add a few new stoplights to better insure the safety of students.

Mitchell Ave. could easily be made into a three lane road. This would solve a lot of the driving problems on campus.

I’m sure that even if this is your first semester at Missouri Western, you have encountered this problem.

We need to solve the problems surrounding campus. We should save the approximate value of $126,000 for five years and put it towards the fixing of our surrounding roads.

If we fix the problems that surround us, the problems within will be much easier to solve.

This cluster of mass vehicles could possibly cause a head on collision, a small fender bender, or even a student to be hit while walking.

This problem gets much worse when the weather gets bad. In the winter , the lines that separate the parking spaces get covered with snow.

This makes people double park, which in turn gives us even fewer parking spaces.

The university spent a bunch of money on the chiefs training camp, which was a good investment.

They now need to spend a bunch of money on the construction of extra parking lots or the extending of surrounding roads.

Can you think of a better investment than more parking spaces for students?

This investment would benefit most of Missouri Western students and help insure the safety of pedestrians.

The number of students attending Missouri western is increasing each year.

Sooner or later, the university is going to have to face this issue head on and give us some resolution.

Depending on what side of the fence you’re on, the policy can be viewed as positive and negative. Both sides can probably agree that the current policy has been broken ever since the changes to the policy were made in light of the Chiefs Training camp.

Currently the policy allows for alcohol to be sold in two places on campus, neither of which is the dorms, even though there is now a 21-and-up only dorm.

There are several reasons the current policy does not reflect well on Missouri Western. This policy means that having a “dry” campus means that parents believe they can send their kids to school and not worry about binge drinking. Which is great, except that this punishes the students that are 21 and over.

Even though they are of the legal drinking age, those students living in the dorm cannot exercise their privilege willingly.

The other problem is that the policy makes Western look hypocritical. The University is willing to break the policy to sell alcohol to visiting patrons, but the students that pay to go to school here can’t exercise their privileges.

Realistically, the policy can’t be enforced anyway. If prohibition didn’t work in the 1920’s, why would it work here?

Even on a smaller scale, it is impossible to enforce the policy. When the University changes the policy in their favor it sends a hypocritical message to students and essentially stomps on their own policy.

Western obviously believes that the policy it’s self is outdated or they wouldn’t be changing it in the first place.

Perhaps though, the university is slowly repealing the alcohol policy. The next move would be to let alcohol be sold at Griffon sporting events.

If this happens, Western would have no reason not to let 21 and over students’ drink in their dorms. To put it simply, unless the University repeals the policy fully, the selling point will lose its shine and the entire policy itself will reflect very horribly on the University.

What would a parent think of a school that they are giving thousands of dollars to that goes back on its word?

At the moment though, the current policy is a contradiction, which favors the University. Even if Western is having financial trouble, changing a policy to make money should be a last resort. Even then, the change should be a full repeal.

No one wants to make less money. No one feels like they have enough to run things as it is. Everyone else thinks that you are already blowing it bad enough, if you have less next year how will you make ends meet? You will. Somehow, you will find a way to make things work. It is called innovation. It is what make Americans what they are as a people. They rest of the world looks at America and says “Wow, how innovative.”

Just get over the fear of losing a little profit and innovate a way to keep the world running. But the question of where to cut still has not answered. Here are some ideas you might not have considered.

Paying people less tends to make them panic and leave, yet, who wants to quit their job in an uncertain economy? If it is a pay cut, just make sure it is fair and across the board and starts at the top. Any stones unturned will be the rock that causes the wall to tumble.

Maybe something that students really do not care about should be cut. Like the SGA. No one goes to the meetings, that much has already been established. Students really do not care what a select few of politically motivated students decide to spend money on, so why give them such a big budget? In all fairness perhaps the Griffon News should lose a chunk of funding. Much evidence shows that no one is really reading the paper.

Wherever the cuts happen, just know that they are going to happen. When they do, don’t be surprised if you find the cuts came to your slice of pie. After all you are probably too fat anyway.

In response to the April 15, 2010 issue of Griffon News Editorial.

Just as happens in most communities, the votes of a few have decided an issue. Perhaps the outcome actually represents the opinion of the majority since the economy is so poor. However, can we accurately make this claim since only a fraction of the students voted? What scientific methodology did the Griffon News staff use to confirm that the fee would have passed if only SGA officers had been more “prepared”? Did the Griffon News effectively inform the public? Let me offer my solution to the issue; let’s create a better relationship between the SGA and the Griffon News. Let’s embrace a cooperative effort to achieve positive outcomes and refrain from deceptive discourse.

Thanks for your commentary and support,
Jacob Scott
Parliamentarian & Student Senator
Student Government Association

Staff Response

Jacob Scott

Thank you for submitting a letter in response to the April 15 editorial. The Griffon News respects your position and obvious disagreement and we appreciate your pro-addictiveness in student politics.

The fact is though, Jacob, that not all students are as willing to engage themselves as you are. Students either don’t have the time or interest in the issues to get involved. This is where the Student Government Association plays one of its major roles. The SGA, spear headed by the president, are solely responsible for educating the public on any issues they wish to pass. This is called a direct line of communication—which has been lacking all this year.

As far as The Griffon News’ duty to the public, three stories were published on the proposal (Feburary 5, March 5, and April 2, which can also be found online). The final story’s headline read “Western students vote on technology recycling fee April 7th-9th.” It was the most detailed, describing how much the fee would cost and the provisions that the proposal called for. The article mentions Gordon Mapely, the Dean of Western Institute, who helped co-author the proposal, stating why the technology fee is needed. No doubt, the fee had support from the administration, especially in this current economic climate, but the administration is not enough to convince students why the proposal was important.

The Griffon News can only educate the public so much; at the end of the voting day only the SGA can be blamed for a failed vote. A failed vote can occur for several reasons, but it is the opinion of The Griffon News that the major contributing factor was the lack of communication from senior members of SGA to the public and in some places even within the SGA.

Government should never rely on newspapers to be their direct line of communication with the people they represent. As mentioned in the editorial, a public forum directed and advertised toward students to ask questions and respond to the fee would have been an appropriate response to opening the communications channels between SGA and the students. Senate meetings are held for senators and are not primarily for students to voice their opinion.

The Griffon News never attempted to speculate how the voters would have voted if SGA had been more pro-active in their communication. It is logical to conclude though, had SGA been more prepared (held more forums, prevent political divide among the senate, educate the students, and open the lines of communication between students and SGA) then voter turnout would have been higher than roughly 10 percent.

In response to your final sentence, The Griffon News and SGA have a healthy relationship as is proven with the coverage of the Technology and Recycling fee. Jacob, the issue though isn’t the relationship between The Griffon News and SGA, but instead SGA and the public.

The Griffon News will always “refrain from deceptive discourse” but to be clear, The Griffon News is not a propaganda tool for the SGA. The Griffon News in a student outlet and open forum for everyone on campus. The Griffon News will not “embrace a cooperative effort to achieve positive outcomes,” because that is not our duty to Western. It is instead, SGA’s duty to convince both the students and The Griffon News that your positive outcomes are indeed positive.

Once again, thank you for responding to The Griffon News editorial. We encourage every student to speak their mind.
Respectively
The Griffon New Staff

It is as if the school is going beyond the law and saying they want to have a moral stance on the evils of drinking alcohol. If that is the case for the reasons behind the dry campus then there really is no problem. The problem with this is that recently it was made that alcohol could be served in Spratt Hall to visiting big-wigs and dignitaries that the school is trying to woo themselves into their wallets. Brilliant idea, by the way, serve wine with those boring presentations. It is a proven fact that drunks are much more liberal with their money than sober people.

Though this act could send a message that while the school is morally against adults drinking, it has no problem using a bit of booze to fleece any suckers they can make more comfortable with a few glasses of wine. Really? Isn’t this a date rapist strategy? Why not just slip them a “roofie” and pick their pockets while they are passed out? If this is really about a moral stance the campus is taking against alcohol then shouldn’t no booze on campus mean no booze on campus?

So you say that isn’t the issue at all. It has nothing to do with Missouri Western being run by an anti-alcohol agenda. It is entirely a security issue. If you give the legal drinking age students a dorm they can drink in, how do you keep them from aiding and abetting in the delinquency of minors? Won’t the seniors be bringing up the freshmen into their dorms to have a nip?

If this is really the issue then the argument is over. Legal drinking age students can already provide for their younger peers as it is. No one is suggesting that because they can buy them beers, all 21-year-old students should be segregated at all times from the under 21-year-old students. The apocalypse is not going to be started because legal age students gain the right to kick back in their own living domiciles and crack a cold with their nightly study session.

This year’s student government has been an utter disappointment in representing the student body. While the technology fee was a very close vote, keep in mind that only 608 students voted, out of the 5000+ Western has enrolled. Only 12 percent of the student body thought the issue was worthy enough to vote on.
Now, the voter turnout doesn’t necessarily reflect the validity of the issue on the ballot. Perhaps the Technology fee would have had a positive impact on the campus as whole, but who knows.

Why were there no open forums held about this fee? Where were the e-mails informing the student body about the allegedly archaic technology that Western has now? And why was the recycling fee included with this issue?

These questions were all left in the dark as students cast their votes April 8. The only direct communication that the SGA had with the student body were a few ominous posters and banners posted around campus with vague bullet points. To top it off, more ominous pamphlets were posted in Popplewell discrediting the proposal. What does it say about a proposal when SGA senators are telling students to vote against it?

In the background of the mysterious political battles that shadowed the truth behind Western technology, something was forgotten and lost.

The voter turnout in this case doesn’t reflect the importance of the issue Western faces, but the lack of preparation on the SGA officers’ part. Given that every student uses the technology on campus, the voter turnout should have been higher, but as mentioned before—how many people were informed on this issue.

Any government, whether it is student or federal, must always have a direct line of communication open with the public at all times. The April 9 results reflect the diminishing communications between SGA and the student body.

The Griffon News would like to bring a word of warning to the upcoming SGA officers. Be active in your community and campus. Posters and banners can be interpreted as nothing more than propaganda. Student persuasion takes more than just getting us to vote, but understanding why we are voting.

On Friday, Feb 26, at Berkley, the students had organized dance parties in the streets to protest the budget cuts and tuition hikes that had recently affected the campus. It only took a few hours before the scene turned for the worse the dance parties turned into chaos with broken windows, burning trash bins, and riot police beating people with batons.

Graphic | Robin Ussher

March 4 is now been labeled National Day of Action for Public Education. Smaller less volatile protests were held on campus’ all over the country.

Clearly with this much social unrest there is a problem that cannot be ignored. In a time when our nation’s own leader President Barack Obama has said that “Education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity and success, it is a prerequisite.” One would think a nation would do all it could to ensure success and opportunity for all those that desire it. But instead budgets are being cut and universities are left wondering how to make ends meet and college drop out rates are rising higher than they were in the sixties and the nineties.

When the tension finally hits the hallowed halls of Missouri Western State University students should be encouraged to voice their dissatisfaction in any way reasonable. Keep in mind that throwing snowballs, punching people, lighting things on fire, smashing windows, and blocking freeways has not proved successful tactics by other school and might well be avoided. The university should be advised that a mob could be building and it might be only a matter of time before they grab the torches and pitchforks.

While it is true that the school could use some new technology to help the teachers bring the lessons to the students with all the tools of the twenty-first century, it was a shifty bit of a shell game that was played by piggy-backing the recycling issue onto the same bill. Shouldn’t the students get a chance to vote on the two separate issues with separate but equal votes?

The real problem with this bill is that it does not take much asking around to find out that the student body is largely uninformed when it comes to understanding the issue at hand.

If the SGA wants to make a move that so directly affects the wallets of the student body, then they should work harder at spreading the word. Because right now, the word is “Boo!”

Boo to the three card monte that was used to trick the people into voting for something they might not have. Boo to the lack of information that was made available. “Yay” can be said for the coming of needed technology, but overall this bill might need recycling.

Party on, dude. There are a great number of events that require a party such as Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Years Eve, oh, and let us not forget Kwanza and the Winter Solstice and Boxing Day and Hannukah. If you are like any of the animals penned in the Griffon News room, you might consider it time to party on any day that ends in a “Y”. Partying raises spirits and helps us remember what all the toil and trouble is worth. It is a holiday break after all: so go nuts.

One thing to remember is that in time you have to come back to school. So before you create an obstacle course for your brain cells that involves beer bongs and beer pong and King Kong playing with his ding dong, maybe you should create a regiment of daily mental exercises to keep you limber for your academic return.

There are a number of things you can do to keep your brains in tip-top fighting shape. You could read a novel, a giant, fat 500 pager. It will help keep you mentally sharp as you process the pages and absorb the words into your brain. It would be good practice for when it is back to the texts that perplex us all semester. In fact it would be brilliant of you to know what books you are going to need and get them now. Pre-read them before the class starts, and you are sure to find your place when it comes time for a lecture or class discussion.

You could balance your books. End of the year records organizing and settling of ledgers is just the thing to keep the numbers tumbling in your head. Build a budget for the coming year and figure out how far you can really make your money fly. You could organize a day planner for the coming year. Analyze your life and make minutes for every minutiae and notes for any notable thing you have to face in the upcoming year.

You could write a research paper about something you are really interested in and then spend the semester looking like the boss of any conversation about your chosen topic which can only help you at parties.

Whatever you do, just keep doing something with your mind. It does not need to go into cold storage just because school is out. It is up to you whether your return from the holidays is as an academic athlete or just another episode of “Return of the Living Brain Dead.”

This is the time when projects that have been put off all semester long come due. This is the time when all that make up work that has been stacking high needs to be complete. It is the time when reaping what you sow becomes more than just a clichéd metaphor.

For some there are only three weeks left, others it is four, either way with the frantic pace of college life that is really nothing more than a few blinks and yawns and this curtain is coming down. The final scene has began but are all the actors in their places? Are you?

For many students these days, the natural instinct and tendency is to put off for tomorrow what could be done today. Why work so hard when there is still so much fun to be had and still plenty of time to buckle down in the next few weeks? It all goes back to that old fable about ants and grasshoppers. Here is a recap for those of you who don’t remember it. The ants worked hard all autumn to be ready for the coming winter while the grasshopper played. When winter came, it wasn’t such a good time to be a grasshopper. Well, the first snows have fallen on the river valley that encompasses Missouri Western State University.

The problem with procrastinating at this time is that it creates a bottle neck effect of work in your life that could double the stress you have to endure. All of your classes have something that has to be done well at the end and they all usually come due in the same period of time, a time when you should be studying for your final exams. Instead of methodically tackling one project at a time and getting them out of the way most students just wait until the end and then face the Herculean task of academically cleaning the Aegean stables. This is how kids crack.

So this semester, spare yourself the headache. Buckle down now and put your head into the wind as you finish your final yards in this race called education. It doesn’t have to be a mad house; it doesn’t have to be a final sprint. You could just keep up the stride and cruise through the finish line with good marks and your head held high. The choice is yours, just remember that the end is nigh.

You realize that it is just a few days past Veterans Day, and you think of all the soldiers out there and you feel this patriotic fervor wash over you. You want to be a patriot and you want to serve your country. So you decide that you are going to get involved in ROTC. Cool. Considering it was recently released that 75 percent of the nation’s youth could enlist in the service because they were either too fat, too stupid or too criminal, more college kids getting into officers training surely is a great thing. That is, if you’re into it.

The military is not for everyone.

But wait, there is something else you can do. Something just as patriotic. After all, what is more patriotic than the truth? When Superman first leapt onto the scene in 1938 he stood for three things: truth , justice and the American way! Remember what Superman was in his private life? He was Clark Kent: ace reporter for the Daily Planet. He was a journalist. You could be one too.

Talk to your adviser about it. Say, “I want to be a part of the Griffon News team,” because now is the time that you can get involved with the eyes and ears of the university. Now is a time when you can seek out the truth. You can be a part of a team that creates a weekly published college newspaper. You can enjoy the fun of meeting new people and interviewing them. You can get into college activities and take pictures. You can rub shoulders with the power players of the university and ask them uncomfortable questions. You can fight for truth, justice and the American way!

This is a call to arms. If you think those things are still important then find your way to the far side of the second floor of Eder Hall. Find the glass enclosed office with a sign that says: “Don’t feed the animals!” and walk through the door and say I want to join the fight. It is time to make your mark.

Though it may seem early, after midterms every semester, students need to set up times to meet with their advisors to start planning classes for next semester.

It’s really important to have a plan from the beginning. Even freshmen should have a general idea about their future college careers. If you go in to your first advisement knowing what you want your major to be, then it will make the next four to five years easier to plan for. If you still aren’t sure what you want to major in, then make sure to take general education classes that can apply to any degree. Make a goal to have a major chosen before you start your sophomore year. If you wait any longer than that, you may run into issues some seniors are facing now…they hoped to graduate this semester and suddenly there is a class or two they still need.

Also, start thinking about your financial situation. Is all your financial aid set for next semester? You can use the Banner system to check your financial aid status to make sure you have everything prepared for the upcoming semester. You can also use Banner to check if you still owe anything on this semester’s bill, any holds on your account and to find out who your advisor is.

Think ahead, sit down and plan out every class that you can and when you think you want to take them, then meet with your advisor to make sure you have everything straight. That’s what they are there for: to advise you. Oh, and to give you your PIN so you can register for those classes you want to take.

If this were true, then why were there still at least ten cars parked on the grass Monday afternoon? At the beginning of the semester, students were warned to arrive at school 15-30 minutes before their classes begin. This is not necessary because the only way to find a parking spot is to hope to catch someone leaving after their class gets out at 10 minutes until the half or the hour.

The parking lots have been filled with stalker cars. It is almost a guarantee that every student who drives to campus has at one point imitated a buzzard, circling the parking lot of their choice for their prey: a leaving vehicle.

It’s surprising that more accidents have not occurred from the recklessness that these cars exhibit as they race to be the first close enough to a wandering student who has chosen the vehicle they will depart campus in. Some car scenes are similar to old-fashioned western standoffs as two cars approach a victim from opposites sides and the first to turn on their flashers receives the space. What’s fun to see is the disappointment on the faces of both the drivers when the pedestrian keeps walking into another row where a different car is already waiting, and hoping for a lucky break.

Students should get used the stalker cars looming over them as they head through the parking lots, at least until parking solutions are made. Do try to be considerate. Remember if it were you in the car running late for class, you’d get pretty upset at the girl who has to fix her make-up in the rear-view mirror before she leaves her parking stall.

If you are doing just fine in the grades department, then good for you. Don’t bother yourself with reading this. Through your discipline and study habits, you have managed to keep your grades exactly where you want them: bravo. But, there are many students who are now just realizing that half the semester is gone and they still haven’t even figured out what the class is even about.

If you find yourself in this latter group of people, do not despair. There is still enough time that with hard work and focus, the lowest F can still be converted to a final B. The first step is to admit your troubled state and then seek out the appropriate help, of which Missouri Western State University has many options, that you need to get out of the rut you’re in. Maybe it is as simple as getting a tutor. A tutor can help you get through that complex algebraic formula that is giving you a migraine. A tutor can help you learn different methods of organization that might help you study better and harder. A tutor could just give you the motivation you need to get to your homework instead of wasting another hour screwing around on Facebook.

Maybe this has just been a bad semester for you and being down on your luck has left you too depressed or discouraged to get any work done. In this case, you can seek out one of the school counselors. Perhaps having someone to talk to will get your problems in hand so you are not so overwhelmed. Once in hand, you can use your time to improve those grades that you have been letting slip because you just do not see the point of it all.

It could just be that the only help you need is a few good friends to give you the encouragement you need. If that is the case, then make with montage of learning and kick it into high gear. There is still a half of a semester left to pull things from disaster. You could still turn things around and rough it through the rest of the semester. Just apply yourself. Some hard work and dedication could go a long way in repairing the damage you have done so far. Remember, this race is not over until the finish line.

In front of a record-breaking crowd of over 10,000 fans, the Griffons could not overcome the archrival Northwest Missouri State Bearcats and our perfect season received a huge black eye. The silence was deafening coming out of Spratt Stadium Saturday. How did a team that has thrilled us with breathtaking win after win come up short?

I know our football team was looking to make a statement at home, and it didn’t happen the way they wanted it to be written.

But I guarantee every student who went to that game can walk away with a sense of what sports can be like here. That game was packed with rabid fans that wanted to see nothing more than Western annihilate Northwest. That was impressive by its own merit and it’s happening in other sports.

Volleyball has had a noticeable increase in attendance for most games. Griffon soccer has actually started to build a fan base. Spratt Stadium was a ghost town for soccer games two years ago. Now you can see people holding up signs for their players and actually following the game.

Western once had a huge apathy problem that spread throughout the student body quicker than the newest outbreak of swine flu. I hope this is a sign that this is finally dying out and that students are taking pride and interest in their time at Western. Seeing that many people at Saturday’s game was awe-inspiring, and it is imperative that it continues.

Our school needs this right now.

Chin up guys: football players and fans alike. I know this losing thing is new for us this season, and it is something that we should remember. Think back to how it felt walking out of that stadium Saturday, and now think of everything we can do to make sure that feeling never happens again. I know Coach Partridge is building a plan for Truman State this weekend, and the team is going to take the two hour drive down 36 highway to Kirksville to ruin their homecoming. After that, we host our homecoming versus Central Missouri. The playoffs are still in the picture for the first time since 2006. There is a ton of potential for the rest of this season.

Western fans: it starts now. Go out to those remaining games for every team possible. Plan a road trip, and see this team continue to impress and amaze. It’s going to be worth every minute of it.

If you have not discovered yet this semester, the food court has gone under a major renovation over the summer and it has been for the better for the students and faculty.

Initially, we thought that Aramark winning an extension on their contract with Western last spring was a bad move and that a new company might have brought a better selection. When we got back this fall, we were surprised with the renovations they did with the food court area. With the new additions of the Burger Studio, Caliente and coolers full of pop, water, and other types of drinks, Aramark are redeeming themselves.

Photo | Marty Ayers

Things started to slowly change when Aramark and the school added Quiznos in the fall of 2006 and the student government helped in the cosmetic renovations of the sitting area of the food court. These changes were a good start, but it took three more years for the food court to be a stellar place. However, the wait has been worth it.

One of the knockout hits has been the Burger Studio replacing Grille Works. The biggest difference, it seems, between these two (besides the touch screen order kiosks) is the quality and taste of the food. It is almost at par or above par with most fast food spots in St. Joe.

It seems like there has been this love/hate relationship with Aramark and what they provide to the campus. With the additions they have added in the court, that relationship has improved quite a bit. With the new food court selection, Aramark is proving themselves worthy of the new contract they received last spring.

The game started how it ended: with a field goal. Washburn hit the first two field goals. Then, Beckwith hit the next two field goals to tie the game at six a piece at the beginning of the second quarter. The next score would come from the Ichabods redshirt freshman Vershon Moore, a running back who caught a 13-yard pass from quarter back Dane Simoneau. Simoneau then threw it to Drameagon Powers for a 57-yard touchdown pass, giving Washburn a commanding 20-6 lead with 4:09 left on the clock. Newhart and the Griffons’ high powered offense answered with a nine play, 79-yard drive. Adam Clausen capped the drive off with a touchdown catch from 18 yards out, cutting the lead down to seven before the half.

Photo | Marty Ayers

“Anything can happen in football. A little over two minutes is enough time for any offense to make some noise,” Newhart said.
Clutch kick lifts Griffs past Washburn
Simoneau and the Ichabods had one more stand left in them. Wide receiver Brad Cole hauled in a five-yard touchdown giving Simoneau his third touchdown pass and putting his team in great position to go into overtime with Western. With just 27 seconds left on the clock, Newhart’s mindset was simple.

“My mindset was getting the ball in range for Brad to kick it. Brad is a great kicker. He has a great leg,” Newhart said.

The play that led up to the biggest play of the year was huge in its own right. With the ball at the 42, Tyron Crockum ran the ball for 22 yards putting the ball at the 36 and the game on the leg of Beckwith. With that Beckwith knew he had a shot to get the win.

“I knew that he had made it within my range and knew that I was going to have a chance to get a field goal,” Beckwith said.

Head Coach Jerry Partridge had faith in his kicker to some extent.

“No, I didn’t think that he would make it, but I did tell him he was going to make it,” Partridge said.

Washburn tried to ice Beckwith by calling two timeouts but that only calmed Beckwith down.

“The timeouts gave me a little extra time to settle my nerves and prepare for the kick,” Beckwith said.

“When it left my foot, I knew it had the distance and I saw it was going straight so I felt very good about it.”

Of course, Beckwith’s feeling was correct, and the Griffons went on to take their record to 4-0: a first in the Partridge era.

This victory was huge for the Griffons and a big moment for the program.

“When I made it, I felt unreal. Looking at the crowd going crazy and my teammates surrounding me was overwhelming. But, overall, it just felt amazing.” Beckwith said.

September 26 the Griffons try to get their record to 5-0 against the Pittsburg State Gorillas in the Jungle. The game starts at 2:00 pm.

The dorms are quickly reaching maximum capacity and we should ask ourselves how long it is going to be until we have to start sending people away. Sorry, folks, you can’t come here to Missouri Western, we just don’t have the room. Why don’t you go check out MU?

Despite the sudden spike in student population, it doesn’t seem that there is much being done in the way of making the campus more accommodating to the new numbers. Are new dorms being built? Are new parking lots being laid out? Are more teachers being hired? Whatever is being done to cope with the multiplying masses doesn’t seem like it is happening fast enough.

Students peruse the many displays set up for the Western Welcome Fair on the first day of classes. Students could eat lunch outside by the clock tower after gathering free gifts from area businesses and campus organizations. Photo: Matt Fowler

You are a nervous wreck as you wander around Missouri Western State University’s sprawling and hilly campus. All you want is a friendly face to offer you a chance to catch your breath and point the way, and since it is getting close to lunch time, a little something to eat would be alright as well. That is just about the time that you stumble upon the Western Welcome Fair: a tiny Mecca of tables in the center of the university that represent the range of student organizations and local business that might be recruiting for the next college student to join their ranks. People are handing out free information, Frisbees, stickers and key-chains. Best of all, there is even someone grilling hot dogs and hamburgers. Free lunch is just the kind of thing to make your day.

Now you have a new attitude about the first day of school. With a full belly, you are now ready to face your day. No longer are you so frightened by what may be, and you are ready to turn what could be into a bright future for your college career. Western Warm-Up is truly a good thing.

So you decide it is time to get out of the barrel. You think, “Hey, if I take out some loans and get myself through college I will definitely be able to get myself a rockin’ job.” You think that sounds like a good idea and should be easy. You are only half right.

The truth is that in times of a tough economy, more people looking for a way to improve upon their situation head for a college degree for the perceived increase of status and salary. This can be a well executed move up the ladder of life, or a financial disaster. It really is up to you on the outcome.

Imagine this; for two years you take loans equaling $5,000 a semester. You think “Hey if I get a job after school that pays an $80 grand annual salary, my college loans will be gone in no time.” Think again.

A bachelor’s degree is no guarantee for great pay. On average, a person with a college degree does make $25,000 more than a person with only a high school diploma, but that by no means is easy street.

If you do not work as hard as you can, or worse, if you don’t try at all, you could find yourself doing poorly in the grades department which could lead to you losing all financial backing.

Suddenly you are staring two choices. You can either keep going to college and pay out of your own pocket, something which might be hard to do when you went to school because you were having trouble with the prospect of getting a good job in the first place. Or you can drop out and have to pay back the $20 grand you’ve borrowed so far. Now you have to pay back that loan without the increased pay you were seeking by going to college in the first place. You are in an even deeper hole than you started trying to climb out of. It really can be a disaster and I haven’t even mentioned interest.

So before you blow it, remember that going back to school can be a great way to improve your lifestyle. But remember it takes hard work to get there, just like it will take this country a fair amount of hard work to get out of its economic nightmare. There is no easy fix. Some magic only works with sacrifice.

These are not those times anymore.

Now Missouri is considering allowing concealed weapons to be carried at public universities. It is a fairly big issue. There are many mixed feelings on this. Here are some possible scerarios that could be the future of Missouri Western State University at least according to ideas around the Griffon News room.

These are not real tales, so try not to get scared.

Johhny Duke was sitting in class on a fine spring day and all was well save for the constant nervous twitch that the upcoming finals had given him. All it took was a single moment when he just snapped a pulled out the .38 special snub nose he was carrying in his sock.

“Screw this place!” Johnny exclaims as he waves the revolver over his head to the chorus of shrieks rising out of his classmates. He levels the barral at the professor and…Bang!

The student behind him has splattered Johnny’s grey matter all of the desk.

This could be the end of the story. Some might say that because there were more people armed in the classroom, that there was a greater chance to resolve the crisis without too much carnage. It is the “Old West” argument, that if the populace is better armed, less people might be inclined to go on a shooting spree. If Johnny had known the student behind was armed as well, he might not have drawn his own heater.

But Johnny wouldn’t have known that, because the issue is not simply about carrying guns in school, it is about concealing them as well.

It is the popular opinion of the Griffon Newsroom that the story wouldn’t stop there. It is believed that in this situation, all chaos would break loose and head straight for the fan.

Johnny’s college sweetheart, distressed from seeing her lover blown away, would whip out her Magnum and let fly three shots in the direction of the student who shot Johnny.

That student would dive for a cover behind a desk while calling on his posse for back up.

Four Holigans armed with semi-automatic glocks burst through the door, barrles ablazing as the class becomes a bloodbath of terror and violence.

By the time campus security shows up, the story is over. The guns are quiet and the moans are loud. The carnage could have been avoided, if Johnny never had the gun on him in the first place.

Despite several missteps, the SGA is now prepared to present a final copy of the constitution to SGA’s senate on March 30. The senators will then vote on whether or not the current copy will go to the ballots for a student vote during the election April 7-8.

The failure to get this constitution on the ballots last fall was a critical error by the SGA.

However the fact that students will finally have the opportunity to vote on this matter of great importance shows that the system is working. Regardless of how the campus came to this crossroad, we will be able to use our vote and fix it.

With this new framework, the SGA will be able to pull up their sleeves and get down to the real work of helping run our campus on behalf of the students they were elected to represent. It is commendable that the current SGA administration persevered through this arduous task and is presenting the students with something that works for them.

Every student has the opportunity to look at the new constitution online at the SGA website and can attend the March 30 meeting to listen to the final issues brought to the table. It is the responsibility of the students approving the constitution to know what they are voting for.

While it is easy to feel removed from student governments actions in your day to day lives, the decisions they make affect your college experience.

It is vital that students exercise this hard earned right on election day because it is, in essence, holding up their end of the democratic process.

Unfortunately with time, passion can fade and once devoted wooing can fall to the wayside. This is most often the point when the two lovers will begin to reevaluate their relationship and if it should continue.

Missouri Western’s long-term relationship with their food service provider Aramark’s was renewed last week despite new competition.

As of last week, Aramark and an alternative company, Sodexo Education were openly courting Western.

The decision was made by a committee comprised of students, faculty and staff to keep Aramark’s services on campus for a period of eight or more years. The decision was influenced by the incentives the company offered in their proposal, which included: $3.5 million in projected commission revenue, capital investments, scholarships and other financial considerations over the course of their contract.

A more pressing issue that students are likely to feel the effects of is the projected annual board rate increases that will accommodate rising food costs.

Despite the fact that students were involved in the process, Missouri Western would have better served the interests of the student body by allowing students to examine what was at stake. Perhaps a presentation, or a date with each company if you will, would have been in the interest of getting to know our potential partner a little bit. After all, choosing a food service provider is a major commitment.

Maybe the companies should have had to put out an elaborate feast, accented with soft music and candlelight. It could have been the start of something really special.
But a decision has been made, and Western is content to stay with their faithful partner. It’s been good so far, so Western students should be grateful that the relationship is still intact and the decision has been made to “stay together for the kids.”

The relationship with Aramark is strong, though not perfect. As with most relationships there is room for improvement and growth, but hopefully that will come in time.

And maybe a little bit of healthy competition has been good for them too. They may be more inclined to fight for Western’s affection in the future.

With tough economic times, it is predicted that in the coming years, more and more people will flock to colleges to better their state of living. In his most recent address to Congress, President Barack Obama said, “A good education is no longer a pathway to opportunity. It is a prerequisite.” It should be assumed that more and more people will be seeking Missouri Western when it comes to seeking that good education.

We should make sure that as a university we make the right moves to deal with this growth. It can present a number of problems in the quality of learning that the school can offer.

Often all we consider is the quickest possible fix. We create Band-Aids for wounds that won’t heal. When we are already spending so much money on other things, no one really wants

By Marty Ayers and Charlene Divino

to consider building new student housing or hiring new full-time professors. So we seek any other way to cover the problem.

Hiring new tenure-track professors is a no-brainer when you consider the possible coming growth of our university, especially when you consider how much this Chiefs deal could mean to campus recruitment.

If we keep getting bigger, are we just going to increase class size? That will be like shooting off our foot to free ourselves form the line of fire. Many people only go to our school because of the excellent student-to-teacher ratio. Besides, maxing out your professors like that is going to lead to stressed out tenured professors who can’t easily be fired and an ever rotating door of adjuncts who end up taking the money and running the moment they are let free.

Right now we are hunting shark out at sea and someone is realizing that, like Roy Scheider’s character in Jaws, “We’re going to need a bigger boat.” More students mean more of everything like more technology, more buildings and more employees, and all that costs more money. We are already spending so much. But at times money can come from unexpected places, like the City of St. Joseph kicking in with their latest gift to the Chiefs project. We are going to have to spend money, and hopefully smart money that helps us grow without collapsing on ourselves.

Do your exams make you nervous? Is your boyfriend pressuring you to do something you are not sure you are ready for?

Are you worried that you cannot make ends meet?

Does the workload got you down?

Feel stressed out and ready to crack?

Can’t beat your meth habit alone?

Feel like going on a killing spree?

Do you feel like killing yourself?

Do you need someone to talk to?

After the Virginia Tech massacre, it is apparent how stressful campus life can be and how dangerous an unbalanced student can be. It should be a no-brainer that all people need someone to talk to every now and then. Lucky for you, Missouri Western offers great people to talk to.

It is a shame really when you consider that not everyone uses the student counseling that is available to them. All students at Missouri Western State University have counseling services available to them. Make no mistake, the counseling center at our school sees it’s fair share of students.

But to consider that all people have problems, and problems are often handled better when they are talked about; considering that every student has already paid for the services, it makes no sense that every student here on campus has not seen a counselor at least once.

It is not hard to get in touch with someone to talk to here on campus. Go to Eder Hall and swing to the side that is not filled with language devotees, walk past the non-traditional student center and keep going until you see a giraffe in the window. Then you are in the right place. Now ask to make an appointment with a counselor. It is that easy. Don’t you feel silly now for taking so long to reach out?

The truth is that everyone, every now and then, could use someone to talk to. Sometimes the simple act of airing your troubles out can be the first step to punching your problems in the face. Sometimes it is nice to have an impartial person who can help you put things in perspective. Also, there is the fact that you have already paid for it, so you might as well go out and get to see what your money is worth.

After all, we are here at this university to learn. We can learn academics, and we can learn about ourselves and the world around us. There is a Chinese proverb that says a single conversation with a wise man is better than then years of study. Maybe it is time you started taking advantage of your education?

Something about the magic of Valentine’s Day makes college students regress to the romantic maturity of high-school students. Maybe our hormones are more susceptible to the lure of lacy negligees, candy and expensive dates, but year after year we shell out the cash in hopes of capturing love that will last longer than a dozen roses.

If everybody found somebody to love and hold as they celebrated Valentine’s Day, it would be different. But that isn’t realistic; the flip side of all this romantic sentiment is the countless lonely hearts that will find themselves driven to distraction as they wallow in bitterness, jealousy or loneliness. Meanwhile, the priorities for school work and studying fall by the wayside in favor of the more pressing issues of the heart.

Valentine’s Day is expensive and time-consuming, but it’s also one of the most profitable holidays of the year. Consider the theory that buying poorly manufactured stuffed animals is not a genuine testament of love. It’s just crap and clutter. Imagine how depressing it would be if all the abandoned Valentine’s Day stuffed animals congregated to tell their stories of love and loss.
Love is not limited to the one holiday a year. The focus concentrated on a single holiday exaggerates the value of a single day. You can fall in love any day you want to; just because there is a holiday doesn’t mean it is the only day you have free will to seek love or affection.
Obsessing about how your Valentine’s Day will be spent is futile; it won’t change the course of fate or destiny. Even if you can guaranty a lifetime of happiness with your soul-mate based on this one day, it’s really just another day.
So don’t spend this Valentine’s Day thinking about how you will, or won’t, be spending this day. You’re enrolled in college and fate has already set you on a positive course. Don’t deviate from it just to pursue a fleeting interest, focus on a degree first. As the Supremes famously said, “You can’t hurry love.”

President Barack Obama is evidence that well developed communication skills can take you all the way to the top.

The sad part of this is the fact that Missouri Western State University really does not offer such great shakes for a student who wants to become a master debater. No one is giving a lengthy discourse on the arts of oration. There are no tournaments to test a student’s verbal vastness.

A light of hope shines this semester in the form of a flyer posted to the approved wall boards around Western. Debate could be returning to the hallowed hall of education. Wouldn’t that be nice? If we were more than a job school, and we could point out that we still churned out great thinkers as well?

It doesn’t take much to see the critical leap from educated speaking to educated thinking. Even if it is nothing more than a lot of talk, think about how much good talking about things does. Joseph Joubert, French essayist and moralist, once said “It is better to debate a question without settling it than to settle a question without debating it.” But at Missouri Western, we might not be teaching our students to think that way.

Sure, everyone can talk, but can you really say everyone speaks well? Playwright George Bernard Shaw points this out by saying; “The trouble with her is that she lacks the power of conversation but not the power of speech.”

It might be that a light of hope is shining at Missouri Western, with a university president versed in the arts of public speaking, someone might figure out that bringing back speech and debate could lead to great things for the university. Maybe the next Barack Obama could be walking through the halls right now. People want to speak so we should teach them to speak well. Give the people what they want because like Rudyard Kipling said “Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.”

Glance around you at the office, people are getting a bit more nervous or unruly. Things are becoming self evident about mankind and money management, we always need more of it.

The things that scare people are questions of “How can we work on this budget and still create enough new money for expansion while keeping the workers happy? How much longer will we have enough money to get everything we want and still get paid ourselves?” Brrr…scary questions. Maybe more money is not the answer to the problem. In this case it may be honor that saves us.

Recently, Mo. Gov. Jay Nixon struck an honorable deal, but will it be enforced? Does the new governor have the power to get the state legislature to go along with his promise that if Missouri universities don’t raise their tuition, there will be no funding cuts to higher education?

The 2009 economy is a scary thing; our new President has even stated that things will probably get worse before they get better. At Missouri Western State University, in St. Joseph, and all across the United States people are pulling in their belts and realizing “wow, things might have gotten out of hand.” Everyone knows that sacrifices will have to be made.

Is growth the best bet for now? On campus there is a fancy, big, half-finished building that cost millions, and the dowry to seduce the Chiefs into the sack gets bigger and bigger. But you have to keep your eye out for the future and the rewards it could offer. The Chiefs are football gods, right? They lost in the Super Bowl once. That’s something special.

In the last budget crisis, Missouri Western avoided making too many losses to staff; it would be nice to do that again. After all, professors still want raises as well. And shouldn’t everyone be able to hope the chance of promotion or a raise in pay for merit and service? Without raising tuition, can that be a believable scenario?

How does a mere mortal Missouri university keep its prices down when the commodities and costs of the world around it are sky rocketing? Can you pinch a penny so hard that it bleeds? Given a chance to roar, the Griffon might say that it is not bigger budgets that are needed, but instead more honor from the folks at the top to keep their promises. It could just be that people need to accept that making a profit is not at all what everything is about.

The amount of revenue brought into the city by the team players as well as those wanting to come and watch them practice will be a huge asset. Parents will have the opportunity to enjoy some outside summer sporting fun with their children without the high cost of a ticket to Arrowhead.

Hometown Red Friday will hopefully sell more t-shirts at local businesses and serve more drinks at local bars. Hotels will be full with out-of-towners hoping to catch a glimpse of their favorite player during practice and maybe even an autograph. Restaurants will definitely be serving more food during the training camp as these big players and their families have got to be big eaters; and hopefully big tippers.

The benefits for Missouri Western are countless. Yet, the biggest benefit is obvious, as Western will gain a new athletic center upgrade to better accommodate the NFL team. Other upgrades that will be necessary in years to come could include an increase in parking lot space, additional dining facilities near the fitness center and additional money poured into the campus from the outside sources.

Western has stayed the course for many years to entice the Chiefs to bring their camp to our school. Their perseverance has paid off and hopefully Western will be able to gain a little more recognition on the map when it comes to recruiting future athletes. What college student wouldn’t want to come and play for a school that hosts an NFL team during the summer for practices? And, what college student wouldn’t want to play for a school that had a state of the art facility? Perhaps bringing the Chiefs to Western will be just the boost Western needs to boost their own football program.

However, the old saying that you have to spend money to make money also applies to the move. While Western will gain money in grants they will also have to raise money to help fund the project. But, how many teams ever complain after winning the championship how much it will cost to build the case to hold the winning trophy?

After numerous interviews and research into the controversy surrounding the Student Government Association and its three constitutions, we determined that the 2005 constitution is the valid constitution, since it was the only one approved by the administration and voted on by the full student body. Because that constitution mandates elected presidential and vice presidential candidates take office within two weeks, the president and vice president who were recently voted in by the student body should have taken office Dec. 3, two weeks following the Nov. 18-19 election.

When the previous Natalie Bailey and Luke Herrington administration made changes to the Constitution, they made sure to have the student body vote to approve the changes made, a vote which is required to ratify modifications to the constitution. These changes, which were not widely publicized, granted the Bailey/Herrington administration a third semester in office by moving the elections from March to November and thus a third semester of free and reduced tuition. However, the university administration never approved this 2006 constitution, which resulted in a great amount of confusion and hampered their ability to get things done. When current president Harold Callaway and vice president Jennifer Kohler took office on Dec. 3, 2007, two weeks after being elected, they seemed to have known the importance of fixing the constitutional mess, but instead of reverting back to the valid 2005 constitution, they made changes to the 2005 constitution to create a third document. This newest version was approved by SGA’s Senate on Sept. 15, 2008. While Callaway/Kohler seemed to be on top of things at the start of the semester, they lost that momentum along the way. Instead of immediately submitting the constitution to Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs Joseph Bragin, they waited until Nov. 5 to give a final draft to him, too late for him to review and approve it and for it to be placed on the November ballot. Since the constitution was not approved by Western’s administration in time for the entire student body to vote and approve it in November, this third document is invalid as well.

This document contains a clause preventing the newly-elected president and vice president from taking office until April, giving Callaway/Kohler–the main authors of the constitutional changes–a third semester of full/half tuition paid for out of student funds.
Callaway claims the Provost approved the departures from the constitution prior to the November elections and was advised that a student body approval in November was not necessary. If indeed this is true and not a misunderstanding, such advice from Western administration would be troubling, to say the least, especially since it allows the president and vice president to serve a semester for which they were not elected to serve. This is not how constitutions and democracies work.

There is only one fair solution that obeys the laws put forth by the 2005 Constitution, the only valid constitution that governs the SGA. In order to establish justice, the Callaway/Kohler administration must resign to allow Joshua Todd and Ernest Chamblee to take the reins of the association as stated in Article II Section 3 of the 2005 Constitution, “The inauguration of the successful block (of election candidates) shall be within two (2) weeks after the final election.” Once in office, the Todd/Chamblee administration will then be responsible for any changes wished to be made to the Constitution. This administration will first need to approve any changes through Senate and Western’s administration before it can be put up to the entire student body for a vote. Only after it is approved by the first two parties can the student body, if it is willing, decide that changes should be made and that the candidates are allowed a third semester to change the inauguration and office cycle.

The idea to align the yearly budget with each SGA administration and allow overlap time for incumbents to transition into their new offices with current officials is in the best interest of the students and the University. But the student body can not ignore SGA’s clear disobedience of its most fundamental document. All student organizations are required by SGA to create a constitution when they are established and to live up to the rules mandated by that constitution, yet now SGA is disobeying its own constitution.
We are asking you, the student body, to make a stand against those who have wronged and to not back down until everything is put right.

When the president of the United States is sworn in, he/she pledges:
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

Likewise, Callaway and Kohler have an obligation to adhere to the only valid constitution of the SGA, which this case is the 2005 version. As a result of their neglect in not ensuring the new constitution was ratified, they must pay the price by giving up office–and the accompanying tuition benefits–of this next semester and allow Todd and Chamblee their opportunity to make legitimate changes.

Far greater prices have been paid in the name of preserving constitutions.

Graphic: Mandie Nocita

In the aftermath of a presidential election that lasted nearly two years, it’s difficult to imagine getting caught up in another major election just a few weeks later.

Well Missouri Western, it’s true, election season is still upon us. Students will cast their votes on Nov. 18-19 to elect new leaders of WAC, SGA, and the RC.

The election of President-elect Barack Obama was historic, and a moment you will all look back on as a day that Americans made a statement about the direction that they wanted to take.

Well, the opportunity is here to affect change in your own backyard. You can have input on the direction that Missouri Western is going based on the votes you cast.

Every semester you are enrolled in Missouri Western State University as a full-time student you are charged a $50 SGA fee that contributes to a budget of nearly $.5 million.

You have a justified reason to be interested in which students are managing such a large amount of money invested by the student body.

The SGA is the governing body that advocates for you, the student. Elect a person that represents your interests and those of Missouri Western in the long term.

The race between WAC candidates should also be of great interest to the average students.

They are, by name, the Western Activities Council. They serve to entertain and invigorate Missouri Western with activities, events and concerts.

Both WAC and the SGA handle substantial budgets. The decisions of individuals at the helm of these organizations affect the things that will shape our college experience.

President-elect Barack Obama lost the state of Missouri, but won Buchanan County by a mere 47 votes. Every vote has the possibility of being the factor that sways things.

Don’t let yourself believe that foregoing your vote in the University’s election is justified. Every vote always counts.

Stress is a universally nasty thing. It colors your moods, plays havoc on your body and runs game on your head. There is some evidence to support that stress kills. The gunman at Virginia Tech was certainly under a great deal of stress when he began his killing spree.

Students at Missouri Western State University are as vulnerable to end of the semester stress just as students anywhere. The best advice any student could receive at this time is “stay calm” or “don’t panic.”

Getting stressed out really never helps any situation. There are a plethora of tools and resources available to the modern student to help reduce the level of stress one can undergo.

There is an excellent student services department on campus. If it is needed, there are tutors ready to help. There are masses of students waiting to unite into all night study groups. There is counseling services offered free to students. Sometimes just naming the beast that plagues your soul is enough to drive it off.

You can’t name anything if you don’t talk about it. If a counselor is not your bag, then just talk to a friend.

Just do something. Because if you are one those students who feels that life has suddenly become this smothering wave of stress and you don’t know what the next thing will be, and if it will be the thing that makes snap, then you need to do something. Anything would help. Before you start feeling like the end of semester stresses have turned you into straight jacketed, drooling, babbling maniacs locked up within the confines of these institutional halls, you have to relax and realize that this is almost over.

It is eerie. A hall that was once alive with motion and sound has now become barren, and students wonder if they shouldn’t rename Blum Union, the Great Western Desert. The recent relocation of the furniture in Blum Union has caused students across the campus to ask serious questions about the intent of the university.

People might wonder if there is some sinister intent behind those in power deploying such strange means of Feng-shui, or if the students are being pun­hed for some undisclosed offense committed to the student union itself. There are many questions that should be asked.

At the surface of the problem, the answer is quite simple and relatively insignificant. They cleared out the furniture in Blum because it was worn-out and needed to be replaced. The campus will soon be equipped with high- top tables and bar stool type chairs, much like the entrance of Eder Hall. There is no reason in that explanation for any students to be alarmed, if that is indeed the truth.

But then the next question that must be asked is; why was the furniture moved before the new furniture has arrived? The previous chairs and couches were not dangerous to students, sure-there was no need to smuggle it all out the area like a thief in the night. So that makes the timing of the move something that the average student might consider suspicious. Why now?

The next question that should then be examined; What is else is going on campus around this same time frame? An easy answer many students have begun to assume is that in the latter part of the Spring semester, Missouri Western State University is visited by many potential customers: prospective students. In essence, the university is in the spotlight.

This is where the pickle is for most of students involved or affected by the sudden starkness of their former hang-out.

They feel like the university is saying that students using the right to peaceful assembly doesn’t look good for the university’s bottom line. The students feel like the university is saying that it is ashamed of its students.

All of these things are questions the students are asking and points of concern that should be dealt with.

Surely there is no shame felt by the university for vast and varied student body, we couldn’t be attending a mere money making machine of a school that sees it current students as nothing more than a nuisance, could we?

It was probably some level of bureau­cratic procedure that led to the gap of time that led to the absence of furniture, it still leaves many questions.

 If the furniture was worn-out, why move it to the food court where it still being used?

Why was property bought with student money moved without ever consulting the students who bore the financial burden of buying those chairs?

But it should not be ignored that this one simple thing created a rustle that has moved across the campus. The student body has begun to twitch and the question on everyone’s mind is: where is my couch?

Yung Joc was one of the best new hip-hop artists of 2006 and he has two chart toppers under his belt. On his Myspace.com page he self describes his style “I make fun music but don’t get it twisted,” says Joc. “I’m a hustler. That’s why I’m in the position I’m at.”  It seems WAC knows how to hustle as well in scoring such talent for their spring concert on April 10 at the St. Joseph Civic Arena.

The hard work and social networking that must have went into the works of engaging these artists to come perform for WAC’s annual spring concert must have been tough to do, but WAC has pulled it off in a commendable job of providing the students to a truly spectacular show. Don Willis, director of student engagement, and Janell Banks, president of WAC, should be acknowledged for their effort in the work that brought Yung Joc and Rick Ross to a show that students attend for free as long as they provide their student IDs.

While it still would have been nice to have had greater advanced notice so students would have had more time to plan their lives around the show and also given more time for publicity and ticket sales, it is nice to see that WAC was able to provide big in the entertainment factor of this little city. Students should make sure they take advantage of this opportunity to see such big-ticket performers. Remember, it was your money that WAC used to make this show possible. If you paid your student fees then you have already paid for your admission. It would be just silly not to use the service that you paid for.

Western’s Activities Council, or WAC as they might be better known to the student body of Missouri Western State University has yet to officially announce who will be playing for the University’s spring concert. This can be looked at from many different angles. Certainly it is now spring and students in the past knew by this time who was going to be entertaining them for the spring concert. They may even have attended spring concerts that took place by this time late in the year.  The fact that there is only six weeks left in the semester and there has yet to even be an announcement could encourage one to wonder just exactly what is going on?

What’s the hold up?

First instinct could be to assume that the problem lies in some level of incompetence in the organization. But that could be a false assumption.  Janell Banks, President of WAC, offers her explanation as to the lateness of the announcement of the spring concert as evidence of how hard WAC is working to bring quality entertainment to the student body.

“The reason we have not announced yet, is that there were some details that we wanted to put in order” Banks said.
 “But everything is good. We will announce pretty soon but it is just that we wanted to find a concert more suitable for our students. We have heard some complaints about some things that have gone on in past concerts, so we wanted to make sure that we got a legitimate concert that our students would enjoy and have fun at, one that they deserve. We had an artist picked and we kind of found out through different agencies that this was not the best artist to pick; this artist was not very friendly to the students, no meet and greet, no hello. We wanted to get artists that we knew would put on a nice show. We actually got two artists, instead of one. So we went out to find a better concert.”

This is all well and good that WAC so badly wants to give the students what they deserve, but it does raise a question; don’t the students deserve a spring concert that is timely? Many students can appreciate being given more time to polish of a research paper by a professor so that it will really end up as an excellent paper, but students are given deadlines for a reason. Perhaps WAC should be given a deadline?

It is easier to snag the big names if the search for talent starts earlier. This late in the semester many students have their schedules full of the events that will occupy their time for the rest of the year, like spring dances and making graduation plans, and now they have to wait to schedule in when the spring show will even perform. Starting late also creates difficulty in advertising, promotion of ticket sales and creation of a demand to see the quality performer it took WAC so long to land.

Three alleged robbers of the golden arches had made Missouri Western State University a part of their escape route and one man was shot in the leg in the pursuit by S.J.P.D. Instead of the hor­rifying disasters that tore through other schools across the country this was an example of the civic security of St. Joe functioning smoothly. But that single shot rang loud throughout the minds of Missouri Western. What if? Are we ever going to be truly prepared for such a truly horrific occurrence? Does it really matter how many guns the officers have? Or how many cameras there are on campus? Or how
many people know which system to tune into for flash news? What if it happened here? Would we really be ready?

This didn’t turn out to be the worst case scenario. In this case the danger to students and staff never grew to the critical level that other schools across the country have attained. Due mostly to the quick and efficient response of S.J.P.D. and a brave employee at McDonald’s making the call for help, a crime that could have reached catastrophic proportions was avoided. Bravo to all involved. Missouri Western was kept safe for another day.

This whole story should serve to remind us that the danger is still out there. Preparations could still be made to prevent future tragedy. We got lucky this time. Next time shots ring out across campus let us be prepared to make sure it can be prevented again. Sooner or later this may be a reality that Missouri Western has to deal with. We would like to believe that Missouri Western will be able to provide the same amount of excellence in security as it has delivered in all other areas of the universities domain. We would like to believe that we are safe from harm, but shouldn’t we be brave enough to ask ourselves “What if”?
 

Many students that attend Missouri Western State University could use a little help when it comes to putting up the necessary out-of -pocket costs for everything that goes with attending a university. There are books to be purchased,  athletic and student activity fees, parking permits and  pens and pencils to acquire. To top it all off, tuition and living expenses along with mounting costs of college becomes almost painful. Luckily for the students there is financial aid.
Too bad many students do not take the initiative to take advantage of such opportunities. The process of filling out a FAFSA online is really quite simple and after the initial set up process, it really does not take that long to keep it updated. There is money out there in the form of grants, loans and scholarships. All of the above can be helpful if you have a thirst for learning at the university level but do not have the pocket book to match those academic desires.

Maybe the U.S. hasn’t adopted the policy of free universities for citizens like many European countries and Australia, but there has been a great deal of work done by the government to make money available to those who really need it to go to school.  These programs exist to help students secure a future and any smart student would be wise to take advantage of them. At Missouri Western there is a courteous and knowledgeable staff that is ready to help anyone who makes through their door. The online tools of the FAFSA save pages and pages of work that might have been required before the explosion of the computer age. If there is a problem, call the financial aid office and a friendly voice can quickly trouble shoot the problematic puzzle and process can advance to the next step. It is not very hard to get money to go to school these days. Students are either just too uninformed or lazy and apathetic to follow through with the process.

We, at the Griffon Newspaper editorial staff , frown upon such bad choices and behavior as failing to take advantage of such an opportunity.  Doing something to acquire money for your education is as simple as stealing candy from a baby or blowing a safe with dynamite. Not doing something because of ignorance or laziness is simply not good character. The money is there in that big safe. Just imagine that the finical aid office and FAFSA are your safe cracking tools. So get cracking and do it before March 1st because that is the cut off date. After that, it will be too late.

 King Whitney Jr, president of Personal Laboratory Inc., made a statement about change at a sales meeting that is appropriate and it was later quoted in the Wall Street Journal in June of 1967. He said, “Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better.” At Missouri Western the question must be asked, will we view these new beginnings with hope, confidence or fear?

 There are always those individuals that would rather face an existence of mundane banality than open themselves to new experiences because new things can be scary. Mankind has always been afraid of what it does not understand, However we at the Griffon News feel that this should be seen as an opportunity to raise ourselves to a new standard. Missouri Western is facing a new dawn that ushers in the great light of knowledge to a community that could only stand to benefit from having a more collegiate environment. By seizing the new day with eager and willing hearts and backbones choke full of hard work, the students and administration could use this new beginning to propel our university into an era of greatness in this ever advancing society. We could build brilliant minds for tomorrow.

 Heraclitus was a Greek philosopher who lived from 540 B.C. to 480 B.C. but even as early in human history as he lived there was already one truth that proved constant and still does in this constantly changing world. That truth is elegant and simple. “Nothing endures but change.” Heraclitus was right about that. So with change comes new beginnings and new chances to do better or worse that was done before. We at the Griffon Newsroom are ready to do better. Are you?

From a huge fight during one of their functions, to disrespectful behavior during the convocation, to vandalism and foul behavior in the student union, we here at the Griffon News, have to question why you are even in college.

It is not every minority student that sits in the SU that are causing problems, most students are here to learn and take the benefits they are given seriously, but the group of students that don’t have respect for this campus are causing a huge problem.

Maybe it is just a lack of maturity or lack of campus involvement.

There aren’t many nontrad students sitting on the couches yelling ‘hey bitch’across the student union to their fellow rolly backpacker, or many football players writing names on the computers.

Missouri Western is not the bathroom stall of a bar. We are a University; one that has spent a substantial amount of money giving us a student union that
we can be proud of, one that prospective students can think is beautiful, one where current students can relax. Maybe most students don’t remember the seventies looking furniture and the weird walls that used to make up the lobby of the SU. It wasn’t pretty, but lets destroy the nice things we do have to be cool and act like we are in high school.

If you are still in a high school mind set, go home. This is a place of learning. Where students who actually want a future and a good job come to improve
their life; it is not a place to just hang out with your friends and be stupid. If you’re wanting to do just that, find somewhere else to do it, maybe your hometown is a good place, where you’re not paying $5,000 a semester, or getting scholarships that people who actually want to be here could use.

During last Tuesday’s convocation, a scuffle broke out in the middle of Sam Donaldson’s speech because a student didn’t want to get off her cell phone when a
teacher asked her to. Not only did she put up a fight, other male students had to get involved, causing a huge ruckus that could be heard all the way to the stage.

We know that unless you are interested in politics or journalism, the convocation can sometimes be boring and many classes require you to go. But the faculty
doesn’t do that so they can sit around laughing because they are torturing their students, they do it so you’ll learn. Falling asleep and being stretched out on the bleachers while someone tries to educate you, is one of the rudest things imaginable. You obviously don’t want to be in school, so once again go home.

Tay Triggs has begun a campaign to talk to students about their behavior, trying very hard to try and not make this just a minority issue, and she is right in saying that this is definitely not just a black issue.

But the students who show no pride in Western have no place at this campus. A university is not a place for vandalism, constant vulgarity or fights.

   The Griffons defeated Emporia State to improve their road record to 4-0. They won the game 52-21. Freshman Drew Newhart led the way by throwing for 321 yards and four touchdowns.
   The Griffons scored 50 points in a game for the first time since they played Missouri-Rolla in 2000. The Griffons won that game 63-0. Kicker Dustin Strickler set a career long when he kicked a 45-yard field goal. Cedric Houston led the way in receiving with 137 yards and two touchdowns.
   Chauncey Mayfield led the team defensively has he had nine total tackles. The Griffons improved their record to  6-2 overall and 4-2 in the MIAA conference.
   The Griffons will be back in action on Oct. 27 as they host the Missouri Southern Lions at 1:30 p.m. at Spratt Stadium.

Griffons soccer set school record for wins

   The Griffon soccer team set the school record for wins by defeating the Emporia State Hornets 2-0. The win improves the Griffons’ record to 4-13 overall and 3-9 in the conference. The previous school record for wins in a season was three.
   The team was led by Meigan Soo and Michelle Polk, as they each scored goals in the game. Goalie Shaylynn Milbourn paved the way for the shutout as she had three saves in the game.
   The Griffons will be back in action next on Oct. 26 as they will host the Truman State Bulldogs at 7:00 p.m. at Spratt Stadium.
Basketball hosted 4th annual tip-off party

   The men’s and women’s basketball teams hosted the fourth annual tip-off party. The night was highlighted by the dunk contest as some of the men’s basketball team showcased their athletic ability. The women’s team also competed in a 3-point shot competition.
   The night also featured a scrimmage basketball game between the faculty and members of the media. The facility won the scrimmage game. There were also many prizes given away to people who attended the event.
   The men’s basketball team season will get under way Nov. 8 in an exhibition match against Division I Missouri Tigers. This will be the first time the men’s team has played a Division I opponent since the 1984-1985 season, when they played the Texas Longhorns.
   The women’s basketball team season will get under way  Nov. 3 against Oral Roberts who is also a Division I team.
Women’s Elite Eight to return Western

   The NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Committee selected Missouri Western as the host of the women’s Elite Eight for the 2009 and 2010 season. Missouri Western last hosted an Elite Eight tournament in 2003 and 2004.
   The reasons for Missouri Westen getting selected was the location of the university and the commitment from the St. Joeseph community. This is a big event for the university and should help out the school as far as exposure and revenue are concerned.

Volleyball falls to Washburn 3-0

   The Griffons lost to the fifth ranked team in the country, the Washburn Lady Blues, in three straight games. They lost the games by the scores of, (30-20, 30-16, 30-20). The team never could really get on track and Washburn was dominant throughout.
   Alyssa Berg led the team with nine kills. The Griffons were only able to hit positive in one game of the three game match. They return to action on Oct. 24 when they travel to face conference foe Central Missouri Jennies.

As the Homcoming week wrapped up, besides the annual drenched students who were out to support the Griffons, the tired organizations who have spent night and day working on the floats, and the exhausted steering commitee who have worked hard for months, most students involved with homecoming have a bitter taste in their mouth. “The Best Homecoming Ever,” was this year’s theme… More like the worst.

Before homecoming week even started there were questions arising as to why homecoming was moved. Homecoming was moved one week up in the schedule from last year’s freezing mess because “It always rains.”

“He moved this up a week because it always rains on us and it’s always so cold and we always miss school the next week because we have pneumonia,” says one of the student workers in the CSE who was on hand for the date switch.

The intentions were good, we suppose. But because someone fancied himself the world’s best meteorologist, Homecoming was scheduled on a three day weekend.

That’s not necessarily horrible in itself except that lots of college students see three day weekends as their chance to go home and reconnect with family and friends.

Also, Pumpkin Fest, a known festival for children, was scheduled that same weekend, including a parade on Saturday. So at the slightest hint of bad weather, most parents aren’t going to drag their children out to two parades in pouring rain.

Thats not a great way to show that Missouri Western supports the community by trying to compete with a known community event. Plus, they had advertisment constantly on the television,  we would lose that battle.

So planning Homecoming for this weekend made sense how?

But as Saturday rolled around, and the rain continued to fall on the cursed homecoming parade day, one thing was different. No, it wasn’t freezing rain, it was lighting. And apparently, floats are lightning rods and having people out on them is not a good idea.

So for one of the first times in a long while, the parade was cancelled.

We think most organizations would have taken the freezing rain and letting their hard work be shown, than lightning, no parade and working hard to line up with halfway torn down floats at the library.

That is the other thing. When organization arrived for the parade line-up, with their soggy floats, they were told it was cancelled. They weren’t told until later that they were suppose to meet at 10 a.m. in the library parking lot for judging.

Several organization had already taken parts of their floats down or the water had destroyed important parts. They were told to fix their float and be judged. Because after staying up for 24 hours working on a float, then driving the float in the pourng rain, they want to come back to the float site and work for several more hours fixing something that didn’t have to be fixed in the first place if a phone call had been made 30 minutes earlier saying the parade was cancelled and judging was at 10 a.m.

So, besides the lack of spirit around campus with the no windows (thanks stupid people that don’t know how to clean things off properly or used spray paint), the lack of greek participation for various reasons and the overall bad timing.

This homecoming has to be one of the worst homecomings in a long time. (Not to discredit any of the hard work the steering committee put out)  Thanks a lot Stan… Oh yes, he no longer works here.

Also, if your going to run for homecoming king, make sure you can actually show  up and get your crown. Football players have won in the past and stood out there in their football uniform to celebrate their win.
 
After all of this we would say that we were jinxed from the begining. So never name Homecoming the “Best Week Ever,” you’re  just asking for trouble. 

Now we don’t dispute the value of technology. It’s important that our students learn how to specialize in the world, and thanks to an Oct. 10 $5 million pledge from Wes and Patsy Remington of St. Joseph, Western is set to become quite a figure in the regional science and technology education fields.

A dual announcement made last week detailed the plans.

–The keystone project for “Beyond Excellence” and the main focus of the $5 million gift is the expansion and renovation of Evan R. Agenstein Hall, Western’s science and mathematics building at a cost of $35 million, $30.1 million of that is being provided by the state.

–Another major project is the $2.5 million Christopher S. “Kit” Bond Science and Technology Incubator already under construction on university-owned land west of Interstate 29.

–Other possible components of the initiative include funds for scholarships, library acquisitions, the arts and athletics.
So students in departments like English, Theatre and Music are an afterthought? That doesn’t bode well for the future.
Our English department  gets dustier by the year.

Our music department limps along with substandard equipment, and fails to pay our rather famous faculty more than adjunct salary.
  
We seem to be moving from a liberal arts school to something more technology based — maybe we need to change our name from Missouri Western State University to Western Tech?

Come on… Science and technology are wonderful, but it seems as though English, arts, music, theatre and education are now the bastard step-children of the university.

So instead of holding our breath, waiting for money to be spent in the less valuable majors — perhaps we need to go on our own deep pockets hunt and find a writer who wants to contribute to the growth of other writers? Or an artist who’s done well? Or a musician who has a little spare cash lying around?

It seems like there’s more chance of that happening than there is for our administration to balance these particular scales.

 

This is the new home of our Law Enforcement Academy, several commu­nity arts classes, and will soon host credit courses related to urban develop­ment thanks to a grant application from the City of Saint Joseph. It looks as if Western is taking the initiative and reaching out into the community at last!

Face it, Saint Joseph is a “college town” by our mere presence. It’s not a college town by attitude. Western doesn’t enjoy the backing of the community the way Northwest does. Having a presence downtown, and embracing the area is a good first step to building that bridge to the commu­nity that we so desperately need to foster a true “col­lege town.”

Our presence might do some quantifiable good, according to Dr. Christopher Shove, director of the Western Institute.

“We plan on students (in the upcoming urban devel­opment major) working closely with the city for the historical preservation and development of downtown,” Shove said.

Applied learning at its finest: students will do field surveys on historic buildings to put them on the National Register of Historic Places.

Shove also looks to make the Downtown University Center a local hotspot as a meeting place for artists as well as a training ground for future police officers. The goal was to use the cen­ter to revitalize downtown St. Joseph by embracing public safety, to increase social activity and to add to the economy.

A grand vision indeed—we hope to see more soon.

A 2005 assessment of our department and campus yielded one hundred plus recommendations which have been boiled down to a handful by our own LEMAP local task force.

They will present their findings and recommendations to our Board of Governors on Oct. 25, but would like to have the opinions of people campus beforehand.
 
The one recommendation students will hear the most about, arming the officers with more than pepper spray and batons, is a spicy issue.

We understand that this will be a contentious issue.    

We just hope you keep a few things in mind. Don’t judge the issues because you don’t like parking tickets; that’s a whole different situation. Don’t make judgments without hearing the entire presentation; it’s not just about arming the officers. There are some facts that will surprise you; this is not just a knee-jerk response to Virginia Tech. This  started before that tragedy, and no, the student interns are not among those to be armed. Come on! Think a bit about the entire situation!

There are some open meetings planned, which we hope each of you will find time to attend. Be informed about before you make a decision.

Meetings were held Monday for students and the Black Student Union.

On Tuesday Oct. 2 there is a 9:30 a.m. Open Staff/Administrator Forum in  Spratt 110, an Open Faculty Forum in Spratt 110 and a Student/Residence Council Forum in the Commons Building.

On Wednesday, Oct. 3 there is a 3:00 p.m. Open Staff/Administrator Forum in Spratt 110

On Thursday, Oct. 4 there is an Open Student Forum at noon in Eder 208 and an Open Faculty/Faculty Senate Forum at 4 p.m. in Blum 220.

Finally on Wednesday, Oct 10 there is a 1:30 p.m. Staff Association Meeting in Spratt 208

Pro: 

It’s time to conquer fear and face reality, arm the officers
Charlene Divino

The argument against arming campus security can only be attributed to fear. There is no rational or factual argument against it.
 
I don’t believe in buying into media fed mass hysteria. An environment of fear isn’t beneficial to anybody. Unfortunately, the world is unpredictable and you can’t anticipate where danger is lurking. The only solution is the happy medium, a realistic perception of the world around you.
 
It’s naive to assume nothing could ever occur on Missouri Western campus. It’s this kind of false sense of security that leaves us most vulnerable. People don’t think to themselves their campus is next. It isn’t the nature of tragedy.

In arming our security, we must face an uncomfortable truth. We are not invincible, and our lives are not exempt from the possibility of danger.. If I found myself threatened by a person with a weapon, it would be a joke to send security to save me with pepper spray.

I’d also like to clarify a popular misconception; Missouri Western doesn’t have “rent-a-cops” or mall level security.

The Western department of public safety is a recognized law enforcement agency that employs police officers commissioned through the Missouri department of public safety. These are certified police officers that can legally carry guns every moment of the day, except while at work defending students.

Of all the Missouri universities with commissioned police officers, we are the only school that chooses not to arm our most immediate asset. The result has been 204 calls from Missouri Western DPS to Saint Joseph Police Department for back up in situations they are trained to handle.  We have police officers on campus, but all we allow them to do is give tickets.

Maybe the reputation security has earned for overreacting is a product of their vulnerability.

With the responsibility to assess a situation and determine the possibility of violence upon arriving, their hand is forced. They must err on the side of caution, and call for backup rather then risk a situation escalating beyond their control.

As officers with the right and ability to bear arms, we are denying them the necessary tools to perform their jobs.

As the students, we should put the full force of our support in arming our campus. This is for our own benefit. We aren’t contemplating arming student interns to use other students for target practice. We are safeguarding our campus by taking necessary measures.

It’s easy for us as students to declare that guns are an unnecessary presence. But we are not responsible for the safety of the student body, or required to be in the line of fire while protecting them. Like it or not, as a college MWSU is obligated to take every precaution in defending us. As students’ would we really accept anything less?

Con: 

Guns on campus while thought provoking, unnecessary
Addison Ford

I think that Missouri Western is a safe campus, and I don’t think many people would disagree with that. 

This is thanks in part to Western’s effective Department of Public Safety, and our officers are good at what they do.

However, with the Virginia Tech tragedy during spring semester, some crazy stuff is going down at Public Safety, they now need to be armed. As in, all commissioned Public Safety officers wish to carry guns.

And the scary thing is, it just might happen.

In March of 2006, Western hired a team from LEMAP (Loaned Executive Management Assistance Program) to try and improve Western public safety and their effectiveness at handling incidents that occur on campus. Some will argue that since the formation of this committee predated the Virginia Tech shooting by more than a year that this would have happened anyway. But now, those for guns on campus have much more fear to play off of to convince people who may have been against it before April of this year.

Of the many recommendations that both the LEMAP team and Western’s own Task Force have made, this is by far the craziest, and most unnecessary, of them all.

At Destination Western Freshman Orientation sessions this summer, where I served as an Orientation Leader, public safety even went so far as to add that officers at Western “Aren’t armed. Yet.” during their presentations.

Excuse me? If I had been a freshman at one of those sessions, I would have been horrified. Actually, as a sophomore, I was horrified. Call me an insane liberal, but I don’t think that just because our public safety officers are “real” police officers, they automatically get access to a bright and shiny .45.

 I just hope that I’m not the only student that feels this way. Western officers have NEVER been armed. And you know what? None of them have ever been shot, either. Also, we’ve never had any assault-rifle toting madman go around and blow people away, either. I’m not saying that the possibility isn’t there, but we’ve got plenty of gun-toting St. Joseph PD to take care of that.

To me, higher education is a peaceful atmosphere that is really its own community. If that is true, Western is a safe one, and I think that bad things could happen if Public Safety had guns.

This week, there are open forums for students to voice their opinions about this thought-provoking issue. No matter which way you feel, you should attend one of the forums and let your voice be heard. Even if you believe they should be loaded up with ammunition, go and discuss it with others that feel the same way. This is a topic that affects students directly, so students should affect this decision directly, and it is admirable that student’s opinions were even considered by holding these forums. 

Facilities Director Lonnie Johnson says we should be able to recycle newsprint and magazines in the near future.

Bravo!

Just in case you didn’t catch last week’s story in The Griffon News, this all got started over the summer by Annette Wright, library assistant, and Victoria Sample, Biology Lab Coordinator.
 
The ladies helped spearhead the program by forming an ad-hoc committee and presenting  a campus-wise paper recycling proposal to University President, James Scanlon. He backed it with some funding.

That was followed by support from the SGA as well.

We want to applaud the efforts of all these people. This is a fabulous program and it can lead to Western doing good far into the future.

For now though, don’t put the following into those bins: hanging file folders, newspapers, shredded paper, magazines and catalogs, food contaminated paper, candy wrappers, corrougated cardboard, metal, plastic, styrofoam, photographs and other non paper items.

So could the offices who regularly shred paper and forms  stop shredding and recyle instead?
We love that Western is making a good start on the program. What we’d like to see as we seem to be in competition with Northwest Missouri State on several other fronts -is a recycling program which does more than theirs.

It’s a goal.

But please, pretty please with sugar on top, get the newsprint thing up and running asap.
 
With our readership program scattering newsprint far and wide across campus, it would be nice to have a way to get rid of the clutter once it’s no longer being read.

And you really should see the amount of magazines that funnel through the residence halls every summer when students aren’t around to get their mail. If recycling those can make some difference somewhere we could do a lot of good.

So  hats off for a good start. But please, let’s not wait another decade before moving to the next step.

The firm hired to assist in the search for Missouri Western State University’s next president has begun its work and we’d like to submit some ideas to Dr. Allen E. Koenig, senior consultant with R.H. Perry & Associates (RHPA) and to Patt Lilly, vice chair of the Board of Governors and chair of the search committee.

Things to keep in mind when searching for a new president:

-Be open to women and minorities; be accessible to students as well as your staff and faculty.
 
We’d like to see you once in awhile and feel like we know our president.

-Be ready to address the gap between facets of the student body, like those who live on campus and those who commute or nontraditional students versus the traditional.

The two groups need to be dealt with in different ways. Get people on and off campus to enjoy all of the things that this school has to offer. The more people Missouri Western get involved in campus activities, the more school pride each student will have in the university.
-You need to be able to unite the student body.

-Once that is done, it’s time to move towards building a bridge between the university population and the population of St. Joseph.

Western may be within the city limits of St. Joseph, but St. Joseph could not be called a college town. The community doesn’t support the school much and the school doesn’t do enough to get others interested in what happens around the campus.

We as a campus community need to be part of the community as a whole, and it will take us reaching out first to succeed in getting the community support that schools like Northwest enjoy.

I understand that Northwest is smaller than St. Joseph and there is more to do around this area, but there is no reason why people in this community can’t get excited about campus events in the same way.

 It’s a short enough list, but it’s long on the effort and smarts that will be required to see that list accomplished. So please find us someone who can do the job that best represents us, the students and always has ideas of improving what this school has to offer.

Well the S.S. Missouri Western saw some rats go over the side this summer.

The roster of departures reads: Stan Sweeney, director of student engagement;   Mark Linder, athletic director; Jeff Wilson, director of student employment; Paul Shang, dean of student development; Tim Crowley, counselor and Brett King, director of sports information. 

There’s a right way and a wrong way
Staff

One departure we knew about before the end of the last semester when Dr. James Scanlon announced in May that he would be departing  June 30, 2008.

That was classy.

Giving us a year’s notice, made sure we had the chance to find the best candidate possible and make whatever preparations are required for such a change. 
There was none of this two weeks’ notice before the start of football season, or worse still, sneaking out in the middle of summer.

At least we aren’t Missouri Southern State. Their president Dr. Julio S. Leon resigned Aug. 17 after 15 years—effective immediately.

Lovely.

The other issue here is whether or not it was the employee leaving that was the non-class act or whether it was the administration.

If the powers that be had, oh, we don’t know, sent out a mass e-mail to advise returning students that several familiar faces were gone then we’d have been prepared. This seems like it would’ve been useful in the case of the dean of Student Development.

Not telling us several familiar faces were leaving wasn’t the best way to do things.

No matter where the fault lies, however, the fact remains that it could’ve been managed better.

So the question is, how do we view this?

Are the rats abandoning ship and we should all prepare to drown?

Or is the way being cleared for new blood and a new future?

We’ve considered both and even though we seem to be hearing about more problems university-wise than we had in the past—we’ll take the rosier of those two futures thanks.

We wish nothing but the best to those who’ve opted to leave the Griffon family. We’re sure they will succeed wherever they go—like we’re sure we will succeed.

We have our new university status.

We have new funding promised from the state and now we have plenty of open offices available for new talent.

As to the future, bring it on!

When you come into campus via Faraon like we’ve had to do all summer, there is a lovely sign here, just as some people might normally turn left to get into the student union parking lot entrance 50 feet away. No Left Turn.

So technically, to get into that lot one must drive all the way around the campus to park there.

Occasionally there is a Public Safety officer on hand to light up and flag down those awful malcontents that flaunt the sign and turn left anyway.

Most of the time though, they have better things to do.

So what’s with the sign?

“It’s a temporary measure,” said Buildings Supervisor Brian Harrah. “A way to control the traffic flow while the main entrances to the campus are closed. Also, if one person wanted to turn left, they could hold the line up until we have a traffic jam all the way back to Faraon. This is a way to keep traffic moving.”

Calls to Campus Safety Director Jon Kelly were not returned for comment.

We understand why it’s not enforced. It’s a silly waste of officers time and effort to sit there all day, every day doing traffic stops.

What worries us is that people who need to be in the Student Union will cut through Lot H in order to circumvent the need to drive all the way around campus.

If those drivers aren’t careful, that could be the site of more traffic problems, from fender benders to full on multi car accidents. The people who cut through the lot will likely be those in a hurry and that doesn’t bode well for traffic safety.

So students, watch yourself. With the new year starting, it’s likely that officers will be on hand to enforce the new sign. And in case you haven’t heard, ticket prices are fairly hefty around here. No matter how silly it seems, don’t risk it.

Or perhaps you’ve been having trouble sleeping lately.

Yeah, it’s going around.

Unfortunately, there’s no vaccine for the Finals bug, and the cruel irony is, the more you allow yourself to stress out, the more cause for stress you have. Negativity is a sure way to drain yourself, physically as well as mentally, during a week that demands students perform at their peak in these areas.

For that reason, it is essential for us to stay positive in our approach to finals week, as well as do what we can to take care of ourselves.

There are many ways we can keep our minds and bodies ready and able to survive this last push at school, but often you will see students doing the exact opposite.

It is important to structure your time. Procrastination costs you valuable time and forces cramming, which is also an issue.

It is recommended that students study no more than two hours at a time. Any more than that and you stop retaining the information you’re so desperately trying to hold on to.

Structure your time, and study the hardest things first.

People tend to remember the things they study first and last the best.

That’s another reason to take breaks during study time. You tend to be a little fuzzy on the stuff you studied in the middle.

Another common mistake students make is loading up on caffeine.

If you’re downing energy drinks at 3 o’clock in the morning, your mind is not operating at optimal performance, and the likelihood is that it won’t be for your test tomorrow, either. Put down the espresso and get some sleep!

A rested mind and body is more likely to remember the things you actually did have time to study.

That means don’t go out and party this week. Stay at home and skip the hangover.

Also, be sure you’re eating regular meals, and try to avoid the greasy stuff. It just bogs you down.

There are many pieces of advice given to college students to help with finals, but it all comes down to being good to yourself.

It makes no sense that you would abuse your mind and body for days on end and they would reward you by performing their best.

Treat your body well, and it will return the favor.

Self-portraits and videos of the killer have flooded the Internet and splashed across television screens worldwide.

We have worn ribbons and joined Facebook groups in memory to mourn the victims, all the while wondering why.

As we move forward in time, we will heal. But before we become too complacent, let us remember who we are.

Or rather, who we are not.

We are not students in a high-security facility with thorough background checks of incoming students.

That may not even be a feasible solution given budgets and time restraints.

We currently only have the same kind of e-mail system in place as Va. Tech, along with a few police cars with public address capabilities and a plan in the form of a phone tree.

There are plenty of loopholes in the security on this, or any campus. But we must remember that security usually comes at the price of fewer liberties. Choosing between the two is never easy. It wasn’t after Columbine or 9/11, and it won’t be now.

The only way to be completely safe from negative outside influences would be to spend our lives in solitary confinement. There is a certain amount of risk that comes with the liberty and rights we hold so dear.

That being said, you never really know if you’re safe.

How well do you know your suitemate?

How about your lab partner?

Or the kid in your class that never says a word?

Let us not be lulled into a false sense of security. St. Joseph is not immune to evil, nor are we immortal. The powers that be have a responsibility to do everything possible to keep us safe and alert us if there should be danger. Virginia Tech was a wake-up call showing the importance of immediate communication between school administrators and students.

Also, as individuals, we have accountability for our own well-being, as well as the safety of others. Many stories emerged from this tragedy of people who had that extra moment to think and acted in ways  that saved lives — some losing theirs in the process.

No matter how dire the situation may seem, there is always something that can be done.

It’s easy to point out what could be better and whine about things you have no influence on. It’s human nature.

But the fact is, there are some areas where Western really excels, and it would do the student body good to take notice. There are some reasons to be proud of our university.

Among those reasons is our excellent applied learning program, and the multitude of opportunities do get our hands dirty in our field of study.

Students at Missouri Western really have a leg up on the competition when it comes to getting marketable experience. From The Mochila Review to internships, from research projects with professors to study abroad opportunities, students here are given a variety of opportunities not afforded to students at every college.

The administration has wisely made it a goal to involve every student in some sort of hands-on learning experience before the individual graduates.

Western is not satisfied with having students who are simply able to sit through lectures and regurgitate memorized facts.

We are to be experienced, knowledgeable graduates, ready for anything the post-graduation world might throw at us.

That is the goal, anyway. Finding ways to keep students involved in the world around them instead of buried in books is a testament to the dedication to continual improvement of the opportunities offered here.

This year alone, there are nine class trips scheduled, Fulton said. Of those, three traveled over spring break to London, Paris and Belize. Shortly after spring break, another class went to New York (see stories on pages 4, 5 and 6).

The Study away program is one of four forms of hands-on experience for students that define Western’s hallmark Applied Learning aspect, said Jeanne Daffron, dean of professional studies and vice-president of student and academic affairs (see story page 7).

The advantage to students who study away is the opportunity to combine classroom learning with a trip away in order to enrich the learning experience. Fulton said that studying away is not a new concept at Western.

“Individual trips have existed quite a while,” she said. “There has been a group travel to Mexico for the past 25-26 years.”

However, with the newly organized Study Away Program, the mission is to have more one, two and three week trips, as well as to send students for full semesters, Fulton said.

“All separate trips will be brought together in a unified fashion with similar rules,” she said.

A veteran at study away, biology professor David Ashley has taken five groups, including one over spring break, to Belize. But with new organization comes new requirements.

“There were more specific logistics requirements for this trip than earlier trips, yet they were not overwhelming,” Ashley said. “I understand the rationale for the procedures, and I admire Karen Fulton being willing to step up and make this a much bigger program.”

Study Away classes meet on campus for the entire semester and enroll a maximum of 15 students. If the instructor has the assistance of another faculty member during the trip, enrollment could exceed 15. Fulton said that that so far, all students who have wanted to study away have been able to go.

Students are responsible for paying registration fees associated with the number of credit hours that a particular course meets, books that may be required materials and fees to cover travel costs, which vary depending on the destination.

Students register for their class through Western and pay fees according to Western’s fee schedule; however, their expense for the semester remains hefty at nearly $6,200 for the least expensive location. However, students are encouraged to apply for scholarships and grants that can help pay with these costs.

To travel, a valid U.S. passport is required. Fulton said that students receive information on how to obtain their passport through the U.S. Post Office and are encouraged to do so as soon as possible after registering for their class.

Students are also required to have proof of health insurance in order to travel. If students do not have private health insurance, there is special insurance available to them for a fee through the Student Services Office to cover them should they become ill or injured while away from home.

Gov. Matt Blunt has wooed us with whispers of increased financial aid for the needy college student, and he’s making it happen.

Blunt has a vision to help Missourians keep and enjoy the money we’ve earned, “…by giving every child in Missouri an education that will serve as the first rung on a ladder to achieving their own prosperity and a bright future.”

Blunt’s recent scholarship initiatives have the potential to take a good education from a dream to a reality for many students who would otherwise lack the finances to attend college.

For example, his Lewis and Clark Discovery Initiative will provide another $25 million for student scholarships, which will increase the total for need-based scholarships from $27.5 million to $72.5 million.

Recently, the Governor talked to Missouri Western about the new Access Missouri scholarships that he is trying to set in stone for us. Access would sky rocket financial aid to include over eight times the number of students currently benefiting.

The citizens of this wonderful country are used to empty promises from teachers, bosses, parents and politicians, and how refreshing to see a change!

It’s nice to have someone representing our state who cares about students in St. Joseph.

For that reason, many students will now be able to attend Missouri Western on scholarships when they may not have the greatest GPA.

Thank you Gov. Blunt for using your authority to make life better for the little guys.

Well, one motivation for students to read is in jeopardy thanks to critics now speaking out. Pizza Hut’s Book It! program has found itself under fire as of late, being accused of using teachers as corporate advertisers and worsening childhood obesity.

“In the name of education, it promotes junk food consumption to a captive audience… and undermines parents by positioning family visits to Pizza Hut as an integral component of raising literate children,” said Susan Linn, a Harvard psychologist and co-founder of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood.

While, yes, childhood obesity is a serious problem that necessitates action, could a reading program such as Book It! be to blame?

Yes, Pizza Hut does push its product via the program. It’s easy to see when you consider that a fourth grade student is not going to drive himself to pick up his pizza. His parents are bringing him and will often buy something for the rest of the family. Those in favor of the program see families eating together at all as a positive thing. Families today rarely have time to share a meal together, so when they do it should be encouraged, no matter where they’re eating.

Critics, on the other hand, say that Book It! creates an atmosphere that pressures parents to feed their kids junk food. Everyone has a legitimate concern regarding this issue, but could we be missing the point completely?

When was the last time you heard of a child becoming obese from having a personal pizza every month? If the kid has an otherwise healthy diet, it’s not going to happen unless there’s some medical problem.

Americans love to play the victim and parents especially have a tendency to blame The Man for little Junior’s biting, dishonesty problem, swearing or obesity.

Sure, institutions influence us all tremendously, but our families should influence us more.

We live in an imperfect world full of imperfect people and our youth will be somewhat tainted because of it. That’s just life. But if parents will take the time to play an active role in their kids’ lives, some of the damage could be minimized.

It’s true, Book It! encourages kids to eat high-calorie food in small quantities once a month. But don’t point your finger at Pizza Hut. At least the kids are reading. No, point the finger at the parents who don’t have the wisdom to teach the kids how to care for their bodies. If a child doesn’t have that foundation, then when they are presented with an opportunity like a pizza party, it won’t be a big deal because a body that’s treated well in general can handle the kind of abuse pizza is. Now go make your kid a salad.

The Griffons fell to Texas A&M Commerce in the second round of the tournament by one point in the last second of the game 73-72.

The Griffons took the lead with less five seconds left on the clock and were ready to celebrate an exciting victory until Commerce raced down the court and passed the ball to open player under the basket.

The ball fell in the basket, then the crowd went quiet. They all watched as Commerce jumped all over the court after pulling off an upset of the No. 1 seed on their home floor.

Commerce went on to play Washburn and beat them by one point as well. The Commerce team beat Washburn, Missouri Western and Emporia State in their region of the tournament.

Judy Shepard saw the truth up close and personal when her son was beaten to death out of hatred for his lifestyle.

She’s seen it, and she’s doing something about it.

Judy travels the country speaking on “The Legacy of Matthew Shepard,” in order to empower people to put a stop to discrimination and to help “Erase the Hate.”

Sometimes it takes hearing a story like the Shepard’s to realize how deeply hatred and prejudice is embedded in much of America.

So often you see people making gross generalizations or using stereotypes to judge others who are different.

People who are different endure stares and mockeries, seemingly the price to be paid for individuality.

We can express ourselves, but only in certain, socially acceptable ways.

If one should stray from those ways, the individual risks being ostracized, labeled, overlooked or, in Matthew’s case and many others, killed.

Oh yes, Western. Discrimination is alive and well in our country.

In our town.

On our campus.

Some of you reading this have felt firsthand the effects of hatred in those around you.

Some of you are afraid of what you do not understand and do everything you can to stay away from that which is different.

Some of you know that you are a homophobe, a racist, a bigot, but would never admit it.

Some of you have the audacity to wear your ignorance on your sleeve.

Some of you have no idea what this column is about because you refuse to acknowledge the truth. Discrimination is like a rumor you refuse to verify.

Will you dare to open your eyes and see it?

Even more scary: when you do recognize it, will you dare do something about it?

Or will you sit idly by?

Let us learn to see the injustice and prejudice that is all around us and do what we can to erase it.

As the human race, we should be working together to conquer difficulties, not creating difficulties by fighting each other.

All people, be they gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or straight, is special, unique and deserving of respect and dignity from all humankind.

No matter what you were taught, how you feel or what your friends think, do the right thing.

Love the guy that sits next to you in chemistry.

Love the girl in accounting.

As Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young would have it, “love the one you’re with.”

Whoever is standing in front of you at any given moment, that’s the one you’re to love and respect.

And only a two-faced individual will act any differently when the person you were treating well turns her back.

If we all start loving the one we’re with, hatred will start dying and people will stop.

So, when you sit down this paper, start finding ways to respect people. You may find respect coming right back to you.

If Madonna is the queen of reinvention, Christina Aguilera is surely the princess. In her relatively short career, she has gone from a Britney-battling, teen pop queen, to a Dirrty girl in leather chaps, to a sophisticated, welldressed diva.

Performing songs from her most recent album, 2006’s “Back to Basics,” plus a few numbers from past albums, Christina took concert goers on a nostalgic, entertaining, sexy trip at the Kansas City stop of her Back to Basics tour on Feb. 24 at Kemper Arena.

The first stop was the 1940s, where she opened the show with a blazing rendition of “Ain’t No Other Man,” the first single off “Back to Basics,” wearing a slim-cut white pantsuit and fedora, designed by Roberto Cavalli, who is responsible for the many costumes Aguilera utilized throughout the night. Earlier in the tour, Aguilera’s wardrobe came under scrutiny by the animal rights activism group, PETA, for the use of fur. Aguilera claimed to be unaware that real fur was used and immediately discontinued its use on her tour.

In keeping with the 1940s theme, Aguilera performed big-band era renditions of past hits, such as “What a Girl Wants” and “Can’t Hold Us Down.” In keeping with the retro look and feel of her most recent album, Aguilera paid homage to blues and jazz greats, such as Billie Holliday and Duke Ellington during her performance of “Back in the Day” with prerecorded vignettes, which appeared on a screen behind her.

Halfway through her set, Aguilera transformed herself from a juke joint-era songbird to the ringleader in a circus of sequins and feathers. The circus stage set was complete with trapeze artists high above the stage on swings, flame-throwers and performers on stilts. Aguilera changed roles yet again, almost as fast as she’d assumed them, emerging as a sex-kitten dominatrix, clad in black sequins, donning a whip. It was then that she and several female dancers pulled one lucky male fan from the audience and strapped him to a “torture wheel” as they proceeded playfully dancing around and prodding him with whips, while Aguilera serenaded him, ending the number in a blaze of pyrotechnics.

During the fan favorite, “Dirrty,” Aguilera rode atop a crimson-and-gold carousel horse while male and female dancers alike writhed on poles, reminding fans of her bad-girl past. In another throwback to her wilder years, Aguilera poked fun at the media attention her so-called “clean up” attracted, with faux newspaper headlines flashed on a screen behind her during her performance of “Still Dirrty.”

Aguilera pulled out yet another fan favorite, with her solo rendition of “Lady Marmalade,” proving that she doesn’t need Lil Kim, Pink, Mya or Missy Elliott to carry her, as Aguilera made concert goers forget the original was not a solo performance. During this number, Aguilera transformed herself and the stage, yet again, taking concert goers to a New Orleans bordello, complete with Aguilera ascending from underneath the stage on a boldly colored fainting sofa, adorned with pillows as dancers fanned her with large pink feathers.

Although Aguilera was busy setting the scene for her audience, they were not left bored, waiting for what would come next. Aguilera employed a staff of musicians and dancers who kept concert goers entertained with instrumental numbers and elaborate dance productions between songs. Although she was busy performing and changing in and out of costumes, this isn’t the only way Aguilera kept her fans in mind. Throughout the show, Aguilera thanked fans for their ongoing support, proving to be more gracious host than demanding diva.

Another highlight of Aguilera’s performance was a high-energy rendition of her most recent single, “Candyman,” a swinging, sexy, Jitterbugging take on the classic, “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.” During Aguilera’s dynamic performance, she and her dancers donned retro nautical-themed costumes as swing dancers jumped and danced on tabletops set up around the stage.

As with any of Christina’s performances, the highlight of the evening was the empowering anthem, “Beautiful,” and this show was no exception. It was clear from the first notes why Aguilera chose to save this dynamic number for the encore. Christina emerged before fans one last time, not in an over-the-top designer costume but dressed down in a red, oversized tuxedo shirt and untied bowtie. The over-thetop, no-holds-barred final piece of the evening was “Fighter.” Those in the audience not singing along and dancing to this number must have been dead, because it was definitely one of the stronger performances of the already amazing show.

Christina’s openers for the evening included the P. Diddy manufactured Danity Kane, from the MTV television show, “Making the Band.” The performance left some to be desired but little to the imagination, and it was obvious they hadn’t had the experience of the other two performers or the vocal talent. Concert goers seemed confused as to what exactly the girls were trying to accomplish, until the group’s final number, a puzzling rendition of their one and only single, “Showstopper.”

Immediately before the headline act, the entertaining Pussycat Dolls came out and rocked Kemper, reminding audience members of their burlesque roots with sultry and tantalizing

dance numbers, backed by surprisingly impressive vocals. The Pussycat Dolls, featuring Kansas City’s own Kimberly Wyatt, were a great compliment to Aguilera’s performance. If the Pussycat Dolls were great, Christina was magnificent.

With this album and tour, Aguilera proved that she can move with the times, which instantly brings to mind another female pop-star chameleon: the inimitable Madonna.

Aguilera put on a great show and proved that a concert in 2007 is so much more than a mere concert. It was a spectacle to behold and a pleasure to watch and be a part of.

The show had everything—dancers, insane colors, and a giant, pulsating screen behind the stage—all of which made for not just a pop show, but a full-on production, and a wonderfully entertaining evening.

Would you ever lie to a person to get them into bed?

Would you be less than honest about your job, family, possessions or health?

Three out of 10 men and one out of 10 women reading this article have lied about something in order to seduce the opposite sex, according to The New England Journal of Medicine.

Sixty-eight percent of men and 59 percent of women have been involved with more than one person their current partner doesn’t know about.

One in five Americans is infected with a sexually transmitted disease, and 80 percent of those individuals experience no noticeable symptoms.

At least 50 percent of sexually active men and women acquire genital HPV infection at some point in their lives.

Now, are you sure you’re free of STDs?

It’s a scary question, but the hope is to open your eyes. Medicine has come so far, and we have all kinds of treatments for various STDs.

The Human Papillomavirus (HPV), (you know, the one that 50 percent of us will acquire at some point?) in some cases can cause cancer in infected women and girls.

Now before you start panicking, take a deep breath.

You’re only a doctor’s visit away from peace of mind, or being brought back to health.

The best way to keep yourself from getting a bad report from the Doc is to take a proactive role in your health.

For women to stave off cervical cancer that can be caused by HPV, they can receive the vaccine called Gardasil.

Unfortunately, Gardasil is not yet covered by insurance, and it will cost you a pretty penny. It’s $130 per shot, and the treatment consists of three shots in a span of six months. If you have $390 just sitting around, that works out just fine…but what about the rest of us?

Thirty thousand girls and women in Missouri will be able to receive the vaccination at no charge, thanks to an $11 million grant from The Missouri Foundation for Health to keep women free of cervical cancer.

If you would like more information on HPV, the vaccine, its availability or your eligibility to receive the vaccine for free, contact your primary care provider.

And remember, the only one who can protect you…is you!

Be responsible and take care of your body.

The majority of us will graduate with about $10,000 of loans, and many will have more oppressing financial burdens than that.

The idea of the “poor college student” is fairly embedded in the American psyche, but when those poor students graduate, their debt load makes them poor college graduates, which is a little more troublesome.

Cars, computers, homes, education… we feel that these are all necessities, but we tend to have an extremely nonchalant approach to taking out loans and paying with credit
cards.

If we do realize what a financial mess we are creating, we generally feel there’s nothing we can do about it and ignore it as long as possible.

We make minimum payments on our credit cards and wait to pay off our student loans until we graduate, and it’s absolutely necessary.

The common mistakes we make and shrug off as a typical part of growing up can cost us big time in the long run.

Your credit score is one of the most important assets (or hindrances) to a young person who is ready to build her life.

Buying a house or a wedding gown will almost, without fail, require you to have a decent credit score.

So, for the sake of your future, start paying on your student loans now, even if you don’t have to.

Make sure you make any payments on time. Take an active role in controlling your finances now, and in the future, or you’ll likely find them controlling you.

If the Chiefs were to come to St. Joseph, it would bring money into St. Joseph through tourism and throw a ton of money into the sports program here at Missouri Western.

It would instantly make Missouri Western one of the best sports schools in division two. The facilities alone would make sports atmosphere awesome not only for the Chiefs but for the students at the school as well.

—

The Extreme Team came to Missouri Western this weekend and performed at halftime of the men’s and women’s basketball games on Saturday. The crowd went crazy as they dunked their way into the Griffons fans hearts. Kids and parents showed up just to see the shows that they put on at halftime.

The similarity is that we the students are not as involved with the major decision making around campus that students are affected by.

For instance, the SGA has roughly $500,000 of the student’s money at its disposal. It would behoove the students to be as active as possible in the decision-making process that affects them. SGA has put out a call for more student senators to participate in the governing process.

This is an obvious cry for help. The student government needs help and the opinions of those who are under it.

Poor attendance, and lack of people willing to participate to get the job done, has crippled our governing body.

How can ideas become reality when no one is investing in the idea?

Our student government could be so much better and stronger if the students would participate in it and help with the many committees that are designed to take care of the student body.

The student government needs a diversity of people with different opinions and ideas.

Otherwise, there is a tiny group of people making decisions for the approximately 5,000 students that attend Western and give money to the SGA. Is this fair that someone who doesn’t represent your ideas make decisions in regard to how the students are governed and what is done with the half million that is budgeted each semester?

It is far past time for Missouri Western students to step it up in a big way. When the student government is calling out for help, it is imperative that the least we do is go to the meetings and ask, “What can I do?” Just being a warm body sitting at a table does no good. Active participation is key and desperately needed for an effective government that is represented by the students.

Also, students complain about the lack of events around campus that they want to go to; however, they refuse to join the one organization that provides the majority of campus events. CAB should have the most people in it to help and organize the campus events.

Recall the days of yore (for a few of you), when Sylvester Brandon was SGA president and the campus changed. CAB hosted Hoobastank, and the students were pleased with the government and the events that were held for them.

This can happen again with help from a student body that cares about leaving a legacy and not just obtaining a degree or seeing how many parties they can attend.

In short, get involved Missouri Western.

It is rumored that Phil is more than 100 years old. The townspeople claim that he has outlived most mammot’s normal lifespan thanks to his wife Phillis and a steady diet of Groundhog Punch.

For the better part of the year, Phil lives in a climate-controlled home at the Punxsutawney Library. On his big day he is taken to Gobbler’s Knob and placed in a heated burrow underneath a simulated tree stump on stage before being pulled out at 7:25 am to make his prediction.

In the near future, new graduate programs will be in place as an option for the students.

There will be a Master’s Degree in Applied Science, which will boast three different branches: chemistry, human factors and usability testing and information technology management.

Since officially becoming a University, Missouri Western has taken even greater strides to improve the environment and education it provides.

We’ve got snazzy new benches in the hallways, we’ve got a Quizno’s and now we’re proud to show off our newest babies: graduate programs.

Everybody knows that Western has a morale problem amongst its students.

We like to complain about everything we see wrong.

We like to play armchair quarterback and say how we’d do it differently. Better.

However, when you consider the funding and resources this University has, we made the most of what we have…and that’s something we can be proud of.

So congratulations, Missouri Western, on another step in the name of progress.

Keep up the good work!

It’s a good reason to celebrate, right?

One should think so.

However, it could very well be that a glaring problem is lurking in the details of this change.

Our university will be out an unexpected $240,000 for the next two semesters combined.

The question of the hour is, “Where will that huge chunk of money be coming from?”

Will students’ hours be cut?

Will students’ jobs be eliminated?

Will students’ tuition increase?

It’s difficult to say, since there were seemingly no preparations made to deal with the increase.

Western’s administration has said that they are trying to scoop up the surplus from different departments across the campus.

That’s a good idea, but it’s hard to imagine $240,000 just lying around on this campus.

It is fairly certain that we, the student body, will in some way pay for this blessing we have received.

Missouri Western does have a reserve account, created for just such a situation, however apparently that’s not being looked at as an option.

Why would they not tap into the reserve? It’s not fair that students should suffer because of legislature that was meant to help us?

Administration, please do everything in your power to keep from cutting our hours and jobs.

And you know very well that we wouldn’t like another tuition increase.

We know this financial challenge was unexpected, but that’s why you’ve been putting our money in reserve.

The women’s basketball team held onto their undefeated status when they faced Truman on Saturday, Jan. 6.

Western beat Truman 81-73 and keep their 14-0 record.

They are also nationally ranked no. 8 in NCAA Division II Coach’s Poll.

Truman fell in ranking 6-6 and 0-4 in league play.

The game against the Bulldogs was no nail-biter. The Griffons started out with a 14- point lead and by halftime they were trailing the Bulldogs. Western fought back in the second half with a 13-2 run against the Bulldogs sealing the deal.

Ashleigh Curry led the Griffons with a team-high of 19 points. Curry went 8-of-19 from the floor and 2-for-2 from the free throw line. Inga Buzoka added 19 points and seven rebounds.

Junior forward Jill Johnson led he Griffons on the boards with 13 points.

Truman was led in scoring by Georgia Mueller with a game-high 29 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.

The Griffons will face the University of Central Missouri Wednesday evening in the Multipurpose Building on the campus of UCM. Tip-off is at 5:30 p.m.

———–

Western men taken by Truman

Western men’s basketball team was no match for the Truman Bulldog’s team. They were overtaken in Saturday night’s game with the end score bing 74-60 in the MWSU Fieldhouse.

The loss dropped Western in ranking to 8-5 overall and 3-1 in the MIAA.

The first half of the game, the Western and Truman men toggled back and forth with neither team gaining more than 5 points on the other. But in the second half Truman gained a lead that Western couldn’t break.

Western had four players with double figure scoring, junior guard Joe Manthe led the team with 14 points. Junior center Jay McFarland and senior guard Rickey Quarels each had 10 points. Western will travel to the University of Central Missouri on Jan. 10 to take on the Mules.

The days are beginning to lengthen, we’ll have new classes and challenges, we’ll meet new people and hopefully make new friends.

Nature will awake and all creatures will shed their winter coats, although we humans never got to wear ours much because of the unseasonably warm winter we’ve had.

It almost didn’t seem like Christmas without the earmuffs and mittens, but the holidays have come and gone regardless of the Missouri weather.

Many people suffer from seasonal depression during the winter, no doubt from the lack of sunlight, but the climax of the holidays surely plays into it also.

We are so excited for months before Christmas, and then in a matter of 24 hours, it’s over.

The excitement is gone.

Sure, we have fun new toys to play with, but there are no more surprises to be had, no more decorating to be done, no more Christmas cards to write.

That which lies before us now is not holiday cheer.

It is potential.

Every Jan. 1, humanity is given a chance to try again.

We all love to set New Year’s resolutions, but please be careful.

Try to set achievable goals for yourself.

Look at yourself honestly, examine your past behavior, and ask yourself what improvements you can realistically achieve.

Without taking a moment for self-analysis before declaring you will lose 100 pounds in 12 months, you are setting yourself up for not only failure, but likely disappointment and perhaps depression.

So embrace the changes of the new year.

Embrace the changes in you.

Just be wise in dealing with yourself.

This movie is about Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio) who is a mercenary in South Africa searching for diamonds. Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou), a fisherman, who is also in search of a diamond of great value and his son who has been kidnapped. Both men are searching for the same diamonds from the same man in a deadly diamond trade. The two men end up unwilling pairing up together on a journey that could change theirs lives. This film comes out in theatres on Dec. 8.

—

The Pursuit of Happiness
(rated PG-13, Drama)

Chris Gardner (Will Smith) is a 30-year-old man who finds himself jobless and homeless with a young son. They live end up living in a train station while he tries to find a job. He ends up training at a brokerage and rises to the top of the corporate ladder. After fighting all of the odds, he becomes partner and owner of his own firm. This film is based on a true story; it comes out in theatres Dec. 15.

—

Breaking and Entering
(rated R,Drama)

In this movie, Jude Law is an architect in London at the top of his game. One night changes his life, when a Muslim thief breaks into his office. Now his life and worldview are a challenge to him. This film is in theatres Dec. 8.

—

The Nativity Story
(rating pending, Drama)

Mart (Keisha Castle-Hughes) and Joseph (Oscar Isaac) are to travel to Bethlehem. They are to be married, so she is a virgin, but is pregnant with child (Jesus). The couple goes through trials with people not believing that she is pregnant and that an angel told her she would bare a son while she is still a virgin. This movie takes the Bible story of Mary and Joseph and shows how hard it was for them to travel to Bethlehem safely; in theatres Dec. 1.

—

The Holiday
(rated PG-13, Comedy)

Amanda Woods (Cameron Diaz) lives in Los Angeles, California and Iris Simpkins (Kate Winslet) lives in London, England. The two live 6,000 miles a part but have the same problem with cheating men. They meet over the Internet and decide to trade houses, cars, everything during the Christmas holiday. They both end up finding a guy in the other country, but have to return to their own home after the holiday. This movie also features Jude Law and Jack Black. This film will be on theatres Dec. 8.