Rodney Roberts, President of the Gentlemen of Color Association, actually came up with this idea through his mentorship with Isaiah Collier, director of Greek Life at Missouri Western. Isaiah kind of pointed him in this direction by telling him Western really needed leadership initiative, especially for males on campus.

Roberts began building this organization the first week of school and started spreading the word around campus.

“I started this so black men could get more involved on campus, to just all around better themselves. You see so many guys acting out on campus. We’re not saying ‘Don’t have fun,’ but we want to help them understand that you are now in a collegiate environment so you kind of need to behave as such,” Roberts said.

This is the first semester for the GCA. Roberts said they are focused on building up the members; They began by giving men on campus the information for upcoming financial seminars and professionalism seminars. The group meets on Thursdays at 8:30.

“We have five freshman members and our main goal was to prep them into becoming leaders, not only for themselves but for the campus,” Roberts said.

“Next semester we are going to actually bring those five freshmen to different schools to mentor but we first want to build them up into becoming a mentor, teach them what they need to know to be good leaders.”

In order to be a part of the Gentlemen of Color Association, you have to attend two consecutive meetings and be voted in by the rest of the members. The GCA also has a strict dress code, as members have to dress professionally. When they attend the meetings, members are encouraged to bring paper and a pen and be prepared to take down any information given to them.

They do a lot of hands on work and are very supportive with each other. They make sure they are there for each other, ready to chip in and help.
Dillon Williams also helps Rodney and he’s involved in with a lot of campus activities already.

“I think being involved with different things on campus helps the young men in the GCA just have a look at what it looks like to help and be an asset on campus,” Williams said.

Roberts said that the meetings are going extremely well, and that he’s seeing a lot of progress through our men. The GCA has five active members, Donovan Gilliam, Jared Potter, Creshawn Mcgridder, Cameron Michaels and Jordan Fitzgerald.

“They are just teaching us how to become gentlemen and how to take care of business. This has helped me a lot as a man. It helped me the most with being in order, just being able to be organized with things better,” Gilliam said.

Gilliam has performed many concerts in the past and he actually just performed at the WAC Fashion Show. Mcgridder has landed his first job in St. Joseph and will be staying over the summer to work. Michaels actually won Mr. Black Student Union. Gilliam, Potter and Michaels actually started the Lacrosse Club, the first one Western has had in over 10 years.

“We really pushed them to actually follow through with what they want to do, not just say they want to do something, but to actually go and do it,” Roberts said. “We are just proud of our young men.”

Plaza 8′s general manager Joshua Hall takes a load off as he takes in the lobby.

When it comes to a night out at the movies, Saint Joseph citizens have very few places to go. They can go to Hollywood 10 Theater where they’ll get to see the newest film for a hefty price or they can go to Plaza 8 Theater, where they can finally see that movie they never got around to seeing when it was first released or relive some old school movie memories from their pasts on the weekends. Joshua Hall, who has been Plaza 8′s general manager for the past two years, is ready for people to see this theatre for the gem that it really is and always has been.

“In 5 years, I want to own the Plaza outright and hold a ceremony for that name as we remodel the bathrooms and put a nice set of color coordinated paints all over the place,” Hall said. “And then when everyone drives past that spot on the middle of the Belt, they’ll see ‘The Theater’ and they’ll see teenagers hanging out. They’ll see college age folk getting a night out they can afford, they’ll see families sharing in a myriad of magical experiences together, they’ll see adults and children alike. They’ll see lights shining in the night, every single night.”

Luckily for Hall, there are people in Saint Joseph that share his dream. For Western alumni Jes Baltezor, Plaza 8 will always hold a special place in her heart.

“Plaza 8 has always been nostalgic for me because it was the place that I saw some of my first films on the big screen,” Baltezor said. “One of my first memories is going with my dad to see Beauty and the Beast, so every time I thought of my first relationship with cinema, the Plaza 8 was always the frame of reference.”

It is this love of cinema that Hall hopes to bring back to Plaza 8 with the direction he wants to take the theater in. He knows that it’s an uphill battle, but he’s not shying away from the elbow grease required to return Plaza 8 to its original glory. To get through college, Hall ran an arcade. Then he helped fix up a local dinner theatre. And it was in acts like these that Hall found what he was passionate about. After college, he spent a lot of time chasing after dreams that he thought he ought to have, based on his degree, instead of dreams that he actually had.

“Douglas Adams wrote ‘I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.’ Why do I love my job? Very few people get a second chance at first loves, it’s no more ‘running an arcade’ than it is ‘running a theater,’” Hall said. “I’m a curator, a historian, a party host, the keeper of precious things and a scientist that understands the magic of moments when time stops. I deal in the intangibles and nothing’s better than sending everyone home happy with something that lasts longer than physical things.”

The theater has become a sort of home for Hall, who has a plethora of ideas to freshen it up and make the movie-going experience at Plaza 8 more enjoyable. He wants to fix up the concession area in the back of the theatre, an area that hasn’t been utilized since the 90s. He wants to put an all-you-can-play retro arcade into one of the pre-existing theaters and rip out the seats in another to install couches and a DVD projector so he can run sporting events and television shows there. On the weekends, Hall is already showing classics like The Rocky Horror Picture Show, E.T., and The Goonies. And the locals can’t get enough of these decade-old favorites.

“With the economy the way it is, it is nice to be able to go see a movie on the big screen and not have to pay a ridiculous amount,” Baltezor said. “And when they show cult classics like Rocky Horror or Night of the Living Dead, there seems to be an unspoken sense of community that you normally don’t see in movie theaters.”

For Plaza 8, the future is bright, and Hall will see to it that the hope of restoring and preserving the theater comes into fruition. He has made this theater his life work and it’s a work he can be proud of. It’s amazing what can happen with a little movie magic.

“I’m excited for the future because the modern times have seen three business models always thrive, churches, bars and theaters,” Hall said. “People want to gather, people want to share. These things won’t change, even in the face of Netflix and online interaction. There will always be a market for spectacle because spectacle is one of the best parts of life.”

Miranda Elder and fiance Tayla Messa met in 2009 and are looking forward to their future together.

As times are clearly changing and the Supreme Court’s ruling of gay marriage nears, we hear the story of the relationship of Miranda Elder and Tayla Messa.

Elder and Messa, who first met in 2009 and were engaged on August 10 of last year, are one of Western’s several gay couples eagerly awaiting the nation’s verdict of the DOMA Act put into effect by former president Bill Clinton.

“We’re both in support of it obviously,” Elder said, “but it’s just a wait and see what happens kind of thing.”

The couple says that there is nothing they as individuals can really do to help further the cause of recognizing gay marriage but wait and hope that soon more states will see why gay marriage should no longer be illegal.

When asked whether she thought it was just a matter of time before the entire country recognizes gay marriage, Messa said, “I think so. You can clearly see from how people weren’t as in support of it before and now it’s starting to increase a lot.”

In support of her argument that the ban on gay marriage is coming to an end, Messa went on to explain that “as the younger generations keep getting elected into office, people will start realizing it needs to change.”

Recent polls show that the support for gay marriage is up, even since as early as this past December. It seems that the more the government and media address the topic, the more people are swayed to the side of lifting the ban on gay marriage.

For Messa and Elder, it was not easy dealing with the opinions of their family when they first told them they were engaged, more of a testament to the fact that though the tides are turning, this country still has a long way to go.

“It was pretty tough at first with my parents,” Messa said. “My dad is a huge conservative but the first time we talked about it, he said ‘I don’t care. I’ll love you no matter what.”

Though it took her mother longer to come around to the idea of her daughter marrying another woman, she too eventually moved towards the side of accepting gay marriage, as now more than half of the country has.

Messa is a student here at Western studying biology while Elder stays home and awaits Messa’s graduation, when she too will return to school.

The couple says they want to be graduated before they’re married, so they have not decided on what year they will get married, but they do have a date in mind.

“We do know the day but that’s kind of a nerdy thing,” Messa said. “It’s April 22 because of Dr. Who. We’re huge Dr. Who fans and Dr. Who gets married on the same day and that’s when time stops.”

Although most of the states in our country do not recognize gay marriage yet, that doesn’t stop partners like Messa and Elder from making plans for themselves and being together. Once married they plan to adopt children and move from Missouri to, by then, a recognizing state. Although the government may be standing in the way right now, this happy couple knows that love knows no bounds and no court ruling or politician can keep them apart.

Elder and Messa got engaged in August of 2012 and they will wed once they both graduate.

Johnson, who is from Pittsfield, Mass., has acted in around 25 plays and musicals, yet music is his first love. He was in the high school band, sings in a barbershop quartet named “Men in Black,” gives voice lessons and says singing overall makes him feel free.

“Singing is like a wonderful, wonderful drug,” Johnson said. “Letting the sound come pouring into my head is a wonderful experience.”

Johnson is back in the spotlight again as he will be taking the stage as Benjamin Barker a.k.a. Sweeney Todd in Western’s production of “Sweeney Todd: Demon Barber of Fleet Street.” The show will take place in Potter Hall and run Thursday, April 11-Saturday, April 13, starting at 7:30 p.m., and will close on April 14 at 3 p.m.

After being convicted of a crime he didn’t commit, sentenced to 16 years in an Australian prison and having his wife and child being taken away from him, barber Sweeney Todd heads back to London to get his revenge on the judge who decided his unfortunate fate.

Sweeney Todd has a “blood lust” because he wants to get back at the people who destroyed what life he had in the first place; during one song in the show, he says “We all deserve to die.”

Johnson said Sweeney Todd has a fear of never restoring the life he once had.

And, as Johnson jokes, “as Yoda would say, ‘Fear leads to anger, and anger leads to the dark side and there you go, now you have Sweeney Todd.’”

This character, Sebastian Smith said, sounds nothing like Johnson.

“Ray’s just a big sweetheart,” Smith, who is playing the character Pirelli, said. “I’ve come to know Ray as this really nice guy, and it’s completely contradictory of Sweeney Todd.”

While Johnson has played the phantom in Western’s “Phantom of the Opera,” as well as Schroeder in Western Playhouse’s “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” he has been able to find his darker side pretty easily as he has given his director chills.

“To see him make that transformation is interesting to watch each night,” Tee Quillin said. “It’s a little frightening at times as a director. There are times when I have to tell him ‘OK, cool, hang tight, pull back, don’t push yourself … we’re just doing this for the blocking tonight, don’t worry about it and he keeps telling me I want to go, I want to do this.

“He’s that type of actor he wants to go, he wants give it everything and he wants it to be perfect now.”

In order to get in the mindset of Sweeney Todd, Johnson said he cannot imagine horrible things that could happen, but recalls losses in his own life, including his dad who died in 2005. He also tries to think about what the character ultimately wants — revenge on the judge.

“Sweeney is a very patient person,” the actor said. “In those moments of waiting, I let it loop — ‘Where’s the judge, where’s the judge, I want him, I want him.’ It spirals and gets bigger and bigger and bigger as it goes, so that definitely helps me pull into some of that more extreme emotion.”

In most ways Sweeney Todd will be nothing like Johnson.

However, he still finds a way to connect to the character in a positive way.

“As for as angry and as vicious as people are going to remember Sweeney being, I live in the happiness,” Johnson said, “because once he sets his mind on a task, and as he finds success in his goals, he just loves it and he enjoys everything about his life in those moments. He’s a barber in from way back so when he gets to work and shave someone, he’s the happiest he can possibly be. So for me, it’s those happy joyous moments in Sweeney’s life that make me the most happy and are the most rewarding.”

The great thing about Netflix is that there are thousands of movies to choose from that you can watch instantly. Netflix has a wide range and diverse selection that you can choose from to stream.

“I like Netflix better because there is more of a variety of movies and it is easily accessibly on different game consoles and on Blu-Ray players,” Western student Alex Saxen said.

One of the biggest cons about Netflix is you have to be patient, they do not have all the current seasons of televisions shows available when you want them. They’re always a season behind with the television shows. On top of that, not all movies that are on Netflix are available to stream instantly. With newer films, you generally have to have them shipped to you via mail and return them when you’re finished watching them.

Hulu Plus is just like Netflix to a certain extent. Hulu focuses more on television shows and has a large selection of television shows to watch instantly. New episodes can be watched on Hulu the day after they air. Hulu really excels at having a big selection of television shows to watch. Hulu has roughly twice as many television shows as Netflix does. Hulu also has current seasons, so they are far more up to date with their content.

Student Zack Price said it was really hard to choose but he feels that Netflix has a little bit more to offer, even though he uses and enjoys both services.

A big difference between the two is that Hulu Plus has a very limited selection of movies to choose from. Also, Hulu doesn’t have as many exclusive movies and documentaries as Netflix does. Hulu does have a lot of original shows though, from a web series to a collection of older films or animated shorts.
Similarities between the two are that they both offer a free month trial and then cost $7.99 a month after the free month ends

Stephen Johnson says he likes both Netflix and Hulu Plus. He says that Netflix has good movies but Hulu is like television for college students because you can watch shows that just aired the day before and that gives you the opportunity to catch up on what you missed.

Netflix seems to get more attention from students on campus because although Hulu Plus has way more televsion shows to choose from, students go after watching movies rather than just television shows.

Supporting actress prepares for ditzy role

Professor Quillin has long wanted to direct Sweeney Todd and now, after many long months of preparation, will get the opportunity to showcase his work in the Potter Hall Theatre on April 11-14.

“I’ve been working on it since late July,” Quillin said, “contemplating and putting ideas together in terms of how I wanted it to happen.”

The process for Quillin started long before casting when he would slowly but surely start bringing people into the fold in terms of a production team, including a set designer, costume designer, lighting designer and more.

“We had our first actual production meeting right before Christmas and casted around the middle of November,” Quillin said.

Although he has directed over 20 productions, casting was still a challenge when it came to narrowing down who would play certain roles.

“There were some decisions that sort of made themselves. Some people walked in and did the audition and it was just instantaneous,” he said, “but there were a couple of roles that were difficult decisions because of the ability and talent level.”

Adrienne Collins who plays Johanna, the daughter of Sweeney Todd, says that she knew she wanted the role and had memorized every song for the part even before going into auditions.

“Everyone has worked so hard and we’ve become a family working together on this,” Collins said.

When asked what the most rewarding part of the production is, Quillin said, “The show itself. I’ve had those moments when sitting in the theatre, I’ll look up every now and then and I’ll forget that I’m directing it for a little bit. I have to pinch myself to tell myself it’s true because it’s a show I’ve always wanted to tackle.”

The joy of putting the show together comes with a tiring price for Quillin and his cast and crew. In the weeks following up to the performance, he has been spending 18 hours a week or more in the theatre bringing it all together, and as he puts it, being “the captain of the ship.” While practices have been running from six in the evening to 11 at night for the cast and crew, there is truly no rest for the weary when putting a new twist on Sweeney’s popular character.

“We’re doing a little bit of a different take on Sweeney. Most productions I have seen have approached Sweeney as a serial killer out for blood and that’s it. I think there’s a whole lot more to him than that,” Quillin said. “I think the story was written to show there was a human being that was transformed into something else. So that’s what I wanted to show, that he actually has a level of humanity to him.”

After all the work the cast and crew has put into this, Quillin describes their relationship as having the feeling of old friends, and although there will be a sigh of relief for Quillin and his team, there will also be a feeling of something missing in the days following the final performance.

“There’s always a sort of regret to see something you’ve worked so hard on and put literally blood, sweat and tears into just go away,” Quillin said.

Until then, we can all look forward to the talent-filled production and get a taste of Quillin’s vision of Sweeney Todd. It should be a bloody good show.

Bloody-Disgusting.com

Roger Ebert always said that if a film succeeds at what it practices, it is a good film, whether you like it or not.

The 2013 remake of “Evil Dead” follows that logic, making it a purely phenomenal horror film.

This film is not going to be for everyone. If you are squeamish, I suggest you back away from this blood-fest. Having said that, if you are a fan of horror cinema, this will be one of the best movie-going experiences in your lifetime.

There are certainly issues with “Evil Dead.” The acting isn’t exactly top-notch and there are some minor plot holes, but if you are paying attention to those things in a film like this, you are clearly missing the point.

“Evil Dead” was obviously made out to be a fun experience at the theater and not to be taken seriously. It isn’t so much a film as it is a “love letter” to horror fans.

This love letter is beautifully crafted by first-time director Fede Alvarez, who also co-wrote the screenplay, along with Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody.

Alvarez could have easily taken the cheap way out and just translated the script to film and thrown a dozen buckets of blood at the lens. Instead, he opted to take the audience on a complete, stroke-inducing, thrill ride.

In this version of the cult film,  the story follows a group of friends who go out to a cabin for the weekend to try to rid one of the group’s member of their drug addiction. In the basement of this cabin, they find an ancient “book of the dead” and upon reading from this book, they cast a curse upon their recovering junkie-friend, ultimately leading to a demonic possession.

The difficult thing about remakes is that mostly everyone already knows the story and it’s really hard to pull an audience into a story that they already know the outcome to. What’s great about this particular remake is that it is not dependent upon the twists and turns of the story.

About every eight minutes, audience members will begin to realize that something terrible is going to happen. This usually creates predictability within the narrative, but instead, it produces a feeling of constant anxiety for the audience.

Throw away the fact that this is probably the most nerve-racking horror film that has been put out in about ten years. “Evil Dead” is also extremely well shot and edited.

A lot of modern horror films rely on cheap and predictable jump-scares. There is only one jump-scare in this entire film. This is because they didn’t need them to keep the audience involved. Alvarez remembered that horror films are not about “scaring” your audiences, as much as they are about “scarring” your audiences and making them remember what they saw and hope that they don’t see it again in their nightmares.

The cinematography is just flat-out gorgeous in this gore-fest. A majority of the film is really dark and there isn’t any cinematic lighting until the final scene of the film, but there was a large collection of extraordinary crane shots that proved that this wasn’t just some young kid making some cheap horror film. Alvarez knows what he is doing.

Through and through, “Evil Dead” is easily the most pleasing remake in recent years and easily one of the most entertaining horror films to come out as well.

If you are comfortable with the horror movie environment, go and watch this movie. It will strike you like a drug. You may question your life in the proceeding moments, but you will just be running back for more, and wanting.

Ms. Lovette (Alex Richards) looks into the crown during a music scene of Sweeney Todd.

Johanna is a 16-year-old girl who has had a very sheltered and extravagent up bringing. She’s never really been able to leave home unaccompanied. She has a longing for freedom and she is itching to get out in the world and spread her wings, which really appeals to Adrienne because she says she’s kind of sensing that in her life right now, being a junior in college and wanting to go explore the world on her own.

Adrienne auditioned for Sweeney Todd back in December and the call backs were that same week.

“Basically, I went in and sang Green Finch and Linnet Bird. It’s Johanna’s main song and that’s all they wanted to hear,” Collins said. “I already knew the piece beforehand and had studied the character. It was very smooth. It wasn’t anything daunting or intimidating or anything like that.”

Adrienne says she loves Johanna’s music. She loves who that character is because their lives are kind of playing out in the same way right now.

“At the age 15, 16, or 17 years old, people were married or being courted and seriously persuing marriage, so the fact that Johanna never has had any kind of love interest, I think it has greatly affected her longing of just wanting to get out and be her own person,” Collins said.

When we first meet Johanna, Collins says she seems like a sweet modest woman until she meets a guy name Anythony. Collins said Johanna kind of turns into a Barbie doll or something and falls in love instantly and wants to run away with this man.

“She just has completely lost her mind,” Collins said. ”Johanna is kind of ditsy and ends up at the mad house, so that definatley contributes to it.”

Even though Johanna is a supporting role, Adrienne doesn’t have a ton of lines. The hard part of her role comes with the singing, but it is a challenge she is excited to take on.

“I think the most difficult part was learning the music because the type of songs she sings are tricky.”

Sarah Kovac enjoys her morning coffee while out with her family.

It wasn’t until a couple years ago that Kovac decided to put her story to words. After she won a scholarship to attend a writers and speakers conference in North Carolina in 2011, she fell into the idea of being an author when she ended up signing up for a meeting with a literary agent. To prepare for the meeting, she had to write a formal proposal for her book as well as a couple sample chapters, and she only had two weeks to do it. She was overwhelmed, as she had never so much as seen a book proposal before, but after a lot of coaxing from her husband, she decided to go through with it. Not long after that, she was signed and in search of a publisher. After signing with Abingdon Press, she had a mere four months to work up a manuscript, so in the early hours of the morning, when her young son Ethan was still asleep, she wrote the entire book. The book, entitled “In Capable Arms: Living a Life Embraced by Grace,” will be released on September 17th of this year, which just so happens to be three weeks after the due date of her second child. The book is currently available for preorder through Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.

“Essentially, in my book I recall one or two experiences from each phase of my life and mull over what we can learn through pain, how we grieve, how we might find peace with our own imperfection,” Kovac said. “I will never be everything I’d like to be for my family, never the perfect wife or mom. But my faith in God gives me space to put my trust in His providence when I fail so miserably. To sum it up, my life and my family rest in God’s arms, not mine.”

It is Kovac’s faith that has pulled her through even her darkest days, like the ones where her differences overwhelm her, where she wakes up not feeling so positive about her disability, when life feels too heavy to bear. It is on those days that she lets herself feel every emotion. She cries, she doodles, she writes on her blog. She uses her struggle to inspire others, and ultimately, to inspire herself.

“Struggle is not a four letter word. In this day when we’re so used to instant everything, struggle is sort of a foreign and scary idea,” Kovac said. “But, as painful as it is, struggle will not kill you. Struggle presents you with an opportunity to grow, to be stronger than you would have been if life was easy. Everyone loves the view from the mountaintop. But it’s down in the valley, in the rain and mud, where stuff really grows. Good will come of your struggle, if you let it. Don’t claw out of it too fast.”

 Struggle or not, Kovac knows that her lifestyle is not ideal. There are things she wishes she could do that she will probably never be able to do, and if she had the choice of taking her disability away, she doesn’t mince words in saying what she’d choose.

“My disability has been a source of blessing for me and others, and I am very, very thankful that that’s the case. But this is not how a body is meant to function,” Kovac said. “Arms are meant for cradling babies, big hugs, helping friends move, playing volleyball, swatting away mosquitoes. My feet can only help with so much of that, and really, feet are a poor replacement for hands. The way I’ve adapted isn’t easy on my body, and I worry about the effects as I age. This is my reality, and I choose to be thankful for it, but this disability is a burden I would not bear, if I had the choice. The fact that so much good has come from my struggle makes it much easier to deal with.”

Even more of that good is about to pour out into the world when readers get their hands on Kovac’s book. Penning her life has been a therapeutic process for her, one that she could have never accomplished without the support of her husband Adam, family, and close friends. Her story is as difficult to tell as it is important to hear, and it’s a story that she feels is worth telling.

“Many people have told me that they’ve never seen anyone do life the way I do it,” Kovac said. “But while they’re reading my book, being intrigued by my differentness, it’s my goal to show the reader that no person is that different from anyone else. Joy is joy. Desire is desire. Pain is pain. Across the spectrum of humanity, we feel life the same. The parts of us that make us human are no different in me than they are in my reader. I laugh and cry like everyone else. So more than anything, I want to connect with people through my story. I want to meet with them in those difficult moments and grieve together. I want to show them that they don’t have to try to be someone else. Beauty is here, in this imperfect moment, to be experienced by our imperfect selves.”

Kovac’s book will be released this September in hardcover. For more information, visit sarahkovac.com.

Saoirse Ronan examines herself in the film version of Stephenie Meyer’s “The Host”

“The Host” received almost no media promotion and that was probably because even the studio realized it was a terrible. That also is the reasoning why the film made next to nothing in box office numbers.

At first look, “The Host” has some promising qualities. It stars Saoirse Ronan who earned herself an Oscar nomination for “Atonement” back in 2007, so there was thought of some strong acting at least. That didn’t happen.

The story was reminiscent of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” which deals with the idea of aliens being able to “invade” the bodies of humans on Earth and take them over. This definitely was an intriguing concept and brought hopes for an exciting and thrilling film. That didn’t happen.

There are two problems with this entire story.

The first is that these “aliens” are just played by obvious former male models who have decided that their modeling careers are dead so now they should try acting, because what else do they have left to do with their lives?

The other issue was that they ran with this idea where while the humans are taken over by these “aliens,” the human self can still communicate with the alien through their subconscious. This has potential for some decent tension, but instead of the humans trying to plead with the aliens on how they need to stop terrorizing, they feel the desperate need to talk to them about their “boy problems.” Hello teenage drama.

The pacing in “The Host” is about as slow as a tortoise in a 3-mile hurdle. It’s unbearable at times. There are moments where the story could have  a decent progression, but any hope of that is ruined by Niccol’s pacing of the film. The audience is bored instantly.

What it boils down to is that this is a science fiction story that is dipped into a boiling pot of a teenage love triangle. It is a bleeding ear struggle for an audience member to have to constantly hear “I want to kiss him!” and then “You better not!” and then “I’m going to do it!” This is what Stephenie Meyer called “writing.”

All horrendous storylines aside, there were some slight positives about the film that kept audiences from walking out of the theater. The cinematography was visually pleasing. They played with a lot of blue and golden tones that made for some really beautiful imagery that distracted the audience from the deafening dialogue.

Despite the poor script, Ronan was still able to pull out some nice moments. She has the uncanny ability to make the audience feel for her without saying a word. No script can ruin that raw talent.

“The Host” is for all intensive purposes one of the worst and most disappointing films this year. If you read this review and still feel the need to get in your car, drive to the theater, and waste $10 on this trash, you clearly have a personal problem.

Katie McKnight poses for the camera. *Submitted Photo

Katie says a big reason she loves modeling is because she is able to express herself in such a personal way. She takes the same personal approach with every artistic thing she does, whether it’s song writing, modeling, or creating any other form of art. She feels that expressing yourself through art allows you to be the most naked you could possibly be in front of others. It strips away all of your walls and shows people who you really are.

“The hardest thing for me during a shoot, is to know what you look like, to know what your body position is. It’s difficult to know if what you’re doing is going to look good in a photo,” McKnight said.

Katie chooses all of her outfits herself and does her own hair and makeup, which requires her to be very creative. Katie is really into alternative modeling. She loves the type of shots that are super interesting, that catch the eye right away. Katie has been photographed by very open, artistic photographers, and that is intentional. She prefers photographers who are artistic because they allow her to have more freedom and to do odd things. Although modeling is a big part of her life, she’s not sure it’s her main source of income in the future. She’s worked too hard at Western for that.

“I’d like to continue modeling as long as I can, but in no way would I try to make it my career,” McKnight said.

Katie says that double majoring and working towards a minor is not easy, but she has learned how to balance everything out. The biggest help has been deciding to keep a strict schedule. She keeps not one but four different schedules, so if she forgets one for some reason, she’s got three back-ups. Katie is not able to do much modeling right now because she has so much to do for school and she puts that first.

Katie has been photographed by four or five different photographers, some Saint Joseph based and others based in Kansas City, Missouri. A couple of them seem to think the same of her. Fred Byrd has been a photographer since 2009. He photographed one of Katie’s shoots and had a lot of good things to say about her.

“Katie makes it easier to photograph her because she knows angles, what poses look good and she can go through them really quickly. We have similar personalities. We’re both kind of awkward so it makes the shoots really enjoyable,” Byrd said.

Byrd says Katie contributes to every look. She basically comes up with everything by herself.

“Sometimes I like to give a couple ideas on how I want them to look but normally I just let them do what they do,” Byrd said. “I really liked that she’s gotten out there. It’s kind of hard to get into modeling in Missouri and I applaud her for doing so. She’s very different and she doesn’t make it boring.”

Dansare Marks, another St. Joseph photographer, also photographed Katie. Marks was excited going into the shoot because she knew how beautiful and eager Katie was and how easy Katie would make it for Marks to photograph her.

“It was an absolute joy. I’ve known Katie since we were young, so it was very comfortable spending time with her. She’s incredibly cooperative and is eager to make the shoot as creative as possible. It definitely shows in her poses and facial expressions,” Marks said.

Katie’s creative, different and fun personality makes photographers and the camera love her. Many people may think that a photo shoot is nothing more than just going in and moving around while someone takes pictures of you, but in Katie’s opinion, it’s not the easiest thing to do.

“First, you go in and there’s that awkward moment when you first meet the photographer. While getting things situated, the photographer will usually put on music to make it more comfortable. You’ll get dressed, have your makeup on, and then you stand in a booth and that’s another awkward moment because you don’t know what to do for the first pose. Once you get going, within like five or ten minutes, it becomes almost like dancing. You start to get comfortable and it turns out to be really fun,” McKnight said.

When it comes to modeling, Katie isn’t really doing it for any sort of personal gain. There is a message behind her modeling. She wants to show women that all sizes are beautiful, because beauty isn’t only found outwardly, but it lies within as well.

If you’ve been living under a rock for the last few years, a drag queen is a man who dresses and often acts like a woman for the purpose of entertainment. It’s basically a man personifying a female through make-up and clothes. A lot of people are confused about what drag is. Adrian said that they are still men, just trying to portray an image of a woman. He said they don’t enjoy dressing up as a woman and that they don’t want to be a woman, but that the act of dressing in drag is just for fun and it’s purely an art form.

Adrian first got started after he attended a Halloween event at “The Shaft” night club in downtown St. Joseph where he dressed up as JWoww from Jersey Shore. He said that he felt like he looked pretty good, so that gave him the confidence to sign up for the drag shows. After doing a couple of shows, Adrian fell in love with it.

“It’s just like a second home to me, just being there and having the whole establishment support you, the feeling of being accepted and not having to worry about if someone approves of me or not,” Adrian said.

Adrian said he likes to do drag because he views himself as a very artistic person. Adrian also writes poetry and paints. He said that he loves to do make-up and hair because it’s something he can do to express himself in an artful fashion.

Every third Saturday of the month, “The Villa,” a new nightclub in downtown St. Joseph, hosts a drag show and a ton of people come to see them strut their stuff. Tyler Rhoad, one of the owners of The Villa, is very excited for the upcoming Missouri Western drag show and he is happy that Adrian will be participating in it because he believes he has a presence that the audience will remember.

“Romeo’s biggest strength is his faith in humanity, to push past the ugly and to see the good in all,” Rhoad said about Adrian. “Vivian [Versace] will be in the show and I think people will remember his unique appearance and will be shocked at how amazing the illusion is.”

In a drag show, the men who participate will choose a song, listen to it, and dress accordingly to match the song. It takes a big personality to participate in something like this, which is interesting, because outside of his persona on stage, Adrian is actually a very quiet, shy person. However, Vivian Versace, his drag queen alter ego, is very outspoken with a classy edge. She is more outgoing than Adrian, not to mention much more provocative.

“Vivian is a wild child, ready to party at a drop of a hat,” Rhoad said.

As fun as Vivian’s personality sounds, she only shows up during shows. Adrian said he never dresses like Vivian Versace outside the show. Adrian does his own make up and styles himself. The day of a drag show, Adrian says it usually takes about two and a half hours to get ready.

Preparing for a drag show consists of designing or finding the clothes you want to wear. Normally, the queens show up to a show ready to wing it when it comes to their time on the stage, so they don’t really practice, unless they have a group number that they decide to do together.

For Adrian, the best thing about participating in the drag shows is that he feels he has a place to go where there are people like him and he can feel comfortable and confident about how he looks without anyone judging him.

Fresh out of college, Lara sets out on her first expedition aboard the ship Endurance in an effort to find the kingdom of Yamatai, an ancient kingdom ruled by a queen who held mystical powers. With a crew of engineers and archaeologists, Lara attempts to lead the ship into The Dragon’s Triangle, an area containing brutal storms and harsh waves that are responsible for numerous shipwrecks. Sure enough, the ship succumbs to the violent weather, leaving the crew shipwrecked on a mysterious island. Lara is quickly separated from the rest of the crew and realizes that she is definitely not alone on the island, as mercenaries constantly pursue her.

The game’s biggest flaw doesn’t lie within its story, however.  Rather, it’s the characters that lack any sort of depth. Lara’s voice actor does a fine job, and her transformation from “defenseless archaeologist” to “full-on survivor” is definitely cool (if not a bit sudden). It’s the rest of the crew that fail to deliver. I had a lot of trouble connecting with them and feeling for their cause, mainly because every other sentence that they utter is some form of, “We need to get off of this island.” Their dialogue isn’t great, and when some members of the crew end up getting left behind or lost, I didn’t really care.  On the bright side, this is probably the game’s only notable flaw.

Where the gameplay is concerned, Lara is all about climbing, sneaking and shooting. Platforming (or jumping from thing to thing), is handled incredibly well. Lara’s jumps feel as if they have actual momentum, and the climbing is simple and engaging. You’ll rarely feel frustrated when trying to reach higher areas, because everything works so well in this regard.

Lara will quickly begin to arm herself with a variety of weapons and tools even towards the end of the game. Due to the fact that Lara will constantly be receiving new equipment, you’ll be able to visit and traverse older areas in different ways to find new items for Lara to use. Nearly everything in the game is upgradeable. Lara can find all sorts of salvage in boxes around the island, and even on the bodies of dead mercenaries.  Using this salvage, you can make upgrades to Lara’s arsenal, allowing weapons to reload faster or dish out more damage.  Furthermore, some boxes and soldiers hold weapon parts that Lara can use to increase the amount of upgrades available for a particular weapon.

Lara can also upgrade her abilities through experience gathered from defeating mercenaries to finding hidden items around the island. These upgrades grant her new abilities, such as finding more salvage on a mercenary’s dead body or being able to incapacitate enemies upon dodging their attacks. The amount of customization in this game is unprecedented and incredibly cool.

With all of these weapons and abilities, Lara becomes a competent fighter. She’ll automatically crouch when enemies are nearby, allowing the player to move about the environment largely unnoticed until you either initiate your attack or end up getting spotted. Smart players can even take out enemies without others noticing. When engaged in conflict, Lara will automatically take cover behind any object you attempt to put her behind, which works surprisingly well. Enemies will often try to keep you moving to different cover spots by tossing dynamite your way, which is when Lara’s ability to scramble and roll becomes key to your survival. If enemies get to close, Lara can use a pickaxe, which she acquires fairly early in the game, to stun or even kill them.

Every battle is incredibly exciting, even up to the end of the game, because you’ll almost always be outnumbered and outgunned, but if you use your resources and surrounding correctly, you’ll come out virtually unscathed. In between the firefights and exploration, you can find hidden tombs which will reward you with a ton of salvage, weapon parts and experience upon solving their physics-based puzzles. These puzzles are expertly designed; balancing complexity and solvability beautifully. Needless to say, there’s very little downtime in Tomb Raider.

The graphics and sound design are also phenomenal. Environments are detailed, with various crumbled forts and buildings dotting the jungles and forests that permeate the island. Lara’s animations look great as she climbs tall structures and scrambles to avoid enemy fire. There are a few ugly spots where water is concerned, but they’re hard to notice and easily forgivable given the rest of the game’s fantastic art design. Tomb Raider is easily one of the best looking games to come out on multiple game consoles.

Completing the game should take around 12-15 hours depending on your level of play, and once you’re done, you can freely roam the island to find hidden treasures or upgrade the rest of Lara’s skills and guns. I, personally, am not one to go back and collect everything in a game, but Tomb Raider was so good that I felt compelled to seek out remaining tombs and unearth hidden items upon completion of the game. There are also enemies that still roam around the areas, so you’re free to gain experience in that way as well. There is a multiplayer mode, but it feels a bit tacked on to the overall package and doesn’t feel as if it has any lasting appeal. Furthermore, it’s not the reason you should pick this game up.

Tomb Raider attempts many different things, and pulls them off without a hitch, with the exception of its multiplayer. If there is anything that holds it back, it’s Tomb Raider’s subpar characters.  However, this should not prevent you from experiencing its expertly paced, action packed gameplay. After completing the game in its entirety, I can say that Tomb Raider is one of the best action-adventure games that I have ever played, and you owe it to yourself to give it a try.

Tomb Raider is available for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Microsoft Windows.

Mary Stone Dockery reads some of her work to a crowd at a poetry reading in Kansas.

Though she walked away from Western for a time, she gives credit to her college home for shaping her into the person she has become.

“Missouri Western is wonderful for so many reasons – the classrooms are small, the instructors are interested in the individual students, and as a student, you can get a lot of one-on-one attention if you go after it, if you want that attention,” Dockery said. “I also like how the students at Missouri Western come from so many different backgrounds and education levels, and I do think that meeting so many different people helped me open my mind and see the world in a different way.”

Besides teaching, Dockery also busies herself with her own writing. She is a published writer, predominantly with poetry. She loves to attend local poetry readings to hear what others are doing and to get to read her own work to the world as well. She loves living what she refers to as the “writer’s life,” which means she is constantly writing, day in and day out, and submitting some of that writing to local contests and national journals in an attempt to get it published, as well as spending time in community with fellow writers. But even a seasoned professional writer, who sometimes gets paid for what she produces, can get a wrench thrown at her by the writing process sometimes.

“The act of creating is probably one of my favorite parts of writing, those moments where you feel like you are in a dreamlike trance, and when you wake up, there’s something new on the page that you invented,” Dockery said. “The most stressful part is when it’s more difficult to get into that zone, and to be honest, that zone is harder and harder to come by the more you write.”

There are a few Western writers and teachers that Dockery now includes in that community that were once her professors and are now her colleagues. She credits each of them for different reasons, but she feels honored to get to teach alongside them today.

“Dawn Terrick and Kay Siebler were instructors who, though pretty different teaching styles, showed me how much fun you can have being a teacher and a writer. They challenged me,” Dockery said. “Dr. Russ Phillips from the Psych department took me under his wing and let me take part in his studies and research. He was one of the first instructors I felt comfortable sharing in class for because he truly wanted to hear many perspectives. Dr. William Church was my creative writing instructor, and he was my mentor and the one who helped me learn how to allow my confidence to grow. He also didn’t mind being perfectly honest and telling me when something I wrote was awful, and I think this helped develop the thick skin a writer needs to survive out there.”

Dockery still values the relationship she formed with Bill Church while she attended Western and she is grateful to continue learning from him as she begins her teaching journey on campus.

“[Bill] helped me see that you have to keep growing as a writer, that you can’t just write the same way over and over, so because of him, experimenting and trying new things is not as scary,” Dockery said. “He’s still my mentor and it’s because of him I even went to KU for my MFA.”

The future is wide open for Dockery. She is unsure of what it holds, or how long she’ll be lending her Western-gained knowledge to the students she now teaches. One thing is for sure though. She will continue to write and she will continue to be unafraid of where that process takes her, and that fearlessness will carry her through.

“My dreams are always changing,” Dockery said. “It used to be that my ultimate goal was a PhD in creative writing, but now I’m not so sure that’s what I want. I’m publishing and writing, and this is ultimately the most important dream. But it’s also true that my writing has a long ways to go and I think that’s what keeps me pushing forward. I’m excited to see where the writing goes, how it changes, how I change.”

With the stress of midterms weighing down on Western students this time of year, many still appreciate them for what they are and feel that they’re necessary for letting us know where we are in each class.

“It really helps me to see where I’m going,” student Shaun Butterworth said. “If I see a low grade, it motivates me to work harder and if I see a high grade, it motivates me to keep working hard.”
This seems to be a reoccurring opinion at Western as Sharon Rodriguez agrees, saying that they show her what she still needs to do in each class.

Most agree that if we did not have these midterm tests, we would be left hopelessly unknowing how we were doing in our classes, therefore floating towards a sea of failure, only to find out we had failed when it is too late.

Although most of us can agree we need midterm grades, that does not make the midterms week any less stressful. While every week of the year is a grind for most, adding the stressful layer of midterms is just something else to worry about, but there are ways to deal with it.

Natascha Kracheel, an exchange student from Germany, says her procrastination doesn’t help with anything, but she has ways of getting through it.

“I need a lot of energy drinks and do a whole lot of running and yoga to cope with it,” Kracheel said. “Still, I end up having too little time so I pull all-nighters.”

While she finds midterms helpful, she says that she is glad that they don’t have midterms at her German university and enjoys not having to deal with the stress of it when she’s there.

Other ways of coping with the doldrums of an impending midterm are utilizing the free tutors in the Hearnes Center, or just spending a few more hours a week studying and preparing. Beyond that, having a normal sleep pattern, though often difficult to achieve, can be beneficial for college students. Eating healthy, and not forgetting to have breakfast, even for just that week, is another good way to be as prepared as possible.

As we near the end of the semester and see the light at the end of the tunnel, some jump with glee at the sight of straight A’s and others sigh with the frustration of falling below their expectations. No matter where you are or what your grades are though, students at Western and across the U.S. are all glad when midterm week is over.

Alex J. Michaels and Kevin Britton deliver a passionate kiss in Western alumni Joseph Franklin’s first film “A Guy For Me.”

“They didn’t even rehearse the kiss,” Franklin said. “They just did it. It had to be [in one shot].”

Franklin, a 2010 graduate, wrote the original play three years ago yet added some bits and pieces along the way to truly make some heads spin. The most head turning part in the film involves a passionate kiss by the two men, which was something that was not the easiest to portray.

“I feel it put a big spin to it because it left the audience questioning,” Franklin said. “They wanted to know what happened between them two and where does it go from there. That wasn’t expected, where in other love films you know what’s going to happen.”

On top of the hard task of casting two men for such a steamy scene, Franklin also had a lot on his plate such as writing the script, shooting, directing, producing and editing, as well as promoting the film and finding a venue to host his release. Franklin took on a tremendous amount of tasks and duties as today’s directors usually have an entire crew to help do all of this work.

“It’s time schedules, it’s rehearsals, its booking venues, it’s very hard,” Franklin said. “You got to have a passion for it and love doing it.”

Franklin was very happy and a bit surprised at his big audience turnout. The movie was released at “The View,” a big community center in Grandview, Mo. At the film’s start, every seat was taken and some people were even standing in the back.

“I’m glad this many people came,” Franklin said. “It was a full house and I believe I sold out.”

The 50-minute film revolves around Sheri, an average young black woman who’s no different from the rest of the single girls in the world, just looking for a special someone to love her. In the first scene, Sheri, played by Kansas City native and aspiring actress Nahmel Simmons, appears to be on a really cute date. She then runs to the bathroom and suddenly bumps into William – a tall, dark and handsome man whose broad shoulders and cute smile seem to make Sheri quickly forget about the lonely date who’s still waiting on her. However, Sheri keeps it casual and classy and though she seems interested in William, who is played by Kevin Britton, she doesn’t give him her number. That is until they bump into each other again and again.

As the movie continues, the audience discovers that Sheri was not really on a romantic date but was out with a close friend, Ricky, played by Alex J. Michaels, who later reveals that he wants her as more than a friend and has wanted her for years. Sheri soon finds herself in a crazy love triangle between her close friend and William, who quickly becomes Sheri’s love interest. The movie soon heats up even more when Ricky questions his feelings and sexuality and kisses William very unexpectedly. From there, the movie becomes a nail-biting whirlwind of high emotions, intensity and pain as all three characters put their true feelings out there but seem to quickly have their hearts broken.

“I liked the plot of it and the storyline. I didn’t suspect that twist that [Ricky] was gay,” audience member Yolanda Jackson said. “My favorite part was when [Sheri] said ‘I’ve know him all my life. I never suspected that.’ I thought that was kind of funny. I knew the first scene,” Jackson said jokingly about knowing Ricky’s sexuality.

Through the high emotion, there was also a lot of comedy that really kept the audience laughing and cheering.

“I liked the funny parts. It was surprising when he went in for that kiss,” audience member Torin Hamlett said. “[My favorite part] was when Ricky was making moves.”

Chemistry was another task that had to be developed between all three of the characters so the audience would really believe that the emotions were real. Simmons, who was also Franklin’s assistant director in addition to having the leading role, explained that the chemistry between the cast was very natural which made her character come to life a lot easier.

“Somehow it all just kind of works out,” Simmons said. “[Franklin] is a great casting director as well because it just fit. Everything just flowed. It was like a family.”

Simmons included that playing Sheri was pretty natural for her because she went through a personal situation very similar to the one Sheri was in.

“Some of the scenes Sheri kind of reminded me of myself at one point in my life,” Simmons said. “I was kind of myself at one point. [The hardest part] was kissing the guys. We’re like fiancés and girlfriends and that was kind of weird. It’s a lot of hard work but when you enjoy what you do, it’s not such a challenge. It’s more fun then anything.”

As his first film jitters are now out of the way, Franklin is already working and holding auditions in late April for his next film, “King’s Daughter,” a story of a young girl who’s crying out for attention from her father. Franklin is hoping for more community support and another full house in the audience. He hopes the crowd will be as surprised as they were for this film.

(Left to Right) Joseph Franklin poses with actors Alex J. Michaels, Kevin Britton and Nahmel Simmons at his movie release.

Released on November 18, 2012, The Wii U is Nintendo’s newest console, geared specifically toward social play. It’s also Nintendo’s first HD console, showing off vibrant colors and animations that rival the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. Unlike the Wii before it, the Wii U is being sold in two versions. The “Basic” white model, which costs $299.99, comes with limited memory (8 GB), along with all of the necessities for the console. Meanwhile, the “Deluxe” model carries more memory (32 GB), along with everything in the “Basic” model. The black-colored “Deluxe” Wii U also comes with a few add-ons like stands and a charging station, as well as “Nintendoland,” a game designed to show off the Wii U’s most enticing feature: the GamePad.

The GamePad is Nintendo’s most recent innovation, and arguably the Wii U’s best selling point. Incorporating features from modern tablets, the GamePad features a large touch pad along with a camera and microphone, allowing you to communicate with others online or be shown on the television as you play a game. Of course, it also acts as the primary controller, containing face and trigger buttons along with two analog sticks. The Gamepad is surprisingly light and anything shown on its screen looks very crisp and clear. Yet, it’s the way that Nintendo has incorporated it into video games that makes it so appealing.

It’s true that the Wii U is a social platform. Though it does contain online capabilities, the console is at its best when everyone is in the same room. For example, in a mini-game from “Nintendoland” called “Mario Chase,” five players can play at once. Four players wield Wii remotes, (which must have Wii Motion Plus) while one player uses the GamePad. The goal for those using the Wii remotes is simple: they must catch the one player that is using the GamePad. Those using the Wii remotes have a limited view on the television and must communicate to their fellow players where they see the runner. However, the one player using the GamePad has a view of the entire map, as well as where everyone is. His job is to run away and not get caught for an extended period of time. What follows is a game all about communication and quick thinking. The four players have to find a way to corner the GamePad user while he runs around the map trying to keep his location a secret.

Wii U’s online features are interesting, if not somewhat underutilized at the moment. You can become friends with virtually anyone, and there are certain games where you can write or draw comments or hints into the game for struggling players. Right now, there aren’t a lot of games that can be played online. Both Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and Assassin’s Creed 3 have online components and are available for the Wii U, but the majority of players would rather experience these games on the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 because that’s where you’ll find the larger online communities, as of right now. The Wii U is just a few months old, so it will take some time for a large online following to accrue. The features look promising, but Nintendo will have to show us how they can be utilized efficiently with some of its own games.

The Wii U is a solid investment for you and your friends. However, if you’re into more solo-oriented video games, then it’s probably best that you hold off on purchasing Nintendo’s newest console. The Wii U is definitely at its best in a social setting, and if you can’t provide it this, there’s not much to marvel at here. Still, the clever uses of the GamePad are definitely worth experiencing, regardless of your appreciation for multiplayer games. If “Nintendoland” is any indication of what Nintendo hopes to achieve with its newest console, the Wii U has a bright future ahead of it.

The Harlem Shake dance is a popular style of hip-hop dancing. The Harlem Shake has taken over YouTube, with videos ranging from local church groups to an underwater shoot of a synchronized swim team. Thanks to the video going viral, people everywhere are grabbing a ridiculous prop, looping their hands around a video camera, and doing the Harlem Shake. Once Beyers saw how popular the Harlem Shake was, he immediately got students together to start working on the video.

“After I saw how many people were tweeting about it on Twitter, I wanted to see how many students would want to do it before the dance became unpopular,” Beyers said.

Once Beyers got the students together, it took them around 30 minutes to get the video the way he wanted it. Once it was edited, it was posted to social networks online. Western isn’t the only school jumping on this bandwagon. Schools all over the country have joined in on this rapidly-growing trend.

The Harlem Shake dance has become very popular in a very short amount of time. The song that accompanies the video that everyone is talking about is by a musical artist called Baauer. It’s an uptempo song that made people all over the country, and at Western, want to get out of their seats and dance. Beyers thought that allowing students to participate in the Harlem Shake would be a great way for students to have fun on campus.

“Honestly, I was just glad to see everyone dancing and having fun. It’s a way to get people to open up and to get people to actually want to participate in something,” Beyers said.

Five Australian teens uploaded the very first Harlem Shake video on February 2. In order for a video to qualify as a Harlem Shake video, it must begin with one person dancing by themselves, with a crowd of people behind them. The crowd is still for the first few seconds and everyone in the video is holding or wearing some sort of prop, like a mask, a feather boa, or another random accessory. The first person dances alone for about 15 seconds. After 15 seconds, the beat drops, and the crowd behind the first dancer starts dancing too, and the last 15 seconds of the video are utter chaos. The whole video lasts only 30 seconds.

Missouri Western’s Harlem Shake video featured around 30 students in it. Just like the original video, it started off with just one person dancing, which was Joseph Bridgman. During this sequence, people just walked back and forth, acting as if there was nothing going on. After that, the students behind Bridgman started dancing like crazy.

Junior Truman Vasko hard at work at an amination on the computer as well as on his sketch pad. Tevin Harris | Photo Editor

“It’s a weird process. I try to keep everything where it moves smoothly where I’m not stressed at all,” Vasko said about spending time in Potter Hall.

Vasko understands that he has to get through the long, sleepless nights before he can make a living. Sometimes he spends all night, but is still able to produce exceptional work.

“I was here until five in the morning, and that was the first time I left after Truman,” Western student, and fellow Potter native, Scott Noble said.

Another student, Michaela Haag, who also spends a lot of time in Potter Hall, agrees with Noble.

“He’s here like every night all night, and then during the day, I’ll see him sleeping on the couches because he has been here all night,” Haag said.

Although Vasko doesn’t sleep much, he is able to maintain his grades and make the Dean’s List. When asked how he is able to put in so many hours working on projects while maintaining his grades, Vasko gives a simple reply.

“You know, I’ve asked myself the same question. I guess God’s really blessed me,” Vasko said. “I just try to keep a list of stuff that I’ve got to do. I try to mark them off as I go and try to do what needs to be done first. If it’s due later, then I can skip on that and do my psychology homework or something.”

Vasko gives advice to other students who may not like their college experience so far.

“Try to see the good in it and see that one element where you’re going ‘Oh, this could help me with my career.’ I had no idea that would help me out but it did,” Vasko said.

The other little piece of advice that Vasko gave is something quite simple; don’t procrastinate.

“I wanted to be part of important decisions on campus that would affect me as a student,” Seewood said.

With a GPA of just over 2.25 and a full-time student status, Seewood was able to go to three SGA meetings, put in an application, and be voted in by the Senate.

Since joining the Senate, Seewood has seen several things get passed to improve Missouri Western, such as being able to play a role in continuing the tradition of rally towels at football games and new desks in academic buildings.

“An upgrade of the ‘living room’ in Potter Hall for the music, art and theatre students who practically live in the building” are just a few things that have shown forward progress for our university.

Although much has been improved by the student government, there is still room for more. The Senate is looking to reach out to the students to let them know more of what they do, why they are important and how they can help with many issues on campus.

“I think that will open up a channel of communication with the students that will make it easier for them to express what their concerns are and what they would like to see at Missouri Western,” Seewood said.

Unlike some senates we may know, Western’s senate works well together and has developed friendships within it that make coming to resolutions much easier and faster.

“We all respect each other and that’s the most important attribute when working collectively as a group.” Seewood said, and encourages other students to join the senate in making Missouri Western a better place to study.

Seewood was inspired by his grandfather who taught him the value of hard work at a young age.

“He always told me not to get involved with something unless I can give it my all.”

During this year’s Black History Month Seewood has been reflecting on the struggles of his grandparents and their generation. He said he often thinks and appreciates how their struggles afforded him the opportunities he has today.

Seewood has taken his grandfather’s advice and given the student government his all and says he enjoys having a “say-so” about important issues facing him and his peers.

While here at Western he is majoring in finance and economic and plans to graduate in the Spring of 2015. Until then, Seewood will continue serving the student’s and playing a key role in the progression of Missouri Western.

Both shows utilize similar themes but each story presents them differently. For the actors, the preparation has not been easy. Both shows consist of 4-5 cast members, which means every actor has a lot of stage time, and thus, a lot of lines to memorize.

“All these actors in these shows have worked so hard. When we don’t have rehearsal, they’ve taken the time to work. They have to. Otherwise, it would just fall flat,” director Dallas Henry said.

Henry has been teaching theatre and cinema courses at Western for three years, and this semester, he decided to direct both Private Lives and God of Carnage at the very same time. The shows will follow a pseudo-repertory style, which means that their runs will alternate each weekend. Private Lives will run in Potter Hall on February 21 and 23, as well as the following weekend, on March 1 and 3. Alternately, God of Carnage will run in Kemper Hall on February 22 and 24, and the following weekend, on February 28 and March 2. For Henry, the balancing act got tricky at times, but he thinks that the end result will be well worth the stress of directing two shows with two different casts.

“I thought it would be fun to alternate every day, but it also messes up a rhythm with the actors, and actors like to get into a rhythm,” Henry said. “I love that these both have small casts. They’re difficult pieces. They’re hard to grab a hold of. It’s been tough, but really fun.”

Narrowing down a cast that small was a challenge. About 60 students auditioned for these pieces and little by little, the nine actors were chosen to fill the roles in both productions. One actor that got a nod was Lauryn Roberts, who had only acted in one production prior to Private Lives, Annie, which ran at the end of last semester.

“With Lauryn, she read the pieces, and she loved Private Lives. She said she had to read it twice in one night,” Henry said. “She is perfect for the era. She and Matt Wright should have been born in the 1930s. They just look the period with ease.”

For Roberts, the process of acting is very new, but after auditioning for Annie, she was hooked. She said that she only wishes that she had built up the courage to audition sooner. She got lost in the role of Amanda, one of the lead characters in Private Lives, comparing her to a “1930s Carrie Bradshaw.” It was Amanda’s commanding personality, and Henry’s encouragement, that pushed Roberts to audition.

“Working with Dallas has been a great learning experience. As someone who is somewhat new to theatre, he has helped me not only with line delivery and finding the laughs, but also with finding the motive behind my character, why she is the way she is, and why she does what she does,” senior Lauryn Robert said. “I appreciated his willingness to take a chance on me in the casting of Annie, and I am honored to be working on another play under his direction.”

Roberts wasn’t the only one who had to jump out of her comfort zone a bit to tackle her character. Riley Bayer, who plays Michael Novak in God of Carnage, had to shave his head in order to have a receding hairline, learn how to walk and sit like an older man, and mastering an adult dialect. This character was a challenge for him, even though Bayer has already acted in a handful of other Western productions, shows like Romeo Juliet, Annie, and J.B.

“Working under Dallas is a great process. He always brings the best out of his actors,” junior Riley Bayer said. “I always learn something about myself when working with Dallas. He has such a great passion for each show he does and will work with anybody with that kind of passion.”

With small casts, witty dialogue, and a director who shares in the successes of his student actors, Private Lives and God of Carnage are two shows that can’t be missed.

“These are the pieces that you do where students really get to work on their education as an actor and grabbing a hold of some difficult topics,” Henry said. “Watching the students grow is what I really love about it, when it works, when they get it. I think that’s why I do what I do.”

Choosing to make healthy choices starts with breakfast, and at Western, you have a lot of options to stifle your morning hunger while keeping track of the nutritional facts of the foods you’re eating. Western’s cafeteria, located in Blum Student Union, offers a handful of dishes for breakfast each day. There’s buttermilk biscuits, scrambled eggs, and fresh waffles. But don’t run up to the food counter with an empty plate in hand and pile all these tasty treats on just yet. Those buttermilk biscuits contain more than 162 calories per serving, not to mention over 21 grams of carbohydrates. The scrambled eggs are packed with more than 331 milligrams of cholesterol and 163 calories per serving. And those waffles, the ones that you’re gonna drizzle with syrup and lather with butter, already contain over 568 calories per serving. The healthiest breakfast item on campus is the turkey sausage patty, weighing in with only 67 calories per serving.

When lunchtime rolls around, don’t immediately rush to Einstein’s and grab yourself a pepperoni pizza bagel, which contains 440 calories. At Einstein’s, you can get a fresh garden salad, at only 220 calories, or chicken noodle soup, at 120 calories. The bagel thins at Einstein’s only contain 140 calories, so those are a good snack option. The only problem is that if you get a bagel, you might want to get cream cheese, and one plain container of cream cheese contains 120 calories. The light option contains 80.

For dinner, Western offers a lot of options, like healthy subs at Quizno’s. Here, you can find a whole slew of sandwiches, each under 500 calories. There’s the baja chicken sandwich, the veggie guacamole, the basil pesto chicken panini, the prime rib philly, the ultimate turkey club, and the honey bourbon chicken sandwich. If you’re not in the mood for a sub, Quizno’s also offers salads, wraps, grilled flatbreads, and soups. The peppercorn caesar chicken salad, broccoli cheese soup, honey mustard chicken salad, Mediterranean chicken salad, and the cobb salad are all also under 500 calories.

Eating healthy can be tricky, especially on campus. With all the junk food taunting you in the C-store, it’s hard to keep your taste buds in check and opt for healthier options instead of calorie-filled ones. Set a regular snack time for yourself and stick to it every day. That way, you aren’t just eating when you get bored or when there’s a lull in your homework schedule. If you cook anything in your dorm, keep in mind that the healthiest way to prepare foods is to steam them. Try to avoid add-ons like butter or oil if you can. Ultimately, finding healthy foods on campus can be done. You just have to know where to look.

“Black history month means honoring our ancestors and people who fought for our freedom and gave the right for me to be all that I can be today in the world and how much its evolved, so it’s simply just honoring the people who got us to this point where we could actually be equal.” Bratton said.

Bratton recalls where she came from, and is grateful for all the change that this month represents. For inspiration and guidance, Bratton looks to her grandma because she’s a very strong woman. She also looks up to her mother and father because they are some of the most hard working people that she has ever seen in her life.

Outside of her family, Bratton also looks up to President Barack Obama, and says that he’s a great role model for young African Americans.

“I love Barack Obama,” Bratton said. “I just think he’s amazing. Despite all the curve balls that get thrown at him, he keeps his head up high and doesn’t let anybody make him get out of character.”

Because of all the positive role models in her life, it is easy to see why Bratton chose to help others when she graduates. The nursing program at Western has only three African American women in it, and Bratton is one of them. Pursuing her nursing degree, and doing all the right things to get to her graduation day, are very important to Bratton.
“I feel like I can’t be late, I feel like I just always have to be on my p’s and q’s and be on top of my stuff,” Bratton said.

When it came time to decide what she wanted to do with her life after high school, Bratton decided to become a nurse because her mother is one of the most important people in her life and her mom is also a nurse. Bratton volunteered at Heartland Regional Medical Center and couldn’t help but see herself working there in the future, delivering babies.
Shelby Bratton has many responsiblities on campus but those responsibilites won’t stop her from pushing toward her dream of being a nurse. Bratton loves where she is in her life, and being president of Delta Sigma Theta has been very rewarding for her. She loves her role because she gets to meet all kinds of wonderful people through the sorority and she gets to travel.
All in all, Bratton has the tools and the fire to persevere through anything, much like her family and ancestors had to do all those years ago. She has one wish and that’s that all of the greek organizations at Western can join together and be completely unsegregated.

St. Joseph offers a slew of reasonably-priced Valentine date ideas. You could take your date to Plaza 8 Theater, where the movie tickets are $3 a person after 6 p.m. and $2 a person before 6 p.m. If movies aren’t your thing, sign up for a couples dance lesson or a couples massage. There’s always bowling, as both Olympia Lanes and Belt Bowl are reasonably priced, at around $5 a game.

If you’re not into fitting the dinner and a movie stereotype, get creative. You could have a picnic at Krug Park, take your love on a mini camping trip to a local camp site, or make dinner yourself and set the table with candles and fancy dishes. You could write a love note and attach it to your sweetheart’s car or front door. It’s the thought that counts, not the price tag.

Valentine’s Day can be an intimidating holiday, especially if you have been in a relationship for a while and you feel like you are out of fresh, thoughtful ideas. Don’t freak out. Even when your pockets are empty, you can still have a good time with the one you love. Offer to see a movie that your significant other has been wanting to check out, even if you think the latest chick flick looks ridiculous and the thought of seeing it makes you want to gouge out your eyes. Write a poem and read it to your girlfriend. Even if it’s riddled with errors and reads like nonsense, she’ll appreciate the gesture. Shoot some hoops in the driveway if your boyfriend loves basketball even if none of your shots even hit the rim. Selflessness and romance are what make Valentine’s Day special, and sometimes, when the commercialism overtakes the holiday, those two important components can get lost in a pile of red roses, Hallmark cards and half-eaten chocolates.

When it comes down to it, showing someone that you love them shouldn’t cost anything, except maybe a little bit of time and effort. The more creative you get, the better. Everyone likes feeling special, and most of the time, a kind and selfless act speaks volumes louder than a $20 steak dinner and a store-bought greeting card.

After 34 years of teaching at Western, EFLJ professor and Western graduate Kenneth Rosenauer is retiring

Rosenauer has been teaching since 1974, and in 1979, he found a home in Missouri Western. It wasn’t the first time he had been inside the confines of Western’s halls as Rosenauer had been a student at Western himself. As a student, he took as many journalism classes as he could and received a journalism minor.

While at Western, Rosenauer was heavily involved in both the Griffon News and the Griffon Yearbook at Western. He also earned his masters degree in English and PhD in Journalism. For a long time he considered going into studio photography or working as a journalist when he graduated.

“It’s been a good run, I’ve enjoyed doing this over the years, but it’s gotten to the point where one thing I hate is grading papers. It becomes tiring,” Rosenauer said.

Rosenauer has had the honor of teaching at the same university his children attend. Two of his children have taken classes here, and his youngest daughter is still enrolled. So far, none of them have been in his classes so he hasn’t had to worry about mixing his personal life with his professional life at all.

“I’ve never taken any of my dad’s classes but I am in an English class so he always wants to help with homework. He knows when I have homework and when everything is due, so I think having a dad as a professor means he knows a lot more about your life,” freshman Mary-Beth Rosenauer said.

Dr. Rosenauer hopes his retirement will give him the opportunity to do some other things and spend more time with his wife. “The first thing I’m going to do after retirement is take a three week trip with my wife, just the two of us,” Rosenauer said. “We’ve been blessed in many ways and hope to add a few enhancements, maybe a couple special trips.”

When the vacation’s over, Rosenauer hopes to continue to do some part time work, especially in the journalistic field. He wants to continue writing and spend some time as a working journalist. Though he is moving on, he will definitely be remembered by his peers and friends at Western.

“I will certainly miss him. He’s been here a long time and has shaped the journalism department. He started the convergent media degree here,” English department chair Michael Cadden said. “His leaving is going to be difficult for the department. Ken is a good colleague and a fun guy to have around.”

Shan captures the campus behind his lens as he makes Western his home away from home.

Ahmad Shah is an international student from Afghanistan who came to Missouri Western in the spring of 2009. Growing up in Pakistan and Afghanistan, he attended an international high school where he would meet people from 27 different countries, learn six languages, and soon after, decide to continue his studies in the United States.

Upon arriving to the US in 2009, Shah said there was not as much of a culture shock for him because of his experiences with the American teachers he had in high school.

“The principal in high school was from St. Joseph and recommended the university to me,” Shah said.

He currently is majoring in political science and plans to graduate this spring, and follow that up with getting his Master’s Degree in the US as well. Before that though, he will continue residing as president of the international club and working with his internship at the division of student affairs. One responsibility as president of the international club is helping all new international students get on their feet when first arriving to Western. Shah said he likes to show new students their way around and how to deal with issues they run into.

“My first priority to the new internationals is that I want to make them feel as comfortable as possible so they don’t feel they’re in such a different and overwhelming place,” Shah said, while emphasizing that their experience here is all about how much you put into it.”

With all the organizations and classes Shah is involved in, he says he still manages to have social time and enjoys campus activities such as going to football games or volleyball matches.

“During the day, we go to class and everything,” Shah said, “but at the end of the day, we like to sit down and discuss our personal issues, problems, happiness and sadness. We must always have time for that.”

Carl Osterlund used to live with Shah, so he has a small idea of the struggles that Shah has gone through in the United States. He grew to respect Shah because he gave him the same in return.

“Living with Ahmad was easy since he was generous about letting me live my own way,” Osterlund said.

After finishing his degree at Western and then attaining his Master’s Degree, Shah plans to possibly work somewhere in the Midwest for a few years and then return to Afghanistan to work and be closer to his family. His degree will push him toward the field of politics and working with the government, but he adds that he would enjoy working with humanitarian organizations as well.

Shah said that the word “appreciation” was not big enough to convey his gratitude for his stay here and for all those who have supported him at Western.

Collier attended the University of Akron. Isaiah Collier is an African American who is the director of student life and also assistant dean of student development on the campus of Missouri Western State University. He has been at Missouri Western for a little over a year now. Collier oversees non trad students.

He wants a lot of student’s to get involved with activities going on around campus. Collier also puts on different event’s for campus like homecoming. Collier directly advises WAC (western activity coucil.) “the students is what I enjoy most about campus, every student is different and brings a different amount of energy to the table everyday” Collier said. Collier values having that direct contact with students on campus.

“I wish that we had more students, it would be great to have more students to engage and assist” Collier said.

Isaiah Collier is also over the Greek Community on campus.

He deals with traditionally African American Fraternities and Sororoties. Collier really apprectiates his job because it allows him to be creative and innovative but also working with colleagues that has a open share vision. The job that Collier has is not easy and can’t be done with just one person. He has also advised with registering student organizations, western warm-up and Family weekend, a long with all the other organizations he puts on for campus. Colliers job is really important and the activities he organizes are all important to the students here on campus.

Collier is very good at getting students attention and helping them want to be apart of the different activities on campus. When you talk to him you will most likely get a good laugh from conversation. He knows how to talk to students and find someone to make them smile. The kind of energy he brings to the campus is very helpful for the students.

Students wouldn’t be as involved with activities on campus if he did not have the kind of energy or sense of humor that he has. Collier has a lot of responsibilities and has a done a great job for the campus already.

*courtesy of theaterpimp.com

Book of Mormon is a musical created by Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the creators of the incredibly popular and controversial South Park series. This is their first attempt at a Broadway play, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. Book of Mormon has won nine Tony Awards including the award for Best Musical.

If you haven’t deduced from the title, Book of Mormon is a musical that’s almost entirely focused on highlighting some of the more interesting beliefs of the Mormon faith. If you’re not familiar with Mormon teachings, there are a few explanations given throughout the play that offer the audience humorous insight into the history of Mormonism. The song, “All-American Prophet” is an excellent example of this, telling of Joseph Smith’s journey to the Promised Land after finding “the third testament of the Bible.”

Specifically, Book of Mormon focuses on a nineteen year old Mormon elder named Kevin Price who is eager to be sent out on his mission to spread the faith. Price, in particular, is one of the, “smartest, best most deserving elders the center’s ever seen,” according to his peers. However, he is thrown into a difficult situation when he is paired with a clumsy, inept elder named Arnold Cunningham. Furthermore, Price’s hopes of being sent to preach in Orlando, Florida are crushed when he’s told that he’s being sent to a village in Uganda.

The story, overall, is incredibly funny and, at times, genuinely heartfelt. There are definitely a few lessons to be learned here regarding one’s appreciation for their own religion as well as how fragile friendship can become when put under stress. Furthermore, both Price and Cunningham aren’t portrayed as perfect Mormons, but instead as human beings who do, in fact, make mistakes and struggle with their beliefs. There are many characters in Book of Mormon; most of them being villagers with radically different beliefs from that of Price and Cunningham. These different attitudes about God and his works clash frequently, and account for much of Book of Mormon’s “unique” brand of comedy.

I can think of several people who would walk out of Book of Mormon before intermission strictly due to how filthy and irreverent the humor is. The comedy here can range from hilarious jokes to incredibly offensive observations that will have you laughing harder than you thought possible. Jokes about racism, rape and terrorism are fairly prevalent throughout most of the play. However, this doesn’t mean that you won’t experience some genuinely funny jokes; most of which come from Cunningham’s general awkward attitude and appearance as well as his failure to identify with African customs. Early on, he develops a bit of a crush on one of the villagers, Nabulungi, but can never seem to pronounce her name correctly. Substitutes for her name include Jon Bon Jovi, Neutrogena and Nala (appropriate due to Cunningham’s fondness for Lion King).

Nearly every song in Book of Mormon is unforgettable. Each one is incredibly catchy, featuring outstanding orchestration and memorable lyrics as well as some fantastic choreography that rivals some of the best shows on Broadway. Furthermore, each song will have you laughing throughout the entirety of its performance. “Two by Two” is a song that features multiple elders singing of their joy of being paired with their brothers in faith as they proclaim, “Two by two, we’re marching door to door; because God loves Mormons and he wants some more!” Few soundtracks can compare to Book of Mormon’s.

Book of Mormon stands tall among some of the greatest plays currently touring the country. Nothing is off-limits in this outstanding musical by Matt Stone and Trey Parker, who have solidified themselves as comedic geniuses. Book of Mormon is unlike anything you’ve ever seen; I simply can’t recommend it enough.

Book of Mormon is currently making its way across the United States, but will be showing in Saint Louis at the Fabulous Fox Theatre on from February 9 to March 3. You can purchase tickets through the website: http://www.bookofmormonbroadway.com/.

“Personally, I do not like taking classes online. You don’t have a physical schedule to follow, so I wouldn’t do the homework until minutes before the deadline,” junior Camryn Peters said. “I am not good at setting time aside specifically for that online class, although it is nice to have those extra hours without having to be physically present in a classroom.”

A study done by California State University in 2009 suggested that students spend a lot of time reading and posting threaded responses that supplement an online class, perhaps much more time than they would spend reading and analyzing materials in a course they would have to attend on campus. This study suggests that about 40% of an online class’ course load consists of threaded discussion or asynchronous discussion. The study goes on to say that “threaded discussion has been identified as a useful tool in facilitating student metacognitive awareness and development of self-regulatory processes and strategies.”

Taking online classes is not without its flaws though. For example, the relationship between the professor and the student can be difficult to maintain because neither party is able to interact with the other on a tangible level. This makes the relationship very two-dimensional, which can stifle the student’s overall class experience significantly.

“With an online class, if you have issues with the internet or if you don’t understand things, it’s more of a pain to contact the teacher,” junior Zac Covault said. “Without being able to have a bond with the professor, it might be more awkward to go ask for help.”

Beyond that, when it comes to the grading process, having a relationship with your professor can help them to see your side of things when you get into a bind during the semester. When you are hidden behind your computer screen, and your professor doesn’t know you from the name below yours on the class roster, there is really no way for them to give you the second chance you so desperately think you deserve when you don’t do so hot on a late or incomplete assignment.

“A lot of campus teachers take class participation and attendance into consideration when it comes to borderline grades,” Peters said. “And in some cases, those have been the factors that have allowed me to receive a passing letter grade.”

When you get to set your own rules, being a devoted college student gets more and more difficult by the day. Why work on the homework for your online class when you have until midnight to get it done and there’s a new episode of Grey’s Anatomy on? When it comes down to it, online classes are not for everyone. They require a lot of attention, organization, and more effort than one may have prepared for when they enrolled in the class. If you can handle all of that, then put your pajamas on, hop into bed, and get to work.

Western student Brittany Allen commutes to her classes from Albany, MO every week.

For most students, the decision is easy, based on being able to determine what kind of college experience they are looking for and their individual financial situations. But for some, the decision is more difficult, especially for college students coming to Western straight out of high school. Most of them have not lived on their own before so it’s easy for them to have a misconception of what dorm life or commuting will be like.

Missouri Western student Brittany Allen commutes from Albany, Mo four times a week and says that with $300 a month in gas it is better than the housing and meal plans that MWSU offers. With combined meal plan and housing, some costs total up to nearly $5,000 for each semester even before tuition. Although living off campus can save money it does have its disadvantages.

“I miss a lot of class because on some days I only have one,” Allen said. “I lose motivation to make the hour drive.”

Allen also said that a strategy she tries to use as much as possible is to take online classes. Online classes allow students to get their credits in the comfort of their own home no matter how far away they may be. Another popular method for commuters is to stack classes on only certain days so they don’t have to make the drive as often.

With every disadvantage there is an advantage to living off campus though. Aside from saving money many students who rent a house or an apartment like the freedom it provides. Cody Kinnaman, another MWSU commuter, has lived on campus before and says he prefers living off campus.

“It’s nice to be able to choose your own roommates,” said Kinnaman “and not have to show an I.D. just to go to your own room when you come in after midnight.”

Although living off campus can save you money and give you more freedom, some will say you miss out on the full college experience by not living in the dorms.

Missouri Western students Natascha Kracheel said she likes living in the dorms because anytime you are bored you can just go across the hall to find your friends.

“I think dorm life is an important experience because if you can live so close to strangers and still manage to get along you’ll learn to be more considerate yourself.”

So what are you really paying for whenever you live on campus? It isn’t just the room and food, but the experience to be with so many new and interesting people. Although, with tuition rates only going up and student debt becoming more of a problem each year, we all must decide if dorm life is worth our dollar.

Western students show what they are made of with creative pieces.

“The art department offers students a well-rounded, interdisciplinary approach to making art, providing them with experiences in a variety of media in addition to their chosen major,” art professor Geo Sipp said. “Our program is well-respected and growing fast. It has excellent synergy.”

Sipp has been a professor at Western for 12 years. His artistic journey took him to a lot of different places before he ended up teaching on our campus. He began his collegiate career at Clemson University in South Carolina and continued his education at Georgia Southern University, The Portfolio Center in Atlanta, Georgia and Indian River Community College in Florida. Sipp enjoys teaching at Western because he is able to teach diverse courses lead the programs that he oversees on his terms. He spent more than 20 years working in New York City as an illustrator.

“Western’s art department is unlike others because the professors are all established artists themselves and the small class size allows them to form relationships with all of the students,” senior Ellie Green said. “I know I’ve learned a lot from them, but it doesn’t really feel like school because it’s such a friendly environment.”

Green is an art education major who plans to get a job teaching art at the elementary or high school level when she graduates. Eventually, she wants to get a masters degree in art as well. She feels that the general knowledge in art history and basic artistic concepts that she has gained at Western have really prepared her to pursue being an art teacher in the future.

“I think my major will benefit me because I was exposed to a good base of knowledge in most forms of art making, so even if I’m not great at certain things myself, I will be able to explain it to my students,” Green said. “I think that’s an important part of the art education program. It focuses on pedagogy, but you’re also expected to have hands on experience in a wide range of media, so you will at least be able to know how to do it.”

The courses offered by Western’s art department delve into a ton of different hands-on mediums to give students a well-rounded knowledge of their crafts, mediums like drawing, painting, ceramics, printmaking, photography, sculpture, and digital animation. By marrying studio courses with history courses, the art programs at Western give students a wider range of both information and personal experience.

“Prospective students should consider majoring in an art-related field because the program is set up to give you all the tools you will need to pursue any discipline in art or a combination of many,” Green said. “However, you should be prepared to work. I think a lot of people major in it because they think it will be easy, but they don’t really know what they’re getting into.”

The major programs offered by the art department may seem intense, but for a student who is wanting to pursue art as a career, they are very beneficial. Among some of the department’s most popular major programs are graphic design, studio art, and digital animation, which is the newest addition to Western’s list of art major options. There are a wide array of courses offered, ranging from typography to woodblock printmaking.

“Based on the production of art, I really enjoyed woodblock printmaking because I’m not big with working with technology, and this was exactly the opposite,” Green said. “Carving into wood is a very visceral form of art making and it was so much fun.”

Even though there are a plethora of majors, minors, and emphases to choose from, students don’t have to pick just one. In the art department, students have the ability to overlapping degree programs. In fact, this is embraced by the art department, so that each student is able to finish with a program that was tailor-made for them.

“A student may emphasize in a variety of specialties including Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Graphic Design, Digital Animation, Photography, Sculpture, Illustration, plus minor in Art History,” Sipp said. “We have a program that can be designed to fit students’ needs and aspirations.”

For students who are passionate about art, or who have been on the fence about pursuing it as a livelihood, Western has a home for you in the art department. Potter Hall is bursting at the seams with talented artists and experienced professors, so if you’re willing to put in the work and creativity, you can follow your dreams of mastering a paintbrush, a piece of charcoal, or a chisel all the way to graduation day.

“Work diligently; don’t ever let up. Be intellectually curious, well-read and hone your writing and communication skills,” Sipp said. “Aspire to be the best, not just among your classmates, but among all those you admire working professionally in the discipline. Being tenacious at improving one’s skills in all the above-mentioned will help greatly.”

Photo submitted by The Villa

Riding on the coattails of the closing of another alternative club, The Shaft, which closed down in late 2012, The Villa is a sophisticated rebirth of its predecessor. Located above the Buffalo Bar, this alternative nightclub, co-owned and operated by Western student Tyler Rhoad, can be found on Felix Street in downtown Saint Joseph. The club’s soft launch took place in October of 2012 and business has been booming ever since. It’s non-smoking, gay-friendly, and ideal for friends to get together to have a refined night on the town. On top of that, it’s a pursuit that is very close to its owner’s heart.

“Managing a club is how I imagine having children would be,” Rhoad said. “You are always on the run from one thing to the next.”

Open for people of all walks of life to find a place to call home, the Villa is a safe haven for the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community of Saint Joseph and Rhoad is very proud of that.

“Being a business management student, I saw that there was a demand in our community for a GLBTQS (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning and Straight) club that’s high-end but still affordable and it was not being met,” Rhoad said. “What I would like others to know about the ‘alternative lifestyle’ is that we are not that much different from everyone else. We love who we love and live normal lives just like everyone else.”

Rhoad isn’t the only one keeping this new club afloat. He shares the responsibility of ownership with two others, Tracy Allen and Beth Siapnow. Beyond that, Rhoad has a staff behind him that loves what the club stands for just as much as he does.

“Not only is the Villa LGBT friendly, but it caters to a straight audience as well,” Villa waitress Robin Ussher said. “It is a nice escape where we can all unite, dance, and celebrate our differences over some cocktails.”

Taking a break from Western to own and operate The Villa, Rhoad is excited to eventually graduate. He has currently taken two semesters of school off to focus on the club full time but he only has about 35 credits left until graduation. For the time being, The Villa is taking up most of Rhoad’s time and he is adjusting to the stressful life of a business owner.

“The best part of having your own business is when people come up and experience it and have the time of their lives, knowing that you had a hand in it,” Rhoad said. “The most stressful thing, I would have to say, is keeping up with the booking of all the shows and getting all the PR done for them.”

When it comes down to it, The Villa is a hot ticket in St. Joseph and it’s the perfect place for you and your friends to feel at home, no matter what your sexual orientation may be. The club will host its grand opening on February 9 with a Mardi Gras-themed drag show. With sleek design, over the top drag shows, and a positive message to boot, The Villa is taking Saint Joseph by storm and when it’s done, there’ll be fog and glitter everywhere.

“Saint Joseph needs The Villa because it’s the only place where anyone can come and be accepted for who they are,” Rhoad said. “It can build bridges and show our similarities and not our differences.”

Nicole Gardner is a Public Relations major at Missouri Western and blogs everyday on issues that matter most to her.

Sophomore Nicole Gardner had been growing her hair out since she was born. But, at age 20, she learned that she would have to slowly detach herself from it. She stepped in the shower one morning and began to wash her hair. As soon as she touched it, clumps fell out, grip by grip. The chemotherapy used to treat her ovarian cancer was saving her life, but was also destroying her hair.

As pieces continued to fall from her head she started to cry, but knew that she couldn’t. She knew she had to be strong. After her shower, she shaved off all her hair. She wasn’t going to go through the torture of letting it come out on its own. Though she was a little upset, she felt liberated and proud. And from that moment on, she grew confident, knowing that she would come out a winner.

Unfortunately, the cancer wasn’t the only hardship she would face. She’d been battling for years already. She battled five open-heart surgeries from age 1 to 13. She battled a stroke soon after that. Her stepmom died within that same year. In 2007, she was back at the hospital due to a broken back. Two years later she was diagnosed with cancer. Months after her diagnosis, her father was diagnosed with cancer and he died shortly thereafter. Yet through every painful situation, Gardner always found a way to battle it out and overcome. And today, she is three years in remission, stronger than ever and grateful that she won her fight.

“When they first told me I was shocked,” Gardner said. “My doctor came in and he was like ‘Hey Nicole … we have something to tell you. Please don’t be that alarmed. The biopsy came back and you have cancer.’ I was like ‘What!’ I was trying to be as optimistic as I could … I was like ‘I’m scared as hell, but I think I’ll be okay.’ ”

Not only was Gardner’s cancer in stage four, she also had a seven-pound tumor in her left ovary, which the doctors had to take out immediately.

“If it had gotten any closer, I probably would have died,” Gardner said.

Gardner admits that life has definitely handed her a fair share of trials, but she explains that she’s just happy to be healthy and alive to tell her story. During the course of all of her surgeries, Gardner was clinically dead five times, yet she’s still here.

“I don’t ask for much but I get dealt a shit ton,” Gardner said. “I’m here for a reason and I’d like to see what that is. I’ve died several times and I just keep coming back.  There’s got to be something there. Someone’s got to be watching over me.”

During her surgeries and chemotherapy, Gardner found a lot of her confidence in blogging and would simply blog her way through the pain. She also blogged about her dad’s passing, which was due to throat cancer that spread so rapidly, the doctors weren’t able to stop it.

Gardner also gained support from her mother, Nancy Watson-Moreland, who she calls her hero as she had to tend to Gardner for many years, along with taking care of Gardner’s two brothers and being a single parent. However, Watson-Moreland explains that if anybody is a hero it is her daughter. She said that she’s proud of her daughter’s ability to go through so much yet still be so strong.

“To endure everything this child has endured, being a parent, you ask yourself, ‘Why is this happening to my child?’ “ Watson-Moreland said. “She never gave up and she most certainly could have many times.”

Watson-Moreland recalls Gardner being a fighter even as a baby, when the doctor gave her life’s worst ultimatum.

“When Nicole was born, the doctor asked us if we wanted her to have surgery or let her die. It was like he just reached in and snatched my heart. We had 24 hours to decide. I told the doctor I don’t need 24 hours. We want the surgery,” Watson-Moreland explained.

Gardner was born with a rare heart condition called Tetralogy-a-fallot, also referred to as “blue baby syndrome.” Since birth, she has had to have multiple open-heart surgeries. Her last open-heart surgery was when she was 13 years old. After this surgery, however, Gardner had a stroke which kept her in the hospital even longer. She also suffered pneumonia due to the harmful chemotherapy. Gardner explained that all of this suffering has given her a new outlook on life and has changed for the better.

“I’m definitely a lot more stubborn than some people because I refuse to give up on a lot of things,” Gardner said. “Even if it is really really hard, I will stick to it for as long as I can before I completely exhaust myself.”

Gardner now uses her stubbornness and inability to give up to focus on finishing school and completing her degree in public relations. She hopes to one day work for a publishing company. She also hopes to become a freelance writer and still continues to blog. Though Gardner knows that her goals are lofty, her younger brother Mason Moreland feels nothing is out of reach for his big sister.

”She’s always talking about how she wants to be a PR assistant,” Moreland said. “She’s always talking about how she’s going to make it out of this. Most of the time, I believe her and think she can do it if she really sets her mind to it. She beat cancer and all that other stuff, so this should be a piece of cake.”

Gardner feels that people should take every opportunity to enjoy their lives because you never know when it will be taken away.

“I fly by the seat of my pants,” Gardner said.  “You just got to live life while you can because it can be taken away any moment and I am definitely someone that will know that because of everything I’ve been through and seen.”

Although life takes away at times, it also gives back. For Gardner, one of the greatest gifts came when she least expected it. She recalls it as an early Valentine’s Day present.

“My doctor called me after my blood test and said ‘Hey, you’re in remission now. You don’t have to go to chemo anymore. Your hair is going to start growing back,” Gardner said as she touched her full-grown hair and tucked it behind her ear.

To follow Gardner’s blog visit http://nicolgardner027.wordpress.com/.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

1 can (10 oz) of Premium Chunk Chicken Breast, drained

1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese

½ cup ranch dressing

1/8 cup Tabasco sauce

¾ cup cheddar cheese

Step 1:

Place cream cheese in shallow bowl. Microwave on 50% power until cheese is softened (about 2 minutes).

Step 2:

Stir in drained chicken, ranch dressing, and pepper sauce and ½ cup of cheese. Sprinkle top with remaining cheese. Microwave on 100% power 2-4 minutes until hot & bubbly.

Step 3:

Serve with crackers, tortilla chips, or celery sticks.

Local coffee shops give students a rest stop to refill on caffeine. Tevin Harris | Photo Editor

“It’s quicker to get coffee on the go for people who are running late to class or meetings,” sophomore Holly Grier said. “I live in the dorms, so when it gets noisy, I can’t concentrate. So I usually go to the coffee shop to study with friends or just to hang out.”

For college students at Western, there are plenty of places to quiet that caffeine craving. There’s Hazel’s on Frederick, Dunkin Donuts on the Belt Highway, Java City on campus, Pony Espresso downtown, and of course, Starbucks Coffee. With all this temptation around town, it’s easy for students to rely on coffee drinks to get through their piles of schoolwork.

“I never drank coffee until I had trouble staying awake for classes because I’d been up all night doing homework, projects and studying,” Grier said.

The average American coffee drinker consumes 3.1 cups of coffee per day. By 2012, there were over 50,000 coffee establishments nationwide. The average price of an espresso-based drink is $2.45, and due to the frustrations that come with the collegiate lifestyle, students will pay the price for some temporary energy, especially if it tastes good.

“A good cup of coffee depends on the entire process,” former Hazel’s barista Holly Rudolph said. “Good coffee is made from great raw beans and it’s roasted and brewed by someone who knows their stuff. Also, freshness is a huge factor. That’s why I like Hazel’s.”

Rudolph worked at Hazel’s for five years, and in her time there, she said that finals week was always a crazy time for the shop. Entire study groups would gather together to study for tests or prepare for speeches or projects.

Downtown lies a diamond in the rough, Pony Espresso, a place that many Western students may have never even heard of. This hole in the wall shop has rich coffee, kind employees and an artistic atmosphere.

“We actually have almost no students come in, which is a bummer because it’s the perfect place for students to hang out. It’s really calm and mellow but it’s the kind of place that you’d typically find somewhere like Kansas City or Lawrence,” Pony Espresso barista Ali Dalsing said. “We have artists showing their work and we’re always looking for more artists to show. And we do events like trivia and poetry nights. We’re always playing music, but we keep the volume at study level.”

If you’re worried about the expense that comes with buying coffee, you should know that a lot of coffee shops in town offer incentive programs. Starbucks offers gold cards to its most loyal customers. After a customer registers a gift card to their email address online, they can store money on the card and use it to purchase drinks and food items at Starbucks. Once they have swiped their activated gift card 30 times, they reach 30 stars. At this point, the customer will receive a gold card in the mail, which allows them to receive even more bonuses in the store. Java City, which is located in the library at Missouri Western, gives out punch cards to its customers. After every tenth punch on the card, a customer receives a free drink of their choice. Pony Espresso offers a similar program, called the frequent coffee card, which allows customers to receive a free eleventh drink. The free drinks aren’t the only perks to hanging out in coffee shops though. Their cozy aesthetic sets the perfect scene for some serious studying.

“I drink coffee absolutely every day,” Rudolph said. “I like to study in coffee shops because they are usually quiet, there is free wi-fi, and they always smell good.

“I’ll look out of the top of my eye, and I’m like ‘Oh, what’s this big fuzzy thing on my head?’” the eighth grader said jokingly.

When searching for the perfect Annies for Missouri Western’s production of “Annie,” theatre and cinema professor and director Dallas Henry had a specific criterion.

He said it’s about their charm, charisma, attitude and personality and how they matched up with Daddy Warbucks and Grace. Plus, since it is based in the 1930s, they need to bring life to the scenes, i.e. be the inspiration and optimism.

After calling back seven Annies, he said he had a hard decision to make; after a week of casting, he knew which two were going to take the stage for pretty much the whole play.

Thirteen-year-old Annaka Kellogg and 9-year-old Ashtyn Griffin were going to be stars.

“With Annie, you have to fall in love with her right away,” Henry said. “It has to be an instant connection and I think both of them have that quality. I think it’s important because otherwise you don’t have a show — it’s called ‘Annie’ for a reason, so those two are it.”

Being cast as Annie will mark Annaka and Ashtyn’s first lead role at Western.

“I was very surprised when I got my callback,” Annaka said. “I was waiting the whole weekend, and I kept thinking ‘Am I going to get it? Am I going to get it? Am I going to get it?’ and ‘When’s he going to post it?’ When I saw my name was first, I was really, really excited.”

Annaka, who has also acted in Western’s “A Christmas Carol, will start at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 29, and Ashtyn, who has played the character July in “Annie Jr.,” will perform at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 1. They will switch off each performance after that.

So why two Annies you ask?

“We need two Annies [in case of] sickness because she carries the show,” Henry said. “Usually adults can plunge through it, but with Annie, she’s in the entire show, and it’s also about not getting them overwhelmed.”

For the role, they must memorize several pages of lines, songs and dance moves and plenty more – and for a 13 and 9 year old, Henry said that’s a lot to ask for. Ashtyn said the dance memorization has been the hardest to learn, while Annaka said the time consumption has been somewhat stressful as she juggles memorizing lines, finishing homework and and getting enough sleep.

However, musical director Shaun Agnew, who has been working with the Annies on the side, said they have risen to the challenge.

“They always go for it every single time (during rehearsals); they don’t hold anything back,” Agnew said. “They just picked up things from my end so quickly, I think far quicker than most college students and adults.”

Agnew has been working with Annaka and Ashtyn on delivering text clearly on stage, blocking, being aware of the stage, knowing what to do when something goes wrong and the “belting mentality” that goes along with Broadway shows such as “Annie.”

Agnew has already met with Annaka in the past as he has known her pretty much her whole life, and he believes she brings a lot of experience and is mature for her age. He said the process is easier for Annaka because she has been involved in theater before, whereas Ashtyn hasn’t had any experience in a Western play. However, he said he thinks Ashtyn has learned a lot from watching Annaka during rehearsals.

Annaka and Ashtyn have been switching off at rehearsals, which means they have had to watch and focus on what the other doing so they know what to do when it’s their turn on stage. So essentially, they are only getting half the rehearsals as opposed to the rest of the cast, which can be challenging.

But as for Ashtyn, he said she really surprised her.

“I told her she has a gift,” Agnew said. “After of all the auditions I heard of anybody — kids and adults — she’s the one that really blew me away. She opened her mouth and the sound that came out was that belting, typical Broadway sound. [As a 9 year old], she has never had a voice lesson in her life.”

Henry said each actress brings something different to the table, and he’s curious as to what people will say of each performance. Agnew also said they have completely different strengths.

“Someone asked me the other night, ‘Who’s Annie 1 and Annie 2?’” Agnew said. “I said I didn’t think there was an Annie 1 and Annie 2 because they totally come right to an even keel in terms of what they do and their performances.”

Ashtyn said she is kind of nervous for the performances coming up, but she has confidence in her voice.

“I feel pretty good about it, I think I have a pretty good voice for it being my first show that’s big,” Ashtyn said.

Annaka is also having some butterflies, but she thinks everything will work out.

“Sometimes I’m afraid that I’m not going to be able to do it, but then I’ll have nights where I’m spot on and I’m like ‘Yay, I can do this — I’m going to be able to pull it off.’”

*To see a video slideshow, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WC9sdNqSYhQ&feature=player_embedded

Ten-year-old Makayla and 8-year-old Bobbie Joe Tovey are small and embrace their height, but they are anything but small when it comes to being on stage. Bobbie Joe is a part of the orphan ensemble while Makayla will be playing the role of the mischievous orphan Molly.

The actresses are taking after their father when it comes to being entertaining. He is a midget wrestler who appeared in the hit movie “Jackass 3D,” and also has a show called “Half Pint Brawlers.” Although most of his children want to follow in his footsteps and become midget wrestlers, Makayla has decided that wrestling isn’t for her.

“I never fight back,” Makayla said. “I either want to be a singer or a gymnast.”

The love of gymnastics was what first got the girls interested in performing on stage. They’ve participated in annual recitals for dance and acrobatics that have helped prepare them with a good stage presence. Because of their experience with tumbling, they may or may not (hint hint) do a flip or trick in a scene.

Though their interests are similar when it comes to being on stage and performing, their personalities couldn’t be more opposite of each other. Lauryn Roberts, who plays Grace Farrell, is one of the adult actors who is around the two sisters often. She finds their different personalities to be helpful when working on “Annie.”

“Makayla is a diva, but Bobbie Joe is silent but deadly,” Roberts said. “She has a look, and sometimes Makayla gets too out of control, and Bobbie Joe shoots her a look. They kind of even each other out because Makayla can be very over-the-top, which is really funny, but when we have to get work done Bobbie Joe kind of brings her back.”

Andy Tyhurst, who plays multiple roles in “Annie,” believes that it’s the kids who are the stars of this play, and Makayla could be the difference maker who bumps this play up another notch.

“She’s going to be the show stealer,” Tyhurst said. “She’s just so cute and loves attention that audience is just going to fall in love with her, like we all have.”

The girls are both local to St. Joseph and attend Lindbergh Elementary School. Even though this is their first time acting in a play, this likely won’t be their last. Makayla’s favorite part about it so far has been seeing the audience and meeting new friends. Her mind is already set on trying out for roles here at Western in the future.

“I’m going to try,” Makayla said. “I know if I do it now then it will get me a better chance of doing it next time.”

Roberts went on to say “Annie” wouldn’t be the last time we will see Makayla and Bobbie Joe.

Makayla has found some challenges though, but nothing to big for her to handle.

“Trying to remember the lines was iffy in the beginning, but now I got everything down,” Makayla said. “Most of the time it’s pretty easy as long you’re in your spot and you’re not goofing around.”
Makayla insists that neither her nor her sister goof around.

“I’m a sweet angel,” she said. “[Bobbie Joe's] an angel but I’m a sweet angel.”

*To see a video slideshow, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WC9sdNqSYhQ&feature=player_embedded

Those words by Xan Kellog exemplify the Kellogg family’s involvement with Missouri Western’s upcoming production of “Annie.”

Danny Kellogg holds down several roles, along with his son, Joseph, and his two daughters Xan and Annaka, the latter playing the title role.

This is not the first time the Kellogg family has worked together in a show. They have done many shows together through community theater.

Xan recalls doing several shows with her family while she was in elementary school and high school, but this is the first occasion that she has been on stage with her family while at Western and only her second show at Western, overall, after transferring from the University of Missouri.

Her current role is as Lily St. Regis and presents a unique challenge for her.

“It’s definitely been a different role for me to play because it’s the ditzy, air-headed blonde — very sensual, which is weird for me,” Xan said.

It wasn’t a personality that came natural to her so it brought some unique challenges for her while on stage. “I’ve definitely taken a lot from parties — watching drunk girls being, you know, crazy. I get my inspiration from them,” she added.

Of course, the main focus of the show is going to be thrown toward Annaka, who is playing one of the most recognized roles for young girls in theater, behind probably Juliet.

Thirteen-year-old Annaka is presented with the opportunity, but also challenge, of portraying the young red-haired Annie. However, most of her obstacles are being dealt with off stage.

“Some challenges are just the late nights and trying to get my homework done, get my lines memorized and go to rehearsal and somehow fit everything in and making it interlock,” Kellogg said.

It’s almost poetic to a sense that this entire family is coming together on stage and the youngest of kin is the one leading the show — and it is also her first time ever with a lead in a show.

One of the benefits one working with each other is  the understanding and working environment that comes within a family. With all of the stresses that come with doing a musical, they are able to understand it because they have all been there and been through it. They are also capable of helping each other in spots that may be new to them or struggles that can be bothersome.

But we all know how families can get.

“It’s a huge blessing, but it’s also sometimes kind of hard because sometimes you just want to kill them. Because they are your family,” Xan said.

The contrast between their real lives and their theater  lives provides a whole new aspect to the experience as well. There is a moment within the show when Annie walks in and asks if any of the people on the streets were her parents, to which her dad’s character coincidentally says “She ain’t my kid.” There’s also a point when Xan’s character acts as Annie’s mother. The experience was fun and new for the two.

“It was kind of funny at first, then I thought it was kind of fun,” Annaka said. “At first I thought ‘That’s odd,’ but then it was fun pretending that she’s my mom.”

Xan seemed to enjoy it quite a bit.

“I get to totally ham it up and mess with her. It’s great,” she added.

The Kelloggs are clearly a very jubilant family and strive in working together.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve all been in a show together … so it’s been real fun to spend the time with my family,” Annaka said.

They find the experience as a way to not only be with family, but to grow with them as well.

Xan seemed to sum the process up the best, as she said “We all love theater. So it’s great to share something you love with the people that you love.”

*To see a video slideshow, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WC9sdNqSYhQ&feature=player_embedded

The installment of the cannon had to go through quite a few people to get approved. It also has history that dates back to the early 1980s. The Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity went through the necessary precautions and is now allowed to shoot off the cannon after every touchdown the school makes.

The TEK’s canon overlooks the Spratt football field. Photo by Tevin Harris

“We had to go through a lot of channels to get it done,” Ridenour said. “Some people did not like the idea at first. But we talked to other people about it and we explained how it would work, people came around and saw that it was a bit safer than expected. It took a full year for it to be approved.”

Ridenour shoots off the cannon right next to the loud speakers that usually plays music and the broadcast during and before the games. As you can imagine, earbuds are needed and depending on how close you are, the sound of the cannon alone can cause damage to any part of your head.

“It’s very loud and efficient,” Ridenour said. “I do wear ear plugs. You just have to make sure that nobody is in front of it. It can definitely cause some brain damage.”

Dirck Clark is an alumnus of the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity at Western. His grandfather is the person who found pieces for the cannon, then reconstructed it from scratch.

“I was in the Phi Sig fraternity, and I wanted cannon, so I went to my grandfather to see if he could build us one,” Clark said. “My grandfather was a farmer and good at those types of things, so I knew he could do it.”

Clark said that around the early 1980s, his grandfather went out and found scrap pieces, including two large wheels, that could help put together a cannon.

“He went out to a scrap pile and found two big metal wheels that are close to being about a hundred years old by now,” Clark said. “He found a pipe and other necessary things that he needed and he built it. Between my grandfather and my uncle, they built the cannon, and we gave it to the fraternity.”

The cannon had been a tradition here at Western until the cannon went missing in the early 1990s. The cannon were missing for about 20 years until a rumor was spread to the fraternity about the cannon being in an abandon home.

Nick Niemeier is a current member of the fraternity and admitted that the cannon went missing for a while, but they were able to retrieve it eventually.

“The cannon had been missing for quite some years,” Niemeier said. “We decided to search for it, contact a lot people and we ended up finding it at an abandon home in a junk pile. We had to piece some things together and then we thought it was time to bring it out for football games.”

Niemeier noted that he knew that the cannon were a tradition and it meant a lot for him to not only help restore the cannon, but allow everyone attending the games to experience something that has been a tradition for years.

“This will be a tradition that will be a huge part of Griffon football for years to come,” Niemeier said. “It helps with the team, the crowd and the atmosphere at Spratt Stadium, and we want to be able to bring it back every year to keep it going.”

The fraternity has received a lot of support from alumni and students of Western from Twitter and Facebook, commending them for restoring a huge part of history here on campus.

“It adds a lot of excitement to the football games,” Clark said. “I was disappointed in the years that the cannon disappeared, and now I’m just delighted to have it on the field again.”

Dexter, a full-blooded Chihuahua, is a licensed service dog for asthmatic children.

When thinking of service dogs, large breed dogs, like the German Shepherd, usually come to mind. Who would imagine that an under 10-pound Chihuahua would be trained and licensed as a service dog for asthmatic children?

Missouri Western nursing student Katelynn Crawford is the owner and trainer of the tiny Dexter. Crawford’s entire family believes in animal therapy, and they believe pets, specifically dogs, can be very therapeutic.

Dexter, a full-blooded Chihuahua, is one-and-a-half years old. Dexter has spent approximately half his life (nine months) in training to be a therapeutic source to mentally handicapped children who suffer from asthma and other breathing disorders.

“Dexter, and other dogs like him, can be a huge source of comfort and therapy to someone who suffers from asthma,” Crawford said. “He has trained with my mother, Shirley Catlett, at Savannah Middle School learning life skills with the children.”

Dexter is specifically trained to help regulate the breathing of a person having an asthma attack. By lying on a person’s chest and breathing with the person, the person’s natural body response is to relax its breathing, as Dexter relaxes his. Dexter is not a magical dog, he cannot save a life by performing CPR, but he can be a source of therapy in regulation of someone’s breathing.

Not all dogs can be service-trained, however. It takes a specific type of personality for the dog and an enormous amount of practice for the dog to become trained and licensed to be a service dog. Until this semester, upon Crawford’s entrance into the nursing program, Dexter went everywhere with Crawford.

“It depends on the personality of the animal Dexter is calm and was easy to train,” Crawford said. “People don’t realize how much training and work that is involved; I have another dog at home right now that I am trying to train, but he’s just a spaz.”

Recently, Dexter took part in an animal safety presentation for Western’s nursing department. The student presentation demonstrated the benefits of animal therapy, and he was used as a prop to demonstrate the correct way to interact with him as well as how service dogs can be used for therapeutic regimens.

Students Crawford and Bobbi Dickerson demonstrated in class how the tiny dog could be a source of comfort and therapy. Dickerson is also a pet owner and believes animal therapy has its benefits.

 Service dogs are taught to be calm and to not respond to outside stimuli — after all, they are working. Dexter, like all service dogs, knows that when he comes out of his bag/kennel, he is working. He is trained to stay by Crawford’s side and not to bark unless there is a medical emergency.

“He is finally starting to get to know me, and I have worked with him a lot,” Dickerson said.

Crawford’s entire family are animal lovers. Both Crawford’s parents take pets to work with them. Crawford works for St. Lukes in Smithville, Mo., and she is working on obtaining licensing so that Dexter can go to work with her there, as he has in the past with her mother.

The Chihuahua will continue to work as a service dog, helping with mentally handicapped children until he is ready for retirement. Dogs will let a person know when they are tired of working. According to Crawford, Dexter will start retreating and not want to go places anymore when he gets old and no longer wants to work. There is no set age limit for how long a service dog will work.

Dexter has a partner, Annabelle, who is Crawford’s Mother’s dog. Dexter and Annabelle have worked together at Savannah middle school. The two have also partnered up to be the ring bearer and flower girl in Crawford’s wedding when she married Cody Crawford earlier this year.

He is not only a service dog and “child” to Crawford, he has become a star, as well. Dexter participated in the Kansas City Cinco de Mayo costume parade for dogs last May, and he has become a media sensation since.

Photos of Dexter in costume were published last summer in several newspapers in the United States, and even in different countries — London, England, to be exact. Dexter made his television debut on CNN. Crawford’s mother even found photos on the internet during a recent pet costume search.

Dexter appeared in the parade in an army tank, with the words “Devil Dogs” emblazoned across the back. Crawford’s husband Cody built Dexter’s tank costume. Crawford’s father-in-law, a former marine, was the inspiration behind the costume.

While Dexter has received much attention from the media, Crawford believes animals are very beneficial.

“I wouldn’t know what to do without animals…” Crawford said.

The duct tape wallet is an easy fun way to create a activity for the whole family.

A well-known fact about college students is most of them are broke. There is very little money for extras like crafts, and accessories. Want a fun, budget-friendly, afternoon- activity in which you will make something?

The fun does not end when the activity is over; you will actually have a fun accessory that you can keep for yourself or give as a gift. Remember Christmas is just around the corner, and gift giving can be expensive. My daughter and I recently discovered a cheap and fun way to make wallets out of Duct Tape.

In my household, Duct Tape is a multi-purpose cure all for many minor repairs. It is sold at all hardware stores and stores, such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Duct Tape is relatively very low cost, and comes in a large variety of colors, such as hot pink, lime green, orange, red, black, blue, white and silver.

Start the project by going to your local Wal-Mart or hardware store and selecting a variety of colors. Wallets can be made using just one color, or multi colors. Wallets can be made with or without pockets. It is up to you.

All you will need is a roll or two of your favorite colors of Duct Tape at approximately $3 each, a pair of craft scissors (any scissor will work) and a clean smooth working surface.

Step 1: Measure and rip off a piece of Duct Tape roughly 8.5 inches in length. Lay this strip horizontally with the sticky side up on your work surface.

*Note: If you are making several wallets, it may be easier to cut several strips at one time.

Step 2: Rip a second piece of tape equal to the first and place it sticky side down so that it covers half of the first strip and fold the remaining sticky surface of the top strip over the second.

Step 3: Turn the two joined strips over so that the remaining sticky side of the second strip of tape faces toward you. Place a third 8.5-inch strip of tape sticky side down on the second strip so that it covers the second strip’s adhesive (in the same fashion as the first two strips were joined). Smooth all wrinkles from the tape strips with your fingers.

Step 4: Continue flipping the joined strips of tape over, adding one strip of tape at a time. Stop when you have added enough tape to create a sheet that measures 8.5 inches on one side and seven inches on the other. Fold over the last strip so that the sheet has no adhesive exposed. Cover all raw edges with additional strips of tape.

Step 5: Fold the sheet in half lengthwise and tape the two short ends closed to create a flat pocket 8.5 inches in length and 3.5 inches in width. This creates the main compartment of your wallet.

Step 6: Construct the ID and card pockets. Assemble another sheet of tape in the same way as the main pocket, this time with measurements of four inches by 3.5 inches. Fold 1.5 inches of the shorter side over itself and tape the sides together. This creates a small pocket that will allow the top of your credit or business cards to show so you can identify them easily.

Step 7: Create as many additional pockets as you like. When you are finished, tape the pockets together, and tape the joined pockets to either side of your main compartment. Fold the entire assembly in half lengthwise to complete your wallet.

Step 8: To keep the wallets folds straight and for a better-looking wallet, lay wallet under a book or a solid weighted object for about 12 hours.

Have fun!

Lemanski is originally from Detroit. He came to Western from his most recent appointment as a Senior Lecturer for the history department at the University of Akron in Akron, Ohio. From 2003-2012, Lemanski was also a teaching assistant and an instructor at Akron.

“I am from a big city, and I grew kind of tired of living in a larger community,” Lemanski said. “I enjoy the smaller community; the countryside around St. Joseph is nice. I like the idea of having big city amenities and the small-town feeling that St. Joseph offers.”

Lemanski is enjoying the transition from big city living to the smaller community of St. Joseph, and he is happy with the colleagues he has met since being at Western. Lemanski said the smaller campus gives the college and community a more intimate quality than the larger colleges offer.

“I am very pleased with the instructors and students that I have met since coming to Western,” Lemanski said. “They are the nicest people, and have made me feel very welcome.”

Junior Kristen Brantley is taking Lemanski’s Ancient and Medieval History course, which she is enjoying this semester. She said she has had trouble in history classes before, but so far this semester she has learned a lot from Lemanski’s teaching style.

“He has a passion for the subject,” Brantley said. “He’s not just passing out information, but actually making the material more relatable. College is tough, and he makes it easier by providing us with study guides, easily readable maps  and interesting readings.”

Lemanski is educated in a variety of subjects, such as history and modern languages. He earned his bachelor’s degree at Concordia College in Ann Arbor, Mich., in 1983. Lemanski was a dual major in Greek and Hebrew with a minor in Latin.

In 1985, he received his first master’s degree at the University of Michigan in near eastern studies. Lemanski continued to study at the University of Michigan and received his doctorate in 1989.

The year 2005 brought Lemanski his second master’s degree in history department. Lemanski passed his Ph.D. comprehensive exams in 2007 with distinctions in Medieval, Early Modern Europe, the Middle East and the United States pre-1877.

In 2007, Lemanski also won a one-year Robert W. Little Graduate Research Fellowship, and in 2008, he was awarded a Graduate Student Government Research Grant from the University of Akron. The year 2009 finally brought Lemanski his Ph.D. in history from the University of Akron.

In addition to his extensive knowledge of history, Lemanski is skilled in many language cultures, such as: German, Greek, Latin, Arabic, Anglo-Saxon, Hebrew, Sumerian, Akkadian, Ugaritic and French.

“Lemanski’s use of other languages helps to illustrate certain points in ancient Greece and ancient Rome,” Brantley said.

Lemanski also has the ability to decipher and translate ancient Greek and Roman clay tablets from the beginnings of written language.

Throughout Lemanski’s years of schooling, he has worked in the education field as an assistant librarian of rare books and as reference librarian. He has also worked for the New York Times as an Indexer for the University Microfilms International and has taught courses in Absolution to Revolution, Ancient Middle Eastern Studies, Renaissance and Religious Studies, Early and Late Medieval European Studies, the Latin Language, Middle Eastern Studies and Humanities in the Western Tradition.

“This is my last history course required for my degree, but if I had to take another one, I would definitely consider taking a different course taught by Dr. Lemanski,” Brantley said.

Lemanski said he’s enjoying teaching at Western more than anything else. He feels that the students are very diverse for a smaller community and is enjoying getting to know them through the classes he teaches.

“The best part of Missouri Western is the students,” Lemanski said. “I like the students; I enjoy talking to them, and getting to know them. They are very interesting and engaging. I like teaching them. I have great students here at Missouri Western, I couldn’t ask for more.”

Amy Kotwani, Missouri Western’s new international student director.

Coming to a new school or community always has its ups and downs. When you are an international student, fitting in and getting use to another country can be even more difficult.Amy Kotwani, Missouri Western’s new international student director understands that and it is her job to make sure all international students are cared for.

“It is my job to work with Admissions to get more international students to come here to Western,” Kotwani said. “When the international students come, I do programming for them, new student orientation and if they have any emergencies, they call me.”

The Kotwani family is from India, but she was born in Kingsport, Tenn. She grew up in Virginia before eventually moving to St. Joseph, Mo for high school, and has been a resident for several years.

When headed into college, Kotwani took up journalism, advertising and political science so she could be educated about all three areas.

“For college, I went to Mizzou,” Kotwani said. “In their journalism program, you could pick a sequence so I picked the advertising sequence in the journalism program and I did the same with political science. So I did a double major.”

Prior to working at Western, Kotwani did a lot of volunteering work with the organizations here on campus. Before she was offered the job, Kotwani was already familiar with how things worked.

One of Kotwani passions is culture. She noted that she is heavily evolved in the Indian culture in St. Joseph. Dancing is a huge part in the culture and in her spare time she enjoys dancing at different culture events.

Kotwani admitted that when she was younger she did not have many friends that were Indian. She did not know much about the culture because the only people she knew of the Indian culture was her parents.

“I always wanted to be apart of my culture,” Kotwani said. “My parents were the only members from my family to come here from India. All my relatives were in India when I was growing up, so I have always felt a little starved for the culture.”

She started to get involved with culture more when she went to the University of Missouri. Kotwani started to participate in dance recitals in the school and eventually she was surrounded by all types of culture and it helped her fill that missing element in her life.

She ended up being the president for the Indian organization at Missouri.

Kotwani feels that she can relate to the international students on campus because she was once in the same situation. She understands how it feels to try to fit in a place where you are literally the only member of your culture.

“We have a good international student population,” Kotwani said. “But some of them might be the only one’s here from their culture. They are coming to a place new to them. At home, they are around people that are similar to them and their comfortable.”

She is very passionate about the international students because having to go through the same thing, she knows what to expect.

“I know what it feels like to feel like you are different from everyone else,” Kotwani said. “I also know how rough it is to fit in. That’s why I am really passionate about making sure that the international students here have a real positive experience and feel like they have a good support system.”

Some of the international students here at Western really do not have any experience here in the United States. They live with there parents in their respective countries and then are sent to the states for school.

Gilbert Imbiri is an international student from Indonesia. Imbiri was sent to states for school as well. He started out in high school here in St. Joe and eventually enrolled at
Western.

“I like it here,” Imbiri said. “Everybody here is very laid back. I’m really good with adapting to things. With Amy being hired, I feel like we have somebody that knows what we go through. She can help the students here that do have problems with adapting.”

Imbiri feels that Kotwani catches on to things fast. She fits in to what it means to be an international student director.

“I like somebody to take charge,” Imbiri said. “It’s upsetting to the international students when they found out the director is not involved. We do not have to worry about that with Amy.”

Andy Garrison gives a how to on how to assemble a Philly Cheese Steak sub.

Whether you want to flex your culinary muscles for friends, family or a casual date, or you are just plain hungry, this recipe for a Philly style roast beef sandwich will tick all the right boxes at a steal for under $15.

*Note: Pricing does not include items commonly already found in the home; recipe feeds up to six people.

Here is what you are going to need:

The hardware:
• spatula
• serving spoon
• small saucepan
• large frying pan
• knife, or meat shears
• measuring spoons

Ingredients:
• 1 package of eight deli style rolls – $2.78
• 1 package of thinly sliced deli style roast beef (6 oz) – $3.39
• 1 package of sliced provolone cheese (8 oz) – $3.90
• 4 tablespoons of butter (1/2 of a stick)
• Pre-sliced Baby Bella mushrooms (8 oz) – $2.99
The “wet” mix:
• 1 box of beef broth (13.7 oz) – $0.99
• Black pepper (to taste)
• Table salt (to taste)
• 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon of onion powder
• 1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce

The optional ingredients:
• A.1. Steak Sauce
• onions
• jalapeños
• red or green bell peppers

Step 1:
Pour all of the beef broth into the small sauce pan.

Step 2:
Add the Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder to the beef broth; mix well with the serving spoon; and let it simmer on a burner over low heat for the duration of the other steps, up to step eight, stirring occasionally.

Note: Don’t let the broth come to a boil, and don’t forget to adjust heat accordingly if you notice it start to boil up.

Step 3:
Take the large frying pan and put it over medium-low heat and allow it to heat up for approximately two – three minutes.

Step 4:
Add the butter and slowly move it around the pan, using the spatula, until it is melted and evenly distributed across the bottom.

Step 5:
Rinse off the Baby Bella mushrooms in the sink under cool tap water. Shake them dry and add them to the butter in the pan and sauté, stirring occasionally for approximately three minutes.
*Note: This is also when you would cook the onion, bell peppers and jalapenos if you opted to use them, you would sauté them with the mushrooms, and it should take three to four minutes.

Step 6:
While the mushrooms are sautéing, take the roast beef and cut it into one inch wide strips up to four inches long.

Step 7:
Take a plate and lay two or three paper towels on it. Using the spatula, carefully remove the mushrooms from the pan and allow them to drain on the paper towels.

Step 8:
Drain the remaining liquid from the pan and return it to the heat.

Step 9:
Carefully pour half of the broth mixture into the frying pan (remain mindful of the steam that can burn you) and pour from the side not directly over the pan.

Step 10:
Add the beef strips to the liquid in the large frying pan, return the mushrooms to the pan and allow the mixture to cook in the beef broth over medium high heat, stirring often for approximately ten minutes. Leave the remaining broth in the saucepan simmering.
Note: The broth will absorb into the roast beef as well as evaporate, if it gets too dry and begins to burn, add more broth until it barely covers the bottom of the pan.

Step 11:
While the mixture is reducing, prepare the deli rolls with A.1. Steak Sauce, mayo or any other garnish you may want to add.

Step 12:
After the broth and beef mixture has finished cooking, take a circle slice of provolone cheese and tear it in half. Carefully maneuver the beef and mushrooms off to one side of the pan. Make two small piles, roughly the size of an ice cream scoop, in the cleared part of the pan. Place one half of the cheese on one pile, and the other half on the second pile. Allow the cheese to melt. This should take about two minutes.
Note: Make sure your piles are small enough for your spatula to handle or this could get messy in a minute.

Step 13:
Carefully slide your spatula under one of the small piles of meat and cheese and gently lift, setting it onto one half of the bottom bun of your deli roll. Repeat this step with the other pile onto the other half of the bun.

Note: The remaining broth in the sauce pan makes a great dipping sauce for your sandwich.
Repeat steps eleven, twelve and thirteen until you reach the number of sandwiches you want to make.

Bon Appétit!

Student Kiefer Helsel (left) and Andy Tyhurst (middle) rehearse a scene from Josh Cominellis’ short film “Skip Distance” as cinematographer and instructor Jason Cantu (on right) controls the camera.

Missouri Western theater and cinema student Josh Comninellis has turned what began as a scriptwriting class assignment in the spring of 2011 into a working short film, “Skip Distance.”

Skip Distance, a suspense drama, was shot last August and is in the post-production process. A late-winter or early-spring release is what all people involved in the production process are hoping for.

According to Comninellis, the plot is centered around the family ties of a child whose mother has recently died. The setting of the film is of a diner and a radio station call booth.

“The theme of “Skip Distance” is children’s acceptance of family and about accepting family members for who they are,” Comninellis said. “My passion for redemption influenced me to write this short film.”

The main character James Carmichael, played by Western student Kiefer Helsel (Romeo in last fall’s theater production of “Romeo and Juliet”), is left with an absentee father (played by Mark Pennington) with whom Carmichael has no relationship with, and a stepfather (played by Western student Andy Tyhurst, who recently played lead role of J.B. in “J.B.”) with whom Carmichael has an unsettling relationship.

Comninellis not only wrote the screenplay, but co-directed with his wife Brittany, who is also a student of the theater.

Western alumna Mallory Edson was the creative producer, and professional cinematographer and Western adjunct professor Jason Cantu did the filming.

Once the script was finished, it was then sent to “Kickstarter,” an arts fundraising platform website that reviews the work of artists and rates the work as being viable. Kickstarter is self-motivated, and they do not give anybody money; it is a platform where the artist or artists raise funds for their own project.

Once the work has been approved by Kickstarter, the artist must set a goal and a specific time limit to raise funds for project completion. For Skip Distance, they made their limit $3,600. The catch with Kickstarter is all or nothing—if the artist raise the exact amount of money or higher, they do not get the money for their project.

“I believe four weeks is the limit for the Kickstarter platform, while the hype for the project is at a high point,” Edson said.

The art or in this case, film, is then placed on the Kickstarter platform so that community members, family members, friends, business owners, and public can donate money to help in the production of the project.

The crew was able to raise $3,700 in one month.

Edson said many of the crew’s family members from around the country donated money on the Kickstarter platform to help with costs of the film, and they are still accepting donations for post-production costs.

Many Western alumni, current students, faculty, St. Joseph business owners, community members, and Cantu contributed to the production. Comninellis is also thankful for the university allowing them to use its film equipment as it helped the process and cut a lot of the costs for the production.

“It was a community effort,” Comninellis said. “We had help from the entire community, many students from Missouri Western, Western alumni, a few of Missouri Western’s professors and local businesses contributed time, effort and money.”

The film, which took months of preparation, was shot in less than 24 hours and they filmed it on just two separate nights.

Western alumna Erin Williams did wardrobe and make-up, and Western student Robin Ussher designed the sets and did prop arrangement. Props came from local stores as well as some Kansas City area shops.

Local businesses The Spot Café and Hazels Gourmet Coffee and Tea Co. also contributed to the film’s production. Hazels Coffee contributed chairs for the set.

The Spot Café donated their diner as the main location for the set, which Comninellis said was the perfect location he had in mind for the screenplay.

Tyhurst also felt that the Spot Café and Western’s Black Box Theater were the perfect locations for the movie filming because the atmosphere matched Comninellis’ vision of the movie set diner perfectly.

“The owners of the Spot Café were great, they were very nice, and they even fed the entire crew,” Tyhurst said. “Everybody that I have met in this community has been a great supporter of the arts.”

Edson has also said working with Skip distance has been a wonderful learning experience. Edson, who graduated from Western’s theater department last spring, is already working in the film industry. She is currently working on a documentary series. Edson is also looking into graduate programs.

Tyhurst will graduate in December 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in theater and cinema. Tyhurst liked working on Skip Distance and said it was a great opportunity.

“I learned so much just by watching and observing.” Tyhurst said. “It was neat. It has been a great experience.”

The movie poster and storyboards are being designed and created by Western art student Truman Vasko. Comninellis and the film’s crew are planning a late-January or early-spring release of the film.

“I am working on editing right now, it is a lengthy process,” Comninellis said.

After the premiere, there will be a film festival tour around the Midwest. Everybody involved in the production is hopeful of a possible nationwide tour.

Comninellis is not locked in, as to what he will do for a future career, but he knows it definitely involves the film industry and writing. He might continue to write screenplays, or maybe write a book, as he enjoys creative writing.

“I have a passion for telling stories,” Comninellis said.

And by town, I mean Potter Theatre.

Both directors Tee Quillin and Dallas Henry decided this upcoming year’s theme for theater would be “A Year of the Tony.” The two theater and cinema professors pulled up a list of shows that had won a Tony Award and chose which ones they wanted to put on this year.

After looking over the list, Quillin realized which show he wanted to direct first.

“’J.B.’ was one of those shows that I had on my radar and wanted to do for a long time,” Quillin said. “When I went back to list, ‘J.B.’ really resonated with me, really spoke to me, and I said ‘I really have to do this show.’”

J.B. is just one of the few plays to win both a Tony Award for Best Play and a Pulitzer Prize for Drama. J.B. will take the stage starting Thursday, Oct. 4-6 at 7:30 p.m. and on Sunday, Oct. 7 at 3 p.m.

J.B. essentially stands for “Job,” who is from the Bible story “Book of Job.”

While Quillin is religious, he said that is not the main reason why he chose to do J.B. He said it has always been an interesting, compelling and relatable story to him. Sophomore Erik Burn-Sprung, who plays Mr. Zuss, agrees with Quillin.

“It’s very well written, there’s beautiful language,” Burns-Sprung said. “It tells a classic story and gives it new life.”

The play is set in modern time — once you step into the theater, the play starts on that night.

The character J.B. is normal; he has a normal family, a normal job and a normal life. However, the journey he is about to take is everything but normal.

Set at a circus in the beginning, two workers, Mr. Zuss (pronounced “Zeus”) and Nickles, speak of a “J.B.” showing up. They act as God (Mr. Zuss) and the devil (Nickles) and question J.B.’s faith toward God.

J.B. goes through many drastic hardships, one of which he develops hyperimmunoglobulin E syndrome, which is also coincidentally called “Job’s syndrome.” This is a long-term severe skin infection that includes boils, draining skins sores and pustules.

However, Quillin says the point of the story isn’t necessarily about the suffering that J.B. goes through; it’s more about the redemption he receives for going through all of it.

The lead role of J.B. will be played by theater and cinema major Andy Tyhurst. J.B. will be his first lead role, although he has acted in other plays such as “Laughter on the 23^rd Floor,” “A Christmas Carol,” and “Arsenic and Old Lace.” Quillin said Tyhurst was perfect for the role, yet it hasn’t been easy for him.

“Andy has done an amazing job in a role that has been challenging for him because he considers himself to be more of a comedic actor and this is very much not a comedic role,” Quillin said. “There have been times that he has really struggled with it, too, but he’s also pushed himself through the process.”

Quillin said there was a lot of talent at auditions that made his job hard — which he didn’t mind — but Tyhurst and chemistry major Xan Kellogg were the best match for the two lead roles. Kellogg, who will be playing J.B.’s wife Sarah, believes the two have been working well together.

“From the get-go we had good chemistry,” Kellogg said. “I mean, you just have it with some people and don’t with others and we just did. It really hasn’t been too hard to just make it pretty natural to look like we’re a married couple —like we’ve been married for years.”

Quillin said there were a lot of new and talented faces at auditions, including Kellogg’s, who transferred to Missouri Western from Missouri University. Others include students Holly Grier as Miss Mabel, Alex Richards as Mrs. Botticelli, Megan Render as one of the girls and Nick Ford as Bildad. There are also some local elementary and high school students that will play J.B. and Sarah’s five children, two of them being Dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences Murray Nabor’s daughter, Amanda, and Quillin’s daughter, Morgan.

There are also some familiar faces, including Robin Ussher as Nickles, Brian Duskey and Nerissa Lee as the messengers, Sonrisa Johnston as Mrs. Lesure, Ray Johnson being the distant voice and Jeff Jones and Brinton Groce playing police officers.

Quillin says that although the story is developed from the Bible, it is not word-for-word, and audience members don’t necessarily have to have prior knowledge or be a biblical scholar to understand the play. However, Quillin recommends the play be for ages 14 years and up, not because of content, but because he feels it won’t keep the focus of anybody younger.

Overall, Burns-Sprung said the play is worthwhile.

“I think there will be parts people will really enjoy; there are some comedic parts, and others that will tug at people’s heartstrings.”

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In addition to writing novels, and having been an accomplished screenwriter in Los Angeles, Dana ‘Kill Shot’ Andrews is also an avid racquetball player.

Andrews began playing pretty much on a whim, with no influence. He started off with a rudimentary version of it.

There are several of Western’s faculty that join Andrews on the courts and enjoy the sport in their free time.

“Right now there are actually quite a few really good players here,” Andrews said. “Mike Cadden, who is the chair of our department, he is really good; Todd Eckdahl, who is the chair of the biology department, he is a very good player; the three of us always play together here on campus, the three of us play against each other.”

Beyond playing on campus, Andrews also ventures downtown to match his skills against other players.

“I play mostly here in town at the YMCA, that’s where the best players in town play.”

English professor and Director of composition, Dr. Kay Siebler, also knows about Andrew’s rank.

“He doesn’t play pro, but he is very good,” Siebler said. “There are different levels; there is professional, and then there is elite; he is not quite elite, but I think he is in the upper echelon.”

There are several ranks when it comes to skill level in racquetball, Andrews said. They go as followed:
• Pro
• Expert
• A
• B
• C
• D (novice)

Andrews ranks himself in the high B to low A ranks.

Department Chair, fellow professor, and sometimes opponent, Dr. Michael Cadden, is all too familiar with Andrew’s prowess.

“He is an active racquetball player, he plays in tournaments,” Cadden said. “He just participated in one this weekend and won a doubles tournament.”

(More details of that tournament can be found on the English, foreign languages and journalism blog available from the homepage for Missouri Western.)

Andrews reinforced Cadden’s statement by adding “…we actually smoked them.”

Hello Daybreak is a group of five young adults who come from different backgrounds to bring Christian music to crowds around the state.

In a world of music with, at times, depressing overtones and lyrics, one band, led by a Missouri Western student, is trying to make a difference.

Reagan Barnett, who is currently majoring in music technology, decided to team up with four other friends to make a Christian alternative band named “Hello Daybreak.”

“We have been together as a band for a total of three and a half years at this point,” Barnett said. “But we tell everyone we have been together for a year and a half. We kind of reevaluated our situation; that’s when we started recording our first cd and we started digging into the concept of really performing well and being good entertainers.”

Recently, Barnett said Hello Daybreak just released its first full-length album titled “Sing Dance Shout” on Aug. 14.

They are looking into several other ways to release their new album to fans and the public; right now, though, it is pretty limited unless you have heard of them.

“You can go to our Facebook page,” Barnett said. “We are mailing it out to fans; we are not on iTunes yet, but that is in our near future, hopefully within the next couple of months.”

Fellow band mate and bassist for the band Ryan Crisman was pretty excited about yet another future milestone for the band.

“Touring is something that we are trying to work towards,” Crisman said.

The band member’s ages span over a three-year age gap. Crisman and drummer Walker Brown are only 16; rhythm guitarist and keyboardist, Eric Seever, is 17; vocalist Sam Eliott is 18; and Barnett is 19. With the age gap crossing the critical bridge of adulthood at 18, it gives the band members more time to plan for their future as a whole.

“We have thought about this a lot, about the band and the future and where we are going with it, and we decided that with how spread out our ages are, by the time Walker and I are getting ready to go to college, we would like to be looking into something more permanent for the band, and that’s the goal we set — two years,” Crisman said.

Friend of the band and Hello Daybreak concert attendee Nick Sybouts thinks that calling them “just alternative” is too much of a limit to put on their style of playing.

“More alternative, but they don’t really stick with one style,” Sybouts said. “They have a pretty broad spectrum of styles; they try and branch out from just one specific style.”

Along with his activity in the band and college, Barnett has a lot of responsibilities to try and juggle around.

“It’s pretty difficult,” Barnett said. “I am busier than most band members; I have a job and I am interning at my church to be a worship leader. Mainly, the way I balance it, is the band gets weekends, the job gets week nights and the church gets Wednesdays and Sundays.”

Barnett is pretty clear on the band’s messages and goals.

“Our main purpose as a band, and we talk about this quite a bit, is to show that there is hope; that there is a light.”

Quick Command Keys for a MAC

command z – undo

command s- save

command c- copy

command v- paste

command a- select all text

command h- hides program

command tab- brings up current programs

command o- open a document

command p- print

command f- find text in the document

Quick Command Keys for a PC

Control z- undo

Control s- save

Control c-copy

Control v- paste

Control a- select all text

Control h- hides program

Control tab- brings up current program

Control o- open a document

Control p-print

Control f- find text in the document

Morgan Breckinridge is seen here during one of her performances

Some students enter college knowing what their major will be, and some think they know and then change their mind; the latter has been the case for student Morgan Breckenridge.

A love of Broadway, music in general and a love of performing is what persuaded Breckenridge to switch her major from English-journalism (to pursue investigative journalism) to a music major with emphasis on performance.

Breckenridge felt that she did not quite fit into the role of journalist that she had originally sought when deciding to attend Western. She changed her mind after becoming involved in the music and theater departments.

“I love being around people who love music and love performing,” Breckenridge said.

Western’s music and theater department instructors Tee Quillin and Roger Hale are glad she changed her mind. To them, Breckenridge has proven to be one very talented young woman.

“She has an amazing voice, it is amazing to watch her work,” Quillin said. “She has just a simple, elegant quality to her voice.”

Breckenridge got her start in music at the age of 12, starting with voice lessons and then moving into church and school choir performances.

Hale believes Breckenridge has a beautiful voice that could go very far in the music world with continued proper training. Hale has worked with Breckenridge for the last three years. However, Hale says her voice is not the only thing that would help her in the music industry.

“Lots of people have beautiful voices like Breckenridge, but it her professional attitude that makes the difference,” Hale said. “She will go very far if this is what she wants to do.”

Breckenridge is now a college senior expects to graduate in December of 2013, and may continue in school to earn her master’s. She is currently working on her junior recital for her degree and is taking the semester off from acting. The junior recital is a requirement of the music degree and requires many hours of preparation.

Breckenridge and a friend now have their own band, “Shut Up and Love It.” They perform locally and play mostly popular music. While Breckenridge has a love of all music, she prefers to perform what she calls the “People’s Music,” which Breckenridge says is similar to music you would hear on the radio.

Music has always been important to Breckenridge, and once bitten by the performance bug, it became much more than a hobby. She began acting while in high school in Cameron, Mo.

During her time at Western, Breckenridge has performed in musicals such as Phantom, and most recently, last spring’s Little Shop of Horrors as lead role of Audrey. Breckenridge earned an Irene Ryan nomination through the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival for her role in the play, which allows her a chance to win a $500 scholarship.

Over this past summer, Breckenridge spent her time acting in the 2012 summer theater company Western Playhouse’s version of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Breckenridge played the role of Charlie Brown’s sister Sally, opposite Quillin, who played Charlie Brown. Quillin has both directed and acted with Breckenridge.

“She has such a natural talent with acting; if she would take it up professionally, with a detailed study of the field, she could be very successful,” Quillin said.

Some people that have influenced Breckenridge are actresses Meryl Streep and Judy Garland, musicians Maria Callas, Kristin Chenoweth and lead singer Erika Wennerstrom of musical group “Heartless Bastards.”

“These women have a take-me-as-I-am-attitude that I admire greatly,’” Breckenridge said. “You have to be capable of staying grounded, and learn not to take other people’s comments personally.”

Breckenridge has adopted that kind of attitude and feels she has learned to take people’s comments in stride.

“You have to be true to yourself,” said Breckenridge. “It is important to me to be comfortable in my own skin.”

Music and acting have always been fun for Breckenridge, and if given the opportunity, she would love to make performing her career. No matter what she does for a career, Hale believes Breckenridge will do great things in the future.

“I could see her moving to Kansas City or even New York to work on her music,” said Hale. “She is very teachable, she is willing to work hard, and with continued growth, she will go very far.”

Writer-director David Ayer got his start by writing the screenplay for the 2001 film “Training Day” and has since had some films that he directed, but he has finally come into his own with his latest piece: “End of Watch.”

Where the film lacks in his title suave, it makes up for in its ability to completely hold your brain hostage for 109 minutes.

The story follows Brian (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Mike (Michael Pena), who are two partnered cops for the LAPD. The story itself isn’t really about any specific job or bust that they make as much as it is about their lives.

Eventually, the two make some really big busts and they get in over their heads which leads to some heavy shoot-outs and quite gruesome scenes, but that is not where this film grabs a hold of you.

One aspect that really works here is overall feeling of the film. Ignore the fact that the film can get gruesome and pretty violent, the real intimidation within this narrative falls into the lap of psychology.

With the camera work, direction, and acting, “End of Watch” constantly has you on the edge of your seat. Every single second of this film is engaging. It is not predictable in any sense of the word and it personifies the phrase “theatrical experience.”

The other aspect that really kills and controls the piece is the chemistry between Pena and Gyllenhaal’s characters.

“Buddy Cop” movies come and go. Next to predictable romantic-comedies, there probably isn’t anything we see more of.

This is not a “Buddy Cop” movie.

“End of Watch” is able to break the “Buddy Cop” mold with it’s crazy camerawork, but also with its undeniable on-screen chemistry between its two stars.

Gyllenhaal and Pena are magnificent. Both really seem to know each other rather well and you can easily buy that they are officers and are comfortable in the blue.

Not to take any credit away from Pena, but Gyllenhaal really shines in the role of Brian, buying himself a ticket for some serious Oscar-talk.

One of the huge advertising points for this film has been the “found footage” style of the cinematography.

Take this with a grain salt.

While there are a lot of “found footage” sequences in the film, it doesn’t completely rely on it. Gyllenhaal’s “Brian” is in a film class and is recording a lot of the stuff on his job for the class, so there is narrative motivation for “found footage,” but the necessity of it is still debatable.

There are a lot of sequences, most notably on some of the “break-ins,” where they pull away from the “found-footage” idea and push towards a general hand-held manic style of cinematography that really works and grabs you by the nerves and never lets go.

Pena and Gyllenhaal are not the only good performances in there, either. We also see an entertaining performance from Anna Kendrick (“Up in the Air”) and a very different turn, but strong performance from America Ferrera, who is mostly commonly known as “Ugly Betty.”

“End of Watch” is a cop movie that is going to eventually break the mold for most cop movies that we see in the future. So start the Oscar-talk now.

While it could have benefitted from just sticking strictly to the hand-held style, the overall experience is extraordinary.

Go see this film in a theater. It is a true experience.

Jason Cantu is seen here working on his cinematography.

When it comes to dancing with electronics, there is none better than our very own cinematography instructor and active free-lance cinematographer Jason Cantu.

“The way that I feel about cinematography in music videos is that you really have to feel the music in order to make the camera move,” Cantu said.

Cantu has been very successful in his ongoing career, filming multiple independent films and many music videos, including a long list of Kansas City’s own relatively famous rappers.

“I shoot all of Tech N9ne’s high end music videos,” Cantu said. “I have also done projects for Jackyl and Run-DMC.”

Cantu is into music, which helped him to eventually specialize in shooting music videos.

“I am a music lover; I was a little Indie rock kid,” Cantu said. “I liked going to the clubs and see the touring bands, and that’s really how I got my start in music videos. I started doing low budget Indie rock videos.”

Having a professor like Cantu on board at Missouri Western offers a very unique perspective for the students.

Longtime friend and co-worker Dallas Henry believes that it offers students the critical opportunity for real hands-on experience.

“First off, it gets the students involved with someone who is actively working,” Henry said. “Also, though, he is providing jobs; if he is shooting something and he needs someone, he brings his students along.”

One of his current students, Kelsey Houser, agrees that his ongoing and up-to-date experience is very valuable to a student in this field of study.

“His experience in the real world is what makes him more respected,” Houser said. “You know that he knows what he is talking about.”

Cantu is also very excited about having a film he shot almost five years ago making it to the big screen on Sept. 14.

“I’ve done quite a few films, and I actually [had] a film being released in 1,500 theaters [last] Friday called Last Ounce of Courage, which is pretty exciting,” Cantu said. “To get a movie into theaters — I mean that is pretty exciting; some people work a lifetime and never get a movie into theaters.”

Cantu had a pretty clear idea of what he wanted to do when he was at a young age. His father used to be big into a program called “Amiga” which is kind of like Photoshop. While he and his brother were shooting his movies, his dad used Amiga on their  footage in some funny ways.

“In Amiga, you can do paint programs and some basic Photoshop stuff,” Cantu said. “My brother and I used to shoot movies and my dad would crop out the background and put in some surreal background, and so I kind of grew up messing around in it.”

The future looks pretty bright with Cantu on board at Western, and students look forward to all the hands-on experience he brings and the exciting and unique projects he can offer.

Along with his friend Henry, they are looking to do some pretty big and innovative things within the department.

“We are combining our editing, scriptwriting, directing and his cinematography classes together to do some really big projects,” Henry said.

Geo Sipp, professor of art for Missouri Western State University, is seen here with his art work.

Missouri Western art professor Geo Sipp is about to go on an adventure only few people could ever imagine; an adventure to another country to show amazing artwork he created.

Sipp has been working the last several years on a project with Conger Beasley, Jr., writer and author of over 14 books. This project is potentially a graphic novel inspired by the French-Algerian war called “Wolves in the City.”

The art from this graphic novel that Sipp is creating is taking him across the seas to Algiers, Algeria. Sipp said he was contacted to participate in a conference on the 50-year anniversary of Algerian independence from French colonial rule.

Sipp is leaving Oct. 4 to show 23 images of his art that are intended for the graphic novel.

“I think it’s a great opportunity and kind of a dicey thing to do, going to that part of the world today,” Beasley said. “Geo is a very bold and imaginative guy. I’m sure this will give him a lot of inspiration.”

He is returning on Oct. 15. While in Algeria, he intends to do plenty of photography and sketches to help with inspiration on further art for the graphic novel.

Sean Starwars is also a printmaker and is a longtime friend of Sipp. He has enjoyed a lot of Sipp’s artwork.

“Geo has all these different kinds of images and different kinds of drawn media that are going to inform the work of that graphic novel,” Sipp said. ”They’re all so nicely drawn. The storytelling’s very robust. A lot’s happening in there. Apparently there’s a lot of history tied in. I guess it’s not yet done, but panel by panel, it’s really some compelling drawings.”

This is not Sipp’s first time at the drawing board, however.

“I worked very briefly for Marvel Comics when I first graduated, and when I say very briefly, I mean very briefly. It was less than a month,” Sipp explained, “They fired me because I worked very meticulously and very slowly.”

Marvel Comics may regret their move to fire Sipp. Starwars knows how Sipp works and thinks it’s positive.

“His work is so minutely detailed,” Starwars said. “His drawings are just so rich.”

Starwars is looking forward to see what comes of Sipp in the future.

“It’s exciting for him to get to go over there and to be a featured speaker, then just to see what the fall out for him is going to be after.”

Andrew Setter works on a cover page for a new comic book.

When you think of big time comic books, Marvel and DC comics are usually at the top of the list. For comic book illustrator Andrew Setter, working for one of the two franchises would be a dream job for him.

Setter has been drawing for about 11 years now. One of the things that inspired Setter to start drawing happens to be one of the biggest box office successes in recent history.

“It started when the first “Lord of the Rings” came out in theaters; that movie was a big inspiration for me,” Setter said.

Drawing was not something that Setter always wanted to do. He stated that he was actually more of the sports guy before coming to college. When things didn’t go the way he planned, he decided sketching was something he wanted to pursue.

“I didn’t really get serious about drawing until I came to college,” Setter said. “I was going to go into sports management because I was a big-time sports fan. Football ended up going under so I decided to get into drawing, and I have been doing it ever since then.”

Setter just finished his second comic book and stated that he is currently working on his third one. His freshman year of college is when he started to actually gain interest for comic books. Once he sees what the script is about, Setter works his magic.

“I work in comic books right now,” Setter said. “All I do is draw pictures in a movie format and sometimes in a picture format. I draw what the script says in interesting panels and pictures. I try to make things cool to look at as much as possible.”

Setter feels that comic books are a good thing to get into now because of all the new hero movies that have been releasing. He also mentioned that it was a struggle at first to find a comic book company to draw for. However, Setter’s persistence and love for drawing eventually came through, and he was offered a job about a year ago.

“I applied for a couple of jobs and ended up not getting them,” Setter said. “But I kept applying and finally after filling out one hundred applications, somebody gave me a shot at it. I became a professional in the business. It’s not like Marvel or DC yet, but I’m getting paid for my work.”

One of Setter’s biggest supporters happens to not only be a student at Western, but his fiancée. Audrey Henderson has known Setter for four years and stated that Setter has improved dramatically since the first time she met him. She said that he has built his speed up and his drawings have become exceptional.

“He has definitely come a long way since freshman year,” Henderson said. “I have seen all of his art work and it is very admirable. I love that he takes so much pride in his drawings. I am really proud of him.”

Henderson went on to say that she thinks Setter’s drawings have turned out to look very realistic over time. She said he has become a quicker artist, and she believes that he truly has what it takes to become an illustrator for the big-time comic strip DC comics.

Pierce Karguth has known Setter since their sophomore year of college. The two were suitemates and have stayed close friends since then. Karguth stated that even though he hasn’t seen as much of Setter’s art as Henderson, he feels that his development has been remarkable.

“He’s got a very distinctive style that he has found for himself,” Karguth said. ”That’s really important to do as an artist because you want to differentiate yourself from other comic book artists.”

With Karguth not really being a big DC comic fan, he stated that he preferred that Setter would become a Marvel comic artist. He then stated that Setter would succeed with either company because he is a team player.

As for Setter, he thinks the comic job is just doing something that he truly loves. He plans to work for a smaller company, IDW Publishing, that has produced comics like “Star Trek” and “30 days and Nights.”

Setter said he wanted to do work for smaller companies in hopes of being noticed by DC comics and Marvel. He also plans to fly out to San Diego, Calif., for the Comic-Con next year. Setter said he will spread his portfolio around when there and hopes someone gives him a call.

For more on Setter’s illustrations, check out the comic book “Vampire Guardian Angels” on Amazon.

There are intramurals of all kinds, from flag football, volleyball and basketball to dominoes, Hot Wheels racing and ping pong. (For a list of all events, visit http://www.missouriwestern.edu/recreation/intramural_activities.asp).

Recreation Services and Facilities Director Wonda Berry chose a wide variety of sports because she says there is something out there for everybody. A lot of former high school athletes and former and current college athletes along with Greek students sign up, but Berry believes students don’t have to have physical talent to have a good time during these events.

“I have several Greek teams; I can remember some Phi Sigs who came out and didn’t even play basketball,” Berry said. ”They didn’t do very well, as far as their record went, but they had a great time, and that’s what were here for; we want not only the students who do know how to play, but we want the students that have never played the sport before.”

Berry also stated she is adding some new games to the schedule, like broomball and floor hockey. While there are students who have played the main sports at the high school and collegiate level and already have experience and skills in those sports, adding these new games will put everybody back to zero; because these new games are not considered in the mainstream of sports, people will have an equal chance at winning the first place medal.

Yes, an actual medal.

Each category will have an all-time winner who will receive a hard medal (not those cheap plastic ones you win in t-ball and such).

Medals are just one incentive, however.

Playing intramurals are a good way to keep in shape. Junior Whitnee Allen has played basketball and volleyball intramurals in the past, and now she and her team are signed up for powder puff football this year.

“Mainly the reason we do intramurals — obviously we like all the sports – is because [my teammates] are like ‘I just need to run, I need the fitness, and I can’t do it by myself.’ So if there’s running involved and we don’t want to lose, then it works out,” Allen said. “College students need to be fit.”

She says they are very competitive, so powder puff and the other sports will allow her to release some agression.

Allen, Berry and student Ryan Smith all know how competitive the intramurals can get. Smith, who is majoring in physical education and minoring athletic coaching, works as a manager under Berry. He oversees all the activities and makes sure sportsmanship is enforced. Smith has also both played in and refereed intramurals in the past, so he knows how competitive the sports can get.

If you aren’t competitive, however, don’t let that scare you away.

“Intramurals are good for non-competitive and competitive people; sometimes Wonda will set it up to where certain teams will play others to try and to keep it equally balanced,” Smith said.

So far, flag football, powder puff and 3-on-3 basketball has already started, but there are plenty of games left to sign up for. The racquetball tournament’s entry date is Oct. 8 while volleyball is on Oct. 10. (For the schedule of upcoming events, click http://www.missouriwestern.edu/recreation/intramural_schedule.asp).

For those who want to do more of dance and yoga, there will be free classes open to students at the Baker Fitness Center — Turbo Kick will be on Wednesday and Thursday nights at 5 and 7, Zumba on Tuesday and Thursday nights from 6-7, circuit training on Tuesdays from 5-6 and yoga on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from noon to 1 p.m.

There is also a mental intramural you can do on the internet called “Pigskin Picks.” All you need is the internet to participate in this game, and you can win a medal each week. It is an online list of college and NFL football games on Saturday and Sunday for the next 10 weeks that students, faculty and staff can choose to win. (For the “How to” submit picks for this game, click http://www.thegriffonnews.com/2012/09/how-to-make-your-pigskin-picks/ ).

Berry said the number of participants are increasing each year, but she would like to see a lot more for years to come. Smith knows how fun intramurals can be, and he also wants more students to compete.

“Come on out, whatever your favorite sport is, just come play and just have fun — see for yourself.”

Students Kyle Minx and Morgan Breckenridge dance to Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” as Snoopy and Sally in Western Playhouse’s “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.”

Missouri Western fell in a new relationship this summer — and now it’s getting pretty serious.  This summer romance had sparks, cheers, laughter, play and chatter and is hoping to heat up even more in the near future. The romance, which could also be called Western Playhouse, reached its peak this summer as it offered amazing performances and unbelievable happy endings.

Theatre professor and Western Playhouse Managing Director Dallas Henry felt that audiences were quite captivated with the summer productions, even though it was the first time a summer production was held on campus through Western Institute.

“For the first year it’s always a tough experience when you’re starting something new, especially something new that has never been done on campus,” Henry said. “With that in mind, it was really well. The community really raved about the shows and really enjoyed themselves. ”

Western Playhouse grew support from not only the university and its sponsor Western Institute, but also from community sponsors such as Nestle, Aspen Leaf, Hy-Vee, Mr. Goodcents, the St. Joseph Mustangs and many others.

“We got a lot of sponsorships this summer — I think we got upwards to 15 to 20.  We really did well with corporations and local businesses came to bat.”

Though the plays didn’t have sold out performances and packed audiences, Henry feels that the caliber of the audiences was definitely something he was proud of.

“We actually did an inventory,” Henry said. “Thirty or 40 percent of the people who attended have never been to a Missouri Western theater performance. So we started getting new patrons. We’d get people from out of town who just were stopping by at a hotel and saw the poster.”

Western Playhouse actor and voice music and performance major Kyle Minx, who played and ran crew for the shows, felt that the talent of the shows was something that really attracted people.

“I feel that the amount of talent we had in the cast and crew was phenomenal,” Minx said. “As far as the first year, I think it went fantastically well. It was a good start.”

Minx said that Western Playhouse was not only an opportunity for the community, but for many film, theatre and music students that were able to use this job as a stepping stone before seeking their invested careers. The production program offered numerous jobs for students — from marketing, to directing, to designing, casting, filming, acting and performing.

“It’s the kind of professional experience,” Minx said. “It’s about loving what you do and getting a paycheck for it. It’s that middle step.”

As far as where this blossoming romance between Western Playhouse and our university will go in the future, it’s all up in the administratives’ hands, Henry said. In a couple of weeks, Western administration and Western Playhouse affiliates will discuss Western Playhouse and ultimately decide if they want to continue this relationship.

“Ultimately what we wanted to accomplish we did,” Henry said. “That was to do professional theater over the summer and to do good productions.”

Sebastian Smith has been in numerous Missouri Western plays. He plans to one day pursue acting and improv in major cites such as New York or Chicago.

Since he first stepped on stage in kindergarten to be cast as White Rabbit in “Alice in Wonderland,” Missouri Western student Sebastian Smith knew that acting was something that he wanted to partake in.

“I was 6 years old in early elementary school, and we where at an age where kids wanted to be an astronaut, a doctor or lawyer,” Smith said. ”For me, I just wanted to be an actor, and it has stuck with me every since.”

Smith has been known for being involved in many Western plays. He has even caught the eye of Administrative Coordinator Kathy Kelly.

When Kelly saw Smith in the school’s production of “Arsenic & Old Lace,” she noticed Smith’s talent.

“I was able to watch Mr. Smith in ‘Arsenic & Old Lace,’” Kelly said. “He did an amazing job. I am a huge fan of the movie. I had high expectations when I purchased my ticket to see it on stage here at Western. I was completely impressed by Mr. Smith.”

The aspect of getting out of his shell seems to be one of the main things that draw Smith to acting. Smith stated that sometimes it’s good to act out a fictional and non-fictional character. It allows you to escape from your personal life for a while.

“Acting is a chance to portray something that you’re not,” Smith said. “In real life, people get stuck in their daily routine which consists of waking up, eating breakfast, work then eating lunch, then finally dinner and going to bed. When you’re acting, you don’t have to do that. When I act, it feels like a break from normal life.”

Friends of Smith have also admired his work ethic and passion towards acting. Jackie Perkins has known Smith for nine years, and his attitude towards acting has been the same since.

“I think he is really good,” Perkins said. “He has grown a lot since the first time I’ve seen him. Every show that we hosted in high school, Sebastian was in it. He’s a great guy, with a personality that fits acting.”

Perkins stated that Smith can make it far in the acting industry. She feels that Smith’s dedicated spirit toward acting will guide him to success, and she wants to be there when he makes it.

Smith enjoys watching actor and director Woody Allen and feels that he was one of his biggest influences in acting while he was growing up. Smith stated that Allen’s versatility as an entertainer is something that pushed him to go beyond acting and take up improv comedy.

“He’s one of my biggest idols,” Smith said. “His career expands past 40 years. He writes jokes, he acts, does improv and he directs. He’s such an incredible figure in the acting world today. It’s something to be admired.”

Smith has also worked as a performer at Worlds of Fun, and as of now, Smith does stand improv for a company in Kansas City named Comedy City. He noted that he will be performing with Comedy City at the Kansas City Improv Festival which date will soon be announced.

“I do two to four improv shows a weekend at Comedy City,” Smith said. “It’s something that I enjoy doing. I’ve been doing it for quite some time now.”

Comedy City (formerly ComedySportz) was also home to Jason Sudeikis (“Horrible Bosses”) who used to perform there in the 90s.

After Western, Smith plans on pursuing a full time stand-up career. He also plans to study up on more improv while venturing out to bigger places such as Chicago and New York.

“There are a couple of things that I want to do,” Smith said. “I would like to audition for stand-up and improv around the country and hopefully be a part of some of the bigger markets in entertainment.”

De’Ondre Ross is a Western student that is currently selling his pop single on iTunes. To find out more information about Ross visit www.deondreross.com

Not often do you see a full-time student at a university with dreams of becoming a pop singer and achieving a college degree at the same time. Missouri Western student De’Ondre Ross has made it known that he has accepted the challenge and will follow through with it.

Ross’ love for music started when he was only 2 years old when he was first introduced to drums. Once he turned 7, he realized that music was something that he wanted to make his mark in.

“I’ve been writing and making my own music since I was 7 years old,” Ross said. “It’s just something that has stuck with me since I was a kid.”

Ross said that not only does he write his own music, he also sings and produces it as well. He stated that he has gained so much passion for it that writing has become something that can keep him up all night.

“Sometimes I will wake up in the middle of the night just to write something that has been stuck in my head,” Ross said. “I put things together and they end up being pretty catchy.”

In May of this year, Ross not only released his recent single “Song Goes Off,” he also released an official music video for the song on YouTube as well. The video featured Ross singing and a pretty good crowd of Western students.

The music video has had approximately 3,000 Youtube hits. Director of the video, Western alumna Jeanna Ross, felt that the fact that Ross knew exactly what he wanted made the process go smoothly.

“I think that the performance from De’Ondre and the dancers in the video was great,” Jeanna said. “Everything was very smooth, and I felt that the song itself is easy to sell because it’s something that belongs on the radio.”

Jeanna feels that as an artist, Ross has a lot of potential and as he grows he will continue to be a promising entertainer in music.

“I really like De’Ondre,” Ross said. “I think that he is an artist that is really into what he does. He thinks about music in a different aspect that not too many artists would. He is very professional and he’s going to make it.”

Ross’s dedication and humble personality has caught the eye of quite a few people around the university, including advisor Elaine Bryant. Bryant stated that she was very proud of Ross and commented on his willingness to help his fellow students get involved with his music. Bryant also feels that Ross has a drive to not only do music, but to also to achieve his Business Management degree.

“He’s a great young man,” Bryant said. “I feel that he has a good head on his shoulders because he knows that the business aspect of the music business is going to be a challenge in a career where trusting the right person with your money can be tough.

“He knows that deep down that with that degree, he will have a good foundation and the knowledge for what he needs for the business side of his music career.”

Ross said his mindset of knowing what he wants is the reason why he declared his major in Business Management. Instead of been operated by a music company, Ross says that he would rather learn how to manage his own music career.

“There are a lot of great things happening with me and the music right now,” Ross said, “but I still feel that education is key. I chose Business Management because the music industry is very sneaky, so you definitely need to know your business.”

Since its release, Ross stated that his personally written and produced single “Song Goes Off” has been getting some radio play and the single is also available on iTunes to purchase.

“The single has been going pretty good,” Ross said. “After the first week, it sold over a thousand downloads and that was the last time I checked it.”

As far as new music goes, Ross said that he just finished the final copy of his new single “Music Persuasion.” The single will be released on Aug. 23 at Northwest Missouri State. Ross will perform the song at Northwest and the school’s radio stations will also release the single for the first time.

Ross said that he appreciates all of the support from his fans because they are who keeps him going.

To listen to more of Ross’s music, visit www.deondreross.com or check out his music video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bu7OxTnqMs&feature=player_detailpage.

That’s right. At the end of the semester, she will be heading down to Santiago, the capitol of Chile. Not only will she be living in Chile for the duration of her stay, she will be teaching English as a second language to business professionals in need of a better understanding of English.

Moses is received her degree in music business and songwriting at Middle Tennessee State University. She decided to come to here because her family lived near the area, and Western was the only school around that offered a master’s program that emphasized on teaching English to speakers of other languages.

“Right now I’m doing a project and using my background in music and my expertise in that,” Moses said. “I’m going to create a curriculum and a program that uses music to teach English.”

The top language in Chile is Spanish, but Moses doesn’t know how to speak it. For most people it would be a hard task to communicate with someone while having no common language to use, but she has done it before.

“I’ve already been doing it,” Moses said. “I taught ESL (English as Second Language) for a college in Savannah, Ga., so I’ve had experience and that’s what I’ve been doing. It’s a lot of non-verbal communication in the beginning. But what I’m finding from my research is that before you try to learn another language you should listen to it for a long time and learn the rhythms of their language before you try to speak it. So I’m going to incorporate music.”

None of this opportunity will be done through the school. Moses has done everything herself, from finding the teaching job to finding out where she is going to stay. Absolutely none of her living plans were set up for her, so she felt like she kind of had to take a gamble.

“They said ‘We’ll figure it out when you get here,’” Moses said. “So I thought I should try and do some research to find people through Facebook and social networking, but that didn’t work. So I went on Craigslist and found this girl who lives in Santiago. She speaks really broken English, so we’ve been Skyping and using Google Translate. Now we’ve already become really good friends without even knowing how to speak each other’s languages. She’ll be picking me up at the airport, so I guess I’m pretty trusting.”

Moses is planning on coming back to the states knowing how to speak Spanish, and speak it well. She is hoping that being surrounding by Spanish speakers will be enough influence to get a piece of their culture to bring back.

This is Western Appeal, Missouri Western’s very first collegiate a capella group. A cappella is singing without instruments.

Freshman Mary Beth Rosenauer came up with the idea for Western to have their own a cappella group when she was looking over YouTube videos last summer. What influenced her was University of Oregon’s a cappella group On the Rocks sing a Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance.” She thought, “Hey, we could do this.”

“The cool thing about the a cappella groups is they’re really big on other campuses, and so to start one up would be really neat,” Rosenauer said. “It’s something other schools our size, like Northwest (Missouri State), don’t have one, so one up on them is always nice.”

Founded in November of 2011, Rosenauer came up with Western Appeal to be the name for the group because they put their own twist, or appeal, on different songs. So far the group has 12 members, including freshman Jacob Mills who plays Seymour Krelborn in Western’s production of “Little Shop of Horrors.”

Rosenauer wants at least 16 members in the group, and it’s open for anyone to join; any student with any sort of major can be a part of the group.

In the past couple of semesters, Western Appeal has sang Christmas songs at Light Up Western and the Caroling Fundraiser at East Hills Mall for The Salvation Army, as well as sang songs like “Lean on Me,” “Black Bird” and student director junior Derek Thompson’s arrangement of “Eye of the Tiger” at the Western Activities Council Talent Show and in Blum Union. To hear Western Appeal’s songs, search “Western Appeal” on YouTube and choose from the first four choices.

So far, students, like Thompson, have had a lot of fun with the group.

“The thing I enjoy most is having the freedom to create music that we really enjoy with a group of close friends,” Thompson said.

The most recent place Western Appeal sang was the Grace Evangelical Church in St. Joseph for the Area A Cappella Voices of America competition on April 14. While Western Appeal is co-ed, it competed against all men’s and women’s groups.

After an audience vote, Western Appeal took home the first place trophy.

“It was a good experience, and it gave us hope that we could go to other competitions and stuff because when you’re new, it’s hard,” Rosenauer said.

As of now, the group is done practicing for the semester. However, Rosenauer said the students will hopefully get to work on more over the summer.

“This is kind of a test run, like a guinea pig, so hopefully next semester we’ll have a full-wide campus auditions and try and be a real group.”

Students already have a hard time making it through school, but if you include taking care of a child along with that, it can be even more difficult for some students. Although it can be a challenge, there are child care services around the St. Joseph area and on the Missouri Western campus.

Y’s Kids World at Western is a child care service that is offered to students.  There are about 26 children ages 2 through 6 that can attend this service.  The children have to be potty-trained and have all of their shots.  The service is open all week long for students to bring in their children while they’re in class.  Heather James, one of the caretakers for the children, explained what Y’s Kids World has to offer students.

“We offer a facility discount to all students, and mostly all the children here are around the same age so they can relate to each other and are familiar with their peers,” James said.

While some students receive help from day cares, some, like Ashton Justiniano, prefer to receive help from their own families because the cost of  a day care can be expensive. According to the Baby Center LLC, the average cost of child care centers are about $4,000-$7,000 a year. Sophomore Justiniano prefers a family member to take care of her 10-month-old little girl while she is in class.

She also expressed how it can be difficult, but also how she stays positive about being a mother and a student.

“I struggle with time to study and to do homework, because my daughter’s needs have to come before mine sometimes,” Justiniano said. “I have to remind myself that me finishing school is better for her future and to not only provide for her, but to set a good example about education and how important it is.”

Some of the difficulties that students have while raising children while attending school includes lack of sleep, stress, downfall of grades, anxiety, expenses and many more difficulties.  Despite the disadvantages, there are some students that still think positively even though it’s tough balancing the two.

Sophomore Natassja Hanttula has not only one, but two children to take care of while going to school.

“With kids, balance is the key; however, when your child says ‘let’s play,’ but you are doing homework, it can be tough,” Hanttula said. “Sometimes you have to put down the books and play a game of peek-a-boo.”

Jordan Shurvington

This is the Missouri Western switchboard, crafted during the Cold War and in service here longer than most Western students have been alive.

Each tear off of the nearby page-a-day calendar signals the switchboard is getting closer to its end. The campus switchboard’s days are numbered.

Fortunately, Western is planning to replace its aging 23-year-old telephone switchboard.

“If our aging switchboard goes out and fails, we won’t have any way to replace it since replacement parts are no longer available,” Carolyn Long, telephone services coordinator, said.

The university switchboard receives thousands of calls from people off campus and is used to manually route calls to their proper extension on campus. Anyone who has ever called the main phone number, 816-271-4200, was routed through the switchboard.

Stacy Temple, a freshman accounting and business finance double major, is one of the part-time student switchboard operators. She is one of those students born after the switchboard began servicing Western.

While Temple is at the console, a call comes in and the switchboard rings in a unique tone not made by today’s phones. Through a long series of deliberate steps, she answers the call, flips through the book, locates the extension and then delicately keys each number using the noisy spring-loaded keys as though any one of her touches could signal the end of the road for the board.

Besides replacement parts being hard to come by, the outdated system adds time that callers must wait before they are transferred. Long said flipping from the phone, to searching the book and then back to the phone again adds time.

“We got to have it as we don’t have a choice on it,” Long said, knowing that if the current switchboard quits, the incoming calls to the switchboard will not be routed through.

Long expects its replacement to be a computer-based system from T-Metrics, who she described as a leader in switchboards. She plans to travel on April 16 to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to learn the pros and cons of their T-Metrics board. Long hopes that their experience with it will help her better manage the changeover for Western.

Being computer based, the T-Metrics switchboard will do away with the large paper book currently used by the operator as the phone extensions will be available to them at the click of a mouse. Long said not only will the system be more environmentally friendly, since the book won’t have to be printed frequently, but callers will also benefit from the quicker transfer times.

She said the new system will also allow for a computer-generated voice answering system. However, that feature is not likely to be used, so callers will still reach a live operator from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. After-hours callers will not notice any difference as calls will still be forwarded to voicemail as they are now.

The feature most likely be used is call recording, something the current system does not allow.

Long was quick to note that the recording will only occur on incoming calls and will cease once the call is transferred to an extension. She also said every call won’t be recorded, but feels that having some calls recorded can help during misunderstandings or when operators face difficult callers.

However, Long said there is a drawback to a T-Metrics switchboard. It won’t let operators forward calls when someone is unexpectedly out of the building — for example, in the case of an illness.

Temple likes the few quick keys it offers, which allow her to quickly route calls to frequently used extensions, though she looks forward to the increased speed that a new system will bring.

“Financial aid, admissions and the registrar’s office are my big three,” she said, as those departments get the majority of calls to the campus and each has its own quick key.

According to the T-Metrics customer feedback site, Mike Hansen, telephone administrator at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln said, “Since the installation in March 2006, we have discovered that the system is an extremely versatile system. It is a great solution for both large and small call centers.”

Hansen feels there hasn’t been a situation yet that they haven’t been able to address with the system or that T-Metrics hasn’t been interested in helping them find a solution for.

Long said knowing that the current switchboard is on its last leg, Western budgeted $1,500 for its replacement.

Since having her travel and conference budget cut due to cost reductions, Long said it is harder to network with other telephone administrators to see what they are doing to replace their older systems. She plans to use her brief visit to UNL as an information-gathering session and to make sure the T-Metrics system is the best fit for Western. She knows this new switchboard will be expected to last a long time.

As long as the current aging switchboard keeps ringing and letting operators transfer the calls it receives, it will continue to serve dutifully just as it has every day of its life since 1989. Only time will tell if it will give out first, or wait for its replacement’s debut before it retires.

Paul Dickman

“Playing in a worship service you can always tell when people are enjoying the music,” Blumer said. “Compliments start trickling in, and of course those people are friends and family who love you. But when I started doing shows outside at bars and stuff, compliments started coming in from people I didn’t really know. I thought ‘well let’s take this to the next level.’”

The next level for Blumer is a promotion tour from radio station to radio station across 12 Midwest states for the duration of this summer. For the moment, he is still in St. Joseph and will be playing at the Buffalo Bar on April 14, which is also the release date of his first big album.

Blumer is a self-taught guitarist who started at the age of just 12, inspired by his musically talented family. Now 25, he hasn’t shown a single sign of slowing down. The ’05 Benton High School graduate did enroll at Missouri Western in the fall of ’05, but realized that school wasn’t his calling. Playing music was his dream and on the road was where he wanted to be.

“Dreams are only dreams if you let them be,” is what his father, Tim Blumer, once told him. Blumer never forgot what his father said, and continues to live day to day by it. He is willing to do what it takes to play on the road for as long as he can.

“My expectations and my goals are similar,” Blumer said. “My number one goal is to have thousands of people singing my words, whether it’s a different artist singing my song or me singing my song.”

Longtime friend and acting manager for Blumer, Tanner Ferguson, sees nothing but success in Blumer’s future.

“Aaron will make it, and people will know his songs,” Ferguson said. “His passion and love for music, combined with his talent is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. The guy is driven.”

Each and every one of the songs on his new album was written by him, played by him and sang by him. Blumer started out liking to play the blues, but has since developed into more of a pop/country artist. His sound is most often compared the sound of Keith Urban. Blumer can bring a very connecting energy to his audience, even though he has brought it on a little too much in the past.

“One time we were playing on this dark stage outside, and I said ‘anyone is more than welcome to come up and dance,’ and we had a monitor on the floor, and this real big guy runs up to the stage to dance and trips over the monitor and falls face first into the drum set,” Blumer said. “He didn’t spill his beer though.”

Blumer still doesn’t shy away from opportunities for the crowd to get involved in his music, even if it isn’t their favorite kind.

“If you don’t like country music, give it a shot,” Blumer said. “Because most people after they hear it like it. Every time they show up it turns out they say, ‘Well I hate country music, but I like your stuff.’”

Even if you don’t like country music, give Blumer a try. You can check out his music on his website aaronblumer.com. If you’d like to see him play live at the Buffalo Bar, reserve your spot fast. Ferguson believes that the people who haven’t heard him play, have no idea what they’re in for.

“It will be like the most insane show ever,” Ferguson said. “If you aren’t going around telling everybody how stoked you are for Saturday, you have no fucking idea what we’re capable of.”

Audrey 2 grows by the minute in the play "Little Shop of Horrors." Photo by Jason Brown.

In fact, he probably has one of the deepest voices in the theater department. When director of upcoming play “Little Shop of Horrors” Dallas Henry was looking to cast different characters, the script called for a deep-voiced person to play Wino #1 (a drunk).

Catron more than likely came to mind.

Expecting the role, Catron accepted Wino #1. Little did Catron know the script also called for the same person playing Wino #1 to be the puppeteer of the famous maneating plant, Audrey II.

“Fate got to you on that one (Audrey II’s role),” Jeff Jones, voice of Audrey II, said.

“Yeah fate…and puberty,” Catron joked.

Four unique plant props will be joining the “Little Shop of Horrors” cast Thursday night in which director Dallas Henry acquired from New York City through Musical Theatre International.

“The plant is the show,” Henry said.

While Jacob Mills, playing Seymour Krelborn, takes hold of teenage Audrey II during a musical act, Catron will mainly be controlling Audrey II in its earliest and last stage.

Henry said Catron needed to understand the meaning of comedic timing as he and Mills will each bring the plant to life by nipping it at other characters and snapping for blood. Henry said Catron has mastered this factor, which is one of the reasons why he cast him as the commander of Audrey II.

“Steve has timing — that’s what I need as a plant,” Henry said.

Henry also saw Catron’s dedication through Catron’s dismissal of a partner. The recommendation for working the mature six-foot-long Audrey II creature is two puppeteers or at least someone who is 6 feet 4 inches.

Catron is not 6 feet 4 inches tall, yet the former Scrooge didn’t let his height hold him back. Henry said Catron was adamant about doing the entire thing by himself. As of now, he has been working really hard during rehearsals.

Unfortunately, Audrey II has not been available for all the rehearsals. So far, Catron has only been working with the plant for about two weeks. Instead of sitting back, Catron decided to join rehearsals with his own homemade “plant.”

For the first two weeks, Catron was using a sock puppet until the plant came in. Catron’s “Audrey II-partner-in-crime,” Jones, enjoyed seeing Catron’s face when Henry debuted the beastly costume that takes at least three people to push on and off the stage.

“His hand was not even close to what this thing is actually going to be — it was really kind of laughable because once we saw it, we said ‘Wow Steve, you have in no way prepared yourself for this,’” Jones said.

Catron, unlike the cast, was not tickled by his future costume.

“They were all laughing — I was dying on the inside,” Catron said.

Catron could almost be literally “dying on the inside” as a synonym for the costume is a sweat box; the interior is covered in fur.

The one and only word Catron could say about the plant was “hot.” Let’s not forget that there are lights constantly shining down on the stage, therefore “cooking” Catron. He does not and will not wear a shirt when he is inside Audrey II; when he is finally allowed to exit the plant, Catron is tomato red.

While enduring the heat has been his main challenge, having the strength to open and close Audrey II’s mouth has not been easy either.

“It’s all of my muscle, or lack thereof; it’s me using whatever strength I can manage,” Catron joked.

During Act I, there is a long song where Audrey II moves a lot, which is why Henry created a break during the song to allow Catron to switch arms.

Catron can’t do his job by himself; that’s where Jones comes in. Because Jones is the voice, these actors have had to work together to make sure they are in sync. Henry said Catron has had to know the lines, laughs and sighs down to a tee, and Jones can’t add anything, no improvisation is allowed. Catron also has to remember even how Jones says and sings the lines.

“Everybody watches plant to see if it’s synced up, so it’s very important, and (Catron and Jones) realize that,” Henry said.

They have to take cues off of each other, Catron on stage, Jones off stage watching a monitor with a microphone; Catron can be a little bitter about this fact.

“So while (Jones) is in his own little quiet room eating Cheetos and having fun by himself, I’m on stage sweating my butt off in a plant,” Catron jokes.

Jones has given Catron a lot of kudos, telling him he’s been doing a good job and that he’s impressed. And Catron isn’t the only one receiving props. Henry has also talked Jones up, saying he never knew Jones could sing.

Both sides of Jones’ family sing, so Jones grew up around it. He’s never taken singing lessons; Jones had to develop his singing voice into Audrey II’s singing voice, which he says has been an interesting process.

Jones is ready to get the show on the road. And to debut his singing voice for his mom, who has never heard him sing before.

“We’ve practiced so much and so hard, I’m just ready to do it in front of an audience.”

“All of the characters in it are definitely characters,” Minx said. “You have plays where people aren’t necessarily characters, they’re just people. In this show, pretty much everyone has a character; there isn’t really a normal person role.”

Director Dallas Henry said Minx has unique descriptions for his characters like “the Jewish man/Billy Crystal/old NBC exec” and “the cowboy/the old hick that just got off of a horse and is really sore.”

Minx is a music education major with an emphasis in vocals who is participating in his fifth play at Missouri Western. Counting high school, Minx has been in over 20 plays, with one of them already being “Little Shop of Horrors.”

Minx originally went into auditions to be the dentist and had no idea that he would be leaving as the dentist — and eight other people. As you’d probably imagine, changing into so many characters from one scene to the next is not easy. Usually to feel more comfortable, Minx walks around as each role talking to people as that character before he goes on stage. Some parts aren’t always as smooth of a transition as Minx would like, such as a scene where he plays multiple characters during a song.

“The fastest changes are the three people in that one song where I have around 20 seconds to change,” Minx said.

Henry foresaw the potential that Minx could be for this play.

“Kyle is one of the hardest working student I’ve ever had,” Henry said. ”He comes in with something new every day, takes the notes, works them, works them, works them, and you just look forward to that student every time.”

For Minx, attention to detail proved to be the biggest help in developing so many different characters. With Minx having a lot of prior involvement in vocals, Henry was able to focus less on the singing and more on the little details of acting. After noticing the detail in his own roles, he noticed similar details in Bryn Terfel, an opera singer that he’s always looked up to.

“I’ve seen him in a bunch of different roles,” Minx said. “I never noticed until Dallas started directing me so specifically in acting how much little tiny things can make a character. As I watch more of Bryn, I really see those tiny things that make the character. But you’d never know it and I think that’s what makes a really great actor.”

For the students who don’t know much about “Little Shop of Horrors,” Minx believes it could be even more enjoyable.

“They’re in for a treat,” Minx said. “I watched the movie and it was fun, getting to know the show is fun. But I think its way more fun to come in not knowing what’s going to happen. It’s a very fun, creepy musical that I think is right up the alley for a lot of people our age.”

Their “Season of Classics,” has now arrived at the grand finale: “Little Shop of Horrors”

Dallas Henry, assistant professor and director of the show, seems to be up to the task of wowing audiences and raising the bar even higher.

“With this show, the whole concept has been to be larger-than-life,” Henry said. “It has to take over the audience and take control.”

With this larger-than-life set, Henry wants the audience to really feel like they are in New York during the 1960s.

The first couple rows of seats are going to be taken out for the set to engulf the audience, and the band is going to be playing on a scaffolding, being a part of the New York scene, making the show more lively and energetic. There will also be trash surrounding the sets for the streets of Skid Row.

Even if you’ve seen the show before, there will be a few differences from this production.

“I’ve added some extra dance numbers,” Henry said. “With Mushnik, I’ve added a tango, which is not in there, which is fun and exciting.”

Probably the biggest and most iconic part of the show is the plant, Audrey II.

Henry was very insistent on getting the perfect plant to use in the show.

“If the plant isn’t very good, then you don’t have a production” he added.

The plant had to be ordered and shipped all the way from New York. Standing at 6-foot, the plant also costs quite a hefty amount.

“Little Shop is done all the time…and I don’t know how because it’s very expensive to produce. And most of that is the plant,” Henry said.

Morgan Breckenridge, who plays Audrey in the production, shares a love for the show and the ride she has went on for being a part of it.

“Little Shop has been exhausting, rewarding, and a lot of fun,” Breckenridge said. “I feel like I’ve really grown. Especially as an actor.”

Being more of a vocal performer, the entire rehearsal process has taught Breckenridge and all of the other music majors in the show a lot.

“The music majors are doing great musically but we’re working on the acting side,” Henry added, “ and with acting (students), we’ll work on the musical side.”

With it being Breckenridge’s first time being directed by Henry, it’s evident that the cast of the show enjoys working with him.

“He motivates us. He takes it seriously so it makes us take it seriously,” Breckenridge added.

“Little Shop of Horrors” opens at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 19 in Potter Hall Theatre and runs through the 29, with 3 p.m. matinees on April 21, 22, 28, and 29. Tickets are $14 for adults, $10 for faculty and $8 for all students. All tickets can be picked up at the box office or online at mwsutix.com.

With the 1986 film having such a large cult-following, Henry insists that you see this theatrical version. Saying that it does relish in the campy, B-movie style that the film held but still has new elements brought to the table.

“It’s different than the movie. The ending is different.”

Setter, who is a printmaking major but insists he is the only illustration major, made an account on freelance.com and started applying for jobs all over the place. Finally one stuck.

Price, who has her own production company in California, hired Setter to create a comic book of her novel “Lia Scott Price’s Serial Killer and Vampire Guardian Angels ™” in January 2012. The storyline is about a disillusioned guardian angel that becomes a serial killer by persuading people to commit suicide. Setter explained it to be a mix between the movies “Legion” and “30 Days of Night.”

Price is also known for her movies “Normal, California” and ”Dominion,” in which actor Rainn Wilson appears.

Price said Setter was the first to reply to her job offering, so she gave him a phone interview as well as had him send her some of his work.

“When I saw [Andrew’s] portfolio, it exceeded my expectations because of the care and detail that actually went into it,” Price said. “I showed it to other comic book artists I know in California, and they were impressed.”

After Price hired Setter, he decided he needed a partner. Setter turned to his close friend of three years, Hammontree, who is one of the best graphic design majors that will graduate from Western, Setter said. Price said taking on Hammontree added a whole new level.

“It’s outside of the box; it’s out of the norm,” Hammontree said. “I’m having fun with it now because I’m not just doing corporate logos or cut and dry boring stuff. It’s fun to dabble in different areas in art.”

While Setter is about the illustration, Hammontree is more of a “colorist.”

Here is the process: Setter renders the illustration in pencil and inks it; Hammontree helps ink it, too. Then they digitize it by scanning it in at high resolution, add color through digital painting and Photoshop, and then add the text. Next they save it under the right format, send it to Price and then wait for her critique.

One of Price’s biggest demands is reliability, and she said she’s never had to worry with Setter and Hammontree. They call and text her all the time for updates, which they did before she ever had to ask.

“I’ve never worked with anybody who was so on the ball,” Price said.

The senior art students also think very highly of Price, saying she’s very professional, open and has given Setter a lot of leeway to how he wants to illustrate the characters.

“She’s definitely not one of those dick-ish bosses,” Setter said. “She’s a genuinely caring boss that actually cares about you, so that’s really awesome.”

Setter and Hammontree’s ultimate goal in life is to work for themselves, which is why they want to start their own creative studio business in Kansas City. They want to hire students from Western and give them the opportunities they were not given before Price’s. They said Price has given them a lot of good advice, and this job will be a good kickstart.

“It’s just a stepping stone to hopefully more people will like the work, and we’ll get noticed more because that’s what you have to do in the art world,” Setter said. “It’s like a cascading effect—when one person sees your work, more people will see your work, and this [job] will help out immensely, I think.”

Neither Setter nor Hammontree have done anything like this before; this is their first real job. Setter and Hammontree could go from students to perhaps well-known artists, all thanks to freelance.com, which is why they encourage other students to sign up for a freelance.com account.

As for now, the current comic book should be published sometime in April. There are teasers on Facebook, and it has gotten attention from CNN. To see more, click www.horrorsociety.com/2012/02/14/exclusive-sneak-peek-of-upcoming-web-comic-by-lia-scott-price/.

“I am just amazed at how fast [Andrew] has worked, amazed at the passion he puts into it,” Price said. “He really got into the characters and was so into the whole story, which to me is very important because I know he understands the goal and vision.”

Price said they are welcome to be her official artists, and would like to have them illustrate her other two books into graphic novels, which should be finished in October.

Setter and Hammontree look forward to hopefully getting to be a part of the San Diego Comic-Con and Horror-Con. Price knows the seats next to her won’t be empty.

“They will definitely be in the booths with me when we get to that point.”

This was Kristina Bradley’s main reason why people should see “The Vagina Monologues.”

“The Vagina Monologues” are stories of real women with real experiences being passed on from community to community across the world while supporting the V-Day cause. V-Day is a global activist movement to end violence against women and does so through creative events like “The Vagina Monologues,” according to vday.org.

Bradley, aside from being a residence hall director, is the director of this year’s Vagina Monologues. This is her third year participating in the program and her first at Western; her previous two were at the University of Missouri.

“It was a really powerful experience for me when I was an undergrad, and I wanted to bring that [experience] here to Western,” Bradley said.

Year in and year out people’s first impression seems to be laughs at the audition signs. It’s a common thing for people to find humor in the “vagina” part of the title. “The Vagina Monologues” are about as blunt and straight forward as anything, but sure doesn’t stand for anything funny.

Nicole Gardner, a public relations volunteer, understands why the title is what it is.

“No one is going to come or understand if it’s not straight up called what it is,” Gardner said. “They are personal stories from women about everything from rape to loving their own vaginas. It’s what it means to be a woman and the struggles that we go through.”

Just because these monologues are stories of women being told by women, doesn’t mean women are the only audience being targeted. Men can learn just as much, if not more, just by listening to these stories.

“It’s not necessarily a feminist thing, it’s more about women in your life and this is what they go through, and you need to pay attention because it’s important to them,” Gardner said.

Danielle Wagner, one of the “Monologue” performers, finds it important that men attend and hear what is being said.

“It’s good for men to get a perspective from the women and take on a new perspective of feminism,” Wagner said.

This year’s “Monologues” will be performed by approximately 20 individuals who strongly support the messages that each story brings. The monologues are open performances and are free for the audience. They will be collecting donations from willing audience members who would like to help prevent violence against women. It will be held at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, April 11 in Kemper Recital Hall.

Dennis Stroughmatt preforms French creole music with his fiddle in Kemper Recital Hall Tuesday night. Photo by Jason Brown. March 21, 2012.

Missouri Western teamed up with the Alliance Francaise of St. Joseph to bring Stroughmatt to Kemper Recital Hall March 20.

There was a fair audience, occupied by both Western students and also several community members that held interest in music and French culture.

Walking into the event, one might have been suspecting a pretentious, artsy, musical performance. One could not be more wrong.

With his swift movements of the bow, Stroughmatt entertained the audience consistently with French Creole music that one could easily hear being played at bars. Every tune that he put out was tremendously danceable.

Stroughmatt was not the type of character you expected to be playing French music. With a long curly ponytail and a very witty sense of humor, he was able to really connect with the audience, telling jokes and explaining the meanings behind all of the pieces that he performed.

A lot of the songs were 20 verses long, but he would perform only two or three of the verses. One of these was a drinking song that he decided to play with the audience, which involved audience participation.

“I see people leaving…” Stroughmatt joked.  “If I see you fall asleep, I will jump off this stage and hit you.”

Stroughmatt — who honed his craft while living in Old Mines, Mo. — has been playing fiddle for 22 years. He received his first fiddle from his grandfather, which originally belonged to his great grandfather.

Stroughmatt stated that he first tried to play during jam session at a house party in his hometown of Albion, Ill.

They kicked him out to play on the porch.

He has also played with his group “Dennis Stroughmatt and Creole Stomp” with big gigs such as playing on Prairie Home Companion.

“One of the first gigs we ever played was the Arch in St. Louis. Then it just snowballed from there,” Stroughmatt said.

Ironman, Britt Johnson (left) pedals forward during one of many triathlons he has completed. Submitted photo.

It’s not because he had eaten a rotten banana, or because he found out he was allergic to them that day.

Assistant professor of physical education Britt Johnson couldn’t eat bananas because of the several he devoured while doing the Ironman Triathlon, which consists of a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run, in that order.

“Everybody has their own thing; this happens to be mine,” Johnson said.

In the past, Johnson, who was a runner and swimmer at Albion College in Michigan, has run indoor triathlons, marathons and half Ironmans. However, he had never tried an Ironman Triathlon. Although he’s always wanted to do the race, he didn’t really have the time train for it until he took a teaching job at Missouri Western in the fall of 2009. Johnson was living in Kansas City while his wife was still finishing her tenure in Michigan, so this time away from his family allowed him to train for the race.

“I figured if I’m even going to do it (the Ironman Triathlon), now’s the time.” Johnson said. “I go home to an empty apartment, so I might as well go ride the bike for hours on end.”

Johnson researched several workout plans and decided on one that happened to be around 125 pages long. He summarized it into 10 pages, which totaled to be 36 weeks long.

The first week, he was scheduled to do a 30-minute swim, 50 minutes on the bike and a 35-minute run. Toward the end of his training, it had progressed to where he would have to do 5 hours and 15 minutes on the bike and a 2 hour-45 minute run.

After the weeks of constant training, Johnson felt ready.

Unfortunately on the drive up to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, where the race was held, Johnson said he made the mistake of attaching the bike to the back of his car. After about a mile from where he left, he hit a pothole which caused his bike to hang from the vehicle — and drag against the road. The rim was bent, a tire was popped and everything was out of line; luckily he still had about four days before the race and was able to fix his bike.

Johnson used this experience to prepare for any possible mechanical breakdowns during the race by packing extra tires and tools.

Once he arrived to Coeur d’Alene, he set his packs for the race then waited for the next morning.

The race began at 7 a.m. and would ultimately end at midnight, finished or not. Tagged as number 435, Johnson made his way to the 61-degree lake where the race would start.

“It was very scenic; it was nice to be able to look around, and you were in the middle of nowhere…with 2,200 of your best friends,” Johnson said.

Two rows of participants lined up before the water a quarter of a mile long. Johnson was never worried about not finishing the race; he feared more of mechanical issues and accidental injuries.

“I was the farthest person on the right. Literally nobody was on my right, which made me probably swim an extra 100 yards, but I didn’t care. I didn’t want anybody to kick me in the face, and I didn’t want any of those issues,” Johnson.

Johnson’s nose remained unscathed as he pulled out of the water 83rd.

Then he was on to the 112-mile bike ride.

Throughout the bike section, Johnson had to stay optimistic because his legs were sore — very sore. Johnson said his mentality was all positive thoughts, like “I can do this,” “Hey, that 5 hours wasn’t all that bad” and “I have another 20 miles on the bike left to do.”

“One of the best feelings was when I got five miles of the finish of the bike,” Johnson said. “I thought ‘Yes, I’m going to make it’ and then when I actually handed off the bike, I was like ‘All right I’m done, let’s go run.’ Then I took about three steps and thought, ‘I’ll walk a little bit.’”

Johnson’s “little bit” turned into walking for about half a mile before beginning to take a quicker pace, but he pulled through. On the bright side, it was sunny and 75 degrees out; he was enjoying Lake Coeur d’Alene and people watching.

The running consisted of two laps; when Johnson had two hours and about a mile and half to go, he could see the other participants still on their first lap — or eight miles to go.

“The hardest part of the whole race was when I got to that point and saw all their faces,” Johnson said. “They’re just as tired and trying just as hard as I am, but you’re looking at them saying ‘You have no chance, you’re not going to make it.’

“I almost started crying.”

Although he was feeling empathetic, he had to keep moving.

For the triathlon, it’s tradition for people to line up from a half a mile from the finish line and scream and cheer for the participants. There is also a radio announcer who says each name as they finish, and Johnson worked so hard over the last mile to pay attention to where people were to make sure he was the only one crossing the finish line so he could hear his name.

He was near three people who were going about the same pace, but after about three-fourths of a mile left, he turned on what he had left and went ahead about 200 yards and stayed there.

Unfortunately, he was so tired when he finished that he wasn’t able to hear the announcer exclaim “Britt Johnson, you’re an Ironman!”

By that point, however, Johnson was just happy that he finished and beat his goal of 15 hours by 5 minutes and 42 seconds. He finished 118th in his age group and 738th overall.

He was so exhausted that he couldn’t even lift his very light bag that carried his clothes. He was given free Dominos Pizza and received about a 20-minute massage afterward, compliments of the triathlon committee. Later he needed help getting into the shower.

But Johnson recovered quickly; he said he felt fine the next day.

Since then, he has been able to teach his PED classes about physical activity and nutrition through his experiences. While he is still teaching at Western, he also continues to run, swim and bike when he can.

Although Johnson enjoyed the Ironman Triathlon as a whole, he probably won’t do it again because he is more family-oriented now that they live with him. But he is planning to run an ultra-marathon in November.

“Knowing how difficult the day actually was, if I can do that, what can’t I do?”

The importance of SAAC is to enhance the total student-athlete experience by promoting opportunity, protecting student-athlete welfare and fostering a positive student athlete image, according to the NCAA. In 1989, SAAC was formed for student athletes to have leadership opportunities by representing their fellow student athletes.

“With being a student athlete it’s really hard for us to get involved in things outside of our sport and our classes,” SAAC leader Kallie Schoonover said. “It gives us a chance to help out the community and represent the student athletes for our university.”

Like our SGA, where there is a panel of students representing the entire student body, in SAAC there is a panel of student athletes being the voice of all student athletes. Instead of having senate members, there are leaders. Leaders are chosen by coaches selecting nominees, and those nominees are voted on other representatives from SAAC.

“The best part about SAAC is being able to relate to and be a voice for student athletes and getting what they want done,” SAAC leader Harrison Cobb said.

SAAC is an organization whose members are only athletes representing our school. Although it is only for athletes, anyone can help accomplish the goals of the organization.

“We’re making the effort to better in the community,” Cobb said. “We’re always looking for ways to improve the campus and game atmosphere. We appreciate people’s help when we’re trying to do those things.”

One way SAAC fosters a positive student athlete image is by participating in community service programs. Some of the programs they have already done this year are their annual “Night out on the Griffs” and “Griffs Giving Gifts.”

Night out on the Griffs is an evening where young kids in the community come out to play games with Western athletes every finals week of the fall semester. Griffs Giving Gifts is held for both Thanksgiving and Christmas to help out the community during the holidays.

An event still to come will be the third annual dodge ball tournament for canned foods April 4 at 7 p.m. in the old gym in Looney. Any student will be able to participate in the tournament. If you would like to get involved, send an email to mwsusaac@yahoo.com to enter in your team. Even if you don’t wish to participate in the games, canned foods or money donations would still greatly help the cause.

Josh Yakovitz shows off some of his moves in Blum Union to anyone who wants to watch. Photo by Jason Brown.

His opponent fired back, sporting his moves and ending his turn by pulling his shirt over his head and tossing it on the floor as if to say “Top that.”

Yakovitz walked past his challenger, who thought he had won until Yakovitz jumped on stage only to do a back flip from it.

“That came out of nowhere,” sophomore and long-time friend Alex Merling said of Yakovitz’s performance at the Griffon Edge event. “That brought out a long line of dance offs.”

To view the Griffon Edge dance off, search “dance off at mowo” on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heekEC7Ua00).

Merling also said after the Griffon Edge weekend, another student had heard about Yakovitz and challenged him to a dance off in the parking lot. Yakovitz won.

This dancing machine is a sophomore now, yet he’s been dancing since high school. Merling said he remembers meeting Yakovitz his freshman year of high school and watching him beat seniors in dance offs. He was always known as “that dancing guy.”

Winning dance offs for Yakovitz never discontinued. In fact, he took first place at last semester’s Western Activities Council Talent Show after winging his choreography. He mixed the song he wanted to dance to an hour before, then pondered how he was going to perform to it. He figured out a basic plan for certain parts of the mix, but he overall just wanted to go with the flow and not look technical on stage.

“I don’t really think; I just hear the music,” Yakovitz said. “I just listen to music all day, every day.”

Yes, Yakovitz can often be seen with his headphones in, bobbing his head to some tunes.

Although he’s a big fan of music, dancing didn’t necessarily come natural to him.

Yakovitz said he would spend from two to three hours in his basement learning new moves from YouTube and his influences, like Chris Brown.

“I like watching all different styles because it’s interesting to see what people can do with their bodies,” Yakovitz said. “If I was trying to get one thing right, I did it until I got it right; time wasn’t my main focus.”

Yakovitz’s determination has allowed him to become a versatile dancer. Merling says he can dance to any slow or upbeat song, and that he picks up moves very easily. While he does use various styles of dancing, he enjoys using his hat as a prop.

“I really like the hat tricks,” Yakovitz said. “The hat stays stationary while your whole body’s moving, so it’s pretty cool.”

Yakovitz doesn’t go to school for dancing, however. He came to Missouri Western for the business program, so he is double majoring in marketing and finance. While he’s not exactly sure what he wants to do with his major right now, he knew being in a fraternity would benefit him in the business department.

In turn, he joined Phi Delta Theta. He currently holds the Brotherhood and Intramurals chairs, and he also helps at events.

Being in a fraternity doesn’t keep him away from dancing, though.

In fact, Merling, who is also a member, said when Yakovitz danced, he helped raise a lot of money during the Buy-a-Phi event because a lot of students kept bidding for him.

While Yakovitz is staying focused on school, he still finds time to bust a move.

“Anytime there’s music, he would dance,” Merling said. “It’s fun to watch.”

Despite all of this, there are still some nice and interesting places to go for spring break in Missouri.

Here is a go-to guide for spring break events that are within five hours of St. Joseph.

Branson, Mo., has a number of attractions during the weekends. Several museums and theaters are available for tourists’ entertainment.

Despite being recently hit by a tornado and dealing with a lot of damage through out the town, Branson is still putting on a lot of shows, and their Titanic museum is still operating.

The Titanic tour runs through March 15 from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. and is a rather intriguing event. If you attend the tour, you will actually board onto a ship that also gives you a visual tour of what life what life on the Titanic, including actual diaries of real passengers.

This is just one of many attractions in Branson which is just under five hours away from St. Joseph and can easily occupy an entire break.

In the heart of Missouri is Lake of the Ozarks, a theme park of sorts that surrounds a reservoir. You are probably thinking this sounds boring: just some camping and float-trips, right?

Wrong.

The Ozarks is full of attractions. There are also casinos, caves, laser tag, museums and even wineries for all you classy folks.

You could spend multiple days at the Ozarks, instead of just one.

But if you would just like to stay within the confines of western Missouri, there are plenty of events going down in Kansas City during Spring Break.

During the entire week of Spring Break, “The Importance of Being Earnest” is being performed at The American Heartland Theatre. This would be perfect for a nice night out in Kansas City, seeing a classic comedic play at Heartland. Tickets for the show can be purchased at www.ahtkc.com.

Lastly: a big part of this spring break is that St. Patrick’s Day falls into it. Nearly every restaurant and bar in Kansas City is going to be having their own annual St. Patrick’s Day parties, but let’s not forget about the St. Patrick’s Day Parade at Crown Center, which starts at 1:30 pm on March 17, but it would be a wise choice to get there early.

St. Patrick’s Day will be a great way to end the break, so be sure to have a memorable (but safe) time.

As you can see, there are a few spots right here in Missouri that can still make quite the fun trip. Whether its concerts, casinos, theme parks, or parades, there should still be something you can find to entertain yourself.

Meghan puts on her makeup before the rest of her day. Photo by Jason Brown.

“Whether it’s for beauty or special effects, I just love the process of having a vision of what I want, and making it come to life,” said Vandever, who is a sophomore majoring in Convergent Media.

Vandever is a passionate artist; her face is the canvas, and her paint is just of a different substance.

When she was young, she used to mess around with a lot of her mother’s makeup, but she didn’t discover her strong passion for it until her junior year at Bishop LeBlond High School.

“I just started watching countless makeup tutorials on YouTube and trying to recreate whatever look interested me,” said Vandever, who would watch those videos and, instead of copying them, she would put her own style into them.

Vandever, whose friends ask her for makeup advice and let her practice her art on them, said her family thought it was a little odd at first that she was not going to school for something like business, but they got used to her passion.

“My family supports me financially,” Vandever said.

Purchasing all of her supplies from the cosmetics store Sephora without a job made her see just how costly being a makeup artist can be.

“Once I knew that a lot of higher-end products are better in quality, I realized that it would be a pretty expensive ordeal,” Vandever said.

It has not just been fun and games though; She has done a couple of gigs for her art, as well.

In 2011, Vandever helped with Central High School’s production of the musical “Into the Woods,” which deals with a lot of creative and colorful mystical characters.

She also worked for Worlds of Fun last fall during their “Halloween Haunt.” She was their makeup artist, doing special effects makeup for all of the different haunted houses.

Anyone who follows Vandever on Twitter (@MeghanVee) can view her talent, as she loves to tweet pictures of work she has done and the process of working towards the final look.

After graduating, Meghan plans to attend a cosmetology school and then move to California in order to be close to Hollywood.

“In the end, my goal is to become a special effects makeup artist for horror movies,” she said.

Valentine’s Day may not be for another week, but the anticipation is forced down students’ throats, along with school work.

That’s exactly the dilemma that students and husband and wife Brittany & Josh Comninellis deal with. Being a student and being in a relationship are two very complicated tasks. They both involve a lot of physical and emotional effort, making it so difficult to balance the two.

“One thing that helps is starting class at the same time” said Josh, who just married his wife, Brittany, last June.

The married couple agrees that this semester was much easier than the last.

“Half the time, I’d be getting to class and she’d still be asleep,” Josh said. But the couple is still determined to find time out their busy schedules to be together. “You have to make it a priority,” Brittany added.

Sophomore Convergent Media major, Stephanie Dilley, deals with very similar struggles.

“It’s pretty frustrating at times,” Dilley said. “My boyfriend and I go to school together and even work together, but I don’t consider that spending time together.”

What the Comninellises and Dilley deal with is very common among several couples at any campus, and not just at Missouri Western. Sustaining a solid academic standing while keeping up a serious relationship is a true balancing act. At this time of year, couples are pressured to do something extravagant and unforgettable for their significant other. But with these strenuous schedules, it’s rather easy for a student to constantly stress over this time of year.

The Comninellises are headed down two completely different career paths. Brittany is a senior, majoring in Psychology, while Josh is a junior, majoring in Theatre & Cinema.

“If you’re not in the other person’s field, you still have to care about it,” Brittany remarked. “For a while, Josh made me be really interested in film, but it just made me hate it.”

However, Josh said Brittany wanted to help after he stopped pushing her into film.

Unlike the Comninellises, a lot of students try to date within their department to avoid conflicting schedules and interests. Dilley is majoring in Convergent Media while her boyfriend is majoring in Marketing.

“It’s a little weird because we both know so much about something the other has no clue about,” Dilley said. “It’s nice to have separate interests.”

Yes, being in college can be a struggle. Yes, keeping a stable relationship can be a task of utmost difficulty. So keeping both together is an achievement much desired. We see several relationships fail because of this. A lot of couples don’t get to spend all that time together and they either lose the affection for one another.

However, students, like Josh, can find a way to make it work.

“If you have time at the beginning of the day and the end of the day, that’s all that matters.”

(Clockwise, from left) Katie Walkup, Caroline Johnson, Dana Andrews, Ian Roberts and Matthew Kurtz work through a meeting of the Writers Circle. Photo by Alison Beattie

English professors Andrews and Meg Thompson were approached by colleague Patricia Donaher in October 2007, who had an idea to create Writers Circle as an extension of the Sigma Tau Delta honor society. Donaher knew Andrews and Thompson had Masters of Fine Arts in creative writing, so she thought they would be perfect for the job.

To Andrews, however, Writers Circle is not a job.

“It’s voluntary; I don’t get paid,” Andrews said, “but it’s part our job to have service to the department and to the university, and it’s also fun. We get to see budding writers, people who have some talent, stuff like that, so it’s fun.”

It is fun and laid-back, which is why Andrews said Writers Circle is not a place where students should go to get help on academic papers. The point of Writers Circle is to help students improve on their creative writing skills, and creative writing skills only, which is what senior Caroline Johnson enjoys about the group.

“There’s a little more freedom [in Writers Circle],” the member of two and a half years said. “You get to choose what you want to do, and it’s not a class.”

Anyone is welcome to come and bring projects or scripts they have been working on (whether it be one-act plays, poetry, short stories, etc.) for critiques from other students, Andrews and English professor Ian Roberts, who has taken over for Thompson.

Yes, critiques. Students shouldn’t expect to just get a pat on the back — Andrews and Roberts are looking to help students develop their writing skills, and one cannot do that without understanding viewpoints from others. However, Andrews’ goal is never to “slam” someone, which students, like longtime member Matthew Kurtz, notices and abides by.

“[Andrews] gives criticism at the right amount,” Kurtz said. “We make it a point not to say bad stuff for the sake of saying bad stuff. We try our best to be as constructive as possible.”

Andrews likes to see his students gain confidence in their abilities and take command in their work, and after reading a student’s piece, Andrews starts off with the negative comments and ends with the positives.

Kurtz says Writers Circle is all about self-improvement and said Andrews and Roberts encourage students to figure out how to fix weak points in a piece on their own. Kurtz also said the professors also have a lot of experience and provide insight of not just how to write a story, but how to make it presentable for publication.

Writers Circle takes place every Thursday at 12:30 in Eder 211. Andrews is a firm believer that there is a writer in everyone, which is why students don’t have to be in creative writing classes to join the group. Kurtz is a history major, and Johnson is a psychology major. Both students are minoring in creative writing, and they take time out of their day to write.

Ultimately, Kurtz believes Writers Circle is a good way to get feedback and improve on writing skills and thinks students should give Writers Circle a shot.

“It’s a good place whether you’re starting out writing or you’ve been working at it for awhile; it’s a good place for advice. You’re not required to come every week, and it’s very informal, so just come by and bring your stuff.”

On and off campus, Nick Brothers stands out and voices his opinions. Photo by Jason Brown

That was what one Christmas gift card said referring to Walmart, but the only thing out of the ordinary was the picture of a sweatshop as the background.

This card was given to Dr. Jonathan Euchner, a political science professor at Missouri Western. One of his political science students – Nicholas Brothers – gave him the card as a joke, after teasing his professor for being a “proud Walmart shopper.”

“I just had to give it to him,” Brothers said, “to remind him where those low prices come from.”

Over the years, Euchner has seen Brothers blossom within the department, ever since he first had him in class in the fall of 2009.

“I could tell when I first had him as a student that he followed the news regularly,” Euchner said. “He had a point of view and was curious, and curiosity is the most important thing a student could have.”

This card was just one example of his style and how he has the ability to go to the extreme to voice an opinion, which is something he encourages everyone to do. Apathy and disengagement is what Brothers sees as the biggest issue with America.

“People just believe that someone else will fix it,” Brothers says. “Everybody’s voice and hands and feet are needed.”

Another way Brothers stays active in the political field is involvement. Brothers is a proud and consistent member of the Occupy St. Joseph movement, as well as the Missouri Western Democrats club. He also is supporting the idea of building a generalized political science organization here at Western for anyone interested in politics.

“I believe in the power of the people to non-violently change a situation,” Brothers said. “I’m a big believer of diplomacy, and I’m a big believer in our ability to actually come to understandings.”

Brothers first gained interest in politics the same way he believes most people become interested, by the level of political involvement of their parents. When he was just 10 years old he went door to door with his father, canvassing for Bill Clinton.

Ever since, Brothers has continued and increased his political involvement in any way possible.

Brothers is still considering graduate school. Even though Western doesn’t offer graduate studies for the political science department, he would most likely continue his education somewhere in-state. He one day hopes to work on an international level involving human rights to help others.

Nicholas Brothers five main issues with America:
1. Apathy and disengagement – It magnifies every other problem when people decide to just check out. When people just believe someone else will fix it.
2. Inequality of wealth – The number of prosperous people are shrinking, while the number in poverty is only getting bigger. People are dropping out of the middle class, they aren’t entering.
3. Money in Politics – The vast amount of influence someone can have, just by spending money. The fact that you can virtually buy your way into what is supposed to be a democratic process.
4. Military home and abroad – Whether it’s drone strikes Pakistan and Yemen or riots in Oakland, we’re all too willing to turn to force. We think that since we’re the top power, that it makes it okay for us to control the rules of the game.
5. Institutionalized racism and classism – There are still people out there who put a ridiculous notice on people of color and people of poverty, as if they were totally responsible for every problem. People tend to think that poverty is just about laziness and lack of work ethic. Generational poverty mindset is entrenched by this crushing lack of opportunity.

Daniel Cole flips his drumstick in the air while he practices. Photo by Jason Brown

A lot of students’ careers do not start until after graduation, but that is not the case for Cole, a music student who is in Missouri Western’s drumline and Jazz combo. He has also been in several local cover bands over the years and currently plays drums for a Kansas City cover band called “Harvesting Jane” and XV, a rap artist who is currently signed to Warner Bros.

Oh — and he’s only a junior.

“When you add things outside of school, that’s when you got to get your priorities straight,” Cole said in reference to his very busy life. “Know yourself. Know your schedule.”

In 2010, Harvesting Jane received the opportunity to play at the Sturgis motorcycle rally in South Dakota. They shared the set with both Bret Michaels and Billy Ray Cyrus, and the show was featured on TruTV’s reality show “Full Throttle Saloon.”

And it doesn’t stop there.

Playing for Warner Bros.’ rap artist XV has been an experience for Cole as well. A friend of his is a good friend of XV, so when he heard that XV needed a drummer for a national tour, Cole came to mind. This tour would involve shows from the east coast to the west coast, plus shows in Canada. Cole joined the tour and performed tremendously.

XV’s midwest tour ran during the semester and would have forced Cole to miss a couple weeks of school.

“I did a bunch of assignments ahead of time,” Cole said.

He couldn’t do the entire tour, in the end, but was still able to do most of the shows. This showed that he is a professional musician, but a student first.

Playing for XV also gave Cole the opportunity to be one of the main characters in a music video shot just last year by director Rex Arrow. The video was for XV’s song “U.F.C.” Cole dressed up in a clown mask that is a replica of the masks used in the opening sequence for the recent Batman movie “The Dark Knight.” The video currently has over 362,000 views on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udqMK1ZcNXM).

Cole plans to be a touring musician first and foremost after graduation, but he does not want those plans to get in the way of his education.

“The first goal is to finish college, first of all,” said Cole.

All of this is about more than just playing music, though. All of Cole’s success is not for self-fulfillment.

“I want to use that success to help people … to give back to people of the world,” Cole said.

With all of his accomplishments as a musician, Cole’s clear goal is to affect the world in some way and to not just be another guy behind the drums.

“(I plan to) use the talent I was blessed with to get me there,” said Cole, who clearly knows where he is going and knows how to get there, saying “If you fail to plan, that’s planning to fail.”

In the past Bird has mainly been a backstage person.  She graduated Western in December with a degree from the Theatre & Cinema department. As an actress, her previous biggest role was an extra townsperson in “Romeo and Juliet.”

This year, however, Bird will be going in a different direction: center stage.

Bird will be playing her ultimate role as Abby Brewster when “Arsenic and Old Lace” hits the stage in Potter Feb. 16-19. Although she has never played such an important character before, she is confident that this is the one for her.

“I’m just such a big fan,” Bird said. “I wouldn’t audition for any other big role; this is the role of a lifetime for me.”

Bird has been waiting for an opportunity like this since her parents first introduced her to the movie “Arsenic and Old Lace” at the age of 8.

For those who have yet to see “Arsenic and Old Lace,” it is a story about an average man that finds out his aunts like to poison lonely old homeless men. As horrific as it sounds, this story is a comedy. It is living proof that crazy and comedy can go together.

“As crazy as your life may be,” Bird said, “just wait until you walk into the house of the Brewsters.”

Something equally as crazy as the house of the Brewsters, is how fast Bird and Sonrisa Johnston clicked. Johnston is playing the other crazy aunt, Martha Brewster. The two first met on the night of callbacks, and by the end of the night, they practically didn’t need to speak to know what each other was thinking.

“Our minds were thinking exactly the same stuff,” Bird said. “We definitely act like sisters.”

Director Tee Quillin knew right away that Bird and Johnston were right for the job.

“Ali made it clear with her audition that she really, really wanted the role,” Quillin said. “They set the bar really high once they read together.”

Matt Wright, who plays the main character Mortimer Brewster, has known Bird within the Theatre & Cinema department for so long that he was shocked to hear that it was her first big role.

“She has been doing great,” Wright said. “When she said that she hasn’t done this before, I was like, ‘What? Really?’”

The message Bird wants the viewers to get out of the play, whether they are familiar to the story or not, is that no matter what goes on, you can find comedy in anything.

Tony Redmond’s “Self Portrait-Reflexions” won first place in the Drawing category. Photo by Michelle Cordonnier

The Griffon Arts Alliance has been going strong now for three years (it was started in the 90s but has become more popular recently), has around 50 members on orgsync and 15 total active members. However, they are always welcoming new members.

The GAA is open to any type of art; ceramics, graphics, printing, photography, illustration, etc. According to senior publicity officer Ali Dalsing, students do not have to be art majors to join and have a good time.

“It’s really fun,” Dalsing said. “(Students) don’t have to be a really good artist to be able to do it.”

Yet the GAA isn’t just a club that gets together to create art.

“We have a lot of events, and we do a lot of philanthropy-type stuff, like we go to Riverbend,” Dalsing said.

Every Friday, members of the GAA go to the Riverbend Youth Authority Facility and teach juvenile offenders the basic art techniques.

“It’s a good way to get your name out there, not just for school, but in the community, too,” treasurer Joe Snapp said. “Doing projects around the community is pretty cool.”

Along with helping teenagers, the GAA also runs Murals for Minds. Murals for Minds allows members and anyone who wants to join to paint a certain area of a chosen low income school in the community.

“We help beautify (the school),” senior and president of GAA Teresa Rodewald said.

Rodewald, who is majoring in graphic design and minoring in psychology, said Mural for Minds was a “neat little exchange” and looks forward to it this upcoming semester.

The GAA will also be holding their Annual Pasta/Chili Bowl Fundraiser, which was started last year. According to Snapp, this event raised so much money for the GAA that it jump started plans for other events.

Members, students and faculty make ceramic bowls that people can buy and receive either pasta or chili for free.

Last year, ceramics professor David Harris made about 200 bowls for the event. This year, he said he would match the number of bowls the GAA makes, according to Dalsing.

“It was exciting seeing all the people interested in the bowls we made,” Snapp said.

These are just a few of the events and fundraisers the GAA holds, and there are many more to come. In fact, Dalsing said they are open to suggestions for new activities.

“Our fundraisers bring in a lot of money, so ideas that people come up with for events we are actually able to do them usually,” Dalsing said.

Overall, Rodewald puts a lot of time into the GAA and feels it gives students the opportunity to express themselves.

“With the Griffon Arts Alliance, it’s an expression of my kind of art,” Rodewald said. “I don’t necessarily have to do what is expected in class. This is my own style.”

Here’s what you buy to make an easy, romantic dinner for under $20:

• Chicken Helper: Italian Fettuccine Alfredo, $1.50
• Tyson: 1 lb Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast, $5.98
• Great Value: margarine, $1.36
• Great Value: 16 oz garlic bread, $1.88
• Andre: Spumante sparkling wine, $4.97 (If you are under 21, water is always a good choice. It’s healthy and free. You probably need to drink more water anyway.)

Grand total (tax added): $16.95

To make the dinner a little more romantic, add a Mainstays candle, which is only $1. If dessert is desired, Edwards Hershey’s Chocolate Crème Pie singles (two slices) is $2.22.

For the past five years he has gone from playing in a band at some small parties to having consistent business as a DJ, a business that continues to show promising growth for the future.

Niemeier jump-started his line of work with DJ equipment that was a gift to him from his parents and has kept it going and growing ever since. He has built it up enough to have two full working systems and an equipment van to travel in.

“Eventually I’d like to move it all down to the beach somewhere,” Niemeier says. “Maybe Florida or something, but until then I’m just going to keep it growing and make it bigger.”

Niemeier ultimately wants to end up producing his own music. Being a Music Technology major inches him closer to his goal every day. His classes have already helped his DJ skills by giving him a better understanding for a wide variety of equipment.

When Niemeier isn’t busy as a DJ, he is doing school work. When he isn’t doing school work, he is fulfilling his responsibilities as the Phi Sigma Kappa president.

Phi-Sig member Alex Ahlschlager sees the multiple lifestyles every day and witnesses just how Niemeier manages to keep up with school, run a business, and be a president of a fraternity.

“He handles the business just like he does school,” Ahlschlager says. “He takes it seriously.”

Ahlschlager has helped DJ in Niemeier’s home town of Marceline, Mo.

Whenever Niemeier is able to find free-time from school and work, he usually spends it making his own music.

If you don’t recognize his name, you may recognize him around campus as “Nick Na$$ty” or his fraternity name “Sasquatch,” according to fraternity member Korey Kelso. You also might recognize his DJ name “Soundninja.”

Niemeier recently was hired as DJ for the Black Light Night in Blum. According to Lauren Dillon, president of the Western Activities Council, WAC always looks for talented students before hiring someone outside of Missouri Western.

“Everyone had nothing but positive things to say about him,” Dillon says.

People can hear the Soundninja in person in Tuck’s Bar, connected to the front of Belt Bowl, on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday nights.

This week, Zales is having a Valentine’s Day sale with 25-60 percent off the whole store, as well as an additional 10 percent off the sale price on Saturday and Sunday.

“Typically, diamond heart necklaces are real popular right now, along with engagement rings and promise rings,” store manager Annette Myers said. “We can find something for everybody.”

Zales employee and former Western student Elizabeth Thomas believes jewelry is a special present one can give to their significant other for Valentine’s Day.

“I think (jewelry) says something longstanding, long-lasting,” Thomas said. “You can get something you can wear every day, and it reminds you of that person.”

Thomas, whose husband bought her engagement ring from Zales, also suggests something simple set in the popular white gold, like necklaces or earrings with diamond studs.

“Diamonds you can never, ever, ever go wrong with,” Thomas said.

The word “diamond” may scare students because the word “cheap” isn’t usually associated with it. However, student and former employee at Zales Robby Malone, who has bought gifts from the jewelry store in the past, says Zales is the place to go.

“The people at Zales are friendly, it has good customer service and they will work with any budget you have,” Malone said.

According to Myers, Zales has all kinds of credit options, will put any item on layaway, and an especially good deal for college students, allow the customer to pay it off in payments. Myers says Zales also has good deals and great warranties.

So before heading to the flower shop, Malone suggests to think twice.

“Jewelry will last a lot longer than flowers,” Malone said. “Flowers will last two weeks to a month, but jewelry lasts a lifetime.”

No, Brewer isn’t a pervert, and he was never assigned this research project. He did, on the other hand, come up with this joke after working an internship that had him doing statistical studies last summer.

Brewer, who often rides his long board around campus with skull candy headphones around his neck while sporting an Oscar the Grouch hat, attends Missouri Western, and comedy is his thing.

This Tae Kwon Do red belt is constantly writing jokes by jotting down any sort of topics in his phone and creating stories out of them.

“Have you ever heard the saying ‘A picture is worth a thousand words?’ Well I take those words and switch them around into a story. So a picture is also worth a story,” Brewer said.

This saying is a creative way Brewer forms his jokes. So instead of writing dull statuses on Facebook, he entertains his friends with his brain.

Brewer has even moved past Facebook by standing up on stage and projecting his material. This St. Louis, Mo., native has done standup all over St. Louis, been a part of open mic nights at Café Acoustic and has performed at the Kansas City Improv.

“He impressed me right off the bat,” friend and comedian Nick Ford said. “He’s very energetic, and I like his misleading humor. He could be going one way with a joke and then veer completely left.”

Ford, along with Demitri Martin and Maria Bamford, is one of Brewer’s favorite comedians who also performs stand up in the St. Joe area. These comedians have influenced Brewer’s style of comedy since he was 16 years old.

Brewer was homeschooled for eight years, so in high school, Brewer decided to come out of his shell by running for class president. He had to beat out the most popular kid in school, John Flow (who Brewer wouldn’t be surprised if Flow wasn’t an Abercrombie & Fitch model currently), so he knew he had to write a pretty spectacular speech.

Brewer ended up losing the election by six votes; yet in the end, he won by meeting a lot of new people and gained confidence in his comedic touch.

Now, according to student Kathleen Chow, Brewer is the opposite of an introvert.

“(Nick) is never afraid to meet new people,” Chow said. “Where other people would be intimidated, he just leaps over invisible boundaries and presents himself to the world with the goofiest smile I have ever seen.”

Being an extrovert is desirable in the business world, which is right up Brewer’s alley because he is an economic major. Currently enrolled in Chinese II, Brewer plans to go to China in May.

“If I can speak Chinese and English, I can communicate with 83% of the world’s population,” Brewer said.

In the future, he can see himself teaching Chinese students English and economics along with teaching American students Chinese business.

But for now, he is sticking to school and standup. However, Brewer doesn’t want to “put all of his eggs in one basket,” so if comedy doesn’t work out for him, he understands the process through economics.

“There’s a large supply of comics, but a limited demand, so the equilibrium point, or price, is relatively low,” Brewer said.

While Brewer is not sure which path he is going to take, Ford is optimistic about Brewer’s comedy.

“I’m really excited to see what else he’s going to do in the future.”

******* extra joke : “I can solve the starving Africans problem and the pet overpopulation problem with one boat.”

Skip to the year 1888, when Bethune receives a scholarship to Scotia Seminary inNorth Carolina. This opportunity sparked her ambition to be an educator and activist.

Now fast forward to the year 1904. Because she believed education would aide in giving African Americans full citizenship rights, Bethune founded the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute, which later became Bethune-Cookman College in 1929.

Bethune also worked under the Roosevelt administration as the advisor to minority affairs and founded the National Association of Colored Women and the National Council of Negro Women.

Bethune went from picking cotton to starting a movement.

According to the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, Dr. Carter G. Woodson (also titled as the Father of Black History) founded Black History Month in 1915. In 1928, Woodson decided to designate a theme each year to focus on different aspects of black history.

This year’s Black History Month theme is “Black Women in American Culture and History.”

This February is to honor all the African American women who aided in the Civil Rights Movement from the Underground Railroad to all women who have stood up against oppression.

Student Eric Toliver reflects on black history and is thankful for what black women have done for African Americans today.

“If I could talk to the women have changed history, such as Maya Angelou, Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, Coretta Scott King,” Toliver said, “I would thank them a hundred-plus times for them being as strong and committed to what they made happen. I would also thank them for paving the way for me, though they might not be in my fields of interest, like theatre, film and television.”

Student Erica Stevens would agree with Toliver when it comes to thanking these women, and her favorite activist is Bethune. Although Bethune is not a name that is as well-known as Tubman, Stevens appreciates what Bethune has done for African-American women.

“I love that she fought for the rights of African-Americans,” Stevens said. “But what makes her my favorite is her heart for young African-American women. If I could talk to her today, I would thank her.”

While only February is deemed Black History Month, Stevens enjoys black history throughout the year.

“I don’t have any formal way of celebrating Black History Month, but I try to embrace, celebrate and learn more about my culture year-round.”

With cold, wet weather in the forecast, students need to dig out those warm clothes in preparation.  For those students who don’t have any cold weather clothes, here are a few suggestions on where to shop for some.

Located at the Shoppes at North Village in St. Joseph is a T.J.Maxx department store.  It is a perfect place to pick up name brand clothing for a fraction of the price.  A coat that may be a J.C. Penney for $150 could be  at T.J.Maxx for $75.  The same goes for all of their clothing.  Cold weather socks at Foot Locker are $12 for three pairs; the exact same socks are at T.J.Maxx for $5.  T.J.Maxx is one of the cheapest stores in town, offering a wide selection on discounted name brand clothing.  So check out T.J.Maxx if you want quality products at lower cost.  As college students we all can stand to save some money.

Missouri Western student Steve Belding says he prefers J.C. Penney and Dillard’s because they tailor to his needs.

“Since I need to shop for Big and Tall I usually try Penney’s and Dillard’s first,” Belding said. “Their Big and Tall sections usually have nice looking things.”

Gordmans is another department store that has a wide selection of winter clothing.  It opened this year in the East Hills Mall, and is loaded with clothing for everyone.  They have a wide selection of women’s warm boots under $30.  This is a pretty good deal, considering the cheapest boots at Dillard’s department store are over $50.  Yes, the ones at Dillard’s may be a better name brand, but no one will notice the tiny little emblem stating what brand they are while you’re trudging through the snow.  All you should be concerned about is if they are keeping your feet warm without breaking the bank.  Gordmans also has a huge sale on warm clothes right now, and a lot of stuff is buy one get one half off.

Those of you looking for some extreme cold weather gear need to visit The Duffel Bag, located in historic downtown St. Joseph.  They offer military grade clothing from armed forces all over the world.  If you want an authentic Russian fur coat or a Russian ushanka, you’ll find it there.  You want some of the highly sought after Austrian military clothing, you’ll find it here.  The Duffel Bag has tons of military grade long underwear, gloves and extreme cold weather Gore-Tex.  The clothing they sell at the Duffel Bag is pennies on the dollar compared to what it cost soldiers new at a PX.

Bill Field, the owner of the Duffel Bag and retired Army veteran, says if it was made by the military it’s usually very good stuff.

“You can find about anything warm down here, regardless of whether you’re a man or woman,” Field said.  “We get different stuff in here every week, so be sure to stop in and browse our goods.”

St. Joseph resident Jesse Cline shops at the Duffel Bag quite often for all sorts of things.  He loves the store and always finds a good deal.

“I come here to get high quality clothing for a fraction of the price,” Cline said.  “The gloves, socks and long underwear a better quality than anything you will find at a department store.”

If you need some warm clothes this winter, definitely shop around.  Don’t just run into a popular department store and buy something because it’s name brand. Even if that’s what you want to do, check T.J.Maxx first because chances are they will have the same product at a lower price.  Don’t be afraid to stop in at the Duffel Bag and take a look around. Just because it’s military doesn’t mean it is not stylish.  What it does mean is that it is quality and will keep you from shivering in the next couple of months.

Students at Western are doing all sorts of things, some mischievous and some not so mischievous, such as working.

Elizabeth Hiley, an elementary education major at Missouri Western, says she will be spending her Halloween at the doctor’s office and work.

“I will be working at Subway, but I still plan on dressing up and passing out candy,” Hiley said. “I’ll be getting a sonogram that day, and I’m really excited to find out what I’m having; I hope it’s a boy.”

Most students are doing the same thing they do every year:  dressing up and heading out to house parties or pubs.

Alex Bear, a history major, said he plans on dressing up as the doctor from Dr. Hook and heading to the Flying Saucer bar in Kansas City’s Power & Light District.  Bear said his girlfriend is making him dress up, but he enjoys Halloween.

“I feel it’s a good reason to get together with people; I like hanging out with my friends,” said Bear.

If you are looking for a terrifying scare this Halloween then head to Atchison, Kan.

Less than 20 miles south of campus lays a small town on the banks of the Missouri River.  Proclaimed by the Travel Channel to be the most haunted town in Kansas, Atchison is home to many ghostly attractions.

Atchison offers many ways for people to experience its haunted aura.  One way to experience nearly all of its deadly attractions is the haunted trolley tours.

The haunted trolley takes its victims to the infamous Sallie House, where a young girl who died during an emergency operation continues to terrorize the living today.  The Sallie House has also been featured on the television show “Sightings,” which documented violent attacks on people living in the home by the poltergeist.

The trolley tour also takes its riders deep into the woods of Jackson Park to an infamous location where a woman named “Molly” was brutally murdered and hung from a tree.  The place has for decades been referred to as “Molly’s Hallow.” Local lore has it that some nights you can see an apparition hanging from the tree or hear blood curdling screams coming from the woods.

If the haunted trolley ride is not enough to cure your hunger for a good haunt, then maybe you would enjoy having a meal with the spirits that haunt the Riverhouse Steakhouse, located at 100 Commercial St. in Atchison.

Built in 1870, the Riverhouse building was a depot for the railroad for several years.  In 1908, the building was purchased by Lulu Howard and operated as a brothel.  After much anguish, the City of Atchison was finally able to shut Lulu down in 1913.  Today the building is a restaurant and leased by Dustin Hundley.  Hundley himself has had several strange encounters with spirits in the building.

“I was closing up the restaurant one night and had my first experience with one of the ghosts who haunt this building,” Hundley said.  “Floating across the dining room was a woman dressed in Victorian clothing; it scared the hell out of me.”

Several similar incidents have been reported at the Riverhouse building.  Early one morning in 2008, a craftsman completing renovations in the upstairs bar reported a long, one-sided conversation with a person he assumed to be his co-worker.  When he looked up, the man he had been talking to was gone.  Stories like this make the Riverhouse the most ghostly dinning experience in the area.

If you are interested in some of the haunts Atchison has to offer, such as trolley ride times, restaurant hours or more haunted attractions, all information can be found at http://atchisonkansas.net/HauntedAtchison/home.html.

Missouri Western freshman sports recreation major Barnett has been Olympic-style weightlifting since she was 9 years old. Olympic-style lifting is in her blood.  Her older brother Brandon used to lift, and most famously, her uncle and 2-time U.S. Olympian, Wesley Barnett, lifted as well.

Barnett is currently one of the top seven lifting prospects age 20 and under in the U.S.  She has represented the U.S. five times in competitions outside the country.  She has competed in Mexico, Peru, Thailand, Bulgaria and Malaysia.

Barnett is currently working hard to prepare for the Olympic Team Trials that will take place March 2 through 4, 2012.  She says she has been training extremely hard to get her strength up and believes that she will do well in the trials.

“I have had five opportunities to represent the USA already, but as far as the Olympics, that is my ultimate goal,” Barnett said. “To represent Team USA would mean the world to me.”

Barnett had the option of moving out of state to train at an Olympic training center, but chose to stay in St. Joseph and attend Western.  Not many people would have turned down an opportunity of that magnitude, but Barnett states that several factors kept her from going.

“There was the issue of where I would attend school while I was there,” said Barnett. “I am happy with the decision I made to stay here because it’s good to train with a coach I am used to, and I also have friends here I couldn’t live without.”

Dennis Snethen is Barnett’s lifting coach at the Wesley Center, which is named after Barnett’s uncle Wes.  Snethen is a Missouri Western Alumnus, class of 1981.  He has been coaching weightlifters in St. Joseph for 31 years.  His accomplishments include coaching over 100 national champions, as well as coaching Olympic weightlifters Pete Kelly and Wesley Barnett.

Snethen says he has really enjoyed coaching over the years, even though it has been a lot of hard work.  He believes that Barnett has the potential to be the best and possibly bring home a medal in the 2012 or 2016 Olympic Games.

“Brianna is a great athlete, and I believe that the 2016 Olympics will be her biggest shot,” said Snethen.

Barnett speaks very highly of Snethen.  One thing she is very grateful for is, when she was having trouble getting back and forth to practice, Snethen and his family let Barnett live with them for a year so she wouldn’t miss practices.  Barnett currently resides in the Missouri Western dorms.  She is without a vehicle right now, so Snethen’s son picks her up and takes her to practice.

“Dennis has been there through thick and thin, and he always speaks the truth,” said Barnett.  “He and his family have helped me out so much.”

Snethen currently coaches over 130 male and female lifters, starting in the third grade.  The cost for lifting at the Wesley Center is $15 per month, but Snethen says that he would never turn anyone who wanted to lift down whether they can pay the $15 or not.  Anyone interested in Olympic-style lifting can contact the Wesley Center at 816-238-4511 or www.inter-serv.org/wesley.htm

Along with Snethen, junior Keri Lorbert, who has listened to Barnett’s unique experiences as a weightlifter, feels Barnett has led an intriguing life and hopes she will do great things in the future.

“I think it’s a really cool thing Brianna’s doing,” Lorbert said. “I wish her the best of luck.”

The small cart in Hearnes is managed by Food Services director Jim Maides. Maides knows Dameron himself, and said that she leaves a lasting mark on students by being someone they can look to for comfort. She always knows the names of her customers, and even their favorite items.

“She’s such a sweet lady,” Maides said, “She’s made a huge impact.”

Even before Java City brought its goods to campus, Dameron was working for Western’s Food Services. For five years she was employed at the food court. In 2006, when the library was remodeled and the coffee cart was added, Dameron was asked to take over at the new location.

“It was the best decision I ever made about a job,” Dameron said, “It is so much fun!”

Besides being a constant landmark for students, she also has a husband and three sons at home.

“I still have one [son] in high school,” Dameron said. “It’s all family stuff when I leave [campus].”

Her favorite aspect of her job, and her life, are the students, her family – all the people.

“And I just love making great coffee!” Dameron said.

Students take notice of Dameron and her service. Java City customers Claire Hendren and Mariah Stegman said they visit the coffee cart two or three days every week.

“We’re here almost every other day,” Stegman said.

“And Pam’s always in a good mood,” Hendren said, “And she makes [the coffee] so fast!”

Dameron’s friendly demeanor and attention to detail, as well as the coffee that the students love, have earned her a place in Western’s heart. As students continue to forge ahead in their studies, they will also continue to seek out Dameron’s positivity, compassion and mocha lattes.

“Actually, I ran my first [marathon] in November,” Taylor said. “I never intended to run a marathon. The thing about running is you start and it’s an ongoing challenge.”

The marathon will take place April 30 in Eugene, Oregon. He said he is really geared up for this one, because it is in the town where he did his graduate work. Taylor got his start at a gym in Portland, Oregon, in 2009.

“It just sort of built upon itself,” Taylor said. “I was to the point where I was running a mile, and then it was two miles, and then I thought well maybe I can run a 5K, which is three miles. Then I ran a 10K, which is six miles. And if I can run six miles, maybe I can run ten miles. It just creeps up on you.”

Taylor said he uses Nike’s six month marathon training course on his iPhone. With this app he can train whenever and wherever he wants.

“It consists of essentially building up endurance for long runs,” Taylor said.

Taylor has even spoken to his students about his imminent departure for the Oregon marathon. Lauren Crabtree is a student in one of Taylor’s courses. Crabtree said he talks about the training in class, and she thinks it is really cool.

“I’d do it too if I was in shape,” Crabtree said.

For students looking to take up running, Taylor had some advice to give.

“Start slow, and pay attention to your form,” Taylor said. “Running is a sport with a high injury rate.”

Despite this warning, Taylor does encourage everyone to try out running. He said there are several rewards in it along with the challenges.

“One is rediscovering the joy of movement,” Taylor said. “And thinking about what we can do, pushing ourselves, taking on new challenges. Talk about it; tell people what you’re doing. And of course eat healthy and get lots of sleep. Those would be my words of wisdom.”

The party starts at noon on February 12, 2011, and participants “take the plunge” at 2 p.m. sharp. This charitable celebration will take place at Lake Contrary here in St. Joe. All potential plunge-takers are asked to fill out a registration form online and raise at least $75 dollars for the charity by the date of the event. You can create your own page online to help raise funds, and email friends and family to invite them to donate and attend. Everyone planning to join the party must wear a swimsuit and shoes, and many choose to show up in hilarious costumes.

Since this is a citywide event, and most college students can’t resist a party (no matter how chilly), many of Missouri Western’s students are planning to attend. Some will be participating, and some will serve as spectators. Sophomore friends Ceasera Robinson, Stacey Weidemann, and Sarah Gordon had this to say about the upcoming event.

“It gets people together,” Ceasera says, “They help each other for one cause.”

When asked if they planned on joining in on the frosty festivities, Sarah said, “I will if you guys will.”

“Yeah,” Ceasera agreed, “I’ll do it.”

“I will not.” Stacey laughed.

Even though Stacey’s not planning to swim this year, she does intend to donate to Ceasera’s and Sarah’s team.

In addition to the crazy costumes and shivering swimmers, Polar Plunge offers music, dancing, talking, and laughter – just like any great party! After the event, awards will be given to participants. Awards are presented for Top Fundraising College, Top Fundraising School, Top Fundraising Team, Top Fundraising Law Enforcement Agency, and Top Fundraising Individual. In addition to these honors, one person or team will be bestowed with the Golden Plunger for having the best costumes.

Even if you don’t find yourself in possession of one of these icy awards, every participant receives a gift. Remember that $75 you must earn before Saturday? That guarantees you a Polar Plunge 2011 t-shirt! Plungers who raise $250 will receive their choice of a Travel gift card, music and media pack, or a Polar Plunge 2011 beach towel. $500 gives you the choice of a Polar Plunge sweatshirt blanket, Polar Plunge fleece jacket, Polar Plunge duffel bag, or Polar Plunge hoodie. And $1000 lets you choose a Polar Plunge Columbia jacket, Polar Plunge Men’s/Women’s jacket, or Polar Plunge Travel backpack.

This year the goal is set at $45,000. So far, Plungers across the state have raised $15,876.58. Even if you don’t plan on taking the plunge, you can always donate toward the cause and help the other Plungers reach their goal.

Darin Smith is leasing the main floor of the building to open Way2Kewl & Trendy. Way2Kewl & Trendy will be open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9:00 AM to 11:00 PM

Darin and his wife Terry Smith have another thrift store that is also called Way2Kewl & Trendy. This store is located at 1824 Fredrick and is open Fridays and Saturdays.
“Here in St. Joe we need more stores like this,” Terry Smith said.

Darin wants to see the United Store come to life again. He also hopes that this store being open again will help the downtown area of St. Joseph come back to what it was when the United building was open.
“What we hope to create down here is buying, selling and trading clothes of the spring and summer fashions with the hustle and bustle of what this historical building used to be, and bring back what once was on Felix street downtown,” Smith said.p>

The United building was constructed in 1918, but was not opened as United Department Store until 1931. The United Department Store remained open until 1987. The United Department store had a nickel and dime basement, but its main floors were higher end than the nickel and dime stores.
“I think it would be really neat to bring back the United Building. I have very fond memories of that story as do a lot of people in St. Joe,” WHO IS THIS PERSON Marty Lawrence said.

Way2Kewl & Trendy will take clothes on consignment and will have different fashion venders in the United Building with them. Some of the vendors will be permanent and others will vary week to week. Smith wants there to be new merchandise in the store all the time so people will come back.

The Smiths would like college kids to both consign their clothes and shop.

“How cool is it going to be for people coming in from out of state to see our fashion, trade with our fashions, make some money while they are at school and do fundraisers and things like that,” Smith said.p>

Smith would like to someday have a cafe on the mezzanine where future artists could put their art work up and sell it with no cost to the artist for the space.
“I am working with other vendors to put in a cookie counter and a cafe,” Smith said.

Smith also wants to start a program called shopping dollars (rather than gift cards) that people can use to buy products at the united building. He hopes with the shopping dollars he will have more repeat business. The hours of operation of the store are meant to draw people in who are going to the downtown area for dinner and drinks.

Estes is a prominent sculptor and ceramicist, working primarily with clay and wood. Native to the American Midwest, most of his pieces reflect the irregular and beautiful landscape of Missouri and its neighbors. They even feature roads and trails, as if you are looking down upon a map of the land. His newer works can be seen across Western’s campus in the form of large metal sculptures, most recognizably ‘Passages’ – the red, yellow, and blue sculpture in front of Potter Hall.

Estes was honored to receive the title, but said that he did not set out seeking the distinction.

“My father groomed me to be an attorney,” Estes said, “But I said ‘I think I might try art out.’ I didn’t care how much money I made, I’d rather do something I wanted to do.”

Estes first got started in the field in high school, and was inspired by instructor Joe Neff.

“He was enthusiastic,” Estes said. “He showed me a side of art I hadn’t seen before. I fell in love with the act of making something. And that is the first thing all artists must do.”

Assistant Professor of Art, Geo Sipp worked closely with Estes and even participated in an art exhibition with him. Sipp described the time he spent working with Estes since 2001 as an invaluable experience.

“He was, and still is, a real worker, and generous to a fault,” said Sipp. “Students knew he wasn’t just a teacher. He had their respect and admiration, as well as that of his peers.”

Besides teaching at Western and providing the sculptures that decorate the campus grounds, Estes was also responsible for starting the ceramics program in his early years of teaching. Sipp said it began as a project in a small building on the east side of campus, and, because of Estes, it is still active today.

Dr. Allison Sauls, chair of the art department, said Estes was fabulous to work with.

“He’s sensible, he’s practical, and he gets things done,” said Sauls. “I was sad when he retired, and I miss him very much.”

Sauls said Estes will be leaving behind a legacy in the form of his students who are now working in the field of art, and in the aesthetic improvement of campus provided by his sculptures.

“Just look at the campus. It’s gorgeous,” said Sauls, “It makes a statement. It’s absolutely wonderful to see.”

Estes’ art has also been featured in magazines and in more than 140 exhibits across America. Estes said he does not work for a cause; he creates for himself as much as for his audience, and he wishes to see more of that in art today.

He is leaving Western after 38 years of education and service. His colleagues in the Art Department agree that he will be missed, and that he is indeed more than deserving of this great honor.

The President of WAC, Keisha Caldwell, is not only involved in WAC but also plays a role as a program assistant in the Center for Multicultural Education. This places her in a unique position to represent students in both organizations.

“I know what my constituents want and I represent them and their interest,” Caldwell said. She admits that she used to be very shy and claims that serving others has helped her to overcome shyness. It was the second semester of her freshman year when she went to her first WAC meeting. “I loved it and I never left,” Caldwell said.

Q: What attracted you to this line of work?
A: When I first started going to MWSU I attended CME programs and really enjoyed them. I particularly like the way the program challenged my thinking. Before you go to college you have the influence of how you parents have molded you into what they want you to be, what they want you to think, who your friends should be, and what school they want you to go to. The CME programs challenged me to think for myself.

Q: Which black leader would you say is your role model?
A: It actually changed over time; right now it is Harriet Jacobs. I went to a play depicting her life story. She is my current role model because even with years of sexual harassment from her slave master she held strong and never gave in to him. While watching the play I realized, as a black woman, I have choices.

Q: In what way do you think black leaders have had the most impact on society?
A: The greatest impact has been the civil rights issues that were championed by Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Reverend Al Sharpton, Jessie Jackson, and President Obama; they laid the foundation to where we are today.

Q: In the last ten years, how do you think black leaders have affected America?
A: There are really so many. Even lately I heard that Rev. Al Sharpton went on a hunger strike and lost 40 pounds to bring attention to his cause. For me it is more local. The CME organization has changed me and others by creating good leaders.

Q: How was the election of the first black president affected your life?
A: I was a sophomore when President Obama was elected. I will always remember being in the CME as we experienced him taking office. I thought to myself, how he is taking power in my lifetime. I get to experience it.

Q: What does it take to be a black leader in America?
A: You must be strong and stick to the basics principles you know are right. Speak for your constituents.

Q: What do you hope students/people in general learn from Black History Month?
A: I hope they will continue to learn about black history past February. This month should wet their appetite to learn all year long.

Q: What do you feel is the most important aspect of multicultural studies?
A: It enables you to think outside of what you know and were raised with. You can find out about others and learn from other culture believe and think.

Q: What do you believe is/was the biggest impact black leaders have had on society?
A: The opportunity to educate yourself has had the biggest impact but a close second is the right to vote.

I went to Center for Multicultural Education programs beforehand and I really liked the types of programs they provide to students regarding diversity, so this definitely grabbed my into being in the office and coming up here and talking to whoever was here.

Which black leader would you say is your role model?

Harriet Jacobs. She was born into slavery and her family were slaves. I saw a play last semester – it was a trip that was provided by the Center for Multicultural Education, and the play depicted her life. She was sexually harassed by her master and she stood strong against him. She stood up against him and wasn’t afraid of him. She made the choice to have two children by a white male lawyer and to make her master stop harassing her, but he didn’t. So she pretended to escape to the north, but really she was in her grandmother’s attic for several years. Learning about her story made me appreciate being a young black woman with choices. Back then if you were a black woman, you didn’t have choices. You didn’t have rights. You didn’t have anything to protect you. You didn’t have leverage or anything like that. Her story truly made me appreciate the choices I can make.

In what way do you think that black leaders have had the most impact on society?

Our black leaders are educated and articulate and that they are promoting change in our community and inspiring young black men and women to follow in their steps and push forward. So, to have our very first black President has definitely impacted our community. You have various leaders that have given people in communities that are probably known as statistics; you’re giving them hope. So, they’ve definitely impacted our community.

In the last ten years, how do you think black leaders have affected America?

I think they’ve brought about issues, certain issues in the black community, such as poverty. I don’t think anybody has truly paid attention to poverty in the past 10 years, especially during the 1980s during the whole drug reign. Of course I wasn’t born until the last year of the 80s, but I read up on my history. You would go into the communities and see black people strung out on drugs but nobody really got down to how this was happening. So over the past 10 or even 20 years, you’re starting to see people be aware of issues like poverty. It’s one of the biggest things, as well as education.

How was the election of the first black president effected your life?

That was just amazing. I was a sophomore at the time, a sophomore here. And I remember seeing the “Vote or Shut Up” campaign where they had rallies and events. The night that President Obama was elected, we were over in the CSE watching it. It definitely impacted me because there was so much student participation, no matter what race you were. There were so many students involved in that election, it was amazing. I don’t know how to describe the initial feeling of it. I almost cried when he was delivering his speech. It just gave you hope that you can go above and beyond. In the past there’s always been a white president. Never have you seen a color or anything like that. Now that President Obama is president, you’re starting to see more people of color involved in politics. I truly appreciate that. Him being elected definitely gave me hope that I can go above and beyond what people say is possible. He made the impossible possible.

What does it take in your opinion to be a black leader in America?

You definitely have to stay true to your morals. Because if you’re not, then nobody that helped you get to where you are is going to believe in you anymore. You’ve just got to have integrity and be true to yourself and true to your constituents. Also, you definitely have got to be willing to speak up for yourself. You have to stand up for what you believe in and be an advocate for your community. You need to speak about the true issues at hand. Don’t push your own agenda, push what your constituents want. Know their wants and needs and what your wants and needs are.

What do you hope students or people in general can learn from Black History Month?

I would hope that they would want to learn more about black history beyond Black History Month because, being involved in education and being a student, I only hear about black history during Black History Month. I want black history to be an actual class on this campus. I’ve talked to Dr. Daffron and she’s looking into it; I really want African-American history to be learned on this campus. I want people to learn, beyond Black History Month, about everything. There’s so many things involved in black history that you just can’t fit everything into 28 days. You just can’t; you can’t fit everything. It has to be brought out. It takes a lot. There’s stuff that I don’t even know. I didn’t know about Harriet Jacobs until a few months ago. I want students to go above and beyond to learn about black history – and not just people that are black. People that are white, people who are Hispanic, people who are Indian – whatever. I want them to go above and beyond and learn about black history because we are on a diverse campus and in order for us to grow we’re going to have to learn about people’s heritage. And I think it’s important that if you are another race, you learn about different race’s heritages.

What do you feel is the most important aspect of multicultural studies?

Learning how to communicate with different cultures. Even beyond the language line, but to learn how to communicate with them, how to talk with them and express things to them. We’re going to be out in the world soon. I’ve noticed here that we are so in our bubbles. It’s expected that if you’re black, you’re going to hang out with black students and if you’re white, you’re going to hang out with white students.  In college, it’s still going on. What happens when you go out into the real world and get a job? What happens if your employer might be a different race from you? So how are you going to talk to them if all your life you’ve been around your own culture? It’s important to learn how to communicate with others, learn how to handle situations, learn how to respect people and  be sensitive to some things that you say. Because what you say, you may think has no power, but it may have power to somebody else.

What do you believe is the biggest impact black leaders have made on society?

I think one, education. When Brown vs. Board of Education was passed, it was definitely influential in integrating schools: allowing black and white students to be all in the same school. I think that was tremendously important because before then, you had schools that were for white students that were funded well, they had busses, they did all this. But then you had black schools – they had poor textbooks: the leftovers from the white schools. They didn’t have any busses – black students had to walk miles just to get to school. For schools to be integrated, I think that was one of the biggest things ever. Back at home, I was a part of the desegregation program where they take inner city kids, who are mostly black, and they go out to suburban county schools. I was able to go to a really good school. That was definitely influential because the St. Louis public school system is not a good school district. It’s so behind, and my mom didn’t tolerate that. She wanted us to get the best education. So when I transferred over to my new school district, I had to catch up. I was behind about two grades. I had to catch up, and I did, and it definitely influenced me to go to college to go even higher to grad school. Brown vs. Board of Education was influential. The second thing is voting. For black people to be allowed to vote, I think that’s one of the biggest rights that we have is to vote and voice your opinion. I make sure any time there’s an election, a primary, a midterm election – I make sure I go out and vote. I don’t care if I don’t know the people on the ballot – I research them. I watch the debates. I look up on the internet who’s the best candidate for me.

What do you hope students learn from your particular organization?

I hope people learn that we are what we call “the grass roots department.” We are small, but we are effective. Last semester we did the “what does it mean to be” series. That series was focused on different social identities so, so we did Latino in America, gay in America, black in America, religious, spiritual in America – we pretty much hit everything. And it was very impacting. People are still talking to this day about “are you going to do a part two?” It was so impacting because you weren’t listening to paid speakers, you were listening to people on this campus talking about their adversities, their struggles, and how they overcame. You listened to students, faculty, staff and community members telling you and relating to you. That, to me, was definitely one of the most impacting programs that we have put on and it cost nothing to put them on. It was so impacting. I want students to come to the CME, come in, talk to us, listen to what we have to say, be involved, because they are really going to need it. They may not think they need it right now, but what we teach you in our program is going to help you out throughout your lifetime. Trust and believe.

What impact do you believe culture has on the way people live and interact?

It definitely affects it. Especially your upbringing – what your parents teach you and your friends. Cluture just has a huge impact on you. Hopefully, like for me, I was growing up in a black household and my mom was very strict on family, and I remember one time I said I hated my sister and she slapped the mess out of me. She said “you never say you hate your sister.” So, family values were truly important. Also, with my culture, my mom taught me that I had to respect everybody else. Don’t use stereotypes, because I hear them a lot. My friends might make a joke about someone being white or black. Of course, we have our own stereotypes. Your culture can definitely bring out good qualities in you, but sometimes people take those qualities and turn them bad. But it’s important that within your culture you learn about other cultures so you know how to act around other people.

MWSU veteran counselor, Steve Potter has been assisting students for more than twenty years and gave advice Friday Jan. 28 about managing stress in a presentation at Eder Hall. The goal was to help students with the stress they encounter every day

 “We do a great deal of class-schedule type counseling or career counseling but our bread and butter is working with students with personal concerns and issues,” Potter said. There are some differences in concerns from freshmen to non-traditional students but the issues are surprisingly similar. “If you are going to lump them into categories there are three, depression, anxiety and stress.”

Potter also pointed out that stress can come from good things such as weddings, buying a car or having a baby. In some cases these otherwise positive events can lead to negative reactions to stress. The key to stress management he said is to react in good productive ways.

“I would like to redo this event at a better time so more students could attend,” event organizer and Non-Trad Program Assistant, Shannon Ebling said. “The event was so full of information that students really need. I found many ideas for overcoming stress in my own life.”

Potter discussed the “ABCD’s” of the mental chain of events in a stress response. The letter “A” is the “activating” event or stressor. The “B” represents what one “believes” about the event whether it is rational or irrational. Next is the “C” or “consequence” that people feel about an event as a result of their perception. Then the “D” is representative of “disputing” an irrational belief to bring out a more positive consequence. An irrational belief, explored in the hand out material, may be that students feel “just can’t stand it” when actually they can.

Jenifer Gawatz attended the event and said, “I will use the ideas learned at this event to overcome some of the stress that I have. I’m going to get a hobby. I need the distraction because I’m dealing with an ex-relationship.” Gawatz also said she would go again if the event is offered.

Many students, according to the literature, fall into the “fairy tale” response category believing that things should be different. Students in this category think that things should always be ideal or the way they want them to be. This type of belief system is not founded in reality and increases stress. Another category labeled as the “Monster” is a belief that there is danger where no actual danger exists. This is sometimes the stress students feel when experiencing test anxiety. 

Students can have the “I’m no good” or “others are no good,” complex. These are overgeneralizations according to Potters literature and they exaggerate normal failures or imperfections. Another stress factory is the “Doomsday” category which tends to make a situation seem more tragic than it is. These individuals make mountains out of mole hills and find stress at every encounter.

The goal of the presentation was to assist students in identifying the stressors in their lives and plan ways to react to those stressors in a positive realistic way. Potter believes that students need to practice relaxation and do it the right way. He has developed a way of identifying stress by measuring hand temperature. Using this detection method he can not only measure stress but also measure how well his clients are relaxing. Potters theory is that improved relaxing methods with practice can lead to stress relief.

Tips For Stress Relief

The following is a summary of ideas conveyed by MWSU Counselor Steve Potter during his recent presentation about stress management.

The first tip for relieving stress is to understanding one’s self. To do this, listen to the body. Students sometimes don’t know when to quit. People can also use feedback from others. Be aware though, sometimes friends won’t tell friends what is wrong with the way they are acting when asked. People have an obligation to be honest with themselves. Students need to set limits by discovering what they can control in their life and what they cannot. Also, they need to watch and learn how they react to situations. It’s best to actually keep notes of how you react and how you feel when situations arise. Then analyze those reactions to see if they are positive or negative.

Next it is necessary to develop healthy attitudes. Positive thinking is not normal for some without practice. This is where counseling can help. It is important for people to accept what they cannot change and realize that they’re human and therefore are not perfect. Everyone needs to learn to love their self as they are without expectations. Many forms of stress come from past experiences or worry about future events. These are negative actions and keep us from living in the present. It is important to recognize the things that have been accomplished and successes fulfilled. Those events need to be celebrated. Students need to realize that leisure time is important and beneficial if used wisely.  Everyone needs to understand that they and their time are limited and they must learn to say no. Nobody can do everything.

Controlling emotions is difficult for some. People need to ask themselves, how do I feel? Then share those feelings with someone who will listen. This is often called venting. When someone is venting it is not necessary to respond just to listen as the one venting gets it out of their system. If there is no person to vent upon then students can often feel better after writing down the event and how it made them feel. This is done by writing letters that never get sent or keeping a journal. The main idea is to not keep those feelings bottled up.  Find a way to express them.

People who want their way all of the time need to think about others and their point of view. It helps to give in once in a while. Not every issue is a “hill to die on.” It is normal to look for those responsible and attach blame to people for situations but this is negative behavior. People need to learn to share their feelings honestly. Always be willing to find new friends. Learn to listen to others and not give advice until they ask. People need to learn to risk love when dealing with close relationships.

It is important to keep a regular sleep schedule, exercise regularly and eat well-balanced meals. Caffeine and nicotine increase stress. It may feel better to light up but maybe the time to get away from a situation and think is the real therapy. One of the best tips is just learning to relax. Counselors can help you learn breathing techniques and other activities so a little relaxation can go further. Being overweight is an automatic stressor. It is best to keep weight at a moderate level.

Then there is the age old idea of living one day at a time to enhance healthy living. This gets back to living in the present and not worrying about regrets from the past or possible events from the future. It is important to have alone time along with socializing. Try to be more self reliant so others have less of a chance to let you down. Stress really is relieved by having a hobby. It’s a way to escape the stressful situations for a while. Successful stress managers guard their private alone time and let others know that it is valuable to them. It is important to take vacations and breaks to relieve stress. Keeping a variety of activities is important to maintain balance. Keep in mind that it is best to plan changes and don’t make too many at once. It is best to avoid impulsive changes these cause stress for everyone involved. Overall remember to slow down and relax.

It is rewarding to really enjoy the career successes as they come. People should never fear failure but accept it as a normal part of living. Nothing enhances your career and life like improving your skills. The end result is more confidence and less stress.

<h3>Stress Busters</h3>

Taking Charge

People must to realize that they need to handle the situations they face. Other people can help but they make the necessary changes in their own lives. People are stronger than they think. They need to learn to be responsible for the choices they have made and learn from the situations they cause. They can also learn from the good outcomes of making good decisions and doing the right thing.

Be Realistic

No one can do everything or make everyone happy. Students need to realize their limits and set realistic expectations for themselves. Setting unattainable goals only leads to stress and frustration. People need to learn that it is ok to say no.

Be Flexible

Students should not expect perfection of themselves or others. Making mistakes is normal and if mistakes are expected they can be accepted more readily. People can get along better if they keep an open mind and are tolerant of each other. It doesn’t mean that you have to give up your values to allow someone else to have theirs. It is easier to get along when people replace the need to be right with the need to be kind.

Lighten Up

People need to have a healthy since of humor. Students need to take what they do more seriously and themselves less seriously. Students are more productive, happier, and successful when they have a good since of humor.

Stop your “Stinking Thinking”

Students can enhance their environment by just thinking of things in a more positive way. Many need help with this process and help is available at the MWSU Testing and Counseling office. It is better for all when people stop finding the negative in every situation and focusing on only the bad result of an unfortunate situation. Finding something good is harder but much more productive.

Adopt an Attitude of Gratitude

Students can benefit by learning to take a moment and count their blessings. People need to be more thankful for the good things that happen to them and the good relationships that they have with others. When people keep these ideas in focus it is hard for stress to sneak back into their lives. It is helpful to focus on ways of helping others.

Give yourself a “Helper’s High”

Nothing can make someone feel as good as when they come through for someone else. When they do that thing that means everything to another human being, it gives them strength to overcome their own stress. People who have never experienced this “High” need to volunteer or do something so they can get this experience. It could change their life.

Take Good Care of Your Body

As much as people need to take this advice it is more important now than ever. Medication for the treatment of depression, anxiety, and stress are the top three prescriptions written today. Most doctors agree that most could get off of their medication if they just learned to diet and exercise properly. Cigarettes, caffeine, sugar, alcohol and illicit drugs are stress enhancers. Rest is essential for good stress management and good health.

Love Yourself and Everyone You Meet

People need to know that it is ok to love themselves. It is equally important to love others as well as they love themselves. It may sound corny or religious but without love those feelings of loneliness, despair and stress increase exponentially. Students need to learn to risk loving others.

Find the Bless in the Mess

People and situations will disappoint us. It is a given. As people focus on being more open honest and positive it should become easier to overcome the stress related to disappointment. Students can apply this to their lives by learning to expect disappointment and planning how to handle it in a healthy way that doesn’t increase stress in their lives.

Live in the Present

People are healthier when they learn to “give it up,” or “let go of it.” Holding on to something from the past only serves to enhance stress. As well, worrying about something that may never happen is equally destructive. Only when people learn to enjoy where and when they are can they loosen the bondage of stress.

Get Social

People are most healthy and stress free when they feel real bonds to others. It is healthy to share life’s little moments with others even if it is funny or embarrassing it only invites others to share and increase bonds and connections that can fight feelings of loneliness and stress.

Baum graduated from Western last year, with a B.A. in Convergent Media.

“She was one of the most hard working and dynamic students in convergent media because she enjoys the potential of it,” Professor Kenneth Rosenauer said. “She has lots of talent and I’m sure some day I’ll say, ‘I knew her when.’”

Baum is now attending grad school courses at the University of Kansas, and working at Smallcakes, a Kansas City area cupcakery. Their store and staff were featured on the Food Network’s “Cupcake Challenge” twice, and Baum was able to go on the second appearance.

“I was very excited,” Baum said. “It was pretty hard. The network people are helpful but the challenges are real.”

If they had won the challenge, one of the rewards would have been the opportunity to host a Grammy Nominee luncheon. Their motto for the event was “go big or go home,” so they accepted the challenge of making cupcakes to a rock and roll theme. The ingredient options offered by the network were selected considering that theme. They selected potato chips and beer.

“We made potato chip cupcakes with a chocolate stout frosting which has real beer in it,” Baum said. “All the judges liked them; we were surprised when they said we were selected to go home.”

Not all the news is bad though. The store has received over 40 e-mails of support from viewers who claim that Smallcakes was robbed. The exposure the team received from the television program did get the attention of Beautiful Brands International (BBI).

They have signed a contract to market Smallcakes as one of their nationally offered franchises. The Kansas City area stores will train all of the future employees of the new stores planned for Florida and other states across America in the near future. Two of the stores are in Kansas, and a third opening in Lee’s Summit, Missouri.

“You can’t really help but smile when eating a cupcake,” said Jeff Martin, owner of Smallcakes, in a recent news release. “That’s really the idea behind Smallcakes; we wanted to provide a product to families and individuals where they can experience joy and happiness all by eating a cupcake. We’re thrilled that we can join with Beautiful Brands to take our successful business and expand it worldwide.”

The television program was filmed at Food Network’s studio in L.A., but Baum has even more plans for the city of L.A. She is moving there in August to attend school.

“I want to become an actress,” Baum said. “This experience cemented my desire to go to school in Los Angeles.”

“We want our organization to grow,” McMinn said. “As it stands, we do not have many members, and honestly it’s a little strange. We believe we don’t have many because students see us as partisan, but we’re not. If anything, that is the most important point. We are about critical and current issues facing our country, our school and our families. We believe everyone has the right to be informed and we provide the information for free.”
The organization is not just sitting around talking about local legislation or issues we are facing today; the organization is becoming involved with charities in the area.
“We actually had a fairly decent fundraiser right before the Christmas break,” Judd said. “About $180 was raised and we donated tons and tons of socks and underwear, hats, gloves and all kinds of things we had took in.”
The Missouri Western Democrats are not a picky bunch. Anyone is allowed to attend the meetings even if they are not a member. The main goal for this organization is to introduce politics to the students with the hopes the students will understand what is happening in the world.
“People kind of have a stigma about politics and about government, but particularly it is something that affects us as students,” Johnson said. “There is so much that is happening in legislation with about education. That affects us and if you get involved, whether you are Republican or Democrat, chances are you can do more about it.”
The students involved with this newly formed organization have a plan to take it to a new level. It is slow to become recognized on campus, but the students are handing out flyers and posting everything they can on bulletin boards in hopes to create a stronger following.
“Right now, since we just started, we have eight official members,” Johnson said. “I am hoping to get more because once I leave and the rest of the board graduates next year that we have a strong core that can continue. Democrats have kind of come and gone on campus, so I am hoping we will have a stronger following, especially with the presidential election after I am gone.”
The organization is consistent on their meetings. Order is a major part of what goes into politics and the Missouri Western Democrats have not missed a beat.
“We meet twice a month every month,” Johnson said. “We do one educational meeting and one social meeting. We meet in Spratt 205 every other Monday at 7:30 P.M. our next meeting will be on April 4 and then April 18. We will then have a final meeting which will just be a get together and start making plans for next semester.”
The organization will not be handled just during the school year; the official members will stay in touch and work out details on events for the fall.
“The great thing about working with the community Democrats is they keep us together,” Johnson said. “They keep events going for us. We participate back and forth throughout the summer, we go to their events and they come to ours. They also help with advertisement and keeping it going in circulation because they have more channels and connections then we do.”

Henry, who has worked with children in the past but not on stage, has said having kids in the play has been quite an experience.

“Adding children to a show could be a nightmare, but in my sense, it’s kind of a wonderful experience when you see them do it right on stage,” Henry said.

Some may think having rug rats running around the theater would be a hassle, which is why some of the college students were deemed “kid wranglers.” They make sure the younger actors are where they are supposed to be and that they have their props. And, because Henry wanted the show to be kid-oriented, the kid wranglers also make sure the children assigned to a prop are putting them in correct spots during scene changes.

“They can be a handful because, you know, they’ll miss their cues, or they won’t go on stage and so you got to kind of sit on the kids and say ‘OK, you have to pay attention,’” Sebastian Smith, who plays Bob Cratchit, said.

For the most part, though, the children are where they need to be. Fortunately, they have their lines down, but that’s not necessarily hardest part about working with kids, Henry said. The children are not allowed to look into the crowd, which can be difficult for them.

“It’s not the lines — they get the lines better than the adults because they go home and work them,” Henry said. “They’re wanting to see acknowledgment, and they also want to make sure if something happens that I see it.

“I make the adult actors, if they break character, do 25 pushups, so as a joke we said we would started making them [the children] do five pushups if they look at me.”

No, Henry doesn’t make them do pushups. However, in order for the actors to bond with the younger ones, the Cratchits sit and hang out in the same area — which the children have no problems with. Smith, who plays the father of the Cratchits, always finds his Tiny Tims, Zephaniah Siebler and Anna Bracciano, on his lap.

Smith believes bonding is a very important aspect of working with kids.

“You do build a bond with them, and with children you have to — you have to build a bond because they can’t fake that, they have to have that basis of reality in order to really bond with you [on stage].”

Seven-year-old Zephaniah, who has been taking singing lessons for the play, feels like he has a good relationship with his “family.”

“I’m friends with my whole play family, and rehearsals are fun,” Zeph said.

Nine-year-old Anna, who played Penny the Dalmatian in the play “101 Dalmatians,” is also having fun during rehearsals and is excited about her solo. She has also really become her character as Bob’s son so much that she doesn’t call him “Sebastian,” but something else more appropriate.

“I call him ‘Daddy’ because it’s just easier,” Anna said.

Smith goes with it, following Anna when she grabs his hand to go toward the stage calling him “Father.” Smith has had to deal with some “fatherly-type questions” with his pretend sons as well as take care of a few of their needs.

“Tying shoes is in my job description,” Smith said, while he tied Zeph’s shoelaces.

Smith has had a good time being on the set and believes all the children in the play are talented, fun and have been doing well so far. He also said he will miss working with the kids once the plays are over.

“Overall, it’s been a very rewarding experience to work with the entire cast,” Smith said. “I’m probably going to have some attachment issues after I have to say goodbye to these little kids and never see them again.”

Bob Cratchit is the father of the loving family, and director Dallas Henry believes Bob Cratchit is such an iconic role in “A Christmas Carol” because he’s a character that everybody is already in love with. Henry took this into account when casting Sebastian Smith as Bob.

“Sebastian has this wonderful voice,” Henry said. “When he came and auditioned he was instantly Bob Cratchit to me – you just can’t be mean to him.”

This will be Smith’s first time on the stage at Western, and he is really excited and hopes to make a good impression. Smith said it’s not hard at all for him to get in the mindset of Bob.

“Being poor wasn’t hard to imagine; I am a college student, so I don’t know anything else,” Smith said.  “Dealing with Scrooge isn’t hard for me — everyone has had a mean boss or professor that you just had to deal with.”

Bob was an easy pick for Henry. However, he said it was difficult casting the other members of the Cratchit family because there are five others. What he didn’t expect, though, was that he would cast college students as the sons and daughters.

“I always imagined the Cratchits being kids, but when our students came in and auditioned, they did a great job,” Henry said.

Chance Umstattd, who has never been in a play production until now, was cast as the older brother, Peter. Henry felt Umstattd is very lovable, which he thinks works well for chemistry of the Cratchit family.

“I tell them every night my favorite scene is the Cratchit scene because to me that’s the true meaning of hardship, but you’re still getting through it,” Henry said.

Playing Bob Cratchit’s wife, Mrs. Cratchit, is Western student Robin Ussher.  She said the actors playing the Cratchit family have developed a bond that goes well beyond the play, and that working with the family outside of rehearsal has created a family dynamic for her and has really helped her come into her part.

“My character has a very emotional part in the play, so I need to find a dark, somber place to get ready,” Ussher said. “Especially in the part where they imply that Tiny Tim will pass away.”

In fact, Henry moved the Cratchit scenes down stage closer to the audience because of the moments the Cratchit family shares throughout the play.

“He knows what an intimate and pivotal scene that part of the play is, I think he wanted to try and imitate the closeness that the family has to make it more personal,” Ussher said.

Other Cratchit family members include Lindsey Stubbs as Martha Cratchit, Maggie Truesdale as Belinda Cratchit and Zephaniah Siebler and Anna Bracciano as Tiny Tim Cratchit.