“We’re not behind the times anymore,” senior Cinema student Mallory Edson said.

To acquire this technology, however, cinema students had to make up the money through their personal student fees. When asked if they were OK with the raised fees for Theatre students in exchange for new equipment to work with, cinema student Jeremy Edwards felt the trade-off was well worth it.

“New equipment films on a higher level set you apart, which is still worth it in the long run,” Edwards said.

Professor of Theater Dallas Henry said the new equipment will be paid off in three years, and then the department will get an upgrade.

Students now have a reel or a professional portfolio of their work to show to prospective employers. Some schools would have students become an intern to get experience before a job. The current Theatre & Cinema program is big on applied learning. Having a professional resume helps the graduates get a job right away.

In addition to the new technology upgrade, the department has also upgraded their renting policies as well. Before the upgrade, the students would have to physically write down the items they needed reserved for use. Now, thanks to the new software, items are reserved through computers. Cinema students said that having equipment past your time frame isn’t just bad for you, if someone else needed it the next morning and the camera was not there for their use they would be behind on a shoot.

With a first come, first served policy and different levels of rating for which class you are in at the time and what you need reserved, the new policy is more user friendly and provides more cameras for more students then the previous one.

Department of Theatre and Cinema put together a proposal spring of 2011. When the board of Administration passed the proposal it opened new doors for the department.

According to Henry, MWSU is now on par with other film schools. Some film schools don’t have the students pick up a camera until possibly their third year of classes.

Henry was very excited for the new equipment cage, which is located in the Hearnes building right underneath the library.

With roughly 12 new courses offered, the theater department is now growing due to the new technology given. Don’t worry film students, the equipment cameras are insured and when students go on a shoot they are insured too.

In the past year, 13 staff members of the Division of Student Affairs have left, retired or have had their contract terminated. Some of these dismissals have come as a surprise to students who worked with the administrators closely.

Vice President for Student Affairs Esther Peralez has made changes — not just in personnel but in practice — based upon “involvement theory,” which she says will help retention and graduation rates by involving and including students in as many activities as possible.

“There were some issues when I came in,” Peralez said. “There was a limited view point of the role of Student Affairs when I got here. They thought they had a Student Affairs unit, and they had the components of it, but there wasn’t really an understanding of student affairs or why we really do need a Student Affairs.”

Peralez’s goal has been to teach the staff members of Student Affairs professional competencies and involvement theory. Several of her theories focus on developing students as individuals outside the classroom.

Creating a climate that is welcoming to many students from different backgrounds is important to Peralez.

“It’s very critical,” she said, “because, at this point students are making an initial commitment to whether they want to come to our school or not, and if you have a bad taste in your mouth, you’re going to walk.”

Non-Traditional Learning

One of the first departures was former Non-Traditional Student Services Director Ellen Kisker, who retired in the fall of 2010. The reorganization of Student Affairs would have placed Kisker as Student Life Director.

At the time of her departure, Kisker felt the position would take too much time away from non-trad students.

“I was told that the non-trad students could take care of themselves and be interdependent,” Kisker said. “I didn’t agree with that philosophy.”

When Kisker retired, non-trads planned a protest to show their support for Kisker before the September Board of Governor’s meeting. The protest was called off in lieu of a meeting with Board Chair Kylee Strough, President Robert Vartabedian and leaders of the Non-Traditional Student Association.

“She was a pivotal resource,” non-trad Stacey Hersh said. “You knew that going to her you weren’t going to get the run around of ‘go here, go there.’”

Since Kisker left, the Missouri Western chapter of Omicron Psi, a national honor society that recognizes non-trads, hasn’t taken in any new members. According to Hersh, Kisker wasn’t the adviser, but played an instrumental role in planning the ceremonies and luncheons for Omicron Psi.

Non-trad Kimberly Wright was supposed to be inducted, but never got the opportunity.

“It was something that every year I watched friends do the ceremony,” Wright said. “It was something that excited me. I really worked hard to have my turn. Then it was gone.”

“I don’t expect any special treatment because I’m a non-trad,” Wright said. “I’m just a student like everybody else, but I want to be recognized too, just like an athlete would.”

Peralez said that there are plans to revive Omicron Psi, but that she wants non-trads to still include themselves with traditional students and their activities.

“It was so hard to convince them that I wanted them as role models, that they shouldn’t separate themselves from the traditional students,” Peralez said.

The Non-Traditional Student Lounge has been officially renamed The Non-Traditional Help/Resource Center. The couch that was donated to the room has been removed, and anyone wanting to use the center must sign a special agreement and turn over their student ID while in the room.

One of the policies for the room-use agreement form is that students must use appropriate language and behavior.

“A lot of students would complain,” Peralez said. “There was swearing and talk of sexual overtones and things like, and actually they were disrupting some of the other departments. We said, ‘you’ve got to be more academic.’”

The agreement also states that the computers in the center are for academic use only and that students should access personal Facebook and email accounts on their personal computers.

When Peralez worked at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, Minn., she said that nearly 80 percent of the student body was non-traditional students.

“They were kind of like the role models, and they brought in the traditional students,” Peralez said.

Unexpected Departures

Another goal of Peralez’s reorganization was to eliminate individual sections of Student Affairs that didn’t communicate and coordinate with other sections. She also said that she wants divisions of Student Affairs to realize that they aren’t here just for themselves.

“I had all of these departments, different departments that everybody was in,” Peralez said. “I had a director of non-trads, a director of this and a director of that. So everybody stayed in their silos.”

Peralez wanted to eliminate these silos so each division of Student Affairs could focus on an overarching goal and communicate about that goal—student involvement.

“It’s a concept of, if we’re talking to each other then we can help each other,” she said.

Since the reorganization, students have seen the surprising departures of several personnel.

Don Willis, former assistant dean of student services, left the university over the summer. Willis worked closely with several student organizations, including Western Activities Council.

Lauren Dillon, vice chair for WAC, said that Willis’ departure was unexpected.

“I don’t think he gave us much notice, but I don’t think the university gave him much notice either,” Dillon said.

Dillon said that Willis did a lot of work behind the scenes as far as assisting WAC in the booking of events and even helping set up the spring concert. Dillon also said that the work now can be overwhelming.

“It’s difficult,” she said, “but we’re managing.”

Along with Willis, Huey Shi Chew, former international student services coordinator, is no longer employed by the university. In the last few years, Western has seen an increase in its international population at an average of 10 students per year.

Instead of an International Student Services Coordintor, Western has opened up a Global Engagement Director position, which will not just focus on international students but would also work with the campus as a whole to “internationalize” it.

According to Peralez, the director will also work with faculty to create curriculum and work with the existing study abroad program.

International student Toni Dance said that she found Chew’s departure sudden and unexpected.

“She basically helped me find a job on campus, and if I had any issues with my visa she’d help me with that,” Dance said.

“I wish she was still here,” Dance said.

Climate of fear

Former Testing and Assessment Coordinator Debra Webb was told on Sept. 7, her birthday, that her last day of employment would be Sept. 9.

Webb was offered the position below her, which was her secretary’s position.

“I was number 11, and it didn’t stop there,” Webb said. “Many people have either left, [Peralez will] make it look like by choice, but it wasn’t directly by choice, it was from things she was doing.”

Webb was told that her position was being eliminated due to budgetary reasons. As testing and assessment coordinator, Webb administered tests to Western students with disabilities and was responsible for national testing. Now, those duties are part of Western Institute.

“I’m a graduate of Missouri Western,” Webb said. “She has done nothing but given it a black mark as far as I’m concerned, and I can’t believe that the upper level is letting her get away with this.”

Webb said that once a month she attended a mandatory meeting that all staff under student services at the time had to attend. Webb said that this meeting interfered with giving tests to students.

“It took a big chunk out of the day,” Webb said. “I tried to explain this to my supervisor, and it didn’t matter.”

Kathy Kelly, administrative coordinator for the Student Government Association, said she has never felt like her job was in jeopardy. When Peralez first arrived, Kelly said she was frustrated.

“It took me to step back and say ‘it’s not her, it’s me,’” Kelly said. “Because she told me what her expectations were, and either I could quit my job or meet those expectations. I chose to meet those expectations because the person who wins in the student.”

She said she never felt like those expectations were too high and they made her job challenging. This year, Kelly played an instrumental role in organizing homecoming, something she said Dr. Peralez pushed her on.

“I’m glad she set them,” Kelly said. “I feel like we get stagnant in our jobs, and I worked and did my same job, same week, day in and day out and never went above and beyond that.”

A former employee of Western who worked in Student Affairs, but wishes to remain anonymous, said that she retired earlier and could have worked a couple of extra years.

“I think everybody was afraid they were going to lose their jobs,” she said. “You know, if she didn’t like you, like Huey Shi [Chew].”

Both sources recounted an incident where former International Student Services Coordinator Huey Shi Chew asked for time off to visit her mother, who was terminally ill in Malaysia. Chew wanted an extra week off after the fall 2010 Thanksgiving break.

“Well, Peralez will think about it and let her know” Webb said. “[Chew] kept telling her supervisor, which is Tay Triggs. Finally she told her that she was going to go talk to the President [Robert Vartabedian] if she didn’t make a decision. Miraculously, that afternoon, ‘Oh, you get to go.’”

Webb said that the next week, Chew was told by Triggs that Chew was going to be reviewed in January 2011 because she wasn’t working up to expectations.

“I’ve been a Gold Coat member for 25 or more years,” Webb said. “I will not buy Gold Coat tickets any more, I will not donate any money to the college anymore as long as that lady is still there. She has ruined too many lives.”

Peralez declined to comment on any personnel decisions. Willis and Chew declined to comment as well.

Although Swafford will be leaving his PR position, he will continue as a faculty member teaching at the Craig School of Business.

“I’ve taught on the college level for over 15 years. I will be teaching introduction to marketing and the class I’ve been teaching for the last 7 semesters, marketing and promotions,” Swafford said.

“I have always enjoyed teaching, and, at this point in my career, it’s time to give back. I’ve been a professional for 30 years and I learned a lot of things on the job, which I hope to pass on to the students. My students have an advantage that they can carry into their careers and hit the ground running, and I’m just hoping I can be helpful to them.”

Assistant Public Relations and Marketing Director Kent Heier said that Swafford has done a great job as PR Director. He understands the value of Westerns brand and has been very active in making others understand that value as well.

“He told me this opportunity for him to teach full-time is an opportunity he couldn’t pass up; now he can teach even more, and I think that was a major factor in his decision,” Heier said.

Heier said Swafford has been a part of a growing sense of pride that the campus has and the community has in Missouri Western.

“Swafford has been and will continue to be very actively involved in the community in terms of organizations, and that helped solidify the relationship that Western has with the St. Joseph community,” Heier said.

Dan Nicoson, vice president for university advancement, said Swafford has been a valuable member of the staff , bringing perspective to the department that somebody only out of corporate public relations, like Swafford, would be able to.

“He has always wanted to teach and has been teaching part-time ever since he has been here, and now he has this opportunity to move to teaching full-time, and it’s something he looks forward to,” Nicoson said.

According to Nicoson, Swafford has been a big champion of making sure that the Western brand is promoted and protected.

“Swafford’s work with the brand and his help to insert Western out in the community has helped Western be recognized as the quality that is reality here,” Nicoson said.

Nicoson said the search for a new PR Director will begin at the first of the year.

That’s the predominant, if underlying, message of most of the occupations occurring in the U.S. and internationally; a sentiment shared by not just regular people, but also banks and corporations.

According to Reza Hamzaee, professor of economics for Missouri Western, fear is the fundamental mechanism slowing down the economic recovery here and abroad. Hamzaee said that the key problem facing our government is reversing the fear gripping our nation’s capitalist system.

“Corporate America, with huge cash that they have, but they don’t dare to spend,” Hamzaee said. “At consumers, those who have jobs and purchasing power, but they are not sure if this is the right time to purchase.”

All of this potential help is sitting there with no trust that tomorrow won’t see it all disappear.

Who can blame the haves in society for not wanting to become the have nots?

Hamzaee says that policy created by educated people, people that know finance and economics, is the fastest way out of this situation, and the key to preventing another crisis of this proportion.

“In the financial market, not knowing enough about the sophistication of these financial derivatives and how the system works, our lawmakers were totally uneducated,” Hamzaee said. “Even if they wanted to monitor the smooth operation of the markets, they didn’t have the knowledge to know what was wrong in the first place, or how these people [those accumulating wealth before the recession] were making billions of dollars before the rest of us could wake up and see what is happening to us.”

If policy makers aren’t educated about the inner workings of the financial systems and markets, surely those responsible for overseeing them must. Not according to Hamzaee.

“They [regulators] confessed themselves they didn’t know [what was causing the collapse],” Hamzaee said. “They started to know when the damage was already made.”

So, are these “Occupations” a good thing? What can be accomplished by them?

Edwin Taylor, assistant professor of political science, believes that these movements do provide a positive outlet for democracy.

“Generally speaking, I think they [the Occupations] are a great thing,” Taylor said. “Whether or not you agree with the goal as a political scientist, as one of my colleagues said: ‘We’re in this citizenship building business, protesting is one of our fundamental rights.’ I think any opportunity that engages citizens to get out and say, ‘Hey government, we are here. Pay attention to us,’ is critical for the health of democracy.”

According to Catherine Lawson, professor of economics, the occupations have probably held on longer than many would have expected.

“I think they [Occupy Wall Street] were kind of dismissed at first, but somehow, and I guess it’s social media, it’s caught on,” Lawson said.

According to Lawson many in the movements probably feel that the deck has been stacked against them, that corruption in the economic and political system has soured many Americans’ faith in our government’s ability to govern.

Lawson provided an example of how technology also played a role in job loss and changes in ways of life that kind of snuck up on us.

“Before you had voice mail, you had a receptionist or switchboard operator in every business across the country,” Lawson said. “Somebody created voice mail and made a ton of money off of that technological innovation, and that person became a zillionaire, but lots of people got put out of work because of that.”

Resident students at Western will soon have the opportunity to have their voices heard through a new organization, Residence Hall Association. On-campus students are thrilled to see the differences the new organization will offer in comparison to the old.

Many residents and students on campus are concerned about where the budget for RHA will come from. A certain percentage of the budget will come from the Department of Residential life and housing, which RHA President Bridget Janssen says will go directly to the students and organization.

Janssen said the budget for this new organization will be $20,000, which will be divided between the residence halls and their Hall Councils.

According to Mark Stier, director of residential life, the money for the new organization will come from an auxiliary budget in the Residential Living and Housing operational budget, which they use to pay bills.

Stier says that RHA will be free to utilize the money with only limited direction from Western.

“RHA will have total control over their budget,” Stier said. “They will have to discuss charges with their advisors to ensure they are keeping in line with the budgetary process set forth by the University. Other than that, they are to use the funds for the betterment of the residential community and student professional growth.”

Janssen went a little further in describing the break-down of where the money will go and how it will be used.

“The Hall Councils will be given $500 and be able to determine where that money will go,” Janssen said. “$2,000 to $3,000 will be given to each dorm and will be run directly by RHA and will be used for dorm improvements.”

National Residence Hall Honorary will be given $2,000 and have full jurisdiction on how to use the money. This will leave approximately $8,000 to $10,000 for the RHA, which they plan to use directly for programming, updates and improvements for the dorms.

As RHA aspires to increase the number of residents involved, students wonder how this organization will differ from Residence Council. Jansen has high hopes for the association and believes residents will flock toward the new group after learning of the new opportunities it will present.

“The main goal for this year is building up the new organization,” said Janssen. “In the past, we had a very active Residence Council, but I want to show what changes we have in store for the residents.”

Since RHA is not a part of Student Government Association, they have the freedom to make changes. Janssen believes this is a great way for SGA to work with the new organization.

Griffon Hall resident Jessica Liess says she is interested in the types of activities this new organization will be able to create for the students.

“Some things that I would like to see happen would be more group activities that anyone can come along and participate in,” Liess said. “It makes me feel that our school is going in a new direction by trying to make the students feel at ease while away from home.”

Residents of Western will just have to wait and see what changes will be done through the new organization. Janssen said she wants to build the Association for future residents, so they will have a governing body that works just for them.

“We must get our name known around campus, which is the only way we will recruit and get students involved in our organization,” said Janssen. “I am also confident that we will have a strong foundation for future Residential Hall Associations to build upon.”

Donnell Turner held off 33 candidates by becoming Western’s choice to lead the students. He was chosen based off his hard work and excellent resume, but also what he proved when he made his pitch last March.

“He was really impressive,” Matthew Gregg, student employment coordinator said. “He’s got a good grasp of what we’re looking for.”

Turner will take over for Linda Garlinger, the previous director, who retired last October after 20 years at Western. Western believes Turner is the right guy to take over for somebody who was the director for so long.

“His energy is contagious,” Gregg said. “He really wanted to know where the students are and really wanted to serve the students. The students will notice the difference.”

Turner spoke to many students and faculty in attendance when he presented his case for employment on March 3. He spoke about how the students are going to have to help themselves, help each other and he will guide them along the way.

Student Affairs sent out a press release two weeks ago to announce the new hire, stating Turner provided career-related counseling and guidance to students as well as mentioning his past history.

“I enjoy new challenges,” Turner said. “I would do what I do for free because I love what I do so much. Having your own passion or own calling is very important.”

Turner has a BA in Education-Theological Studies and a Masters Degree in Education Ministries. He graduated from Wheaton College of Illinois and previously worked for Loyola University of Illinois. He will start May 16, a date Gregg and others are looking forward to.

Western's new director for career service Donnell Turner will start May 16.

“Students get students out,” Turner said, when asked how he would help a student from the street start attending class. He also spoke about how he would handle non-traditional students. “(I would) help lead them with skills they’ve had in the past, researching them. The reality is, we never really stop learning.”

Taye Trigg, assistant dean for student development, said Turner would start right away when he arrives here. He will be the supervisor on certain special projects, one including the Sophomore Jump. This project will focus on sophomores who, nationwide, tend to lose focus in school and start struggling. When a student can get past this point, statistics show they will likely graduate.

“[Students] are confused about career choices and they come in and have no clue what they want to major in,” Triggs said. “He’ll catch them before they think about dropping out.”

Triggs also said that when Turner begins his job, he is going to be working hard because the summer is when they do their planning.

“Donnell’s strong professional background and commitment to community services is something our students can look to as a model,” the release read. “Donnell does ministerial outreach and provides support to men within drug/alcohol treatment facilities and is a full responder for the American Red Cross.”

That, as well as his leadership skills and 12 years of experience in personal development and coaching helped Turner land this new opportunity over the others.

The ten students will be involved in a semester long competition with one another. Three of the ten that prepare the best business plan will then be selected for internships at one of the previously awarded franchises. A panel will then select one of the students to receive the franchise.

This idea of awarding an RMCF franchise to a student came to fruition by Missouri Western Alumni Steven Craig, of whom the business school is named after. Craig is the founder of Craig Reality, which manages several outlet malls all over the United States. Craig believes that small businesses are the strength of our economy.

Craig approached RMCF about giving students the opportunity to compete for a franchise that would be located within one of his outlet malls. The company agreed to join together with Craig to make this prospect possible for the students.

Carol Roever, former Dean of CSB, says that since this program was started it has been a great success and she hopes it can continue to grow. Roever stated that Western’s CSB is the only school she knows of that offers this type of award for hard working students that want to become entrepreneurs

“The three previous winners are doing well with their franchises,” Roever said. “They have really embraced the opportunity and are working hard to be successful.”

The prior winners are Seth Lyons, Brady Ellis and Robert Schimming. Lyons was given a franchise in Silverthorne, Colo. Ellis received a franchise in Vicksburg, Miss. Schimming opened a third one in Lake Elsinore, Calif. The forth store will open in Manteca, Calif. once the winner is chosen this summer.

The stores are not completely free however. A franchise would normally cost roughly $350,000 to buy, but CSB students pay around $150,000 for one. In addition to the huge discount, Craig offers the students the loan with minimal interest and up to five years to pay it back.

The winners of the RMCF must also make a financial donation to the CSB and return to Western to speak to business students. The financial donation is based off a percentage of their profits.

Greg Pope, senior vice president of franchise development for RMCF, says that the franchise winners have been doing a great job running their businesses. Pope stated that he heard Ellis plans to pay his loan off in two years and is on track to do so.

“I am very pleased with what I am hearing about their profitability and pay back schedule,” Pope said.

Pope says he is not worried about turning the RMCF brand over to students that have little or no hands on business experience.

“When you consider the education background and the curriculum that’s in front of them, I feel they have a great chance for success,” Pope said.

The students enrolled in the management 499 class are eager to make their bid at becoming an RMCF owner. The students have been working hard all semester in preparation for the competition.

Leslie Oberg, Western senior, is one of the students competing for the franchise. Leslie says she understands the magnitude of what is at stake in the contest.

“I would have never been given this opportunity if it wasn’t for the Craig School Business and Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory,” Oberg said.

Darby Meehan, Western senior, is another student that is competing for the store. Darby feels his experience will give him an edge in the running.

“I work full-time, attend classes full-time and have a family,” Darby said. “I see this opportunity as a journey or adventure; it’s a win-win situation.”

The students competing now and the previous winners all agree that everyone involved with the CSB has been of great help. Several staff members are at their disposal if they need help with anything.

The students are very grateful to Steven Craig and the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for giving them what they feel is the opportunity of a lifetime.

According to Vice President of Student Affairs Esther Perález, the non-trads were supportive of the information given in the meeting about the reorganization of student affairs, although they lost their much-loved director, Ellen Kisker, in the process.

“I presented the reorganization plan which addressed non-traditional students and they were supportive of it,” Perález said.

Taye Triggs will be taking over Ellen Kisker’s responsibilities and taking on many more. Triggs was named the Assistant Dean of Student Development and Director of Diversity and Inclusion.

“This position and the one in the Center for Student Engagement was combined with an understanding that we would initiate a new model pertaining to adult learners for non-traditional students,” Triggs said. “We have had conversations with the students who are involved with the non-traditional center as well as those who utilize their services concerning the changes.”

Perález described the benefits that non-trads and traditional students would see throughout the transformation. She explained that since Western’s enrollment has gone up, surpassing 6,000 this year, student affairs has not been able to hire new staff. Perález’s new way of doing things will hopefully be more efficient and make Western’s campus groups more united.

“The new reorganization provides an opportunity for greater collaboration and communication between programs in the units and between the units,” Peralez said. “Whereas the former students had individual programs working alone to try and provide support with one or two staff members.”

Over 40 professionals are being cross-trained to ensure they can deal with issues from a number of organizations. Peralez believes that this will benefit all groups on campus as a whole.

“I anticipate that this model will also ensure that areas that were not always emphasized because the expertise was not there will now be addressed,” Peralez said.

Triggs said that the fact that the students voiced their concerns helped the process of making changes move along smoothly.

“One thing that we can always bet on is that change is eventually going to happen,” Triggs said. “I have to commend the students, both traditional and non-traditional, on their ability to express their feelings toward decisions that are made while maintaining their commitment toward success.”

Triggs said she is looking forward to the changes and the new opportunities they will bring students.

“I am very excited about working with the students to create opportunities to showcase their skills and knowledge as we work toward independence and interdependence,” Triggs said.

Triggs has several goals in place as the Dean in her new position, but one main thing she is striving for.

“My main goal is to be successful in creating a campus culture that is rich in tradition and fully engaged,” Triggs said.

Halloran was selected out of hundreds of applicants and four finalists to supervise the maintenance, scheduling, and day-to-day operations of Western’s athletic facilities.

“With the new facility being built we needed to have somebody that was physically in that building all the time managing that facility,” said Patsy Smith, associate athletic director and a member of the panel that interviewed the nominees.

The four applicants went through an interview process and gave presentations that were open to the campus community highlighting how the indoor sports complex could best benefit Western. Halloran, who was formerly senior recreation supervisor for the St. Joseph Parks and Recreation Department, was selected out of the four finalists.

The selection was made in late May by Athletic Director David Williams and President Robert Vartabedian with advisement from Smith’s panel.

“Mike was selected partially because of his work with the community already,” Smith said. “We just felt like he had a good handle on recreation overall and what that building needed: to have somebody to contact [and] to be able to bring in things to make money off of that facility.”

Therein lays Halloran’s number one responsibility: being sure that the indoor sports complex generates enough revenue to pay for itself. As an auxiliary building the facility receives no funding from the university budget. Halloran is responsible for drawing in community events to the facility in order to raise these funds. Some of the ideas so far are for youth soccer, flag football leagues and trade shows.

“Those are opportunities for us to generate revenue that will help pay for the daily operations as well as develop a comprehensive maintenance program for the facility,” said Halloran.

So far the biggest investor to the complex has been the Kansas City Chiefs, who hosted their training camp in the indoor sports complex this summer. The Chiefs received $10 million in tax credits from the state of Missouri to move their training camp back to the state. In turn they donated these funds to Missouri Western, pending the construction of an indoor practice facility.

“We wouldn’t have the facility if the Chiefs hadn’t been able to the tax credits through the state to build it,” said Smith.

Halloran’s first duty as athletic facilities director was to make sure that everything at training camp went smoothly.

“Really, during camp I left the indoor sports complex very rarely. I dealt with football operations so I dealt with players, coaches, security, medical and equipment,” said Halloran. “That opportunity was pretty unique, and for somebody that likes sports, and particularly football, it was a pretty cool opportunity to have that interaction on a daily basis.”

Halloran has high hopes for his new position and is excited about the new Griffon Indoor Sports complex and how it is going to promote the university and community in the future.

“I think the bigger picture of what it’s going to do to morale and pride and what it means to Missouri Western and St. Joe is something that’s going to be very difficult to measure. But I think it’s going to be very noticeable as well,” said Halloran. “I think it already can be noticed.”

Their graduate school offers several Master’s degrees in applied science, media, communication and nursing. Missouri Western’s graduate school is growing fast both in degrees offered and student enrollment. In 2009 the school had 70 students compared to 129 in 2010.

Brian Cronk, interim dean of graduate studies, is pleased with the dramatic increase in student enrollment. “The school is very excited about the number of students enrolling in our programs” Cronk said.

Missouri Western’s graduate school is perfect for people who currently have a full-time career and/or degree.

One goal of the graduate school Cronk said was to schedule all the courses after 4:30 p.m. so if someone is working they will still be able to attend.

“In addition to afternoon classes, we try to schedule the graduate courses just a couple nights a week,” Cronk said.

Cronk said how this was aimed at accommodating people who may be traveling from out of town or have a full-time job and family.

The school is leading the way in offering graduate degrees that can be used in the Saint Joseph area. Requests from local businesses can often determine what graduate programs will be offered.

“This process can be very lengthy and it is not uncommon for it to take 1-2 years for an approval from the state,” Provost Jeanne Daffron said.

A lot of planning goes into determining what graduate programs will be offered. One thing Missouri Western strongly takes into consideration is having a professor that is currently on staff and qualified, run the graduate program.

This should be beneficial to current undergraduate students planning on attending Missouri Western’s Graduate school because they will already have a familiar relationship with the professor.

Students wanting to attend graduate school should be pleased with the affordability of Missouri Western’s cost for graduate school. The cost is $285.00 per credit hour, which is only a 32.5 percent increase from the undergraduate cost of $215.00 per credit hour.

Students thinking of graduate school in the future may want to look into Missouri Western’s programs and see if they have anything available in their field of study.

It was only until the beginning of this semester that an solution to the vacant position was found. Normally only one interim Dean would be placed in the role. In this case two people, Brenda Blessing, professor in the health and physical education department and Murray Nabors, Dean of Liberal Arts will be filling in for Estes.

According to Jeanne Daffron, Provost of the University, Estes stepped down for personal reasons.

“[Estes’] wife has also been a professor and an administrator in the same kind of area and really hasn’t been able to find employment here that she wants really,” Daffron said, “So she’s currently employed in Colorado.”

Daffron said that Estes wished to have more time to spend with his wife than he did as the Dean of Professional studies.
University President Robert Vartabedian agrees that splitting the role into separate responsibilities is not ideal, but given current conditions, works well.

“I think a lot of what we’ve tried to do is because of the tight finances,” Vartabedian said, “we’ve initially tried to expand people’s responsibilities to get thought the summer, and now we’re ready to announce on how the position will be filled.”

The duties that Nabors will handle are personnel related. This includes faculty evaluation and tenure review. Blessing will handle the more day-to-day operations of the role.

Another reason for splitting the roles includes the fact that blessing served as interim before Estes was hired, making her very qualified in the role in the eyes of Daffron.

“We still want [Blessing] to handle her duties as chair of the Health Physical Education and Recreation department,” Daffron said.
Daffron recognizes that this model cannot hold for the long term, for any position. With that said, A search will begin immediately and Daffron expects to have someone hired by the end of next semester.

I have a lot of confidence in those two individuals and everyone in the college of professional studies we have very strong leadership in the chair positions in that college,” Daffron said, “I’m not concerned. I have confidence that things will get done correctly and well.”

Missouri Western State University joined an elite group of universities worldwide on Monday with the announcement that the Steven L. Craig School of Business achieved accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

Fewer than 600 business schools worldwide have been recognized with this high level of accreditation. Missouri Western is now listed among the likes of prestigious schools including, Duke, Harvard and Yale. In addition, Western is one of only 48 schools worldwide to achieve the accreditation with only undergraduate programs. This accomplishment, which has been more than a decade in the making, affects Western in many ways.

Carol Roever, Interim Dean School of Business, spoke at the ceremony. Photo | Sara Baum

It is the ultimate mark of quality for a business school, he said. Only the finest schools in the world are accredited by AASCB international.

Receiving this accreditation is not an easy accomplishment he explained.

“For a long time faculty and staff have worked hard for this,” he said.

Vartibedian then thanked and congratulated interim Dean Carol Roever for her role in the process of achieving the accreditation.

Roever’s role as interim dean was instrumental in reaching this longtime goal. Roever wasn’t the only person to help make this dream a reality though.

“This accreditation represents a supreme team effort,” she said. “Our faculty is really the key ingredient of this accreditation.”

In order to achieve accreditation the Steven L Craig School of Business had to meet 21 AASCB standards. A commitment to continuous improvement and the presence of a high-quality teaching environment are just a few of the required standards that reflect directly on the staff.

Looking forward, Western has much to gain form all of the hard work.

Dr. Larry Lawson, who made the first steps towards accreditation during his time as chair for the previous business department, explained that the accreditation not only gives Western the ability to be more successful in the business community, but will also make it easier to recruit future students and faculty.

“Students will have an easier time getting jobs and getting into most graduate schools in the United States,” Lawson said.

Graduating senior business management major Mark Kennon will be one of the first to see these benefits.

“It’s an endorsement stamp,” Kennon said. “It states the level of quality for the education received.”

The fourth candidate, Phillip Nitse, professor and former chair of the Idaho State University College of Business, was invited to interview with key members of Missouri Western’s administration. With the Steven L. Craig School of Business in the process of accreditation with The Association of Advanced Collegiate Schools of Business, candidates were asked to give a presentation to students, faculty, administration and members of the community on the challenges of AACSB schools and how to address them.

“We wanted to give students, faculty and members of the community an opportunity to provide feedback to the committee,” Cynthia Heider, associate provost and vice president for academic and student affairs said. “We strongly encouraged everyone to attend the presentation by each candidate.”

Interim Dean of the Steven L. Craig School of Business, Carol Roever, announced her retirement last July, allowing the university a year to find the her replacement. Immediately following, a committee was formed to begin the search for her replacement. The eight-member committee includes representation from the faculty of the Steven L. Craig School of Business, external faculty members, the St. Joseph community, as well as administration.

“All positions are important; however, we wanted to make sure we had all representation across campus,” Heider said. “We identified individuals that could provide leadership, input and direction.”

Although the committee was put together to find the right candidate, according to Kylee Strough, vice chair of the board of governors and search committee member, the committee does not make the final decision.

“We will meet again as a committee following the fourth candidate’s visit to discuss weaknesses and strengths, as well as pros and cons,” Strough said. “The search committee’s decision is purely a recommendation, administration makes the final decision.”

Phillip Nitse, the fourth candidate for the Craig School of Bussiness Dean, presents information on AACSB accredidation

“It would be nice when the accreditation team is here to say we have a new Dean,” President Robert Vartebedian said. “We are hopeful the fourth time is a charm.”

According to Strough, despite the business school’s position with the accreditation process, the committee will not propose a final candidate selection to administration until they are confident in their decision.

“We don’t want to hire anyone just to say we did it, we want longevity and the right fit,” Strough said. “We will not sacrifice the quality of a Dean.”

According to Heider, a July 1 appointment date for a new Dean is still expected, despite a candidate withdrawal late in the interview process. The candidate pulled out of contention following a campus visit for unknown reasons, resulting in the committee’s search for a fourth candidate.

“We originally decided to start small but we knew we may need to bring in five or six candidates,” Strough said. “The whole way along we weren’t set that we would find perfection in the first three candidates.”

Green is a psychology professor at York University in Toronto who specializes in the history of psychology. He explained that there’s a misperception about how the theory of evolution and psychology relate to one another. “There’s a view these days that somehow psychology was aversed to evolutionary thought through most of the Twentieth Century,” Green said.

“Mainly, that’s put forward by modern evolutionary psychologists who want to portray themselves as being original and terribly new, and what my talk is about is how evolutionary thought has been used by a whole range of different areas within psychology,” Green said.

Later that evening, Gordon Burghardt delivered his presentation entitled “Darwin, Monkeys, Serpents and the Origins of Religion.” Burghardt is a professor of psychology, ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Tennessee whose research has been featured in the Nova television series Lizard Kings.

Burghardt shared his recent research on monkeys aimed at learning more about the fear of snakes in both primates and humans. “We used lifelong captive monkeys never exposed to snakes and tested their innate fear of snakes by offering them food placed in front of a glass cage containing a live snake,” Burghardt said.

“We observed that the monkeys would at first snatch the food from in front of the snake, albeit rather quickly but with little apparent fear,” Burghardt said. “However, after several times grabbing the food, most of the monkeys began to show signs of anxiety or simply began to ignore the food.”

Burghardt went on to explain that this research is ongoing and said that, due to many variables in the studies, he hopes to refine his testing methods and expand on this research in the future before drawing any conclusions.

At noon the following day, the final speaker discussed the area of race and genetics in his presentation called “The Social and Biological Realities of Race” in Room 304 of Popplewell Hall. Jonathan Kaplan, chair of the philosophy department at Oregon State University, explained that race is a very vague concept often mischaracterized throughout history.

“The question of whether races exist and whether or not race is biological is too underdetermined,” Kaplan said. “And you have to be very careful and specify exactly what you mean by the term ‘race’ or ‘biological’ before you can even get a handle on the question.”

“If you look at the varying gene frequencies between populations, then, of course, biological races exist,” Kaplan said. Kaplan explained however that the meaning of race, through genetic research, has been changed greatly from the pre-Darwinian concept that identified races as mostly separate groups of people with mostly distinct traits.

Galileo’s Legacy Conference was first hosted at Missouri Western in 2006 as an opportunity for discussion and learning about various scientific subjects such as neuroscience, climate change and intelligent design.

The schedule included the line up for the fall and spring semesters. “Uncle Vanya,” which is a tragicomedy by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, is the main stage production scheduled for the fall semester. It will be held in Potter Hall on the main stage Nov. 4-8. All productions will start at 8 p.m. Auditions were held from Sept. 9-10, in Potter Hall. Professor Alan Arrivee will be the director for the production. Tickets range from $6-$8 for the general public, and are free for students with I.D.

“I’m excited about this year because for the first time we will let students lead the plays through the final performance,” Arrivee said. Junior theater student, Josh Zufelt, said he is looking forward to the first play “Uncle Vanya.”

In the spring semester the main stage production will be “The Illusion,” which is a comedic play by Pierre Corneille as adapted from Tony Kushner. Auditions will be held Jan. 27-28, 2010 at 7 p.m. in Potter Hall on the main stage. The show dates are set to be April 7-11, 2010 at the main stage starting at 8 p.m. Tickets will be $6-$8 for the public and free for students with I.D. Professor Kevin Brown will be the director.

“I’m really excited about the play ‘The Illusion’,” Brown said. “It should be a lot of fun for actors and the audience.”
Along with the main stage productions there will be various other events going on. There will be two Black Box Theatre performances which will be led by student directors. For the fall Black Box it will be an established play and it will be held Nov. 18-22, at 8 p.m. For anyone interested auditions will be held on Oct. 5, at 7 p.m. in the Black Box Theatre.

In the spring the second Black Box Theatre production will be one-acts written by students and directed by students. The shows will be held April 15-18, 2010 at 8 p.m. Auditions for all who are interested will be held Feb. 3-4, 2010 at 7 p.m. in the Black Box Theatre. Also going on will be a film screening competition on April 22, 2010 at 8 p.m. in the Black Box Theatre ,and a Directing the Actor Showcase April 29-30, 2010 also in the Black Box Theatre at 8 p.m.
The sixth annual Griffon International Film Festival will be held March 1-5, 2010. There will be various times and venues which will be announced as the date gets closer. Professor Kelly Wittenberg will be the director for this.

“Attendance is about 50-60 people a night,” Wittenberg said. “I would like to double our attendance this year.”Students looking for something to get involved in can find many opportunities in the Communication Studies, Theatre and Cinema department.

“People should come and be involved,” Wittenberg said. “It is a time commitment, but you’ll make friends that will defiantly last a lifetime.

Designed primarily to prepare nurses within the region to enter leadership and management roles within a variety of different health care facilities, the program will offer a Master of Science in nursing and health care leadership degree and is currently scheduled to begin in the fall of 2010.

Kathleen Andrews- Nursing Chair

“We were really encouraged by Heartland to pursue a master’s,” Andrews said. “They really felt like the most important need for that level of advanced education would be for those people that wanted to move up in management and administration. So we started thinking about…health care leadership.”

Starting last year, the department met with Jeanne Daffron, who was serving as the interim dean of graduate studies at that time, to get the ball rolling on making the concept a reality by helping to draft a basic proposal of the program that was then presented to the Graduate Council, a group comprised of faculty members that approve policies, procedures and programs.

Brian Cronk, professor of psychology and current interim dean of graduate studies, was on the Graduate Council that approved the program.
[The Council said], “yeah, this is a good idea that is academically rigorous enough and we think there’s student demand,” Cronk said.

Andrews reveals that she’s already received a handful of inquiries from local and regional nurses who have expressed interest in what the program can offer them.
“[The] emphasis is on applied science and that’s absolutely what nursing is,” Andrews said. “Our degree program will fit into that structure very well. The students will be able to take classes with a multi-disciplinary group. As a nurse leader, that multi-disciplinary exposure is very important.”

Barbara McDowell, a junior/senior at Western, has only been part of the nursing undergraduate program for a year, but hopes to be part of the graduate program in the near future.

“I’m actually very excited about it,” McDowell said. “I think it provides a good opportunity…It took me by surprise that we’re going to have one [here.]”

However, there is still much work to be done. The proposal that was approved was a basic skeleton of the program. Now, it’s up to the nursing department to fill out such details as the courses that will be offered, who will teach the courses and what the requirements will be to enter the program.

Cronk firmly believes that the end result will be a great asset not only to the nurses who take part in the program but also to the community at large.

“I think it will help put nurses in the community that have a broader set of skills [better] understand more of the big picture than just what they do as a nurse,” Cronk said. “The more people that understand the big picture, the better.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Williams will start May 1 at the latest and said he expects to be on campus much sooner. The seven-month process that started over once and reached another dead end, is finally concluded by the Friday press conference and contract agreement.

Williams received his bachelor’s in physical education and his master’s in educational administration at North Dakota State. 

Williams has the credentials to potentially be a very good leader for Westerns athletic department. He has sustained roles as the AD at UW-P since 2001. Williams was an assistant basketball coach at Augustana (S.D.), North Dakota State and Parkside, before entering administration.  

In addition, Williams has been the president of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.  Williams also stressed in previous interviews that as the head of the DII athletic directors association, he has seen a variety of examples  and similarities that he can adapt to working at Western.

 Scanlon and the committee a found many similarities between William’s previous AD position with University of Wisconsin- Parkside and Western.  Both schools accommodate about the same number of non-traditional, minority and full-time students, and are Division II universities. 
“We had an especially strong group of finalists, and Dave certainly represented he was worthy of the title of Griffon,” Dr. Scanlon said.

“It’s really eerie how similar the two universities are,” he said. “The one big difference is Western has more campus life. That’s one of the big reasons I took this job,” Williams said.

Williams said Western was going to make Spratt Stadium “a great place to watch a game” and promised VIP seating and other upgrades. During his press interview, he added he will sit down with members of every Western program to figure out each sports’ current needs. He  will do whatever it takes to fulfill them. Then Williams followed with a promise to shake as many hands, eat as many fundraising meals and make as many phone calls as necessary to raise money for those improvements including fundraising for Western’s Max Experience.

Nicoson, Western’s vice president for the university advancement and screening committee chair felt the Max Experience is important to Western and Is confident Williams will take it in stride.

“The Max Experience produces approximately $400,000 a year, and we cannot make improvement to the stadiums for that amount of money,” Nicoson said.  “We have to take some time until the funds cover it, and fundraising is a major role.”
Last season, Parkside ranked 58th in the Director’s Cup Standings. This was a ranking of the university’s success in all of its sports. Missouri Western ranked significantly lower at 128th.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It was also the year Richard Boutwell, associate professor of biology, became a member of the Western faculty.
He remembers a Western that was recently constructed when he first walked up the sidewalk to Agenstein Hall.
“There was no grass, only four buildings and no dorms,” Boutwell said.

Western had just moved from downtown St. Joseph to its current location when he first started teaching here.
At the end of this semester Western will bid farewell to Boutwell.

Last summer he made the decision to retire after 38 years of teaching here at Western. “Out of all the other members of the faculty who came to Western in 1970 I’m the last to go,” Boutwell said.

His first day of retirement is Jun. 1.

After a national search for a replacement, the biology department eventually hired Kurt Hartman out of North Carolina.
Currently, Hartman is teaching there at St. Andrews Presbyterian College.

He will become a member of the biology department and begins his teaching here at Western in the fall semester of 2008.
Boutwell has experienced many different changes over the years at Western.

He explained the move from chalk-and-talk to the introduction of computers and power point.

He made an example of some of these changes by pulling out the policy guide for Western from 1970 that only contained a handful of pages compared to the current guide that is thick as a brick.

“This change over time is evolution,” Boutwell said.

After all, Boutwell is an evolutionary biologist.

What Boutwell has enjoyed the most in his years of teaching has been the fact that he has been witness to the growth and success of his students.

“Watching my students become successful and productive citizens in our society has been rewarding,” Boutwell said.
He is known for his entertaining style of teaching.

Sandra Levy, a biology major, likes Boutwell’s style of teaching.

“He is extremely entertaining in his instruction,” Levy said.

Senior Ben Monroe, one of Boutwell’s past students, said Boutwell was very humorous.

“He was always cracking one-liners for a laugh,” Monroe said.  

Todd Eckdahl, professor and chairperson of biology, had good things to say about Boutwell’s performance at Western.
“Boutwell loves biology and it is apparent in the way he teaches his classes and interacts with faculty,” Eckdahl said.

Upon his retirement Boutwell will be moving to Kansas City.

He wants to do some traveling and the things he really enjoys the most, like spending time with family and gardening.

 So the saying goes, those who can, do; and those who can’t do, teach. That saying couldn’t be further from the truth here at Missouri Western. In all actuality those who teach do spectacular work, as well as inspire.

 At the faculty art exhibit that opened on Feb. 7 in Potter Hall’s art gallery 206, this statement becomes reality. Several members of the Missouri Western art department came together to display works of their own that they feel will both impress and inspire their students. One member of the art department faculty who exhibited work was Geo Sipp, associate professor of art. Sipp is in charge of the paint section of the art department, and he makes that obvious with his brilliant pieces done with vibrant color.

Sipp believes that with art you have to find yourself in the art.

 ”The idea is that they see this art and they become inspired to push themselves,” Sipp said. ” You have to discover what you can do and what your special niche is. It’s one thing to reenact someone else’s style and work, but finding your own kind of medium style is what will inspire others.”

Sipp said that sometimes students can go completely outside the box and do something totally extraordinary that will inspire the teachers themselves to try new things.

 The art on display came in many different mediums. Jim Estes, professor of art, is in charge of the ceramics department, and had a few exceptional ceramic pieces on display as well as one amazing piece of carved wood.

 Along with Estes there was Jeannie Harmon-Miller, professor of art and head of photography, contributed her display of outstanding or pictures and prints. Teresa Harris, graphic design artist and professor of art, had an array of graphic design with house hold decor as well as print ink works, which will also be displayed at the Albright-Kemper Museum.

 Art can become very labor extensive, as can anything. Beyond the labor comes the pressure of impressing students by showing them what faculty members are capable of creating. By putting their art on display they have put themselves out there to be critiqued by students and other faculty members. Geo Sipp believes that good students can inspire and influence teachers to grow just as teachers influence their students.

 ”Part of this program is teaching students to be professional,” Sipp said, “it’s finding the dividing point between working hard, networking, as well as just diversifying yourself.”

Working hard is the first establishment of anything and Sipp believes that the first step is drawing.

 ”You have to be a good draftsmen,” Sipp said. “After that you have to find your own style and go from there.”

 As a teacher he believes you have to help the students set limitations, then grow to know themselves and get to know the kind of artist that they are. There is a basis for everything. Whether it is getting good at drawing or sculpting your first masterpiece, you do what you love. For Geo Sipp, it’s his paints. It can be oil paints, or resin and packaging tape.
 Whatever the case may be, the art you will see on display is his life and his love.
 
 

Western has no immediate plans to replace him and his duties are being passed on to a triumvirate of office managers.
“I have worked in education for roughly 36 years,” Schlesinger said. “I believe it is time for someone to come in and move the I.M.C. further into the new technology. Purists like me sometimes have difficulty dealing with all this new technology.”
Schlesinger is confident in the manager’s ability to run the day-to-day operations of the I.M.C. but feels there is another question involved with his departure.

“There are 11 people in the I.M.C. plus myself,” Schlesinger said. “After I am gone they will have more responsibility to make sure they maintain the I.M.C.”

Ricky L. Brown, Applications Programmer, echoes this concern.

“Probably the number one question on everyone’s minds is getting funds,” Brown said. “Max is an expert at getting funds.”
Despite uncertainties about future funding, Cori Criger, Classroom Services Manager, still maintains a positive outlook on the future of the I.M.C.

“Max has always been a visionary pulling us into the latest and greatest,” Criger said. “He has always been able to keep our office focused on why we are here; we are here for education and we are here for the students and that is how we live our days.”

The training of the three Managers has been thorough.

Danielle Hunt, Manager of Educational Television Services, has worked with Schlesinger for over a decade and still wonders if she has learned from all that he could teach.

“He is one of those people who works a lot behind the scenes and you don’t notice what he has done until he is done,” Hunt said. “He has been working with the three of us and helping us get under raps so we can function when he is gone. We are not planning on anything major – as far as change, we are just striving to maintain the level of service that we have come to be able to provide for the campus.”

Brown, who is not affected as much by added responsibilities as the three managers points out the real challenge of filling Schlesinger’s shoes.

“I don’t see anything in my situation changing too much except that Max is a master of getting you what you need to do your job,” Brown said. “So when he is gone the question is; will our little supervisor trio be able to do that job.”
Schlesinger still feels the I.M.C. is up to the challenge of dealing with his absence.

“The I.M.C. is not me. It is the people who come in and say “I need this.” The I. M. C. is the people,” Schlesinger said.

There were a series of six-one act plays each night directed by 15 student directors and about 23 student actors. There were nine different plays shown from the book during the three nights. Attendance topped out at 121 with 17 vacant seats during the three nights. The admission fee was $4 a night. The acts played out were English Made Simple, Philip Glass Buys A Loaf of Bread, Mere Mortals, The Philadelphia, Variations of the Death of Trotsky, Sure Thing, Universal Language, A Singular Kind of Guy and Words, Words, Words.

Assistant professor of theatre and video, Jeremy Warner, enjoyed the book that was published in 1994. He chose the book in June and the cast has been rehearsing for four weeks.

“I picked it because it’s a series of one acts and it’s extremely funny,” Warner said. “Each act is different.”

Senior Director, Anthony Evans, has been involved with various other plays including Beauty and the Beast. He has been stage manager and assistant director in his academic career. This is his first time as director.

“This was my first time being able to direct as a student,” Evans said. “It lets me experience what directors go through – the good and the bad. A lot of people think you just show up and tell other people want to do but there’s a lot more than that.”

Senior Actress, Tara Duckworth, is a Political Science major who has a part in two of the acts. She plays woman one in Philip Glass Buys A Loaf of Bread and Betty in Sure Thing. The play Sure Thing is about a guy and a girl who meet for the first time in a coffee shop. Every time they mess up, a bell rings and they are able to start over.

“I love this play,” Duckworth said. “Conceptually it’s really adorable. Some people would say their relationship is fake because they get to change their answers. But I think what they share is genuine and it just takes some time to reach that.”

Director of Study Away, Dr. Karen Fulton, says it is important for students to be able to go somewhere and experience a different culture.

“Basically, it changes the way you look at the world,” Fulton said. “Being in a different culture really profoundly affects you for the rest of your life.”

Dr. Suzanne Kissock will be taking students on a trip to Washington D.C. where they will be doing various things in a place that she believes is one of the best places to travel.

Students going on this trip will be enrolled in LAT 340-93 Current and Legal Issues.

“We talk about the constitution, the president, and the Supreme Court but when you experience it first hand there’s nothing like it,” Kissock said.

Kissock, who is an attorney by trade, says the experience is something that she cannot teach in the classroom but it is something the students just have to be there for to really appreciate.
“I think travel for anyone is one of the best education you can have, wherever it is,” Kissock said.

The class will be going to places such as the Supreme Court, the Executive Branch, Congress, and various monuments and museums. Kissock also hopes to be able to set up some meetings with some congressmen as well.

The dates of travel for the trip to Washington D.C. are scheduled for March 8th through the 15th.
George Sipp in the Art Department will be taking the Art 391-93 New York Art Scene class to New York this spring.

The itinerary of the trip will include going to art museums such as the Metropolitan Museum, the Modern Art Museum, and several others.

There will also be time for students to visit galleries or go to theatres.

“It’s a very open ended kind of trip but very informative as well,” Sipp said.

Sipp wants students to be able to see famous works of art that they have always heard about but may have never seen. He believes study away is important for the students going to New York but it is also important for students all over campus.

“Students need to be able to understand different cultures and to broaden their horizons,” Sipp said.

He believes that students and faculty need to be able to know that people of the world share the same ideas in certain cases so they can embrace different cultures.

The travel dates for the trip to New York are March 27th through the 30th.

Dr. Karen Fulton will be taking the ENG 361-93 Literature on Site: London Locations class to London this spring.

This class will be learning about and visiting locations of literary works in London such as the historic Globe Theatre, Westminster Abbey, and they will be going to see at least two theatrical plays.

Students will also have free time to do other things of their choosing. Students in the past have gone to Stone Henge and other various locations.

“The people go and come back and are profoundly changed,” Fulton said.

Fulton believes that students can get a taste for many different cultures by going to London because of all the different nationalities of people who inhabit the city.
The travel dates for this trip are set for March 6th through the 14th.

Dr. David Ashley in the Biology Department will be taking a group of students on a Study Away trip to San Salvador Island.
The class that will be going on this trip is BIO 220-93 and 94 Field Natural His
tory. The 93 class is only worth one credit hour and the 94 class is worth two credit hours.
The dates that this group will be traveling this spring will be March 9th through the 16th.
As Director of the Study Away Program, Dr. Fulton hopes to improve and expand the program in future years.

Fulton wants to go a step further and have students spend an entire semester in a different culture as opposed to only one week or a few days. She believes the experience of being in a place for a longer amount of time can help students to be exposed to more and become more open minded when they return home.

For more information on Study Away, students can contact Dr. Fulton as well as any of the professors who are taking students on trips this spring.

The stories, formats and topics were diverse but the common thread at the Prairie Lands Writing Project presentation “Writing Teachers Write VI” was talent.

Tom Pankiewicz, assistant professor of English and the PLWP institute’s director selects the people who will read their work primarily from participants in the PLWP summer program.

“The hard part is I only have time to use eight of them…because I probably could have chosen 28.  I only have two hours,” Pankiewicz said.

PLWP works with teachers at grade levels from kindergarten through university to improve teaching of writing though working on writing projects.

Jill Steinmetz presented an essay on the perils of virtual communication. 

Tina Janc wrote about a storm in Italy and faith in her husband overcoming fear. 

Melissa Robinson read a part of her novel about a serial killer with ice princess victims. 
Jennifer Vermillion wrote about the experience of the Paris Metro: the sights, sounds, smells and interactions.

Joe Marmaud read about fathers, sons, baseball and heroes.
 
Dawn Terrick told us about loss, relationships and room-mates.
 
Stacia Studder conveyed to us a story about several students in the game of life using basketball positions as a metaphor for their roles.

Vicky Meyer read lush poetry; and Bill Church told of cowboys and documentaries.

Tom Pankiewicz talked about the impact of television and the crucial role of the show Davy Crockett in a young man’s life in the 50’s.

“I thought it was a wonderful collection of talent, very rich,” said Dawn Hansen, Western business office accountant.

Loriann Fish cried.

“When the teacher from Bode was talking about her students and the metaphor of the basketball team, each child, each student touched her heart in a special way.  All the stories were excellent,” Fish said.

Vermillion believes students get assignments and they definitely don’t enjoy revising their work. 
She tells them, “That’s what writers do. They are constantly going back and rethinking and rewording.  It is not just so we have another grade for the computer. Now it is good, it can be better, you try some things.

You play with the wording, you can try new ways.”

She said she also saw the power of peer review in the summer PLWP project and in her class.
“Some students have a mythology that we teach writing but we don’t actually know how to write ourselves.  We teach writing because we love it and do it ourselves.  I go through these things with my own writing, I get stuck, I never sit down and write perfect text – I wish I did,” Terrick said.

Pankiewicz confirmed this with a file containing piles of revised text for his story. 

“This is a piece I’m working on and I don’t think I have the hand written copy I started with but I can show you all my drafts,” Pankiewicz.

All three teachers hope the lesson behind these presentations is to show that struggle and the results to the community. 

When each writer presents ways to their students to revise, to overcome writer’s block, they are showing techniques they use themselves.

Mark Henderson, research assistant for PLWP and English major said, Writers write is “a nice celebration.”

 We put this presentation on in the fall to kind of wrap up what the participants have been doing.”

Dr. Jason Baker of the biology department came across this bacterium during a class that collected specimens. Through a microscope he saw that nothing was growing around it.

“It grew up on a plate and nothing grew around it,” Baker said. “There was a zone of killing and that’s how I noticed it.”
He became interested in what was taking place and wanted to identify the bacteria. In the process of identifying it, he was given two possibilities. Judith Knadler, an employee of Boehringer Ingelheim and Western student, had access to a Vetmedica.
That analysis identified it as Bacillus amyloliquefaciens. A different analysis named it Brevibacterium halotolerans. Neither species have been heavily studied. Baker simply refers to the specimen as Bacteriocin X.

“What I would like to know more about is what is this thing and what are its properties,” Baker said. “What we’ve really gotten to is the second phase first.”

The study currently shows that Bacteriocin X can kill non-pathogenic species of E. coli, Salmonella and S. aureus. The bacteriocin was tested for its response to a range in pH and temperature. The bacteriocin is still stable after two hours of exposure to pH 2 or pH 12. The microbe can survive 10 days in up to 37 C, 1 hour in 100 C, and 30 minutes at 121 C. The bacteriocin was placed in the presence of mammalian cells growing in a cell culture from a mouse. In high amounts, Bacteriocin X can kill mammalian cells.

The work done this summer was with Susan Brock of Western, Judith Knadler of Western and Meredith Triplet of Central High School. There are still goals the team hopes to reach.

Brock is excited about the results but would like to purify the bacteria.

“I would like to start purifying the actual bacteriocin from the cell culture filtrate,” Brock said.

Knadler would personally like to collect data on how this species holds up against molds and fungi.

“We haven’t tested it against molds yet,” Knadler said. “I’ve got molds and yeast to test it against, I just haven’t done it yet.”

The list of books read includ­ed popular works such as The Color Purple by Alice Walker and The Chocolate Wars by Robert Cormier. Some lesser known works read were The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende and The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar.

Dr. Michael Cadden, who played a major role in organizing the event, believes it is important for people to be aware of challenged literature.
“It’s an exercise in  freedom of expression and awareness build­ing,” Cadden said.

The event was started in 1997 and people such as area teachers, newscasters and professors showed their support for the readings.
Dr. Cadden asks these various people to choose a book they care about and read a passage from it.

“My assumption is if somebody cares about a book, somebody, somewhere has challenged it,” Cadden said.

There is no debate involved in the reading of the books, it is just an opportunity for people to give some background on a challenged or banned book of their choice and read about five minutes on any part they choose.

A majority of the people who attended the reading were associated with Missouri Western.

“It is surprising I think, though, that there are so few community people in the audience,” Cadden said, “I’m surprised sometimes at how little curiosity there is.”

Dr. Cadden also thought it could be the level of advertising for the event as to why the community attendance was low.
Jennifer Vermillion and Dr. Patricia Donaher were two of the eight readers.

Vermillion is a Spanish and French teacher from Lathrop High School and believes chal­lenged books should be more available to people.

“I understand people’s perspective, and I’m respectful of peo­ple’s opinion,” Vermillion said.  “I wouldn’t want to push books on people, but I am against the idea of making them completely unavailable to people.”

Dr. Donaher is appreciative that Western does this because it gives the speakers a way to let people know why certain books have been censored
“I really think it’s important we have some kind of an event where we make sure that the censorship issue is more well known,” Donaher said.

Dr. Donaher also believes challenged books should be made more available to the public.

“Parents should be the ones who tell their child they can’t read a certain book, not the librarian,” Donaher said.

Freedom of expression has been an issue of much discussion on Missouri Western’s campus and the banned book reading is one way to use this freedom.

It’s called the outdoor semester and while it includes classes, you also get to travel to outdoor settings while you are learning.

According to the brochure, students “learn how the land shaped people’s lives. Read their stories. Listen to drums, fiddles and flutes.  Hike, camp, canoe, horseback ride, rock climb and white water raft your way to a new relationship with the natural world.”

Nine students actually participated in the North Trek on Sept. 15-27 and eight faculty and support personnel went along.

There will be a south trek on Oct. 27 to Nov. 7.

Dr. Elizabeth Latosi-Sawin, co-director of the outdoor semester, has been organizing the outdoor semester for about nine years and every year has been a challenge.

This year six more students wanted to go on the trek but could not, three found they could not afford the $950 additional activity fee and three because of academic problems.

When asked if the additional cost of the semester was worth it, students Bonnie Seaboldt and Jamie Bolton both enthusiastically said that it was, and they agreed it would cost much more to do on their own.

“We read a book in my English class and one of the places it talked about was Hole in the Wall and we actually visited there,” Seaboldt said.

Hole in the Wall is a natural geological structure among the upper Missouri River Breaks and was formed in sandstone by wind and erosion.

It is a large square hole in the top of a cliff where there was a star show.

“I’ve never seen a sky like that,” Seaboldt said.
 
Sawin thinks that traveling in the off-season makes the trip a good value.

The fact that there aren’t many universities doing what this MWSU is does lets the group go places other people don’t get to go.

Over the years the outdoor semester has developed relationships with many sites that want to help the university supply a quality experience to our students.

The students read Fools Crow by James Welch, a story about the Blackfeet Indians, the impact of the settlers and the ultimate change in the customs, ceremonies and traditions of the tribe.

Then the students go out into the environment that the story took place in. Welch used many sources to accurately reconstruct the lives of  the Blackfeet during a transi­tional time in their culture when they would no longer be allowed to roam. 

The students kept journals of their trip and were graded on them.

At campfires they can choose to share their entries.

Russ Phillips, psychology professor, and two community members read poetry and narratives at the campfires.

Amy Saxton, outdoor education administrative assis­tant, and a student both played the cedar flute.

A retired faculty member, Jerry Wilkerson, is the camp cook, supply truck driver and resident astronomer.

He did the star show at Hole in the Wall and will do one at Chaco Canyon on the south trek. 

Sawin said “This kind of learning is interdisciplinary learning with interconnections and field experience, being in the landscape of the novels, you’re on the river Lewis and Clark would recognize as their own and it gives them multiple points of view.

They get a taste of what the pioneer experience was like.”

Student Jamie Bolton said, “I learn better hands-on, it was way better than just being in a classroom.”

Students get credit with outdoor semester for being in the field as well as being in the classroom.

Students see the geography, actively participate in outdoor physical education and write about their experi­ences.

Students realize that settlers had 2000 mile to travel and they walked from sundown to sun-up accomplishing about 15 miles each day. 

Even in a van with air-conditioning and padded seats, a day’s travel lets them learn as Sawin said,”from the seat of their pants,” just how broad the plains the settlers trav­eled are.

James Grechus, co-director of outdoor semester as well as professor emeritus of health, physical education and recreation, said that part of what he teaches is how to live in a natural environment.
 
He schedules the itinerary for the trips. 

Most years the students have to choose between the north and south trek but this year they can go on both trips.
 
He said, “We talk a lot about how the land is being uti­lized and how it is being protected.”

They also get to see the real results of a conservation act signed by President Clinton that saved the upper Missouri Breaks. 

This is the scenery that Meriwether Clark called “a scene of visionary enchantment.”

Grechus said, “They learn about themselves through the physical experience.

They become immersed in nature.
It prepares them to move through the natural environ­ment and have fun doing it.
 
We live in such an artificial environment, that often­times we exclude ourselves from nature. 

We try to develop an appreciation for it, so we can learn to protect it.”

The psychology of group dynamics and dealing with a group is also part of the trip.  Grechus said, learning about “an individual’s responsibility to the group and the group to the individual is a very intense thing when you are around someone twenty four- seven.”

It teaches the students about themselves in an applied application of psychology.

The professors also learn from the outdoor semester and each other.
 
Ken Dagel, associate professor in Geology, and Sawin co-wrote a paper last year on how physical geography impacts the novel Fools Crow. 
He presented it at a conference in Denver this year.

The students will be developing a interpretive program for the community that they will present on Nov. 28 at 6:30 p.m. in the Spratt Recital Hall.
It will have exhibits on their travels and experiences.

The first presentation, given by President Scanlon, was on “Points of Pride,” a sampling of faculty, staff and student achievements. Examples include achievements in biological research, art awards, nursing in Honduras, national nontraditional student and adviser awards and peace studies in Northern Ireland.

The financial report, presented by Ron Olinger, Vice President for financial planning and administration, showed the overall financial picture to be positive.

Juda Hall renovations were completed and occupancy numbers are up around 20 percent.

A proposal was passed by the board to create and fund a special account for presidential search expenses in the amount of $125,000.

After the meeting Michael Speros, director of residential life, consented to an interview. He said MWSU had 897 in the dorms last year, has 1064 students this year and there is an increase in both first year and returning student categories.

“We have 92 percent occupancy based on the number of super singles we have available,” Olinger said. “We are really pleased.”

Two new graduate programs have been proposed at Missouri Western, a master of applied science in assessment (with options in learning improvement and writing) and a master of applied arts in integrated media (with an option in applied integrated media and an option in convergent media).

“These programs have made progress through the approval process and are now at the Department of Higher Education,” Jeanne Daffron, assistant vice president for academic and student affairs, said.

The board approved the recommended health, dental, vision, life and long term disability insurance coverage for faculty and staff.

Our student governor, Harold Callaway III, gave a report to the board on SGA activities. He will be completing his term in December, and is starting the search for suitable replacement candidates.

“There is a lengthy selection process here on campus where we find three candidates, go through an interview process following Missouri statutes, then go to the director of boards and commissions in Jefferson City,” Callaway said. “The director gives the names to the Governor (of Missouri). The Governor chooses one name to go through Senate confirmation.”

He is also sending out surveys on the newspaper readership program which supplies our newspapers on campus.

This program costs around $30,000 annually.

The next meeting of the Board of Governors will be Oct 25 at 5:30 p.m., followed by an annual dinner honoring staff.

The series will begin with two showings of “Light Years from Andromeda,” on Oct. 1 and 2.
This show was selected to start the series in order to coincide with the St. Joseph News-Press
Newspapers in Education: Stories and The Stars.

For the week of Oct. 1 the Computer Science, Mathematics and Physics Department will
sponsor the section of the newspaper on Andromeda.

The last two shows are “More Than Meets The Eye” and “Lewis and Clark” on Oct. 8 and 9.
Mr. Jerry Wilkerson will present all shows.

The planetarium shows not only appeal to Western students, especially those taking astronomy,
but many community groups are showing an interest.

Public schools, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, church groups, and others have attended these shows.

Linda Flesher, administrative assistant for Computer Science, Math, and Physics Department,
said that due to the success of past series they began a summer series in 2007.

“We ended up adding about three or four shows,” Flesher said.

“I think summertime is a good time to do this because in the fall and winter people get really
busy. In the summer it worked out great.”

There are also plans for a new show to be brought to campus. “MarsQuest” is planned to premiere
in the Spring. Dr. Chris Godfrey, technical producer, says the show was added due to interest
in Mars exploration.

“Mr. Wilkerson suggested that one because of the past and current Mars expeditions: the sort of
robotic rovers that are crawling around Mars, both in the last few years and now again as we
speak,” Godfrey said. “He thought that would be a good one to generate public interest.”

Each show costs an average of $1,500 including the soundtrack and slides. Funding for the planetarium comes from two sources.

They receive an operating budget through Western and they have a revenue account from the attendance fees.

This money is used for maintenance and materials.

The planetarium was opened in the fall of 1969 and was not updated until 1998 to keep up
with the computer generation. Wilkerson has been the shows’ presenter from the beginning.

“Just about everything in here is computer controlled and before that was not the case,” Wilkerson said. “Actually we used to change the things you see by hand.”

The planetarium is located at Agenstein 105. The eveningshows start at 7 p.m., are about
an hour long and cost three dollars per person. To reserve your spot call 816-271-4370.

Many students in the social work department had concerns that the social work major was going to be eliminated.

Another cause for student concern was that there are no introduction to social work courses offered this semester, although there are several 300 and 400 level courses offered. Introduction classes were not offered this semester because the new instructors were committed to meeting the needs of the current upperclassmen while they became acclimated to Missouri Western.

The program plans to offer the introductory level classes this spring.

Joe Belcher, former social work major, changed his major to journalism after his adviser and the other professors left.

He said he was told after the professors left that he shouldn’t take extra classes or fail any classes if he wanted to graduate in 2009.

“It was tough to change, but I wanted to be sure the degree would be available at the end of the program,” Belcher said.

When asked if there were any plans to eliminate the social work major, Pam Clary, acting social work director was emphatic.

“No, absolutely not, no,” Clary said, “Missouri Western is committed to having a strong social work program.”

While two of the vacancies have been at least temporarily filled, administration has yet to replace the third professor. As of last Friday, there were no human resource advertising for more staff for the Social Work department.

“We will be looking for a third faculty member soon,” Clary said.

Dr. Martin Johnson, dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences, reiterated Clary’s definitiveness.

“Rumors that Missouri Western is eliminating the Social Work major are absolutely untrue,” Johnson said.

Johnson also stated that they plan to advertise to fill the third position this fall.

Departing professors Martha Ellison, Field Coordinator, Monica Nandan, Associate Professor, and Patricia Scott, Associate Professor, all left for various reasons.
One of the three departing professor did not leave without giving just cause and notification.

Nandan left in order to teach at a graduate level at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, but she still believes that Western has a commendable department.

“The program has a solid foundation. It just needs a strong leader and new direction,” Nandan said.

The department has hired two instructors with masters of social work degrees.
Clary and Lynn Frederick, field education director, are now instructors for the social work department.

When it comes to the foundation of the program, Clary couldn’t agree more with Nandan.

“A great foundation has been laid already,” Clary said. “I want to build on what is already here, this is my community and I want the social work program to continue.”

 

Expanded from its original inspiration, and headed by Western’s Dr. Elizabeth Latosi-Sawin, the program now allows students to explore the majority of the Lewis and Clark trails that head into South Dakota.

“In a way we’re reenacting it,” Sawin said, “and we’re taking what we need to get along out there.” The program will have students reading the original Lewis and Clark diaries, collecting information in journals, and essentially living a frontier-lifestyle as they camp in the wilderness along the way.

“You actually get to enter into the landscape of a novel,” Sawin said, “You start to listen to nature, to talk to each other over campfires, to find peace.” Those enrolled in the program will partially travel by canoe and raft to reach a landscape far from modernity. They’ll make notations of their first impressions of the physical geography and will forage for supplies while guided by a daily itinerary and Sawin.

“(It’s) a chance to go and explore just like Lewis and Clark did. To touch base and get a better and more clear understanding of what the Indian nation went through,” student Tawnya Lee said.

Some have even enrolled in the class because of personal ties to the trip’s history.

“I have Indian ancestors and it intrigued me,” Mickey Lindsey said. “My family has gone camping and we did reenactments, so this sort of thing is very exciting to me,” said Bonnie Seaboldt.

An example of applied, active learning, those enrolled in the Outdoor Semester will do more than face the elements; they’ll get in touch with the landscape of a removed culture and will find facts in nature and themselves. Thoreau would approve.

 In any number of academic reports one can read, there is evidence that American college students are falling in areas of high culture. But if the leadership, both student and faculty, are an example of those they lead, then Missouri Western is in very promising hands. They are a people who are equally talented, classically trained, and set with an eye out towards an ever changing and developing future.

Gregory is directing “The Vanities” which will run from Feb 26 – March 2. It will be preceded by All in the Timing by David Ives on Nov 8 – 10. Coming right up on Oct 3 – 7 is “Angel on My Shoulder” directed by Candice Schrader, senior at Western, and assistant directed by Jennifer George, also a senior. All shows start at 8 p.m. except for the shows on Sunday that go on at 2 p.m.

“I liked “Vanities” from when I have seen it before” Gregory said. “We have not done it here for…gosh, 25 or 30 years. It is a good story and even though it is from the late sixties, early seventies, I think people can still relate to how the girls change and how you don’t always end up how you thought you would.”

Jennifer George, senior at Western and assistant director of the upcoming “Angel on My Shoulder,” has already begun rehearsals on her play as she rides in on the wave of child birth. “I had my baby just 15 days ago,” George said. “I have been bringing her to rehearsals with me. It has worked out so far. She seems to be a fan of the theatre”.

With the play already in rehearsal, the cast is bonding—getting to be closer than they might have suspected.

“Just recently we had to do the blocking for the scene where the Angel and the girl meet for the first time,” George said. “And he kisses her ankle and he kisses her leg and the actors were just a little uncomfortable. Since it was the first time doing this, we kind of went easy on them. But obviously they will have to get more comfortable with it.” 

Jeremy Warner will be directing “All in the Timing” by David Ives. It is a part of the class Theater 338, Directing the Actor. The play is a series of 15 one acts covering a multitude of topics directed by 15 different students. It will be a showcase of rising new talent. What could be more fun than fresh ideas?

Warner also is excited about a new class to Western next semester for those interested in film. The Missouri Western film festival will be April 21-25 which will be in connection to a class of its same name.

“We have an upcoming class called Film Festival.” Warner said. “Students will be learning all about how film festivals work, how to plan them—every single aspect as well as picking out the films to be shown. One night will be dedicated solely to works done by Missouri Western students. So it should be pretty exciting. We are hoping to get a lot of really exciting cool people involved.”

So think about it, do you really want to be low on high culture? If not, are you cool? Are you exciting? Then this is a good year to start getting involved with Missouri Westerns theatre and film program.

“Right now, politically and socially there is a lot of questioning who and what we are,” Warner said. “Now it is time for us to realize we have our own voices, and it could be film or theatre or art or video games or whatever. We have our own voices and now is the time to use them. If you don’t like what’s out there, then make your own voice.”

For those students who completed research projects during the last academic year, Western offered an opportunity to display their hard work in the 17th semi-annual Multidisciplinary Research Day.

On April 30 in the Blum Union, students from all different studies crowded in show off their posters to faculty or students. About 45 students participated, representing most departments at Western.

Students like Mignon Wilkins, a senior majoring in psychology, said that the whole thing was worth it.

“All in all, it wasn’t as bad,” Wilkins said. “I know now that I can go somewhere else and do quality research.” It took Wilkins close to four months to get everything put together for her poster.

“This project separates the women from the girls,” Wilkins said.

This program originated in 1994, when four professors decided to develop a forum for biology and psychology students who had done research projects, which consisted of a lot of work, but their talent was left unnoticed.

Originally, they named it Interdisciplinary Research Day. The change to Multidisciplinary came about when the professors noticed other students from different majors were interested in participating in the program.

This Forum is an opportunity for students to present their work in poster form; this forum generally falls into the category of research and creative activities, both inside and outside of classes. The Forum in the past years brought together between 50 and 70 students. The forum consists of no judges or oral presentations – just students presenting their posters.

Biology professor Todd Eckdahl said that a student who participates or that has participated in the past has great opportunities ahead of them because this is the way to get started in giving presentations.

“Students will present their posters here, and once they’ve got it put together, then they may go present it at a state level meeting and then maybe next fall they’ll go present it at a national meeting, which then may lead to publishing it in a paper,” Eckdahl said.

Eckdahl also mentioned that this was the purpose of developing this program because there are opportunities waiting, and it’s not competitive and all-inclusive. If students want to present they can.

“This is a celebration of student achievement in applied learning,” Eckdahl said.

Psychology major Adrienne Pierce has participated in this program for two years now, and she said that it might be a little harder for first-time students.

“It is a lot of work, but it will definitely help students in the long run,” Pierce said.

Another point of this program is so that students can see what other students are doing in their courses.

The program is open to any students who have done a research project and is interested in forming it into a poster. The research presented on the poster does not have to be scientific research; it can be literature reviews or a timeline.

There has been discussion about oral presentations, but that would not work because it would take more time to develop and students would have only a limited amount of time to speak.

Psychology professor Brian Cronk said that they have not done oral presentation in the past for logistical reasons.

“It’s just harder to get more rooms, schedule times and find an audience to listen, so we just stuck with the poster session,” Cronk said. This program introduces applied learning in another method.

“It’s an opportunity to develop professional communication skills,” Cronk said.

Biology professor David Ashley said that he thinks this Multidisciplinary Research Day stands out because students are able to do research projects and present them in a formal way.

“When students get to the end of their time at Missouri Western and they start applying for jobs, they need something on their resume that is beyond the classroom, and that’s what this program is,” Ashley said.

Cronk has developed a Web site for Multidisciplinary Research Day for students who are interested. Ashley calls the website innovative.

“I’m very impressed with the Web site that Dr. Cronk has developed; it is very effective in helping us organize this Research Day,” Ashley said.

Any students interested for next fall can visit the Web site at www.missouriwestern.edu/psychology/mrd/.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thorne awarded for teaching excellence

Ann Thorne, professor of journalism and the Griffon Yearbook adviser, will be presented with the Governor’s Award for Teaching Excellence at the Governor’s Outstanding Teacher Award luncheon in Columbia on April 11.
“It’s just incredible,” Thorne said. “It’s such a special award that only one person a year can get, so I’m really amazed. There isn’t any bigger award, so I feel very honored to be a part of it.”

This award is not only based on successful teaching but also helpful advising, providing service to the university and committing to the high standards of excellence and success rates in developing student achievement.

“Her work as a media scholar and preparing students for post-graduate careers has been recognized repeatedly at the national level, and she gives unstintingly of her time to those she mentors and to her profession,” Bragin said.

In addition to Thorne having received all of the university’s distinguished teaching awards, Thorne’s students are continually winning state and national recognition in media publication. The yearbook also wins national awards for excellence among all college media entries. The College Media Association has recognized her work with students seven times.

“She is great to work with on yearbook, and without her, I don’t think the book would be complete,” said student Amy Chastain, senior copy and assignment editor for the Griffon Yearbook. “She is basically what makes the book.”

But Thorne gives much of the credit to the success of the yearbook to dedicated students with a desire to learn.

“I like to see the students put in effect what they have learned.” Thorne said. “The students here are serious about what they do and put time into their work.”

Chastain said she thinks that Thorne really cares about each student and the yearbook, and that is why she is deserving of the prestigious award.

“I think Ann has earned this award,” Chastain said. “She’s a great advisor and professor. She really cares about each student and the yearbook. She has introduced new aspects of journalism. I have learned lots of new techniques from her.”

Thorne has been teaching at Western since 1988 and was selected from the faculty members who have received the James V. Mehl Award, the Jesse Lee Myers Excellence in Teaching Award or the Governor’s Distinguished Professor Award in the past three years.

Thorne fell into Western by accident, but it certainly has not been an accident to keep her around. Her position as a professor and advisor seems to suit her just fine.

“I guess I was in the right place at the right time,” Thorne said. “I came here on a one-year contract as a temporary position, and I have been here ever since and it’s been great. I feel really lucky; I love what I do.”

The challenges of teaching don’t bother Thorne at all. To the contrary, she looks forward to them.

“I really like the challenges of teaching,” she said. “It’s fun to face new challenges each semester. The constant changes and challenges make teaching a joy.”

Starting April 9 through the week of finals, Western’s nursing department will be placing boxes by the main entrances to all major buildings on campus. Their goal is to collect 4,000 toothbrushes, bars of soap and multivitamins for the underprivileged citizens of Honduras.

The nursing department, with two faculty members and 11 students, are participating in this humanitarian effort. The department would like to bring in physicians and nurses from the St. Joseph community to aid them in their work.

This July, assistant professor of nursing Julie Baldwin and nursing students Shila Sperry,  Shelly Hacker, Carey Beckwith, Ronda Williams and Lorie Stephens will be some of the individuals completing this public health training.

“The main goal when we go down there is to teach them how to brush their teeth and how to take care of themselves,” Sperry said. “We are also planning to make first aid kits to give  to the village leaders. We are giving them multivitamins because malnutrition is an issue. We are going to make posters like “boil your water before you drink it” because their water is very contaminated. And we want to teach them about hand washing, thus the soap.”

Dental hygiene is a major concern because sugarcane is one of their most popular agricultural products, and yet many people do not have access to toothbrushes or toothpaste.

“Sugarcane is a problem for them starting at a young age because the children will take the stubs from the sugar cane fields and chew on them,” Hacker said.

The students are collecting toothbrushes, but not toothpaste, because the average citizen of Honduras will not be able to buy more.

“We thought about asking for toothpaste but once they go through their little bottle that
will be it,” Beckwith said. “But the toothbrush will last for while.”

The department hopes the citizens of Honduras appreciate their visit, particularly in the
area of childcare. The people of the country have been known to travel long distances and are willing to spend hours in line to get an examination. The local school may be closed for a day in order for the medical and dental screenings to take place. They could see up to 500 individuals a day.

“We plan to give the multivitamins to the schools so they can give them to the students daily,” Williams said.

Due to a poor water source, they have very little clean, clear water to drink or bathe in. This adds a very serious health challenge.

“We are going to be teaching some about rehydration because many of the adults and kids die from dehydration,” Stephens said.

The nursing department hopes the implementation of this new three-credit program will be an asset for many people in the future.

“This is the first time the nursing department has done a study away program, and we hope to continue it,” Baldwin said.

“It’s really cool to see everything you learn in class applied in the real world,” said Chris Brough, a senior who worked the event. “The trip gets you into the real world of music today, not music from 200 years ago.”

Jon Bon Jovi was the keynote speaker with other stars such as Trace Adkins and Crystal Gayle performing.

“Illusions of stardom have been brought down to reality as some of our students are as talented as many of the people that were performing, and this experience helps to bridge the gap between the unknown and what is possible in the music industry,” said Mark Elting, who teaches the commercial music program at Western.

Many students don’t enjoy country music, but the business is the same whether its country, rock or alternative, Elting said. The students got to participate in and view over a dozen concerts in the four-day period and got to interact with actual professionals in their chosen disciplines.

“The CRP was a great opportunity and experience to get to be a part of that world,” said Ben Croskell, who has attended for the last two years.

To have all the different bands show you the gear they are using and getting to play with it, it’s something you can’t learn you have to experience.

“Our recording studio at Western was booked for 24 hours a day,” Elting said. “When we returned, everyone was so excited from the trip.”

One day, on a break while driving around Music Row, checking out all the music businesses in the area, several students knocked on the door of Bayou Recording studios. The studio, which is owned by George Clinton and produces many top name stars, such as Tracy Lawrence and Trace Adkins, invited the students in and let them participate in a four-hour recording session with an artist working that day. Clinton, impressed with the students, offered internships for this coming summer.

“Our reputation is now preceding us in a positive light,” Elting said.

The only cost paid for by MWSU was the transportation for the trip; the CRS paid for the students food and hotel costs in an effort to ensure their attendance.

The goal of the research team is to understand the physiological behavior of raccoons while under the influence of three particular drugs. They want to know how long it takes for the
animal to become safe to handle, how long it remains safe to handle and how long it takes for the animal to fully recover and be safely released back into the wild.

The raccoons were caught in traps and given a drug mixture of Ketamine Hydrochloride, Acepromazine Maleate and Atropine. The target drug, Ketamine, is a disassociate anesthetic, which blocks the sensory pathways in the animal’s brain. Acepromazine is a tranquilizer, which is used to make the induction and recovery processes smoother. It also enhances the action of the Ketamine. Atropine reduces salivation, thereby reducing loss of body water.

This anesthetized state is necessary. Raccoons are predators and big enough to be dangerous. Using anesthetics has several advantages for both raccoon and biologist. When a raccoon is chemically restrained, it is relaxed and does not feel discomfort. This allows the biologist’s hands to be completely free to perform quickly, safely and accurately whatever procedures need to be done.

Cary Chevalier, associate professor of biology, introduced this idea to students. He has always been interested in wildlife physiology. Some of the students involved in the study with him are Brooke Hodge and Steven Hellstrom.

“There are vital signs that we monitor from the minute the animal is safe to handle until the animal is not safe to handle,” Chevalier said. “We monitor respiration rate, heart rate and body temperature.”

This is largely uncharted territory.

“In order to know the animal is okay, you have to have some data on these vital signs that you can look at and say ‘that’s normal,’” Chevalier said. “That’s part of what we are doing. We are establishing normal values for urban raccoons that are being restrained by this drug cocktail. Those normal values aren’t in the literature.”

This is a valuable experience for biology students. It gives them hands-on experience with wild animals and collecting data. The applied learning experience is just another plus for the students.

“Wildlife conservation and biology majors have a variety of resources available to them on campus which they can utilize to facilitate their professional development,” Hellstrom said.
“These resources include professors like Dr. Chevalier, who provides opportunities for field research. Our campus itself has a variety of microhabitats that students can utilize for field
research within walking distance. And finally, Missouri State Conservation Department office is also located on campus.”

This is only one of the studies involving raccoons that Chevalier involves students in. For example, a related study focuses on blood chemistry and hematology on raccoons.

“Blood chemistry values can be diagnostic,” Chevalier said. “We can look at blood chemistry, and it can tell us something about the status of the animal’s body. We can look at blood chemistry and realize that the animal is normal and healthy or look at its blood chemistry and realize the animal likely has certain imbalances dealing with disease or parasites.”

The students feel this research has been beneficial to their professional development.

“Being a wildlife major, this study has given me animal-handling experience, trapping experience and experience with tranquilizers,” Hodge said. “It puts me a little ahead of the
competition.”

Missouri Western student Alyssa Smith is looking forward to the trip, in hopes it will help her to understand better French culture. Smith is no stranger to the study away program.

“Last year, I had the opportunity to participate in the Summer Study program in Angers, France,” said Smith, whose previous trip lasted three weeks and allowed her to take a class at a

French university. “This trip is a great opportunity for me because it fits in well with my interests,” said Smith, a marketing and French double major, who hopes her travels will prepare her for a career in international business.

“It’s a great experience to learn about another culture, and in doing so, learn even more about your own culture,” Smith said. “I am most looking forward to getting the opportunity to try

French cuisine, seeing all of the famous sites and just experiencing the French lifestyle.”

While sightseeing and the prospect of spending spring break in Paris sounds like the ideal vacation, students will be applying what they see to what they’ve previously learned in class.

“The theme of the course is the end of the 19th century in Paris,” said Susan Hennessey, associate professor of French and instructor for the course. “We will be looking at developments in French society at that time and how they relate to French identity.”

Over the course of the weeklong trip, students will be visiting sites they have been studying in class. Some of these sites include the Eiffel Tower, which was built in the 19th century and Notre Dame Cathedral, which was built centuries before but was immortalized in the writing of Victor Hugo in the 1800s. Students will also visit the famed Moulin Rouge, as cabaret greatly evolved in the late 19th century.

Another interesting site on the itinerary is French department stores. The department store is a French concept, with Paris being home to the first department stores. These department stores serve as a model for retail stores throughout the world.

“I am especially excited to get to visit the neighborhood of Montmartre,” said Smith. ”It’s a neighborhood with a lot of character, and from the Sacre Coeur, you can sit on the steps and look out across Paris.”

Study away provides students with the ultimate hands-on learning experience, allowing students to become a part of what they’ve studied in class.

“Seeing all of these places will really allow us to see first-hand all that we have learned about in class, so that they become more real,” Smith said. “It’s one thing to read and learn about places, but it’s another thing entirely to actually be able to experience them.”

While the focus of the trip is French culture, Hennessey feels students will come away with more than a better understanding of France.

“Students will gain a better understanding of how people live and also come to the realization that some of the ideas we have about other countries are based on stereotypes,” Hennessey said.

English professor Karen Fulton, who is director of the study away program, also feels study away gives students more than expected.

“It provides them with a whole different view of the world,” Fulton said. “They no longer see things through just the American eyesight.”

Fulton, who was appointed director in 2005 and has participated in study away trips of her own, has seen the importance of study away and its impact on learning firsthand.

“What I think happens is that as opposed to a page or an instructor talking about something, you suddenly have a real context to put whatever you’ve been studying into,” Fulton said.

“You can actually see the place. You’re actually able to visit and sit down. There’s a connection with the past that is just unreal, that you’re not going to get any place else.”

For some students, like Felicia Kenzy, this is an opportunity that they just can’t wait for.

“I’ve always wanted to go out of the country, and go to London,” Kenzy said.

The students will arrive on Friday night. Karen Fulton, the study away director and professor for this class trip said the arrival time was a good idea. Arriving late at night is good because the students can sleep as soon as they get in, instead of trying to sightsee as soon as they get there and be tired from the flight.

They will be staying six nights at the four-star Kensington Thistle Hotel, just across from Kensington Palace, the place of Princess Diana’s home. While they are there, they will attend the Shakespeare’s Globe Theater, when the class will get to choose which plays to go to, the Charles Dickens house and the British Museum.

However, students won’t be restricted to a rigid schedule. Fulton said that students will have the opportunity to pursue their own interests. Some places that were mentioned were Stonehenge and Paris.

“I’m looking forward to taking this as some of my first steps into becoming a global citizen,” Western student Christopher Shove said. “I want the chance to go and see where some of my favorite authors lived, like Chaucer and to see where William Shakespeare did his plays.”

London is a huge cosmopolitan city, but it’s not like anything in the U.S., for example, New York. America is seen as a melting pot, and within huge cities, you see people of different
ethnic backgrounds trying to be American.

“But it’s different in London,” Fulton said. “People are unwilling to let go of who they are. The people are vibrant and alive. It is my favorite place in the world.”

The class is ENG 361-93, Literature on Site. The travel cost is around $1,200, and that includes plane fare, bus transportation from the airport to and from the hotel and six nights at a hotel.

While getting ready for the trip the students have read books that describe how London looks, like Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle. One of the main objectives outlined in this course is to identify the major effects of the “London experience” on writers on both sides of the Atlantic.

While a class that meets every Monday and gets to go to London might seem like the dream class for some, there is work involved. There are at least three papers involved with the class, keeping journal entries of your trip and some reading involved by different authors.

If this is something that you might be interested in, the class will be offered over the summer again.

At the International Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) Jamboree held at MIT in November, the Western team consisted of two faculty members: professor and chair of biology Todd Eckdahl and assistant professor of mathematics Jeffrey Poet, six Western students: Adam Brown, Trevor Butner, Brad Ogden, Marian Broderick, Eric Jessen and Kelly Malloy, and one Central High School student: Lane Heard.

They received a first place award for Best Presentation. Along with their collaborators from Davidson College, they won second place awards for Best Poster and Best Cooperation and Collaboration. A third place award for Best Conquest of Adversity brought the total awards to four.

The 2006 iGEM competition saw 34 research teams from around the world present their work.

“All of us worked equally on the project,” Ogden said. “We helped one another. We wouldn’t have gotten this far otherwise.”

The question each group had to answer is if biological systems could be engineered to carry out useful functions. The Western team used the Hin-hix recombination system in E. coli to make a rudimentary bacterial computer that can address a mathematics puzzle called the Pancake Problem. That led to the title of the Western iGEM presentation: “iHOP meets iGEM.”

“This is an outstanding achievement,” Eckdahl said. “It is one we are able to shout from the mountain tops and brag about on behalf of our students. I’m really proud of their
efforts.”

The team has successfully completed one pancake flip. While this may not seem like much, Odgen is content.

“We were only able to finish one, which in of itself is still quite the accomplishment because some of the research groups that brought their projects to the iGEM competition hadn’t gotten that far,” Odgen said.

Winning this prestigious iGEM award came with a cost, as the students had to work hard. For example, Odgen and Brown worked over their Christmas break to make progress on the project.

The biology and mathematics team will include a new group of students this year and plans to continue the joint effort. They have more to research.

“This is a test to see if we can use these organisms to solve a math problem in this way,” Brown said. “This could be used so someone else can find another math problem that is harder to solve for use in a biological system.”

They are striving to make more flips and create harder math problems. As if this was not enough, Brown said they are concentrating their efforts on learning more about the Hinhix system.

“The whole process of being able to go from start to finish on a project was very rewarding,” Brown said.

Buried bodies, skeletons, bloodstain patterns and autopsy evidence can all be found on Missouri Western’s campus over spring break.

The Criminal Justice Department is offering a three-credit hour class on reconstructing crime scenes. Jan Johnson of the Southern Institute of Forensic Science in Hattiesburg,
Mississippi instructs the course.

Johnson, who is retired from the FBI, has worked with forensic science for over 35 years and is considered one of the top professionals in her field.

Kip Wilson, associate professor of criminal justice, has been a part of this class in each of the five years it has been offered at Western.

“It’s a very unique class that offers a handson approach,” Wilson said. “The instructors of this class are not your typical professors.”

Johnson will be using experts with multiple years of field experience to help her teach this class.

The course is designed to help connect all of the forensic pieces of a crime scene, piece-bypiece.

It also assists in the documentation of physical evidence.

Mock scenes for this course are designed to help participants recognize the importance of scene documentation and to obtain information for crime scene reconstruction.

Through their traveling seminars, the SIFS has taught many individuals that now work for respected agencies, including the U.S. Army, FBI, NYPD and the Texas Rangers.

The crime scene class is not just for college students. This year’s enrollment includes a St. Joseph Police officer and a Texas Ranger.

The SIFS is known and respected throughout the world of Criminal Justice.

Last year, a graduate student from England traveled to Missouri Western to participate in this unique learning opportunity.

Classes will be held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and the test will be held on Saturday.

The cost of the class is $695 per participant.

“Incoming students don’t really know what to expect, they don’t know what a FAFSA is, they don’t know what deadlines are, they don’t know how important deadlines are,” said Angie Beam, assistant director of financial aid.

According to Western financial aid office, only 177 students currently receive money through assistance with financial aid programs such as the Charles Gallagher and Missouri
College Guarantee. But if proposed Missouri Legislation is passed, more than 2,800 Western students are expected to qualify for more aid this fall.

However, students must complete the FAFSA by April 1 to be eligible.

“Deadlines are everything,” said Cindy Spotts-Conrad, institution and campus-based aid senior coordinator. “Students miss out on aid opportunities, especially need-based aid because they don’t get their information processed by the deadline.”

For Western scholarship applications, federal work-study programs, Federal SEOG Grants and Federal Perkins loans opportunities, students are encouraged to apply online before the March 1 deadline. Lisa Siudym, Director of Financial Aid, says that this works out well for current students.

“If a current student goes online and applies for ‘07-‘08, the information from ‘06-‘07 is brought forward,” Siudym said. “So a lot of the things you initially had to put – general stuff on the FAFSA; name, address, birth-date those sort of things – that’s already there.”

Siudym also mentioned that they are hoping to have award letters for ‘07-‘08 online. The financial aid department would send out emails and post cards to students, and then they would have the choice to accept of decline their aid.

A new federal aid program was passed, so beginning July 1, 2007, loan maximums are going up, said Amy Parnell, coordinator for Federal Pell Grants and Loans.

“Freshmen are able to receive additional amounts, as well as sophomores,” Parnell said. “Freshmen will be allowed to borrow $3,500 verses $2,625, and sophomores instead of $3,500 will be able to borrow $4,500. Junior and senior grade levels stays the same at $5,500.”

Now with the new application process One Stop set up by administrator Tyson Schank, for better and faster service to students, the scholarship portion is simpler. Students can go online to the admissions site and type in all their information, and then that matches the scholarships that the student qualifies for.

“This new program is awesome,” Parnell said “It’s slick.”

Freshman Nikeda Carter said that One Stop was awesome for her and that all her financial aid was taken care of.

“It worked out real well for me,” Carter said. “I think this new program will be great.”

Eighty-three-year old Nadyne Justin retired from Missouri Western after spending more than 27 years with the music department as an administrative assistant.

“It was time,” Justin said. “I have to retire sometime and now when I still feel good and I still have energy and can still plan ahead and create.”

And that’s exactly what she’s going to do.

“Well, I’m going to Florida for a couple weeks,” Justin said. “First, I will help the lady that is coming.”

Justin said she’s excited to make her own schedule and start attending things during the day. Something she wasn’t able to do before.

Justin has been with the institution since 1979 and has watched the transformation of Western.

“Yes, there are changes and sometimes you don’t like them, sometimes they don’t work out and then they get changed, but sometimes they do work out and they just expand,” Justin said. “Changes are all right; you just rise with them.”

And change is exactly what Justin is going to do. She said she is going to reinvent herself, something she’s done many times before.

“I have changed with this job, and I have learned and I have grown, and I have become a lot more self-confident then I was when I came in,” Justin said. “And I guess I’ve learned to just kind of enjoy myself.”

Justin received two plaques, one from the fraternity Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, naming Justin their number one sweetheart. The fraternity got on one knee and sang to her.

“This isn’t the first time the boys have serenaded me and on the knee and everything. That is just amazing to me,” Justin said.

Numerous people had tears in their eyes at Justin’s retirement party; she will truly be missed but not more than she will miss her job and the people.

“This is a very high adrenaline position, and I think I will miss that but mostly,” Justin said. “I think I will miss all the people that I deal with and work with and have come to love and all the kids. They’re in and out of my office all the time, and I will miss that. I’ve loved this institution and the people, the faculty and students.”

Missouri Western State University will begin offering a professional master’s degree in the fall.

Provost Joseph Bragin announced at the Board of Governor’s meeting on Thursday that the Missouri Department of Higher Education and the Higher Learning Commission of North Central Association of Colleges and Schools have approved Western’s master of applied science degree.

Jeanne Daffron, who is the vice president of academic and student affairs, has been named the interim dean of the graduate school.

“I’ll do this on an interim basis, and we’ll hire someone in about a year,” she said.

In a press release, Bragin said the master’s programs are unique throughout the state, and applied learning is the emphasis.

Daffron said that developing programs with an emphasis on applied learning was possible due to the commitment of regional government, business and industry, as well as faculty and administration. She said that applied learning, which 80 percent of Western students currently experience, is important so that students are not just sitting in the classroom to learn.

“Those graduates can hit the ground running and contribute significantly,” Daffron said.

According to the press release, traditional master’s programs focus on advance disciplinary knowledge, whereas Western’s programs will provide that, as well as “cross-training” in management, communications and technology.

Emphasizing applied learning as part of its identity was a directive of the state Legislature when Western was designated a university in 2005.

“We feel that this fulfills our unique statewide mission of applied learning,” Bragin said in the press release. Bragin also said that Western will work closely with post-graduate employers in developing curriculum.

Jason Baker, associate professor of biology, was the chairperson of the Graduate Studies Committee made up of Western faculty that developed the graduate policies, procedures and curriculum.

“This process is like an onion with many layers,” he said.

The university must be approved by the Higher Learning Commission to offer quality master’s programs. Many meetings and a visit by the Commission garnered the university approval last summer to offer post-bachelor’s degree certificates.

Administrators expected a vote in mid-December by the Department of Higher Education, but there was not a quorum of members present, so they could not vote, Baker said.

He said there are three options under the master of applied science: chemistry, human factors and usability testing and information technology management. The construction of the science and technology incubator on campus, scheduled for completion this year, will “create a tremendous amount of synergy” with the graduate programs, Bragin said in the press release.

“The science and technology incubator will be a very important component to the graduate degree in applied science,” he said.

The department of nursing has proposed a change in the curriculum that will allow students accepted into the program to complete their courses in four semesters rather than five.

However, the change will also temporarily reduce the number of students accepted into the program to 30 instead of 50 for two semesters.

The curriculum committee approved the proposal of the course sequence change Nov. 27. Now the nursing department has to wait for the sign-off from the Governance Advisory Council.

Kathleen Andrews, chair of the department of nursing, is hopeful for the passing of the new curriculum.

“We feel like it is moving along and making process,” Andrews said. “We are anticipating that this will start next fall.”

The alterations of the curriculum were proposed for two reasons.

First, it is a challenge for students to take other classes while in the program. When students are gone at clinicals all day, it becomes hard to find a class, such as a general education course, which will actually fit into their schedule. The proposed change will design more flexibility for clinicals.

Second, many students transfer in or already have a degree in another subject, have their general education courses completed and want to graduate in four semesters instead of five.

With the old program, some general education courses are still mingled in with the nursing courses, so if all the beginning courses are done, then some students have to find replacement courses in order to be considered full time.

“It just gives the students an opportunity so the last four semesters they can concentrate solely on nursing,” Andrews said. “It will give greater flexibility in terms of scheduling time and a greater opportunity for clinical learning.”

Junior Nichole Ketchem thinks the changes are good for the program; however, she is upset that the department wants to change it when she is trying to get in.

“Because of past mistakes, my GPA isn’t as high as [the department] now wants to take,” Ketchem said. “But, in some ways I feel that it was because of the transition process that I didn’t get in. If it was the normal 50 people limit, I think I would get in.”

In the spring of 2008 the acceptance number will increase back to 50 people. The reason for the reduction is that the people accepted in the spring of 2007 will still be on the old five-semester plan, and the students accepted in the fall of 2007 will be on the new four-semester plan. Those students will then merge and theoretically graduate at the same time in the May of 2009.

This issue then becomes the clinical areas. There aren’t enough clinical sites and instructors to supervise students in clinicals.

“We could have ended up with 100 students who all needed OB in the same semester,” Andrews said. “It’s impossible. It’s different when you have a classroom class. You can have two sections or get a bigger room, but when you’re going to clinicals, it’s all very strictly controlled in terms of the number of students you can have in a clinical site.”

With the lower number of people accepted, it becomes very competitive for people with average GPAs. The lowest GPA accepted for the spring was a 3.2. For students with a 3.0 or lower, it becomes nearly impossible to be accepted. However, some students agree that high expectations are needed for a program like nursing.

“I think it is good they have such high standards because you’re dealing with people’s lives,” said Stacy Blankenship, a junior who has been accepted into the program. “It’s important to do well in school. If you want something bad enough, you will try to do your hardest and try to get a good GPA.”

Ketchem understands that GPAs are important, but she believes that nursing is also about heart and devotion.

“There is nothing that I want more in life than to be a nurse and help people,” Ketchem said. “I don’t think that just my GPA should be the main factor. I think that my essay on why I want to be a nurse, my recommendations and my experience in the medical field should also take a part in the decision.”

Andrews said that to make a decision she has to look at things that are objective and easy to compare, and things like character are impossible to compare.

“The reason the GPA is important is because it is a predictor of success,” Andrews said. “Students with higher GPAs tend to be more successful in the program.”

Andrews said that the nursing faculty was very careful and deliberate while considering all of the changes, especially cutting back the enrollment for two semesters.

“We really weighed all of the reasons to do that,” Andrews said. “And, the decision that we made was best for the students and what was really also best for the patient. Our students are out taking care of patients, so we also have to think about patient safety when we make a decision. It wasn’t an easy decision; we weighed all of the options very carefully.”

Missouri Western now has a new four-year degree in manufacturing engineering technology. This new degree will help graduates better secure jobs in the ET field and eventually compete globally with other countries.

“With the four year degree, the future for graduates is unlimited. Manufacturing is picking up in today’s world, so a high tech manufacturing degree is what utilizes technology in the workplace,” Virendra Varma, engineering technology chairperson, said.

Sophomore Thad Weston thinks that this new program will open a whole lot of doors.

“I think it’s going to be really helpful, because without it you get locked in and don’t have the opportunities to move up,” Weston said. “A two- year degree only takes you so far.”

Changing to this new program wasn’t easy for the department; Varma said that they have been working towards this four-year degree for a few years now.

Jinwen Zhu, department of engineering technology assistant professor, said the process was difficult.

“Because of our limitation of faculty made it difficult for us. We had to wait,” Zhu said.

Varma agrees that it was a challenge, but everyone from the president to the provost supported the department and wanted them to do well. And now with new qualified faculty the department is ready to deliver.

“It was a struggle to get approved. We have been working on this degree for a long time,” Varma said. “The students were the driving force. Now we have students wanting to come
back for the four-year degree that have already graduated from the two-year.”

With the new program comes new courses and equipment to properly help students advance. These six new courses added to Western’s engineering technology program will focus on electronics such as automation and process control technology, programmable logic controllers, financial aspects of engineering projects and mechanical design; technical report writing and an opportunity in an engineering technology internship.

Sophomore Mark Diggs said that he is glad that they changed the program to a four-year degree.

“I think it’s going to be great, it gives us a lot of opportunity to get into some positions that would not be available otherwise,” Diggs said.

Weston also mentioned that the instructors are very knowledgeable when it comes to engineering.

“Instructors are so knowledgeable in today’s needs in engineering field, they are very up to date, and they give you something you can use when you get out into the workplace,” Weston said.

With the new four-year program students will be more than qualified and ready for the workplace.

“In a competitive global economy, engineering technology (ET) graduates are at the forefront in making the difference in the fields of construction, electronics, manufacturing, computer electronics, and other related technologies. ET graduates are the true problem-solvers of today, and caretakers of the technologies of the future,” Varma said.

So Jim went to school anyway and decided to get a job as well. It would make up for the gap of tuition not covered and give him a little scratch to peck off for his lifestyle. But Jim still found that he was on the short side of the financial world, and life happened, which costs lots of money. To support his sick mother, Jim was forced to take a second job and did not have the time or money to afford his tutelage at the university. Jim dropped out of school. Eventually, his ailing mother passed on, and Jim wasted away in a dead-end job until he became addicted to painkillers and laid down for a really long nap on his 40th birthday.

Jim is not a real person. If he was, that sad story would not necessarily have happened because Jim could have taken an option rarely explored by many students. Jim could have contracted himself to the Army Reserve Officers Training Corp. program.

The Army ROTC program affiliates itself with schools like Missouri Western, Benedictine College, UMKC and Northwest in Maryville, along with several other satellite schools.

Missouri Western has about 20 students in the ROTC program that has had a number of achievements over the last year.

“Cadet Guy Stark, a two year, he just completed Air Assault School,” said Master Sgt. Ken Jiles, a military science instructor at Western. “He was learning to go into combat out of helicopters.”

Any student can take a leadership training class, but to be contracted by the program, there are a few minimum standards. Students must be less than 35 years old, pass a physical examination and complete an ACT with a score of no lower than 21.

“When they come in as freshmen and they know they want to do this, the first thing they do is take the basic leadership courses,” Jiles said. “By junior year, they go off to LVAC and learn the more physical aspects like field training, patrolling and repelling and combat water survival.”

Master Sgt. Grant, instructor at Western, dispelled some of the fears that students may have about joining ROTC.

“I think the biggest misconception is that we are like basic training,” Grant said. “Students come in thinking that we will yell in their faces and make them drop and do push ups. We don’t do that.”

One of the many opportunities the program creates for students is a chance to travel. Even on campus they rarely stay sedentary.

“They don’t just sit in the classroom,” Grant said. “We rarely stay in the classroom at all.”

Last year several students had a chance to travel on a much broader range. Fifteen cadets went to Little Bighorn, Mont. And one cadet went to Korea. Cadet Ferguson, a Western senior, has had his fair share of travels.

“I like to travel,” Ferguson said. “I’ve been to Italy, Iraq, Czechoslovakia and through Germany.”

Despite the challenge and what would appear to be a work intensive class load, odds are good that a student could end up as an army officer.

“With ROTC, you’re given a more than fair shot at becoming an officer,” Ferguson said. “As long as you work at what you are doing and stay motivated.”

ROTC has benefits that are even deeper than just a career with the military.

“Someone that graduates from college, that’s great,” Grant said. “Someone graduates from college as an officer they just upgraded their marketability by tenfold.”

But is the real world after college a surprise to a graduate of the ROTC program?

“I think the ROTC program is the epitome of applied learning,” Grant said. “These people are actually seeing what they are getting themselves into. When we talk of applied learning at Missouri Western, we kind of lift our chests a little. We know we are sending people out doing exactly what their jobs will be. They will be getting a taste of it.”

So, if you are in a bind and thinking of dropping out of school due to finances, remember the story does not have to end up like Jim’s. Jim could have ended up contracted and trained with skills in leadership to succeed in an ever-changing world. “We have scholarship money just sitting out there,”’ Jiles said. “We end up having to give it back because people don’t take advantage of the opportunities that they have.”

“It’s just unbelievable to look at all of the animal related industries that are in this area, and how animal health is really in a big hub in the Midwest,” Garlinger said.

“St. Joe is considered one of the life science industries hubs in Missouri,” said Jason Baker, an associate professor of biology at Missouri Western.

Human health and animal sciences are concentrated in the western side of Missouri, whereas plant science is more of a focus of the eastern side of the state, said Ben Caldwell, associate professor in the chemistry department at Western. Caldwell is also the director for the Center of Natural and Applied Sciences.

At the annual conference of the Missouri Biotechnology Association’s Life Sciences Summit, Caldwell said he was happy that St. Joseph was prominently mentioned as part of a corridor of the animal science industry in the Midwest.

“We were quoted as being the capitol city of animal sciences in this region,” Said Caldwell, in reference to a presentation by a speaker at the conference, Lynn Parman, vice president of the Life Sciences and Technology Business Development Organization of the Kansas City Area Development Council.

Students poised to go into the field of life science may find their dream job right here in St. Joseph.

The industry does have a larger stake in major metropolitan areas, such as Kansas City and St. Louis, but St. Joseph has built a considerable niche for itself in Northwestern Missouri.

“We have had a good track record [at Missouri Western] of educating students and helping them to be ready to take positions in these life science industries,” said Jason Baker, an associate professor of biology at Missouri Western.

Often internships turn into full time positions. Students working with research and development teams working on a pharmaceutical or vaccine may lead to a full time position.

“It gives them the opportunity to be able to do the testing, evaluation and research. At Boehringer Ingelheim, in fact, we have had intern students do this and then go on and get jobs,” Baker said.

“Boehinger Ingelheim is a German company originally, but their main headquarters for all of their animal vaccine development is here in St. Joe.” Baker said.

Boeringer Ingelheim does vaccines and some pharmaceuticals for livestock, predominantly. It takes years of research to develop any given vaccine or pharmaceutical.

“Everything from the bench, science research of being able to grow and propagate a specific infectious pathogen, and then being able to manipulate it into some non-pathogenic form, that can still be effectively injected into an animal.” Baker said, explaining some of the hurdles of creating a vaccine.

“[The kind of research done] greatly varies. For example, at IVX they employ quite a number of our student or others who have experience in and qualifications to do analytical chemistry, for example,” Baker said.

Employees break down pharmaceuticals to formulate new pharmaceuticals, and do quality control of the pharmaceuticals that they are producing, to meet FDA standards.

IVX Animal Health in Saint Joseph is about to be purchased by Teva Pharmaceutical, and appears be gearing up for future growth.

Another local company is Becker Underwood, a global leader in inoculants and other seed enhancement products. Many employees at Becker Underwood have degrees from Missouri Western.

“They do the development of what are called microbial symbiotes,” Baker said. “They develop fermentation processes to grow and raise microorganisms that can then be added to soil for the fixation of nitrogen to help crop production. There is a booming industry in that area right now.”

Other companies in the St. Joseph area include Nestle-Purina, Hills Pet Foods, Advantage, Omnium Agricultural Chemicals, etc.

“Some of our students go into research and development, quality control, testing, product development,” Baker said. “Some even go into sales and working on the business side.”