Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category

The election this spring is going to be uncontested, but SGA says that doesn’t mean the student body should fail to vote.

Western doesn’t have a history of uncontested elections for SGA. According to Administrative Coordinator Vice President of Student Affairs, Kathy Kelly, there has been only one uncontested election for SGA: the spring 2003 election with Sylvester Brandon and John Fabsits ran uncontested for the top office.

SGA election commissioner Josh Rieken thinks that marketing for the election is going to be more difficult than a contested election.

“If it [the election] was contested, then the candidates would have to make posters and talk to people to try to get votes,” Rieken said. “So, I think, the biggest thing we are missing out on this election is the marketing that would have been done by the candidates.”

“I think the most detrimental aspect of having an uncontested election is the fact that students don’t have a choice of who will be their next SGA President,” Rieken said. “An uncontested election basically takes democracy out of the process.”

Rieken thinks that too many students don’t appreciate how fun student government can be. “They just hear the word ‘government’ and assume it will be boring, but it’s not. It’s actually a lot of fun.”

SGA presidential candidate Dillon Harp feels that with the uncontested election, students miss out on a lot of the democratic process like the candidates debating. Harp also thinks that SGA suffers, with the lack of attention paid to the election, when it is uncontested.

Harp doesn’t think it’s a lack of student desire to participate.

“I just think SGA hasn’t really done anything to excite the students,” Harp said.

Harp doesn’t think the interest will be there until SGA changes students’ minds about student government. Until that change occurs Harp said, “I don’t think anyone is really going to run for anything.”

Jordan Carney, a sophomore double majoring in biology with a health-science concentration and biotechnology, is the uncontested candidate for the SGA vice president for the Residence Council.

Carney plans to take a more active role by working with the programming and planning committee to set up events that students will excite students and promote more involvement.

“It’s disappointing that not a lot of people are interested in being leaders,” Carney said. “It seems like the ones that want to be involved can’t devote the time to being in a leadership position.”

Carney also said that many of the resident assistants that would be interested don’t have the time with their current positions.

Besides voting on candidates, the previously reported SGA Technology and Recycling fee has gone on a weight loss program. SGA president Josh Todd said the fee was trimmed down to $4.50 per credit hour because the $3.00 discretionary fund was not well enough defined.

“We did not just want to throw it in some budget if we could not even strictly define its purpose,” Todd said.

Appellate court judges spoke to students one-on-one following the Missouri Court of Appeal’s annual stop at Missouri Western on Oct. 7.

Three of the 11 Western District court judges were part of the appeals court which handles approximately 40 percent of the intermediate appellate caseload in Missouri, with jurisdictions covering 45 counties. Missouri Western is just one of the many stops the court makes each year and has been doing so for 12 years. Three cases were presented that day; one criminal and two civil cases regarding child custody.

Judge Thomas H. Newton, who was appointed to the court of appeals in 1999 said, “We think it’s important to get out and about so folks know we are not in our so called ivory tower. They say appellate judges are in an ivory tower, we just kind of go up there and read and write.”

The Court of Appeals handles cases that are handed up from the circuit court. If a party loses in the circuit court and feels a mistake was made, that party may file an appeal. The court considers the briefs, oral arguments, transcripts, pleadings and exhibits from the trial in researching, deciding, and writing its opinions.

Professor of legal studies, Suzanne Kissock said, “I love the cases that were presented today because they were like Lifetime afternoon movies, but people think that the law is theoretical and intellectual and not part of their lives. When you see it first hand and you go to court and you see in the appellate court how plainly the lawyers and judges are speaking about very personal, very intimate issues then I think that’s when it comes alive.”

Judge Mark D. Pfeiffer, who was appointed in May 2009 to the court of appeals, said how difficult some cases can be, whether it is a criminal case or a custody case. As a parent himself he feels it is refreshing to hear cases involving children who have parents who love that child enough to fight for them. A decision on each case is voted on after the judges have reviewed past related cases as well as laws; while leaving out any personal opinion. This process can take six to eight weeks to finalize.

“We are human beings, too, and so we don’t just look at these as theoretical law school exam question,” Pfeiffer said. “These are real people with real lives and perhaps real problems in their own personal life that may have led to where they are at…at this appeal.”

Regardless if students are seeking a degree in law, Kissock believes it is important for all students to experience the Court of Appeals during their studies at Western to provide them with a better understanding of how the law relates to them.

“A lot of time there is this misunderstanding that the system functions without a heart, without a soul in the sense that they are not connected to the people that come before them and they very much are. They’re people who are trying to do the right thing to make an impact on the world and students don’t get that from a textbook,” Kissock said. “I just wish more students would attend and pay attention,”

The judges were asked if they like practicing law, Pfeiffer said he received his bachelor’s degree in accounting before deciding to study law. He encouraged all the students to pursue careers for what they have a passion for.

“It makes life interesting when you can wake up in the morning and say I have a passion for doing my job,” Pfeiffer said.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a renowned environmentalist speaker, will be speaking at Missouri Western on Thursday, Oct. 1 at 9:30 a.m. in the Looney Complex for the 16th annual convocation on critical issues.

Kennedy will be the first speaker to focus on the environment. He was named one of Time magazine’s “Heroes of the Planet” for his success in helping to restore the Hudson River. A senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, Kennedy has questioned the environmental policies of the United States for years. He is also the author of the bestselling book Crimes Against Nature. An extremely strong defender of the protection of our planet, Kennedy’s speech will hope to inspire Missouri Western students to try to make a difference in the world.

Bringing in such a well known speaker is a big step for the convocation.

“We’re pleased to be able to bring a speaker of such national prominence to our students and to this community,” said Dan Nicoson, vice president for university advancement.
Dan Boulware, a former president of the Board of Regents and founder of the convocation, said that one of the main reasons that Kennedy was chosen to speak is because of his focus on the environment.

“When this was started, it was convocation on critical issues, and we’ve addressed a myriad of critical issues over the years,” Boulware said. “But we’ve never addressed the environment. He brings to us a unique perspective that we have not had before.”

Ironically, a part of Boulware’s motivation to start the convocations came from a speech he heard as an undergrad in 1968 from Bobby Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy’s father.

“It meant a lot to me and I wanted that experience for our students here,” Boulware said. “I thought it would elevate this university in the eyes of its peers. I thought the students appreciate the opportunity and be stimulated by the opportunity. I hope that when you’re older, you’ll look back and say ‘hey, I heard RFK.’ I may not have agreed with him or I might have agreed with everything he said, but it’s part of the educational experience.”

Boulware understood that hearing different speakers talk about different issues in our world today is a crucial part of learning and opening minds. This is one of the main reasons that in 1993 he started bringing nationally renowned speakers to Missouri Western for the students to hear. While cost can be a limiting factor to who Missouri Western is able to bring in, some big names have still spoken here on campus and hopefully will in the future. Some of Boulware’s favorites from the past are Colin Powell, David McCullough, and Joe Nye.

“I have always liked going to the convocations,” said senior Western student Zack Kerner. “I know a lot of people choose not to go, but the speakers I’ve heard are pretty interesting and talk about important stuff. There’s a lot to be learned by going and listening to what they have to say.”