According to former Senator Nick Brewer his reason for leaving was school-related, not the lack of confidence in the Senate.

“Partially, one reason I left the Senate was my schedule, and I wouldn’t be able to make most of the meetings,” Brewer said.

Other reasons for Senator’s leaving were not due to a lack of confidence in the senate, but rather for their own benefit.

According to SGA President Alison Norris, only 2 students left the senate who were studying abroad, and those graduating. As stated by Norris she believes it’s time to recruit new Senators.

“We are going to run ads, and asking the current Senators to spread word to others,” Norris said. “The Student Senate has a retreat coming up, and we will hopefully see a few people come out with interest in becoming a Senator.”

The membership rate at the moment for the Student Senate stands at 16, according to SGA Vice President Jacob Scott.

“We just need two-third vote to pass legislations, which we have been able to do.”

Although it’s a positive sign that the Senate is able to pass legislation, having a few new members wouldn’t hurt.

“We are going to recruit, even if we don’t have a full Senate, and we are still able to pass legislation for the Spring Semester,” Norris said.

However, as stated on the Student Governments website a full senate has 20 Senators, but that isn’t stopping the current one in place.

“With the 10 Senators that we have, we only need 6 at the Senate meetings to conduct our business,” Norris said.

According to current Student Senator Brian Shewell, he will wait to see what the plan for gaining membership will be at the first meeting when they return from Winter break.

“By the first meeting we should have an idea on how we plan to get students engaged, and want to participate in the Student Senate,” Shewell said. “I will be spreading word to other students, and let them know how they can bring their own ideas fourth.”

It seems that SGA executives are already getting to work to find ways to get people involved in the student senate. “Our plan is to recruit two men and two women as Senators,” Scott said. “If students are serious about becoming a Senator, then the 3-day retreat would be the best way to gain instant access to the Senate. If students attend the 2 night, 3 day retreat that would count for 3 meetings.”

According to Senate membership requirements, a student must attend 3 meetings to become a senator.

According to Norris, the decline in membership has been an issue the last couple years. “We have a lot of non-traditional students at Western, and students with schedules that don’t fit with our meetings,” Norris said. “We must now show the students how important the Senate is, and how hard we work for the student body.”

According to Jacob Scott, vice president of SGA, the number of senators had risen to 16, but by the end of the semester that number will be down to ten as a result of graduation and senators participating in study abroad programs.

“We’re going to lose a lot of great people,” Scott said. “We’ve got some people studying abroad, a couple of people graduating and one person going into a law enforcement academy, so we’re losing quite a few really good senators, and I really appreciate what they’ve done.

Scott and Alison Norris, president of SGA, said they are ready for the retreat they have planned over the break to refocus on what their collective mission for this administration has been — getting students involved and getting their input.

“I’m ready to get a break,” Norris said. “We need to sit down and get back to our original goal of finding out exactly what the students want from SGA.”

Norris and Scott are extremely proud of the work that has been done this semester, especially concerning the input and legislation coming from the committees.

“We got a lot done for this semester with the improvements for Potter,” Norris said. “We got the recycling program going, so I’m glad about that.”

Scott also felt the committees played a major role in getting much of the legislation brought before the Senate this semester.

“I really think the committees provided a lot of access to students, and a lot of students took advantage of that route [getting involved],” Scott said. “We achieved several proposals, some notable ones be The Living Room for downstairs in Potter Hall for students to hang out.”

Norris said that one project she is working on is a program designed to provide assistance to students needing attire for interviews.

“Many students get a degree, but when it’s time for them to go out on interviews, they can’t afford to purchase any nice clothes,” Norris said. “This program will hopefully be able to help some of those students.”

Scott was also proud of the purchase of the tickets for all of the theatre departments’ performances and wanted to remind everyone that the first 25 in line at the box office every night get a free ticket.

Scott said the main goal for the upcoming semester is not just about retaining students academically, but also keeping them involved and engaged on campus.

“Can we improve the social retention of the campus?” Scott asked. “We need to keep students on campus at night for events.”

The question at this point is: how? According to Scott and Norris both, the answer to this will most likely come from committees and student involvement.

The current Student Governor, Peter Gregory, is responsible for submitting the names of three candidates to Jefferson City, Mo.

“We have extended the deadline, not because we don’t have quality candidates, but we want to give everyone a chance to apply for this position,” Gregory said. “I know that there are students out there who just don’t know about the position yet and would be qualified for the position.”

According to Gregory, this is the only student government position that lasts longer than a year. This may affect student interest in the position.

“If a person is set on graduating within four years, then that would eliminate both juniors and seniors,” Gregory said. “We are looking for freshmen and sophomores that we can draw from, and it will be worth it, and it’s a great experience.”

The fact is that the position takes time, and the person chosen must be ready for the commitment.

“The work varies from week to week,” Gregory said. “The biggest responsibility is to attend the monthly board meetings, the Governor’s Advisory Council meetings, and, at times, work with the Student Government on projects.”

According to SGA President Alison Norris, Gregory should chose someone ready to go to work.

“The qualities of a good Student Governor to me consist of someone who is dedicated, hardworking, and represents the  students,” she said.

Western student Amanda Curtis believes the time commitment plays a role in why students won’t apply.

“Freshmen and sophomores, to me, probably are still getting used to the college,” Curtis said. “I work 30 to 40 hours a week, which makes me not a good candidate, like most students.”

A downside for the Student Governor position is that it has no voting power in SGA. Gregory disagrees with this rule.

“Personally, I believe its okay for the Student Governor to have voting rights: if they were appointed to the position, earned their way to this position, then they are smart enough to have a vote,” said Gregory.

Gregory goes on to state that even though he doesn’t have a vote, he is never overlooked by the Student Government or administration.

“The primary responsibly of the Governor is to represent the students to the administration, and the administration to the students,” Gregory said. “That’s why we have a student governor, so the administration has someone to go to for student opinion.”

According to Norris, the Student Governor gives input and works with SGA on occasion.

“The role of the Governor is similar to mine: we both are on the EBoard, except the position doesn’t offer any sort of scholarship,” Norris said.

Student Keisha Davis believes the position needs more advantages for students to want to apply.

“I think that if there was some kind of leverage or some kind of advantage to being involved, more students would be willing to be involved,” Davis said. “I personally would not be able to apply because of my already busy schedule.”

The process of becoming the next Student Governor is time consuming, according to Gregory.

“All candidates must go to the first interview, and then once they make it past the first section, they are interviewed by Western President, Robert Vartabedian,” Gregory said. He goes on to state that  once the student pass that  process ,then they are interviewed by  Gov. Jay Nixon’s office. Once the candidate is selected, they are asked to come to Jefferson City, Mo., for appointment at a Senate hearing committee.

Gregory is committed to searching for the best candidate for the job.

“We want someone dedicated and willing to serve their university,” Gregory said.

As the 2011-2012 school year unfolds, SGA will be looking to allocate the $26,400 that was initially given to RC. Since the SGA budget doesn’t fund the new Residence Hall Association, the extra funds have been placed in special projects budget.

According to SGA President Alison Norris, the obvious difference between the budgets will be the elimination of RC and the roll over.

“We itemized out some things in the budget when I presented it to the council,” Norris said. “This year we have more roll over than last year and plan to work on a new special project.”

SGA Finance Director Nick McCutcheon explained that the $26,400 that was used to fund RC will be placed specifically in special projects, which are the general funds for the Student Senate, and will be allowed to help fund these specific areas that deal directly with the students.

“We are now able to place this money in areas which will help to fund organizations,” McCutcheon said. “Essentially all of this money went to the legislative branch, more specifically the special projects, which, in a nut shell, is the money the Senate uses to pass bills.”

McCutcheon believes the Senate will create new and better legislation with the extra funding.

Last week the Student Senate passed a bill to fund a new student lounge in Potter Hall. McCutcheon assumes that this money is coming from what would have been the RC funding for this year.

“This is a line item that has always been in the budget,” McCutcheon said. “But with the elimination of Residence Council it significantly increases it and has helped with the funding of this endeavor.”

In the Spring 2011 changes to the SGA Constitution, SGA is required to allocate 20 percent of their budget to Student Affairs. According to the provision, Student Affairs must use this money for student programming that benefits the entire student body.

“I would not say that it hasn’t,” McCutcheon said. “We just want to make sure that it always does.”

In the fiscal year 2011, Student Affairs only spent $20,625.14 out of $103,107.52 from the allocated 20 percent.
Thus far, a comprehensive plan for this year’s use of Student Affairs’ 20 percent has not been presented to Senate. According to the SGA constitution, the use of the previous year’s allocation must be presented at the last Senate meeting of the Spring semester. In the Fall, the vice president of student affairs (currently Esther Peralez) or her designee is required to present how that year’s money will be used.

“While the official budget has not been presented, there have been numerous conversations about what SGA wants from Student Affairs,” Peralez said.

Earlier versions of the SGA Constitution did not require that SGA allocate 20 percent of its budget to Student Affairs. While Student Affairs did not previously receive funding directly from SGA, many of its organizations—Center for Multicultural Education, Center of Student Engagement and Student Leadership Development—did receive funding from SGA.

As of Tuesday, the current SGA budget had not been posted online. Last year’s budget can be found on the SGA page on the Missouri Western website.

Norris said the updated budget should be online for the student body to view, and she will continue to work to get this released as soon as possible.

“The current operating budget was approved last spring,” McCutcheon said. “It should already be up, so I am surprised that it isn’t yet.”

Several pieces of legislation were discussed and passed during the meeting including that of a newly recognized student organization, Residence Hall Association, which was presented by Bridget Janssen, president of Residence Hall Association.

The goal of the newly formed organization is to improve the on-campus experience for those living on campus, according to Janssen. Previously, Residence Council was a part of SGA and any money they spent was general budget money and had to benefit the entire student body. This new organization will not have the same restrictions, because they will get their money elsewhere.

“One of my personal goals is to get a bike room for every building, because a lot more students have started riding bikes around campus and we don’t have racks to keep them in,” Janssen said.

Dallas Henry, assistant professor of theatre and cinema, was in attendance requesting funding for “Student Rush,” which provided 25 free tickets to the first students to line up at the box office. This was done last year and Henry said it was extremely successful.

“We have four main-stage productions,” Henry said, “but we would like to top that [free tickets] this year; we want to bring pizza one of those nights. We want to pay for it out our own pockets, to pay for Aramark to bring pizza to the 25 waiting in line on a surprise night.”

Henry said that they are anticipating placing a new 42-inch television above the box office to play movies in the hallway to entertain people while they wait. Henry also assured the members of SGA that if the tickets went unused they would refund the leftover funds.

Henry’s theatrical presentation was well received and SGA allocated the $4,050 requested for purchasing the tickets for every performance. Henry was elated by the support provided by SGA.

“I won the World Series,” Henry said as his proposal passed a Senate vote.

Jacob Scott, SGA vice president, requested non-members to leave as the meeting moved into closed session, as there were three people in the gallery awaiting their opportunity to be added to the Senate.

SGA President Allison Norris talks on the phone while dealing with the day-to-day grind of running an administration.

“Missouri Western shouldn’t be singled out to lose more funding than any other school,” SGA Vice President Jacob Scott said. “Even before the cuts, we receive less per student from the state than any other university in the state.”

After taking office SGA President Alison Norris wanted Western’s disapproval of State cuts to be heard, but she had no idea that the fight was already lost.

“At the time the rally was set, we never dreamed the 8.2 percent budgets were permanent, but later discovered they were,” Norris said.

President Robert Varabedian believes that Gov. Nixon’s search for extra money was aided when he discovered the tuition increase and the extra revenue our University was getting. “The Governor felt that because of Joplin and the need for extra money, he felt he had to get the money from somewhere,” Vartabedian said.

Norris and SGA continue to urge students and community leaders to sign the petition online voicing their concerns with Gov. Nixon’s cuts toward their University.

Norris said that the petition is more “symbolic” at this time, and she went on to say that the SGA petition has over 1,000 signatures from students to community leaders.

The petition is making noise around the St. Joseph community, but has the state of Missouri heard the cries of our students?

“We don’t plan on handing the petition off to anyone,” Norris said. “We just want to show that students are upset with the budget cuts, and we plan to take action.”

Student leaders and Director of External Relations Beth Wheeler plan to make a visit to Jefferson City on September 13. Their goal is to meet with Governor Nixon’s right hand man for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Mike Neitzel. SGA hopes to gain more information about this cut.

“Now that school is in session, we will probably have some type of forum once we meet with Dr. Neitzel, and have received more information on where this budget cut of 8.2 percent will go,” Norris said.

It is the worry of the students, as well as that of faculty and administrators, where these cuts may be forced to take place. When looking at what budget cuts may affect, we may be looking at a whole list of adverse circumstances.

“With the budget cut it could at some point hurt student organizations on campus,” Norris said.

If professors who advise organizations on campus lose their jobs, then who would be left to advise? Western could see organizations disappear, which is one of the main forms of entertainment and involvement for students. The fact is, Missouri Western raised their tuition for the school year, but is still below most universities regarding out-of-pocket costs.

It seems that Missouri Western took the direct hit. So the fight to gain the budget back continues, with SGA and the St. Joseph community behind the school’s effort. It has been expressed many times: “You can’t keep a Griffon down.” Scott said.

After negotiations over an increase in tuition, the state has lowered the amount of funding it gives Missouri Western by 8.2 percent, the highest cut out of all the Missouri universities. While other universities were cut 7 percent, Western and the University of Missouri system saw higher cuts because of an increase in their tuition.

According to Vartabedian, Governor Nixon wanted Western to raise tuition by only a total of 5.5 percent. While Western’s increase this year was 5.5 percent, students will also have to pay an additional 2.98 percent from an increase last year. That increase went on the books but was never collected.

“I was very honest from the get-go that that would be very difficult given our funding circumstances,” Vartabedian said.

Currently, Western receives the lowest state appropriations per student, about $4,300. Harris-Stowe, Lincoln and Truman Universities, along with the University of Missouri schools, receive roughly $7,000 per student in state appropriations.

While Vartabedian doesn’t want to cut funding from other schools and give it to Western, he believes that the current system is flawed.

“The two things we need to deal with this is the repeal of Senate Bill 389 which forces us to jump through a lot of hoops to get a tuition increase with no guarantees,” Vartabedian said. “The other thing would be trying to get the legislature to do something with our appropriation.”

Vartabedian believes that a system that ties a university’s enrollment to their appropriations would be fair for all of Missouri’s universities.

As far as tuition, this year’s increase including required fees still makes Western the third cheapest in the state. The two schools with lower tuition than Western are Missouri Southern and Harris-Stowe.

Last year, Missouri Western’s student senate voted unanimously for an increase in tuition, a sign to Vartabeidan that students want a quality education.

“A Harris-Stowe for example can abide by the Governor’s wishes and not ask for a significant tuition increase,” Vartabedian said. “Our financial circumstances are that with all these increasing costs and cuts from the state and so forth that for us to sustain a quality education we need to ask what the student will tolerate, and they seem to be willing to tolerate a certain level.”

The Student Government Association also held a rally over the summer to vocalize their displeasure with the state’s cuts. Several days after the 8.2 percent cut was announced, Western’s student leaders gathered in Blum Union to rally against the cut. The “You Can’t Keep a Griffon Down” campaign aims to alert community leaders and state representatives that Western students want more funding for a quality education.

A symbolic petition has also been started online. Community members, students, staff and faculty can sign to show their support for more state funding for Western.

SGA president Alison Norris said that the “You Can’t Keep a Griffon Down” was originally a slogan started at the rally over the summer but has transformed into a campaign.

“We feel that students deserve the highest education possible at Missouri Western,” Norris said. “We deserve the same amount of state funding as any other student.”

Roughly 150 students and four state representatives attended the rally that was held over the summer.

“After the rally, several members of SGA wrote letters to the governor to show how we felt about the situation,” Norris said. “We thought the 8.2% wasn’t permanent, but we just found out that it was.”

Norris and other key members of SGA plan to meet with the governor in September to persuade him to rework the state’s formula for funding universities.

Currently, Western is looking at other possibilities of revenues other than tuition and state funding. One idea that Western administration is currently talking about is leasing the large amount of farm land that Western has.

“It will help out a little bit, but not substantially,” Dr. Vartabedian said.
While the leasing will only bring in $50,000 to $100,000 in revenue, that translate to nearly one full-time professor position.

Dean of Graduate Studies Brian Cronk is also making efforts to bring in more money to Western’s budget via grants. A new initiative aims to give professors time to apply for grants for research that students can participate in to further their education outside the classroom.

“Part of what universities do is look for grants,” Cronk said. “Now there may be more pressure on us because of the budget cuts, but we’d still be doing it but maybe not emphasizing them quite as much. But we’re looking for anything and everything we can do.”

While Cronk said that there are larger grants in Science and technology, grants for the humanities subjects do exist.
“We’ve focused on the spending side,” Cronk said. “Now we need to focus on the revenue side.”

“Noah was a passionate senator,” Norris said. “He showed that he would be dedicated to the position.” Green originally applied for the student relations position, but Norris felt he was better qualified for communications and convinced him to take the position.

Vice President for Student Affairs, Esther Peralez reported to the SGA the expenses of her budget which totals 20 percent of the total SGA budget. These monies are set aside each year to operate the office of student affairs. Each year the Vice President for Student Affairs is committed to bring a report showing how the money has been spent. Not all of last year’s money has been spent but Peralez has pledged that it will go for the causes that assist students most.

The SGA members voted to approve the purchase of paint for Downs Drive. This summer it will begin to show a little more school spirit with the addition of paw prints and the school mascot painted on its surface. “We approved it because it will show school spirit and get students excited,” Norris said.

Norris’ resolution requiring campus organizations to attend the presidential leadership council’s monthly meetings failed in a seven-to-three vote after some of the senators left the meeting to meet other obligations. “We are going to bring it back up after some more research and planning,” Norris said. “I still feel that organizations need instructions about what we expect before we finance their plans. The resolution is designed to keep organizations more active and involved in the process.”

“I was very surprised that the notice of action failed,” Vice President of Financial Planning, Nick McCutcheon said. He explained that the proposed legislation required that one designated member from each club and organization attend a monthly president’s leadership council meeting. If a club or organization failed to meet the requirement their status as a recognized organization could have been suspended or revoked. “All that means is that that they would not have been eligible for SGA funding or other resources we provide,” McCutcheon said.

SGA provides clubs and organizations with up to $7,500 each per year. “I don’t think it was too much to ask to require one member from each to attend not more than nine meetings a year in return for that,” McCutcheon said.

Part of the training given to students at the president’s leadership council is for Orgsync a software program students paid for to assist organizations in working together.  “We are trying to show the importance of leadership,” SGA Vice President Jacob Scott said. “I’m not upset that it didn’t pass and I’m looking forward to making it clearer and better understood throughout SGA so I will pass next time. Students should be excited about going to the leadership council it is an honor to be chosen to represent your organization and get this training.”

After a few speeches and introductions of senate members Scott presented a power point laying out his vision of the new session. It stated some of his views and proposed changes that will be covered in future senate meetings and how those meetings will proceed. The presentation concluded with an instruction to the senate to pass the budget.  

“It’s important to pass the budget now to get programs funded and going today,” Scott said. But, the budget wasn’t passed without some questions from the senate floor.   The money for the SGA budget comes directly from student fees. Fulltime students pay $50 per semester and part time students pay $30 each semester. Senators asked about the fourth largest budget item, which is the $50,000 budget allocation for the administrative assistant position. Vice President Scott began to answer questions and justify the expense and the need for the position.

He explained that the administrative assistance position is responsible for senate travel arrangements and SGA project coordination. SGA Advisor and Vice President for Student Affairs Ester Peralez said, “The position keeps the office open when none of the executive officers are in the office.”  Norris added that the administrative position also checks the senator’s office hours and records them to increase accountability of senators and helps SGA keep an open door policy. “She is also the best resource for all senators with any question concerning Missouri Western and SGA policies,” Scott said.

The senators also questioned the amount of money allocated for organizations on campus and the usual budget problem of more money requested than allocated most semesters. The finance oversight committee regulates these funds and the newly appointed Director of Finance Nick McCutcheon will chair that position. To help keep the fund available for the entire budget period he plans to spend less with each request.

“People may not like the message going in (to this session) but, we will have more money at the end,” McCutcheon said.  Vice President Scott expressed his feelings that the requirements to get money should be more stringent. “We need to make sure that groups on campus are financing their own projects and have a financial plan that we can support so we aren’t just funding trips for them,” Scott said.

As the first steps in her new presidency Norris appointed McCutcheon as the Director of Finance and Jordan Carney aswhich now includes the duties formally held by the Election Commissioner. The Election Commissioner position has not been budgeted since fiscal year 2010.

“I haven’t appointed the director of communication position yet,” Norris said. “I really want someone with a passion for the position. I don’t want the position just filled, I want it done well.” She is considering applicants still and had contacted some for a second interview. “I may select one of them or wait for new applicants,” Norris said.

Last Monday night was the last meeting of the 38^th session of SGA senate. History will record the members of the 38^th session as the first to put the campus-wide smoking ban on a ballot to get student’s input. Key members of the group going out of power and coming in agree that the issue is dead.

“I’m not going to do anything with the smoking ban,” SGA President-elect Alison Norris said. “I feel we already have the student’s answer.” She does support enforcing the present rules imposed on those who smoke on campus in order to address non-smoker’s complaints. The goal of SGA now seems to be to facilitate cooperation between those who smoke and those that do not want to be around the second hand smoke by enforcing the current rules.

Those rules include smoke free zones encompassing a 30-foot radius of all doorways and building ventilation intake vents. Smoking students readily point out that one of the problems with this policy is the location of the outdoor ashtrays. Most are located within the 30-foot boundary. Using the ashtrays places smokers within the 30-foot boundary and create complaints from non-smoking students who need to walk through those doorways.

On the other hand, the areas close to doorways are the ones that are littered with cigarette butts. Campus maintenance employees have placed ashtrays and butt cans next to the doorways to save money on labor to pick up the mess left by inconsiderate smokers. SGA President, Dillon Harp agrees that the future is better served with enforcement of current regulations concerning smoking on campus.

“We need better signage on campus explaining the rules and helping smokers understand where the areas are that permit smoking,” Harp said. “We have heard the student’s voice.” He also agreed with some of the issues mentioned in recent opinion articles printed in The Griffon News. He stated that he knows of no efforts to bring the issue back to the ballot box.

The SGA Director of Student Relations, Kelsey Corzine has a slightly different opinion. “I think the smoking ban would have been a good policy for Western’s students, but I’m glad the student’s voices were heard,” Corzine said. She feels that complaints will subside if smokers would just follow the rules.

But those rules don’t address the littering problem of those unsightly butts around campus at nearly every doorway. The litter issue alone could encourage administration to ban smoking on campus. Maintaining the appearance of campus grounds under the current budget constraints could force the issue. It may come down to a mandatory smoking ban if smokers don’t clean up their act.

Current SGA President Dillon Harp said that the most significant change to the constitution is the addition of a Student Bill of Rights.

“Essentially what the Bill of Rights is going to do is hopefully illustrate to the students that student government will be there to help with any problems they might have here on campus, be it in the academic realm or if they are having problems with their meal plans,” Harp said. “If they feel their services are being unjustly done to them, they can come to us.”

The Student Bill of Right lists 10 rights that Harp hopes student’s takes into consideration.

SGA President-Elect Alison Norris believes that the Student Bill of Rights is a good way for students to see what SGA stands for and what rights the students have.

“It’s good to have that on there because they know that this is what we represent and how we represent them,” Norris said.

Norris also said that during her term, SGA will have a grievance form for students to fill out if they feel any of these rights are being violated.

“Whether or not it can be changed or not, we can go back to the student and say, ‘this is why this is like this,’ or ‘this is how we can change it,’” Norris said.

Another change made to the constitution is the separation of Residence Council from SGA. Residence Council will now be a separate organization called Residence Hall Association. On April 18 , RHA will have to seek recognition from SGA as a current student organization. This also means SGA will no longer be funding RC or the new RHA.

Acting Director of Residential Life Sean O’Reilly said RHA will receive its funding from students living in the halls.

“Based upon the number of students who live in the hall, part of everybody’s housing cost will be provided for RA programming, hall improvements and now RHA funding,” O’Reilly said.

Currently RC receives $31,408 from SGA, most of which goes towards activity funding. Residence Hall Director Marqita Jones, who will advise RHA along with RHD Dany Thompson, said that RHA will take on a governance body more than it has before.

“Any polices [in the residence halls] that students disagree with, they can get together and write a proposal and give it to RHA and try and get some of those polices changed,” Jones said.

O’Reilly also added that RHA will give residential life more opportunities to foster leadership and give students more opportunities to become leaders.

As for SGA’s previously appropriated funds for RC, Norris and Executive Vice President-Elect Jacob Scott are currently looking into special projects that the money might be used for.

“We’re considering the prospect of University’s President Dr. Vartabedian to put forth a vision to the student government of possibly helping fund the construction of an amphitheater,” Scott said.

Scott said that an amphitheater would help community outreach as well as strengthening the community on campus.
Norris said that as president, she would like to find out what the students want the money to be used for before deciding on what the extra funds will go towards.

The first day of Norris’s administration, she plans to address the 2011-2012 budget at the April 18 meeting. Norris said that all students are invited to give their input.

“I’d love for lots of feedback,” Norris said. “I think we’ve come up with a good plan for the budget but different perspectives on it are always great.”

Harp believes that with these recent changes to the constitution have solved a lot of issues with “one final swing of the bat.”

Norris said that all the changes made were well though out and that it will be a few years before SGA proposes changes again, but there’s no guarantee.

“It all depends on who is in the position,” Norris said. “There’s a big possibility that it might not be changed for a while, but you know our track record. So, we’ll see.”

The new constitution, which was discussed in closed session during the Feb. 28 senate meeting, passed on a vote of 11-1. SGA refused to release a copy of the revised constitution by press time March 2. However, multiple sources have confirmed that the new constitution does not include Residence Council as a branch of SGA, but could not provide details of what will be done with their current $25,000-$30,000 budget.

SGA President Dillon Harp declined to comment on the details of the revised constitution until it was officially released.
Harp said that Senate and members of the executive board agreed to hold the discussion on the constitution in closed session.

“It was involving personnel matters, so they felt it was the best move,” Harp said.

Parliamentarian Jacob Scott said that students could have spoken about changes to the constitution before the meeting became a closed session. Scott also said that the Senators were acting as the voice of the students during the closed session.

“It says specifically in our constitution that we are the association and the association is defined as the students of Missouri Western,” Scott said.

Senator Nick McCutcheon, the single dissenting vote, believes that SGA hurried through the process of revising the constitution, but believes that closed session was necessary to discuss the specific changes to the constitution.

“I felt it was a bit rushed,” McCutcheon said. “Revisions were suggested a long time ago but I know for a fact that going into the meeting that not every Senator had looked at the most revised copy and I know for a fact that some senators probably voting without fully understanding some of the revisions or why they were made or what they really meant.”

McCutcheon also disagrees with certain sections of the revised constitution. In particular, McCutcheon feels that the 20 percent allocation to Student Affairs is taking the money out of SGA’s hands.

“To kind of use an analogy I see it as a parent telling their child ‘you earn a $100 allowance, I’m going to give you $80 and keep $20. Maybe I’ll spend it to help you with things like groceries or doctor’s visits,’” McCutcheon said, “the money will be used to benefit you, but I’m not going to allow you to choose how to spend that $20.”

McCutcheon said that he hopes students read the constitution carefully before voting on it.

“If students vote yes on that constitution then that tells me that they don’t mind the university using students’ money to fund things that should be funded through the university budget,” McCutcheon said. “If the constitution is approved then I’ll quit fighting it, but I’m positive there are other people out there feel the same way I do about it, maybe they just don’t understand it.”

This topic has been a sore spot for many students, particularly smokers, and now everyone will have the opportunity to read the new policy and determine whether or not to adopt it.

It is important to note before going any further that this cannot pass by a simple majority, two/thirds of those voting must be in favor to pass it. Once passed by the students, the policy will go before faculty and administration for approval–if approved the policy would go into effect Aug. 1, 2012.

Dillon Harp, SGA president, is excited about the tobacco policy and its placement on the ballot for a student vote.

“What I hope students get out of the process, is they get to vote,” Harp said. “This has been a topic that has been around campus for the last couple of years and now is the opportunity, they get a chance to say yes, we want to go tobacco free or no, we want to keep the status quo.”

Student Governor Peter Gregory said that the policy is being created to promote a safe and healthy environment here at Missouri Western.

The policy also includes electronic cigarettes, and Gregory gave his reason on why the decision was made to include a tobacco-less product within the policy.

“Electronic cigarettes have the same addictive characteristics as traditional cigarettes,” Gregory said.
The enforcement within the document is left vague as it states that employees and students are encouraged to communicate this policy.

The policy alludes to the student code of conduct, which if handled as Gregory said, is intended to be in line with the current alcohol policy and could eventually spell expulsion for repeat offenders.

Another major issue at hand with this policy is the enforcement for faculty and staff. Western obviously has a student handbook to guide us in disciplinary issues for students, but the same is not available for tenured contract employees of the university, at least not for student perusal.

Many students like Kirk Gries, a senior studying sociology, feel that the logical changes for the policy would be to add smoking shelters.
“If they want me away from the buildings, give me a shelter to get out of the rain,” Gries said.

Gries was strongly opposed to the idea of the university implementing a policy banning tobacco and related products. Like Gries, many students also question whether this would include smoking inside their personal vehicles while on campus.

“I can’t smoke in restaurants, I just about can’t smoke in any bars, and now the college is trying to tell me I can’t smoke outside while I’m at school,” Gries said. “I’m going out to have a smoke.”

Student Senator Nick McCutcheon said that his personal views were irrelevant because the policy was going to be voted on by the students. McCutcheon did say that one of the best aspects of the policy was the cessation, which would help those seeking to quit the help they need.

“I’m interested to see if the students understand the scope of this and how big it is,” McCutcheon said. “I’m also interested to see if they’re going to fight because I know there are a lot of students that have very strong opinions on this.

The SGA discussed in their weekly meeting whether the decision in granting the Fellowship of Christian Athletes $750 for the streamers thrown in Western’s loss to Northwest last Saturday was appropriate.

The SGA was under the assumption that the FCA was to hold the streamers until the end of the game and throw them only if the Griffons won. The streamers were thrown after the Griffons first basket and a technical foul was called.

The SGA expressed their desire to help organizations around campus become involved and start traditions, but this may have been a waste of $750 and an unnecessary technical foul.
Some members of Alpha Sigma Alpha were present at the meeting to appeal the FOC decision to only grant them $1,225 which is $630 short of them being able to send the 31 of its members wishing to attend their district days in Kansas City, Mo. All organizations are allowed a maximum of $2,500 per year for activities, conferences and events. No one from the
FOC was present to object the appeal of ASA.

Steve Wichern, an SGA senator, gave a speech in affirmation to allocate the extra funds to ASA.

“We need to help organizations trying to better themselves,” Wichern said. “Because no one is here to speak on FOC behalf; their silence is compliance.”

The SGA approved the ASA appeal and granted them the additional funds needed.

Nick McCutcheon, SGA senator, is glad the SGA sided with Alpha Sigma Alpha and granted them the additional funds they needed.

“It is the organizations money anyways and if they don’t use it it’s just going to sit there,” McCutcheon said.

In the absence of SGA President Dillon Harp and recently resigned SGA Executive Vice President Robin Ussher, Senator and Parliamentarian Jacob Scott has run the last two SGA meetings.
Scott states that he has enjoyed the experience of being the presiding officer over the SGA meetings and has learned a lot from it.

“The experience of the last two meetings is wonderful and only affirms my confidence in my ability to be a great choice for Vice President,” Scott said.

According to SGA President, Dillon Harp, students were informed on Jan. 28 that candidate applications were due Feb. 4 via Campus Announcement on Goldlink. Because of the snow days last week, the deadline was pushed back to Feb. 11. Posters announcing the original deadline were put up around campus.

“As far as I know, they were up before we got the snow last week,” Harp said.

Students are constantly bombarded with email from Student Affairs, concerning events put on by SGA, WAC, RC, the CSE and the CME. Bulletin boards are overstuffed with too much information. So much information is going out that little of it is absorbed. Kathy Kelly of Student Affairs acknowledges that communication from SGA to the students is an ongoing problem.

“We’re trying to find a good way to get the information out to the students,” she said.

Students receive so much email from Student Affairs that most of it is deleted without ever being opened.

“Most of the time I ignore it,” junior Steven Brown said.

Alison Norris, SGA’s communication director, addressed the lack of publicity surrounding the election process.

“I’m not sure why it’s not publicized more,” Norris said. “That’s just the way it’s been the past couple years.” Norris is currently in the running for the SGA presidential election.

Harp offered an explanation as to why so little notification surrounded the candidacy process.

“Trying to get the word out there is very important,” Harp said. “We just get caught up sometimes in the work that we do, and sometimes we just need to focus a little more attention on that. The reason Alison,  I think, said that ‘that’s the way it’s always been,’ is just because we always get working on projects and this seems like we come into this semester, and we’re already five weeks in, and we’re talking about an election. I mean, this is only our second full term. So I guess it kind of just got caught up.”

The SGA budget this semester exceeds $500,000. This budget is largely sourced from fees paid by Western students.

“Hopefully, if people were to realize that, they would be more involved,” Harp said. “We do allocate 20 percent of our budget, almost $130,000, to Student Affairs.”

The Student Affairs portion of the budget includes, for example, the CME, the CSE and WAC.

“They’ve got plenty of money in [Western] Activities Council to use if they want to get involved in that, maybe do a battle of the bands or something,” Harp said. “You know, become a member of WAC and make something like that happen here on campus. I don’t know why more students aren’t involved in WAC, because that’s the one that I think people would have the most fun with, and see the direct benefits of.”

If students get involved in campus government, they will have more say concerning the allocation of funds.

“I think it’s just people don’t understand the potential that SGA has,” Harp said. “I think if students knew the possibilities that were out there, the resume builders, things like that, I think that more would get involved with it. Because it doesn’t cost anything to be a part of, it’s just a little bit of time.”

Harp is interested in recruiting more students for SGA.

“I’m hoping that, over the course of this semester that we can do a little bit more outreach,” he said.

Senior Robby Malone, currently an RA in the Suites, wants to become more involved on campus. He is in the process of completing his application to run for SGA President.

“I felt like if you weren’t in the organization, it’s like secretive,” Malone said concerning the announcement that SGA was accepting candidate applications. “They should have advertised it better.”

According to Harp, hiding the candidacy process from the student body was never the intention of SGA.

“I don’t think it’s a secret, and if that perception’s there, then I don’t want it to be,” Harp said. “It shouldn’t be like that. If anyone wants to be in SGA, it’s there for them. We’re just the voice of the students. We want everyone to become a part of it. I think just my response to that is: ‘We’ve got to do a better job of advertising.’ Because it’s not a secret.”

Focus groups will be formed to provide feedback on the proposed changes before both policies are drafted and placed on the ballot.
“It’s our goal to get student opinion on both of these issues,” SGA Director of Communication Alison Norris said.

Student Governor Peter Gregory has been working with SGA, Senate and Administration to research both issues since earlier in the fall semester. A resolution stating that SGA supported the pursuit of an initiative to make Western tobacco free passed in the Senate Nov 1.

While the resolution passed unanimously, it was not without debate. Some senators felt that SGA should not have stated their stance on the issue without receiving student feedback.

“I felt that we should have had the students develop the policy,” SGA Director of Finance Colin Hoffman said. “It sends the wrong message. It seems like we’ve already decided what we want to do before we put it to a vote of the students.”

Gregory said the student focus groups will help SGA form a policy that meets the opinions of students.

“The purpose of the focus groups is to make sure that the policy reflects the opinions of the students,” Gregory said. “It’s the students developing the policy.”

His plan was to draft a preliminary proposal that he would present to the focus groups for their opinions.

“We expect to see some disagreement between the students, but it’s really about trying to find a happy medium and what’s best for the university and the students in the long run,” Gregory said.

The necessary steps between the beginning of the semester and March could prevent the measures from making it to the ballot, but Gregory said he was almost certain that at least the tobacco free policy would make it.

Gregory acknowledged that one of the biggest obstacles in drafting the proposal was settling on how the policy would be enforced if passed. Gregory also said that enforcement was the primary reason SGA wanted to go for a completely tobacco free policy rather than just smoke free or designated smoking areas.

“It is easier to comply if it is black and white,” Gregory said.

While talks with administration and health center officials were only preliminary, Gregory said the health center fee would likely be $25 for full-time students per semester. The cost was based on the co-pay that students are currently charged per visit to the health center.

“If a student were to use the health center once a semester, they would already get their money back,” Gregory said.

When the fee was initially proposed to the Senate, Gregory said that health center officials felt that they were not able to provide enough services to students with their current budget. The fee, which is charged by some other local universities, would allow for the center to be open more and possibly have additional staff.

“There are still a lot of details to work out,” Gregory said. “A large part of it has to do with changing the system of how they do things now, that’s our biggest obstacle now.”

Bill 35 to allocate $3,000 for the purchase and installation of two new televisions for the Food Court snuck its way onto the Senate meeting agenda Nov. 15 and passed 11-1 with one abstention.

The televisions were slated to replace two sets that were already in the food court. Senator Steve Wichern spoke as the bill’s sponsor and said that the hasty addition was due to the timely matter of the installation. The bill proposed that the televisions could be installed before students return from Winter Break.

“I think we need to get this done as fast as possible,” Wichern said.

Prior to that night’s meeting, bill sponsors were asked to have the proposals in three days before the bill was voted on. Bill 35 was written and presented to the senate without the Executive Board’s knowledge. In particular, before SGA Director of Communication Alison Norris was privy to the bill. Norris has formatted the bills and sent them to Senators and SGA members prior to past meetings.

The agenda was amended to include the bill and approved by the Senate. Though it was approved, the variation from typical procedures left some Executive Board members and Senators dissatisfied with the surprise addition. Senator Jeremy Filbert who voted against the bill said he feared that the late addition could damage the credibility of SGA’s procedures.

“Everything that we have is put in place for a freaking reason,” Filbert said. “If we circumvent that, then how the hell are we supposed to tell somebody else hey, you can’t do that? How are we supposed to govern them if we can’t even get our own shit straight? Shits not going to happen the way it’s supposed to if we start screwing up.”

Filbert had been working with Senator Jacob Scott on a student life act that has been proposed to include the addition of televisions to the Blum Union. Filbert felt that the bill went around the committee that he and Scott had formed and that he may have been more likely to vote for the bill had he known about it prior to the meeting.

“I didn’t know a damn thing about it,” Filbert said. “If they had come to me before and said ‘hey this is what we’re wanting to do,’ maybe I would have been a little more forthcoming with my vote on that one.”

Filbert said that he and Scott had discussed replacing the televisions in the food court, but he felt the addition of televisions to the cafeteria and union was more important.

“It was determined that why waste the money to replace those when the cafeteria doesn’t have any T.V.’s,” Filbert said. “Why are we wasting $3,000 to replace some damn T.V.’s in the food court when there’s nothing in the other two areas?”

SGA President Dillon Harp said that the procedures to add the bill to the agenda were legitimate and within SGA By-Laws, but that SGA expected more notice.

“What we’re trying to emphasize is that we do have deadlines for bills and resolutions and anything that’s going on with the agenda be turned in by Thursday,” Harp said. “We would like to see that precedent maintained.”

The allocated amount was based on purchase and installation costs for a television in the SGA office. Harp said that he felt the T.V.’s in the food court would not total $3,000.

“It isn’t a major expense,” Harp said. “He said $3,000. It’s going to be something that probably costs a third of that.”

The SGA budget presented at the last meeting of the spring could not be voted on since a majority of Senators were not in attendance. However, curiously enough, the lack of a quorum did not prevent the voting in of the Directors of Finance, Communications, and Student Relations in a closed session.

In order to have an approved budget for the fall semester the senate held an electronic vote via e-mail.

Parliamentarian and Student Senator Jacob Scott said that voting electronically forced a limited discussion on the budget but that it wasn’t in violation of the SGA constitution.

“As long as it’s not denied, it’s not necessarily allowed I guess but it’s not necessarily denied so I guess it’s kind of in a limbo state where we would have the ability to make a decision,” Scott said.

However, Robert’s Rules of Order, which SGA must follow “as a guide to govern the procedure and proceedings of all meetings,” denies the use e-mail as a way to hold meetings.

SGA President Dillon Harp disagrees with this interpretation of the constitution.

“Nothing in the constitution said that we couldn’t do an electronic vote and that is something that the Board of Governors does regularly,” Harp said. “Me being on the board for the past two years I felt like that as a good tool we could utilize over the summer that way we could get the ball rolling on the budget.”

However, the Board of Governors bylaws include a provision for the electronic meetings while SGA bylaws have no such provision. In addition the Board of Governors ratifies any electronic polls at their next meeting in accordance with the Robert’s Rules of Order website which states, “personal approval of a proposed action obtained from a majority of, or even all, board members separately is not valid board approval, since no meeting was held during which the proposed action could be properly debated. If action is taken by the board on the basis of individual approval, such action must be ratified by the board at its next regular meeting in order to become an official act.”

Nothing in any of the fall 2010 minutes indicates a vote was held to ratify the electronic budget vote.

The email sent to Senators calling the electronic meeting, the minutes of the meeting and the vote totals have not been posted to the SGA website and had not been sent to The Griffon News by press time.

SGA Vice President Robin Ussher could not be reached for comment.

As of Oct. 27 2010, the SGA budget was made available on their website. It can be found here

Director of Athletics Dave Williams explained the history of the fee that was approved by a student vote in the spring of 2006. Williams also described each line item of the budget that included capital facility improvements, game day promotions, admissions, concessions and other items related to fan experiences at games. A $460,000 payment toward a $5.5 million bond to pay for capital improvements occupied the biggest slice of the budget.

“A bond is just like the mortgage on a house,” Williams said. “For the next 20 years, that amount of the Max Experience money is committed towards those capital projects.”

The capital projects Williams spoke of were the addition of new athletic facilities and improvements to standing structures. Some requested additions included a concession stand, bleachers and rest rooms on the visitor’s side of Spratt Stadium. Chiefs’ officials told Williams that the bond and student commitment made training camp, which drew over 60,000 people to Western, possible.

Original proposals were drawn to use $2 million from the bond to pay just for the Spratt improvements and the construction of an on campus baseball stadium. With the Chiefs picking up part of the tab, Western gained a $3 million Spring Sports Complex and the Spratt improvements with only $1.2 million coming from the bond.

“We originally weren’t going to build a softball field,” Williams said. “We were able to keep the same student commitment and get everything that we have now.”

SGA has pushed to create transparency of student fees and members said they had heard varying reports from students on the fee, prompting the invitation to athletic officials.

“There is no sense in paying student fees if you don’t know where that money is going,” SGA President Dillon Harp said. “SGA, in general, should be the representatives of the students and go out and make sure that the student fees that each student pays go to the best possible use.”

SGA members voiced some student questions and concerns including the quality of concession items offered through Max. Williams said that discussions had already begun with Aramark to address that issue, but that there were some logistical concerns slowing the process.

Discussions between the two sides reached the idea to create a student advisory board for the Max fee that could help to promote the Max fee to students as well as educating them on what it provides.

Assistant Athletic Director Brett Esely agreed with Senators that educating the student body and promoting Max benefits had been a challenge and that a student board may go a long way to help promote the game day atmosphere.

“Maybe all that group does is talk about ideas, talk about what’s out there among the student body, are they getting our message, do they know what’s going on over here?” Esely said. “The pride in our events begins and ends with students because it’s their university,”

While students requested facility upgrades and improved game day experiences, Williams said he understood that some students do not attend athletic events and may not see the direct benefit of improved facilities.

“It’s the value to the entire university through things like the indoor field and things like the brand new spring sports complex,” Williams said. “The value of having them on this campus is that it increases the overall perception of Missouri Western. As they attract more students, they then increase the budget of the overall university so that everybody can have more things.”

The committee will be co-chaired by Athletic Director Dave Williams and Director of Athletic Facilities Mike Halloran, but President Robert Vartabedian is still in the process of designating committee assignments.

“There’s a lot to talk about,” Williams said. “First of all, it’s a very unique building. It’s unlike any other on campus.”

Unique not only to Missouri Western’s campus, says Halloran, but for any school of Western’s size in the state of Missouri. The university boasts the only indoor sports facility of its kind, which is what drew the Chiefs training camp there last summer.

“Literally a day after we were handed over the building the Chief’s camp started,” Williams said, “So for about 45 days we were 100 percent committed to running the Chiefs.”

After training camp ended, the fall semester started and left the university without the time to discuss guidelines for use of the facility. “We’re still trying to work out the details of how this thing works,” Williams said.

Currently the building is not available for open use by students, meaning students can’t go and use the facility without being a part of a university organization. The committee plans on discussing this issue, and designating days that the building will be open to student use. Halloran says that Tuesday and Thursday afternoons will most likely be designated as these “open-rec” times.

Halloran said that no one benefits from the building sitting empty, and if there is no group scheduled then he would prefer to have students using the practice field and indoor track.

“If it’s available and there’s nobody using, we want them to use it,” Halloran said.

Before that happens though, the committee needs to decide the rules for the students, along with who is going to handle security during these times, funding, insurance, and other issues.

Although the facility is not currently available for open use, it is used by students in other ways including intramural athletics and classrooms that use the building’s auditoriums and viewing rooms. Wonda Berry, campus recreation director, is in charge of intramural athletics and says that Halloran has been very open in allowing an intramural flag football league to use the indoor practice field.

“We’ve had some dates that we’ve had to cancel due to weather outside with thunder and lightning and he’s been really good so far to work with us on those dates,” Berry said.

If the intramural league was unable to use the facility it was because of scheduling conflicts, not out of worries of damage to the facility.“They are very adamant on making sure they take care of the facility, and I don’t blame them in that,” Berry said. She says that enforcing rules and responsible use is key to maintaining the quality of any athletic facility on campus.

Another big issue that the committee will discuss is the rental fee charged to non-university organizations that are using the building. Halloran said the projected operating budget of the indoor sports complex is $400,000-$450,000 per year, and as an auxiliary funded building he is responsible for covering these funds through rental fees. Currently the fee is $1,500 per day, but Halloran says the committee will review this number and make changes if it deems them appropriate.

Vice President of Student Affairs Esther Perález was on hand to clarify details surrounding the retirement of Non-Traditional Student Advisor Ellen Kisker and what, if any, changes would be made to the association and their center.

Perález said Kisker made the decision to retire after being asked to take over the position of Director of Student Life. Perález felt Kisker would be perfect for the position which would have allowed her to remain an advisor for the non-trads in addition to overseeing other student organizations.

In response to questions on the status of the association and center, Perález and Student Governor Peter Gregory referred to an email sent to students last week. The email described efforts to reorganize non-traditional services in an effort to make non-trads a more visibly active part of campus life.

Gregory stated that the association would be placed more directly under Student Affairs and that SGA had a responsibility to the non-trads.

“SGA has a responsibility to understand the situation and to understand how a non-traditional student feels about a particular issue,” Gregory said. “It is very important for that to take place so that the non-traditional students don’t lose the effectiveness of the services that they have been receiving.”

Perález added that the Dean’s Council had confirmed their commitment to the association and steps toward restructuring the center into more of an academic area had already begun. Non-Traditional Student and Student Senator Danny Drope confirmed the process by saying computers had been added to the center to promote studying.

“Instead of having it loud like it has been, it’s more like a study help center now,” Drope said. “We’ve got a separate section just for people to use the computers and study.”

The Senate also voted to move forward discussions on a proposed fee to students for use of the Esry Health Center.

Currently students only pay for services received from the health center but recently health center officials approached SGA about charging all students a flat fee. The proposed fee would be charged much like current SGA, yearbook and MAX Experience fees.

According to Gregory, health center officials feel their current budget is not allowing them to fully meet students’ health needs. The proposed fee would likely significantly increase the budget and possibly provide for the employment of a full-time staff. Currently the center’s staff is available for limited hours Monday through Thursday.

Senators and SGA Officers debated on the fairness of the fee based on student usage. Some members felt it would not be fair to students who have health insurance and do not visit the health center. Others felt that the fee may actually save students that use the center money and that the possibility of improved services may result in more students visiting the center.

SGA members stated that other local universities charge similar fees and had begun the process of researching those fees.
Senator Steven Wichern said he hopes that the senate will base their decisions on the fee on what the student body says instead of personal beliefs.

“I’m going to leave it to the students and hear what they think and base what I vote on what I hear from the students,” Wichern said.

SGA members also briefly discussed the possibility of offering prizes for voting on measures such as the proposed fee. The idea to award students for voting was partially in response to low voter numbers for last year’s technology and recycling program vote.

In light of the decision at our Maryville neighbor to implement a no-smoking policy campus wide on August 1, several faculty and staff members were asked to weigh in on the issue.

Lonnie Johnson, director of facilities, thinks that the students will have to push this issue—if it’s going to happen in the near future.

“I think it’s a good thing [Northwest going smoke-free],” Johnson said. “When I got to Western in 1990, taking us to a smoke-free building campus was one of the first things I was involved in, and it’s been that way ever since.”

Johnson said that this issue [smoke-free campus] has come up several times since that occurred, and he believes that the students will have initiate a move to a smoke-free campus to make it happen.

Grpahic | Andy Inman

Johnson said that the smoking shelters have been discussed in the past, but he feels it’s a better policy to totally eliminate it and just have and end date set.

“I’m an ex-smoker and I always think cold turkey is the best way to go,” Johnson said.

Evan Noynaert, assistant professor of computer science, chaired an Adhoc committee for the faculty senate in 2008 and they discussed the smoking policy then. At the time they looked at the possibility of shelters at an approximate cost of $10,000 per shelter.

“I really don’t think that the shelters are necessary, the idea is that we want to discourage smoking not facilitate it,” Noynaert said.

Noynaert said that the majority of the committee did not want to go to the expense of the shelters, with the likelihood of Western going completely smoke-free in the future.

SGA President Dillon Harp feels “an issue of this magnitude” should come from the students, so that the policy reflects the wishes of the students.

“If student input on this is strong enough, there is no reason why this wouldn’t deserve a place on the ballot come spring time,” Harp said.

Harp feels that designated areas on campus would help to ease the transition to a totally smoke-free campus. Harp feels that shelters, similar to the one near the sand-volley ball court could be built as smoking shelters in the most populated areas.

“With the budget that student government has I think that is an issue that we can address,” Harp said.

Harp feels that if done properly SGA could facilitate this and said that in the future these shelters could be used for other purposes.

Harp thinks this will be something the state will eventually will force colleges and universities to implement as the push to be healthier increases.

“If a petition with 10% of the students signatures on it came forward, I would say that would be enough to put it on a ballot and take it to a vote,” Harp said.

The final tally for the vote was 299 to 309 for a total of 608 votes cast. On the surface, this looks like the fee was a close vote; however, according to Josh Rieken, SGA elections commissioner, a two-thirds majority was necessary for the fee to pass.

“Basically, we would have needed two yes votes for every no vote, so it really wasn’t close to passing,” Rieken said.

Graphic | Sara Baum

The page was up for about three or four days according to Harp, with the objective of alerting students to issues he and a few other student leaders saw as necessary information.

Harp’s involvement was limited to the Facebook page as he said he had little to do with any of the posters that were hanging on bulletin boards and walls all over campus. “I was made aware of it,” Harp said. “We (the person who made the posters) collaborated a little bit about it but I didn’t have the final say in it.”

Initially, Harp said that he was in favor of the fee, but that was before some of the changes and the removal of clauses protecting the students. The biggest clause removed protected the students from being hit with increases twice. The clause stipulated that if tuition is raised the fee would cease to exist and with its removal, so went Harp’s support.

After much thought and consideration Harp came to the conclusion that it was not in the best interest of the students to tax themselves for things, he feels, the university should be providing through tuition.

“Why should we be taxing ourselves for technology inside the classroom when that’s what tuition should be paying for,” Harp said.

Student forums informing students about issues and providing them with information about the fee were missing, according to Harp, but Rieken said that they decided not to do them for this fee.

“Some people said that we should have held forums, but the thing with those is usually people don’t go to them, so I don’t know how much of a difference it would have made,” Rieken said.

Harp thought otherwise. “Even if they [forums] are poorly attended, you have to at least provide that opportunity for the students,” Harp said. “Saying people aren’t coming isn’t reason to just not get out and educate them about it.”

Jerrod Huber, a senior majoring in English, didn’t vote and said that he basically depended on others not to pass it.

“If I was trying to get people to vote, I would get out and talk to them, get in the crowds where people are talking,” Huber said.

Harp feels strongly that Missouri Western State University should be addressing issues with technology to provide the best education possible. “If it’s [technology] really that bad we can justify it and take care of it the right way[tuition], instead of going through on these fees and taxing our students with all these separate individual fees, that we fee them to death.”

Harp was also worried this would have set a precedent for the students to address all issues on their own such as implementing a fee to replace desks in the classroom and other such issues.

Harp thinks that the university may have to rethink how they allocate money and said one of the biggest expenses is student labor. “I’m not saying I want to get rid of student labor or anything like that, but inside the computer labs—one of the biggest expenses they have is they spend $108,000 each year on student labor inside the computer lab,” Harp said. Harp feels that some if not all of that money could be going to provide for technology in the classrooms.

Joshua Todd, Student Government president feels that a smoking ban is out of the question for the campus mainly because of the residential halls.

“This is where people live. To just say, ‘you’re done’ to smokers on campus is going to cause more problems,” Todd said. “It’s a habit for these people; they’re addicted.”

Judy Grimes, dean of student affairs, holds strong that the issue of what to do about the conflict between smokers and anti-smokers should be dealt with.

“I think it was a great idea for the students to have the discussion and look at the pros and cons because it’s certainly not simple,” Grimes said. “But we know there are some major health issues related to smoking. We would like to have a campus of healthy students, faculty and staff.”

Todd and several SGA senators that attended a focus group last Wednesday, Oct. 5 discussed several ways to make both parties happy in this situation, such as banning smoking 15 feet in front of building doors. Enforcing this ban would be a problem for the university.

“You can’t enforce anything if it doesn’t exist,” Todd said.

The SGA has no authority to make campus policy, but by passing legislation, they can influence administrators to listen. Even if the 15 feet ban passes and becomes policy, SGA senators are worried that campus security would be too busy to enforce such a policy.

Jerrod Huber, a non-traditional student who serves as an SGA senator, led a group of non-traditionals who picked up an excess of over 1,000 cigarette butts outside of Murphy and Eder.

“It’s a problem,” Huber said. “I shouldn’t have to walk through noxious clouds of smoke to get to class at Murphy or Eder.”

Huber suggests that the SGA build roofing over the patios that the university has for smokers. Since the patios are set off on the side of the building, Huber also suggests that the SGA invests in signs to make the position of the smoking areas more clear.

Todd believes that the administrators will listen due to President Robert Vartibedian’s push for campus beautification and the amount of clout that this discussion has around campus.

“There is already enough concern and publicity about the anti-smoking group,” Todd said. “This group is taking initiative and I’m proud of them for doing that.”

 Calloway said that he looked for applicants who were especially focused on students and were engaged with issues on campus. “They also need to have writing capabilities and think on their feet pretty well; I looked for people who stood out in high school,” Calloway said. The chief objective is to make sure the seven citizen board members are aware of student issues and attend all the board meetings. Student Governor is a public position. The governor is an advocate in the community, attends community service events and lots of dinners. “Being well rounded is key,” Calloway said. 

 One of the finalists, freshman Megan Stahl, from DeKalb, MO says that she became interested in the position after she received an e-mail from a friend’s mother who works in the president’s office. “She told me to look into it,” Stahl said. On campus she works in the Student Service Office, where she is involved in registration. Stahl was active in her student council on high school, where she served as treasurer. Stahl also played basketball, softball, and ran track. 

Sophomore Dillon Harp also became interested in becomingStudent Governor after receiving an e-mail about the qualifications. He thinks he would like the job because it would allow him the opportunity to see the college campus from different perspectives, both as a student and as a board member. “Basically, I didn’t feel I was involved enough on campus, “Harp said. On campus Harp is a member of the Young Republicans and has just been appointed a position on the Legislative Affairs Committee. In high school Harp participated in Future Business Leaders of America, was inducted into the National Honor Society, served on the Senior executive committee, and was the co-captain of his football team. He is from Chillicothe, Mo.

The third finalist, Joshua Todd, is a freshman from Kansas City, Mo. Todd is presently a SGA senator hoping to get more involved on campus. Todd says that he’s always been interested in politics and even worked as in intern for congressman Sam Graves while in high school. He was also involved in DECA and ranked nationally in Forensics and Debate. “I really hope to be able to communicate with the Board of Governors and listen to the students,” Todd said.

The requirements for Student Governor aren’t particularly stringent. Students must simply be a Missouri resident, be involved on campus, have a minimum G.P.A. of 3.0, and have no existing felony charges. The process to select a new Student Governor, however, is far more rigid:

From the pool of candidates, the outgoing Student Governor selects three. The three applicants are reviewed by the Board of Governors where one is selected. The candidate travels to Jefferson City where he or she is confirmed by the state senate. After this, the candidate is appointed by the governor, (called a gubernatorial appointment, by the way.) And finally, the appointee is sworn in by a judge.

About his potential successors, Calloway said, “They’ll all do well, they’ll interview well, and hopefully, it will be a difficult decision for the governor.”

Kayla Wymore wanted to be president of RC because she felt she had the quality and leadership skills to fill the position. During her first semester as a member of RC, Wymore was the Programmer and National Communications Chair. These positions provided her with the tools and experience in organizational operations she needed to eventually become president. She has an enthusiastic attitude about her new position and is hard at work planning to make big things happen for the residents as well as the council itself.

Residence Council is an organization that works with all the residents in the halls to provide programs and assist students with needs and issues that may arise. RC was first established in 1971, and for the most part has been a low-key organization.

Former president Traci Haug said, “Since 2006 RC has grown from a laid back organization to being recognized on a national and regional level.”

Vice president, Samy Northcutt, wants to see more people get involved and make the on-campus experience better for everyone. Northcutt is in charge of looking for new programs to bring students.

“I’ve been asking people for new advice and I’m always looking for new suggestions,” Northcutt said.

RC bingo is one of the council’s biggest programs and has a huge turnout. In the past they have given away laptops, IPODS, televisions and other prizes.

Student member Jordan Baumgartner said, “You might win, you might not, but it’s a lot of fun and a great social time for RC.”

Jen Kacere is the residence hall director and advisor for the organization. As a hall director, she works closely with the front desks of the residence halls to oversee all concerns and to handle anything that needs to be dealt with. Kacere works with students in the Living Learning Center and her plans are to continue to develop the first year experience. She wants all first year students to enjoy being here, “and come back to a place they call home,” Kacere said. 

All active members of RC want more people to get involved with the organization. They send out newsletters to let everyone know what RC is doing. Every hall has a government and they want the presidents of these halls to be more active about the things each hall wants or needs to change.
The council is a great experience and can be a fun social event.

 “My main goal is to get a well-rounded and diverse senate that are very opinionated and don’t share the same ideas,” SGA Vice President Jennifer Kohler said. “I would also like to see SGA build a better relationship with faculty and administration.”

 The organization recently combined positions on the executive board to make it smaller and to give the remaining positions more work to make their duties more valuable.

 “For this term we appointed three executive board members,”  SGA President Harold Callaway said. “This goes a little bit against the constitution but it makes their jobs worthwhile.”

 The motive of combining positions was to make the executive board more effective and helped save more money.
 “I think combining positions was a great idea,” Director of Student Relations Stephanie Gromowski said. “Not only does this give me more work to do but this also saves SGA money.” 

 The senate would like to see more involvement among campus. One technique to get more students involved is the Student Involvement Program (SIP). The program is waiting to be approved by the senate.

 “We are wanting to start the SIP to get students more involved,” Kohler said. “For example, if a student goes to a football game they will have their student id scanned. Their name will then go into a drawing pool for the spring concert where names will be drawn and prizes will be handed out.”

 One project that is in the making is the idea of a flag way. This would be a row of flags lined up at the main entrance of the university to show the different countries where some of our students are originally from.

 SGA is also trying to find more ways to let the student body know what the organization is all about and to retain more senators. The senate body currently sustains about 23 senators and can hold a total of 40 senators. They are looking to increase the number of senators, Callaway said.

 “I possibly would like to be able to write a short column to the Griffon News each week letting the student body know what senate is working on,” he said. “This would be similar to a note from the president’s desk.”

On Nov. 13, Herrington and running mate Emily Feger filed a formal grievance to the Election Commission claiming Harold Callaway and his supporters illegally canvassed Vaselakos Hall in an effort to gain votes in the election. The grievance was later addressed by the Commission the Tuesday following the elections, which Callaway and running mate Jennifer Kohler won by 83 votes.

According to Election Commissioner Katy Schwartz, “No violation of any of the Student Government election rules was made.”

Herrington said the grievance was filed because the activities performed by Callaway were in direct violation of the Student Handbook.  Herrington believed the Commission should have voided the results of the Nov. 14-15 election and should hold a second election. 

When Callaway and his supporters attempted to distribute election information in the residence halls, Herrington said they violated the policy regarding solicitation in the residence halls. 

The policy states: “Official registered campus organizations wishing to canvass door-to-door must request this at least 7 days in advance to Residence Council. Canvassing for sales/profit is prohibited. If approved the organization must contact the front desk in the area in which they wish to canvass.”

Callaway argued that that while he and his supporters did talk to students in Vaselakos Hall about the SGA elections, he said he felt he did not directly violate the policy because he was not an “official registered campus organization.”  Also, Callaway said since he was not selling anything for profit, he was also not in direct violation of the solicitation policy.
Herrington said he and Feger would have dropped the complaints if they were allowed to canvass the residence halls on Wednesday Nov. 14, to have the same opportunity already taken by their opponents. 

Cindy Heider, interim assistant provost and vice president of academic and student affairs and faculty advisor for the SGA, said that after contacting Michael Speros, the director of residential life, the distribution of materials was stopped and the items removed.

Herrington said in an e-mail to Heider, “It is entirely unfair, that we followed the rules and policies, and did not have an opportunity to talk to any residents, while our opponents disobeyed the policies, and talked to those residents.”  Herrington then continued to ask for something to be done, “to either punish the students responsible, or to allow us an opportunity to equal the playing field.”

After the election, student G-numbers were pulled to tally exactly how many students in Vaselakos voted each candidate.  Fewer than fifty people voted for Callaway and Kohler but Herrington believes this is irrelevant.

“Living in the residence halls is an incubator of student involvement/awareness,” Herrington said. “It would only take 42 students in V-Hall to influence the election since each one could have easily reminded on friend to vote.”

The Election Commission was composed of the Election Commissioner Schwartz, Katrina Trammell, Amanda Williams, Armande Willis and Tyson Malone.  It is the Election Commissioners duty to choose an even number with at least four members of the student body to serve on the Commission.  Herrington and Feger raised concerns about the make-up of the Commission due to the fact that Schwartz and Trammell were both members of Alpha Sigma Alpha, the same sorority as Kohler.  Feger said all concerns addressed to administration were deemed invalid and she was told they were not allowed any changes.

After the grievance filed was found not to be in violation of election rules, Commission member Williams said if Herrington and Feger still felt there were violations of the Student Handbook, they would need to speak with administration and the dean of student development.
Herrington and Feger have filed an appeal of the Election Commission’s decision to the Student Court.  The Court will hold a hearing Thursday, Dec. 6.

Callaway and Kohler beat their opponents Luke Herrington and Emily Feger in the SGA elections held Nov. 14-15 by 83 votes. They will replace the current SGA President Natalie Bailey and current SGA Vice-President Herrington. This was the first fall election at Missouri Western.  The last election was held in spring 2006 where the student body voted on constitutional changes that included changing voting dates.  Bailey and Herrington served the only three-semester term at Missouri Western.  This year’s ballot did not include any Constitutional changes. 

Herrington and Feger filed a formal grievance claiming violations in the Callaway/Kohler campaign, but the Election Commission found no violations of the election rules.  Herrington currently has an appeal pending with the Student Court.
“I’m ready to take office and get this Election Commission stuff behind us,” Callaway said.  Callaway and Kohler began their transition to office Monday Dec. 3.

Students also elected Western Activites Council President Janel Banks and Vice President Branford Lomax Nov. 14-15.  This will be Banks’ second term as WAC president.  She ran unopposed this election.  Twenty-six senators were also elected at the same time.

Residence Council’s 2008 President Kayla Wymore and Vice President Samy Northcutt were elected the following day on a separate ballot.

Callaway said he believed campaigns were the key to getting votes.

“It’s obvious we hit the campaign trail harder than the opposition did,” Callaway said.

His campaign “Working With, Not Against,” focused on students and their needs. The Callaway/Kohler campaign wanted to work on reducing the cost of textbooks and allocating money to better food options through work with dining services.  Callaway and Kohler also hope to implement SIP: Student Involvement Program.

This proposed program would increase student involvement on campus while giving away incentives to students.
“We’re hoping to get people out to more events through SIP,” Callaway said.

Some of the propositional incentives for SIP include drawings for things as small as flex dollars and gift cards to local businesses to giving away shopping sprees and even the possibility of a lease on a new car.  Students would be able to enter at all events attended throughout the semester. Drawing for top prizes would be at Spring Concert where students must be present to win.

SIP was an idea crafted by Callaway and supporters before elections began, but Callaway found an even more important reason for SIP while talking to students during his campaign.

“There are so many people that had never heard of SGA before and I had to explain to them what it was,” Callaway said.
Junior Dustin Strickler campaigned for Callaway and Kohler and made the same discovery.

“The first question I would ask someone is if they knew about the SGA elections and three-fourths said ‘no’,” Strickler said. “The second question was if they knew what SGA was and still I’d get the same response.”

Callaway has been the Missouri Western’s student governor for the past four semesters and has served in SGA for two separate administrations.

“I plan on breaking the stigma and making sure people know we do is vital,” Callaway said. He said he hopes his platform and SIP will minimize any past downs and increase the ups.

“Hopefully we’ll implement something future administrations will want to continue also,” Callaway said.

Strickler said he knew Callaway would be a great front-runner and he wanted to support him from the beginning.

“It’s always great to see someone with a smile on their face no matter the situation,” Strickler said.  “He has great relations with administration, he’s a well-rounded guy and he’s always looking fresh in his three-piece suit and power tie.”

Callaway’s term as Student Governor ends this semester.  In January the position will be vacant until Gov. Matt Blunt chooses a replacement from three candidates. Currently there is only one interested candidate.
 

The candidates that are running are Luke Herrington and Harold Calloway for president, and Emily Feger and Jennifer Kohler for vice president. This election will also permit students to vote on constitutional issues such as the amendment that the SGA holds.

SGA is encouraging that students vote on the issues and the positions that will be filled. Katy Schwartz, chief of staff of Student Government Association said by permitting student to vote on constitutional matters such as the SGA amendments students are given a voice and are allowed to take a stand on what they believe should be changed, omitted and or added.

“ I hope that a lot of students come out and vote so that their voice can be heard,” Schwartz said. “My expectations are that students will come out and vote, because we are here for the student body and we want to hear thier voice on things that matter to them.

Not only do the current members of SGA have high expectations for this election, but candidates do as well. Herrington, one of the candidates for president, made an appearance at the NAACP meeting and introduced himself to the organization and its members. He spoke with the students about the elections and confronted any concerns that the students had.

Acting dean and SGA Advisor, Cynthia Heider said it is important for students come out and vote on the issues the new SGA leaders.
“This is an election for and by the students,” said Heider. “As administration I am not allowed to intervene and say what should and should not happen.”

Heider also said that the entire student body should be involved in the elections, so their point of view is taken, or at least considered by the elected president and the those working with the president on certain issues that deal with the student body.

Schwartz said when students are voting it will be beneficial for them to know that Herrington and Feger are campaigning with one another while Calloway and Kohler are campaigning with one another.

Voting will be available Nov. 14 and 15 online only. As students, they will also be able to vote on Western Activities Council’s President and Vice President, and Residence Council’s President and Vice president.

The issue of SGA t-shirts was first introduced by SGA president Natalie Bailey during the executive board reports in the opening of the meeting. According to Bailey, each fall semester the SGA prints t-shirts as a marketing tool for recruiting new students and creating interest in the organization.

 This fall however, the request was denied by SGA adviser and interim assistant provost and vice president of academic and student affairs Dr. Cindy Heider based on a standing policy which states advisers must approve organization expenditures which exceed $1000.
The proposed t-shirts would have had an image of a closed fist with pinky and index finger extended, similar to the Texas University “Hook ‘em Horns” gesture and the phrase “SGA Rocks.”

Heider stated in the meeting that the request had been denied due to conflicting definitions of the proposed hand image, and because of confusion about the t-shirts having been for SGA week.

“It has nothing to do with SGA week; that’s when we hand them out. I’ve said that repeatedly, and I don’t know why that concept hasn’t gotten through,” Bailey said.

Dr.Heider clarified her stance on the issue, explaining the absence of an affiliation with an event was a problem.

“You target market,” said Heider. “You tie it in with something to get the most for the money. You don’t just give away t-shirts- to give away t-shirts, that’s not good marketing.

Another issue in open discussion was the question of Katy Schwartz scholarship support as SGA chief of staff which the senate has supported.
Early this fall, Heider came across the absence of administrative approval for the new constitution which the SGA had voted to approve in April 06 rendering it invalid and forcing the SGA to revert to the old constitution which reduced Schwartz scholarship support from one third to one quarter.

Schwartz addressed Heider directly at the meeting, “You vetoed this senate’s support of my scholarship when in fact I’m doing everything I should be paid one third tuition and fees for doing. If you want me under the old constitution, then my job diminishes. If you want the extra responsibilities, you can have them,” Shwartz said. “This senate supports me, and you clearly don’t.”
Bailey believes that changes will be made to the way that SGA functions once meetings with Scanlon and Bragin have concluded. In response, Jasmine, president of MWSU chapter of the NAACP said, “No one is going to get anything done on campus. Our students are the ones suffering and that is totally and utterly wrong,” as she walked out of the meeting followed by three other SGA members.

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.

Missouri Western is the only public university in the state that employs commissioned officers that do not carry guns.

Beth Wheeler, Director of External Relations, spearheaded the task force that collected the information from outside
entities such as the Loan Executive Management Assistance Program (LEMAP) of the International Association of College
Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA), who visited campus and made recommendations to improve the safety of campus.

“It started because Public Safety wanted to provide a safer atmosphere on campus,” Wheeler said.

In the fall of 2005 the Department of Public Safety submitted a grant requesting funding to get an external review of their
policies, procedures and tactics with the purpose to make the campus safer. After the grant was approved, the Public Safety Task
force was constructed, consisting of Wheeler; and students such as SGA President Natalie Bailey; SGA VP Luke Herrington; NAACP President Jasmine Pasley; with faculty members Kip Wilson, Criminal Justice; Michael Speros, Director of Residential Life; and Trevor Brown, Public Safety officer.

Along with the recommendation that Public Safety carry weapons, the people from LEMAP also suggested that officers receive additional training in cross-cultural communications, beyond the minimum required to become a commissioned
police officer. The additional training is aimed to mend the apparent rift between the DPS and minorities
on campus.

“A lot of the issues that the minority community and DPS are having are usually more communication problems. Sometimes
it’s an issue of stereo typing and the stigma that is carried with being a minority on this campus,” Jasmine Pasley, president
of Missouri Western’s NAACP chapter, said. “It’s still a hot topic, but I think that they’re having a better understanding,
and maybe something can be rectified with communication.”

Not only will arming the public safety provide them with tools needed to respond to a threat, it will cut back on DPS’s reliance
onthe St. Joseph Police Department during critical situations.

 “I hope it means we can stand alone and be a community without having to call in our neighbors all the time to come in and assist us,” Wheeler said.

Wheeler went on to explain that students are not the threat. The threat comes from people outside of campus that see the community as easy prey.

“Many of the encounters with weapons and (fighting) is not with western students, it’s with others that come on to campus who think it’s a nice place to cruise, or to offer you items for sale,” Wheeler said.

The Public Safety Task Force will be holding open meetings throughout the week for students and faculty to learn more about their findings and voice an opinion. The meetings are as follows:

• Tuesday, Oct. 2 at 9:30 a.m. –Open Staff/ Administrations Forum Spratt 110

• Tuesday, Oct. 2 at 3 p.m. –Open Faculty Forum Spratt 110

• Tuesday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. –Open Student/Residence Council Forum in Commons

• Wednesday, Oct. 3 at 3 p.m. –Open Staff/Administrator Forum in Spratt 110

• Thursday, Oct. 4 at noon –Open Student Forum in Eder 208

• Thursday, Oct. 4 at 4 p.m. –Open Faculty/Faculty Senate Forum in Blum 220

• Wednesday, Oct. 10 at 1:30 p.m. –Staff Association Meeting in Spratt 208

SGA’s new advisor and Interim Assistant Provost and Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs,  Cindy Heider, said she came across the absence of administrative approval while familiarizing herself with the processes of the organization prior to the SGA constitutional convention scheduled for Sept. 16.

“Some resolutions were still in a kind of a limbo, and we needed to make sure they were getting formally approved or that they were being revised,” Heider said. “But I couldn’t find anywhere that the most recent constitution had actually been approved at the administrative level.”

She then approached Provost and Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs Joseph Bragin with the issue.  Heider said Bragin wanted to make sure the constitution had the authority and the approval so that it could operate and there wouldn’t be any question on what is and is not allowed.
 
SGA Vice President Luke Herrington believes the constitution was adequately approved because the current Dean of Student Development at the time, Paul Shang, had to have signed it because elements in the new constitution such as the existance of the Student Court were printed in the Student Handbook, which is published by the dean’s office. Herrington believes that since the student body approved the constitution more than a year and a half ago and no one has raised objections, then the administration must know and should recognize without question that these changes have been in place. Herrington assumes the constitution was lost on its way to the Vice President because of transitions made between former Vice President David Arnold, Interim Vice President Jeanie Daffron and eventually Bragin.

Herrington also believes that regardless of where the constitution was lost, it would have been made valid by the dean of student development’s signature alone. Every previous constitution was approved after a student body vote, a signature by the SGA president and a signature from the dean of student development.  None of the previous constitutions has required signatures from the provost and president.  In addition, there is nothing in The Handbook or the Missouri Western Policy Guide that mandates the additional two signatures.  Still, Heider and Bragin both argue that the constitution is illegitimate because it is lacking two additional signatures from the provost and university president.

“I think a lot of this is tied up with the SGA fee that’s been instituted, and the SGA really has to be sensitive to the fact that since they have the ability to recommend allocations of money and things like that that there is going to be more scrutiny over what they do and how they do it,” Heider said.

The SGA fee was implemented in fall 2003 and gave SGA the opportunity to spend over $400,000 on the students. Herrington feels the students should have the right to spend their money as they wish.
 
“They are trying to treat us like one of their departments…which has to do whatever they say,” Herrington said. “They are not letting us properly represent the students, which is what we are supposed to do. We are not supposed to be a tool of the administration.”
With the fear of the constitution truly being illegitimate, senators contested that their positions would all be invalid as well.

Under the previous constitution, the Articles of Association, SGA would be reduced to 20 senators, the Student Court would not exist, and the terms of office of the executive members would have expired this past spring after an election held in April.

Since an election was not held in April, under the Articles of Association, the only legitimate member of SGA would be Student Governor Harold Callaway because his office is appointed by the state of Missouri.

Heider confirmed that SGA is a recognized organization on our campus and that they have a constitution.

“We continue to have a smooth operation,” Heider said. “We didn’t want this to be disruptive in any way at all. We are just asking them to update their constitution and have it have re-approved.”

Though some changes were proposed at the constitutional convention Sunday, SGA plans to continue with the convention forum in October.

“The convention is a regular effort by the student body to update their constitution,” Heider said. “And I think they can reaffirm the parts they believe are still current and update the parts that they would prefer to have changed and then we can move that forward.”

But there is a new name on campus, and the Western Activities Council is the new moniker for CAB.

Emily Feger, who is a WAC board member, said that CAB is an overused word.

“WAC reflects our change to our university and student campus life,” Feger said. “We are trying to up things because nobody comes to our events. With WAC, more students will pay attention to it.”

The panel of the organization got together and made a decision to come up with a new name. Many names were discussed, but they didn’t quite fit the campus demographics. WAC was chosen out of all the other names because it was more personalized.

Once a decision was reached, the organization panel brought the suggested change to SGA, which approved it. Then it was up to the student body. Students were able to vote online for the approval of the name change, and it was passed.

So, CAB is now officially WAC, and not all students like the new name.

Sophomore Baron Bradshaw said that the name is WACK, and that they should have kept CAB because that’s what everyone knows.

“I think they should have stayed with CAB because that’s what everyone knows,” Bradshaw said. “The next three classes are still going to think of it as CAB. WAC is going to be the butt of all jokes.”

Junior Kristin McKinney is another student who thinks that changing the name is not going to bring about more students, but only limit them.

“If they want a better turnout with their activities, do something that every student could relate to,” McKinney said. “They need to reach out to a broader audience.”

But it’s a little too late for the students who don’t like the name. Feger is confident that the new name was the right thing to do.

“CAB is really old; everybody in the country uses it,” Feger said.

The Student Government Association at Missouri Western has recently launched a program to help college students save some money at many area restaurants and retailers.

“The Student Government Association initiated this program,” SGA President Natalie Bailey said. “It’s a national program, and we were able to bring it here. I think it is a really good thing. It offers discounts to all students and faculty with a current ID. It’s a good deal because it can also be used at Maryville and UMKC.”

The program is called the Student Savings Club and is now available to all students, faculty and staff at no cost. By simply showing a current school ID when making a purchase, the cardholder will receive the discount or a special that is being offered at that certain establishment.

“We give 10 percent off of all menu items excluding alcohol,” said Jeremy Leer, manager of Uncle D’s Sports Bar and Grill. “We haven’t noticed much feedback so far, but we hope to get the word out to get more students in here.”

Many businesses see this as a win/win situation for the customer and the business.

“In the bowling area, we offer the buy one game and get one game free during open bowl, and in Legends we offer the buy one entrée and get one entrée free,” said John Inscho, general manager at Belt Bowl and Legends Sports Bar and Grill. “Not many students have taken advantage of this deal yet, but we are hoping to get more business from the college students.”

The SGA is doing what they can to get the word out about the Student Savings Club.

“I think if students don’t know about this program by now, they will know soon,” Bailey said. “We are really pushing this with flyers, facebook and e-mails to the student body. Once it warms up, we will be writing on the sidewalks with chalk to let students know about the discounts available to them.”

The students who have already gotten the word are excited to have this program working in their favor.

“I think this is a great program to offer to college students,” freshman Mickey Lindsey said. “Being a broke college student sucks sometimes, so just knowing there are some places to go where you can show your ID and get a discount is pretty cool.”

Students can get a list of all the retailers and discounts offered by going to www.studentsavingsclub.com. Some around St. Joseph include: Ground Round, Houlihan’s, Legends Bar & Grill, Nelly’s Mexican Food, Rib Crib, Uncle D’s Bar & Grill, Belt Bowl, From You Flowers, Bliss Salon, Drury Inn, and Holiday Inn.

Western’s Student Senate released student ID card discounts, approved $1,500 in funding for new bulletin boards, decided to sponsor a blood drive and approved the Campus Activity Board changing its name to Western’s Activity Council.

Faculty and students can now receive discounts at several St. Joseph area businesses just by showing their Western ID cards. These businesses are in the above inset box. A number of other schools in the state, including Maryville and Kansas City, are participating in this program. If a Western student travels to one of these cities, they can receive the same discounts that particular school receives. For the list of the discount amounts please visit www.studentsavingsclub.com.

Senate approved a $1,500 cap for funding of new bulletin boards. At the time of the meeting, the senators thought they were buying 10 bulletin boards at $120 a piece from the company Brown Mannschreck. Kathy Kelly of the student development office, who ordered the bulletin boards, says it may end up costing more.

“There is a little bit of a hang up right now,” Kelly said. “What they approved was not the prices I got. The nicer bulletin boards will cost a little more.”

Western is still expected to receive nine to 10 bulletin boards. The boards are expected to be shipped in the next two to six weeks. The executive board has picked what were the most popular sites for posters and is planning to place the boards there.

Moving on to other business, the SGA is sponsoring a community blood drive on April 25 from 10 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. on the first floor of the Blum Union Lounge.

SGA President Natalie Bailey takes these decisions seriously. “We are in the process of promoting it right now,” Bailey said. “SGA has not sponsored a blood drive in three or four years.”

One other issue approved was CAB becoming WAC. CAB changed its name to WAC, Western’s Activity Council, to breathe new life into the name of the organization.

“When we went to NACA, we saw other schools weren’t called CAB,” CAB President Janell Banks said. “The name was getting old. We wanted to personalize the name.”

SGA also recognized two groups as official Western organizations. MWSU Student Council of the International Reading Assocation became an official organization. It promotes literacy to individuals from elementary to high school. They meet the first Tuesday of every month at 2 p.m. in Murphy 112. Zeta Phi Beta was recognized as an official Western organization, too.

As another order of business, Tim Schaffer was removed as a member of the Financial Oversight Committee.

In last week’s issue, Margaret Slayton wrote an informative article on the research database: J-STOR.

However, some information was lacking, and I would like to bring to light, the series of events that took place in order for this program to be available. Many members of the faculty have lobbied the Library for years, hoping their efforts would result in the purchase of J-STOR. Our professors recognized the program’s value and realized it would be a valuable asset. The faculty had all but given up though, believing their uphill battle was in vain. Their hopes were rejuvenated last year when the Student Government Association weighed in on the issue. Library Director Julia Schneider and Electronic Services Librarian Darrin Daugherty were invited to a Student Senate meeting, to discuss the potential for Western’s library to attain JSTOR.

The guests made it seem as if J-STOR was only used by doctoral students. After giving the students attending the meeting a barrage of excuses, they left the Senate as if they simply had no intention of purchasing the system. The SGA was alarmed to uncover data showing that MWSU was one of the only schools in the state without JSTOR.

It was even discovered that some high schools had the amazing resource.

The Senate’s Academic Affairs Committee started a petition drive at the end of last year, but fell short of five hundred students by only thirty signatures. It seemed that the supporters of J-STOR were dealt yet another defeat, when Professor Jonathan Euchner met with Director Schneider on behalf of the Department of Government, Social Work, and Sociology.

Dr. Euchner informed members of SGA that he and his colleagues were giving up, as it seemed the Library had no intention of getting the program.

The SGA and some pessimistic faculty members however, still had hope. Despite the defeats, and excuses, SGA continued to lobby the Library. It seemed the efforts paid off last semester when a trial edition was started.

However, something shady seemed afoot after the Library acquired the trial. No one knew it was there. In fact, it was only when an e-mail from the SGA sent to further research the  J-STOR issue, caused the library to inform the SGA Executive Board about the trial. A few mass emails were sent out to faculty and students, to prevent the program from being cancelled because its trial never had enough usage.

J-STOR being an important asset brings journal articles up automatically in PDF format.

For all practical purposes, when researching, there is no need to cite any website, because J-STOR is putting the real journal into the grasps of its users. This resource is a valuable addition to the Library. Students should not be misled though, to believe it was the hard work of the Library staff that resulted in the purchase of the program.

It took the hard work of a few determined faculty members and students to make it through J-STOR’s darker past.

The Student Senate was a sparse gathering at the last meeting as the senators discussed the lack of attendance at the SGA leadership retreat.

The retreat that was to be held at Bass Woods in Platte City, Mo was designed to stimulate camaraderie over a weekend of leadership training.

There were openings for 50 students.

Half that amount signed up, but only seven decided to attend.

Paul Shang, dean of student development, was to speak at the event.

“I was very disappointed,” Shang said. “We had a great group of presenters lined up and a very ambitious agenda and I just think it was very disappointing.”

The retreat was an open invitation to anyone involved in campus activities or interested in learning about leadership.

While all of the student senators that sent in an R.S.V.P. managed to show, 17 other potential leaders did not.

Luke Herrington, vice president of the SGA, was equally disappointed.

“My little lecture on people not showing up for the meetings was pretty important,” Herrington said. ”Because we need to make sure we have our senate full, and if not full, we need to make sure we have our senators here to make sure we are doing our best to represent the students.”

There are levels of accountability for the members of the SGA.

Student senators are only allowed to miss three meetings a term and missing an office hour counts as missing half a meeting.

“There has been a low turn out for quite some time,” Herrington said. “We can do better than this.”

That’s what Natalie Bailey, SGA president, said about the number of senators the Student Senate currently has, and the decrease the senatorial body faced since the beginning weeks of school.

At the end of the 2006 spring semester, 20 new senators were elected. A couple of weeks after the fall semester started, 18 more senators were appointed, leaving the number at 38. Since then, eight senators have left, resulting in 10 open seats for the Student Senate.

This decrease leaves questions in some people’s minds as to why there was such a reduction within the first quarter of the school year.

The Student Senate, the main representation and voice of the student body, is committed to serving the students at Western in the best way possible. That being said, how hard is it to fully represent a large body of people without a full senatorial body?

Luke Herrington, president of the Student Senate and vice-president of SGA, has decided that the Student Senate will continue on with its business despite the number of senators.

“It is important to have as many people as possible partake in discussion and voting to represent our studentbody to the best of our abilities,” Herrington said.

Herrington also said that with a lower number of senators comes a lower representation of the students.

“I think having a full body will only make it better,” Herrington said.

Several reasons contributed to the decrease in senators. Most were due to previous obligations and time commitments.

One nontraditional student was taking more than 18 credit hours with a family and a job. The requirement became too hard to fulfill. Other students had work and classes that wouldn’t allow for them to make it to the meetings.

One senator, Jeremy Funk, had to resign from Senate because of military duty.

“I left to go oversees, Funk said. “When I came back, they changed my days off.”

Unable to rejoin because of his working schedule, Funk said he would return if he could.

Herrington recalled that each year several students get weeded out in the first several weeks because of time commitments, class, work and other reasons.

“I think some people want to be active, and they just over- stretch themselves,” Herrington said. “I’m really glad that we still have more than 20 senators, and we’ve reached 3/4 of our goal.”

Bailey agrees that it is something that happens every year.

“I don’t see it as a problem,” Bailey said. “Of course we want to be at 40 senators, but we want people who want to be there.”

Forty people compared to 30 can cover a lot more of the student body.

“I’m not really worried about the senate,” Funk said. “I think as long as they keep promoting senate, they will get their numbers back. Once they get it out to the new people and promote it more, they will have upcoming members that will replace them. It’s a great organization that can cope very well with the members it has.”

SGA President Natalie Bailey and Vice President Luke Herrington were voted into office at the end of the 2006 spring semester. The two have a lot on their plate and are ready to dig in.

“I would say that the biggest goal that I can think of for SGA right now would be our town gown’ relations,” SGA President, Natalie Bailey said. “This is basically how we communicate with St. Joe and how they communicate with us. We’re really trying to get out there and do things for the community and that way the community in turn will do things for us.”

Bailey said that they are trying to get involved in St. Joe traditions like the Apple Blossom Parade and Light the Night.

“SGA has been trying to get a team together and we want as many students as possible to come participate with us,” Bailey said.

Bailey said that getting a better connection between the community and Western is one of her biggest concerns while in office. Another goal SGA wants to achieve is the completion the food court project.

“One of our main goals is trying to get the food court finished, get through the second and third phase,” Bailey said. “I don’t know when that’s going to happen but we’re pushing along trying to get that all taken care of.”

Herrington plays a dual role as both SGA vice president and the senate president. One of his main goals is to expand the senate to try and get more students involved.

“We want to increase the size of the student senate because having more students involved brings in a wider array of opinions, view points, etc,” Herrington said.

Herrington said one reason to expand the senate is to help sufficiently represent the student body.

Due to constitution changes voted on last year by the student body, Bailey and Herrington will have an extra semester in office.

“Instead of running from the end of one year through, now the term changes in January,” Bailey said. “So every president after us will go spring and fall. In order to get that track set we had to do a year and half to where we took office with the old term always halves and then we will go all the way until when the new term is.”

Herrington said one of his goals is to simply just survive the year and half in office.

“It’s going to be more work but it’s going to be more work in a good way,” Bailey said. “We have an extra semester to do things and we can make our mark on campus. So I’m really excited about having the extra time to really get some stuff done.”

Bailey said she wants to make sure that things are in place for future senates so that SGA can flourish and continue to be strong.

Some other goals that Bailey and Herrington have are trying to get more people involved.

“We’re just trying to get students involved. We want to find those student leaders, grab them and bring them into activities and things that we do, that way it’s not the same five people,” Bailey said. “We’re really focusing on it and trying to find new and innovative ways to get people to our things.”

Dean of Students Paul Shang said that it was wise choice by the student body to vote Bailey and Herrington into office.

“I think as far as knowledgeable students, students who are committed to the institution, students who are familiar with a wide range of different kinds of things that affect other students, they are wonderful and very experienced student leaders,” Shang said. “I think they are going to accomplish a lot.”

SGA is an umbrella for five branches: the executive branch, the legislative branch, Residence Council, Campus Activities Board and the new judicial branch.

With the changing of officers came some major changes in SGA as a whole.

After five months, nine drafts and many late nights, the Student Senate finally voted on a completed version of the constitution, which completely revamped SGA.

“There are too many changes to go through and name every single one,” said Luke Herrington, vice-president of SGA and president of the Student Senate.

The new constitution went from 17 pages of choppy, large paragraphs to a more user-friendly version that read easily and was more than tripled in size.

Student Senator Lindsay Moyer said the changes made SGA more organized and easier when it came to getting work done.

“The new constitution is easier to understand,” Moyer said. “It is giving SGA a positive outlook towards the future.”

The future was definitely one thing the senate had in mind while rewriting the constitution.

The two branches mainly affected by the transition were the executive the judicial branches.

The executive branch, which is comprised of the Student Senate, expanded from 20 senators to 40.

“It was felt that incorporating new members, more members, would offer more opinions, views and ideas when attacking problems,” Herrington said. “The senate never used to have a demographic break down based on certain types of constituencies, now it does.”

Two senators represent each class – freshmen through seniors, with six senators represent each college – Professional Studies and Liberal Arts and Science. The rest of the senators are at-large positions.

The second branch was largely affected by the revamped constitution. The judicial branch is a new branch implemented to provide students with an unbiased court. Previously, a special committee of student senators dealt with judicial affairs.

“I thought that was dangerous because if there were ever a controversial problem, we could have many conflicts of interest,” Herrington said.

The Student Court was established within the Judicial Branch and serves as the Supreme Court to SGA. It is the one organization that students cannot be members of while being part of another SGA organization.

Although the process of transition was long, Herrington and SGA president Natalie Bailey are very pleased with the results.

“The process was really exciting,” Bailey said. “Luke did a lot of the legwork, but it was really cool being part of the changes.”

“Our expansion efforts were our way to involve more students,” Herrington said.

With more students in the picture, Herrington and Bailey have planned to reach some important goals. One of the goals SGA hopes to accomplish is to set up a book co-op due to Barnes and Noble’s monopoly on college text books.

“With Passport being closed, book prices are really hurting students,” Herrington said. “It’s our duty to find a way to combat that problem.”

Also in store for the new school year is the issue with the community involvement.

“I want the students to help out with the town,” Bailey said. “So many people have said that St. Joseph isn’t a college town, and I want to change that.”

Bailey also said that St. Joseph does not help out with Western traditions as much as it used to, and Western doesn’t participate in the community like it should.

“We need to show that we want to be part of the community,” Bailey said. “I want us to get along.”

These new changes and implementations are just a start of what is to come. For more information about the newly revised constitution visit SGA homepage at www.missouriwestern.edu/sga.