Sharing stories, making friends and saying goodbye was the feeling that many international students felt during their farewell reception.

International Student Services held their farewell reception for several international students who are leaving Missouri Western Monday, April 22.

Coming from several different international exchanges and degree programs at Missouri Western, 17 of the international students from several countries are coming to their last journey of study in United States.

“Many wonderful people and wonderful talents, It is great to get to know some of the students, of course I hate to see 17 of them leaving us in terms of completion of their exchange and degree program, but they represent their country well and we are thrilled to have them on campus,” Missouri Western President Dr. Robert Vartabedian said.

Currently Missouri Western has 64 international students from 24 different countries. International students are enrolling in exchange and degree program on campus. Vartabedian is looking forward to more international students enrolling by the following semester.

“Our next goal is 100 students and long term goal is 200 students at Missouri Western,” Vartabedian said.

Vartabedian was also pleased to know several of the students personally.

The reception was attended by most of the international students, staff and faculties, as well as several members of the Board of Governors.

Leaving Missouri Western State University’s environment has been an emotional experience for some of the students who will be leaving. Maricarmen Teran, graduate student from Mexico, is one of the international students who will be graduating with a Master’s Degree soon. Teran thinks the event was really nice, and she experienced mixed feelings during the event but said that she’s happy and glad she can say farewell to other international students.

“One thing I will miss the most is all of my friends. Sounds crazy but I will miss my graduated classes too. I know classes are really hard, but I have learned so much as a student,” Teran said.

Not only the president of the university, but Alfred Purcell, member of the Board of Governors, was also happy to attend the reception and was glad he got to know the international students individually.

“Listening to and meeting the international students fills my heart,” Purcell said. “It is just terrific for our community and university to be able to invite and learn from the international students. I believe it enriches the people and the culture of this university.”

Missouri Western students, faculty and staff will have the opportunity to purchase student art work on April 26 and 27.

The Griffon Art Alliance is a student group on campus who comes together and shares their talents with fellow students at Missouri Western and their community.

The Griffon Art Alliance art sale is a free event that is held to support fellow student artists enrolled in art classes. The event will take place in the Potterhall hallway next to room 101 starting from 9 a.m. and ending at 5 p.m. both days.

Missouri Western art students who want or have made something in an art class have the opportunity to sell any of their art pieces at the Griffon Art Alliance event.  Artworks that will be displayed include pottery, paintings, drawings, graphics, print making and more.

Each student prices their own artwork individually. Prices will possibly range from a minimum of 3 dollars to a maximum of around 100 dollars.

Only 10 percent of the art proceeds will go to the Amy Singletons Scholarship Fund. Amy Singleton was the secretary of the Art Department who passed away a few years ago and a scholarship was started in her remembrance. The Scholarship is for art majors on campus and all portions of sales at the Griffon Art Alliance event will be put into that fund.

Ceramics instructor and Assistant Professor of Art, David Harris believes the Griffon Art Alliance event sale will have a great turnout this semester.

“The art sales we have at end of fall and spring semesters always goes well and I hope this one goes wonderfully,” Harris said.

Ceramic student, Patrick Larsen feels students should come to the Griffon Art Alliance sale and support the art students as much as they can.

“They should come to support fellow students and acknowledge all of the hard work that the artists on campus put into their artwork,” Larsen said.

Jane Travis, art student plans on selling around 100 pieces of her ceramic artwork and feels that students who come to the art sale will be huge support.

“Seeing fellow students come support the artists who work hard and sell their artwork would be really nice and they can also buy some really nice artwork at a reasonable price,” Travis said.

The conference is being held in the Fulkerson Center. It is sponsored by the Regional Law Enforcement Academy, Department of Criminal Justice, Legal Studies, Social Work, Department of Nursing and Northwest Missouri Child Advocacy Center.

Breakout sessions will be held in classrooms both days. Everyone must preregister. The forms are available online at wi.missouriwestern.edu/conference.

Kip Wilson, associate professor of CJLS,  says that this is their first attempt to put together so many organizations into one learning conference.

“Sandy Hook was a terrible shock, but people forget that weekly approximately that many children get killed,” Wilson stated. “Often by parents who are their caretakers.”

Dr. Gretchen Quenstedt-Moe, assistant professor of Nursing, stresses the value of this conference. Other similar ones charge $300.00. The registration fee for this conference is $80.00.  If you are a field instructor or MWSU adjunct instructor, it is $20.00. Students may attend for free. She stresses that everyone must preregister because there is a limit to class size for each session.

“We are thrilled to death to have this opportunity, especially for our pediatric nurses. They will have a better understanding of how the system works,” Quenset-Moe, said. “It’s about taking responsibility in the community.”

It will be particularly interesting to people involved in law enforcement, social services, healthcare and education. Wilson says it is an opportunity for students and professionals to listen to a wide range of speakers who work to prevent child abuse every day and to focus on the tragedy of abuse.

“We have offered a yearly conference to give back or say ‘Thank You’ to the community for everything they do for our students,” Pam Clary, instructor  of PSS,  said. “This is the first time we are joining many disciplines to host a conference.”

Learning the signs of an abuser is one aspect that can be gained from the conference. One of the 10 presentations on Wednesday will be by Catherine Vannier, Family Violence Resource Prosecutor with the Missouri Office of Prosecution Services. It will cover the signs and symptoms of coercive control and present a link between child abuse, domestic violence and animal abuse. Wilson says an informational video showing signs of abuse can also be viewed at http://atsweb.uthscsa.edu/webdev/Mckee/Anderst/MIC.html.

“The conference will raise the level of awareness for everyone so that we can advocate for our children,” Dr. Mary Jo Gay, assistant professor of Nursing, said. “This conference is interdisciplinary and will be informational and educational to all students.”

Of unique interest to participants will be the special guests, Terry Probyn, Dr. Rebecca Bailey and Jane Dickel, LCSW. They will be conducting a workshop presented by The JAYC Foundation. The foundation was formed by former kidnap victim Jaycee Dugard. Their topic will be on reacquainting law enforcement officers and employees with their culture and mission. This workshop will be the last event of the conference from 1-4pm on Thursday.

“I plan to attend and so do many of my fraternity brothers from Phi Sigma Kappa,” senior criminal justice major Matthew Morris said.

Corporal John Christianson, Highway Patrol Troop H officer and Adjunct Criminal Justice Instructor, says that he has assisted other patrolmen in responding to calls that involved abuse. He keeps a watchful eye during all shifts for signs that indicate a hotline call to DFS is needed to investigate the situation.

“If we save one child, then it is worth it,” Christianson said. “This is a good conference because it pulls from many disciplines and provides a voice for victims that don’t have a voice.”

Murray was the chief officer of marketing and design at Northwest where she handled the marketing for the university.

She noted that her new job is similar to her former job at Northwest and she hopes to bring that experience to Missouri Western.

“I made ad purchases and I came up with the advertising plans for the university,” Murray said. “I oversaw our designers and our web masters as well. The things I have learned in my career will help me at Missouri Western. My knowledge of division II schools, in particular MIAA, will help advance Missouri Western.”

Murray has plans of furthering and improving the advertising at Western. She hopes to spread the word the best way she can to help benefit the university.

“My goal is to develop a marketing plan for the university,” Murray said. “We want to help support the university goals as well. I also want to improve and increase the social media presence at Missouri Western. And a number of other things.”

Kent Heier, assistant director of Public Relations, will work  closely with Murray as she embarks in her new role.

Heier was on the circuit committee but was not able to attend Murray’s interview.

“It happened when Mallory was interviewed, I was out with medical issues so I actually did not participate in the interview,” Heier said. “But those who did said that they are very excited about her joining her team.”

Heier noted that Murray brings in a good attitude and feels that her experience with ads and purchases is something that Western has been missing for a while.

“I think that she is from all accounts a very energetic person,” Heier said. “She has a lot of useful experience in marketing, and in particular, ads and marketing. Having that wealth of experience will prove to be beneficial for Missouri Western.”

“It is very helpful that she comes from a different school because she understands higher education in general and public higher education in Missouri in particular.”

Jonathan Yordy, executive director of university advancement, said that he is proud to have found someone like Murray for the job. He noted that she brings in a variety of skills that will help take public relations further.

“Mallory Murray is a dynamic individual that we were lucky enough to recruit to Missouri Western,” Yordy said. “The position of director of public relations and marketing is an important one, so we look forward to someone with Mallory’s enthusiasm and expertise joining our team.”

As for Murray, she has been enjoying her experience at Missouri Western. She said that being able to see the students and staff on campus makes her even more anxious to get started with her job.

“Well, I had a great first day,” Murray said. “Everyone that I have seen has been kind and passionate about the university. They seem excited about the marketing and public relations opportunities on campus. I am ready to get my feet wet and help advance Missouri Western.”

Cole, who noted that this 2012 spring break experience was one of the greatest moments of his life, is now on to bigger and better things as he is drumming for rapper and Kansas native XV at Western’s annual spring concert this Friday.

“I think it’s just a blessing to be able to play for someone who’s signed to a label because these things are rare,” Cole said. “I think God’s timing is good because of how this all just kind of laid out. It’s so perfect.”

Cole landed the job through a little luck and having a few connections. A friend he went to high school with, who just so happens to be XV’s cousin, started touring, DJing and producing for XV and eventually brought Cole on board. The three have been great music partners ever since.

“For years I’ve been watching him grow in his music and grow in status and repetition,” Cole said. “I’m proud for him. Right now X is a good friend of mine. I just really want to see my friend succeed.”

Cole also helped in getting XV to perform here as he personally introduced the rapper to WAC vice president Lauren Dillon and invited her to see the two of them perform.

“She saw us perform and just thought it was crazy and amazing,” Cole said. “She was really determined to book XV for the spring concert.”

As Cole and XV impressed Dillon and numerous members of WAC, they are also hoping to do the same with the campus and the St. Joseph community.

“I’m crazy excited,” Cole said about the concert. “I don’t think people really understand how intense it’s going to be. Whenever people see XV for the first time, even if they’ve never seen him before, the shows are always crazy and the energy is so amazing. He’s a really good performer. There’s something different about his shows compared to a lot of rappers that I’ve seen.”

Cole, who’s been fascinated with drumming since he was a kid, as his father is also a drummer, got his first start in church at 12 years old when they were looking for someone to keep a simple beat. After his first church performance, Cole continued practicing and perfecting his craft and eventually landed here at Western, majoring in music technology with an emphasis in performance. Cole was also a part of Western’s jazz band and currently is on Western’s drumline and symphonic orchestra, as well as a campus worship band called CCF.

In addition to his campus accolades, Cole recently landed a drumming spot with Kansas city band and acrobatic dance group Quixotic Fusion who travels nationally and internationally. He also joined forces with Western student and local rapper Louis Erby and local dj Nick Niemeier, also known as DJ SoundNinja. The three will be the opening act at the concert.

“D.Cole is so tight,” Erby said. “I’m a hundred percent supportive behind D.Cole and everything he does. D.Cole is my brother. Me and D.Cole go way back. Everything that we’ve been building is starting to take shape and it’s pretty tight,” Erby said.

Since freshman year, Erby, Cole and Niemeier have been discussing and hoping for a huge opportunity like the one they are being given at the concert. For Cole especially, this is an opportunity for the campus and the community to truly see what fuels his fire.

“Daniel is a very passionate drummer,” Niemeier said. “He lives for the music. He’s an excellent performer – nothing less than professional.”

On Thursday, Erby will host and Niemeier will spin at Hammerjacks to promote the concert on April 11 from 9 to 1 a.m. The concert will be held on Friday, April 12 at Civic Arena with the doors opening at 6 p.m. and the show starting at 7 p.m. An after party will follow the concert at Headquarters Bar and will last until 1:30 p.m. Students can pick up their free concert ticket in Blum 207.

Rodney Roberts, a mentor to Missouri Western underclassmen for the past year, doesn’t think that campus is safe for his students anymore.

Campus Police cars sit out side Blum. The officers use the cars to patrol Downs drive regularly. They officers also patrol inside buildings.

After a Feb. 27 altercation between two officers and former Men’s basketball player Lavonte Douglas, students have expressed their concerns with the Police Department’s relations with students.

Editorial: Stand Up for Lavonte

Roberts, a Founder and the President of the Gentlemen of Color Association, a mentoring program for  African-American underclassmen, thinks that Douglas’ situation was poorly handled by the officers on call.

“One of my biggest pet peeves is the fact that students feel endangered by officers on campus,” Roberts said.

Roberts also thinks that students can’t trust officers after the incident involving Douglas. He said that some girls who witnessed the event were crying because they felt so unsafe.

“I can’t stress enough that there is no reason that the students of this school should feel unsafe, threatened or just plain out in fear of our public safety officers,” Roberts said. “Who feels safe around you? You’re not real public safety, you’re bullies. You’re bullies with guns. You’re legal bullies.”

At the time of the incident, Douglas was approached in the food court by Corporal Robert Bidding and Officer Travis Fulton.

Douglas said that he felt threatened by Bidding and Fulton when they approached him in the food court. When Douglas refused to show them his Western ID card, Douglas said they tried to apprehend him. He ran up stairs to the Student Affairs office.

“I feel like some of Lavonte’s actions, like running up to the Student Affairs office, at no point should a student feel like that’s his only option that he needs to run through a building for his safety to another office. If we employ these officers to protect us, then why are we so scared of them?”

Although Roberts said he has never had any problems with either officer involved in the incident, he said he’s seen Fulton become rude and aggressive with other students.

Roberts said that complaints he’s heard from the freshmen he mentors is that Fulton is “aggressive, unfair, racist, stereotypes them and doesn’t really give them a fair shot.”

Roberts said that Fulton has never acted this way towards him, but he has seen Fulton treat other students unfairly. Roberts said he has had problems with Officer Nick Scheidegger.

“I have a history with Officer Scheidegger, the guy legitimately hates me, like legitimately hates me.” Roberts said. “Other police officers have actually told me like, ‘Stay out of his way, he seems to really not like you.’ There should be no reason for that.”

Tobias Pointer, the current president of the Black Student Union, believes there is a gap between officers and minorities on campus.

“As usual it’s always a lack of communication with higher power and minorities at Missouri Western State University,” Pointer said. “I believe the issue could have been solved in a much better way than it was.”

Two years ago, former BSU President Leah Hayes started a petition asking Western’s officers to undergo diversity training. Pointer believes this is something that officers would still benefit from.

“I feel diversity training would definitely help them deal with students that they feel are hostile or aggressive without having to go through the same route they did with Lavonte,” Pointer said.

University President Robert Vartabedian said that to his knowledge, the officers do undergo diversity training, but he is aware of a single issue with Fulton.

“I guess it depends on how you define problems,” Vartabedian said. “I think there was at least one other issue that was brought up but we investigated it and we investigated it to our satisfaction so I don’t think we would necessarily categorize it as a problem, but there was an issue we needed to deal with previously.”

Vartabedian wasn’t aware of any issues with other officers. Chief of Police Jon Kelley was unavailable for comment.

Student Government Association President Jacob Scott believes that Western’s police force is dedicated to protecting students.

“I don’t know if it’s necessarily a problem but it’s an ongoing educational experience,” Scott said. “There’s always a more and more diverse population on campus, people coming from different backgrounds and we operate differently we have a different understanding of authority and it’s important that we recognize our differences and come up with a method in which we handle these situations.”

Scott hopes that the investigation into the Feb. 27 incident is fair and said that SGA leaders could be a resource for Douglas in navigating the student handbook.

Douglas’s formal hearing with Western administration took place Wednesday at 3 p.m. The result of that hearing was not available at press time.

Tuition will raise $3.74 per credit hour for in-state students, from $188.91 to $192.65. When fees are added, the average cost of tuition and fees per credit hour is $216.60, which is an increase of 1.76 percent. Students who are out-of-state undergraduates will pay $20 more per credit hour.

Cale Fessler, vice president of Financial Planning, explained that the tuition increase comes from the Missouri Senate Bill 389 under the Higher Education Student Funding Act, which limits how universities maximize increases in their tuition rates for undergraduate students.

The Consumer Price Index for this year is 1.7 percent, because Missouri Western tuition is below the state average. It is allowed a slightly larger increase to 1.98 percent which equals out to $3.74 per credit hour.

President Robert Vartabedian said the increases were fair and that students would understand the reasoning behind the increases.

“We hate to do increases,” Vartabedian said. “I think these are justified increases and the biggest effect will be toward the undergraduate students.”

Fessler discussed possible staff and faculty increases, higher utility costs and higher retirement system mandate payments. He combined information regarding Western’s deferred maintenance issue, which was tied together with the Room and Board increases needed at Missouri Western. He said that Western’s departmental operations budget has been cut by 30 percent over the past three years and deferred maintenance has a number of issues that need to be addressed.

“We have a deferred maintenance issue of over $200,000,000” Fessler said. “$60,000,000 of which could be called critical deferred maintenance that is needed now.” Residents on campus will see their room rates rise by 1 percent for those who live in Griffon Hall. The other halls will have an increase of 2 percent and a 4.5 percent increase for single suites.

“We are in need of major renovations for our suites,” Fessler said.  “Juda Hall had major renovations completed this past summer, and we have Logan Hall on the schedule for this summer and Beshears Hall for the next summer.”

Exterior paintings and safety updates such as balconies and stairwells are a few of the necessary renovations that Fessler brought forth to the Board. Board rate increases were brought forth as well and would increase from 3.6 to 4.5 percent based on which meal plan the student chooses.

“Things we really need to do but also we believe precipitate the need for that increase,” Fessler said. “We, like everyone else here, are experiencing increased cost with food and delivery. I think we all understand where that’s coming from.”

Jonathan Yordy, Vice President of University Advancement, said after his remarks to the Board, the University has hired a new public relations director. The position sat empty for over a year and is currently being filled by Kent Heier, assistant public relations director. Mallory Murray, chief officer of marketing and design of Northwest Missouri State University was selected for the position as the Public Relations Director and will begin on April 8, 2013.

“She knows regional institutions well,” Yordy said. “We are happy to welcome her.”

The Education Expo will take place on April 5 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. in Fulkerson Center.

The Career Development Center plans to provide college students and graduates in the field of education the experience to reach out to employers in the job market this month. Claire Busby, program assistant at the center, said school district positions, graduate programs and higher education positions could be offered to education majors.

“We have over 40 school districts and 50 recruiters coming in,” Busby said. “It’s all Missouri and Kansas schools that plan to attend and there’s something for everyone.”

Recruiters attending the Expo are employing for preschool positions as well as elementary and high school positions. Students from every line of study such as math, science, English, history and art will have an opportunity to speak with these recruiters.

Coaching positions and performing art teachers are needed and recruiters will be there to speak with students about different types of employment opportunities. All types of positions are looking for full-time and part-time faculty members.

Minerva Torres, adviser of the Nontraditional Association, said students in the field of education who plan to graduate this May or even December need to attend the Expo to receive practice with employers and hopefully have the chance to get their feet wet in the job market.

“It’s good to see who’s out there and what these recruiters are looking for,” Torres said.

The Expo will offer a wide diversity of employers. Busby said that students never know what’s going to happen when you attend the event and see what these employers are looking for in their prospective areas. She said students need to practice dressing professionally and boosting their resumes while making sure it’s updated.

“Any student at any point in time can bring their resume to the Career Center for improvements to be made,” Busby said. “We will work with you to help ensure that you are the best candidate for the position.”

Torres believes the event is a good way for students to boost what they have learned from their classes at Missouri Western and to go out to these expos and show these employers what they can offer in the field of education.

“It’s a good way to get their credentials out there,” Torres said. “The sooner these students get out and network, the better they will be.”

Amanda Felice, instructor of English, said she’s been to the Education Expo more than once. She’s had friends who have been hired by districts through the Education Expo.

“It is a good way to make contacts and to hand out your resume,” Felice said.  “So when these schools start the hiring process, they remember your face.”

No matter what your grades are or how many credit hours are in your major, it’s an opportunity to get some networking with other education employers, Busby said.

“I have a very diverse group of school districts from big to small, urban, private, public and Christian,” Busby said. “You have a ton of advantages available.”

Sarah Waters (right) a art student at Missouri Western is seen here explaining her soundscape to visitors.
Contributed Photo

After an audio tour of the museum, Austin made his students create their own interpretations of a visual art piece using music and sound.

Caroline Clark-Murphy is the coordinator of art education at the museum and she felt that the tour went well and the students came up with good work.

“The purpose of the audio tour was to allow students the opportunity to interpret visual arts through music and sound,” Murphy said. “After the tour, the students each chose a piece to interpret with different types of music and sound. The students created original works, some were more literal and others abstract. The project was a beautiful and engaging way to merge two different art forms. The end results were very impressive in scope and maturity.”

Murphy noted that the students’ work would not go unnoticed and she feels that the relationship with Missouri Western is something that she and the museum are proud to have.

“The project fostered a partnership between the university and the museum,” Murphy said, “which introduced the visitors to a new experience and provided the students the chance to have their work heard by an audience.”

“Additionally, the compositions will be used in the museum’s forthcoming audio tour, which will allow the students’ work to be accessed by many more individuals.”

Austin said that this idea was similar to a class that he took when he was in college. He thought that it would be a good idea to pass along to his students.

“It was actually born out of an idea that I had when I was an undergraduate student,” Austin said. “I was inspired by some paintings by Salvador Dali and others so I composed pieces based on the paintings.”

“As a graduate student, we did some projects in conjunction with the Dallas Museum of Art. We did a real big sound installation that goes with a major exhibit they had one summer.”

Austin noted that  art students do tend to stick with whatever their art major is at the time and integrating art can sometimes be new to students.

He was happy he could broaden his students’ intellect by showing them various ways to make good art.

“In the fine arts, we really focus on our own discipline,” Austin said. “If you are in music, you focus on music. And if you’re in art, you focus on art. But with the Internet and stuff out there, a lot of arts are integrated and there is a lot of multimedia and other collaborations going on. It is really nice for music students to be able to go out and experience other art works, and then relate the work we do to other fields.”

Amber Amaya majors in cinema and minors in music at Western. Amaya thought that the project was engaging and she felt that her painting was perfect for her.

“I was excited,” Amaya said. “I really liked it and thought it was a really fun project. The painting I chose kind of screamed emotion to me so that is what I based my instrumental on. It was really intense and I feel all of our projects made the paintings come to life.”

Graham Hardy said he took full advantage of visiting the museum. He said that he had fun working with others’ work and putting his own spin on it.

“I loved the project and thought it was really cool,” Hardy said. “It was cool going down to the art museum and being able to come up with a full interpretation of somebody else’s work. We had to take into account what kind of emotion the artist was trying to convey with it, while at the same time incorporating my own flavor and style of art.”

Vicky Perez illustrates what she is talking about during the Taste of Spain Presentation. Tevin Harris | Photo Editor.

Beginning with the Northwest corner and circling the coastline then traveling through the interior, guests were shown the highlights of many cities and regions.

“There is a wide variety of languages spoken in the country,”  Calzadilla said, “depending on what region you are traveling in.”

Like the language, the landscape varies drastically from Northern to Southern Spain. Northern architecture is dark and grey with thick stone walls to keep out dampness and cold. Southern architecture is white, bright, and much more airy.

“In the South, you will see flat roofs and large windows,” Calzadilla said. “Many old parts of towns are pedestrian only.”

She showed examples of various traditional celebrations including Las Falles, the celebration of Saint Joseph. Large models are made of wax, paper-mache, and wood then burnt at the end of the celebration, she said. It is a smoky, fiery, five day celebration that involves fireworks and many noisemakers. Some models are five stories tall. They depict a wide range of people from Lady Gaga to President Obama. There is no limit to what is created.

A video was also shown of the historic yearly running of the bulls celebration in Pamplona. Calzadilla explained that tourism is a huge market in Spain due to the large amount of usable coastline. Almost all Spanish cities are tourist destinations due to the huge variety of architectural influences.

“It’s a very exploited area because of the tourists,” Calzadilla said.

She displayed pictures of miles of beaches with hotels nearly on the water. She said that heavy beach erosion has occurred in these areas due to overpopulation and exploitation. Spain sets on the Mediterranean Sea coastline, Calzadilla explained that the water there is similar to calm lake water. It is crystal clear, warm and very pleasant to swim in, she told the crowd.

“This is a unique way of seeing what is native to the land,” assistant professor of Spanish Francisco Castilla Ortiz said. “it shows what the natives would show.”

Calzadilla said the city of Bilbao boasts a Guggenheim Museum built by Canadian-American architect  Frank Gehry. The modern art building is highly recognized because it has been featured in movies, music videos and video games. Built in 1997, it invigorated the Bilbao tourist industry with its wavy, reflective outer walls and innovative interior design.

“Overall, I thought the presentation was very exciting, and it convinced me to visit Spain in the future,” junior Kelsey Samenus, president of the Spanish Club, said.

Students were encouraged to come and donate as well as pick up anything that caught their eyes during the event.

“It’s viewed as sort of a spring cleaning idea,” Jason Mullin, member of the Nontraditional Student Association said.  “As kids get older their clothes don’t fit anymore, so instead of throwing them out, students can donate them here.”

Along with all sorts of clothes and toys, students who arrived brought their children to the event as well.

“We encourage any students who have kids to bring them,” Delisa Richardson, president of the Nontraditional Student Association said.  “As parents, we realize that when we do anything, it’s important to involve our kids.”

The children who arrived were given plenty of space to run around and brought coloring books to draw in while the parents socialized and laid out their donations.

“This event is more family oriented,” Minerva Torres, advisor for the Nontraditional Student Association said.  “But that doesn’t mean that anyone can’t come in and donate or have a good time.”

A projector was available the children to watch movies or play video games as well as food and drinks for the parents.  Torres said it was important for these students to be able to bring their kids to events like this and have a good time.

The Nontraditional Student Association had been struggling for well over a year since the original leader of the organization had to leave.

“A lot of members will graduate each year,” Mullin said. “When they do, there’s a lot of restructuring, rebuilding and reconnecting, and that was a big problem one semester.”

Under new leadership, the organization hopes to increase awareness of its goals and ambitions through many different events.  Richardson said the organization planned to advertise through word of mouth, fliers and possibly sites like Facebook.

Members of the organization are hoping that the “Playdate and Swap Shop” event becomes successful among the students at MWSU.

“We’re hoping to make this a bimonthly event,” Richardson said.  “We know how difficult it can be for students to go to college while trying to take care of their children, and it’s events like these where we’re trying to give them a place where they feel comfortable.”

The Alpha Gamma Delta Sorority hosted their annual Mr. MWSU male pageant on March 27. Over 100 students and members of sororities and fraternities attended the male pageant called “Sock Hoppin’ Mr. MWSU 2013.”

Male contestants Patrick Putnam, Dillon Williams, Nick Brewer, Nick Williams, Ryan Griffey and Scott Schlesser competed for title while trying to impress an enthusiastic crowd.

Trophies and sashes were awarded to the winners of each category. Category winners included Nick Brewer of swim and formal wear, and Dillon Williams of talent and best outfit.

With a very upbeat and positive connection, judges were able to determine Ryan Griffey the winner of Mr. MWSU 2013 and individual winner of raising the most money. Patrick Putnam received second place followed by Dillon Williams taking third.

The organization hosted the event to raise awareness for juvenile diabetes research and treatment and money for leadership programs for Alpha Gamma Delta women.

The goal this year for AGD was to raise $2,000 between this event and the teeter totterathon that was held in the fall. Out of 17 years that AGD has been on campus, 16 of those years they have raised their goal for their foundation so the sorority could be a jule chapter within national headquarters.

Kelsey Guthery, president of Alpha Gamma Delta, felt as though preparing for this event took a lot of planning and preparation.

“We started preparing for this event as soon as the semester started but what’s really great is seeing how everything comes together,” Guthery said.

Crowd excitement filled Spratt Hall as many gathered to watch six male contestants perform talents, danced, and showed off their swim and formal wear.

Students who bought raffle tickets also had to the chance to win prizes. The drawing offered Missouri Western bags and lanyards, water bottles, gift cards, and bowling passes to be given away.

Julia Buescher, student of Missouri Western, thought the event was fun and very entertaining.

“It was interesting seeing how creative the boys were during all of their performances especially Ryan Griffey,” Buescher said.

Beth Hoffman felt Alpha Gamma Delta did a good job supporting a great cause.

“It’s nice seeing Alpha Gamma Delta support diabetes and it felt good coming to this event to help out as well,” Hoffman said.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shana Meyer will begin as the vice president for Student Affairs April 1, 2013.

“I know people are there [at Western] for the right reasons and are working to serve the students,” Meyer said. “I’m really looking forward to getting to know the staff and working with them.”

While at Fort Hays, Meyer facilitated a “Student Life Cluster,” which includes Greek and residential life and other non-classroom related activities. Meyer would like to continue that vision at Western.

“I think from the beginning it will be important to really keep building and repairing a strong Student Affairs team,” Meyer said. “I’m interested in developing some different synergies across campus and just working towards a really comprehensive vision for Student Affairs.”

Meyer continued, saying she looks forward to her position as vice president for Student Affairs.

“I would just say that in all of my roles I have been very student-focused and I’m looking forward to working for and with the students as well,” Meyer said.

Student Governor Brian Shewell met Meyer at a student leader luncheon and hopes she will serve as a voice for the students on the administrative level.

“Based on her experience she had talked to us about she has done a lot to advocate for students which is what we were looking for,” Shewell said. “I think of the four, she was a good choice. She was a really good choice for the position.”

The new program is called SALT and it is the latest brain-child of the respected American Student Assistance nonprofit and it is completely free for students to use.

This program does everything from tracking students’ debts and updating them constantly to help them manage those debts.

It offers alternative suggestions to student loans and has scholarship and job search databases. SALT representatives are available to students 24 hours a day and seven days a week to help them budget almost everything financially-related to college.

Western’s Senior Financial Aid Coordinator Tammy Allen explains why SALT is an important tool for students and who it is most helpful to on campus.

“It’s an effort to help and it’s basically geared towards our student loan borrowers,” Allen said. “Of course, here at Western, we are wanting to do everything that we can to try and offer some assistance for our student loan borrowers from the time they get here until the time they graduate; trying to educate them into borrowing smartly.”

Allen also believes that SALT will go far in preventing potential financial disasters after college and will help with the transition back into the working world.

“It’s just that we want them to be constantly aware of how much they have borrowed so far, don’t borrow any more than you need to and what kind of payment you are looking at as you go along,” she said. “So that when you graduate you are not blind-sided with this six or seven hundred dollar payment that you could have maybe found other sources [to finance college] throughout your time at school.”

Aside from programs like SALT, there are those out there who believe if students are willing to work hard enough and endure a little sacrifice students wouldn’t need student loans at all.

• Affordable college
• Look for scholarships
• Get a job
• List your finances monthly

Daughter of finance counseling super-star Dave Ramsey, and high-profile finance motivational speaker Rachel Cruze is one such individual and explains how not only college could be free, but also how students could be completely debt-free.

“Yes absolutely it’s possible to go through college debt-free; I think one of the first things that you need to do is look for a college that you can actually afford,” Cruze said. “Meaning you may want to stay in-state and take in-state tuition even if it’s just a community college for you first year or two just to get the basic courses out of the way.”

Cruze explains a couple of other key things to going through college debt free.

“Second, look for scholarships and grants, that’s free money” she said. “Third, actually get a job and go to work.”

She also believes that if you manage your finances and life-style correctly, keeping your credit score at zero, instead of taking a chance on credit cards and loans defaulting, is fine for today’s world.

She claims that as long as you keep bills paid up and stay employed you can even get a mortgage for a home with a credit score of zero.

“People think that you can’t get a mortgage without a credit score, and that’s not true” Cruze said. “There is a process called manual under-writing, and that is where the lending company will actually look at you the person; so they will say have you been on a job consistently for two years and have you been on-time with all of your bills.”

Cruze also believes that you should buy used cars with cash instead of taking out loans even if that means driving a beater for a while until you can save up for a better vehicle.

If individuals saved their car payment instead of paying it every month the amount of money one would have at retirement is nothing to scoff at.

“Just a little fun trivia, the average car loan is around $412.00 a month, if you invested that instead of paying for a car loan,” she said. “And if you did that every month until you were 65, that comes out to about 5.2 million dollars.”

An MWSU alumnus, and Chief Executive Officer for Family Investment Center, Dan Danford, believes that not everyone can go through college debt-free and that sometimes student loans are necessary. At the same time though, like Cruz, he cautions against high loan debts for generic degrees.

“Even in Missouri, you can go to The University of Missouri and get a really nice teaching degree,” Danford said. “But, if you finance that whole degree you are going to have 70 or 80 thousand dollars in debt to pay off; and you know what, teachers only start of making 30 or 35 thousand.”

Danford also believes that when buying electronics or things like that, students need to find out the true value of what they are buying, meaning the retail value after purchase, because they may be able to save a lot of cash.

“When I talk to students especially one of the things I talk to them about is what I call the eBay test,” he said. “Before you get ready to buy consumer electronics or any fairly high dollar gear, go look it up on eBay first; you may be able to find what you are looking for used, or the other thing is you may be able to find what you want refurbished directly from the manufacturer that still has the same warranty and everything.”

When it comes to students and finances, Danford says knowledge is good but not enough.

“I doubt if there is anything they [students] haven’t heard,” Danford said. “I mean a lot of it is common sense, but it’s also, you gotta do it; it’s not enough to know it, you have to actually do it.”

Students interested in the SALT program can go to the financial aid office or sign-up at salt@saltmoney.org.

Morgan Goderick | Submitted

Hall and Goodrick, both freshmen at Western and longtime runners, decided to try and put together a club where runners like themselves could meet, share experiences and run as a team.
Goodrick said that they started working on the club over Christmas break and then went to an SGA meeting where it was voted upon and passed unanimously.

“We thought that it would be fun to start a running club, so we could meet other people who like to run and hopefully get other people interested,” Hall said.

But they couldn’t start the club without faculty sponsors, one of whom is Bill Church, an English and creative writing professor at Missouri Western. Along with being the sponsor, Church is also a 16-year veteran of the running scene and at one time, he was even Goodrick’s trainer.

“The fact that I’ve been running so long is why people come to me for guidance,” Church said. “Morgan is a family friend and she’d asked me what it was like to get a running club started. I told them there was a process to getting a club chartered here on campus and they took it all on themselves. They did it all.”

Hall and Goodrick have been running together since they were twelve years old and it’s the love of the sport that pushed them to start up the running club at Western.

“We did a miniature kids triathlon when we were really young,” Goodrick said.

Their competitive spirits didn’t fade out. They have both progressed and achieved impressive personal goals. Goodrick qualified for state her freshman and senior years of high school, where she was the only female runner to qualify from Central High. But her success has not stopped there.

“I’ve ran a lot of 5K’s,” Goodrick said. “That’s pretty much what I do.”

She says that she hopes to go on to run a half marathon and possibly even a marathon someday. Hall had her own set of accomplishments in the sport, despite being home-schooled. She managed to run cross country, something that increased her love of running even more.

“I ran with a homeschool group in Kansas City and we were able to run against other high schools,” Hall said.
When asked what they like most about running, they said that it relieves stress and is a good way to get your mind off of school.

Now as co-presidents of the new running club, more stress may be put on them as they plan to organize meetings and events on campus. In March, alumni Dennis Adkins, who is a blind runner, will be running in a 5k at Western and the running club wants to be involved in that by running with him as he completes the race.

Some other goals the club would like to achieve are to increase membership, promote safe running habits and run races in the St. Joseph area, as well as invite a speaker from Performance Plus Rehabilitation Center to come speak about injury prevention and strength training.

With 15 members already, even before their first meeting has taken place, they should be able to get off to a running start very soon. The first meeting is to be held in Eder 216 on February 27 at 3:30 p.m. The meeting is open to anyone who loves to run and wants to join the club or anyone who wants to hear about where the running club is taking off to next.

Students across campus are finding that being employed by Missouri Western is definitely worth looking into.

“Working on campus is incredibly convenient,” Brendan Welch, english workshop leader said.  “If you have some time between classes, it’s nice to make a bit of money while helping other students.”

Brandon Grieshaber, a student worker at the registrar’s office, agrees that working on campus is convenient for his often hectic schedule.

“What I really enjoy about working on campus is how well they’re able to work around my schedule,” Grieshaber said.  “They’re very understanding when it comes to school work and outside activities.”

Whether you’re leading a workshop or helping a professor set up a lab, there’s definitely no shortage of jobs available to students.

“We have all sorts of different jobs on and off campus,” Claire Busby, program assistant for the career development center said.  “From office assistants to tutors, the jobs being offered cater to virtually any major.”

Missouri Western has also made the process for getting these jobs incredibly easy for students through their website as well as professor recommendations.

“The process for getting the job wasn’t very complicated at all,” Grieshaber said.  “After submitting my resume and applying for some jobs, I got a call within a week asking for an interview.”

CSO: Jobs for Griffons will link students directly to a site where jobs in the community as well as jobs on campus are being tracked.  After submitting a resume and having it reviewed, students will be able to start applying for jobs online.  The cool thing about this site is that it allows students to apply for many different jobs in a short amount of time, Busby said.

Some professors are also trying to recommend some jobs to their students.  One of my professors actually recommended I become an English workshop leader said Welch.

There are also some jobs that require a specific set of credentials from students.

“There are entry level jobs for freshman,” Busby said.  “But some jobs, like tutoring, require you to be an advanced student in that area.”

“I had to turn in some examples of my work and have a professor recommendation, but the whole process was pretty simple,” Welch said.

Summer jobs are also available on campus.  Students need to be taking at least six credit hours in the summer in order to work on campus, Busby said.

Students can access employment options from Missouri Western’s career development page.

In the spring of 2009, Western stood at 17.7 percent minority rate among students on campus. That number has since increased 2.1 percent which has Western’s minority students at 19.8 percent in spring 2013.

The Asian student number at Western in 2012 stood at 29 and excelled to 47 in 2013 which is an increase of 62 percent. Western places minorities in different categories according to different races. The data shows a decrease in individual ethnicity percentages between the years of 2009 to 2013 due to new categories used for reporting race that began in the fall of 2010.

When compared to other universities such as Northwest Missouri State or Missouri Southern the African American percentage is lower than Missouri Western.  Western stands at a 9.2 percent among African American students with Northwest at 5.75 percent and Southern at 3.87 percent.

Judith Grimes, associate vice president for Student Affairs believes Western has seen a huge change and believes the University will continue to grow over the next several years. She thinks the reason why we have a much larger minority rate is based on the increase of international student population and students who have parents of different ethnic backgrounds.

“I’ve seen a pretty dramatic change over the last 15 years since I’ve been here,” Grimes said. “We have many students who might have one African American parent and the other Caucasian which increases our student minority.”

Missouri Southern State University is similar in comparison to Western with 19 percent of their student body being minority. Northwest Missouri State University remains low with 16 percent rate of their student body being minority. Amy Kotwani, international student services director said she believes Western is still less diverse than other schools but feels it is increasing at a positive rate.

“I think the population of our international students and other ethnicities are growing,” Kotwani said. “There’s a push to bring more international students to Western which would increase our diversity among minorities.”

Minority students at Western believe its university has become more minority friendly over the past 5 to 10 years. Lisa Uketui, a junior said that other students of  the same  Nigerian decent  as her is growing is increasing at  Western and around the state. She believes Western has taken a different view and welcomes all groups of students regardless of their color, race or gender.

“It’s definitely grown,” Uketui said. “We have so many groups of students from different ethnic backgrounds.”

Over 80.2 percent of Western’s students are of the Caucasian race. Bryan Miller, a junior said when he moved to St. Joseph, Missouri he believed that Western would be mostly Caucasian because it’s in the Midwest. The reason he believes that Western has a high Caucasian percentage is due to most students are commuters from surrounding towns.

Miller explained that when he moved here from Texas that things were getting better. He worked for Abercrombie and Fitch as a sales associate and when he started it was predominantly  Caucasians  employed by the company. Over time he said the company changed their view and started hiring more ethnicities which helped their sales.

“I think the school can only get better in terms of increasing their diversity amongst students,” Miller said. “There’s a huge minority awareness and this is a topic that must be addressed  if Western would like to see a higher percentage of races among students.”

Approximately 7,400 of  cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea have been reported in the Kansas City Region which includes Missouri Western State University. In 2011 Missouri reported 35,689 cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea.

Nineteen million new sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in the United States in 2011.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that nearly half of them were among people between the ages of 15-24. Mitzi Teliczan, community health service health educator at the St. Joseph Health Department, said,  ‘Statewide 1 in 6 will be infected with an STD before the age of 25.”

On campus the statistics are worse.  Beth Roderick, advanced practice nurse at Esry Health Center, says that 1 out of 4 patients test positive for an STD.

“We don’t see as much gonorrhea as we do chlamydia, HPV is the most common now though,” Roderick said.

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted virus in the United States.

Almost every sexually active person will acquire HPV at some point in their lives according to the CDC.  All cases of genital warts are caused by HPV.  HPV can be passed on between heterosexual and homosexual partners—even when the infected partner has no signs or symptoms. Most infected persons do not realize they are infected or that they are passing the virus on to a sex partner. It is also possible to get more than one type of HPV.

“Social networking has helped make this a subject we can talk about openly,” Teliczan said.

Open communication can lead to better prevention of the infections. Mass e-mails, Facebook and tweets make it easier to promote upcoming events that focus on preventing sexually transmitted infections.  Organizations, such as MWSU Pride, recently turned the spotlight on this cause.

Free HIV tests were offered to students celebrating Valentine’s Day by visiting the Heart Your Union event at Blum.  The event was sponsored by Pride and the campus and city health departments. The HIV test results are strictly confidential.

Condoms and STD testing are available free of charge by appointment at the Esry Health Center located in Blum 203.

“We are available to help students that are away from home,” Marti Burri, registered nurse said.

The Center sets up an informational table about their services to help students during fall registration.  They participate in Griffon Edge and are at the fall Health Fair.  Burri does presentations about preventing STD’s at many events during the school year.

The MWSU campus health center has been certified as an ‘STD’ site in Northwest Missouri for a couple years according to Roderick. This certification allows the clinic to offer many free and low cost services to men and women including STD testing and contraceptive treatment. The clinic says many of their patients are referrals.  They were notified by the health center that they were in possible contact with someone who was diagnosed with an STD and reported their name.  The student then comes in for a test.

While anyone can become infected, most at risk are gay and bisexual men and women and young people.  In 2011 there was an increase of syphilis cases in the St Louis Region of Eastern Missouri from 35 in 2011 to 41 in 2012.   The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Bureau of HIV, STD, and Hepatitis (MDHSS) June 2012 report states that statewide there has been a decline in the last 5 years from 239 in 2007 to 136 total syphilis cases in 2011.

Syphilis infection can cause visual impairment, stroke, death and an increased risk for HIV infection.  Men who have sex with men (MSM) account for 72 percent of all primary and secondary syphilis cases according to the CDC.  They say that homophobia and stigma often make it difficult for gay and bisexual men to seek appropriate care and treatment.  Without proper diagnosis the damage can be worse both physically and financially.

STD’s cause a serious drain on the U.S. health care system, costing the nation about $17 billion in health care costs every year.  The CDC recommends an annual chlamydia and gonorrhea screening for all sexually active women.  Gay and bisexual men, and other MSM should have annual syphilis, chlamydia, gonorrhea, and HIV testing.

STD’s can lead to severe reproductive health complications, such as infertility.  It is estimated that undiagnosed STD’s cause 24,000 women to become infertile each year.

Teliczan is available to do presentations on the topic for campus groups.  She can be reached at the St Joseph Health Department, Patee Market Health Center 816-271-4659.

Burri is available to speak to organizations, also.  She can be reached at the Esry Student Health Center, Blum 203 816-271-4495

There are currently around 6,000 students attending Missouri Western State University, and last year, only 781 students voted in the SGA elections.  SGA hopes to get every student at Missouri Western to vote in this year’s upcoming election. The goal they plan to set forth is to ensure that an overall majority of the students to turn out to vote since two candidates have filed for President.

Members of the SGA are making sure that students are aware of the election whenever they set foot on campus.

“We have a lot of posters hung up around campus to let students know that the election is coming up and how they can vote,” Jacob Scott, SGA president said.  “We also hope to advertise in the Griffon News.”

Signs and posters will be all over campus come election week, but the SGA also plans to advertise in more modern ways as well.  We’re really trying to push social media this year, Scott said.

“We’ll definitely be sending out an email to students to remind them of the election as well,” director of student relations, Morgan Lindgren said.

But those aren’t the only methods that the SGA will be using to reach students on campus.  Members also hope to talk to students personally about the election.

“We are also going to be doing some face-to-face advertising,” Monterio Seewood, student senator said.  “The SGA hopes to inform as many students as possible about the election, and talking to people is a great way to get the word out.”

Students will have many reminders when it comes to voting for new and returning members of the SGA.  With various candidates running for different positions within the student government, current members hope that any new student leaders bring interesting ideas and perspectives to their positions.

“SGA is really looking forward to positive new student leaders,” Seewood said.

Morgan Lindgren agrees, but stresses that it really isn’t up to any one individual.

“It’s really up to the students, but we’re all hoping to get some passionate leaders in SGA,” Lindgren said.

Students will be able to vote online at the Missouri Western State University homepage.  Those without Internet can be provided with an actual ballot, Scott said.

The SGA encourages all students to go online and vote in this year’s election.  Campaigning for the election begins on February 27, and students will be able to vote on March 6 and 7.

Four options are available: the 16 GB Nook Tablet priced at $249, the 8 GB Nook Tablet at $199, the Nook Color for $169 and the Nook Simple Touch for $99. The Nook Tablet and Nook Color can be loaded with apps, books, music and games, not unlike an iPad; the Nook Simple Touch allows you only to download books and read them. Greg Nikes, manager of the bookstore, says that the Nook tablets have been selling about ten times as fast as the other Nooks because they are faster, lighter and more portable.

Bookstore employee Bailey Griffin said that the Nooks have been selling quite fast and a lot more then she expected. Griffin said that, within the next year, textbooks will be able to be downloaded on the Nooks as well.

“If that happens, that would be a lot cheaper because you would just have like an e-book, and  you just put in the code on your Nook, and you’d have the whole book and everything,” Griffin said. “I don’t know how it would work with printing stuff out. They said they were working on Word documents too, where you can highlight and do stuff. So you actually pretty much have the book. You can even rent the books on the Nook too.”

Kris Brown, a junior music technology student who owns an e-reader, says that the benefits of using e-readers include instant downloads, lower prices, less clutter and mobility.

As of now, Nook owners can buy and download digital copies of their favorite fiction and non-fiction books.

Though textbooks aren’t available on the Nooks yet, approximately 50 percent of the textbooks are available online through a program called NookStudy, Nikes said. The textbooks can be downloaded and used through this application on a computer at a cheaper price than their paper counterparts. A typical paper biology book can be bought new for $162.56 or used for $126 and sold back for $66, according to the NookStudy website. The same book can be rented as an e-book for $42.56, at a savings of 73 percent.

E-reading’s popularity is growing rapidly. Tori Grable, a communication arts coordinator and teacher for the St. Joseph School District, recommends Nooks and other e-reading devices to her former students.

“I’m slowly making the transition,” Grable said.

She wonders if, and when, traditional books will disappear.

In edition to the Nooks and their hopeful future ability to download textbooks, Griffin said that students that receive financial aid can actually purchase the Nooks with their aid money rather then buying it outright.

“They are approved that if you can get financial aid and have money on your ID, you can use that to buy the Nook,” Griffin said. “They just approved this last semester. You can use your loan money or scholarship money. It’s a lot bigger of a deal than I thought it was going to be.”

Meyer comes in with a strong resume to support her and her main topic was about the opportunities and challenges that come with having a successful Student affairs program.

“When I think about the key areas of opportunity and challenges for any campus, I think of three things,” Meyer said. “I think of the people, the places, and the purpose. What are we without the students, and what are students without educators?”

Meyer received her education from two different Universities. She received her Doctor of Philosophy, Student Affairs in Higher Education from KansasStateUniversity.

In august of 1995 she received her Bachelor of Science, English/Journalism, and Communication Minor at Emporia state University, while also achieving her Master of Science, Counselor Education, and Student Personnel Emphasis from Emporia state in 1997.

With the generation changing from different technology and more advanced programs being installed, Meyer said that it is important to have an upbeat and active student affairs office.

“In order to effectively serve all of these people and diversity of learners, a vibrant student affairs commission must be able to provide adequate staffing to continue to address the demographic change,” Meyer said. “Today’s students are certainly not yesterday’s students.”

“When it comes to challenges and opportunities, the people associated with the university, fortunately or unfortunately present both challenges and opportunities,” Meyer said. “We got technology, returning veterans, increase instances of mental health issues, and simply a new generation that is different than our generation.”

Meyer has gained experience working as the Assistant Vice president of student affairs at FortHayesStateUniversity from 2006 to present.

She served as a member of the Senior Student Affairs administrative team, collaborating with the Enrollment Management and Student Services Clusters to focus on administrative planning and policy development.

She also served as a member of the President’s Cabinet, administratively planning, developing policy, and creating constituency building affiliations with other Cabinet members such as the Vice President for Administration and Finance, Provost, and Academic Deans.

Through most of the experience that Meyer has received at FortHayes, she has learned how interact with not only administration but also with students around her campus.

Meyer noted that establishing different goals for the program and making sure it goes down the right path has to be one of the main focuses from the student affairs office right now.

“I think that we need to know where we are going,” Meyer said. “I don’t think one person will create that so I think it starts with relationship building. I like to look at the politics of a situation and the context of a situation. With that being said, I think we need to have goals laid out and an understanding on where we are going.”

The goals that Meyer could set if elected could affect that senate including student senator Travis Hart.

Hart said that he understands that whoever is elected VP is important to him because that VP will have a final say on any programs or bills that he or any other senate might want to pass.

“I think that the VP of student affairs should work with students and the student government,” Hart said. “To have an open door policy is really important. The VP student affairs have the option to veto legislation and the senate. Recently we have not had anything vetoed from my understanding.”

Hart noted that the next VP will be important because there are issues now that need to be handled and the VP of Student affairs will dictate what happens with those issues.

“The VP of student affairs also advises student government,” Hart said. “We tell them what is going on around campus and if we ever need help with drafting a policy or creating legislation, it’s best to have a VP in place that has an open door policy.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Marching Cobras, an African American dance team, came to Rolling Hills to celebrate Black History Month. Joyce Stevenson | Staff Writer

All month long there will be a long list of things to do to celebrate; from cultural movies to a taboo talk event, the Black Student Union and the Center for Multicultural Education are hoping to bring a lot of passion and excitement to the table this year.

One of the most exciting events that is coming to campus is accomplished actor Gregory Gibson Kenney who will be performing “Rosa Parks: Please Keep Your Seat.” Kenney has performed in such films as “Silence of the LambJackson’s: An American Dream” and “The Wonder Boys” as well as many commercials, printed advertisements and theatrical performances. Kenney also operates an organization called “EDUCATE Us” where he travels to schools and colleges performing a  30 minute monologue followed by an optional 15 minute question and answer section. Each monologue he performs portrays a historical figure and their triumphs, trials and goals.

Surprisingly, it is not as difficult as one may think to get talent of Kenney’s caliber to come to Western. CME program assistant Jordann Barron explains.

“Because of how early we plan it, it’s a lot easier,” Barron said. “Because we are a university and it is educational they are more than happy to come and help out.”

While most students were at home with their families, CME was already hard at work planning out Black History Month activities.

“A semester ahead of time is when we start planning for things,” Barron said. “Over Christmas break we were here for two weeks after the students left and that’s normally when we do most of our planning.”

BSU chair of major attractions, Leah Hayes, talks about why she feels Western needs such a large variety of events as well as why they structure them the way that they do.

“We don’t want anything to be like a lecture,” Hayes said. “I mean we are students too and we don’t want to go to class and then go to an event that is another lecture. We want it to be fun and we need to learn to progress; we feel like we really need to educate the campus on this and sometimes certain groups of students might feel like they aren’t represented and you know, this is our month to let the campus know we are here and we appreciate our heritage and come and join us in celebrating.”

BSU president Tobias Pointer also feels strongly about having Black History Month come to Western.

“It’s important so you can get a facet of more than one race on campus,” Pointer said. “I would say that a lot of black and, not necessarily white, but a lot of cultures don’t mesh well because they simply don’t know about each other’s culture; so that’s why we try and have plenty of events out there where we have more than one facet of culture, so you can get to know each other.”

One of these events is going to be a game night Hayes goes on to explain.

“It’s just like playing a game of Jeopardy and people can win prizes and things like that,” Hayes said.

These are just a few of the events that are coming this month, for a complete list contact the CME  department at cme@missouriwestern.edu or 816.271.4150. There is also a mass email with a full list of the events to come and informational posters around campus.

The members of Tau Kappa Epsilon pose for a quick picture during their rush week. The greeks hosted events including a video night, game night and movie night. The TKE’s held a dodge ball game and a grill out.

“If you rush in the fall time you have more time to get to know your fraternity brothers or sisters as opposed to rushing in the spring,” Collier said. “By the time time you get finished with your educational sessions, which tend to last last 6-8 weeks after the informal process, pretty much the semester is over.”

Last week all three fraternities recruited new members while only one sorority, Alpha Gamma Delta, recruited new members. Unlike fraternities, sororities have a cap for recruitment for an entire year. If the sorority meets that cap, then they can’t recruit in the spring.

Clare Hendren, the vice president of recruitment for Alpha Gamma Delta, said thatt he reason she joined a year ago was to meet new people.

“My favorite thing about greek life is having a big group of friends that I’m comfortable with that I can go to in any situation,” Hendren said.

Alpha Gamma Delta had three recruiting events last week. On monday they had afternoon tea, on Wednesday they had a game night and on Friday a craft night. Hendren said the events were successful and that she was hoping for ten new recruits.

“Somebody should join AGD because we are the most eclectic and we have the highest GPA,” Hendren said. “And we have a really strong sisterhood.”

Alpha Gamma Delta’s average GPA among it’s active members is 3.23. Phi Delta Theta has a 2.72 average GPA among it’s members. Phi Delta Theta President Ethan Kelley said that it’s the highest among the fraternities. Kelley said there are many reasons why someone should join Phi Delta Theta.

“We’re the largest on campus,” Kelley said. “We have the highest fraternity GPA on campus, we haven’t lost any intramural sports in 10 years.”

Kelley said that roughly four students were given bids last week. Phi Delta Theta had three events last week. Last Monday they had an informational night, then on Wednesday they attended the basketball game and on Friday they had a video game tournament.

“We had a large amount that went out to the basketball game to cheer for the Griffons,” Kelley said.

Kelley, who rushed in the fall of 2009, said there are benefits and downsides to rushing in either the fall or spring.
“The fall is a lot busier a schedule,” Kelley said. “There’s a lot more going on. It’s harder on your schedule in the fall.”

HB 70 would give professors the right to conceal and carry guns on campus during school hours. Western’s faculty have voiced its opinion on whether it agree with the message the bill is trying to achieve.

Dr. Robert Vartabedian, university president and Dr. Robert Bergland, Faculty Senate president both stand in opposition of HB 70. Bergland said he wouldn’t like to see anyone carry firearms on campus outside of campus security.

“There are more chances of things going wrong, than there would be a chance of guns serving as a deterrent,” Bergland said.

Faculty’s been portrayed as educated, intelligent individuals who are stable enough to handle guns on campus said Representative Mike Kelley (R-Lamar). He said he knows of faculty who hide the fact that they conceal and carry on school grounds illegally. The bill would relieve them of hiding the guns.

Dr. David Tushaus, professor of legal studies, said he stands in opposition of HB 70. He said he doesn’t know of any legitimate research that supports allowing guns to be carried by teachers while in school.

“In fact, more research is needed on effective ways to reduce violence,” Tushaus said. “I am not convinced more guns make us safer.”

In recent years, most shootings that have occurred in the United States are in gun-free zones which happen to be schools. Dr. Steven Greiert, chairman of the history department, said he supports the bill and believes faculty with proper training and responsibility should be given the chance to conceal and carry on campus.

“Let’s face it, a lot of people doing these school shootings are mentally ill,” Greiert said. “We can’t prevent everything that happens in the world, but if we have trained people then they should be allowed to carry.”

The faculty members who were interviewed were in agreement that they don’t see the need for guns on campus. Dr. Edwin Taylor, assistant professor of political science, said as a faculty member he also doesn’t support the bill. He said he doesn’t own a gun and doesn’t have any intentions on buying one if the bill passes.

“Arming faculty members would do little to improve the safety of the campus community and would only increase the probability of gun related accidents,” Taylor said.

The Faculty Senate hasn’t met with Vartabedian to discuss the matter of allowing guns on campus during business hours. Bergland said that if the bill progresses out of committee, then he thinks there would a vote from the faculty to either support or oppose the bill.

Dr. Christopher Bond, Western’s tobacco implementation committee chair, said he is reviewing every step before the policy goes into affect July 1 to ensure all issues are worked out. He said all universities that implement a smoke-free policy are going to have issues.

“This is why we have a task force in place. We have a plan to deal with the ‘what if’s’ if someone abuses the policy,” Bond said. “We will know what to do if someone is hiding, and smoking behind the dumpsters like they do at Northwest Missouri State University.”

There are numerous universities throughout the state of Missouri that have implemented tobacco-free policies and even more are preparing to jump on board. Each university approaches the policy differently with enforcement regulations, some offering cessation courses and nicotine packages.

Dr. Robert Vartabedian, Western President, said he thinks the cessation courses Missouri Southern offers students, faculty, and staff are a positive aspect to consider. His main concerns about the policy when implemented are the two e’s: enforcement and education.

“Enforcing a policy like this can get complicated; I think most people approach it and say ‘Let’s see how it works out’,” Vartabedian said. “Education is a big one. Anytime you deal with an addiction substance, you need to help it go away.”

Missouri Southern has an eight week program in place for students to take online for tobacco cessation. “There are students who pass and fail the course,” Missouri Southern health center director Julie Stamps said. “Its success depends on how bad the individual wants to quit their addiction to tobacco products.”

The way in which the policy will be enforced is still unknown at this point. Bond said the enforcement committee will meet next week to look at ways to control this issue. Universities such as Northwest Missouri State enforce their policy voluntarily. They leave its students in charge of reporting the abuse of the policy on campus grounds.

“Nothing is written in stone. We will most likely do training such as was done with the Green Dot Program,” Bond said. “Students will most likely go through Student Affairs if constantly caught smoking.”

The University of Central Missouri and Western will have their policies go into effect by next school year with the same problems they must address. Jeff Murphy, UCM assistant director of university relations said at this time they don’t charge for nicotine replacement therapy, which includes patches, gum and lozenges. Western will go through the same process and will have to find a new method for paying for the cessation resources after grant money from the MO Foundation for Health (through Heartland) runs out.

“We are able to do this because we are part of a grant through CASE (Campus Community Coalitions Advocating Smoke Free Environments) from the Missouri Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse,” Murphy said. “If that grant goes away, we would have to consider a small charge for the nicotine replacement while we look for other grant funding.”

Bond has been working on smoke-free research for the past 12 years. He says he knows what works and what doesn’t. Western’s policy strategy is being used by universities such as the University of Missouri- Kansas City and universities in Nebraska and Washington State. Other universities have warned Bond, along with others, of the signs to look for when the policy goes into effect.

“You just can’t implement a policy overnight like other universities have done,” Bond said. “We’ve been warned about the loop-holes and how smoking areas are not effective.

Western’s leaders will meet within the next couple of weeks to discuss enforcement, education and ways to continue the cessation packages for students, faculty and staff.

Erica Ricker, Cassandra Schuster and Erik Garcia were awarded the opportunity to manage and conduct their own Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory or the Aspen Leaf Yogurt store.
Carol Roever is the Interim Dean for the Craig School of Business and she noted that Steve Craig, the man behind the business, really values entrepreneurship. He feels that students should be giving the opportunity to grow and manage their own businesses.

“Steve Craig created this program for the business school that bears his name, because he believes in the value of entrepreneurial activity,” Roever said. “To sustain and grow our economy. He had faith in our students and a long history of working with Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, which had stores in several of the malls that his company owns.”

Craig set up the program to were each student would have five years to repay their loans, at that point they would be sole owners of their new found businesses.
Students who become interested in the program, enroll in an Applied Entrepreneurship Class and write out their own business plan for a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in any location.
The student’s plans are read by a panel of judges and then they are giving time to do a presentation of the plans before the winners are selected.

Erica Ricker is a business management major who graduated in 09’. She was one of the western students that were awarded the business opportunity.
Ricker grew interest to the program when she heard they had an alumni program. She along with friends took some classes and made a business plan. Eventually being the winners of the award and coming in first place.

“We enrolled in the classes, participated in the sessions, and we made a business plan,” Ricker said. “We competed with 15 other classes, and then it condensed down to five students. We won first place.”

There are three stores to pick from, which includes the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and two Aspen Leaf yogurt stores in two different locations.
Ricker admitted that writing a business plan for a particular store can get a little tricky. She feels that not knowing exactly what you’re going to own can be a problem when going through how you will run your business.

“Writing a business plan is a stressful situation because you don’t really know where you are going to go,” Ricker said. “You spend so much time working on it, and you don’t even know if you’re going to win. So it definitely takes a certain personality and mindset to do this competition.”

Erick Garcia, considered a non-traditional student, is a Finance major and also a winner of the competition. Garcia met his wife at Western and after starting a family and a couple businesses, Garcia decided to go back to school.

“We had jobs and we did college part time,” Garcia said. “10 years later I was finishing up my financing degree at Missouri Western.”

Garcia started to notice that there was no money coming from his small businesses located in Kansas City. He jumped to the opportunity that the Craig School of Business was offering students at Western.

“I was introduced to Steve Craig,” Garcia said. “We started talking about some of the ventures that I had started. I asked him if Missouri Western could be at any assistance. And that’s when they told me about the Rocky Mountain Chocolate factory program.”

Garcia saw the program as a way to help him with his entrepreneurship skills. He enrolled in the classes and took it seriously. He was the second Western alumni winner.
Carol Roever feels that this program brings something new to the University. It brings something to the table that is not common in colleges over the country.

“Many schools are focusing on entrepreneurship,” Roever said. “But we don’t know of another school with a program that actually results in college graduates becoming business owners so quickly after graduation.”

Junior Alyssa Steele carried her assignment sheet into the library with a standout element.

“Twenty peer reviewed sources” were the directions highlighted in bright pink. They were to be incorporated into her midterm research paper for her Education Psychology class paper about merit pay with lower income students.

She set aside her entire evening to complete the task. After compiling 10 sources with less than half the evening remaining, frustration had taken over.

What Steele did not know was how to book a librarian.

According to Jackie Burns, distance education and interlibrary loan librarian, the “Book a Librarian” service is one of the most overlooked resources by students. Students have the opportunity to have a librarian set aside a chunk of time to assist them personally in finding sources in the library’s online databases.

Films on demand, laptop rentals, pleasure reading and films, earbuds and copy cards for purchase, an upstairs computer lab, Interlibrary Loan service, study rooms, eBooks, and a music streaming service are also resources Burns said are forgotten by students.

“Word of mouth is what works,” she said. “It’s best when you hear students saying ‘Did you hear? Did you hear?’”

The library receives plenty of positive feedback from students who are informed and take advantage of the resources available. However, students  — including Steele — find the word-of-mouth promotion by the library disconcerting.

“Word of mouth is rarely a primary marketing strategy,” Steele said. “It works better as a complement to other marketing techniques.”

Burns believes the more money allotted to the library, the more promotion the library would be able to execute.

Social media accounts are currently managed by library staff including Facebook and Twitter and an open house is also held in the early weeks of each semester.

The main word-of-mouth strategy, however, makes Steele uneasy.

“There are things that I hear people promoting by mouth and I never know if they are true or not,” Steele said.

In the past 10 years, the definition of a library has changed and Burns said that many students have “preconceived notions” of what a library is.

In the case of Steele and her research paper, she said that the Book a Librarian service would have helped, but she didn’t know about it.

“Although some of these services may be useful to students, I don’t imagine that many students know about the library’s array of services.”

During the SGA meeting on Sept. 24 the Senate passed a notice of action to fund the Student Rush Ticket Program. The program, which is in its second year, provides tickets for the first 25 students per-performance at no cost. For the first main stage play of the season, “J.B.,” all 25 tickets were used for each of the four shows.

Although the program was supported by the majority of SGA, Senators Travis Hart and Sterling Fichter opposed the program; however, both senators approved a measure to give SGA $3,500 for tailgating at football games.

“I felt that the Student Rush Ticket proposal was not a good idea for the Student Government Association to somewhat subsidize these tickets for students,” Hart said. “I felt that the $3,450 for the proposal is far too much money for Student Senate to allocate for these tickets.”

Fichter also said that the program should not be funded by SGA because the senate needed to “curtail lots of big spending measures.”

Tee Quillin, professor of theater and cinema, said that many other colleges have a Student Rush Ticket Program and the student government has always been a part of funding ticket programs for students.

“It could be taken as a subsidy but I think that’s actually missing the larger point which is that we attempt to go to other areas on campus and administration and other places like that to receive funding,” Quillin said.

While Quillin helped create the Student Rush Ticket proposal, he understands the concern Hart and Fichter have with funding the program.

“I agree that the SGA shouldn’t be subsidizing the theater program but my caveat to that is 25 student-priced tickets per-production is does not even remotely come close to paying for a production,” Quillin said. “So it’s not even coming close to paying for all of the production, but it does impact the bottom line when we don’t have that income.”

During the SGA meeting, Sen. Mary Beth Rosenauer spoke out in favor of the ticket program.

“We don’t pay to get into football games and to theater people this is their football game,” Rosenauer said. “So you have to look at it from a student standpoint not just a theater people standpoint.”

Student Gov. Brain Shewell, also supports the Student Rush Ticket Program because of the positive response from the student body.

“I see students at every theater production,” Shewell said. “I have yet to go to one that they don’t show up. That’s because a lot of them may be for class requirements, but other ones are because they support their fellow students and that’s what we’re in the business to do as SGA is support our fellow students.”

Outlining student worker grievances, the posters have yet to be claimed.

One of two posters that have been seen around campus regarding the workers free-zone.

The posters were removed from campus buildings by the Center for Student Engagement the next day. Student Government President Jacob Scott clarified who has access to the approval stamps.

“Well as far as I am aware, I believe the stamps are actually provided by the Center for Student Engagement, and I believe the student workers of that office are in charge of reviewing the posters and then a poster that meets the guidelines for approval receives a stamp by the student worker,” Scott said.

The posters may have sounded as though there is a large group of student workers behind them, but that has not been confirmed. However, faculty and staff believe it was a student acting alone.

“My sense is there was an isolated incident, maybe even one student who is not happy about a situation that might have provoked something like that,” Grimes said.

Donnell Turner, the director for Career Development Center, agreed.

“It really appears, at least from the posters that I saw, that it’s representative of a number of students or a good deal of the student body, but that’s not what we’re hearing and that’s not what we are seeing or experiencing.”

Student Employment Coordinator Matthew Gregg would like to encourage the students that hung the posters to partake in an open dialogue.

“To me, just putting up posters doesn’t solve anyone’s problem,” Gregg said. “Putting up posters and then having open communications with whoever is fine. … You are entitled to your opinion. I just think it is best to go through the proper channels to make sure your voice is heard.”

Gregg also feels that students should utilize SGA if they feel uncomfortable coming to faculty or staff.

“If they don’t feel comfortable coming to us (Student Employment), let SGA come to us, and then let’s meet together and take it from there,” Gregg said.

SGA addresses all student concerns that are submitted through their proper grievance policy.

“Certainly we would be happy to listen to their concerns and do what we can to advocate on their behalf, but if you can’t sign your name to it it’s going to be difficult to address,” Scott said.

The Career Development Center also has an open door policy for student workers.

“I want students to feel that they have an open door here and that they have someone that is here to listen,” Gregg said. “That doesn’t mean I’m always going to agree or disagree with that group, but we’re going to be objective about the situation.”

Former SGA student Sen. Amber Nold denied to comment on the situation, yet admitted to hanging the posters around campus.

If any students involved in creating and hanging the posters are interested in sharing any information, please contact the Griffon News at 816-271-4412 or via email at thegriffonnews@gmail.com.

The new desks (above right) which are wider and more flexible then the old desks (above left) are in place in a classroom in Looney complex. Looney, Popplewell and Wilson all received new desks and tables as many were again and outdated.

In March of this year, the SGA voted to allocate $99,558 to purchase new chairs and tables to replace aging furniture across campus.

The announcement came with some criticism at the time from those who thought it was strange that student fee money would be used to purchase property for the university.

“There was some opposition at the first, but now all I hear is compliments from faculty and students,” Instructional Technology Director Cori Criger said. “It’s a big improvement for the students especially.”

One of the best improvements Criger says is the benefit to students with disabilities. Each classroom throughout the campus now has at least two tables and two chairs to accommodate students that need that type of seating.

“What it means for students with disabilities is that these classrooms are now ready and waiting for them,” Disability Services Coordinator Michael Ritter said. “ No longer do they have to request special furniture on the first day of class. The new furniture brings these classrooms into the 21st century.”

Criger said the old way of accommodating students’ needs placed the responsibility of fulfilling the need on the student who had to go through channels to get a table or chair when needed.

The furniture was totally changed in 10 rooms across campus. Four additional rooms for renovation had to keep the tablet type desks to accommodate current capacities, but tables and chairs were added to the back of the classrooms. Two other computer labs received new furnishings, but the technology fee funded those changes.

“For many years, I’ve been an advocate for replacing the 1970s vintage tablet arm chairs with tables and chairs,” Dean and Executive Director of Western Institute Gordon Mapley said. “Many 2012 adult bodies do not fit well in tablet arm chairs.”

Former SGA President Allison Norris and Sen. Amber Nold are credited with the success of the plan to replace the furniture with SGA funds. It was one of the last legislative decisions from the last SGA session.

“I am very excited about the classroom furniture upgrades and I applaud the SGA for providing the funding,” Ritter said.

Wilson Hall received most of the renovations with a total of five rooms renovated with new tables and chairs and two rooms renovated with new tablet style desks to keep the some room occupancy.

Looney Sports Complex received two rooms with new tables and chairs and one with new tablet style desks.

Popplewell Hall had two rooms renovated with new tables and chairs and one with new tablet style desks.

Eder Hall had one room renovated with new tables and chairs.

To see the before and after photos of these rooms, go to griffonnews.com

Photo by. Evan Roberts

Colorful new murals have sprouted out onto the walls of the English, Foreign Language, and Journalism department hall.

The renovation team consisted of Teresa Rodewald, Natasha Snyder Hatcher, Hanna Greenwell and Roxanne Chase.

Chase, coordinator for the new artwork, said that she was in Dr. Mike Cadden’s children literature class when the whole project started.

Chase said Cadden wanted to get some art work to break down the white walls for some time and asked her if she would be interested.

“I was excited about the opportunity, so I said yes,” Chase said. “I told him I need to round up some people, get some ideas and take it from there.”

Student Hatcher said that she heard from Rodewald about needing volunteers to help on the project, so she was very happy to volunteer.

“I thought it would be interesting,” Hatcher said. “I did the set of trees, and I am quite pleased with it.”

The artwork that runs through the halls of EFLJ department includes brick patches, sceneries in doorways and quotes. Chase said that each piece of artwork was from the creation of each artist, and it came from their own inspiration.

“The quotes came from Dana Andrews who was our go between,” Chase said. “I know what the quotes say, but Andrews doesn’t want that information released, he wants his students to figure it out.”

Rodewald, former president of Griffon Art Alliance, said she brought forth the idea of the bricks because she thought it would break up the white spaces and would bring a cool atmosphere. Although they are not completed yet, Rodewald is already pleased with them.

Chase said that there are several different themes going on through the halls, but she likes a realism approach. She said she was going for a type of Edgar Allen Poe theme. The art work renovations have even landed the group to be asked by Dr. Patricia Donaher to do a Harry Potter theme on the wall outside her office; Donaher teaches an English course based on the Harry Potter series.

The group is still looking for different themes from others at Missouri Western who might have ideas for murals, and asking to bring them forth.

“The artwork is not complete, and we don’t plan on it to be complete,” Chase said. “I don’t believe that any form of artwork is ever complete, but that’s my own perspective.”

The renovations cost a little over $220,000, which included redoing the front desk area, knocking down the wall between the cardio and the multi-purpose room to expand the area and taking out the old coaches offices for a larger multi-purpose room fit for classes and other activities.

A new locker room was also implemented for the Arizona Cardinals during Chiefs Camp. However, the area is now a permanent home for one of the sports teams on campus.

Eight years ago, the soccer team was brought into the world of Missouri Western sports. During those eight years, however, the team was not really awarded with its own personal locker room – instead the women’s swimming locker room was used.

“We would occasionally get sidetracked with old women and young girls coming in and out (of the locker room) during pregame talks,” senior soccer player Erin Widrig said. “It was pretty distracting.”

Athletic Director Kurt McGuffin said the number one goal of the Baker renovations was to give soccer locker room not only because it is the only team without its own locker room, but for other reasons.

“Soccer is our biggest participation female sport of the six women’s sports we have with over 20 student-athletes, and for them to not have a home locker room was not in the best interest of MWSU.”

Although Widrig’s a senior and will only use it for one year, she says she will enjoy it while she can. At this point, she’s just excited and happy she and her teammates can use it.

“We are very thankful we have been afforded the opportunity to have the locker room and we plan on using it to help us this season as we look to make a step forward in the program,” Widrig said.

Now that the soccer season has started, the athletes have already started using the locker room. Although not decorated yet, the televisions have already been installed for watching game film, which is something they could hardly do before.

The soccer players aren’t the only ones who happy about the changes, however.

McGuffin also said security for the workers at the front desk area was definitely needed and believes it is appreciated, which Baker Fitness Center Coordinator Amy Foley proves.

“They totally redid the whole area up front by expanding it and added new desks, which was really nice,” Foley said.

While McGuffin is pleased with the renovations, he shows there is still more to come for the future.

“To me there is still some work to be done on parts of Baker,” McGuffin said. “I would like to see new flooring, a new paint job, and of course the replacement of equipment still needs to take place, but overall I think the users of Baker will see the improvements and appreciate the work that was done and that is yet to be done.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ellis Cross, news editor for the Griffon News and Delegate for the Republican National Convention

One Missouri Western student will have the opportunity to travel to Tampa, Fla. on August 27 to be part of this year’s Republican National Convention.

Ellis Cross, news editor for the Griffon News was elected as alternate delegate by the Missouri Republican State Caucus along with fellow members of the state.

Cross said that students need to pay attention to this election because America is at a crossroads. He said the next election will determine if we will have larger government in our lives or if we will begin to get at the debt that comes with it under control.

“Students must register to vote and educate themselves on the issues and where each candidate stands,” Cross said. “Then they must vote their own conscience.”

The Republican National Convention occurs every four years when a presidential election occurs in our country. This year the likely nominees are presidential candidate Mitt Romney and vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan.

Cross said that they will be selecting the Republican candidate for president by vote of the delegation. He said they will also be voting on the articles of the Republican Party.

“Those are the rules of how the party operates,” Cross said. “There will be many speakers and candidates to talk to and experience.”

Cross said he will be blogging at thecrossreference.wordpress.com and will be sending videos to the Griffon News website. He said that most of the blogs he will be writing will be about what he’s experiencing and what is happening in Tampa during the Republican National Convention.

“My blogs will be loaded with opinion and even some facts,” Cross said.

For full coverage on Cross’ trip to the Republican National Convention, keep up to date on the Griffon News website at www.griffonnews.com and through Cross’ blog at www.thecrossreference.wordpress.com.

Downs Drive went through numerous reconstruction over the summer. The total cost for all the road repairs was $155,000.

When students return to Missouri Western for the fall semester, they will notice the smooth drive around campus while searching for that coveted parking spot. Lee Grover Construction has been replacing large portions of concrete on Downs Drive and other locations on campus.

Traffic was seldom completely cut off during the repairs this summer. Drivers during the summer construction were often required to use only one lane while the lane next to it was being reconstructed. Director of Facilities Lonnie Johnson supervised the work and reports that all of the work was completed to specifications and on time. Drivers did experience the inconvenience of having to share a lane with oncoming traffic.

“Most issues for this type work are simply traffic control issues,” Johnson said. “We had one car drive through some cones and into the wet concrete.”

This type of construction, which leads to traffic control problems, can be seen on public streets and even bridges as repairs are made. Sometimes there are a couple of flagmen to assist drivers and increase safety. However, during the repairs on campus, there weren’t any flagmen used but there was only the one incident reported.

Ron Moutray of Grover Construction organized the reconstruction of the pavement.

“We only completely close the road to through traffic during the actual pouring of the concrete,” Moutray said. “Flagmen aren’t required when you are using one lane of traffic, and drivers can clearly see each other to take turns using the lane.”

The reconstruction didn’t hamper the Chief’s training camp. Most areas in main traffic ways were complete for the Chiefs except for the seeding of the grass along the sides of the reconstruction sites. Johnson says that the seeding will be completed in September.

As expressed by former Vice President of Financial Planning and Administration Mel Klinkner, Western’s budget has strained with diminished funding from the state during recent years. At the same time, costs of operation have been soaring. These factors were especially apparent with Western’s maintenance reconstruction.

“It’s been around five years since we did any concrete replacement around Downs Drive,” Johnson said. “We have done some asphalt work in various areas.”

Total repairs to the streets on campus are expected to be around $155,000 this year, and most of those repairs have been finished using concrete.

“Concrete is a longer wearing material with less maintenance,” Moutray said. “Concrete is getting higher but asphalt gets higher with the cost increases of petroleum. Many institutions go with the material that cost less and gives desired wear longevity.”

For a driving tour of the improvements visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi8SpIN-d_g. This gives you a fun driving tour of Downs Drive soon after the repairs were complete.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Senior history and sociology major Gary Weidemann is going to study Punjabi in India thanks to a scholarship he received from the Critical Language Scholarship Program by applying through their website. His scholarship is funded by the Department of State and Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs rather than the study abroad office. Weidemann said he got selected in Missouri by the state department to go.

“I wasn’t in an Ivy League school or living on the East Coast; maybe if other students see that it is not impossible to go, they will be encouraged or inspired to apply for it,” Weidemann said.

Weidemann said he was surprised he got the scholarship. He applied previously for Turkey and didn’t get it prior to picking India when he applied again this year.

Weidemann chose India because he wants to try and learn a new language. Of the 13 different locations, he was limited to the places for beginners. It also did not hurt that he is really interested in that region. He even took two classes on a religion of the region, Sikhism.

“Punjabi straddles the Pakistan border,” Weidemann said. “A lot of interesting things have been happening there for the past twenty years.”

Weidermann also hopes other students received the same opportunity that he did.

“Hopefully I’m not the only Missouri Western student who gets this,” Weidemann said. ”It’s a great opportunity, a whole summer but, basically paid for: Not a lot of opportunities like that out there.”

Weidemann said expenses are fully funded: which covers classes, books, travel expenses and airfare.

“Really cool thing they provide housing and food,” Weidemann said.

While in India he will be staying with a host family in the city of Chandigarh. He will be there during India’s monsoon season.

Weidemann said this is not his first time out of the country, but it is the first chance he has to study abroad. Weidemann said he was inspired by Dr. Phil Mullins, professor of philosophy.

“He told me to be an educated person, you should learn another language,” Weidemann said.

Junior Anna Steely, one of Weidemann’s former residents when he was a resident assistant, said that she was very proud of Weidemann’s fantastic opportunity.

“He was a great RA when I had him, and I’m very excited for him,” Steely said. “He has this amazing chance to go to India and learn Punjabi.”

Assistant professor of political science Edwin Taylor stated that the opportunity to study abroad is something very beneficial and encourages all students to follow in Weidemann’s footsteps.

“Studying abroad is a fantastic opportunity, one that every student should try to figure out how to include in their academic experience,” Taylor said. ”I think most people think ‘Oh I can never afford to do it; it’s too expensive,’ and they short change themselves from a wonderful opportunity, to just go experience something completely different and be out of their comfort zone for a while.”

During a three week period students are able to meet with their academic advisers to decide on classes and internship opportunities for the next semester. Western students seem to be in agreement over their love-hate relationships with advisers.

Mary Mayse, a nursing major said she doesn’t believe students should be assigned an adviser, and that any adviser can help a student.

“When I try to speak with my adviser, she is never there,” Mayse said. “I sent her an email because I misunderstood when we could sign up for classes. Then she sends me a nasty email back, and all I wanted was my PIN to enroll in classes.”

Students believe that there should be an option for advising. Rachel Billings, undeclared major, believes advisers tell you things that will help, but if you’re an undeclared major, they don’t know where to send you.

“I think there should be an option. We are adults, and we don’t need to be led around like children,” Billings said. “If we want advice, then we can go contact them, but I fully believe it should be up to us.”

Dr. Christopher Bond, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies, disagrees with making advising optional, stating that there are things that pop up which students might not know about like GPA requirements, internships or classes that might not be offered next semester.

“Missouri Western is changing the advising system in spring 2012,” Bond said. “It’s a usable online feature for both students and faculty. It will be easier for both the student and faculty member to work together.”

Advisement for some students seems to be a hassle, but for others it’s a way for them to speak one on one with a faculty member to decide on a path toward graduation.

Jennifer Loftin, a biochemistry and molecular biology major, said that she really likes her adviser. She said he has been very helpful and is definitely knowledgeable about when classes are offered, what classes she should take and when she should take them.

“I also like that I can go to him for advice on what electives to take and what would benefit me the most,” Loftin said.

Dr. Mei Zhang, associate professor of Communication Studies, said that if a student comes into her office with a plan, she will review it. She encourages her students to come in with a tentative course schedule. If they do not, she still advises them.

“I spend at least half an hour with a student on advising during each session,” Zhang said. “I double check the requirements they need for the degree.”

Just a few days ago, Student Life Director Isaiah Collier received an email from MTV producer Ryan McCray explaining that he was searching for college-aged students dealing with certain hardships and felt that a Missouri Western student might be his answer for a different spin on the show. From there the two developed a tryout session for Missouri Western students to showcase their hardships for a short camera spotlight.

“He looked at some of the hardships we are facing now with the budget constraints and thought that for students here, it would be great opportunity for them to reach for the stars and achieve their goals,” Collier said about why McCray choose Missouri Western.

From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. an MTV producer will be conducting a five-minute interview for any student wanting to try out for the show. After all the interviews, the producers will take all the shot footage from Western and numerous other schools back to New York where they will review and decide which student to choose.

“He’ll be simply asking questions and holding the camera at the same time,” Collier said. “It’s that bare bones. Afterwards, he take it back to MTV to see if there’s any kind of meat or story there.”

According to Collier, there is no guarantee that they will select a Western student, but it is a possibility as McCray is really trying to focus on this region. The only stipulation is that the student must be in the age range of 18 to 26.

Student Louis Erby, who has already signed up for an interview, said that this try out could be his one chance to fulfill his dream of becoming a professional artist. As soon as he saw the email, Erby jumped to the opportunity.

“I just took off running to go get the paper,” Erby said. “I didn’t even ask questions. If the opportunity presents itself, I’m the first to come running. It would be a nice, cool first step to start off like that. I’m not doing rapping; I’m doing acting. I want to have a role in the first theater production in the fall.”

Student Jessica Criss, who recently heard of the tryouts, feels that the show coming to Western is a great thing for both students and the university.

“We never get opportunities that larger universities do, and the casting call being here is great exposure to the university,” Criss said.

If students are interested they can go to the Center for Student Engagement and pick up an application. The application must be returned at the time of their interview. Students can also select their interview time by signing their name at the preferred time in the CSE. Interviews will begin right at 11 a.m. April 25 in Blum 212.

“I feel like we have some talented students that can definitely shine,” Collier said. “I think students will get a big kick out of MTV being on campus.”

The show, which is an annual male pageant show hosted by sorority Alpha Gamma Delta,  has seven contestants: Scott Schlesser nominated by Tau Kappa Epsilon, Mark Bush nominated by Alpha Phi Alpha, Alex Atkinson nominated by Sigma Sigma Sigma, Nick Neimeir nominated from Phi Sigma Kappa, Coltin Ridenour nominated from Phi Sigma Kappa, Micheal Rhoads nominated from Chem club and Jacob Scott nominated from Alpha Sigma Alpha.

Each contestant will have an elaborate opening act. Contestants practice their talent throughout the week and get their act approved by Jacki Bell, the coordinator for Mr. MWSU, before they can go on stage. The show is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in Spratt Hall room 101 and will roughly run an hour and a half.

Tickets go on sale starting the week of April 9. Students can purchase tickets for the event from any AGD member. The tickets cost $4 in advanced and $5 at the door.

According to Bell, the men will have six categories for judging which include: swim, formal, talent, spirit, costume and overall. Trophies will be awarded to the winner of each category. To decide the winner, judges for the event will be picked from the faculty on campus, but the judges cannot be Greek affiliated in the hopes that they will be unbiased towards the candidates.
Bell hopes there will be a good turn-out this year with at least 80 people, though the event has never had that many people attend before.

Bell said there would be a few changes this year. This is the first year the AGD members will be selling raffle tickets for the chance to win prizes. The raffle tickets cost $1 per ticket or 6 tickets for $5. Students might want to stick around after the show, because there will be drawings at the end and students must attend to receive their prize. Baskets with prizes such as Missouri Western apparel, movie passes, gift cards and gas cards will be given away.

Bell said that last week was the most hectic and nerve wracking with getting everything together for the show. Overall though, Bell greatly appreciates having the show.

“It’s a 100 percent worth it,” Bell said. “I love this feeling, because I know it is going to help my chapter at the end.”

Another AGD sorority member, Jessica Barszczak said,” It’s our biggest event of the year, the whole sorority works together to put it together as a team.”

Assisting Bell with the show is Janessa Paden, the financial advisor for AGD. Paden said the proceeds from the show go to their charity, the Alpha Gamma Delta Foundation, which will be used for diabetes research.

Paden said any organization can nominate up to two contestants. The contestants will have a jar to collect donations for the charity; each contestant is competing against the others to raise the most money.

Paden said the event will be a fun and pretty comical evening.

President of AGD Kelsey Guthery said the event is a lot of work for the sorority but the final product is worth all the effort the members put into it.

SGA Vice President of WAC Lauren Dillon said she was very happy at this year’s mix of models and fashions. The show included nine males and 10 females, a few models from last year, models that were hand picked by designers and a lot of brand new models trying the show out for the first time.

“I really like doing these fashion shows when we have a big diverse group,” Dillon said. “We interact with these people and you make friends that you would have possibly never met before.”

The show featured student designers Robyn Patti and Noel Collier as well as numerous St. Joseph fashion stores such as Buckle and Charming Charlie. WAC decided to also try to top last year’s show by bringing in a professional musical performance and different lighting. Dr. Seahorse, an electronic and pop duo, served as DJs, hosts and a musical act between the different looks. Another new addition to the show was a formal section that included tuxes from Tip Top Tux and formal floor-length gowns from Shannon Renee’s Formal Wear and Accessories.

Dillon said that all the new additions were small things to make the show more unique and keep the students coming back. Dillon, who has been a part of fashion show’s production for three years, said that though the show is time consuming, seeing everything on that final night makes it worthwhile.

“We went a little bit bigger this year,” Dillon said. “Every year that I’ve done (the show) we’ve steadily increased. It’s so fun to see everyone get dressed and seeing how everything comes together. It might not necessarily be how it was in my mind, but then it sometimes comes together better just on its own. ”

Last year, the show held over 250 people in attendance and 200 people the year before. This year the show held over 150 people, yet the smaller crowd was greatly amused by the designs and the Dr. Seahorse duo. The crowd gave a standing appauslse when the lead singer, Trevor, did Michael Jackson’s “Man in the mirror.” Students mouths dropped open from the first word that came out of his mouth.

“He sounded just like Michael,” audience member Cambreana Byrd said. “I thought it was really him for a second.”

Student Designer Robyn Patti, who had five pieces in the show, felt that being the audience is often surprised to see students making and creating clothes rather

“I think a lot of people don’t expect to see students creating outfits and making pieces,” Patti said. “They come to the show and expect to see only retail clothing. With the student designers they get that extra wow factor.”

Third year returning model Lindsey Stubbs said her favorite part of this year’s show was the “Rags to Riches” thrift store challenge. Each of the models were given a set dollar amount to spend at the St. Joseph thrift stores.. They were required to pick out their own financial-friendly ensemble in just a short amount of time.

“It was a lot of fun to throw some things together,” Stubbs said. “It gives people the idea that even if they are on a budget they can still feel good about themselves. I was really excited about it.”

Stubbs also included that fashion shows are great ways for students to feel comfortable about themselves, rather being in the show or just attending. Stubbs feels that the show is a way for students to see and showcase fashion diversity.

“I don’t think you have to follow any rules,” Stubbs said.  “As long as you are comfortable in what your wearing and you feel good about yourself, who cares? I feel like your confidence is going to be more attractive to people then necessarily what you’re wearing.”

The show was held in the Fulkerson center on April 3 at 8 p.m. A reception followed the show where students could meet the performers and designers, receive store coupons and get a closer look at the clothing.

The annual benefit will be held Mar 31 at St. Francis Xavier Church Parish Center and will begin at 5:30 and run about an hour and a half. Seven choirs from the university and community are singing during the event. The benefit involves a spaghetti dinner and music performed by the choirs.

Dr. David Benz, director of choral activities, said the event is “an evening of delicious music.”

Every current choir student from the college should be participating in the event. Songs being performed are mainly pop and jazz music. Each choir performs two songs and has different pieces to sing.

Before the benefit begins, Kathleen Holeman, director of vocal and piano jazz, and Bob Long, director of jazz studies and coordinator of woodwinds, will be performing as the other choirs set up. According to Holeman, in between other choirs setting up she will be performing and singing.

Each guest needs to purchase a $20 ticket to attend. Tickets are available through the university’s music office. The proceeds from ticket sales and donations go towards scholarships for choir students.

Not just the music students are excited for “Pop’s and Pasta” but the directors are eager for the event as well.

“I love it! Holeman said. “This is right up my alley because my focus is jazz and pop. I wholeheartedly get into this event, and of course it is a wonderful benefit for the local scholarship.”

Sophomore music technology major Brent Isom feels that this event should ultimately be a good turnout.

“It’s a good event because it’s one we get to enjoy a lot of what’s going on, along with the people who are actually there,” he said.

“The students like it,” Holeman said.  ”My group does jazz and pop all the time, some of these groups do much more serious literature and I’m sure it’s a welcome change, just to have a variety.”

According to Benz, people give donations and support to their events.

“Often time’s people do give donations; people are very supportive of many things at the university which is great.”

Benz hopes this year is another full house. The center holds roughly 225 guests. He said he always appreciates the people that come out to support the singers and the program.

WAC decided to add a few rules this semester to make the game more fair and challenging. Students that live off-campus are not allowed to participate due to an unfair advantage. All players must have their printed registered ID number on them at all times or they could be disqualified. Bands must be worn and visibly seen every day on campus.

“I’m just hoping for a fun, safe game,” Chance Umstattd, HVZ event planner said. “Last year it got a little crazy with the safety, but hopefully this year everyone has fun and keeps safe and that people want to come back next year.”

WAC has officially notified the students that if any unsportsmanlike conduct such as shoving, hitting, bum-rushing, rough housing or anything else of that nature occurs, HVZ monitors will immediately notify the police.  According to the monitors, last year there were quite a few issues that involved rough play.

Though some students were disappointed at the new rules, over 100 eager students filed in line to register. Many of them are hoping for the same fun that they had last year.

“It was extremely fun being chased by massive numbers of zombies,” participant Cody Benowitz said. “I met a lot of new friends, and I had a lot of fun.”

Participant Gabriel Saldana also had fun last year and enjoyed meeting a lot of people that were big into the game just like him. Though Saldana hopes to stay human for a while before a zombie catches him, he admits that playing on the dark side is still fun.

“Being a zombie isn’t too bad,” Saldana said. “Running around campus late at night was very fun.”

Participant Rachel Monson said the suspense in last year’s game was the best part for her. She never knew when she would die and be turned into a zombie.

“I like seeing how serious everybody takes it,” Monson said. “I also like having to run to and from class to not get caught.”

This year the game will include a number of missions that alter the game guidelines to make the attacks more fun. By the end of this week, ultimate zombies will appear. If tagged by an ultimate zombie, the human will be “dead” and their game will end.  Though this year’s participants are fewer then last year’s due to off-campus students not being able to participate, Umstattd thinks the game will still be fun as long as people abide by the rules.

“Just follow the rules and don’t be a jerk about the game,” Umstattd said. “Have fun and play fair.”

“I was actually a stepper in high school, and we used to perform during half-time at basketball games,” DeNae’ Williams, team captain said while recapping the half-time performance. “It was like going back down memory lane for me.”

Williams said that Sounds of Ambition was created to give the girls a way to express themselves with a unique form of art and show others what they are about.

“I chose the name Sounds of Ambition because we’re all ambitious young ladies, and we’re all striving for different goals, but we all want the same thing: we want to reach success in what we’re doing,” Williams said.

Sounds of Ambition, which is sponsored by Western’s Green Dot program, has performed at numerous competitions, schools and places in both Kansas City and St. Joseph, such as East Hills Mall and the step shows here on campus. The girls also won the Big 12 step show conference at the University of Missouri, which was their first competition and first performance.  In addition to this, the girls won the female division of the Alpha step show at Western last year and took home $1,000.

New team member Amber Anaya feels that the step team was a great opportunity to be a part of something, which was what made her sign up for it.

“DeNae’ and I used to be suitemates, and when she told me she was on a step team I was like ‘Sweet! I would love to be on a step team!’” Anaya said. “I love it. All the teammates are just awesome, and I can’t wait to perform again.”

Basketball player Charlonda Bozeman, who saw the half-time performance, said she felt the step team really has something to offer with a unique blend of dance and step, along with raw talent.

“The step team had a unique collaboration of putting all the steps together,” Bozeman said. “They all have talent and it shows that they have been working very hard to perform on this campus. You have to be dedicated to step like that.”

The team currently has seven members, yet welcomes anyone to come give it a try. They are looking to obtain recognition as a campus organization and are currently preparing for their next competition, which is the Alpha step show held on campus March 31.

Sydney Givens, member in training, said that the fraternity is built on women who share the gift and love for music.  The group’s main purpose is to spread the word to those who have an interest or passion for music.

“Its purpose is to foster interest in music and to promote social contact among people who share an interest in music,” Given said. “Our chapter’s name is Eta Epsilon, our province is Pi C and we are in region 3.”

Carol Criss, advisor for Alpha Sigma Iota, said that though the group has been on campus for over 30 years, the number of memberships has been going up and down periodically throughout its tenure.

“Large enrollment numbers, we determine, may help to build the fraternity,” Criss said. “We are in the rebuilding process right now.”

Criss said that to be a part of this group you don’t necessarily have to be a music major. The group is made up of all different kinds of women with different degrees but all have an interest in music.

“Our president, Claire Shinneman, is not a music major,” Criss said.“People who join are usually people who plan to stay music all their lives.”

Givens said that, in the beginning, she didn’t know if she wanted to join the fraternity, but once she met Shinneman and she became her bid, she became more interested. She said that she decided to join when she was reminded of her old vocal lesson teacher.

“I had vocal lessons with Hillary Myers, and she was my music teacher, and I remember that she said she has something to do with Alpha Sigma Iota,” Givens said. “So then I joined, and I like it, because you’re part of an organization, and it’s easier to find people who have similar interest that you do.”

Shinneman said that her involvement with the organization will benefit her and others involved in the long run.

“It will help them with jobs, more than anything,” Shinneman said. “If you’re in an interview for a position then hopefully you have met that person through an event you went to while being involved with Alpha Sigma Iota.”

The fraternity does more than just sit around and play music or sing. The fraternity stays involved and has events throughout the school year.

“We do fundraisers, and last year we had a huge success when we supported a project called Cinderella’s Closet,” Criss said. “It was nice for all of us to come together and everyone wears formals for a day. It was a huge success.”

The national competition, sponsored by the Classical Singer magazine, gave $6,000 in cash prizes for the event and awards cash prizes to the top three contestants. The competition involves contestants at the high school, undergraduate and graduate level to compete for $2.1 million in scholarships.

Kaitlyn Christian, Adrienne Collins and Donovan Jones competed and are advancing to the next level. The singers said that not a lot of undergraduate contestants showed up to compete when they auditioned.

“For the three of us to advance, that was a huge honor that all three of us will get to go to the second round in Chicago,” Music major Collins said.

Each student competed for personal reasons.

“I want to excel in the music world,” Freshman music education major Christian said. ”One of my big dreams is to sing opera on stage someday, so I want to get my voice out there.”

Jones, freshman piano and vocal performance major, said he competed for the scholarships and feedback from the judges.

“I was very excited to go; I love to compete and perform,” Jones said. “It was exciting, especially exciting to get feedback from the judges.”

Each student prepared three classical songs and sang two of them in front of a panel of judges at William Jewel College in Liberty, Mo. Jones, Christian and Collins, who advanced to the second round, were also the only students from Western who sang for this specific competition.

“I really think that if other people would have done it, they would have definitely gone on with us,” Christian said. “A lot of talented people in this department and a lot more people probably could have excelled.”

The second, semifinal and final rounds of the competition will be held in Chicago, Ill., May. 25 through 27.

The Classical Music Competition is not the first competition these students have been a part of, as they  have all competed in numerous competitions. The students said this one in particular was very laid back. They were not really nervous, and everyone was really friendly for the event.

“It’s just a great way to start getting your name out there, when you compete and hopefully place or win, it’s nice to start getting that recognition, and to hear the feedback from the judges,” Collins said.

Senior Sebastian Smith is concerned by many issues with campus dining. He believes that the food court should provide nutritional facts and when asked for the facts, they weren’t available. Smith said he gave his email to both Burger Studio and Caliente, and was told that they would look it up and send it to him.

“Students don’t know what they are putting in their body or how many calories they are taking in. That kind of knowledge is important to any student with concerns.” Smith said.

Jim Maidez, director of dining services, said that the cafeteria offers a variety of foods for students to choose from. The concern that he believes is that students chose not to pick healthy choices from the cafeteria, or food court.

“What I hear most often from students is that the foods sucks, but tell me what makes the food suck, because I know it doesn’t.” Maidez said.

“I eat in the dining room every day, and I see the food we put out there. I can tell you that there are healthy options out there, if students are willing to go out looking for it. I see it being done every day by students, and myself.” Maidez said.

Dietary facts aren’t the only concerns that students have. Sophomore Brittany Klever believes that buying food off campus may be cheaper.

“The other day I bought a chicken sandwich from Wendy’s for a dollar, when one at the food court was over five dollars.” Klever said.

Bridget Janssen, RHA President, said that Western dining has made a lot of improvements, but there is still room for improvement.
“The prices probably should change in the cafeteria depending on the amount of food that is being served,” Janssen said. “I think the food court does not have unreasonable prices, that is just something we have to deal with as college students.”

]Maidez wants students who have concerns over campus dining to come speak with him. He wants to try to keep stations open that meet the demand of the students. The last thing that he wants to do is put food out that they are just going to throw away.

“We haven’t had any complaints so far, however if students are wanting us to make wholesale changes to the menu, the answer is no,” Maidez said. “But, if there is a recipe that students would like us to try, well then let us know, we are more than willing to try.”

Trash can be found many places on campus, especially with cuts to campus maintenance. Photo by Jason Brown

“Our staffing levels are bare bones right now,” Director of Facilities Lonnie Johnson said.

Johnson said that the campus only has two custodians working for each of the academic buildings on campus. One electrician and one plumber are covering the whole campus.
Auxiliary Maintenance Supervisor Steve Conway said he has not heard of anything changing in the future regarding the number of hours maintenance employees work or a decrease in the number of working employees.
Johnson said that while the cost of materials continues to go up each year, the operating budget is not increasing fast enough to cover all the areas. Maintenance cannot keep from going over their budget in some areas.
Conway said that he and several other employees cover all the dorms on campus, as well as the student union, commons and fitness center. There are 9 full-time workers and four student workers. They take care of anything that has to do with student involvement.
Auxiliary maintenance has four maintenance techs that take care of maintenance requests such as heating, air and plumbing. Conway and and his team get a lot of door requests.
Director of Residential Life Mark Stier said in case of an emergency he could call on the radio and maintenance would respond. Residential life consists of only the director, three hall directors and 40 resident assistants. Since residential life does not have its own maintenance personal, Stier relies on campus maintenance for assistance.
The maintenance department is quite diverse and encompasses every section of campus. The staff is currently made up of seven different areas: mechanical maintenance, building trades, grounds, events/set-ups, custodial, auxiliary maintenance/custodial and mail room/shipping receiving.
The custodial staff works Monday through Friday and also cleans up after college events such as sports and conferences.

According to BSU President Louis Erby, the students are who he is looking out for. Erby wants to show people that the students will be the main focus for the organization.

‘The students are our main goal,” Erby said. “We’re not trying to please anyone else, but we’re trying to inform and provide something for our students to learn from and be entertained from.”

On Feb. 22, BSU will be hosting the Million Man March simulation. The event will be held in Blum at 2 p.m. The goal for the simulation is to educate students about the importance of Black History month and afterwards the students will make their march around the campus.

“Everybody is meeting here in Blum,” Erby said. “We’ll have a discussion about the reasons why we are meeting and the reason why we felt that this will be an effective way to spread some knowledge about Black History Month.”

Every Friday BSU will host a movie in Spratt Hall Room 101. On Feb. 17, the organization played the movie “Get on the Bus,” which is a movie about men with various backgrounds making their way to the Million Man March. Each Friday a movie will start at 7 p.m., and the event is free.

The Black Heritage Ball will be hosted on Feb. 28. The event goal is to talk about the difficulties that have been presented in the past and also difficulties we are dealing with in this generation.

“That’s going to be a very powerful program that will address a lot of the past adversities that we face, from slavery to present time,” Erby said. “A lot of things will be addressed and talked about in a fashion where it will be informational and entertaining for everyone at the same time.”

Erby feels the Ball will be a good way for students to learn about some older incidents that have happened and how they may affect us to today. Erby feels that students and the community should come into the event with an open mind.

“We want students coming out being optimistic, open and ready to learn,” Erby said. “We want to take a trip back memory lane and discuss a lot of things that have happened in our past.”

The Heritage Ball is free and will be located in Spratt Hall room 214, but the first 70 students or staffs that RSVP will be served food at the event. The ball is a black tie affair.

The latest program that BSU hosted was on Valentine’s Day. The event was called the “Language of Love” and it presented poetry and singing by students. It also featured special guest Brandon Thornton who goes by the stage name “Explicit.”

According to BSU Vice President Rodney Roberts, the event was a fun night out with your Valentine where you get to be entertained at the same time.

“The ‘Language of Love’ program was a special night,” Roberts said.

“Language of Love” started at 7 p.m. and had a good turnout of students. Student Jordan Blew felt that all the performers where good and she really enjoyed herself.

“It was really good,” Blew said. “I loved the music and seeing people getting up there to perform was also amazing.”

Black Student Union welcomes everyone to come out to the BSU meetings that are held every Tuesday at 5 p.m.

“SGA brought it up to us that they would like to have some self-served classes that people could get in shape in,” Berry said. “So we brought up Zumba.”

After doing a survey with participants in the Zumba workouts, Berry decided to add more classes to help bring in more men, and also more students, to participate in the exercising programs. SGA sponsors all of the programs, and they also helped Berry get the three new classes started.

The Toning program was started to help lower the body fat of the participants. The exercises are physical, and their main goal is to help develop a better physique.

Toning classes are held every Tuesday in the West Arena from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. The classes are instructed by Lynae Sanders, who feels that one of the main goals of the class is to help her students tone up their muscles one at a time.

Sanders feels that the classes motivate her to stay in shape and to stay active.

“Obviously its good for your health, and it makes you feel and look better,” she said.

Poppy Sullivan is the Instructor of the Turbo Kick and PiYo classes. Turbo kick is a mix of kickboxing and dance moves that are choreographed to high-tempo music. The exercise is a cardiovascular challenge that helps with strength and endurance.

Turbo Kick classes are held on Mondays and Wednesdays from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Fitness Center. On Tuesdays, the class is held from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the West Arena.

PiYo classes are held on Thursdays from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., also in the West arena. PiYo is a mix between Pilates and yoga that focuses on strength and conditioning. The choreography is designed to make participants sweat and helps to tighten abdominal muscles.

Poppy Sullivan feels that the new workouts are something that some students may be inexperienced in. Bringing the program to St. Joseph allows more people to experience the program and hopefully get something out of it.

“It’s something different,” Sullivan said. “I know there’s not a lot of turbo kick classes available in town. The PiYo class is something new to St. Joe, and I feel that it is definitely something different for students.”

Zumba classes will be held every Monday from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. and every Thursday from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the West Arena. Danyelle Jackson will be the instructor for Mondays and Mark Gomez will be instructing classes on Thursdays.

The classes average from 6-24 students a class and with the addition of the three programs, Berry hopes to get as much students as possible to come out and participate.

“Once it gets started and gets going, it will keep adding more people,” Berry said. “We’re trying to get the classes going and get more people to attend.”

A self-defense program will be held Feb. 27 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the gym. The program is created to teach students on campus the basic techniques of self-defense.

All of the programs are free for all students and no previous experience is required to participate.

Caption- Authentic Chinese Teas and candies were served at the Chinese Spring Festival. Biluo Chum, Mao jian, and Tie guan yin are green teas and Jasmine flower tea were also served

“I’m enjoying my year here, I teach students Chinese and they teach me English,” Zou said. “We learn a lot.”

The Chinese program, which is one of the newest language programs here at Western, currently hires different Chinese instructors to come teach at Western for one full year to learn about American culture, improve their English skills and teach the campus about their culture.

“Next semester another fullbright scholar will come here and go on with the Chinese program and there will be more Chinese events,” Zou said.

Roughly 50 students showed up to this year’s event. It started at 3:30 p.m. and ran about two hours. Refreshments were offered in the form of tea and apple and lemon and mint flavored hard Chinese candy.

Zou believes it helps the students to research the culture and gain experience presenting. The students who presented their topics were strictly on a volunteer basis.

Students from Zou’s Chinese 100 and 101 classes presented topics about the Chinese New Year. From the Chinese Zodiac to native dances of South China, 18 presentations were involved.

Kara Benhan presented about the year of the dragon, which is this year. In China the dragon symbolizes power and wealth and is the sign of the emperor. Each of the twelve zodiacs represents a different year and animal. In China, zodiac also represents a person’s age.

Student Alicia Rice presented a topic called “Red Envelopes,” which the Chinese symbolize as gift-giving.  Red envelopes were given as a gift around the holiday. The envelopes held money that adults would give children to protect them, because children were seen as weaker and more susceptible to evil spirits. The red color of the envelope symbolizes good luck and is suppose to ward off evil.

The festival is about welcoming the New Year and coming together as a family, Zou said. The spring festival lasts 15 days and each day holds specific meaning. Several of the students at the event said they would not mind helping out again. The Festival also had slideshows covering fireworks, family gatherings and the significance of lantern festival.

“Doing the projects lets you get a glimpse into the life,” Chinese student Ceasera Robinson said. “A lot of international students help you understand their culture better.”

President of WAC Lauren Dillon said she is excited for the concert.

Country star Sara Evans will headline this year's WAC spring Concert.

“The really cool thing is she is actually from Boonville, Mo. The opening band is also from Missouri. We have two people from here in the state,” Dillon said.

WAC is hosting the event, and every Missouri Western student can pick up their free ticket from the Center for Student Engagement in Blum 207. Western students need to bring their Western ID to get their ticket. Anyone who isn’t a student at Western can purchase a ticket online through Ticketmaster.

Director of Student Life and Leadership Isaiah Collier wanted the students to know that everyone must have their ID to be admitted to the concert. In previous years, this wasn’t the case.

“I am excited about it; I think that she will be a great pole from our student body population” Collier said.

For this concert, buses are being offered free of charge to take students downtown to the St. Joseph Civic Arena. Buses will leave from campus every 15 minutes starting at 6:30pm and ending at 7:45 p.m.

“It was kind of silly to have it there when it was for the students, but not every student could go because they don’t have a means to get downtown. Busing students would help bring a bigger audience,” Sebastian Smith, WAC director of entertainment, said.

Doors open at 7 p.m., and the concert starts at 8 p.m. Even thought the concert will take place off campus, it is an alcohol-free event.

Local band “Shooting Blanks” will open the concert.

Fitness Center Coordinator Amy Foley, who coordinated the event, feels that all students should come out and participate in the activities that she feels will make students more aware.

“Students need to pay attention to what’s going on with their body,” Foley said. “If there’s a problem, we can get that corrected. Hopefully then they will pay more attention to what’s going on as they go through life.”

The event is free, and Foley and other members of the Health center and Nursing center will be offering free blood work for the first 100 participants in the health fair. After the first 100, students will have to pay $35 for the blood testing. Students will find out about their blood pressure and cholesterol and glucose levels. Body mass index will also be assessed.

There will be stations where information is given out to students about smoking, tattoos, piercings, skin cancer, stress, sex education, HIV and AIDS, nutrition, sleep, and other health issues that concern students. Fitness assessments will be given by HPR students, and will include things like flexibility testing, sit ups and push-ups.

“It’s another way of looking where you were at health-wise,” Foley said. “Are you in shape? Overweight? And other things like that.”

Esry Student Health Center nurse Marti Burri will also be hosting the health fair along with Foley. Burri feels that the event will be very educational, with organizations on and off campus coming to help all participants.

“Health and wellness I think is one of the main goals for students that participate in the fair,” Burri said.

She stated that all students should come out and learn new things from the events that they will have stationed around the room.

Western football player Courtney Green, who will be attending the health fair, felt that as an athlete, it is always important to make sure that every function in his body is working well. According to Green, a healthy body means longevity in life.

“I want to make sure everything is working properly inside of my body,” Green said. “I want to live a long, healthy life.”

Josh Twenter is another student who will be attending the health fair. Being aware of his health issues means a lot to Twenter. According to Twenter, the health fair is another way for him to stay informed with what’s going on in his body.

“I would be interested in going to the health fair because it helps me to maintain what standard my body should be up to,” Twenter said. “It also gives me a heads up on what my health is doing and what kind of health checks I should be performing on myself in order to keep myself in good physical condition.”

Twenter encourages all students to come out to the health fair so they can be aware of their health issues for the future and as they get older.

The Health Fair will take place Feb. 28 from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. in Blum 218 and 219. Students attending the fair will have to show their school ID to participate. Free food and drinks will be available.

Zumba instructor, Jamie Gilpin, sings along as he among other instructors lead the group through the morning Zumba session. Photo by Jason Brown

The participants work in a couple more quick stretches before Bagley screams out “Let’s shake it!”

Then the music begins.

Last Saturday, Jan. 21, 525 people (counting Max the Griffon) made an appearance at the 2nd Annual Zumba in the Room-ba, which was an increase from a total 498 at last year’s event. Unfortunately, 525 was not enough to break the existing record.

“I wish we would’ve set the Guinness, but that’s cool that we at least beat our record from last year,” student Hannah Strasser said. “We’ll just keep getting better, hopefully.”

Although St. Joseph did not break the Guinness World Record, it is still recorded as a personal best at 525, which also led to raising around $10,000 for the YWCA Choices Program (which focuses on issues facing adolescent girls and helps the girls to increase their life skills and to make good life choices) and Western Women’s Athletics.

Wendy Hickman, who works for the Choices Program, was very pleased with how the event turned out.

“I thought it was great; it was fun, it was energetic and everybody seemed to be having a good time — and it was all for a good cause,” Hickman said.

Hickman also said the donations going toward the Choices Program will help by allowing speakers to come and talk to the girls involved in it.

Not only did the Choices Program benefit from the event, however.

After dancing the Zumba for a straight hour, the instructors and contestants were undoubtedly gleaming with sweat and sporting smiles. Strasser, who couldn’t make it to Zumba in the Room-ba last year, enjoyed the event.

“It was really fun,” Strasser said. “All the instructors did really well.”

There were a lot more instructors this year, and Zumba leaders, like Jaclyn Ziesel, were really looking forward to Zumba in the Room-ba this time around.

“It was awesome, we were so excited to do it,” Ziesel said. “Coming from doing it from last year, we were for sure we wanted to do it.”

Although the event is over for this year, Hickman is already looking to the future.

“I’m looking forward to next year.”

“We want to re-educate students on all the parameters on what Dr. King stood for and what social justice work he did during his life,” Keisha Caldwell, CME program assistant, said.

On Friday, Jan. 20, the CME will host a Candlelight Vigil at 5:30 at the Griffon Plaza, which is located right outside of the Blum Union.  The CME will then host a day of service on Saturday, Jan. 21, which begins at 10 a.m. For the day of service, the CME plans to meet first in Blum lobby, and then break off into groups to serve and provide assistance to community centers such as St. Joe Haven, Habitat for Humanity, the Open Door Food Kitchen and the YWCA. The service day will continue until 2 p.m.

On Sunday, the CME is partnering with local church “Word of Faith” to host a Gospel Celebration, held in Kemper Hall, beginning at 3 p.m. The last event will be the Martin Luther King awards banquet and cultural exhibition, which will be in the Fulkerson Center, beginning at 6 p.m. Though the banquet and the service day are annual events, the CME decided to hold the events over the weekend, instead of during the week, in hope to achieve more student participation.

“The banquet and service day we have done for years,” Caldwell said. “But, we decided to have our events postponed, until students came back because we had low attendance in previous years of having events on Martin Luther King Day.”

CME Intern Leah Hayes feels that all students should take this opportunity to celebrate Martin Luther King, rather then just take the day off.

“As far as a college standpoint, we are all here for a reason,” Hayes said. “We are in college to educate ourselves. We all should learn what Martin Luther King was all about. Let’s not be ignorant and think Martin Luther King day is a day off. Martin Luther King stood for social justice. It’s a day on, not a day off.”

During the banquet, the CME will be giving out a “Drum Majors for Justice” award to certain nominees that demonstrate excellent service and social justice to the St. Joseph community. The CME is also remembering Martin Luther King by co-hosting the candlelight event with the fraternity that he was a member of, the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. Alpha Phi Alpha member Mark Bush feels that co-sponsoring the event is a great way to remind the Alphas of what being apart of a fraternity is all about.

“Brother King was not afraid of change but rather an agent of change,” Bush said. “He is the ideal Alpha man, which is why we honor him in remembrance of what he did because if we forget where we came from, we will never make it to where we are going.”

All events are free for Missouri Western students. The Gospel Celebration is free for everybody. The banquet, however, is $10 for non-students.

There are many intramural sports a student can participate in, varying from the always popular and competitive flag football to a more relaxed sport like bowling. Other available intramurals are powder puff football, billiards, kickball, badminton, volleyball, racquetball, and dodge ball.

To sign up to play an intramural sport all one has to do is go to the Front Service Desk in the Looney Complex and fill out an entry form, stating what sport, if they need a team or already have assembled a team to do battle with.

“A student should play intramurals because it gets them engaged in the university experience itself, it gets them out of their dorm rooms, and allows them to meet other students and extend their high school years of sports activity,” Recreational Services Facilities director Wonda Berry said.

This year the Recreational Services wants to appeal to everyone, they are going to try to have sports for students with disabilities so they too can have fun.

“We want everyone to get the most out of their college experience,” Berry said.

Anyone that has any more questions should contact the Front Desk inside Looney Complex at (816) 271-5604.

Transition about Steve Potter.

“Everyone handles what life gives them differently. Some people just need to talk it out with themselves,” Potter said. “It’ll take time to master a way that works for you. Sometimes people just need to recharge their batteries and do things that they enjoy doing.”

Anyone that has a job and goes to school knows what it is like to have to create time management for yourself to get things done. Having to be at work by 4:30, getting out of class at 3:00 and figuring out how you’re going to get a paper done by tomorrow is just one prime example of a kind of stress we face.

“For me it is not as stressful as it once was, since I now work here on campus and go to school,” Senior Shannon Ebling said. “With working here it gives me more time to get homework done, and unlike other jobs, here at Missouri Western they will work more around your school schedule.”

So who is more stressed? College-aged or middle-aged people?

“I’ve been to college once before, and honestly I think it varies on the individual,” Non-traditional student Marilyn Colboch said. “Everyone’s circumstances in their lives are different, and how they deal with them are different as well.”

On Oct. 29, free massages were given out by physical therapy majors in Eder Hall 208. For the students that were in attendance for the stress management seminar, this would be an added little treat for them.

“The massage was amazing, it felt really good. I could almost feel every negative thing in my body just melting away,” Freshman Katie O’Toole said. “Sometimes you just have to unwind and let everything go.”

If you are having problems in any part of your life, school, work, family, friends, or relationships perhaps you could consider counseling.

The counseling center here at Missouri Western is located in room 203 of Eder Hall. Counselors are there Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. You can simply go into their office or call them at (816) 271-4327 to set up an appointment.

“That’s right, Missouri Western knows how to act,” Duskey said.

The Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship is given to encourage, recognize and celebrate the finest and most diverse work produced in university and college theater programs.

They will travel to Oklahoma in January to compete in the Regional Finals. Only four to six participants from each region will be selected to move on to the National Finals that take place in Washington, D.C., early in the spring semester.

“It definitely is a very prestigious honor,” Duskey said. “To be recognized for what you’ve done on stage just feels really good. Hopefully we can continue all of this and one of us will win that scholarship.”

A $500 scholarship is awarded to the winners of the regional portion of the competition. The two winners in Washington, D.C., will each be awarded a $2,500 scholarship to pay for tuition and fees to further their education, not necessarily limited to theater full-time Scholarship winners must maintain full-time status and have a 2.5 GPA.

Director of “Romeo and Juliet” Tee Quillin says, “It is absolutely wonderful to see these Theatre majors getting some recognition for the acting that they have done. Hopefully in January we will be seeing Missouri Western move onto nationals at the Kennedy Center, and ‘bring home the hardware,’ and make our university and our Theatre department proud.”

With all of the prestige that this scholarship has swirling around it, it is not hard to imagine that one would be excited about being nominated.

“I’m ecstatic. This is really my first year getting back into acting,” Noe said. “To be recognized like this is a great, and [I] definitely didn’t expect this to happen.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Student Affairs will be putting on Casino Night which includes poker, Russian roulette, slot machines, black jack and bingo. Students can win several prizes from a toothpaste and toothbrush basket to an iPad. Food will also be offered as well as a photo booth with a Christmas-type background that students can take goofy pictures in front of.

Casino Night in Blum Thursday, Dec. 8 from 9 p.m. to midnight. The event is free for students who have their ID. Residential Assistant Derek Thompson encourages students to attend Casino Night.

“I would recommend people to come to this event because it is a great way to take a break from studying for finals by playing casino games with your friends, and, if you’re lucky, you can win some pretty cool prizes,” Thompson said.

Another event that may take students’ minds off their finals would be Finals Fun Night on Friday, Dec. 9 from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. put on by WAC. On the second floor of Blum, students will have the opportunity to wrestle in sumo suits, play on inflatables like an inflatable Twister and play Just Dance on the Wii.

All the different rooms (besides the DJ dance room) are competition-based, so students have a chance to win various prizes including bookstore gift cards.

“We really like to give away the bookstore gift cards just because people are always complaining that it’s really expensive to buy anything from there,” WAC Vice President Lauren Dillon said. “We like to put the money right back into Missouri Western.”

Students win the prizes by accumulating raffle tickets and being drawn. Right when a student walks in the door, they will receive one raffle ticket so every student has at least one chance to win. However, to increase the chances of being drawn, the students must win the competitions to receive more raffle tickets.

If students would rather dance, another room will be set up for dancing and student Nick Niemeier will be DJ-ing. Finals Fun Night won’t be his first time DJ-ing at Western.

“I’ve DJ-ed for WAC sponsored events in the past and really enjoy doing them, so I immediately booked it,” Niemeier said.

Niemeier, who has been DJ-ing since 2007, said there will be a professional DJ set-up, a wide variety of music and music videos along with an L.E.D light show. Niemeier hopes students will come and enjoy their time in his dance room.

“My goals for the evening are to make sure the students have a great time and hopefully take part in memories they will forever have from MWSU,” Niemeier said.

Finally, Sunday Dec. 11, the last night before finals, WAC will be putting on Midnight Breakfast in Blum from 10 p.m. to midnight. Students will be able to enjoy some pancakes and other breakfast-type foods all while being able to dance and win prizes.

In order to win prizes, students will be given a raffle ticket. Drawings will be held every 15 minutes, and they can win bookstore gift cards, movies, video games, etc.

Don’t miss out on the final opportunities of the semester to win some prizes.

Elizabeth Boone practicing the first step in self defense by taking stance and yelling “back!”

Fifteen year veteran of the St. Joseph Department of Corrections Elizabeth Boone, who taught the course, explains how important self defense is, due to the growing crime rate in St. Joseph and on campus.

“I’ve seen St. Joe change so much within the last ten years,” Boone said. “I’ve seen more violence. Just in the last year, we’ve seen more shootings. We’ve seen more assaults. Even on campus, we had two rapes last year. That is two too many.”

Boone, who has been teaching self-defense for 14 years and has taught thousands of men and women defensive techniques, feels that this class should be especially beneficial for female students.

“When they’re attacked it takes a lot of control from a female,” Boone said. “Women are seen generally as the weaker sex, and for the most part we are. But I think that this empowers them. They need to be empowered because rape and assault is all about power and control. I think we need to gain power. I never want to see a female walking in fear.”

The class covered both floor fighting and breakaway techniques, which help divert an attacker.  ACA President and Criminal Justice: Law Enforcement major Clarissa Cudworth, who has worked with Boone in past events, felt that the class would help students be more aware of their surroundings and more prepared for a possible attack.

“We feel like there has been a lot of trouble on our campus with theft and not being aware of your surroundings,” Cudworth said. “We know in past few semesters it has been a lot of issues regarding crime on campus. We want students on campus to be able to defend and protect themselves in any given situation.”

Cudworth also explains the main goal for the ACA is helping and informing students. Eventually, the organization wants to be able to visit prisons to spread knowledge and gain a different perspective.

“The majority of our members at one point in time have been national members,” Cudworth said. “We put on events like this to help people be aware of things. ACA is doing their best to get campus and students involved in wanting to protect themselves and others, and if crime comes about, do something about it.”

Amber Lampe, a student who decided to take the class, felt the class would definitely make her feel more comfortable on campus.

“I know Missouri Western is a pretty safe campus, but sometimes I still feel uncomfortable walking by myself at night, ”Lampe said. “I felt this would be a good opportunity.”

Boone hopes that students will take extra caution in protecting themselves, as today’s criminals are continuing to become more dangerous.   “Since I work for the DOC I think the change and the type of inmates we get inside of the institution are just the worst,” Boone said. “They don’t care about life. They don’t care about property, except for their own.”

Misty Ballew (center), Daniel Banks (left), and many other Western students storm the field at halftime for a surprise performance.

“What is she doing?!”

Some students in the Missouri Western crowd at the rivalry football game were yelling at the Northwest Missouri State University students who had rushed to the middle of the field during half time last Saturday. Others were left scratching their heads.

“I was really confused,” onlooker Lauren Dillon said. “All I thought was, ‘Who are these jerks interrupting half time?’ after they came out behind the band members.”

Then she realized one of the “Northwest” students dancing was her friend Robin Ussher.

Ussher and the other three dancers ripped off their green and white clothing to reveal Western gear. The confusion was over; the crowd went wild. They continued breaking it down on the field while several other Western students (46 total to be exact) randomly joined in sync.

Six months ago, student Erin Williams began to think of ideas to market Missouri Western virally for her independent study. ‘How about a flash mob?’ she wondered. Williams took the idea to her teacher, Dallas Henry, and he was on board right away. Williams, her classmate Shaun Allison and Henry did a lot of research on flash mobs at different schools, but they weren’t very popular—which made the idea even more significant. There was one during a basketball game at Kansas University, but the students only did it in the stands, not on the court. Williams planned on having the flash mob actually on the playing field, which would separate Western’s flash mob even more from others.

Williams thought it would be a good idea to do the flash mob at half time during the Northwest football game because nobody would be expecting it. They originally chose Katy Perry’s “Firework” for the song, but then they changed it to The Black Eyed Peas’ “The Time (Dirty Bit).”

“We wanted a steady beat that was good enough to pump up the crowd,” Williams said. “We also wanted a song that the band could jump in and start playing.”

Williams, who has been dancing since she was 3 years old, was deemed the choreographer. She came up with the total choreography in two days, four hours apiece.

“I wanted a dance that was cool and easy to learn for people who don’t dance,” Williams said.

The next step was recruiting students and teaching them the steps.

Everything was approved Saturday before the game, so Williams had them rehearse that night. Only 12 showed up. However, more students became involved as they rehearsed three more times.

“Everybody caught on fast,” Williams said. “Our rehearsals only lasted about two hours each.”

The final time the students rehearsed was on the field the morning before the game. They kept the event pretty quiet, considering the band didn’t know anything about it until that morning. Williams had told the drum line about the flash mob in advance, and member Daniel Cole thought it was nice change for half time.

“I wasn’t sure if it was going to work out at first, but it was a cool idea that broke away from the same old routine of half time,” Cole said.

Henry and other Theatre & Cinema students set up a total of ten cameras around the stadium before the game. By the end of the second quarter, the “flash mobbers” started getting giddy.

“We were really looking forward to the response of the crowd; we wanted to see just how confused they were,” Williams said.

The crowd was confused all right. Two minutes into half time, the “Northwest” students followed the drum line as they left the field. When the music started, that was their cue. The students, like Dan Banks danced during the whole song and enjoyed every minute of it.

“It reminded me of the old days playing football in high school,” Banks said. “It was great to be in the center of the field again. I was hyped up.”

The main goal of the flash mob was to promote Western, and it has been going pretty well considering the YouTube video (which can be found at www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNBr3Osigkk) has received 1,622 hits after only two days of being uploaded.

Banks, who was one of the two cops in the flash mob, thought the video looked very professional because of all the different camera angles. He thought the experience of the flash mob was that much better because Western had defeated Northwest.

“We also won the game, which was just icing on the cake.”

Can you sing? Dance? Maybe juggle chainsaws? Well, if you have any type of talent, or think you possess some talent that will leave people in a state of awe and wonder, and then maybe you should consider showcasing your talents.

The Western Activities Council held auditions for their annual talent show Nov. 7 and 8. WAC vice president Lauren Dillon, who helps orchestrate the talent show, says she wants to see all various types of talent for the annual talent show.

“We want to see everything we possibly can,” Dillon said. “Everything from dancing, rappers, singers, to spoken word artists. We hope to see a little of everything.”

Dillon also talks about why students should come out to the talent show.

“It is a chance for students to get involved on campus, so that they’re not just sitting in their dorm rooms playing videos games or surfing the internet,” Dillon said. “On top of that, people are awarded prizes for showing their talent.”

The talent show usually has about ten to twelve varying types of acts. Sophomore George Williams, who auditioned for the talent show, describes why it is a good opportunity to show the people what he can do.

“I haven’t done this before, but I think it will be a really good chance for people to see someone like myself showing what I can do,” Williams said. “It is great exposure. You’ll have a chance to show a lot of people your ‘hidden talents’. It’s good for everyone.”

Attendance for the talent show has always been pretty good, says WAC president Robin Ussher.

“The show usually brings a big crowd,” Ussher said. “We expect to be at full capacity. We’ll probably have about 300-350 people.”

The WAC Talent Show will be taking place Wednesday, Nov. 16 at 8:00 p.m. inside of the Potter Theater.

“Tell everyone you know; we want to see as many people as we can,” Ussher said. “We’ll have different types of acts to appeal to everybody.”

Two sorority members teeter-tottering for the cause.

Something similar happened on the Missouri Western campus Oct. 27. Alpha Gamma Delta held their 15th annual 24-hour Teeter Totter-A-Thon.

Western’s Alpha Gamma Delta chapter was founded in 1995, and the sorority started the teeter-totter fundraiser in 1997 as a way to raise money for the foundation.

Western student Danielle Bryan is the sorority’s Philanthropy Coordinator.

“The fundraiser helps raise money for diabetes research and increase awareness,” Bryan said. “The fundraiser also helps provide grants that help Alpha Gamma Delta women that are in need.”

The Alpha Gamma Delta chapter hosts two fundraisers each school year, one for each semester. The annual spring fundraiser is known as Mr. MWSU.

Mr. MWSU is a pageant that allows male students to showcase their school spirit. The pageant is divided into five categories: formal, costume, swimwear, talent and school spirit. Last year the pageant raised around $1,700 for the Alpha Gamma Delta Foundation.

“The pageant is silly and serious at the same time,” Bryan said. “It is a chance for guys to show their spirit and pride in Missouri Western.”

The international headquarters for the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority gives a special recognition for any chapter that raises over $2,000 throughout a full academic school year.

“We are named what is called a Jewel Chapter, which is given to chapters that donate a significant amount of money to the Foundation,” Bryan said.

Charitible work is a big part of the Alpha Gamma Delta lifestyle.

“We’re really big on philanthropy. We like helping others; that is what we’re all about,” Bryan said.

Part of Alpha Gamma Delta’s formal recruitment this fall was Philanthropy Day. The AGDs made squirrel icepacks, which were given to children that were receiving insulin shots at a local pediatric unit. The squirrel is the mascot for the sorority.

The sorority looks to recruit girls with friendly and giving attitudes, like freshman recruit Christine Ray.

“I joined Alpha Gam because they seemed so accepting of everyone: definitely a drama free group of girls,” Ray said. “It is a good opportunity for me while I’m in college, and I like the philanthropy aspect of it all.”

“When I came, I expected Americans to know where Kosovo is since the United States fought a war for us,” Halili said. “I was so disappointed!”

On Oct. 19 in Blum 219, as part of MWSU’s International Lecture Series, Halili spoke to approximately 40 students and community members and outlined Kosovo’s history and political issues, making an identification of its geographic location one of her first priorities.

An international migration and ethnic relations major at Sweden’s Malmo University, Halili began by saying that she and her family fled to Sweden during the tumultuous disintegration of Yugoslavia in 1992. She suggested that the widespread discrimination against Albanians, one of six ethnic groups in Kosovo and the one to which Halili belongs, played a major factor in the decision to leave as well. Although she calls Sweden her home now, Halili has a strong desire to return to Kosovo and use her degree to rectify some of its political problems.

“Even though the war is over, there is a lot of tension and conflict in Kosovo,” Halili said. “Hopefully, I will go back one day and try to solve it. There is hope.”

Western student Barry Hersh knows Halili personally and attended the presentation in support of her. He thought her devotion to Kosovo was evident in her speech.

“I’ve had a couple classes with her, and she’s very passionate about peace-building in Kosovo,” Hersh said.

Halili, who came to Western through a foreign exchange program with Malmo University, was asked about the significance of Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia in 2008 . She said that the people of Kosovo are very grateful to the United States for its hand in their long-awaited liberation, sometimes even viewing Americans as heroes.

“It meant so much,” Halili said, in reference to the declaration. “That’s what they fought for. But now, they’re very skeptical because the situation isn’t improving.”

For Kosovo to endure its hardships, Halili believes there’s still a need for an international presence and a global awareness.

“Our government isn’t strong enough,” Halili said.” There are a lot of issues with corruption. Until we can solve these issues, we need the international community.”

Contrastingly, Halili doesn’t appear to have any needs. When asked about her adjustment as an international student, she said that there haven’t been any struggles, because she has friends that have made her feel very welcome.

Western counselor Steve Potter introduced Halili and spoke about the importance of the International Lecture Series,  which is sponsored by Western’s office of global engagement.

“It’s really about globalization,” Potter said. “It makes us aware of different cultures and ideas. It’s important to understand each other. I think if we do, good things will happen.”

Lafayette High School battles against Lathrop High School and numerous other bands at the Tournament of Champions on Tuesday, Oct. 11

There were 22 marching bands performing from all over, including some St. Joseph high schools that participated in the competition that lasted all afternoon.

So what point would there be for a Missouri Western student to attend a high school marching band competition?

Band Director Jeff Hinton says that, “It would be a good opportunity for a student to come out and see how we can perform outside of just a normal Saturday afternoon football halftime show. It would be a good time to really see what our band can do.”

Marching bands each were given a few minutes to showcase what it is that they have been practicing since the later part of this summer.

“We practice for about two hours every other day during a normal five-day week, and we have a morning band rehearsal just about every other day,” said percussionist Shannon Hart, a junior from Lafayette High School in Saint Joseph.

There are multiple people who help with the judging of the competition. There are two judges that were on the game field and a few that were up in the press booth.

Judges looked for specific things during each band’s performance to judge them on.  Some of the things that they are looking for are their marching fundamentals, the quality of the sound of each part of the band and also, how well each marching band stays in tune with one another.

The two field judges constantly spoke into tape recorders, giving live feedback to the marching bands.

“When we judge, we’re also commenting on things that can perhaps make them better,” said marching judge Dan Stecker. “We want these bands to continue to improve and perform at a high level. That what makes it so fun to watch them after all.”

And the bands even got creative: some integrate dance moves or even non-traditional instruments like the electric bass guitar. But through it all, the students involved say it is a difficult competition and it takes every bit of practice, determination and athleticism as most other typical sports.

“People say this isn’t a sport, but it takes a lot of dedication, and these drums get really heavy,” Hart said.

The competition ended with an awards ceremony and an exhibition performance from Missouri Western’s Golden Griffon Marching Band, which was led by Hinton.

“At the end of the competition, I want these high school marching bands to gain a feeling for what it would be like to be a part of the Missouri Western Marching Band,” Hinton said. “We want everyone to see what our band has to offer, so that everyone can see how we perform and see what we can bring to the table.”

“The idea is that everyone will want to take part in certain events throughout the week, such as ‘The Amazing Griff Race’ for instance,” Homecoming chairperson Taylor Kram said. “Each event will have a Griffon twist to them that hopefully will appeal to Western students and they will want to come to these events.”

Many various events will be taking place during Homecoming week, and some events are being looked as the highlights of the entire week themselves. Josh Blue, the homecoming headliner and winner of Last Comic Standing, will be performing Oct. 20, 8 p.m. inside the Looney Complex.

When asked about the events during the week of homecoming, Special Events Director Cody Sander had this to say, “I think there will be a really good turnout for ‘Last Griffon Standing’,” Sander said. “I want to see as many students as possible at all the things going on during homecoming, and I this is just another one of them.”

Also on the list of things during homecoming will be a food fight. No, not throwing food at one another like you may have imagined. Oct. 10-14, there will a campus wide food drive.

“With all the cans, the various organizations will be required to build a Can Castle,” Sander said. “Whoever is the most original and creative will win the ‘Food Fight’ taking place.”

There will also be a treasure hunt that anyone on campus can participate in. The treasure hunt starts at 8 a.m. on Oct. 17. For your first clue one needs to go to missouriwestern.edu/homecoming.

“For anyone interested at all, the first place prize of the treasure hunt is a 32 inch High-Definition television,” Sander said.

So if all the events taking place during the week are meant to be as real as possible, what about the possible candidates that are going to represent the Homecoming court? What should a Missouri Western Homecoming King or Queen be like?

“Typically what we are looking for in a candidate is someone who is involved around campus and takes great pride in this university,” 2010 Homecoming Queen Laura Schneider said. “We want someone who is going to represent the school well and give a good name to Missouri Western.”

To be a homecoming candidate one needs to be a full-time student and also maintain a 2.5 GPA. Once a candidate makes it through the judging and too court, they must attend all the homecoming events during homecoming week.

“It is important for the candidates to be seen by everyone on campus,” Director of Awards and Judging Morgan Lindgren said. “The students need to get a feel for who these candidates are so they can decide who they want to vote for.”

With everything that is going on during homecoming week, the people coordinating all of it hope it all well and according to plan. And hopefully, every Griffon keeps it real.

“I’m really about accountability. I’m really about teachable moments and educational moments,” she said. “So if we say that there are no drugs or alcohol on campus, why are we turning our heads if there is?”

The release of the 2010 Annual Clery Crime Report revealed increases in arrests and referrals for several crimes. Drug law violation referrals increased by 337 percent while arrests increased by 57 percent in the residence halls. Drug arrests on campus increased by 90 percent.

“Drugs and alcohol are probably not a good choice,” Peralez said, “but for many of you, you’re probably going to try it.”

Peralez would rather call those people in and discuss the opportunities that the students are jeopardizing.

“For some it’s scary enough that they stop and you don’t see them again,” she said. “For others, they keep pushing the envelope and finally you’re suspended.”

For the first time last year, Peralez said that all of the Residence Hall Directors had their Master’s degrees. She believes that the increase is due to the maturity level of the RHDs and their willingness to work with students and discover drug problems.

Police Chief Jon Kelley also attributes the increase in referrals to the awareness and education of students by Residential Life and Student Affairs. Despite several increases, Kelley believes that the report still shows that Western’s campus is safe.

“I see no murders and no manslaughters,” Kelley said. “I’m happy about that.”

Kelley said that most of the drug related arrests are for drug paraphernalia or marijuana.

“You’ve got to remember, we live on a college campus,” he said, “and when you live on a college campus those things are going to happen.”

Putting things into perspective, Kelley said that out of the roughly 1000 residential students, Western police only arrested 19 for drug law violations. From 2009 to 2010, the number of liquor law violations went from 20 to 28, or a 40 percent increase.

“I don’t think drug arrests are any more serious than alcohol arrests,” Kelley said. “If you look across the country, alcohol kills more people every year than drugs — alcohol related incidents.”

Mel Klinkner, vice president for financial planning and administration, believes that the report reflects that Western is a safe campus.

“I think we have heightened the awareness of it,” Klinkner said. “I think it’s always difficult to determine what causes the change from year to year. Sometimes you can point to it.”

The largest increase in the report was the increase in referrals, which Klinkner attributes to the education of Student Affairs and Residential Life.

“To me it’s more of students taking ownership in it,” Klinkner said.

Another staggering number is the increase in sexual offenses. In 2010 the number of forcible sexual offenses increased by two, which was zero in 2009.

“There’s a couple of sexual offenses,” Kelley said, “and of course we always want to work on those and refer those people to the areas they need to be referred to for their benefit.”

While the number of forcible sexual offenses has increased, Kelley said that neither of these were offenses by strangers to the victims. Kelley believes that the reason this number is low is because of the proactive enforcement of the other violations.

“We take the drug offenses and alcohol offenses seriously,” Kelley said. “But the majority of crimes that are committed today, those types or crimes, are committed by people who are under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol.”

Recently appointed Director of Entertainment Sebastian Smith rocks out to Journey's Don't Stop Believing

A hopeful student approaches the mike as the huge crowd stops their laughter and awaits the upcoming talent. The student is scared yet confident that their voice will harmonize like the brilliant tones of a canary. Yet as the words come along the screen, the student realizes that he doesn’t know exactly how the song goes, causing him to hum what he doesn’t know and below out the little amount know as that of an angry black crow. This was the normal talent that graced the stage of the WAC Karoke night, held in Blum food court on Tuesday, Oct. 4 from 6 to 9 p.m..

WAC president Robin Ussher felt having the karaoke show in the food court  would be more beneficial for student enjoyment and would spark student attendance at WAC events. The show, which had numerous people in attendance either awaiting to perform or stopping by as they were waiting for food, had the most student participation in a single event for the entire year.

“It’s something different that WAC has never really done before,” Ussher said. “I did some research and I found “Karaoke Productions” from Kansas City, Missouri and she had a really cool package with music videos and lights and stuff that would really make it fun for everybody that came out for it. We decided to give it a try.”

Around 30 to 35 people showed Western their gums as they sang along to Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Journey and Lauren Hill. Some came in groups, others came in pairs and some crooners flocked to the mike solo. Yet everyone showed what they can do; both the good and the ugly.

“I like the way this works because it’s not a matter of people committing to go,” Ussher said. “Things for like the talent show and other events, people have to decide that they are going and have to go out of their way to go to it. This event is kind of hard to miss. We are catching everybody at dinner time. They can make a split decision and boom they are here in attendance. It’s a lot of fun. A couple of our very own WAC members have been up there [singing] with very impressive voices.”

videos and lights and stuff that would really make it fun for everybody that came out for it. We decided to give it a try.”

Around 30 to 35 people showed Western their gums as they sang along to Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Journey and Lauryn Hill.

Some came in groups, others came in pairs and some crooners flocked to the mike solo. Yet everyone showed what they can do; both the good and the ugly.

“I like the way this works because it’s not a matter of people committing to go,” Ussher said. “Things for like the talent show and other events, people have to decide that they are going and have to go out of their way to go to it. This event is kind of hard to miss. We are catching everybody at dinner time. They can make a split decision, and boom: They are here in attendance. It’s a lot of fun. A couple of our very own WAC members have been up there [singing] with very impressive voices.”

Among these “impressive voices” was WAC Director of Entertainment Sebastian Smith who sang numerous times on the stage to daring songs such as Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing.” Smith however, who recently received a job singing at World’s Of Fun as an entertainer, was one of the night’s highlighted singers and kept the crowd amused.

“Starting in November you can see me on the comedy city stage in downtown Kansas City doing improve,” Smith said. “[Singing] is a hobby that I would really like to explore in the future.”

Smith also feels that not only students but WAC members should focus on showing good attendance at events.

“We want to gain a lot of buzz about WAC,” Smith said. “Students are paying for these events in their tuition. As a member of WAC, you are planning, organizing and working these events. But you are also a student. If you want to participate in these event, chances are other students will to.

Whether karoke night was just a fun event catered for student enjoyment, or a revealing of Western talent and future celebrity singers and songwriters, the night will  definitely leave campus wanting more from WAC in their future events.

Charlonda Bozeman expresses how fun the show was and believes the location was a smart idea.

“Having it in the food court is common because everybody hangs out there and it is a popular spot,” Bozeman said. “WAC events are important to attend to be social to have something to do. It is good to get your name out there.

On Oct. 29 physical therapy majors in Eder Hall 208 hosted a stress management seminar. The 14 students that were in attendance were also treated to a free massage.
For Katie O’Toole, a massage is exactly what she needed.

“The massage was amazing, it felt really good. I could almost feel every negative thing in my body just melting away,” O’Toole said. “Sometimes you just have to unwind and let everything go.”

There can be many reasons why someone is stressed out, but there are also many ways to handle stress. Counselor Steve Potter, who was the presenter at the stress management seminar, presented some of the ways students can deal with the stress in their life.

“I practice what I preach, everyone handles what life gives them differently,” Potter said. “Some people just need to talk it out with themselves. It’ll take time to master a way that works for you. Sometimes people just need to recharge their batteries and do things that they enjoy doing.”

Time management may be difficult for college students but it is important for success. Balancing work, school and everything in between is something that

“For me it is not as stressful as it once was, since I now work here on campus and go to school,” Shannon Ebling said. “With working here it gives me more time to get homework done, and unlike other jobs, here at Missouri Western, they will work more around your school schedule.”

On a campus with a large non-traditional population, older students like Marilyn Colboch, usually have more on their plate than traditional students.

“I’ve been to college once before, and honestly I think it varies on the individual,” Colboch said. “Everyone’s circumstances in their lives are different, and how they deal with them are different as well.”

Regardless of age, students who are having trouble managing their stress should consider counseling.

The counseling center at Missouri Western is located in room 203 of Eder Hall. Counselors are there Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. You can simply go into their office or call them at (816) 271-4327 to set up an appointment.

There are many intramural sports a student can participate in, varying from the always popular and competitive flag football to a more relaxed sport like bowling. Other available intramurals are powder puff football, billiards, kickball, badminton, volleyball, racquetball and dodge ball.

Recreational Services Facilities Director Wonda Berry said, “A student should play intramurals because it gets them engaged in the university experience itself. It gets them out of their dorms, and allows them to meet other students and extend their high school years of sports activity.”

For someone to sign up to play an intramural sport all one has to do is go to the Front Service Desk in the Looney Complex and fill out an entry form, stating what they’re wanting to take part in, if they need a team or already have assembled a team to do battle with.

This year the Recreational Services Department wants to appeal to everyone.They are going to try to have sports for students with disabilities so they too can have fun.

Some of these sports have to be modified to suit certain participant’s particular needs. But the people that run the Recreational Services Department say that will not even be a problem and that they love the challenges that are presented to them to try and satisfy everyone’s wishes.

Some of the sports that could possibly be in the works for people with disabilities to play are disk golf and wheelchair basketball. Here at Missouri Western, they really strive for there to be something for everyone that wants to partake in some activity.

“We want everyone to get the most out of their college experience,” Berry said.

Like most students that go out for intramural sports, many of them are excited to play if they’ve been a part of it in the past. As for the newcomers, they are not sure of what to really expect.

“I am ready to whip up on some people, I am ready to do work son!” Freshman Justin Berry, who plans to play flag football, said.

While some appear ecstatic, pumped up and ready to go, others seem a little hesitant and don’t know what to expect with what kind of experience an intramural sport will bring them.

“I wanted to play last year, but I wasn’t sure if it was for me or not; maybe I’ll go out this year.” Sophomore Neva Kidwell, who is thinking about playing volleyball, said.

Most of the intramural sports will take place on Monday-Thursday and usually will go from 5-10 p.m. So if you have the time to play, maybe you should give it a shot. You may find it to be one of your best experiences while you are in college.

Anyone that has any more questions should contact the Front Desk inside Looney Complex at (816) 271-5604.

James Goodrich, the father of a Central Missouri student, flips burgers on a grill during a tailgating event here Saturday. The tailgating event was part of the family day festivities hosted here this weekend.

Missouri Western State University Family Day Sept. 9 and 10.

The event included a free showing of “Thor,” a 5 and 10 km. walk/run, a free pancake brunch, viewings at the planetarium, tailgating before the football game and various other activities.

The University hosts similar events every year.

“Tailgating is always a family event, but it’s nice to know that the University cares about us,” said Andre Dean Lance, a 14 year old who attended part of the events.

Hundreds of students and their family members took advantage of the free activities despite occasionally having to brave less than ideal weather.

“When we first got here it was raining pretty hard,” said Rodney Saunders, the father of a Missouri Western student. “After that it was off and on throughout the day.”

The rain couldn’t keep the spirits of the families down as many kept doing what they were doing despite the rain.

“A little rain isn’t enough to keep us away from doing something like this,” said Saunders.

Many of the activities such as brunch, the planetarium tour and a free tour of the sports complex did not require the risk of getting wet.

“Thankfully, there was always something to do when it started raining,” said Lance. “It was a fun way to keep dry and entertained.”

Once the main activities for the day were finished, the families and other Missouri Western fans got together for a tailgating bash, which included food, drinks, Frisbee and other games.

“Tailgating might be the best part,” said Saunders. “You get to relax and enjoy the company of family and friends while knowing that there’s plenty of food and good will to go around. It doesn’t hurt that watching football afterward is always a blast.”

The Griffons delivered for the families during the game dismantling Central Missouri 23-6.

“Hypnosis” is the Greek word for “sleep,” which is what Master Hypnotist Tony Lucero specializes in. Thanks to the Western Activities Council, Lucero was able to perform his comedic hypnotist show August 30 in the Kemper Recital Hall.

Lucero, who has been a master hypnotist for nine years, decided he wanted to study hypnotism after he met Michael Johns and was hypnotized during his comedic hypnosis show in Las Vegas.

“I was standing in line for the show and a guy tapped me on the shoulder and asked me if I was going to see his show,” Lucero said. “I said yes, and we started talking. After awhile, I told him that I’d love to learn how to do what he does, so he told me to come see him after the show”

“We became friends and [Johns] said ‘I’ll take you under my wing and I’ll teach you everything,’” Lucero said.

A determined Lucero practiced in the mirror, on his three kids and wife, and even on his dog. Three months later, Lucero was on the road full time performing comical hypnosis acts in places like Los Angeles, New York and even Las Vegas where he had first seen Johns.

Most recently, it was Missouri Western’s turn to get a hilarious taste of Lucero’s hypnotism. Lucero, who considers himself more as an entertainer than just a hypnotist, kicked off the show by explaining what he does and allowing volunteers to come on the stage.

“I don’t have ‘powers’ or a ‘hypnotic spell.’ What I do is I guide you to a state of relaxation,” Lucero said.

There were 10 students total on stage were hypnotized, but several members of the audience became hypnotized as well. Lucero encourages people in the crowd to participate.

“Sometimes my best people come from my audience,” Lucero said. “That person you’re sitting next to could be the rock star of the show.”

Speaking of rock stars, Lucero told the 10 students they were celebrities such as Justin Timberlake, Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, The Spice Girls and DJ Kasamota. With wigs and props, the students danced to their singer’s songs appropriately (including Jackson’s unforgettable moonwalk and the “worm”) as they played randomly through the segment.

Not only did the students’ dance moves keep the crowd enticed, so was their subconscious willingness to cling to each other for warmth when Lucero painted the picture in their minds that they were on a beach with 165 degree weather to 20 degrees.

Although they may have held on to each other for warmth, they might not recollect it like student Alex Whitaker.

“I know I was on a beach, and then I remember people cheering, but that’s about it,” Whitaker said.

Lucero stated that being under hypnosis is like having a dream, waking up from it and trying to recall all of it- it’s not easy. Student Deraan Washington could only recall certain things toward the end of the show, but what she anticipates is an easy night of sleep.

“I’ve always heard that when you get hypnotized that you get the best sleep that night so I’m looking forward to that for sure,” Washington said.

Not only did Lucero give the students the power to relax deeply, he also left them with good fortune.

“I’m going to leave you with something in your mind so you have an amazing year and whatever you’re trying to accomplish this year will happen very easy for you.”

Check out Lucero on YouTube and keep an eye out for his new reality show “The Pyramid Thing” which is about six entrepreneurs who change lives.

Photos by Dave Hon

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.

A press release from issued on March 8 said that commitments to her record label are cause for Hilson’s cancellation.

Photo courtesy of Universal Music Group

“We’re disappointed Keri Hilson will be unable to make it to St. Joseph and we apologize to those who were looking forward to her performance,” said Don Willis, assistant dean of student services. “WAC will be working hard over the next few days to schedule another performer for the same date and location.”

Refunds will be made available for those who have already bought tickets.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

A new regulation, proposed by the Health and Human Services, ensures students the right to have insurance if they are enrolled in college, even if they become sick or are in an accident. Under the new rule, insurance companies cannot deny coverage for students under the age of 19 because of a pre-existing condition and they cannot drop coverage because a student gets sick.

Director of Center for Consumer Information Steve Larsen suggests this rule is needed because students stress over many things already. By taking away the panic of losing insurance, students now have less to worry about.

“Too many college students weren’t worried about finding a job, they were also worrying about finding health insurance,” Larsen said.
This rule can also save money. Larsen believes families making $65,000 a year will save close to $6,000. Students can also stay on their parent’s plans until they are 26 years old.

Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Young Invincible Aaron Smith agrees with Larsen.”Profits on these plans can be 20 percent or higher,” Smith said. He also said that the old regulation was an unfair practice because students could be released without getting any help. Under the new regulations, students will no longer have to worry about being released without some type of aid in finding replacement insurance.

“In a random survey of nine colleges and universities around the country, we found that eight currently have some exclusion clause where students suffering from a pre-existing condition,” Smith said. “These exclusions put the binding on those who need insurance the most.”
Steven Bloom, of the American council on education, says that they are the umbrella organizing the insurances and education together, though he knows that finding the solution is not over.

“I am a little concerned that insurers may use these regulations as a pretext to inappropriately raise premiums,” Bloom said. “Increases to some schools for insurance plans.”
Nonetheless, now students should be able to get the insurance they need to help them throughout college. Larson said this is their time now that they can finally afford to buy it all.

“For many students, this is their only opportunity,” Larson said.

As commencement for December graduates was nearing the unemployment rate for the well-educated was on the rise, according to reports from the Bureau for Labor Statistics, reaching 5.1%, its highest point since the figure was first recorded in 1970.

The December 2010 rates showed some improvement as the figure dropped to 4.8%, but certainly not the type of improvement those receiving their degrees would like to see.

Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Jeanne Daffron certainly sees the issues facing many recent graduates, but she also thinks that Western does a good job in preparing students to enter the work force.

“These are definitely difficult times for any individual who is seeking employment. It is important to make good decisions about education and to know that the unemployment rate for college graduates is less than half that of individuals with only a high school education,” Daffron said.
Daffron really believes in the educational benefits of the workplace learning experience that is required for most students.

“I do think that many Western graduates may have an advantage because of our focus on applied learning,” Daffron said. “The majority of Western graduates complete at least one applied learning experience before graduation. Employers tell us that these experiences help new graduates to move more efficiently and successfully into regular positions. Students who complete internships are frequently offered regular positions at the same organization.”

Recent Western graduate Brandon Edwards, a convergent media major, spoke about his recent experiences trying to find a job after graduation.
“I graduated in May, and I’ve only been on one interview at KQ2, which is where I did my internship, so that was my only ‘in,’” Edwards said.

Edwards is pretty disheartened with the process as are many people currently pursuing employment in their chosen field. He said that he’s not sure Western can do anything for him right now. “No one ever told me, ‘Hey go to this office and they’ll get you a job,’” Edwards said.

“I had been working at Tractor Supply, but I lost that job and I have been driving a truck delivering flowers since then,” Edwards said. “I’m hoping to get on with a prison soon, I’ve been through their background check, and I’m just waiting to hear back from them.”

Edwards said that his wife is currently attending Western and won’t finish her degree for another two years so he can’t leave the area until then to seek employment elsewhere.

If you look around Missouri Western’s campus you don’t see any signs posted no guns allowed like you do at other sate institutions. Chief of Police Jon Kelley said, “The existing Missouri Law on carry concealed prohibits concealed carry on campus whether there are signs in place or not.” Kelley is not the only chief of police faced with these problems.

There are 26 states that have it written that a person cannot conceal carry on a college campus. The other states leave it up to the individual higher learning institutions to decide. Missouri is not the only state in the union to try passing laws like this. There are several others, none have passed yet. HB668 also lowers the age for a conceal and carry permit from 23 to 21 years old. May 11, 2009, was the last time any action was taken on HB668.

Kenny Jones sponsored the bill. Jones said, “The ability to conceal and carry on institutions for higher education was an amendment to my bill.” The now retired senator said, “It was not my idea.” Don Wells, co-sponsor of the bill, was not available for comment.

If a bill like the one Jones sponsored passes in Missouri, Missouri Western State University will have to decide whether its students can conceal and carry.

Norma Garlington, a Western student said, “I don’t think conceal and carry at Missouri Western is a good idea.”
Garlington, an avid gun owner said, “The crime rate here is high enough. We don’t need to throw guns in the mix.”

The bills to conceal and carry on campus are being met with fierce opposition. Candy Banta a parent of a college student said, “College students already have too much to worry about. They shouldn’t have to worry about guns on camps.”

Trevor Wilson a member of our armed forces said, “It’s not the legal guns we have to worry about it’s the illegal ones and that is what we worry about now.”

“If everybody had to wonder who had a gun maybe they would think twice before using one,” Wilson said.

If a bill like the one Kelley sponsored passes in Missouri, Missouri Western State University will have to decide whether its’ students can conceal and carry.

Stacy Hersh, a junior, had several concerns she wanted to voice.

“If I’m in a building, that I have to use an elevator to get to the second floor and there’s a fire, what is the university’s plan to get me out of that building,” Hersh said. “As a disabled student, I’m fortunate, my husband goes here, but he’s a senior and next year he won’t be here and I won’t feel safe.”
Hersh said she thinks that this is definitely an issue that should be addressed in every course syllabus, and should be specific to each classroom.

Many of the concerns of those in attendance were accessibility issues and how that affects them on a day-to-day basis.

“Last semester in my manual chair, I tipped out of it three times on the hills on campus,” Hersh said, trying to maintain her composure, “I tipped out of it and lay on the sidewalk as students and professors walked by me and did nothing, so when I say I won’t feel safe, it’s a legitimate concern.”

Classroom configuration was another concern that Hersh said plagues many of the disabled students at Western, because many times the desks are moved around for each class and not put back.

Hersh also referenced the drive and the determination the university showed in pursuing acquiring the Chiefs training camp even in the uncertain economic climate they were facing at that time.

“This university wanted the Chiefs training camp and we saw what they could do to get it here,” Hersh said. “If the university really wanted to get gung ho and get the campus up to speed ADA and make the changes…get that same spirit and change it into a different project.”

Ruth Dome, a third-year criminal justice major, was one of the 200 or so students receiving an email about a meeting that would provide students with disabilities an opportunity to voice their concerns.

“I’ve got several things I’m frustrated and angry about, and I’d like to have them heard,” Dome said.

“There are people that have handicapped placards, stickers or tags, they make use of it but I see them get out and walk off like there’s nothing wrong,” Dome said. “And that irritates me because there are a lot of people that need it.”

“At Wilson Hall, I was going to one of my classes—an 8 a.m. class—and I saw this kid come whipping in with his four-wheeler in the back of his truck,” Dome said. “He pulls in, throws his placard up, jumps out and runs in to Remmington, and I’m still trying to get out of my truck.”

Michael Ritter, disability services coordinator, said that he is aware that there are some perception issues with a lot of the people utilizing handicapped spots and that it’s difficult to address them.

“I’ve talked to the security folks a number of times and we don’t have a great way to address this issue,” Ritter said. “Sometimes the student may have a hidden disability, and they’ve [security personnel] gotten burned a few times by going up and asking somebody if they really have a need to park there.”

Ritter said that in many of those cases the student would then produce documentation stating they had a heart condition or some other ailment not clearly visible.

Unfortunately, the predominant issue facing most students with disabilities is accessibility. Whether the issue was a door that closed too fast, a hill that is too steep, a threshold that is too tall, a classroom door a student can’t enter or a bathroom they can’t get into; the feeling was that the university needs to provide these students with a way, in all cases to go to school and maintain their dignity.

“This university wanted the Chiefs training camp and we saw what they could do to get it here,” Hersh said. “If the university really wanted to get gung ho and get the campus up to speed ADA and make the changes…get that same spirit and change it into a different project.”

The rental program is a new option offered for the first time this semester. Western decided to try the textbook rental program because it seems to be growing in popularity. Western plans to make the rental program a permanent option.

Students who rent their textbooks could save up to 45 percent of the new book price. A new book that sells for $100 would rent for around $45. A new psychology book from the Western bookstore cost $102, but the same book rented for $45.90. A sociology book sold new for $101.35 or used for $76, but it rented for $45.60.

Graphic | Andy Inman

“There is just one rental price for books,” Nikes said. “We rent the new for the reason that we’d rather have used available for purchase.”

Students have ten days after the last day of finals to return books. The bookstore will send out emails to remind students that their books must be returned. Nikes suggested that students go ahead and return their rental books when they come in to sell back the books they bought.

Return conditions for books are simple as well. Nikes said it is similar to buying a book and returning it at the end of the semester.

“You can still highlight in it and make notes in it, but you can’t dump your coke all over it or bring it back without a cover,” Nikes said.

When renting a textbook, students get no money back at the end of the semester. Students pay a rental fee at the beginning of the semester. The rental fee is cheaper than buying a used book, but if students buy a used book and sell it back, it could end up being cheaper than renting.

Not all books are available for rent. Books that are available for rent will vary with each semester. Nikes said that this semester there were probably over 200 books available for renting. Books that are not available are student workbooks, where students may have to remove sheets from the book, and books that have access codes.

Junior Amber Marie Nold said that she was able to find the books she wanted to rent with no problem. She said the bookstore website provided a list of books available to rent.

“There were a couple of books that I knew I would be using in coming semesters, so I bought them,” Nold said. “I mainly rented books that I did not think I would be needing in the future.”

Nold also said that she enjoys being able to rent books, especially books that are not for her major which she will only use once.
Sophomore Jessica Vaughn thinks that the rental program is a great idea.

“I think textbook rental is a great option for students because they don’t have to spend as much money on a book they’ll never use again,” Vaughn said.

Renting books is available simply so students have the option. It is very similar to buying a book and returning it at the end of the semester, except that students do not receive money back.

The rental program will continue to be offered in the following years for students who wish to take advantage of it.

The basic requirements of the project are that it be well-designed, both aesthetically and functionally, be able to buoy the students’ weight in the pond and be re-useable. Students were allowed to build the boat out of anything but wood using as much found and recycled materials as possible.

A student in professor Lawley’s 3-Dimensional Design class tests out her homemade boat in one of the ponds on Western’s campus. The students were challenged to create a boat that would make it all the way across the pond. Photo | Kyle Inman

Sophomore Emily Huffman and the members of her group made a boat in the form of a shark.

“We made the shark of a barrel with noodles on the side.” Huffman said. “It has a shark face and tail and is named ‘Jabber Jaw.’ Our paddle is made out of PVC and we got the barrel from Dan’s New and Used.”

Sophomore Katelyn Piper said that this is basically the same concept as the personal flotation devices except on a larger scale.

“I learned to be cautious of structure,” Piper said. “It has to be able to hold up in water. Even though we used duct tape, we can’t just throw it together; we need to make it look nice.”

“Making the boat actually makes you want to get into it,” Piper said. “It is very fun. The idea of testing out our boats puts a fun spin on it because you get to see your results.”

The class tested out their boats in the pond on Oct. 8. All of the boats floated and made it across the pond except for one boat. The boat floated, but got stuck when the pilot got in. Professor Lawley quickly got the boat and pulled it to shore.

Dick Campbell, a spectator, said that he loved the exhibition.

“I think Professor Lawley is teaching the kids that school can be fun,” Campbell said. “They have plenty of time to work and it is important for these young students to have some fun along the way.”

“They really used their imagination and were very creative,” Campbell said. “It was excellent to watch.”

Professor Lawley said that the project was a great success.

“The students worked very well as a team,” Lawley said. “The designs were great and I think they did a great job. Most importantly, they all had fun.”

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.

According to the report, the primary weakness was that Western’s fraternities and sororities do not act as a Greek Community. Reasons behind this problem are that many chapters do not work towards their values and visions and that there is not a common goal that all the chapters share. Academics, alumni and advisor involvement are decreasing as well.

Don Willis, the assistant dean of student services, understands that this issue needs to be addressed.

“We need to have a much stronger coordinated effort amongst the Greeks. The emphasis needs to be on Western Greeks as opposed to the individual chapters.”

In order for this to be accomplished, Student Services created the Greek Life Plan. There are eight goal areas in the Greek Life Plan, which include leadership, scholarship, service, and more. Each goal area is then broken down further into individual objectives.

Committees have been formed to go over and finalize the plan. It is hoped to be implemented by Nov. 1, and by doing so the ties between the Greeks will strengthen; enabling them to work together.

Breanne Boyer, a junior in Sigma Sigma Sigma, has realized this weakness and is working to overcome it with her sorority.

“We are trying to join together more as a Greek community. There used to be feuds between the different sororities, but now we are all friends and go to the same events,” Boyer said.

Among the eight goal areas is the lack of Greek Housing at Missouri Western. Willis says Greek Housing is something Western is looking into, not something that will happen overnight.

“[Greek Housing] is a realistic goal in probably five to six years,” Willis said.

First, Western would like to establish certain areas in the current dorms that are Greek living areas. After this first step, Western can then look into permanent housing for each fraternity and sorority. Housing is a huge financial investment and something that needs numbers to support it. Willis believes that if Greeks can work together as a Western Community, the numbers will rise and will then be able to support housing on campus.

Megan Goodwin, a junior, believes Greek housing would make life easier and a better experience for the Greeks.

“Housing makes the experience so much more,” Goodwin said.” Here we have to reserve the building and bring our things with us. Housing would definitely raise our numbers and improve the sisterhood.”

The Greek Report has made Western administrators think twice about the Greek community on campus. Willis hopes that the Greek community will become an opportunity for students to
grow and develop in positive ways. He does know that focusing on the Western’s Greek community, as a whole is what will enable the program to move forward successfully.
For more information on the exact goals of the Greek Life plan, visit www.missouriwestern.edu/cse/greeklife.asp

The Griffon Yearbook was one of only 14 yearbooks chosen as a finalist for the Pacemaker award by the Associated Collegiate Press.

The yearbook is also only one of six in the category of 314 pages and under selected.

The ACP has been awarding the Pacemaker since 1927 and it is unofficially known as the “Pulitzer Prizes of student journalism.”

A panel of four judges will make their decision based on writing/editing, design, content, concept, photography, art and graphics.

Amy Chastain, one of the co-editors-in-chief, was happy to hear about the award.

“A lot of the top yearbooks in the country don’t even get nominated,” Chastain said.” Being our yearbook we are gonna put everything into it.”

Chastain also gave a nod to her partner at the yearbook Raphael’le Drew who was the other co-editor-in-chief of the 2009 Griffon.

“I was the editor for the 2008 yearbook,” Chastain said. “This year it was Raphael’le’s baby.”

Ann Thorne the yearbook advisor was also pleased to hear the good news.

“It has been a while since we have been on a pacemaker finalist list,” Thorne said. “It was a big thrill just to be noticed.”

Since Thorne took over as advisor the yearbook has won numerous awards such as the Pacemaker, the Silver Crown Award and Gold Crown Awards from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, and numerous All-American ratings from the Associated Collegiate Press.

Not only has the yearbook won awards but also individuals such as writers, photographers and designers.

The 2009 Griffon Yearbook has already won six awards given out by the national College Media Convention in New York, New York.

The Gold Circle Awards are a national competition sponsored by Columbia Scholastic Press Association.

Five of those awards went to Drew including Third Place, Academic Spread multi-page presentation, and four Certificate of Merits in Academic Spread, black and white, Academic Spread multi-page presentation, Sports Page black and white, and another Academic Spread, black and white.

The other award went to Anna Flin, Certificate of Merit, Feature Writing, Student Life.

Other editors included Kailey Alexander, and Linda Shireman, photography co-editors, and Sarah Derr, business manager. Chastain also served as the copy editor and Drew as the design editor. Staff included Missy Clinton, Hallie Delagardelle, Lauren Dillon, Melissa Friger, Amanda Hake, Jourdan Huffman, Harvey Jackson, EmmaLee Jones, Heather Kietzman, Olin Kinsey, Bonnie Land, Shawn Lesny, Ashley McIntosh, Frank Nemeth, Emma Piehl, Courtney Puett, Brittany Rivers, Raya Shafer, Courtney Slater, Carmen Smith, Erica Stevens and Kelsey Wear.
Lauren Dillon was happy that she could participate in a year it would receive national recognition.

“I’m pretty excited it was the first semester I was on the yearbook,” Dillon said. “Even though none of my stuff was chosen, I was still thrilled to be a part of it.”

The awards ceremony will be held in Louisville Ky., on Oct. 30. during the ACP/College Media Advisers Fall National College Media Convention

Aramark, having recently signed a new contract with the university, wanted to keep the grill concept as part of the latest round of renovations in the food court.

“Of everything we do at the food court, the grill concept will always be the mainstay,” said Campus Dining Director Jim Maides.

According to Brian Tarr and Laura Eisenbaum, retail managers for Aramark, the ideas and concepts that shape Burger Studio came not from the company, but from student input.

“It came from the Dining Style Survey,” Eisenbaum said. “Aramark gathered students from various institutions and asked them, ‘if you could have one concept campus wide, what do you really want?’ This is what the students came up with. The students even picked the name.”

While the menu might still have the same basics such as burgers and fries, what makes Burger Studio unique is the way students can order. Instead of telling the person behind the counter what they want to order, students are now able to order their meals on one of two ordering kiosks. There, students can also customize their burger with the build-your-own concept.

“If you want a fried egg on your hamburger, you get a fried egg on your hamburger,” Tarr said. “They’re in control of what they can get.”

Furthermore, Burger Studio doesn’t skimp on freshness; everything they serve is fresh and made to order for the customer.

“There are so many different options,” Eisenbaum said. “That’s very unique for this type of concept. Everybody does [burgers and fries] from McDonald’s to an upscale restaurant, but we’re really fresh.”

While the Burger Studio is clearly being noticed, there is one aspect of this burger and fries shop that has gone unmentioned. Burger Studio is a pilot program; that is to say, a brand new, undeveloped concept that is being tested out on different institutions across the country.

“It’s a test to work out all the kinks and the bugs and when it goes live to various institutions in the future, they’ll know exactly what to look for…,” Eisenbaum said. “We’re the guinea pigs basically.”

Missouri Western is one of four institutions that are currently using Burger Studio, along with Middle Tennessee State, University of Hartford and University of Delaware; the Western Burger Studio, however, is the only one located in the Midwest.

“The fact that we are the only one in the Midwest means we’re the only university ready to make that jump,” Maides said.

In recent weeks, Maides and his staff have been working to smooth out the kinks that students were raising at the beginning of the semester. While they feels things have improved, issues such as speed of service and the complexity of the ordering kiosks remain potential problems.

“Although the kiosks are very techno savvy, if the printer decides to stop working that means there’s only one kiosk left for all the students to order on,” Eisenbaum said. “Whether that takes 20 seconds to fix or 20 minutes, that’s a big problem.”

Nevertheless, things are looking up for Burger Studio. Student feedback has been overwhelmingly positive of late; whether it be the techno savvy ordering kiosks, the ability to personalize their burger or just the overall rise in quality, students seem to love their new burger and fries shop just as much as the people who are making it work.

In fact, there are already ideas floating around for expanding the menu, as Tarr explains.

“We’re discussing regional favorites and currently working with Aramark to add them to the menu,” Tarr said. “That would depend on what student feedback is. If they say, ‘hey we really, really want this,’ then that’s what we push to get on for regional favorite.”

Among some of the food items being mentioned are mozzarella sticks, jalapeno peppers, philly cheese steaks, and a wider variety of sauces and seasonings for fries.

Furthermore, the company is already planning to expand the Burger Studio concept all across the nation; according to Maides, 38 universities will be prepared to put Burger Studios in their food courts within the next two semesters. And as Burger Studio is in the very early phases of development, there’s no telling what the future holds.

“I really think that Burger Studio is here to stay,” Maides said.

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.”

In an increasingly digital age, online courses are becoming more and more commonplace with each passing year. National trends at both traditional and non-traditional campuses are showing that the chance to take online courses is becoming more popular with students nationwide.

“It’s an opportunity for them to enjoy higher education,” President Robert Vartabedian said. “The key word is access. They can sit in comfortable clothes at home and work on their education.”

Western began offering online courses during the administration of former President Janet Murphy who pushed hard for their inclusion. More than a decade later, Western now offers 33 different online courses.

Vartabedian states that Western has set a goal to offer 100 online courses within the next three years. While not all departments on campus offer online courses, Vartabedian hopes that they will move in that direction within the near future.

Michael Flowers is an instructor in the Department of Education. Over the last three years, he has personally taught over 200 students in online courses and he sees the online course option as a great opportunity.

“The convenience really attracts students,” Flowers said. “They can work wherever they decide to set up shop. There’s also a time element; you have your own time to work at your own pace. You’re not confined to 60 minutes.”

Vartabedian couldn’t agree more, arguing that online courses can be a perfect fit for today’s technologically savvy generation.

“Many students today are technologically inclined, so it’s a chance for them to use their technical skills,” Vartabedian said. “A really well taught online course should provide gateway to bigger things.”

Furthermore, Vartabedian feels that the addition on online education is consistent with the university’s mission to provide access to quality education for everyone.

“I always like to say that online courses are not always appropriate for everyone, but for some, it can be very beneficial,” Vartabedian said. “I’ve run into a number of students who said, ‘I wouldn’t have finished my degree without online courses.’”

Kelsey Corzine is a junior at Western. Starting this semester, she began taking an online course, Secondary Reading Techniques. She feels that the option of taking online courses is a great benefit for busy college students.

“I’m taking 16 credits and I’m really busy otherwise,” Corzine said. “This way, I can do them when I want to. You don’t have to worry about slowing [other students] down or vice versa; you can go at your own pace.”

Despite such success stories, Vartabedian cautions that online courses don’t allow for active university experiences and therefore shouldn’t become the norm over traditional classroom courses.

“I wouldn’t want to be known as a purely online university,” Vartabedian said. “Western will always be a traditional university, but we want the best of both worlds.”
From Flower’s perspective, it’s important for students to have face to face interactions with their instructors, which is something that online courses lack.

“When students have concerns, they have to call or e-mail whereas in class we can nail the problem down right there,” Flowers said. “Being able to [talk] eyeball to eyeball is a definite advantage in students’ favor.”

In an age where technology has become part of everyday life, the growth in online courses at universities and college campuses across the nation is bound to have success with those students who need such opportunities to complete their education and go on to bigger, brighter things.

This event is put together every year for people to listen to excerpts from some of the most banned and challenged books of all time.

Michael Cadden, chair of the English, Foreign Languages and Journalism department, organizes the reading every year and believes it to be an important event.

“Sometimes we think that living in America means freedom of speech happens automatically everywhere and that’s not the case,” Cadden said. “It’s important to keep reminding people that even if there isn’t a case going on in the community, it’s important that they know that there are cases in other communities that could affect them at some point.”

English professor Bill Church believes the reading is important because of what certain books can provide to certain readers.

“Books allow us to travel without going anywhere,” Church said. “They take us into the geography of other people’s lives, minds and experiences in ways we might never get.”

Church thought this year’s reading was impressive because of the diversity of the texts that were chosen by the readers.

According to Cadden, the key to the success of this event is not to read the controversial parts of the books. The key to success is in the hands of the readers and the material that they choose.

“People were choosing things that they cared about which was the goal,” Cadden said. “It was to get people to share the parts of those books that made them think and care.”

Various excerpts were read throughout the night from works such as Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou.

The room in Blum Union was not completely packed. However, there was a good number of people in attendance for the event.

Cadden and Church both believed the attendance would have been greater if the semester was not so close to midterm and there was not so much going on.

Cadden still believes the event was a success and looks forward to doing it all again next year.
“We’re gonna keep doing this until they tell us we can’t,” Cadden said.

In total, there were eight readers during the course of the banned book reading. The readers included people such as Missouri Western professors, local high school teachers, local librarians and Missouri Western students.

The banned book reading started at 7 p.m. and lasted a little over an hour.

This fall, the food court opened its doors after undergoing a series of renovations designed by Aramark to shake up the menu options available to students as well as the overall atmosphere and design.

According to Jim Maides, the campus dining director, the cost of renovations in both the food court and the dining room will add up to roughly $300,000, all of which is being paid for by Aramark.

Although Quiznos can still be found in the opposite corner, there is now a massive expansion of cold beverages, from 25 to nearly 85 options, that can be found on the left side wall. Students can also find two new restaurants to feast their eyes on: the mexican restaurant Caliente, and a unique burger and fries shop known as Burger Studio.

Brian Tarr and Laura Eisenbaum, retail managers for Aramark who oversee the daily operations of the food court, explain that the genesis of the renovations came out of Aramark’s new contract with Missouri Western and an overall desire for change, starting with the student body itself.

“We take surveys called a Dining Style Survey [including] six to ten different concepts and [students] would rank them according to what they want,” Eisenbaum said. “They had questions about what hours [they] would most likely be able to sit down and eat a meal in the dining hall. Students got to rank what’s most important to them when they’re able to eat and what they’re looking for when they come into the food court.”

For the students however, the biggest and most exciting change comes from the Burger Studio: the icon of the renovation process. While the burger and fries menu seems traditional, the unique aspect of Burger Studio is the ordering kiosks from which the students can choose the exact type of burger they want from a variety of options, including up to 22 different toppings and 15 different sauces.

“It’s part of [Aramark’s] new contract with Missouri Western,” Maides said. “Vendors were asked to come up with ideas for the food court so this was one of the ideas that Aramark had to refresh and replace the Grill Works.”

From Tarr’s perspective, the primary goal is to provide students with the one thing rarely found on college campuses: fresh food.
“It’s a fresh baked bun everyday,” Tarr said. “We do fresh cut fries now everyday. As far as new…not so much but improved and expanded on. The goal is fresh. Everything cooked to order, made fresh. It is all done fresh.”

While proud of the new food court, those involved with the renovation process admit that there have been some challenges, primarily with the time it takes to get the food from Burger Studio.

“We want it to be made to order,” Eisenbaum said. “It’s not McDonald’s. We’re really starting from the very beginning and giving the absolute freshest [product] possible, and I think it’s been hard to convey that message across to students.”

Maides is quick to acknowledge that there have been some complaints faced towards the ordering kiosks as well.

“When technology works the way it’s supposed to, it looks and feels great,” Maides said. “When it doesn’t work, it doesn’t look and feel great.”
Although such problems are not difficult to address, there is one major potential issue at hand according to Student Government Association President Joshua Todd.

“There’s no more register space than there was last year,” Todd said. “People that get out of class and have to go right to another class don’t have time because the lines are so overwhelmingly long, and once they get to the register, they have to stand in line again. That’s something we’re confined to. There’s only so much room in every building.”

Eisenbaum suggests that such issues, if brought to light, can be dealt with in future renovation projects.
“From getting the feedback from students and building on that, we’ll be able to create something even better in six months or a year,” Eisenbaum said. “It’s a continual process of operational excellence.”

Maides is in full agreement, arguing that the process of renovations is a constant, never stopping process that is fully intended to accommodate the student body at Missouri Western.

“I have a hard time believing that we will never be doing something to try and improve,” Maides said. “I also believe that we’ll never quite get it right. Look at campuses all over the country; construction happens all the time because they never quite get it right, and they’re always trying to improve and make it better for the next group of students.”

Aside from the group of protestors standing outside with signs, people did not seem disappointed after Biden’s intense and inspirational speech.

When the intro music started, audience members gradually clapped along, eventually yelling, “Go, Joe!”

During the high points of his speech, people rose from their seats to clap and cheer with escalating enthusiasm.

Erika Baker, a freshman at Northwest Missouri State University, has watched Biden’s speeches on television, but never in person.

“I really, really enjoyed it,” Baker said. “I think that Joe Biden is a great speaker.”

This was the first time Baker has been to a political rally.

“I thought it was a whole new experience to be that close; I was right on the aisle – two rows back,” Baker said. “I shook his hand and everything afterwards, so it was exciting.”

Nathan Bowman, also a student at Northwest, was amazed by Biden’s tone.

“My basic thoughts were that Senator Biden did a terrific job getting people going,” Bowman said. “You could tell he was very passionate.”

Bowman believes Biden really projected towards the climax of his speech.

Heather Fields, a Western student, actually got a picture taken with Obama’s vice presidential candidate.

“I was more excited than I expected to be,” Fields said.

Janie Bland, who traveled from Spickard, MO, has been campaigning for Barack Obama, and thoroughly enjoyed the speech as well.

“That was a wonderful speech and he really spoke to the middle class people,” Bland said.

The opinion of Western student Andrew Trautmon, who is a Republican, differed slightly. He is not a huge fan of Obama or McCain.

“I went in with an independent mind,” Trautmon said. “Really, I’m not leaning with either one.”

Trautmon was not as impressed with Biden’s speech as others were.

“I was a little bit upset with Biden… the first part of his speech seemed like an attack against McCain,” Trautmon said.

If you sneezed at the event featuring Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden, a dozen well-trained eyes sharply focused on you. Biden was well protected when he delivered his campaign speech to a crowd of approximately 1,200 people on Oct. 9, in the M.O. Looney Complex. Security was in full force as local law enforcement officers teamed up with Secret Service agents to ensure the safety of the senator and everyone in attendance.

Such security is necessary—and standard—at all public events that feature a presidential or vice presidential candidate, especially this election year. This is an historic election with Barack Obama being the first black candidate for the office of U.S. President.

Secret Service officers were visible near Biden and around the complex, while others were invisible as they mixed in with the crowd.

Around 20 SJPD officers, including the Special Response Team (SRT), four commissioned MWSU police officers and 11 Police Academy cadets were on the team along with an undisclosed number of Secret Service agents. Also on the team was a German shepherd that sniffed purses and backpacks as they entered the building. A metal detecting wand was in use at the entrance as well.

Biden’s entourage while in St. Joseph included one unidentified officer from the SJPD and an unidentified local highway patrol officer.

According to Capt. Jeff Wilson the SJPD and the secret service worked together for a week before the event.

“The Secret Service gave us ample notice to prepare,” Wilson said.

“They notified us last week and invited us to a planning meeting.”

With the number of officers needed, some worked on their day off. SJPD officer Scott Vanover didn’t mind working.

“It’s my day off,” Vanover said. ” I’m working for overtime.”

The event offered a good opportunity for Police Academy cadets to see national security agents at work. Cadet Chase Pollard believed in the need for security and the need for the event.

“It’s essential for Americans to speak their minds,” Pollard said. “It’s important for both sides to be heard.”

Despite the fact that Biden was late, the entire event occurred with no security incidents. When the crowd was clearing after the conclusion, one of the officers, who would not give his name, said the day “went very well.”