February 10th - Griffon News

C M Y K
sports:
news:
lifestyles:
Western adds two new residence hall
directors to its staff.
PAGE 4
Everything you need to find a date for
Valentine’s Day.
PAGES 6 & 7
T U E S D AY, F E B R U A R Y 1 0 , 2 0 0 4
Governor
has yet to
name new
regent
Colleen Hinshaw
News Writer
The process started last year with six applicants, it was narrowed down to three and now
Missouri Western State College is awaiting the
word of who will be the next student regent.
Junior Bob Hughes, sophomore Matt Anderson
and freshman Jesse Holcomb are the final three
candidates. Governor Bob Holden has the final
say on who is appointed to the position.
There are only two requirements for a candidate to be considered for appointment: they must
have at least two years left in college and maintain a grade point average of at least 2.5.
According to Susan Colgan,
president of the Board of Regents,
one of the most ideal qualities for
a student regent is to be involved
on campus.
“It is very important to be
involved with community life
at the college and to be
involved with the student government,” Colgan said.
Out of the three finalists,
the
-Bob Holden only two are involved in
Government
Governor of Missouri Student
Association (SGA) and none of
them live on campus.
Outgoing student regent Kevin Callaway
served for the last two years and, according to
Colgan, Callaway did well in his position.
“I thought he did a fine job. He kept us very
informed,” Colgan said.
Communication between students and Western
administration is very important to the regent
position.
The student regent is a liaison between the Board
of Regents and the student body. The position also
requires attendance at meetings and participation in
discussions with board members. The individual
must also attend SGAsenate meetings.
The SGA has the responsibility of taking applications for the position and conducts the initial
interviewings of prospective students. They narrow the selection down to the final three, then
those three travel to Jefferson City for an interview with the governor.
John Fabsits, vice-president of the SGA, said
that there were only six applications for student
regent this year. The process in the past for selection of a student regent has been for Board of
Regents staff members and the SGA to conduct
interviews of the prospective candidates.
Men’s basketball coach Tom Smith
earns his 500th career win.
PAGE 12
PA I D
PERMIT NO. 32
St. JOSEPH, MO
VOL . 83 N O. 3
M I S S O U R I WE S T E R N S TATE C O L L E G E
Party turns violent
Ross Martin
Editor-in-Chief
A Missouri Western student is in serious
condition at the Heartland Health Center
after suffering a gunshot wound in the
early morning hours of Sunday, Feb. 1,
according to Cmdr. Jim Connors of the St.
Joseph Police Department.
According to the lead investigator on the
case, detective Paul Gatewood, police officers found Missouri Western senior Corey
Blevins, 24, shot in the parking lot of the
Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1668 at 1701
St. Joseph Ave. VFW commander George
Wilson indicated that Blevins had rented
the hall that night to throw a birthday
party for a fellow Western student.
Kansas City resident Leon Nash, 19, and
four others were arrested shortly after the
shooting. According to Gatewood, Nash was
identified by witnesses as the shooter, and
he was charged with first-degree assault on
Sunday, Feb. 1.
At approximately 1 a.m. on Feb. 1, police
had responded to a call of a physical altercation at the VFW. Minutes later, a second
call came in from the VFW indicating that
a gunshot had been fired.
Gatewood said that the five men and
Blevins became involved in a verbal confrontation. The men were asked to leave,
and a physical altercation broke out.
“The physical altercation turned into what
has been described to me as a ‘brawl,’”
Gatewood said. “Soon after, the shot was fired.”
Photo by ROSS MARTIN/Editor-in-Chief
Photo Illustration by DANE AULT/Graphics Editor
See Blevins page 5
Report of shooting unconfirmed
Andie Schmitt
Opinion Editor
The night of Monday, Jan. 19, is shrouded in what-ifs.
With sketchy details of a possible gunshot
victim at Heartland Health and physical
evidence (presumed to be blood) being
taken from Beshears Hall, St. Joseph Police
Department and Missouri Western Campus
Safety alike are still scratching their heads.
According to a report dated Jan. 19,
Missouri Western campus safety was contacted a little after midnight by the St.
Joseph Police Department.
The call was regarding a tip from the
Heartland Health Emergency Room staff.
The staff had alerted the police that a yet
unidentified male victim was claiming to
have been shot while at a party earlier that
evening.
Alan Van Zandt, director of public relations for the police department, was unable
to be reached for comment on the nature of
the wound or treatment given to the suspect.
St. Joseph police officers, including
Officer Eckhoff, were dispatched to the
scene where they say the victim changed
his story several times and indicated that
the shooting had not taken place on campus.
However, once alerted, campus security
officer Jason Bell conducted a check of the
Weather wreaks
havoc on region
residence halls for possible evidence to the
contrary. Bell came across what, according
to a public safety report,may have been a
“splattering of blood” on the lower-level
walk of Beshears Hall, between rooms 214
and 215. Officer Bell took swabs of the substance and 12 photographs as evidence.
When asked for a reaction, Director of
Housing and Residential Life John
Comerford declined to comment at this
time.
By 1:40 a.m., Director of Public Safety
Jon Kelley, as well as the supervisor on
duty that night, had been notified that
there was a possible assault with a deadly
weapon on campus.
See Beshears page 4
Slogan
change in
the works
Rikki Cason
News Writer
Sliding down the street, freezing cold winds and
climbing up hills with inches of snow are only a few of
the things Western students have had to face during the
past two weeks on campus.
Schools in many areas were cancelled, but Missouri
Western wasn’t even considered. This policy was put
into effect after a past incident that affected a couple of
students from Chillicothe. The students had driven in
to St. Joseph and were unaware that classes were not
being held.
On that fateful day, Western’s president had waited
until 7:50 a.m. to close the campus. The students were
very angry that they had driven over an hour for nothing, so they filed a complaint with Missouri Western
State College.
Because of the incident, Missouri Western will close
only on a rare circumstances. Most of the time if there
is inclimate weather it’s up to individual teachers to
cancel their class, and even they are encouraged against
it.
According to art professor James Estes, this makes it
very difficult for faculty and nontraditional students
with children.
“I would support Missouri Western closing if the St.
Joseph School District were out because many students
have kids and it becomes a burden,” Estes said. “ Like
today there were 13 students [in my class] out of 20. I
can’t punish them for not being here and I can’t teach
anything new.”
Parking and driving is another problem students face.
Streets were barely scraped and parking lots were left
untouched.
NON-PROFIT ORG.
U.S. POSTAGE
Nick Draper
2
editorial
3,4,5,9,10
news
Co-News Editor
NICK DRAPER/News Editor
The parking lot K outside of the SS/C building is still covered in snow and ice like most of the lots on campus. The
region has endured multiple ice and snow storms over the
past few weeks.
“You can’t see the lines and there are big chunks of
snow so you don’t know where to park.” Western student Sarah Baber said.
Several members of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity held
their meeting last Sunday evening and saw cars sliding
all over the streets.
The Western student handbook states that Missouri
Western will close only in “extraordinary circumstances.” The handbook further states that if the college
does close due to weather or road conditions, decisions
for daytime closings will be made before 6 a.m. and
evenings before 4 p.m.
To find out if the Missouri Western campus is closed,
students can tune to KCMO 710 AM, 95 FM, KKJO
105.5 FM, KFEQ 68 AM, or KQTV Channel 2. If none
of these media outlets report anything, campus is to be
assumed open.
Though the smaller custodial staff can be blamed on
See Weather Problems page 9
Missouri Western is in the process
of changing the current slogan,
“Discover the Western Advantage,”
to one that better reflects the focus
of the strategic plan.
Merging a school’s slogan with its
mission statement is very important
when trying to explain the school’s
direction.
“The college’s slogan is a direct
reflection of the mission and strategic direction of the college,” said
Kristy Hill, director of public relations and marketing. “It is part of
the brand, which tells individuals
what distinguishes the college from
others.”
The
Public
Relations
and
Marketing Committee drafted a
Strategic Plan Implementation
Fund proposal whose goal is to
enhance Western’s image.
“The primary component of that
proposal was to hire a consultant to
work with the college in developing
messages and strategies to communicate Western’s strategic vision,
See Slogan page 10
lifestyles
6,7,8
sports
11,12
Tuesday 2/10
High: 28, Low: 18
Partly Cloudy
Wednesday 2/11
High: 30, Low: 13
Thursday 2/12
High: 24, Low: 15
Friday 2/13
High: 35, Low: 25
Saturday 2/14
High: 39, Low: 19
tuesday, february 10, 2004 •page 2
STAFF EDITORIAL
Snow, ice cause problems
The wintry mix of late has caused many
problems with the parking situation here on
campus. For the last two weeks, that thin
layer of gunk and gravel that exists even after
the many clearings has continued to be an
issue for students and faculty alike.
As a result, the parking lots have become a
virtual free-for-all. Students attempting to
park can’t see the lines because of this gray
filmy covering, leading to many cars that take
up two or three places. Like we needed to lose
a few parking spaces? Ask any student for a
comment on the budget and you’ll get, “Uh, I
have to go to class,” but throw out a parking
query and you’d have to fight them off with a
stick. Students line up to gripe about the lack
of close spaces and now arriving to find three
cars holding what could have been spots for
nine only adds insult to injury.
Or, if you are one of the lucky few creating
this havoc by getting here early enough to
have an option, you most likely justify parking
for two in order to protect your ride. This
never-ending circle results in the following
irritation--a Mini Cooper occupying a spot fit
for an Expedition. At this point, a bevy of
expletives ensues and somebody gets doordinged.
Students should be entitled to a better solution than the sporadic gravel. Realizing full
well the sky-high cost of the highway-quality
salting is most likely not something we can
spring for all the time, but maybe the administration could reserve a little something for
an emergency, like the downpour last week.
Physical plant manager Lonnie Johnson said
via email that the buildings on campus look
less clean than what they should. With the
tracking in of snow, sand, gravel and salt,
many areas are slippery and potentially dangerous.
To say the least....
Of course this is due to the continuously bad
weather, which is understandably out of everyone’s hands, but also having six less full-time
custodial staff members doesn’t help.
One student made an interesting comment.
Diamikia White, mentioned that she has only
noticed salt in front of the Administration
Building and nowhere else.
“I think it is unfair that they seem to be only
concerned about how the academic buildings
look due to the president, rather than the students safety,” White said.
It seems perfectly understandable for the
campus to remain open when the roads have
been cleared. But when our interior roads are
still so treacherous, is it still fair to ask our
reigning majority of commuter students to risk
damage to their vehicles or themselves?
Student Drew Horne says he was forced to try
to break up the ice under his tires with a screwdriver and an ice scraper just to get traction.
We think that says it all.
Everyone
has
always
wondered
how
Western
salted its
sidewalks.
Now I
guess we
know what
V-Ice has
been up to
all these
years.
Wade Williamson
- Cartoon Liason
COMMENTARY
Shooting at VFW tragic, avoidable
What do you think
about snow days?
Sometimes I think I act way older than I
really am. I found myself thinking that more
and more this week after I heard about the
shooting of Missouri Western senior Corey
Blevins.
I’ve never met the guy, but I couldn’t help
feeling an overwhelming sense of sorrow
when I listened to his friends on campus
describe the kind of person he was. To everyone I talked to, he was nice and liked to have
fun. He was actively involved in CAB and
well liked by faculty and staff.
Maybe that’s why I found myself thinking
like an overprotective mother ... err father.
Blevins was shot at a party where alcohol
was being served at the VFW hall on St.
Joseph Avenue.
Clearly this situation could have been
avoided. Parties like the one Blevins threw
on Jan. 31 are very dangerous. You don’t
know who’s going to be there or what kind of
riff-raff they will bring with them.
So don’t go. I mean really, what good can
come of going to a party like that? You may
rossmartin
have fun for a while, but at the very least
you’ll find yourself with a hangover the next
day. Or worse, you’ll find yourself in the
pokey because of those three little letters:
DUI.
Or in Blevins case, you’ll find yourself in a
hospital bed pondering what your future
holds.
It’s a terribly tragic situation. Blevins is
just 24 years old and he may be facing serious reprecussions from his decisions that
night. According to St. Joseph Police
Department Cmdr. Jim Connors, he is in
serious condition at Heartland Health
Center because of those actions.
He could have done anything with his
spare time, but he held that party. He
tried to escort some men out. He didn’t call
the police to ask for help. That wasn’t
Blevins’ style. He was trusting and apathetic.
He made the decision, and bang, his entire
life changed in an instant -- forever.
I don’t know why I felt so bad for a guy that
I’d never met. I just hate to see tragedies
that could be avoided. You don’t have to stay
at a party where you feel uncomfortable.
Go back to your place and have a couple of
beers with your roommate.
Call your buddy from high school that you
haven’t seen since graduation.
Go to the bar on the corner from your house
and flirt with the waitress.
Do anything, just don’t allow yourself to be
in a position that could change your life the
way Blevins’life changed that night in a cold,
snowy parking lot.
COMMENTARY
Dean losing steam with this democrat
Mariah Mueller
Freshman
“We need to have snow days. It’s frustrating walking to class when the sidewalks
are slick.”
Brooke Kuykendall
Sophomore
Like so many of my fellow democrats, I
started out the school year with one candidate in mind: Howard Dean.
Following the official start of the race to
the White House, I had one goal--anyone but
Bush--and I thought Dean was the man to do
it.
Sadly, I admit that after Dean’s rather
unique speech following the Iowa Caucus, I
turned away and probably muttered, “Who’s
the loon on the tube?”
I pretended like I hadn’t been silently
crossing my fingers for his success. I began
researching my number-two pick, Wesley
Clark, who had been the safest option at that
point having not participated in the caucuses at all.
By Feb. 3, I had completely gone the route
of the lemming and cast my vote for John
Kerry, citing the lesser of two evils as my
rationale, and maintaining my original goal
--anyone but Bush.
My hypocrisy has since caught up with me
and I think I’m not alone.
andieschmitt
New York Observer columnist Terry
Golway also admits to turning away and
silently shifting her support as a first
response to that now infamous whoop on
national TV.
She based her shift in support to office gossip at the water cooler and panic that routing
for the wrong guy may cost us another four
years of W. But then reality crept back in for
Terry as well.
She remembered why she was initially
drawn to Dean, why he has led the polls for
voters under 30: because he is passionate.
“The need to learn is evident, but if I was
in charge I would not want to put students
in danger just to show up to class.”
Ross Martin
Editor-in-Chief
Sarah Ambriz
Freshman
“I think they should have pity on us and
give us at least one day off.”
Melissa Waddell
Andie Schmitt
Nick Draper
Lindsay Tremayne
Danny Stooksbury
Morgan Perry
Tracy Johnson
Warren Ingram
Bob Bergland
Assistant Editor
Opinion Editor
Co-News Editor
Co-News Editor
Sports Editor
Lifestyles Editor
Copy Editor
Photo Editor
Faculty Adviser
Web site: http://www.mwsc.edu/griffonnews
Email: griffonnews@mwsc.edu
viva la revolucion!! viva la left field!! viva la three-man one-y!!
The Griffon News is written and published by students of Missouri Western State College on Tuesdays during the fall and spring semesters. The first copy of each
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• Views expressed on the opinion pages are not necessarily those of The Griffon News staff or Missouri
Western State College.
To that point, Golway asked sarcastically
during our conversation, “He is un-presidential because, instead of giving us the kind of
canned, scripted, poll-tested concession
speeches we have come to expect, he exhibited a moment of authenticity?”
She added, “Yep, every American will want
to punish him alright. Angry candidates simply can’t be president. They might get us into
a war or something, you see.”
That phrase gave me a refreshed perspective. Why are we as a country sold on PR
instead of instinct? Dean got some wacky
press and his constituents had Kerry on
speed dial in less than two minutes.
I want a democratic candidate who can
give our current president a run for his
money as much as any other democrat
would, but at what expense?
So I encourage all the other Dean turncoats, such as yours truly, to consider what I
have. Why did you support Dean before the
concession heard round the world? What has
honestly changed since, besides his numbers?
News:
Rachel Linley
Colleen
Hinshaw
Jean Easter
Rikki Cason
Rose Justus
Steffi Harvey
Brent Corey
Printer:
Maryville
Daily Forum
Graphics /
Photo:
Jayna Shirley
Edy Offner
Jeremy Weikel
Westin
Schroeder
Dane Ault
Sports:
Quitta
Alexander
Allen Conway
The Griffon News is a student publication ran by students trying to learn about journalism. The Griffon News is committed to
being honest, fair and accurate. If you have any questions, comments or corrections concerning printed material, please call us
at (816) 271-4412or e-mail at griffonnews@mwsc.edu. Any necessary corrections will be made in the next issue on this page.
tuesday, february 10, 2004 • page 3
Marketability key for employment
Western teams
up with area
medical schools
Western has partnered with
two area medical schools,
Kirksville
College
of
Osteopathic
Medicine
(KCOM) in Kirksville, Mo.
and University of Health
Sciences
College
of
Osteopathic Medicine (UHS)
in Kansas City, Mo.
The
partnership
with
KCOM will give two Western
sophomores each year the
opportunity to qualify for a
seat in their program after
graduation.
Similarly, the UHS agreement also gives two sophomores each year the opportunity to make the move to
UHS after their junior year at
Western.
They will simultaneously
complete their first year of
medical school and meet the
requirements to earn a bachelor’s degree from Western.
Dr. Jason Baker, assistant
professor of biology and
Western’s coordinator of the
agreements said, "Without a
doubt, this will continue to
put Western on the map as a
quality institution. It is an
honor for the college."
Western is one of seven
schools and the only one in
Missouri to enter into an
Early Matriculation Partners
program with UHS, and only
the second public institution.
KMOC has 11 partners in
their program.
Mo. Western
achievements
announced
"The Economic Implications
of Distance Education," written by Taylor and Dr. Reza
Hamzaee,
professor
of
economics, will be read at the
Economics and International
Business Research conference.
"Amahl and The Night
Visitors," was performed by
the St. Joseph Symphony.
Senior music major Amy
Dunlap Ives sang the role of
the mother, Western alum
Jedd Schneider was king,
senior
Jacob
Schneider
played a page and junior
Jeremy Schneider was in the
shepherd’s chorus.
Geo Sipp, assistant professor of art, had a print selected
for
the
17th
Parkside
National
Small
Print
Exhibition at the University
of Wisconsin.
Dr. Elizabeth Latosi-Sawin,
professor of English, wrote
"Living and Teaching in the
Round," which was accepted
for publication.
Dr. Ali Kamali, associate
professor of sociology, recently
published,
"Private
Investment, Globalization,
and Economic Recovery: The
Central Asian Experiences in
the Journal of Third World
Studies," and "Public Policies
and Economic Transition in
Central
Asia"
in
The
Scandinavian Journal of
Development Alternatives and
Area Studies.
Dr. Evelyn Brooks, associate professor of nursing, copublished "Reproducibility
of Heel Ultrasound Measurement in Prepubescent Children: Lack of Influence of
Ethnicity, Sex or Body Size"
in Journal of Ultrasound in
Medicine: Official Journal of
the American Institute of
Ultrasound in Medicine.
Dr. Cathy Lawson, associate professor and department
chair of economics, and
Joanne Katz, associate professor of legal studies, coauthored "Restorative Justice: An Alternative Approach
to Juvenile Crime" that will
be published in Journal of
Socio-Economics.
--STAFF REPORTS
Today’s college grads
are just hoping for a
chance at employment
Kristin Lackore
U-Wire
PEORIA, Ill. - As a kid, the question
'what do you want to be when you
grow up?' is an easy one.
Veterinarians, professional athletes
and ice skaters are all common
responses, often without knowing
what it takes to get that illustrious
job.
In college, the same question
becomes slightly more loaded. Instead
of just 'when you grow up,' it morphs
into 'when you graduate from that
obscenely expensive private university with a piece of paper that says you
didn't skip all of your classes all of the
time?'
Right now, many students would
settle for just being employed when
they grow up.
Increasingly, just having a bachelor's degree isn't enough to crack the
tough job market.
Jane Linnenburger, executive direc"It's never too early to look for
tor of the Smith Career Center said internships
or
experience,"
she keeps an eye on employment.
Linnenburger said.
"Students aren't receiving as many
Communication professor Cate
job offers or signing bonuses as in the Pfeifer is currently compiling a propast," Linnenburger said. "But right gram for the American Advertising
now it appears that opportunities are Federation on finding work after
increasing. We had 20 more employ- graduation.
ers than last year at the Spring Job
"To look for a job is to market yourFair."
self to companies,"
Certain skills are
Pfeifer said.
marketable across
Pfeifer
and
industries.
Linnenberger both
"Employers are
stress the imporlooking for leadertance of networking.
ship, technical, comEmployers are looking Building relationputer and communiships with profesfor leadership, techni - sional and social
cation
skills,"
Linnenburger said.
acquaintances
cal,computer and com - broadens the base
"They're going to
hire
candidates
when it comes to
munication skills.
with
experience
prospective
job
related to their
offers.
JANE LINNENBURGET
fields of study."
"Ask
around,"
D
IRECTOR OF CAREER CENTER
The need for expePfeifer suggested.
rience underscores
"Ask Grandma. You
the importance of
never know when
internships
and
Grandma's
next
summer jobs pertidoor neighbor will
nent to the student's major.Aside need someone. Monster.com won't get
from the experience, they help stu- it for you, but your network might."
dents expand their networks of potenA plethora of job listings is as near
tial employers.
as an Internet browser.Sites such as
“
”
CareerBuilder.com, Monster.com and
HotJobs.com make it easy to upload a
resume and to search jobs by keyword
and location.
Job seekers should also remember
that many organizations have job listings posted on their own Web sites.
A vital resource on campus is the
Smith Career Center.
"In last year's graduating class, 83
pecent of students worked with us at
some point," Linnenburger said."It's a
lively place. The staff is always busy,
but there are always some students
that never find their way there."
The SCC itself, coupled with its
extensive Web site and on-campus
programming, can be priceless to students of any age.
The building, located on the first
floor of Burgess Hall, houses the
career advisers for all of the colleges
as well as the Pardieck Memorial
Career Library. The advisers are
available by appointment for career
and internship counseling and assistance.
The library contains career
research materials as well as entrylevel job advertisements and descriptions. Other books and pamphlets
focus on career choices and the
process of organizing a job search.
More funding not a part of Bush’s plan
Stacy Waite
U-Wire
MADISON, Wis. - College freshmen
may borrow up to $375 more from federal student-loan programs under
President Bush's 2005 budget request
released Monday. However, Pell
Grants, Supplemental Educational
Opportunity Grants, Perkins Loans
and College Work-Study will remain
at 2004 levels.
Current first-year students may borrow $2,625 from the government,
while sophomores may borrow $3,500.
President Bush's budget allows firstyear students to borrow $375 more,
pushing the maximum amount to
$3,000. The total limit all students are
allowed to borrow from the federal
government will remain at $23,000.
Although the Pell Grant will remain
at $4,050 for the third consecutive year,
high-school seniors are eligible for an
additional $1,000 in Pell Grant aid for
their freshman year in college through
the State Scholars program. The program stipulates they are eligible for the
additional funds if they complete cer-
tain college preparatory classes during
their senior year of high school.
High school seniors can earn scholarships after three years of science
and mathematics, courses in foreign
language and four years of social studies and English. President Bush's
spending plan doles out $12 million to
boost states' interest in State Scholars
and to start their own branch of the
program. The State Scholars program
currently operates in 14 states.
Steve Van Ess, Director of the
University of Wisconsin Student
Financial Services, said the new
budget is a very modest improvement, if any, over last year's funding.
"Given costs have gone up at UWMadison, and everywhere else the
increase in freshman loans is beneficial,
but [the other levels] have been there a
long time and are inadequate," he said.
Van Ess is most concerned about
the Perkins Loan program. President
Bush's plan will not furnish any new
funding to the program, and Van Ess
is concerned about the elimination of
the program entirely. He said there
are two parts to the project; a fund
allocated to new students, and a
calendar of events
Tuesday, February 10
•GED testing will be held
from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. in the
Fred Eder Student Services
Classroom Building, room
208
Wednesday, February 11
• The Planetarium season is
in full swing. This week’s
show begins at 7:30 p.m. in
the Evan R. Agenstein
Science & Math Building,
room 105. "Hubble Vision"
will be the feature and the
cost is $3 per person. For
tickets, call (816) 271-4370
• The Computer Science,
Math & Physics Scholarship
Colloquium is taking place
at 3:30 p.m. in the Evan R.
Agenstein Science & Math
Building, room 109. The lecture will be given by Jeremy
Benson,
actuary
and
Western alumnus. It is free
and open to the community
• Western Women’s
Basketball at Pittsburg
State at 5:30 p.m.
• Western Men’s Basketball
at Pittsburg State at 7:30
p.m.
• The Team Advantage in
Long Term Care Facilities
seminar is scheduled from
8:45 a.m.-noon. The fee is
$60 ($39 if paid by Feb. 6).
Seminar topics will include
different kinds of teams,
responsibilities as a team
member and how to contribute to team develop -
revolving part that recycles funds
previously given out to students.
"UW-Madison has $62 million in its
revolving fund, and [the budget] hasn't
addressed what will become of that,"
he said.
Pell Grant levels were not
increased, but Van Ess said their
importance is often targeted unnecessarily, and he would rather see a general increase in student aid.
Perkins Loans are particularly
important, because "it's what we give
students in addition to Stafford
Loans."
Another hurdle UW faces is the issue
of redistribution of federal funding.
Van Ess said there are two parts to
redistribution -- base guarantees, and
a school's "fair share" based on demographics. Base-guarantee funds are
allocated to more-established schools,
and institutions that have been around
for a longer period of time are guaranteed a certain fund level. UW is considered an established school that reaps
base-guarantee funding. The "fair
share" redistribution allocates funds
based on demographics at a school, or
"wherever the students are," Van Ess
said. But Van Ess said UW would not
benefit from redistribution.
"Students change from year to year,
and UW is trying to draw in lowincome students," Van Ess said. "But
[UW] is not going to do that with less
money to give them."
The problem may not be limited to
UW, Van Ess said.
"Redistribution [would have] all sectors of all schools fighting like dogs to
come out on top," he said. "Increases
are more modest, and some schools
that have been around for a while are
guaranteed money," Van Ess said.
According to Van Ess, both UW
undergraduate and graduate students
borrow $100 million a year in Stafford
Loans. The federal agencies who lend
Stafford Loans currently have the
option to either collect or waive a 1 percent annual interest fee on students
who borrow money. The Great Lakes
Higher Education Corporation, who
handles UW Stafford Loans, currently
waives the 1 percent fee for students,
but Bush's plan will prohibit agencies
from waiving the fee and forces students to collectively pay the $1 million
in interest each year on Stafford Loans.
campus crime report
West Campus
4
ment. It is a noncredit
activity.
2
3
Thursday , February 12
• Conversational Spanish II
will be offered from 6:308:30 p.m. There are 10 sessions through April 22. It is
noncredit. The cost is $95
plus $10 for materials.
5
1
• The intramural
weightlifting game will be
held this evening. Participants must have registered
by Feb. 3 to compete.
100 ft.
Friday , February 13
• The production of The
Vagina Monologues will be
held at 7 p.m. in the Leah
Spratt Multipurpose
Classroom Building,
Kemper Recital Hall.
1.
• The Kansas University
Brass Ensemble will be on
campus at noon in the Leah
Spratt Multipurpose
Classroom Building,
Kemper Recital Hall.
2.
• The Kansas City District
Honor Band will be on campus at 2 p.m. in the Nelle
Blum Student Union, room
218.
3.
Saturday , February 14
• Western Women’s
Basketball at MissouriRolla at 1:30 p.m.
• The Men’s Basketball
team at Missouri-Rolla at
3:30 p.m.
Fire Alarm
January 28, 2004, Learning Resources Center
An officer was called to the Hearnes Learning Resource Center for a fire alarm. The alarm was sounding in room
138. There was no sign of smoke or heat. The alarm was reset and the custodian was advised to report any further alarms.
Traffic Accident
January 28, 2004, MWSC Campus Parking Lot H
Campus Safety was called out to Parking Lot H following a fender-bender. Two cars were involved. One had
collided with the other while trying to back out of a space. The second car involved was driving by and was
unable to stop due to the ice.
Larceny
January 27, 2004, Vaselakos Hall
A male student contacted Campus Safety to report that a female student had stolen his keys from his room in
Vaselakos Hall. The accused was questioned and she stated that she didn’t know what she did with the keys.
A search was performed, but the keys were not found. Their replacement value is $170.
4.
Burglary
January 27, 2004, Juda Hall
Afemale student returned from class to find her things moved around and $26 dollars missing. She telephoned
Campus Safety. The officer called to her room in Juda Hall took a description of two suspects from her roommates.
5.
Found Item
January 27, 2004, Fred Eder Student Services / Classroom Building
A custodian in the Fred Eder Student Services / Classroom Building found a textbook and notebook. He turned
these items over to a Campus Safety officer who was making deliveries in the building.
tuesday, february 10, 2004 • page 4
Two residence hall directors added
New residence hall
directors are welcomed
by housing staff
Nick Draper
News Editor
The department of housing and residential life has hired two new residence hall directors after going nearly all last semester with only one.
Lindsay Hayden and Bobbie
Delaney were hired over the winter
break and started work on Jan. 12.
Hayden will be working with
Beshears and Juda Halls while
Delaney will be supervising Logan
Hall, as well as working with a variety of special projects. According to
John Comerford, director of housing
and residential life, two qualified
people have been hired who are used
to working in the residential life situation.
Hayden is no stranger when it comes
to working with college students, even
though this is her first job.
“This is my first professional job
working with college students,”
Hayden said. “I was an RA [residential assistant] for three years in col-
lege though.”
service to the residential students.
Delaney has even more experience
“Even though I think that last
dealing with the workings of resi- semester ran pretty smoothly, I
dential life.
think Bobbi [Delaney] and Lindsay
“While in under[Hayden] will make it
graduate [school] I
run that much more
was an RA for two
smoothly,”
said
and a half years,”
Whitney Cook, resiDelaney said. “I was
dential assistant in
a hall director for one
Juda Hall.
and a half years
Goetz shared the
The addition of two same
at
Iowa
State
feelings.
University.”
“Things
that the
hall directors has lift From all perspecresidents ask for will
tives, especially from ed the the load on all get done in a timely
the current RA’s point
manner,” Goetz said.
the professional staff “The
of view, the addition
addition of two
of both Delaney and
hall
directors
has liftin housing.
Hayden is more than
ed the load on all the
NICOLE GOETZ professional staff in
welcomed.
RA IN JUDA HALL housing.”
“I am so glad that
we have a full staff
Having active resinow,” said Nicole
dence hall directors is
Goetz,
residential
essential when proassistant in Juda Hall.
viding service to the
“Before, everything was hard to han- resident community.
dle and deal with. There were times
“RHD’s are vital to providing qualthat many of us [RA’s] had no idea ity customer service to students
what was going on. Now that we have while working to help them develop
a hall director again, it makes life so personally,” said Kristi Schulte,
much better and less stressful.”
assistant director of housing and resCurrent RA’s also agree that this idential life.
semester will be better when comDelaney believes there are several
pared to last semester in terms of reasons while having an involved
continued from front:
Beshears
weapon on campus.
By 6:30 a.m., Eckhoff made a full report of
the incident to both Kelley and campus
security Sgt. John McGaughy.
Since that report, the case has stopped
cold in its tracks with no new evidence
reported at this time. It remains classified
by our campus safety department as
“unfounded” as opposed to active or closed,
meaning there are too many unanswered
questions and too little information to move
forward. No suspects or victims are known
as of this publication. The evidence collected
was placed into an evidence locker for safekeeping.
Whether or not the shooting took place
here or elsewhere, and whether or not the
evidence taken was actually blood remains
to be seen.
Anyone with information should contact
Connors with the St. Joseph Police
Department at (816) 271-4774 or Kelley
with campus security at (816) 271- 5600.
“
”
NICK DRAPER/News Editor
Bobbi Delaney is seen here working in her office in Logan Hall. She is the new
residence hall director in charge of Logan.
RHD is significant.
“If a hall director is an active
part of the community, the students and the staff members will
see that and will respect the RHD
for that,” Delaney said. “I also
think it is important for an RHD to
be active with the RA/LA [learning
assistant] staff and give them support.”
Accordint to Comerford, residence
hall directors have a variety of jobs
that include handling all student
room assignments, providing programming in the halls and handling
student concerns.
Rosenauer receives CMA distinction
Rikki Cason
News Writer
The College Media Advisors have invited distinguished teachers of journalism to join the
John A. Boyd Hall of Fame.
This year Ken Rosenauer,
associate
professor
and
department chair of English
and journalism, was honored.
The
College
Media
Advisors John A. Boyd Hall
of Fame award was created
in 1994 and has been given
to past educators for their
contributions to the jour-Ken Rosenauer
nalism field. This award is
Western professor
not given out every year
honored by CMA
and was last received in
2001.
In order to receive this honor, educators
must have contributed to journalism education for 20 or more years and be an active
member of the College Media A d v i s o r s .
Awardees must have actively contributed to
the organization by varied committees and
held leadership roles.
“When I found out about the award last
spring, it was the exclamation point of my
career,” Rosenaur said. “It was the culmination
of 25 years of work in student publications and
it doesn’t get much better than that.”
Ken Rosenauer has been a professor at
Missouri Western for 25 years and has been a
member of the CMA during that time. While
teaching here, Rosenauer has been the faculty
sponsor for The Griffon News for 14 years and
We s t e r n ’s yearbook, The Griffon, for four
years. He also helped coordinate site critiques
and edit the newsletter for six years at the
CMA.
One of his biggest contributions there was in
1997 when he became editor and organized the
CMA’s quarterly journal. However, Rosenauer
recently stepped down from that position.
“I stepped down due to being too busy,”
Roasenaur said. “I had to clear more time to
write a text book.”
“Ken Rosenauer has always been an
instrumental part of CMA,” said We s t e r n
journalism professor Ann Thorne. “He
changed the way it was viewed, got it back
on track and made it successful. He encouraged others to support it and support its
goals.”
Thorne was the presenter for Rosenauer when
he received his award. This year, two awards
were given. The other was awarded to Laura
Widmer, a journalism teacher and newspaper/
yearbook advisor from Northwest Missouri
State University.
Both Widmer and Rosenauer made up number 18 and 19 of the Hall of Fame.
“This is something not everyone gets,”
Rosenaur said. “There are over 700 members,
and it’s quite a distinction.”
Rosenauer was on sabatical last semester, but
he returned this semester and has resumed his
previous teaching duties.
tuesday, february 10, 2004 • page 5
continued from front:
Blevins
According to Gatewood, police pursued Nash
and four others in a vehicle identified by witnesses at the party before they were stopped at
the intersection of St. Joseph Avenue and
Interstate 229. All five were arrested at gunpoint.
The four men with Nash – Dewayne
Robinson, 20, Djuan Morrison, 19, Nathan
Taylor, 18, and Dominick Bentley, 19 – were
charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. Gatewood
could not comment on the amount or the
nature of the controlled substance.
Police had encountered Blevins in the past
during other parties he had thrown. According
to Wilson, Blevins had rented the VFW hall six
to 10 times and Wilson knew of occasions
where Blevins rented out the American Legion
Hall.
On Friday Jan. 23, Blevins rented out
Southside Hall located at 302 Illinois in St.
Joseph to host a party, according to one of the
hall’s managers. Police found out about the
party through fliers and, according to Connors,
suspected underage drinking would take place.
When police arrived, they handed out 15
citations for minors in possession and being underage on the night of the shooting.
arrested two individuals for indecent expo“We don’t know (how many underage
sure.
drinkers were there that
Connors also said that
night)” Connors said.
members
of
Liquor
“Because we didn’t know
Control
talked
with
about the party, we didBlevins that night at
n’t have anybody workSouthside
Hall
and The difficult thing is it is hard ing there. The difficult
warned him that he was
thing is it is hard to con“walking a thin line of
trol these sorts of (parto control these sorts of
legality.”
ties), and that is why
According to Wilson, it (parties), and that is why those those (parties) can be so
is the policy of the VFW
dangerous.”
to not allow persons (parties), can be so dangerous.
Despite the presence of
under the age of 21 to
minors on this particular
CMDR. JIM CONNORS
attend the type of party
occasion at the VFW,
S
T. J OSEPH POLICE DEPARTMENT
held by Blevins that
Wilson said that Blevins’
night. The VFW supplied
parties had never resultthe bartender and one
ed in property damage or
security
guard,
but
legal issues. Wilson
Blevins had his own
maintains that Blevins
security guards working
was very responsible
the door to keep minors out of the establish- when he hosted parties at the VFW.
ment.
“Cory was a very fine gentleman,” Wilson
Connors said that police knew that all five said. “Cory was a heck of nice guy. If he could
suspects were present inside the VFW despite stop anything, he would have. I wouldn’t
“
”
give Cory a bad name, because he didn’t
have that coming to him. He’s not that type
of person.”
Wilson added that no physical altercations or
damage to the property had ever occurred at
Blevins’ parties.
Gatewood echoed Wilson’s sentiments.
“Anything associated with Blevins has
always been cooperative with the police,”
Gatewood said. “It’s just that once the crowd
gets too large, it’s hard for even the police to
handle.”
Blevins was actively involved in Campus
Activities Board at Western and, according to
Chad Elifrits, coordinator of the Center for
Student Activities, Blevins was a nice and
honest person.
“With Cory being such an involved student
and working with him so much, he isn’t just a
student; he is a friend,” Elifrits said. “We are
all very concerned about him.”
Gatewood said that the St. Joseph Police
Department is actively investigating this incident and would encourage anyone with information to contact the police department or
Gatewood directly at 271-4791.
Western librarian ready to leave for Iraq
Lindsay Tremayne
News Editor
There are some things you just don’t talk about in mixed company. Politics and religion are a good example, and especially
when in a season of war.
Regardless of one’s opinion on the situation in Iraq, there is
one thing everyone can agree on. Despite one’s political leanings, supporting the troops is a given. When someone you
know has to go, you want nothing more than their safe return
(and maybe some cool souvenirs from downtown Baghdad).
Recently, Missouri Western had to say goodbye to one of its
own. Electronic resources librarian Darrin Daugherty has been
activated.
Daugherty has been with the college for over six years, working in the library and pulling double-duty as a captain in the
Kansas Army National Guard.
As a member of the Second Battalion 130th Field Artillery
Division, Capt. Daugherty was called into active service in
mid-December. That particular division has quite a lengthy
history, dating back to the American Civil War. They have
also sent troops into both World Wars as well as Korea.
As a commanding officer, Daugherty will be in charge of college-aged soldiers. For security, information about the location
of his unit is not available.
Julia Schneider, library director, said that while he is
absent, his position will be temporarily filled by an interlibrary loan technician, as well as by others in the reference
area who will help pick up the slack of maintaining the electronic resources of the library..But Daugherty stressed the
temporary aspect of these appointments
Daughtery’s duties included maintaining portions of the website, networking on-line databases and other technical jobs.
Daugherty will be returning to the job after serving his
country in Iraq which, according to Army National Guard
representative Cherie Herlinger, could be up to one year or
even longer.
Having left Fort Riley, Kan., for Iraq in January, Capt.
Daugherty will most likely not be back until next spring or
later. Until then Julia Schneider says that they will try to send
a care package to Daugherty when they get word from him.
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tuesday, february 10, 2004 •page 6
Web
dating a
tough
sell
By ROSS MARTIN
I’ve figured out that being a single guy
is absolutely no fun. The ratio just doesn’t work in a guy’s favor.
Trying three different online dating
services has only confirmed what I
already knew. Like prehistoric man,
today’s online dating man must be the
hunter — never the hunted.
I went into the internet jungle of singles with an open mind. For the sake of
journalism, I would’ve even gone out on
a date if the
opportunity
had arisen,
but I was
also looking
for friends or
just someone
to talk to.
But for the
most part,
this hunter
was picking
off the weak
links in the
herd.
Over the
course of a
month and a half, I received way less
than half of the responses than my counterpart did. Granted, I’m no Colin
Farrell, but the results were less than
encouraging.
If I took the time to write the first
awkward e-mail, I would usually at least
get a response, but most of the time I
found that even that didn’t work.
I’d get one e-mail back from them that
did absolutely nothing to promote an
intelligent conversation, and I wouldn’t
have anything to send back to them. It
was like playing Hi-Ho Cherry-O by
yourself. At first, it was entertaining,
but I quickly realized there was no
point.
I found a plethora of attractive females
on all three sites (personals.yahoo.com,
www.americansingles.com and
www.okayamigo.com), but I guess I’m
more like ground chuck surrounded by
the K.C. strips.
The ones who actually tried to initiate
conversation tended to lack some of the
basic things needed for a relationship. I
got a couple of baby mamas living in
other states not bordering Missouri (i.e.
Ohio and Pennsylvania). I also found my
own personal Mrs. Robinson on
Americansingles — some 30-year-old in
Ohio looking for a young buck. Others
just weren’t my type physically (not to
be arrogant, but we all have our own
taste in the opposite sex).
The positives were always there: the
chance to meet an attractive girl that
lives near you that you could possibly
start a relationship with — either
romantic or friendly. I just found it
exceedingly difficult.
If you didn’t have that certain look the
person was after, you didn’t get the time
of day. The world of internet dating is all
about looks and superficial judgements
of the person you see. You’d better make
sure you have a style or look that can
impress through a picture, or you’re
going to find yourself wasting $19.95 per
month on americansingles.com or $24.95
a month on Yahoo.
The positive side of okayamigo is that
right now, the service is free to the public while the operators are in Beta
Testing — a service that gives you full
access until the test period is over. This
means you don’t have to pay to send emails or chat which is very convenient,
not to mention dirt cheap.
The one problem with that site is
because it is relatively new (it’s only
been up since October), there is a very
limited amount of people signed up for
the service. I can only find six girls
between the ages of 18-23 within 50
miles of St. Joseph.
That’s a problem.
There are definitely some very cool
people that are fun to talk to — I’ve
found two that I’ve been talking to for a
couple of weeks. But it seems that most
are located hella far away, and no one
seems to want a relationship, just
friends.
So instead of finding a date for Friday
night, it looks like I’ll be talking to my
newly found friends from Texas and
British Columbia. At least I’m not out
the $25 to talk to no one.
For
Online
test
altered
my view
love
By MELISSA WADDELL
type:
Many options for people seeking computer matchmaking
Melissa Waddell
Assistant Editor
When taking the initiative to go online and
try one of those online dating services, it is a
good idea to have an inkling of what you are
getting yourself into.
There are many out there that cater to all
types of people and what they are looking for.
R e c e n t l y, www.americansingles.com has
gained popularity. The site started up in 1998
and is owned by a company created by Joe
Shapira and Alon Carmel called MatchNet,
which also owns nine other dating services,
one of them being
c o l l e g e l u v. c o m .
While they have
foregone reaching
people through TV
commercials, they
are one of the
thousands of popups that come
onto the screen
every time you log
on to the internet.
This singles network is pretty different from the others because
it has a lot of different options. You start out
like the others, filling out your profile for free ,
and you have the option of downloading up to
four pictures that everyone can view.
For free, you are also able to send teases to
other people on the network, reply to instant
messages online, and receive invitations to
exclusive events and travel adventures. On this
site you can also see who has been viewing you,
which can be helpful.
They also offer different services that you can
pay for. In order to e-mail others, you have to
pay around $25 per month, or you can pay in
bulk: $59.95 for three months, $99.95 for six-
months or $199.95 for a year. They also have
the option of having a guaranteed monthly
renewal rate. The price goes down to $19.99 for
the three-month option, $17.50 for six months
and $16.50 for one year.
The site has been featured on talk shows such
as Rikki Lake and magazines such as Business
2.0, Good Housekeeping and Men’s Health.
Then there is yahoo.com. This site offers the
match e-mails and teasers that you can send
people for free. You also get a free profile and
the option of posting a couple of pictures without paying. Like the others,
in order to e-mail
you have to pay a
monthly
fee
of
$19.95.
One of the sites
that is free right
now
is
okayamigo.com.
This site is a spinoff from LiquidGeneration.com and is mainly
geared to the younger generation. Again, you
have the profile to fill out and the picture
option, but the profile also serves as a questionnaire to categorize each person as an
angel, devil or in between, wherever you happen to fall.
The profile includes questions that center
around sex and the nitty-gritty of human
nature, e.g. bodily excretions and borderline
morbid sexual fantasies.
In a nutshell, there is something out
there for everyone, depending on if you are
willing to jump in the online dating bandwagon.
Internet dating can really work
Melissa Waddell
Assistant Editor
Opinions on internet dating can vary from
feeling like it’s one of the greatest things in the
world to believing that it is the last ditch effort
by those who have nowhere else to turn.
The stereotype of the poor and pathetic has
been the one to ring out the loudest among all
the others.
“I feel it is a little desperate and a little sad,”
Western sophomore Amy Tinker said. “If you
are not outgoing enough to meet people, that
reflects on your personality.”
And while Tinker’s opinion may be shared by
many, there is an ever-growing mass of people
who see this as a positive thing, and a tool that
may even yield a future spouse.
For instance, Western senior Brenda Dale
met her husband, Mike, online. They met after
she had been using the ICQ messaging client
for about a year and a half when she was
about 18 years old. The process started in
March of 1999 and then they began speaking
on the phone in May of 1999, meeting each
other in person in June. Although Dale was
living in Texas at the time, Mike lived in
Missouri.
“After we met in person, we decided we really did have something going,” Dale said. “After
he had flown down to Texas to meet me and my
family, about a month later I flew to Missouri to
do the same.”
After the initial meeting, Mike moved down
to Texas to be with Dale, but in June of 2000
they moved to Missouri to be closer to his family, and they were married in 2001.
Even with her positive outlook on this form of
meeting people and her success story, Dale still
gives warning that caution should be taken
with online dating.
“I would say that internet dating should be
treated very carefully, just as one would treat a
personal ad,” Dale said. “When you answer a
personal, there is no way to be sure if the person that placed the ad has put the truth in
there. Online, it is much the same.”
Regardless, she would still recommend online
dating to anyone.
“If both people are truthful, then it is a great
way to ‘meet’ someone, because online you really meet them from the inside out,” Dale said.
“You judge the person inside before you judge
the person outside.”
There are also instances where people use
online services just to try to expand their immediate social circle.
“I think it is a cool way to meet people around
your area that you normally wouldn’t meet,”
Western sophomore Drew Horne said. “It is easier to start conversations with people that you
don’t know when it is online.”
There are others that would certainly agree
with Dale and Horne. St. Joseph resident
Brent Wasko, 24, met his current girlfriend
Renee Parker, also a St. Joseph resident,
through the online dating service americansingles.com.
Wasko was aware of the stigma that surrounds online dating, but felt he had nothing to
lose after breaking up with his girlfriend of two
and a half years.
“My roommate’s sister had some good experiences online,” Wasko said. “When I broke up
with my girlfriend, he thought it would be a
good idea that I do that to get my name out
there.”
Taking the first step paid off for Wasko. He
put his profile on two sites and ended up paying
See Success Stories page 8
After about a month and a half of
researching internet dating, I have come
to one conclusion… it is just a bunch of
people reaching out for a soul to squeeze,
friend or otherwise.
I went into this thing with the view
that internet dating was the last ditch
effort of people who couldn’t seem to
hack it in the real world.
However, I was pleasantly surprised
when I realized that this situation is one
of the best
examples of
the real
world.
There are
so many different types
of people on
these sites
that there is
every aspect
of human
nature displayed before
you. But one
thing I
noticed was
that the
types of people also varied greatly,
depending on the site that you visit.
I decided to go balls out and try three
sites, so I went to the ones with the
free profile: www.Americansingles.com,
yahoo.personals.com, and okayamigo.com.
On americansingles.com, I noticed a lot
more people who were searching for something more tangible. They are really out
there trying to find someone to date and
marry, which I thought was kind of
strange, but I guess it makes sense.
The person already knows what they
are in for when they respond to your email or e-mail you themselves. I also
noticed that though there were people of
many ages, I got a lot of e-mails from
people who were a little older.
There also seemed to be a correlation
with age and bitterness, which is
extremely stereotypical of me to say. But
the older they were, the more bitter their
message was, and that kind of verified
my initial reaction to these Web sites. I
am not going to lie to you, it wasn’t the
most attractive thing in the world.
Then there was the site that I visited
that seemed more middle of the road. At
yahoo.com the ages and desires of the participants went from the extreme need to
find a relationship (and I mean NOW) to
just looking for new people to party with.
The best thing about this site is you
could respond to icebreakers for free.
That way the guys could e-mail me their
normal address and I didn’t have to pay.
Which is much better than forking over
the $19.95. Although, some were pretty
slow on the uptake, and I had to respond
three times before they got the hint.
On this one, I noticed that there were a
lot of people from this area. There were
even a few that went to Missouri Western.
Of course, I saved the best for last,
okayamigo.com. Not only is it free as of
right now because of beta-testing, but there
are quite a few awesome people logged on.
There were quite a few from other countries and a hella lot of people from Canada,
which I haven’t quite figured out.
Depending on what you are looking for,
this could be a bad thing, but I saw it as an
advantage. Talking to people from all over
the world is definitely cool. I don’t know if I
could work up the gall to actually meet a
person I had been emailing face to face.
I mean, when you have profiles that
ask you questions like, “what would you
do with a dog, a jar of peanut butter and
a lawn mower,” you know that you are in
for a good time, or at least a laugh or two.
I would have to say this site was my
favorite. Because I wasn’t really looking
for anything, the sarcastic, laid-back
attitude of the site was refreshing. It
was fun to read the profiles and the
funny stuff people could come up with.
I even happen to know that guys would
enjoy this site also. My counterpart highly
enjoyed the T&A that some girls displayed. Boobs and booty everywhere. I
especially got a kick out of a girl that emailed him, saying that she was an 18year-old Sunday school teacher, but had a
picture on her profile that focused directly
on the size of her breasts in a tight shirt,
that convienently cut off her neck and
face. Which were huge by the way, I could
have used one cup of her bra as a yamika,
maybe even a beanie, it’s touch and go.
tuesday, february 10, 2004 • page 7
Kiss and Tell
Morgan Perry
Lifestyles Editor
A kiss is something you cannot give
without taking and cannot take without giving.
-AnonymousYou may conquer with the sword, but
you are conquered by a kiss.
-Daniel Heinsius
The decision to kiss for the first time
is the most crucial in any love story.
It changes the relationship of two
people much more strongly than even
the final surrender; because this kiss
already has within it that surrender.
-Emil Ludwig
That farewell kiss which resembles
greeting, that last glance of love which
becomes the sharpest pang of sorrow.
-George Eliot [Mary Ann Evans]
The moment eternal - just that and no
more - when ecstasy’s utmost we
clutch at the core. While cheeks burn,
arms open, eyes shut and lips meet!
-Robert Browning
There is the kiss of welcome and
of parting, the long, lingering, loving,
present one; the stolen, or the mutual
one; the kiss of love, of joy, and of
sorrow; the seal of promise and
receipt of fulfillment.
-Thomas C. Haliburotn
The sunlight claps the earth. And the
moonbeams kiss the sea: What are all
these kissings worth. If thou
kiss not me?
-Percy Bysshe Shelley
...then I did the simplest thing in the
world. I leaned down... and kissed
him. And the world cracked open.
-Agnes de Mille
Last week during a conference with one of my professors I was asked, “Do
you have a sweetheart for Valentines Day?”
Taken quite off-guard, I answered, “No, but hey, I’ve got a lot of work.”
After I left the office, the Ghost of Valentine’s Past came to visit me,
bringing with it the memory of kisses.
O
ver the years, I
have kissed GDI’s,
frat boys, actors,
younger men, older
men, gay guys and straight
guys aplenty, but it all started
with the tutelage offered by
the World Wide Web. That’s
right. Like any other hard-core
nerd, I had to look it up.
Everyone’s first kiss is a special time of life, including
imaginary music and prepubescent youth
pressed
against vinyl upholstery.
Sadly, yet characteristically
enough, mine happened to
come many years after the
national average.
At 21 years old when I first
came to Western, I still had
not enjoyed the fruits of any
labor including the opposite
sex. After only three days on
campus and one audition, I
discovered I was going to be
cast as a morally loose waitress with a pension for Picasso
and one hell of a kissing scene.
Unfortunately, not only was I
cast opposite of a man just as
afraid of me as I was of him,
but I also had absolutely no
experience in the field.
After days of freaking out
and overdosing on breath
mints, I finally realized I was
just going to have to ask how
to get the job done. Being the
connoisseur of humiliation
that I am, I confessed my ignorance and began my study of
the art of stage kissing.
At 50 feet away, a couple of
head tilts and a sweep of the
hand can create the stirring
illusion of a passionate kiss. I
was safe...for a while. But a
little over a year later, I took
on a role that required a complex choreography of emotions
manifesting themselves in
kisses and only two feet away
from the audience. The close
proximity demanded actual
physical contact and left no
room for acting tricks.
The director suggested
intoxication and low-cut blouses at parties, but that would
just end in not remembering
the lesson. My best friend
thought watching romantic
comedies and porn would help,
but my best friend was a guy
that owned framed Hustler
posters. Eventually, it even got
around to my grandmother.
She took me aside and in that
sympathetic grandma tone
said, “Oh honey, just put on
some makeup and find a nice
boy to practice on.”
So after that insightful
advice, I decided to ask Jeeves.
He sent me to one of the many
Web sites available to Americans in need of catching up.
Virtual Kiss offers 18 different kissing-related sections in
addition to the kissing school
that will take a novice to new
heights. The step-by-step program has directions on using
the physical parts involved
and the psychological aspects
like mindset and feedback.
The drawback to seeking
instruction is the tendency to
judge the quality of the kisses
you engage in. Kissing is like
social dancing. Some partners
are better than others and
someone is always trying to
lead. A jackhammering tongue
move or yanking of the hair
could be taboo to a dance partner that learned by the book.
Personal flair is often unattractive to a conservative liplocking cohort. Such moves
should be introduced slowly.
Whether you are looking forward to your first kiss, preparing for a special one or just
wanting to sharpen your
game, it’s always a good idea
to get instruction.
I was afraid I couldn’t make
my scene look realistic. I wanted the audience to be pulled
into the emotion of the characters, not just their favorite
romantic comedy. At the
Friday performance, I finally
got the reassurance I was
searching for. During the climax of the scene, as the two
characters face each other for
the first time and magnetically collide into a kiss, I heard a
voice that sounded suspiciously like my Grandma gasp and
then say, “Oh, that’s hot. Close
your eyes Beth.”
7 habits of
highly effective
kissers
#1 - The Golden Rule always applies.
Keep your lips at the same level of softness that you would want your kissing
accomplice to. Crusty pizza is good,
crusty lips are bad.
#2 - There is a time and a place for
everything, even jumping someone.
Intermingle soft kisses with passionate
kisses to keep your partner guessing.
#3 - No one likes the taste of gel and
hairspray. Keep your coif under control or learn to use it to your advantage. If your ponytail does go array
don’t freak out when he chokes.
Laugh! That’s funny.
#4 - Tongues are a privilege that is
sometimes abused. Proceed with caution and suspend your inner sheepdog.
#5 - Breath is just as important as
mood. If one has beer breath, you had
better make sure you both do. Warm
breath on skin can be very stimulating.
#6 - Know your market. Pay enough
attention to the person that you want to
kiss that you already have an idea of
what will make their mouth water. No
pun intended.
#7 - Talking is a good thing. Random
thoughts can cause laughter at any
moment--why not share? By keeping
the verbal communication open, both
participants can then guide each other
to a most enjoyable experience.
Pick-up lines for fellas with absolutely no game
10
Come back to
my house and I
got a leftover
piece of chicken
for you.
7
Damn, you’re
at least a
12-pack.
Sure, I have
standards, but
I never turn
down a fattie.
9
8
6
5
4
Here drink this.
Your name must be
Campbell, because you’re
mmm, mmm good.
Nice shoes.
Want to fornicate?
3
I respect what
you’re saying, but
you’re making it
really hard to get
your bra undone.
Pancakes or waffles?
Just let me know before
tomorrow morning.
What do you
say? You plus
me minus the
clothes. We’ll
see what adds
up.
2
1
What?!? I don’t
see anyone else
talking to you.
tuesday, february 10, 2004 • page 8
Just FYI: Helpful information for you
Nothing to do on V-Day?
Maybe this will help out
the lonely students.
What’s the date? Has it really been
a year? Please God, no.
If you’re single, maybe that was
your first thought when you realized
that
National
Hallmark
Appreciation Day, uh…I mean
Valentine’s Day, was again upon us.
I asked one single gal pal, who
shall remain anonymous, how she
spends V-day?
“When I’m single on Valentine’s
Day, I like to get dressed up, see or
play or something like that, maybe
have a nice meal…and then go get
tanked.”
If your solution sounds something
like that, as I know mine has, you
might as well have all the info on
how to do it best.
Starting your single affirmation/
sorrow-drowning (whatever you
choose to call it) by taking in the theatrical stylings of the very popular
“Vagina Monologues” which will be
shown right here on our very campus
at 7 p.m.
Then follow it up with a classy dinner spot. I’m not a native, so I asked
around. Two names for fine dining
were mentioned over and over again
as having the best grub in all of St.
andieschmitt
Joe. The first was Boudreaux’s
Louisiana Seafood and Steaks, and
the other was 36th Street restaurant.
After telephoning both popular
eateries, I had little good news. After
explaining that, dammit not every-
one has a special someone on V-day,
and that I was looking for the establishment that could cater to that
audience. Manager Jake Hendricks
of Boudreaux’s replied, “Well, we’re
going to be pretty booked with cou ples.” He added gleefully, “I bet we’d
be able to squeeze a few in at the
back bar though.”
That’s right Jake. Hide us in the
back, so none of your couples have to
lay eyes on the singles. Although I
suppose we could skip right to step
three with an offer like “back bar”
and just get tanked.
I explained the same scenario to
Scott, manager at 36 th Street
restaurant. He took a minute before
continued from page 6:
Success Stories
agina Monologues coming
to Western this weekend
John Grogan and Morgan Perry
Lifestyles Writers
“If your vagina got dressed, what
would it wear?”
Dr. Stacia Bensyl answered,
“Scuba gear, I’m thinking flippers.”
At a conservative school where
only two members of the administration (deans, vice presidents and
president) are female, it could
be considered risky to take on a
show that uses a socially taboo
word like vagina.
This Friday and Saturday,
Western will be holding its first-ever
performance of Eve Ensler’s play,
The Vagina Monologues. This year it
is estimated that over 2,000 productions will be shown in over 1,000
locations around the world.
Ensler has claimed February 14th
as standing for “Victory, Valentine
and Vagina” in an effort to main-
stream terms so the vagina will not
be seen as a “dirty” or “bad” word.
Director and Missouri Western
student Lauren Spencer got the idea
to hold a performance here at
Western after participating in a similar V-Day event at Truman State
University last year.
She felt
Western didn’t
have
enough
activism, and this would be a
good project to get involved in.
The Vagina Monologues in
essence is a celebration of womanhood. It involves women
speaking about sexuality, struggle and perseverance. Spencer said,
“Come prepared to hear a lot of stories that will affect you.”
The monologues concentrate on
telling the story. This means you can
find your mother’s, sister’s, girlfriend’s, wife’s and daughter’s sense
of humor in these women and their
experiences.
Western professor Dr. Stacia
Bensyl will be making her acting
debut in The Vagina Monologues.
She thought it was important have a
faculty presence, especially because
of the philanthropic aspect.
Western’s Center for Multicultural
Education assisted in sponsoring
this event. Karl Bell, the department’s director, strongly supported
bringing The Vagina Monologues to
Western. The C.M.E. will be hosting
a week of activities in late March,
including a panel discussion, poetry
reading and celebratory festivities.
With Western ever approaching
the elusive university status, learning opportunities such as The Vagina
Monologues help to prove that this
campus is just as progressive as our
peers in higher education are.
Truman State University sponsors a
showing each year through their
women’s resource center.
replying, “Well, we are having a
great couples-only menu.”
Poor guy. I don’t think I even
scratched the surface, unless he’s
implying I bring my cat, that is.
But hey, who are we trying to kid.
A nice meal to your average Joe and
Jane College is probably Top Ramen
followed by a Pop Tart (strawberryflavored in honor of the birth of
Cupid). So yes, let’s collectively skip
step two.
I think a play with the word “vagina” in it and a little bar fun are in
order this V-day.
The Vagina Monologues will be
held on Friday and Saturday in
MC101 at 7 p.m. Admission is $3
at the door for both students and
the public. The proceeds generated by the performance will go to
The Window, a local women’s shelter that assists unmarried mothers.
for americansingles.com after making contact with Parker.
“It didn’t take very long,” Wasko
said. “It ended up being a week and
a half. There was one night where I
randomly e-mailed some girls, and
she was one of the ones to respond.
We talked for awhile and I proposed
we either meet in person or talk on
the phone. She ended up giving me
her number, so one night I blindly
called her, and we had a three-anda-half-hour conversation.”
These kinds of success stories have
led to the release of the bad connotations that have a tendency to go
along with online dating. Although
there are people who are prodigious
on these sites, there are also many
that are just looking for the right
person and prefer the shortcut that
only the World Wide Web could
afford them.
“I think that these sites are really
a wonderful way to connect with people,” Dale said. “The sites bring a
different avenue to love and
romance. It has now gotten to when
someone has an online love, no one
laughs.”
tuesday, february 10, 2004 • page 9
Computer center
offering help desk
Additional office hours
also added to help students,
faculty with problems
Lindsay Tremayne
Co-News Editor
A new service is being offered to Missouri
Western computer users.
Western’s computer center has added a
new help desk in response to the increase
in classes that are dependent on web-based
technology such as WebCT.
Computer center microcomputer technician, Bill McCarthy, recognized the need
for the new service.
“We are seeing an increased demand for
support for faculty and students on all
fronts,” McCarthy said.
The new help desk will be manned by
current staff technicians. McCarthy said it
is important to have professionals available at the help desk.
“It is not just a person reading a how-to
screen step by step,” McCarthy said.
“This is so important to problem resolution and timely solutions that both
enhance the end user’s experience and
productivity.”
Goals of the new help desk are to
provide a single point of contact for
I T-related
problems,
successfully
resolve all relevant and reported
problems in a timely and professional
m a n n e r, to help all Western employees
use technology to the fullest extent possible through end-user training and to
maintain the level of technical proficiency and expertise needed to resolve
the majority of employees’ t e c h n o l o g i c a l
network problems.
In addition to the help desk, the computer center has extended office hours: 7 a.m.
-7 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 7 a.m. -4:30
p.m. Friday; and 9 a.m.-noon Saturday.
The computer center has been very busy
lately, adding many different features to
Western’s computer system.
It has installed over 200 new computers since the summer and has also
undergone a comprehensive upgrade to
the administration software during the
fall semester.
Western also fought a rash of viruses
over the summer and music piracy investigations during the early parts of last
semester.
All questions can be reported to the help
desk at 4354 or the new extension 4555.
E-mail requests can be sent to
service@mwsc.edu or help@mwsc.edu.
THE WAIT IS ON
Students pack the business office windows on Tuesday Jan. 27, the first official day to pick up
student loan and reimbursement checks. The lines stretched all the way down the hall at some
points, and the next two day also featured long waits for those trying to get the checks.
(Photo by Jayna Shirley -- Staff Photographer)
continued from front:
Weather Problems
budget cuts, this causes many procedures to
take longer and can result in many areas that
aren’t as clean as the physical plant would
prefer.
According to Chad Elifrits, coordinator for
student activities, approximately 80% of the
student body live off campus. With so many
students commuting, inclimate weather poses
an increased risk and threatens students with
more trouble in getting to class. But even if the
highways are clear, that doesn’t mean that the
St. Joseph streets are clean.
“They need to take into consideration that a
wide majority of students are commuters and
nontrads who have kids,” Western student
Cathy Mahoney said. “ They also need to look
at the weather conditions in surrounding
areas because it’s crazy sometimes trying to
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drive in.”
Also many students can trudge uphill with
a foot of snow, but walking from the PE
building to the Student Union with a negative wind chill is different. Children waiting
for a school bus shouldn’t be the only ones
considered here.
Even though most students are adults, it’s
not like a job or high school where you sit all
day in one place, most students have to switch
buildings at least two times a day, and walk to
their dorm, or cars.
Missouri Western is a higher learning facility, so it shouldn’t close for the millions of reasons public schools do. But certain circumstances should be taken into consideration, or
at least better care of sidewalks, roads and
parking is needed.
tuesday, february 10, 2004 • page 10
continued from front:
Slogan
mission and goals,” Hill said.
Callahan Creek was hired in March 2003 to
aid Missouri Western in the project. Callahan
Creek conducted research in the form of surveys and focus groups in order to gain information about the college.
Approximately 200 faculty and staff and
200 students were surveyed during the
research process, Hill said.
Some of the questions that students were
asked on the survey attempted to discover
student awareness of the “Western
Advantage” and selected two statements that
the student associated with the “Western
Advantage,” according to the student questionnaire given to the students.
Below are some of the findings of the student and faculty/staff surveys:
• 50% of students said that the Western
Advantage meant affordability
• 42% of students said the Western
Advantage reflected excellence in student
development and community leadership
• 32% of students said it reflected applied
learning opportunities
• 69% of employees said the Western
Advantage reflected affordable education
• 60% of employees said it reflected excel-
Yeager set to retire in May
lence in student development and community
leadership
• 55% of employees said the Western
Advantage meant strong academic programs
After reviewing the results of the surveys,
Callahan Creek created two options of how
Missouri Western could creatively express
its brand, Hill said. Callahan Creek then
tested both strategies by interviewing faculty/staff, alumni, students and community
leaders.
From that feedback, they presented a creative strategy to the Public Relations and
Marketing Committee.
Open meetings were held to discuss this
new creative strategy with students and faculty/staff to come up with a final creative
strategy.
Callahan Creek delivered their final report
to Missouri Western last December.
“The Public Relations and Marketing
Committee and I have been reviewing the
document and finalizing the creative look and
message associated with the brand concept,”
Hill said.
The new brand concept and brand strategy
will most likely become public at the
February Board of Regents meeting.
Food service makes changes to Web site
Tracy Johnson
Copy Editor
Now everyone will know when it’s chicken
nugget day.
Food services has recently updated their
Web site (www.mwsc.edu/dining) to allow students to view the menu before deciding
whether or not it’s worth trudging through
snow and slush to eat dinner.
Food services office manager Sheri Tee said
that the housing office requested an update to
their website for the convenience of students
living in the residence halls. “Now the menu
is right there at their fingertips,” Tee said.
According to Mary Shoemaker, director of
food services, the food court and cafeteria
together serve approximately 550 students
each week night. Now those students are able
to find out in advance if one of their favorite
foods is being served.
“Before, when students walked in and saw
we were having fried chicken, the cell phones
would come out,” Shoemaker said. “That’s
when we knew we were in for a rush.”
The updated menu now features meals for
the entire week instead of just daily selections. This also benefits the faculty and staff
at Western who take advantage of the meal
options available during their lunch hour.
Assistant Director of Bands
to step down after 24 years
Jean Easter
News Writer
Richard Yeager, assistant director of bands
with both a bachelor of arts and master’s
degree in music, is retiring effective May 15,
2004.
At this moment, his upcoming retirement
seems to be the furthest thing from his mind.
He is trying to find a misplaced Conn baritone
saxophone. He is wearing school colors--all
black with a gold sweater. An assistant is trailing behind him, rattling off locker numbers in
the Fine Arts building.
She calls out a number and the reaction is
startling as Yeager pounces
on a nearby computer terminal to discover the owners’
information. He whirls
towards the door of the
music office, finding the misplaced “barry” sax on the
way to his office.
Cleaning off two chairs
of what appears to be
another baritone saxo-Richard Yeager
phone in its case, the
Asst. Director of Bands
interview begins.
His office has awards
and degrees hanging on every available wall
space around shelves and shelves of music.
A metal clarinet converted to a lamp is
perched on top of a file cabinet. An old sign
which proudly declares ‘Saxman Via Co. ‘
indicates by an arrow that the said town is
somewhere in the direction of the offices’
back wall.
“You could probably find some antiques in
here,” Yeager jokes, leaning back in his chair,
appearing completely comfortable in the office
as if it is an old friend. In a way, the office
might be.
Twenty-four years ago on July 1, 1980,
Yeager started his career at MWSC, having
received his bachelor of arts from the Dana
School of Music in Youngstown, Mass., and his
master’s from the Cincinnati CollegeConservatory of Music.
He also served with the 81st U.S. Army Band
and a number of other schools before coming
here from Kentucky University. “The job at
Eastern and the job here were basically the
same, but MWSC paid more money,” Yeager
said. “Rich or poor, it’s nice to have.”
His motivation for a career in teaching was
not only financial.
“I get a great deal of personal satisfaction
having ‘light bulbs go on’over students’heads,”
Yeager said. He hadn’t planned on teaching,
but found out that he liked it and it was a good
thing to do.
Adam Tervort, a bass player in the Jazz
Ensemble, sticks his head in the doorway as
Yeager speaks.
“Great sax player,” Yeager said.
Tervort grins, “Fun guy.”
Yeager takes the teasing and compliments in
stride.
Yeager’s decision to retire is family related.
His wife has worked almost 17 years at a law
firm and wishes to be closer to her mother in
Myrtle Beach, S. C.
When asked if he had ever thought about
retiring before this year, Yeager is frank.
“Sometime you get frustrated, and any job
has its up and down sides, “ Yeager said. “I just
get on with it.”
Any memorable experiences? “I’d fill your
notebook if I started with that,” Yeager said
with a grin. “Good memories, good kids, I’ll
miss them and my colleagues. The only thing
I won’t miss is the weather (here).”
After his retirement, Yeager plans to work
part-time for North Carolina University and
find other part time work playing music in
Myrtle Beach.
Missouri Western regrets Yeager leaving for
the gourmet meals that he sometimes would
fix for them.
Secretary Nadyne Justin in the Music
Department main office sums up working
with Ricihard Yeager in one word,
“Delightful.”
tuesday, february 10, 2004 • page 11
Griffons beef up o-line, d-line
Partridge gets adds
linemen to Griffon squad
with 2004 recruits
Chris Montgomery
6-2, 270 lbs., offensive/defensive line
downs last year.
Jason Julian
From: Arnold, Mo./Seckman High School
Props: Recorded 50 total tackles, including for
5-11, 270 lbs., defensive lineman
tackles for lost yardage in 2003.
From: Blue Springs, Mo./Blue Springs South High
Danny Stooksbury
Patrick St. Louis
Sports Editor
6-3, 275 lbs., offensive line
Missouri Western coach Jerry
Partridge announced the newest members of the Griffon football squad on
nationl signing day last We d n e s d a y.
This year Partridge and his staff
foucused on putting some more size on
the offensive and defensive lines, as
well as trying to find a good combination of size and speed in the wide out
positions.
“I don’t ever get too excited about
signing day,” Partridge said. “To be
honest with you, I think it’s one of the
most over-rated things in sports. Yo u
just never know who is going to play
and who isn’t. We feel like going in
that we wanted to sign some young
linemen, we wanted to get ourselves
depthed up at that position. We felt
like we signed some big guys, who are
going to be players.”
The Western staff didn’t have to go
far to find one of their six new linemen.
The 6-foot-3, 260-pound St.
Joseph Central standout A d a m
Merritt played on both the offensive
and defensive lines in high school.
Partridge said that he expect Merritt
to make an impact at guard for the
Griffons in the near future.
Partridge added some size to the
defensive line with the 5-11, 270pound Jason Julian from Blue Springs
South High School. Julian was selected to the Class 6 all-state team this
year and should be a solid contributor
in the coming years.
The Griffons most significant playmaker in the 2004 signing class is
probably wide reciever
Landen
Fitzgerald. He is 6-2, and180 poounds
from Webster Groves High School in
St. Louis.
He was a First-Te a m
Missouri Class 5 All-State receiver
Props: Rushed for 899 yards and scored 11 touch-
School
Props: Named 1st team all-state in Class 6.
From: Belton, Mo./Belton High School
Props: Selected 1st-team Missouri Class 5 AllState selection at center.
Nicholas Wymore
6-3, 275 lbs., defensive/offensive line
From: Arnold, Mo./Oakville High School
Travis Kinkade
Missouri Class 6 wrestling at 275+ category.
Jeff McNemee
6-4, 200 lbs., wide receiver
From: Troy, Kan./Troy High School
From: Centralia, Mo./Centralia High School
Props: Selected to the 1 st team Class 2 all-state
team and he was a key player on Centralia’s 14-0
state championship team last year.
Sean Cummings
6-3, 200 lbs., quarterback
From: Kansas City, Mo./Rockhurst High School
Props: Led Rockhurst deep into the Missouri
Class 6 State playoffs in 2003.
Cory Elmendorf
Props: He was selected to the Kansas Class 2-1a
5-11, 190 lbs., defensive back
all-state team.
Adam Merritt
6-3, 260 lbs., offensive/defensive lineman
From: St. Joseph, Mo./Central High School
From: St. Charles, Mo./Duchesne High School
Props: Rushed for 587 yards and was selected to
the 1st team Class 3 all-state team.
Props: Has ability to play on both sides of the ball,
Landen Fitzgerald
and selected to the All-Suburban Mid-8 team.
Vince Hulett
6-2, 180 lbs., wide receiver
5-10, 170 lbs., running back/wide receiver
From: St. Louis, Mo./Webster Groves High School.
From: Fenton, Mo./Rockwood Summit High
Props: Led the Suburban North League with 51
School
receptions for 1,104 yards.
and selected as The St. Louis Post
D i s p a t c h ’s top prospect at that positon.
“As far as needs we didn’t address,
we wanted to get some young linebackers. That didn’t get done,”
Partridge said. “We lost guys we wanted; there’s no doubt about it. But we
got some good ones, and we lost
some good ones. If you ranked the
guys that you thought would be good
rossmartin
6-2, 240 lbs., offensive/defensive lineman
Props: Received all-conference honors on both
sides of the ball and he is currently ranked No. 5 in
2004 recruiting class
has a lot to follow
after Class of 2003
players, a lot of times the ones
ranked 11 or 12 turn out to be good
players. Signing day five years ago I
w a s n ’t talking about Eric McDowell
or Piere T h o m a s . ”
This recriuting class will have
some big shoes to fill, the 2003
Western squard finished the season
9-3, giving them the most victories
in school history.
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Western grabbed up its
newest crop of Griffons last
week on the signing day for
colleges nationwide.
Though this year’s group
seems to be as solid as ever, it
lacks the big names and
punch that last year’s group
supplied.
In 2003, Western brought in
defensive end Travis Frogge
and tight end Gijon Robinson.
Both have made big impacts
on this year’s squad. Add in
wide receiver Jarrett Brooks
and you have a very productive freshman class that contributed greatly to the
Griffons’ first-ever, nine-win
season.
Everything at this point is
purely speculation, but this
year’s recruiting class seems
to be more project players
than anything else.
One exception to that may
be Landen Fitzgerald. He has
great size and played in two
State Championship games at
the Class 5 level, playing a
key role in one of his team’s
victories.
Western sorely missed hav-
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SS/C 221
ing a big-play receiver last
year, and Fitzgerald may be
able to bring that dimension.
Pair him with Brooks and
Erick Fields, plus the steady
possession
receiving
of
Jonathon Schoonover, and
Western may find itself
throwing the ball a lot more
next year.
Hopefully by then they canfigure out who will be doing
the throwing, but that’s neither here nor there.
Coach Jerry Partridge put a
lot of emphasis on both lines in
his recruiting as well. He even
brought a little local flavor by
bringing in Central High School
standout Adam Merritt.
One signing that was a little
puzzling was quarterback
Sean
Cummings
from
Rockhurst since the Griffons
will have senior Michael
Cooper next year, plus youngsters Michael Burton and
Kyle Westerberg.
That position seems to be
pretty well stacked for years
to come, but I guess you can
never have too many quarterbacks.
tuesday, february 10, 2004 • page 12
Smith gets win No. 500
Men’s head coach picks up milestone
win in a blowout over SWBaptist
Danny Stooksbury
Sports Editor
Even before the game started it was clear things
would not be going Southwest Baptist’s way, as
Western’s coach Tom Smith picked up his 500th win in a
85-57 rout.
“I will say that it has really played on me,” Smith said.
“You know in a normal year we would have had it a
month ago probably. It just weighs on you, it’s a special
number.
“If you know anything about my career, I
spent 8 years in purgatory at Valpo
(Valporaiso) with no chance to compete, and
still to get 500, I am very, very fortunate.”
After the referees called a technical foul
on Baptist for hanging the rim during
warmups, the Bearcats found themselves
down 2-0 before a second had came off the
clock. That wasn’t their biggest problem as
the game began, however. They were facing
a Griffon squad that knew this would be it’s best chance
to get its head coach his 500th win.
“This is the first night that I could hear them say lets
get 500 tonight,” Smith said. “It’s been kind of a don’t
say anything about it thing.”
The Griffons allowed Southwest Baptist to hang in
with them for the fist few minutes before breaking out
on a 17-3 run that put the Griffons up 29-14 with under
10 minutes to go in the first half.
At that point, the Griffons began to play much more
conservatively, passing the ball around and eating away
at the clock. They were able to maintain the 17-point
advantage at the break by a score of 46-29.
“That offense is extremely difficult to catch up with,”
Smith said. “Now it’s not very good to use to catch up,
but when we get a lead it’s really frustrating for them to
have to run around and guard us.”
It was more of the same in the second half as the
Griffons continued to get good looks.
Perhaps the most tremendous display of athletic ability came with about 5 minutes remaining from 6-foot-6
junior forward Langston Grady. He picked off a pass at
the top of the key and sprinted across midcourt all
alone. The crowd watched as his two-handed windmill
dunk attempt clanked off the back of the rim.
By that time, the Griffons had broken
out to a 20-point lead. Grady looked over
at the bench to see a rare sight, Smith
smiling at the missed attempt. It would
have taken a lot more than a missed dunk
to wipe the smirk off the face of a coach
who knew he was about to get his 500 th
win.
“As we got into that last media timeout, I
started to realize it was going to happen,”
Smith said. “Maybe the fact that it was so
hard, we took so long, maybe I’ll appreciate it more.”
After the game Smith was greeted by Missouri
Western president James Scanlon who told Smith
that we’re all looking forward to the next milestone,
1,000.
Western was led in scoring by Grady’s 21 points on 6
of 8 shooting. Senior guard Matt Grove provided some
production off of the bench scoring 15 points on 6-of-12
shooting from the field.
Western will try for 501 tommorow night at 7:30 when
they travel to take on the Gorillas of Pittsburg St.
Warren Ingram/Photo Editor
Western coach Tom Smith looks on intently during Western’s game with Northwest
Missouri State on Jan. 7. Smith finally reached win No. 500 on Saturday night.
Carly “ Hustle” provides entangibles in victor y
Danny Stooksbury
Sports Editor
There are no statistics for blocking out,
diving for loose balls or just being in the
right place at the right time, but those are
the things that the Western women have
grown to expect from junior guard Carly
Lee, who has taken charge was the difference in Saturday’s 52-49 win over Southwest
Baptist.
The Griffons jumped out to an early 18-9
lead over the Lady Bearcats with 8 minutes
remaining in the first half. Realizing that
they could not contain Western in man-toman, Southwest Baptist coach Jim
Middleton switched to a 2-3 zone.
In the final 8 minutes of the first half the
Griffons made just one basket. Meanwhile
the Lady Bearcats were finally able to find
some rhythm on the offensive-end, as they
took a 24-20 lead at the half.
“The zone kinda took us out of offensive
mode,” Lee said. “The second half we came
back through it and started working on the
inside with our post players.”
Although they still were not able to get
many baskets in the paint, the inside ball
Warren Ingram/Photo Editor movement did draw defenders away from
Western guard Carly Lee scored 11 points in Western’s 52- the perimeter, which made for some clean
49 win over Southwest Baptist on Saturday at MWSC looks away from the basket. With the score
Fieldhouse.
tied at 26, freshman guard Alisa Blasdel
found an open Lee, who sunk a 3-pointer to
give the Griffons back the lead for the first
time in the second half.
Just minutes later they did it again as Lee
put the Griffons up 36-30 with just under 12
minutes remaining.
From there it was a back and forth struggle. The Lady Bearcats continued to inch
closer, as the Griffons fought to preserve
their lead.
With 22 seconds left, following a pair of
free throws by Southwest Baptist guard
Amber Wheeler, the Griffons, who led 50-49,
opted not to inbound the ball conservatively.
Instead they threw the ball down the court to
senior guard Danielle McKinley, who missed
a contested layup, giving the Lady Bearcats
the ball with 18 seconds left.
“I’d say 99 times out of 100 you’re probably
going to get a foul called on that play, “
Western
coach
Dave
Slifer
said.
“Unfortunately we had the one out of 100
that it didn’t get called.”
The Lady Bearcat’s got the ball to Wheeler
at the top of the key. She drove the ball hard
into the lane where she was met by Lee, who
was straining to get into position. The shot
went up, Wheeler went down and whistles
went off.
While Southwest Baptist was celebrating that shot that went in, Lee had her
eyes on the referee calling Wheeler for
the charge.
“I saw the girls all jumping up and down,
and I looked straight at the ref and saw the
charge,” Lee said. “I
was in shock kinda,
I felt like it was a
charge, but I didn’t
fall back. Usually
they
don’t
call
charge unless you
fall back. They
could have called it
either way.”
Lee was fouled on
the inbound pass
WESTERN
with 3 seconds left.
52
She hit both free
throws
as
the
Griffons closed out
49
the victory.
SW
BAPTIST
“ I t ’s scary to
leave a game up in
the hands of the
officials, which we
did,” Slifer said.
“We put ourselves
in position and fort u n a t e l y, we got
the right whistle
in the end. We’d have given our win away
from Emporia if we didn’t win this one.
Now we should be seventh in the region
after this one.”
MISSOURI WESTERN
WOMEN’S SCHEDULE
AND RESULTS
MISSOURI WESTERN
MEN’S SHEDULE
AND RESULTS
Nov. 21 vs. Ferris State L 70-65
Nov. 22 vs. Rockhurst W 96-52
Nov. 28 vs. Lincoln (Mo.) W 74-37
Nov. 29 vs. St. Mary’s (Texas) W 75-71
Dec. 7 vs. St. Gregory’s (Okla.) W 99-42
Dec. 13 vs. College of St. Mary W 91-40
Dec. 16 vs. Central Oklahoma W 73-62
Dec. 17 vs. Texas A&M - Kingsville W 82-63
Dec. 30 vs. Washburn L 68-53
MIAA Season Begins
Jan. 3 at Missouri Southern W 65-57
Jan. 7 vs. Northwest Mo. State L 69-53
Jan. 10 vs. Central Mo. State L79-72
Jan. 12 vs. Peru State (Neb.) W 102-42
Jan. 14 at Truman W 86-69
Jan. 17 vs. Missouri-Rolla W 78-61
Jan. 21 vs. Pittsburg State W 79-72
Jan. 24 at Southwest Baptist W 72-67
Jan. 28 vs. Emporia State L 71-56
Jan. 31 at Washburn L 56-40
Feb. 4 at Emporia State W 81-77
Feb. 7 vs. Southwest Baptist W 52-49
Feb. 11 at Pittsburg State 5:30 p.m.
Feb. 14 at Missouri-Rolla 1:30 p.m.
Feb. 18 vs. Truman 5:30 p.m.
Feb. 21 at Central Mo. State 1:30 p.m.
Feb. 25 at Northwest Mo. State 5:30 p.m.
Feb. 28 vs. Missouri Southern 5:30 p.m.
Results are current through Feb. 8
Nov. 17 vs. Central Bible (Mo.) W 111-75
Nov. 20 at Park (Mo.) W 64-60
Nov. 28 vs. Lincoln (Mo.) W 87-78
Nov. 29 vs. Northeastern Oklahoma W 63-48
Dec. 2 at Rockhurst L 71-65, OT
Dec. 5 vs. Lincoln (Mo.) L 69-65
Dec. 6 vs. Drury W 87-81, OT
Dec. 19 vs. Central Oklahoma W 93-89, OT
Dec. 20 vs. Cameron L, 88-84
MIAA Season Begins
Dec. 30 vs. Washburn L 67-64
Jan. 3 at Missouri Southern L 78-63
Jan 7 vs. Northwest Mo. State L 74-65
Jan 10 vs. Central Mo. State L 71-65
Jan. 14 at Truman W 67-61
Jan 17 vs. Missouri-Rolla W 92-76
Jan 21 vs. Pittsburg State L 71-54
Jan. 24 at Southwest Baptist L 73-72
Jan. 28 vs. Emporia State W 73-69 OT
Jan. 31 at Washburn L 76-68
Feb. 4 at Emporia State L 73-50
Feb. 7 vs. Southwest Baptist W 85-57
Feb. 11 at Pittsburg State 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 14 at Missouri-Rolla 3:30 p.m.
Feb. 18 vs. Truman 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 21 at Central Mo. State 3:30 p.m.
Feb. 25 at Northwest Mo. State 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 28 vs. Missouri Southern 7:30 p.m.
Men’s Basketball Standings
Team
Washburn
NW Missouri St.
Emporia St.
Cent. Missouri St.
Pittsburg St.
Missouri Southern
Missouri Western
Missouri-Rolla
Truman St.
SW Baptist
W
11
10
9
6
6
6
4
3
3
2
MIAA
L
Pct.
1
0.917
2
0.833
3
0.750
6
0.500
6
0.500
6
0.500
8 0.333
9
0.250
9 0.250
10 0.167
Overall
W L
Pct.
19
1
0.950
19
2
0.905
17
4
0.810
14
7
0.667
14
7
0.667
13
8
0.619
10 11 0.476
10
11 0.476
6
15 0.286
5
16 0.238
Women’s Basketball Standings
Team
Emporia St.
NW Missouri St.
Washburn
Missouri Western
Cent. Missouri St.
Missouri Southern
SW Baptist
Pittsburg St.
Truman St.
Missouri-Rolla
W
11
10
9
7
6
5
5
5
2
0
MIAA
L
Pct.
1
0.917
2
0.833
3
0.750
5
0.583
6
0.500
7
0.417
7
0.417
7 0.417
10 0.167
12 0.000
W L
18
1
17
4
18
3
15
6
13
8
14
7
13
8
10 10
8
12
4 17
Overall
Pct.
0.947
0.810
0.857
0.714
0.619
0.667
0.619
0.500
0.400
0.190