griffon news issue 15
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The Griffon News is the university newspaper for Missouri Western State University.TRANSCRIPT
NON-PROFIT ORG.U.S. POSTAGE
PA I DPERMIT NO. 32St. JOSEPH, MO
Vol 95 | Issue 14 griffonnews.com February 14, 2013
How to spend more time and less money on your honey this Valentine’s Day.
Page 4
Griffon men pull off upset over No. 25 MIAA team.
Page 8
As the search for the VP of student affairs continues, Western must choose a candidate that understand’s students’ needs. Page 6
Help wanted!
STUDENT AFFAIRS
Western switched it up a bit this year in selecting electropop duo 3OH!3 and rappers XV and Sammy Ad-ams, for the annual spring concert.
Though the traditional genre rotation is rock, hip-hop and country and this year’s turn was rock, the members of Western Activi-ties Council felt that break-ing the rotation would truly give the students of Western a concert of their musical dreams.
“We knew we wanted to go the electropop/rap genre that I feel kind of blankets more of the population that even if you’re not really into the genre, its still something that’s fun to go to,” Lau-ren Dillon, vice president of WAC said. “I think the hard thing about country, rock and rap/hiphop are that they are such specific genres that if you are not a fan of the music then it’s hard for you to get into it.”
Dillon explained that WAC mainly focused on what the students would want rather then what specific genre to select or what the commu-nity would want.
“Obviously for the com-munity country is always the best because we are a Midwest town and are in a Midwest Area,” Dillon said. “Country is very well liked.
We knew going with this genre we’re going to pull more from the younger gen-eration and other college kids from the area. It’s always im-portant for us to include the community in what we do but obviously I need to re-member that this money is the students’ and this concert is for the students.”
Though WAC knew they were dumping genre tradi-tions, they weren’t complete-ly sure on who to chose. Yet what helped Dillon out in the decision was the fact that she was pretty familiar with 303 and XV and really liked their shows.
“I’ve seen 303 perform be-fore in Kansas City and I’ve been a fan of their music for a couple years,” Dillon said. “I thought it was really cool that this year its somebody that I already previously knew and I’ve listened to their music before. I’ve seen XV perform as well. They are really awesome in concert.”
Colorado natives and sib-lings 3OH!3 have been in the music world since 2004.
Their debut album “WANT” went gold and included their signature single “Don’t Trust Me” that included an interesting yet catchy Helen Keller reference that made many fans giggle. The single was No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The band has worked with big industry names such as Katy Perry, Kesha and Lil’ John.
Rapper XV is a member of Warner Bros Records along-side artists like Kirko Bangz, Meek Mill and Wale. He is well know for his single “Gobstopper” featuring Wiz Khalifa.
Rapper Sammy Adams’s major debut “Blow Up” gave him some attention in the music industry along with opening for big names such as Kid Cudi, Drake, Nicki Minaj, LMFAO, Ludacris and J. Cole.
Assistant Dean of Student Development Isaiah Collier feels that this year will defi-nitely be one of the best con-certs that Western has seen as these artists are universal and could really keep the crowd roaring.
“They are very different from one another,” Collier said. “These artists should give our student body popu-lation a better selection. Even if they are not a huge XV fan, they might be a 3OH!3 fan.”
The concert will be held at the Civic Arena on April 12. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
3OH!3 to star at WAC concert
The search for new VP of Student affairs is underway and like any candidate run-ning for a position, they are not shy about sharing why they may qualify for the job.
Mark Stier filled out an application for the position, while also already holding the title of residential of stu-dent life director.
Stier has 25 years of expe-
rience with higher education and he feels that he is ready to go further with his experi-ences by applying for VP of student affairs.
“Right now my responsi-bilities are residential life, judicial affairs, and I help out with career services,” Stier said. “In this profession, when you reach a certain level and your ready for that next step, like I am now, you seek out that next level. And here at Missouri Western, I’m ready for that next step.”
Stier received his under-graduate degree from the state University of New York. He succeeded by achieving his master’s degree from Western Illinois University, and he will also be receiving his PhD from the University of South Florida.
As the director of residen-tial life, Stier stays on cam-pus and he is aware of the issues that takes place on campus. Stier feels that stay-ing on campus can definitely have good benefits because
he is able establish relation-ships with students and staff.
“I think I have been here long enough to understand the students needs,” Stier said. “I have a great relation-ship with the administration and I think that I would be a great bridge between the stu-dent body, SGA, Athletics, academics and the adminis-tration.”
Stier feels that being on campus does make his can-didacy for VP rather unique. It’s not common to see the VP of student affairs on cam-
pus but Stier credits staying on campus for the main rea-son his relationship with stu-dents has grown.
“One of the strongest things that I bring to the po-sition is that I really have a strong relationship with the students,” Stier said. “I am accessible almost 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I think as an administrator, it’s a unique position to be in. A lot of people in student af-fairs sometimes forget what it is like to live on campus and be apart of a vibrant
community.”While kids on campus are
important, Stier also wants to focus on students that com-mute to campus each day to receive their education.
Stier noted that his concern would be for all students of Western including the Non-Traditional students.
Search begins for dean of CSBA committee of eight in-
dividuals who represent the Craig School of Business (CSB), overall campus and regional business communi-ty were assigned the task of beginning the review process of application packets on January 28. This process will culminate in a recommen-dation of hire for the Dean position that was recently vacated.
Ann Pearce, Special As-sistant to President Vart-abedian, is conducting the search. She said, “The search is progressing well.” The committee will review the
application packets and nar-row the field down to the top candidates. After the initial review, telephone interviews will be conducted followed by another elimination pro-cess. Reference checks will be conducted on the remain-ing candidates. The commit-tee will then choose which candidates to bring to the MWSU campus for on-site interviews and public pre-sentations. Following the on-site interviews the com-mittee will present Provost Jeanne Daffron with their recommendations. Dr. Daf-fron and PresidentRobert Vartabedian will consult to make the final decision.
Dr. Daffron expects 30 to
40 people to apply for the recently vacated position. This will be the CSB’s sec-ond Dean since its inception. Carol Roever, former associ-ate professor in the business department, has filled the role of interim Dean since the departure of Dr. Philip Nitse at the end of 2012. Dr. Nitse, who was hired in 2010, wished to return to the classroom as a teacher. Dr. Daffron said, “Carol led the accreditation process before her retirement and we are very appreciative to have her during the interim.”
Joyce Stevenson | Staff [email protected]
SEE DEAN PAGE 2
SEE STIER PAGE 2
Student Affairs Now Hiring:Hopefuls campaign diligentlyAlbert Shelby | Asst. News [email protected]
Eboni Lacey | Editor-in-Chief [email protected]
Jumping
Heart first
Jump rope for Heart was hosted in the Looney complex of Missouri Western on Monday. During this event, the students of the 13 St. Joseph area elementary schools picked up jump ropes to raise funds to help the American Heart Association fight heart disease and stroke. The students learned the importance of living a healthy lifestyle to prevent diseases.
Tevin Harris | Photo Editor
NEWS February 14, 2013
The Griffon NewsPage 2
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MWSU Offers FAF-SA Help to Families
Feb. 17Financial aid professionals
from Missouri Western State University will offer free as-sistance to families filling out their Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, during a “FAFSA Frenzy” event from 2-4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 17 in the atrium of Leah Spratt Hall. Families who bring their completed 2012 income tax returns to FAFSA Frenzy will be able to complete the 2013-14 FAFSA on-site. Those who haven’t completed their tax returns will still learn valuable infor-mation to help them finish the FAFSA at home.
Western alumni awarded third
GrammyCharles Bruffy, a 1981
graduate of Missouri West-ern State University, accept-ed his third Grammy Award Sunday, Feb. 10. Bruffy, a na-tive of Savannah, Mo. Bruffy, a native of Savannah, Mo., has been the conductor and artistic director of the Kan-sas City Chorale since 1988. The chorale’s recording “Life & Breath – Choral Works by René Clausen,” won the award for Best Choral Per-formance. The recording also won the award for Best En-gineered Album, Classical, and its producer, Blanton Al-spaugh, won the award for Producer of the Year, Classi-cal.
If your organization would like to announce an event, email the information to
Monday, Feb. 18• President’s Day Holiday (no classes/
campus closed)
Tuesday, Feb. 19• Africa: The Serengeti’ Planetarium
Show 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 20• Stress Management/Test-Taking
Strategies/Test Anxiety Workshop 3:30 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 21
• Stress Management/Test-Taking Strategies/Test Anxiety Workshop
3:30 p.m.• “Private Lives” 7:30 p.m.
CALENDAR OF EVENTSCAMPUS CRIME REPORTS
CAMPUS INFORMATION
*No campus crime reported since Jan. 27
Black Student Union to host slew of events
In honor of Black History Month the Black Student Union will host the Black Love Poetry Night on Feb. 14. The event will be held in Spratt 214 at 7 p.m.
Also, the BSU will be host-ing a movie night on Feb. 15. The event will be back in Spratt Hall, room 203 at 7 p.m. The movie will be Mo’ Better Blues, directed by Spike Lee.
BSU would like to invite all students to attend.
1.4. 2.3.
Friday, Feb. 22• Stress Management/Test-Taking
Strategies/Test Anxiety Workshop 3:30 p.m.
• “God of Carnage” 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 23• Griffon Women’s Basketball vs
Univ. of Nebraska-Kearney 1:30 p.m.
• Griffon Men’s Basketball vs Univ. of Nebraska-Kearney 3:30 p.m.
• “Private Lives” 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 24• “God of Carnage” 3:00 p.m.
“I think some of the things the president is looking for is a stronger way to help stu-dents across campus,” Stier said. “Help the admissions and academic side of the house with retention. I think one of the key things the President is looking for is a leader who can take what’s happened with student af-fairs in the past, and really step forward to make the next leap to a strong pro-gram.”
Student governor Brian Shewell was not surprise that Stier has put his name in
the race for VP. Shewell said that Stier has taken com-mand in Residential Life and feels that he can do the same in student affairs.
“Just like everyone else, he is a qualified candidate,” Shewell said. “I think it is good because he has proven him self in residential life so I think that making the next step is a good choice for him.”
Although Shewell thinks that Stier will not be able to hold both positions if elected VP, he feels that Stier would be capable of achieving both.
Shewell feels that one of Sti-er’s strong points is that he is willing to listen to others.
“Mark has always be-lieved in a open door policy,” Shewell said. “That is a key
quality, to be able to listen while being able to lead. He is not stuck in his office all of the time. He is able to take charge.”
Stier noted that he was thrilled about the opportuni-ty, while also complimenting the other candidates he may be running against.
“I am very excited,” Stier said. “I know that there is a lot of good quality can-didates. I know Dr. Grimes who is the current interim VP has also applied and I think she is a wonderful leader. I think she can bring a lot to the position.”
Pearce said the Dean of the CSB is a member of the Dean’s Council and reports directly to the Provost and the Vice President for Academic Affairs. The Dean serves as the academic and admin-istrative officer of the CSB. They manage the school and staff as well as overseeing re-cruiting, sched-uling, and staff-ing. The Dean works to create and maintain p a r t n e r s h i p s with individuals and businesses to fulfill the CSB mission of en-trepreneurship. They work to-gether with the higher educa-tion community as well as collaborating with the MWSU Advancement team to increase donor sup-port for the CSB.
According to Pearce, some of the attributes of a success-ful applicant would be that they must have an earned doctorate in one of the aca-
demic disciplines represent-ed in the CSB or comparable combination of education and extensive business expe-rience. They must have ex-perience with demonstrated budgetary and leadership skills as well as be able to pro-mote MWSU’s mission. Ex-perience and commitment to fundraising is a must as well.
The CSB is the largest aca-demic unit at MWSU. It has 17 full-time faculty members and approximately 800 stu-
dents seeking BSBA degrees with majors in finance, account-ing, manage-ment and mar-keting. Steven L. Craig, Mis-souri Western’s largest contribu-tor, developed the entrepre-neurship pro-gram that offers franchise own-
ership opportunities with the Rocky Mountain Choco-late Factory, Inc.
The projected start date for the successful candidate is July 1.
STIERCONTINUED FROM FRONT
Dr. Benjamin Caldwell is the dean of the Missouri Western’s Graduate Studies program. Missouri Western offers around 20 master de-grees. Missouri Western also has some of the lowest grad-uate tuition around.
Heather Howard, former Oklahoma State University women’s basketball player, but present Missouri Western basketball player, is a gradu-ate student here at Missouri Western. She is also involved with the Fellowship of Chris-tian Athletes on campus.
“I really enjoy and appreci-ate the fact that there’s even this opportunity here to fur-ther my education and to be able to play basketball,” Howard said.
Howard is getting her mas-ters in Sports Management.
“I wanted to become a grad student in order to ad-vance my education, and possibly put myself ahead of someone else during a job application process”
Howard said.Howard plans on getting
a job in either coaching or sports business marketing or management.
Tiffany Goldwire, former player for the head women’s basketball coach Rob Edmis-son, is now a graduate assis-tant for the women’s team.
“I think being able to help out coaching the women’s team at Western, is real good practice for me and has shown me a lot that I will take with me when it’s my turn to take on a coaching
job” Goldwire said.Goldwire is studying Sport
and Fitness Management. With that degree, she wants to become a basketball coach for high school.
“I became a graduate stu-dent to further my future and have more options for jobs” said Goldwire.
Anthony Medina is a grad-uate assistant for the men’s basketball team at Missouri Western. Medina is work-ing on getting his master’s degree in Sports and Fitness Management.
“My goal is to be a head men’s basketball coach at the college level. I used to define my success as becom-ing a Division I head coach, but my experiences playing NAIA and as an assistant at the Division II level has changed the way I shape my goals,” Medina said.
Medina became a graduate student because it gave him an opportunity to further his education and pursue a ca-reer in basketball.
Graduate studies program stays strongJQ Dever | Staff [email protected]
Dr. Benjamin CaldwellDean of Graduate Studies
DEANCONTINUED FROM FRONT
Four candidates remain30 - 40 applicants expected
Dr. Philip Nitseformer Dean of CSB
D o yo u h av e a n y i n t e r e s t i n g p h o t o s t o s h a r e ?S e n d t h e m t o u s at g r i f f o n n e ws @ g m a i l . c o m a n d s e e t h e m i n p r i n t
Western celebrates Asian culture
Michelle Price, Haley Triggs and Amy Grier among others learn how to draw pandas and write calligraphy at the Chinese New Year Festival on Feb. 11. EvanRoberts|PhotoEditor
New degrees proposed by Western give its students a new perspective.
Missouri Western cur-rently offers over 100 differ-ent majors and 41 minors to its students. That’s about to change as various depart-ments are considering new degrees.
Students will soon be able to earn a B.A. in Internation-al Studies.
“What we wanted to do was develop a degree from several different depart-ments that fell under the scope of an international de-gree,” Susan Hennessy, for-eign language coordinator said.
Currently, the degree re-quires students to take class-es over geography, history and politics. History, philos-ophy and geography will be the main departments that this degree will fall under, but not the only departments said Hennessy.
Students pursuing a de-gree in International Stud-ies will also be required to complete nine credit hours of upper level course work in a foreign language in ad-dition to six credit hours of electives.
“Considering you can choose from different areas, the degree itself is pretty
broad,” Hennessy said.Along with a B.S. in Inter-
national Studies, students can look forward to earning a B.S. in Philosophy, which compliments other B.S. courses extraordinarily well.
“The new degree in Phi-losophy can almost act as an add-on so that students taking that particular cluster of Philosophy courses can graduate with two majors,” Jeanne Daffron, vice presi-dent of academic affairs said. In fact, the degree itself can’t be earned without double majoring.
While the B.A. in Philoso-
phy is sort of a broad study, the B.S. is more of a deeper study into one particular dis-cipline said Daffron.
If the degree passes, stu-dents should be able to sign up for it around Aug. 1 Ken-dig said.
“It’s very exciting,” Kath-erine Kendig, assistant pro-fessor of philosophy said. “Students who are pursuing a B.S. in another field, such as biology, chemistry or po-litical science, will be able to obtain a B.S. in Philosophy as well.”
Both degrees have gone through the campus cur-riculum process and are on their way to the coordinating board of higher education in the state of Missouri.
“If the degrees are ap-proved, they probably won’t be in effect until next Fall,” Daffron said.
A degree in Art Therapy is also in the works, but there are very few details sur-rounding it.
“I have no information that we can put out at this junc-ture,” Allison Sauls, chair of the art department said. “The proposal is at state and will not be looked over until the end of the month.”
Students will have the op-portunity to consider these new degrees which are in the works on being approved and available this coming fall.
NEWSFebruary 14, 2013
The Griffon NewsPage 3
Vacant senate seats will soon be filled after the up-coming election.
The Student Government Association is accepting ap-plications through Feb. 15. Director for Student Rela-tions Morgan Lindgren encourages students who are interested to become in-volved with SGA.
“It is a great way to get involved and be informed about things on campus. You get to represent and stand up for your fellow students,” Lindgren said.
Executive Vice Presi-dent Lauren Upton agreed with Lindgren. Upton also shared why she became a part of student govern-ment.
“I like being a part of SGA because I feel like I am doing my part to better Missouri Western the best I can. It is a great way to help students with whatever they need,” Upton said.
Students interested in be-coming an executive mem-
ber of SGA or a senator must meet certain require-ments. To become president or executive vice president the applicant must have an accumulative grade point average of 3.0. To become a student senator the appli-cant must have an accumu-lative grade point average of 2.25. All positions require students to be full time.
While being a part of SGA comes with extra responsi-bilities, such as attending bi-monthly meetings and becoming involved in the committee, there are also benefits that come with the senate seat.
SGA President Jacob Scott explained the importance of SGA members maintain-ing the required GPA.
“Student government holds the highest academic
standards on campus for the student leaders. It is important that the leader is a leader not just in SGA but in the classroom,” Scott said.
In the upcoming election there are six executive po-sitions to be filled and 20 open senate seats. Students interested in applying must have applications turned in by Feb. 15 to Blum 217 by 4:30 p.m. in the SGA Suite.
The debate for presiden-tial and vice presidential candidates will be March 4 and voting will take place March 6 and 7.
Polar Bear Plunge is of-fering students of Missouri Western to come out of hi-bernation and take a dip into this year’s event.
The biggest fundraiser the Special Olympics has will be put on by North West Region Area, to help raise aware-ness.
Many adults, children, and students will be taking part in this event to help raise money and support Special Olympic athletes. Students from Missouri Western and Northwest Missouri State University will have the op-portunity to plunge on Feb. 16 at Lake Contrary in St. Jo-seph.
Unlike last year, the theme for the Polar Bear Plunge is
Take a Plunge on the Wild Side. Students and athletes who plunge will be wear-ing costumes which interact with the theme. As a goal of $60,000 last year, this year St. Joseph has raised their goal to $63,000. There will also be 1,000 athletes in the North-
west Area who will be com-peting in the 21 sports that are offered.
Missouri Western student, Claire Busby, feels as though
coming to the plunge will make the biggest difference.
“It’s super fun to see who you are benefiting,” Busby said. “Students can gain lead-
ership opportunities, and see how the Special Olympics appreciate their plunge.
As well as the community supporting this event, Mis-souri Western organizations are taking part to help raise money for this awareness. Two sororities, a fraternity, and a general griffon team will be competing in the plunge for Missouri Western and Northwest will have five sororities competing as well.
Alpha Sigma Alpha mem-ber Lauren Prywitch said she set a goal of $500 and her so-rority was able to reach $550. She said reaching over the goal that she and her sorority sisters set means so much.
“Special Olympics is our national philanthropy, so it's really important to us that we participate and cheer on our sisters who are willing to plunge,” Prywitch said.
Ethan Kelly, president of Phi Delta Theta, said he enjoys being involved and helping out in the Special Olympics.
“I’m really passionate about this cause and I like to make special needs kids feel as though they are normal,” Kelly said.
Kelly also feels that stu-dents at Missouri Western should plunge because it’s a good way to help out the ath-letes and give back as much as possible.
“Just by showing up and being involved, students can give someone who isn’t ask-ing for much, a lot,” Kelly said.
Volunteers and donations are welcomed the day of the event and students who wish to plunge must pay $75.
The second annual Casino Night at Missouri Western drew in a crowd of over 800 students, faculty, staff and administrators.
Before the doors opened at 8:00 p.m. on Feb. 7 crowds of students lined the halls wait-ing to enter Fulkerson Center turned Casino.
The prizes this year that were purchased by Stu-dent Affairs ranged from a big screen TV, Play Station 3, Xbox 360’s, cameras and Missouri Western apparel. The event was put together by Residential Life for one of their late night events.
The event last year was held in a smaller area and Mark Stier, director for resi-dential life, believes that moving it to larger location will be a smart move as he thinks the attendance num-ber will grow.
“Last year we had this event in the dining hall,” Stier said. “We had over 600 students last year attend this
event, so we needed to move it to a larger location.”
Daniel Banks, junior, said he expected this year’s ca-sino night to be better than last year.
The prizes have been dis-played in Blum for weeks, which Banks believed was a good advertisement since the big prizes appear to be an incentive for students to come.
“This is not my first time going,” Banks said. “I'm going to have a good time, possibly hangout with some friends, see familiar faces, and hopefully win a nice prize.”
The event featured staff and residential assistants as card dealers for the students. Kiara Robinson, freshmen is an RA in Scanlon and said that all the RA’s are work-ing the casino night except for a few. She said the event would be a fun experience since it’s her first time.
“I’ve never gambled be-fore,” Robinson said. “It’s a fun event that brings every-one together from residential life to commuters.”
Dan Eckhoff, bursar, (left) shuffled cards at a black jack table. Missouri Western student Andrew Baxley (top) tried his luck at the roulette table. Students (bottom) ante up at a poker table . Gilbert Imbiri | Assistant Photo Editor
High RollersSecond-Annual Casino Night yields large turnout Matt Hunt | News [email protected]
Kaitlyn Fisette | Contributing [email protected]
Krista Hague | Staff Writer [email protected]
Freezin’ for a reason:
Daniel Cobb | Staff Writer [email protected]
Keira Ridgins, freshmen, said they came out tonight for one thing only, and that was to win the big prizes. They both have never gam-bled before and thought the opportunity to come out and give it a try was worth it.
“It’s fun because we weren’t using real money,” Ridgins said. “So, I can use this fake money to win some awesome prizes.”
The event brought out non-traditional students, commuters and residents for
a night of glamour and luck. Andria Brown, freshmen, thought the event was a great way to go into the weekend and hopefully win a prize by the end of the event.
“The thing that brought me out tonight was all the
stuff that will be given away in prizes,” Brown said.
Casino night ended its sec-ond year with the number in attendance of more than 800 as compared to 600 students last year.
Student Government accepting applications
New degrees proposed
Missouri Western alumni Allie Humphey and Brooke English rush into the freezing water to raise money for last year’s Polar Bear Plunge at Lake Contrary. *Submitted photo
Students encouraged to take the plunge to raise money for Special Olympics
“What we wanted to do was develop a degree from several different departments that fell under the scope of an international degree.”-Susan Hennessy
SGA official: “Great way to get involved”
Requirements President Vice President
• 3.0 GPA• Full-time student
Senators
• 2.25 GPA• Full-time student
When the middle of Febru-ary rolls around, it’s hard to walk through a store without seeing red, heart-shaped bal-loons, teddy bears holding candy hearts between their furry paws and boxes of car-amel-filled chocolates.
Let’s say that you don’t have the cash to drop on a dozen roses, or a romantic trip to a tropical location, or a limousine ride to that new fancy restaurant in Kansas City, the one where each plate costs roughly 50 bucks. The question on most college kids’ minds is how in the world am I going to afford this com-mercialized holiday in order to make my significant other think I’m both romantic and awesome?
St. Joseph offers a slew of reasonably-priced Valentine date ideas. You could take your date to Plaza 8 Theater, where the movie tickets are $3 a person after 6 p.m. and $2 a person before 6 p.m. If movies aren’t your thing, sign up for a couples dance lesson or a couples massage. There’s always bowling, as both Olympia Lanes and Belt Bowl are reasonably priced, at around $5 a game.
If you’re not into fitting the dinner and a movie stereo-type, get creative. You could have a picnic at Krug Park, take your love on a mini camping trip to a local camp site, or make dinner yourself and set the table with candles and fancy dishes. You could write a love note and attach it to your sweetheart’s car or front door. It’s the thought that counts, not the price tag.
Valentine’s Day can be an intimidating holiday, espe-cially if you have been in a relationship for a while and you feel like you are out of fresh, thoughtful ideas. Don’t freak out.
Even when your pockets are empty, you can still have a good time with the one you love. Offer to see a movie that your significant other has been wanting to check out, even if you think the latest chick flick looks ridiculous and the thought of seeing it makes you want to gouge out your eyes. Write a poem and read it to your girlfriend. Even if it’s riddled with er-rors and reads like nonsense, she’ll appreciate the gesture. Shoot some hoops in the driveway if your boyfriend loves basketball, even if none of your shots even hit the rim. Selflessness and romance are
what make Valentine’s Day special, and sometimes, when the commercialism overtakes the holiday, those two im-portant components can get lost in a pile of red roses, Hallmark cards and half-eaten chocolates.
When it comes down to it, show-ing someone that you love them shouldn’t cost anything, except maybe a little bit of time and effort. The more creative you get, the better.
Everyone likes feeling special, and most of the time, a kind and selfless act speaks volumes louder than a $20 steak dinner and a store-bought greet-ing card.
FEATURESFebruary 14, 2013
The Griffon NewsPage 4
After many years of grad-ing papers, lecturing about the ins and outs of English and Journalism, and assist-ing students on their jour-neys into the real world, Dr. Kenneth Rosenauer is end-ing his 34-year run at Mis-souri Western. This semester will be his last and he is ex-cited to pursue his own goals outside of Western’s campus.
Rosenauer has been teach-ing since 1974, and in 1979, he found a home at Missouri Western. It wasn’t the first time he had been inside the confines of Western’s halls as Rosenauer had been a stu-dent at Western himself. As a student, he took as many journalism classes as he could and received a journal-ism minor.
While at Western, Rosenauer was heavily in-volved in both the Griffon News and the Griffon Year-book. He also earned his masters degree in English and PhD in Journalism. For a
long time he considered go-ing into studio photography or working as a journalist
when he graduated.“It’s been a good run. I’ve
enjoyed doing this over the years, but it’s gotten to the point where one thing I hate is grading papers. It becomes tiring,” Rosenauer said.
Rosenauer has had the honor of teaching at the same university his children attend. Two of his children have taken classes here, and his daughter is still enrolled. So far, neither of them have been in his classes so he hasn’t had to worry about mixing his personal life with his professional life.
“I’ve never taken any of my dad’s classes but I am in an English class so he al-ways wants to help with homework. He knows when I have homework and when everything is due, so I think having a dad as a professor means he knows a lot more about your life,” freshman Mary-Beth Rosenauer said.
Dr. Rosenauer hopes his retirement will give him
the opportunity to do some other things and spend more time with his wife.
“The first thing I’m go-ing to do after retirement is take a three week trip with my wife, just the two of us,” Rosenauer said. “We’ve been blessed in many ways and hope to add a few enhance-ments, maybe a couple spe-cial trips.”
When the vacation’s over, Rosenauer hopes to continue to do some part time work, especially in the journalistic field. He wants to continue writing and spend some time as a working journal-ist. Though he is moving on, he will definitely be re-membered by his peers and friends at Western.
“I will certainly miss him. He’s been here a long time and has shaped the journal-ism department. He started the convergent media degree here,” English department chair Michael Cadden said. “His leaving is going to be difficult for the department. Ken is a good colleague and a fun guy to have around.”
It’s like “Twilight,” with a story.
In actuality, Jonathan Levine’s zombie-flick resem-bles a more famous romantic tale.
Instead of borrowing its characters from Stephenie Meyer’s vampire series, it borrows them from William Shakespeare’s romantic trag-edy “Romeo & Juliet.”
This wasn’t a terrible idea.Through clever comedy
and a general feeling of fun, “Warm Bodies” will be a suc-cess with audiences.
A lot of the media has been in fear, by comparing this lat-est zombie-flick to the vam-pire love tales of “Twilight” but it leans more towards Shakespearian tragedy with the two lovers in this journey named “R” and “Julie.” Ring a bell?
If that isn’t enough to sway
you, R has a comedic and free-spirited friend named “M” (Mercutio, anyone?). On top of that, Julie’s father is very disapproving of R and wants him dead. Seriously, that’s Capulet. Oh, and her best friend is Nora. Pretty close to “Nurse.” Just saying.
This all works, though. The film is pure entertainment. There are a lot of plot holes and characteristics involved that don’t make much sense or seem ridiculous, but the audience shouldn’t really care.
Putting logistics into a film like this would be like try-ing to figure out why spin-ach makes Popeye stronger. There’s no need for it.
The base of the story is that R, who can’t remember his entire name, is a zombie who spends his days at an airport finding human flesh to feed upon. When he eats the heart of “Perry”, he gains Perry’s
knowledge and memory. There’s that craziness I men-tioned.
Perry was actually the boy-friend of Julie, so therefore he develops a strong love for her. This sets up a lot of well-
executed jokes and awkward situations between many of the characters.
Both the lead actors, Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer, do a good job. They both have great comedic tim-
ing and they earn their pay-checks. Rob Corddry, who plays M, is the “X-Factor” of the film as he creates some great laughs and generates an overall enjoyable pres-ence on-screen.
John Malkovich plays Ju-lie’s father who is a military general of sorts and is lead-ing the hunt against the zom-bies. It’s pretty obvious that he isn’t putting too much ef-fort into the role and is just treating it as another pay-check, but it still works.
Director Jonathan Levine puts forth a solid effort with this film, but there were still some flaws and inconsis-tencies. With his last film (50/50), Levine was able to put out a story that was fun-ny but also really tugged at the heart. This wasn’t exactly the case with “Warm Bod-ies.”
I understand that this was just a zombie-flick romantic
comedy fun time, but Levine was never really able to find a for-sure identity with the film.
There were moments where it felt like a well-written romantic comedy, but then it would switch to a full-out zombie film for 20 minutes or so. There wasn’t a real consistency of style within the film. At the same time, it’s hard to really hold the film accountable for much of anything. The purpose of it is to be a fun time with some laughs. Does it succeed at that? Yes, very much so.
All in all, “Warm Bodies” is worth the admission price. It has its flaws, but it is better than a majority of the films out there right now, and it is definitely the best choice for a Valentines Day trip to the theater. Go see this film and fall madly in love. With Zombies.
Zombie love in a new light
Jourdan Ryan | Features [email protected]
Lead actor Nicholas Hoult stars in this romantic vampire flick. *Photocourtseyofimdb.com
Brian Duskey | Multimedia [email protected]
JQ Dever | Staff [email protected]
Professor leaves mark
A journey’s endAfter 34 years of teaching at Western, EFLJ professor and Western graduate Kenneth Rosenauer is retiring. *Submittedphoto
Show love & spend less
JoeSnapp|GraphicsEditor
Dinner at Applebees - 2 for $20
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- PRICELESSPlaza 8 Theatres - $3
Ice Skating at Bode’s Ice
Arena - $5
We all think of iconic fig-ures during black history month, but Marisa Grayson, the only African American on the dance team, thinks of her father, Rodney Grayson, who is both her inspiration and her biggest supporter.
Grayson began dancing when she was four years old and she continued dancing when she got to high school. After high school, she was unsure if she wanted to con-tinue dancing for a college.
“I was more focused on getting used to college and figuring out what all went on,” Grayson said.
But after a friend persuad-ed her to go to tryouts she quickly realized her danc-ing career was not over and joined the team. When com-paring differences between high school and college dancing, Grayson said, “Col-lege is a lot more hands-on and we actually dance with the band. That’s something we didn’t do in high school.”
In high school, Grayson said the dancers had much more control when it came to cutting their own music
and making up their own dances. Now, at the college level, they’re told what they will be dancing to and may not know until the week of.
The Missouri Western dance team participates in basketball and football events as well as parades during the fall.
“I wish we had more spirit, I’m a really peppy person,” Grayson said when asked what she would like to see change at Missouri Western. “When I go to a school I like to wear their colors proud.”
She believes this is some-thing that is already improv-ing and could be seen during the final home playoff game last football season.
“Standing on the sideline and looking up in the crowd I could see more black and, gold than grey from the con-crete,” Grayson said.
As a full time student ma-joring in physical therapy and minoring in sports sci-ence, Grayson has to man-age her time to find room for both schoolwork and dance.
“Everyone on the team has busy schedules. Some of us work, some of us don’t. But we all get each other’s strug-gles, and we’re all patient
with one another,” Grayson said. “It’s kind of like a fam-ily, I guess you could say.”
Even with Grayson’s busy schedule, she is still able to spend time with both her dance family and her family at home. She says that her fa-ther is the most inspirational person in her life, and that she only became more in-spired by hin when traged struck her family.
“Everywhere we go, my dad gets stopped by people and they’re always like, ‘You’ve done a great job rais-ing your girls,’” Grayson said. “That means a lot to me because my mom died when I was 9 so it’s just been me, my dad and my sister since then. For people to realize what he’s done for me and my sister is really important to me.”
With the support of her family, Grayson wants to stick with the dance team and eventually move to Chi-cago to work on a profes-sional sports team’s physical therapy crew.
Until then, she lives by the words of her father: “You have all your life to work, do what you love while you’re young.”
FEATURES February 14, 2013
The Griffon NewsPage 5
Jason Ruckman | Staff [email protected]
Cut from the cloth of
historyMarisa Grayson
Mystic recalls her special inspiration
When I go to a school, I like
to wear their colors proud
“”
Hanna Greenwell | Design Artist
We often think of MWSU as a school with students primarily from this area or at least the state, but as our university grows, so does the diversity of its inhabitants.
Ahmad Shah is an interna-tional student from Afghani-stan who came to Missouri Western in the spring of 2009. Growing up in Pakistan and Afghanistan, he attended an international high school where he would meet people from 27 different countries, learn six languages, and soon after, decide to continue his studies in the United States.
Upon arriving to the US in 2009, Shah said there was not as much of a culture shock for him because of his experiences with the Ameri-can teachers he had in high school.
“The principal in high school was from St. Joseph and recommended the uni-versity to me,” Shah said.
He is currently majoring in political science and plans to graduate this spring and fol-low that up with getting his Master’s Degree in the US as well. Before that though, he will continue residing as president of the international club and working with his internship at the division of student affairs. One respon-sibility as president of the international club is helping new international students get on their feet when first arriving to Western. Shah said he likes to show new students their way around and how to deal with issues they run into.
“My first priority to the new internationals is that I want to make them feel as comfortable as possible so they don’t feel they’re in such a different and overwhelm-ing place, while emphasizing that their experience here is all about how much you put into it,” Shah said.
With all the organizations and classes Shah is involved in, he says he still manages to have social time and enjoys campus activities such as go-ing to football games or vol-leyball matches.
“During the day, we go to class and everything,” Shah said, “but at the end of the day, we like to sit down and
discuss our personal issues, problems, happiness and sadness. We must always have time for that.”
Carl Osterlund used to live with Shah, so he has a small idea of the struggles that Shah has gone through in the United States. He grew to re-spect Shah because he gave him the same in return.
“Living with Ahmad was easy since he was generous about letting me live my own way,” Osterlund said.
After finishing his degree at Western and then attain-ing his Master’s Degree, Shah plans to possibly work
somewhere in the Midwest for a few years and then re-turn to Afghanistan to work and be closer to his family. His degree will push him toward the field of politics and working with the gov-ernment, but he adds that he would enjoy working with humanitarian organizations as well.
Shah said that the word “appreciation” was not big enough to convey his grati-tude for his stay here and for all those who have support-ed him at Western.
Shah, who moved to the U.S. from Afghanistan, has been pursuing his education at Western since 2009. Gilbert Imbiri | Photo Editor
Shah captures the campus behind his lens as he makes West-ern his home away from home. *Submitted photo
Lending a hand:International student gives back
The Nontraditional and Commuter Student Center is hosting free tax prep by appointment only for cur-rent students doing simply tax returns and those with gross yearly income less than $57,000.
This opportunity will be available in Eder Hall, Room 200, on Feb. 23 from 8:30 a.m to 4:30 p.m. and Feb. 24 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Dr. Rebecca J. Travnichek will be donating her time to assist the student body with their taxes. To take advan-tage of the tax prep, all stu-dents have to do is drop in and reserve a spot in Eder Hall, Room 200, anytime from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Student program coordi-nator Jason Mullin said that students will need to bring a copy of their W-2’s, a 1098-T
form and their social security numbers to be fully prepared and have their taxes ready to be submitted.
Nontraditional student Miky Wafai, who works the front desk at the NCS Center, noted how students should want to attend because it’ll be helpful for incoming col-lege students to get familiar with their taxes by learn-ing to do them and save the money they would normally spend with a tax preparer.
Executive administrative associate for the VP of stu-dent affairs Minerva Torres, who helps manage and co-ordinate events for the NCS Center, mentioned how at-tending the tax prep will help students not only get their returns in a more time-ly manner without financial loss but it will also aid stu-dents in finishing their FAF-SA as well, which will in turn make them easier to obtain
as much financial aid as they can since some funds recov-ered from the FAFSA are on a first come, first serve basis.
When asked what the fo-cus or goal of the center was, Mullin said, “The NCS Center aims to be a primary resource on campus for the student body specifically but not limited to the nontradi-tional, commuter and vet-eran students.”
He went on to say how the center focuses on academ-ics and facilitating life skills. There, you can find impor-tant information that you might need, from bus sched-ules and maps of St. Joseph to lists of local food pantries or charities. There are even listings of local apartments with reasonable rent fees for a college student’s bud-get and, of course a help-ing hand to guide st,udents through it all.
Alexis Mosley | Contributing [email protected]
Jason Ruckman | Staff [email protected]
Brian Ramsey and Jennifer Webb study in the Nontraditional Student Services Center. While neither will be filing for taxes, they believe that the event will be beneficial and are glad that the center is hosting it. Dave Hon | Senior Editor
Nontraditional Center offers free tax service to students
Alongside her fellow Mystic dance members, Marisa Grayson struts her stuff on the court. Jason Brown | Photo Contributor
CAMPUS VOICE
OPINIONS The Griffon NewsPage 6
The Griffon News is written and published by students of Missouri Western State University during the fall and spring semesters. The first copy of each issue is free; addi-tional copies are 50 cents. Content of this paper is developed independently of the facul-ty and administration, or other campus organizations or offices. Readers are encouraged to submit story ideas, information and advertising to The Griffon News office, Eder 221, 4525 Downs Drive, St. Joseph, Mo. 64507, or by phoning (816) 271-4412 (advertising and news room). You may also e-mail [email protected]. Copy and advertising must be received by noon Friday, the week prior to publication.
Guidelines for letters to the editor:• All letters to the editor must be typed and double spaced. Letters must be no longer
than 350-400 words and guest columns no longer than 500 words. Letters and columns will be edited for style.
• All letters must include signature and identity verification information, such as phone number. The Griffon News reserves the right to edit all letters for length and Associated Press style.
• The Griffon News will not withhold names under any circumstances. Anonymously submitted letters will not be published.
• Views expressed on the opinion pages are not necessarily those of The Griffon News staff or Missouri Western State University.
Managing EditorGraphics Editor
News & Online EditorAssistant News Editor
Photo EditorPhoto Editor
Assistant Photo EditorSports Editor
Assistant Sports EditorFeatures Editor
Opinions EditorMultimedia Editor
Design ArtistDesign ArtistAd Manager
Senior EditorFaculty Advisor
Eboni LaceyEditor-in-Chief
Katelyn CanonJoe SnappMatthew HuntAlbert ShelbyEvan Roberts Tevin Harris Gilbert ImbiriKyle InmanChristian MengelJourdan RyanAndy GarrisonBrian DuskeyLauren DillonHanna Greenwell Mika Cummins Dave HonBob Bergland
The Griffon News Staff
February 14, 2013
Jacob LampSophomore
“Just some quiet time.”
“The best Valentine’s Day gift I could receive is something completely random. I don’t want nothing that you can go to the store and buy. It has to be something that is off the wall.”
“The best Valentine’s day gift I could be given is Alt J tickets because they are currently unavailable and I prefer hydrangeas over roses.”
“I feel like I want some chocolates and then to go out to eat and then to watch a little movie with somebody. I just really want to spend time with somebody.”
Racheal WardFreshman
Kayla WingJunior
Tobias PointerSophomore
Student Government Association. The highest governing body for students on a university campus is not simply seen just as lead-ers but more of a gateway to achieving expectations.
It’s just sad that when this group of individuals work to accomplish goals and help improve the way of life for students that they can’t even get 30 percent of the stu-dent body to vote. I think what makes it even worse is that you have events, such as a casino night that bring out over 800 or even 1000 students for one night to
gamble fake money to win prizes.
There’s a real problem when you start seeing stu-dents care more about a flat screen television than about pieces of legislation that deal with hundreds of thousands of dollars toward programs for education.
It’s not a negativity thing toward events for universi-ties; it’s the fact that our student body is not being persuaded to vote for our SGA leaders.
Students who run for sen-ate and SGA do work hard ,regardless of what the press
and student body might think. It takes individuals who are willing to work hard every day to help ensure the best education for students if important issues come their way. Now, there are decisions that the student government makes that are confusing and sometimes out there.
However, the way to get back and elect students into the Student Government is to vote. No, you won’t get prizes for voting for a stu-dent in an elected position. But, you will elect a student that you believe will have
your best interests in mind when it comes to the hard decisions.
The solution is simple... Either the SGA needs to start having a casino night where students must vote before going to gamble or they need to change their strategy and tell the student body that there are issues that could drastically affect the entire student body, which means each and every one of us.
We’ve seen what the SGA has been through with the budget crisis, alcohol policy and smoking bans. These are issues that affect students,
all students. Maybe, SGA should consider scholarships for student senator positions to get more people involved and maybe increase the number of people voting. The more people run, the more people vote.
These individuals have friends, these friends will vote for them and it will increase the voting statistics.
It’s time to wake up and come up with a strategy in time for the upcoming elec-tion.
OUT FRONTWITH HUNT
SGA should consider bribing students to vote
Chivalry is dead, and it’s buried next to courtesy and common sense.
We all have to share the campus and classrooms at Western so it only makes sense that we treat each other and the faculty with respect; sadly, that trend seems to be fading quickly.
One of the major things that I see more frequently is what I will name “the idiot parade.”
The idiot parade is that group of four or five that walks shoulder to shoulder along the sidewalk refusing to collapse their group when students are coming in the opposite direction forcing them off of the edge and
into the mud and grass to go around them.
There is no reason to go skipping hand-in-hand down the damn sidewalk like it’s The Wizard of Oz or something; there is plenty of room for everyone.
The second thing I will highlight is what I will call “auditory molestation.”
These are the people that sit at the back of a classroom and talk just loud enough to damage my calm but not quite loud enough for the instructor to hear them.
If they had something that interesting to say, Western would pay them to stand up in front of everyone and talk
instead of the professor.Maintaining control over
the auditory blow-hole is an important life-skill. Please master it.
Equally as annoying and disruptive are what I will call the “finger beaters.”
The finger beaters are the students who won’t stop tex-ting in class to save their life.
It is not very conducive to the learning process for everyone else if every five seconds the professor has to pause the class to tell some-one for the twentieth time to put their phone away.
I think if some of these people were to burst spon-taneously into flame they wouldn’t even notice they
were burning alive and would continue to feverishly pound characters into melt-ing keyboards with the rem-nants of their flaming finger-nubs until they fall over.
The last group I will men-tion, I will call “the people who work really hard to make sure they will never get laid.”
More and more around campus, when I hold the door open for a female stu-dent who has her hands full, I hear “Oh, thank you! Usually, people just slam the door in my face!”
In this scenario, it was a female student but I have seen it happen to male stu-
dents as well.If that’s the attitude some-
one has towards other people, especially when it’s a person of the opposite sex, it’s prob-ably for the better that they are saving their hand and arm strength by not holding that door open for five more seconds because they will be needing that energy in their solo performances later on.
All I am saying is that it’s hard enough out there with-out all the rudeness and lack of respect for others.
All people accomplish by acting that way is to look like an ass-hat to everyone around them. Do yourself a favor and don’t look like an ass-hat.
Mandatory blow-hole control
Before Esther Peralez, Missouri Western was with-out a vice president for Student Affairs. If her brief time here taught students and faculty one thing, it’s that; we need a VP.
It’s an important job. College isn’t just about grades and diplomas. It’s about an experience. What students need is an admin-istrator that understands who they are and what they are going through. College can be a rough transition for 18-year-olds and the same can be said for non-tradi-tional students. We need an administrator who under-stands and empathizes with the plight of both of these groups.
College is also a time of experimentation. This is the unwritten allowance of the college experience. We don’t have to go into detail about what college students may or may not do during their time here, but mistakes will be made. The vice president for student affairs must be for-giving and understand that
during periods of growth, these mistakes are made.
Also, the vice president for student sffairs must under-stand what students want. This must be a natural ability, not one discovered through surveys and questionnaires. The ideal vice president will be able to draw on his or her own experiences from college and remember what excited them about college. They must be able to say that their college experience was memorable and help create those memories for Western’s students.
No doubt, being the vice president for student affairs at Missouri Western may be one of the most demand-ing positions at this school or in the state. Western is diverse in ways that other schools are not. Relating to all of these different types of students will be difficult at times.
The vice president must be able to transition between roles for these students because not everyone at Western is looking for the
same experience.Some of us are just look-
ing for a GPA. Others are still looking for themselves. Some of us know exactly what we want. Regardless, we all have different needs and wants from our univer-sity, but we all need some-thing or else we wouldn’t be here.
Specifically the VP of stu-dent affairs oversees mul-tiple programs and associa-tions on our campus. All of these programs and asso-ciations deal directly with students, be it student life, student success or student growth. Essentially, the VP represents all of us. We need a VP that truly understands us.
Western is a home for nomads. We’re a place that accepts anyone regardless of ACT, GPA or DUIs. There are felons and scholars in our halls but we’re proud of them all. The only thing we ask is that the next vice president for student affairs is one of us.
What is the best gift you
could receive for Valentine’s
Day?
w/ Andy Garrison
EDITORIAL: New VP must be in tune with students
Help wanted!
STUDENT AFFAIRS
Joe Snapp | Graphics Editor
SPORTS February 14, 2013
The Griffon NewsPage 7
Griffons sing the blues at WashburnWestern Women played
the No. 9 ranked Washburn Lady Blues tough in the first half. The second half was a completely different story as the Lady Blues handed the Griffons a 65-48 loss on the road.
The Griffons fell to 13-8 overall and 6-7 in MIAA con-ference play.
Heather Howard led the Griffons with 14 points, five steals and four rebounds. Alicia Bell and Brittany Griswold both added seven points and three rebounds. Western came out shoot-ing well leading the Lady Blues 12-9 and played great defense. After that 12-9 lead Western would never lead again in the game.
“We just stopped making shots,” coach Rob Edmisson said.
In the first half Western made only eight field goals, they shot 36 percent from the field.
“We have to finish shots,” Heather Howard said.
With only making eight field goals in the first half Western still only trailed 20-26 at halftime.
Missouri Western forced the Lady Blues to 29 turn-overs in the game.
“It was kind of dishearting when you take the best team in the conference top 10 team in the country and force them into 29 turnovers and not be-ing able to capitalize on that and not being able to win the game,” Edmisson said.
In the second half Wash-burn came out blazing, out-scoring the Griffons 39-28 and holding the Griffons to a 26 percent field goal percent-age on 9-for-34 shooting.
“We got a lot of offensive woes,” Edmisson said.
The Lady Blues shot 59 percent in the second half.
“It’s really disappointing to work that hard on de-fense and execute our game-plan and give up wide open shots,” Alicia Bell said.
The Lady Blues largest lead was 23 at the 2:37 mark. They had three players scor-ing in double-digits while Western only had one player
scoring double-digits.Missouri Western had 14
points off the Lady Blues 29 turnovers. The Lady Blues out-rebounded Western 39-20. Western shot 17-for-56 30.4 percent field goals and went 6-17 and shot 35.3 per-cent from the 3-point line. With this loss, Western has dropped its second consecu-tive game. The Griffons will have a week long rest to pre-pare for Washburn.
“It will freshen up our legs and will help them physical-ly and mentally,” Edmisson said.
The Griffons are currently ranked No. 8 in the MIAA conference with a record of 6-7 with four games left to play. Western will try to get back on track for the remain-der of the regular season af-ter losing five of its last six games after getting off to a fast start.
Howard has been the lead-er of the team all season long, averaging team-high in re-bounds and points with 13.8 and 9.8 rebounds per game.
Gary Smith | Staff Writer [email protected]
Western forward Sharniece Lewis breaks down her defender off the dribble against the Lady Blues at the Lee Arena in Washburn, Kan. Tevin Harris | Photo Editor
Griffon baseball dropped three out of four games to start its season against 4-4 Arkansas Tech after receiv-ing high praise in the pre-season rankings.
Western split 1-1 on Sun-day, losing the first game 6-5 and winning game two. Pitcher Brandon Simmons earned his first win of the season by allowing just three hits and one earned run in four innings.
Short stop Michael Schulze led the way on offense going 2-for-4 including a double and a home run with three runs batted in.
Monday, the Griffons dropped two close games of the second double header against Arkansas Tech 5-6 and 7-9.
Spring Sports Shorts
Spring Sports Shorts
No. 25 Griffons get off to rocky start
Softball goes 2-2 in Oklahoma
Western softball, ranked No. 3 in the MIAA preseason pole, won two and lost two in Durant, Oklahoma before the final day of the tourna-ment was cancelled due to rain.
The Griffons lost a close on to Henderson State 4-3 before putting on a display of dominance in a 12-1 win over Southern Nazarene. Keri Lorbert went 3-for-4 at the plate with six runs bat-ted in during the win while Michelle Stevenson went 3-for-3. Pitcher Jackie Bishop picked up her first win of the season after taking a rare loss in the first game.
The third game was a 9-4
loss against SouthEast Okla-homa State and Western bounced back in game No. 4 with a 5-4 win over Cam-eron.
Sarah Elliott led the Grif-fons in average, going 7-for-12 to start the season.
Jackie BishopStarting Pitcher
Brandon SimmonsStarting Pitcher
Western men’s basketball still has to pull out some wins to completely secure its spot as one of the 12 teams invited to the MIAA post-season tournament in Kan-sas City.
“For us to be serious, I think we need another win against one of the contenders and beat Kearney(Nebraska) and Southern Baptist,” coach Tom Smith said.
With four games left to play, the Griffons find them-selves clinging to the last spot in the tournament with a one-game lead over Tru-man State University.
The Griffons will play in a hostile environment against rival Northwest Missouri State in Maryville on Feb. 20. The Bearcats are current-ly locked in to a three way tie for the No. 5 seed in the tournament and hold a three game lead over Western.
However, Western holds a 1-0 record against this season as they pulled off an 71-58 upset over the Bearcats at the MWSU Fieldhouse.
Western will return home on Feb. 23 to play Nebraska-Kearney who has only won three games in the confer-ence this season and sit at second to last. Western also beat Kearney the only time that the two schools met this season 74-66.
A tough road contest lies on Feb. 27 when the Griffons travel to Hays, Kan. to play Fort Hays State who is tied for first place in the confer-ence. The Griffons played them tough in the first con-test against Hays, but fell 84-74 in overtime.
Seeding should be on the line for the last game of the season when Southwest Baptist comes to play at the MWSU Fieldhouse on March 2. Baptist holds only a one game lead over Western in the MIAA standings and the
two teams haven’t met up at all this season.
The MIAA only has one team ranked in the top-25 nationally and none of the teams appear to be unbeat-able heading into the final stretch of the season.
“I can’t ever recall this league not having one or two teams in the top-25,” Smith said. “No one is just com-pletely dominant and can go out there and overpower everybody. No matter what happens -- no matter where you go -- you have a chance and you may or may not play well but you have a chance.”
Smith has cut his rotation down to seven or eight play-ers in preparation of the post season. For the players part, they don’t want to be the team that didn’t give Smith the opportunity to coach in one last postseason tourna-ment before he retires after the season.
“That’s not how he wants to go out and we don’t want
the season to end like that,” guard Reed Mells said. “We missed it last year and we all felt pretty bad about that so we don’t want to miss it again. We just need to win as many gaems as we can. I think it’s doable to make the tournament and we are more talented than our record shows, but this point in the season you are who you are so we just need to get in and try to be dangerous.”
The Griffons have strug-gled with consistency, but have shown improvement over the course of the season and are aiming to play their best basketball down the stretch.
“Consistency is our biggest issue,” Mells said. “I think we have games and practices where we take steps back or we don’t get better which you can’t afford, especially now, but overall I think weve been getting better.”
Griffon men prepare for final stretch with hopes of Kansas City
Kyle Inman | Sports [email protected]
Cedric Clinkscales, who leads the Griffons in scoring and rebounds, will be a key factor in the teams success down the stretch. Evan Roberts | Photo Editor
Jason Brown | Photo Contributor
Jas
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SPORTS February 14, 2013
The Griffon NewsPage 8
Andy Inman and Chad Hammontree | Design Artist and Graphics Editorr
of the WEEKReed Mells
ATHLETE#4 - Guard
Andy Inman and Chad Hammontree | Design Artist and Graphics Editor
4
REED MELLS
Reed Mells led the Griffons to road win against No. 17 Washburn with his season high points and assists. He scored 18 points, con-nect with teammates for 7 assists, pulled down 4 rebounds and added 3 steals on the defensive end while shootingt 5-for-9 from the field including two from 3-point distance. Mells score the final 9 points of the game includ-ing hitting six straight from the free throw line to seal the victory.
Griffons catch FIRE:Hot shooting leads to road win over No. 17-ranked team in the country
Western men’s basket-ball put on its best shoot-ing display of the season in a 79-74 upset win over No. 17-ranked Washburn University in Topeka, Kan.
The Griffons shot a sea-son-high in 3-point and field goal percentage, hitting 50 percent from deep and 57.8 percent overall. Six play-ers registered double-figure scoring for the first time this season.
“It’s unbelievable for us,” coach Tom Smith said. “Everything just kind of went right. We got a lot bet-ter shots than we’ve been getting too. We moved the ball better and had a lot bet-ter rhythm in what we did. We kept talking about giving ourselves a chance to win and we did.”
Point guard Reed Mells came up clutch by making six straight free throws down the stretch to seal up the victory. Mells had a break-out game scoring 18 points, dishing out seven assists, grabbing four rebounds and stole the ball three times on the defensive end.
“Reed sparked us and fueled us taking over the point guard role,” Smith said. “He’s had trouble with
that responsibility and he did it.”
One of the biggest transi-tions for sophomore Mells at the college level has been learning to impact every aspect of the game, not just focus on scoring the basket-ball. He plans to continue to make the type of all-around contributions that he dis-played against Washburn.
“To be a really good or great player you have to be able to affect the game in multiple areas and passing is an area where I think that I can help the team,” Mells said.
After a tightly contested first half, the Griffons fell down 58-49 midway through the second half but never lost their composure facing the deficit.
“We really did a good job of keeping the tempo the way we needed it,” Smith said. “We went down by nine and never hit the panic button.”
Dzenan Mrkaljevic scored 16 points in just 21 min-utes by hitting 6-for-7 from the field including 3-for-4 from 3-point distance. Dylan Frantz and Alfreeman Flowers score 12 points each while Cedric Clinkscales scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds. Kalvin Balque added 10 points including 2-for-3 from 3-point distance.
“Late in the game, we just executed very well and played a more physical game than they probably thought we could play,” Balque said. “We started to execute and it was hard to stop us.”
Western withstood 32 points from Martin Mitchell and 16 from Will McNeil, a scoring output from two players that would usually result in a loss if not for the hot shooting. Western’s post players out-scored the Ichabod big men.
“I thought our ball move-ment was really good,” Smith said. “We moved the ball well and our 3’s had a lot of rhythm to them. It was just boom,boom, boom in rhythm.”
Western was more effi-cient from the 3-point line, connecting on 10-for-20 from 3-point distance while Washburn managed to hit only 8-for-24.
Kyle Inman | Sports Editor [email protected]
(Top) Sophomore guard Reed Mells coordinates with his teammates in the win against Washburn University at Lee Arena in Topeka, Kan. (Bottom left) Dzenan Mrkaljevic drives to the lane against the Icabods. (Bottom right) Dylan Frantz sizes up his opponent. The Griffons won 79-74, beating the No. 17-ranked team in the country. JQ Dever | Staff Writer
Partridge signs two to fight for 2014 Quarterback spot
Reed Mells - 18 pts
Dzenan Mrkaljevic -16 pts
Dylan Frantz - 12 pts Alfreeman Flowers
- 12 pts Cedric Clinkscales
- 11 pts
Leading Scorers
Christian Mengel | Asst. Sports Editor [email protected]
Future Football Face Off
Among the 21 student ath-letes who signed on to play football for Western were two quarterbacks. Two quar-terbacks who will be com-peting against each other in practice for the next year for the most important position on the team, a position that the winner may hold for the next four years.
Skyler Windmiller of Mill Valley High School, Shawnee, Ks. and TJ LaFaver of Warrenton High School, Warrenton, Mo. both announced their intent to play for Western on National Signing Day.
Western’s coach Jerry Partridge made it clear that the two future quarterbacks will both redshirt their first season.
“We will not kill a year on mop-up duty,” Partridge said. “If they are playing next year it’s because of worst case scenario; injury.”
This means after the cur-rent quarterback, Travis Partridge, finishes his senior year this season, there will be a quarterback job open-ing for the following season. By that time the top two candidates, Windmiller and LaFaver will both have four years of playing time to con-
tribute to the team.“We historically have not
had transfer quarterbacks,” Partridge said. “We’ve been able to raise our own and build them. In some cases some of them have had gigantic pedigrees, such as Drew Newhart. Some were considered option quarter-backs that couldn’t throw it and ended up being first team all-conference. So we’ve done a good job at picking kids out and devel-oping them into football players.”
Windmiller and LaFaver are two of 15 offensive play-ers Western had signed on National Signing Day. LaFaver is one of 13 sign-ees from Missouri, and Windmiller is one of three signees from Kansas.
Partridge also made it known that there is no front runner for the position yet. Prior to signing, both Windmiller and LaFaver were aware of Western’s interest in each other. Both of them showed similar value to Western after they finished their high school careers, as well as other schools. Partridge also makes note as to how much self confidence they have in themselves to understand that a similar player will be competing for the same spot that only one
can get.“They were actually
trained by the same quarter-back instructional guy that Drew Newhart was, so they knew about each other,” Partridge said. “That tells you what kind of character they have and what com-petitive zeal they have to both say ‘look I’m going to be the guy.”’
It was difficult for recruit-ers to compare and contrast their physical capabilities because of how similar they are. Their sizes are virtu-ally identical, being within one inch of height and five pounds from each another. Their playing styles are very similar, from their long ball throwing strength to their athletic scrambling abilities.
Although both are very athletic, running speed was the only category stated that one had an advantage over the other. Not only is LaFaver
faster than Windmiller and Travis Partridge, he was fast-er than any defensive back or wide receiver they had at a combine-like event dur-ing his visit, according to Partridge.
Windmiller may be slower, but he has the slight advan-tage when you compare their high school stats. He had 2231 passing yards and 28 passing touchdowns, with 586 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns on 92 car-ries his senior season, while LaFaver had 1829 passing yards and 18 touchdowns, with 466 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on 91 carries.
There is no quarterback controversy as long as Travis Partridge remains healthy this season, but the follow-ing season will have a lot of questions. Those questions will bring answers that will likely decide who will be Western’s future field leader.
Coach Partridge signed 21 student athletes for the upcom-ing 2013 football season. Among these 21 included two star Quarterbacks with nearly identical stats. These two will be competing for the 2014 spot of starting Quarterback. Evan Roberts | Photo Editor