the griffon news, issue 1
DESCRIPTION
The Griffon News is the student run Newspaper for Missouri Western State University.TRANSCRIPT
August 30, 2012
NON-PROFIT ORG.U.S. POSTAGE
PA I DPERMIT NO. 32St. JOSEPH, MO
Vol 94 | Issue 25 griffonnews.com
De’Ondre Ross is already succeeding with his first single, “Song Goes Off.”
See page 5.
Greg Zuerlein gives MWSU a starting representative in the NFL as a St. Louis Ram.See page 8
Vartabedian answers questions about the 2 percent pay increase.
See page 6
On Aug. 19, 2012, Mis-souri Western’s Board of Governors approved the university’s FY2013 budget. It included a 2 percent salary increase for all of Western’s employees. It stipulates a minimum increase of at least $600 annual increase for ev-ery full time employee.
The pay increase went into effect July 1, 2012.
“We are very pleased that recent actions by Gov. Jay Nixon and the Missouri Gen-eral Assembly, as well as the generous support of our stu-dents, has provided the nec-essary resources to move for-ward in this way,” President Dr. Robert Vartabedian said in a memo to employees the day after the board’s action.
There has been no pay in-crease for Western’s employ-ees for over four years. Some employees were surprised when it was announced.
“It was not expected and
definitely appreciated,” John Hopper said. Hopper is a carpenter at Western.
His colleague, painter
Bruce Parsley agreed with Hopper and said he was glad he received a raise.
“It shows that we are ap-
preciated.”Both men also agreed that
not only have they been given raises, but also Vart-
abedian had expressed ap-preciation during the four dry years by personal visits. There he would personally express the campus’ appre-ciation.
“It means a lot more than money when the president says ‘Good job,’” Parsley said.
Two percent or $600 per year may not seem like much, but most employees are happy to get any raise.
“We would love for it to be more, but I think people are pleased,” Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Jeanne Daffron said. “We are happy to do any-thing we can after four years of nothing.”
The pay increases are not exactly across the board. Salaries above $30,000 an-nually received a 2 percent increase. Full-time person-nel making below $30,000 received a $600 annual in-crease. Employees that serve part time received a prorated increase. The salary increases
only benefited those having worked at least three months prior to July 1, 2012.
Student workers did not receive a pay increase be-cause they are paid from departmental budgets. Any approved raises would also come from the department’s budget.
“We are working on raises for student workers now,” Student Employment Coor-dinator Matthew Gregg said. “We are finishing the steps for the proposal now.”
Pay raises, if any, for stu-dent workers are expected to also be small, but greatly appreciated. They, too, have seen next to no pay increas-es for a lengthy time. The greatest reason is that when departments agree to pay student workers more, their budgets do not get increased automatically.
Increases in student work-ers’ pay lower the amount the departments can spend for other necessities.
The Baker Fitness Center closed this summer, but for a good cause: renovation. Not only does it benefit the students and the community, but the soccer team as well.
The renovations cost a little over $220,000, which included redoing the front desk area, knocking down the wall between the cardio and the multi-purpose room to expand the area and tak-ing out the old coaches offic-es for a larger multi-purpose room fit for classes and other activities.
A new locker room was also implemented for the Arizona Cardinals during Chiefs camp. However, the
area is now a permanent home for one of the sports teams on campus.
Eight years ago, the soccer team was brought into the world of Missouri Western sports. During those eight years, however, the team was not really given its own per-sonal locker room – instead the women’s swimming locker room was offered.
“We would occasionally get sidetracked with old women and young girls coming in and out (of the locker room) during pre-game talks,” senior soccer player Erin Widrig said. “It was pretty distracting.”
Athletic Director Kurt Mc-Guffin said the number one goal of the Baker renovations was to give soccer its own locker room.
“Soccer is our biggest par-ticipation female sport of the six women’s sports we have with over 20 student-athletes, and for them to not have a home locker room was not in the best interest of MWSU.”
Although Widrig’s a se-nior and will only use it for one year, she says she will enjoy it while she can. At this point, she’s just excited and happy she and her team-mates can use it.
“We are very thankful we have been awarded the op-portunity to have the locker room, and we plan on using it to help us this season as we look to make a step forward in the program,” Widrig said.
At Western’s first Board of Governors meeting, both triumph and opportunity were among the things the board looked for as they be-gan going through Western’s numerous departments and awaited updates from de-partment leaders.
One of the highlighted suc-cesses came from residential life as the department was able to establish Greek hous-ing within Juda Hall, begin renovating the super singles and ultimately rebuild the outdoor basketball courts, all within a summer.
“We started with four stu-dents last fall,” Mark Stier, director of Residential Life, said in reference to how many Greek students were living in the Greek dorms. “We went from four to 40. Of
those 40 students, five were of those were non-residential students who will be bought back to campus.”
President Dr. Robert Var-tabedian noted another tri-umph through the Craig School of Business’s ex-panded opportunity with its “Applied Entrepreneur-ship” course. Craig School, partnering with the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Fac-
tory, was able to extend their course and offer it every se-mester, giving more Craig School students managerial employment opportunities.
“We could possibly have 40 new stores in the next four years,” Vartabedian said.
The most debatable notion of the meeting came from the proposal to amend the alco-hol policy.
The proposal was to in-
clude the selling and/or consumption of alcohol to the Spratt Hall Atrium, the Remington Hall Atrium, Pot-ter Hall Gallery and lobby, the Stadium Club of Spratt Stadium, Room 114 of the Looney Complex and at university events hosted by Vartabedian and members of
4200
3600
3000
2400
1800
1200
$600
Employees (under $30,000)
+$600 raise
Administrative Asst. ($28,915.80 avg.)
+$600 raise
Professor($76,342.88 avg.)
+$1,526.86 raise
President($185,400)
+$3,708 raise)
2% Raise Payroll Chart
Average income as of July 1, 2011
Ellis Cross | News [email protected]
Faculty, staff receive 2% increase
The front entrance was just one of the many important renovations of the Baker Fitness Center. Evan Roberts | Photo Editor
Blair Stalder | Managing [email protected]
Baker Center granted much-needed renovations
SEE BAKER PAGE 2
Eboni Lacey | [email protected]
Board considers modifying alcohol policy; celebrates early successes
SEE ALCOHOL PAGE 2
The sweetest deal at Mis-souri Western just got a lit-tle sweeter. In the past four years, graduates of the Ste-ven L. Craig School of Busi-ness have been given the opportunity to partner with the school’s benefactor to operate a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory franchise.
The MWSU-RMCF part-nership stores are in nine lo-cations across America and are operated by nine Western graduates.
President Dr. Robert Var-tabedian announced in a press conference Monday, Aug. 13 that the relationship between Western and Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory is expanding.
Starting this semester, the Applied Entrepreneurship
class will be offered in both the fall and spring semesters.
“This will allow us to at least double the number of entrepreneurs the program prepares each year, and it may grow significantly be-yond that,” Vartabedian said.
The expansion also in-cludes, for the first time, all alumni. Any graduate of the Craig School of Business, no matter when they graduated, now has the opportunity to submit a business plan to the selection panel. If selected, students are awarded own-ership in a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory store.
“This is a unique opportu-nity known only to Missouri Western graduates,” Dean of the Craig School of Busi-ness,” Philip Nitse said.
Ellis Cross | News [email protected]
Craig School offers a ‘sweet’ deal for students
SEE SWEETS PAGE 2
(Left) Here are the old basketball courts behind the Commons building before the renovations.(Right) The courts are like brand new after receiving new flooring and fully refurbished hoops. *Submitted Photos
Andy Inman | Design Artist
NEWS August 30, 2012
The Griffon NewsPage 2
If your organization would like to announce an event, e-mail the information to
Beshears Hall
Juda Hall
Commons
Leaverton Hall
Griffon Hall
Scanlon Hall
Vaselakos Hall
Missouri Dept. of Conservation
Griffon Spring Sports Complex
Blum Union
Fulkerson Center
Leah Spratt Hall
Hearnes Center
Remington Hall
Murphy Hall
Eder HallPopplewell Hall
Spratt Stadium
Baker Family Fitness Center
Griffon Indoor Sports Complex
Looney Comlex
Wilson Hall
Potter Hall
Logan Hall
Downs Drive
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
CAMPUS INFORMATIONCAMPUS CRIME REPORTS
1. Stealing 3:00p.m.,Wednesday,August15,DownsDrive2. AbandonedProperty 12:13a.m.,SaturdayJuly28,DownsDrive3. PropertyDamage 8:00a.m.,Monday,June25,DownsDrive4. Burglary 2:21p.m.,Tuesday,June5,DownsDrive
Thursday,August30• GriffonFootballvsUniversity
ofCentralMissouri6:00p.m. .
Friday,August31• GriffonWomen’sSoccervs
SouthwesternOklahomaStateUniversity7:30p.m.
Sunday,September2• GriffonWomen’sSoccervsEast
CentralUniversity2:30pm
Monday,September3• LaborDayHoliday(noclasses/
campusclosed)
Saturday,September8• GriffonFootballvsWilliam
JewellCollege6:00p.m.
Sunday,September9• GriffonWomen’sSoccervsGracelandUniversity4:00p.m.
Tuesday,September11• GriffonVolleyballvsNorthwest
MissouriStateUniversity7:00pm
Friday,September14• GriffonVolleyballvsMissouri
SouthernStateUniversity7:00p.m.
NEWSNOTES
Open auditions for ‘J.B.’ scheduled
Aug. 28The theatre and cinema pro-gram at Missouri Western State University held open auditions for “J.B.,” its first production of the 2012-13 season, “A Year of the Tony,” from 6-10 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 28 in the Potter Hall Theater. Rehearsals will begin Thurs-day, Aug. 30 and run Sunday through Thursday evenings. Performances are Oct. 4-7.
Youth music program auditions
scheduled; sliding scale fees
introducedAuditions have been sched-uled for two music educa-tion programs of the Western Institute at Missouri West-ern State University. Audi-tions for Griffon Junior Sing-ers, for children in grades 2 through 10, began at 5:15 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 29. Auditions for Symphonic Youth Orchestra, for youth in grades 7 through 12 or those with sufficient experience on their instrument, will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 30. Auditions may be scheduled by calling the Western Insti-tute at 816-271-4117.
Gilmore appointed interim
VP for Financial Planning and Administration
Dr. Robert Vartabedian, pres-ident of Missouri Western State University, has named Richard Gilmore interim vice president for financial plan-ning and administration, ef-fective July 1. Gilmore, an alumnus of Missouri West-ern, is currently associate vice president for the divi-sion.
Now that the soccer sea-son has started, the athletes have already started using the locker room. Although not decorated yet, the tele-visions have already been installed for watching game film, which is something they could hardly do before.
The soccer players aren’t
the only ones who are happy about the changes, however.
McGuffin also said secu-rity for the workers at the front desk area was defi-nitely needed and believes it is appreciated, which Baker Fitness Center Coordinator Amy Foley proves.
“They totally redid the whole area up front by ex-panding it and added new desks, which was really nice,” Foley said.
While McGuffin is pleased
with the renovations, he shows there is still more to come for the future.
“To me there is still some work to be done on parts of Baker,” McGuffin said. “I would like to see new floor-ing, a new paint job, and of course the replacement of equipment still needs to take place, but overall I think the users of Baker will see the improvements and appreci-ate the work that was done and that is yet to be done.”
the cabinet at their personal residences.
Athletic Director Kurt Mc-Guffin saw the greatest need for the approval of the Loo-ney and Spratt complexes as it could be used to reward the Gold Coat members and Western Athletic VIPs and provide more opportunity for expansion of those com-
plexes.“There’s a revenue piece
with selling alcohol,” Mc-Guffin said. “When people buy it we get a percentage of the sales that is ran through Aramark. You go to many fa-cilities, whether they’re ma-jor league facilities or univer-sities like ours, and you see it. Central Missouri has al-cohol at its football stadium, its suites and premium areas. Missouri Southern is doing a proposal just like ours to try to get it in their facilities.”
McGuffin also noted that selling alcohol could ulti-mately lead to more gifts from the Gold Coat Club and prestigious Western VIPs as he is hoping to expand the Spratt stadium with more VIP rooms and suites. Ac-cording to McGuffin, no uni-versity money or state mon-ey would be used to renovate these complexes.
“The number one goal is to have a revenue producing building. A lot of times when you add suites and clubs to
a stadium or a basketball fa-cility, in this case the football stadium, it produces instant revenue.”
Though the board was quite pleased with the idea of the renovations and were considerate in amending the alcohol policy, they ultimate-ly wanted to see a more spe-cific proposal before making any final decisions.
“As far as the renovations, I think they see a need to have a vision,” McGuffin said re-garding the board’s decision
to see a new proposal for the Spratt Stadium expansion. “There are needs and these types of drawings are not done in 30 days. It may be 10 years from now that we get something like this; it may be five years depending on fundraising. I think they are ready to see this on campus because it is a revenue pro-ducing building for our uni-versity.”
BAKERCONTINUED FROM FRONT
Removing the wall between the old cardio and multi-purpose rooms allows more space for treadmills and ellipticals. Evan Roberts | Photo Editor
Soccer team looking forward to season with new locker room
He went on to say that he knew of no other university doing anything close to what Western offers.
Students interested in par-ticipating in the program need to enroll before Aug. 30 in the special entrepreneur-ship class. You must have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or
above and prepare a busi-ness plan for a store in a spe-cific location. The program includes an internship in one of the stores operated by one of Western’s graduates.
Your success doesn’t stop there, however. After being awarded the store, gradu-ates are supported by fac-ulty from the Craig School of Business and the CSB Advi-sory Council.
The program was con-ceived in November 2008 by
Steven Craig.“I wanted to find a way
to help people get into busi-ness,” Craig said. “Giving young people the chance to own and operate a business does so much, not only for the store owners themselves, but also for the community.”
Recent Western graduate Isaac Collins has been work-ing at his store in Williams-burg, Iowa, for only one and a half months. He holds two degrees in business manage-
ment and marketing. He re-ports that his store is grow-ing with increases in sales every month. He is most proud of his work with the “Fudge for Troops” cam-paign which supplies actual fudge for American troops as they serve around the globe. His store’s total is over 600 pounds of fudge shipped so far in this year’s campaign.
Leslie Oberg is the franchi-see of the Aspen Leaf Yogurt and the Rocky Mountain
Chocolate Factory in St. Jo-seph. She graduated in 2011 and received her store after her business plan was se-lected.
“All nine of the winning franchisees have had to move away from the St. Jo-seph area to finish their in-ternships,” Oberg said. “It was a great way for us to get out there and make our own path toward success.”
SWEETSCONTINUED FROM FRONT
Western grads already making it big with RMCF opportunity
ALCOHOLCONTINUED FROM FRONT
McGuffin sees possible potential revenue for sports events
President Dr. Robert Vart-abedian announced the new theme for the General Ses-sion from last year’s “You Can’t Keep a Griffon Down,” to the new theme for 2012 “We’re Back.”
Each year Vartabedian ad-dresses faculty and staff just before the fall session begins. The president’s speech usu-ally includes a “state of the campus” type speech. The
General Session for fall 2012 was August 20 at 8:30 a.m. in the Fulkerson Center.
“We have weathered a very substantial financial storm over the last four years,” Vartabedian said. “We are not out of the woods yet, but our financial future is improving.”
During his address he outlined the reasons for what he labeled “measured optimism.” The first item credited was the $750,000 annual boost to Missouri
Western’s budget funded by new student fees which were approved recently by the Student Government As-sociation.
The name given to this SGA legislation is the Stu-dent Success Act. Vartabe-dian noted that he thought the name was fitting because it “will lead to and protect student success at Western.”
The Missouri State Legisla-ture also is helping Western with a $500,000 increase of equity funding for this year.
a proposed 12.5 percent cut as it turn into a half-million-dollar gain.
Local businesses have also assisted Western with its bot-tom line by forming a part-nership designed to hire and keep graduates employed locally and keep them here. This partnership’s value was estimated to return benefits to Western of an estimated one million dollars.
The last reason for Vart-abedian’s “measured opti-mism” is a new increase in
cigarette tax which promises 30 percent of new revenues generated will go to higher education. At the same time, however, Western and the city of St. Joseph are consid-ering smoking bans on and off campus.
None of these income gen-erators existed last year.
“Last year’s speech was a bummer,” Vartabedian said. “A real downer.” This year’s speech however did point out some good news from the past.
Over-estimated cut leads to budget surplusEllis Cross | News [email protected]
August 30, 2012
The Griffon NewsPage 3
Laundry detergent bottles, milk jugs, shampoo bottles -- who would ever think that these household items could be re-cycled, or on another note, could be used to win big prizes?
Western’s dream machines accept a lot more than plas-tic juice bottles and soda cans. According to Student Recycling Coordinator Amanda Blevins, these handy-dandy magical mech-anisms accept almost any plastic object.
“On the bottom of almost every piece of plastic there is a little triangle made of ar-rows,” Blevins said. “In the middle of that is a number-usually one, two, four or six. The dream machines can recycle ones and twos. Almost any-thing that comes in plastic and is made for home use is a two.”
Greenopolis, West-ern’s new recycling program, has gained numerous attention from both faculty and students. According to Blevins, people are not only using their campus waste to re-cycle, but are even bringing in their bags from home.
“I like when people bring bags from their homes,” Blevins said. “It lets me know that recycling is on their minds even when they are not by the machines.”
Craig School of Business instructor and advisor of Greenopolis, Michael West, said that the next step is educating people about the use of the machines and en-suring that they stay empty so that students can con-
tinue filling them. Though machines are filling up very quickly, students can rest as-sured that they will be emp-tied as fast as possible, West said.
According to West, even Western’s janitorial staff has jumped on board with the recycling program.
“Even the custodians, when they find plastic bot-tles or cans, they are putting them into the dream ma-chines,” West said.
Along with developing an educational program, Blevins has gone to Griffon Edge to speak to the new freshmen and hopes to get another dream machine ki-
osk in the Blum Union.The dream machine ki-
osks give students points when they recycle. The more points, the more prizes. Coupons, restaurant dis-
counts, certificates and even a laptop are on the list of prizes students can win. There is also a school incentive, Blevins said.
“If we recycle a certain percentage in weight, we are automatically en-tered into a contest to win a $500,000 scholarship. We have been unable to meet that quota, but in time I hope we can recycle enough to enter in that contest.”
Student Alyssa Filger frequently utilizes the ma-chines, but feels if there were kiosks present, the pro-cess would be more beneficial.
“They only have two on cam-pus so that’s my complaint about it,” Filger said. “There was only one over there by all the dorms and it would fill up re-ally fast and then you would have to wait a couple days to load.”
Whether only a step or mile toward the right direction of recycling and ultimately beautifying the world, Blevins explains that she loves her recycling job simply because it makes her feel like she is person-ally helping the world. She feels that within time, more people will eventually jump on board.
“Every time I work I feel like a super hero,” Blevins said. “I just feel like I’m sav-ing the world.”
Ellis Cross | News [email protected]
Downs Drive went through numerous recon-struction over the summer. The total cost for all the road repairs was $155,000.
When students return to Missouri Western for the fall semester, they will notice the smooth drive around campus while searching for that coveted parking spot. Lee Grover Construction has been replacing large por-tions of concrete on Downs Drive and other locations on campus.
Traffic was seldom com-pletely cut off during the repairs this summer. Driv-ers during the summer construction were often re-quired to use only one lane while the lane next to it was
being reconstructed. Direc-tor of Facilities Lonnie John-son supervised the work and reported that all of the work was completed to specifications and on time. Drivers did experience the inconvenience of having to share a lane with oncoming traffic.
"Most issues for this type work are simply traf-fic control issues," Johnson said. "We had one car drive through some cones and into the wet concrete."
This type of construc-tion, which leads to traffic control problems, can be seen on public streets and even bridges as repairs are made. Sometimes there are a couple of flagmen to assist drivers and increase safety. However, during the repairs on campus, there weren't
any flagmen used but there was only the one incident reported.
Ron Moutray of Grover Construction organized the reconstruction of the pave-ment.
"We only completely close the road to through traffic during the actual pouring of the concrete," Moutray said. "Flagmen aren't required when you are using one lane of traffic, and drivers can clearly see each other to take turns using the lane."
The reconstruction didn't hamper the Chief's training camp. Most areas in main traffic ways were complete for the Chiefs except for the seeding of the grass along the sides of the reconstruc-tion sites. Johnson says that the seeding will be complet-ed in September.
As expressed by former Vice President of Financial Planning and Administra-tion Mel Klinkner, Western's budget has strained with di-minished funding from the state during recent years. At the same time, costs of op-eration have been soaring. These factors were especial-ly apparent with Western's maintenance reconstruction.
"It's been around five years since we did any con-crete replacement around Downs Drive," Johnson said. "We have done some asphalt work in various areas."
Most of the road renova-tions and repairs have been finished using concrete.
"Concrete is a longer wear-ing material with less main-tenance," Moutray said. "Concrete is getting higher but asphalt gets higher with the cost increases of petro-leum. Many institutions go with the material that cost less and gives desired wear longevity."
For a driving tour of the improvements, search “MWSU Dirty Dash Cam“ on YouTube. This gives you a fun driving tour of Downs Drive soon after the repairs were completed.
Eboni Lacey | [email protected]
D r e a m i n g G r e e n : Greenopol i s hopes to expand
Chad Hammontree | Graphics Editor
MWSU BookstoreBlum Student Union
Check out the rental and digital options on many titles
The only source for MWSU testbooks where a portion of every dollar spent goes directly to Missouri Western State University.
Great selection of school supplies
The Bookstore Staff Thanks You For Your Patronage!
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Shop In-Store or Online at missouriwestern.bncollege.com
NEWSCampus streets repairs cease, expense total to $155,000
The reconstruction of Downs Drive lasted nearly the entire summer. However, it now provides a smoother ride for students, staff and faculty. Ellis Cross | News Editor
FEATURES August 30, 2012
The Griffon NewsPage 4
Aspiring student actor loves the spotlight
Sebastian Smith knew he had a passion for the stage at the early age of 6. He currently performs in numerous plays here at Missouri Western, has performed in Kansas City, Mo., at Worlds of Fun as a singer and dancer in the past and now does stand-up and improv for Kansas City’s Comedy City, which is where “Horrible Bosses” actor Jason Sudeikis showed his comedic talent. Here, Smith plays the role of “Teddy” in Western’s spring play, “Arsenic and Old Lace.” Jason Brown | Photo Contributor
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Missouri Western AlumCHARLOTTE SOLLARS, GRI
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RENT? Brian Duskey | Multimedia Editor [email protected]
It has a generic title and it’s a plot that we’ve seen before, but somehow Dax Shepard’s directorial debut film “Hit and Run” is one of the “cool-est” and easily the most sur-prising film to come out this summer.
“Hit and Run” tries to cre-ate a smooth combination of comedy, car chases and nostalgic 1970s rock songs and the result isn’t anything “artistic.” It won’t make you think or reevaluate yourself. No film school will be ana-lyzing it, and it’s not going to be on any film critic’s top ten list.
However, it creates a fun experience for the audi-ence. While it isn’t as hard-nosed as Quentin Tarantino’s “Death Proof” or definitely not as intense as Nicolas Re-fn’s “Drive,” it is a fine piece of entertainment and a very “cool” movie.
Every single car chase, shoot-out, and bloody brawl in the film are pushed to the highest level of exuberance with erratic cinematography and chilling usage of such classic rock songs as Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child” and Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion.”
Shepard (“Idiocracy”) plays Charlie Bronson, who is in the witness protection
program for being the get-away driver for a series of bank heists. However, his charmingly kind girlfriend Annie, played wonder-fully by Kristen Bell (“You Again”), is led to believe that he was just the witness to a murder.
Annie’s oddly obsessive ex-boyfriend, Gil, discovers the truth about Bronson’s background and calls up the man that Bronson has been hiding from for all these years: Alex Dimitri, who is played quite convincingly by Bradley Cooper (“The Hang-over”).
The remainder of the story is a simple cat-and-mouse game between Shepard and Cooper, but not in the tra-ditional sense. Shepard’s “Bronson” is not frequent-ly trying to escape and he doesn’t want the money. His single motivation is to get Annie to Los Angeles for her job interview at Califor-nia University for her dream job as the head of the Non-Violent Conflict Resolution department.
The real noteworthy per-formances come from Shepa-
rd and Bell. Their on-screen chemistry is simply addict-ing.
Too often in romantic com-edies do we see a couple that seems to be “in love” but we don’t really understand why. We just accept it because the narrative tells us so.
This is not the case.Whether it is their fre-
quent witty banter with one another or their selflessness toward each other, the audi-ence can truly believe that these two are madly in love.
A strong euphoria was constant during their inti-mate scenes.
The film is definitely not perfect. While it’s easy to tell that Shepard is very pas-sionate about the script and vision, the story does lack some character background and structure.
It takes about 35 minutes before we even see Dimitri, and even then, the film’s main conflict doesn’t arise until the one-hour mark.
Despite its faults, “Hit and Run” excels at entertaining the audience and, at the end of the day, is one cool movie.
‘Hit’ the ground, ‘run’ to see this flick
*Photo courtesy of allmoviephotos.com
Albert Shelby | Features Editor [email protected]
Since he first stepped on stage in kindergarten to be cast as White Rabbit in “Alice in Wonderland,” Missouri Western student Sebastian Smith knew that acting was something that he wanted to partake in.
“I was 6 years old in early elementary school, and we were at an age where kids wanted to be an astronaut, a doctor or lawyer,” Smith said. “For me, I just wanted to be an actor, and it has stuck with me every since.”
Smith has been known for being involved in many Western plays. He has even caught the eye of Administrative Coordinator Kathy Kelly.
“I was able to watch Mr. Smith in ‘Arsenic and Old Lace,’” Kelly said. “He did an amazing job. I am a huge fan of the movie. I had high expectations when I purchased my ticket to see it on stage here at Western. I was completely impressed by Mr. Smith.”
The aspect of getting out of his shell seems to be one of the main things that draws Smith to acting. Smith stated that sometimes it’s good to act out a fictional and non-fictional character. It allows
you to escape from your personal life for a while.
“Acting is a chance to portray something that you’re not,” Smith said. “In real life, people get stuck in their daily routine which consists of waking up, eating breakfast, work, then eating lunch, then finally dinner and going to bed. When you’re acting, you don’t have to do that. When I act, it feels like a break from normal life.”
Friends of Smith have also admired his work ethic and passion toward acting. Jackie Perkins has known Smith for nine years, and his attitude towards acting has been the same since.
“I think he is really good,” Perkins said. “He has grown a lot since the first time I’ve seen him. Every show that we hosted in high school, Sebastian was in it. He’s a great guy with a personality that fits acting.”
Perkins stated that Smith can make it far in the acting industry. She feels that Smith’s dedicated spirit toward acting will guide him to success, and she wants to be there when he makes it. Smith enjoys watching actor and director Woody Allen (“Annie Hall,” “Midnight in Paris”) and feels that he is one of his biggest influences
in acting. Smith stated that Allen’s versatility as an entertainer is something that pushed him to go beyond acting and take up improv comedy.
“He’s one of my biggest idols,” Smith said. “His
career expands past 40 years. He writes jokes, he acts, does improv and he directs. He’s such an incredible figure in the acting world today. It’s something to be admired.”
Smith has also worked as a performer at Worlds of
Fun, and as of now, Smith does stand-up improv for a company in Kansas City, Mo., named Comedy City. He noted that he will be performing with Comedy City at the Kansas City Improv Festival which date will soon be announced.
“I do two to four improv shows a weekend at Comedy City,” Smith said. “It’s something that I enjoy doing. I’ve been doing it for quite some time now.”
Comedy City (formerly ComedySportz) was also home to Jason Sudeikis
(“Horrible Bosses”) who used to perform there in the 90s.
After Western, Smith plans on pursuing a full time stand-up career. He also plans to study up on more improv while venturing out to bigger places such as Chicago and New York.
“There are a couple of things that I want to do,” Smith said. “I would like to audition for stand-up and improv around the country and hopefully be a part o f some of the bigger markets in entertainment.”
(Left) Smith shows off his vocal abilities at WAC’s Karaoke Night last fall. (Above) Smith plays Bob Kratchit in Western’s play “A Christmas Carol.” *Submitted Photo
We give this movie 3.5 out of 5 stars
MOVIE TRIVIA:Dax Shepard did all of the
stunt driving in Hit & Run
www.GriffonNews.comView our video movie review at
FEATURESAugust 30, 2012The Griffon News Page 5
Not often do you see a full-time student at a univer-sity with dreams of becom-ing a pop singer and achiev-ing a college degree at the same time. Missouri Western student De'Ondre Ross has made it known that he has accepted the challenge and will follow through with it.
Ross' love for music start-ed when he was only 2 years old when he was introduced to drums. Once he turned 7, he realized that music was something that he wanted to make his mark in.
“I've been writing and making my own music since I was 7 years old,” Ross said. “It’s just something that has stuck with me since I was a kid.”
Ross said that not only does he write his own music, he also sings and produces it as well. He stated that he has gained so much passion for it that writing has become something that can keep him up all night.
“Sometimes I will wake up in the middle of the night just to write something that has been stuck in my head,” Ross said. “I put things together and they end up being pretty catchy.”
In May of this year, Ross not only released his recent single “Song Goes Off,” he also released an official music video for the song on YouTube as well. The video featured Ross singing and a pretty good crowd of Western students.
The music video has had approximately 3,000 YouTube hits. Director of the video Western alumna Jeanna Ross, felt that the fact
that Ross knew exactly what he wanted made the process go smoothly.
“I think that the perfor-mance from De'Ondre and the dancers in the video was great,” Jeanna said. “Everything was very smooth, and I felt that the song itself is easy to sell because it’s something that belongs on the radio.”
Jeanna feels that as an art-ist, Ross has a lot of potential and as he grows, he will continue to be a promising entertainer in music.
“I really like De'Ondre,” Ross said. “I think that he is an artist that is really into what he does. He thinks about music in a different aspect that not too many art-ists would. He is very pro-fessional and he’s going to make it.”
Ross’ dedication and humble personality has caught the eye of quite a few people around the uni-versity, including advisor Elaine Bryant, who stated that she was very proud of Ross and commented on his willingness to help his fel-low students get involved with his music. Bryant also feels that Ross has a drive to not only do music, but to also to achieve his business management degree.
“He’s a great young man,” Bryant said. “I feel that he has a good head on his shoulders because he knows that the business aspect of the music business is going to be a challenge in a career where trusting the right per-son with your money can be tough.
"He knows that deep down that with that degree, he will have a good foundation and the knowledge for what he needs for the business side
of his music career.”Ross said his mindset of
knowing what he wants is the reason why he declared his major in business man-agement. Instead of been operated by a music compa-ny, Ross says that he would rather learn how to manage his own music career.
“There are a lot of great things happening with me and the music right now,” Ross said, “but I still feel that education is key. I chose Bbusiness management because the music industry is very sneaky, so you defi-nitely need to know your business.”
Since its release, Ross stated that his personally written and produced single "Song Goes Off” has been getting some radio play and the single is also available on iTunes to purchase.
“The single has been going pretty good,” Ross said. “After the first week, it sold over a thousand downloads -- and that was the last time I checked it.”
As far as new music goes, Ross said that he just finished the final copy of his new single “Music Persuasion." The single will be released on Aug. 23 at Northwest Missouri State. Ross will per-form the song at Northwest and the school’s radio sta-tions will also release the single for the first time.
Ross said that he appreci-ates all of the support from his fans because they are who keeps him going.
To listen to more of Ross’smusic, visit www.deondreross.com or check out his music video on YouTube by searching “Song Goes Off Official Music Video.”
Student pop singer offers first single on iTunesAlbert Shelby | Features [email protected]
Student De’Ondre Ross looks out into the distance as he thinks about his future in music and business. His first single “Song Goes Off” can currently be purchased on iTunes. Tevin Harris | Assistant Photo Editor
How to:Albert Shelby | Features [email protected]
their information -- then you will be able to apply for jobs.
Students who have been a student for more than two semesters will have to put in their full Western email for username and the pass-word is “careers.” Note: Sophomores and up will
have to change their pass-word once they are logged in to their account.
Step 2: Once you are inside of your account, find the tab for jobs. All of the jobs will have a description of the job, hours available, how much
the job pays, and a apply button to push if you desire the job. The same can be done for off campus jobs as well.
Step 3: Now, all you have to do is keep track of all the jobs you applied for and keep the number of the job so you will be able to keep in contact with the employer.
“Keeping up with the jobs that you applied for is the key. It’s a process that all students should stay on top of,” Gregg said.
This system was set up for all Western students that may want to work not only on campus, but off campus as well. If you are interested, please use these three easy steps and get started today.
This year at Missouri Western, changes have been made all over the university. As far as applying for jobs on campus, changes were made for applying online as well. To make finding a job a little easier, you are now allowed to apply for jobs on campus as well as off campus.
A new job system has been created and it is available for all Western students. Over the summer, Student Employment Coordinator
Matthew Gregg changed the system from “Hire a Griffon” to “CSO: Jobs for Griffons.” This program is a full career management system that has a variety of jobs for every student at the university.
Gregg acknowledged that filling out the application does not mean the process of finding a job ends there.
Gregg encourages that all students do a thorough follow-up on the jobs that they have applied for. Gregg feels doing this will allow employers to see that you
are interested. Here are three easy steps that should help through the process:
Step 1: Go to missouriwest-ern.edu/careerdevelopment and click on “CSO: Jobs for Griffons.” To get started, freshmen and first time stu-dents will have to register for an account first by clicking the Register tab on the Log In page. NOTE: For freshmen and first-time students, after they register, the system takes up to 24 hours to process all
Get a job on campus
A playful relationship:
Missouri Western fell in a new relationship this sum-
mer -- and now it’s getting pretty serious. This sum-mer romance had sparks, cheers, laughter, play and chatter and is hoping to heat
up even more in the near future. The romance, which could also be called Western Playhouse, reached its peak this summer as it offered
“You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” Neil Simon’s “Barefoot in the Park” and “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.”
Theatre professor and Western Playhouse Managing Director Dallas Henry felt that audiences were quite captivated with the summer productions, even though it was the first time a summer production was held on campus through Western Institute.
“For the first year its always a tough experience when you’re starting some-thing new; especially some-thing new that has never been done on campus,” Henry said. “With that in mind it was really well. The community really raved about the shows and really enjoyed themselves. ”
Western Playhouse grew support from not only the university and it’s sponsor Western Institute, but also from community sponsors such as Nestle, Aspen Leaf, Hy-Vee, Mr. Goodcents, the St. Joseph Mustangs and many others.
“We got a lot of sponsor-ships this summer -- I think
we got upwards to 15 to 20. We really did well with corporations, and local busi-nesses came to bat.”
Though the plays didn’t have sold out performanc-es and packed audiences, Henry feels that the caliber of the audiences was defi-nitely something he was proud of.
“We actually did an inven-tory,” Henry said. ”Thirty or 40 percent of the people who attended have never been to a Missouri Western theater performance. We’d get peo-ple from out of town who just were stopping by at a hotel and saw the poster.”
Western Playhouse actor and voice music and perfor-mance major Kyle Minx, who acted in and ran crew for the shows, felt that the talent of the shows was something that really attracted people.
“I feel that the amount of talent we had in the cast and crew was phenomenal,” Minx said. “As far as the first year, I think it went fan-tastically well. It was a good start.”
Minx said that Western Playhouse was not only an opportunity for the com-
munity but for many film, theater and music students that were able to use this job as the stepping stone before seeking their invested careers. The production pro-gram offered numerous jobs for students from market-ing, to directing, to design-ing, casting, filming, acting and performing.
“It’s the kind of profes-sional experience,” Minx said. “It’s about loving what you do and getting a pay-check for it. It’s that middle step.”
As far as where this blos-soming romance between Western Playhouse and our university will go in the future, it’s all up in the administratives’ hands, Henry said. In a couple of weeks, Western administra-tion and Western Playhouse affiliates will discuss Western Playhouse and decide if they want to con-tinue this relationship.
“Ultimately what we wanted to accomplish we did,” Henry said. “That was to do professional theater over the summer and to do good productions.”
Eboni Lacey | [email protected]
Students Kyle Minx and Morgan Breckenridge dance to Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” as Snoopy and Sally in Western Playhouse’s “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.” *Submitted Photo
Western Playhouse and MWSU Theatre team up
OPINIONS August 30, 2012
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
Online EditorNews EditorPhoto Editor
Assistant Photo EditorSports Editor
Assistant Sports EditorFeatures Editor
Opinions EditorMultimedia Editor
Design ArtistDesign Artist
Design ArtistAd Manager
Faculty Advisor
Eboni LaceyEditor-in-Chief
Blair Stalder Chad HammontreeDeSean Fuel Ellis CrossEvan Roberts Tevin Harris Kyle InmanChristian MengelAlbert Shelby Matthew HuntBrian DuskeyLauren DillonHanna Greenwell Andy InmanKyler PenlandBob Bergland
The Griffon News Staff
CAMPUS VOICE
What are you most
excited about freshman
year?
Check out the full responses at
GriffonNews.com
A one-on-one interview with Vartabedian over 2% pay increase
Editorial: Employees should be thankful for the 2% increase received
The President Speaks:
Q : When was the pay salary increase decided, and by whom?
A : It came up in the June board meeting after we
sorted out all of the various budget adjustments and state appropriations. Then the Board decided to make the decision.
Q: How many years has it been since the university has seen a pay increase?
A : We have not had across the board a pay increase
since 2008. We have gone
three consecutive years without an across-the-board pay increase for employees.
Q: Who will benefit from the pay increases? Will it just be the administration or professors and
students as well?
A : It will be all personnel, faculty, staff, and
administrators who have been employed by the university since April 1, 2012. So anyone who is considered a full-time employee as of that date will get a 2 percent across the board increase in their salary.
Students are a different situation -- if they are not full-time employees with the university, then they are generally paid hourly wages. There has been recently a minimum wage adjustment, as opposed to the across the board raises. So student employees are separate from this 2 percent increase.
Q: Where is the money for the increase in salaries coming from? Is it coming from the tuition that
students pay each school year?
A : It comes from a variety of sources. Last year I
had hoped that we could do a minor salary adjustment, but at the eleventh hour we received this 8.2 percent cut. It was 1.2 percent more than most universities throughout the state. There was an extra $260,000 deduction to Missouri Western that really made us have to step back.This year after everything played out, particularly the state appropriations and on balance we received half a million dollars more than we received last year in
state appropriations through equity money. We played it out, and waited for the money to come through. We were able to give a small increase; it’s at least something to offer in three years.
Q: How will this benefit the university? With the increase in salaries will the university be
hiring new employees?
A : I believe it’s important to the staff, and faculty
to have a symbolic raise. We thought after three years of moral it would be good to do something symbolic. I think it helps us in retaining good people.
Our employees read the newspaper and they know what other universities are doing. Last year many universities gave raises and I probably would have done something, or asked the board to do something symbolic last year, but then we had that extra cut.
Q: Do you believe that we will see pay increases for the next several years or is it too early to tell?
A: I am hopeful, really hopeful. There is a kind of
light at the end of the tunnel that gives me a good feeling. I think we have seen some hope for the future. It just hasn’t happened as quickly as we have hoped.
It’s slow going, especially for the state of Missouri. We have to be very cautious. There are other indicators of the state appropriations that can make me feel a little more optimistic.
One would be the cigarette tax which will be on the ballot in November. If that passes, higher education will get 30 percent of that, which can help us considerably. The other option is through the General Assembly’s mandate that higher education has to come up with some sort of formula funding by December 2013. Since we are one of the lowest funded universities per student, we are hopeful for that to be at our advantage.
Lexy Hicks Freshman
Michael Butterfield Freshman
Shelby DierFreshman
Terez BarnesFreshman
Taylor DumasFreshman
“I’m looking forward to making new friends.”
“I’m looking forward to making this my most
successful year so far.”
“I’m looking forward to meeting new people.”
“I’m looking forward to meeting a lot of new students, getting my
work done and going to activities.”
“Freedom! I am a long way from home so
meeting new people.”
This fall Missouri Western will be one of nine universities awarded a grant of $1 million to establish an Innovation Campus.
Thanks to the partnership of the state of Missouri, Gov. Jay Nixon, Missouri Western, Metropolitan Community College and several others who made these projects possible, students will now have the chance to discover endless career possibilities.
President Dr. Robert Vartabedian stated in a press release that Western would be working closely with its partners to help the participants in this program become aligned with job openings and career opportunities in high demand. Due to the current condition of the economy, the innovation campus will include fields that need high demand employment such
as human health and animal health.
The partnership includes businesses such as Heartland Health, Hillyard Industries, Lifeline Foods, Altec Industries, Blue Sun Biodiesel, Albaugh, Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica and Gray Manufacturing.
This program will cut the time it takes to earn a degree for these students. Cutting the time it takes to graduate in half could possibly ensure more college graduates. Many high school students dislike the idea of a four-year
commitment and possibly having to endure even more education depending on their choice of major.
Vartabedian stated in a press release that this project will provide students with real-world applied learning opportunities. The project itself is very symbolic in the fact that it gives many individuals dual credit courses to earn their post-secondary degree in a shorter manner than the average college student.
It also gives students the option of financial aid up to $7,500 to finish this college
degree. It is a great moment and come this fall we might see more students at Western thanks to this project. Participants in this program should be thankful for the opportunity that Western was selected for this grant and for the possibility of a higher number of graduates in the future.
Students who decide to be part of this project will receive on-site training and mentoring beyond what would otherwise occur within the company by the partnering business.
Matt [email protected]
MWSU to be given $1 million dollar grant
Since 2008 full-time employees of Missouri Western have gone three consecutive years across the board without a pay increase, until now. During the June Board of Governors meeting, the group approved of a 2 percent salary increase for full-time faculty and staff.
If you can recall last year Missouri Western was cut by 8.2 percent in state allocations for higher education. Western is one of the lowest funded universities in the state of Missouri and was hit the hardest.
This editorial is not to point a finger at who is to blame for the cut in funding, but to thank the Board of Governors, and President Dr. Robert Vartabedian for finding a little extra funding to help the employees who work tirelessly for this institution. This editorial is
also to let them know that there is still more that needs to be done.
Vartabedian said that those who will benefit from the pay increase are all personnel, faculty, staff and administrators who have been employed by the university since March 31, 2012. So the rumors about students getting pay increases are a myth. Vartabedian said students fall in a different category since they are paid an hourly wage.
Although many students support the idea that educators deserve a pay increase, students might also question the increase is coming directly from their own pockets.
However, Vartabedian explains that it is not-at least not directly.
Vartabedian says it’s a
combination from student success fees that come from the Student Success Act, this year’s tuition increase of 3.22 percent and state appropriations.
We feel its great that the university was able to find a way to give a little something to the employees, as some have been working here for years and have had no pay increase since the day they started.
Though a 2 percent increase will help the personnel, faculty, staff and administrators who have been employed since March 31, that percent really doesn’t make a real difference in their salaries.
For example if a professor makes around $50,000 a year, with the 2% increase they would only make an extra $1000.
So does this really benefit
an employee receiving this increase? The answer is both yes and no. Not everyone will agree; some will be thankful for the little extra cash and others will think it isn’t enough.
Vartabedian agrees that the 2 percent increase is not enough and feels the frustration of those who believe it needs to be more.
So to those who received the extra 2 percent increase to your salary, be thankful. We are in one of the worst economic times since the great depression and you never know when another increase will come again. Though we and Vartabedian both wish the increase could be more, at least it’s a start.
I’m A Teacher-
Anything Helps!
DeSean Fuel | Newspaper Cartoonist
SPORTSAugust 30, 2012
The Griffon NewsPage 7
Late StartFall 2012 Classes
Need to change your schedule? Need to add a course?Know someone who just returned from Military Service, who just decided not to go to another University, etc.?
Potential new students contact Admissions 816-271-4266
Courses that Begin After September 9th
Students may register online through Aug. 31st. After Aug. 31st, visit the Office of the Registrar, Eder 102, to enroll.
For more information, call 816-271-4211.Registration possible through the first day of each class.
EDU 104 – 42 (10431) College Writing and Rhetoric Online Course, 9/10 - 12/14
COM 104 – 14 (11753) College Writing and RhetoricTR 3:30-4:50pm, 9/11 - 12/14
MUS 101 – 42 (11585) Perspectives In Music Online Course, 9/10 - 12/14
SOC 110 – 41 (12126) Introduction to SociologyOnline Course, 9/10 - 12/14
There are a lot questions still to be answered for this volleyball season. Losing some dynamic offensive players from last season leaves this young team with big responsibilities to take over, and a preseason rank-ing says they won’t.
The MIAA preseason polls have Missouri Western sit-ting in ninth place.
With eight sophomores and six freshmen on the team, the MIAA probably considers us in a rebuilding state, but junior Justine Bus-kirk says otherwise.
“Volleyball is going very well so far,” Buskirk said. “I am excited about the new freshmen we have this year as well as the returners that bring a lot to the table. I think we will surprise many opponents this year.”
Buskirk redshirted last season, but had 155 kills and 56 blocks the season before.
The loss of Tahler John-ston was probably the big-gest reason for this season’s low rank. Johnston was clearly the team’s offensive weapon last season when she led the team with 381 total kills. Sadly Johnston is just one of the players who will be missed this season.
On a lighter note, Sopho-more Meredith McCormick
ais a returning player who was one of the top five scor-ers last season. McCormick had 161 kills, along with 29 digs and 42 blocks. The only other returning player to get over 100 kills last season, sophomore Amanda Boen-der, finished last season with 116 kills.
Senior Lindsey Williams also believes that the in-coming freshmen could be a huge asset to the team.
“I think the incoming freshmen are a solid addi-tion to the team,” Williams said. “They all want to learn and ask questions to fit into the system right away.”
Team setter and junior Stephanie Hattey has been a huge asset for this team in the past. She was named MIAA freshman of the year
and made third team all MIAA last season. If anyone knows what it takes to have a high powered offensive game, it’s Hattey. She aver-aged 10.2 assists per set last season with 1,214 total out of 119 games played. The prior season as a freshman she averaged 5.9 assists per set, a total of 637 out of 107 games.
This team will need play-ers to step up to fill in ag-gressive offensive roles if they want to see success this season
The team will start this season in a tournament in South Dakota on Aug. 31, but will soon have their home opener and start con-ference play against North-west on Sept. 11.
Only way to go is up for Griffon Soccer
What better team to play for the season opener than Southwestern Oklahoma, the team that gave head coach Chad Edwards his first ever collegiate win al-most a year ago.
This season will be critical as to discovering whether or not Edwards has what it takes to push the girls in the right direction toward a winning program.
A big push is especially what they need since the MIAA has Missouri West-ern sitting dead last in the
preseason polls. Although it finished ninth last year, and for the most part has a pretty young squad still with six returning starters, including stud goalkeeper Kelly Voigts, the MIAA still expects 12 teams to finish better. If you look at the glass half-empty, it feels like a slap in the face. If you look at it half-full, the worst case scenario is that they won’t be a disappointment.
“Being picked last in the conference definitely gives motivation knowing the only way we can go is up,” Voigts said. “So if we just stick together, I think we will surprise people in this
conference.”The last meeting West-
ern had with Southwest-ern Oklahoma ended in a 2-0 win in Edmond, Okla. Voigts recorded 10 saves in the Griffons' only shutout of the season.
“It was nice getting the shutout,” Voigts said. “Knowing that we’ve done it before gives us confidence that we can do it again, and I know we can do it again, so I’m excited.”
Voigts found help from the freshman, now sopho-more, K.C. Ramsell, who scored both goals on three shots.
“That was my first game I ever played in college,” Ramsell said, “so I think I was kind of nervous and didn’t know what to expect. Scoring those two goals re-ally gave me confidence.”
For Western to have scores like that this season, it will need a combined ef-fort from the five senior leaders, five experienced ju-niors, seven talented sopho-mores, and the four high potential freshmen that will let us know just how skilled Edwards is in recruiting.
We’ll find out whether or not the Griffons have what it takes to compete in this conference at Spratt Sta-dium at 7:30 p.m., Friday Aug. 31.
Despite having less prac-tices and not opening up the walkthroughs, Missouri Western’s third year of host-ing the Kansas City Chiefs training camp was a success.
Chiefs camp gives West-ern the opportunity to make money through $5 parking, charging $5 to attend Family Fun Day and a joint practice between the Chiefs and Ari-zona Cardinals, who were also on campus for part of their camp.
“If you just take the gates, the parking and the two paid days, we made about $22,000 more than we did the previ-ous year on the paid stuff,” Athletic Director Kurt Mc-Guffin said. “That doesn’t include sponsorships or any-thing like that, which is our other source of revenue.”
It takes a lot of people working together to prepare the campus for the large crowds the Chiefs can draw. The main issues that the staff faces are making sure the parking and traffic flow is efficient and can accommo-date a lot of fans.
“The folks on the cam-pus all work well together, there’s a lot of people with a lot of roles,” said Brett Esely, Western assistant director of Athletics. “I think the opera-tion went very well. We had 6,500 people at night prac-tice, 7,000 for Family Fun Day and just under 3,000 for Cardinals practice. I think anybody that came, we were
ready for them.”This year’s attendance was
higher than last year’s. After the way Western ac-
commodated the Cardinals, the team may look to using Western again for training camp.
“They expect a sense of quality, and we gave it to them,” McGuffin said. “We provided shade for people because it was hot. Hy-Vee told me it was up in their concessions and that’s good.”
Chiefs training camp is guaranteed to be on the Western campus for the next
two years and in the state of Missouri for five more af-ter that. McGuffin plans to start negotiations to keep the team at Western for the next five years they will spend preparing for the season in Missouri after next summer.
With the Chiefs on cam-pus, coach Jerry Partridge’s football team has a chance to see how the professionals prepare for a season.
“I think anytime you can watch a higher level prac-tice then it’s always good to see what it takes and what people are made of,” Par-tridge said. “There’s a lot to
be gained in watching the designs of the practices and the work ethic.
Although the camp was considered a success this year, McGuffin would like to fine-tune some things in order to keep making each year a special for the fans.
“Now we are going to be in year four next year and everything has kind of been the same for the first three years. Now what do we do to get people to continue to come back. Maybe it’s fire-works or a concert so we can have something that’s an added bonus.”
Third year of Chiefs camp lands big successKyle Inman | Sports [email protected]
Senior Erin Widrig, a key player for this upcoming season, headbutts a ball on senior night last year. Jason Brown | Photo Contributor
Volleyball sets high goals for fall seasonChristian Mengel |Asst. Sports [email protected]
Christian Mengel |Asst. Sports [email protected]
Junior Stephanie Hattey, one of this season’s most stand-out players, sets the ball up to sophomore Meredith McCormick. Jason Brown | Photo Contributor
SPORTSAugust 30, 2012
The Griffon NewsPage 8
Football picked 18th in nation, 3rd in MIAA
RANK SCHOOL (1ST VOTES) 2011 REC.2011 RANK
1. PittsburgSt.(Kan.)(21)13-1 1
2. Minnesota-Duluth(5) 11-3 6
3. NorthwestMissouriSt.(1)11-3 5
4. MidwesternSt.(Texas)(1)10-1 7
5. WayneSt.(Mich.)(1) 12-4 2
6. ColoradoSt.-Pueblo 11-1 9
7. GrandValleySt.(Mich.)8-3 NR
8. ValdostaSt.(Ga.) 6-4 NR
9. Winston-SalemSt.(N.C.)(1)13-1 3
10. AbileneChristian(Texas) 8-3 16
11. California(Pa.) 10-3 15
12. Kutztown(Pa.) 11-2 13
13. NewHaven(Conn.) 11-2 8
14. DeltaSt.(Miss.) 11-3 4
15. WestAlabama 8-4 23
16. St.CloudState(Minn.) 9-3 17
17. Hillsdale(Mich.) 8-3 NR18. MISSOURIWESTERN9-3 18
19. Shepherd(W.Va.) 9-2 22
20. Washburn(Kan.) 10-3 11
21. HumboldtSt.(Calif.) 9-1 20
22. AlbanySt.(Ga.) 8-4 NR
23. NorthGreenville(S.C.)11-3 12
24. WestTexasA&M 8-3 25
25. Bloomsburg(Pa.) 9-2 21
AMERICAN FOOTBALL COACHES ASSOCIATION
PRESEASON DIVISION I I
TOP 25 COACHES POLL
Last year the Griffons were 9-3 overall and 7-2 in conference. Despite a strong season, the Griffons fell in the first round of the playoffs to Northwest Missouri in a close game of 29-35 at Spratt Stadium. This year the Griffons are well prepared and feel they can compete with anyone in the country, including conference foes Pitt State and Northwest. Jason Brown | Photo Contributor
Kyle Inman | Sports Editor [email protected]
Missouri Western Foot-ball has high expectations for this season after being picked No. 18 in the pre-season AFCA Coaches’ Poll and picked to finish third in the MIAA conference by the coaches and media.
“Honestly our goal isn’t to come in third,” coach Jerry Partridge said. “We didn’t come in third last year, we tied for second. We got picked lower so in a way we slipped. People are con-gratulating us for our high ranking, but we want to be higher than that.”
Western returns a lot of the talent on both sides of the ball that led to a 9-3 sea-son that ended in the play-offs and went 7-2 in MIAA conference play.
“I don’t think they are tak-ing anything for granted,” coach Partridge said. “They are putting the work in and understanding that this team hasn’t won one game yet.”
At this time last year, quar-terback Travis Partridge was preparing to be the starter for the first time. He returns this season confident with a year of starting experience on his resume.
“A year of experience can do wonders,” Partridge said. “It feels completely different than last year, and having everybody back of-fensively brings us a lot of confidence.”
Coach Partridge also rec-ognizes that a year of ex-perience going through the MIAA battles has helped the quarterback better pre-pare for the upcoming sea-son.
“The game is slower for him and he’s more comfort-able now. If he stays healthy, he will have a nice year.”
The Griffon offense also
returns first team all-MIAA running back Michael Hill who rushed for 1,305 yards and eight touchdowns last season.
“Having a back like Mike is huge for an offense be-cause he’s a bruiser that can get himself yards inside the tackles, he’s fast enough to get them outside the tackles and he can catch the ball,” Partridge said.
Partridge proved he could be an effective runner last season as he also rushed
for eight touchdowns last season. Hill and Partridge make up a dangerous threat on the ground, but the Grif-fons also have the capability to throw the ball down-field.
“Our success all came off of just game planning and we don’t always depend on the run,” Hill said. “It just depends on the defense, when they do pack the box then we will throw it.”
Coach Partridge is stick-ing to his philosophy that he is going to take what the de-fense gives him and is confi-dent in the Griffons’ ability to gain yards on the ground
or in the passing game.“We’ll scratch what itch-
es,” Partridge said. “To be the level of football team we want to be, I believe we will throw the ball for a lot more yards this year.”
Western returns receivers Tarrell Downing, T.J. Fan-nin, Kyle Knox, Derek Lib-by, Reggie Jordan and more only losing Adam Clausen from last year’s receiving corps.
“Our receivers are really deep. There’s seven or eight
receivers that can play and play well at this level,” Par-tridge said. “As a quarter-back, that’s exciting. As an offense it’s exciting to have that flexibility.”
The talent doesn’t stop on the offense as Western brings back several defen-sive standouts from last season including all-MIAA first-team defensive lineman David Bass, who led the Griffons with 14 1/2 sacks last season, and the defense also returns Ben Pister who was second team all-MIAA with 8 1/2 sacks last season.
“We’ve had some very
good d-lines in the past and this one stacks up with all of them and it might be the best one,” coach Partridge said. “David Bass is a great player and probably one of the more under sung guys is Austin Baska. Talent wise he’s a mix, physical like Pi-ster and athletic like Bass. He’s a great player in his own right.”
St. Louis Rams kicker Greg Zuerlein led Western with 107 points last season and gave the offense a dan-gerous weapon in the kick-ing. Coach Partridge is con-fident that the team has a solid replacement in Taylor Anderson.
“Taylor is definitely capa-ble of going 52 or 53 yards. I think he’s within ten yards of what we had last season,” coach Partridge said.
Western starts with con-ference opponent University of Central Missouri on Au-gust 30 at Spratt Stadium. Central also received votes for the top 25 and is a tough opening contest.
“I’d rather not have to start with those type of teams,” coach Partridge said. “They are hungry to beat us, there’s no doubt about it. I know they will be a difficult opponent.”
Western went to the play-offs last season but were beat in the first game by ri-val Northwest Missouri in a close game. The goal is high-er this season.
“A success is conference championship first and then a national championship,” Hill said, while Partridge felt the same way.
“I think expectations are very, very high,” said Par-tridge. “We take it upon ourselves that we are going to achieve more than we did last year and anything less would be a disappoint-ment.”
Kyle Inman | Sports Editor [email protected]
St. Louis Rams kicker Greg Zuerlein gives Missouri Western a starting represen-tative in the NFL and proves that professional scouts have an eye everywhere, includ-ing D-II.
Last season Zuerlein hit 23-for-24 and a record 21 straight field goals -- includ-ing nine from over 50 yards -- in his lone season at Western. He was drafted in the sixth round with pick No. 171 and the team immediately re-leased its veteran kicker Josh Brown. Zuerlein has started both of the Rams preseason games and has hit both of his field goal attempts, includ-ing a 52-yard kick against the Kansas City Chiefs.
“Greg is a great represen-tative of Missouri Western,” Athletic Director Kurt Mc-Guffin said. “He only spent one year here, and I think he fell in love with the place. It’s great to have a guy that’s go-
ing to be a starter on an NFL team.”
Anyone that has witnessed Zuerlein kick knows that he has a powerful leg. He re-cently told a reporter that he hit one from 74 yards in a warmup for Western last season with help from a huge wind in his favor. In a Rams scrimmage, he hit field goals from 39, 44, 49, 54 and 59 yards before missing form 64 yards, although he had the distance. The NFL record is 63 yards and it won’t sur-prise anyone from Western if Zuerlein soon breaks that record playing indoors in St. Louis.
“In time, if Greg stays healthy -- the guy has an unbelievable leg -- I think he can do that in a heartbeat inside,” McGuffin said. “I think they are very happy with him. Hearing the things that Rams coach Jeff Fisher has said about him makes you proud. It sets a tone where we can have kids that go to the NFL from Mo West
and we may have more in the future.”
There are signs that there could be more to come soon. The nation’s premiere all-star game for college seniors to show off their talent, the Senior Bowl, just released the first ever Senior Bowl Watch List of potential can-didates for the game. On that list is Western defensive end David Bass, who led the Griffons in sacks last season. There are only 29 players who aren’t from Division I FBS out of 309 which means Bass is a top prospect.
“Anytime a Division II school can have a player in the NFL and be productive it’s good for the university,” Trevor Berneking, director of Athletic Media Relations said. “It’s Good for D-II foot-ball in general that they can produce those players. Any-time you get someone from your league it’s good. I think you will start to see more and more Division II people in the NFL.”
Greg ‘the leg’ represents Western in NFL
Greg Zuerlein, Western’s former kicker, is currently playing and starting for the St. Louis Rams. *courtesy of Missouri Sports Magazine
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