ONEMANBAND
Preston Pugmire loops his way into the hearts of MSU students.
ROADKILL
Volleyball defeats two teams on the road.
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October 5, 2011
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cent,” he said. Any more that’s left over, he said, needs to go to faculty and staff raises. “We’re getting to the point where the decisions we have to make will be very difficult,” Rogers said. “We need to see what happens in the spring.” Currently, the state funds about 20 percent of MSU’s operation. Though comptrollers have told university administrators not to expect any new money, they haven’t said the state will be paying out any less, either. In past years, the story was a little bit different. “We had already been told, ‘don’t
be surprised if you have to send more money back during this coming biennium,’” Rogers said. But if funding from the state stays around 20 percent, it’s better than previous years. It also means MSU won’t have to send any more money back to the state. “I’m relieved by that,” he said. “If we don’t have to cut any more state appropriations in four years, that’s a better deal. I hope that’s the way it turns out.” Rogers will meet with the Board of Regents in May to decide how to best manage the university’s funds.
Low enrollment may spur tuition hike CHRIS COLLINS EDITOR IN CHIEF A four percent drop in enrollment this semester has cost MSU about $500,000. In addition, state comptrollers have told administrators not to expect an increased payout from the state for at least four years. MSU President Dr. Jesse Rogers continues to scrutinize how the university manages its funds. His solution: to raise tuition next year. “We need to take a hard look, once again, at where we’re spending our money,” Rogers said.
“We need to take a hard look at our budget.” The university operates on an approximately $50 million budget. Over the past four years, about $12 million in expenses has been sliced from the budget. More budget cuts are inevitable, Rogers said. “We’ll look and see where money was left over last year,” Rogers said. “We’re going to look at every one of our auxiliary services, academic programs, everything. Everything needs to be looked at.” Rogers said the university has money in reserve, but he would rather find
other sources of funding before using it. “We set back some reserves, but I don’t want to go into them,” Rogers said. Instead, he foresees a tuition hike. “It will be modest,” he said. “The students are not going to bear the brunt of our economic difficulties. We’re all in it together, and I think we’ve done a good job of holding off our cost and not putting it off on the students.” Last year, tuition and fees rose by four percent. The next increase should be about the same, Rogers said. “We’re going to stay below five per-
Hannah Hofmann
Law mandates student shots DONACE WILKINSON FOR THE WICHITAN Starting spring 2012, all students who enroll at MSU will have to get health shots. A state mandate effective Jan. 1 will make Texas the first U.S. state to require all new and transfer students younger than 30 years old to be immunized against meningococcal meningitis. The new law is an extension of the Jamie Schanbaum Act of 2009. Schanbaum, a University of Texas student, contracted meningitis in 2008. Nicolis Williams, a former Texas A&M freshman, died of the disease in February. Dr. Keith Williamson, university physician, said meningococcal meningitis is “pretty rare, but outbreaks happen. When it happens it can kill many people.” About 1,400 to 3,000 Americans get the disease annually. About 10 percent of those cases result in death. The disease is caused by the inflammation of the protective membranes covering
the brain and spinal cord. The inflammation is usually caused by an infection of the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Meningococcal meningitis can be fatal and should always be viewed as a medical emergency. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, college students who live in group homes are among the people most at risk of becoming infected. “College students’ risks double that of the rest of the population,” Williamson said. In previous years, immunization was pushed for students who lived in the dorms. Now it applies for all students. “We cannot let them enroll unless they have been immunized,” Williamson said. Dr. Karen Polvado, chair of the Wilson School of Nursing, said nursing students never had a choice in the matter. “All nursing students have to be vaccinated. It’s important to have immunizations being up-to-date, when you think about all the things nurses are pg. 4
SHOTS
Political columnist to speak at MSU BRITTNEY COTTINGHAM MANAGING EDITOR Syndicated columnist and political analyst Mark Shields will speak in Akin Auditorium at 7 p.m. Tuesday to discuss his experiences in American politics and journalism. Shields is the second guest in this year’s Artist Lecture Series. The Massachusetts native will give his viewpoint on today’s national headlines, the Obama Administration and the 2012 presidential election. Called the “wittiest political journalist in America” by The Wall Street Journal, Shields has covered the administrations of nine U.S. presidents. After serving in the United States Marine Corps, he moved to Washington, D.C. where he was an aide to Wisconsin Sen. William Proxmire. For 11 years, Shields help managed state
and local political campaigns as a poltical director and other leadership positions. He worked for Robert F. Kennedy during his 1968 presidential campaign. In 1979, he served as an editorial writer for The Washington Post. In 1988, he provided weekly political commentary for the award-winning PBS News Hour with David Gergen of The New York Times. He still appears weekly on the program. After spending 17 years as a moderator on CNN’s Capital Gang, he is now a panelist on weekly public affairs show Inside Washington, which airs on both ABC and PBS. Tickets are free to MSU students, staff and faculty. The event will cost $18 for MSU alumni, active-duty military and senior citizens. It will be $20 for the general public. Tickets are available at the Information Desk in Clark Student Center.
FLOCKPARTY
Sigma Kappa ‘flocks’ to community homes, raising money for Alzheimer’s research
BRITTNEY COTTINGHAM MANAGING EDITOR You’ve been flocked! This is the greeting some Wichita Falls residences received last week when the ladies of the Sigma Kappa Sorority flocked their yards with pink and purple flamingos to raise funds to support the Alzheimer’s Association. By donating, residents were able to have the flamingos removed and given the opportunity to flock someone else’s yard. Sigma Kappa, which was Midwestern’s first sorority on campus in 1959, has raised more than $400 so far with the fundraiser ending Sunday night. All the money raised goes back to the Sigma Kappa Foundation, which is the sorority’s national philanthropy headquarters. At headquarters, they disperse all donations to their national philanthropies, including the Alzheimer’s Association. Sigma Kappa is the largest and longestterm supporter of the National Alzheimer’s Association, sorority adviser Connie Cannedy said. Laura Clark, public relaitons chair for Sigma Kappa, doesn’t think a lot of people realize how prominent Alzheimer’s is in America with it being the sixth leading cause of death in the country. “People are affected by Alzheimer’s every day, whether it be taking care pg. 3 of a loved one
FLOCK
Photo courtesy