The student voice of Midwestern State University
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page 5 Still perfect
Volleyball improves to 13-0 after sweeping Tarleton State Invitational.
WEDNESDAY september 17, 2008
No quick fix in sight for parking problems Brittany Norman Editor in Chief Police Chief Michael Hagy told students something they already knew Tuesday night. MSU has a serious parking problem. Speaking to the Student Government Association, Hagy called the situation at MSU the worst of his 28-year career on college campuses. “When students would come to me last year and say ‘Chief, I can’t find any parking,’ I would say I could show them where the parking was,” Hagy said. “I can’t do that this year.” The parking dilemma this year stems from the construction spurt on campus, Hagy said, rendering more spots unusable.
Hagy said that 338 parking places were lost when the Mercantile building near Midwestern Parkway was demolished to make room for the new residence hall. That building’s parking lot was never popular because of its distance from classrooms. Hagy estimated that about 80 of those 338 spots were used at one time. Thirty spaces were also eaten up for construction on the Fowler building. “We’ve probably lost about 120 usable spaces,” Hagy said. “The other 250 weren’t being used anyway.” Hagy said a shortage of parking places existed before this year. Although 6,000 students currently attend MSU, the school has only about 2,700 spaces. Of
that number, 533 are reserved for faculty and staff. That leaves 2,300 spaces, one space for every three students. The result? Tickets. Lots of them. So far this year, the police department has written approximately 1,950 tickets, Hagy said. The department started issuing citations on Sept. 1. Since the majority of the tickets carry $10 fines, about $20,000 will be generated if all of the tickets are paid. “I don’t have a single officer in my department who is just out there writing tickets on students because that’s what he wants to do,” Hagy said. “Parking enforcement is probably the least important thing we do as a
police officer, but we spend 80 percent of our time doing it.” Hagy said the job is time-consuming because people continue to park in the wrong places. “This creates a self-perpetuating problem,” he said. When students park in faculty reserved spaces, faculty members then end up parking in student spots (if they can find them), and no resolution is reached. “Unless we can get people to park where they’re supposed to, we can’t address the problem,” Hagy said. He recommends that students arrive earlier for classes and park across the street at the Sikes
“PARKING” continued on pg. 3
Photo by Chris Collins Ronda Ivy, former art teacher at Rider High School, stands on the stage at Vincent’s Art Studio and Coffee shop, which will open on Oct. 8.
Cup of Culture
Local art studio and coffee shop gives locals new place to relax Chris Collins Managing Editor Ronda Ivy, former art instructor at Rider High School, has finally found a home. The Houston, Texasnative has lived in five U.S. states and three countries including Japan and the Philippines. The wife of a military man, she hasn’t really had the chance to call anywhere home for very long. But she is finally making her mark on Wichita Falls, her home for the past 12 years. The Texas-native will hold the grand opening of Vincent’s Art Studio and Coffee Shop,
2003 9th St., on Oct. 8. She has big plans for the venue, she said. “This is someplace people can sit in big, comfortable
history at Rider High School for 11 years before opening Vincent’s. She was tired of teaching in the public school system, she said. “I wanted to do something on my own and open a business,” Ivy said. Ivy has a little previous experience in operating an art studio. She owned and operated the Ronda Ivy Art Studio while living in Indiana. “I want to get across the air and etiquette of art shows,”
“It’s all about expressing yourself through art” chairs and just relax,” Ivy said. Ivy earned her art degree from Baylor University in 1980. She moved to Wichita Falls with her late husband in 1996. She taught art and AP art
“VINCENT’S” continued on pg. 4
Photo by Patrick Johnston A car with two parking citations and and a notice from the MSU police department sits abandoned in the lot behind Sunwatcher Apartments. Parking on campus is a bigger issue this year than last, according to campus police.
Crisis management still a top priority for campus police
upset all the time. People get Brittany Norman upset because there’s no parkEditor In Chief When it comes to campus ing. That doesn’t mean there’s safety, students need to be going to be an investigation.” vigilant, MSU Police Chief He said that the real conMichael Hagy told student cern begins when physical government representatives threats are made. Tuesday night. Students, he “If what you tell me is said, need to be on the look- alarming to me as the chief out for “disgruntled” behav- of police, I may pick up the phone and call the director ior among their peers. Hagy recommended that of the counseling center and any threatening behavior be ask ‘would this be a concern reported to the campus police to you?’” Hagy said. “That’s department or the administra- how we start developing whether or not tion. “Be our eyes and someone needs “Be our eyes and our ears on the campus. r e s o u r c e s . I’m not going ears on the We want to make to make that campus,” decision myHagy said. sure everyone at self.” “We want to Anothmake sure the university is er course of everyone at safe” action the unithe univeralready sity is safe.” -Michael Hagy versity has in place He said he is the MSU doesn’t conAlert system sider student launched during the 2008 alerts “tattletaling.” Instead, he views such reports as a spring semester. Out of approximately 6,000 safeguard. “A self-report by someone students, only 1,000 have can go a lot further than wait- signed up for the service. Stuing until after something has dents will be notified of possihappened and having an in- ble life-threatening situations by text messaging. Students vestigation,” Hagy said. According to Hagy, a pro- must have a text-messaging cess to deal with reports plan on their cell phone to be stretches beyond the police eligible to sign up for the serdepartment. A report does not vice. necessarily mean that action “As a progressive university, at least 50 percent of our will be taken. “I don’t want anyone to students should be signed up think that the chief of police for MSU Alert,” Hagy said. is going to take a report and “The national average (for drag someone into my of- programs like MSU Alert) fice,” he said. “I may not un- is about 13 or 14 percent, so derstand all the parameters of we’re right about at the nawhat’s happening. People get tional average.”