TRAMPLED
The Mustang football team demolishes A&M-Commerce 63-17 at Cowboys Stadium.
BLOODBUS
MSU students sacrifice their blood to win $1,000.
READ pg. 8
READ pg. 4
wichitan
ht e Wednesday
September 21, 2011
www.thewichitan.com
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Student allocations doles out funds BRITTNEY COTTINGHAM MANAGING EDITOR The Student Allocations Committee has increased the recommended budget for Student Services in the 2011-2012 school year by $263,441. This brings the estimated income to $2,415,765. Each student pays a Student Service Fee of $15.50 per semester credit hour, with a maximum charge of $250 for one semester. These fees provide funding for various student service programs including recreational sports, the music department and The Wichitan. Every year the Student Allocations Committee considers requests by various departments and allocates funds based upon the demands and the amount of funds available. The fairness lies within the structure of the process, said Dr. Keith Lamb, associate vice president of student affairs. The Vinson Health Center asked for an increase of $126,557, the largest recommended this year, for a total budget of $516,218.
“We had money granted to add a parttime physician and expand hours,” said Peggy Boomer, Vinson Health Center director. But according to Boomer, the increased amount was ultimately not given.
The Ultimate Frisbee Club was allocated $2,000. Last year it did not request funds. “In the past, this committee has provided funding to different club sports at MSU, such as the Rugby Club,” Lamb said. “Most student organizations,
EDITOR IN CHIEF Enrollment at MSU is down by 244 students since Fall 2010, according to the office of admissions. Administrators are toying with some theories about what caused the shortfall in enrollment. Among the potential answers are higher admissions standards, a struggling national economy, and an inability to seal the deal with potential students. New first-time freshmen took the hardest hit, going from 739 last year to 607 this year. Freshmen moved from 560 to 502, a loss of 58 students. Sophomores went from 1,175 to 1,123, shedding 52 students. Juniors lost the fewest students, moving from 1,328 to 1,278. It was a loss of 50 students. Seniors actually gained 45 students and post-baccalaureates added 7 students, putting them at 1,955 and 80 students, respectively. The Office of Institutional Effectiveness plans to analyze the shortfall in enrollment. Some conclusions should be reached by the end of September, said Dr. Robert Clark, vice president of institutional effectiveness. “I don’t know what we’re going to find,” Clark said. “The economy has got to play a role in this.” He said home foreclosures, along with the availability of community colleges, probably displaced some of MSU’s potential student base. Higher admission standards also probably contributed to the problem. In 2007, the Texas Legislature created a Uniform Admission Policy (UAP) for universities, said Barbara Merkle, director of admissions. It required senior institutions to seek new admission criteria. Historically, Texas high schools have offered three diploma types: minimum, recommended and distinguished. The UAP says that MSU cannot admit students who do not graduate or who graduate under the minimum plan. Benchmark tests, however, could be used to admit a student who previ-
to $11,000. Voices requested $10,500. Disability Student Services was granted a $29,865 increase from last year’s budget of $163,111.
50
Others
ALLOCATIONS pg. 4 Mustang Maniacs
40
Student I.D./Handbook
The Wichitan 30
Vinson Health Center
Vinson Health Center
20 University Programming Board
University Programming Board
10 Student Development 0
Student Development
Disability Support Services
-10
Recreational Sports
Money allocated
-20
Disability Support Services Counseling Center
ously didn’t meet admission criteria. “We knew that would change the applicant pool,” Merkle said. “We aggressively went after students who met those criteria.” More than 1,400 potential students met the standards for enrolling in MSU, but only 607 students actually registered for classes. Along with figuring out why potential students didn’t attend MSU, the study will research where those potential students ended up. “The students listened to our recruitment speech and were enticed to take a look at Midwestern,” Merkle said. “They followed through the application process and we admitted them. What did we not do? That’s what we’re going to be looking at.” Merkle said it’s common for prospective college freshmen to apply to numerous institutions before they ultimately decide where they want to attend. “It’s a comparison,” she said. Students look at how affordable attending an institution will be, which includes scholarships and other forms of financial aid. Only after researching numerous schools do many students make a final decision about where they want to enroll. “It’s been the trend for years,” Merkle said. “The high-echelon students, the ones who we want, who have the intellectual vitality to stay in college, everybody wants them. It’s very competitive.” One thing that gives MSU an advantage, she said, is its physical campus. Once students actually visit the school, they’re more inclined to enroll. She said academic research on this subject has not been done yet. Merkle explained the drop in sophomore and juniors by saying that some of these students may be sitting out for a semester. She refers to them as “stop and go” students. “They can only afford to come every other semester, so they might come every spring,” she said. “But if they drop out for a semester they may miss a sequence of classes they need to complete their degrees.”
The Wichitan
% change in money allocated
Clark Student Center Counseling Center Recreational Sports
Clark Student Center
MSU enrollment decreases by 4% CHRIS COLLINS
though, choose to receive some funding through the Student Organization Fund program in our Office of Student Development and Orientation.” The Voices budget was cut by $2,125 from last year’s total, bringing their recommended budget for the school year
Graph designs Hannah Hofmann
Voices
s e m i t d o o g e h
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The women carefully pull their hot pink and black-striped tights over their knees. Sliding their feet into their neon quad skates, they feel a rush of emotions. This is their night – This rink. These girls. This game. Their laces seem to tie themselves as the adrenaline pumps through their bodies. They swiftly glide toward the roller rink. Stop. Exhale. Go! “When people think of roller derby, they think of crazy chicks on skates beating the tar out of each other,” Skater Kelly Soerens said. “But it is far more of a sport than people realize. This is not the banked-track, blood-and-guts WWF-on-skates as it was in past decades. There are rules and athletic ability involved.” Roller derby began in the 1930s, but it has been modernized in the early 2000s. The revival took place in Austin and has quickly grown in popularity. People in Wichita Falls can now say they have hopped on the bandwagon with the Wichita Falls Derby Dames. The women have been practicing for a little more than a month, but they can already see improvement.
RACHEL BINGHAM AD MANAGER
DAMES pg. 3
Kassie Bruton