2/7/2018 Weekly Edition

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The Independent Student Newspaper of Sam Houston State University

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

The Official News Source of Sam Houston State University STOCK MARKET, P. 2 The markets saw the biggest two-day drop since June 2016 earlier this week. Volume 129 | Issue 15

Hoyt finalizes policy changes

FILM FESTIVAL, P. 2 The Africa World Film Festival aims to promote diversity while educating students.

MISS SAM HOUSTON, P. 3 Find out all you need to know about the upcoming Miss Sam Houston pagaent.

/HoustonianSHSU

@HoustonianSHSU

ALTERED CARBON, P. 3 Mason Gonzalez reviews season one of the Netflix Original sci-fi “Altered Carbon.” @HoustonianSHSU

AUTOBIOGRAPHY, P. 4 Baseball coach Matt Deggs has gone beyond the diamond and published an autobiography. HoustonianOnline.com

Rumors Confirmed: LSC food service SMMC shutting down following Spring Break ranked No. 5 in nation, according to LendEDU

EMILY DAVIS News/Viewpoints Editor Last week, Sam Houston State University President Dana G. Hoyt approved the academic policy revisions decided on by the Academic Affairs Council during its biannual policy meeting in December. “What we are doing is taking those policies that are up for review,” Vice Provost Mary Robbins said. “Sometimes they need a little bit of tweaking and sometimes they need some major changes.” This past fall, 17 policies were due for an audit, and six of these policies directly affect students: Academic Credit for Work Experience, Class Attendance, Courses and Grades Transferred in from other College and Universities, Department/School Academic Distinction Programs policy, Employment of Graduation Assistants, and Use of Tobacco Products in Academic Classrooms and Facilities. The Academic Credit for Work Experience policy was revised to state that to attain course credit for your work experience, you must ensure that the course learning objectives in the course’s syllabus are met. “In particular cases, a case can be made that someone’s work experience might match the course material,” Robbins said. “For example, a student who’s been out in the workforce and wants to come back to finish a degree.” The language in the Class Attendance policy was changed slightly, and the minimum/maximum statement was removed to allow professional programs to have stricter attendance requirements. The revisions make attendance requirements per professor discretion and specify that the attendance requirement must be stated in their syllabus. “The previous statement, allowed three or fewer hours of absence without penalty,’” Robbins said. “Some of the deans were saying that ‘we have a professional school and we can’t do that, because if you are a nurse or a teacher, you have to be there all the time.’ Of course, if [a student] thinks that something is unreasonable, you would just go to your professor and then, if necessary, the department chair.” The wording of Courses and Grades Transferred in from other Colleges and Universities Policy was changed slightly to clarify that just because a courses has successfully transferred and is accepted by SHSU, it may not apply to your degree plan. For example, if you have taken a course at another university, and it is transferred to your transcript at SHSU, the credit hours still apply, but Policies continues on page 2

Photo courtesy SHSU Finance Department

MAKING MONEY MOVES. Sam Houston State University’s Student Money Management Center is getting national recognition. Find out why it is the fifth best organization of its kind in the country.

JOSHUA BLASCHKE Contributing Reporter Ryan Reynolds | The Houstonian

Paw Print Getting Declawed. The restaurants in Paw Print on the first floor of the Lowman Student Center will be closed once students return from Spring Break. It will reopen August 2018. The news is not good for those that fear change, but the reason is.

EMILY DAVIS News/Viewpoints Editor The rumors are true. The Lowman Student Center food court will close after March 9 due to major renovations taking place. “The food court, which includes Chick-fil-A, Grille Works, Pizza Hut and Subway, will be under construction through the remaining portion of the semester in order to reopen by fall 2018,” Associate Vice President of Finance and Operations Tessy Rappé said. According to Rappé, big changes are projected for next semester, including plans to build a Panda Express, a full-service Chick-fil-

A, a larger Subway and serval other additions to the campus. “There will be several other brands added to the expanded LSC food court, including a campus pub,” Rappé said. The operations will be closed once students return from Spring Break, and will remain closed until August. “The closing [of the food court] at Spring Break is crucial to the timeline of opening for the fall semester,” Rappé said. “In order to offer our campus community a state-of-the art student center, construction and renovations will occur in phases. The food court is included in the ini-

“All things are possible.”

tial renovation of the multiple phase construction process.” During this period of renovations, the school will continue to provide food and beverage services at eight other campus locations: Old Main Market, General’s Market, Starbucks in Southpaw and the Newton Gresham Library, Moe’s Southwest Grill, CJ Café, and the P.O.D. locations in both the College of Humanities and Social Sciences building and the Lee Drain Building. According to Associate Vice President Keith Jenkins, Aramark Food Services is looking into getting food trucks while the LSC Shutdown continues on page 2

Rebecca Jones | The Houstonian

Matthew 19:26

COACH, SPEAKER, AUTHOR. Sam Houston State University baseball head coach is a jack of all trades. After leading the Kats to a Super Regional in 2017, Deggs published an autobiography about God and baseball. Story on page 4

According to lendedu.com, Sam Houston State University has been recognized as having one of the best financial literacy programs in the nation, ranking SHSU fifth out of the top 50 universities in the country. The National Financial Educators Council describes financial literacy as “possessing the skills and knowledge on financial matters to confidently take effective action that best fulfills an individual’s personal, family and global community goals.” “I think we’re the standard for other programs across the country,” director of SHSU’s Student Money Management Center Patsy Collins said. “We get around, so people know who we are.” Collins attributes the ranking to a progressive platform as well as high student response to the program. “Sam Houston was one of the first money management centers in the nation,” Collins said. “As student loan debt became a hotter topic of conversation, universities like North Texas and Texas Tech started programs. Then people here started a focus group and a money management center.” Starting mid-February, the tenth annual Financial Literacy Week will provide students the opportunity to improve their money management skills at “Adulting Done Right.” This program will be a four-day event starting Feb. 19, and will host several events pertaining to efficient financial practices, from broad money saving topics to simple but effective life hacks. The event aims to address proper budgeting techniques after graduation, along with managing paychecks and salary negotiation. “The one-time raise students get once they get a job is the biggest they’ll ever get,” Collins said. “I don’t want them to go out and get tied into lengthy car, apartment and cell phone contracts. SMMC continues on page 2


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