SPECIAL REPORT: NATIONWIDE DROUGHT AFFLICTS MURRAY STATE
The Murray State News TheNews.org
August 31, 2012
Vol. 88, No. 3
Students, administrators disconnect on financial aid Chris Wilcox News Editor In the weeks following the start of the fall semester, students and administrators have been faced with a costly disconnect. Students have complained to the administration about issues involving the Office of Financial Aid/Scholarships and the verification of their aid by the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority.
In an online article last week on thenews.org, “Students, administrators disagree on financial aid at semester’s start,” students’ testimonials showed a series of problems they claimed to face. One issue was a fear of their paperwork not being completed on time. Tom Denton, vice president of Finance and Administrative Services, said the numbers disprove that fear. He said the office has tracked the number of students who have com-
pleted everything on time this year, and compared that data with the number of students last year. The results have indicated there have been more students to complete this year, than the last. Denton said 89 students were purged on the second round, half the number of purges at the same time last year. Students have also voiced concern over being purged because of delayed verification, but Fred Dietz, executive
director of Enrollment Management, already addressed the issue. In a previous interview with Dietz, he said if a student applied for aid late, for whatever reason, it didn’t matter. He said verification might take a while, so the office wasn’t going to purge those in verification. He said that didn’t seem fair. The office did purge those who did not fufill their own obligations, such as turning in additional documents or accepting awards and signatures.
Lori Mitchum, director of the Office of Financial Aid/Scholarships, said Wednesday, there were 877 students that have completed their FAFSA, been selected for verification, but have yet to provide the information required by the office. “Verification can only be completed once all documents have been received from the student,” she said. Students selected by the depart-
see DISCONNECT, 3A
Murray State revises student worker policy Edward Marlowe Staff writer
the crops. In fact, if we get any more rainfall from here on out, it won’t help the crops.” For much of June and July, the dry weather was a major concern for farmers and government agencies in Calloway County. Little rain left field brush and wheat fields sitting targets in the summer heat, and Calloway County Fire-Rescue squads responded to more fires than ever before. One week, in fact, firefighters responded to a blaze almost every day, leading Calloway County Judge-Executive Larry Elkins to issue a countywide burn ban only days before the Fourth of July. That rendered most private firework shows silent. The drought did not go without notice, however. Crop insurance agencies were in high demand this year, giving some afflicted farmers in the region a bit of last-minute hope as shriveling corn crops and pastures looked more and more dire. Federal work to approve farm aid moved quicker in Washington, and some farmers were able to use domestic aid toward making ends meet or last-ditch efforts to save their hurt fields. And it is for that reason that Professor Ferguson has let wishful eyes fall from the sky. To him, and to the acres of row crops dotted around the county at University farms, this year’s summer heat was devastating. Agriculture students are returning or beginning their higher education studies to a different beat
Almost 95 percent of University students receive some form of financial aid, usually coming in the form of Federal Work Study, scholarship obligations, student employment or other campus career opportunities. In order to maximize earning power and help afford the rising costs of education, many students sought employment in multiple departments or conducted research. So when the Kentucky Employees Retirement System (KERS) spent this past summer creating and enforcing laws requiring student workers to maintain 20 hours or less of campus employment through one department, several departments lost part-time assistants as soon as the semester began. The College of Science and Engineering, the Office of Dining Services and Racer Hospitality and the journalism and mass communication department were among the hardest hit, as lab technicians, cartoonists, advertising sales representatives and cafeteria workers had to choose between multiple campus jobs in order to meet regulations. Through careful research and legal circumvention, however, campus officials have revised the student employment guidelines regarding hours of work in order to better accommodate student and faculty needs and to maintain stability in the campus workforce. Vice President of Student Affairs Don Robertson, in conjunction with Bonnie Higginson, vice president of Academic Affairs and Tom Hoffacker, director of human resources, collaborated efforts and constructed new campus guidelines in order to comply with the regulations, but still allow students to hold multiple positions on campus. “The revised policy allows students to hold up to two on-campus positions as long as they don’t exceed the maximum 20 hours per week,” Higginson said. “It will particularly help the college of Science, Engineering and Technology Bonnie where they have many lab Higginson assistants and lab workers Vice President of who work five, six and Academic Affairs seven hours a week.” Through the newly drafted policy, there are two new employment classifications: student workers and student temporaries. Each has its own set of rules to help maintain regulations enforced by KERS. Student workers are students who work no more than 20 hours per week or less, and include University student workers or a combination of Federal Work Study and University employment totaling 20 hours. Student workers are not permitted to work in more than two departments per pay period, and a graduate assistant is not permitted to work as a student worker in the same semester. Student temporaries are students who work more than 20 hours per week, working a maximum of nine consecutive months but then must change their status to student worker. Upon changing their status, the student must then work a maximum of 20 hours per week for one calendar month or observe a one calendar month break. Temporaries are not eligible for
see DROUGHT, 3A
see POLICY, 3A
Photos by Austin Ramsey/The News
High temperatures and low rainfall totals over the summer months rendered much of the Murray State row crops almost devastated.
University crops destroyed by scarce rain Austin Ramsey Editor-in-Chief David Ferguson measures rain. Not everywhere, as the agronomy professor’s detailed log books have been replaced with more precise weather stations at most University farms, but still at the most recently added land to the Murray State collection, Ferguson or a graduate student will run outside and check a classic weather gauge, eyeing the cylindrical tube with markings for the most detailed account of when the skies open up. These days, his log books, which he keeps in a neat pile in the van he uses to drive around the county to the different Hutson School of Agriculture farms, have gone untouched for days —weeks even—on end. A dust has settled on the books and the gauges for which they account. Ferguson has taken little notice to the books, though – or the gauges. He’s just wishing for a little rain. Indeed, Murray and its surrounding farms in Calloway County have not been immune to the relentless drought plaguing most of the middle United States over the past few months. Dry air and high heat have made conditions miserable for most of the farm-predominate states this summer. The impenetrable weather stretches far out into the Pacific Ocean, covering a large swath of the globe before halting suddenly along the eastern seaboard where summer storms are the story for much of New England. Hot and dry weather patterns
David Ferguson, agronomy professor, demonstrates a drought’s effects on soybeans. were increasing in visibility when the rain slowed in early May. Drought monitors nationwide indicated that much of the U.S. has suffered from low rain totals since the start of the year. Justin Holland, National Weather Service weather observer for the region, said August rain totals are actually up lately, as heavy rains fell for several days as students returned in the middle of the month. Unfortunately, he said, the overall low numbers for the year, coupled with the dry weather keep Calloway County in a category 4, or exceptional, drought. Holland said the U.S. Drought Monitor does not even categorize conditions past that in which the region finds itself. “Normally at this time from January through August we have
roughly 32 inches of rain,” he said. “So, we are about 13 inches below average.” Latest rainfall totals round Murray’s ongoing yearly count at just less than 20 inches of rain. Last year, at this time, rainfall totaled at more than double that number, giving the city an almost 2-foot rain deficit on a two-year average. Numbers like those, Holland said, put the region in a sensitive position, as much of the rain falling lately can no longer penetrate the hardened soil, leaving much of Murray’s vegetation at risk of dying before the winter’s freeze. “That is a very significant number,” Holland said. “It will take us months if not one or two years to catch back up to normal. It has already destroyed pretty much all of
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