The Murray State News TheNews.org
April 12, 2013
Budget changes hit home
Talk early, talk often
38
Rebecca Walter || Staff writer
percent of rapists are friends or acquaintances
rwalter@murraystate.edu
The Board of Regents recently approved a list of budget recommendations, instituting several changes that could affect numerous students directly. Changes include reducing housing scholarships by $80,000 a year for three years, doubling the amount of parking fines for on-campus parking violations from $15 and $30, to $30 and $60, and adding a $25 semester fee to support Health Services. Many students are speaking up about how they feel these changes will be impacting their lives at Murray State. Jenn Ratajczyk, junior from Sesser, Ill., said she feels the University will end up losing money in the long run if such a dramatic decrease in housing scholarships is implemented. “I feel students will be more likely to move off campus if their scholarships are taken away and there will no longer be an incentive to stay on campus.” Ratajczyk said. Murray State currently provides $700,000 in housing scholarships to individual students and several for different scholarships such as leadership, Commonwealth Honors Academy, music and engineering programs. Students can also expect to see an increase in overall housing costs next year. According to David Wilson, director of housing and residence life, there is currently no decision on how much the increase will end up being. Students are also voicing concerns about plans to double the amount of parking fines on campus. Lyndy Hill, junior from Greenville, Ky., said she is worried about how students will pay for the increase cost in parking violations. “My concern with raising parking fines is that students are already on a limited budget and now one minor infraction could end up costing them $60,” Hill said. “I don’t think it is fair to fine students such an excessive amount when there already aren’t enough places to park on campus.” According to Francie Ray, parking supervisor of Public Safety, it is unknown at this time whether there will be more parking added around campus in the near future, even with the increase in fines students could face. In the 2011-12 school year, Public Safety officers
Vol. 88, No. 28
97 percent of rapists will never spend a night in jail
54 percent of rapes go unreported
207 thousand incidents of rape are reported every year in the U.S.
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Meghann Anderson News Editor manderson22@murraystate.edu April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and while the numbers have been low in Murray, Roy Dunaway, captain of the Murray State Police Department, wants to help students be aware of what they can do to prevent attacks. To date, for the current academic year, there have been two reported sexual assaults concerning Murray State students. Both incidents occured off campus, one in December and the other less than a month ago. Dunaway said if a situation is uncomfortable or unsafe, take the proper precautions to get out of the area. Events on campus such as Take Back the Night bring aware-
ness to and protest the violence and fear that people encounter when walking the streets at night. SAAM was first observed nationally in April 2001, and in 2009, President Barack Obama proclaimed April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month. April is also Sexually Transmitted Diseases awareness month, which started in 2009 to promote education about STDs and how to prevent them. see ASSAULT, 2A
percent of rape victims are under the age of 30
see BREAKDOWN, 2A
Dunn begins interviews at Youngstown
SURVEY SAYS Results show students gave Dunn high approval K_\ Gi\j`[\ek <]]\Zk`m\cp 8e[ <]]`Z`\ekcp ;f\j ?`j AfY1 7.3%
92.7%
K_\ Gi\j`[\ek ZXe Y\ kiljk\[ kf Y\ _fe\jk Xe[ lg$]ifek1 10.3%
89.7%
K_\ Gi\j`[\ek `j ^ff[ Xk gcXee`e^ ]fi k_\ ]lkli\ Xe[ gifm`[`e^ k_Xk `e]fidXk`fe kf k_\ glYc`Z1 15.4%
84.6%
K_\ Gi\j`[\ek `j [f`e^ X ^ff[ afY f] i\cXp`e^ `e]fidXk`fe XYflk ZXdglj \m\ekj Xe[ [\m\cfgd\ekj XZifjj k_\ DJL Zfddle`kp1 84.8%
15.2%
K_\ Gi\j`[\ek c`jk\ej kf k_\ jkl[\ekjË ZfeZ\iej Xe[ dXb\j k_\d XnXi\ f] gfjj`Yc\ jfclk`fej1 81.9%
18.1%
K_\ Gi\j`[\ek `j m`j`Yc\ fe ZXdglj Xe[ pfl jkl[\ekj befn n_\i\ kf ]`e[ _`d1 74.9%
25.1%
K_\ Gi\j`[\ek `j XggifXZ_XYc\ Xe[ \Xjp kf kXcb kf jkl[\ek ]i`\e[cp 85.8%
14.2%
Negative
Positive Evan Watson/The News
NUMBERS NEVER LIE: The Student government Association conducted a survey earlier this year, which evaluated President Randy Dunn’s performance at Murray State. Most of the reviews were positive, but SGA President Jeremiah Johnson says the information may be skewed. According to Johnson, only one SGA member out of 46 voted in favor of renewing Dunn’s contract at a meeting last fall. Dunn’s contract is set to expire in June of 2014.
Meghann Anderson News Editor manderson22@murraystate.edu Student Regent Jeremiah Johnson has recovered a survey asking the student body to share its opinion on President Randy Dunn’s performance at Murray State. Surveys came to light Wednesday afternoon, showing overall support toward Dunn from 885 students that completed them. The survey included seven questions and an area for additional comments. Originally, Johnson said he did not have a hard copy of the surveys, because the Center of Teaching, Learning and Technology had an online copy of the results. Later, Johnson learned the survey included faculty and staff, who are also enrolled as students, which made the results skewed. “I didn’t feel that all of the students were represented in the survey,” Johnson said. “I didn’t use the survey results because they are skewed. At the board meeting I said I don’t feel like this represented the students, but it’s all I have.” In the portion of the survey giving students the opportunity to voice their opinions, several students gave specific, educated
WHAT’S
OUR VIEW
INSIDE
Students should vote for strong ROTC hosts annual competition representation in SGA, 4A for students, 6A
RACER CHALLENGE
reasons as to why they supported Dunn. Several students, however, stated they had no idea who Dunn was until they recieved the survey, or did not know of anything he had done while at Murray State. Several months after the survey, an unnofficial vote was taken at an SGA meeting in regards to the president’s contract renewal. Only one SGA member out of 46 voted for Dunn’s return. Johnson said the vote did not appear in the official meeting minutes because SGA would not take a public stance against the president. It should be noted that the surveys were taken in the first part of this year, and are separate from the vote Johnson says happened last fall. The suvey and vote took place approximately eight months apart. In that time, discussion about student fees to support a new library and funding of the presidential lecture series was rampant among SGA members. Dunn said Johnson had the ability to make the surveys available to the student body earlier, but chose not to. “I’m not in favor of suppressing information,” Dunn said.
see SURVEY, 2A
Staff Report President Randy Dunn has been named one of eight remaining semi-finalists for the position of president at Youngstown State University. This announcement came less than three weeks after the Board of Regents voted not to renew his contract with Murray State. Dunn said he was aware of the opening at YSU prior to the board’s vote, but did not apply for the position until its decision was officially made, specifically until the weekend after the March Board of Regents meeting. “When it became clear given the action of the board on March 15 that my time as president at Murray state would be ticking down in the next 16 months, that obviously called renewed interest to take a look at it,” he said. This is not the first time Dunn has applied for a job at another university while still president of Murray State. Dunn was one of two finalists for the position of president at Missouri State in September and he was one of three finalists to be the next Florida Commissioner of Education in December. Chair of the board Constantine Curris noted Dunn’s failure to alert the board in the previous two applications and the applications themselves as a breach of their trust and a major reason for the way the Regents voted. The interviews for the position of president will be held this weekend at Hyatt Regency Pittsburg International Airport in Youngstown, Ohio. The YSU presidential search committee is expected to narrow down the list of remaining candidates from three to five finalists by May 15 and hope to have selected a new president by June 12.
OLYMPIC CHAMPION
CHICAGO STYLE
Allyson Felix and Bob Kersee speak at Wrather Museum, 1B
Mugsy’s Hideout brings a unique taste to Murray, 5B