The @MSSquirrels Twitter account has parodied our furry campus friends and interacted with students and President Bob Davies. Of course, it would be ... nuts ... for us to not ask a few questions. See page 5B.
The Murray State News March 17, 2016
TheNews.org
Vol. 89, No. 23
LiveSafe outpaces call box technology Alicia Steele || Staff writer asteele5@murraystate.edu
Nahiomy Gallardo/The News
Murray City Council passes resolution on 16th Street Ashley Traylor Staff writer
asteele5@murraystate.edu
After months of speculation about plans for 16th Street, Murray City Council passed a resolution to ensure safer road conditions for pedestrians and traffic. The plan is to convert 16th Street into a boulevard-style road with fewer crosswalks and a hedgerow to prevent jaywalking. “As a council, we want to make the right decision,” said Dan Miller, chairman of the transportation committee. “We are all living in Murray and we all want a safe university.” The resolution was sent to Frankfort, Kentucky, to be approved by the state in order to get the project on the highway budget. Miller said Murray was favorably approved for studies on how to improve the street, so he believes that money will be allocated for the project because it is a top priority for the safety of the students and vehicular traffic. The street sees 7,000 vehicles and 12,000 pedestrians daily, according to WKMS. The city council began proposing suggestions about 16th Street two years ago, but there was never a consensus. City council members wanted to make the right decision because it is one of busiest corridors, and the council wanted feedback from students and community members before voting on a plan, Miller said. Money was allocated to hire engineers to study different plans for the street to make it safer. Some of the ideas proposed were an over-under bridge and an al-
INSIDE
Interim provost to be named soon Alicia Steele || Staff writer
atraylor@murraystate.edu
WHAT’S
Since the activation of the LiveSafe app in August, Public Safety and Emergency Management has received more than 700 tips from the app, but only 14 call box activations since the beginning of the academic year. Roy Dunaway, interim police chief and director of emergency management, wrote in an email that the tips received through the LiveSafe app included alerts about suspicious activities and assaults. “I would encourage the university community to download this safety app,” Dunaway wrote. Dunaway wrote that while the LiveSafe app users can instantly chat with Murray State Police in a live session, users can also allow Murray State Police or a friend to track them via GPS and get access to Murray State maps, emergency procedures and call box locations. However, the call boxes are not as frequently used. Dunaway wrote that 39 emergency call boxes are located around campus, but public safety has only gotten 14 notifications through those phones this academic year. The call boxes were used five times between Jan. 20 and Feb. 23, all of which were unfounded, according to crime logs from Public Safety. “These activations have ranged from accidental activations to students in need of medical attention,” Dunaway wrote. He wrote that upon activation of an emergency call box, the caller is imme-
diately in contact with Murray State Police. Students say they prefer to use the app over the call boxes on campus. “I am a very private person, and the call box is very public and open,” said Selena McCord, junior from Puryear, Tennessee. McCord said she has used the LiveSafe app twice, but never the emergency call boxes. She said the first time she used the app, Public Safety responded quickly and she was very happy with the experience. However, the second time McCord used the app, she said she had reported that a preacher on campus was “harassing students and making the environment unsafe.” She said they again responded quickly but told her there was nothing they could do. “I would have loved to have been given more information about who I could contact about the situation,” McCord said. “Or maybe even some information to the counseling center, as some of his statements were very derogatory towards women and those of the LGBTQ community.” Taylor Fischer, who graduated from Murray State in December, said she used the LiveSafe app last semester and they were quick to respond. However, Fischer said her situation did not occur on campus, so Public Safety notified the Murray Police Department and kept watch for the person she had described to them. “I would definitely recommend this to other students because it made me feel like I knew that I was being taken care of and cared for,” Fischer said.
President Bob Davies has decided on a new interim provost, who is to be named before Spring Break, after Tim Todd announced last week that he will leave the interim provost role and return to his post as College of Business dean. Adrienne King, vice president of Marketing and Outreach, confirmed Davies’ decision to The Murray State News Wednesday. King said she could not say who Davies’ choice is to replace Todd as interim provost and vice president of Academic Affairs. Todd said in an email to
College of Business faculty it was his choice to return as dean. “I am very happy to share with you that I will be coming home to the College effective April 1st,” Todd wrote. Among the names Murray State faculty and staff are mentioning as potential internal candidates for interim provost are: • Renee Fister, a mathematics professor and former Faculty Regent who became the senior presidential advisor for strategic initiatives in 2014. • Renae Duncan, associate provost for undergraduate education. • Steve Cobb, dean of the College of Science, Technol-
ogy, and Engineering. • Tony Brannon, dean of the Hudson School of Agriculture. • Robert Pervine, associate provost for graduate education and research. “I’d like to see Renae Duncan get it,” said Bob Lochte, who is retiring as chairman of the department of journalism and mass communications. Todd spent more than 10 months as interim provost and vice president for academic affairs after the former provost, Jay Morgan, accepted a job with the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education last May. Todd’s request to return to
see PROVOST, 2A
CORRECTIONS Nicole Ely/The News
Students cross 16th Street, which sees 12,000 pedestrians daily. ternate route circling behind the Biology Building on the Gene W. Ray campus. The plan to turn the street into a boulevard-style road with fewer pedestrian crossings and a hedgerow will allow for sidewalks and bike lanes, said Tim Choate, engineer and project manager, in an interview with WKMS. “I think the hedgerow is a good idea, but if they’re going to take out crossing walks then that’s going to make it more congested. That means cars are going to be stopped longer because more kids are going to be going through,” said Shelbi
FAIRY WINGS
Brock, sophomore from Newburgh, Indiana. Construction on 16th Street will not begin until the budget is approved and the council members and engineers meet more to discuss the final design of the resolution, Miller said. He said the project will take time and nothing will happen tomorrow, but the council has a plan for the future. The street will not undergo construction until at least 2017-2018 because there is a lot that still needs to be finalized on the project. It would be good to wait on
see 16TH, 2A
OUR VIEW
Challenge raises money for new Spring Break 2016: Break hospice house, 6A from tradition, 4A
On Feb. 18, 2016, The Murray State News article “Hazing prevention aims for zero tolerance” misstated the situation leading up to the 2014 death of a Penn State Altoona student, Marquise Braham. Braham had not been diagnosed with or treated for any mental illness, according to court records. Additionally, the article failed to attribute the information outlined about Braham’s death. Facts about fraternity hazing’s role in Braham’s suicide were part of a presentation given by Evan Ditty, Coordinator of Greek Life and Student Leadership Programs. A January 2006 Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, grand jury report found no evidence that
IVAN ROE
Braham’s fraternity caused his suicide, in part, because two notes Braham left “make clear that Braham had been thinking of suicide for a very long time.” On March 10, 2016, The News printed an error in the article, “Winslow begins selfserve line.” The article incorrectly described how Dining Services’ relationship with a temporary agency would change as a result of the move to a self-serve line. The university will eliminate only the temporary staff used to keep the dining rooms clean and stocked. The News regrets the errors.
WHAT’S ON THENEWS.ORG VIDEO
Then and Now: Looking at Murray State over the years, on YouTube.com.
SGA RESULTS
Check out the results of the Student Government Association elections on page 2A and online at TheNews.org.
SQUIRRELS ON TWITTER
Rifle team sophomore prepares We slid into the DMs of MSU Squirrels to chat, 5B for an Olympic journey, 1B