Pokémon Go!
Your guide to Pokémon hunting and the Murray State hot spots!
The Murray State News TheNews.org
August 25, 2016
Vol. 91, No. 1
Alicia Steele
Assistant News Editor asteele5@murraystate.edu
The ongoing expansion project of Route 121 separating the CFSB center and Lowes has been delayed because of rain, city officials said. However, they hope to have the project completed within the coming months. “What dictates a lot of the construction on 121 is weather, and as you can tell, we’ve had a lot of rain over the last couple of weeks, if not months,” said Aaron Dail, president of the Murray-Calloway County Chamber of Commerce. “But their goal is to have it done around Halloween.” Dail said Mike McGregor, an engineer out of Paducah for the Kentucky Department of Transportation, gave the estimated date. Dail said the Chamber of Commerce has had no complaints from citizens of Murray about the construction, but have had questions asked about how long the process will take. “I think a lot of people want to see it done sooner rather than later,” Dail said. “But unfortunately, no one can control the weather.” Jack Rose, mayor of Murray, said the
Chalice Keith/The News
The long road to construction rain has slowed down the process, but even before the rain he was discouraged about how slowly the project was moving. “It’s been a real nightmare I think for the people here,” Rose said. Rose said he believes contractors in the area are busy with all of the highway construction in western Kentucky. “And I suspect that probably, and this is just my suspicion, that they have taken probably as much or more than they can just about do,” Rose said. He said the timing of the project is discouraging because of the increase in traffic. However, he said he was encouraged to see pavement being laid on the northbound lanes within the last week. Students however are concerned with how long the expansion is taking. Briana Enzweiler, senior from Alexandria, Kentucky, said commuting through the construction of Route 121 is a pain. “It’s slow, the roads are bumpy and the fact that some of the side roads are closed to thru traffic makes it even worse,” Enzweiler said. “It seems like it’s taken them forever and they aren’t even done yet.” Joel Stegner, sophomore from Florence, Kentucky, and transfer student from East-
see ROAD WORK, 2A
Graphic courtesy of GoogleMaps
Murray State rebranding, College affording a new look co-heads Ashley Traylor Staff writer
announced
atraylor@murraystate.edu
Murray State recently launched a rebranding campaign as part of a larger marketing plan that will continue through 2022 as it looks forward to celebrating 100 years since its founding. “We desperately needed a rebranding and we needed the whole portfolio redone to reflect the current Murray State University,” said Joy Humphreys, department chairwoman and associate professor of management, marketing and business administration. “We needed a comprehensive, congruous, well-researched package for our MSU brand that would last and would help bring positive attention to MSU.” Adrienne King, vice president of university advancement, was hired last summer with the charge to create a new marketing initiative, but this will be her fifth rebrand. Initial surveys and research began before King was hired, but planning started Sept. 1 of last year and lasted ten months, King said. Murray State’s new tagline is “Opportunity Afforded.” King said this phrase enables the marketing team
WHAT’S
INSIDE
Abby Siegel News Editor
aseigel@murraystate.edu
Chalice Keith/The News
The shield sees it’s latest iteration since Murray State’s founding, along with the new tagline “Opportunity Afforded.” to use students’ personal stories about the opportunities Murray State affords to them. “We don’t want to be the story,” King said. “We want to be the platform through which your story is told.” Humphreys said she likes
the slogan “Opportunity Afforded” because it invokes a past tense connotation. “The new tagline says to me, ‘I’ve graduated from MSU and taken advantage of an awesome opportunity, and I’ve just opened many doors for myself that
would have otherwise been closed,’” Humphreys said. “And I did it without being a bazillion dollars in debt. Bring it on.’” Charley Allen, web manager of branding, market-
see REBRANDING, 2A
White Residential College welcomes new co-college heads that will lead the school of sharks through the year. The Office of Student Affairs appointed Justin Taylor and Beth Donovan, assistant professors in the department of mathematics and statistics, to the position a few days before Great Beginnings kicked off. Neither Taylor nor Donovan have tenure, previously a requirement for being a college head, but both were highly involved in Hester Residential College and won the Hester faculty member of the year award previous to the appointment. Taylor said he is highly involved in the residential college system because it makes a difference in the lives of students. “They see a professor that is a real person,” Taylor
said. “It makes a big impact doing the things that seem small to us,” Donovan said. Taylor said Kenny Fister, Hester Residential College head, waited to see if he could find someone who was qualified with tenure before appointing both Taylor and Donovan to the position. Donovan and Taylor are younger than most college heads and have been working at the university for a few years, an attribute Sam Maue, White Residential College Council vice president and the college head assistant, said will be a good for the college. “They are younger so I think they can relate to the students,” Maue, senior from St. Peters, Missouri, said. Residents of White are anticipating changes but are excited about what is to come, Maue said. He said the residential college will
see CO-HEADS, 2A
SCIENCE GRANT
OUR VIEW
PRACTICE BEGINS
JEFF DUNHAM
Hancock Biological Station receives $3.8 million, 6A
New branding raises questions, 4A
Murray State unveils new branding strategy, 1B
World famous ventriloquist pays visit to Murray State, 5B