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September 20, 2018 | Vol. 93, No. 5

Nick Bohannon/The News

Candles line the Michael Minger memorial during the Phoenix Day memorial.

Hester community remembers fire: 20 years after Phoenix Day honors the life of student killed in dorm fire NEWS: MSU vs. UK game makes national headlines

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Elizabeth Erwin News Editor eerwin1@murraystate.edu

On Sept. 18, the Hester College community gathered to remember the life of a Murray State student who died in a fire 20 years ago in the residential college.

The case On Sept. 18, 1998 at 2:38 a.m., a fire broke out on the fourth floor of Hester Hall.

Less than an hour after the fire began, Michael Minger, sophomore from Niceville,

SPORTS: Series Finale: The Haves and Have Nots

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Florida, was pronounced dead at the MurrayCalloway County Hospital at 3:22 a.m. Five other students were injured during the fire.

At the time of the fire, Tim Clements was on the fourth floor of Hester, just down the hall from Minger.

“I remember a lot from that day,” Clements said.

“Far too much to bore you with, but vividly would be the fear of that morning and seeing several of my dorm mates hanging out of their windows screaming in fear for their lives.”

Investigators quickly

determined the fire was intentionally set. Just weeks after the deadly blaze, seven people, including four members of the University’s rugby team, were arrested and charged in connection to the fire but the charges were later dropped.

The University offered students a full scholarship and a $30,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspected arsonist.

Jerry Wayne Walker Jr., a student who lived in Hester at the time, was indicted twice for various charges related to the fire including

manslaughter and arson. He walked free both times with the first trial ending in a hung jury and the second with an acquittal.

Then, in 2012, Walker Jr., plead guilty to six counts of tampering with evidence in connection to the fire and was sentenced to five years of unsupervised probation.

Walker Jr., who went on to become an assistant principal at Paducah Middle School, was later convicted of tampering with evidence and sentenced to three

,

see HESTER page 4

FEATURES:

OPINION:

Will the real Murray State please stand up?

Toast to Greek alcohol ban

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NEWS NEWS

mcarpenter4@murraystate.edu

Murray State is ahead of the game when it comes to a ban on hard liquor.

The parents of four college students who lost their lives in alcohol-related hazing incidents have teamed up with the North American Interfraternity Conference and the National Panhellenic Council to create a partnership that will “focus on pursuing and strengthening state hazing laws and significantly expanding education and training for high school and college-aged students,” according to the NPC website.

The NIC serves as the overarching governing body for 66 international and national men’s fraternities. The NPC is the national governing body for 26 sororities.

As part of the initiative, more than 6,100 fraternity chapters on 800 campuses have until Sept. 1, 2019 to ban all hard liquor.

“Any liquor above 15% ABV [alcohol by volume] in any chapter facility or at any chapter event, except when served by a licensed third-party vendor is banned,” according to the resolution passed by the NIC. Murray State implemented this new standard on Aug. 26, 2018 as part of the new social life policy for Greeks.

“We expect that this and all changes which were recently made to the Greek Life Social Event Policy, will be supported and adhered to by chapters,” Don Robertson, vice president for student affairs,

Colton Colglazier/The News

9/10

Contributing writer

said.

“Furthering recruitment efforts and growing Greek life are a vital part of our campus life through leadership, scholarship, service, philanthropy and personal growth opportunities.”

Chapters on campus that want more information are asked to review the new policy found in the Greek life handbook.

The new standard was introduced to reduce alcohol consumption and combat hazing in the new member experience. University chapters are asked to start advocating for stronger anti-hazing laws within each chapter as part of the new partnership.

“This action was taken because nearly all hazing and over-consumption deaths in the past two years have involved students consuming high-percentage alcohol beverages,” according to the resolution passed by the NIC. Within the previous school year, three fraternity members have lost their lives due to hazing from alcohol.

Andrew Coffey, 20, from Florida State University, Timothy Piazza, 19, from Penn State University and Maxwell Gruver, 18, from Louisiana State University died from overconsumption of alcohol.

The Murray State administration encourages all students to participate in National Hazing Prevention Week which is Sept. 24-28, 2018. One way for students to get involved with National Hazing Prevention week is to pledge against hazing at hazingprevention.org.

2:30PM A caller reported their vehicle had been hit by another vehicle that left the scene of the crash in the facilities parking lot. Prosecution was declined.

6:10PM A parked vehicle was hit by an unknown vehicle that left the scene in White College parking lot.

9/12 9/11

Miranda Carpenter

12:00AM A caller reported damaged door decorations in Regents College. The investigation was suspended pending other evidence.

12:01AM Theft of a bicycle from the bicycle rack at Elizabeth College. The case remains open.

8:00AM Graffiti was painted on the generator outside Wells Hall. The case remains open.

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Nationwide liquor ban won’t change local Greek life policy

September 20, 2018

6:50AM

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6:42PM

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THE MUR R AY STATE

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The HVAC system and a spotlight at the Sigma Chi house was vandalized. The case was referred to another police jurisdiction.

Someone reported to Murray State Police unwanted social media messages. The report was made at the Susan E. Bauernfeind Wellness Center on Sept.

17 but occurred on Sept. 1.

A Timely Warning was sent to the Murray State community stating a student reported being raped in a residential college on Sept. 16.

The Police Beat is compiled from the Murray State University Police Department’s Crime and Fire Log. For the complete list of dispatched calls visit www.TheNews.org.

Colton Colglazier/The News

News

September 20, 2018

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Library board town hall draws large crowd Paige Effinger Staff writer peffinger@murraystate.edu

In an overflowing meeting room at the Calloway County Public Library, members of the community shared their opinions about the potential library expansion in a town hall.

“The library is a mirror of the communities we serve,” Shannon Davis Roberts, member of the community who petitioned at the town hall on Sept. 18 about the Calloway County Public Library expansion, said.

Since 2016, the Calloway County Library Board of Trustees has discussed expansion. Despite plans being drawn up, no course of action has been taken.

The board sought public input at the community meeting in order to update the latest plan.

The current plan would expand the library into a 28,622-square-foot building from the 12,047 square feet it currently occupies, and would include more meeting rooms and more space in the children’s area.

According to the Board, the total cost of the construction would be over $6 million.

About $3 million has already been set aside in the building fund. The other half of the project would have to be funded by grants or by other measures, such as a library tax.

Some members of the community who spoke last night agreed with adding

another tax, while others did not.

Citizen, Larry Tucker said he was in favor of the changes, but in a manner that did not accrue any extra debts.

“I am for expansion and renovation, but I am also against accruing long-term debt and raising taxes to do it,” Tucker said. “We need some expansion, but we also need to consider the operating costs of the library will go up with the expansion. I urge you to study this project and take your time and make a good decision.”

While others like Melissa Porter said she would do whatever it takes to expand the library even if it means paying more taxes.

“I am a very big introvert,

so for me to come out here and speak for all of you it’s very difficult for me,” Porter said. “But I feel that strongly that we need to renovate and expand our library for the kids in the community. As a homeowner and a property owner, I would gladly pay higher taxes for renovations.”

The town hall allowed people to voice their opinions on this heated controversy. Each person who spoke had two minutes, and was able to leave their speech with the board for further review.

A variety of concerns were raised by the community. Supporters of the renovation brought up topics such as the library is ADA compliant, the children’s room only has four chairs

and there are only 13 computers.

The Kentucky Public Library Association and the Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives have set standards that libraries are expected to meet. There are currently three levels of standards for the library to meet: essential, enhanced and exemplary.

The CCPL needs to meet at least the essential level of standards that are: the library provides adequate square footage based on population; the library provides designated space for children; has up-to-date writing and adequate access to electrical and data outlets; with space to plan prepare and deliver programming; and the library has an

area for staff breaks.

The library does not meet all of the essential requirements set forth by the above institutions. The Calloway County Public Library Board of Trustees did not make any comment during the town hall.

Over three dozen people spoke at the meeting, and the majority of the community concluded that the library needs to be expanded.

“The value of this library in this community can be spoken highly enough of,” Christopher Mitchell, Murray State faculty member and long-time member of the community, said.

“This is the only place in town that is democratic and civic and anyone can walk in here and use this place.”

MSU vs. UK game makes national headlines Gage Johnson Senior writer gjohnson17@murraystate.edu

On Saturday, Sept. 15, Murray State football took on the University of Kentucky and lost 48-10, but the game got more attention than expected due to antics both on and off the field.

Child killed during game; student charged During the Murray State and University of Kentucky football game around 2 p.m., four-yearold Marco Lee Shemwell was struck and killed by a vehicle driven by Jacob Heill, 18. Shemwell and his family were waiting to cross the road when Lexington Police Sgt. Stephen Yoder said the vehicle possibly veered off the road slightly.

Shemwell was taken to UK Chandler Hospital before ultimately succumbing to his injuries.

“The entire University

of Kentucky community is heart-sick at the loss of our young friend and fan,” UK President Eli Capilouto said. “In this awful moment, we hope his parents, brother and other loved ones feel the warm and caring embrace generated by every soul in our UK family.”

Heill, a first-year student and Alpha Tau Omega pledge, was arrested at the scene, and has since entered a not-guilty plea to DUI. Along with his suspension from the university, the ATO chapter at UK has been shut down.

“Following an investigation conducted by the National Fraternity, Alpha Tau Omega has revoked the charter of the University of Kentucky Mu Iota chapter,” WKYT reported the fraternity said in a statement. “Violations of the Fraternity’s Health and Safety policy prompted the decision. The chapter is closed and ATO no longer has a presence on campus.”

UK cheerleaders mock Dunker

It was your typical college football game. Murray State was losing 41-3 to Kentucky and the game was going along as normal.

It wasn’t until around 7:37 in the fourth quarter that all of a sudden, a horse costume that seemed to be occupied by two people trotted around the field with the Kentucky Wildcat.

“That’s the Kentucky Wildcat, and that is the Murray State Racers,” Mike Morgan said.

The statement from ESPN’s SEC Network play-by-play analyst sent Twitter into a frenzy.

Multiple people began tweeting about Murray State’s alleged mascot.

Matt Jones of Kentucky Sports Radio posted the video on Twitter saying, “Can we talk about this Murray State mascot?” The video would go on to get over 122,000 views.

This would lead to posts by Barstool Sports, a short ESPN Snapchat clip, spectators and many angry Murray State alumni trying to get the point across that it wasn’t the official mascot. Murray State’s Sports Twitter page would eventually respond and clear the air on the misconstrued mascot, and bring justice to Dunker’s name.

Guy Ramsey, director of strategic communication at UK released a statement identifying the students behind the costume.

“Our mascots, who are part of our cheerleading program, had the idea to dress up as what was supposed to be a plainly fake horse mascot for our game vs. Murray State,” Ramsey said.

“They came up with the concept and executed it on their own, all in a good-natured effort to have fun and engage our fans.”

Photo courtesy of Kentucky.com

Jacob Heil, 18, pled not guilty to driving under the influence.

Photo courtesy of Kentucky.com

Two UK cheerleaders dressed up as this horse, mocking Dunker at the MSU vs. UK game.

News

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HESTER years in prison. His probation for those charges is set to end in 2021.

“I’m sad justice was never received for Michael Minger,” Clements said.

organizing the event.

“I think it means a lot more, especially with it being the 20th year,” Schaefer said. “You learn that a lot of students don’t even know that there was a fire here and that a lot of students don’t even know how big and tragic it was to the entire town.”

Phoenix Day

Community helps out

Today, Hester residents and alumni remember Minger and the fire with an annual event called Phoenix Day. Ron Sella, college head for Hester in 1998, said when he proposed the idea of Phoenix Day to the student council the year following the fire, they were confused about the name.

A Phoenix is a mythical bird that is known for rising from the ashes as a stronger version of itself.

“I think it’s an appropriate symbol for remembering what we’re trying to remember here and that is that Hester College rose up from a very bad experience,” Sella said. “This is a memorial to a student that lost his life and the other students that suffered... It was also then a celebration of what came after that and how we managed to rise from that awful event and make things better.”

Current Hester Residential College Council President Reilly Schaefer, senior from Burlington, KY, said this is her third time

In the aftermath of the fire, the Murray community opened its doors to displaced students by taking them in until more suitable housing was found.

“In situations like that there are people who will help,” Sella said. “And we had an enormous amount of help.”

A few days after the fire, the residents of Hester, minus those who lived on the fourth floor, were allowed to re-enter the building for the first time.

Residents of Murray along with faculty members volunteered to help students gather their belongings from their dorm rooms.

Amber Wilson, the 1998 RCC president of Hester, said that because students didn’t know when they would be able to enter the building again, they had to prioritize what to bring with them.

“After they cleared it safe that we could actually go up to that level, we basically had to go with someone from the community and they gave us a garbage bag

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and said, ‘stuff what you can in the garbage bag and take it out - you can get the other stuff later,’” Wilson said. “We didn’t really get to come back in until the next semester when it was officially cleaned up... We really didn’t have anything for several days as far as clothes, books and money.”

Despite the lack of a physical building, the members of the Hester RCC decided to continue business as normal.

Part of this included participating in the Homecoming Parade during which residents of Hester rode on a truck bed displaying signs that said “Hester Hedgehogs: Now & Forever” and “Hester Refugee Camp.”

“A lot of us were great friends and we were such a tight family,” Wilson said.

“I think we tried to kind of make light of it with the whole ‘refugee camp.’ But it was a lot of fun for us to see each other because we weren’t seeing each other in passing on a day to day basis, not living in the same place. So doing those events became more meaningful because it meant you were going to reconnect with everybody.”

Besides participating in the Homecoming Parade, the Hester RCC continued to hold their weekly meetings by borrowing the spaces of other colleges.

Sella said the legacy of Hester was able to continue after the fire because of the

September 20, 2018

people who lived there.

“Hester College is not the building,” Sella said.

“It’s the people who make up the college. And those people managed to pull together for the rest of the year an astonishing series of events.”

State Impact During the fire, Interim President Bob Jackson was working as a Kentucky state senator.

“Today a bad thing happened,” Jackson said during the 2018 Phoenix Day. “A young man lost his life and others were injured, so it’s a tragedy. But good things came from that tragedy.

And that’s the way I think today we have to reflect back on it.”

Jackson said he didn’t know Michael Minger but knows his mother, Gail Minger.

“I worked with her closely along with my colleagues in the legislature at the time to pass some laws and appropriate and authorize money to address fire safety issues in Kentucky,” Jackson said.

One of the laws passed as a result of the Hester fire was the Michael Minger Act, in honor of the 19-yearold student who lost his life.

The Michael Minger Act is a Kentucky state law that requires public colleges and universities as well as private institutions licensed by the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education

Nick Bohannon/The News | Murray State News Photo Archives/The News

A compilation of photos relating to the fire in Hester Hall from 1998 and now.

to report campus crimes to their employees, students and the public on a timely basis.

The Minger Act, along with the Jeanne Clery Act, requires universities to have a public crime log available to the public that records incidents known to campus authorities. The act also requires special reports, such as the timely warning emails the Murray State community often receives, to be sent out when there is an ongoing threat to the safety of the campus community.

Laws were not the only changes made as a result of the Hester fire: the Murray Fire Department also operates differently today.

Lt. Steven Lax, a firefighter with the Murray Fire Department, was not present at the Hester fire but his father, a firefighter at the time, was called to the scene.

Lax said the fire completely changed the way the Murray Fire Department operates.

“We talk about this fire probably on a weekly basis,” he said. “Everything that happened that day led everything else to change and we have forever been different in the way we operate.”

Lax said the biggest things student can do in any situation that the fire department is called to, is to listen to firefighters and take fire alarms seriously.

“Every firefighter at the

Murray Fire Department, every officer at the Murray Fire Department takes your safety very seriously,” Lax said. “That’s what we’ve dedicated our lives to do and is what we’re going to continue to do. But we absolutely need you to do your part.”

Every year the Murray Fire Department attends Phoenix Day to talk about fire safety with students.

Schaefer said the Hester RCC usually tries to donate money to the fire department to show their appreciation.

“Because it is the 20th anniversary we wanted to make it extra special so we fundraised extra hard for this one,” Schaefer said.

This year they were able to donate their highest amount yet, $750.

Although the legacy of the fire has brought positive change, Jackson said it is an event that puts life into perspective and shows us how quickly it can change.

“Because this evening, 20 years ago, when I got that phone call it was pretty startling,” Jackson said. “And for the next many months we spent a lot of time addressing serious matters in regard to making campuses safer, addressing fire safety issues, making sure sprinklers were in buildings, so that this would never happen again.

So that’s the good thing that came from a terrible terrible tragedy.”

Murray State News Photo Archive

Michael Minger was 19 years old when he died in the Hester fire.

News

September 20, 2018

Primary Care recognized by insurance giant Anthem Elizabeth Erwin

Senior writer

dmarking@murraystate.edu

Murray State has partnered with Western Kentucky Community & Technical College to provide students the opportunity to partake in a new program, Accelerate U. Mark Arant, vice president for academic affairs and provost, said Accelerate U targets students who were not initially accepted to Murray State.

“The Accelerate U program is a program that reaches out to students who may not have all of the criteria to get into Murray State,” Arant said. “It gives them an opportunity to build those skills that after completing the program will allow them to be successful coming into Murray State.”

There are currently 40 students in the Accelerate U program. Arant said it is a year-long program during which students live on campus and participate in Murray State activities while taking three WKCTC general education classes and one Murray State general education class.

Discussions about the creation of the program began in December 2017.

Arant said he was at an event in Paducah with David Heflin, WKCTC’s chief academic officer, when they began talking.

“We had just received some enrollment data, particularly on the number of students who were not admitted to the institution,” Arant said. “We struck up a conversation on how we could possibly offer those students an opportunity to eventually be admitted to Murray State.”

The conversation con-

tinued, and Arant said they called a team together in February 2018 to begin planning the program.

“The team pulled off what I thought was almost undoable in a very short period of time,” Arant said.

While there, Accelerate U students are considered WKCTC students, but upon successfully finishing their first year of classes, Arant said they will be accepted to Murray State as transfer students.

“Since the enrollment is very seamless, these students will immediately matriculate into Murray State, adding to our transfer student enrollment,” Arant said. “We will see the enrollment benefit in their second year.”

Students must be invited in order to participate in Accelerate U. “We did some research and identified the students who would be the most successful, which ended up being most of them,” Arant said.

Going forward, Arant said he envisions the opportunity being offered to students in their decline of admission letter from Murray State.

While the majority of Accelerate U students are from western Kentucky, Renae Duncan, associate provost for undergraduate education, said invitations are not limited to just Kentuckians.

Duncan said there are minimal differences between Accelerate U students and full-time Murray State students.

“I think that is one of the strengths of the program,” Duncan said. “It enables these students to have a true four-year university experience while developing those skills and receiving that support that they

would if they were going full time at a community college.”

Another unique aspect of this program, Duncan said, is the use of success coaches. Two success coaches were hired specifically for this program. One is employed by WKCTC, while the other is employed

by Murray State.

“The whole idea behind their job is to help make sure these students are successful,” Duncan said.

“They actually go to class with the students, so they know everything that’s going on in class, and they are able to more easily support them and guide them toward tutoring.”

Both Arant and Duncan said the collaboration between WKCTC and Murray State was, and continues to be, a positive experience.

“This is the first in a long line of efforts you’re going to see between Murray State and WKCTC,” Arant said. “We are talking about a number of new initiatives and new agreements that will be coming in the future.”

David Heflin, vice president of academic affairs at WKCTC, said the students he has heard from are speaking positively about the program.

“The feedback has been very good,” Heflin said. “I have talked to the students themselves and they seem very pleased and happy to be at Murray State.”

Heflin said he looks forward to continuing collaborations with Murray State and ultimately supporting students in the region.

“The opportunity here to help our students in the region is enormous,” Heflin said. “I think the synergy of both of our institutes will really help this region.”

News Editor

eerwin1@murraystate.edu

Primary Care Medical Center is being featured as a best practice by Anthem because of its number of potentially avoidable emergency room visits.

According to the Center for Disease Control’s website, there were nearly 137 million emergency room visits in the United States in 2015.

The health insurance company, Blue Cross Blue Shield, estimates it costs between $130 and $180 for a doctor visit while the projected cost of an emergency room visit is $580-$700.

According to a press release from PCMC, the practice is seeing more patients come to their facility instead of the emergency room.

“This results in much lower costs for the patients

Meet Your Freshman Senators:

New partnership provides a second chance for students Destinee Marking

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of PCMC compared to the area and to the entire state of Kentucky.”

PCMC administrators attribute this statistic to the extended hours and seven days a week care. In addition to extended hours and other health care savings, PCMC is currently working with a Chicago-based company that uses data analytics and care managers to “further track and lower costs.”

“We will continue to add more cutting edge services to better serve our patients and the entire health care delivery system,” managing partner of PCMC and the Chief Medical Officer for Village MD-Kentucky, Robert Hughes, said.

PCMC administrators are sharing their expertise with practices all around the country, including this week in San Francisco, California.

“This week we will be

meeting with the Board of the California Medical Association... to try and help them develop a program to help their independent doctor members stay independent of hospital system,” according to the press release.

Hughes said studies consistently show that these practices lower the costs patients have to pay because they are not tied to a large employer such as a hospital.

Hughes and VillageMD co-founder, Clive Fields, recently met with the genetic testing company, 23andMe, in Silicon Valley.

“The goal here is to incorporate the individual person’s genetics in helping to determine more effective, customized treatment for that individual that has a higher probability of being successful.”

Kelsey Sutton

Amy Krazl

Major: Social Work

Major: Nursing

Newburgh, IN

ksutton9@murraystate.edu

St. Louis, MO

akrazl@murraystate.edu

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NEWS SPORTS THE MUR R AY STATE

September 20, 2018

The Haves and Have Nots The financial divide between state and athletic departments Blake Sandlin Sports Editor bsandlin1@murraystate.edu

The Haves While regional universities’ athletic budgets are being cut to the bone, national schools, which operate predominantly independent of their universities, continue to thrive.

Athletic departments like the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky function largely separate from their universities, rendering them mostly immune to the daunting budget cuts that the majority of regional schools are facing.

For the most part, Louisville and UK aren’t subjected to the various cuts that their respective universities make because they are funded predominately through external revenue streams.

The News reached out to UK Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart, but he was unavailable for comment at the time of this story.

Slightly different from Louisville, the University of Kentucky’s athlet-

ic department functions entirely independent of its university.

For the 2018-19 fiscal year, UK anticipates an operating budget of $147.7 million. UK, like Louisville, also employs zero-based budgeting to service its sizable budgetary needs.

“We take this approach because every year is different, bringing new expenses, new challenges and new opportunities.

Since the world of athletics is ever-changing, we must take a flexible approach,” Guy Ramsey, UK director of strategic communication, wrote in an email to The News.

Not only does UK Athletics maintain the resources to operate self-sufficiently, it even contributes to the university through academic scholarships, fees and facilities.

“In 2018-19 alone, UK Athletics will contribute $1.7 million for academic scholarships; pay the full rate for 330 athletic scholarships ($17.9 million); and pay a university assessment fee of $2.3 million, all while continuing to fund $65 million – about twothirds of the cost – of the

Jacobs Science Building,” Ramsey said.

Ramsey also added that for the first time UK Athletics did not require students to pay a mandatory student athletic fee, which benefits athletics, provides access to facilities and leverages free or reduced ticket prices.

Like its revenue counterpart in Louisville, a strong donor base is equally important to the Wildcats’ sustainability. According to the UK Athletics Department Budget Report, donors’ contributions comprise 18.8 percent of the department’s total revenue.

For comparison, UK men’s basketball accounts for a share of 19.7 percent of the athletic department’s total revenue.

Contributions to the K Fund, UK’s fundraising arm, are estimated to total $27.7 million this fiscal year.

“While budget cuts to higher education may not directly affect UK Athletics, they do have an impact,” Ramsey said. “Though we may operate independently from a financial perspective, we are part of the University of Kentucky.”

Part 5: University of Kentucky

Rosalyn Churchman/The News

Alumnus named Division II Chair Keenan Hall Staff writer khall16@murraystate.edu

Jon Mark Hall, Murray State alumnus and University of Southern Indiana director of athletics, recently accepted a position as an NCAA Division II men’s basketball committee chair.

Hall was a former fivetime coach of the year in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, earning a 12347 record as men’s ten-

nis head coach. He also coached the Screaming Eagles to four GLVC tournament wins, and the men’s tennis programs’ first two NCAA tournament trophies.

Previously, he helped host the Division II Elite Eight in 2002, 2014 and 2015. Hall will continue to do so with the men’s basketball Elite Eight through 2020.

“The last two years, I served on the national men’s basketball commit-

tee as a representative of the midwest region,” Hall said. “We are working with the Evansville Sports Corporation to host the Elite Eight. I am really excited about continuing our work in Evansville in the years to come.”

Now, Hall will embark on the next step of his career as chair of the committee.

Hall attributes his start in collegiate athletics to former Murray State men’s basketball Head Coach Steve Newton. Newton

coached the Racers from 1985-1991, then accepted a job at the University of South Carolina.

Newton would later receive the athletic director position at Southern Indiana University, where he hired Hall as the assistant athletic director. He planned on embarking on a career in athletics even before earning a master’s in sports administration.

Hall’s desire originated from volunteering with Racer athletics during his

time at Murray State.

“He was the reason I came to Southern Indiana,” Hall said. “When I first started I had a goal to be involved in athletics one way or another, whether it was in professional sports or intercollegiate sports.”

Hall graduated cum laude from Murray State in 1990 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He continued his academic career by receiving his master’s in sports administration from Ohio

State University.

“When I got to Ohio State University, I knew I wanted to lock in on mastering intercollegiate sports.”

He later had a brief stint with the University of South CarolinaSpartanburg as an assistant athletic director.

Hall got his start in sports at Murray State as a student athlete for the Racers’ men’s

see

HALL, page 7

Sports

September 20, 2018

HALL

From Page 6 tennis team. He also worked in retail under the direction of current men’s golf Head Coach Eddie Hunt.

“I was around Murray State athletics for quite a bit,” Hall said. “I worked at Dennis and Hunt Sporting Goods in Murray for a bit after I finished school before I got my first opportunity in athletics.

Hall has been the director of athletics at SIU since 2002. Hall coached the men’s tennis and assisted the director of athletics for seven years prior to becoming the director of athletics.

His job as the NCAA compliance coordinator was organizing various academic support programs for student athletes at SIU. Hall used his experiences in Murray to help him mentor and guide student athletes.

He takes characteristics from his former tennis coach mentor Newton to apply to directing students in SIU’s program.

“From my time at Murray State, and playing for the men’s tennis team at Murray State I knew this was what I was supposed to do,” Hall said.

He prefers working with student athletes on excelling on and of the field. Also, after they leave campus and begin their own game of life.

“I really enjoy being on campus and working alongside student athletes, particularly the 18-24 year old age group,” Hall said.

“Helping students develop their career path has been a great experience for me, and, I look forward to continuing to do so.”

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Meet the Nichols: A coaching family Gage Johnson Senior writer gjohnson17@murraystate.edu

For some families, sports are a way of life. For Shane Nichols and his brother Darris, they’ve turned an infatuation with basketball into professional careers with top-tier programs.

Currently, Shane is an assistant basketball coach for the Murray State men’s team, while Darris is a men’s assistant basketball coach at the University of Florida. The two have been in the field of coaching for a while now, but their love for basketball and coaching runs deeper into the family.

It all started with the Nichols brothers’ father, William Nichols. William was an All-American at Berea College, a Division III school near Lexington, Kentucky. After he graduated, he was still playing when they were kids, and became their assistant coach in high school, as well.

In a day and age where parents have a tendency to place excessive pressure on kids in sports, William simply shared his love of the game with his sons, and they looked up to him for it.

“He balanced being our father and our coach well,” Darris said. “He was the kind of guy that never pushed basketball on us.

He was a role model for us, so whatever he was doing we wanted to do.”

Shane and Darris are two years apart in age, with Shane being the oldest.

The two were close, and played together through elementary school. They also played together for two years in high school, and the two’s competitiveness really drove each other as players.

“We used to get in fights all the time out in the front yard,” Shane said. “We could never finish a game,” Darris said. “Once we got older we kind of worked together and helped each other become better.”

The brothers would both go on to have success-

ful college careers. Shane would play at Wofford College from 2005-2008, scoring over 1,000 points, and Darris became a Top 10 leader in games played at West Virginia University. During their careers at their respective schools, the two got to play one game against each other. West Virginia would come out on top, defeating Wofford 61-41.

“It was surreal, just playing together for all these years, and then coming out of the locker room and seeing your brother come out on the other side,” Shane said. “We immediately started laughing and greeted each other at half court. We had our family come and it was just a good experience.”

After graduating, both Shane and Darris took their talents overseas – Shane to Israel and Darris to Hungary. The two would ultimately return and follow in their father’s footsteps, becoming coaches shortly after their stint overseas.

“I always knew I wanted to, I just didn’t know when,” Shane said. “Once I got done playing overseas, I knew it was time.”

“I always wanted to stay in basketball,” Darris said.

“I also always wanted to find a way to help kids, so that’s how I kind of got into it.”

Shane would return to Wofford in 2010 to coach alongside Mike Young, who’s entering his 17th season as head coach.

Young was also Shane’s head coach in his playing days as a Terrier.

“The experience there was great,” Shane said.

“Being on the other side of things, he was really laid back, and let me grow as a coach. It really helped me learn a lot. I saw how to recruit, how you interact with players and how you teach the game.”

Darris would also return to his alma mater to coach as a graduate assistant for a season after his short professional career in Hungary.

In Darris’s time at West

Virginia, he played under Jon Beilin for three seasons, who was the head coach at the time he joined.

He eventually played under Bob Huggins, the current head coach, when Beilin left for Michigan.

The two prolific coaches have accrued a combined 1314-634 record, and Darris learned important strategies about the game that he still applies to this day.

“It was cool,” Darris said of his time at West Virginia. “Playing under Beilin you learned a lot of stuff, and then with Hugs (Huggins) coming in you learned a different way to do it. Seeing different ways you can be successful, it helped me as a coach, just understanding at a young age there’s not just one way for a program to be successful.”

Darris would then go on to coach at Northern Kentucky University as an assistant basketball coach from 2011-2013, helping alongside the team as it transitioned from Division

II to Division I. Darris would then coach at a familiar destination for the 2013-2014 season, his brother’s alma mater, Wofford. After that year he would make a one-year stop at Louisiana Tech University. Then he accepted a position as an assistant basketball coach at the University of Florida under Mike White,.

Both Shane and Darris have gotten to coach high-profile athletes in their coaching careers, with Darris coaching NBA players like forward Dorian Finney-Smith, forward Devin Robinson, and All-Americans like Chris Chiozza.

Shane has gotten to work with his share of talent as well, including Phoenix Suns guard Isaiah Canaan, NBA guard Jonathan Stark, and now he coaches sophomore point guard Ja Morant, who is projected as a No. 19 pick in the latest 2019 NBA mock draft from ESPN’s Jonathan Givony.

For the two young coaches, being able to help players prepare for the lifestyle and the game itself at the next level is what they love to do as coaches.

“Just seeing them have success makes me happy,” Shane said. “Building relationships with the guys and just trying to help them realize what they have got to get done is what really stands out to me.”

Both of the two assistant coaches dream of commanding their own team one day, and would jump at the opportunity if given the chance.

“The dream is to get your own program,” Shane said.

“We have the same dream,” Darris said. “We want to be head coaches someday, so we share ideas and we try to make each other better.”

While the two are 719 miles apart and haven’t

see NICHOLS, page 8

Photo courtesy of Shane Nichols

West Virginia guard Darris Nichols looks to make a pass against his brother Shane, who played for Wofford College.

Page 8

Sports

September 20, 2018

NICHOLS From Page 7 been physically close to each other throughout their careers, Shane and Darris still share an unbreakable bond and devotion to help each other in their personal lives as well as professionally.

“Like back then, we are now,” Shane said about his relationship with his brother.

“It’s cool because we talk to each other a lot,” Darris said. “Sometimes it’s on a personal level and sometimes it’s on a business level. Like ‘What are you hearing about this kid?’ or just running some X’s and O’s by each other.”

The coaching tree in the Nichols family has continued to grow, and the two’s bond, competitiveness and drive will extend far after their coaching careers are finished.

Rosalyn Churchman/The News

Sports

September 20, 2018

Page 9

New Racer One jockey saddles up Gage Johnson Senior writer gjohnson17@murraystate.edu

Racer One trotting around the track after every home touchdown has been a longstanding tradition at Murray State, and it didn’t take long for the new Racer One jockey, senior Jamie Wolfzorn, to be fascinated by the tradition.

“My freshman year I went to a football game, and I looked at my friend that I was there with and I was like ‘I’m going to be the Racer One jockey,’” Wolfzorn said.

This was the moment Wolfzorn knew she wanted to hear “Clear the track!” and “Here comes Racer One!” as she rounded the track with Racer One after every touchdown at Roy

Stewart Stadium.

Not long after, Wolfzorn was presented with the unique chance by her friend.

“Last year, my friend Anna Thomas was the jockey,” Wolfzorn said.

“She was like, ‘Hey we need an extra person for the Racer One team.

Would you mind to join?’ Then, I tried out in November, and now I’m the jockey.”

Shea Porr, department head of animal/equine science, is heavily involved with the Racer One team, and she and a committee decided on Wolfzorn as the new jockey after a rigorous training and interview process.

“We watched the students try out on some horses and then we asked them some questions relative to ‘Why did

they want to be the jockey? What did they think it was to represent Murray State, the School of Agriculture and the Equine program on Racer One?’” Porr said.

“Then the committee sat down to make the decision, and she was everyone’s top choice.”

Wolfzorn understands the magnitude of the tradition surrounding Racer One, and is honored to say she’s a part of it.

“It’s really neat because I’m a part of a select handful of people that get to do what I do,” Wolfzorn said. “It’s just an amazing tradition. I get cold chills every time I walk into the stadium, whether it’s for practice or an actual game, and I get to sit in the saddle where so many great riders before me did.”

THE MURRAY STATE NEWS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Sophomore Stasya Sharapova finished 3-1 in matches during the Austin Peay State University Fall Invitational last weekend.

Sharapova advanced to the semifinals of the Flight A bracket in the tournament.

Stasya Sharapova

Sophomore Women’s Tennis

Rosalyn Churchman/The News

Kalea Anderson/The News

Jockey Jamie Wolfzorn and Racer One stop for a quick photo during Murray State football’s first home game.

Wheeler, golf take fourth Blake Sandlin Sports Editor bsandlin1@murraystate.edu Murray State’s men’s golf team took home fourth place on Sunday in the EKU Classic at the University Club at Arlington in Richmond, Kentucky.

The Racers’ fourth-place honors are a tremendous improvement to their finish in 14th place last September.

The Racers played a consistent contest with scores of 286, 288 and 289 in three rounds of play. Just one stroke separated Murray State and Morehead State for third place as the Eagles finished the weekend 22 over par.

Murray State was led by senior Gabe Wheeler, from Sikeston, Missouri, with a 13th-place finish on scores of 72, 72 and 70. Freshman Dalton Bagwell, from Paducah, Kentucky, followed Wheeler with scores of 70, 73 and 72 for a spot in 17th place.

Junior Justin Wendling, from Lithia, Florida, competed as an individual for the weekend, firing 74, 77 and 75 for a total of 226, earning 67th place overall.

The Racers lacked their No. 1 player for rounds two and three, as junior Austin Knight, from Hopkinsville, Kentucky, withdrew from the event after shooting a 71 in round one. Knight began to experience symptoms of dehydration toward the end of round one and was pulled from the contest, leaving the Racers with just four participants.

Murray State rallied to notch back-to-back Top 5 finishes to start the season, giving Head Coach Eddie Hunt much to be excited about going forward.

“I was extremely proud of the team and how they played,” Hunt said. “We had everybody on the team contribute to the final score and that’s something you want to see in a young team.”

Hunt was pleased to see his team rally together after Knight withdrew following round one.

“After Austin had to withdraw Saturday, we thought he didn’t need to play today,” Hunt said. “We felt that he needed to get back to Murray and get in better shape. The team really stepped up though. Gabe Wheeler had an excellent tournament, and overall we had everyone contribute.”

Looking ahead, Hunt is optimistic that his team has the tools to compete all season.

“I think what we’re doing is working,” Hunt said.

“We’ve got a really good lineup one through five, and once we get Avery Edwards back and well we’ll have some good competition for those five spots.”

The Racers will travel to Madison, Illinois, next Monday to compete in the SIUE Derek Dolenc Invitational.

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NEWS FEATURES THE MUR R AY STATE

September 20, 2018

Will the real Murray State please stand up?

Student accidently enrolls at Murray State Amy Turner Staff writer aturner32@murraystate.edu

Picking a university

to attend is a big deal.

Most students would never show up at a random university out of state and decide to make it home for the next four years.

Kristin Anderson, sophomore from Norman, Oklahoma, did just that when choosing a school almost 10

hours away. She never planned on going to college at all, but her mom had other hopes for her. Eventually, at the suggestion of her high school guidance counselor, Anderson applied for Murray State College… or so she thought.

Murray State College is a small school of around 3,000 students in Tishomingo, Oklahoma. Anderson applied to appease her

guidance counselor but had no real plans on attending.

Later on when she was filling out the address for Murray State for her transcripts, she realized she had applied for the university in Kentucky.

“I typed in Murray State and scrolled to the bottom of the website page and saw Kentucky,” Anderson said. “I was like ‘Oh I’m on the wrong web-

site page’ so I got a new browser, typed in Murray State and logged in to make sure I was on the right place and scrolled to the bottom and realized ‘Crap, I applied to the wrong school.’”

Around this time, she received a full ride scholarship to another school in Oklahoma.

She planned to attend that university in Oklahoma when her friends and family told

Located: Tishomingo, Oklahoma

Savannah Walton/The News

her it was unsafe and understaffed.

Other colleges to which Anderson applied still hadn’t contacted her at this point.

Faced with the choice between an unsafe, understaffed college and the out-of-state wild card, Anderson had to make a choice.

“All of this happened within a month and after that I started to feel like maybe I was supposed to go to Murray State,” Anderson said. “My dad told me, ‘Kristin, I don’t want to be one of those people who says it’s God’s will for your life, but I think this is God’s will.’”

Anderson’s high school guidance counselor, Deana Edgar, agreed.

“I told Kristin ‘I knew God would take you to college and take you where you needed to go,’” Edgar said.

Looking back at it now, Anderson is able to find humor within the whole situation.

She went from not wanting to even attend college to accidentally enrolling in a fouryear university.

“I thought ‘That is so Kristin,’” Edgar said.

“We all just have the greatest laugh about it. Everyone was very excited she messed up.”

Anderson attributes her decision to stay to the community that she has found here.

“I think the reason that I stayed is that this is where my best friends are now, this is where my home is now,” Anderson said. “This is my community now. It is also a good school.”

Miscellaneous Pursuits

Family reunions Howell f a m i l y reunions in Cadiz, Kentucky were a big thing back in the day.

W h e n Sara Howell Features Editor t h e month of September rolled around, my family spent three days together catching up and eating good food. The first day of the reunion began at my Aunt Clara’s house.

Getting there and reuniting with out-of-town family members was probably the best part. The kids would spend the day laughing (and occasionally bickering) until it was time to eat. No matter which house we were at, the food was delicious. By the time it got dark, we were ready for flashlight tag.

My cousins Logan and Lucas always brought glow sticks and we’d use them and flashlights to play. Our aunt’s huge German Shepherd, Jack, would scare us sometimes because we would forget he was in his cage and would think it was a monster. Whether we were still scared or not, we continued the next day at my Uncle Ricky’s house.

Just like the night before, the food and the memories made were the best.

I actually learned how to shoot a basketball at one of the reunions at his house.

As the night went on, my uncle and other relatives would play bluegrass music as everyone else sat around and happily listened. Uncle Ricky would play the same bass that my grandpa used to play.

Reunions would always come to a close at my Granny’s house. This night was treasured the most because we knew the fun times were coming to an end. No matter what though, we continued to laugh and flashlight tag the night away. These reunions were a highlight to growing up and I am happy so many good memories came from them.

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September 20, 2018

NEWS FEATURES THE MUR R AY STATE

Page 11

Accounting student crunches numbers for scholarship Amy Turner Staff writer

aturner32@@murraystate.edu

As an accounting major, Abbie Niemeier spends her time crunching numbers. Now thanks to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, Niemeier has one less number to crunch.

College is expensive and most students rely on a mix of scholarships, grants, and loans to help cover the cost. Some students are forced to rely mostly on loans and can rack up a costly bill before graduation.

Attending Murray State for one year is estimated to cost around $22,390 for in-state tuition, according to College Data.

Niemeier was one of 332 recipients of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board scholarship. To

qualify for the scholarship opportunity, the university has to have an accredited accounting program and offer a degree program for undergraduate or graduate accounting students.

Each eligible school was asked to nominate a student for the award.

According to the PCAOB website, Niemeier had to be enrolled in a bachelor’s or master’s degree program in accounting at a regionally accredited U.S. college or university, demonstrate interest and aptitude in accounting and auditing, demonstrate high ethical standards and not be a PCAOB employee or a child or spouse of a PCAOB employee.

The accounting department at Murray State had other criteria they used to select a student. In addition to the

Julie Boeker/The News

Abbie Niemeier poses in front of the Arthur J. Bauernfeind College of Business. previous standards, the department looked for a student who was really involved and could use

the full amount of the award.

Leigh Johnson, professor and chair of the

gdillard@murraystate.edu

“The Nun” is the newest installment in the “Conjuring” universe, and the third prequel in the series. This film is based around the demonic Nun entity that had a brief appearance in “The Conjuring 2,” in what many consider one of the highlights of that film.

Set in 1952, the film focuses on a priest named Burke and a novitiate named Irene who are tasked with investigating the death of a young nun in Romania.

There, they come across the demonic force

that my professors in the accounting department had even thought of me at all,” Niemeier said. “I was pleased that I had stood out to them and that they thought of me as being qualified and a good student.”

Wayne Tervo, associate professor in the accounting department, said Niemeier’s attributes as a student is why she was on the list of students nominated.

“She does well in class and is involved in other things,” Tervo said. “She is always happy and makes it a better classroom environment for the people in there.”

Niemeier is a part of the accounting society within the department and is an affiliate in Beta Alpha Psi. She is also a part of the International Cultures and Language Association.

OUTSTANDING ORGANIZATION SPOTLIGHTS

‘The Nun’ flops for fans of the series Grant Dillard Staff writer

department was careful to mention that the accounting department has many outstanding students but the selection was also about finding a student who was early in the program and someone who could benefit from the scholarship.

According to the PCAOB website, “The PCAOB is a nonprofit corporation established

by Congress to oversee the audits of public companies in order to protect investors and the public interest by promoting informative, accurate, and independent audit reports.”

Niemeier, sophomore from Edwardsville, Illinois, was nominated during finals week of the spring 2018 semester and found out that she won the scholarship during the summer.

“I felt very honored

responsible for the death: The Nun. The biggest problem with this movie is that it’s not scary. The film tries to build suspense and tension but for the most part it consists of uninspired jump scares.

These kinds of scares never accomplish the goal of terrifying the audience, as it’s easy to tell when the scare is coming. Some of the imagery isn’t even that astounding. Apparitions of a snake coming out of a child’s mouth or one of the main characters falling into an empty coffin end up coming across as silly rather than scary.

Hardcore fans of the “Conjuring” lore may

find some plot details relatively interesting, but casual viewers are likely to be bored throughout the majority of the film. Nothing truly fascinating or engaging takes place, and the pacing is incredibly slow. It doesn’t help that the characters are rather lackluster, as the main leads have about as much depth and personality as sandpaper.

The actors do as well as they can given the material they have, but their characters don’t leave any impact or give audiences any reason to care about them.

The only character who seems to have any kind of personality is Maurice

or “Frenchie” as he prefers to be called. He acts as the comic relief for the film and while he isn’t very funny, he is kind of interesting.

Due to its lack of effective scares along with an uninteresting story and characters, “The Nun” is a forgettable and boring horror film, and a disappointing addition to the “Conjuring” franchise.

Those looking for a more effective scary movie are better off watching the previous film in the series, “Annabelle: Creation,” along with the first two “Conjuring” films, and should give “The Nun” a hard pass.

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NEWS FEATURES THE MUR R AY STATE

September 20, 2018

Artist Kevin Kao discusses his collection ‘Innuendos’ Bridgette McAuliffe Staff writer

bmcauliffe@murraystate.edu

Artist Kevin Kao gave

a presentation to students about his experiences, work and his collection “Innuendos” on Thursday, Sept. 13.

Kao is a native Californian, now residing in St. Louis, who specializes in ceramics.

He said that each artist’s experience of finding their path is a bit different.

“Being a gay, Asian man, growing up in Orange County is really a land of fantasy, a land of plastic,” Kao said.

“What’s interesting is I always find myself coming back to the sense of what is real, the sense of taste, and what is valuable and not.”

Kao said that being part of this culture of

artifice and plastic has shaped his world view.

“I remember always feeling uncomfortable at the heart of it,” Kao said. “In a lot of ways, the work that I make is a direct extension of the uncomfortability of the body, particularly as a queer man of color but also trying to fit into these expectations of desire, taste, perfection and beauty.”

Kao said that the idea of sexuality and seduction has always been present in his work. He graduated from college with a degree in animal behavior and was interested in how humans relate to animals in perceiving sexual attraction. He used artwork of “hybrid animals” as a metaphor for a hybrid body to talk about his idea of being a cultural hybrid.

Bridgette McAuliffe/The News

Kao’s collection is displayed on the sixth floor of the Price Doyle Fine Arts Building.

As he continued his work, he began folding in parts of his own Chinese heritage and culture, using symbolic animals such as rabbits for luck.

“A lot of my relationship with the figurative work is looking at them as self-portraiture,” Kao said. “I look at them as selfies, as fragments of the larger identity.”

In both his earlier works and his collection on display at Murray State, Kao said he always finds himself drawn to seduction.

“A lot of my work is pretty sexual,” Kao said. “I know where they come from, but I’m much more interested in what viewers per-

ceive inside themselves.

In this newer body of work, I find myself more interested in seduction and surface fetish. Some forms are a little more direct than others, but some are kind of hidden and I enjoy that unknowingness.”

Artists talks like the one given by Kao are a recurring event in the art department.

T. Michael Martin, director of University Galleries, is responsible for deciding which collections will be on display at the Murray State art galleries. Martin said he tries to bring a diverse group of artists to the university because of the diverse art programs at Murray State.

“The galleries are an extension of what they’re doing in the classroom or a classroom them-

selves,” Martin said. “I want them to see where this can go, how it can be displayed and how an audience can interact with it.”

Martin tries to pull both regional and national artists so students can access work they wouldn’t typically be able to experience.

Antje Gamble, assistant professor of art & design, said that there is typically about one gallery show per month.

“It gives them a variety of voices,” Gamble said. “It also allows us to show the importance of listening to other professionals in the field. Sometimes it’s artists, whether working in advertising or galleries, just to show students the other things they can do when they graduate.”

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NEWS FEATURES THE MUR R AY STATE

Page 13

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Page 14 Ashley Traylor Editor-in-Chief • 270-809-6877 atraylor@murraystate.edu Savanna Rininger Production Manager • 270-8095877 shatfield2@murraystate.edu Elizabeth Erwin News Editor • 270-809-4468 eerwin1@murraystate.edu Destinee Marking News Senior Writer• 270-8095878 dmarking@murraystate.edu Colton Colglazier News Graphic Designer ccolglazier@murraystate.edu Sara Howell Features Editor • 270-809-5871 showell6@murraystate.edu Savannah Jane Walton Features and Opinion Graphic Designer swalton2@murraystate.edu Blake Sandlin Sports Editor • 270-809-4481 bsandlin1@murraystate.edu Gage Johnson Sports Senior Writer • 270-8095878 gjohnson17@murraystate.edu Rosalyn Churchman Sports Graphic Designer rchurchman@murraystate.edu Ginni Sisemore Opinion Editor• 270-809-5873 vsisemore@murraystate.edu

NEWS OPINION THE MUR R AY STATE

Our View

Toast to Greek alcohol ban The staff editorial is the majority opinion of The Murray State News Editorial Board A new national policy will affect the very image of Greek life at Murray State… for the better.

Drinking on college campuses has been historically associated with fraternities.

This can largely be attributed to their depictions in movies; however, some of that reputation is earned.

Most people know someone who died in an alcohol-related accident, whether the victim was drinking or hurt by someone who was.

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, nearly 2,000 students die from alcohol-related accidents, 696,000 students are physically assaulted by someone who has been drinking and 97,000 students report alcohol-related sexual assault, per year.

Four mothers who lost children to alcohol-induced injuries and the North American Interfraternity

Autumn Brown/ The News Conference worked together to implement anti-hazing and drinking policies, which resulted in an alcohol ban on cam-

David Wallace Chief Copy Editor• 270-809-5877 dwallace15@murraystate.edu Chandler Cochran Ad Sales and Circulation Manager • 270-809-4478 ccochran3@murraystate.edu Rhiannon Branch Photography Editor • 270-8095878 rbranch@murraystate.edu Rebecca Mosella Chief Video grapher • 270-809-5878 rmosella@murraystate.edu Ravi Shankar Shah Online Editor • 270-809-5878 rshah2@murraystate.edu Dr. Stephanie Anderson Adviser • 270-809-3937 sanderson37@murraystate.edu

September 20, 2018

pus.

The alcohol ban, in light of the death of a non-Murray State student at a fraternity house last

semester and the relatively frequent “timely warnings” students receive, is definitely a positive change.

Murray State already had a hard liquor ban in place for social events, but the new ban comes from the national organization that fraternities belong to and affects all chapter events and property.

Increased safety measures at fraternity houses and social events are a nation-wide trend, showing up in social-event policies at universities across the country.

The alcohol ban has the potential to impact Murray State Greek life positively in many ways.

Greek life at Murray State stands out from the crowd of Greeks at American universities because they are known for impacting the campus, the community and beyond.

The ban will help shift

the focus back to what Greek life is supposed to be: a group of like-minded students who share a set of core values and want to give back to their community.

Fraternities and sororities are not supposed to be seen as the group of people who host parties and get drunk on the weekends… or on Thursdays.

T h e y are supposed to be community leaders and role models.

The more positive view of Greek life and the increased safety measures are likely to draw incoming freshmen to Murray State and its Greek community.

Students will be drawn to the opportunities Murray State Greek life offers, while parents will be more comfortable allowing their children to join.

Cheers to all the positive changes the liquor ban will bring.

Cheers to: Updated Vending Machines

Jeers to: More than $5 footlongs

Wilson Hall finally got with the times and added credit card and Apple Pay accessible vending machines.

We all know Subway footlongs are rarely $5, but the chain announced they are officially doing away with the promotion.

The News 2609 University Station Murray State University Murray, Kentucky 42071-3301 murraystatenews@icloud.com Fax: 270-809-3175

TheNews.org

The News welcomes commentaries and letters to the editor. Submissions should be 600 words or less, and contributors should include phone numbers for verification. Please include hometown, classification and title or relationship to the University. The News reserves the right to edit for style, length and content. No anonymous contributions will be accepted. All contributions should be turned in by noon on Monday of each week via email to atraylor@murraystate.edu.

Contributions to The News are the opinion of the author and not that of The Murray State News.

The News is a designated public forum. Student editors have authority to make all content decisions without censorship or advance approval.

The paper offers a hands-on learning environment for students interested in journalism. The campus press should be free from censorship and advance approval of copy and its editors should develop their editorial and news policies.

The News strives to be the University community’s source for information. Our goal is to present that information in a fair and unbiased manner and provide a free and open forum for expression and debate.

The News is prepared and edited by students and is an official publication of Murray State University. The first copy is free. Additional copies are available for 25 cents at 111 Wilson Hall.

Opinion

September 20, 2018

Letter to the editor Dear Editor, Murray State students in the majority fail to be proud Americans and responsible citizens.

Has the Kentucky school system including Murray State failed to teach citizenship?

Fact: In past elections, student apathy reigned.

Less than 5 percent of Murray State students voted.

To be or not to be that is the question. Is your right to vote a privilege or a duty?

If you stand for freedom, you will vote to honor the vets, who gave you that right.

Calloway County Citizen Voter Registration Information: A voter registration form has just three boxes to check and six items to establish who you are and where you reside.

Very simple. It may take two minutes to fill out.

These are the requirements to be able to vote for your choice of candidates on Nov. 6, 2018: Must be 18 years of age when you vote on Nov. 6, 2018; must register with the Calloway County Clerk prior to Oct. 9, 2018 to vote Nov. 16, 2018; must not be a convicted felon, unless restored by executive pardon; must not have been judged mentally incompetent in a court of law; and must be a U.S. citizen who resides in Calloway County or

Murray State’s campus.

Note: You may be registered in another Kentucky county or in another state. It is not unlawful. It is unlawful to vote in more than one place in any election.

There is no waiting period prior to Oct. 9 to become a Murray resident and then vote in the Nov. 6, 2018 election to include Murray State students, who live on or off campus.

Christian perspective: Would you do for 10,000 fellow students as you would have each do for you?

“Anyone, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins,” according to James 4:17.

Millions of veterans gave their blood, sweat, tears and lives so others have the rights we have.

To not vote is to personally say, “I couldn’t care less for what others have sacrificed for me.”

You have less than a month to register to vote.

You can register at the information desk, first floor of Curris Center and a voting station will be on campus Nov. 6. Be proud to vote.

Fred J. Moore Murray Letters to the editor express the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of The Murray State News Editorial Board.

Page 15 The Fine Print

“The Myth of 15 Hours” Robert Valentine Contributing Writer rvalentine@murraystate.edu

A myth, according to The New Oxford American Dictionary, is “a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events.”

We are all familiar with the great myths of our culture: Beowulf, dragons, Paul Bunyan, a congressman who puts mission before reelection — things and beings that are possible, but probably non-existent. After all, we are not children.

With that in mind, it is not too late to consider the myth of the 15-hour semester.

I know the hope is by taking 15 hours each semester you will compile the necessary 120 hours in precisely 8 semesters, also known as the “Finish in Four” phenomenon.

Certainly, such a thing is possible. However, it assumes none of the following things will occur in your academic lifetime: a) you fail a course; b) you get a “C” in a course in which B or above is required for you

to continue in your major; c) you never change your major and you knew what it was when you hit campus; d) you never change minors; e) you never take scheduling advice from your roommate, best friend or the guy you sat next to at Tap 216 — who made a lot of sense at the time.

Since any of us could encounter any of those scenarios, the University has thoughtfully provided intersession courses, summer terms and the right to buy 16 hours or more on your schedule once in a while.

You can still make it in four years, but you should be prepared to spend a bit more time than you may have planned.

Of course, time is money as they say.

But that’s the least of your problems, and that’s not the “Myth of 15 Hours,” of which I write.

Lots of people think if you are taking 15 academic hours of classes that you have 15 hours of work laid out before you. That’s the myth.

It is, as The New Oxford American Dictionary also defines it, “a widely held but false belief or idea: an exaggerated or idealized

conception of a person or thing.”

In reality, your 15 hours of scheduled class implies at least an additional 30 hours of work in reading, note-taking, research, writing and studying.

By “studying,” we do not mean “staring at a series of pages while wishing one was elsewhere doing anything but staring at pages.”

The difference between “staring” and “studying” will become apparent at the end of your first semester of staring.

The reason the American economy is willing to pay a college graduate $1,250,000 more dollars over a working lifetime is that these people are supposed to have spent the rough equivalent of 40-45 hours per week for 4 years learning what non-graduates don’t know.

In return for this, students learn to choose their goals wisely, execute their learning plans with discipline and energy, and retain much of what they encountered in between each of those 15 hours of class.

There are mentors, tutors, communication centers, study groups, writing programs and fac-

ulty. All these people are here to make you a legend.

So, if you wish, you can become the myth.

You will need the discipline of an Edison, the courage of a Martin Luther King and the dedication of a Mother Theresa, but you can bring the myth to reality.

It is not impossible; it is not really difficult. It is merely challenging.

To get the most of your college experience, you shouldn’t focus on the incredibly-difficultto-achieve myth of 15 hours.

Rather, you should take the amount of classes that works best for you.

The ultimate goal of a college education, the reason employers are more willing to hire you and to pay you more than the average uneducated person, is to learn.

The goal is not to never change your mind and to power through a degree you may have wanted when you were 18, but not now at the age of 20.

Change your major, take 12 credit hours, give yourself room for mistakes.

In the long run, you’ll be glad you did.

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September 20, 2018