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January 31, 2019 | Vol. 93, No. 16

Recruitment efforts increase as enrollment drops

Brock Kirk/The News

News

Page 2

January 31, 2019

Alumnus named top cop Haley Penrod Contributing writer hpenrod1@murraystate.edu

Mackenzie O’Donley/The News

J.H. Richmond Residential College is currently under construction and scheduled to reopen Aug. 2019.

A ‘new’ Richmond is coming soon

Alexis Schindler Staff writer aschindler1@murraystate.edu

James H. Richmond Residential College is scheduled to be completed in August. Murray State is currently working with Pinnacle, Inc. to restore and renovate Richmond Hall after an explosion in June 2017. A preliminary investigation was launched by the Kentucky State Police after the incident. From there, it was handed over to the Kentucky State Fire Marshal’s Office. The investigation is still underway, but the incident is believed to have been caused by a natural gas leak. Shawn Touney, director of communication, said the renovation and restoration of the build-

ing is currently two weeks behind schedule. However, a plan has been devised to get it back on track. “We are excited about the current construction project involving J.H. Richmond Hall,” Touney said. “Students will be impressed by the facility once completed. We are very confident that the building and amenities will be well received by the campus community.” After the explosion, an external engineering firm was brought in by the University to inspect the surrounding buildings’ structural integrity. “This assessment included all other residence halls located north of Chestnut Street, Winslow Dining Hall, Heritage Hall, Bauernfeind Wellness Center, Stewart Stadium, CFSB Center and the Chestnut Street

Pedestrian Bridge,” according to the Murray State’s website. No other structural damage was found by the engineers. Lacey Quandt, sophomore from Iuka, Illinois, said she hopes the university conducts multiple checks throughout the building. “I would probably live in it, but it would be my last resort,” Quandt said. Rianna Farnetti, freshman from Obion, Tennessee, said the building will probably be safer in the future. “I would consider living in the building despite its past because I feel like extra precautions would be taken to make sure the same incident doesn’t happen again,” Farnetti said. “I hope more service checks will be made to the buildings even throughout the breaks.”

A Murray State alumnus was announced as the new police chief of the Paducah Police Department. Brian Laird, who received his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, started his position as police chief on Jan. 1. As chief, Laird said he wants to get involved with the community more by using the community policing philosophy, as well as utilize technology to make police officers’ jobs more efficient. “If you enjoy working with people and being on a team, then police work may be a good fit for you,” Laird said. “Especially if you like helping people navigate through problems they have and being a good mentor to children as well.” For students wanting to pursue a career in law enforcement, Paul Lucko, chair of the department

of community leadership and human services, said he recommends aspiring criminal justice professionals to intern and volunteer with law enforcement agencies.

Brian Laird

In the fall of 2000, Laird interned with the Paducah Police Department. During his internship, Laird spent hours patroling the streets with officers. He also learned about the inner workings of the police department, which ultimately helped him decide

that he wanted to work for them. Laird said the criminal justice program at Murray State prepared him to become a police officer by exposing him to the history and procedures of policing. Sergeant Austin Guill of the Murray State University Police Department and current student encourages students to look into the criminal justice program. “If you are wondering about law enforcement, corrections, victim advocacy, probation and parole - anything in the criminal justice career field or if you have questions about it, then criminal justice is how you see if this is for you,” Guill said. There are many majors that allow students to pursue a career in law enforcement. However, Laird emphasized that a criminal justice major is extremely beneficial to police departments.

Photo Courtesy of Paducah Police Dept.

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Sports

January 31, 2019

Page 3

Skirka returns to Racers in new role Gage Johnson Senior writer gjohnson17@murraystate.edu

With the 2019 baseball season right around the corner, many things will be different from last year’s program, but the biggest change of all comes in the form of newly-hired Head Coach Dan Skirka. Skirka is no stranger to baseball at the collegiate level. As it does for most coaches, Skirka’s involvement with baseball started athletically, ultimately choosing to play baseball after being a threesport athlete for two years in high school. “I went basketball and baseball,” Skirka said. “Really loved basketball; I played that just as much as I played baseball, but I realized being 5-feet-11 inches, I had to make a decision.” From there, Skirka headed to Battle Creek, Michigan, to make the first stop in his athletic career at Kellogg Community College. After racking up the accolades, including Male-Scholar Athlete of the Year twice and

multiple conference awards, Skirka jumped into Division II baseball at Grand Valley State. He earned First-Team AllGreat Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors in his junior year and earned Rawlings/American Baseball Coaches Association AllRegion First-Team honors during his senior season at Grand Valley State before jumping into the coaching world. Despite his success athletically, Skirka knew at the end of the day he wanted to be a coach. “I knew I wanted to coach way before college,” Skirka said. “I actually went into education and planned on being a teacher and a coach. As I got into college, my coaches and some other guys that I knew said, ‘Hey, you need to think about doing the college route and making a profession out of it,’ and I never really thought about it until some of my mentors mentioned it to me, and I’m glad I did.” In his fifth year of college, Skirka continued his pursuit of education and coaching by helping coach a Grand Rapids

Community College team to the NJCAA World Series. Skirka then got a graduate assistant position at Ouachita Baptist for a season before making his way to Murray State as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. Skirka’s first stint with the Racers lasted from 2009-2014. During that time, Skirka was able to bring in eight All-OVC selections, one of the eight, a 2014 OVC Pitcher of the Year, Brock Downey. Skirka’s next stop was Walters State Community College, where he spent four seasons as the recruiting coordinator. In his tenure, Skirka helped send 42 players to Division I schools while delivering another eight to the MLB draft. When the Murray State job became available, Skirka wasn’t even finished with the season at Walters State. Skirka and the Senators were in the midst of the NJCAA World Series championship game, but once that window closed he and his family were ready to return to the Racers. “We were actually at the World Series last year out in Colorado when all the news

broke and I was getting a lot of text messages and phone calls,” Skirka said. “I said, ‘Man I gotta finish what we’re doing here.’ We had made the championship game and lost. When I got home from Colorado, I sat down with my wife and talked about it, and we were both excited and ready to see what we could do.” Skirka said the transition for the team has been smooth, and he’s excited to see how they compete and grow as the year goes along. “Just to compete day in and day out,” Skirka said. “We’re playing against ourselves more than anything. We want to be the best team we can be. We want to reach our potential. There’s a lot of things you can’t control in baseball, so we’re just going to take care of what we can control and if we can look back at the end of the year and say we gave it all we had and reached our potential we’ll be happy.” The Racers will take the field for the first time this season when they hit the road to take on Oral Roberts University at 3 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 15, at J.L. Johnson Stadium.

Photo courtesy of Racer Athletics

Racer Head Coach Dan Skirka conducts batting practice last fall.

Tennis picked to finish first in OVC preseason poll

Adam Redfern

Staff writer

aredfern@murraystate.edu

For the first time in Head Coach Jorge Caetano’s coaching tenure, Murray State’s women’s tennis team was picked to finish first in the OVC, alongside Austin Peay. After a season where the Racers finished 14-8 overall and 8-1 in the conference, Murray State will be seeking to build on last year by winning its first OVC title since 2015. That goal is promising, as Murray State returns three players who were selected to the All-OVC team last year. Junior Claire Chang was named to the All-OVC first team, while sophomores Stasya Sharapova and Aarja

Chakraborty were named to the All-OVC second team. Caetano expressed excitement with entering his fifth season as the skipper of the program. “I love working with them,” Caetano said. “I love this; I love what I do. We have good facilities and good support here. Everyone I brought here really loves it, and we all have really good relationships.” It’s easy to love a winning program. Last year this Racers only lost one of it’s conference games and that loss came against the previous OVC champions in a close 3-4 fashion. The team was anchored by their No. 4 singles player, senior Amina Hadzic.

Hadzic went on a tear last spring winning 15-straight matches at one point. Caetano has been prepping his team to compete for the OVC championship this year with some hard training. “The first week they ran over 800 doubles lines, which is just over eight kilometers or five miles,” Caetano said. “They did a really good job with that. This means a lot, we have a good team this year I think we can fight for the conference title. The preseason poles put us first alongside Austin Peay.” As well as being picked to finish first in the OVC, the Racers have three girls picked to finish within the Top-10 overall players. Chang was picked second, Sharapova ninth

and Chakraborty was picked 10th. Caetano thinks the experience his team received last year will translate well into this year. “The players have more confidence this year,”

Caetano said. “We have the talent, but having a young team for so long was tough. At one point we had one senior and seven sophomores and freshman. Being an upperclassmen makes such a big difference

because you have been in those situations before.” The Racers will open their spring season on Sunday, Feb. 3, against Cumberland University at the Kenlake Tennis Center in Hardin, Kentucky.

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News

Page 4

January 31, 2019

Recruitment efforts increase as enrollment drops

10,156

10,078

10,022

9,500 9,000

to high school students who otherwise might be unfamiliar with Murray State. The program is designed to bring Murray State faculty and staff to schools across the state as well as bus students in for campus tours. Year one for the Roads Scholar program will focus on all high schools in the westernmost 26

Substitute/Guest Teachers Needed

14 20

13 20

12 20

Year

200 to 250-mile radius around Murray so we truly can reach students in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee, Alabama and Arkansas,” Shawn Smee, director of recruitment said. Another change to help boost enrollment is Admitted Students Weekend, which will take place Feb. 8-10.

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09 20

08 20

07 20

University offers, be able to sit down with student financial services, obtain scholarship information and visit with various professors. Smee said the reason behind changing it from a one-day event to a weekend event is to really allow students to see the campus and what the University has to offer.

10,304

10,274

10,128

10,000

10,623 10,417

10,500

10,943

10,832

closely with various agents to gain more partnerships with international universities. Murray State is currently working with three universities in China. “We are working with a program called ‘You Are Welcome,’ to let students know this is a safe, welcoming environment,” 11,207 10,998 Robertson said. “It is an important message to get out there. [We are also] devel10,495 oping a ‘You Are Welcome’ scholarship for two interna10,017 tional students.” The University will award two 9,465 annual scholarships to international students starting in the fall. This scholarship will cover a minimum of half the cost of tuition, according to Murray State’s website. “Overall, I think the enrollment plan involves lots of efforts, having lots Milli Cecil /The News of people involved, a very aggressive approach with a lot of 2,000 guests during that new ideas, but I think weekend.” the message is being well The University is also received,” Robertson looking at different ways said. “A big note is how to gain interest from involved Dr. Jackson has international students as been with the number of well. visits to the high schools, To make Murray State regional campus and a more diverse commucommunity colleges, he nity, Don Robertson, vice president of stuis very active and willdent affairs, said the ing to go out with us for University is working recruitment.”

11,000

“It’s a campus-wide effort,” Smee said. “At this time we have over 400 students and families who have RSVP’d and we know that will grow. We estimate around 1,500 to

11,500

Enrollment

Murray State continues to combat the decline of enrollment for the 2019-20 academic year. Enrollment numbers for fall 2018 are in and they totaled to 9,465, including undergraduate and graduate students. This is 550 less than the fall 2017 numbers. Different phases for the Strategic Enrollment Plan were discussed at the Dec. 7, 2018 Board of Regents meeting. The University has a dedicated group of individuals from various departments that have been convening since summer 2018 to develop this plan. The various departments want students who have been admitted to have consistent communication with the University. “We want to show the students the quality of our academic programs, the number of student organizations, study abroad programs, the size of campus and how students get personal attention from being in small class sizes,” Shawn Touney, director of communication said. The Board is changing many programs and events, such as the

mcarpenter4@murraystate.edu

Contributing writer

This event allows admitted students and their families to have a full weekend to learn about Murray State. The families will get to see all the student organizations the

counties: Murray State’s 18-county primary service region plus Daviess, Muhlenberg, McLean, Ohio, Jefferson and Oldham counties. “Recruitment wants a

Road Scholars program and Admitted Students Weekend to increase enrollment. The Road Scholars program was reinstated in fall 2018 to reach out

Miranda Carpenter

News

January 31, 2019

Fall 2018 at a glance

Page 5 $4,542

71%

$2,650

9,465

Increase 2004*

2018

In-State Undergraduate Tuition *Adjusted for inďŹ&#x201A;ation

61% Female 39% Male 8,148

1,317

Undergraduate vs. Graduate

76%

Retention Rate* *Fall 2017 to Fall 2018

*Data collected from MSU Common Data Set

Milli Cecil, Rosalyn Churchman /The News

Page 6

NEWS OPINION THE MUR R AY STATE

January 31, 2019

Our View

Editorial Board Ashley Traylor

Editor-in-Chief • 270-809-6877 atraylor@murraystate.edu

Daniella Tebib

News Editor • 270-809-4468 dtebib@murraystate.edu

Milli Cecil

News Graphic Designer acecil4@murraystate.edu

Sara Howell

Features Editor • 270-809-5871 showell6@murraystate.edu

Blake Sandlin

Sports Editor • 270-809-4481 bsandlin1@murraystate.edu

Gage Johnson

Sports Senior Writer • 270-809-5878 gjohnson17@murraystate.edu

Rosalyn Churchman

Sports Graphic Designer rchurchman@murraystate.edu

Ginni Sisemore

Opinion Editor • 270-809-5873 vsisemore@murraystate.edu

David Wallace

Chief Copy Editor • 270-809-5876 dwallace15@murraystate.edu

Connor Dame

Ad Sales and Circulation Manager 270-809-4478 cdame2@murraystate.edu

Brock Kirk

Photography Editor • 270-809-5878 jkirk11@murraystate.edu

Kalea Anderson

Chief Videographer • 270-809-5878 kanderson29@murraystate.edu

Dr. Stephanie Anderson

Adviser • 270-809-3937 sanderson37@murraystate.edu

The News 2609 University Station Murray State University Murray, Kentucky 42071-3301 msunews1927@gmail.com Fax: (270) 809-3175

TheNews.org

Sodexo salvages Winslow Murray State students are buzzing about the Sodexo takeover. For what seemed like semesters on end, students and staff have been complaining about Winslow Dining Hall’s habitual shortcomings; from cross-contamination to dirty dishes and tables, Winslow seemed to have it all. Finally, last semester, the winds of change began blowing over campus and students heard about Sodexo, the company Murray State was contracting to completely turn the place around. This raised many questions for Murray State students. Would there be more options? Would they see change in student staffing? What about the flies that seemingly covered the place? Sodexo was able to answer a few of these questions before any change actually happened, letting students know that they would bring in some new options for those eating on campus. Aside from simply changing up the cafeteria, the company planned to bring in a Chick-fil-A, a Steak n’ Shake, an Einstein Bros. Bagels and an official Starbucks. This semester Sodexo has officially taken over and students are finally seeing results. With the transition, Winslow has began offering a multitude of new meal selections for students, including vegetarian and vegan options. The cafeteria has also welcomed in a more environmentally friendly attitude, exchanging the Styrofoam takeout boxes for new, reusable plastic ones. Winslow’s management

has attempted to reduce waste and increase cleanliness by having the staff serve students, with the exception of the pasta, pizza, vegetarian and vegan options. In some lines, staff even make the food for you as you wait for it. For the most part, this is definitely a step in the right direction. Sodexo has helped Winslow get back in the game. The new options make eating in the dining hall a lot safer for students who have allergies. Last year, the dessert separation of nuts versus no nuts was a good try, but the official no cross-contamination guarantee offered now is infinitely better. With the growing vegetarian and vegan population at Murray State, the new options for those students are a great stride in the right direction. No longer just limited to one measly salad line, students can now find rice, vegetables, tofu and more. The line will even follow the theme of the day. Say it’s an international night, students will enjoy vegan and vegetarian options from around the world. Late Night dining is also offering vegetarian and vegan students options- a huge step in bringing Winslow’s attendance back up. Keeping the positive changes flowing, Sodexo has brought in much healthier options for students. Now, every meal doesn’t have a key ingredient of grease. No longer is salad seemingly the only healthy option; the sandwich deli has buffed up, and the Simple Servings line looks to offer lighter options to

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.

Autum Brown/The News

those who seek that sort of meal. They didn’t stop at changing the food- Sodexo brought in all new dishes to replace the habitually dirty plates students knew so well. The old, colorful dishes have been exchanged for more formal, plain white dining ware. Bringing in a fine dining feel, this change is certainly for the better. No longer will students feel like children eating off plates from a toy store. An exceptional change is the switch from Styrofoam to environmentally friendly, reusable takeout boxes. At first, the green boxes caused confusion. No one quite knew where they were coming from, until students went to Winslow and, after asking for takeout, learned for themselves. The new takeout boxes are Winslow’s attempt to clean up the planet one

meal at a time. On their first visit for takeout, students will get their green box. On their second visit and thereafter, things change. There is a machine that students can put their boxes in, and in turn, it will give them a token. This token is exchangeable for a recycled box. How does this encourage students to reuse their old boxes? When getting a brand new box for takeout, students will be charged $5. When using a token, they are charged nothing. The next step is for the Thoroughbred Room and Market 22 to adopt the changes as well. Students looking to get nachos for their next meal still run into the Styrofoam issue. Under the T-Room are the Stables. This is where Sodexo plans to build Chick-fil-a, another exciting change students at Murray

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.

State have been practically begging for. Along with a Chickfil-A, Einstein Bros. Bagels will be joining campus at the library replacing the Waterfield Café. While students will lose the sandwich line, the bagels and fresh coffee sound just as good if not better. Not only are the restaurants great for the current campus population, but they will definitely help bring in prospective students. Other schools have been outsourcing dining services for as long as Murray has been a college town. Sodexo was a source of mystery and almost dread for a long time as students waited with bated breath for the outcome of the change. With the steps taken so far, Murray State students can only hope that it keeps getting better and better.

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.

Features

January 31, 2019

Page 7

Campus Lights celebrates 82nd production Claire Smith Contributing writer csmith110@murraystate.edu

Campus Lights’ production of “Mamma Mia!” was held in Lovett Auditorium Jan. 18-20. “Mamma Mia!” features music from the Swedish pop group ABBA. Ashton Saxon, senior from Mayfield, Kentucky, played Donna Sheridan. “Donna is very well known as being played by Meryl Streep in the movie and that is a lot to live up to,” Saxon said. She said she was excited and nervous but knew that it was going to be a good show. Her favorite part about playing Donna was getting to sing “Dancing Queen” and dance. She also said that two of her favorite songs to perform were “The Winner Takes It All” and the title track “Mamma Mia!”. This was Saxon’s second time participating in Campus Lights, having

been in last year’s production of “Into the Woods.” Saxon said she hoped that the audience would have fun with the show and also take away the “underlying themes of forgiveness.” Lucas Morgan, chairman of Campus Lights, oversaw the entire production, from advertising to making sure the production of the show ran smoothly. He said that opening night was the biggest he’s seen in the four years he has been with the show. “For our final number we do ‘Dancing Queen’ and the entire audience mostly stood up and clapped and danced and sang along with the cast,” Morgan said. He said alumni return each year to watch the performance and though he was nervous to impress them, he was confident they were going to like the show. “I want the audience to

be able to escape everything that is going on outside these walls and have a good time with us for a few hours,” Morgan said. For the Saturday show, people braved the snow to watch the cast of “Mamma Mia!” shine. Some audience members sang and others clapped along to the well-known songs. Much like on opening night, the audience was engaged and laughing and adding in bits of funny commentary. Caralyn DiMatties, junior from Hopkinsville, Kentucky, went to the show to support Caroline O’Guin who played Sophie. She said this was her second time seeing a Campus Lights show after having watched “Into the Woods” last year. Her favorite song was “Under Attack.” Campus Lights puts on a new show at the beginning of each year and proceeds from the production go toward scholarship

MAMMA MIA!

Mackenzie O’Donley/The News

Ashton Saxon performed as Donna Sheridan in Campus Lights’ production of “Mamma Mia!”. funds. This was Campus Lights’ 82nd production.

To see more photos from the musical, Mamma Mia!,

visit to TheNews.org.

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January 31, 2019