February 6, 2018

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THE STANDARD M I S S O U R I S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

VOLUME 111, ISSUE 18 | THE-STANDARD.ORG

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2018

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Student leaders speak out against cuts ALEC McCHESNEY Editor in chief @Alec_McChesney When Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens announced the proposed state budget for the 2019 fiscal year on Jan. 22, the budget featured cuts to higher education in the state for the second year in a row. “We have to make tough choices with the budget,” Greitens said on Jan. 30, when he visited Arrowhead Building Supply in Springfield, Missouri to discuss his proposed $800 million tax plan. “Last year, we faced a very tough budget situation, where we had a choice where we could raise taxes or cut spending and we made a decision to cut spending. “This year, again, we have to have priorities, we have to make tough choices. … I recognize there are some people who might disagree with me. There are some people who say we should put less money in (Kindergarten) through (high school) education and should put that back into higher education.” Some of those who disagree with the decision to cut from higher education are student body presidents and vice presidents at colleges across Missouri, as 16 student government representatives from seven schools combined to release a statement to the Greitens administration. The statement read: “As student leaders of Missouri’s public four-year universities, we are writing to express our deep disappointment with the governor and his administration’s proposed FY19 budget for higher education funding. The recommendation includes a $68.1 million — or 10 percent — reduction to higher education spending. This is on top of the well publicized withholding in FY17 and base cuts in FY18. u See STUDENT, page 3

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Greitens said his tax plan supports working families and over 380,000 taxpayers will have their bill reduced.

Greitens stops in Springfield to announce new tax relief plan for working families HANNA SUMPTER Senior Reporter @hannasumpter Gov. Eric Greitens shared his tax plan to cut taxes for almost all Missourians in Springfield on Tuesday, Jan. 30. Inside the warehouse of Arrowhead Building Supply, an exterior building supply company, Greitens explained that his plan will cut taxes for working families. “I think we’re in a really good spot to do these tax reforms now,” Greitens said. “This is a really thoughtful, responsible plan.” Greitens said his “Workers First” tax cut will be implemented with the rest of the plan, if it is passed by the state legislature, and it

will not affect state revenue and will cut taxes for 97 percent of Missouri taxpayers. “In the past, plans like this focus on the well-connected,” Greitens said. “Our plan focuses on working families across Missouri.” Greitens’ Working Families Tax Relief Plan reduces the top personal income tax rate from 5.9 percent to 5.3 percent. The “Workers First” tax cut, according to the tax plan, allows people eligible for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit to take off an amount equal to 20 percent of their federal EITC from their state tax bill. “This is a plan that rewards and incentivizes work,” Greitens said. “Because we want to send a message to the people of Missouri that if you’re working hard and you’re doing

the best that you can to support your family if you’re putting in the hours, we’re going to be behind you.” Greitens said the Missouri Department of Revenue worked through over 7,000 scenarios to analyze the plan. Greitens said this tax cut would apply to all eligible people making over $9,000 per year. Greitens also said 380,000 Missouri taxpayers will see their tax bill reduced to nothing. “When people have less taxes coming out of their paycheck, they have more freedom to spend it on what they want and then that helps out the economy in Missouri,” said Matthew u See GREITENS, page 3

Travel meets education for anthropology instructor NOAH STANDISH Staff Reporter @NoahjStandish It’s 4:27 p.m. on a quiet Friday afternoon. International flags hanging from four flights of Strong Hall’s open stair railings are as still as the outside air when classroom doors open in unison. Jason Shepard strides toward the fourth-floor elevator with a faded blue knapsack slung over his shoulder. Two hours later, the Missouri State cultural anthropology instructor peers up at a blurring sky from the bed of a boat swaying just outside the Ozarks. The crackling of a campfire flame sits near a pale yellow tent beside the shore. His plans are set for the next two days, and amid the extended silence, he knows it’s more than worth

the drive. It’s not quite Peru or Bolivia, but it’ll do for the weekend. Twenty years earlier, a 17-year-old Shepard walks alongside a gravel road in southwest Missouri. A gray backpack digs into his shoulders as he squints against the glare of the sun, pointing his thumb toward an approaching sedan. For Shepard, it’s all part of an ongoing story that started in Republic, Missouri, in 1996. “After high school, I spent several years of my life hitchhiking around the country and going to different places around the world,” Shepard said, sitting in his Strong Hall office, fabrics and maps of South America and the Oceanic region covering the walls around him. Returning to Missouri to attend MSU, Shepard

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Jason Shepard has been traveling since he was 17 years old. He u See SHEPARD, page 5 now teaches his students by sharing his past experiences.

news

life

sports

Club protests against Circus at JQH See page 2

Student wins film editing award See page 4

Ice Bears top Razorbacks at home See page 7


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