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Predict who will take home the statue
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Tuesday • January 11, 2011 • Vol. 104 Issue 15
Briefs
State funds will be big issue for MSU in 2011
Students to raise money for Haiti
Missouri State students will launch the “Bears Backing Haitianistas: 50 in 50” campaign to help disaster victims in Haiti. The campaign goal is to raise $50,000 in 50 hours. All proceeds go to Convoy of Hope. The campaign will run from 6 p.m. today to 8 p.m. Thursday in front of the Plaster Student Union.
By Jason Johnston The Standard
Keynote speaker to be announced
The keynote speaker of this semester’s Public Affairs Conference will be announced at a press conference today. The panelists and plenary speakers have already been announced.
Homecoming chair deadlines approach
The Office of Student Engagement is now accepting applications for Homecoming 2011 Chair, Vice Chair and Committee. The applications are located outside the Office of Student Engagement (PSU 101) and can be returned to the front desk. Digital copies that can be printed are also available on the Homecoming 2011 website. The deadline for applications is Feb. 3, 2011 at 4 p.m. for Chair and Vice Chair. The deadline for committee member applications is Feb. 17, 2011 at 4 p.m.
Taylor Health giving free flu shots
Taylor Health and Wellness, in conjunction with the Student Government Association, will be offering free flu shots to Missouri State students and their dependents/household members. To receive a shot, go to Taylor Health or call 417-836-4000 for more information. Taylor Health is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. This offer is limited to the first 1,000 students who request it.
Clearing the roads in Springfield
The Greene County Highway Department began treating roads for snow today and continues clearing county-maintained roadways tonight. Greene County plows all 1,250 miles of county roadways, including arterials, farm roads and residential streets. Highway crews are working 12-hour shifts, with 32 plow trucks running during the day and 20 overnight.
Calendar
January 11 to January 17
Tuesday
Refund Deadline for first-block classes at 100 percent credit/refund Last day to register for firstblock classes
“Accounting Basics for Small Businesses” seminar, Glass Hall 115, 9 a.m. to noon.
Wednesday
SAC Films Presents: Itʼs Kind of a Funny Story, PSU Theater, 9:30 p.m.
Thursday
Taiji: Relax the Body and Focus the Mind, Taylor Health and Wellness conference room, noon to 1 p.m. Resident assistant/residential programming assistant informational session, Hutchens House basement, 9 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Friday
Last day to register for fullsemester classes
Monday
Martin Luther King Jr. Day, no classes.
Matt Kile/THE STANDARD
A car parked between the third and fourth floors of Bear Park North caught fire at approximately 11 a.m. Monday.
Car ablaze in garage Firefighters rush to Bear Park North on first day of class By Sarah Bennett The Standard
A car caught fire in the Bear Park North parking garage Monday around 11 a.m. Donald Clark, director of the Safety and Transportation Department, said a call came in through the dispatch around 11 a.m. The caller said there was a smoking car in the garage. Public safety officers arrived on the scene about a minute after receiving the call and began directing traffic, and firefighters arrived about a minute after, Clark said. The car was located on a ramp going from the third floor to the fourth floor, and upon arrival, officers determined the car was engulfed in flames, he said.
While the car was on fire, thick smoke could be seen escaping out of the east side of the garage. Rachel Duker, a senior accounting major, said she parked on the third floor ramp on the west side of the garage shortly after 11 a.m. The ramp was filled with smoke, and she heard loud popping noises. “At first I thought someone was lighting off fireworks in the garage,” she said. “Then I got out of my car, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, a car is on fire.’” Duker said she was about to call 911 when a campus security officer pulled up next to her and said security had already contacted the fire department. The fire trucks were not clear to enter the parking garage. Clark said this is not a safety violation. “That’s normal,” he said. “To my knowledge, no parking garage was ever built that accommodated fire trucks.” Firefighters had control of the fire in about 10 minutes and spent another 20 minutes spraying the car, Clark said. Because the trucks could not enter the garage, a rope was lowered from the fourth floor to the ground to haul a fire
hose to the fourth floor. Fire Marshall Bill Spence said the fire started in the car’s engine compartment. The car was completely destroyed in the fire, Clark said. Two of the four tires exploded, and the interior of the car melted. Though there were cars nearby, they were not damaged in the fire, Clark said. Spence said there was no structural damage to the parking garage, and no one was injured in the incident. Though public safety officers and firefighters were present, there were no police officers at the scene. “I don’t know if they were called,” Clark said. “It’s not uncommon for them to show up to direct traffic, but they were not there while I was on the scene.” Officers were able to determine the owner of the car using the license plate number, Clark said. Just as the officers determined what class the student was in, he approached the scene. The car was towed from the parking garage around 2 p.m. Additional reporting by Jon Poorman
Shaving heads for a cause By Tessa Harbaugh The Standard
It’s not often that students get to witness professors having their heads shaved, but that was exactly what happened when three MSU community members did so to raise money for breast cancer awareness. Roger Stoner, associate dean of the College of Arts and Letters, John Turner, an English professor, and Mitchell Bess, a library associate, gave students the opportunity to watch as they shaved their heads Dec. 15. MSU’s English Department held a fundraiser for the Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks to support Kris Sutliff, the assistant department head and professor in the English Department, as she battles cancer and chemotherapy. Stoner’s reaction to having his head shaved was “Cold!” Stoner said he shaved his head out of respect for Sutliff and “to hopefully bring more awareness of how the MSU campus and community could support the Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks.” Sutliff was diagnosed with breast cancer in early September, had surgery in October and is now going through chemotherapy. Although she does not use
Michael Gulledge/THE STANDARD
Missouri State English professor John Turner looks at his freshly shaven head.Turner and two others had their heads shaved to support professor Kris Sutliff in her fight with cancer. the Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks, she believes it is a great organization that helps victims of breast cancer in southwest Missouri. The event took place on the second floor of Siceluff Hall. MSU faculty and staff paid $2 to watch the shaving, and students paid $1. Stoner and Turner also offered to take a temporary Mohawk picture with spectators for an extra dollar. All proceeds went directly to the Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks. The English department
also sold T-shirts at the event to support Relay for Life, which is to be held in April. Relay for Life will allow more students and faculty to join teams to raise money in the fundraiser. Stoner said in an e-mail that he believes the event meant a lot to Sutliff to have a gesture of support, not only through the English Department, but also from the entire MSU and the Springfield communities. “Dr. Sutliff has some wonderful friends — friends who would do most anything for her,” said Wilma Catlin,
academic administrative assistant in the English Department. “She’s my boss, and I would do almost anything for her, but she assured me that I didn’t need to shave my head too.” For more information regarding the event or upcoming events for the Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks, check out the foundation’s website at www.bcfo.org. “It was a privilege to do this for Dr. Sutliff, and I would like to wish her a speedy recovery,” Stoner said.
Missouri State University’s funding from the state for fiscal year 2012 is the biggest issue affecting the university, a university official said. “The legislature is going to have to make some difficult decisions about what areas to cut, and one of those is likely to be higher education,” said John Catau, the associate provost of undergraduate education. “We really do not know the specifics of how large the cuts are going to be, but it is certain there will be substantial cuts to the state support for Missouri State.” The state is facing a significant deficit, said Paul Wagner, the deputy commissioner of the Missouri Department of Higher Education. “The state budget director generally is talking about a deficit of $400-500 million range for fiscal year 2012,” Wagner said. The first step of the budget process is Gov. Jay Nixon announcing his budget recommendations in his State of the State speech on Jan. 19, Wagner said. “The governor in Missouri traditionally sets the foundation for what the budget is going to look like,” he said. “The General Assembly has to pass the budget.” The General Assembly committees have not even been appointed yet to hear any legislation, said Sen. Bob Dixon (R-Springfield). Dixon “The pro tem announced that he is not going to make any committee assignments until after he is elected by the full Senate, which happened Jan. 5,” Dixon said. He also said the committee assignments may be appointed the week of Jan. 10. Rep. Sara Lampe (DSpringfield) did not return phone calls concerning higher education legislation. The university received a list of 45 programs that the MDHE considered to be lowcompleter programs, Catau said at the Dec. 17 Board of Governors’ meeting. The MDHE defined the low-completer programs for an undergraduate program of having an average of less than 10 graduates for the last three years. The low-completer graduate program limit was five graduates. “We discovered four programs should not have been on the list because they were new programs. Seven programs will be deleted, which leaves 34 programs to maintain, and justification was sent to the MDHE.” The university received a notice from the MDHE that it wants more information on 27 of the 34 programs, Catau said. “This has been a very difficult task, and it has been a very short timeline that we were given to do this,” he said. MDHE owes Nixon a full report of the low-completer programs in February, Wagner said. The MDHE board will be considering and approving the report for the governor at its February meeting either on Feb. 9 or Feb. 10. “There is no one in Jefferson City who can delete an academic program,” Wagner said. “Only the institution’s local governing board can close a program.” Dixon said, in his opinion, higher education is the key component to long-term economic development. “It has to be a priority as we move forward,” Dixon said.