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PA I DPERMIT NO. 32St. JOSEPH, MO

Vol 94 | Issue 14 griffonnews.com February 2, 2012

Art department faculty display their creations at the faculty art show.

Page 3

For a profile on DJ and student Nick Niemeier, see

Page 4.

2012 2013

8.2%

12.5%

Student Gary Weidemann voices his opinion about the presidential primary. Page 6

Eboni Lacey | News Editorelacey@missouriwestern.edu

On Tuesday, Jan. 17, Gov. Jay Nixon issued his 2013 budget, which revealed a 12.5 percent cut to every four-year university. Just a few minutes later, Missouri Western administrators low-ered their heads as they dis-covered that an additional $2.9 million would be cut from Missouri Western on top of last year’s appropria-tion of $21 million.

“At this point just about ev-erything is on the table when you are taking about cuts of that magnitude,” President Dr. Robert Vartabedian said. “In addition to that, we have additional costs through un-funded mandatory increases in utility costs, increases in insurance cost, possible loss of programs in terms of some of our two year programs we no longer have. It’s even much more then [2.9 mil-lion]. It’s probably more in the $4 million range that we will need to come up with.”

To cover this deficit, cuts will have to be made in al-most every academic area. Faculty size has not in-creased, as 20 out of 28 va-cant positions have been fro-zen to generate revenue. The university will be requiring more adjunct and part-time faculty to fill those vacant

holes in return. People will have to take on extra respon-sibility, Vartabedian said.

A cut in personnel is just a start. Another thing the uni-versity is considering is reg-ulating student scholarships.

“We’re analyzing the pos-sibility of maybe asking or requiring students who are on scholarship to take a minimum number of hours,” Vartabedian said. “So that at least we’ll generate revenue from their a credit hour pro-duction and tuition.”

Though another tuition increase might be the most reasonable measure of recov-ering funds, the university is restricted from increas-ing tuition to what the con-sumer price index is, which is slightly above 3 percent. Vartabedian proclaims this trade-off as very uneven, however.

SEE BUDGET PAGE 2

After a two-game suspen-sion, Ashleigh Curry and Charlonda Bozeman were back on the court to contrib-ute to a Western win Mon-day night.

On January 21 at 10:28 p.m., Western basketball player Ashleigh Curry, was arrested for a misdemeanor of supplying alcohol to a mi-nor. The Western guard had apparently rented out Calli-son Hall for a back-to-school party, which had been adver-tised on and off campus via flyers.

In an earlier article written by the St. Joseph News-Press, reader comments alleged that Curry had given alcohol to minors. Other comments suggested that she was a vic-tim of poor circumstances, that minors drank prior to walking into the Callison Hall. Amid these comments were those who were call-ing for her removal from the women’s basketball team.

Western Athletic Direc-tor Kurt McGuffin said that since Curry hasn’t appeared in court yet and that the charge is a misdemeanor,

McGuffin wanted to be fair and consistent with the ath-letic department’s disciplin-ary actions. He also said that in situations like these, expulsion form the team is always considered.

“I think any time one of our student athletes makes a wrong decision we’re going to consider that part of it,” McGuffin said.

Curry has previous en-counters with the law. In March of 2008, Curry was cit-ed for a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct. Ten days later she was cited for identity theft.

The Student Government Association lost three top ex-ecutive members at the end of last semester, but has al-ready filled those positions.

The offices of WAC Vice President, Director of Fi-nance and Director of Com-munications were filled as of this week. Robin Ussher re-signed from WAC Vice Presi-

dent to further her education and Vice Chair Lauren Dillon took her position. Brittany Edwards will take the office of Director of Communica-tions and Taylor Kram will become the Director of Fi-nance.

Norris believes that Kram is just as qualified as her pre-decessor, Nick McCutcheon.

“She is a very intelligent woman,” Norris said. “She is very good with budgets,

which is why home-coming was so good this year.”

After Con-s t i t u t i o n a l changes last spring, SGA changed the GPA require-ments for cer-tain officers. The GPA requirement has risen from 2.5 to a 3.0 to be WAC Vice

President or Vice Chair.“Robin Ussher was grandfa-

thered in, and was elected by the stu-dent body for this po-

sition,” Nor-ris said. “The

r e q u i r e m e n t when she ran

was a 2.5 GPA.”Sebastian Smith, Enter-

tainment Director for WAC, believes the new GPA re-quirement is too high.

“I feel that they are hurting the organization by raising the GPA requirement,” Smith said. “It’s a high benchmark to set.”

The WAC Vice Chair, Lau-ren Dillon was moved up to the position of Vice Presi-dent, which meant her po-sition was open. However, Smith was not qualified

for the position because he didn’t meet the GPA require-ments.

Smith believes that the 2.5 was a good benchmark, and the organization would have opened itself to a lot more students in the bench pool instead of a 3.0.

Matt Hunt | Asst. News Editormhunt8@missouriwestern.edu

SEE SGA PAGE 2

(Left) President Dr. Vartabedian thanks Beth Wheeler for her ten years of service to Missouri Western. Wheeler (right) has been the Director of External Relations since 2001. Vartabedian applauded Wheeler for her work, where “quietly and diligently she has worked behind the scenes to further the goals of Missouri Western.” Wheeler stated that her retirement will not be all relaxation. “I’m going to work full-time for my family and my community that I live in and love and has been so good to me,” she said. “Being here and being nurtured and taught and encouraged by all of you has been a blessing. “ Jason Brown | Photo Editor

Curry returns after 2-game suspension

Vacant executive positions already filled

WESTERN TAKES HITDave Hon | Editor-in-Chiefdhon1@missouriwestern.edu

Ashleigh Curry

SEE CURRY PAGE 2Andy Inman | Design Editor

If your organization would like to announce an event, e-mail the information to

stories@thegriffonnews.com

Thursday, Feb. 2• DowntownNoonConcertfea-

turingRicoMcNeela,FirstPresbyterianChurch,7th&Jules.

• FacultyArtShow,PotterHallGallery,throughFeb.16.

Tuesday, Feb. 7• “WildOceans”Planetarium

Show,Agenstein147,7p.m.

• Liquor offense 1:05 a.m., Saturday, Jan. 21, Leaverton Hall• Trespass 11:14 a.m., Saturday, Jan. 21, Downs Drive• Drug offense 9:16 p.m., Monday, Jan. 26, Parking Lot Q

Beshears Hall

Juda Hall

Commons

Leaverton Hall

Griffon Hall

Scanlon Hall

Vaselakos Hall

Missouri Dept. of Conservation

Griffon Spring Sports Complex

Blum Union

Fulkerson Center

Leah Spratt Hall

Hearnes Center

Remington Hall

Murphy Hall

Eder HallPopplewell Hall

Spratt Stadium

Baker Family Fitness Center

Griffon Indoor Sports Complex

Looney Comlex

Wilson Hall

Potter Hall

Logan Hall

Downs Drive

NEWS February 2, 2012

The Griffon NewsPage 2

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

CAMPUS INFORMATION

CURRY: CONTINUED FROM FRONT

BUDGET: CONTINUED FROM FRONT

Budget cuts won’t stop anytime soon

“We are hopeful that our general assembly, our legis-lative folks in Jefferson City, will strongly consider tak-ing that 12.5 percent down significantly,” Vartabedian said. “We have been working with our lobbyists and with our legislative delegation on that. We are hopeful that that will be the case.”

However, according to Matthew Smith, associate policy analyst at education commission of the states, leg-islation will more than likely not decrease the percent.

“The cut will happen in the budget,” Smith said. “In terms of filling the deficit, the state is not going to do anything about that. So, usu-ally it is going to require a response by the university.”

Even if the initial percent does hopefully decrease, Missouri will probably still receive budget cuts of this magnitude or greater in the next few years.

“Missouri is like a lot of

other states. These budget cuts probably will continue until 2014 or later when rev-enue starts to pick up in the states,” Smith said. “What we will probably see, in Mis-souri in particular, is more funding cuts. The percentage amount is probably being held across the state. Every-body is affected, though not equally, necessarily.”

SGA President Alison Nor-ris feels that through all the possibilities, the students will be the most affected by this new cut percentage.

“The cuts will definitely affect the campus, espe-cially the students through scholarships and programs,” Norris said. “I wasn’t really surprised. I am disappointed in the legislative staff, but it means we are going to have to keep trying to plead our case at Missouri Western.”

SGA plans to travel to Jef-ferson City this week for an event called “Great North-west Day,” where they will speak with the Missouri leg-islative staff in hope to find some sort of financial agree-ment for the university.

“Academics are the main reason we are here, but the GPA requirement shouldn’t be the main focus,” Smith said. “You want the person who will do the best job for the organization.”

Though Smith didn’t qual-ify for Dillion’s position, he

NEWSNOTESWestern presents

film series on war and peace

The film on Thursday, Feb. 9, will focus on international human rights. ‘’In the Name of the Father,’’ starring Dan-iel Day-Lewis and Emma Thompson, is an Academy Award-nominated film about a young man wrongly convicted of taking part in an IRA bombing. It is based on a true story. The film will be shown in the Kemper Recital Hall, inside Leah Spratt Hall. Doors will open at 6:30, and the film begins at 7 p.m.

Western finishes second in national

opera contest

Students from Missouri Western State University recently took second place in the National Opera As-sociation’s Collegiate Opera Scenes Competition.

‘’Our students competed with some of the best opera programs in the country,’’ said Dr. Susan Carter, asso-ciate professor of music and director of vocal studies. ‘’Just to qualify for the finals was a major accomplish-ment; to take home second place speaks to the talent, the focus and the professional-ism of our performers.’’

Adrienne Collins and Kyle Minx performed a 10-minute scene from ‘’The Telephone’’ by Gian-Carlo Menotti. Don-ovan Jones, sophomore mu-sic major from Tarkio, Mo., was the collaborative pianist. Dr. Carter was the stage and musical director.

Celebrate Spring with a lantern

festival

As the most important fes-tival in China, Spring Festi-val starts from Chinese New Year’s Eve and concludes by Lantern Festival.

The celebration will be held in Blum Union, Hoff 218-219, Feb. 8 at 3:30 p.m.

CAMPUS CRIME REPORTS

McGuffin said that when deciding disciplinary action, these past citations were con-sidered. With these actions, McGuffin aims for consisten-cy and follows a three-strike policy, but feels that Curry has not struck out.

“We had to make it known that we weren’t going to put up with that kind of infrac-tion and bad decision,” Mc-Guffin said.

As well as being suspend-ed, Head Coach Lynn Plett and McGuffin have applied other in-house disciplinary actions. Neither Plett nor McGuffin said they could go into detail on these actions and prefer to keep it within the team so they can protect the privacy of Curry.

Last semester, Curry had some eligibility issues with the NCAA concerning her short time with Livin’ the Dream which was believed to had compromised her

amateur status. Despite the time that Plett and McGuffin spent working out these is-sues, neither of them regrets their decision to fight for her play-time for Western.

“[She’s] a very viable in-dividual, I think, and she’s working very hard in her degree,” Plett said.

Curry declined to com-ment since the situation is not over.

Ashleigh Curry goes in for a layup against Hays Monday night. The Griffons went on

to win 90-78, making their record 4-10.

Jason Brown | Photo Editor

Curry leads Griffons to win after suspension

continued to serve in his pre-vious position as the Director of Entertainment for WAC.

“I struggled with math, which brought my GPA down, but I passed,” Smith said. “I have a 2.8 GPA.”

According to Dillon, it’s time for the organization to get to work.

“We need to make sure we stay on schedule,” Dil-lon said.“The organization has changes in positions, it’s

hard to stay on track, but we are doing pretty well.”

The organization is still planning and creating new events for the student body. Though the GPA standard for officer positions could create problems in the fu-ture, everything is running smoothly.

“The main goal is to get back on track,” Dillon said.

SGA: CONTINUED FROM FRONT

New GPA requirements may hurt SGA,

says WAC’s Director of Entertainment

NEWS February 2, 2012

The Griffon NewsPage 3

Matt Hunt | Asst. News Editormhunt8@missouriwestern.edu

Natalie Spivey | Staff Writernspivey@missouriwestern.edu

Albert Shelby| Staff WritershelbyalbertL@yahoo.com

Alison Beattie | Staff Photographer

Students of Missouri West-ern are taking a dip into this year’s Polar Plunge. The plunge is being put on by the NorthWest Region Spe-cial Olympics to help raise awareness.

This February, adults, chil-dren and students are able to take part in an event to help those who are unique. Students from both Mis-souri Western and North-west State University will be plunging in Lake Contrary in St.Joseph on Feb. 18.

According to Melody Prawitz, Northwest Area Di-rector for the Special Olym-

At the first SGA Senate meeting of the spring semes-ter, SGA senators debated over the music department’s proposal of a new digital system in Potter Hall, yet ul-timately passed it.

Several senators had dif-ferent opinions on the bill and questions pertaining to the initial proposal put forth. Senator Brian Shewell felt the digital system was something SGA should think about considering be-fore approving, since Potter Hall was the next building on campus to be renovated. On the other hand, another Senator Julie Hodson felt that SGA should accept the proposal.

“The music department shouldn’t be punished when SGA has already helped other departments in Potter Hall, even if the building is to be renovated,” Hodson said.

The second bill passed approved the music depart-ment’s proposal to replace their current calendar board with an additional digi-tal system that would be l o c a t e d in the m a i n h a l l -w a y o f P o t -t e r Hall.

The equip-m e n t w o u l d be used for s l i d e s h o w s and to publicize events to students who would like to know what was happening in the arts on campus. Senator Pearson ad-dressed his concern with an important question: “If we put money into the theater department, why not back music?”

Another subject brought

You’d expect a biology professor to conduct ex-periments, but instead of variables, art professors use paint.

The art gallery in Potter Hall gives students a chance to see the art the professors create when they are not teaching class. As of Jan. 20, the Western art depart-ment has opened up their Biennial Faculty Exhibition that shows off some of the unique artwork that our art professors have completed and put on display.

According to Dr. Allison Sauls, chairperson of the art department, the exhibit is an opportunity for students to see what a professional art-ist does.

“The exhibit shows stu-dents what artists do every day,” Sauls said.

A total of 10 professors have displayed their exclu-sive art around the gallery. Sauls feels that all students and departments on campus should come out and be sup-portive of the art gallery.

Geo Sipp, associate pro-fessor of art, feels that art is something that all professors love to do.

“All professors practice

RA of the Month

Griffon Hall

Best thing about being an RA- Growing as a person and meeting a lot of new people.

Best memory as a resident- Meeting a lot of different people I wouldn’t have had the chance to get to know if I lived off campus.

Best advice to give new students on campus- Apply to be an RA!!!!! There is a lot to learn as an RA and the amount of people you meet is unbelievable.

Name: Felicia Coe

Home: Stockton, MO

Major: Chemistry - Medicial Techonology

Favorite Movie:Fireproof

pics, it’s a great way to give back to your community.

“This is our premier event, and our biggest fundraiser,” Prawitz said. “This is a great way for Missouri Western students to show community support, and organization skills.”

Among community mem-bers participating in this event, Western’s staff, orga-nizations, and students are taking part by raising money. As stated by Amber Rivera, Alpha Sigma Alpha Presi-dent, the donations that they receive will go straight to the Special Olympic athletes, all 900.

According to Prawitz, at this moment we have around

$10,000 in donations. “The goal that we have set for this year is around $60, 000,” Prawitz said. “We believe we can reach that goal by the Power Plunge.”

Rivera is doing her part by asking friends, organiza-tions, and community mem-bers to donate to her team for the cause.

“We are asking students for donations or to volunteer,” Rivera said. “The donations that we receive will go to the Special Olympics athletes here in our area.” According to Rivera, anyone can donate money by going to www.somo.org/mwsuplungers. Rivera is also looking for others to join her team.

up during discussion was student finances. There was no definite easy solution to how the student senators should respond to the bud-get cuts. Gov. Jay Nixon will not allow the school to raise tuition higher than 3 percent, in correlation with the Senate Bill 389 that limits the tuition increase by the consumer price index. For Missouri Western, this means only 3 percent of an allowed in-crease. Within the last three years there was a 25 percent budget cut.

The last bill approved, which was recommended by the Executive Board, was the Professional Clothes Closet Bill, which SGA President Alison Norris proposed.

“I heard a lot of universi-ties have this program,” Nor-ris said.

This program will provide students with professional attire to aid them in compet-ing for jobs. Norris knows it is getting harder and harder to look nice for professional interviews and put forth the bill as a way of helping stu-dents dress for their profes-sional careers.

The program’s goals are to provide one free pro-

fessional outfit to MWSU

students for a

job in-t e r -view or to a t -tend a

U n i -v e r -

s i t y C a r e e r

Fair and to give the

outfit as an in-centive.

SGA is also providing the start up fund to get this pro-gram going. The proposed budget was $1,700. Some lo-cal businesses have offered to help by donating items.

$76,0002011

2010

$52,000$44,000

2009

POLAR BEAR PLUNGE FUNDRAISING TOTALS

Student Natalie Bush will be plunging again this year for the Special Olympics.

“I plan on plunging and donating money to raise awareness.” Bush also states that the cause is a lot of fun, and it affects many people’s families for the better.

According to Rivera, the event is one that has touched her life.

“Every time I see one of the kids able to play basketball, and see their faces, it makes my day.”

If you would like to partic-ipate in the plunge you can register online or the day of the event. The cost for each person is $75 or they are ask-ing for volunteers.

Students prepare for icy plunge

Music department’s request sparks debate in student senateart,” Sipp said. “All artists

want to share their art. Being creative is part of who we are.”

Sipp continued by saying that students should come out and enjoy the art that they see their professor take part in.

“It’s important to see their professor do art,” Sipp said. “Exhibiting is as important as teaching.”

Sipp acknowledged the work of fellow professor Da-vid Harris, who is known for his ceramics and drawing.

“I am possessed to make new things,” Harris said. “It’s just like any other ath-lete who wants to show their talents.”

Harris talked about how as an artist you have to sac-rifice time to do something that you love. In his case, Christmas break became the chance for him put a little bit of time in his art while others enjoyed their full month off.

“While others are out play-ing and having fun on break, I’m doing art,” Harris said.

The gallery is open for ev-eryone on and off campus through Feb. 16. The Gallery is free and is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Art professors show off their work for students

Faculty Art Show, Potter Exhibit, displays different kind of art. Showcased for faculty members through February 16th.

(Above) “Untitled” by Misha Kligman, oil & wax on canvas over panel, 2011.(Below) “Fragment Guardians” by David Harris, stoneware, porcelain, dry ash glaze(Left) “Nightfall in Algiers” by Geo Sipp, vitreograph

Turning a hobby into a business is something every-one has thought about at one time or another, but for Nick Niemeier, he turned that thought into a reality.

For the past five years he has gone from playing in a band at some small parties to having consistent busi-ness as a DJ, a business that continues to show promising growth for the future.

Niemeier jump-started his line of work with DJ equip-ment that was a gift to him from his parents and has kept it going and growing ever since. He has built it up enough to have two full working systems and an equipment van to travel in.

“Eventually I’d like to move it all down to the beach somewhere,” Niemeier says. “Maybe Florida or some-thing, but until then I’m just going to keep it growing and make it bigger.”

Niemeier ultimately wants to end up producing his own music. Being a Music Technology major inches him closer to his goal every day. His classes have already helped his DJ skills by giving him a better understanding for a wide variety of equip-ment.

When Niemeier isn’t busy as a DJ, he is doing school work. When he isn’t doing school work, he is fulfilling

his responsibilities as the Phi Sigma Kappa president.

Phi-Sig member Alex Ahlschlager sees the mul-tiple lifestyles every day and witnesses just how Niemeier manages to keep up with school, run a business, and be a president of a fraternity.

“He handles the business just like he does school,” Ahlschlager says. “He takes it seriously.”

Ahlschlager has helped DJ in Niemeier’s home town of Marceline, Mo.

Whenever Niemeier is able to find free-time from school and work, he usually spends it making his own music.

If you don’t recognize his name, you may recog-nize him around campus as “Nick Na$$ty” or his frater-nity name “Sasquatch,” ac-cording to fraternity mem-ber Korey Kelso. You also might recognize his DJ name “Soundninja.”

Niemeier recently was hired as DJ for the Black Light Night in Blum. According to Lauren Dillon, president of the Western Activities Coun-cil, WAC always looks for talented students before hir-ing someone outside of Mis-souri Western.

“Everyone had nothing but positive things to say about him,” Dillon says.

People can hear the Sound-ninja in person in Tuck’s Bar, connected to the front of Belt Bowl, on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday nights.

FEATURES February 2, 2012

The Griffon NewsPage 4

Student Nick Brewer was assigned to do a statistical study on what kind of sham-poo and conditioner women used in the shower. His re-sults showed one woman saying Dove and another saying Neutrogena. How-ever, Brewer said the other 98 women were very rude to him, most of them replying “Why are you in my show-er?!”

No, Brewer isn’t a pervert, and he was never assigned this research project. He did, on the other hand, come up with this joke after working an internship that had him doing statistical studies last summer.

Brewer, who often rides his long board around cam-pus with skull candy head-phones around his neck while sporting an Oscar the Grouch hat, attends Missouri Western, and comedy is his thing.

This Tae Kwon Do red belt is constantly writing jokes by jotting down any sort of top-ics in his phone and creating stories out of them.

“Have you ever heard the saying ‘A picture is worth a thousand words?’ Well I take those words and switch them around into a story. So a picture is also worth a sto-ry,” Brewer said.

This saying is a creative way Brewer forms his jokes. So instead of writing dull statuses on Facebook, he en-tertains his friends with his

brain.Brewer has even moved

past Facebook by standing up on stage and projecting his material. This St. Louis, Mo., native has done stand-up all over St. Louis, been a part of open mic nights at Café Acoustic and has per-formed at the Kansas City

Improv.“He impressed me right

off the bat,” friend and come-dian Nick Ford said. “He’s very energetic, and I like his misleading humor. He could be going one way with a joke and then veer completely left.”

Ford, along with Demitri Martin and Maria Bamford, is one of Brewer’s favorite comedians who also per-

forms stand up in the St. Joe area. These comedians have influenced Brewer’s style of comedy since he was 16 years old.

Brewer was homeschooled for eight years, so in high school, Brewer decided to come out of his shell by run-ning for class president. He

had to beat out the most pop-ular kid in school, John Flow (who Brewer wouldn’t be surprised if Flow wasn’t an Abercrombie & Fitch model currently), so he knew he had to write a pretty spec-tacular speech.

Brewer ended up losing the election by six votes; yet in the end, he won by meet-ing a lot of new people and gained confidence in his co-

medic touch.Now, according to student

Kathleen Chow, Brewer is the opposite of an introvert.

“(Nick) is never afraid to meet new people,” Chow said. “Where other people would be intimidated, he just leaps over invisible bound-aries and presents himself to the world with the goofiest smile I have ever seen.”

Being an extrovert is desir-able in the business world, which is right up Brewer’s alley because he is an eco-nomic major. Currently en-rolled in Chinese II, Brewer plans to go to China in May.

“If I can speak Chinese and English, I can communicate with 83% of the world’s pop-ulation,” Brewer said.

In the future, he can see himself teaching Chinese students English and eco-nomics along with teaching American students Chinese business.

But for now, he is sticking to school and standup. How-ever, Brewer doesn’t want to “put all of his eggs in one basket,” so if comedy doesn’t work out for him, he under-stands the process through economics.

“There’s a large supply of comics, but a limited de-mand, so the equilibrium point, or price, is relatively low,” Brewer said.

While Brewer is not sure which path he is going to take, Ford is optimistic about Brewer’s comedy.

“I’m really excited to see what else he’s going to do in the future.”

Blair Stalder | Features Editorbstalder@missouriwestern.edu

Christian Mengel | Staff Writercmengel@missouriwestern.edu

Soundninja:

Brewin’ up some laughs with Nick Brewer

Your article here. Your ar-

ticle here. Your article here. Your article here. Your ar-ticle here. Your article here. Your article here.

GET PUBLISHED.

ENROLL IN JOU210Your Name Here | Staffyou@missouriwestern.edu

Nick Niemeier DJ-ed at WAC’s Black Light Party in Blum last week. He is known by namy nicknames, like Soundninja, Nick Na$$ty and Sasquatch. Niemeier hopes to relocate his DJ business to a beach locale someday, but is focus-ing on growing the business in St. Joseph for now.

Jason Brown | Photo Editor

Students decorated themselves with highlighters during the Black Light Party. Chance Umstattd (left) focused on his face. The student on the right chose to adorn himself with his frater-nity’s letters.

Jason Brown | Photo Editor

Brewer performs at last semester’s talent show, wearing his signature Oscar the Grouch hat.

Jason Brown | Photo Editor

Student makes time to DJ, study and fraternize

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FEATURESFebruary 2, 2012

The Griffon NewsPage 5

It seems that some people confuse a good story with a good theme. There is quite a difference. The film “Sarah’s Key” deals with a very emo-tional historical event: the Holocaust. But while this film succeeds in its purpose of educating the audience, it does not entertain them.

The story of this film fol-lows a modern-day French journalist (Julia) who is ob-sessed with the story of a young girl (Sarah) who was separated from her fam-ily during the Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup in 1942. This was an event where the French police captured 13,152 Jew-ish victims in Nazi-occupied France and transported them off to camps, where they would be executed.

While the story is quite touching and educational, it drags for a long time. It is not until the 45-minute mark that the audience even starts to realize what the story is about. Even then, it is ex-plained rather quickly, so it could be very confusing for an audience member that is not quite intrigued by such historical events.

Characters in “Sarah’s Key” are poorly explained. Julia meets with several people who lived during the time of the Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup. They recall the oc-currences and describe how they met Sarah. This had great potential for some re-ally touching and intriguing characters, but they come off as dull. The instances that they recall are very dark, including Sarah finding her dead brother locked in a closet; however, there is no background to these charac-ters. We meet them and then they are gone almost imme-

diately. We really needed to spend more time with them and get to know them.

“Sarah’s Key” is reminis-cent of a bad documentary. The message and topic is very raw and emotional, but it is poorly executed. When dealing with a subject like the Holocaust and innocent children, there is a strong potential for a truly raw and gripping experience. The writers and filmmakers of this piece failed at that.

The film was based on the 2008 novel “Elle s’appelait

Sarah e” which translates to “Her name was Sarah” in English, so the filmmakers probably want to try and be somewhat loyal to the novel. The issue is that most novels are very high on information and low on action and visu-als (with some exceptions). In film, when you keep all of this information, the enter-tainment and quality of the story suffers.

If you’re expecting an ex-cellent historical film like “Schindler’s List” or “The Pianist,” you will be severely disappointed with “Sarah’s Key.” It would work rather nicely for a high school his-tory class presentation, but it fails in several categories as an artistic endeavor.

Final verdict: Do not pick up this film.

Brian Duskey | Staff Writerbduskey@missouriwestern.edu

‘Sarah’s Key’ lectures, does not entertain

Kristin Scott Thomas as Julia Jarmond in Gilles Paquet-Brenner’s film “Sarah’s Key.”

allmoviephotos.com

Born in 1875, Mary McLeod Bethune was the daughter of slaves. Follow-ing her parent’s footsteps, she had to pick cotton as an African American girl.

Skip to the year 1888, when Bethune receives a scholar-ship to Scotia Seminary in-North Carolina. This oppor-tunity sparked her ambition to be an educator and activ-ist.

Now fast forward to the year 1904. Because she be-

lieved education would aide in giving African Americans full citizenship rights, Bet-hune founded the Daytona Normal and Industrial In-stitute, which later became Bethune-Cookman College in 1929.

Bethune also worked un-der the Roosevelt adminis-tration as the advisor to mi-nority affairs and founded the National Association of Colored Women and the National Council of Negro Women.

Bethune went from pick-ing cotton to starting a move-

ment.According to the Associa-

tion for the Study of African American Life and History, Dr. Carter G. Woodson (also titled as the Father of Black History) founded Black His-tory Month in 1915. In 1928, Woodson decided to desig-nate a theme each year to focus on different aspects of black history.

This year’s Black His-tory Month theme is “Black Women in American Culture and History.”

This February is to honor all the African American

women who aided in the Civil Rights Movement from the Underground Railroad to all women who have stood up against oppression.

Student Eric Toliver re-flects on black history and is thankful for what black women have done for Afri-can Americans today.

“If I could talk to the women have changed his-tory, such as Maya Angelou, Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, Coretta Scott King,” Toliver said, “I would thank them a hundred-plus times for them being as strong and commit-

ted to what they made hap-pen. I would also thank them for paving the way for me, though they might not be in my fields of interest, like the-atre, film and television.”

Student Erica Stevens would agree with Toliver when it comes to thanking these women, and her fa-vorite activist is Bethune. Although Bethune is not a name that is as well-known as Tubman, Stevens appreci-ates what Bethune has done for African-American wom-en.

“I love that she fought for

the rights of African-Amer-icans,” Stevens said. “But what makes her my favor-ite is her heart for young African-American women. If I could talk to her today, I would thank her.”

While only February is deemed Black History Month, Stevens enjoys black history throughout the year.

“I don’t have any formal way of celebrating Black History Month, but I try to embrace, celebrate and learn more about my culture year-round.”

Blair Stalder | Features Editorbstalder@missouriwestern.edu

Women celebrated during this Black History Month

February 3rdOpening with Scott Perry

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3414 South 22nd StreetSt. Joseph, Missouri 64503(816) 901-9338

Jb & The Moonshine Band

1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

1954The Brown v. Board decision declares

segregation in public schools illegal.

1986Established by

legislation in 1983, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is fi rst celebrated as a national holiday.

2009Barack Obama, Democrat from

Chicago, becomes the fi rst African-

American president and the countryʼs 44th president.

1967President Johnson appoints Thurgood Marshall to the

Supreme Court. He becomes the fi rst black Supreme Court Justice.

1964Martin Luther King receives the

Nobel Peace Prize.

1968President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968, prohibiting

discrimination in the sale, rental and fi nancing of housing.

1963The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom is attended by about 250,000 people, the largest demonstration ever seen in the nationʼs

capital. Martin Luther King delivers his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. The march builds momentum for civil rights legislation.

1955Rosa Parks refuses to give

up her seat at the front of a bus to a white passenger. In response to her arrest, the Montgomery black

community launches a bus boycott, which will last for more than a year, until the buses are desegregated.

Moments from the civil rights

movement Brooke Carter | Graphics Editor

OPINIONS February 2, 2012

The Griffon NewsPage 6

The Griffon News is written and published by students of Missouri Western State University during the fall and spring semesters. The first copy of each issue is free; addi-tional copies are 50 cents. Content of this paper is developed independently of the facul-ty and administration, or other campus organizations or offices. Readers are encouraged to submit story ideas, information and advertising to The Griffon News office, Eder 221, 4525 Downs Drive, St. Joseph, Mo. 64507, or by phoning (816) 271-4412 (advertising and news room). You may also e-mail thegriffonnews@gmail.com. Copy and advertising must be received by noon Friday, the week prior to publication.

Guidelines for letters to the editor:• All letters to the editor must be typed and double spaced. Letters must be no longer

than 350-400 words and guest columns no longer than 500 words. Letters and columns will be edited for style.

• All letters must include signature and identity verification information, such as phone number. The Griffon News reserves the right to edit all letters for length and Associated Press style.

• The Griffon News will not withhold names under any circumstances. Anonymously submitted letters will not be published.

• Views expressed on the opinion pages are not necessarily those of The Griffon News staff or Missouri Western State University.

Managing EditorDesign Editor

Graphics EditorAssistant Graphics Editor

News EditorAssistant News Editor

Photo EditorSports Editor

Assistant Sports EditorMultimedia Editor

Opinions EditorFeatures Editor

Assistant Features EditorAd Manager

Faculty Advisor

Dave HonEditor-in-Chief

Caitlin CressAndy InmanBrooke CarterNat LarsenEboni LaceyMatt HuntJason Brown Thomas Huitt-Johnson Kyle Inman Nathan PickmanEllis Cross Blair StalderChristian MengelKyler PenlandKen Rosenauer

The Griffon News Staff

During a recent trip to Washington D. C. I had the privilege to meet the Tea Party Patriots National Coordinator, Jenny Beth Martin. I, like most people, had a preconceived notion of who she was and what the Tea Party Patriots were about. I was wrong.

Like most Missouri Western State University stu-dents I had heard some of the things that the Tea Party supposedly stood for. I heard they were conservative, Bible-thumping, gun-toting racists. I’m sure like any other group of humans there are some of every derivation, but only the truly extreme individuals are exploited and used as the example to satisfy sensational media.

I, like many, based my interpretation of the Tea Party Patriots on what I had heard, but I wanted the facts so I asked her to define

what she and her group were about.

“The principles of the Tea Party Patriots are America’s core principles,” Martin said. “Our mission is to restore America’s founding princi-ples of fiscal responsibility, constitutionally-limited gov-ernment and free markets.”

The Tea Party’s defini-tion of fiscal responsibility is not overspending and not burdening our children and grandchildren with our debt. It is a fact that my five-year-old daughter owns about $54,000 of that debt.

Our country is about 14 trillion dollars in debt, and it is growing daily. Fiscal responsibility sounds great but I don’t know if Americans really know what it means to cut spending enough to make any real dif-ference in our debt load.

It could mean cutting ser-vices for those who believe

they need it and believe they are entitled to it. I believe if those cuts come too fast and too severe the non-priv-ileged my turn on the privi-leged (whoever they are?). America is becoming polar-ized and so is Washington. The gridlock of polarization in Washington obscures any resemblance of government.

I also long for a consti-tutionally-limited govern-ment. I’m not like my friend in the Occupy Wall Street movement who told me recently that the constitution has been rendered useless. I believe it can still work if the government would take a moment and check its laws against what the founding fathers intended and what the constitution says. It is being overlooked and misin-terpreted too often.

In recent years the idea of free markets has completely eluded the government of

the United States. We have stepped in and bailed out banks and large corpora-tions because we were afraid of what would hap-pen if we allowed capitalism to work. If capitalism had been allowed to work some companies would have gone under. Someone would have purchased those companies for a song. The debt would have been written off. The new company would thrive and hire people and start the money engine all over again.

Capitalism used to divide the winners from the losers. Now, the government picks them. No one wins and no one loses. Banks are afraid to loan money now and com-panies are afraid to invest in anything including people. Capitalism has failed the Occupy Wall Street group and I don’t blame them for protesting against it.

I wish I could show them

how it works with a recent example. I just can’t; there are no recent examples. The United States government should have left capitalism alone. It could have correct-ed our economy and still has a chance if those in power wish to use it properly.

Martin authored an arti-cle titled Why ‘Occupy Wall Street’ Doesn’t Compare, recently that ended this way. “We want Congress, the full Congress composed of our representatives, to make the necessary and difficult deci-sions to cut spending today. We’re not looking for phan-tom cuts over some mythi-cal 10-year period that will never come. The nation’s problems are real, tangible, and present today. And the full Congress must deal with them—today.” I agree.

On February 7, we will witness a statewide exer-cise in bureaucratic futility. Missouri is spending about $8 million to hold a presi-dential primary, a nomina-tion procedure that decides which candidate receives a state’s delegates. But not a single delegate will be awarded as a result of this election. Those silly little things will be determined a month later in a statewide caucus.

So why is our state wast-ing money on this election when our votes literally mean nothing? Is this what we were hoping for when

we cast our ballots for our state officials? It is clear that the only representation poli-ticians have in mind is that of themselves and the inter-est groups who have bought them and their votes, along with our democracy.

Therein lies my disgust with our political and elec-toral systems. A bunch of powerful lobbies form two separate political parties, who then pick a few candi-dates who “believe” what they’re told to believe and act in the same fashion. This February 7 contest is a sym-bol of how little our needs count. Clearly, our interests

are far from the minds of our “leaders,” who are really just the custodians of corporate and bureaucratic interests.

The Democrat and the Republican Parties are two sets of special inter-est groups represented by crooked, scheming, vultur-ous party hacks. Anyone dumb enough to believe that the complex world we live in is actually so simple it can be adequately broken down and represented by two par-ties is getting exactly what they deserve from our cur-rent political morass.

The way I see it, there is only one candidate running

for president who is not a slave to special interests and the status quo. He has beliefs and ideas, and stands by them, even when they aren’t popular in his own party. He is concerned with the state of our nation, not just the state of his poll numbers. He says the way to get big money out of politics is to severely restrict the govern-ment’s ability to affect big money—after all, if politi-cians can’t have their hands in everything, what would be the incentive to buy their votes? The media tend to discount and ignore him, which is possibly because he

speaks sincerely and consis-tently and isn’t a scandal-ous soap opera of drama. Or maybe because the special interests that own the status quo own the media, too.

Interested? Then start look-ing. Don’t let yourselves be tools for Washington or Wall Street, the lobbyists or their custodians. They couldn’t care less about you. Look at the issues and candidates yourselves and try to see what’s really there, not the smoke and mirrors special interests and the media and the parties and their hacks want you to see.

What does it take to get kicked off a Missouri Western athletic team?

That’s the thought crossing a lot of fans’ minds, and with justification. With Benjamin Pister’s previous problems with the law and Ashleigh Curry’s current citation on January 21, Western fans and students should wonder if the discipline of Western ath-letes is fair.

It sure is consistent, as Athletic Director Kurt McGuffin said, but how many altercations does it take before athletic admin-istrators are willing to cut someone from the team? The appropriate answer isn’t a number though. The appro-priate answer would have more to do with the individ-ual and the circumstances. In a lot of cases, this would be true. But, there’s a rea-son they are called second chances.

We’re not here to pass judg-ment on any Western athlete. No one knows those indi-

viduals better than the ath-letics staff and their coaches. They make the best decisions based upon the facts they have.

One thing they should consider though, is the image second, third and fourth chances give Western as a whole. Sure, the via-bility of the team’s season is taken into consideration when making an expulsion decision. A teammate leav-ing doesn’t just mean losing those valuable assets, but it also means affecting team chemistry.

All things considered, the public image of the univer-sity needs to be considered as well. Our athletes are our way of competing with other schools, not just on the court, but off the court as well. They should be the best indi-viduals and make the right decisions.

Does this mean they can’t slip up and make mistakes? Well, they wouldn’t be col-lege students and wouldn’t

learn anything if they never made mistakes.

In regards to Curry’s dis-ciplinary action, The Griffon News won’t say whether the decision to let her play was the right or wrong one. We do believe in McGuffin and his ability to balance the well being the athletes. Making the right decision could result in a negative impact on one of these parties.

This won’t be the last time that an athlete makes a mis-take and it sure isn’t the first. Our only request is that ath-letics keeps up as informed as possible along the process. While there may be some shame in letting athletes go, it’s more trouble to let the continue to make mistakes and never learn the harsh lessons.

Is this Curry’s case; that’s not for us to decide, or any Western fan or student for that matter. We trust that McGuffin and Coach Plett have made the right deci-sion.

How many altercations does it take to get an athlete

kicked off the team?

Curtiss Lanejunior

“I propose that we cut our heating and cooling budget and dress appropriately.”

“I just hope it (the cuts) don’t have anything to do with sports.”

Dylan Renojunior

Mark Fagalasenior

“I propose that they take the $1.2 million out of Greek life.”

CAMPUS VOICEWith all of Missouri Western’s budget cuts coming from the State, what do you think you would cut at Western?

Adriane Lukesophpmore

“Nothing!”

Amber Langleyfreshman

“I don’t think there is a lot to be cut. I haven’t noticed anything where I would say that that in an excess.”

Editorial: Trust new Athletic Director in disciplinary decisions, Western athletes make mistakes too

Gary Weidemanngweidemann@missouriwestern.edu

$8 million wasted on meaningless primaries

WITH ELLIS CROSS

Columnist experiences Tea Party first hand in DC

Check out the full responses at

GriffonNews.com

For the better part of five years, Jessica Koch has been a Griffon who drapes the black and gold.

The senior forward didn’t abandon the Griffons, and when doubt may have sur-faced to do so, she stuck it out.

Koch joined a team that lost its 2006-07 MIAA Cham-pionship trophy due to play-ing illegal players. She is the only that remains that was a part of the team that dealt with the controversy of a new head coach, and what had happened the previous season. The Kansas City na-tive tore her ACL that year, thus granting her a fifth sea-son. She has taken advantage of it.

Her quest to be the great-est Griffon scorer of all time could be the result of her de-cision to not leave Western. Koch, who has been on the team since the 2007-08 sea-son, is just 131 points away from the all-time leader in points scored. With seven games remaining, the char-ismatic Koch has remained quiet about the record -- ei-ther because it quietly hap-pened, or because she cares more about the team.

Koch started the season with just less than 550 points to score in order to receive the record. With a record

that averages out to about 19 points per game, it is defi-nitely within reach.

Koch averages 23.2 points per game, which happens to be seven points higher than any other player in the MIAA. She is arguably the player of the year in the con-ference so far.

Some players that can help Koch achieve this mark in-clude center Brittany Gris-wold (though she is currently out with a foot injury), guard Alicia Bell and fellow senior Ashleigh Curry, who has only played in four games this season, but the speedster currently is the second-scor-er on the team since playing and makes shots behind the arc that take away some at-tention from Koch.

Koch is also helped by playing six 40-minute games this year, and against South-west Baptist on Jan. 17 she played a 43-minute game.

Whether Koch achieves the feat or not, the final stretch of a glorious career is upon Western. With just two more home games to play at MWSU Fieldhouse, and both at the end of February, Koch may break the record where her career started. And if she happens to come up two points short, she can blame the game clock, as a 60-foot shot dropped in the basket right before halftime Monday night against Fort Hays State, but her hand was on the ball a half-second too long, negating an otherwise improbable 3-pointer.

With two returning players back for Missouri Western, the Griffons used their full house in order to produce a win.

In doing so, they shot 59 percent from the field as Western defeated Fort Hays State 90-78 Monday night at MWSU Fieldhouse.

Western had been on a five game losing streak after it pulled three straight wins to open the new year. However, with two players -- Ashleigh Curry and CC Bozeman -- coming off of a team suspen-sion, the Griffons looked out of sync the past week. That all changed Monday.

After going into halftime down 33-32, the Griffons forced four straight Tiger turnovers, three of which turned into points for the home team. Senior Jessica Koch said that it was a team effort that she could only ex-plain occurred because the team fought the whole game.

“The past two games, we played great against two great teams,” Koch said. “We knew that eventually we weren’t going to just get close, we were going to start winning, especially with

Ashleigh and CC, that’s just going to take us over the top.”

Koch stressed that in the MIAA, her team knows that if they make a late run, they

have a shot at winning more than just one game.

Coming into Monday, Western currently sat as the first team out of the MIAA tournament seeding, sitting at the No. 9 seed. In order to go to Kansas City in March, the Griffons need to place in the top eight. With four wins in the conference, their chances of making it have shot up dramatically.

“Subconsciously, the fact that we were competitive with the top teams should

have given us some confi-dence,” coach Lynn Plett said. “Just because we did this tonight doesn’t mean we’re going to do this the next night. But hopefully we gained the confidence of the last three ball games and carry it on.”

Monday, the Griffons showed that and more.

Reserves players Brittany Casady and Emily Rom-denne didn’t miss a shot (combined 4-for-4) and the Griffons shot 40 percent

from the 3-point line. Along with a defense that bothered the Tigers all game, Western improved its place to a tie at No. 8 with Southwest Bap-tist.

“Our goal all along has been to get everything to-gether and start clicking,” Plett said.

Plett pointed to Koch and Curry’s speed as a reason to transition buckets. He also said Kallie Schoonover and Alex Noble had more con-fidence which resulted in buckets.

Curry came back from the suspension and attacked the hoop, just as she had played before. The star senior, who suited up for just the fourth time this season, came off the bench with just over 15 min-utes to play and immediately

showed her quickness.The skill guard totalled

a team-high 24 points and went 8-for-13 from the field.

“The team came together and we dominated,” Curry said. “We can surprise a lot of teams with the tempo we had tonight.”

The Griffons do not play another home game until Feb. 22 when they take on Central Missouri. Until that date, Western plays five-straight road games.

With that in mind, the Griffons made a statement the fans will remember until they step back on the court for their next home meeting.

Center Brittany Griswold missed her second-straight game with a foot injury and could be out for a couple more weeks.

Koch on a mission: scoring record in sight

Thomas Huitt-Johnson | Sports Editorthuittjohnson@missouriwestern.edu

Thomas Huitt-Johnson | Sports Editorthuittjohnson@missouriwestern.edu

Women win behind strong shooting, handy reserves

SPORTS February 2, 2012

The Griffon NewsPage 7

Pittsburg StateWashburnEmporia StateCentral MissouriFort Hays StateTrumanLincolnSouthwest BaptistMissouri WesternMissouri SouthernNorthwest Missouri State

12-111-110-38-57-66-75-74-94-102-112-11

MIAA STANDINGSW M E N ’ S B A S K E T B A L L

(Left to right) Schoonover, Casady, and Mgbike cheer on Curry after a big score which lead to a Griffon victory. JasonBrown|PhotoEditor

(Left) Curry (33) passes to Bozeman (42) during the game. Both players return to action after serving a two-game suspension.(Above) Curry stutters before charging into the black against Hays during the first half. (Right) Schoonover dribbles past 6-foot-4 Kate Lehman in first half of West-ern’s 90-78 victory over Hays.

JasonBrown|PhotoEditor

(Left) Koch powers her way through a Hays defender to score two during the first half.(Above) Koch improves her streak to six-straight of 20 or more points in a game. JasonBrown|PhotoEditor

SPORTS February 2nd, 2012

The Griffon NewsPage 8

Missouri Western played tough on defense, but couldn’t find enough points to stop Washburn from walk-ing away from MWSU Field-house with a 64-55 victory.

With 1:36 left on the clock and down 56-55, Western forced guard Will McNeill to shoot a long-distance 3-pointer with the shot clock expiring. McNeill buried the shot and closed the door on the Griffon’s chances for a win.

“When he hit the 3 was the biggest play of the game,” coach Tom Smith said. “We did a great job, we were sound defensively, forced him into taking the bad shot and he hits it. Good players make good plays, and that’s basically what we ran into.”

McNeill scored a game-high 26 points and hit 13-for-16 from the free-throw line. For the Griffons, it was fresh-man Reed Mells who led the way with a career-high 17 points and hit five 3-point-ers. Mells was in the start-ing line-up for the second straight game with senior guard Deionta Mitchell side-lined with an injury.

“Deionta is a big part of our team, and he’s the heart and sole of the back-court,” Mells said. “When he went down, somebody had to step up and coach Smith called my number, so I didn’t want to disappoint him, my team-mates or the Missouri West-ern family.”

Senior big man Lavonte Douglas scored 14 points on 5-for-6 shooting, pulled down nine rebounds and blocked a shot.

The Griffons two leading scorers on the season are T.J. Johnson and James Harris, but Washburn was able to

The Missouri Western men lost a heart-breaker 62-58 to Fort Hays State Monday at MWSU Fieldhouse. Western fell to 7-13 overall and 2-12 in MIAA conference play.

“They hit some big shots, no question,” coach Tom Smith said. “It’s one of those years. I’m sure you get a little

contain both players. John-son scored nine points on 3-for-5 shooting before foul-ing out with five minutes to play, while Harris struggled to find his jump shot against the zone defense, going 1-for-10 from the field for four points. The Griffons were unable to hit the shots in the second half, going 8-for-24, and connected on just 6-for-22 from 3-point distance for the game.

“If our guys were on, it wouldn’t have been a close

game,” Douglas said. “They made up and played solid defense for them being off on offense, so I appreciate the effort with everyone staying together.”

The Griffons gave up 18 of-fensive rebounds to their 11, and were called for 29 fouls compared to Washburn’s 15. The Western fans didn’t like the officiating and a chant of ‘awful’ broke out late in the game.

Western has fallen to 7-12 overall and 2-11 in MIAA

snakebite, and when you’re snakebite, people make those plays on you, and they are making the plays while we aren’t making the plays, and that’s the difference between winning and losing.”

The Griffons came out with a sense of urgency and held the Tigers to 8-for-32 shoot-ing in the first half. Western went into the locker room with a 31-21 lead at the half-time break behind 11 first-

half points from freshman guard Reed Mells. Western also held the advantage on the boards, out-rebounding Hays 22-14 in the first half.

“We just want to win. We are going to play high-ener-gy defense, focus on finish-ing plays, and getting other people involved,” Lavonte Douglas said. “That’s our main focus and something we’ve got to do. We have to keep it up both halves.”

Griffons unable to overcome cold shooting versus Washburn

Kyle Inman | Asst. Sports Editorkpinman@gmail.com

Mells (4) goes up for a 3-pointer Saturday night against Washburn. Mells made five 3s and scored a career high 17 points on the night. Jason Brown | Photo Editor

Kyle Inman | Asst. Sports Editorkpinman@gmail.com

Northwest MissouriCentral MissouriWashburnMissouri SouthernPittsburg StateFort Hays StateSouthwest BaptistEmporia StateTrumanLincolnMissouri Western

10-310-38-48-58-58-56-74-94-93-92-12

MIAA STANDINGSM E N ’ S B A S K E T B A L L

conference play after losing nine of it’s last ten games. Smith said that you can be miserable during a losing season, but he’s not because of the collective attitude of the team.

“I’ve had successful teams over my years that I haven’t liked more than this group,” Smtih said. “I feel bad be-cause as a coach I cannot complain ever about what they have given to me every day.”

Western falls in final five minutes

Johnson (2) grabs a steal in the first half of Monday’s game against Hays. The senior had three steals as Western took a 31-21 lead into halftime. Jason Brown | Photo Editor

Sport: Basketball

Year: Senior

Position: Forward

Stats�this�week:Points -- 48Rebounds -- 18Assists -- 5

JESSICA KOCHKoch scored 21 points in both games this past week. Behind Koch's scoring, Western split both games and improved to a tie at the No. 8 spot in the conference 

standings. The leading scorer in the MIAA also recorded three blocks to help out on defense.

ATHLETEOF THE WEEKATHLETEOF THE WEEK

JESSICA KOCH

Hays guard Moses Dayee hit two 3-pointers in the first two minutes of the second-half to get it going for the Tigers.

With the Griffons up 43-36, the Tigers went on a 10-0 run over four minutes to grab their first lead of the game at the 10 minute mark in the second half. Hays extended its lead to 46-43 before Doug-las tied the game up with a 3-point-play after making a lay-up and drawing the foul.

Dayee hit another 3-point shot with two minutes left to push the Tigers out to a 57-52 lead. Douglas hit a free-throw to make the score 57-53 before James Harris hit a 3-pointer to get the Griffons to within one point with 45 seconds left.

The next trip down the floor, Dayee hit a 3-point dagger from the left corner that sealed up the 62-58 vic-tory for Hays. Missed free-throws hurt the Griffons down the stretch.

“I think it boils down to the free-throws,” Douglas said. “I shot bad from the line to-night, and that’s something I have to get back in my game. Lately I’ve been out there like Dwight Howard.”

Hays shot 25 percent in the first half and heated up in the second, shooting 56 per-cent. The Griffons have lost 10 of their last 11 games but are holding teams to under 70 points and showing im-provement.

“We just got to find a way to get over the hump, and I think when we do that we will be fine,” Mells said. “We just got to keep playing to-

gether. The most frustrating part that it’s just one or two little mistakes that ends up losing it for us.”

Douglas, who led all scor-ers with 16 points on 7-for-11 shooting, pulled down six rebounds and stole the ball two times. Mells added 13 points, including 8-for-8 at

the foul line and dished out three assists. Harris went for 13 points and five assists.

The Griffons go on a four-game road trip, starting on Feb. 4 at Southern Missouri. Western has two remaining home games, Feb. 22 and 25 against Central Missouri and Southwest Baptist.

Douglas (34) stands at the free-throw line in the first half of Western’s 62-58 loss against Hays Monday night at MWSU Fieldhouse. Jason Brown | Photo Editor

NEXT HOME GAME

MIAA STANDINGSM E N ’ S B A S K E T B A L L

Wednesday, Feb. 22vs. Central Missouri

Women: 5:30 p.m.Men: 7:30 p.m.