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Week of March 12-18, 2007 Welcome to the Tower Topics E-newsletter for faculty, staff and students at Western. |
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Missouri Western State University, 4525 Downs Drive, St. Joseph, MO 64507, 816-271- 4200 |
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Click any link for these stories: Two Music Masters to Visit Western Dennis Fritz Tells His Story at Western Drivers Education Course Offered at Western Be Wary of Suspicious Loan Letters Lost & Found: If you have lost any items, please come to SU 228 to claim them. You may be required to describe the item. Click on
Guidelines for Tower Topics: Tower Topics submissions should state time, date, place, sponsor, title of event, name of speaker's and admission fees. Send complete information to the Public Relations and Marketing office (Leah Spratt Hall, Room 106). The deadline for all entries is 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, for the next week's issue. Tower Topics will be online weekly during the fall and spring semester. For more information call 271-5651. Student Editor:
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Two Music Masters to Visit Western Two music masters will visit Western’s campus March 22 and 23. Dr. Reena Berger, assistant professor of music at Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, Kan., will teach a piano master class at 3 p.m. March 22 in Potter Hall theater. She will work with several Western pianists and will perform Schumann’s Piano Concerto in a minor at the St. Joseph Symphony concert at 8 p.m. March 24 at the Missouri Theater, 717 Edmond St. Dr. John Ross, assistant professor of music at Pittsburg State University, will speak at 12 p.m. March 23 in Potter Hall 112 about his composition, Cere’s Sorrow, which will also be performed at the Symphony concert. Dr. Berger has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in Canada, the United States, Israel, China, Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. Since moving to the United States in 2000, she has presented guest artist recitals and master classes at several university music schools in this country. In 2004 she was selected to join the roster of artists for the Kansas Touring Program, a program sponsored by the Kansas Arts commission. Dr. Berger was a teaching assistant to the piano department at New England Conservatory of Music. From 1994-1999, she was a lecturer in piano at the University of Montreal. She has been at Pittsburg State University since 2000. Her students have won numerous competitions and awards. Dr. Ross, a native of New Jersey, received training in composition at Florida State University and the University of Iowa. His music has been performed at the Society of Composers, Inc. national forums, several university music schools, and in France. His awards include the first Abraham Frost Prize from the University of Miami, a summer residence at Yaddo, and the 2002 Rudolf Nissim award. His music is published by Cimarron Music and by himself. Currently Dr. Ross teaches aural skills, theory and composition at Pittsburg State University. These events are co-sponsored by the Western co-curricular committee, the Western music department and the St. Joseph Symphony.
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Dennis Fritz Tells His Story at Western “It wasn’t because I was at the wrong place at the wrong time. It was because I knew an individual with bipolar disorder.” That is the explanation of Dennis Fritz regarding his wrongful arrest and conviction and subsequent 12 years in prison. Fritz told of his “Journey Toward Justice” at two public presentations and in criminal justice classrooms March 5 and 6 at Western.
Fritz, a single father due to the murder of his wife in 1975, and his co-defendant, Ronnie Williamson, were convicted of the 1982 murder and rape of Debbie Sue Carter on very little evidence and the testimony of jailhouse snitches, he told his audiences. Twelve years later, DNA evidence irrefutably proved that they had not committed the crimes.
John Grisham’s nonfiction book, “An Innocent Man,” tells their story, and Fritz’s “Journey Toward Justice” is a companion book to Grisham’s. To defend Fritz, the court appointed a bankruptcy attorney who had never tried a murder before. “My lawyer told me, ‘there’s no way on God’s green earth that you’ll be convicted.’” But he was indeed convicted and sentenced to life in prison. “One juror saved my life. I was one vote away from the death penalty.”
The first thing he did in prison, Fritz said, was seek out the law library, and he spent every possible moment pursuing his freedom. “For 12 years, I walked, talked, slept, scratched, ate, drank, lived for one purpose – to free myself from the nightmare. I figured if I had to stay there for all my life, I was going to give it one hell of a fight.”
In 1995, Fritz said “the wheels of justice began to turn” when Williamson was granted a new trial. At about the same time, the Innocence Project, an organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people through DNA testing, agreed to represent Fritz. Finally, in 1999, in he and Williamson were free.
“I thought I would pick right up where I left off when I was free, but it was very difficult,” said Fritz. “I had been frozen for 12 years.” Counseling and writing the book helped him move on.
Approximately 180 attended Fritz’s presentation March 5, and approximately 100 attended the Eggs and Issues March 6. His visit was sponsored by the criminal justice and legal studies department, the MWSU Foundation and co-curricular events committee. |
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Drivers Education Course Offered at Western In collaboration with the St. Joseph School District, Western will offer driver education classes to area students this summer. The first two-week session is June 4-15, and the second two-week session is July 5-18. Sessions will be held Monday through Friday 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. Registration for the classes begins at 8 a.m. April 6 in Spratt Hall, room 105, and must be done in person. A copy of the student’s birth certificate is required. Class registration is on a first-come, first-serve basis, as maximum classroom size is 89 students. Registration is $25 for students who are 15-19 years of age, currently enrolled in school, and have not graduated from high school. Registration is $225 to anyone who does not meet the above requirements. This course includes 30 hours of classroom work, 12 hours of observation time and six hours behind the wheel. Driving and observation times will be arranged with the instructor and may be scheduled outside of the class meeting times. Successful completion of the course will entitle the student to a certificate verifying that all requirements of the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education have been met. A learner’s permit is not required. For more information, contact the Western Institute at 816-271-4100 or email wi@missouriwestern.edu. |
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Be Wary of Suspicious Loan Letters Angela Beam, assistant director of financial aid, warns students a recent wave of solicitation letters from loan companies. The letters are created to look like official documents, and in some cases, lead the recipient to believe the letter is from their lender or the federal education department.
Beam said Western students have received such letters and brought them to the financial aid office. On some letters, envelopes are marked “confidential” and “open immediately,” and look official, leading students to assume they are from their loan company. Some even have an insignia that resembles the federal education department’s insignia.
“If a student did not initiate contact with the company, they should be cautious,” said Beam. “Students should always contact the financial aid office if they receive something suspicious, or if they have questions.”
Many of the letters are merely advertisements for consolidating student loans or for private loans. “Private loans often have higher interest rates and numerous fees attached,” said Beam. “Students should exhaust their federal student loan options before accepting private loan funds.”
She also noted that students need to make sure they are not eligible for loan cancellation or reduced interest rates before they consider consolidating loans. “Those benefits are lost once they consolidate their loans,” she said. |
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Congratulations, women's basketball! It was a great season - 30-4! Women's Basketball
Baseball
Softball
Tennis
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Brown Bag Workshop The Western Wellness Committee is proud to sponsor another Brown Bag workshop from 12-1 p.m. March 21 in Spratt Enright Room 214. Since march is National Colon Cancer Awareness Month, the committee has scheduled Dean Mausolf, wellness specialist at Heartland Health, to give a presentation for the Western employees entitled, "The Path to Wellness and Colon Cancer Prevention." Feel free to bring lunch and listen to Mausolf during the lunch hour. Global Justice Lecture Series The department of criminal justice and legal studies will host two lectures by Dr. Rick Sarre, professor of law and criminal justice, University of South Australia. The lectures are scheduled for 11 a.m. and again at 12 p.m. March 26 in Spratt Hall, Kemper Recital Hall. Dr. Sarre will present on restorative justice, which is a worldwide movement that expands the present view of the criminal justice system to include the victim and the community. Dr. Sarre will discuss its growth internationally and explore the effect of its growing use in the United States. It's Coming April 17, 2007 The spring concert is almost here. Come out and see the hot band Switchfoot, with special guest Reeve Oliver April 17 at the Civic Arena. Doors will open at 7 p.m. and the concert starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are on sale now. Cost is $20 for the general public and $10 for faculty and staff. All Western students receive free tickets with their student ID. Student tickets are available for pick up in the center for student engagement, Blum 207. For everyone else tickets can be purchased at Record Wearhouse, the Civic Arena or www.TicketMaster.com. Apply now for the Barbara Sprong Leadership Challenge - Deadline March 27 The purpose of the Barbara Sprong Leadership Challenge is to provide Western students with an opportunity to acquire and enhance leadership skills so that they may assume leadership roles while in college and after graduation. All full-time students who have at least a 2.5 cumulative grade point average are eligible to apply for the leadership challenge. Students who complete the program without absences will receive one hour of credit (Motivation and Leadership; CED 121). The program is designed to accommodate 24 students. A letter of recommendation from a faculty or staff member must accompany the application form. The letter should address the nominee's leadership potential and academic ability. Participants must agree to attend the weekend retreat and all sessions of the program. The overnight retreat dates are Sep. 21 and 22. Participants are required to submit a brief (200 to 300 word - 1 page double-spaced) essay on an individual they know or admire, describing the leadership qualities demonstrated by that person and how these qualities contributed to his/her success. Participation in the Big Event on Oct. 6 is also a part of the class program. Six sessions will be held from 4-5:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Sep. 25-Oct. 11. The program concludes with a Barbara Sprong Leadership Challenge recognition event on Oct. 11. The deadline to apply for the leadership challenge has been extended to March 27. Applications are available in the center for student engagement, Blum 207. |
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Monday, March 12
Wednesday, March 14
Thursday, March 15
Friday, March 16
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For Sale: Silver snare drum with stand; Ambassador/Continental; Remo weather king; $50. If interested, please email judnol or call 4554 or 390-6184. |
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Wanted: Your want ads! You
are welcome to submit ads to the Western ADvantage each week.
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