Week of October 10 - 16, 2005

Welcome to the Tower Topics E-newsletter for faculty, staff and students at Western. 

Missouri Western State College, 4525 Downs Drive, St. Joseph, MO 64507, 271-4200

Click any link for these stories:

J.C. Watts Speaks at Convocation

Hastings Collects More than $1,700 for Literacy

Banquet to Honor Alumni and Faculty Member

News Briefs

Calendar

Ads

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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:
Katie Johnston 

Staff Advisers:
Kristy Hill and Diane Holtz

J.C. Watts Speaks at Convocation

“We can’t keep doing things the same old way.” That was the recurring theme of JC Watts’ presentation, “In-Depth Political Analysis,” at Western’s 12^th annual Convocation on Critical Issues Oct. 6. Weaving in lessons learned from his parents, his church and his experiences as a football quarterback and a former Congressman, he spoke about issues facing our government today and how we need to address them.

Watts, now the chair of JC Watts Companies, believes that many of our country’s problems, such as poverty, the high cost of health care, and the Social Security system will not be fixed until we can come up with new models. “We’ve had critical issues facing us for the last 25 years and the problem is we’re trying to deal with the issues the same old ways. Do you know who is going to pay the price for all these bad models?”

At that point in his talk, Watts asked the middle school, high school and college students in the audience to raise their hands. “That’s who’s going to pay. With the current system, you won’t get a dime out of Social Security unless things change,” he told the several hundred students.   

Watts believes competition would be a great thing for the government. He noted how Western has to continually improve and pursue best practices because students have a choice of where to go to college. “But if you’re not happy with Social Security, where can you go?”

The former youth pastor and associate pastor promoted his ideal of faith-based initiatives, where churches could receive federal funding to support their work in fighting poverty. “If it hadn’t been for our church, I might have graduated from a correctional facility rather than a public university,” Watts said. “They just want to do what their faith encourages them to do – feed the hungry, house the homeless and clothe the naked.” 

Watts also spoke at the Convocation dinner Wednesday evening and had breakfast Thursday morning with approximately 20 student leaders on campus. At the breakfast, he challenged the students not to follow the group mentality, but rather think for themselves. “I’ve been careful not to give up my independence for any group. I have a full-fledged right to say I am an individual.”  

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Hastings Collects More than $1,700 for Literacy

Donations for a cup of coffee, spare change here and there, and a corporation’s generosity has added up to a sizeable donation to support literacy in our community. Hastings Entertainment, Inc. recently presented a check for $1,756 to Pass the Power, the local adult literacy program administered by the Western Institute at Missouri Western State University.

Since the Hastings store opened in St. Joseph 10 years ago, it has collected funds for Pass the Power by setting out donation cans at the cash register and at the store’s coffee bar. A check is presented to Pass the Power each year. This year’s donation also included a direct corporate contribution.

“Hastings maintains an active involvement in the fight against illiteracy,” said Store Manager Jake Monson. “We believe that by fostering local efforts to combat illiteracy through collecting donations and making direct contributions, we can help make a difference in every community we serve.”

Pass the Power was established in 1989 to serve adults who want to improve their reading, writing, spelling and math skills. Community volunteers are trained as tutors to work one-on-one or in small groups with individuals age 17 and over. There is no cost to program participants and all services are confidential. Pass the Power is privately funded through the Missouri Western State University Foundation, community donations and local grants. 

“Hastings has maintained a strong commitment to literacy, and our community benefits in so many ways from their efforts,” said Pass the Power Director Deborah Ellsworth. “Local support is crucial to giving more people the opportunity to achieve their full potential.”

For more information, contact Ellsworth at 816-671-4025.

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Banquet to Honor Western Alumni and Faculty Member

Missouri Western State University’s Alumni Association will honor five alumni and one faculty member with Distinguished Service Awards at their 23^rd annual Homecoming awards banquet Oct. 21.

A reception will begin at 5:30 p.m., followed by the 6:30 p.m. banquet. The events will be held in the Fulkerson Center on campus. Cost is $20 per person. To make reservations, call 816-271-5646 by Oct. 14. Alumni Association scholarship recipients will also honored at the banquet.

Recipients of the 2005 Distinguished Alumni awards include: Col. Stephen Cotter, ’78, Dr. Robert Couldry, ’71, Esther George, ’80, Tegwin Pulley, ’63, and Melody Smith, ’87. The 2005 Distinguished Faculty awardee is Sharon Gray, associate professor of music and director of vocal studies.

Criteria for the Distinguished Alumnus Award include professional achievement and distinction; service to the community, state or nation; humanitarian contribution to society in general; and possession of those qualities that elicit pride from others who attended the same educational institution. Only living alumni are eligible.

The Distinguished Faculty Award is intended to honor the faculty member who has had the greatest and longest-lasting influence on students. Criteria include teaching excellence, availability to students, professional accomplishments and potential, lasting influence on students, and professional and ethical standards.

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• Cici's Pizza is having a competition night for all of the Greek organizations on campus, their members, and friends on Oct. 10. The fraternity or sorority who brings the most people will receive a free take-out pizza party for any day they choose. Each group that brings 50 or more people will receive 10% of whatever sales they brought in.

• Are you interested in working with youth ages 13-18 to help them explore and develop leadership capabilities in a summer camp environment? Camp Coca-Cola St. Louis will be on campus from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Oct. 13 on the first floor of Nelle Blum Union in front of the cafeteria.

• All students need to get their picture taken for the Griffon Yearbook on Oct. 10, 11, and 12. Pictures will be taken from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. in Nelle Blum Union, room 208. Seniors need to sign up at the yearbook office in Fred Eder Hall, room 220.

• If you are taking a class this semester which you know is a repeat from another institution, you must go to the Registrar's Office in Fred Eder Hall, room 102, and complete a "Repeat Course Notification" form. This will ensure that all of your transcript totals are accurate when you are first able to look up your final grades on Dec. 21. PLEASE NOTE: Courses taken at Western and repeated at Western need not be reported.

• You are invited to attend the Women in Science and Engineering presentation featuring Dr. Donna Shirley, former manager of the Mission to Mars program, that will be held at 3:30 p.m. Oct. 13 in the Fulkerson Center. A reception will follow.

• Apply to become the next student governor. Applications are available at http://www.missouriwestern.edu/studentgovernor/application.doc. Information meetings are scheduled on Oct. 11 and 18 at 5 p.m. in the Nelle Blum Union, Junior College Room. The deadline to apply is 5 p.m. Oct. 19. For more information, contact Bob Hughs at studentgovernor@missouriwestern.edu.

• The 7th annual Tau Kappa Epsilon "Running Past the Rivalry" football run raised $750 for the Alzheimer's Association.

• Western alumna and Walgreens employee Jennifer Snook will be on campus from 9-9:50 a.m. Oct. 17 in the Nelle Blum Union, room 218, to speak with students about what it is like to work in the paralegal field for a large corporation with stores in 47 states. For more information, contact David Tushaus at 5627.

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Monday, October 10

• The Laramie Project movie showing and discussion - 7 p.m. Leah Spratt Hall, room 101

• Awareness Week Activity, The Drinking Game - 7 p.m. Commons Building, large conference room

Tuesday, October 11

• Brown Bag Drag Show - 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. outside the West doors of Nelle Blum Union

• Tournament of Champions high school band competition - 2 p.m. Spratt Memorial Stadium

• Awareness Week Activity, Anger Management - 8 p.m. Commons Building, large conference room

Wednesday, October 12

• Missouri Court of Appeals-Western District - 9 a.m.-12 p.m. Leah Spratt Hall, Kemper Recital Hall

• Northwest Missouri State University hosting comedian Margaret Cho - 8 p.m. Performing Arts Center, $25 admission

• Awareness Week Activity, Food for Thought - 7 p.m. Commons Building, large conference room

• Computer Science, Math and Physics Colloquium, internship panel discussion - 4 p.m. Agenstein Hall, room 104

Thursday, October 13

• Women in Science and Engineering with speaker Donna Shirley - 3:30 p.m. in the Fulkerson Center

• SHO-ME Western's PRIDE Day: Wear jeans and a t-shirt

• Awareness Week Activity, Butt Kicking Class - 7 p.m. Commons Building, large conference room

Friday, October 14

• Mid-term break - no classes

• Western Volleyball vs. Central Missouri State

Saturday, October 15

Sunday, October 16

• St. Joseph Community Chorus Concert - 3 p.m. Missouri Theatre

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• For Sale:  Beautiful Dark Blue set of ENCYCLOPEDIA  BRITANNICA 15th edition and THE ANNALS OF AMERICA-A chronicle of a nation’s  history from 1493 through 1986.  $100 leave message at 667-9108.

• For Sale:  Four Chiefs tickets for the Oct. 16 game. $59 face value per ticket. Call Stephanie at 816-244-9589 or 816-279-9727.
   

• Remember to send us your ads! Send your submissions to publicrelations@missouriwestern.edu 

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