Dave Hon | Editor-in-chiefdhon1@missouriwestern.edu

On April 18, the Student Government Association will be acting under a new constitution, which was passed by the students on a two-thirds vote earlier this month.

Current SGA President Dillon Harp said that the most significant change to the constitution is the addition of a Student Bill of Rights.

“Essentially what the Bill of Rights is going to do is hopefully illustrate to the students that stu-dent government will be there to help with any problems they might have here on campus, be it in the academic realm or if they are having problems with their meal plans,” Harp said. “If they feel their services are being unjustly done to them, they can come to us.”

The Student Bill of Right lists 10 rights that Harp hopes students takes into consideration.

SGA President-Elect Alison Norris believes that the Student Bill of Rights is a good way for students to see what SGA stands for and what rights the students have.

“It’s good to have that on there because they know that this is what we represent and how we represent them,” Norris said.

Norris also said that during her term, SGA will have a grievance form for students to fill out if they feel any of these rights are being violated.

“Whether or not it can be changed or not, we can go back to the student and say, ‘This is why this is like this,’ or ‘This is how we can change it,’” Norris said.

Another change made to the constitution is the separation of Residence Council from SGA. Residence Council will now be its own organization called Residence Hall Association. On April 18, RHA will have to seek recognition from SGA as a current student organization. This also means SGA will no longer be funding RC or the new RHA.

Acting Director of Residential

Life Sean O’Reilly said RHA will receive its funding from students living in the halls.

“Based upon the number of stu-dents who live in the hall, part of everybody’s housing cost will be provided for RA programming, hall improvements and now RHA funding,” O’Reilly said.

Currently RC receives $31,408 from SGA, most of which goes towards activity funding. Residence Hall Director Marqita Jones, who will advise RHA along with RHD Dany Thompson, said that RHA will take on a governance body more than it has before.

“Any polices [in the residence halls] that students disagree with, they can get together and write a proposal and give it to RHA and try and get some of those polices changed,” Jones said.

O’Reilly also added that RHA will give residential life more oppor-tunities to foster leadership and give students more opportunities to become leaders.

As for SGA’s previously appro-priated funds for RC, Norris and Executive Vice President-Elect Jacob Scott are currently looking into special projects that the money might be used for.

NON-PROFIT ORG.U.S. POSTAGE

PA I DPERMIT NO. 32St. JOSEPH, MO

GRIFFonMISSOURI WESTERN STATE UNIVERSITYthe

griffonnews.comnews

vol 93 | Issue 20 March 31, 2011

See WAC page 3

See SGA page 3

See Tuition page 3

Todd Fuller | News Editorpfuller@missouriwestern.edu

From position changes to can-celled concerts, Missouri Western’s WAC has been busy for the last month.

The new and current SGA Executive Vice President for WAC Brittany Taylor hit the ground run-ning, dealing with scheduling a

replacement for Keri Hilson when the performer backed out of her scheduled perfor-mance at Civic Arena here in St. Joseph.

According to Don Willis, assis-

tant dean of student services, when Hilson backed out, offers were made to several artists, which were not accepted for a variety of rea-sons.

“Keri withdrew from our con-cert to participate in a tour being planned at that time in Australia,” Willis said.

When Hilson backed out...

Brent Ault | Staffbrentault@gmail.com

On Wednesday, April 6 at the St. Joseph Civic Arena, rapper J.Cole will be performing for the students of Missouri Western State University.

Off stage, J.Cole goes by Jermaine Cole and was born in Frankfurt, Germany. Prior to the age of one, he moved to North Carolina where his mother raised him from then on.

Cole was the first rapper signed to Jay-Z’s label of Roc Nation. He has been in the business since 2007 when he graduated college magna cum laude. Cole is best known for his work with Jay-Z on his album “The Blueprint 3” and his first two mix tapes “The Come Up” and “The Warm Up”.

Cole is not a mainstream rapper as of yet. Many of his mixed tapes have went unheard by the public, but are quickly catching on.

Thomas Huitt-Johnson | Staffthuittjohnson@missouriwestern.edu

A nine-and-a-half percent tuition increase and three percent room and board increase was unani-mously approved last Wednesday at the monthly Board of Governors meeting. The next step: state com-mission must approve.

The eight board members and President Vartabedian commenced the session last week to hear the request made by Mel Klinkner and Esther Peralez. The board was not completely sold at first for the tuition increase, as they had a few questions about revenue.

One board member asked “Why can’t the increase in revenue from the new Spring Sports Complex as well as higher increase (20 percent) in students bring in more money?”

Klinkner, vice president of finan-cial planning and administration, delivered his answer in complete confidence with Vartabedian back-ing him up.

“It helps,” Klinkner said. “The part that it doesn’t help is the state appropriation. The 18 percent growth didn’t get us any money.”

Based off of state appropriation,

How Your Tuition Will Increase

Credit Hours Increase Total

1 $17.61 $202.96

6 $105.66 $1,217.76

12 $211.32 $2,435.52

15 $264.15 $3,044.40

17 $299.37 $3,450.32

Hilson cancelsJ.Cole headlines Spring Concert

WAC adjusts to the unexpected

Board unanimously approves 9.5 percent petition increase

SGA operating under new ConstitutionNew Constitution changes include Student Bill of Rights

See Concert page 5

J. Neil Lawley, an assistant professor with the art department at Missouri Western State University, flying karate kicks his way into the swimming pool in the Looney Complex here March 25. The personal flotation device, designed by Ruth Northrup, a student in his Three-Dimensional Design course, illicited laughter from the class for its similarity to a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. The students made the PFDs out of found or recycled materials such as soda bottles and Styrofoam. Students were required to consider both function and the aesthetics of their flotation devices and received 2 weeks to complete their designs.

Aus

tin G

oach

er |

Staf

f

3D class dives in

Redbox Review of It’s Kind of a Funny Story

Page 5Page 2

NEWS LIFESTYLESSPORTS

Kick Butts Dodgeball coverage

NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament coverage

Page 7

Bro

oke

Car

ter |

Pho

to &

Gra

phic

s Ed

itor

01.indd 1 3/29/11 7:29 PM

NewsMarch 31, 2011

The Griffon News

Page 2

Jennifer Griffin | Staffjhinshaw@missouriwestern.edu

Missouri Western’s community outreach program Murals for Minds, sponsored by the Student Government Association and the Griffon Art Society, will be held at Humboldt Elementary School April 2. Registration is from 9-10 a.m. All volun-teers are welcome.

The Murals for Minds paint murals on walls of schools throughout the St. Joseph community.

“We are helping train future leaders of St. Joseph and showing them the impor-tance of giving back,” SGA Director of Communication Alison Norris said.

The selection process was done differ-ently this year. Humboldt Elementary School was chosen by the SGA because of its need, the school’s enthusiasm and its rich history. SGA Administrative Coordinator Kathy Kelly told Humboldt Elementary School the news.

“I have never felt more welcome,” Kelly said. “I felt like we were walking in to hand them a check for the lottery, because they were so excited that we had chosen

their school.” SGA is working with Humboldt’s stu-

dent council, which is actively involved in the project. Joanna Miranda is one of the 24 student council members at Humboldt, and she is excited about help-ing with Murals for Minds.

“I think is a really good opportunity, and it’s really good for us to communicate with students from other schools and col-lege students,” Miranda said.

Norris has been a part of Murals for Minds since it started last year.

“We are turning it into a tradition not only because it is giving back, but a lot of people are enjoying getting involved,” Norris said. “The community and Missouri Western are working together on a project.

When Humboldt Principal Jeremy Burright was approached about the idea of Murals for Minds, he sent the idea to the student council and let them decide if they wanted the opportunity.

“They are excited. It’s going to be so cool,” Burright said. “They are totally pumped about it.”

The nine murals will be painted in the

stairway landings, the main entrance and around the kindergarten classrooms.

“The murals are colorful and are something for them to look at. It makes their school environment so much better,” Norris said.

Five of the murals will be the school’s slogans, which are to: have respect, act responsible, work together, keep safe and soar to success.

Humboldt Student Council Sponsor Robin Rother has been communicating the student council’s ideas to SGA.

“The kids came up with some say-ing they thought would be cool to have painted in the school,” Rother said.

To take part in this event you must send a waiver, and if you are a child, an adult must accompany you. Waivers will be available the morning of April 2nd. All participants must be registered by 10 a.m. SGA is providing free t-shirts to the first 200 volunteers. There will also be morning snacks and pizza for lunch. Any of the snacks left over will be donated to Humboldt’s Backpack Buddy program.

Western gives back to community through mural project

Jesse Bilderback | Staffjbilderback@missouriwestern.edu

For the fourth consecutive year, Clean Air St. Joseph faction Smokebusters held their annual “Kick Butts Day” dodgeball tour-nament at Missouri Western’s Looney Complex last Wednesday.

The mission of the dodgeball tournament was to raise awareness of the dangers of smoking tobacco. More than 220 middle and high school students participated in the tournament.

Jamie Baker, community policy specialist, helped organize and pro-mote the event. Baker said the organization put out flyers, sent registration forms to schools, used Facebook and took out ads on the radio to publicize the tournament.

“We want the youth to be aware of dangers of tobacco and how tobacco companies are targeting them,” Baker said. “Eighty percent of smokers start before the age of 18, which is the main reason why we focus on the middle and high school students.”

More than 600 people came out to show their support for the tour-nament and its purpose. Savannah High School senior Cody Wilson was among those in attendance for the tournament.

“A lot of kids at our school smoke cigarettes, and most of them are probably not even old enough,” Wilson said. “I think smoking is a gross habit.”

Students from Western’s Law

Enforcement Academy volunteered their time to help out during the tournament. There were several of them signing kids in and passing out t-shirts. Matt Eiman was one of the law enforcement students volunteering, and he said he was glad to help out.

“I like serving the community,” Eiman said. “A good police officer is always willing to serve when needed.”

Dodgeball wasn’t the only activ-ity available for those attending the event. There was also a very large inflatable obstacle course on hand, and some of the guest

speakers were asking tobacco-influ-enced trivia questions to students in exchange for prizes.

Phi Epsilon Kappa was running the concession stand at the event in order to raise some money for their upcoming Lift-A-Thon in April.

Kellie Alexander, PEK vice presi-dent, was helping run the conces-sion stand. Alexander said that all proceeds would go directly to their fraternity.

“I hope we can raise about $500,” Alexander said. “That seems like a pretty reasonable goal, that I hope we can achieve tonight.”

Bro

oke

Car

ter |

Pho

to &

Gra

phic

s Ed

itor

Bro

oke

Car

ter |

Pho

to &

Gra

phic

s Ed

itor

Bro

oke

Car

ter |

Pho

to &

Gra

phic

s Ed

itor

A member from one of the dodgeball teams attempts to knock out a member of her competition. Many teams had fun dressing up in fun outfits last Wednesday for the “Kick Butts Day” dodgeball tournament.

A team lines up against the wall in anticipation of the start of the game.

A high school student and a banana show their stance against smoking to-bacco by bullying this life-size cigarette in front of the crowd last Wednesday.

Clean Air St. Joseph helps kids dodge smoking

Mural for Minds is a community outreach project between SGA and the Griffon Art Society. Humboldt is the second school awarded a mural project.

02.indd 1 3/29/11 7:26 PM

Page 3

News March 31, 2011The Griffon News

NEWSNOTES

Creative writing faculty and stu-dents at Missouri Western State University invite area writers and readers to celebrate original creative works at a New Lit Out Loud open mic reading at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 31 at the Whiskey Mansion Bed and Breakfast, 1723 Francis. Admission is free. Food and bever-ages will be available for purchase.

Participants are invited to share their original poetry, prose or per-formance pieces. This months reading kicks off National Poetry Month, which begins April 1.

For more information, contact Dr. William Church, assistant pro-fessor of English, at 816-271-5966 or church@missouriwestern.edu.

Creativity encourged through open mic night

The lighting system at the new Spring Sports Complex at Missouri Western State University has been installed, and will undergo a period of testing and initial burn-in. This period will require the lights to be left on overnight Monday, March 28.

‘’We were just notified today [Monday] of the need for this burn-in period,’’ said Dave Williams, director of athletics. Williams was apologetic of any inconvenience this may cause.

The Spring Sports Complex will be formally dedicated at 4 p.m. April 13.

Burn-in needed prior to Sports Complex use

Campus Information

Calendar of EventsCampus Crime Reports

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

stories@thegriffonnews.com

Friday, April 1• Baseball v Northwest

Missouri State University, Griffon Spring Sports Complex, 4 p.m.

Saturday, April 2• Baseball v Northwest

Missouri State University, Griffon Spring Sports Complex, 1 p.m.

• Baseball v Northwest Missouri State University, Griffon Spring Sports Complex, 3 p.m.

Sunday, April 3• Baseball v Northwest

Missouri State University,

Griffon Spring Sports Complex, 12:30 p.m.

Monday, April 4• Softball v Southwest Baptist

University, Griffon Spring Sports Complex, 2:00 p.m.

• Softball v Southwest Baptist University, Griffon Spring Sports Complex, 4:00 p.m.

Monday, April 5• Baseball v Emporia State

University, Griffon Spring Sports Complex, 4:00 p.m.

• Baseball v Emporia State University, Griffon Spring Sports Complex, 6:00 p.m.

2

1. PropertyDamage 9:23a.m.,Friday,March18,Beshears2. SexualAssault 10:30p.m.,Wednedsday,March9,Vaselakos3. DrugPossession 10:23p.m.,Monday,March21,Beshears4. Stealing 11:18a.m.,Wednesday,March23,SpringSports

Missouri Western State University will host a legal semi-nar on the rights of lesbian, gay and other unmarried couples from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 29 in Agenstein Hall room 124. The seminar is free and open to the public.

‘’Without marriage, numerous problems exist for same sex and other unmarried couples,’’ said David Tushaus, chair of Western’s department of criminal justice and legal studies. ‘’This seminar will address those issues and offer ideas for protecting those rights through other legal means.’’

Topics to be covered include medical information and decision-making, financial information and decision-making, the death of one partner and ‘’divorce’’ what hap-pens to children, assets, debts and support when an unmarried couple breaks up.

The seminar will be presented by Kay Madden, partner in a Kansas City law firm. Madden is a family-law attorney, specializing in assist-ing those in gay and lesbian rela-tionships.

Western hosts seminar for unmarried couples

1

3

4

many other states give universi-ties more money for having more students. Missouri is not one of those states. Only two universi-ties get less money than Missouri Western, yet Western has increased students almost every year since 1999. The total since then has grown over 1,000 students.

“The last six states I worked with, it does that,” Vartabedian said. “We’re certainly hoping that will be reconsidered and acted upon, but there is no guarantee that will change. We can’t just sit back and wait for that to happen.”

Klinkner mentioned the last two years there has not been an increase when there should have been. Now they have to do something as the cut made by Gov. Nixon was just too much to handle.

So what does this mean for the students?

They will pay $17.61 per credit hour more if you live off campus, which is roughly $203 more start-ing in the 2011-12 school year. If you live on campus, look to pay $32.21 per credit hour, which is $370 more. This is all based off a 15 credit hour semester.

The way that the university cal-culates this tuition increase is by using the formula provided by the Missouri Department of Higher Education. It has to be calculated this way because that is what the state recognizes as Western’s aver-age tuition. The MDHE recog-nizes Western as having a total cost of $5,560.40 based on 30 credit hours, for a total cost of $185.35 per credit hour, which is how they arrived at the increase. The com-missioner’s office views the request as a 6.33 percent increase, because they recognize Western’s tuition as including the uncollected consumer price increase the Board approved last year. Dan Danford, one of the members, said he and the rest of the members are all in agreement that this has to be done in order to keep this university as best as possible.

“We have gone out on a limb tonight,” Danford said. “People in the state will be upset with us. But understand the time we needed to increase tuition (state dollars) were frozen.”

With the approval, the tuition increase allowed by the governors is

more than what the state law allows, therefore, a fine can be handed out which could be $20 million dollars. If that happens, Western will be able to appeal that decision.

Mandatory costs are growing—as well as cuts by the governor—but that is not the only reason for rais-ing the tuition. The members want-ed to make sure that everybody remembered the students in this situation. Vartabedian said he has spoken to student leaders, and they have agreed paying a little extra for a quality product is the right decision. Chairman Kylee Strough agreed.

“The quality of product is still intact,” Strough said. “I don’t think that can remain true if we don’t take action.”

Gov. Nixon has suggested cuts of seven percent for 2011-12 school year. Dan Nicoson, vice president for advancement, wrote in a guest column to the St. Joseph News-Press the reasoning behind the tuition increase of such magnitude.

“One key reason Western is espe-cially hurt by a state budget cut is growth,” Nicoson wrote. “Our enrollment has risen 18 percent

over the last three years, the state’s highest growth rate among public universities. But in Missouri, the appropriation process does not con-sider enrollment, leaving Western the lowest per-student appropria-tion in the state.”

With all the members agreeing, the decision will now move on to the commissioner of the Missouri Department of Higher Education to approve.

The other item on the agenda for the meeting was the increase in cost of living. Three percent increase will mean $59 more dollars to live in a double room in Scanlon, $79 more dollars to live in a single room in Scanlon and $67 more to live in the apartments. With the motion passed, Peralez, vice president of student affairs, said on April 1st stu-dents will be asked if they want to live in Griffon Hall, the new dorm room addition. She said students have already expressed interest in living there.

The Griffon Hall will cost $3,100 a semester.

Tuition continued from front: Craig School of Business preparing to award another franchise

“We’re considering the prospect of University’s President ...

Dr. Vartabedian to put forth a vision to the student government of possibly helping fund the construc-tion of an amphitheater,” Scott said.

Scott said that an amphitheater would help community outreach as well as strengthening the com-munity on campus.

Norris said that as president, she would like to find out what the stu-dents want the money to be used for before deciding on what the extra funds will go towards.

The first day of Norris’s admin-istration, she plans to address the 2011-2012 budget at the April 18 meeting. Norris said that all stu-

dents are invited to give their input.“I’d love for lots of feedback,”

Norris said. “I think we’ve come up with a good plan for the budget but different perspectives on it are always great.”

Harp believes that with these recent changes to the constitution have solved a lot of issues with “one final swing of the bat.”

Norris said that all the changes made were well though out and that it will be a few years before SGA proposes changes again, but there’s no guarantee.

“It all depends on who is in the position,” Norris said. “There’s a big possibility that it might not be changed for a while, but you know our track record. So, we’ll see.”

Taylor said the major concern WAC had was keeping the com-mitment to the students of provid-ing them with a spring concert, so they went back to the drawing board. Using the list of available artists within Western’s price range several offers were made according to Taylor including J. Cole and Jeremiah.

Taylor said that she and the mem-bers of her eboard went through so many artists she couldn’t remem-ber many of the names, but was really glad J. Cole and Jeremih were both available.

With regard to having to resched-ule a concert that had already been planned Taylor praised her eboard for the help they gave in finding a replacement.

“I have a fantastic eboard, they helped out, and they helped me to get ideas of who a different art-ist could be,” Taylor said. “Kathy Kelly helped us out a great deal, I really wasn’t too stressed about it, because I had such great help from Kathy and my eboard.

After J. Cole and Jeremih were announced as the replacements Taylor said the reaction has been great.

“A lot of students even said that they pretty happy he was coming over Keri Hilson,” Taylor said.

J. Cole and Jeremih were named as the replacement act for the spring concert within a week of Hilson cancelling showing exactly how quick WAC acted to schedule a replacement.

SGA continued from front: Students pass constitution changes

WAC continued from front: WAC moves on in wake of change

Gautam S. Kumar | UwireHarvard University

A district court in New York re-cently ruled against Google’s pro-posal to digitize every book ever published, halting a project for which 850,000 of Harvard’s books have already been scanned and challenging the tech giant’s plans to tap into a larger portion of Har-vard’s 17 million volumes.

Instead, the University now plans to continue to develop a plan for the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA), a vast collection of online volumes that will represent a col-laboration between Harvard and many other public and private li-braries.

Harvard agreed in 2005 to let Google scan nearly a million books in Harvard’s collections that had already entered the public domain. Harvard was one of four academic institutions initially approached, along with Stanford, the University of California colleges, and the Uni-versity of Michigan.

But in October 2008, when Google returned to the University with a plan to expand the pool of preserved books to include texts un-der copyright protection, adminis-trators rejected the proposal, citing the legal risk involved in allowing Google to digitize the new volumes.

According to leaders in the Berk-man Center for Internet and Soci-ety, a research institute at Harvard Law School, Harvard administra-tors will continue to focus on the separate DPLA project, with the aim of attracting further capital this spring. The project has already

received backing from the Sloan Foundation.

But the initiative faces numerous challenges.

Harvard Law Professor John G. Palfrey ’94, a co-director of the Berkman Center, noted that the project is “incredibly complex,” re-quiring page-by-page scanning of every volume.

“At this point, I couldn’t even give you an accurate guesstimate of when this project is going to be completed,” Palfrey said.

The project will seek to create a free and accessible online library, allowing for the broader dissemina-tion of written materials to the pub-lic. The Library of Congress, the National Archives, and the Smith-sonian Institution have already be-gan collaborating on the initiative.

“This is a very, very ambitious project,” University Professor and Director of the Library Robert C. Darnton ’60 said.

“[Google] has scanned about 15 million books; two million of that total are in the public domain and could be turned over to the library as the foundation of its collection,” Darnton wrote. “The company would lose nothing by this generos-ity, and might win admiration for its good deed.”

Google’s latest legal setback comes after the company settled for $125 million with several publish-ing houses and the Authors Guild, which had sued for “massive” copy-right infringement in 2008.

Courts reject Google Books

03.indd 1 3/29/11 7:26 PM

Page 4

opinionsMarch 31, 2011The Griffon News

The Griffon News is written and published by students of Missouri Western State University dur-ing the fall and spring semesters. The first copy of each issue is free; additional copies are 50 cents. Content of this paper is developed independently of the faculty 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.

Design EditorPhoto and Graphics Editor

News EditorLifestyles Editor Opinion Editor

Sports EditorWeb Editor

Copy Editor Copy EditorAd Manager

Faculty Adviser

Dave HonEditor-in-Chief

Charlene DivinoBrooke CarterTodd FullerCaitlin Cress Eboni LaceyMatt GleavesLuke MasonLauren BurbachBlair Stalder Ryan ScrogginsBob Bergland

The Griffon News Staff

Editorial

Students encouraged to stay on top of academics:keep going until victory is achieved

What was your reaction to your mid-term grades?

Campus

Voice

SUCCESSFAILURE

Before throw-ing away the old notes and getting too excited about the upcom-ing summer

vacation, students should focus on improving their mid-term grades and making this semester end on the best note possible.

Though the truth is that we only have four and a half weeks until finals, it’s important for stu-dents to not slack off at this time. Fooling around with exams and assignments might have worked in high school, but historians did not term the word “college” for no rea-son; as the Rome originated word stemmed from collegium, which is defined as an educated group of colleagues consistently working together under a common set of rules. Even the ancient Romans knew college wasn’t for slackers.

April 1 marks the final day to withdraw from courses and April 4 marks the first day of fall registra-tion. These dates make the best performance at the end of the semester extremely vital. No one wants to deal with the stress of failing a course at the end of the semester and having to e-mail an advisor to look up a pin to re-adjust a schedule just to take the course again.

Since students have the option to withdraw from courses before pos-

sibly failing and ultimately lowering their GPA, they should take advan-tage of this opportunity.

However, let’s be honest- accept-ing the fact that a class is going to hinder more than hurt is a sad thing for a student to understand. Yet, it’s better to accept this fact than allow one course to affect an entire col-lege performance. One D or one F can easily turn a 3.0 GPA to a 2.0 or below, which is not worth the studying, class attendance and hard

work that a student has put toward his or her grades.

Not everyone can say they have been to college, so students should feel confident just for the simple fact that they are here at Western in the first place. Now, it’s students’ soul responsibilities to do the best they can while being here in school.

Doing the best they can means using every opportunity they have to be a successful college student. It means taking all measures, even if

it includes getting tutoring, having private meetings with teachers and asking for extra credit.

At this time in the semester, the question students should ask them-selves is whether they are giving 100 percent and truly doing the best they can do. If the answer is yes, then students should pat them-selves on the back and keep up the good work for the remaining few weeks of school. Yet if the answer is no, then its time to buckle down,

focus and improve those grades. The mid-term mark is just a

check point in this imaginary race towards success. Yet, if you’re bare-ly making it while just jogging in the back in the line, then you will never be the winner.

The key is using this time to catch up and regain your strength in the race. This way when you win, it will be your turn to hold up that huge golden trophy, which is called a degree.

Each semester, students run an imaginary race toward their degrees. As this point in this semester, it’s important to improve your performance and not slack off. Don’t be a slacker. Make those grades the best they can before it is too late.

As recently reported by The Grif-fon News, the smoke free campus policy failed to get enough votes to pass. Good. They reported that the senator pushing SGA for the smoking ban was going to continue to push the legislation through. I heard some students were whin-ing because it won the majority of the vote but not the two-thirds vote that SGA required for this to pass. Let me try to explain why the two-thirds vote is important.

The reason it should take a two-thirds vote is because this legisla-tion would remove a privilege (no-tice that I did not say it was a right) that some students enjoy. It should require that type of majority to remove anyone’s privileges. Don’t believe those statistics that non-smokers push about second hand smoke. If you do a little research,

you will find that the information comes from studies in a laboratory.

They are not conclusions based on individuals, just machines that smoked cigarettes backwards with-out the filter, and guess what? Those fumes are toxic. It’s the same as the smoke from almost anything that burns. Usually animals in a brush fire and people in a house fire die of smoke inhalation long before their bodies burn.

And don’t think for a minute that the SGA or administration is concerned about your health. If they were they would be more concerned about the number one health problem on campus. What’s that? Sexually transmitted diseases. If you think I’m wrong, just ask the Esry Student Health Services workers. Ask them if you are more likely to die with a sexually trans-

mitted disease from sexual expo-sure on campus or dying of second hand smoke exposure on campus.

If smokers would obey the rules and administration would enforce the rules, then there would be no second hand smoke exposure to anyone but smokers.

I wonder how far students would go to ban sex on campus. Sex is a choice and a God-given privilege. I’ll bet that two-thirds vote seems right to everyone about now. En-forcement may be tough, though. It is the same with smoking or any-thing you like to do. I prefer food that is bad for me, soda over water and my recliner to my treadmill. Some choices I make are bad for me. It is my privilege to make that choice. Students can still buy food that is bad for them, purchase soda in every hallway, and there are far more chairs and couches on cam-pus than exercise equipment.

What really bugs me is that the

losers in this case claim that they will try again until it passes. That isn’t right. Why can’t SGA sim-ply tell administration and them-selves that they tried and there just weren’t enough votes to change the policy? For some reason govern-ment today on all levels uses this type of one-sided tactics.

If a school tax levy doesn’t pass, they simply put it back on the bal-lot and spend more tax dollars campaigning for it until it passes. It is sort of expected that the smoke-banning people will continue to try to get this thing passed but after it passes, there will be no more vot-ing. The opposition to the smoking ban doesn’t get a second chance. The thing will just become law if it passes. Why can’t the NO vote be final?

Ellis Cross | Staff

Student wants tobacco policy to remain a “no”

Karin SchmitJunior

“I was excited because they were all A’s; better than what I expected.”

Shayla BunyahSophomore

“I was content, but thought they could have been better.”

Vondale AndersonFreshman

“I was like ‘whoa,’ because they were good.”

“I was proud of myself because I got all A’s.”

John HansenFreshman

B

RO

OK

E C

AR

TER

/ Pho

to a

nd G

raph

ics

Edito

r

04.indd 1 3/29/11 7:27 PM

Page 5

Lifestyles March 31, 2011The Griffon News

ww

w.im

db.c

om

Caitlin Cress | Lifestyles Editorccress1@missouriwestern.edu

Audiences who only know Zach Galifianakis from ”The Hangover” should expand their horizons and give “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” a chance. Galifianakis and the rest of the cast shine in this underappreci-ated film.

The movie takes place over five days on the adult psychiat-ric floor of a hospital in New York City. Craig (Keir Gilchrist, known from “United States of Tara”) checks himself into the ward after having suicidal thoughts and immediately regrets the decision, but must wait the required five days before he can be released. During these five days, he meets an amaz-ing and varied group of people, includ-ing Galifianakis’ Bobby, a Hasidic Jew addled by too much acid and a woman driven out of her mind by the possibility that her phone may have been tapped post-Patriot Act. A standout is Craig’s roommate, Muqtada (Bernard White), an

Egyptian man who is terrified to leave his bed. White is mute throughout much of the film, which only allows the audience to appreciate his wonderfully understated performance even more.

Lauren Graham (of “Gilmore Girls” fame) and comedian Jim Gaffigan make solid appear-ances as Craig’s parents. It is their influence, along with their young daughter’s, that prevents Craig from com-mitting suicide in the film’s opening scene. Graham is the concerned mother and Gaffigan is the workahol-

ic father; while this character formula-tion could have easily come off as con-trived, their son’s unique situation (which includes uncontrollable stress-induced vomiting) helps to keep the story fresh and interesting.

Craig is very convincingly acted by Gilchrist. His character’s continual anxi-ety is demonstrated by a consistent shaky, sweaty, pale appearance that fades as his condition betters. His voiceovers tell his story in wonderfully written asides, to which Gilchrist lends a compelling, hon-est air. Craig is a perpetual overachiever,

and Gilchrist shows this earnestness eas-ily. When Bobby is nervous for a group home admission interview, Craig offers to help him practice, as if the interview is the same as one for college admission. Craig genuinely wants to help Bobby, and Gilchrist’s execution of the scene prevents Craig from coming across as annoying. Craig never brags; he is smart, and only wishes to use this skill to help others.

The biggest standout in the film is Galifianakis. His range as an actor is beautifully demonstrated as a father sepa-rated from his daughter by his mental illness. Hilarious and heartbreaking at the same time, he is remarkably matter-of-fact, delivering many of his lines with the deadpan attitude that made him famous in films like “Hangover” and “Due Date.”

This reviewer would strongly recom-mend “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” to anyone: there are so many different sto-ries told throughout the film that anyone would be able to find something to relate to. The balance of comedy and drama in the screenplay is executed wonderfully by the talented cast.

Aly Rinehart | Staffarinehart@missouriwestern.edu

Missouri Western’s Griffon Art Society will be hosting their first annual art show from April 1 to May 3. Submitted pieces will be shown on Remington’s second floor, above Einstein Bros.’ Bagels from 6-9 p.m. The show is not restricted merely to Society members. Any Western student may create a piece and submit it, and all community members and students are welcome to attend the showing.

Behind the scenes of this event is junior Alexandra Dalsing. Dalsing is a print mak-

ing major who is also a member of the Art Society. The exhibition was her idea.

“If you volunteer to do something, they give it to you to do all by yourself,” Dalsing said.

Each entrant must pay a $5 fee; how-ever, they can enter up to three pieces with this payment.

“I wanted to do something to earn money so students can enter other exhibitions or buy art supplies,” Dalsing said.

Pieces will be judged and winners will be picked by three faculty members. Western’s president and provost will name the best in show. There are six different categories to be

judged: painting, drawing, digital media, 2D mixed media, sculpture and photography. The first place winners of each category will receive financial assistance.

Drawing and 2D design instructor Eric Fuson is also working with the society for this event. He is the Art Society’s faculty sponsor.

“We’re hoping to give the art students a chance to get some exposure,” Fuson said. “We want to get them out of Potter and into the community.”

Fuson commends Dalsing and all the other GAS members on their hard work toward making this event successful.

Art students are quickly finishing their

projects and preparing them for the show by the March 28 deadline. Digital animation major Sarah Gordon will be entering a piece she just recently decided to put in.

“It’s a great way for us to show off our artwork,” Gordon said. She thinks the show will be a good experience for students in their field.

Once the show ends, Dalsing would like to keep a few of the pieces on display in Remington. She wants the show, and art in general, to be something the whole commu-nity can enjoy.

“Hopefully it will expand to others, even non-art majors,” Dalsing said.

‘Funny Story’ reveals new side of comedian Galifianakis

Few students follow the rapper and producers career. Missouri Western senior, Corey White has followed him for some time now.

“I have listened to J. Cole for the last six or seven months. When I first heard of Cole and began to like his music, I downloaded some of his mix tapes and have been following him ever since then.”

Cole is known to have a different sound than most rappers in the business, but what really sets him apart seems to be the realism that comes with his performance. Ian Thompson a senior with the business finance department at Missouri Western loves the new sounds he is coming out with.

“What sets him apart from other rappers is that he isn’t about what everybody else talks about. He raps about every-day struggles that the average joe faces on the daily. I believe that is why I can relate to his music and enjoy it more.”

Cole has written his own lyrics since he was 15 years old. By the age of 17 he was able to post his personal songs on forums and other Internet sites. White thinks the personality of the rapper is just as important than the music itself.

“I think that he has unique sound to his music. I also am a fan of him trying to tell his story and, with him being a mili-tary kid growing up, its different than the normal ghetto rag to riches you see a lot these days in the music business; also it shows that he has a lot of heart and dedication when you sit outside of Rockafella Records in the pouring rain for several hours just so that he could give his CD to Jay-Z personally, which worked out great for him because he got signed soon after.”

With tickets being given away for the performance to Missouri Western students, Don Willis the assistant dean of student services noticed the tickets are not being picked up

as quickly as usual, but thinks it will not affect the turnout of the concert.

“The free tickets that are going out are a little bit slower than what we have had in the past, but there still seems to be a lot of interest by the students from what the number of tickets going out show,” Willis said.

Some students have not heard of the rapper but still plan to attend the performance. The tickets are free, and it is a great event for students to take advantage of. Senior Tara Finley thinks it will be a good time, even if she doesn’t know the music that well.

“I have really never heard of him or his music. I plan to go to the concert and check it out anyways. People are saying his stuff isn’t too bad. I think I will listen to some of it before I go, but either way it will be a good time.”

Griffon Art Society celebrates student talent

J.Cole continued from front: Students excited to hear more from little-known rapper

Meet J.Cole’s opening act, Jeremih• Known for his singles “Down on Me,” feat. 50 Cent and

“Birthday Sex.” • Performed on soap opera “One Life to Live” with Lionel

Richie. • Attended Columbia College Chicago. Dropped out to work

on music career.• Signed to Def Jam Recordings the day he met chairman L.A.

Reid. • Can play drum, piano, sax, congas and timbales.

Want to know more about J.Cole? Check out a few of his many col-laborations with popular artists:

“A Star is Born,” Jay-Z

“Beautiful Bliss” and “You Got It,” Wale

“S&M,” Rihanna

“Just Begun,” Talib Kweli

“Reflection Eternal,” Mos Def

“Pass Me By,” B.o.B.

“We On,” DJ Khaled

“In the Morning,” Drake

Stoc

k ph

otos

Jeremih

J.Cole&

05.indd 1 3/29/11 7:28 PM

Page 6

AdsMarch 31, 2011The Griffon News

The Griffon’s Nest at The Belt Sports Complex

16" one topping pizza

only $7 anytime!

Belt Bowl

Playa’s ClubWednesday Nights

ALL YOU CAN BOWL!ALL YOU CAN DRINK!

Only $10! Lights! Music! Videos! Fun!

The Belt Bowl210 N Belt Hwy., 233-1054Part of The Belt Sports Complex

Belt Bowl Sports ComplexNews from the

210 N. Belt Highway (816) 233-1054

This Week at the ComplexSun Tue WedMonThu Fri Sat

Rock & Bowl 10 p.m. - 2 a.m. ($12)Karaoke with The Sound Ninja in The Griffon’s Nest 

Rock & Bowl 10 p.m. - 2 a.m. ($12)Open Mic Night and Dance in The Griffon’s Nest 

Beat the Genius Poker (free)Party w/ Q in Legends 9-closeMWSU Intramural Bowling 7 p.m. 

Texas Hold Em Poker 7 p.m. ($10)Buck Night Bowl $1 games/shoes/snack bar 7 -11 p.m.

Playa’s Club -- All you can bowl, all you can drinkfrom 10 p.m. - 1 a.m.

Dance to music and videos in The Griffon’s NestBowl 3 games w/ shoes $5 (9 to close) 

3 games w/ shoes for $5 from 9 to close

Karaoke Superstars contest every Friday in The Grif-fon's Nest. Step up to the stage and win a chance for a free trip to Dallas and entry into the International Karaoke Superstars contest. There you can win up to $5,000 cash! The singing starts at 9 p.m.

Ask about our 2 & 3 Bedroom Rates!

We offer 1, 2 & 3 bedroom unitswith Central AC/Heat

Broadmoor Tenants Have Access to: - Fully equipped laundry facility - Washer/dryer hookups in 2/3 bedroom units - Cable Ready units - 1 Swimming pool, 2 tennis courts & 2 basketball courts - PLUS Water, sewer and trash included! - 2/3 bedroom units come equipped with w bathrooms

We offer 9 & 12 month lease terms and work closely with the students of MWSU

3601 Genefield Rd. - St. Joseph, MO 64506Phone: 816-364-2421 Fax: 816-364-4849

AMERICA’S FAVoritesandwich delivery guys!™

jimmyjohns.com

©2011 jimmy john’s franchise, llc all rights reserved.

1040 S. BELT HWY.816.232.0707

is freaky fast your thing?give jimmy

john’s a ring!Shane K. - Haslett, MI

06.indd 1 3/29/11 7:27 PM

Page 7

SportsMarch 31, 2011The Griffon News

MWSU hosts Elite 8 tourney

In the opening game of the 2011 Elite Eight, the Clayton State Lakers turned a two-point lead halftime lead into a 23-point vic-tory against the Bentley Falcons.

After that close first half, the full court pres-sure of Clayton State (33-1) proved to be too much as they pulled away and won the game 84-61. In the first half, the Lakers shot just 1-10 from three-point range while Bentley (28-5) went 4-7.

According to Bentley coach Barbara Ste-vens, the Clayton State pressure was too much for her team to handle, as the Falcons turned the ball over 26 times during the game, which led to Bentley being outscored 26-11 in points off turnovers.

“Their press does what it is advertised to do,” Stevens said. “We couldn’t simu¬late it in practice. Those kids were the real deal to-day.”

Bentley senior point guard Kim Brennan said that she felt good about where her team was going into the halftime break. “We bat-tled to stay in it the first half,” Brennan said. “Rest was needed, but it took some of our momentum away.”

The second half was a different story as Clayton State went on a 24-5 run to start and took a 21-point lead off of a transition lay-up from guard Drameka Griggs.

Clayton St. vs. Bentley84-61

Kyle Inman | Staffkinman@missouriwestern.edu

In a matchup of two Elite Eight teams from last season, Michigan Tech used an early sec-ond half run to overcome Arkansas Tech 69-58.

Michigan Tech struggled shooting in the first half as they were locked in a back-and-forth battle with the Golden Suns, ranked No. 1 in the country.

Arkansas Tech had a one-point halftime lead at 29-28, but then the Huskies went on their run. They started with a big three-point shot by Sam Hoyt that propelled the entire team during a 17-8 run in the opening five minutes of the second half.

The first half saw the Arkansas Tech post players have their way on both ends of the court in the paint. The Huskies would re-spond in the second half with more post ac-tion from Lucy Dernovsek and Lisa Staehlin. The increased attention to the Huskies’ post players opened up the three-point line, where they shot 55 percent for the half.

The Golden Suns were able to cut down to five, 63-58 with just under two minutes to play, but the Huskies answered with pressure defense to secure the game and their spot in the Division II Final Four for the second straight year.

Hoyt led the Huskies with 18 points on the night as well as going 4-7 from behind the arc.

Michigan Tech vs. Ark.Tech

69-58

Matt Gleaves | Sports Editorjgleaves@missouriwestern.edu

The clock struck midnight for Shaw, as the magic of the Cinderella Lady Bears ran out against second-ranked Clayton State in the first semifinal of the Women’s Division II Elite Eight.

A balanced attack by Clayton State (34-1) helped the Lakers defeat Shaw 63-46, ending the season of a team that entered the postsea-son as the eighth-seeded team in the Atlantic Region.

Clayton State started the game strong, jumping to an 11-1 lead with a little under 14 minutes to play. With some poor outside shooting by the Lakers towards the end of the half, the Lady Bears clawed their way back into the game, and went into the locker room only four points behind, 27-23.

A key to the success of the Lakers was its stifling full-court press. That press led to 29 Shaw turnovers and 26 points, something Lakers coach Dennis Cox was very pleased with.

“Even if we don’t make shots on any given night we can still win,” Cox said.

Clayton St. vs. Shaw

63-46Jessica Koch | Guest Writer

Cinderella is still dancing. Shaw, an eighth seed in the Atlantic Region,

wasn’t supposed to win its first regional game against top-seeded Edinboro. Now, 12 days later, after a last-second upset against Metro State, they’re in the Final Four.

Both teams started out slowly, leading to a halftime score of 26-19 in favor of Metro State. Shaw shot just 7-28 field goals in the first half. But, the Lady Bears (25-11) fought back in the second half, finding themselves down just one point with six seconds left on the clock. After a pair of missed free throws by the Roadrunners’ Jasmine Cervantes, Brittany Ransom was able to catch a pass that went through a pair of defenders’ hands to make the game-winning lay-up to earn Shaw a 46-45 victory.

“This game came down to whoever had the ball last,” said first-year Metro State coach Tanya Haave. “I thought she traveled on the last play, but I know the officials work as hard as they can.”

Ransom said she didn’t know how much time was left, but she knew the ball was com-ing to her.

Shaw vs. Metro St.46-45

Kyle Inman | Staffkinman@missouriwestern.edu

In the final game of the night, the North-west Missouri State Bearcats seemed right at home. The Bearcat faithful showed up in full support of their team’s 78-65 win over Cal Poly Pomona.

Northwest and its fans–the vast major-ity of the 2,650 in attendance–traveled only 40 miles for the Elite Eight contest with the Broncos, and the Bearcats used the home court advantage.

“Tonight felt like we were playing in our own arena,” Shelly Martin said. “We really fed off the crowd, so they deserve a lot of credit tonight.”

Martin hit three consecutive three point shots to boost the Bearcat scoring. The rest of the team struggled from the field for the open-ing 10 minutes of play with multiple turnovers and scarce rebounding on the defensive end.

“Shelly’s hot start really got us going to-night, and we needed to get off to a hot start,” Northwest coach Gene Steinmeyer said.

The Bearcats were able to open up a 17-point halftime lead behind Martin’s 14 points on 4-5 shooting from behind the arc.

NWMSU vs. Cal Poly Pomona

78-65

Matt Gleaves | Sports Editor

Michigan Tech defeated Northwest Mis-souri State 89-79 in a physical battle to ad-vance to the championship game.

The Huskies jumped out to a 20-14 lead on the Bearcats after guard Sam Hoyt hit a three pointer with 8:45 remaining in the first half.

Northwest battled back to tie the game at 25 at the 3:59 mark but could not keep that momentum going as Michigan Tech hit a se-ries of jumpers to take a 35-29 lead into the halftime break.

The second half was close as the Bearcats battled back to tie the game on several occa-sions. Michigan Tech was finally able to gain some separation on a pair of consecutive buckets by freshman Kate Glodowski, giving the Huskies a 66-57 lead with 5:28 left to play. The Huskies never looked back after those shots and went on to win the game 89-78.

Michigan Tech coach Kim Cameron con-gratulated Glodowski for hitting the biggest shots of her career. “As a freshman, to come in and hit shots like that, Kate has ice in her veins,” Cameron said. “Those are big shots. We are happy for her.”

Michigan Tech vs. NWMSU

89-78

Kyle Inman | Staffkinman@missouriwestern.edu

Michigan Tech vs. Clayton St.

Michigan Tech head coach Kim Camer-on covered her face with her hands out of frustration on the sidelines, and her team felt the same thing on the court Friday night as Michigan Tech dropped the National Championship 69-50 to Clayton State.

Clayton State’s helter-skelter, aggressive style of defense frustrated the Huskies all night as the Lakers forced 11 Huskie turn-overs in the first half. This season, Michi-gan Tech only averaged 12.5 turnovers per game.

The Lakers’ strength and quickness on the defensive end was a prob¬lem for Michigan Tech from the opening tip. Clayton State pressed the Huskies after the first basket and didn’t stop until the final buzzer sounded.

“Their press was the quickest we have seen this season,” Michigan Tech’s Sam Hoyt said. “Their hands were everywhere and we just couldn’t get a pass or shot off.”

The Lakers’ impressive defense provided a boost on offense courtesy of Teshymia Till-man and Drameka Griggs as the two would lead the Lakers back from a five-point deficit with just over 10 minutes remaining in the first half.

“Coach always says that there are 10 girls that will back me up as long as I back them up, and he is right,” Griggs said.

The Lakers were able to gain a seven-point lead by halftime and the Huskies had no answer for the Laker press. After a fran-tic beginning to the second half, the Lakers went up 44-26 with 17:30 to play, and never allowed Michigan State to get closer than 16 after that.

“They took us out of our game early, and we never were completely comfortable when

we were handling the ball,” Michigan Tech head coach Kim Cameron said.

Tillman led the Lakers with 26 points and seven rebounds and was named the tourna-ment’s Most Outstanding Player. Griggs, an All- Tournament pick, chipped in 12 points as well on 5-7 shooting from the field, help-ing the Clayton State bench outscore the Huskie bench 22-6. As a team, the Lakers shot 48 percent from the field.

Michigan Tech’s on-court leader, Sam Hoyt, was frustrated all night by the aggres-sive defense and nonstop pressure from the Lakers. Hoyt committed five turnovers on the night and by the finish, the Huskies com-mitted 25 as a team.

The Huskies were led offensively by Lisa Staehlin, as she dumped in 18 points to go along with eight rebounds. Hoyt finished with 11 points, shooting 3-3 from the three point line. The Huskies shot 38 percent, about 10 percentage points below their av-erage.

By winning tonight, the Lakers capture the school’s first National Championship in women’s basketball.

“We seemed to gather momentum as the week went on,” Clayton State head coach Dennis Cox said.

Clayton State became the first team from the Peach Belt Conference to win a national title, as well as the first women’s team from the state of Georgia to win a national title.

Matt Gleaves | Sports Editorjgleaves@missouriwestern.edu Final Score

69-50

Quarterfinals

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Semifinals

Championship

Clayton St.

Bentley

Shaw

Metro St.

Northwest Missouri St.

Cal Poly Pomona

Michigan Tech

Arkansas Tech

Clayton St.

Shaw

Northwest Missouri St.

Michigan Tech

Clayton St.

Michigan Tech

61

84

45

46

65

78

58

69

46

63

89

78

50

69NCAA Division II

Elite 8 Bracket

Quarterfinals Quarterfinals

Semifinals Semifinals

Members of the Clayton State Lakers celebrate as they receive the championship trophy at St. Joseph Civic Arena last Friday night in the Division II Women’s Elite 8.

Pho

to b

y N

ick

McC

utch

eon

07.indd 1 3/29/11 7:26 PM

Page 8

SportsMarch 31, 2011The Griffon News

DISCOVER MORE

ONLINE COURSESOFFERED THIS SUMMER & FALL

Western is an equal opportunity institution.

http://online.missouriwestern.edu

Western is an equal opportunity institution.

Federal regulations currently allow eligible students to receive an additional Pell Grant

disbursement for summer.

MORE INFO:www.missouriwestern.edu/

finaid/SummerAidApplication Information.asp

Get MOREPell Grant

Moneyfor Summer

DISCOVER MORE

ONLINE COURSESOFFERED THIS SUMMER & FALLThe NCAA tournament

has been a bracket buster from the start this season.

From top teams going down in the first rounds of the tournament to Cinderella showing her face in a major way yet again.

VCU was one of the last four teams in the tournament and have made their way to the Final Four as the 11 seed in their region. Along the way they have taken down giants such as Georgetown, Purdue, Florida State and most recently number one seed Kansas.

Butler has had a strong showing in the last few years in the tournament under head coach Brad Stevens who has proven that he is capable of taking teams deep into the tournament year after year.

The Bulldog’s road to the Final Four has been through teams from the so called “power conferences” such as Pittsburg, Wisconsin and Florida.

VCU and Butler will square

off on one side of the Final Four bracket while the other side features two teams that are perennial contenders in the national championship discussion.

Kentucky hasn’t been to the Final Four since 1998. For a storied program such as the Wildcats, they seem to be in unfamiliar territory as they compete for another national title. Second year head coach, John Calipari, has had problems in the past with alleged NCAA viola-tions and is known for his “one and done” players that make the leap to the NBA after one season.

Kentucky’s rise to the top is being led by a very young and talented team that doesn’t have a lot of NCAA tourna-ment experience.

Brandon Knight is the Wildcats’ catalyst and will be in for a struggle as he takes on a player that is just as talented as he is.

UConn’s Kemba Walker led the UConn Huskies to the Big East tournament title, winning five games in five days in the process.

The Big East is arguably one of the toughest confer-ences in college basketball today. It is really hard to bet against a team that is able to go through the tough-est conference in basketball and knock of five nationally ranked teams in the confer-ence tournament.

I am sold on the Huskies and believe they have what it takes to get past a talented Kentucky team to get to the title game.

Cinderella’s run will come to an end in the Final Four as well. VCU has talented players but it is hard to pick a team that is returning to the Final Four for the second consecutive season.

Butler will knock off VCU and take on UConn in the national championship. I think that UConn has too much talent to get knocked off by Butler. UConn will be cutting down the nets in Houston with a final score of 71-68 behind a strong effort from Kemba Walker.

2011 NCAA Final Four

UConn VCU

ButlerKen.

ButlerUConnUConn

National Champion

The Griffons baseball team swept Washburn in a three game series that took place over the weekend and improve their record to 10-10 on the year.

Western came out on fire with the bats in game one. Andrew Pieper and Ian Atkinson both singled to start the game.

The Griffons took advantage of two Washburn errors in the first Inning and hits from David Chew and Jason Solma to score four runs in the top of the first.

The offense stayed hot all game including a six run sixth inning. Isaac Rome hit his fourth home run of the year and it was a three run shot completing a great day at the plate going four for five with three runs batted in.

Jason Solma batted a perfect five for five and scored two runs while Atkinson went four for five with three runs batted in.

Brandon Simmons was on the mound for Western and improved his record to 3-3 on the season as the Griffons won comfortably 14-3.

Simmons pitched six innings and gave up nine hits and three earned runs. Mason Queen closed the game out for the Griffons by giving up nothing in to all three batters he faced.

The Griffons offense was cold to start game two as they could not manage a hit through the first six innings.

Washburn pitcher Derek Fogel

had his dreams of a no hitter crushed by an Atkinson single in the seventh inning and would end up taking a loss.

Spencer Shockley and Jake Graham followed with doubles and the Griffons won the game 5-1.

Griffons pitcher Ryan Carbah got his first win of the season after pitching three innings.

Game three was shortened to five innings because of snow but that didn’t stop the Griffons from win-ning again.

Pitcher Nik Jarudo improved his record to 2-1 on the season pitching all five innings for Western, giving up six hits and two earned runs.

The offense came alive in the fourth inning after falling behind by a run. The Griffons scored five runs in the fourth inning and one more in the fifth and won the game 5-2.

Jake Graham improved his bat-ting average to .364 on the season while Issac Rome is batting .358.

NCAA Final Four gets underwayVCU, Butler look to advance to title game

Matt Gleaves | Sports Editorjgleaves@missouriwestern.edu

Baseball resultsGame 1

Game 2

14-3

5-1

Western’s usually red-hot offense took a break this past weekend as the Griffons struggled offensively, dropping both games of a double header to Wayne State.

In game one of the double head-er, Western managed just two hits from Ashley Hudson and Keri Lorbert, respectively.

The game would be a pitcher’s duel as Jackie Bishop (12-2) gave up five hits and one earned run in six innings.

Wayne State would score the only run of the game in the second inning after a single, sacrifice bunt and then a double to bring in the run.

“We were having a hard time adjusting to their pitcher in the first game,” Keri Lorbert said. “She was

really good and we just weren’t able to make the adjustments to hit her.”

Jonelle Belger (8-4) took the mound in game two but, had no more success than Bishop.

The defense behind Belger made three errors in the game that led to three unearned runs.

“They were just mental errors,” Lorbert said. “Some days you just have more trouble focusing in on the game and the routine plays seem harder than they normally are.”

Belger went six innings, giving up six hits and one earned run while striking out four.

The lone bright spot of the game was when Leah Steele hit her sixth homerun of the season to put the Griffons on the board after falling behind 4-0 after the fourth inning.

The rest of the way it was all in favor of Wayne State.

Softball falls to Wayne State

Western sweeps double-header

Matt Gleaves | Sports Editorjgleaves@missouriwestern.edu

Kyle Inman | Staffkinman@missouriwestern.edu

Senior Toni Dance, who hails from Brisbane Australia, recently recovered from a minor inhury. Here Dance takes the plate against an Edmond pitcher.

Sophomore Brandon Simmons readies at the plate before an Edmond pitcher throws him the ball.

08.indd 1 3/29/11 7:25 PM