With the beginning of the new year, some Missouri residents will be getting a pay raise. On Jan. 1, Missouri will become one of 28 states with a higher minimum wage than the federal level of $5.15. On Jan. 19 the Missouri Southern Board of Governors will discuss funding for the increase.
As Nancy Messick, secretary to the president and Board of Governors, steps down after 30 years of service, a new but not unfamiliar face will be taking her place. On Jan. 1, Sharon E. Odem, secretary to the assistant vice president for academic affairs, will be utilizing her 12 years of Missouri Southern experience to assume Messick's position.
"We don't dance." That's the stand more than 50 students are taking today on the proposition of instituting a "show band" at Missouri Southern and rumored faculty changes in the music department.
Missouri Southern State University's 47th graduating class includes 34 students who will graduate with honors at the University's Commencement ceremonies at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 16, in Leggett & Platt Athletic Center. Seven students earned a four-year grade point average of 3.9 or above on a 4.0 scale and will graduate Summa Cum Laude.
Active information technology will bring Missouri Southern into the 21st century January 1. The implementation of the SunGard-Higher Education Banner software began in July 2006 with the integration of finance modules and is following a two-year integration schedule.
After two days of cancelled classes and a weekend, students returned to Missouri Southern to find campus conditions less than appealing. Some students who fell on the icy sidewalks said the University did not take the necessary precautions. Amanda Stevenson, freshman elementary education major, said she has fallen five times on campus.
Minimum wage, Banner software and staff retirement all appeared on the agenda of the Nov. 17 Board of Governors meeting. In addition to the standard financial reports and other administrative business, discussion took place about Missouri Southern's current construction undertakings including the proposed recreation center.
After 30 years of service to Missouri Southern, Nancy Messick, secretary to the president and the Board of Governors, will be retiring Jan. 1. Messick, a graduate of Southern with an associate degree in office administration, joined the staff in 1976 as secretary to the department of science and mathematics.
A crowd of angry students ringed Matt Bourgult, an outdoor preacher from Florida, as he preached on the Oval Nov. 20. Bourgult screamed hellfire and students with their Bibles open screamed right back. "The gentleman is nothing but a hypocrite," said Adie Hoyt, senior mass communication major.
Spreading some Christmas cheer is how Missouri Southern's Student Senate ushered out the fall semester. After a 'disappointing' week filled with cell phone rings and text messaging during the meeting, Senate decided to take a bit of a break and do some caroling.
Three members of the Phi Eta Sigma honor society demonstrated some holiday generosity by adopting four Joplin-area families through the Salvation Army. "We always try to do something for the community for Thanksgiving and Christmas," said Mark Ostendorf, senior general studies major and president of PES.
A soldier who served twice in Iraq, Japan and the Philippines has come to the second floor of Suzanne's Natural Foods in Joplin to serve area residents with the healing touch of therapeutic massage. After graduating high school, Cliff Olson was living on the outskirts of Chicago and could have done anything he wanted.
Students looking to succeed in the business world could benefit from membership in Delta Epsilon Chi (DEX). This campus organization is a college division of Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA), an international association helping high school and college students prepare for careers in such industries as marketing, management, entrepreneurship, finance, hospitality and sales.
With the world's increasing awareness of it's effects on the environment, one class this spring semester will bring it all into perspective. The class is Sustainability and will be offered Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. The class will be team-taught and is the capstone of the ecolonomics program.
Celebrating the holidays, the Student Alumni Association planned some projects to help the community and the campus. The SAA went Dec. 6 to Spring River Christian Village nursing home to sing Christmas carols and hand out candy canes as part of its Christmas service project.
Sounds of music from the Missouri Southern International Piano Competition (MSIPC) have caught the attention of the Missouri Arts Council (MAC). The MSIPC received the 2007 Missouri Arts Awards for Outstanding Arts Organization in the state. The Arts Awards began in 1983 to honor significant students and universities for impacting the state's atmosphere.
More than a degree can be found at the Dr. Crockett Dental Hygiene Clinic. Students in the dental hygiene field are learning the ropes in the dental profession, while they improve themselves and make life-long friends. Sarah West, dental hygiene major, said this is a side of campus that is passed by too many times.
With the help of Missouri Southern students, 25 angels will have more than just a halo this holiday season. Since 1979, The Salvation Army has organized the Angel Tree Program every Christmas so members of the community can give back to local children for the holidays.