Griffon News Issue 2

Sporting the No. 91 jersey, NFL prospect defensive end David Bass broke the Mis-souri Western career sack record when he recorded No. 31 in the Griffons blowout win over William Jewell on Saturday.

“He’s a great player, great person, and a great leader,” coach Jerry Partridge said. “If he stays healthy he will have many, many more. He’s meant a lot to us, and I’m happy for him.”

Bass’ ability to sack the quarterback has caught the eye of NFL teams, whose scouts have been visiting Western to get a look at the 6-5, 275-pound athletic pass rusher.

“Twelve of the 32 NFL teams have been through so far,” Partridge said. “He looks the part. His measure-ments are good, he just needs to put some numbers up and he’s already done that throughout his career.”

According to Bass, break-ing the record isn’t what scouts will be focused on when evaluating him. It’s about his entire body of

work -- especially during his senior season.

“It will just show I’ve been producing throughout my years,” Bass said. “I don’t think they will look at the record, they will look at how many sacks I have this sea-son. It’s a lot of motivation

for the program, myself and my family, and I’m thankful to have that.”

The Griffons have played two games this season, and Bass has recorded 1 sack in each game. Despite breaking the record, Bass has higher goals for his sack total.

“I want to get to 20 this season,” Bass said. “My goal coming into the season was 2 sacks per game, right now I only have 2, so I’m not reach-ing my goals right now.”

The only way for an op-posing team to stop Bass from getting to their quarter-

back is to block him with two players, which frees up other Griffon defensive linemen to get sacks of their own.

“If I don’t reach my goal, I know it’s going to be suc-cessful for us as a defensive line. If they slide my way it will free the other guys up,” said Bass. “As long as we win and as long as everyone is eating, I’m not going to be

selfish as long as we reach our team goal.”

Despite the success he’s had at Western, Bass did not was not at the top of the list of many recruiters after com-ing out of University City High School in St. Louis.

NON-PROFIT ORG.U.S. POSTAGE

PA I DPERMIT NO. 32St. JOSEPH, MO

Vol 94 | Issue 26 griffonnews.com September 13, 2012

Kyle Inman | Sports [email protected]

Bass breaks sack record, gains NFL interest

David Bass (91) sacks William Jewell’s quarterback to break the Western career-sacks record with 31. It was the second sack in two games for Bass this season.

Tevin Harris | Asst. Photo Editor

SEE BASS PAGE 8

This weekend, Missouri Western is all about families.

Potter Theatre, Looney Complex, Remington Hall and Spratt Stadium are the places to be on campus this weekend.

“The main goal for Fam-ily Weekend is to welcome families of our students to campus and give them a glimpse of the activities and programs that we host here at MWSU for our students,” Student Life Director Isaiah Collier said.

First, it will kick off with the Western Activities Coun-cil’s annual talent show at 7 p.m., Friday, Sept. 14 in Pot-ter Theatre.

Some students, like nurs-ing major Harmony Farmer, are already looking forward to seeing this year’s talent.

“I would love to go to a tal-ent show at Missouri West-ern,” Farmer said. “It would give me the opportunity to meet new people and have a good time. Possibly even have a few good laughs.”

The judges will most likely consist of a faculty member, a staff member and a student according to WAC President Lauren Dillon. These judges will choose a winner who will receive a prize that fits well in a wallet.

“We have done cash the last couple of years,” Dillon said. “Just because it’s easi-est, and hey, what college student doesn’t need cash? We haven’t decided on an amount yet, but I can say it will be worth participating for.”

Also going on at 7 p.m. on

Friday night, the volleyball team will take on the Mis-souri Southern State Lions at MWSU Fieldhouse for their second home game of the season.

The fun doesn’t stop there as there will be many events on Saturday, Sept. 15.

Starting at 10 a.m., there will be Griffon Indoor Sports Complex tours. Participants should meet in Remington Hall; tours will leave every 30 minutes.

“I would really like to see people who have never seen how beauti-fully constructed this build-ing is,” Collier said. “The VIPs will be giving tours of the GISC, which will start at 10 a.m. and will be awe-some.”

Before the tours end at 11:30 a.m., there will be

Brian Ramsay | Staff [email protected]

Fun-filled Saturday, Sunday planned for Family Weekend

SEE FAMILY PAGE 2

7 00 P.M.September 14th

Potter Hall

The 2012 fall semester at Missouri Western is the beginning of a new era for some students involved with Greek organizations. The dorms in Juda have been re-served for Greek housing.

Although the school has been working on getting housing for students in-volved in Greek activities for years, it has finally become a reality.

“One of Dr. Vartabedian’s major initiatives were to cre-ate a stronger Greek organi-zation,” Director of Residen-tial Housing Mark Stier said. “This will benefit campus in a couple ways, for one, it will help retention. Students on campus seeing Greek organi-zations will encourage them to join, or at least try Greek life.”

Greek organizations that live in Juda so far are Alpha Gamma Delta, Alpha Sigma Alpha, Phi Delta Theta, Tau Kappa Epsilon and Sigma Sigma Sigma. The Phi Sigma Kappas are still working on getting rooms, and if they

aren’t represented in the dorms this year, they will definitely be next year.

“The biggest change in having Greek housing on campus is the unity of all of the Greeks. Anytime one has

an event, we all know about it and can come out and sup-port,” TKE member Tanner Shelton said.

It is easy to tell when walk-ing by Juda which Greek organization is in the dorms

because they all show their colors and symbols proudly. All of the Greek residents have their banners hanging

Nathaniel Conant | Staff [email protected]

Juda Hall becomes new home for Greeks

Alpha Sigma Alpha is represented with wooden letters and banners attached to balcony rails. *submitted photos

SEE JUDA PAGE 2

One Missouri Western stu-dent was selected for the op-portunity to serve in the 2012 political process.

Submitted photo by El-lis Cross. The view outside the dome for the National Republican Convention last month in Tampa, Fla.

Ellis Cross, news editor for the Griffon News, was select-

ed by fellow Republicans to serve as an alternate delegate for the National Republican Convention in Tampa, Fla., last month. The trip was more than just a moment for Cross to meet politicians; he learned the process of what it’s like to be part of the na-tional Republican Party.

“I saw how the convention works,” Cross said. “Some-times I wanted to share my opinion, but as an alternate

delegate I wasn’t on the floor of delegates for Missouri.”

The process for the conven-tion was on a strike timeline. Cross said he started most days from 7 a.m. to 3 a.m. the next morning. The du-ties Cross had as an alternate delegate were more than just standing in the background while the main delegates were on the floor. He said he had to be ready to vote if a chair on the floor was empty.

When empty chairs occur they send for an alternate to fill the position and vote.

“I wasn’t called to the floor to vote,” Cross said, “but I did get to fill a chair and take advantage of photo ops while a delegate took a break.”

Matt Hunt | Opinions [email protected]

Editor travels 1,300 miles for convention

SEE RNC PAGE 2

Check out how far this student illustrator has come after designing two issues of a professional comic book.

See Page 4.

Griffon News takes a stand on SGA’s decision to spend $5,500 on rally towels.

See Page 6.

Freshman soccer player Sydney Andrews reveals what it’s like to be a hearing-impaired athlete.

See Page 8.

Chad Hammontree | Graphics Editor

*courtesy of campus printing

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

[email protected]

Thursday, Sept. 13• PoliticalScienceFilmSeries:

ElectionPolitics7p.m.

Friday, Sept. 14• GriffonVolleyballvsMissouri

SouthernStateUniversity7p.m.• WACTalentShow7p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 15• Freephoto-opwithMax11a.m.

• GriffonVolleyballvsEmporiaStateUniversity@noon

• GriffonFootballvsUniversityofNebraska-Kearney6p.m.

Monday, Sept. 17• ConstitutionDaywithDr.Angus

Johnston10a.m.

Tuesday, Sept. 18• “BlackHoles”Planetariumshow

7p.m.

Wednesday, Sept. 19• BrazilCultura7p.m.

Friday, Sept. 19• InstrumentalFacultyRecital

7:30p.m.

NEWS September 13, 2012

The Griffon NewsPage 2

CALENDAR OF EVENTSCAMPUS CRIME REPORTS

CAMPUS INFORMATION

RA of the Month

Name: Monica Silber

Home: Belton, MO

Sorority: Sigma Sigma Sigma

Favorite Movie: The Princess BrideFavorite Book: My Sister’s Keeper

Why you feel the Greek Village is so important to the MWSU community: It’s a great way to build relationships among Greeks as well as publicize the Greek Community to visitors and in-coming students.

Why did you apply to be an RA: I have always thought it would be a great experience, and was really excited at the opportunity to not only be an RA but to be one for the Greek Village.

Favorite MWSU memory: Becoming a member of Tri Sigma.

Goal for this year: To have a 4.0 and still have lots of fun.

If you could give one bit of advise to new students what would that be? Find your nitch and get involved in something that interests you.

Juda Hall

two free shows at the new Planetarium in Remington. “Wonders of the Universe” and “Sea Monsters” will starting at 11 a.m. and going until 1 p.m.

Also going on in Reming-ton from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. is the free photo shoot with Max the Griffon.

“We can get quite a few in the picture, last year we had families of seven to eight scattered in photos,” Collier said. “And young children love Max, as we all do here. Max, you rock.”

Everybody can also enjoy the many Western organiza-tion activity booths outside Remington from 11 a.m. un-til 1 p.m.

At noon, the volleyball team with play their third home game against another conference opponent, Em-poria State at MWSU Field-house.

To follow volleyball game, students and families can take a stroll over to the new-ly renovated Baker Center’s parking lot at 4 p.m. where they can relax and have a good time at the tailgate par-ty. Plus, the tailgaters with the most school spirit will

win a gift card .To wrap up Family Week-

end, the football team will take play their first confer-ence game against Nebraksa-Kearney at 6 p.m. at Spratt Stadium.

“Greek housing on cam-pus brings students closer to the Greek community and gives more students the opportunity to see if they enjoy the Greek life, “ Juda Residential Advisor Monica Silber said.

Rush week for sororities have already began and the fraternities start theirs next week. With the excitement of rush week, the campus should see immediate re-sults on whether having Greek housing on campus affects the number of stu-dents that rush.

The number of rushers there are in the next couple weeks could mean there will be need for larger numbers of rooms reserved for next year.

This isn’t the first time there has been separate hous-ing; TKE as well as others, have had housing off of cam-pus. Students will just have to wait and see how having Greeks on campus will affect everyday student life.

The convention was more than just a few days to cele-brate the nominating process for president and vice presi-dent for the Republican Par-ty, they decide on the party’s platform as well.

Maggie Siegmund, tea par-ty coordinator for Buchanan County, said the convention is a wonderful educational experience. She said that she has known Cross for years through politics, and he served as a tea party coordi-nator.

“I believe that since Ellis has gotten involved, he will be a delegate at the next con-vention,” Siegmund said.

The trip that Cross took to the convention had those who teach in the political sci-ence and history department talking. Daniel Radke, assis-tant professor for American national government, said he had known Cross for years and was proud to see a stu-dent from Western be given the chance to attend.

“I hope that Mr. Cross and others continue to participate in this process,” Radke said.

This was Cross’ first round to be selected as an alternate delegate, but he has ambi-tions to go for a much stron-ger and decision making roll come the 2016 election. He said he plans to stay in-volved in the Republican Party, and would like to be a floor delegate the next time.

“I would serve as a del-egate if I ever get the honor,” Cross said. “My personal goal is to someday be an electoral voter representing Missouri.”

To view the photos, and videos from Ellis’s trip to Tampa, you can go to www.flickr.com/photos/gnews-rnc/ or the crossreference.wordpress.com.

�N�E�W�S� �N�O�T�E�S

Three members of Tri Sigma show off their colorful Greek banner. Tri Sigma, Alpha Sigma Alpha, Tau Kappa Epsilon, Phi Delta Theta and Alpha Gamma Delta all reside in the Juda Greek village. Mark Stier, director of Residential Housing, said that one of Dr. Vartabedian’s major initiatives was to create a stronger Greek organization. *submitted photos

RNC: CONTINUED FROM FRONT

Greek organizational banners signify prideJUDA: CONTINUED FROM FRONT

Student attends RNC

Ellis Cross Griffon News Editor

FAMILY: CONTINUED FROM FRONT

FAMILY WEEKEND EVENTS

FRIDAY:

- WAC Talent Show @ Potter Hall - 7 p.m.

SATURDAY:

- President’s free pan-cake brunch in Reming-ton Hall

- Griffon Indoor Sports Complex tours - 10 a.m.

- Free showings at the new planetarium in Rem-ington Hall

- Photo shoot with Max the Griffon @ Remington Hall - 11 a.m.

- MWSU organization activity booths outside Remington Hall - 11 a.m.

- Tailgate @ Baker park-ing lot - 4 p.m.

Student activism talk planned for

Constitution DayMissouri Western will cel-ebrate Constitution Day with a discussion about the history and future of student activism by Dr. Angus Johnston at 10 a.m. Monday, Sept. 17 in the Kemper Recital Hall inside Spratt Hall.

Military training on campus Sept. 13

Military science ROTC cadets will be conducting situational training exer-cises on campus grounds from 3-5:30 p.m. Thurs-day, Sept. 13. They will be training with dummy rifles and paint ball guns and will be in uniform. No real weapons are involved. The training will take place around the Conservation Department, wooded area and McCarthy Drive.

The discovery of a new vi-rus in northwest Missouri gave Missouri Western State University biology students the opportunity to work beside leading public health officials to try to answer some basic questions about the virus and how it may be spread.

Missouri Western music faculty members Susan Carter and Lory Lacy and student Donovan Jones will be featured at the First Thursday Downtown Noon Concert Series at 12:10 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 6, in the Sanctuary of the First Presbyterian Church, 7th and Jules in St. Joseph. The performance will fea-ture Franz Schubert’s “The Shepherd on the Rock” for soprano, flute, and piano and Poulenc’s “Sonata for Flute and Piano” in addi-tion to a variety of other pieces for soprano and piano.

Students help investigate newly

described virus

Western faculty kick off noon concert series

1. Liquor Offense 11:30 p.m., Monday, Sept. 3, Downs Drive

2. Stealing 9:37 a.m., Friday, Sept. 7, Downs Drive

3. Assault 10:03 a.m., Friday, Sept. 7, Downs Drive

4. Fight 9:20 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 8, Downs Drive

FOR MORE NEWS ON WESTERN’S

GREEK LIFE, VISIT GRIFFONNEWS.COM

NEWSSeptember 13, 2012


RA of the Month

Introducing Greek VillageSorority: Tri Sigma or SSS

Why you feel the Greek Village is so important to the MWSU community: I feel that the Greek Village is important to the MWSU community because it is a chance for the students not involved in greek life to understand why being greek is so important and why we love our community and Missouri Western.

Name: Charmaine BanezHome: Unionville, MOFavorite Movie:Chicago

Why did you apply to be an RA: I applied to be an RA because it was a way for me to become involved, meet new people, and help others all in one.

Favorite MWSU memory: My favorite MWSU memory was dancing at my first football game with my best friends.

FREAKY FASTDELIVERY!

©2011 JIMMY JOHN’S FRANCHISE, LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

SUBS SO FAST YOU’LLFREAK!

The Student Government Association was called to or-der for the first time this se-mester on August 27. While the senate was in session, some seats remained vacant. After two Senate resigna-tions, Clifford Petersen and Matthew Hunt, there are eight seats to fill in SGA. President Jacob Scott hopes to have the positions filled in time for the SGA Retreat in October. The date for the retreat has not been set. “Anyone interested could potentially become a senator. I would encourage freshmen to apply so they will have four years of experience as a senator,” Scott said. SGA Administrative Coor-dinator Kathy Kelly also en-

courages students to become involved in the student gov-ernment process. “If you want to make a dif-ference and be a good stew-ard of your SGA fees, have a voice,” Kelly said. SGA Vice Chair Lauren Upton strove to make stu-dents feel that student govern-ment officials care about issues that concern the student body. “Jacob and I are really want-ing SGA to be more transpar-ent than it may have been in the past, to where students feel like they can definitely come in and talk to us about any prob-lems that they are having. We just want them to know

that they are important to us and we’re going to listen to any problems they have,” Upton said. Scott agrees as he said, “The best way students can make sure their voice is heard is just to come to the meetings and be a part of the

process -- so if you want a good g o v e r n m e n t you have to be a good citizen and get involved.” Senator res-ignations were not the only is-sue that SGA covered. While

in session the senate ap-proved the purchase of 3,000 rally towels that were to be distributed during the foot-ball home opener. Upton is looking forward to students

using the towels and hopes they will raise school spirit. While Upton wanted to boost school spirit on cam-pus, Scott foresees the rally towels becoming a tradition at home games. “The rally towels were something we did last year and we received an over-whelming response that was positive. This was a tradition that we could start together and the towels are a great way to get people involved and get them excited about the game,” Scott said. Along with the rally tow-el approval, SGA also ap-proved their yearly bylaws and confirmed Tony Dough-erty as the new vice chair of the Western Activities Coun-cil. Senate meetings are held biweekly on Monday at 6:00 p.m. in Blum 220.

Katelyn Canon | Staff Writer [email protected]

SGA attempts to fill Senate with 8 vacant positions

Paintings (above and below) jump off the walls of the EFLJ department in Eder Hall. Tevin Harris | Asst. Photo Editor

Colorful new murals have sprouted out onto the walls of the English, Foreign Lan-guage and Journalism de-partment hall.The renovation team con-sisted of Teresa Rodewald, Natasha Snyder Hatcher, Hanna Greenwell and Rox-anne Chase.Chase, coordinator for the new artwork, said that she was in Dr. Mike Cadden’s children literature class when the whole project start-ed.Chase said Cadden wanted to get some artwork to break down the white walls for some time and asked her if she would be interested.“I was excited about the op-portunity, so I said yes,” Chase said. “I told him I need to round up some people, get some ideas and take it from there.”Hatcher said that she heard from Rodewald about need-ing volunteers to help on the project.“I thought it would be in-teresting,” Hatcher said. “I did the set of trees, and I am quite pleased with it.”The artwork that runs through the halls of EFLJ department includes brick patches, sceneries in door-ways and quotes. Chase said that each piece of artwork was from the creation of each artist, and it came from their

own inspiration.“The quotes came from Dana Andrews who was our go between,” Chase said. “I know what the quotes say, but Andrews doesn’t want that information released, he wants his students to figure it out.”Rodewald, former president of Griffon Art Alliance, said she brought forth the idea of the bricks because she thought it would break up the white spaces and would bring a cool atmosphere. Al-though they are not complet-ed yet, Rodewald is already pleased with them.Chase said that there are sev-eral different themes going on through the halls, but she likes a realism approach. She said she was going for a type of Edgar Allen Poe theme. The art work renovations have even landed the group to be asked by Dr. Patricia Donaher to do a Harry Pot-ter theme on the wall outside her office; Donaher teaches an English course based on the Harry Potter series.The group is still looking for different themes from oth-ers at Missouri Western who might have ideas for murals, and asking to bring them forth.“The artwork is not com-plete, and we don’t plan on it to be complete,” Chase said. “I don’t believe that any form of artwork is ever complete, but that’s my own perspective.”

Matt Hunt | Opinions [email protected]

The walls of Eder come alive:EFLJ revamps with colorful artistic murals

Campus gains new desks and tables, expense totaling close to $100,000

In March of this year, the SGA voted to allocate $99,558 to purchase new chairs and tables to replace aging furni-ture across campus. The announcement came with some criticism at the time from those who thought it was strange that student fee money would be used to purchase property for the university. “There was some opposi-tion at the first, but now all I hear is compliments from faculty and students,” In-structional Technology Di-rector Cori Criger said. “It’s a big improvement for the students especially.” One of the best improve-ments Criger says is the benefit to students with dis-abilities. Each classroom

throughout the campus now has at least two tables and two chairs to accommodate students that need that type of seating. “What it means for stu-dents with disabilities is that these classrooms are now ready and waiting for them,” Disability Services Coordi-nator Michael Ritter said. “ No longer do they have to re-quest special furniture on the first day of class. The new furniture brings these class-rooms into the 21st century.” Criger said the old way of accommodating students' needs placed the responsi-bility of fulfilling the need on the student who had to go through channels to get a table or chair when needed. The furniture was totally changed in 10 rooms across campus. Four additional rooms for renovation had to

keep the tablet type desks to accommodate current capac-ities, but tables and chairs were added to the back of the classrooms. Two other computer labs received new furnishings, but the technol-ogy fee funded those chang-es. “For many years, I’ve been an advocate for replac-ing the 1970s vintage tablet arm chairs with tables and chairs,” Dean and Executive Director of Western Institute Gordon Mapley said. “Many 2012 adult bodies do not fit well in tablet arm chairs.” Former SGA President Al-lison Norris and Sen. Amber Nold are credited with the success of the plan to re-place the furniture with SGA funds. It was one of the last legislative decisions from the last SGA session. “I am very excited about

the classroom furniture up-grades and I applaud the SGA for providing the fund-ing,” Ritter said. Wilson Hall received most of the renovations with a to-tal of five rooms renovated with new tables and chairs and two rooms renovated

with new tablet style desks to keep the some room occu-pancy. Looney Sports Complex received two rooms with new tables and chairs and one with new tablet style desks. Popplewell Hall had two

rooms renovated with new tables and chairs and one with new tablet style desks. Eder Hall had one room renovated with new tables and chairs. To see the before and after photos of these rooms, go to griffonnews.com.

Ellis Cross | News [email protected]

The new desks (above right) which are wider and more flexible then the old desks (above left) are in place in a classroom in Looney Complex. Looney, Popplewell and Wilson all received new desks and tables as many were aging and outdated. *submitted photos

FEATURES September 13, 2012


When you think of big time comic books, Marvel and DC comics are usually at the top of the list. For student and comic book illustrator An-drew Setter, working for one of the two franchises would be a dream job for him.

Setter has been drawing for about 11 years now. One of the things that captivated his interest happens to be one of the biggest box office successes in recent history.

“It started when the first “Lord of the Rings” came out in theaters. That movie was a big inspiration for me,” Set-ter said.

Drawing was not some-thing that Setter always wanted to do. He stated that he was actually more of the sports guy before coming to college. When things didn’t go the way he planned, he decided sketching was some-thing he wanted to pursue.

“I didn’t really get serious about drawing until I came to college,” Setter said. “I was going to go into sports management because I was a big-time sports fan. Football ended up going under so I decided to get into drawing, and I have been doing it ever since then.”

Setter just finished his sec-ond comic book and stated that he is currently working on his third one. His fresh-man year of college is when he started to actually gain interest the comic book style of art. Once he sees what the script is about, Setter works his magic.

“I work in comic books right now,” Setter said. “All I do is draw pictures in a mov-ie format and sometimes in a picture format. I draw what the script says in interesting panels and pictures. I try to

make things cool to look at as much as possible.”

Setter feels that comic books are a good thing to get into now because of all the new hero movies that have been releasing. He also men-tioned that it was a struggle at first to find a comic book company to draw for. How-ever, Setter’s persistence and love for drawing eventually came through, and he was offered a job about a year ago.

“I applied for a couple of jobs and ended up not get-ting them,” Setter said. “But I kept applying and finally after filling out 100 applica-tions, somebody gave me a shot at it. I became a profes-sional in the business. It’s not like Marvel or DC yet, but I’m getting paid for my work.”

One of Setter’s biggest supporters happens to not only be a student at West-ern, but his fiancée. Audrey

Henderson has known Setter for four years and stated that Setter has improved dra-matically since the first time she met him. He has built his speed up and his drawings have become exceptional, she said.

“He has definitely come a long way since freshman year,” Henderson said. “I have seen all of his artwork and it is very admirable. I love that he takes so much pride in his drawings. I am really proud of him.”

Henderson thinks Setter’s drawings have turned out to look very realistic over time. She believes that he truly has what it takes to become an illustrator for the big-time comic strip DC comics.

Student Pierce Karguth has known Setter since their sophomore year of college. Karguth stated that even though he hasn’t seen as much of Setter’s art as Hen-derson, he feels that his de-velopment has been remark-able.

“He’s got a very distinc-tive style that he has found for himself,” Karguth said.

As for Setter, he thinks the comic job is just doing some-thing that he truly loves. He plans to work for a smaller company, IDW Publishing,

that has produced comics like “Star Trek” and “30 days and Nights.”

Setter said he wanted to do work for smaller companies in hopes of being noticed by

DC comics and Marvel. He also plans to fly out to San Diego, Calif., for the Comic-Con next year. Setter said he will spread his portfo-lio around when he arrives

there and hopes someone gives him a call.

For more on Setter’s illus-trations, check out the comic book “Vampire Guardian Angels” on Amazon.

ILLUSTRATOR SETS HIGH GOALS FOR DC, MARVEL COMICS

What is getting in shape, having a good time and meeting new people all in one? One word: intramurals.

There are intramurals of all kinds, from flag football, volleyball and basketball to dominoes, Hot Wheels rac-ing and ping pong.

Recreation Services and Facilities Director Wonda Berry chose a wide variety of sports because she says there is something out there for everybody.

A lot of former high school athletes and former and cur-rent college athletes along with Greek students sign up, but Berry believes students don’t have to have physical talent to have a good time during these events.

“I have several Greek teams; I can remember some Phi Sigs who came out and didn’t even play basketball,” Berry said. “They didn’t do very well, as far as their re-cord went, but they had a great time, and that’s what were here for; we want not only the students who do know how to play, but we want the students that have

never played the sport be-fore.”

Berry also stated she is adding some new games to the schedule, like broom-ball and floor hockey. While there are students who have played the main sports at the high school and collegiate level and already have skills in those sports, adding these new games will put every-body back to zero since these new games are not consid-ered in the mainstream of sports, people will have an equal chance at winning the first place medal.

Yes, an actual medal.Each category will have

an all-time winner who will receive a hard medal (not those cheap plastic ones you win in t-ball and such).

Medals are just one incen-tive, however.

Playing intramurals are a good way to keep in shape. Junior Whitnee Allen has played basketball and vol-leyball intramurals in the past, and now she and her team are signed up for pow-der puff football this year.

“Mainly the reason we do intramurals -- obviously we like all the sports -- is be-cause [my teammates] say ‘I just need to run, I need the

fitness, and I can’t do it by myself.’ So if there’s running involved and we don’t want to lose, then it works out,”

Allen said. “College stu-dents need to be fit.”

She says they are very competitive, so powder puff

and the other sports will allow her to release some agression.

Allen, Berry and student Ryan Smith all know how intense intramurals can get. Smith, who is majoring in physical education and mi-noring in athletic coaching, works as a manager under Berry. He oversees all the activities and makes sure sportsmanship is enforced. Smith has also both played in and refereed intramurals in the past, so he has wit-nessed how competitive the sports can be.

If you aren’t competitive, however, don’t let that scare you away.

“Intramurals are good for non-competitive and com-petitive people; sometimes Wonda will set it up to where certain teams will play others to try and to keep it equally balanced,” Smith said.

So far, flag football, pow-der puff and 3-on-3 basket-ball has already started, but there are plenty of games left to sign up for. The racquet-ball tournament entry date is Oct. 8 while volleyball is on Oct. 10. For those who want to do more of dance and yoga, there will be free class-es open to students at the

Baker Center -- Turbo Kick will be on Wednesday and Thursday nights at 5 and 7, Zumba on Tuesday and Thursday nights from 6-7, circuit training on Tuesdays from 5-6 p.m. and yoga on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from noon to 1 p.m.

There is also a mental intra-mural you can do on the on-line called “Pigskin Picks.” All you need is a device with the internet on it to partici-pate in this game, and you can win a medal each week. It is an online list of college and NFL football games on Saturday and Sunday for the next 10 weeks that students, faculty and staff can choose to win.

Note: For the “How to” on submitting your picks for this game, see below.

Berry said the number of participants are increasing each year, but she would like to see a lot more for years to come. Smith feels that in-tramurals can be for anyone and wants more students to compete.

“Come on out, whatever your favorite sport is, just come play and just have fun -- see for yourself.”

I n t r a m u r a l s : There’s something out there for everybody

You’ve probably already made your fantasy football picks, so now it’s time for you to make your “Pigskin Picks.”

Pigskin Picks is the sim-plest intramural event on campus -- there isn’t any ath-letic ability required, there won’t be any sweating and you don’t even have to show up. All you have to do is click your mouse.

Do this and each week there will be a winner who

will be awarded a first place medal.

Here’s how to get started:Step 1: Go to www.missouri-western.edu/recreation/.

Step 2: On the left-hand side of the welcome page, click “Intramural Sports.” There should be several boxes la-beled with the different ac-tivities.

Step 3: Click on “Pigskin Picks.”

Step 4: Select “Pigskin Picks -- Week 01” for the weekend of Sept. 15 and 16.

Step 5: Fill in your name, sex, status on campus and email address.

Step 6: Make your picks for each game (College and NFL) by clicking the bullet of which team you think will win.

Step 7: Repeat Step 6 for each row.

Step 8: Once you get to the last game of each category, type in the combined score in the box to the right. This will determine a winner if there is a tie.

Step 9: Click “Submit to Rec-reation Services!” when your decision has been made.

Step 10: Repeat all the steps for the upcoming weeks.

Note: Picks must be in by midnight of the Friday be-fore the Saturday and Sun-day games. Only one set of choices can be submitted for each week.

After that weekend’s results, a winner will be determined, contacted and awarded a first place medal!

Blair Stalder | Managing [email protected]

Blair Stalder | Managing [email protected]

Albert Shelby | Features [email protected]

Andrew Setter currently designs for a comic book author in California. The front cover for “Vampire Guardian Angels” (shown above) is the second issue and is illustrated by Setter and colored and lettered by Chad Hammontree, Griffon News graphics editor. *submitted photo

Illustration major Andrew Setter works on a cover page for a new comic book. Evan Roberts | Photo Editor


Powder Puff is one of the more popular fall intramural sports, said Wonda Berry, Recreation Services and Facilities director. *submitted illustration

HOW TO:Make your Pigskin Picks

CHECK OUT MORE OFANDREW ’S WORK A TANDREWSETTER . C AR- BONMADE . COM

FEATURESSeptember 13, 2012


A year after graduation, most college graduates are still struggling to find a job and a place in the real world. This is not the case for re-cent Steven L. Craig School of Business graduate, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Fac-tory franchise winner Leslie Oberg.

Since her graduation in May of 2011, Oberg and business partner James Bur-ris have opened, operated and sold a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory franchise store in Williamsburg, Iowa. The duo have now opened another store, this time a combination RMCF-Aspen Leaf frozen yogurt store in St. Joseph.

The RMCF-Aspen Leaf store located on Frederick Avenue is a corporate store that provides internships for Missouri Western and Craig

School of Business students. Instead of management run-ning the store, it is more prof-itable and customer friendly to have it owned and oper-ated by franchisees, Oberg and Burris said.

“When opportunity knocked, I had to answer, and St. Joseph is home,” said Oberg.

Starting this fall, students from Western’s applied en-trepreneurship class will in-tern at the St. Joseph store. Students will no longer have to travel great distances to complete internships as pre-vious internships were lo-cated in various parts of the United States.

In July of this year, the op-portunity to relocate to St. Joseph to own and operate a dual RMCF-Aspen Leaf store presented itself. Both Oberg and Burris jumped at the op-portunity to open another store, and to come home as

well. Oberg is from Kansas City, Mo., and Burris is from Clarksdale, Mo.

Burris says that although the business in St. Joseph is similar because of it being a franchise, the customer base is different in Iowa.

“In Iowa, we got a lot of foot traffic, and in St. Joe, it is more of a destination loca-tion,” Burris said. “Custom-ers come to the store spe-

cifically for Rocky Mountain Chocolate or Aspen Leaf.

After selling their Iowa store at a profit to recent Western graduate Isaac Col-lins, the two Missouri na-tives came home to work and play.

“I don’t feel that I have worked a day,” Oberg said. “When you love what you do, it’s not work, but my life.”

Employee and student Shelby Graeff agrees with Oberg. Graeff has worked for other small businesses that are managed. Graeff says she prefers working for an owner like Oberg.

“It’s the atmosphere, its not like work,” Graeff said. It’s being creative, it’s just fun.”

Although their life in Iowa consisted of 80 to 100 hours

of work per week, Oberg and Burris both enjoyed living there and loved the franchise store they owned and oper-ated. They put in a minimum of 70 hours at the St. Joseph store. While neither plan on going anywhere soon, both said they would do it all again.

“You have to take every opportunity that is offered.”

‘Life is sweet’ when you’re on top

www.GriffonNews.comView our video movie review at

*Photo courtesy of allmoviephotos.com

All Words, No Show:“The Words” fails with way too much dialogue

A cynic would say “If it looks good, sounds good, it generally isn’t.” In the case of CBS films’ “The Words,” the cynic would be right.

All of the cast portrays the characters well and rather believable, the overall plot is intriguing, and the cin-ematography is top-notch. But, where the filmmakers of “The Words” miss out is through the development of the pacing and their respect for the audience.

The film follows Rory Jan-sen, played well by Bradley Cooper, who is a writer that has a love for the art but has never been able to make it like he once dreamed. By to-tally random happenstance, he stumbles upon a brief-case that contains a manu-script for a novel that was never published. Jansen’s desperation with his career causes him to take the manuscript, refer to it as his own and publish it.

Writing ethics 101: Don’t steal another writer’s work.

Jeremy Irons plays the original writer of the manuscript and calls Jansen out on his plagiarizing.

Both Cooper and Iron play their roles pretty con-vincingly. What we expect to get out of them we get.

The issue is that the con-flict never reaches the po-tential that is truly has. The first 40 minutes of the film are pretty entertaining and the audience is really taken in by the story, because it is a pretty intriguing one.

The issue is with the script. Here we have a good concept, but a bad script. The perfect example of this is a scene about halfway through the film where Cooper and Irons’ charac-

ters meet to talk about the manuscript that was pub-lished.

A scene like this should really be the highlight of the film, in a good way. We should hear some sharp dia-logue and it should be very intense. The issue is that the scene dragged for a long time. Irons’ character went on and on about his back-

story and how he wrote that manuscript.

His story was something that could of been told in five to seven minutes, but was wasted with a 20-min-ute spiel.

The writers and directors of the film had an opportu-nity to really up the stakes in this scene and push towards some “edge-of-your-seat”

nervousness between the characters, but they failed to even recognize it.

The film was written and directed by Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal. One of the great advantages of the writers also directing the film is that you can absorb that passion and love that they have for the story.

This does not happen.The only feeling that

was received was that they were too in love with their own “words” to make a more enter-taining film. A lot of dialogue should have been cut and they should of focused on showing the audience the story, rather than telling it.

Despite some gorgeous cinematography, the experi-ence of “The Words” just felt like some old man explain-ing a hashed out story to me over 90 minutes.

The only thing I learned while watching this was that CBS needs to stick to television.

Save your money. Don’t go see this film.

Brian Duskey | Multimedia Editor [email protected]

Michelle Cordonnier | Staff Writer [email protected]

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory owner Leslie Oberg (left) and business partner James Burris (right) sold their business in Iowa to manage their new store in St. Joseph. Michelle Cordonnier | Staff Photographer

Sept. 15th

Also Featuring SIN specials

632 South 8th St.

Cheap Drinks to Friends that work in the service industry

All day on Mondays come by and spend time with your fellow coworkers who know what it’s like to serve the community. Now its our turn.

RMCF locations owned by Craig School graduates


We give this movie 2 out of 5 stars

Editorial: The cost of traditionOPINIONS September 13, 2012


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 [email protected]. 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 EditorGraphics Editor

News EditorPhoto Editor

Assistant Photo EditorSports Editor

Assistant Sports EditorFeatures Editor

Opinions & Online EditorMultimedia Editor

Design ArtistDesign Artist

Design ArtistAd Manager

Faculty Advisor

Eboni LaceyEditor-in-Chief

Blair Stalder Chad HammontreeEllis CrossEvan Roberts Tevin Harris Kyle InmanChristian MengelAlbert Shelby Matthew HuntBrian DuskeyLauren DillonHanna Greenwell Andy InmanKyler PenlandBob Bergland

The Griffon News Staff

CAMPUS VOICEWhere were

you on 9/11?

Check out the full responses at GriffonNews.com

Colten ShoresFreshman

Brittney JacksonSophomore

Roxanne ChaseSenior

“I was in second grade, and it affected me

because my aunt was in one of the towers.”

“I was in third grade, and it affected me

because my family is Muslim.”

“I was in sixth grade and 9/11 is still affecting me.”

“I was at work at the Missouri Veterans

home.”

Carlisha F. AbdullahFreshman

The debatable spending on school tradition could be headed to SGA’s way very soon.

During the first SGA meeting the student Senate approved $5,500 for the pur-chase of rally towels during the griffon athletic games. The funding for the towels is coming from the Senate’s special project budget that deals with improving the students experience at Missouri Western.

Usually this project works to bring students free t-shirts as well as the new chairs and tables last year in Popplewell. The Senate is careful to spend the funds wisely toward getting stu-dents items that they can use on a daily basis. It just seems that for the senate to

purchase 3,000 rally towels at $1.85 per towel for only half of the students is clearly wrong.

The idea behind the towels is a great idea in keeping

with school tradition, but for SGA to pass this through is completely unfair to say the least. Western has over 6,000 students who are full and part-time, and each one of

these students pays the SGA fee depending on the amount of credit hours enrolled in.

The SGA fee pays toward the rally towels, and though each student pays for the SGA fee not every student will get a rally towel. It’s time for the student Senate to touch base with the students and find out whether they believe the funding should be going toward items like these.

The price of the towel is inexpensive, but most feel that the quality is very poor. There will always be those who disapprove of them, and those who like the idea. A few senators voted against the towels, but having the towel issue on the agenda during the first meeting might not have been the best

idea.If the Senate and SGA are

looking at these towels as a form of tradition for the school, the question of price per towel and assurance that each student will receive one must be addressed. What happens to these towels after the games is a good question to ask.

There are already school traditions for Western, such as the homecoming bonfire, or the rival football game with Northwest Missouri State. SGA should plan out where funding is necessary, and not waste it on one- time items such as these towels.

Four years ago, when I first came to Missouri Western, I never thought the univer-sity would have any racial problems or issues. Though racism was still very alive in society, I just didn’t see that here. This was until the Griffon News made light of a very dark situation.

Just two years ago, a racial issue took place between the Black Student Union and Western police, and the Griffon News covered it all. Members of the BSU felt as though students of color were being targeted after numer-ous students were arrested on campus and during pub-lic university events. Former BSU president Leah Hayes started a petition requesting that campus police undergo diversity training. Though

she was supported by Esther Peralez, former vice presi-dent of student affairs, the petition was denied. The reason stated was that the officers already go through training that included edu-cation of diversity. Although the issue was never formerly brought up again, a solution never came. But now things are starting to change.

Western police hired two minority police officers. Beyond hiring these officers, numerous minorities have also be added to Western’s staff and faculty. There has also been an increase in foreign students and more and more students of color are becoming student lead-ers and prospective figures such as student Senators D’Gimy Candio and

Monterio Seewood, Center for Multicultural Education Program Assistants Leah Hayes and Keisha Caldwell as well as Western Playhouse actor Jeff Jones, Student Cinema Equipment Tech Carlos Gomez and Student Web Programmer Aliaksei (Alex) Yakimkou from Western’s Instructional Media Center. And for this, I’m extremely proud.

It’s very important that our university is represented by members of various racial backgrounds. As more and more students continue to call Western home, it’s vital for our face to be one that continually changes with more ethnic backgrounds in our forefront. As an African American student leader, I

take pride in Western’s huge effort to make the campus diverse. I do not believe other schools are following these guidelines and making these changes, which makes me feel even stronger in my school.

Western even took the diversity effort a step further on Aug. 22 when Western held a Student of Color Orientation. This program was a “welcome” event and focused on skills, student success and retention. As this program was presented dur-ing the Board of Governor’s meeting late August, more programs and events like this will continue through-out the year.

So, what am I saying exact-ly? Frankly I admire Western

for what they have done in these last couple years. Not only is the campus acting proactively in hiring more people with diverse racial backgrounds and cultures, but Western is seeing the importance of diversity, so that no student will ever feel racially threatened again.

Bravo, Western! I applaud you. And when I walk down that long aisle on graduation day this May, I will have even more confidence in myself and my school know-ing that my school wants us all to win -- no matter what color or creed. So fight on Griffons, we will all win one day, what a true victory Missouri Western State.

EIC commends Western for diversity effortsEditor-in-Chief | Eboni Lacey | [email protected]

Most people believe that a college degree is one of the best investments in a per-son’s life. However, there are pitfalls for earning that degree.

In May of 2012 the stu-dent loan debt in the United States exceeded the $1 tril-lion marker and is exceeding that number as we speak. Students who come to col-lege straight out of high school don’t usually under-stand how much money it really takes to earn a degree.

Yes, there are some who have worked their way through school and pay their own way, but a large major-ity of students who don’t might not realize that earn-ing that degree comes with baggage. If you are a stu-dent that is fortunate to go to college on a scholarship, then you should be thankful notto be in this category.

Every student can apply

for financial aid, but that doesn’t mean that you will receive the same amount of aid as the person next to you. There are so many dif-ferent ways for students to go about getting funding for college, but as a student there is more than just pay-ing for courses.

Not every student is fortu-nate enough to live, or have a job where they go to school. Students have so much more on their plates than a person who decides not to pursue a college degree.

There are many students that must live in the dorms, and financial aid will not pay for most of this and could well exceed over $10,000 a year.

Universities throughout the country should con-sider programs that won’t place students in loan debt after they graduate college. One of the best examples is

College of the Ozarks where students graduate debt-free through participating in the on-campus Work Education Program. This program has students work 15 hours on campus each week, and stu-dents earn scholarships and much more through the pro-gram.

The college of the Ozarks may be a private university where not everyone who applies is accepted, as accep-

tance is based on financial necessity. In society today nearly every student is financially needy.

If universities would con-sider a program that dis-courages debt and does not participate in the federal stu-dent loan program, imagine how much money students would save and how much our student loan debt would decline.

The reality is that it is too

late to forgive the over $1 trillion in student loan debt that has been built up thus far, but if universities would consider programs like the one at College of the Ozarks in the future, then we could alleviate one of many of the debts that the United States faces today.

The price of knowledgeOpinion Editor | Matt Hunt | [email protected]

OUT FRONTWITH HUNT


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Mika Cummins | Staff [email protected]

Western shut out Grace-land (Iowa), ranked No. 15 in the NAIA Women’s Soccer Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, 2-0, on Sunday afternoon’s game.

The Griffons were coming off of a fresh defeat at Wil-liam Jewell College on Sept. 4, which knocked them to a record of 1-2.

However, they showed off their strong offense and de-fense and grabbed another early win on Sept. 9, tying up their record to 2-2.

Senior goalkeeper Kelly Voigts had 5 saves alone in the first half and 9 total. She has greatly been a key component of our defense, explains sophomore mid-fielder Katie Kempf.

“Our defense is very strong this year,” Kempf said. “It builds up with the defense; if the defense is strong than [the offense] will work it’s way up. It all starts

with the defense, and Kelly is a great goalie.”

About 10 minutes prior to the end of the first half, Kempf knocked in a heavily challenged goal to put West-ern up 1-0 over Graceland.

And the Griffons didn’t stop there.

They stayed on top of it as they entered the second pe-riod. The team took 11 shots

on goal in the second half, 8 more than it had in the first period.

“I think it was the best we have moved the ball so far this season, so I think we did really well,” Kempf said.

Kempf later fired another goal off of an assist from sophomore forward K.C. Ramsell, making the score 2-0.

The goal was Kempf’s third of the season, already tying her total amount of goals she had last year.

Two goals were too much for the Yellowjackets to over-come.

The two goals scored matches a season-high for the Griffons as they also put in two against East Central University on Sept. 2.

“Overall, I thought the ef-fort was there,” coach Chad Edwards said. “We played a good solid 70 minutes of quality soccer. There was a bit of a lull there where we were on our heels a bit, but that’s okay. It’s going to happen during games and I’m proud with how we responded to that adver-sity and bounced back and were able to put our chances away.”

The girls start MIAA con-ference play at 4 p.m. on Fri-day, Sept. 14 at Truman State.

M I A A S o c c e r C o n f e r e n c e S t a n d i n g s

# 1. Central Oklahoma

# 2. Nebraska-Kearney

# 3. Central Missouri

# 4. Northeastern State

# 5. Fort Hays State

# 6. Truman State

# 7. Southwest Baptist

# 8. Lindenwood

# 9. Northwest Missouri State

# 10. Emporia State

# 11. Missouri Western

# 12. Missouri Southern

# 13. Washburn

*courtesy of MIAA.com

Western shut out Graceland 2-0 at Sunday’s game. The Grif-fons are now 2-2 and ranked No. 11 in the MIAA, already two spots higher than the start of the season. Evan Roberts | Photo Editor

Western Soccer blanks Graceland, moves up in rankings

Missouri Western im-proved to 2-0 after a domi-nant 56-0 performance against William Jewell Col-lege at Spratt Stadium in its only non-conference game of the season.

“As far as the record I was happy to get it, but I was more concerned with us just winning,” Bass said. “I’m fortunate enough to have a good enough defense where they could help me out to get the record.”

Running Back Michael Hill started off the scoring for the Griffons by breaking a 52-yard run for a touchdown less than a minute into the game. Hill later scored on a

26-yard reception and finished off his day by running past everyone for a 92-yard touch-down. He finished with 210 yards on just 14 car-ries for an average of 15 yards per-carry. Hill has 5 touchdowns in the first two games of the season.

“It was pretty easy actually,” Hill said. “If I get an opportunity I’m going to take advantage of it. I just try to do my best.”

Western showed its depth at the running back position behind Hill as ex-plosive redshirt freshman Raphael Spencer ran for 81 yards and a touchdown on seven carries, while Dominic Thomas took five carries for

50 yards and a touchdown.Tight end Reggie Jordan

scored his third touchdown of the season on an outstand-ing 11-yard reception mid-way through the first quarter. It was the first of two touch-down passes by quarterback

Travis Partridge, who threw for 129 yards and two touch-downs. Western’s total of-fense was 539 yards with the rushing attack responsible for 398 yards. The Griffons were up 35-0 at halftime and never looked back.

“We’ve been pretty ac-curate so far with a high percentage,” Jerry Par-tridge said. “I think we do a good job of manag-ing football games here. It’s good to get a l ot of guys playing time and any time you pitch a shutout.”

“[William Jewell] com-peted pretty good from the mid-first quarter to the early second quar-ter. I think we’re good, but every week I’ll take a victory however we can

get it.”Yomi Alli led the Grif-

fons with 10 tackles includ-ing two tackles for a loss of a yards. Jeremy Weston and Kirk Resseguie both made interceptions with William

Jewell deep in Griffon terri-tory threatening to score.

Backup quarterback Zach Hibbits came in during the fourth quarter with the game out of reach, and scored a touchdown on a 3-yard run and connected with Andrew Molloy on a 12-yard touch-down.

“We expect to take care of business every week,” left tackle Colt Schulte said. “We’re definitely excited to move on to MIAA play next week. I think we have a pret-ty good team and we want to keep it rolling.”

The Griffons return to MIAA action against confer-ence opponent Nebraska-Kearney at 6 p.m. on Satur-day at Spratt Stadium.

Kyle Inman | Sports [email protected]

Griffons shut down Cardinals 56-0, remain undefeated

The Griffon offensive line prepares to hike the ball in hopes of scoring. Tevin Harris | Asst. Photo Editor

SPORTSSeptember 13, 2012


“He should have been recruited heavy, but he wasn’t,” Partridge said. “There’s some teams that dabbled in him, but I don’t think there was anyone that was incredibly serious.”

Bass took a redshirt during his true freshman season.

“We attempt to redshirt all

of our freshmen because it grows them into fifth year se-niors that we are seeing right now -- men,” Partridge said. “A lot of them are not quite ready to go strength and size-wise, and it gives them a year to put on something.”

Bass weighed just 200 pounds during his redshirt season and has transformed into a 275-pound-force four years later.

His sack total has im-

proved every season as he took down the quarterback six-and-a-half times as a freshman, eight times as a sophomore and led the con-ference with 14 1/2 as a ju-nior, which earned him first-team All-American honors.

Bass needs 15 more sacks this season to tie Colora-do School of Mines’ Marc Schiechl’s all-time Division II record for sacks with 46, set in 2010.

BASS: CONTINUED FROM FRONT

Bass aims for 2 sacks per game

Far left: David Bass (91) sacks William Jewell College’s quarterback making Western’s career-sack record 31.

Left: Bass claps his hands in celebration after a strong defensive play.

Above: Bass battles an offensive lineman from William Jewell.

Jason Brown | Photo Contributor

Soccer player joins Team USA in Deaflympics

In the summer before her freshman year of college, Missouri Western soccer player Sydney Andrews was in Turkey playing for Team USA to win the World Cup. Turkey was the home of the 2012 Deaflympics, where hearing impaired athletes from all over the world meet to compete.

Andrews was born deaf.; she has had to learn how to adapt to everyone around her since she was a child. Although she wears hearing aids, she still has to read lips in order to communicate.

“If I don’t have them (hear-ing aids) in, I basically get nothing,” Andrews said. “When I do have them, in it’s like a rumble, like how you hear thunder, and you can feel it. Like if a door was slammed, I’d feel it and know something happened, but I wouldn’t really know

what it was.”The Deaflympics

are separate from the Paralympics,and were creat-ed 63 years ago because they do not have a deaf category in the Paralympics. Paralym-pics are Olympic events that are categorized by game and subcategorized by a person’s physical disability.

Andrews, who wears No. 10 for Western, started out playing soccer at just 5 years old when her uncle was coaching a team. She played for Wichita Northwest High School in Wichita, Kan., and was Honorable Mention All-City as well as a Titan Classic Champion. She was being re-cruited by multiple schools, one of them being Washburn. The head coach of Washburn knew she was deaf and told her to try out for the Deaf-lympic team, and she ulti-mately made the team as the only player representing the Midwest.

The Deaflypics was an

even playing field for An-drews. She was on a field full of athletes who have always dealt with the same prob-lems. For their convenience, the referees were given flags instead of whistles. Both coaches and players knew what was needed to com-municate with each other, and used a lot of signals. One thing that helped the team chemistry grow was watch-ing U.S .soccer play in Lon-don.

“We were actually over in Turkey and sat and watched the U.S. women’s team on TV,” Andrews said. Their first game they were down 0-2 and ended up coming back to win 4-2. We were re-ally pumped up, saying ‘If they can do it, we can do it,’ and no matter what happens we can turn it around and make it positive.”

Andrews ultimately chose Western because of her trust in head coach Chad Ed-wards, who, as a coach, has

had just as much adapting to do as Andrews.

“There is a lot of nonver-bal communication that has to happen,” Edwards said. “I’ve never had a deaf player before, so it’s been a learn-ing process for me and how I need to communicate. Right now I’m utilizing the play-ers. I’ll tell one of the play-ers something Sydney needs to know and they’ll go re-lay that information to her. It’s a work in progress, and we’ll get it figured out as she goes throughout her career. Everyone has really done a good job at helping and fig-uring out ways to make our communication better.”

Sophomore teammate K.C. Ramsell has seen improve-ment in communication since Andrews has been here.

“Sometimes she can’t al-ways hear coach in practice,” Ramsell said. “We’ve all defi-nitely gotten used to helping her, and no matter what we are always there for her.”

Andrews’ proudest mo-ment was one that only a few could understand; hav-ing a 1-0 lead against Russia and seeing that final flag go up, knowing she and her team won the World Cup. Andrews is now ready to start a new chapter and has brought her talents and ex-perience to St. Joseph.

Christian Mengel | Asst. Sports [email protected]

Volleyball falls to Northwest in home openerMissouri Western loses its

first MIAA contest at home to rival Northwest Missouri State (25-16, 19-25, 21-25, 18-25) Sept. 11.

The Griffons came back to St. Joseph hoping to start off conference play with a win, with a hot record of 6-2, the best start they’ve had since the beginning of the 2006 season where they started off 8-2. That great start took a painful turn in the heated rivalry game.

Coach Cory Frederick saw many things that need to be changed and believes the team learned a lot in this loss.

“The biggest thing was the momentum we had in game one was generated by North-west missing some serves,” Frederick said. “That was a big thing we were talking about in the locker room, finding some ways to gener-ate that on our side without waiting for the other team to make mistakes. It’s just growing pains with having a young team. We’ll get it fig-ured out.”

The Griffons got off to a great start, and owned the first set without any prob-lems.

The second set was a differ-ent story, with the two young gun teams fighting hard and staying just a couple points within each other. The mo-mentum changed when a questionable call mid-set eventually overturned in the Bearcats’ favor, putting them up 12-10.

This led to a 4-point run that ultimately was too much

ground for the Griffons to make up, losing the sec-ond and third set in similar fashion. Northwest quickly jumped out to a huge lead on a crushing 13-3 run in the fourth and final set.

The Griffons showed signs of life later on bringing them-selves back within five, but showed to be too much for the young squad.

The first set charge was led by team leader Stephanie Hattey who had 4 kills, 10 on the night, and found help from the freshman Jessie Thorup, who also had 4 kills in the first set, with 8 on the night. The freshman showed no fear in her first MIAA bat-tle against a rival at MWSU Fieldhouse.

“I was nervous because it was my first home game, and we had a huge crowd,” Thorup said. “I respond well to nerves most of the time. When I’m nervous I usu-ally put that energy into the

game instead of my head.”Hattey noticed some

things that occur often with young teams.

“We’re so close to each oth-er that it’s almost a disadvan-tage,” Hattey said. “We’re so afraid that we are going to make each other mad from saying the wrong thing, and we need get that mentality out. If that goes away then we’ll be fine.”

Brooke Bartosh helped lead the way for Northwest with a great performance. Bartosh had 21 kills on the night, bringing her total to 107 so far in the Bearcats first 9 games.

Hopefully the team can change their MIAA luck this weekend when they play the winless Missouri Southern on Friday, and Emporia State on Saturday.

Amanda Boender (14) and Jessie Thorup (16) attempt to block the ball at the Tuesday’s game against Northwest Missouri State.Tevin Harris | Asst. Photo Editor

Christian Mengel | Asst. Sports [email protected]

Freshman mid-fielder Sydney Andrews

Evan Roberts | Photo Editor

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Griffon News Issue 2