Missouri Valley College, Marshall, Mo. Volume 19, No. 4 May 10, 2014

TheThe DeltaDelta

Gathering

TogetherEvents draw students

Big events at Missouri Valley College at the end of

the 2013-2014 college year drew students for

moments of tribute, celebration, and honors.

Members of the MVC community (above) gath-

ered at the football/soccer field to form in “V” as a

greeting, tribute, and moment for prayer for Ed

Leslie, associate professor of Mathematics, who was

hospitalized for a stroke in mid April. Those who

helped to organize the tribute were Paul and Heather

Troth, Susan Dittmer, and the Rev. Pam Sebastian.

Another event, organized by newly-elected SGA

student leaders Matthew Tramont and Conner Swift

and other History 355 Civil Rights class members

(Cassondra Copeland, Amanda Buhr, James

Withers, and Chelsey Merrigan) in late April, invit-

ed students (below) to gather for fun and respect in

celebrating campus diversity involving majors,

sports, nationality, ethnicity, race, gender, sexual

orientation, region, or other differences. The history

class is taught by Professor Tamara King.

The last big event for the college year, held on May

10, was the 125th Commencement ceremony.

Phillip Fowler (below left) was one of 241 graduates

earning degrees. See Commencement pages 11-12.

2 May 10, 2014OPINIONThe Delta

The Delta

Editors for this edition:

Brent Kalwei and Will Lee

Reporters: Ryan Canfield, Jessica Crabtree,

and Tyrone Ritter

Delta Online Webmaster: Amit Jain

This edition of the Missouri Valley College Delta was pro-

duced with the assistance of the Newspaper class, the Copy

Editing class, and other classes and students.

Faculty Advisers:

David L. Roberts and Harry Carrell

The Delta reserves the right to edit or reject any articles or

other material submitted. Opinions in the Delta do not nec-

essarily reflect the views of MVC or the Delta newspaper.

The Delta website is located at www.mvcdelta.com. The

Facebook page for photos is listed under MVC Delta.

The Delta is published by

Missouri Valley College

500 East College Street

Marshall, MO 65340

(660) 831-4211

Email: robertsd@moval.edu

The Delta is a publication project of the MVC Mass

Communication Department. It is printed by the

Marshall Democrat-News. It is a member of the

Missouri College Press Association.

Congress shall make no law respecting an estab-

lishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exer-

cise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech,

or of the press; or the right of the people peace-

ably to assemble, and to petition the government

for a redress of grievances.

--First Amendment to

the U.S. Constitution

(The following speech was givenby Brent Kalwei, representing theClass of 2014 at the 125th

Missouri Valley CollegeCommencement ceremony onSaturday, May 10, at Gregg-Mitchell Field. Kalwei was one ofthe student honorees at the ScholarBanquet in April, a MassCommunication major with a con-centration in Print/Journalism, apitcher on the Viking baseballteam, and a co-editor of this edi-tion of the Delta. He also achievedperfect attendance at his classesand sports practices for all fouryears of his college career.)

Speech by Brent Kalwei

I want to welcome and congratulate all of the2014 Viking graduates and the many familiesand friends who are gathered here today to cele-brate this special day with us.

Every single graduate sitting here today has aunique story to tell about how they becameMissouri Valley College Vikings. My storybegan on a cold January day in 2011. That’swhen my dad and I came to MVC for my base-ball tryout with then head coach Bill Browett. Iwas offered a partial scholarship.

At the time I had a few other offers as well,but Valley just felt like the right choice. I knewhere I would be given a chance to earn my roleas a Viking pitcher. Most importantly it wasclose to home and more affordable.

As most of you sitting here today probablyencountered, freshman year was definitely thetoughest. My first semester here I didn’t hardlyknow anybody and I really began to get home-sick being away from my family and friendsback at home.

As it is with most experiences in life, I startedto get more comfortable as time went by. Assemesters passed I began to develop relation-ships and friendships with my teammates,roommates, coaches, teachers, our guidancecounselor Paul Harmon, and even the helpfulpeople in the business offices.

One of the hardest parts of being a collegestudent is actually something that should beeasy. That is deciding what you want to do with

the rest of your life. During myfirst few semesters here, I had noidea what I wanted to major in.

Everything changed when Itook Advanced Techniques ofComposition with Loren Gruberand Introduction to MassCommunication with DavidRoberts. In Gruber’s class I real-ized I had an ability to write at ahigh level. I also found out that Ihad a creative mind that wasinterested in expressing mythoughts by putting words onpaper.

I vividly remember speakingwith David Roberts about myinterest in one day becoming asports writer for the Kansas CityRoyals or Chiefs. With my ability

to write and my expertise in sports, mass com-munication was the right choice. I also enjoyedthe interesting sports conversations with masscomm faculty Ken Kujawa, Harry Carrell, andChaz Maddi.

About a week ago today, I played my finalcollege baseball game. Any of you who playedsports here know it’s a tough feeling when yourcollege career is over. I believe the most impor-tant part of being in athletics is developing rela-tionships with teammates and coaches. I wouldsay my emotions after the final game of the sea-son sum it up perfectly. I shed some tears afterthat game. I think it’s because I realized that it

Senior class representative credits parents, instructors, team as well as perfect attendance for success in achieving degree

Brent Kalwei provides greetings from the senior class and summarizes his

story, which represents the stories of many seniors, about the college years

at MVC. To the far left is Commencement speaker William Ferguson.

(Continued on next page)

3May 10, 2014 NEWSThe Delta

Cartoon by Christina Bautista

The zombie family considers“The Walking Dead” to betheir favorite TV reality show.

was the last time we would all be united together playing thegame we all know and love

I can truly say I learned a valuable life lesson from all myteammates this year. I’ve never been around a collective groupof individuals who believed in one another more than theydid. It didn’t matter if we were up or down by and bunch ofruns. The atmosphere of our dugout never changed becausewe knew whoever was out there was going to come throughfor us.

We used the word “family” a lot this year when breakingdown huddles. I can honestly say these men are like brothersto me. Whether it be playing baseball, going on long trips, orhanging out with each other around campus, they helped cre-ate a family away from home for me.

I think one of my biggest goals with this speech is to get mymom to cry. Hopefully it touches her heart when I say she, mydad, and my girlfriend Jessika are my biggest heroes and theyhave a greater influence on my life than anyone else. Thesethree people are always there for me. They do things everysingle day of my life that constantly remind me of how muchthey care.

When I need advice, my parents are still the first people Irun to. Anytime I feel like my performance in life isn’t goodenough, my parents always find the positives in each situation.

My girlfriend has become my best friend. She and I onlyview each other in the highest regard and like one another forthe unique individuals that we are. It meant a lot to me whenshe would sometimes make the drive from her home, which isover an hour away, just to come see me at school.

I think one of the best feelings in life is when you have highaspirations for yourself and someone says to you, “I know youcan do it!” That is the kind of belief and support I alwaysreceive from both my parents and my girlfriend. Because ofthat, I have more confidence in my abilities. And let me tellyou, it’s a great feeling! I’m honored to celebrate this day withthem.

All of us here today have something in common. We are alltalented and hard working individuals who have made it to themountain top of our academic careers. But perhaps whatmakes us even more special is what we don’t have in com-mon. Every one of us set different goals for ourselves in col-lege.

My biggest goal was to achieve perfect attendance through-out my college career. I can proudly say I achieved that goal. Iknew going to class and learning a little everyday would giveme the best chance to thrive. Every one of you seniors alsohad your own unique plan to help you excel in the classroomand graduating today is proof that your strategy worked.

We all leave here today ending our voyage as Vikings atMVC. With that being said a new voyage is upon us. Some ofus will leave here and go on to graduate school, most of uswill go on start brilliant careers, get married, and have chil-dren. No matter what you do in life, I can guarantee you thatthere will be struggles and failures along the way. But like myfavorite motivational speaker Jim Valvano once said, “Don’tgive up, don’t ever give up.”

Speech by 2014 graduate125th MVC Commencement

(Continued from previous page)

Results of a survey of student lifestyle

and opinions, conducted by the Delta news-

paper/Voyage magazine in March and

April, have been tallied.

About one-tenth (136 students) of the

MVC student population (1,400 enrollment

at the beginning of the school year) were

surveyed, involving seven classes.

Of the 136 student polled for 51 ques-

tions, 20 were seniors, 31 were juniors, 44

were sophomores, and 41 were freshmen.

For gender numbers, 86 were male and 50

were female. A little more than half of the

students (69) were from Missouri.

A large number (115) said they came to

MVC to play sports, with 123 saying they

attend sports events, but only 57 said they

attended Fine Arts events, with Theater

(42) and Music (31) as the biggest draws.

For politics, 47 students said their views

were the same as their parents, 44 said they

were more liberal, and 38 said they were

more conservative. A large majority (131)

had a friend of a different race and 85 had

a friend who was gay.

Large student majorities believed in God

(126) but didn’t attend church regularly

(95), thought the tuition was too high

(125), supported background checks for

gun ownership (124), used Facebook (123),

would vote for a woman for president

(116), were against American soldiers stay-

ing in Afghanistan (110), and supported a

minimum wage increase (106).

Smaller majority figures showed that

students primarily get their news from the

Internet (89), use Twitter (87), don’t read

books for recreation (85), favored legaliza-

tion of marijuana in Missouri (79), didn’t

think Obamacare had improved healthcare

(77), and favored legalizing same-sex mar-

riage (76).

Of the 136 polled, 57 students said they

had tried marijuana, 50 said they had cheat-

ed on a college test or assignment, and 29

said they owned a gun. Only 7 students

said they smoke cigarettes. For complete

survey, see Delta website this summer.

Survey looks at student life, opinions

4 May 10, 2014NEWSThe Delta

Student creates new iPhone appStory by Brent Kalwei

The “Simbol” application has made

a splash in the iPhone community, as

over 160,000 users have downloaded

it since the app made its appearance

in January.

Amit Jain, a Mathematics senior

and Delta webmaster, created the

application for a need that he had.

When solving equations on a phone

or keyboard there are symbols that

aren't applicable unless you search

for them.

This application has an entire list

of hard to find symbols, which some-

one can click on and use for their

convenience.

Jain said nothing like this had

existed before. He wanted to address

something that few people had or

needed to be approved upon.

Writers, developers and engineers

all emailed him and said this applica-

tion was efficient to their field.

Once the particular idea for this

application came about, it took Jain

three weeks to complete it.

Jain is currently working on two

more applications but doesn't want to

release the identity of them at the

moment.

Prior to developing Simbol, Jain

previously created an application

called "Triangle Solver" that was also

inspired to help his own need. This

application allows users to type in

the degree amounts of particular

sides, and then the missing sides are

solved.

Simbol has found its way to the

mainstream among other top iPhone

applications. It was a top 10 free

application in the United States for

three days. It was also the banner for

the "Productivity" category for

iPhones.

Jain said he has received positive

reviews through emails from users

and friends.

With the invention of these applica-

tions, Jain has received offers from

people to create some for their com-

panies.

"To solve a problem that hasn't

been solved," Jain said. He added

that friends face the same problems,

therefore making this application a

hot commodity.

Jain has also been designing web-

sites since the time he was 14, which

has helped to earn him the position of

webmaster for the award-winning

Delta website at Missouri Valley

College, a website that Jain created

in 2011.

“Simbol” creator Amit Jain.

Story from MVC

Communications

Missouri Valley College

mass communication students

competed at the annual

Student Media Competition

sponsored by the Missouri

Broadcast Educators Associ-

ation (MBEA), bringing home

five awards. Competition sub-

missions include projects com-

pleted during the 2013 spring

and fall semesters.

For KMVC 91.7, Missouri

Valley’s campus radio station,

Ashley Llorens (So., Chicago,

Ill.) won first place in public

service announcements with

her PSA on teen abuse titled

“You Are Better Than This;”

Tyrone Ritter (Sr., Marshall, Mo.)

and Katherine Flores (Sr., Hilmar,

Calif.) finished first in the news show

category with “Today in the Valley;”

Ryan Canfield ( Jr., Marshall, Mo.)

received honorable mention recogni-

tion in audio documentary with his

interview of Becky Plattner; and

James O’Sullivan (Sr., St. Louis,

Mo.) received honorable mention

recognition in audio play-by-play for

his work on MVC’s soccer and vol-

leyball competitions.

For KMVC-TV, MVC’s campus tel-

evision studio, Aki Nagasaka (Sr.,

Chiba, Japan) received honorable

mention recognition in the hard news

story category with her cov-

erage of the Missouri Valley

College Higher Learning

Commission visit.

“I’m extremely proud to

play a small part in the

development and progress

that our broadcast students

are making under the direc-

tion of Ken Kujawa and

Chaz Maddi,” said Harry

Carrell, assistant professor

of Mass Communication.

Missouri Valley College

Mass Communication facul-

ty members preparing stu-

dents for this competition

include Carrell; Maddi,

instructor and director of

KMVC-TV; Kujawa,

adjunct instructor and direc-

tor of the Viking Sports Network; and

Dave Roberts, assistant professor.

The MBEA includes many of the

two- and four-year colleges and uni-

versities in the state of Missouri.

Broadcast students win awards for media work

MBEA award recipients (from left) are MVC stduents Tyrone Ritter, Ashley Llorens, Kathrine

Flores, and James O’Sullivan. Not pictured: Ryan Canfield and Aki Nagasaka.

5May 10, 2014 SPORTSThe Delta

Senior Day forMVC Baseball

Top left: No. 6 shortstop

Josh Felz takes a swing

against Peru State

University on April 26.

Left: No. 8 third base-

man Trevor Duffy is up

at bat.

Left, middle: Senior Day

photo with (back row)

No. 29 relief pitcher

Stefan Weinrich, No. 19

relief pitcher Brent

Kalwei, No. 7 center

fielder Bobby Warchuck,

No. 21 relief pitcher

Reggie Hancock, No. 2

starting pitcher Brady

Nowak, (front) Graduate

Assistant Weston Loftin,

Head Coach John

McEachern, and

Assistant Coach Matt

Dwyer.

Right: No. 11

starting pitcher

Dominique Smith

throws side arm.

Far right: He’s safe

and scores...Bobby

Warchuck slides in

to home plate.

6 May 10, 2014The Delta SPORTS

Story by Chase Burgess

A 16-hour flight and a three-hour train

ride is all that separates Omar al-Refae

from his home in Amman, Jordan.

Refae, a double major in Computer

Information Systems and Health

Information Systems, is a sophomore

who is on the junior varsity basketball

team at Missouri Valley College.

Refae’s love of basketball started when

he was in elementary school. He had a

small hoop in his backyard that he would

practice on.

Refae began playing organized basket-

ball the summer between his fourth and

fifth grade year.

He attended Al Reyada Scientific High

School in Amman, Jordan where he aver-

aged 16 points, five rebounds and three

assists per game.

Refae played for the club team ASU Sports

on the under 15, under 17, and under 19

teams. While playing for ASU Sports, he was

coached by a man from Brooklyn, New York.

“I’ve had coaches from the United Sates,

Greece, and Jordan which have all given me a

perspective as to how basketball is played in

different regions of the world,” said al-Refae.

Refae is a fan of the National Basketball

Association’s Los Angeles Lakers and the

National Collegiate Athletic Association’s

University of North Carolina Tar Heels. To

say al-Refae is a big fan of the Tar Heels

would be an understatement.

“I love Roy Williams. I own and have read

all of his books.” al-Refae said. “The thing

that grabbed me the most was the fact that

Michael Jordan played for them.”

Refae first saw the Tar Heels play back in

2003 when they played the University of

Illinois Fighting Illini on ESPN in Jordan.

Refae plans on attending graduate school at

UNC after he graduates from Valley.

“When I was 14 years old, I called the assis-

tant coaches at UNC. They laughed when they

found out how young I was,” al-Refae said.

Although they didn’t offer him a scholar-

ship, the UNC coaches helped point al-Refae

in the right direction.

“They told me to start looking at smaller

schools, so I found Missouri Valley and I got

in contact with assistant coach Ramone

Powell. A couple phone calls later, I had a

scholarship.”

In his second year in the program, al-Refae

is a leader on the court for the junior varsity

team.

“He’s the most experienced player and he’s

a very vocal leader,” teammate Matthew Frisk

said. Frisk, a freshman from Stover, Mo., is

one of the guards on Valley’s junior varsity.

“If you make a mistake, he’ll come up to you

and explain how to fix the mistake. He’s very

helpful to the freshmen.”

Refae works out two to three hours a day on

his own on top of attending mandatory prac-

tices.

Refae plans on playing professional basket-

ball in Jordan after he receives his master’s

degree from UNC.

Jordan’s professional basketball league, the

Jordanian Basketball League, differs heavily

from the NBA. The JBL has only 10 teams,

limitations on quality of players on each team,

no salary cap, and they use the International

Basketball Federation’s, FIBA, rules.

Each team is allowed to have only four

players who are not from Jordan. These

players are called “imports.” This rule

is in place to help develop the sport of

basketball in Jordan. Each team is also

limited to no more than six players

from a list called the “Elite 30.” This

list details the top 30 players in the

JBL.

“Fundamentally, the two leagues are

the same, however the NBA is much

more athletic,” al-Refae said.

Refae is a leader not only on the

court, but off the court as well. Refae

works as a resident assistant (RA) in an

area where many basketball players live

on campus.

“He doesn’t let his RA job get in the

way of how he treats his teammates on

the court. If a guy on the team gets written up

they understand that he’s just doing his job,”

Frisk said.

“Omar has been an excellent res-life staff

member. No matter who Omar is interacting

with, he treats them fairly and consistently,”

Brett Fuchs, director of Housing and

Residence Life, said.

Being one of only three Muslim students on

campus, al-Refae is no stranger to being the

punch line of stereotypical jokes about people

from the Middle East.

“I’ve never experienced any racism here,

but some people joke too much about it. I

have thick skin, but sometimes it becomes too

much. Overall, people have been very sup-

portive and welcoming.”

It doesn’t matter what country you are from,

what religion you are, or what people assume

about you and your family. What does matter

is how far you will go and how hard you will

work to reach your goals.

Most people would look at a junior varsity

player at an NAIA school such as Valley and

wonder: why would you work so hard?

For al-Refae, the answer is simple.

Basketball is his love, his passion, and hope-

fully his future.

Basketball player: From Middle East to Midwest

On the court for MVC, basketball player Omar al-Refae

(center) also enjoyed the sport in the country of Jordan.

7May 10, 2014 SPORTSThe Delta

Commentary by Brent Kalwei

This is an all-time starting lineup I

compiled that I believe would give

me the best chance to win a baseball

game with the greatest players who

ever played the game of baseball.

Over the summer, I made a list of my

50 greatest baseball players of all-

time through numerous hours of his-

torical research.

I examined more than 75 players I

thought deserved to be on my list by

looking at stats, longevity, and

awards won. For story purposes, I

narrowed my top 50 list to this con-

densed 10-player starting lineup

(which includes a designated hitter

for the pitcher). All player stats listed

in this story come courtesy of base-

ball-reference.com.

I have a few guidelines for my list.

First, each player must have played

professional baseball in the United

States, because I’m not going to

assume any information about a

player I know nothing about. With

that being said, you will see a Negro

League Baseball player on this list.

Although we’ll never know how

good he really was because of no

official MLB stat documentation, I

felt it would be unfair to not make

him and other NLB players a candi-

date for my all-time team as they

were not allowed in the majors.

I also want to note that no players

associated with steroids are on my

list. I believe it is considered cheat-

ing and I don’t want to assume how

their careers would have turned out

without using performance enhanc-

ing drugs.

(Starting Pitcher)

Walter Johnson (1907-1927) 2.17

ERA/3,509 SO/531 CG/110 SHO/1

No-Hitter

It’s hard to argue against Walter

Johnson being the greatest pitcher of

all-time. His 110 shutouts ranks

number one all-time. He is also the

only 3,000 strikeout pitcher with an

earned run average south of 2.86.

“The Big Train” amazingly carried a

2.17 ERA spanning over 5,914 career

innings pitched. Johnson’s 417 wins

is second all-time only behind Cy

Young. There have been some great

pitchers but none with the overall

package to be as good as Walter

Johnson.

(Catcher)

Josh Gibson

Josh Gibson is considered to be not

only the best Negro League player of

all-time but also the best player who

never got a chance

to play in the

Majors. Since

Gibson’s numbers

in the Negro

Leagues are unof-

ficial and, because

of a lack of offi-

cial stat keepers,

his numbers are

not fully known.

Therefore, you

have to go off leg-

endary stories

other players have told about him.

Johnny Bench was another strong

candidate for my starting catcher

role, but Gibson had power matched

by very few. According to Gibson’s

Hall of Fame plaque, it is said he hit

an estimated 800 combined home-

runs during his stint in the Negro

Leagues and numerous other leagues.

This would have made him the all-

time homerun leader in MLB history.

No catcher in MLB history has even

hit 500 homeruns. Unfortunately

Gibson died at the young age of 35

in 1947. Later that year Jackie

Robinson made his Major League

debut, breaking the color barrier.

(First Baseman)

Lou Gehrig (1923-1939) .340

BA/2,721 H/493 HR/1,992 RBI/102

SB

“The Iron Horse” in my opinion is

one of the most underrated players

who has ever played this grand

game. It’s easy to get overshadowed

playing alongside Babe Ruth for

most of your career. The truth was

Gehrig could flat-out play and should

be mentioned with the greatest play-

ers of all-time. Gehrig played in a

then record 2,140 consecutive games.

Along with consistency of playing

every day, Gehrig consistently drove

in runs with a total of 1,992 runs bat-

ted in. He has more grand slams than

anybody with 23 bases clearing

blasts. He bettered 140 runs batted in

eight times in his career and drove in

more than 170 on

three different

occasions.

Unfortunately

Gehrig was diag-

nosed with bone

disease and died

at the young age

of 37, not allow-

ing him to finish

what was already

a legendary

career. Lou

Gehrig is the first

player in baseball history to have his

number retired from the franchise he

played for.

(Second Baseman)

Rogers Hornsby (1915-1937) .358

BA/2,930 H/301 HR/1,584 RBI/135

SB

Rogers Hornsby ranks second all-

time in batting average only behind

Ty Cobb. Hornsby is also the only

player in Major League Baseball his-

tory with both a .350 or higher bat-

ting average and more than 300

career homeruns. When you’re the

only player in a certain club, you’re

among the best. Even more impres-

sive, along with Ted Williams,

Hornsby is the only other player to

win the Triple Crown in batting

twice. I don’t think there is any ques-

tion that Hornsby is the greatest sec-

ond baseman of all-time.

(Third Baseman)

Mike Schmidt (1972-1989) .267

BA/2,234 H/548 HR/1,595 RBI/174

SB/10 GG

Mike Schmidt could flat-out blast

the ball into the seats. “Schmitty” led

the league in homeruns on eight dif-

ferent occasions. To go along with

his towering homeruns, Schmidt

ranks second all-time among third

baseman with 10 Gold Glove

awards. He was also selected MVP

three times during his career. George

Brett was a better contact hitter than

Schmidt and Brooks Robinson was a

better fielder than Schmidt. With that

being said, no third baseman had a

more complete package than Schmidt

did with his combination of both

strength and glove work.

(Shortstop)

Honus Wagner (1897-1917) .328

BA/3,420 H/101 HR/1,733 RBI/723

SB

Honus Wagner combined great

hand-eye coordination with a lot of

speed to become the greatest short-

stop of all-time. Wagner led the

league in batting average eight times

while also leading the league in dou-

bles seven times and steals five

times. Wagner is third all-time in

triples with 252, and seventh all-time

in hits.

(Leftfielder)

Ty Cobb (1905-1928) .367

BA/4,189 H/117 HR/1,938 RBI/897

SB

Ty Cobb ranks first all-time in

career batting average and second in

career hits. Cobb was a member of

the first Hall of Fame class in 1936

along with players such as Babe

Ruth, Walter Johnson and Christy

Mathewson, to name a few. Cobb

received more Hall of Fame votes

than any of the other players among

that stout list of players on the ballot.

It is understandable that he would

earn such honors when you consider

Brent Kalwei’s all-time Major League Baseball team

Brent Kalwei, who pitches for the

MVC Vikings team, knows baseball.

(Continued on next page)

8 May 10, 2014SPORTSThe Delta

(Continued from previous page)

that he has won more batting titles

than anyone in the history of the

game with 12. Cobb also hit over

.300, an astounding 23 times in a 24-

year career.

(Centerfielder)

Willie Mays (1951-1973) .302

BA/3,283 H/660 HR/1,903 RBI/338

SB/12 GG

If you were looking for the defini-

tion of a five-tool player, Willie

Mays would fit that description per-

fectly. “The Say Hey Kid” could do

it all. He hit for contact, hit for

power, ran, threw and fielded all at a

high level. To prove it, Mays is one

of only four players in MLB history

with 500 homeruns and 3,000 hits.

Add 12 Gold Gloves to his name and

you have a legendary all-around

baseball player. Mays’ Gold Gloves

total ties him with Roberto Clemente

as the most ever won by an outfield-

er. Combining his awards with mag-

nificent highlight films of him, I

think he’s a great choice to guide my

centerfield.

(Rightfielder)

Babe Ruth (1914-1935) .342

BA/2,873 H/714 HR/2,220 RBI/123

SB

“The Great Bambino” is the great-

est power hitter to ever play the

game of baseball. He is first all-time

among players who never used

steroids in at bats per homerun. He

also ranks first all-time in slugging

with a mark of .690. Not to mention

the baseballs weren’t as good back in

his playing days. That’s not why I

selected him number one though.

Ruth not only could hit for power but

also for contact with a .342 career

batting average and second best on

base percentage at .474. With the

combination of power and contact, I

believe Babe Ruth was one the best

overall hitters this game has ever

seen.

(Designated Hitter)

Ted Williams (1939-1960) .344

BA/2,654 H/521 HR/1,839 RBI/24

SB

Winning the Triple Crown in bat-

ting is extremely difficult once in a

career. Imagine someone winning it

twice. That’s exactly what Ted

Williams did in 1942 and 1947. This

made “The Splendid Splinter” only

the second player to do so. To this

day, Williams and Rogers Hornsby

are the only players to accomplish

such feat. Ted Williams was the best

pure hitter this game has ever seen.

Nobody had a better plate approach

or knowledge for hitting than the

“Teddy Ballgame.” Williams ranks

first all-time in on-base percentage

with a staggering mark of .482. He is

often brought up in ties to his .406

batting average in 1941. No one has

reached the .400 batting average

plateau in a single season since he

had done it. Williams could have had

even better numbers had it not been

for his three years in military service.

With only 24 stolen bases, I assume

Williams wasn’t the fastest baseball

player out there. Therefore, I would

use him as a designated hitter instead

of putting him in the outfield where

he may not be able to track balls

down as well as the others.

More about Brent’s best choices for baseball dream-team

Story by Will Lee

There are nine months in aschool year, 16 weeks in a semes-ter, each class period costs $64,and one freshman did not miss oneclass.

Nate Martin is an ElementaryEducation major from Jackson,Mo.

When I first met Nate back inearly August for cross countrycamp, he told me he wasn’t goingto miss a single class this year. Itold him to try for the semester,but a whole year is rather unheardof.

Nate runs cross country andtrack for MVC and, with theexception of excused absences forraces, he completed his freshmanyear without missing a singleclass.

To add to his schedule, he worksat the Valley Child Lab Center forwork study.

“I’m paying too much money to

skip class, and, besides, if I don’tgo, then I might fail,” he said.

Nate has been successful in boththe classroom and on the track.

He finished as the number eightguy on the cross country team anda month later ran a half marathonin 1:13:38 to qualify for the NAIAOutdoor National Championshipsin Gulf Shores, Alabama.

“Running is an important part ofmy life and it’s paying for myschool, but education is every-thing,” Martin said.

As the school year went by Irealized how dedicated this guy is.

Going to college is tough, but tonot miss a single class is a feat initself.

“I came to college to get an edu-cation and I’m taking full advanceof what MVC has to offer,”Martin said.

Nate has been an example forhow important education is andone’s key to success is to simplygo to class.

Freshman proves what might seem impossible

MVC runners and teammates Nate Martin and Will Lee.

Entrepreneur uses Maastricht program

to tell students about accounting careersStory by Brent Kalwei

Missouri Valley College invited

eight successful entrepreneurs to

speak at the eighth annual event of

the Maastricht Institute of

Entrepreneurship in late April.

Cheryl Edington, certified public

accountant of Baer and Edington,

spoke about her path to the business

world in front of a packed R. Wilson

Brown audience.

Edington said her interest in the

field developed when she took two

accounting classes in high school.

Over time her interest in math urged

her to seek a career in the accounting

business.

Edington graduated from Milligan

College (Tennessee) in 1985 before

passing the CPA exam which allowed

her to become a staff accountant.

She then worked her way up to

manager which eventually led to her

current partnership. Edington began

her accounting career working in

Massachusetts where she produced

monthly financial statements.

Working with and developing good

relationships with clients is one of

her favorite parts of her job.

You can say technology is an

accountant's best friend. Edington

said the addition of Ultra Tax soft-

ware makes accounting faster and

easier. Now instead of having to

write everything down, it's all right

there on your computer.

Baer and Edington merged with

another firm and it didn't work out as

well as she planned. She said every-

one wanted to go in their own sepa-

rate direction.

Baer and Edington eventually

merged with another firm. This time

it worked out successfully.

They all had the same common

goal. They set up two separate loca-

tions and operated with the same

software.

"It's like we are operating as one

firm," Edington said.

Edington's biggest advice to

aspired students looking for an

accounting career is to have experi-

ence.

She said internships are a must in

order to get your foot in the door.

"Work hard at any position you

have because you never know where

it will lead," Edington said.

Being prepared to work in the

accounting field is crucial.

Edington said she hired three

interns last year. They worked one

tax season and quit because they

thought it was too hectic.

Along with helping clients, Baer

and Edington are very active in the

community. They sponsor a run/walk

event for Rainbow House.

Edington also said she will be

working with students as part of the

Junior Achievers program.

Edington said giving back to the

community is very rewarding for her.

Cheryl Edington, certified public

accountant of Baer and Edington,

twas one of the Maastricht Institute

speakers. (Photo by Brent Kalwei)

NEWSThe Delta 9May 10, 2014

Honorees at the Valley Women Hall of Fame Tea on May 2 were Pam

Reeder, Hall of Fame Outstanding Woman inductee; Emily Adams,

Outstanding Senior Woman; and Sabrina Bartley, Valley Women’s

Scholarship recipient. (Photo by D. Roberts)

Library director, students honored at Valley Women Hall of Fame Tea

MVC Murrell Library Director Pam Reeder was inducted into the Valley

Women Hall of Fame on May 2 in the Formal Lounge.

Also honored at the annual event were students Emily Adams, named

Outstanding Senior Woman, and Sabrina Bartley, a junior who received the

organization’s scholarship award.

Reeder spoke about her years of work at the college library, the library

staff, and moments pertaining to family and friends. She was accompanied

to the event by her husband, Tim, and her family, including children and

grandchildren.

Adams is the granddaughter of Katherine Adams, chair of the

Math/Science Division and associate professor of Mathematics.

Others who participated at the event included Valley Women Organization

President Heather Sappington, Sharon Hoeflicker, Sandy Machholz, Marsha

Lashley, and Tamara King. Many previous inductees were also in atten-

dance. Photos of the event are posted at the MVC Delta Facebook page.

May 10, 2014The Delta NEWS10

Story by Will Lee

Nancy Allison has always enjoyedhelping people, which made herfall in love with selling insurance.

Allison was a guest speaker on April 28 atthe eighth annual Maastricht Institute ofEntrepreneurship. Allison was an only child and raised todo her best to accomplish goals in what-ever field she is in. Her mother was aseamstress and father loved to work oncars, traits she picked up on. From ayoung age, Allison knew she wanted to bea fashion designer. She said, “I wantedeveryone to wear my clothes all over theworld.”She graduated from high school asemester early to get a head start on col-lege, but in the 1970s students couldn’tjust start school in the middle of the year,Allison had get special permission. Shestarted in the spring at Stephens College,an all-female school, to study fashiondesign and marketing. College isn’t cheap,which lead Allison to find a job to helppay. She landed a job at MFA Insurancein the claims department. Immediately, she fell in love with thechallenge of insurance. After a few monthof working for MFA, she almost went tolaw school, but decided to stay in heroriginal field. “I kept getting promoted

and realized insurance is what I need todo in life,” she said. From claims, shemoved on to training.For 14 years, Allison traveled aroundand helped agents build agencies. Shesaid, “I love training other to help buildcareers.” From training, she moved tomarketing. “Move through as many pro-grams in your field as possible.” Allisonspent 32 years in the corporate side ofinsurance but wasn’t happy, so she decid-ed to take a job at a smaller firm, ShelterInsurance, and build her own business. Building your own business is not easy.Allison had to choose how to advertiseand not break the budget. Allison startedout having onead a month inthe ColumbiaTribune butslowly built to abigger market.“I asked myself,How to makemyself a house-hold name?Networking isthe answer,” shesaid. Instead ofbusiness cardsAllison took adifferentapproach. She

made magnets. “I figured if I made mag-nets every time someone goes to thefridge they would see my name and whenthe time came for insurance, I would betheir first call,” she said. Ten years ago, no one in Columbia

knew who Nancy Allison was, but becauseshe marketed and made her name abrand, her company has quadrupled intwo years. Eight years later her company’snet worth went from $180,000 to $1.5million. Allison has not only made a name forherself in Columbia, but on the nationallevel as well. She was inducted into theHall of Fame for Shelter Agents and

named the EastMissouri Agentof the Year atthe Conferencein 2011 andagain in 2012,a feat that isunheard of.She said, “Thework we do asagents is sorewarding,when tragedystrikes, we’rethe first onesthere to rebuildyour house.”

Nancy Allison recieves a gift from PresidentHumphrey for speaking at the 2014 MIE.

Fashion Designer-Turned Insurance AgentGives Advice on How to Market Own Name

This was the first full year that the Delta posted photos in

albums on its Facebook page for MVC Delta. What were the

photo albums that garnered the most views or “hits” by peo-

ple wanting to see the photos?

1). Scenes of the MVC Spring Choral Show, April 2014 --

2,379 “people saw this post” or views.

2). Senior Day at the Baseball Game, April 2014 -- 1,770. .

3). MVC Viking Men’s Soccer Game, Nov. 2013 -- 1,352.

4). MVC Stampede Rodeo, Sept. 2013 -- 1,302.

5). MVC Men’s Wrestling Matches on Senior Day, Feb.

2014 -- 836 “people saw this post” or views.

6). Viking Football Game Against CMU, Oct. 2013 -- 787.

7). Viking Men’s Volleyball Game, Feb. 2014 -- 757.

8). Viking Lacrosse Game, Group 2, April 2014 -- 675.

9). Viking Football Play-Off Game, First Photo Group,

Nov. 2013 -- 653.

10). MVC Vikings Defeat Benedictine (Football), First

Photo Group, Nov. 2013 -- 622.

Other popular albums: “Good Doctor” play, second group,

in March 2014 (591 views), students celebrate diversity in

April 2014 (489), “Good Doctor” play, first group (461), and

Homecoming football game, second group, Oct. 2013 (431).

Biggest ‘hits’listed fromDelta pageon Facebook

(Look for MVC

Delta on Facebook)

The Delta 11May 10, 2014

First time for sweepstakes award

Delta wins variety of awards at state contestMissouri Valley College

students working for theDelta newspaper capturedawards in many categories ofthe Missouri College MediaAssociation (MCMA) com-petition at a convention inKirksville over the weekend.

With a number of MVCstudents winning more thanone award and counting stu-dents who were part of staffprojects for Zoom photo-journalism magazine and aCopy Editing edition, 31 cer-tificates of awards for indi-vidual work can now beadded to the previous sixyears of Delta awards from the MCMA, totaling105 awards.

Because of the points achieved from the numberof earned certificates this year, the Delta won sec-ond-place in the Sweepstakes Award in its division,a first-time honor.

The Delta continued its streak of annual awardsfor the Delta website and the Zoom photojournal-ism magazine.

For individual honors, the following studentswere awarded for Delta work:

First-place awards went to Chase Burgess for asports column about his grandfather who is life-long Cardinals fan; Will Lee in sports writing for astory about the arrival of lacrosse as a college sport,and Gabriel Costa Gomes dos Santos in news pho-tography for a photo of a car crashing through thefront window of a Marshall store.

Second-place awards went to Christina Bautistafor an entertainment cartoon about a moment in popculture, Chase Burgess in feature writing for a storyabout an ambidextrous pitcher, Amit Jain for thewebsite homepage, Brent Kalwei for a sports col-umn about football quarterbacks, Ashley Llorensfor the design of a feature page about three studentmusicians, the Zoom photojournalism magazine

staff (Cassondra Copeland, Brent Kalwei, AkiNagasaka, and Kassie Peters) for special supple-ment, and a Sweepstakes Award for the Delta.

Third-place awards were given to Kathrine Floresfor news photography for a photo of a flash-mobduring Convocation, Brent Kalwei for editorialwriting for a commentary about paying student-ath-letes, Aki Nagasaka for feature photography for aphoto of a biology professor displaying a spider inan insect collection, and Felix Alvarado andChristina Bautista for a sports page which featuredtheir two stories about wrestling.

Honorable mention awards went to ChristinaBautista for a political cartoon about a collegesmoking ban and for an entertainment cartoonabout zombies, Jessica Crabtree in news writing fora story about e-books at the library, Devon Wade incolumn-writing for a commentary about his great-grandmother, Phillip Fowler for in-depth newsreporting for a story about resident assistants,Ashley Llorens in feature writing for a story aboutstudent musicians, Tyrone Ritter and Lucas Guilfoilfor a sports page which featured their football sto-ries, and the staff of Copy Editing Special Edition(Brent Kalwei, Ebone Brown, Chase Burgess,James O’Sullivan, and Jessica Gates) for specialsupplement.

At the convention, the students attended numer-ous seminar sessions on media topics ranging fromnews reporting to social media.

The guest speaker for the awards banquet wasNate Becker, an editor at the Wall Street Journalwho is an alum of Truman State University wherethe convention was held.

The MVC students also dined at a Mongolianrestaurant and attended “Dances The Night Away,”a performance of dances, such as jazz, hip-hop, bal-let, and other styles, by Truman State Universitystudents in the Society of Dance Arts.

David L. Roberts, adviser for the Delta, said hewas proud of the Delta students and their honorsfrom MCMA.

Roberts said he was pleased to be able to end histime as the Delta adviser, starting in the fall semes-ter, on a happy, satisfying note, in sharing the expe-rience of the MCMA trip with a great group of stu-dents and seeing their work recognized withawards.

Roberts was joined on the trip by RalitsaGospodinova, MVC Student Success counselor,and graduate student Devon Wade, both MassCommunication alums and former Delta editorswho also traveled with him on the first trip to anMCMA convention in 2009.

Traveling to the MCMA convention in Kirksville were (from left) Devon Wade, Amit Jain, Brent Kalwei, Chase Burgess,

Kathrine Flores, Jessica Crabtree, Ashley Llorens, Christina Bautista, and Ralitsa Gospodinova. (Photo by David L. Roberts)

NEWS

Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truthBecause I’m happy.

Clap along if you know what happiness is to youBecause I’m happy.

--Lyrics from the song “Happy,” sung by Pharrell Williams

Be sure to check out the MVC Delta page onFacebook for Commencement photos soon andother photos throughout the summer. Also,articles will be added to the Delta website

throughout the summer at www.mvcdelta.com.

May 10, 2014The Delta12 NEWS

Faculty, Staff, and Board of Trustees Recognition Banquet,

May 9:

John McCallum Excellence in Teaching Award: Michelle

Reinke, assistant professor of Biology.

President’s Staff Excellence Award: Brett Fuchs, director of

Housing and Residence Life.

Staff Viking Award: Jessica Green of the Admissions Office.

Crawford/Brown Professional Development Scholarship:

Jennifer Eimers, assistant professor of English.

Faculty promotions: Professor Emeitus--Gerald Acay;

Associate Professor--Linda Gordon, Harold Hynick, Beverly

Katz, David Roberts, and Peter Warnock.

Years of Service: 35 years--John Gault; 25 years--Susan

Dittmer, Mike Machholz, and Johnny Norris; 15 years--Steve

Clause; 10 years--Cindy Adams, John Simpson, Dessie

Stafford, Tom Taylor, Heather Troth; 5 years--Daniel Allen,

Garry Anders, April DeGraff, Tonya Eddy, Christi Hicks,

Beverly Katz, Jay Rozema, Richard Stark, Martin Vanderboon,

and Peter Warnock.

Bachelor of Science in Nursing Pinning Ceremony,

Ekilson-Mabee Theater, May 10: Graduates--Tara Bartel,

Elizabeth Boateng, Jennifer Burnette, Kelly Cary, Kristian

Foster, Tayler Frederiksen, Nicole Graff, Landon Hartline,

Sonia Henriquez, Kelsey Hieb, Mary Holt, Virginia

Hutcherson, Breann Kinworthy, Jennifer Land, Michael

Perkins, Camerin Rehmer, Beatriz Villatoro, Sheena White,

Angela Woods.

125th MVC Commencement, Gregg-Mitchell Field, May

10:

Commencement Speaker: William Ferguson, Class of 1971.

Charles L. Bacon Distinguished Service Awards: Nuwelta

Jean-Baptiste, Finance, of Freeport, Bahamas; and Chase

Burgess, Public Relations, of Lamar, Mo.

Greetings from Senior Class: Brent Kalwei, Mass

Communication, of Kansas City, Mo.

Honorary Degrees: Gary Ford, Class of 1973, and William

Ferguson, Class of 1971.

Other participants: MVC President Bonnie Humphrey,

Sharon Weiser, Gary Ford, George Brown, Marsha Lashley,

Heather Troth, John Gault, Diana Malan, the Rev. Pam

Sebastian, Nuwelta Jean-Baptiste, and Brett Clause.

Master’s degree graduate: Megan Forrer, Community

Counseling, of Marshall.

Degree (master’s, bachelor’s, and associate’s degrees) gradu-

ates: 241 graduates.

Presidential Scholars: Kelly Cary, Sonia Henriquez, Mary

Holt, Brittany Jones, Sabrina Moussier, Nadia Quainoo, Tarrah

Sweet, Michell Twist, Sandra Wallace, Sashary White, Sara

Jane Willis, and Taylor Witcher.

MVC Scholars: Lorin Blackburn, Brooke Boulware, Kalen

Brady, Garion Brown, Chase Burgess, Ana Calito, Brett

Clause, Chandra Crawford, Kathrine Flores, Juan Gimenez,

Andrew Huhman, Nuwelta Jean-Baptiste, Cortney Jolliff,

Brent Kalwei, Jennifer Lutz, Edith Mends, Torey Miller,

Bryanna Rex, Velimir Stefanovic, Tarrah Sweet, Erlene Tweet,

Michell Twist, Emily Vesser, Josh Wells, Sashary White, and

Sheena White.

Lindenwood University Graduate Program

Commencement at MVC, Ekilson-Mabee Theater, May 12:

Master’s degree in Education Administration--Jordan Dickson,

Matt Dwyer, Travis Ewart, J’Shon Johnson, Jacqueline Kragel,

Lauren Thacher, Ashley Thomas, and Devon Wade; Education

Specialist degree--Julie Hieronymus and Meghan Tichenor.

Recognition and Events Speakerrecallslegendaryrelative

Many people are

familiar with the name

shared by the 125th

Commencement

speaker William

Ferguson, who spoke

to the 241 graduating

seniors and other

members of the MVC

community on May

10.

Ferguson, a trial

court judge and an

MVC alum from the

Class of 1971, talked

about his great-uncle,

William “Pop”

Ferguson, a legendary

figure in MVC histo-

ry. Ferguson’s great-

uncle was born in

1875, graduated from

MVC in 1897, taught

at the college in 1914,

returning again in

MVC 2014 soon-to-be graduates gather for a class photo before the 125th Commencement ceremony in the afternoon. (Photograph by David L. Roberts)

(Continued on

next page)

NEWSThe Delta 13May 10, 2014

1924, and then stayed to enjoy

the college into his 90s. Pop’s

famous “thumbs up” sign has

been passed to the generations

of Vikings. “Pop never gave

up,” Judge Ferguson told the

Class of 2014.

The Commencement speaker

said, “Pop, my parents, my sib-

lings, my teachers, my friends

and, most importantly, my wife”

were there for guidance and

support. Ferguson said that his

father followed Pop into the

teaching tradition and his sister,

Sally, also graduated from

Valley. To the graduating sen-

iors, Ferguson said, “You are

surrounded today by those who

love you the most.”

Ferguson said, “Follow your

dreams.” He said the college

degree can never be taken away.

“You selected Valley. It selected

you. By virtue of having walked

on this campus, it can only be

love ultimately that perpetuates

a place like Valley.” He told stu-

dents to “keep the faith and

maintain a strong heart.”

More aboutCommencement speech(Continued from previous page)

In sight of the Commencement ceremony is the college’s new Malcolm

Student Center building with construction to be completed this summer.

GRADUATION MOMENTS...Top, from left:

Becky Plattner of Grand Pass; Alen Rahman

of Kansas City; and Cecilee Kidd of

California. Below, from left: James O’Sullivan

of St. Louis; Alberto Linan Gomez, Miguel

Jimenez Sanchez, and Juan Gimenez, all from

Spain; and Nicholas Pula of California.